Blood Drunk Hunter (Shadow Slave/Bloodborne Fic)

Crossing empty mountains, a group of Awakened warriors traveled to a certain location. They had been sent to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a terrible entity, a Fallen Terror. 

If that thing had landed in the heart of a city, it would undoubtedly have wiped out everything in its path, and no amount of Awakened could stop it. Only a few Ascended, or maybe a Transcendent champion could hope to put up a fight. 

This was why it was so disturbing to find the thing missing. 

A series of sensors had been created by mixing technology and certain people's Aspect abilities to create something that would not be disturbed by Nightmare Creatures inherent ability to cause machinery to malfunction and fail. 

The main mission of this cohort was to find these "Spelltech" sensors and install new ones if they were indeed faulty. 

Three larger warriors carried these extra things on their backs. Though they had not had much experience in the field, these Government Awakened all had fairly useful Aspect Abilities. Most of which allowed for a decent boost in strength. 

However, the real reason they were trusted with such a dangerous mission was because of Awakened Mic. 

Though he had yet to Ascend, he was valued highly by the people of the Government for his useful Aspect and years of experience. 

Though the man was close to middle-age, he was also an experienced and deadly fighter. 

He was even able to get an exceptionally expensive Ascended weapon for his years of contributions. 

With his strange sense of "smell" granted to him by the Spell, he was able to understand a large area that he had never been to before. He was invaluable in explorations and map creations. On top of this, he was an accomplished leader. 

Though the other Awakened were fresh recruits, his presence elevated them to a team that could avoid and escape a Fallen Terror. 

Mic was confident in his ability, but he was by no means arrogant. Arrogance got one killed in encounters with Nightmare Creatures. 

For this reason, he was slowly etching out a map in his mind, grabbing as many details as he could find about the surrounding areas. 

Early on he noticed something wrong. 

It seemed the mountains and the ground itself were all a little unstable. 

As he reached the top of the mountain they now climbed, he knew that he would soon be looking down over the Ravine where the Terror dwelled. 

Although they did not have to approach the ravine itself, they would have to circle around the area to reach each of the old Spelltech sensors. 

Additionally, Mic was supposed to use his Aspect to "check" on the condition of the Terror. Though he could do this from a distance, he knew that as long as he was aware of the thing, then it too would be aware of him. 

That was just the nature of a Terror.

So, he planned to do that step last.

That way they could start running without any reservations if it decided to act on its instincts. 

"Once we get over this ridge we will be able to see the Ravine, don't look directly at it and don't make any sounds that could alert it to our presence," Mic commanded in a low voice.

The other Awakened simply nodded in confirmation. 

Though they were new, they had still gone through rigorous training to get to this point. 

Mic nodded, confident that this was a good group. He reassured himself that this mission would not be any more dangerous than all the others he had been on.

…But when he saw the ravine he knew he was wrong. 

On the far end that faced away from them, there was a small area where the ravine seemed to have caved in on itself. 

But that wasn't what took his breath away. 

No, it was the area where the Terror was supposed to sit. At the end of the ravine the horrid thing would be waiting for anyone to enter its territory. 

…But it was gone. 

In its place, an enormous crater was carved into the bottom of the earth. 

The cavity reached all the way to the flat land at the top of the ravine, and it went so far down that it seemed to be below the rest of the geological structure.

It had to be at least 100 meters in diameter.

"No way…" one of the Awakened couldn't help but gasp.

Instantly, their mission changed. 

The Spelltech sensors did not need to be replaced because they had worked perfectly fine, the Terror had truly disappeared. 

Mic hesitantly expanded his scent to cover more of the land below him. 

With bated breath his senses outlined the crater…and then he felt something else. 

Mic reeled back, bile rising in his throat. 

The scent at the bottom of the crater was absolutely horrid. It was reminiscent of a bloody crime scene, but somehow it was even more piercing and sour. 

"Captain!" one of the Awakened called out. They instantly moved around his shuddering form. Each of them had broken out in a cold sweat at seeing their trusted veteran have such a disturbing reaction. 

"R-run," Mic grasped between breaths. 

But before they could even start moving, a loud explosion ripped across the mountainous region.

The crater seemed to ripple, and new cracks formed within it at the spot where that strange entity had sat before. 

They started to flee, a feeling of immense horror filled their bodies and moved their legs. 

Their captain rose to his feet, only to stumble forward. It was as if he had been assaulted by an unseen attack. 

In truth, all that had happened was that the entity's scent had grown much, much closer. 

The sheer scale of it was unlike anything he had ever encountered. There was so much pain in the thing's scent. After being overwhelmed by it, Mic was certain that this was a Nightmare Creature. It smelled of madness that was so rich in volume that it made his head spin. 

And then it appeared above them.

A figure in a strange hunting cap, a trench coat, and tough gloves and trousers. All of it seemed to be in rough shape, and yet it still seemed impossibly sublime.

…Then, to all of their shock, the thing spoke.

"Ah, I didn't mean to startle you. I just didn't want you to run away before we could talk."

Each of the Awakened blanched. They quickly wondered why a Nightmare Creature would deign to talk to them before slaughtering them. It was incredibly rare to come across a creature that could mimic human language. Such abominations were varied in their appearance and tactics, but they were all extraordinarily dangerous.

If anyone were to run across such a being, they were ordered to immediately flee. 

But this thing covered the height and length of a mountain in mere moments. It was impossible to escape.

Of course, Mic was the first to regain some semblance of rationality. But he could only muster one word.

"Why?"

The figure tilted its head in puzzlement. And then pale purple sparks–not the white that any other Memory or Echo would have–appeared around his face. 

In an instant, the strange cap was dismissed. As if it was a Memory…

Mic mouth pressed into a thin line. 

"Are you human?" he asked.

Though it was a simple question, the man (or rather the boy) that stood across from them took time to ponder it. 

As he did, Mic tried to process his features, searching for anything that could either confirm or deny his status as Nightmare Creature. 

He did seem quite inhuman. Despite his youthful looks, he had an uncanny handsomeness that seemed unnatural for a teenager to possess. 

He had a full head of grey hair, swept back in a way that made it seem like a dull mane.

But the most striking part of him was his eyes. 

They too were grey, but there was a ring of yellowish-orange around the pupils. They seemed to glow, exuding a hypnotic aura of fear and chaos. 

Mic grew increasingly certain that this thing was not a human, despite its use of Memories. And in fact, its response confirmed this. But it was also so ridiculous that Mic couldn't even comprehend it. 

"Well…" the thing sighed. "I suppose I am, but honestly the most appropriate description would probably be…an alien."

Each of the Awakened blinked slowly. 

Of course, they knew what the term meant. Before the Nightmare Spell descended, the search for alien life had been a major motivator for space exploration. And the idea of beings from other planets still survived in the current pop culture. 

But to hear this thing proclaim that it was such a being, it caught them so off guard that they didn't even know how to respond. 

The creature on the other hand, seemed to be ignoring all of their mental panic. He nodded to himself, and once again stated with more conviction. 

"Yeah, I am an alien."

…

Gehrman sat in silence.

His face was a mask of non-enthusiasm and overall boredom.

At the moment, he was alone in what appeared to be a prison cell made specifically for Awakened. There seemed to be some strange powers at play, since he did feel a lot weaker in here than he normally would. 

It was completely barren, with no windows, chairs, bed, and even no door. Gehrman had actually phased into the room after making contact with an Ascended fellow. The walls were obsidian black with bits of white sticking out at random. It was heavily secure and reinforced several times over.

However, he was by no means trapped. 

If he wanted to, he could blow up this entire facility with relative ease. At least, he thought he could. 

Despite it being enhanced with what appeared to be materials from Nightmare Creatures, the real threat was the Awakened surrounding his box.

His Essence moving sluggishly and his body feeling weaker, but his Awakened ability– [Eyes on the Inside]--still allowed him to get a grasp on what kind of place this was. 

It seemed this was a prison for Awakened criminals. He could see many Soul Cores of the Awakened Rank, and for each one that sat alone there were two others of the same Rank that stood a few meters away. 

Around him, however, there were four Ascended Soul Cores. 

It had started out with just one, the man who had phased him into this box, but a few others had been trickling in.

They seemed to be meeting in a room that was above his own. An Awakened was also there with them, and from what Gehrman could sense, that person was looking down at him. It was likely that this Awakened was the "camera" for this vault. After seeing a variety of Aspect abilities, he was by not at all surprised that there was an Awakened who could see through solid matter.

In order not to scare them, he did not look directly back at the peeper. Though that might have been pointless, as they already seemed quite terrified of him. 

At least they haven't tried to kill me yet.

As Gehrman had that thought, he suddenly had chill run down his spine. 

Two new Souls seemed to be drawing closer to his cell, and both of them were chilling. 

The first glowed with burning power. It's light dwarfed all the others in the entire facility combined. Gehrman was certain that it belonged to a Transcendent. 

What truly unnerved him though was the Soul Core next to that individual. 

It was nothing like he had ever seen.

That individual's Soul Core…was broken. Or rather, it was fragmented. It was as if thousands of Soul Shards were all pulled together to form a loose amalgamation of a Soul Core. It seemed to be leaking Essence, somehow.

And yet, he had never seen such an abundance of power in an Ascended. 

It was almost comparable to Gehrman's own Essence Reserves, despite there only being one Core. 

His brow furrowed as he analyzed the strange thing.

He had thought he was odd for having multiple Soul Cores, but it seemed that there were others who also had great differences in their own Soul. 

After a few more moments, these two powerful individuals met with the other Ascended, and they seemed to start a conversation. 

Gehrman had a sneaking suspicion that this was likely about himself, and he felt it was rude to be excluded. 

In a way that he hoped didn't reveal that he could see them, he decided to speak up. 

"If you have any questions, just ask! I am not trying to hide anything! You can even hook me up to a lie detector if you want!"

Gehrman wasn't sure if he needed to shout to be heard, but he figured there was no reason not to. 

As it turned out, they got the message.

After a few moments the strange Ascended and the Transcendent moved. And then two figures were in the room with him. 

The Transcendent was a tall, pale man who seemed to be in middle age. He exuded an aura of authority. Gehrman could tell he was a strict man, and perhaps even someone high-up in the Government.

The owner of the fractured Ascended Soul core was a stunning young woman in her late twenties. She had shorter black hair, piercing blue eyes, and frankly quite a spectacular figure. 

Gehrman would have blushed if he had still been 13. Fortunately, now that his body was 15 his reaction was more muted.

The two did not exchange pleasantries, and the man spoke first. His harsh voice cut through the air with accusation.

"Where is the The Terror of Yangtze Ravine?"

Gehrman was slightly surprised that this was their concern at the moment, but he played along and answered truthfully.

"The Fallen Terror in that ravine? I killed it."

Only the smallest hint of surprise showed on their faces. They kept a calm about them, not betraying anything other than slight intrigue. 

"Why did you tell Awakened Mic and his cohort you were an alien?" he said the last word in disbelief.

Gehrman raised an eyebrow.

"Because I am one, technically."

"Technically?" the woman asked. 

Gehrman let out a sigh. 

"Okay look, it's a really long story but I'll give you the short version. Basically I am made up of three different souls. Two of which were from another planet…or maybe another dimension, I don't know and I don't really care. The third one, on the other hand, is who this body belonged to, and he was a boy born in this world…so I'm more like 2/3rds alien."

Despite being obvious veterans, experienced, and extremely deadly the pair did not seem convinced or amused. Instead, they (like all the others) were simply in disbelief. 

"There is an omnipotent Nightmare Spell that can create fake realites, offer enchanted items, turn people into gods and this is too strange for you? Shouldn't you be open to the idea of aliens?"

"Perhaps," the man said. "But the fact remains you are an unknown and therefore a threat."

"Isn't that why we are talking?" Gehrman asked. "So that I become known and are therefore no longer a threat?"

"That depends on your answers. If they are jokes in the same vein as you being an alien-human hybrid, then I doubt your status as an enemy will be removed."

"It wasn't a joke," Gehrman grumbled. 

Neither of them believed him. 

"Do you want me to go super in-depth on how my world works and what my history is? I feel like that would be the quickest way to sort this out. It worked with Changing Star after all."

The two instantly tensed at the name. 

Gehrman fully intended for this reaction. Though he wasn't sure if Neph's notoriety would be prevalent in the waking world, it was likely that these Government agents knew of the extraordinary rookie.

"You've met Changing Star?" the woman asked slowly.

"Of course, we went on a grand expedition together in the Forgotten Shore. And after we were the only two left after the Gateway in the Crimson Spire collapsed, we spent even more time together."

The two were deathly silent. They gave each other glances and appeared to communicate silently. 

"If you were on the Forgotten Shore, how did you return to the Waking World?"

"I passed my Second Nightmare and became Ascended. Right now Changing Star should be doing the same."

"...you passed the Second Nightmare as a Sleeper?" the woman asked incredulously. 

"Yes," Gehrman replied in an exasperated manner. Though he knew that this was a new phenomena, it didn't seem so outlandish that these two experienced individuals would be so shocked. 

Once again a blanket of silence covered them. 

The pair didn't exchange glances to communicate, they both simply stared dumbly at the boy before them. 

"What…is your name, young man?" the Transcendent asked slowly.

With a smile he thought to himself: now we are getting somewhere. 

He walked over to the man and put out his hand.

"I go by Gehrman."