Gehrman remained in his Soul Sea.
His new Aspect abilities indeed came from Paleblood, warping the Great One's power. The Awakened Ability appeared to be something that all Great One, and perhaps some Kin of the Cosmos possessed. At least, a version of it.
But [Walking Workshop] held a direct link to this specific Great One. It imitated the functions of the Hunters Dream that the creature had created.
Since the vast majority of the Hunters Dream was simply a conduit to organize and streamline the infinite "revival" of the bearer of Paleblood's Hunter's Mark.
Its other functions, upgrading weapons, assigning Caryll and Oath Runes, and offering infinite storage were comparatively inconsequential.
That was the reason the seemingly ridiculous power had been granted to him as an Ascended Aspect Ability.
Even so, it clearly had some inherent differences.
Gehrman pondered it for a while, and eventually came to stand in front of the forest of humongous trees that grew a hundred of meters from the old Soul Workshop.
The closer he got to this area, the more confident he became that it was intrinsically connected to [Walking Workshop].
The trees were unlike anything he had ever seen, their height reached well over 40 meters. What was perhaps more incredible was the fact that they too were made of the corpses of all he had slain.
…but he quickly realized that this was not true.
The forest seemed endless, and though Gehrman had slaughtered thousands of beasts, it had not been enough to form this entire area.
He used his Awakened Ability, peering past the wood and feeling its echo in other Dimensions.
What he found was incredibly strange.
It was simply normal wood.
He stared at the trunks of one of the trees, his face deadpan.
"How the hell? Where did this even come from?" Even as he asked that question, he felt the answer come to him. Where else but the thing that had its roots growing up from far below?
Gehrman considered this for a long moment, then he raised his hand.
[Burial Blade] appeared, not from a series of sparks, but through shooting down from one of the looming red moons. It crashed into his palm, causing a small shockwave to ripple through the forest.
Gehrman swiftly Tricked the weapon into its sword form.
Carefully, he raised the blade parallel to the tree. Then he moved it to its edge and pulled downward, peeling the wood.
He tensed and expanded his [Sixth Sense] wary of whatever strange thing might come for him for taking from these woods.
Though it was in Gehrman's Soul, it was also very clear that this was not his, but a creation of the Moon Presence.
Gehrman wasn't sure what to make of the Great One's creation. Like usual, that thing's methods were inscrutable and incomprehensible.
What was even more incomprehensible was the fact that nothing happened.
He took the wood in his hand, turning it over and analyzing the grain. It was definitely of high quality, something he would use to make a Saw Cleaver or Spear.
Gehrman's brows furrowed.
"I mean, I could make a weapon out of this…probably. Is that the requirement for this Aspect? Creating the things in my Soul and then summoning it into reality?"
He felt that this was indeed the case, but it also wasn't the whole story.
The thing he sought most, augmentation, was still out of reach.
Gehrman frowned and decided to carry on, seeing if he could find anything further into the forest.
…
About 30 minutes later, he felt movement.
Being a seasoned Hunter he would normally not have been startled, but the stillness and peace of his Soul had unconsciously conditioned him into thinking that it was impossible for anything else to move.
However, this was what he was hoping for.
Immediately, his pupils dilated and he concealed his presence between the trees. Since his old lives had fought in forests, he was rather accustomed to this type of combat.
With all the obstacles, awareness of surroundings was crucial. And unfortunately for whatever this thing was, it was highly unlikely that Gehrman would ever lose in that regard.
Still, despite his confidence, he felt a jolt of shock as the shape of the stalking thing became clear.
Thin black fur and a large, lithe form prowled on four legs. It was a Scourge Beast. A creature of Yharnam.
In a way, this was great news, he knew the creatures attack patterns well after all.
But his intuition was also warning him of danger. In his First Nightmare the creature had been an Awakened Beast…but this was no longer the case.
Gehrman had difficulty placing its strength, and eventually relied on [Eyes on The Inside] to spy its Soul Cores.
He found none.
His face scrunched as he gathered information on the thing's essence. It was not a Nightmare Creature, but a simple beast. No special Essence powered its feral movements, only blood and muscle.
Still, it was stronger.
Gehrman thought to wait for a moment, but once he saw the beast's ears twitch he opted to lunge forward.
Still in sword form, the [Burial Blade] cut into the thing's nostril, and then he brought it down, aiming to crack its skull.
But both cuts were shallow.
Gehrman dodged under its swipe, twisting his body so he could once again bring down his blade, this time on its spine.
He summoned extra strength by pulling his own blood. As usual, the result was cataclysmic. In reality, it would have caused a massive crater, but in his Soul there wasn't even a shockwave. None of the trees so much as shuddered.
Even so, the beast screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Shockingly, it still did not die.
The creature tensed its back muscles, keeping Gehrman from removing the blade, so instead Gehrman simply punched the creature.
The following spasms loosened the blade, allowing Gehrman to cut deeper into it.
Finally, it fell fully. The mad light left its eyes.
It had died.
No voice congratulated him on the kill.
Gehrman frowned.
"It wasn't a Nightmare Creature so the Spell doesn't recognize it?" Gehrman mused. Still, it wasn't as if the beast was a push over.
Some Transcendent Beasts had held up worse than it had.
Though it was decidedly less deadly due to Gehrman's familiarity with it, in terms of pure specs it was noteworthy.
"If it's not a Nightmare Creature I can't even get Blood Fragments. What a wast–"
Gehrman stopped his sentence abruptly. His heartbeat raced. An overwhelming sense of nostalgic glee overwhelmed him like a titlewave.
A pure white light reflected off his eyes.
Not daring to say anything, or even breath, he reached down and touched the light.
As his hand passed through, a solid substance formed in his hand. Even before seeing it with his own eyes, he recognized the shape of the thing in his hands and it made him want to yell in satisfaction.
For the first time in a long time, he raised a piece of crystallized blood to the sky.
The Twin Blood Stone Shards shone majestically in the light of the Red Moon.