When Tirek woke up he found that he was still trapped in the new world he had been sent to, only this time he found that he had been placed in some sort of small stone chapel, instead of the massive cavern he had woken up in earlier, meaning he wouldn't have to deal with Malenia for the rest of his life. As he picked himself up he found a few things of interest, the first being a number of bookshelves that had a few tomes on them, each looking like they were old and covered in a layer of dust, while the main item that held his attention was the wooden door in front of him. In addition to that there was a lady resting off on his right, wearing what looked like priestess clothing, but it also looked like someone had slashed her neck before his arrival, not that he cared since it meant nothing to him, though she did have an item for him to take. He discovered that it was a finger of some kind, or a bunch of wax molded to resemble a finger in terms of texture and appearance, though he felt the former was more accurate, before he discovered some runes in front of her that danced before his eyes and turned into something he could read.
He quickly discovered that the runes were informing him, or anyone else who happened to awaken in this place, that the 'Tarnished', whoever or whatever that was, should seek the position of 'Elden Lord', whatever that was, before finding a set of runes off to the side that explained the finger's use.
The finger itself was to leave messages for the other Tarnished, likely to provide hints on where to go or leaving them with hazards that would kill them, based on what he had seen during his visit to Malenia's place, but as he picked up the item he discovered something interesting, he also had a pouch on his belt. Based on what he was seeing it looked like a bag of holding, meaning he could carry a lot of items in the small pouch without weighing him down, a boon he wasn't expecting to find in a world like this, so he stashed the finger inside it before turning to the books. Sure enough Tirek found that all of the tomes were worthless to him, they were in no condition to be moved or even used, so he focused on the door and walked up to it, finding that it creaked as he forced both halves open, only to pause when he discovered what was on the other side. He discovered that the chapel he had appeared in was on a cliff in the middle of an ocean, there was a massive continent some distance away from his current position, and there was a gigantic glowing tree off in the distance, one that had massive branches that seemed to reach all over the sky itself.
"Definitely not in Equestria anymore." Tirek remarked, though at the same time he realized that he knew what his final destination would be, as Malenia had been in a cavern under what had to be a massive tree and the glowing one had to be the one he was thinking about, so traveling the continent would allow him to grow stronger, maybe enough to crush her if he found her again.
With that in mind he found a number of wooden planks, forming a set of stairs that headed down to the lowest section of the earth the chapel had been built on, and walked down the steps without much delay, only to find that there was more to the structure he had appeared in. Based on what he could tell there was no way for him to enter the lower reaches of the chapel, in fact there were no other doors for him to open, which was just odd since he expected there to be a way for someone to enter the lower reaches, but decided not to worry about that. Other than that Tirek found a bridge, which was just a bunch of planks close to each other and rope keeping everything together, that linked this half of the cliff to another one, which had some stone walls that might give him an idea on what to do next when he got over there. With nowhere else to go he carefully crossed the bridge, finding that, while it looked like it might snap and cause him to fall to his death, the walkway held and he was able to reach the other side without anything bad happening.
As he stepped into the large courtyard that happened to be on the other side of the stone arch he walked under, where he found a statue that looked like someone stuck to a cross of some kind, he spotted another golden mist door, but before he could think about it some sort of crab creature, with multiple limbs, a weapon and shield, and some cloth covering it's back, dropped down into the area.
"What in Tartarus' name are you?!" Tirek remarked, as he had never seen such a disgusting creature before, in fact he had to wonder how it was capable of moving since it looked like a heavily modified crab that was no longer the base creature it had started as, and it made him wonder what other terrors he might find in this world.
The creature screeched in response, which seemed designed to wreck one's ears and cripple them as they tried to make sure they stayed safe, though while they were stunned, which Tirek was since the awful sound forced him to cover his ears for some time, for as long as the attack lasted. He found that it was hard to concentrate with the screeching sound, which had to be why the creature was designed to have such a power in the first place, though as soon as it ended he pulled out his staff, intending on loosing at least one spell before something happened. That was his plan, but, much like what had happened with Malenia, Tirek found that his foe was much faster than he was and it slammed into him like a ton of bricks, knocking him back towards one of the other cliffs in the area. As he regained himself the beast slashed into him with it's weapons, as he found that the monster had several swords, all of which cut through his body before he was knocked off the cliff by a sudden charge attack.
Tirek expected to hit either the ocean water after falling off the cliff and found that it was like some magic had stolen him from the fall, even though he had a rather unpleasant crash into what seemed to be the ground, knocking the wind out of him as he closed his eyes for a time... at least until he heard a horse walk through the area and weakly cracked open his eyes to see if he could figure out what in the world was going on.
"Don't worry, Torrent, fortune is on his side." a feminine voice said, where he weakly found that his hands were in a small puddle of water and that there were some hooves in front of the area he had landed in, before he spotted a figure who slipped off her steed for a moment and knelt in the water for a time, though Tirek couldn't see her face, "We found him here, after all... one of his kind is sure to seek the Elden Ring... even if it does violate the Golden Order..."
In the following moments something strange happened, as Tirek was compelled to close his eyes and when he snapped them open not a second later he found that the speaker and her mount were gone, though he did find a small pouch off to his right and picked it up. He discovered two flasks inside it, one colored blue and one colored red, along with a note about the fact that he could mend his wounds with the latter while restoring his mana with the former, before discovering that he could use the pouch as a container for the flasks. Of course he had to wonder who had come to find him, not to mention leave such a gift for him, especially when he did a recount and found four flasks in the container, three crimson and one blue, and that this pouch could hold more flasks than what he had been given. As he considered that fact Tirek found that there was a set of stone stairs leading to a door, likely the way out of the cave he had suddenly found himself in, meaning someone had teleported him here for sure, along with an opening in the ground to his right that lead to another section of the cave.
"This world is going to give me a... headache." Tirek commented, though in that moment he found something else that interested him, the cuts from his battle with the crab monster had already healed, as if whoever teleported him had also been kind enough to mend his wounds to ensure he survived.
In that moment he noticed something else, there was a slightly glowing figure sitting in a chair he had missed, sitting near the passage leading underground, to which he sighed, picked himself up, and attached the new pouch to his belt before making his way over to the chair, only to find the spirit talking about remembering how to fight. Tirek took a moment to consider whether or not he should head down into the depths, as there seemed to be a safe path down if he jumped once or twice, before deciding that he needed no help in learning how to do things, hence why he focused on the door. While he walked he found that it was easier for him to do so now, either because of his near death experience, or maybe it was an actual experience of what death was like, or because he was quick to adapt to any situation, though he focused on the door as he pushed it open. Such a thing allowed him to find a small chamber that had some stairs leading to an area that had a golden glowing shard near the floor, which he ignored, including the transparent mist wall to his right, so he could make his way up to another chamber that seemed like a dead end, save for a round indent in the middle of the floor.
That indent turned out to be a platform that raised up as he stepped on a round button that was as wide as his head, to which he waited for a few moments as he traveled up a passage and reached the peak in no time, where he discovered another door once the platform came to a stop. With that done he stepped up and found that he had to grip the bottom of the metallic door to push it into the stone ceiling, though as Tirek did so he discovered what was on the other side, a vast grassy area with scattered golden trees, numerous bushes, and several raised and lowered sections as he spotted a castle on a hill in the distance. Just by looking at everything that was around him Tirek realized that this continent was far more massive than he originally thought it would be, while discovering that there were tall towers of stone that seemed to be surrounding the massive tree, why he had no idea. Other than that he found another glowing shard, someone standing near it, and a path leading down to an area that was being patrolled by a large golden armored figure on a massive horse, who stood between this area and what looked like a church of some kind.
"Okay, so... I have no idea what I'm doing." Tirek remarked, as he hated to admit that this was one of those times where he was totally lost on what to do, other than explore the rest of the world and see if there might be a way for him to get back to his home planet, even if it meant returning in a different body, "Well, the ponies liked to talk to knights whenever they got lost... maybe I could ask that knight for directions and get out of here..."
It was stupid that he, one of the most evil creatures of Equus, had been reduced to this state and had to ask someone else for directions, though it was a good thing that no one from his planet was here to see this as he approached the figure in question, but as he started to raise his hand the knight rushed at him and brought a golden halberd down on him, which cut through his body and the world went dark instantly.
Tirek had no idea how long he was out, though when he opened his eyes again he found that he was back in the cave he had been teleported to, where this time he realized something important, he had died to the knight's attack, just like how he died to Malenia's attack, and had been revived here, either because his soul had been tethered to this place or because this seemed to be a grave of some kind.
"Okay, clearly talking isn't going to work... violence it is." Tirek remarked, though this irritated him more than he wanted to admit, as it meant he had wasted his time raising the platform, or elevator he guessed, and now had to waste more time when he had to leave for real.
With that in mind Tirek did the only thing possible right now, he leapt into the depths and used the ledge to make sure no harm came to him before doing it again, reaching an area that had some stone coffins that were open, not to mention a cave tunnel that had to be the way forward. It was in the next moment that he found another glowing shard, where this time he discovered something interesting, his mind was informed that this was a 'Grace' site, where people like him, as in the Tarnished, could rest and recover during their travels. Such a thing seemed ludicrous, like it came out of a foal's story or an old mare's tale, but that didn't stop him from reaching out to it and let a golden light wash over the area, where he had a feeling that it had been activated in some manner, or maybe he was linked to it, it was hard to tell. After that Tirek walked up the tunnel that was in front of him and found that there seemed to be some sort of undead figure staring at a rock wall, though at the same time he felt the same sensation as some being shared with him how to fight, as in how to swing his sword and how to cast the spells of this world.
What he had to do was channel his mana into the staff and cast whatever spell he was thinking of, where the Glintstone Pebble turned out to be a small bolt of blue energy that looked like a pebble, hence the name he guessed, which struck his target and took it down in an instant, though as it fell he got some sort of golden energy from it.
Tirek stood there for a moment, wondering if the people of this world were actually weak or if he still had a shard of his former power, from before he was sent to this world, but decided that, for the time being, he would continue to test the waters before doing anything stupid. With that in mind he continued following the rest of the tunnel, finding more of the undead, or hollows he guessed, standing around, some looking like they might attack and others simply standing still like they had lost their minds or something. Such a thing allowed him to swing his staff at each of them and struck them down with his new magic, something that instantly worried him after he remembered the strength of the knight that crushed him, so he really had no way to figure out if he was strong or these guys were incredibly weak. While he considered that he found that the feelings continued to assault him, like some being was patiently teaching him how to fight, as in how to dodge, use a shield to guard against attacks, and many other things that made him wonder just how much trouble he was going to be in after leaving this place.
Truth be told Tirek wasn't planning on using most of what he was told, as his magic was all he needed right now, but he did have to dodge a knight's arrows to avoid being pinned to the ground or slain before he reached the end of the cave he was in, which seemed to be far larger than he originally thought. He also discovered that the few knight enemies in this cave were tougher than the hollows, going down in two hits instead of just one, though as that happened he discovered that his mana pool was greater than he originally though, allowing him to cast many spells before having to rest or even use the flask. Tirek also discovered an area where he learned how to crouch and attack unsuspecting foes from behind, as if there would be instances to use it in the future, though he wiped out the hollows wandering around the area and kept moving, even though he felt his reserves dwindling. With that in mind he pulled out the blue flask and downed it, finding that it did as the note claimed, his mana was restored in no time at all, though he found that it had a blueberry flavor to it, or this world's version of that anyway, before slipping the empty flask into the pouch as he walked.
As he rounded a corner he found two things, the first being a small statue of a female figure, likely a queen, while the other was the golden mist wall that had been in near where he found the grafted crab monster, meaning that they likely indicated where powerful monsters rested, making him wonder if there was a way to get back to the first one he saw, not counting Malenia anyway.
With that in mind Tirek braced himself as he walked through the golden mist and found that it allowed him to enter a large cavern, likely the end of the passage that would bring him back to where he had been teleported to, before he found that someone was walking down the other tunnel. It was just another knight, this one appearing to be more lively than most of the hollows he had seen in this area, though he knew the figure was aggressive since he was drawing the longsword that was in the sheath on his back. As such Tirek gripped his staff once more and utilized the same spell he had been using so far, where he found that the knight staggered after the first kit and continued to strike him with the blue bolts of energy, only to find that the knight collapsed after the fourth strike. As more of the golden energy surged into his body, without really doing anything he noted, Tirek, once again, found himself wondering if these people were weak to magic or if he was just stronger than all of them, before deciding to shelve the idea for the time being as he headed up the other tunnel.
Sure enough it brought him all the way back up to a ledge that was above where he had woken up after his failed battle with the grafted crab, to which he found his way down and retracted his steps to the elevator, making sure to activate the Grace along the way this time. After that Tirek made his way up to where the final chamber of the tomb rested and looked around for a moment, finding a lever off to his left, one that, when pulled, actually called the elevator down so he could step on the platform once more, even if it took a few moments to do so. As he rode it to the peak once more he realized that it wasn't in his best interest to mess with the golden knight he had seen, as it had killed him in a single strike, rather it seemed that he had to activate the Grace outside the tomb entrance before making his way to the church. From there he had no idea what to do next, which was due to the fact that the continent was massive and he had no directions to speak of, but he was sure a trip to the castle was in order, as there might be someone strong in that area.
A few moments later he was back outside the tomb, allowing him to take in the fresh air once more as he walked up to the Grace site he had spotted and activated it, though this time around he noticed two things, the first that his missing flask had been restored, a wonderful bit of magic in his eyes, while the other was that a faint trail of golden energy hung in the air, where it looked like it was pointing at the old church.
"Oh yes... Tarnished, are we? And a beastly one at that. Come to the Lands Between to claim the Elden Ring, have we?" the white masked figure off to his left inquired, who seemed to enjoy sticking his nose into whatever other people were doing and interrupting them when they were busy doing something else, causing Tirek to glare at him for a moment as he considered what his next move should be, "There's no shame in admitting that you're on such a quest, but... unfortunately for you, my friend, you are maidenless... without guidance, without the strength of Runes, and without an invitation to the Roundtable Hold, I am afraid that you are fated to fade into obscurity."
"Fantastic, someone's already annoying me." Tirek remarked, though at the same time he decided to only half listen to the surgeon looking figure, as he was dressed like he operated on people, while most of his focus was on the Grace and what it was doing, because it seemed to be guiding him in some manner.
"Luckily for you there is one shining ray of hope: Me. Varre." the masked figure continued, apparently not taking the hint that Tirek didn't want to be bothered right now, though even as that happened Tirek recalled the figure in the chapel he had first appeared in, a female maiden now that he thought about it, meaning she might have been important to him and his quest had she been alive, "Are you familiar with Grace, the golden light that gives life to you Tarnished? It will guide you on the path you must take, even if that means walking to your death... I would wager this one is pointing to Castle Stormveil, located on the cliff, home of the decrepit demigod Godrick the Grafted."
That was all Tirek needed to know as he stood up and departed from the Grace site, because he had stolen the powers of the gods before, if Celestia and Luna could be called that, so learning of a demigod meant he knew where to obtain some incredible power for the future, making him look forward to whatever happened next.