After transmigrating, Lloyd initially believed he had arrived in the world of Souls IV or Souls V because of all the familiar sights.
Since Souls games have always followed a box garden design since Demon's Souls—offering branching paths but ultimately sticking to a few fixed routes—he naturally assumed this world worked the same way, with only predetermined paths to follow.
But once he came to his senses, he realized this was the real world, not a simulation. Even in Dark Souls, the box garden was just a stage for the game; the actual world would be far larger and wouldn't be filled with twisted monsters lurking at every corner.
A sandbox is just that—a confined space. The real world plays by different rules. If you treat a sandbox like reality, then riding a horse for five minutes in Red Dead 2 might as well take you coast to coast across America.
That just doesn't make sense, man.
After this realization, Lloyd didn't notice anything different, but Melina, who was nearby, did.
Something had changed. The level of "distortion" in the surrounding environment had lessened a bit.
Even the scenery at the distant borders seemed to stretch out a little farther.
This is...
"His law has changed."
Alice watched Lloyd from a short distance away, her deep eyes showing a renewed spark of curiosity.
At first, she had only approached him to avoid conflict and find someone to help her deal with the anomalies. But over time, she began to notice more and more strangeness about him.
Whether it was his strength, his flames, or even his very existence—it was something that had never appeared in this world. Even its essence was entirely alien.
Especially now, after spending time together and with him gradually revealing his "law" to her, she had glimpsed something even deeper.
Something that neither the Frenzied Flame, the Bloodflame, nor the Serpent had ever noticed.
Maybe it was because the vessel for his incarnation was too weak, or maybe his status was too low—but in any case, they had only seen the burning illusion of the flame.
She had always seen more than them, but after he opened his trust to her, her perception deepened further, allowing her to glimpse into the core of his being.
That strange law wasn't aiding him. In fact, it was holding him back.
And not just in terms of strength—that was only a small part of it. The true limitation was "cognition."
It was as if something didn't want him to realize that he was in a normal world. It kept distorting his understanding, feeding him a false sense of reality.
Almost like a seal.
That's why, when Melina grew suspicious, she advised him not to pierce through that illusion—because doing so would unravel the foundation of the seal itself.
But at the same time, it was also protecting Lloyd.
Not every sealed being seeks to break free. From what she could observe—though her incarnation couldn't see the full picture—if he truly wanted to break the seal, it wouldn't be much harder than tearing through a sheet of paper.
The seal didn't want him to face the truth all at once. It wanted him to accept reality gradually, gently.
And he was cooperating with that, willingly.
It was a subtle balance.
"What is it?" Lloyd noticed Alice's gaze.
"Nothing," Alice replied calmly. "I just find it interesting."
"...I'll take that as a compliment."
...
Not long after leaving the small hill, Lloyd arrived at a cave.
As a veteran of Souls V, even though the map had clued him in that this was a real world and not a confined box garden, he still felt a bit uncertain deep down.
There were two possibilities: either this was a true open world, or the "box garden" had simply been expanded into a full-sized world.
If it was the former, then exploring freely was fine. But if it was the latter, then how would he know what the original paths were? If he wandered off course, he might miss out on items, loot, or entire side quests.
In either case, the best thing to do was comb through the map thoroughly, both to gather clues and figure out what kind of world he was dealing with.
With that mindset, he entered the cave.
This wasn't his first time seeing it. He had come across it earlier while clearing out soldiers in Rune.
But back then, he hadn't yet realized this world was open-ended. Everyone had said, "Tarnished should follow the guidance of Grace," and the pitch-black cave reminded him of the Tomb of the Giants from Dark Souls I—that nightmarish labyrinth you had to traverse without fast travel.
So, he'd lit a fire at the entrance but hadn't dared venture deeper.
Now that he had the map, Fast Travel, and a torch, it was only natural to check out what this place was all about...
This was it?
He killed a few reskinned watchdogs, picked up some loot, and hadn't even gone far before a golden fog gate appeared in front of him.
He pushed it open, and a monster that looked like an elite enemy charged straight at him. One swing—despite being a low-level character—knocked off a visible chunk of its health.
Its aggression was decent, and its moveset was unfamiliar, but its HP and poise were embarrassingly low...
After letting it show off a bit, Lloyd put it down with a few hits. Staring at the "Flamedrake Talisman" in the rewards screen, he fell into thought.
Isn't this just the Flame Stoneplate Ring? So it really is just a straight-up reskin.
Also—does this game only have one talisman slot? Or is there a way to unlock more?
Equipping the new talisman, he continued along the cliffside, retracing his steps. Not long after, he found another hidden door.
Opening it revealed a place similar to where he had just come from—like a graveyard.
And there was this eerie sense of déjà vu.
He lit a site of grace, stepped inside, and after walking a short distance, spotted a small imp tossing throwing knives at him from higher ground. Lloyd's brow twitched.
He threw a knife back, walked in a bit further, and just as a flame trap triggered, another imp jumped out from a corner, swinging a tiny axe at him.
The movement pattern was way too familiar—and after disabling the two fire traps, he saw a telltale setup: an imp clinging to a wall, corpses and item lights below. That smell of nostalgia hit him like a slap to the face. It was almost overwhelming.
Damn, so the thief's not camping on the chapel rooftop anymore—he just slapped on a new skin and took a temp job in the graveyard, huh?
Shaking his head at how FromSoft kept recycling assets, Lloyd finished clearing the graveyard and triggered a mechanism along the way.
The iron gate opened. Another golden fog gate appeared. He readied himself and entered—then froze when he saw what was inside.
Red headband. Dog face. Wielding a stone sword that looked eerily like the Dark Sword. The guy even used super delayed sword swings.
Wait... isn't that Mr. Quin?
—No, it was actually the Erdtree Burial Watchdog.
Lloyd could practically hear the guy's voice in his head.
Ah, streamer, ah, not your, ah, digital pet, ah.
Of course, just a joke.
He studied the enemy's patterns, waited for an opening, then smacked it down with his stick.
Once he took down this "Mr. Quin Delirich" lookalike, Lloyd received a new item.
[Noble Sorcerer Ashes]
Another Spirit Ash?
He'd already picked up the [Wandering Noble Ashes] during his earlier exploration, not to mention the [Lone Wolf Ashes] that his supposed magic teacher had given him, and the [Incomplete Finger Maiden Ashes] he'd extracted from the witch back in the Chapel of Anticipation. That made four ashes now in his collection.
They seemed pretty important, but the problem was... he had no idea what they actually did.
What was he supposed to do, pull them out mid-fight and shout, "By the power of my ancestors!" while smacking enemies with an urn? Or scatter the ashes into enemies' eyes like pocket sand?
This wasn't Florida.
"Did you forget you have a Spirit Calling Bell?" Alice reminded him.
Huh? That thing wasn't just a quest item?
He opened his inventory, pulled out the bell—probably a gift from the magic teacher—and gave it a gentle shake. The ashes in his hand started to react.
The souls within, unclaimed by the Erdtree, emerged into the world through the power of the bell and the Summoning Monument.
What the...
Staring at the familiar hunched figure in front of him, Lloyd was stunned once again.
No way—Soul Pokémon?!
Soul Pokémon was a Dark Souls III mod. Basically, it was like Pokémon: it nerfed the main character's stats but gave them the ability to capture and use monsters in battle. Its whole gimmick was fighting monsters with monsters—and it was wildly popular.
Though the spirit he summoned now was weak—if he'd tried calling it during the fight with "Mr. Quin's" clome, it probably wouldn't have even scratched the guy...
But that wasn't the point. This was just the beginning. If the Spirit Ash of a wandering noble could summon a wandering noble, then what about other ashes? Never mind bosses—what if he got ashes from elite knights?
He could hardly imagine how broken that would be.
At that point, he could load up on healing and buff spells, toss out some ashes, and just hang back casting while his summons wrecked everything in sight.
After hearing Lloyd's plan, even Melina couldn't help but comment, "Isn't that just a Spiritcaller Snail?"
"What's a Spiritcaller Snail?"
"It's exactly what you just described."
After confirming that Spirit Ashes could indeed be summoned, the first thing he thought of was the [Incomplete Finger Maiden Ashes]. He rang the bell again—but nothing happened.
"A creature's spirit and soul are limited. Even Spiritcaller Snails can only summon a very small number of spirits at once."
Melina explained, "This limitation depends on the strength of your soul and the souls within the ashes. But generally, even Spiritcaller Snails can only use one type of ashes at a time. To summon another, you have to disperse the current one."
"I see."
Lloyd nodded. He wasn't surprised.
After all, if there were no summoning limits, then anyone who gathered a few ashes and stepped into a Rebirth Monument's range could basically unleash a low budget version of an endless war god.
"Then I'll disperse this one first... Wait."
Suddenly, something clicked in Lloyd's mind.
Wait—souls?
Staring at the Spirit Calling Bell in his hand, a bold idea took shape.
Then, under Melina's shocked gaze, Lloyd rang the bell three times in succession—plus the Wandering Noble Ashes from before—and managed to summon four different Spirit Ashes at once.
It actually worked?
Looking at the summoned ashes brought forth with his main summoning, Lloyd stood stunned.
He'd thought summoning two types at once was already pushing it. But all three attempts succeeded. And judging from how it went, if he hadn't run out of ashes, he could have kept going.
He even had a hunch: if it was with his main self, then even away from a Rebirth Monument, he might be able to use his own soul as fuel to forcibly summon ashes by spending more.
"Guess I really did become an endless war god."
After a wry comment, Lloyd looked at the Finger Maiden he'd just summoned.
Her condition was different from the others—she seemed to retain a faint sliver of consciousness. But like a candle in the wind, it looked like it could vanish at any moment.
"She's..." Melina also noticed the unusual state of the Finger Maiden's ashes.
"She's probably my original Finger Maiden. But I'm not certain—you know I've lost my memory."
Frowning at the woman before him, Lloyd felt unsettled.
Even though he'd used the Spirit Calling Bell to give her a new form, this state...
"Melina, do you know how to heal a soul?"
Melina shook her head.
The Erdtree series of spells were good for healing the body and mind, but when it came to souls... under the Golden Order, souls were considered eternal and indestructible. Hardly anyone ever studied soul healing.
In the past, she might've been able to offer a suggestion—like finding a Spirit Tuner, or simply returning to the tree.
But now, Spirit Tuners were already rare, and since The Shattering, with all the chaos, corpses, and devastation, finding one in the Lands Between was like searching for a needle in a haystack. As for returning to the tree...
If the trees still worked properly, the Lands Between wouldn't be in this state to begin with.
"Then Alice..."
Alice shook her head too. "I don't know either."
So that was that.
Lloyd sighed and was about to retract the Spirit Ash.
But just as he moved, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye—the "Soul Quantity" displayed in the corner.
Wait a second.
He suddenly realized something.
He didn't know any spells to heal souls, sure—but if her soul was damaged, wouldn't adding a bit of soul energy help?
It was like when someone was seriously injured. Even if you didn't know first aid, you'd still try feeding them a little food or giving them some nutrients—it might not be much, but it should help at least a little, right?
Besides, he couldn't level up right now, and those extra souls had nowhere else to go. Might as well put them to use on someone else.
With that thought, he held out his fingertips, focused, and drew out a small thread of soul energy from the system. He spread it out and carefully separated a tiny portion.
A wisp of white soul appeared at his fingertip. Then, with great care, he brought it to the Finger Maiden's mouth.
He couldn't give her too much—she might not be able to handle it. And he couldn't let it drift far from his body either, since pure souls could easily be contaminated, or even develop sentience of their own. Worst case, it might try to take her over.
As she looked at his outstretched fingers, the soul seemed to sense something. She brushed her hair aside, lowered her head, and gently licked the strand of soul.
Then froze.
It was working!
It was faint, but Lloyd could clearly see that she was absorbing that bit of pure soul.
It wasn't much. It was slow. Just a little—but it was definitely helping.
It was just that, in her current state, even that tiny fragment was hard to process, which was why she stayed still.
"You... gave her part of your soul?" Melina looked surprised.
"Yeah. Not like I need it right now."
After answering, Lloyd suddenly thought of something.
"Wait, aren't you a spirit too?"
"I am. Why?"
"Want some too?"
As he spoke, a small clump of soul appeared in Lloyd's hand. While Melina was still stunned, he tossed it to her.
Delivering soul energy like this did come with some loss. Once a soul left the body, it started to dissipate—and there was always the risk of contamination.
But the Finger Maiden's case had been urgent. Her condition was fragile enough that imprecision could've killed her. Melina, on the other hand, had a complete soul and spirit. Having a girl like her lick his finger would've just been... wrong.
"Then... thank you."
Melina had planned to refuse, but walking the world in spirit form consumed far more energy than a physical body.
Not to mention she'd also fought Messmer earlier. The strength she'd burned then still hadn't fully recovered—she really did need a refill.
"Want some too?"
Alice thought for a moment, then nodded. She asked for a little taste, then passed the rest to Melina.
She didn't have a soul of her own—she just wanted to know what it tasted like.
After Alice, Lloyd summoned Torrent too. He stroked the cute little steed as he fed it some soul energy.
Once he was done feeding everyone, Lloyd dismissed the Spirit Ashes, including the Finger Maiden, letting them quietly digest what they'd received in his inventory. Then he left the cave and resumed his exploration.
This time, since the western path led to the coast, he decided to head east first.
There wasn't much to talk about along the way. No more caves turned up. He just cleared some small monsters, grabbed a few Runes, and collected materials.
The real world was much larger than what the game had shown. And since Lloyd didn't want to miss any hidden items or gear, it wasn't until nightfall that he finally crossed the bridge. After walking northeast for a while longer, he found a new Site of Grace.
Mistwood Outskirts.
Just as he activated the Grace and was about to move on...
The moment he mounted Torrent, a sudden sound echoed from the distant forest.
"Awoo—!"
A chilling wolf howl pierced the night.