Elden Ring:After the end

There may be many horses, some are simple, others specially trained and even some magical. But riding Torrent is totally different, it is as if we were part of the same being, no words or actions are needed, everything flows naturally. 

Leaving that magical feeling of riding Torrent, we finally arrive at the prison of the teacher Sellen. It is obvious that the teacher is no longer here, at least in soul, though her physical body is. 

"Let's stop here, Torrent. The poison? Does it even need to be mentioned, if it were scarlet rot I'd understand, but no one takes poison seriously."

Moving past Torrent's well-meaning concern, he climbed down from his back and surveyed the completely empty surroundings. It was kind of obvious, after I had taken Master Sellen's primordial flash, this place lost all importance. Clearly no one was going to leave puppets guarding this place. 

Ignoring the unpleasant feeling of walking through the swamp, he advanced through the ruins with familiarity and in a few moments managed to find the entrance to the subway.

The whole place is still just as I remember him, bits of sparkles scattered on the ground, iron prisoner cages and a dried corpse against the wet rock wall. 

"Just as I thought, in the end he murdered this body. Still it's easier to repair this mess than to create a new body, since clearly Ranni won't let me go all the way to Seluvis' workshop."

Kicking the pieces of sparkles in my way, I slowly approach the lifeless, but still trapped in the wall body belonging to Master Sellen.

Truly powerful bindings these are holding master Sellen's body, but even being of pure destellite, they are easily severed by my gods killer katana.

"I think you can go in, you're basically a piece of meat, with no soul or blood pumping in your veins."

Holding Master Sellen's body with one of my arms, I slowly but steadily put her away in inventory. With that done and having looted everything important earlier, I turn around to go up the stairs and leave here. 

...Some time later…

Already with the inert body of teacher Sellen in the inventory, all that was left was to continue advancing to the church of Marika, more precisely the one located near the small Golden Tree. 

It's not just a matter of going for it, but that church is located right on top of a mountain, making it so there is only one entrance and exit. In short it is a perfect place to set up camp and spend the night right there. 

Finally with Torrent's far superior speed, we made it to the church just before nightfall and set up camp in moments.

""Repairing the body is not difficult with the right enchantments, no matter the damage, as it is ultimately just flesh.""

Leaving Master Sellen's body on the ground and in front of Marika's statue, I take a few steps back while taking out a talisman to cast incantations. 

" "

The flesh near the wound of teacher Sellen's body begins to writhe under the light of the incantations, while slowly all traces of that wound ever having existed begin to fade away. 

Now in front of my eyes is only an inert body, clearly in perfect condition, but still without any sign of movement or life. Obviously what is missing is the soul, a soul that I currently have in my possession. 

Extending my hand forward, small golden particles begin to gather and in a few moments a particularly morbid object remains static in my palm. It is a bluish glowing stone, though within itself it glows with shades of red. They are blood vessels, filled with crimson fluid and still pulsing with vitality."

"How do I do this... Do I just embed it in his chest?"

Thinking out loud to boost my confidence, I squeeze the seemingly pulsating stone tightly and brought it close to Master Sellen's chest. It was as if there was an attraction between the two parties, I didn't even have to make the effort and the stone was absorbed directly.

The surroundings were silent, while the body didn't seem to have any major reaction or sign of life whatsoever. 

"It didn't work... Maybe it wasn't such a 'Normal' case and more of a 'Mystical' one such as destiny or something similar."

"It is important to look for alternative solutions and alternate points of view, but there are times when the most obvious is the truth"

"Master Sellen"

Erasing the multiple plans that were being generated deep in the recesses of my mind, he listened to her words and I notice how his body begins to gain reactions of a living one. 

"I am sure I no longer deserve that title, even in this weakened state I can feel that you have blazed your own trail in sorcery... Now there are no masters and disciples, but two travelers in search of infinite knowledge"

"I am honored."

"I had already told you, I will not praise or congratulate you in an empty way, this you truly earned. Changing the subject, I can tell this is not the body created by Seluvis... The lack of any trappings gave it away"

Answering even before he can ask the question, Sellen slowly rises from the ground and begins to observe his body closely. 

"As you may have noticed, this is not the artificial body created by Seluvis, but it is his real body."

"I can tell... The comfort with which magic flows through this body is impossible for an artificial one to mimic. Still, I see that you have gained more than meets the eye, enough to destroy the primordial destellite bindings."

Finishing analyzing his own body easily, Sellen turns his face towards me, though only his face covered by the stone mask can be seen. 

"Your resurrection has taken longer than I'd like to admit, long enough for one era to end and another to begin."

"I see... Hence the return of certain rules once trusted by Marika. I suppose I must congratulate you on accomplishing your task, Aldrich."

It's amazing the speed with which he notices the changes that have taken place in the world, I suppose a mage of his level is no small thing, not for nothing did he have so much confidence to do his experiments and push human understanding to the limit. 

"It's an empty title at this instant, but I don't plan to leave it that way forever. I wish for your help, Maga Sellen." 

"You know my path, I only seek maximum knowledge and to overcome the limit of human understanding... I will not remain static".

"I understand that and that's why I would never ask that of you, I only have a proposal, a window to a new path"

Friendship, camaraderie, familiarity, all that never interested Sellen, she knows what she wants and she will never stop to achieve it. She is totally given to the pursuit of higher knowledge, but that is not a disadvantage, quite the opposite. 

Think about it, as long as I give her everything she needs for her quest, I will gain a strong and reliable ally, not at all interested in politics or anything that might go against my interests.