Rui knew that there was a reason why all of this had occurred, but he simply wasn't qualified to figure it out. Thankfully, it wasn't his job to figure it out either. That was something best left to the Ministry of Environment and Ecology. He only needed to do his job.
He chose to travel deeper into the elevated landmass. The deeper he traveled the greater the density of fruits. And the greater the density of corpses that had been poisoned after consuming it and died. Each and every single one of the corpses was being slowly pulled underground by the roots. Rui could believe that these corpses were the reason the tree had grown in this strange fashion. Such was the sheer count of the corpses that lay on the ground.
Furthermore, the deeper he got, the taller the tree trunks were, elevating in height as he continued traveling.
It took a while, but Rui soon reached the core of the elevated landmass.
"Woahhh..."
Before him lay a gigantic tree trunk that dwarfed all other tree trunks.
"Is this the main tree trunk of this large tree?" Rui wondered. It certainly seemed to be the case. The tree trunk was tall and wide and had many large branches branching off from it. Each of the branches from the main tree had secondary tree trunks attached to them. Those secondary tree trunks had even more branches that had even more tree trunks attached to them.
"Could it be that each of these tree trunks is actually branches that simply extended downwards before reaching the ground and taking root?" Rui wondered.
In that case, it was more accurate to call all the tree trunks in the forest tree branches.
Just as he was about to ponder more, he got a beep on his mission tracker device, indicating a message from the Martial Union.
Rui frowned as he read the message. "An urgent summon back to the headquarters?"
Rui tilted his head in confusion. Why was he being urgently summoned home?
He didn't know for sure but...
"It has something to do with this tree, doesn't it?" Rui glanced back at the main trunk suspiciously, before setting off back in the direction he had come from. He couldn't afford to waste any time at all.
He immediately began running back at a high pace, using all his maneuvering techniques to nearly their limit.
('Could it be that the tree is actually extremely dangerous to human civilization and I just discovered a big threat?') A random thought entered his head before his logic and reason quashed the idea.
('No, there's no way that tree is a threat.') Rui shook his head. ('If I can avoid its attacks then that means that Martial Squires can handle it with ease.')
If it was a threat that Martial Squires could handle, then there was no way it was a threat in the grand scheme of things.
('Though that may not entirely be true. The earthen basilisk ould get crushed by any Martial Squire, but they were still viewed as a threat by the Ministry of Environment and Ecology.') Rui recalled. This was because the earthen basilisks were very difficult to exterminate and were capable of wreaking havoc across human settlements.
('If it's not because of a threat pertaining to the tree, then it probably has something to do with opportunity.') Rui's eyes lit up in interest. If the urgency was not negative then it was likely positive, which meant that there was something that could be gained and Rui could help with it in all likelihood.
He didn't know which one was the case. Of course, there was the possibility that the urgent summons had nothing to do with his mission and some other emergency had occurred that required all hands on deck.
He would find out regardless.
Five hours later, he had arrived at the headquarters of the Martial Union, panting heavily. He quickly consumed a physical rejuvenation potion before entering the Martial Union, after showing his license to the security.
"Excuse me." Rui addressed a staff member. "I received an urgent summon from the Martial Union. Can you please tell me what to do?"
"Ah give me a moment." She fiddled with her terminal. "Office number two hundred and thirty-seven."
"Thank you," Rui replied before turning around and navigating his way to the designated room.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in." A male voice instructed him.
"Excuse me." Rui entered. "I was told to come to this office regarding my urgent summon back from my mission."
"Indeed." The man nodded. "Have a seat."
He gave off the air of an intellectual with authority, with a well-groomed attire and a confident demeanor. "I am Zhrekes Shrul." He introduced himself. "I'm an office from the Ministry of Environment and Ecology."
He showed Rui a badge before continuing. "I require an immediate report from you regarding every moment of your stay at the Serevian Plateau. You must include every single detail without fail."
"That's not a problem, of course." Rui nodded. "I was hoping I could be informed as to why I was urgently summoned in the middle of my mission."
"Your mission is over, Apprentice Quarrier." He told him. "Nonetheless, you will be informed."
Rui waited for him to continue.
"The target of your mission that you were required to identify as the cause for the environmental and ecological anomalies that occurred in the Serevian Plateau is not ordinary." He stated. "It is a rare, yet well-known and well-documented phenomenon that occurs in the Beast Domain. You're not the first to find it and you won't be the last. It is a source of great opportunity, yet we won't be the only ones in pursuit of it. There will be great competition from our rivals."
"Uh..." Rui's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "I'm afraid I have no idea what any of that is supposed to mean, unfortunately."
Officer Zhrekes chuckled a bit before nodding. "Don't worry, I'll explain all of it right away."
