rpbooks Chapter 20 : Bloodwood
Chapter 20 : Bloodwood
BloodwoodThe ancestral hall was filled with chaotic footsteps, and the darkness extended inward, as if it would never end.
Sharp, eerie laughter from the old man echoed incessantly around her ears. Cecilia grit her teeth and pushed her speed to the limit, almost turning into a white shadow darting through the dark. Yet, no matter what, she just couldn't catch up to the seemingly slow-paced elder ahead.
She knew very well that her current agility had surpassed two thousand points—absolutely faster than that decrepit old man in front of her. But every time she was about to get close, the old man's limbs would suddenly twist bizarrely, then he would abruptly speed up, pulling the distance open again.
A few seconds later, a dust-laden altar appeared ahead.
Normally, when running at high speed, a person would slow down after suddenly spotting an obstacle, to avoid crashing headlong into it. However, the old man didn't hesitate at all—he rammed straight into the altar, disappeared in an instant as if absorbed inside, and was nowhere to be seen from that moment on.
Cecilia slowed, stopping in front of the crude altar, her expression serious and deep in thought.
This ancestral hall was filled with strangeness at every turn—including that lifeless old man just now.
He had clearly taken a heavy punch from her—she'd seen the damage numbers—but didn't react at all.
Combined with his sudden, inexplicable bursts of speed, an absurd thought gradually formed in Cecilia's mind.
Could this be a scripted death?
As the name implies, a "scripted death" refers to unavoidable defeat or fatal incidents set up for the sake of story progression. But here, things seemed the opposite: the old man's goal had been clear from the start—he couldn't be defeated or killed, nor could he be caught, as if he was deliberately leading her to this altar.
Thinking this, Cecilia grew more convinced of the possibility. If so, then something extremely important, perhaps crucial for the next quest, must be on this altar.
Pondering this, Cecilia approached the altar, searching it over. Soon, she found a dust-covered letter on the otherwise empty tabletop.
She reached for the envelope, brushed away the dust with her left hand, and opened the long-aged letter.
"To the brave adventurer, roman Sauna:
We present you due respect and greatly appreciate your willingness to undertake our village's commission. Due to a moment's negligence by the Creator, we have suffered a grave and terrifying disaster. The ancient tree, from whose trunk blood endlessly flows, continues its rampage in the hills behind the village.
Recently, more and more villagers have abandoned their ancestral home. As the chief of Blood-soaked Soil Village, I sincerely plead for you to make time to cut down that cursed tree for us. If you do not, we will lose our home and be forced to stop supplying food to the royal city."
There was more, but most of it was trivial and Cecilia simply skimmed past it.
Putting aside the yellowed, brittle paper, Cecilia soon pieced together the story of what had happened in this village.
Many years ago, the chief of Blood-soaked Soil Village wrote this letter to seek help from an adventurer named Roman Sauna, hoping he could come from the royal city—what is now the Main City—to drive away the monster plaguing the villagers in the rear hills.
Namely, that ancient tree suspected to be the "Bloodletting Tree."
In fact, the tree had not been harmful at first. On the contrary, it had gotten along harmoniously with the villagers. It not only sheltered hardworking farmers, but even the blood flowing from its roots nourished the surrounding soil for miles, making this area's crops yield so remarkable that it gradually became a vital food production base for the kingdom.
But later, something happened—a mistake by the villagers. The ancient tree in the back hills suffered a severe mutation. Its roots were completely severed, and no more blood flowed. Instead, its trunk, left exposed, became known as the Bloodwood.
At the same time, the army of Angel was expanding, and the strong stench of blood started attracting large numbers of monsters—driven violently mad by the pollution of dark magic.
All those powerful monsters, lured by the fresh blood, fought ceaselessly behind the village day and night. Whether failed and slain or victorious after drinking the sap, they all eventually died and, through some unknown means, were absorbed as nutrients for the ancient tree.
With this process repeating endlessly, the once peaceful back hills of the village turned into a blood-soaked den of corpses.
The kingdom's army tried multiple times but failed to subdue it, reluctantly abandoning Blood-soaked Soil Village. In just a few short years, the place became what is now the Desolate Village, almost devoid of human life.
This letter was written not long after the ancient tree mutated—while the situation was still somewhat under control. The village chief sought help from an outside adventurer through this response letter.
No one knows what happened afterward that left the letter unmailed, resting in the village ancestral hall until Cecilia discovered and exposed it now.
The story was hardly new—so old-fashioned that even from the opening, one could easily predict the ending.
Simply put, it was another tale of human greed leading to utter disaster, a classic plot seen in many stories.
Yet, what concerned Cecilia most after reading it was still the bleeding ancient tree behind the village.
She had originally thought the Bloodwood behind the village was at most a level 10-20 elite monster that could be handled effortlessly.
But judging by the story described in the letter by the village chief, the tree in its prime was so formidable that not even a kingdom could subdue it. Such power was simply terrifying.
Could it be... a new world-class boss?
As soon as that idea crossed her mind, Cecilia felt her heart quicken noticeably.
If the ancient tree in the hills behind Blood-soaked Soil Village was indeed a new, as-yet-undiscovered world-class boss, this would be an incredible find.
She would not only have a fair chance of getting the last material needed for forging her offhand weapon, but might also obtain a set of purple epic-and-above equipment, as well as a brand-new secondary class skill.
When anything was related to a world-class boss—even Cecilia, faced with such lavish rewards, struggled to remain entirely clear-headed.