Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

She felt she was used to it, so she directly stated her needs.

"Hello, blacksmith, I'm here to ask you to help me upgrade my elemental bottle."

"Oh, you've already obtained the elemental fragments? It seems you're quite confident in your skills. You've actually made this progress without the support of excellent weapons before coming to me. It seems I've encountered a remarkable person."

The blacksmith took the elemental fragment and started working on it with his hammer and anvil while chatting with Xiaoyan.

"Pass me the bottle too... Where do you want the increased capacity added? To the elemental bottle? Or..."

"Please add it to the elemental gray bottle for me."

"Oh, you're a mage. No wonder you don't seem to care much about a blacksmith like me. By the way, do you want to adjust the bottle's capacity? For a mage, a capacity that can only be used twice is still too small."

"Can the capacity be adjusted?"

"Of course, please trust the skills of the Ashes' exclusive blacksmith."

"Then please add all the capacity to the elemental gray bottle."

"Are you really going to do this? You should know that even just one elemental vial means you still have one chance to get back on your feet from your injured state."

"It's alright. Right now, I'm confident that I won't get hurt when I have magic powers."

Despite Xiaoyan's expressionless face, the blacksmith could still sense a powerful confidence emanating from her. This was a quality often seen in mages, not in themselves, but in the composure that only comes from a deep understanding of certain rules.

"As you wish."

The hammer fell, and the elements on the two glass bottles of different colors were decomposed and reprocessed by the blacksmith's craftsmanship. Finally, the two bottles, which were not much different from the original ones, were handed back to Xiaoyan.

"Oh~ Xiaoyan, have you finished enhancing the elemental bottle?"

At this moment, Zhi seemed to have completed the ritual and came to Xiaoyan's side.

"Yes, to match my new abilities, I also adjusted the capacity of the Elemental Ash Bottle."

"A new ability? Tell me about it, I'm really curious!"

Xiao Yan carefully put the bottle away, bowed to thank the blacksmith, and then, ignoring Zhi's curious expression, prepared to leave.

"You'll see once we actually fight."

“Wait, young lady, I have another suggestion that might be helpful to you.”

The blacksmith suddenly called out to Xiaoyan again, as if he had something else to say.

"Please speak."

"Although you are a powerful mage, a more suitable weapon can help you go further in difficult situations. And I have such technology here, which can use your own power to craft weapons and equipment. However, some materials are needed, so if you see any large lizards covered in crystals, don't forget to kill them and collect the important crystals. I will help you enhance them into the most suitable weapon for you."

Upgrading a unique weapon? This blacksmith seems to be much more skilled than he appears. And the lizard covered in crystals... why does this description feel so familiar? It's like I've seen it somewhere before.

Amidst Zhi's eager calls for Xiaoyan to hurry up and test her new abilities, Xiaoyan temporarily put the question out of her mind. She felt that her exclusive weapon had always been the shield with the hourglass, and there was no need to add another one.

Xiaoyan and Zhi finished their preparations at the sacrificial site and left one after the other.

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"Let's use those two Lothric knights loitering over there to test our new ability."

This is the main road in front of Lothric Castle. According to Zhi, if they went directly to the castle gate, they would encounter powerful war knights, so they planned to test Xiaoyan's new ability here first. However…

"Why the Knights of Lothric again? I feel like we've caused them trouble several times already for the same reasons."

"There's nothing we can do about it. They're the most troublesome and suitable enemies for practice around here, and they can even resurrect. But if you're not satisfied with that, there's another formidable enemy at the church entrance who's far more difficult than a regular Lothric Knight. You can use him to practice as well."

"Forget it, let's try it on them first. After all, I'm quite familiar with their moves. I was just feeling a bit sorry for those knights who were resurrected and then wiped out."

Setting aside any unnecessary thoughts, Xiaoyan and Zhi approached the two Lothric knights patrolling the city gate.

Weaving first drew the attention of the sword-and-shield Lothric Knight, while Flame charged straight at the spear-wielding Lothric Knight. After he raised his great shield, she used her combat skill to break it, taking him down twice in succession. Thus, only the unfortunate sword-and-shield Lothric Knight remained on the scene. Due to the universality of his weapon and equipment in this world, he was chosen as the final experimental target.

Xiaoyan approached first, attracting his attention, and then began her demonstration.

"First, let's demonstrate the first usage."

She slowly retreated, but did not raise her hourglass shield. The Lothric knight facing her saw this as a good opportunity. These despicable strangers had been careless this time. Not only did they not attack together, but they also casually did not raise their shields. Perhaps this time, he could turn the tables on his two... no, his former colleagues.

So he charged forward and used the stabbing attack that had already been described twice.

But sometimes, you really can't say things carelessly. He had no idea that the enemy in front of him wasn't wearing a shield simply because she didn't need one.

The stabbing attempt failed once again, but unlike his colleagues, his attack missed in a strange way.

Xiao Yan suddenly disappeared from his sight and reappeared at the place where she had initially confronted Luo Qi, but now, due to Luo Qi's fierce charge, she was behind him.

He didn't even feel the fear that his colleagues had once felt, of having their backs controlled by others.

Completely unaware of the situation, I was thoroughly betrayed.

"Did you see that clearly? I'm going to demonstrate the second usage."

Completely captivated by the amazing skill of weaving, and with eyes bulging with curiosity that almost turned into cat eyes, Xiao Yan calmly threw away the longsword in her hand.

Having been tricked, Luo Qi barely turned around, and upon seeing Xiao Yan's contemptuous behavior, he charged over in a rage.

This time he finally didn't use a straight thrust, and after suffering a loss once, he cautiously kept his shield up the whole time.

However, his actions gave Xiaoyan a better opportunity to perform. Without holding a blade, she assumed a stance for longsword combat without any weapons, and jumped up fiercely after Luo Qi charged at her.

Suddenly, the longsword appeared in Xiaoyan's hand, and with Xiaoyan's stance, it pried open Luo Qi's shield in one fell swoop.

The Knight of Lothric was utterly astonished. As a skilled instructor of shield parrying, his colleagues had witnessed countless rookie Ashbringers transform from mindless sword-wielding brutes into masters of shield parrying. But no one had ever experienced such an unbelievable battle as he had... no, they had probably seen even more bizarre ones, but they couldn't express their frustration.

What happened next was even more unbelievable. After Xiao Yan broke his shield and created an opening, she calmly threw away her longsword again and reached out her hand to Zhi.

"The third use is to borrow your katana."

The dashing and agile Xiaoyan was so cool that Zhi was completely captivated. Without saying a word, she threw her sword over and continued to stare at Xiaoyan with her cat eyes, waiting for Xiaoyan to show an even cooler side of herself.

He took the katana from the cleaver, and the Lothric Knight had recovered from his vulnerable state. Just now, he had actually received the enemy's mercy—no, it was blatant disregard. They were even chatting with their companions while he was so wide open. He was now furious and also took a fighting stance, determined to reclaim the glory of the Lothric Knight with a desperate strike.

Everything seemed to be a replay of the past. The Luo Qi, assuming a battle stance, prepared to thrust out his longsword and slash down with his katana; but the figure who unleashed this attack was no longer the murderous demon with an evil smile, but an expressionless witch.

Blood splattered out.

Regardless of whether the user is a murderer or a witch, the protagonist at this moment is the katana that once caused fatal bleeding.

The attack resumed, the katana drinking blood, instantly reaping yet another life.

Blood fell.

The Lothric Knight bathed in his own blood, becoming yet another sacrifice for the growth of ashes, and this cruel sacrifice would continue endlessly.

Blood trembled, and the sword was sheathed.

Xiaoyan imitated the movements of several katana masters, ending her entire demonstration.

clap clap clap-

Zhi clapped her hands excitedly, her two cat eyes turning into starry eyes. As if she had discovered some rare toy, she hugged Xiao Yan tightly.

"Little Flame is amazing! This ability is time reversal, right? Not only can she rewind her own time, but she can also rewind the attack effects of her weapon! Haha, I feel like Ice Dog has nothing to be afraid of anymore! We'll go and take him down in a bit and get revenge for the nine times he beat me to a pulp!"

In contrast to the excited Zhi, Xiao Yan was already unsteady on her feet due to the depletion of her magic power.

"Don't be too happy yet. I can't use this ability too many times. One rewind of my own position, one rewind of an item's status, and one rewind of an attack effect are enough to drain my magic power."

"What does it matter? You have five Elemental Flasks, a mere Ice Hound is no problem! Come on, let's sit down by the campfire first, and then we'll teach that bastard a lesson!"

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Homura Akemi's Intelligence Compilation Manual

Additional information regarding the sacrificial site:

The blacksmith's role: to enhance Elemental Bottles with Elemental Shards and redistribute their capacity; and is also said to possess the ability to use special crystals to enhance unique weapons based on the power of the Ashes themselves.

Chapter Twenty-One: Ice Dog's Hellfire Chariot Tutorial

Beneath the imposing gates of Lothric, a battle of vastly unequal strength is raging. Massive, icy, hammer-wielding, heavily armored knights are rampaging through the city.

Frost spread beneath his feet, and the earth shattered under his hammer. He was Bordor of the Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, once a glorious royal knight, now nothing but a pitiful, mad beast. Driven by conspiracy and ambition, he had fallen into this state, only to be slain again and again by ashes at the gates of Lothric.

There was no one he needed to defend here, and he had long since lost his honor. Even his closest comrades-in-arms were separated by this damned spacetime, at a distance where they could see each other but could not touch each other.

And now, another Ash has arrived at the gates of Lothric, and he has to stop her with a ridiculous excuse, even giving everyone the false impression that he is Lothric's watchdog, in order to prevent her from opening the gates of Lothric. After sending her back to the bonfire several times, he awaits her fate of being killed again.

Yes, in this battle where the odds are stacked against each other, the one making a last-ditch effort is the conquering knight known far and wide as the Beast. He is trying his best to defeat this small Ash, who is wearing a superior knight's set, several times. However, he can only fight on his beastly instincts, and his opponent has become familiar with his moves. At this moment, he is in dire straits.

The desperate impacts were narrowly avoided each time. Before the warhammers raised in both hands could even fall, Ash had already circled behind them. The frost breath had just been released when it gave the enemy the perfect opportunity to be brutally beaten.

Everything was being calculated. Anri, having paid the price of her own death multiple times, had long seen through Ice Dog's struggles. She calmly predicted her opponent's movements, striking at the most opportune moment to deal maximum damage, and never being greedy with her attacks, retreating immediately after each strike. This battle, in which the two sides were vastly different in size, turned into an even more lopsided massacre.

She was waiting for the Ice Dog to finally give in, and that time wouldn't be far off.

After delivering another heavy blow to the enemy's head, she felt the Ice Dog's movements suddenly pause.

She knew she had won, but she didn't feel much joy.

She had heard of the fate of this powerful former royal knight, but that was not a reason for her to sympathize with Bordo. She knew clearly that in this pre-designed world, even if she was lucky enough to encounter those special ashes and have a special experience, as long as Anri's name still hung over her head, she was just a sacrifice waiting to be offered up.

She slowly stepped back, looking at Bordo who was about to fall into the next cycle of reincarnation, her eyes filled with sympathy for him.

Shaking her head, she turned and went to the city gate, waiting for what was once a living, breathing life to be transformed into cold, lifeless soul currency.

However, she waited for a long time, but the feeling of spiritual growth did not come.

She turned around and saw something beyond her imagination.

The knight of conquest did not proceed to the next cycle of reincarnation. Black pus churned on his body, and slender limbs, resembling branches or wings, extended from his back. He slowly propped himself up, and a chill far greater than before emanated from him, causing a thin layer of frost to form on the entire gates of Lothric.

He reopened his eyes, and beneath his helmet, a crimson light radiated out, tracing red streaks in the air with each movement.

Anri was stunned by this sudden change. She watched as the third-stage transformed warrior knight raised his heavy hammer, but he showed no fear. He just murmured some incomprehensible words.

"Great, finally there are some new changes."

The heavy hammer came crashing down.

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"Let's go, let's go, it's time to go get revenge on Ice Dog."

By the campfire, Xiaoyan and Zhi replenished their Elemental Bottles and were heading towards the gates of Lothric vial along a shortcut.

"I've heard you talking about Ice Dog all the time. Is that the name of that powerful being?"