Chapter 564: Map
564 Map
The Greater Nature Spirit reached Mid Tier-3 after merging with the Legendary Artifact, Domain of Natura. It was a great surprise, especially after Michael found out that the Greater Nature Spirit integrated the Legendary Artifact's domain into one of its main abilities.
The domain's range and full effect was applicable all over the Michael's territory and extended even further, nourishing the Untamed Jungle's soil, flora, and fauna. The origin energy in the surroundings was pulled to the Greater Nature Spirit, creating a highly densified energy zone around the Greater Nature Spirit.
The energy zone was energy-dense and would allow Tierless Summons to advance to Tier-1 in no time as long as their talent and understanding of their energy absorption technique was high enough.
"I guess High Beasts will be even more interested in my territory now that the Nature Spirit evolved. The Domain of Natura is amazing," Michael mumbled to himself while giving his utmost to ignore the clingy Forest Pixies and their lethal cuddle attacks.
He could only shake his head and smile lightly.
The Greater Nature Spirit's branches rustled and it was not long after that a flood of emotions and images flashed through Michael's mind. The Greater Nature Spirit was trying to communicate with Michael.
"You're trying to talk to me?" Michael asked, only to sense more emotions and images reach him through his Link of Loyalty with the Greater Nature Spirit.
"You are talking to me. Okay. But why are you showing me pictures of monsters? Wait. I know this place! I remember this monster habitat near the cavern system!"
Hundreds of images of monster habitats reached Michael. Most of them were already known and reported, but he didn't recall seeing some habitats in the reports, yet the Greater Nature Spirit was aware of them.
"You can sense the presence of all monsters within your domain's range. Is that it?" Michael scratched his chin. He could instinctively tell that the answer was a solid yes, but he had to ask, nonetheless.
Therefore, without thinking much about what he should do now, Michael retrieved the Sacred Charm of Detection and the Pillar of Territorial Awareness.
"If I place the Pillar of Territorial Awareness nearby, do you think you can connect to it and keep it updated?"
A flood of emotions, indicating an affirmation, reached him a moment later.
Michael broke into a smile, "Great!"
Being able to live-update the Pillar of Territorial Awareness' map would be a great advantage against all spies and unwelcome intruders. They would appear on the Pillar's map the moment they entered the Greater Nature Spirit's domain and could be exterminated on the spot.
Michael didn't waste anymore time and installed the Pillar of Territorial Awareness. He spent a while installing the Pillar near the Greater Nature Spirit but far enough to give the humongous tree enough space to grow even larger. Then he stepped back to take a good look at the Pillar of Territorial Awareness.
The pillar looked quite simple. It was a seven-meter-tall marbled pillar with countless miniature runic engravings weaved together. They looked like intricate carvings on the pillar's surface that could be mistaken for decoration. However, once energy was channeled into the Pillar of Territorial Awareness, the intertwined miniature runic engravings began to glow. They projected a humongous screen, which looked like a giant parchment, in front of Michael.
The screen covered the pillar's entire height, yet nothing could be seen on the screen. It was just a huge parchment. That was until the Greater Nature Spirit's root burst out of the ground right next to the pillar. The roots coiled around the marbled pillar and intertwined, supplying the Pillar of Territorial Awareness with energy and a connection to the Greater Nature Spirit's entire domain.
The parchment underwent an update as a map of the Untamed Jungle's southern outer rings and the middle area formed slowly. Michael's territory was tagged and so were all potential threats and predators in the Greater Nature Spirit's range. Various dots on the map attracted his attention. Green dots were docile monsters and Michael's subjects. Yellow dots were potential threats, whereas red dots were confirmed threats.
Other than these three types, Michael found one indigo dot and a few black spots. The black spots meant that the Greater Nature Spirit was not sure where to put them, but that they were strong enough to threaten Michael's subordinates if they wanted to. On the other hand, the indigo dot was related to the unknown being underneath the Elementals Society. The Greater Nature Spirit marked it indigo because it could sense that the unknown being was terrifyingly powerful.
The Greater Nature Spirit had only sensed its existence once, but that was more than enough to tell that it was an indigo threat.
Maybe, there were more colors to tag an enemy or a friend, however, Michael was already quite satisfied with the information he received through the Pillar of Territorial Awareness. It was already a lot more than most Lords could get their hands on. Michael could be proud of his territory's development.
But that was just the beginning.
Now that the Pillar of Territorial Awareness had been added and the Greater Nature Spirit connected to it, Michael could add the Sacred Charm of Detection. The name implied the charm's effect. It was a high-ranked charm that detected the surrounding flora and fauna.
The Sacred Charm of Detection had multiple stages that could be activated as long as specific conditions were met. Unfortunately, Michael didn't meet the requirements to trigger the fourth and fifth stages because he was missing some things, but he had enough energy and monster cores to channel and maintain the 3rd stage. That was exactly what Michael did upon attaching the Sacred Charm of Detection to the Pillar of Territorial Awareness.
The map was updated once again, and more information and marks appeared all over the known areas of the Untamed Jungle.
Now that the map was updated once again, it was time for everyone to add information. Touching the Pillar of Territorial Awareness and accepting the threads of energy that desired to rummage their memories was all they had to perform to share their memories of the surrounding regions with the Pillar of Territorial Awareness.
Unfortunately, the map of the pillar wouldn't update if the regions from the Awakened's memories weren't directly connected. That meant Michael couldn't add the Ice Mountains to the map if he didn't add the Zentika Empire beforehand.
But that was hardly a problem. Michael could use the memories of the Kitsun Lord, and thousands of other Awakened to update the map rapidly. The memories of the Lionheart people and other Awakened from the Zentika Empire were also extremely helpful. Their memories resulted in providing a major update to the Pillar of Territorial Awareness.
The Zentika Empire was shown entirely on the map, though the information on the map was not live-updated. The most recent update he could provide about the Zentika Empire was from the Awakened he'd killed at the end of the Jungle Expedition. That had been quite a while ago.
At least, the Savannah Region was mostly up-to-date. The information he channeled into the Pillar of Territorial Awareness was fairly new, after all.
"That's amazing. The map is so detailed," A voice from behind startled Michael.
He turned around to see Rebecca Zauber staring at the Pillar Map. Her gaze traveled to the ginormous main body of the Greater Nature Spirit, her eyes quivering in excitement.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were busy studying the Soul Techniques that I've manufactured," he smiled lightly at the young Descendant.
"I finished that a few days ago already. I came looking for you and I noticed that you were busy with this huge Nature Spirit. I saw you sitting in front of it and thought that you were busy refining your War Rune, or practicing your mind refinement technique," Rebecca shrugged lightly.
"I didn't want to bother you, so I came to check on you every now and then."
Michael gave Rebecca a curt nod. He patted the Pillar of Territorial Awareness lightly before he walked up to Rebecca Zauber.
"You're still interested in Soul Techniques, right?"
Rebecca's eyes shimmered brightly, "Of course!"
"In that case, you can take these Memory Crystals. They contain all the information I have about Soul Techniques and my creations. Since you signed an NDA forbidding you to tell anyone about the things you learn from me, there is no need for me to hide my knowledge of Soul Techniques from you," he retrieved a few Memory Crystals and handed them to the young Descendant.
Rebecca Zauber was extremely intrigued about Soul Techniques. Therefore, Michael hoped that she would start experimenting with Soul Techniques soon. If Rebecca turned into a Soul Technique Creator, Michael wouldn't have to invest much time doing the same. He could focus on creating his own Soul Techniques and customized Soul Techniques. Meanwhile, Rebecca would focus on the creation of Neutral Common Class Soul Techniques for all types of Soultraits and specifications.
That sounded the most feasible to Michael. In exchange for knowledge, nobody else in the Trilance Alliance could procure much without betraying humanity while Rebecca would create all kinds of Soul Techniques, earning him a fortune in return.
"You are really going to give them to me...just like that?" Rebecca's eyes widened, but her hands lunged forward to take the Memory Crystals before he could change his mind.
"By the way, did you hear the news about the Sacred Desert?" Rebecca asked, trying her best to silently stash the Memory Crystals away while changing the topic.
The Sacred Desert was one of Michael's sore spots. His brother died in a hidden region within the Sacred Desert. It was not nice to be reminded about something like that. However, since it might be possible to resurrect his brother, it didn't hurt him that much anymore.
"What happened in the Sacred Desert? Did the Undead problem worsen?"
"Worsen? Well..you could say that. It's just a little bit more disastrous than that," Rebecca shifted her weight from one leg to the other, clearly feeling a bit uncomfortable. She felt like she shouldn't have mentioned the Sacred Desert just to distract Michael.
"It's a nightmare!"