Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 76. Negotiations and Defensive Building Might.

Maley saw the bag Ignatia was carrying and couldn't help but wonder what was there for it to be so important. After all, the Rose Fairy Queen had taken a detour for it, which meant that it was not a common item.

He was not the only one thinking as such; Robert, Ariel, and Doles were the same. Ignatia saw their eyes and internally smiled. The reason she was so sure about revealing her true nature at the cost of scaring them and forcing them to make a call to high-level explorers were these berries. 

Ignatia was not sure if all World Trees could produce fruits with the effects of the <Delicious Berry> or if they were unique to theirs. However, in any case, getting their hands on such an item would be like seeing a money-printing machine. 

As caravan workers, they were naturally not bad merchants. The ability to move merchandise around and adapt the prices and other materials for the destinations they traveled to was an essential aspect of the work to create large profits. 

Hence, Ignatia was sure that they would tie themselves to Liu Shu as soon as they saw the <Delicious Berry>'s effects. This certainty was what pushed her to reveal herself, adding another layer of weight so that the scale would tilt in their favor. 

Flor spoke while looking at them. "The item here is one I found in the forest. I will naturally not reveal the source. However, know that you won't be able to find it either. Now, the name of this berry is <Delicious Berry>, and the effects are…" Flor paused and smiled. "How about you see it yourself? Here, have one of them."

Flor flicked one <Delicious Berry> into the hands of each of the humans, and the Level 9 humans easily caught them.

 <Delicious Berry (F- Rank)>: It is a common, seedless berry with a savory taste and pleasing scent. It can give one experience point when level 9 and lower creatures consume it. A creature can ingest a maximum of three each day.

Once Ariel saw the effects of the berry, her eyes involuntarily widened. "W-What is this?" 

Flor smirked. "How about it? Interested in having a few of these?"

Ariel's heart beat quickly, and her mind planned many things. Ideas flew one after another, and between them, greed naturally sprouted. There wasn't a single sane creature that wouldn't feel covetous after seeing such a thing.

3 Experience Points a day was incredible for creatures below Level 9. Usually, even the best Experience gathering methods below Level 9 didn't reach 10 Experience Points a day. 

There were other methods to earn experience, such as Flor's Royal Pollination. Yet, such methods were an exception, not the rule. The existence of Royal Pollination was a result of many coincidences and the involvement of a World Tree. 

Ariel asked urgently, her eagerness clear in her rapid speech. "How many of these can you provide me? What can I do to get more?"

Her quick words were a clear sign that reflected her inner greed for the item. Ignatia looked at her and spoke. "Hey, human. Relax. You are becoming too…" Ignatia sneered. "Human." 

Ariel and the other three snapped out of it when the cold voice of the Ant Queen reached them, remembering where they were and who they were making a deal with.

While influence-wise, this forest group was nothing; they were a ticket to greatness.

Flor looked at Robert and spoke. "These berries are infused with a peculiar energy that softens one of the major roadblocks in an explorer's journey." 

Flor was new to negotiation, but she was not stupid. Robert was a very old person, yet he clearly had plenty of fighting experience. The fact that he was Level 9 could only be attributed to one thing: he had hit a Level Cap.

The reason Flor could think of this so quickly was because most Rose Fairies would often find themselves in a similar situation. 

As the Rose Fairy Queen expected, Robert's pupils shook as they locked onto her. Flor clearly knew that he understood, so she showed a smile. "Interested?"

Ariel frowned at the strange interaction. 'A major roadblock for Explorers? Strength? Intelligence?' 

Ariel was not that sure. She herself was young and her experience with Level Caps was non-existent. Creatures would only start worrying about these things much later in life or when they reached them.

As a talented woman, she wasn't worried about that yet. 

Doles and Maley were not that young, but they were also not as clever. The only reason they were with Ariel was their young age and strength, not much more. 

Hence, while it was an obvious hint, the three humans failed to understand that hint.

Robert nodded with a calm tone, even though his stomach was twisting with eagerness to ask about what she meant more deeply. However, if Flor didn't say it out loud, there must have been a reason.

He was quite an old-timer, so tricks like these were not new to him. "Sure. It sounds like something interesting."

Ariel laughed and commented. "Well, learning about these things is quite refreshing. What's so important for explorers that the berry gives? I can probably get more materials with that information."

Ignatia internally rolled her eyes. 'This woman is too smooth for her own good.'

Flor felt a bit awkward, as Ariel's words left her with almost no way out. "I'll explain it later," Flor commented. "Anyways, this is the new merchandise I can share with you. What do you think?"

Ariel nodded and commented. "Powerful, valuable. To be honest with you, Rose Fairy Queen, it is very tempting."

Flor understood. Even she, as a Forest Creature, was stunned the first time she saw them. 

"Well, let's speak about how many of them you want to carry back and what I should expect in return. Now that you have experience selling them, you should be able to give an approximation, right?" 

"Well, I can more or less give you one." Ariel started. "However, with these new ones… I'm really clueless. Selling these to buy F Rank materials is nothing but throwing gold into a mud pit. With a batch that gives 100 Experience points, I can probably buy all the materials I carried today and more."

Ariel sighed. "They are too valuable to sell for such things."

Flor shook her head. "For you, these are valuable. For me, those F Rank materials are valuable." Flor commented. "I'll give you the entire list of materials we need. You tell me how many <Delicious Berries> you need for them." 

After thinking a few moments, she added. "If you complete the assignment perfectly, I'll give you access to <Delicious Berries> for personal consumption without cost." 

While they were valuable, Liu Shu could grow batches of thousands a day. Using 12 of those thousands as bait for these people was ridiculously cheap. 

Her words were like music to their ears. Maley stepped forward and suggested. "Queen Flor, could you give us a written list? It will save us a lot of time if you have it." 

Flor nodded and remembered that she had written down every building Liu Shu talked about, including the materials. 

She examined what they had in inventory and added what Ariel carried this time. 

<Materials>: Saplingwood (1014), Yellow Cotton (1210), Earthmud (1177), Pebbleheart (1001), Sprout Heart (152), Earthspire (151), Yellow Cotton Thread (152), Dustheart (151), Budbark (11), Gustbark (11), Mistbark (10), Blazebark (10). 

Flor finished adding everything, and it ended as such. Then, she looked at the list of materials they needed.

<Materials Needed>: Saplingwood (3820), Yellow Cotton (305), Earthmud (2400), Pebbleheart (4000), Sprout Heart (462), Earthspire (352), Yellow Cotton Thread (25), Dustheart (10), Budbark (52). 

Flor compared the two and nodded. 'We have enough elemental bark, it seems. Then… I'll give them a list a bit larger than what we need. After all, having extra materials will not be a bad thing. Let's see…' 

After waiting for around an hour, Flor returned with a tablet with carved letters and numbers.

Ariel looked at the tablet and read it.

<Materials To Buy>: Saplingwood (5000), Yellow Cotton (500), Earthmud (3000), Pebbleheart (5000), Sprout Heart (500), Earthspire (500), Yellow Cotton Thread (50), Dustheart (50), Budbark (100). 

The human woman raised her eyebrow and asked. "You need all of this?"

Flor nodded, and Ariel joked. "Are you trying to build a town or something? Hahaha…" She stopped laughing because Flor nodded again. She couldn't help but ask again. "Really?"

Flor shrugged. "Liu Shu wants to build one, not me."

Maley asked. "What structures are you going to build?"

Flor commented. "We are going to build 10 houses, 1 Well, 1 Farmland, 1 Inn, 1 Town Hall, 1 Defensive Fence, and 2 Defense Buildings." 

The four humans couldn't help but feel their lips twitch. 'Are they building a town or a fortress?' 

With the conversation soon back on track, everything went smoothly, and the humans left with new merchandise to sell around a day later. Thankfully for Ariel, the people waiting for them didn't leave, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. 

Meanwhile, Liu Shu focused on creating the root system of the defensive structure within a sixty-meter radius around her. The plant structure she was building was a ring of roots that could move energy around efficiently, and it was also connected to her own root system as a subordinate creature.

Above ground, it looked really beautiful, like a flower ring surrounding her. Moreover, it was colorful and filled with tubular flowers. Their mouths were closed, but below their stem, there was a sac connected with the ground. 

Their anatomy also made their stalks quite thick, creating an exotic-looking flower overall. The Rose Fairies looked at them with curiosity, not having seen such a flower before in the Golden Sap Forest. 

Ignatia asked while hugging Flor in her arms like a doll. "So, what is this flower? I'm quite clueless about that."

Flor looked at it with a pondering expression, her mind trying to find an answer. However, after a while, she couldn't think of any similar flower. "I… Honestly, I don't know." 

Ignatia smirked and teased. "So much for the queen of flower fairies."

Flor defended herself with a mutter. "I'm the Queen of ROSE Fairies. Not all flowers."

Ignatia laughed and commented. "Well, these flowers are supposed to be a defensive structure, no? How do they work?"

Flor blinked and shrugged. "Well, we'll have to-. Oh?" 

Both their heads swiveled upward, and they saw a blue and red-feathered bird swooping down toward one of the weaker Rose Fairies. Usually, a high-level Rose Fairy would intervene and either scare the creature or kill it if they were insistent. However, Flor ordered. "Don't intervene!" 

The Rose Fairy, who was about to move, became puzzled and stopped. She didn't understand why she placed the young Rose Fairy in danger, but she trusted the Queen wouldn't let one of their own die in vain. 

When the bird approached at around 100 meters, the Rose Fairies felt the Aether mana and Anima energy in the surroundings move and gather into the flower bed that had grown around Liu Shu. 

One section of the flower bed moved, all of the flowers pointing toward the approaching bird, and then, the energy surged from the roots into the flowers. 

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! 

Each flower shot one seed with explosive power toward the bird. Not expecting such an attack at all, the bird was squarely hit by the flower's attacks and exploded into gore in the air.

Meanwhile, in Liu Shu's mind, a message popped.

[Congratulations on defeating <Bluered Raptor Level 7>. You've gained 11 Experience Points.]