Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

When Vahn arrived back at the Clubhouse, he found Gareth and Welf having an eating competition while it seemed that Finn had started cooking more food. There were still several kilograms of dragon steak cutlets present, but having other food as an accompaniment was always helpful. Vahn was also hungry, so he sat down and grabbed a pair of chopsticks for himself, saying plainly, "Bete and I got into a bit of a scuffle outside. He headed toward the Twilight Manor afterward, but he picked up the network supplies on his way..." Gareth took a swig from his mug, which was filled with a strange green liquor, before wiping his beard and saying, "That boy has his fair share of problems, so don't take it too personally, Vahn."Vahn placed a piece of meat on the griddle and let it cook until it was crispy while saying, "Yeah, I can tell Bete isn't a bad guy, but that doesn't mean I can just keep acting passively around him. As long as he continues behaving like that, I don't mind teaching him a lesson until he corrects his attitude. However, I won't hold any grudges against him and I'll try to help him out when I can...as long as he doesn't hurt those close to me." Gareth nodded his head while Welf continued chewing on several strips of meat with a confused expression on his face.Finn came out of the kitchen with a platter full of greens, including the stir fry Vahn had made earlier. It was the type of plate that could transfer heat to keep the vegetables warm so Finn sat it on the hot plate before sitting down and saying, "This little Clubhouse is rather interesting, Vahn. What kind of things do you plan to do here in the future?" Vahn swirled around the contents of his cup as he thought about his answer before saying, "Well, I'd like this place to be a safe haven of sorts for everyone on my private network, but I understand its somewhat inconvenient for everyone to gather here. I'll probably be conducting some of my private research here in the future, but I wouldn't mind just hanging out, eating good food, drinking strong liquor, and maybe playing card and dice games."Finn nodded his head in understanding before showing a thoughtful expression as he said, "You could perhaps consider staffing this building to maintain it in the future. Though it might be a Clubhouse where people can relax, it wouldn't always be easy to take care of the needs of everyone all on your own..." Gareth seemed to agree with Finn as he also said, "Yeah, though you'd have to be a bit selective about who you choose, it would probably be a good idea to get a few women in here to make things more lively. There is a stage, so we can probably get some minstrels or songstresses in here to add to the atmosphere. You can treat it as a private gathering spot for your allies, but having just men all gathered together would get a bit tedious after a while."Vahn thought about it and could easily imagine staff walking around and serving drinks to the people gathered, potentially even becoming a source of income for the future. However, Vahn didn't want to compete against the Hostess of Fertility for 'business', so it would probably be better to simply make everything free and charge something like a 'membership fee' instead. As long as he regulated what came in and out, it shouldn't be that much of an expenditure on his part and the amount of OP he earned was more than enough to run a small pub without denting his reserves.After considering the matter seriously, Vahn nodded his head and said, "I think it's a good idea, but we'll have to make a few regulations that will have to be followed. First of all, if we're going to hire girls to work here we have to make sure they are treated well and aren't taken advantage of. I also want to strictly regulate things like relationships between the staff and clientele since the people that will enter here would usually be somewhat 'high profile'. A lot of girls would jump at the opportunity of having an 'out' to escape from a rough life, so it would be better to nip it in the bud from the start." Vahn knew that any girls they hired would undoubtedly try to win the heart of any of the guys he invited here as guests, including himself. Though he wanted this to be a place everyone could relax, he didn't plan to turn it into an establishment that offered those kinds of services.Other than Welf, who was a bit 'off' when it came to such subjects, Gareth and Finn though Vahn's approach was correct since, as he said previously, many of the people entering here would be the executives of various Familia and people closely associated with the heart of the Alliance. They would need to vet the potential staff properly, likely hiring married women with children or those that have strong sensibilities. Though they would have to take vows and sign a contract, the pay would more than make up for their troubles and it should prevent anything from happening, at least for a time. There was always a chance that a member would fall for one of the staff, which would also be regulated, but there would be prohibitions preventing them from pressuring the staff or trying to take advantage of them.While they were talking about various rules and regulations that would potentially suit the Clubhouse, Vahn detected the arrival of another presence outside so he took his leave to meet with Ouka, who showed up wearing his typical Adventurer attire instead of casual clothing. He had his characteristic seriousness, but Vahn could see softness in his expression that hadn't been there previously. After considering the reasons, Vahn smiled and asked, "How have things been going with Chigusa?" Ouka averted his eyes slightly and said, "We have grown closer...I now know what it means to desire strength to protect those close to me. Thank you, Vahn, for knocking some sense into me and helping to open my eyes." Unexpectedly, Ouka bowed at a deep angle and seemed to display sincere gratitude that made Vahn feel a little awkward for teasing him.After their previous 'spar', Chigusa had helped to nurse Ouka and tended to his wounds by applying ointment and bandages. When he had awakened, Ouka had felt anguish, anger, and self-ridicule all at the same time until Chigusa had literally slapped him back to awareness. Though they had always had a mutual affection for each other, neither had ever broached the topic previously until Chigusa used that opportunity to 'confess' to him. Ouka felt somewhat 'pathetic' being comforted by her at the time, but she had persisted every day while also putting a lot more effort into her training. Because he hadn't been able to train on his own, Ouka had been watching her for several days and, when he asked why she was working so hard, her reason had simply been to 'protect' the person she loved.Ouka felt even more pathetic since he also held deep affections for Chigusa and yet was wallowing in self-pity and ridicule while she did her best to become stronger. Deciding he didn't want to be weaker than the girl he liked, Ouka reaffirmed his resolve to get stronger and eventually mustered up the courage to return Chigusa's confession. They hadn't done anything 'intimate' yet, but they had shared affections and had gone on two dates so far. Chigusa had actually tried to take things to the next level, which was a bit unexpected considering her nature, but Ouka had backed down at the last moment. He didn't believe he was mature enough yet and wanted to increase his own strength to obtain Level 3 before they advanced their relationship...Vahn walked forward and helped Ouka rise, as was the polite thing to do when both accepting sincerity and showing that you treated the person as a friend, before inviting Ouka inside. Because the Takemikazuchi Familia had always been somewhat 'poor', Ouka had never been given the opportunity to eat Dragon Steak so Vahn got to see the strange sight of the rather large youth devouring slices of meat, even to the point where he locked chopsticks with Welf when they both grabbed from the same plate. This was a distinct difference compared to how he had initially behaved, as he had been somewhat deferential and even bowed to both Finn and Gareth, neither of which showed any real concern for his polite behavior. Gareth had even poured him a mug of alcohol, something that would have never occurred in the Far East where the younger generation was supposed to respect and honor their elders. He accepted the mug after a bit of hesitation and that had also been around the same time that he started to loosen up.Since Raul and Cruz had actually been busy, everyone that was expected to show up was already present so Vahn went over the details and regulations once again as they all discussed ideas to make the Clubhouse more interesting. Welf had come up with an idea to make a hot tub area, or even create private booths, but Vahn denied the later idea. He didn't think a hot tub was too bad an idea but said that it couldn't be used as an opportunity to try and get closer to the waitresses.Vahn believed they needed strict regulations, as strong Adventurers and influential people could actually act very uninhibitedly when they got drunk. This was one of the 'faults' of being power as, even if you weren't a bad person by nature, your own strength could get to your head when you got drunk. By avoiding having something like 'private booths', after all, this was meant to be a place where they openly socialized, people would be less inclined to try and get away with taking advantages from the staff.Once again, Welf was the only one that seemed to disagree with the idea, effectively proving Vahn's point because the youth was already a little drunk. He already had four Amazons 'taking care' of him, but that didn't mean Welf wasn't interested in other women. Combine beautiful girls with alcohol and a bit of power and authority and the fifteen-year-old youth would probably embarrass himself greatly. Vahn managed to get him to drop the subject when he asked Welf to discuss the matter with Sonia, immediately bringing the boy to silence as a concerned look appeared on his face. If the girls even remotely developed the idea he wasn't 'satisfied' with them, Welf probably wouldn't be able to move his body for a week after they were done with him...By the end of their discussion, which included a fair amount of drinking and enough food to feed a small Familia, it was decided they would hire up to ten staff, build a secondary platform for a hot tub, and add things like darts, cards, pool, and dice to the available forms of entertainment. They were also going to reach out to an entertainment Familia that specialized in music, dance, performance art, and singing so that they could liven up the atmosphere. Vahn also made it so that every 'core' member would be able to invite up to two people into the Clubhouse as trial members, but they could only stay if enough core members supported them. This would both increase the number of people coming to the Clubhouse while also regulating how many people would end up visiting at the same time. Vahn wanted everyone to be a close-knit group, so allowing people to bring in large groups of people would cause them to only interact with their pre-existing circle of friends instead of getting to know others.Since he could easily buy most of the stuff from his shop, Vahn stocked the Clubhouse with most of the recommended items, including the hot tub even though the platform for it didn't exist just yet. It was big enough to hold ten people comfortably and was on the far side away from the kitchen and bar. To prevent people from consolidating trash and bottles around the area, the only way to obtain food and drink from the hot tub was to order it and have it delivered. The only way to get new items was to complete what you already had because Vahn wanted to avoid food waste and having partially empty bottles laying around. After all, everything within the Clubhouse was intended to be free, but that didn't mean he wanted people to waste what they ordered.There were also restrictions on taking things out and it could only be meals you had eaten more than half of while you could accumulate a 'tab' for drinks that you wanted to take out. Once it reached a certain amount, you would be prevented from taking any further drinks away and, if it was discovered you were selling them on the market, you would earn yourself a permanant ban from the Clubhouse itself. Since Vahn would be offering a variety of rare and exotic foods and drinks, he wanted to avoid the situation where people were trying to use their association with the Clubhouse to turn a profit. Though he wouldn't restrict things like business deals and such, it didn't mean he would personally facilitate the dealings using his own goods.The only exceptions to the rules would be for Vahn himself, as he was the one providing the goods in the first place. Even Gareth wouldn't be able to take more than he was 'allowed', not that he seemed intent on causing trouble in the first place. He knew better than anyone how messed up such an establishment could get if there weren't proper regulations because he was born in the Iron Hills to an influential family. Many large families had their own breweries, pubs, inns, and private establishments. Unlike Vahn's, however, their's were hotbeds for corruption and many influential families used their business to swindle others and try to accumulate even greater wealth for themselves. It was all a big clusterfuck of people trying to take advantage of each other while treating other races like patsies and slaves. Gareth had hated that kind of environment so, when he was strong enough to pass through the Iron Hills on foot, he left behind his homeland to find a less 'corrupt' environment.Around seven o'clock in the evening, Vahn figured it was about time for him to head back so he cleaned up a large amount of the dishes before parting ways with everyone. Since it was an 'open' establishment for all the members, they could stay as long as they wanted and Vahn left the bar open for the time being. Until their hired the staff and had someone to do the inventory properly, there was no sense in following the regulations just yet. Before he left, he gave the network materials for Raul and Cruz to Finn and also included some extra sets if they had any suitable people in mind to be future members on the network. He also gave another set to Ouka so that he could pass it on to Take' and 'gifted' him a B-Rank item called [Power Band] that would give him a slight boost to his Power and Endurance.After leaving the Clubhouse, Vahn looked into the dimming night sky before turning his attention to his surroundings and sweeping over them in detail. Not knowing when the enemy would attack was a very annoying experience so Vahn was considering ways to detect them in the future. Since they were able to set up a large formation within the Alliance's territory, Vahn didn't see why he couldn't do it himself. He had been able to make things like earthen spikes in the past, so doing a bit of earth manipulation shouldn't be too difficult if he practiced and studied with Terra. He already had a network of tunnels being constructed under the Hearth Manor, with corridors connecting to the five surrounding Manors, so Vahn didn't think it would be a bad idea to expand it further in the future.Thinking of underground structures, Vahn began to wonder about the artificial labyrinth once again and wondered if he should pay a visit to Daedelus Street in the near future. He had been wanting to go to Maria's Orphanage to check up on things, so that would be a good excuse if he needed one. There was also the matter of walking around near Hephaestus's workshop to see if he could find the street orphans he had previously met as he was quite curious about if they had changed or not. It had been nearly three months since he had seen them so, if they were still working hard to overcome their situation, Vahn didn't mind extending them a helping hand. The Miach, Takemikazuchi, and Anubis Familias could always use new members, even though the later didn't seem intent on obtaining any.Anubis' only goal at present was to help raise the hounds to adulthood before finally abolishing her Familia and becoming his permanant 'servant'. At this point, all of the boys had found girls they liked while Nanu, the current captain, wanted to join the Hestia Familia at the earliest possible moment. Even Chione and Maat had finally found their own potential mates after realizing they didn't have great prospects trying to follow Vahn. He had been worried about Maat, since she seemed to want to become his 'servant', but she seemed to have come to her senses on the matter after having a long period of time to consider the matter while also interacting with other people. While Vahn was definitely the best candidate for her 'mate', she was also quite a bit 'beneath' him and couldn't even compare to Nanu.As a result of these developments, the Anubis Familia would likely disappear entirely within the next 2-3 years and the Manor would essentially become a private residence that would occasionally be used by Anubis. Of course, there was also a chance it would be repurposed by the Freya Familia, which was already being discussed, but that was a matter for the future and not something that needed to be taken into consideration right now. Anubis was allowed to make her own decisions and Vahn had already accepted her life-long vow of servitude. She had even been happy after finding out that Vahn would potentially live for thousands of years, so Vahn couldn't really say much to dissuade her from abolishing her Familia since it was what she genuinely wanted to do...Along the way, as he had been walking rather slowly, Vahn quickly browsed through the Status Logbook to see what everyone was up to before pulling out his own communication scroll and informing the girls within the Manor that he would be staying out for the evening. Thinking about all the things that Anubis had 'sacrificed' for him made Vahn feel like pampering her for a bit and he had never spent the night within the private room she had constructed for him inside the pyramid. She had shown it to him in the past and it was lavishly designed to even include a throne and several 'tools' that she was interested in using. Vahn knew that Anubis had a preference for being dominated and he wanted to make her happier in the future, even though it would take a bit of practice to warm up to more intense 'plays'.After confirming that the message had gone through, Vahn disappeared from the City streets using [Shundo] and quickly made his way to the Anubis Familia residence, simply called the Southern Manor. The last time he was there, Vahn had taken an interest in the various unique outfits that she had on display within the room, including the one he had seen from the past that was rather revealing and had the ribbon tied around her butt. Vahn had always regretting not taking full advantage of the situation at that time but there was nothing like the present to make past regrets fade away...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Club Mason open for business...?','Welf about to get death by Snu Snu...','It's like opening up a present (OoO)')https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

The fact that Bete had tried to actually attack him after Vahn had gone out of his way to show the difference between them caused him to lose his cool. He didn't consider himself a bully, but if Bete was going out of his way to continue acting abrasively, even to the point they would come to actual blows, Vahn wasn't going to keep backpedaling for him. Other than perhaps his Agility, Vahn outclassed Bete by a fair amount is almost every other category. It was simply 'foolish' to actually try and start a brawl like this, and it was time for Bete to learn the only way his brain seemed capable of retaining information, the hard way.After grabbing Bete's ankle, Vahn used his own spinning momentum against him by pivoting on his feet and spinning Bete in a circle. He yanked Bete's leg almost like he was trying to remove dust from a cloth before immediately jerking him back in the opposite direction and slamming him into the cobblestone road. When Bete tried to kick off of the ground and recover, a golden light shone from Vahn's hand as a link of [Enkidu] coiled around Bete's leg like a snake. Vahn jumped back to avoid the approaching kick before once again jerking Bete off the ground and slamming him into the hard cobblestone using the chain to control his movements.Being tossed around like a ragdoll made Bete feel like his anger was going to explode yet, no matter how much he tried to remove the chain around his ankle, he was unable to move it at all. He couldn't even put in strength into his leg so he was already down a limb as Vahn used [Shundo] to reposition and jerk him around by his leg over and over. Bete felt like his hip joint was going to give out and, if not for his flexibility and instincts helping him react the motions, his leg might have even been dislocated at this point.Vahn had extended the link of [Enkidu] by 30m at this point but could still muster up enough strength to yank Bete around freely since the loss of one of his legs had been a great handicap. However, he could still see the fighting spirit in Bete's eyes and it scorn contained in his expression which made his anger continue to rise. Vahn whipped the chain up and down like a wave to destabilize Bete's footing before creating another link of [Enkidu] anchored in the sky more than 100m above the streets. Once it was created, he whipped the chain once again to increase its length even further until he had nearly 120m of chain to work with before jumping up to the anchor and falling to the opposite side, using his weight to pull Bete off the ground and string him up in the air.Bete screamed, "You motherfucker! Let me down from here you little shit!" before trying to strike against the chain to get enough leverage to get over the anchor in the sky. Unfortunately, not only did his attack have no effect on the chain, but it was almost like it absorbed the impact of his strike completely making him unable to push himself over. He tried to bend at his waist to yank on the chain, but the moment his hands grabbed onto it he lost his strength and slipped away, forced to dangle upside down by the hateful boy below. As for Vahn, he had been watching Bete's attempts in silence while ignoring the peanut gallery cheering from the side. He was simultaneously sweeping around the area and looking for any signs of the earth mage, as this would be a good opportunity for an ambush.After Bete failed to free himself for the tenth time, Vahn said in a 'calm' voice that was somewhat cold to the onlookers, "I have no animosity toward you, Bete, except for the ones you have created. This will be the last time I show you leniency, so think about the matter seriously. The next time you say something disrespectful to me or my friends, I won't let it slide. We're allies, so it's about time you start treating us with the respect we deserve. You're not doing anyone any favors by acting so abrasively all the time!" In response to Vahn's words, Bete scowled before raising his middle finger and saying, "Fuck you, Vahn! Without this stupid chain, I would have kicked your ass!"Vahn released a sigh that dispersed a large cloud of condensation as his body transitioned into his Xuánwǔ form. Though it might have been a bit 'cheaty', Vahn also ingested a small blue gem that could help replenish his source energy before dispersing [Enkidu]. Bete fell from the sky and quickly righted himself before landing on the ground, still pissed off but seemingly unwilling to continue the fight. Vahn, however, just said that he wouldn't let Bete continue to disrespect him so things were far from settled. If Bete thought [Enkidu] was the reason for his victory, he didn't mind 'correcting' the misunderstanding. As he took a step forward, Vahn said, "We'll see how many different excuses you give before you finally concede..."Bete's eyes opened wide and he prepared to defend himself against Vahn's impending strike. He was very annoyed, while simultaneously envious, of the ridiculous speed Vahn could use with [Shundo] since he couldn't track him with his eyes at all. It wasn't until Vahn reappeared that he was able to sense the movement and by then it was already a huge disadvantage to overcome. This time, however, he had another previously unknown factor to contend with as he tried to block the punch to his shoulder. Just as he turned to intercept the attack with his guard, a 'wave' of water slammed into his face and caused him to choke after accidentally inhaling a bit of it.Though he felt a little bad for the 'accident', Vahn wasn't going to stop until Bete backed down and admitted defeat. He had started to pull water elemental energy from the atmosphere and there were currently several small orbs orbiting around him as he struck forward with a barrage of strikes. Bete was still fast enough to react to most of his hits, but there was nothing he could do to prevent water from soaking into him at it condensed directly on his body from the atmosphere. Even jumping to create distance wasn't good enough because Vahn could track him through his domain easily. It wasn't like in the past, where faster opponents like Tsubaki could overwhelm his senses a bit, Vahn could clearly read Bete's movements and didn't show him any leniency.Bete shook his head to disperse some water that had been building up, but a layer continued to stick to his skin and even started to pool. If he couldn't escape Vahn's domain, he would eventually be completely covered in water and potentially even drown if he stood in one area too long. Other than fire, Bete had never seen Vahn make use of other elements like this and he hadn't mentally prepared himself at all. Though he could disperse the water with his movements, it quickly just came back to him, almost like his body had been magnetized. As Vahn was using his aura as the 'center' for condensing his water, Bete really had become something of a magnet that was solely focused on consolidating water elemental energy from the air. It was similar to how he could infuse fire elemental energy into his enemies, except now he was doing the same thing with water.Though the fight had only been going on for around five minutes, as Vahn wasn't actually trying to kill him, Bete had already started to struggle because the largest volume of water concentrated around his face. It was hard to take in breaths unless he destroyed the persistent liquid and it was obscuring his vision greatly while simultaneously making it harder to move. He wasn't affected too much, but it was also still chilly outside so his damp skin had started to make his fingers go numb. So focused on defense and 'escaping' the water, Bete was entirely unaware that it wasn't just water elements that Vahn was using now. Since Bete was already soaked through, Vahn was slowly beginning to freeze him at the same time...The crowd had been watching the fight with a great deal of excitement, including the guards and patrols that had shown up. As they were all part of the Alliance, they could easily recognize Vahn and the person he was fighting against. They didn't know the whole story, but they were currently in the territory of the Alliance and there was nothing preventing Vahn from fighting within it at all. This was a good opportunity for them to watch a battle between two high-level Adventurers, though it was somewhat hard to tell that was the case with how one-sided things had been. It had to be known that the Level 5 Bete was a First-Class Adventurer while Vahn was only a Second-Class Adventurer at Level 4. However, their fight seemed to state otherwise as every time Bete struck Vahn he didn't show any signs of taking damage while the rest of the fight had him running away.Bete was in a bit of a panic as he spun away and twisted his body to disperse the cloud of water and broke through the encirclement of orbs, shouting, "This water is bullshit! Don't you have any abilities that aren't cheap and unfair!?" Vahn moved his right hand in a snaking motion as he slid his foot forward and caused a 'shift' in the water that had pooled at the ground. It normally wouldn't have any effect at all, but Vahn froze the flow at the same time just as Bete's feet had landed on the ground. He slipped onto his butt before trying to right his footing only to slide against the ice before trying to smash it with his fist.Vahn made a claw shape with his left hand before sweeping his leg around and twisting his wrist in an upward angle to create a sphere of water completely surrounding Bete's body. He had stopped his movement to try and shatter the ice only to find that he was submerged in a ball of water more than 9m in diameter. Just as he had done for the sturgeon in the river, Vahn turned the sphere of water into a vortex that spun around Bete as he tried to swim and break free. Though he normally would have been able to reach the edge quickly, Vahn moved the orb with his movements so Bete was swimming in an orb above the streets as he futilely tried to escape. Being in the water, he couldn't get enough momentum to strike against the ground to break free because the vortex wouldn't allow him to get his footing for even a short moment.Bete tried to use his [Hati] to absorb the magic power from the sphere, but he found that he couldn't do anything against it at all. Elemental energy under the influence of source energy wasn't something his weak magic could influence at all, not mentioning the fact that [Hati] was a fire elemental magic while Vahn's water elemental control was a natural counter. Though he was able to persist for a while, Bete eventually started to suffocate after nearly fourteen minutes of struggling. He could have easily held his breath for an hour in a normal situation, but being spun around like a minnow caught in a looping current was very taxing and his stamina drained very quickly since the water was actually well below freezing. The only thing that kept it from turning into ice was the fast moving vortex, but this offered no 'mercy' to the entrapped Werewolf who could do nothing but slowly freeze as his air ran out.Vahn could see the state of Bete's body very well with his [Eyes of Truth] so he knew what Bete's limits were. When his movements began to slow down, Bete finally released the breath he had been containing for so long as Vahn slammed his hand downward and collapsed the massive sphere of water. It spread through the street and even reached the crowd on the periphery before it began to turn into a thin layer of ice from the energy contained within. Bete was laying in the center covered in a light layer of frost as his body shook and he gasped for air. Vahn stepped forward with [Shundo] and appeared right in front of him, looking down from above with a 'tired' expression.Bete looked up into Vahn's face and, even though there was no real sign of contempt or mockery, he couldn't help but feel that the young boy was looking down on him. However, Vahn didn't seem to care about the thoughts plaguing his heart as he reached his hand down and said, "I'm tired of fighting against someone that is supposed to be my ally..." As he spoke, Vahn dispersed the cold energy as he used his [Heart of the Eternal Flame] to spread warmth through the street. From the perspective of the observers, Vahn was extending a hand to Bete to set aside their differences but Bete felt nothing but frustration as he swatted away the offered hand and rose to his feet, body still shivering from the cold. He didn't say anything, realizing that his words had a 'price' now, and just walked away toward the Twilight Manor with his tail drooping pathetically.Vahn shook his head and released a sigh before saying, "I really wish we could be friends...we both have people we care about. We both want to get stronger to protect our loved ones...I don't understand why we can't see eye-to-eye..." Bete paused for a brief moment but didn't say anything in response to Vahn's words as he continued along his lonely path. He was very aware of the warmth that continued to persist around him, drying up the water and thawing his cold body, but he didn't thank Vahn for his concerns. However, there was a small amount of respect that had taken root inside his heart that had almost caused Bete to answer Vahn's question directly.The truth of the matter is, Bete didn't actually have anything against Vahn either, other than a moderate amount of envy. The reason why he couldn't easily open up to other people is that he hated his own weakness, the failures he had suffered in the past in pursuit of vengeance. If he could have been as strong as Vahn, Bete believed he could have lived a much happier life. His village wouldn't have been wiped out, he wouldn't have lost his lover and his companions, and he would have been able to protect all the things he cared about. Unfortunately, his strength was hard-gotten and only after he experienced suffering. Thus, Bete carried with him a powerful resentment, not for other, but for himself and his own failure. The stronger he became, the greater his disdain for himself and the more he lashed out at others, seeing their own weakness as a reflection of his past self...he just wanted to be happy, but that was a path that had been lost to him long ago...After rounding a corner, Bete put his hands into his pockets before coming to a stop when he saw a small bundle of items on the ground in front of him. Contained within a satchel, there were several vials of ink, a large book, and a scroll rolled up in a protected case. Bete stared at the satchel for nearly an entire minute before clicking his tongue and walking past it. However, he only took a few steps before looking back at the satchel and releasing a frustrated sigh. As a First-Class Adventurer, he knew very well how expensive the items in the satchel were and leaving them outside was 'dumb'. Even if he never intended to use them, keeping them wouldn't do him any harm...Vahn sensed that Bete had picked up the satchel and it brought a small smile to his face as he turned away and headed toward the Clubhouse once again. He had seen Bete's aura waver greatly toward the end and also saw the deep melancholy contained within his eyes. Surprisingly, according to the system, Bete's affection for him was actually 73, even though the bracket parameter was (Envy). Since 50 was the basis, this showed that Bete wasn't actually that hostile toward him, but merely putting on a strong front because of his trauma. Vahn would still take a stand if Bete tried to cause problems for him, but he couldn't bring himself to hate someone just because they had suffered in the past. It might not be any time soon, but Vahn believed Bete would eventually open up to other people, perhaps after he sealed the deal and got married to Lena. When he came into conflict with the Amazon country in the future, Vahn figured he would be able to make amends with Bete since it would be something that concerned both his and Lena's future happiness...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Peh, Puny Werewolf...','Give that boy a bath~! His attitude stinks!','Bete's PTSD runs deep')(A/N: I know my releases today are a bit slow, but there will be two more written after this. Things are a bit difficult IRL atm because there is a cold front and the central heating in my apartment was f**cked up when the power took a hit yesterday. It got down to 53 degrees in my apartment earlier, so I curled up in my blankets after a hot shower and took a nap xD. I'm not writing from a laptop while bundled up, so I'll try to get out the remaining two in the next few hours o3o~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 524: Regulations