"...are you ready?"
"Babe...that's like, the 10th time you've asked me that question. Yet I'm still going to answer it. Yes, I am ready. Get on with it." Aria replied, sounding a little exasperated at this point.
Today...was destined to be a frightening day for Ashton it seems. Not for Aria, just him.
It's because today, Aria decided to evolve her bloodline to turn into a True Spirit.
Ashton scratched his head and looked really hesitant, it was as if he was on the verge of having a meltdown.
Just a reminder, this man never even felt nervous nor scared when he faced literal hordes of Angels and Demons. Yet right now, he was reduced to a bonafide mess due to sheer nervousness.
Well, he can't really help it. After all, this has something to do with Aria. Understandably, he'd feel nervous and uncertain.
"Babe..." Aria sighed.
She walked closer to him and caressed his face. She pointedly ignored how he was sweaty even though the AC in the room was blasting. He was like putty in her hands though, he held onto her hand and kissed it, looking at her with a gaze that was seeking something...
"...I trust you." She said, "It will be fine. Your System has never failed you and it won't start now. Have faith in us, please?"
Ashton groaned and whined a little bit, saying: "I know but..."
"It will be fine." Aria cuts him off. "I will be fine. Let's begin, alright?"
Ashton knows that whenever she's like this, there's no use in trying to change her mind. She wants this to happen and that's final. There's no use trying to change her mind.
He sighed and gave up. He relents because he knows that this will happen anyway. What he needs to do is to make sure that this shit will go down the way he expected it to.
'System, are you sure that the bloodline evolution will be safe?'
[Yes, Host. The most she would feel would be a strong discomfort throughout the process and that's it.]
'And how long would the process take again?'
[5-6 hours, Host.]
If the System was any human, it would've certainly complained too. Ashton has asked this question about 20 times now and every single time, he was met with the same answer.
Ashton felt that 5-6 hours was a long time. And with the system telling him that she would feel strong discomfort for that long, Ashton was even more hesitant. In fact, this was the main reason why he delayed this for so long.
His mind was going crazy with overthinking. His brain mostly feeds him the idea that something can go horribly wrong during the evolution process and Aria will be put into a horrible situation. And that is something that he doesn't want to happen.
He would resent the System...and even more so himself if anything happens to Aria. If there's one person in this entire world that Ashton truly cares about, it's her. The sheer idea of losing her drives him nuts.
This is why he's not taking his chances.
But at the same time...Aria's not some fragile glass that always needed a gentle hand to handle her. She is perfectly capable of handling herself and she does it well enough to lessen his worries.
She is strong, and Ashton needs to have some faith in her if they were to move forward with their relationship.
Aria already said that she didn't mind the discomfort, she's not afraid of pain. She can handle this, and Ashton needs to believe in her.
"Okay...okay. We'll begin shortly. Let me prepare." He said, finally relenting to her.
Aria smiled at him and he took a deep breath. He held her hand and he employed his movement technique, instantly transferring them to the private bunker that was built several meters underground.
This place was an emergency bunker. It was built in case shit hits the fan but right now, he couldn't care less about why it was built. He will use it how he pleases and nobody could stop him.
Once they were there, he immediately gave out a string of orders.
"Jerry, I need your attention."
"I am with you Master." came Jerry's voice right away.
"Notify West Two to cover my shift for the rest of the day. Cancel his schedule because this takes precedence."
"Done."
"Good. Route all the upcoming calls to him and give him my schedule, will you? Also, mute all notifications that were supposed to be routed directly to me, I can't be disturbed for the next few hours. I'll let you handle it according to how you see fit."
"Understood."
"Alright, that's all. Don't disturb me unless there's a planetary-level threat."
"Yes, Master. I shall retreat now."
After giving out orders to Jerry, Ashton immediately muted all the Party Chat. He also noticed that West Two was already taking up his work for today which is nice.
With all of that out of the way, he stomped his feet and released strong fluctuations.
In that instant, the Space around them expanded and warped. Ashton's body thrummed with Mana and all sorts of spectacle occurred.
Before long, the underground bunker turned into something like an indoor greenhouse. Even the lights looked like they were coming from the sun itself due to his influence.
Ashton wasn't pulling his punches here, if it meant increasing the chances of Aria smoothly going through this process, he will do it.
After setting up the environment to be as friendly and secure. Ashton took out the Grand Library.
This has to be here since Aria's still connected to it. This thing is what's keeping her glued to this realm, without it, she'll dissipate. So it needs to be here.
After making sure that everything was in place, he carefully took out a casket.
Said casket was wrapped in layers of seals, keeping it sealed shut. He turned around and said:
"Babe, I... never mind."
He was about to tell her that she needs to meditate a bit to adjust her mental state so that she can be in her best form when the process begins. But Aria was already doing that even without him telling her.
Seeing her meditate, she calculated the time and figured that she'd be done by the time he finished unsealing the casket, so that's exactly what he did.
He went through 100 layers of seal, to unseal the casket. Only to reveal a box inside ‐ which is also sealed by more layers of seal.
This box is made out of Ancient Oakwood, something he received from the System way back then. It's incomparably sturdy for it could even tank a full-powered blow from him and only sustain a scratch.
Ashton chose this to store the materials Aria needed not only because it will keep it safe, but it will also keep its freshness intact.
Before he unwrapped the last 5 layers of seal, he felt Aria's gaze at the back of his head and knew that it was time.
'No more hesitating, I guess.' He whispered to himself.
So, without any further ado. He unsealed the box completely and took out the materials she needs to complete the evolution.
Handling them with absolute care in the world, Ashton displayed his sheer expertise with his magic.
He extracted the essences of each material down to the very last drop, he then mixed them according to directions the System provided to him until he was left with a handful of golden soup that carried an aurora.
Ashton gently went closer to her, Aria cupped her hands and received the elixir.
She was strangely reminded of jelly when she felt the consistency of the soup but she didn't care. With a brief nod to Ashton, she drank it all, down to the single drop, and closed her eyes.
Ashton felt restless because he doesn't know what was supposed to happen after that. He felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles.
Then, Aria's expression changed. And that was enough to make Ashton feel like his soul was leaving his body.
He wanted to immediately come to her aid, ask her how she feels, and do anything he could do to make it better yet his foot remained rooted in the ground.
"Babe, come on. You gotta chill. You look constipated."
Ashton was incredibly startled when he heard Aria telling him this. That's when he felt that his mobility returned to him. He crouched down in front of her and asked frantically:
"H-hey, how do you feel? Are you okay?"
"Yes, Babe. How about you? Do you need to lie down?" She asked in return.
"Wha— no! No. I'm — is it working?" He asked in confusion.
"Oh it is, alright." Aria scrunched up her face, "My tummy aches. Feels like I'm on my period, which is rather refreshing. Haven't felt this in a while."
"...y-your on your period?" He asked, sounding incredibly baffled.
Aria cackled and said: "It feels like it, at least."
"..."
"I think when the System told you that I'd feel uncomfortable, it was mainly referring to this. But see, I'm a girl. Cramps at this level are practically nothing to me."
'...system?'
[Host, periods are horrible.]
'God fucking damn it.'
