Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Starting the following day, other than the mornings which he spent training Tina and Shizune in the Dungeon, Vahn threw himself fully into his research. His blood was something that followed him between every record so there was no harm in researching it to unlock the many secrets Vahn suspected it contained. Even Sis didn't know what the (sealed) part in his race meant and Vahn was beginning to believe it was related to the fact his body was comprised of source energy now. He could freely change his first race, which is how he appeared to others, but the secondary (sealed) never changed.His first experiment was the one he believed had the highest chance of success so Vahn forged a variety of amulets, medallions, and even a few items like chokers, tiaras, and a belt buckle. They each had 'slots' where he could seat gemstones later so Vahn began coring out a variety of different precious stones. As they were the most readily available, and the most cost-effective for OP conversion, Vahn acquired a diamond, ruby, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, peridot, and topaz. As for the rarer materials, Vahn picked out a high-grade monster core, a Fire Wyvern's magic core, and a very rare gem called a Vouivre's Tear. He knew it was an item that only dropped from the rare female dragonoids called Vouivre, one of which Vahn expected he would have a relationship with in the future given that one of his daughter's had similar features.Holding up the beautiful red gemstone, Vahn could feel powerful energy emanating from it and, when he activated his [Eyes of Truth], it was very obviously not a normal gem. It had hair-thin lines permeating throughout the interior and Vahn very quickly realized he wouldn't be able to core it out for his purposes. It would be an incredible waste to destroy the complex internal structure so he safely kept it in his inventory for the time being. If possible, he would like to make it into a pendant in the future, or perhaps used it as a charm for when he meets a Xenos.The Fire Wyvern's magic core was very similar, having a complex internal structure, but Vahn felt less awed by it considering he had looted a few during his short stint on the 58th Floor. If necessary, he could always obtain several more when he next delves into the Deep Floors. It probably wouldn't be any time soon, as he needed to make preparations for the Supply Depot on the 39th Floor, but it wouldn't be that far away either. However, Vahn decided to set it aside for now since he wanted to experiment with lower quality materials first. Right now, he was just inspecting them to test their viability before starting the process.High-Grade monster cores had a large number of impurities contained within them and, even though the energy they could contain was very high, the actual durability of the gem left something to be desired. It was a little strange that the vital point of many powerful monsters was a simple monster core that could easily be damaged by a low-grade dagger if struck directly. Vahn was, however, able to glean a few insights from the monster core's internal structure since the way it was interlayered was similar to how Hephaestus forged some of her metals. He was far from the point where he could shape the basic structure of metal with his energy, but having a few points of reference would always be helpful.The normal gems were a bit of a disappointment because Vahn realized the only difference between them were a few impurities that were intermixed with the molecular structure. Diamonds were very hard, but they seemed to 'bleed' energy instead of containing it properly. As for rubies, they had a strange affinity with fire that Vahn couldn't quite understand, but they also failed to properly store energy. It was a similar case for all the other gemstones, with the only exception being that they had slightly different affinities. Sapphires were a good catalyst for water and ice while emeralds had a slight affinity with the elements of wind and thunder. Topaz was a strong catalyst for natural energy and earth elemental energy with amethyst and peridot having affinities with darkness and light respectively.With his other options sorted through, Vahn showed a complex expression before removing one of the Treasure Magic Stones from his inventory. It was the same as the ones affixed to Riveria's staff and they were one of the most highly sought after gems for creating magical staves. Vahn inspected the transparent blue crystal with his [Eyes of Truth] and noticed that they actually had naturally occurring magic circles invisibly layered within the interior. This was a major discovery because Vahn hadn't even considered trying to create a formation within a crystal previously. His eyes glowed brightly, and not just because he still had his [Eyes of Truth] active.After copying the strange magic circles into a journal, Vahn then compared it to other Treasure Magic Stones, noting that they were very similar in structure with only a few slight variations. Vahn could 'read' what the magic circles were supposed to do and easily understood why they were such prized items by mages. The basic structure greatly enhanced the power of magic spells while the rest of the formation essentially helped 'translate' chants into the proper structure for creating a magic circle. This meant that any staff or wand using a Treasure Magic Stone also enhanced the caster's ability to control their magic while reducing the chance of failure.Vahn had eventually shared this discovery with Riveria who had been very interested because it had never been truly understood why Treasure Magic Stones were such valuable gems. It was very strange that they grew on trees that could only be found within the Dungeon and, even goddesses like Hephaestus with her 'godly eyes' couldn't see the invisible magic formations contained within. Even without being able to peer through the secret, Hephaestus was still able to determine how the gem worked simply based on instinct, however, so it had never been a pertinent issue the few times she created staves.Deciding it would be a waste to use the Treasure Magic Stones, Vahn ended up back with the original 'useless' gems like diamonds. Now that he had the idea of creating formations within the gemstones, Vahn theorized he could convert the useless gems into very powerful magical catalysts by altering their internal structure with his 'Oblivion' skill. It was a bit of a tangent that wouldn't allow him to make progress on the Blood Gems, but Vahn simply had to test his theory before moving on. It took a bit of painstaking effort, to the point he spent nearly an entire weekend in his workshop, but he managed to finish creating an incredibly small formation out of pure Orichalcum within a large diamond. He was 'forced' to rest by the girls after it was finished, but Vahn was able to confirm that the diamond could now contain a fair amount of mana even without him using his blood.With this new discovery, Vahn had Fenrir and Terra help him out a bit by allowing him to inspect their pendants closely with his [Eyes of Truth]. The [Nezha Lady's Togi] took the form of an amulet with a seal carved into it, but Vahn was able to see it had a far more complex internal structure than he had imagined. As for the large ruby-like gemstone on Terra's pendant, it had a magic circle unlike anything Vahn had ever seen and, instead of interlayered circles and runes, it was very rigid and angular instead. From this observation, Vahn realized there were numerous intricacies related to the internal structure of gemstones that he had never taken into consideration previously. One of these intricacies, which Vahn considered was very important, was the fact that there was a formation of pure source energy within Fenris's and Terra's pendants but, when he checked Lili's, it was the same color as her pure-earth elemental energy...This realization allowed Vahn to understand that soulbound items, at least those that could be stored away in gemstones, needed a supporting structure in the gemstone itself. Though the equipment was linked with the soul, it wasn't stored within it like Vahn's [Enkidu]. The latter was a Tier 5 piece of equipment, so Vahn suspected he would find instances that contradicted his current findings depending on the records he visited. For everything Tier 4 and lower, however, Vahn was confident he had started on the path towards making his own gems that could be soulbound to store equipment in the future...Vahn had continued this research for more than two weeks and was no closer to finding a gemstone that could properly store his blood since it couldn't contain his source energy for long periods of time. He had even tried purchasing another [Nezha Lady's Togi] from the shop to 'steal' the gem from the pendant but, the moment he managed to free it, the entire thing crumbled into dust as the internal structure immediately collapsed. During moments like that, Vahn would take a break and found comfort in helping Naaza with her [Mixing] research while watching over Preasia's studies.Other than Preasia, who stayed behind in the Manor and sometimes lingered around his workshop, Naaza, Lili, and Chloe often ventured into the Dungeon in the mornings and would stay inside until the early afternoon. This meant Vahn only spent a few hours inside the Atelier each day and had split the rest of his time between interacting with the other girls in the Manor and focusing on his own research. As for Naaza's, Vahn had been surprised with how much progress she had made since they first met and it was very obvious she worked hard. He still couldn't mix anything on his own, as his source energy was simply too powerful for the materials to contain, but he was able to help modify Naaza's notes to eliminate some of the problems he found.Naaza was often very impressed by his insight, but Vahn knew that it was primarily a result of having a near-perfect memory with The Path while Sis was the one that made many of the actual insights. She could cross-reference the information in his mind and Vahn had even given her the right to purchase items she thought were beneficial as long as it didn't cost too much OP. As a result, Sis had slowly been compiling a vast amount of knowledge and information related to the Danmachi record within his mind and had eliminated many of the 'problems' simply by comparing notes. Vahn couldn't really talk about Sis, as she was an integral part of The Path and his secrets, so he apologized to her whenever Naaza praised his work.Though it wasn't a large amount in the grand scheme of things, Naaza had been able to push her efficacy rate to around 19% for Low-Grade Elixers and managed to reach as much as 30% for High-Grade Potions. She even mustered up a bit of courage to try and make a Low-Grade Mana Potion, but was unable to have a single success unless Vahn was there to assist her. It made her feel a bit of pressure since she truly believed Vahn was the more capable person when it came to [Mixing], but Naaza never complained. Whenever she did well, Vahn would always praise her and, though it was very embarrassing, she enjoyed his words and the petting that typically followed them...---Vahn found himself sitting with Fenrir in his lap at the dinner table while Hestia, Hephaestus, Loki, and Anubis were discussing the matters regarding the upcoming Denatus. They would be leaving tomorrow and were currently getting everyone's input regarding the alias ideas they were intended to go with. Vahn had already heard many of the suggestions previously, but this was the first time most of the girls were hearing the names that had been 'decided' for them. Fenrir was completely fine with 'Vanargand', since it was almost the same as her race, Vanargandr. She simply chewed away at the link of [Enkidu] Vahn had let out for her and watched the scene play out at the table with unblinking eyes with a glint of humor contained within.Though it wasn't guaranteed, there was a high chance the aliases would be approved since the support for the Alliance had greatly increased since the previous Denatus. When it became public knowledge how quickly the members within the Hestia Familia had increased in Level, it would also give them a lot of leverage to pick and choose aliases as it was very evident each person had worked hard. Lili's 'Super Supporter' was either going to end up as 'Atlas' or, if that was too contentious within the godly community, 'One Punch Pallum'. It was a bit of a silly name, but it was also somewhat fierce while getting the point across that Lili wasn't to be taken lightly. Vahn had wanted to make a comment that it may be misconstrued as her being 'defeated' in one punch, but Lili seemed to like it and he didn't want to hurt her feelings...Lefiya's current alias was 'Thousand Elf', as a result of her [Elf Ring] ability, but it would likely be changed to reflect her new fighting style and her magical prowess. Loki proposed the idea of calling Lefiya 'Blooming Beauty', since she currently used a staff that looked like a blooming tulip, but Tiona chimed in and said it should be closer to something like 'Elven Bombardment' since Lefiya literally spammed laser-light magic spells. However, Lefiya surprised everyone when she gave her own opinion on the matter and wanted to be called the 'Sage's Apprentice' since she wanted to be officially recognized as Vahn's apprentice. This caused a bit of tension with Lili and Haruhime, but it didn't last long when it was mentioned that they already had aliases selected.Haruhime would likely become a very popular topic over the next few weeks, perhaps even longer, because it was essentially going to be revealed that she went from Level 1 to Level 3 between the time period of two sequential Denatus. Since her 'rare' skill was called 'Inari', they would be pushing to get her that alias but, considering it may be denied when accounting for the existence of the real Inari, it would instead be 'Flower Dancer' or 'Elegant Death' depending on the reception of the godly community. Haruhime currently still used the [Sakura Blossom] as her primary weapon and she had drawn a lot of attention during the few instances she actually displayed her ability to other people...As for the other aliases there were being thrown around, it was decided that Mikoto's would be either 'Flying Heavenly Sword' or 'Godspeed Swordswoman' since her capabilities had greatly increased since the previous Denatus. For both Tsubaki and Ais to compliment her growth, it wasn't an exaggeration to say there was more than enough justification for such titles. Since the type of swordsmanship she used was actually called the 'Flying Heavenly Sword Technique', it would be a good way to spread awareness of the legacy and begin building up her reputation...Maemi and Emiru would be getting their first alias this time around and were adamant about getting 'Gemini' as their shared alias while they didn't care much about their personal aliases. It wasn't that uncommon for small units, especially siblings, to have a shared alias so it would be easy to approve. Even Tiona and Tione were known as the Hiryute Sisters, even though their personal aliases were 'Amazoness' and 'Jormungand' respectively. As for the girls that originated from the Hostess of Fertility, they were going to be 'Cheshire Cat', 'Hidden Spear', and 'Smiling Brawler'. Chloe didn't mind 'Cheshire Cat' at all and actually thought it suited her well while Arnya was simply happy to not have her old alias any longer. As for Lunoire, she didn't really mind too much since she never had an official alias and her bounty hunter nickname had been 'Black Fist', which had been kind of annoying...The last person to be discussed, other than Vahn, who would obviously be called as 'Sage Aldrnari' still, was Terra. One of the points they intended to press was the idea that some 'monsters' should be recognized as sentient creatures of the surface. It was generally believed that monsters didn't possess a soul, which was true in the vast majority of cases, but there were a few obvious exceptions and it wasn't 'right' to treat such entities in the same vein as monsters. Fenrir was well-known to be one of Vahn's tamed monsters, but it had never been announced that she actually had a Falna, something that should have been 'impossible'. Both she and Terra would be advocated for during the Denatus because Vahn truly wanted to change the perception of people in order to enable the Xenos to live amongst the surface-dwellers in the future...As for the alias that had been decided for Terra, they were simply going to push for 'True Dragon' or 'Nature Dragon', as they were the most suitable considering the circumstances. Terra herself didn't seem to care too much, though she did mention a name that showed her relationship with Vahn would be preferable. She didn't vocalize it, but the alias 'Vanargand' that Fenrir would be receiving sounded very 'nice' to her since it was very similar to their Master's name. Being called 'True Dragon' or 'Nature Dragon' didn't seem that bad though, so she didn't harp over the matter too much. How other people referred to her wasn't important at all and she only cared about studying and spending time with her Master.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Tears of Blood...',''Diamonds Are For-Fodder','Name Calling')https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Vahn awoke to find himself nestled against Hephaestus' chest and spent several long minutes enjoying the heat of her embrace. She had the highest body temperature of all the other girls and Vahn often found himself falling asleep in her arms whenever they finished making love. It was like being stuck in an incubator for the soul and Vahn could feel warmth flowing through his heart while the cool air of the manor was kept at bay by their combined body temperatures. Hugging her tightly in return, Vahn stirred Hephaestus awake by nuzzling further into her cleavage until she eventually said, "Mouu...Vahn, you shouldn't be so eager so early in the morning..." As if she didn't consider her own words, Hephaestus lifted up Vahn's face and began kissing him, causing the temperature in the room to increase by several degrees before they finally separated their lips.For a few minutes thereafter, Vahn and Hephaestus snuggled up and discussed what Vahn would be up to for the three days of the Denatus. Other than continuing his research, Vahn didn't really have any other plans though that would likely change depending on the decisions of others. He had been using up a bit of his time to maintain communications with his own private network and it was likely they would do a small get-together since most people didn't enter the Dungeon when their gods were away at the Denatus. There was always a chance that a major event could transpire that would require a Familia to mobilize its forces on a moment's notice.While he was explaining his thoughts, Hephaestus just laid in silence while fiddling with Vahn's somewhat thick dark-brown hair. Vahn himself was currently laying closer to her belly than he was toward her head and it made Hephaestus feel a bit absentminded watching him affectionally stroke her pregnant stomach. They had already discussed naming their daughters Ina and Vana, just as they had been named in the Divination, so Vahn would often 'speak' to them in an encouraging manner. According to him, children were receptive to positive and negative emotions even in the womb so he often spent his relaxation time 'coaxing' his future children while pampering their mothers.It was still a bit early to consider the direction of their daughters' future, but Hephaestus couldn't help but think about it on occasion since she just crested the halfway point of a normal pregnancy. After ruminating over it quietly for a while, she ended up interrupting Vahn's train of thought by asking, "Vahn, do you think our daughters' will be blacksmiths just like me? I remember you saying they obtain the Divinities of their parents...so that means they should obtain something from you, right?" Though he became silent for a short while, Vahn continued to stroke Hephaestus' belly in a circle before saying, "I think there is a good chance your Divinities may be split between them because of the influence of the 'eternal flame'...I don't think they'll obtain anything from me, other than a mutation in their soul that gives them greater potential..."Hephaestus had Divinities related to Fire, Forging, and Craftsmanship, making her not only the greatest Blacksmith amongst the gods, but also one of the greatest Artificers and Architects. She didn't have a Divinity related to Architecture like Hestia, but Hephaestus could design entire buildings with complex mechanisms, hidden passageways, and other incredible features. Vahn suspected that one of their daughters would inherit her Divinity related to Fire while the other would likely obtain Forging or Craftsmanship. Though it was subtle, at least for the time being, Vahn could already see a small glowing flame in the heart of one of their daughters and believed his intuition was correct.After explaining his postulation to Hephaestus, she had a thoughtful expression on her face for a while before saying, "I think our daughter with the 'eternal flame' should be Ina, since I want her to be pure and passionate like a flame...Vana already means 'creation' in the ancient language, so that is probably why we named our daughter as Vana within the Divination...hmmm..." Vahn nodded his head gently and said, "I believe they will both be incredible girls, just like their mother..." Hephaestus laughed softly for several seconds before she added, "Their father is also quite incredible...ufufufu~."---A few hours later, after enjoying a long breakfast where they discussed the Denatus once again, Vahn saw off Hephaestus, Hestia, Loki, and Anubis at the front courtyard, having Fafnir escort them to Babel Tower so they could arrive with a bit of flair. His conversation during the morning with Hephaestus had triggered Vahn to have a very pleasant and thoughtful mood so he began thinking about the future instead of immediately going back to his research. Since they would be taking the next few days off while waiting for the Denatus to come to an end, Vahn had a good opportunity to just relax with the girls for a bit. He had used up his previous weekend by completely immersing himself in his work so it wasn't a bad idea to take a short break.Deciding it would be fun to spend a bit of time with the mothers of his future children, Vahn made his way through the East Wing and passed by his own workshop on the way to meet up with Tsubaki. She was almost at the point where she would be taking a break from blacksmithing so she didn't endanger their child so Vahn could usually find her drawing up drafts and preparing materials for future projects instead of actually forging. As expected, he found her sitting at a long wooden table that was covered in various diagrams but, instead of drawing up new designs, she was actually just reading through one of the communication logbooks before noticing his presence.Snapping the book shut, Tsubaki smiled and asked, "What brings you to my workshop so early in the morning, Vahn?" Without any hesitation, Vahn had already been walking over to Tsubaki's side to help her stand up as he explained, "I was in the mood to spend time with all the pregnant women and thought visiting you first would be a good idea..." Tsubaki began to laugh in a teasing manner, but she couldn't hide the mellow pinks and the warm yellows in her aura that showed she was pleased by his words. After he led her over to the sofa and helped her sit down, Tsubaki asked, "Are you going to talk to our daughter again~?" Vahn nodded with a soft expression on his face as he stroked her belly and said, "Our little Sakuya..."Tsubaki took a deep breath when she heard Vahn call their daughter by name before 'giving up' her act and just leaning against his shoulder. It wasn't the first time he had referred to their daughter as Sakuya and it always made Tsubaki feel a little melancholic, even though there was a great deal of warmth that spread from her heart. After spending several minutes in silence, Tsubaki placed her hand overtop Vahn's and muttered, "When our daughter is born...there is a place I want you to visit with me, okay?" Vahn squinted his eyes slightly because he understood that Tsubaki likely wanted to visit the graves of her mother and former lover. Thinking it would be a good form of 'closure' for her, Vahn nodded his head and said, "I understand..." in what he hoped would be a comforting tone...After a little more than an hour, Tsubaki ended up 'kicking' Vahn out of her workshop because she was beginning to get a little sleepy just snuggling up with him for so long. She knew he 'cheated' a bit by using his [Hands of Nirvana] with his domain and it always made her feel very comfortable. However, this also made her feel a little embarrassed at times because she would remember that Vahn is just a fifteen-year-old boy. She almost felt like a cradle robber at times and couldn't tolerate very long periods of silence alone with him since she would often think about matters that should just be left to rest. Just imagining the look her mother and Jonas would give her made Tsubaki feel a little anxious...Continuing onward, Vahn made his way toward the laundry room of the first floor since he could sense his next 'target' was there. Entering into the rather humid room, Vahn looked around and saw Milan, Maemi, Emiru, and, his current target, Aki, all busily working away to clean the mountain of clothes left behind by the other residents of the Manor. Vahn had made laundry a lot easier by giving them a specialized detergent obtained from the shop, but it still took a bit of effort since there were more than twenty people living within the Manor, the majority of which were Adventurers that often got very dirty. Feeling a bit guilty, Vahn changed up his plans a bit and walked over to help out since his 'cleaning magic' was very helpful for getting out most stains. He once tried to use his water elemental control to create a vortex to expedite the process a bit, but he was 'lectured' after the fact because such methods would damage the fabrics, especially for undergarments.As every girl present was either a Cat Person, or the derivative of Cat People, Snow Leopards, they had all noticed his presence the moment he entered even though the smell of detergent was quite pungent. Maemi and Emiru became on 'alert' with small frowning faces as they said, "Master, you shouldn't be in here..." in concert with each other. For reasons he would never understand, Maemi and Emiru took 'pride' in doing things like chores and cleaning and, since they recognized him as their 'Master', they didn't like to see him cleaning unless it was a mess he had made. Vahn gave them a wry smile and explained, "I wanted to steal away Aki for a bit, so I'll help out for a short while to make up for her absence..."A strange phenomenon happened that made Vahn want to smile since he watched as all four girls' tails flickered at the same time. Before Maemi and Emiru could 'refute' his words, Milan laughed and said, "Just let Vahn do as he pleases...are you two going to tell your Master what he can and can't do~?" The twins' heads 'snapped' towards Milan with wide-eyed expressions as they said, "We would never do such a thing!" Vahn thought their reactions were adorable, but he also almost commented that they often told him 'not' to do certain things. As for Aki, her tail was curled up in an S-shape as she asked in a polite tone, "Did you need me for something specific, Vahn, or did you just want to spend time together~?"Once again, with the exclusion of Aki herself, the tails of each girl flickered and Vahn felt like he had wandered into a strange dimension where everything was intent on making his heart explode with how adorable they were behaving. Without glossing over his words, Vahn nodded his head and explained, "I just felt like spending time with you for a little while..." This time, Aki's tail flicked several times as a smile bloomed on her face and she said, "Give me a hand with this load of laundry and then we'll go off~nyufufu." Vahn had already started walking over under the watchful eyes of Maemi and Emiru, who he sent a small wink to that made the two girls blush slightly.Maemi and Emiru had been looking forward to the day they were 'scheduled' to sleep in the same room as Vahn, which was only three days away at this point. Though it wasn't a 'guarantee', there was a fair chance they would have the opportunity to 'give' their virginities to him and it had been on their mind a lot lately. Seeing him wink reminded them of the coming day so they turned away and began scrubbing away at the laundry to calm down. They had been a little bit envious of the fact that Aki was going to get to spend time with Vahn, but that had long faded as pink thoughts began to fill their minds.Vahn noticed the change in the twins' auras and was a bit at a loss before standing near Aki and grabbing the first bit of laundry nearby. A glint passed through his eyes as he noticed the garment he had grabbed was a small pair of simple panties. Aki looked over before 'snatching' them away and saying, "You can leave the undergarments to me, Vahn..." Vahn mechanically nodded his head and started paying attention to what he was doing so as not to embarrass himself further. However, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering as he imagined who the owner of the garments was. With their size, it was either Lili, Shizune, or, as often seemed to be the case these days, Tina...During their recent stints into the Dungeon, Vahn had updated Tina's Status Board and found a new change that he hadn't quite expected to see. His memories of the original manga came to mind as images of Bell always 'accidentally' stumbling into areas where he could view girls naked. He also seemed to be able to get away with bumping into them at times and had even managed to get Ryuu's affection by grabbing her hand when she and Syr were returning from shopping. Some people might never 'wander' into an area where girls were bathing even once, yet Bell had managed to walk in on girls several times, including those that had very developed senses...all because of his inordinately high 'luck'...-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Tina YuelRace: Cat PersonLV. 1POW: H128-&gt;F319END: H157-&gt;F380DEX: H135-&gt;F323AGI: H140-&gt;F340MAG: I11-&gt;I70Skill: [Eclipse: Innate(sealed)], [Shield Bash:I-&gt;H], [Counter:I](new)Magic: -Development Skill: [Abnormal Resistance:(sealed)], [Luck:(sealed)](new)[Shield Bash]Rank: HUse: Attacks with shields have a chance to stun enemies based. (Active Trigger)[Counter]Rank: IUse: Enhances the efficacy of attacks immediately after receiving a blow. (Active Trigger)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------It was a little difficult to comprehend, but Vahn suspected that everything that had been happening around Tina lately was related to her sealed [Luck] Development Ability. Currently, there were absolutely no records for such a Development Ability, even amongst the extensive documents kept by the Guild for nearly a thousand years. The biggest reason for this, as speculated by Vahn and Sis, was because it could only be obtained between Levels 1 and 2, and only if the person had several fortunate encounters that defied common reasoning. Though it seemed to be more of a 'misfortune' than anything, Tina often found herself in situations where she would have accidents, almost all related to Vahn.Though it was a bit of an extreme example, it could have started from the very first time they met and he walked into the Hearth's Embrace Inn. Tina had been one of the first people he ever truly encountered while being the absolute first Beast Human he met and interacted with. He had been a little 'weird' at the time, but she was still able to make an impression on him with her adorable behavior. After that, there were several instances where they were able to become somewhat closer, many of which were the result of happenstance...Considerably more extreme was the matter related to the kidnapping since, even though she had suffered severe trauma, Tina herself had come out relatively unscathed and was even able to 'break free' from her fate as a simple Inn Matron's Daughter. Vahn became the hero she needed during her crisis, one which would have claimed the lives of almost anyone else, and was able to get closer to the girls at the Hostess of Fertility while even obtaining a True Dragon as her 'little brother' and guardian. After that, several other small incidents took place until she eventually found herself living with the Hearth Manor itself, getting even closer to Vahn because of other 'random' happenings, such as when he was testing his [Thria*Mimos] and transformed into a Cat Person.The absolutely 'most extreme' example was the fact that Vahn was able to experience the Divination, effectively changing Tina's fate once again and enabling her to step onto a path where she was almost guaranteed to end up with him. In the Divination, things had obviously not worked out well for her and now things had changed completely, enabling her to get stronger while also being protected by pretty much everyone else in the residence, Vahn included. After that, several smaller incidents had been taking place that had been very 'taxing' for the young cat girl. She got Vahn to pamper her a bit when they started venturing into the Dungeon...there was the incident where he got absentminded during his massage...the fact she had won coveted prizes during the hide and seek game...and how she had 'accidentally' plopped down on his tail in the bath...More recently, there had even been instances where she 'slipped', only to have Vahn catch her before she actually fell down. During one such instance, she had tried to catch herself at the last moment only to catch him off guard when she turned her body, resulting in Vahn grabbing her minuscule breasts that had just started to bud. Each time something like this would happen, Tina would blush deeply or end up running away, further emphasizing to Vahn that she was somewhat like Bell, as the young protagonist often behaved very strangely to avoid embarrassing situations. Now, there was another 'incident' Vahn could relate to Tina's 'luck' since, even though there were dozens of different garments he could have grabbed, he just 'happened' to grab a pair of her panties...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Pet the belly...','Tina is the MC','Vahn can even see molecules, but he can't avoid grabbing a pair of pantsu...')https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

After spending a peaceful night with Eina, Vahn awoke feeling refreshed and lazily snuggled up with his beautiful young bride who was still drifting within the realm of dreams. When he hugged her closely, Vahn noticed Eina's smile and it made him feel very warm inside. They were now proactively trying to conceive but, much like Syr, Eina wanted it to happen 'naturally' since she wasn't in a particular hurry to have children. Now that her body had undergone 'Nirvana', Eina always felt like she was full of energy and it was much easier to move her body around than in the past. She hadn't even thought it was 'difficult' before, but there was a very clear difference she had explained to Vahn how she felt 'closer' to the mana in the environment after her change.Vahn could also see that Eina's internal mana had become very stable and she was full of vitality, almost to the same extent as an Elf but with a few subtle differences. Though she may not have noticed it herself, Vahn had already taken note of the fact that Eina's ears were marginally longer and more pointy than in the past. He liked the gentle curve of her slightly rounded Half-Elf ears, but being able to nibble on the little tips was very satisfying since Eina was prone to blushing when teased. Thinking this far, Vahn realized that Lefiya and Ryuu were in that category as well, even though the later had only started showing such signs recently. He wondered if it had something to do with their environmental conditions, or if it was simply exposure to him that eventually wore them down...Pulling out Eva's orb, Vahn noticed there weren't any new changes so he stowed it away and gently moved Eina's body so she could relax against the bed. She seemed to stir when he was bundling her up in the covers but, after peeking through her slightly parted eyelashes, Eina closed her eyes again and quickly fell asleep. Her duties had gotten a bit easier with Sierra and Pram working at the Guild branch, but she still worked very hard to make sure things were running smoothly. Eina had always been the serious type and was very committed when it came to teaching people how to do things properly.Sierra and Pram were both Elves that grew up in the Elven Kingdom so they had a bit of a bias against her at first, something which had quickly dissipated with Riveria's words and Eina's efforts. Both Elves had a great deal of respect for both Riveria and Vahn so, knowing that the former was Vahn's 'apprentice' while Eina was, to their surprise, Vahn's wife, made them temper any negative thoughts they might have had. After all, Vahn was their liberator while Riveria was their acting benefactor. If they couldn't show respect to the people that had saved their lives, Pram at least felt like she was underserving to take pride in herself as an Elf. Riveria had already pulled strings to have her little sister, alongside one of her good friends, be given the right to travel outside of the forest. She didn't have any attachments to the rest of her family, so being able to protect the people she cared about gave Pram a life-debt to Riveria that she could never repay...Vahn spent the morning in a leisurely manner by heading over to the Souther Manor to spend some time with Anubis and Nanu. He also checked up on the progress of the other hounds and noticed that Rasui had become much stronger and could almost fight Nanu to a draw if she didn't get too serious. Of course, with Vahn watching, Nanu got very serious and it wasn't long before Rasui ended up pinned to the ground with his arm leveraged against him. Instead of being upset, however, Rasui had a look of respect and admiration on his face whenever he thanked Nanu for her lessons. Even Maat, who was in an active relationship with Rasui now, didn't seem to take any offense to her future mate getting beaten up by Nanu at all.After leaving behind Anubis and Nanu, Vahn kept his promise and headed toward Naaza's Atelier, located in the West Wing near the Medical Ward that didn't often see use. He sensed three different presences inside and wasn't surprised to find that both Lili and Preasia were present since the three often spent time together. Not only was she a physical powerhouse, but Lili was also a very studious girl even before Vahn had met her. In order to survive for nearly an entire decade in a horrible environment, Lili had relied on her intelligence and ability to gather information to get by. She had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of monsters in the dungeon and even carried around small books detailing the rise and fall of various different items. As for Preasia, she wanted to learn the [Mixing] Development Ability in the future and was working hard to learn from both Chloe and Naaza.As they had already heard from Naaza that Vahn would be coming into the Atelier today, neither girl was surprised but they still had very pleased expressions on their faces. Lili practically vaulted the entire distance to Vahn in a single leap so he caught her out of the air while Preasia simply stared at him with her characteristic gaze. The biggest difference was that she had a light blush on her face now and, when she thought he wasn't looking, gently nibbled on her lower lip. Naaza seemed at a loss for how the other two girls were acting but she couldn't hide her weakly wagging tail from view nor the small smile on her face as she said, "Welcome to my workshop, Vahn..."Apparently having her fill of his scent, for the time being, Lili eventually released her vice-like grip and dropped from his body and asked, "I heard from Naaza you were doing research that she was able to help with? Is there something I can do as well...?" Lili had always been a bit of a clingy girl, but there was a subtle change in her disposition ever since the 'hunt' with Fenrir in the past. She was now clingy for a slightly different reason and had calmed down a lot compared to how she had behaved in the past. The constant support of girls like Milan, Tsubaki, Chloe, Hestia, and Lunoire had been whittling away at her mental defenses and she was becoming happier at a noticeable rate.Vahn picked Lili up and carried her over to where Naaza was working before sitting her down on the table as the small Pallum blushed slightly after having been unexpectedly 'handled' by Vahn. Pinching her nose, Vahn smiled before pulling out his own research notes and a few different containers filled with his blood, explaining for the benefit of the three girls, "I've been trying to use this blood as a catalyst to contain mana. It has the properties of being a powerful conduit as well, but it can't be exposed to the air for very long before it breaks down into particulates...here, these are some of the methods I've been working on." Vahn showed off the diagrams to the three girls, including Preasia who wasn't really at the level where she would be able to provide assistance.Naaza was very interested in the documents and gleaned over them before asking, "What kind of blood is this? You only have it listed as 'sample'...ah, is it a secret?" Vahn nodded his head and explained, "It's something only I'm able to get access to as a result of my pseudo-divinities. It doesn't exist anywhere else in the world, so I've been having to research it from scratch. Hephaestus and Tsubaki have helped out a bit since it has very useful properties for forging, but I expect it would also be very useful for other things once I have a better understanding of it." Naaza nodded her head, not that surprised by the fact Vahn was able to have access to something like these blood samples. After all, he was able to materialize complex objects, equipment, and even rare materials out of thin air. Most of the seeds she had planted in her garden were obtained from him, including many that were incredibly difficult to acquire.Lili had also been looking through one of Vahn's journals and noticed it detailed the accessories he had successfully crafted for everyone that used magic. Even she had a small anklet Vahn had forged for her in the past and now knew what gave it the property of storing mana. The fact that a hair-thin band of crystallized blood was able to store a large portion of her reserves made Lili realize that the gems Vahn was trying to make would be at the level of a national treasure. What she couldn't really understand was why he was trying to make them into gems instead of simply creating channels in equipment to store the blood...After considering the matter for several minutes, Lili eventually showed a small frown and asked, "Vahn, is there even a need to make a gem that can be exposed to the air like what you describe in your notes? Why not just create sealed containers and fill them with the blood, or carve channels into equipment directly? Are you just trying...ah, I get it~!" Lili realized that Vahn was probably trying to make them accessories that looked nice and were more functional. She still thought it was more practical to forge equipment, but there were few girls that would refuse beautiful jewelry and accessories. They were easy to wear in casual clothing, meaning she could always be better prepared even when they go on dates and stuff...Vahn wasn't quite sure what Lili had understood but he nodded his head and explained, "I actually came up with the idea of hollowing out other gemstones to fill them with the blood before embedding them into necklaces. I've been trying to come up with a way to create items that function the same as your [Nezha Lady's Togi] so everyone won't have to worry about their equipment getting damaged." Lili's eyes opened wide like she just had an epiphany and realized why Vahn would need to make such high-quality gems. She was very fond of the top Vahn had given to her and often wore it along with other pieces of clothing she had picked out to enhance the look. If she could have even more items like that, it would be very convenient for when she uses her [Cinder*Ella]...For the better part of three hours, Vahn sat around with Naaza, Lili, and Preasia as they talked about potential solutions and other practical uses for the blood other than simply putting it away inside gemstones and equipment. Naaza asked for the right to study it to see if it had any practical uses in [Mixing], which Vahn agreed with as long as she never tried to test the efficacy of her potions on other people without first consulting him. As it was an important secret, she also couldn't consult Miach, or anyone else outside of Hephaestus, Tsubaki, Chloe, Lili, Preasia, and himself. To make sure there wouldn't be any accidents, Vahn would also be spending time working in her Atelier alongside her as he completed his own research. He also agreed to help Preasia memorize all the medical texts she had been studying and help watch over her progress in [Mixing] when Chloe and Naaza were busy.Naaza was happy for the opportunity to spend more time with Vahn because it would likely take several weeks, or potentially even months, before they made any real headway on the subject. Imagining spending several hours a day with Vahn made her tail wag about even though her softly smiling expression didn't change much. She was the type that didn't show too many emotions on her face, but it was very easy to see when she was happy since she always looked very gentle with her eyes 'drooping' slightly at the sides. As for Lili and Preasia, they already spent a decent amount of time inside the Atelier so they were also very pleased by the sudden development since it would allow them to get closer with Vahn.Lili may have been progressing a lot from Vahn's perspective, but she herself knew it was very difficult for her at times. One of the reasons she kept busy was so that she wouldn't give in to her urge to follow Vahn around, as becoming an inconvenience to him was her greatest fear. She had long accepted what she was getting herself into by wanting to be together with him, but it didn't make it much easier to simply watch him getting along with other girls. Lili wanted him to pamper her more often and even tried transforming into things that might interest him just to get him to pet her. She had made big improvements, mainly by becoming friends and talking with the other girls, but her desire to be with him hadn't faded at all. Every evening, just before she turned out the lights and went to bed, she would faithfully cross off another day on her calendar as she counted down to her birthday...Since he was supposed to be relaxing and doing as he pleased, Vahn didn't mind pampering the girls a little since Naaza usually kept to herself while Lili and Preasia were simply too adorable to overlook. It took a bit of coaxing, but Vahn ended up getting Naaza to let him pet her after spoiling Lili in his lap for a few minutes. Though she would normally avoid showing affection in front of others, Naaza had always made an exception around Lili. As for Preasia, they had grown a lot closer over the last few months and Naaza felt like she wouldn't try to embarrass or tease her if she did something silly. Thus, Naaza and Preasia ended up on his flanks while Lili firmly rooted herself to his lap. Perhaps she felt the need to compete against Naaza and Preasia, but Lili ended up transforming into her pseudo-Báihǔ form because she knew Vahn thought it was very cute.Though he would have normally gone off to see what other girls were up to, as it was 'bad' to spend too much time in one place, Vahn gave into his urges a bit and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon with the three adorable girls. Lili was being a little mischevious after being riled up, but she was very cute in her Báihǔ form and it actually matched very well with her [Nezha Lady's Togi] after she changed into it. Her exposed navel and the compact muscles of her body gave her a unique charm while Naaza's gentle bashfulness was very refreshing. Preasia didn't really talk much, but Vahn could tell she was enjoying their time together based on her close proximity and the stability of her aura.Naaza ended up using his thighs as a lap pillow at one point and lazily said, "We didn't accomplish very much today...hafuuu..." Vahn laughed and continued to scratch her floppy little Chientrhope ears as he said, "It's good to relax more on the weekends. Besides, I feel like I never get to spend that much time with you so this is a rare chance that I want to take advantage of..." Naaza had her feet up on the sofa with her knees bent, scrunching up her body in embarrassment at Vahn's words. It was very embarrassing, but Naaza couldn't muster up the resolve to extricate herself from Vahn's very pleasant hands.Vahn smiled at Naaza's reaction while also stroking the scruff around the side of Lili's hair as she leaned against his body from the left with her eyes partially closed. As for Preasia, she took up the somewhat strange position of hugging him from behind and resting her forehead against him since turning her head to the side would poke him with her horns. They had been rotating around at uneven intervals as Vahn took turns petting them while they made small talk about what other things they had been working on.While stroking Naaza's ears, Vahn learned that she could nearly make Mid-Grade Potions with perfect accuracy while her progress into Low-Grade Elixirs and High-Grade Potions had reached around 15%. This more than qualified her as a capable Apothecary, which was the official job title of those that created and sold potions and medicine, but Naaza was still unsatisfied. She wanted to learn the [Alchemy] Development Ability in the future so Vahn promised to help her while organizing a few books in his mind. He had all kinds of texts on chemistry, medicines, and even basic alchemy, but this was all information from other records and he would have to figure out what applied to this world before he set her on a tangential path...When he had been rubbing Lili's belly, which always made Vahn feel awkward at first because of how small she was, Vahn learned that she had been training with Tiona and Lunoire more often while trying to learn suitable close-combat techniques. With her [Atlas] awakening, Lili's Power had become monstrous and she could almost emulate the same feats as someone like Tiona, assuming the latter didn't go all out with her skills and abilities. The major downside to this was that it actually drained Lili's stamina and mana very quickly if she exerted herself a lot. As a result, she continued to polish her mobility and omnidirectional fighting style so she could create better opportunities to use her powerful physical strength.Lastly, while he was fluffing Preasia's very soft fur, Vahn heard about her various different studies, including basic biology, first aid treatment, and mixing medicines. She was still an amateur in each category, but Preasia had been working hard with Lili acting as her personal tutor. Chloe and Naaza also looked over her [Mixing] studies, but she was having a bit of trouble because she apparently wasn't able to focus her mind easily. She often entered a daze at times and, though she didn't say why, he understood it was likely related to her trauma and the insecurities she had developed as a result. He promised to help her study a bit over the next few weeks and, when she had met the qualifications for obtaining the [Mixing] Development Ability, he would personally take her into the Dungeon to reach Level 2.One other thing he noticed, which Preasia seemed to be trying to keep a secret by wearing a sweater and pajama-like pants, was that the 'fur' on her arms and legs had become a little thicker and there was a very dense, but also short, layer of fur that had reached down to her wrists. Vahn was certain this was a result of her [Golden Fleece] Innate, but he wasn't sure how it would look when it fully manifested. Right now, it simply made Preasia look more adorable and the shorts furs were actually very soft to the touch meaning she would probably become even softer in the future. He already compared her to Hestia, but this could change in the future depending on how things progressed. Right now, Hestia was in the lead by a fair amount because she was almost inexplicably soft, but Preasia might be a strong contender if she fully awakened her Innate and developed it...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Don't bite the hand that feeds','Look at her, Nanu's the Alpha now','Getting to know the girls better through skinship~')https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 571: Bloody Research...?