Bloodborne

The coffins made the place look gloomy and Surgit, despite not being a superst.i.tious person, felt the atmosphere eating away at his spirit. He didn"t like to be confined in a dark closed s.p.a.ce. The only noise he could hear was the clashing of metal somewhere far away from him.

The corridor soon gave way to a bigger room, similar to the first one he had walked in, with more doors to choose from. At this rate, Surgit knew that he was going to get lost and the possibility of walking in circles was pretty high. He kept going right, he had read somewhere long ago that in order to get away from a labyrinth all one needs to do is to put one hand on the right wall and keep moving as said wall moved around.

Before he did that, he marked the other doors using his saw giving each door a different sign. If he ever got through a door, he would check it for the sign and if he found one, he would know that he had walked full circle.

The process of elimination would work for him as the room had only four doors. If he walked full circle from one door to the other, he would at least eliminate two and explore the remaining third one, the fourth being the one he had come from. But if the doors led to other rooms with more doors, then his possibilities may become endless.

The door he walked through led towards some stairs that took him down deeper into the labyrinth. How many levels did this floor have? And how deep is this whole Pthumerian labyrinth? He shuddered at the thought that he may be traveling towards the center of the earth, where something far more powerful than the beasts above hid. He didn"t know if he went to the labyrinth to get stronger or to get his hopes crushed by some mighty creature that will show him how weak hunters were.

He soon found himself on another vast expanse. Similar to the first one from which he accessed the catacomb. Bodies were scattered on the floor everywhere and his feet were submerged in blood. It was like walking in marshes, but instead of water, there was blood.

His boots were stuck to the mud below and every time he had to detach his feet from the sticky substance, a foul smell would arise. He had an extra piece of cloth hanging from his shirt and for the first time, he understood its use. He brought it up to the level of his face, hiding his mouth and nose. He looked like a bandit, preparing for a raid.

The sound of clashing metal was getting louder. And as he traversed the b.l.o.o.d.y marsh he got inside yet another door. His boots were red and muddy. He was sure that he reeked worse than someone who had traversed sewers.

In the new room he had gotten into. He was standing on a narrow bridge, underneath which lay another b.l.o.o.d.y marsh. Gigantic rats roamed the b.l.o.o.d.y swamp with big bloated b.u.mps on their back. Surgit was pretty sure that puss would explode out of them if he ever hit them.

The source of the clashing metal was visible in front of his eyes. Huge axes swung in the air along the bridge, hitting the surface slightly as they carved a small s.p.a.ce on it. The metallic sound was due to them hitting the bridge and the outer walls of the room as they swung like pendulums.

"One wrong move and I"m dead" though Surgit. And if he ever survived the hit from one of the swinging axes, he would be easy food for the rats below. This was indeed a perfect place for a hunter. Anomalies to slay roamed the place in abundance and deadly traps were laid to improve his perception and agility.

With careful steps, Surgit crossed the bridge, jumping at the opportune moment to avoid the deadly strikes. As he reached the end, he found a closed door that he pushed open. Inside, the light emanating from a hanging chandelier blinded him for a moment. He was used to the darkness in the place that light was almost unbearable.

The room was wide and composed of two floors. He was on the first one. The ground was decorated with dark blue tiles and the walls had dark visible bricks stacked one on top of the other in a disorderly fashion.

Old wooden crates stood on a corner. The wood was rotten and Surgit could see that there was nothing of value stocked inside. In fact, there was nothing at all. Down the stairs, Surgit saw a fat giant. He was similar to the fat executioner that broke his back but this one wore no armor.

Like the enemies he had encountered at the entrance, he had only loincloth covering his private part. His skin was pale and polished. The light reflected on it made it look like he was staring at a marble statue.

Only the statue moved and its fat belly bounced left and right as the big fat enemy ran up the stairs towards him. He was holding a long pole that he used as a weapon and swung at Surgit as soon as he reached him. Surgit dodged left and right and danced around his attacks. He was slow and his attacks were easy to read.

He baited his largest swing and shot him in the belly. The bullet pierced its stomach and the impact made small circles travel through its body. The scene was funny to Surgit who repressed a smile as he inserted his beastly claws deep within the layers of fat. The giant rolled down the stairs as Surgit removed his hands, killing his foe in the process.

Down on the lower floor, Surgit had finally found the intricate lever that allowed opening the first door which led to the first watcher of the dungeon. The lever was made in a complex design.

A half-moon circle was the base of the lever. The base had some type of small lanterns on each side, "a decoration" he thought. Surgit had to move the stick from left to right and he had to use great strength in doing so; again another confirmation that these dungeons were not made for ordinary humans.

As soon as the lever traveled to the right, the color of the half-moon circle changed to violet. All he had to do was move back towards the first room and hope he doesn"t get lost in the way.

He found no difficulty going back to the first area. Thanks to the doors he had marked, he managed to find his way back easily and access the previously barred door. As he got inside, he found another big gate. He pushed it open and this time, the door seemed to move by itself as soon as his hands made contact with it. The door opened to a large circular room. In the center stood a giant unlike any he had seen before.

His first reaction was to use his insight to see what he was dealing with. "Undead Giant" the little voices murmured inside his head. It was at least 30 feet tall and held curved swords as big as Surgit on each hand.

The sword seemed to be an extension of his right arm. On his left, instead of having a hand it had a big lump of flesh. The lump const.i.tuted a big ball to which the hilt of the blade was merged.

The sight of the giant wasn"t soothing to the eyes either. Its flesh was rotten and puss was oozing out from some inflated pustules on its legs. Its back was hunched and it had some form of mutated muscles growing all around the curved area. All in all, Surgit had to deal with a new abomination.

The giant moved towards Surgit. Its movements were slow and every step shook the earth beneath him slightly. It seemed enc.u.mbered by its own weight and that at least offered Surgit some respite. "Were it big and fast, I don"t think I would stand a chance against it at this point" he thought as he clutched his weapon in his hand and advanced towards his foe.

The giant smashed the curved sword towards Surgit "Too slow" he thought as he moved aside and the blade crashed against the floor. A strong gush of wind almost elevated Surgit from the ground. The impact of the weapon on the ground was far greater than he could"ve imagined "but very strong" he finished his thought.

It took him almost fifteen minutes of dodging and jumping from side to side to get the giant to come to a halt. "It takes energy to dodge and jump around, but it takes even more to swing and miss. Let me show you what I can do now." He dashed towards the big bloated area on the giant"s leg and cut it open. He jumped back on time to see puss pouring down to the ground.

The giant howled in pain and fell to its knees. Surgit, with the help of his bigger beastly arm ripped the giant"s chest open and looked for its heart. His claws closed on muscle and he felt that he tore them to pieces. There was no heart in there though. He knew that it was just muscle inside that body.

The damage was done and blood was seeping down the giant"s body. Its movement slowed down too but Surgit had more work to do if he ever wanted to stop that hulking beast from moving. He needed to aim for the head which was too far from his reach.

The giant stood back and charged again. It swung with both its arms in frenzy. Surgit had to jump back and observe the scene. He could not approach. Even if the attacks were slow, he wouldn"t be able to reach his opponent without getting hit. He was pretty certain that one hit could slice him in half. And so he tried to shoot the giant in the head. Once, twice, thrice… nothing happened. The giant kept swinging and smashing its hands (which were actually swords) all around.

After some minutes the giant stopped again. One could only have limited stamina to execute such a frenzied attack and not tire even if it was a giant. Surgit ran towards his foe and struck at its legs which were as hard as concrete.

His saw just grazed them without leaving any scratch. Surgit had to change tactics. He needed the giant on its knees again. He jumped behind his enemy and shot his pistol, this time aimed towards the anomalies on its back. Blood spurted out of them and the giant moaned. Surgit shot three more bullets and it became apparent that his foe was in pain. He released three consecutive shots, aiming for the same spot and an explosion of blood and puss resulted from this attempt.

The giant howled and tried to reach for its back with its hands, slicing its own back in the process. That was enough to put the giant on its knees. "Big, scary and stupid, serves you well" he thought as he jumped on the giant"s back and planted his saw on the visible mutated flesh.

He thrust his saw in the wounds and used it as counterbalance to advance towards the head. The giant howled and moved its back every time the saw was thrust deep within its open wounds. Surgit had to stop every time and hold tight to his saw in order not to fall.

At last he was on the level of its neck. There was swollen flesh in there and Surgit knew what to do. He shot the spot, putting his gun at point blank range. The impact created a hole big enough for him to perform a visceral attack.

His beastly arm found the giant"s spine and crushed it. The howling finally stopped and Surgit found himself thrust to the ground. He came back later to retrieve his saw which was still inserted deep within the now dead giant. "That wasn"t too hard. But then again, one hit and I could"ve died."