4The Tarnished woke up wearing nothing but a loincloth.
"This isn't my Dorm," He said as he looked at the chapel he was in. The roof was caved in, the walls were decaying, and a young woman was dying in the corner.
All in all, The Tarnished could say without a shadow of a doubt, that he probably wasn't in Cali anymore.
But being the handsome and muscular man that he is, he ignored all those facts and ran to the young woman bleeding on the floor.
"Hey! Are you okay?" He asked her, his muscles shining with sweat as he knelt down to get a closer look at her.
It doesn't seem like his experience as a lifeguard would save her.
The young woman, instead of answering The Tarnished, chose to instead lift a bleeding finger, and tap The Tarnished between the eyes.
And as if magic, The Tarnished understood what this weird new place was.
"Chapel of Anticipation?" He asked her, his voice a whisper as to not disturb the dying Maiden, for that was what she was.
His maiden.
Every Tarnished warrior, searching for the Elden Ring, has a maiden accompany him, who turns runes into strength.
And right here, his Maiden was bleeding out.
"Don't worry," He told her, a reassuring smile on his face, "I'll get you someplace where you can get help,"
The Maiden closed her eyes and released a relaxing breath, as The Tarnished gently lifted her up from the cold floor of the chapel and held her in a princess carry.
And so, with a bleeding maiden in his arms and a loincloth over his groin.
The Tarnished took his first steps outside of the chapel of Anticipation.
"Don't worry babe," He told the Maiden in his arms, her shallow breath barely heard as her shivering body inched closer to The Tarnished warrior's muscular body heat.
And with large steps, The Tarnished ran down the stairs, followed the only path he had to go, and reached a courtyard with another gate at the other side.
"Soon, I'll get you some help," He told her and ran toward the other gate, ignoring the sound of something heavy slamming down behind him, the screech of some sort of wild animal sounding out as the skittering sound of many legs were heard behind him.
The Tarnished ignored all of those, his eyes glued on to the bride near the end of the small garden he just found, leading to a large castle on the other side of the cliffs he was standing at the edge of.
"Come on Babe, stay with me!" He shouted, his heart pumping as his muscles burned, the cold wind buffeting his naked body, causing his hair to stand on its end.
SCREEEEECH!
But he couldn't get far, as the beast he ignored behind him, stepped onto the bridge, and the added weight caused all three passengers to fall as the rope bridge connecting the Chapel of Anticipation to Stormveil Castle collapsed.
Hopefully that wouldn't be a problem for anybody in the future.
And as The Tarnished and The Maiden fell, he could see the form of the monster that chased him.
The face of a young boy, but a body composed of limbs and torsos grafted onto each other, a large shield held in one hand as two golden swords were held in others, limbs made of legs and arms tried to grab onto The Tarnished and The Maiden as they fell.
But instead, they all hit the water at the bottom of the cliff.
...
YOU DIED
...
When The Tarnished next opened his eyes, it was to find himself laying on top of a pile of corpses inside a cave, a message appearing in his mind as a soft feeling originating from where The Maiden touched him with her bloody finger.
"Golden Beats crest shield and an Ornamental Straight Sword?" He asked out loud, looking at his arm, finding nothing.
Only for a screen to appear in front of his eyes, almost like an inventory from a video game, consisting of rows upon rows of boxes, with a few items inside.
He ignored the Tarnished's Wizened Finger, and instead took out his new sword and shield.
With new weapons in his hands, The Tarnished looked around once more, before finding the person he was looking for.
"Babe, I'm so sorry," He said as he knelt in front of the bloody corpse of The Maiden he failed to rescue, "I promise, Once we get out of here, I'll give you a proper burial." He smiled as he looked around again, his eyes moving to the golden tree in the corner before the ghost caught his eyes, pointing to the hole nearby.
"Heh, Whatever you say ghost man," The Tarnished said to the ghost before jumping down into the pit, landing in a puddle of water next to a golden light.
A Site of Grace.
Touching the Grace, The Tarnished felt rejuvenated, and two flasks appeared near his loincloth, somehow attached even with his lack of belt.
Crimson and Cerulean tears.
"So this is like a Health and Mana potion, right? Cool."
And with a shield in one hand, a sword in the other, flasks on his hip, and a cloth on his loin, The Tarnished started the tutorial.