In the game Elden Ring, the Tarnished player character can have many teachers.
There's Rogier, there's Thops, but the most impressive one, the one who truly forms a master-student bond, is Sellen.
Speaking of Thops, he and Sellen are both at the Raya Lucaria Academy, both holding teaching positions.
They are also among the most regrettable characters.
In the game, Sellen is one of the few NPCs who is very friendly to the Tarnished player character, willing to teach and answer questions, even willing to give her 'heart' to the Tarnished teacher.
But her quest and her ending are not good.
Similarly, Sellen also has her own ambitions.
Here, she can also be considered an elder-level mage of the Raya Lucaria Academy.
Although she is young, her mastery is very high, and she wields considerable power.
In the game, she wanted to return to the magic academy to retake control, which also stemmed from differing 'viewpoints' as a mage.
She is also a genius sorceress of the academy, previously acknowledged by everyone.
After helping Sellen change her body, she began to return to the academy, only to be hunted down by the old master of the academy.
During the quest, players even have to make a choice.
Either help Master Sellen fight the master of the academy, or kill Master Sellen.
Naturally, most players on their first playthrough would choose to help Master Sellen fight the old master.
Unfortunately, in the end, players will encounter the ending of her body being imprisoned in the Witchbane Ruins.
An extremely regrettable ending.
According to the game's story setting, Master Sellen was rejected by the academy orthodoxy because she killed many innocent people while researching primeval magic in the past, ultimately being expelled, until she met the Tarnished player character.
She is also a morally gray character.
She is not purely good, nor is she purely evil.
What she is 'persistent' about will ultimately lead to her ending.
Just like how greed leads you to inevitably fall for Patches' traps. A harmless character like Thops only asks for 10 runes for his requests; the fact he asks players for the academy key shows he's doomed.
Because he isn't strong enough, but his 'persistence' leads him to his end.
Of course, that persistence also allows him to research landmark magic.
Master Sellen is like that.
The regrettable ending ultimately stems from cause and effect. Master Sellen pursued forbidden arts and a persistence unknown to players, leading to that outcome.
Persistent in researching magic, willing to sacrifice anything for it.
Like Einstein, who proposed many groundbreaking theories.
Kaito once read a report about a physicist who, to study the effects of radiation, willingly faced it daily to observe the changes in his own body.
Ask yourself, without such a deep love for physics, would he sacrifice his body?
Master Sellen originally sacrificed many mages to research forbidden magic. No one understood her; everyone hunted her and wanted her dead.
Until the Tarnished player met her, during her worst time, when her real body was trapped and her projection was still doing research. A projection might have trouble even taking care of itself, let alone surviving in the monster-infested Lands Between.
It was precisely when she was being hunted by everyone, her real body imprisoned, that the protagonist coincidentally became her student.
The Tarnished player just arrived at an opportune moment and needed to learn magic from her.
Moreover, players aren't familiar with the history of the Lands Between. If they knew she had killed so many mages before, including other mages, players might hesitate, might not become her student, might not help her.
But regardless, players were still touched by this teacher.
Even though her final ending was becoming a 'ball of flesh', she still remembered the Tarnished.
"Even if you become a lord, I am still your teacher."
"You are still my beloved student."
"If you fail to become lord."
"Come back to my side."
Underlying meaning: Teacher will always be your harbor.
The Tarnished faces countless setbacks and difficulties on the path to becoming lord, and if they ultimately fail, unless they die, they will inevitably become despondent, desperate, self-abandoning, etc.
And at that time, where can the Tarnished go?
Sellen's words convey that meaning.
You can still come to me; this is your home!
If you have enemies outside, I will protect you.
If you can't pull yourself together, that's fine; I will take good care of you.
After she turned into a 'ball of flesh', she kept calling out 'Student, student...', which shows how much affection she had for the Tarnished.
Thus, players all have a huge impression of her.
Is she a good person?
No, on the contrary, she is a clear-cut antagonist.
For the player, she is a good person, but also for the player, she is actually a bad person, just good to her student.
Kaito, looking at her figure, recalled this woman who left him with such regret, and couldn't help but feel emotional.
Her love for her 'student' is far more than the four sentences above; those were just a simplified summary.
If she regained control of the Raya Lucaria Academy, she would even lead the academy to pledge allegiance to the Tarnished who becomes lord.
And her kindness is also shown when players choose to side with the Blood Dynasty in the storyline.
It's also considered being protective. After the player's finger is stained with cursed blood, Sellen helps remove the curse and even warns the Lord of Blood: if you dare deceive my beloved student, don't expect an easy death!
But now.
Kaito saw her figure, even saw that her head was still normal. If the mages hadn't called her name, if she hadn't spoken, Kaito might not have recognized her.
'So, was this before her expulsion?'
Kaito thought.
But just as he planned to go over and greet Sellen, build a relationship, and intended to change her future destiny to repay the master-student bond from the game...
A mage hurriedly found Kaito.
"Lord Kaito, hello! Outside the academy gates, there is a Tarnished who says she knows you. She says she heard news of you being here and traveled from afar, wishing to meet you!"
"Oh? Did she say who she is?"
Hearing this, Kaito directly gave up on contacting Sellen and turned around to ask the mage.
'Could it be one of the ladies from the chat group nearby?'
'If she hadn't been here before, she couldn't teleport here via a Site of Grace; she would have to travel by normal means.'
'So, who could it be?'
"Mm, she called herself Kamado Kie, Lord Kaito."
"It's her... let her in. She is a close friend of mine and also an important partner in assisting me to become lord. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"