บท 186: Chapter 186. Machinations Of A Fallen Sylvan. [World Tree’s Guardian Vine].
North of Golden Sap Town, there was a city called Mareful City. It was situated between the Small White Flower Forest and the Serene Small Lakeborn Forest. It was a scenic town with lots of tourists and unique specialties.
The City Lords of this city were a couple who shared responsibilities and power. This was a strange case where, instead of one City Lord, the couple was considered one and had equal power.
The wife was a blue-haired Sylvan with beautiful long hair and an elegant figure. Meanwhile, the husband was a sentient plant creature with a non-human body. However, he gained the intelligence and spiritual abilities to communicate.
Lately, their subordinates have noticed that the usually calm, gentle, and powerful wife was tired and haggard. Nobody really knew why, but they thought that it was the loss of people coming to the city because of the recent popularity of the newly opened Golden Sap Town.
Of course, it wasn't because of that. As the woman walked down the hallways of her mansion, she was approached by one of her trusted female servants. "Madam Delia, is everything all right? You've been looking very tired lately since the loss of…" The servant didn't finish her sentence because she saw Delia frown.
Delia spoke, her voice forceful but tired. "I am fine. I just need to listen to them, and they will eventually release her."
The servant sighed and asked. "What about the Lord? What does he think?"
Delia didn't show a sign of emotion on her face as she answered. "He is doing well. Don't worry about him."
The servant wanted to ask again, but a male servant approached with a complicated expression. "Madam Delia, that man is looking for you."
Delia looked at the male servant for a few seconds, her sapphire eyes seemingly penetrating into the servant's soul. The pressure from her gaze made the male servant cower. Delia spoke. "Guide me."
The walk toward that room was silent, and once Delia arrived, she pushed the door open and looked inside. Instead of a man, there was a woman sitting there; her face was ordinary enough that people would not give her a second look when she was walking down the street. She had a black dress and nothing remarkable other than that.
However, Delia looked at her and spoke flatly. "Do you need to hide below that mask in front of me, Jolie?"
When she spat her name, it bore such deep resentment that it felt jarring for the ears. Jolie's eyebrow raised, and she laughed. "Don't be so angry, Delia~."
Delia's body trembled as a surge of energy went to her hands. However, Jolie continued with the same smile, looking at Delia as if she was a toothless and clawless tiger. Just a big-looking predator without the tools to hurt her.
And, as Jolie expected, Delia's Water Aether dissipated, and she asked, her voice sounding defeated. "What more do you want? I can't give you anything else."
Jolie hummed. "Well, you can't~. However, you still can do things for me." Jolie smirked. "After all, you want to see her, right?"
Delia didn't answer, looking at Jolie coldly. Jolie hummed. "Anyway, I am feeling stuffy, so I'll take this off~."
Her tone was seductive, but she didn't touch her own clothes. Instead, a powerful Anima Energy wave rippled around her, and her appearance started changing by the second.
Her ordinary face and brown hair shifted slowly, gaining an ethereal touch. Her eyes gleamed like moonlit dewdrops, and an aura that blew outward like a gentle breeze transformed Jolie from an unremarkable-looking woman to a gorgeous-looking Sylvan.
Dolie's expression fell when she saw her. "Why the disguise?"
Jolie blinked, her gorgeous eyes reflecting Delia's current facial expression like mirrors that showed the blue-haired Sylvan how desperate she was. "Well~, I prefer looking like a human woman." Jolie sighed dramatically, stretching backward and raising her arms. "Since I learned cursed arts and gained these bad titles, I've really been struggling. Who would want to be by my side if I, an absolutely gorgeous and fabulous Sylvan, had this sick aura around me?"
Jolie allowed her aura to flow outward, and unlike her gorgeous and pure appearance, a malevolent wave of Aether Mana and Anima Energy covered the room.
The aura was so bad that it made Delia's stomach churn. Jolie giggled. "Your face is so pale~. Is it that bad?"
Delia spat with difficulty. "You are an abomination."
Jolie hummed. "Perhaps, but why am I judged so much more harshly than a human would for the same actions? Because I was born a Sylvan, sacrificing people to curse Life Trees, World Trees, and Forests has come with such bad repercussions!" Jolie pouted. "It is unfair!"
Delia gritted her teeth. "You are a Sylvan, a being born from nature. Respecting the nature that gave birth to you is not unfair. It is expected. You are just an ungrateful creature that, instead of relishing in the gifts you have since birth, you just wanted what you didn't have."
Jolie squinted. "Hey, Delia. Do you really want to make me angry? I really don't recommend it."
Delia stopped speaking, pursing her lips. Jolie sighed. "Even after all this time, you are still annoyingly resilient. Can you have a little less willpower or something?" Jolie clicked her tongue. "Well, since you have a high <Willpower> stat, your willpower being high is a given, isn't it, Miss Level 27~."
Delia took a deep breath and asked. "What do you want?"
Jolie slowly placed her legs in front of the couch she was lying on and stood up. Then, she smiled while walking toward Delia. "If you want your wish to become the truth, you need to help me with one little thing. You see, I can't really approach the Golden Sap Forest myself. So, I want you to go, get their trust, and then place this on the Life Tree in the middle of the town~."
Jolie extended her hand and showed a strange doll. However, Delia's face paled when she saw the doll. The handwoven toy had blue strands of real hair and a pair of glass sapphire eyes. Jolie smirked as she saw Delia's face become as white as a sheet of paper. "So~? What do you think, Delia?" She caressed her cheek and laughed. "Can you help me, please~?
Meanwhile, back in the Golden Sap Forest, Liu Shu was happily humming while looking at the new arrangement that she completed. 'I am finally done!'
The World Tree looked at the defensive building she built and said. "System! I am done~."
[Do you wish to complete <Low-Rank Defensive Building (E- Rank)?]
'I want to name it first! Can I?'
[Yes.]
Liu Shu became excited and exclaimed. "THEN! I want to call it <Mother Of Thousand Vine Field>!"
[...]
[Are you sure you want to name it <Mother Of Thousand Vine Field>?]
While the system messages were emotionless, Liu Shu somehow felt that the System was judging her. So, she stuttered and said. "O-Of course not! I was messing around! Hmph!"
[...]
Liu Shu thought about it. 'Ugh, I didn't expect the name I wanted to be so badly received… Hmmm. This Defensive Structure will protect me from those that come close to me, so…'
Liu Shu muttered. "How about… <World Tree's Guardian Vine>?"
[Do you want to name it <World Tree's Guardian Vine>?]
Liu Shu giggled. "Yes!"
[Completed! Do you want to complete <World Tree's Guardian Vine (E- Rank)> structure?]
"YES!"
Liu Shu was very excited. This was the last thing she needed to do before completing her quest!
[Structure Completed! Due to the close proximity to the World Tree, the rank will be readjusted. <World Tree's Guardian Vine (E- Rank)> becomes <World Tree's Guardian Vine (E Rank)>!]
'Hm? What? How does that work?'
[System Hint: Due to the structure being close to your <World Tree Core>, it received a stronger root net, allowing it to increase a sub-tier.]
Liu Shu was still confused. This structure was not the first one that she had built close to her. "Wisdom! Explain!"
[Wisdom: Tianlian Liu Shu's <World Tree Heart (A Rank)> ability allowed <World Tree's Guardian Vine> to gain a stronger self-regeneration. This increased the structure's sub-tier.]
'Then… Can I do it again with every building around me?'
[Wisdom: Until Tianlian Liu Shu unlocks the dormant abilities of the skill, this occurrence won't happen again.]
'Dormant…?' Liu Shu looked at that message with a pondering expression. 'Is it similar to <World Tree Wisdom>? The skill has abilities that I have yet to discover because I am too weak?'
[Wisdom: Correct.]
'Ohhh. I see~.' Now that she understood, Liu Shu looked at the rest of the messages.
[Congratulations on building <Low-Rank World Tree's Guardian Vine (E Rank)>! You've received 800,000 Proficiency points!]
[<Runic Living Wood City> Tier Up has triggered! <Low-Rank World Tree's Guardian Vine (E Rank)> is enhanced to <Low-Rank World Tree's Guardian Vine (E+ Rank)>!]
[<Wonder Tree Building> activates! <Low-Rank World Tree's Guardian Vine (E+ Rank)> is enhanced to <Low-Rank World Tree's Guardian Vine (D- Rank)>!]
[<Seedling World Builder> activates! 10% material cost reduction, returning materials, rounded down.]
[<Runic Living Wood City> second effect activates. You are able to choose a predetermined <Runic Field> to have active in your newly built <Low-Rank World Tree's Guardian Vine (D- Rank)>. You can activate <Steel Bark Rune Field>, <Thorn Bark Rune Field>, or <Elite Guardian Rune Field>.]
<Steel Bark Rune Field>: Increases the structure's defensive capabilities and the physical resistance percentage. There is a faint increase in melee offensive capabilities.
<Thorn Bark Rune Field>: Increases the structure's offensive capabilities by increasing bark regeneration and giving the bark the ability to chip easily. This will increase the structure's damage per hit. It will also allow the structure to make range attacks by throwing lethal thorns.
<Elite Guardian Rune Field>: Allows for a smoother gathering of energy, facilitating the construction of more complex defensive units.
Liu Shu looked at the options and got thoughtful. 'The first and second options are the same ones that non-defensive buildings have, like the houses or the inns… I guess the only option is the last one? But… It is so vague, QAQ! System! Wisdom!'
None of them came to her rescue this time, as they both answered exactly like the message. The World Tree felt like pouting even if she didn't really have lips. 'Ah! Whatever! Get that elite thingy!'
[Do you want to spend 125,000 Aether Mana and Anima Energy to activate <Elite Guardian Rune Field>?]
Liu Shu looked at those numbers with an incredulous heart. "O-One hundred and twenty-five thousand!?"
She couldn't help but hesitate. 'It's so much… I will need around two weeks to give it that amount if I don't want to alert the people around me.' Still, if she needed so much, it probably was because it was a really powerful <Runic Field>. Therefore, she agreed. 'Okay, do it!'
And with her command, her energy slowly started flowing toward the defensive structure.
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