These massive, bizarre formations, sprawling across the swamp in countless terrifying shapes, were merely the preliminary, incubatory step in the development of the beast that would eventually become the true guardian. And exactly as Ren had suspected, they had absolutely nothing to do with his Spore-Fungus or the imaginary dragon from his storybook.
Although...
After forcibly downloading the apocalyptic history of the ruins directly from the crystal supercomputer, Ren couldn't help but wonder if these specific, bizarre ecosystems had served as inspiration for his beast's architectural design.
Shadows conceptually seemed like the absolute, polarizing opposite of Light. But in reality, one fundamentally could not exist without the other. Just as any, be it the small or the towering plants could not survive without the hidden, decomposing network of fungi breaking down the soil beneath them and helping their roots.
