Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

The Familia progressed through the seventh floor before eventually arriving the relative safety of the corridor and stairs leading down to the eighth floor. As she initially stated, Haruhime had the group rest and recuperate for a bit before progressing further. It had taken them nearly an hour and a half to reach this point after leaving the sixth floor, and it was a sign that their progress was beginning to stall. Though they had put in a lot of effort, it was a simple fact that Haruhime, Emiru, and Maemi, were new Adventurer's and not that far into their parameter development.Haruhime could cast her [Uchide no Kozuchi] around eight times, and the casts only lasted for an hour or so before wearing off. Since she only recouped around 30 mana an hour, it was impossible for her to sustain using the magic, especially if she wanted to support the group with her [Icicle Edge]. She had been making up for her lack of mana by using potions, but it was only delaying the inevitable. Unless for when Mikoto and Fenrir took point, the groups' progress had slowed a fair amount. Since Mikoto and Fenrir were both Level 2, and relatively capable ones, they weren't having much trouble yet, but there were simply too many enemies for them to fend off with the two of them. If not for Fenrir's [Freezing Roar], things would have gotten out of hand with how quickly the enemies spawned compared to how fast they were dealt with.They had discussed it previously, but it was the general consensus that the tenth floor would be where the party fell apart. Mikoto and Fenrir would be able to manage, to an extent, but it would get to the point where Maemi and Emiru wouldn't be able to fight enemies without potentially suffering grievous wounds. They would have to take up their crossbows and support from the backline with Haruhime while Fenrir and Mikoto fended off the approaching waves on their own. By the time they got to the eleventh floor, where the agile Silverbacks lived, it would be next to impossible for them to fight if there were more than a few enemies. At that point, the only one able to fight would probably be Fenrir, as she had experience going down to the twelfth floor and didn't seem to be affected by the fog that would be present.After resting for a half hour, the group pressed on and Vahn noticed that Emiru and Maemi had already switched to their crossbows and Haruhime had activated her bracelets. It wasn't a bad idea, since she could slowly replenish her mana reserves while relying on the bracelets and the twins would be able to conserve their stamina. Fortunately, the most prominent monsters on the 8th and 9th floor were Goblins and Kobolds, so the group was able to make relatively quick progress through the levels. Though the enemies were faster, stronger, and greater in numbers, it didn't change their attack patterns much and the girls were all accustomed to fighting them. Fenrir was a nightmare for such monsters as her agility and reflexes were high enough that she could easily 'bully' them from close proximity unless they had weapons.It took slightly under two hours to progress through the floors so Vahn suspected that their confidence played a heavy role in how fast they dealt with enemies. When there were newer monsters, the girls showed a lot of caution and it slowed the progress of the entire party down. Since the Goblins and Kobolds of the 8th and 9th floor were stronger than the enemies of the 7th floor, they should have progressed even slower. Instead, the party moved along confidently and dispatched a number of enemies with relative ease simply using their teamwork to carve a path of destruction through the two floors.When the party progressed to the outside of the 10th floor, Vahn listened from the side as the group discussed the various dangers ahead. Even Fenrir, who had actual experience on the floor, pitched in with her own views on the monsters. She described, in vague detail, that the Orcs were slow and powerful while the Imps were fast while also being weak and sneaky. The most problematic things were the 'loud' and 'smelly' Bad Bats that would be attacking them from the air. Without excellent marksmanship, it would be difficult to deal with them and they were one of Fenrir's hated nemesis. The only way she could deal with them was to use [Freezing Roar] to paralyze them out of the sky, but there was a major downside to the skill that it required a large amount of mana. Fortunately, Fenrir's mana recovered quickly, especially if she was eating the monsters and magic cores along the way.After the group progressed into the misty 10th floor, their pace was much slower than normal as everyone was paying attention to their surroundings. Visibility was terrible and it was even worse for the various Adventurer's proceeded into the dungeon as it didn't seem to have a great influence on the monsters within the mist. A few minutes after progressing into the floor, there were various red lights shining through the mist coming from shadowy silhouettes nearly three meters tall. Some of the monsters, which were easily identifiable as Orcs, were even carrying trees that they had uprooted from the floor of the Dungeon with their monstrous strength.Emiru and Maemi immediately opened fire on the Orcs before they could close the distance, but their skills with a crossbow left a lot to be desired. Most of the penetrative bolts hit the relatively large bodies of the Orcs, but they were just superficial wounds since you needed to destroy the core a few inches below their neck to actually kill them. Even when a stray bolt slammed into the forehead of an Orc, it kept shambling forward after making a pained roar but was otherwise unaffected by the projectile. Hitting them in the head wasn't a bad idea, but you had to destroy the entire brain if you wanted to turn them into dust using that method. Orcs had incredible vitality and very powerful regeneration to make up for the flaws in their unbalanced parameters.Seeing that the twins' attacks were ineffective, Haruhime began to chant her magic while Fenrir and Mikoto stepped forward to deal with some of the Orcs that had closed in on the group. Unable to effectively use the crossbows on this floor, Emiru and Maemi switched back to their heavy daggers and teamed up to try and take out one of the orcs using their coordinated attacks. Because Orcs were incredibly slow, they were able to outmaneuver the large monster and exploit the huge gaps in its attacks to wound the regenerative flesh of the pig-like monster. Maemi eventually landed a grazing blow on the magic core and turned the Orc into dust particles before releasing a satisfied laugh and retreating alongside Emiru to protect Haruhime.Since she hadn't learned [Concurrent Chanting] yet, Haruhime was defenseless when using her chants and needed to be protected from sneak attacks. It was fortunate that the twins fell back when they did, because Ryuu was preparing to eliminate the two Imps that had been sneaking up from behind if things continued as they were. As they approached, the twins immediately spotted the Imps and closed the gap to try and eliminate them before things spiraled out of control. Unlike the Orcs, however, the Imps were very agile and even used daggers of their own. If they were coordinated, they might have been able to beat the twins in fair combat, but fortunately, they weren't very smart, even though they were sneaky enough to ambush prey.Emiru managed to cut the throat of the Imp she was fighting before moving over and supporting Maemi just as Haruhime's chant completed. An additional three fluffy tails sprouted from her bottom in a magical light before wispy flames appeared on their tips briefly. The moment the wisps vanished, a total of four, meter long, icicles appeared out of thin air in complete defiance of gravity as Haruhime shouted, "Penetrative Chill, Icicle Edge~!" Her targets had been four of the Orcs harassing the group and the spears flew forward at fast speeds before penetrating the chests of their targets. The Orcs immediately turned to dust and Haruhime began chanting her magic anew while Emiru and Maemi protected her.Though it was slow, trudging, progress, the group eventually cleared the 10th floor after more than two hours of intermittent combat. The biggest issue to deal with had been the Bad Bats, but Fenrir's roar was enough to give the party an edge. There was a sticky situation where a large number of Orcs appeared out of the ground, in something similar to a Monster Party, but Mikoto had reacted quickly and used her [Futsunomitama], the gravity magic that affects an area, to crush the large majority of the group. She didn't have enough mana to support using the skill a second time, but it was a very devastating magic, at least on relatively weak monsters. Vahn felt like she was actually more suitable as a mage if she could use attacks like that, but had no intention of forcing her into a role when she obviously preferred swordsmanship. Not to mention, using magic wasn't always reliable as the mana cost and chant of powerful spells could take up to a minute, or longer, depending on the situation.Since it was no longer their turn to take point, Vahn stepped in and helped the girls recover their stamina and mana as they rested. Almost immediately after he offered to help, the atmosphere underwent a shift as the girls, excluding Mikoto, all wanted to receive Vahn's attention first. Vahn gave them a wry smile before putting out a large basin for Fenrir and helped the wolf girl wash her body while also restoring her energy. Fenrir was happy to be the first person tended to by Vahn and actually teased the girls by making a strange laugh that sounded somewhat raspy. After she was clean, the water became murky from all the blood that had soaked her fur so Vahn poured it off in a side room away from the party. The other girls wanted to take baths as well, but Vahn told them to wait until they reached Rivira as he began healing all their small wounds while helping to replenish their stamina and mana.After patting Haruhime and the twins for a bit, Vahn moved over to the quiet Mikoto he gave him a plain stare for a while before turning around. Vahn reached out his palm and placed it on her back as he helped recover her mana as well. Her magic consumed the majority of her mana, so she was actually struggling to stand and had been putting on a strong front for a while. Vahn didn't say anything and just silently helped her recover before removing his palm from her back. She nodded curtly and said in a polite tone, "Thank you, Captain." Vahn laughed dismissively and said, "This is my duty, don't make a big deal out of it Mikoto. I'm happy to help when I can." Mikoto nodded again with a polite smile before sitting with the rest of the group and eating the light lunch that had been set out.The group rested for about a half hour before Vahn led the way into the 11th floor proper while Ryuu and Aki protected the group. When there were smaller bundles of enemies, they would be leading the party in assaulting the enemies for experience. Mikoto and Fenrir were capable of fighting on these floors, as long as there weren't too many enemies, and even the twins would be able to manage if they fought well. Haruhime was an exception since, if she used her magic properly, she could kill monster much stronger than her actual Level. This was one of the reasons mages typically became stronger early on while physical fighters took a while to catch up in Level until eventually exceeding them simply based on efficacy. As long as she hit the target with her magic, unless it had a resistance, Haruhime would be able to kill almost any monster on the current floors.Of course, they would only act if there were small groups of enemies. With their party size, the spawn rate of monsters was quite high and it would be necessary for Vahn, Ryuu, and Aki to take point for the majority of the floors. Vahn himself was getting hyped up, because he didn't often have an audience for his fights. He never realized it before, but 'showing off' in front of the girls made him feel a little prideful and he wanted to do his best to act 'cool' for them. Though he usually fought with his Báihǔ form, Vahn was currently in his Xuánwǔ form because he wanted to acclimate himself to its use. He planned to fight the Goliath in his Xuánwǔ form so he needed to familiarize himself with it before the battle tomorrow. It also had the added effect...a four-meter-tall Silverback jumped down and slammed its fist at Vahn from overhead. Instead of dodging, Vahn held up his palm as a green light shone for a moment before the entire upper body of the Silverback exploded before it turned to dust.Every time he easily dealt with an enemy, there would be a cheerful sound from his back as the girls egged him on and paid him heavy compliments. Vahn had a perpetual smile on his face as he used Shundo to appear under a Silverback before striking its abdomen with a heavy blow that caused a shockwave to pass through its body before it was sent flying back several meters. Vahn had never used his Xuánwǔ form in the dungeon after learning Shundo, so he was ecstatic to be able to circumvent the agility reduction that was imposed on his body. His Power and Endurance had been enhanced by a great deal, and his manipulation of shockwaves made it nearly impossible for monsters that relied on physical attacks to harm him. Vahn felt somewhat tyrannical as he quickly dispatched dozens of monsters while Haruhime, Emiru, Maemi, and Fenrir cheered him on from behind.Because of his 'excitement', Vahn led the way through the 11th floor in a half hour and it would have been even faster if he hadn't let the girls fight a few Hard Armored to gain some experience. As they were relatively slow monsters, it wasn't too hard for the girls to take out the heavily armored monsters. Fenrir herself was their natural enemy, since her claws and teeth cut through the supposedly resilient armor as if it didn't exist at all. The only downside was, all of her combat techniques ensured that she was covered in monster fluids and gore. Vahn even suspected that she was actually making an effort to get dirty so that he would give her another bath later. Given her rather spoiled nature, there was a very high probability that this was the actual case...When they got to the twelfth floor, it was much the same as Vahn was more-or-less unstoppable with his ability to change between his Xuánwǔ and Báihǔ forms freely now. There wasn't a single monster that escaped his awareness within a 450m radius, and his use of Shundo allowed him to almost teleport within the space of his own domain. He was moving around at such speeds that Ryuu and Aki couldn't help but feel shocked at the spectacle. They could still follow his movements a bit, especially Ryuu, but they realized that Vahn was a nightmare opponent for most people. Unless they were much stronger than he was, Vahn would be able to outmaneuver most enemies and, if things got bad, he would most certainly be able to escape without anyone being able to stop him.The other girls didn't really have a strong understanding of how 'abnormal' Vahn was, so they just cheered on happily even after Aki reprimanded them for dropping their guard. Unfortunately, her words didn't have a permanent effect as the girls would cry out again the moment Vahn did something 'cool'. She also felt a bit awed by his figure as he engaged enemies, so there wasn't much she could say to make the girls calm down. Given Vahn's actions, both Aki and Ryuu were very aware that he was putting on a show for the other girls. There was an extra flair to his attacks and he almost always made sure the final blows were slow enough that even the Level 1s in the group could follow his actions. If it were the normal Vahn, he could defeat the enemies efficiently before moving on to the next group without batting an eye.By the time they reached the stairs leading to the 13th floor, Vahn was completely free of any bits of blood and gore and proceeded forward with a confident smile on his face. He could see the 'sparkles' in the girls' eyes and it made him feel accomplished, even when he saw the wry and admonishing looks from Aki and Ryuu. He sent the girls a playful wink before addressing the party, "From here on, we'll be taking a few shortcuts just to expedite matters a bit. There will be holes that appear on the floor, and I'll be carrying everyone down one at a time. Ryuu will guard the lower floor while Aki will protect everyone on the upper levels until I make my way back up. This will save us a lot of time because we can unlock the floors for everyone and backtrack at our leisure."True to his words, not long after they entered the 13th floor, Vahn found a hole leading down and grabbed Haruhime in a princess carry before jumping down the hole with Ryuu. He was using his Xuánwǔ form to invalidate the shockwave from the fall while Ryuu was strong enough to land on the lower floors without any major difficulty at all. When they landed, Ryuu immediately moved to start killing off monsters while Vahn supported her with his bow while protecting Haruhime. It only took a minute or so to clear the room before Vahn turned into his Báihǔ form and scaled the hole leading to the upper floors. He then jumped down with each girl in sequence, including Aki who wanted to tease him a bit for acting 'cool'. She hadn't jumped down with him when he carried down Mikoto, so Vahn eventually climbed up after waiting for a few minutes before jumping down with her in his arms. The words she had used to convince him were, "I don't want to hurt the baby..." as she placed her hands on her stomach and gave Vahn a 'pitiful' look.(A/N: 'Capable Level 1's','Vahn's ego inflates a bit','Aki is sneaky deaky, kappa.')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;3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

In the period of time, nearly ten hours, that Vahn was asleep, Tsubaki had to deal with quite a few problematic issues. There had been so many messages on the network that she was honestly surprised that other hadn't come to interfere. Fortunately, a number of girls had explained away the matter and placed their trust in Vahn to deal with the situation. Naaza and Lili were able to confirm that both Tsubaki and Vahn were still locked within her room, so there wasn't a major panic and they had simply chosen to wait while speculating about what they were up to.As someone that had 'experienced' Vahn's capabilities in the past, Hephaestus simply believed that Tsubaki and Vahn were overindulging like when he had visited her in the past. This started a strange like of conversation where the matter of Vahn's stamina was discussed. It was still fresh in many of the girls' minds how he had 'boldly' claimed to be capable 'dealing' with everyone that had been present at the time without issue. If he really could keep at things for more than a day, it was a relatively 'significant' matter that needed to be taken into consideration. It was good, in a way, since it meant Vahn wouldn't be overstressed when sleeping with several women. However, it was also problematic, since there was a genuine concern that Vahn also couldn't be 'satisfied' by any single girl either. If he was less restrained in his behavior, there could be all kinds of problems in the future.When Tsubaki finally jumped into the conversation and explained that Vahn had used his [Hands of Nirvana] and a special technique to alter her body, it wasn't long before the network exploded in a buzz of questions. Generally speaking, Vahn's massages lasted for an hour and, even in that relatively short period of time, the girls would feel revitalized for days. Their skin would turn glossy and any discomfort and aches they had would have vanished in their entirety by the end of the pleasant sessions. It was hard to imagine what Vahn could have done after spending nearly an entire day and there were more than a few people that were interested in the outcome. When Lili added her own tidbits saying how Tsubaki had literally 'reverse aged' it wasn't long before it was decided that Tsubaki needed to meet with Hephaestus and Loki to determine the extent of her change. They also needed to hear the details from Vahn himself and decided to wait until he woke up before pressing for more information.It was slightly after 8 AM when Vahn finally woke up, and he noticed his body had been wiped down and he was wearing nothing but his briefs. There was a towel on his head wrapped around a small magic item that was able to heat up after inserting a small magic core into the slot at the center. After asking Sis about the details of what happened after he lost consciousness, he discovered he had spent more than twenty-three hours using 'Nirvana' on Tsubaki before blacking out for an additional ten. It wasn't too unexpected since the actual procedure was stated to take an entire day to perform. The fact he took slightly less time showed that he had completed the operation quickly, but it also worried him that he might have made a few mistakes so he crawled out of the futon and wore a new grey tunic and a pair of black trousers before making his way out of the room.Along the way, Vahn could detect several presences on the west side of the house and knew that two of them were gods. He released a short sigh and hoped that he hadn't caused a major stir and taken things too far. During the procedure, Vahn had been so focused on ensuring everything went smoothly that he hadn't noticed the overall changes to Tsubaki's body until the very end. Even he had been surprised when he saw the changes and he was the one that actually conducted the procedure from the beginning. Since it had been his first time using the technique, Vahn didn't know anything about the changes other than what was mentioned in the description. The technique just detailed how it could restore the vitality within cells and remove any sequelae that had been experienced by the patient with the passage of time. It could return life to the dead, but its use on living flesh focused more on 'rebirth' than 'resurrection'. In summary, the final results depended on how far he pushed his efforts but it almost guaranteed that things like aging could be stalled for a time.When Vahn stepped into the dining room, he scanned over the surprised faces of Hephaestus, Loki, Tsubaki, Naaza, Lili, and, surprisingly, Riveria. Seeing the youthful look on Tsubaki's face and the somewhat out-of-character clothing was a bit of an impact on his recently recovered mind, but he didn't get time to adapt to the change before Lili assaulted his body by tackling around his waist and hugging him tightly. Vahn habitually stroked her head as he laughed to the room and said, "Good morning, everyone...it seems I might have gone a bit too far? Hahahaha."Though he could go longer periods of time without food, Vahn was happy to be able to eat a hearty meal as he sat down surrounded by people he trusted and cared about. During the meal, he was constantly barraged with questions by the two goddesses, but it was Riveria who asked a few pointed questions that struck at the root of the matter. Vahn explained his theories about vitality and energy and detailed the larger details of the procedure, including what he had done to help balance out Tsubaki's body and remove any negative buildup that had appeared in her joints, arteries, organs, and blood. The biggest impact was when he unabashedly talked about his impromptu operation to potentially fix the fertility issue after explaining the probable causes to the group of shocked women. Tsubaki's expression had been somewhat priceless as her face had actually turned pale, with wide eyes, for a while before a youthful blush settled into her cheeks and her expression turned into a mixture between relief and happiness.The fact that he had potentially discovered the cause of infertility in Half-Races, as well as potentially discovered the secret to maintaining a person's youth, was a big impact on the group present. It was decided that the information needed to be guarded as an absolute secret until Vahn could better understand the process. If news spread that he could not only help impregnate goddesses but could also perform an operation to replenish a person's youth, there would be no end to the troubles the entire group would face in the future. Vahn also made it very clear that the procedure was far more complicated than the girls understood and it was decided that Riveria and Lefiya would be in attendance the next time he used it. Elves had a natural ability to sense mana, and talented ones like Riveria and Lefiya could even see the flow of elements in the air and understand the mystical properties of magic circles to an extent. Lefiya herself was what Riveria called a thousand-year prodigy and she could even commune with the primordial spirits and borrow their power on occasion.Vahn agreed to not publicize and use the skill whenever he wanted, as he already had no intention of doing so. It was an incredibly taxing procedure and it was only worth using in somewhat drastic situations, typically those involving life and death. Tsubaki had been an exception because Vahn wanted irrefutable evidence to convince her since he understood her intentions from the moment she brought it up. He knew that, unless he did something drastic, she would try and make an excuse to dismiss the changes he had brought about unless they were undeniably evident for everyone to see. Though she had been 36, and still way, she now looked like she hadn't even crested 25 and had a youthful vigor that could even rival some of the more mature girls in the group like Hephaestus and Anubis. She also radiated a bit of power from her body and her aura had increased in size by an almost imperceptible amount so Vahn figured he had actually raised her potential and mentioned updating her Status Board to verify his assumption.Since it was common knowledge among the upper echelons of the network about his ability to update statuses, it was decided that Vahn would update Tsubaki's status and she unabashedly shrugged off the purple kimono she was wearing before removing the sarashi holding up her now 'beautifully sculpted' breasts. Loki even whistled at the sight while several of the girls raised their eyes in abject appreciation of the visual. Tsubaki herself laughed at their reactions before plopping down on the ground and having Vahn sit behind her. She had never been the bashful type from the start, so she didn't care about being seen by other girls, nor Vahn himself. They had bathed together often in the past, and now he literally knew her body better than she herself. Besides, being appreciated by the other girls present made her feel a bit of pride in her 'new' body and she felt like showing off a bit.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Tsubaki CollbrandeRace: Half-DwarfLV. 5POW: A823-&gt;A865END: B775-&gt;A841DEX: S914-&gt;S939AGI: D564-&gt;D583MAG: D557-&gt;C689Skill: [Cyclops:Innate], [Overheat:B], [Surge:D], [Dragon Killer:B], [Oniyuri:B]Magic: [Will-o-Wisp:C] (A/N: I'm going with the idea that she taught the skill to Welf, since it doesn't make sense that he ever learned magic or read a grimoire when he wasn't even Level 2, or a blacksmith, by the time the original plot started.)Development Skill: [Master Smith:G], [Hunter:B], [Fire Resistance:B], [Abnormal Resistance:C][Overheat]Rank: BUse: Absorbs oxygen through the pores to increase blood flow. Causes the body to heat up and enhances all physical parameters. Massive stamina drain.[Surge]Rank: DUse: Infuse mana into attacks to enhance their power.[Dragon Killer]Rank: BUse: Enhance all physical parameters by 50% when fighting against Dragons. Enhance all physical parameters by 25% when fighting against Dragon-Subspecies.[Oniyuri]Rank:CUse: Enhances physical parameters while decreasing the physical parameters of enemies hit by this skill. Has poor mana efficiency.[Will-o-Wisp]Rank: CUse: Super-Short-Chant Anti-magic fire that can disrupt other chants and cause magic to backfire.Chant: Burn out, Illegal work~!(A/N: I'm not going to keep repeating the description of skills that commonly appear unless the readers don't mind the info dump when skills are discussed.)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------After updating her Status Board, Vahn showed Tsubaki her status sheet and she was very surprised by her own growth. She was at the point that, no matter how much she pushed herself, there were rarely changes in her stats more than a few points every now and then. The boost she received from Vahn's 'Nirvana' was literally nothing short of monstrous. This showed that not only did the skill revitalize the body, but it also strengthened it and increased the potential of the recipient. It made sense considering that Vahn had actually massaged her muscles and removed any damage that had been contained within through excess training and overuse. The biggest surprise was her Magic stat increasing to a large extent, and Vahn explained that her aura had actually increased marginally during the procedure.As Tsubaki's goddess, Hephaestus was able to see her updated Status while the others weren't privy to the information since it was very private. Even though they were allies, everyone needed to keep their own secrets, especially someone like Tsubaki who was the Captain of an entire Familia. This didn't prevent Loki from asking about things after she saw the changes in expression from Vahn, Tsubaki, and then Hephaestus. Vahn had been surprised that Tsubaki actually had her Innate skill awakened, but it made sense considering her actual alias was 'Cyclops'. She was already Level 5, so she had probably awakened it long ago and obtained her moniker from the skill itself. Tsubaki was surprised by everything that had been happening within the last day, and her own status was just a cherry atop the mountain of things she had to process. As for Hephaestus, she was very pleased with the revelation that Tsubaki's growth had accelerated to such a level and it was likely just the start. Now that her body was revitalized, it stood to reason that her potential had increased further and she would be able to finally break the limits of Level 5 in the future. The only thing she needed was an achievement and she would be able to Level-Up immediately thereafter.Hephaestus had looked over toward Loki after reading the information and stated simply, "We already agreed that this needed to be kept a secret, but now things are far more serious than we imagined. Vahn's technique seems to be able to increase the actual potential of the recipient, though I can't say anything about the changes without Tsubaki's consent." Tsubaki began to laugh as she heard Hephaestus's words and said, "I feel like I could even give some of your children a run for their money now, hahahaha~!" Loki's eyes widened marginally at their words and asked in a serious tone, "Is it really that drastic a change?" Though she could tell they were being serious, it wasn't something she could just let slide in a dismissive manner.Instead of allowing Hephaestus and Tsubaki to answer, Vahn spoke out to interrupt the flow and said, "All I did was awaken a bit of the potential already contained within Tsubaki's body. It isn't to the extent that I increased it by a large amount, and it probably wouldn't have a drastic effect on anyone with a growth-related skill or those that have already broken through their normal limits. I'm not sure how long Tsubaki has been Level 5, but it was very obvious from my observations that she had stalled at her current level for a long time. If not for this fact, there wouldn't have been such a drastic change." Tsubaki nodded her head and said, "That makes sense...I've been Level 5 for seven, almost eight, years. Now that my muscles have been loosened up and my joints and tendons have been restored to an undamaged state, it makes sense that my parameters would increase a fair amount..."Loki released a theatrically exasperated sigh and said, "What a letdown ~. It would have been amazing if you could keep using that skill the constantly improve the parameters of other people. Well, you should still consider using it on some of the girls to get a better understanding of the skill...though, don't push yourself too hard." Vahn nodded his head in agreement before everyone sat around and discussed the matters of the future in detail. Because of the strain, and complexity, of the 'Nirvana' technique, Vahn decided to not use it unless the situation called for it. He did plan to research the matter of infertility in Half-Breed races though and intended to record the details of his study within a journal.Riveria offered to help him out since it was very difficult for elves to get pregnant as well. They had a long gestation period, nearly 13 months, and the children born were often frail and sickly and required mana to sustain their health. Since Vahn showed an interest in resolving such issues, Riveria wanted to contribute since it was theoretically the most important topic to research in the entire world. Everything Vahn did was borderline 'revolutionary' on a fundamental level, and she felt like he would create a stream of endless miracles in the future with proper guidance and mentorship. She even offered to guide him on his magical studies, since it was common knowledge that Vahn's magic parameter was far beyond mortal levels. Since Vahn actually had a vested interest in learning magic, he willingly agreed to her request and they had decided to exchange communication scrolls to keep in touch about their research. Riveria even gave him a magical grimoire, since he had talked about having Haruhime train in magic as well. She was surprised by Vahn's claims about the Renard girls magical capacity and she was very interested to teach such prodigious students.By the time the discussion came to an end, it was nearly 1 PM and the group had eaten lunch together before splitting up to go about their various duties. Tsubaki left with Naaza and Lili to rendezvous with the expedition party, since they still needed to report to the Guild and exchange all the drops items they had obtained for Valis. Loki wasn't really busy, but she said there were a few things she wanted to look into without going into any details. Hephaestus needed to return to her own workshop as well, but Vahn escorted her and they held hands throughout the entire hour-long trip regardless of the number of eyes they drew. After dropping her off at her workshop, Vahn and Hephaestus shared a long kiss with each other as he affectionately rubbed her belly. When they finally parted, Vahn made a quick stopover at the Hostess of Fertility to greet all the girls present and enjoy a light snack and coffee before finally returning to the Hearth Manor.The moment he stepped into the foyer, Vahn caught the twin-tailed bullet that shot at his diaphragm like a lethal projectile. Hestia pounded on his chest with her tiny fists and said, "You can't be gone for so long without telling me, idiot, idiot, idiot~!" Vahn just cradled her body in his embrace for a while and consoled the bereaved goddess for a while before spending a bit of time tending to, and spoiling, her. Everyone except Preasia was currently in the dungeon, so Vahn spent some time cuddling with Hestia on the sofa after finding a room where Preasia wouldn't easily find them. She didn't seem to realize he was home yet, and Vahn felt like it would be somewhat awkward if the three of them were in a room together. Thinking of the timid sheep girl, Vahn began to wonder if he should help her find a bit of direction along the path she had decided upon. He knew Naaza would move into the Hearth Manor in the future, and he was considering having her mentor Preasia since she was interested in medicine...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Network Ablaze','Tsubaki's Changes','Path of Divergence: Future Potential')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;3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 333: Excursion