Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

For the remainder of the three hour period where he couldn't move, Hestia laid against Vahn's body and had nuzzled her head into his neck where she had periodically kissed him. Even though he couldn't put any strength into his body, Vahn could still feel the pleasant sensation of Hestia's light body and soft breasts pressing against him. There was even a trickle of warmth on his abdomen that made his heart itch a bit. It was a strange feeling since Vahn almost felt like he was at the mercy of others in his current state. Strangely, he didn't feel afraid though since he placed a lot of trust in Hestia, even though she could be a little 'intimidating' at times.When the dormancy period finally ended, Hestia had still been nuzzling against him and Vahn moved his arms to embrace her back. The moment he moved, Hestia's body twitched a bit and she raised her face to stare into Vahn's eyes with a very excited and happy expression as she said, "Vaaaaahn, you finally woke up~!" As she spoke, Hestia rubbed her cheek against Vahn's and began to shower his face with kisses soon after. Vahn returned her kisses a bit until she started to release hot breaths against his neck and he had to put a stop to her advances by gently pinching her fleshy, marshmallow-like, butt.Hestia slowed her actions a bit and had a forlorn look on her face as she asked, "Do we really have to go...? We can skip dinner and there is always time to spend with other girls later." Since her weight was almost negligible to him, Vahn sat up and guided Hestia's body so that she was sitting on his lap. Though her genitals pressed against his, Vahn didn't have any reaction and just loosely embraced Hestia as he said, "I can't fathom what it was like to live for so long Hestia...so I can't really understand what you're going through right now. All I know is, I love you dearly...but I also have to live my life to the fullest and do my best. There will always be time for us to show our love, but we can't avoid our responsibilities and ignore the presence of others..."Hestia lowered her head with a sad look and muttered, "I feel like everything that is happening will just be a blip in my life...even if you live for hundreds of years, I'm afraid it won't leave a big enough impact on my heart to last for the rest of eternity. I want to savor the time we have together since I know there won't be as much time in the future...I don't want to ever love anyone else, so please make me unable to forget you Vahn."Vahn stroked one of the long twin-tails of Hestia before moving his hand to tilt her chin up so they could lock eyes. With a loving expression and a serious look in his eyes, Vahn said, "Listen to me Hestia...look into my eyes and know I'm telling you the truth. No matter what, I will never leave you to suffer an eternity alone. I don't know how, but I promise that we'll be together forever..." Vahn didn't know how, but he knew it would be possible for him to return to the record if he put in enough effort. Even if he was one day forced to leave because of the strength of his own soul, Vahn would find a way to return one day or at least create a bridge between the record of Danmachi and other worlds.Though she thought he was just trying to console her, Hestia could see the serious look in Vahn's eyes and she heard the confidence in his voice. Since he was almost incapable of lying, she knew he was telling the truth and would try to keep his promise. Though the anxiety in her heart didn't fade, Hestia could feel a bit of relief welling up inside of her and trying to push out the negative emotions. Everything about Vahn pushed against the walls of common-sense, and she believed he would be able to find a way and they would be able to stay together forever.With a happy smile on her face, Hestia grabbed the sides of Vahn's face and gave him a simple kiss that contained a lot of emotion. Their lips overlapped in a single motion and she held his face against hers for several seconds before separating. As she prepared to move off of his body, Hestia gave him a coy look and dragged herself across Vahn's lower body before finally turning away. The petal on the bed began to gather toward her with a mysterious light and Vahn watched the entire scene with an amorous look in his eyes. Hestia was a very beautiful goddess, and she had a plump butt even though she was rather petite.After they both got dressed, the two made their way downstairs and headed toward the dining room. It wasn't yet time for dinner, but the majority of everyone present had gathered there. The only people missing were Tione, Tiona, Emiru, Maemi, Lefiya, and Anakitty. Vahn could detect four presences in the kitchen, so he knew they were preparing the meal for everyone present. Since the twins weren't that great at cooking, Vahn was hoping that Lefiya and Anakitty would be a good influence on them. He had never tasted their cooking, but Vahn assumed it would be better than braised or roasted meat.Vahn turned his attention to a nearby room and could sense to similar presences and assumed they were Tione and Tiona. He could see that Tione's aura was unstable and her affection had hit 99(Love) so Vahn knew she had undergone a drastic change. Tiona was probably trying to help her calm down and they were likely waiting for Ais and Lefiya to finish eating before heading home. Vahn released a short sigh because he realized it was very difficult to live as an Amazon when their urges had such a powerful influence over their actions.Everyone present was happy to see Vahn on his feet, but it was Haruhime and Fenrir that had reacted first since they had sensitive noses and ears. Fenrir ran forward and grabbed around Vahn's waist as she rubbed the side of her face against his chest and said, "Vahn is better now, Fenrir happy." Since it was uncommon for Fenrir to act 'affectionately' Vahn stroked her ears with [Hands of Nirvana] and said, "Sorry for worrying you Fenrir, I'm super okay now." Fenrir nodded her head and repeated his words in her own way, "Super duper okay~?"At this time, Haruhime also approached and had her characteristic elegant appearance with droopy eyes. Vahn could see a bit of moisture building up in her eyes as she smiled toward him so he reached out his free hand and stroked her hair and ears as well. Seeing everyone feel concern for him, Vahn felt very warm on the inside and looked toward everyone in the room with a gratified expression on his face. After settling the two girls, Vahn sat next to Ais with Hestia still clinging to his body a bit. Ais stared at her actions with interest before leaning against Vahn as well with a small smile on her face.Haruhime seemed to want to participate as well, but she didn't see any gaps in the atmosphere for her to exploit at all. She sat next to Mikoto with slightly drooping ears while sipping away at her tea. Throughout the entire series of events, Preasia just remained silent and continued staring at Vahn. He had noticed her look and gave her an appreciative smile which caused a brief hint of a smile to appear on her own face before she lowered her head further.After a while, the four girls in the kitchen started bringing out the food and Lefiya nearly dropped the dishes she was carrying when she saw Vahn sitting with everyone. A blush immediately covered her face because she was calling the events during the bath. She had a slight hope that Vahn wouldn't wake up before she left, but now she had to face him head-on before she had time to calm down. Vahn saw her actions and also had a hint of blush appear on his face as he said, "Thank you for taking care of me Lefiya..." The fierce blush covering her face turned a deep crimson as her ears began to waggle up and down in an adorable manner that Vahn had never seen before. In a very quiet voice, almost like a squeak, Lefiya said, "I'm happy to help..."From Vahn's left, he heard Hestia mutter in a voice that she probably didn't intend for him to hear, "Another one falls..." Vahn pretended to ignore her words before placing out a few dishes of his own that he had kept in his inventory. The majority of the food prepared by the four girls were lighter items like stew and salad, so Vahn complimented things with a few items of his own. Looking over, Vahn made eye contact with Anakitty and said, "Sorry for everything that happened earlier. I wanted to welcome you to the Familia Anakitty." She showed a polite smile and responded, "Please, call me Aki, all my friends and companions call that. I'll be in your care from now on Vahn, but I will also do my best to meet any expectations you might have for me."Vahn returned her smile with one of his own and said, "Welcome to the Familia, Aki." Even though Vahn knew she had been sent by Loki, he understood it was probably for the best since he desperately needed stronger members to help look after the weaker girls. He didn't know her capabilities yet, but Aki was a Level 4 and looked to be near twenty years old. Vahn assumed she had a wealth of experience and would be a good influence on the other girls in the future. His only concern, since she had been sent by Loki, was that she was also going to be entering his 'circle' within the future. Not just because of Hestia's influence, but Vahn felt like there were simply too many women around him and the number seemed to constantly be increasing.Setting aside the matter, for now, Vahn started the meal after asking some of the girls to take food to Tiona and Tione and keep them company. Surprisingly, Preasia volunteered to go and was accompanied by Fenrir and the twins, Maemi and Emiru. Vahn gave the girls his thanks before enjoying the meal with the remaining members present. It wasn't very lively since Ais was quiet and Lefiya was absentmindedly picking away at her food without eating much. Hestia just stuck to his side with her eyes closed as if she were sleeping while Mikoto and Haruhime both had good manners and remained relatively silent. However, though the room was quiet, the atmosphere was warm and Vahn enjoyed the peaceful ambiance.After dinner, Vahn escorted the girls through the courtyard before parting ways at the gate after sharing embraces. He gave Tiona and Ais a strong embrace with a short kiss before loosely embracing Tione with a wry smile on his face. She had a mildly frustrated look on her face with a glint of passion in her eyes as she squeezed his ribs with a bit of strength. The last person had been Lefiya who stepped forward with her head down and loosely hugged Vahn without saying anything. She was nearly 20cm shorter than he was, so Vahn had to reach around her shoulders and the center of her back to hug her. After a few seconds passed, Lefiya separated from him before taking her staff from Ais and bowing slightly and turning away with a red face.Vahn watched their departing figures with a hint of melancholy in his eyes even though there was a satisfied smile on his face. Separating from people he cared about always made him feel a little lonely and he almost wished there was more of him to go around. However, though Vahn had thought of the idea of maybe trying to learn shadow clones, he didn't want to rely on such a thing since it seemed very impersonal. Though they might not say anything, Vahn would feel like he wasn't paying proper attention to the girls around him and didn't want to have the type of mentality where he relied on his clones to take action for him. There was also the fact that the technique actually cost 25,000,000OP and he currently had less than 100K.----(A/N: People seem to have a misunderstanding that Vahn can 'buy skills' and simply learn them. This isn't the case at all...Vahn can purchase scrolls and manuals, but he has to learn and comprehend the skills himself. You could argue that 'grimoires' are an exception, but Vahn can't actually purchase grimoires through the shop because they are unique items. There are no duplicate grimoires, and the shop would be able to create an infinite number of them if that weren't the case. For Vahn to acquire a grimoire, at least one from Danmachi, he would have to purchase it with Valis. Keep in mind, he could probably acquire grimoires from another record, but they would probably cost a lot of OP and wouldn't necessarily function the same way as the grimoires in Danmachi at all.)----After seeing the girls off, Vahn returned to the Manor and was intercepted by Hestia in the foyer. Since he had already 'taken a bath' earlier, she shepherded him up the stairs even though Vahn wanted to speak with Aki a bit before bed. She gave him the justification that they would be together for the next year at the very least, so there was no reason to find out everything about her on the first night. Vahn couldn't argue with her when she was acting like this, so he eventually snatched up her body before carrying her to their bedroom. He had already seen her blazing reddish-pink aura before he had even entered the Manor and knew she was just trying to seek his affection. After passing his perception over the other presences in the house, Vahn threw Hestia gently onto the bed and another night of 'progress' between them began. By the end of events, Hestia had been left exhausted but had a happy smile on her face because she had passed the 18cm mark. The two then went through their strange ritual of sticking together as they both eventually fell asleep...Though it was still somewhat painful, Vahn began to feel like the current situation was 'normal' and it made him feel strangely comfortable.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Hestia is a little broken','Lefiya's Bashful Behavior','All according to keikaku... (keikaku means plan)')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=14397149

Vahn awoke, not in the comfort of his bed, but in an infinite, cold, dark, void-like space. Even though it felt very lonely at first, Vahn recognized this space and wasn't afraid as he tucked in his body and began expanding his domain. Blazing flames slowly filled the space with an intermixture of azures, golds, and vermillion reds. Vahn enjoyed the powerful feeling as the sphere of flame slowly spread from his body until it became several hundred meters in diameter. Once it reached a stopping point, several pairs of eyes appeared within his domain and slowly took the familiar shapes of his [Rakshasa Body] transformations.Directly in front of him, Vahn could Báihǔ standing proudly but he noticed there were strange runes covering its body compared to the past. Though he wasn't sure how, Vahn could tell that Báihǔ was slowly undergoing a transformation that would likely benefit him in the future. Reaching out his hand, Vahn placed his palm against the crown of Báihǔ's massive head and pet it for a little while as a show of gratitude. Báihǔ had been an important transformation and had been the core of Vahn's fighting style for the last few months. Under his hand, the 10m long white tiger laid down in the void with a 'thud' and began purring ripples of energy that destabilized the surrounding space with a please look in its icy-blue eyes.After a short while passed, Vahn turned his attention to his other three companions, even though they were yet unnamed. Vahn knew he was unable to name them until he had reached the awakening status of [Rakshasa Body] in the real world. He could see a longing look in eyes of the regal looking azure dragon to the east and an almost fervent gaze from the vermillion bird to the south. When he turned his attention to the black turtle to the north, Vahn saw, not longing, but pride within the black and green eyes of the giant turtle. From around its 20m frame, a giant head peaked out and gave a curious glance at Vahn with golden eyes. Vahn had never noticed it before, since he wasn't able to spend much time in this space, but he could see a golden snake-like creature surrounding the body of the black turtle.Vahn floated toward the duo and they bowed low with their heads near each other with an expectant glimmer in their eyes. During his fight with Tione, Vahn had gone from 94% awakening in his turtle form to 100% when he completed his transformation. It had actually been this notification that distracted him a bit and allowed Tione to use his face as a springboard. When he told everyone that it wasn't all her fault, Vahn had meant it...even though he felt very embarrassed to try and explain why he had been in a daze. If possible, he'd like everyone to forget about the matter in the future so he could bury his own shame in the passage of time.Shaking his head, Vahn put the matter behind him and pressed his palms to the heads of the giant turtle and snake before him. For several long seconds, there was absolute silence within the space as a gentle light began closing from the interior of Vahn's pupils. Since he was naked within the space, the tattoo of a turtle and dragon began to appear of Vahn's body as scales began to grow along his arms, shoulders, head, and legs. Green runes began glowing on the scales as a confident look appeared on Vahn's face and he uttered a series of words that shook the entire space around them with their echoes, "Henceforth...you shall be Xuánwǔ."Vahn could see green runes begin to appear along Xuánwǔ's body as it roared powerfully toward the empty void above. Follow its cue, the other three sacred beasts began to release their calls all well. Báihǔ released a deep roar that felt like it could shake the soul, while the vermillion birds cry sounded like the wrath of nature itself. Most impressively was the roar of the azure dragon which overpowered the other three and sounded truly tyrannical as electricity spread around the space around its body. Vahn turned his attention to the two unnamed beasts and promised, "One day...I will name you two as well." With his words finished, Vahn could feel his mind begin to fade and he knew his time in the space had come to an end.When he next opened his eyes, Vahn could feel the comfortable heat of Hestia's body atop his own. He absentmindedly began to stroke her hair and she wriggled about on his body a bit before finally waking up and staring into his face with her clear blue eyes. Without saying anything, she laid her head back down on his chest and Vahn could feel a powerful clamping feeling coming from his nether region that made him clench his teeth slightly without his smile breaking. He could tell she was 'refusing' to part for the time being but Vahn had already expected something similar to happen so he traced his finger along her spine using [Hands of Nirvana].Hestia released a sensual moan as her body began to tremble powerfully before all the tensions in her body faded away. Vahn could feel a trickle of moisture around his member, but the painful clamping had ceased as he pulled up Hestia's body and freed himself from her interior. She had a dissatisfied look in her eyes, but Vahn just continued to kiss her and tend to her body for a bit until she had calmed down. He wasn't certain, but Vahn felt like Hestia was not only trying to adapt her body to him, but his body to her's. Even after they separated, Vahn could feel a phantom sensation coming from his own penis and a strange longing inside of him to be together again.After dressing, Vahn made his way down and rinsed of his body before making his way to the training area and greeting Ryuu. The other girls were still getting ready, and Ryuu was the only one in the backyard for the time being. Vahn noticed she had been looking around at the various holes and craters in the ground with a curious glint in her eyes. Noticing his presence, Ryuu showed a small smile and said, "Good morning Vahn." For some reason, Vahn felt a strange pang of emotion in his heart so he stepped forward and loosely embraced Ryuu's body which caused her eyes to widen slightly.She didn't resist his embrace and eventually put her arms around his back as well and rested her head against his shoulder. Vahn whispered in her nearby ear, "Sorry...I just felt like holding you for a bit." Even Vahn didn't know why the smile of Ryuu had triggered him to take action, but it felt like the right thing to do and he followed his intuition. Angling her head to the side, Ryuu spoke in a low voice, "You don't have to apologize for holding me Vahn. Even I want to enjoy your affections when there is no one else around."Vahn's smile widened and his pressed his head against Ryuu's forehead and rocked their bodies slowly from side-to-side in silence. Just before some of the other girls arrived, Vahn gave Ryuu a short kiss on her light-peach colored lips and enjoyed their softness for a few seconds before parting. Ryuu had a thoughtful look in her eyes as a gentle smile touched her lips until she noticed the arrival of the other girls and turned serious. Afterward, Ryuu met with Aki and they discussed how to help the others girls train and even sparred a bit to get a better understanding of each other's capabilities.Aki used a shortsword and was very agile with impeccable technique, but she wasn't the opponent of Ryuu. After a few minutes of exchanges, Aki had taken on a completely defensive posture and could only deflect the attacks of Ryuu's wooden swordstaff in a vain attempt to prolong the fight. She eventually fell onto the cold ground with a wry smile on her face as she complimented Ryuu's capabilities and commended her for being a capable vice-captain. Ryuu helped her up and paid her a few compliments as well before they started training the slack-jawed girls that had been watching from the sidelines.Vahn had also been watching the fight, and he couldn't help but find the figures of the two girls in combat to be captivating. Ryuu's attacks were smooth and had a fluid-like quality while Aki had a very beautiful and lithe figure with incredible flexibility. She was able to use her sword to parry Ryuu's comparatively heavier attacks and gain some small advantages during the beginning of the fight. Unfortunately, she had no way to keep up with Ryuu's stamina and the fact that her attacks got increasingly stronger based on how fast she was moving.When they were splitting into groups, Aki began training the twins since they didn't seem to have much talent for magic and would likely be pure agility-based fighters. Ryuu ended up training with Haruhime, Fenrir, and even included Mikoto in their routine since she had noticed the 'fluidity' of Ryuu's movements and also used a bit of magic. Haruhime was going down the route of an agile support caster while Mikoto seemed intent on remaining a vanguard unit that specialized in crowd-control magic. Vahn had finally gotten the opportunity to see her gravity magic, Futsunomitama, when she used it to crush a relatively large area of the backyard. Upon activation, a purple sword that triggered his danger senses fell from the sky and collided with purple circles that had isolated a space in the yard. Every time the sword hit a new circle, the gravity within the area compressed further until the ground, approximately 15m in diameter, had flattened and sunk several inches.The major downside behind the magic was how much mana it required to actually use. Since Vahn could see the 'mana' of others if he focused his [Eyes of Truth], he could tell that Mikoto used more than 70% of her total mana just using the spell once. Since she also focused on swordsmanship and keeping her status balanced, Vahn felt like she wouldn't be able to efficiently use the spell in the future unless he could come up with a method to help her expand her mana pool. He wondered if he would be able to make a talisman, or a piece of equipment, that would be able to store excess mana for later usage and actually pulled out a piece of diagram paper and started sketching out the idea. Preasia looked over at his actions from the side in silence since she wasn't participating in the training at all.By the time the training had come to an end, Vahn had drawn several basic designs for a pair of bracers and even a necklace that could be useful for Mikoto. The bracers could be used to replace her current guard, and Vahn figured the necklace would also be suitable for her. He wouldn't admit it, but he had been thinking about Mikoto's visible cleavage and wondered if the necklace would be able to nestle between the growing pair of breasts similar to how the [Sapphire Star] was almost always present between Hestia's.Since it was still a work in progress, Vahn placed away the diagrams and kept it a secret since he didn't want Mikoto to get her expectations up and lose focus of her own progress. Vahn was very aware that an over-reliance on equipment could lead to stagnation and actually affect how parameters increased. For proper growth, you had to fight against monsters of similar skill and constantly push yourself to overcome your limits. If you used powerful equipment to avoid having to fight directly, the only thing you'd affect is your dexterity and magic parameters while your physical stats showed minimal increases.After the training ended, the girls went to bathe while Vahn walked to the library as it had become his habit as of late. Preasia left for the dining room and was going to wait for the others so they could eat breakfast together. She wanted to follow Vahn, but was doing her best to socialize with the others and try to find out how she could be useful. Preasia had no desire to be an Adventurer since she didn't like the idea of killing monsters and facing hardships in a cold and dark environment. Since she had spent a few weeks within a foul 'dungeon', Preasia wasn't in any hurry to return to a similar environment. She instead spent her time reading up on things like mixing, alchemy, and magical formations in the hopes of being able to support everyone without having to actually enter the dungeon herself.In the library, Vahn had been laying down and reading a book related to a hero that slew a red dragon the size of a mountain. It was a foreign fairy tail from another record, and Vahn found the contents very interesting. He was actually very fond of hero stories and had developed a dislike for the tragedy and horror genres since he felt like most of the situations were forced. Since he knew his own capabilities, Vahn couldn't help but put himself in the shoes of the protagonist and wonder why they made such terrible decisions that usually led to themselves, or their friends, getting hurt or killed. He preferred the stories where the hero constantly strove forward and overcame obstacles to eventually achieve his goal and save the greatest number of people. There were still some tragic elements, but Vahn felt like they made the journey of the hero more impactful and gave their inevitable triumph more meaning.After about an hour of solitude, Vahn could feel a gentle, sky-blue, aura tinged with yellows walking toward the library. Since it was different than most girls, Vahn knew it was probably Aki so he sat up from the sofa and placed the book on the table before waiting for her arrival. She entered the room shortly thereafter and looked around at the thousands of books lining the shelves before turning her gaze to Vahn and showing a kind smile that reached her eyes a bit. She performed a small curtsey and flared her short white skirt a bit before saying, "I figured we had a few things that needed to be discussed in private. Sorry if I'm interrupting your relaxation time..."Vahn couldn't help but pass his gaze over Aki a bit and take in the sight of her peculiar beauty. She had the typical lean figure of a cat person but showed an impeccable sense of style with her black, white, and gold attire that enhanced her youthful qualities. Her features were very beautiful and she had a natural smile on her face that emphasized her seemingly kind nature. The only thing that seemed strange was how her tail was almost always curved upwards instead of dangling downwards like most of the cat people he had seen. It drew a natural, s-shaped, curve from the top of her hips and came up till around her shoulders.(A/N: If you're confused about Aki: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oi76HY_tJyQ/maxresdefault.jpg )After releasing a short sigh, Vahn smiled at Aki and said, "It's no bother at all, Aki. As you said, there were several things I wanted to talk to you about. This is a good opportunity..." Vahn placed out a set of tea and snacks on the table which made Aki's smile widen as she put her hands behind her back and walked over in a somewhat cheerful manner before sitting down on the sofa with an appropriate amount of distance between her and Vahn. Before she sat down, she smoothed out her skirt and kept her legs close together to prevent the contents from being accidentally visible. Vahn's brows raised slightly because it was actually almost 'abnormal' compared to some of the girls around him.Aki giggled slightly before picking up a small fish-shaped cracker and nibbling on it a bit before taking a sip of tea. Her tail twitched about slightly and Vahn thought it was an interesting reaction so he ate a few snacks of his own before enjoying the fragrant black tea with a small amount of honey. After a short while, Aki tilted her head a bit and asked, "Are you not going to ask me anything?" Vahn finished sipping his tea before placing it on the table and nodding, "I was thinking about how and what I should ask you. For now, how about you explain your reasoning for coming here. I can't really speak about Loki's behavior...but I know there is a reason behind all of her actions. For you specifically to appear, there must be a greater reason behind it than is apparent from the surface."Aki's expression didn't change much, but she released a short sigh and said, in a very quiet tone, "Loki-sama already gave me permission to speak openly, so...well, it all started...with an idiot boy..."(A/N: I know some people are concerned about my health, so I'll tell you that I'm beginning to recover. I'm still down in the dumps a bit, but I'm feeling much better after sleeping for a good fourteen hours, followed by an additional nine after eating a hearty meal and replenishing my fluids. I'm hoping to be fully recovered by the end of today, so thanks for all your support &lt;3)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Xuánwǔ','Clash Between Vice-Captain and Lieutenant','Don't tell me Aki has a tragic past too...')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=14397149

Chapter 286: A Promise of Forever