Chapter 588 Cute girl & Cute snake (part 2)
The scenery changed from the living room of the mansion, to the entrance of East Sky city, since the little glutton girl and snake wanted to have a sumptuous breakfast before anything else, Aster brought them here first.
Naturally the girls from the Black Sword faction and their allies which were the only ones allowed in East Sky city, immediately noticed Aster's appearance, it was hard to not, considering that besides Eric, he was the sole male disciple of the Black Sword faction, so there were no other men in this city besides him.
And as one would expect they all approached to greet him, but in the way to do so, they saw Kana hugging Aster and found her "protective" reaction cute, so they couldn't help but tease the little girl.
Kana is really easy to get along with and she often spends some time at the store at the Central Capital, so many of the junior disciples and a lot of the senior sisters know her too, it's not a secret that she is Sarina's daughter and that she is really attached to Aster.
"Good morning senior brother Aster", said a few of them in unison, among which Aster recognized a couple of the girls he met back at the land of this monthly trial.
"Good morning", said Aster with a soft smile which was enough to made their young maiden hearts skip a beat, some of them then smiled at Kana and slightly crouched down to pat her head a couple of times.
"Good morning little Kana, did you come to have breakfast with senior brother?", asked one of them.
"Mm, big brother said he will treat me and Espi to all the food we want~", cutely said Kana with sparkling eyes, which made the other girls softly laugh, it was hard not to be dazzled by the little girl's brightness.
"Would you mind if we join?", asked one of the girls just to see Kana tightening her hug on Aster and shaking her head.
"Big brother is mine today!", she exclaimed just to hear a couple of complaining hisses coming from the "necklace" she had around her neck.
"Hisss!".
"Ah sorry, it should be "ours", so I can't let sisters take him away", she said.
Despite being rejected, those girls couldn't help but find Kana's reaction cute, of course they were only joking, since they knew Aster will only spend time with those that lived with him or the ones that have gone to a mission with him, like Iris or Nerissa, but trying didn't hurt anyway.
"Fine, fine, go have fun with senior brother", they said, Kana giggled and then dragged Aster away with her towards the restaurant, leaving behind a large group of girls whose day was improved by the little girl's bright attitude.
Kana was the youngest member of the Black Sword faction, so she was treated and protected like a little sister by all those girls, and not only them, thanks to Aster saving the girls from the Green Lotus faction, Dahlia being one of them, they also got closer to the little girl, more like they prepared her sweets and cookies for her.
There was a time while Aster was gone when someone from the Red Sword faction glared at her with ill intentions, and a large group of angered protective girls swarmed from every direction ready to spill blood, of course it wasn't needed since Alice and the others were there, but that's how popular the little girl was.
"Ah, to think we'll one day be jealous of that little Kana…", mumbled one of the many girls, to which the others sighed.
"I wouldn't mind to be senior brother's little sister any day", added another.
While those girls were lost in their fantasies, Aster was brought by Kana to her favorite restaurant in East Sky city, the little girl could come here without any worry in the world since everyone here was an ally, so she sometimes "escaped" to come and eat from the different restaurants and locals.
Of course, with Valentina being the city lord, the elders that were the guards, were always keeping an eye on her just in case, and the many store owners knew she was part of Aster's family too, the whole city was like a playground for the little girl where she could make friends.
"Here, the older sister in that restaurant prepares the best juice ever, and the grandma on that stall always gives me candies when I come and…", Kana enthusiastically introduced her favorite places to Aster who softly laughed before saying.
"How about we order all the things from the different places you like, for your breakfast, except for the candies and snacks, we'll keep those for later, okay?".
"Mm, I'll listen to big brother~", Kana was charmed by the idea of having all the things she liked at the same time.
Aster who listened to every word she said earlier, went from one store to another ordering all the things the little girl wanted, as for Espi, it shared practically the same preferences as Kana so he just asked for a bigger share of everything.
Apparently, the store owners and their staff pretty much were used to see Kana, because they knew what he was going to order the moment they entered through the door, so it didn't take long before Aster had gathered quite a banquet for those two little gluttons.
Once everything was ready, Aster placed his hand on Kana's head and then a spatial formation came out of his ring as they were transported to another planet.
…
This time they did spent some time inside a dimensional tunnel but it didn't take long before they appeared at a vast green landscape, it was a giant scale jungle, with big trees and obviously wild spirit beasts roaming around as the roars and other sounds coming from within it, suggested.
But before going to the next part of the date, Aster flew up to a hill with Kana holding onto him and Espi coiling around his neck.
"Mm, this looks like a good place", said Aster, up from this hill they had an amazing view of the giant jungle, he placed a large sheet on the ground and with a wave of his hand all the dishes he bought were perfectly placed on top of it.
Seeing the sparkling eyes and watering mouths of the little girl and the little snake, Aster softly laughed and then gave them the green light since he couldn't resist those puppy eyes.
"Eat as much as you want, we'll start after".
"Yeei!", Kana and Espi immediately dug in, since the portions Aster bought were enough for more than two, they all had a try of each and all of the different dishes, Aster included.
Though Aster wasn't that much of a glutton, like those two, he still needed more food than an average cultivator due to his dragon lineage, so by the end of the breakfast there was nothing left of all the things they bought.
"Mm, thanks for the food", cutely said Kana as she stretched her arms.
"Hisss", Espi who was laying on the sheet also let out some comfortable sounds after having its fill.
"I still don't understand how can you two eat so much and not end up stuffed", added Esmeralda, who was seeing everything from within Kana's body, which made Aster chuckle.
Espi's size had reset after its advance, so even at its best it was at most around two or three meters large, so for a spirit beast it was quite small, as for Kana well, she has grown a bit taller since she obtained her wings, but she was still only around 1.55 meters tall though a whole ten centimeters were added when she used Esmeralda's wind, so for their size they certainly had really good appetites.
On the other hand, it is also true that Kana and the little snake rarely stay quiet through the day, so they end up turning all that food into energy that they use anyway, not to mention they are growing.
Aster patted those two's heads a couple of times, now that Esmeralda was "here", the next part of the day could start, Aster chose this planet for a reason after all.
Kana and Espi had more in common than just their overall maturity being around the same age, among the tenth materials the little snake used for its advance ritual, the first one was the core of the centipede with the mist/illusion attribute, in which the little snake became proficient since its breakthrough.
Now, before its advance Espi's scales could adopt the properties of the element they adapted to, but that didn't mean the little snake could use those attributes, the only one that Espi could externally control was earth due to being part of the sand wyrm race at least on the surface.
But now things were different, unlike other attribute-less rare variations that Myra has heard about, Espi didn't obtain one to then advance, but remained attribute-less while at the same time, assimilating ten different materials to center its evolution in.
The number ten wasn't a coincidence, there are exactly five realms that conform the Transcending realms, and apparently for the little snake to grow, it has to train in the attributes of two materials per realm, the order is the same in which they were integrated into its body during its tribulation.
The first one was mist with illusionary properties and the little snake was already able to use it, it was using it so that others wouldn't notice it when it was hiding below Aster's clothes, and also it helped so that Aster didn't notice it was there, though for the later, their contract and Espi's smooth scales also helped.
"Okay, let's go down into the jungle", said Aster as he jumped down the hill, the little girl and the little snake exchanged gazes and followed the next second, of course their falling was slow and comfortable since they could fly, Kana even used her wings to glide before they reached the ground.
"What do you think big brother, I can now maintain my wings for a longer time and also use the fragrant wind attribute of sister Esmeralda at the same time~", said the little girl who had the words "praise me" written all over her face.
"Hisss!", Espi didn't want to be left behind, so it also showed the results of its training by growing to its maximum size of around three meters, its scales then gained a pretty lavender shade and the next thing Aster knew was that there were multiple "Espis".
The most surprising part is that when Aster reached out to the original Espi, his fingers passed through its body, as it was a copy made out of mist.
"Hisss~", the little snake cutely hissed to call Aster, it somehow had changed places with one of its many illusionary copies, so it was now laying on top of Aster's shoulder.
Of course, if Aster used his dragon eyes, he would have probably seen through that little trick, but with his bare eyes or just spirit them, which made those two smile, but then Aster added.
sense Espi was able to pull that off which is not bad at all, it should be able to trick the vast majority of Genesis Manifestation cultivators that didn't focus on soul cultivation.
"That's amazing you two have worked hard", said Aster as he praised them, which made those two smile, but then Aster added.
"So now it's time to change your focus a bit".
Both Kana and Espi stared at each other and then gazed at Aster who pointed at the jungle that surrounded them.
"We'll play a game, I'll hide in the jungle and you'll have to find me, you can use wind and mist respectively, but you have to use nature attribute at the same time, if you fail to maintain them at the same time, then I'll change mi location instantly, it's not a race so the game will only end when the two of you find me, of course if you do it before the day ends, I'll give you two a reward, what do you day?", he said.
Kana and the little snake nodded at the same time, Kana originally didn't like to train or cultivate, because the thought that it would be the classic boring meditation that she saw/heard others had to do.
But after what happened with Robert, she decided to do it regardless of it, just to be relieved when she saw Aster never meditated, the trick was to find something they didn't find annoying and make it count as cultivation, sparring with the girls, venturing and spending time with Lilia and the others were the same as cultivating for Aster.
For a variety of reasons, he spent his physical energy, spirit energy and soul energy through the many things he did with them, and since there was a bit of everything in his family, he could train in a lot of aspects, like developing his dragon lineage with Lilia, training the Paragon body with Alice, illusions with Aria, sword intent with Agnes, rune mastering with Eris, alchemy with Mylene, soul condensing with Felicia, telekinesis with Vivian and the list goes on.
Esmeralda took a similar approach with Kana, she had to be out practically the whole day, interacting with the wind spirit energy on the atmosphere, she could do as she liked as long as she got closer to it, it was kind of a passive way to train, which worked for her due to her strange capacity to "get along" with practically everything, she was simply loved by the world.
Now, that doesn't mean she doesn't put effort in training, as much of a genius as Kana is, she worked on getting closer to the wind from dawn to dusk, every day, it would be easy to get bored or frustrated but the little girl persisted until the results were noticeable like now when she could convert into wind for a short period of time.
"If you found or discovered by something you have to fight it as a team, okay?".
"Mm", those two nodded and then Aster flew deep into the jungle, disappearing from their sights, thanks to the thick vegetation that domineered the landscape.
As Aster deepened into the forest, and against all his wishes he shut down the thin connection that had stablished between him and Kana after her she made a contract with Esmeralda, since a star had started to resonate with her from that point onwards.
She wasn't a Star Maiden as she hadn't gained the power of a star, but she could communicate and feel Aster's location thanks to that, either Aster or the Star Maiden could block the other from finding each other, but in this case, Kana had no control over it so it had to be him.
Of course, his sight never left those two's location, thanks to his dragon eyes and his spirit sense enhanced with his soul energy, it was as if he had eyes on the sky, being able to see till the smallest detail of all the jungle area, from above, as if he was the absolute ruler of this place.
'I guess, now I understand how mom felt back then…', thought Aster, he couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of being overprotective with those two, the nature of his relationship with Kana was way too different than the one he had with Alice, from the very beginning he couldn't see Alice as his sister for some reason, she wasn't a stranger either, but she was more like his best friend which is why it wasn't hard to go from that to their current relationship, their dragon lineage might have had a part in that, besides him coming from another world as well.
But with Kana things were different, he treated her like a little sister and she was the same, though she was for sure infatuated with Aster, it was in an innocent/admiration way, heck she originally thought Aster was the golden knight of the folklore back at her native planet, it was similar to how those junior disciples idolized Aster, while being pretty much oblivious of romantic relationships, due to their sheltered upbringings.
Of course, that might change in the future, since Kana has said that she will never leave her mother and big brother's side, and she is pretty much accepted as part of the family by the other girls, but as of right now, protective affection is the only thing between them.
'For a dragon you sure are quite strange, but I guess that's part of your charm, be sure to cherish those two, in the future many will try to approach with not so pure intentions', Esmeralda's voice echoed in Aster's mind as he landed in a random tree at the northeast side of the jungle.
"Let's see them try after they witness the end of the Tempest family", coldly said Aster referring to Ley's family, that was something Sarina and Kana will have to face at some point, but it's fine because he'll be there standing alongside them when the time comes.
Esmeralda nodded from within Kana's body, the one that her contractor admired and wished to follow, had to be at least this decisive, otherwise she would personally kill those coward bastards who only wanted the benefits without the responsibilities that came along with it.
Leaving that aside, Aster leaned backwards against the trunk of the tree and then observed what those two were doing.
Kana closed her eyes for a second, her pretty white-green wings appeared on her back, unlike Sarina's wings that looked intense and threatening due to the nature of her lineage and attributes, Kana was the contrary, the feathers of her wind looked like soft leaves that moved with the breeze.
It took the little girl a few minutes, but after focusing, the green parts of the feathers of her wings became more vivid and Aster felt that resonation between her and one of the blank stars that decorated the sky of the mind space, like back then.
As a result, the nearby vegetation seemed to have gained more life, some flowers even flourished on the nearby ground, but it stopped after a second, the green tone on her wings didn't disappear but the phenomenon was gone, also the little girl looked a bit tired after it.
Espi went through something similar, but for it, the changes manifested on its scales, unlike before when the vast majority gained a pretty light lavender shade, now only a few changed while most remained in that usual smooth white tone that characterizes the little snake, however the few scales that changed were half lavender and half light green, forming an irregular pattern.
Aster nodded, they were having troubles to maintain it, but those two were able to use two attributes at the same time without backslash, meaning that they just needed to train on it.
'Now let's see how much have you learned about how cultivators should react on different situations', thought Aster, with his dragon eyes he looked through the forest until he found a reptile spirit beast.
Some kind of big green scaled lizard that was sticking to a large tree, it was a Sea of Knowledge realm level spirit beast, not an overlord level in this forest, but it was high enough in the food chain to not be a prey.
'You'll do', with a thought, Aster's spirit pressure fell on the green scaled lizard, whose eyes widened like plates before it fell from the tree to which it was sticking to earlier.
"Hghrshshh!", the lizard couldn't find the source of the fear that suddenly struck its heart, so it growled in all directions, just to be forced onto the ground by the same pressure of before but at a major scale, this continued for a couple of seconds, before the lizard willingly bowed its head in submission.
Aster had confirmed he could do something like this based on his strong dragon lineage and probably because he is a spirit tamer as well, since force dissuasion is the base of the contracts that those sects of high ranked Stellar Systems have with some spirit beasts, maybe not all but that's as far as taming a spirit beast goes in the four Heavenly Quadrants, it's just a master-servant agreement, unlike the contract between a spirit tamer like Aster and Espi.
Well, some spirit tamers aren't better than that either, but that's something for later.
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are published on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶