After the birth of the five Sylvans, everyone from the family made a trip back to see them. Dewna and the others were accustod to receiving a new little sibling twice or more a year. But this ti, the nature of the little siblings brought curiosity to all these older children who had gotten accustod to the little ones.
So from the third generation had also grown up a great deal, the oldest being 24 years old. A few of those children even married early, starting to create the fourth generation of Liu Shu’s family tree.
Liu Shu knew of a fourth-generation baby who was about to be three years old!
What was interesting was that the children all had so Alraune traits. While so were born without their flower-halves, their attunents were not lost. In fact, the first fourth-generation child, born of a human and a dryad, was a new type of alraune who carried her flower on her back.
She was honestly very cute and could even use tendrils like extra arms. The system called this species . ‘My great-grandbabies are becoming very varied and interesting! So cute~.’
She stretched one of her roots, poking the baby and making it laugh. The parents noticed the root and quickly showed respectful attitudes. As third-generation, they were not that close to Liu Shu. Of course, they still called her "grandma" and were sweet to her. Nevertheless, after growing up, they beca sowhat strained, coming to understand so of the world’s truths.
Liu Shu’s position was too grand for so of the third generation, especially their partners.
After playing a bit with the humanoid alraune, Liu Shu refocused on taking care of Cinderielle and the others. They were quite drained, so she was making sure that their energies were up.
And what was better than a cup of warm milk tea! Liu Shu used the stored milk and leaves, creating a delicious-slling beverage.
Naturally, she also prepared a bottle with a teat for the five Sylvans. Her milk was too precious and nutritious not to feed it to the newborns.
Verdantia held one of the twins and gave it the bottle of milk. Once the baby started suckling, Verdantia could swear that she saw Faye’s eyes light up and beco aggressive. Her eyes twitched a bit. “...What, is Mother’s milk bad compared to Liu Shu’s, eh? You look as if you’ve starved to death for the last twenty years.”
Strangely sensing a sense of threat, Faye’s suckling speed relaxed, her big, purple-colored eyes blinking adorably and innocently. Verdantia and Verena couldn’t help but laugh. Verena comnted, intrigued. “This child is truly intelligent.”
Verdantia smiled and nodded. It has been only a few days, so the Sylvan children were still small and becoming accustod to their surroundings. Nevertheless, their big, beautiful eyes couldn’t help but always look around, taking in their surroundings with curiosity.
A little bit to her right, Tempestria glanced over and comnted with a smirk. “But it seems that size doesn’t equal the volu of milk. Faye and Faylin seem quite thirsty.”
It was just banter, and Verdantia knew it. Instead of becoming indignant, though, she raised her eyebrow and smirked. “I can feed one child with just one breast. Here you are, alternating yours. Are you sure that Arlyn won’t grow skinny? I can help you if you want, Tempestria. I have so extra even after feeding these two.”
Tempestria snorted. “Alright, I walked right into that one. You were a bit ruthless, though!”
Verdantia smirked triumphantly. “Those who dare mock Liu Shu’s favorite bundles of softness will be put in their place!”
Tempestria shook her head, looking down and using one finger to poke at Arlyn’s chubby cheeks. “You are really cute, aren’t you?”
“Mother, can I hold my little sister? She is so cute!”
Sylvia was sitting by Tempestria’s side, her large, expressive eyes showing curiosity. Tempestria naturally passed her own, not minding at all.
Arlyn saw her sister’s face and made a strange, crumpled expression. After all, Sylvia had no mouth, so Arlyn could feel that sothing was amiss. She didn’t know whether to cry or not, making her look constipated. Tempestria almost burst into laughter, while Sylvia felt speechless.
“You little girl, what is with that expression? Do you not like your eldest sister’s face?”
Arlyn blinked, still confused. She was even looking down at the source of the sound of Sylvia’s voice. Thankfully, Sylvia was tactful and wore a dress that hid her belly mouth. No matter how clever Arlyn was, if she saw a massive mouth full of teeth in front of her face, she would probably burst into a deafening cry.
Pyara and the other children were also present, enjoying the company of their first non-Alraune sisters.
While all of them were enjoying their ti, Liu Shu felt sothing stir deep within one of the temple structures. Her main body’s eyes opened, glancing down at the Temple of Life that she combined with the Temple of Death.
“Oh, is it ti?”
These were the first signals, so it would be a week or two before it truly awakened. Still, Liu Shu made sure to inform Flor about it.
“Mom, another of the temples is completing its evolution. It will probably be done by the end of this month.”
Flor nodded, thoughtful. “Which one is it this ti around?”
“It is the Temple of Life. I combined it with the Temple of Death, so I am not really sure what effects it will bring. Still, since the Temple of Life was the foundation, it should focus more on it than the other concept.”
Looking at her granddaughter in Cinderielle’s arms, Flor rubbed her chin. “It won’t affect children negatively, right?”
Liu Shu answered softly. “Naturally. The blessings do not even work on those who have yet to awaken their System Pages.”
“Speaking of which,” Ignatia comnted. “Previously, the age to Level Up for the first ti was 16 to 18, right? We’ve followed that tradition until now. Still, is it really necessary? I feel that many species can Level Up much earlier than 18 years old. Sylvans do need to be mature enough, but adolescents have enough developnt to support the system’s influence without any adverse effects.”
Liu Shu added to that. “I’ve been looking into it for a while. I even asked the System myself. From what I’ve learned, there is actually no drawback for allowing even a newborn to Level Up. Only… if they have 100 , they won’t have the sa strength as an adult with the sa stats.”
Flor tilted her head, confused. “If that’s true, then why haven’t you changed this rule?”
“ntal Developnt.” Liu Shu comnted. “It is true that anyone can develop their levels at any age. However, ntal developnt is greatly important. Imagine that, as a child, you practice the sword. You Level Up, get swordsmanship titles, but later, when you mature, you notice that you wanted to be a Fire Aether mage. So people co with talents, but hasty developnt can lead to so children becoming stuck with what they chose when they were little.”
Everyone blinked and understood. It was similar to education. A child was not taught to be a blacksmith from a young age; they were taught general knowledge, and if they later wanted to beco one, they could.
“Hm… I understand.” Ignatia nodded, but she still was not fully convinced. “Still, I do believe that adolescents can Level Up. Even if they later change opinions, the titles and skills they’ve gained won’t be as deeply rooted as if they began learning when they were five. Right?”
Liu Shu was not against it. “We can try it with the new generations. See how it does, and if it ever becos a problem, we can pedal back on it.”
Veyra at the side had other opinions, though. “While I do agree that freedom of choice is ideal. A child’s ability to absorb knowledge is the best. So, even if you tell them to practice swordsmanship or Aethermancy since they are little, I believe that this is more a choice of the parents than ours.”
Liu Shu also thought as such, but finding a balance was truly difficult. “What do you suggest?”
“Let the people know of the drawbacks and advantages,” Veyra comnted, her eyes thoughtful. “We are not to ddle in family unity. If we do that, there is a chance that so people will resent you in the future.”
Elyne frowned, her eyes flashing with a bit of gentleness. “Won’t this create cases of child abuse? Parents who want their children to be exceptional and expose them to rigorous training and such.”
Veyra shook her head. “That happens either way. Even if they can’t Level Up, they can be forced to learn the sword. With the system, the parents at least will be able to guide them according to their talents.”
Liu Shu nodded. “Fair point. Elyne and Flor, I want the church and governnt to use this chance to cooperate. Using the religious influence, we can spread the ideas mildly so that people treat them more cautiously. I will leave the specifics to you two.”
Flor and Elyne nodded.
After that, weeks passed, and the ti for the Temple’s awakening arrived. Liu Shu was peacefully attending to her matters when System ssages began popping up in her eyes.
[Congratulations for the successful evolution between the and concepts!]
[The has evolved into !]
[All for have been deleted. From now on, you will gain .]
Liu Shu smiled, and she spoke softly. “Alright, Little Growth, spread your influence.”
With her words, the awakened.
BOOM!
A pillar of green and dark lights soared to the sky, smashing against the atmosphere with no less strength than that of the . Its aura spread out, creating an ominous atmosphere full of death and Life Aether and Anima essences.
All creatures of the world looked over, stunned at the developnt, until a sowhat familiar ssage reached them.
[You’ve lost .]
As the Temple’s energy engulfed the world, the seeds interconnected through Liu Shu’s roots also evolved. Another System ssage popped up.
[All will evolve into .]
And, right after, the final ssage reached all living beings in the world.
[Congratulations! You’ve gained .]
***
: While under its influence, creatures will be attuned and perceptive to Life and Death essence. You can heal non-mortal injuries and scarring naturally with enough ti. There is a faint chance of becoming and gaining a with the sa na. While under the effects of the Blessing or the Title, you gain:
Learning and comprehension of Life- and Death-aligned Aether, spells, or principles increase by 400%.
When a creature not under this Blessing dies by your hand, you may absorb a portion of its fading vitality, restoring a small amount of health and accelerating ongoing regeneration.
All Life- and Death-type healing, weakening, purification, and decay effects beco 25% stronger.
Resistance to Death-aligned energies, decay, rot, miasma, curses, and similar effects increases by 30%.
Natural lifespan increases by 40%.
The Experience Points needed to improve Life- or Death-related skills are reduced by 20%.
: You may convert Phoer into Aether Mana or Anima Energy at an exchange rate of 5:1. You may also burn a fragnt of your lifespan to gain a short-lived surge of power; the backlash manifests as permanent, unhealable damage proportional to the duration and magnitude of the boost.
***
User Comments
0 comments from readers