"Rodrika, is it? Yes, this is the correct order for a conversation."
As Xia Yu spoke, he pulled two cups from his lower back. Under Rodrika's surprised gaze, he poured liquor into both cups.
"Come on, let's have a drink first, then we'll talk."
Picking up one of the wine cups, Xia Yu drained it in one gulp. After he finished, Rodrika still stood there, seemingly completely unresponsive.
"Bang!"
"Are you refusing to give me face?"
Xia Yu suddenly slammed the floor, the sound startling Rodrika into a shiver. Seeing that the Tarnished before her seemed angry, she timidly picked up the wine cup in front of her and took a small sip.
"Ugh... so spicy."
Enduring the burning sensation in her mouth, Rodrika swallowed it down, then stuck out her tongue and took a deep breath.
She used to see the elders in her family enjoy drinking so much, she thought it would taste good.
Once the spicy sensation in her mouth dissipated, Rodrika stared at Xia Yu with a hint of resentment. She was already so unlucky, and he still had to tease her.
Xia Yu felt a little embarrassed under Rodrika's gaze, but with a thick skin like his, he naturally found a legitimate reason for himself.
"This is a warming drink. How is it? Don't you feel your body warming up?"
Hearing this, Rodrika quietly felt it. Her body indeed began to warm from her stomach, and her previously somewhat stiff fingers no longer felt that stiffness.
The other party didn't seem to be teasing her. Rodrika felt a little embarrassed and lowered her head slightly, saying, "Sorry, I was too sensitive."
"It's alright. Since you understand, have another sip."
"...Okay!"
..."Wuwuwu, why am I so cowardly? My companions all became part of the spider, but I didn't have the courage, couldn't sacrifice myself, couldn't be like everyone else."
Inside the dilapidated house, Rodrika drained the wine in her cup, pouring out her cowardice with tears streaming down her face. As she spoke, she snatched the wine bottle and drank directly from the mouth of the bottle in large gulps.
"Tsk tsk, this really is..."
Watching Rodrika drink heavily without caring about her image, Xia Yu clicked his tongue in wonder. He had never seen this side of Rodrika in the game.
How should I put it? The calmer a person usually is, the more likely they are to show an opposite personality when drunk, especially someone who has a lot bottled up inside.
Seeing Rodrika still guzzling, Xia Yu snatched the wine bottle from her hand. "That's enough, that's enough. Any more and it won't be good for your health."
"Wuwuwu, I'm too cowardly. I also want to contribute my strength, want to become part of the spider, but to become that, I have to cut off my limbs and my head. I want to be like everyone else, but I'm just terribly scared..."
Rodrika hugged Xia Yu in front of her, crying about her cowardice while rummaging for something in her pocket.
"Could you please take this child on a journey with you? It's too pitiful for her to accompany someone as cowardly as me..."
Rodrika pulled out a stone box. This was a stone box containing Spirit Ashes, which held the souls that had not returned to the erdtree.
"This child's soul seems to like you. I think this child will be very happy too..."
While saying these words, Rodrika, without explanation, shoved the stone box into Xia Yu's hand, while mumbling vaguely.
"Please tell everyone for me, I love you all. I won't be afraid of pain anymore, I will make up my mind..."
The vague murmuring eventually turned into soft breathing. After her drunken outpouring, Rodrika fell into a deep sleep.
"Yes, I will help you."
Xia Yu gently supported the girl, letting her rest her head on his lap. After her confession, the girl's previously sorrowful brows also relaxed.
"She revealed clues not mentioned in the game, self-sacrifice and contributing her strength? Why would she want to become part of a spider?"
Xia Yu stroked Rodrika's golden hair as if petting a cat, while also pondering why she wanted to become part of a spider.
Godrick the Grafted, the weakest demigod among them, pitiful and detestable. Because of his weakness, he committed the wicked act of grafting. Grafting means attaching others' limbs to himself to gain their power.
And the spiders are the 'Grafted' noble offspring in the game. They are the evil products of Demigod Godrick's experiments. Like Godrick, their bodies are also pieced together with various limbs, like a multi-legged'spider'.
Rodrika said her companions all became part of the spider, so her companions must have all been used by Godrick for grafting experiments.
Cutting off limbs and head to become part of a spider would surely mean death, but even sacrificing oneself to become a spider, wanting to contribute one's strength to Godrick?
Why would they rather sacrifice themselves to help Godrick's grafting experiments? Is there any connection between Rodrika's group and Godrick?
Xia Yu stroked Rodrika's golden hair and recalled the characteristics of the Golden Lineage. Although not definitive, golden hair seemed to be a trait of the Golden Lineage.
The first god, Queen Marika, had golden hair, and her eldest son, Godwyn, also had golden hair. The game's description of Rodrika's attire also indicated that she was a wandering member of the royal family.
Although Godrick doesn't have golden hair and is quite weak himself, his bloodline is that of a legitimate Golden direct descendant. When a wandering royal family member meets a legitimate Golden monarch, wanting to contribute their strength seems plausible.
The legitimate monarch wanted to strengthen his power through grafting, and the wandering royal family members voluntarily became sacrifices.
Rodrika, as a member of the royal family, also wanted to contribute her strength, but due to cowardice and fear of death, she chose to flee and hide in this dilapidated house.
Is it because they are also descendants of the Golden Lineage that those Grafted Spiders don't experience limb rejection? That's surprisingly logical.
As for why Godrick can graft even completely different bloodlines like the Troll Giants, that's probably related to the shard of the elden ring he possesses. It's a central shard that connects other elden rings to the main branch, so it's reasonable for it to have the effect of connecting the strength of other creatures.
The shards of the elden ring are the concretization of the authority of laws. The laws of The Lands Between formed runes, and these runes eventually combined to form the elden ring.
Now the elden ring is shattered, and the complete law elden ring has once again transformed into fragments of law runes. These separated law runes are held by different demigods.
Whoever can restore the shattered elden ring to its completeness will be the Elden Lord.
"The future is worrying."
Xia Yu sighed softly. He hasn't even defeated the weakest demigod, Godrick, yet, so it's best not to think about being the Elden Lord for now.
"If I think about it carefully, the rune Godrick possesses shouldn't be the connecting law, but rather more like the law of life. He's really a scumbag, he doesn't even know how to use a law rune."
In the game, if Godrick's rune is activated, all of the character's attributes increase by five points. From this perspective, Godrick's rune seems more like a law of authority related to life.
It's a pity that Godrick, that scumbag, only researched the crooked method of grafting, completely wasting the life authority on the rune.
Of course, it's also possible that his own strength is too weak, so he can't unleash the true power of the rune.
"Why think so much?" Xia Yu suddenly closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, muttering, "I haven't even fought Margit, the Fell Omen yet."
These are just some game-related musings, mostly online speculations, as Soulslike games always have fragmented narratives and no definitive answers.