Silence came back and Surgit felt somehow safer. The uneasiness he felt before lifted, and he could finally resume his exploration. ‘It’s funny how silence affects me in this place,’ Surgit thought. ‘There are moments when the silence is completely unsettling, and there are others when it seems like a heavenly bliss.’ He was right. What he hadn’t realized though was that his ability to sense danger around him increased. It wasn’t the impression silence gave him, but more about his sixth sense developing.

The square he was in led to a larger street. It looked like the main road of the city, large enough to accommodate carts and vehicles. He stood in the middle of the boulevard, which split in two. The path to the right led towards a dark area he wasn’t keen on exploring yet. The one on the left led towards a bridge that crossed the river.

He was finally down at the bottom of the valley where the river was attainable. From the bridge came two werewolves. Surgit spotted them before they could see him. Facing two of those at the same time could prove deadly so he decided to take the street on the right and bait at least one of them.

He ran through the dark street and soon found himself opposite a large wooden gate. It seemed like it was the main door that gave access to the city a long time ago, when traders would come inside the city through a security check. The door wouldn’t budge despite his efforts to open it. It looked like it was locked from the other side.

He turned around and saw one of the werewolves heading his way. ‘Well, at least it’s just one. I could’ve had a very bad time if it were the two of them.’ As soon as he finished his thought, the beast spotted him and let out a deafening scream. The other one came rushing towards his comrade, crashing on the wall that signaled the sharp turn the road took. The scream was a cry for help. The newcomer bared its teeth at Surgit, not really fazed by the hit he just took.

‘Well, to hell with this, next time I’ll control my thoughts too.’ He ran towards his two enemies. Attacking first could provide him with an advantage. The two beasts ran towards him on fours and prepared to attack. As one of them swung at him with its claws, the second rushed at him, trying to bite him. The beasts seemed to have developed a habit of synchronizing their attacks to finish their enemy. Old Yharnam was closed tight for a reason.

Surgit jumped and landed on the back of the second werewolf and buried his saw deep within its vertebrae. He knew that their attacks were deadly. He also knew that their hides didn’t provide for much defense. So he tore through the flesh of the beast while it struggled to push him off its back. Surgit used the saw, which was buried inside the beast’s back, stood up and stomped on the monster, flattening the poor beast to the ground.

He jumped just in time to avoid the other one’s teeth. They were on top of each other as the latter’s attack missed him and it landed on top of the injured werewolf. He observed them from above as he was falling back down.

Surgit came down on the beast with full force and buried his saw vertically on its back. He pierced the werewolf’s body until the saw came out from its belly, almost touching the beast underneath. As it howled in pain, he slowly pulled his weapon away. Blood poured down on the beast below. Its comrade had died in agony and it knew that it was next on the list. It whimpered in pain and fear as it observed the hunter walking slowly around and facing it. It watched as the saw came crashing down on its head and darkness fell around its world.

Surgit was again soaked in blood. His whole body ached and he felt that he was about to collapse from fatigue soon. Blood sure cured him from his disease and saved his life multiple times, but it couldn’t battle fatigue for him.

He tried to inject himself with a blood vial in order to see its effect on his body. He felt a surge of energy fill his body but he felt that he was still not in full control of himself. The effect was similar to drinking coffee while one hasn’t slept for three days. It could give back some energy, but it wouldn’t replace the sleep deprivation.

He crossed the bridge where he had seen the two werewolves patrolling earlier and stopped next to a tall building. The tower rose from the bottom of the valley to reach for the entrance of Old Yharnam. ‘It would be very convenient if I could access this building and reach the entrance door. I could really use a rest at the dream.’

His only concern was the dark street on his left. He wanted to try and break open the big wooden gate sealing the building. But he was afraid of attracting more unwanted attention and risk getting killed. He felt that his body had almost reached its limit. His thought processing, consequently, slowed down. He was only focused on getting to the lantern somehow and get to the dream.

As he moved towards the gate, he heard a noise coming from behind. In a split second, he saw the door being broken to smithereens and a werewolf appearing from behind. It was as if the scene happened in front of him in slow motion. Debris was sent flying all around, and the werewolf’s figure, hanging in the air, was visible to Surgit.

He dodged the biggest part of the door that flew his way and jumped at the beast, catching it midair. He managed to cut his enemy deeply but it wasn’t quite dead yet. The slow motion effect had stopped and the beast attacked Surgit with all its speed. Surgit dodged the biting attack to the left and stroke with his weapon again, aiming for the neck and the finisher. The beast’s head rolled down the street and blood filled the holes in between the cobbles. ‘That does it, the door is open and this beast wasn’t very difficult to deal with. I should get moving.’

He got inside the building and found himself in a tower. Serpentine stairs took to the uppermost floor and Surgit climbed them mechanically. It was as if his brain refused to work anymore. He knew that he was in need of some rest in order to restore all his motor skills to normal.

He reached the top and found a metallic door. As he opened it, it screeched, giving the impression that it hadn’t been opened for a long time. He found himself on a small lane leading to another ladder which took him atop another tower.

It seemed to Surgit that the city had too many towers, in order to look for any intruders coming by sea or through the river and anticipate any surprise attacks. From the tower, he noticed that he could jump down to the town square near the entrance of Old Yharnam.

He went through the small plaza and through the big wooden gate, towards the blue lamp. A minute later, he was in the dream, facing the doll: “Welcome home good hunter, what is it you desire?”