Brandon Jenkins tried swinging the paired swords, but as he swung, the blades kept clashing against each other from time to time.

Brandon Jenkins always felt that he was just missing something to perfectly wield these weapons, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Too much time had passed, and he could barely remember the attribute requirements for these rarely used weapons.

The beast-patterned greatshield was much more straightforward—it was simply a matter of strength. He could barely lift it, let alone use it for defense.

Wrapping everything up in blankets, Brandon Jenkins planned to finish exploring this isolated island first.

The massive statues of the Roder Knight and Marika stood here, and under their gaze, Brandon Jenkins picked up a short piece of rope.

Other than that, there was nothing else worth mentioning here.

After wandering around, Brandon Jenkins reached the end of the island.

There was a broken platform there. Looking out toward the break, he could see an ancient castle, its outer walls riddled with countless holes eroded by ‘death.’

Brandon Jenkins knew that was Stormveil Castle, the domain of the Golden Lord—‘Grafted’ Godrick.

“Sigh.”

“So in the end, I still have to jump off a cliff, huh.”

Brandon Jenkins looked down; layers of storms swirled below, and he couldn’t even see the surface of the sea.

After thinking it over, Brandon Jenkins decided to jump into the sea. With Wind Spirit, Moon Shadow, and Invincibility, if he timed it right, he shouldn’t die from the fall.

Brandon Jenkins took off all his armor, leaving only a small pouch on him.

He wrapped all his armor and weapons together in a blanket, tied it tightly with the rope, and held one end in his hand, ready to let go at any moment.

Just in case he didn’t manage to activate Invincibility in time and lost consciousness from hitting the water, he wouldn’t be dragged to the bottom by the armor.

Brandon Jenkins took a deep breath and glanced back one last time at the Chapel of Anticipation.

Then, pulling his luggage, he leapt off, plunging toward the sea.

------------

Chapter 5 Landing

“Splash—”

“Splash—”

The seawater washed back and forth over the beach.

A naked man, wearing only a loincloth and carrying a small pouch, was lying face down on the sand.

Beside him was a huge piece of tattered blue cloth and various scattered pieces of equipment.

This naked man was none other than Brandon Jenkins.

The storm had thrown off his sense of distance, and the psychological pressure didn’t help.

Brandon Jenkins activated Invincibility early, and as soon as it wore off, his face made intimate contact with the sea.

The impact knocked him out cold.

But what Brandon Jenkins didn’t know was that after he lost consciousness, a gust of storm rose up and carried him all the way to this beach.

A cloaked figure on horseback slowly approached Brandon Jenkins.

The horse, covered in long gray fur, stopped in front of Brandon Jenkins. Though it was a horse, it had a pair of large antlers on its head.

It lowered its head, trying to nudge Brandon Jenkins to see if he was still alive.

However, a sharp eagle cry came from Brandon Jenkins’s pouch, and the wind began to gather around him.

The person who had been sitting sideways on the saddle dismounted, and a gentle female voice spoke.

“O ancient and mighty soul, please do not worry. We mean him no harm.”

“We found him because we saw the qualifications of a king in him.”

“He will surely pursue the Elden Ring… even if it means defying the Golden Order.”

The ancient king calmed the storm, accepting their words.

The person and the horse did not linger; they were waiting for another opportunity to approach Brandon Jenkins.

-----------------

Brandon Jenkins slowly woke up, feeling soaked all over, and didn’t react for a moment.

He propped himself up. The beach was lined with tall, broken stone pillars and the ruins of massive buildings. In the distance was a steep cliff.

Looking around, he saw equipment scattered everywhere, looking just like the aftermath of a shipwreck.

“I actually didn’t time Invincibility right. I thought I was dead for sure…”

“But… I actually survived? This body is really tough.”

In his previous life, Brandon Jenkins had been a total shut-in, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the resilience of this body.

“Well, it makes sense. By the late game, it’s all mythic battles. Even early-game stats are way beyond normal humans.”

As he sighed, Brandon Jenkins didn’t let his hands idle, quickly gathering up all the scattered equipment.

“The knight set’s gloves, armor, pants, and both paired swords, straight sword, and halberd are all here.”

“Nothing missing from the pouch.”

“Helmet, iron shield, and greatshield are gone, but that’s no big deal.”

“Most of those noble trinkets are gone too, which is a bit of a shame.”

He had planned to trade those with merchants for some runes.

But it couldn’t be helped; he still had some savings on him.

“But, where is this? According to the game’s story, I should have woken up in the Stranded Graveyard.”

Stranded, sure, but where’s the graveyard?

Brandon Jenkins put on a full set of armor, sword in his left hand, halberd in his right.

He tied the paired swords to his back with rope. The rest of the miscellaneous items went into his pouch if they fit, and anything that didn’t was simply discarded.

Once he was ready, Brandon Jenkins set off toward the cliff.

Before long, Brandon Jenkins stopped—not because he had reached his destination.

But because he saw a patch of firelight ahead.

There were people up ahead, but Brandon Jenkins didn’t rush forward. In the Lands Between, those you can actually talk to are few and far between.

Those sitting by the fire might be merchants—or they could be all sorts of enemies.