Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Intermittent World: The name Ashes use for the alternate world they go to after accumulating a certain number of deaths. It is said that if you die more than 10 times in a row, there is a high probability that you will go to the alternate world.

PS: Yunxi: 744486102 Second update, not late this time, umm.

Chapter 19: A magical girl who can use firearms, are you scared?

"So that's how it is. It seems that Xiaoyan's experiences in reincarnation are far worse than I imagined."

After listening to Granny Wolf's explanation of what happened to Little Flame, Zhi muttered to herself.

"Tsk... I wasn't paying enough attention to Xiaoyan's past experiences before. 'Never tasted success' and all that, it's definitely not just talk. Okay! I'll find an opportunity to subtly probe her next time!"

"What are you trying to subtly inquire about?"

The sudden appearance of a clear, husky voice startled Zhi, sending a chill down her spine.

"Your hobbies, interests, and things like that~"

Suddenly, before Granny Wolf could come up with a solution, she answered Little Flame's question.

"Hmm—I was thinking about this when you claimed to be a boy, but I never thought you actually were gay."

Xiaoyan visibly took a step back, making a disdainful statement with a blank expression.

"Hey! Even ordinary friends want to know each other's hobbies and interests!"

Ignoring the wolf grandmother's gaze, which seemed to say "This is all I can do for you," peeking through the gaps in her collar and hat, Zhi quickly corrected Xiao Yan's misunderstanding of her.

"Oh—my hobby is making my own weapons; I'm a military enthusiast."

"I had no idea you had such a dangerous hobby!"

"I'm not bragging, but when it comes to firearms, I can skillfully disassemble, assemble, and use everything from the Beretta 92 pistol to the FN Minimi light machine gun."

"I knew it from the first time we met. Your battle-hardened aura meant you must be some kind of mercenary!"

The professional firearms terms that suddenly came out of Xiaoyan's mouth made the young master of the underworld jump in fright. To be honest, even the Liangyi family, the underworld boss who once dominated Guanbuzi City, couldn't get their hands on a light machine gun! And what did she just say? As for firearms... Zhi felt like she was about to give up thinking.

"I'm just an ordinary magical girl."

Under the gaze of Zhiyi, whose worldview seemed to have collapsed, Xiaoyan unusually turned her head slightly away.

"Just the fact that she's a magical girl is extraordinary enough!"

Not to mention a magical girl who is extremely skilled in using modern weapons.

"Alright, enough joking. Has that petite girl been resurrected?"

Xiaoyan turned her head back and started a serious topic again.

"No, Xiaozhi and I have been here the whole time, and we haven't seen her come out of the campfire."

However, Ori was still immersed in the shadow of her shattered impression of Homura's character, muttering strange phrases like "My princess can't be a terrorist," completely ignoring Homura's problem. Finally, Granny Wolf chimed in.

"Is that so, that means..."

"Well, before you came, she had already jumped down from up there many times. Now, if you count the number, it's almost ten times. If you hadn't been able to stop her, she would probably be in the Intermittent World by now."

"...Grandma, are the intermittent worlds we experience the same?"

"Unfortunately, to our knowledge, no two intermittent worlds of ash have been found to be the same."

"So... can we enter other people's intermittent worlds?"

"Well, maybe you could try it with Xiaozhi and see if you can reach each other's intermittent worlds after signing the Ash Pact and being in the same world."

Grandma Wolf's teasing gaze darted between Xiaoyan and Zhi, offering a somewhat inaccurate answer.

"I see. Thank you in advance, Mother-in-law."

"No need, no need. If you're really grateful, just call me 'sister'."

"Wolf Sister?"

"My name is Holo."

“Okay, Holo.”

"Hey, what a well-behaved child. It reminds me of my own son, haha, but he must be an old man by now. Ah, sorry, sorry, old people just can't help but reminisce about the past. You guys have things to do, right? We won't keep you any longer."

After speaking, the wise wolf Holo leaned back on the steps, her brown wolf ears peeking out from under her hat twitching as if she were reminiscing about happy times from the past.

It seems that all the ashes have stories to tell. She shifted her gaze back to Zhi, who was still muttering to herself with a look of utter despair.

She must have her own story too.

As Xiaoyan thought about it, she drew her longsword.

Chin—! Ground sword marks +1

"Hey, are you awake now?"

"Everything is fine, Lord Yan, please feel free to give any orders!"

Ignoring the skilled but quick sitting up, Xiaoyan walked towards the Fire Keeper.

"Then get up quickly, it's time to get down to business."

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"So, as long as we advance our progress in the World of Fire, we'll have a chance to complete our abilities?"

"It's not just about the progress, Lord Ash. The test is multifaceted, not just about combat, although it is the most crucial aspect. So, progress is usually used as the standard of measurement. But if you have good luck, there will often be additional surprises."

Xiaoyan glanced at the phantom of Zhi on the other side. She seemed to be communicating with her Fire Keeper as well, but Xiaoyan couldn't see the other Fire Keeper at all, nor could she hear Zhi's voice.

It seems that every Ashbringer truly has its own Fire Keeper.

"So now, I should be able to complete it once, right?"

“I prefer to call this ritual an awakening—in terms of progress, you can only complete it once, but in reality, it seems you have overcome quite a few hurdles, so this ritual should bring you a surprise. So let me touch the flame within you.”

The Fire Keeper gently lifted Homura's right hand, and Homura slowly knelt down on one knee. After the Fire Keeper uttered a sentence that sounded like a spell or a prayer, Homura felt something burning deep within her.

The entire sacrificial site seemed to darken for a moment. A spindle-shaped object, covered with circular patterns, flashed across Xiao Yan's chest. But in the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal. Only a tender purple flame ignited on Xiao Yan's body, only to quickly extinguish itself.

Everything seemed like an illusion.

"So this is what the magical girl that Lord Ash has been emphasizing is like."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

During the ceremony, Xiaoyan closed her eyes. She only felt the familiar warmth of the flames spreading throughout her body, and then it was all over.

"Congratulations, Lord Ash! Your ritual was a great success. At least from what I can tell, your total magic power has increased significantly, and you may have even regained some abilities. However, you'll have to try it out for yourself later."

The Fire Keeper bowed slightly and then stood aside, quietly watching Little Flame experience the changes within herself.

Xiaoyan did sense something was different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. However, the increase in her total magic power was truly astonishing. Magic power that would have been completely drained by a single use of time acceleration before now seemed to linger on her for a considerable time. As for the abilities she had regained…

She took a few steps forward, then abruptly returned to her original spot.

Then she planted her longsword to the side, took a few steps back, walked back, picked up the longsword again, and abruptly returned to the position she had retreated to, with the longsword still in her hand.

"Heh, this ability... should I say that from now on, I can ignore normal tactics as long as I have magic power?"

She finished the Elemental Ash Bottle in one gulp, felt the amount of magic power restored, and then gave a wry smile.

"It seems I was too simplistic. I need to find a way to increase the recovery amount and usage of the Elemental Gray Bottle as soon as possible."

Speaking of which, I think I got something good before.

She glanced at the weaving that was still in progress, then turned and walked toward the entrance to the sacrificial site.

Here, she saw that strange old woman again.

"Oh dear, Lord Ash, you've finally arrived! I've heard that our shrine is about to welcome a master, but when you first came, you didn't even bother to check on us servants. I thought you didn't care about us at all."

With the same aged voice and the same rambling, the old woman who claimed to be a maid of the sacrificial site spoke at length again when she saw Xiaoyan, but her understanding of the situation between the two seemed a bit strange.

"Hmm? Grandma, if I remember correctly, we should have met when I first came here."

"Hehehe, Lord Ash really has a bad memory. After you lit the campfire and appeared from it, you never came to this cavern. The blacksmith and I over there have been hoping for Lord Ash to come for a long time."

Xiaoyan was confident that her memory was accurate, so there must be something wrong with the maid's attitude now, which was completely different from when they first met.

"Oh dear, oh dear, let's not talk about that. I still have something to give to Lord Ash. Now that you're here, I'll give you these things that I'm temporarily storing here."

Before Xiaoyan could raise any further questions, her mother-in-law took out four items from the pile of miscellaneous items beside her and handed them to Xiaoyan.

"Let me see, these are the four things you usually use: the black crystal for farewell, the white-marked wax stone, the bone fragment for return, and this precious ember."

Xiaoyan took each item and examined them carefully. She had already seen the Farewell Black Crystal, while the White Marked Wax Stone was a waxy carving with a cloth strip wrapped around the back as a handle and a pointed front. The Return Bone Piece looked like a pile of broken arm bones, or perhaps leg bones.

The last one, the so-called ember, was quite different from the one Anri had given him. The cracks on it made it shatter more completely, and the shape of the human figure was almost unrecognizable. However, the rest was not much different from the one Anri had given him.

"Farewell to the Black Crystal can forcibly repatriate benevolent spirits that refuse to leave your world; Wax Stones can be used to leave messages or inscribe runes for other ashes to summon; Return Bone Shards allow you to quickly return to the Firelink Shrine without a campfire; as for the Ember..."

As Xiaoyan examined these items one by one, the old woman readily provided explanations.

"...This is a precious item. If you wish to maintain communication with the other Ashes, you'll need to hunt more special enemies. I, the old woman, will refine more embers for your use during your hunts. But of course, the spoils aren't just embers; I'll also provide some of your enemies' equipment. So, please, Lord Ash, hunt as much as you can when you have time. After all, living off death is our curse, hehehehe..."

Although his attitude had become much friendlier, the unpleasant laughter was still exactly the same as when they first met, and Xiaoyan suppressed her doubts. As she had said before, she now had clear goals to achieve, and she didn't yet have the time to explore certain aspects of this world. However, she believed that as she progressed deeper into this world, some secrets would eventually be revealed to her.

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Homura Akemi's Intelligence Compilation Manual

Additional information regarding the sacrificial site:

The Fire Keeper's role: to perform special rituals to complete the Ashes after they have completed their trials, thus enhancing their strength.

The old maid's role: After Ashen defeats special enemies, she uses this opportunity to refine various equipment and items for Ashen's use. Among these, embers are Ashen's most frequently used and consumed item.

PS: Yunxi: To celebrate reaching 200 favorites, here's an extra chapter!

Chapter Twenty: The Knights of Lothric's Tragedy

Before leaving the old woman, Xiaoyan asked if there were any auxiliary items like firebombs. Since she hadn't obtained the soul that was supposedly currency, she didn't have high hopes. She just asked casually, but the old woman readily provided her with a set of firebombs and a set of throwing knives, saying that as long as Xiaoyan kept fighting in this world, she could have as many of these worthless trinkets as she wanted.

With more questions in her mind, she left the old woman and headed to her destination to find the blacksmith to upgrade the ash bottle.

“Oh, you’ve finally arrived. I am a servant of this sacrificial site, as you can see, an unknown blacksmith.”

Just like the old woman from before, the blacksmith's greeting showed no trace of the rudeness he displayed during their first meeting; his words carried the politeness one would expect upon first meeting.