563 Big Tree
"The Nature Spirit evolve? That is…unexpected," Michael mumbled, his eyes glued on the Nature Spirit's main body.
The Nature Spirit was growing, its roots sinking deeper into the ground and further through the surroundings where it connected with the other trees and plants. A root network between the towering trees and the Nature Spirit was formed as a tremendous amount of lifeforce and energy flowed through its trunk, roots, and branches.
Every inch of the Nature Spirit was flooded, stimulating the promotion and evolution into a Greater Nature Spirit.
The Nature Spirit's trunk enlarged, its bark grew more resilient and its branches spread in all directions. In a matter of minutes, the Nature Spirit's main body grew three meters taller, but that was only the beginning.
Michael could clearly feel tremendous power surging through the Nature Spirit's Link of Loyalty. The Nature Spirit hadn't been at the 2nd Tier for long, but the surge of power was as clear as the difference between day and night.
It advanced to Late Tier-2, and broke straight to the Peak of the 2nd Tier in one go. But the Nature Spirit's advancement was not yet over. It approached Tier-3 incredibly fast. In less than half an hour, the Nature Spirit reached the wall that every being had to overcome to advance to the next Tier.
The Nature Spirit's advancement slowed down considerably, but Michael could tell that the Nature Spirit was far from done.
He retreated a little bit and sat down on the ground. He retrieved the Memory Orbs of the Awakened he had extracted earlier and began to consume them one by one.
Michael was certain that the memories of the Awakened weren't as useful as the memories of Tier-5 Lords, or the Tekur, but he was certain to gain a lot, nonetheless. The Awakened's combat experiences, their memories along with understanding of their Martial Arts and other techniques were enough reason to consume the 1349 Memory Orbs he'd extracted. He wouldn't spare even a single Memory Orb.
He glanced at the transforming Nature Spirit, smiled, and consumed the first Memory Orb.
But instead of consuming the Memory Orbs like usual, Michael made a decisive change. He used Extraction on the memories that entered his mind even before digesting them. Using Extracting on the Memory flood was like splitting the sea. Unnecessary memories such as the family lives and private matters of the Awakened were removed straight away whereas the remaining useful memories entered his mind.
However, that was not where the changes ended. Michael separated the memories into several piles. Knowledge, Combat, Techniques, and Potentially Useful.
The last pile was directly related to information that could be considered private but those memories revealed certain details that may or may not be useful in the near future.
He took his time separating the memories within the Memory Orbs before he began digesting them. There was no need to rush and it was certainly better to be meticulous. The Awakened of the Council of Xylon ought to have some useful information, after all.
Michael spent the following 48 hours digesting 1349 Memory Orbs. He didn't take a single break, allowing him to improve his weapon mastery of dozens of weapons, learn close to a hundred new techniques from the memories of his enemies, and study the martial power and military might of the Council of Xylon in detail.
Two days passed incredibly fast while he was busy. Michael barely completed digesting the last Memory Orb before he received a message from the Immortal Knight.
["I apologize for interrupting your work, my Lord, but I would like to report the situation in the Savannah Region."] Siegfried Dracoon spoke through the communication crystal.
Michael straightened his back and got up from the ground. He felt a little groggy and stiff but circulating origin energy through his body while stretching worked wonders.
["None of the Links of Loyalty broke. That means you guys haven't battled yet,"] Michael noted, his thoughts merging with the memories he'd digested over the last two days, ["The factions of the Council of Xylon are probably in an internal conflict right now. Our timely arrival in the Savannah Region must have surprised them. They're probably more careful now that the Savannah Expedition is more than a dozen times larger than before."]
Michael and his subjects had been a small force of roughly 100 people earlier, but the number increased to 1,800 all of a sudden. If their force with 100 members had already been enough to force the Council of Xylon to change their tactic, how terrified must they be now that the reinforcement increased to 1,800?
["We're considering attacking one of the Council's larger settlements. It's currently under construction and will complete in a few weeks at the earliest. The biggest problem about the settlement is that it's near the border and close to two main settlements. The Zaynur and Laprix's Summoning Gates and wooden manors are in the main settlements."]
Michael halted in his tracks and stared at the communication crystal.
["The Council is preparing for a large-scale attack to eliminate one of the Trilance's Lords? That's bad."]
Even though the Council of Xylon didn't have the means to eliminate the Trilance's Lords straightaway, they could cut the Lords' powers by destroying their Summoning Gates and wooden manors. The Lords would lose their power and all Links of Loyalty would be terminated. That was bad and quite the blow.
["We don't know which main settlement they plan to attack. Furthermore, the army stationed in the large settlement is rather small. There are only 100,000 soldiers for the time being. We think that they're planning to expand the army to 500,000 before they bulldoze one of the main settlements."]
Relocating the Summoning Gates and wooden manors was possible, but it would attract too much unwanted attention. It was not exactly the best solution to openly transport your most valuable asset right in front of your enemy's eyes.
["Can you handle it, or do you need me over there?"] Michael asked, ready to leave at once.
["I don't think that your help is needed. The Valyr Lordess received some support from her Clan. Apparently, she is the daughter of some noble household who granted her temporary control of a Super Elite Combat Unit. Since the Valyr Lordess cannot establish Links of Loyalty with Higher Lifeforms yet, she could only bring 50 Peak Tier-3 Awakened from her home planet using Teleportation Tokens, but their combat prowess is great. Each of the Super Elite Valyr is on par with Tiara in terms of raw power and talent, but they're far more experienced."]
Michael raised an eyebrow.
["The Laprix Lord and the Zynur Lord have also requested aid from their people. They might owe the higher-ups something in return, but they should receive some aid given that the Savannah Region has some rare mineral deposits and interesting regions adjacent to them."]
Michael thought about it for a moment and nodded to himself.
["I trust you. You know what you're doing. But…please don't hesitate to request my help. I can call Icarus and pump some layers of Enhancement into him to give you a helping hand in no time!"] He said before Siegfried Dracoon began to share some detailed pieces of information related to the other issues in the Savannah Region.
Michael listened intently and shared even more detailed pieces of intelligence about the things he'd learned. He told Siegfried about the weaknesses of the 109 territories, their scuffles, what their strengths were and how their soldiers and Awakened were trained and treated.
The intelligence was very useful for the Immortal Knight. He learned a lot about the happenings in the 109 territories that crafted up the Council of Xylon, how the Council's settlements were structured and the might of their defensive devices.
Siegfried was quite confident in defeating his enemies. A single settlement didn't pose a big threat even if their numbers reached 100,000. If everyone was at the same rank it could have been a problem, but the numerical advantage of the 100,000 Soldiers didn't hold a candle to the Super Elite force of the Valyr Lordess, let alone Michael's Elite Force.
The communication crystal dimmed once their summon ended, and Michael sighed deeply. He felt like rushing over to the Savannah Region, but he understood that it wouldn't help anyone if he joined the upcoming battle. Maybe, he could rescue a few poor souls that would be crushed otherwise, but all he taught them by joining every battle was…dependence.
They would never stop depending on him and his power, and they would learn to hate him once he stopped joining the battles. They would blame him, just like some citizens did before if they failed.
"I should trust the Immortal Knight. Siegfried can do it!"
Michael turned around and was about to leave when his eyes locked onto the Nature Spirit. No. It was not an ordinary Nature Spirit anymore. It had evolved into a Greater Nature Spirit, a 5-
Star Summon.
The Greater Nature Spirit's trunk was humongous, and its treetop towered above the other gigantic trees. The small Nature Spirit that had been smaller than the other trees around it now stood like a giant among the once tall trees. They looked like tiny saplings compared to the Greater Nature Spirit's might, presence, and size.
However, there was something particular about the Greater Nature Spirit that attracted Michael's attention. It attained a Domain. No. It devoured the domain of the Legendary Artifact and crafted the Domain of Natura a part of the Greater Nature Spirit's being.
"Well. That is…interesting." Michael mumbled, his eyes still locked onto the Greater Nature Spirit.
"Morning, Big Tree."
