C28: Soul Slayer and out of bounds Pt1
1/4/26, once again, happy new years. may it prove fruitful to you all
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Waking up back at the chapel. I immediately rush out through the front door and up the shortcut staircase. Only summoning Gerald to pave the way forward for me, taking out church servants and church giants for me as I return to the healing church boss arena and reclaim my delectable lost echoes.
"Hah hah hah" I pant a little from the entire sprint as the ghost of my old body's asthma somehow materializes in my body, if only momentarily.
Recovering my stamina, I kneel down and oh so gently, pick up the considerable stack of echoes like cradling a newborn baby.
"Holy mother of shit, god dayum"
[Echoes regained: +300k echoes (boss difficulty echoes) + 26,890 (original)]
"hoo" breathing a heavy sigh of relief, I activate the lamp and properly go through all the system notifications I had chosen to ignore during my tenuous fight against the ravenous trigrex just moments prior.
[Gold Pendant acquired as boss loot]
[Lesser agility has leveled up due to continuous use: level 5->level 6] 'meh'
[Harvest has leveled up due to accumulated experience: level 2->level 3] "very lovely Fräulein"
[(Hollow) Visceral attack has leveled up due to continuous use: level 1-> level 5] "i think the system broke" I mutter to myself as i look at big numbers go up with some heart felt joy that my pain caused all this damage.
[Hunter Gun Proficiency has leveled up due to continuous usage: level 3->level 5] 'bit strange but i guess that just goes to show how much that one shot had carried me in that fight'.
[Physical pain resistance has leveled up: level 9->10]
[Physical pain resistance has been it's ascension]
[physical pain resistance has evolved into (Junkie) physical pain resistance level 1]
"Im sorry, what? I think we might have missed a step." I comment saying that, as in no way shape or form am i a junkie for pain. I'm just that dumb and keep disregarding it when I hyperfocus.
That does not indicate any form of addiction or desire for pain. Quite the opposite, this entires skill purpose is to counter my curse and decrease my fucking pain.
Though I do like that the upgraded skill has a semi-active state regarding adrenaline boosting the effect of this skill so that it's more effective in nullifying a portion of my pain while also giving me a natural healing factor in this same situation. Might not have even died if I had this before the boss as the adrenaline and healing factor combo could have been the key factor for my survival. Or at least not needing to suffocate via a test tube stuck in the throat.
'Oh well, it is what it is' I shrug as I go onto the next item on the list.
[Greater sense has leveled up: level 1-level 2]
With that announcement, I got a strange feeling pass over me. Similar to when I first saw the Amygadala outside the chapel, yes that same one I later gave the finger to.
It's insight.
[+6 insight gained from slaying the boss. +1 insight from Greater Sense for your achievement. Nuggetman title doubles gained total insight = 14]
"So that's what that does. Literally no clue except that it 'enhances my senses'. Like what am I supposed to do with that information dawg." I rant a bit at the confusing skill but also that it only now gives me a single insight even though it's now level 2 ... .is it based on the fact that i gained the level after the boss or is it gained insight from bosses is increased? I truly have no clue but ill find out at whatever is the next boss I kill. If that gives me another single point or two then.
[Berserker rage has leveled up: level 6->level 7] 'lots less impressive than your brothers and sisters before you. Shame. Shame. Dishonour upon thy famiry'
[Solar halo has leveled up: level 2->level 3] 'oh my dear baby boy is growing up so quickly. He's gonna be a doctor when he grows up.'
[Host has gained 2 new achievements and one Title: Soul Slayer, Genius Play]
[Soul Slayer (achievement): you have done something beyond the system's help. Permanently purging a resident of the nightmare through your own means: +20 skill shards, +200k echoes, and 15 insight]
[+1 insight from greater senses and all gained insight is doubled by effect of Nuggetman = +32 insight]
"Am I bleeding?" I touch my nose and find no blood but I can't help but see red as I feel the mental echoes of what I once knew but forgot reverberate through my head, like a song at the back of my tongue desiring to be unleashed. Like that one song from far cry 3 where you're burning the weed farm. Absolute banger and while I remember a few lyrics, I don't know the song's name. It's that type of feeling.
"Is this what a brain aneurysm feels like?" I shake quite a bit but out of curiosity, I bring up my system and find my COK factor is up to 29%. "Ugh" I groan and lie down on the floor, next to the lamp, using my saw cleaver as a pillow to keep my head up just in case.
It takes several minutes as the lightheadedness fades as I stop shaking. Like a major dose of iron deficiency knocking you out literally.[1] I shake my head of my confusion, still looking at the screen, I see my insight is at an all time high of 76. Combined with my newfound echoes, I had tons of money again. Guess I'll buy my old axe now, it is a +10 weapon afterall. Though I'll likely dump the rest into my physique and hopefully get more space for other body related skills to hopefully awaken a minor physique or something with said skills, or it just balances itself out again.
[Soul Slayer I (title): A creature that has the ability to shatter the very souls of demons, beasts and everything in between. Passive: enhance the hosts natural senses regarding souls, increasing success in finding souls of other creatures near you. Active-5% chance to increase a random stat of the host when slaying more souls.]
[Warning this title can evolve when certain conditions have been met: slay 100 lesser souls to evolve]
I simply raise an eyebrow at this as i now well and truly understand that the thing I was grabbing at this whole time with my evolved visceral attack, was a soul. That is why it kept burning me as I was essentially using my own soul to drag out enemies so that I could shatter it like I did with Vicar Amelia.
There are plenty of beasts in Yharnam, so it should level up fairly quickly ... .as long as I'm able to efficiently repeat the process from moments ago, otherwise it will take a while and lots of pain and useless effort….
Is this why I got the junkie perk for pain resistance? It foresaw me doing this shit and immediately labeled me as a masochist for pain?
[Genius Play (achievement): You have outsmarted a beast that was smarter than you. +5 free stats points that don't influence level]
"Oh fuck yes. Gonna put all this shit into endurance" I say jokingly as it's likely going to go into one of my other stats. Stamina is most certainly my lowest priority right now….I could do with more Bloodtinge since I now know that shooting a soul does work in breaking it.
Jokes aside, with no other announcements popping up in front of me. I look at my status once more, seeing my echoes grow a bit more as Gerald was still outside killing random church servants, giants and maybe the huntsmen on the side path. I leave him be as I make my way out of the church and past the central area just before the church stairs as I continue forward.
This is only my general direction as my true goal right now is the two servants in that area before clearing that side path area that a few more giants were at.
Shooting them and then striking them with a riposte, I test out my new title. I certainly don't outright sense any sort of soul like thing from any of the corpses I passed by nor from the two servants here. At least not until my fist actually entered their chests. Then the sensation became far more apparent yet it doesnt seem to immediately work like how I imagined.
Having killed them, I unfortunately failed to even grab the souls. For regular enemies they are far smaller and more wisp like it seems. Making them much harder to interact with as they are more elusive. Especially when considered next to empowered bosses whose souls are likely already strengthened through beastification.
Of course this is just my hypothesis, it could be the church had specifically made their souls more elusive to help resist the feeling of insight as they sought to commune with the great ones. But their bitchy attitudes ensured they never could.
Couldn't be me, flicking off great ones casually and…unharmed. It's true, I've had headaches most of my life and it was all related to that damn nugget ... .wait, that's me, I'm the nugget now. How else would I have the title of Nuggetman otherwise. God that is such a stupid name for a title.
[advice received, new title gained, whining loser baby]
"NOO!!, im sorry. Please don't give that shit to me" I plead to the system, dropping down to my knees and kowtowing to the air before me.
I got up, the system taking the title back with what seems like great regret based on how it had responded. I most certainly scared the Lesser Amygdala here after a moment, as I saw that it had climbed higher up in the surrounding buildings, as if avoiding me. Certainly the most unique lifeform that it has ever encountered. I wonder if it could see into my mind at all, how much hentai has it absorbed from me?
Oh well, getting back on track. I'm sure the more experience my visceral gets, the easier it should be and from there will be to interact with souls. That will surely become a rollercoaster as I'll be able to level up my new title which will then make subsequent evolutions easier.
For now though I arrive back at the circular area that I killed a church giant at and collected blood stone shards (the side path with the monocle)
I look around and find nothing watching me. I set my foot up on the stone railing and climbed up, then fell down as I hopped off.
Landing in some grass, I backtrack a bit by opening the wooden studded door leading to a jar room. Originally this door was just locked and couldn't have anything done here but i just so happen to flip the lock and simply open it, nullifying the need for any nonexistent key. Once again, i backtrack back to the clearing and go down the stairs here.
Suddenly a wave of weakness passes over on me [Host has entered an out of bounds area. Suppressing stats by 90% as it has been weakened by the 10% buff from Curious George II]
'Aw shit, that really sucks the stronger I get' I contemplate as I control my breathing and muscles to properly get a hold of myself. One good thing about my current crazy stamina means I don't get tired from just a few steps like I was before when breaking and…being invited inside by a kind resident who had to take a nap shortly after.
Regards, I begin to explore the great expanse before me. A flower garden filled with Geranium. A flower highly linked with the meaning of 'fools', it's popular to gift these to people you don't like and if they don't understand the meaning, it only proves your point. Essentially it's the 'here retard, these are your' flowers.
Only reason I even know about this is because it's the funniest fucking flower ever. I gave them to EVERYONE. Sometimes I even mixed them up into bouquets with Carnations for any pretty dames when I was younger. Pretty but ignorant savages the lot of them.
Ahem, im getting off topic, regardless i pass by the flower bed and keep going down the steps towards the giant stone bridge. There was supposed to be another one to my left but that area is completely broken, it's also where I got my monocle.
"Hmm yes, quite dapper, aren't I" I say in a mock high society voice as I put the monocle to my eye.
"I dare say old chap, could you explain to me why I see red glowing skeleton archers and multiple FUCKING BALROGS at the end of the bridge??!!"
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Word Count = 2453
Enjoy
Going over boss rewards and various other information before going off the deep end into cut content (ill try to include some of my own stuff if I can but really. There is a lot there and I might not even have the chance.
[1] fun fact about the iron deficiency one. I actually had that happen to me for the first time properly. Not like the casual instances where you just feel a bit woozy but full out pass out for 2 seconds (I had enough time to lie down by my own accord) ,wasn't hurt or anything but minor memory loss of what I was doing at all at the time.
I immediately ate something to cure it (hadn't had breakfast at the time yet, might have been a combination thing but mostly the low iron and hunger) and thankfully remembered everything again after some mental probing within 30 seconds as my brain rebooted.
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.
discord channel still has the next chapter preview like usual: https://discord.gg/rE6gtg28XH
Patreon.com/Xanok to find me.