Chapter 16: 11
Diluc was now a young and bright boy at the age of 12. Today would be his first day at middle school where he'd be taught until he turned 16.
Many things had occurred during the past 7 years.
He had fought through the Crystal Sage with some minor difficulty, only taking a couple of weeks to take down. Diluc also rescued Siegward by purchasing his armor off of a certain scoundrel who tried to betray and kill him.
He fought through the Cathedral of the Deep and successfully killed them all in just 2 attempts, the first time he tried to take his time and got done in by the status effect; despair that instantly killed him. Last but not least in the Cathedral of the Deep area, Diluc gained access to Rosaria's bedchamber so he could respec later if he needed to.
He then spoke to Anri within the firelink shrine.
"Oh. And we meet again. We spoke before on the Road of Sacrifices. Anri of Astora. I am well pleased to see you safe. We reached the Cathedral of the Deep, but Aldrich's coffin was empty. The man-eater must have left for his true home. The little doll in the empty coffin told me. Aldrich is said to hail from Irithyll in the Boreal Valley, an ancient fabled city." Anri explained.
"Ah, that is unfortunate. Be sure to rest every now and again, Aldrich might escape your grasp if you aren't properly rested." Diluc suggested. Anri seemed to smile behind her armor.
"Thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to take frequent rests on my journey." She took his advice willingly. Horace simply stared at Diluc and grunted as he looked away like an enemy you want to show you hate but don't want to cause a scene. It seems like Diluc has competition for Anri's heart, although Horace has already been friend zoned and her marriage to Diluc is a special circumstance. He would try to get her to love him beforehand however, it would make the process less sickening to him.
Then was one of the most grueling fights he had in the past 7 years, the fight between him and the Abyss Watchers. This fight was extremely difficult. It took him just under a full year in order to defeat the infant Lord of Cinder.
The most difficult part about them is that they became more and more attuned to fighting Diluc, they were adapting to his moves just as he was adapting to theirs. It would've been easy to use a technique that he would most doubly use soon, but he wanted to improve his expertise with fighting which led him to sinking a full year into him.
He also used their soul to create the Farron Greatsword. Diluc was extremely excited to find a sword that he would be able to use till the end. That was until he realized how difficult it was to use. The sword part was easy, he'd been using the sword for a long time, but the curved dagger is what made it difficult for him.
Breakdancing on the floor during a fight wasn't the easiest thing to do, and the Abyss Watchers made it look so easy. So, he decided to explore alternative options such as switching weapons mid-combo. However, this didn't work either, his weapons were much faster to switch out than how a normal human could, but the pay-off wasn't worth it at the current moment, none of his other weapons came close to the damage of the Farron Greatsword.
After seeing this, he decided to spend all of his titanite shards upgrading the Farron Greatsword. It was now at +2. Unfortunately, it capped at +5 so Diluc was closer than you'd think. He was also disappointed when he found out that the Ultra Greatsword (Classification of the Farron Greatsword) was dexterity based rather than strength based which meant that he'd only be using it for its move set in the future and it would not be a main weapon for him.
Regardless, he kept going through the Dark Souls world. He found Anri in the Catacombs of Carthus looking distressed.
"Oh, hello, how very fortunate. Have you seen my companion, Horace? To my shame, I was snared by a trap, and we've become separated. I've not been able to find him since." She explained. Her helmet looked down to the floor.
"I can't say I've seen him. Although, if I do, I'll be sure to tell you." Diluc replied. He knew that this was necessary to usurp the flame, but he was slightly annoyed that he'd have to hurt his future wife by killing her best friend. Family is the only thing Diluc seems to care about.
"Yes, I see. Horace is a valiant knight. He can look after himself, no question. He's probably searching for me right now, with twice the resolve. May the flames guide your way." She spoke to Diluc. Anri was obviously distressed but it didn't stop her from being polite.
Regardless, he continued onwards and fought the Old Demon King. He continued to throw his head against it, until he discovered something fun. He used the 'Soul Greatsword' spell on the dagger and effectively created two large Greatswords, one as light as a dagger. This allowed him to the Farron Greatsword in order to parry or block against the massive mace of the creature and use the weightless Soul Greatsword to slash the Old Demon King. After discovering this, he made short work of the demon king.
Also, using the Soul Greatsword reminded him that he needed more spells as they could be used in different ways. He was silently regretting putting points into INT before this realization. Against bosses, it was easier to simply hit them with his Greatsword than use a Soul Greatsword, therefore, sorceries had always been an afterthought. So, Diluc went back and rescued Orbeck of Vinheim.
Thankfully, he had already found two scrolls along his travels to give to him; The Golden Scroll and the Sage's Scroll. From which, he bought Hidden Body, Hidden Weapon, Cast Light and Twisted Wall of Light. The Twisted Wall of Light is just magic used to defend against magic, the rest of the spells have potential to do some crazy techniques that would make his life easier.
He killed his way through some caves and got the Fume Ultra Greatsword which he couldn't use effectively since he was too weak to one-hand it.
He found some Undead Bone Shards and Estus Flasks, Diluc scavenged everything he could from everywhere he could.
Finally, before killing High Lord Wolnir, he went back to Anri and talked to her for a while.
"Have you found Horace yet?" Anri questioned Diluc. She seemed to be getting more and more anxious.
"I have, would you like to go meet him together? I watched him for a while and he stayed where he was without leaving the area. I thought I'd find you since you wander a bit." He explained to Anri. This way he'd be able to show Anri that Horace was a hollow and be able to prevent her death. He'd also be able to put in less effort to kill him since he'd have help. She fiercely nodded and asked him to lead the way.
They wandered all the way to the Smoldering Lake; they wandered some more until Horace was in sight. He wasn't doing anything, just standing there as if it was his favorite past-time.
"Ah, Horace. I've finally found you. Come, we must continue to the Church of Yorshka-" She was going to continue her conversation when Horace charged at her with his sword. Anri was caught off guard and wasn't ready to defend herself, Diluc quickly stepped in front and parried with his Farron Greatsword.
The fight had begun, Anri was still a shaking mess. Diluc had completely disregarded how betrayed she'd feel in this situation, he couldn't rely on her in this fight.
All in all, the fight wasn't very interesting. It was a fight between a man who only had his instincts left and a man who had died more times than anyone, even in this world. Horace did his best, but his best wasn't enough.
Diluc's Greatsword soon pierced through his armor, the pointy end of his sword could be seen exiting his back. He then pushed Horace's corpse off of his sword with his foot.
The corpse hit the floor and Anri crawled up to him.
"Horace... Horace..." Her mind was certainly broken now that the friend that had been with her for so long had hollowed and been killed.
All of a sudden, a loud slap resounded on her helmet. She had been bitch slapped by Diluc.
"Wake up, he hollowed and then he died. If you don't get over it soon, you'll join him." He spoke. He didn't go down the motivating route by trying to appeal for her sense of justice or whatever, it was simply a realistic assessment. If she didn't regain herself, she would perish.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone