"Oh, yes…Paleblood."

Waking up to the sound of someone's voice, I look all over the place for its source. An old man in a wheelchair, we're in a…clinic of sorts? The only illumination being a small lamp by a shelf, so I can't make out much.

"Well, you've come to the right place. Yharnam is the home of blood ministration. You need only unravel its mystery.

But, where is an outsider like yourself to begin?"

'What is he talking about? What happened? Where's Beatrice? Rem? Status!? Why isn't the system working?' My panic is cut short as the strongest feeling of pain hits me, the old man approaches me.

"Easy, with a bit of Yharnam blood of your own…Ah, but first, you'll need a contract."

Darkness engulfs my vision once more, opening my eyes again, I find the old man now injecting blood into me.

"Whatever happens… you may think it all a mere bad dream…"

He finishes off ominously, I end up fainting from the pain of my wounds and blood loss. Not before hearing the old man chuckling at something.

Chapter Eight:

Born from the Blood

Waking up, I immediately got out of the clinic bed, only to soon regret doing so.

Grabbing my head from the sudden pain that hit me, I call out for the system. "Ugh…System! S-Status? Status!" But to no avail. "That…Dream. A Werewolf? And…"

"Ahh, you find yourself a hunter…"

'Who said that? …No, can't let myself get distracted, I need to find Beatrice and Rem.' Using the walls as support, I walk to the nearest door. Using all of my strength to open it, I end up falling forward and down the stairs that were unfortunately placed behind the door.

"Ow…Wait. No, that didn't actually hurt all that much." Picking myself back up, I start trying to make it out again. Passing through another pair of doors, thankfully they were already open, I start to hear growls.

The room is filled with desks? Tables? Beds? Doesn't matter. What did matter was at the very center of the room, the same Werewolf from my dream, burn marks and all.

Attempting to summon my Kukri Knives, I am reminded of their destruction and the system failure.

Unfortunately for me, the Werewolf was now looking directly at me, having probably caught my smell of blood. Stuck in a staring contest with the beast, it jumps at me with its claws out.

Rolling to the right, I feel an aching pain from my freshly closed wounds while doing so.

The wolf had completely missed me, hitting a desk instead. Taking this chance, I grab it by one of its hind legs and throw him at a wall. "El Huma." Despite my incantation, nothing happens. "What the hell? Why won-GAK!"

The wolf had successfully pounced me this time around, his giant stature over mine. He attempts to bite my head off, which I stop from happening, by putting my arm in the way. "FUCK!"

The damn thing gnawed at my left arm, leaving its head completely open to a punch from my right. A loud crunch sounds out as my punch lands, their body ragdolling into another desk.

Picking myself up from the floor, I approach the body of the wolf, breathing but otherwise dying. Slamming my foot down on its head, It doesn't take long for it to die. "Haa…That was gro-hrk!" Throwing up on the spot, I averted my eyes from bloody gore that was now mixed with my vomit. Leaning on a nearby desk, I take a few moments to regain both my breath and cool.

Getting off the desk, I continued on the way I was going. Entering another room that had stairs leading up. I go for the stairs, but a shining light stops me.

In the corner of the room lies a body, in its hand is something glowing. Approaching the body, I find it holding onto 5 vials? A red liquid inside of each of them. "...Potions?"

"No, I shouldn't use them, never know what it could be…" Grabbing and stuffing them in my pocket, I continue onwards.

At the top of the stairs, I find another door similar to the one from earlier. Pushing it open with my good arm, I now find myself in a small cemetery. Tombstone after Tombstone, and yet that didn't matter.

My close surroundings weren't as eye-catching as the Victorian styled buildings everywhere, taking a deep breath, the smell and taste of smoke, ash and blood hit me. 'Ah shit, I guess I'm out of the frying pan and into the fire. Still need to find Beatrice and Rem though.'

Taking a left, I push open a very large gate with my only arm. Coffins littered all over the road. Spotting another human to my right, I call out to them. "Hey!" They start to get closer, torch in hand, dragging an axe in the other. "I'm sorry to bother you, but could you tell me where I am?"

His response? Attacking me. "Woah! The hell?!"

Dodging the axe he swings at me, he yells out at me. "Away Beast! You're not wanted here!"

"Uhh, you may need to get your eyes checked old man! I'm not a-" Dodging another attack, I finish my sentence. "I'm not a beast, well I am, but not in the way you're thinking." My joke seems to fall on deaf ears as the man continues attacking me. "I was really hoping that this world would be peaceful, guess I should've known better."

Backtracking for enough space, I pick up a nearby coffin and use it as a weapon. Swinging at the man's head, it breaks upon impact and probably pisses him off. "Ah, shit." Dodging another swing, I take advantage of his sloppy attacks and hit him in every man's weakness.

Walking past the downed lunatic, I find a lever that just so happens to be there. "Very suspicious. Ah, whatever." Pulling said lever, a metal ladder slams down next to me. "Totally not a trap…" Ignoring all the signs, I go up the very long ladder, humming a tune the whole way, so as to not focus on the horrible pain my arm is going through.

Around halfway through, I hear a loud screech, but I don't stop, the worst thing I can do is stop.

Reaching the top, I can only sigh out in relief. "Ahh…my arm, that ladder fucking sucked, and that loud screech…Just my luck." Taking a few more moments to let my arm rest, I continue onwards.

I come across a small lantern held up by a strange metal pole, and two diverging paths, one blocked by a closed gate.

Approaching the lantern, I attempt to grab it but as I place my hand on it, it turns on by a burst of energy being released.

"Do lamps normally do this? Or am I a lamp wiz-Yawn…" I feel my eyelids grow heavy as I am unwillingly pulled into the dream land, much like my time with Echidna.

Dream

"Ugh…" Waking up on a hard stone path, I quickly pick myself off the ground. 'This isn't the city…where the hell am I now?'

System Is Back Online.

"Good to see you made it, Ren."

A small amount of relief hits me as I hear 2B's voice. 'Took you long enough to come back, but uh…where am I? What happened? Why was I seperated from Beatrice and Rem?'

"This is the Hunter's Dream. A safe haven for you. As for what happened, I'm not sure. All I can say is that Beatrice and Rem are definitely in Yharnam with you."

'Is that so?'

"…Yharnam? Is it big..?"

"Relatively speaking."

"Could you tell me where they are?"

"No, but they are together, so once you find one, you'll find both."

"So, I'm by myself?"

"For now."

"Wonderful." I sigh. "...What exactly do I do here?" Looking around, I give the whole place a good look.

"Look for a man named Gehrman, he should tell you what you need to know about this world."

'Right. Talk to you later.' Following the path, at the foot of the stairs comes disfigured little humans from the ground. In their hands are three different weapons, weapons that I can choose from. 'They're kinda creepy…like something I'd find in a Halloween themed store.'

The Messengers have a gift for you

Choose One

Saw Cleaver

Or

Hunter Axe

Or

Threaded Cane

'I'm not really given any more info other than that. Based on efficiency, I'd probably end up choosing the saw or the axe, but I care more about looks. God, that sounds really shallow.' Picking the cane, it appears in my hand not a second later.

Placing it into my Inventory, which thankfully didn't change from what I can tell, I continue going up, until I am stopped again by the Messengers.

The Messengers have a gift for you

Choose One

Hunter's Pistol

Or

Hunter's Blunderbuss

I ended up choosing the pistol, for its compact size. I continue onwards into the church, where I find Gehrman, who just so happens to also be in a wheelchair.

"Ah. You must be the new hunter. This is the Hunter's Dream. This will be your home, for now. I am…Gehrman, friend to you Hunters." So… not the same guy, got it. "You're sure to be in a fine haze about now, but don't think too hard about all this. Just go out and kill a few beasts, it's for your own good. You know, It's just what hunters do. You'll get used to it…" He's finally gone quiet.

"Hey, Gehrman? Do you…" He's not even looking at me! "Hello? Gehrman?" Snapping my fingers in his face doesn't work either…He'll tell me everything, she said…Why did I even get my hopes up?

Leaving the church, It doesn't take too long for me to find the exit. As weird as it was.

Central Yharnam

Posing with my new weapon in hand, I lament the fact I don't have a top hat.

"I do look quite dapper, if I do say so myself." My jovial mood is met with silence. "Oh… right. Need to find Beatrice and Rem."

Going on my merry way, my path is filled with lots of enemies. "These guys aren't beasts, right? Yet, they look halfway into beasthood."

"That's because they are."

'Huh. So what should I do? Maim them? Knock them out-'

"You won't be given xp if you don't kill them."

'...Oh. I guess I should make it quick for them, then.' I feel my eyebrow shoot up at that. 'When did I grow so indifferent about killing someone? That can't possibly be normal. Oh, that's a lot more of them.' Finding over 10 of the turned townsfolk by a sacrificial bonfire, a thought hits me. "El Huma." Nothing again.

'2B? Why won't my magic work?'

Magic Skills now requires The Player to know how to cast magic naturally. The system will no longer be doing the work.

'Seriously? Guess it kinda makes sense.' Allowing the mana in my body to release, I visualize the Ice shards that I will use, all that's left is my incantation. "El Huma." While the shards appeared a bit malformed, they still did their job taking out all enemies that were in sight.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

'What's that? Woah! Focus…'

Taking out those who were coming out of sight, the loud bangs on the door seized. 'Wonder what that-Oh shit!' The large doors collapse onto the ground as a troll holding a large concrete brick comes out, destroying everything in its path. Trying to stay calm at the sight of something so ugly, I carefully think out a plan. 'I could just blitz this guy with a couple spells, but where's the fun in that? Actually…I am in a hurry.'

"El Huma." Freezing the troll's legs to the ground, I change my weapon into its whip form. Taking advantage of its back being turned, all that's left is a gruesome sight that I don't bother looking back at.

Unfortunately the new area that opened is more of the same. Fighting another patrol of Townsfolk, I now find myself on a bridge.

"Two werewolves? At least make it challenging! El Fura!" The fast wind slash rips the head off one, and an arm off the other. Unable to stand, I finish it off with a stab from my cane. "Two down, none to go."

Beheading a townsperson who saw me, I looked further down the bridge for any more trouble. "Hm? A troll up here?" Observing the troll from afar, I notice it playing with the crows at its feet.

The sight makes a grimace appear on my face. 'So even the trolls were human? And they still have a shred of humanity too. No…I shouldn't think too hard about it. The least I can do is make it painless.'

Keeping my hand still, I fire off a Jiwald at his head, killing him instantly. "El Goa." Incinerating the group of crows, I continue to the end of the bridge.

Now at the very end, I find a very big set of doors. Trying to push it open doesn't get me any results, so what do I do? Brute force it, obviously.

And voila! Absolutely nothing changed, this of course doesn't last long as the same screech from earlier sounds out from above me. 'That can't be good.' The sound of the bricks breaking from a hard landing reaches my ears, dust blowing in all directions, blinding me.

Keeping my eyes protected, the dust clears quickly. Unfortunately, I probably should've let myself get blinded, so that I could never see this monstrosity.

An emaciated bipedal deer monster is the best description I can give, with an arm larger than its other. Nothing about it is pleasant to look at, but my newly acquired job of Hunter gives me no other choice.

Jumping into the air, I dodge over a sudden swipe from its large malformed arm. What I don't account for is the other arm to grab me out of the air. "Gah!" Despite the other arm being smaller, that doesn't make it any weaker from the looks of it, as I feel all the air in my lungs escape.

'I need to get out!' I can feel my bones screaming at me, but no matter how much I struggle it doesn't loosen its grip. 'If only I could move my arms, then maybe I could…'

Gasping for as much air as possible, I try to cast magic. "El G-rk!" Running out of air, the beast only squeezes me tighter. I breathe in again, making one last ditch effort to escape.

"Goa!" Pouring as much mana as I possibly can into the low tier spell, the fireball explodes on impact, engulfing both of us in the flame.

To Be Continued…