章 146: Blood Pellets
In the Order of Old Hunters, merit regulated how hunters were assigned. Hunters fight and slaughter their prey in order to have a better standing in the hierarchy. The bigger the prey, the better the status one could earn. Beasts came in all forms and sizes. As the night of the hunt approached, beasts would increase in number and ferocity.
Curtis was waiting for the three hunters assigned to help him clear the woods around Hemwick. The area wasn't large but hunters couldn't afford to be reckless. When Karla and the other hunters arrived Curtis eyed them from head to toe. Karla felt like she was being scanned by an appraiser, evaluating the treasure in front of him.
When he was done with his "evaluation", Curtis cleared his throat then spoke. "Two of you will be dispatched to the eastern end of the woods while you," he pointed at Karla, "will come with me to the western side." Curtis wasn't the talkative type. He took his job very seriously and exterminating beasts came at the top of his priorities.
The two hunters nodded and without a word disappeared towards the eastern side of the forest. "You're clearly new here. Stay behind me and do as I say. If you survive this, I'll probably invite you for a drink once we're back to headquarters." Curtis was very strong even among the old hunters. This is why the Order had put him in charge of the area between Yharnam and Cainhurst.
Gehrman had appointed him in there long ago right after they were betrayed and forbidden blood was delivered to Cainhurst. It must be said that the castle was completely cut off from the city at the moment Karla arrived.
There was a cold war between the Healing Church and the castle. Gehrman and Lady Maria were the ones managing intelligence for the church. They would send hunters to the church and spy on their every move. As long as Cainhurst wasn't going to make a move against the church, then the hunters wouldn't intervene.
Curtis had one job: not letting anybody in or outside of Hemwick. He would also communicate with the womenfolk in the village and retrieve sacrificial materials from them. As of late, the church required many strange materials. The women in the village worked relentlessly in order to satisfy the church's strange needs.
Curtis' role was to overlook the supply of materials to the church. He also supplied the villagers with healing blood and corpses to extract materials from. The Healing Church had corpses in abundance. They experimented on people after all, in order to find a cure for the disease that threatened to end them all.
Dealing with beasts, blood, corpses and different dark rituals, Curtis developed an insensitive heart to everything that surrounded him. When he met hunters that were sent to him, he would only glace at them before assigning them a task. He didn't care if they lived or died. Either way, they would provide him with bodies to gift the villagers.
Curtis' only vice was women. He usually had women from Hemwick but when he encountered a newly assigned hunter, he'd usually take the chance to drug them and abuse them. He had to send the other two away in order to get his plan in motion.
What the order didn't know, or feigned ignorance in its regard, was that the women in Hemwick found a new way to use blood. When hunters die, they'd take their blood and mix it with that of beasts. The mixture would create a foul smell that would disgust any sane person. They would then dry it and create a pill from it.
This pill would numb the senses and make one feel invincible. The drug soon reached the city and ravaged it. In spite of its popularity, people would consume it in secret. The Church banned the blood the moment it appeared.
For hunters, the drug would make them countless times more ferocious, making their odds at victory higher.
For ordinary people, the pill would send them into frenzy. One would lose their consciousness and upon awakening, they'd realize that they have killed many people.
The reason why the church didn't hunt down the people selling the pills was because they needed corpses to experiment on. If the suppliers were not associated with the church, that would help their standing in the city as the peacekeepers. Although the Healing Church was initially created to help cure diseases, it quickly became an organization that upset the political environment in Yharnam.
Curtis knew full well that the Church suspected him of dealing in these Blood Pellets. He also knew that they wouldn't act against it since it benefited them greatly. So Curtis grew bolder and started using hunters assigned to him as a supply for the manufacture of the pellets. Women hunters' blood increased the success of manufacturing the pellets.
Karla followed behind the man as she watched her surroundings. Dumb Jack warned her of Curtis and offered to help her if she ever gave him important information about this mysterious hunter. As they walked Karla could hear the distant growls of werewolves in the distance. "Keep your guard up. I'll take care of the ones in front. They're too dangerous for a new blood."
Curtis ran at the werewolves' direction. He was confident that the new hunter would be too terrified of the beasts. She wouldn't dare attack in front of this senior whose merits earned him a permanent position. He was shocked to see Karla running beside him and even overtaking him. 'Little brat, trying to steal my thunder!'
Curtis ran faster and caught up to Karla who had already killed two werewolves in the blink of an eye. Her speed increased tremendously since the blood ministration. She was excited to go for this hunt actually. The first time she landed in Yharnam, she managed to hold her ground against these monsters. Even though they were hard to kill, with her skill, she could still come out on top.
When she became a full-fledged hunter, things changed. These dangerous monsters became practice dummies to her. There were six werewolves when Karla arrived to the clearing in the forest. When Curtis managed to kill one, Karla had already finished the remaining five.
'Bitch Maria, you really know how to pick them,' Curtis silently cursed. He hoped to impress this woman and win her to his side. After delivering her to the old lady in the village, they could put her in a coma and drain her of her blood. She could provide them with blood for at least a year.
That prospect excited Curtis at first. No one would question him if a new hunter died on duty. It was just fate. But upon witnessing her skills, Curtis gave up on the idea. 'I hope one of those two dies. We're really running low on supplies.' He looked at Karla and forced himself to smile to her. "You've been trained well. Good job. There is a beast I've been meaning to deal with after the other two joined us. But you show great potential.
"If we work together, I believe we can kill it without a hitch. What do you say? Shall we start the fun without them? We'll split the merit and your standing in the order will increase." If he had no chance of backstabbing her, the beast at the edge of the woods would at least injure her badly enough for him to kidnap her.
"We have only a day to clear this forest. I don't know how long it will take those two to finish up. Let's get going." Karla didn't try to get in good terms with this man. Although Dumb Jack had something to offer her in return, she couldn't bring herself to butter Curtis up. She could see the lust in his eyes. Every woman is familiar with that look. No matter how much a man tries to hide it, the look would always reveal itself the moment the thing between their legs replaces their brain.
Karla just wanted to finish her mission and get back to the city. She didn't care about merit. She was already part of Lady Maria's crew. There was no higher status in the order apart from working directly under Gehrman's wing.
Karla ran after Curtis who was leading the way. When they approached the forest's edge, a Blood Starved Beast saw them and ran towards them at full speed. 'Let me see how you'd handle the poison from this one.' Curtis ran to the beast's side then shouted: "We must surround it if we want to have a chance at killing it. Beware its-"
A powerful blow sent Curtis flying several paces in the distance. In front of Karla, there were two Blood Starved Beasts. Curtis disappeared without a sign. 'Shit! I can handle one, but I'm not sure if I can match the speed of two attacking at once.'
Karla clenched her Saif and ran deeper inside the woods. She had to use her surroundings to her advantage if she wanted to deal with those two effectively. 'What crime have I committed to deserve such a life?'
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