[Preparing for appraisal…]
Gehrman opened his eyes and once again saw the in-between world of the Nightmare Spell. It was the same as before, with countless stars interconnected by webs of iridescent light that turned the empty abyss into a blinding tapestry.
[Dreamer! Your trial is over.]
After saying this line, Gehrman felt a shift in the reality around him. The lights of the Spell started to pulse in inconsistent patterns.
Because of this, he was able to get a sense for how large this thing actually was…or rather, he realised he couldn't.
The Nightmare Spell was so massive that it didn't seem to have an end. The lights in the dark seemed to grow even farther than those that existed in the true night sky. The sheer scale of it felt unfathomable. Like the thing encompassed the entire universe.
Then, all of it stopped and returned to normal. The Spell quietly began giving its appraisal.
[A foul Hunter found himself returned to his lost home. Exploring the lands of the ancient past, he came across the root of Impurity and the Light that banished it.
The Hunter returned to his home, only to succumb to Greed. In his bloodlust, he left to find more prey. There he came across accursed humans and sought their strength. After swearing their oath of evil, he killed many more beasts. His own Sin grew and Impurity was cultivated in this fertile ground, but it was consistently destroyed by the Light that the Hunter found.
His prey eventually changed to the ones he once called allies. In an act of selfish cruelty, he sought to end the lives of all peoples in an old castle. In this, he succeeded.
The Hunter slew knights and warriors. He gutted the Crow with broken wings. He killed the Immortal Queen by devouring all she was. And he Corrupted the man who would become a Martyr.
By the end of the night the only ones left standing were the Hunter and the beast inside him.]
Those last words echoed with open malice.
Gehrman looked out at the Spell's expanse with a deadpan look. He had not expected the Spell to make him look good, but to paint him with such villainy was quite rude. Especially considering it ignored his good deeds.
Then Gehrman noticed something wrong.
The words "the beast inside him" continued to echo throughout the entire reality.
[The beast inside him.]
[The beast inside him.]
[The beast inside him.]
[The beast inside him.]
The phrase was repeated with more and more fervor. The Spell said it so many times that it started to overlap. Gehrman, who was still in an unstable position after dying so many times, felt himself fall to his knees.
The voice was the exact same as the one who tortured him with the countless proclamations of a dead Dormant Beast.
This new phrase was repeated hundreds of times before the Spell finally quieted. Gehrman was left breathing hard, curled up in a ball as he tried to shake off the trauma induced terror that filled him.
"I don't think…I am well right now," Gehrman whispered hoarsely.
Indeed the experience of this Nightmare left him with a large assortment of Memories, two new Soul Cores, and even a life in Dorian's world…but the experience of dying several hundred times was never going to leave his mind. He could already feel the memory of that unfathomable madness clawing deep inside his mind and soul.
It would be something that never truly left him.
It made Gehrman scared.
For the first time the Hunter was truly terrified.
Even against Transcedents and creatures of the Corrupted Rank, he never truly felt fear, only the cold and real observation that he would die if he fought them.
It was nothing like this.
After a long pause, the Spell spoke once more.
[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Maneater Boar.]
[You have slain an Awakened Devil, Viper Pit Hatchling.]
[You have slain an Awakened Devil, Viper Pit Hatchling.]
The Spell started to list all of the kills Gehrman had in this Nightmare. Even though he had killed many, the Spell seemed to be performing some strange twisting of reality, as it didn't seem like much time had passed until it got to the [Queenly Vermin].
Fortunately, the Spell did not assault his mind this time. Even though each declaration came in rapid succession, it somehow felt less piercing than it had before.
Still, Gehrman felt himself pale and shiver as he felt the memories replay in his mind.
I gotta…take my mind off it.
Gehrman pulled up his runes and started to scroll through them.
He went down to his list of Memories, which now included about 40 different names. Many of them were useless to him.
They were weaker versions of weapons that fulfilled a similar purpose or they were attires that shared the same issue. Nevertheless, they each fulfilled the purpose of variety that Gehrman had wanted. Some of them offered extra protection against the cold, heat, or even certain types of attacks.
Of course, none of them could compare to the [Hunter's Attire (Sealed)]...
At the same time he had this thought, he found that very same Memory in the list, but it now had a different name.
In pale purple letters that were distinct from the blinding white of the Spell, the Memory [Hunter's Attire] sat as one of his oldest Memories.
Gehrman's pupils dilated.
Vermin had not counted as "Enemies Slain" before…but the thousands he killed were different in that they could be considered actual individual Nightmare Creatures by the Spell.
In other words, those thousands of kills he needed before unlocking the true power of his Memories had been completed.
Memory: [Hunter's Attire].
Memory Rank: Transcendent.
Memory Tier: II
Memory Type: Attire.
Memory Description: [One night, a new Hunter came across the attire of Yharnam Hunters in the bowles of a sewer. After cleaning them, the tough leather and intricate design would fit the man's body as he slaid countless beasts and covered it in shining blood].
Memory Enchantments: [Forged from Blood], [Ageless].
[Forged from Blood]: This attire is blessed with increased durability and toughness when covered in blood.
[Ageless]: This attire has seen the death of thousands of enemies. It is able to quickly repair any damage to it, even outside the owner's Soul Sea.
It had indeed reached Transcendence, but not only that, it had gained an enchantment to replace the lost [Blood Seal].
[Ageless] seemed to be a result of having met all the requirements of the [Blood Seal], and its potent enchantment intrigued Gehrman.
Pulling up the descriptions of [Burial Blade] and [Blunderbuss] he saw that they too had new enchantments.
The Blunderbuss was also a tier three weapon. Instead of having the [Trick Weapon] enchantment it had [Quicksilver]. This enchantment allowed it to create Quicksilver bullets from the supplied Blood. It wasn't something that would be improved as the weapon reached higher Ranks. It was similar to the [Trick Weapon] enchantment in that it served only to allow for the most basic of functions.
However, after the Spell first started giving him other Trick Weapons as Memories, it did not have this enchantment. Gehrman suspected that it remained on the original sealed Memories merely as a way to stabilize the items and connect them back to the physics and laws of Yharnam.
After analyzing this though, the Spell was able to recreate these effects without relying on an enchantment.
That being said, there was still a new one on the Blunderbuss, and it was quite unique.
[Weakness Mark]: After bullets from this weapon land on prey, they will be "marked" and have their weakness laid bare before the wielder of this Memory.
The subtlety of this Enchantment would be especially devastating for human opponents. Those who underestimate the Blunderbuss would find themselves exposed by the hidden Enchantment. Even if the bullet spray was blocked, it would help turn the tide of a battle.
For his trusty scythe, the Enchantment that replaced [Blood Seal] was called [Reaping Blade].
[Reaping Blade]: This weapon can deal a certain amount of soul damage.
Though the enchantment was short it was without a doubt the most absurd enchantment yet. Soul Damage was an immensely powerful enchantment that was so rare that (to his knowledge) not a single Sleeper on the Forgotten Shore was able to perform it. No Memory or Echo he encountered did this either.
The only thing that could potentially be similar to the description of Soul Damage, was what had occurred when he had been torn apart by the countless Queenly Vermin that came from Annalise's flesh.
In that moment–before the purity of the [Red Messenger Ribbon] started slaughtering them–he had his very essence torn apart. The Queenly Vermin were much closer to the invisible infestations in all men and women than they were the physical manifestations like the Bloodlickers.
Since they still existed mostly in that other plane of reality, it stood to reason that they were able to damage him on a level that nothing else could, in other words, the Soul.
Such attacks were insidious. But now that he had them at his disposal, he felt that they were incredibly useful.
On top of this, he had the last two Sin Memories that he never really looked at.
He decided to pull them up at that moment, as the Spell was still listing all of the Queenly Vermin he had killed.
The first was the [Envious Executioner Gloves] that had received after that specific elite warrior had manifested the Hunter Tool of the same name after slaughtering dozens of Vermin infested Cainhurst citizens.
Despite going toe to toe with multiple troublesome Ascended humans in his Second Nightmare, that tool still stuck out in his mind as one that gave him a lot of trouble. The nature of those ghoulish dark red skulls was both creepy and powerful in the wrong hands.
Fortunately, they were now in Gehrman's hands.
Memory: [Envious Executioner Gloves].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [The servants of Cainhurst Castle lived and died in pain. The hands of their tormentors were stained with their tortured blood. Their pain and hate live on in these gloves. A testament to the lives that would otherwise be easily forgotten.]
Memory Enchantments: [Ghosts Envy]
[Ghosts Envy]: This tool draws on the Envy of its wielder to create apparitions of their past prey. The dead's resentment fuels this Memory's power. The ghostly remnants will cause disastrous effects under certain conditions.
Gehrman was surprised.
He knew that this Memory would be incredible so long as it kept any properties that the original tool did, its enchantment made it seem even more deadly than the normal Executioner Gloves. Or at least, it had the potential to be.
Gehrman couldn't help but imagine what would be released if the hateful spirit of a creature of the 4th Rank was fueling the gloves.
With this, the Sin Memories became a collection of three tools and three weapons.
The [Lustful Vial], [Wrathful Shaman Bone Blade], and [Envious Executioner Gloves] were the tools.
The weapons were the[Gluttonous Reiterpallasch], [Slothful Evelyn], and the [Prideful Chikage].
…And the last one was a Charm.
He had looked over it briefly. The [Greedy Bloodstone Talisman] was of the Dormant Rank…and it was rewarded for killing himself.
A very macabre Memory based on its origin, but its versatility was worthy of coming from a being such as Gehrman.
It was of the sixth Tier, and thus the highest tier Memory he had. As a result, it had a truly absurd amount of enchantments.
[Greed]: These wondrous enchantments of this Charm will grow stronger when the wearer is filled with Greed.
[Coldblood]: The wearer is given a small resistance to cold.
[Bloodflame]: The wearer is given a small resistance to heat.
[Hunter's Flesh]: The wearer's physicality will be slightly improved.
[Hunter's Mind]: The wearer is given a small resistance to mind attacks.
[Hunter's Soul]: The wearer is given a small resistance to soul attacks.
As expected of a Charm that was rewarded for his own death, it fit him very well. The [Greed] enchantment would likely be strengthened tremendously when paired with Gehrman. After all, it was his own mindset that created this Memory. His Greed for more rewards, power, and the naive wish for innocents to be completely spared.
His desires were unreasonable, and hopefully the talisman's power would become unreasonable as well.
Now that the [Red Messenger Ribbon] had lost most of its usefulness, Gehrman would likely wear this Talisman at all times.
Though he had acquired a Transcendent Charm, [Crows Vow], he was hesitant to use its powerful enchantment.
Though he stood to gain great power from it, he was also unsure what vow to make. For now at least, he would stick with the Dormant Charm.
As soon as he made this decision, the Spell finally stopped repeating the deaths of the thousand Queenly Vermin.
Gehrman sighed with relief, and he felt a shudder run through his body as a hidden tension was released.
But before he could relax fully, the Spell started to repeat a new string of phrases.
[...In slaying a great number of beasts, the Hunter committed an unnatural crime. For his greed, he paid a fitting price…]
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
Over and over again the Spell whispered the times that he had perished. He had subconsciously done the math.
He had reached 7,000 Blood Fragments after forming his Titan Core. If he had been brought back to life for 10 fragments every time…then he would have died 700 times. In fact, judging by his current Blood Fragment counter, the number of times he died was closer to 800.
Blood Fragments: [4,929/6,000].
Though he still had an egregious amount of Fragments, he had lost an equally staggering amount.
Gehrman shut his eyes, pressing his eyelids together with such ferocity that his head pulsed with pain.
He tried to forget the deaths.
But he couldn't help but see the eerily empty Workshop in his Soul Core and the constantly flashing pale purple lights that bombarded it as he tore himself apart over and over again.
And then it ended.
The Spell paused again. This time as if taking a deep breath.
And then it finally concluded its appraisal.
[Your achievements are…] it paused yet again. Gehrman's forehead creased as he tried to understand what was going on.
Is the Spell…confused?
In a way it made sense. Though he had accomplished incredible, impossible things, he had also died several hundred times because of it. He wouldn't be surprised if he received a few demerits for that. The only question was, how far would his score get knocked down? The answer did not take long.
[...exceptional.]
[Final appraisal: astounding.]
[Your bloodlust remains unmatched.]
...
Authors Thoughts (too long to fit in the actual Authors Thoughts section)
This is gonna be a long one so sorry in advance.
I just now realized that I am pretty sure I never clarified the tiers of the other Sealed Memories that Gehrman initially had. In the rewrite I'll be sure to clarify that both the Blunderbuss and Burial Blade are tier three while the attire is tier two.
For those who haven't read Shadow Slave, the tiers typically relate to the amount of enchants a Memory can have. That is why the attire is one tier below.
The [Quicksilver] enchantment was also something I never properly explained, but it was a part of the Blunderbuss since the start. I included it here, but in the rewrite I'll include it in one of the first chapters.
In the original Reddit post, the Memories listed were different as they did not have any sealing done on them and they also had unique names. The [Forged from Blood] was only present in the Hunter's Attire, and it wasn't initially a part of each of their enchantments.
During the unsealing, I wanted to give some of the original enchantments back to these Memories. Unfortunately, some things are still going to be different.
The [Weakness Mark] is in reference to the original [Weakness Attack]. I changed it because I was inspired by Ironeye's skill in Elden Ring Nightreign (as I have now invested several dozen hours into that game two weeks post release). I considered making it more like Ironeye's mark and having it deal immense damage if hit enough, but I figured that it was redundant since if you hit the highlighted weakness multiple times the things are gonna die anyway.
[Reaper's Blade] was changed from the original [Soul Damage]. It kept all of its properties, I just felt like changing the name.
[Bloodsucker] was an original enchant for the Hunter's Attire and it would be changed to [Forged by Blood].
In other words, though the Memories changed, I kept at least one original enchant from each original Memory from the Reddit post.
This makes me happy. Hopeful it makes user CombfortableSame2830 feel a bit better about me going absolutely off the rails with their original idea.
On the topic of Appraisal results from the Spell, there isn't a lot to go off of. We can assume that each Appraisal is connected to a Rank based on several details. At the start of the academy arc in Shadow Slave we can hear a few Sleepers talking about what Aspect Rank they got and what their appraisal was from the Spell. Based on that information and one response from G3 during a QA about a certain dumpling's appraisal during the Third Nightmare, we can assume the following. "Passable" = Dormant, "Excellent" = Ascended, and of course, "Glorious" = Divine.
Everything else is up for debate. I decided to create my own appraisal results just for fun. This is because (though the result of second/third Nightmares does not change Aspect Rank, it does seem to lead to their new abilities becoming more exceptional than before. (This is my own theory based on Mordret describing certain Nightmare seeds as desirable and the one in the Ivory Tower as significant). Of course, this might just be because of what he was able to do there but whatever I'm having fun. And so I present to you the following:
1st Rank: Dormant = Passable
2nd Rank: Awakened = Good
3rd Rank: Ascended = Excellent
4th Rank: Transcendent = Impressive
5th Rank: Supreme = Astounding
6th Rank: Sacred = Phenomenal
7th Rank: Divine = Glorious
So Gehrman got a Supreme Appraisal. If he had not died so many times, he probably would have gotten Glorious again. After all, he ended up completely changing the Fate of both Cainhurst and Yharnam by eliminating Annalise and Logarius and preserving the people of Cainhurst while also debilitating the Healing Churches power.
Next chapter you can see what the results of such an appraisal are, and lemme tell you I am quite happy with how his two new abilities turned out. There is sure to be a lot of fun things I can do with them down the road.