Sargon did not meditate at night and simply slept. He was mentally exhausted from being inside the spider swarm nest. The trio spent 3 more days fighting malachite-level monsters. Sargon fought another ebony-level monster, but it had nothing special about it. They returned afterward with no trouble on the way back. Sargon's astral horizon was filled with various materials of malachite-level monsters and 3 ebony-level monsters. Only a monster core could be retrieved from Kijira since her body was shredded.
They took inventory of everything they had after returning to Knight Burrow. The useful parts were added to the Knight Burrow and used to make utilities. The rest of it, which was a great amount, was sorted to be sold in Fereldyn. "I was right to join you guys on your expedition.", Yeseme commented on the loot haul.
"It is our delight to have the renowned Warrior Princess join our knight party.", Sargon said when he glanced at her. Yeseme adopted a sullen look for a moment before going back to being happy about the loot. He noticed the change in expression but didn't want to pry too much. Pharis wasn't as adept at reading the room though.
"Sis Yeseme, why did you look sad when you were called a warrior princess?", Pharis asked her. Yeseme wasn't expecting the question from Pharis. She had seemed to forget that she was only a 12-year-old girl despite her lethality as a warrior.
"Well, Pharis, I was always fascinated by knights as a young child. My father never wanted me to pursue the path of a knight. It wasn't until I was 14 where I had a growth spurt that he relented. All my potential suitors either met my eyes or were shorter than me, hehe. None of them could get over being not taller than me, despite my loveliness. I ended up being talented in Knight techniques and became a warrior princess." Yeseme paused for a second to think about what she will say next.
"Father never paid me much attention afterward. For the following years, I rarely saw him. He only ever talked with my sisters at the dinner table ad such. I am happy that I have free reign over myself now, but I still wish he cared a little more.", She finished with a sad smile.
"It's okay Sis Yeseme, I care. He may not show it, but Master cares too.", Pharis said with the last part being whispered. Sargon still heard it though. Yeseme made a big smile, "Thank you Pharis, I feel much better now." Meeting Sargon's eyes, she got a nod from him. This made her smile a little wider.
After the expedition, Sargon had begun to respect and like Yeseme more. Sargon spent the rest of the day contemplating his experience in the monster lands.
Sargon had realized a lot of things. He needs to incorporate arcane abilities while he fights. He needs to use astra as something more than an augment. "I need to create some abilities that don't really on my knight training. The presence mimicry and conjuring the storm of swords was the first step. I need to think outside the scope of what a human can do. I will think about everything of relevance to me that a human can't do and use astra to do it. With this line of thought, I should be able to create abilities to enhance my battle prowess."
He then thought about his other matter of converting the astral horizon to a world. He would alternate between completing both tasks. There was still plenty of daylight left, so he decided to see to the creation of abilities. The first thing he thought about was flight. Humans do not have the natural ability to fly, so he now sought to compensate with astra. Instead of materializing wings, he focused on the idea of flying and his will to do so. He supplied his astra with the idea and the will. A little while later of trying, his feet left the ground.
He became extremely excited that he had succeeded. He still took it slow though. After flying low and close to home to get the hang of it, he let loose. He reached the clouds with a grin, "Hahahaha, woohooooo, yaaaa!!!" He was having a fun time. He returned while Pharis and Yeseme were outside and they were surprised.
"Hello you two! I have figured out how to fly!", he exclaimed while floating above them. He landed and then they expressed their jealousy, "Master, teach me how to fly too!" Yeseme joined the plea, "Sir Sargon, are you able to teach me that too?"
"Of course I'll you Pharis. I do not know about you though Yeseme since you use mana and not the energy we use called astra." Pharis beamed from Sargon's reply while Yeseme became a little sullen.
Yeseme was pensive for some moments before voicing her next request, "Sir Sargon, I want to learn how to use astra." This was very surprising. A being cannot cultivate two types of energy in their bodies, not even divine beings. To learn new energy would mean to strip yourself of all your progress in that energy and then expel all the energy from your body. Doing so would make you powerless and subject to natural body deterioration.
"Yeseme, I'm sure you understand the sacrifice you will be making and how big a decision like this is, but are you sure." Despite his short time in this world, Sargon knew how big this decision is for a person.
"I am sure Sir Sargon. To speak the truth, my talent in combat is high, but my talent for mana is low. The malachite level has shown itself to be my limit.", Yeseme said resolutely. Sargon had inspected her astral body before and found that she indeed had talent only a little lesser than Pharis's. He had never approached her about learning astra though because she was already a strong mana user.
"Very well Yeseme, I will teach you astra since your talent for it is sufficient for higher growth. We will have to delay the trip to Fereldyn for a little while, but we are in no rush. We can begin tonight if you like." Sargon said confidently and supportively.
Yeseme only took a moment to think about his words, "I am ready to start tonight Sir Sargon."
That night inside the Knight Burrow, Yeseme was sitting on the floor ready to expel all her mana and sacrifice her progress. Sargon sat in front of her and nodded for her to begin. Pharis was watching on the side.
None of them knew what would happen, so they were surprised when luminescent blue liquid was excreted from all her skin pores. The liquid would disintegrate after a second or two and return to the world. It actually went faster than they all expected since the task was completed in around 20 minutes. Now Yeseme was entirely powerless and became nothing more than a regular human.
"Well then, that was quite an unusual sight. Since you are essentially clean despite the oozing mana liquid, I can start you on the path of astra immediately." Sargon said when she had finished and became fully aware again.
"I am ready to start on my new path Sir Sargon.", Yeseme said with a bright smile.
Sargon now moved to sit in front of her and held out his hands, "Good, now place your hands onto mine and I will awaken your astral body. I will be sending my astra into your body and circulate it so you can become sensitive to it. I will be changing the astral flow so you can be accustomed to how it feels. Feeling the astra will come naturally with some time during this."
The awaking began and Yeseme's body was filled with astra. Her talent was good but not as good as Pharis's. Hence, it took longer for her to feel and then gather the astra herself. After an hour Yeseme succeded and became able to use and cultivate astra.
"Thank you Sir Sargon, I am feeling very good right now. I will train diligently so I can catch up with you two now." Yeseme did a little curtsy as she said this.
"I expected nothing less from you Yeseme.", Sargon said with a smile. After Pharis watched them lock eyes for a few seconds, she looked back and forth between before interrupting.
"Ah hem, can we have dinner now?", Pharis said innocently while hiding her deviant thoughts.
"Of course Pharis, dinner, I will prepare it right away.", Sargon while blushing a little bit after breaking eye contact. Yeseme was blushing too and looked away a tad bit with a soft grin.
Yeseme winked a little at Pharis ad she winked back. Yeseme then followed Sargon to the kitchen to assist him in cooking dinner. The dinner was peaceful as was the rest of the night.
Now there are three...