1 Bloody Growth

In the middle of a Forest, a Clearing stood.

In this clearing there where around 20 People building Houses out of wood.

And while they all build their Houses, one cut his finger.

To them, it was not noteworthy. to them, it was just a bit of damage.

but nobody knew that this little damage will lead to the Birth of a Monster known far and whide.

and all that, because the droplet of blood landed on the seed in the Ground.

and at that moment, a little seed opened, devouring the Nutritious Blood and growing to the point of sprouting out of the Ground.

A Week later, somebody stumbled and cut his knee, the blood flowed slowly towards the small sprout, and gave it another small growth spurt.

A Month later, somebody came back from hunting, and the Blood of the Animal he carried dripped on the Tree in big drops, which once again had a growth spurt, now reaching the height of a Rabbit and the thickness of about two centimeters.

And then for the Next Year It got sprayed every few days with Blood due to some accidents, till it finally grew to the height of one and a half Meter, with the thickness of 8 centimeters.

It stood in the outscirts of the now decent sized Village, With Crimson Leaves all year around and a Dark, nearly red, Bark.

But as the Winter came, and all the other Trees lost theyr Leaves, it stood there.

Ignoring the Cold of the Winter, its Leaves grew to cleanse the Souls of the Dead, taking away their Sins, Memories and Grudges and transform their suffering to create Pure Black Mana.

While its Roots reach into the Nearby Graveyard and slowly expand Deeper, while they Drained any Fluids out of the Corpses and then it floods those corpses with Mana it can't use, which then slowly gets changed to Black Mana and reabsorbed into the Tree.

And so something within its very core changed, its wood getting Darker every day and at the end of Winter turning Deep black, while it's Leaves seemed to Glow Crimson while the Black fog that was Secreted was suddenly sucked in whith a loud screeching sound, which woke up the whole village.

and when they all Gathered, it felt... confused, it could feel the weard energy circulating around it, and when it touched it, it got send to the many converters, that helped it turn that weard energy into the good energy, that it could use to grow.

And so, it focused on the whisps of souls that where in the living persons around it and asked those, as it felt how they where smart enough to understand what it asked them.

"Where am I?"

.......................

Fin was scared because the Tree that grew since the first days of the Village, the one that always gave them the feeling of oppression and that kept the Monsters in the surroundings at bay, Talked.

It was some type of Thelepathie like he saw it from the Wizard that told them that this place would be a good place for a Village.

But different from the Thelepathie of the Wizard, this one didn't ask to theyr Minds, it was more like it asked something deep within them, and they felt like not answering was against theyr verry Nature.

so, he answered at the same time like the others:

"You are in Blackwood Village, in the outer parts of the Black Woods"