Chapter 137. Interesting Artifact? New Visitors.

Looking at the disappearing corpses and the closing ground, Flor felt confused. "Liu Shu, why did you attack them?"

"Hm? They attacked you, so why shouldn't I attack back?"

Flor felt a bit speechless but also warm inside. "I see. Well, be careful, Liu Shu. We don't really know what they can have."

Liu Shu hummed. "I know. There are a few people in my visual area. Well, they are all quite harmless for you or the rest. I will warn the others by making the trees make sound wherever there are people." 

Flor blinked. "How many explorers are in the forest right now?"

The World Tree expanded her vision, taking in all the information. Gathering all the information and examining everywhere her roots reached took around 30 minutes. 

In the meantime, the Rose Fairy guided Flor in the direction of the resources recently discovered.

"Flor~, I have collected the information. I can see 63 people moving through the forest. Of those people, around 13 are Level 10+. The group we killed was one of the strongest." 

Flor hummed. "I see. Well, many of those will die from the evolving Flora, so I don't mind what happens much. Also, the resources are 500 meters from here?"

The Rose Fairy nodded, and Liu Shu warned. "That's outside of my vision range, be careful~." 

Flor smiled. "I will, don't worry. You can go tell the other fairies about Liu Shu's warning signal. I'll continue moving forward."

The Rose Fairy nodded and then saw Flor accelerating and moving through the forest at tremendous speed. As the wind flowed around her, the Rose Fairy Queen smiled. 'Feeling the wind again is quite nice; not being able to fly for all that time was quite… depressing, haha.' She couldn't help but sigh and look at her regrown arm. 'It is a bit weaker than my other arm, but at least I have it back. I can just train my arm, leg, and wings to recover their previous strength.'

"Oh? I am here."

She stopped flying and looked at the surroundings. This place was slightly different compared to the rest of the forest. Liu Shu's aura had somehow concentrated around here, influencing the plants much more than the rest of the forest. 

"Hmmm. Why did this happen?"

If it had been in the past, Flor probably would've attributed it to luck or coincidence and put the event in the back of her mind. However, thanks to her new title increasing her intelligence, she noticed that there must be something different with this place "Let's see, what is absorbing Liu Shu's <Enchanted Growth> aura and giving it to the plants around here~?"

Looking around for a few moments, she noticed that it came from underground. So, using her wind to blow the dirt away, Flor excavated, trying to find the origin of the gathering aura. 

After a few minutes, Flor created a nearly 15-meter-deep pit. At the bottom of the pit, she could see a strange sphere that was gathering the energy toward itself. The reason the surrounding flora was growing was just the residue and energy they stole before it got sucked in by this thing. 

The Rose Fairy Queen blinked a few times. "What's this? Can I analyze it?"

She focused her gaze, and after a while, she received a system message.

<[Broken] Energy Core (D Rank)>: An item used to power up Arrays, Rune formations, machines, and many other constructs. 

Note: It is broken because of time and erosion. 

Flor lifted an eyebrow, landing by the core's side. "That's nice. Did someone who came to explore this area die in the past, leaving this behind?"

It was not strange to find all kinds of treasures underground in different places. After all, the wilderness in the Ceperet World was brutal, and many lost their lives and equipment while traveling. 

Some explorers even scavenged for equipment in places where explorer parties had lost their lives, often finding good items. 

Expertly using her wind to elevate it, Flor looked around with a frown. "This place is a good harvesting spot, but… Outsiders can come and steal them when we aren't looking. After all, if we defend it, people will think. 'Oh! A place protected by monsters! I am sure there is something valuable to steal!' Or something similar." Flor snorted. "Really, because we are monsters, everything we own is treated as a trophy." 

Thinking of the fate of those fairies that fell, she sighed again. 'Really… I feel like I was happier when I was ignorant of these things.'

While the Rose Fairy Queen didn't regret it, and she wholeheartedly believed that the path she chose was the correct one, the sacrifices that needed to be made were starting to weigh on her shoulders. 

She patted her face and muttered. "Focus. There are many things to do." Looking at the resources around her, she muttered. "We should harvest everything and then try to seed them outside the Golden Forest Town, in a new farm that Liu Shu can build. This new farm can be used to grow resources. Thankfully, most of the resources for <Woodcrafting > can be grown and harvested. Still, what about the rest…?"

Flor blinked. "Wait, there is a large mine under Liu Shu. It certainly won't give just one type of mineral, right? Perhaps Liu Shu doesn't know how they work, so she is a bit in a pinch. She had read books about woodcrafting, but her knowledge of the rest is very limited… Speaking of books, I need to get a few more soon, don't I? Liu Shu needs to absorb information as much as possible so that her growth is not stunted like in the beginning." 

This was always a headache for Flor. Books were a very, very scarce resource. Not because the materials were scarce but because books made for the general public were very limited. Buying a book was also really expensive. 

Flor muttered as she returned to the Golden Sap Town. "Cinderielle and Verdantia managing to slip out the books they did was a significant risk already; doing it more often would certainly raise alarms. Verdantia and Cinderielle could make a few excuses the first few times, but after that…"

The journey back felt relatively short while mulling over these matters. Once she arrived, Flor went to the <Lignified Vault>, which had become gigantic compared to how it was at first. "Liu Shu, remember this item; it might be useful in the future."

The World Tree's attention went to the item Flor was holding, and she analyzed it.

<[Broken] Energy Rune Array Core (D Rank)>: An array core to provide energy to Rune Formations or Arrays. It can be used in other constructs, including weapons. 

Notes: The effects of the core are not clear, as time has corroded the core too much. However, it is of admirable quality since it has been abandoned for years and can still draw energy by itself. 

"Ohh! This is nice! Thanks, Flor!" 

Flor nodded and left it on a pile of miscellaneous items. The <Lignified Vault> was quite orderly for what it was. Liu Shu separated things into sections, from consumables to materials for weapons and materials for buildings. There were other sections as well as a large board with the names of certain materials and their ranks, all of which Liu Shu needed.

Moreover, the crystals that Liu Shu found in the caves below had also been stored in a corner with other currencies like Sylvanium Shards. 'Speaking of those materials…' "Liu Shu, how much Sylvanium do you have?"

The World Tree answered what she saw on her System page. "I have… 442 Sylvanium Shards, 0 Etherium Shards, 150 Ascendium Shards, 612 Celestium Shards, 692 Cognium Shards."

Flor was surprised. "So many?"

Liu Shu giggled. "Well, I have been earning two of them a Day since I became a World Tree. With my current efficiency, a flawed-level item costs 10, a complete-level item 50, and a flawless-level item 100. I've done around three more complete ones and two flawless ones. I have spent quite a lot~."

Flor found it reasonable. "What about currency?" 

"Do you mean those crystals that are in the mines? I get like 50 of them a day! It's quite nice, so I have nearly 20,000 Lir~. Oh! I got two larger ones called Bren from that evil guy who attacked you as well! Sososo, taking into account the 500 conversion rate, I have… 520,000 Lir? More or less~."

Flor hummed. Not knowing if that was a lot or not. "I see. Well, that money will help us in the future. By the way, you can transform shards into more concentrated currency, right?" 

Liu Shu smiled. "I can transform 100 shards into one of the next quality. So, 100 Sylvanium Shards would become 1 Sylvanium Ore. I have yet to do it, though." 

Flor flew out of the vault and went to the Town Hall. There, she learned how the Town was doing. 

Thanks to everyone's contribution, the number of Rose Fairies had bloomed during the last few months. Nearly 200 Rose Flowers were ready to germinate new fairies while 80 had already bloomed. While the number of "old" fairies was very small, nearly 70, that was not a problem. 

Even Flor herself contributed three seeds. She wanted to contribute more, but there were not many high-level creatures that could help her fertilize the seeds. 

Flor was sure that with Liu Shu's canopy as their umbrella, their population would bloom from now on. "Oh, right. Liu Shu, I had this new idea for you. How about you build…"

After listening, the World Tree agreed. "Okay~, I'll build a farm 300 meters away from my walls, to the north. How about it?"

Flor nodded. "That should be enough. Can you ask Clavel to lead a group of fairies to that area and collect the materials and seeds?" 

Liu Shu hummed. "Right away… Huh?"

Flor asked. "What happened?"

Liu Shu giggled. "Nothing~. Something good!" 

A Rose Fairy arrived not long after and said. "Queen Flor! There are some people who want to look for you! The group is strong; they have a lot of high levels, and they've been waiting for us!"

Flor was puzzled and looked from the tree window toward the calm and peaceful World Tree. 'If they were a threat, there is no way Liu Shu would've missed them or failed to inform me.'

"My little Flor~." 

Ignatia's loud call made Flor feel a bit embarrassed. She looked over the edge of the window and said. "Can you be a bit more silent?"

The Ant Queen laughed. "I don't care~. The World can be witness!" 

Flor humphed, but she obediently flew downward, falling in the Ant Queen's embrace. "So… What's wrong?" 

Ignatia grinned, making Flor humph again. "Let's go visit those people together~. I want to protect you if possible~."

Flor didn't decline. The Ant Queen was Level 20, meaning she had gone through a sub-cycle, and she was also above her own tier. In a fight, she had almost zero chance of winning. 'Sigh, these two are really eager to protect an old fairy like me, eh.' 

She just let herself be carried while a few hundred ants flowed out of the hole leading to Ignatia's nest. A group of nearly 50 Fairies also gathered in the way, all of them moving toward the meeting point.