Chapter 297. Flor's Departure. [AotSC] (Patreon)

Liu Shu felt somewhat uneasy. This was the first time that Flor was going out of her domain into territory that Liu Shu felt was hostile. Having her out of sight and unable to protect her was something that made our World Tree feel antsy. “Hm… Are you sure you need to go? Will you be okay? You need to think this through, Flor!”

At the entrance of the Golden Sap City, Flor was crossing her arms and laughing. A strong elite group currently surrounded her. The three Sylvans and around ten <Second Energy Cycle> ants were with her, among many others. In total, there were around sixty people that gave off a terrifying aura. Moreover, after the massive war, everyone had grown tremendously. Flor had reached Level 30, and the Sylvans were also almost there.

With their current strength, Flor was confident that they might’ve been able to stop the Baron’s army near the walls instead of needing to let them enter and slaughter those adorable trees. ‘... More strength.’ 

Attending this meeting was in a grand part about her being able to create new connections and gain strength. ‘Personal strength is good. However, after Level 25, everyone seems to be playing on a much more even field.’ 

She realized that the jumps in strength were focused between major <Energy Cycles>. So, between Level 25 and Level 50, which was when the <Third Energy Cycle> occurred, the strength between people was not too different. Of course, there were exceptions. Still, it was much more manageable compared to the days when she was in her Level 10s and faced Level 20s. ‘Still, I must not be overconfident. There are some High-Tier monsters below Level 50 who can stomp others without much effort.’

Verdantia’s mother flashed in Flor’s mind. That woman was at around Level 40 five years ago. Now, she didn’t know what her level was. However, she heard what happened in Mareful City and how she almost intimidated the 15,000 army that attacked the city just by herself. ‘Mareful City and Sirol City were somewhat damaged. However, I heard that they managed to defend and even somewhat reverse the situation. Still, Evangeline and Jolie, the commanders of both armies, easily escaped.’

“You’ve grown quite a lot~. I am impressed.”

Flor blinked and turned sideways. There, a green-haired woman with an elegant and curvy body looked at her, her enchanting green eyes shining with interest. Flor straightened slightly. “Lady Verena! It is a pleasure to see you.”

“Mom!”

Verdantia jogged forward, attracting all eyes as the voluptuous woman’s body jiggled freely. Verena opened her arms and was hugged by her tall daughter, making her smile somewhat wryly. “I don’t know who you took this size from, really. Our entire family branch is just incomparable compared to you. Is it related to Branthis?”

“Well, I am quite tall, but there are taller…” Verdantia looked at Verena and saw her rubbing her chin as she looked at her chest. Verdantia’s eyebrow twitched. “You are speaking about my height… right?”

Verena blinked and looked up at her. “Of course not. You are tall, but there are many tall Sylvans.” Then, she added with a smile. “Right, Liu Shu? She is impressive~.”

Liu Shu’s voice reached them, slightly dazed. “Boing… so much boing…”

Verdantia’s face quickly flushed red, but she didn’t hide. Instead, she puffed her chest proudly. “H-Hehe… Ha… Ha…”

Her perverted laugh and heavy breathing made even Verena feel her eyebrows twitch. ‘... Woah… My daughter is lost. Look at those eyes and smile…’ She looked at the World Tree with a bit of sympathy. ‘Liu Shu dear, I guess that you are basically my daughter-in-law now. Even if you don’t want to, you will be.’

Cinderielle coughed and asked, curious. “Um. Aunty Verena, why are you here?”

Verena looked at Cinderielle and smiled. “Oh, look at you. You’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you.” She pinched Cinderielle’s cheeks with a laugh. “Hm~ Hm~ very pretty.” 

Cinderielle allowed herself to be pinched, feeling a bit of sweetness in her heart. ‘Verdantia’s mom is so nice…’ 

Verena answered her after that. “I am also going to this meeting. So, I decided to go with all of you. That way, I can prevent accidents as well.” Verena clicked her tongue. “That Evangeline woman must be pissed that her plan failed. So, she might try something with all of you.”

Tempestria approached and asked, curious. “How dangerous is Evangeline, Aunty Verena?”

“Oh, Tempestria!” Verena stepped forward again, giving her a hug. “You are also grown up! Very good, very good. And, to answer you, I guess she is as strong as I am, depending on the situation.”

The people around were startled. 

After hearing Verena say she would go with Flor, Liu Shu’s worries decreased greatly. Now that she was more relaxed, our curious World Tree asked. “Depending on the situation?”

Verena nodded. “Indeed, Liu Shu. Evangeline is not that strong in direct combat.” Looking at Flor, she hummed. “I am sure that you can probably face her one-on-one.”

This startled the Flower Fairy. Verena added after that. “However, if she prepares a spell beforehand and manages to cast it. Forget about facing her; you might not even know how you died. As a Flame Curse Sylvan, she can create powerful incantations and spells that can completely overturn the tide of the battle.” Verena sighed, her eyebrows frowning. “I don’t know if this is the truth, but there are rumors that she even managed to kill a <Third Energy Cycle> powerhouse in the past.”

Everyone felt their hearts shudder. That Level of strength was indeed terrifying. 

Seeing everyone’s heavy expressions, Verena clapped her hands once. She smiled at them and spoke, her tone much livelier. “Don’t worry, though. This gathering doesn’t include Nexus people, and those gathering are important individuals from all types of powers, including the Confederation, Empire, and Covenant.” Verena added. “The Nexus will act only if they have a death wish.”

The information they received was certainly important. Flor crossed her arms and commented. “Should we go around Fortuna, Sirol, and Mareful City to gather all four cities in a single group?”

Verena asked, her eyebrow raised. “Oh? You can communicate like that?”

Flor looked toward the city’s center. “Her roots cover everything. Communicating through her is easy.”

Verena laughed awkwardly. ‘... They are using a sacred World Tree as a communication device.’

“Hehehe, it’s fun~. I can sometimes twist their words and prank them!”

Wert felt his face crumple. He has been a victim of one of these pranks. They were harmless, since Liu Shu understood what information not to tamper with. But if they tried to communicate everyday messages… He sighed. “Ah… My wife almost beat me up when I took back home an entire <Lake Hunting Tuna> instead of a <Sweet Lake Sardine>.” 

Verena’s awkward face cracked as she burst into laughter. ‘Never mind, I forgot how Liu Shu truly is. Well, as long as the World Tree is having fun and getting along with everyone, that’s okay.’

Without further ado, Liu Shu communicated with the other leaders of the cities, and they all decided to meet up in Mareful City. The meeting location was in the province north of them, <Deep Praire Merchant Province>.  

Ignatia saw them leave and sighed. “They will be away for quite long…”

Liu Shu looked at the Ant Queen and asked her. “Do you know how long, Ignatia?”

Ignatia muttered. “Well, if everything goes smoothly, around two months? If it doesn’t… Well. Who knows?” 

“Wah… so long for a simple meeting? Are they speaking in Tree Language?”

Ignatia burst into laughter, looking at the giant tree, a gentle smile spread on her lips. “I love you lots, Liu Shu.”

The World Tree’s branches wiggled shyly. “Hawawa~ Where did that come from!? HMPH!”

The caravan disappeared on the horizon, and Ignatia finally left toward the nest. “Liu Shu, there won’t be any attacks anytime soon. Take this chance to Level Up. You must’ve collected lots of Experience Points.”

Liu Shu looked at her system and opened the accumulated Experience Point tab.

Accumulated Experience: 769,400

“...”

Wisdom had been terrifyingly active during the combat and had eliminated a few thousand enemies. The average level of the people Wisdom killed was around Level 23, and the experience Liu Shu received for dealing with one Level 23 was around 70 points. In total, this gave her over 600,000 Experience points. 

“I can reach Level 30 with this, right? I will even have enough experience points left to upgrade my skills in the future.” 

The World Tree looked at her stat page, and after Tiering Up, thanks to that absurd title she recently earned, her raw stats went up a decent amount—especially her <Anima> stat. 

“My <Anima> Stat has made an incredible leap… Why is this? System? Wisdom?”

[System Hint: Stats increase according to their <Tier>. The sharp increase is due to a recent upgrade.]

‘...’ Liu Shu sighed. ‘That and saying nothing is basically the same. I guess that the System Hints are quite limited after I’ve gained the basics.’

[Wisdom: When breaking through major Tiers, the <Stats> will receive a considerable boost.]

‘Oh?’ Looking at her <Anima> stat, which had actually almost caught up with her <Physique> stat, Liu Shu pondered and came to a conclusion. ‘This means…, <Anima> has reached C- Rank?’

She believed that her guess was right. After all, her <Anima> had gone from around 3400 points to an absurd 4300 points. ‘900 points in raw stats… That’s quite crazy.’

Liu Shu still remembered when 200 stat points in a single stat was a crazy thing to have. Now… 

‘I guess I should be careful. If my strength increases are this sharp, other beings might become stronger as fast as I am.’ She became serious and spoke aloud to the system. “System, I want to Level Up to Level 30. Start the process.”

[Understood. Experience Points Required to reach Level 30 are 487,740. Extracting…]

Liu Shu went to sleep once more, her final thoughts having a touch of irony. ‘I have been sleeping quite a lot lately… I even forgot to ask how much time it has passed.’

Ignatia looked from the side as the aura of Liu Shu started to skyrocket and smiled faintly. ‘I thought I was advancing quick enough not to worry. However, it seems that my cute Liu Shu is full of surprises. I wonder… how strong will you become?’