Since Caryll was already insane, it did not take much for her to buy into the truth of this reality. Even if she was just a copy made from the dreams of the Moon Presence and the Nightmare Spell, she was still just the same as Gehrman remembered.
"So there's this other Great One. Except it's greater than the Great Ones. And that thing created a Dream that is a copy of Yharnam. And this Great Great One managed to seal off the voices of the cosmos!? That makes perfect sense!"
If any other person were to say this, it would be with a sarcastic undertone. But Caryll was fully on board with this. In fact, she was ecstatic.
"And you get different rewards for killing Beasts! That's so much more fun! Hell, I might have become a Hunter in a Dream like this. Do you think I could get these magic weapons? Should I go out and start killing Beasts? You have to show me how this works!"
"You are not going to kill beasts. And you wouldn't get rewards from them either," Gehrman said. "This dream, or rather this 'Nightmare' is operating on weird rules. The Nightmare Spell is supposed to be able to recreate Yharnam. The only one with any access to its features is me. In fact, I think it might be impossible for anyone to even conceive of its existence."
"So what am I then?" The Runesmith asked.
"...an exception?"
"You're damn right I am!" Caryll let loose a raspy laugh which was surprisingly girlish.
Gehrman too felt a grin pull at his cheeks. This…wasn't the Caryll he remembered. Or perhaps it was Caryll who he had long forgotten. This was the woman who existed before the ravings and utterings fractured her brain. She was, at her core, a scholar who thirsted for knowledge.
"The most important thing then," Caryll mused. "Is for you to kill as many Beasts as possible. Consuming their flesh and blood is rather unorthodox, but assuming this Great Great One works as you say, it shouldn't be an issue."
"Besides that, it will also serve to help my weapons achieve a higher Rank," Gehrman said. He only remembered to mention this fact now. Indeed over the months with Nephis exterminating the monsters of the Forgotten Shore, he had done quite a lot of work in achieving 10,000 kills. Now the Runes of the Spell revealed a new number.
Enemies Slain: [2,601/10,000]
Not all of the creatures he had killed could offer an abundance of Blood Fragments, but they could all be classified as Enemies Slain. For this reason, the counter had increased greatly over the last couple of months. If he had kept his current pace, he might have been able to fill the counter in about one and a half years.
However, he doubted that this particular Nightmare would take that much time. The conflict–which was likely the slaughter of the Vilebloods–was a fixed point in time that would likely occur within a couple of months. Perhaps Gehrman could delay it by providing Logarius and his Executornirs with proper weaponry, but if he did so the Church would likely step in.
And so he was on a timer.
A couple of months to get as many Memories, Blood Fragments, and Enemies Slain as possible.
If he was able to become a Titan, or even a Terror while also wielding Transcendent weapons and perhaps a more useful Charm Memory, then he might very well be able to fight enemies of the 3rd Rank.
This Rank consisted of Fallen creatures, and though Gehrman had started to hunt them with some ease, the real issue was their human counterparts. "Ascended" was the classification of humans who reached the 3rd Rank. This was also the Rank one would be granted if they passed the Second Nightmare.
There was a large difference between Ascended and Fallen. And Gehrman suspected that he might have to fight the far more dangerous Ascended in this Nightmare.
In the First Nightmare, Ludwig had been granted a strength (or perhaps limited to the strength) of an Awakened (a human of the 2nd Rank). At the time, this was two Ranks above Gehrman since he hadn't even reached the First Rank. Now that he was in the Second Nightmare, it stood to reason that the humans of Yharnam have their limiters further removed and be roughly the strength of Ascended humans. In fact, some might even rival the Transcendent Humans who were of the 4th Rank.
In the Waking World, Transcendent Humans were extraordinarily rare. This was the highest Rank any human had achieved, and there were less than 40 of them in the entire world. The disparity between Ranks grew exponentially at the higher stages, and it was safe to say that no human of the 1st Rank could ever hope to match them. In terms of physicality, they were mostly able to go faster than the speed of sound. At Gehrman's current power, he could barely follow such a thing with his eyes.
But with the right tools, he might be able to flee.
In truth, gaining power was the second most important goal in this Nightmare. The primary goal was to survive.
"You still with me?" Caryll's voice cut through his musings.
"Yes," Gehrman sat up straighter in his chair. "Sorry I got carried away in thought."
She blinked slowly before saying in an unsure voice, "You know, you're a lot nicer than the Gehrman I remember."
"I…thought the Old Gehrman was chivalric."
"Well he wasn't very nice to me. And you certainly weren't polite to your students. I think he only performed that way sometimes to feel better about himself. It was a formula he could fall back upon when he wanted to act 'human'."
"I am still mostly made up of that man's thoughts. So you are actually the one who isn't being very nice."
She waved this comment aside and decided to get back to the topic at hand. "So what can I do? There isn't really any way for me to be useful in this world without my abilities as a Runesmith."
Gehrman considered this. He had hoped to draw powers from the Great Ones, the Void creatures who existed beyond this plane of existence. But without the Great Ones, their language would be useless…or would it?
"You do have a Rune Workshop Tool, right?"
Caryll shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Yeah? But the Great Ones won't be listening."
"I don't think they actually need to." Gehrman stood up, eyes glistening with a sudden curiosity. "The nature of your Runes were never clear. Is there power communion with the Great Ones like the power of Blood? Or does it draw from the very fabric of the Universe and the Cosmos themself? If it's the latter, then they still might hold power."
At these words, Caryll herself lit up. "Hah! I can't believe I didn't think of that! This is superb!" Caryll turned a warm smile to Gerhman's face. "Hey, if you ever get out of this Nightmare and get back to Yharnam, tell the real me about this, will you? My small fake existence would feel a lot better if it was actually able to come up with real findings!"
This proclamation, said with pure joy, caused a deep sadness and pity to overwhelm his heart. This was once again the naive morality of Dorian at work. Hearing such sad words, hearing this person dismiss their life as so insignificant, it was surprisingly painful.
But it also wasn't entirely wrong.
This Caryll was a fabrication after all, something a greater existence had dreamed up. Did such a thing make her inherently less valuable? Gehrman wasn't sure, but he wouldn't ponder this for long. Caryll arrived with the tool.
"Okay, I've got 20 Runes to try out!"
These Runes were kept on several pieces of paper.
…At least, they were paper.
When the language of the Great Ones took physical form, the fabric of this much weaker reality started to warp and twist. The papers were an unnatural black and the drawings illusory and filled with starlight.
She shoved one of these things into the Tool. This strange mechanism was the creation from madness. From the outside it looked like a broken steam pump that was flattened and encased in leather. The paper slid into what looked like something in between a folder and a bag. A few levers were placed on top. All of the materials were prisince, and several lines throughout the tool indicated a strange pattern woven throughout the contraption.
"You remember how to use it?"
Gehrman nodded. It was such a strange experience that he doubted anyone could forget. He leaned forward with cautious intent and brought himself close to the machine. Then, he grabbed the levers on top and started to fiddle around with them.
Suddenly, grooves and lines started to appear faintly in the bottom of the Tool. These lines seemed to follow his eyes, dancing around his vision as the Rune refused to take shape. Of course, this was how it normally worked.
If one beheld one of the Caryll Runes as they were initially written out by the Runesmith, one would forget their shape and what they represented as soon as they turned away. This was the Universe's way of keeping this translation of Arcane knowledge from mortals.
However, Caryll changed all of that. She alone was able to naturally imbue a Runes power into herself, never losing it.
Because of this, she could transcribe them and with the help of this Rune Workshop Tool, she was able to trick the human mind into accepting the Rune as well.
Since it was unnatural to access the power of Caryll Runes, the Scholars of Brygenwerth (and Old Gehrman himself) had created a way to trick the mind to perceive the Rune in a way that was similarly unnatural.
Gehrman couldn't explain the exact science behind it, he only knew the results.
An immediate and profound phenomena would occur in one's mind after they were granted the power of the Rune. Depending on the power the Rune invoked, the Hunter's body would feel a "snap" throughout their entire existence. It was an instantaneous and nauseating transition. Until the Hunter felt it, he would keep messing around with the levers. Changing the faint patterns of Arcane light until their subconscious recognized the Rune and was able to imbue its power.
…However, after several long minutes Gehrman stood up. There was no snap, and no new powers.
He frowned, but did not give up. "Which Rune was that?" Gehrman asked.
"Arcane Lake," Caryll said. "I figured a boost in defense would be helpful."
Indeed the 'Lake' classifications of Runes specialized in defense and resistance. It would be nice, but there were other Runes that could be more helpful.
"Try one of the 'Metamorphosis' Runes."
Caryll nodded in response and put the Ruen into the tool.
This time, he got results almost immediately. But the results were a lot different than he remembered. The signature 'snap' came as the Runes power settled in him, but then a tearing ran through him.
The pain of having his being ripped apart was so sudden and so profound he didn't even scream. All he could do was quiver in the shock of it all.
Then he was back.
Then he was gone.
A cycle of horrific being and non-being rifled through him. He felt the reality around him turn translucent, and suddenly he was surrounded by trillions of stars.
The cosmos showed around him, but it felt very different from the Void. It was connected with countless ethereal strings of light. These strings connected each and every star in an impossibly complex web.
The Void had been chaos.
This was order.
Then it disappeared and one of the last things he had expected occurred. His vision returned to normal and he fell to the floor of Caryll's home. He could vaguely hear her call out to him, but it was a different voice that took all of his attention.
[You have received an Attribute.]
Gehrman gasped for breath, his jaw gaped at his confusion and wonder. He pulled up the runes created by the Spell. The runes that described his very being.
Name: Gehrman.
True Name: Paleblood
Rank: Sleeper.
Class: Devil
Soul Core: [4/7]
Blood Fragments: [8/4,000]
Memories: [Burial Blade (Sealed)], [Hunters Attire (Sealed)], [Blunderbuss (Sealed)], [Uncanny Saw Spear], [Portable Blood Imbiber], [Red Messenger Ribbon]
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Sixth Sense], [Inheritor of Madness], [Contracted], [Otherworldly Seal], [Otherworldly Abomination], [Unnatural Rune Witness]
Aspect: [The Last Hunter].
Aspect Rank: [Divine].
Just as he suspected, a new string of runes was listed among his Attributes. The knowledge granted by the spell allowed for instant translation. He focused on [Unnatural Rune Witness] and the glimmering, illusory runes changed.
Attribute Description: [A genius once parted the veil between the dream and the cosmos. Despite being unable to understand it, she brought with her knowledge of the great beyond. As a witness to this knowledge, you can imbue unnatural power from the –Unknown–.]
But that was not all. Underneath the description was another section entirely.
Runes Memorized
??????: –-
Rune 1: [Anti-Clockwise Metamorphosis]
Rune 2: —
Rune 3: —
His creaking laugh tore its way out of Gehrman's throat.
Yet another piece of Yharnam had breached the reality of the Nightmare Spell.