I awoke to the sound of wind flowing past my head at a leisurely pace. I sat up and found that I was still at the entrance to the stranded graveyard. So far, this dream has been going on for a really long time, or maybe it just seems long to me because I am in the dream. Regardless my next course of action is to explore the Fringefolk Hero's Grave, obtain the Dragon Communion seal, maybe also the Erdtree's Favor Talisman, and then kill the Ulcerated Tree Spirit.

  I got up and approached the fanged imp statue. Taking the stonesword keys out of my inventory, I pced the keys in the slots on the fanged imp heads. The wall of grey mist preventing me from entering the tomb vanished and I walked in. The first room was a pit filled with poison that one needed to pass through in order to progress. I climbed down the dder only to start feeling queasy.

  This must be the poison, ugh... I wanna throw up...

  Nevertheless, I trudged on until I reached the end of the poison pit. Now in a grand hallway that angled down at an incline, I sat by a pilr and waited for my stoMach to settle, drinking from my fsk of crimson tears whenever my health got too low until eventually the poison was gone. In the meantime, I watched in equal parts fascination and horror as a massive stone chariot rode up to the top of the ramp only to turn around and ride back down, the chariots wheels covered in sharp spikes and extended to encompass almost the entire hallway.

  No point in taking this fast, might as well be slow and methodical.

  I waited for the chariot to retUrn and leave before approaching the corpse that was at the top of the ramp. I picked up 5 poison bone darts and then ran back to my spot behind the pilr. As the chariot returned and the spun around to go back, I followed running down the steep hallway until the halfway point, where I ducked into an alcove as the chariot turned back again. In the alcove across from me, light and mist coalesced into a humanoid shape, one which then raised a crossbow. I saw the projectile long before it hit and dove aside. As the chariot passed me going up, I booked it to the next alcove, bringing out my club as I did. As I entered the alcove, more light and mist became another spirit which leveled a crossbow at me. I raised my club and shoved it off the edge onto the ramp below. Turning around the chariot paSsed me by, turning another spirit into paste on the ground before going back up to the top.

  Patience is a virtue, wait for the proper timing.

  I waited unTil the chariot returned, apparently killing the spirit I had shoved off just moments ago, who had run around the hall in an attempt to get back up to me. Once the chariot turned and began rolling uphill again, I leapt from the alcove onto the lower hallway, running as fast as I could to the bridge that ran over a chasm, I dove off the side and nded on a pot which crumpled underneath me. Immediately standing up I let out a furious war cry, activating my weapon skill, and swung my club into a fanged imp which had been running up to me in order to attack. I swung wildly, even as another fanged imp joined the first. At some point I realized both imps were dead, and I was just being silly now.

  With a healthy dose of embarrassment, I proceeded down the stairs through this 'under-hall'. only to immediately scramble back up the stairs as a wave of fire washed past me.

  Right, forgot about that.

  I waited for the fire to stop then sprinted into another alcove in the middle of the hall as the fmes started again. While doing so I swung my club and knocked back the fanged imp that had been waiting for me. With a few more furious swings the imp was dead.

  This club is really good for staggering smaller enemies. It must have high stance and poise damage.

  The fire stops spewing once more and I rush my way around the corner and off to the side as another jet of fme starts up. After a quick breath I looked up, I was in a dark stone room covered in cobwebs. Gravestones and cy pots were stacked up in all four corners, and torches lined the walls glowing with pale fmes. In the center of the room was a tall stone pilr decorated with fanged imp statues, one of which was sputtering the final dregs of fme down the hall I had just entered from. BehiNd me was a wall, and across from me was another room with one visible fanged imp standing with its back turned. To my right was another archway with a set of stairs leading down.

  I reached up and smacked the central pilr with my club. The pilr shook and began lowering into the floor.

  No more fire.

  I knew that there wasn't much interesting in the room across from me except for some fanged imps and I didn't want to deal with that right nOw. I turned to the right and began making my way down the stairs, carefully dodging old swords and spears. Candles on the steps glowed with a simir pale fme as the torches, bones crunched beneath my feet as I stepped out into a rge open room.

  A chasm opens up in the middle of the room, a stone bridge links the two halves of the room together. Statues line the walls, sunk into alcoves. Candles line the bridge and a hole in the ceiling illuminates the room in its entirety, a grafted scion clinging to the ceiling right next to it. On the other side of the room, on a raised ptform, sits an alter before a rge statue that looks a lot like the others that line the walls. In fronT of the ptform is a corpse.

  That is the Erdtree's Favor talisman. My target in this room.

  I took a few deep breaths, then I moved.

  I knew that once I reached a certain point on the bridge, two grafted scions will drop down to attack me. I ran forward keeping my eyes on the corpse, and my new sixth sense trained on the grafted scion that was hanging from the ceiling. The scion began dropping as I reached the end of the bridge. I dove to the left and scrambled between several benches as a loud crAsh sounded through the room and the grafted sCion began turning towards me. I leapt up onto the ptform as the scion followed me around. I dove towards the corpse and saw the Erdtree's Favor talisman. I grabbed it and it vanished into my inventory as I sprinted back across the bridge, only to blink as the second grafted scion was walking towards me.

  My bacK burned as I slid to a stop underneath the scion. A bde fshed in my vision and I twisted around, only for my right torso to erupt in pain. I rolled to the side and fell off the bridge only to crash back first onto a ledge.

  Dazed, I looked up and saw the two grafted scions gring dowN at me, their mouths stretched unnaturally as they screeched.

  "Ow... I still live?"(Alexis)

  "??????!! ??=??!"(???)

  I gnced up at my health bar. Only to not see a hint of red. Opening my status, I saW that I only had 7 hp remaining. That was almost a disaster. I drank my st fsk of crimson tears and saw my hp go up. I sat up and looked over the edge to see a small pool. I rolled over and down into the pool, it wasn't very deep. I moved over to the entryway that leads to the elevator.

  I may need to rethink my strategy...

  No fsks, no armor, and a club... I didn't have the damage or health to kill the ULcerated Tree Spirit.

  I may have been a little overly ambitious. I'm gonna come back ter once I have some literal firepower. I should probably try to get something out of this.

  I stood on the Elevator ptform and was raised up to a ledge, the chariot moved about underneath me. I turned to the left and let out a war cry at the banished knight spirit. The spirit stood up and got ready to attack, only to fall face first as I swept his legs out from under him. As the spirit tried to get up I raised my club and brought it down on its head.

  Bonk!

  Bonk!

  Bonk!

  Bonk!

  ...

  Bonk!

  As the spirit began to Dissipate, I turned and gazed out at the hallway below me, the chariot racing up and down the incline. I could see the part where I dropped down to kill the imps. I could also see three rge jars hanging from the ceilinG. I pulled out my poison bone darts. I waited until the chariot made it just beneath me and turned around. I threw a dart at the ropE holding up one of the jars, and watched my dart...

  Clink!

  Smack into the side of the jar and fall onto the ground, the chariot running it over a moment ter.

  ...

  Four more attempts and four more failures, and I am starting to doubt whether or not this is a dream.

  "??????! ?? ?????? ? ?? ?! ?? ?? ???? ??!"(???)

  I waited for the chariot to run down the hallway, then I dropped down and ran around the corner and up the ramp to the top. From there I waded Through the poison pit again before climbing the dder and reaching the site of grace.

  I let the warmth of grace flow through me, cleansing me, as I rested for a minute.