202 Divided Once More...

Reaching the mezzanine was harder than the hunters anticipated. Due to Francis dying and not dealing with the first bell ringing crone, the hunters were always surrounded by enemies. No matter how much they sliced and countered, their enemies would keep coming. Their numbers increased every time; and every time, the hunters would find themselves getting weaker, more tired.

Francis decided to split from the group and reach the mezzanine on his own. As soon as he made two steps toward the large plaza, he was surrounded by crazed women and trolls and forced to retreat.

"I can get you up there, but you won't like how," Surgit suggested after they dealt with yet another horde.

"At this point, I'll take any suggestion," the old man retorted.

Another horde of crazed women and trolls were approaching them. Surgit looked at the mezzanine. It was one floor above them. Then there was the gap between the round plaza and the building they were trying to reach. If Francis fell, he'd certainly die and invite another horde to join the party.

"I'll throw you up there," Surgit said after carefully considering all their options. "I don't have much energy left, not enough to deal with another horde anyway. I can use it to throw you over to the balcony. The rest is up to you."

Francis gave Surgit a concerned look. He looked at the gap between them and the balcony above. "You need to be as strong as a troll to send me flying over there," he said.

Surgit let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm definitely stronger than the trolls. Unless you have a better idea, it seems we've run out of options."

Francis shot a look behind him. Karla was dealing with the crazed women, providing cover for the hunters. "Desperate times, right?" he asked with a wry smile.

Surgit smiled in return. "We're running out of time here, what'll it be?"

Francis heaved a sigh then nodded. "Let's do it!"

He hopped on Surgit's clenched hands and the latter propelled him into the air. He'd focused all his remaining energy into the throw. Francis shot through the air and easily crossed the gap between the plaza and the building. In fact, Surgit had thrown him so hard the old man collided with the building's gray walls before falling back on the balcony.

He jumped to his feet and waved to the other hunters. Surgit joined Karla while Francis disappeared inside the mezzanine. They heard some shots then all the crazed women surrounded them screamed in agony. Blood splattered out of their bodies.

The hunters made short work of them, and the plaza grew quieter. Karla turned to Surgit then. She was frowning. Sweat trickled down her brows. "I'll deal with the bell ringing crone upstairs. You wait for me!"

She didn't wait for Surgit's answer. She dashed forward and disappeared inside the building that led to the chapel above them. A minute later, Francis joined the hunter. He was holding a bell in his hand, grinning as he walked toward Surgit.

"Finally! Some peace and quiet!" he said then let out a sigh of relief. "Where's Karla?"

"Dealing with the crone you forgot about," Surgit replied. He looked at the old man whose lips had curved downwards. He was frowning, as though the young hunter's words offended him. "Did you find anything in there?" Surgit asked.

The old man shrugged. "Bones strapped to a chair," Francis replied.

Karla joined them at that moment. She looked around then smiled. "Listen!" she urged them.

Surgit pricked his ears. Silence reigned around them. He smiled in turn then let out a long "Ah!" of satisfaction. No bells rang in the distance. No crazed women wailed and laughed. No trolls moaned or cursed them before charging.

"Bliss!" Francis said.

"We shouldn't stay her for long. My weapon is losing its sharpness, and we haven't found a dream lantern yet. Our progress would be for naught if we happened to lose our lives or return to the dream," Surgit said.

Karla nodded. She looked at the Amygdala in the distance with great apprehension. "We'll have to go past that thing once again," she said in a defeated tone.

"Let's hope there's a lantern in the building it's guarding. My weapon's getting dull too. I need to sharpen and upgrade it," Francis said.

They reached the stairs the Amygdala was guarding and took turn running down. Surgit was the first one to go. He avoided the lasers and quickly reached the bottom of the stairs. As soon as the explosions ensued, Francis and Karla followed. The Amygdala's laser was harmless. It was the resulting explosion that worried them most.

Once they reached the next building, the hunters were relieved to find a lantern awaiting them. They were in some sort of balcony. Surgit approached the railings and looked down.

"I recognize this place," he whispered.

Karla joined him then gasped. "This is the chapel I ended up in after I was kidnapped," she said in a faint voice.

"How come I've never been here?" Francis asked after joining them.

Below them, they could see the church above the jail they were led to the first time. The Kidnappers had disappeared, however. Francis smelled the air then his brows furrowed.

"I can smell hunters down there," he hissed.

Surgit sniffed the air. "Three of them," he whispered.

"There's no way to get down to them from here. Maybe we can go around from the door back here," Karla said.

"We should probably head back to the dream. We'll come back here, away from the crazed women and the hordes. We need to tend to our weapons first," Surgit retorted.

Francis nodded. "We can't keep going if there are any more hordes like the ones we faced. Our weapons will break."

The hunters went back to the dream and reinforced their weapons. Surgit's Kirkhammer scaled with his strength once upgraded. Karla's Saif scaled with her skill, while Francis's Chikage scaled with Bloodtinge.

Each weapon, when upgraded, would deal more damage and clear areas faster than before. After the hunters were satisfied with the results, they let Karla upgrade her attributes. She had accumulated enough echo clusters to upgrade her Skill.

***

The three hunters' stats looked as follows.

*Karla:

Insight level: Sagacious

Strength: Hunter (1)

Skill: Professional (1)

Bloodtinge: Blood Hungry (1)

Arcane: Blind (1)

*Surgit:

Insight level: Eye Can See

Strength: Hunter (3)

Skill: Skillful (4)

Bloodtinge: Blood Hungry (1)

Arcane: Eye Seeker (1)

*Francis:

Insight level: Eye Can See

Strength: Waste of Skin (3)

Skill: Skillful (4)

Bloodtinge: Addled With Blood (1)

Arcane: Blind (1)

***

By the time the hunters were ready to get back to the hidden village, Francis cleared his throat.

"I won't be going back with you," he announced.

Karla and Surgit observed him in silence.

"I realized that the Hidden Village is far more dangerous than I anticipated. Besides, I have some business to take care of in Cainhurst," he said before addressing the little messengers and teleporting away.

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