There were 20 Runes that Caryll had found throughout her tenure at Byrgenwerth. At this point in the timeline, she had grasped all that she would eventually discover with the sole exception of a singular Rune. As far as Gehrman knew, the "Moon" Rune was something that appeared during his Night of the Hunt.
However, not all Caryll Runes were able to be memorized, even with his new Attribute. The "Lake" Runes and all of their more specific variants were unattainable. The list of Caryll Runes that did not work were as follows: "Arcane Lake", "Beast", "Blood Rapture", "Clawmark", "Clear Deep Sea", "Communion", "Deep Sea", "Dissipating Lake", "Fading Lake", "Formless Oedon", "Great Deep Sea", "Great Lake", "Guidance", "Heir", "Lake", "Oedon Writhe", and "Stunning Deep Sea".
In other words, 17 or the Runes could not be memorized. This was not due to the limited slots listed in Gehrman's [Unnatural Rune Witness] Attribute. He had made sure to leave open a slot as he experimented with each Rune.
In the end, he did not acquire a great variety of Caryll Runes that he could swap between depending on the enemy. However, he did have a full set of three Caryll Runes that provided helpful augmentations.
[Anti-Clockwise Metamorphosis] granted a boost in stamina. This referred not only to his ability to stay in top physical condition longer, but it also increased his mental stamina. One of the biggest issues that he had faced in the Forgotten Shore was sleep. He had many things he needed to create and build, but not a lot of time to do it. It didn't help that his teenage body needed an exorbitant amount of hours of sleep to grow. Now, though, he could operate just fine off of only five hours of rest.
[Clockwise Metamorphosis] offered greater vitality. His bones would be harder and his muscles tougher. Broadly speaking, it would make him a good bit harder to kill.
[Eye] was the last Rune that he was able to equip. This one was a bit odd. Even in the true Yharnam, it worked in mysterious ways. No immediate benefit was felt, but suddenly the Hunter who equipped this Rune would find themselves happening across more valuables. Their prey would offer more boons.
Overall, Gehrman was quite happy with his current loadout. On the other hand, Caryll was more focused on why only some of these Runes worked.
"This… this number of them being useless is infuriating! My life's work! All for nothing!" She kicked the wall. However, with her size and strength, not even a dull thud sounded.
"This is better than nothing," Gehrman tried to put her at ease. "The most important Rune for me was [Anti-Clockwise Metamorphosis], and that was one of the few that stuck."
"Shut up!" Caryll suddenly bolted from the room. A scattering of papers and frantic pushing and pulling made Gehrman realize she seemed to be looking for something. Eventually, the Runesmith called out to him.
Gehrman entered her office, which was covered wall to wall in different papers. There were countless doodles of the different Runes, but each of them were slightly off, and so they drew no power.
"You said that the Great Great One can give you information? Show me what the runes look like! The ones that tell you how strong you are!"
"...I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who can see-"
"Draw them out for me! I know you can draw, I've seen your blueprints." She was leaning over her desk, a great stack of papers and a quill with ink were prepared. Caryll seemed to be shuddering from excitement.
"The Spell automatically translates the runes for me. I don't see what you are getting out of this," Gehrman couldn't help but mutter as he pulled up the runes.
"You seriously trust this thing? It doesn't even fit the classification of what normal Great Ones are…and Great Ones are defined as the undefinable! This thing breaks not only what we know, but also what we don't know! These runes might not be mine, but I'll be damned if I don't study them."
Gehrman smiled once more. "So you're just doing this because you're bored?"
"Runes have power. Even if this is just the language of this 'Nightmare Spell', having a greater understanding of it will be greatly beneficial, I'm sure of it."
…
Gehrman copied down all of the runes that he was able to summon from the Spell. This included the description of every Memory, Attribute, and Aspect. And then, he copied down the translations he received from the Spell.
By the end, Caryll was gleefully flipping between a dozen or so pages of notes. And so the Runesmith found purpose even in this Nightmare.
Now, Gehrman had to move forward with his purpose. The acquisition of the Caryll Runes (even if it was only three of them) as well as the corresponding Attribute was a great boon. However, there were many more things that could make Gehrman stronger in Yharnam.
The "papers" that could coat one's weapon in flame or lightning.
The sedatives and antidotes of the Healing Church.
The Bloodstone Shards and Blood Gems that could augment weaponry.
Miscellaneous items like Bone Marrow Ash and Beast Blood Pellets.
And one last thing that Gehrman had almost overlooked.
As he was copying everything down for Caryll, he noticed a strange string of runes that were not being translated. It hurt to even look at them, and they could scarcely be beholden before leaving his mind.
After mentioning this curious thing to Caryll, she made a deduction.
"Ah, it's probably a slot for Oath Runes. It's that weird type that we found among the Hamlet creatures. I think there is also one for the Vilebloods, and perhaps some other groups as well. Unlike the other Runes, this type can only be memorized once, and it cannot coexist with other Oath Runes."
Using Johann's memories, he recalled these Oath Runes (or Covenant Runes as he had referred to them). There was indeed one that he had recovered that contained the whispers of the victims of the Fishing Hamlet. That was the "Milkweed" Rune. For the Vilebloods, they swore "Corruption". There was also a very niche one sworn by madmen called "Beast's Embrace". There was the "Hunter" rune sworn by only the most elite Hunters. And "Impurity" for those who were sworn to the organization known as "The League"
Their benefits were not as noticeable as Caryll Runes, but they did stack on top of them. For example, the "Hunter" rune granted a boost in Vitality, and this boost would compound with the one offered by [Clockwise Metamorphosis].
The only issue was, Gehrman was not the first person to swear the "Hunter" Oath Rune. What's more, he couldn't even recall the exact shape of the Rune now. Of course, the mystical nature of the Rune made it so that it would be impossible for him to recall it easily. If he wanted to acquire an Oath Rune in this Nightmare, he would have to travel to Cainhurst and swear loyalty to the Vilebloods and their Queen.
This was an issue.
Though he did not want to see the people of Cainhurst slaughtered, he didn't want to cozy up with their Queen either. Annalise, Queen of the Vilebloods and ruler of Cainhurst, was a twisted individual. She had gone mad in her obsession with mothering an heir who would lead the Vilebloods to a new era.
Even when Johann stumbled upon her, Annalise did nothing but ask him to seek out Blood Dregs to offer to her. Even after being imprisoned for decades in solitude, she never once thought of anything but creating a "Child of Blood". Annalise was obsessed, and what's more, she was exceptionally dangerous. Though lacking in combat practice, she was without a doubt the most dangerous individual in Cainhurst. Her control over blood was unmatched by any.
Gehrman doubted that he could surpass her level even if he practiced his own [Blood Control] for a year straight.
…Perhaps traveling to Cainhurst wasn't such a bad idea.
If he could ingratiate himself with them, then he could perhaps acquire both an Oath Rune and training from the masters of blood manipulation.
However, he would still have to get to Cainhurst. Without an invitation, this was nigh impossible even for the most experienced of Hunters. At this point, Logarius was still working out the proper route to get them to the castle.
Gehrman decided to shelve this issue for now. He could not drop his guard after all.
[You have slain an Awakened Devil, Viper Pit Hatchling]
Gehrman had now killed several of these dangerous enemies.
The Viper Pit Hatchling was a strange abomination made up of poisonous snakes. The most appropriate description would simply be "a ball of snakes". However, this did not fully encapsulate the horror of this fiend.
For one, their defenses were abnormally high. It didn't have any apparent weakness, and any blow it received would be distributed among the many serpents. Despite it being only Awakened, the thing was incredibly difficult to kill…at least, it would be for anyone who wasn't Gehrman.
To balance out the outrageous survivability of this creature, it didn't have much in the way of offense. It was slow, and its attacks were predictable. Its main danger came in its use of poison.
But now that Gehrman had the [Red Messenger Ribbon], the poison of these fiends was negligible. So even if it took a while, the ball of slithering serpents all inevitably fell into his hand.
He didn't get many Blood Fragments from these creatures. Now that he was a Devil, he only received 2 Fragments from each corpse.
Still, Gehrman kept a vial or two of their blood in his [Portable Blood Imbiber]. The Maneater Boar of the Hinterlands was poisonous, but these creatures were much more toxic. The natural poison of the Forbidden Woods, compounded with the venom of these snakes to become even more deadly. So even if the quality of their blood was less than Fallen creatures, in certain situations, it could be just as deadly.
Gehrman looked up and sighed then.
The silver moonlight sparsely flitted through the dense, old tree tops of the Forbidden Woods. The trodden paths had fallen apart in recent years. So the route he was on was rather unorthodox.
However, he knew this forest well enough and was able to navigate its steep inclines and sharp cliffs and create his path toward Yharnam. Which was nearby, its shadow cast over the woods. Even so, the metropolis held no presence here. It could not be picked out between the gaps in the trees; only the muted stars hidden behind the murky cloud were visible.
It felt like a different planet. And it might as well have been.
The atmosphere was different, the Beasts were different, and the people were different.
Indeed, the Forbidden Woods were only named as such by the scholars of Byrgenwerth. There was a small village of people who made this dangerous place their home.
The culture of the people who lived in the woods was entirely different. Despite its proximity to the city, no Healing Church missionaries or humanitarian efforts reached out to them.
The people living in the village were seen as barbaric. Even though they had created lifts that allowed for travel to the deeper parts of the woods (which allowed for swift access to the village and the more wildlands), they were viewed as inferior. Barely even human.
Indeed, these folk differed from humans in one crucial way: their diet.
The reason these woods were named "forbidden" was not just because of the strange Beasts. It was because the entire environment was toxic. The lakes and streams would burn the skin and stifle the breath of anyone who so much as touched it…and yet it seemed to coexist with the people who called the woods home.
The meat was vile and would kill any city-dweller who so much as ate a morsel, but it was the main source of sustenance for the mysterious forest dwellers.
Gehrman himself was only fine due to his Aspect and the [Red Messenger Ribbon].
As he considered this, his hair abruptly stood on end.
The oppressive atmosphere of the woods seemed to suddenly whimper at the arrival of…something.
Gehrman stopped, his senses alerting him to a shift in the environment.
Then, in a small break in the trees, a ray of moonlight touched down and illuminated a scene before him.
In the clearing before him, the trees gave way to a large ditch. Destruction covered this area, as if a storm had formed to decimate only this specific place. And lying in the ditch was a man. His constable uniform was bloodied, and his cap torn to pieces. The man's frayed blonde hair might have been beautiful, but it seemed to have clumps pulled out…by the peacekeepers' own hands.
Gehrman's blood ran cold as he recognized the reality before him. The stench of blood and guts did not carry with it the swampy, poisonous stench that beasts of this area tended to have. It seemed that a particular creature had invaded the ecosystem, bringing havoc to even this cruel land.
…but the beast was nowhere to be seen.
An eerie feeling started to blossom in Gehrman's heart. He felt a familiarity with this man, though he couldn't remember ever seeing such hair or eyes.
Besides, why should he recognize this man? Constables were peacekeepers who dealt with mundane things like burglary. There was no reason for Gehrman to have been familiar with one.
And yet, a revulsion of fear still seemed to claw at Gehrman's limbs. It made him itch.
"Constable," Gehrman said. "Are you the last of your troop?"
The man's body stiffened at his words. He hadn't seemed to notice Gehrman's approach. This was to be expected, Gehrman was a Hunter after all. However, even with his presence now being made clear, the hunched figure did not turn and face him.
"Yes," the constable replied. His voice was gurgling and hoarse. As if he had screamed for hours, only to pour a can of water down his throat.
Something was very wrong.
"The Beast?" asked Gehrman. His voice was steady, but his mind raced.
"Ah, that abomination? It ate them. It ate them skin and bones and all," the constable's tone was eerie. It seemed far removed from his current situation. He had likely dissociated due to trauma.
Gehrman felt pity for the man, but his emotions were cut short by a strange sound. A ripping followed by a crunch. It came from the constable. He was eating something. Something tough.
"The creatures here aren't for eating, you will likely die if you keep that up," Gehrman pointed out.
"No, no, no," the man mumbled. "No, not this. I have to do this."
"...You have to do what?"
It was only then that the constable turned. His eyes were a striking blue, and they were overwhelmed with madness and mania. They were so inhuman that Gehrman failed to notice the blood around his mouth…and the fur.
"The beast ate them slowly." He smiled wistfully. "So I must return the favor."