The forest that surrounds Edheim, also known as the Magnacio forest, is a thriving monument to mother nature. It not only contains the capital of Kalpania, Edheim, but it is home to countless towns and cities. It is difficult to understand the scale of a forest this size.

It contains nearly five-hundred million trees. There are over three-hundred species of mammals that wander this forest. There are more crawling insects on the forest floor than there are stars in the sky. This is all to say that this is a forest brimming with life.

Leo is currently smelling all of it at once. He could smell the spilt blood of sparrows and the satisfying scent of baked bread. His mind tried to filter out the useless scents that overwhelmed him the most. He wasn’t certain how long it took before he was back in control.

There was an uncontrolled nature to the ability, but it could be managed. Leo was gradually able to filter out most of the information that had flooded into him. The scent of the world faded into the back of his mind. This was when he tried to focus his ability.

He hadn’t been attempting to sniff Malumo earlier, so he wasn’t able to easily follow his scent. Thankfully, his newfound ability seemed to do the work for him. Leo focused his mind onto their brief interaction, and it was as if a path was illuminated before him. There was the lightest trail into the forest that he could follow.

Leo felt like a basset hound as he followed where his nose guided him. After a few minutes, the power had become tolerable enough that it started to feel natural. Malumo smelled horrendous. He carried the scent of soot and vomit, with hints of seafood underneath. There were thousands of scents that followed him, but Leo struggled to place most of them.

Eventually, the scent continued to grow stronger as he approached the source. There was a slight break in the forest, leaving a small opening that one could lie down in. Once he was within reach, that was when a new scent hit him. His mind had filtered it out due to the abundance that was spilled in the forest, but it forced itself into the forefront of his mind.

Blood. The thick scent of spilt blood and rotting meat began to flood into him. Leo fought it and dared to move forward. In this clearing, he found the body of Malumo. The mage was unarguably dead. The grass around him was dyed red, and his remains had already started to rot underneath the baking sun.

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Leo backed off, unable to bear the sight and the scent. He shoved his way through the trees, leaving destruction in his wake. He fell to his knees in the middle of the path. No matter what he attempted to focus on, he could only smell blood. Not just the blood of Malumo, but the blood of countless creatures in the Magnacio forest.

It took him a while to recover. Eventually, Leo forced himself into movement and walked down the path. He needed answers now more than ever. There was clearly something wrong with Malumo, and now the mage is lying in a pool of his own blood. What had happened in the span of a few minutes that led to this? If someone had killed him, then they had to be nearby.

Leo still lacked any true control over his ability. He still fought to not be overwhelmed by the nearby smells, trying to hunt down someone unknown felt too far out of his reach. Trying to focus on the scent of blood, or the scent of Malumo, just brought him back to the corpse.

He staggered through while focusing on any distractions that he could. Eventually, Leo saw Marem and Emily stood by the side of the road. Marem had her staff drawn and was scanning the treeline. Emily was behind his companion, keeping an eye out on the opposite side.

Marem saw Leo approaching, without Malumo in hand. “What happened, did he get away?”

“He’s dead. I just found him in the forest.” Leo stammered.

“What? What happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know. We should get out of here. Whatever or whoever killed him might still be nearby,” answered Leo.

He didn’t wait for any reply before moving forth. Leo just wanted to leave this area behind. The walk there was mostly silent. Marem kept watch while Leo and Emily walked. He tried to focus on anything else that was in sight.

He took in the scent of the flowing trees and the budding flowers. The blood was strong, but there was much out here to distract him. Leo’s nose felt as if it would never know peace again. Even when he had it focused, there was a droning static from all the other scents.

After hours had passed, the unsettling pit in Leo’s stomach began to fade. He was able to breathe clearly, less weighed down by what he had witnessed. The others had also started to ease up as time passed. Marem and Emily talked about their experiences travelling and seemed to be becoming fast friends.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the path to a nearby settlement. Emily gave Leo and Marem a hug farewell before she went on her own. They had offered to walk her all the way there, but she assured them that she would be fine.

“She was pretty,” commented Marem as they headed off.

“Yeah,” replied Leo.

The two of them continued towards Edheim. Leo hoped that this would be the worst day he’d have for a while. If he was lucky, Edheim could be a nice vacation and visit.