Bloodborne

With the cl.u.s.ters 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 cl.u.s.ters, 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 Cl.u.s.ter. One blue cl.u.s.ter equals five green cl.u.s.ters. So if Surgit finds a beast powerful enough to hold a blue cl.u.s.ter, 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 b.l.o.o.d.y. The werewolf attacked and the hunter struggled to dodge the attacks.

Surgit smiled as he approached the poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d 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 s.p.a.ce 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…