Chapter 2: The Cleric Beast

The leaves rustled in my wake as I approached the inanimate doll. Its porcelain skin is a flawless white, with no apparent cracks despite the amount of gathered dust on it

It seems like Gehrman didn't pay that much attention to her, huh?

I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and proceed to clean it thoroughly. Dusting the Doll from head to toe before polishing it with my sleeve, I am glad to see the thing being much more presentable than before

"Much better, aren't we?"

He failed to notice the slight twitch of her finger at his touch

Placing it back to the stone block. I walked up the stairs toward the Messenger

"Heya buddies" I pat their heads, which elicit ghastly moans of happiness from them "You got something for me?"

The Messengers offer you a Trick weapon

- [Saw Cleaver]

- [Hunter Axe]

- [Threaded Cane]

The Saw Cleaver clicked in my hand as I tentatively receive it from them. I swung it a few time, transform it, execute a few different attack, generally trying to get a feel of it, before nodding in satisfaction

Next up. I walked up the stair and toward the second Messenger swarm who offered me a firearm. This time there are only two choices

- [Hunter's Pistol]

- [Blunderbuss]

I always have trouble with this. One can offer range and attack damage, the other have easier stagger potential, opening way for a visceral attack. Both are useful in their own right. The problem is to choose which will fit me during early game

After a moment of thinking, I picked up the  Hunter's Pistol and strapped it to my waist.

With me fully armed, I then proceed to enter the workshop, where I was greeted by the sight of Gehrman in a wheelchair

The dimly lit room smells of rust and musk...and blood of beasts

"Ah-hah, you must be the new hunter" He smiled, peering at me from under his hat "Welcome to the Hunter's Dream. This will be your home for now. I am...Gehrman, friends to you hunters"

There was a certain sadness and monotone in his voice, hidden by years of regret and bitterness over a single woman whom he was acquaintance with. The man who made a contract with a Great One, guiding countless Hunters...and killing an endless amount of them

"Please just call me the Good Hunter" I closed my eyes "It's not like you'll remember my name anyway"

"Indeed. I apologize, residing inside the Dream for too long can make one's mind goes senile. Still, do you not want to be remembered as an individual?"

He chuckled at my silence  "But oh, nevermind. The Hunt has just begun. Go out, kill some beast. It's for just what hunters do. You'll get used to it..."

The man trailed off, a hint of nostalgia entered his eyes

"This is once a safe haven for hunter. A workshop where hunters used blood to enhance their weapon and flesh. We don't have as many tools as we once did but...you're welcome to use anything you find...even the doll, should you wish"

The old man nodded off in exhaustion, before he drifted to sleep. His quiet snoring is the only sound echoing inside the Workshop

I guess it's time to explore the Workshop, then

No, not the Runes. Those are the things I can unlock later. What I'm curious about is the non-interactive elements in the game. There's all kind of details in Bloodborne that you can't examine closely, so now is the chance

Walking closer to the bookshelves, I raised a hand and started browsing the displayed content. Most of them are mundane and theoretical fictions, though some did catch my eyes

[Advanced Firearm Manual]: Increase firearm's damage by 50% (DEX 4)

[Quickening]: Allow for uses of rapid speed bursts in combat (DEX 7)

[A Hunter's Guide to Combat]: Increase melee damage against Hunters by 50% (STR 3)

Really, they all require over 3 points in a specific stat in order to learn. As if I have such things to spare

[How To Pick Up Fair Maidens]: Unlock more dialogue when speaking with sentient females (None)

Do you want to absorb this book?

I'll just have to settle with this for now

Nodding, I devoured the knowledge inside. The book in my hand burst into blood, which soon drip to the floor and staining it a heavy red

I unsheathed my weapon and walked out the Workshop. I stopped by the Doll to bid it goodbye, as well as giving farewells to the Messengers beside her

The gravestone glowed a pale white as I approaches it

Return to Iosefka's Clinic

Let's Hunt

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As the sun set, the sky darkened. The moon's silhouette could be seen lingering in the horizon, signaling the start of another bloody night

The mad hunter's head was blown open as my quicksilver bullet tore through his brains. Blood spattered on the pavement. With a groan, he staggered, before collapsing to the ground along with his fallen brethren

Behind the rooftop of a Yharnam brick house, I calmly took aim once more and let out another shot. The projectile soar through the air and hit the crowd once more, taking out the last remaining gun-wielding hunter

Through repeated action, the skill [Sniping] had been created

[Sniping]: By aiming carefully, you can take down enemies at a farther distance in a more efficient manner

+40% Range on all Firearms when standing still for a long time

+40% Damage for firearms when standing still for a long time

Seeing no one left, I lowered my smoking pistol and holstered it back to my hip. The Saw Cleaver clicked open as I jumped down from the roof, hopping from balcony to hanging ledges until I've landed on the ground

I take quick work with the remaining strays. They drop about 700 more Blood Echoes, three Quicksilver bullets and a few bit of Blood Vials from their corpses, to which I used to heal the minor scratches on my body

Blood Gauge: 12/20

I see. So my blood gauge isn't influenced by the amount of Blood Echoes I have. It's the amount of enemies I have killed

My Quicksilver bullets has been halved by the recent encounter with the hunter mob. It's high time I create some spare as a precaution

I jabbed a finger to my leg and sliced it with my nail in one quick motion. The cut ran deep, blood flowing out in streams enough to make several spare bullets before it heal

[Blood Bullet] (Active)

- By sacrificing 30% of your HP, you can make 5 bullets as your ammunition. This skill cannot be used when your health is below 30%

Ow. That hurts. Let's stick to melee for now

I continued on. After a while of traveling down the cold stone surface of the city staircase, I arrived behind the shield hunter with his back facing toward me. My eyes flickered in the direction of the lying hunters before making a decision

Charged attack. Backstab. Visceral attack. The mad hunter slumped down the ground dead, at the same time the other hunters around me began getting up from their position

"Beast! Begone, you filthy animal!"

My Saw Cleaver descended down upon him, aiming for the most vital spot. His neck was cleanly severed with one strike, leaving behind a headless corpse that collapsed soon after

I dodged back to avoid the slashing attack made by one, but have to roll forward as the hunter behind me swung his axe down in an attempt to split my skull in half

The serrated edge of my weapon cleaved off his arm, before traveling upward and cleanly cut into the man's forehead, exposing swishy brain matters underneath. With a flick of my blade, the man crashed into the crates behind him

I turned to the last Hunter, who roared as he raised his steel axe up another time

BOOM

Parry. Visceral Attack. Another swipe of the Saw Cleaver and he is a goner

I panted while crouching on my knees. Apparently taking out four of them at the same time in combat is a bit too much for me

+560 [Blood Echo]

Blood Gauge: 16/20

Four. Four more enemies to kill before I got points to invest in my stat

I readied the Hunter pistol, eyeing the mob of three hunters passing by me as I looked at them from the top of the stairs

Easy prey. Nothing more than beasts to the slaughter

But a Hunter must hunt, no matter how easy their targets are

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Blood Gauge: 19/20

Sitting atop the bloodied bodies of Yharnamite hunters having gone mad, I grunted as I injected the Blood Vial into my system

The Executioner could be heard milling around pass that gate. I should prepare accordingly before facing him

First, dwindle his health down using ranged attacks

I fired shots after shots from the rooftop at the giant's head, who let out a mindless roar of pain as he flailed from his spot. When my Quicksilver bullets and the spare almost ran out I scaled down the building and landed on his head

The lumbering giant screamed as I dug my Saw Cleaver into his eyes. I jumped back to avoid his swipe, taking a second to catch my breath. As my stamina refilled, I dashed head on and managed to dodge another slam attack in time

Swing. Swing. Charged Attack. Dodge. Parry. Visceral Attack. Dod- oh shit. Rally. Rally. Dodge. Heal

My pistols roared as I let the bullets fly. One thing I've learned is that shooting different body parts of enemies will yield different results. This mechanic isn't there when I played Bloodborne

Headshot deals extra damage and stagger, yet take longer to aim

Arm shot reduce the enemy's attack speed for his next attack

Foot shot reduce them movement speed, as well as staggering them for a short time

Shooting all three of them, the enemy will be paralyzed

I walked toward the twitching giant and stabbed my arm into his stomach. As I ripped out his intestines and dwindling his health down to zero, a new notification showed up

Blood Gauge: 20/20 => Blood Gauge: 0/30

Available Points: 1

Let's see, right now I am aiming for the agility/bloodtinge build. While min-maxing   at later game is possible, I still want to invest in it as soon as I can

Dexterity: 2/10

A new skill had been learned

[Gale Force]: A Hunter use the wind to their advantage. Increased mobility in combat

+30% Attack Speed

+30% Movement Speed

Sighing, I snapped the saw cleaver shut and put it on my back. My feet had become even lighter than before, as if I'm only a feather. Is this actually an in-game thing, or do Hunters actually use the wind to speed themselves up?

Well I don't care. Anything that can help me survive the Hunt is a positive in my book

I eyed the now empty Blood Gauge, before sighing once more

More lives to fill. More beasts to hunt

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"Off with you, ya' lousy outsider!"

"Stuck on the hunt tonight? Oh, you poor, poor thing *laugh*"

"I should've known. You Hunters are all the same. I know all yer tricks!"

Hunters and the likes are not welcomed here. This is an apparent fact. It should not be a surprise, really, with what the Healing Church Hunters have done to them. Still, what could they possibly do without men to hunt the Beasts outside?

Nothing. And so they holed up in their vulnerable brick houses and fell the blame to me, an "outsider"

Blood Gauge: 7/30

It struck me that its not even night yet. The Moon's already up in the sky, but darkness had yet to take over Yharnam. I looked toward the sky, where a flock of blood-starved crows are squawking and preying for flesh

That's right...crows...this reminds me of somebody I need to meet

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Just when will this end? Do I really have to continue onward like the player?

Blood Gauge: 22/30

My Saw Cleaver let out metallic creaking sounds as I dragged it across the ground. With a grunt, I swiped out a Blood Vial and stared expectantly at it. Whispers started filling my mind, begging me to use it, to quell my thirst and invigorate the blood in my body

Just a bit. Just a little bit shouldn't hurt, right?

Sighing, I put it away

The Blood should be used to heal. I will not waste it to numb my pain

I gritted my teeth and endured the aching in my bone as I continued on. I moved from shadows to shadows, only sparsely engage in combat with my visceral attacks before retreating again

One Blood Tempering Stone. Ten Blood Vials. Eighteen Quicksilver bullets. Three Coldblood Dew, and three thousand Blood Echoes. That's what I managed to loot from them

[Hunter Set] had been discovered

I gracefully landed on the kennel. My newly equipped Hunter outfit flapped behind me. It provides a better protection than the default set and also manage to keep the blood away, which is a lot better to be honest

Blood Gauge: 27/30

Before I knew it, I had already stumbled onto the Great Bridge after having slain every other mobs in the area

The growling of feral wolves reached my ears. My Molotov Cocktail crashed onto the two Wolf Beast and lit them aflame, eliciting howls from them . They fell upon another swipe of my Saw Cleaver.

Blood Gauge: 29/30

Silence

My footstep echoed on the brick pavement. Up above, the archway shook with a resounding tone. A loud crash tore through the silent atmosphere as something massive jumped in front of me

It's height overshadowed the archway. With a head so grotesque one cannot decipher what kind of beast it is

Its massive body towered over the bridge, casting elongated shadows over the light of the setting sun

The beast dragged it's abnormally large arm toward me. It raised its head toward the moon

A primal roar echoed throughout of Yharnam

The first boss battle, Cleric Beast, had begun