Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 56. Cinderielle and Liu Shu.

Ariel's face changed a bit at Flor's offer. Regardless of whether she was sincere, they didn't need to guess. Flor had shown a willingness to kill over just suspicions. Now, she was giving them an offer based on their professions. While Ariel had never intended to work for monsters, she could see that these ones were different on a very fundamental level.

Flor had shown certain intelligence that you could only see in sapient creatures. While many beasts could think, act, and form small groups, they would never go beyond certain limits.

Ariel knew of this, so her eyes, while looking at Flor, who wished for something like a Caravan, changed from seeing her as an intelligent monster to an intelligent peer. After pondering for a while, she finally spoke. "I admit the offer is really tempting. However, Chief of the Rose Fairies, do you even have goods that can be traded that our caravan could have?"

She had dismissed it a few moments ago, but now that she learned that the monster was really trying to negotiate and not throwing words to confuse and tempt her, Ariel put forth her doubts.

Flor got thoughtful for a few moments and finally threw one <Basic Phoer Berry>, <Basic Aether Mana Berry>, and <Basic Energy Berry> at her.

The red, blue, and yellow fruits were easily caught by Ariel and the others. Then, they analyzed them and saw their effects. Ariel's eyebrows raised. "Not bad at all."

Flor smirked. "Those are just the basic ones. As the World Tree grows, she will naturally bear better fruits." Flor gestured with her not-burned arm. "Not only that, the World Tree has shown plenty of willingness to nurture her surroundings. She has fought alongside our group several times and protected us actively."

Ariel lifted her eyebrows. "That's rare. Usually, World Trees are of a non-interference mind."

Flor shrugged. "Well, she perhaps did so because she was attacked. However, I can tell you that she is not as indifferent as other World Trees. Her willingness to stop me from continuing to fight that woman should tell you something about her."

Ariel looked at the nearly seven-meter-tall tree with a profound expression. Robert looked at her with a severe expression and asked. "Ariel, are you thinking…"

She looked at him with a smirk and asked. "Wanna bet your lives? If we win, I think we'll become quite influential. If we fail, sadly, we might perish."

Robert sighed and crossed his arms. He was of an advanced age, so he did not have a strong adventurer's heart like he did in the past. Doles and Maley were much more interested in this, so they both swung an arm above Ariel's shoulders and smirked. "Let's do it!"

Ariel rolled her eyes and shrugged them off. Both brothers sniggered, and the three of them looked at the muscular man. Robert sighed and nodded. "Well, brats. It seems that I'll have the rust in my bones worn off while walking with you."

With a snort, Ariel answered. "If your bones are rusted, then mine are rotten!" Then, between the laughter of the other three, she looked at Flor and nodded. "Sure. I accept."

Flor relaxed and leaned on Liu Shu with a lazy body. "Finally, you accept. Sigh, all this work… I hate it."

Ariel didn't expect Flor to become a sloth-like creature suddenly, and her lips started twitching. 'I-is it really a good idea? What's with this change in attitude!?'

Cinderielle looked between Flor and Liu Shu a few times, making both the tree and the Rose Fairy Queen look on with confusion. Flor asked. "What's wrong?"

Cinderielle coughed and asked shyly. "C- Can I approach?"

Flor wanted to say no. After all, Cinderielle's eyes glowed strangely each time she looked at Liu Shu. Still, she decided to ask the tree. "What do you think, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu looked at Cinderielle with a pondering gaze. 'Strange, I should be scared of her doing something bad with her flames, right? Why am I so accepting of her?'

Liu Shu looked at her own skills and asked herself. 'Hm… Does she have a skill like <Charm of the Seedling>? That skill helps me give a better impression to others.'

Ariel looked between Flor and Cinderielle and asked. "Um, why did you stop talking so suddenly?"

Flor blinked and stopped looking at the sky. She pointed behind her with her thumb and commented. "She is thinking."

Ariel's lips twitched. "H-How long does she usually take?"

The Rose Fairy Queen shrugged. "Who knows? There was a time when she took half a day to answer. Other times, she answers right away. We just need to wait patiently."

The humans looked at everyone who accepted this situation as normal with incredulous expressions. Ariel coughed and approached slowly. "Um, I'm not that dangerous, right? So, can I approach to speak about more details of the caravan?"

Flor looked at her for a few seconds, making Ariel uncomfortable, and finally spoke. "Amapola, you do it."

Amapola acquiesced. "Yes, Queen."

Cinderielle blinked. "Queen?"

Amapola, who had approached, looked at her and nodded. "Our leader evolved to a Rose Fairy Queen not long ago."

Cinderielle's eyes opened in realization. "No wonder she can fight me back while I'm transformed."

Although Flor wanted to tell her that she would also fight her back before her transformation, she actually knew that those words were just bravado. If Cinderielle had appeared before she transformed, she would've lost without a shred of doubt. Cinderielle's stats, while transformed, were just too high.

Meanwhile, Liu Shu finally decided to allow Cinderielle to approach, so she sent an affirmative pulse of energy. Not only Flor, but everyone else felt is as Liu Shu was not bothering hiding or targeting it.

The strange feeling of being struck in the head by an affirmative feeling made the human's completely stunned. "S-She can communicate?"

Amapola, who had been speaking with them, asked with a confused expression. "Why wouldn't she?"

Ariel tripped over her own words as she spoke. "N-No, but a tree! She, well, she is a World Tree, but! Don't those need like an interpreter or like a priest or something?"

The wild Rose Fairies were clueless about what they were talking about, so they just looked at Ariel blankly, making the human woman turn toward her companions. "Am I the only one who finds this crazy!?"

Maley shook his head. "It's honestly quite a surprise. However, you are certainly overreacting. Look, Cinder didn't even flinch as if it were a matter of course."

Cinderielle looked over and spoke. "World Trees with high levels of intelligence can vaguely communicate. Of course, if the tree has a high-level communication skill, they might even be able to send words or more complex thoughts." Cinderielle looked at Liu Shu and sighed. "I just don't know if she has it or not."

Doley asked, confused. "Aren't you able to discern a few skills as a Sylvan, there is nothing there?"

Cinderielle shook her head. "World Trees have incredibly sturdy defenses to being analyzed. Beyond their Level, Ternary Essences, or skills they have targeted you with, discerning anything else needs for the Sylvan to be overwhelmingly stronger than the World Tree."

As they spoke, the Rose Fairy Queen had been keeping one eye open and constantly monitoring the Flame Aether Sylvan. She had clearly seen Cinderielle's face twist with glee when the "yes" arrived. However, since she somewhat knew what the Sylvan's intentions were, she didn't stop her from approaching. 'Hehehe, Liu Shu is quite popular. I wonder how things will develop when Verdantia appears as well. Will those two kill each other?'

Flor smirked, thinking of that situation. 'I hope so, one less annoyance in the World.'

Cinderielle looked at the majestic infant World Tree, her orange eyes glowing with profound light. "So pretty…"

Liu Shu was naturally paying attention to her, so she heard her loud and clear, making her giggle. 'Thanks, thanks~, you are pretty too~.'

Her thoughts were expressed as a thankful "good," making Cinderielle laugh. "You are called Liu Shu, right?"

Liu Shu answered proudly. 'Of course, my name is the bestest of all! Tianlian Liu Shu!'

Although Liu Shu was quite expressive, her thoughts were translated in a simple manner because of her immaturity in controlling such auras. Her answer, since the name she thought of was different from the one Cinderielle said, was actually communicated as a "not entirely."

Flor was "listening" to Liu Shu with her eyes closed, so she said aloud. "Tianlian Liu Shu. That's her full name. I just call her Liu Shu because it is shorter."

Cinderielle listened and then felt the tree answering with a cheerful affirmative aura. 'Why is she so cute? Ahhh! Although I can't tell what she is saying, I feel that it must be something cute~.'

It was true that Liu Shu had the SSS skill, which clearly aided in these matters. However, Liu Shu still didn't realize how to squeeze even a little bit of her most high-ranked skill. She had trouble controlling E-Rank skills, not to mention SSS rank ones. For now, she could just let them run passively and utilize the advantages they gave.

SSS skills were not something a creature of Liu Shu's level should even see, not to mention own. The grand majority of the World didn't even know they existed. 

For the average person, rank "A+" was the limit of legends that any creature could reach. Anything beyond that was considered fraudulent or a theme that was used commonly in fantasy literature in their World.

Book authors writing about a hero that becomes stronger than the limits imposed was something that would never be out of date. Using the different races as the basis of a prohibited romance was as popular, if not more.

Cinderielle, a few steps away from the World Tree, felt her entire body react. Her blood was rushing, her breathing was quickening, and her face was heating up. She could also smell the World Tree's unique fragrance, which got stronger as she approached. 'What is this scent, so good, so fresh, so tender~.' The red-haired woman took a deep breath and giggled. 'Ah~, I might get addicted.'

The scent was addictive for Cinderielle, as each deep breath she took filled her lungs and brain with euphoria. With her body getting closer, Cinderielle trembled in anticipation. 'Ah~, I'm finally going to touch her.'

Liu Shu observed all these reactions with a clueless expression. She just found them funny, but something inside of her was telling her that there was a strange danger behind her smile.

Still, she ignored it because Cinderielle was smiling so happily that Liu Shu couldn't even start to guess why it felt somewhat dangerous.

Cinderielle asked, stopping just four steps away from the World Tree. "Liu Shu, can I call you Tiantian? It sounds cute, right?"

Liu Shu was confused as to why she wanted to call her like that, so she expressed her confusion. Cinderielle smiled deeply when Liu Shu didn't outright reject her. "Well, I want to have a special way to call you, Liu Shu. Can I?"

The World Tree felt that she didn't have anything to lose, so after thinking about it for about ten minutes, she answered affirmatively.

As a Sylvan, her patience was deep, so Cinderielle stood four steps away from Liu Shu while looking at her without moving an inch. When she received the affirmative answer, Cinderielle's smile deepened as her eyes looked at Liu Shu with increasingly profound feelings. "I see, thank you… Tiantian~."