Investigation Report

If one had to ask why Tighnari was not happy at all about his workload being reduced, and was even full of resentment, then...

It all began with Tighnari's mentor—Nafis, Sage of Amurta.

As Tighnari's teacher and the current Sage of Amurta, Nafis had become quite interested, some time ago, in the rumors of a "divine manifestation" around Gandharva Ville.

However, as a Sage, Nafis had far too many research proposals and funding applications that required his approval.

Faced with his students' abstruse research topics, such as "Comparing the effects of different vegetables on farm workers' mental states and exploring the prospects of 'vegetable therapy,'" "Exploring the possibility of using dancing devices to train cattle and sheep on farms to improve their agility and coordination," and "Comparing the effects of different kinds of catnip on feline behavior and exploring cats' favorite mint varieties"...

Worried that he would lose all dignity in the field of education, Nafis ultimately failed to conduct the research personally.

Yet after only a short while, the rumors of a "divine manifestation" in Gandharva Ville made new progress. Unable to leave, Nafis thought of one of his outstanding graduates—Tighnari, who was currently serving as a Forest Ranger in the Gandharva Ville region.

Thus, out of concern for the development of the Gandharva Ville region, he decisively demanded that Tighnari submit an investigation report of no fewer than twenty thousand words on the recent abnormalities.

Faced with this obvious abuse of authority for personal gain from his mentor, Tighnari, who had received many favors from him back in the day, could only grit his teeth and accept.

And so, long since graduated, Tighnari once again felt the terror of being ruled by a graduation thesis.

—No choice. He could only visit them one by one.

Forced to write the investigation report, Tighnari decided that once someone returned, he would fleece him thoroughly.

With pen and paper in hand, Tighnari first recorded the areas in the rainforest where abnormal plants had appeared.

Though he knew perfectly well that this was Lin Feng's influence, the affected areas were simply too widespread, and the various plants often appeared to be distributed without any discernible pattern. Tighnari could only write the following analysis in his notes:

Following investigation, the plants in the rainforest, affected by an unknown factor, displayed the following common characteristics:

1. The plants as a whole had grown three to five times larger. Low shrub species such as Dundun Peaches and Raspberries bore noticeably more fruit.

2. Plants with rich flavors, such as Sweet Flowers, mint, and Spice Fruits, had, according to traveling merchants, become far more popular after being affected, greatly increasing their economic value.

3. The plants showed signs of Elemental Power interference and bore many similarities to crops imbued with "Bounty of Fertility."

4.

Summary: The rainforest's plants had been affected by an unknown factor, undergoing drastic changes in traits and increasing in economic value. However, due to the large variety of species and their extremely widespread distribution, no specific pattern had yet been found.

"Done!"

Tighnari snapped his notebook shut and gave his morning's research results his approval.

Having completed the first part of the report, Tighnari only then realized, after a systematic investigation, just how enormous an impact Lin Feng had had on the rainforest.

The rainforest region had always been vast and sparsely populated.

It was so vast that the natives who lived there—the people known as Forest Walkers—did not even need other jobs. Simply gathering the rainforest's natural resources was enough to support their families.

Unlike merchants who profited through trade, or Forest Rangers paid by the Akademiya.

The Forest Walkers had lived here for generations. Restricted by the Akademiya's ban on the spread of knowledge, they could not take up other occupations. They could only continuously pass down the experience they had gained from the rainforest to the next generation, hoping their descendants could survive better in the perilous jungle.

Even in the past, despite the presence of Forest Rangers, monsters emerging from the ley lines, Withering zones throughout the rainforest, and elusive beasts still often caused casualties among them.

But ever since Lin Feng came to Gandharva Ville, the Forest Walkers had traveled through an unprecedentedly safe rainforest and gathered resources far more abundant than before. With their living conditions improved, they had even begun worshipping the suddenly appearing "God of the Rainforest."

And this was merely the impact brought about by ordinary plants flourishing. The truly miraculous part was those mutated plants.

It was no exaggeration to say that if one simply picked any one of those plants and wrote a detailed discovery report on it, the credits earned would be enough for Tighnari's juniors to graduate comfortably. They might even have a chance to go directly from an apprentice Scholar to an official Tashat.

It was only because those plants were distributed so randomly and existed in small numbers that most Scholars who came to investigate often returned empty-handed.

Only because Tighnari possessed a Vision and could track Elemental traces in the forest, combined with reports from the other Forest Rangers, had he managed to reach a preliminary conclusion in a single morning.

"This is truly astonishing. To cause such enormous changes in traits... If Lin Feng entered the Akademiya, even if he only found a place to farm, he might very well be nominated as Sage of Amurta."

Faced with such inhuman power, Tighnari felt that his research in Amurta on plant hybridization and variety improvement was as simple as a preschooler's amusing experiment.

Because he already understood much about Lin Feng's uniqueness, and research of this level was simply far too advanced, Tighnari did not feel too defeated. After all, people and monsters could not be compared.

Taking a Meat Roll from his backpack, Tighnari ate his lunch as he went in search of those affected by the changes in the rainforest.

Aside from the obvious effects on the natural environment, the key reason Tighnari had given the Forest Rangers leave was these travelers who had been helped by an unknown existence.

The rainforest seemed to possess a will of its own. Whether someone had gotten lost, been injured, or gone hungry after losing their food, incidents that had once required several Forest Rangers working together were always resolved through a series of coincidences.

Even if someone ate poisonous mushrooms and collapsed in the rainforest, there would happen to be plants nearby that could neutralize the toxins and restore their health—even more incredibly, patients would sleepwalk during their unconsciousness and eat those plants themselves.

The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt. Tighnari even had the urge to dig Lin Feng out right now—if he did not ask him face-to-face how he had done it, Tighnari felt that the curiosity in his heart would suffocate him to death.

"Sigh... How exactly am I supposed to brush off my teacher? If I just make things up, he'll definitely tear me apart, won't he?"

Thinking of those classmates from his school days whom Nafis had criticized until they questioned their very existence, Tighnari shuddered and decided to fabricate an investigation report as seriously as possible—one that at least looked somewhat credible.