Chapter 835: I Am Indeed a Tarnished Full of Justice

Players like Song Ren were not few. Many loyal veteran players of the Souls series immediately entered the world of Elden Ring, thinking to themselves, ‘How hard can it be to carve out a place in this world with my skills?’

But reality quickly delivered a harsh beating, making them feel as if they had returned to the sensation of first encountering a Souls-like game. The Tree Sentinel at the beginning shattered countless players’ resolve.

And this was just the start. Unlike Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Dark Souls, which are basically linear, Elden Ring leaned more towards the feel of a Dark Souls prequel. As an open-world game, players could go anywhere they were able to reach.

Of course, the consequences were often severe. Especially, the game was filled with all sorts of unimaginable malice.

For example, the trap chest that made Song Ren want to cry but couldn’t. Who would have thought that this chest could transport a player to a late-game area? And in that area, attacking with un-upgraded starting weapons was basically dealing very low damage. Once transported, players couldn't even fast travel away.

It could be said that almost 99% of players who found this chest in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins would fall victim to it. The only comforting aspect for players was that, compared to Bloodborne and Dark Souls, Elden Ring had a special mechanism in the game: calling for backup!

In addition to certain specific NPC helpers that could be summoned to assist players against bosses, there was also a special system mechanic: Spirit Ashes. In the game, players could acquire various Spirit Ashes that allowed for spirit tuning. Using the Spirit Calling Bell, they could summon different spirit helpers.

With the help of these Spirit Ashes, players could even achieve situations of outnumbering the enemy. For some clumsy noob players, this was simply their lucky star! Although it wasn't a complete overwhelm, Chen Xu's design ensured that the BOSS's AI performance and the strength of the Spirit Ashes wouldn't significantly disrupt the balance.

But the crucial point was the contrast.

“Indeed! As a Tarnished played by a player, this is clearly a righteous person!”

Standing before the gates of Stormveil Castle, watching Margit, the Fell Omen, being attacked by a Jellyfish and the summoned Sorcerer Rogier, Song Ren couldn't help but exclaim. He recalled a line that had deeply impressed him from old Wuxia TV series: ‘Why talk about chivalry with such evil deviants? Let’s all go at him together!’

Now, he could finally experience that feeling.

He had mistakenly entered the Limgrave Tunnels from the Dragon-Burnt Ruins, and it took him immense effort to escape. He wondered what he had encountered on that journey. Inside the Limgrave Tunnels, he was beaten by Stone Miners and Stonediggers.

After exiting the mine, he wanted to see the outside world. The result was an abandoned magic academy, filled with various magic-wielding enemies: ranged attackers, melee attackers, and even some with both. It was all-inclusive, letting him know what it felt like to be ganged up on.

And the land named Caelid was even more full of endless malice. On this land corrupted by the Scarlet Rot, besides the half-human, half-ghost Hollows and various strange insects, there were also mutated creatures infected by Scarlet Rot, as well as large rats and large crows with glowing red eyes. As for the Cleanrot Knights in the Scarlet Rot pools, they could only be described in two words: terrifying.

In this land, Song Ren fully understood what it meant to be a weakling. Forget about bosses; any monster could thoroughly thrash him.

So, after fast traveling back to Limgrave, Song Ren honestly headed towards Stormveil Castle. And there, he encountered the game's true second boss: Margit, the Fell Omen.

A great staff, fast-slow attacks, and sweeping attacks that were hard to react to.

He originally thought the Tree Sentinel was difficult enough.

But this Margit, the Fell Omen, made him realize that there was always someone stronger. The only comforting thing was that the game allowed for multi-person fights.

His helping NPC teammate and summonable Spirit Ashes. The Jellyfish that a story NPC, like Little Red Riding Hood, had given him earlier, combined with Sorcerer Rogier, directly launched a righteous three-on-one.

However, even with the righteous three-on-one, Song Ren still found it incredibly difficult. The main reason was that he felt the Spirit Ashes and teammates he summoned for this righteous three-on-one were particularly foolish.

And Margit, the Fell Omen, as a BOSS, was quite agile and clever.

“No! You’re a sorcerer! Do you know what a sorcerer is? What the hell are you doing rushing in for a melee fight with the BOSS!? What about me and my little Jellyfish if you die!?”

Reviving once again and summoning Sorcerer Rogier, Song Ren couldn't help but complain after entering the fog gate. Rogier, like a desperate fighter, rushed towards Margit, the Fell Omen, was knocked away by a staff, got up, and relentlessly charged back in.

A righteous three-on-one sounded good. But the key was that Rogier, despite holding the title of a sorcerer, insisted on engaging Margit in close-quarters combat. As a sorcerer, Song Ren only saw him cast a cool sword array above his head; for the rest of the fight, he was in melee with Margit.

Although there were helpers, the rhythm of the battle was completely disrupted.

What Song Ren didn't know was that Chen Xu had changed many aspects of Elden Ring's combat system compared to its previous life version. In the previous life, the most common complaint about Elden Ring's combat system was the frequent input reading and the overly strong aggro mechanism of the Spirit Ashes.

The input reading mode turned all bosses into frustrating monsters. If you didn't attack when the boss raised its hand, it would attack; if you didn't roll, it wouldn't move. This meant that if you reacted, you would most likely take an attack, essentially forcing mindless trading blows between the monster and the player.

At the same time, the aggro mechanism and thick health of the Spirit Ashes allowed the monster to continuously focus on the Spirit Ashes, thus ignoring the player. Therefore, in the previous life's Elden Ring, the difficulty curve with or without companions didn't drop from, say, 100 to 90, but directly from 100 to 50.

Now, for Elden Ring’s combat system, Chen Xu could be said to have put in great effort.

When summoning NPC companions and Spirit Ash helpers, the BOSS's AI would noticeably increase, and its moves would also become more chaotic. In single-player mode, the BOSS would not mindlessly input read; instead, it would mostly allow players to adapt to the situation, reacting to the BOSS's wind-up animation, much like a BOSS hunt in Monster Hunter: World.

If one was familiar with the BOSS's attack patterns, it would be more efficient and simpler without NPCs and companions. For a first encounter, however, the help of companions and NPCs offered a slightly higher margin of error.

Although Song Ren felt Margit was stronger than the previous Tree Sentinel, after more than an hour of fierce fighting, with the help of his companions and the Jellyfish, he successfully impaled Margit, the Fell Omen, with his halberd.

“I am indeed a Tarnished full of justice!”

Looking at Margit, the Fell Omen, who still didn't forget to utter fierce words after a tragic death, and thinking of the bravely sacrificed sorcerer and the Jellyfish companion, Song Ren couldn't help but sigh. Those who uphold justice receive much help, while those who don't receive little.

Why did he have teammates, while Margit, the Fell Omen, was like an empty-nest elder with none? Because he was a Tarnished full of justice!

(End of Chapter) <>