Bloodborne

"There is something you could use against the pain," his alter self said. "I wouldn"t recommend it though."

"Help me or shut it," Surgit snapped. "It"s hard concentrating as it is without listening to your constant whispers."

"Alright," his alter self replied. "Silence it is then."

Surgit took in a deep breath. The vacuous spider was moving left and right using its tiny feet. It looked unnatural, like everything in Yharnam as a matter of fact. By the time he reached the spider again, his headache had reached unprecedented levels.

"Use your arcane powers again and your head"ll explode," his alter self told him. "Let me take over."

"f.u.c.k you," Surgit replied.

He squeezed the hilt of his sword, ground his teeth and swung. His sword slashed the beast, but not enough to cause substantial damage. He hacked at it once more. His head exploded with every effort he made. Rom must have felt that hit though as it started flailing again. Surgit didn"t even try to evade the attack.

He took the hit and got propelled backwards. He stood, injected a blood vial then walked toward the beast. The vial helped with his headache for a short while, which allowed him to hack at the beast twice before getting hit once more. He stood again, injected a blood vial then headed for the beast.

"This won"t end well for you buddy," his alter self said. "Stop being stubborn and accept some help."

Surgit ignored the voice inside his head. He kept hacking at the beast and getting rejected. It felt like hitting a wall, but it numbed the pain he was experiencing. It was only when Rom teleported for the third time that he realized how foolish he was.

On normal circ.u.mstances, he"d be able to sprint toward the beast and reach it in no time. In his current state however, the distance separating him from the spider felt like leagues.

"You will die if you keep this up, and not the kind of death you"re used to," his alter self said. "Let me help you d.a.m.nit!"

"What"s the other solution?" Surgit asked.

"What?" his alter self asked back, confused.

"You said there was something else I could do," Surgit said. His head throbbed. He could barely keep his eyes open. "You said you wouldn"t recommend it."

"About that," his alter self said. There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "You"ve picked up some beast blood pellets before, haven"t you?"

"That"s like handing the reins over to you," Surgit scoffed.

"You"re mistaken," the beast said. "Your body"s slowly transforming. I"m only a figment of your imagination. You created me to help you though the metamorphosis. Don"t fight your new nature."

"Forget it," Surgit said. "I"ll find a way without your help."

"Those spiders aren"t going to kill themselves," the beast pointed out. "How long do you plan on standing here?"

"You know perfectly well that I can barely move," Surgit said.

"Then take the d.a.m.n pills," the beast said. "It will release all the tension you"re feeling, transform it into strength. You"ll also take more damage, but you"ll be faster, and I won"t take over."

The beast was good a spinning lies. Surgit knew it, but his headache was unbearable. Rom moved around using its tiny feet in the distance. It must have noticed Surgit"s inertia since it stood on its hind legs. Surgit immediately recognized that posture.

"Do you think you can outrun the meteors with that headache?" his alter self asked, mocking.

Surgit didn"t have much time to decide. It was either accept death and redo it all from the beginning, or take the pill and deal with the spider. He knew he wouldn"t be able to outrun the meteor shower without the pills.

"That headache will get back," his alter self said. "Even if you die, you"ll experience it once in a while. Take the pill, let it all out and slaughter your prey. Your headache will disappear, and you"ll feel much better later."

The rift opened in the sky above. Surgit had to make a decision before the meteors rendered him to smithereens. Surgit"s hands went to his pockets. He took the cloth in which the Beast Blood Pellets were stored and inspected it.

"So, what"ll it be?" the beast asked. "Die and do it again with a lighter headache? Or would you rather kill the b.i.t.c.h then use its echoes to increase your Arcane?"

The first meteor left the rift and headed toward Surgit. He looked at it then at the pellets. He shrugged then ingested a pill. His throat grew cold as the pellet traveled toward his stomach. Then, in the blink of an eye, Surgit"s vision changed.

He could see and smell things that were nowhere near him. He could feel his muscles growing stronger. Most of all, his headache had magically disappeared. It felt like all the pain had transformed into power; a power that was hungry for blood.

Surgit dashed aside just in time to avoid the falling meteors. He ran in circles as each celestial object fell behind him. Rom"s small army of spiders noticed Surgit moving toward them and began their approach.

The spiders, this time around, seemed easier to deal with. Their movements were predictable. It was either a thrust, a swing, or a head plunge. Surgit could tell what move they were about to execute just from the movement of their limbs, of the tension in their muscles.

He was able to see and sense way more things than he thought possible. Avoiding the small spiders" attacks was much easier now. He even found himself decapitating some of them with a simple swing.

"The more you kill, the stronger you become," his alter self told him as he swung at a spider who had just plunged toward him. "You"ll also take more damage, so beware. One hit from this puny things could kill you. There"s no room for mistakes here."

Surgit kept his senses in constant alarm. He antic.i.p.ated the spiders" attacks and punished them one by one. The tricky part was predicting Rom"s next attack since he was busy fending off the swarm that surrounded him. With the corner of his eye, he noticed Rom standing on its hind feet again.

He jumped above a spider then started running toward Rom. The idea was to avoid the meteors, create some distance between him and the swarm, then hack at the vacuous spider. He ran from meteors as they landed behind him. The closer he got to the spider though, the more meteors fell from above.

He was forced to change course. Reaching the spider this way was difficult. He had to switch tactics, approaching the beast head on would mean his end. He had to surprise it or at least run around it until the meteor shower ends.

"Don"t stay inactive for too long," his alter self warned. "Beasthood thirsts for blood. You"ll grow weaker if you don"t hunt."

Surgit cursed under his breath then headed for Rom. Its little goons had surrounded it by the time he reached it. He jumped and dodged as the little spiders swarmed him. One hit was enough to take care of each one of them. In no time, he"d taken care of all of them.

He turned to look at Rom to see it flailing on its back. He felt something form below his feet. He jumped away just in time to see the rift opening and a meteor shooting up into the sky.

"You sly b.i.t.c.h," Surgit swore.

He then dashed toward Rom and started hacking at it with his sword.

One hit...

Two...

Three...

Rom wailed then curled up into itself. Instead of the beast dissipating into dust and teleporting, it exploded. Surgit was showered with blood. The feeling invigorated him, brought him close to complete ecstasy. He started laughing then, overwhelmed with his own powers and how quickly he executed the spider.

It was only after his laughter subsided that he noticed the crying. He turned around to see a tall woman, taller than humanly possible. She was wearing a wedding dress. Her skin was as pale as the moon reflected on the surface of the lake. She was crying. Her sobs were only interrupted by sharp inhales.

Surgit approached her. The lower part of her dress was drenched in blood. He could smell it before he saw it. As she sobbed, a strange phenomenon happened. A giant red moon appeared above the lake. It grew in size, or was it approaching them.

Surgit watched as the celestial object came so close it threatened to crush him. He saw it get closer and closer, while the strange woman sobbed beside him. Helpless, the hunter observed the entire thing as though he was an outsider.

He felt the moon crush him, then darkness ensued.

When he woke up, he found himself standing on some kind of platform. Nothing in the area suggested he was still in the Forbidden Woods or in Byrgenwerth.

"What the h.e.l.l just happened?" he asked, confused.