7 The Burg is the Word
Jason walked out of his bathroom through a portal and bonelessly flopped atop his bed, exhausted. The flight from the Undead Asylum to Lordran had taken hours, hours of flying over mountaintops with nothing to see but rock and snow for miles. If the time resisting the freezing temperatures hadn't drained him, then mind numbing boredom would have.
After arriving in Firelink Shrine, Jason had swiftly spent his souls leveling up before returning home. It was interesting to discover that while he could enter the Dark Souls world through any doorway in his home universe, he could only exit via the bonfires. Though he could see this being a possible problem in the world of the second game, he knew the first well enough that he could plan out his trips while avoiding being missed in DxD.
Hearing no sounds of activity within the house and checking the time on his bedside alarm clock, Jason could confirm that he'd made it back before anyone else had returned home. With nothing to do until they did so, he peeled himself from the bed and filled his bathtub with steaming water. He could still feel some remnant chills, but he mostly didn't want to know what his parents would do if they came home to their son smelling like a graveyard.
"Mhmm.." he sighed with contentment as he sank into the tub and felt the warmth rise above his chest. It was only really in times like this that Jason missed having a smartphone, it would have been perfect if he could just pull up a novel or some videos and waste away here for a few hours.
Instead, he satisfied himself with going through his system and looking over all the changes that came from his first trek through another world.
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[Status]
Name: Jason Hale
Level: 15^
Race: Human
Class: Shadow Monarch
Covenant: N/A
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HP: 600/600^
MP: 60/60
SP: 70/70
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Vitality: 6^
Attunement: 6
Endurance: 7
Strength: 10^
Dexterity: 10^
Resistance: 6^
Intelligence: 6
Faith: 6^
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Souls: 1262
Humanity: 1
Shadows: 8/30
[Skills] [Equip] [Shop]
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After arriving in Firelink, Jason had enough souls to level up six times. Due to not being able to max one attribute, his goal right now was to reach a point where his stats would allow him to wield an acceptable weapon.
Thankfully, he had one in mind that wasn't too far out of reach. In fact, it was one of his most used back when he first started playing the game so long ago, the Claymore.
With seven more levels he could get his [Strength] up to 12 and be able to two-hand the greatsword. Yes, he was going to stick with greatswords for the most part. He'd switch things up from time to time as there were too many fun weapons in the series not to, but they were what he'd place his primary focus on mastering.
They just struck the right balance of weight and size that Jason was looking for. Heavier than straight swords while not as absurdly large as most ultra greatswords, he would still be able to utilize supernatural strength while not needing to sacrifice much speed.
The Claymore would also serve him well in the short term while he goes about increasing his stats and should be more forgiving towards him as he fights, before learning to properly wield it. Which actually brought up one of his few regrets in this life so far…
A few years ago, Jason had initially thought about learning Kendo. He knew next to nothing about fighting and thought that a martial art along those lines would help him when his system was unlocked. However after checking the local dojo out one afternoon, he soon discovered that the owner and several instructors were all devils. It was even highly likely that the place belonged to Cleria Belial who'd use it to scout for potential peerage members and, knowing her fate in the future, Jason wanted nothing to do with being near anyone related to her.
After that setback, Jason hadn't come up with an alternative training method that appealed to him until a few days after his system unlocked. Of the many revelations that came with the knowledge of one day entering the Dark Souls universe, one of them was that the world was filled with knights. Specifically, knights that had trained and mastered their craft for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
All Jason needed to do was 'enlist' a capable teacher into his Shadow Army and go from there. He had a few in mind, a notable lupine knight at the helm, but no real training could be done properly before his Shadows gained the ability to fully communicate at higher grades.
Thinking about higher ranked Shadows, Jason cracked a smile as he exited the bath and started drying himself off. As he returned to his room and threw on some comfortable clothes, he flopped back on his bed before speaking into the empty room, "Come out."
Exiting from his shadow and circling around the room with curious eyes, a wispy black crow with glowing purple eyes that switched colors based on the type of [Slayer Magic] Jason was using at the time, perched atop a bedpost and cocked her head to the side as she looked at him, awaiting orders.
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[Knight Grade]: Knight rank shadows are usually the most common shadows in the Shadow Monarch's army and are about as strong as 2-Winged supernaturals.
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Jason grinned at the sight of the noticeably smaller bird, this was something she'd done right after they landed in Firelink. As soon as they touched down, she'd disappeared with a large puff of black smoke until flying out shortly after and landing on his shoulder, now just slightly larger than a normal crow.
The bird was a she too, he'd asked right after extracting her when it became clear she possessed far more intelligence than the Hollows.
Now that they had the time, he could finally asks some of the more pointed questions about the Dark Souls world that he'd been rolling over in his head.
After a few directed yes-or-no questions, guided by some of the more notable fan theories he could remember, Jason was able to confirm a few things that made him sigh with relief.
For one; all the gods in Dark Souls were dead, not undead, truly dead. Including Gwyn and the one he was most wary of, Velka. The crow only knew this because she'd been one of her agents, which had confirmed a theory he'd asked about, and she could feel it when the connection died.
As for Gwyn, he couldn't think of the right questions to ask to get an answer, but he guessed that his own soul probably burned away long ago and it was only his husk being puppeted by the remnants of his [Lord Soul] within the Kiln of the First Flame. Probably…
Honestly, there were so many crazy theories about what happened after the Chosen Undead linked the flame that Jason didn't have the patience to go through them all by playing 20 questions with a bird. Maybe Gale would know if he gets to meet him, but that would most likely be in the far, far future.
As Jason heard the front door open, he gave the crow a good scratch under her neck before she faded back into his shadow.
"Jason!" Came a woman's shout from downstairs. "We're back, come down and help with dinner!"
Unconsciously, a smile crept its way across Jason's face as he got up from the bed. In this relatively peaceful time before all the events of canon start, there was no urgent need to become all powerful. It was nice to know he could always come back from such a miserable world and be with his family.
Although reluctant to admit it, he was beginning to see why God had placed a limitation on his entering Dark Souls.
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Undead Burg - One Week Later
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Jason hated the restriction God had placed on entering Dark Souls. It had taken one week to clear up to the Hellkite bridge, one entire week to go through an area that would've taken him less than 15 minutes to clear out in game.
It hadn't taken him a week's worth of Lordran time to get through the place. No, it had taken only around a single day if he added up all his visits. The problem was he could only enter for a few hours a day, which translated to a few hours every other day back in the DxD world!
To be fair, if he'd just ran through the place normally he could've cleared it on the first day but, there was something more important to him in the Burg. Something that he just couldn't ignore, the Black Knight.
He'd wasted two whole days trying to take the bastard down, only to fail in the end. The shield it carried, the tight corridor in which it fought, the small wall at its back, all these factors contributed to a far more difficult fight than the Taurus Demon 'boss' he'd killed in under five minutes.
This Black Knight wasn't stupid either, it wouldn't just stand in the open after being attacked. No, it'd turtle up in the corridor with its shield raised while one shoting all of Jason's weak Shadows.
It wasn't until his third attempt that Jason unlocked something that made slaying the formidable enemy possible. After numerous failed attempts to backstab the knight, Jason finally succeeded and in doing so, earned his second skill from the Shop, [Vital Strike].
The ability worked just like how ripostes and backstabs did in the game version of this world. A single, focused counter or sneak attack dealing massive damage to a critical area on a target. While it still required Jason to parry enemies on his own, he was no less excited to receive an ability that, one could say, was integral to the 'Dark Souls Experience.'
After that, it was far simpler to slay the Black Knight and add its Shadow to his army. With his summons attacking it from the front, Jason would shadow step behind the knight and, using [Vital Strike], 'strike' it down with his [Bandit's Knife].
That wasn't all, right before his last return to DxD, Jason had gone and done the same to the knight atop the tower in the Undead Parish. Now, with two Black Knights in his Shadow Army, he had no qualms about clearing out the Parish or venturing into Darkroot Basin to grab his third.
Before that however, he had a Hellkite Drake to slay.
He wasn't too concerned about the nuisance being over the [Knight] grade and him being unable to extract it either. Unlike a certain hollowed bishop who he was putting off killing until he unlocked the [Elite Knight] grade just in case, the Hellkite Drake was a pushover and should be nowhere near strong enough to credit being higher ranked.
Plus, Jason had grown tired of the [Bandit's Knife] and it was time for him to grab his new weapon off the bridge.
Standing up from the Undead Burg bonfire, Jason stretched out his back and felt the weight of the black leather of his [Thief Set] on his skin, despite it being intangible through the system. He'd gone down to the Lower Undead Burg to clear it out and save Orbeck his first day back which netted him the full Thief and Sorcerer sets.
While it sucked that he couldn't wear anything heavier at the moment, just the small protection of the leather alone made Jason feel far more secure in this world. After clearing out the Parish and heading down to Darkroot, he'd have to grab the [Knight Set] after killing the third Black Knight. He may not be able to wear all of it but the helmet wouldn't be a problem.
After climbing up the ladder and stairs to the open air atop the bridge, Jason eyed the wyvern that stood in his path with hunger in his eyes. What man doesn't dream of having their own dragons? Jason certainly did and this one would be his first.
"Come Out," he spoke and from his shadow arose two menacing figures.
[Black Shadow Knight Lvl.1 - Rank: Knight]
[Black Shadow Knight Lvl.1 - Rank: Knight]
Following them, ten more wielding swords and spears filled in behind while a small bird flew out to land on his shoulder.
[Giant Shadow Crow Lvl.1 - Rank: Knight]
Jason looked over his troops with indifference, apart from the Black Knights and Crow, he planned to replace them all as soon as he entered New Londo and the Valley of Drakes. While fodder was needed in a large army, his was still in its infancy and had no room for wastrels.
He gazed down at the other end of the bridge and shook his head in defeat. If he'd lacked common decency, he could've had everyone's favorite Sunbro in his army by now. Alas, that sounded like a torturous existence to someone like Solaire and Jason admired the man too much to do such a monstrous thing.
Sighing, he gave his orders to the troops and motioned his hand forward as he commanded, "Advance."
The Black Knights went right while the Hollow Shadows split off to the left and attacked their brethren. It wasn't long however, until a stream of flames, so hot they reached Jason who'd retreated down the stairs, came rolling down the length of the bridge and turned the undead to ash.
His Shadows soon reformed however and the Knights continued their advance which drove the wyvern from its perch. As soon as it landed, Jason felt the bridge shake and switched to [Dragon Slayer Magic] before Shadow Stepping to the top of the stairs.
When he came out into the open, he could see his Knights trimmed with a brilliant silver glow as they struck the lizard with all their might. The beast roared in pain and swiped with its tail but it was all for naught. Right as Jason was charging up for a [Shadow Dragon's Roar], the Hellkite Drake's head was cleanly severed by his Black Knight's greatsword and landed atop the bridge with a meaty thump.
Jason stopped gathering magic and canceled his attack with a content smile, before walking towards the corpse and slicing its tail off with a hearty laugh. He wouldn't miss the opportunity to add the [Drake Sword] to his arsenal, despite never planning on using the thing. This was a great way to end the week and he was in a good mood.
Recalling all the Shadows, save for the crow that perched atop his shoulder, Jason rubbed his hands together with excitement and grinned before commanding, "Arise."
A roar, not unlike the ones he'd heard echoing throughout the Burg all week, burst forth from the corpse as a long, spiked neck and two massive wings, clawed their way out of the stoney floor. Once the entire figure had emerged, two giant silver eyes glowed down at him before the Shadow bowed its head in reverence.
[Shadow Wyvern Lvl.1 - Rank: Knight]
"Hahahah, good!" Jason couldn't hold it back anymore and burst into joyous laughter at the sight of his new summon. No matter what anyone says, there's just something about dragons and their kin that will never not be cool.
Jason couldn't wait to see the faces of Ddraig, Albion, and all the other dragons of DxD when he pulled out the likes of Kalameet, Sinh, and Midir in that world. He'd find a way to look into and take pictures within Sacred Gears just to capture that moment when it came.
A peck from the bird on his shoulder put an end to his laughter, causing Jason to chuckle sheepishly before dismissing the Wyvern to his shadow.
Looking around at the items left laying on the ground, his grin widened and he started gathering them up. Upon crushing them, the weapon that he came here for finally made its appearance.
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[Claymore]
This larger type of greatsword is normally wielded with two hands due to its weight. This highly flexible weapon can be used to attack in swings or thrusts.
Parameters:
STR: 16(C) - DEX: 10(C) - INT: 0 - FTH: 0
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With this, he'd gathered everything he could from both the Upper and Lower Undead Burgs.
As he walked towards the bonfire, Jason crushed the all the soul items he had within his inventory, gaining 6,800s. After a week of fighting both the Taurus and Capra Demons, Daily Quests, farming off Hollows, and finally slaying the Hellkite Drake, Jason had gathered over 35,000 souls.
Now, it was time to level up.
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[Level Up]
Level: 15 => 27
Souls: 37,220
Souls Required: 35,943
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HP: 600/600 > 800/800
MP: 60/60 > 80/80
SP: 70/70 > 80/80
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Vitality: 6 > 8
Attunement: 6 > 8
Endurance: 7 > 8
Strength: 10 > 12
Dexterity: 10
Resistance: 6 > 8
Intelligence: 6 > 8
Faith: 6 > 7
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Jason felt a slight rush this time as it was the most he'd ever leveled in a single sitting. He could feel as his arms got stronger, his mind sharper, his skin thicker, and his muscles leaner. It was intoxicating and left him wondering what it'd feel like to jump a hundred levels at once.
Sadly he didn't think he'd ever experience such a thing, the only reason he'd saved up so much for this one was due to slaying multiple bosses within a relatively short timeframe. Had he not wanted to experiment with a larger level jump, he would've never saved up one this big in the first place.
Jason leaned back on his hands from where he sat around the bonfire and gazed out upon the crumbled statue of the Nameless King on the balcony.
He briefly pondered going over and seeing what the [Covenant] would provide him with, before shaking his head and standing up to summon a portal home.
He'd done enough for the day and there was always next time.
