#old hunter gratia

[heraldofcrow]

“Fromsoftware doesn’t have stronk and muscular women” COUNTERPOINT!!!

[bellringermal]

Other stuff I've been working on while trying different coloring and line styles.

I much prefer the cartoonish look, ngl! Anything can be a Disney movie if you believe in it hard enough :P

[katyahina]

Bloodborne beach episode!.... the NORMAL beach episode, and not how it went... the last time -_- *glares at monster hunters from Byrgenwerth*

In case if Tumblr ruins the quality, I shared full res on Devi: ( x ).

I've started this WIP back in summer 2021, but I've abandoned it since then, and only this summer decided to actually finish it.. Some errors since that time carried on as a result, and arguably I draw a bit better humans now... But the only true way to learn to draw large 'crowd' pieces like this is to simply draw more of them, hahah; Sizing of characters within perspective is yet to be improved, of course, not to mention that some characters are not drawn quite accurately to my heights headcanons for them but I will be real, it was fun to draw! And I just... really wanted to draw something happy and colorful for a long while, since BB's grim atmosphere striped me out of this fix. At least now there is ER for my bright colors needs lol

(Important: there are no OCs on this piece! The girl under Willem's chair is Rom, guy chased by the seaqulls is Bloody Crow, there is Byrgenwerth gatekeeper being buried in sand by Dores the Byrgenwerth graveguard (canon characters only mentiond in the item most of the players never found), Choirling is Yurie, girl next to Maria is of course Adeline, and the guy with the kite is Caryll!)

[fantomette22]

I guess those drawings could be a following of the little oneshot i written a while ago. In one of my story, Gehrman gift the hair ornament to Maria a few years after the fishing hamlet « incident »

The other day i wonder which other characters would still be around at this moment. Would they knew about it? How would they react ? 👀

Yes they’re going to get tease for a while 💀Kinda annoying after they explain it was « just a gift » You know, just your typical gift from a friend to another…

It’s not like that guys… it’s just a gift you know ! 😅

Yeah sure 😏 [they don’t buy it for a second]

(In another circumstances it would be more than just a little gift. But Yharnam & their mental states are slowly becoming a mess and worsening so.. too bad… but perhaps it’s better it stayed this way…)

1st drawing : Caryll, Rom, Maria, Adeline (i don’t have a precise design for her so i went with the basic white church set), Brador & Laurence in the background who can’t believe it (« the mad lad he finally did it!! »)

2nd : Boom hammer hunter, Gratia, Gehrman, Ludwig, another old hunter (yeah the gramps of my own hunter) & Laurence again in the background who came up running xD

[katyspersonal]

dfhdshfds I will be thinking about Mal's fanart of Gratia, Maria and Izzy depicted together all day ;-; It is all I ever wanted ;-;

[nishihii]

people will call maria feminine despite how in both a historical and in-game universe context she dresses very masculine.

whether it's yharnam or cainhurst she will be seen as rather masculine. there were very few female old hunters- in fact we only know of two; maria and henriett. (and possibly gratia? gratia wears the yharnam hunter set meaning she was employed by ludwig and therefore came after. the same could be said for henriett, though. she wears more modern hunter clothing.) you could claim both of their masculine appearances are due to a lack of different hunter clothing at the time- however, maria's was specifically tailored for her in cainhurst where they have gendered clothing.

the regular knight sets, described very briefly and without detail:

male knight set: primarily blue with red and gold accents, cravat, striped trousers, long coat, low ponytail wig tied by a black bow, boots below knees

female knight set: primarily red with black and gold accents, cravat, shorter coat but features a skirt, higher ponytail wig tied with a far thinner red bow, small hat with a feather on top of the wearer's head, boots below knees

things to note about maria's outfit: primarily blue, features a red accent on the inside of her long coat, striped trousers, low ponytail tied with a black bow

now, please note that the female church hunter sets are different to the male- while the male has trousers the female has a long skirt. the yharnam hunter set is also different- male featuring trousers and an open coat, while the female has a closed coat, giving the silhouette of a dress (it does have trousers, though. yay.)

so yeah, maria would be seen as a very masculine woman in both her home land and yharnam.

in conclusion: maria butch butch butch butch butch butch butch butch

[thebrightestlodge]

Putting both Simple Gratia drawings together because I cherish her. Farm girl from the edges of Hemwick. Tearing apart beasts with farm equipment earned her a spot within the Hunters' ranks as a hero of the common man. A sunny disposition slowly became a silent brutality as she was molded into a sledgehammer given human form. Her last hours of sanity spent trying to repent before succumbing to the seething blood ocean that drowned all the other Old Hunters, washing them ashore into the Hunter's Nightmare.

[spirngakawening]

Npmd name stuff

Raw notes, can't bother editing

Stephanie (Greek): "crown, wreath"; "that which surrounds"

Lauter (German): clear, pure; honorable

Lautering "is the beer brewing process that separates the mash into clear liquid wort and residual grain" (according to wikipedia)

Lauter can also mean louder, noiser; all, many

Crown Pure

Peter (Greek): stone

Spankoffski (Polish): hhh I spent hours on this and I don't even have a clear answer

-offski = -owski = possessive surname from given name

Like, name/nickname/word > place name > surname

I can't find name meanings/origins for Spankoffski but there are real people with that surname

Could be explained by:

• A change in spelling, because names get altered all the time (similar surnames include Pankowski, Stankowski, Dankowski, Frankowski, Jankowski, Bankowski)

• Deriving from a Polish word that idk – I found spanie (sleeping/sleeping place; maybe Pete had a sleepy ancestor??) – or from a related language (Czech has spánek (sleep/temple) & spánkový (temporal)). Idk. I don't speak these languages

Stone of the Sleeping-place

Richard (Old German): brave ruler (rih + hart; ruler + brave)

Lipschitz (Ashkenazi Jewish): lipa + itz; linden tree + place

Linden trees have a lot of cultural significance (wikipedia)

Brave-ruler Linden-place

Ruth (Hebrew): friend; English word meaning pity/compassion (e.g. in 'ruthless')

Fleming (English): person from Flanders (waterlogged land (i.e. marshes)) – to do with water/flow, also fleeing/flight

Friend Flemish

Grace (English): from Latin gratia; 17th century puritan name

Chasity (English): derives from Chastity (purity, celibacy), Latin castus (cut off, separated, pure), related to chastise

Grace Purity

Maxwell (Scottish): Mack's stream (Mack from Magnus, Latin, meaning great)

Jägerman (German): jäger + mann; hunter man

Great's-well Hunter-man

Additional notes:

Interesting that Grace's and Steph's surnames both relate to Purity - something something neither of them achieve the purity they're expected to

Chastity and castration seem to have the same root... interesting...

Sadly fitting that Ruth's name can mean Pity

Richie's name meaning Brave Ruler,, this is so sad, alexa play the i'm not a loser motif

Max's full name being Maxwell not Maximillian,, he gets to be Great but not the Greatest

Maxwell and Fleming are both habitational names related to water

Fleming is also related to flight or escape...

Pete's surname probably changed from the original at some point. Or I just suck at researching

[katyahina]

It is a rare one out of me to just draw faces of the characters, but I haven't drawn a 'realistic human' for 10+ years until Bloodborne so please accept my face studies ._.' Here's THE big and powerful woman.

[fantomette22]

Okay but what do you think about each of 'main seven' SoTE NPCs? (Leda, Freyja, Hornsent, Ansbach, Moore, Thiollier and Dane)? Which one is your favourite?

I'm glad you ask! But again I can't have ONE FAVORITE I'm bad at choosing one above all. ALL THE TIME!!!! 😂

Ok anyway I think each of those characters are very well done! Both individually and as a group!

They are all unique and quite interesting and I love their designs! And it is just so rare to have a big group like that of 7 SEVEN WHOLE PEOPLE who clearly have connections and interactions in a fromsoftware title like Hello?!?! (not just implied or in the lore).

Usually we have just a couple of like 2-3 characters per quest who really interact with each others. (and not just acknowledge/know the persons. Like Gideon & co or Sellen/Jerren quest or even Eileen/Henryk/Bloody Crow quest. It's usually a very limited number of npc per quests. Even for Ranni's quest there's not that much characters. As for Oedon Chapel all the characters don't really interact for each other besides Arianna/Adella and it's not positive XD

I found amazing they finally made a group of npcs we can really picture and see for our own eye!

Even if it's just in a cinematic of all of them together once lol or a battle to death. Just look at this...

I mean, in Bloodborne, many people do agree that, for exemple many important lore characters actually knew each others or even were hunters together at the same time (because it's up to interpretations, simpler and really fun & create cool& crazy stories!) but we can never be fully sure. For exemple did Laurence, Micolash, Rom, Caryll actually went at Byrgenwerth around the same time? If not years/decades apart? Same for old hunters like Maria, Ludwig, Izzy Gratia & co etc did they really hunt side by side and nit years apart?

On the contrary we are sure that Ornstein, Artorias, Ciaran & Gough fought together, same for Gwen & co but we don't really see it in game with our character.

I mean idk how to explain but it feel very impactful and unique to have all this unique characters work together/have links and made us the player, and our characters do quests with all of them! I'm glad Fromsoftaware did that at least!

And can we talk about this masterpiece of a fight and music?!!? they went so hard! omg it was incredible and so emotional! 10/10

Now what do I think of each of them? Oh boy

Well first they are seven of them. Like the seven guardians of light of kingdom hearts and many other thing. Like the number of runes we got on the main bosses 👀

This is a joke yes

-Ok let's go with Leda now

Since that artwork pop out I'm absolutely in love with the aesthetic ❤️ absolutely beautiful! Was very intrigued for sure. A dear a loyal follower of Miquella, what many people wanted to see or be! What an occasion. I appreciated her quickly for helping us!

But the more I advanced in the dlc the more I grew concerned, worried, scarred and even a bit terrified of her! I think no one expected it but she's capable of coldly doing the worst & killed past allies and that's terrifying. We know her sword literally have the blood of the past other needle knights too 😰 Still, I want to give a bit of nuance because it's up to interpretations but perhaps they did killed each others one by one and Leda just didn't kill her old squad all alone scary that things repeat itself... man must have been a big mess I really wonder what went down... probably a big tragedy too.

-Freyja : I really enjoyed her the antic/grec armor! That's so cool. It's so funny but when I met Freyja it went like this :

*Arrived in front of the npc* Hello sir! *talk to the npc*

*Freyja start to speak*

Me : Oh hello Ma'am?! 👀

I think many had assumptions with just the trailer! 😂 Likewise for Thiollier, on first trailer impression I would have assume a woman.

And I'm just so so happy that actually basic trope are swap! It just even more cool I love them so much!! <3

I really like her link with other characters and her quest in the storehouse. Girl is really the strong friend that need help in maths XD also her backstory with Radahn & Miquella is very interesting

-Speaking of Thiollier, I really like the guy too! <3 poor baby just wanted a hug from Trina... same fr I pity him a bit during that but after he calm down I know he's a true homies that will stand with me! I'm very intrigued by his backstory too... fell sad.

-Moore : aww look at this little guy 🥺 who like to collect stuff. So much autistic vibe jckfbh. Anyway he deserved better 😭

-Dane: really mysterious and interesting character for sure. I beat him first or 2nd try I thinK? Not that hard but he don't have weapons and is very strong respect! I like that he leave us message/ stuff around waterfall too

-Hornsent : very intriguing too 🤔 Also I screw up his quest kinda 💀 forgot to help him against Leda before Messmer dcnfnvnjfv also his link with Grandam (scorpion stew etc) and potentially Romina are very interesting! Why Romina? Well when I couldn't beat the final boss I discovered bro invade us just before Romina somehow?! I have no idea how did I missed him ?! So yes he try to block the way to the tower but more directly Romina. And he's a hornsent. So idk maybe there's a connection ?😅

-Ansbach : ah the goat! Of course I like the grandpa with a scythe and a helmet like the cainhurst one! 😂 What can I say I really like this character, he's wise and very kind towards us and looks so cool! He help us a lot. he have crazy ass revelation too O_O the only thing I can reproach him is that he used to work for Mohg and when he was younger probably did some very wild if not awful thing... he really don't feel that now hm? Anyway really like him too!

[katyspersonal]

*Gascoigne was affiliated with the Healing Church, but is still called an Old Hunter as well! I guess he is a hybrid of Gehrman's and Church's type of hunters?

**For example, Izzy could have been amongst Old Hunters although not specified! Or Eileen might have caught Gehrman's practices personally despite there being generations of Hunters of Hunters before her

***It is a character from Dark Souls 1 very blatantly hinted to have been kidnapped from Yharnam, I included him for the sake of fairness don't @ me xD

[katyspersonal]

Thank you for reading this and the response, this kind of discussions IS interesting and not something obvious! I can now see what prompted the negative reaction if that Youtuber never addressed the ones mistranslations that mattered for their point about these characters a lot!

I want to still disagree that the Doll looks housewiveish; her clothes look more like something an average woman in Yharnam would wear outside, especially in chilly seasons like autumn or spring, rather than indoor-sy clothing! Interestingly, the Doll's has at least three elements of what Maria herself used to wear: the shoes, the brooch, and the ribbon!

For me this feels like a further evidence of the Doll being a thing of grieving and immortalising the person, using the clothing elements of an actual person who passed away.

Maria discarded her weapon in the well, presumably being heartbroken because of the Fishing Hamlet, and was no longer willing to hunt! We meet her still having her Hunter outfit and with the weapons in the Nightmare realm, which is Hell, and I think implication that this version of Maria is the one she loathes the most is clear! Further backed by the fact that two items associated with her era as the Old Hunter, a photo from Abandoned Old Workshop and a Pthumerian Chalice dungeon, are on the table next to her:

I will be honest though, the Chalice one was an UNREAL headache to confirm, as I had to dig into figurine of Lady Maria for this. Here ( x ) is a post on this for reference. But, according to Gehrman, Old Hunters were diving into the Chalice Dungeons no less than Tomb Prospectors, as he himself urges you to seek this exact Chalice as the source of their power:

^ He refers to Old Yharnam, where you get this Chalice by hunting Blood-Starved Beast, also is associated with Byrgenwerth like Maria since he calls Willem for help and Fishing Hamlet priest curses Byrgenwerth for the massacre.. you get the idea.

So yeah, I think it was clear to see that Maria was not willing to be remembered as a hunter, so the Doll had to be custom made missing that murderous vibe! This is where everyone is free to interpret why Doll is feminine in the contrast, because like... yeah, if Maria is presumably masculine, why Doll has this cute skirt and flowers in her hair instead of trousers?

Maybe Maria used to be similar to how Doll is, and Gehrman represented that "ruined innocence" by reflecting Maria's nicer, happier past self in the Doll! (bonus points if he feels personal guilt in her tragic fate as the one who taught her to kill) (bonus points if he simply knew her since childhood and this is just clothes similar to her little self, weird flex but man is grieving)

+ Japanese media also frequently plays with the idea of a woman trying to resemble a man in appearance to be taken more seriously in male-dominated field. The only female Old Hunters present in the game are Maria and Gratia, everyone else is an old murderous dude! This is very 50/50 I know, but origin culture of the media can be insightful sometimes! We can't know this, maybe Miyazaki has a different approach entirely, just that this case could have happened.

Or maybe Maria was simply having no strong preference and liked all, masculine or feminine clothing! I'd say her Hunter outfit might also be more practical since other 'hunters' who wear skirts (Choirlings, Blood Saints and female Knights) appear to be either indoor-sy people who aren't concerned by a beast grabbing their skirt with the claw, or not hunters at all. The interpretation that preserves as many factors as possible is that Gehrman making Doll feminine was his irrational effort and intention to "protect" Maria by "trapping" her in the vibe of femininity and softness and I can get behind this one too!

...and then, we DO have the possibility of Gehrman actually having the dreams about marrying Maria and living with her, but at the same time really recreating the Doll in his desired image of a wife. Not HOUSE wife, just wife. xD There is still a way to interpret his character this way, only, because of retranslations, we now know that it came not from the place of creepy and ugly desires, but from the place of getting lost in his originally very warm feelings and submerging in fantasy, forgetting reality. This does stand close to the good ol' 'objectifying and striping away her masculinity' version but this time with a necessary nuance of his motivation and nature of his emotions, which is acceptable terms for me personally!

______________

All in all, I agree with you that how localisation team done Gehrman completely dirty feels intentional at the first glance :т Last Protagonist's document and the original voice track has been in open access for years but nobody thought to actually use these tools and connect the dots this way.... until the summer of 2021 when found these and used my autism superpowers to analyse these fgdfgsds I really hope though that some popular Youtuber will sooner or later bring these bits up because there is no way this information will become universal coming from a nobody (me) on a dying blue site lol. (Vaati where is your habit to steal unpopular people's loredigs for yourself when we NEED it???????? lol)

Losing respect for a video game essayist YouTuber over how he interprets and presents Ghermin in bloodborne.

Specifically Gehrman’s relationship with The Doll and thus his relationship with Maria…

Like… if I told you an old guy made a person sized doll you’d already be “that’s sketch”. If I told you that doll looked like a young woman and was his only companion you’d be “…that doesn’t make it better.” Then I tell you that this doll was made to look like one of HIS STUDENTS! You’d want to stop hanging out with me because “why do you know this guy?”

“You’re welcome to use whatever you find. …even the doll, should it please you…”

Who hears this and sees this as anything other than unhealthy obsession and objectification? Who sees this and interprets it as ‘love’?

Like even before figuring out the whole *waves spooky tendrils around* that is Bloodborne… I want to kill Ghermin so The Doll has some company that isn’t an eternally old man in a blood pact with the moon who created her with the sole purpose of fulfilling his creepy fantasies.

[bellringermal]

“The hulking hunter woman Simple Gratia, ever hopeless when handling hunter firearms, preferred to knock the lights out of beasts with this hunk of iron, which incidentally caused heavy stagger. Gratia was a fearsome hunter, and to onlookers, her unrelenting pummeling appeared oddly heroic. No wonder this weapon later assumed her name."

[Fist of Gratia]

And finally here’s some pics of my Gratia cosplay <3

[cheebuss]

There we go it took like a whole 2 hours w/ @nishihii ‘s help sksksklsdjklg

no i don’t take criticism 

[nishihii]

Days 24, 25 & 26: Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower, Ludwig, the Holy Blade & Simple Gratia

they are friends :)

[hellsinvestigativereporter]

Blood Borne: Sanguine Ardente Chapter 1

Daigo made his way down the stairs with the church acolyte leading the way. He only had on small clothes at the moment but that was why they were heading to the tailor and armorer. He stepped into the room once they reached it and looked around. The wall was lined with silver swords, black and white articles of clothing, and a row of simple fire arms. He nodded and got to work. The acolyte left him and he got ready. He put on a pair of black slacks and knee high boots and socks. He then grabbed a belt with slots for holding bullets, vials, and other tools onto his waist to both hold up his pants, but to also insure he had supplies on hand. He then put on a black shirt, vest, long coat with shoulder cape, and also a wide brimmed hat. He put on good sturdy leather gauntlets as well that he sliced the fingers off of so he could have more dexterity with his fingers. He then grabbed a silver sword and sheath, and then grabbed a pistol that he then put into a holster that he grabbed. He now looked like a right proper member of the church. 

As he finished getting ready, Ludwig walked in. Daigo turned to look at the man and held out his arms. “Do I look respectable enough?” He asked with a coy grin. 

Ludwig nodded. “Yes, you certainly pass as a church member...though perhaps you may wish to actually join us someday?” 

Daigo burst into laughter. “No offense Ludwig, but my faith in holy men at the moment is very, very small. Because when push comes to shove, they’ll look out for number one every time.” 

Ludwig shook his head. “A pity that is how you see us. But perhaps in time our actions will speak for themselves.” 

Daigo drew his sword and gave it a few practice swings. “We’ll see. I’m not so jaded as to not give people a chance to show me that they’re better than what I’ve seen in the past.” he sheathes the sword and walks out of the room. “Having said that.....forgive me if I maintain my aloofness.” 

Ludwig nodded in agreement and the two men left the room and proceeded to head out of the building. It was a bit of a lengthy walk but in time they found themselves out in the streets, watching the city of Yharnum go about its daily business. As they walked, Ludwig began to explain more about the city. “This is Old Yharnum. The city’s oldest section. A rather lovely spot in the city with the most history. Its also home to the oldest cathedral in the city. Its a popular visiting spot.” 

Daigo looked around as the man spoke, seeing the old buildings, and people move. It was so peaceful it seemed amazing that there was any sort of beastly plague at all. “I like it. It has a very quaint charm to it.” 

Ludwig came to a stop at one of the doors that lined the street and opened it. “Here is where you will be staying.” He said as he walked in.

Daigo followed him in and was led up stairs of what he could now see was a boarding house. They went to the top floor and came to a large black door with the communion symbol of the healing church on it. “This is your room.” 

Daigo walked in and saw a cozy room with a large trunk, a work bench, a praying altar, a large number of books, and a beautiful view of the main square where the boarding house was at. He took out a cigarillo and lit it, taking a puff and inspecting the room closer. The bedroom was off the side of the main room and a wash room connected to the bedroom on the other side. Once he saw everything he looked to Ludwig. “So...when do I get to work?” He asked. 

Ludwig reached into his belt and pulled out a black pocket watch with a golden communion symbol on it, tossing it to him gently. Daigo caught it with his free hand. “That is a Hunter’s Watch. It will alert you when a night of the hunt starts.”

Daigo opened the watch and inside he saw your typical black clock face with golden roman numerals inside of it. Each arrow gold as well. On the underside of the front clip opposite the watch face was an inscription: Praise the Good Blood. He smirked at that little statement as it reminded him of times past. He attached the chain to his own belt and put the watch away. “And what am I to do in the meantime pray tell?” 

Ludwig leaned against the door frame. “Well, you are to be given a weekly allowance to use as you see fit of 100 gold coins. You can use it for food, weapons, supplies.....or if you so fancy....there are mmmm..... special ladies about town who offer other more..entertaining services.” He said in a straight manner. 

Daigo cocked a very skeptical brow. “Huh...usually religious groups tend to teach its members to stay away from that.” 

Ludwig shrugged. “For what we do...sometimes a good distraction is needed. At any rate, make yourself cozy. The Hunt starts three days from now.” 

Daigo nodded. “Then I’ll have to make sure I’m ready. I look forward to seeing this...beastly scourge of yours.” 

Ludwig grinned. “It will really get your blood pumping.” He then turned and left. 

Daigo took another puff of his cigarillo and then noticed a book on the work bench, A History of Yharnum. Daigo shrugged his shoulders and sat down. Deciding to learn about the history of the city. He sat down, flicked some ashes off the tip of his cigarillo, opened the book, and began to read. 

According to the book, the church had been here for a rather long time, almost a decade and a half. They first came to Old Yharnum when the city was suffering a plague of something called, Ashen Blood. A lot of people had been dying of the disease and there was no cure for it. But then the healing church appeared and began to administer blood healing to the populace which not only healed the sick, but made them even stronger than before. It was no surprise to Daigo then as he continued to read that the church eventually became the true power of the city and built many cathedrals, hospitals, clinics, and other such places all over the city to the point that it surrounded old yharnum and then grew outward. Turning a smaller city, almost a town really, into a metropolis of medical experimentation and progress. Its healing blood being hailed as a miracle from the gods. Now the whole city was dependent on the church’s blood healing for medical treatment, but also for the economy. Apparently blood is made in such high quantities here they mix it into their drinks, and women known as Blood Saints go about distributing vials of their own blood for charity purposes. Daigo looked out the window for a moment upon reading that and wondered if he had not been summoned to a city of vampires. But he shrugged and resumed reading. Certain businesses not of the church were also in the blood brewing business though instead of healing it was in the making of sweets, liqueurs, sauces, seasonings, and any other form of edible goods. Apparently the effects of their healing blood was intoxicating. Though it begged the question...how many people willingly gave up their blood? And even among the willing, do they check to see if they are diseased in anyway? This would be something Daigo would have to look into on the side. In fact, Ludwig said he had three days before the hunt started. That meant he had three days to do what he did best...dispensed the most thirst quenching forms of justice...Frontier Justice. 

His thoughts were disturbed however when he heard a very heavy knock on the door. He went and opened it, and to his surprise he saw a giant of a woman with long red hair tied in a pony tail. She looked down and said in a husky voice. “You Daigo?” 

Daigo nodded. “Indeed...and you are?” 

The woman responded, “Name’s Gratia. I’m gonna be your partner for the time being for nights of the hunt.” 

Daigo took a step back and looked her over more. She was clearly well muscled. Had quite a few scars on her knuckles as well as one on her lip. She had eyes as green as emeralds and on her hip hung a large hatchet. “well, would you like to come in?” He asked her. 

She shook her head. “Sorry, got places to be. Just wanted to stop by and get an eyeful of ya.” 

“And do you like what you see?”

“You’re a bit on the short side. I was told you were a real tough fighter but..then again people think I aint all that smart either.” 

“And are you?” He asked.

“Nah, not really. But,” She held up a first, on it was a lump of metal that had finger holes in it, obviously for punching things. “Brains don’t do a lot of good against a strong right hook.” 

Daigo could not help but chuckle in amusement. “On that we can certainly agree.” Oh he knew he was going to get along with this one. 

“Well, nice meeting you mate. See you on the night of the hunt.” 

He nodded and watched her go. Now that was certainly an interesting encounter. He closed the door and made his way to the window. He opened it to let in a bit of the cool evening air. Down below was a man selling meats. He could hear him crying out to come and buy his fine imported meats. He could hear the slice and dice of his meat cleaver and heard people doing business with him. He sat down in his chair and took off his belt, coat, and hat. He propped his feet up on the window sill and leaned back. Now this was the life. He thought. 

------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, not far from Daigo’s new home, someone watched him from afar with a spy glass. So...they had managed to summon the Pyromancer. That...was going to complicate matters...