when faes woke up she was still in the training field and was dirty after laying in the dirt for a long time. the good news was that the pain was gone and she felt even better than before.
when faes remembered that she broke through she checked her cultivation and the mana field around her.
surprisingly faes directly skipped core destruction levels, destroying her core in one go although accidentally made her get to knight establishment level. when faes checked the radius of the sphere around her again it was still 10 meters.
'I wasn't hallucinating it really is 10 meters' faes thought when she was in pain she might have made a mistake but now she was sure it wasn't a hallucination.
'I need to get cleaned' faes suddenly wrinkled her nose as the odor of sweat and dirt hit her. now that she leveled up her senses also had improved, making her uncomfortable with just a small smell, but it was still bearable as she had learned how to control her senses.
faes got up and went to take a much-needed shower ignoring the notifications.
when she was clean and ready faes checked her notifications.
[level up!]
[fire crystal added]
[water crystal added]
[level.....
there were several levels up notifications along with the crystal addition to choker notifications which she didn't found important so she ignored them laying down on her bed.
[host you should go out of space Aiden has been waiting for you to show up since morning] system said sounding worried
'What time is it?' faes asked lazily as she was unconscious and space have its own time flow she didn't know what time it was outside.
[its just past noon about lunch time] the system replied
'shit' faes cursed as she left the space and went to find Aiden in a hurry. 'he must be angry and worried' faes thought as she looked for Aiden
''where were you? you know how worried I was when you didn't show up for breakfast and are almost late for lunch?'' Aiden asked angrily as faes found him in the kitchen.
he was first worried when faes didn't come for breakfast and he couldn't find her, then he remembered her telling him about the mysterious space she has and thought she was there practicing but when she didn't come till lunch he began to get more worried and angry.
faes lowered her head and apologized constantly as Aiden told her his concerns and took his anger out.
when Aiden was done the lunch had gone cold and faes looked like she was about to cry. faes had been called many things in her past life but she ignored most of them because they were strangers. when Aiden shouted at her now she felt warm and moved by his concern for her. he was really caring and loving father to her and no one can take his place.
due to feeling someone worry for her faes eyes got wet and tears began to flow, this was after all the first time faes felt parental love and concern.
Aiden saw her tears and his anger vanished replaced by worry. Aiden rubbed her head fondly while hugging her.
faes buried her head in his chest holding his shirt while she sobbed and Aiden patted her back.
"it's alright just don't do it again, I was just worried" Aiden sighed he didn't like her crying
"It hurt, I passed out from pain I didn't do it on purpose," faes said choking from her crying. currently, she really felt like a ten-year-old kid, crying in Aiden's big arms feeling secured and loved.
"what hurt? where does it pain-free wait you broke through knight establishment? when did that happen and how did you destroy your core? why didn't you come to me?" Aiden was confused but he checked her using his spirit energy only to find that she broke through the knight establishment stage after destroying her core and dantain which normally is a hellishly painful step for every cultivator.
many cultivators even die from the pain and faes did it in one night? from her tears he knew how painful it was for her and she said that she passed out too.
"baby I am sorry I didn't know and scolded you let me check if there are any injuries" Aiden rubbed her back as he talked softly to her trying to make faes stop crying first
"I am fine but it hurt like hell when it was happening. I didn't know how I broke through while I was just adding crystals to the choker after refining them" faes said sniffing still holding Aiden's shirt tightly.
faes felt like Aiden was a warm scary teddy bear which makes her feel safe and loved. faes didn't want to let go of him so she held his shirt as tight as her small fist allowed her to. just remembering about the pain made her shudder, she didn't want to experience that again.
Aiden noticed that faes didn't let go of his shirt due to fear but it also made him smile. he was happy knowing that she was feeling secure with him.
"baby doesn't need to worry until I am here nothing can hurt you I am sorry I wasn't there while you broke through and destroyed your core along with dantain" Aiden was really feeling guilty now that he wasn't there for his daughter when she needed him but how can he enter that mysterious space faes had? he didn't even know if that was real or not! Aiden was also curious as just adding few elemental crystals to the choker made faes breakthrough knight establishment stage in a night.
"shhh! don't cry I am here everything is alright now" Aiden wiped faes tears kissing her head when she finally stopped crying after a long time. her eyes were swollen and her cheeks and ears red, making her look pitiful yet cute at the same time.
"let me check for injuries stay still and don't resist" without moving faes from his lap Aiden let his spirit force flow in faes checking for any kind of abnormality and sighed when he found that she was fine.
"I was scared," faes said weakly still holding Aiden's shirt tightly
"no need to be scared I am here, you think a mere pain can scare you while your father is a big bad mischievous dragon?" Aiden asked making faes mind which was feeling sentimental go blank.
"..." why did he turn narcissistic all of a sudden? 'big bad mischievous dragon? more like a scary-looking teddy bear' just imagining Aiden as a teddy bear made faes feel better.
"you a big bad dragon?" faes asked looking up at Aiden's face which showed his shiny eyes.
"yes I am a big bad dragon so you have to be beware of this dragon, if he got pissed he might eat all your food," Aiden said making faes who was feeling better suddenly stop her mind blank again
"you can't eat all my food even if you want!" faes pouted
"yes I can and I will if you don't eat your food on time," Aiden said
"but I don't want to I don't feel like eating!" faes whined burying her face in Aiden's chest again
"I will show you something interesting after lunch if you eat your food, here let me feed you, aaaa!" Aiden said making faes turn redder from feeling shy suddenly.
'I am an adult, no need to feed me and that too sitting in your lap!' as faes realized what she was doing her face turned redder making it look like it was going to burst anytime.
Aiden who saw her face turning redder stiffened his laugh intending to tease her further so that she can forget about her pain.
"Why are you blushing? en? you don't like my cooking, is that why you are not opening your mouth?" Aiden asked
"wh- what? no! you cook the best dishes in the whole world!" faes shouted suddenly
"it's fine no need to lie, 'sigh' i know I don't cook good and tasty food! I won't cook from now on you can cook for both of us" Aiden even made a tsk! sound to add effect to his acting as he placed the spoon down.
faes looked at Aiden not sure what to think anymore 'he will surely beat top actors back on earth if he wanted' faes thought 'but he can also beat those 7-star hotel chefs! he can't stop cooking for me even if he is saying that to tease me!' faes mind went in a trance as she glared at Aiden
"no! no! you really cook the best food no need to stop cooking I will willingly eat whatever you cook to feed me, aaaa!" faes even opened her mouth wide like the kid she was.
Aiden laughed and fed her the food he had prepared. faes still sat in his lap happily holding his shirt eating the food while Aiden fed her teasing her now and then just like father and daughter. faes who actually forgot that her soul was of an adult didn't feel embarrassed after she ate all the food Aiden gave her sitting on his lap, instead, she felt warm.
Aiden smiled warmly at faes feeling warm as if he found his own happiness in feeding her, just a simple gesture, and two souls found their happiness in it.
'a scary teddy bear who claims to be a big bad mischievous dragon king is feeding his daughter'