While Draven walks out the door without looking back, Arthur feels very bad, not for the pain of the various broken bones in his hand, but for the pain in his heart.
The father he loved, respected, and admired for fourteen years seems to have never existed.
"How can he be like this? How can he turn against his own family because of stupid morals?" Arthur thinks out loud.
Aria quickly reaches Arthur, with little Eve running after her, worried about her brother's situation.
"Arthur!" Aria quickly makes magical symbols in the air and several boxes appear floating.
She takes various special medicines from those boxes and quickly uses them on Arthur's hand, which, along with her magic, quickly heals his wounds.
"Why did you do something so foolish?" She asks in an angry tone.
Arthur's eyes glow with anger and disappointment. "He couldn't have said like that about you... you may not be together anymore, but you are still the mother of his children."
Aria shakes her head in disapproval as she lovingly takes care of his wound. "If you want to defend Mommy's honor, at least make sure you are stronger than your opponent first!"
Arthur really feels like an idiot now. "What was I expecting? How could I make my father realize how wrong he is just with words??"
Nyx understands how he feels and speaks to him mentally. "Your mother is right; you need to focus on getting stronger because people like Draven only respect power, so if you are as strong as him, you can make him swallow his stupid morals."
"So is that it? Does everything come down to being strong in the end?" He can't help but think about Liam's life; life on Earth was also like this, the strongest prevail while the weak are prey.
Since he began training with Draven, Arthur has started to develop a desire to become stronger.
But before, he thought that following his father was the way to one day be able to help Draven protect their family.
Now, he knows he needs to get stronger much faster to protect his beloved mother, sister, and Nyx, from all those who want to harm them, even if it also includes Draven.
He looks at his mother, who is still healing the wounds on his hand. "I'm so weak and pathetic..."
"Oh, dear," she strokes his face. "You are still very young, but you already know what is truly important, while Draven is pathetic because he rejects his family in favor of his stupid ego."
Aria takes Arthur to the living room, and they sit on the couch while she keeps healing his hand. "I understand that you want to become stronger, and I will help you do it."
He looks at her with a curious and confused expression.
Aria smiles as she strokes his face more. "Oh, my little baby boy, do you think only your father could teach you to be strong? He is afraid of my power, and that is why he preferred to leave rather than try something stupid."
Arthur never knew quite how powerful his mother was; after all, he hadn't seen her using offensive magic before, just as he only recently saw a fraction of Draven's power.
Since Aria is a mage and Draven a warrior, Arthur thought that following his father's path would be most appropriate since he was not born with the potential for magic.
Aria can see that confusion in his eyes, so she starts to explain some things to him.
He had already read about the subject in her books, but she now explains it in a more comprehensive way, and he listens attentively.
She starts with the basics, explaining that there is not much difference between Mages and Warriors, just the amount of mana at birth and the potential to control it.
Mages are people who have ease in controlling mana in its raw form, and with appropriate training, they can perform spells through various types of enchantments, such as the hand signs that Aria makes, or chant spells.
She doesn't focus much on talking about Mages and goes straight to the Warriors, who still have mana in their bodies but can't use it in the ways that Mages do.
Warriors focus on learning to channel Mana and other energies within their bodies to get stronger, faster, and with sharper senses.
At this point, Mages simply seem more powerful than Warriors, and it is like that in a certain way, but Mana is just one of the sources of power and also the simplest one.
In truth, Lineages is the most important source of power for people because it determines someone's potential to get more Mana and improve their bodies beyond limits.
Many Warriors can become stronger than Mages if they have a powerful lineage that allows them to have higher potential, but of course, a Mage can be more dangerous than a Warrior if they have a similar lineage.
It is also the lineage that determines the potential of a Mage or a Warrior to reach higher power ranks.
That's why Warriors with the most common type of Lineage usually don't pass the Elite rank even using treasures, cultivation techniques, or other methods.
Generally, Warriors who reach ranks beyond the Elite rank have lineages of at least the second type, which is Noble.
The common type lineage does not give any benefits to a person and only limits their potential, but a Noble lineage makes that person stronger from the beginning, whether it be about Mana or physical potential.
It is precisely because of the Noble Lineage that there are the Nobles, old families that share such lineages through marriage between their kind, making their descendants always born with high potential to become powerful.
But the world is not divided only between common people and Nobles, as even the Noble lineage has limits, even if it is only in the highest power ranks.
The lineage whose potential really seems unlimited is the Royal, whose the rare people who possess it are so powerful that they rule entire Kingdoms, the lineage of the Kings.
Arthur listens carefully to Aria's words, as does Eve. And he can't help but be curious about a specific point, and Aria finally gets to that topic:
The Astral Beasts, the third and most mysterious source of power.
Even having studied the Astral Beasts for many years, Aria still does not have much solid information about such creatures.
But some things she is sure of, like starting with what allows a person to have an Astral Beast.
The truth is that anyone can awaken a Nexus and have an Astral Beast, but it is extremely rare for a person with a Common Lineage to have such luck, about one in a hundred thousand.
Meanwhile, people with Noble Lineages have good chances of having an Astral Beast, and such a chance is practically guaranteed with a Royal Lineage.
But it is not as simple and natural as it happened with Arthur to awaken his Nexus right at birth.
His case was actually the first ever, as far as Aria knows, while the usual is for people to awaken their Astral Beasts from the age of ten when their bodies are already more mature.
Yet, such a thing does not usually happen out of nowhere, but rather people use magical methods to stimulate the body's energies, especially the energy of the Lineage to awaken their Nexus.
That is generally done with an Astral Resonance Stone, a rare item made by powerful Mages with rare resources.
Noble families generally have a lot of wealth due to their powerful members, so they buy such items or make them themselves.
Royal families clearly have much more wealth and influence than the Nobles, but common families usually cannot afford to buy such treasures to perform what is called the Awakening Ceremony.
That ritual is usually performed when the person turns ten, and if they do not awaken a Nexus on the first attempt, it is done again on each subsequent birthday, until they get an Astral Beast or give up.
People with Royal Lineage almost always manage to awaken an Astral Beast on the first attempt while Nobles sometimes have this luck, but usually need to repeat the Awakening Ceremony more than once.
But simple people can also try it, even if the chances of awakening a Nexus are low.
Families with Common Lineage usually manage to get rich as the Nobles dominate everything, below only the Royalty.
However, the smartest Noble families know that common people are necessary, after all, every Kingdom needs many more servants than leaders.
That is the reason why richer and more influential Noble Families constantly carry out Awakening Ceremonies in large cities, allowing the lucky ones among the common people who win the chance to get an Astral Beast.
After hearing such an explanation from Aria, Arthur can't help but praise the Nobles for such an efficient strategy. "Thus, they keep their servants happy and hopeful for a better life..."
"Yeah," Aria nods, but her expression is one of disgust when she talks about the Nobles. "Most people are slaves and don't know it, living on the crumbs of the Noble families..."
Arthur also wonders what his Lineage type is; Aria and Draven are seen as Nobles by the people in the village, but he is only sure that their Lineage is not common.
"What about your Lineage?" He asks Aria.
She makes a hesitant expression, and he can see a glimmer of sadness in her eyes.
"I cut all ties with my first family a long time ago..." Aria sighs. "And although I am grateful to Draven for giving me you and Eve, my ties with him no longer exist..."
She pauses and lovingly strokes both Arthur's and Eve's faces. "But since you need to know this to understand your potential, I will tell..."
"It's Royal," she says with a gentle smile. "Our Lineage is Royal, pure from both sides of the family."
Even being so young, little Eve already understands that it is very good, but Arthur wonders what their potential is since their Lineage is the best possible.
He looks at Eve with a curious smile. "Does that mean it's certain that little Eve will awaken a Nexus when she turns ten?"
"Yep," Aria nods. "I've saved many Astral Resonance Stones for this purpose, but imagine my surprise when you awakened yours as soon as you were born."
Arthur can't help but find that natural, so he speaks mentally with Nyx. "We were destined to be together from the very beginning."
She gets shy but also responds positively. "It couldn't be any different."
Aria can see in Arthur's eyes when he is talking mentally with Nyx, which leads her to talk about the next topic: his training.
She explains that even people with Royal Lineage should not start training before the age of ten, especially before awakening their Astral Beasts.
During childhood, people's bodies change very rapidly, and forcing cultivation techniques, magical items, or even physical training can result in damage to their Lineage.
The most appropriate thing is to wait for the person to turn ten before starting with lighter workouts, and only move to advanced techniques and the use of magical items when they know what their Astral Beast is.
Depending on the power of each Lineage and a person's Astral Beast, they will need to use a type of technique to effectively strengthen themselves.
Such techniques, also called cultivation methods, are passed on through generations inside Noble Families and Royalty, or also get from lone Masters who accept disciples.
That was the reason Aria let Arthur have a childhood free of any pressure about power.
Also, she did not start any special training with him even after he got ten because she still did not know about Nyx, and the fact that his Nexus was very mysterious always left her concerned.
But she let Draven start his physical training because his father saw how his strength and agility were already so naturally high.
When Aria finishes explaining it, she looks at Arthur's body, and it's hard not to feel those warm feelings of being aroused again.
"The training with your father may have been somewhat silly, but it helped you to build strong muscles," she tells him, casting strange glances at his arms, shoulders, and chest.
"That's a good base, but now that I understand your Nexus better, I can finally introduce you to a good cultivation technique, and you can get stronger faster." She explains.
"Oh," Arthur gets excited about the idea of getting stronger, but also curious to know what will be the best way for him and Nyx to get stronger.
For some unknown reason, he has a hunch that it will be good.
While Draven walks out the door without looking back, Arthur feels very bad, not for the pain of the various broken bones in his hand, but for the pain in his heart.
The father he loved, respected, and admired for fourteen years seems to have never existed.
"How can he be like this? How can he turn against his own family because of stupid morals?" Arthur thinks out loud.
Aria quickly reaches Arthur, with little Eve running after her, worried about her brother's situation.
"Arthur!" Aria quickly makes magical symbols in the air and several boxes appear floating.
She takes various special medicines from those boxes and quickly uses them on Arthur's hand, which, along with her magic, quickly heals his wounds.
"Why did you do something so foolish?" She asks in an angry tone.
Arthur's eyes glow with anger and disappointment. "He couldn't have said like that about you... you may not be together anymore, but you are still the mother of his children."
Aria shakes her head in disapproval as she lovingly takes care of his wound. "If you want to defend Mommy's honor, at least make sure you are stronger than your opponent first!"
Arthur really feels like an idiot now. "What was I expecting? How could I make my father realize how wrong he is just with words??"
Nyx understands how he feels and speaks to him mentally. "Your mother is right; you need to focus on getting stronger because people like Draven only respect power, so if you are as strong as him, you can make him swallow his stupid morals."
"So is that it? Does everything come down to being strong in the end?" He can't help but think about Liam's life; life on Earth was also like this, the strongest prevail while the weak are prey.
Since he began training with Draven, Arthur has started to develop a desire to become stronger.
But before, he thought that following his father was the way to one day be able to help Draven protect their family.
Now, he knows he needs to get stronger much faster to protect his beloved mother, sister, and Nyx, from all those who want to harm them, even if it also includes Draven.
He looks at his mother, who is still healing the wounds on his hand. "I'm so weak and pathetic..."
"Oh, dear," she strokes his face. "You are still very young, but you already know what is truly important, while Draven is pathetic because he rejects his family in favor of his stupid ego."
Aria takes Arthur to the living room, and they sit on the couch while she keeps healing his hand. "I understand that you want to become stronger, and I will help you do it."
He looks at her with a curious and confused expression.
Aria smiles as she strokes his face more. "Oh, my little baby boy, do you think only your father could teach you to be strong? He is afraid of my power, and that is why he preferred to leave rather than try something stupid."
Arthur never knew quite how powerful his mother was; after all, he hadn't seen her using offensive magic before, just as he only recently saw a fraction of Draven's power.
Since Aria is a mage and Draven a warrior, Arthur thought that following his father's path would be most appropriate since he was not born with the potential for magic.
Aria can see that confusion in his eyes, so she starts to explain some things to him.
He had already read about the subject in her books, but she now explains it in a more comprehensive way, and he listens attentively.
She starts with the basics, explaining that there is not much difference between Mages and Warriors, just the amount of mana at birth and the potential to control it.
Mages are people who have ease in controlling mana in its raw form, and with appropriate training, they can perform spells through various types of enchantments, such as the hand signs that Aria makes, or chant spells.
She doesn't focus much on talking about Mages and goes straight to the Warriors, who still have mana in their bodies but can't use it in the ways that Mages do.
Warriors focus on learning to channel Mana and other energies within their bodies to get stronger, faster, and with sharper senses.
At this point, Mages simply seem more powerful than Warriors, and it is like that in a certain way, but Mana is just one of the sources of power and also the simplest one.
In truth, Lineages is the most important source of power for people because it determines someone's potential to get more Mana and improve their bodies beyond limits.
Many Warriors can become stronger than Mages if they have a powerful lineage that allows them to have higher potential, but of course, a Mage can be more dangerous than a Warrior if they have a similar lineage.
It is also the lineage that determines the potential of a Mage or a Warrior to reach higher power ranks.
That's why Warriors with the most common type of Lineage usually don't pass the Elite rank even using treasures, cultivation techniques, or other methods.
Generally, Warriors who reach ranks beyond the Elite rank have lineages of at least the second type, which is Noble.
The common type lineage does not give any benefits to a person and only limits their potential, but a Noble lineage makes that person stronger from the beginning, whether it be about Mana or physical potential.
It is precisely because of the Noble Lineage that there are the Nobles, old families that share such lineages through marriage between their kind, making their descendants always born with high potential to become powerful.
But the world is not divided only between common people and Nobles, as even the Noble lineage has limits, even if it is only in the highest power ranks.
The lineage whose potential really seems unlimited is the Royal, whose the rare people who possess it are so powerful that they rule entire Kingdoms, the lineage of the Kings.
Arthur listens carefully to Aria's words, as does Eve. And he can't help but be curious about a specific point, and Aria finally gets to that topic:
The Astral Beasts, the third and most mysterious source of power.
Even having studied the Astral Beasts for many years, Aria still does not have much solid information about such creatures.
But some things she is sure of, like starting with what allows a person to have an Astral Beast.
The truth is that anyone can awaken a Nexus and have an Astral Beast, but it is extremely rare for a person with a Common Lineage to have such luck, about one in a hundred thousand.
Meanwhile, people with Noble Lineages have good chances of having an Astral Beast, and such a chance is practically guaranteed with a Royal Lineage.
But it is not as simple and natural as it happened with Arthur to awaken his Nexus right at birth.
His case was actually the first ever, as far as Aria knows, while the usual is for people to awaken their Astral Beasts from the age of ten when their bodies are already more mature.
Yet, such a thing does not usually happen out of nowhere, but rather people use magical methods to stimulate the body's energies, especially the energy of the Lineage to awaken their Nexus.
That is generally done with an Astral Resonance Stone, a rare item made by powerful Mages with rare resources.
Noble families generally have a lot of wealth due to their powerful members, so they buy such items or make them themselves.
Royal families clearly have much more wealth and influence than the Nobles, but common families usually cannot afford to buy such treasures to perform what is called the Awakening Ceremony.
That ritual is usually performed when the person turns ten, and if they do not awaken a Nexus on the first attempt, it is done again on each subsequent birthday, until they get an Astral Beast or give up.
People with Royal Lineage almost always manage to awaken an Astral Beast on the first attempt while Nobles sometimes have this luck, but usually need to repeat the Awakening Ceremony more than once.
But simple people can also try it, even if the chances of awakening a Nexus are low.
Families with Common Lineage usually manage to get rich as the Nobles dominate everything, below only the Royalty.
However, the smartest Noble families know that common people are necessary, after all, every Kingdom needs many more servants than leaders.
That is the reason why richer and more influential Noble Families constantly carry out Awakening Ceremonies in large cities, allowing the lucky ones among the common people who win the chance to get an Astral Beast.
After hearing such an explanation from Aria, Arthur can't help but praise the Nobles for such an efficient strategy. "Thus, they keep their servants happy and hopeful for a better life..."
"Yeah," Aria nods, but her expression is one of disgust when she talks about the Nobles. "Most people are slaves and don't know it, living on the crumbs of the Noble families..."
Arthur also wonders what his Lineage type is; Aria and Draven are seen as Nobles by the people in the village, but he is only sure that their Lineage is not common.
"What about your Lineage?" He asks Aria.
She makes a hesitant expression, and he can see a glimmer of sadness in her eyes.
"I cut all ties with my first family a long time ago..." Aria sighs. "And although I am grateful to Draven for giving me you and Eve, my ties with him no longer exist..."
She pauses and lovingly strokes both Arthur's and Eve's faces. "But since you need to know this to understand your potential, I will tell..."
"It's Royal," she says with a gentle smile. "Our Lineage is Royal, pure from both sides of the family."
Even being so young, little Eve already understands that it is very good, but Arthur wonders what their potential is since their Lineage is the best possible.
He looks at Eve with a curious smile. "Does that mean it's certain that little Eve will awaken a Nexus when she turns ten?"
"Yep," Aria nods. "I've saved many Astral Resonance Stones for this purpose, but imagine my surprise when you awakened yours as soon as you were born."
Arthur can't help but find that natural, so he speaks mentally with Nyx. "We were destined to be together from the very beginning."
She gets shy but also responds positively. "It couldn't be any different."
Aria can see in Arthur's eyes when he is talking mentally with Nyx, which leads her to talk about the next topic: his training.
She explains that even people with Royal Lineage should not start training before the age of ten, especially before awakening their Astral Beasts.
During childhood, people's bodies change very rapidly, and forcing cultivation techniques, magical items, or even physical training can result in damage to their Lineage.
The most appropriate thing is to wait for the person to turn ten before starting with lighter workouts, and only move to advanced techniques and the use of magical items when they know what their Astral Beast is.
Depending on the power of each Lineage and a person's Astral Beast, they will need to use a type of technique to effectively strengthen themselves.
Such techniques, also called cultivation methods, are passed on through generations inside Noble Families and Royalty, or also get from lone Masters who accept disciples.
That was the reason Aria let Arthur have a childhood free of any pressure about power.
Also, she did not start any special training with him even after he got ten because she still did not know about Nyx, and the fact that his Nexus was very mysterious always left her concerned.
But she let Draven start his physical training because his father saw how his strength and agility were already so naturally high.
When Aria finishes explaining it, she looks at Arthur's body, and it's hard not to feel those warm feelings of being aroused again.
"The training with your father may have been somewhat silly, but it helped you to build strong muscles," she tells him, casting strange glances at his arms, shoulders, and chest.
"That's a good base, but now that I understand your Nexus better, I can finally introduce you to a good cultivation technique, and you can get stronger faster." She explains.
"Oh," Arthur gets excited about the idea of getting stronger, but also curious to know what will be the best way for him and Nyx to get stronger.
For some unknown reason, he has a hunch that it will be good.
