C26: Clearing the Chapel Area pt2
12/29/25-final chapter of the year, be reading your comments next year. goodbye
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Having gotten my source of amusement. I spotted another house to the side with a lantern. I approach and knock on the door.
"Oh my, what a unique scent. But I'd take it over the scent of beasts any night. What is it, then? I'm off during hunts, so if that's what you're here for, I'll leave you to your own devices. If that doesn't do it, come back in the morning, darling." A feminine voice lingers in the air. Something attractive about her. Yet I'm simply confused as I'm currently in hunt mode and thus lacking higher comprehensive skills. Ill understand what she meant later but for now. I knock again.
"As I said. I'm not available on nights of the hunt, dear. Please tend to yourself tonight" She repeats her line. Afterall, her dialogue only changes when any three bosses have been defeated, but as my own score is only two, maybe even only one as that would be Gascoigne. The Blood starved beast was tamed while the Cleric Beast is still out there.
"I'm a hunter. Are you low on incense?" I question in response believing her to be a bit slower than the others I've talked to as they already somehow knew me
"Oh dear me. It seems I've made a fool of myself. I am indeed beginning to run low, might you know of where i can get more or a safe location" finally getting the expected reaction. I give her directions to the way I just came from and the cleared path to the chapel.
"I am certainly grateful for your deeds here. I shall endeavor to repay you once the chance arises."she responds and is about to walk away when she speaks up again, "though i must say, now that i've felt your scent a tad more. It feels quite intoxicating."
Her words only confuse me as I simply state that when I get free time, we could talk more once she is safe. She expresses her thanks once more and begins gathering her things.
Paying her no mind, I resume my hunt, going down the fog riddled streets as I take down a few huntsmen scattered around as well as a Beastman huntsman. I begin collecting the black church set as well as 18x more poison knives lay on the ground before I arrive at the layered area.
What I mean by this is an area that has three layers, maybe four. First is the bottom where im at and have access to a staircase that leads to a second where a marksman is shooting at me from and guarded by a few other huntsmen, including another bestial one.
Taking them all down. I increase my bullet count again and then see the third layer can't be gotten from my location, …at least in game but I have that ability here, so I jump up and kill the crow here before taking the fight to the brainsucker here that tries to charge and grab me.
Stunning it with a 'boolet', I then smack it down before tearing it's body apart with my saw cleaver. Hoping to test out my tontritus too, I take that out and bash the brainsucker around a bit before it dies. As this area splits into two ways. One of which is the central area with the stone pillar where I got the five humanities and killed the two church giants. I choose to instead collect the item here, which is two twin blood stone shards and then turn around and go back down the small jump, returning to the second area where I collected the thick cold blood (4) between these coffins here before.
As I have already cleared the enemies here, I begin climbing the ladder up to the 4th area that leads me to some rooftop section where I walk along a tower path that leads me to a note regarding watchmen guarding the door to Bygenwerth with a password. Paying this no mind as I strangely don't remember any password or the pathway to Byrgenwerth. I drop down twice and collect the loot up here which is just ten quicksilver bullets. Yet my system thinks overwise about this message.
[Main Questline 2 found: Find the password to reach Byrgenwerth.
0/1 bosses slain to gain access to password
+30k echoes
+4 skill shards
+1 random skill stone]
"ooh, that looks nice. I assume it means the boss of this area as Hemwick doesnt really have anything essential, except maybe some workshop tool....I think." I muse to myself about the quest as im more excited about the skill shards than anything else as raising the power of some of my skills is super useful.
Thinking of this, I immediately use up my remaining two skill shards to enhance my physique. A pleasant sensation takes over me, a rippling power that sensationally enhances my body but also not. Its likely comparable to setting the ground work for a building. Afterall, my stats didnt raise at all in my system.
"Does this mean that its cheaper to upgrade my stats to the next level of this skill or not?" I can only pray this is how it works and I didnt just waste those shards.
Moving on, I make my return back to the central area by going down the ladder from the rooftop and returning to the giant staircase. I return to where I fought the brainsucker and go the left side path which holds 12 shining coins, going further leads me to a pretty open view of what lies beyond Yharnam.
Two decrepit windmills land beyond the stone landscape of the city. A tempering blood gemstone (2) beside a branch covered stone coffin. Besides it on some stairs is a single antidote. Going further down the stairs only leads me to a big door.
Standing in front of the door seems to have the person inside to speak up. "The Password…." a raspy voice echoes within. I just shrug and say, "guess i've got nothing better to do than fear the old blood" My minor attempt at a joke instead causes the door to open and reveal a skeleton seemingly being the one that just spoke.
"Oh dear, I really spoil myself sometimes. Time to go back and kill everything else." I turn around and make my way back up the stairs and to the central area when I feel like i've vaguely forgotten something.
[Achievement gained: Truth Seeker-Unlock the pathway to Byrgenwerth via an unknown method before fighting the necessary boss to gain access to said password. +10 insight gained]
[Nugget man doubles gained insight: +20 in total] I nod in acceptance as this is something really funny. 'Guess they didnt expect someone to play the game first when they transmigrated me here...into my own body'. I say as I begin walking back up the stairs
"Oh right, didn't I spot a ladder earlier when I opened the shortcut gate?" I question myself as I move to check this and confirm there is a ladder. Taking it up to the rooftop area again, I find numbing mist x 6 and then dropping down the rooftops twice leads me to a hat, just sitting there. Picking it up reveals to be a Messengers Black hat (cosmetic)
[Ding: As the currently found item has already been registered, it shall be substituted instead. Providing 2x skill shards]
"Ok, it's worth it." I raise my hand in absolute cinema as I continue to drop down to the stairs that leads me to the chapel again. I take down the crow and church servant here before finding another kidnapper here. "How'st the fuck did you get here?" i question and jump him, my height paralleling their own as I activate the visceral skill without actually stunning the snatcher.
I accomplished this with great ingenuity….and cheating with my shadow Stealth Steps. It seems that evolved skill lets me set down actual shadows where I walk, so even if a light shines on it, it's still dark. That creates new openings for me to teleport to through Gascoigne's axe and jam my fist into the snatcher's spine.
Through his asshole. Not really but you get the idea.
Tossing a poison knife at the crow here and immediately killing it with it, I stepped into the chapel for some quick rest. I chat with the 'good' ol' granny. She berates me for my stupidity, I call her a dumb whore. Good times. Since I had some free time, I chose to cook. Finally putting these ingredients I scav…comandeered… to use.
"What are you doing now boy"
"Making some real damn food. If I don't die from a spice overdose then I didn't do it right."
"If you die, who will I curse next?" She says with a strange tone but I just shrug and tell her about the idiot I had 'seduced' just earlier. She chuckles before hitting my head with her cane.
"Gah" I grunt at the head injury as i was sitting down, "damn it, you old bat, screw off before I add you to the damned pot, will help everyone else here become senile and not have to worry about the beasts anymore"
"You only have yourself to blame for ruining the atmosphere here with your nonsense. That little darling is still glaring at you like you're a monster. What did you do?"
"Her father was Gascoigne" I reveal and she seems to connect the dots herself, growing pale as she had taken a moment to climb back down and read the tombstone they passed by earlier. She had also long heard rumors of how he had been acting strange in recent nights of the hunt. Rumors of him butchering a civilian that had gotten caught outside on the night of the hunt.
"Poor child" She whispers in contemplation and I nod as I continue cooking. In both my old life and my current one, I was fairly proficient in cooking. Still can cut myself peeling something but at least I haven't burned down my house…at least not properly. Ok it was one time and I was in the midst of a tense study session for college, but it was only the food that was burnt. The house was only acting like a crybaby.
Nevertheless, my current life as a hunter was a smidge better. At least it gives me the information needed to use ingredients with strange names and spices i never knew anything about. Properly plating the bit of thick soup I made. I pass it around, first to the old hag. Then the newly arrived prostitute who is sitting besides just a foot or two away from the lamp. Then the chapel dweller who was startled by my action as I instructed him and everyone else to dip some of the bread into the thick soup to scoop it up and eat. Of course I haven't forgotten the grandpa and his granddaughter in the corner. While I still got stink eyes from her. Her grandfather at least took the bowls of soup and bread.
Most of the people here were stuck simply eyeing the soup like it's poison or at the very least, inedible. At least until Arianne took the initiative and ate the bit of soup with bread.
She soon covers her mouth with a surprised expression, the few who saw her began to search her expression for any look of disgust or fear, only to be met with her enthusiastic continuation of consumption.
It only takes her a few moments to finish her bowl as she finished it with her spoon, another thing that had been pilf…stumbled upon…totally in the open and not inside someones house.
"Mmm" hearing the sound of pleasure from Arianne's own mouth as she requests seconds from me. The others soon join in. The chapel dweller being the last as he was self conscious of his appearance and figured that others wouldn't eat if he did. Thinking that him eating would lower the quality of the food somehow. It was only when he heard the same sounds as Arianne from the others did he finally do the same and enjoy the sensation of 'civilized' food. It nearly brings a tear to his eye.
I distributed extra portions to everyone again while I too took to eating.
[Adept cooking skill created due to repeated actions]
[Adept cooking has gained necessary experience. Level 1->level 3]
"My first high level skill that was actually mine from the start." I mumble to myself with gratification as everyone has a hearty meal. I then have Henryk distribute the rest to the loners in the floor below. I don't quite completely trust them but that is because I'm suspicious of all Yharmanites, since everyone has the potential to become beasts the moment they have any injection of blood.
"As expected of the dumbest Hunter under Gehrman" I do barely hear Henryk say this and while I would happily cuss him out, he had already departed down the stairs with the child down the stairs, only a few steps behind him.
"I'm not dumb. I'm special, eh" I mock myself too with my best 'voice' before simply walking away and packing up my tools and leftover ingredients.
Having relaxed a bit and lifted the mood of the building, I returned to the hunt. Climbing up through the shortcut. I made my way to the big stairs. Toppling the church giant here and then the two more church servants that had strange 'Y' shaped staffs that they tried to charge into me but were easily dodged with a side step or shadow step. It also helped that it only took 2 or 3 hits to take them down at my current level.
Instead of moving to the hall, I choose to explore the side paths first. Moving to the right, I get a staircase leading down and then more staircase down that leads to a few houses with lanterns but there are also two 'hunters' here. I spot the building in the distance and recognize it as the true entrance to Yahar'gul and the Amygdala who takes me to the nightmare frontier. I don't remember how to get to either location but that's a problem for me in the future. For now I have to think of how to deal with both of these creeps.
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Word Count = 2587
Enjoy
Guiding people, finishing up the clearing and reaching just before the boss before exploring some few last areas. Oh yea, and cooking. Gotta educate the British townsfolk on what actual cuisine is after they abandoned essentially all forms of spice for the dullest most boring dishes imaginable.
Whether you like the chapter or not, drop a comment. I can't be letting myself get complacent in my writing. I still have plenty of growth in all forms.
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