After receiving several oiled massages from his mother and taking various baths, Arthur feels his body much lighter, stronger, and faster.
He did not advance beyond the Novice Warrior rank, but now he can feel his Astral Energy flowing much better inside his body.
This type of body refinement takes months and requires many rare items for most people, but Aria managed to do almost a third of what's necessary for a good Foundation in just one day with her amazing techniques and a very special oil that she prepared herself.
Since Aria has a lot of knowledge about cultivation, Lineages, and Astral Beasts, she continues teaching things to Arthur.
Yet, she only focuses on clearing his Astral Veins for the rest of the afternoon, freeing Arthur to play with little Eve while she prepares dinner in the early evening.
Arthur cannot help but notice the absence of Draven at such a familiar moment, but Eve doesn't seem to care about that; everything seems perfect while she has her big brother with her.
They have a great dinner together and then go to bed early to be able to wake up early the next day and return to cultivating.
Arthur is very tired due to all the effort during the day, but as soon as Nyx appears in his arms, he can't ignore her, and they end up kissing for almost an hour before falling asleep.
He also notes that the pleasurable interaction with Nyx makes him feel even stronger the next day, and he notices it directly impacting his Astral Energy now that he understands what it is.
He reports such a thing to Aria, making her give him a disapproving and jealous look because of the kissing session with Nyx.
But the part where he feels stronger makes her curious, and she notes it in the book about him.
Next, Aria prepares a wholesome breakfast for Arthur, and after sending Eve to study in the small library on the second floor, she returns to assist him with cultivation.
Aria still plans to purify Arthur's body with special oils, but first, she helps him balance his Astral Energy.
Using one of the rare techniques she mentioned before and her magic, Aria helps Arthur to remove some of the Astral Energy that he naturally invested in his Astral Veins during training with Draven and use it to create a small Astral Pond in the Convergence area of his Astral Veins, above his Nexus.
Since Warriors use their Astral Energy to strengthen their Astral Veins and Mages use their Astral Energy for magic, Aria helps Arthur balance that so he can begin to cultivate on the path of the Mystic Warrior.
Such a process makes him regress from the eighth grade of Novice Warrior to the fifth grade but also advances him directly to the fifth grade of the first rank of Mages, the Apprentice Rank.
Feeling his Astral Energy running through his Astral Veins but also an amount stored in his Astral Pond, Arthur is already able to use spells.
But he has no knowledge in such an area, and Aria recommends that he not think about it now and just focus on getting stronger before she teaches him about magic.
When Aria finishes using her magic on Arthur's body, she removes her hand from his belly and looks at him with a curious expression. "How do you feel?"
"Well, I guess," He responds honestly while feeling that concentration of Astral Energy in his Convergence, where his Astral Pond is now located.
"You should feel weaker since I balanced your potential and your Warrior rank decreased," She comments.
Arthur extends his hand and flexes his fingers. He doesn't feel weaker because now he can feel his Astral Energy running inside his body much better, which actually makes him feel stronger.
"Hmm... stand up," Aria asks.
Arthur quickly gets up; today, he's not in a towel but rather wearing comfortable shorts, but his upper body is naked, tho.
Aria makes signs with her hands, and several stone plates appear in front of Arthur in sequence.
"You already know these; let's do as usual," She comments.
Arthur had already tested his strength with those stones while he was training with Draven; the test is simple: he punches with all his strength and sees how many stone plates he can break with one blow.
"Alright," He wraps a strap around his fist, steadies his feet on the ground, and punches with all his strength.
*Bam* *Craack*
Together, they choose a cultivation technique to start, and Arthur positions himself on the lawn in the center of the yard and begins his series of punches, each one charged with the power of his Astral Energy.
Aria leaves her research and creations of magical items aside to fully focus on Arthur's cultivation, assisting him full-time and making many notes about his progress.
As his mother, she doesn't mind dedicating all her time to her son, but as a woman, she enjoys the bonus of watching him train his devilishly hot body the whole time it takes...
But of course, Aria still takes breaks to make food and snacks for Arthur and Eve without neglecting the little girl's studies as well.
With that routine, a week passes in the blink of an eye.
______________
After training the whole morning for the seventh consecutive day, Arthur and Aria take a break for lunch.
He goes to play with little Eve in the living room while their mother prepares delicious food for them.
"Hahaha!" Eve laughs loudly while Arthur tickles her feet. "That's too much, brother, hahaha..."
Arthur also laughs, but then he hears knocks on the door, followed by a sweet and gentle voice.
"Mrs. Fletcher? Arthur?" That's Margaret's voice, sounding from the other side of the door.
He quickly opens the door and finds Margaret wearing a beautiful medium green dress and holding a large basket of food.
"Arthur!" She smiles at him with her usual gentle and excited expression.
"Hello, Margaret," Arthur is happy to see her smiling, and a part of him regrets not having visited her after the tavern episode.
But he still doesn't know how to handle his relationship with Margaret; he wants to be her friend, but since she wants to be more than just a friend, he fears hurting Nyx's feelings.
"..." Margaret freezes, her eyes full of affection fixed on Arthur's and her heart beating faster.
Little Eve appears behind her brother, casting an inquisitive and jealous look at Margaret.
From the kitchen, Aria hears the strange silence and quickly exclaims. "Invite the girl in, Arthur. Don't be a bad host!"
"Oh, of course!" Arthur opens the door all the way and extends his hand to Margaret. "Please, come in."
She wipes her shoes and enters the house, all her movements delicate and graceful.
Eve seems to smell the danger and keeps holding onto the hem of Arthur's shirt as if making it clear that she's not up for sharing her brother with other girls.
But Margaret just smiles gently and offers one of the candies from the basket to her. "Here, it's for you, little princess."
Eve casts a curious glance at Arthur, and he nods. "You can take it; she's our friend."
"Mm," Eve takes the candy and smiles at Margaret. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, sweet," Margaret smiles back at Eve and then at Arthur.
He really likes the way Margaret treats Eve and tries to be even more friendly to her. "Did you bring something delicious for me too?"
Margaret's eyes sparkle when she sees Arthur's smile, and even trying to behave, her naughty mind can't help but imagine the thing she most wants to give him to eat... and that may be sweet, but it's certainly not candy.
"Of course!" She tries to cast a seductive look at him, but since she doesn't have such experience, she just looks clumsy and cute.
"It's all for you..." She hands the basket to him and puts even more emphasis on her tone. "Only yours..."