After looking at that material, Liu Shu struggled. After all, not even the material encyclopedia she swallowed in the past had it. "Ugh…"

Mariane heard Liu Shu grunt and asked, amused. "What's wrong?"

Liu Shu asked. "Mariane… Do you know what and is?"

The mothkin asked, astounded. "What rank are those materials? A Rank? What's with that name?"

Liu Shu responded. "Huh? A Rank? Nono, they are F Rank and F+ Rank."

The mothkin almost slipped and fell even though she was standing still. "What kind of name is that for a measly F Rank material!? Cosmosheart!? That sounds like, I don't know, something that can build worlds or something!"

Liu Shu stuttered. "D-Does it? Do you think it will be hard to get?"

Mariane frowned. "Do those materials have anything to do with our deal?"

Liu Shu hummed softly. "Yes. If I have those materials, then I can agree to your condition."

Mariane's antennae crossed as she became deep in thought. "Hm… Give me a second; I'll ask Verena. I've personally never heard about those two materials, but she might've."

The mothkin sighed and asked as she flapped her large wings to fly toward Verena. "So… Why do you want a Rune Encyclopedia? I can guess why, but I want to check if I am correct."

Liu Shu pondered for a bit and answered. "Well, I want to know what you do. Just in case."

Mariane smiled. "I see~ As expected, you don't trust me."

Liu Shu was honest. "I don't. We barely know each other, so I was hoping to have a security net for it."

Mariane hummed. "What is the temporal thingy for?"

The World Tree hummed. "To create a library!"

"A library?" The mothkin landed in front of the Town Hall and tilted her head. "Hm… I don't follow, but sure. Let's ask."

Once inside, Mariane knocked on the main door, and after a few seconds, she heard Flor's voice. "Enter."

Once inside, she saw Verena, the Sylvans, Flor, and Ignatia sitting around a table. She smiled and asked. "Well, the World Tree wants and . Any idea how to get those?"

Verena blinked, and Branthis's voice spread around. "Why does she want those? That kind of bark is only harvested from trees that are naturally attuned to Space Aether. They are incredibly rare."

Mariane shrugged. "She wants to build a library."

Verena looked incredulous for a second and then muttered. "Well, if it is just for that, I can lend a few units. How many does she need?"

Mariane opened her mouth and closed it. Then, she smiled cutely. "I don't know~."

Verena rolled her eyes and looked upward. Liu Shu laughed and said. "Ten and one !"

Verena hummed. "I can give you all of those for one breakthrough fruit!"

"Deal!"

Liu Shu's swift answer made Verena blink. "Hm? Didn't you want me to do business with Flor? Why are you doing it with me suddenly?"

Liu Shu asked, confused. "I am the one who wants it. Why would I let others make a deal for me?"

Verena facepalmed. "Right. Oh dear, this was also another way to get these things. How about you say what more you need, and we can do more deals?"

Liu Shu hummed and commented. "Weren't you speaking with Flor about those? You've even reached quite a nice agreement, right?"

Verena sighed. "So, you were listening."

"Hm?" The World Tree asked. "Why wouldn't I be listening?"

Verdantia chuckled, earning herself a side eye from her mother. Verena muttered. "Okay, I'll carry those things in less than three days, deal?"

"Sure~." With that secured, Liu Shu said to Mariane. "I agree to your terms!"

Mariane smiled and answered. "Sure." As long as she could do what she wanted, she was happy. Plus, if she was going to recover her books, it didn't matter if she gave them to her.

So, Mariane went to the room she was staying next and took some of her books related to the things she was going to do.

Once before Liu Shu, she commented. "If you read these, or whatever you do with books to read them, you will be able to follow the steps and quickly notice if I do something bad or strange."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The World Tree extended two branches and grazed the three books. Mariane looked with curiosity and suddenly saw those three books disintegrate into light particles that flowed into the World Tree.

Her antennae madly twitched as she asked. "W-What did you do?"

Amapola, who was flying nearby, looked at what happened and approached with a laugh. "Don't worry, Mariane. She just ate the books."

Mariane was speechless. 'She ate them? Then, how am I going to get them back even if she builds the library?'

Her head started to ache. 'Ah… Trees… I shouldn't have made a deal with a tree… My books, my precious babies… eaten, swallowed by an evil World Tree! Argh!'

Amapola didn't know how to react when Mariane fell to her knees and started pounding the floor with her fists in a silent tantrum. "U-Um, are you okay, Mariane?"

Mariane looked up, her pearly black eyes moist with unshed tears. "I am not! My precious babies! My books! Gone! Eaten by that evil tree!"

Amapola laughed awkwardly. "W-Well, look at the bright side. Now, Liu Shu knows everything about them, so you just need to ask her if you don't remember anything."

The mothkin blinked. "What do you mean everything?"

Amapola blinked back. "I mean it, um… literally? Like she absorbs all the knowledge. I even heard that she is able to filter wrong information and correct it."

The mothkin froze as the gears in her brain churned, processing the information. 'Wait, and are materials that have special properties…' The intelligent mothkin's wings widened as she realized. 'Will she be able to print any book she absorbs in the future with all the mistakes corrected!? No WAY!'

Mariane stood up swiftly, startling Amapola. "M-Mariane! Be calm! Don't attack Liu Shu! W-We'll somehow get the books back!"

Confused about the fluttering fairy, Mariane buzzed her wings to spread a calming powder around her. Seeing the Rose Fairy blink asynchronously, Mariane stretched her hands and caught the yawning Rose Fairy. "Don't worry, Amapola. I am not angry."

Amapola snorted and yawned again. "Why am I so tired so suddenly?"

Mariane coughed, using one of her hands to cover her mouth. "Sorry, the scales I used are a bit stronger than I anticipated. You will probably fall asleep for an hour or two in a few seconds."

Amapola gave Mariane a reproachful side-eye as she curled in Mariane's hands. "You are… so… Yawwn… Irresponsible… Zzz."

Mariane laughed awkwardly, scratching her face with one of her four hands. "Sorry, Amapola."

Meanwhile, Liu Shu absorbed all the knowledge in the books Mariane shared and received a few notifications.

[Congratulations! You've learned !]

[Congratulations! Your has been upgraded to !]

[Compatible skill detected. Do you want to merge?]

Liu Shu looked at that message and asked. 'Is merging better?'

[If it leads to a worse evolution path, the System will not offer the option. The skill that will be merged with is . The result will be… Calculating… .]

Liu Shu noticed that Living Wood City was currently at Level 3, so she was gladly surprised. 'It will level up two times! Can I see the effects of the new skill?'

[Specific changes will only be available after merging.]

'Ugh…' Liu Shu almost called the system useless again, but she held back this time. 'You are annoying.'

[...]

'Anyway, merge it.'

[Understood!]

[You've learned

: A master of wood and runes. Everything is possible for all wood-related constructions and items, from spoons and knives to massive walls and towering structures. You can imbue items and structures with or to enhance their functionality, stats, and skills.

+35% to production toward wood-related items is.

+35% to Rune Crafting Speed and Strength.

There is a 10.5% chance of increasing the wood items sub-level after completion up to the "+" rank.

All structures have offensive and defensive abilities to a certain extent. You can imbue the buildings built by you with .

+125% to the ability to manipulate existing structures.

Because of the skill merging, Liu Shu took a while to absorb this knowledge. Two days passed on the outside by the time Liu Shu became conscious. Once she opened her again, she observed her surroundings and saw no changes.

Each time she went to sleep for a while and woke up, she couldn't help but check. After all, she didn't want to be unaware for a long time in case something similar to the invasion that had previously happened occurred again.

The next thing she did was check her new knowledge. 'Ohhhh. This is nice… So, can I do that now? Oh! Lots of new things!'

Liu Shu was happy with the new change. She checked her domain's situation and saw that a few Explorer groups were roaming the Golden Sap Forest. Seeing one group camping in the lake where the Willow Trees were, Liu Shu felt somewhat anxious and checked on that Willow Tree that invoked in her a strange feeling of familiarity.

Seeing the large willow tree standing safe and sound with a few Fire Ants and Rose Fairies guarding her, Liu Shu relaxed. 'U-Um, hello!'

'Liu Shu?... Welcome… Back…'

Liu Shu felt warm and fuzzy inside when she heard her say that, making her giggle. 'Thank you! Hehehe. Um, how are you doing? Did the explorers do something bad to you?'

A gentle and soothing sound spread from the willow tree that translated to a tender laugh. 'Nothing is wrong, Liu Shu… They just stayed under my shadow… to rest.'

Liu Shu gave the Explorers a dangerous side-eye, but since the Willow Tree didn't feel bothered, she decided not to kill them. 'Good, good~. Oh! Here are a few nutritious things for you! Well, they will take a while to reach since you are a bit far away, but I will ask the Rose Fairies to send you compost with my fruits mixed in! I hope they work on you...'

The Willow Tree's branches moved happily, creating a peaceful rustling sound. 'Thank you… Liu Shu…'

Liu Shu giggled, feeling happy. 'Mhm~ Mhm~. So, well, I'll go do other things! Hm… I should build a defensive something around here… Perhaps ask Mariane to build a Runic formation… How about a second ? Hmmmmm. Well, I'll do something. Anyway, bye!'

The Willow Tree, who was actually Liu Shu's mother, laughed softly to herself. 'I am glad… you are doing… well. Grow tall, Liu Shu. I hope your branches… reach… beyond the clouds…'

Back in Golden Sap Town, Mariane heard Liu Shu's voice spread in her room right as she exited the shower. "Mariane!"

The mothkin jumped, startled, and was about to rush to cover her body when she remembered who was talking. "Liu Shu? You are awake?"

"Yes, yes~. I improved one of my skills and merged it with Rune Crafting~. Thanks a lot for those books! They were of great help! Also, also, you can start whenever you want!" Liu Shu quickly checked her inventory and saw that the 1 Temporalbark and 10 Cosmosheart were resting inside her . "I will start the library construction once you finish!"

The mothkin's antennae twitched a few times as she unhurriedly wore her usual white dress with black dots and yellow accents. "Improve? Merge skills? In two days?"

Liu Shu hummed. "Something wrong?"

Mariane coughed to clear her chaotic feelings. "Y-Yes! Let's start, Liu Shu."

Inside, the mothkin was stunned. 'I think Verena is underestimating this World Tree even now. Wow.'