C42: New Fate
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After getting the FlameSprayer from Gilbert, I and Iosefka awaited him for a moment before he had a bag with him, exiting his home.
Cough Cough. He has quite the basic appearance as he wears a mixed style of Foreigner set and local Huntsmen clothing. It seems he has had his cough for quite some time as he seems to reflexively cough a bit but it's not as deep or phlegm filled as before like he was gagging his lungs out.
"Is the road ahead safe?" Gilbert asks in a quiet tone as he feels Iosefka inspect him, rudimentary testing to gauge his illness.
"It has been some time since I've cleared this area, im sure a few wandering beasts are about. The two of you stay here and you will be fine. If something, we'll incrementally move and rest while I clear out the area ahead" I explain the situation as I set Iosefka down on the nearby sandbags before taking out the lone huntsman near the left side shortcut back to the lamp.
I then took out the two huntsmen minions by stunning them and trying to pry out their souls but when my hand faltered at the very last moment when I would have dragged it out. I recovered from the soul damage with my halo. I suspect that I would need one or two more levels, possibly even the third which would evolve my visceral attack again.
Yet before worrying about that, I have something else I'm worried about. Mostly the fact that the two passengers would somehow agitate the huntsman inside the building nearby too so I cleared out the three here including the wheelchair gunner.
I have no clue how to stun the wheelchair bound idiot but the other two are easy and I nearly succeed again. While my result is not satisfactory. I can at least say i've gotten a few gains.
[(hollow) Visceral Strike has leveled up. Level 7 -> level 8]
"Nice" I muse to myself as I return to the duo near Gilbert's house and the lamp.I then pick up the nurse once more and begin the trek to the elevator here. Gilbert pulls the lever for me before we all get on and travel down to the long bridge.
I have them rest again as I rush ahead, provoking the ball of whatever to come down and crash into the huntsman group on the bridge before I clear out the last one that torched the ball as well as the minion who pushed it at the cost of his own health.
I also remember that there are two 'large' huntsmen just a bit up the stairs so to avoid backpedaling or stalling for no reason, I clear them out before going back to the duo and bringing them all the way to the graveyard.
I have them rest a bit as I offer a few prayers to Gascoigne. Saying that his daughter is still safe and while she likely hates me for killing him. I'll still do all I can to make sure she survives tonight.
I then guide the two deeper as I no longer need to carry the doctor. I have the two move up the long ladder first and I'm surprised to find an enemy coming charging at me.
I now realize what Iosefka meant when it looked just like her. A carbon copy woman wearing the same white doctor outfit which is already a variant white church garb. Though the fakes are now quite burnt and tattered, revealing pale and unadorned flesh beneath. A whip blade in her right hand and a pistol in her left.
Fauxsefka charges at me with her blade but i can only truly pity this 'being' as my abilities far surpass regular mortal means.
I catch her wrist when she is in the middle of her slash. "Unhand me brute. I will not have that fake remain a minute longer." She screams out which nearly makes the real one slip on the stairs as she trembles in fear from her copy fighting down below. Thankfully Gilbert supports her as they finish climbing. They look down through the small gap in the staircase but only get a brief look of the whole situation.
"Who is to say that she is a fake? Are you not the one who came out of nowhere and attempted to kill her?" i simply response passively as I feel whoever or whatever this creature is, is fucked in the head.
"Hmm, a classless man such as yourself should stick to what you're good at. Nothing more than a hunter."
Click "Well, if you say so" I smirk with a shrug. "I'm a hunter, as you say. And your manic actions remind me of plenty of beasts. So do stand still and let me hunt you peacefully". I give a 'kind' smile towards her as I take up my Tontritus and activate its special bolt feature. I send her skidding a few feet back as she tries to block my strike but that only causes her to be sent back and convulses a bit from the bolt.
Fauxsefka shakes off the stun and unlinks her whip blade into its proper whip form as the slinking shards of metal sway in the air. She has a small range advantage over me but I know something she doesnt.
She is parryable. BOOM
In the first strike, I responded and shot her. Stunning her as she falls to her knees. I step before her as she tries to wiggle out of her knocked state.
I lower myself and plunge my fist into her chest. I grasp her pitiful heart and tear it out. This causes a deluge of blood to spill out onto the random water of the room, contaminating it, as she falls over onto her back where I take the plunge once more. My senses are working overtime as I search for the key aspect here.
I soon grasp her soul. Her body trembles, sweat dripping down her head and arms as she tries to grab my hand and pull it out of her chest.
She sees red blood coating her own hands as tears well up in her eyes. "I will not be ordinary. I will be chosen. I will become great"
"Nuh uh" I childishly say as I don't really have a response to her but she will be dying here and now regardless. Inch by inch, I tug and pull. Tugging and getting burnt as a result. A halo covers my dome as it keeps the damage at bay. I soon began to see it.
Her soul, it actually looks nothing like her and I soon realize the truth of the situation. She might be a cultist who has discovered something and hopes to use iosefka's clinic to run some sort of experiment to pursue her own goal. This is half verified by my gamer life who had accidentally stumbled upon the details of the real and fake.
She actually looks a bit like the witch of hemwick with seemingly black hair and good figure though the soul itself is translucent. It's more like I'm receiving an illusion or dreaming of her life before her change to her current looks.
Halfway through, She begins to scream violently as if experiencing great pain as half her soul has exited her body. Her legs go limp even though it was the upper half of her body that is currently out. I feel her strength increase, likely a last response stimulation to retain her soul somehow and it does get dragged back in but only momentarily.
I am not so weak anymore and activate all the skills I can and even change my titles around to better enhance my strength as I keep pulling.
SHEEEE WOOM Splash
A high pitched screech escaped Fauxsefka's chest as the soul is well and truly extracted before a silence encompasses the room as the fake falls flat with a pained expression on her face. Water covers her whole body as I hold her soul.
With a slight increase in grip strength, cracks begin to appear and spread before the soul shatters.
[Target has been permanently killed. Granting rewards. 320,000 blood echoes.]
"Holy shit. That's a lot of echoes"
[congratulations, Host has accomplished a new achievement and received a new title due to special actions: New Fate (achievement) and Soul Slayer (title)]
I look up the new achievement and title.
[New Fate: provide a 100% guaranteed new life to a member of this world. Target: Iosefka.
Original fate was to die and be replaced by her maddened copy that would transform any citizens she gets her hands on into Celestial Minions. All in a pursuit to elevate herself into a {Kin}. Her fate varies depending on the actions of {The Hunter}.
Reward: 1/3rd of an Umbilical cord x 5]
[Soul Slayer: Repeatedly shattering the souls of your enemies shall eternally free them from the dream. Active: +3 to greater sense, +2 to harvest. Passive: +1 level to Visceral Attack
"Huh, that's interesting." I think about the title and achievement. The umbilical cords I believe are necessary for later but also give a ton of insight too so that synergizes well with me. I smile, satisfied that I now have a guarantee that nothing bad will happen to the nurse as I return to the hunt.
I soon grow pale as my brain goes into overdrive, "Wait no. That's not good. Because it means that Gascoigne's daughter will still be fated to die even with her safe in the chapel and guarded by her grandfather." I realize as I never got that perk from saving her and bringing her here.
"Why, what am I missing that prevents that quest from being completed. Is it insanity? A monster? Some eldritch bitch stepping into my territory?" I think of all the plausible reasons for why she could potentially get into danger. "I know that some people go mad once the blood moon rises but does that affect the people here too?"
I keep pondering as I open up the system store and find a large variety of items but there are few choices related to my present concerns. I see sedatives for 5 insight or 5k echoes. It's a price I can certainly pay but for how long and how many? I need some more permanent way to ensure her safety as well as my own since Frenzy is a status effect I have little knowledge of.
I keep looking through and I do find something that does interest me.
[Dreamy Letter: Tearing it allows the user to be transported to The Hunters Dream].
This should effectively keep her physically safe but it's hard to tell if frenzy spreads there too…why can I not properly remember what happens at the end of the game? Fuck. what is interfering with my memories." I grunt and begin bashing my head against the nearest wall, not too hard to the point of bleeding but enough to give myself a headache later.
"Fuck" I click the purchase button as I get two tickets and begin climbing up the ladder. I put on a mock smile as I reassure Iosefka. "Don't worry anymore. She won't be chasing you any longer. Nothing more than a rat before a cat"
My strange analogy only seems to worry her a bit more but she tries to hide it as the three of us head upstairs and she can begin to immediately inspect Gilbert on his illness as well as another bottle of mutagen to see how it works and hopefully replicate it for Gilbert and anyone else who gets similar illnesses.
I then step before the old hunter Henry and his granddaughter. I hold out the two letters for them but the old man simply lifts his head only a small bit to notice me before he slaps my hand away. "We do not need anything from you". He states concisely as he too hasn't forgiven me for killing Gascoigne.
The two letters which effectively cost the entirety of what I got from shattering the soul of the fake doctor go flying to the ground. Henry finds himself lifted up by his throat as he is slammed to the wall.
"Look at me properly from now on. And know this, I don't care about you. Me giving you these is to make her happy while she stays safe. If you can't appreciate that then screw off." I let him go after that and pick up the two letters again. Setting one down on the seat that Henry was using and I kneel down next to Cherry.
She hides a bit behind the chair, scared of me with a frown on her face.
"I won't apologize, child. Just know that I gave my word to your father to keep you safe. So please, take this and if you encounter any danger at all then tear it in half. Also drink this if your head starts to hurt, then tear the letter" i also immediately buy up 4 sedatives and give them to her. I know that giving drugs to a child is not very responsible but there is no helping it in this world. I at least explain that it should be like bugs are crawling inside your head and to immediately drink it down the moment you feel that.
I then take a step back as she stares at the letterhead and four bottles sitting on the ground besides her. Henry was in the background coughing a bit due to the pressure I put his throat under before he takes the letter and inspects it but doesnt spot anything useful.
"Stay safe" I tell them as I return to the dream before teleporting back to the forest. Or at least it should be a forest but it seems to have progressed a lot faster than I expected as the Smokey's tears achievement makes more sense now.
I burned down the forest, not the clinic. Thats why I got it. But hey, at least the half wooden buildings are still alright. I shrug and cross the bridge, taking out the two huntsmen before taking out the large huntsman on the right side path which has me jumping a small gap and soon I can drop down at the entrance to the village. I return to the side path where the dogs are and clear them out, getting another good chunk of echoes before properly exploring the rest of this area and hopefully finding the boss soon.
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Word Count = 2597
Escorting the duo of Gilbert and Iosefka to the chapel. Getting some new status points and then realizing something which puts me in terror before ensuring their safety more before returning to the forbidden 'woods'.
Enjoy
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