Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Liu Shu had been dazed, looking at the notifications from the almost 35 River Beavers she had killed.

[Congratulations on defeating <River Beaver Level 5>. You've gained 1 Experience Point.] x15

[Congratulations on defeating <River Beaver Level 6>. You've gained 2 Experience Points.] x9

[Congratulations on defeating <River Beaver Level 7>. You've gained 3 Experience Points.] x5

[Congratulations on defeating <River Beaver Level 8>. You've gained 4 Experience Points.] x4

[Congratulations on defeating <River Beaver Level 9>. You've gained 6 Experience Points.] x1

[Congratulations on defeating <River Beaver Level 10>. You've gained 35 Experience Points.] x1

'Really nice~, so much experience. Hehe.'

Then, she looked at her accumulated experience and saw that it had jumped to 346 points. She was far from leveling up, but that didn't mean much to her. Liu Shu was happy with any progress.

While thinking of this, Liu Shu looked at how the Rose Fairies began moving the corpses around. 'Will they also transform them into fertilizer?'

Without proper soil and proper resources, her energy-gathering method wouldn't work; after all, it didn't give her experience daily out of nowhere. She needed to feed.

Other than that, Liu Shu grew like a normal creature as well. It was much slower than the bursts her Level Up gave her, but she did increase in size constantly as time went by.

Her roots slowly expanded around her, piercing through the moist earth at a very gentle pace. 'Hehe, it feels nice~. The earth is cool and refreshing. Hm?'

Liu Shu suddenly felt one of her roots hit something piercing straight down. 'Rock?'

Her senses expanded in that direction, sending pulses of energy in the direction of the root that found an obstacle. The energy pulse she sent expanded on the root, giving her a clear vision of that area. 'This root is around 40 meters deep, hmmm. Is this… a wall of rocks? Can I dig through?'

While Liu Shu was focusing on that, a notification appeared in her mind that surprised her.

[<Charm of the Seedling> has attracted a <Ceperet Human Level 9>. Proficiency increased by 9.] x4

[<Charm of the Seedling> has attracted a <Pyroaether Emberites Sylvan Level 6>. Proficiency increased by 6.] 

'Humans? Sylvans? What kind of little friends are those?' Liu Shu looked at her Aether Mana and Anima energy and became a bit worried. 'I hope they are not bad little friends.'

She retracted her gaze from the wall of rocks, for now, looking toward the place where she had sensed their approach. Once she looked in that direction with the <World Tree Eye>, she spotted one woman with fiery red hair and orange eyes looking her way with a very strange expression.

Far behind that woman, there were four humans that were "hiding" behind some trees. However, they were out in the open for Liu Shu as her roots had already extended that far, making their current appearances quite comical.

'Do they like crouching?'

 Still, there was one thing that took Liu Shu's attention, and that was… 'They are so tall!'

While the Rose fairies were humanoid, their stature was just too small compared to others. So, with them as a reference, everything else appeared to be enormous to Liu Shu, even when she knew that humans and sylvans were the standard size; knowledge gained while reading, or rather, absorbing, the Woodcrafting books.

She saw Clavel and Zinia flying forward while raising their hands, ready to strike, so Liu Shu similarly focused on them. 'Are they dangerous? Why are Clavel and Zinia reacting so strongly?'

She refocused on them, looking at the Sylvan for a longer time. She was very beautiful compared to anyone she had seen until now, and her aura was also welcoming.

Once her <World Tree Eye> covered the red-haired woman, she strangely saw the woman shudder as she looked at her, making Liu Shu feel a strange sense of danger. However, it was a complicated danger that didn't cause her to react like when someone attacked her. 'What's this feeling? Also…' Liu Shu focused on the trembling woman and asked herself. 'Why is her face getting redder? Is that because she can control flames!? So cool~.'

Clavel shouted. "Sylvan, we are Rose Fairies, one of the few races that protect nature. Retreat! We are not a threat!"

There was one reason Clavel shouted and didn't attack right away. When her eyes landed on the woman, even though she could see that she was a Level 6, her ternary essences were absurdly high. Not only that.

Clavel felt a drop of sweat falling from her temple. 'It feels as if I'm facing Queen Flor. Why is this Sylvan so strong!?'

Thankfully for her, the Sylvan seemed to have been mesmerized by Liu Shu, but that was not that good either. Clavel saw the Sylvan snapping out of her daze and looking her way, making Clavel tense up. She heard her say with a stutter. "A-Ah, um… T-That tree, no. That beauty-" The Sylvan covered her face. "Kya! Who am I calling a beauty!? Stupid, we just got to know each other!"

The Rose fairies, the humans, and even Liu Shu looked at her with extremely weird gazes.

'Huh?'

Cinderielle patted her face and coughed, trying to regain her usual cool. However, the Rose Fairies could clearly see that, even though her posture was straight and her face was serious, the reddish tint on her cheek and the twitch of her lips trying to bend upward were more than apparent.

"AHEM! Rose Fairies, I'm called Cinderielle. Can you let me get closer to, um, to…" Cinderielle looked at Liu Shu shyly and tried to say seriously. "T-That pretty World Tree!"

Ariel and the other humans walked out of the forest, and Ariel shouted. "C-Cinder! What in the branches above are you doing!? T-They are monsters. What if they attack you!" Ariel looked at the noticeable female figure on the three's trunk and said with a grave face. "Moreover, that's a World Tree! What if she attacks us? We'll need to attack back, and attacking a World Tree is never a good idea!"

Cinderielle looked at Ariel with a piercing gaze and spat. "She won't attack us, and if you dare put a hand on her…" Cinderielle didn't finish her sentence, but her glowing orange eyes were more than enough.

Ariel felt her heart constrict in fear for a second, as if a powerful predator had locked on her. "C-Cinder, I-I didn't mean that we will, but you know." Ariel gulped. "To defend ourselves and such."

Cinderielle looked at Liu Shu and told Ariel. "There is no need to worry." Then, she ignored her and started walking forward with her hands spread out in a gesture of surrender.

"I-I'm really not trying to do anything. I just want to… um… speak with her."

Clavel quickly and nervously said. "Stop right there! Don't take another step, or we'll attack!"

Cinderielle paused, looking nervous, not because of the fairies surrounding her but because she didn't want to make a bad impression in front of the World Tree. 'I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her. I found her.'

Her mind was constantly spinning with those thoughts as her eyes traced every branch, leaf, and trace of the relatively young tree. 'Such a perfect bark, Kya! Look at her branches, dropping so cutely~. Oh, her leaves are so pretty; I want to trim them gently~. H-How about taking care of her trunk…' Cinderielle's eyes landed on the protrusions similar to breasts and blushed. 'Big…' Her eyes then started lowering toward the waist area, but she quickly stopped herself. 'DON'T! Ahhhhhh! I'm a pervert! I shouldn't look at a lady when she is naked and vulnerable!'

However, if one were to look where her eyes were looking, they would be able to notice them roaming everywhere. She said no in her head, but physically, she was unable to stop her brain from snapping photos with each of her blinks.

Liu Shu looked strangely at the creature that was making funny faces with a hint of cautiousness. 'Why do I feel like I'm being eaten? A predator? Are Sylvan's a World Tree's natural predator!?'

Well, she was not too far off. Sylvans did "prey" on World Trees, after all.

 "What is happening here!?"

Cinderielle's and the human's relaxed mood completely disappeared as a powerful aura washed all over them together with the sound of many buzzing wings.

Cinderielle and the others turned to see a much larger Rose Fairy arriving with a terrifyingly cold face and Wind Aether Mana swirling around her figure in massive torrents.

Ariel shouted with urgency. "CINDER! RUN! THAT'S A LEVEL 12!"

However, Cinderielle refused to leave. "Rose Fairy Chief, I'm not here with ill intentions!"

However, Flor was not buying it and snarled. "You know that there is a World Tree here now; how could I leave you to return and be sure that Fortuna's World Tree won't send an army to kill the sapling!" Flor's energy became increasingly turbulent when she considered the dangers that leaving these people could cause to the young Liu Shu.

"You are unlucky, but I can only kill you to silence you!"

Liu Shu looked at the situation and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable when she imagined the red-haired Sylvan dying. However, she didn't know how to interfere.

Her usual energy pulses worked by sending energy right onto a creature. When Flor was actively using Aether Mana, she created a shield to protect her weak body. This shield blocked all kinds of attacks, including Liu Shu's pulses.

Cinderielle saw that Flor wasn't prepared to talk and couldn't help but bite her lips, shouting. "I don't want to hurt you, but you are leaving me with no chance! Rose Fairy Chief, I sincerely have no ill intent toward that World Tree; on the contrary, I'm willing to help you protect her!"

Flor extended her hand forward and scowled. "Lies! How could a resident from Fortuna City be so willing to help nurture a World Tree so close!"

After all, World Trees didn't like each other's presence, and more often than not, when two World Trees met, it would end in a brutal fight where only one of them remained alive.

Cinderielle saw that Flor was truly going to attack, so she bit her lips and chanted. "Don't blame me, Rose Fairy Chief. <Pyroaether Sylvan Body Liberation>!"

With her chant, a tornado of fire surrounded Cinderielle, and Flor quickly shot several powerful wind blades.

The tornado of fire destroyed the wind crescents and dispelled quickly, revealing an entirely changed Cinderielle.

Unlike her human form, which had just different-colored hair, she looked like a completely new being this time.

Her skin was reddish and bark-like, while her body was covered in clothes made of flaming leaves. Her stature had doubled, and her legs had grown root-like protrusions that quickly latched on the ground. Her hair was made out of pure Fire Aether Mana, and her orange eyes glowed while leaving trails of light as she moved.

The reason for Sylvan's race domination throughout the world was this natural ability to transform into a tree-like being that was mobile as well. While she could latch onto the ground, she could move as quickly, if not more rapidly than before.

It was a complete transformation whose only weakness was its short duration and inability to use as they pleased.

Flor's face became serious when Cinder's aura seemed to have made a qualitative leap and caught up with hers. With a heavy heart, she quickly analyzed her. 'Her previous stats were around 5,000 Aether Mana, while her other two didn't reach 3,000 but were close. Now…'

***

Level: 6

Aether Mana Shards: 11896/11896

Phoer Body Shards: 9413/9413

Anima Energy Shards: 8892/8892

***

Flor's face changed to one of horror as the Sylvan's stats had almost completely overcome hers. 'What!?'