"Mom!"
Liu Shu's roots quickly moved, climbing up her mother's body. Unlike other Life Trees or World Trees, Tree was relatively short in height. She was like a large Willow Tree, but all within the boundaries of trees.
Of course, these boundaries were relative to what people on this planet thought. After all was said and done, Tree still reached over 200 meters in height. This was an incredible size for a normal Willow Tree, but standing near Liu Shu, who was over 12,000 meters tall, she looked like a small sapling in front of a fully grown tree.
Not that it mattered, Liu Shu's roots coiling around Tree's body were more than enough to make the larger World Tree look like the child between them.
Tree chuckled and moved her own roots to pat her daughter gently. "Was it hard, little sapling? How are you doing?"
Liu Shu relished in her mother's presence and answered softly. "I am… okay. I could do everything we planned with basically no setbacks. So, yeah, everything is good."
Tree spoke softly, her ancient but soothing voice reaching our World Tree. "That's not what I asked, little sapling. I couldn't care less about these plans you have. I want to hear about you, and you only. How are you feeling, love?"
Liu Shu became silent. Her roots coiled a little bit tighter around Tree, but never tight enough to hurt the enchanting Willow Tree. "I am… a bit sad."
Tree knew that already. No matter how exceptional, Liu Shu was Tree's daughter. Hence, she knew how she was feeling right after waking up. "Tell me why, little sapling."
"Hm… some of my babies died."
Tree hummed, her roots soothingly caressing Liu Shu's roots.
"That day, we fought someone strong. But, even when he was strong, I was quite sure I would be able to defeat him. In the end, though, I let him leave. Even after he killed so many of my babies…"
Tree asked softly, her tone soothing. "Why is that, love?"
Liu Shu explained the plan she made with Cael and all the reasons. The conversation was slow, and Mariane didn't interrupt. Even when her matters were urgent, could they be more important than her friend, Liu Shu? That was clearly not the case.
So, she told the crafters to scram for a while and wait for her to return. In the meantime, she flew to Tree's side and landed on one of her branches, settling down there and listening to mother and daughter.
Tree listened, asking a few things while Liu Shu explained, and getting the overall description of what happened during the last war. There were many other things that Tree needed to learn about, but she was satisfied for now.
"Do you regret it?"
Liu Shu heard Tree's question and hummed. "I… don't know yet. If I were given another chance, I would've tried my best to protect them. But time can't go back…" Liu Shu squinted. "At least, not yet."
There was a deep emotion within her when she said that. Something Tree and Mariane didn't miss.
Mariane, who had been silent, spoke gently. "Liu Shu, if you don't want to help me for a while and just relax, we can do that. Moreover, you have to take care of your Sylvan babies, right?"
"I am taking care of them. The Sylvan babies need a bit more attention than the others because they are very clever. So, I have allocated part of my primary consciousness to them."
Mariane tilted her head, her antennae flopping with her movements. "How does it feel?"
"Hm?"
"To separate your consciousness willingly. How does that feel?"
"Um… How should it feel? It just feels natural for me."
Mariane smiled wryly. "I bet it does. Trees are very different when it comes to how you think. Truly miraculous."
Tree commented at this time. "Speaking of which. I heard that you needed my help moving a few things through space."
Mariane nodded and smiled. "Right, you've finally reached Level 100. Have you unlocked your inheritance? I recalled that you were a Life Tree with quite the affinity for space, were you not?"
"Yes, that's right. My skills and tiers have made quite the jump. Who would've thought that I was just a common Willow Tree only 100 years ago? So little time has passed since then, but I've been completely reborn."
Mariane noticed something else, piquing her curiosity. "Say, I just noticed, but… You are speaking much more fluently. Previously, there were some awkward pauses, but now your speech has the same cadence as any intelligent species."
Liu Shu also noticed, but she honestly didn't really care much. Whether her mother could only communicate with tree-language or if she was the best speaker in the world, she would always take the necessary time to speak with her.
Tree continued to pat her little sapling's roots gently as she answered. "That is the case. Much of the fog that clouded my thoughts has been banished. While I wouldn't consider myself intelligent, at least I can make use of the wisdom I've accumulated."
Liu Shu harrumphed. "Mommy is intelligent! Don't look down on yourself so much."
Tree answered with a light laugh. "Alright, alright, your mom is the cleverest. Is that better?"
"Yeah! As it should be! Hmph."
Mariane's expression softened, light laughter escaping her. 'I am truly glad that the family around Liu Shu pampers her… I can't imagine what would've happened if those around her didn't love her as much as they did.'
As she thought of that scenario, her body became cold. 'Terrible, terrible. Thank the branches in the sky that Flor, Ignatia, Tree, and those four obsessive Sylvans are in this girl's life. If Liu Shu's heart didn't retain its gentleness, I can only imagine what catastrophe would've fallen onto Ceperet and beyond.'
The day moved past, and Mariane, Tree, and Liu Shu spoke together all the time. The next morning, Flor, Ignatia, and everyone else in Liu Shu's closest circle got the news of Tree waking up, so they made a trip to visit her.
Tree glanced at her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and more, and couldn't really believe it. 'She has worked hard, haha.'
She didn't even mention the thousands of
And among the myriad of flower girls and boys, Tree noticed the five Sylvans. Their multicolored hair made her curious, but she didn't really care about any of that. Using her own ability as a tree, she began communicating with many of her family members, using her main consciousness to speak with Flor and Ignatia.
These two were the active mothers of her most precious child, so she was beyond grateful for their existence. Now that her intelligence had caught up with her thoughts, she wanted nothing more than to help them with Liu Shu's matters.
Flor smiled when she heard that. "Don't say that, Tree. You are Liu Shu's true mother. You just didn't have enough strength or intelligence to take care of her. I am sure that if you were a humanoid instead, you would've done as much, if not more, than us."
Tree used a small branch to lightly smack Flor. "Don't put yourself down like that, Flor. Otherwise, you are undermining your influence in Liu Shu's life."
Flor nodded with a smile, while Ignatia joined. "Speaking of which, your presence will be life-saving."
"Hm?"
Ignatia explained with a sigh. "While we do have some space-attribute experts, most of them are experts at a 'humanoid' scale. You, as a Life Tree connected to Liu Shu's root net, will be able to help us with portal research and much more. With you joining our ranks, it won't be long before the first portal between Nualis and Ceperet opens."
Tree answered solemnly. "I will do my best. As I've said, my powers have grown plenty. Moreover, with these new buffs Liu Shu has shared with me, I bet that I can create and share my findings much more efficiently."
Liu Shu listened to her three mothers with a satisfied smile. The peace she felt when her family surrounding Tree was like soothing spring water caressing her roots.
'...It feels so comfortable.'
Time passed quickly, and night quickly arrived.
Verdantia clapped her hands, gathering everyone's attention. "Alright, let's go rest. Some of you have classes tomorrow, don't you?"
"Ehh? Has the school opened again?"
"You dare to complain? You've gone on a long enough vacation! Now you need to work hard!"
Verdantia picked up her grandchild and smacked her butt lightly, carrying her away. "Now, say goodbye to Tree."
"Have a great night, Grandma!"
"Sleep well, Great-grandmaa!"
"I will come again with Mom, Great-great-grandmaaa!"
Tree laughed as the generations of Liu Shu's descendants said goodbye to her. While they left, some of them couldn't help but speak with awe. "She is such a pretty Willow Tree!"
"Right? I didn't know Great-grandma was so beautiful!"
A second-generation spoke with a smile. "There is a sense of time around her. I heard that grandma was a normal Willow Tree before, but even then, she managed to live for a very long time. Even some World Trees treat Tree respectfully."
After this soothing rest, Mariane, Tree, and Liu Shu started speaking about the Moon-Type ships in Nualis once again. Tree explained. "My powers have become much greater, and my ability to manipulate space is strong. Nevertheless, I might need a bit of time to carry over those vessels here."
Mariane pondered and asked. "How long do you think it will take?"
Tree didn't answer straight away. She thought for a bit, checking her skills and abilities. "I… can't be sure. Honestly, the distance from here to Nualis is overwhelming. I had some sense of how large the distances are between planets, but only now that I am connected with Liu Shu's roots can I truly appreciate how large they are."
Mariane chuckled. "Overwhelming, isn't it? Even I was shocked the first time I read an astronomy book Liu Shu wrote."
Tree agreed. "If I want to plan it perfectly, I would need to be clever about it. Instead of trying to brute-force it. I will wait for Nualis and Ceperet to be closest to each other before I try."
Liu Shu hummed. "Distance between planets can vary by over ten times, so that's a good strategy. I will tell you when that happens…. Well, I can calculate it if you want and give you an exact date."
Tree asked, curious. "Can you calculate something like that?"
"I can." Liu Shu chuckled. "It is not as hard as it sounds. The hardest part was developing the formulas. Now, though, it's something I can do in a few minutes."
Tree chuckled. "My little sapling is so clever~."
"Hehehe." Liu Shu giggled happily, delighted of her mother's praise.