Jasper climbed the tree with all his might, with every second that passed more and more of the wounds covering his body slowly mended themselves as he felt his connection to his targets grow deeper as he could feel their intent. Their vine-like appendages coiling up the tree like inverted vines tracing over the drops of blood left behind by his desperate attempt at escape.
With each drop of blood they consumed he could feel them growing hungrier and hungrier as if the madness which clouded their minds only grew more frenzied every time they got a taste, of course the true madness was hidden from him, he was only connected to their senses and couldn't actually read their minds for if he did he would be doomed to a very short life. Instead he could feel it in their intentions and movements, it was strange to him how much their aggressions changed and how keenly focused on him they had become when the was perfectly good prey above them which they could clearly reach judging by how they were chasing after him as he approached the canopy.
Soon enough he made his way up, pulling himself onto a rather thick branch before looking over to find the nest of birds he was searching for, the birds were rather small creatures with dark brown and green feathers covering their bodies, their beaks were a steely grey and unnaturally long for their size which was that of a small dog. Their talons were curled and black as they pierced into the wood with little effort as the family of birds stared at the strange intruder who started to crawl towards them with a strange look gleaming in his eye.
They cawed at him as they swiped and clawed at his body as he stumbled into the middle of their nest, seeming inviting himself into their home uninvited, yet strangely enough for every wound they left it seemed to close not too long after. Jasper was assaulted by the strange family of birds as he watched the snaking tendrils drawing ever closer, he had to act fast or he would end up as plant food.
'Who would ever want to become mulch?'
His terrible joke failing to pass by the screeching birds as they tore at his flesh as he raised his blade towards them as he attempted to defend himself, their feathers were unusually tough and their talons could rip his flesh and bone with impeccable ease as they flashed against the blade causing its surface to chip here and there. Soon enough he found his senses overwhelmed by various angles of himself, all of them showing how bad his condition really looked from the outside.
He was naked, covered in blood and mud, laying in the middle of a giant bird's nest on the branches of a dark tree, his body was shivering from the cold and the pain as it repeatedly healed itself as he was torn apart, honestly he looked like a fleshly killed carcass which was being torn apart by hungry scavengers. His continued attempts to slice at the horde came at a sudden stop as the sound of cracking wood could be heard from underneath him, it was so sudden he barely had time to register that he could see himself falling down to the ground from many points of view as the birds seemed to be both satisfied that he had fallen and rightfully annoyed that their home was no more.
As he collided with the ground in a hail of splinters he could feel every bone in his body ache out as the vibrations rang out over his body, very quickly replaced by the wave of vitality now filling him with rejuvenating strength every second before a voice rang out to him,
[You have Slain an Awakened Beast, Living Foliage]
The voice was sudden and strange but he soon realised its source as he saw two humanoid like plant abominations staring down at him as he quickly felt the bed of razor thorns and purple flowers he had found himself on,
'I don't really weigh that much do I?'
The joke echoed through his clearly concussed mind as something wet dropped onto his face from high above, he didn't have to take a look to know what it was, as the senses of the Living Foliage told him everything he needed to know as he could sense the shallow shower of crimson starting from above.
The living foliage was stunned by the sudden downpour of blood that they seemed to forget all about the person laying idly by their feet for just a few moments, as they greedily drank the blood as it rained down on the tree below. The birds had wanted to fly away in the search for a new place to call home yet a strong force was compelling them to stick around and watch whatever strange events seemed to be happening below as they ignored their injuries as their energy was slowly drained from their bodies.
Soon however they quickly snapped out of their trace and faced the lone human on the ground at their feet, but by the time they turned to face him he was nowhere to be seen, instead all that was left was a lone blade which had seemingly impaled their friends next, severing what had still remained after he failed to decapitate it the first time. They were entranced by the blade despite not being able to see the blade itself, instead they were drawn to the blood coating its surface as they untangled their vines in order to drink the blood off its surface, even the birds flew closer down to marvel at its beauty.
As their vines coiled around the surface, ignoring the sensation of cutting their vines over its surface they quickly drank up all the blood covering it, scrapping its surface with numerous hideous wounds and marks which would have made the blade look rather unappealing to the unsuspecting eye, but to these creatures its beauty always remained intact no matter how badly it was damaged.
So distracted by its radiance the foliage failed to notice the scent of a distant storm lingering in the air, drawing ever closer and more potent by the moment but the birds could see it more clearly, hovering above the carnage they had become accustomed to hunting in the dark and navigating the forests with uncanny efficiency, so the appearance of a sudden light and the sounds of strange humming made them feel anxious, they would have otherwise flown away and yet they were compelled to draw closer and closer down, even if they could feel the weakness of their bodies taking over making it hard to fly for much longer.
Jasper had run off only moments after falling to the ground, it hadn't been his plan to fall this soon but he was going to make use of it regardless, leaving his weapon behind he ran as far as quickly as he could without activating his aspect, he hadn't expected to kill one of those creatures by falling on it and accidentally decapitating the creature, far from it but he wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste.
He quickly turned around once he felt like he was far enough away, bringing himself to a stop before dashing forward with all his might, activating his aspect in order to empower himself as much as possible, he couldn't detect any other creatures around using the living foliage's senses so he was going to give it his all. He had a little time to think as he ran as he accounted the past few minutes of what had just happened to him, it all seemed so strange and weirdly timed, as if he was a part of some type of comedy from the network. If it was up to him, he would say his attribute [Fool] had something to do with his sudden string of occurrences, making comical effects have real applications seemed like a powerful ability if he could learn to control it, but he had a feeling he was at the mercy of the world for when it would showcase itself to its fullest.
Soon enough Jasper found himself resummoning his armour as he looked at the broken forms of his enemies with a strange look on his face, it hadn't taken him long to run through his enemies and strike them down after he returned to the battlefield, the foliage was distracted by the torrent of blood and his blade which made them easy pickings in the end. The birds didn't take much time either, sure he could have just let them go as they didn't do anything wrong but he was getting hungry and they seemed like the best meal around, when was the last time he had tasted some real meat after all?
However this wasn't why he had a strange look on his face as he suddenly stretched his arm out and concentrated on his soul as a node of light suddenly shined brightly within it, a strom of sparks formed in the air over his arm before collapsing into the familiar form of one of the birds which was now perched on his arm.