Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 18. A Class With Teacher Eila Neoflower.

Eila Neoflora waited for a few moments and then spoke aloud. "Now that all of you have the system page open in front of you, let's start with the class. Today, we'll learn what each of the things is and how we can increase them, and if we have time, we'll also speak about energy cycles."

Eila paused and then spoke. "Let's start from the top: name and Titles. The name is self-explanatory. However, it's not as simple as it looks. The name that appears on your system page will be the name you feel you are the most related to. System pages are personal and not for others to see; that's why there are no surnames unless you consider your name and surname as entirely yours."

Seeing the confusion on some students' faces, Eila further explained. "For example, if in the future you become paired and after you have descendants, you feel your surname as being an important part of what defines yourself, your name might change from just Eila to Eila Neoflora."

One student asked. "What about the teacher? Which of the two appears on your page?"

Cinderielle looked over with a speechless expression. 'Do you really think she will answer?'

As she expected, Eila looked over and stated, "I will not answer questions about my own system page." Then, she looked around and asked, "Are there any more doubts about the name?"

After checking and seeing none left with doubts, Eila nodded and continued in her usual natural tone. "If you have anything else to ask, remember to come in the recess. Being forward to asking about your doubts about the class subjects to the teachers is one of the hints to success. Next, Titles."

Eila continued. "Titles come in many shapes and forms; we'll learn their denomination later. Today, I'll give a general introduction. Titles are gained passively and actively." Eila paused and added. "A passively gained title is something like the ones some of you have…"

The teacher looked around, and Cinderielle saw her eyes landing on her. "Student Cinderielle, can you present a title of yours that you think is a passively acquired title?"

Cinderielle looked at <Aether Flame Bearer> and <Nature's Friend> and nodded. "Teacher, I think both my titles are passively acquired; one of them is called <Nature's Friend>."

Eila nodded. "Correct. <Nature's Friend> is a title almost all Sylvans are born with. Of course, if any Sylvan present doesn't have it, it only means that you did something to nature in the past that revoked <Nature's Friend> title. A Sylvan not being born with that title is rare, after all."

Walking toward a wooden board at the back of the class, Eila used an erasable sap pen to write on the board. She wrote. "Passively acquired titles are given by your nature or are hereditary. As an example, monsters in the wild sometimes have <Chief> titles, and these are passed down when the <Chief> steps down or dies and a <Heir> is alive. Monsters with such titles are usually stronger and harder to deal with."

Thompson asked. "What happens if the <Chief> dies before an <Heir> is chosen?"

Eila nodded. "Good question. It entirely depends on the strength of the title. If it were a title for an F or E rank monster, the title would just vanish. After all, to get a "chief" title for those weaker monsters, they only get to unlock their first [Energy Cycle]."

Cinderielle blinked. 'Energy Cycle? What's that?'

Eila knew that someone would ask, so she explained it a step ahead. "Energy Cycles is a subject for a bit later. One must understand many nuances, so explaining it now in a hurry makes no sense. Moreover, you can only come in contact with it for the first time in the jump between Level 9 and Level 10, so don't be hasty. Let's continue with the system page."

Cinderielle nodded to herself and continued listening.

"Now, active titles are ones you gain through actions. For example, <Sword Master>. These titles are given when your comprehension reaches a certain point. More often than not, they are just titles without any effects, but if one takes a certain art to the extreme, bonuses for those kinds of actions might arrive through the title."

Eila added as a side note. "Titles that give any kind of stats are precious because they don't use either Aether Mana, Phoer, or Anima Energy. So, people who have powerful titles are usually stronger than others. It's naturally not always the case, but people selling their skills by using them is often seen in the market."

The students in the class looked at their titles and got thoughtful. Cinderielle's eyes were specially locked on <Aether Flame Bearer>. 'I can probably use this in the future.'

Eila commented. "Let's move one…" She paused, remembering something. "Hm… Well. Sometimes, there are people with an extra line in their systems called <Hidden Titles>, with a number at the side. These <Hidden Titles> are innate ones that the system suppresses for one reason or another. To activate them, you need to either become stronger or do the action that would unlock them."

Cinderielle asked, raising her arm. "Teacher, how do we know which actions are needed to unlock them?"

Eila looked at her and said bluntly. "We don't."

Cinderielle blinked a few times. "Eh?"

Eila smirked a bit. "There is no way to know. Either you do it by luck, or you don't. Of course, they are probably related to yourself, so exploring oneself is sometimes useful. However, cases of people going their entire lives without unlocking their <Hidden Titles> are much more common than people unlocking them."

Eila looked around and spoke clearly. "As a piece of advice, for those who have <Hidden Titles>, ignore them. If they get unlocked, it's perfect. If not, nothing changes. Work on yourself, not some hidden and obscure knowledge or power."

Then, she turned around and was about to walk toward the wooden board perched on the wall to write when everybody saw that she paused. When she turned toward them again, her face was cold. "This is the first and last warning. If someone dares try to analyze me with their system again, I'll kill them."

Cinderielle followed Eila's gaze, and at the end, a terrified man was looking down while trembling and sweating badly. 'Woah… Have you really tried analyzing a teacher who is so many levels higher than you? Your guts are like roots reaching to the sky.'

The other people were also looking at that man with stunned expressions.

Eila turned around again, continued the class, and continued writing the system page's following line. "Now, let's move on. The <Race> is quite straightforward—perhaps the most straightforward of everything. It tells you the name of your race, and that's all. If you are human, it should say your human variant, for example, <Copper Skinned Human>. If you are a beast-man, it should say your current race and gender, for example, <River Otter Beast-man> or <River Otter Beast-woman>. If you are a Sylvan, it should tell you the name of your Sylvan race, for example, <Silver Rose>."

Everybody expected a bit more, but Eila continued and began writing the following line. Cinderielle's eyebrow twitched. 'That's all? Even the <Name> had a much lengthier explanation!'

"After <Race>, there is one of the most important things in the entire system page. Some of you might have it blank. Others might have something written on it. The name of the next line is <Energy Method>."

Eila wrote it on the wooden board with beautiful strokes and spoke. "This is the thing that will allow you to gain <Experience Points> without needing to battle or kill other beings. It's essential for growth, and usually, a power's prestige is based on how good their <Energy Method> is."

Eila added. "The ways of gaining experience are varied: Eating treasures, completing quests, killing creatures around your level, practicing the energy method, creating items, and others."

 One person asked. "What happens if we kill creatures much weaker?"

Eila commented. "You can lose experience. If you just leveled up, it is also possible to drop levels. So, it's not worth it."

Cinderielle was surprised, and another person asked the question she was about to ask. "You can drop down levels?"

Eila nodded. "Naturally. Some people lose levels as they age, and some lose levels after they are crippled. Levels, while they are a way to push our strength, they are also a quantifier of our general strength. Naturally, because of tiers, Levels are not all. A high-tiered creature can have strong enough based stats to fight much higher-level beings."

Eila finally added before returning to the system explanation. "Also, stats don't give us strength; our strength is shown in the stats. Remember that."

Everyone nodded and continued listening.

"Let's explain the <Energy Method> a bit deeper. For those of you who have one innately, you should've realized that they have a condition. Every person can train differently, so you must be attentive to it. Our school provides support for disciples, so if you need a type of material, energy, or something similar, please inform me later. I'll make a list so that the school can prepare them."

Eila added. "Moreover, <Energy Methods> are acquirable skills. You're not limited to just one. However, there's a cumulative experience cap. For instance, if you possess three different Energy methods and the first two yield 4 Experience Points per day while the third garners 10, you'll only be able to accrue a total of 4 points from the first two methods and the remaining six from the third. In short, you will gain 10 Experience Points per day."

By Cinderielle's side, Thompson asked. "Then aren't the four Experience points methods useless?"

Eila asked back. "What if the conditions for gaining points from the 10-experience point method are too complicated?"

Thompson and the other students realized what Eila was hinting at.

"What are experience points?"

Cinderielle's ears perked up when she heard the gentle, nature-like voice. Looking over, she spotted the green-haired Sylvan that had previously caught her attention, raising her hand.

Eila looked over and smiled. "Good question, Verdantia. Experience points are a type of energy that's dedicated entirely to the system. We can't interact with them without the System's help. At the same time, that type of energy can't be used without the system. We'll delve deeply into our theories behind it later in the [Fundamental Energies] class."

"Now, students. We'll leave what Level is and everything below that for the following class."

Right after she said that the rustling of leaves sounded like a ring, signaling the end of the class.

Eila picked up her materials and sat down, opening a book made of leaves to write down what materials each needed for the <Energy Method>.

It took around 12 minutes to list everything down.

In the meantime, Cinderielle looked at Verdantia and spoke. "Hey."

Verdantia looked over and nodded softly. "Hello. Do you need anything?"

Cinderielle and Verdantia were both tall women, reaching around 180 centimeters in height. Moreover, as 18-year-olds, they were still growing. The average Sylvan was around 160~165 centimeters tall, similar to the average human woman's height.

Looking eye to eye with another woman was rare for them, so they couldn't help but feel comfortable. Cinderielle smiled. "Wanna go eat something together later?"

Verdantia smiled as well, but suddenly, she remembered something and put on an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Miss Cinderielle. I need to go home and prepare food for a few little ones at home."

Cinderielle blinked. "You have pets?"

Verdantia smiled widely. "Yes! I have a quite thorn rose spider and a blue petal Dionaea muscipula!"

Cinderielle's lips twitched. "I see. Have fun, I guess."

Verdantia nodded and was about to speak when Eila called her over. "Miss Verdantia."

Hearing her name being mentioned, Verdantia bowed and left. "See you later, Miss Cinderielle."

Cinderielle nodded dazedly and looked down at her chest with a bitter expression. 'Verdantia's… T-They really bounce…' Curios she went up to her toes and fell back a bit forcefully. 'Oh? Mine do so too~.' Then, she looked up with a smug smile, feeling happy again. 

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Author Note: In the next chapter, we return to Liu Shu's side~. I hope it didn't feel too heavy reading about all of these explanations~.

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