"How is the patient?" asked a melodious female voice. "She"s adjusting pretty well. Her wounds have healed and her organs are in the process of reattaching. I don"t see any signs of rejection from her side. I think she"d make a fine hunter after the ministration is over," another hoa.r.s.e voice answered. It clearly belonged to an old man. His breathing was ragged and every time he spoke, one could feel that the man had put great effort in p.r.o.nouncing the words. "Very well, if anything happens, notify me at once," replied the woman"s voice before footsteps were heard then the sound of a door closing.Karla hadn"t regained her consciousness yet. However, she was somehow capable of observing everything around her. Her comatose body lay on the bed while Karla felt like she was observing the scene from above, like an out of body experience.
The man who supervised her blood ministration was indeed old. He wore a top hat from which white hair protruded to the side. His white beard was disheveled and his teeth were almost all gone. Nothing from his appearance suggested that he was a doctor. But in Yharnam, not only was he considered a knowledgeable person in the medical field, but he was also a blood minister in the healing church.
This was one of the most important t.i.tles a person could hold in Yharnam. Being a.s.sociated to the Healing Church to begin with was a great honor. To climb the echelons of the church and work directly under the supervision of the first vicar was considered the highest honor in the Healing Church.
Blood ministers were among the people who worked under the direct supervision of Laurence. Blood ministers were basically the link between the Healing Church and the Hunters" order. Each hunter must go through blood ministration before joining the order. The Blood ministers oversaw this process. At the time of the first vicar Laurence and the first hunter Gehrman, hunters were numerous.
Many people from around the world came seeking blood healing and blood ministration. The strongest candidates to become hunters were always skillful warriors or martial artists. Thanks to the synergy created by Laurence and Gehrman working together, the city flourished and their fame skyrocketed. There were thousands of hunters and hundreds of blood ministers.
The old man who administered blood to Karla was the head minister. His life"s work was studying the miraculous healing properties of the Old Blood. He had been studying the properties of the Old Blood since he joined Byrgenwerth. Since then, he became obsessed with healing blood and humans" transcendence.
He believed that the beastly scourge that hit Yharnam every night of the hunt was an obstacle they had to face in order to evolve. After all, Old Blood had miraculous effects that far exceeded humans" imagination. The discovery of healing blood was a global scientific breakthrough.
Humankind"s worst enemy was their lifespan. If humans could transcend to a state which allows them to live forever, one can only speculate at the endless possible things they can study and invent. Scholars in Byrgenwerth believed that the strongest species are the ones most adaptable to change. Through studying the Old Blood, the head blood minister believed that he"d find the source of the beastly scourge and eliminate it. Casualties were unavoidable. With the help of hunters, Laurence also believed that they could defeat the scourge.
The doctor looked at Karla then sighed. This woman"s appearance created a big chain of events to unfold. n.o.body knew where she came from or why she was injured on a chair in the middle of the woods. She had sustained heavy injuries and the only way to save her was to get her through blood ministration.
Healing blood from the church"s nuns would only slow her death. She"d either die in the process or transform into a beast. Old Yharnam was proof of that. No matter how much they tried to contain the scourge, more beasts appeared. So the head blood minister agreed to administer blood to her. They had to get some answers from her so they needed her alive.
In fact, Karla"s body was recovering very well. Thanks to her previous exposure to healing blood, her body didn"t reject the blood ministration. Her out of body state started fading two days ago. Some days, Karla could only hear what people around spoke about. Other days, she would have control of all her senses as she observed her motionless body from above.
She learned a great deal about where she was, or rather when she was, during the past few days. She knew that she was in Yharnam at the time when the healing church flourished. She learned that the head of the healing church as long as some senior member of the Hunters" order were keen on interrogating her. She hoped that she"d remember this state when she wakes up. She had already prepared a plausible story for them.
She could feel that she"d wake up in a few days and have the abilities of a hunter. She saw the beast approach her every night in her dreams. Every time it got close, Karla would immediately wake up then she"d watch her body from above for hours.
Every night, the beast got closer. Every night, Karla dreaded the moment when the beast would reach her. In her dreams, she was always tied up and unable to move a muscle. All she could do was helplessly watch the beast take slow steps towards her.
After the woman left the room, the man inspected Karla"s eyes and her pulse then left the room. It was getting darker outside and Karla was getting ready to face that horrible dream. She could feel the connection to her body getting stronger. It felt like her ethereal self was being pulled towards the corporeal. A suction force would suck her towards her body every night to live the same nightmare.
Karla was again dreaming. As soon as she realized that she could move her head, she turned towards the blood puddle from which the beast appeared. A hideous lycanthrope whose body hadn"t formed completely came out. Its whole body was dripping blood as it approached Karla. She was determined to fight the beast with her ethereal self. So she tried to push outside with her mind, as if she was chasing her soul away.
Nothing happened as she kept trying. The more she tried, the more she exerted herself. The beast slowly approached and touched her cheek. She shot an infuriated look at the beast. She tried to shout at it but no words came out of her mouth. She was in a bad dream she couldn"t will herself to wake up from. As soon as the beast"s claw touched her cheek though, its whole body caught on flame. The beast let out a long wail as it fell to the ground.
Karla opened her eyes while her heart pounded against her chest. She sat on the bed and examined her body. She had completely recovered and was now able to move all her limbs. She inspected her belly and felt the pain of the katana piercing her. Anger was building up inside as she clenched her fists and whispered "I have your letter for you, that"s an invitation to h.e.l.l!"
"Ah, it looks like we"ve found ourselves a hunter," a melodious voice came from the door to Karla"s room. A tall lady walked into the moonlight and smiled at Karla. Her voice and smile could soothe all pain. Karla forgot her vengeful wish for an instant as she looked at the stunning lady. "Who are you inviting to h.e.l.l?" said the lady with the melodious voice.