A crunchy sensation enveloped my mouth as I made a sour face.
Pointy, sharp stings scattered the inside of my mouth, creating tiny punctures. I took another bite out of the rough, scarlet object in front of me before spitting out a saliva and blood-covered mess onto the ground.
'Tsk, no dice.'
I tore off another chunk of crimson from the pillar.
One may think I was currently in the midst of creating a plan worthy of my genius, and they'd be correct!
Yes!
I was eating tree bark. I took a big bite of the rough block of crimson at the thought.
Well, I call it Bloodbark.
Why, you may ask?
I slowly and excruciatingly chewed on the rough bark before bits and pieces went down my oesophagus with a scratching sensation. There was a moment of pause. Then the System's voice boomed.
[28.73L/100L of blood absorbed]
Because it gave me 0.01 litres of blood per chunk if I was lucky!
I shot my hand up in triumph. The crimson pillars I saw earlier were, in fact, made out of blood. They were similar to wood in consistency, making them somewhat edible. I was in a forest of Bloodtrees, technically meaning infinite blood for me! However, even my sharp teeth struggled to properly rip into this piece of wood, making absorption difficult.
Still, I felt a wave of pride and ecstasy wash over me. It was every gamer's dream to figure out a way to cheese a quest!
'Finally! I can cheese this requirement! Now I just have to do it uhh...'
I quickly did the math in my head. I felt my brow twitch after a second.
'Only 7127 more times! Y-yeah...Fuck.'
I dropped my head in disappointment. Considering I wasn't even guaranteed blood from every bark I took a bite out of, and how long it took me to chew just one piece, this method would be gruelling to fill up the blood meter with. But I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. It was better than nothing.
I also tried eating the scarlet dirt, but no matter how much of it I gobbled up, I didn't get any blood. Can't win them all, I suppose.
'Still, it's good to know. Maybe with this method, I can stave off my insatiable thirst for blood. I'm not a big fan of eating tree bark personally, so I might be sick of blood by the time I get out of here.'
This led to the current problem, which I had realized a moment after I stepped into this place. My main bodyguards were missing! I scanned the nearby area, but they were nowhere to be found. They couldn't have gotten that far, since I was only a couple of minutes behind them. I wasn't quite sure what had happened, but the sooner I found them, the higher my chances of survival.
I was now completely and utterly alone. Although not much changed atmosphere wise. They weren't exactly big fans of talking for the most part, so the silence was nothing new.
This led to the next part of the problem. I now had to find my own food and couldn't leech off of that bunch's hard work.
'I should now be in the Middle Layer, meaning things are going to be tougher from here on out.'
Also, let's not forget the fact that I'm most likely a Gifted Rank 1 myself, having only recently arrived in this world. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to survive meeting Gifted Rank 2 Fracturebeasts. Maybe they're nicer than they made them out to be? They weren't exactly the likeable type, so it's no wonder somebody would try to bite off their heads.
Putting my vain thoughts to the back of my mind, I took my gaze off the bark-stripped tree of blood, trying to ignore the sense of impending doom.
Pillars of crimson adorned in twisting branches loomed over me endlessly, with the scarlet soil stretching on for as far as the eye could see. Only the occasional red crystal disrupted the monotone propriety. Currently, there were no Fracturebeasts around, so I was safe for the time being. Still, I needed to move forward.
'Not much I can do about it. As they say, a journey through a forest of massacre begins with a single step,' I thought jokingly, trying to ease my own nerves.
And so I began my journey into the bloody forest.
***
I calmly walked between the endless lines of pillars, enjoying the rosy light from the sky. It was nice to see something similar to natural light after being in complete darkness for days. I hadn't gone out much before I died either, so it was the first time I was seeing it in a while.
Soon, I noticed a thin, light haze creeping up from between the nearby clusters of trees. It slowly inched closer and closer to me, revealing its scarlet hue. I was tempted to run, but when I took a look behind me, I flinched. The scarlet haze had already surrounded me.
'Not a good sign.'
I narrowed my eyes while putting up my guard, all the while calmly continuing my pace. I would be surrounded regardless, so where's the rush?
I quickly came to a realization as I was worrying about my safety. My gaze feverently scanned the nearby ground. After a while, I was forced to accept my fate. There were no pools of murky liquid in sight.
My lips curved into a wry smile. I was in a bit of trouble. I couldn't just freely run away at any given moment like I had grown used to. I had relied on [Blood Dive] a lot in my schemes, so now being stripped of it, I felt somewhat naked. With the ominous haze looming over me, I wasn't particularly thrilled by this.
'Can't be careless now.'
After a while, the haze enveloped my sight completely. Its density grew, taking on a deep scarlet hue while becoming more fog-like. A chill ran across my body as I felt the temperature drop.
Soon, I could only see a couple of meters in front of me. The brightly lit, rosy sky was blocked out, casting the surroundings into a dark shade of crimson. Even with my nocturnal eyes, it was difficult to see.
The odds of being alone in this fog were low. I had to figure out how large the fog-covered area was, so I could hopefully get out - I at least wanted to see what killed me.
I approached one of the Bloodtrees while keeping an eye on my surroundings. Without analyzing the base of the tree, I shot one of my claws into its surface. I was met with tougher resistance than I had expected, and my claw bounced off the trunk.
I paused and furrowed my brows. I didn't remember the tree being that tough. I thrust my claws out again with more power, all the while keeping an eye on my surroundings. This time, I pierced the surface.
However, I felt a cold sensation on the tips of my claws.
I turned around to take a look at the deadly weaponry adorning my hands. Scarlet slowly dripped down its sharp edges, covering my tiny forearm in the familiar murky liquid. My legs tensed in a moment, and I thrust myself backwards, almost falling over. A heavy impact struck the spot I had just been in, raising a dust of the scarlet soil.
I looked at the Bloodtree properly for the first time. Only then did the putrid stench of bodily fluids and rotten flesh reach my nostrils.
Wrapped around the length of the crimson tree were piles of flesh and stretched tendons towering over two meters, forming a disorganized mess of musculature. Sharpened, milky bones lined the pile of meat, roughly giving it the outline of a deformed snake. Three maw-like tubes of hovering flesh, their insides and edges lined with rows of sharp teeth, stretched above the flesh pile. One of them was planted face-first into the spot I had just been in, but was slowly rising back into the air.
'I see. It all comes down to this.'
I lowered my stance and calmly observed the pile of flesh.
As soon as I noticed one of the tubes lined with teeth move, I...
Turned around and ran as fast as I could.
'Hell no, I'm not fighting this thing without a plan!'
This encounter was really sudden. For all I knew, this could be a Gifted Rank 2 Fracturebeast. I could take battles in the Outer Layer with lacking info, since the odds of running into a Rank 2 were low, and I needed to grow stronger. Here, not so much. I couldn't use [Blood Dive] either, rendering some of my tricks useless.
Anything that was stronger than you most likely required preparation to beat. For one, I needed more info. I almost died, since I didn't know that those things wrap themselves around the pillars of blood. The more I knew, the higher my chances of survival and chances of killing those sorts of Fracturebeasts. After all, knowledge is power, and nothing motivates you to gain more power than a pile of nightmare meatloaf on your trail.
The pile of flesh slowly unwrapped itself from the tree and began slithering after me, leaving a trail of viscous liquid in its wake.
But it was too late.
Despite my small size, I was much nimbler than the pile of slowly slithering flesh and swiftly disappeared into the scarlet fog.
I had some scientific observations to conduct.