The next day, the cohort had resummoned their Garment and Armor type Memories and begun some light physical training to get themselves back in the swing of things.
Gehrman took this time to observe a sparring session between Changing Star and Caster. It was an enlightening experience for him (and he suspected it was the same for Sunless who watched as well). Caster was victorious after practically every exchange. It seemed that his style of fighting was uniquely suited toward fighting humans. Of course, it could be applied effectively against Nightmare Creatures. But Gehrman suspected that the swordplay used by the Legacy child was taught with the express thought that he would have to slay fellow humans one day.
The thought was chilling.
Despite knowing practically nothing about them, Gehrman was beginning to develop a distaste for these families. Where was their pride as humans? Why was their first thought to be wary of each other and not the literal nightmares that slaughtered millions? Of course it was naive to think that they should band together in total harmony, but shouldn't the priority always be the beasts?
It brought back painful memories of Yharnam's schism. The Scholars of Brygenwerth, the Healing Church, The Choir, The School of Mensis, what would have happened if these institutions all worked together to put an end to the Beast Plague? Why couldn't humans simply set aside their differences for the express goal of saving themselves from extinction? Were profit and power really so corrupting that the mightiest of them all abandoned common decency in their pursuit of more?
The musings were useless. Gehrman hated himself for thinking of them. As a mere Sleeper, there was no way for him to change the narrative that this world was following. Perhaps if he attained true divinity, he could impress his will upon them, acting as a savior.
But then, would he be any better?
Gehrman stood and brandished his blade in a huff. He needed to hit something. He needed to feel the blood coursing through him.
Approaching the pair of Legacies who were taking a break, he made a broad offer. "I'm interested in this swordplay of yours. Let's have a bout."
Caster gave him a strange glance, but Changing Star seemed to welcome the idea. "Very well," was all she said before squaring up with him.
Caster slowly gave them space. Though he was displeased at the interruption, he was clearly curious to see what Gehrman's fighting style would look like against a human. In truth, it wasn't much different.
Gehrman threw himself at Changing Star, delivering a blow of devastating force. It would have cleaved an Awakened Beast in two, but it did not land on the girl. Her weapons were of a lower rank than the Fallen blade of the Kirkhammer, but she deftly distributed the force in a parry.
The exchange lasted less than a second, but one thing became clear. Gehrman was hopelessly outmatched. Indeed his style of fighting was the exact opposite of the Legacies. Instead of being crafted for humans and adapting to beasts, Gehrman fought with the sole purpose of hunting the corrupted. He had to awkwardly change the distance and speed of his swings to adapt to a human enemy.
If they had been at the same strength and speed, the battle would have been over in an instant. But without Changing Star's flames, the disparity in their physicality was obvious.
The following blows kept Gehrman off balance. He found his sword being drawn to disadvantageous positions where he was easily parried. Nevertheless, Gehrman's experience was nothing to sneeze at. It took him a while, but he eventually picked up on Changing Star's tactics. Even then, he couldn't beat her.
Gehrman felt himself growing more and more agitated. He saw the path that the blade would take, but knew that he could do nothing to stop it. Gehrman dashed back, and reassessed himself.
"I'm doing this wrong…" he said as he changed his grip. Instead of copying the others with their clean and powerful two-handed style, he let his left arm hang down. Loosely holding the light blade in his right hand. Then, with muscle memory, he moved to put the weight of a gun in his off hand.
The Memory materialized, causing everyone's eyes to widen. Gehrman had tried to copy what the kids had been doing. He wanted to expand his knowledge of combat. However, he now had to recognize that it was far too late for him to learn their style.
He was a Hunter of Yharnam. And in Yharnam, the best way to kill a human was with a bullet.
Even if it merely stunned the stronger warriors, the openings it caused allowed for lethal damage. Keeping one's distance, finding the opening, memorizing the parry window. These were the techniques employed by the Hunter of Hunters that had become prolific after Old Gehrman had hung up his weapons.
Fortunately, this was an area where Johann excelled. Though the foreigner was an unnatural talent in all fields, his ability to recognize parry windows and punish his enemies for it was unique even among the long history of Yharnam hunters.
And all that talent now rested in Gehrman's hands.
Changing Star noted the Blunderbuss. Her mask cracked at seeing a Memory in the form of a gun. Then she composed herself, and met Gehrman's blade again.
His finger was off the trigger. He wouldn't send an actual bullet from an Ascended Memory at their intrepid leader. However, in this sparring match all he wanted was to see if it was possible. He wanted to parry Changing Star. Not in the way that Legacy's did. He didn't want to just throw her off balance. He wanted to completely debilitate her for two seconds. During which time he could do what Yharnam Hunters did best.
Gehrman dashed forward and strafed to the side. Trying to bait Changing Star into making a longer lunge. Even with this abrupt change, the Legacy held her ground.
One minute passed. Then two minutes. At the sixth minute Gehrman's off hand jerked forward, mimicking the recoil of the gun.
Changing Star stopped midswing.
She looked down at her body, at the nonexistent wound.
Dozens of emotions crossed her face at that moment. She recognized her defeat to this unorthodox method. Her eyes burned with a passion that nearly caused Gehrman to step back.
"Again," she lowered her blade and retreated to their starting positions.
…
"So you have a gun? A Memory that's a gun?" Effie asked for the 4th time that day.
"Yes, I have a Blunderbuss. My First Nightmare took place in a strange place. It had more advanced technology than anything I've heard about the Dream Realm having. I think that's the reason I was able to get it."
The cohort all turned to Kai, as if he was somehow the expert on deciphering Gehrman's nonsensical answers. He gave them an odd look, and (without Gehrman knowing) would later explain that he had only told the truth initially. His First Nightmare was unique, but Gehrman had been lying when he said that its nature allowed for him to have the Blunderbuss.
At this point, Gehrman ignored these shenanigans. He was much too tired after Changing Star got it into her head to spar with Gehrman for a couple hours on end. It was exceptionally tiring and had left Gehrman in a strange state of nonchalance. He appreciated the experience that came with sparring with the master swordswoman, but he had to admit that she got a little too into the whole thing. They were supposed to be recuperating for gods sakes!
Somehow, the one who seemed to benefit the most from all this was Sunless. He had detached his shadow from himself, and had it mirror both Gehrman and Changing Star as they fought. He seemed to be getting close to some kind of epiphany.
In fact, he seemed to have grasped something when they all woke up the next morning. Gehrman had kept it to himself. But he suspected that both Cassia and Changing Star noticed it as well.
The group had continued on their way then. Returning to the Coral Labyrinth and the spider-infested halls. The cohort made short work of them. Gehrman's Kirkhammer was able to smash the creature's armored body in with a single blow. The crater that was left in their corpse was a sight to behold.
What was perhaps even more harrowing was Kai's new Ascended Memory (gifted to him by Sunless). In a single blow, it pierced the armor of an Awakened Monster and drained it of its blood, killing it in an instant. The shriveled corpse was somehow more chilling than the marvelous force Gehrman displayed.
Eventually they made their way to the heart of the Spider's territory. Fortunately, Effie explained that its ruler (an Awakened Tyrant) was long dead. As it turned out, the spear-Memory she wielded was gained from its defeat. She regaled them with the tale of how her old master (who had finished off the Tyrant) had gifted it to her.
It was all quite interesting, and it kept Gehrman from growing bored of the monotonous slaughter.
At the heart of the nest, the cohort participated in a grand massacre. Slaying dozens of Awakened creatures with ruthless efficiency. With Effie and Sunless's Echo acting as tanks, and the rest of the balanced party acting as support, they made short work of the Nightmare Creatures.
The feat of slaying dozens of Awakened creatures as mere Sleepers was lost on only Gehrman. Who felt that such an outcome was only expected. In fact, he felt so comfortable that he allowed himself to indulge in a bit of extra blood. Dropping his sanity to 50% and unnerving the rest of the Cohort in the process.
His comments about the Moon watching them all were eventually ignored, but his madness did create a foreboding and creepy atmosphere.
They made their way to another one of those giant headless statues (just like the one they had used to escape the clutches of the Lord of The Dead). Then, they made camp on top of the flat neck stump for two days.
There they waited…for something. Apparently, Changing Star, or rather Cassia, had discovered a way to traverse great distances across the Forgotten Shore. Gehrman had never inquired about what it was, and when he did, the response left his mouth agape and his head spinning.
The only thought that circulated through his mind as Changing Star lit up the night sky with her flames was: These kids are seriously out of their damn minds.
Who could blame him for such a reaction? Especially when they saw the giant stone colossus barreling toward them. It's figure towering over the rising black ocean's water. This…creature was the same as the other headless statues they had encountered. With the notable difference that this one ran across the landscape of the Forgotten Shore. This inexplicable quirk acted as their ticket to the Hollow Mountains.
And it would offer the cohort the ride of their lives.