What is a Hunter's fighting style? Each person has their own unique way.
As Goki, known as 'Gao San Guang,' a player who cleared every map, he had dealt with many Hunters in the dream of Yharnam.
There was the Powder Keg Hunter who would open fire with a machine gun from upstairs at the first sight of him, Senior Sister Maria of the Astral Clocktower whom he would bother every few days, and Old Hunter Gehrman, whom he had just dealt with about an hour ago.
Each Hunter's fighting style was different; some were swift and precise, capable of disappearing the moment they attacked, while others unleashed full firepower, each strike seemingly capable of shattering floor tiles.
But today, Goki saw another kind of fighting style.
"Wow..."
Skillfully slicing through the twisted creatures before him, Goki split his attention to watch another Hunter's battle.
Not far away, the black-clad Abyssal Hunter was performing a dance of slaughter amidst a Seaborn swarm.
Her steps were light, like a dolphin leaping from the water; with a slight jump, she could clear two meters from the ground, and no Terrorfish's strangling or assault could encircle her.
Her strength was immense, each strike like the lash of a giant whale's tail, like a massive wave crashing against reefs; even a gentle tap with her sword hilt would turn those grotesque, twisted Terrorfish into fragments and chunks of flesh.
From a technical standpoint, Goki could tell that Skadi's fighting style was quite seasoned.
It was swordsmanship honed through years of combat—to deal with more and larger enemies.
Moreover, it was not like fighting on land, but in water.
And in terms of strength, it was even more excessive.
The white-haired, red-eyed girl appeared delicate, and her height was even a head shorter than Goki, the Hunter.
But the power contained within those slender arms was at least ten times that of Goki's current strength, completely beyond ordinary people.
Of course, so-called Abyssal Hunters were never ordinary beings to begin with.
Memories buried deep in his mind were dug out little by little, and Goki recalled Skadi's story.
She was not a mere human, but a weapon created by the underwater civilization Aegir, using her own kin.
Not only were they Aegir, but Seaborn Blood flowed within them—the same as these monsters before him.
Old enemy, same origin.
As Abyssal Hunters fought the Seaborn, the Seaborn Blood within them would gradually awaken, eventually leading them to madness and becoming one with the Seaborn.
"The sense of déjà vu is strong... Should I call them Abyssal Astartes Cultivators, or underwater Dragon Clan half-breeds? No."
Pfft!
Another Tao Zhe attack—no, a visceral attack—Goki exerted force with both hands, forcefully tearing apart the huge upper and lower jaws of a canine-shaped Seaborn "Shell Ocean Sprinter" and confirmed that there were no bones inside its body.
Goki looked at his palm, where a wound inadvertently scratched by the opponent's wrist limb was now conveniently soaked in Seaborn body fluid.
The Seaborn's blood was rapidly absorbed, and Goki felt... vitality.
"Ha, let's not talk about others. My own body has long since been mixed with the blood of countless demons and monsters."
Recovery potential, a unique ability of Hunters.
Yharnam was the land of blood ministration, where people relied on blood transfusion therapy to treat diseases for years, eventually leading to the outbreak of the beast scourge.
And the Hunter's method of recovery was even more brutal.
Whether it was using specially made blood vials from the Healing Church or utilizing the blood of any enemy after their death, a Hunter could heal themselves with the blood of others.
Even if they had just suffered an injury, as long as they retaliated in time, they could recover through the enemy's blood—it was Miyazaki's old trick to tempt players into being greedy with attacks.
A Hunter's body was like a huge sponge, constantly absorbing all usable blood, arguably even more mixed-blood than an Abyssal Hunter.
However, the current Goki felt his own weakness and... purity.
"Glorious Hunter, seek the blood echoes—I will integrate them into your strength, you will hunt the offspring of foreign gods, and I will wait here, waiting for your Soul, as vibrant as fire."
In his mind, the Nona's voice sounded again.
"Is this telling me to keep mixing my blood? Forget it, whatever."
"Gaa—"
As the last Terrorfish was torn apart and shriveled into a lump of flesh, the enemies on the sea surface were almost all dead or wounded, and the headache-inducing feeling of trypophobia was gone.
Total blood echoes: 2880.
Not too many, not too few, Goki had slaughtered sixty Terrorfish.
A few red-eyed Terrorfish, seemingly afraid of the two Hunters, turned and dived into the waves.
The sea became quiet again, with only shallow waves surging, almost a deathly silence.
The rising sun shone upon the land, drying the damp beach.
The white-haired girl turned her head, her pretty face exceptionally radiant in the sunlight.
Titi, my Titi, you are not stirring the tides, you are stirring my heart!
"It's over, but they will come again. You are stronger than I imagined, outsider, no, Hunter Goki."
Without even quickening her breath, Skadi shook the blood from her greatsword, not even considering this a hunt.
After this battle, the performance of this "Hunter" made Skadi set aside her last bit of Aegir pride, choosing to address this land-dweller by name.
After all... Aegir was gone.
"Although our physical qualities differ, your combat skills are very strong. Your prey should be larger and swifter—you are indeed a Hunter."
Her ruby-like eyes looked at Goki, Skadi's brows filled with curiosity, but then she deliberately concealed it.
"After that calamity, Iberia no longer sent fleets out to sea. To combat the Seaborn, have they already cultivated such professional troops—do you have companions?"
Iberia, a country adjacent to the ocean, seemed to have experienced decline, but even at its peak, it wasn't much stronger—Skadi didn't know much about the land.
"No, Nona Skadi, I do not belong to Iberia; I am a wanderer—and I think, I am the only Hunter like me in the world."
Shrugging, Goki was a little out of breath; the excitement of battle faded, and he felt tired.
Goki's body was much weaker than he remembered, even weaker than when he first arrived in Yharnam.
In fact, his body could hardly keep up with the speed of combat he thought of.
He would ask the Nona later.
"Is that so, only you are left... I, too, am the only one left."
The excitement of cornering prey faded, and Skadi felt sad.
She was the only Abyssal Hunter left; she could no longer share the joy of victory with her companions.
"Regardless, you are safe for now, Hunter. The Seaborn are pursuing me; go in the opposite direction from me. No more people should suffer."
Although it was nice to see another Hunter who also fought the Seaborn on dry land, feeling the "wounds" her body sustained in the last battle, Skadi still decided to leave alone.
"I don't know where the nearest city is, but following the main road should be right. Let's part ways here, Hunter."
Putting away her greatsword, Skadi turned and left, without the slightest reluctance.
"Perhaps we could travel together. You see, neither of us is familiar with this place, and perhaps traveling together... at least we could take turns on watch?"
Goki was also used to traveling alone, but having come to another world and finally encountering a character whose background he knew, he wasn't eager to let her go.
"Skadi is going to wander, and she hasn't become a bounty hunter yet, so it seems there's still a long time before the main storyline..."
"No, my existence will only bring calamity; the Seaborn will follow like a shadow. I hope we never meet again, Hunter."
Shaking her head, her almost floor-length white hair danced in the sea breeze, and Skadi turned to leave.
Currently, she dared not travel with anyone.
"Alright, I can't stop you. May your future dreams be peaceful and calm, Hunter."
Sighing, Goki didn't try to hold her back much longer and bid her farewell.
He knew the game's plot; few could harm this overpowered Little Orca. Her wandering journey was full of twists and turns, but safe enough.
"Where should I go next? At this time, Titi has just come ashore. Babel probably hasn't fallen yet, and Rhodes Island is still buried in Leithanien's soil—should I join them? After all, they are the main characters."
Trying hard to recall the main storyline, Goki shrugged, pondering his future while squatting beside the still not completely shriveled Terrorfish corpse, pulling out a syringe and some small bottles from his pants pocket.
Since Seaborn Blood, like the monsters in Yharnam, could heal him, then as a Hunter, he had to prepare some blood vials himself.
Otherwise, did you think the rats in Yharnam's sewers would prepare bottles for you? Hunters collected them themselves!
As skillfully as usual, Goki had just drawn a tube of reddish-blue blood when he directly plunged the syringe into his right leg.
Every skilled Old Hunter must have two scarred thighs.
"Hoo..."
However, before Goki could even feel the comfort of his body recovering, a whistling hurricane swept before him.
"You're insane! You're injecting Seaborn Blood. Do you know what you're doing?"
Rushing in front of Goki, Skadi gripped his hands with immense strength, her face filled with anxiety.
"Treatment! You must receive treatment immediately. Come with me to the nearest city!"