Chapter 610 Tiana’s flashing spear & Nerissa’s flowing sword (part 6)
Seeing Aster disappearing from her sight once again, Tiana slightly narrowed her eyes, she tried to discern from where would the "attack" come, but then she self-cursed realizing that she was falling in the same mistake as before.
'No, as much as you hate to admit it, it's not an attack, remember it Tiana, that pervert is an ally', she said to herself.
At the same time, she felt a slight breeze coming from her right, Tiana's eyes sparkled, she jumped to her left, the beginning of her smile froze the moment she bumped onto an immovable yet surprisingly not hard "wall", it was a strange sensation as if she had clashed against a big pillow, a calming and soothing sensation enveloped her body all of a sudden.
Tiana who was slightly dozing off into that sensation was brought back to the real world, by a playful voice coming from that "pillow".
"Hey, a bit more than this and our mothers will have to have a serious talk about the future, you know?".
Tiana slowly turned her head towards the origin of the voice just for her gaze to meet a pair of bright golden eyes which's pupils were slowly returning to the round shape of a human's.
It was then when she noticed that she was basically stuck to Aster, what's more given their current position it looked as if she had thrown herself at him, well, that was more or less the case, since when Aster appeared at her left, she jumped towards him, instead of avoiding him as she thought she was doing.
Fighting against the urges to slash the pervert dragon youth with her spear, Tiana slightly gritted her teeth and denying from the depths of her heart that she actually felt a slight reluctance to get away from him, she calmly walked away, or at least that was the plan until a hand gently but firmly grabbed her waist.
"You little…", mumbled Tiana, but seeing the mocking smile on Aster's face, she took a deep breath and just used her innate ability to push him away, or more accurately push herself away since Aster wasn't moved at all.
"Heh, and here I thought you were going to use Slashing directly against me this time", casually said Aster, which made Tiana softly snort in response.
So instead of "Piercing" which allowed the spear user to increase trait with the same name on anything, she developed "Slashing" which, well, basically gave her the capacity to easily blow stuff away in two pieces, it was a heavy kind of attack.
"Humph, I won't fall in all your provocations", she said.
In case you are wondering what "Slashing" meant, that is the name of the second level of intent that Tiana developed, despite she also being a spear user like Camila, Tiana didn't focus on piercing, her war spear specialized in horizontal cleaving.
So instead of "Piercing" which allowed the spear user to increase trait with the same name on anything, she developed "Slashing" which, well, basically gave her the capacity to easily blow stuff away in two pieces, it was a heavy kind of attack.
"Humph, I won't fall in all your provocations", she said.
"Well, you certainly looked way calmer this time, I wonder what could have been the reason", answered Aster as he disappeared from Tiana's sight.
Of course, Aster knew that their previous "contact" helped Tiana to take a peek through the muddy waters that were brewing in her mind, because he made it like that, courtesy of the soul cleansing effect of Rigel's flames.
Don't misunderstand, there is a good reason as to why Aster wasn't directly using the flames to carry Tiana through the change, she needed to solve the flaw that was preventing her from exploiting her current abilities to the best of her capacity.
Just like how he did with Alice when she wanted to awaken her aura, he couldn't or more accurately shouldn't directly give Tiana the answer, getting something with a silver spoon isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the difference between being directly bestowed a power and obtaining it through one's effort and guidance, was like the difference between heaven and earth for cultivators.
Or at leas that's what Lilia and even Rya affirmed, it was something probably caused by the interference of the Heavenly Law, one of the few things that Aster could respect about it in fact, since this specific rule was set so that those without the access to strong elders that could directly bestow them a part of their powers, would have a fair chance to compete.
It was the origin of the aspect that cultivators called "comprehension", one of the aspects of talent that didn't discriminate between rich or poor and coincidentally one of the most important aspects, those who lacked on it could still make do by using riches and connections, but what they'll get would lack behind what those with good comprehension managed to obtain.
With that said, Aster flashed once again, having not found a good way to counter Aster's naughty hands, Tiana resorted to the good old happy trigger strategy, in other words she shot her innate ability in all directions hoping to blow away the pervert dragon youth.
To Tiana's surprise she actually didn't feel anything the next second, which meant that she actually prevented Aster from getting to her, she saw him appearing a few meters away from her this time which made her proudly smile.
"That was a whole bunch of soul energy for a single release, especially considering the fact that I still got you", said Aster as he "innocently" raised his arms to show her that his hands were free.
"Hyaa!", what followed was a startled sound escaping from Tiana's lips as she felt a gentle poke on her neck.
The poor girl intensely stared at the dragon youth trying to discern if the Aster in front of her was an illusion, but ultimately, she shook her head.
'No, illusions are one of the few things in which that bastard doesn't excel', she thought and she was right, the Aster in front of her was the real one, but that raised an even bigger doubt in Tiana's heart, what the hell was going on!
She clearly felt him poking her neck a second ago, it's not like she has had that much close contact with Aster, but she is after all a really talented body cultivator, her senses are top notch and even if she can't follow up with Aster's speed, that is because her mind can't keep up with her body not the other way around, amusingly enough, her situation is the complete opposite as Aster's as of current.
As much as Aster enjoyed seeing Tiana's cutely frustrated reactions, this explanation was part of her training so he didn't wait… too much before saying.
"Amazing right, not too long ago I discovered an interesting application for my soul constitution, as long as both my mind and body are perfectly synchronized, my soul energy can become like a real extension of me, though the original idea was to create an advanced and more precise version of telekinesis, it's more as if my hands themselves could reach wherever my mind does".
Let alone Tiana whose mouth widened in surprise, even Rya and Lilia who of course were watching the show from within the mind space, were taken aback by Aster's affirmation.
"No matter how bad I am with soul energy I'm also a soul cultivator too and my mother made me learn about the vast options they have to specialize themselves, as far as I know, only soul avatars and some really advanced illusions can achieve some sort of life-like feeling to them… well, is this something that comes from Eris or Mylene's places of origin?", curiously asked Tiana.
Let alone Tiana, even Lilia who was watching the show from within the mind space frowned, she might not be a soul cultivator but one of her sisters is, so she also knows some about it and she can confirm that what Tiana said is right.
"Now that I think about it, lately when my darling is making love to me, I seem to remember that the others raise their voice quite a bit…", mumbled the lewd dragon mother, making Aster clear his throat in response.
"Ahem, no, it's not something I learned from those two", he said referring to Eris and Mylene, it's normal that Tiana thought so, because those two are the chosen tutors for rune mastering and alchemy in the family, anyone who has a question regarding those subjects can consult it with them.
Of course, since those two don't have knowledge regarding the mortal realm applications of that, they require an explanation before giving their opinion, but overall, no one can deny that they always have something to contribute when needed, it's a win-win situation since that way they broad their horizons and fill in the flaws that they didn't even know existed, to create a perfect foundation for the future.
"Actually, you are the first one to whom I have talked about this specifically, though you aren't the first one to "experience" it", added Aster, answering Lilia's doubts.
"Hmph, as always, using such an incredible ability for something lewd, lascivious dragons", said Rya who had just finished her daily medicinal bath and soul healing session.
"You say that now, but I bet you'll be really "praising" him about it later~", playfully said Lilia to her "roomie", the now younger looking empress blushed on the spot remembering all the embarrassing sounds that Aster has forced out of her while Lilia was present.
They weren't making a fuss over nothing, think about it like this, a soul avatar for those who can manifest it, becomes the perfect helper, in a sense a soul cultivator is never "alone", at a certain point it can fight in a 2v1 way against an enemy, of course there are limitations, the soul avatar isn't an independent being, even for Soul Kings, they still have to order their avatars what to do, but they can make it almost unnoticeable depending on how skilled they are with parallel thinking.
As a soul cultivator advances, his soul avatar becomes more and more life-like, until it is a perfect copy of the cultivator, this increases its precision and capacity until it can execute orders the same way the one who nurtured it would, naturally when it comes to techniques or special activities, they would be limited to those related to the soul path, like rune mastering for example, since a soul avatar is ultimately a mass of soul energy, the point is that it gains a similar "presence" as the cultivator it is tied to.
And now, Aster has showed the capacity to emulate such a thing with simple soul energy, Rya though certainly amazed at Aster's talent in the soul path, seemed to more or less know about it, but she kept her lips shut, which by itself can be an answer, since normally only refuses to speak about anything that surpasses the level of a mortal plane.
Leaving that aside for the time being, Aster focused on his date again, as expected Tiana was still processing everything she got to know about Aster during the past few hours, even if she certainly became friends with Aria and the others, she still kept some distance with Aster.
It's not as if she disliked him, besides him being a bit of a pervert, he was fun, interesting but more importantly reliable, it was hard to find a flaw on him whether as a romantic interest or as a friend, she just didn't know how to deal with him.
Previous to Aster, the only guy with a relatively close age with whom she interacted positively, was Eric and even then, most of the time she beat the crap out of him for causing her troubles, unlike sheltered girls like Vivian or the grumpy ligress girl Mira who had no experience with friends in general, she wasn't like that.
She considered Aria and the others her friends at this point, heck she has even started to learn about aura from Mylene lately since she has some rivalry with Alice, which is why she supposed that Aster came up with such an amazing technique with Eris's help, the problem was Aster.
He was simply different, she couldn't treat him like she did with Eric nor as she did with the other guys that approached her with hidden intentions, because he didn't have them, he was the first guy that she believed didn't approach her without a hidden agenda, as strange as that sounded.
"Since when do you have a soul constitution to begin with, I thought your thing was body constitutions, don't you have that cheat-like armor as well as a dragon lineage?", she mumbled to which Aster shrugged.
"What can I say, I am genius", he said.
"No, I am a genius, you are a monster", swiftly retorted Tiana as she softly laughed to then add.
"Now you only need an energy constitution if that horrifying attribute of yours and your monstrously vast reserves of spirit energy aren't already related to one…", mumbled Tiana as she gave Aster an accusatory gaze.
"Now that you mention it, my inner universe is also different than normal like miss Felicia's one, but I don't think so, it's just that the mix of things in my body do create similar conditions to it, otherwise I would have noticed it, besides I didn't have a soul constitution originally, that was thanks to Sarina".
At this point Tiana refused to show surprise to anything that she got to know about Aster, she felt a strange sweet feeling in her chest, over the fact that he trusted her with such information though, well that was until she connected the points.
"W-Wait, does that mean you can obtain the special traits of your l-lovers", she exclaimed as she warily looked at Aster, but a second later she shook her head in response to her own words.
"No, even evil dual cultivators who use talented women as cultivation furnaces and obtain benefits due to stealing their primordial yins, can't obtain something like constitutions or lineages so easily even if they drain them out of everything they have".
"Also, yours and Alice's armors do look similar but their usage is completely different, not to mention that there are no negative noticeable effects on any of the two sides… and I also believe you wouldn't do something like that", she concluded.
Aster nodded in an approbative way, Tiana might have a relatively battle oriented personality, but she isn't an explosive violent girl like a certain dragon sister, she is a soul cultivator after all too after all, so she is much cool headed most of the time.
"Mmm, it has something to be with being a couple yes, these powers come in pairs certainly but it is not me the one who decides what to obtain and they most likely will develop in a completely different way", limited to say Aster, not because he didn't want to tell her about the Star Maidens and all, but because even he didn't know that much himself.
He only knew that a star might react to a girl with whom he is close, be it in a romantic way or not, after all his relationship with Camila was confirmed and she hasn't made a star react to her, on the other side Kana has made a star react to her and as much as Aster likes the little girl, he only sees her as a younger sister to protect, at least as of current.
In any case Aster didn't let the neither the stars nor Hyperion to be the one to dictate his actions, he is the one in control and he will be the one to decide if a girl moves his heart or not, it is a simple as that.
"I see, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, on the other hand it is quite suspicious that you specifically joined a majorly female populated force", said Tiana with accusatory eyes, even before they joined Aster's group, he was going to come to the Myriad Occupation sect after all.
"There is an explanation for that too", said Aster.
"Really?", Tiana narrowed her eyes at Aster who shrugged in response.
"Now that we are opening to each other and considering I also met you before Agnes, it is only fair to tell you about it, my surname is Drage like in the ruler family of this Heavenly Quadrant, in fact technically I'm the next in line to inherit it", he casually said.
Tiana's mouth twitched a bit, her eyes shone for a second before she smiled at him.
"Forget it, I won't be surprised by anything else you might tell me, I'll leave it at you are a monster period".
"Heh, everyone says that", said Aster in response, during this whole time he was touching Tiana's shoulder with his soul energy, so the previous didn't count as she keeping him away from her, but now Tiana softly snorted and then used her ability to repel Aster's soul energy, it was as if she had pinched Aster's hand which was resting on her shoulder.
"As if it wasn't enough to have to avoid two visible lewd dragon claws now, I have to be wary of invisible ones too", she said.
Aster laughed out loud, feeling the change on Tiana's aura his image flashed, now all the bases were covered, Tiana had unconsciously met all the requirements needed for her to succeed, so it was time to start getting serious.
And she somehow also knew it, as her current stance suggested, with her spear rolling on her hand, Tiana jumped backwards, a golden flash landed a few centimeters in front of where she was standing a second ago, she saw Aster's hand closing into the ground tearing a piece of the solid rock.
"Are you trying to kill me or something", she mumbled just to hear Aster's voice coming from above.
"Nope, but we have long past the gentle phase, so we'll now have some squeezing here and there".
Tiana looked upwards, Aster was horizontally floating above her, seeing the pervert dragon youth closing and opening his hand made Tiana softly snort.
"Fly away lascivious dragon!", she exclaimed, Aster had kept some distance from her but she could feel the "dangerous" invisible hand coming for her shoulder, so she punched to her left blowing away Aster's soul energy while she also slashed her spear upwards, stopping the head of the spear before it could touch Aster's sides, in exchange a heavy current clashed against him making him move sidewards a couple of meters away.
While the armor and the golden protection was perfectly fine, this time Aster was indeed forced to move, the reason was actually pretty simple, Tiana focused the effect of her ability in a much more reduced area, but in exchange the impact increased and the time she needed to make her soul energy to activate her innate ability reduced.
'Mmm that's a bit of cheating but she is starting to get it, guess I'll have to also add speed besides soul energy', thought Aster as he landed on the ground.
The current Tiana could keep up with base speed now, so he manifested the greaves and cuisses and sabatons of the golden armor, in other words the parts that protected his legs and also directly increased his speed just by being manifested and the next thing Tiana saw was a golden flash-like lightning bypassing her recently improved area of reaction, to then playfully squeeze her right arm with his hand.
"Mm, good muscle composition, in terms of raw strength you wouldn't lose to Alice in a fair competition", said Aster.
Tiana's face turned red as a tomato, Aster wasn't really touching anything inappropriate but still, having his hand squeeze her bare skin was embarrassing for her, Agnes would have been delighted on the other hand, but that's beside the point.
Since her arm was being kept hostage of Aster's lewd dragon claw, Tiana bent her leg to use her knee as a hammer, just like before her body stopped before it made contact with Aster's, but the burst caused by her innate ability pushed Aster away, well Aster also cooperated since he jumped away on his own too.
"Hey, that was a low blow", said Aster with a bitter smile, her knee was aiming at the limit between his lower abdomen and his crotch, sure it wouldn't have hurt him anyway, but still.
"I don't know what are you talking about~", casually answered Tiana but her amused voice betrayed her.
'Well, at least she is quite focused on it now', thought Aster.
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