Ruddy sat with a horrified look on his face as he looked at the crimson ground, which was littered with severed limbs.
He bit his lips and forced himself to calm down.
"Calm down… I can't waste time here." He mumbled as he clenched his fists and forced himself to stand up.
Ruddy walked through the bushes, which hid the dreadful sight of those corpses.
A rotting smell hit him as he stepped near the crimson ground. Ruddy swallowed his saliva when he saw the condition of the corpses. They were cut, they were mangled, and they were killed without resistance.
Ruddy placed a hand on his face, covering both his nose and mouth. He looked around the corpses with shaking eyes.
"These have to be the ones who attacked us yesterday…" Ruddy mumbled as he looked at the attire of corpses. It was a black kimono like that of a ninja with intricate crimson embroidery.
As soon as Ruddy saw the attire, he could guess which faction... or at least what god these people believed in.
"Blood god…" Ruddy mumbled as he stepped near one of the corpses and picked up a dagger.
'Maybe this…' Ruddy thought as he tightened his grip around the dagger's handle.
"Hah… I have to make sure he doesn't find out about this." He heaved a sigh and started to look around. Soon, he picked up a red string; it was probably used to tie the kimono before, but now it wasn't even long enough to be tied around his waist, and that is considering Ruddy's frail body.
Ruddy used the dagger to cut the string shorter and used the shortened string to tie the dagger around his lap. He made sure to tie it so he could draw it easily.
Ruddy placed his hands on the waist and made sure the dagger or the string wasn't visible at all.
He nodded to himself and looked at the corpses as he bowed.
"I don't know if I will be able to avenge you all, but… I'll make sure to survive," Ruddy spoke in a grateful tone. He lifted his head and turned to leave.
Ruddy gathered dry branches for the fire and walked towards Warrior.
As he stepped out of the forest, his eyes fell on two masked figures standing near Warrior. They wore the same attire as his; however, their attire appeared to be slightly different, like it was much less noble than Warrior's.
'They must be lower ranked than him…' Ruddy thought as he walked towards them.
Warrior had already skinned and cut the deer. He placed them on a black cloth as he talked with the two masked figures. He saw Ruddy walking towards them with branches in his arms.
"What took you so long?" Warrior questioned with a raised eyebrow.
The two masked figures turned around and looked at Ruddy.
Ruddy began to sweat as he felt the slight hostility they were looking at him.
Ruddy let go of the branches and bowed as he spoke in a fearful tone.
"I-I a-apologize."
Warrior looked at him for a few moments, after which he nodded and gestured the two masked figures to prepare the deer.
Ruddy sat under a tree beside Warrior and stared at the two masked figures who moved with experienced movements as they prepared the deer. However, seeing them didn't make Ruddy happy, no. Not at all. After all, he probably has to kill Warrior to finish his trial, and the existence of these two will only make it harder for him.
Ruddy sighed, lowered his head, and began to stare at his palms. They were calloused, much like how his real palms were, suggesting the person whose position he had taken for the trial wasn't much different than him. He probably had it worse after all; he was a sacrifice.
'I wonder… If the real one had survived or not.' Ruddy thought as he continued to stare down.
"Hey." A heavy voice called out to him. Ruddy lifted his head, and a masked man with brown eyes was standing in front of him. He held a black cloth like a bundle in his hand and offered it to Ruddy as he spoke in an annoyed tone.
"Eat."
Ruddy looked at the masked man with a frown, but didn't say anything. He nodded at him and took the bundle.
He opened the bundle, and the aroma of cooked meat began to come from it. Ruddy looked at the cooked meat with a slight smile on his face.
He picked up a piece and stared at it for some time.
'It would have been a delicacy if I weren't in this god forsaken trial.' Ruddy thought as he moved the piece near his lips and took a bite. He chewed slowly, making sure to imprint the flavour in his mind.
'Well, I can at least have meat in this damn trial.' Ruddy thought as he chuckled to himself.
Moments later, Ruddy had finished eating and was currently drinking water from Warrior's leather canteen.
"Let's move," Warrior said as he turned towards the two masked figures and nodded at them. The masked figures nodded and flanked Ruddy from both sides.
Ruddy looked at that with a raised eyebrow; however, he didn't say anything and just closed the neck of the canteen and gave it to Warrior. Warrior took the canteen from his hand and put it into his leather pouch as he nodded.
It was already noon as they began to move towards their destination- The temple.
As they walked through the pathway, a sudden roar full of anger and malice rang throughout the forest. All of them stopped in their tracks as their backs turned cold due to the malice alone.
"W-what was that?!" Ruddy questioned as he looked towards the direction of the roar with a terrified expression on his face.
Warrior had a grim look on his face as he spoke.
"A demon..." He took a pause and continued. "An awakened Demon..."