When Cinderielle, the red-haired Sylvan, crossed the distance, she didn't even hold back her intentions as she hugged the tree. Her arms wound around the thick trunk as she buried her face in the somewhat rugged surface. Because Liu Shu's body was close to seven meters tall, counting the canopy, Cinderielle reached around the waist area of the faint humanoid figure.
As a World Tree, her trunk was thicker than a typical tree of her height would have, making it thicker than what her arms could surround. However, Cinderielle couldn't care less right in this instant.
The second she hugged Liu Shu, her entire existence seemed to have become complete. Something deep inside her that had, for the first time since forever, felt satiated.
The powerful sensation entrapped her mind, body, and soul, making Cinderielle's eyes gain a deeper-than-usual tone that reflected her inner feelings of growing obsession.
Yet, even as this powerful feeling grew inside of her, there was something that Cinderielle couldn't or didn't understand deeply. While there was a desire for a monopoly, there was a strange feeling looking at Flor and the Rose Fairies, not wanting to make them go away.
In Cinderielle's mind, she knew what was happening. Her instincts as a Sylvan wanted to court this World Tree and make it hers. However, at the same time, she wanted the World Tree to grow and become stronger.
'However, from the way Flor has been treating Liu Shu, it seems that she is still quite childish mentally. What to do~?' Cinderielle separated from the tree when she felt the energy inside of it become strangely relaxed. 'I can… make her accustomed to my presence? Perhaps I can become an essential part of her and slowly enter her mind.'
Cinderielle smiled as she separated. And to her expectations, she saw her branches extend but stop midway. This action made Cinderielle's smile deepen.
Meanwhile, Liu Shu was confused. 'Why is she hugging me? But…' Cinderielle might've been a person with Fire affinity, something that most flora didn't like. However, she was not any being but a Sylvan who had an affinity toward plants. '…It feels warm.'
The innate heat and aura emanating from her relaxed and made the World Tree feel comfortable as if her branches were being warmed up by the Sun after a cold winter. The heat from Cinderielle's aura seeped inside her and made her own energy feel attracted to it.
Liu Shu looked at Cinderielle and thought. 'It would be nice to be smaller and fit in her arms…' It was the first time Liu Shu wished to become smaller. Her entire life, even before she became a World Tree, was all about getting bigger and bigger.
Of course, this fleeting desire wouldn't even minimally affect her efforts to get bigger. Her primary and biggest desire was to become bigger and stronger; her entire existence, desires, skills, and will pushed her in that direction.
While Liu Shu comfortably relished in Cinderielle's presence, she suddenly felt the source of such warmth slowly getting away, making her relaxed mind become alert as the <World Tree Eye> fixed on Cinderielle.
Seeing her smile as she moved away, Liu Shu's branches extended unconsciously to grab onto her, but she stopped herself. 'Why did I reach out?'
Flor asked from above, interrupting Liu Shu's pondering. "Did you have enough?"
The Sylvan looked upward and smiled, her face much more relaxed when facing Flor. Flor blinked, surprised at her adaptability. Usually, after being almost killed, a creature would remain cautious and even flinch.
Of course, while Cinderielle remained cautious inside her heart, somewhat having been able to get so close to Liu Shu made it so that Flor, who was acting like a protector, looked much more pleasing to the eyes.
The fact that she almost got killed by her still remained fresh in her mind. Yet, the fear she felt from that time had calmed down a lot after hugging Liu Shu. The aura emanated from her made all her other worries seem insignificant as she finally, after so many years, found the creature that the leaf belonged to.
Cinderielle had been honestly doubting her own mind at some point. How could a single leaf have her so utterly captivated? However, now she understood.
After seeing Liu Shu, feeling her aura, and interacting with her, even if it had been just an instant, Cinderielle understood that other than this World Tree, there was no one in this world that could fit her more perfectly.
Cinderielle answered Flor's question. "I actually didn't, but I don't want to bother Tiantian too much in our first meeting."
Flor snorted. "You've adapted quite quickly, haven't you? Adding a nickname and all to Liu Shu already."
Cinderielle smiled. "She likes it, so there is nothing wrong with it."
Flor looked at her for a few seconds, making the surroundings become tense, but after a while, the Rose Fairy Queen closed her eyes. "Whatever. When are you going to leave? I want to recover from my wounds to deal with the people that are coming here."
Cinderielle was about to answer that soon, but Flor's words changed her mind. "What happened?"
Flor didn't mind explaining. "Territorial battles escalated, and now there is a group with hundreds of beasts coming our way to eliminate us. It seems that not only the race we were fighting but many others in the surroundings felt a threat when I gained too much strength. Moreover, Liu Shu's existence is not a complete secret, as some of those people know about her."
Flor added. "They are not as dangerous because they couldn't recognize Liu Shu as a World Tree thanks to their lack of knowledge. Yet, if they are contacted by the correct people, things can escalate very quickly." Flor sighed, looking toward the blue sky through Liu Shu's canopy. "Fighting you was something I wanted to avoid, but it was impossible."
Cinderielle commented with a twitch of her lips. "I told you I'm not dangerous."
Flor gave her a side-eye filled with disdain. "If you saw a <Lurther> looking at you in the eyes and smiling while saying they are not dangerous, would you believe them?"
Cinderielle and the humans almost fell over while the Sylvan spluttered. "A <Lurther>!? What does a C- class creature have anything to do with this!?"
Flor shrugged. "For me, at that time, your existence and the existence of one felt equally threatening. If I let you go without confirming that you would indeed not spread information about Liu Shu, I would only be inviting over a bunch of high-level people who want to kill us all."
Ariel and the rest wanted to refute it, but they couldn't because it was actually true. Most powers that had a World Tree as their core were at odds with others similar. Very rarely would these people join hands for anything. Moreover, for older powers with more history, indoctrination often taught that their own World Tree was the only "true" World Tree while the rest were fakes that were to be purged.
Not many were fooled by this propaganda, but those who were became almost impossible to convince otherwise. Physiological beliefs were a formidable weapon for those ignorant. They could reach the point of defining a person's personality, and therefore, making the "believer" of those teachings that anything that goes against it, regardless of how good arguments or facts were, was nothing but gibberish.
While Flor was unaware of many of these facts, that didn't diminish the correctness of her decisions. Although she jumped to conclusions, who could be cautious and patient in a jungle zone that was about to become a warzone?
Cinderielle changed the subject. "Anyway, can we…" Cinderielle looked at the humans for a brief moment and continued. "Can I participate in the defense? I will even listen to your orders. However, I will probably ignore any order that goes against Tiantian's safety."
Ariel approached. "Hey, I've bet a large part of my future here. Since you are talking about that, you might as well include the <Sunflower Caravan>'s sub-leader!"
Cinderielle looked over with surprise. "And you wanted me to help you? Don't you have enough influence to manage and ask for powerful explorer?" Cinderielle rationalized. "While the <Sunflower Caravan> is really not a powerful group, you can always ask for top personnel as long as you are close enough to the top people."
Ariel shook her head. "Internal problems are quite deep. Anyways, what's wrong, Rose Fairy Queen?"
Flor smiled. "Changing the title now?"
Ariel laughed. "Now that we are close, we can finally analyze you and see your race and ternary essences. Quite a powerful creature."
Flor sighed ruefully. "I'm still behind to that thing when she transforms."
Cinderielle snorted. "Hey, be more respectful. Who are you calling a thing?"
Flor rolled her eyes. "I'll be respectful when you don't annoy me."
Then, she finally answered the question. "As I said, a tide of beasts is coming our way. We need to defend it, and while we are a bit short on personnel, Liu Shu honestly counts as a small army. As long as she has Aether Mana and Anima energy to help us, victory is not that hare…. Or so I thought if you all didn't appear and make this…" She looked at her burnt skin and sighed.
Cinderielle wanted to retort, but she couldn't. "Don't worry, we'll help."
Flor smiled. "That would be quite nice. Also…" She looked at the merchants and asked. "Any book around there related to communicating with World Trees? There are some things I've failed to understand lately, so I'm a bit eager to get something like that."
The four of them looked at each other and shook their heads. "Those kinds of books are usually in libraries, not in our hands, where they can easily be broken by our fights."
Flor nodded. "A library is a place to store books, right?"
The others confirmed it, and Flor asked out of curiosity: "Is it possible to take them out permanently?"
"A place like that is not usually where you can buy books. Of course, they have their prices, and they will be sold even more expensive than the original for being unique many times."
Flor thought of Verdantia and pondered. 'How did that woman deal with the fact that she have lost those three important books?'
Placing those thoughts aside, Flor told one Rose Fairy to go get Ignatia while she explained a bit about the Thornstrides and other races they've spotted.
Ariel asked, curious. "We could use some kind of building, but do you have any?"
Flor snorted. "Of course I don't, why would-."
Suddenly, several pulses of energy burst from the tree with the meaning of "Yes!"
The six people looked at the World Tree with many different expressions. Some wondered how she did that, something they hadn't been accustomed to even after all this time; others were looking with a strange glint in her eyes while Flor knew what was coming and prepared herself. 'I'll need to be an interpreter again, it seems. I wonder when Liu Shu will be able to talk with us.'
Liu Shu had been quietly listening to their conversation. She had learned that another World Tree was nearby and that World Trees didn't like each other much from the looks of it. Liu Shu didn't find it strange. After all, her reaction when other trees entered her territory was to uproot them and destroy them. 'If another World Tree tries to enter my domain, hmph hmph. Don't blame me for being ruthless! Even if we are the same, you mess with me, then… um… I'll uproot you! Yeah!'
So, as they spoke, Liu Shu learned a few interesting facts, some of which she didn't care about, like the caravan thing, and some that she found interesting.
And then, the human woman suddenly spoke about needing buildings or something. Liu Shu became ecstatic. 'I can finally ask about construction things! Flor will surely understand what I want to explain now!'
Her trust in the Rose Fairy Queen deciphering her babblings had already reached incredible levels. So, without losing a single second and reacting almost as fast as she did when fighting, Liu Shu jumped into the conversation with a loud. 'I want buildings too!'
And that aura vigorously washed all over them with the feeling of affirmation. Looking over, the five people looked confused as they looked at the tree. Flor, on the other hand, asked. "Do you want something, Liu Shu?"
Liu Shu responded with noticeable enthusiasm. 'Yes!'
Her enthusiasm was felt, quite literally. Ariel spoke with a stutter. "Her aura is quite strong. What level is she, 9? 10?"
Flor looked at her and asked. "What, you haven't analyzed her?"
She scratched her cheek. "As humans, it is complicated to see the stats of plant beings. Of course, usually there are no problems. However, when we speak about World Trees… I would need to be a lot stronger than her to see."
Flor hummed with interest. "I see." Then, she turned around without answering her question and directed her voice toward Liu Shu. "Is the thing you want of something we spoke about?"
Liu Shu giggled in her mind at Flor's usual sharpness and sent another affirmation. Flor nodded and got thoughtful. She asked. "What were we speaking about?"
Robert commented. "Defensive tactics?"
Flor tilted her head, not feeling that Liu Shu was trying to interject about that. Her lack of response was also easy to interpret as a negative to that topic. 'Hm… The other time was about making weapons, right? Then… What did we speak about that… Oh.'
Flor muttered. "Buildings."
Liu Shu would've leaped in joy if she had legs, but she still bombarded her trusty guardian with plenty of cheerful messages. 'Yes, yes! Wow, Flor! Amazing! Flor always knows what I want~.'
The people around became flabbergasted as Flor began holding her forehead while several energy auras hit her one after another. It was clear that her mutter was the correct answer.
At the side Cinderielle observed and took notes. 'I need to become good at understanding her.'
Ariel couldn't help but look at Flor with her lips twitching. "How often do you have to deal with this?"
Flor flew toward Liu Shu to pat her trunk and calm her down as she responded. "Not that often. After all, Liu Shu sometimes goes to sleep for long periods of time. But when she wants something…" Flor laughed with a pampering and helpless expression. "…Liu Shu always makes sure to pester me until she gets it."
The tone was clearly affectionate but not in a romantic way. They could feel the care of an elder toward someone younger. Usually, World Trees were treated as sacred and untouchable beings, so even if they were young, the people around them acted carefully and respectfully.
The probability of those living around them developing some sort of religion for them was nearly 100%, as most civilizations knew that World Trees were different from the rest, so they treated them as such.
A being born to be an overlord and a creature that was equipped with most things to deal with trouble since birth was naturally revered by common creatures.
Now that Flor knew what she was talking about, her chance to speak about resources increased, as she was lacking all the F+ rank materials and many of the rest. 'Hmmm… How to tell her…'
Flor looked at Ariel and asked. "Can you get those books about construction when you go back? We don't need them to be about high-level construction. Basic but accurate construction books can work."
Cinderielle spoke. "I can enter the library of my Academy. There are plenty of books about any subject. Getting a few of them and carrying them here is not hard."
Flor looked at her and shrugged. "As long as you don't bring trouble for us. Sure." Then, she looked at the World Tree and asked. "Can you build a defensive structure or something similar?"
Liu Shu looked at her options and was a bit frustrated. While she could make several meters of wall, it was not nearly enough to create a good perimeter. Building something was not much of a problem. Still, the problem was about building it correctly.
The skill Liu Shu needed to create these was <Woodworking>, a skill she had with plenty of proficiency. There were materials in these structures that weren't related to wood. However, woodworking was not just the art of shaping wood; it also involved creating things out of wood and other materials.
Taking into account that wood would make up around ninety percent of the house, Liu Shu was qualified for it as long as she knew how the inner workings of houses worked. Without her being a humanoid, she couldn't even start guessing the essential layout of rooms or even the shape of the buildings. It was something she had never seen, after all.
After observing her material reserves and current abilities, she was quite sure that whatever she built wouldn't be a "House" or anything similar.
After thinking for about one and a half hours, she gave a negative signal with a bit of hesitation. Liu Shu looked over and saw that they were doing other things, so they didn't catch her first signal. 'What are they doing?' she asked. 'Also, when did Ignatia arrive?'
Listening to their conversation, she heard Ignatia speak. "Look. I'm willing to lend a few of my children. However, I really don't want to participate in this. It will be a slaughter, and probably, of those I send, many will die. I'll also come in person, but the rest, I'd rather leave them taking care of the nest."
Flor agreed. "It will be difficult with just 100 of your ants, though. My people that are combat ready are not many more than 150. Meanwhile, we would be in a two-to-one situation since you are willing to send around 100 children, as you would like to call them."
Ignatia commented. "However, our top combatants have plenty of strength, right? Your Rose Fairies have plenty of them, and taking you into account, it is like having several Level 10s."
Flor commented. "What about the rest?"
Ignatia shrugged. "They are strong but not as strong as you. Of course…" Ignatia looked at Cinderielle with curious eyes. "Who is she?"
Flor laughed. "Someone stronger than you. Ignore her from now on and continue."
Cinderielle's lips twitched. "Oy."
Ignatia lifted her eyebrow. "Stronger than me?"
Flor smirked. "She is. What? You don't believe me?"
Ignatia smirked back. "Should I believe you?"
The Rose Fairy Queen snorted and then laughed. "Well, you can do as you please. Still, hold back from fighting with each other. We have more pressing matters to attend."
Ignatia rolled her antennae and continued. "The 100 children I'll send are not that weak. They are not the strongest since they take a bit of time to nurture, and if they died, it would be quite problematic, but the ones I'm sending are far from the 'average'."
Cinderielle joined the conversation. "My transformation doesn't last much, so you should use it wisely.
Flor asked with inquisitive eyes and a smile. "Is it that short?"
Cinderielle refrained from answering and snorted.
Liu Shu saw a chance that they were about to stop the conversation and interjected herself. 'No! I can't build anything at all~! So… Good luck! Hehe."
Hearing her answer, their conversation went on for a while longer.
Meanwhile, quite far from there, Froorar was walking with a flat expression. His reptilian feet stomped on the ground with hidden anger, and his aura was leaking, causing the lower-level beasts marching with him to have trembling bodies.
'They dared to kill her? To kill all those people?'
Froorar learned about the wipe-out not long ago. The first thing that came to mind was to charge straight at the weakened tree and see how it went.
However, he changed his mind. While his most likely heir was dead, and the legitimate one was missing and nowhere to be found, probably dead as well, Froorar felt like their race would decline if she continued sitting back.
So, to compensate for his seemingly weaker chances against the bigger and faster Rose Fairy Queen, he chooses to gather beasts all around into a battle. The way to do this was by telling them to kill the powerful Tree in the middle of the grove.
There were many ups and downs, but now, the army was rolling and getting stronger for each group they visited. Froorar had been shot down several times and beaten up a couple of times. Moreover, both those times were when he was clueless about why he was beaten down.
However, besides those slightly embarrassing moments, everything was rolling. He didn't notice that as they moved, their group mentality was getting at them.
As a group of several different races with different values, even between beasts, it was not uncommon for fights to break out during rest time.
While Froorar managed to have something similar to a [Beast Tide], it was not one. In a [Beast Tide], every creature is in a frenzy and out of control, running in one direction until it cools down or dies because of any of thousands of ways a beast had died in one.
A chief from a serpentine race approached and asked with a hiss. Humanoid monsters were almost as rare as they could get, so even when the boss spoke, the creatures around him dealt the damage.
"When are we arriving to fight that powerful tree? Will we see it from far away?"
Froorar looked at the hissing and talkative young snake and rubbed his forehead. "She is young, so it is natural for it not to be stronger than us or big enough to see from far away." Froorar snorted. "Should've snapped it like a branch so that we didn't have to do this."
The snake shook his head. "Did you have a chance?"
Froorar nodded. "I had. I just wanted to check on it before I snapped it because he did give resources to the Rose Fairies. This made me intrigued, so I wanted to snatch that place." Froorar sighed. "I regret it. I should've just killed her when I had the chance.
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