Deep in a forest, a young man stood in full plate armor, engraved with a golden crown along the chest area. His hair was orange and curly complemented by his brown eyes and pale skin. His face held a bit of sorrow as he gripped his crimson, blood-drenched halberd harder.
The corpses on the ground looked as if they were in the middle of transitioning to a full monster. They had protruding small horns clearly not naturally theirs, red eyes as if they've seen the goddess of crimson, and falling hairs. Their screams of agony and pleas still echoed in the young man's mind.
"Could've we save those people?" The hero asked in a low voice, barely above a whisper with a small trace of anger.
A young woman moved closer to the corpse nearby, wearing a plain white dress with black thunder symbols twisted up to look like a web, untouched by the gory mess beneath her feet. Her white hair and ebony skin contrasted sharply in the forest, her eyes were ocean blue. She kneeled down to examine the corpse and moved her hands along the cold, barely human body. A floating, curious orb came closer to the young woman. The orb was completely black with star motifs, as if encapsulating all of the cosmos. This magical orb helped her in this endeavor as well.
"They are bound by the monsterification magic as well as... the manipulation magic, twisted into another." The wizard said in a cold voice, too cold for anyone in her situation. "They can be saved but only with strong sacrifice."
Another young man closed in, wearing chain armor that has a few plates covering his most vital organs, his longsword sheathed just now, his black hair and pale skin fitted neatly together completed with his yellow eyes. He sighed trying to hold up his emotions together.
"We cannot afford any sacrifices." Said the paladin while looking onto the horizon. "And we have bigger problems to deal with."
The hero sighed, swooshing his weapon to remove the blood before sheathing it back. The blood on the ground disappeared without a trace, as if someone drank it up.
"Check your provisions, we need to leave the Crimson Forest as soon as possible." said the hero now, calmer than he was before.
The group rummaged through their freeze magic-enchanted backpacks. After a second which felt like an eternity, the wizard spoke, "I have one bottle of water, three cheese chunks, one beef and a box of spice."
The paladin continued "A chunk of cheese, a wine bottle, a box of olives and... three apples."
Finally the hero spoke "I have just the same." He sighed "This won't be enough, we need to hunt for rabbits." in an uncertain voice. "Why not collect those fruits?" the paladin asked in a confused voice, pointing at an absolutely stunning looking fruit. It looked like a twisted golden-radish with a hollow middle, hanging under the lower crown of a big tree, at least 12 meters high, with an intricate nature-made design, just in reach for a human.
The wizard turned her head to face the paladin "Every species of plant in the forest thrives off of blood," the wizard said gracefully "those fruits cause uncontrollable anger to one who eats and are made to shed blood."
The paladin flinched back "Fuck, they look so tasty..." he said in disappointment "Let's see how much we can go with provisions on hand." he said in regained courage. "Makes sense, we don't want to deal with the monsters of the forest," said the wizard.
The group readied for another long walk to the north, to one of the farming villages on the border of the forest namely the Redroot Village. Surprisingly they made progress without the monsters interfering.
In a decently open area they started to set up the camp for the oncoming night, the wizard got off to collect sticks for the campfire, when she eventually came back she dropped the sticks to the center off to the said camp, and cast a not-so glorious fireball making the sticks engulf in flame.
The hero pulled out his culinary utensils to cook a delicious stew for the crew. The group would be better off with a stunning beef but it would surely attract apex predators, most worrisomely the Great Fox.
That aside the paladin already had set up the camp. "I will take the first watch." the wizard said. Other group members were too tired to argue both mentally and physically, so they went to their individual tents.
1.5 hours of no movement later the wizard was just about to pass on the role to the paladin but suddenly she saw a rabbit rushing, kicking and biting everything on its path directly to the camp. She could handle a rabbit no problem but something felt off... "How did the rabbit eat the fruit? It should be too tall for it." she said in a whisper with confusion.
That's when everything made sense. The hero wouldn't be angry for that reason and she sensed an almost unnoticeable smell. It made her feel a bit angry and violent. "The scent of flowers," she said in a satisfied yet low voice. "Those too have the same effect as the fruits." Another page for her botany book. After dealing with the little rabbit, she woke up the paladin to sleep. The rest of the night was, sadly, eventless. Few howlings and the sound of monsters butchering one and another, nothing important.
The hero was the last one to watch, so he yelled "Wake up! [the wizard], [the paladin] there's still a long way to go to the village, hurry up!" the camp fills up with rebelling grunts, nobody wants to be up this early, the sun isn't even up yet!
Disgruntledly they packed up their tents and utensils, ready to continue. A few hours later they found large animal traces on the ground. "Be silent. I've heard there are a few intelligent beasts in the Crimson Forest." The hero said in a quiet tone. The group stopped to inspect the surroundings.
Few minutes later the paladin pointed to one of the trees. The tree has a gaping wound in the shape of claws, at least a meter high above the ground. "Whatever that is, that fucker is huge." the paladin said in a dreadful voice. "Let's stay here until we figure out where this beast is." said the wizard in a detached manner. The unknown beast might be anywhere. It could be hiding just around the corner. Even with its glorious size, its easy to hide in an even bigger forest.
So they had to stop their journey without much progress and wait out the day to explore the beast. While they waited the wizard shared her findings about the forest. "So everything is violent here? Even the bugs?" the paladin said rhetorically, not waiting for an answer. He continued, "Wait, if everything is violent, how come there's any beasts around?" the wizard opened her botany book. "There's another plant species that calms." the wizard said in a calm tone as always. "The plant also has aphrodisiac-like effects when eaten. That's why there are farming villages."
With this newfound knowledge, they continued to talk about mundane stuff, like their future and up-to-date topics. And eventually, the night fell. "Let's part our ways until the moon is fully risen. We will find the beast faster this way." said the hero, assuming the beast had fallen asleep.