Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After a much longer discussion than anticipated, the topic suddenly shifted to Vahn's immediate plan of action when Luvia asked, "Will you be returning to Avalon or do you intend to accompany me to London? I must admit, I am quite looking forward to seeing the legendary Ivory Castle of Camelot~." This was a sentiment shared by most of the people present within the room but Vahn didn't plan to start using Alaya as a convenient transport just to help people get around. If they wanted to stay in Avalon for a few days, that would be fine, but it was obvious from their prior discussion that even being away from London for this long was a bit of an issue.With how chaotic the Clock Tower was right now, Olivia had been staying within the Edelfelt Mansion to protect her Grandaughter. Even her parents had recently flown over from the main Edelfelt Estate, a monstrously large castle-fortress that had been constructed like a military base in the mountains of Finland. Though their core members were all Magi, the Edelfelts owned one of the largest private mercenary groups in the entire world. Their people were outfitted with the most advanced weapons technology on the market, much of which was developed in their own private Research and Development Division.For the last few weeks, they had been in a constant 'yellow' state of alert, the third-highest within their escalation system, constantly waiting for a fight to break out. As Vahn had no intention of being the catalyst for a large-scale battle this early on, he intended to take Luvia with him to Avalon while having her parents and grandmother return to London until things had stabilized a bit. The fewer people that were tied to their Sub-Texture of the World, at least until Vahn had established himself as a faction head, the better.With that in mind, Vahn answered Luvia's question, saying, "My current plan is to drop Rin, Sakura, and Gray off within Avalon. I'll spend the night there before taking Da Vinci with me to establish contact with Type: Mercury. Even if I have no use for it right now, it would be best to already have it on my side in the event something unexpected happens. If you'd like, Luvia, you are more than welcome to accompany me to Avalon. When I'm finished dealing with Type: Mercury, I can pick you back up, or we can stay for a few days within Avalon before returning to London. There are a lot of preparations I need to make and, even though I intend to move forward with what we had decided, I can't arbitrarily act without clearing things up with my current allies."While still clinging to his arm, as if letting him go for even a moment would allow Vahn to escape, Luvia nodded her head, commenting, "I would also like to see this Type: Mercury with my own eyes. I am curious about what form such an alien creature might take. Knowing such powerful entities exist on other planets is quite a surprise. At least I managed to get my hands on the best of them all, ohohoho~." As she said her final statement, Luvia began to squeeze Vahn's arm even tighter, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder in a rather unlady-like manner. This caused Rin's brow to twitch but, as she was doing her best not to make a scene, she just coughed to bring Luvia back to reality.---After a bit more discussion, followed by Vahn refusing a dinner invitation, it was well past time for them to head back. Though he had intended to stay outside for a few days this time around, that plan had drastically changed from the moment Vahn learned why Rin, Sakura, Gray, and Olga were in Northern Ireland. Now, one of his highest priorities was just guaranteeing they were safe and, with Avalon essentially existing in its own world, there were few safer places. As it was better for them to start familiarizing themselves with the castle sooner, rather than later, Vahn shared a few parting words with Olivia, June, and Samuel. The latter tried to test Vahn's grip when they shook hands but, after a 'very' brief exchange, he politely withdrew his slightly bruised hand without even flinching as he muttered, "Take care of my little girl..."Shortly after seeing the trio off in their strange hybrid aircraft, which Luvia had identified as a V-22 Osprey, Vahn gathered everyone together after pulling Da Vinci away from a now disassembled and modified computer before asking Alaya to transport them back to Avalon. Before the transfer, he picked up Mordred and Sakura, still wearing their tiger pajamas, holding one of the girls on each arm as the entire group vanished in magical blue light. When their surroundings suddenly shifted, Sakura, Rin, Luvia, Gray, and Olga were all slightly disoriented but, after looking around at the masterfully constructed interior castle walls, they quickly got over it.As Vahn had hurried things along so that they wouldn't miss the sunset, which came rather early during January, the first thing he did was guide the group to the nearest access point to enter the Sub-Space Projection Orb. Entering into a mirror was a surreal experience but, as each of the girls, sans Sakura, were rather used to such things, they didn't even hesitate to follow the group into the silvery surface. After reaching the other side, Vahn explained, "Within this Projection, time flows at a rate of seven-to-one. A single day and night in the outside world translates to a week in here so keep that in mind if you intend to spend a lot of time inside."Though Vahn was tempted to prohibit Sakura from entering into the Projection for long periods of time, he knew this probably wouldn't go over well with the young brunette. Unless he was away, she would probably spend a lot of her time within the Sub-Space Projection, studying, training, or playing with her newly acquired older sister. As he allowed Mordred to use it freely, Sakura would easily be upset by the fact the difference in their age would gradually increase while, even though they didn't have anything like a rivalry in the present, Vahn could see the two girls competing later on. He would need to discuss the matter with Rin but, if she wasn't against it, Vahn had already decided to allow Sakura free access to the Orb whenever she wanted.In response to Vahn's comment about the time dilation, though she had already been made aware of it previously, Luvia cubbed the side of her face and complained, "I'll need to start taking even better care of my body. At this rate, I'll almost be as old as my Grandmother by the time the battle actually begins~." Though there wasn't a single part of Luvia's body that looked like it had even remotely started to be affected by the detrimental effects of aging, Vahn knew she was more or less asking how he intended to prevent this.Luvia had undoubtedly heard several things from Rin, especially with Sakura staying with her, but, understanding her intrigue, Vahn explained, "I intend to place my Familia Crest onto everyone's body. This will allow me to keep track of everyone's growth while also serving to promote the increase in your body's parameters. Though the long-term effects still need to be observed, this alone would increase your lifespan considerably without any adverse side-effects. There are several other things you'll be made aware of in the future but, so long as you do not desire it, I have the means of preventing or reversing aging entirely..."As this was the first time Olga was hearing anything related to the Sub-Space Orbs and extending her lifespan, her eyes had gone out of focus for a moment before she asked, "Are you saying it is possible for you to make others immortal...?" In response to this, Vahn scrunched up his nose a bit before saying, "It is possible, yes. However, I'd rather help to extend your life and increase your vitality than make anyone immortal. That is something people need to achieve on their own or it would consume them in their later years. We'll talk about this later but, the only thing you really need to become an immortal is to increase your Soul Tier to the fourth Tier. After that, it isn't an exaggeration to say you would have attained godhood as the Fourth Tier is known as the Divine Soul Realm."With every new resident of the Ivory Castle having been a part of the Magus community for most of their lives, Vahn could see the glimmer of intrigue in their eyes. Before they could pester him with questions, however, he plainly stated, "We have plenty of time to talk about things like that later. For now, we need to get everyone situated in their rooms and have dinner prepared. Now that we are inside, we have about three hours until sunset so there isn't any particular rush but I would like to have everyone situated before the twilight descends. It is actually quite beautiful..." As he knew it hadn't truly set in for them how much time they now had, Vahn felt the need to remind everyone so that they wouldn't just continue to stand around awkwardly in the chamber that had been designated for transportation...Following Vahn's words, everyone, including Olga, even though she was technically only a candidate for permanant residence, migrated toward the Inner Sanctum. There were more than enough rooms for everyone to have their own place to stay but, at least for the time being, Rin and Sakura were sharing the room next to Mordred and Artoria while Gray, even though she was fine with staying in the Knight's quarters, would be bunking up with her Ancestors for a few days. The only person who ended up picking out her own room from the start was Olga, choosing a spot near the end of the long hallways, while Luvia had been rather adamant about staying in the same room with Vahn since it didn't seem like Rin would be fighting her for the position outright.Fortunately, Vahn managed to keep Luvia at bay by mentioning they were only engaged and not actually married just yet. Since Circe, Medusa, and Fenrir stayed in his room during most nights, he knew it would be very chaotic if she were suddenly added into the mix. Though it was only a matter of time before they slept together, it wasn't the first thing on Vahn's list of priorities. As neither Circe nor Medusa had been fond of the idea of a new roommate, it was for the best she picked out a private room to stay in. It was a boon that Luvia was very perceptive to social cues so, after seeing the petite Demi-Goddess and peculiar Gorgon, she hadn't tried to insist and instead dragged Vahn off to help her decorate...---After stealing Vahn away to her room, Luvia closed the door behind them, asking, "Are there any kind of security measures to prevent others from accessing the interior of these rooms?" Though she could see complex bolt locks and several magical formations present, Luvia didn't know what they meant at a glance. After all, many of these formations were ancient, some using runes and languages that no longer existed within modern times.Hearing Luvia's question, Vahn produced a wry smile explaining, "There is a place in the closet that serves as the 'center' of the formation. If you drip your blood there, only you and members of the Imperial Family that have been registered to the 'main' formation would have access to this room." After saying this, Vahn showed Luvia where she needed to drip her blood while also going over the room's security features. He had some expectations about what she had in mind but, as there were other commitments he had made, Vahn was already considering how to gently refuse her proposition.Contrary to his expectations, though it seemed to be going in that direction, Luvia removed her winter coat, revealing the skin-tight combat leotard underneath as she said, "Though it may not matter all that much with everything else going on, I want you to promise me that you will never discuss my skills and abilities with others. My family has a secret it has protected for generations and, though I will reveal it to you, I don't want others knowing. Even if we can trust everyone here, there is no way of knowing what the future holds. As the Head of the Edelfelt family, I have a duty to protect the secrets my Ancestors have kept closely guarded for more than five hundred years."As he understood the importance of having secrets that you only shared with a select few people, Vahn didn't try to pressure Luvia on the issue of hiding things from the others. Instead, he gave an understanding nod before promising, "I will protect your secrets, Luvia. Unless you reveal them yourself, I will never speak of them with others. However, you should know that there are several people inside the Ivory Castle who may be able to see through your secrets from the start. Merlin and Scáthach would be able to discern almost everything about you, even though neither would ever disclose that information to others."Hearing Vahn's words, Luvia stopped removing her leotard just after pulling the straps free from her shoulders. This left her hugging her rather large breasts with a complex expression on her face but, as even Mystic Eyes hadn't been able to expose her just yet, she decided it wasn't that big of an issue. Besides, she trusted Vahn and, if he said Merlin and Scáthach wouldn't expose her secret, Luvia believed him. With that conviction, she rolled down her leotard to her waist, allowing her large breasts to hang freely while showing off her fair-skinned and toned body. She noticed Vahn blink in mild surprise before an appreciative light flashed across his eyes, easing Luvia's own nervousness as she straddled a chair and left her back exposed to him.Vahn had always had an appreciation for women who had a bit of visible muscle ever since his first interactions with Hephaestus and Tsubaki. Since Luvia was also in the category of women who had rather large and shapely breasts, combined with an almost perfectly round and toned butt, Vahn couldn't deny her figure checked off a lot of his preferences. The only thing he found odd was her choice in hairstyle but, as he tried to imagine Luvia with a more normal style, the image actually didn't suit her at all. She was almost the personification of a well-bred noble lady at a glance but, hiding beneath her stylish outerwear, Luvia hid an amazing body that seemed to brim with raw power...As he had stalled for a few seconds, Luvia looked over her shoulder with a seductive glimmer in her eye as she remarked, "My...I did not take you as the shy type...how long are you going to keep a lady waiting, Darling~?" This caused Vahn to lightly chuckle as, without any actual hesitation, he walked over and traced the line of Luvia's back with his index finger. Since she was teasing him a bit, Vahn felt like doing the same so, with extreme subtlety, he used his [Hands of Nirvana] to send a shiver up her spine as his finger traced from the base of her neck to the fabric around her waist. Then, without needing to prick his finger, Vahn created a small hole to let his blood flow out as he began the process of drawing his Familia Crest on Luvia's back...-------------------------------------------------------------------[Status]Name: [Luviagelita Edelfelt]Age: 28Race: HumanStrength: 7EEndurance: 12DAgility: 6EMagical Power: 3EGood Luck: 23CCircuit Quality: 21CNoble Phantasm: (-)Origin: War, Star, WealthSkills: [Noble Discernment:Innate:B], [Call of the Battlefield:Innate:C], [Astraea's Heir:Innate:(sealed)], [Golden Rule:EX], [Charisma:B], [Martial Arts:B], [Etiquette:B], [Dancing:C]Magic: (-)Magecraft: [Od Conversion:B], [Conversion:B], [Catalyze:B], [Jewel:A], [Reinforce:A], [Mystic Code:D], [Magic Coat:D], [Gandr:A+], [Restoration:E], [Familiar:E], [Projection:E], [Alchemy:E][Golden Rule]Rank: EXUse: The user's fortune concerning their ability to accumulate wealth. At this rank, it is possible for the user to accumulate all the world's treasures.[Charisma]Rank: BUse: The natural ability to command an army and inspire allies. At this rank, the user is qualified enough to lead a country.[Martial Arts]Rank: BUse: The culmination of all martial skills that have been learned by the user. Increases spatial awareness and enhances the efficacy of strikes.[Etiquette]Rank: B-Use: The knowledge and experience to allow the user to navigate high-society with elegance and grace. Due to the user's nature, this skill has a chance to be negated under specific circumstances.[Dancing]Rank: CUse: The natural grace to follow a tempo and move the body in an elegant fashion. At this rank, the user is competent enough to avoid embarrassment during a Ball.[Gandr]Rank: A+Use: A physical curse magic that takes on the form of a hazy black laser than can punch through magically enhanced armor. Due to special modifications, the size and shape can be adjusted with extreme precision, drastically increasing offensive power and versatility.-------------------------------------------------------------------Seeing Luvia's parameters and skills, it was easy to see how she and Rin had been rivals for more than a decade. Though it was common for everyone attending the Clock Tower as a student to get a basic foundation in the primary schools of Magecraft, both girls had similar specializations. Luvia had a clear advantage against Rin, especially in her physical parameters, but that had changed due to the latter's training and her becoming the vessel of two Goddesses. The most notable thing, however, which Luvia undoubtedly intended to keep secret, was the existence of her [Golden Rule: EX] skill.When he saw the general description, Vahn's eyes widened considerably and, even if she herself had been okay with sharing, he would have advised her to keep it a secret. What the skill implied was, so long as she wasn't killed or interfered with, Luvia would eventually accumulate all the world's wealth and treasures. When he had looked at Gilgamesh's skills on the Throne of Heroes, even the King of Heroes had only developed the skill to A-Rank. Since his [Gate of Babylon] purportedly had every treasure in the World, past, present, and future, Vahn couldn't even fathom the extent of Luvia's potential to accumulate wealth. Considering how she had built a business empire that made her one of the wealthiest people in the world, all while researching Magecraft and training her body, it was a little scary to imagine what she could accomplish given more free time...Sensing that Vahn's rather hot finger had stopped moving around on her back, Luvia released a sigh as she looked back to gauge his reaction. As he had already corrected his expression, Vahn met her gaze with a smile, commenting, "You're amazing, Luvia..." This elicited an awe-inspiringly beautiful smile from the golden-haired woman, followed by her reaching up to cup his face with her hand, her hot breath tickling his face as she mused, "Now, now, you can praise me all you want later...we have our entire lives ahead of us, ohohoho~." With that said, Luvia stole a kiss from Vahn's lips, leaving him with a somewhat silly smile on his face as she quickly donned her leotard and changed into more appropriate clothing to view the impending sunset...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'You can't escape Luvia any longer xD...','Vahn's room is guarded by the youth troupe...','Take all of Gilgamesh's treasure...!','Who is the 'trophy' in this situation...?')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

While Das Rheingold was one of the most valuable treasures in the world, there were some things that couldn't be valued in any market. These were items that had either existed since the time of the Age of Gods or, by some miracle, managed to obtain a fragment of Mystery that managed to persist into the modern era. Though it was possible to reach the pool containing Das Rheingold by moving to the base of the stairs, there were other sections of the vault that contained the precious treasures the Einzberns had collected for more than a thousand years. Among these, serving as the centerfold of a collection that could easily fill a small museum, was a large golden scabbard decorated with blue enamel. Upon its pedestal, secured in a glass container covered in complex magical runes, it looked more like a King seated upon a throne than an object intended to accompany and sheath a sword...Though Artoria's scabbard had been one of the main artifacts she intended to recover, Illya only spared it a ruminating glance before moving on to on item she considered far more important, at least to herself. She left her mother and Kenshin to begin securing the other items while moving to the side of the collection and undoing a seal that had been placed on a large ruby. This was a unique artifact known as [The Crown of Saints], a relatively useless item to most but, for Illya's purposes, it was perfect. After picking it up in her tiny hands, she walked over to the towering Heracles, smiling up at him as she said, "Please kneel for me, Heracles..." As he had always listened to her, ever since the time he had saved her from the wolves many years ago, Heracles dutifully kneeled before Illya as she placed the palm-sized ruby against his forehead.The moment the ruby contacted Heracles, it began to sink into his flesh as an intense amount of steam began to explode outward from his body, filling nearly the entire room in an instant as the temperature gradually increased. His skin, which looked like wrought-iron before, began to lose its brackish quality, becoming a natural bronzed color that resembled highly-tanned flesh. A pattern of red markings began to spread across his brow and temples, looking similar to a crown of blood as the ruby embedded in his forehead began to glow with a mystical light. At the same time, the false gold and red eyes that always glimmered with madness in the past began to regain glow with the light of self-awareness as Heracles released a heavy and relieved sigh that carried enough force to push Illya back a few steps.After rising to his feet, Heracles began to inspect his body, clenching his fists open and closed as his muscles and bones created small thunderous sounds, belying the great power contained within. Then, though he still had a visage that would cause lesser men to feel weak in the knees, Heracles managed a grim-looking yet genuine smile as his voice rumbled like thunder, saying, "Little one...it seems you're quickly growing beyond my need to protect..." Though his voice gave the illusion of a small earthquake to anyone hearing it, there was a touch of gentleness that made Illya tear up a bit as she murmured, "I'm sorry..." in a comparably mouse-like voice...Due to their massive size difference, extreme enough that Illya barely surpassed his knees in height, Heracles responded to Illya's apology by using his index finger to rub the top of her head. Though it was almost impossible to tell, his expression had softened slightly as he rumbled, "It is I who should apologize to you, little one...I could not make your dream a reality. Had I ten thousand more lives, I would have given them all to free you from this burden..." Even as a Berserker-Class Heroic Spirit, Heracles had experienced the same memory link as every other Servant. Though he had no memory of the Fifth Holy Grail War, he had seen the efforts of his counterpart and the suffering Illya had gone through. It was these memories that allowed her to control him so easily during the Sixth Holy Grail War, rather than having to spend several months trying to establish simple communication.Hearing Heracles' words, Illya's face formed into a whimpering frown as tears began to pool at the corner of her eyes before liberating themselves and running down her delicate facial features. She had always felt guilty about forcing Heracles to remain at her side as an emotional anchor and, even if he hated her, Illya wouldn't have blamed him. Though it felt like someone was rubbing a stone against the top of her head, she could still feel his concern and gentleness. Thus, while clinging to his large hand, which was bigger than her entire hand, Illya began to cry once again while, as he had always done, Heracles watched over her from above...---After 'robbing' the entire vault of its treasures, including the 'core' of Das Rheingold, an item that looked like a crudely forged iron ring, Illya and company left the emptied vault behind. Though the mountain fortress-castle would still be used by them in the future, Illya planned to seal it off for the time being unless Vahn had a use for it. This place had become a barrow with the number of lives that had passed through it and, for nearly a thousand years, the air, even with torches and a magic formation artificially warming the interior, felt cold and devoid of life. If someone were to use so-called Dark Magecraft and Necromancy within these walls, it would likely be far more powerful than almost anywhere else in the world. It was for this reason that Jubstacheit had redesigned a large part of the castle to be a cathedral, an attempt to sanctify the Einzbern Castle as a holy grounds instead of treating it as the endless crucible of death and despair for hundreds of thousands of Homunculi...In total, there were nearly four-thousand Justeaze-Type Homunculi within the Castle, each having very small differences from each other based on the type of experiment used in their production. The common traits they all shared were inordinately beautiful features, ruby-red eyes, and pale white hair that was silky-smooth to the touch. At the same time, with a few exceptions, they each shared a ridiculously short lifespan, the oldest within the entire castle only being seven years old. On average, due to the inhumane experiments conducted within the Castle, most Homunculi would not even live to be more than two years of age before they were recycled.This was largely the result of the fact that it was always better to produce the next generation instead of trying to preserve the previous generation. The only exceptions were those that had anomalous traits which, until their deviation could be understood, guaranteed they would lead longer and, oftentimes, far more tragic existences. Since Jubstacheit had been trying to recreate another 'perfect' Homunculus like Illya, there had been several pregnant Homunculi, many being a few years older than their counterparts. Instead of the eyes of an expectant mother, however, they each had thousand-yard stares without even the most basic semblance of a desire to live contained within their otherwise gorgeous red pupils...Having come to the Einzbern Castle expecting things to take several days to wrap up, Illya and Iris began pouring over the research documents of the Artificial Humans while the former tried to make sense of the overwhelming amount of information contained within her newly acquired Magic Crest. It would take her many years to truly comprehend everything she had learned, especially with the ridiculous amount of redundancies and arbitrary information contained within her mind. Jubstacheit was the type that, even if an experiment had failed, he would continue to repeat it with only minor changes, sometimes with the only difference being a fraction of a degree in temperature or an act as 'pointless' as someone dipping their finger into a solution...After passing on her orders to the Homunculi within the castle, including having them clean up the aftermath of the prior battle, Illya and Iris went to one of the most important rooms within the entire complex. Just as there was a Homunculi Disposal Yard, there was all a Homunculi Production Yard, the place where each and every Einzbern Homunculus was developed. This was a deep underground chamber that looked like an endless warehouse containing thousands of crystalline glass containers. On average, dozens of Homunculi were born and killed within the Einzbern Castle each and every day, with thousands being sacrificed annually to carry out oftentimes ridiculous experiments.Over the course of a nine-hundred-and-fifteen year period, a total of 8,928,411 Homunculi had been produced within these icy-cold chambers, each and every one of them living tragically short lives as nothing more than tools. Things had only been exacerbated after the accidental production of the first Justeaze-Type Homunculi as, from that moment onward, the primary goal of the Einzbern family had been to try and secure the Holy Grail and reobtain the Third Magic.After the failures of the Second and Third Holy Grail Wars, Homunculi had been mass-produced in an effort to make a Master that would, for a short while, even rival a Heroic Spirit in power. For more than two hundred years, millions of Homunculi had been produced with the sole purpose of fighting each other to the death, passing on their combat experience to the next generation like a machine-learning program. As a result, current generation Einzbern Homunculi were several times stronger than humans while their Magic Circuits and Od capacity made them comparable to a hundred other Magi. There were even some 'anomalies' who were far stronger than even Superior Magi, though this often came at a significantly reduced lifespan, spontaneous organ failure, or a complete lack of reproductive functions...While staring at a group of Homunculi that appeared no older than a few months old, as they were always artificially aged to an adult form during incubation, Illya muttered, "I promise, the world you will be born into will be far warmer than this cold and desolate place..." This final batch, assuming they did not try and produce any future Homunculi, would reach maturity within two week's time. Illya intended to wait for their 'birth' before returning to Avalon as just the thought of leaving them alone in this dark and ice-cold chamber made her heart hurt. As there would be no Homunculi killed in that time, their final number would be over seven-thousand near-identical lifeforms, making Illya feel slightly guilty as Vahn, Da Vinci, and Paracelsus would all be 'very' busy for a few months when she brought them back to Avalon...Fortunately, until the time of their departure, Scáthach was able to preserve the lives of those that had been nearing the 'expiration' date while Illya and Iris, both possessing the inherited knowledge of Einzbern Alchemy, were more than qualified to make small modifications and treat any deviancies. The most difficult part for them would be dealing with the still-births as, even if they were both Magi that had a strong tolerance against such things, it was never easy seeing a malformed fetus. Neither had any experience with such things, meaning they had to rely on the information hardcoded within their minds to assist with the births. Seeing the 'dead' look in the eyes of Homunculi that had been forced to bear such children was something would always be deeply ingrained into Illya's heart and mind, strengthening her conviction to create a paradise for them in the future...---As disheartening as some of her experiences within the Einzbern Castle were, there were a number of things that brought a smile to Illya's face. The five Homunculi she had saved from being recycled began to behave in the way she expected, their egos slowly awakening a bit with each passing day. Though the ones that were created for combat were fighting an uphill battle, as their ego had been suppressed so they would not experience fear, pain, and hesitation, it was very apparent they were making steady progress. They would need to overcome the apathetic mentality of beings that had experienced death 'millions' of times, but the introduction of new stimulus, especially of the positive variety, would go a long way towards their mental development...One of the pet projects Illya had come up with was converting the central courtyard of the castle into a large garden, both as a way to introduce 'life' into the cold and desolate environment and to serve as a memorial to the lives lost over the centuries. It would be impossible to guarantee the number was accurate, but she wanted to grow a flower to represent each sacrificed Homunculus. This sentiment wasn't wasted on her 'kin' and, though they initially just planted the flowers due to Illya's orders, it became a common sight in the days that followed for many groups of Homunculi to gather within the nascent garden, observing the flowers with blank expressions.Other than having them maintain the castle, Illya hadn't required any of the Homunculi to take part in any experiments, leaving the vast majority with a significant amount of free time. When asked what they should do, Illya and the other simply told them to think about what they 'wanted' to do and, if they could not come up with something, just relaxing and interacting with the others would be enough. Though they didn't have anything to talk about with their kin, this resulting in several small groups of Homunculi forming as they wandered around together, almost as if traveling as a group would allow them to 'find' whatever it was they were looking for. As humans were, on a very basic level, social creatures, this behavior was considered a positive development in the eyes of Illya and Iris.Like this, several days passed within the Einzbern Castle without any real incidents, the one small exception being when a group of Homunculi found Kenshin training. For many of them, they had hundreds of years of memories related to combat so, seeing the battle-junky Kenshin exerting herself, there were some who interpreted the order to think about what they 'wanted' to do as proactively carrying out the very same experiments Illya wanted to avoid. They had no aversion at all to trying to kill each other, as this had always been the way their combat exercises were conducted, so Kenshin had to step in and teach them how to spar 'properly'. As a result, she had a small group of around forty Homunculi training with her every day, sometimes from sunrise to sunset as Kenshin was actually terrible at having 'nothing to do'...During the passage of these few days, Heracles had been the complete opposite of Kenshin, to the point he could spend hours just standing atop the high castle walls, staring at nothing in particular. Illya would often join him just to talk but, apparently being a man of few words, Heracles would just respond curtly as he knew better than anyone how thunderous his own voice could be. This was not the age he had been born in, a time when the Gods still roamed the lands, so he could not be the same boisterous 'Hero' that others touted him to be. In truth, he had an overwhelming sense of guilt that he knew he would never overcome, no matter how many times he died. Illya was also aware of this, as she had experienced the memory link with Heracles twice, so she respected his solemnity and simply did her best to ease his burden slightly...To be summoned as a Berserker, even though he was overqualified for nearly every other class, the only exception being Caster, this current Heracles had been pulled from a time in his Legend where he had just been controlled by Hera to kill his own wife and their fivechildren. He had been a part of a Theban company that had just won a hard-fought battle against the Minyans. However, during the celebratory feast following their victory, Hera had influenced his drunken mind to mistake his own family and companions as enemy soldiers.Believing them to be assassins who intended to get revenge for their kin, Heracles had slaughtered the entire group, even choking the very life out of his most beloved Megara with his bare hands. It was this event that served as a catalyst for his Twelve Labors and, though he had never experienced them directly, Heracles still had the memories of his own exploits as a result of the Greater Grail manifesting his legend. There were some things he was so famous for that, even if he had been reverted to a younger version of himself, he would still possess those same qualities, usually as a Noble Phantasm.With fresh memories of crushing his own wife's throat on his mind, Heracles had chosen to continue watching over Illya as a form of penance. Though he had the memories of his Twelve Labors, he was also aware that these were not feats he himself had achieved. Unless he could redeem himself once again, Heracles would never be able to absolve himself of the guilt in his heart. At the same time, he was tempted to lower his head and, if necessary, beg for Vahn to summon his wife and children into this timeline.Though he had been unable to respond to him at the time, Heracles could vividly recall the time when Vahn had asked him if there was anyone he would want to summon into this world, himself included. If not for the fact it would be the same as 'running away', Heracles would have asked that Vahn summon him from History at a time before his madness, undoing the very event and changing the timeline. As this would be a very selfish thing to do, something even the Berserk him had been able to rationalize, Heracles decided he would be more than content just to have his family in his arms once again. Though he would have continued to dutifully protect Illya until the end of his days, Heracles believed he could fully dedicate himself in service of the Empire if Vahn was able to fulfill this wish of his...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Raid Boss is awake...!','Gotta admit, the Einzbern Castle is a pretty fucked up place...','Vahn, stop summoning waifus and get this man his family back (T ^ T)...!')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Chapter 1161: Exposure