Tarnished (Elden Ring x Male Reader)

Part 1: The Chaple of Anticipation

The calming white void dissipates, slowly revealing the insides of a chapel. Once the light is all gone, we see the armored man, bastard sword over his shoulder and shield in his left hand, surveying the chapel.

The chapel itself wasn't much to look at.

Chairs were strewn about, moss and plants were growing about the place, bookshelves with barely any books in good condition to read, and the alter of a maiden behind the man with her hand stretched out as though to receive an offering. Though there was also a human corpse near the entrance of the chapel.

With a sigh, the man heads over to the corpse. As he stands in front of it, he can make out a few things. It seems that the corpse is of a maiden, a nun of this chapel perhaps, with a severed finger clutched in her hands and a white glowing message just in front of her on the ground.

Message: Though the path be broken and uncertain, claim your place as Elden Lord!

If this message was for the man, he couldn't say for certain. He looked at the maiden before reaching down and taking the severed finger from her hands. As soon as he grasped it, the name of the finger came to his mind.

Tarnished's Wizened Finger. 'A finger of corpse wax, so emaciated the bone is visible. It is a relic of those who came before, left to help those who would come after.'

The man looks at the finger for a moment before pocketing it. He looks to the maiden one last time before giving her a small head bow. He turns and heads to the chapel's entrance.

With some force, the man was able to open the chapel's wooden doors. Though the hinges gave a mighty creek, indicating that the doors had not been used for some time. The first thing to greet the man's eyes were that of a giant golden tree looming in the distance, the Erdtree. The next was that of what looked like a castle shrouding in some mist. That, as it seems, would be his first destination.

As golden leaves fell all around the man, he took note of the area. The chapel, as he saw from the inside, didn't look much better on the outside. Stone ruble laid before him, wind howling against it. The man then looked to his left to see a path that led to a door, presumable to the top of the chapel. He walked forward to try the handle, but it nor the door budged. With the shake of his head, he turned around and noticed stairs which lead to the lower portion of the area. He walked forward and descended.

The next thing to greet the man was an old wooden bridge, the wind pushing against it only slightly. He looked over the edge of where we was standing and only saw a misty abyss. He let out long sigh. He hated bridges like this. He looked to where the bridge led and saw only a stone wall with two statues next to the entrance. He could also barely make out a statue a ways away. With no other choice, he started walking across the bridge. As he walked, he couldn't help but notice the monument to his left. The monument was that of a knight, weapon in hand. A hero's grave, perhaps.

After crossing the bridge and passing through the stone wall's opening, the man found himself in a large area with the statue he noticed earlier, a statue of Queen Merika. To his right and left along a stone pathway were some barely visible stone caskets buried in the ground. This, from what the man guessed, must have been a graveyard. He only shook his head before continuing to walk the path.

As he was in the middle of the path, the wind suddenly stopped blowing. Now to anyone else, this may have seemed like nothing. But the man knew better. He stopped in his tracks, tightened his grip on his sword, and looked about the area to if anything was amiss.

It didn't take long for something to happen.

Something made a mighty leap from behind the statue of Merika before landing a few feet away from the man, the landing itself kicked up a dust cloud. Once the dust settled, the man set his eyes on something that made his blood boil. A Grafted Scion. The thing was made out of an amalgamation of limbs, some of which were carrying two golden swords and a golden shield, had the torso and head of a woman, and was concealing some of its body with a cloak.