It was, of course, not the end. There was another bell to ring, somewhere in the deep, forbidding caves beneath Lordran. Nak had a long quest ahead of him.
Nak handed over the souls. In turn, the broad-chested, white-bearded smith thrust the Seal of Artorias upon him.
There was a door not far into the Darkroot Garden that was sealed by a faintly detectable sorcery. It stood directly beside the path onward, and a bonfire hid shyly behind an illusory wall, ajoined. It seemed to beckon—welcome, even—passerby.
It swung aside at first contact with the seal, and Nak stepped down into the hazy forest beyond. At the bottom of the steps, Nak paused. Those weren’t his footsteps. They had all the familiarity of mail clinking against plate (comforting familiarity, since it meant Nak was wearing his armor), but they were lurking somewhere in the haze, and they were getting closer… fast.
Nak raised his shield just in time to thrust a two-handed sword aside, away from his helm.
Nak had fought towering stone guardians, a hulking Taurus Demon, and a pondering titanite demon. He had been scorched by a dragon and scintillated by a butterfly the size of a house. Even one of the undead knights he had fought was wearing what was surely two hundred pounds of armor. Nak was entirely unprepared to face an adversary of his own stature.
He backed up and hurriedly swapped his bastard sword for a more manageable longsword—he would need the agility. Hopefully he could do without the weight and leverage of the larger blade.
Nak and his knightly adversary danced in the dark, quiet forest for long minutes. It was the romance of violence: two wills, two bodies pitted against each other in a struggle to determine who was the better man.
Nak emerged victorious, his shield arm weary and his sword arm still trembling with adrenaline.
Just a few paces further into the forest, he spotted another foe. It appeared to be a Sorcerer of Vinheim-turned-Forest Dweller. Nak launched himself into another noble duel…
Until the thief padded out of the forest and stabbed him in the back. Nak died.
Nak spent several hours in that forest, fighting the knight, sorcerer, thief, wanderer, and cleric. He died many, many times, but his collection of souls grew with each victory.
Stronger and fiercer than ever, Nak turned his attention to the Undead Burg. He had, a while back, acquired a key that would open the way to the lower levels of the burg, which he found to be teeming with thieves, rotting hounds, and lost sorcerers. Well, one lost sorcerer. After Griggs of Vinheim was seen safely back to Firelink, Nak slew the last of the thieves and stepped through the mist…
RRWRAAAAAAARARAGHGHGHGHghghghhhhh
Nak, having spent long hours honing his sense of rhythm and patience against the Forest Dwellers, was entirely unprepared for the horrible onslaught visited upon him by the Capra Demon. Needless to say, he died.
Nak returned to Firelink shrine. All he wanted to do was destroy something. So he learned some basic sorceries from Griggs, marched down into the Darkroot Garden, and destroyed the Moonlight Butterfly, alternating the glimmering bolts of Soul Arrow with furious overhand bastard sword swings.
Sorcery, huh. Promising.