Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.
Chapter 448. Third Exotic Little One! Sylphaith!

Liu Shu woke up after almost half a year of sleeping. Unlike other times, the second she woke up, a sharp pain reached her from her Avatar’s stomach. She didn’t even have time to check anything before the familiar sensation soaked her entire body. Looking at her swollen stomach, Liu Shu huffed and puffed, moving her body slowly and lying down in a position that made the process easier. 

It took one and a half hours, but eventually, Liu Shu firmly and securely delivered the new life into the world.

An echoey wail spread in the <Core Room>. “Wahh! Wahhh!”

Liu Shu was drenched in sweat, tiredness reflecting in her eyes. Even then, she moved some roots gently to place the newborn in her arms. Looking at the anguish-inducing crying child in her arms, the World Tree mother smiled lovingly. “You are really impatient, eh? Silly girl, couldn’t you wait for your mother to come visit?”

The child she gave birth to was another exotic, female plant humanoid creature. The plant’s greyish humanoid body had a stalled aura around it that gave a faint, ominous feeling. Her crying also echoed with a faint, wraith-like nature, while the very large purple eyes of the petite being cried blood-red tears. Taking into account the long, vine-like limbs and that the sound was not coming from a mouth in her face but on her stomach, anyone who looked at the small child would be pretty scared. 

“Still…” The World Tree was curious as to why Tempestria and her child became this particular plant species. “<Sylphaith>. A plant-spirit with affinities toward Death, Wind, and Echo. They have a hard time learning powerful spells and abilities. However, with their very unusual <Echo> affinity, they are able to repeat and spam skills seemingly without end. Moreover, their strong control over mind-abilities through chants enables them to enthrall people and absorb life to feed themselves.”

After speaking the summary to clarify her mind on her species, Liu Shu laughed absurdly. “Why are all my children taboo-like plant beings that people usually kill on the spot when found in nature?” She was even more puzzled because of a detail that she had not spoken about yet.

Looking toward the lower half, the Sylphaith, like her other plant children, had a large flower instead of legs. “Sylphaiths are also related to Alraune, being part of the same <Flower Charm> species. If Farlunes are the male version of an Alraune, the Sylphaith is the opposite side of the same coin. Alraune feeds on life essence and lust and enchants their prey through allure, substances, and soul arts. Meanwhile, Sylphaiths absorb their life essence, attracting them through illusions of their past regrets. An alluring embrace where you can cry your regrets but ultimately consumes you…”

As she pondered the reason for this child popping out of her, she remembered something. “Death… It has affected the land greatly lately. The aura of death I’ve absorbed from the <Dark Aether Swamp>, <Terragore Empire>, <Dungeon>, <Wall Forest>, and wars has started to influence me in a way. Has that influence mixed with this child?”

“Waahh~!!”

The wailing cry would make any normal being want to hold their ears in pain. However, Liu Shu was unbothered. Her startled face was because she realized something even more important. “Oh, my baby! I almost forgot to feed you!”

Liu Shu hugged the baby, leading her bosom not to her face but to the child’s stomach. Then, the stomach of the grey-skinned Sylphaith opened vertically and swallowed half of Liu Shu’s large bosom. The vine-like limbs and flowers coiled around Liu Shu like a spoiled child while her very large purple eyes looked at Liu Shu attentively. Liu Shu smiled and summoned one of her softest leaves to clean her blood-red tears. “There, there. Is it delicious, baby?”

The vines and flowers coiled tightly around Liu Shu, showing affection in a rather creepy but adorable way. Even though her Avatar was extremely tired, she didn’t really dare to fall asleep with her newborn baby in her arms. Therefore, she forced herself to stay awake by looking at her ongoing mission.

[<Become A Young World Tree>]

[You’ve created a domain and made your presence known. However, you are not the only World Tree in this world. Your objective is to be set apart from the others.]

[Objective 1: Reach B- Tier. (Completed)]

[Objective 2: Dominate the <Terragore> Nest and control their threat. (Completed)]

[Objective 3: Deal with <The Abyssal Nexus> in the Wild Continent. (31%)]

[Objective 4: Build your third <Temple>. (Completed)]

“Not bad~. Hehehe. Only the Nexus is left!”

Her face went through the system messages, and she noticed the two extra <Tier Up> messages. “System, show me my stats.”

[Showing stats before any <Title>, <Passive>, or <Skill> buffs are applied.]

***

Level: 66 [0/1,188,390]

Aether Mana Cores: 1,562/1,562 → 1,577/1,577

Phoer Body Cores: 1,639/1,639 → 2,258/2,258

Anima Energy Cores: 1,540/1,540 → 2,132/2,132

Attributes: Aether 54,890 (8,424+46,466) / Physique 68,382 (10,056+58,326) / Anima 66,562 (9,990+56,572) / Willpower 31,150 (10,122+21,028) / Destiny 6,600 (6,600)

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (320), Physique Refinement (386), Anima Affinity (371), Mental Palace (15) 

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (79), Physique Resistance (85), Spiritual Resistance (85), Mental Resistance (83)

Summoning Affinity: Summon Cost (-83%), Summon Enhancement (+30%), Summoning Invoking Time (-83%), Summon Upkeep (-83%)

***

<Aether Stars>: 14 = B+ Rank

<Phoer Stars>: 16 = A Rank

<Anima Stars>: 15 = A- Rank

<Willpower Stars>: 17 = A+ Rank

<Overall Stars>: 15.5 = A- Tier

***

Liu Shu was very satisfied when looking at that stats page. Her <A- Tier>, <Essence Branches>, and her <Perfect Energy Cycle> combined together to give her such a <Stat> advantage that one could confuse her System Page with someone who had already crossed into the <Fourth Energy Cycle>. 

Or, at least, Liu Shu wanted to believe that. ‘I wonder if I am close or if the jump to the <Fourth Energy Cycle> is that ridiculous? After all, the <Terragore Queen>’s stats weren’t that far away from mine. Still, she was a rather weak monster in comparison with the <Fourth Energy Cycle> fighters of the main continents.’

“Well, those people don’t seem to have the intention of intervening. So, it doesn’t matter much for now. I guess that once I get a hold of this continent, they might finally take me into account with the respect that I am owed. However, by then, it will be too late. Muhahaha!”

Her evil laugh made the mouthless head of her new daughter tilt while those giant purple eyes looked at her with a lovely expression. Seeing her big eyes blinking adorably, Liu Shu hugged her baby and rained kisses on her face. “I love you, darling. How do I call you? Do you like the name Dathlia? Perhaps… Pharia? Hm… That sounds too close to a ‘pariah’. I don’t want anyone to associate you with that.” 

Her mind spun, trying to find a nice-sounding name for the little one. Eventually, she sighed and commented. “How about we leave that for Tempestria?” Her mind went out and swept her domain, quickly finding Tempestria. The Wind Sylvan was practicing with her sword in the training grounds for the army. She was sparring against Verdantia, fighting off hundreds of summons and systematically closing the distance.

Once she was close enough and about to attack, Liu Shu spoke mischievously. Fully intending to interrupt the flow of her battle. “Tempestria, your child has been born. What name do you think is best for her?”

The Wind Sylvan’s eyes widened at the abrupt news, and a summon managed to sneak a punch through her defenses.

BANG!

The poor Sylvan was sent tumbling, smashing against a distant wall. Verdantia quickly stopped her summons with an awkward expression. After all, Liu Shu had talked loudly, not bothering to hide her words. “Ahem. Sorry, Tempestria, I couldn’t stop my summon in time.”

Tempestria stood up from the small pile of rubble right away, not caring at all about her appearance. “Shu’er! Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to give birth!?” 

She was honestly somewhat upset. She wanted to be there the moment her child was born. Liu Shu answered with a bit of a guilty tone. “Sorry, Tempestria. It happened as soon as I woke up, so I had to focus on giving birth first and then tell you.” She added with a solemn expression. “Otherwise, I would’ve told you, I promise!”

A tall man approached with a grin and spoke loudly. “Congratulations on having a little one, Commander Tempestria!”

The rest of the soldiers followed his loud shout. “Congratulations, Commander Tempestria!”

Tempestria’s annoyed face was quickly full of a smile as she puffed her chest. “Thank you, thank you. Either way, since my child has been born, I’ll have to go now. Today’s training ends here! Everyone will have a free day!”

“Wohoo!”

“Commander Tempestria is the best!”

“Have a nice day, Commander Tempestria!”

Tempestria smiled and then took to the skies, flying off into the distance at her top speed. The other Sylvans blinked twice before following after with their own methods. The other three mounted their war beasts and told them to run. While traveling toward Liu Shu, Cinderielle snorted. “Having the ability to fly must be nice.”

Harmonixia chuckled. “Sometimes I am quite envious of that. Tempestria can move around extremely fast without any problems.”

Verdantia hummed. “I’ll have a flying plant creature to travel around with soon, so only you two will have that problem.”

The other two gave her a side-eye before starting to speculate about what kind of child Liu Shu had given birth to. 

Meanwhile, Tempestria was speaking with Liu Shu about the new bun. “So… What species did you give birth to this time around?” Tempestria asked curiously. “I wonder if you had a <Fae Lume>, perhaps a <Byrithe Zephyr>?”

“None of those~. You’ll be surprised when you see her, hehe.”

“Her? So it is a girl!” Tempestria smiled, satisfied. 

Liu Shu asked, curious. “Do you prefer girls?”

“Hm… Not really? I am just happy to know, haha. Still, you being mysterious must mean that the little one is quite exotic, right?”

“It will probably be the first one you’ve seen in your life.”

Tempestria’s curiosity reached its peak, and she quickly entered Liu Shu’s <Core Room>. Once there, she opened the <Petal Door> and looked toward the spot where Liu Shu usually lay. There, she spotted her lover’s Avatar cradling a strange, greyish humanoid plant being. The humanoid plant turned her mouthless face, looking quite creepily at Tempestria. The Sylvan’s back felt a strange chill for a moment. It was a pure physiological reaction from a plant being toward one that had an affinity for Death. 

She approached cautiously, and after seeing the abdominal mouth of her child greedily drinking, the Wind Sylvan didn’t know what to say. “... Um. What is she?”

Liu Shu laughed at Tempestria’s baffled look, and she spoke with a smile. “Congratulations, Tempestria! Our child is an incredibly rare <Sylphaith>.” 

The Sylvan’s elegant, grey eyes opened wide. “Huh?”