Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 41. [Break Through Berry] and Beast Tide.

Putting aside those thoughts, Liu Shu focused on her new system. There were quite a few things that caught her attention. The first of them was the number of maxed skills she had. 'There are a lot… Can I upgrade any of them?'

She looked and listed her max rank skills.

<Charm of the Seedling (F Rank Level MAX)>

<Nature's Gift (F Rank level MAX)>

<Woodcrafter (E Rank Level MAX)>

<World Tree Wisdom (SSS Rank Level Max)>

Liu Shu hummed. 'So… How much experience do I need for each of them to rank up? First the F Rank ones.'

[Do you want to use 326 Experience Points to Increase <Charm of the Seedling (F Rank Level MAX)> to <Charm of the Seedling (F+ Rank Level 1)>?]

'I see, so F Rank needs 326 Experience Points…' Liu Shu looked at the 1900 for Level Up that she needed with a thoughtful expression. Then, she checked Nature's Gift. 'Do all skills need the same at the same rank?'

[Do you want to use 326 Experience Points to Increase <Nature's Gift (F Rank Level MAX)> to <Nature's Gift (F+ Rank Level 1)>?]

Liu Shu hummed. 'They do.' She looked at Woodcrafter and also checked to remember how much she needed.

[Do you want to use 20,739 Experience Points to Increase <Woodcrafter (E Rank Level Max)> to <Woodcrafter (E+ Rank Level 1)>?]

Liu Shu groaned in her mind. 'So much…' Then, Liu Shu looked at World Tree Wisdom and pondered. 'Do I even look…?' She was afraid that her Tree Heart would suffer if she saw the number needed to increase the rank of that skill. After considering it for a while, she gave it a look.

'…'

Liu Shu closed the message just as it popped and then cried. 'H-How am I supposed to gather that much experience? T-This is impossible! QAQ!'

Even for a World Tree that was patient by nature, the number she saw struck fear in her heart. Liu Shu focused on her mind and chanted. 'Forget the number, forget the number! I don't even know how to call that number! I don't know numbers after hundreds of thousands! What comes next!? Thousands of thousands!? And after that?! I need to know even higher zeroes to spell that dreadful number! QAQ!'

After looking back at the 326 Experience Points for the F Rank skill, Liu Shu felt that it wasn't that unreasonable anymore. 'Hm hm. This pretty 326 is much better than whatever that was.'

That day, Liu Shu learned that big numbers are good, but only in good things like her stats.

'Anyway, I have almost no experience accumulated right now, so it doesn't matter much. So, only one thing left to check.'

Her gaze moved toward the new fruit that she could grow, the <Basic Breakthrough Berry>. 'Flor and the others would probably like it, right? But…' Liu Shu hummed. 'It can only increase tier to the F+ Tier… Whatever tier is…'

What she didn't know was that even if it could only increase <Tier> from F- to F Tier, it would be something that people would kill to have. <Tier> was usually the limitation of a person's future, or in other words, a combination of a creature's innate talent and potential.

To increase that would help not only that creature but also their descendants, who would be born with higher chances of being of a higher <Tier>. In other words, modifying <Tier> was modifying the bloodline of a creature and making all their descendants stronger.

Liu Shu was thoughtful, wanting to know what her current tier was. 'Can I eat this? System, what is my tier?'

She heard no answer, making her pout. 'Tell me~! System! Systeeeem! Tell meeee! Tell me, system!'

[… System Hint: Tier is an innate quality of a creature, and the system can't access to it in a direct manner-]

Liu Shu snorted in her mind. 'Useless.'

[…]

[System Hint: However, it is possible to guess from the stat gain from level to level. <Tianlian Liu Shu>'s stats increase is as such: Aether +7, Physique +9, Anima +8, Willpower +10, and Destiny +100.]

Liu Shu exclaimed and laughed. 'Ohh, I knew the system was the best~.'

[System Hint: Not taking into account Destiny stat increase, as the Destiny gained per level can't be observed in any other creature throughout existence, Tianlian Liu Shu can be considered to be a creature between D+ and C- Tier.]

Our tree became stupefied. 'How much did you just say!?'

[System Hint: Tianlian Liu Shu is a creature that can be considered as a creature between D+ and C- Tier.]

Tianlian Liu Shu bashed the system again. 'I naturally heard you! It was a way of talking!'

[…]

Tianlian Liu Shu couldn't help but hum as she thought of the fairies. 'Didn't Flor say once that they were F+ Tier or something?'

'Well, it doesn't matter.' Liu Shu was quick to forget about it and move on. 'I need to make the flower for the berry to grow!'

'Let's see… It is an E- Rank berry. Hm hm. I see. So, how many shards does it need?'

Liu Shu focused on her branches and chose the modified <Sylvanium Branch> to grow them. 'Does it give any benefit?'

First, she tried with a regular <Delicious berry>, just to be sure. However, nothing felt different. A beautiful flower with a batch of <Delicious Berry> appeared in just a few minutes. 'Oh… So, it isn't that much different?'

The <Sylvanium Branch> was one of her main branches connected to her trunk. The color was not that much different from the rest of her branches, with an added glossy texture.

Because of its sturdiness, Liu Shu chose that branch instead of any other one. She could feel that this branch was much stronger than her other branches. Still, she could also sense that she was not able to use <Willow Strike> on it. 'Hm… if I could use it, my strikes would hurt much more…' Liu Shu felt that her mind was about to wander off again, so she refocused. 'Anyways… Let's start by summoning the flower!'

Her Aether and Anima moved with her will as she thought of creating the berry. However, when she thought of feeding the small sprouting bud all the energy it needed, her senses screamed danger, making her stop.

'Huh?'

Liu Shu opened <World Tree Eye> and looked at her branch. 'What's wrong? Why did I feel danger when I wanted to feed it?'

Curious, she tried again. This time, in a much more controlled manner.

Her Aether Mana and Anima Energy swirled around her body and swirled upwards in a stream toward the branch where Liu Shu was growing the flower. 'Let's use… five shards of each per second.'

And so, the World Tree began feeding it, and feeding it, and feeding it, and feeding it again.

20 seconds… 50 seconds… 2 minutes…

The World Tree looked at the barely changing flower with incredulity. 'W-what? I have fed it more than 600 of each, and it has barely started reacting!?'

Liu Shu looked at her reserves, which had lowered for more than a sixth with a complicated expression. 'M-More? Do you need more?'

Curious, she continued giving it energy.

One thousand… one thousand three hundred… one thousand seven hundred…

Liu Shu stopped and stuttered. 'Y-You glutton! Do you really need so many Aether Mana Shards and Anima Energy Shards? Are you sure you are not trying to eat for free!?'

However, she could see that the previously immutable flower had been somewhat satisfied. 'How much more do I need?'

Not knowing the answer, Liu Shu changed strategies. 'I'll use… Hm… how about 19 of the energy I regenerate per hour to feed it?'

While she wanted to start gestating it as fast as she could, the amount of energy it needed was exceptional, which was expected as it did give an absolute advantage to one creature. It would not make sense if she could grow them at will when she was just at Level 4.

What Liu Shu didn't expect was that she would need an entire week after that to feed the berry. Once the flower stopped giving signals of needing any energy, Liu Shu looked at it with amazement. 'It glomped 5000 of Aether Mana Shards and Anima Energy Shards…'

During this week, she had left it in the back of her mind, just allowing it to grow while she did other things, and this was the result. 'Also, if my feelings are not wrong… Each berry should take around 300 days to bear fruit. Wow~, that's almost a year!'

Liu Shu became thoughtful. 'I have two skills that require constant use, <Enchanted Growth> and <Nature's Gift>. Hm… Should I use 30 for <Enchanted Growth>, 20 for <Break through Berries>, and most of the rest for the other types of fruits? Hm. It sounds good.'

While Liu Shu redirected her energy in a focused manner, she suddenly heard Flor's voice. "Liu Shu, there has been increasing activity in the forest recently. We have spotted many people from surrounding cities appearing as well. From what we've heard, it seems that there is a beast tide approaching."

Liu Shu listened and was confused, something Flor knew would happen. "Although we are considered among the creatures that participate in the Beast Tide as a part of it instead of as a defender, that's not entirely the case."

Liu Shu was curious and continued looking at her, putting aside her decision for now. Flor sighed. "Us, Rose Fairies, can't be really considered the same as Humans and Sylvans and other similar races. We are in the monster category as our system, and the way we reproduce is basically different from them. Other creatures of the forest also see us as such."

Flor continued. "You might be asking yourself what does this have to do with the beast tide. Well, to avoid the beast tide as a monster, you just have to join it. If we do this, we will need to leave you behind, though. That's why we are not choosing that option. Still, if we don't join it, that doesn't mean that the beasts will stop charging forward. Beasts that push trees down also exist, although it depends on what kind of tree we are talking about. Mostly, low-level ones are pushed down.'

Liu Shu was curious about where all this talk was going. Flor answered it in the next talk. "I've seen that you've been doing something with your energy, so I wanted to tell you to keep your ternary essences at maximum all the time if possible. Even now, you have around seventy percent of it."

Liu Shu understood and sent her a pulse of energy telling as such. Flor added. "Also, I'll need to go for a bit to meet with a… acquaintance."

Liu Shu tilted her head, not knowing that her first encounter with interesting people was approaching.