Chapter 614 Felicia’s intangible gauntlets & Alexandra’s reflection armor (part 2)
Chapter 614 Felicia’s intangible gauntlets & Alexandra’s reflection armor (part 2)
Despite the bitter feeling of not being able to cuddle with Aster like normal, the girls decided not to interfere this time, mainly because since Lilia was too strong to participate on the sparring sessions and apparently her luck was really bad when it came to drawing lots, meaning she ended up being the last to have a date with Aster, they could tell she was getting a bit heated up lately.
And so, Sarina and the others laid down near Aster and Lilia and entered the land of dreams without too much problem, the hours went on and soon the moon left the sky, replaced by the sun.
"Hmm?", Aster softly mumbled as his eyelids trembled, yesterday he didn't enter the mind space but straight went to sleep, the last thing he remembers is being welcomed by Lilia's beautiful laying down figure, then he was completely enveloped in a soft embrace and lights went out.
"Good morning darling, did you have a nice rest?", Aster was returned to the real world, by Lilia's mellow voice reaching his ears, that also made him realize that he felt incredible.
Yesterday he ended up rather worn out, since he used quite a bit of soul energy to help those two, for Nerissa, he used a lot of soul energy to peek into the secrets of her manual and for Tiana the combination of him having to balance his mind and body to access the advanced version of telekinesis in a combat situation as well as transferring Rigel's flames mind cleansing effects every time he made contact with her.
Add to that the fact that they are both soul cultivators, meaning that while their insights and inspiration are better than others barely emulating the state of illumination granted by the heavens, the energy needed to power them is proportional to that and yesterday Aster took the toll for them, even with his monstrously strong soul and large reserves of soul energy, he felt it.
'Those two sure are demanding ladies', jokingly thought Aster, to then focus his attention on his own body, he didn't enter the mind space and judging by how he felt before going to sleep, he knew he needed around 8 hours of sleep to return to his prime, but he felt better than even his prime and without entering the mind space.
Which reminded him that he was planning to go there yesterday but he fell asleep without realizing it.
"Mom, did you put me to sleep or something?", Aster's muffled voice could be heard coming from within Lilia's ample bosom, since that clingy mother of his wasn't letting go of him.
"Mmm, I don't know darling, I just wanted you to relax and rest darling and before I realized we have both fallen asleep~", said Lilia, she was rather happy to have hogged Aster for herself.
Aster raised an eyebrow, he squeezed his head upwards between Lilia's breasts finally getting some light, it was rather early in the morning and the others were soundly sleeping near them, Lilia's alluring red eyes slightly illuminated the room as she gazed at him.
His hand freed up from Lilia's embrace and with a soft pat on her butt, she reluctantly let go of him, seeing Lilia's unconvinced expression Aster pecked her lips as he got up from the bed, he didn't take a shower and went straight to sleep, so he needed one now.
And knowing that Lilia would sneak into the bathroom with him, he bribed her with some sweet words and caresses to be able to shower in peace, Lilia pouted but ultimately, she gave up and let go of Aster while she returned to sleep, in any case she'll be entering the mind space so it's not like she'll be apart from her beloved darling throughout the day.
"Come now, tomorrow I'm yours, I need to shower or I'll be late to meet up with those two", he said, having successfully convinced that mother of his, Aster floated out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom, the little snake was still coiled around his neck and Aster didn't mind it, but he didn't want to wake her for his shower, so with a single thought a strange scene unfolded before his eyes.
Espi seemed to sink into his skin, but that wasn't the case the little snake was moved to the golden dragon contract emblem that shone at the backside of his right hand for a second, the transition was so smooth that Espi didn't even notice it, in fact judging by the comfortable expression on the face of the little snake, she was happy to be there and this was also Aster's first time looking into the contract emblem.
It was similar to the special rings that Natasha and Charlotte had, unlike a spatial ring there was an atmosphere capable of sustaining life inside, what differentiated it from the ring is that the space of the contract emblem actually had a whole ecosystem inside, just for the little snake, Aster couldn't help but be marveled at the fantasy-like misty forest in which Espi was resting right now.
'This is worth studying, the book said that there would be some natural development in the contract emblem, for the tamed spirit beast to live, in part that's why the tamer must synchronize and develop a deep bond with its contracted beast for a long time before the emblem is created, but there is a whole forest there which shouldn't be the case', thought Aster as he jumped into the shower.
He decided to focus on his bath for now, in any case the little snake seemed happy with it so he could leave it for later, it's not like he has anyone to ask anyway, Julian's knowledge is limited to middle grade Stellar systems and he only knows the crude submission type contracting method used by the major forces he has had contact with, none of which focuses on taming spirit beasts.
The girls from the Divine Firmaments couldn't speak about it, since their knowledge is all above the mortal realms, as for Lilia such a niche subject wasn't of interest to her before she left, specially because she had a sister that took care of such obscure aspects in their circle, his Fey godmother.
Having finished his bath, Aster dried himself and then put on his clothes, it was already 7:00 am so today's stars should be ready to leave by now, after making a small stop in his bedroom to give some morning kisses to the sleeping beauties and telling Kana that Espi would come with him today, he left the room.
Outside he was meet with Camila, Mira, Agnes, Eris, Mylene as well as Alexandra who obviously stayed up late to have a girl's night like usual, the difference is that this time since Tiana and Nerissa didn't participate Vivian also stayed out, so it was apparently a night for the group that had entered the Transcending realms only
Camila's face brightened the moment she met Aster but she blushed and then looked downwards while fidgeting to then say.
"G-Good morning", Eris and Mylene chuckled at their friend getting all shy, while Agnes also greeted Aster with a bright smile on her face.
"Hi", the others also greeted Aster in their own way, some more enthusiastically than others, but all were genuinely happy to see him, even the ligress girl felt closer than before, which might be why Alexandra wasn't as nervous as she thought she would be over going on a date with Aster.
"Good morning, ladies", said Aster as he poured a cup of water for him, the remaining participant of today's date, in other words Felicia was arriving at the kitchen right now, accompanied by Tiana.
"Hi, sorry for the delay I had to prepare myself considering how "tired" you left Tia yesterday", jokingly said Felicia which made Tiana's face redden on the spot.
"Mom!", she exclaimed, making the other girls giggle at her, the best console they could have regarding Aster's undiscriminated teasing is enjoying when it isn't their turn.
"Okay, of you two are ready, let's leave now, it will take some time to reach our destination after all", said Aster.
Felicia and Alexandra nodded, they approached Aster and placed their hands on his shoulders, disappearing alongside him the next second, leaving behind a group of girls gossiping among themselves.
…
Inside a dimensional tunnel, three figures moved at high speed, naturally they were Aster, Felicia and Alexandra, while this was Alexandra's first date, she has heard a lot from the others and it was Felicia's second time, though it was the first in which her daughter didn't accompany her so they were both curious about where was Aster taking them.
"So, where are you kidnapping us to, an event prepared by the sect or one of the secret realms perhaps?", asked Felicia, since Aster didn't use a spaceship, it shouldn't be a faraway planet, nor he took them to the central city where the portals to the other territories of the sect are placed.
Aster smiled at them before saying.
"Nope, I don't like to repeat unless necessary, besides it is your first date with me, so I want it to be memorable".
Alexandra felt a bit strange about Aster's words, on one side she knew he was just messing with her and that there wasn't any malice behind his words, after all given how they met if he really had ulterior motives, she would have ended up serving him in all the meaning of the word, as he had successfully cured her mother, on the other hand there was this curious filled sensation lingering in her mind after listening to the other girl's experiences.
As for Felicia no one knew what was in her mind, since she wasn't an open book like Tiana, she always had that amused smile on her face when interacting with Aster, but today she seemed to be in an especially good mood, perhaps she noticed the change in her daughter, since she is rather adept in soul cultivation.
Speaking of which, Aster was slightly surprised to see that Felicia had advanced overnight, becoming both a peak Mortal Transcending body cultivator just like Alexandra, but also advancing to the middle stage of the Star Tribulation realm in the soul path.
'A double advance that's something you don't see every day, perhaps her previous accumulation was deeper than what I thought and our recent adventure helped her incorporate what was leftover after her major advance', thought Aster.
The girls in the family can be divided in four groups, the ones below the Transcending realms which includes Alice, Aria, Kana, Tiana, Vivian and Nerissa, then the ones in the early Transcending realms which consists of Sarina, Alexandra and Felicia, the third group are those in the late Transcending realms, namely Eris, Mylene, Agnes and Mira who though is a peak Sea of Knowledge instead of a Genesis Manifestation, she is recultivating so she is qualified to be part of that group.
Last but not least there is Lilia who though is at the Transcending realms currently, she by all means can be counted as a Heavenly realm cultivator.
The point is that Felicia is an anomaly among her group, she was stuck at the earth realms for quite some time but since she didn't stop training and polishing her abilities, she was able to attain strength way past her limited realm but that's not the strange part about it, in Aster's words she increased her strength output to her outmost limit, when Aster met her, she was at an incredible 88%.
And to top it off, even after she advanced that didn't diminish a single bit, something Aster hadn't seen on anyone but himself so far, even his monstrous mother and the girls from the Divine Firmaments like Eris or Mylene got some minor setbacks when they advanced, it was a proof that they had the opportunity to further improve their battle prowess without the need to breakthrough.
In other words, Felicia was as strong as possible in her realm, unless she obtained a technique that far surpassed what she could do, which would be hard considering unlike her daughter she had already perfectly integrated body and soul aspects into her fighting style while also affecting the energy path, her best shot would have been trying to integrate the energy path but that was still too far for let alone her but all the others in the family, Aster included.
But then Aster obtained his dragon eyes, thanks to Rya he learned that even if there aren't flaws, he can "force" them to produce one, with the intention to turn it into an opportunity of course, that was the base for Rya's treatment, mending the small and spread fractures in her soul to turn them into a large flaw that could be then transformed into something positive.
In other words, if she didn't have it, he just had to help her create it, seeing Aster's slight smirk made even the usually carefree Felicia have a bad premonition, but at the same time that excited her, Aster might not be the strongest, smartest or wisest in the group, but he has the incredible ability to find a way to achieve things that would otherwise be impossible, she has seen it just a few hours ago when she took a peek at her daughter's strange status when she returned from her date.
'Aster's presence already makes it easier for even us to advance, I can't begin to imagine what will happen if we receive active help from him', happily thought Felicia, oblivious of what she was thinking, Aster focused on the dimensional tunnel, the truth is that unlike his previous dates he didn't have a designated destination for these two until a few minutes ago.
After all his interactions with them were rather minor, Alexandra was new to the team and while Felicia was rather friendly with him, she most of the time pushed Tiana their way while instead choosing to spend her time with the other mothers, mainly Sarina which would be her "downfall" this time as the motherly blond woman had told Aster everything, she discovered due to their spars.
To those two's surprise, in the middle of the dimensional tunnel, Aster casually pointed his hand towards the right wall making his Lord ring shine for a second, thanks to old Salazar his authority has been increased to the point that in many aspects only the Punishment elder in other words Salazar himself or the Ancestors were above him, making his status be on par with that of a Supreme Elder, this directive surprised let alone Aster but even Salazar since the order came directly from the elusive Ancestor of the Battle planet.
And so, thanks to that he could now manipulate core elder level dimensional tunnels to a certain extent, he simply created an alternative gate along the way as they had reached their destination.
"Is this the moment when we faint to then wake up chained in a basement or something like that~", jokingly said Felicia which made Aster chuckle in response.
"No, unless that's what you want for your date, I don't mind to fulfill some requests as long as the purpose it's fulfilled".
The poor Alexandra raised her right eyebrow at such a strange exchange, she ended up paired with two shameless people, that being said she couldn't help but softly laugh at it, the previously slightly rigid mood between the three of them was eased on the spot, which was both their purpose.
As if Lilia's mother instincts tingled, she while still sleeping, entered the mind space just in time to listen to the previous exchange between Aster and Felicia and softly snorted at it.
'Humph, I get that any decent woman with a decent brain would find my darling lovely, but can't she be aware of her own words', she mumbled, Rya who was meditating nearby Lilia, nearly choked herself with spirit energy.
'As if you are one to speak about awareness, you lewd dragon woman', she limited to say.
Aster bitterly smiled at those two's bickering, leaving aside that, they left through the portal and landed on a gray lifeless ground.
Both Felicia and Tiana observed their surroundings with a slightly confused expression, regardless of the girl participating, all the dates had something in common, the places to where Aster took them had rather pleasant to the eye sights, yet everything nearby them was a lifeless arid gray rocky desert.
But then they both felt their respective energy reserves slightly but surely diminishing without them doing anything, which made them both look upwards, just to be met with a skyless atmosphere, they were directly able to see the space and nearby celestial bodies.
"Heh, did you think I would choose a regular place for any of my family's dates, quite an interesting sight, right?", playfully said Aster.
Those two exchanged gazes and as much as they didn't want to admit it, they had to agree with Aster, on the other hand they knew he was planning something, this small celestial body in which they were standing had an incomplete atmosphere, in other words it was unapt for regular humans and even a wide range of cultivators to live in.
Only cultivators who had entered the Transcending realms can survive in space without being inside a spaceship, well there are some exceptions like Aster who is protected by the Paragon Body, but you get the point, still being directly even partially exposed to the coldness of the space and the lack of oxygen to breath made a cultivator have to use energy to sustain its life, which is what those two were experiencing right now.
"Well, it is truly not what I would expect from a "date", but the sight is certainly interesting, so what do you have in store for us?", said Alexandra as she crossed her arms below her chest.
Aster softly smiled, Alexandra felt a bit awkward when interacting with him, after all she falsely accused him of trying to take advantage of them by using her mother, thinking he was colluding with the Atria, which is why she gave him the cold shoulder while they were venturing inside the Silicon Forest, only to learn the truth and feel ashamed of herself.
After all, despite not having anyone she could call a "friend" due to her circumstances forcing her to be as low key as possible, she could tell that what Aster did for them was something that even those who call themselves friends would find hard to do, he cured her mother and didn't even ask anything in return, when there is quite a tempting bounty for the two of them, hell he even gave them refuge and saved her father from what would have been a tragic end in an obscure random place.
So, her attitude towards him was a mix of awkwardness and gratitude and a tinge of curiosity, after all she has delved enough into the tragedy of her family to know that the Atria weren't more than a pawn to get her mother, they weren't the only ones involved but participated because of the feud between their Supreme Elder and her father, so she knows that at least a major power from a high ranked Stellar System must be involved.
And she knows Aster must be fully aware of it and yet he didn't show the slightest hesitation when he offered them to come with him, finding some with such resolution is really hard not to mention his monstrous personal abilities, it's impossible not to feel interested in someone like that.
"Well, in your case since this is the first time we have a date, we'll follow the same pattern as when it was Tiana's time, I want to have a better understanding of your abilities, since all I know is that you have an unknown defense-oriented body constitution", said Aster as he sat down on the ground.
Knowing that her turn will come later, Felicia casually walked towards Aster and sat next to him, while barely being able to contain her curiosity regarding what Aster had in mind for her.
Back to Alexandra, her eyes sparkled for a second, there was another thing about Aster that she found fascinating and it was that golden armor she has seen using it, since she hasn't really interacted with him much, the information she had came from Alice, who proudly told her that it was the manifestation of a body constitution she shares with Aster.
But unlike with Aster, when she sparred with Alice, she didn't feel that sensation of calmness, protection and familiarity as it happened when Aster covered her with the golden light projected by his armor, meaning that Alice's armor wasn't defense oriented like Aster's, which for her was a bit disappointing.
After all she had never met anyone with a strong defense body constitution that resonated with hers, even in the meetings between body cultivation focused sects among the strongest middle grade Stellar Systems and that includes the "VIPS" observing the talented members of the young generation exchanging pointers, who she was sure came from high ranked Stellar Systems, like the hateful guys from the Castle Armored sect, sure the ones who came to take a look at them weren't members of the main branches of those high and mighty sects, but she didn't feel impressed at all by their manuals and techniques and there were some low Immortal grade ones in the mix.
'Alice has a really high physical strength but her defense isn't on par with it, I wonder how will my Indestructible Northern Heavenly body constitution will fair against his golden armor', she wondered as she gave Aster a competitive gaze.