Blood Drunk Hunter (Shadow Slave/Bloodborne Fic)

Gehrman sat at a small table, his face seemed neutral, but he was decidedly uncomfortable. That was because Sunny was looking at him with death in his eyes. 

"You visited Caster? The bastard who tried to kill Neph? Why should I let you keep living in my house?"

A small bead of sweat trickled down Gehrman's face.

"...because you are a kind person and a good friend?"

"I am neither of those things," Sunny said coldly. 

"...because he is now something akin to a servant of mine, and I will make him suffer terrible pain in order to make him stronger?" Gehrman offered. 

"So when he has more strength he can try to kill Neph again?"

Gehrman sighed deeply. He knew that Sunny would be displeased with his new arrangement, but he was honestly being a bit scary…maybe it was because he was a shorter fellow. The rage seemed all the more intense when coming from someone of his height. 

"He won't. I've effectively removed him from Clan Valor. Though he is still staying at the Han Li mansion, he will join me after I build a stable Workshop elsewhere. He has no reason to try to do that again…besides, it wasn't as if he was super keen on the idea in the first place. Caster was brainwashed from a young age, and he didn't have enough time outside of his small world of Legacies to make him independent. I am giving him that opportunity. And while he will probably still be a hateful prick, he won't do things that are flat out evil and wrong."

Sunny glowered.

"People don't change that easily. Especially not people like him."

Gehrman lazily stood up, trying not to appear like he was running away from the conversation. He walked over to one of his cupboards and picked out a glass. Then he summoned the [Lustful Vial]. Sunny got a weird look on his face, but Gehrman just ignored it. He used the enchanted item to create a mundane substance. 

It was a fruity drink with an obscene amount of sugar. It had a pleasant orange-pink color that was reminiscent of a sunset. 

Perhaps the greatest part of being in this world was the food and drink. He hadn't realized how pale and uninspired the cuisine of Yharnam was until he tasted a true meal here. It was also an opportunity to have something other than meat, which was basically his entire diet due to the boon Nightmare Creature flesh offered. 

However, he found it hard to go back to that after witnessing the wide array of vegetables, fruits, and grains. Not to mention the food that combined all of this, such as Pizza or Pasta. Truly, there was no better thing in the world. 

And the drinks were nothing to scoff at either. He had tried many of them due to his ability to recreate them infinitely with the [Lustful Vial]. But it was this particular one that became his favorite. Though, any fruity drink would do.

After pouring the drink in the cup, he dismissed the Memory.

"Wait, summon that back," Sunny abruptly called out. 

Gehrman couldn't help but give him a horrified face. 

"Sunny, are you doing well in terms of…phsycial needs."

He blinked a couple of times before making an appalled face. 

"What!? I'm perfectly fine! I just want to study the Memory itself."

Gehrman had a brief moment of confusion before intrigue guided him to hand over the [Lustful Vial]. Sunny had grown a lot both as a fighter and–suprisngly–as a scholar. He had published a long and extensive report on the Forgotten Shore, detailing its many oddities, the landscape, and the Nightmare Creatures that inhabited it. 

At the moment, he was continuing this new hobby as he explored an area of the Dream Realm known as the Chained Isles. It was a truly strange place, with massive floating islands that were all interconnected by ancient chains. 

The islands would periodically rise and fall, causing a strange yet overwhelming pressure in their greater movements. It was a very dangerous area, with many Fallen creatures. But Sunny was an Awakened Demon now, so while Fallen creatures were dangerous, they were not insurmountable by any means. 

Additionally, his strange Echo that took the form of a lady warrior clad in armor was an Ascended Demon now. Gehrman had no idea how he managed that, since (as far as he knew) it was impossible for Echoes to grow in strength. 

He figured this was a secret of Sunny's, perhaps tied to his Aspect, so he didn't pry. 

All of this was to say, the young man was extremely capable. And the fact that he showed interest in intellectual hobbies made him all the more dangerous. 

As Gehrman considered all of this, Sunny was contemplating the Vial deeply. He seemed to be looking through the Memory. It seemed that he was seeing its very inner workings.

But that was impossible. 

His Aspect was decidedly tied to Shadows. And Gehrman was aware of his new Awakened ability, and that was a form of teleportation through Shadows, so there was nothing that could grant him such a powerful ability. 

…Besides an Attribute. 

Gehrman recalled at that moment Sunny saying he had Demon blood. Now that he looked deeper with [Eyes on The Inside] he could study this phenomena closely. 

It did appear that his blood had a certain tenacity to it. As if it was fused with his body, and unwilling to spill upon the ground. 

Additionally, the bones seemed to share a similar property. They seemed unreasonably dense, and yet simultaneously more power and dexterity. 

Did he always have bones like that? Gehrman wondered. 

And yet, he didn't dwell on this for long, as he took notice of his eyes. It seemed to be receiving a boon similar to that his blood had, but there was a qualitative difference and a functional difference. 

Ah, he can totally see the inside of Memories.

Gehrman wasn't sure how he developed this Attribute, as it seemed entirely distinct from his natural affinity. 

It made him reconsider his "rankings" in his head. 

During the Forgotten Shore, Nephis had been considerably stronger than Sunny. Obviously now that he was Awakened, the Rank difference made him stronger. 

But if they were of the same Rank once more, he was confident they would be on a relatively even playing field. 

In fact, Sunny might very well have the ability to surpass her, and everyone else in this world. 

Gehrman let out another sigh, but this time, Sunny didn't respond. He was too locked in on the Memory. 

A strange look had taken over his face. He was apparently quite confused. 

"Where did you get this?" Sunny asked. 

"My Second Nightmare. I have quite a few Memories, but this is one of the most useful. Though it comes with an annoying curse, it is manageable and it provides more utility than anything else."

Gehrman paused for a moment. 

"Is it different from other Memories?"

"Yes," was his instant response

"How so?"

At that moment, Sunny's eyes widened and a look of anguish came across his face. He was silent for a while, and then it seemed he had reached a certain limit. Though he wasn't sure what kind of limit, or why it had been activated. 

"It is made up of two different kinds of Sorceries," he eventually said. 

Gehrman was silent again. He wanted to probe further, but Sunny had fully taken his eyes off the Memory and was now staring at him. It seemed he was judging his reaction.

Did I just stumble across something important? Come to think of it, what was his Flaw?

Apart from him, he was aware of everyone's Flaw in the Forgotten Shore Cohort. Of course, Sunny was a more secretive person than most. Though he had opened up to Gehrman due to their shared experiences, he never revealed everything.

Gehrman was hesitant to ask him any more questions that might possibly make this strange phenomena clearly explainable. Though he had not spent years of time with him, he still valued Sunny (and the rest of his Cohort for that matter) nearly as much as his old students. Perhaps that was because he was more in touch with his emotions than Old Gehrman was. Whatever the case, Gehrman decided to choose his next words carefully. 

"Do you want to explain?"

Sunny's eyes widened for a very short moment, but he returned to his natural state nearly instantaneously. 

"I would rather not go into detail. But to put it bluntly, the Spell creates Memories in a certain way. The type of Sorcery it uses is special. The other Sorcery used here is something I've only seen once before."

He frowned and scratched the back of his head. 

"It was a knife made by the Sun god. In other words, Divine Sorcery."

How many crazy things has this guy encountered? Isn't the Sun god one of the Six most powerful beings in the Universe? Or at least within the realms of the Spell…until they all mysteriously died of course. For him to encounter something like that, he must be either cursed or blessed by Fate itself. 

The history and lore of the Dream Realm was exceedingly complicated, but Gehrman still familiarized himself with the basics. There were several eras in the Dream Realm, all of which were dependent on the six gods. Though there were several lesser deities during the early ages of the Dream Realm, these six reigned uncontested. 

At least, they did for several millenia. 

The fact of the matter was that the gods were all dead. 

The Spell confirmed this through multiple Memory descriptions or other times it gave information. 

It was unknown what exactly killed them, but it could be assumed that the Nightmare Spell and the spreading Corruption and Nightmare Creatures had a hand in it. No mention of the Nightmare Spell could be found in the ancient ruins that referenced the gods.

And since the Dream Realm was empty of all life besides Nightmare Creatures and the humans that moved there, there was no way to confirm any historical theories. 

Gehrman often pondered the role of the Great Ones in this realm. Though his memory of the Void had been severed, he still knew that he traveled through it to reach this world. It was safe to say that Void creatures were different from the gods in this realm. 

They were more esoteric, and lacked specific dominions and wills. Their ways were unknowable and confounding. They acted like beasts at times, but were also more enlightened than any human. 

From what he could tell, the gods were not like this. 

And yet, their power could be conceivably compared. 

"So a god made part of the Memory, but the Spell made everything else. That…makes sense I suppose. All of my Memories are probably like that. I would be surprised if that entity didn't tamper with everything I receive."

Sunny grimaced. 

"...right, that ancient god-being inside of your Soul. I am pretty sure everyone still takes that part of your story with a grain of salt," he looked down. "But this is pretty solid evidence."

An idea struck Gehrman then. 

As he was listening to Sunny, he started to imagine what the Sorcery of the Spell looked like. The true inner workings of Memories. 

But then he recalled he probably could see this.

[Eyes on the Inside] was both a passive and active ability. It could be sustained without any Essence and provided a comprehensive increase in awareness, further augmenting his [Sixth Sense] Attribute. But it could also be actively enhanced to peer into deeper truths. This was how he managed to grasp that the dark, starry area where people went after their Nightmares was actually the "programing" of the Spell. 

Gehrman furrowed his brows. 

If those strings and nodes were the true programming of the Spell, then it's likely that Memories follow the same rules. 

He slowly directed his Essence to feed into his Aspect. He had an abundance of it, but putting too much in at once would make him aware of every molecule and atom around him. 

As the world became sharper and details became more clear, he poured all his focus on the [Lustful Vial]. 

At first, he couldn't see anything. 

But then he saw two faint white lights. They were nodes, just like the ones in the Spell. 

It was much dimmer, but it was easy to understand why. This was a Memory of the 3rd Rank. Though potent for humans, it was nowhere near qualified to power the Spell. 

Two nodes…for two tiers.

After a few more moments he started to see the interconnected lines between the nodes. They were graceful and beautiful. Though they were incredibly complex, they were not endless as the Spell had been. 

Still, despite its absurd detail, there was decidedly a pattern to it. 

This was the Sorcery of the Spell. These web-like, invisible strings connect with powerful pieces of energy, and thus create enchantments. 

Still, he was unable to glimpse the so-called Divine Sorcery.

As he considered this, he felt two pops on his brain. His Insight increased by two more points. 

It was good, but it didn't help him. 

He pondered for a moment, and decided to further augment his Aspect with more Essence. 

It took him a couple moments, but he eventually saw it.

Unlike the webs of light, this appeared all at once. 

It was pale purple, but unlike the strings, it had no pattern. They were similar to veins, surrounding the beating heart that was the Spell's sorcery. 

It seemed inherently wrong, like a foul imitation. It changed the enchantment and added to it with pure force of Will. 

And yet, it was undeniably potent. The power that emanated from them was distinctly monstrous and incomprehensible. 

"Ah, that is the entity's doing, for sure."

At that moment, he received three more Insight. Perhaps it was because it was a secret relevant to Paleblood itself that it was an additional number. 

He spent a little while longer trying to make sense of it, but failed to grasp anything else. 

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and let his Aspect return to its passive state. When he opened them, he found Sunny staring right at him.

"You saw it, didn't you?"

"Uhhh, the webs of light and the pale purple Divine sorcery…yeah."

Gehrman was quite scared that Sunny would be terribly upset with him. And indeed the young man seemed quite peeved to no longer be the only person who could glimpse the source behind Memory enchantments.

And yet, he seemed to resign himself to accepting this fact. 

"Whatever, no one will believe you anyway," he put his face in his palm. "And it's not a web, it's a Weave. And this type of Sorcery is called Weaving."

Gehrman raised an eyebrow. 

"Since you found it first then you get to name it? Is that it?"

Surprisingly, Sunny shook his head. A look of grave seriousness came over his face. 

"It is called that because it was invented by Weaver, Daemon of Fate."

The gravity in this proclamation put Gehrman on edge. 

"Daemon? Were they lesser gods?"

"No," Sunny stared at him sternly. "The Daemons were seven beings that were equal to the gods. Though Weaver abstained from the war, the other six were able to put up a fight strong enough to bring about something called the Doom War. That was the calamity that erased all of the Dream Realm's humans. And made it the hellscape it is today."

Abruptly, Gehrman felt several more pops in his head. 

With a start he realized that if his Aspect was activating, then all of this was true. 

How the hell does he know all of this? Gehrman wanted to ask, but such a direct question would have been similar to what put Sunny on guard earlier. And he could tell that the young man's eyes were warning him not to inquire further. 

"I see, I appreciate the valuable Insights."

As he said this though, a thought occurred to him that made a chill shoot down his spine. 

When I first found him bleeding out in that ditch. He had said he had demon blood, but was that really what he said? At this point it's more likely that what he actually said was…Daemon blood.