Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn awoke early the next morning and stared at the sleeping faces of the two girls for a few minutes before removing the orb from his inventory and entering into the black and white space. After playing around with Eva for a bit, Vahn noticed that Fafnir's size hadn't changed much and, other than its magical power and spell arsenal expanding, it seemed to have stagnated a bit. Since the ecology of dragons gave them a lifespan measuring hundreds of years, Vahn anticipated that Fafnir wouldn't be able to grow much stronger without hunting and killing monsters in the future.The two sparred for a bit and Vahn got some practical experience training with Eva for a few hours before he returned to his tireless work at the forge. He had gotten to the point where the majority of the items that he created were near the apex of B-Rank, while a number of them had crested into the A-Rank. Unfortunately, unless he put a lot of effort into a single item, Vahn was still far from the point where he could naturally create an S-Rank item. Other than a bit more experience with Shundo and a few intimate sessions with Eva, Vahn hadn't gained much within the three days he was in the orb.Awakening in the real world, Vahn waited for around an hour before an alarm clock that had been set by Milan the previous night began to ring. Similar to Tina, she seemed to be really bad with mornings and tried to ignore the alarm for almost ten minutes before finally removing the covers and stretching. Before she turned off the alarm, Milan looked to her left and could see Vahn staring at her face with a gentle smile that caused her to immediately blush as she fixed her night-gown that had opened slightly during the night.After turning off the alarm, Milan began to get dressed for the day as Vahn helped awaken Tina who seemed to be immune to the ringing sound from earlier. Seeing the sleepy cat girl lazily get out of the bed before Milan helped her change, Vahn couldn't help but laugh out a bit as he also began to change his clothes. Once everyone was ready, Vahn gave Tina her early morning pats before turning toward Milan and attempted to do the same. Unfortunately, Milan caught his hand mid-attempt and gave him a teasing smile before embracing him for a few seconds. It wasn't overly intimate, but it did make Vahn feel a bit of warmth inside.Vahn then helped the two prepare to open the Inn for the normal business hours before relieving Davi and Sasha from their duties. Tina set about going upstairs to gather the linens from any unoccupied rooms as Milan and Vahn began preparing breakfast for the early-rising patrons. By the time 7 AM rolled around, they had served around twenty customers and Vahn was in high spirits because of all the new things he was experiencing. Since Tina was busy doing laundry, Vahn ended up interacting with the customers a bit more and even recognized some of them from the past who gave him polite comments. There were a number of people who knew him as 'Vulcan' and had congratulated him for his successful recovery.Before he left the Inn, Vahn gave Tina a big hug and lifted her body off the ground when doing so. She seemed to be very happy by the new experience and even gave Vahn a kiss on the cheek moments before he let her go. Milan stood at the side with a gentle smile, but Vahn had no intention of letting her off as he returned her earlier embrace with one of his own. At this point, he was slightly taller than she was, so it was distinctly different than their past interactions. Vahn noticed the characteristic twitch of her tail which showed she was happy, even though she watched him leave the Inn with an 'angry' look on her face.Since Vahn had promised to meet up with Tiona and Ais for a date, he made his way to pick them up at the Twilight Manor. Though they could have met at a rendezvous point, Loki had asked him to pick them up personally since she wanted the rest of her Familia to get used to Vahn's presence. There were still a number of disgruntled people that harbored some ill-will toward him, and Loki wanted to nip the problem in the bud by allowing Vahn unrestricted access into the Twilight Manor. This showed that he wasn't simply, 'the guy that stole two girls', but an important person that represented the Alliance between the Hephaestus and Loki Familia. There were few people that had been in the Familia for a long time that would dare try to approach him and find trouble since it would draw the ire of not only their Familia-mates but Loki herself.Vahn was looking forward to the date, but he had also been mentally preparing himself for any trouble that might arise. Even though he was somewhat famous within the City, there were few people that bothered memorizing his features and face. This prevented the majority of people from recognizing him when he walked around normally, but now he would be escorting two beautiful and highly coveted women through densely populated areas. Since Tiona and Ais were both very strong, that meant that anyone brave enough to approach Vahn during their date would likely possess a certain degree of strength themselves.Because of his constant forging and creating items, Vahn had obtained a large influx of OP from his time within the orb. Even when he mass produced weapons, he still obtained around 1,000 OP every three hours, which netted him around 15-20,000 OP every time he entered the orb. Even with his expenditures, Vahn was sitting on 243,529OP for emergency usages. As long as he wasn't caught off guard, there would be few situations that he would be unable to deal with. There was also a very high probability that, even if Vahn couldn't deal with the situation, either Tiona or Ais would step in and resolve the matters. However, Vahn wanted to avoid that situation since even the thought of it made him feel slightly awkward. It wasn't that he thought 'men should protect women', as both Tiona and Ais were incredibly strong, Vahn just wanted to be reliable in the hearts of the two girls.When he arrived outside the Twilight Manor, there was a bit of a commotion in the reception area where several core members of the Loki Familia had gathered. When Vahn arrived, a lot of eyes gathered on him other than the five girls that were waiting for his arrival. Indeed, other than Tiona and Ais, the two he had asked out on the date, there was also Loki, Tione, and Lefiya waiting in the reception area. After they noticed his arrival, all of the girls had various expressions but they all seemed pleased to see him.Almost as if it had been scripted, Loki had loudly welcomed Vahn to the Twilight Manor while both Tiona and Ais had taken turns giving him relatively reserved kisses. Unlike the passionate kiss they shared at their parting in the past, they were trying to act in a more reserved manner to practice a bit of self-control themselves. Vahn discovered that, though it wasn't as 'intense' as the previous times, it was actually somewhat enjoyable to savor the moment of the gentle embrace as he simply enjoyed the sensations they shared.Ais seemed to always allow Tiona to kiss Vahn first, but she put in a little bit more effort to make up for going second. When Vahn finally parted with her, he noticed that the auras of some of the people in the surroundings had fluctuated slightly as Loki tried to step in and receive a hug of her own. She spread her arms wide and puckered her lips as if waiting for Vahn to accept her, but she instead received a bonk on the head from Ais who was standing slightly behind her.After creating a bit of a scene, Loki ended up explaining to Vahn that it was safer for the entire group to go together, but she was denied participation by the other four girls immediately after the suggestion. Following that, Loki explained why she was having Tione and Lefiya accompany them on the date. Lefiya was considered to have the most developed sensibilities of the group and would keep them out of trouble, while Tione may be required to reign in Tiona if things got out of hand. Riveria was also supposed to accompany them, but she ended up declining since she didn't want to 'babysit' the entire group.Though Vahn had only planned to accompany Tiona and Ais for the day, he couldn't help but agree with the decisions that had been made by the group before his arrival. He was the most aware of how Tiona could get out of control, and there was a fair chance that Ais alone wouldn't be able to stop her. Imagining himself being attacked by the voracious Amazoness in the middle of a crowded area, Vahn was actually somewhat grateful for the assistance. Tione and Lefiya also didn't seem to mind the situation at all, so Vahn didn't have much room to complain. If anything, the only comment Vahn wanted to make related to the fact that things had developed in a direction where he was the one accompanying the girls, instead of the other way around.It was fortunate that he had left the majority of his unnecessary items within the orb since Vahn assumed he would likely end up carrying a variety of goods for the four girls. Even though they might not be 'normal' girls in some sense, they were still women and were very fond of shopping. Having someone with 'storage magic' on hand would remove any inhibitions they might have had about purchasing items on the date since they wouldn't have to lug them around on their own.Since everyone present ware all adventurers, the location for the date ended up being Babel Tower and, as expected, the group ended up doing a lot of shopping. Though they were all very satisfied with the weapons Vahn had created for them, it didn't stop the girls from checking out a variety of different types of equipment and discussing countermeasures against certain types of enemies. Vahn didn't mind the situation as it was very informative, and he even enjoyed how excited everyone got when they were talking about their exploits in the dungeon.The date didn't only relate to matters about equipment and the dungeon though since both Tiona and Ais had made an effort to display their affections in public. Tiona naturally had no inhibitions about the situation and actively clung got Vahn as they walked through the tower. Ais showed a bit more reservations and just held onto his hand while the trio drew a variety of different looks from the various passersby. Even though the majority of the looks were borderline malicious, Vahn actually felt a bit of pride at being able to escort the two beautiful girls on each arm.After the group had eaten lunch, things took a slightly different turn, though they were still related to shopping. Instead of looking for weapons and armor, the girls had decided to shop for swimsuits and casual wear. Vahn ended up being the designated judge as the girls lined up various types of clothing against their bodies for his 'approval'. Tione had immediately jumped on board and, though she resisted at first, Lefiya ended up being involved later. As the only person that had been left out previously, she didn't have a lot of resistance left to refuse.Tiona and Tione hardly wore clothing that concealed their bodies, so the swimsuits they wanted to purchase barely had any fabric at all. After selecting several, the two girls entered the changing rooms while Ais and Lefiya picked slightly more reserved swimsuits for themselves. Ais didn't seem to mind what she wore, but the fiercely blushing Lefiya had refused to let her wear anything that had been picked by the two Amazons.As they had entered first, Tiona and Tione exited the changing rooms shortly after they entered. Since their clothing was minimal to begin with, it was also very easy to remove and they didn't take long to change into the swimwear at all. Tiona had decided on a leafy green swimsuit that had a top very reminiscent of a sports bra but only had one strap over the shoulders. The bottoms were similar to the white shorts she always wore except they seemed to ride into her skin a bit more. Overall, the swimsuit really enhanced her incredibly fit figure and lively appearance.Tione's swimsuit could hardly be called a swimsuit at all. She had decided on something very similar to a bikini with a black fabric that only covered the important bits. The entire thing was held together by strings and it didn't look like it could actually be used in the water at all. At this point, her breasts were only around a B-Cup, and she really stood out within the store. After asking Vahn for his impression, he told her honestly which caused her to puff out her chest in pride as she stared at Tiona with a taunting look. Vahn had said to her, "You have a very fit body and the swimsuit compliments your features well. I think the black color suits your healthy-looking brown skin."Tiona seemed to be inspired by his words while at the same time being annoyed by her own sister. After making a comment about her inability to win over Finn, she grabbed a small black swimsuit of her own and beat a hasty retreat back into the changing rooms. Since Ais and Lefiya had also gone to change, that left the incredibly frustrated Tione standing outside with the patiently waiting Vahn who had a slight gleam of anticipation in his eyes. He couldn't help but feel happy with the current situation that allowed him to view the figures of the girls and even pay them compliments in a natural manner.While Vahn was standing there with a somewhat silly smile on his face, Tione had been gritting her teeth after the parting remark of her sister. After she had tried to forcefully sneak into Finn's room after the tryst between Vahn, Tiona, and Ais, Finn ended up forcing her to sit on her knees as he explained the situation to her. Since he had dedicated his entire life to the Pallum race, there was no way he could accept Tione's advances in the future. Though he respected her 'love' for him and would allow her to continue her pursuit, he informed her that he could only marry and have children with a Pallum. He even informed her that he had made a vow with Loki before he agreed to join her Familia in that regards and was unwilling to stray from the path he had decided.This revelation didn't do anything about Tione's feelings for Finn since it was his self-sacrificing mentality that drew her to him in the first place. It did, however, make her feel no small amount of frustrations knowing there was little to no hope her love would bear fruit. As an Amazon, she had a powerful compulsion to have children, and though she could cope, for the time being, watching her sister enjoy a happy love-life was slowly whittling away at her self-restraint. Looking over at the 'silly' face of Vahn as he waited for the other girls to change, Tione couldn't help but clench her fists a bit.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Soon(TM)','Baggage Emperor Vahn','The Luckiest Man in the World')If you'd like to support me on ******* so I can become a full-time writer, please follow this link~!https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $581/640 of my goal of making this my actual job. I promise that, if I'm able to do so, I will be writing 50 chapters a week :D

Not long later, Tiona actually came out of the changing room while Ais and Lefiya were still busying themselves with changing into their swimsuits. Since both Ais and Lefiya wore several layers of clothes and had dresses, they took a lot more time than Tiona who just had two pieces of fabric on her body.Vahn raised his brows slightly when Tiona came out of the changing room and showed off her new outfit. Since it was a bikini, the top looked a bit strange on Tiona since her breasts were on the smaller side of an A-Cup. The bottoms, however, were a black fabric held together with a stretchy string-like band and barely covered the fleshy and fit butt of Tiona. Though he had been working on his self-restraint, Vahn couldn't help but swallow his saliva at the sight when she spun around to give him a better look.Tiona had noticed his hardly concealed action and began laughing as she stuck to his arm and pressed her breasts against him. Vahn noticed that the fabric around her chest had risen a bit and he had serious concerns that it would fall off if she got carried away. Using his [Hands of Nirvana], he helped calm her mind a bit and managed to de-escalate the situation before things got out of hand.Tione, who had been observing the scene furrowed her brows a bit more since she felt like Tiona had gotten another win against her. Even though Vahn had complimented her bikini, the one that her sister had selected was even more revealing. She had also seen Vahn swallowing his saliva and she felt envious of her 'little' sister's success. Turning her head away, she began to browse for more swimsuits while the two 'love birds' acted lovey-dovey in their own little world.Though Tiona was still a bit excited, the moment Vahn began channeling the warm energy into her head she just smiled as she nuzzled against him without acting out too much. The calming energy didn't do much to prevent her rising emotions, but it allowed her to maintain her clarity long enough for Ais and Lefiya to finally exit the changing rooms. Seeing the two girls, she let go of Vahn and returned to wear her normal clothing. She had decided to buy both swimsuits since Vahn had complimented her when she wore either.Likely emulating Tiona and Tione, Ais had also worn a black swimsuit that made Vahn have a brief flashback of Eva. Since both girls had beautiful golden hair, seeing Ais in a black getup had reminded him of the over-affectionate vampire princess. Seeing that she was waiting for his compliment, Vahn showed her a happy smile before taking a better look at what she was wearing.Unlike the Amazon sisters, Ais's black swimsuit was a one-piece that covered the majority of the front side of her body while leaving her back mostly uncovered. There were several strings that bit into the skin around her waist before converging back to a point right above her tailbone. Overall, Vahn felt like the swimsuit was a bit too 'mature' for Ais considering she hadn't fully developed into the body of her future self. Even so, Vahn still paid her some heavy compliments which brought a smile to the typically blank expression of Ais. He realized that the longer they interacted with each other, the more expressive she became.Lefiya's swimsuit was the tamest of them all, but she also had the most bashful expression as she hung her crimson-colored face as she seemed to be waiting for Vahn's evaluation as she covered parts of her chest and groin with her hands. Vahn had a few mixed feelings about Lefiya and how she acted around him because he was never sure what to say to her. He knew that she liked Ais and also seemed to have positive feelings for him, but her actions made it very difficult to make conversation with her normally. Vahn didn't want to pressure her and felt like she was just getting caught up in the situation through association with Ais and Tiona.Even still, as long as she was making the effort to participate along with the other girls, Vahn didn't want to leave her out. He noticed that the swimsuit she was wearing was a one-piece that covered the majority of her torso and shoulders without leaving anything exposed. The entire thing was a natural looking white color with red flowers periodically dotting it. Around her waist, there was a red, somewhat transparent, sarong that covered her front and back. However, she didn't seem to have a lot of faith in it since Lefiya was still covering herself with her hands regardless.Overall, Vahn thought it was a very cute swimsuit and suited her young and petite body well. When he gave her compliments, she blushed even deeper and hung her head low before returning to the dressing room after thanking him in a stuttering voice. Ais also followed behind her and even entered into the same changing room. The moment Ais's back disappeared behind the thick black fabric blocking the view from the inside, he could hear Lefiya release a muted 'wawawawa' which made him laugh.Expecting the girls to return in their normal clothing, Vahn was completely unprepared for what happened next. Tione, who had entered the changing rooms earlier, came back out and, for a brief instant, Vahn didn't even think she was wearing clothing. She was wearing what essentially equated to a few strings of brown clothing that closely matched her own skin tone but with a more diffuse coloration.The string holding the incredibly small fabric that hid her delicates rode high into a V-shape on her hips before converging into the shape of a T above her entirely revealed butt. Since she had an almost identical figure to Tiona, she also had a very fit and somewhat fleshy butt that drew the eyes and caused Vahn to instinctively gulp.Since she had been showing it off, Tione had been paying attention to his reaction and smiled after seeing him gulp his saliva. Turning around, Vahn could see that the fabric around her moderately developed breasts created a triangular shape that didn't do much to conceal the contents. Before now, Vahn didn't know that a swimsuit could be so revealing and couldn't help but question the practicality of such a design. It almost seemed like it was designed more to draw attention than for actual swimming, especially with the almost skin-tone coloration.Tione saw where his eyes and wandered and lifted up her breasts with her hands and asking, "Which do you prefer, big ones like mine or small ones like my sister's?" In response to her question, Vahn blanked a bit since it was a question he seemed to be asked often. Shaking his head, he responded in a serious manner, "I think every girl has their own charms, regardless of the size and shape of their breasts. I think your breasts suit you while Tiona's breasts suit her. I feel the same way about other features as well..." Vahn's words trailed off a bit since the image of various butts passed through his mind.Tione didn't seem satisfied by his response much, but also couldn't find a way to refute it since it seemed like an 'honest', albeit non-committal, answer. She wanted to get more of a rise out of Vahn so she could get a little payback against Tiona, but it didn't seem like he was very cooperative. Remembering his gaze from earlier and how he had swallowed his saliva, she seemed to realize something before turning her back to Vahn while watching his face.As one of the butts that had passed through his mind, Vahn looked down to stare at the entirely defenseless flesh of Tione's backside. Other than the T-shaped fabric running down the crevice between her two cheeks, the rest of the skin was entirely revealed and Vahn couldn't help but have his eyes drawn to it. Tione had noticed his expression and a smile grew on her face as she clenched together her butt to emphasize it.Vahn's eyes widened a bit at her action before averting his eyes and staring at her smiling face. He realized that she had been teasing him and felt somewhat ashamed that he had fallen for her ploy. Turning his head away, he heard Tione asked in an amused voice, "Ehh~? Are you sure you don't want to keep staring? I think, just like my breasts, my butt is also bigger than Tiona's~."Before Vahn could respond, a pair of hands reached around from the front of the distracted Tione's body and firmly grabbed the two fleshy butt cheeks. Tione startled from the unexpected contact as Tiona, who had been the person to grab her, began laughing loudly before declaring, "They seem pretty similar, but I think I might have the advantage~?"At this point, Tione noticed that the three other girls were standing in front of her when she had been looking over her shoulder to tease Vahn. Though it wasn't too obvious, she began to blush slightly before shoving away the hands of her younger twin. In order to get a rise out of her, she said in a somewhat haughty voice, "It looks like Vahn had a 'bigger' response to me than he did to you earlier." As she emphasized the word 'bigger', Tione used her arms to press her breasts together with a mocking look on her face.Unexpectedly, though she would have gotten upset in the past, Tiona just laughed loudly as she dashed over to Vahn and pressed her chest to him while hugging his neck. With a big smile on her face, she looked toward Tione and said matter-of-factly, "Vahn likes my breasts just the way they are, isn't that right~?" Vahn nodded his head as he wrapped his hands around Tiona's waist and gave her a short kiss. His response had made the smile on her face widened even more as she laughed in a silly manner.Tione saw their interaction and frowned deeply since it felt like she had once again lost to her younger twin. Turning away from the affectionate display and walking toward the changing rooms, she saw Ais who had looked at her with an almost 'challenging' look in her eyes. Ais held her hands over her breasts and had a small smile on her face as she said, "Vahn likes mine too."Hearing the confident claim of Ais, Tione felt like she had suffered a mental blow as she turned her eyes to the bashful Lefiya, the only person who was her 'ally' at this moment.Lefiya saw her gaze and couldn't help but cover her chest in a similar manner to Ais, though for entirely different reasons. She thought that Tione was about to ask what Vahn thought of her breasts and, the moment she considered the matter, Lefiya's overactive imagination pictured Vahn's warm hands groping her chest while they were entirely nude in the bath together. A blush immediately rose to her face and it almost looked as though steam was about to rise from the delusional elf's head.Tione misconstrued Lefiya's actions to indicate that she was also someone that had received Vahn's 'appreciation'. She suddenly felt like, amongst the four girls present, she had gotten the short stick and suffered several simultaneous defeats. Gritting her hands and teeth, Tione made her way to the changing room to return to her normal clothing. At the same time, she swore to get one over on the three girls in the future regardless of the cost.After everyone had finished changing, they each purchased a variety of swimsuits as well as other outfits that Vahn also had the privilege of evaluating. Everyone seemed to be in higher spirits, even Lefiya who, after bearing the embarrassment of being seen in a swimsuit, didn't mind normal clothing as much. With a smile on her face and a subtle, ever-present blush, she too showed off various outfits and smiled when she received Vahn's unfettered compliments.One noteworthy thing that had happened, other than the swimsuit scene from earlier, was when both Tiona and Tione had tried on maid outfits. Even though Ais and Lefiya had also tried them on, Vahn couldn't help but feel a bit incongruity at the sight of the two Amazon twins wearing matching maid outfits. Since they were nearly identical with the modest clothing, Vahn could hardly tell them apart if not for their expressions and hairstyles. Combined with the fact that Tione was obviously trying to compete with her sister, Vahn ended up sandwiched by the two healthy brown-skinned girls in frilly attire black and white attire.After enjoying the latter half of the date, time was beginning to stretch into the afternoon and it wasn't too long before Vahn would be required to enter the orb. Explaining the situation, without giving away too many details, Vahn managed to convince the girls to call it a day. They had already nearly filled his inventory with their purchases, so everyone was in very high spirits with how the day had gone.Vahn then escorted the four girls back to the Twilight Manor and exchanged embraces with both Tiona and Ais before preparing to head home. Unexpectedly, Tione had tried to tease Vahn into embracing her, but she inevitably stopped after Tiona's teasing regarding Finn. With a frustrated expression on her face, Tione ended up storming off into the Manor, likely in the direction of Finn's quarters yet again. Tiona laughed at the display and even Ais had a slight smile on her face as she watched the scene play out.The only one who didn't seem entertained was Lefiya, who had hung her head slightly with a blush on her cheeks. Vahn somewhat understood what she was thinking, so he reached out his hand and used [Hands of Nirvana] to comfort the bashful elf as he said his goodbyes. Lefiya had a slight frown on her face and didn't stop him from rubbing her head as she nodded slightly with an 'Nn' sound.Having said goodbye to the three girls, Vahn left the Twilight Manor after depositing their purchased items in one of the nearby rooms. Afterward, Vahn was in high spirits as he made his way toward the Hearths Embrace. Though it was slightly different than his expectations, Vahn enjoyed spending time with all the girls on their group date. Even though it felt like he had just accompanied the four girls on a normal outing, he still enjoyed the experience immensely and looked forward to having similar dates in the future.Turning a corner, Vahn had a casual and happy smile on his face which quickly turned into an expression of caution and alert as he immediately expanded his domain. Since he didn't often walk around with his domain spread within the City, Vahn had nearly been caught off guard by the apparent ambush that was about to take place. If not for the fact he was very perceptive to auras after increasing his Soul Tier and awakening his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn may have been caught unawares by the figures encroaching on him. From within the surrounding buildings and roofs, Vahn could sense several black-aura'd figures approaching his position.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Tione's Defeat','Vahn is a man of culture','Danger Approaches')If you'd like to support me on ******* so I can become a full-time writer, please follow this link~!https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $581/640 of my goal of making this my actual job. I promise that, if I'm able to do so, I will be writing 50 chapters a week :D

Though it wasn't the original purpose for why he had begun training within the orb, Vahn spent the remainder of the three day period training with Fafnir to discover its capabilities. Other than 'Destruction Ray', it had learned two other magics. The first was called 'Sagitta Magica', and Fafnir could use it for fire up to 28 bolt of darkness elemental magic that had corrosive properties. To round out its skillset, it also had an amazing technique called 'Shadow Walk' which allowed it to hide within the shadows of objects almost like it was entering into an alternate dimension.Vahn also learned that Fafnir had a gross incompatibility with barrier and defensive magic. It was an almost pure offensive juggernaut and, other than its incredibly durable scales and near perfect immunity to magic, it had no way of defending itself. The large blue cross symbol on its chest actually acted as a significant weak spot that would result in its death if a severe enough blow was dealt to it. Since Fafnir was currently 12m long, the cross had grown to a size larger than Vahn's entire body. This meant that, if even a stray arrow or spear impacted the cross, Fafnir would die.The last thing of note was Fafnir's apparent weakness to 'righteous' people, light magic, and holy property spells. Since Vahn had next to no negative karma, even when he had Fafnir duel against him, he noticed that Fafnir's capabilities had decreased by more than 40% and his magic would actually misfire and land far off from the intended target. It was almost like, if Fafnir fought against a 'good' person, it would suddenly have incredibly bad luck and severely reduced performance.Because of this, even though Fafnir was currently much stronger than he was, Vahn was actually able to keep up with him a bit due to his parameters reaching near Level 4. Infusing his [Enkidu] into his domain almost prevent Fafnir from being able to fight back at all. The moment it became wrapped up in [Enkidu], the only thing it could do was wait for Vahn to release it as it would lose all of its power. If not for its ability to fly, Fafnir had almost no way to fight against Vahn in an extended engagement.Since they were fighting, Eva had been spectating and giving advice to both of them while correcting some of the mistakes they would make. She even tried demonstrating how to use 'Shundo' to give Vahn increased mobility, but he wasn't able to comprehend it well. Though he could easily channel magic into his arms and legs, Vahn couldn't link it between two points easily and would often be sent tripping for several meters when he tried.Even so, no matter how many times he fell over, Vahn was determined to try and learn the incredible movement technique after seeing Eva use it to easy target his blindspots without him being able to react in the slightest. With the use of his domain, he was able to have some marginal success, but it would still take several weeks to get the hang of it. Fortunately, even though it was a 'physical' skill, it primarily used mana to execute, so Vahn was able to develop the skill even as a spiritual body.Soon enough, the three day period had ended and Vahn parted ways with Eva from within the room that had become their personal sanctuary. Vahn always felt a little sad every time he left Eva behind but was less affected now that she had the company of Fafnir. Vahn had also wanted to leave behind (Nameless), the kobold that was often kept within his inventory, but Eva said it had no capacity to learn magic and she also considered it quite ugly. Hearing her words, Vahn felt a bit guilty about the somewhat pathetic creature and decided to give it a strong name in the future when his [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] was off cooldown.After awakening in the real world, Vahn quickly left the bed before wandering into the connecting corridor towards the kitchen area. Since he wasn't a normal 'guest' anymore, he had full access to the living spaces used by Milan and Tina in the past. He quickly came across Tina who gave him a strange and inquisitive look as she asked, "Done already~?" Since it had only been a few seconds since she left Vahn in the room, she was wondering if something unexpected had occurred.Vahn assured her everything went well before helping out with some of the chores that needed to be performed within the Inn. Milan spent a lot of her time cooking and preparing ingredients for the meals while Tina washed all the linens used by the guests while acting as a waitress during the posted meal hours. Since Vahn wasn't the most sociable person when it came to dealing with strangers, he ended up helping Milan cook within the kitchen.Perhaps due to the earlier events, Milan spent a lot of the time when they were in the kitchen teasing Vahn. He had already known long ago when he first moved into the Hearths Embrace that she had that type of personality, and it made Vahn happy to know she hadn't changed much since he first arrived. The biggest difference was the way he responded to her actions since he was actually able to return her teasing a bit instead of acting passively like in the past.Vahn quickly discovered that, while she was good at teasing others, Milan was actually very weak to being teased herself. He also quickly learned that, if you pushed her too far, her cheerful demeanor would immediately become ice cold and she would give him an almost threatening look that made a chill run up his back. There was even an incident where she was cutting a large radish with a knife while maintaining eye contact with him. Every time the knife cut through the radish and collided with the cutting board, Vahn could feel a cold sweat on his body.Eventually, the day came to an end and the night-time staff had taken their places to tend to any customers that would wander in during the late evening. They were both a man and a woman, named Davi and Sasha respectively. Vahn learned that they were both engaged to each other and worked at the Inn during the evening to save up enough money to start their own business. Though he didn't say anything to them personally, Vahn decided that he would give them a sizeable donation to support their dream when Milan closed down the Inn in the future.After they took over, Vahn, Milan, and Tina sat around a small table in the kitchen and enjoyed a lively meal. Tina was in very high-tensions since they were all eating together and had spent the majority of the meal telling Milan about everything that had happened at Vahn's house with the Anubis Familia. Milan was happy to see her daughter acting in such a cheerful manner since she hadn't had many friends near her own age once she started helping out at the Inn.Once dinner had come to an end, Vahn helped the two girls wash the dishes and prepare some of the tasks for the following day. After everything was taken care of, the trio made their way to the main bedroom and Vahn could see that Milan had grown somewhat nervous. She had already discussed it with her daughter previously, and it was decided that Vahn would share their bed tonight. It had been more than six years since she shared a bed with another man, even if it was more appropriate to call Vahn a boy.Though Vahn could see her fluctuating aura, he decided not to pay it any mind as he made his way into the bedroom alongside Tina as if it were perfectly normal. Since he had spent the entire week staying in the same room as the small cat girl, Vahn had already developed a familiarity with her presence and didn't act awkwardly at all. Milan stared at the two as they dressed for bed with a mixture of emotions in her eyes as she stood in the doorway without making her own preparations. It wasn't until Vahn had already laid in the bed and Tina climbed in and gave her a strange look that she finally made her own preparations.The moment Milan began undressing to prepare for bed, Vahn averted his eyes to allow her some privacy. Tina noticed this and tried whispering in his ear to encourage him, but Vahn just gave the 'mischevious' girl a pinch on her nose and continued to avoid watching Milan change. After a few minutes, Milan approached the opposite side of the bed from Vahn and he could see she was wearing a similar style night-gown to Tina, albeit a bit more seductive compared to the childish design of her daughter.Milan hesitated for a moment and made eye contact with Vahn who just gave her an encouraging smile in return. She could see that there was no 'sexual desire' in his eyes and that he was acting like the same gentle boy she knew from the past. After releasing a short sigh, she lifted the blankets and crawled into the bed next to her daughter. Since the bed wasn't that large, there wasn't a lot of room for three people to line up comfortably, so they ended up having to squeeze together slightly.Unable to lay on his back, Vahn had turned to his side and could see Milan staring back at him with a slight blush while Tina was cradled comfortably between the two of them. Vahn saw the 'fear' and 'apprehension' on her face, but he just responded with a light smile before brushing away Tina's bangs and giving the smiling girl a kiss on the forehead. She laughed at his display of affection and ended up cuddling into Vahn's chest a bit while Milan stared at the scene with a mixture of confusion and warm feelings building in her chest.Vahn ruffled Tina's hair with his chin a bit before winking at Milan and resting his head against the pillow. Milan had seen his wink and furrowed her brows slightly as she stared at the back of her own daughter who was presently cuddled up next to Vahn. Once Vahn had laid down on the pillow and closed his eyes, she released a muted sigh before cuddling up at her daughters back with her face right in front of Vahn's. They were in such close proximity to each other that Milan could feel the airflow from his nose tickling her face.For a few minutes after they finally relaxed, Milan would periodically look between Vahn's young and handsome face before looking at her daughter that seemed to be completely at ease within his loose embrace. Eventually, she decided to stop hesitating and just combined her embrace with Vahn's in a loose manner as they both hugged Tina to sleep. Milan noticed that, moments after she came into contact with Vahn's arm, he smiled slightly and cracked his eyes before leaning forward a bit and giving her a kiss on the forehead as well.Milan blushed at his affectionate display and tucked her chin to prevent Vahn from being able to see her face. For the first time in more than six years, Milan felt like she had met someone that treated her kindly like her former husband. Vahn also treated her daughter well and this entire experience made her feel like the three were part of the same family. She hugged her daughter a bit closer and cried silent tears into the night as some of the pain and loneliness of the last six years had slowly been replaced by the warmth coming from the two bodies sharing the bed with her.It wasn't long until Milan had cried herself to sleep while hugging her sleeping daughter. Vahn had been awake for the entire event and he felt sad to see such a reaction from Milan after just a brief period of intimacy. His intuition about how lonely she had been earlier in the week had proved correct, and Vahn was happy he had made the decision to try and approach her earlier. Vahn wanted to help take care of the Mother-Daughter pair, even if the relationships between them never bore fruit other than a familial relationship. He didn't want to split them apart because of his own selfishness, and he even agreed with Milan's apprehensions about sharing the same man as her daughter. Since Tina was still only ten years old, Vahn could spend the next four years or more just acting as the role of a proxy for them both.A few minutes after the two girls had fallen asleep, Vahn once again closed his eyes and drifted off into unconsciousness himself. He hoped that these happy and peaceful days would continue far into the future. There were many things he wanted to do now, such as becoming a [Master Smith], marrying Hephaestus and Eina, having children with various girls, raising his children, as well as becoming strong enough to protect everyone he cared about. Vahn realized that to do all of this, he would need power and influence enough to prevent anyone from trying to maneuver against him. He would need people that deferred to him and followed his orders earnestly and without hesitation...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Never Enough Power','Nearly Indestructible Glass Cannon','Family, Bonds, Future')(A/N: A fair amount of people reneged on their pledges or they weren't cleared, so even though I got very near the $640 goal, I actually only received around $490 xD. I'll try to do a bit of bonus content starting Monday, but I still can't afford to do this full-time yet.)If you'd like to support me on ******* so I can become a full-time writer, please follow this link~!https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $536/640 of my goal of making this my actual job. I promise that, if I'm able to do so, I will be writing 50 chapters a week :D

Chapter 187: Group Date (1/2)