119 Summoning a friend

Surgit had spent a long period of time in the Pthumeru Chalice Dungeon. The first level's enemies weren't too much of a challenge to him. The guardians of the two doors he had already opened were the Undead Giant and the Merciless Watchers.

What Surgit found interesting was the amount of knowledge he gained from going through the dungeon. One level was enough for Surgit to have a clearer understanding of how blood echoes functioned.

Basically, each enemy he encounters has battle experience. What hunters generally do is borrow each prey's battle experience and harness it to themselves. After each kill, a hunter absorbs the echoing will of a dead beast. Those echoes are the accumulation of each beast's strength and battle experience.

What is more supernatural about the ability to absorb echoes, is the fact that these echoes are automatically rendered neutral.

In simpler terms, a hunter gains the experience of the beast by slaughtering it. This experience however, stays in a neutral realm and waits to be converted into strength. Only by using an external catalyst can a hunter achieve that. The catalyst in this case is the doll in the dream.

Echoes are categorized by the beasts' deadly power and the amount of battle they have survived. The more battles they have survived, the more cunning and ruthless they are. In the beastly world of Yharnam, the ability to crush every opposition is the only thing of value.

Blood echoes are also categorized by color: the deadlier the beast, the darker the color. Surgit had been hunting first level beasts all along. Every time he hunts a low-level beast, a green light would condense in a cluster. By amassing enough echoes, a dark green cluster forms.

The cluster has the shape of a galaxy, the farther you look from the center, the lighter the color gets. After the colors from the center to the edge of each galaxy condense and form the same shade, a cluster is formed.

Obtaining green clusters is the easiest. However in order to obtain blue or red, one has to beast and extraordinary being. The stronger the beast, the more echoes one can absorb from them. For instance, Surgit had managed to beast two strong beasts: the Undead Giant and the Merciless Watchers. Although the two fights weren't too hard for Surgit, if he had made the smallest mistake, he would've been dead. The Merciless Watchers were a pain since they were three and attacked in unison.

While two attacked using their melee weapons, another shot at him from the distance. His despise for snipers increased tenfold. He had to bait the two and dispose of them while hiding behind pillars. If it weren't for his deadly visceral attack, the fight would have lasted much longer.

It was after he disposed of the ugly watchers that he realized a cold truth. Surgit could not leave the labyrinth unless he killed the first level's Gate Watcher. Each level of the labyrinth had access to the next one through an elevator. Accessing the elevator means opening the elevator gate.

The deeper one goes, the more requirements they get in order to access the elevator gate. For Surgit's case, he had to dispose of the two watchers then access the final chamber. The final chamber hosts one more extraordinary beast to slay. If Surgit couldn't slay the beast, he wouldn't be able to leave the labyrinth. He was trapped inside.

So far, Surgit had collected 4 green clusters. He received two while fighting the Undead Giant and The Pale Fat Watchers, then two others while clearing the whole area near each boss from monsters.

With that amount of echoes, he could easily upgrade his strength one more step. He could get back to the dream on the condition that he forfeits his echoes. As soon as he gets back to the labyrinth again, Surgit will have to repeat the whole process from the beginning. This prospect didn't appeal to him one bit.

He pondered for a bit, and decided to risk it all and fight the beast. If it was too difficult to beat, he could always collect his echoes on his way back to fight the Gate Watcher. At that moment, Surgit heard a faint ring. It appeared to come from every direction.

Surgit didn't know if the sound came from inside his head or from the outside. Suddenly, the ringing became louder and Surgit's eyes widened. Karla must be summoning his phantom to Oedon Chapel.

****

Francis was stunned. Karla looked beat and weak. He didn't know if it was due to his transformation to a hunter or to her actual state. In short, Karla no longer had that scary aura around her.

They had met a few hours ago at Oedon Chapel. When Karla first saw Francis, she pointed her sword at him and demanded an explanation. Francis had been punishing his cowardly self for leaving Karla behind ever since Surgit told him that she survived.

In truth, Francis admired the woman for her strength and sense of duty. Back then, the crow lady had told him that Karla couldn't be saved. He assumed that she died and moved on. But Francis always remembered everything she had done for him and the sense of loss intensified in his mind. It was only after he heard of her survival from Surgit that he cheered up.

After seeing the sadness in Francis' eyes when he apologized to her, Karla decided to let bygones be bygones. She only wanted to have an explanation as to why he'd left her behind.

She was staring at the necklace he had given her. She felt like she had seen the seal inside the red gem somewhere. No matter how hard she thought about it, her mind couldn't come up with a name for the place.

She knew that the seal was related to some specific place. For some reason, just the thought of the place filled her with dread. But the name still wouldn't come to her. She averted her gaze from the necklace and stared at Francis. "So, did it work?" she asked.

Francis was holding the Hunter's Bell Surgit had given to the dweller. He rang it and soft sound emitted from it. Soon after, Francis could hear another bell ringing in the distance. The tinkle in each one had a different sound to it. Francis' eyes widened as he saw a blue phantom appear next to the lantern.

After the blue phantom formed, Francis recognized Surgit. "I see that you've gotten quite used to Yharnam and its secrets," Francis was addressing Surgit in a mocking tone. Surgit responded with a 'humph' and looked at Karla: "Glad to see you safe and sound. From those bruises, I can assume that you've survived the worst?"

Karla cleared her throat and prepared to say something but it was soon forgotten. He mouth opened and her eyes grew in size. A red phantom appeared from the ground, similar to Surgit's phantom but with non-friendly intentions. The phantom materialized in front of them and a man holding a katana appeared.

"From all the people I could barge into, it has to be you?" the red phantom asked, addressing Francis.