Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

For the next couple of days, up until the weekend, Vahn spent his time splitting his focus between the real world and the world within the orb. He felt like he was becoming progressively distant with things happening in his own life due to the fact he spent only 1/7th his total time within it. Though it hadn't affected him too much, for the time being, Vahn felt like it was becoming harder and harder to maintain focus on the things he wanted to do. Things had come to a head when Vahn had promised Hestia and Fenrir to go shopping and then, after spending three days in the orb, went about his normal routine. Because he was 'busy', Hestia took Fenrir off to the side and left him to continue working and Vahn felt terrible when she mentioned it later.Hestia wasn't the only person to notice the inconsistencies and strange development of Vahn as it was also noted by some of the girls at the Hostess of Fertility and had been propagated somewhat by Ryuu's 'gossip'. Since she currently spent the most time with Vahn amongst the girls, Ryuu had become a central figure alongside Syr and had been speaking well of Vahn while also letting her concerns be known. Things had developed to the point where it actually spread through the network and everyone was beginning to worry about Vahn.Though he knew he wasn't 'forgetful' or 'overly stressed' as they had been pointing out, Vahn couldn't easily explain things away and ended up having to reveal the orb's existence. He had mentioned it in passing a while back, but word had never gotten around about the fact that Vahn 'experienced' six days within the orb in only six seconds in the real world. When the girls learned of this fact, their concerns only increased and Hephaestus even tried to ask Vahn to stop relying on the orb or it would hurt his mental development in the future.She was pained to see him 'stressing' his mind just so that he could speed up his progress and help 'cope' with some of the things he dealt with in the real world. Ever since the time with Milan and Tina, a lot of people had been worried about Vahn yet, apparently due to the orb, Vahn had 'recovered' quicker than they expected. Eina was one of the most affected by this knowledge because she suddenly understood why Vahn was 'maturing' so quickly when he was so 'broken' before.However, no matter how much the girls tried to pressure him, Vahn refused to stop using the orb because he couldn't easily abandon Eva and still wanted to learn the Magia Erebea. When the girls learned that Vahn had 'another' girl, even though she was a memory fragment, it caused a few ripples within the network. They had found out that, even though Eva wasn't 'real', Vahn spent the vast majority of his time with a woman they couldn't even see. Though he claimed to primarily focus on 'forging' within the space, Vahn wasn't able to deny any involvement with Eva since he didn't want to keep secrets from the people he cared about.This resulted in Vahn's relationships in the real world becoming marginally more 'meaningful' as people would often stop by the Manor to visit Vahn and play with Fenrir. She had become something of a mascot within the Familia and most of the girls were quite fond of her, especially Loki. When Loki found out about Fenrir's 'blank slate' mentality and 'limitless potential', she had a somewhat evil look on her face until Vahn chopped her head. Though she was fond of Fenrir, Fenrir wasn't very fond of Loki and proactively tried to avoid her during most situations.One of the things that had changed was, since they found out he was able to transfer physical items into the orb and train there, Vahn wasn't 'allowed' to work much in the real world. There always seemed to be at least one person that visited every day to spend time with him and teach Fenrir. During the evenings, there was now even some girls that would stay over during the night which had led to the discovery on the network about Hestia's 'sneakiness'. They had found out that she had been slowly whittling down Vahn's 'defenses' and had already gotten a few liberties from him in the form of bathing together, sleeping together, and his 'infamous' massages.Since Vahn was actually interested in developing his technique and enjoyed using it, it became one of the things he had taken a liking to when interacting with some of the girls. Though not everyone was open to it at first, it eventually got the point where Vahn had been 'promoted' within the network so often that it became hard to not want to experience it themselves.The most notable examples were when Vahn finally got to massage Ryuu, Syr, Arnya, Lunoire, and even Mama Mia. Since Vahn didn't have any aversion toward older women, Mama Mia had wanted to experience what all the fuss was about and nearly broke Vahn's shoulder when she slapped him on the back later while laughing with a 'vibrant glow' on her skin.Because it was such a 'popular' thing, the girls quickly learned the 'benefits' that massage gave them and that only made it more coveted within the network. Since it eased tension, enhanced beauty, and even promoted health and blood circulation, it was incredibly enticing for the girls around Vahn. This is how he had ended up finally meeting Lunoire, even though she was somewhat odd, and got closer to Mama Mia. She had even 'waved' his private booth fees in exchange for helping her 'loosen' up every couple of weeks.The girls weren't the only ones enjoying themselves as, as previously stated, Vahn also liked massaging various girls. They all had different bodies and Vahn had started to develop an appreciation for helping promote their health and wellness. For the younger, relatively pure, girls, Vahn's massage was a great way to relieve stress and was quite enjoyable. For the somewhat more 'mature' girls, it was arguably even better stress relief, even though Vahn had now confirmed without a doubt that his massage had 'different' effects depending on the mental status and 'maturity' of the woman receiving his massage.This wasn't the only thing Vahn had been doing in the real world, however, as he often spent his time touring the City on 'outings', generally accompanied by at least two girls. Vahn actually began to enjoy shopping, because he liked seeing the different outfits that everyone would try on. There would even be small competitions between the women he was accompanying to see who could get the biggest rise out of him. Though he somewhat felt like a 'baggage carrier', Vahn still enjoyed the 'outings', since many of the girls wanted 'personal' dates at some point and refused to classify a group outing as a 'date'.The 'pool' of girls he dated was much smaller than the ones that came to receive his massage, primarily due to the fact that the main group of the Loki Familia had left on their expedition. This left Tiona, Ais, and the potential duo Tione and Lefiya out of the candidate list. Instead, Vahn accompanied Chloe and Syr, Lili and Naaza, Syr and Arnya, Syr and Ryuu, Milan and Tina, Eina and Hestia, Hephaestus and Hestia, and even one strange outing where Vahn had been accompanied by Tsubaki alone. Anubis had been staying out of things and had been managing the 'pack', which left Vahn on an awkward 'outing' where one of the members hadn't shown up.During the 'date', Vahn took Tsubaki around to many of the same types of stores as the other girls and they had some rather unique interactions. Tsubaki teased him for treating her like one of his 'young women', but Vahn rebutted and gave her several compliments about her figure, character, and primarily her 'kindness'. Unable to withstand his 'barrage' of compliments, Tsubaki spent the majority of the date relatively docile while only trying to tease Vahn whenever she got frustrated or embarrassed. Of all the girls around him, Tsubaki was one of the only ones that didn't show up to receive a massage from Vahn after he moved into the Hearth Manor. Using this as an excuse to tease her, Vahn ended up taking a big hit to his gut that brought an early end to their date. In many ways, Vahn felt like Tsubaki was very similar to Eva and he wanted to break down her defenses and get 'even' with her in the future.When he wasn't 'relaxing' in the real world, Vahn spent the majority of his time within the orb researching and conducting experiments with Eva. He had also started a long-term project and was absolutely committed to bringing it to completion. No matter how he thought about it, given the amount of research that had gone into its design, Vahn was certain the final product would be, at the very least, S-Rank.Instead of simply forging items and hammering away while trying to improve through 'experience', Vahn had taken a much more 'scientific' approach to the process. Though he still used his hammer to forge, Vahn had a separate workstation that was comprised entirely of finer tools and large lenses that could magnify the details of the equipment he was working on. He had even taken to using his [Eyes of Truth] and learning how to control them since it allowed him to 'perfectly' destroy or emulate materials with enough focus. Vahn had learned that, other than a sphere, he could actually use his eyes to 'visualize' any shape that he could focus on. Though he couldn't do anything too complex, it didn't mean Vahn couldn't use his eyes as an ultimate tool for the purpose of level, embedding, and even altering the structure of some materials.One of the things he had been practicing was 'boring' through materials and 'carving' shapes into the surface of objects with absolute precision. Since he could see the composition and internal structure of the object, Vahn could increase his detail and even carve basic runes at the microscopic level. Though it had taken an incredible amount of focus, research, and time, Vahn had been able to segment and overlay 108 runic formations into a piece of equipment without any of them being visible whatsoever. Since the material he had been using was pure Adamantine, Vahn was able to guarantee the formations wouldn't break down over time or become weaker through wear and tear.Of the 108 formations, precisely 54 of them had been used to stabilize and reinforce the structure of the rest of the runes. Vahn had learned 'long ago' that the most efficient, simple, and balanced, form was the most practical. Even when he had forged the [Moonlight Piercer] in the past, Vahn had marveled at its simplicity and used it as the inspiration for an entire line of weapons. His current project just pushed that to an insane degree as Vahn used the 'simplicity' of the item as a foundation to lay an intricate and complex arrangement of runes.When Vahn was finally finished, twenty-one days had passed in the real world while he had spent 119 within the orb. Though it had only been three weeks, Vahn had experienced 1/3 of an entire year working on a single item while only diverting his focus to name two other pieces of equipment in the real world using [Keeper of the Akashic Tome]. After giving them both a flame seed from his [Prometheus], Vahn also gifted Lili and Naaza with their own permanent weapons to help support their growth and keep them safe. Remembering the name of her unawakened Innate skill, Vahn forged Lili a pair of gauntlets that he named [Atlas's Grip]. For Naaza, since she primarily used a bow, Vahn had forged her a weapon that he had almost wanted to keep for himself and was appropriately named [Yi's Bow] after the arrows that had once saved his life.[Atlas's Grips]Rank: S (Magic)Slots: 2P.Def: 1014M.Def: 1112Ability: Durandal(A), Atlas's Might(S), Shock Absorption(B), Abnormal Status Resistance(B)Gauntlet(s) forged to contain the record of Atlas, who bore the weight of the Celestial Heavens in an ancient record. These gauntlets gift the user immense physical strength and also allow for greater comprehension of laws concerning astronomy.[Yi's Bow]Rank: S (Magic)Slots: 9P.Atk: 1000M.Atk: 1000Ability: Yi(A), Indestructible(S), Shock Nullification(B), Visual Acuity(B)Bow containing the record of Yi, an archer famed for having extinguished nine suns in order to aid mankind. This bow imbues a portion of the might contained within the record into each arrow nocked on its string.When Vahn had gifted the equipment to the two girls, he had gotten a relatively passionate embrace in return, especially considering he had to place 'flame seeds' into their chests previously. Since the seeds burned through clothes, Vahn required the two to remove their tops and bras before Lili proudly accepted his touch from the front while Naaza took the more modest approach and had Vahn insert the flame from her back. Before then, Vahn hadn't realized it had been an option and was somewhat flustered within his mind after remembering the event with Nanu previously.Recalling the events, Vahn shook his head and took another look at the item he had spent the majority of the 119 days forging with an intricacy that far exceeded his own expectations. Even though it was currently (Nameless), Vahn had forged a simple, golden, pure adamantine, ring without any visible or unique qualities whatsoever. Verifying for what felt like the ten-thousandth time, Vahn saw that the Rank of the item was S and that, once he named it, he would be guaranteed to obtain the [Master Smith] Development Ability.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'AIYA, MAMA MIA~!','Disasociation, Focus','On the Precipice')(A/N: I don't often like to use time skips, but this seemed like an easy way to connect events together when there wasn't a lot of other stuff going on. Vahn gets to experience *muttered noises that you can't understand due to your current soul tier*. Look forward to it~!)I am currently at $730/1200 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 it had been an item he spent so much time and effort on, Vahn was hesitant when it came to deciding upon the name of the ring. It wasn't a beautiful object that would inspire thought of beauty, nor was it ornate like several of the accessories and rings Vahn had seen. Instead, the ring looked almost plain, even though it was perhaps one of the most intricately designed of its kind. It was somewhat ironic that the greatest masterpiece he had ever forged was also the most normal looking object he had ever created. Vahn was torn between naming it now, or trying to give it a name through [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] later...As he flipped the simple golden ring in his hand, Vahn stroked it in an affectionate manner and ruminated over the ideas he had come up with previously. Since he wanted to try and find a way to seal away Divinity in a practical manner, Vahn had some hope that the ring would be able to replicate the function of [Enkidu], but was informed by Sis that the grade of the ring would have to be SSS if he wanted it to meet that standard. Even though it was currently S, Vahn didn't think it was even possible to push it to SS Rank without a bit of luck, much less SSS.Other than that, Vahn was stuck on a name that he thought was quite suitable but was also somewhat hesitant to use given the look of the ring. Since this ring was a result of the promise he had made with Hephaestus, Vahn had actually thought to name it 'Promise' so that it would serve as a constant reminder of that fateful day. The only thing that prevented him from making the final decision was, even though he was certain she wouldn't care, the current base for the ring was simply too plain. He had previously given Hephaestus a beautiful ruby ring when they got engaged, and it actually seemed inappropriate to give her something less 'beautiful'.In his absentmindedness, Vahn dropped the ring and it fell like a heavyweight as it made contact with the table. Instead of bouncing, or rolling away, the ring came to a halt the moment it impacted the surface. Vahn ran his finger along the surface and once again marveled at the internal structure of the ring using his [Eyes of Truth]. Remembering that Hephaestus also had a god's eye, Vahn knew she would be able to glean some insights from the ring and understand its hidden complexity...With that thought in mind, Vahn showed a happy smile as he picked up the ring and whispered to it gently, as though he would a lover, "Henceforth, now and forevermore, you shall be known as [Promise]. I pray to whatever forces that govern the laws of naming that you protect the person that receives you from all harm..." Even though he didn't use the Akashic Tome, the ring in Vahn's hands glowed a resplendent golden color much like his [Enkidu]. It was almost 'divine' in its luminance and Vahn could feel a powerful energy radiating from the surface as all the internal formations were activated simultaneously.-------------------------------------------------------------------------[Promise]Rank: S (Divine)P.Def: 0M.Def: 0Abilities: Indestructible(Divine), Magic Nullification(S), Physical Nullifcation(A), Abnormal Status Immunity(A), Soulbound(Unbound)Use: 'Absolute Nullification': Bends the laws of the world to alter causality and create a miracle. (Warning: Item destroyed after use.)-------------------------------------------------------------------------By the time it stopped glowing, [Promise] had changed from a plain ring into a resplendent golden ring that displayed white runes along the interior that had an almost sacred look. Even though its surface appearance hadn't changed much, the internal structure and function of the ring had evolved to embody the ideals that went into its forging and naming. From now on, this ring would always protect the wielder from harm and guarantee their safety.When he was done admiring the [Promise], Vahn's smile grew even wider as he looked through his system notification and saw that his [Blacksmith:S] had evolved into [Master Smith:I]. Even though it was the lowest grade of [Master Smith], it was still infinitely superior to its preceding skill. This point was the pinnacle for most mortals, and even gods weren't able to reach the peak of the skill without their Arcanum and Divinity as support.-------------------------------------------------------------------------[Master Smith]Rank: IGreatly improves the success rate of forging equipment and refining materials. Dependant on the knowledge, skill, experience, and intent of the user.Active Trigger: 'Enhance': Allows the user to temporarily boost the efficacy of equipment through maintenance.-------------------------------------------------------------------------Even though the skill didn't change much, it now provided a greatly enhanced success rate as well as an active trigger which would be infinitely beneficial for Vahn and his allies in the future. It was similar in a way to how [Whetstones] increased the attack power of weapons through sharpening, but now Vahn would be able to achieve a similar effect on all the equipment he maintained. Though he would probably be busy in the future, Vahn was happy that the skill had evolved in such a way since it would allow him to enhance, not only weapons, but armor, accessories, or even magical items.After completing the ring, Vahn purchased a beautiful case to contain it before collapsing onto the ground with his arms spread out. Though he didn't feel like he was mentally exhausted, at least in regards to the concerns of the girls, Vahn felt emotionally drained as a powerful sense of relief spread through his body. There was still a month before the marriage and Denatus, but Vahn was beginning to worry about what would have happened if he hadn't finished in time. Now that he was finally at the finish line, Vahn suddenly felt very very tired...When Vahn awoke, he was laying in bed next to the 'sleeping' Eva who immediately opened her eyes the moment he did. She put her hand on his face and in a somewhat soothing tone said, "After you leave today, I'm going to seal up this space for a little while. Since you'll be starting your training soon, I need to make sure everything is stable in preparation for the future. Go and spend some time in the real world with all those brats..."Hearing Eva's words, Vahn frowned and tried to rebut, but she continued before he could utter a single syllable, "Don't worry, when I seal this space I will enter stasis and won't even be aware of the passage of time at all. When you notice the orb begin to glow once again, you'll know it is time to come back...make sure you're prepared. Until you activate the orb again, I will continue to slumber, so don't feel like you need to rush." Her words finished, Eva mounted Vahn's body and the two embraced each other as if they were going to be parting for a very long time.Since he had used the orb in the afternoon, it was only slightly after 5 PM and Vahn had been laying down on a sofa in the study with Fenrir cuddled up against him. He noticed she was still wearing the frilly maid outfit that she had become fond of after going on a group shopping trip with Hephaestus, Eina, Hestia, Loki, and Syr. Since she had been treated so well by the group of goddesses and mortal, Fenrir had calmed down a lot and liked to wear cute things since she got spoiled more.Even though only a few seconds had passed since they had parted, Fenrir looked up at Vahn before tilting her head and saying, "Vahn, welcome back!" Even though she still had some verbal ticks, Fenrir was decidedly more eloquent than her past self. She also somewhat understood that, when he entered the orb, several days would pass for him. Because of this, Fenrir had developed the habit of 'protecting' him and then welcoming him back when he returned.Stroking her hair, Vahn turned to the side where Hestia was drinking tea. Seeing him look her way, Hestia showed a cheerful smile and said, "Welcome home~!" Then, understanding Vahn was in a strange state, she asked, "Are you...okay?" Before he answered, Hestia, moved toward him like a bullet and had a very concerned expression on her face as she wiped away the tears that had started to fall from Vahn's eyes without his notice.After explaining things to Hestia, she decided to comfort Vahn with a lap pillow while stroking his hair for the time being. Though she had never met the golden-haired vampire, Hestia knew she was quite important to Vahn and that it wouldn't be easy for them to separate for such a long period of time. Even though it was a ridiculous amount of time for Eva between their meetings, Vahn actually spent a compressed amount of time every single day within the orb at her side. Now that he was suddenly separated from Eva, Hestia could see that Vahn was experiencing something similar to separation anxiety and loneliness.Though he would traditionally make more of an effort to restrain Hestia, Vahn remained silent as he enjoyed her fingers running through his hair while hugging Fenrir. As if she had realized Vahn's state of mind, Fenrir was incredibly docile and well-behaved as she remained perfectly still while Vahn was being tended to by Hestia. If Hestia or Vahn could have seen her face, they would have noticed that her eyes had begun to glow, not from her own anxiety, but because she wanted to help Vahn and didn't know how.After a few minutes, while Vahn was relaxing peacefully, Fenrir seemed to come up with an idea and patted Vahn's hands with her paws so that he would release her. Since it wasn't the first time they had such an interaction, Vahn reluctantly let go of Fenrir who promptly reached for the pouch she always kept at her hip. Even though she couldn't do it easily, Fenri had grown accustomed to opening her own pouch to retrieve the brush within.Since it was the thing that made her the happiest, other than hunting enemies, Fenrir thought it would help Vahn as well. Though her movements were awkward and made both Hestia and Vahn somewhat nervous, Fenrir began to comb Vahn's hair with her favorite brush. Vahn, though still a bit nervous about the deadly claws near his face, closed his eyes with a smile and whispered, "Thank you, Fenrir..."For the rest of the day, the roles within their small little group had entirely reversed. Traditionally, Vahn was the one that spoiled the two girls but now they had taken up the role and were pampering him. Hestia had even contacted the other girls on the network and explained things so that, by the end of the evening, there had been a number of guests that arrived to spend the night. Though Vahn was grateful, he began to grow somewhat nervous after one of the guests arrived...Since she was nearby, Ryuu had been the first to arrive and had even worn her waitress outfit instead of changing into her casual attire of Adventurer equipment. As she had already picked out a room and moved in her stuff previously, Ryuu could always change within the Manor so she didn't feel the need to 'waste' time. Ever since the first time Vahn had given her a massage, Ryuu's aversion to being touched had decreased by a fair amount, at least when it came to Vahn. She had even, for the first time, offered to give him a lap pillow while Hestia received other guests and prepared dinner.While Vahn was enjoying the comfortable lap pillow and uncommon affection of Ryuu, the second set of guests showed up, Milan and Tina. By now, Milan's hair had grown back on her ears and tail, so she was walking around with a cheerful expression and had recovered a lot of her old personality. Tina, having been influenced by the girls at the Hostess of Fertility, had turned into a little tyrant and was always full of energy. Whenever Vahn ate lunch with them, she would always happily converse with him and she had completely regained her sensibilities and was no longer overly clingy. The downside to this resulted in her trying to reclaim her role as his 'Vahnguard', especially after he started going on several outings with other girls. It took the combined efforts of the entire network to contain her 'wrath' and it was also Tina's actions that inevitably resulted in there always being at least two girls accompanying Vahn.Tina had also become best friends with Fenrir since Fenrir acted very much like a child that was lacking in affection and a proper education. She had even gotten Fenrir to call her 'Big Sis', even though Tina was much smaller than she was. Because of this, Fenrir also began to call Milan 'Mama' until it was corrected after some of the other girls, who were also fond of Fenrir, objected to the claim. It became especially problematic when it was known that Fenrir had once tried to refer to Vahn as 'Papa' in the past...Though others wanted to come, there were just the six of them for quite a while until the last guest finally showed up. Even before he had seen her, Vahn could sense her arrival and become nervous to the point that everyone in the room could tell something was wrong. Fenrir had become especially alert since her senses were far stronger than even the cat people, Milan and Tina. However, the moment she lifted her head and looked around, the red glow in her eyes faded and she said, "Hephaestus~!"Because Fenrir was closer to the people that were closest to Vahn, she was especially fond of Hephaestus, Eina, and Hestia. Even though it wasn't much, her tail wagged a bit as she ran toward the door to receive Hephaestus in the foyer. The other girls, who had been somewhat tense after seeing Vahn's reaction, began to calm down as the entire group made their way over. As the person nearest him, Ryuu asked in a low voice, "Is something wrong?" Even though she wasn't as on guard as before, Ryuu hadn't relaxed since Vahn was still in a tense state.Vahn showed an awkward smile before he sighed and explained, "Nothing is wrong at all...in fact, things are going too well in a way." Hearing his words, Ryuu cocked her head slightly before remaining silent and observing what would happen. Though he hadn't spoken to them, both Milan and Tina had heard Vahn's words and were also quite curious. Soon after, Hephaestus entered through the front door and pet Fenrir, who had wrapped her paws around her body, on the head for a few seconds before looking around with a concerned expression on her face. Seeing Vahn, Hephaestus showed a relieved smile before adopting a somewhat confused expression.Since they were linked together through the 'eternal flame', Hephaestus was able to sense the melancholy Vahn had been in since earlier in the afternoon. Now that she had arrived to comfort him, she could sense his heart rate increasing and saw that he had a very nervous expression on his face. Thinking about what could be the matter, Hephaestus's thoughts raced before remembering why Vahn had been so down in the first place. Hestia had said it was due to the fact that Vahn couldn't use the orb for a while and would be away from Eva, the girl she had never met.When this thought passed through her mind earlier, Hephaestus just felt sad for Vahn and wanted to come over and comfort him for the night. Now, however, she remembered what Vahn had purportedly been doing inside the orb for the last month or so. Alongside Vahn's heartbeat, Hephaestus's also began to increase as her eyes slowly widened. She could feel her body begin to shake and she suddenly felt very excited, anxious, and fretful all at the same time.Vahn saw the fluctuations of Hephaestus's aura and knew she understood why he was acting strangely as well. The atmosphere in the foyer became strange and everyone was absolutely silent as they watched Vahn and Hephaestus staring, unmoving, at each other for more than a minute. Eventually, Vahn could see that Hephaestus was shaking progressively more and more, so he was finally able to muster up the courage to pull out the ornate white box that had been in his inventory. Walking forward, Vahn held out the box as his own hands began to shake and urged Hephaestus to take it with his eyes...At this point, Hephaestus's heart was racing so fast that she couldn't form a single coherent thought. The only thing in the world right now was Vahn, herself, and the box within his hands. Reaching out her shaking hand, Hephaestus gingerly opened the beautiful box and saw a resplendent golden ring contained within. Even without inspecting it close, Hephaestus knew the ring was a masterpiece that could even rival some of her greatest creations in the mortal world.When she reached out to pick up the ring, Hephaestus's hand was shaking so much that she couldn't grasp it at all. Even when she managed to pick it up a bit, she soon dropped it and it nearly fell out of the case before a pulse of invisible energy passed through the room and Vahn caught the ring mid-flight. In his haste, Vahn had instinctively activated [Will of the Emperor] to help calm his own nerves as he held the ring in his finger.Helping Hephaestus remove her glove, Vahn placed the ring on the same finger where her ruby one usually sat. Because she forged constantly, Hephaestus usually wore the previous ring on a necklace that she kept around her neck. Because of the relative simplicity of [Promise], she would be able to wear it even when she had her gloves on. After it was firmly on her finger, Vahn looked into Hephaestus's crimson-red eyes and said, "This ring is called [Promise], and it is also my vow made real. From now on, you will never have to be alone..."Title: Promise Kept(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'One ring to rule them all','Vahn's Melancholy','If you like it then you need to put a ring on it')I am currently at $730/1200 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

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful as Vahn, Hestia, and Fenrir enjoyed a larger dinner before Vahn spent a little time pampering the two spoiled girls before bed. Hestia seemed completely comfortable with the massage at this point and Fenrir refused to be left out so Vahn tied up her paws before putting them both to sleep. Afterward, Vahn went to sleep before waking up and spending a bit of time researching with Eva who had been making her own improvement in forging with Vahn's permission to use his forge. Since she could change her clothing with magic, Eva had adopted the look of wearing nothing but a pair of overalls and gloves as she worked away on pieces of metal. Because she was very petite, Vahn almost wanted to remark that she looked like a child 'playing' blacksmith, but he knew her well enough to keep those words to himself.Leaving the Hearth Manor with Fenrir, they made their way to the Hostess of Fertility and waited for Ryuu to prepare before the three of them headed toward the dungeon. Even though she had agreed to meet up at the Manor, it wasn't a big detour for Vahn and Fenrir to pick her up instead. Vahn also wanted Fenrir to familiarize herself with the City more and wanted her to adapt to newer environments and some of the backstreets he often used. Though he had no intention of allowing her to roam the City freely, Vahn wanted to prepare for the eventuality that she would be moving around on her own in the future.Along the way, though they had discussed it previously, Vahn mentioned some of the things Ryuu had to pay attention to when interacting with Fenrir. Since she would be accompanying them in the dungeon for the foreseeable future, Vahn wanted to make sure Ryuu was on the same page. Responding to his words, Ryuu said that she would sit on the sidelines and let him teach Fenrir while she watched his back. Though Vahn wanted to agree, he actually suggested that she take the lead and help teach Fenrir since she was a veteran Adventure and would likely have insights that had been developed over the years she had been active.Ryuu deferred to his words and agreed while claiming it was a good opportunity to polish up her skills that had become 'rusty' due to her inactivity and lack of exercise. Raising his brow, Vahn gave a cursory glance at Ryuu's body from the side and couldn't see any indication that she had been 'lazy' at all. She had a very lithe and fit body with long legs and a healthy complexion similar to many of the elves he had seen in the past.Since she was attentive of his actions, Vahn's 'inspection' hadn't been missed by Ryuu and she gave him a sidelong glance of her own with her sky-blue eyes before continuing forward without commenting. Vahn felt a little nervous and followed behind her with Fenrir in tow. When they finally entered the dungeon, Ryuu wanted to watch Fenrir fight before she gave any pointers. Even though he had only suggested she teach Fenrir a bit, Ryuu seemed to have taken it as an indication that she become Fenrir's instructor from now on.Vahn knew that Ryuu was an incredibly capable fighter that could probably teach him a thing or two, so he watched from the side and listened to Ryuu's comments about how Fenrir could improve. After asking why she explained things to him, Ryuu explained that it was because he would be able to convey her words better for Fenrir than if she stated them personally. Realizing her words were true, Vahn nodded his head and repeated Ryuu's words to Fenrir while also telling her to do her best to follow Ryuu's orders.Vahn wasn't the only one learning new things while watching Fenrir, as Ryuu had been paying close attention to both of them during the 'training'. She had never experienced anything like Vahn's domain before and thought it was a rather unique thing with a lot of potential uses. Since she was an elf, Ryuu was very receptive to magic and could see that the elemental energies in the air were heavily influenced by Vahn's domain. Instead of remaining in their naturally chaotic state, all of the elements within his domain became somewhat 'obedient' and acted like they were 'waiting' for instruction.One of the things that impacted Ryuu the most was, when she had been prepared to charge forward and help Fenrir, Vahn grabbed her shoulder as the air seemed to freeze around the monsters Fenrir had been fighting. With her perception, Ryuu could see that not only the monsters froze, but the elements within the air had completely solidified in the space that was being locked down by Vahn. Though she was certain she could break through it, Ryuu couldn't help but feel a bit nervous at the prospect of facing an enemy with such a terrifying skill. Even if it could only hold her for a millisecond, that was more than enough for an equally skilled opponent to strike a fatal blow against her.Because of her curiosity, Ryuu couldn't help but ask Vahn about the capabilities of his skills and abilities while being overly aware that he still had his hand on her shoulder. Vahn had seen the fluctuations in her aura and removed his hand before explaining things while never losing his focus on Fenrir's fight. Since he trusted Ryuu, Vahn explained some of his more 'secret' skills and abilities and even demonstrated them to benefit her understanding. Not only Ryuu, but Fenrir paid close attention to Vahn's actions whenever he fought against monsters.Just like she did for Fenrir, Ryuu also gave Vahn several pointers while also complimenting him on his current capabilities. Though she hadn't been there for his rise, Ryuu knew that Vahn had only officially become an Adventurer around three months ago and had made an almost unbelievable amount of progress in that time. While happy to be complimented, Vahn explained it away as the influence of the various people around him and the patience they had shown in teaching him.Hearing Vahn speak so humbly, Ryuu smiled gently and said, "Everyone is strong as a result of the trials they have faced and the people that have influenced them. It is good that you remember that you were not always strong...you will be able to become much stronger in the future." Vahn had noticed that Ryuu had a look of reminiscence in her eyes as she spoke and knew she was likely recalling the past when she had comrades within the Astrea Familia. Though he couldn't ask about it yet, Vahn nodded his head and reached out his hand to stroke Ryuu's head through her leaf-like hood.Since she was surprised by his actions, Ryuu moved her head away before taking a few short steps and standing at the side. It was one of the first times someone had avoided his hand, so Vahn just held it in the hair with a bit of confusion on his face. Ryuu saw his look and gave the closest thing to an 'amused' smile that Vahn had seen on her face as she said, "Sorry...I'm not really comfortable being touched in such a familiar manner. Let's leave things like that for the future..."Before Vahn responded, Fenrir shouted out, "Graaagh~!? Fenrir want pat pat!" As if offended by Ryuu's refusal of Vahn's 'pat pat', Fenrir moved forward and held Vahn's hand to her head as she glared at Ryuu with a subtle glow in her eyes. Her antics caused Vahn's words to get stuck in his throat and he spent a few minutes helping Fenrir calm down as he gave an apologetic look toward Ryuu. Since she hadn't really been offended by his earlier attempt to stroke her head, Ryuu just shook her head with a polite smile and even squinted her eyes a bit.After a short break, Vahn and Fenrir stood off to the side as Ryuu fought against a group of War Shadows that had several Frog Shooters as their support. The best way Vahn could describe Ryuu's combat was 'fluid' and 'fast'. She had an almost unstoppable momentum, but it didn't seem like she got caught up in it at all as she maneuvered through monsters like water passing rocks in a stream. The most terrifying thing was, the faster she moved, the more powerful her attacks became without any drop in her speed. Without leaving the monsters a single chance to counterattack, Ryuu dispatched a group of thirteen enemies without stopping for even a second.While Vahn was in awe of the 'beautiful' sight, Fenrir was in high tensions and immediately ran forward after Ryuu finished off the last enemy and shouted, "Fast, super fast, Fenrir want! Teach Fenrir, please!" Though Ryuu smiled and nodded her head, Vahn, for once, couldn't stop himself from laughing a little as he walked forward and exchanged a few pointers with Ryuu for Fenrir's benefit. Fenrir seemed to have been 'inspired' by the fluidity of Ryuu's combat style and wanted to be, as she called it, 'super fast' as well.Though it was a little awkward, Vahn also agreed with Fenrir's assessment and even began to consider how he could improve his own combat style to be more fluid. As it stood, Vahn would almost describe his style as 'explosive' and 'dynamic', since he also dashed around his enemies and overwhelmed them with the use of his Innate skills. Since Ryuu didn't have any Innates, as far as he could tell at the moment, she had to rely on technique and skill to overcome her enemies.Ryuu was happy to explain things and even followed Vahn's example of demonstrating each of her skills and how she typically applied them. Because of this, Vahn got to experience [Concurrent Chanting] and also saw Ryuu's magic, [Luminous Wind], for the first time. Most of the magic he had seen was rather devastating, and it was the first time he had seen something so 'beautiful'. When Ryuu used [Luminous Wind], it was like there was azure starlight radiating from her body that obliterated her enemies. He also got to learn the name of the skill she used to convert her speed into power, which was called [Aero Mana]. With this skill, Ryuu was able to increase her power based on the speed she was moving her body at. Since there was no upper limit to this skill, Ryuu could get progressively faster as the fight continued and eventually eliminate opponents much stronger than herself.After her display, Ryuu walked back over toward Fenrir and Vahn, who stated in a serious manner, "That was beautiful. Your abilities, techniques, everything is just so beautiful!" Perhaps he was affected by Fenrir, but Vahn was also in high tensions and had a big smile on his face as he layered compliments onto the moderately 'bashful' Ryuu. She didn't seem to know how to respond to his behavior and just turned her head to the side as she stroked the back of her long right ear with her free hand. Though it wasn't the first time she had received compliments from a guy, it was the first time Ryuu seriously considered them and took them to heart.Realizing he was embarrassing her, Vahn calmed down and said a few polite words which resulted in him eventually hearing her 'former' alias, Gale. Since she had just joined the Hestia Familia, her old Alias would be lost and she would have to receive a new one at the next Denatus, same as Vahn. Now that he was aware of her former alias, Vahn couldn't help but agree with the gods' decision since her fighting style very much suited the title. Though he had compared her to water, due to the fluidity of her movements, it was also appropriate to describe her as a destructive wind. Though both wind and water 'flowed' around objects, Ryuu's appearance, green hair, and skills like [Luminous Wind] made it much more suitable to compare her to wind instead of water.Before the heading out of the dungeon, Vahn removed the large basin from his inventory and helped wash Fenrir clean. Ryuu was a bit surprised at first, but then she noticed the blood that had soaked into Fenrir's fur and agreed that it was a necessary action. Instead of letting Vahn tend to matters himself, Ryuu removed her cloak and gloves and offered to help. This left her wearing nothing by her white top, which was open on the sides, and her short green 'shorts'. Vahn couldn't help but admire her body at a glance before accepting her help. Fenrir was somewhat resistant but didn't shy away from Ryuu's assistance since Vahn was still cleaning her as well. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Fenrir was actually happier when there were more people tending to her compared to less.After helping wash down Fenrir, Vahn couldn't help but notice that some of the water had soaked through Ryuu's thin white blouse. Though he didn't mean to stare, Vahn noticed that Ryuu wore something different than a traditional bra. He could see the outline of some kind of form-fitting cups covering her chest that didn't seem to wrap around her body completely. He couldn't identify the method, but Vahn assumed it had some kind of adhesive function and was somewhat curious about the details.Once again, Vahn's gaze didn't escape Ryuu's notice as she squinted her eyes before using magic to try her top. As if understanding his curiosity, Ryuu explained in a polite manner, "A lot of female Adventurers don't wear a bra since it can cut into the skin when they are within the dungeon for long periods of time. This is similar to an adhesive tape that helps conceal things..." Hearing her explanation, Vahn nodded his head and said, "Sorry...thanks...."Ryuu's smile widened marginally but she didn't respond to his words as she helped dry Fenrir off with her magic. She, like most of the girls around Vahn, could see that his gaze didn't hold any negative emotions and it wasn't uncomfortable like how other men looked at her. Perhaps it was due to her own 'acceptance' of Vahn, but Ryuu found it difficult to rebuke him just for staring at her body with interest. Though she was still a virgin, she also had some slight expectations since she lived in an all female dorm. While she never participated actively, Ryuu had heard the other girls talk about their fantasies and personal interests regarding men. Of course, most of the girls at the Hostess of Fertility were also virgins, but that didn't stop them from gossiping and discussing various possibilities...(A/N: I apologize if this chapter has any grammar issues. I went out with a friend to celebrate his birthday and got a bit drunk xD. Looks like we might lose the Top 3 spot to Last Wish System TT__TT. Well, thats fine I guess~! Thanks for reading, stay beautiful &lt;3)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Gotta go fast~!','Float like a purple moth, sting like a Needle Rabbit','Dangerous Gossip')I am currently at $730/1200 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 236: Routine : Progress