Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Finnian quickly ran back, his eyebrows getting together while thinking about what had happened. 'That place is much different than I expected.'

After crossing nearly 600 meters, he arrived where his army was. Looking at the large group, Finnian was thoughtful. 'Those five serpents can probably hold me back for a while until I kill them.' 

In his opinion, he had no risk of dying against them. Still, they were really resilient, so killing them would take a while. 'Are those snakes the strongest creatures in that place? I could see several ants on the walls as well…' 

"Lord Finnian!" 

Finnian looked over and saw the Stormriders approaching with their mounts. "Did you manage to recover the Young Lord?"

Finnian shook his head. "No. I couldn't. I was too slow… Well, you lot were too slow to warn me. Two seconds earlier, and I could've caught the boy."

Finnian crossed his arms, looking at them. "You'll need to fight to the death in the upcoming battle if you want to recover him. Of course, the chances that you'll find him alive are low."

The Wind Sylvan frowned and spoke. "If something happens to Sir Eldric, you'll be in trouble as well, Lord Finnian."

Finnian's eyebrows raised. "Ho~? How so?"

"Lord Stormrider won't forgive you!"

Finnian laughed. "While I admire him and naturally fear him, there are plenty of people Lord Stormrider fears that are my allies. If Sir Eldric is lost, Lord Stormrider will feel upset and kill all of you, but he won't touch us."

The Stormrider people gritted their teeth, and Finnian walked forward. "Anyway, forget about trying to trick me into risking myself to recover him. My objective is the town which… By the way…" Finnian stopped walking and looked toward Alaric. "Hey! I went to visit that town, but I couldn't see any World Trees. There was a Life Tree in the middle, but I couldn't spot or even feel any World Trees."

Alaric looked over, confused. "What do you mean? There should be a nearly 40-meter-tall World Tree in the middle of that place."

Finnian walked over with crossed arms and commented. "I saw no 40-meter World Tree. I saw a nearly 80-meter-tall Life Tree, though." 

Alaric saw the gaze Finnian was giving him, and his face changed. "Wait… I would never lie about something like this, Lord Finnian. I have nothing to gain if I do."

Finnian hummed. "You actually do. First of all, your reports are the reason that me and the other Nexus powers have settled nearby. With us close, your <Void Witherwood Exarch> group will be safer. We will share burdens, after all." 

Alaric stated firmly. "I haven't lied. I don't know what happened during the last half a year or so since Malachai and the rest attacked, but I can swear that when I visited the town while it was under our control, there was a glaring World Tree in the middle. It is from the Willow Tree family, with drooping branches and a wide canopy."

Finnian looked at Jolie and asked. "You are the most knowledgeable here about World Trees and Life Trees. Can Life Trees resemble World Trees when they are young?"

Jolie nodded. "Not only can they, most of them do. The reason both are confused often is because their auras are very hard to distinguish, while Life Trees sometimes have a very light resemblance to female-body-shaped-trunks." Jolie played with the hair of the young Sylvan that she wanted to sacrifice and shrugged. "Now that it has crossed the Level 10 threshold, the Life Tree's characteristics becoming much more noticeable is more than possible."

Finnian snorted and looked at Alaric with a cold face. "There you have it. You confused a World Tree with a Life Tree. So much fuss for nothing!"

Jolie laughed. "Hey, that Life Tree, if it is 80 meters tall like you said, and its Level is in the low-Level-10s, then we might've stumbled upon something very lovely. After all, what Eldric spoke to Lord Stormrider about made Lord Stormrider think we were dealing with a D- Rank World Tree. If we translate the same evaluation to a Life Tree…"

Finnian pondered and commented. "Perhaps this Life Tree is D+ Rank?"

Jolie grinned. "Even C- is possible."

Alaric looked at them and frowned. 'Life Tree? Did I really get it wrong? It's not possible… Lord Stormrider wouldn't have lent twenty-five Level 19 Stormrider to Eldric unless he was very sure that there was a World Tree here. Lord Stormrider is famous for never giving any advantage to anyone."

Finnian crossed his arms. "Wert is interested in this Life Tree—enough to risk a lot for it." He lifted his chin, thoughtful. "Then, the same Life Tree was mistaken for a World Tree, which would solidify its high tier. Finally, even if we manage to conquer the city, Wert can come with his own army and fight us off."

Jolie asked, confused. "What are you thinking about?"

Finnian looked at Jolie and commented. "Us losing this battle is extremely unlikely. Our forces are strong and numerous compared to theirs. But, can we fight off Wert after our battle with this small town?"

Jolie hummed. "Do you think that we've jumped to action too fast?"

Finnian crossed his arms and walked back and forth slowly. "I think we did." Looking at Jolie, he explained. "If it were a D- Rank World Tree, after you took control of it, we could have used it to help us defend. World Trees are incredibly powerful in defensive battles." 

Everyone got silent, and Jolie asked. "So… Do we retreat?" 

Finnian sighed. "I think that a frontal attack like we were planning is too risky." He spoke. "Our plan was to send the Level 9s first as cannon fodder. However, we've seen that there is defensive flora in that area."

He then added. "Moreover, the flora is a rapid shooting one. It's not the usual tangling type of flora. So, while big, a group of 2500 is not big enough to even start distracting their big players."

Finnian leaned against a tree and looked at everyone seriously. "The <Explorer Association> is not backing Wert in this endeavor. On the contrary, they are probably looking with sharp eyes and waiting for him to fail. After all, Explorer Association Managers are competitors with each other, and Wert doing this one action means that he wants to compete with Fortuna City using this Life Tree."

Liu Shu was listening to everything they spoke with a confused face. She asked Ignatia. "They want to retreat because that strong person thinks I am not a World Tree."

Ignatia tilted her head. "Really? That's nice, no?"

Liu Shu hummed. "It's not bad…" 

Ignatia looked at Liu Shu and smirked. "Did you want to fight to gain experience?"

"Well, I do want to gain experience…" Liu confessed. "But I also don't want to have people get hurt. Four little friends died in the battle in the sky." 

Ignatia hummed. "Four Rose Fairies died? Sigh… Then, Liu Shu, since our enemy is really powerful this time, we need to try another path that's not combat."

"I know… Hm? They are speaking again." 

Ignatia asked. "What are they saying?"

Liu Shu listened and heard Finnian say. "I think we should try an indirect approach."

Alaric asked. "Do you want us to infiltrate and create something similar to a black market?"

Finnian asked. "Why? Is it not possible? There is one in Fortuna City. Why can't we have one here?"

Alaric sighed and explained. "Lord Finnian, you are new, so I won't really blame it on you. However, that black market is supported by the higher-ups because it exists in a city with a World Tree. Moreover, it is heavily restricted because of Eila Neoflora's presence."

Jolie snorted. "If I were Level 30, I could've controlled Fortuna without that Neoflora woman noticing."

Alaric snorted. "And if I were Level one million, I would rule the universe." 

Finnian sighed. "Then, what do you suggest? That we risk it all for a Life Tree? Their growth potential is not even close to a World Tree's! World Trees are called that way because they can dominate WORLDS!" Finnian raised his tone. "What are Life Trees in comparison!? A fancy plant that helps those in a city!"

Alaric argued. "World Trees may have that potential, but realizing that potential is almost impossible. Not even the leaders of the four global powers have been able to grow a World Tree that far. On the other side, there are paradise-like cities where a Life Tree took root! Life Trees being less absolute and invasive is the key as to why they are so valuable!" 

Finnian clicked his tongue. "Okay. Imagine this situation, Alaric, since you seem to have been blinded by greed."

Alaric protested. "I have not-"

Finnian lifted his hand. "Shut up and listen."

Alaric took a deep breath and nodded. Finnian explained. "We go and attack. We succeed but at the cost of 30% of our people. That's a fair assessment, right?"

Alaric nodded. "Okay."

Finnian continued. "Now, after we establish ourselves, and while our Phoer, Anima, and Aether reserves are depleted, Wert comes."

Alaric spoke. "We can threaten them with the Life Tree they care so much about. Wert has a lot on his plate because Fortuna's influence is growing out of control after she started actively growing again."

Finnian used a counterargument. "Precisely because Wert has a lot on his plate, he would love a way to keep a large part of his territory while Fortuna eats the rest. A Life Tree is a sure-fire method! With it, he can argue with the <Explorer Association> that giving up the Golden Sap Forest to Fortuna will only benefit the people in those towns because Life Trees won't fight with Fortuna over territory. The <Explorer Association> can be considered the fifth secret global power, and if they say that they want to keep the Golden Sap Forest, everyone will take a step back!"

Alaric gritted his teeth. "That's if it belongs to Wert! But if it belongs to us-"

Finnian interrupted. "If it does, it will be theirs to reclaim! We are part of the largest pariah group! THE <Abyssal Void Nexus>! Do you think that they will respect us? This continent is part of the <Azure Rose Confederation>, not a random place! The only reason the local powers have not yet cleaned us out is because they are focused on other things and don't like to provoke the Nexus without a really good reason!"

Finnian sighed. "What if… I don't know… Lord Stormbringer himself decides to get involved. What will you do when a LEVEL 40 comes and asks you to MOVE?!"

Alaric couldn't answer, and Finnian spoke with another sigh. "Look, Alaric. I don't like you. I don't like this place at all because the politics here are complicated. The reason I bothered coming here is that I thought there was a World Tree we could get. But there isn't. The thing in that city or town is a Life Tree."

Alaric thought for a second and asked. "What if it has camouflage? What if the World Tree can camouflage itself as a Life Tree?"

Finnian snorted and asked sarcastically. "What if it is Level 100, and in truth, that tree is the main puppeteer of the world?" 

Jolie chuckled, and Finnian shook his head. "What kind of stupid question is that? A Level 11 or so camouflaging from a Level 25? Even Wert, who has been at a close distance, thinks it is a Life Tree! If you want, Alaric, we might as well start worrying about World Trees developing legs and running away!"

Alaric asked, leaning against a tree with a tired expression. "Then, what? We just came here to kill Eldric? Because that's what it looks like for those who know what happened."

Finnian spoke. "I'll send a letter to Lord Stormrider. If he wants to take revenge for his son, he will know who did it. Prepare to send a few people when the town opens so that we can set up the underground market. We are playing politics since we lack the brute strength to carry out our plans."