Two days later, at the necessary path to the harbor town.
This was a large mountain village surrounded by several mountains, it once was.
Calling it a village, it had almost developed into a town, but due to Deathroot, this place had directly become a swamp.
All the trees began to rot, black liquid seeping from somewhere underground.
The buildings on the land were mostly destroyed, and the rest of the creatures, including humans, had become Those Who Live in Death, wandering aimlessly here like zombies, until living people arrived!
"Say, if I kill them all, will they be reborn?"
"As long as the Elden Ring is not repaired, even if you kill them, they will only die temporarily and will eventually revive again."
'Great, this setting is very reasonable.'
'To completely kill them, it seems we can only repair the Elden Ring.'
"My Lord, since my combat ability isn't very high, I cannot fight alongside you the entire time. I can only assist at critical moments. So please be careful."
Yes, this is also a very reasonable part of the setting.
Maidens certainly have combat ability, but whether it's strong or not is unknown; they certainly cannot fight for long periods.
Therefore, Maidens will temporarily stay in safe places, or not far from the Tarnished, ready to provide support at any time.
Now the Fire Keeper is doing just that. After placing the food on clean ground, she took out a short knife and remained vigilant behind Kaito.
While preparing to support, she also helps Kaito guard against sneak attacks from other enemies.
Naturally, she is also careful herself.
Because she is very important; if she dies, her Lord would have no way to gain strength through blessings!
"This short knife is no good; its durability will be gone after a few swings."
Kaito's level wasn't high, and his attributes weren't high.
Similarly, the zombie-like Those Who Live in Death here weren't strong either; they moved slowly, so with a bit of caution, they could be easily defeated.
Only certain advanced Those Who Live in Death could pose a threat to Kaito's safety.
Thus, with Kaito's superb martial skills, and under the Fire Keeper's astonished gaze, Kaito went on a killing spree.
Even though he started as an Astrologer (mage), he never once thought of using the Astrologer's Staff to fight; instead, he directly used the short knife to charge in and out seven times.
After the seventh charge, the short knife broke with a crack.
His level experience was high, probably enough to level up a few times, right?
"My Lord, you are truly amazing! Although I don't know how strong other Tarnished are, I can sense that you are among the best, perhaps even the strongest among them!"
The Fire Keeper began to get excited, even starting to show a blind admiration, as if believing her Lord could definitely become the Elden Lord. She even started to look a bit 'infatuated.'
But Kaito felt that won't do.
After all, his Fire Keeper is supposed to be aloof!
Cough!
"Thank you. But now I need to rest for a bit and level up."
"Okay!"
Arriving at a safe area, the Fire Keeper released a blessing to restore Kaito's stamina, essentially magic.
After his stamina was mostly restored, the Fire Keeper took the initiative to hold Kaito's right hand, and both of them entered a mysterious world.
Here, Kaito could see his own body's star chart?
Anyway, he needed to start consuming his experience to allocate attribute points!
"Hmm... I'll put everything into Endurance for now!"
Intelligence is important, but it's not critically lacking right now. As long as he can use some abilities to fight, that's enough. Higher levels can wait.
As for Dexterity, which relates to speed, he isn't lacking much either; his martial skills can make up for it.
As for other attributes...
Like Vigor and such, he's not adding any.
"My Lord, are you sure you want to put everything into Endurance?"
"Yes, do it!"
"Ugh..."
The Fire Keeper wanted to advise him, but remembering the scene of Kaito charging in and out seven times before, she gave up.
Her Lord was strong and invincible!
Increasing Endurance was also for sustaining longer battles!
Thus, Kaito's level temporarily reached level 9, just one level away from level 10.
By adding all attributes to Endurance, Kaito's Endurance increased. Though not significantly, it did allow for longer combat duration.
Additionally, Endurance had a hidden benefit: it seemed to increase damage resistance.
"Great, continue!"
The goal was to clear out all the Those Who Live in Death in this area!
Even if they would revive, looking at the previous battlefield, their revival speed clearly wasn't too fast. It might even be the same as elite monsters, reviving once a day.
He fought using a rock spear created with the ability [God · Morax].
Since the Those Who Live in Death were weak, essentially one kill per spear, in less than half a day, most of the Those Who Live in Death in this village were dead.
After Kaito deliberately made noise to attract the remaining Those Who Live in Death, another two hours passed, and they should all be dead, waiting for their revival cooldown.
"My Lord, please rest well!"
During this time, the Fire Keeper restored Kaito's stamina several times, and during this period, Kaito continued to level up, adding all points to Endurance.
With no notifications, Kaito had no idea if he was the first to reach level 10.
His level was now 16; leveling up would probably slow down from here.
"Before that, I want to find a place to wash up. My clothes are not only stained with the blood of Those Who Live in Death, but also that stinking black liquid."
Though called a swamp, it wasn't entirely, but the water was truly foul and somewhat sticky.
If not for that, Kaito could have finished the battle sooner.
After leaving the village, they sat down in a grassy area.
Since the Fire Keeper was proficient in all attributes of magic, conjuring water for a bath was no problem.
"Okay."
"Hurry up, I can't wait."
Directly removing all his clothes and sitting on the ground, Kaito waited for the Fire Keeper to cast water magic to rinse his body.
There were no better conditions, so this had to do.
The Fire Keeper was shy, but Kaito's skin had long grown thick to an unknown degree.
Splash splash splash...
A magic circle appeared above his head. As Kaito was rinsed by the water, he also scrubbed himself a few times.
No towel, no soap, which was inconvenient, but he had to make do.
After bathing, Kaito had no clothes to wear, so the Fire Keeper took the initiative to remove her clean robe's cloak and drape it over him.
She then lit the campfire she had just set up to warm him, and helped wash his clothes, also washing her own skirt.
Of course, it was simply rinsing with water.
Afterwards, she quickly dried them with magic.
Very fast, Kaito didn't have to wait long before putting his clothes back on.
Kaito didn't know if all Maidens in Elden Ring were like this, but he was sure his Maiden was wonderful!
She was so considerate!
"My Lord, this is soup I just made. Please drink it slowly."
While Kaito took a short nap to restore his stamina and energy, the Fire Keeper carefully searched for wild vegetables nearby.
However, not daring to stray too far from Kaito in case she needed to rush back to protect him from wild animal attacks, she only gathered a few.
With other seasonings, it was just enough for Kaito alone, while she ate dry rations as dinner.
"Drink some too."
"N-No need, my Lord! You're the one who needs to recover."
"Even so, your energy consumption today wasn't small either. Here, take a few sips."
"..."
"It's okay, drink."
Kaito wanted to say these wild vegetables wouldn't restore much; they wouldn't significantly replenish nutrition, but he wouldn't ruin the Fire Keeper's kind gesture.
After letting the Fire Keeper reluctantly take a few sips of soup, her dry rations tasted a bit better.
After eating, the two of them simply lay down to sleep on a pile of dried leaves they gathered.
No tent, so this was how they slept.
The blame lay with the lack of a player inventory.
They could carry so little. Perhaps in the future, they'd need to frequently return for supplies, or simply carry a large backpack.
It seemed they would often be roughing it outdoors.
Unless Kaito increased his Intelligence (mana) to create a stone house.
…
In the middle of the night,
Kaito opened his eyes.
"!!!"
The Fire Keeper, who had been alert and sitting up, instantly lay back down.
"...Didn't I tell you to sleep?"
The Fire Keeper didn't reply, acting as if she couldn't hear anything.
Two days ago, the Fire Keeper had said she didn't need much sleep, or only very short periods, and could just cast a spell on herself afterward.
Although doing it for a long time would have adverse effects on her body, a good rest in town would fix it.
But Kaito didn't need her to do that.
Even though his strength had weakened, and the attribute called perception was also weakening his sensory abilities, Kaito's sense of danger still existed.
As long as any threatening creature approached, his hairs would stand on end as a warning. So even if he slept alone in the wilderness, there was little cause for worry.
Besides, this was clearly a beginner area; the danger level was far lower than the center of the Lands Between.
And with the campfire warding off wild animals, there was even less need for the Fire Keeper to do this.
Within a thirty-meter radius centered on himself, one could see an extremely thin circle of rock. He had used some mana to create it before sleeping.
As long as any creature stepped on or approached this circle, it would alert Kaito like an alarm.
In addition, there was an inconspicuous earth golem, derived from the ability of God · Morax, which could act as Kaito's eyes to watch the surroundings!
Did you really think Kaito would just fall asleep without doing anything?
"Sigh... whatever. You really need to sleep this time. I'm more concerned about safety than you are. But I've said all this, and you just won't listen."
Letting out a sigh, Kaito moved his body towards her and reached out to directly hold her.
"!!"
Yeah, she panicked, she panicked.
The trembling of her body was clearly felt by Kaito.
There was no fragrance, but there was warmth and softness.
After pulling the Fire Keeper close, Kaito went back to sleep. Only the Fire Keeper, behind her blindfold, looked at Kaito. Her mouth opened as if to say something, but she closed it again, leaving only her slightly reddened cheeks to express her current state of mind...
'My Lord...'
'You really are a strange person...'
Having never experienced such warmth and care, the Fire Keeper thought to herself.