Is this really a Game?!

The tree's bark felt slick under Reign's touch, oozing with a foul, viscous substance that seemed to pulse with malevolent energy. He furrowed his brows as Beast started writing down the symbols that were etched inside of the tree.

"Gabriel?" Reign called out to Gabriel, but gained no response from the jungle spirit.

They had no idea what the symbols inside the tree were, but they were certain of one thing, however.

The tree … it was where the spawn came from.

It was actually quite obvious, after all, the remnant aura from the spawn still lingered in the air, and the way the tree was broken, the way it was split in half vertically made them know that the corruption had placed the spawn inside the tree, and after it had grown, it simply came out of the tree.

The symbols inside the tree and the lack of any life force the tree should have made them suspicious, however.

Why this tree?

Was it truly random, or was there something with this tree, something that set it apart from other trees in the jungle?

"I got it, I managed to tap into the jungle." Gabriel suddenly spoke, making Reign and the others glance at the crystal.

"You … tapped into the jungle?"

"Yes, although I am the spirit of the jungle, which does make me something akin to the living embodiment of the jungle itself, I'm still not capable of knowing everything, just nearly everything."

"Tapping into the jungle is not something that I do lightheartedly as it does take some time and effort, but that allows me to know everything, including the passage of the mana veins beneath the surface of the jungle, the spread of corruption that cannot be seen, and more."

"That was no regular tree, was it?" Beast asked Gabriel who sighed and nodded his head.

"It was directly above a surge of mana coming from the mana vein, which allowed it to grow much faster, as well as to reach a level where a spirit was born, but not at the level needed for the tree to become sentient and to turn into something like the Wood Monstrosity you guys fought when first entering the depths of the jungle."

"This one was a weak spirit that was just recently born, it was not hostile to anyone, and then the corruption came, devoured the spirit, took control of the tree, and then chose it as the place it would have the spawn gestate."

"It took all the life force from the area by being born, that was the cost of the spawn being born here, and this tree served as the central point of that, the mana from below, the surge that came from the mana vein, it is no longer there, it's now empty."

"So, what does that mean?" Tank asked as Gabriel chuckled.

"It's actually a good thing for us, it means that for the corruption to create a spawn like it did today, it needs to find a place that has plenty of mana and life force, and thanks to the fact I have tapped into the jungle previously, I happen to know where such places are."

"In total, this jungle has 16 such areas, and I can monitor every single one simultaneously without there being any risk of a corrupted area appearing without my knowledge.

Reign and the others listened intently as Gabriel explained the significance of the tree and its connection to the corruption. They now understood that the corruption required specific conditions to give birth to such a monstrous spawn. This knowledge could potentially help them predict and prevent future outbreaks.

"So, if we can protect these areas or prevent the corruption from accessing them, we can stop more spawns from being born?" Mia asked, seeking confirmation.

Gabriel nodded. "Exactly."

"By safeguarding these mana-rich areas, we can limit the corruption's ability to create more spawns, however, we must also find a way to cleanse the corruption from the jungle entirely to ensure it does not spread further."

"Which means our goal is still the same as always, find out who are those behind the spread of the corruption." Reign said with a nod of his head before leaning against another tree.

"Yeah, Gabriel is of great help with that since he can sense when it starts spreading, and if anyone that shouldn't be in the jungle suddenly appears, he will know, thus letting us quickly go and capture those that seem suspicious."

"But even then, you can't sense all of them, those with great stealth skills are capable of sneaking past your senses, right?" Reign asked Gabriel who stayed silent for a couple of seconds before agreeing.

"Yes, both you and Shadow, for example, can hide perfectly from me when using your powers, even if I know you are present somewhere, I won't be able to see or sense you," Gabriel said in a low voice as Shadow and Reign nodded at his words.

"Yeah, I figured that much out, after all, there shouldn't have been a reason you haven't mentioned the fact we are being watched and have been for the last couple of minutes by some annoying bastard if you can sense everybody." Reign said with a smile as a figure that had been hiding some 30 meters away from them suddenly froze, the smile that had been present on the man's face disappearing as he realized that he had been found out.

Not to mention that he had been found out so seemingly easily by Reign who didn't even try to move after him, he just glanced in his direction, stared right into his eyes for a moment, smiled, and then did nothing.

The man tried to get away, only to be stopped by Shadow who quickly teleported over to him via his [ Shadow Teleportation ] skill and then quickly grabbed one of his arms before throwing the man down and breaking the arm, quickly getting a hold of the man's other arm and holding it locked in place.

The person who was spying on them didn't scream out in pain or anger from having his arm broken, in fact, he only released a single grunt from his mouth and then nothing.

Reign approached the man, his expression serious. "Who sent you?" he demanded.

The man remained silent, gritting his teeth against the pain. Reign leaned in closer, his voice low and threatening. "I'll ask again, please do answer me."

Soul power rippled out from Reign, subtly causing the man to feel something, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but it made him apprehensive, but also slightly closer to Reign.

"Who sent you?" Reign asked with a wide smile as the man glanced at him.

After a moment of tense silence, the man finally spoke. "Malakai," he muttered, his voice barely audible.

"Malakai? Who is Malakai?" Reign pressed, his eyes narrowing as soul power suddenly exploded out of him and pushed against the man, causing him to feel immense pain and fear.

"He's... he's the one... behind the portals," the man admitted, his voice shaky.

Reign glanced back at the group, his mind racing with this new information. Malakai was the one responsible for the corrupted portals, and now they had a lead on who was spreading the corruption.

"We need to take him down," Shadow said, his voice cold and determined.

Reign nodded. "Agreed. But first, we need to gather more information."

"I mean, where is Malakai, who is he, how is he connected to the corrupted portals and the powers behind them, and most importantly, how do we stop him?"

"Kid." Aethion suddenly spoke, but Reign brushed him off at first.

'Just a moment, I just need to think back, to remember if we have ever come across a person with such a name before.'

"Kid, there's no Malakai!" Aethion's voice echoed inside Reign's head, causing him to grunt in pain and place his right hand on his head, which made the others glance at him in confusion, as well as care.

"You alright?"

"Aethion, bastard yelled." Reign said in order to quickly make the others feel at ease, which they did, before continuing to listen to Aethion.

'Alright you loud old bastard, what do you mean there is no Malakai, I used soul power to push him, he can't lie, I would have noticed it, right?'

"You would have if he was just a regular person, but take a look at him again, take a good look at that person and what is present around him," Aethion said as Reign did as he was told, staring down at the man that had been spying them and using mana and soul power to strengthen his eyes so that he can see that which is usually not possible to see.

And that is when he saw it, a phantom of a person that was shrouding the man he had just interrogated, a phantom made from soul power.

The instant that Reign saw the phantom, the phantom moved its head and stared at him, instantly noticing what was going on.