Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn followed behind Maemi and reminded her to always be in an alert status while making use of her natural abilities to detect monsters. Since she was a Snow Leopard, she had enhanced eyesight, great hearing, a moderately strong sense of smell, but most importantly, her body was actually extremely flexible. Whenever they were doing their stretching exercises in the morning, Vahn noticed that both Maemi and Emiru were flexible to the point where they could bend their backs and place their own feet over their shoulders. Out of curiosity, he tried to do the same thing later and realized that it was a nearly impossible feat until he pushed himself in his Báihǔ form. This allowed Vahn to realize that the flexibility of their bodies even exceeded his own, which was already developed to a relatively ridiculous level.Maemi's next opponents were a group of goblins, but Vahn finished off the majority until there were only two left. She kept her body low as she dashed forward and Vahn felt like she was trying to emulate how ninjas ran in Naruto for a brief moment until she leaped onto the closest goblin, stabbed it in the head, and then tried to vault away in an inexperienced manner. Her momentum had knocked the goblin back and it made her flip fail to launch her body far but she was able to twist herself and land on her feet regardless. Vahn felt like this was her natural instinct and thought the scene was very interesting to view from his current position. She tried to emulate his 'smooth' movements and swipe away at the remaining goblin, but the majority of her attacks were too shallow because she couldn't properly gauge the distance.Fortunately, she had learned her lesson and immediately moved to create a distance before trying again when the goblin attacked toward her. She used the momentum of its charges to strike at its sides and legs, but Vahn knew that type of moment wasn't suitable for most monsters and would correct her on it later. There needed to be more weight behind her strikes or she would never be able to penetrate the thick hides of the majority of monsters beyond the fifth floor. Vahn started to realize why the twins had chosen the 'weighted' daggers that looked like curved cleavers. They didn't have the physical strength to deal with the monsters quickly and Vahn was wondering if he should ask Chloe to teach them how to properly handle daggers.After a short while, Maemi ended up getting around to the goblins back before stabbing it through the shoulder in the approximate location of its heart. She, fortunately, managed to clip the magic stone in its body which caused it to turn to dust before she fell onto her butt again and drew heavy breaths. Vahn shook his head with a wry smile before using Shundo to appear next to her and calming her body by placing his palm on her back. He could use [Hands of Nirvana] to help to remove any muscle strains in her body just like he used to do for Lili back in the day. Maemi's breathing returned to normal after a minute or so passed and she enjoyed the comforting energy on her back in silence before Vahn helped her stand again.She showed a somewhat bashful smile as she placed her index fingers and thumbs together and said, "Thank you very much..." Vahn pat her on the head once before saying, "You're doing well, do you think you can keep going?" Maemi nodded her head confidently and they made their way further into the dungeon until she suddenly came to a stop a few minutes later. Vahn could see her eyes widen a bit as her ears twitched about so he asked, "Is something the matter, Maemi?"She had a small frown on her face as her brows furrowed and she said, "Emiru is in trouble...she is very scared." As she spoke, Maemi's body flinched and she held her hand at her side as she curled over. Vahn reached out to support her by the shoulder and noticed a small puncture wound had actually appeared in her side.Vahn healed the wound with [Hands of Nirvana] and tried to make sense of the situation as he asked, "Has anything like this ever happened before?" Though he wasn't certain, Vahn was relatively sure this had something to do with their Innate ability. Maemi nodded her head and had a concerned look on her face as she explained, "The reason we always stay together, is because whenever we feel powerful emotions, the other person can always feel it. We always get sick at the same time and when we got small injuries they would sometimes appear on the other person's body...there was even a time where we both broke our arms at the same time, even though I was the only person that fell from the tree."Though it wasn't the most gentlemanly action, Vahn lifted the side of Maemi's bouse to confirm that the wound had completely healed. Her blouse was a vanilla-white, so she now had a dark-red blood stain where the puncture had appeared earlier. He was going to ask, but Maemi's expression returned to normal as she stated confidently, "She is okay..." Vahn nodded his head before thinking about if he should return or not. He knew Ryuu could use [Noah Heal] to recover, not only wounds but stamina as well. As long as she was with Emiru, Vahn was confident they would both be okay. The most likely thing that had occurred was that Emiru had met a goblin, or something similar, that had a weapon and got injured.After thinking for a while, Vahn said, "Let's take a break for the time being...I want you to try and focus on your sister and tell me if you can feel anything for the next hour or so." Vahn moved over to the wall and set a cushion down for Maemi to sit on as he sat with his back to the wall. She nodded her head and muttered in a low voice, "Thank you, Vahn-sama..." before sitting down on the cushion and trying to calm her mind. Just like when she spoke in concert with her twin, Maemi began to focus on the 'connection' they had always shared to see if she could feel anything from her sister that was well over 2km away.A few minutes passed in silence before Maemi muttered in a somewhat lazy, almost dazed sounding, voice, "I can see...Emiru, she is fighting against a Kobold..." Vahn didn't interrupt her words and was staring at her body with his [Eyes of Truth] active so he could see the fluctuations of mana in her body. He could also see that her muscles tensed up slightly, almost as if she were subconsciously matching the movements of Emiru. With this much evidence, Vahn was certain they had a very powerful bond, and it was likely a result of their sealed Innate. Though it would take some study, Vahn even assumed they could be experiencing each others growth if they shared their thoughts and experiences together...Another two minutes passed before Maemi smiled and opened her lilac colored eyes and said, "She won~." Vahn nodded his head with a smile and said, "Go ahead and continue focusing...I want you to repeat everything you can see...focus on the feelings and try to imagine what Emiru is hearing...smelling...tasting...focus on all the senses you can share." Vahn had been speaking in a gentle, almost hypnotic tone as Maemi closed her eyes and relaxed the tensions in her body.After a while, Maemi began to narrate everything she was experiencing, "Emiru...she is tired...and she feels...jealous?" Hearing her own words, Maemi giggled a bit before continuing, "Ah, she can feel my laughter too...now she is a little angry. I can almost hear her cursing at me under her breath...oh, Ryuu-sama just yelled at her to stay focused." Without disturbing her much, Vahn whispered in a low tone, "Very good, Maemi...continue to focus on everything Emiru is experiencing."Emiru eventually got into a fight with three Goblins and was doing her best to follow Ryuu's instructions and stay outside their range to prevent herself from being surrounded. Maemi continued to narrate everything she was doing, including how she used rocks as make-shift projectiles to create gaps in the Goblins defenses. One of the stones crushed the eye of a goblin and both Maemi and Emiru felt a bit nauseous before a warm energy spread through their minds after Vahn placed his hand on Maemi's head. Emiru recovered quickly and eventually dispatched the three Goblins with a fair amount of excitement when she received compliments from Ryuu.Maemi opened her lilac eyes and stared at Vahn as he removed his hand from her head and asked, "Were you able to feel everything?" Maemi nodded her head and explained, "It's a very strange feeling, almost like I was in Emiru's body and fighting with her. When you put your hand on my head, we both felt a lot calmer and she was able to fight without feeling afraid..." Vahn nodded his head and, with a wide smile on his face, said, "Let's go to your sister, I think this is a significant matter that needs to be investigated further. If you're able to share senses like this, I think it would be better to train you together instead of separating you like this." Maemi nodded her head but Vahn saw the subtle melancholy in her eyes before he shook his head helplessly and said, "Don't worry, if you work hard I'll find a suitable reward for you. For now, aim for Level 2 alongside Emiru so you can help protect each other in the future. I think the two of you have a lot of potential if you strengthen the bond you share." Vahn wanted them to activate the [Gemini] Innate because he was very curious about the Innate abilities of other people. Each of his provided an incredible boost to his capabilities, so he had very high expectations for the unique ability shared by the twins.After hearing his encouraging words, Maemi showed a somewhat lovely smile and nodded her head in affirmation before following behind Vahn obediently. Along the way, Vahn asked her to try and send a 'message' to Emiru so they would be able to intercept each other in a shorter amount of time. He even gave Maemi a map to see if they were able to read the same map through each others vision. Other than when she was fighting small groups of monsters, Vahn led Maemi slowly through the dungeon while having her focus on the connection she had with Emiru.A half hour passed before Vahn and Maemi reunited with the somewhat surprised Ryuu who was escorting Emiru. The twins got near each other and Emiru said toward Ryuu, "I told you, I could feel Maemi calling me~!" Ryuu nodded her head and walked over to Vahn as the twins were discussing their experience. He wasn't trying to keep anything from the twins, and he also knew they could probably hear him, but Vahn said in a low voice, "They share a powerful connection with each other that will likely affect their growth in the future. I was able to see that Maemi's body actually reacted whenever Emiru was in combat, so I think their growth may be tied to each other's." Ryuu had a thoughtful expression as she looked at the twins that were giving them sidelong glances and said, "I believe it...when Emiru got wounded earlier, I noticed that it began to heal before I even used my magic. She told me she could feel a warm energy and I assumed you had done something on your end." Ryuu could see the bloodstain on Maemi's blouse and understood that Vahn's words must be true based on the contextual evidence.Vahn had a thought, so he waved over the twins and they both walked over in concert with each other, tilted their heads in the same direction, and asked, "Yes, Vahn-sama~?" Vahn smiled and said, "I wanted to try something, though I'm not sure if it'll work out..." Both Emiru and Maemi had something expectant looks as if they were encouraging him to continue, so he said, "Here, let me see your left hands." Though they weren't sure of his intention, the twins held out their left hands at the same time and Vahn placed his index fingers on the backs of each. He tried to use his [Mentor] skill to overwrite the previous mark but didn't have any luck since there were two targets instead of one.After releasing a short sigh, Vahn ruminated for a moment before saying, "I want you both to focus, not just passively feel each other, but truly focus on what each person is feeling..." Emiru and Maemi blinked in sequence before closing their eyes and trying to do what Vahn said. After waiting for a few minutes, Vahn gingerly touched Emiru's outstretched wrist before pushing down on it slightly. He noticed that Maemi's hand fell at the same time as Emiru's before an intrigued smile appeared on his face. It was very interesting to see how a second person was able to react based on the stimulus received by someone else. After removing his finger, both girls' hands raised slightly before he placed his index finger on the back of Maemi's hand. He waited for a few seconds before trying to create a new Mentor's Mark.There was a short pause between the skill activation and Vahn could feel a peculiar sensation pulsing through his own energy. It was very difficult to describe, and it was unlike anything he had ever felt before so it created a strange incongruity in his own body before a small mark began to appear, not just on Maemi's hand, but on the back of Emiru's hand at the same time. Vahn felt a bit of excitement in his heart and continued to form the mark until it eventually became solid. When he was finished, he noticed there was actually only half of his face on Maemi's hand, while Emiru's had the other half. On the same spot located on his body, two halves of the girls' faces had appeared and perfectly overlapped with each other to form a singular whole.Ryuu had been watching from the side and had even felt the strange magical fluctuations that had passed between the three. She had watched the mana flow from Vahn's body into Maemi's before it created a strange kind of feedback loop that began to feed into Emiru's body as well. She had seen the marks eventually form and wasn't sure of what to make of the situation other than the fact that Vahn's experiment had been successful. Once again, she was surprised by his capabilities because he always seemed to be able to make the impossible into a reality. A small smile appeared on her face as she began to build a few expectations about the future. Ryuu wondered what kind of miracles he would make in the future and how far they would be able to walk the same path together.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'smol STEPS','Do you feel it now, Ms. Rain?','Queue 'we are one' from the Lion King 2')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

After the mark had fully formed, the twins opened their eyes and saw their two halves of Vahn's face on their hands before laughing together. Vahn saw how happy they were and explained, "I'm not sure if it will have the same effect as the original since there is still a lot I've yet to discover about the [Mentor] Development Ability. We'll see how well the two of you fight together before heading back to the surface. It's starting to get a bit late, and it's not necessary for us to stay here for too much longer." In response to his words, the twins faced toward Vahn and bowed politely and said, "Yes, Vahn-sama~!" Vahn's smile widened because it was always interesting to see identical girls acting in concert with each other. Even their outfits were exactly the same, and the only difference between them was that Emiru had a slight hole in her blouse and there was a different half of his face on their left hands.Before they set out to hunt more monsters, Ryuu looked toward Vahn and asked, "Should I return to the surface then?" Vahn blanked for a moment before turning his gaze and stared into Ryuu's sky-blue eyes and stalling his words a bit. Before he answered, she showed a small smile and said, "Make sure you watch over them properly. I know you should be fine, even if I'm not here to take care of you." Ryuu handed Vahn the [Rallying Whistle] and a pouch full of potions that he stowed away in his inventory. Since her presence would actually stall the progress of the twins, it wouldn't be possible for her to accompany them without experiencing some diminishing returns.Vahn felt a little awkward having Ryuu leave so quickly, so he reached his hands loosely around her waist and they shared a short hug that made Ryuu lower her head a bit. Since she didn't like to show affection in front of others, she was a little embarrassed being seen by the twins but didn't make any attempts to pull away either. After a few long seconds had passed, Vahn released Ryuu and said, "I'll see you tomorrow, unless you intend to stay at the Manor tonight..." Though there wasn't any 'intent' behind his words, all three girls misunderstood what he said as Ryuu's ears wiggled a bit before she turned away and started running out of the dungeon without responding.After watching her back for a short while, Vahn turned to see the twins giving him a strange look that caused his brows to furrow slightly. They noticed his expression before small smiles appeared on their faces as if nothing had happened at all. After shaking his head, Vahn led the two girls deeper into the dungeon until they found a room with three Goblins, and a single Kobold skulking about. Vahn whispered quietly to the twins, "From now on, you don't have to focus so much on attacking yet...I want you two to work together and evade the monsters and create openings for the other to exploit. Focus on the connect between you and see if you can coordinate your actions..."Emiru and Maemi nodded their heads at the same time before marching out into the room. After they took a few steps, the monsters were alerted to their presence and the twins leaned low and began charging forward. They followed Vahn's orders, so they didn't immediately attack and tried to 'shepherd' the monsters within the room for nearly ten minutes until the monsters' movements were interfering with each other. Vahn had been watching from the side and nodded his head approvingly at their tactics, but also knew it would be detrimental if the monsters were much stronger, and faster, than the two girls.Even though Maemi had never used stones, or throwing weapons in general, she copied Emiru's actions from earlier and they began to pelt the monsters while running around them in a counter-clockwise manner. Though the monsters didn't have strong self-preservation instincts, they still began to shy away from the combined attacks of Emiru and Maemi as they tried to shield their faces. Vahn began to realize that the girls might have a talent for taming monsters, since he had read up on it a bit in the past. The only requirement was to eventually force a monster to submit without killing it, and it started to look like the four monsters within their encirclement were about to abandon the fight and try to run away.Not long after Vahn had the thought, the Kobold tried to sprint away from the group and break the encirclement only to be greeted by Emiru's dagger as she lopped off its head. Since it had foregone defensive actions, it had left its body and head exposed to attacks. The most important thing to note, however, was that Maemi was able to exploit the opening when the goblins tried to move toward Emiru's flank to attack them from behind. She stabbed her dagger into the back of the Goblins shoulder blades and pierced its magic core before moving to attack the second one. The Goblins were confused about who to attack as Emiru turned around and both twins dispatched the Goblins before they were able to decide which direction to attack. After they had all vanished, both of the twins fell to their butts simultaneously which caused Vahn's brows to raise slightly.Since he had been watching the fight through his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn was able to tell that they were, in fact, very tired. However, he could also tell they hadn't used up enough stamina to collapse as Maemi had done previously. The fact that they both fell at the same time told him that they either experienced a mental load from focusing on the connection, or they had come to an agreement to try and get him to pamper them both. Judging by how their tails flickered about when Emiru gave him a sidelong glance, Vahn assumed it was the latter of the two possibilities. Vahn thought their actions were rather adorable and had a small smile on his face because they had acted synchronously to put on the act together.After a brief moment of thought, Vahn felt like teasing them while also testing something out at the same time. He walked over to where the two girls were sitting and asked, "Do you need me to help you recover, or would you like a stamina potion?" At the same time, both girls raised their right hands and chimed, "Help us, Vahn-sama~!" Vahn nodded his head and kneeled down next to Emiru as he said, "I want to test something out to see how the connection between the two of you works. Since I was able to help heal your wound earlier, I want to see if recovering your stamina affects Maemi. Focus your mind and relax your body..." Emiru's ears twitched up and she had a pleased expression on her face as Maemi's ears flattened and she adopted a dejected appearance.Vahn saw their reactions and wanted to laugh, but he instead said in a firm tone, "Emiru, Maemi, this is very important to discover the best method to help the two of you grow stronger in the future. Please, focus your minds and relax...if it works as intended, you should be able to feel the same sensations Maemi." Though she had been preparing to comply with his words at first, Maemi's ears shot back up after she heard the second half of Vahn's statement. She locked eyes with Emiru and they both nodded before closing their eyes. Vahn waited for a little while before he noticed the twins' breathing began to synchronize. Out of curiosity, he used [Eyes of Truth] to investigate and noticed that, though their hearts weren't in concert yet, they were beginning to match each others rhythm.After waiting for around two minutes, Vahn noticed the twins had started to overlap their actions perfectly and he was even able to tell that their auras had started to turn the same. Confident in his next actions, Vahn placed his palm against Emiru's back and used [Hands of Nirvana] to help recover any stress injuries in her body while replenishing her stamina a bit. He immediately noticed that there was a strange incongruity in his usage of the skill since it seemed to be operating at half efficacy, even though he was performing the routine normally. Though this might have confused him at first, Vahn smiled after realizing this and turned his attention to Maemi and noticed that his own energy had spread to her body even though he wasn't in contact with her at all. There was a bit of 'loss' during the transfer, but this allowed Vahn to verify that he was, in fact, able to benefit both twins at the same time while focusing his efforts on a single girl.Once Emiru was fully restored, Vahn continued to replenish her energy to top off Maemi as he reached up with his free hand and gingerly poked the back of her ear. It was an almost negligible touch, but Vahn saw that both Emiru's and Maemi's ears twitched at the same time and he felt an urge to laugh with how interesting their reactions were. He was very tempted to conduct a few other experiments, but there were more pressing matters at the moment so he removed his hand from Emiru's back and said, "This is actually one of the most incredible things I've ever seen...you two share a powerful bond between each other and can actually influence one-another without touching. However, as it was seen earlier, this can also be a double edged sword since you both share the same injuries when you are synched up and experiencing powerful emotions."Hearing Vahn's words, both girls nodded their heads and had their attention focused entirely on everything he was saying. Though they already knew they had a special connection, as they'd spent their entire lives together, it was only today that they realized how truly unique it was. The most important thing to them, however, was the fact they were able to share their senses and experienced the same pleasant feelings while also growing stronger at the same time. Unlike the other girls, who could only use the Mentor Mark individually, they were able to work together and benefit from each other's progress.After going over his hypothesis for a bit, Vahn took the twins to another room where there were only two Kobolds. He nodded his head and said, "Okay, I want to try something new this time..." Vahn stroked his chin for a bit before he continued, "I'll keep Maemi here and use [Hands of Nirvana] to help keep her body in an optimal condition while Emiru fights the Kobolds. You don't have to focus on defeating them quickly, just try to move around as much as you can and I want to see if you're able to benefit from the energy transmitted through Maemi and continue the fight for a longer period of time."The twins nodded their heads before locking eyes with each other as if they were having a conversation that Vahn couldn't hear. He squinted his eyes slightly until they nodded at each other and Emiru charged into the room with her weapon drawn. Maemi moved over and muttered, "Vahn-sama, if you please..." Vahn complied with her request and placed his palm against her back before using [Hands of Nirvana] to replenish her already full energy reserves. Since she was focused on the connection with Emiru, Vahn was able to see her muscles twitch about as if they were simulating combat even though she was standing idly at the side.Vahn watched as Emiru stretched her limits and continued going without stopping for even a moment until nearly twenty minutes had passed and both Kobolds eventually died from blood loss. She had left several small cuts on their bodies and they were unable to keep up with how quickly she was able to change direction. Though they were actually faster than her, Emiru was incredibly nimble and was able to sidestep and rapidly change direction because she had been developing her footwork in the morning with Ryuu and Aki.After the Kobolds had fallen, Vahn could see that Emiru was having small muscle spasms like she had over-drafted her body by a large amount. Though not nearly as much as her twin, Maemi was experiencing something similar and this caused Vahn to have a very serious expression on his face. Emiru had been able to continue the fight because her stamina continued to replenish, but the mental strain had taxed her greatly and it started to whittle away at how well she was able to control her body. This was both a good and bad, at the same time, since it showed they would be able to push their limits beyond normal levels with his assistance. There was even a high chance they would develop skills over time or even awaken rare abilities in the future. The major downside, however, was the fact that it could leave a trauma in their minds and bodies if they pushed themselves too far. There was a lot of adrenaline pumping through Emiru's body currently and she was very on edge because of the extended engagement.Though he could do it through Maemi as a proxy, Vahn walked over before placing a futon on the ground and saying, "Relax your body for a bit, I'll help calm your nerves. If you'd like, you can lay down as well for the time being, Maemi." Emiru released a long sigh after hearing Vahn's words before she dropped to her knees and collapsed face-first onto the futon with a tired expression even though her body had plenty of energy. Maemi had also been affected by her state, so she laid down next to Emiru and they very naturally held each others' hands and tried to relax even though they were in the dungeon.Before he kneeled down to the left of Emiru, Vahn realized he was probably teaching them bad practices, since they should never really drop their guards. However, he had spent time with the Loki Familia and noticed that they were often relaxed around each other without being overly tense as he had learned to be when adventuring solo. He expected it was good for both the body, and the mind, to not stay in such a tense state all the time and you should be able to rely on your party members more to share the awareness of your surroundings. Vahn also had his domain, so the twins weren't wrong to trust that he would alert them if things got dangerous.Vahn began to casually massage Emiru's body and realized that he had never performed his techniques on any of the girls that he had saved recently. He actually really liked to perform his massages, and had even intended to work it into his schedule in the future. The fact he had 'held back' for so long against the former slave girls caused a wry smile to appear on his face. Though he knew there could be a 'stimulating' factor to the massage, Vahn didn't consider it to be sexual in nature and there was no real harm in performing it on the girls around him. It might cause their affections for him to rise, but that didn't mean he had to let it develop into feelings, nor did he have to reciprocate their advances. Since they were also being 'suppressed' by Fenrir, Vahn figured it would be good for their bodies if he tended to them after the more intense fights in the dungeons.Less than ten minutes after he began, Emiru had already turned to putty under his hands because she had almost no resistance against his S-Ranked technique as a mere Level 1. Maemi had also been affected and Vahn got to experience the somewhat peculiar scenario where he was able to massage two girls at once, without ever having to lay a finger on the second girl. Though his instincts didn't tell him he was being watched, Vahn compressed his domain to within 10m and applied [Stealth] to blur the surrounding environment. Just like when he used his [Heart of the Eternal Flame], Vahn was able to elevate the heat within his domain to an incredible extent by compressing his domain. Though he could still perceive everything perfectly, Vahn knew it was almost impossible to probe his domain with any type of detection spells without being present within the vicinity. Even Mikoto's ability, that could track anyone within the same Familia, was useless when Vahn seriously concealed his presence.Though he wasn't absolutely certain things were safe, Vahn felt a little impatient and explained to the somewhat catatonic girls that he was going to check their Status Boards. Since she was the lesser affected of the two, Maemi nodded her head and murmured, "Yesss, Vahn-sama...mauuuu~" Vahn raised his brows a bit at the new response before shaking his head and focusing on the matter at hand. Though he had the intention of checking their Statuses, Vahn realized that the girls wore blouses that covered their entire torso. He had grown so accustomed to being around nude girls, that the matter had completely slipped his mind for a moment.After a brief moment of hesitation, Vahn shook his head before rolling up the backs of the girls' blouses and revealing their bare backs. Since they had been taught by Ryuu and Aki, both girls wore 'tape' over their breasts instead of bras, so their backs were completely exposed by his actions. Vahn proceeded to prick the tip of his index finger before tracing it down Emiru's spine and drawing a line of blood. Her Status Board, which had been concealed previously, appeared on her back as the familiar Hestia Familia crest and Vahn thought it was very suitable for her. After the blue light faded, Vahn was able to interpret the glyphs on her back and record her status within the system before performing the same ceremony on Maemi. When he was done, Vahn fixed their clothing and waited for them to recover as he stared with a massive grin on his face after seeing their updated Status.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Maemi RainLV. 1POW: I28-&gt;I44END: I34-&gt;I45DEX: I16-&gt;I31AGI: 152-&gt;I76MAG: I18-&gt;I19Skill: [Gemini: Innate(E)]Magic: -Development Skill: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Emiru RainLV. 1POW: I28-&gt;I44END: I34-&gt;I45DEX: I16-&gt;I31AGI: 152-&gt;I76MAG: I18-&gt;I19Skill: [Gemini: Innate(E)]Magic: -Development Skill: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Title: [Gemini](A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Ryuu's Waggling','INTRIGUING','Godhand now spans the void')(A/N: Woooo~! Even though I was sick this week, I managed to pump out the promised 100k words with a bit of time to spare &lt;3. Hope you enjoyed another exciting week following Vahn along on his journey to find happiness (UwU)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

After spending some time with Fenrir, Vahn left her with Haruhime as he and Ryuu went to her room to find out if anything had changed in the situation. Vahn learned that Loki and Hephaestus had arranged a meeting with Freya, but they hadn't heard anything back from them yet. He was a bit concerned that something would go wrong, but Vahn also had a lot of trust in Hephaestus, and to a lesser extent, Loki as well. If they combined their talents, Vahn didn't think things would develop in a negative direction, but he was a little sad that he couldn't give Hephaestus a [Maternity Band] and see her reaction.Once she finished checking through the logbook, Ryuu was planning to return to the Hostess of Fertility, but Vahn asked her to stay around the Manor because he still had thought about returning to the Dungeon once the other girls returned. Though he didn't do much himself, Vahn had enjoyed returning to the dungeon, even though it had only been around a week that he was away from it. He wanted to perform a few more experiments and see how the twins' growth was affected by his [Mentor] skill and also give everyone the opportunity to battle alongside each other to acclimate to working as a team. The majority of the girls in the Familia were around the same level of strength, so it was better that they get used to each others fighting styles early on before there is any significant strength gap between them.Ryuu agreed to Vahn's request with a smile and they returned to the study and enjoyed some afternoon tea alongside Haruhime and Fenrir. Now that she had a new dress, Fenrir was in a very 'spoiled' mood and was lazing about similar to host Hestia often acted in the past. Vahn got to see a unique interaction between Haruhime and Fenrir where they were brushing each other's tails since they both had rather long, and fluffy, tails. Vahn and Ryuu sat next to each other, relatively close together, but not touching as they quietly enjoyed the atmosphere that had been created.After a while, Fenrir rolled away from Haruhime before moving over to Vahn and crawling onto the sofa and handing him her brush. Without saying anything, she laid stomach-down on his lap and rested her head against Ryuu's thighs as her tail thumped with expectation. Since Ryuu wasn't immune to Fenrir's behavior, she began to stroke the back of her long, midnight blue, hair and ears gently as Vahn began rhythmically brushing her tail while Haruhime had a somewhat dejected look on her face. When Fenrir saw her expression, she stated matter-of-factly, "Vahn is the best...Ryuu is nice too. Harume is fluffy, but not that good at brushy."For a short while after Fenrir's claim, Haruhime stared with a mock elegance in her demeanor while the light had faded from her eyes. She mechanically brushed her own tail until she noticed Vahn was staring at her with a bit of concern in his eyes. Haruhime stuck out her tongue bashfully before checking the kettle and taking it to the kitchen to prepare more tea. After she left the room, Vahn asked, "Fenrir, do you not like Haruhime?" In response to his words, Fenrir groaned a little before she said, "Harume is nice, but she keeps secrets from Fenrir. She teaches me lots, but Fenrir thinks she is weird and treats other people nicer."Hearing Fenrir's explanation, Vahn ruminated about why she would feel that way and realized it was probably all the warnings Haruhime had received about teaching Fenrir strange things. Vahn didn't really pay much attention to how the girls interacted with each other when they were studying together. He was either in the Library reading books, or within his workshop designing equipment and conducting his experiments. Before he could say anything to her, Fenrir added on to her earlier words, "Don't worry Vahn, Fenrir will be nice to Haruhime. Fenrir just likes Vahn the most and Vahn doesn't brush Fenrir much anymore."Vahn's brows furrowed a bit because he realized he hadn't attended to Fenrir much ever since he asked her to take care of Preasia. Since he didn't want to pressure Preasia, he didn't show much affection to Fenrir when they were together. He realized she had probably been bottling things up without him noticing, but he actually felt a little proud that she had managed so well. Ironically, Vahn felt like Fenrir was getting better at managing her emotions than he was and it made him want to try harder.After some time passed, it was around 4 PM and the rest of the girls arrived back at Hearth Manor. Vahn had been reading with Haruhime and Fenrir and studying monster ecology so they would be better prepared for the future. Ryuu added in tidbits based on her own experience while Haruhime proactively took notes in a small journal Vahn had given her. When the shopping party showed up, they actually had a small wheeled carriage full of various pieces of clothing and equipment and everyone seemed to be in a great mood. Vahn was happy to see that Hestia was also in high spirits until she saw him appear at the door and her aura immediately began to blaze as she leaped toward him like a bullet.Vahn caught her out of the air as she rubbed her cheek against his and said, "Vaaaahn, I love, love, love you~!" Her words caused him to laugh as he patted her back until she whispered into his ear and said, "My body is ready whenever you want..." Though she didn't strip, Vahn could see parts of her dress start to have cracks as if she were about to wilt on the spot. Vahn swallowed a bit since he was afraid he had 'awakened' something in Hestia when he had been trying to help her develop 'brakes' in the last week. Fortunately, Aki walked up while she was carrying some of the luggage and pinched the outside of Hestia's thigh which caused the petite goddess to jump like a startled cat out of Vahn's arms before rubbing the area under her butt. Before she could say anything, Aki stated clearly, "Hestia-sama, you don't want to trouble Vahn do you~?"Hestia's eyes widened a bit before she looked around at her surroundings and her dress immediately became solid again as she laughed awkwardly and said, "Okay, we still have a lot of stuff to do so let's move everything inside~! Ehehehe." Everyone pretended they hadn't seen anything as they began moving everything to their respective rooms with Vahn's assistance. The twins had tried to pitch the idea of doing a 'fashion show', but it got shut down relatively quickly when Vahn mentioned going into the dungeon if they were up for it. Though they had a few inhibitions, the twins wanted to try fighting monsters and seeing how much they had improved with their training. They were jealous that Haruhime and Fenrir had gotten to go earlier, so they were willing to enter even if it meant staying overnight.After they ate a light dinner, Vahn asked Aki to hold down the fort alongside Fenrir, Preasia, Haruhime, Mikoto, and perhaps most importantly, Hestia herself. Vahn was going to be entering the dungeon with Ryuu and the twins, Maemi and Emiru to see how their sealed Innate influenced their stats. Even in their sealed state, Innates had a big impact on a person's development, and Vahn was curious to see what effects their shared ability would have on their growth. He had thought about taking Haruhime and Mikoto along, but Vahn realized her Level-Up magic wouldn't actually have much use on the twins currently. Though a 30% stat increase was massive, it didn't mean much when their parameters were all Rank-I.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Maemi RainLV. 1POW: I28END: I33-&gt;I34DEX: I13-&gt;I16AGI: I51-&gt;152MAG: I18Skill: [Gemini: Innate(sealed)]Magic: -Development Skill: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Emiru RainLV. 1POW: I28END: I33-&gt;I34DEX: I13-&gt;I16AGI: I51-&gt;I52MAG: I18Skill: [Gemini: Innate(sealed)]Magic: -Development Skill: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Though they trained together, Vahn was very curious about how their parameters actually developed at the same rate and wanted to see what would happen if they diverged at some point. Since there was no way to guarantee they got the same amount of exilia from monsters, Vahn expected that they would begin to show differences as time passed. He had trouble believing that, if one twin worked harder than the other, that they would both continue to grow at the same rate. If that were the case, it would mean it is the property of their Innate ability and Vahn would have to observe their training closely from then onwards.Since they had gone shopping for equipment, both of the twins were decked out in matching attire that consisted of dark-blue shorts without pockets. They had some pouches wrapped around their backsides, similar to how Aki wore hers, and Vahn thought it drew an interesting picture seeing their two relatively fluffy cat-like tails poking out from the back. For their tops, they wore something similar to a skin-tight tunic that Vahn saw a lot of female adventurers wearing within the dungeon. He still couldn't wrap his head around why girls wore somewhat revealing clothing since it didn't seem suitable for protection at all. Overtop the tight blouses, they wore relatively light breastplates to protect their organs with a pair of forearm protectors and shin guards overtop their black stockings. They had a pair of matching brown boots and both wielded somewhat thick daggers that looked more like curved cleavers and were around 40cm long.After they were prepared, Vahn led the twins into the dungeon alongside Ryuu since he intended to try a few experiments to see how their parameters developed. Though they didn't like to separate, Vahn wanted to see what would happen if he gave one of the sisters his Mentor Mark while the other sister trained with Ryuu. If their status diverged a lot, Vahn would help the other twin catch up and had explained his intentions in detail to which both girls replied synchronously, "We'll do our best, Vahn-sama~!" Fired up by their own words, the girls then proceeded to play rock-paper-scissors together to see who got to accompany Vahn until they eventually settled on a coin flip after throwing out the same results twenty times in a row.The final winner was Maemi who gave her identical twin, Emiru, a victory symbol with her fingers as the two groups split up before venturing into the first floor. Vahn gave Maemi the Mentor's Mark on her upper arm as a small, silver, mark of her face appeared on his. She seemed very pleased and wasn't paying attention to her surroundings so Vahn stated in a firm tone, "Maemi, make sure you stay focused at all times. This isn't practice anymore, and you'll be engaging in live combat from hereon. I will only help if you are in mortal peril, so expect that you could sustain injuries if you aren't careful." The happy expression on Maemi's face turned serious with a bit of hesitation mixed in her eyes as she nodded her head and said, "I-I'll do my best, Vahn-sama."For the first twenty minutes or so, Vahn demonstrated how to properly fight against monsters for Maemi as he was waiting for the mark to activate. The longer she watched him fight, the more resolute Maemi's expression became until it finally came time for her to fight a monster for the first time. Her opponent ended up being a single Kobold and she tried to move forward to fight it but made a similar mistake as Vahn had on his first time encountering the monster. She stood her ground instead of making use of her high agility and tried to react to the Kobold's attacks in a passive manner.Though Vahn had told her he wouldn't step in unless she was in mortal peril, he ended up stunning the Kobold with his domain as he shouted, "Maemi, you need to always be on the move in order to make it harder for your opponents to react to your attacks. Your agility is your highest parameter, make sure you're using it to the full effect!" Startled by his words, Maemi began to sidestep around the Kobold as Vahn allowed it to move again. The Kobold was actually faster than she was, but it couldn't change directions as quickly as Maemi could. She was actually very limber and agile, so it was strange that she had tried to fight the monster head on in the first place.The entire fight lasted nearly seven minutes before Maemi eventually managed a glancing blow to the Kobold's leg to caused it to fall to the ground. Though she hesitated briefly at the sight of blood, Vahn's call woke her from her stupor as she stabbed into the area where the magic core was located. After the Kobold dispersed, she fell onto her butt and hung her head low as she took long and strained breaths. Since she had never been in a fight against a monster before, the adrenaline had gotten to her a bit and she had overtaxed her stamina and mental strength. Vahn wasn't disappointed in her battle, since he had actually struggled immensely when he fought against a single goblin in the past. His first battle against a Kobold had nearly killed him, and Maemi's current parameters are much lower than his were at the time.Vahn walked over and began stroking her silver hair before she looked up at him with tired, lilac-colored, eyes with a hint of disappointment and a fair amount of fear contained in their depths. Vahn shook he head and said in a soft, gentle, tone, "You did very well Maemi...it might be hard to believe, but the first time I fought against a Kobold was only around four months ago. At that time, I had actually taken a serious wound to my abdomen before nearly losing my left leg due to the monsters ferocity..." Though her body began to shake after hearing his words, Maemi continued to look up at him as he explained, "Though it was a painful experience, I never stopped trying to improve until I eventually got to the point where I can fight on par with monsters that are more than ten meters in height...I can vault around the room at super-sonic speeds and crush boulders with a single punch...don't give up just because things are a little scary. The fear is what keeps you alive, and the desire to overcome that fear is what allows you to become stronger. It is only through strength that you can protect the things you care about and defeat the fear that tries to take root within your heart..."Though there was still a glimmer of fear within her eyes, Maemi nodded her head and said, "Yes, Vahn-sama...thank you for your guidance." Vahn then helped her stand before giving her one of the several stamina potions he had purchased for their use. Since the girls had low endurance, Vahn had thought to supplement their weakness with consumables. They were somewhat expensive, nearly 10,000V each, but Vahn wasn't overly concerned with the cost of items as long as he could protect the girls. After she gulped it down, a bit of her earlier vigor came back as Vahn stroked her rounded ears one last time before saying, "Here, I'll show you something interesting..."Vahn followed his minimap towards the largest group of monsters he could detect within the range of his domain. He eventually led Maemi to a room with a total of eleven monsters, all Kobolds, before handing her a cloak and saying, "Watch me..." She nodded her head and ducked down behind a large rock as Vahn took confident steps forward before transforming, not into his Báihǔ form, but into a Snow Leopard form emulating Maemi's racial traits. He pulled out the same dagger he had kept ever since he first arrived in this world and gave it a reminiscent glance with his eyes before engaging the Kobolds that had started to charge at him.Though it wasn't a perfect copy, Vahn 'emulated' Maemi's movements but added a bit of fluidity to them as he effortlessly cut through the Kobolds while evading each attack at the minimum distance. His perception had developed to the point that, if he was in a focused state, the monsters appeared to move in slow motion while within his domain. He restrained his own speed to be similar to how fast he had seen Maemi move and didn't suffer a single hit as he dragged the relatively weak dagger through the bodies of the Kobolds without getting a drop of blood on his clothes. When the final Kobold fell, Vahn looked over at the stunned Maemi who had glittering eyes as he said, "Though it would take a bit of practice, this is something you're capable of...as for my own capabilities..." As Vahn's words fell on her ears, the only thing Maemi could see was the flash of his silhouette as he vaulted around the floor, walls, and ceiling at a speed that she couldn't track even with the enhanced vision of her species. Vahn eventually dropped to the center of the room, almost soundlessly, before he disappeared in an instant and appeared behind her before patting the top of her head and saying, "This is where you could get to in as little as four months..."Maemi had a fiery expression in her eyes as if she were staring at her idol as she shouted in a chipper voice, "That was so amazing, Vahn-sama~! I can't wait to be able to move like that....uuwwwwuuuu, I want to get stronger even more now!" Vahn raised his brow a bit and cocked his head to the side after hearing the adorable sound that Maemi made. She seemed to realize her 'mistake' as she placed her hands over her mouth and blushed slightly before moving away and saying, "W-we should find the n-next monsters. Yes, very quickly, let's go~!"(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn is best~!','Split the twins...wait a second...','(UwU)')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 309: Phantom Pains