"Tell me, Rose Fairies, where is my son?"

After the Thornstride leader asked that question, nobody answered. All of them looked at him with wary eyes as they prepared for a battle of endurance until Flor arrived.

Even if the odds were 12 against 1, the fairies would not have much of an advantage. Even the strongest Amapola had these values as her ternary essences. 

Aether Mana: 2174/2174

Phoer: 675/675

Anima: 990/990

If we then added her primary attribute, Aether, which is 21 points, it would not have been nearly enough to fight the Level 11 powerhouse.

Amapola, as the strongest, took the lead in the conversation.

"Tribe Leader Froorar, we know nothing about your child. Leave this place before our leader, Flor, arrives." 

Froorar squinted, his vertical pupils thinning. "Amapola, you should already know that the little group you have gathered is not nearly strong enough to fight me."

Amapola spoke indifferently. "Remember what's our advantage. If we go into an all-out war, you might end up as the last Thornstride alive. We might be unable to kill you, but the rest are easy prey for us. We've maintained peace for more than four generations. Do you really want to break the peace our ancestors worked hard to bring to the Golden Sap Forest?"

Froorar laughed in mockery, his throat making strange noises. "Peace is what made our Forest weaken to this extent. The nature of the world is to fight. If not, why would the ancestral voice make us stronger through slaughter."

Amapola's face twisted, her red hair blowing with the Astral Wind. "YOU DARE!? The system promulges peace through nature's many resources to increase our strength! Strength is to protect nature, not to raze it to the ground! You all would disappear from existence without the protection Nature gives you, and yet, you are ignorant enough to not only not protect but EAT trees!"

Amapola wanted to keep berating, but Froorar lifted one of his feet and stomped it down.

BANG!

Liu Shu internally grunted as the shockwave traveled through the earth and hit her roots and core like a maze.

[-2] 

Froorar was not too far away from Liu Shu's current position. That's why it damaged her slightly. However, her body quickly healed this kind of damage.

Froorar growled. "Amapola, do I look like I came here to listen to your ramblings!? Tell me where my child is, and I'll leave your pathetic tree-hugging race live!"

Amapola raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be an insult? Chief Froorar, as I said at first, we know nothing about where your child went."

Froorar snorted, looking around with curiosity at the gathered Rose fairies. "However, how did you find me? Moreover, almost all of you are around." He smiled coldly, the stiff lips arching. "Did I come here leaving plenty of hints? Why could you follow me or even find me so soon?"

Amapola frowned. "Did you think we would answer?" 

Froorar sneered. "No. But, even though I won't kill you yet, I can have some fun." 

Right after he said that Amapola's face dropped. "Attack!"

All twelve fairies moved into action and separated, quickly flying in different directions with the use of their Wind Aether mastery.

However, Froorar was Level 11. 

Not only has he breached the Level 10 threshold, he has even increased a level after that. 

Before some of the fairies could even react, Froorar shot forward at tremendous speed, jumping and quickly barreling toward one of the Level 7 fairies. 

The sound of bones breaking filled the forest while the small, 20-centimeter-tall fairy blew against a tree several meters away, life and death unknown.

However, because he had to jump, his trajectory was really predictable. As Froorar was about to land, a barrage of wind blades arrived and slashed him all over.

However, the thick defense around him allowed him to tank everything, losing just around 500 Phoer points. He smiled wildly and moved quickly toward the next fairy. "This tickles, Rose Fairies!" 

Thankfully, the Rose Fairies had an advantage, and that was that because of their petite bodies and ability to fly, they could circle around him and dodge many of his attacks.

While Froorar didn't fear them, he couldn't jump every time he wanted to take down one of the remaining 11 Fairies. While the first barrage of attacks didn't do that much damage, now he had open wounds that could unexpectedly become a big deal.

After all, the "numbers" of damage are related not to fixed damage done by skills but as a way to quantify vitality and other factors inside the body.

The system exists to show the creatures how strong they are, and not vice versa. Without the system, people would still be able to increase in strength.

Froorar moved quickly, dodging the falling wind blades. In his mind, he was calculating. 'They should not have that much Aether Mana left, right?' 

Still, he suddenly saw most of the fairies take out a deep blue-colored berry and eat it, making him blink. "Huh?"

He intently looked at one of them and saw that the Aether Mana had increased by 10 points!

'What are those berries!? Such things exist in the wild?'

Amapola shouted. "Continue to use low-level attacks and use the berries to recover; we just have to hold on for a while longer." 

Froorar frowned, looking around for something that he could use, but this place seemed strangely clean and taken care of. 'Was it really a coincidence that we came along with each other?'

While Froorar's nose for unique trees was extraordinary, Liu Shu was many levels below, which helped her hide from him in plain sight.

Liu Shu couldn't really see the entirety of the fight. Her sight was limited to 40 meters, after all. However, her senses other than sight were much more developed compared to humanoids. She could sense the earth, feel the wind, and was aware of some energy changes. 

They were immature, but she was slowly developing the senses that a proper World Tree should have. 

While they were gauging each other, Froorar suddenly saw one of the fairies approach a tree, and his pupils thinned. With incredible speed, he shot in that direction and then jumped. The fairy was quick to react, moving sideways. However, Froorar's speed was extremely quick, and while he didn't manage to land a solid blow, a significant part of the strength carried by his attack struck the fairy, blowing her away from the strength behind that attack.

Amapola shouted. "Prepare- huh?"

While Amapola was going to order to prepare to attack in his landing spot, Froorar used the tree behind the fairy and smashed onto it, bending the trunk backward slightly and using that like a sling to land on the floor firmly again. 

Amapola's face changed. "Be careful with the Trees! Don't get close to them!"

Froorar licked his lips, looking around with predatory eyes and ready to pounce at the slightest chance. 'That first fairy should've died, but I haven't received a notification of her death… How could she survive with such heavy wounds? The second fairy I hit is probably out of combat as well. Sadly, I couldn't catch any of the Level 8 ones or Amapola…' 

When Froorar was about to pounce again, a powerful voice was heard from the side. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, FROORAR!?" 

Like a small hurricane, Flor descended, her bright red hair fluttering around as her face warped in anger. The pressure Flor released was even superior to the ten fighting fairies, making her look majestic and noble. 

Froorar paused and looked over with a severe face. He could play around with these Level 9 and below beings, but Flor was someone who could kill him if things went south. 

"Flor! I'm going to ask you one time. Where is my child!?" 

Flor descended right before him, unafraid of his powerful body. Although she was 30 centimeters tall, a doll-like being compared to the almost 2-meter-tall Froorar, her presence was no less impactful. 

"Froorar, I've never bothered taking care of your race because you never touched my bottom line. However, if you dare act as you will in my territory, I'm going to slaughter all Thornstrides from the Golden Sap Forest, even if it is the last thing I do!" 

Froorar gritted his teeth, looking at the tiny fairy with a dangerous gaze, but then he snorted. "Whatever. I'll be going. It's not worth it fighting all of you over this."

Froorar looked at the surroundings again as if trying to memorize them and then left. 

Amapola asked. "Leader Flor, why didn't we attack him as one?" 

Flor looked at Amapola and used her hand to chop down at her forehead. "Ouch!"

"Did you forget why we are here? Do you want a full-scale battle to unfold so close to that little thing? Even if it is sturdy, look! She has received damage more than once!" 

Amapola rubbed her forehead and looked over, seeing a few leaves falling around it. When Froorar was fighting, he naturally moved all over the place, and moving by Liu Shu's side was a matter of course.

In the aftermath, she lost around 20 Phoer, which is nothing to be worried about, but the fact that she was damaged to this extent was telling of what would happen if they dared fight here. 

Flor approached Liu Shu while speaking. "Take care of the injured ones. Use the berries we've accumulated to heal them. They should work really well for deep wounds, as their vitality and healing properties are really powerful." 

Then, she caressed the trunk of the tree and smiled. "Don't worry, little one. They are gone. Were you scared?"

Liu Shu's branches swayed as they moved very lightly toward Flor. Flor reached out and caressed them with a smile. "Okay, everything is all right. The bad guy has left."

While Flor didn't know Liu Shu's exact age, she could tell by how she behaved until now that she had an extraordinarily naïve and young mind. 

Meanwhile, Liu Shu was looking around, unsure as to how to react. She had never felt this much fear in her short life. 

The feeling coming from that Thornstride was extremely palpable. She knew that one wrong move would mean death. And, as a World Tree, while she was a creature connected to the Cycle of Life in an extremely deep level, she also feared Death.

There was an instinct, very deep inside, that told her to survive, no matter the cost, that she needed to continue pushing onward.