Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Liu Shu looked at Clavel with happiness. It was the first time she heard someone speak! Moreover, this little friend was so gentle and pretty. Liu Shu liked her a lot. 

Her ability to process speech still left a lot to be desired, so Liu Shu was slowly thinking about what Clavel had told her. Even if she was a World Tree, she was a sapling that had been a normal tree for a long time. 

Clavel knew that even if the tree understood her words, she probably would not answer her instantly. Now that the presentations were over, she looked closely at Liu Shu's branches and spotted a few blue fruits that smelled quite tempting. They were not big, but for Clavel who was 20 centimeters tall, they were not small. 

She gently hovered around them as her leaf-like wings buzzed behind her and asked. "Little Darling, can I eat one?"

She moved her hands, slowly approaching while keeping an eye on the dangerous branches. After a few seconds, Clavel didn't feel hostility coming from Liu Shu, so she moved and took one of the fruits. 

After taking it, Clavel paused, just in case, and seeing that the little darling allowed her to eat her fruits, she was delighted. "Thank you, Little Darling. I'm sure that your fruits will be delicious." 

Clavel sniffed the berry that was as big as a coconut for someone her size. 'Smells good.' 

Then, she opened her tiny mouth and took a bit. An explosion of flavors filled her mouth as the juicy meat of the fruit created a refreshing feeling in her. Her eyes shone with delight. "Delicious!"

Clavel elegantly but quickly ate the whole berry. When she finished, she tilted her head. 'Hm? There are no seeds? Strange.' 

Then, a message appeared in her mind.

[You've eaten <Delicious Berry>. You've gained 1 Experience Point.]

Clavel froze in place, looking at the message with wide eyes. 'I-I have what?' 

She reread the message two times to be sure that her eyes were reading it correctly, and then she looked at Liu Shu as if she were a precious treasure. "Oh my! Little Darling, you have more and more surprises on you the more I got to know you, and we've just met each other!"

Liu Shu cheerfully looked at Clavel, understanding that "delicious" was something to be happy about. '

Clavel got thoughtful and looked at Fraar's dead body. 'I need to warn the chief about this Little Darling's existence. We must protect this little dear from danger if possible. If the Thornstride, Ants, or Beavers discover her…' Clavel frowned with worry. 'I need to move quickly.'

She picked another berry and ate it, just in case, and saw the same message appear again, making her dizzy. 'Does it work more than once a day? What is this?'

Just gaining one extra experience a day passively by eating fruit was good enough for many creatures to go crazy about it. Now that it worked more than once, it could lead to an entire race's evolution. 

Clavel looked at the few dozen berries on Liu Shu's branches and became thoughtful. 'Should I eat until the effect disappears to check how many times they work?' Then, she looked at Liu Suh and shook her head. 'This little darling has probably used several resources to grow them. I must not be greedy and plunder her fruits just for me without her permission. We need to prepare proper offerings for her to exchange for the <Delicious Berry>.'

She approached Liu Shu's trunk, and she spoke while hovering in front of her. "Little darling, your fruits are extremely delicious. I want to take a few with me back home so that I can call my friends over to protect you, can I?"

Liu Shu didn't answer as she processed the words. Clavel waited patiently for a reaction, as she knew that plant creatures usually took their time in answering. 

After a while, Liu Shu understood and thought to herself. 'Aren't my fruits grown for eating? Why is she asking me? She is a strange little friend.'

Liu Shu's branches swayed to communicate agreement, and Clavel's eyes softened while she hugged her. "Thanks a lot, Little Darling. I swear I'll protect you in the future." 

Then, Clavel moved toward the ground, crafting a handcrafted basket with a few grass blades and a thin branch. After a few minutes, she flew up and picked 20 fruits, leaving the rest behind. Even if Liu Shu gave her permission, one must never be greedy. As their ancestors, one must respect a Tree's belongings. 

Especially those who can defend themselves. 

A Tree's strength was in its survivability, sturdiness, and strength to protect certain areas. If a city had the protection of a giant and high-level tree, it would be more secure than a city with large walls built around it. 

That's why 90% of the land was covered in forests. 

With the basket full of fruits, Clavel smiled and gave one last hug and kiss to Liu Shu's trunk before leaving to inform her tribe. 

Of course, before leaving, she moved Fraar's corpse far away from Liu Shu. She would regret it to death if something happened to Liu Shu because of her carelessness. 

Moreover, to make it more convincing, she resolutely used her skills to slice Fraar's corpse into pieces, making it look as if a living creature did the damage. 'With this, it should be impossible for those beasts to find out that Little Darling did it. Anyway, our tribes are already in conflict; it doesn't matter even if they reach the conclusion that we did it.'

She gave one last look to the young tree, and while she wanted to use her pollinate skill, she was going to ask her chief, who had a much higher level in that skill than her. That way, Liu Shu would benefit more.

Meanwhile, Liu Shu saw the small friend exiting her <World Tree Eye> radius with some regret, but she soon recovered. 'Today was really fun! I hope the little friend returns with more little friends in the future~.' 

Then, Liu Shu thought back to when the fairy hugged her. 'It felt strange. Comfortable? Ticklish? Warm?'

The feeling was strange for our Liu Shu, who had never had contact with flesh-like living beings other than when she whipped the River Beaver to death. 

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, with the most exciting thing being that her experience was approaching the 150 Experience point mark. Liu Shu was delighted. 'I gain so much experience~. At this pace, I'll reach 150 Experience Points in two days!'

Meanwhile, after Clavel left, she flew fast through the forest, ignoring some things that she would have normally stopped to collect for her tribe. 'I need to quickly return to Little Darling's side before something happens to her.' 

Her body was like a green and red blur as she flew quickly and eventually reached the canopy of a large tree. 

This tree was incomparable to our Liu Shu. It was at least 30 meters tall, with an extremely thick trunk and a wide canopy that gave shade to a few creatures below it. 

The aura of vitality around it was incredibly thick, attracting many creatures. 

Clavel focused on it for a moment, and the system page appeared. 

***

Level: 16

Aether Mana Shards: 3956/3956

Phoer Body Shards: 13048/13048

Anima Energy Shards: 6548/6548

***

Clavel laughed a bit as she thought back about Liu Shu. 'I wonder how strong Little Darling will become when she reaches this level?' Clavel smiled wistfully. 'I hope I can be alive by then.' 

As she flew upward, Clavel pondered. 'However, even if she is not as strong, Little Darling is really clever and fast-thinking.' 

Unlike the cute tree she found recently, this giant tree wasn't sentient and didn't understand words. No matter how we spoke or did with it, there would never be an answer. Which, by the way, was the normal thing. Most trees were like that. 

So, for Clavel and the other Rose Fairies, it was just a sturdy home that was able to grow a few interesting fruits. 'Still, the berries that little one produces are much better. This large tree only creates fruits that can satiate hunger for a few days.' 

Which, again, was the normal thing for a tree. Fruits with special effects related to experience were unheard of. 

Even when this tree was nothing special, because of how large and solid it was, many creatures wanted to take this tree as a home, but the Rose Fairies, one of the strongest races in this forest area, had monopolized it. 

'Now that I think about it, I haven't given her a name. Well, I'll think about one later.' 

Clavel shook her head and flew upward, entering the tree canopy. 

Inside its lush tree top, many more of her kind flew around. There weren't any constructions, as her Rose Fairy tribe was nomad. Rain was not bothersome to them, and chilly weather was also not too troublesome. 

Still, there was a hierarchy in the tribe, and the higher she flew in the tree's canopy, the more status and level those fairies would have. 

There were about 120 of them, and in the highest place of the canopy, there were four fairies seated around each other. 

The aura around them was even stronger than that of Clavel, making them look eye-catching. All of them had beautiful red hair and eyes, with petite statures. 

Between them, there was one fairy who was much taller. If a normal Rose Fairy was about 20 centimeters tall, this one was about 30 centimeters tall. It didn't look as much but put in human terms; if an average human was 175 centimeters, the leader was comparable to a human that measured 260 centimeters. 

Looking at the taller and elegant fairy, Clavel's eyes shone respectfully. 

***

Level: 10

Aether Mana Shards: 6380/6380

Phoer Body Shards: 1932/1932

Anima Energy Shards: 2984/2984

***

Level 10 was a divisor where creatures would go the first significant jump in strength. Reaching this level was difficult for creatures like Rose Fairies, who were born with very little innate talent. Looking at books in cities, their race would appear as a "F Tier race."

Similar to skills and everything else, the ranks of creatures that the inhabitants of this world had discovered went from F to D, E, and C rank. In between, there were three sub-levels, F-, F, and F+. 

Each change of tier was a relatively large jump in strength, knowing that even a 10% difference in attributes could be detrimental in a fight. 

Even then, this relatively tall fairy had reached Level 10 reasonably quickly, becoming the pillar of the entire race and the reason they could monopolize this tree for their race. 

Moreover, while most of the Rose Fairies were considered F Tier beings, their current chieftain had shown talent and broken through into the F+ Tier creature tier.

Clavel's respect for this woman increased when she remembered all of this.