The Intermediate Summoning Gate was nothing special for Jason, but the Greater Nature Spirit was.
At this point, the Greater Nature Spirit's main trunk surpassed thirty meters. The treetop reached far beyond the ordinary towering trees surrounding it. Yet, from a bird's point of view, it looked like the treetop merged seamlessly with the surroundings, creating a beautiful scenery all over the Untamed Jungle.
The Untamed Jungle looked like a massive field of green. There were hardly any spots with little to no trees or areas that looked like they had been terraformed. Only the largest buildings, such as the Sacred Knight Temples, were exposed to the view of a bird from high above.
However, Jason and the others couldn't see any of it. The only things Jason saw were the massive trunk of the Greater Nature Spirit, the small puddle of liquefied LIfe Sap, and the creatures that had been pulled toward the Greater Nature Spirit.
"Your Nature Spirit has already created Dryads and Treants?" Jason asked in surprise.
"It has been a few months since the first Dryads emerged from the Nature Spirit's tree trunk, yep."
Michael responded nonchalantly, but Jason stared at him in shock. He gained a lot of respect for Michael after getting beaten to a pulp. Thus, it was a little bit hard to understand how Michael didn't know about this. Or was he acting ignorant?
"That might sound rude, but do you know what it means when a Greater Nature Spirit starts creating Dryads and Treants?"
Michael tilted his head. He heard from Lilica and the others that the Greater Nature Spirit was unique but they didn't share any details.
"I don't."
Jason groaned, "What are these idiots even doing here if they don't help you make the best out of such a great opportunity?!"
Michael frowned at Jason, who tried to ignore it with his best effort.
"A Greater Nature Spirit creating Dryads and Treants indicates that it wants to become the Essence of the forest—or jungle in this case. It means that the Greater Nature Spirit challenges the other spirits in the Untamed Jungle openly. Usually, a Greater Nature Spirit doesn't do something like that in an area that is evidently managed by another—even stronger—Nature Spirit, but your Nature Spirit seems very young."
Jason took a deep breath and thought about his following words for a moment before he proceeded.
"Your Nature Spirit grew rapidly. It's already on the verge of ascending to a Higher Lifeform. That is very rare to see in such a young territory. I also think that your Nature Spirit was influenced a lot more by your Link of Loyalty. It wants to help you and expand rapidly. Spreading throughout the Untamed Jungle and taking control of it is the best way the Greater Nature Spirit can help you. Of course, it will have to defeat the other Nature Spirits in the Untamed Jungle, which is the bigger problem."
Michael listened intently. His opinion of Jason was not too high at this point, but he was a Blessed Child. He was more knowledgeable than Lilica and the others, as he read more secret scriptures than the other Forest Elves.
"We had more problems with monsters recently, but my territory has a higher energy density and greater life force. That should be the reason all those monsters have been attacking," Michael mumbled.
"That's correct, but the Greater Nature Spirit is probably the reason your territory amasses and generates more energy than the surroundings. As for the lifeforce, everything in your territory is overflowing with life. That is not only the Greater Nature Spirit's doing but also because you have been taking care very well of this land," Jason explained. "Looks like it was a good decision to give the Untamed Jungle all corpses as tribute," Michael said to himself in a whisper, but Jason heard him once again.
"Tribute?" Jason asked, his expression distorting lightly. "Wait… The Untamed Jungle consumes the dead and converts their bodies into nourishment for growth? Are you serious right now?!"
A hint of both fear and excitement flashed through Jason's eyes.
"That's about it. I know it's not normal, but I have been sensation closer to the Untamed Jungle as we take care of each other. It didn't seem like a problem when I fed it with those corpses."
"You feel close to it? Does that mean the Untamed Jungle doesn't view you and your territory – including the Greater Nature Spirit – not as parasites? That…doesn't make any sense."
Various thoughts flashed through Jason's mind, but he couldn't make sense of them. At some point, he noticed that Michael was waiting for him. Michael had many questions, but he could tell that Jason was deep in thought and that his world view was about to shatter. Bombarding the Blessed Child with questions wouldn't help.
Jason smiled wryly at Michael and decided to ask one of the most obvious questions.
"The Untamed Jungle seems to be governed by an incredibly strong Nature Spirit. It has already gained the Consumed trait, a special perk that can only be attained by the strongest Higher Lifeforms of a Sacred Nature Spirit or a Greater Nature Spirit as it ascends to a Divine Lifeform. It could also be a Primordial Nature Spirit, but I don't have any information on that. Only one of our greatest ancestors came to find a Primordial Nature Spirit and managed to return sane."
Michael had a few monsters that gained special traits as well. It made sense that a powerful Nature Spirit could end up earning a special trait as well.
Consume sounded powerful. It could consume everything and turn it into vigor and nutrition.
"That makes sense," Michael nodded. His tributes had been consumed to recuperate the damages he'd caused to the Untamed Jungle over and over again.
"But it doesn't make sense that such a powerful Nature Spirit admits any Lords in its range of control, let alone that it is willing to get attached to you while the Greater Nature Spirit issues an open challenge. Under normal circumstances, a Nature Spirit would eliminate all potential threats long before they're strong enough to become a problem."
"I don't understand why the Nature Spirit of the Untamed Jungle would desire to get closer to you rather than getting rid of you and the Greater Nature Spirit. As you expand your territory, you will destroy a big portion of the Untamed Jungle. Even the Forest Elves cannot expand their territory without causing minimalistic damage to the surrounding forests. Of course, we have our ways to pay retribution and aid the forest to grow stronger than before, but that is not something you can do."
Michael was not sure if Jason was being stupid or if he forgot what he'd said just now.
"You do realize that I can just pay tributes to the Nature Spirit whenever I harm the Untamed Jungle…right? And before that, I'm not harming the Untamed Jungle much. Most towering trees cannot grow any further because there are too many growing in close proximity. They harm each other, which hurts the Untamed Jungle more than I can harm it by leaving everything as it is."
"The Untamed Jungle admits me because I'm the cure to its curse," Michael simplified.
"I'm the Untamed Jungle's gardener."
