Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn could see that other than Fenrir's red eyes, which were glowing progressively brighter, her teeth also began to slowly transition from a normal state to a much sharper set. The look she was giving him was like a starved beast and all of Vahn's instincts began to fire simultaneously. In the system, he could see that Fenrir's loyalty was beginning to drain at a visible rate so he quickly pulled out a senzu bean which, other than healing wounds and recovering injury, could also prevent hunger for several days.Trying to hold back his own inhibitions, Vahn held the bean out for Fenrir and explained, "This is a [Senzu Bean], it should make you feel full for now." Without hesitating at all, Fenrir's eyes opened slightly wider and Vahn could feel the hair on his neck raise as she bit toward his hand with a mouth full of sharp teeth. Vahn pulled back his hand milliseconds before Fenrir chomped down on where his fingers used to be. Crunching the [Senzu Bean] in her teeth, Fenrir swallowed it down before making a pouting expression and saying, "Gross, bad, no like, hungry, Master, please!"The glow in her eyes had decreased by a fair amount even though she was still 'hungry', so Vahn knelt down and somewhat hesitantly reached forward and stroked her bristly hair. He explained in a patient, yet firm, tone, "I can feed you more, but you can't snap at my fingers like that. Your teeth and claws are very sharp and I won't be able to keep you around others if you can't control yourself." The entire time he was explaining things, Fenrir had an annoyed expression on her face but she didn't move away from his hand.Vahn was looking through his system and found several relatively low-cost food items and began to set them out for Fenrir to eat. She looked at each of them and began to drool almost like a faucet but was following the order Vahn had given her and remained seated. After setting out around twenty different items, Vahn explained patiently, "You can eat each of these and tell me what you like the most. Don't eat them took quickly and try to savor the flavors."Fenrir looked up at him with her progressively redder eyes and said, "Yes, Master, Fenrir eat, yes!" Her words finished, Fenrir began eating in a very 'uncivilized' manner and Vahn tried showing her how to eat 'normally' before he realized that her fingers weren't very dexterous. Though she had three joints in her fingers, Vahn noticed they were marginally smaller than normal and didn't have the flexibility of a normal hand. Combined with her ridiculously sharp claws that seemed to melt through anything they touched, Fenrir's table manners left a lot to be desired.The worst part was that she still had the habits of when she was a kobold, so her method of eating was to lean on her forearms and try to eat the food with just her mouth as her butt stuck up in the air. Because she was only wearing an off-grey tunic, it rode up on her body further and further the longer she ate and the white panties Vahn had purchased for her were on full display as her bushy midnight blue tail stood up straight, almost rigid, like Fenrir was in a state of high alert.Eva, standing at Vahn's side, laughed as she said, "She really is a lot cuter than the smelly dog from before, but it looks like you'll have your work cut out trying to make her behave." As if her words had inspired something in him, Vahn looked toward Eva with a smile and she immediately rebutted, "Look at how fast she is eating, do you think I could keep her in here for four years!?"Vahn frowned before letting out a sigh as he saw that Fenrir had already consumed nearly all twenty dishes. By volume, that was more than thirty kilograms of food and yet she didn't show any signs of slowing down at all. Fenrir's figure was somewhat small, around 148cm, and she had nearly no fat with a very slim waist and nearly non-existent breasts; Vahn didn't know where she put it all so he inspected her status through the 'Unit Management' and [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] since he had been too distracted previously.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------(Fenrir)Age: 12 years (Ageless)Race: VánagandrLevel: 2Loyalty:142Soul Strength: Tier 1 (Named Familiar)Karma: -State: [Active]Skills: [Lunar Cry:C], [Freezing Roar:C], [Chainbreaker:C],[Insatiable Hunger: Innate], [Devour:SS],[Huntress:A][Fenrir] A legendary primal beast known for its insatiable hunger and aggressive nature. Its claws can cut through almost anything and its teeth are said to even be able to penetrate the Aegis of the Gods. It converts everything it eats into power and has nearly limitless potential that would one day allow it to even swallow stars. Take heed, ye who controls the one that bears this record as your actions may lead to irreversible destruction!(A/N: I added this since people would probably ask.)[Lunar Cry]Rank:CCreates an emblem of the moon that becomes progressively more crimson depending on the amount of blood spilled. Enhances all attributes but may cause the user to enter a berserk state.[Freezing Roar]Rank:CA blood-curdling roar that can resonate with the body of the target and cause paralysis. Low chance of causing mental collapse.[Chainbreaker]Rank:CStatus increases if the wielder is bound, sealed, or imprisoned. Increase is proportional to the stress of the user and their desire for freedom.[Insatiable Hunger]Rank: Innate (-) *Innate skills cannot be identified. Attempts to do so will result in a backlash.*Passive: Hunger tied to emotions. The greater the stress, the more powerful the urge to eat. Affects rationality as hunger grows.[Devour]Rank:SSPassive: Allows the user's teeth to melt anything and convert it into energy within the body to accelerate growth.[Huntress]Rank:AGreatly enhances all senses when excited. The greater the desire to hunt the target, the more powerful this skill becomes-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reading all of Fenrir's information made Vahn's brain buzz with a mixture of emotions. Though he was happy that she was strong and had high potential, Vahn was worried that he wouldn't be able to control her and keep her well fed. Her [Insatiable Hunger], [Devour], and [Chainbreaker] skills would make it almost impossible to keep her satiated. If she grew disobedient, the only thing Vahn could do to stop her, without killing her, was to seal her back into the magic core. However, there was a problem with that as well since prolonged stays within the core could influence Loyalty. This meant that, if Vahn couldn't manage Fenrir, he would essentially have to keep her a prisoner within her magic core until he could find something to do with her. Just the thought of keeping something against its will made Vahn very uncomfortable...By now, Fenrir had finished all twenty dishes and the red light in her eyes had diminished almost entirely. Vahn quickly realized that her eyes reflected her mental state and that, the brighter they became, the hungrier she would be. Thinking that she had her fill, Vahn walked over and started cleaning up the dishes as Fenrir grabbed his arm while keeping her claws open while saying, "Master, please, hungry, more!"Vahn could see that her eyes were already beginning to glow even though she had already eaten a [Senzu Bean] and more than 30kg of food. Thinking about the nature of 'monsters' and the fact they shouldn't need food in the first place, Vahn put his hand in the center of Fenrir's chest and said, "I want to try something, this might help fill you up." Fenrir had a slight frown on her face as she continued holding his arm with just her paw pads.Just like he would supply them with energy in the past, Vahn began to channel energy directly into the core located in the center of her chest, right next to her heart. He could feel his energy draining rapidly while the light in Fenrir's eyes began to diminish just as quickly. She closed her paws and Vahn was worried he was going to get an additional ten puncture wounds, but the tips barely grazed his skin and Vahn even noticed they became slightly duller. The jagged teeth Fenrir had developed began to retract and she closed her eyes with a pleasant expression on her face.Vahn released a relieved sigh since it didn't seem like Fenrir would require actual food to sustain herself. The problem, however, was that he couldn't feel her energy filling up at all. Though he could sense his energy diffusing into her body, Vahn realized it seemed to be disappearing into a bottomless pit. Using his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn could see a mass of silver and grey at the core of Fenrir's body that was sucking in his energy like a black hole.Since it didn't seem like he would be able to completely replenish Fenrir's energy, Vahn tried to remove his hand from her chest and immediately felt her paws tighten around his forearm. Fenrir's eyes snapped open and she looked up at him and said, "No, Master, more, hungry, please!" As she spoke, Vahn could see a slight glow begin to spread in her eyes as her claws began to become sharp once again. He quickly realized that it was going to be far more problematic to deal with Fenrir than he originally expected.In a firm tone, Vahn said, "Fenrir, relax your body and drop your hands. I will do my best to make sure you have your fill, but I can't do that if you act so greedily." His words made her frown a bit and Vahn heard a notification that her loyalty had dropped yet again. With a bit of hesitation, Fenrir finally let go of his arm and said, "Please, Master, please, Fenrir hungry..." As she spoke, Fenrir held out her paws, pad side up, like she was begging for food. Though Vahn thought it looked adorable, he also felt a sense of danger and a fear that none of his efforts to satiate her would have any effect.Purchasing another 100kg of food from the shop, Vahn set them on the ground but only after telling Fenrir that she must behave if she wants to eat them all. Though she had a somewhat frustrated look on her face, Fenrir stopped herself from eating in order to follow Vahn's orders. When everything was set down, Vahn said, "I'll try to find a way to make sure you can eat whenever you want, but you'll have to be a bit patient with me. I can't make an unlimited amount of food, so try to enjoy these dishes for now."Before he let her eat, Vahn used [Hands of Nirvana] and stroked her head while trying to forcibly calm her down. Fortunately, his efforts seemed to bear fruit and he could see the silver and grey vortex in her stomach shrink a bit. As the skill stated, her hunger was directly tied to her emotions so, if she was stable, Fenrir would likely not be nearly as hungry as normal.The entire time he stroked her, Fenrir has a strange expression that looked like a combination of annoyance and satisfaction. Vahn assumed it was likely due to the fact that she wanted to eat the food so he gave her one last scratch behind her ears before letting her eat. Permission received, Vahn noticed that Fenrir's Loyalty jumped up by a large degree and seemed to increase every time she found a food she liked.While she was eating, Vahn discussed the matter with Eva to see if she could help him come up with a solution. One of the problems that she pointed out was the fact that Fenrir was 'ageless' and shouldn't require food at all. Anything she ate did nothing to provide nutrition to her body and was instead converted into energy. Since she could eat anything, that meant Fenrir could eat hard metals and, with enough effort, even devour pieces of the void itself. Curious, Vahn used his [Enkidu] and approached Fenrir who was already halfway done with the dishes.Sensing his approach, Fenrir's fur rose a bit and she stared directly at him without stopping her mouth from eating a large piece of meat. She saw the chains in his hand and frowned before Vahn explained, "Don't worry, I'm not going to try and bind you or anything right now. I wanted to see if your teeth could cut through this chain." Her loyalty, which had dropped by three points when she saw the chains, immediately shot up by twenty when she heard Vahn mention trying to eat the chains. Fenrir could sense an incredible amount of energy coming from the 'scary' looking chains in Vahn's hand.Without any hesitation, Fenrir dropped the meat she was eating and grabbed the length of [Enkidu] that was within Vahn's hands. With a bit of expectation on his face, Vahn watched as Fenrir tried to bite into the 'indestructible' [Enkidu] and brilliantly fail in her attempts. She didn't seem to give up though as she kept chewing on the chains as if she were resolved to devour them. Perhaps it was because of the 'indestructible' quality of [Enkidu], or the fact that her [Devour] was only SS compared to [Enkidu]'s SSS, but Fenrir wasn't able to put so much as a dent in it. The only thing she got for her troubles was a slobbery golden chain.Vahn was both relieved and a little disappointed that she failed to break through the chains. This meant that he would be able to use [Enkidu] against her and potentially seal the vortex in her body, but it also meant he didn't have an easy method to satiate her hunger. Since [Enkidu]'s length was infinite as long as he could provide enough energy, Vahn thought it would have been a good supplement for Fenrir in the future. Curiously, however, Fenrir didn't seem to be upset that she couldn't eat the chains and happily continued trying to devour them without seeming to grow tired or bored.Vahn thought it was interesting, so he asked, "Do you like the way [Enkidu] tastes?" Without turning to look at him, Fenrir kept chewing on the chains as she responded, "Good, hard, happy, Fenrir keep, mine." Her words caused Vahn's brows to rise slightly as he watched Fenrir completely ignore the food around her as she continually tried to eat his [Enkidu]. Vahn wondered if it was some kind of instinct for her to try and devour things and, since she couldn't devour [Enkidu], it was a good stress relief 'chew-toy' for her.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Om nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom','Waggle Butt','Gilgamesh Screaming In Another Dimension')I am currently at $721/1200 of my new goal~! If I can reach this amount, I intend to start having character profiles and images of all the characters created so I can update the information to a wiki~! Though the Wiki will be accessible by anyone, only Patrons will receive the high-res versions of the images &lt;3

Since he still wanted to perform a few tests with Fenrir, Eva ended up sticking to Vahn's back while he wasn't wearing a shirt and draining his blood while he conversed with Fenrir. Since she seemed interested in it, Vahn had to explain that Eva was allowed to suck his blood because she was a vampire. Other than that, Vahn discovered that Fenrir liked any food as long as it was 'hard' to chew. Other than bland things, she didn't seem to have a preference for anything else. Vahn had given her everything from metal ingots to pastries and she ate them all the same. If anything, her favorite 'foods' were adamantine and [Enkidu].As time was approaching for them to exit the orb, Vahn stroked Fenrir's hair while she was nibbling on [Enkidu] intently. He asked in a soft tone, "Do you want to leave this place with me?" Since he was afraid she would resist returning to the magic core, Vahn wanted to get her to agree to leave before he brought it up. Hearing his words, Fenrir looked into his eyes with the spearhead of [Enkidu] in her mouth and remained silent for several seconds before nodding her head.Vahn rubbed the edges of her ears with his thumbs and said, "That's good, but you'll have to return to your core if you want to be able to leave." His words made her frown deeply and Vahn could see a glow begin to rise from the interior of her scarlet eyes. Vahn whispered in a gentle, coaxing, tone, "It won't be for long, and I'll take you to a place where you can play and eat as much as you want." In response to his words, Fenrir thumped her tail once before trying to bite through [Enkidu] with maximum effort before finally letting it go. After she dropped it to the ground, she said, "Fenrir play, eat food, go now."After praising her a bit, Vahn returned [Fenrir] to her core which had turned the same midnight blue as her hair. There was a gentle azure light glowing in the core intermixed with a bit of scarlet. When she turned back into a magic core, the tunic and panties he had purchased for her fell onto the ground. Vahn picked them up and noticed they were still a bit warm as he threw them into his inventory. Once she was away, Vahn tended to Eva for the remaining duration of time within the orb before returning to the real world.Hestia was still using his body as a bed and Vahn stroked her hair a bit before rolling her off his body. Before she was able to cling to him again, Vahn dodged to the side before crawling out of bed. Seemingly dissatisfied, Hestia had a frown on her face as her brows furrowed but she didn't wake up. She fumbled around with her arms as if she was looking for something and Vahn felt a little guilty for a moment before shaking his head and whispering, "I'll be back soon, Hestia..."Before he left, Vahn left a note on the table, door, wall, and the edge of the bed, just in case Hestia panicked when she woke up. Since he was worried she would overreact if she couldn't find him, Vahn left a proper explanation since he didn't want her to cause a scene and involve everyone else in the matter. On the table next to the bed, he even left a fresh breakfast for her and covered it with a silver top to preserve the heat.After leaving the Manor, Vahn hung up their emblem and firmly fixed it into the hard surface of the gate. Since he had a lot of knowledge in regards to formations and knew the key to the current security of the manor, it wasn't a difficult matter for him to include the emblem into the network. Even if someone did manage to try and steal it, it had the [Durandal] attribute as well as buckler purchased from the system as the base. The moment anyone tried to touch it, it would break free from their grasp and potentially injure them if they kept trying.Satisfied, Vahn transformed into his Báihǔ form before making his way toward Babel Tower. Fortunately, their Manor was actually very close to the City center, so Vahn was able to make the trip in only seven minutes. Stepping into the first floor of Babel, Vahn had a small smile on his face because it felt like it had been a long time since he entered the dungeon last. After registering in the logbook, Vahn went into the dungeon and made his way down to the fifth floor before deciding it was far enough.Now that his domain reached 317m, Vahn could actually sense the majority of monsters and adventurers around, even those directly above and below him on different floors. Since the average distance between floors on the first through the eighteenth floor was only around 100m, Vahn could easily map three floors at the same time, even though he couldn't detect things as easily through the walls of the dungeon as he could on the surface. Since there weren't any presences nearby, Vahn pulled out Fenrir's orb and inserted his energy into it so he could summon her. Surprisingly, it actually didn't take much to summon her, perhaps because of her small size compared to the colossal Fafnir.Since he had already been prepared, Vahn immediately passed the tunic and panties to Fenrir who reluctantly put them on with the help of Vahn. She tried to do it herself but kept cutting through the band of the panties with her claws until she had gone through four separate pairs. Vahn eventually gave up and helped her wear them properly before pulling the tunic over her head. He also wanted to give her pants, shoes, and gloves, but her hands and feet didn't facilitate their use. Vahn would have to forge her some equipment in the future or it might cause problems if anyone saw a humanoid 'monster'. Though he could pass his own transformation off as magic, it would be much harder for Fenrir since she wasn't very personable or patient.Once she was fully clothed, Vahn stroked her head for a bit and said, "You did well to be patient Fenrir, here is something to snack on." In his hand, Vahn had a small bag full of magisteel ingots that she would be able to 'snack' on while he explained their purpose. Fenrir was annoyed after being forced to wear clothes, but she eased up a bit when Vahn handed her a 'treat'. She immediately began munching on one of the ingots slowly while waiting for Vahn to speak.Fortunately, the link between them helped Fenrir understand his intentions, so Vahn didn't have to explain much other than laying out a few inviolable rules which were: Do not attack anything that looks like a human without his permission unless they attack her first. She can eat anything she hunts, but she cannot take food and items for other people unless she asks Vahn first. She had to listen to anyone Vahn told her to listen to unless it made her uncomfortable. If she was every frustrated or 'hungry', she should always look for him and he would do his best to appease her.Though he knew she couldn't understand the words, Vahn had also conveyed his intentions through his thoughts and knew she would 'instinctively' follow his orders even if she didn't understand them. The downside to that would be a loss in Loyalty, but Vahn really didn't want to come across a situation where Fenrir was attacking or even eating, another person out of her anger and insatiable hunger. His explanation finished, Fenrir nodded her head before Vahn led the way deeper into the 5th floor.After a few minutes, they cam across one of the 'rooms' of the 5th floor and Vahn found exactly what he had wanted to find. Within the room, there was a group of seven Killer Ants and that would be a benefit for their current predicament. Fenrir had noticed them as well and Vahn saw her hairs begin to stand on end as she dropped the bag of ingots onto the ground. Without him saying anything, Fenrir got down on all fours and haunched her back a bit before dashing forward in one of the most awkward displays he had ever seen.Because she had only ever fought as a kobold, Fenrir was using the same style of combat and trying to 'increase her speed' by running on all fours. Unfortunately, because of the changes in her body, she wasn't built in the same way and was much slower on all fours than if she had run at them. The only thing she managed to accomplish was flashing her panties which made Vahn purchased a belt from the system so her tunic wouldn't constantly ride up her body in the future.Even though she was somewhat awkward, Fenrir was still much stronger and faster than the Killer ants and easily cut through them with her claws. One of the unique things about Killer Ants was their tenacity and ability to survive even if their head had been separated from their body. This would allow Fenrir to eat her fill before she eventually devoured the magic cores as well. Not long after she began chomping away on one of the hard carapaces on the ground, Fenrir's ears began to twitch as she stood back on all fours and waited for the arrival of the Killer Ant horde that had been summoned by the seven she killed earlier.Since it hadn't been that much time, there was only around twenty as part of the first wave and Fenrir immediately threw herself toward them before Vahn stepped in with Shundo and pulled her away before their pincers could swarm her. He could see that her eyes were glowing subtly and she had several cuts and abrasions on her body even though only a few seconds had passed. Because she hadn't expected to be grabbed, Fenrir tried to dig her claws into Vahn's arms before pausing just as they were about to penetrate his skin.Landing further away, Vahn set Fenrir down before saying in a firm tone, "Stay." She looked up at him with a frustrated expression like she wanted to continue fighting but immediately became silent when Vahn increased the pressure of his domain. Compared to the past, when he could only pressure individual targets, Vahn could easily overwhelm the group of Level 1 Killer Ants and their frail minds. He could even feel the dungeon itself vibrating slightly before he heard several notifications sounding in his head that caused him to look back at Fenrir.Perhaps remembering the past, Fenrir kneeled down onto the ground and placed her paws to the floor as she lowered her head toward Vahn. Vahn could hear the system telling him that her loyalty was steadily increasing and Vahn didn't know if he should be happy or sad that her 'fear' of him made her more loyal. Without losing his firm tone, Vahn spoke somewhat gently, "Fenrir, you are my companion from now on. You don't have to bow to me to show your loyalty."Hearing his words, Fenrir's ears twitched as she looked up at him with dim red eyes before standing back on her feet. Vahn, while still using his domain to pressure the ants, stroked her hair a bit and explained, "Try fighting how I tell you for a bit...I will teach you everything you need to know and help you become stronger." Fenrir nodded her head as Vahn turned back to the Killer Ants and said, "You have a skill called [Lunar Cry], try activating it."Fenrir hunched her body a bit and Vahn thought she was about to get on all fours again before she arched her head back and howled toward the ceiling. With his enhanced vision, Vahn could see the ripples in the void as a brilliant white moon appeared on Fenrir's forehead. Her eyes also took on a silvery color as she waited for Vahn's next command. Nodding his head, Vahn said, "You have two other active skills for combat. The first one is called [Freezing Roar] and can stun your enemies, while the other one is called [Huntress]. You should try to use them as often as possible and try to evolve your fighting style around them."In response to his words, Fenrir's hair seemed to become sharper as her claws and teeth immediately transformed into a more lethal form. Vahn could see her scarlet eyes darting about as her ears twitched and her nose scrunched up a bit. He could determine this was her [Huntress] mode and marveled at the 'bloody' aura coming from her body as her senses were enhanced. The last thing she did was drop back onto all four before glaring at the Killer Ants and releasing a low roar that made even Vahn feel uncomfortable.The last thing Vahn heard before a massacre began in front of him was the, "Gggrrraaaahhhh~!" of Fenrir before she leaped into the horde of Killer Ants and began to shred them apart with her deadly claws. [Huntress] seemed to influence her instincts along with the development of her senses and her attacks became progressively smoother over time while still having an animalistic quality to them. Vahn felt a little guilty because he thought the sight of her cutting through a mob of enemies was somewhat inspiring. The moonlight emblem on her head turned dark red over time and the scarlet light in her eyes constantly increased in intensity.Nearly two hours later, Fenrir had killed more than three hundred Killer Ants before the ceased spawning and trying to reinforce. She now sat amongst several corpses because most of her attacks hadn't destroyed the magic cores. Even though she was covered in blood, and snacking away on a pile of cores she had bundled together with her tunic, Vahn still approached and praised her plentily for her efforts. He had noticed that, even though her eyes glowed during the fight, Fenrir didn't seem to become frustrated and actually looked to be enjoying herself. By the time everything was dead, the glow in her eyes had faded and she was now happily snacking on magic cores as she squinted her eyes and enjoyed his caress. For a brief moment, Vahn felt like it wouldn't be that difficult to raise her after all...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Sneaky sneaky dungeon desu~','Goddess of the Hunt','Happily Bathing in Blood')I am currently at $721/1200 of my new goal~! If I can reach this amount, I intend to start having character profiles and images of all the characters created so I can update the information to a wiki~! Though the Wiki will be accessible by anyone, only Patrons will receive the high-res versions of the images &lt;3

By the time Vahn had left the onsen, gotten dressed, and arrived at the room, Hestia was already on the bed waiting as she supported her head with her hands and was staring towards the door. When Vahn came inside the room, her smile grew wider and she sat up on the bed and said with a bit of excitement in her voice, "Remember, no matter how I react, I want you to finish the massage completely~! I might be scared at first, but I'll be fine!" As she spoke, Hestia had balled her fists in front of her like she was psyching herself up.Vahn laughed and made his way over to the bed before crawling toward Hestia who was already beginning to panic. From her perspective, she could see Vahn crawling on the bed with a bit of excitement as he made his way toward her. She could feel her heartbeat quicken in her chest and started taking slightly longer breaths. Vahn stopped next to her and sat on his knees as he said, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to put you in danger. It should feel really pleasant and ease out any tensions that may have built up in your body. Though your muscles might be forced to relax, they'll recover quickly after the massage ends and you'll feel very refreshed."Hestia nodded her head before laying back down on her stomach and saying, "Okay, I'm ready...this time for certain!" Vahn smiled before taking a pillow and putting it on her legs due to how awkward it felt previously trying to massage her body. Hestia gave him a strange look and he explained, "I might have to sit on your legs and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable." She looked like she wanted to say something but eventually turned her head away and began performing some kind of strange breathing exercise to remain calm.Vahn sat down with his weight partially on Hestia's legs and began his routine starting with the sides of her waist. Unlike the last time, when she instantly showed signs of fear, this time Hestia's aura fluctuated between several warm colors with only brief hints of purple every now and then. By the time Vahn had eased the muscles of her upper body, Hestia's aura was 'burning' like a flame but she didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping Vahn's actions.A small smile appeared on Vahn's face because of the efforts Hestia was putting in, so he decided to make things more comfortable so that the event would be more memorable. Rubbing his hands together, the white energy from his palms began to coalesce more and there were even small sparks appearing between them before Vahn placed his hands on her lower back. He could feel the muscles of her lower back spasm a bit as he traced his hands from her spinous process all the way up the outer edge of her trapezius muscles before pressing his thumbs into the connecting point between her teres minor and deltoids. The entire time he was moving his hands, Hestia's aura continued to fluctuate and Vahn felt like it was taking on some watery, somewhat hazy, properties.Repositioning his hands, Vahn stimulated the nerve center at seventh vertebrae along her spine, right at the base of her neck, and traced his finger down the line of her back before coming to a stop at the center of her thoracolumbar fascia connecting muscles right above her butt. Vahn was somewhat tempted to touch her butt as well but remembered that he was trying to keep the situation from taking a dangerous turn. Creating fine needles of energy in his fingertips, Vahn began to diffuse energy into her pressure points to loosen up her muscles even further. It was usually around this point that Vahn felt like girls turned to 'putty' under his hands and Hesti had a very similar response as all the tension in her body immediately dissolved.Since she already had the tendency to drool while sleeping, Vahn realized that Hestia had turned into a veritable waterworks as she stared off into space with a dazed look in her eyes. Her body wasn't twitching like it had when he was with Hephaestus, Anubis, and even Loki, and Vahn wondered if there was something different between them and Hestia. They seemed to get very excited and had vibrant pink auras when he gave them a massage, but Hestia seemed to be reacting in the way he had originally expected the process to work. This was a massage designed to ease tensions and revitalize the muscles of the body to improve beauty and increase blood flow within the body.Vahn always thought he had been making a mistake since girls had a different reaction than described within the manual for [Hands of Nirvana]. Now that Hestia was reacting 'properly', Vahn wasn't sure what had caused such a strange reaction in the other girls. He suspected it might be because they all had 'expectations' toward him or that it could be because they were 'experienced' unlike Hestia who was still a virgin. Vahn thought it could be a difference in mentality that determined how the person reacted to his massage and decided to verify it in the future. Since [Hands of Nirvana] was one of his most versatile skills, Vahn needed to increase his understanding of the skill in the future.A half hour since the massage began, Hestia was sound asleep with a 'droopy' expression on her face and her aura had completely stabilized into a subtle golden glow with a slight tinge of pink along the edges. She didn't have the 'infinite spasms' Vahn had grown to expect, but instead had all of the tension removed from her body and it almost looked like her skin was 'glowing' now. Since she was very fair-skinned, now that she had a somewhat rosy coloration, it was very obvious and Vahn felt she looked especially beautiful when there was a flush to her skin tone.Waving his hand along the magic stone that controlled the lighting in the room, Vahn laid in the bed next to Hestia and stroked her hair a bit before going to sleep himself. Unlike the previous nights, Hestia didn't immediately crawl on his body, perhaps due to how relaxed she currently felt. It wasn't until nearly 4 AM, when Vahn was already getting ready to wake up, that she slowly crawled on top of him and 'reclaimed' her spot on his chest. Her actions awoke Vahn and he laughed inside his mind as he combed her hair with his fingers and waited for 5 AM to roll around.WIthin the orb, Vahn asked Eva to help him better understand his [Hands of Nirvana] for a bit and they had a 'short' four-hour session where she gave him feedback on all of his techniques. Since she was almost immune to the skill, Eva was probably the best possible candidate to help him polish the skill further; She was the one that allowed him to increase the skill to Rank S after all.For the remaining three days, all the way up until there were only a few hours left before he was ejected from the orb, Vahn continued to prepare materials for his final push to become a [Master Smith]. Since mass production had begun to stagnate, Vahn wanted to refine the highest quality of materials and focus on exceeding his limits in order to break through the current bottleneck. Other than that, Vahn had also prepared a space outside for an event he had been looking forward to for quite a while.With about five hours left, the cooldown for [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] was finally over and Vahn could now use it to give a name to the unfortunate (Nameless) that had, technically, been his longest companion. Putting a bit of energy into the magic stone, Vahn summoned (Nameless) and explained what he was going to do while Eva watched from the side. She didn't like (Nameless) much, but Vahn had promised it should be 'cute' whenever he named it so she was somewhat looking forward to the show. She also wanted to try and increase her understanding of the skill since it seemed to defy any semblance of logic, at least pertaining to her magical system and the research she had put into Vahn's world.Stroking (Nameless)'s head, Vahn explained in a gentle voice while also relaying his intent through the bond they shared, "From now on you'll be able to grow much stronger. You won't have to suffer being looked down on and you'll even obtain a new form that should appeal to others...what do you say?" Even though it was ultimately his decision, Vahn still wanted to get 'permission' before he changed (Nameless)'s body. Even though Fafnir didn't seem to mind at all, Vahn still felt a little awkward about making such decisions since he now had subordinates like Anubis.Though (Nameless) didn't really understand what Vahn was trying to say, it knew that he was offering it a rare chance that would change its fate forever. When it originally joined Vahn, it just didn't want to die, but now he had treated it well on the few occasions when it had been summoned. Since it had met 'cold' people like Eva, (Nameless) was a lot more fond of it's Master compared to others. To respond to Vahn's intent, it opened it's crooked dog mouth and had a silly smile as it released a rancid breath at Vahn while emulating a smile.Even though he felt a small urge to choke in his throat, Vahn smiled without his expression changing as he stroked (Nameless)'s head. He had been trying to improve his control over his expressions lately and things like this were a good way to temper his ability to do so. Now that he had permission, Vahn smiled and placed his hand directly on (Nameless)'s forehead as he activated [Keeper of the Akashic Tome]. From Eva's perspective, she could immediately feel magical elements converging in the air that shouldn't exist in the space at all so she squinted her eyes to carve the entire sequence of events in her mind.Vahn closed his eyes and confirmed the name he wanted to give nameless while also trying to focus on his intent for it to be 'cute' while still being powerful. Opening his eyes, he looked into (Namelesses)'s expectant face and said in a powerful voice that shook the void around them, "From now on...you shall bear the record of Fenrir!" As his words fell, Vahn could feel an incredible surge of energy from the atmosphere as his own internal energy rapidly depleted from his body as if a floodgate had been opened in his palm.The brackish-grey hairs on Fenrir's body began to turn rigid as they took on a darker shade as an energy began to expand from its body. A midnight blue sphere of light exploded from it's body and had a strange radiance like a small, dark-blue, sun. It glowed a vibrant azure on the edges and Vahn could see a shadowy silhouette appear within the sphere as his own body was pushed to its perimeter. The shadow looked to be several meters high and had scarlet red eyes that cut through the midnight blue of the orb as it howled toward the sky.The air in the space began to crack and Eva took actions by creating a large spatial anchor to stabilize the space and prevent it from collapsing. She was surprised with the frightening aura coming from the humanoid shadow roaring silently toward the sky. Even though there was no sound, she could see waves of energy pulsing in a very similar manner to the time when Vahn had tried to destroy the orb in the past.Since he could see the magical elements in the air, Vahn could also sense the strange pulse coming from Fenrir and he had similar thoughts as Eva. He could even see that the anchor she had set to stabilize the space was beginning to crack slightly as small cracks appeared within the viccinity of the midnight-azure 'sun'. Strangely, even though the energy was incredibly powerful, Vahn felt like it had no effect on his body at all. Just like when he created [Lævateinn], he seemed to be completely immune to the chaos caused by the process. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was glad he hadn't named Fenrir in the real world...After nearly ten minutes, the shadowy, red-eyed, figure in the 'sun' ceased its howl as it began to converge its body and aborb the midnight-blue energy surrounding its body. Vahn and Eva both released relieved sighs because the pulsing energy had finally stopped as the shadowy figure began to absorb the energy contained within the spatial cracks around it. Eva looked over toward Vahn as she kept her focus primarily on the figure within the shrinking sun. She said in a very serious manner, "This orb can't withstand this type of power much more. If you want to keep 'naming' things, you'll need to find a safe place in the outside world from now on. We're lucky this space didn't collapse because you'd have lost the opportunity to learn the Magia Erebea if it had."Vahn nodded his head and seriously listened to every single word she said. At one point, he was even preparing to use [Enkidu] to seal her memory fragment because he also felt like space might collapse in the orb. Since he wouldn't be able to communicate with her when she was sealed, there would be no way for him to learn magic from her and he would even lose the orb and everything within, including his materials and forge setup.After another couple of minutes had passed, the energy of the sun had completely converged into a small form that made Vahn's brain buzz a bit. Eva was standing next to him at this time and had a somewhat amused expression on her face as she said, "Well, she is certainly cute, isn't she?" She then began to laugh as Vahn stared at the small 'wolf-girl' that was sitting on her butt completely naked while looking up at him. She had midnight blue hair that looked somewhat spiky and untamed with large blue ears that grew to points on the side of her head.Unlike a 'normal' chienthrope, or wereperson, she had a bushy blue tail with white hair at the end and both her forearms and calves were completely covered in midnight blue fur. Her fingers and toes seemed a bit shorter than normal and they were also completely covered in fur with dangerous looking claws that even made Vahn feel a hint of danger. On the bottoms of her hands and feet, she had pale paw pads that matched the coloration of her ashen-colored, pale, skin. Her most striking feature, other than the fact that she was completely naked, was her scarlet eyes that glowed slightly and moderately large canines that Vahn could see in her mouth.While Vahn was staring down at her, Fenrir was also looking up at him while also inspecting her new body. She opened and closed her tiny paws and patted around her body as if learning its shape. When she tried to 'inspect' the spot at her groin, Vahn coughed out loud while Eva began laughing like a bell. He pulled out a pair of panties and a tunic for Fenrir to wear and spent a few minutes trying to get them on her body as she resisted."No, Fenrir no like, weird, no!" She didn't seem to want to wear clothes at all, but Vahn explained in a firm tone, "You have to wear clothes or you won't be able to leave this space and be around other people." As if his words were like a hammer, Fenrir's eyes glowed slightly brighter as she looked toward Eva and said in broken words, "No!, Fenrir go, leave this place, stay with Master!" Afterward, she let Vahn show her how to properly wear clothes and told her to never take them off unless he gave her permission or it was someone she had been entrusted to by him.Fenrir didn't really seem to understand his words as she began pulling at the tunic with her hands which immediately began shredding it to pieces. Vahn sighed and gave her a new one and explained that she needed to no damage it or it would cause problems in the future. He also noticed that, even though the tunic was quite durable, her claws cut through it without any resistance at all. Taking his paw into his hand, Vahn poked her claw with his finger and noticed it easily cut into his skin even though his Endurance was very high.Though she seemed to be very uncomfortable wearing clothes for the first time, Fenrir still obeyed Vahn's words even though he could see she was struggling quite a bit. He pet her on top of her head and stroked her ears that seemed several sizes larger than a chienthropes. She seemed to enjoy his caress and lifted her paws to grip around his wrist to make sure he would stroke her longer. Unfortunately, all ten of her claws cut into his arm and Vahn immediately began to bleed profusely.Fenrir pulled her hands away at the same time as Vahn pulled his hand away as well. He looked at the puncture wounds on his arm with intrigue and a bit of concern. As he was thinking about matters to prevent her from hurting others on accident, Vahn saw Fenrir do something that shook him to his core. She dropped down to all fours with her butt high up in the air as she began to lap up the blood that had fallen onto the ground. Before he could correct her behavior, she looked up at him with glowing red eyes and said, "Master, hungry, feed Fenrir, please, hungry!"Title: Fallen : Fenrir(A/N: If you're wondering, this is the Fenrir from Shadowverse and Granblue Fantasy. Oh, and I can assure you now there is almost no chance Fenrir would be a 'harem' candidate. At least, this will be the case until something very drastic changes, probably after like 800+ more chapters? I know how the story ends, but the way it evolves over time depends on the readers~!)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Relax','Dangers of Naming','Heaven Devouring Wolf')I am currently at $721/1200 of my new goal~! If I can reach this amount, I intend to start having character profiles and images of all the characters created so I can update the information to a wiki~! Though the Wiki will be accessible by anyone, only Patrons will receive the high-res versions of the images &lt;3

Chapter 228: Insatiable Hunger