Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos. Chapter 147. Rune Crafting Books! Library Materials!

After looking at that material, Liu Shu struggled. After all, not even the material encyclopedia she swallowed in the past had it. "Ugh…"

Mariane heard Liu Shu grunt and asked, amused. "What's wrong?"

Liu Shu asked. "Mariane… Do you know what and is?"

The mothkin asked, astounded. "What rank are those materials? A Rank? What's with that na?"

Liu Shu responded. "Huh? A Rank? Nono, they are F Rank and F Rank."

The mothkin almost slipped and fell even though she was standing still. "What kind of na is that for a asly F Rank material!? Cosmosheart!? That sounds like, I don't know, sothing that can build worlds or sothing!"

Liu Shu stuttered. "D-Does it? Do you think it will be hard to get?"

Mariane frowned. "Do those materials have anything to do with our deal?"

Liu Shu humd softly. "Yes. If I have those materials, then I can agree to your condition."

Mariane's antennae crossed as she beca deep in thought. "Hm… Give a second; I'll ask Verena. I've personally never heard about those two materials, but she might've."

The mothkin sighed and asked as she flapped her large wings to fly toward Verena. "So… Why do you want a Rune Encyclopedia? I can guess why, but I want to check if I am correct."

Liu Shu pondered for a bit and answered. "Well, I want to know what you do. Just in case."

Mariane smiled. "I see~ As expected, you don't trust ."

Liu Shu was honest. "I don't. We barely know each other, so I was hoping to have a security net for it."

Mariane humd. "What is the temporal thingy for?"

The World Tree humd. "To create a library!"

"A library?" The mothkin landed in front of the Town Hall and tilted her head. "Hm… I don't follow, but sure. Let's ask."

Once inside, Mariane knocked on the main door, and after a few seconds, she heard Flor's voice. "Enter."

Once inside, she saw Verena, the Sylvans, Flor, and Ignatia sitting around a table. She smiled and asked. "Well, the World Tree wants and . Any idea how to get those?"

Verena blinked, and Branthis's voice spread around. "Why does she want those? That kind of bark is only harvested from trees that are naturally attuned to Space Aether. They are incredibly rare."

Mariane shrugged. "She wants to build a library."

Verena looked incredulous for a second and then muttered. "Well, if it is just for that, I can lend a few units. How many does she need?"

Mariane opened her mouth and closed it. Then, she smiled cutely. "I don't know~."

Verena rolled her eyes and looked upward. Liu Shu laughed and said. "Ten and one !"

Verena humd. "I can give you all of those for one breakthrough fruit!"

"Deal!"

Liu Shu's swift answer made Verena blink. "Hm? Didn't you want to do business with Flor? Why are you doing it with suddenly?"

Liu Shu asked, confused. "I am the one who wants it. Why would I let others make a deal for ?"

Verena facepald. "Right. Oh dear, this was also another way to get these things. How about you say what more you need, and we can do more deals?"

Liu Shu humd and comnted. "Weren't you speaking with Flor about those? You've even reached quite a nice agreent, right?"

Verena sighed. "So, you were listening."

"Hm?" The World Tree asked. "Why wouldn't I be listening?"

Verdantia chuckled, earning herself a side eye from her mother. Verena muttered. "Okay, I'll carry those things in less than three days, deal?"

"Sure~." With that secured, Liu Shu said to Mariane. "I agree to your terms!"

Mariane smiled and answered. "Sure." As long as she could do what she wanted, she was happy. Plus, if she was going to recover her books, it didn't matter if she gave them to her.

So, Mariane went to the room she was staying next and took so of her books related to the things she was going to do.

Once before Liu Shu, she comnted. "If you read these, or whatever you do with books to read them, you will be able to follow the steps and quickly notice if I do sothing bad or strange."

The World Tree extended two branches and grazed the three books. Mariane looked with curiosity and suddenly saw those three books disintegrate into light particles that flowed into the World Tree.

Her antennae madly twitched as she asked. "W-What did you do?"

Amapola, who was flying nearby, looked at what happened and approached with a laugh. "Don't worry, Mariane. She just ate the books."

Mariane was speechless. 'She ate them? Then, how am I going to get them back even if she builds the library?'

Her head started to ache. 'Ah… Trees… I shouldn't have made a deal with a tree… My books, my precious babies… eaten, swallowed by an evil World Tree! Argh!'

Amapola didn't know how to react when Mariane fell to her knees and started pounding the floor with her fists in a silent tantrum. "U-Um, are you okay, Mariane?"

Mariane looked up, her pearly black eyes moist with unshed tears. "I am not! My precious babies! My books! Gone! Eaten by that evil tree!"

Amapola laughed awkwardly. "W-Well, look at the bright side. Now, Liu Shu knows everything about them, so you just need to ask her if you don't rember anything."

The mothkin blinked. "What do you an everything?"

Amapola blinked back. "I an it, um… literally? Like she absorbs all the knowledge. I even heard that she is able to filter wrong information and correct it."

The mothkin froze as the gears in her brain churned, processing the information. 'Wait, and are materials that have special properties…' The intelligent mothkin's wings widened as she realized. 'Will she be able to print any book she absorbs in the future with all the mistakes corrected!? No WAY!'

Mariane stood up swiftly, startling Amapola. "M-Mariane! Be calm! Don't attack Liu Shu! W-We'll sohow get the books back!"

Confused about the fluttering fairy, Mariane buzzed her wings to spread a calming powder around her. Seeing the Rose Fairy blink asynchronously, Mariane stretched her hands and caught the yawning Rose Fairy. "Don't worry, Amapola. I am not angry."

Amapola snorted and yawned again. "Why am I so tired so suddenly?"

Mariane coughed, using one of her hands to cover her mouth. "Sorry, the scales I used are a bit stronger than I anticipated. You will probably fall asleep for an hour or two in a few seconds."

Amapola gave Mariane a reproachful side-eye as she curled in Mariane's hands. "You are… so… Yawwn… Irresponsible… Zzz."

Mariane laughed awkwardly, scratching her face with one of her four hands. "Sorry, Amapola."

anwhile, Liu Shu absorbed all the knowledge in the books Mariane shared and received a few notifications.

[Congratulations! You've learned !]

[Congratulations! Your has been upgraded to !]

[Compatible skill detected. Do you want to rge?]

Liu Shu looked at that ssage and asked. 'Is rging better?'

[If it leads to a worse evolution path, the System will not offer the option. The skill that will be rged with is . The result will be… Calculating… .]

Liu Shu noticed that Living Wood City was currently at Level 3, so she was gladly surprised. 'It will level up two tis! Can I see the effects of the new skill?'

[Specific changes will only be available after rging.]

'Ugh…' Liu Shu almost called the system useless again, but she held back this ti. 'You are annoying.'

[...]

'Anyway, rge it.'

[Understood!]

[You've learned