Bai Shi didn't say anything in response to Diallos's repeated thanks.
He left his back to Diallos and Lanya, continuing along his planned route.
He didn't do these things to be thanked.
He just didn't want Diallos to walk that blasphemous path he himself detested.
In the game, Diallos always gave one a frustrating feeling of unfulfilled potential.
But one couldn't say it was entirely his own fault.
Family reasons aside, the Lands Between was no hot-blooded anime stage where wishes and goals could be achieved just by having them.
Even after treading the blasphemous path of Volcano Manor, Diallos didn't become a hero as he wished.
Yet it was only when he accepted his own mediocrity and went to Jarburg that he discovered his true heart.
He considered himself useless, yet those same hands could care for the jars. It was then he finally knew what his hands existed for.In his time with the jars, he truly felt alive.
And because of that, at the end of his story, when Jarburg was attacked by poachers, Diallos cast aside his former cowardice.
For the sake of those jars, he fought the poachers to the death.
He failed to protect Jarburg, and he died in the process.
But in his final moments, his thoughts were not of the "hero" he used to speak of constantly, but of the jars.
In that moment, he truly became a hero.
Perhaps what he truly wanted to pursue was not to become a hero, but simply a yearning to catch up to his brother's shadow.
He himself had not been ready, had not found what he truly sought, and thus was lost in confusion.
This time, Bai Shi had given him a chance.
A chance to look into his own heart and see if he truly longed to be a hero.
If he desired it from the bottom of his heart, then he would undergo a transformation in Stormveil.
If, in the army, he realized he could not become a hero...
...then it would at least help him see himself clearly, allowing him to cherish the people around him and survive in his own way on the cruel yet beautiful lands of the Lands Between.
For any character he could help, Bai Shi would do his best to lend a hand, to avoid the outcome of their death.
Although from their perspective, Bai Shi was a stranger...
...Bai Shi had long since befriended them in the game, witnessing their lives filled with various regrets.
The hope of being able to save them—this was Bai Shi's initial thought.
—
Following a path once trodden by many, Bai Shi and Torrent passed through a dense forest.
This path was an earthen road packed down by many feet, where grass struggled to grow.
But because it had been abandoned for a long time, the grass had stubbornly begun to grow on it once more.
The creatures around Liurnia were of sound mind, not like the ones in Caelid that would attack in a frenzy.
The wild wolves, sensing the draconic aura on Bai Shi, avoided him from afar.
...Except for one giant crab that lacked such awareness.
A giant crab blocked the path Bai Shi needed to take.
Along that path was a low-lying hollow filled with rainwater, forming a small pond.
In that small pond, a large crab leisurely foraged with a few smaller crabs.
Its pincers continuously stirred up food from the mud below, putting whatever it found into its mouth.
Sometimes, it would grab nothing at all, yet the crab would still bring its empty pincers to its mouth, looking a little dopey.
However, upon seeing Bai Shi and Torrent, the giant crab immediately charged toward them, as if wanting to eat something fresh.
The draconic aura was useless against the crab, because crabs had no sense of smell at all.
Seeing the large crab rushing over in a straight, reckless line, Bai Shi just waved his hand, and a wind blade split the crab open down the middle.
As the large crab was cut in half, a splatter of yellow juice burst from its body.
At first, Bai Shi wondered why this crab had so much juice.
It wasn't until he got closer that he realized it wasn't its bodily fluid, but the numerous crab roe inside its abdomen, which had burst upon being cut by the wind blade, splattering their contents everywhere.
Torrent walked up, sniffed it, then lowered his head and began to eat.
Seeing Torrent eat with such relish, Bai Shi grew curious and picked up a crab egg to inspect it.
The eggs of these giant crabs were also quite large, each one just slightly smaller than a chicken's egg, covered in a slippery mucus.
He sniffed it and found no particular fishy smell, so Bai Shi tossed the crab egg into his mouth and began to chew.
The egg burst in his mouth, its sweet and savory flavor stimulating his taste buds and bringing a sense of delight.
The crab roe was delicious, much better than the meat. Afterward, a warmth spread through Bai Shi's body from the inside out.
In the Lands Between, giant crab roe was considered a rare delicacy, something only people of status and position could eat.
After all, crabs, like prawns, were very difficult for ordinary people to hunt.
Bai Shi ate one to taste it and didn't have any more, simply waiting until Torrent had eaten his fill before continuing on their way.
Exiting the forest, the view suddenly opened up, and a massive structure appeared in his line of sight.
Bai Shi looked at the giant building—it was two towering spires, connected by a great bridge.
That was the Carian Study Hall, and beyond it, Ranni's Divine Tower.
Bai Shi was currently on high ground, level with the middle section of the Carian Study Hall, as if he could jump directly onto it from the cliff's edge.
Bai Shi gazed up at the Carian Study Hall, lost in thought.
In the game, the design of this study hall was quite ingenious.
After obtaining the Carian Inverted Statue from Ranni, one could place it on the pedestal of the celestial globe in the Carian Study Hall.
Then, the interior of the Carian Study Hall would turn upside down.
But magically, even when inverted, the water would continue to flow in its original direction, appearing to flow up toward the heavens.
He wondered what it would be like in this real world.
But speaking of the Carian Study Hall, it also contained quite a few nasty things.
For example, the Fingercreepers, and a certain magic professor.
Bai Shi had suffered quite a bit in here in the past.
Coming to the edge of the cliff, Bai Shi looked at the distance between himself and the Carian Study Hall. It was still quite far.
He also glanced down and quickly located Jarburg.
This Jarburg was Alexander's hometown; he had set out from here on his journey to become stronger.
The Jarburg here was much larger than in the game, with many more Living Jars.
To escape from poachers, the Living Jars often built their villages in very hidden locations.
Like here, at the base of this cliff. Ordinary people would never come here, nor would they look down.
In addition, the Living Jars had another way to make a living.
That was to become Warrior Jars and join other factions to gain protection.
Warrior Jars would take some smaller jars with them to join a faction, mainly to provide a place for the smaller jars to live.
The strength of Warrior Jars was quite decent, and many factions in the Lands Between would accept their allegiance. For example, there were several large Warrior Jars living in Stormveil with their little jars.
They had previously pledged allegiance to Godrick, trading their service for his protection.
As for now, they were all Bai Shi's subjects, living together with the other races.
For now, Bai Shi had no plans to jump down the cliff to go to Jarburg.
Since he already knew the location, there was no need to rush.
The Living Jars lived in constant fear of poachers. Approaching them as a stranger would probably not be as welcoming as in the game.
When the time was right, Bai Shi would go find them and ask if they wanted to move to Stormveil.
After a long day of travel and various incidents, the sky had already darkened.
Bai Shi wanted to find a place to rest.
However, just when he didn't want to encounter any enemies, he was entangled by one.
While circling a small lake, ripples began to disturb the calm water.
With a red glow, a Tibia Mariner appeared in the middle of the small lake.
And beside it, within the red light, the skeletal remains of bandits and militia continuously emerged, transformed into Those Who Live in Death.
Filled with malice for the living, they locked onto Bai Shi from a great distance.
Once fully awakened, they charged at Bai Shi without a second thought.
Bai Shi sighed helplessly.
He had originally planned to go around this group of undead and the Mariner.
Because he currently had no way to seal a Deathroot, and carrying one around would be rather inconvenient.
But since the other side had made the first move, how could Bai Shi possibly run away?
Bai Shi raised his sword-spear and proactively approached these reckless creatures.
The storm easily blew the skeletons to pieces, while the sword-spear continuously left gashes on the Mariner's boat.
Although the Tibia Mariner could teleport, it had no chance of escaping from Bai Shi.
Having failed to recognize the difference in their strength, the Mariner was brutally slashed for a while. By the time it realized it needed to flee, it was already too late.
With a few swift moves, Bai Shi easily smashed the Tibia Mariner into fragments.
The Mariner's boat gradually faded, disappearing from the world, leaving only a Deathroot on the ground.
After Bai Shi dealt with the Tibia Mariner, the other skeletons stopped moving, collapsing to the ground as a pile of seemingly ordinary dry bones, no longer reviving.
Bai Shi picked up the Deathroot, wrapped it tightly in cloth, and then placed it in the small pouch hanging at his side.
This small pouch was made at the same time as his equipment, so it didn't clash with his aesthetic.
Although he hadn't used the pouch much recently, he had always kept it at his side.
Inside were mostly items that might be used in battle.
He wasn't sure what effect a Deathroot would have if he placed it directly on Torrent.
Given that, he would keep it on himself for now and find D at the Roundtable Hold tomorrow to get rid of it quickly.
Just as Bai Shi was about to leave, something shiny made him look back.
Walking over, he found a crystal-clear skull buried in the ground.
It had the same feeling as Spirit Ashes, and its translucent quality was just like them too.
Clearly, although the form of the vessel was different, this was also Spirit Ashes.
Bai Shi stroked his chin, trying hard to remember whose ashes these were.
He'd been in the Lands Between for a while, and he was starting to forget some of the minor details.
In that case, he might as well just summon it and see.
With the ring of the Spirit Calling Bell, a skeleton holding two curved swords appeared before Bai Shi.
Bai Shi had a flash of realization—so these were the Skeletal Bandit Ashes.
However, Bai Shi never quite understood why something like Those Who Live in Death would have Spirit Ashes.
The existence of Spirit Ashes for one of Those Who Live in Death was quite bizarre.
Spirit Ashes were formed when a soul lingered in the remains of its body.
Those Who Live in Death were already in a state of death and could resurrect continuously. Why would such a thing have Spirit Ashes?
If it died, it should just revive on the spot.
Bai Shi tried to communicate with this bandit skeleton, but what came back were completely incomprehensible, meaningless noises.
Unable to understand what it was saying, Bai Shi tried a few more times before ringing the Spirit Calling Bell again and sending it back.
Those Who Live in Death were truly strange. Speaking of which, there were plenty of them at his destination as well.
He tossed the skull into the pack on Torrent's back, and together they headed towards a small, dilapidated shack on a cliff at the edge of his vision.
On the way, Bai Shi looked around for a long time, searching for the Leyndell Knight that would be wandering here in the game.
But after searching high and low, it was all for naught; he found nothing.
It seemed the knight holding the Dragon Cult Prayerbook was simply not here.
After all, a Leyndell Knight appearing here all alone was strange to begin with.
And there weren't any lootable corpses nearby either, so it seemed he wouldn't be able to learn any incantations here.
Bai Shi had no choice but to find the Painter's Shack first.
After lighting the Site of Grace, Bai Shi entered the shack.
The interior was extremely simple; calling it bare-walled would be an understatement, as the shack was barely held up by two walls.
The already tiny shack was completely cluttered with painting supplies.
Aside from the painting area, there was no empty space.
Shacks like this were all over the Lands Between. They were quite simple to build and often served as temporary shelters.
An experienced person could build one in a day or two.
In this simple shack, however, was an exquisitely beautiful painting, making the scene feel somewhat surreal.
The painting was covered by a layer of magic, protecting it from the erosion of time.
Small words appeared before Bai Shi's eyes, telling him the name of the painting: "Rebirth."
A wandering painter entrusted everything to his art, and this was one of his works.
It was a painting that condensed the essence of the wandering painter's life, with "rebirth" as its theme.
It was said that this nomadic painter would paint figures who had vanished, along with the scene they last saw.
If one were to reach the location where this painting was made, one could find an item he had left behind.
Even ignoring the reward items, just looking at it from an artistic perspective, it was an incredibly valuable work.
It was too clear, almost like a photograph.
Every detail was exquisite, perfect, having completely branded the scene of that time onto the scroll.
Bai Shi decided to take it back to Stormveil later to add to his collection.