Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 251. Catching Spies. Eila’s and Fortuna’s Stance.

When Liu Shu went to sleep to Level Up, the surroundings became more mystical as the enormous World Tree began absorbing the surrounding energy. The pace at which the World Tree absorbed energy was fast enough that anyone over Level 20 could feel the flow of the ternary essences rushing toward the giant World Tree in the middle.

Of course, reports of this were instantly created by the spies living in Golden Sap City. While these spies wouldn’t be able to send them right away, as they needed to leave the World Tree’s domain, it was a matter of time before the information left the area.

Still, Verdantia, Wert, and the others wouldn’t allow the information to leave without giving them trouble. So, after informing those who were somewhat trustworthy, they substituted the usual guards at the entry area with high-level Explorers and hidden Rose Fairies.

One of the spies was walking down the main street, approaching the place where the Root Wall was temporarily open to let people travel in and out of the City. ‘This event is very strange… I need to report it to the higher-ups as soon as possible.’ 

Communication devices existed, although they were constrained to short distances and needed a lot of resources to work over longer distances. Even then, speaking about those things in a place where the World Tree’s ears were everywhere was not a very clever situation. On the off-chance that the World Tree processed their words or heard the other side speak about something they shouldn’t, the spy’s life would be jeopardized. 

The man, with a relatively good-looking face, saw that there was a small queue to leave Golden Sap City, something that was not too common. ‘Hm? I wonder what’s happening?’

The people continued going through the gate, and soon, the spy’s turn was up. Once he stepped over the wall, he heard someone call him. “Come here. Routine check!”

The spy was stunned. ‘A check when leaving the city? This is new.’ He frowned and acted somewhat meek. “Um… Guard, you can’t do that.”

The man wearing armor looked at the spy and squinted. “This comes directly from Lord Wert. You are living in this City, so you must know that if Lord Wert said it, it must be because of something. Now, come here and give me your bag. I’ll check what you have in there.”

The man shook his head, clutching his bag. “Mister, I have things that are very private… I won’t be able to show my face if I show them!”

The guard approached regardless and extended his arm. The spy’s eyes flashed and he tried to push the guard. The spy was a Level 19, so he was quite sure that his “push out of nervousness” would send the guard flying.

However, once his arms landed on the guard’s chest, the spy felt as if he was pushing a wall instead of a human. “Huh?”

Looking up, he saw the guard looking down at him with a cold face. “What’s the meaning of this?”

The spy panicked and stuttered. “I-I acted by reflex! I really can’t give you this bag!”

The guard sneered and then nodded. 

‘What does he mean?’ 

The spy was confused for a second, only to feel a wind gale followed by the weight of the bag disappearing. ‘Huh!?’ He reacted quickly, his eyes sharpening as he looked at the thief. However, when he saw the petite humanoid creature with leafy wings and red hair, he couldn’t help but freeze. ‘Rose Fairy!?’

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The Rose Fairy smiled and waved the bag with a smile. “Hey, Kaspian! I got the bag. What do I do now?”

The guard, who looked as if his expression was sculpted out of pure ice, looked over, and his facial features softened when speaking to the Rose Fairy. “Just dump everything and make sure there are no secret compartments inside. Don’t worry, this man here won’t touch you.”

“Okay~.”

“WAIT!”

The spy knew that he had lost control and became more agitated. However, the Rose Fairy ignored him and dumped everything onto the ground. To make the story more believable, the spy had actually placed some embarrassing items in the bag. So, a few… interestingly shaped items fell down. 

However, the spy was completely unfazed by those. Instead, he was worried about the bag. He looked at the guard and tried very hard to get out of this one. “M-Mister Guard! I really can’t do this! Look at that, how can I face people if you show these shameful things!”

The guard was ruthless, though. “If you don’t want people to see them, don’t carry them on you.”

Some humans at the side approached, checking the items. The guard humphed. “If you had let me check, we wouldn’t need to dump everything like this. Do you understand?”

“This is not okay!” The spy insisted, his heart racing when he saw the Rose Fairy enter into his bag. “Look at her! Don’t you fear that she will get dirty entering the bag!”

The guard hummed. “Well… I do. Sadly, we need to follow orders.”

The Rose Fairy exclaimed. “Oh! A thing!”

“Hm? Did you find something else?”

“Yes! Look, this paper was hidden in the bag!”

The spy’s face paled, and he shouted, increasingly more hysterical. “Y-You… How did you find that!?”

The Rose Fairy blinked twice. “Why are you shouting? I just saw that the air was entering a place it shouldn’t have, so I looked over… It’s not that hard to see these air leaks, you know?” 

Her words left him perplexed. “What the hell are you talking about…?” 

Of course, now that they found the letter, it was over for the spy. Knowing his fate, he made a last attempt at fleeing. He quickly turned around and used a skill to accelerate in an instant. The guard saw it and shouted. “Guardian Tree!”

The Spy was fifty meters away when he felt air pressure behind him as one of the giant trees on the walls extended a phantom branch and slammed him into the ground.

BANG!

The guard reached right after, grabbing the hurting person by the nape. “Tsk, tsk. A little rat trying to escape when cornered. Quite fitting.” He looked over and saw one of his companions nodding, telling him that he was a spy. The guard threw him against the wall and spoke aloud. “Time to eat.”

The spy’s mind was startled awake after he hit the wall, only to feel several roots tying around his body and dragging him underground. “W-Wait! NO! HE-”

Thump.

The earth closed around him, silencing his last pleas. The Rose Fairy giggled. “Guardian Tree will eat now! I wonder what level that spy was?”

The guard shrugged and extended a finger to play with the Rose Fairy. “Who knows?” 

The Rose Fairy dodged the poking finger, tapping it with her little hand. “Hey! What are you doing, Kaspian!?”

Kaspian laughed and looked toward the entrance. “Call the next one!”

In that manner, the news of Liu Shu’s strangeness took around three weeks to finally get out of the city. When being a spy in a World Tree city, trying to sneak away at night was quite useless. After all, the World Tree could just see them sneaking around and stop them. So, you needed to be clever and use tricks to appear like any other person and go through the checks like everyone else.

Once Eila received the news, she hummed. “So, World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu is probably Leveling Up, right?” 

Fortuna’s voice reached her. “She probably is. I can feel the land around us becoming drier, as if its energy is being absorbed by her. Not to mention, her roots continue to advance at quite an accelerated pace. If she continues like this, she might reach the edge of Fortuna City in four years.”

Eila tapped the wooden table with her finger while pondering. “Can you communicate with her?”

“No.” Fortuna answered flatly. 

Eila sighed and looked out of the window. Fortuna had been actively hunting and getting Experience Points. However, she was far from reaching Level 30. “You’d need around four years to reach Level 30, right?”

“Around there. But that’s in terms of Experience Points. I don’t know how much time I’ll need to Level Up.”

Eila smiled wryly. “With that other World Tree devouring your domain, you should be able to do it quickly, no?”

Fortuna didn’t answer, making Eila sigh again. “Didn’t we plan this as a secondary method?”

Fortuna commented. “It’s a gamble.”

Eila added. “Luck has usually been on your side. Hence your name.” 

The World Tree’s voice came with a sneering tone. “My luck seems to have run out since that World Tree appeared. Her <Destiny> stat is ridiculously high.”

“How high?”

Fortuna hesitated, but after a while, she said the number she saw, thanks to some of her skills. “Currently, it is at 2100 stat points.”

Eila paused, her eyes widening to their limits. “H-How much did you say?”

“Two thousand one hundred points.” 

Eila leaned back slowly, passing her hand through her hair in pure disbelief. Considering that someone with a high <Destiny> stat and Level 25 usually had around 250 <Destiny> stat points, two thousand points were a horrifying amount for a Level 21. Even Fortuna, being quite unique in that regard, had 504 at Level 28. It was considered the highest <Destiny> stat in the surrounding area, but Liu Shu completely crushed it with over 2,000 points.

Eila muttered. “She might be the being with the highest Destiny Stat in the world already…”

Fortuna commented. “There are many monsters hidden in the wild.”

Eila said, completely serious. “I don’t think any of them have over 2000 <Destiny>, Fortuna. That’s a realm of legend for that particular stat… You, for example. If you needed to reach 2000 points, what Level would you need to reach?”

Fortuna paused and commented. “With my current growth not being altered… Over Level 100…”

“Ha!” Eila barked a laugh. “That’s a Level that doesn’t exist in this world. You are the creature with the highest Destiny growth I’ve ever heard about, and World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu quadruples you at a Lower Level.”

Fortuna didn’t say anything else, and Eila leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and resting her forehead on her hands. “I really hope that this works, or else, our path is going to be cut short.”

Fortuna said, not feeling bothered. “If it happens, it was meant to be…”  

Eila smiled faintly. “You are quite apathetic to death… Well, most World Trees are…”

“Death is our end, but the beginning of another thing. As long as there are seeds planted, true death won’t arrive.” Fortuna commented. “The true death of a being is the moment that someone says your name for the last time. Mine will last as long as Tianlian Liu Shu lasts, and even beyond, as the first World Tree that she ever faced.”

Eila looked at the World Tree with a smile. “I guess we are under the same canopy in that regard.”

“Regretfully, it is so.”

Eila rolled her eyes and sighed. “Anyway, everything is prepared. From now on, just focus on getting stronger.” 

“What if they restart the War?”

Eila sneered. “I gave them several chances in the past, and they took none.”

“You knew they wouldn’t. They are too headstrong.”

Eila rolled her eyes once more. “Regardless, we are officially recovering from the losses we received until further notice! I also might be able to reach Level 32 or 33, so I want peace until then!”

Fortuna gazed at Eila until she walked into her personal room and then shifted her gaze toward the horizon. Unlike Liu Shu’s <World Tree Eye>, Fortuna looked at the thing’s essence like a normal plant. She could feel further than her roots but without the visual clarity that human-like vision granted.

On the border between Liu Shu and herself, the small aura that previously she could somewhat fight back was growing at such an accelerated pace that Fortuna couldn’t help but admire. ‘Her aura is so… pure.’ Thinking about what Eila had told her, she couldn’t help but yearn. ‘I wonder what you will choose… Liu Shu.’