Blood and temptation. Day three of the game, and I had come so close to failing. Muscle memory and bad habit held hands and gave me a knowing wink. Fall in love with the crimson path, become the dark hunger that roved through the night. I had shirked it, but my head and heart thrummed in unison as the slumbering beast within opened one eye.

“You’re looking a little out of sorts, Victor,” Basil leaned from the side of the wagon as I approached.

“[Enrage] takes some getting used to,” I nodded in return, knowing what he truly was pointing at—the brief consideration to rip throats out with my fangs and sup from the blood of the criminals.

“You did great, though,” Jakob sighed, sinking into the wagon bench. “It’s… we’ve not had to kill regular people before.”

Basil held out his hand, and a healing spell pulsed across my arm with a comforting warmth. I had barely thought to consider the injuries taken, but other than a torn and bloodied shirt, I seemed to have gotten off lightly once the Cleric had worked his magic.

“Well, regular people don’t usually rob and murder,” I shrugged. Florence looked equally as torn on the outcome, her eyes staring off at the bandit that had burned to death. I attempted to keep them focused. “We each took to our new abilities relatively easy, huh?”

The Mage broke her gaze to look down at me. “Thank you again for the glove; it made things a lot… less painful.”

“For you, at least,” I agreed and looked out at the plant life that had begun to smolder as the magical flames died out. The smell of ash and blood was in the air, something I had not experienced for a while. It was hard to say if I still adored it - or if it was just familiar.

“Are we looting the bodies, Victor?” Basil smiled expectantly. Another point where he was interested to see where my new line of morality was drawn in the sand. I needn’t have requested he accompany me on this journey; he would have surely demanded it.

“No, whatever they had was ill-gotten, no doubt. We shall not act as vultures and cling to the bloodied spoils of thieves and cutthroats.

”My declaration caught the confused glares of everyone present. Apparently, some manner of rifling through the dead was expected and even accepted amongst the adventuring type. I was aware of the benefits but planned to play my role as far from the grey area as I could.

“Adventurers do that sort of thing,” I shrugged, “Heroes do not.”

Convincing, but only barely. Without exerting some manner of glamour in my voice, I had to rely on the old methods.

“That sucks, but I guess it makes sense,” Jakob pulled his hood over his face with a sigh.

“I… didn’t particularly want to search through the corpses, anyway.” Florence looked back over to the charred remains.

Fire magic was destructive, often as much to the wielder as their target. She would need to come to terms with what she was capable of now and what it meant when living things were on the hot end of her ire. We all needed to be realistic about what our path would bring.

“As you wish,” Basil nodded with the same smile across his face. “We had best set off - I can cast any remaining healing necessary as we move.”

“Agreed.” I circled to the back of the wagon to climb aboard. “I am just as impressed that Petal remained calm during the proceedings. Often animals are not.”

Florence sat back down on the front bench. “Maybe we can make her the fifth member of our Party?”

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“The Guild may not be on board with that, Miss,” Basil beamed, “but I certainly am.”

I rolled my eyes. “At least until we find someone more suitable, then.”

Jakob groaned his indifference from beneath the shadow of his hood.

“Onwards then,” the Mage took the reins and started the animal off. “Onto clearer roads.”

Somehow, I didn’t think the road ahead would be any less dangerous.

Indeed, after more time had passed and the bodies strewn around from our battle were long behind us, the sky had darkened. Or at least, the area had.

“That’s the tell of corruption again,” Florence made the show of shuddering.

I raised an eyebrow and looked over at the Cleric. “We are soon to where we will need to disembark from our transport and walk to the lair.”

The least fun part. Mostly the walking - but also the lair itself. I had already painted a vivid image of all the differing plant life we may come across as we neared where the necromancer resided. Give me those bandits again tenfold - I’d much rather fight humans on even footing than mulch around in dirtied foliage and flowered deceit.

“If several Parties haven’t returned, we’ll need to be extra careful.” Jakob had returned to keeping a sharp eye on the way forward.

Knowing that the necromancer brought odd plants back to life, you would have thought any Party trying to assail the Villain would do their due diligence on what to expect. There were a few things that came to mind that may negate the preparations of even a Fire Mage, but I prayed we had an easy time as the Alchemist had been.

“What are you thinking, Victor?” Basil tilted his head to the side as the wagon vibrated over some particularly rough stones.

“Hmm? Oh, just wondering what magical items the town would have for me on our victorious return.” I gave him a smile that he could easily see through. It wouldn’t do well to trouble Party morale at this stage. Go in cautious but in high spirits.

Plus, I was pretty sure I could still smell the blood of the bandit leader in my beard - or perhaps across my linen shirt. It was slightly intoxicating, but I hadn’t any spare clothing. My eye twitched in anticipation. At least the miserable plant monsters we were to face were oozing with the crimson that I craved.

“Some bracers would suit you,” Florence added from the front after a moment of thought. “Help you block some damage since you’re going to be in melee a lot.”

I grunted an acknowledgment. She was right. Although, as a Barbarian, any armor could hinder the effectiveness of my skills, some bracers would be a help. Once we earned some gold anyway - perhaps my desire to leave the bodies as they were would become a point of regret down the road.

“We’ll need to stop here, Miss.” Basil wrinkled up his nose and twitched his grey mustache, bringing me out of my brief contemplation.

As I looked out to the woods, nothing seemed that different - other than the trees had become a little more sparse. There was enough room for the Mage to coerce Petal into moving from the road into a small space behind a little cover. Not quite a clearing, but enough of a space to hoist the beast to a tree out of the main view of the road behind us.

I hopped down from the wagon and stretched out. Maybe instead, I would spend my portion of any gold I make in more comfortable transport. A proper carriage with cushioned seats of crimson fabric, perhaps. The woods around us were dark, a permanent gloom having sunk through the canopy and settled almost like a fog in the forest beyond.

“I’m getting a little tired of trees,” I sighed, figuring I would be further weary once the painful part of our Quest was complete.

“I like them.” Jakob jumped down from the wagon and withdrew his bow.

Basil got down next and then assisted the Mage. Ever full of manners, that man.

“You know which direction we need to go, Basil?” I squinted off into the near distance but couldn’t pick out signs of anything untoward.

“Yes, Victor - roughly. I imagine our arrival will become apparent when-“

“When we are accosted by zombie plants, or whatever.” I nodded and gestured for him to point me in the right direction.

With a sigh, he pointed relatively straight ahead. “Does anyone have a torch?”

“I have… two, I think?” Jakob unslung his pack to rifle through. “Yeah, they’re a little worn but should work.” He threw one to the Cleric and then held the second one up for the Mage.

With a quick flick of her gloved hand, Florence lit both of them with a spark of flame. Immediately, amber light pooled through the clearing, illuminating the darkness but casting long shadows further in. Despite initially being wary of announcing our presence with the light, it was much preferable to falling into a trap or getting lost in the dark. Failure against the Villain was one thing; failure against nature was a little less acceptable.

“Eyes and ears peeled,” I exhaled as I began walking in the noted direction. “Caution will carry us to victory.”

They nodded in return, hopefully not just humor me. We each had a Healing Potion on our belts - a magical liquid of vibrant red - just in case Basil was unavailable to save our skin. A slim, green vial of Antidote sat beside them. It would rescue us against some minor maladies, which I had hoped was all that the F Rank Villain and her minions were capable of.

Only time would tell how much blood this Quest would cost.