According to his inventory, he had access to three Golden Orders spellbooks with far more potent spells, but he felt it was better to start with the basics.
Thus, began his study of the Soldier spellbook, which was enlightening in more than one way. Firstly, it was nothing like what he expected.
It began with a detailed breakdown of what the Golden Order stood for, the Laws of Regression and Causality before giving a brief description of the Greater Will. It was nothing that he already didn't know and noticed that much of the details were embellished and attributed a lot more to the Golden Order and Greater Will than what was true.
It was only after that brief history lesson that the spellbook began to explain how exactly one should go about casting Incantations.
(To cast an Incantation in the Lands Between, one must harness the power of Focus, which doth govern all things, yet requireth a medium for interaction. Therefore, sacred seals must be employed, as instruments to channel the divine energies of the Greater Will. Draw this celestial force into the seal, and let it flow into the arcane murals thy inscribe upon the air. These murals, infused with the Greater Will's essence, shall perform the Incantation, manifesting thy will upon the world.)
'Straightforward', he thought. The 'Arcane murals' that the text mentioned were in reality akin to electrical circuits that the caster had to weave into the air using the 'Divine energies of Greater Will'. In the game, every School of Incantation had their unique murals, with different incantations having minute differences.
He assumed that the energies of any Outer God could be used in incantations, but he'd rather stick with the Greater Will for now despite the lore of the game hinting at the fact that the Greater Will was no mere Outer God.
He flipped the pages until he got to the very first spell. [Heal], an incantation under the School of the Two Fingers.
The mural that he needed to form was two intricate circles that had minute designs within them. Those designs within decided which incantations in the school it was.
He picked up the [Finger Seal] and cast [Observe].
[Finger Seal: A sacred seal bestowed by the Two Fingers which serves as a catalyst for casting sacred incantations.]
'Concise', he mused before closing his eyes and Focusing on the Finger Seal. It felt odd at first but he quickly got used to having something cold exit his head and touch an object in the real world. It was as though he'd gotten access to a whole new sense akin to touch and taste.
He carefully guided it into the Finger Seal, allowing it to resonate with his Focus and connect his consciousness to the energies of the Greater Will. It was mentioned in the Spellbook that one had to visualise a representation of the Greater Will - Order to do so. It could be anything from an ordered collection of rocks to the hallowed Golden Order.
But Godrick had a different idea. What was the greatest personification of Order in the Lands Between? It was the Elden Ring; thus, that would be his visualisation.
The moment he began his visualisation, he took a sharp intake of breath as the energies of the Greater Will rushed to him as though he were a long-lost child. They seemed incredibly malleable, requiring little to no effort to mold.
Wasting no time, he carved the Heal Mural that manifested within a fraction of a second in the real world.
(FP -10)
[Heal].
[Learned Heal: Heals HP for the caster and nearby allies. Heals HP for self equivalent to Faith*1.5. Heals HP for others equivalent to Faith*1]
With a flash of pale gold light, a beautiful mural appeared above his Finger Seal, washing his body with a similar feeling to his Blessed Dew Talisman - only more potent.
'This feels too easy', Godrick thought in surprise. The spellbook detailed that it took numerous tries to access the energies of the divine will, let alone form the mural.
'Perhaps it's a combination of my Divine Blood and the fact that I'm using the Elden Ring as a visualisation? After all, Nobody but Marika and the Elden Lords have ever seen it. No matter, I'll never get a concrete answer.'
He wasted no more time contemplating something he lacked information about and flipped to the next Incantation - Golden Vow.
It was quite similar to Heal, but it came from the School of the Erdtree, thus the mural was quite different. This time the visualisation was the Erdtree but the formation of the mural was just as fast as before, implying that it was not his visualisation of the Elden Ring that was responsible for his speed.
"By the gilded Erdtree's light, my oath doth bind", he chanted as instructed while he thrust the finger seal into the air, casting a golden mural of the Erdtree.
(FP -30)
[Golden Vow].
[Learned Golden Vow: An incantation of Erdtree Worship. Increases attack power (+15%) and defence (+10% damage negation) for the caster and nearby allies]
A second flash of light lit the room as a thin layer of gold enveloped his body. A punch to the arm sent ripples along the film of gold, absorbing a tenth of the force, while punching the air made the film of gold around his fists glow, presumably increasing the damage it dealt.
It lasted about two minutes which was more than enough in a fight but a question rose in his mind.
'Is it necessary to use a handheld seal?', he thought, tracing his chin. Of course, there were many explanations as to why. The representation of five fingers was a sign of intelligence as shown by the Cinquedea weapon description in the game.
Perhaps it was only by holding the seal in one's hands, a delineation of a being's intelligence, that could one cast incantations. He'd tried casting [Heal] with the Finger Seal on his hip and it didn't work.
'Could I use the Great Rune as a seal?', his golden eyes twinkled. Wouldn't the representation of Order be the best medium to access divine energies?
He immediately sent a stream of Focus to the Great Rune in his soul but was disappointed when it didn't let him commune with the Divine Energies of the Greater Will.
'I'll try again when I've activated it', he comforted himself before standing up and stretching.
All he had to do the following weeks was get the Blessing of the Ancient Dragons and figure out how to escape Leyndell without being recognised.
***
The following week was quite enjoyable for Godrick. While the lack of Miquella Lilies and Sacramental buds threw a wrench in his plans, he had an idea of how to get over it.
Meanwhile, he'd ordered the St Trina lilies and mushrooms to be crushed, mixed and sealed into clay pots which was dutifully carried out by his servants. There were a few incidents as when a servant accidentally ingested the St Trina paste she'd gotten on her fingers which sent her into a two-day-long coma, but overall, everything went smoothly.
He'd even tried getting into the Golden Order Spellbooks that he had but quickly realised that he was sorely unprepared. Not only did the Incantation require intense research and study into the Golden Order, but the murals were stupidly complicated and consisted of multiple moving parts that probably required computer-level processing.
He required a greater Intelligence stat for even beginning to comprehend it. After all, the Incantations were made by Radagon after combining sorceries that required the Intelligence Stat, and Incantations which required the Faith Stat.
Not letting himself get discouraged, he turned his attention to his escape plan, focusing on what exactly consistently exited the golden city. He, along with Earnan and Taraghlan decided that hijacking and replacing the guards for a supply chain would be the most optimal.
The city sends carts of supplies guarded by soldiers for trade with the surrounding towns and minor kingdoms. If they could replace the soldiers, they could even hide artefacts and gold in the supplies that they wished to trade.
The rest of his days were spent entertaining occasional visits by stuck-up aristocrats who wished to wheedle out of him the reason for the Dragon Knights to his estate and training with Earnan and his soldiers.
***
-(Character Sheet :
Godrick the Golden ( Level 1 )
Age: Twenty-three and three months old
EXP: 1/100
HP: 41->50{ Healthy }
FP: 50->51
Strength: 4.1->5
Dexterity: 5->5.1
Endurance: 3.4->5.7
Vigor: 4.1->5
Mind: 5->5.2
Intelligence: 5->5.1
Faith: 14
Skills:
[Observe (Active): Level 1
When activated on a target, gain its basic information as well as its skills. The greater the level of the skill, the more precise and detailed the information.]
[Graft (Passive/Active): Level 1
You intrinsically understand the anatomy of creatures you butcher or kill. You can attach, or replace parts of your body with another, gaining their strength but also their resentment. Success rate is less than 5 per cent. Excessive grafting will lead to madness and failure can lead to a splintered mind.]
[Golden Lineage (Passive): Albeit sorely diluted, you possess Divine Blood. Faith +10.]
[Shaman Physiology (Passive): Ability to seamlessly meld with another being. Removes chance of failure during Grafting.]
[Greataxe Mastery (Passive): Level 1->2
Barely proficient with colossal axes. Assists with wielding it and provides 1->5 per cent extra damage when attacking with the aforementioned weapon.]
Incantations:
[Heal: Heals HP for the caster and nearby allies. Heals HP for self equivalent to Faith*1.5. Heals HP for others equivalent to Faith*1]
[Golden Vow: An incantation of Erdtree Worship. Increases attack power (+15%) and defence (+10% damage negation) for the caster and nearby allies]
Great Runes (1/8):
[Godwyn's Great Rune : (Inactive)])-
It was unclear whether it was due to Godrick's Divine Blood, but his body improved at a frightening pace, allowing all his physical stats to increase to a minimum of 5, with Dexterity and Endurance mildly exceeding it.
5 was a threshold in stats and it was due to his training mainly focusing on Dexterity and Endurance that he managed to break through. The mental stats, on the other hand, had a minuscule improvement owing to his practice of incantations and study of the Golden Order Spellbooks.
His frail frame had filled out, now no longer looking like a fleshy skeleton while his skin gained a healthy glow owing to his change in diet.
The constant practice and tutoring by Earnan with the Greataxe had netted him another level amazing his Knight Commander. The change was apparently exponential and he could beat a few of the younger soldiers with pure skill much to their shock and disgruntlement but he doubted whether he could gain another level so soon. He'd exceeded his skill level in his past life after all.
"Strike with conviction soldier!", Earnan roared as he oversaw a spar between Godrick and a young man wielding a wooden spear. "In a spar he is not your Lord! He is the enemy! Is your will so weak!"
Keeping his distance from the spear, Godrick methodically swatted away the jabs while retreating. Not only was the spear one of the best weapons in sparring, but the soldier had a slight advantage in stats. It was slow, but after a five or six parries he rushed in, only to be met with a stab.
Owing to his recent explosion in skill, he ducked, catching the tip of the spear under his arm before rushing forward and pushing his wooden axe blade against the man's neck.
"How many times have I told you to maintain space in a spar, soldier! Panicing is unacce-
"My Lord!", Taraghlan's voice interrupted Earnan's chastising as he rushed across the courtyard giving Godrick a sense of deja vu.
"Dragon Knight Roidh is here for the appointment."
"Finally..."
***
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