Chapter 578 Sarina’s wings (part 5)
Sarina admired the small blade that was floating around her, carefully, knowing that Aster should have put a lot of thought into it.
The interesting part, is that when the idea of this belt came to Aster, Sarina was unable to turn the spirit energy of the atmosphere into energy for her, that's why Aster destined the Prison Mercury for her use.
The idea was that she totally overwhelmed others in the energy path, and for that, a material that dispersed spirit energy like Prison Mercury, was perfect.
And even now that she obtained the capacity to decompose spirit energy through her version of annihilation, the belt was even better, think of it like this, she could block energy attacks and turn them into strength for herself by using her wings.
She is mainly an energy cultivator, so enemies won't try to use the soul path against her, but instead will go for close combat after seeing that long ranged or wide area energy attacks are not effective against her.
Only to realize they are kicking an iron plate since Sarina won't be weak in the body path, and the use of weapons, in the rare case where someone that excels in the soul path tries to attack her, she has a soul constitution.
And in the even rare occasion where the enemy instead goes all in and uses continuous energy attacks, outmatching her reserves of spirit energy will be really hard, as she basically has two.
In other words, all the points are covered, which is what Aster is trying to get all the girls to achieve, by developing abilities of the three paths, regardless of the ones in which they cultivate.
"Now, try with lightning and mist flames as well", said Aster, to which Sarina nodded.
Her wings extended on her back, since she couldn't use her three attributes at the same time, without them, as of current, something that she is planning to solve through venturing with Aster in the next mission.
Electricity as well as flames sparkled around Sarina's wings as she injected spirit energy into the belt once again, making another two of those diamond shaped jade plaques, separate from the belt and gloat around her.
Unlike the first one which was rotating and generating currents of wind, the second one was crackling with electricity and the third one was burning in ash-red flames, the three orbited around Sarina moving at her will due to the link created with spirit energy through the belt.
Since she wasn't used to control things at will, as she isn't a soul cultivator, Sarina had to use her hands to command the three jade plaques, Aster was amused at her entertained expression, as she saw the jade plaques do some maneuvers on the air before they returned to her side.
Only then, Sarina noticed Aster's gaze on her and she blushed a bit, realizing she was a bit too amazed.
"How cute", said Aster which only made the motherly woman pout.
"Don't tease me", she mumbled, making Aster loudly laugh, but the surprises weren't finished yet.
"Though only recently I obtained all the materials needed for the Jade Sword Belt, the truth is that the idea comes from way back, not too long after we met, when you fought that woman with the pipe", said Aster with a nostalgic voice to then add.
"The sharp gales of wind that surrounded my Sarina as well as her fierce expression, certainly you embodied what a storm should be like".
Aster then hugged Sarina from behind, ignoring the fact that the jade plaques could have grazed him if Sarina was careless, of course it didn't happen and Sarina found herself in Aster's embrace while her heart drowned in sugar.
Aster then held Sarina's right hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, as he whispered at her.
"You looked really beautiful holding your sword so fiercely, despite your gentle nature, just like how wind can be a soothing breeze or a razor-like gale, so I added this specially for you, try to use ghost sword on the one of the plaques".
Sarina's eyes sparkled, she, Camila and Felicia who were being held back due to the limitations of the places where they lived and their varied personal situations, are "behind" in terms of intent, considering that the young girls with Kana's exception have all learned at least the first level of intent of their respective weapons and some have comprehended the second one, thanks to their high talents and the fact that they have been venturing with Aster.
In comparison, Sarina, Camila and Felicia have only recently started venturing as they used to have other things to tend to.
But from Aster's point of view, that is an advantage, they having only first level intent doesn't make them weak, in exchange for it, they have more experience in the use of their own weapons as they have lived more than Alice and the others, even if it is just a couple of dozens of extra years, those are years of experience that can't be replaced by anything.
And the fact that they are only at the first level of intent makes it easier for them, to give shape to what their third level will be, after all they can expand or change the base as they need, something that will be harder to do if they were to be at a later stage.
Sarina's weapon of choice is the light sword, unlike Aria's rapier which focuses on piercing and flexibility, Sarina's sword is made for rapid and sharp slashes, since her swordsmanship was supposed to match her wind attribute.
But that was the easy part, now that she has three attributes, she can no longer remain the same, her technique must evolve to adapt to her needs, and that's why Aster used a little trick, to help her in that aspect.
"Mm?", Sarina was surprised to see that she could easily deploy ghost sword through the jade plaques, and her pretty green eyes widened a bit as she saw the result, which was the plaque being covered in an ethereal piece of a sword, which was constantly changing, from being the part of an edge to develop the tip of the sword, it was an interesting phenomenon.
Seeing Sarina's curious face, Aster smiled, how could he not, since he was the one who personally forged the base for the physical parts of the belt, of course Mylene meld the materials together in a cauldron and Eris was the one that engraved the formations, so those two deserved recognition as well.
Aster then casually grabbed the wind attribute jade plaque, which nearly made Sarina pale, of course she knew Aster's defenses were probably the strongest in the family, besides those that have surpassed the Genesis Manifestation realm, since with the paragon body he can fight head on against a Genesis Core, without any problem.
But she still couldn't help but immediately retrieve her sword intent from the jade plaque, which made Aster softly laugh.
"Don't worry, I used my blood on it, so I there is a "safety measure" added to it", said Aster, with a snap of his fingers, the jade plaque stopped floating and fell on his hand, he then did some gestures and was able to open the plaque to show her what lied inside.
Sarina was surprised as she saw, that there was a small-scale sword placed inside of the plaque, something that looked like a keychain decoration in terms of size, but it was splendidly detailed.
In fact, the sword had a wind attributed spirit crystal embedded on it, and the inside of the plaque was covered in a similar type of crystal.
Sarina was speechless for a moment, there were at least fifty jade plaques on the belt, and if each one was like this, she couldn't imagine how much time has Aster invested in making this treasure.
Sure, there are things that can be mass produced, but she was sure Aster wouldn't use generic things on the weapons in which the girls will have trust to fight for their lives, as he always says, only the best of the best for his family.
"Don't think too much about it, I already told you, I have a lot of free time in the mind space, so what are a few hours of work in comparison with seeing my Sarina smile, not to mention it is part of my training, I have to be the best spirit blacksmith so I can properly provide for my family, right", he said as he rubbed his face against Sarina, earning some cute giggles from her.
Leaving the flirting aside for a moment, Aster sealed the jade plaque again and then continued with his explanation.
"While the second level of intent can be more easily applied to other objects, the efficiency diminishes based on how much of the properties of the weapon has the object, or that is normally the case for those who don't prepare for their third level from the beginning and just go for the generic intent, that is "taught" by others".
"Anyway, you already know it, but ghost sword has a limit of extension which varies from person to person, having a longer sword isn't necessarily better, since every person has its own technique".
"You use a light sword, so I bet you have some extension to spare, which is why I used these mini replicas of your sword, so you can apply ghost sword through them in an easier way… however what will be the fun on doing only that, your have to learn how to distribute the extension on the plaques evenly, and apply your attribute to them at the same time".
"You bully, I would have to use parallel thinking for something like that", cutely said Sarina with a pout, which made Aster chuckle.
"My Sarina can do more than that, imagine the enemy being shredded to pieces by a storm of spirit energy, sword intent and physical blades", he said.
Sarina nodded, she understood Aster's idea and she was more than convinced by it, it was time for her to develop her own unique swordsmanship.
With the discussion regarding the belt finished, Aster who was still hugging Sarina by wrapping his arms around her thin waist, suddenly left his body fall backwards to lay down on the sheet he put earlier, with Sarina laying on top of him.
Her wings fondled to hug him, allowing Aster to enjoy their softness.
"You know that Lilia is going to use her wings the moment she sees mine at the bed~", jokingly said Sarina to which Aster could only bitterly smile.
Of course, that possessive mother of his, wasn't going to be left aside, not like he minded, since he'll be enjoying it anyway, still the thought made those two laugh as they flirted and just chatted about random things for the remaining hour that that was left of their date, everything while Aster spoiled Sarina by hugging her tighter from time to time, or caressing her pretty face and silky blond hair.
…
Even if she was unwilling, once the night had finally fell on Randar, it was time for them to return, Sarina was all smiles though, she enjoyed her date to the most, despite she calling Aster "husband" as she liked to do so, the truth is that they acted more like a couple, especially Sarina who was inexperienced in love.
"Let's go", said Aster as he held Sarina's hand, a portal came out of his ring and they then disappeared from the peak of the rock formation in Randar.
The scenery changed from an open starry sky, to the lively living room of Aster's mansion at the valley, as always, the Ligress girl Mira was arguing with the chatterbox Runic Oak Nim.
Espi who felt Kana's presence, slid out of Aster's clothes and then flew towards the little girl, who welcomed it with open arms, she was playing with Mylene, Eris and Camila
Aria, Alice, Tiana and Nerissa, Sofia and Alexandra were having a… "heated" conversation, regarding their sparring session of today, Felicia, Lilia and Tamara on the other hand where chatting and laughing.
As for the scare men that could stay in Aster's mansion, Erick, Tomas and Julian were drinking and playing cards.
"Big brother~", Kana rushed towards Aster and Sarina to hug them both at the same time, or at least she tried to, the arms of the little girl weren't long enough for that, that didn't affect the result though as Aster patted her head a couple of times, as he was welcomed by the others.
Originally, he was going to prepare the dinner, as he promised, but Sarina insisted on giving him a "lesson" as the last part of her date, and how could Aster refuse the petition of his girl, also he was a bit tired after all they did today, Sarina was amazing for preparing the food for all the people in the mansion, almost daily and mostly by herself.
'I wonder if I should get some maids, well, there is Mylene but according to Eris she is a mess in the kitchen… though seeing her in a maid outfit doesn't sound bad at all', thought Aster, unaware for him, Mylene had a sudden strange premonition but she didn't find the origin of it, so she shrugged it off.
Ultimately, he put the matter at the back of his head, currently everyone did their own chores, with the exception of cooking which was almost fully left to Sarina, the problem is to have someone working on the mansion, it had to be someone in which Aster could really trust.
He went to the kitchen with Sarina and after a long battle, the "Hey, brother, if you aren't "busy" for tonight, how about you join us for a couple of games", said Erick to Aster, who immediately fell the dinner was ready and everyone sat at the table to enjoy the last meal of the day.
"Hey, brother, if you aren't "busy" for tonight, how about you join us for a couple of games", said Erick to Aster, who immediately fell the gazes of the girls on him, Sarina included.
"Sorry, maybe tomorrow, in any case you need to amass some nice money so I can take it all", said Aster.
"Hahaha, I'm looking forward to it!", said Erick as he raised his cup at Aster, naturally he was drinking alcohol with his food, since he really had a liking to it and it was really hard for Erick to get drunk due to his body constitution so there was no problem, well, at least nor physical or moral, but Sofia who was sitting next to him, didn't think the same.
"You better be back before midnight, I don't want to be woken up by you returning at 3 AM like yesterday", she said, which made the girls laugh and Erick bitterly smile.
Leaving that aside, once everyone had their fill each took their leave to do their own things, and soon Aster found himself in front of the door of his room, the girls had gone in before, since there was someone that wanted to have word with him.
The one that won the sort of today, was none other than that wild sister of his, Alice was gazing at Aster with "enthusiasm" wrote all over her face, since her date started early for her, as she will be getting some love tonight.
Alice jumped into Aster's embrace, while Aster extended his arms to carry her like a princess.
"I tied with the ice princess first you know, but ultimately I won, you still owe me lots and lots of love, so I can't wait for tomorrow~", said Alice as she placed her lips on Aster's to get a kiss from her beloved brother.
Aster inwardly chuckled as he firmly patted her ass a couple of times, "forcing" her to let go of him, while giggling.
"Be good, and wait for tomorrow, tonight we'll have some "fun" as family", said Aster as he opened the door and jumped onto the bed where the others were waiting for him, of course Kana wasn't in the room, she was participating in Eris and Mylene's sleepovers, as well as Camila, though she'll be returning once their session ends.
For the next hours sweet cries and giggles could be hears inside of the room, before everything returned to normal.
Aster looked at the result of his "work", a few beauties laying down on the bed with happy satisfied smiles on their faces, Aster chuckled and just used Rigel's flames to clean everything, before he put on shorts, to then call Kana through the mental connection, so she returned as it was time to sleep.
Naturally the little girl gave Aster puppy eyes, she couldn't participate in the night activities, but nothing prevented her from getting some head pats, not to mention Kana who talked with Espi was curious about her mother's date.
Aster patted Kana's head and then laid down on the bed, the others were already sleeping, so Kana got to snuggle with Aster alone for a change, while she asked her beloved big brother about all the things he did with Sarina during their date.
The more she heard about it the more the little girl laughed, and before she noticed she actually fell asleep.
Aster caressed her hair a couple of times as he closed his eyes, this night the little snake slept while coiling around Kana's neck.
Sarina who slightly opened her eyes and saw Kana pretty sleeping face as she snuggled with Aster, and a beautiful smile couldn't help but flourish on her face.
'What a good way to end my date~', she thought, at the end of the day, she is still the motherly Sarina, she wanted her daughter to have some fun too.
The rest of the night was pretty much uneventful and after a nice night of sleep, the moon was replaced by the sun at the sky, and Aster who was sleeping couldn't help but feel Alice's intense gaze on him, first thing in the morning.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶