Renna the Witch

General POV:

It was evident that neither Kalé nor Max are going to sleep this night. Both of them were watching each other's moves very closely.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? ". Asked Kalé , as he noticed that Max was admiring the night sky.

"Yes. It truly is breathtaking.". Said Max without removing his gaze from the sky.

After a while, he looked at Kalé and spoke, with the goal to pass some time:

"Why don't you tell me something about yourself."

"Sure, why not. We hadn't had the chance to properly introduce ourselves. I am Kalé. Purveyed of fine goods. I am of the nomadic people. Selling wares as I travel. The land has been tainted by madness since the shattering of the Elden Ring. It's only Tarnished like yourself who keep things from drying up entirely." Then wanted to continue saying his standard sentence, "Let's say you are a very welcome customer.", but then stopped himself. Max noticed this and cracked a small smile, as he knew what he was about to say. Kalé then continued.

"There are others of my people who yet survive in these lands. If the mood takes you when you meet one, then offer them a trade, won't you? My people, wanderers all, have long been spurned by the grace of gold. Which is why we cannot settle, but instead are forced into this pitiful, unceasing journey. But thanks to that, things are not so different now, though the Elden Ring is shattered. I think…. this makes us kindred spirits…. at least of some sorts. Perhaps you don't need to hear this but see that no harm comes to my kin. We have a saying, we wanderers. Lament not your solitude. Expect no sympathy. No regard. Nothing. But if anyone dares harm us, show them no mercy. That is our code, so to speak. Just the way we are. Deeply… unforgiving."

Max looked at him coldly and wondered. He thought about the merchants past and their relationship with the yellow flame of chaos. Then he asked Kalé.

"I see. By the way, how long have you been here already?"

"For quite some time already. It's safe to say that I know these lands quite well."

"Is that so? Then allow me to ask you a question. I passed by Mistwood the other day, I heard the howl of a wolf. Do you perhaps know something about this?"

Max decided to try his luck, with the goal to start Blaidds questline. He debated whether it would be better to firstly confirm the howling and then return to Kalé, but once he came back to Mistwood from Kalé, there also might be the possibility that Blaidd had already left. Therefore, Max decided that his best bet would be to get Kalé to confirm if the required action is still the same. Meanwhile, Kalé couldn't believe his luck, he had been banging his head against the wall to find a way to make them meet each other and now one of them asked him about the other. This is the perfect opportunity thought Kalé.

"The howl of a wolf, in the Mistwood... I suppose he must still be skulking around... Mm, I know. Why not meet him for yourself? Next time you hear the wolfs howl, make this signal right under the source. Oh, don't fret, there is nothing to fear. I just have an inkling the two of you might hit it off."

Said the merchant with a small chuckle at the end. He then proceeded to show make the signal. It's the same as in the game. They continued to exchange words for a while longer and then the silence governed the area once more.

Suddenly, Max noticed that the area around them became foggy. He could see Kalé lose consciousness as he looked around. Then Max saw her, in her usual clothing.

"This way tarnished. May I have a word?"

Max was overjoyed that Ranni came. He stood up and went to her. From close up, he had no choice but to admire her blue face and her white phantomlike face. What also caught his eye was the scar on the right side of her face where her right eye was supposed to be.

"A pleasure to meet thee, Tarnished. I am the witch, Renna. I had heard tell of a Tarnished hurtling about atop a spectral steed. And upon looking into the matter, the talk, I surmise, is of thee. Thou'rt possessed of power, no? To call fourth the spectral steed named Torrent."

Max nodded and answered honestly.

"Yes indeed. I can call the spectral steed."

"Ah. As I had hoped. I was entrusted this, for thee. By Torrents former master."

She then took out two items out her pocket. In one of her four hands was a bell and in her other was a small container. Max then took the two items.

There was not anything special about the design of the spirit calling bell and the container filled with the ashes of the wolves looks exactly the same as the one he picked up back at the Chapel of Anticipation. He thanked Ranni.

"This is a bell for calling forth spirits. Summon them with it, from ash unreturned to the Erdtree. The spirits will obey thine command but briefly, as they recall battles past. Now it is thine. To do with it as thou wishest."

Max nodded.

"Forgive mine intrusion, Tarnished. I doubt we shall again meet. But all the same, learn well the Lands between. How long will it be I wonder... Before the Tarnished tire of obeisance to the Two Fingers."

She then disappeared and the fog with her. After their conversation Max went back to the spot he was resting on before, deep in thought. He said to himself: Well dear Ranni, I'm afraid that our future encounter is inevitable, for multiple reasons. Then he shifted his thoughts to the Spirit Calling Bell and to the ashes in his hands. Now with this in his possession, the battle flow will change completely, however there is a huge downside, using them will consume a lot of his mana. Therefore, his new priority goal would be getting his hands on some flasks, and he will do so by collecting the golden seed nearby. With the it, from his point of view, there is a high chance that Melina will spill some secret about how to make the flasks. If this doesn't work, he will have no other choice but to collect starlight shards all around the Lands Between and use them in emergency situations.

He then looked at Melina, who has been sitting beside him all this night in silence, he asked her to take them back to the Roundtable Hold. He took her hand and they both teleported to the Roundtable leaving Kalé alone.

Once they were there, he told Melina to rest, as he made his way down to the hall. Luckily currently there was no one there, as Max didn't want to talk with anyone. Before he went to sleep, he wanted to practice a movement. He already tried it during his training period, a quickstep into a certain direction, however infusing bodyparts with mana consumed it a lot, therefore he couldn't practice it too much. His main problem was that his mana flow was too slow, causing the consumption to be so high, but with the recent mana capacity increase, he felt his mana flow become faster than before. So, he spent the next hour he channeling some of his mana toward his legs as he performs a sidestep. He had a few successful attempts, but another problem arose, the sidestep was too powerful as he kept losing his balance and fell to the ground. His explanation was that he just infused too much mana, but if he tries it with less, the flow is way to slow, causing the quickstep to fail. Afterwards, Max came to the conclusion, that he needs to spend all of his runes into strengthening his spirit. His body has to wait for now.

After spending the night in the Roundtable, Max and Melina teleported back to the church of Ellah, giving Kalé a scare, and they immediately rode away on Torrents back. Their destination was clear to Max, his goal was getting to the church where the Flask of Wondrous Physick and a sacred Tear are located. Furthermore, Fevor's Cookbook and a lot of runes are also located along the way, on a graveyard. Max couldn't stop smiling thinking about the big harvest, he was about to get.