Surgit stood in front of the gate which led to the last guardian of the Pthumerian Chalice Dungeon. After Karla's death, he found himself mechanically going through the Chalice Dungeon all over again. He'd sacrificed all his echoes and progress to come back in an attempt to save Karla.
Once he saw what happened, he dragged his feet to the dream then entered the dungeon. In his mind, several theories raced through. Going through the dungeons had cleared some of the doubts he had about using echoes to gain more strength.
The tablets he inspected after defeating each guardian revealed some crucial information. For instance, Surgit learned that there are a total of three ranks per attribute. At that moment Surgit was still a Waste of Skin when it came to strength. If he wanted to improve his attribute in order to reach a new title, he'd have to upgrade using Green Echo Clusters.
For each rank, there are five tiers. In order to get from "Waste of Skin" to "Hunter", Surgit will have to upgrade the attribute five times. Each tier requires more Green Echo Cluster than the last. Surgit had to collect as many echoes as possible in order to gain more strength.
His mind started pulling ideas together. As he mindlessly went through the dungeon's interconnected rooms, he thought about what kind of hunter he'd like to become. After witnessing what Gavril could do, he knew that he was simply a beginner compared to what real hunters achieve.
Back then, he couldn't even see him move behind them. It was as if he'd teleported behind them. According to what Francis told him, Gavril was able to finish him with just a shot. That frightening hunter must have upgraded his Bloodtinge to an unfathomable level.
Surgit knew that he relied a lot on brute strength during his fights. That fighting style, he felt, suited him best. Along with strength, Surgit wanted to improve his skill and enhance his perception. However, something about Arcane attracted his curiosity.
He wanted to reach Byrgenwerth in order to find out about the scholar's findings. Losing Karla had really left a sour taste in his mouth. 'If the Byrgenwerth scholars had researched human evolution, they might as well have researched supernatural phenomenon. I might find something in there. Although I might be immune to death now, I cannot guarantee that for a long time.'
The loss he experienced changed his mind about his final objective. The message he saw carved in the dream clearly said: 'Seek Paleblood to transcend the hunt.' There was no mention of leaving. Surgit had experience Yharnam enough to understand one thing. Information was scarce; hence every piece of knowledge contained vague descriptions.
Surgit didn't know what Paleblood was. This information made whoever read it focus on the word Paleblood but not think of what came next. Surgit did as anyone else would do: Assume that Paleblood is the key to leaving this wretched place.
After he'd experienced all these horrors, Surgit learned to take a step back and analyze radically. Transcend didn't mean leave, it meant being in a state above the night of the hunt. It meant being away from the suffering and the stench of blood. It meant being liberated from this endless cycle of misery. It meant transcending human nature as well.
Of course, this was Surgit's suspicion. Although he had no proof of what he thought, he had a strong feeling that he'd find more details if he reached Byrgenwerth. But before doing that, he had to get stronger. He no longer wished to be ambushed by a stronger foe and losing miserably. He wanted to be the one inflicting damage.
As he pushed the gate in order to reach the last guardian of this level of the Chalice Dungeon, his mind cleared up. This was a new fight and he had couldn't afford to drift off. A strange creature looked at Surgit from afar. Its body looked gigantic. Surgit quickly rolled to the right as the beast charged towards him.
The speed this beast had was astonishing. Although it was as big as a three storeys building, it was fast. Surgit almost didn't see the first attack coming his way. The creature had the body of a dog. Its head looked strange though. It had a hexagonal shape. On the top part of the head, Surgit saw that it had empty gaps from which fire exuded.
The lower part of the dog's head displayed a large open jaw with countless sharp teeth protruding from it. Every time the creature charged at Surgit, he would dodge and feel heat building up as the beast's attack went by him. 'This land is not fair to anyone,' he thought as he dodged and tried to find a weak spot.
As Surgit positioned himself in front of the watchdog, he baited its bite attack. Every time the beast took a bite, Surgit would dodge under the attack and hit the beast on the head. He was trying to find a weak spot.
With every hit, came a spark and a wave of heat would burst through his face. He carefully dodged and counter attacked. The more he observed the beast, the more cautious he became. This monster could adjust to its opponents fighting style
As he dodged the attacks and easily countered, the beast quickly jumped back and opened its mouth. Surgit quickly jumped back as fire came out of the dog's mouth. Surgit tightened his grip on his cleaver. He'd brought the rifle spear with him time around. As the fire faded, the beast's head appeared from behind it.
Surgit jumped high and used the beast's head as a platform. He jumped even higher and let the beast run past him. As he performed a roll in the air, his left hand went towards the spear. The beast turned and prepared for another charge.
It would catch Surgit mid-air and slam him on the opposite wall if the beast caught him. Surgit threw his saw as fell and clenched the rifle spear with both hands. He put his feet before the spear's tip and plummeted to meet the beast's charge attack.
His spear went through one of the gaps, and he heard bones crack. The spear planted itself in the dog's head. Surgit held on even tighter as the beast stopped and waved its head in pain. Just the sudden stop the beast performed almost slammed Surgit to the ground. Thanks to his current level of strength, he could barely hold on.
Surgit activated the device on the rifle spear and pulled the trigger. The shot, performed from close quarters, shattered the bones and went through the beast's skull. Surgit lost his grip on the weapon and was thrown away, in the distance.
The beast howled and its head fell to the ground with a heavy 'thud!' Surgit dismissed reaching for his Saw Cleaver and ran towards the fallen dog. He transformed his arm and started pounding at the dog's head with his beastly fist.
One hit, two hits, the beast howled even louder. As it howled, Surgit inserted his hand through the dog's mouth. He pulled a fiery tongue from which lava dripped. If it weren't for his beastly arm, he would have been burnt to a crisp.
As Surgit realized that he'd been using his beastly arm, his hand started shrinking in size. He let go of the hazardous tongue and jumped back. The watchdog stayed on the ground, motionless. Surgit examined his arms bewildered.
In his anticipation to eviscerate the enemy and gain an advantage in the fight, he didn't notice his transformed hand. It was as if he was in a trance. The heat of the fight made him lose all senses. This state of mind made him feel free.
He no longer cared about blood echoes or about his progress. What he wanted was to destroy his enemy. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd come out victorious of the fight. But he didn't wish for victory, he wished to completely obliterate his enemy.
If he hadn't realized that his arm had turned beastly, he probably wouldn't have stopped at just ripping the dog's tongue. It was as if the dormant beast inside of him could take over. If that happened, he was afraid that he'd forget everything in the process.
Hello there ladies and gents. I know the past few chapters have hit some of you pretty hard. And for that I apologize.
I'm grateful for your support and I hope that you'll keep enjoying Surgit's journey.
I'm having so much fun creating this fan-fiction. Karla's death hurt me too, even if I was the one who planned it...
Surgit sat on the sofa in the hunters' dream and started going through what he earned from the Chalice Dungeon. So far he collected six Green Echo Clusters. That alone was worth the effort he had gone through.
With the clusters he had, he could upgrade his strength. However, what he had collected wasn't enough to earn him a new rank. After going through the dungeon, he understood more about Blood Echoes.
If he wanted to earn more echoes and form more clusters, he'd have to go for an extra challenge. Surgit will have to test his mettle against beasts in root levels. Each Chalice Dungeon is composed of a maximum of five levels. After entering each level, the hunter cannot leave unless he completes it or forfeits his progress and echoes.
Completing a level means defeating all guardians and obtaining the chalice for the next level. After each final guardian, Surgit learned, there is another sacrificial altar. When successfully triggered, the altar will open a path towards the next level. In order to open the path, Surgit will have to make another sacrifice, using the correct Chalice.
After defeating the Merciless Watchers, Surgit received a root Chalice. And after defeating the Watchdog of the Old Lords, Surgit received the Central Pthumeru Chalice. After inspecting both items, Surgit decided to bring them back with him to the dream and decide on his next step.
He wanted to go for a hunt that will allow him to receive at least a Blue Echo Cluster. One blue cluster equals five green clusters. So if Surgit finds a beast powerful enough to hold a blue cluster, his improvement would be greatly accelerated.
He knew that root chalices strengthen the guardians. But in order to do so, Surgit would need some special materials to use in the sacrifice. He decided to forget about that prospect and turn towards a more aggressive approach.
When he saw Gavril last time, the idea planted itself in his brain. If he managed to acquire a sinister bell, he could invade other hunters and steal their echoes. This method, even though risky, could pay off generously.
Invasion was something Surgit never considered. But after the tragedy in Oedon Chapel, Surgit realized that he had to get much stronger. While going through the chalice dungeon, his brain never stopped thinking about the fastest way to improve.
If he starts invading other hunters, he can even use their surroundings against them. After all, he had explored Central and Old Yharnam long enough to know every nook and cranny in each district. Yharnam was merciless, hunters must be worse if they ever hope to transcend it.
Surgit only wanted to get a cure for his illness. Instead he got power. After he understood that the power he received was nothing compared to what other hunters have, he realized his weakness. He was now a hunter, so he had to think like one. A hunter is required to hunt all sorts of abominations. So the hunter must know about his prey's strengths and weaknesses. Although he usually meets beasts that greatly differ from each other, Surgit started noticing some similarities.
For instance, big monsters like the Cleric Beast, Gascoigne when he transformed, and also the Blood starved beast were fast and deadly despite their size. However, their pattern of attack seemed to be easily predictable. For a hunter, dying to one of these beasts isn't a loss but a lesson. And Surgit learned valuable lessons during his previous fights.
So if Surgit ever had to fight a big monster like these again, all he'd have to do is to bait as many attacks as possible. Patience is key as any misstep would lead to a painful death. Surgit didn't want to die anymore, he wanted to obliterate.
So against this kind of beasts, all he'd need to do after baiting their attacks will be to look for one weak point and attack it relentlessly. The weakness will break and he can then obliterate his prey.
However, when it came to hunter versus hunter fights, Surgit will need to go in with a different perspective. Hunters are fast and cunning. If he finds himself against a hunter like Gavril, he must not approach the fight head on. But if he ever found himself fighting a hunter who is close to his level, his gains wouldn't be worth the time. He wondered if there was any way to control these odds.
Surgit stood up and went to the doll. Thinking for too long will only lead him to a confused state. He needed to take action and learn more about this invasion. Last time he checked, he could acquire it from the messengers' bath. He wanted to upgrade his strength attribute first.
After he spoke to the doll, Surgit closed his eyes and checked his status. He was a waste of skin(4). Two more upgrades and he'd reach a new rank. With his strength greatly increased, he could use more weapons that rely on brute strength.
Surgit went to the messengers and bought a sinister bell and Gascoigne's axe. After he bought the axe, a notification on the black pool read: 'Do you want to transfer it to storage?' Surgit was pleasantly surprised. He didn't know that he could use the messengers to store extra items he had.
He said yes then stored the two Pthumeru chalices he had as well.
As he was about to leave, he scratched his head, as if hesitating about something. Surgit went back to the messengers' bath, stored the Rifle Spear and took the axe.
The next thing he did was to teleport to the church where he fought the Blood Starved Beast. As soon as he appeared there, Surgit took the sinister bell and rang it. He was determined to test his theory and moved up the streets towards the Gatling hunter.
As the bell rang, Surgit could hear some tinkles in the distance. The tinkles synchronized with the ringing of the sinister bell until they became one. Surgit quickly jumped towards a corner where no beast roamed.
Mere seconds after that, he felt drowsy and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his insight automatically sent him a snippet of information. 'You have invaded the world of FallessOrigin'. Surgit clenched his weapon and took a look around. He could hear the female beast patient roar in the distance. That meant that whoever he invaded hasn't reached the Blood Starved Beast yet.
Surgit had appeared on the stairs leading to the old church. He calmly climbed the stairs and made his way towards the werewolf and the roaring Female Beast Patient. As soon as he reached the dark alleyway, Surgit heard the werewolf howl and run.
Surgit ran towards the source of the sound and saw a hunter trying to fend off the werewolf. This hunter seemed to have had a hard time. His clothes were in tatters and his left arm was broken and bloody. The werewolf attacked and the hunter struggled to dodge the attacks.
Surgit smiled as he approached the poor bastard and shot the hunter. The hunter looked at Surgit with a surprised look. He screamed and wailed as the werewolf devoured him.
The hunter didn't even know how to react. In fact the hunter didn't even know of the existence of beckoning bells until recently. He used it since he had too much trouble going through Old Yharnam. He still didn't know that there were friendly and non-friendly hunters. Consequently, he didn't know that a red phantom meant death.
Surgit slowly opened his eyes and came back to his original body. During the time between the completion of the invasion and him getting back to his body, Surgit learned something new. The information he received startled him.
As soon as he started transferring, the images kept coming at him. It was as if he was witnessing some event. He could understand the images and expressions on people's faces. But he couldn't hear a word they were saying. It was as if some mysterious force blocked the sound from reaching his ears.
He saw two people arguing. One of them seemed to be upset and his face contorted into ugly grimaces. The other had a resolute face and seemed to speak about some important matter. But this was not the only image Surgit had seen.
Other images displayed people arguing with an old man. As people who argued changed, the old man remained. He only sat there on his rocking chair and frowned. Surgit could only understand that this man held some kind of grudge towards these people.
Soon, images about hunters fighting different beasts together appeared. Then hunter fighting each other. These images all depicted Yharnam and other places that looked like the dungeon he'd been in.
As he opened his eyes, Surgit was puzzled. He received too much information at once. He had a feeling that he'd understand more if he invaded more. The more he spends in the space between his original world and the invasion world, the more Surgit would get to understand these visions.
In his mind, he thanked the foolish hunter for summoning him to his world. The information he received seemed to be precious. But the hunter he had to face was simply the worst…
Hello there ladies and gents. For those who feel a bit puzzled towards the title of today's chapter, please refer to the reviews section of the novel.
I hope you enjoyed today's chapter. It's not my best work, but not my worst either ;)
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