Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Deciding it was best to practice when there were fewer distractions, Vahn performed some minor repairs to his Workshop before throwing the entire thing into his Inventory. He could always seek out the assistance of Aoko to finish it up, as, in the past, she had expressed an interest in learning forging and engraving. She was actually pretty talented at it, though, compared to her sister and the Dwarves beneath Avalon, she still had a 'very' long way to go.After emerging from the [Sub-Space Orb] that contained many of his and Da Vinci's production facilities, Vahn expanded his domain to get his bearings before moving down a long corridor that seemed to stretch on forever. Despite this, he appeared at his destination almost immediately, the result of Da Vinci's restructuring most of their Workshop to function similarly to the Yokai District.Whenever he thought about the rapid breakthroughs his inordinately beautiful companion made, Vahn couldn't help but feel both proud and exasperated. Da Vinci was one of the most important allies he had gained in the Nasuverse, and, despite his many failings, it was Merlin's suggestion of summoning her that compelled Vahn to trust him. The flowery magus was always thinking about the future of Avalon, so, even if it felt like he was just 'trolling' at times, Vahn still took his advice to heart...Stepping into a rather messy laboratory, Vahn was stopped near the entrance by a vaguely egg-shaped drone with tiny rabbit ears. It quickly scanned him before the panel on the front, showing a pixelated 'angry' face, changed to show a happy '=^ w ^=' before stating in the familiar voice of Sophia, "Welcome to my Laboratory, Papa! I'm a little busy right now, but, if its an emergency, you can find me in Test Chamber 03~!"Though he had wanted to check in on Sophia and spend some time with her, she had inherited her mother's trait of not liking unexpected interruptions to her work. She preferred to have him arrange a meeting in advance, but, due to his relatively whimsical nature, Vahn usually showed up unannounced. He felt it was somewhat silly to have to schedule a meeting with his own daughter, but, knowing she was always serious whenever she stated she was busy, Vahn decided to give up on this particular visit.After scheduling an appointment with Chii, Sophia's self-modeled Artificial Intelligence, Vahn departed the Workshop, stopping in the adjoining corridor for a brief moment to consider his next actions. He still needed to wrap things up in the Yokai District, so, with a bit of time on his hands, he could either make preparations for the afternoon Raid or meet up with Aoko to request access to her Marble Phantasm.Since it seemed prudent to strike while the iron was hot, Vahn lightly poked Aeterna through her lantern, asking, "Do you want to go on a long trip with me...?"Not expecting such an offer, Aeterna's flames became a vibrant violet hue as she poked her head out and exclaimed, "Yay! Aeterna will go with Vahn! Let's go! Let's go~!"Bolstered by Aeterna's cheering, Vahn handed her a marble-sized crystal formed from his blood before teleporting near the Knight's Training Field. It was still early in the day, so, with his domain not showing Artoria, Vahn correctly assumed she would be inside the Training Orb. She primarily used her Marble Phantasm when she wanted a serious workout, but, in order to build rapport and improve morale, she often filled in for Kenshin when the latter was conducting field operations.Unsurprisingly, Vahn found Artoria wearing what appeared to be a kendo uniform, guiding more than a hundred 'students' through proper sword forms. She was only wearing the hakama and gi, so, whenever she moved, her breasts would shake somewhat violently as her long golden hair gracefully followed her movements. It was almost like finding a resplendent golden dahlia in a grove filled with white roses, her beauty several orders of magnitude above even the inordinately beautiful Homunculi...Sensing Vahn's presence the moment he entered the Training Orb, Artoria completed one final set before firmly stating, "For now, everyone split into groups of four. One person will be on the defense while the other three attack them. If you get hit in one of your vital areas, the person that landed the blow will move into the center. Now, move!"In response to Artoria's order, all one-hundred Homunculi released a synchronous 'Ha!' before immediately splitting into groups of four. As for Artoria, she used [Shundo] to vanish from her previous location, reappearing next to Vahn's side with a smile on her face as she said, "I did not expect you at this time. Did you come to ask permission for something?"Without beating around the bush, Vahn gave a curt nod, explaining, "I want to master this forging technique before the Raid this afternoon. It won't have an immediate effect, but this technique will provide a qualitative increase to our overall strength in the future. If she is willing, I intend to make use of Aoko's Marble Phantasm."As she was already aware of the fact Vahn was working on a new technique, Artoria just nodded her head, stating, "If you're going inside for training, you should take Olga and Lakshmibai with you. It feels like Olga has been pregnant even longer than me at this point so it would be best if you spent some quality time together before helping with the birth. If you're going with five, take Rin and Sakura with you as well. Rin has been holing herself up in her tower lately and I feel like Sakura would benefit from spending time away from Mordred."Though it was a little outside his original intentions, Vahn wasn't going to argue with Artoria, as, for a number of reasons, she generally knew best. Besides, he felt the same way regarding Olga's pregnancy, which, at this point, felt like it had been going on for years. This was primarily due to the fact she rarely stayed inside the projection, splitting the majority of her time between Chaldea and visiting her father in London. Thus, while it had been over a decade from his perspective, it had been little under nine months from Olga's...---Taking Artoria's advice to heart, it wasn't long before Vahn had gathered Aoko, Olga, Lakshmibai, Rin, Sakura, and, due to Olga's insistence, her former Governess, Trisha Fellows. Olga had grown increasingly anxious during her pregnancy, so, about four months into things, Vahn had made a concerted effort to reunite her with the woman who basically served as her surrogate mother. This had greatly alleviated Olga's anxiety, and, ever since then, Trisha had been living alongside her as an attendant and Midwife.Ignoring the perpetually cold gaze of the middle-aged woman, Vahn gave Aoko the go-ahead to pull them into her Marble Phantasm, an endless field of glowing blue flowers beneath a sky that was perpetually filled with an Aurora. It was a breathtaking sight to behold, and, due to this being the Marble Phantasm most commonly used by Nobunaga, Shuten, Kenshin, and other Japanese women, a thirteen-room Japanese villa, complete with an open-air onsen, could be found nearby.As this was the first time many of them had been inside Aoko's Marble Phantasm, Vahn allowed the glowing red-head to enjoy their praises for a brief moment before saying, "I'm going to set up my Workshop a few kilometers from here. Unless it is an absolute emergency, my Workshop is off-limits until specified otherwise. I'll be keeping at least one version of myself inside the villa, but, if I'm performing a task that requires a lot of focus, I may have to seclude myself for a few hours at a time."Everyone was already aware of the purpose behind this particular visit so nobody was surprised by Vahn's words. Immediately afterward, however, Lakshmibai and Sakura simultaneously asked, "Is there anything I can do?"Not expecting someone else to speak out, Lakshmibai and Sakura stared at each other for a brief moment, smiles spreading across their faces. In response to their inquiry, however, Vahn laughed in a light-hearted manner, explaining, "Once I finish cleaning things up, I'll show everyone around my Workshop. As for helping out, that is what I have this little cutie for..."Being complimented always made Aeterna very happy, so, in response to her Master's words, she created a gradient of different colored flames, giggling happily with a haughty smile on her face.Seeing Aeterna trying to show off, Vahn smiled affectionately before lightly stroking under her chin and adding, "One of my main reasons for coming inside is to spend time with all of you. The best thing you can do to help is enjoying our time together. I'll be in my Workshop and here at the same time, so, let's all do our best to make the most of our time. At the very least, we'll be in here for a few weeks so just relax and cut loose."Following up on Vahn's words, Aoko nodded confidently, explaining, "We have all kinds of neat and interesting things inside. There is even a fully stocked kitchen, a game room, and a massive open-air onsen. Come on, I'll show you around!"As Aoko took great pride in the things she had built in her Marble Phantasm, she couldn't help but want to show it off. She also had a way of pulling people along with her momentum, so, with the exception of Olga and Trisha, everyone followed her for a quick tour.Once everyone else had left, Trisha was the one who asked, "Will the baby really be born in this place? Are you not concerned something may go wrong?"Hearing Trisha's words, Olga also showed an expression of uncertainty, her hand instinctually moving to her almost spherical belly as she muttered, "Vahn..." in a demure tone.Gesturing for the two to calm down, Vahn stated without any hesitation, "There are absolutely no problems. Even if you were to travel to a thousand different worlds, there is no guarantee you will find someone with even half the skill and experience I have at delivering children. Just relax and rest your body as much as possible. I'll be here for you every step of the way."Though Trisha wasn't entirely convinced by his words, Olga seemed to relax completely, a loving smile on her face as she moved close enough to give him a small peck on the cheek, following it with a sincere, "Thank you..."---Since he hadn't set a deadline for mastering the [Asauchi Production Method], Vahn decided to forgo immersing himself in the process until Olga successfully gave birth. He would not be able to completely focus on forging while she was still pregnant, so, other than improving the quality of his tools and meditating for a few hours a day, he spent most of his time taking care of what mattered most, his family.Using upwards of five different bodies, Vahn was able to help Rin with her research, spend quality time with Sakura, go drinking with Aoko, idle about with Laskhmibai, and, most importantly, keep Olga from having a mental breakdown. This was one of the greatest benefits of using the Marble Phantasms, as, not only did it allow him to have as much time as he needed, it also allowed him to practice controlling more vessels simultaneously.At this point, Vahn had become adept at using three bodies, relatively decent at using five, and, if he really pushed himself, a total of seven were possible. This had the unfortunate effect of making his actions somewhat robotic, however, so five was his manageable limit, at least for the moment. Still, this was more than enough to spend time with each member of his harem, even without the use of Marble Phantasms. With them, however, Vahn had all the time he would ever need, even if it meant he was aging several times faster than everyone else.Fortunately, no matter how much time passed, Vahn's appearance only changed to reflect how he wished to present himself. He could freely change his shape, size, race, and, during a few unique circumstances, gender. Thus, despite nearing 190 years in age, Vahn wasn't particularly worried. It was nothing compared to the 150 years he had spent rearing Alexa, and, compared to Eternity, it was a completely negligible amount of time. The only 'danger' was that, at some point, he might stop caring about other things. However, based on the fact he only seemed to be 'more' involved with the passage of time, Vahn wasn't concerned. Rather, for a variety of reasons, he was growing more eager with each passing day...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Sophia be like, "Every second I spend idle, humanity is set back by three weeks!','So, Vahn is borderline Omniscient, Omnipotent, and can even 'revive' the dead...I feel like filing a complaint to the Devs xD...','"Age is just a number." -Vahn Mason, shortly before the FBI knocked down his door')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Though most of her efforts went into her Knight Training, Sakura had never slacked when it came to learning medical skills and magic. She had often helped to treat minor injuries during training, and, if there was anything 'major' going on, her father had allowed her to be present as his assistant.Now, for the seventh time in her life, Sakura was watching the miracle of life with a moderately pale complexion on her face. Despite the queasy feeling in her stomach, she showed no hesitation when it came to following her father's instructions, and, after three hours of hard labor, she bore witness to the birth of a beautiful baby boy. Then, with steady hands, she accepted the newborn into her hands, fighting back a sour feeling in her nose as she gave her baby brother his first bath before handing him over to his mother.Seeing her baby for the first time, Olga's strained expression became filled with love and warmth, tears pouring from her eyes as she held the bundle close and whimpered, "Thank you...thank you so much..."As could be expected, nearly everyone present had tears in their eyes, including the usually cold and serious Trisha. She even had to turn away, fanning her face with her hands in a desperate attempt to fight back her rising emotions.After making sure there would be no complications, Vahn accepted the towel offered by Sakura, an affectionate smile on his face as he said, "You did well. Go get some rest."The moment she heard her father's words, Sakura felt a considerable amount of pride, managing a radiant smile despite the tears rolling like precious beads down her porcelain cheeks. Then, joining her mother, they were the first to leave the room, quickly followed by Lakshmibai and a considerably pale Aoko.With Trisha the only remaining bystander, Vahn approached the side of the bed, his own tear ducts softening as he ran his fingers through Olga's hair and said, "You suddenly look even more beautiful. I'm so proud of you both..."Due to her sobbing, Olga issued a rather awkward laugh before nuzzling against Vahn's hand as she said, "You know...an hour ago...I wanted to kill you...now...I'm...just...so happy..."Barely able to complete her words, Olga began to sob even louder than before, her tears like refined pearls of bottled up emotions. She had so many doubts about whether or not she would be a good mother, but, now, seeing the smiling face of her son, combined with the comfort of Vahn's presence, it felt like every emotion she had been keeping since childhood was pouring out of her...Though there was a lot she wanted to say, Trisha quickly realized she was in the way, bowing politely and muttering, "Please excuse me..." with tears still building in her eyes. Then, without waiting for a response, she quickly did an about-face, alighting from the room under the gazes of Vahn and Olga.Turning away from the direction of the door, Vahn continued to stroke Olga's hair, smiling as he said, "It seems Trisha is more emotional than she lets on. How about making her the godmother?"With both of her hands occupied, Olga relied on Vahn to wipe away her tears as she answered, "Yes. I'd like that...thank you...so much..."Having learned his lesson in the past, Vahn resisted the urge to tell Olga she didn't have to thank him. Instead, he sat on the side of the bed, cradling both her and their newborn son as he said, "I love you...always and forever..."---Following the birth of his son, Hans, Vahn spent nearly two weeks without leaving Olga's side for more than a few minutes at a time. Being a new mother came with a lot of anxieties, but, fortunately, she had Trisha and Rin to help out and give advice. His responsibility in the matter was making sure both she and Hans were happy and healthy, but, considering the latter was nearly 3.5kg at birth, it wasn't an exaggeration to say he was 'very' healthy.Interestingly enough, Hans' Guardian was the first 'mechanical' Guardian amongst Vahn's children. It was a peculiar creature known as an Etherlite Strix, a type of owl that had synthetic feathers, metallic bones, sapphire-like eyes, and cobalt-blue talons that had a hypodermic quality. These rather fierce talons gave it the ability to rapidly drain both the fluids and magical energy from an object, allowing it to sustain both itself and Hans through their shared link.Vahn was very interested in the idea of a mechanical entity that could grow and evolve, as it was very similar to the Companions, so he had high hopes for Hans and his Guardian. For now, however, there were more important matters to attend, so, with a considerable amount of inspiration, Vahn returned to his forge after the initial two weeks. He still kept a version of himself back in the villa, but, with the inspiration of fatherhood driving him, Vahn felt like he could forge an entire planet, much less a few Asauchi...---With eyes that blazed like golden stars, Vahn took slow and steady breaths. Every time he exhaled, a phenomenal cloud of vapor would erupt, parts turning into ice crystals while the rest evaporated in an instant. In the end, however, all of the vapor would evaporate, as, resting atop an anvil formed of Divine Gold, a brilliant white blade radiated enough heat to collapse the space around it.Contrasting the phenomenal heat, Vahn's surroundings were filled with a bluish-black liquid formed from pure Yin Elemental Energy, its temperature so extreme that time stagnated in the vicinity. If not for the combination of his domain and Source Energy, Vahn's body would have been simultaneously frozen and incinerated, his body torn apart into its constituent pieces by the collision of Space, Time, Yang, and Yin Elemental Energies.Due to the extremes of temperature, Vahn had to relocate his Workshop more than ten-thousand kilometers from its original location just to feel assured that his family was safe. This process was so dangerous that, according to the manual, it could even critically injure the Soul. While this was an obvious exaggeration, as the Soul was something that transcended the Tier System completely, it was safe to assume that the Ego wouldn't come out unscathed if the process ended in failure.In order to keep her safe, Vahn had to coax Aeterna to stay home by offering her a small mountain of rare metal to simply 'burn' away. Even then, she had thrown a tantrum for several hours, calming down only after he expressed how worried he was for her safety. He had to explain to her how sad he would be if something happened to her, all while feeding her tiny pieces of candy and stroking her flaming hair...Fortunately, after he successfully coaxed her the first time, Aeterna seemed to have forgotten she was every angry in the first place. Instead, she played around in the hearth he had produced for her, and, with permission from Aoko, spent a considerable amount of time just burning the endless fields of glowing blue flowers. It was actually a little terrifying to see her cut loose, as she would laugh with uninhibited glee, but, since Aoko didn't seem to mind, Vahn elected to simply let her be...Now, in a state of absolute focus, Vahn spent seven hours just forming a workable tube of metal that was formed entirely from his body. The original process required a rare material called [Spiritualized Metal], but, as even a single gram cost 30,000,000OP, Vahn had learned how to perfectly emulate it using his Source Energy. This meant he only had twenty-four hours to work it into its final form, but, with each failed attempt costing nearly a billion OP, he didn't have much of a choice.Working [Spiritualzed Metal] required keeping it hot enough to 'completely annihilate' everything in the surroundings while simultaneously chilling it with purified Yin Elemental Energy. Since the flames used were formed from Yang Elemental Energy, establishing a careful balance was necessary, as, with a single mistake, the Yang would either try to consume the Yin or, inversely, be completely quenched by it.The aspect of this process that Vahn found most peculiar was the fact it required him to 'excite' the metal by striking it with a massive hammer that weighed nearly 300,000kg. This made the energy in the metal turn violent, but, before it could erupt outward, a surge of Yin-infused liquid would flow into the chamber, creating a violent hissing sound as the 'water' almost instantly evaporated.So long as he regulated the amount perfectly, the metal would be cooled down just enough to keep it stable, allowing him to, very slowly, shape it into the form of a blade. Though this wasn't actually necessary, as the final form could anything from a bat to a simple lump, the intent that went into the forging process was of paramount importance. An Asauchi was a manifestation of 'Infinite Potential', so, if you were half-hearted in your efforts, the final result would be a 'dead' blade.With his intent focused to extreme levels, Vahn stood completely naked with what appeared to be a massive black mallet, his muscular body poised and ready to strike. He waited until the luminance of the metal began to fade, an almost imperceptible shift in luminance, before striking in a perfect arc, the force enough to send powerful ripples through Space and Time. In response, the metal glowed with a brilliant golden light that, for a brief moment, created the illusion of a roaring dragon before it was mercilessly quenched by the yin-infused liquid. By the time the 'steam evaporated away, Vahn was already poised to strike another heavy blow, his intent never straying from the glowing piece of metal for a single moment.In total, the Asauchi forging process required 999 hammer strikes before it was considered a success. If the metal 'gave up' before then, it meant you had failed to properly control your strikes, breaking the 'spirit' of the nascent blade. Inversely, if you failed to reach an equilibrium at the 999th strike, the metal would erupt violently, attempting to punish the one foolish enough to try and tame it.While most would question the credibility of such steps, pointing out that the metal wasn't able to express itself in such a way, those aiming for the peak of blacksmithing knew better. All of the most successful Master Smiths considered the act of forging to be 'creating life' and 'shaping existing life into a new form'. They greatly respected their tools and infused their intentions into their materials with the same fervor as a parent trying to raise their children to be successful. As a result, some of the most skilled Master Smiths were, quite literally, able to create sapient weapons.After forging a total twenty-four [Lævateinn]s, Vahn knew better than most how his intentions could shape the 'personality' of a weapon. Though none of them possessed a true Ego, at least for the time being, he was able to clearly sense their intentions, their desire for battle. This could even be sensed by people who had never held a weapon, so, while common sense might argue against it, only fools were limited by such constructs...Approaching the 999th strike, Vahn's focus increased to the point that, for a brief moment, the only things in existence seemed to be him and the nascent sword. He felt as though time was slowing to a stop, a phenomenon similar to two warriors about to trade final blows with each other. A moment of hesitation would be the same as death, so, with his intent surging like a tidal wave, Vahn allowed his hammer to crash down on the glowing-hot blade as a flood of Yin Elemental Energy, colder than anything in existence surged in to consume them both...Despite feeling as though trillions of needles had pricked each of his constituent molecules, Vahn's glowing golden eyes could still be seen within the 'darkness'. His intent never wavered away from the blade for a single moment, his will alone seemingly compelling it into existence. Then, as if to answer his intentions, the blade, rather than cooling, seemed to absorb the energy used to heat it. This allowed the phenomenally cold liquid to come into direct contact with it, but, rather than break, the blade was like a miniature black hole as it sucked in every last drop of the bluish-black fluid.In a surprisingly short period of time, Vahn found himself staring down at a rather nondescript blade, which, seemingly dissatisfied with its form, sharpened itself to the point where simply looking at it caused pain. Then, causing a massive grin to spread across Vahn's face, the blade began to tremble atop the anvil as an invisible pulse spread outwards for several meters. This caused a dull sensation similar to 'static' within his mind, almost as if someone was trying to use Telepathy but didn't know how to speak...Ignoring the impossible sharp edge, Vahn picked up the blade without any hesitation, a proud smile on his face that was typically only reserved for his children. Then, using [Hands of Nirvana], he began to send calming energy into its body, softly stating, "It's okay...there is no reason to rush things...take your time..."As if it could understand his words, the blade's trembling quickly ceased before emanating a crisp, bell-like, sound. This caused Vahn to issue a light chuckle, his gleeful mood impossible to contain as he sat down on the ground and pulled out a polishing rag. He still needed to create a handle and a guard, but, before that, he wanted to bring his glorious creation to a mirror-like shine...-------------------------------------------------------------------[Nameless]Rank: UniqueSlots: 0P.Atk: (-)M.Atk: (-)Ability: Nameless Asauchi(-), Spirit Imprint(-), Spirit Evolution(-), Spirit Catalyst(-), Spirit Rending(-)A masterwork formed from the culminations of its creator's intent and the desire of the blade itself to exist. Though still immature, this blade possesses limitless potential. After receiving nourishment from its wielder for an extended period of time, this blade will develop its own identity, shaping itself into the form most suitable for itself and its user. In total, there are three stages of evolution, but, in the right hands, there are no limits to an Asauchi's growth.Restrictions: After imprinting, fuses with the user until death.-------------------------------------------------------------------(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'I cri ever tiem','Naked forging? Tsubaki would be proud','Unlimited Potential')(A/N: I was originally not going to post a chapter today, but, I did my best to pump out this one since I know some people are pretty hyped about it. I'll be out of the house, but I intend to take my laptop with me so, if I find the time, I'll publish more chapters later this afternoon.)https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

With the incessant sound of clicking echoing through her ears, X's brows lightly furrowed as she slowly peeled open her eyes. For a brief moment, a look of confusion could be seen in her eyes, as, laying next to her, a naked Tamamo was snuggling against, not just her, but the startling warm and comfortable body beneath her.Like someone awakening from a night of heavy alcohol consumption, realization hit X like a freight train as she looked up, finding the familiar face of Vahn staring back at her. The moment their eyes met, a flood of heat and anxiety began to spread through her body, following by a contraction of the muscles in her most sensitive area. This caused her face to rapidly shift to a rather severe shade of red as memories of the previous evening began to replay on her mind.Though she would never admit it, X had been rather curious about the relations between men and women for quite some time. She had been ranked number 7 on the Inter-Galactic Federation's most coveted beauty charts, so, whenever she was conducting missions planetside, a number of men had attempted to solicit her. She turned down every single one of them, but, after the fact, she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she accepted their offer.According to the research she had conducted, a woman's first time was supposed to be a painful and bloody affair, so, after experiencing a night of unimaginable pleasure, X felt she might really be a pervert. She felt as though she had enjoyed herself 'too much' and, at one point, she even allowed Altria to convince her to 'team-up'. They had taken advantage of the moment when Vahn was busy with Tamamo and Tomoe, changing into zip-up hoodies that had cat ears on the top and a dangling tail in the back. This had been the only piece of clothing they were wearing at the time, and, after the fact, X remembered joining Altria in behaving like a cat in heat, complete with a gratuitous amount of licking...Now that her memories were catching up to her, X realized she was still wearing the same exact dark blue hoodie from the previous evening. It was still slightly damp with sweat, suffused with a powerful aroma that possessed bittersweet and strangely pleasant quality. She was even tempted to just bury her face into Vahn's chest for a while longer, pretending to have never met his gaze in order to buy time for her heart to settle.Unfortunately, while it was still an option, X was very aware of the fact that the lower half of her body was completely bereft of clothing. To further exacerbate matters, Vahn wasn't wearing any clothes at all, the heat from a certain part of his body transmitting into her own, spreading like a wildfire. It was a strangely frustrating heat, not solely due to the compromising position she was in, but because of how her body reacted to it. She could feel a small trickle of moisture between her thighs, causing her face to turn a very dangerous shade of red...Just as it felt like she was going to be overwhelmed, X was surprised when Vahn suddenly embraced her warmly, calming energy flowing from his body and suppressing the heat in her own. This caused her to breathe an unintended sigh of relief, but, without taking note of this, she just rested her head against his chest and focused on calming down. Around the same time, Tamamo also stirred awake, but, after quickly realizing what was going on, she pretended not to notice, stretching her still-naked body before donning a loose kimono and joining Altria and Tomoe.With Tamamo 'abandoning' her, X suddenly began to feel very nervous, but, before she could say anything, Vahn's gentle words tickled her ears, softly stating, "Shhh...it's okay. You did nothing you need to be ashamed of. Just relax your body and try to calm down..."Hearing Vahn's soothing words, combined with the calming energy pervading her body, X was able to calm down much faster than she expected. For a brief moment, she even entered a dazed state, her eyes losing their focus as she internally remarked, ("Right...I didn't do anything wrong...I'm not a pervert...")Unaware of X's self-hypnosis, Vahn continued to gently stroke her back, lightly patting it every now and then to stir the calming energy. This was actually an effort to prevent a hypnotic state, but, due to her delusions, Vahn underestimated how weak X was against such things. As a result, he was more than a little surprised when she suddenly began licking his chest. Then, before he could make sense of the sudden change, X surprised him even more by very lightly uttering, "I'm a good kitty, nyaa~."Vahn wasn't sure what had flipped X's switch, but, knowing it would be dangerous to let her get too carried away, he just hugged her a little tighter, answering, "That's right...if you behave properly, I will give you plenty of treats later on, okay...?"As if she had heard the magical words, a radiant smile spread across X's face as she snickered in an admittedly adorable 'nyahaha' manner. This caused Vahn's own smile to turn slightly awry as a slight realization crossed his mind. He had a relatively decent understanding of how the mind worked, and, during times of intense stress, it was often easy for people to 'default' towards the simplest train of thought. X had seemingly interpreted her behavior from the previous night as 'normal', and, perhaps as a result of seeing Altria behave like a spoiled kitten so often, she had defaulted to a mentality thatallowed her to justify her actions.Since there was a fair chance she would have a negative reaction if he were to suddenly tell her that behaving in such a way was wrong, Vahn decided to just let matters take their course. So long as she didn't develop a split personality, it wasn't actually that big a deal. He didn't have a lot of ground to stand on when it came to lecturing people about 'normal' behavior in a relationship, so, as long as she didn't use it as an 'escape' from feelings of shame and guilt, she would eventually reach a kind of equilibrium, much like Lefiya and Illya.Once X's heart had settled at a natural rhythm, Vahn gave her another few pats on the back before saying, "It's time to get up. We can't stay in bed all day."Without arguing, X nodded her head, pressing against his chest until she was straddling his hips with her full weight. This causes a glimmer to flash across X's eyes, and, from his perspective, Vahn had to admit she was an exceptionally beautiful woman. The partially unzipped hoodie basically demanded him to pull it the rest of the way, but, knowing things would only spiral out of control if he gave in to his usual antics, he just smiled before lightly smacking her bottom.For a moment, X had been considering whether or not it would be appropriate to do anything while her privates were in contact with Vahn's. When she felt the light smack, however, wayward thoughts vanished from her mind, resulting in a bashful smile as she muttered, "Sorry..." in a demure tone.Vahn was going to immediately respond by saying she had done nothing wrong, but X had quickly separated from him, tapping the wristband of her left hand and causing a blue screen to project in the air. She quickly sorted through various different lists, selecting an option that caused a pair of white panties to materialized. Immediately afterward, she activated the [REequip] system, wearing a set of [Aegis Mk-U] that took the form of hot pants. This left very little to the imagination, and, due to the stark contrast between the black material and X's fair skin, it was a rather tantalizing sight to behold.Just as Vahn was about to follow up, explaining she had nothing to apologize for, X surprised him a third time, quickly tying her hair into a loose bun before pulling out a version of her blue cap that had ear-like protrusion on the top. It actually suited her a little too well, leaving him at a momentary loss for words as X noticed his stupor and snickered.Realizing his behavior was somewhat enforcing the idea that it was okay to behave like a cat, Vahn began to worry about X's future. As a result, he habitually found himself peering into the Flow of Fate around her body, a simple matter due to the sheer volume of Source Energy currently flowing within her lithe and athletic frame. What he found caused his mind to temporarily blank, as, in his vision, he found Altria and X wearing 'sexy cat' cosplay, seemingly getting along 'very' well with each other...As reading the Flow of Fate around others could accurately predict their future, assuming he didn't try and divert their course, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that X was intending to go 'all-in' when it came to behaving like a cat. Her mechanical suit already had vaguely cat-like features, but, in future iterations, Vahn could even see a tail protruding from her backside. If he peered even further, it was even possible to find a version of X with 'actual' cat ears. This indicated she underwent some kind of procedure, or, infinitely more likely, implied he had used the Modify function of The Path to change her race...While it was tempting to see X slowly transitioned into a Cat Person, Vahn's smile turned wry as he said, "You don't have to push yourself to behave like a cat. You're already an amazing woman. Don't let assumptions and misunderstandings change the person you are. After all, I liked you even before you began acting like this..."Hearing Vahn's words, everyone in the room, not just X, showed expressions of mild surprise. He had spoken in an honest and straightforward manner, rather than whispering, so everyone had been able to hear the concern in his voice. As a result, Altria and Tomoe developed contemplative expressions, while, at the side, Tamamo had a vibrant, somewhat proud, smile on her face.Being the one Vahn's words were directed towards, X suddenly felt incredibly bashful, using the brim of her cap to hide her eyes as she pressed her fingers together and intoned a demure 'Nn...' before answering, "I'll remember it...thank you...I...I like you too..."Following her 'confession', X pulled down the brim of her cap even further, hard enough to pull it off her head. At the same time, her ahoge was waggling violently enough that, if it went any faster, Vahn could imagine it firing off a sword beam as someone shouted, 'Saaaaaibaaaa~' in the background.As the curious image manifested in Vahn's mind, he was broken free from his stupor when Altria, like a bullet, slammed into him. This wasn't a complete surprise, as he sensed her movements before she even left her seat, but her words still managed to catch him off guard, stating in an icy monotone, "No fair. I liked you first. Why did you confess to X before me? Jerk. Stupid. Idiot. Du-"Before Altria could continue to berate him further, Vahn lightly chuckled before tightly wrapping his arms around her petite frame and muttering, "You're right. It is important to say such things clearly, isn't it? Here, let me make it up to you..."Following the trailing of his words, Vahn lifted Altria's chin so that she was facing him, stealing her lips for several seconds. Then, once her body began to relax in his embrace, he separated and said, "I love you, Altria."Having only expected Vahn to say he likes her, Altria's mental faculties seemed to grind to a halt in an instant. She just stared blankly at him for several seconds, her amber-like eyes seeming to stare straight through him, peeling away any falsehoods. Then, contrasting any expression she had ever shown previously, Altria's face became a vibrant shade of red before she spontaneously rested her head his chest and muttered, "Baka..." before following it up with words that were too quiet to hear.---Vahn had been in the middle of an arduous forging process while the events within the Yokai District were taking place. This caused a very small gap in his mentality, resulting in Aeterna shouted, "Vahn, no good...!" in a melodious voice. Then, without sticking around, she quickly flitted several hundred meters away in an instant, leaving Vahn to condense his domain in an attempt to prevent a massive explosion.Unfortunately, as he had been practicing a new forging method, one derived from a manual that had cost nearly half of his reserves, a startling 5,000,000,000OP, Vahn wasn't able to prevent the violent reaction from going critical. As a result, nearly half of hs Workshop was enveloped by crimson-red flames. Fortunately, his ability to control energy within his Domain had reached an almost ridiculous level, allowing Vahn to contain the explosion to around 10m in diameter, albeit at the expense of trapping himself inside.By the time he managed to get the energy under control, Vahn could only sigh in exasperation as he saw the perfectly spherical void that now existed in his Workshop. The repairs wouldn't actually take too long, but, as this had been a very important experiment, he couldn't help but lightly chastise his other self for getting caught up in the moment. Yes, he was in full control of his other bodies, but, as the stimulus they experienced was different, Vahn couldn't always prepare himself for how he would react when one of his women did something especially adorable.Shaking his head, Vahn had an apologetic smile on his face as he looked at the charred-black blade held firmly by his blacksmithing tongs. Its overall shape was evocative of a traditional katana, but, if anyone from his previous world knew what method he was using, their eyes would have widened in both shock and glee. This was because, rather than a normal blade, the now-fragmented piece of metal was the basic structure of an Asauchi, the nascent state of a Zanpakutou.Bleach had been one of the few mangas Vahn had been allowed to read during his captivity so he always had a moderate amount of interest in obtaining his own Zanpakutou. They were weapons that were nourished by the Ego, taking a shape that best suited their wielder's combat style. Vahn had a keen interest in seeing what form his own Zanpakutou would take, so, with a sudden influx in his OP reserves, he decided to invest in the [Asauchi Production Method].Vahn had no intention of abandoning his [Lævateinn] series, but, compared to a weapon that would grow and evolve with his Soul Tier, they would eventually become obsolete. This was a truth he had learned after losing the dozens of different weapons and painstakingly forged armors. There were even times when his own transformations destroyed all of his equipment in an instant, leaving him with a fair amount of regret once things had settled down.It was possible to circumvent the destruction of items by manufacturing them with the [Soulbound] property, but, as these armaments used your own reserves to manifest, more powerful weapons and armor quickly sapped your strength. This often made it easier to simply use your reserves to directly enhance your combat strength or increase your speed. Oftentimes, it was better to 'avoid' damage in its entirety, rather than rely on your equipment to tank it for you. If your opponent was unable to hit you, speed and offense were the most effective forms of defense.Since a Zanpakutou was constantly being nourished by the energy contained within the Ego, Vahn anticipated it wouldn't have the same weaknesses as other soulbound equipment. Rather, awakening a Zanpakutou seemed to provide a qualitative increase in strength, speed, and, at times, even things like spiritual energy and perception. The most important aspect, however, was that the Zanpakutou took on the form most suited for their wielder's combat style, similar to a Pactio. There was even a chance the two techniques could be combined, so, in order to greatly strengthen his allies, Vahn was determined to master the method of producing an Asauchi before leaving the Nasuverse...After placing the destroyed blade into a metallic box, Vahn brought his hands together and offered a prayer. Though it hadn't been fully formed, an Asauchi was similar to a nascent form of life, so, if he didn't properly respect them, forging a complete one would be difficult. Intent was one of the most important aspects of forging, so, if he wanted to create a Masterpiece, Vahn's mind, body, and spirit needed to work in conjunction with each other. Thus, rather than continue forging, he spent two full hours apologizing to the broken blade, promising to reforge it into the masterpiece it deserved to become...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'This is not my bed...','Vahn used 'confession'...IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE!','Standing on the precipice of a phenomenal power')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 1512: Retreat