Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 49: Calmness Before the Storm

'Hmm… so soft…' Arthur wakes up feeling very good; he's lying in his bed, and there's something soft under his head. He feels a little confused because the last thing he remembers is falling into the backyard and hearing his mother's sweet voice.

He opens his eyes groggily and is surprised by a beautiful view of two huge fluffy mounds right in front of his eyes. 'What are those…' He needs a few seconds to realize that his head is resting on his mother's soft thighs, and what he's seeing are her flawless, huge breasts.

'Were they always this big?' That's the first thought that comes into his head, but then he immediately feels guilty for finding his mother's breasts attractive. He tries to get up, but she places her hand on his forehead and gently pushes him back.

"Good morning, darling," Her voice sounds full of affection. "You fainted after spending three days in the state of Enlightenment; let Mommy take care of you a little longer." She strokes his hair tenderly, making Arthur feel even more relaxed.

"What was that?" He asks, curious. "I remember being so focused and understanding something… my sword felt like it had a mind of its own"

"The Enlightenment…" Aria tells him the same information she gave Margaret, making it clear that such a thing is extremely rare. The pride in her voice is also clear, making him feel that all the hard work during the week was worth it; now, he can just enjoy his mother's caresses as he rests.

When Aria finishes explaining how he fainted, it raises another doubt in his mind. "What is this Sword Intent?" He asks about the powerful attack he used to destroy the four Blood Golems at the same time. And he can't help but compare it to the golden wave attack that Draven used to annihilate the bandit camp a month ago. "Was it like that spell my father used?"

"The Intent is not a spell; it doesn't use Astral Energy but your Mental strength and comprehension," Aria explains. "Everyone has a certain strength of Will, but only Weapons' Masters can condense their Will into Aura attacks with their weapons; in the case of bladed weapons, such attacks are usually in the form of aura slashes in wide arcs."

"Oh, they seem amazing!" Arthur gets very excited about the idea of being able to do something as incredible as his father did. And Aria is even more excited.

"You have no idea how special you are, baby; your father took sixty years to be able to use the Intent at phase one, and you can already use it at phase two, making its power and range greater at just fourteen years old and even less of training; you are undoubtedly the youngest Swordmaster ever!"

Arthur can't deny that surpassing his father in something fills him with pride, but the boost to his ego is nothing compared to receiving caresses and praises from Aria; that's the best. But before he thinks about going out there and slicing mountains with his sword intent, Aria gives him the bad news.

"You have to use it with care, darling," She says in a concerned and gentle tone. "There are no other Swordmasters below the Champion Rank because it is not a natural progression; your body and mind may not be prepared to withstand such a level of power from the Intent; that's why you fainted after using that attack when your body was already exhausted."

"Does this mean I can't use it without fainting?" He asks, concerned, and she quickly responds in an optimistic tone. "No, if you can condense your Will into Intent, it's by your own merit; it's your power, baby. But you shouldn't abuse it before improving your Rank; maybe you can use two or three attacks like that, but it can exhaust your mind quickly, and you may end up fainting again."

"I see," Arthur is content with such a result; after all, he managed to destroy four golems of the middle Fighter rank with one attack, so being able to use it up to three times in battle seems like an absurd advantage now. "What's the real limit of my Intent, Mom?"

"Let me see," Aria makes a thoughtful expression. "Your Intent has already passed the phase of Realization, which is where you discover it and can manifest your Aura in attacks; currently, you are in phase two, the Embodiment, so you can use ranged attacks to easily cut through anyone within the same Rank or above.

Of course, the higher you raise your Rank, the stronger your Mind will become, and with it, the Sharper your Intent."

Aria's words make it clear how powerful the Intent is, but then she talks about another limitation. "However, it should have a hard time penetrating artifacts of Unique rarity or above at your current level." She explains, making Arthur remember the artifact rarities he read about in one of her books.

In ascending order, artifacts can be classified as Common, Rare, Epic, Unique, Legendary, and Mythical. Such classification is based on the resources and enchantments used to create the artifacts, which are more useful, scarce, and expensive the higher the rarity.

Arthur listens attentively to all of his mother's words, and she has even more to say. "There's one last limitation you need to be aware of; the strength and sharpness of your Intent attacks are limited by the strength of your Mind, so even if you are already a Swordmaster, your Intent is limited by your Rank as a Mystic Novice,"

"The main problem with this is that if you try to attack someone with cultivation above yours, based on how much higher they are, your attacks may only scratch them or even be shrugged off. Moreover, due to the same limitation, you may exhaust yourself before you bring your opponent any harm and faint instead," Aria advises Arthur as best as she can.

As he thinks about everything he has just learned, she continues to stroke his head. "Even with these limitations, I think you'll do fine against that noble; I doubt there are any Champions in Lakeview, and they certainly wouldn't come to such a village after a peasant girl. But be prepared to face Fighters and maybe even Elites."

When Aria talks about the noble, Arthur immediately becomes concerned about Margaret and her family. "How long have I slept?" He asks, and Aria quickly responds. "Just a few hours, the day has just dawned, and Margaret is preparing your breakfast. I am monitoring the village and the road with my runes so I can tell when they are an hour away from arriving."

"That's nice," Arthur closes his eyes and just enjoys the feeling of his mother's lap. 'This is so good… I wish I could stay like this forever…'

Arthur truly enjoys his time with his mother, but soon, little Eve appears at the door to announce that Margaret has finished breakfast. They go downstairs together and enjoy their time as a family, but no matter how promising things seem, Margaret can't help but worry about Arthur trying to face the noble and his possible bodyguards alone.

After breakfast, he takes her to the garden and hugs her tightly from behind, placing tender kisses on her neck and cheeks. "Don't worry, honey, everything will be alright."

Margaret feels happy and secure in Arthur's arms, so she caresses his arms around her waist, responding warmly to his affection. "Promise me you won't put yourself in danger, please… if the enemies are much stronger than you, let your mother help."

Arthur agrees with Margaret; he wants to try and solve it with his own hands, but he is not so proud as to put his life at risk if the challenge is beyond his capabilities. Yet, he wants to use this opportunity to tease Margaret because it is always she who usually teases him.

"Don't you trust in your future husband's skills?" He asks in a fake offended tone, and Margaret feels mixed emotions. 'Future husband? That sounds so good!!!' She is thrilled. "Of course, I trust you… my future husband…"

Despite his playful mood, Arthur enjoys hearing Margaret calling him her husband, which feeds his possessive desires, making him feel proud. He hugs Margaret even tighter. "I like having you here… after we deal with this problem, I will talk to your parents and bring you to live here with me, alright?"

"Really?!" Margaret almost jumps for joy, but she tries to contain such impulse and act like a well-behaved lady. "If you want it… I am already yours…" Her tone becomes shy and tender.

Arthur feels the desire to devour the cute lamb grow within his heart like flames in a forest. His fingers swiftly slide under Margaret's blouse and caresses her skin, while his kisses on her neck become more intense. "That's right, honey… you are mine…"

Margaret also can't contain her desires when Arthur starts acting so confident and passionate; her feminine instincts start screaming to completely surrender to him. But then she jumps out of his arms when she hears Aria's voice behind them.

"AHEM!" Aria makes a loud sound, immediately drawing the attention of the loving couple. Margaret is very embarrassed, but Arthur just flashes a happy smile at his mother. "What's up, Mom?"

Aria shakes her head in an attempt to shake off her jealousy, but doesn't lecture them and just goes straight to the point, lifting her hand and creating a magical circle with complex symbols. "They are on the road to the village already," she points to many colored dots within the magical circle. "Thirty-eight in total, quite a group…"

When Margaret hears that number, she feels dizzy and almost colapses. She quickly approaches Arthur and holds his hands. "There are so many, darling!"

He grabs her hands gently, reassuring her. "We'll follow the plan, honey; maybe I can resolve it without having to kill them," Arthur replies and kisses her hands. Margaret just nods, confident in Arthur that he can handle it.

He goes to the training area and picks up his sword from the wall; meanwhile, Aria, makes a beautiful white tunic with golden adornments appear in her hands, which she then gives to her son. "This is a Rare artifact. I used an enchantment to reduce the weight of the material, so you should be able to use it without hindering your movements."

Arthur takes the tunic and finds it very light, which is unusual for an artifact above Common rarity. He wastes no time and wears it over his shorts in front of the girls, who blush at seeing such a scene. Then he smiles at his mother and hugs her affectionately. "Thank you, Mom!"

"Just promise me you'll be careful, baby," Aria asks while standing on tiptoe to stroke Arthur's hair. "I'll be around, in case you need any help."

"Alright," he nods and puts his sword in its sheath before giving a hug to Eve and then leaving the house with Margaret, heading to her house to wait for the noble and his soldiers to arrive.

Aria leaves Eve safely in her bedroom while continuing to monitor the noble's group, waiting for the right moment to approach Margaret's house, but then she notices two other individuals appearing within the range of her runes. These figures move much faster and give off a very strong presence, arousing her curiosity and concern. "Who are these people???