Ryan shoots upwards as he finally regains consciousness once more. His head quickly shoots side to side as he checks his surroundings while hyperventilating. He doesn't remember anything but he has a nagging feeling that something has happened. The sound of rain hitting the roof above him soothes Ryan down as his breathing begins to slow down.

Sounds of someone at the edge of his bed grab Ryan's attention and Tio begins to stir awake. She yawns while stretching her arms into the air. A piece of her hair sticks to her face as she looks up the bed to see Ryan awake. Tio's face turns from being full of stress to relief and happiness. Tears begin to form into her eyes as she now knows she had not killed her most promising Mercenary.

"I'm so sorry Fr-."

Ryan puts up his hand to stop Tio from saying anything more.

"You were protecting one of your employees and someone who seems to be very close to you. I would've done something much worse if I was in your shoes so don't feel bad." Ryan says with confidence as this is the truth but instead of Tio being relieved when hearing this, her face becomes torn and sad.

Ryan is confused on whether Tio knows what Lilabelle is and he has decided to kill Lilabelle when he knows they are alone. His thirst to end the Seed of the Abyss is completely gone but the fact Lilabelle is sucking power from the people around her is enough to make Ryan want to kill her without the help of the Abyss Watchers. Ryan goes to tell Tio what Lilabelle is actually doing but Tio opens her mouth first.

"Frew, there is something I must tell you." Tio says with a voice that is mixed with sadness and worry.

"Ok, what is it?"

"I know what Lilabelle is and I know what you are made to do. You are made to kill the Abyss but... I can't let you do that for you see, I am Lilabelle's hero. She saved me in my time of need and has been like an old sister to me ever since she took me in. I will protect her. Even if that means taking her away from here and leaving the Mercenary Guild. Her goal isn't bad either. She wishes to stop the advancement of the other country before they completely over run us and I completely support her."

Tio is now looking into Ryan's eyes and she is full of confidence. Ryan feels something inside of his heart tear as Tio reminds him of someone he knew long ago. Someone that he truly cared for and cherished.

Ryan laughs warmly and puts out his hand and pats Tio's head.

"Don't worry, I understand. I won't harm Lilabelle as long as she doesn't try to harm me." Ryan says with the upmost confidence.

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Tio's eyes light up with joy and she gives Ryan a smile that continues to tear at his heart. Ryan looks towards the wall and away from Tio.

'This is why I was thinking about Tio... Because she is exactly like an old friend I lost.' Ryan thinks to himself while trying to hold back the tears. He nearly chokes on his next words as he tries to take his mind of off his lost friend.

"So... What exactly did you do to me?"

"Well... I activated a spell that binds whoever I want with chains. If the chains are broken then a curse that explodes the person insides is activated. This curse is considered the strongest curse ever as nothing has ever prevented it when actually inflicted. I have never seen someone inflict it with the Chains of Dios though as no one has broken out of the chains for me before. It is a miracle that you survived it." Tio says.

"Yeah, it really was a miracle." Ryan says as he remember Tears of Denial saving his ass. Ryan recalls activating it once he noticed his foot was trapped in ice. With the topic of ice on his mind, Ryan decides to ask about Externia.

"So what took Externia so long with her registration." Ryan asks.

"Well, she went though all the steps you did, with me explaining it all and giving her the rank she deserved. On top of that she figured out what Lilabelle truly is so I had to explain my story of what Lilabelle is and her goal. She took a little bit of convincing but I believe Externia is on our side now." Tio says with a calm voice.

While having Tio here and alone with him, Ryan decides to ask about this team thing Mountain told him about.

"So Mountain and I were talking and he said something about a team? He told me the basis of it and I was wondering how do I start one?"

"Oh, did I not tell you to begin with? Hmmm, I must've forgotten. Anyways I handle most of the situation, all you need to do is tell me the name of your team and who you expect to be in it." Tio says.

Ryan has been thinking about this for a long time and he decides to go with the lore from Dark Souls 3.

"The name will be The Undead Legion. I don't know who all is going to be joining though."

"The Undead Legion huh? Don't worry about who is going to join it now. I'll just put you on the team and you can recruit people later!" Tio says with a smile. Ryan nods his head in acceptance.

"Ok, sounds good! I'll go work on that right now!" Tio says and leaves the room in a hurry. Ryan sighs at the bubbly attitude of Tio and he can feel a headache forming.

'So much has happened in such little time. I know I can't be lazy forever but I need to take some time away from everything and figure out what is going on. I don't even know what this world is.' Ryan thinks to himself as he is getting up out of bed.

Finally out of bed, Ryan puts on his armor and his weapons. He looks at his right hand and his talisman ring. A small buzz of electricity comes from his ring as he puts his focus into it. Everything feels so surreal to him, but the messages in his head and the fact he can check his health and focus keeps bringing Ryan to the fact that this is a game. Something inside of him is telling him otherwise and it's not a feeling of danger that is telling him this. It is a feeling of hope. The hope grows more as Ryan knows he is not alone here as Externia is stuck here too. The only thing that scares Ryan is if he is hollow or not. There will only be one way to find out and that is to die or to see someone Ryan knows is a player die.

Which ever one happens first isn't certain but what is certain is that Ryan is going to have fun here and he knows it.