Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Seeing that they were interested, the dogkin coughed and commented. "Well, in the <Small White Flower Forest> to the west of Mareful City, there is a small garden with several types of seeds. If you manage to reach there and get them, you should be able to have a supply of several different kinds of oaks and lower-level materials. If you are lucky, you might find Fernwood, which is the D- Rank, nature elemental, wood ingredient."

The difference between these trees and other trees was the level of sentience. They were like the "farm animals" of the forest, with no fundamental thought processes. That's why Flor and the three Sylvans didn't really feel bad for them as creatures who protected nature. After all, they were thoughtless beings.

Tempestria asked, feeling that it was somewhat sketchy. "Why tell us? This feels too convenient." 

The dogkin smiled awkwardly. "Well, this place is not… Hm… unprotected." He explained. "You see, I am just Level 8, so venturing into those places is very complicated for me. Moreover, I've heard that remnants of a certain group still live there. If I am caught, I will be killed for sure."

Tempestria's face sank, and she asked sharply, walking toward the dogkin. "Would you not have said anything if I didn't ask? You are practically asking us to rob someone's garden!"

The dogkin's face was filled with terror, and he stuttered quickly, stammering over his own words. "You, misunderstanding! I want, I mean, I don't want you to fight! The place, the plants, ugh, the guards react harshly toward non-plant creatures!" 

Tempestria grabbed him by the neck and leaned down to look at him closely, her grey eyes looking stormy. "And what makes you think that I will believe your words? I came here because of a friend's recommendation; instead, I and the friends that came with me received an invitation for trouble! Give me a single reason I shouldn't beat up your ass until you have one-fifth of Phoer Body Shards remaining!"

The dogkin spoke, stuttering. "I will go with you! I will go with you! I really have no intentions of robbing you!" He said, aggravated. "That garden was my family's property forty years ago, but we were booted out like wild dogs by a group related to the… the…" The dogkin whispered. "Nexus."

Verdantia's eyes flashed with many thoughts, and she commented. "Wait, Tempestria."

Tempestria looked back, confused. "What? This guy is probably still playing with us. I say we rob him and leave this place." 

Cinderielle's lips twitched. "Can you be a little less barbaric?"

Tempestria's lips arched, knowing exactly how to push Cinderielle's buttons. "Oh? So you don't want to get items for Liu Shu? I wonder what she will think when we get back, and I tell her."

Cinderielle's face became constipated, while Flor looked at everything with a neutral face. She trusted these three quite a lot, so unless she felt something was wrong, she wouldn't intervene.

Verdantia saw Aether Mana gathering toward Cinderielle's arms, and she slapped the back of her head. "Can you calm down? You are really like fire, a little spark, and you burst into flames!" Then, she looked at Tempestria. "And can you not be like the wind for her? Blowing and blowing so that the fire grows, you should blow to put out the fire!" 

Tempestria was stunned at the metaphors, as the double meaning could be badly misinterpreted. She retorted, somewhat offended. "Then, what are you, Cinderielle's fuel? Will you give her parts of your essence so that she burns stronger and longer?"

Verdantia caught the innuendo, and her eyebrows twitched several times. Meanwhile, Cinderielle was flabbergasted. "Hey, can you two be more serious? Even the scared dogkin is looking at us with a confused expression!" 

Flor stayed silent, not because she didn't want to talk, but because she was holding back her laughter with her hand. 

Tempestria released the dogkin and sighed. "Well, whatever, we are not doing it."

Cinderielle blinked. "We aren't? We can get a few good seeds. Aren't the rewards better than the risks?"

Verdantia supported Cinderielle's opinion. "I actually think it is quite a good opportunity as well. While he was a bit treacherous with the way he told us the information, he is in his right to try to take advantage of the situation."

Tempestria sighed. "Oh. And what if they have Sylvan hunters there? You know how some groups are like that, trying to scam other races for quick money."

Cinderielle muttered. "I mean, he doesn't look like someone with the guts to do that."

Tempestria looked at the dogkin and frowned. "You are being too greedy. The fact that he has Essence Oak is already suspicious enough. A Level 8 with E+ Rank materials aplenty? I wouldn't have said much if he just tried to scam us a bit, but this is a serious matter. Even someone like Mariane ended up almost being sold! We, several times weaker than her, would even count the money, not knowing that money is for someone buying us!"

Verdantia pondered for a few seconds, and eventually, she crossed her arms under her prominent bosom and spoke. "Okay, let's not go there. Mister, take out all the materials you have that we've listed. We can pay with a treasure we found in the Dark Aether Swamp. You will like it lots."

Flor, Tempestria, and Cinderielle blinked, confused. 'Dark Aether Swamp? We've never been there…'

The dogkin scratched his neck. "What kind of treasure? You understand how valuable these are, right?"

Verdantia spoke bluntly. "I can raise your tier by one sub-level. Is that enough?"

The dogkin's heart almost leaped out of his throat. "W-WHAT!? I-I can sell! I can sell! What do you want? I have many items and-."

Verdantia raised her hand and pointed at the note on the desk. "That. As many of those as you have, I want them." 

The dogkin frowned. "But… E Rank materials are my best materials and…"

Verdantia turned around. "I see. We'll find another Woodcrafter shop."

The dogkin spoke a bit more confidently. "That tactic won't work. I own, by far, the best Woodcrafting shop in this city. If you want to find <Grove Oak> and similar grade materials, my shop is the only place in this city."

Verdantia looked at the dogkin and smiled. "I see. How about I speak with the City Lord and tell him about the little garden you spoke about? He might be interested."

The dogkin's face fell, and he subconsciously growled. "Y-You wouldn't dare!" 

Verdantia's face cooled down. "You tried to scam us into going to Nexus territory to steal some materials you wanted. Do you really think I won't dare? Do you know what my surname is, dogkin? You know nothing about me, but believe me that I dare."

Cinderielle nodded. "She would. Even Fortuna's City Eila Neoflora would be careful when dealing with her."

The dogkin frowned deeply. "Let me think."

Verdantia turned around and said. "I only have one of those things, so you better be quick to decide before I do another deal with it. Also, I am leaving in two days, so I want an answer before that day." 

The dogkin shouted before she left. "Wait! I want proof that the item does what you promised!"

Verdantia raised her eyebrow and asked. "Do you think that I am lying? To a Level 8? Sorry, but you are not worth it."

Tempestria coughed. "Wow."

Cinderielle nodded. "When Verdantia becomes annoyed, she is cold-blooded."

Flor coughed. "Don't be rude to your friend."

Both Sylvans blinked at Flor and nodded obediently. "Okay~." 

After all, Flor was an existence similar to Liu Shu's mother, so they wanted to be in her good books.

Meanwhile, in the Golden Sap Town, Liu Shu was looking at the materials that the <Floriculturists>, Damian and Patricia, gathered. She was thinking of building one of the new houses to see the difference with the other ones.

'Hm… Let's see~, I need… 100 Vine Timber (E- Rank), 10 Leafwood (E Rank), 1 Grove Oak (E+ Rank), 25 Rock Crust (E- Rank), 10 Rock Spike (E Rank), 20 Cotton Fur (E- Rank), 10 Cotton Stripe (E Rank), and 1 Cotton Sheet (E+ Rank).'

Liu Shu looked into her vault and realized that she had everything. Everyone in the town had been gathering materials and searching for them, accumulating enough for Liu Shu to create one of them.

So, after checking the location where she wanted to build the house, Liu Shu checked the vault and used the roots on the walls to reach out and grab the materials. The vault's walls opened as the root approached, and the materials were swallowed into her root net.

Moving things through her root net was not complicated. The fact that Liu Shu's <Energy Cycle> was done with 100% perfection meant that she had absolute and perfect control over everything. 

When Liu Shu activated her skill, the place where the house would be built was surrounded by roots. Everyone understood that it was similar to a "no-enter" sign, so they tried to not approach it closely.

Still, the humans and other people who had never seen Liu Shu building something stopped working to come and see. At first, Liu Shu took the area where the house would be built and created a foundation for it. Then, using the foundation, roots grew upward, becoming more solid as they grew in size.

Seeing the accelerated nature of the plant growth was magnificent and left everyone speechless. Mariane commented. "This is incredible. I don't think I've ever seen a wood crafter come even close to doing something like this."

An economist asked. "Really? Not even the high-level Woodcrafters?"

Mariane shook her head, pondering. "It is the truth that higher-level Woodcrafters are more… How to say it…? They can do more intricate things. Their items have much more profundity. However, what Liu Shu is doing here differs from usual Woodcrafting." Mariane pointed at the foundations and growing roots. "Liu Shu doesn't add things to wood, as all Woodcrafters do. No, Liu Shu is controlling the wood and mixing new properties and energies with it. She is not adding things but completely modifying the wood."

The economist became thoughtful. "How does this differ from the normal method? What advantages does it have over others?"

Mariane knew why he was asking so much. The economist probably wanted to learn as much about the products they could sell to get the best deal. So, Mariane didn't hold back her observations and theories. "Remember that this is all my opinion and guessing. Still, first of all, these houses can be alive because of that. Liu Shu plants a seed and then modifies its nature to make it become an entirely new organism. She is basically manipulating life. Of course, the basic core of the being is unchangeable, but her manipulation is enough to give these trees the shape of a house, or whatever. Moreover, look at how the walls are done."

The people looked and saw branches spreading from the roots, reaching outward to the other side and interlocking with each other. 

One woman asked. "But, looking over there, the buildings have windows and even balconies. This house will become a massive tree stump at the rate it is going." 

Mariane agreed. "Yes, and that's where Liu Shu's nature as a World Tree comes into play. This method of Woodcrafting is not viable for normal Woodcrafters because their connection with nature is limited. As a World Tree, Liu Shu can be considered to be nature itself. Therefore, she can 'control' these houses and make them change their shapes. Like those over there." Then, the mothkin's eyes glowed. "What's better is that Liu Shu is not just applying Woodcrafting to these houses."

They were surprised and asked. "What do you mean?"

Mariane grinned. "Look VERY closely to the 'veins' that run along the building's surface."

Everyone squinted and looked over. Eventually, the economist noticed and asked, confused. "Runes?"

Mariane laughed. "RUNES!" Her wings buzzed excitedly. "She is actually tracing some rune paths on them! While they are inactive and have basically no meaning, this makes it EXTREMELY easy to create <Rune Fields>, <Rune Enhancements>, and anything related to runes, basically. Her buildings have an innate capability to accept runes! This is… MASSIVE. Like, if we use this correctly, a house will be able to fight as a soldier even better than it currently can! Can you imagine!? A LIVING FORTRESS! Hahahahaha! This is crazy!"

Everyone looked at the excited mothkin with stunned looks. Still, their astonishment was even more prominent when they looked toward the center of the town, where the massive tree was controlling a gigantic stream of energy while crafting the house.