Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

(A/N: I'm going to do some intermission/side story/perspective chapters to flesh things out a bit for the future plot. Let me know what you think and if you'd like more of this kind of thing in the future~!)When Vahn finally left her workshop and returned to the Hearth Manor, Hephaestus went back inside and collapsed on the nearest chair before resting her head against the table. She had a silly expression on her face and rolled her head back and forward on her arms as she thought back to the previous day's experiences. Her first time, as well as the following 34 times after, was more than she had ever expected. Even though Hephaestus had experience with gods in Heaven, there was nothing that remotely compared to her time with Vahn.Not only did he not mind her past, but he treated her gently and affectionately from start to finish. Even when she got bold and acted out of character, Vahn was always there guiding her along the path to greater pleasures. It was a far cry from the selfishness she had experienced from others and couldn't even think of them in the same vein as Vahn. Hephaestus had never felt so loved, nor did she love someone so much in her entire long life that spanned eons.Even now, though they had already parted, Hephaestus could still feel the phantom presence of Vahn within her. There was a gentle warmth in her body that persisted no matter how much time passed and Hephaestus couldn't help but feel it was a result of her apparent pregnancy. It was hard to believe, but she knew Vahn wouldn't mislead her on the matter to Hephaestus affectionately stroked the area above her womb with a dazed and joyous expression on her face.Everything she would experience from now on would be a unique experience that had never been shared by another goddess before. Even though goddesses of fertility could conceive children, they didn't do it through the normal method at all. Instead of ovulating naturally, their Divinity would allow them to conceive at any time and the child would always, without exception, be a normal mortal of the same race as the father. What Hephaestus was experiencing was a landmark achievement for any goddess, something that had long been desired by thousands without any hope to obtain.Though she didn't care much, Hephaestus knew she and Vahn had written a new chapter in the history of this world and she was looking forward to every small step along their shared path. While she was thinking about the future, Hephaestus had a thought and a big smile appeared on her face as she made her way to her office and pulled out a scroll from the shelf. Nearby were several color-coded quills that, when used, would cause the words she wrote to appear on a variety of other scrolls throughout the City. Ever since their meeting, which was joking referred to as the 'Vahnatus' by some, Hephaestus had issued partnered scrolls to each major 'faction'. By using a colored quill, she could write messages that only went to a specific group while the black quill went to everyone on the entire network.Taking a peach-colored quill, Hephaestus wrote a message to one of her old acquaintances who was in charge of a small D-Ranked Familia in the western section of the City. She was a kind goddess named Epona and her principle Divinities were in Fertility and Equestrianism. Hephaestus had known her for a long time and, though they weren't good friends, she knew Epona could be trusted. The main reason her Familia had never grown large was due to the fact that she ran it like a Hostel that accepted short stays from adventurer's down on their luck for little to no cost. Even after fifty years, her Familia only had nine people, and three of them were her actual children.While waiting for Epona's arrival, Hephaestus started sending more messages on the network to inform the other girls about Vahn's movements. It was common practice that, whenever Vahn showed up somewhere, someone would try to inform the network just in case something happened. When he left, they would send another message with his intended destination and to let the people on the other end prepare if necessary. It wasn't meant to constrain Vahn's actions, just to give the girls time to prepare themselves for his arrival. Though it wasn't commented on too often, Vahn had a propensity to take things very seriously in any given moment and it could be a trying experience for both him and the girls he was involved with.The main holders of the scrolls were Hephaestus, Eina, Loki, Hestia, Syr, Tsubaki, and Anubis. Of course, after the network became more popular, Hephaestus and Loki had teamed up to give a smaller scroll to each of the main girls around Vahn. Because communication scrolls weren't commonly used, the ink was incredibly expensive and they actually purchased a large quantity that was meant to be distributed at each of their planned meetings. To facilitate their own use, Loki had actually taken on a request for an expedition to venture to the 28th floor and actually acquire more materials for its production. Though they hadn't told Vahn, it was ironically their desire to maintain the network around him that lead to the current expedition of the Loki Familia.Remembering the amount of effort Loki had been putting into the matters concerning Vahn, Hephaestus couldn't help but release a sigh. She was the most aware of how badly Loki wanted a child of her own since they had known each other for a very long time even during their stay in Heaven. Since she had been acquainted with Hestia, Hephaestus often interacted with the somewhat troublesome goddess and she had even maintained a cooperative relationship between their two Familia even before the Alliance was formed.Now that she was pregnant with Vahn's child, Hephaestus only had to confirm it before letting Loki, Anubis, and Hestia know about the matter. They had already discussed it in the past and, even though Hestia and Loki have something of a rivalry between each other, Hestia agreed that she wouldn't do anything that would affect the relationship between Loki and Vahn. Since Hestia had been on the fence about her own feelings, she didn't have much say in the matters of who Vahn had children with especially since they had a prior promise with each other. As for Anubis, though she also wanted a child in the future, she wasn't in any rush to put pressure on Vahn at present and didn't mind waiting several years if necessary.Ever since the negotiations between the Alliance and Ouranos, Anubis had been focusing her efforts on helping her Familia improve their strength and provide them with a proper education. She knew Vahn was in a tricky situation and wanted to increase the independence of her own Familia so they wouldn't be a restrictive force in his life in the future. This was why, even though she was unnaturally fond of Vahn's massages, Anubis had avoided contact with him much since their separation. Since she intended to serve Vahn for the rest of her life, Anubis wasn't in a hurry to push things forward and force Vahn to take their matters into consideration for the time being.For the other girls, Tsubaki had made some jokes in passing about her record with Vahn but most of the girls in the network saw through her facade. To try and incite her further, Anubis had actually avoided the date they had arranged between her, Vahn, and Tsubaki just to bring the two somewhat closer together. When they heard that Tsubaki actually punched Vahn and left him kneeling in the streets, they couldn't help tease her when they found out about it later. She tried to play it off as just getting another point over him, but it was dismissed by the rest of the group.One of the most troublesome girls, and this was something both Hephaestus and Eina realized early on, was the girl named Syr. Since Vahn spent a lot of time with Chloe at the Hostess of Fertility, they had long been aware that he might influence some of the other girls as well. When they learned of the existence of Syr after their first meeting, Hephaestus and Eina quickly realized she was a central figure in the group. Ever since then, even though Vahn mainly just pursued Chloe, Syr had slowly broken down his defenses and introduced other girls into his life.Now, other than Chloe, Vahn had advanced his relationship with Ryuu while also developing some small degree of familiarity with girls like Arnya, Lunoire, and especially Syr. Though she didn't act in a way that showed she was trying to interfere with others, Syr's actions had been a big red flag within the upper echelons of the group on the network. They had heard about her confession to Vahn and knew she was pursuing him and, as time progressed, her influence in his matters increased imperceptibly to the point where she had become a powerful voice within the network. Matters only accelerated further when she assumed protective responsibility for Milan and Tina after the 'incident' and how she was the first to pitch the idea of Ryuu protecting Vahn in the dungeon.Remembering the elegant and gentle grey-haired, grey-eyed, girl, Hephaestus couldn't help but release an exasperated sigh. Syr seemed to be the type that was great at managing things behind the scenes and even Loki complimented her ability to subtly manipulate people. They thought she would be a good choice in helping manage things around Vahn, but they also had some inhibitions about her motivations. Since they all knew that Syr liked Vahn, it was a little strange to them how she was steadily building up his relationships with other girls instead of trying to progress on her own...While she was lost in thoughts, Hephaestus heard a knocking on the door and was broken from her reverie as happy feelings began to push away the negativity that had begun to build up. Without wasting any time, Hephaestus opened the door to her workshop and welcome the very motherly looking goddess inside with a smile on her face. Epona was around 160cm tall and was a rather plump, yet beautiful, goddess with curly orange hair that had been arranged into a loose bun. She had light-purple eyes and a perpetual smile on her face that made everyone that saw her feel calm. For her attire, she wore a traditional yellow dress that went down to her ankles and had something similar to a red smock overtop.Before Hephaestus even broached the topic, Epona had a curious expression on her face as she tilted her head and viewed Hephaestus. She wasn't sure why, but something seemed to be different about Hephaestus and it caused a peculiar feeling to buzz in her mind. After a while, Epona saw that Hephaestus was wearing her normal outfit and there didn't seem to be anything different about her appearance at all, excluding the happy expression that had replaced her perpetually 'cool' look. Thinking about why she might be happy, Epona curiously inspected her a second time and noticed that Hephaestus was actually pregnant.With a gentle smile on her face, Epona was about to congratulate Hephaestus before her own words got stuck in her throat. Hephaestus had just been about to ask and had seen Epona's reaction which caused the smile on her face to become incredibly vibrant. Though she believed Vahn's words, it was a distinctly different feeling to get confirmation from a source she knew to be reliable regarding such things.Epona's eyes widened and she asked, "How?" Hephaestus still had a big smile on her face but she shook her head and said, "I'll be explained later at the upcoming Denatus. I need you to keep this an absolute secret for the time being." With her eyes still opened wide, Epona nodded her head like a chicken and said, "Yes, sure, certainly, I won't tell a word. But, Hephaestus, how is this possible? I can tell you didn't suddenly develop a Divinity related to fertility...the energy in your body is like the convergence of life energy...it is far different than how I get pregnant."Since Hephaestus couldn't explain matters yet, she just talked a bit about how things would be revealed at the upcoming Denatus. Unable to press Hephaestus further, Epona put the matter to the back of her mind as they began discussing how the pregnancy would likely progress. Since Epona had more than twenty children over the course of the fifty years, she was a wealth of information for prospective mothers. She told Hephaestus about what she should expect, the signs to watch out for, and also cautioned her on the dangers of overworking and ingesting anything that could alter the body and affect her mental state. Since Hephaestus's experience would be a completely unique development, Epona even offered to be Hephaestus's midwife, to which he happily agreed and thanked Epona for.After nearly four hours of lecturing from the razzled and jubilant Epona, the two finally parted ways and Hephaestus nearly skipped back to her room to share the news on the network. Not even twenty seconds later, she got a response from Loki who was suddenly in very high spirits. If not for her being leashed in by some of the other girls that showed up, she might have gone knocking straight on Vahn's door. Loki was eventually settled by none other than Hestia, who reiterated that Vahn was currently on a mission to track down a girl named Haruhime. Afterward, Loki calmed down a bit since she knew it would be adverse to her position if she tried to pressure Vahn on the matter. Instead, she said she would pass information to the expedition party and have them return early in the event that things grew out of their control. She also told Hestia that, if Vahn was in any kind of trouble, Loki would be willing to mobilize all her forces to help Vahn out...Once the conversation had calmed down a bit, Syr actually changed the atmosphere a bit by asking about Hephaestus's experience with Vahn. Though Hephaestus didn't immediately answer, Syr's question caused some of the other girls to express interest, including Loki and Hestia. Since she wasn't ashamed of her interactions with Vahn, Hephaestus eventually caved in and started recounting several of the details about their interaction. The more she talked, the more heated things became and she even boldly declared to the group that she had let Vahn leave his maker's mark on her backside...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Hephaestus's Doki Doki Time','Baby in the Oven : Confirmation','Story Time With Hephaestus...')If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the ******* link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful &lt;3https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $718/1200 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

(A/N: This is also an intermission/side story)In the depths of the 30th floor of the dungeon, a beautiful golden-haired swordswoman stood facing three giant monsters that were more than five meters in height. They were covered in blood-colored scales that were incredibly resistant to both physical and magical attacks and appeared reminiscent of large dinosaurs and pseudo-wyverns. Not only were their sizes great, but their power was awesome as they thrashed about trying to crush the relatively small, by comparison, girl. Each of their strikes shattered the floor of the dungeon and sent small clouds of smoke and debris shooting through the air like lethal shrapnel.The creatures were known as Bloodsaurus and they were typically hunted by an entire party of adventurers. Though they weren't fast, they were incredibly powerful and most attacks weren't very effective unless the person was capable of penetrating through their thick hides. However, seemingly unaware of the supposed durability of their scales, the small girl dashed along the ground before kicking off with enough force to shatter her foothold. Shooting like a bullet, the girl was wrapped in small green particles of wind as she used the holy looking sword within her grip to instantly behead one of the monstrous creatures.Ignoring their fallen comrade, the other two Bloodsauras tried to crush the girl but she managed to evade their lethal blows easily. While they were distracted, a loud shout came from above one of the Bloodsaurus as a small, brown-skinned, girl fell from the sky and smashed her gigantic weapon into the back of the second monster and shattered its spine. From the impact point, an invisible pulse of energy radiated outwards before collapsing in on itself and crushing the internal organs of the Bloodsaurus. This was the [Crushing Blow: A] function of the gigantic weapon and something that always caused the brown-skinned girl to laugh gleefully. Her job done, she vaulted off the Bloodsaurus and flipped upside down in the sky while drawing a smooth arc through the air before landing lightly on her bare feet.For the final Bloodsaurus, there was another brown-skinned woman garbed in red, very revealing, clothing who attempted to decapitate the monster with her twin blades. Though she managed to cut through the thick hide easily, she wasn't able to sever the entire head without performing a sweeping spin, landing back on the ground, and then kicking off with force to attack the same spot for the third time. The last Bloodsaurus collapsed to the ground as she stared at the powerful blades in her hands with a mild grimace on her face.Off to the side, the main group of the Loki Familia had been watching the engagement with unveiled intrigue on their face. Ever since they had set out on the expedition, the three girls had been a force to be reckoned with and had been tearing through the monsters much faster than normal. Finn was very impressed with their performance and even thought to request Vahn to forge him a more powerful weapon in the future. He was currently using the spear Vahn had forged, but it wasn't nearly as strong as the weapons used by the three girls. Even Lefiya had an incredible useful staff that had caused Riveria's eyes to light up when she had seen it in action.Once the three monsters were taken care of, the support party moved forward and began to harvest the resources from the corpse before it dissipated into ashes. The hide from the Bloodsaurus could be treated and turned into low-grade communication scrolls while their blood could be converted into the magical ink necessary for their use. It took about 40 liters of blood to create a single liter of ink after it had been processed. Since it was almost impossible to refine within the dungeon, most people didn't waste time trying to collect the blood even though it was an incredible source of income.Finn approached the three girls, who were Ais, Tiona, and Tione respectively and said, "Very well done, you three are performing excellently lately." In response to his words, Ais showed a happy smile as she stared at the unblemished [Gram] that Vahn had made for her. Tiona had a somewhat silly smile on her face as she remarked with a laugh, "Did you see me crush it~? Every time I smash a monster, it gets my blood pumping~." As if giving homage to the name, Tiona spun around happily with [Dance of the Amazon] in her hands. Even though it didn't have the incredible endurance of [Urga], Tiona liked [Dance of the Amazon] much more since it made her feel light on her feet. There was also much less impact on her hands whenever she hit something and the ability [Crushing Blow] was very satisfying.The only person who seemed dissatisfied by Finn's compliment was, surprisingly, Tione. Even though she would normally love to hear him say complimentary words to her, she couldn't help but frown as she looked at Tiona and Ais before sheathing her twin swords. Though she was fond of the two blades, since they were quite beautiful and intricately designed, she became increasingly aware that they were a much lower quality than the weapons wielded by the two girls.Finn had an awkward smile on his face, because he was the most aware of the changes in Tione as of late. She was always trying to compete with Ais and Tiona but seemed to be falling behind a bit compared to the other two girls. Since she considered herself the 'older' sister, Tione's pride had taken a bit of a hit during this expedition and she had been complaining to him when they set up camp in the evenings.After turning things over to Raul, Finn returned to their encampment with the rest of the main party, including Gareth, Riveria, Bete, and Lefiya. Though he had made rude remarks when he first saw the weapons, Bete had quickly learned that his comments were misplaced. He thought that the weapons were either baubles created by an incompetent blacksmith or something that Vahn had purchased to try and woo the girls. When he learned that Vahn had personally forged them and saw their efficacy in combat, Bete couldn't help but keep his silence around the girls while he vented his concerns to Gareth over alcohol in private. Ever since he was, more or less, spurned by the girls, Bete had been in a tense mood and had required 'outside assistance' from an Amazon girl at the red light district to ease his tensions. Now that he had been away for so long, Bete wanted to return to the surface and relax away from the 'pink' mood of the two 'idiot girls'.When they were settling in for the night, the girls had gathered together in their shared tent and started talking about various matters until the conversation eventually transitioned to a topic they had discussed often lately. Tiona had a happy expression on her face and was polishing her [Dance of the Amazon] as she remarked, "I can't wait to see Vahn again~! It feels like it has been so long, I wonder if he has become even stronger~?" Tione heard her sisters comment and nearly spat the words, "Bah, all you do is talk about that kid non-stop lately! Look at you, you're behaving like more of an idiot every day..."Without taking any offense at all, Tiona laughed in a silly manner and said, "You're just jealous that Vahn gave me and Ais such powerful weapons~. Even Lefiya got a pretty good staff and all you got were a pair of butter knives, ehehehe~!" Piggybacking off Tiona's words, Ais smiled and said, "Nnn, very powerful. I like this sword...it is my favorite." There was a confident glint in Ais's eyes as she stared into the reflective surface of [Gram]. Unlike her other swords, which always broke after a certain amount of time passed, [Gram] seemed completely capable of resisting her techniques. Even without polishing, its luster never faded and Ais had never seen so much as a drop of blood mar its beautiful white surface.Tione gnashed her teeth at the two girls and looked at her intricately designed swords as if they were useless. If not for the fact they were actually much stronger than her previous pair, Tione would have thought Vahn had pulled the wool over her eyes. She knew he had gifted her the blades with good intentions, but now his kindness was a constant reminder of her own failures as of late. Even if she knew that Vahn wasn't ostracizing her, Tione felt a little annoyed that he didn't show her at least as much attention as her own twin. It didn't help that Finn continued to deny her advances and had even plainly stated that he would only ever marry and have babies with another Pallum.Even when she promised to use the medicine so she wouldn't get pregnant, Finn still denied her constantly and didn't fall for any of her ploys to get him drunk. She had even tried to slip him an aphrodisiac, but he managed to trick her into drinking the glass she had offered him before having Riveria heal her while Tiona and Ais detained her. Ever since that incident, Tione had felt the distance between her and Finn grow marginally and she had nobody else to blame but herself.Lefiya had seen the tensions increasing in the atmosphere and tried to ease the mood a bit by saying, "When we return to the surface, we'll be able to put in a request with Hephaestus-sama and have some custom equipment made. I'm certain she would be able to make you a pair of swords that would even exceed Tiona and Ais's weapons." Though she had said the words to encourage Tione, it didn't help that she was constantly carrying around [Heal] like it was a precious treasure.Tione released a long sigh after looking at Lefiya 'cradling' her staff and said, "Even if Hephaestus forged me a pair of powerful weapons, I feel like Vahn would give them something more powerful than anything I received...Graaaaah~!" Unable to release her own frustrations, Tione fell back onto the ground and rolled around while clutching her head. The other three girls in the tent stared at her like she had lost her mind until Tiona began laughing mischievously. Hearing her own sister laughing at her suffering, Tione glared at her and said, "Don't laugh at me, I'm still the big sister! Even my boobs are getting much bigger than your's!"After Tione's outburst, Tiona just began to laugh loudly as she playfully said, "I might have cared before, but I know Vahn doesn't care about that kind of thing at all~! All I have to do is walk up to Vahn and ask him to kiss me and he would willingly do so. If we're alone, he might even fondle my butt...or maybe a lot more ya know~?" Tione shot up from the ground and had tears in her angry eyes as she shouted, "Don't rub it in Tiona! You're not so special to Vahn after all. Hell, I bet if Lefiya or I tried, Vahn would willingly have sex with both of us as well!"Suddenly being dragged into such a dangerous conversation, Lefiya blushed so quickly and fiercely that a 'pah' sound came from her head and she collapsed backward with her eyes spinning around. Instead of refuting her words outright, Tiona nodded and said, "I don't think Vahn would just sleep with anyone, but I think he'd consider you and Lefiya. I think it might be a long time until then though since Lefiya is still too young for things like that~?" Since Ais had waited until her birthday, she also nodded and said, "Lefiya needs to wait...maybe in a year?"Hearing Ais's words, Lefiya flustered even more and said, "I-I don't think...I don't think that Vahn and I suit each other...waaaaaah." As Lefiya spoke, Ais looked over at her and cocked her head to the side and asked, "You don't like...Vahn?" Ais suddenly seemed to have become a bit sad as she turned her head down and began to polish the flawless surface of [Gram]. Before Lefiya could say anything to 'console' Ais, Tione looked at Tiona and asked incredulously, "What makes you think I would even let him sleep with me? You know I like the Captain and want to have his children."Tiona still had a smile on her face, but she stopped laughing as she said plainly, "I want things to work out between you and the Captain, but I don't think things will ever go the way you want. There is more than a twenty-five year age gap between you and the Captain is completely dedicated to his ideals. Unless he eventually married a Pallum girl and raised an heir, I don't think he would ever sleep with you. I can't imagine you waiting another ten, or more, years without losing your patience and doing something you regret. Besides, you have to be pretty dense if you think we haven't noticed the way you act around Vahn. Even if it's because of jealousy or you just wanting to tease him, you definitely don't have your guard up against him at all, do you?"The whole while Tiona was speaking, Tione furrowed her brows low without responding. Everything her little sister was saying was the cold, hard, truth of the matter and there was nothing she could do to change it. Even if she pushed things even further, it would only widen the gap between her and Finn instead of shortening it. Vahn, however, was always nice to her and paid her plenty of compliments even when she was pushing the boundaries a bit to get even with Tiona. If not for the fact she was in love with Finn, Tione would have pursued Vahn as well since he also had the self-sacrificing mentality that she found to be attractive. Tione just didn't want to give up on her first love, even though, as her sister said, there was more than a twenty-five year age gap between her and Finn. When compared to Vahn, who was actually similar in age to herself, it seemed to be a much more sensible to pursue him instead of Finn...Tiona watched her elder sister silently contemplate matters for a while before saying, "Vahn promised that, when we finally have children together, that we would be able to raise them as a family." Tione raised her head and frowned as she said, "That isn't possible, you know the customs..." Tiona immediately shook her head and said confidently, "No, I believe in Vahn. If he says it is possible, I know it will come to pass somehow. You've seen it as well, how much effort he puts into things. Vahn wouldn't say something like that unless he had a plan of action that had a certain degree of success. If it's him, I think our children can live free from the tragedy of growing up in Telskyura."Before Tione could respond, Ais nodded her head and said, "Vahn always tells the truth. He will become the strongest." Hearing Ais, Tione looked between the two smitten girls and could see a fiery confidence burning deep without their eyes. Though she had trouble believing their words, Tione also thought that Vahn was a pretty reliable guy, just not to the almost fanatic extent of Tiona and Ais. Looking over, she saw Lefiya had a thoughtful expression on her face so she asked, "What do you think, Lefiya? Do you think Vahn is as reliable as these two idiots claim?"Though surprised to be addressed, Lefiya calmed down and considered her words before holding up the [Heal] in her hands and saying, "An item like this staff, according to Riveria's and my research, shouldn't be possible. No matter how much we try to understand it's structure, we only get closer and closer to an infinite number of complexities instead of finding any answers. If Vahn created this staff, he is capable of things that fundamentally alter thousands of years of magical research and study...I think...I think he is very reliable." Toward the end of her words, Lefiya blushed beet red and lowered her head while holding the staff to her budding breasts.Tiona frowned further because she knew that Lefiya was a magical prodigy and that Riveria was the most preeminent mage in the entire City. If they weren't able to crack the logic behind the staff, it meant that Vahn's capabilities were revolutionary. She also knew he had invented several things that revolutionized forging in the past as well...Though she had never considered it before, Vahn seemed to defy common sense and always pushed himself ever closer to his goals. If he really told Tiona that he would guarantee they could raise their children, even she was beginning to believe there was some truth to the claim. Releasing a sigh, Tione looked toward the direction of Finn's tent and muttered to herself, "Captain, if you don't take me soon..."Before Tione could finish her utterance, Finn entered through the flap of the tent next Riveria and said, "We'll be returning to the surface sooner than expected. Loki-sama sent notice that there might be an incident going on related to Vahn and the Alliance. Make sure to head to sleep soon since we'll be heading out very early." Without waiting for their response, Finn nodded his head with a smile and left the tent with Riveria. Before they left, Riveria looked back and saw the various degrees of excitement on each girls face and said, "Looks like you'll be able to enjoy a date with Vahn again pretty soon."Ais had a contented smile on her face as Tiona placed away her [Dance of the Amazon] and shouted, "I'm going to sleep~!" Lefiya had a slight blush on her face and began to change into her sleepwear as well while Tione, the only one who had been excited for a different reason, stood blankly and stared at the flap where Finn had just exited. Since she had just been thinking about him, Tione got excited when he showed up so suddenly. Now that he left without even giving her any personal words, she felt slightly bereaved and shouted, "Captain, you idioooooot~!"Finn, who had just left the tent to inform the rest of the encampment paused for a moment and had an incredulous look on his face as he asked Riveria, "Riveria, did I do something wrong?" Hearing his word, Riveria had a thoughtful expression for a moment before explaining, "Maybe she thought you were going to do some night crawling? It's hard to tell when it comes to Tione at times..." Finn released a deep sigh and rubbed his temples as he began walking away from the tent once again. After a few seconds, he remarked, "I hope she doesn't stress herself out too much. Even though I respect her feelings, I wish she would respect mine a bit...it isn't a simple matter for me to make such concessions. I guess that's just a part of youth..."Since Finn was 38 and Riveria was 97, they were both some of the more mature members of the Familia alongside Gareth who was 54. When Finn had defeated Tione a few years ago, he never expected that she would become so obsessed with him and it was one of the matters that plague his thoughts on several nights. He almost wished someone would come along and defeat her so she wouldn't be so stressed out all the time...for a brief moment, the figure of an aquamarine eyed boy passed through Finn's mind before he shook his head and muttered, "I hope he doesn't cause us even more trouble..."(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'SMASHING~!','Tione's Envy','Finn's Never-Ending Troubles')I am currently at $731/1200 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

After making their way inside, Vahn looked over the Manor and noticed Hestia was still asleep in the room. Since she had some bags under her eyes, Vahn assumed she either didn't sleep last night or had trouble sleeping before he finally woke up. Thinking about the best course of action, Vahn just walked toward the study that was nearby the dining room and sat on one of the large sofas that were spread throughout the Manor. Milan sat next to him while he quietly pampered Tina who had tucked her face into his collar and soaked his tunic with warm tears.Milan leaned against Vahn's shoulder and laid her head next to where Tina's was as she gently stroked the back of her own daughter. She knew why she was acting this way, as she too felt a bit of melancholy after seeing Vahn in his Cat Person form. Though Vahn didn't look much like her husband, they actually had the same chestnut brown hair and somewhat similar heights and builds so it was easy to overlay them atop each other especially when he treated them kindly.If not for the difference in facial structure and demeanor, it would have been easy to mistake Vahn for her former husband at a glance. Since Tina had lost her father at a very young age, she didn't have the greatest memory of him and only the primary features stuck in her mind. This made it so that, even though she knew it was Vahn before her, the trust and comfort she felt from him triggered her recollection of her father and caused her to have a small breakdown.After a few minutes, Tina's choked voice sounded out through the silence, "You aren't my Papa..." Even though her words sounded harsh, Tina still hugged Vahn tightly and shook a bit before repeating the words, "You aren't my Papa..." Vahn continued to stroke her back gently and made eye contact with Milan who stared back at him with her golden eyes with a somewhat tired look. She didn't seem to know what to say either since Tina's word were the truth and they actually didn't have the relationship where Vahn would be considered her step-father either.Vahn hummed slightly before a small smile appeared on his face as he cocked his head to the side to look into Tina's face. When she saw him look at her, Tina turned her head away as if she were refusing to look at him while he was still in his transformation. When he was about to speak up, Tina interrupted his words by saying, "I don't want this...I don't want you to treat me like a child..." However, even though her words were a refusal, Tina didn't let go of Vahn's neck and continued to cling to him.Since he could sense her struggle, Vahn wasn't sure of what to say and just continued consoling her by rubbing Tina's back gently. He wanted to say he didn't treat her like a child, that he actually considered her more sensible than himself, but Vahn didn't know how to say the words in a way that would benefit the current situation. As if she had never expected him to say something to begin with, Tina continued, "I will continue to work hard...I will become stronger and stronger...so for now...please just comfort me for a little longer..."Until the end of the outside training session, Vahn sat aside Milan as they leaned into each other while both comforting the small cat girl. They all remained silent and enjoyed the atmosphere between the three of them until Tina's ears twitched at the sound of people entering through the back door. After taking a few deep breaths, Tina finally pulled her head away from Vahn's shoulder and looked into his aquamarine eyes with a somewhat sad, yet hopeful, expression. Vahn returned a small smile and moved his hand to stroke her hair, but she leaned forward and gave him a small peck on the lips before crawling down from his lap and the sofa.Milan and the blankly staring Vahn watched Tina trot away and exit through the door without saying a word. Vahn saw her presence bolt through the corridor as soon as the door closed and she seemed to be running off to the girls changing room before anyone else was able to get there. He suspected she probably wanted to jump into the water and hide the evidence of her tears or potentially relax a bit before returning to her usual self.From his left, Milan suddenly said, "Vahn...do you really think all of this is okay?" Since they had still been leaning into each other, Vahn could feel Milan's warmth as he turned to look into her golden eyes. He could see the same kind of hesitation that she had when he first asked her and Tina to live with him. Vahn thought about his answer for a moment before saying, "I just want the both of you to be happy. It might seem strange, maybe even rude, but I don't see you and Tina as romantic interests currently. Though I think you're very beautiful and would like to be with you someday, I don't think we're ready for that type of relationship at all. Tina is cute, but she is also very young... I can tell the affection she has for me is warped slightly and I think exposing her to people that can help her grow is better than ignoring her..."Even though Vahn expressed that he didn't see her in a romantic light, Milan didn't pull away or have an adverse reaction to his words. She also didn't see Vahn in that way and was simply trying to help ease her own daughter's tensions. Though she thought he was very handsome and had even 'comforted' herself to his image, Milan was bound by her own sensibilities and the fact that her daughter was also interested in Vahn. She did want to spend time with Vahn, because it had been a long time and she had some minor frustrations, but Milan also knew what kind of situation they were all in. Milan knew that, if she was truly hurting, Vahn would care for and protect her...even if she took some liberties with him. The only thing that kept her from taking that step was the existence of Tina, the only person she truly loved in her life presently.Since Milan remained quiet and just snuggled against him, Vahn mentally sighed in relief since he thought she might be offended by his words. With a small smile on his face, Vahn continued, "There is a lot of time...we don't have to think about everything and make decisions that will affect the rest of our lives right now. I think, when you're ready, you and Tina can live here and become stronger alongside the rest of the Familia. Even if you don't want to go into the dungeon, this place will always be a welcoming home to the two of you..."Milan nodded her head slowly and her ears tickled Vahn's neck a bit as she said, "Thank you Vahn...for everything you've done for us..." Rising from his shoulder, Milan showed one of the few genuine smiles Vahn had seen on her ever since the incident. In a manner similar to Tina, Milan leaned forward and gave Vahn a slightly prolonged, yet simple, kiss. When she pulled away, she whispered, "Thanks for everything you will do for us as well...I don't know how our lives might have been if we never met you, but I know they would have been over if you never came to save us...truly, thank you..." With one last peck on the lips, Milan smiled before flicking Vahn's cat ear and making it twitch. As she walked away to go prepare breakfast, Milan chuckled, "Cat ear's look adorable on you, but I feel like your normal appearance is more suitable~nya."As if reminded by her words, Vahn returned to his normal appearance as he watched Milan's back exit through the door. After a few seconds of silence passed through the room, Vahn laid back on the couch and released a somewhat exasperated sounding sigh. He couldn't help but feel that, even though he was supposed to be relaxing, his body was in even higher tensions after everything that had happened. He actually didn't mind physical exhaustion much, it was the mental strain of dealing with emotional situations that weighed heavily on his heart and mind. Vahn began to wonder if he needed to be more decisive at times and pay more attention to the mental states of others before he took action. Even though it was rarely his intention, Vahn's actions seemed to always trigger some event that caused emotional development in himself or others...he began to, for the first time, feel like he needed to be less invested in the lives of others if he wanted to actually relax.Since all of the girls were bathing presently, the only other presences roaming around were Hestia, who had woken up, Milan, who was in the kitchen, and a mellow aura that Vahn was almost certain belonged to Preasia. He could see her wandering about the corridors slowly, almost as if she was looking for something. Since she hadn't participated in the training, she didn't join the other girls in the bath and also didn't go toward the dining room where everyone would be gathering. Using contextual evidence, Vahn was almost certain she was looking for him...it felt like, even if he didn't take action, just like this, someone would come to find him...Though he wanted to help her, Vahn knew Preasia was in an unstable mental state and it would probably be detrimental if they got close so soon after he healed her body. It was simply way too soon and she would probably become emotionally attached to and overly reliant on him if he tried consoling her. Vahn already noticed that she was often staring at him, even when he turned his attention towards her. Though he didn't know what was going through her mind, Vahn didn't think it would be healthy for either of them if they were alone together so he stood up from the sofa and made his way toward one of the nearby windows.Vahn unlatched the lock on the window and opened it enough that he could squeeze through and step out into the cold morning air. Since he was on the first floor, it was easy to close the window behind him and then he jumped up to the roof by rebounding off one of the support struts of the Manor. Without stopping in his normal spot, Vahn continued to climb higher until he found his footing and used Shundo to leap to the highest spot in the eastern wing. He somewhat felt ashamed to 'flee' away from his own Manor, but Vahn believed it was the best course of action other than plainly rebuffing Preasia.After laying down on the cold tiles of the roof, Vahn actually enjoyed the refreshingly cold air and the breeze blowing over his body. Even though he could resist the cold with his [Heart of the Eternal Flame], Vahn restricted the skill somewhat and allowed the cold to wash over him and spread through his body for a bit. For around an hour, Vahn just laid on the roof in silence until he felt a pulse of energy pass through his body that sounded a small alarm in his mind. It wasn't his 'instincts' kicking in, but Vahn knew he had been 'detected' so he assumed Mikoto had used her skill to look for him.Warming up his body for a few seconds, Vahn tilted his body and used Shundo to connect a point between the roof and the ground. He could jump off normally without problems, but he didn't want to leave a hole in the courtyard that would have to be fixed later. After landing, he made his way through the front door and walked toward the kitchen where everyone was waiting for him. The cold air had helped to clear his mind a bit, so Vahn felt somewhat refreshed as he walked into the warm room and saw the faces of his friends, Familia, and loved ones. He even passed his eyes over Preasia, who stared at him silently through her shaggy, platinum blonde, bangs.After greeting everyone, Vahn sat at the table next to Ryuu and Hestia and looked around to notice that Haruhime and Mikoto were still wearing their kimono. Vahn even suspected that Haruhime might still be without panties so he commented, "This afternoon, Ryuu can take a few of you into town to purchase clothes and other necessary items. Our Familia increased by a large amount in the last few days and I know not everyone has a proper change of clothes to wear presently."Since Vahn knew they would probably want to go with him if he offered, he decided to throw out Ryuu's name without asking her permission. She didn't seem to mind at all and simply nodded her head in response to his words. Haruhime seemed happy at the idea of going shopping, but Vahn had an apologetic smile on his face as he said, "Sorry Haruhime, until the matter with the Ishtar Familia is settled, I'd like for you to stay in the Manor. There will be plenty of time in the future to do other shopping and explore the City, and I'll even escort you myself when the time comes."Though she was a bit dejected at first, Haruhime placed the tips of her fingers together and had a happy expression on her face as she said, "I'm looking forward to it~! Please make sure it's just the two of us when the time comes." Since it wasn't the first time a girl wanted a 'personal date' with him, Vahn just decided to agree to Haruhime's wish. She had lived a difficult life and a single date wasn't asking for much from him other than a bit of his time.After Vahn agreed to her request, Haruhime was in a good mood as she slowly picked at her food with chopsticks and ate happily. Everyone began to make polite conversation with each other and the atmosphere was loosening up a bit as the girls started discussing what they wanted to buy. Since Vahn had made a small fortune when he sold some high-quality equipment to the Guild in the past, he wasn't really hurting for money and didn't mind if they spent a fair amount.Many of the girls had nothing were almost forced into a life of servitude and darkness so Vahn wanted to help ease their hearts a bit. If spending a little money could make them happy, Vahn didn't mind spending it all if he had to. Since he was now a [Master Smith], as long as he put in enough effort a single piece of equipment he made could be worth several tens-of-millions of Valis. Though he still wanted to pay back Hephaestus one day, Vahn didn't think she would actually accept the money even if he offered it to her.After breakfast, the girls go together a huge group that consisted of Ryuu, Fenrir, Emiru, Maemi, Mikoto, Milan, and Tina. Though she wore other clothes every now and then, Hestia usually wore her godly dress when around the Manor. Haruhime's living essentials and clothing would be purchased by Mikoto and Preasia's would be dealt with by Milan. Since Preasia was still recovering her mental state, it wasn't safe for her to be exposed to large crowds and busy places where it would be easy to bump into other people. Even if she were in a large group of other girls, there was always a small possibility something might happen and she was the least capable of defending herself.When everyone had left, Hestia asked Vahn, "So, you have relaxation time until lunch. Did you have anything planned?" Ever since their interaction this morning, Vahn noticed Hestia had been acting rather reserved compared to her former self. She had a gentle smile and a steady aura and Vahn could see a perpetual sparkle in her deep blue eyes. After thinking about her question for a bit, Vahn said, "I think I'll just lounge about in the library in the western wing. I want to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet and simply read books for a bit." Vahn had the ability to purchase thousands of books relatively cheaply through the system, so he had devoted an entire section of the western wing into a library in the past.Hestia nodded her head before grabbing the wrists of the excited Haruhime and the timid Preasia and dragging them away. Haruhime's ears began to bob and she said, "Hestia-sama, I want to go read as well." In response to her words, Hestia said plainly, "You have plenty of books in your own room and Vahn needs time to relax on his own. He wouldn't be able to focus and stay calm if there are people around to distract him. Besides, there is a lot we need to talk about...I heard about the incident with Fenrir earlier..." Hearing Hestia's tone, and seeing the blaming look in her eyes, Haruhime couldn't help but feel like she should apologize. She remembered Vahn's earlier reaction and knew she had probably done something wrong. Just as she was about to say something, as they had already gotten far away from Vahn, Hestia whispered, "Besides, I wanted to ask you some other questions...I don't want Vahn to overhear us."Though she was briefly confused, Haruhime seemed to realize what Hestia was talking about and she muttered in a cheerful voice, "Certainly~! I'm glad to be of help Hestia-sama. In exchange, you have to tell me how Vahn reacted though..." A glimmer passed through the blue eyes of Hestia and the green eyes of Haruhime for a moment as they made eye contact with each other. Preasia, who had been silently dragged along by Hestia, was previously staring back toward Vahn but now perked her ears up a bit at the conversation.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Not the Papa!','It's like chewing five gum','Haruhime's Corruption Spreads')If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the ******* link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful &lt;3https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $718/1200 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 268: Network