Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

The Rose Fairy Queen flew toward the World Tree and asked with a smile. "What's wrong, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu, this time, was quick and opened the <Lignified Vault>'s door with her roots in a swift and eager manner. 'Come, come~. Hehe, I hope Flors like it~.'

Flor went in, closing the door behind her. Before she closed it, she heard Clavel's voice. "Queen, where are you going?"

Flor paused, holding the door from closing with one hand. Then, she commented as she lifted it slightly and looked at Clavel. "I'm going to check something Liu Shu created. Do you want to see with me?"

Clave blinked. "Creating?"

Flor smiled. "Liu Shu has done a weapon or something similar for us. It seems that it is a skill she has learned not long ago."

Clavel's eyes opened. "She has created equipment!?"

Flor shrugged. "As I said, this is my first time checking it out. I don't know if it will work or not. But, from what I've guessed, that was her intention." 

Clavel was awed, and as she approached, she realized. "Oh? Is that why you asked us to collect those materials?"

Flor nodded. "That's right." Then, she asked. "How is it going?"

Clavel shrugged. "We are doing what we can, but searching for trees of that kind and picking their dropped branches is not easy. We've managed to spot a F- Rank Tree, so we'll have one Level 5 harpy go there from time to time to pick up fallen branches, trim those the tree doesn't need or finds bothersome, and, well, take care of it overall."

Flor smiled. "That's Good. If possible, be sure to check her return daily. Thornstrides have retreated, but they might be lurking. The last thing I want is for them to start ambushing you."

Clavel grinned. "We'll be careful, Queen."

After their short conversation, both of them flew inside. Once inside, Flor looked around and was quick to spot a cute and adorable amulet. Hung around a branch by a finely crafted rope made out of thing blades of grass.

Flor asked. "Is that it, Liu Shu?"

Clavel looked over, her eyes widening. "So pretty!"

The amulet's very simple shape still managed to resemble Liu Shu's overall form while emitting a soft and faint Aether Mana.

Clavel and Flor looked at each other, and Clavel even whispered. "Do you think it will work?"

Flor rolled her eyes, clearly expressing disapproval. "It is her first time. She shouldn't have done something successful. I heard that average wood crafters take a few years of preparation to create their first complete items."

Looking at the Rose Fairy Queen with a strange thought, she asked. "You are trying to teach her these things? Do you know how long it will take her to start creating an effective production method?"

Flor naturally knew these things. She smiled and commented. "I'm not planning to have her finish everything for us, Clavel. We are the first generation to create the foundation for our race's future with her."

Clavel paused, looking at Flor with a deep gaze. "Are you planning for us that long term?"

The Rose Fairy Queen answered, "Well, sowing seeds for harvest is quite a common way of getting the food you want. Our current actions are the seeds, and what the future might hold for us will unfold depending on whether the seeds we grow learn the importance of Liu Shu."

Flor sighed. "Even then, a bad seed might eventually appear, breaking a delicate balance that had held up everything together. One Fraar incident is all that must happen, and things can go south quickly."

As she spoke, the Rose Fairy Queen flew before it and picked it up. 'Oh… It's quite small…' Flor blinked. 'Will it even fit around my head?'

She tried it, and as she feared, the rope holding the amulet was a bit small to hang around the neck. Her head was too big for the short rope holding it. 'Hm… Is it not for me? Or does this go around the wrist or ankle?'

However, the wrist was too thin to wear the amulet, and the ankle risked the item flying off or getting loose, making it awkward for Flor to wear. After a few tries while being looked at by Clavel and Liu Shu, Flor coughed and asked, "Is this for me?"

The Rose Fairy Queen was quick to receive a negative answer, making her sigh and give it to Clavel. "Here, try it."

Clavel looked between the amulet and Flor and then nodded. "Sure. I'll put it on, then."

She grabbed the rope and passed it around her head with relative ease. She was less than half Flor's height, so it was normal for the amulet not to fit around Flor's head.

A message appeared in her eyes after Clavel placed the amulet on her neck.

[Do you want to use this equipment? Yes or no?]

Clavel was surprised by the notification and quickly said yes. The amulet was successfully equipped, and with it, her body instantly felt refreshed as her Aether Mana pool increased while the equipment linked with her.

It was only then that Clavel managed to finally realize that the amulet was successful and that it really worked. They hadn't check them before because they never expected Liu Shu to make a successful first attempt, so until now, they had been trying to avoid making their tree feel bad.

Clavel was quick to inform the calm Flor with an excited stutter. "Q-Queen, it works! Analyze it!"

Flor's eyes widened and she quickly looked at it.

[Level 3 Wind Leaf Amulet (Basic-Grade Flawed Level)]

+26 Aether Mana

Aether (+6)

[Windy Currents (active)]: Use to increase movement speed by 20% for a short 2-second duration. It can be used every 10 minutes or by using 10 Aether Mana.

Note: This is the first item created by Tianlian Liu Shu. It's crafted decently, and it gives the stats she aimed for. Overall, it's a decent item for the low-level materials she used.

Flor was stunned. "It gives six points to the Aether stat!? That is six levels worth of pre-tenth-level stats for the average Rose Fairy."

Clavel laughed. "With this, I think I can even beat Amapola in a one-against-one fight. Hahahaha."

Flor got thoughtful and looked at Liu Shu. "I would ask how many you could build, but probably the stacks you showed the other day are it, right?"

Liu sent a pulse of affirmative energy, making Flor nod. "Will you create them?"

Having realized the <Level> problem, Liu Shu sent a negative pulse of energy, making both Flor and Clavel pause. Flor became worried that Liu Shu might've forced herself, so she asked. "Was it difficult, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu was confused. 'Why is she asking that? No, it wasn't. It was actually fun!'

Of course, all her thoughts were communicated like a "no." which confused Flor and Clavel further. Clavel asked carefully. "Do you have a reason for not wanting to do them now?"

Our cute tree answered enthusiastically. 'Of course, I want to make better equipment, and I just need to wait for 12 days, and I'll be able to Level up!'

Again, all her thoughts were transmitted like a "yes," which gave Clavel and Flor a hint of what was happening.

By the way, while answering questions was something that Liu Shu took her time to do, that was not always the case. If the questions had a straightforward answer or Liu Shu didn't need to think much for one, her answers would come out quite quickly.

Clavel turned toward Flor and questioned again. "Do we try to ask her why she wants to wait?"

Flor shook her head. "Do you want to stay here for two days straight doing questions? It's probably something related to her skill, the fact that she might've not absorbed all the knowledge and she wants to digest it first, or that she wants to become stronger or more proficient before doing them."

Then, the Rose Fairy Queen answered wryly, raising her arms. "If it is something else, then I'm not sure what it would be, and asking questions to find out is not worth it." 

Clavel nodded. "Fair enough."

Flor said. "Thank you for the amulet, Liu Shu. We'll take care of it and use it wisely until you give us more." She smiled gently and continued. "We'll take care of you in return and give you any materials you need. If you want to ask for any materials, here."

Flor moved to the side of the vault and created a corner where she cut a line with her wind energy. "Place those items here, and we'll find more of them for you. We'll check every day for them, and…" Flor moved toward another corner and did the same. "This corner is for materials you need with haste. We'll always focus on these while searching the others with care."

Clavel clapped. "That's a really nice idea!"

Flor nodded and sighed. "I should've thought of it quicker. Well, now we have it. Did you understand Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu was processing what she said while looking inside the vault. 'Hm… So, what is an urgent situation? For example, um… When do I really need it? But how do I know if I really need it? Um… So, right now, is there anything I really need? Well, I can take my time, so nothing is really urgent…'

Liu Shu began thinking about different situations, leaving the two Rose Fairies there, waiting. Clavel blinked. "Well, it seems that it will take a while."

Flor nodded and slowly flew toward a branch that was sticking from the side of the vault, lying there and closing her eyes. Clavel looked at how quickly Flor moved with a stunned expression. 'Even her speed to get comfortable is Queen Grade.'

Meanwhile, Liu Shu remembered. 'Right, I need to build… what did I need to build?' While she could remember, she was a bit lazy to do so, so she asked. 'System, show the ongoing quest.'

[Quest Received: Clear the nearby surroundings and build a safe town for human-sized creatures.

Completion Conditions: Create or assimilate 10 <Basic House>, 1 <Basic Well>, 1 <Basic Farmland>, 1 <Basic Inn>, 1 <Basic Town Hall>, 1 <Basic Defensive Fence>, 2 <Basic Defense Building>.

Rewards: Sylvanium Shards [50], Etherium Shards [50], Ascendium Shards [50], Celestium Shards [50], Cognium Shards [50].]

Liu Shu looked at the rewards with a disdainful expression. 'Miser. That's only enough for amulets of the worst grade.'

[System Hint: This is a chain quest. Once completed, new conditions will appear, and rewards will become higher.]

Liu Shu snorted. 'Even then, the rewards are really little. I have to build so many things! ' And everything I get is 50 shards of each? It's too little!'

[…]

Ignoring the system, Liu Shu refocused on answering Flor's question. 'Well, I think I got the gist of it, so… I should answer that I understood, but not entirely.'

After waiting for a few hours, Flor finally received an answer, two more specifically. First, an affirmative one, and then, a negative answer, leaving her eyebrows twitching incessantly. 'So… Which one is it!?'

The Rose Fairy Queen took a deep breath. 'Calm down, it probably has a reason. She answered, "I understand." And then. "I don't understand." So, this means…' Flor thought hard and long, feeling like she too would become a tree. 'Is it that she understands, but not completely, so she answered like this?'

Flor smiled. 'Aha! I think it is that!'

After asking Liu Shu and receiving a yes as an answer, Flor grinned. "Great!"

Clavel, at the side, couldn't help but feel amazed at Flor's ability to interpret Liu Shu's messages. 'Well, she is the Queen because of something, after all.'