…Almost, that is.
There was a time when he, in his former world, and in the capacity of the First Special Assistant to the Central Council of the Central Government, was sent by the Central Council to investigate a weapon that would have almost caused the defeat of the Central Government if not for the deployment of a zircon armament, which put out the star of that newly discovered world that opposed the central government rule, ending the war. Upon his arrival, he is led to the site that held the weapon that almost caused the defeat of the world government.
What he saw was not an advancement. In technology, it was his first introduction into the concept of mysticism.
Despite being born to the very superstitious lineage of the Nondu people, he had seen or heard of nothing like it until that day.
The object, weapon, or whatever it could be classified as, appeared to be a wreath made out of wiry leaves. According to his tour guide, who happened to be a local, that wreath was a mystical artifact that appeared with the founder of the empire that had totally dominated that world. According to him, their people will never fail to defeat their enemies in battle as long as the wreath exists, which was true, as the Central Government forces did not win one single head-on confrontation with them in that war, except for the deployment of the Zircon armament, and that one had almost failed.
He also remembered that when he was observing that artifact, he felt—remember that time was that when he stood observing the artifact, he felt as though a muted presence was staring back at him.
…He remembered all this because he felt the same thing the moment the heart of the proliferating forest appeared….
The moment it appeared, the Symbiotic One of Negation, as though spooked by the presence of it, or maybe the [auto kill] limit, unbound rapidly with him and unsummoned itself. The heart, which looked like a twisted staff with an almost spherical head, appeared with a green hue, the brightness of which pushed out the darkness of the Genesis Remnant Mountain Cluster for a moment.
Then, in that moment, he felt it…
The aura of the proliferating forest washed down on him in all intensity as he felt its aura and influence invading, coursing through, and searching all of his body, making him feel more naked than he thought was possible to feel.
It was like standing before a slumbering ancient existence known to be the most terrible doom bringer in all existence as they finally opened their eye, which was more likely than not to be true.
The heart levitated. In the air, where it appeared for a while, before descending gradually into his outstretched arm in an upright position, holding his gaze as it did. The more he looked at the heart, the more he felt as though he was one with the heart.
He was gradually losing his individuality.
Looking at the view, he saw it taking on an almost sickly green color. The text on it was wiped off as though by an unseen hand, as a sentence wrote itself on it boldly:
[Do you want to merge?]
It felt to him like the most natural thing to do. So, he agreed to it with a thought.
The instant he did, he lost his sense of self, becoming the titanic tree that embodied the proliferating forest.
'Ahh! It is good to be me again, he thought. He felt how malleable reality could be with a slight exertion of his will, except it was not to the intensity he 'remembered.' Then a displeased expression appeared on his face.
'Why are there only two vessels of me? Unacceptable! Spread! I must spread!'
...and so, at his word, a greenish aura pulsed out from him with the force and intensity of a nuclear shockwave. Every tree it reached became part of him, bringing him a new perspective. It took over every tree, every plant, and all the flora in its path.
Where there were not enough trees, the influence turned any creature within its reach to its vessel.
The more he spread, the more he felt his influence on reality growing, as reality itself was rapidly growing more malleable with every extra expanse he covered and every new vessel he gained.
Driven by the desire to proliferate, he continued spreading until he reclaimed his previous vessels and gained newer ones, expanding through all the crevices, valleys, ravines, passes, and tunnels of the Genesis Remnant mountain cluster. Below the ground, his root network expanded crazily, easily matching the speed of the expansion above ground. His influence spread until it covered all of the Genesis Remnant Mountain Cluster. There were pockets to this, however: the ten central mountains, which were covered by the fragment mist of the path of those beings who once stood at the peak of all existence, which his influence could not penetrate no matter what he tried due to the existence of three mega-influences like him, but which were of variable quality; pockets of Elt's settlements, which he spared out of his mercy; areas covered by other beings' powers, authorities, and influences, who had never learned of the dread of his name and thus firmly resisted his spread; and the remnants of an empire marching towards the direction of his main fleshly vessel, thinly shielded by the concept of the empire's broken dominion.
He paid them no heed; he would come back for them all soon.
When he got to the edge of the mountain cluster, which was surrounded by a curtain of darkness that seemed to extend down from the sky, he focused, bending reality to his will, and tore through the darkness.
Once he was free, he automated the spread in this meager planet and aimed higher, piercing through the barriers between the universes that made up the multiverse, automating his spread in each as he moved on to the next.
By the time he pierced into the last universe and automated his spread, reality was tame, ready to be commanded at the click of his fingertips.
'Ah! I feel even better now!'
While before his slumber he was a mega influence due to each of his trees being an influence over which he was a mega influence, now each part of his vessel was a being itself: leaves that were authorities, twigs and branches that were powers and influences, respectively, and whole plants that were mega influences.
'I guess that pushes me to a whole new level. I wonder how those old tree fossils will compare!'
He felt activity stop for a second, with all of reality looking in his direction, with the gaze of those who knew what he was being filled with fear.
‹I, the proliferating forest, am back,› he made to send a pulse of intent…
The moment he tried to, he felt a gaze that seemed to exist beyond the borders of existence land on him that made him feel so small.