I blearily opened my eyes expecting to see my bedroom ceiling light. Instead, my eyes bore witness to a battlefield. I looked down at my body and saw that I was basically naked, the chest wraps having been cut apart during the fight.

  Huh... Am I still dreaming?

  I went to pinch myself but stopped, pain wouldn't wake me up. Some of those unlikely scenarios I dismissed earlier were starting to seem more and more likely.

  So... first things first... Go to the cliff and fall into the scripted death scene. I won't lose any runes, and it will progress the story.

  I got up, desummoning my club as I walked through the familiar archways and over towards a cracked cliff. A most beautiful kind of butterfly was there. The kind of beautiful you never see twice in life. Despite myself I was entranced by their beauty and forgot about where the falling cliff was.

  "WWAAAHHHH!!!!!"(Alexis)

  I fell screaming in Suprise and mild terror. I dreaded the pain that was coming despite myself and so wanted to take a moment to spych myself up. As I fell, I didn't feel the pain of my body smming into the ground at terminal velocity, instead my awareness slowly faded to bck as an eerie ughter sounded in my ear.

  ............

  For the next few moments, I faded in and out of consciousness. I vaguely remember seeing a person and a horse. In hindsight that was probably the opening cutscene where Melina and Torrent discover the Tarnished.

  I awoke groggily.

  The right side of my face was wet, as if submerged in a puddle. I slowly rose to my feet, taking a moment to properly look at my surroundings.

  I was in a deep cavern, light glowing off of a small golden sapling at the other end of the cave. It was a rather rge cave, easily the size of a one story three-bedroom house maybe even bigger. There was a golden tree in one corner by a doorway, and a chair with what looked like a ghost sitting on it.

  I was in the Stranded Graveyard.

  I checked my inventory real quick. I now had a pair of fsks, the cerulean and crimson tears. These were the all-important fsks of the game, HP and FP restoratives.

  Healing item get!

  "Well... First off..."(Alexis)

  Turning around, I walked over to the ghost sitting on a chair. I didn't bother with his dialogue and instead looking into the rge hole he was sitting in front of. There was a shining light down there, a warm golden glow. I dropped down into the hole.

  Upon nding at the bottom, I actually saw a Site of Grace for the first time.

  It was beautiful, breathtaking, awe-inspiring. Just looking at it filled my soul with a sense of...

  Hope.

  I reached out and brushed my hand along its surface. It didn't actually have a solid material presence that I could touch and interact with. The shape like an elongated octahedron, giving off a warm inviting light.

  As I touched it, the burst of light brought a feeling of connection. A bond between me and the Site of Grace.

  I sat down for a moment, and a menu appeared.

  ---------------------------------------

  Pass Time

  Fsks

  Memorize Spell

  Sort Chest

  Leave

  ---------------------------------------

  Opting for 'Fsks' I Selected 'Allocate Fsk Charges' and moved all Four charges over to the crimson fsks.

  It was going to take me a while before I could get started with magic or incantations.

  Speaking of, how long would this dream of mine st? Am I even gonna have the time to finish a single run much less learn to do magic? Questions for ter.

  I got up and grabbed my club. I couldn't use the ornamental shortsword yet, I didn't have enough stats. But this cave was easy town. I walked ahead and rounded a corner, there I saw (and smelled) a person, stood upright, wearing fancy-ish clothes that were now little more than rags and wielding what looked like a rapier. I of course knew that this was a wandering noble, an undead-like creature.

  I said nothing as I charged, raising my club high and bringing it down on a head that had just turned to face me.

  "Ghrrk!" (Wandering Noble)

  There was a wet crunch and a sptter of blood and viscera. Then the body in front of me fell to its knees and crumpled onto the ground. A quick gnce down the cave showed another noble, already rising to its feet. I rushed forwards, raising my club high and bringing it down with another satisfying crunch. A third noble turned around and thrust its sword at me. Being actually here in person made dodging so much easier. The bde missed me by a mile, and I crushed the noble's head just like the other two. A fourth and final noble stood awkwardly a few paces further into the cave. I rushed forwards and smashed it all the same. Without tutorial prompts popping up and getting in my way, this was probably the smoothest Cave of Knowledge experience I've had in this game.

  I moved onwards jumping up the rocks. The experience going to show me just how good my standing high jump is in this body.

  Once up the rocks I came upon a rger area, filled with vegetation. There was a natural bridge above the bushes and a crossbowman stationed on top, loading his crossbow. I sprinted past the bushes and into the next area. A soldier with a rge tower shield and a spear readied himself for combat. I ducked around him and smashed my club into his back, he fell to his knees in pain, and I brought my club down on his head, ending the battle. This was feeling easy... Too easy. Was it because I had finer control over my body since I wasn't using a series of buttons and other inputs to control an avatar? Or was it because this was a dream and so there wasn't any challenge to begin with?

  I had no idea, so I just frowned and then continued.

  I smashed two more nobles on my way up and around and then ducked as a bolt flew over my head. I rushed the crossbowman who was struggling to load another bolt into his weapon. The same song and dance repeated again, then again once more for the wandering noble just on the other side of the bridge. I was getting tired, not physically, but emotionally.

  This was boring.

  The wandering noble just beyond posed no challenge. Nor did the one in the bushes covering the area that the cave opened up into. The one just beyond that was a little tougher, it took several more hits to bring down but didn't offer any real danger.

  Passing onward I came upon a statue of someone I recognized very well.

  "Statue of Marika." (Alexis)

  I could respawn here if I needed it.

  I turned the corner and was met with a wall of fog.

  "I'll admit, it's a lot more intimidating in person." (Alexis)

  I walked through the fog with confidence. On the other side I saw the Soldier of Godrick running at me with a Zwei-handler. I used my clubs weapon skill and let out a furious war cry, before charging forwards myself.

  I got a running start then jumped as high as I could go, bringing my club down from an overhead strike on top of the Soldier of Godrick. The man staggered dazed, and I pivoted my strength to swing hard from the side while he was recovering. My strike nded and knocked the Soldier of Godrick back. I took a moment to look at his boss health bar, halfway. Another strike from the other side and he was pushed further back. I readied myself to make another strike only to see him bringing his bde down at me. I twisted my body to minimize the damage and felt a searing pain erupt from my left shoulder. Screaming with a voice that could wake the dead, I swung my club at his head. The final chunk of HP vanished from his health bar and with a scream of pain, the Soldier of Godrick turned to ash and disintegrated before my very eyes.

  "Heal. Heal. Heal. Heal. Heal. Heal. Heal!" (Alexis)

  I pulled out my fsk of crimson tears, dropping my club which vanished into whatever pocket space is my inventory. I immediately chugged the fsk like there was no tomorrow. That hurt, a lot.

  " ?????? !! ??=??!! ??????!!! " (???)

  There was that weird ughing again. And there were other noises too. Eh, whatever.

  I walked up to the ledge and leapt down, back into the starting cavern. I walked up to the door and tried to open it, only for the door to be unexpectedly difficult to move. Once it was open with a little bit of effort, I walked into the hallway it opened up into. There was a site of grace sitting in the middle of the hall, so I 'touched' it. Once the light burst forth and I felt the connection establish, I sat down to rest and gather my bearings, and also... Maybe... Get some slee-...

  " ?? ???? > ?? ???? ?? ??^ !! " (???)

  Untold_Duality