Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos

Chapter 57. Cinderielle's first contact with Liu Shu.

When Cinderielle, the red-haired Sylvan, crossed the distance, she didn't even hold back her intentions as she hugged the tree. Her arms wound around the thick trunk as she buried her face in the somewhat rugged surface. Because Liu Shu's body was close to seven meters tall, counting the canopy, Cinderielle reached around the waist area of the faint humanoid figure.

As a World Tree, her trunk was thicker than a typical tree of her height would have, making it thicker than what her arms could surround. However, Cinderielle couldn't care less right in this instant.

The second she hugged Liu Shu, her entire existence seemed to have become complete. Something deep inside her that had, for the first time since forever, felt satiated.

The powerful sensation entrapped her mind, body, and soul, making Cinderielle's eyes gain a deeper-than-usual tone that reflected her inner feelings of growing obsession.

Yet, even as this powerful feeling grew inside of her, there was something that Cinderielle couldn't or didn't understand deeply. While there was a desire for a monopoly, there was a strange feeling looking at Flor and the Rose Fairies, not wanting to make them go away.

In Cinderielle's mind, she knew what was happening. Her instincts as a Sylvan wanted to court this World Tree and make it hers. However, at the same time, she wanted the World Tree to grow and become stronger.

'However, from the way Flor has been treating Liu Shu, it seems that she is still quite childish mentally. What to do~?' Cinderielle separated from the tree when she felt the energy inside of it become strangely relaxed. 'I can... make her accustomed to my presence? Perhaps I can become an essential part of her and slowly enter her mind.'

Cinderielle smiled as she separated. And to her expectations, she saw her branches extend but stop midway. This action made Cinderielle's smile deepen.

Meanwhile, Liu Shu was confused. 'Why is she hugging me? But...' Cinderielle might've been a person with Fire affinity, something that most flora didn't like. However, she was not any being but a Sylvan who had an affinity toward plants. '...It feels warm.'

The innate heat and aura emanating from her relaxed and made the World Tree feel comfortable as if her branches were being warmed up by the Sun after a cold winter. The heat from Cinderielle's aura seeped inside her and made her own energy feel attracted to it.

Liu Shu looked at Cinderielle and thought. 'It would be nice to be smaller and fit in her arms...' It was the first time Liu Shu wished to become smaller. Her entire life, even before she became a World Tree, was all about getting bigger and bigger.

Of course, this fleeting desire wouldn't even minimally affect her efforts to get bigger. Her primary and biggest desire was to become bigger and stronger; her entire existence, desires, skills, and will pushed her in that direction.

While Liu Shu comfortably relished in Cinderielle's presence, she suddenly felt the source of such warmth slowly getting away, making her relaxed mind become alert as the <World Tree Eye> fixed on Cinderielle.

Seeing her smile as she moved away, Liu Shu's branches extended unconsciously to grab onto her, but she stopped herself. 'Why did I reach out?'

Flor asked from above, interrupting Liu Shu's pondering. "Did you have enough?"

The Sylvan looked upward and smiled, her face much more relaxed when facing Flor. Flor blinked, surprised at her adaptability. Usually, after being almost killed, a creature would remain cautious and even flinch.

Of course, while Cinderielle remained cautious inside her heart, somewhat having been able to get so close to Liu Shu made it so that Flor, who was acting like a protector, looked much more pleasing to the eyes.