#DC666E

[apocalypticist]

[ His font is this shade of red! Also, Akira may threadjack if he has something to say. ]

Hello. This is Ryo Asuka. A while ago, Akira Fudo and I went into the forest to observe the mutated wildlife and learn more about the origins of the quest monsters.

The regular animals reproduce just fine, despite their mutations; they have clear family units with children and we even found eggs in a nest. The mutations appear to be entirely random and aren't passed down from parent to offspring. I also observed several species that are completely out of place in this climate, such as bearded dragons, a genus of reptiles endemic to Australia. (For those not familiar with Australia, it's a continent known for its deserts and generally hot climate.)

When we tried to find where the quest monsters originate from, we ended up walking in circles. It felt like we were going in the right direction, but we found no origin point at all. We eventually gave up and decided to just look for the quest monsters and found a large group of harpies almost immediately. Unlike with the regular wildlife, there were no young harpies around and we found no eggs in their nests either. Of course, the lack of eggs can be explained by it being in the middle of winter, but it really seems as though the quest monsters don't reproduce at all and are dropped into the woods specifically for the quests.

We then headed deep into the woods and encountered a strange, powerful creature. It didn't look like any mythological creature I'm familiar with, so I've attached a sketch in case anyone is able to identify it.

[ Pretend there's a sketch here! It's kind of rudimentary since Ryo isn't the best artist around, but he gets the important details across: A strange faceless creature with limbs like branches. ]

Bullets barely grazed it and it attacked with sharp appendages capable of tearing through flesh and claws coated with some sort of poison—after it scratched me, fatigue began to set in immediately and it felt as though it was draining my body of energy. We quickly realized that the two of us wouldn't be able to defeat it so we retreated. It took me several days to recover from the poison and the scratch healed much slower than expected.

This is just conjecture on my part, but I believe this creature might be some sort of guardian that doesn't want us to get past a certain point. If we could defeat it, maybe we'd find something worthwhile. I've heard other people have had similar encounters; if you've met anything like it deep in the woods, any sharing of information would be appreciated.

Comments

#FFDF00

[inheritance]

(color!)

Thanks for sharing all this, Asuka-san. My friend and I were planning to look in the forest for the source of the monsters, too. I'll let you know if we find anything else in there.

Ichinose-sensei, Tonbokiri-san, Amano-san and I ran into something similar a few months ago, too. It doesn't look the same as the one you've drawn, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were more of these guardians in the forest.

[apocalypticist]

Thank you. That would be appreciated.

What else can you tell me about the creature your group ran into — what did it look like, and what abilities did it have?

[inheritance]

I can sketch it out for you if you'd like! Not on the laptops, though. The paint program is kind of hard to use.

It had wings, horns, and a long tail. It gave off a strong presence once we got close enough to it, and the injuries it inflicted on us were hard to heal, too. It took a healer friend of mine several tries before anything happened.

#F2B52B

[bakedapple]

It would be better to learn more about it, instead of rushing to kill it. We have no idea what it is.

[And he's not too keen on the idea of killing a forest spirit, mmkay.]

[apocalypticist]

Of course. It'd be unwise to engage with it without more information. But it's something to consider eventually, if we want to find out what lies beyond it.

[bakedapple]

I don't know the circumstances of how you encountered it, but it may have just been defending itself. It may have nothing to do with whatever could be "beyond" it.

#D20000

[lacrimose]

cool drawing

[apocalypticist]

[ ...thanks for the meaningful contribution, buddy. ]

Thanks. Is there anything else you'd like to say?

[lacrimose]

[But it is a cool drawing! Ryo has too many talents.]

not really. unless we can find a way around that thing, we're not going to get anywhere

#E2D383

[flinty]

( color )

you said the bullets barely grazed it did you happen to see if the creature managed to heal its own wounds
if the thing is plant based itll probably regrow yknow

[apocalypticist]

Unfortunately, no. I could tell our attacks barely did any damage, but not if it's capable of healing itself.

[flinty]

hm
you said it was deep in the woods yea
ill keep an eye out on it

[ He's learned that he can't just go in and kill everything. Sad! ]

also you seem pretty smart so quick question :
you know anythin about somethin called tao?

#A2F9FF

[satanslash]

ive done a few trips to the forest for quests

i fuckin hate it in there it doesnt ever feel right

but yeah ive come across demons in all my trips in there which isnt anything new for me demons are a thing in my world and im training to be an exorcist but

they were only sorta similar to the ones i know? like link and i found creatures that had rot on them like a demon under asteroth would have in my world but they werent anything like asteroth kin ive come across before

there was also a spider demon who could disguise herself as a human woman but that was months ago

[He would offer to try his flames on the tree creature, but he can see there are already a few saying to leave it alone.]

#D20000

[lacrimose]

she wasn't a demon, she was a Devilman. She looked like a spider demon, but her heart is still human. it wasn't just a disguise.

what does demon under asteroth mean???

[satanslash]

she sure as fuck smelled like a demon

asteroth is the demon king of rot

theres like eight demon kings i think? they all have their own kin under their element

[apocalypticist]

Akira, it's possible that he's referring to the jorogumo from one of the earlier quests. They're shapeshifting spider demons from Japanese folklore.

[ HE SEES YOU STANNING FOR MIKI. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ The mention of demons makes him perk up a little—it's an area of interest to him. ]

I see. If you don't mind, what does an exorcist do, exactly?

[ He can infer through context that it likely involves killing and/or exorcising demons, but he asks for clarification anyway since words can mean different things in different worlds. ]

#ffff99

[troubadamsel]

Let it be known we are extremely grateful for your service and sacrifices. You and Akira are making great strides for us all.

I can't help but wonder if these animals came from different realms, same as us.

#D20000

[lacrimose]

I think you're right. we looked for dragons while we were in the forest, because I wanted to know where keigo's dragon came from. but we didnt find anything. its like that egg just came from nowhere by magic, same as us

[apocalypticist]

That's a possibility I've considered. It's a plausible theory, I think; maybe there's an equivalent to the well somewhere in the woods.

[ They weren't able to find anything like it, but he remembers the unerring feeling that they were heading in the right direction when looking for the monsters' origin point. Maybe it was the woods fucking with him, or maybe it was his gut telling him something. ]

#C1BA57

[unghost]

Do you think the poison is effective in any other way than it's claws?
That you could tell, at least.

[lacrimose]

we're pretty sure its only the claws that are poison. but it can drain energy if it stabs you, too

[apocalypticist]

We didn't engage it long enough to know for sure, as Akira said it's likely only the claws that are poisonous. He didn't get poisoned when the creature stabbed him in the leg with one of its appendages.

#90014

[doublecrowss]

Some time ago, I recall a friend of Midoriya-kun's had done some investigation on the quest creatures by use of special powers, and the conclusion they came to was that these creatures were likely created especially for us as though on demand. If we can take that as true, and assuming your theory is correct, I wonder if this guardian is responsible for spawning quest beasts... At the very least, it might be connected to whoever - or whatever - is responsible for this.

Regardless, I must thank you for your efforts and for sharing this information with the rest of us. I'm glad both you and Fudo-kun were not seriously harmed in the process.

wtf thanks for eating this notif, gmail

[apocalypticist]

Don't mention it, Akechi-san. There's still a lot to learn about this place, and the collecting and sharing of information is essential if we want to make progress. Even if it means braving the dangers in the forest.

That's an interesting theory you're positing; I personally don't think the creature is the one responsible for spawning the quest monsters (though with nothing to disprove it I can't rule it out as a possibility), but it could be guarding the place where they originate from.