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Leo found himself in a particular conundrum--he had two active quests which now seemed to have overlapped. In order to find out what was happening with the animals, he'd first have to visit the crow in the north, gain its favor by presenting a candy or such, and ask it for a 'hint' toward resolving the first issue.

He'd sort of put the first quest on a mild backburner, but he couldn't delay it any longer; in effect, he had three days to solve both, and though three days in this world felt much longer than back on Earth, that didn't mind much. It was still just 72 hours to 'fix everything', as it were.

Sighing, he knew he had to get down to work. Unlike last time, however, he wasn't alone; while Shui'er and Lu Yang wouldn't necessarily help with the 'cooking' portion, they could still be testers and fetchers, while the animals were likely to come by and clean up the 'undesirable' concoctions. Last time around, he was unable to truly fulfill his idea as he lacked both the knowledge and the tools, but this time around... well, not much has changed, really. He was still just as ignorant and just as ill-prepared as before, with perhaps a dash of experience on top of it.

He didn't brainstorm for long, deciding on creating something that was just as controversial back on Earth: spicy candy. Not just with that small tinge or trace of spice, no, he wanted to go full-volcanic-eruption mode with it. As such, he gathered all the herbs, vegetables, and fruits that even had the slightest trace of spice in them--this meant that something within their biology reacted with the taste buds, or whatever it was (the highest grade he ever got in biology was C-, so he hardly knew the details), and he could potentially isolate those traces--

--suffice to say, that went nowhere. Even if he had improved vision through Qi, it wasn't as though it was microscopic. It was also entirely possible that whatever molecules caused the irritation couldn't even be isolated, at least not without a modern medical lab which was just around 600 years away from being made in this world... maybe.

After briefly explaining to the old-and-young pair that he was about to experiment with fancy food concoctions and watching their faces light up without knowing what they were in for, Leo got down to business.

Fires were started, ingredients were molded, water was boiled, young girl cried soon after and soon did the old man with her, the discarded, inedible(according to them) pieces of soft candy were scooped up by animals and dragged off into the woods while the two watched in horror, often calling out to the animals and warning them.

Leo, though, mostly tuned it all out--his goal wasn't so much taste as he figured out that wasn't the need, his goal was to create a monstrosity that will set the crow's stomach on fire. Because of how dementedly devoted he was to his idea, he forgot a little something from the quest window.

Just about half a day later, he stared at a round, hard-as-a-rock piece of candy with a pride in his eyes. The candy was rather smooth, almost the texture of glass, and its surface acted sort of like a prism for the light, scattering it into shapes and colors beyond beauty. Though he wanted to claim that he made such a duality by design, it was purely a happy accident; while he was concocting one of the previous batches, he accidentally added four times as many of the 'soft garlic' (as he called the plant) cloves as before, which ended up forming the current appearance (through biology and magic that was well beyond Leo's basic comprehension).

He turned to the side where he saw Shui'er and Lu Yang shaking side by side, with the former hugging the latter's leg rather tightly and hiding behind it. The sight was rather comical, as though he weren't making candy but rather chemical weaponry.

"What? You guys want a piece, too?"

"Keep that thing away from me!" Lu Yang quickly exclaimed. "M-Master Leo, I, I didn't know you were an Alchemist, too..."

"Hm? I'm not, though?" was he? Well, there was that one time he concocted a healing paste or salvo or whatever it was for the Hawky (a nickname he gave to Anuvar), but he was entirely guided by the system. "Just your average cook."

"A cook? I wonder," Lu Yang sighed bitterly. "Is there even a person in the world brave enough to eat that?"

"A person? I wouldn't know," Leo said, chuckling. "But I wasn't making this for a person."

"For who, then?"

"A... friend? I guess? Sure, yeah. We are friends," The kind of friends where the permanent distance grew the heart the fondest, Leo added silently to himself, looking over at Shui're. He didn't know why the system told him that she had to be the one to present the candy, but he did become a bit fearful. Praying that the crow wasn't some sort of a demented pervert, he packed the piece of 'candy' into his spatial ring. "Alright. Shui're, I need you to come with me. Old man, uh, I guess you can come too, if you want."

"... where are we going?" Shui're asked, but tenderly ripped herself free and slowly walked over.

"To visit a tiny little birdy," Leo smiled, though it seemed that his smile didn't fool either one of them.

Nonetheless, as he began walking north, so did they--a few paces behind him, for sure, but they were there. They were even there as the appearance of the trees began to change, and the colors began to mute and fade. Soon, the writhing roots sprung about like tentacles, and the forest grew thicker than it was anywhere else. A few rays of light barely managed to flutter between the thick canopy, lighting up the 'path' just enough to see it.

However, Shui're often stumbled, held up and kept safe by Lu Yang, while the disconcerting atmosphere grew ever more sullen.

"Uh, w-what is this place?" Lu Yang posited a question that Leo couldn't answer. He knew, well enough, the sickening feeling that this area caused; in fact, they'd just barely stepped into what Leo considered 'north', and he knew it would only get worse from here.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "I don't visit much here, either. You can kind of see why. However, every once in a while, I get asked to do something. Something that requires me to come visit here. Don't worry--even though it's scary, and even though it will get scarier, nothing will happen. Probably."

Leo saw it, past the tangle of the roots--the spot past which he could not and would not go. And thus, he stopped. Glancing back, he saw the old-and-young pair arrive, too; they were shaking, especially Shui'er, their eyes shuttering wildly about, seeking foes in the dancing shadows... foes that weren't there, however.

The feeling inside was cold and apathetic, and Leo felt that staying here for too long might legitimately change one's brain chemistry, but just visiting once in a while--no, it was still horrid, and he wished he didn't have to do it.

"Here," he gave Shui're the candy and had her stand a step in front of him. He decided, should anything untoward transpire, that he would throw all caution to the wind and attack, consequences be damned. "Don't be scared. I'll be right here."

"Hm," the young girl nodded, uncertain as to what was happening. Leo was no better off, however, simply waiting. Lu Yang was a couple of paces behind them, though seemed just as ready as Leo to jump in.

They didn't have to wait long--just a minute or so later, deep caws echoed against the trees and the widening haze in front of them parted ever so slightly as the silhouette perched through. Chilly hadn't changed--of all the animals, he still looked the most ordinary. There was nothing 'magical' (excluding the abstract notion of 'the feeling' this place created), but Leo trusted his instincts, now more so than ever. This black-feathered bird was the most dangerous thing he met so far, even more dangerous than that lightning that shattered his soul very early on in his stay.

The crow didn't approach them, perching itself upon a nearby branch and staring down at the trio. Leo endured the piercing gaze the best he could, though the other two were far worse off; Lu Yang straight-up collapsed and fainted, while Shui're was about to do the same, prompting Leo to catch her.

"Here," rather than taking the candy out of her hand, he first lifted her into his arms and extended her arm by his, using Qi to gently toss the flickering candy toward the crow. The latter caught it nimbly within its beak while Shui're passed out, her expression distorted in fear and pain.

He regretted it, taking them; though he, too, felt tired and felt the distant headache pounding, he didn't know that the effect on the two of them would be much worse.

"Could you ease up a bit, at least?" he pleaded, looking up at the feathered thing that was inspecting the candy rather curiously. "For the kid. Please." the bird stared at him for a moment before cawing softly; Leo felt the descending pressure lessen rather considerably until he felt almost nothing. While for him it was nothing, the other two still felt it--but nowhere near as badly. Shui'er's face relaxed, and though her eyes would twitch occasionally still, it now looked like she was merely having a bad dream rather than living out a nightmare.

"Caw!" Chilly smashed the candy between his beaks, causing rather skin-grating sounds to explode out. Grinding, halfway between chalk on a blackboard and nails on metal, blared out until Leo's ears turned itchy.

[... '???????' stares at you oddly, wondering whether you've read the task ordered]

[...]

[After pondering momentarily, '???????' forgives your faux pas, but restructures the reward, denying you the Silenced Black Feather]

[...]

[The old quest will remain, though the time period will be extended to 60 days]

[Because of the unusual burst of flavors and your dedication to singular pursuit, '???????' will answer one question you may have. '???????' reserves the right to simply ignore it, if the answer is well beyond your means]

Leo flinched at first, relaxing soon after; as soon as it was pointed out, he remembered that the quest specified that the sweet should be 'sour, bitter, or sweet'. Luckily, it didn't alter his primary reason for coming here. While losing out on the Silenced Black Feather was not ideal, he could live without it. Furthermore, there was still a chance to obtain it, anyway. No, the reason why he came here was simply to get a hint as to what was happening to the animals. But instead of a hint... couldn't he ask for the entire reason?

"What is happening to the animals in the forest? Namely those who used to come visit me frequently. Please tell me. I just wish to help them."