NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: "Gehrman Joins The Hunt"
Old Yharnam was almost identical to what the nameless Hunter had seen. Fewer buildings had burned down, but the smokey air was eerily similar.
The Beasts were also of a similar caliber.
[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Ashen Blood Dog.]
With his current physicality, Gehrman made quick work of many of the lower leveled Beasts and Monsters. He also started to note the distinction between the two. There were two main things that determined a Nightmare Creatures level: Ranks and Class.
Ranks conveyed a qualitative difference between Nightmare Creatures. The only ones relevant to someone in the First Nightmare were Dormant and Awakened. In truth, there were seven total Ranks each with a large disparity in power between them. After Awakened came Fallen, Corrupted, Great, Cursed, then Unholy. The most common enemies that Gehrman had faced in his past lives likely equated to Dormant and Awakened creatures. This was further backed up by the Ranks granted by the Spell to familiar foes.
Class, on the other hand, represented a less dramatic, but still important difference. For one, the difference between classes had an increase in "Essence," which was the source of the creature's (and Gehrman's) strength. Essence was what allowed Awakened humans to do things like control the elements or perform impossible feats of strength. For Nightmare Creatures, it granted them a wide variety of cruel and strange weapons.
A good example of this was the comparison between the Dormant Monster he had just killed and the Awakened Beast from his initial scuffle in the Nightmare. The Dormant Monster was smaller, but it had access to Ashen Blood. In other words, poison. The Ashen Blood is what made the creatures of Old Yharnam especially vile. It added another layer of danger on top of the enhanced strength. This was why its class was one tier higher.
However, the Awakened Beast was still more dangerous. The gap between Rank was far more perilous than those between Classes. The strength and agility of the Scourge Beast could not be compared to that of these dogs.
That was not all that the Class system indicated though. The most important distinction was intelligence. Beasts and Monsters were not too different, driven mostly by instinct. However, the next two tiers had a crude intelligence. They would not fall into obvious traps and would sometimes act with separate purposes other than slaughter. These two classes were Demons and Devils. After that, things got really nasty. Tyrants, Terrors, and Titans all had an increasingly frightening amount of wit. There were instances seen of them making and executing plans that fooled humans. They would act with a keen deviousness that is not inferior to most humans. On top of that, they would often rule over a group of weaker minions. This was the most devastating hallmark of these creatures.
Ultimately, none of this mattered at the moment. Gehrman knew that the only things down here would be Beasts, Monsters, and maybe a Demon.. There was no use worrying about the dangers prevalent in the boy's reality. This was Yharnam, and he knew it better than anything else.
The sounds of metal against flesh caught his attention. He had not been actively focusing so [Sixth Sense] was not at its full strength, but his hearing was still inhumanly keen. This allowed him to take note of not only the surrounding beasts, but also his current "Allies."
The Powder Keg Hunters had fallen back. Aside from Gehrman tearing a warpath of his own, the Church Hunters worked seamlessly as a unit. He was hesitant to call them hunters at this point, they were more like an army.
Still, they were not invincible. As a group rounded a corner Gehrman's [Sixth Sense] warned of an imminent danger. "Behind!" he cried, but it was to no avail.
A cloaked figure came from the darkness and grabbed onto one of the Church Hunters. Blood sprayed as the man turned into a corpse in mere moments.
The Church Hunters faltered for a moment before rushing back into action. Gehrman moved before all of them. Using the Burial Blade in sword form he lashed out at the beast.
It did not pierce its hide.
Howling with an enraged madness the beast turned on Gehrman with a deadly swipe. If it were not for [Sixth Sense] Gehrman could have very well taken the brunt of it. The shock of his weapon failing was short, but impactful. Acting on instinct, he moved to the most optimal spot: the Church Hunters corpse.
His comrades would likely be beside themselves for defiling it, but he needed more blood. With a sickening slash he cut the man open, and he felt the blade's power increase.
Weaving between the men, who continued to whittle down the beast, he cast a wide yet swift arc with his blade. This time, it managed to lodge itself in the creature's head. Though, unexpectedly, the wound was shallow.
With a wounded howl the beast moved forward, despite the metal in its skull it lunged for its prey.
However, the Burial Blade was now slick with even more blood. Putting as much force as he could behind his weapon, Gehrman pushed forward, splitting the head of the creature in half.
[You have slain a Dormant Demon, Ashen Blood Beast Patient.]
Gehrman shuddered as a mess of emotion overflowed within him. The elation of a successful kill was mired by confusion and wariness. That had been far more difficult than he had imagined. In a span of seven seconds, his muscle memory had failed him twice. First when the Burial Blade didn't immediately work, and then a second time when the blood of the Church Hunter was not enough to immediately split the head of the creature in two.
The reality of the situation was starting to dawn on him. He knew he was in a different reality that operated under different rules. He knew that he was not at his prime strength. Yet he still fought as if he was. This was an error that could very well get him killed.
If it were just beasts of this caliber, Old Yharnam would not have been lost.
A feeling of dread washed over Gehrman as he started wordlessly moving forward, leaving the dismayed Church Hunters behind. What Rank and Class is that thing going to be?