Chapter 417. Care. Indecision.

Tempestria and the others stood in front of the <Petal Door>, looking at the petals. Verdantia commented. “You three are almost full… It seems that to fill the Petal to 100%, that last step is necessary.”

Cinderielle hit Verdantia with her elbow, making the other grunt. “Ugh… What was that for? You almost did a Core worth of damage with that hit.”

Cinderielle snorted. “I felt annoyed. As if you were bragging about being the first one.”

Verdantia rolled her eyes and complained. “Until that point, you kept being the first! What’s there for you to complain about? If Harmonixia or Tempestria complained, well, they are within their rights. But you?” The Life Sylvan squinted. “Cinderielle, you aren’t thinking that you are the first wife or something like that, right?”

Cinderielle raised her eyebrow and smirked. “What if I am? I saw her when I was just a few years old, so naturally, I should be her first.”

Verdantia snorted. “In your dreams. Moreover, you just saw a leaf when you were young.”

Tempestria spoke calmly. “Can you both stop it already? I know it’s normal banter, but eventually, the harmless banter will evolve into real problems if you two continue jabbing at each other like this. Keep it more controlled.”

Both girls blinked and looked at each other cautiously. Cinderielle coughed and spoke a bit awkwardly. “I am not serious with my words… If they actually hurt you, I am sorry.”

Verdantia waved her hand with a smile. “Not at all. I did indeed get slightly agitated. However, it was nothing much. I also overreacted slightly and took it too seriously.”

Harmonixia dragged the <Petal Door> to the side and stepped inside. “I am going inside first~. It has been more than half a year since I last saw my baby, and I can’t take it anymore!”

The other three looked at each other and followed behind Harmonixia. Tempestria couldn’t help but look at her hips as they walked behind her. “You have a really curvy ass… Do you do any exercise to maintain that shapely form?”

Harmonixia blinked and looked behind with a smirk while temptingly swaying her hips. “Who knows. My genetics might just be superior, hehehe~.” She would never admit that she actually worked out daily to keep her form in shape. After all, the other three were somewhat envious of it, and she enjoyed it.

Verdantia humphed. “Mine are not that behind. Plus, Liu Shu loves my body as well.” After looking at the rollercoaster-like hourglass body of the Life Sylvan, the other three clicked their tongues. 

Cinderielle looked in the distance and saw Liu Shu’s <Avatar> lying down in her birthday suit on the leafy bed she had. “Girls, lower your volume.”

Following her gaze, the other three noticed Liu Shu’s sleeping figure while hugging a small, half-flower, half-girl plant being. As Liu Shu grew in size, this area similarly became bigger. By now, the size was around 11 meters high, with a width and length nearing 18 meters. The steep floor was much more tolerable after it grew in size. 

The four of them walked to the side of the bed and sat down. Dewna felt a familiar presence, and she slowly opened her beautiful, light pink eyes and glanced at them. Seeing Verdantia, her face bloomed into a smile, and she extended her arms toward her, squeaking happily. “Aba~!”

Liu Shu heard the sound, and the tired Avatar was startled awake. “Baby wants to eat?” Groggy and half asleep, she expertly moved the Alraune and placed her face against her bosom. Being presented with the delicious white mountains of her World Tree mother, Dewna forgot about Verdantia and latched onto Liu Shu, happily suckling away. 

Feeling the suction, Liu Shu closed her eyes again and fell asleep, hugging Dewna closely. 

The four Sylvans felt their throats tightening. Even when she was clearly exhausted beyond belief, she instantly reacted to the child’s call, answering immediately. Verdantia was tearing up as she caressed Liu Shu’s sleeping face. “Is it very hard, Liu’er? Sorry for being unable to be with you lately.”

Harmonixia spoke softly, trying not to bother the sleeping Liu Shu. “No wonder she wasn’t communicating with us. She is exhausted enough that even the <Avatar> needs to be asleep.”

Tempestria sighed, her heart aching. “She is pushing herself too hard. I wonder how long it will take to conquer the <Wall Forest>? Once she does, she will be able to relax.”

Cinderielle asked, somewhat unaware. “Why is it taking such a heavy toll on her this time around?”

Verdantia answered, somewhat unsure. “Probably the span of the battlefield. Usually, the wars Liu Shu has fought are concentrated in a certain area. Even in the largest-scale war against the <Dark Aether Swamp>, Liu’er needed to actively cover an area around 200 square kilometers wide. Now, though, she is fighting a forest that spans almost 4000 kilometers from north to south. The scale is not even in the same order of magnitude. Even if her Level is much higher, it is not something easy to do with her current strength.”

Harmonixia spoke. “We should go outside and speak with Flor and the others before they bother her. If she gets distracted, her war with the Wall Forest might get affected.”

All of them agreed. So, after they gave a kiss to the sleeping <Avatar> and the adorable Dewna, they walked outside and jumped down. 

The advantage of jumping from almost 1500 meters high was that Tempestria could use her mastery over Wind to make them fall wherever they wanted across the entire Golden Sap City.

Flor and the other leaders were gathered, waiting for them to arrive. Delia asked, curious. “When will they arrive? If they’ve gone to visit Liu Shu, it might take a while, right?”

Flor tilted her head. “They know that we are in a meeting. Therefore, they shouldn’t take long. Let’s wait ten more minutes. If they are not here, we can start without them.”

Eila blinked and looked upward. Then, she smiled. “There will be no need to wait.”

Everyone followed their gaze, and then, they saw all four Sylvans landing nearby softly. Tempestria’s control over Wind Aether Mana was incomparable to before, so carrying a few people and helping them land smoothly was well within her capabilities.

Once on the ground, Tempestria nodded at them and spoke. “Excuse our tardiness. We were checking on Shu’er, I mean, Tianlian Liu Shu’s health before we came here.”

A leader from the Snow Lands looked at the gargantuan and healthy tree and asked, confused. “She looks healthy to me. Was there really a need to do that?” She felt a bit displeased, feeling that they were making excuses. “If you wanted an excuse to have a private time with Lady World Tree, there is no need to lie.”

Verdantia and the others sat in their respective chairs, joining the over 80 people sitting in the room. Cinderielle spoke with a cool expression. “After the Corruption War, we learned that the main body’s looks can be deceitful because we only see a small part of Tianlian Liu Shu. She is a large being, covering millions of square kilometers with her roots. We want to act before signs of her not being healthy appear on her main body. After all, whatever ailment she has will be exceedingly advanced by that point.”

The woman crossed her arms, somewhat convinced. Galia, who was present among them, also voiced her opinion. “Lady World Tree is fighting a very important battle. So, unless it is important, we shouldn’t bother her. Lady Flor, please begin the meeting now that everyone has gathered.”

Flor nodded and started. “It has been almost a year since our attacks started against the Terragore Nest. Now, we’ve cleaned up the surrounding area, and the monsters are confined to the area next to their main nest. Even when they’ve become this cornered, we have yet to see the shadow of the Terragore King and Queen. Of the three main objectives in the <Sylvan Quest: Terragore Empire>, the third one is almost completed, while the first one is what we need to focus on next.”

“Please, everyone, pull up your quest.”

[<Sylvan Quest: Terragore Empire>.]

[Objective 1: Suppress the <Terragore> threat. (68% Progress)]

[Objective 2: Avoid World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu’s death.]

[Objective 3: Control all colonies and make sure no <Terragore> groups are left unchecked. (91% Progress)]

[Optional Objective 1: Capture the <Terragore Empire Capital>. (3% Progress)]

[Optional Objective 2: Capture the <Terragore Queen> and <Terragore King>.]

[Optional Objective 3: Capture the <Terragore Nesting Grounds>. (30% progress)]

Flor added. “As you can see, the colonies and outer groups are mostly eliminated. It will be easy to leave it to the explorers next. However, the threat is still prevalent. Not to mention, we have yet to touch the optional objectives, which are several times harder than the overall objectives.”

One person raised one of his arms. “Lady Flor, may I?”

Flor nodded. “Go ahead.”

The man nodded and spoke. “According to the <Sylvan Quest>, we need to suppress the threat. However, doesn’t that include the first and third <Optional Objective> within? If we don’t capture the capital or main nesting grounds, controlling the threat will not be possible, right?”

Flor pondered, and in the meantime, Verena spoke. “You are wrong. If you observe closely, the <Optional Objective> speaks of ‘Capturing.’ We have two paths on how to complete the quest. The first one is doing as the Optional Objectives say, in which we capture the area and create a controlled breeding ground for <Terragore>. The benefits will be no less than the <Witch Of The End> dungeon. <Terragores> are a great source of powerful leather and bones.”

She then commented. “However, if we want to capture them, we need to deal with the Queen and King accordingly. Therefore, our other option is to destroy everything. We can bombard the area and kill everything within. We would lose the additional rewards, but the risks are much more manageable.” 

Everyone compared the rewards and got thoughtful. The normal rewards were the following: 

[Reward 1: +1 <Level> up to Level 74.]

[Reward 2: +1 <Tier> up to <C- Tier>.]

[Reward 3: <Title: Terragore Slayer>.]

Meanwhile, if they completed the additional objectives, the rewards would become exponentially more valuable. 

[Reward 4: Crafters in the <Golden Sap Country> will have their highest-tiered skill upgraded by one minor Tier, (Up to <C- Tier>).]

[Reward 5: Evolve title <Terragore Slayer> into <Monster Monarch Slayer>.]

[Reward 6: Monster Tamers will receive <Title: Expert Monster Tamer>.]

Flor spoke. “We have 9 more years to complete the quest. So, we can slowly chip away at their defense. However, to do that, we need a way to keep the Terragore Queen and King occupied during the confrontations.”

Verdantia spoke at this time. “I have a suggestion.” Everyone looked at her. “Why don’t we use expendable summons? Even if they can’t put a scratch on them, at the very least, they are enough to keep them busy while we deal with the rest of the monsters. Moreover, thanks to the <Temple Of Summoning>, the stats of the summons and Aether Mana and Anima Energy maintenance are nearly nothing.”

Verena commented. “We would be feeding them Experience Points, though. What if they Level Up enough and have a <Sub-Energy Cycle> awakening?”

Verdantia smiled. “That’s not a problem. After Level 75, there won’t be any major base stat boosts. Even if they reach from Level 75 into the mythical Level 90 range, which only a handful of people in the entire world have managed to achieve, their stats would be 20% higher at most. Regardless, that would be impossible since the summons we will be using will give them a few dozen Experience Points at most.”

Another person shook their head. “You are underestimating one thing. It is true that raw stats don’t change much from Level to Level. However, the <Aether Mana>, <Phoer>, and <Anima Energy> reserves are another matter. Even with the same <Physique> stat points, a Level 30 and a Level 40 will significantly differ in <Phoer> reserves, not to mention a Level 75 and a Level 90.”

Verdantia shook her head. “You are the one overestimating them. Even if we forcefully feed them Experience Points, they won’t reach Level 90. That kind of growth is ridiculous since it needs tens of millions of Experience Points!”

The discussion between them continued, with people having varied reactions and opinions. In the end, they decided on nothing and postponed what to do for the next day. Some people had wanted to call Liu Shu to meditate. However, the four Sylvans had stopped them, saying that Liu Shu was already too busy with the <Wall Forest>. 

Flor sighed. ‘Without a clear leader, choosing a path of action is so difficult…’ She could act as one, but some thought that she was abusing her status without Liu Shu backing up her decisions. Therefore, she avoided it as much as she could.

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