The others had been surprised when Selene and Aiden came running in, even more so when Aiden grabbed various monster encyclopedias and began frantically looking through them muttering about a blood trent.
"Uh, did you find the recipe you needed?"
Jax asked this while turning to Selene, confusion evident on his face.
"Aiden was talking with a friend, then he panicked and said we needed to get to the library right away."
Liora turned to Aiden while he flipped to the page he was looking for. Page 714 of the Occult Monsters Manual, Volume 2, by Relic Helia.
Blood Trent (E-C)
HP: 80-8000
Blood: 50-500
---Stats---
Str: 45
Dex: 25
Con: 40
Int: 10
Wis: 25
Cha: 0
---Notes---
A creature derived from Trents. However, it can only be artificially created by interrupting a Trent's natural process of seedling, planting, movement, travel, and reincarnation by killing a Trent using Aether-rich blood. This causes the seedling stage to mutate and the seed to be corrupted, becoming a creature known to kill and commit acts of cruelty.
While Trents are stagnant in strength, a Blood Trent can grow stronger by killing and draining the blood of animals, or by using its roots to drain the nutrients of trees underground. This causes the trees to change into a different creature called a Blood Bush.
The longer a Blood Trent is able to accumulate strength in this way, the stronger it can grow, changing from an E-class monster up to a C-class monster in the worst cases.
Due to its violent and hostile nature, study of these creatures is both rare and difficult. However, looking back into history, it was said that a bloody seed should be given as a gift to those you wish nothing but the worst for.
Blood Bush (E)
HP: 25
Blood: 15
---Stats---
Str: 15
Dex: 0
Con: 20
Int: 0
Wis: 10
Cha: 0
---Notes---
Blood Bushes are creatures that cannot be found naturally and are instead created through the cultivation process of Blood Trents. See above.
While not known for their strength, Blood Bushes serve as a Blood Trent's minions and soldiers in combat. What they lack in power, they make up for with numbers and their hive mind connection to the Blood Trent that created them.
When Blood Bushes are created, they serve to exponentially increase the rate of growth of the Blood Trent due to them often kidnapping livestock to feed it. They are similarly difficult to study for the same reason as the Blood Trent itself.
"Well, that sure is creep-."
Liora started before cutting herself off.
She and Jax turned to each other and both exclaimed,
"The tree they attacked."
Their outburst was met by several shushes from other people in the library, making the rest of the group wince at the sudden volume.
Jax and Liora leaned in. Jax, now controlling his volume, said,
"The tree that got attacked must have been in the process of becoming a Blood Trent."
"And the burn circle was to try to stop it from growing."
Liora chimed in.
Kaelen leaned back and held his chin for a moment before he said,
"Then who were the ash spirits, and why the rivalry or hatred for the Blood Trent?"
They all stood there for a moment, thinking, before Selene spoke up.
"What if they lived at the shrine before and died trying to burn the Blood Trent? It did say that they are a gift with bad intentions, so it's possible."
Aiden nodded and turned to leave, keeping a brisk pace as he walked. The others quickly followed after him.
"Since it almost infected a tree, that means its roots are growing faster than the ash spirits can burn them. So we only have so long before it starts to grow to a point where they can't handle it."
"This seems a bit half-cocked to me. Last I checked, they attacked us on sight. So how can we fight a Blood Trent, much less three very angry and hard-to-fight ash spirits?"
Kaelen asked, seeming a bit worried as they rounded the corner on the road toward the gate.
"We're not fighting the ash spirits, once they see we're against the tree they might even help us."
Kaelen, Liora, and Selene walked ahead, but Aiden noticed that Jax seemed less talkative than before. He turned to him and saw that Jax had a stern expression on his face.
"You okay there, Jax?"
Aiden asked, raising an eyebrow as they passed through the city gates.
Jax walked beside him for a tense moment of silence that stretched to the point where Aiden thought he was ignoring him. Then Jax stopped and sat down at the edge of the woods.
"Aiden, I want to make sure you're sure you want to do this."
Aiden stopped, a bit surprised by the sudden gravity in Jax's voice.
"What do you mean?"
Aiden asked with a small nervous laugh that quickly cut off when he saw Jax's stern expression. Behind it, there was a hint of worry.
"It was one thing when it was just the ash spirits. Since we have a whole party to work with, we could have taken them down one by one and called it a quest. But the Blood Trent is more dangerous than the ash spirits, and there's a chance we get attacked on both sides by the Blood Trent and the ash spirits if your theory of them helping us is wrong."
Jax slowly swirled one paw in the dirt while the others stopped and turned back toward them.
Aiden sat down on a nearby rock and asked,
"So what are you saying, Jax? Don't beat around the bush."
Jax took a centering breath before he said,
"You said it yourself. This is a temporary arrangement. I can see you warming to the idea, but this isn't like what you imagine as a kid. People die. People die a lot. That's the cost of potential fame and fortune."
Those words made Aiden think back to the first time they encountered an ash spirit. Its claws could have bisected him in a single swing. A feeling of dread gripped his stomach at the thought of what could happen if Jax and the others were occupied with the Blood Trent and Aiden had to be the one to take those claws.
It was terrifying.
While Aiden sat there in silence, Jax continued.
"You have a good thing here. Your house on the mountain. Your minecart. Your grandfather's shop. Don't jeopardize that just because I or the others asked you to."
Aiden turned to the others, who all had solemn looks on their faces.
He leaned back, staring up at the stars beginning to do the sky as the sun set in the distance, and thought back to his dreams as a child.
He had dreamed of being an adventurer. Compared to his life now, those dreams of grandeur had slowly melted into dreams of mediocrity.
His mind flashed back to when he was 11, watching his grandfather work, mixing potions and ingredients with practiced skill. Aiden had been sad because alchemists could not fight well, which meant he could not be an adventurer.
"Well, why can't you be an adventurer?"
His grandfather had asked with his usual hearty laugh.
"Because if I can't fight well, then I'll be attacked and have to be saved. I won't be able to help."
Aiden had said this while moping.
His grandfather, large a man as he was, had leaned down to Aiden's level, ruffled his green hair, and said,
"Life's always got a bit of hazard in it, my boy, whether it's stirring a risky potion or facing monsters on the open road. What truly matters is that you move forward with purpose and heart, for it's in that leap of faith we often find our greatest rewards."
Aiden opened his eyes to see Jax and the others looking at him. After a moment, Jax bowed his head, seeming to accept Aiden's silence.
"I'm sorry for dragging you in. We just need one more night at your home, and then we can complete our quest and give you a cut."
Jax started to slowly walk back to the others while Aiden stayed seated. After a moment, Aiden spoke loudly enough to catch the group's attention.
"My grandfather had a saying. What truly matters is that you move forward with purpose and heart, for it's in that leap of faith that we often find the greatest reward."
Jax and the others stopped and turned back. Aiden was now facing them.
"So what are you saying?"
Jax asked, turning with a spark of hope in his eyes.
"I'm saying potions are useful for an adventuring party, that and someone has to sober you up after you blow all the prize gold on beer."
Jax gave him a goofy grin as his tail wagged.
"In that case, Aiden Hallowcreek, would you like to join our adventuring team?"
Aiden smiled. He could almost feel the shell he had once been hiding in start to crack open as he stepped forward from his stagnant dream and into the horizon of possibility.
"You bet."