"A beast? And what kind of 'beasts' exist in this said dream world Iosefka?" Virgil seemed uninterested in everything going on, almost like he didn't believe any of it. Iosefka however was not surprised with this reaction, but saddened. She hated being the one to put reality into a hunters hands when in most cases, they couldn't handle it and die. Some hearing it's a dream and the dread of being here being so great they take their own lives in hopes of waking up, but this dream was by no means that simple.
Iosefka walked over to one of the many bookshelves lining the walls of the infirmary that were filled with what seemed to be medicine and pulled one of the viles. This lead to a loud 'click' noise that sounded similar to a very old door being opened after while. The cabinet then creaked open and split down the middle, revealing a hidden cellar.
"Follow me please and do watch your step." Iosefka stated.
It was only 6 steps down and there was a small room, but laid across each wall were strange looking weapons. At least to Virgil they seemed other worldly.
"On this left wall here, we have the different hunter guns you can choose from. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. But one thing they all have in common is that if you want these devices to hurt any kind of beast, a great deal of bloodtinge will be required."
Virgil pulled the skin paper thing out of his pocket and relooked at his stats to see what they were.
"I supposed 12 bloodtinge isn't very high."
"Higher than most initially, you may be a bloodtinge hunter. You give off that kind of aura, take this."
She handed him a elegant flintlock pistol, with a very long shaft compared to the other guns on the wall. Virgil held it and analyzed it, and it was much to his liking.
"That's the Evelyn. I warn you now these guns shoot but don't do much to beasts, even with high bloodtinge. But it's a staple for hunters, do with it you like but don't expect much."
"If it's ineffective for hunting beasts, why bother having it?"
"I have no idea truthfully. Hunters typically use them as a means of luring beasts I suppose, and rarely finishing one off with them. Do I seem like a hunter to you?"
He reanalyzed Iosefka. She was a thin woman, with fairly pale skin. Her hood was down and she has brown hair, tied into a ponytail. Dark brown eyes and thin lips, she was quite beautiful but seemed frail to the touch.
"I suppose not."
"Then onto the furthest wall ahead, these are your options of trick weapons. Each have two different forms able to be changed at will. Rather than me going over each one, do any peak your interests?"
Virgil walked up to the wall looking at the different bizarre tools wondering if these could even be wielded as weapons. First was a cleaver with serrated edges and a strange curved handle. Then was giant piece of stone, with a silver blade paired next to it. Seemed too heavy and slow for his liking. Then was a small cane, but with a blade for the walking stick.
"Is that even a real weapon?"
Iosefka smiled, "Yes, my favorite as well. It is named the Threaded cane." She saw this as an opportunity to show him just how unique these weapons truly are. She removed the cane from the wall and stepped away a few feet.
"Watch carefully, on the handle there is a small button that releases the hinges in the steel. And then..."
She held it as though it were a sword, and flicked it downwards towards the ground and the blade split into many fragments that laid across the floor. It became a whip. She then pressed the button and flicked the whip once more than the blades recombined into a sword, with extremely serrated edges.
"That's far more impressive than I imagined." Virgil said in aw.
She then tapped the cane on the floor and the blades retracted back together to become a cane once more.
"So there is more to these weapons than what I see at first." Virgil said.
"Why of course, there would be no 'trick' to these weapons otherwise." Iosefka teased.
Virgil smiled at the simple joke and went back to the wall. Then his eyes came across a strange looking rapier. It seemed to have a gun in the guard of the blade. His eyes were drawn heavily towards it and he knew that that's the weapon he would want to use.
"A Cainhurst weapon huh?" Iosefka quietly said.
"A what?" Virgil defensively asked. He could hear the slight fear in her voice from the name 'Cainhurst'.
"It's just the home of the... Vilebloods. A grotesque group of animals that were wiped out by the healing churches executioners."
Virgil took the weapon off the wall and felt the grip and weight, it felt almost at home in his hands. He didn't care much for the obvious spite she had for these said Vilebloods, nor did he bother to ask the history of a supposed dream world. Most don't even remember what happened in a dream once they awake, right?
"What's its name?" Virgil asked.
"The Reiterpallasch."
"What's this weapons trick?"
"I have no idea, I've never used-"
Virgil pulled the lever on the side of the guard and quickly moved the handle downwards towards his waist, sending the blade retracting into the handle and becoming a bayonet to a hidden pistol. He aimed the gun forwards and took aim down the barrel, whoever he was he had retained his muscle memory of wielding a blade apparently... and a gun.
"I suppose advice won't be necessary. I'm afraid I cannot leave this clinic to assist you during the night of the hunt but you are free to go when you please. I'm always here if needed, please stop by if you do go so that I may know you're okay." Iosefka said with a soft smile. Virgil could see some of the regret in her eyes, but that didn't matter to him. He had business to take care of.
"I appreciate your help to this point, but I'll be taking my leave. I will be back if I find the time."
Virgil went back up the stairs and took one last look at the hospital bed he awoke on, wondering why he's here. But there was something great disturbing him about this place, and he knew his questions wouldn't be answered here. He went down the original staircase, past the lamp with the tiny messengers. He saw the exit to the clinic, and just before it a mirror. A sudden anxiousness took over him, he hadn't remembered what he even looked like. He slowly walked up to the mirror and to his surprise, he was nothing he imagined himself to look like from voice alone. He was easily 180 centimeters tall. But very thin, he looked as though he were just 65 kilograms. He had silvery hair, swept back on his head to accompany his very stoic expression. His bright blue eyes only seemed to glow against his pale skin. Judging by his attire he seemed to be one who traveled often.
He walked up to the hospitals main door and gave it a push. Once outside he made his way to the gate that he assumed was the exit to the area. Upon the gates opening on their own for him to leave he had a not so gorgeous view of Yharnam. It had a very gothic feel, with building that we're all very close compacted and almost all the building being pointed at the top and everything being gloomy, dark, and dirty. He took to the road; steam arising from random vents along the roads made it very hard to see where he was going. The lack of civilians was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. Whilst walking along the sidewalk he could see that almost every home had a purple light with incenses prodding out of them, these were used to ward off beasts on the night of the hunt. His hand was always at his waist, ready to unsheathe his sword at a moments notice. He'd been walking for 15 minutes in search of anything but the structures all looked the same, with no special exceptions to make navigation simpler. And then he heard a group of people up ahead, having what sounded like a conversation.
He approached them with a sigh of relief, the lack of human interaction this place seemed to have was truly disturbing.
"I'm sorry to bother you gentleman, but I seem to be lost-"
They turned around damn near instantly to the sound of Virgil's voice and the one closest immediately unsheathed his cutlass and went for Virgil's throat.
Out of instincts that Virgil didn't know he had he dashed backwards nearly instantaneously. It was so fluid, he was taken aback with emotions of familiarity. The sudden gust of wind ringing past his ears filled him with almost as much noise as adrenaline.
"Beast! Oh foul beast! BACK!"
"I'm simply in need of directions-" Virgil tried.
That's when Virgil noticed the one furthest in the back was arming a gun and taking aim.
Virgil immediately began dashing towards him, each dash covered what seemed to be three to four meters, and he slid past the two prior what he assumed to be civilians like a gust of wind. Upon arriving to the one aiming the gun, Virgil dashed through the bullet he fired and immediately removed the rapier from his waist and punctured the mans heart. To his surprise the man was still alive and reached for Virgil. Virgil quickly pulled the lever on the rapier to shift the blade downwards slightly and pulled the trigger and the man was sent flying off his blade. He reverted the blade back to its original state via swinging it downwards with the nasty sound of blood spraying off the blade onto the ground, and the gears of the blade snapping back into place. The gears gave off a lovely 'Ching' noise that made Virgil's heart flutter. He absolutely loved everything going on, and couldn't explain why.
Examining the two others holding a pitchfork and cutlass revealed that the mens faces were very ill. Blood shot yellow eyes in their what seemed to made of leather skin, and what little teeth remained in their mouths were beyond decay and broken, and overall appeared to no longer be sane.
"You plague-ridden rat! You're better off dead!" Screamed the one with the pitchfork as he went lunging forwards, Virgil dashed to the side of the strike and slashed at the mans back 3 times. As he was doing this the mans ally went to slash Virgil, at that moment Virgil unsheathed his gun from his waist and with his left hand and took a shot at the mans friend whilst delivering the finishing blow with his rapier to the pitchfork wielding civilian. Upon being hit with the bullet the man dropped to his knees and tried to get up but Virgil immediately removed his head. A spray of blood leaving the mans body drenched Virgil and a massive sense of bloodlust took over him. He needed more blood on him, he couldn't explain it but the adrenaline formed not from the fight, but the blood alone was intoxicating. He looked down at the man he slashed 3 times, who was still alive and looking up at him.
"Please, spare me. I didn't realize you were a hunter!" The man pleaded.
"Neither did I." Virgil seethed as he pulled the flint back on the Evelyn, and made home a bullet in-between the mans eyes.
All sense of morals were gone, Virgil needed blood. He looked around rapidly in search of more pray, losing himself to animal like instincts. He was slowly losing his grasp on who he was.
"Invigorating isn't it?" A man from above asked.
Virgil could see him without even looking upwards. He could see the smirk on the mans face. He could see the large hunter hat, the trench coat, and bandaged eyes. He saw him in his mind, and some of his surroundings too. Almost like he had a whole other set of eyes.
Virgil looked down at his bloody hands and responded, "Extraordinarily invigorating... what's going on?"
Virgil saw the man with an axe, the hunters axe. He remembered seeing it in Iosefka's clinic.
"Bloodlust." The man said whilst pulling the handle of the what was a small axe, thus extending into a long pole arm. It went from a large axe with a unreasonably small handle to a executioners axe in the simple pull of the grip.
Virgil could sense the inhumane hostility radiating off of whoever was on that roof, but rather than running he felt the need to kill. Blood, that's all he wanted to see. To bleed, or not to bleed was all he could think about now.
"What is your name?" Virgil asked.
"Father Gascoigne."
Gascoigne immediately jumped off the roof, axe steadily going downwards with him directly targeting Virgil. Virgil dashed backwards but was followed immediately with Gascoigne appearing in front of him whilst removing a shotgun of some sort and taking a shot at Virgil. Virgil then jumped straight up and kicked off the light post above past Gascoigne, slicing the side of his face and upon landing Virgil pulled the lever on Reiterpallasch and unsheathed Evelyn and crossed his arms with both firearms aimed at Gascoigne and pulled each trigger. Gascoigne dashed past both bullets and spun rapidly at Virgil with his axe following gracefully. Virgil dashed two of the initial attacks but as Gascoigne closed the distance and continued to spin his last hit clipped Virgil on the arm.
Gascoigne wipes the blood off his cheek and spat to the side out of what seemed to be frustration.
"You're pretty good kid, them ain't yharnamite clothing. What are you doing here?" Gascoigne asked while collapsing the axe back into its smaller state then cleaning the blade on his coat.
Virgil looked around, realizing he was no longer in that strange bloodlust with the need to kill. He was sane again. He touched the blood coming out of his arm then looked at Gascoigne in hopes of an explanation.
Gascoigne pulled out a small orange bottle from his pocket, "Sedative. Even the smallest dose suppresses beasthood damn near instantly." He then tossed Virgil the bottle.
Virgil put the bottle in his pocket then looked down at the two corpses in front of him then asked, "Where did I even learn to fight like that..?"
"Have you also awoken in Iosefka's clinic without your past memories?"
"Yes."
Gascoigne sheathed his axe and gun and shrugged.
"Whoever you were kid, apparently you were as lethal as they come."