156 Step Lightly

From the mill there was a bridge that led across the valley. The forest extended down through the valley. At the end of the valley lay the great lake next to which the academy of Byrgenwerth was built. Surgit has been through a lot in order to reach this checkpoint. From the frail dying man to the inexperienced hunter, he honed his skills on his own. He was trained on the field.

The advantage of getting experience on the field is that it helps the person increase their observational skills. Surgit was careful as he crossed the bridge. His experience in Yharnam made him wary of silence. 'When things are too calm, it means that there's an ambush waiting.'

Surgit crossed the bridge and saw two huntsmen waiting on the other side. "Damnit sniper!" Surgit jumped to the side as soon as the bullet left its muzzle. The bullet grazed his left arm as Surgit rebounded and dashed forward. He ran past the first huntsman, targeting the sniper. When the second shot fired, Surgit was below the rifle. With an uppercut from his sword, the huntsman was cut in half.

Surgit ran forward, ignoring his pursuer. With the corner of his eye, he had spotted a device on the ground when he evaded the first bullet. The device was crudely hidden with a bunch of wooden planks. Surgit stood on top of the wooden planks, activating the device. "Holy shit, they're really prepared to kill.' Surgit jumped, avoiding a big trunk that swung his way. There were sharp metallic spikes on the tree trunk. Two chains were attached to each end of the trunk and were released as soon as Surgit activated the device.

As soon as he landed, Surgit jumped again to avoid the second swing. 'This is hardcore gymnastics.' Surgit jumped one more time as the sound of chains breaking was heard. The whole contraption broke. It caught the huntsman chasing after him and brought him down with it in the valley below. 'Take that bitch! Trying to ambush me?!'

After that, Surgit made sure to avoid falling into enemy ambushes. One time, he took the high road and observed his enemies from above. A wandering large huntsman led him to that road. After he silently disposed of him, he followed the road and descended on the unsuspecting mob. Surgit realized that some huntsmen used oil urns in order to use torches against him. He escaped being burned alive by a hair's width.

The forbidden forest hid nasty secrets and encounters for Surgit. Every time he came out on top of a scary situation, another would befall him. He finally made a wrong turn and was ambushed by carrion crows. The small, slow crows managed to stab Surgit with their sharp beaks. They used Surgit's weapon against him, darkness. He didn't notice them as he was inspecting a corpse for coagulated blood.

He barely managed to escape the ambush and regain his composure when a large huntsman chased after him. Surgit retreated, trying to lead the fast enemy away from the crows. It was at that moment that he stepped on an unstable surface. 'Shit! F&@k!' The wooden platform on which he stepped crumbled under his weight.

Surgit fell down and barely blocked the plunge attack from the huntsman. He was fast enough to take his Kirkhammer out and reduced the damage from the plunging attack. Despite all of that, the fall, coupled with the plunge attack from the beast, damaged him. His mouth was filled with blood as he retreated trying to avoid the flurry of attacks coming from the large huntsman.

'Shit, I completely lost my momentum.' The large huntsman raised both its arms and brought it down on Surgit. He held the hammer with both his hands and pushed. The impact of the two weapons colliding was heard all around. Thanks to his enhanced strength, Surgit managed to push the beast back. The staggered beast was open for attacks. Surgit let go of the heavy hammer and jumped at the beast.

He kicked the crosscut saw away from its hands then threw a punch with all his strength. The punch landed on the beast's face and threw back some more steps. Surgit picked up the crosscut saw from the floor and brought it down on the large huntsman. Shrilling screams filled the forbidden forest as the saw went through the beast's left shoulder and buried its way towards its right hip.

The crosscut saw stopped right when it penetrated the large huntsman's right rib. Blood poured out and gore filled the ground. Surgit stood next to the beast, listening to it gurgling as it struggled to survive. "We're both trapped in a place where the strong feed on the weak. You lost because you couldn't use your brain. That's the only advantage I hold against you."

Surgit walked through the place he had just fallen in. It looked like an abandoned village where only mad people lived. 'Wooden planks again. Those guards didn't even react to the commotion I just caused.' Surgit's eyes narrowed. 'Those beasts are dumb anyway.' Surgit moved and started shouting at the beasts that didn't seem to know he existed.

With a "humph" Surgit took out some throwing knives from his belt. He had found those while he explored the streets of Central Yharnam. He threw two of them at a large huntsman that stood with its back to him. Surgit wasn't willing to cross through the wooden planks in front of him. He was a hundred present sure that it was a trap.

The large huntsman took one knife to the back while the other missed. 'Damnit! I need more practice.' The large huntsman was still enraged by the knife that was buried inside its back. It ran towards Surgit then fell down. The wooden planks quickly gave way to the large huntsman's weight. Witnessing this, the other huntsmen patrolling the area got enraged and charged at Surgit.

Five minutes later, Surgit managed to slaughter two men-beasts with pitchforks, dodged his way out of bullets and beheaded a sniper then plunged down on the injured large huntsman and mashed it to a pulp using the Kirkhammer. His reaction was swift, effective and bloody. Surgit climbed his way away from the large hole and observed his surroundings.

'This is definitely a village. I wonder why anyone would want to live in a place that could barely have some sunlight. There were other houses in the distance. If Surgit wanted to reach them, he'd need to go through a river. Surgit got close to the river then stopped. He sniffed the air. Something smelled strange in the water.

A faint sound made Surgit jump backwards. That faint sound saved him from a horrible death. A Molotov cocktail was thrown his way and landed on the river. Soon the area where the bottle cracked, fire surged high and illuminated the dark area. 'Whoa! Those bastards have too many tricks up their sleeve.' Surgit jumped back to evade the Molotov cocktails that followed.

He got out of the place and exited the village. 'I need to find another way up. If I keep going that way, I will fry!' In the exit of the village, Surgit noticed a road that led to the upper part of the village. 'How convenient to put a trap right before the important road!' Surgit avoided the contraption this time and went around it.

'People really don't welcome strangers here. They're doing their best to exterminate any threat.' Surgit's heart started racing. 'The stronger they fight to hide repel me, the more important the secret they hide. I can't wait to reach Byrgenwerth.' Surgit smiled as he shouted: "You can't stop me! I will find my way out of this Godforsaken place!'

Surgit sped up towards a big gate. 'That must be the real entrance to the village, not where I was.' He abruptly stopped when he heard some coughing from a wooden house on the way. Surgit approached the window and peeked inside. It was dark, too dark. His enhanced vision only allowed to him to see a pale face. The man looked sickly.

"Oh, a hunter of beasts, are you? Glory be. You know not the value you possess. But, more's the pity... The hours of the night are many, and the beasts more than I can count. A veritable hunt unending! Not even death offers solace, and the blood imbibes you." The voice that reached Surgit's ears was cold. "There's no glory in being a hunter. We live in a place where the strong pray on the weak. We're showered in blood and on the run most of the time." Surgit spoke, detailing his current state of mind.

"Ha, a most frightful fate, oh my. But I'm willing to do you a kindness. step lightly round to the right of the great cathedral, and seek an ancient, shrouded church. The gift of the godhead will grant you strength... Yes, I'm unquestionably certain, heheh..."

A round object rolled down from underneath the house and reached Surgit's feet. He knelt down and picked it up. "A tonsil stone," Surgit muttered as his insight activated. "A latticed, deformed rock, or perhaps a meteorite. Appears useless, but possesses some old gravitational force that prevents its riddance." Surgit tried to get rid of the stone but couldn't. He threw it away, but the stone miraculously stuck to his hand.

"What the hell have you given me?" Surgit shouted as he turned toward the man in the wooden house. Silence came and Surgit grew impatient. He shouted at the man again then peeked from the window. No matter how hard Surgit tried to see inside, he couldn't catch a glimpse of that dubious man.'Damnit! I've been had…'