Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Meanwhile, in the Golden Sap Forest, things were changing quickly.

It had been a while since Liu Shu arrived at Level 4, and her experience had accumulated enough to buy the first skill upgrade. Moreover, during this time, the Rose Fairies managed to keep themselves a bit more hidden than usual, attracting wild animals that wanted to take a taste of Liu Shu, only to get, quite literally, sliced in half by her branches.

At Level 4, Liu Shu's basic stats rivaled those of Level 10 creatures. She had grown to be a force to be reckoned with, strong enough to face almost all creatures in the Golden Sap Forest.

But that was speaking about normal creatures. Liu Shu found, surprisingly, quite a lot of resistance from the trees surrounding her. While they were all between Levels 6 and 9, she had been battling more than one of them at a time.

Some trees posed some resistance to her roots, making it a slow battle for dominance. Because her regeneration was absurd, Liu Shu made it a secondary action to clean up her surroundings. So,

All of this naturally awarded her abundant experience points. She had killed quite a few creatures: seven Level 5s, five Level 6s, two Level 8s, and one Level 9. This gave her a total of 124 Experience Points. Then, because two months had passed since she leveled up, she gained another 960 Experience Points, making her Accumulated Experience equal to 1084 Experience.

Liu Shu looked at that number with a thoughtful face. 'I'm leveling up so fast~. I'm already halfway through; if I wait three more months or so, I should be able to reach Level 5! But…'

Liu Shu looked at her skills and pondered. 'I should Level Up the skills…'

Why did she think as such? One of them was Nature's Gift, which is one of her most used skills. The other was Charm of the Seedling, an interesting skill that helped her and similarly placed her in a pinch in the past.

So, after giving it some light thought, Liu Shu finally decided to upgrade them.

[Do you want to use 326 Experience Points to Increase <Nature's Gift (F Rank Level Max)> to <Nature's Gift (F+ Rank Level 1)>?]

'Yes!'

[326 Experience Points consumed. <Nature's Gift> has gone from F rank to F+ rank.]

<Nature's Gift (F+ Rank level 1 [0/1200])>: Produces small, magical fruits with unique and beneficial properties. It uses Anima Energy and Aether Mana to produce. Depending on the strength of the fruits, there is a chance that they will also need Phoer. You can fasten their ripening time by 60 days, spending as much Aether Mana and Anima Energy as you need to create them.

Current Fruits Available: <Delicious Berry (F- Rank)>: +1 exp to Level 9 and lower beings. Max: 3; <Basic Phoer Berry (F- Rank)>: +10 Phoer Body Shards. Max: 5; <Basic Mana Berry (F- Rank)>: +10 Aether Mana Shards. Max: 5; <Basic Energy Berry (F- Rank)>: +10 Anima Energy Shards. Max: 5; *<Basic Breakthrough Berry (E- Rank)>: +1 Sub-Tier, max F+. One every ten years.

The fruits she could create didn't change, but now it was much cheaper and faster to make them. Her ability to speed up went from 30 to 60 days.

'Nice! With this, I will be able to produce much more~. From her Aether Mana regeneration's 106 points, she always used 36 of them for <Enchanted Growth>, around 40 for all the berries except the <Breakthrough Berry>, for which she used ten separate energy points. Finally, the last 20 were used by Liu Shu to fight things around her.

20 Aether Mana and Anima Energy in an hour didn't seem like much, but she could get things done slowly.

The rest of her ternary essence reserves were only touched when there was an active situation that needed her attention.

'But I'm not done yet! Hehehe.'

[Do you want to use 326 Experience Points to Increase <Charm of the Seedling (F Rank Level Max)> to <Charm of the Seedling (F+ Rank Level 1)>?]

'Of course I want to~.'

[326 Experience Points consumed. <Charm of the Seedling> has gone from F rank to F+ rank.]

<Charm of the Seedling (F Rank Level 1 [0/1200])>: Attracts small animals and insects to the area, fostering a harmonious ecosystem. There is a very small chance of attracting a friendly, bigger animal or insects that will help protect you. Creatures below the F+ Rank will be affected with much ease.

'The only change here is what kind of creatures get affected. Hm, that's… not bad?'

Liu Shu was unsure, as this skill has always been quite elusive for her.

Meanwhile, as soon as she upgraded her skill, a visible aura spread from her, moving the fallen leaves and grass with a refreshing breeze.

The Rose Fairies that were flying around stopped, looking at the tree with gentle smiles. They couldn't help but feel thankful that they came here. Liu Shu's berries had been nothing but a life-saver and had also pushed many young fairies up the levels at a very quick pace.

Slowly yet surely, all Rose Fairies were getting stronger. Flor was resting on Liu Shu's canopy when she felt the refreshing breeze, making her smile. "Did you upgrade something, Liu Shu? It makes the aura around you much gentler and welcoming. I like it."

Our cute Liu Shu heard her and laughed in her mind. 'Nice~, I'm glad I can make them feel better around me. I hope others feel like that too in the future~.'

Then, she refocused on her things. Her Accumulated Experience had been reduced to 432 points, making her Level Up objective quite distant again. Not that Liu Shu minded; she was not in a rush. Her main objective had always been slow, steady, but constant growth.

As she thought of these things, her <World Tree Eye> caught something in the Rose Fairy garden. 'Oh? Some of the flowers are about to open~.'

Liu Shu consciously used her <Enchanting Growth> aura on the flower, and its petals spread open, blooming into a beautiful flower with a sleeping bare woman in the middle.

Her appearance was similar to an 8 to 10-year-old, making her look cute and adorable. 'Another Rose Fairy~.'

Thanks to her aid with <Enchanted Growth>, there was a Rose Fairy birth rate boom ongoing. All of them were still at a really low level. But the future was promising for the race. For now, their population was approaching 160 Rose Fairies.

The little creature that had just been born opened Rose Faires' characteristic red jewel-like eyes and looked around dazedly. It was clear that the Rose Fairy didn't know anything at all as it just sat there, not moving.

Liu Shu was curious and analyzed her.

***

Name: ---

Titles:

<Rose Fairy>: Affinity with plant beings increased by 10%

Race: Rose Fairy

Energy Method: Simple pollination (gain experience equal to <Flora level*tier>/<Your level> per flower. Can be used once a day.)

Level: 1 [0/140]

Aether Mana Shards: 46/46

Phoer Body Shards: 22/22

Anima Energy Shards: 22/22

Attributes: Aether (4), Physique (2), Anima (2), Willpower (2), Destiny (2)

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (15), Physique Refinement (7), Anima Affinity (10)

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (6), Physique Resistance (4), Spiritual Resistance (4), Mental Resistance (4)

Talents:

---

Passive Skills:

---

Accumulated Experience: 0

***

'Oh~, she is stronger than others!'

As a reference, an ordinary Rose Fairy was born at Level 0, so they all had 10 in their ternary essences and 1 in their attributes like most creatures. Even when they leveled up, their stats were half of what this new Rose Fairy had. 

As Liu Shu observed, a Rose Fairy approached. Unlike the usual youthful look most of them had, she had a clearly weaker constitution with wrinkles at the side of her eyes. Her flying was also slower and more gently paced, and while her body remained slender, one could feel the age weighing down on it.

The elderly Rose Fairy, who was in charge of taking care of the Rose Fairy Flowers, approached with a smile, and when she saw her ternary essences, she was surprised, too. "Oh, you are a powerful one, little seed! Even stronger than that child, Flor."

The newborn fairy looked over blankly and blinked. Clearly, she couldn't speak, and probably, her intelligence was far from developed. However, there were some basic instincts in her, like all creatures had, and the immature fairy slowly tried to stand up while falling back on the recently opened flower. The wings on her back were undeveloped, but they were changing from a wet white color to their usual greenish color quite quickly.

The elderly Rose Fairy didn't do anything and just watched with a smile.

Meanwhile, when Flor was mentioned, Liu Shu focused her <World Tree Eye> on the senior Rose Fairy. This action was noticed by the elderly Rose Fairy as Liu Shu's presence enveloped her.

The elderly fairy looked at Liu Shu with a gentle smile and asked. "Are you curious about Flor, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu answered enthusiastically. 'Yes! How was Flor when she was little?'

The Rose Fairy slowly flew toward the newly born one when the young fairy started flapping her developing wings with a buzzing sound. While doing her routine, the elderly fairy spoke about Flor. "Well, Flor's Flower Seed was birthed by a close friend of mine. She was quite a gentle one." The Rose Fairy sighed. "However, as a high-level fairy, she battled outside a lot, and eventually, she died by the claws of a River Beaver."

The woman grabbed one hand of the young Rose Fairy and slowly flew up, helping the newly born one fly up with her. Flying was the Rose Fairies' method to remain as a top race in the dangerous forest; adding their innate affinity with Wind Aether Mana, they all learned how to fly right after their birth.

Liu Shu listened silently to the tales of Flor's "mother" for a few minutes, showing how much this elderly Rose Fairy liked that person. 

The elderly Rose Fairy continued. "Well, enough of her. I guess you want to know more about Flor, right? Haha. Sorry, Liu Shu, this sack of old bones sometimes gets sidetracked."

Liu Shu was surprised by this fairy's ternary stats. While she was a Level 7 Rose Fairy, her stats were similar to those of the Level 5 young Rose Fairies.

In the end, while <Level> was an indicator of a creature's life level, <Stats> were an indicator of a creature's current strength. Just seeing the decrease in them, Liu Shu instinctively knew that this particular Rose Fairy didn't have much left.

The elderly Rose Fairy spoke gently as she guided the recently born one around her trunk. "When Flor was born, I took care of her in honor of my friend. In the words of some city races, I'm somewhat close to her adoptive mother."

'Oh! A mother!' Liu Shu couldn't help but think. 'Who is my mother? Probably another tree with branches similar to mine?' For now, Liu Shu hadn't seen trees with dropping branches like hers, as most had thick and sturdy ones. Her <World Tree Eye> vision had already broken through the 100-meter mark, allowing her to see much more of the world around her.

"Flor was actually a weak Rose Fairy at first…" Hearing the woman speak again, Liu Shu refocused. "Her attributes were nothing but half of what this one has, hahaha." The Rose Fairy smiled. "However, as she grew up, Flor was always very active. She was the first to push herself and learn spells, fight for resources, enter the battlefield early, and more."

"Believe it or not, she was quite bloodthirsty, and she has hunted River Beavers and Thornstride since she was Level 4! Her constant fighting bore fruits and gave her strength. She naturally broke through her tier, going from an F Tier to an F+ Tier one. After that, Flor was even more active. Flor has battled during eighty percent of her few decades of life. That's how she broke through the limit and entered Level 10."

The Elderly Rose Fairy smiled. "That's why, when she now lazes around, we don't say anything. She is our protector, our guardian shield. Her presence lets us all rest comfortably at night and wake up without fearing the outside. We know for certain that if something happens, Flor will be the first to move."

Liu Shu heard her, and her mind went into deep thought. 'A protector brings happiness to those close, huh…'