Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Liu Shu looked into the <Lignified Vault> and searched for the things Flor left there. 'So many materials~. Which one should I choose?'

Of course, the thing that appeared when analyzing a material with the system wasn't a full description of every detail. If one just needed the system to know everything about the material, there wouldn't be science studies and similar.

What appeared was that the person analyzing could understand. For example, when Liu Shu analyzed one of her fallen branches that Flor had stored, this message appeared.

[World Tree Branch <D+ Rank Sylvanium (Level 3)>: A branch from a very young and weak World Tree. It is valuable, but it can only be used for low-level crafts. Its elasticity and sturdiness are its biggest qualities, and it can add all-rounder stats to anything crafted by it. As a branch from a World Tree, it has incredible energy conductivity, making it more useful to create weapons that aid channeling energies.]

Liu Shu pouted as she read the description. 'I'm not weak! You are weak! Stupid system.'

[…]

Either way, she decided to start making the weapon, and then she realized she had forgotten something really important. '… Flor hasn't told me yet how to do it.'

Liu Shu stopped in her tracks, her entire body starting to sulk. 'I wanted to create a weapon…'

Flor looked at Liu Shu's mood change from cheerful to sulking, and her eyebrow twitched, somehow knowing why. 'Did she remember? I tried using Ignatia as a distraction, but it seems that it didn't work.'

While Flor thought of that, she suddenly felt Liu Shu's energy clinging around her, like a child asking for their toy. Flor almost burst into laughter. '…Why is she so cute?'

She passed her fair hand through her lush red hair, and her jewel-like red eyes focused on Liu Shu. 'What do I do with this little one?' After interacting with Liu Shu for a while, Flor came to know how young Liu Shu's mind was.

It really felt like she was talking to a Rose Fairy child. 'Hm… How do I distract her?'

Flor thought about it while Liu Shu's energy spread all over her body. In her mind, Liu Shu was calling her. 'Flor, listen. I want to learn. I want to learn. Flor. Flor. Flor!'

With her newfound energy control, one of the branches that was limp by the side moved clumsily and wrapped around her. Flor couldn't hold back anymore and burst into laughter, flying toward her and giving her a tight hug. "Ah! Why are you so adorable, Liu Shu!?"

Liu Shu looked at the 45-centimeter-tall fairy who was hugging her and felt happy. 'Hehe, Flor and the rest of the little friends are also cute~.'

Flor clapped and said. "Okay. Liu Shu, want to fight something? You haven't fought anything of substance since you leveled up, right?"

However, Liu Shu was a World Tree. Who would like to fight? If it were for our tree, she would spend all day looking around lazily and spreading her roots through the earth slowly.

So, Liu Shu threw quite a clear "No!" With her energy signals.

Flor's smile faltered. 'Tsk. It didn't work.'

Flor coughed. "I see. If you don't want that, then how about trying to communicate with nearby trees? You are large enough to entangle roots with them and exchange a conversation, right?"

<Willow Strike>

BANG!

Flor was slammed down into the ground by a whip-like branch. Her body became half-buried in the dirt below.

A large [-350] popped above her head, making Flor's eyebrow twitch. 'Strong. As expected of a World Tree, she blew away 10% of my Phoer in one hit.'

Then, she did a quick calculation about how much time it would take to heal that. After learning the number, even her lips started twitching. 'That will take 23 hours to heal if I eat 5 of those Phoer Fruits…'

She was taken by surprise, and Liu Shu also didn't use all her strength, hence the large hit. The damage would've been relatively lower if Flor had defended herself with Aether Mana or Anima's energy. 

However, she was confused about why that sentence caused Liu Shu to react so wrongly. 'Aren't roots like the communication organs? Like antennae for ants, or voice for us?'

Of course, she wasn't wrong. However, entangling roots was an intimate act done either between related trees, meaning those who were related to each other, or by their partners.

The act was similar to holding hands.

Thinking as such, you should understand why Liu Shu felt innate embarrassment. Imagine yourself going up to a stranger, holding their hand tightly, and starting up a conversation without any prior warning.

Well, that weird feeling was what Liu Shu just felt.

Meanwhile, Liu Shu was scolding Flor again and again. 'Silly Flor, why would she say something like that? Ah! So silly, and um… Dizzy? No. UGH! Entangling roots with another tree, as if that's something I can do!'

If Flor hadn't plummeted into the ground, she would've probably received one or two more <Willow Strikes>.

Flor coughed a bit of dirt that entered her mouth and moved her mouth and tongue with a grimace. 'This… It was that extract we created for her, right?'

Flor wanted to cry, but she had no tears. "Liu Shu, I'll come back soon. I'll go wash off the dirt."

Then, she flew away toward a nearby lake.

Liu Shu exclaimed. "Ah! Where is she going? She still hasn't told me how to build weapons!"

This time, Clavel arrived from her hunt and happily approached the sulking Liu Shu. "Huh? What happened, little one?"

Although Clavel called her little one, Liu Shu was officially stronger than Clavel, so it wasn't really appropriate. However, since the rose fairy was very close to Liu Shu, she just used a more intimate way of calling her.

Liu Shu saw her first little friend from the rose fairies, and her sulky mood was blown away by the wind. 'Oh, Clavel is here~. Hello~.'

Clavel blinked at the sudden mood swing. "You know… To answer questions, you take your time, but to show emotions, you are as fickle as the wind."

Liu Shu laughed in her mind. Then, Clavel asked. "So, are you doing okay?" Clavel paused and slapped her forehead. "Did I really need to ask a question?"

Meanwhile, Liu Shu, who was suddenly asked how she was doing, began thinking about how to answer. It took around 20 minutes to send two pulses.

Clavel, who had been lying on her back on one of Liu Shu's branches, almost fell from it when she understood them. "What do you mean by <Yes>, <No>!?"

Clavel waved her hand. "Ah, don't worry, don't worry. You are young, so it is natural to act a bit silly sometimes."

Liu Shu just looked at her. She had wanted to say that she had been doing okay, but Flor had yet to tell her how to build weapons. So, she sent a yes at first and then a no.

After not hearing Clavel talk again and just resting in one of her branches, Liu Shu refocused on her things. 'Hm… I want to build something….'

[Do you wish to open the building planner? Yes or no?]

'Oh!'

Liu Shu focused on it for a while and then said. 'No! System, open weapon planner!'

But nothing answered. Liu Shu sulked again, and Clavel ignored her bipolar friend, just choosing to rest on Liu Shu's branch until the mood went away by itself.

And, after 30 minutes, Clavel smirked. 'Now, her sulk is gone~. Perfect.'

'So… I can't build equipment, and I don't want to build a building again soon… What to do?'

She opened her system window to try to do something and gave the Nature gift's skill more love. 'I want to level up this one!'

Her enchanting roots deep into the earth carried nutrients and pure energy, making sure Liu Shu had enough energy for what she wanted to do. For now, she was growing around 1000 flowers every two days at most.

Liu Shu thoughtfully gazed at the smallest regeneration, which was 36.5 Aether Mana per hour. Then, she chose to apply what the fairies taught her in the past. 'I need to use as much as my regeneration, right? Then… I also need to practice with <Enchanted growth>.'

Meanwhile, Flor, who had already cleaned herself in the lake, became thoughtful. 'I need to find something to help her.'

Her eyes moved toward the west, and she grabbed her chin. 'Let's go on a small journey, then.'

Her body was wrapped in wind Aether Mana, and she quickly flew through the forest toward the nearest city to the west, Fortuna City.

It took her around 8 hours of flight to reach the vicinity. Flor was considered a monster, even if she was from an intelligent race, mainly because her system page scaled differently after Level 10. They were small details that separated creatures with potential and intelligence from races with no potential and intelligence.

Flor looked around and saw a group of humans and Sylvans slowly walking into the forest. 'Hm. I should use them.'

Flor followed behind them as they walked deeper into the forest, not knowing that a fearsome Level 12 was staring at their back with a very cold gaze.

"Verdantia, what should we do now? It seems that the plant you wanted isn't here."

Verdantia, the tall and voluptuous woman with green hair and eyes, shook her head. "Don't worry. I'm not in a hurry." Verdantia paused and looked up to the sky. "Moreover, the plant I want is probably not nearby… Huh?"

Whether it was luck or not, this gesture allowed Verdantia to discover a hidden threat, who was observing them with strange, completely red eyes. They were like a pair of rubies embedded in the woman's eye sockets.

While the rest of the people were still unaware, Verdantia saw the doll-sized woman's lips arch and place a finger on her fingers. Verdantia gulped and used her identification skill on Flor.

***

Race: Rose Fairy Queen. 

Level: 12 [0/7440]

Aether Mana Shards: 12432/12432

Phoer Body Shards: 3612/3612

Anima Energy Shards: 5845/5845

Attributes: Aether 89 (75+14), Physique 28 (19+9), Anima 44 (33+11), Willpower 56 (56), Destiny 96 (96)

***

Verdantia almost screamed in fright. She was currently nothing but a little Level 4 Sylvan. How could she fight a monster like this? She was strong, but not this much!

Even if she wanted to alarm others, the Level 12 creature above them could probably kill her instantly.

Verdantia secretly bit her lips. 'If I were Level 5, I could at least somehow resist, but…'

Sylvans gained a very special skill at Level 5. It was a skill powerful enough to make Sylvans one of the strongest races by far, with little competition at the same level other than other Sylvans or users of precarious ways.

Then, the woman saw Flor pointing to the side. Flor's gestures were enough to tell Verdantia that Flor wanted her to go somewhere alone.

While she was a calm, gentle, and rational woman, she was in a controlled situation where she could act like a strong person appropriately. Now that she was at the mercy of a wild monster, her fate was hanging on a very thin thread.