When Gehrman came to, he was stuck in yet another crater. Some lingering Madness remained, but not nearly as much as he expected.
His memories of his Madness trip were muddled, as usual. At some point he thought that he might have had some kind of revelation from Johann's memories, but that was still foggy.
He rubbed his head.
It was an eerie quiet, and the light of dawn was creeping down the side of the massive gash in the earth, devouring the shadows with harsh warmth.
Gehrman blinked a few times and pushed himself upward.
It was easy.
He felt…good.
It was unclear what the blood drunk version of him did exactly while on his rampage, but given the environment, he had wiped out at least this section of the ruins. He had the presence of mind to not go too deep into the ruins, which Gehrman suspected would have abominations of the 5th Rank.
Even with the many multipliers on his strength he still wasn't too confident on taking on those things.
Even Saints were wary of them, after all.
…but maybe he wouldn't have to be so wary soon.
There was one clear moment in his mind from within that slaughter, and that was saying the final Truth that he had been suspecting for a while.
Void.
The thing that he had literally traveled through to get here. It was home to the Great Ones and other harrowing existences that defied concepts. In fact, calling them "existencies" was probably not even appropriate, but there wasn't really a word that aptly described them.
Void Creatures would have to do.
The fact that he had one bound inside him made it a bit embarrassing that it had evaded him for so long.
But he had it now.
Taking a deep breath he hesitated for a bit, then he sunk back to the ground. He sat down and crossed his legs.
The Spell had whispered something to him after saying that final Truth, it was time to find out what it was.
He opened his Runes.
Name: Gehrman.
True Name: Paleblood.
Rank: Ascended.
Class: Titan.
Soul Cores: [7/7]
Blood Fragments: [7,000/7,000]
Memories: [Burial Blade], [Hunters Attire], [Blunderbuss], [Uncanny Saw Spear], [Portable Blood Imbiber], [Red Messenger Ribbon], [Cainhurst Knight's Attire]...
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Sixth Sense], [Contracted], [Otherworldly Seal], [Otherworldly Abomination], [Inheritor of Madness], [Unnatural Rune Witness]
Aspect: [The Last Hunter].
Aspect Rank: [Divine]
All of this was exactly the same as usual. But he did get the confirmation that he had perfectly saturated all 7 of his Cores. The numbers perfectly matched at 7,000. There was nothing else to gain from imbibing Blood besides healing and a tiny boost in physical strength.
But at the level he was at, that physical boost was almost nothing.
I don't really have a need to consume blood anymore. No reason to go insane all the time besides if I need to heal.
It was a bit of a sobering thought.
And an utter relief.
He had been able to get used to the sensation, but he never enjoyed it.
Drinking the blood of Nightmare Creatures was not harmful to him by any means, there was even a rush every time he did it.
But it still really, really sucked.
The word sucked did not really do the feeling of utter abhorrence the sensation justice, but that was his initial thought.
Gehrman blinked a couple of times.
Had he missed something?
He hadn't checked his Memories, maybe he had gotten something there?
It took a while to look through all of them.
He had gotten a lot of Memories from the rampage. By his count, 32 Memories. 32 Transcendent Memories.
That alone was utterly insane.
A single Transcendent Memory could buy a mansion, and he was collecting them like they were candy.
They were, of course rare due to a person having to kill a Corrupted creature to get one, but it was also rare because at the higher Ranks, Memories became more sparse.
It made sense.
The Nightmare Spell could churn out a bunch of Awakened swords with simple enchantments with ease, even Sunny was capable of doing that.
But the stronger the creature the stronger the Memory and thus the less inclined the Spell was to give them out.
So he had gotten a Memory for about 1 out of every 80 or so Corrupted creatures, those odds technically made sense…but still, not a single Echo.
That poor little space in his Runes had been entirely absent for his entire career as an Awakened.
Sunny had a few of them at this point.
Cassie had three from the Forgotten Shore alone.
Nephis…actually, Gehrman hadn't seen her summon an Echo.
Perhaps he was simply that unlucky.
Or perhaps the Moon Presence had a hard time creating them. They were practically a new form of life, having embers of pure soul instead of full Corrupted or Noble cores.
Either way, nothing really stuck out. The memories were solid. Mostly Trick Weapons or different Hunter Attires. There were a few Tools that didn't appear especially useful for Gehrman at the current moment.
The Spell had said something, after I said that Truth, am I missing something?
And indeed he was.
Gehrman exited the "Memory" section of the Runes and went back to the main section. When he did, he noticed something a bit off.
The list of his Base Runes looked different. He had largely skimmed over the stuff at the bottom, but on a whim he looked closer at the names of everything.
His Aspect Ability, and its Rank, it was all normal.
But wasn't the Rank supposed to be the last thing in the Runes?
That wasn't the case anymore.
There was a new line.
Gehrman read it, then he read it again.
"Hooooly shit."
Aspect Legacy: [Incarnate of Madness]
An Aspect Legacy. The very thing that made Legacy Clans Legacy's. They were extremely rare, and would often bestow powerful Memories or Echoes. Sometimes there were even Attributes involved.
This was the boost in power that he had wanted.
His Aspect was of the Divine Rank, so its Legacy should be even more potent than usual.
Gehrman greedily dove in, focusing on the Runes he received the description.
[Aspect Legacy Description]:
Madness and the Void are intertwined.
One an unintended product brought by a myriad of missteps, errors, and evolution.
The other, one of the two functions of reality.
Separate yet sprawling in their influence. Both birthed and embodied Corruption and its varieties, and neither are bound by it. The entity has recreated the erroneous products of the Void in its own soul, thus becoming its avatar. A singular and impossible existence.
Gehrman felt his mind ripple and a harmonious buzz hit him all at once. The numerous popping sensations across his brain let him know that the mere description of his Aspect Legacy offered a great amount of Insight.
Of course it did, the description confirmed that all the Truths bestowed from the attribute, [Inheritor of Madness] was in fact…true.
Gehrman's brows furrowed as he looked over the incandescent Runes. Reaching out his hand, he felt the invisible symbols, causing them to shimmer. A pale purple light edged each symbol. It was subtle but very present.
So this is another gift from Paleblood. If Madness is truly something of the Void, then it would make sense that the Spell would not grant me access to that power itself. In fact, it might not even be able to.
The true nature of the Nightmare Spell was a mystery, but its cruel trials always resulted in increasing Rank on the Path of Ascension.
The light that filled the Soul Cores of every Awakened indicated the Flame, or rather, the concept of Desire.
This, along with Void, are the two "functions of reality" that his Aspect Legacy described.
It was only natural that these two functions, paths, were opposed.
So it would be rather odd if the Nightmare Spell, something that pushed for the increase in strength for those born of the Flame to be able to develop the Attribute [Inheritor of Madness] and his Aspect Legacy.
Suddenly, Gehrman became totally still. An idea entered his mind. A truly frightening one.
The machinations of the Great Ones could not be understood by humans, but the goal of the Moon Presence suddenly felt abundantly clear to him.
In this reality of the Nightmare Spell, the only pieces of the Void were the Nightmare Creatures. And though they were harrowing, they were not truly of the Void. This could be summarized from the simple fact that they were not ineffable like the Great Ones.
The madness of Nightmare Creatures was Corruption. From Gehrman's experience, this was a mixture of Frenzy, Agony, and Obsession, not the true all-encompasing Madness that made up the Void.
These creatures held a part of the Void, but they were incomplete. In comparison to true Void Creatures those of the highest Rank and Class may be able to inflict a similar amount of destruction, but they were not at the same level as true Void Creatures.
They could not truly inhibit the operation of the Nightmare Spell.
…But perhaps a true Void Creature could.
If Gehrman grew powerful enough, if he could truly embody and act as an Incarnate of Madness, then he could cast off the Nightmare Spell, and maybe even destroy it.
As an emissary of the Void, wouldn't this be exactly in line with the Will of the Moon Presence?
…Eh, who cares?
Worrying about the intentions of Great Ones, the Spell as a whole, and the Void were all way too high-concept for him right now.
If he wanted to usurp these vile intentions of Paleblood, he might as well take advantage of the powers She granted to help the people of the Waking World and hunt the vessels of Corruption.
He turned his attention below the description of his Aspect Legacy.
Step 1: [Claim]
Step 2: [Claim]
Step 3: —
Step 4: —
Step 5: —
Step 6: —
Step 7: —
Gehrman blinked.
He wasn't entirely sure how Aspect Legacy's worked, but he was fairly certain that having 7 rewards available was fairly unique.
What he was almost certain was unique, having two rewards claimable already. In fact, it made no real sense. This was the type of thing where one gradually progressed, had he skipped a step somewhere along the line?
Well there was only one way to find out.
He focused on the first step and focused on the [Claim].
A faint buzzing sensation built within him rising until it ended in a satisfying climax.
[You have received an Attribute].
Gehrman let out a breath, his lips curving with satisfaction. This was it. The power that he was searching for.
Though a Memory might have been more immediately useful in letting him slay Great Nightmare Creatures, an Attribute would likely grant him more versatility long term.
…It would also be something that he could keep as a trump card, or at least a hidden thing.
In his early years he had foolishly assumed that with a world under constant threat of beasts there would be no reason to harm another human, but with a War between Supremes on the horizon, Gehrman was not at all opposed to the idea of making sure he was well prepared to kill either of them.
However, even when he became a Saint, he wasn't fully confident he could close the gap with Ki Song and Anvil. They were not just a Rank above, they were also much more experienced with their Aspects, having decades of practice instead of Gehrman's measly 5 years. Gehrman may have had more combat experience, but against humans, Aspects would almost always matter more than a Battle Art.
Then there were their Domains.
Gehrman still wasn't sure exactly what they were, and that was exactly what scared him. The surface level meaning was clearly the Saints and Awakened they ruled, but it was also likely deeper than that. What powers did they gain from having more Citadels and followers?
Gehrman would have to get through this Nightmare first before he could find out.
Opening his Attributes, he found the new one.
"Looks promising."
[Madness Invocation].
[Attribute Description]:
With the Will of this unique being, they may invoke the essence of Madness that dwells within them.
"Very promising."
Gehrman was immediately assaulted with a great number of ideas and applications. For all intents and purposes, this was almost another Aspect Ability.
Gehrman took a deep breath and searched himself. After saying the final Truth and receiving his Aspect Legacy he felt a profound change within him.
That change was now further exacerbated with this Attribute.
The Blood that flowed through him was an extension of himself, even flying around and turning into Trick Weapon manifestations it remained as simple as extending a limb.
Now there was something else.
Focusing on that, he pulled and prodded that sensation, that Madness that writhed within. The aura of yellowish-orange that permeated from him when in deep madness exploded outward, clear and oppressive.
The ground of the crater cracked and groaned, assaulted by the presence of Frenzy. Then, as soon as it came, it left.
Like a black hole pulling the surrounding star dust into oblivion, the aura was roughly pulled back into the incarnation that summoned it.
As Gehrman felt it return, he shuddered. Involuntarily his arm started to shake, and it only stopped when he reached and gripped it tightly with the other.
"That might take some getting used to."
Unlike blood, this felt far more unnatural and heavy.
It would take a lot of experimenting and practice to make it as natural as his other abilities.
That could come later though.
For now, there was a second reward to claim.
Going back to his Runes he focused on the other reward and claimed that as well.
A similar sensation occurred.
And then a different message rang in his ears.
Gehrman's eyes widened.
"Oh, fucking FINALLY!"
[You have received an Echo].