Finishing the first questline

A human figure could be seen emerging from the sea. If you were to look closer, you could see the figure trembling, due to the cold. Furthermore, in the distance, a hooded person was also observing the freezing tarnished, and this mysterious person, slowly began to walk towards him.

After Max left the water, he blew in the whistle with some issue, as his teeth were chattering and once he was on top of Torrent, he rode towards Melina. Before he made contact with Edgar, the two previously agreed upon that Melina would stay behind and afterward they would meet again before the entrance of the castle. So, there they were. The two looked in each other eyes and Max signaled her to get on Torrent.

Then the freezing Tarnished rode with his maiden towards the forest. There, he used his weapon to separate some branches and leafs and then put it all into one pile. In his first life, Max just knew, in theory, how to make a fire, but now he quickly cast Catch Flame and voilà, the pile of wood was on fire. Afterward, he proceeded to take off all of his wet clothes, leaving him completly naked. The fire next to him was giving warmth, and very soon Max wasn't freezing anymore. Furthermore, he hung his clothes on a tree branch for them to dry up.

If a similar situation like this occurred a few weeks back, Max would definitely have some "cultured" thoughts, however at the moment, this was not the case.

Now, Max sole focus was the flame in front of him. Unconsciously, he kept touching his scars on his body, especially the huge one on his arm. The fire was being reflected in his seeming calm and deadlike eyes. Even without looking at his scars, one would notice that something was different with his him than before. Previously his eyes were full of life, but now they seem empty, detached, numb.

Melina and her tarnished continued to sit around the fire, until Meina decided to break the silence.

"Why did you kill him?", asked Melina.

"Kill who?", answered Max without removing his gaze.

"Edgar."

"He was terribly injured, so I put him out of his misery."

"Don't evade the question. You know what I meant. You could have saved him. Why didn't you?", replied Melina.

Max continued to look at the fire, then took a deep breath and said in an emotionless voice:

"He died because he was unlucky. When his weapon broke during the battle, his chances of survival were already slim. Besides, with only one arm left, which was also missing four fingers and the hole in his chest, I highly doubt that the Crimson tear flask would have saved him. Even if it did, I believe he still would have been a cripple from then on."

The tarnished paused in his speech and Melina used this moment to speak.

"He was a commander of a whole castle, surely he had mixed the crimson tear flask with some sacred tears, so it might have been strong enough to heal him…"

"If that was the case, that's even a bigger reason not to heal him and take this valuable upgrades flask for myself.", replied Max and then added:"Besides, I just met him yesterday and I am not going to waste a lifesaving flask for someone I have just met!"

Meanwhile Max thought:

'Hmm, I doubt that Edgar had mixed it with many sacred tears, If I had to guess, I would say one or two. Furthermore, if anybody had a flask with more than 10 sacred tears in this world, Gideon had to be the only one.'

"What about the benefits? You have seen that Edgar is a really skilled fighter. He could have taught you many important skills and he could have aided you in your journey of becoming Elden Lord. But no… "

"Enough!", interrupted Max,"Don't worry, I already have a way better mentor than Edgar in mind. As a matter of fact, we will go and meet him soon."

"You do? Who might that be, if I may ask?"

"You will find out soon enough."

Then they spent some time in silence once more, until his clothes have dried up. After Max put on his armor and got on Torrent, Melina asked:

"What about his daughter, Irina? Are you going to ignore her or tell her what happened?"

"Well, obviously, I'm going to report to her, her father's heroic sacrifice."

Then the two continued riding towards the direction where she was. On the way, Max made a quick stop by the merchant to buy some kukri for the future.

Irina POV:

'It has been quite some time since I gave that mysterious man my letter for my dear father. I believe it had been around 4 days, but I am not too sure, since I have been here for so long that I have lost my sense of time.

The only thing that keeps me company, besides those few soldiers who bring me food and water, are worries. Although, it had also been a while since they last came. So I keep worrying that something might have happened to that man, or that perhaps he couldn't find my father. Or that my dear father got the letter, but still remained stubborn and stayed in the castle, instead of being with me.'

A tear ran down my cheek every time I think about this.

'I give my best to remain positive, but sometimes It's really hard... Why did it come to this... everything was going so well.'

After a while, I heard some familiar sounds of a steed coming towards my direction, once it was close the sounds slowed down, and I heard someone jump down.

"Hello? Is somebody there?"

The same male voice from before answered me, but unlike that time, I could hear from his voice that something changed.

"Hello Irina, how have you been doing?"

"Oh, hello again, I am so glad that you came. I got sick with worry. Please tell me, did you perhaps deliver the letter to my father?"

"Yes, I did encounter him and gave him your letter. Unfortunately..."

I interrupted him:"Oh no, don't tell me that he still remained in the castle. Why does he have to be so stubborn?!"

"He said that it was his duty as a commander, but that is not all, so please do not interrupt me and let me continue."

I hurriedly apologized:

"Yes, I apologize, please continue."

"So while he did decide to stay, I stayed with him in order to defeat the missbegotten together, However..."

"What?! I have to ask you for your forgiveness for all the troubles I have put you trough... but why is father not with you?"

"My dear! This is the last time I ask you not to interrupt me. It's really annoying. I will let you know when I finished telling the story."

He proceeded to tell me some detail about their way to the beast and the glorious final battle.

"He lost his arm and with a sword through his chest, his sacrifice wasn't in vain as this created the possibility for me to take the beast's life. Don't be sad, In his last moments, he was thinking of you and told me to tell you that he loves you etz."

When I heard this sad story, I began to cry.

"Oh no, no, no, no, my dear father..."

As I cried, I remembered all the moments we spend together, and then I remembered, my father telling my that he had a crimson tear flask mixed with two sacred tears, he got for his great service to Godrick. He told me that, although such a flask cannot regrow limbs, but it still can heal a small hole through the chest. Why didn't he use the flask? Then it dawned upon me.

"Why didn't my father use his flask? He told me that it may not regrow a limb, but it should have been able to close the wound from the sword you described."

Suddenly I got furious as I screamed:

"You have something to do with his death. Yes, slowly, some puzzle pieces are coming together. How come my father could utter words about me and not his flask. He defiantly wouldn't just forget about it! Why did you do it?! I shouldn't have ever trusted you and entrusted you my letter!"

General POV:

From one point of view, Max was happy that he now knew how many sacred tears were mixed in the flask and how strong the healing prowess was, but on the other side he couldn't help but ask himself:

'Is she actually pretty clever for figuring out that I killed her father, or am I just dumb. I believe it's the latter, I am just stupid, for not even thinking once that she would question my story. Damn it, the next time something like this happens, I will just say that they died instantly.'