Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

The next morning, they all went to the inn's communal dining room and sat down on one of the tables. Cinderielle and Tempestria looked at the silent Verdantia, and Cinderielle asked. "So, what did your cousin want?"

Verdantia poked the fruit salad on her plate and hummed. "Nothing much. As I said, she is just… spoiled? I don't know. She is annoying and just wanted to show off to me how she was already Level 5 or 6. She probably thinks I am still sub-Level-10 since only three years have gone by since I reached Level 1." 

Tempestria smirked. "But, she doesn't know that you have the <Delicious Berries> as help." 

Verdantia shrugged. "Not only that, Mom was involved in my training. So, yeah." 

Flor, who was sitting on the table, asked. "Is it common for family members to get along badly with each other?"

The three Sylvans pondered, and Cinderielle answered. "While it isn't like the most normal thing, it is more common than people think." 

Flor hummed. "That's strange. I feel like all the Rose Fairies get along with each other nicely."

Tempestria laughed. "I've seen a few of them play fighting, though. I even saw them becoming sad or upset at what another one did."

Flor blinked twice. "Isn't that playful nature?"

Tempestria asked back. "What makes you think that Vera's and Verdantia's relation is not similar?"

Flor was surprised and stopped speaking for a moment, becoming thoughtful. "I see… You are right. It seems that perspective makes a lot of difference in similar situations."

Verdantia chuckled softly and explained. "Vera and I don't get along much, but we don't hate each other… yet. To be honest, if Vera continues behaving like she does and doesn't mature, we will eventually be at odds."

Flor asked, trying to change the subject before it got too upsetting. "What are our plans for today? We need to wait two days or so until Wert comes to us, right?"

Cinderielle asked, excited. "How about we go around the marketplace? We have a bit of money that Liu Shu gave us, just in case, right? We can also buy a few of the materials Liu Shu needs. The high-ranking ones."

Tempestria asked. "How much money did she give us?"

Cinderielle asked, speechless. "Were you not listening?"

Tempestria raised her elegant eyebrow. "I was lost in Liu Shu's beauty."

Verdantia commented. "We have 30 Tyn."

The Wind Sylvan whistled. "Impressive. With that, we could buy E Rank equipment." 

Flor hummed. "How expensive are they?"

Tempestria had the most knowledge on this, so she explained. "Usually, prices of items follow quite an easy-to-understand scheme. F rank items are sold for Lir, E Rank items will cost Tyn, D Rank will cost Bren, C Rank costs Syl, and finally, B Rank, if there are any, costs Arbor. Anything above that Rank is strong enough to be a national treasure. So, yeah, the price is almost incalculable."

Flor blinked. "How strong are B Rank Items?"

Tempestria smiled. "Well, there was one time that a country revealed a Level 35 B Rank sword. It was the final masterpiece created by a wood crafter several years ago. The tales speak that the man imbued everything he had in it, including his life. Do you want to know its stats?

Flor tilted her head. "Why reveal that?"

Tempestria laughed. "Well, the stats were ridiculous enough that knowing that the best fighter from that country would be wielding that sword in war was enough of a deterrent." 

Flor became curious and nodded. "I want to know."

Tempestria commented. "These numbers have been told a few times, so they might not be accurate, but they shouldn't be too far off. First of all, it gave around 40,000 Aether Mana Shards and Anima Energy Shards and around 130,000 Phoer Body Shards. While for a Level 35, that is not that much, it's still a large chunk for a single piece of equipment."

Flor agreed. "Those are basically the stats of a Level 20 transformed into an item!"

Tempestria laughed. "A Level 20? Hahaha, listen to the stats it gave. It gave 1,000 Aether, 3,000 Physique, 1,000 Anima, and 1,000 Willpower! Then, it also added five percent of Aether Resonance, Physique Refinement, and Anima Affinity." 

Flor was speechless. "T-Three thousand Physique?" 

Tempestria shrugged. "Those are the stats that were circling around. Plus, the sword had three skills: a finishing move, a passive skill, and something that increased sword mastery. Even a toddler could swing that sword better than the average swordsman."

Verdantia reminded Flor, who was shocked and speechless. "Still, because it is B- Rank and Level 35, anyone below Level 40 would be slightly penalized when wielding that sword. After all, you need to be of a similar level and tier to bring out an item's potential. Like my staff."

Flor nodded and muttered. "However, if that country had someone who could do that… then no wonder people decided not to mess with them."

Cinderielle took a sip of water and said. "It is quite a well-known story that has quite a cruel ending."

Flor blinked. "Oh?"

Cinderielle smiled. "Greed brought many thieves to try and steal the sword. Eventually, one succeeded. And after losing the sword, because they'd been offending quite a few people using it as a deterrence, many other powers banded together and razed that country to the ground in the span of one month." 

Flor asked. "What happened to the sword?"

Cinderielle shrugged. "Who knows? That sword has never been seen again. A superpower probably got it, and they have it in their treasury or something. Perhaps the personal guard of an extremely influential person has it. It can be anywhere."

Flor became thoughtful. "If B- Rank is that Powerful… What about A Rank?"

Verdantia laughed. "There are no records of actual A Rank items. A Rank is… Somewhat of a legendary Rank. There are some skills that sometimes appear at that rank, but leveling them up is almost an impossible task because of the ridiculous amount of Proficiency Points you need to accumulate." 

Flor asked, curious like a child. "How many?"

Verdanita snickered. "You know how the following levels grow exponentially after the first, right?" 

Flor nodded, and Verdantia commented. "According to records, an A- Rank skill needs 486,000 proficiency points just for the first level." 

Flor almost choked on the water she was drinking. "Half a million just for the first level!? That will escalate to the tens of millions in higher levels! Not even two entire lifetimes are enough to reach Level MAX in that skill!"

The higher Tier the skill had, the more difficult it was to gain proficiency as well. For example, the action that gave you 1,000 proficiency points for an F Rank skill would give 100 proficiency points for the same skill at the E Rank.

Flor looked at her System Page for a second, and suddenly, the Level 18 that she was so proud of felt small. Even her skills, which were all in the E Rank, felt like they were too weak. 

Still, that was not the truth. Flor was really strong for the area they were in. She was just nothing compared to the World Stage. Even Fortuna, a Level 27 World Tree, was similarly weak.

Cinderielle poked Flor's back, making the Rose Fairy Queen look back, and she smiled. "How about we search for those materials we spoke about for Liu Shu?" 

Flor nodded. "Hm. Let's go."

Tempestria spoke. "Flor, thinking of those people is useless. Look ahead of you and below your feet. Looking up to the sky too much will make you dizzy, and as your strides become tangled, you will eventually trip."

Flor tilted her head, trying to understand what she was talking about. Tempestria laughed. "Too difficult to understand?"

Verdantia chuckled. "Have you ever tried walking while looking at the sky?"

Flor blinked twice, puzzled. "Like, literally walking?"

Verdantia laughed. "Yes."

Flor flew down and then started doing that. "Oh… Oh! This is trippy." She flapped her wings, flying up, and laughed. "Okay, I now understand."

The three Sylvans chuckled. Then, they all walked toward the market area. 

Once they arrived, they saw the bustling place, filled with people of all types of races and with all types of merchandise. There were a few caravans as well, with their stalls mounted besides their caravan.

Overall, it was quite a nice place. 

Still, people here were extremely forward to distinguishing themselves and trying to sell or buy the most. Therefore, as soon as they entered, they were crowded. 

A man approached with a smile and spoke. "That's a very large Rose Fairy! How about 400 Lir for her? I am paying a steep price!"

Verdanita spoke plainly. "She is not for sale."

A woman at the side laughed. "How would they sell it for so little? I am willing to pay 3 Tyn! I can guarantee she will have a good life afterwards as well!"

This time, Flor intervened. "I am not for sale. Now, go away." Then, her Aether Mana expanded, and a gale burst outward from her, pushing everyone three meters away and making many fall.

The Three Sylvans didn't get blasted because they could react and use their own ternary essences to defend against it. 

A woman screamed. "Ahh! She has a wild Rose Fairy! Help! Help!"

The four girls looked at that woman with a face full of annoyance. 

The guards that were stationed around rushed over, and one of them shouted. "HALT! Rose Fairy, if you use mana again, you will be killed!" 

Flor looked at the guards and rolled her eyes. "Listen, I am an intelligent Rose Fairy. I am here to buy a few things. They were crowding us, wanting to buy me, so I blasted them away with inoffensive wind. Like, look at their Phoer Body Shards, and you can see that no one has lost any!" 

The guards were still pointing at Flor with their spears, and the highest-ranking guard shouted. "Regardless, you are a monster! Who knows if you are planning to commit a massacre to increase your level?"

Verdantia looked over, her usual gentle face full of vexation. "Hey, are you blind? Who is accompanying the Rose Fairy, human?"

The guards looked at the three tall women and finally realized. "O-Oh, Lady S-Sylvans, w-what is happening?"

Verdantia rolled her eyes and pointed around her. "Can't you see? I have an exotic Rose Fairy with me. Therefore, people are asking to buy. I said quite clearly that she was not for sale, but they insisted like moth bugs attracted to fire. Of course, they got burned by their own stupidity when my companion snapped. Now, can you go away and give my Rose Fairy friend something to signify that she is out of bounds?"

The guard captain coughed. "It would be 10 Lir for-"

Verdantia took 10 Lir and threw them at the guard. The guard caught it with difficulty, and then he smiled awkwardly and approached cautiously to give Flor a wooden tablet with the symbol of a tree. "This should be enough, Lady Sylvan."

Verdantia nodded and moved forward, looking around and shouting. "She is not for sale! I don't care if you insist, but do it knowing there will be consequences!"

Flor ignored the gazes she was receiving and asked. "So, where do we go?"

Cinderielle looked at Tempestria. "You are the most knowledgeable about this city, so… guide us."

Tempestria hummed and looked around. "Okay, let's try on the main street."