Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

The three continue to eat breakfast in silence. Vahn was eating much slower than usual, while Lili had hardly touched her food. She just kept fidgeting in her seat while periodically eyeing the door as if trying to come to a decision. Tsubaki, who was the closest to the exit just gave her a 'gentle' smile while enjoying the meal.After the meal concluded, Tsubaki collected all the dishes and told Vahn and Lili to wait in the training area. Vahn nodded mechanically in response. Once Tsubaki had left the room, Lili got close to Vahn and urged him, "Vahn, we have to run! We can flee into the dungeon until the storm passes. It's safer than staying here!" Lili seemed to be very fearful of Tsubaki, and Vahn wondered what had happened between them.---The previous night...Two voices echo loudly, breaking the silence brought by the nights' stillness.One voice sounds like the laughter of an evil creature as it revels in the suffering of its 'victim'.The second voice cries into the night, hoping to find release from its tormentPassersby stare in horror towards the tall bamboo walls, urgently fleeing the horrifying soundA boy sleeps contentedly in a nearby room...(A/N: The Author is confused.)---Vahn ends up moving to the training area with Lili following behind while dragging her feet. So as not to get caught off guard, Vahn find an area where he can easily see the connecting corridors and begins performing light stretching exercises. After watching for a moment, Lili sighs and begins following the routine. She determines that escape is impossible, and believes Vahn's precaution is the best course of action for the time being.After ten minutes, Tsubaki shows up and nods after seeing the two seriously preparing. The dark aura from earlier has faded, and her carefree smile has returned. Vahn and Lili are elated to see she has 'calmed' down, but after hearing Tsubaki describes their next training, even Vahn wants to run away...Tsubaki has Lili assume a horse stance atop small bamboo platforms with both arms spread to her side. In each hand and on top of her head, she has to balance small metal disks that hold several small cups of water. Her assignment is to transfer each cup from one disc to the other without spilling anything in the process. To make the process even more difficult, Tsubaki is asking her questions about various monsters and their ecology. If Lili fails to answer or takes too long, Tsubaki uses a brush to tickle the underside of her arms.For Vahn's training, Tsubaki has him stand in a strange formation of bamboo and ropes. Each bamboo is weighted on the inside and attached to a rope. The ropes are attached to a mechanism that slowly pulls the weighted bamboo to a specific height before releasing them towards the person inside. To increase the difficulty, Tsubaki has Vahn wear a blindfold while restraining both of his arms. She tells him to restrain his domain to the smallest possible size and places various rocks along the ground around his feet. He not only has to focus on evading the random attacks from the bamboo but has to avoid stepping on the jagged rocks with his bare feet...For Vahn, the training was slightly 'easier' than expected, though he still suffered minor setbacks on occasion. He was quickly adapting to sensing the unseen attacks and had been able to evade more than 10 in a row. It was at this point his ears picked up on a subtle 'clink'. After the strange sound, the bamboo seemed to increase in number and frequency causing Vahn to begin to sweat while desperately evading around the small area...Tsubaki, who had just finished tormenting Lili, saw that Vahn was adapting much faster than she expected. She moved to an area connected to the training device and added a weight to the mechanical components driving the swinging mechanism. This made the gears that only increased tension periodically begin to spin faster. Of the total 10 stages, she had just increased the degree of difficulty to 2.---After what felt like an excruciatingly long hour, Vahn and Lili were finally allowed to cease their training. Lili ended up running towards the bathroom in a panic, while Vahn simply collapsed onto the floor. His body was covered in bruises, even with the healing component of his combined skills. Halfway through his training, just as he was beginning to adapt to the new speed, a second 'clink' was heard and he began to get hit much more often.Tsubaki walked over to the collapsed Vahn and offered him a container of water. "You did well. At that level, you should be able to evade attacks from someone that just reached Level 2 without having to see the attack coming." Vahn took the container and drank while she gave him the compliment. After finding out the mechanism had 10 stages, he wondered how strong he would be if he was able to master dodging them all.After a short break, Tsubaki showed Vahn and Lili, who had returned somewhat pale from the bathroom, to her actual workshop. It was dim, like most forges, and had a variety of tools and materials neatly arranged on shelves. On the side of the workshop nearest to the door, there were several bookshelves that contained a host of different topics including herbology, monster ecology, material, blacksmithing, and even some lore related books regarding gods and legends."Every day, from now until 2 pm, you'll both be within this workshop developing your knowledge and skills. Vahn will primarily focus on learning the fundamentals of blacksmithing, while I'll have Lili act as an assistant when she isn't researching the subjects I assign her. After 2 PM, you'll be free for the remainder of the day. I may have closed my workshop to new customers, but there are still various contracts I have to uphold. Just make sure if you go to the dungeon you are able to return before 10 PM. From now on that will be the curfew for both of you." Tsubaki had been carefully explaining things to them while arranging a stack of books on the table. When she got to her final words, she looked towards both of them and shouted. "Understood!?""Yes!" "Yes, Tsubaki-sama!" Vahn and Lili both responded loudly due to the tension. Tsubaki nodded and began teaching Vahn how to process materials while Lili was required to read the books that had been laid out.As she had yet to see Vahn forge anything, Tsubaki had him refine a piece of normal iron. Vahn nodded before reaching towards the dark greyish-brown lump of metal. He sat down next to the forge and began trying to refine it, but quickly noticed it was much different compared to working with magisteel like his previous three attempts.The biggest difference was the quality of the 'flame' he was using. Since he had only ever forged anything using the 'eternal flame' which could easily melt ores, Vahn had never experienced working with a normal fire. The temperature seemed inconsistent within the furnace and he struggled to evenly heat the iron even after using his [Will of the Emperor].Tsubaki, from the side, nodded while speaking in a low voice. "It seems you really are a novice. Even though iron is much easier to process, because it is somewhat inert compared to magisteel, it is far more difficult to refine using your current techniques. You need to learn the properties of different metals from the very beginning and how to shape them using normal forging methods."Vahn slowly nodded as he continued refining the iron. He had a lot of theoretical knowledge from the manuals he had obtained but was severely lacking in experience. Since the 'eternal flame' was much stronger than normal fires, even when it had resisted him it still had much higher efficacy than a normal flame.Remembering the 'eternal flame', Vahns heart began to throb as if to respond to his thoughts. Noticing the phenomenon, Vahn began to listen to his heartbeat and felt the blood in his body begin to heat up considerably. His mind calmed and all the heat of the forge seemed to vanish in an instant.As Vahn opened his eyes, he could feel a powerful energy radiating from his arm holding the hammer. He lifted the hammer and noticed that the magical circuit had become fully active and the crystalline sections of the hammer glowed with a warm, slightly golden, luminance. He smiled, basking in the calming glow and enjoying the feeling present in his bloodTsubaki was shocked seeing the sight, and even with her high tolerance to the heat, she began to sweat slightly. The temperature from the hammer Vahn was holding was incredible. It was much hotter than the flame within the forge, and she remembered Hephaestus saying he had somehow subordinated the 'eternal flame'. She removed the eyepatch from her left eye, and a scarlet glow began to emit from the red iris.Vahn began to focus and started using his hammer to refine the iron. Each strike traced a red path through the air and imbued fire elemental energies into the iron. The metal began to heat up rapidly, and Vahn was able to have much greater control over the process. He continued until the ore had been refined to 80% and then quickly shaped the ingot. Due to the 'burning' properties in the hammer, he didn't even have to put it back into the forge and was able to quickly mold it into the shape of an ingot.After he was finished, he waited for Tsubaki's input before doing anything else. Vahn turned towards her and saw that she was staring at him with both eyes instead of just one. Noticing he had finished the process, Tsubaki gave him a cheerful smile and reset her eyepatch. "Excellent Vahn! Really, you have an incredible talent for forging! Was that glowing in the hammer an effect of the 'eternal flame' that merged with your body?"Vahn nodded, returning a smile due to the praise he had received. He began explaining the functions of the 'eternal flame' and how it allowed him to imbue fire elemental properties into all of his 'attacks'. Since the hammer was also capable of channeling mana, it enhanced the effects even further and made it so that he could almost forge without even relying on a furnace. (A/N: This only applies to VERY low-grade items. The purpose of a furnace is to keep heat uniform and prevent it from escaping and dispersing throughout the room. If Vahn tried to forge an item from start to finish without using the proper tools it would waste the metal! Consistent temperatures lead to much higher quality products~! I'm not the best, but done machining/blacksmithing/metalworking before~)After his success, Tsubaki started demonstrating how to work with different materials other than metal. There were various types of monster drops like bones, fangs, and talons. Each required their own unique process, and Vahn was able to quickly learn. Some of the manuals he had acquired from the shop related to forging within Danmachi, so he was able to match the practical methods to the theoretical ones within his mind. Tsubaki was surprised seeing how quickly he 'learned' and how well he 'retained' the information.She continued mentoring him and watching him process each item with varying degrees of success. The most amazing thing was, even if he didn't refine an item well, he didn't make any mistakes that resulted in failure. At this rate, the only thing Vahn would need is time and he would become a great blacksmith. Tsubaki couldn't wait to debut his items and brag about being the master of such a talented student.From the side, Lili sat reading books and writing down as much information as she could about important factors to consider in the dungeon. Even though she had no experience with forging, she could understand after observing Tsubaki's excitement that Vahn had incredible talent. If she wanted to keep up and stand at his side, she needed to do her best using her own strengths. For now, she would memorize all of these books and learn as much as she could to be of use in the future.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'You call that a flame?', 'Two-eyed Cyclops', 'Eternal-Flame is Bae', 'Be still my right hand!')

For three weeks, Vahn and Lili continued to train with Tsubaki and hone their skills. Within this time Vahn had managed to increase his [Blacksmith] skill to A after using one of his skill enhancement scrolls after getting it to B. He was also about to impress Tsubaki by displaying some of the otherworldly techniques he had learned from the manuals.Tsubaki was really surprised at the innovative methods and even recorded them for submission and review by other veteran blacksmiths within the Familia. The most notable thing Vahn had shown her was the creation of an 'automated hammering' system. Vahn had grown very familiar with the mechanism behind the swinging bamboo and used the knowledge he possessed to create a rig that could reliably and consistently strike a surface without requiring physical exertion. He even carved mana circuits into the body of the rig so the user could still infuse their mana into the hammer strikes.Almost immediately after she had submitted the designs to the Familia, Tsubaki's workshop started getting barraged with visitors. Everyone wanted to meet the person who had developed such a unique method, as many were even claiming it would revolutionize the process of forging and allow for mass-production of standard-quality items. Unfortunately, Tsubaki wasn't willing to let anyone in and even beat up some of the bolder ones for trying to sneak into her house.Eventually, Hephaestus herself put a stop to the troubles after submitting a patent through the guild using her mark as well as Vahn's on the form. Everyone became interested in the mysterious blacksmith that was being groomed by Hephaestus. Even some gods tried visiting her personally to acquire information, but she was tight-lipped and refused to comment.One of the people that weren't turned away, however, was Welf. After hearing the news, he immediately came by to celebrate Vahn's achievement. Welf considered Vahn someone worthy of respect and even thought of himself as his rival. Seeing the ingenious design in person and many of Vahn's other innovations, Welf was fired up. They spent the entire afternoon talking and enjoying sake alongside the boisterous Tsubaki. Lili, who was the only one to refuse the alcohol, spent most of the time preparing various snacks for the rowdy trio.---After things had calmed down, Vahn and Welf were sitting in the courtyard looking up at the moon. They had been talking about their dreams and how far Welf's research had progressed. Welf shook his head in dismay saying, "I've made some progress in the actual circuit, but I can't seem to make the item preserve the mana for a long enough period of time. The complexity of defensive and healing spells is much higher than attack spells."Vahn nodded before taking out the [Heal] staff he had used last time. Because Welf had a high appreciation and respect for Vahn, their affection level had exceeded 80 which allowed Vahn to 'gift' a single item to Welf with a month-long cooldown. "You'll need to keep the origin a secret, but I want you to use this staff to help in your research. You don't have to worry about returning it, just make sure you don't forget your purpose and I'll be happy."Welf accepted the staff and held it firmly in his hands. With a serious expression on his face, he looked into Vahns eyes and nodded. "I will prove to the world my blood isn't a curse. Thanks, Vahn."---Vahn wasn't the only one to grow in the three weeks of hellish training. Though it wasn't as drastic, Lili had also been making marked improvements. Her training with Tsubaki had begun to show its effects, and she was now able to fight freely without much assistance on the first four floors. Afterward, she had Vahn check her status and confirmed that many of her parameters had exceeded D, with her agility and dexterity reaching C. If she wanted to, she could even level-up, but chose to wait and improve her foundation after consulting both Vahn and Tsubaki.The weapon she ended up choosing was a crimson naginata that was far larger than her body. The overall length was 200cm with the curved-blade comprising 40cm of the total length. Tsubaki was quite proficient in its use and encouraged Lili to learn how to use it since her small stature would actually be a benefit once she increased her mastery. After she tried it out, Lili realized it suited her well and began training alongside Tsubaki to learn the various offensive and defensive forms.Though she still had a lot to learn, Lili was able to use her improving mobility to quickly deal with small groups of enemies. Whenever she was in a pinch, she also carried a dagger which she had Vahn forge. Overall, she was already much stronger than the Lili Vahn had seen in the manga. He looked forward to seeing how far she could progress using her newfound confidence and skills.---Today, the duo had decided to venture into the deeper floors. Lili freaked out when she saw the giant one-eyed frogs, but managed to defeat one after a bit of effort. As her stats weren't particularly high, this was the point where she was unable to fight without support. After discussing it with Vahn, the two continued into the dungeon using their usual method. Lili was acting as a Vahnguard(A/N: I'm leaving this typo because it made me laugh) while Vahn used [Will of the Emperor] to scout for traps and monster spawns.Their progress was much slower than the first four floors, and by the beginning of the sixth floor, Lili began failing to cope against the monsters. She came across a War Shadow, and after a fierce fight only managed to defeat it with Vahn blocking several of its lethal attacks. If he hadn't have been protecting her, Lili knew she most likely would have died. War Shadows were much harder to deal with than she expected."Let's call it for the day. We made it much further than our previous visits and you're quickly improving. In another few months, you'll probably be able to fight on the first seven floors without my help." Vahn smiled while patting Lili's head. It had become a habit between them when Lili performed well, Vahn would pat her on the head while praising her.---They made their way towards the stairs leading out of the dungeon when Vahn suddenly stopped. Lili, confused, asked what was the matter and Vahn shook his head while looking deeper into the dungeon. Though it could have been his imagination, after confirming with Sis, he knew what he had heard wasn't false. Somewhere, further in the dungeon, someone had screamed out.Vahn put on a serious expression and explained the situation to Lili. Though she wanted to accompany him, she knew from all their previous experiences together that she would only get in the way. If Vahn was going to save someone, it would be better to leave the matter to him. Since she wasn't proficient enough to protect herself on the 6th floor, she would just be a liability.There wasn't a lot of time, so Vahn gently pats Lili's hair before leaving her in the relative safety of the stairs. She had decided to stay in the area until he completed his task, and began preparing items for emergency treatment if he brought any injured people to her. One of the skills she had been studying in the last few weeks was how to make medicinal powders and apply basic first aid treatment for wounds.---Vahn ran deeper into the dungeon towards the direction where he had last heard the 'sound'.The reason he had been able to pick up the 'sound' while Lili, who was still in her Cat Person form, couldn't, is because what Vahn had detected wasn't an actual sound. As he always had [Will of the Emperor] active within the dungeon, Vahn was able to feel a ripple of intent pass through his domain and he was able to interpret that as a plea for help. He could feel the fear, pain, and anguish in the cry and thus couldn't ignore it. (A/N: Credit to 'Frozen', my guardian diety~)Vahn was moving at an incredible pace through the sixth floor and had equipped his bow to quickly dispatch any enemies that dared cross his path. Even when he passed a pair of War Shadows surrounded by Frog Shooters, he annihilated the entire group without breaking stride. His training with Tsubaki and using the bamboo weights had enhanced his perception to the point he didn't even have to directly look at enemies within a 10m range.Eventually, Vahn found his way to the site of a battle. There was blood everywhere, much of it belonging to humans. Corpses of monsters were strewn about, signs that the adventurers hadn't been able to accurately destroy the magic cores. But what irked Vahn the most was, the corpses of the fallen adventurers were being torn apart and mutilated by the monsters who had begun devouring them.Among the group of monsters, there was one that stood out from the rest. All of the others stayed far away from it, almost as if they were afraid of being its next victim. Vahn's vision began to turn dark as a coldness started spreading through his mind.The monster, a War Shadow variant with a white coloration was currently torturing the only living adventurer in the area. It was using its claws to slowly impale parts of her body while grating the flesh around her missing arm. Though she would try to scream out, the only sound was an anguished and muffled croak likely due to internal bleeding.Vahn spread his domain to the maximum and locked-on to the White Shadow*. It stopped torturing the girl and she slowly began to pass out now that the constant pain had ceased. Before she lost consciousness, she saw a handsome boy glowing with a golden radiance as a warm heat spread over her body.Due to his rage, Vahn's [Heart of the Eternal Flame] had begun to infuse its effect into the domain of [Will of the Emperor] causing the entire room of the dungeon to glow with a golden light. The monsters within the domain began to sizzle as the 'burning' effect was applied to their bodies. They screamed in pain while trying to protect their eyes, but none of their efforts could alleviate the burning sensation that continued to increase in intensity.The White Shadow was also under the effect of the domain, and it quickly charged at Vahn to tear him apart for ruining it's fun. It was much faster than a normal War Shadow and the claws on its hands were nearly twice as long. It intended to impale the interloper before slowly pulling out the intestines while they were still alive.Before the White Shadow could close the distance, Vahn began a charge of his own. The bow within his hands disappeared and was replaced by an ornamental straight sword with the motif of a lion. This sword was the one he had received from Milan, and it was identified by the system as [Lion's Pride:S]. Though the make wasn't as complex as his previous Tamahagane blade, the conductivity of the metal when channeling magic was far stronger as it was comprised entirely of mithril.As Vahn swung the sword towards the White Shadow, it tried intercepting the blade with it's claws. The moment before contact, time seemed to slow for the two as Vahn could see his sword cut through the White Shadow's claws like a plasma blade. It slowly moved through each claw with almost no resistance as each severed finger flew off with a glowing red hue where it previously connected to the White Shadow.Due to the combined effects of his energy and [Heart of the Eternal Flame], his sword had become super-heated which spelled the end for the arrogant monster. It could only look helplessly as the sword continued unobstructed toward its head and core. By the time the blade had passed, there were two separate halves of a White Shadow still left standing with a glowing cross-section. After another few milliseconds, the two halves turned to dust in a small explosion as Vahn continued forward without taking notice.He dispatched the few remaining monsters before approaching the barely breathing girl. He could tell she was a young brown-haired Chienthrope, likely only a few years older than himself. Vahn quickly purchased another [Heal] from the system and began using its effects to try and save the unfortunate adventurer. He noticed that while the skill was active, her wounds began to slowly regenerate, but Vahn stopped channeling because he noticed a problem.Though the staff was healing her wounds, it was only healing the remaining tissue. If Vahn continued using his current method the staff would heal the injury around her arm and leave only a stub behind. As someone that had lived for several years without armor or legs, Vahn knew how difficult it was to live with the loss of a limb.Vahn's thoughts spun rapidly through his head as he tried searching for the lost limb. No matter where he looked he couldn't find anything, and he was quickly running out of time. Much longer and the girl would likely die of blood loss, so Vahn needed to think of an immediate solution. Suddenly, a dangerous thought entered his mind as he quickly read through his skills.Making his decision, Vahn grits his teeth while switching his sword to his left hand...and slices off his own right arm.Title: Progress : Cry for Help(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The Stranger', 'Hold my beer', 'Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon?', 'That's a little too still')

The shout awakened Vahn, who had fallen asleep within Tsubaki's embrace. His mind was still in a haze and his body felt incredibly relaxed and lethargic. From his perspective, he could see Lili wide-eyed at the door looking towards him. He yawned and stood to exit the onsen while Tsubaki, who had previously released his body, began moving towards Lili who was pointing a shaking finger in her direction.Vahn slowly dressed amidst the chaos that followed. Tsubaki had grabbed Lili who was stuttering curses and flailing about and began undressing her. Lili, with a bright red face, kept stealing glances towards Vahn in the process. Seeing that he was just dazedly putting on his clothes, she felt perplexed and gave Tsubaki an opportunity to strip the last bastion of her dignity. Lili yelped and tried to protect her sensitive areas as Tsubaki took her towards the onsen while laughing boisterously.After he was dressed, Vahn headed towards his room to prepare to sleep. He lay down in his bed tightly embracing the large pillow that had been given to him with a futon earlier in the day. Hugging the pillow tightly, he quickly began falling asleep once again. As he drifted further into unconsciousness, his grasp of the pillow tightened as if by increasing his grip he could obtain more warmth from the inanimate object. With the feeling of something 'missing', Vahn fell asleep.---Vahn awoke very early the next day, nearly two hours before he had to be up. He absentmindedly stared around at the 'foreign' room and remember that he had started staying with Tsubaki the previous day. After his thoughts turned to Tsubaki, visions of the dream he had begun to surface in his mind...After Vahn had fallen asleep, he imagined a 3m tall Tsubaki toying with him and he made futile efforts at escaping. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to free himself from her monstrous strength and began to lose hope. Just as he was on the verge of giving up, the giant figure gently embraced his body between her bosom and he feared he may suffocate to death instead of being crushed. However, the suffocating feeling never came. Instead, he was wrapped in an endless warmth that seemed to soak through his entire body. The warmth was so comfortable that Vahn actually fell asleep within his own dream...Due to the strange dream, Vahn was still in a somewhat dazed state as he exited the room to wash his face. Lili had found out he was neglecting his dental hygiene, and she had helped him create a habit of brushing his teeth before beginning each day. Though Vahn was annoyed at first, he quickly got used to the small ceremony and now performed it without being forced.As he was leaving the bathroom, he could hear the sound of wind being torn from the nearby courtyard. He followed the sound and saw Tsubaki wielding a fierce-looking katana with a crimson red grip. Each movement seemed to cut through the void and generate devastatingly powerful winds that continued circulating around her body as her blade danced in the moonlight.Seeing the peerless skill and technique of Tsubaki, Vahn's stagnant mind immediately awakened. He watched her every move, each with purpose and intent that carried seamlessly into the next series of movements. Vahn nearly compared the 'dance' to his own techniques but felt doing so would be an insult to the bewitchingly elegant display of skill. Instead, he continued watching in abject silence, afraid that a single movement or sound of his would tarnish the inviolable atmosphere.About ten minutes before their training was set to begin, Tsubaki brought her 'dance' to an end. She slowly sheathed the katana before kneeling in silence. After her breathing settled, she smiled and spoke. "I'm not too fond of performing for an audience. Did you enjoy the show?"Vahn nodded his head without thinking and then spoke the words that came to his mind. "It was beautiful...unlike anything I've ever seen before." He was still replaying the moves in his mind, trying to keep the memories from fading.As he continued to absentmindedly stare, his vision suddenly reversed and he saw the ground approaching from above. Without being able to react, he landed heavily on the ground and felt the wind escape his lungs. He looked towards Tsubaki who was standing, arms akimbo and loudly roaring in laughter."Training starts on time every day. Why are you still standing around like an idiot when your enemy is right in front of you? That brings our score to 3 to 101!" While she was proudly speaking, she turned towards a wall lining the courtyard. From Vahn's perspective, Tsubaki disappeared from her spot before walking out from behind the wall carrying Lili under her arm.---After the initial throw, training began in earnest. Tsubaki was ruthless with Vahn and constantly threw him about while subjecting his body to endless torment. But, when she was training Lili, she showed a much gentler and patient side. When Vahn initially saw her carefully explaining different stances and techniques to Lili, he nearly thought he was still dreaming before the pain in his back flared up and caused him to sharply inhale.Tsubaki had taken very different approaches to their individual training. Since Lili was a Pallum and small in stature, Tsubaki wanted to help develop actual techniques and agility. After learning about Lili's skills, Tsubaki started explaining the importance of geographical positioning and exploiting enemy weak points. She wanted Lili to become a technical specialist that could make use of a variety of weapons in conjunction with the environment to gain an advantage.For Vahn, Tsubaki noticed he had incredible natural talent. Due to his high perception and adaptability, she was grooming him to develop his own fighting style. By constantly sparing with Vahn, he was slowly beginning to adapt to her speed and refining his defensive capabilities. Tsubaki wanted him to have the instincts to naturally protect himself from harm, as she believed it was one of the things he currently lacked the most.---After two hours of hard training, Vahn had now been thrown a total of 187 times. He tried to counterattack on many occasions, and was having a marginal amount of success, but never landed a blow on Tsubaki. She seemed especially aware of 'mishaps' and didn't drop her guard as she had the previous day. Vahn was very frustrated because, when Tsubaki would use the minimum distance to evade his counter, she would laugh and taunt him for his efforts.As the sun had already risen, they all took a break to eat breakfast. Vahn was forced to wait at the table while Tsubaki dragged Lili towards the kitchen to prepare the meal. While he sat in silence, Vahn began to wonder why Tsubaki always seemed to be dragging Lili around with her, but he wasn't able to come up with any reason. It was probably a quirk of Tsubaki's personality that liked cute things, as Lili was very small and adorable.Vahn decided to pass the time by inspecting his stats and items. His parameters hadn't been growing very quickly since he wasn't delving any deeper into the dungeon, but he felt like his foundation was rapidly expanding.-------------------------------------------------------------------------[[Stats]]Name: [Vahn Mason]Age: 14Race: Human, *sealed*Parameter: [Danmachi: 1-4]-Level:2(2)-Power:1001+(I38)-&gt;(H119)-Endurance:1108+(I51)-&gt;(G240)-Dexterity:887+(I41)-&gt;(H101)-Agility:940+(I40)-&gt;(H192)-Magic:1611+(G244)-&gt;(E444)Total:5547+(414)-&gt;(1096)Soul Strength: Tier 2 (Hero Soul)[Karma]: 931[OP]: 78,090[Valis]: 149,300-------------------------------------------------------------------------Like always, his magic was growing much faster than all of his other parameters due to the constant use of [Will of the Emperor]. His endurance was also increasing somewhat faster than the rest of his stats, and Vahn accredited this to [Rakshasa Body] as well as the constant torment of Tsubaki. He wondered if by the time he finished his training if he would develop an indestructible body just because of his endurance...The items that he was most concerned with were his two [Skill Enhancement Scroll: A], and the [Hearts Desire: Eternal Flame] he had obtained when increasing the affection of the 'eternal flame' to 100. Since there was a lot going on at the time, it had completely slipped his mind until now. Opening the description, Vahn was both confused and terrified.[Hearts Desire: Eternal Flame]Rank: UniqueUse: Allows the user to see the inner desires of the target (Eternal Flame). Fulfilling the revealed desire unlocks hidden parameters of the target. //System Warning: Use with extreme caution//Vahn didn't understand how a flame could have hidden desires but remembered how expressive it was when they made contact. Though it wasn't very intelligent, it obviously had enough sentience to interact with its surroundings and understand people. After careful deliberation, Vahn decided to ignore the system warning and 'use' the item.The air seemed to freeze around him, and time seemed to come to a crawl. Vahn was unable to move as a series of images began playing inside his head. He was in the bed of a forge, looking up into the darkness with only his light to illuminate the spacious room. Suddenly, through the darkness, Vahn was able to see his own face appearing like a giant from his low perspective. The 'big' version of himself slowly reached out his arm as a flame began to dance in his palm. Within the interior of the flame, Vahn could vaguely see the appearance of what looked like...an embryo?The time around his body seemed to return to normal as the 'frozen' air thawed. Vahn regained his movement and began to ponder over the images. He must have been viewing things from the perspective of the 'eternal flame', but he had no idea what it's desire was. The flame held by the 'big' version of himself was obviously the piece split off from the main body, but when he inspected it within his heart he was unable to see anything like an embryo. He had no idea how to fulfill the flames desire as its emotions had been very vague during the vision. All he felt was anticipation...and happiness?Unsure what to make of the images, he decided to put it to the back of his mind until he was able to discuss the matter with Hephaestus. Vahn was certain she would be willing to assist him once he completed his training. For now, he decided to focus on how he should use his Skill Enhancement Scrolls as they served no purpose just sitting in his inventory.Vahn was comparing the usefulness of his current skills while also browsing through the shop for things that could be useful in the future. If not for his current quest and the restrictions it placed on his OP usage, there were many things Vahn wanted to buy. That terrifying feeling he felt the previous day was still fresh in his mind, and every moment seemed to draw him closer and closer to the unknown danger.While he was lost in his own worries, the door opened revealing Lili and Tsubaki carrying in a large pot. After taking their seats, Tsubaki opened the container and a fragrant aroma that Vahn had become familiar with began to spread throughout the room. For the third time in a row, Tsubaki had cooked fried-rice for their meal..."Tsubaki, why is it that you only cook fried rice?" Vahn, though he didn't mind the food at all, decided to ask the question that appeared in his mind. After doing so, he started eating the delicious food before noticing a dark atmosphere spreading throughout the room. He paused mid-bite and looked towards Tsubaki with his eyes.Tsubaki had a dark expression on her face, concealing the area beneath her bangs in shadows. The smile, which she was always wearing, had distorted into a creepy grin as she laughed hollowly. A strange, grating laughter began to echo in the room, a far cry from the cheerful laugh Vahn had grown accustomed to.Lili, noticing the tense atmosphere, tried to clear things up by whispering towards Vahn using her smallest voice. "Vahn...Tsubaki-sama doesn't know how to cook anything other than rice. Everything else ends up burnt or inedible..."Though she was doing her best to be quiet, the shadow on Tsubaki's face grew darker as her ears twitched. Because of her enhanced senses as a warrior and master smith, she was easily able to hear the muttering of Lili. Her laughter stopped, and she looked towards the duo who stared at her with horrified expressions."Make sure to eat a lot. We still have a lot of fun and exciting training left to do..." She began to laugh evilly as the two dropped their utensils. Vahn looked at the food as if it would be his last while Lili began trembling in fear due to her mistake.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Doki Doki Flame Spirit', 'Shokugeki no Cyclops', 'Don't underestimate at Level 5')

Chapter 61: Affinity