NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: "The Heat"
Gehrman wanted to take back his earlier conclusion. The Spell was not treating him fairly. Otherwise, it wouldn't have dropped him in a nest of beasts.
After the announcement, the intricate void of the Spell twisted. Stunned and dizzy he came to his senses surrounded by giant bugs. They were sleeping, all nestled together tightly. Initially, he didn't even realize what they were, but they clearly knew what he was.
The second he groaned and came to his feet the beasts were upon him. Without [Sixth Sense] he would have likely died right there. Instead, he made a desperate dodge backward, summoning his [Uncanny Saw Spear] and [Hunters Attire]. Unfortunately, he was already surrounded.
Ducking, he narrowly missed having his head bitten off. During these few seconds the nest started to stir, and all of Gehrman's senses told him to run. However, even with [Sixth Sense] he could not find an exit.
The only thing he could do now was kill.
With his weapon finally formed he tore into the creature behind him. A rain of blood told him he struck true. These creatures, thankfully, didn't have a very tough exterior. That didn't mean they weren't dangerous. Despite the deep wound the Nightmare Creature clawed forward, squealing with rage.
However, its attacks were unsophisticated. With a quick switch he tricked his weapon into a spear and using the momentum of the transformation he made a deadly blow. Sure enough, the spell spoke.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Flesh Reaver.]
The ominous name aside, the fact that these were beasts was good. He was familiar with fighting low-intelligence foes like these. The only issue was their number.
As Gehrman continued to assess the situation he took note of the number of these Flesh Reavers, and he couldn't help but shiver. There had to be hundreds of them in this chamber alone. Gritting his teeth he took to the nearest wall, dodging and slashing where he could. He could no longer face the beasts in battle, the rest of the swarm was awake and ravenous.
He became a whirlwind of malice, using everything he could to clear a path.
The blood running through his veins seemed to circulate faster, and he felt his body temperature increase. As he did, he started to fall into a focus similar to the one he had while fighting the Blood Starved Beast. In response the [Uncanny Saw Spear] also continued to grow in strength. After a few moments in this state, he heard the Spell again. Congratulating him on another kill. It seemed that his Memory had grown strong enough to kill these creatures in a singular blow, but even that wasn't enough.
Dimily, he noticed that though blood had covered his attire, some of the blows were getting through, and he felt the stinging sensation of skin tearing open. He did not wince at this, but instead pushed harder. As he slaughtered more and more beasts, he finally got to the wall. In it, was a hole where some of the larger Flesh Reavers had slept. Ordinarily, backing himself into such a corner would be suicide, even for Gehrman. However, his situation was dire, and he had little options.
In a flash of inspiration he determined his only chance at slowing the assault. He needed a fort to hunker down in. This compartment would work well if it had a door, but such a convenience was unachievable.
The next best thing would be a barricade. Fortunately, the supplies for that barricade delivered itself to him.
Nimbly entering the hole, Gehrman was thankful for the first time for his new small size. He was able to almost stand completely upright, making the next step much easier. That was because the next step would be a brutal test of endurance. This type of slaughter would be something he hadn't experienced in any of his other lives.
Even as he set his footing he fought back the beasts with a ferocity not unlike their own. As he stabilized, his stance changed. Since he no longer had to worry about his back he put all of his focus forward. Keeping the [Uncanny Saw Spear] in its spear form, he kept the distance between him and the ceaseless mob of beasts. During this time, he started to fall into a rhythm.
His blood ran hotter still and he felt his power increase in turn. The Spell notified him again and again of his successful slaughter.
This went on for several minutes. The pile of corpses at the entrance gradually took form and his barricade was constructed. The openings for these creatures became smaller and smaller. Some Flesh Reavers try to eat their way through the corpses of their comrades, but they become easy prey in their vulnerable position.
This plan hinged on the fact that they were Beasts. Since they had such low intelligence he was betting on the fact that they would continue to slam their heads into this same spot without considering other options like digging into the wall from another direction and pincering him.
Not even ten minutes into his life in the Dream Realm and he was already gambling with his life.
"This is not a great sign for things to come," Gehrman rasped as the last couple holes filled. He took a deep breath. He was not free, more Flesh Reavers would come cleave through their fallen brethren, but with each squirming beast came a greater wall.
This was, of course, a temporary solution. As the wall became greater the oxygen became lessened. The small cracks between the corpses let some air through, but not enough. If he stayed here, he would almost die in a matter of hours. He needed something new.
With a sudden realization he brought up his Runes, curious about something. After locating his list of Memories he finally came across what he was looking for. He hadn't had the chance to look at it yet, but he had received a Memory from the Blood Starved Beast. This was extremely fortunate since it would be of the Ascended rank, a whole tier higher than the beasts knocking on his door.
With great anticipation he opened up its description.
Memory: [Portable Blood Imbiber]
Memory Rank: Ascended
Memory Tier: II
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [Yharnam is the home of blood ministration, but Yharnamis gone. This small tool is one of the only remnants left of a fallen Church. It's simple yet potent design allows for the easy imbibing of blood without risking the user's health.
Memory Enchantments: [Marvelous Ministration], [Surreal Storage].
[Marvelous Ministration]: The process of blood ministration is greatly amplified with the Memories needles being impossibly sharp while also greatly increasing the speed of the transfusion.
[Surreal Storage]: This Memory is able to store a large amount of blood, beyond what is physically possible. Multiple types of blood can be stored as well.
Gehrman considered this Memory for a long moment. Only getting out of his stupor to take the life of another Flesh Reaver. It wasn't helpful in helping his immediate situation, but the Memory was absolutely incredible. It was perfectly suited for his Aspect, in fact, he had a suspicion it was tailor made. It would seem the "Third Party" had given him yet another boon.
As he was about to close his runes, something else caught his eye. It was a strange counter at the very top of his information.
Name: Gehrman.
True Name: Paleblood.
Rank: Dreamer.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Blood Fragments: 4/1,000
That last section, "Blood Fragments" was new. Gehrman squinted in confusion as he killed another beast. He was fairly certain that it had something to do with his soul given its placement among his runes. Perhaps it refers to the saturation of my Soul Core? This would make sense. Soul Cores did not stay stagnant, instead, they would grow slowly stronger when supplied with Soul Essence. However, the way to absorb Soul Essence was through crushing an enemy's Soul Shard.
The quality and number of Soul Shards would be determined by their Rank and Class of a Nightmare Creature respectively. However, none of the beasts in his First Nightmare had them. It was an odd fact, but given he wasn't entirely lucid during that time, he hadn't thought about it. Now though, the strangeness struck him. What was even more confusing was the fact he had somehow saturated a small amount of his core without any soul shards.
After a few moments a vague theory formed in his head. After stabbing another beast through the head he summoned the [Portable Blood Imbiber].
The new Memory had a metallic sheen that made it quite striking. The middle was made up with seven thin, but strong-looking vials; these were connected to a sharp cone-shaped end that were present on both ends. On the tips of both cones were needles.
With a fresh victim at his feet, he plunged the needle into the fallen Flesh Reaver. He nearly jerked back in surprise at the sheer power of his Memory. In mere seconds, the Flesh Reaver had become a husk, all of its blood had thoroughly drained.
Gehrman looked down at the tool in shock. He was so surprised that he was nearly caught off guard by another new Flesh Reaver. This time, he didn't even bother with the weapon and simply stuck the [Portable Blood Imbiber] into the beast. It shrieked and wriggled around, but in less than two seconds it was dead.
Taking out the Memory Gehrman quickly realized there was a problem with using it like this. The needle had nearly snapped, just because of those movements. It was incredibly sharp thanks to the enchantments, but in terms of stability it was no different than a normal needle.
Fortunately, this wouldn't be a problem for injecting himself. He had long been accustomed to being careful with inserting the blood vials in his old memories. As he plunged the [Portable Blood Imbiber] into his leg he felt a familiar, yet unique rush go through him. His exhaustion abated and his senses heightened, but there was something else to.
Opening his runes he saw what he was looking for.
Blood Fragments: 6/1,000
Gehrman grinned, as a drop of madness seeped into his being. If he wanted to find out what happened when this strange counter reached a thousand, he would need a lot of dead beasts. Fortunately, a couple hundred had delivered themselves to him.
"Time for a slaughter."