《Cinder Souls II》


 The End is Actually the Beginning. Chapter 1

    ''The sunlight fills me up with power as usual, I am glad I logged on before the update released so I could enjoy the last moments on this island.''


    A rather menacing looking man sat in a beach chair with a girly looking drink his hand making him completely out of place. His face looks hardened by the horrors of war and his eyes look as if they pierced your soul but nonetheless he continues to drink the pink coloured alcohol with a small umbrella in it. His dimly coloured armour contrasts the bright beach chair but he seems to not care at all.Waves begin to nip at the bottom of his chair as if daring to sweep him into the ocean at any minute. Before long, someone else walks up to the relaxed man and begins to laugh at the scene in front of him.


    "Ryan, what are you doing."


    The man in the chair lets out a long sigh as if he immediately recognizes the voice ofa nuisance that has pestered him for years.


    "*Tsk* I''ve told you a million times not to use my real name Austin, and I''m enjoying myself while I can, who knows what thenext world will be like, right?"


    Austin shakes his head in a disappointing way and takes the drink out of Ryan''s hand.


    "You were supposed to be at the meeting between the Gods, but I find you out here fucking around."


    Lightning begins to crackle around the area as Ryan stands up from his chair and in response, Austin poured thebeverage into the sand of the beach. A massive storm begins to swirl above them and the wind picks up into an intense speed. Austin just laughs and puts his hand on his staff on his right hip. A massive crystal encases the two and cuts them off from the storm outside while both of them stare at each other as if ready to fight. Before the two could act anymore, the crystalshatters with a loud crash and the power of another God has entered the atmosphere causing it to slightly tear in some parts. With a new foe in the area, the original two are now facing the immense source of power.


    There, stands a massive man covered ingolden plate mail and a massive sword that shines a beautifulhue of blue. He looks at the two as if judging their petty fight. He readies his sword as if he is ready to strike them both down as punishment for fighting at a time like this. Ryan''s hands are suddenly engulfed with pure lightning and threatens to strike down the knight with ease and then destroy his past nuisance. As for the past nuisance, he is just laughing at the situation they are in. The knight in shining armour decides to speak up in a dignified voice.


    "What is so funny Chexican, God of Magic?"


    "Well Edwin, I think it''s funny how us three, childhood friends, managed to become the best of the best in a game that we all love, and how you still think you could beat me or Ryan, let alone both of us."


    With Austin saying this, Ryan bursts out into laughter and even has to hold his stomach from laughing so hard. Edwin is laughing too, but it is not because he thought what Austin said was funny but he is trying to laugh away the anger. Edwin manages to say something through his pure anger.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Then how about we go at each other''s throats and fight like men, no magic, just swords and pure strength."


    "Why would I fight like you, a meat-headed Berserker."


    It can''t be seen but a vein pops out of Edwin''s head and he can no longer hold back his rage, as for Ryan, he is still laughing for some reason. Whether it be Austin''s comment still or Edwin''s rage, the world may never know.


    Edwin suddenly disappears and reappears in front of Austin, his rage burning inside him like a hot flame that is even causing his gold armour burn a dim orange. Austin just smiles for this is what he wanted. Crystals completely encase Edwin''s feet and prevent him from moving at all. Austin thinks he has stopped Edwin but this is but a mere inconvenience for Berserker. The sound of Crystals shattering once again pierces the air as Edwin easily steps out of the well thought out trap. Austin is slightly caught by surprise but prepared for this as he suddenly levitates into the air, out of Edwin''s reach. Even though the fight has only begun, a different message appears into the head of each of the three players.


    "Be prepared to be bestowed into a new world entirely. One that will surprise all of you completely. I must ask you one favor. Please, accept my daughter''s love."


    Ryan''s face becomes completely perplexed at the weird ending ofhis message while Edwin seems to be smiling with confidence and Austin being lost into a deep thought. Before any of them can get what they want to say out the world around them begins to distort and tear. They are suddenly surrounded by darkness followed by them all going unconscious.


    Ryan is awoken suddenly to the cool feeling of a breeze. He tries to open his eyes but the sudden sunlight makes him wince and forces him to cover his eyes with his hands. After his eyes have finally adjusted, he finally notices the gruesome scene around him. The smell of blood and decay completely stun Ryan as he has never experienced this before. He sees that the corpses would be that of a human but he cannot recognize the faces of anyone here. He does recognize something however, the intense feeling of danger. Having not felt this in a while, Ryan is taken aback by this feeling but quickly assesses the situation around him.


    He finally sees what caused all of this mayhem and death. A massivecontorted man with a massive cross on his back. His red eyes leave a trail behind them as he swivels his head back and forth, looking for a new challenger. Ryan recognizes this as an enemy from Dark Souls 3 and remembers how dangerous it was then and how dangerous it probably is now due to all of the corpses.


    Something just kept making him panic though and that was the fact that he could smell the death and decay in the area. The Virtual World was never able to fully get all of the senses of the human programmed into the gear and those included taste, smell, and most complex forms of touching. Like you could feel the effect of pressure on your body but feeling pain, warmth, or coldness was out of the question but for some reason, Ryan could feel a chill go down his spine. He could feel his eyes tearing up from the horrendous stench embracing his whole being, rocking him straight to the core.


    ''This is too much for now, I''ll log off and get back on tomorrow, besides, I''m getting a little freaked out.''


    Ryan puts out his hand and tries to summon the menu but nothing appears. He slightly tilts his head to the left in confusion and tries again. Nothing. As he tries to think about what could possibly be going wrong, he hears something that makes his blood run cold. A scream, a scream of a girl to be exact and a young one at that.

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part II. Chapter 2

    "No! Please spare me!"


    The shouting of the young girl was soon followed by intense sobbing as the Lycanthrope continued to bob its head back and forth as if contemplating on killing the child or not. As if finally convincing itself as to what to do, the Lycanthrope nods its head and walks towards the child. Its irregular, fast-paced movements are hard to track with the untrained eye but Ryan could easily tell by its movements on what is planned inside the horrifying creature''s head. The fresh blood on its claws give of a terrifying shade of red that seems to glisten in the sun and is slightly alluring to Ryan, as if inspiring him to kill anything on sight but he quickly shakes this thought out of his head. He can feel something begin to eat away at his consciousness and try to persuade him to do something but he too is horrified. Not by the creature but from the realness of this new game and how he wasn''t able to bring up the menu.


    ''Wait, what if this isn''t a game. It''s too real for that. If that''s the case..."


    He snaps out of his thought and sees the Lycanthrope is about 5 feet away from the girl and is poised to strike. He decides to act on his new hypothesis and test if he is still as strong as he remembers. He closes his eyes and tries to put all of his focus on his body as if trying to find out if he had any abilities at all but was quickly brought back to the situation at hand as the blood-curdling screech of the young girl echoes throughout the area. Before he could think about doing anything, his body begins to move by itself. His muscles tense up and feel stiff as he gets up, as if he was an old machine that needed to be oiled but could manage to get a few good uses out of it.


    With the speed that causes wind around him to bend, he runs towards the girl and completely confronts the Lycanthrope and it seems to the two that he just appeared out of thin air. Ryan could feel heat begin to rise in his right hand as he draws it back to plant it straight into the monster''s body. The crackling of lightning could be heard as a bright light forms around his right fist and even overflows as it also engulfs his whole arm. His fist has now turned into the head of a dragon and without caring about if there will be any consequences, Ryan sends the lightning filled punch which lands right into the chest of the Lycanthrope, causing a hole 1 feet in diameter to appear where the heart should be and even shatters the line of wood going through the circle on the cross. The Lycanthrope''s red eyes fade away and its body falls to the ground with a loud thud. Sizzling could be heard from Ryan''s arm as smoke rises from the spots where the lightning had been.


    "Y-Y-You saved me!"


    "MOTHERFUCKER, THAT HURT!"


    The sweet voice of the young girl is drowned out as Ryan screams in pain as he feels as if his arm has 3rd-degree burns. He can''t help but grasp his right arm with his left hand actually making it hurt worse in the process. The little girl is frightened by this sudden outburst of her saviour but finally is able to get a good look at him. He is extremely tall, taller than her father, who was 6''2, but is a lot skinnier. His messy brown hair is all over the place and even manages to cover parts of his eyes as it sways in the slight breeze. His white shirt is surprisingly bright while his dark leather pants are a dull brown colour. He has no shoes on and his feet are covered in blood entirely. After the pain begins to slightly subside in his arm, he remembers that he had killed that monster for a reason and turns around to look at the girl.


    "Sorry about that, are you ok?"


    Ryan puts out his left hand to help the girl up as she had fallen backwards when the monster began its advancement towards her. She grabs his hand and puts a timid smile on her face.


    "I am, thank you for saving me. May I ask your name?"


    "I am Frew, how about you?"


    "Lilabelle."


    "Lilabelle huh, that''s a nice name."


    Ryan gives the girl a warm smile as if to try to distract from the death around her and it works as the girl gives a big smile back. He had decided to use his username in this new place instead of his actual name to see if he could find other players that would recognize them. Adventures suck if you''re doing them alone right? The pain seems to have completely vanished from his arm as the smoke and sizzling has completely subsided. It seems that he has no control over his powers yet and is surprised he was able to use the miracle "Dragon''s Punch" without his talisman or chime but that just shows that he still had some of his old power. After all, he was the only one in Cinder Souls that could even attempt something like that. Without knowing what to say next, Ryan decides that he should ask about where he is but is met with an excruciating pain in his left side.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    A force sends Ryan flying as he can feel holes where something with claws had penetrated his rib cage. It had definitely punctured his lung but he cannot understand how he knows this. A number appears in his head as he finally lands on the soft grass of the field.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Backstabbed and thrown! x3 the damage is taken, 1,248 points worth of damage is done to your health. Bleed is now in effect and 10 points of damage will be done to your health until healed.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Ryan is shocked by this message as it seems to dismiss his idea of him being transported to an actual world and he begins to question the little knowledge that he even had but one thing stuck out. ''What just hit me?'' stuck in the back of his head as he had trouble raising his body from the ground. His breathing began to become raspy and slower. He could see his health bar continue to go downward in his head but he was surprised to see how much of it was still left. As one-third of it disappeared after that attack but that''s only because it was a backstab and that is the most deadly move in the entire Dark Souls series. Ryan could feel fluid fill his lungs slowly and figures that whatever had hit doesn''t come to finish him then the bleeding will.


    As Ryan continues to recover from the shock of being tossed like a small vermin, the young girl he had saved saw what had hit him. Apparently, he had not killed the Lycanthrope completely and it had recovered enough to stand up silently and even managed to attack him from behind without being noticed. Its eyes are even brighter than before as it seems to be enraged and even more bloodthirsty than before. Lilabelle tried to run over to Ryan''s aide but her legs refused to move as the fear of death had already settled into her soul making her completely paralyzed mentally. The Lycanthrope smells her fear and opens its grotesque mouth unhumanly wide and prepares to pounce on its prey. Once again Ryan''s ears are filled with the screaming of a girl and that manages to pull him out of his past shock and makes him prop himself up to see the scene in front of him unfold.


    The Lycanthrope uses its insane Dexterity to jump ontop of the girl and sinks it rotten teeth into her abdomen as it picks her up effortlessly. While the girl continues to scream as the horrible monster is eating her alive, Ryan can only grit his teeth in anger as he doesn''t have anything that can help him save Lilabelle again. He slams his fists into the ground as her blood covers the creatures entire body with a thin layer of crimson red.


    "If only I had my talisman!"


    Ryan''s face of anger suddenly turns into realization as he can feel something inside of him click. He sticks his right arm out and it seems to disappear into a thin black circle. He quickly pulls it out and his once bare hand is covered in his old leather wraps and his most powerful rings, and one of those rings is his most used talisman. He puts his right hand on his injured side and initiated "Great Heal" which causes his body to emit a bright golden light. The four holes in his body disappear and his health bar is instantly brought back to full. He uses this newfound power to finally confront the beast again and hopefully kill it before Lilabelle is completely dead. Lilabelle seems to still be breathing but she is very pale compared to before and is passed out due to the traumatising experience of getting eaten alive.


    Ryan closes the distance instantly as he could feel his Ring of the Assassin come into effect and is now behind the monster without it noticing him. He focuses his power into his talisman and could feel the smooth handle of a long white scythe appear in his hand. He swings the unforgiving scythe downwards into the monsters back and through the cross. The Lycanthrope drops the unconscious Lilabelle and begins to screech at a loud volume. The screech is followed by the Lycanthrope beginning to fade away as it falls to the ground. Before its head manages to complete the satisfying thud, the entire beast is gone and the light left from it goes straight into Ryan.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Gained 10,000 Souls.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Ryan lets out a relieved sigh as he recognizes this as a message saying that he had officially beaten the Lycanthrope and has reaped the rewards from it. Then again he knew that his "Life Hunt Scythe Vol. 2" would reap mostly anything it touched but he made sure and went full power just in case. As if remembering something important, Ryan is suddenly alert again and checks on the small girl named Lilabelle. She has lost a lot of blood and is on Death''s door but Ryan is not worried as his hand touches her wound and she begins to glow a bright orange light. "Soothing Sunlight" was one of the most powerful healing spells and could heal multiple people at once and should only be used in case of emergencies, and this was definitely one of those times. As the colour returned to Lilabelle''s face, Ryan began to smile as he knew he had officially saved her and in the process had figured out how to gain access to his extensive arsenal of weapons and miracles of all kinds.

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part III. Chapter 3

    After Lilabelle seems to be completely stabilized and no threats seem to be in the immediate vicinity, Ryan gets a good look at his surroundings. He seems to be in an open field with thick woods surrounding them on all sides and the field has enough corpses in it to make a small hill. Ryan is extremely confused on why a little girl would be out here in the middle of what seemed to be a ferocious battle but this is a game in the Dark Souls series so anything could happen. Having seen some crazy things in Cinder Souls, this is almost like a walk in the park for him visually, but the smell is still overwhelming and overstimulating to the point that his nose is beginning to burn. He finally manages to use his left hand to cover his nose to help out a little bit.


    After inspecting the bodies, Ryan could tell that these people seemed to be soldiers of some kind since there was the same symbol on the flags scattered about and each person had their own Insignia classifying their rank. They seem to be NPCs because if they were players then they would be walking around about now. In Cinder Souls, if a player dies then they become hollowed which reduces the amount of health you have and you also become really hideous. The only way to become unhollowed is to use a humanity, which you get by killing another player or defeating a certain type of enemy.


    Ryan manages to wander around a bit and find his way back to where he had put Lilabelle as she begins to wake up. The adorable sound of her yawning is heard as she rubs her eyes and stretches like she has been sleeping for several hours. With a few blinks of her eyes, she is finally able to remember where she is and what had happened. She starts to rub her body profusely as if making sure she is not injured in any way. While sheis searching for injuries, Ryan starts to take in her features and remember what she looks like just in case of an emergency, definitely not because he is interested in her. Her white hair is put up in pigtails and doesn''t seem to be very long. She is also extremely short, maybe about 4''5 and weighing about 80 pounds. Her eyes are a solid silver colour and matches her clothes that are also the same silver colour. Her clothes seem to be a type of robe that is worn by priestess while also looking a little skimpy as it is very tight fitting, probably made that way for mobility and not protection. Ryan realizes that he has been staring at her for a good while now and she has noticed and is staring back.


    "What?"


    "N-N-Nothing, you were just staring at me so I decided to stare back!"


    Her voice became slightly high pitched at the end of her sentence as if she was embarrassed, then again Ryan didn''t like being stared at either but would''ve responded in a different manner that would probably lead to someone being injured. With again not knowing what to do next, Ryan decides to find out more about where he is at.


    "Hey Liliabelle, where am I exactly?"


    Lilabelle seems to be confused about what Ryan had just said and puts a hand on her chin and goes into a deep thought. She mumbles to herself for a little bit as if trying to remember something important but it seems to not be going well. After about 30 seconds of watching Lilabelle think, Ryan begins to grow restless since she never even gave him a single word as an answer but continues to drive away his impatience. As if a light bulb lit up above her head, Lilabelle has the expression as if she remembered something very important.


    "Now that my contractor is dead, I guess I have to return to the mercenaries guild. You can join me and Tio can answer any questions you have!"


    Ryan is completely baffled when hearing the fact that this young girl is in a mercenary guild or why she was hired to come out to witness what seemed to be a complete massacre but he would surely get to the bottom of this. Lilabelle puts out her hand and Ryan accepts it and she begins to lead Ryan towards the woods. She isn''t speaking at all anymore but she has a happy expression on her face as she steps over the endless number of corpses.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ''Maybe this world is more messed up than I expected."


    As they reach the woods Ryan notices a narrow path and Lilabelle seems to be heading straight towards it. Apparently she knows where she is going and Ryan can only trust that this won''t lead to something terrible for him or for the girl. As they enter the woods, everything becomes darker due to the thick tree line but Lilabelle still seems to not be worried at all even though they can only see about 15 feet in front of them. As if putting complete trust in the girl, Ryan essentially puts his body into autopilot and focuses on figuring out how to open the portal to his equipment again.


    ''I did it so instinctively that I can''t quite figure out how I made that portal. It wasn''t magic since it didn''t have an activation sequence and it wasn''t any miracle that I know of, but then again this is a new world and or game so anything could happen.''


    As the two continue to run on the path through the woods while not speaking, Lilabelle seems to be picking up the pace and saying something. Ryan is too lost in thought to even realize that she is basically yelling at him and heis finally brought back to reality after Lilabelle pulls his face down to hers and yells in his ear.


    "DUCK!"


    The hairs on the back of Ryan''s neck stand up as he is now able to sense danger very close to them. An object seems to be flying at him at high speeds and he manages to move his head to the left, dodging it completely. Ryan was able to hear the object and recognize the whizzing sound of it to conclude that it was an arrow. He turns around to look at what shot the arrow and sees a pure white skeleton with a bow that seems to be rotting in its right hand. It''s small yellow dots inside of it eye sockets seem to be brimming with hatred towards him. Knowing that skeletons are actually strong in the Dark Souls universe, Ryan decides to take the best course of action and not engage it. It''s only one skeleton, shouldn''t be that hard to run away right? Lilabelle begins to chant something but it is in a language that Ryan cannot understand but before long he realizes what it is. A miracle. Light begins to pour out of Lilablle''s body as the whole forest is now visible to Ryan and he can''t believe what he sees.


    It is as if a whole army emerged from the depths of hell as many variants of skeletons are following what was supposed to be the lone skeleton. Ryan is shocked by this sudden development and doesn''t know what to do. He looks towards the way they are heading and it seems to be clear so the right choice in this situation is to run. Without even listening to what Lilabelle would have to say, Ryan picks her up and puts her over his left shoulder as he begins to run down the path. She is completely taken by surprise and only manages to let out a small scream. Ryan isn''t running near to his full speed but he doesn''t know if Lilabelle''s fragile body could handle that speed. It hasn''t even been 10 seconds after he started running before he hears Liliabelle yell something out.


    "Frew!"


    Ryan can sense over 100 arrows heading their direction and decides that if he wants to protect Lilabelle and discover more about this world then he will have to get serious, even if it hurt Lilabelle in the process. As if the world around him goes into slow motion, Ryan turns around right before the arrows hit him and puts out his right hand. The arrows seem to stop mid-air and are suddenly sent flying back to where the came, followed by the sound of an explosion of wind. He had used one of the simplest miracles called "Force" and sent all the incoming targets back to their senders.


    With now not having to worry about any attacks for the moment, Ryan digs his feet into the ground and puts his right hand down to the ground. All of his muscles begin to flex intensely as he is really started to dig into his true physical prowess. Lilabelle tenses up as well as she can feel power being built up in Ryan''s body and prepares for the worst. In less than a second, Lilabelle''s eyes turn from seeing thick woods to recognizing a familiar town she grew up in over 5 miles away. She is no longer on Ryan''s shoulder but is in fact standing on her own feetwhile everyone in the area is staring at her. They all have the expression as if they had seen a ghost as this young girl appeared out of nowhere and caused a gust of wind to exploded from her body that blew away anyone within 10 feet of where she is now. Lilabelle looks around for Ryan but he is nowhere to be seen but something could be heard. A voice familiar to Lilabelle that seemed to be crying.


    "Lilabelle! *sobbing*You are back!"


    "Huh?"

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part IV. Chapter 4

    ''That girl''s body is pretty resilient to be able to withstand that high of a speed and not get torn limb from limb. Guess the residents here are stronger than the NPCs before.''


    Ryan is lost in thought as he obliterates the last skeleton of the massive army that once stood before him. He had decided to fight the skeletons that Lilabelle and he had encountered before without using any weapons, just fists with some miracles thrown in and the results he got were very pleasing. The army that once numbered near one thousand is now reduced to a pile of bone shards and rotten weapons. Skulls riddle the whole area as Ryan just stands there with his hands in both pockets. He expected the skeletons to be stronger but they were surprisingly slow and extremely brittle and broke easily to his miracles. Maybe he is just that powerful to where these monsters are next to flies to him. Ryan pulls his hand out of his pocket and looks at the leather wraps that cover his whole right arm.


    He remembered what these wraps went with and that was the Undead Legion set, one of his personal favourites. It doesn''t have a good physical defence but it is light and has high resistance to anything that isn''t physical. He decides to try to open the portal again to see what else he can get out of it. After looking distant for a few seconds, Ryan takes a deep breath and a thin black portal the perfect shape of his body appears in front of him. He takes a step through the portal and he can feel his body become heavier as the whole armour set slightly weighs more than he expected. He appears on the other side of the portal and it disappears.


    Slight strands of white hair hang over his face as he fiddles with his mask and face guard to adjust it so he can breathe better. His torn cape is flowing in the slight breeze. He looks down at his left hand is amazed by the intense detail put into his single gauntlet and it makes him question once again if this is real or fake. As if trying to cling to the false hope that the menu would appear and he could log out, Ryan puts out his hand and slightly swipes it down... Nothing.


    ''Looks like I''m stuck here until someone takes off my headgear or until I can figure out how to get the new menu to appear.''


    Ryan checks his health and sees that he had not lost any in the fight before but he was running low on Focus Points, which is what is used to cast miracles. Realizing that he might be weak with his miracles, Ryan tries his luck to receive a weapon to defend himself with. He makes a horizontal slash with his hand a portal is opened where the tip of his fingers sliced the air. As if waiting to see what poison he had picked, Ryan stands there anxiously. After about 10 seconds what seemed to be the hilt of a greatsword began to appear from the portal while being wrapped in chains. Ryan lets out a small laugh as it is fitting that he would get this sword especially with the armour he is wearing.


    He puts his hand on the hilt of the Farron Greatsword and rips it from its chains. He sticks his hand into the portal before it closes and pulls out a dagger that goes with the Farron Greatsword to make it complete. The heavy sword and dagger have a moveset that Ryan is very fond of and extremely efficient with.He has a huge smile on his face as if his costume has been complete, the only difference between what he is wearing and a costume is that this one comes equipped with deadly weapons.


    Remembering that he had just left the girl from the Mercenaries Guild in the middle of a street in a random town, Ryan decides it is time to go back and find her so he can ask this ''Tio'' some questions. If an onlooker was watching Ryan, then it would seemthat he had vanished into nothingness as he reaches the distant town in under a second. Sure he was sloppy at doing this and caused an immense force of wind to come off of him whenever he begins to run but that was something he could fix later.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    As the scene changed from the battle-scarred woods to the street of the town, Ryan notices that the girl he had left here is now gone. He lets out an annoyed click with his tongue and begins his search for the silver-haired girl. As he walks down the street with his hands in his pockets and his weapons sheathed, he can feel the stares of many as if they were judging him. He remembers that this armour set has an obnoxiously pointy helmet but he kinda liked it even though the majority of people didn''t. After about 5 minutes of just aimlessly walking, Ryan can hear the voice of a girl in an alleyway but he knows for a fact that it isn''t Lilabelle but he still decides to investigate because it seems she has a sense of urgency in her voice.


    As he makes his way into the alleyway, he expects to find a bunch of men surrounding a lone woman who would be a damsel in distress but in fact, it was quite the opposite. Three barbarian looking women were all surrounding an average looking man with the intent of murder on their faces.


    "You got your services from the MercenariesGuild so PAY UP!"


    The one in the middle was face to face with the man and screaming at him. The man is completely averting his eyes from the evil gaze coming from the burly woman. His eyes met with Ryan''s and he became slightly excited. What he did next was a massive mistake.


    "Ah! My business partner, why don''t you come help me take care of these women."


    The sly man managed to get free from the woman''s grasp and walks over to Ryan. He puts his arm around Ryan''s shoulder and a dagger came out of his sleeve. He held the dagger to Ryan''s neck and put a wicked grin on his face. The women noticethat the man now has a hostage and that they are in a bad situation. One of them seems to even be cursing Ryan out for putting them in such a tight spot. The man laughs as he now has the women in a corner but he can feel as is something is wrong. Something that is like his life is in danger. He looks back at Ryan and realizes his mistake. Through the odd looking mask a single red dot can be seen in the darkness. It has no pupil and frightens the evil man straight to the core but he is too paralyzed to run away. While not being able to move the man seems to be getting paler and paler and his body seems to be shrinking in muscle mass.


    The cause of this was one of Ryan''s curses he had acquired throughout his adventures which is Corruption of theAbyss. With this curse, if Ryan is caught off guard and touched then his body will let out a black slime that will take the shape of an imperfect dragon and he can even harness this power if needed but it has some serious risks he would not want to take. The small head of the dragon is sprouting out of his back and is currently latched onto the suspicious man, refusing to let go until it has completely consumed the soul of the man. Ryan doesn''t even have control of his body as the whole left side of his brain is infested with this corruption and it can take control of his body when awoken. The only way Ryan can be touched with this curse is if he is the one to initiate it, accept it (Such as shaking hands with someone), or if he is attacked, for the Corruption does not like to fight if the enemy is expecting it. After about 30 seconds of staring at each other, the dragon head recedes itself inside of Ryan''s body and grants him control again.


    After a few quick shakes of his head and a rapid blinking of his eyes, Ryan is finally able to realize what had happened and is surprised by how it feels to lose control of his body. Before, you just went into a 3rd person view of your character, but this time is different and he would like to never have it happen again and to be honest he completely forgot about this curse. After kicking the now dead body of the man, Ryan looked at his hands and wondered if there was a way to get rid of this curse.


    ''Well, looks like I''ll have to be more careful-.''


    WHHaAAM~


    Ryan''s thought is cut short by a quick punch to the face.

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part V. Chapter 5

    <table>


    <tbody>


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    <td>Punched in the face! 50 damage is done to your health.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    A soft thud echoes throughout the narrow alleyway as Ryan lands flat on his ass. Dazed and completely bewildered Ryan is scrambling his brain for answers. A few seconds later one of the barbarian looking women squats down and looks Ryan in the eye.


    "What the fuck did you do to him? You know we needed him alive right?"


    Ryan pulls down his leather face mask so it is easier to talk which he would regret later.


    "Well, I didn''t mean to. It''s just that-." Ryan sentence is cut off with a hand put over his mouth and a finger in his face.


    "How do you not mean to kill someone? *sigh* Well since you ''accidentally'' killed someone just by looking at them then you must be fairly strong, correct?"


    She kept her hand over Ryan''s mouth and he didn''t know how to respond so he just gave a shrug and a few small nods as if saying ''Ya I guess so''. As if accepting his answer the woman removes her hand from his mouth and the other two women are now standing beside her. They all have smiles on their faces and seem to have an idea. The one on the left breaks the brief silence while giggling.


    "Well, then you''ll be coming with us sweetie, sorry for this part though."


    Ryan tilts his head to the side as if not expecting what would come next and I mean, who truly could. The woman on the right delivers a swift kick to his head and Ryan can feel something sharp come out of her heel and impale itself into his cheek.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Ouch, boot to the face and then injected with Narcotics! You will fall unconscious soon! Very soon in fact!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    He can feel the world begin spinning as the narcotics kick into effect immediately. Before he is knocked out cold he manages to speak a few words of wisdom to the girls.


    "If you plan on taking me somewhere.... Then tie ropes to my legs and drag me but make sure not.... to... touch... me."


    "Alright, will do."


    The girl in the middle winks at him as that is the last thing seen before unconsciousness takes over Ryan.


    "Now to take him back to the guild!"


    Esmir goes to pick up the man she had just knocked out cold but her sister Eski holds out her hand to stop her.


    "Didn''t you hear the man? He said to get some rope and to not touch him, doesn''t it seem he was telling us something important?"


    "Sure," said the third sister Ester. "But I don''t care if the man is a germaphobe or not we need to take him to the Mercenaries Guild before the narcotics wear off."


    Eski thinks about it for a little bit and realizes that Ester is right and that they need to move right away if they want to make it in time!You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Well, I guess we have no choice then!"


    Eski decides that she will carry the man to the Guild and hoists him up and over her shoulder.


    *At the Mercenaries Guild*


    Ryan is quick to wake as the pain on his wrists is nigh unbearable. His gaze darts throughout the room but it is too dark to even make out any shapes. It smells very damp and moldy as he has no idea where he is or how he got here as his memory is a little fuzzy. As if trying to focus on something else that is not the shackles around his wrists, he decides to check his status in the health and focus point department. Almost full health with only about one-fourth of his focus points gone, not terrible. After about 10 minutes of waiting for someone to arrive, Ryan is becoming extremely bored and begins to think of all the miracles he could use before.


    ''Light heal, Tears of Denial, Dead Again, Eye of the All-Seer, ohhhhh this could help.''


    Ryan closes his eyes and focuses his power on his talisman ring and a bright light begins to form behind him. The bright light swivels around in the air as it travels from his ring to his right eye. As if a massive window was opened and the darkness banished, Ryan can now see everything in the room. What he doesn''t realize is that what caused this darkness is a blindfold but the miracle granted him sight through it. His sword is in the right corner of the room, accompanied with his dagger. His helmet is sitting on the table next to the sword-dagger combo and there are some tools that Ryan doesn''t recognize on the same table as the helmet. He looks to the left and sees a bed being held up by chains connected to the wall and it finally hits him.


    ''Am I in a jail? Wait, those women from before...''


    Flashbacks of the terrifying women fill his mind as he begins to wonder if they had headed his warning or not but by the situation he is in then they did, which is good. If they had jailed him for murdering that man then this would be very bad for Ryan but it seems they have a bigger plan for him. He thought about simply breaking these irritating chains and escaping this place but he decides that if he is patient then he can find what they want with him. After about 5 more minutes he can hear a weird noise that he hasn''t heard in a long time.


    GRUMBLE~


    His stomach is grumbling and he can feel a slight pain due to hunger. This confuses him since the hollowed have never needed to eat before so why now? All he does know is that this could be a problem if he gets too hungry and becomes impatient. As his hunger begins to grow worse he is able to sense something that can help him figure out what is going on. The aura of magic is leaking from the table his helmet is sitting on and he has definitely seen this aura before.


    ''Chameleon huh? Why would someone be waiting for me to awake as a table... Unless this is a test."


    As if realizing what is going on here, Ryan gets a slight grin on his face. He goes to snap his chains and try to confront the person but when he tries to pull them apart to break them, they get even tighter. He manages to look over his shoulder and see magic oozing from the chains and he lets out a puff of air. A magic he has never seen before is not a good sign for him as he doesn''t know the limits of this world''s magic now and is forced to act seriously. He decides to pull out one of his trump cards and end this charade right now.


    "Vow of Silence."


    Being one of the few miracles that require the caster''s voice to be spoken, a small ball of purple lightning drips from the corner of his mouth and falls to the ground. Purple lightning spreads throughout the whole room and a scream could be heard as the magic user that used Chameleon had all of her magic completely obliterated in a second. Before she could react after the scream, the snapping sound of metal could be heard followed by an extreme force of wind. The woman barely managed to cover her eyes to shield them from the blistering wind and before she could even uncover them a cold object was placed against her throat. She is caught completely off guard when she opens her eyes. She sees that the prisoner suddenly appeared before her with his sword placed on her throat all while he still hasn''t even removed the blindfold.

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part VI. Chapter 6

    "H-Hey, what are you doing!"


    The woman is stuttering due to the momentum shift of the situation. She was assigned to watch over the prisoner as he makes his escape and the Mercenaries Guild could get a real aspect of his powers. She was not supposed to be noticed but it seems that this would not be the case. Ryan moves his head and is looking towards the woman and it freaks her out completely since he has on the blindfold but she can feel her soul being pierced by his gaze. Ryan presses his sword against her throat harder and she can barely swallow without cutting herself.


    "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"


    The woman is shocked as she expected the man to say something more savage like but he is surprisingly calm, except for the fact he has his sword to her throat. She thinks for a second as if thinking of how to choose her words carefully and then finally comes up with an efficient answer.


    "A woman who was being a table until you somehow cancelled her magic and I don''t know you."


    Using his free hand, Ryan finally takes off the blindfold and a bright light is revealed. The light of his right eye is utterly mesmerizing as when you stared into it you could see the stars of the universe. This amazed the woman as she has never seen something so beautiful before in her life and never wanted to look away, but she was forced to by the expression on Ryan''s face. He was pissed because he could tell by her aura that she was lying like a child making excuses after being caught with their hand in the cookie jar.


    "You lie, now don''t fuck with me, who are you and what do you want from me?"


    "Well, the real question is how did you get here and that doesn''t involve me-."


    Her comment is cut short by the smashing of stone due to Ryan''s fist going into the wall behind her in a fit of rage. A crater was planted into the wall where his fist had hit and the cracks in the wall threaten to collapse everything at any second. The woman''s face goes pale as she has rarely seen such strength before and never from someone so skinny. Being in a tight spot she should call in some help but for some reason she can''t cast any magic as she has already tried to knock out Ryan but something had stopped her internally. She has no other choice other than to tell the truth since it seemed Ryan could see right through her facades.


    "My name is Tio and I''m one of the 12 leaders of the Mercenaries Guild. You are here for an evaluation and possible entry into the Guild. Please spare me... I have people to take care of!"If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Ryan says nothing as he continues to stare at the nearly crying woman, waiting for a single sign of her lying but none appeared. Seeing that she has told the truth and is still powerless from ''Vow of Silence'', Ryan sheathes his sword and deactivates Eye of the All-Seer. This is the woman that Lilabelle had spoken about and Ryan needs to find more information on where he is. Being disappointed that the beauty of Ryan''s right eye being deactivated, Tio let out a sad sigh.


    "So, did I pass your test to be able to enter the Guild?"


    Tio puts on a confused expression as she had expected the man to not want to join the Guild due to how angry he had gotten moments before. She thought about it for a few seconds, as some risks can come with hiring someone that is stronger than you since it is hard to control them but maybe they can find more out about him and blackmail him.


    "Sure, let me take you to the registration office."


    Tio walks over to the door out as she pulls a bunch of keys out of her pouch. Ryan notices that her hands are shaking profusely, then again he did basically threaten to end her life just a couple of seconds ago. A loud creaking is heard as she opens the door but once again Tio is met with a cold object to her throat. Her body goes stiff as she was truly not expecting this. She looks to who did it this time and it is someone she recognizes and this shocks her. A small girl is standing on a chair with a small dagger in her hand and a mean expression on her face. That mean expression is quickly turned into an expression of joy when the girl realizes who had come out the door.


    "Tio!"


    The small girl jumped from the chair into Tio''s chest while hugging her intensely. Tio is surprised by this but accepts the hug from the girl and gives one back. Ryan is completely bewildered as to what is happening since he can''t see what''s going on from behind Tio''s back. All he saw was a knife, a flash of silver, and then screaming.


    ''Man what a weird fucking Guild this is.''


    "What are you doing here?"


    "Well we all heard a loud noise from our rooms and we decided to set up traps for the prisoner if he had escaped you. Maybe even kill him if he had hurt you."


    Ryan gets a nagging feeling as if he had heard this person''s voice before but nothing comes to mind. He decides to just sit there and wait for Tio to get done with her conversation before asking any questions.


    "Well I sure had my hands full with this one but everything is alright now. I convinced him to join us, and he is strong!"


    ''Convinced? My memory says you were pleading for your life.''


    "Did you really?! You are really strong Tio! Let me see him."


    The face of a silver-haired girl pops over Tio''s shoulder and locks eyes with Ryan. They both begin screaming as they realize who each other are.


    "EEEHHHHHHHHH?!" *both at the same time*


    "Lilabelle?"


    "Frew?!"


    Tio looks at them both with an interested face as she would not expect her little Lilabelle to know anyone outside of the Mercenaries Guild that had not hired her services.

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part VII. Chapter 7

    "So that''s how you know each other."


    After Ryan and Lilabelle are reunited, Lilabelle gave Tio the story of how the tall man saved her. Tio is really impressed that this man named Frew, to their knowledge, was able to take down a level C beast down by himself. Seeing as he can truly be her most promising recruit, Tio decides to seize on the opportunity to uncover more about him. Hardly anyone this strong would be out in this part of the world.


    "So where are you from Mr. Frew?"


    "First off it is just Frew, and where I''m from huh?"


    Ryan takes a quick second to think about how he should approach this situation. Most likely NPCs would not have the mental capacity to realize that this is all a game nor would a regular human believe that he is from another world so saying the truth is out of the question. Since he is basically role-playing as an ''Abyss Watcher'', might as well play the part right?


    "I was once a part of an army of many in a land truly far away. We lived in secret, hunting down each Abyssal Monster we could find even destroying cities if any sign of the Abyss was shown, until one day we all went separate ways. One by one, all of my comrades died in their own battles and I am the only survivor of this once powerful but unknown army. That is my story, nothing more, nothing less."


    As they were walking to the registration office, Lilabelle followed Tio and Ryan with her eyes twinkling and mouth agape. She is amazed that this man was apart of an army capable of beating an Abyssal type monster! Ryan noticed this amazement and realized he might have gone a little overboard since he didn''t know if this world knew about most Abyssal types or if they only knew about the most powerful ones. He had also changed their original backstory from Dark Souls III to be able to fit into this new world but he just hoped that it was vague enough to where no one would ask any questions about it.


    "So you are a part of a secret army... Who kills some of the most powerful creatures known to exist..."


    ''Shit, Tio''s on to me.''


    "Well, that''s pretty cool if you ask me."


    ''...... Wait, what?''


    What Ryan thought was Tio being suspicious about his story was actually her just recapping and thinking it over. He guesses that either the Mercenaries Guild didn''t ask many questions or the NPCs in this game are not very intelligent, both sprouting from the fact that this could be a game or real life. They all enter the registration office and Ryan fills out the form. It simply asked what was your name, age, height, weight, and physical description of yourself. Tio explained that the name is so the contractors know who they are receiving and the rest is so if you die, you are easily identified. Once Ryan hands over the from, Tio opens up the drawer to the desk in the middle of the room and pulls out a piece of cloth with a metal plate on it. She hands it to Ryan and he looks at it carefully. The cloth is a bright blue shade with the metal being a dark shade of blue. Ryan can feel the glare of Lilabelle as she looks over his piece of cloth with envy.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "What is this exactly?"


    "It''s to show what rank you are, have it on your body at all time so you can enter in and out of the Guild." says Tio with a tinge of pride.


    Ryan acknowledges the importance of this cloth and ties it around his bicep on his right arm. He can still feel Lilabelle staring at him as if she wanted him dead. He is extremely confused as this girl seems to be extremely bipolar in turning from amazed to angry, or when he saved her, from scared to happy and skipping over dead people''s bodies.


    "Now that you are in the Guild, you will have a room to stay in the Guild and call your own. It is actually the room right across this hallway. Go ahead and check it out and I will be in to tell you more in a little bit."


    Ryan nods and walks out the room, Tio lets out a breath of relief and Lilabelle is now pointing her anger towards Tio. Tio notices this and looks over at her with a perplexed face.


    "What?"


    "Why is he a RANK A?!"


    As if an explosion of built up anger over several years is finally released from the floodgates of Lilabelle''s mind, she lets out this roar of rage at Tio. Tio is completely shocked but should''ve seen this coming for Lilabelle has been in the Guild for 5 years and just made it to Class A last week. She was the fastest and youngest person to reach Rank B and had her record shattered with someone entering the Guild at Rank A so her pride was easily hurt. No one has ever entered the Guild at Rank C let alone Rank A but Tio had the reasoning and power to do so.


    "You weren''t there for his evaluation for it was a scary one, people are probably still feeling his power to this second. Here, trying to cast a miracle."


    Lilabelle is baffled as to why Tio thinks so highly of this man or why she would think he is scary but decides to go along with what she says for now. She initiates the simple miracle of Refreshment but nothing happens. She tries again and still, nothing happens. Scared and shocked, Lilabelle looks at Tio with alarm written all over her face.


    "What is going on! Did he break me?"


    "Not quite, he casted something called ''Vow of Silence'' and it took out my ability to use magic and destroyed all of my spells within a mile in his vicinity. It seems it has also made it so you can''t cast miracles, what insane power."


    It finally clicks in Lilabelle''s mind that this man, Frew, is much stronger than she initially thought. She knew he had destructive power but nothing like this.


    "I guess playing the damsel in distress really did work well for us after all. He seems to be stronger than me, looks like I have some new competition."


    Lilabelle''s face full of alarm is now shifting into joy as she begins to giggle maniacally. Tio shakes her head but knows she can do nothing about it except to pray for Frew''s safety because once Lilabelle gets competitive, someone gets hurt.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Name</td>


    <td>Frew</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age</td>


    <td>21</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Height</td>


    <td>6''5</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Weight</td>


    <td>174 Lbs</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Physical Descrption</td>


    <td>Brown hair, Brown eyes, Scars on the right side of chin and left side of forehead, pointy looking helmet.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part VIII. Chapter 8

    Tio leaves Ryan''s room as she finishes explaining the basics of the Mercenaries Guild to him. As a Mercenary, you receive a rank that reflects how strong you are or thought to be. The higher the rank, the better paid but more dangerous the job. Pretty genericin Ryan''s opinion but there is something else that is important. The location of the Mercenaries Guild you sign up for is the only place you can receive jobs. With this, each Mercenaries Guild has their ownpeople special to their facility and if you have some of the strongest Mercenaries, your Guild as a whole receives better jobs. There are even some Mercenaries Guilds that specialize in certain types of work, ranging from Assassination, Monster Hunting, to even helping build houses, and the one Ryan has joined is combat oriented. It is ranked 4th among the combat Guilds and is known for having the most promising young talent. An example would be its lastest Rank A Lilabelle and now Ryan.


    Tio also explained how the ranks work and Ryan finally realizes how high of a rank he received. The ranks go alphabetically from E to A, E being the worst and A being the best. Beyond that is the special rank of K and G, which only are given to Kings, K, and people whoare strong enough to kill a Level S beast, being G. The monster levels go from E to A as well, with having the special class of S. Since a Lycanthrope was only a Level C beast, then Ryan canbarely imagine what a Level S would be like. Maybe they are similar to the world bosses from the first game. If one those would ever appear in this world then a lot of people would truly perish.


    Having the time to think about all the new information, Ryan sits down on his chair by his desk. His room has a queen-sized bed, a closet, an armour rack, a bookshelf, a desk with a chair, a lamp with some oil, but doesn''t seem to have a bathroom. He will have to ask about that later. He turns the swivel chair towards the desk and decides to look through the drawers to see if anything was left for him.


    ''More lamp oil, a small feather duster, and a rag huh. The basic essentials, that''s good.''


    Ryan looks at his lamp as he can see the flickering of the flame as if it were dancing to an exotic tune. The fire reminds him of one of hisbest friends, Edward, who was a God as well. Flashbacks of Edward and him fighting against the Immortal Army of Lanthier race through his head. The fight that created the first God, the God of Fire.


    "Edward behind you!"


    Edward expertly dodges the flashy blade with a quick weave of the head stabs his sword backwards, connecting with one of the Immortals. It lets out a loud screech as Edward ignites his sword with black flames. The Immortal falls to the ground as the fire continues to devour it until nothing is left but ashes.


    "Thanks, Ryan. This event is truly terrifying. Thousands of players have turned hollowed trying to beat the event but it seems it is just us now."


    "Yeah, my healing has kept us alive but not for much longer. No matter how many time we strike these Immortals down, they just come back. I guess that is why they are called Immortals."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Two Immortals rush towards Ryan but he hurls a massive lightning bolt and obliterates the two as the sound of thunder echoes throughout the battlefield. Seeing that he has run out of Focus points, Ryan tries to tell Edward to retreat but is met with a blade to his back. As Ryan sees the sword of an Immortal go through his chest, he can feel his Health go down to 1. Edward sees Ryan get backstabbed and rushes to his aide. With a quick cast of his left hand, a fireball is cast and thrown into the face of the Immortal. The Immortal reels backwards and Edward gives it a ''This is Sparta'' kick and sends it flying into three other Immortals. The Fireball begins to grow on the face of the Immortal as Edward picks Ryan up and walks away with him. As the Immortals get off each other, they notice the still growing fireball but it is too late. The fireball explodes and causes an explosion that leaves a crater 10 feet wide, leaving signs of life. With no more Immortals in sight, Edward puts down the injured Ryan.


    "How are you alive?! Their backstabs one shot our tankiest players!"


    "Hahaha, Tears of Denial never fail me you know?"


    Edward realizes that Ryan had cast Tears of Denial before the fight and begins to laugh. Tears of Denial save you from any attack that will kill you and leave you with 1 Health Point left. Edward has made fun of Ryan several times for casting it since it costs a lot of Focus Points and he has never seen Ryan even come close to ever needing it.


    "I guess it came in handy this time huh?"


    "Yeah it did, now time to heal up and lea-."


    Ryan''s sentence is cut off short by an arrow hitting him in the head. His body goes limp and disappears completely in front of Edward. As seeing he is the last one left and all four of his closest comrades are dead, Edward feels hopeless. The flame of the fighting spirit inside of him is practically nonexistent, but something is different. He has never seen any of his friends die before and it''s only a game plus he will meet then again at Firelink, but something is welling up beside hisnonexistent fighting spirit. The feeling of anger and despair. It has welled up so much that it is about to burst. While having these emotions stir up inside of him, the Immortal that shot the arrow decides it is time to take out Edward and head to the nearest town to murder its inhabitants.


    Edward hears the sound of an arrow draw back from not just any bow, but the one that killed his best friend and comrade in many battles. Hearing this is enough to make the pure rage inside of him explode, and rejuvenate his fighting spirit into a wildfire. Fire begins to spread in small places on his body and Edward''s eyes have turned a brilliant yellow. He looks at one of hishands and realizes what has happened to him, he has become Cindered, something that it is in the lore of the game that granted power equal to the Lords of Cinder from the Dark Souls series.


    Power begins to fill Edwards body as he can feel an inseparable connection to what is known as fire. The Immortal sees this and lets the arrow fly before Edward truly grasps his powers but it is too late. Edward continues to stare blankly into nothingness as the arrowraces towards him but explodes and turns into ash before it reaches him. This small explosion was followed by an explosion of the whole battlefield, completely turning everything within a mile into ash and soot. Ryan was watching all of this with his death cam and witnessed his friend become the first God.


    "Frew! We are having dinner in the cafeteria! Since you don''t know your way I''ll take you."


    The muffled voice of Tio was heard on the other side of the door and snaps him out of one of his fondest memories.

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part IX. Chapter 9

    "So the people in the guild have dinner with each other?"


    "Not quite, this is optional and only for people who are down on their luck moneywise."


    "Hmmm, makes sense."


    Ryan and Tio are walking down the empty halls of the Guild, on their way to the cafeteria, while making small talk. Ryan is beginning to get used to his new body as he was very stiff when he came into this world. Ryan''s ultimate goal, for now, is to figure out if this is game or reality and then figure out whose love he is supposed to accept but he assumes everyone has the same goal so he will leave that quest for someone else. He kinda wants to become a G Rank Mercenary just for the fun of it, seems like it would be easy enough, that is if he is able to be Cindered again. He has about a fifth of his actual potential available for use and he intends to figure out how to unlock the rest of it. He wants his title as the ''God of Miracles'' to be respected once again.


    The two finally reach the cafeteria and Tio opens the door to a dismal sight. The place is dimly light and it reeks of some sort of drugs which makes Ryan slightly cringe. Tio seems to not be affected by this as she casually walks up to what seems to be a bar and asks for a drink Ryan has never heard of. She waves Ryan over and pats the bar stool next to her.


    "So, do you drink?"


    "On occasion yes, but not as a daily occurrence."


    "Hmph."


    Tio is slightly surprised by this as she expected someone who had lost all of his comrades to want to drink away his sorrows. Especially being so young, he should not be as hardened as a Veteran when it comes to war but since she did make him a Rank A right of the bat she should think more highly of him. The dark-skinned bartender brings 3 glasses over to Tio and Ryan and pours a yellowish coloured liquid into all three.


    "Geez, alcoholic much Tio?"


    "No, I brought these 2 for you and I, newbie. People call me Mountain by the way."


    The name Mountain was fitting as the man was about 8'' tall, and has enough muscles that makes him look like he could break anyone like a twig in mere seconds. Ryan can notice the scars all over his arms and faces and is able to tell this man is a seasoned fighter.


    "I''m Frew."


    Not denying a free drink, Ryan lifts his glass towards the man named Mountain as thanks and takes a big sip. His throat begins to slightly burn as he can taste the familiar taste of whiskey. He likes whiskey and actually loves the burn from the harder liquors. Mountain looks at Ryan as if expecting something but has a disappointed face after a few seconds. Tio ignores the two as she downs the whole drink in one massive gulp. Tio starts coughing maniacally and starts to pound he chest as if trying to punch away the burn.


    "You gave us *cough* Dwarven whiskey?!"


    "Yeah T! It is a special occasion!"


    Mountain begins to laugh at Tio''s pain and even Ryan lets out a chuckle. Tio already has tears in her eyes and she is even beginning to become red-faced.


    "Can''t hold your liquor huh?"


    "That''s not it! *cough* I had ordered a drink that wasn''t that strong and didn''t expect to get the strongest drink to ever exist *hiccup*!"Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Mountain is laughing to the point where he is almost going to cry and his laugh is loud enough to rattle the bones in your body. He slams the table while continuing his fit of laughter and sends everyone''s glasses into the air, while Ryan easily snatches Mountain''s and his glasses without losing a single drop of whiskey, Tio, on the other hand, tries to catch hers but fumbles with it for a few seconds and it drops to the floor, shattering. Ryan hands Mountain his drink and they both chug the rest of their whiskey at the same time. Ryan and Mountain clasp each other''s hand and look at one another, looking like they are getting to arm wrestle.


    "You are good with your hands newbie, and telling by your grip you must be pretty strong, wanna test that strength?"


    The drink is beginning to make both Ryan and Mountain intoxicated, and when Ryan gets intoxicated, he can''t hold back from a challenge. Ryan pauses for a second to make a mental note about how he can feel intoxicated, unlike the last game and the burning feeling is a little too realistic for a game but who cares right now? He is making a new friend!


    "Sure old man but are you sure you''re bitting off a little more than you can chew, maybe you should lay off the drinks."


    A vein pops out of Mountain''s head and he begins to laugh at the skinny rookie, his eyes begin to burn with a fighting spirit that can melt your soul and his muscles flex to the point they rip his arm sleeves. Tio becomes worried and tries to stop it but to no avail.


    "Mountain! Stop! You are going to hurt the poor kid, you both might be Rank A''s but that doesn''t he is as strong as you! You don''t have to go all out!"


    "Don''t worry T, I can tell this youngin can hold his own, plus I want to see if he deserves the Rank A title you gave him."


    A wicked smile forms on Mountain''s face and he begins to stare into Ryan''s eyes. Tio would think Ryan would be scared at this point as very few men in this country can handle Mountain''s strength and presence but she was completely wrong. Ryan also has a wicked smile and his eyes have a slight shine in it as if wanting this and he truly does. This man named Mountain reminds him of one of his 4 comrades, named Crucifix, the God of Power, but Ryan knows him as Edwin, the man aspiring to be a pro wrestler.


    Edwin and Ryan are childhood friends and seeing someone with his same personality lights up Ryan''s fighting spirit. Plus he wants to test out his own strength as well. Knowing that she can''t stop the two horrifying people, Tio just sits back and enjoys the front row seat to what might be the Arm Wrestle of the Century while wondering who is going to clean up the shattered glass on the floor, then again this place isn''t the cleanest.


    "Ready rook?"


    "As much as I''ll ever be."


    "You better pray so, go!"


    Tio had expected that Mountain had got Ryan off guard and would win in less than 5 seconds but something was off. Mountain seemed to be straining to move Ryan''s arm down but was failing to do so. The worst part was Ryan was not even breaking a sweat and still had the same wicked smile on his face. Mountain begins to grunt with each push and is even drenched in sweat already. After about 30 seconds of not moving at all, Mountain starts to chuckle.


    "You''re much stronger than I thought! Looks like I''ll go all out! CINDERED STRENGTH!"


    Ryan''s face becomes slightly worried but changes back to the same demeanour as before. Mountain''s arm begins to burn with fire and ashes begin to fall off the fire.


    Ryan can feel the burn through his leather wraps but he can''t lose this now since this isn''t a test of strength but overall power, he will have to fight back with his own powers, besides he needs to learn how to control this curse if he wants to be as strong as possible. If viewed from the outside, it would seem Mountain is winning but if you were able to look through Ryan''s leather wraps then you would be able to see Ryan''s veins are beginning to grow bigger and seem to wiggle as if having their own conscience. Mountain''s face that was once full of confidence is now one of horror as his special technique that has been able to overpower any challenger he has ever fought is now being overpowered by a newbie.


    The worst part is that Ryan is staring into Mountain''s eyes and Mountain has done the same, but Mountain noticed a huge change. Ryan''s left eye has turned into a solid red dot and reminds Mountain of a wild, Corrupted monster. Before Mountain could truly think over what Ryan has inside of him, his arm begins to be pushed towards the table but Mountain has never backed down from a challenger and won''t now. He will have to do something that could break Ryan''s arm or even his whole body.


    "Transformation: Abyssal Demon!"


    "No Mountain DON''T!"


    *SNAP*


    Tio scream is drowned out by the sound of bones shattering and the roar of an injured man.

 The End is Actually the Beginning Part X. Chapter 10

    "Woah woah rook, calm down!"


    Ryan has his dagger pulled out and pressed to Mountain''s throat. His left eye has turned back to its normal colour but it is full of an unyielding bloodlust. Mountain''s arm is completely snapped in half and Ryan still has it pressed to the table with a grip that is starting to splinter Mountian''s bones in his hand. Mountain is wincing in pain as he is pleading for his life but Ryan has the aura of murder surrounding him. Tio is trying to pull Ryan away from Mountain but can''t even budge him an inch. Ryan begins to speak and his voice is followed by an overlaying whisper that seems to echo what he says. His voice seems to even be a snarl of a wild animal.


    "If the Abyss shows itself, then we will destroy it (If the Abyss shows itself, then we will destroy it), even if we kill millions to do so (even if we kill millions to do so). For our undying hunger is that of a bloodthirsty wolf (For our undying thirst is that of a bloodthirsty wolf), and the wolf pack is forever searching for an end to the abyss (and the wolf pack is forever searching for an end to the abyss)."


    Everyone in the room is standing up, weapons draw and ready to defend their good friend Mountain, but he waves them down with his free hand. He looks back into the eyes of Ryan but with conviction instead of terror.


    "You''re an Abyss Watcher huh, I should watch who I pick fights with now if you are alive again."


    "Wait, what do you mean Mountain!"


    Tio, who is completely astounded that Mountain is calm with a snapped right arm and a knife at his throat, is fumbling to find a way to help him out but Mountain gives her a reassuring smile.


    "Don''t worry T, just watch. Transformation: Clear"


    Mountain lets out a few deep breaths and Ryan stumbles backwards and lands on his back. He is sweating profusely and he is practically wheezing. Ryan barely manages to pull himself together and be able to sit up. After a few rapid blinks, Ryan has realized what has happened and needs to leave immediately. He looks around and sees everyone in the room is staring at him with expressions ranging from terror to interest. He gets up to leave and looks at his former opponent, Mountain, and remembers that he snapped his arm in half and couldn''t leave him like this. Scrambling for a miracle to heal him on the spot, Ryan decides to use a miracle he had personally made a while ago and cast "Second Chance Given By One". A bright white light swarms the entire room, followed by a blast of wind and by the time anyone can open their eyes, Ryan has disappeared.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Are you ok Mountain!"


    Tio, who was looking at the empty space where Ryan had been, turned around to make sure her old friend was okay but was surprised at what she saw. Mountain''s arm was completely healed and beyond that, the shirt he had torn seemed to be completely sewn back together and there were three glasses back on the bar. Tio looks down to where the shattered glass once was but it is no longer there. Mountain uproars in a loud laugh and shakes his head.


    "If someone told me that we had an Abyss Watcher come back to life then I would''ve never used another Abyss type transformation for as long as I breathed. They really hate it when people even mention the word let alone use it as a body modification."


    "What do you mean Mountain! What is an Abyss Watcher?"


    "Well T, in the land of Farron, where I hail from, there is a legend about an army under the Old Wolf of Farron that sought out to cleanse the Abyss and did anything to do so. A special task force named the Abyss Watchers were formed and it is said that a Corruption entered the hearts of the warriors and they began to murder each other. It is said that only one was left standing and no one knows what happened to him and it is also said that he has all of the power of his comrades inside of him and is waiting for the Abyss to show itself again to come back once more. It seems that this man named Frew is that last warrior and that would mean the Abyss is making moves again."


    "But I thought it was sealed! Does that mean the seal is broken!"


    "Most likely, for I fear the worst for Anor Londo if so, but if he is here then maybe we can destroy it once and for all."


    *Back in Ryan''s room*


    Ryan stood with his back against the door so no one could enter. He needs time to really dig deep into his memory to realize what is going on. He remembers reading the lore about the Abyss Watchers and how they became to be. It is said they partook in wolf''s blood and some theorize it is that wearing the armour will make you connected to them and the Soul of Artorias himself.


    With the armour of the Abyss Watcher''s being what was given to him, Ryan can''t help but feel this is a sign of what is planned for him, to become an actual Abyss Watcher and banish the Abyss like the former ones were unable to do and he actually embraces it. He always thought the fighting style of the Abyss Watchers was badass and would love to become one but there is a slight problem. He has the curse inside of him that is actually the Abyss so should he kill himself? No, he can do something that can bring honour back to the Abyss Watchers name. Do the same to the Abyss as what it did to the originals Abyss Watcher''s, use the Abyss to destroy the Abyss.


    ''If I can harness this power and use it to destroy the Abyss once and for all.... Then the original Abyss Watchers can rest in peace.''


    At this point Ryan doesn''t even care if this is game or reality, what he does care about is getting stronger and finding his friends if they are here, for if he is wanting to kill something stronger than a God, then he will just have to get multiple gods to fight it. What Ryan thought was the end of his epic journey with his friends, was actually the beginning of many new ones.

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More. Chapter 11

    After figuring out what he is to become and what his final goal is, Ryan is mentally and physically exhausted. Not wanting to face Tio or Mountain at the moment, Ryan locks the door so no one can intrude on him going to sleep. Ryan manages to slip out of his armour and neatly puts it on his desk. He remembers that he had left his helmet and face mask in the first room he awoke to but figures that it would be best to get it when he wakes up tomorrow. Having nothing but a loincloth on, Ryan goes to slip into his bed but notices something in the corner of his eye. There is a mirror on the wall and when looking at himself, Ryan lets out an audible gasp.


    His face isn''t what it should be. Ryan had made his face different from his own on his character from Cinder Souls but his face right now is identical to the one in the real world. The only difference is that the scars that Ryan had accumulated through the last game are still there. After touching his face for a while, amazed at the insane detail in the structure of his face, Ryan notices that his body looks as skinny as he actually is in the real world but it is extremely muscular. Every muscle in his body is extremely defined to the point where it looks like he has no body fat at all. Maybe he got his weight wrong when he signed up for the Guild?


    Not minding his new body but still freaked out that he has his actual face, Ryan manages to peel his eyes from the mirror and climb into his bed. The warmth of the cloth blanket wraps his body as he enters a peaceful slumber.


    ''You are the wolf and the Abyss is your pray but for now, you must defeat the foe coming for your soul.''


    Ryan shoots upright in his bed as he swore he heard someone whispering in his ear while he was asleep. With his lamp being turned on and the darkness being vanquished, Ryan can see that he is still alone in his room. He couldn''t tell what time it is since he doesn''t have a window in his room but he feels refreshed. When looking at his Health and Focus, they are both completely full which is good news to Ryan. He was slightly worried about if there are Estus Flasks or not and it seems if they aren''t real then at least he can get his Focus back by sleeping. He can use his Focus to heal himself so he should be alright after a day if he acquires any injuries or diseases.


    Ryan gets up from the stiff bed and when he takes off his blanket the cold nips at his body and makes him shiver. It is a lot colder than he remembers but maybe it was because he had his armour on before. Not wanting to stand in the cold in a loin cloth for much longer, Ryan puts on his armour and equips his greatsword and crooked dagger. He goes to unlock his door but it just pushes open when touched. Confused and worried, Ryan goes to see the latch for the door is frozen and the metal had shattered. Now that he thinks about it, he can definitely see his breath so that must mean it is extremely cold and since this is the case but he must stay on guard because he has no idea what is going on. He pulls out his greatsword with his right hand and takes out his dagger with his left hand.


    He looks through the crack of the door that is already open and tries to see any signs of life but it is pitch black.


    ''Damn, do they not have windows in this place?''


    Going back to his desk, Ryan grabs his lamp, which is basically a lantern and attaches it to his waist. With a light source now, Ryan starts walking down the hallway to find his helmet. He would just use miracles to light the whole place up but he wants to save his Focus for now. His sword is scrapping the floor as he walks, leaving a mark on the floor so Ryan knows where he has been. It is an old tactic but Ryan doesn''t know his way around the Guild and if needed to, he can buff out the scrape with a miracle.


    After about 30 seconds of walking, Ryan recognizes the heavily barred door of the room he was first in when he met Tio. With a small push, the door opens with a loud creak that echoes throughout the halls. The floor is frozen over and almost makes Ryan slip when his foot touches the ground but he expertly and ''gracefully'' catches himself. With being caught off guard from the extra slippy floor, Ryan makes sure to watch his step from now on but something catches him off guard again.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "Ryan! Please help!"


    Tio is standing there with her body frozen from her neck down. Ryan slightly tilts his head as he does not know why she is inside of a giant icicle but he does see his helmet! He quickly runs over to Tio and she lets out a sigh of relief but Ryan doesn''t intend in helping her yet. He breaks the ice over his face mask and helmet and puts them on.


    "Man, why are these so cold? What did youdo Tio?"


    "Why are you blaming me?! Wait, why aren''t you helping me?!"


    "Aren''t you like one of the leaders of the Mercenaries Guild? You should be powerful then?"


    "Yeah, but I''m not specialized in anything that could get me out of here SO HELP ME ALREADY!"


    "Ugh, fine but you owe me."


    With a quick whip of his hand and a slash of his sword, the ice encasing Tio''s body is shattered into many pieces. Tio lands on her hands and knees and is breathing heavily. Not only is her body bone-chilling cold but it is hard to breath when your chest is frozen solid. Ryan kicks a piece of the ice to the side as if wanting to say something but waiting for the right moment.


    "So um.... About yesterday-."


    "Look, don''t worry about it. Mountain went too far and got hurt because of it. Also, he isn''t mad at you but is wanting to meet you immediately to make amends but first, we must take care of the current situation."


    Ryan nods his head with enthusiasm as the reassurance of knowing yesterday''s mishap will be fixed soon. Tio explains to Ryan how someone was brought in as a possible recruit and they went through the same process Ryan did, including tying her up and having Tio disguise herself to evaluate how they react but it went wrong. The woman in question froze everything she touched and froze Tio solid while also escaping the room. The goal now is to find the woman and contain her before she does more damage to the Guild or anyone in it.


    "How long have you been frozen?"


    "About 5 minutes."


    "Alright, then she couldn''t have gone too far in a building she isn''t familiar with."


    Deciding that he would need to use miracles if he is to find her before she manages to hurt someone, Ryan begins searching through his head for the best miracles for this situation. He holds out his right hand and Ryan becomes encircled with circular incantations of several types of miracles. As if choosing which ones to use now, Ryan begins to read them one by one since he doesn''t remember all that he has in his arsenal. He puts out his hand and touches 3 of the 24 circles surrounding him. These three were Flourishing Light, Eye of the All-Seer, and Oath of the Gods. Flourishing Light illuminates the entire room or hallway that Ryan is in since all of the lamps/lanterns are put out. Eye of the All-Seer is to see what can cause all this ice to form and where the source is. Finally,Oath of the Gods is a miracle that Ryan made that combines the powers of Sacred Oath, Great Magic Barrier, Tears of Denial, and Carressing Tears. 2 of the 4 increases his defence and resistances to all types of spells, miracles, dark magic, and pyromancies. Caressing Tears cures and prevents all ailments such as poison and frostbite and Tears of Denial makes it so if an attack will kill Ryan, then it will only take him to 1 Health and he can escape. He uses about one-fifth of his Focus when casting all of these miracles and it might be overkill but someone can never be too prepared for an unknown enemy or power. Ryan also noticed he is becoming more proficient in casting miracles as they do not take as much Focus as some were yesterday which made Ryan happy.


    Tio, who is absolutely amazed at the varieties of Miracles Ryan seems to have, lets Ryan take the lead and is following close behind him. He is continuing to scrape the ground and Tio seems to not mind or maybe she isn''t noticing since she is on high alert and looking for this mysterious ''Ice Lady''. The ice is letting off an aura that Ryan has never seen before and it is worrying him a little but if it comes down to it, he always has a trump card, just it might not end well for this town if he has to use it.


    The illuminated hallway shows no signs of life but the air has gotten colder and telling by the aura surrounding them, Ryan and Tio are getting closer. They get to the end of the hallway and it seems the door was blown off the hinges. Ryan enters the room and can''t quite understand what he is seeing. Lilabelle is sitting in the middle of the room with the head of a woman with a veil covering her face, on her lap. Ryan blinks a few times to make sure theexcessive amount of ice is created by this woman and sure enough, that is what the Eye of the All-Seer says.

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part II. Chapter 12

    The woman who seems to be the cause of this ice has shining blue hair and a flowing white gown. Ryan feels like he has seen this person before but he can''t figure out why. Lilabelle is humming while petting the head of the woman and it issurprisingly weird seeing a full grown woman with her head in the lap of a child. Lilabelle finally notices that Ryan and Tio have entered the room and she greets them with a warm smile. Tio runs over to Lilabelle to see what she has done to the woman but fails to notice the ice covering the floor and slips, causing her to face plant into the solid ice. She slides over to beside Lilabelle and lifts her cutup face from the ice with tears streaming down her face.


    "Owwwwww~."


    A pitiful tone came out of Tio''s mouth as she can feel one of her eyes begin to swell up. Lilabelle just giggles and puts her free hand on Tio''s head.


    "There there, you''ll be fine."


    A seemingly beautiful light wraps itself around Tio''s face, healing her cuts and black eye. Tio gives Lilabelle a thankful grin but Ryan has quite the opposite reaction. His face is covered in disgust as his Eye of the All-Seer can see through the heavenly disguised facade of Lilabelle''s miracles. This one was wrapped in darkness and is apart of dark miracles that Ryan has forbidden to be used in Cinder Souls. "Fair Trade" is a dark miracle that heals whatever person the caster wishes but the caster steals years of their life. In Cinder Souls you could not use it on other players but players used it on powerful NPCs without even realizing the consequences. This dark miracle doesn''t take any focus to use so it was used in the FirstWar of Gods to heal the NPC Commanders and within the next week the NPCs internal organs were turned into liquids due to the miracle. They died truly horrible deaths and being the God of Miracles and also loving NPCs, Ryan immediately banned all use of this dark miracle and whoever broke these rules received immediate punishment.


    ''If she knows this intermediate dark miracle then she must know many other, more horrifying, ones as well.''


    Finally pulling herself together, Tio manages to question Lilabelle.


    "How did you manage to do.... this?"


    Tio points to the full grown with her head placed in a child''s lap.


    "Simple, she tried to attack me and I subdued her."


    Tio was a little suspicious on how Lilabelle caused this chain of events to happen but decides to not dig any further on how Lilabelle subdued her but ask more on what powers this woman tried to use on Lilabelle. While Tio investigated Lilabelle, Ryan decided to get his mind off of the dark arts and turn his attention to the thin ice covering the whole room. Scraping a piece off with his sword, Ryan bends down and picks up the small broken off ice crystals. He rubs them through his fingers for a few seconds and he thinks to himself that he has certainly felt this type of ice before. He says ''type of ice'' because this isn''t normal ice, it doesn''t seem to melt at all since no water is being soaked into his leather wraps. It is extremely strong since it took him a good amount of strength to break Tio free even though it didn''t look like it.Stolen story; please report.


    He begins searching through his mind for any hints of this type of ice being related to any powers in Cinder Souls and then it finally hits him. His eyes open wide as he looks at the ice, then the woman, then the ice again. A loud click of his tongue could be heard as he starts to walk over to Lilabelle, the woman, and Tio while looking slightly annoyed.


    ''One of Austin''s 12 disciples huh. Seems that there really are other players here.''


    Ryan is finally standing near Lilabelle and she gives him another warm smile. Inside he can feel his emotions twist and turn as he can assume what she really is capable of but he barely manages to give her a faint smile back. He crouches down and gets a close look at the woman. It is definitely who Ryan is thinking but she does look different. Before she had elegant looks that could warm your heart but the power to ''freeze'' your body. Now she seems to have a big case of RBFS, better known as Resting Bitch Face Syndrome. She was always nagging Austin about this or that so Ryan isn''t surprised to see that in real life she had the bitch face to match her personality. She also thought very lowly of Ryan so he is not excited to see her. Ryan doesn''t know what Lilabelle has done but it seems to be an ability of some sorts because it is hard to see Externia, the Ice Witch, be able to get over her pride and lay on a child''s lap. Ryan decides to ask Externia some questions but needs Lilabelle to do something first.


    "Lilabelle, can you release this woman from her trance?"


    "I don''t know Frew, she is powerful and I don''t think you can handle her."


    "I think you forget that I saved your life when we first met."


    "Oh yeah, you ''saved'' me. Sure, whatever."


    Ryan is confused on why Lilabelle put extra emphasis on the ''saved'' part, he did bring her back to life after the Lycanthrope killed her... right?


    With a quick snap of her fingers and the words ''Release'' coming from Lilabelle''s lips, Externia wakes out of her slumber and is completely baffled. She raises her head to see the frame of a small child and jumps backwards. Dazed, Externia shakes her head and finally sees the people who are around her. One was a small child with a silvery hair but a truly evil aura, to her right was a busty woman with brown hair and an interested expression. To the left was a man clad in armour she recognizes from her favourite game series but he has the aura of someone who has haunted her for the past 2 years.


    "THE GOD OF MIRACLES?!"


    Ryan freezes in thought and stares blankly at the woman who called him by his old title and who might destroy his roleplay as an Abyss Watcher.


    "Shit."

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part III. Chapter 13

    "The God of Miracles? Tio, what is that?"


    Tio gives Ryan a shrug as he tries to play dumb to the woman''s past comment. The woman known as Externia swears to the Chexican that this is his nemesis, Frew, The God of Miracles. As Externia goes to say something she can feel a glare pierce her entire being. Ryan has a stare that could kill the weak-hearted and Externia also notices that his ring is shining, meaning he has a miracle ready. Taking the hint, Externia shuts her mouth and focuses on her current situation.


    "Where am I exactly?"


    "You were brought in as a possible recruit to the Mercenary Guild. You were going through evaluation but you escaped before I could tell you what happened."


    Externia lets out a loud ''Ahhhhhh'' as if she is quickly piecing together what has befallen her. She seems to be a little sceptical at first and is constantly looking at her hands which seem to be letting out small snowflakes. Ryan remembers how Externia gained her powers. Being a curse that made her freeze anything she touched, Externia happily accepted it at the time without knowing the future consequences. Those consequences seem to be affecting her right now. Tio continues to explain the process while Externia listens closely but the sound of a stomach grumbling interrupts everything. Externia blushes a little as she can feel hunger settling in quickly and Ryan thinks of a way to take of this situation.


    "Tio, you and Lilabelle go get her registration ready, I''ll take her to the cafeteria and get her something to eat. She can''t think about if she wants to join or not with an empty stomach right? Plus all I had was alcohol last night so I''m actually starving."


    "Sounds good, I''ll leave it to you, Frew."


    Tio and Lilabelle leave the room as Ryan walks over to Externia. He holds out his hand and helps her up from her sitting position. She keeps looking at his right eye as a beautiful view of the galaxies is shown but this is not the time to be admiring Ryan''s powers.


    "First off, don''t call me The God of Miracles, just call me Frew. Secondly, I have no idea what is going on so if you want to ask me about where we are or what this game is, I have no answers."


    "First off, don''t tell me what to do. Secondly, I don''t care what you have to say about anything."


    Ryan wasn''t surprised that Externia was being thick headed about the current situation since she was always a bitch to Ryan and he couldn''t stop her enteral torment before.... but now.


    *ZZaAAPpP*


    As if lightning had struck Ryan, he pulls out his greatsword with a speed faster than Externia can see and it is doused with heavenly electricity. The electricity nips at Externia''s neck as she lets out a small yelp in surprise. His menacing look scares Externia straight to the core but her pride will not let her back down. She takes a step forward and presses the blade against her neck as the lightning is electrifying her whole body. Her body is shaking as the feeling of being tazed is flowing inside her and her mind is beginning to go blank. She wanted to say something witty but the pain is unbearable and she falls down as she once did before. When she finally recovers and looks back at Ryan, his sword is pointed right at her face.


    "You were going to say something witty about not caring about dying and just coming back right? Wrong, this is something new. You can feel pain, taste things and we even have a sense of smell. I don''t know what happens if you die but would you like to find out for me? Or would you like to help me out by finding Chexican for me?"You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Externia looks away as she hates Ryan in general for what he is to her master Chexican, or as Ryan knows him, Austin. The problem is that he is the only person she knows from Cinder Souls that she has met so far. Sure she could go look for the other 11 disciples and have them help her but it would be a lot easier to find her master again if Ryan was helping her.


    "Not many people know Master Chexican as well as you Frew. Since this is the case I will agree to not calling you by The God of Miracles and also help out in finding my Master, but that is it."


    "Deal."


    The crackling of lightning is no longer heard as Ryan sheathes his weapon. He is glad that he didn''t actually have to fight her since he has never seen her true strength and he doesn''t have most of his old strength, but she doesn''t know that.


    "Can I ask you a question at least Frew?"


    "Sure."


    Externia looks at her ice white hands as Ryan is confused about what she wants to ask about.


    "Did I... hurt anyone?"


    "Not that I know off. On a better note, I''ll show you the cafeteria so you can eat."


    "Alright."


    Ryan leads Externia through the hallways as he follows the long scrape mark leading back to his room. Knowing his way from there, he quickly takes them through the hallways and soon their noses are filled with the smell of biscuits. Externia is pleasantly surprised that what Ryan was true and you could actually smell in this game, even though it is considered impossible. Ryan opens the door and sees the same cafeteria he saw last night. As he said to Tio, he had not eaten anything at all last night and in fact, he didn''t eat anything the whole day but had one alcoholic drink. He can feel his stomach begin to hurt with hunger pains, but it actually seems to be fading.


    "Frew! Just the man I was hoping to see!"


    Ryan turns his head as he heard the bone-shaking voice of the man named Mountain. Mountain seems to be extremely happy with seeing Ryan again but Ryan was anything but happy. He still feels guilty about almost killing Mountain and doesn''t know how to confront him. Ryan turns around to see where Externia went but sees that she is already making her way to where the food is. Not being able to escape his fate, Ryan walks over to the bar and takes a seat. Mountain gives a Ryan a drink and he warily accepts it.


    "Hey Mountain. Are you okay?"


    "OKAY?! I am meeting a legend in the flesh!"


    Ryan has a bewildered face as he has no idea what Mountain is getting at.


    "What do you mean?"


    Ryan takes a sip of his drink after saying this and can feel the tangy flavour of fresh orange juice dancing on his tongue.


    "You are an Abyss Watcher, correct?"


    Ryan spits out his drink all over Mountain after hearing this. His eyes are extremely wide as Ryan is completely caught off guard. Mountain just lets out another laugh as the orange juice begins to stain his shirt.


    "I knew it! I am from Farron you know. We have been waiting for you to come back for thousands of years now but to actually meet you in the flesh... It is truly humbling."


    "Wait... Farron is still standing?"


    Ryan is confused as it mostly was a poisonous swamp in Dark Souls III and infested with creatures that were absolutely horrifying.


    "Your final resting place is no longer standing as the Tomb of Carthus collapsed a few thousands of years ago but the kingdom itself is still there. We have held strong in your absence!"


    Hearing that there was a kingdom besides the swamp baffles Ryan but he remembers something.


    ''The bridge! The one with the Old Wolf of Farron on it! There must be a kingdom beyond that. Interesting. So that means the map of Dark Souls III is in this world and so is the first Dark Souls. I wonder if Dark Souls II is involved or even some of the Cinder Souls places.''


    "What makes you think I am an Abyss Watcher exactly?"


    "Everyone in Farron awaits the day that the Abyss Watchers comes back and saves the Old Wolf while also reviving the Undead Legion and after seeing your reaction to using an Abyssal transformation, I knew it was you! You are the last Abyss Watcher!"


    Mountain seems to be getting more and more excited by the second, waiting in anticipation for Ryan''s response and for him to confirm if he is the last Abyss Watcher or not.


    *Sigh* " I am not the last Abyss Watcher."

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part IV. Chapter 14

    "WHAT?!"


    An ear-shattering roar verberates through the room as Mountain yells at Ryan in disbelief of what he just said. Ryan winces in pain as Mountain might have burst one of his eardrums. With the ringing in his ears finally fading away, Ryan puts up a hand to stop Mountain from saying anything else.


    "I''m not sure if I am the last Abyss Watcher. There could be others, but yes I am an Abyss Watcher."


    With hearing that Mountain has calmed down a little bit. He is proud of himself for discovering the newbies secret. Now knowing that his suspicions have been confirmed, Mountain is ready to ask Ryan what he wanted too to begin with.


    "So, have you found yourself a team yet?"


    Ryan gives Mountain a confused face as he has no idea what Mountain is talking about. Mountain assumes that Tio had informed Ryan what teams are but he is wrong.


    "Well, it seems you don''t know what a team is. A team is basically a group of people you do jobs with on a daily basis. The team goes under a special name that sets them apart from other teams."


    Ryan easily guessed what a team is since he had one back in the first Cinder Souls but he didn''t know if it is different here or not so he played dumb.


    "No, I have not found a team yet. Why, do you want me to join yours?" Ryan asks.


    Mountain smiles at Ryan and shakes his head no.


    "I want to join whatever team you create and or join. Being from Farron it will be an honor to follow you into battle."If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Mountain bows his head to show respect to Ryan because he really is a living legend at the moment. Ryan thinks about how to approach this situation because you never want to get attached to a set of NPCs since they die easily but the people in this world seem stronger, smarter, and more independent. Ryan ends up on the conclusion that having a team will be an ideal situation and Mountain will make a good addition to it.


    "Alright, I''ll ask Tio about getting our team made. If you have any recommendations for people to join us then I would like to hear them later, for now, I''m going to go get something to eat."


    Mountain is beaming with excitement as he nods and lets Ryan go get some breakfast. Ryan walks to the back of the cafeteria and walks up to a window that leads into the kitchen. He peers into the window and sees a short, burly man in the kitchen stirring a pot. Ryan goes to get his attention but the dwarf puts up his hand to make sure Ryan doesn''t say a word. The dwarf takes his wooden spoon and puts it up to his mouth, sipping the stew inside of it to make sure the taste was up to par.


    The dwarf smiles at the food he has just made and picks up the put by the handles. The mittens on his hands are stretching from the fact his hands barely fit inside of them. He walks from the fire the pot was over to the window Ryan is standing at. Once there, the dwarf walks up a small set of stairs to where he is able to see through the window and serve food to people. He sets the pots down and pulls out a bowl from an area that is not visible to Ryan. He gently pours some beef stew into the bowl and hands it to Ryan.


    "Thank you."


    "No problem newbie, I''m Gim. If you are ever hungry then just come to me!"


    "Alright, thank you Gim!"


    Ryan goes to the nearest wooden table and sits down. He goes to eat some of his stew and notices he doesn''t have a spoon. He turns back towards the kitchen and can see a spoon fly through the air and Ryan catches it with ease. Ryan sees Gim give him a toothy smile and Ryan smiles back.


    ''What a nice guy. I feel like I''ll like it here.''


    It isn''t long before Ryan has completely devoured his food since he hasn''t eaten anything since he has come to this world. The food soothes him completely and causes Ryan to feel warm on the inside. Now with eating off of his to-do list. He has many other things to do today.

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part V. Chapter 15

    Ryan takes his bowl over to the kitchen and sets it on the counter. Gim notices this and smiles at Ryan, Ryan nods at Gim and goes to find Externia. Ryan''s head pans back and forth as he looks in the cafeteria for the Ice Witch and he finally spots her. He can see her being lead out of the cafeteria by Lilabelle. Assuming that Lilabelle is leading Externia to Tio to get registered the guild, Ryan follows them since he needs to talk to Tio anyways.


    Ryan leaves the cafeteria but not before noticing Mountain loudly talking to someone in the corner of the room about ''Adventure'' and ''It''ll be like the old days'' so Ryan assumes he will be meeting this person after he creates his own team. Walking through the dimly lit hallways, Ryan is able to keep track of Externia and Lilabelle back to the Registration room which is right across from Ryan''s room.


    The two enter the room and Ryan stands outside while waiting for Tio to be done. Ryan continues to stand there for a while and he eventually leans against the wall. It has almost been an hour now and Ryan can still hear them discussing things inside of the Registration room but he can''t tell what they are saying. He would spy on them with some Miracles but he doesn''t wish to be disrepectful.


    ''It didn''t take this long when I did it so I wonder why it is taking so much time now?'' Ryan thinks to himself. He can feel himself falling asleep while standing against the wall. Even though he tries his hardest to, Ryan is taken by the suffocating feeling of tiredness and falls asleep. Darkness warps around Ryan as he can feel himself being sent to somewhere new. Ryan flies through the darkness at speeds that make him feel like his body is being ripped in half but it is soon over as the darkness around him shifts into a horribly light room. 4 small torches are all that light the massive room as Ryan stands in the middle, spinning in circles to see what is around him.


    Massive chairs made of stone imbued with small hints of lava encircle Ryan. With there being about 100 chairs in total, all of them occupied. People wearing the same armor as Ryan sit in the massive chairs, their eyes glowing a bright yellow like the sun. The man on the biggest chair in the room is the first to speak up with his otherworldly voice.


    "Welcome Young Wolf, I see that the Summon has worked, no?" The man''s voice is a mixed between a deep voice of a nobleman and a growl from a Wolf. Ryan stands there, dumbfounded and speechless about the people that surround him. They are the original Abyss Watchers and they seem to be observing Ryan, ''sizing him up'' if you will.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I guess you could say that." Ryan says warily. The one that spoke to Ryan stands up from his chair and walks towards the center of the room where Ryan is residing. The Abyss Watcher''s eyes glow brighter and he stares right into Ryan''s soul, looking for signs of treasons or deception. After a few seconds the Abyss Watcher nods his head and puts his arm on Ryan''s shoulder, accepting what is inside of Ryan. Ryan expects his curse to activate but nothing happens.


    "Welcome to the Abyss Watchers, Young Wolf." said all of the Abyss Watchers while getting up from their chairs and doing their salute. Ryan is in awe as so many questions that he wants to ask rushes through his head. As Ryan goes to say something, the Abyss Watcher in front of Ryan stops him.


    "No time to ask questions Young Wolf. The Seed of the Abyss is coming from you and you have to beat her no matter what. We know how strong you are and that is why we chose you, now make us proud. End the Abyss before it can regrow. Now, go."


    Ryan can feel himself get pulled backwards as everything around him shifts into darkness once more. With his body almost being torn in half from the unknown force pulling Ryan back into reality, Ryan wakes up in the hallway of the Mercenary Guild. Lilabelle stands in front of Ryan, staring into his face with a confused look. Ryan takes a deep breath and is relieved to see a familiar face in front of him but Ryan''s eyes twitch. The color of his brown irises change to a deep. shining gold and Lilabelle''s true form is revealed to Ryan.


    Tentacles of purple wrap themselves around Ryan''s body and stretch throughout the hallway. The source of them come from a figure that is standing where Lilabelle is standing. Lilabelle''s body is replaced by a purple spirit that has the same body size as Lilabelle from before. A sinister black aura emits from Lilabelle''s true from and her eyes are pure white circles. Her smile is crooked and Lilabelle tilts in her in interest.


    "What''s wrong Ryan?" Lilabelle''s voice is scratchy and completely unnatural as she asks Ryan this question. Lilabelle doesn''t know that Ryan can see what she actually is. The tentacles wrapped around Ryan aren''t restricting him but the seem to be feeding off of his power. Not wanting to feed the Seed of the Abyss any longer, Ryan puts a potent miracle that completely protects him from Lilabelle''s tentacles stealing his power called ''Soul Shield''.Lilabelle''s face changes to a slightly irrtated and anguished face as the power she was feeding on is now cut off. Lilabelle takes a good look at Ryan''s face and can see a glint in his eye. One that shows thousands of years of pure hatred built up inside of Ryan''s body. The years of hatred stored in the Abyss Watchers for what the Abyss did to this world.

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part VI. Chapter 16

    Lilabelle takes a step backwards at the sudden feeling of danger filling her dark and torn soul. All of the tentacles that are spread throughout the whole building retract themselves into Lilabelle''s body and ready themselves to attack. Ryan can feel his hand move towards his sword with insane speed and he can feel his whole body tense up. The feelings of all the original Abyss Watcher''s flow throughout Ryan''s soul and he can feel a surge of power physically, putting him beyond a power level most mortals can achieve.


    With his sword drawn, Ryan goes to run the short distance between him and Lilabelle to grab her by the throat but his feet won''t move. Ryan looks down to see ice covering his feet and preventing him from killing the Seed of the Abyss. No matter how hard he tries to pull free he is unable too. He slowly turns his head to the side and is able to see Externia casting the spell preventing Ryan''s movement.


    Ryan''s golden eyes shine under his pointy helmet as the feeling of electricity surges through his body. Tio appears from behind Externia and puts her hand forwards. Purple chains erupt from the ground and wrap themselves around Ryan.


    A feeling of pain pierces Ryan''s body as his Focus is forcibly taken out of his body. Externia has a face full of worry as Ryan begins to scream loudly at the worst pain he has ever felt in his life. She knows how strong Ryan can get and fears of what he is capable of but since he seems to be restrained she relaxes a little.


    Even though he is going through severe pain Ryan is not taking any damage at all from the chains Lilabelle is staring at Ryan with a sad expression as he reaches for her but the chains restraining him prevent Ryan from doing so.


    Knowing that the only way out of here is by getting rid of the chains binding him, Ryan strains as hard as possible and a creaking sound fills the air. Tio strains to keep the chains on Ryan to maybe take enough of his power out of him to stop him.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Wind begins to whip through the air due to the raw power Ryan is releasing to be free of his chains. Finally, a loud shatter is heard and Tio falls backwards onto on the ground. Tio lets out a scream full of worry but it is not for Lilabelle or Externia but for Ryan.


    With the chains being broken, the curse activates and a bright purple light emits from within Ryan. Blood erupts from Ryan as he can feel his insides explode and his heart stop.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>A curse has been inflicted onto you and your insides have exploded. I bet that hurts! 3743 points of damage has been done to your health. Tears of Denail saved your ass!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Ryan''s eyes go lifeless as he lays still, unable to move. Tio runs over to Ryan''s body and goes to touch him but pulls her hand back before doing so. Tears flow from Tio''s eyes as she puts her hand over her mouth in distress. Tio has never meet anyone who could break the Chains of Dios so she didn''t expect this to happen.


    "I am sorry! We needed to protect Lilabelle and you didn''t get a chance to hear us out. *wheezing* It''s all my fault! I should have told you." Tio is screaming hysterically over the thought to be dead corpse of Ryan. Lilabelle walks over Ryan and gives him a slight kick to the head. Ryan doesn''t respond to this and Lilabelle lets out a sigh.


    "Man, the little Abyss inside of you is alive at least, lest it be barely." Lilabelle says dejectedly. Externia walks over to Ryan and can feel her heart sink to the bottom of her chest. If the other Gods find out the Ryan is dead, then Externia would be next, mostly likely wiped from existence when they find out she had a hand in it


    . Ryan is barely able to function as he only has 1 HP left. He is able to activate a miracle though and a bright yellow circle appear at everyone''s feet and Ryan is lying in the middle of it. Sunlight begins to wrap itself around Ryan''s body as he casts Soothing Sunlight and Ryan can feel his internal organs mold back together. The pain Ryan has felt is incomprehensible and Ryan would wish it onto a very select few.


    As Ryan regains all of his health, he is mentally torn and can feel himself passing out from the traumatizing experience he just went through. His lifeless eyes look up at Tio, who has a face full of amazement and shock. Ryan only lets out a few words before he slips into darkness.


    "You did... What you needed to..."

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part VII. Chapter 17

    *10 minutes before the last chapter*


    "So now that you now the ranking system and where your room is, do you have any other questions?" Tio says with her voice full of confidence that she explained everything thoroughly. Externia puts her finger on her chin and begins to think about the questions she can ask while she still has a chance.


    "What rank is Frew?" Externia asks.


    "He is a Rank A."


    "*tsk* Why is he such a high rank compared to my D rank?" Externia asks with an annoyed voice.


    "That''s confidential." Tio says with a serious tone. Externia takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh. She knows that Ryan one of the most skilled Gods combat wise and can be the most charismatic one if he really wants too. Still, the fact Externia knows that Ryan is better than her annoys Externia to the core.


    Externia hasn''t decided when to address the elephant in the room as the elephant is in fact sitting right beside her. Black, smoky aura pours from the young girl Lilabelle as she sits there, staring off into space. Externia doesn''t know if Tio has noticed it yet and has decided to not bring it up, til now.


    Small Ice Crystals form at Externia''s finger tips as she is wary of what will happen when she brings this up but there is no avoiding it.


    "Let''s not cut corners," Externia says in a cold voice. "What is Lilabelle exactly. You can''t hide the fact from me that she isn''t human."


    Tio gives Lilabelle an angry stare and then looks back towards Externia, giving her an unconvincing smile.


    "What do you mean Externia?" Tio says while laughing nervously. Externia looks back over at Lilabelle.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ''The aura is completely gone, no hidden. If they think that they can trick me they are sorely mistaken!''


    The room becomes 20 degrees cooler and Tio begins to have flashbacks of when she was frozen the first time. Knowing that Lilabelle had been caught and they can no longer keep this facade up, Tio begins to explain her and Lilabelle''s back story but before she can Lilabelle gets up.


    "You explain, I''m going to go find Frew so we can do something interesting together." Lilabelle says this with an innocent sounding voice but Tio knows the true reason why she wants to see Frew. Sad at what will most likely become of Ryan after Lilabelle is done sucking the power out of him, Tio starts her story from the first time she met Lilabelle with a depressed tone.


    As Lilabelle leaves the room, she is startled to see a tall man leaning against the wall beside the door. This feeling of being startled is replaced with joy as Lilabelle recognizes it is Ryan. Black tentacles dlowly escape Lilabelle''s body as she can feel herself being drawn to the enormous amount of power inside of Ryan, ripe for the taking.


    As the tentacles find their way into Ryan''s body, Lilabelle can feel his heavenly power seep into her small framed body. Lilabelle gets really close to Ryan and puts her body against his. She looks up into his face and looks longily at him while he sleeps.


    ''It''s a shame that you are the Abyss Watcher''s summon. You could made a good partner and husband for what is to come through the world. Too bad they took you before I could.'' Lilabelle thinks to her self as she lets out a sad sigh. She had her chance to summon a godly power from another but missed it because she was taking a nap. Being one of the 20 candidates to be able to do this, Lilabelle should''ve looked more into when the summoning day was.


    A tinge of pain goes through Lilabelle''s hand as she goes to caress the face of the man in front of her, causing Lilabelle to take a step backwards. Ryan''s eyes begin to flutter as he awakens from his sleep. Ryan takes a deep breath and is relieved to see a familiar face in front of him but Ryan''s eyes twitch. The color of his brown irises change to a deep. shining gold and Lilabelle''s true form is revealed to Ryan.


    Ryan''s expression goes from relieved to horrified quickly as he looks closer at Lilabelle. Lilabelle is confused by this and decides to confront him about it.


    "What''s wrong Ryan?"

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part VIII. Chapter 18

    *Current time after Chapter 16*


    Ryan can feel warmth cover his whole body as he slowly regains consciousness. He is barely able to move his muscles as his whole body feels sore. His memory is a little blurry but he can remember the major details.


    Ryan''s eyes flutter as he opens the for the first time since he used Soothing Sunlight on himself. It is dark with the small exception of a little light coming from a lamp almost out of oil right in front of him. Ryan is laying on his side and decides to lift himself up so he is sitting on the bed. Ryan can feel a tightness around his abdomen so he lifts the blanket up and sees bandages wrapped around his abdomen and also some green paste dripping out of it.


    Confused on what it is, Ryan takes a small bit of it and places it on his fingers. Deciding it is probably not poisonous, he puts a little bit in his mouth and Ryan can feel himself start to regain strength quickly. The minty taste lets Ryan assume that this is most likely a plant but not just any plant. It is most likely a Green Blossom turned into a paste to help rid someone of soreness.


    Ryan is impressed at the creativeness of the people in this world and begins to wonder what other inventions they have came up with. Ryan looks around the room some more and soon he realizes someone is at the end of the bed. Tio''s head is on the end of the bed as she seems to be asleep, her body move up and down from the rhythmic breathing coming from her while sleeping.


    Tio''s long brown hair covers part of her faces and Ryan takes the time to truly take in Tio''s features.


    ''She has a really cute face huh? Her body definitely isn''t hard on the eyes either. She is a little clumsy though but I don''t mind that at all. Maybe I should...''


    Ryan shakes his head back and forth to wipe his thoughts away as he knows not to get attached to anyone who isn''t a player. NPCs die way too easily and way too often. Plus some of his disciples wouldn''t be very happy if Ryan started to chase after someone since they all couldn''t find someone themselves.


    Ryan laughs when thinking about his twelve disciples but his time reminiscing is cut short by the sudden appearance of something dark in the side of the room. Ryan can feel something inside of him begin to bubble up after he sees who it is.


    "Beautiful isn''t she? That''s one of the reason I picked her." Lilabelle says while slowly walking towards Ryan from the corner of the room. Her form is constantly shifting from a girl to a body of writhing tentacles and Ryan can feel something inside of him tell him to run but something prevents him from doing so.


    "Now Frew, God of Miracles. I don''t need to talk to you so I apologize for the inconvenience." Lilabelle lifts her hand into the air and a black sword forms out of thin air. She pullsn her sword over her shoulder and slashes horizontally at Ryan. Barely able to react, Ryan casts Tears of Denial for he expects to die but he blacks out before the sword even hits him.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The sound of metal clash on metal is heard as Lilabelle''s sword is caught in the mouth of Ryan. His teeth are extremely sharp and leaves scratches in the sword and Ryan''s eyes grow a bright gold. A snarling voice erupts from inside of Ryan.


    "You dare show yourself to me again Seedling? You won''t have anyone to protect you this time."


    Lilabelle sighs as she had her suspicions confirmed. She knew that the Abyss Watchers are inside of Ryan but she didn''t know that he was there too.


    "I thought I left you paralyzed under that bridge. How are you inside of this man?" Lilabelle says with an annoyed voice. Ryan bits down and the sword inside of Lilabelle shatters. Not worried about it, Lilabelle drops the sword.


    "Hahaha, you think I didn''t summon my hero for three years for no reason?! Once we all transferred into the body of our Young Wolf, all we had to do was wait for you to make a move and then pounce. Now that you are here, I can finally end this once and for all!" Ryan says in a low growl turned into a near howl at the end.


    Lilabelle puts her hand up to stop Ryan and who is controlling him and it actually works. The Old Wolf of Farron knows the Seedling''s powers and knows he has to be careful. It would be different if he was used to Ryan''s body but The Old Wolf doesn''t know how to use Ryan''s Miracles yet.


    Lilabelle lets out a sigh as she is surprised that the hot headed dog didn''t already try to attack her.


    "We cannot fight anymore as the time to fight against the Hunters is now. The Moon God works fast and managed to unite the Hunters and the Beasts. If we don''t work together, they will destroy us." Lilabelle says to the snarling man.


    Ryan''s face becomes annoyed as The Old Wolf of Farron knows how strong the Hunters are and if they untied with the Beasts the hunt then all then the Big 20 has to awaken all of their heroes now and work together. If not then...


    The Old Wolf looks away from Lilabelle, pissed but being forced to make a peace treaty for the time being.


    "Fine," he growls, "We can work together for now but no more feeding power from my summon."


    Lilabelle hesitates for second as the power stored inside of Ryan is the most amazing thing Lilabelle has ever tasted but this is no time for one to put one''s greed over their need.


    "Deal."


    As Lilabelle says this, Ryan''s golden eyes return to their natural shade of brown and he falls back down onto the bed, asleep for now. Lilabelle sighs and looks at Tio and then back at Ryan and gets an idea.


    ''If we took Tio''s affinity for magic but small power pool and combined it with Ryan''s non existent affinity for magic and nearly endless pool of power and his ability to use miracles then...''


    Lilabelle smiles as she has had one of her best ideas for a long time. Now for her to wait for Ryan to fall in love with Tio and for them to have a kid. Then Lilabelle would have the ultimate feast.

 Alright, to clear up any misconceptions you might have. Q and A

    So, by the time you read this you might be thinking a few things. God of Miracles, then why is he getting beat all the time? Why is the MC going with the flow and not questioning things? Why does the MC now start to think about Tio? Why is this story so amazing?


    I am hoping for the last one but if not then read this.


    1. Mc thinks this is a game. In the game he knows, if you die you just respawn and keep going. Yes he is skeptical about if it truly is a game but he is used to the former fact. But MPDLMS, he told Externia that if she dies something bad will happen! Well that was a bluff to get her to work with him. This is why he is so carefree


    2. Why is the MC getting rekt all the time? Simple, this is a new place with new mechanics. His strongest ability, as said previously, is unable to be activated. This just makes him a strong person but not godly by any standards. If you want an OP MC story, you have to wait a little bit for Ryan to discover his former powers. Plus Ryan was almost killed by the most powerful curse in the world and that was going to be explained next chapter so please be patient.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    3. Why is Ryan thinking about Tio now? Well that''s simple. If you are a single male and you see a woman that looks rather attractive and she is single you cannot tell me you don''t think about dating that woman. I mean come on.


    4. Ryan is NOT a god. He is just an experienced player who has a skill set above his peers in a former game. That''s like saying Seagull, who is one of the best Overwatch players, is transported into the game Overwatch as Genji. Since he was so good when it was a game, then he should be one of the best Genji''s in this new world and completely kill everyone right? No.


    Now if you have anymore questions I will gladly clear them up. Thank you for reading this far and I love all of my readers. Sorry if you drop the story now.

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part IX. Chapter 19

    Ryan shoots upwards as he finally regains consciousness once more. His head quickly shoots side to side as he checks his surroundings while hyperventilating. He doesn''t remember anything but he has a nagging feeling that something has happened. The sound of rain hitting the roof above him soothes Ryan down as his breathing begins to slow down.


    Sounds of someone at the edge of his bed grab Ryan''s attention and Tio begins to stir awake. She yawns while stretching her arms into the air. A piece of her hair sticks to her face as she looks up the bed to see Ryan awake. Tio''s face turns from being full of stress to relief and happiness. Tears begin to form into her eyes as she now knows she had not killed her most promising Mercenary.


    "I''m so sorry Fr-."


    Ryan puts up his hand to stop Tio from saying anything more.


    "You were protecting one of your employees and someone who seems to be very close to you. I would''ve done something much worse if I was in your shoes so don''t feel bad." Ryan says with confidence as this is the truth but instead of Tio being relieved when hearing this, her face becomes torn and sad.


    Ryan is confused on whether Tio knows what Lilabelle is and he has decided to kill Lilabelle when he knows they are alone. His thirst to end the Seed of the Abyss is completely gone but the fact Lilabelle is sucking power from the people around her is enough to make Ryan want to kill her without the help of the Abyss Watchers. Ryan goes to tell Tio what Lilabelle is actually doing but Tio opens her mouth first.


    "Frew, there is something I must tell you." Tio says with a voice that is mixed with sadness and worry.


    "Ok, what is it?"


    "I know what Lilabelle is and I know what you are made to do. You are made to kill the Abyss but... I can''t let you do that for you see, I am Lilabelle''s hero. She saved me in my time of need and has been like an old sister to me ever since she took me in. I will protect her. Even if that means taking her away from here and leaving the Mercenary Guild. Her goal isn''t bad either. She wishes to stop the advancement of the other country before they completely over run us and I completely support her."


    Tio is now looking into Ryan''s eyes and she is full of confidence. Ryan feels something inside of his heart tear as Tio reminds him of someone he knew long ago. Someone that he truly cared for and cherished.


    Ryan laughs warmly and puts out his hand and pats Tio''s head.


    "Don''t worry, I understand. I won''t harm Lilabelle as long as she doesn''t try to harm me." Ryan says with the upmost confidence.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Tio''s eyes light up with joy and she gives Ryan a smile that continues to tear at his heart. Ryan looks towards the wall and away from Tio.


    ''This is why I was thinking about Tio... Because she is exactly like an old friend I lost.'' Ryan thinks to himself while trying to hold back the tears. He nearly chokes on his next words as he tries to take his mind of off his lost friend.


    "So... What exactly did you do to me?"


    "Well... I activated a spell that binds whoever I want with chains. If the chains are broken then a curse that explodes the person insides is activated. This curse is considered the strongest curse ever as nothing has ever prevented it when actually inflicted. I have never seen someone inflict it with the Chains of Dios though as no one has broken out of the chains for me before. It is a miracle that you survived it." Tio says.


    "Yeah, it really was a miracle." Ryan says as he remember Tears of Denial saving his ass. Ryan recalls activating it once he noticed his foot was trapped in ice. With the topic of ice on his mind, Ryan decides to ask about Externia.


    "So what took Externia so long with her registration." Ryan asks.


    "Well, she went though all the steps you did, with me explaining it all and giving her the rank she deserved. On top of that she figured out what Lilabelle truly is so I had to explain my story of what Lilabelle is and her goal. She took a little bit of convincing but I believe Externia is on our side now." Tio says with a calm voice.


    While having Tio here and alone with him, Ryan decides to ask about this team thing Mountain told him about.


    "So Mountain and I were talking and he said something about a team? He told me the basis of it and I was wondering how do I start one?"


    "Oh, did I not tell you to begin with? Hmmm, I must''ve forgotten. Anyways I handle most of the situation, all you need to do is tell me the name of your team and who you expect to be in it." Tio says.


    Ryan has been thinking about this for a long time and he decides to go with the lore from Dark Souls 3.


    "The name will be The Undead Legion. I don''t know who all is going to be joining though."


    "The Undead Legion huh? Don''t worry about who is going to join it now. I''ll just put you on the team and you can recruit people later!" Tio says with a smile. Ryan nods his head in acceptance.


    "Ok, sounds good! I''ll go work on that right now!" Tio says and leaves the room in a hurry. Ryan sighs at the bubbly attitude of Tio and he can feel a headache forming.


    ''So much has happened in such little time. I know I can''t be lazy forever but I need to take some time away from everything and figure out what is going on. I don''t even know what this world is.'' Ryan thinks to himself as he is getting up out of bed.


    Finally out of bed, Ryan puts on his armor and his weapons. He looks at his right hand and his talisman ring. A small buzz of electricity comes from his ring as he puts his focus into it. Everything feels so surreal to him, but the messages in his head and the fact he can check his health and focus keeps bringing Ryan to the fact that this is a game. Something inside of him is telling him otherwise and it''s not a feeling of danger that is telling him this. It is a feeling of hope. The hope grows more as Ryan knows he is not alone here as Externia is stuck here too. The only thing that scares Ryan is if he is hollow or not. There will only be one way to find out and that is to die or to see someone Ryan knows is a player die.


    Which ever one happens first isn''t certain but what is certain is that Ryan is going to have fun here and he knows it.

 The Undead Legion Rises Once More Part X. Chapter 20

    Ryan walks out of his room and takes a look around him. In the hallway, there is 3 people standing near his door. The familiar face of Mountain brightens Ryan''s mood as Mountain always wears a smile. Beside Mountain is a woman who seems to be in the older years of her life. Her pearly white hair and the wrinkles riddled on her face confirm Ryan''s suspicions. The woman''s smile looks genuine and her body looks frail as she clings to her staff desperately.


    Next the to old woman is a smaller man who also has white hair but he looks younger than the woman next to him. He is uncaring and obviously doesn''t want to be here. Ryan recognizes him as the man who Mountain was talking to in the cafeteria earlier.


    "Hello everyone. What''s up?" Ryan says to Mountain who has a eager face.


    "Tio told me that you made the team and you told me to find some people to join so here you go." Mountain says while pointing to the people next to him. Ryan acknoledge''s the people and the older woman is the first tot speak up.


    "My name is Carmella, Rank A Mercenary. The man next to me is my disrepectful twin Carmello, Rank A Mercenary." the old woman tells Ryan but before Ryan could respond the man named Carmello butts in.


    "Who are you calling disrespectful you old hag!" Carmello says in an angry voice.


    "Old hag?! You were born first! The only thing young about you anymore is your personality because you act like a six year old child!" Carmella says while Carmello grinds his teeth back and forth and looks the other way in defeat. Ryan lets out a warm chuckle as he can easily find himself getting along with these people.


    "I am glad to have you fine Mercenaries want to join me. May I ask what you are specialized in?" Ryan asks inquisitively. Mountain is the first to talk about his abilities.


    "I have always been the tank of the group and I specialize in transformations. I hardly use any weapons as I pummel my enemies to the ground with my fists!" Mountain says with a spark of fighting spirit in his eyes. Ryan had figured this from his arm wrestling match with Mountain.


    Transformation originated in Cinder Souls I and became very popular with any who wanted to fight melee combat and hit hard. The transformation lets you take the physical abilities of the monster throughout the world but puts a huge strain on your body. The side effects hardly matter back in Cinder Souls I but now that you can actually feel pain, it might be dangerous to use some of the more powerful transformations. Carmella is the next to speak up with a confident voice.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "I specialize in magic. I mainly use the crystal type of spells and can even buff your weapons and sheild with crystal enchantments! My only problem is that I''m not that mobile but this little old lady can pack a punch!" Carmella says with nearly shouting the last part to put extra emphasis on the word ''punch''. Carmello speaks up next as it is his turn.


    "I am a rogue who is good at stabbing enemies from behind and escaping without being hit. You could call me a ''Nightblade'' if you want a special name for my fighting style. Don''t think I''ll come and save you if you''re in trouble though." Carmello says with a bored tone. The sound of a hand hitting the back of Carmello''s head is heard as his sister decided to punish Carmello for being so rude. Ryan gives everyone a smile to show thanks for the information and he decides to reveal his specializations as well.


    "I fight like a wolf. Verociously and mercilessly, never letting the opponent get a chance to breath by using my insane amount of stamina and speed. On top of that I am a very high level healer and user of lightning type miracles. With that being said our team is fairly solid. We have 2 possible ranged options, a tank, a healer, a rogue and a vanguard." Ryan says while putting his hand on his chin.


    "So what is the name of our team?" Carmella asks with a sweet voice of a grandma. Ryan smiles as he is truly proud of himself for the name.


    "The Undead Legion." Ryan says with confidence. Mountain''s mouth opens wide and his eyes sparkle as if Mountain is a kid who got his favorite toy for christmas. Ryan knew that someone from Farron and who was so knowledgable about the legends would appreciate to join the army that started his country. Carmella seems a little worried though.


    "Isn''t that the army the Abyss Watchers led? Why would we take their sacred name?" she asks, being doubtful. Mountain quickly turns and decides to educate Carmella.


    "This young man is a living Abyss Watcher. Can''t you tell by his armor?!" Mountain yells. Carmella eyes Ryan up and down and gets the face like she had a life changing experience just happen.


    "No wonder he said his fightin style is like a wolf! Just him being on our team will be enough to attract high level jobs!" Carmella yells with an excited voice. Carmello laughs at the discovery of Ryan being an Abyss Watcher.


    "I can see why you were Rank A when you first became a mercenary, a living fucking legend wants to do jobs for the corrupt. What a sad day for all of us." Carmello says with a disappointed voice. Ryan gives Carmello a confused look and Mountain gives Carmello an angry look. Carmello lifts his hands in submission but deep down, Carmello believes that the Abyss Watcher should be hunting the Abyss rather than trying to get rich and famous by being a mercenary.


    The sound of someone running towards Ryan can be heard behind him so Ryan turns around to see who it is. Tio is running down the hallway with a smile on her face. She walks up to Ryan and hands him 10 badges. On the badges, the name ''The Undead Legion'' is stitched onto them. Ryan looks amazed as he didn''t expect this to happen so early.


    "How did you do all of the stuff so fast?!" Ryan says out loud. Tio smiles and giggles to Ryan''s surpised voice. She puts a finger over her lips.


    "It''s a secret." Tio says with a michevious tone. Ryan smiles back at her and turns around to his new team.


    "Well, it would seem it is official. The Undead Legion rises once more!"

 The First Job. Chapter 21

    "Well Boss, what will be our first objective?" Mountain says with a pep in his step and a wide smile on his face. Ryan looks at him with a face full of doubt.


    "Boss? First you called me newbie and within what, 2 day I''m Boss now?" Ryan says with a chuckle. Mountain chuckles back and scratches the back of his head.


    "Well you are the leader of the group now, so it would be inappropriate to call you anything y''know?"


    "Yeah I get it, I''m just messin'' with you Mountain." Ryan says playfully back at Mountain. The Undead Legion is currently making their way to the lobby. Ryan hasn''t been there yet and he is interested what jobs will be posted on the board today.


    As the four walk into the lobby, Ryan''s eyes are met with something he did not expect. He had expected a quiet and humble place for Mercenaries to meet up, accept a quest, and then leave. But this place is different.


    The atmosphere is full of happiness and joy as people drink booze at booths attached to the walls; people dance in the middle of the room while a sweet tune is played by a musician in the corner; finally, people are gathered around a quest board and they are happily chatting way. Laughter in plentiful and everyone in the room seems happy. The scene laid out before him reminds Ryan of the old parties his party used to through before they became "Gods".


    Everything in the room changes though as Ryan takes a few more steps into the room, followed by his new team. Everyone in the room quiets down and they all look at Ryan with a keen interest yet fear in their eyes. No one has ever came into the Mercenaries Guild as a Rank A before so they all wanted to see Ryan''s strength, yet they all feared to face it at the same time.


    Ryan doesn''t even know himself why he came in as a Rank A, since all he has done since he showed up into this world is get beaten up or be caught by surprised, almost ending in his death.


    Ryan audibly sighs as he wants to be more careful since this is most likely real life now, but their is a voice in the back of his head saying that this is all just a game. Ryan puts his guard down because of that, who cares if you die in a game? It''s just pixels after all, but to Ryan, he has learned his mistake and plans to not take anything lightly or carefree. He needs to discover his true power again, but that will come in due time.


    With Ryan and his team making their way over to the request board, everyone there part ways and makes a gap for Ryan and his group to walk through. Ryan shrugs his shoulders and accepts the opening in the sea of people in front of the request board.


    As the four walk up to the board Ryan begins to skim over the huge stacks of requests on the board. Though he is able to read most of the language on the board, some of it is foreign to him. He assumes they are the names of beast and such but in all honesty, Ryan can''t think of a job to pick.


    With all eyes on his back, Ryan feels a pressure to hurry up and pick a request and leave so everyone can get back to what they are doing. Literally everyone stopped what they were doing to observe Ryan and the Undead Legion and it made Ryan fairly uncomfortable.


    Ryan sighs and turns around to his group.


    "You guys pick a request that you want to do. I feel like I need a drink." Ryan sighs with a face full of stress. Mountain gives Ryan a thumbs up.


    "Leave it to us boss!" Ryan nods to this statement and makes his way to what seems to be the bar were drinks are being served. The bartender straights his back as Ryan approaches him.


    "W-What would you like sir?" the bartender says in a stutter. Ryan pays the man''s formalities no heed and he looks along the many shelves of drinks that line the wall behind the sweating bartender.


    "Is there anything free, or do we have to pay here?" Ryan asks in a curious tone.


    "Everything here is free to your disposal Mr. Frew." the bartender says immediately. Ryan frowns at the fact the man knows his name and wonders why the man said ''to your disposal''. Is being a Rank A really that special?


    ''Whatever, I''ll use whatever perks I can get.''


    "Then I''ll take a shot of your strongest drink." Ryan says with a slightly regretful voice. It was a little early to be drinking but it didn''t matter if it was just one shot. Plus it is something to keep him mind off all the stares at his back.


    The bartender hurriedly pours the drink for Ryan and hands it over. Ryan instantly downs the shot and can barely feel a burn in his throat. Ryan thought he had asked for the strongest but maybe they didn''t have strong alcohol in this world.


    Ryan''s finger begins to trace around the rim of the shot glass and he looks up at the bartender with a face of dead seriousness. The bartender pulls back a bit and lets out a slight shriek in surprise. No man should make this shriek and it honestly surprise a Ryan a little bit.


    ''Is my presence really that intimidating?'' he thought to himself.


    "So, answer me this. What''s with all of this?" Ryan says to the bartender while pointing over his shoulder at all of the people staring at him. Once they realized how obvious they are, everyone turns there gaze away and begins to do what they were doing when Ryan originally entered the room. The bartender cringes at the sound of Ryan''s metal gauntlets scraping against the rim of the shot glass. Ryan doesn''t stop his serious stare at the man though. Finally giving in to answering the question, bartender''s voice is shaky.


    "Everything about you is horrifying. Someone who managed to join in the Guild as the highest rank behind the legendary heroes or kings is unheard of. No one here is above Rank A and it took they several years to get there. If you can in at the level, that would make you the strongest person in the Guild. People just want to be wary not to get on your bad side, ya know?" the bartender says with a rapid pace to explain everything quickly.


    Ryan nods his head up in down with acceptance of this explanation. Ryan is literally a first of his kind as a Mercenary yet he really doesn''t know why. Ryan thinks he is barely at 10% of his power yet he is considered this strong. Either everyone is this world is weak, or Ryan is really one of the best fighters in this world too. Though, there are the other 9 Gods so words of people as strong as Ryan should spread soon. With that, it will be easy to find the other Gods.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    This pulls a huge weight off of Ryan''s back as he can find his friends relatively easy. Ryan slides the empty shot glass to the other side of the bar so the bartender can take it. Ryan feels like he has gotten enough information from this man and he turns around to walk away, but the bartender speaks up.


    "I am warning you now Mr. Frew. Watch out for Bloody Eyes. They will be coming to challenge you and test your worth." the man says in a worried yet surprisingly confident voice. Ryan laughs and looks over his shoulder at the bartender. A fire is lit in Ryan''s eyes.


    "Then let them come. I will let them taste the power of the Abyss Watchers." and with that being said, Ryan makes his way over to the rest of his group which seem to be discussing something with the receptionist behind the counter. As Ryan becomes close enough to hear the conversation, he decides to interject.


    "What''s wrong Mountain?" Ryan says as he walks up beside the large man. Mountain seems to be agitated at something and Ryan intends to help his new teammate out.


    "This woman won''t let us take the job we want! She says we don''t have enough people, even if we are Rank A. Why does that even matter woman!" Mountain says with an uproar. Ryan puts his hand up to stop his comrade and the receptionist, who was confident in enforcing the rules in the Guild, stiffens up when she realizes who Ryan is. Ryan looks at the woman and begins to question her.


    "Why do we need 10 people exactly?" Ryan asks with a gentle yet stern voice to the woman. He doesn''t want to be rude but he doesn''t want to sound weak to everyone around him, who is sure to be listening. The woman bites her lip as she had heard from Tio to not get on Frew''s (Ryan''s) bad side. It would only end in catastrophe. Another rule was to never use any powers involving the Abyss.


    "Well, it is suggested when taking request for exterminating monsters with the augmentation of the Abyss that you should at least take 10 B Rank Mercenaries." the woman says and she begins to cringe in fear slightly. She knows even the word Abyss would most likely trigger Ryan, and she was right.


    Ryan can feel anger pang inside of him and his blood begins to boil furiously as he reads the quest. Several villages have been destroyed by a group of Abyssal monsters and no one has been willing to accept the quest due to its dangers. The payout was quite small too since it came from poor village surrounding the destroyed villages. Ryan gets closer to the woman and the inside of his eyes begins to slowly turn golden.


    "I don''t care whether the suggestion is 100 A Rank adventures and I''m by myself. You will not stop me from taking an Abyss type creatures no matter who you think you are. Do you got me?" Ryan says as he begins to emit an intense pressure from within. The woman is shaking in fear but she knows that this situation will be a lose-lose no matter what she says.


    Pissing off the strongest Mercenary in the Guild is a scary thing to do but also breaking the rules and pissing of the Guild can be even scarier. The woman racks her brain on what to do and she thinks there will be a happy medium for everyone if she can only convince Ryan to do another quest instead.


    The woman puts her hand under the desk and pulls out another request that would pay enough to get the attention on an A Rank adventurer but was easily completed.


    "How about doing this quest inste-."


    *CHOP*


    The sound of Ryan''s dagger piercing into the wooden counter echoes throughout the room and his face becomes extremely cold and unforgiving. The dagger had pierced itself into the quest about the Abyss type monsters. The woman shrieked a little when Ryan first stuck the dagger into the wood and now her mind is going numb in fear.


    "I will not repeat myself. Let us take the request and go about your day." Ryan chuckles a little before stating the next statement. "Or we will be taking our services elsewhere."


    Though it was a shallow threat and is a cowardly tactic, the fire burning within Ryan''s soul to eliminate the Abyss is something that will gladly push away Ryan''s morals and pride for him to even get a chance at hurting the Abyss. Just like the Abyss Watchers before him.


    Mountain felt bad for the woman behind the counter as he has been on the other side of Ryan''s wrath and it is a truly horrifying experience. The woman gulps loudly as she begins to mull over Ryan threat. The woman then pulls out a stamp from under her desk and stamps the paper which Ryan has a dagger through, showing that they have been assigned the quest.


    Ryan removes the dagger and holds it in his left hand. With his right hand he takes the paper without breaking eye contact with the woman.


    "Let''s go." Ryan says with a tone of authority in his voice and he finally breaks eye contact with the woman. Carmella smiles at the woman and bows her head and thanks and Carmello simply shakes his head in pity for the woman.


    "Sorry about that Miss!" Mountain says with a cheerful tone, "You should never say no to an Abyss Watcher, it only ends badly for you!"


    With that, the Undead Legion leaves the Guild building and are off to meet the one who made the request. With the 4 being gone, everyone in the room lets out a long sigh in relief. The average mercenary was about Rank C and seeing a group with 4 Rank A''s was truly intimidating to them. No one blamed Ryan for the methods he used to accept the quest. In honest, they are happy that he did.


    Several people have died in the wake of those monsters but everyone capable of taking care of the monsters were too scared or were busy with something else. With that being said, some of the people in the room became inspired by Ryan''s actions. To be so confident that he can take down Abyssal Undead Dragons, Ryan must be as strong as Tio lets him off to be, so people aspire to be by Ryan''s side and see his excellence for themselves, but first, they must become stronger.


    One person in particular that was inspired by Ryan''s actions is a fairly young Mercenary named Lohek, who is a mere Rank D, but he had lost his hometown village to the monster and wanted to see someone finally take them down. With Ryan taking on the quest, Lohek wants to train hard to be able to repay Ryan if he comes back successful.

 Side Story #1. Chapter 21.1

    Carmello shows the group towards the way of the village of the one who made the request. Ryan has been fairly quiet as they make their way down the dirt roads and across great lengths to reach this village. The reason for this is he is going over every single miracle that Ryan believes is castable in his current state. Ryan has also been using the quietness surrounding him to get used to his sharpened senses.


    With the Undead Legion traveling for about 7 hours, Ryan can sense sharp breathing from the small and frail Carmella. Ryan, raises hand and the three behind him stop dead in their tracks. Ryan, who is in the front of the group, turns around to face them. He looks down at Carmella, who is no taller than 5'' tall, and she gives him a stare of determination and will power.


    "Carmella, if you need too, we can take a break." Ryan speaks with a hint of command in his voice, as if implying that Carmella is to not push herself too far. Carmella laughs at Ryan and shakes her head back and forth.


    "Thank you for worrying about me, but we have no time to waste. We must get there as fast as possible if we are to not let anymore people die!" Carmella''s voice is unwavering and Ryan knows he cannot convince the woman to take a break.


    In all honesty, the group would already be there if they ran but Carmella doesn''t have the speed of Carmello and Ryan or the endurance of Mountain so they decided to stay at Carmella''s pace until they arrived. Ryan has thought of a plan though, something that will make them arrive very soon.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Well if that''s the case Carmella, you''ll have to climb unto my back and I will carry you there." Ryan says while walking towards Carmella. She just laughs with a raspy voice and doesn''t object to Ryan''s offer. He squats down and Carmella jumps onto his back. She holds onto Ryan tightly and he stands straight up.


    "Mountain, do you have any transformations to increase your speed?"


    Mountain shakes his head up and down and focuses for a second. After waiting a little bit, the muscles in Mountain''s legs begin to grow and pulsate with power. Ryan raises an eyebrow and chuckles slightly to show he is impressed with Mountain''s transformation.


    "Alright, Carmello, show us the shortcut through the woods that you were talking about earlier. Just go at a pace that is fine with Mountain." Ryan commands and Carmello looks a little skeptical. Carmello knows that Mountain can now keep up with him but the question is can Ryan?


    "Are you sure you can keep up Boss?" Carmello says with an antagonizing tone. Ryan and Mountain both look at each other and begin laughing hysterically. Mountain laughs so hard he bends over and holds his gut. Carmello just clicks his tongue and looks away as the two continue to laugh.


    Ryan and Mountain wipe away their fresh tears and calm down with a few deep breaths.


    "You''re a funny guy Carmello. Now lead the way. We will be behind you."


    Carmello''s eye brow is twitching from anger at Ryan''s provocation but he does not dare talk back. Carmello looks to the forest to everyone''s right and vanishes from eye sight to lead Mountain and Ryan to where the quest is. With noticing that Carmello is gone, the other three vanish from sight as well, diving deep into the forest to kill this Abyssal Dragon.

 The Village. Chapter 22

    The small villages shows little signs of life as the group of four now known as the Undead Legion arrives. The buildings are made of stone and mud with having roofs made out of dried straw and leaves. Ryan is unable to believe that someone can live this way but Ryan can understand that willpower can drive people to survive in any situation.


    What villagers that are walking around the 70 some houses have eyes that are glazed with a feeling of defeat and lifelessness. They must be worried about the Abyssal Dragons making their way towards the area. When the notice the armour and weapons of Ryan''s group, their eyes show a glint of life for a second but they quickly return to their somber attitude.


    Ryan crouches down and lets Carmella off of his back and she thanks Ryan kindly. Ryan smiles back at her to accept Carmella''s kindness and they continue towards the middle of the village. It is not long before a man appears before the four.


    The man is so old that it looks like his is already one foot in his grave and the dark bags under his eyes shows that stress might take him out of this world any day now. The old man greets everyone with a deep bow and begins to look over the group.


    "Is this all that was sent?" the old man asks while implying the four of them isn''t enough.


    "Hmph, what''s wrong with what''s in front of you old man. You should be glad we are even attempting to save you." Carmello says in a hostile manner. Ryan raises his hand to tell Carmello to calm down and even though Carmello shuts his mouth, he stills seems to be insulted by the old man''s statement.


    "I can assure you that I alone am enough to take down these beasts, but with four of us there is no chance of us losing." Ryan says with a confidence tone. He might sound arrogant but if Ryan backs it up, then his strength will be proven and the word of his heroic deeds will spread throughout the land, hopefully reaching the ears of his comrades.


    "Ooohh? Really now? Well this isn''t your simple Abyssal Dragons. If you all aren''t level 200 then I doubt you can even beat one." the old man says. The group all has mixed feelings and everyone except for Ryan has a sharp and confident demeanor. Ryan is the only one that seems to be completely bewildered.


    ''No one has even brought up levels since I came here so I figured they weren''t even implemented in this world. If I have all the same miracles and physical abilities from before, that means I am most likely my old level from before. Without being able to be Cindered though and also not being able to link myself with Galib, one of the true Gods, I am not even comparable to my old strength. With that in mind, I think I know what level I''d be around power wise right now.''


    "I will you tell you that I am above level 400 so please be rest assured." Ryan says to reassure the man. The man''s eyes open wide and Mountain shows a face full of smugness as the old man is speechless at Ryan''s remark.


    "W-W-What are your names, titles, and rank?!" the man says in a near yell.


    "Mountain Ray, level 323, Rank A, my title is The Titan." Mountain says as his blad head shines in the sun.


    "Carmella Pride, level 302, Rank A, my title is The Magical Wonder." Carmella says and smiles as she remembers how she got her title.


    "Carmello Pride, level 307, Rank A, my title is The Blood Thirsty Shadow." Carmello says while scoffing and smiling with an attitude that says ''Hear it and weap old man''.


    "Frew, Level 420, Rank A, I guess you could say my title is The Abyss Watcher." Ryan says and facepalms directly afterwards. He needed to come up with a random level between 400 and 450, unfortunately the first number that came into his head was 420. He has heard so many people reference 420 and use it in cringy jokes and those jokes irritated Ryan. That is probably why it was the most memorable number between 400 and 450.


    "Well if what you say is true, then this mission will be no problem for you fellows, but I highly doubt you''re telling the truth. *sigh* If you are willing to go lose your lives over your pride then whatever, I can''t stop you. I am the Elder of this village, follow me." the Elder says as he waves the group towards a house behind him.


    The Elder moves over a piece of cloth that was at the entrance to the house. Inside is a lone man sitting at a table with his back to the group. There are two open chairs at the table and the Elder takes one. With Ryan being the leader, he takes the last chair and his group moves to be standing beside him.


    Ryan gets a good look at the man and can see he is covering his left eye with a bandage and the man''s whole exsistence seems grim and dark. Ryan looks over to the Elder and gives him a confused look.


    "This man''s name is Dark, he was in a band of wanderers and is the only person to have seen the Abyssal Dragons and live. He says there is a special type of undead roaming with the Dragons, isn''t that right Dark?" the Elder says and the man seems to wince as he remembers something. With a very quiet voice, the gloomy man named Dark confirms the Elder''s words.


    "Correct, it is a breed of ancient undead of this world known as the Hollow and they are immortal." the man says. Ryan''s gaze instantly turns sharp to this word and he stares at the man with piercing eyes. The man notices and quickly puts his hands into the air as to show he is submitting.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "I swear I''m not lying! No matter how many times you kill these undead, they also come back the next day-!" the man''s rambling and shouting is cut off by Ryan lifting his hand into the air to tell him to be quiet.


    "Everyone leave, except for you Dark. I would like to talk to you." Ryan says with the attitude that emminates power and authority. The three accompanying bow slightly and quickly leave the room since Ryan gives off the aura that it is urgent. The Elder reluctantly leaves as Ryan''s heavy aura doesn''t give him a chance to speak. Dark looks horrified.


    "W-What do you want with me!" Dark yells as Ryan has yet to get rid of his sharp gaze at the man. Ryan slightly shakes his right hand a circle appears on the floor with several incatations on it. It is a series of miracles that prevent sound from escaping the room, prevents anyone from entering, and finally prevents anyone from leaving until the miracle is removed by the caster or another spell caster breaks it.


    Dark looks at the circle and a glimpse of dumbfoundness strikes across his face.


    "Dark. Have you ever heard the name Dark Souls?" Ryan says with a softer voice than his gaze. Dark gaspes and realization hits the man like a solid punch to the face.


    "Are you a player too?!" Dark asks desperately. Dark stood up and knocked his chair over as he asked this.


    "Yes I am. My name is Frew. You might know about me."


    "No... No way. You are..." Dark takes a second to think about what he is going to say before opening his mouth, "You are the God of Miracles!" Dark says as light returns to the man''s eyes and any signs of defeat of fear wash off his face. Ryan laughs and nods his head up and down.


    Dark''s excitement quickly subsides and the man becomes very grim.


    "Not even you can save them..."


    "Save who?"


    "My guild... We all woke up in this world together and we travelled together for about 6 months exploring this world. It was all great until we met those two Abyssal dragons. Five of our group of twenty died and the rest managed to get away... The next day we woke up to find them walking to our camp but something was different. Their eyes were missing and their skin was cracked and horrifying looking!" Dark yells and flips the table in front of Ryan in a fit of rage.


    Ryan has been listening very closely and has learned many things, but he won''t say anything and left Dark missing.


    "Those five, we welcomed them back with open arms and as we went to hug them, they eached stabbed one of the their guildmates and killed them directly afterwards. The remaining 10 of us were horrified and then they... they came after us all! Not stopping and they kept murdering everyone of their friends without even thinking a second about it. They aren''t human anymore Ryan! If we die we become Hollow! We become one of the blood thirsty creatures that we worked so hard to kill!" Dark shouts with tears flowing from his eyes. Ryan stands up and puts hand on the shaking mans shoulder.


    "Don''t stop, continue with your story." Ryan says. The man takes a few shaky breaths and continues.


    "We were so caught of guard, they had killed 4 more of us before we even realized it. We tried to fight them back but it''s harder than you think to strike down someone you have had so many good times with. This is realy life now and I can''t kill one of my own friends... I can''t man." Dark says with a defeated tone.


    "And me not being able to do that, the rest of us were killed off without us even doing damage to the Hollows. I was the only one left and I was completely surrounded by the five. I had no choice but to us it. I didn''t know where it would take me but as long as it saved me, I could''ve gave a fuck less."


    "What did you use?" Ryan''s voice is full of worry as he asks this and Dark doesn''t respond. Dark begins to unwrap the bandages around his eye and Ryan''s eyes open wide. The Dark Sign plagues Dark and Ryan realizes what happened. Emptiness replaced Dark''s eye and that emptiness was circled by a burning ring of fire.


    In the games of Dark Souls, you had an item called the Dark Sign. This teleported you to the last bonfire you rested at but you lose your souls. In Cinder Souls, it could be used but it had a different effect. Instead of taking your souls, which you used to level up, it gave you a curse and began to turn your character hollow.


    While being backed against a corner, Dark had used the Dark Sign to escape and is now aflicted with this curse. One thing doesn''t add up in Ryan''s mind though.


    "How does any of this relate to the Abyssal Dragons?"


    "After I used the Dark Sign, I was teleported about 100 feet away from our main camp, where my tent was located. After I left my tent, I saw the Abyssal Dragons fly down and began to command my hollowed comrades. They spoke in a deep and low voice that shook me straight to the core. I ran when I had the chance and managed to make my way here. I warned the village Elder and he made a request, which you, the God of Miracles himself accepted!" Dark yells and he has a tinge of revenge emmiting from his aura.


    Ryan shakes his head as he truly despises being called a ''God''. He wasn''t a God exactly, he was just good at the game. It was the idea of the masses to call Ryan and his party Gods. Ryan knew there was only 10 actual Gods and his power stemmed from one.


    Ryan finally sighs and looks off to the side. Anger is building up inside of Ryan as he thinks about how fucked up this world is.


    ''If this world is truly as dangerous as the games that means a lot of the people transported here have died. I wonder why Dark and his group came here so long before me though. I will have to investigate more later, for now, I will have to show why I was given the title God of Miracles.''


    "I will accept the request and slay the Dragons that have given you grief Dark. Not only that, but I will bring back your friends." Ryan says and Dark becomes skeptical.


    "How are you gonna save my friends? Do you have any Humanities?!"


    Ryan shakes his head and brings up his right hand to Dark''s left eye that has the Dark Sign curse. A yellow light wraps Ryan''s hand and a circle formation appears in front of Dark''s eye. Soon the circle breaks and the Ring of Fire on Dark''s eye begins to disapper and his bright blue eye returns to him.


    Dark touches his left eye and begins to cry as it returns. Dark doesn''t know what Ryan has done, but somehow he has found a way to rid the curse that is the sole reason the Dark Souls games exsisted. A way to get rid of being hollowed without having to get humanity from being given one by someone else or having to kill a human being, or boss.


    Ryan made this miracle in Cinder Souls but he has never had to use it until now. He is glad that it works but the saving of Dark''s life doesn''t calm Ryan down. His anger is still flowing through him and Ryan knows he needs to do something. The Abyssal Dragons caused all of this pain to a fellow player and Ryan plans to avenge him and bring his friends back.


    Ryan doesn''t realize it but a piece of his face became ash and fell off. There is only one thing that causes this to happen and it not hurt Ryan.


    He is becoming Cindered again.