A wave of fear slammed into his soul like a hammer was used to slam a nail into a piece of wood.

The feeling was intense and extremely painful.

Of course, he couldn't feel any physical or external pain but it felt like Sara's spiritual fear energy had attacked his soul directly, causing his heart to lurch and his lungs to tighten.

His entire body shivered violently and Aster was slowly finding it difficult to breathe as he repeatedly clawed at the air like he was currently drowning in a deep lake.

"S-Sara…?" Aster continued to make agonizing gurgling sounds but his banshee maid didn't answer.

Her hands trembled a bit but Sara made sure that her eyes remained fixed on him.

She internally reminded herself that she shouldn't stop this yet, because the unbearable surge of terror Aster was currently feeling, was exactly what he needed to awaken the Fear Branch of his spirit root.

Yes, she didn't want him to awaken this branch. But her cute prince had stubbornly demanded her assistance in awakening it, so Sarah knew that she had to do her best to help him get what he wanted.

However, Aster's screams didn't stop.

In fact, they had gotten even more intense than before, and at that moment Aster's intense screaming ripped through the quiet clearing making little magical beasts and creatures swiftly scurry away in terror of the creature that was making that sound.

Meanwhile, back at the dragon Queen's castle, Vivian could be seen sitting beside her daughter as she helped the little princess to unwrap a beautifully packaged present.

Lily giggled happily as she showed her mother what she was holding.

"Hehehe~ Mama, look! It's a snow globe!"

Vivian smiled sweetly but then her fingers suddenly tightened around another gift that she was holding.

Then, it tightened even more, causing the wooden box inside the gift package to creak in her grip and Vivian's crimson colored eyes instantly turned into slits as the image of Aster and Sara instantly appeared in front of her.

Vivian had expected something like this to happen, but still she agreed to it because Vivian knew the benefits that came with awakening the fear branch of a spirit root.

Her dragon prince would definitely become unstoppable if he could completely awaken his fear branch, so the best thing she could do right now was to have faith in him.

Deciding this, Vivian exhaled slowly and loosened her grip on the present before whispering in her mind. 'You can do this, dear. I know you can.'

Meanwhile, back at the forest.

Sara could feel her stomach twisting as she watched Aster bend over, while trembling uncontrollably and screaming with utter agony.

She could see how his eyes had widened in fear.

In fact, they looked unfocused and filled with the kind of terror that even she couldn't describe.

From what she could see, it seemed like his consciousness was no longer in the forest and she was right about this, because right now, Aster could see different illusions running through his mind.

He could see things crawling up to him and monsters of the dark whispering out to him.

Even friends and previous clients from his world all gathered around him with twisted limbs and creepy-looking appearances.

Sara bit her lip as she wondered if she should just stop their training for now and continue at another time.

Well, that was if Aster would even wish to do it again.

Sara became even more worried because right now, his screams had increased even more.

'Should I stop this?' She asked herself in her thoughts.

'His Highness is seriously in pain right now.'

'But if I stop him now, he might never want to awaken the fear branch ever again.'

'Actually, I can live with that, as long as nothing ever happens to him.'

'But If I suddenly stop it now, he might never be able to awaken any other branch.'

'However, if I keep going, he could lose his mind!'

'What do I do?' Sara bit her lips hard as Aster's screams echoed through the forest.

"Your Highness! Stay with me!" She cried desperately but Aster couldn't hear her and his screams didn't seem like they would be stopping anytime soon.

His body began to convulse and his eyes rolled halfway into their sockets.

Seeing this, Sara panicked. 'No, no, no, he's slipping away! I have to stop this! I have to stop this right now.'

Sara began to pull her hand back but a voice suddenly echoed inside her mind.

'Don't stop. He can handle this.'

'Trust him.' Vivian's soft and warm voice surged through the banshee's mind and Sara suddenly felt a warm, reassuring feeling within her.

She nodded in understanding and her trembling stopped almost immediately.

If the Dragon queen still believed and had faith in her son, despite how much he had been screaming, then Sara would choose to believe in her prince as well.

Realizing this, Sara steeled her mind and went back to focusing on what she was doing.

But while Sara focused on his physical body, Aster's soul had been dragged into a cold and completely silent environment.

Looking around, Aster noticed how dark his surroundings were.

He couldn't even see his hands or body but he could definitely feel his limbs.

He looked around once again until he finally noticed something glowing in the void…

It was a tiny, ghostly trunk of a tree and it dimmed and flickered as he stood before it.

But when Aster stepped closer to the flickering spirit tree, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his chest and he clutched his chest tightly as images began to flash through his mind.

They were images of his mother in her dragon form, something he had never seen before, but he was certain that it was her because he could just feel it.

He watched as she was captured and prodded by thousands of spears and swords, screaming out in pain for someone to help her.

And he watched as a dark, ghostly entity grabbed Sara by the throat before turning her to ashes.

More torturous and ominous images of Hallie, Cara, and Lily appeared in front of him, forcing Aster to scream in pain once again.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.