Chapter 41. [Break Through Berry] and Beast Tide.

Chapter 41. [Break Through Berry] and Beast Tide.

Putting aside those thoughts, Liu Shu focused on her new system. There were quite a few things that caught her attention. The first of them was the number of maxed skills she had. 'There are a lot... Can I upgrade any of them?'

She looked and listed her max rank skills.

<Charm of the Seedling (F Rank Level MAX)>

<Nature's Gift (F Rank level MAX)>

<Woodcrafter (E Rank Level MAX)>

<World Tree Wisdom (SSS Rank Level Max)>

Liu Shu hummed. 'So... How much experience do I need for each of them to rank up? First the F Rank ones.'

[Do you want to use 326 Experience Points to Increase <Charm of the Seedling (F Rank Level MAX)> to <Charm of the Seedling (F+ Rank Level 1)>?]

'I see, so F Rank needs 326 Experience Points...' Liu Shu looked at the 1900 for Level Up that she needed with a thoughtful expression. Then, she checked Nature's Gift. 'Do all skills need the same at the same rank?'

[Do you want to use 326 Experience Points to Increase <Nature's Gift (F Rank Level MAX)> to <Nature's Gift (F+ Rank Level 1)>?]

Liu Shu hummed. 'They do.' She looked at Woodcrafter and also checked to remember how much she needed.

[Do you want to use 20,739 Experience Points to Increase <Woodcrafter (E Rank Level Max)> to <Woodcrafter (E+ Rank Level 1)>?]

Liu Shu groaned in her mind. 'So much...' Then, Liu Shu looked at World Tree Wisdom and pondered. 'Do I even look...?' She was afraid that her Tree Heart would suffer if she saw the number needed to increase the rank of that skill. After considering it for a while, she gave it a look.

'...'

Liu Shu closed the message just as it popped and then cried. 'H-How am I supposed to gather that much experience? T-This is impossible! QAQ!'

Even for a World Tree that was patient by nature, the number she saw struck fear in her heart. Liu Shu focused on her mind and chanted. 'Forget the number, forget the number! I don't even know how to call that number! I don't know numbers after hundreds of thousands! What comes next!? Thousands of thousands!? And after that?! I need to know even higher zeroes to spell that dreadful number! QAQ!'

After looking back at the 326 Experience Points for the F Rank skill, Liu Shu felt that it wasn't that unreasonable anymore. 'Hm hm. This pretty 326 is much better than whatever that was.'

That day, Liu Shu learned that big numbers are good, but only in good things like her stats.

'Anyway, I have almost no experience accumulated right now, so it doesn't matter much. So, only one thing left to check.'

Her gaze moved toward the new fruit that she could grow, the <Basic Breakthrough Berry>. 'Flor and the others would probably like it, right? But...' Liu Shu hummed. 'It can only increase tier to the F+ Tier... Whatever tier is...'

What she didn't know was that even if it could only increase <Tier> from F- to F Tier, it would be something that people would kill to have. <Tier> was usually the limitation of a person's future, or in other words, a combination of a creature's innate talent and potential.

To increase that would help not only that creature but also their descendants, who would be born with higher chances of being of a higher <Tier>. In other words, modifying <Tier> was modifying the bloodline of a creature and making all their descendants stronger.

Curious, she tried again. This time, in a much more controlled manner.

Her Aether Mana and Anima Energy swirled around her body and swirled upwards in a stream toward the branch where Liu Shu was growing the flower. 'Let's use... five shards of each per second.'

And so, the World Tree began feeding it, and feeding it, and feeding it, and feeding it again.

20 seconds... 50 seconds... 2 minutes...

The World Tree looked at the barely changing flower with incredulity. 'W-what? I have fed it more than 600 of each, and it has barely started reacting!?'

Liu Shu looked at her reserves, which had lowered for more than a sixth with a complicated expression. 'M-More? Do you need more?'

Curious, she continued giving it energy.

One thousand... one thousand three hundred... one thousand seven hundred...

Liu Shu stopped and stuttered. 'Y-You glutton! Do you really need so many Aether Mana Shards and Anima Energy Shards? Are you sure you are not trying to eat for free!?'

However, she could see that the previously immutable flower had been somewhat satisfied. 'How much more do I need?'

Not knowing the answer, Liu Shu changed strategies. 'I'll use... Hm... how about 19 of the energy I regenerate per hour to feed it?'

While she wanted to start gestating it as fast as she could, the amount of energy it needed was exceptional, which was expected as it did give an absolute advantage to one creature. It would not make sense if she could grow them at will when she was just at Level 4.

What Liu Shu didn't expect was that she would need an entire week after that to feed the berry. Once the flower stopped giving signals of needing any energy, Liu Shu looked at it with amazement. 'It glomped 5000 of Aether Mana Shards and Anima Energy Shards...'

During this week, she had left it in the back of her mind, just allowing it to grow while she did other things, and this was the result. 'Also, if my feelings are not wrong... Each berry should take around 300 days to bear fruit. Wow~, that's almost a year!'

Liu Shu became thoughtful. 'I have two skills that require constant use, <Enchanted Growth> and <Nature's Gift>. Hm... Should I use 30 for <Enchanted Growth>, 20 for <Break through Berries>, and most of the rest for the other types of fruits? Hm. It sounds good.'

While Liu Shu redirected her energy in a focused manner, she suddenly heard Flor's voice. "Liu Shu, there has been increasing activity in the forest recently. We have spotted many people from surrounding cities appearing as well. From what we've heard, it seems that there is a beast tide approaching."

Liu Shu listened and was confused, something Flor knew would happen. "Although we are considered among the creatures that participate in the Beast Tide as a part of it instead of as a defender, that's not entirely the case."

Liu Shu was curious and continued looking at her, putting aside her decision for now. Flor sighed. "Us, Rose Fairies, can't be really considered the same as Humans and Sylvans and other similar races. We are in the monster category as our system, and the way we reproduce is basically different from them. Other creatures of the forest also see us as such."

Flor continued. "You might be asking yourself what does this have to do with the beast tide. Well, to avoid the beast tide as a monster, you just have to join it. If we do this, we will need to leave you behind, though. That's why we are not choosing that option. Still, if we don't join it, that doesn't mean that the beasts will stop charging forward. Beasts that push trees down also exist, although it depends on what kind of tree we are talking about. Mostly, low-level ones are pushed down.'

Liu Shu was curious about where all this talk was going. Flor answered it in the next talk. "I've seen that you've been doing something with your energy, so I wanted to tell you to keep your ternary essences at maximum all the time if possible. Even now, you have around seventy percent of it."

Liu Shu understood and sent her a pulse of energy telling as such. Flor added. "Also, I'll need to go for a bit to meet with a... acquaintance."

Liu Shu tilted her head, not knowing that her first encounter with interesting people was approaching.