Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

---Haruhime PoV---Haruhime didn't understand it herself, but ever since Vahn had started brushing her hair earlier it felt like her heart was fluttering about in her chest. She hadn't mentioned it to him, but it felt like all of her parameters were increasing and she had a strange urge to 'prance' about the Dungeon and defeat even more monsters. It was like there was an uncontainable jubilation well up inside of her and she needed to 'release' it for, not the world, but just Vahn to see. However, everything she had learned told her to keep her senses about her and never lower her guard regardless of how confident she felt. Though it was important to trust your instincts, you should never neglect your training because, as was often said by both Ryuu and Aki, 'It will save your life.'The tenth floor was typically beyond the limits of most Level 1's unless they were formed up into parties because the rooms were much wider and filled with a fog reminiscent of morning mist. There were a number of small monsters, known as Imps, that were always skulking about behind rocks and trees in order to catch their prey unawares while they were distracted fighting against the various Bad Bats and Orcs that populated the floor. Haruhime, fortunately, had the benefit of her enhanced senses or it would be very difficult to clear the floor since there was a high chance she might get caught off guard. Instead, since she had been to this floor before, Haruhime had memorized the various scents and was able to locate the hiding Imps as long as she paid attention.Haruhime heard a slight rustling of grass that made her ears twitch as she pulled out her katana. She didn't need to use its magic for a single enemy so Haruhime simply charged the diminutive creature and took the initiative to strike it down. It tried to defend with its dagger, but Haruhime's [Sakura Blossom] easily cut through it before bisecting the Imp from head to toe. She brandished the katana to disperse the blood that had marred its beautiful surface before continuing forwards. The lack of enemies actually made it harder to fight since she couldn't get into the correct 'tempo' unless the fight lasted longer. Fortunately, Haruhime caught a rather pungent scent that alerted her to the presence of Orcs hiding within the thick mist. She could easily defeat them using [Icicle Edge], but Haruhime wanted to test her capabilities against the notoriously durable monsters and their rapid regeneration.After following the trail, Haruhime found a group of four Orcs and a gentle smile appeared on her face before her body began to sway and she drew her katana and whispered in a sing-song voice that tickled the hiding Vahn's ears, "Dance, fading effervescence. Blossom, petals of spring. ~Blossom!" A group of sakura petals began to slowly dance around her body as she leaned forward and dashed toward the Orcs with her newly upgraded Agility. After Vahn updated her Status Board, she had more than a 50% increase and Haruhime could feel a lightness in her body that made her feel 'free' and unrestrained. Even though she was only 150cm tall, she wasn't afraid of the 3m tall Orcs at all and actually felt more excited than anything else. When she dodged the overhead strike of the Orc, who had been using a large club, Haruhime placed her weight onto her right foot before doing a backflip to dodge the second swipe and she heard the peculiar sound of bells ring once.When she landed on her feet, Haruhime performed a short instep towards the Orc before performing a graceful, almost slow, strike through the air that cut accurately at the location of its magic core. The sakura petals trailed behind her slash and peppered small holes in the body of the orc before it turned into dust. Haruhime heard the sound of bells again before she took a half step backward and tilted her body to evade the strike that had been aimed at her face. Though there was no music playing, Haruhime felt like she had fallen into the Orcs tempo and all of their movements were the accompanying music for her performance. She knew Vahn was watching and wanted to appear as elegant as possible to please him.Though she hadn't intended to use it, Haruhime found herself raising her left hand as she muttered, "Piercing Chill, Icicle Edge~!" towards the Orc that had just raised both of its clubs at the same time. Since there was a second Orc at her flank, there wasn't any easy way to evade their combined attacks and her instincts naturally guided her actions to use a magic spell to instantly kill the Orc. She then, instead of retreating away, stepped toward the Orc that tired to swipe at her from the side as she ducked under its arm making use of the size difference between them. Without swinging her sword, Haruhime simply walked past the Orc as the sakura petals trailed her movements and cut through its left leg and abdomen before leaving it on the ground screaming.Haruhime felt very strange at the moment, almost as if her mind was becoming increasingly calm even though powerful emotions were coursing through her. She felt compelled to move about, but also restrained herself through instinct and she didn't know what was happening. The only thing she 'knew', even though she couldn't explain why she knew this, was that she had to dance...so she did. Even though there were still two Orcs present, Haruhime began to dance to a melody only she could hear as she effortlessly evaded the attacks of the Orcs who became increasingly violent. Their attacks cut through the air with enough force to disperse large amounts of fog and even a grazing blow would be enough to seriously injure her, yet Haruhime seemed to ignore their presence entirely. The only things their attacks managed to do was cause her long hair to 'dance' in the wind as her body moved fluidly around the area.After around three minutes, the urge Haruhime had begun to fade and she sheathed her sword before kneeling down on the grass in silence. While she had been evading the combined attacks of the Orcs, their battle had caused an additional ten Imps to sneak up and 'contribute' their efforts to the fight. However, the only thing that changed was the 'tempo' Haruhime could feel in her body as she danced around and slew every monster without swinging her sword a single time. Now that her strange state had faded, Haruhime was ruminating over everything that happened and nurturing the pleasant feelings that were welling up inside of her. After sheathing her sword, she held both palms to her chest and felt like she could feel the flame seed in her chest warming her entire body with its comforting, everpresent heat...---Standard PoV---Vahn had been crouching down in the grass around 100m from Haruhime's position and watched the entire fight from start to finish. He was in awe at what he had witnessed because, unlike the dance-like movements Haruhime used in the past, it seemed like she had actually started dancing seriously. The strange thing was, it was almost as though the monsters were moving to her tempo and were always one step behind everything she did. There were even times when she started to move before the monsters even attacked yet they went through the motions almost as if they didn't even realize she had moved in the first place. Since he suspected it was the influence of a skill, Vahn had been watching part of the fight with his [Eyes of Truth] active and noticed a large area around Haruhime appeared to be 'illusory' in nature.Several seconds after he realized this, Vahn's eyes opened wide because he realized he had gotten caught up the illusion for a very brief moment and had been 'mesmerized' by Haruhime's dance. He saw her spin on her feet and, as his eyes traced the tantalizing curve of her tail, Vahn noticed that Haruhime had moved a few meters away before he even realized what happened. Since he was supposed to be 'absolutely immune' to illusions, Vahn had no idea how Haruhime was able to pull off what should have been an impossible feat. The only explanation was that it was the influence of her Innate skill must have some way to bypass his own [Eyes of Truth] and the implication triggered a flag within Vahn's mind. His understanding of his own Innates was shallow at best, and now he realized there were Innates that could exceed any preconceived notions he possessed about his own mental defenses.Though he realized it was 'dangerous', Vahn allowed his mind to focus on Haruhime's movements again and noticed that he didn't seem to be affected at all as long as he retained focus. However, when he saw her hips sway gently like a reed and followed her tails with his eyes, Haruhime was suddenly several meters away once again. Vahn's eyes opened wide and he realized the skill was either activated by Haruhime's tail, or took effect and exploited the gaps in a person's concentration when their thoughts shifted.To test his theory, Vahn focused all of his attention on Haruhime's somewhat pert butt, willowy waist, and elegant tail for nearly a full minute without any effect. This showed that it was likely the case that it exploited the gaps in a person's concentration so Vahn 'uncharacteristically' imagined Haruhime performing her current dance wearing nothing but the lingerie he was designing for her. By the time he returned to his senses, Haruhime was sheathing her sword and Vahn felt a strange sense of shame and lowered his head to stare at the grass for a short while as he calmed his mind. During this moment, Vahn realized he could simply use [Will of the Emperor] and the cool energy would immediately remove the effects.Vahn released a small sigh of relief before turning his attention back to the 'meditating' Haruhime with a small smile on his face. Even if she hadn't awakened her Innate, she had to be very close to it and Vahn realized it would be an incredibly powerful one when she honed her skills further. There was nothing more critical in a fight between two experts than being able to exploit the small openings in your opponent's defenses. Haruhime's 'dance' also seemed to push her senses, at least her hearing, to the absolute limit because Vahn had noticed her ears were twitching about in a steady rhythm and could detect mana accumulating in them.The entire time she was meditating, Vahn used his bow in conjunction with [Call of the Reaper] to silently kill any monsters that approached near her. He understood it was very important to undergo moments of internal reflection to develop a better understanding of things at times. Even if she lost the timing to get the [Hunter] Development Ability, it meant nothing compared to awakening her Innate abilities. Fortunately, Haruhime only spent around forty minutes kneeling down on the grass before rising to her feet and dusting off her kimono and walking deeper into the floor. Though it was almost imperceptible, Vahn could sense a fundamental change in each of Haruhime's movements. Her steps seemed lighter, yet purposeful, while her body swayed about in a natural and elegant manner. The most noticeable thing, however, had been when, for a very brief moment, Haruhime's tail flashed with an illusory blue light reminiscent of her [Kokonoe] magic that made her sprout additional tails.---Haruhime PoV---Haruhime had continued to focus on the 'heat' in her chest and felt like she was stoking the small flame seed with her own emotions, almost like her thoughts and feelings were acting like a billow. She could feel her heart beating in a steady rhythm and slowly spread through her body and made a tingling sensation appear in her arms, legs, and extremities. It was like the feeling of happiness, yet instead of just feeling it in her heart it had spread throughout her entire body. As it reached the limits of her limbs, the feeling stopped spreading and instead began to increase in intensity. Haruhime's desire to dance continued to rise higher and after more than half an hour passed she could no longer resist the urge and had to go find something to fight.The moment she stood up, Haruhime felt like her entire body was light and the tingling sensation sent strange reverberations through her body with every step she took. It was almost as though every step she took towards the path she had decided for herself increased the feelings she felt in her heart, mind, and body. Since she knew Vahn was watching, Haruhime resisted the urge to laugh out from all the emotions building up within her body and instead settled on humming a tune she had never heard before. All she knew was that it made the fluttery feelings in her heart persist for a longer period of time and she felt an eagerness spreading through her body to join the happy feelings as she locked onto a pair of Orcs with her pale-golden eyes that had small slits instead of a normal pupil. There was a strange red coloration around her eyes, almost as if she had applied makeup that made her elegant expression appear far more alluring than normal...---Standard PoV---Vahn had noticed that the moment Haruhime came across a new batch of monsters the air around her body changed once again so he immediately activated his [Eyes of Truth] and saw the illusory aura had activated again. He smiled widely because he was certain Haruhime's Innate must have awakened and he 'confirmed' it by staring at the illusory second tail that was overlapping her real one like a phantom echo. Since he had done a bit of research to try and understand the Innate skills more, Vahn attributed this effect to her Innate called [Inari]. He had learned that it was the name of a nine-tailed fox deity that had a surprising number of myths that he had pulled from various records.Though he had yet to meet her, Vahn also knew there should be a goddess named Inari in the Far East who was considered the principle goddess of the Renard people. The fact that Haruhime had an Innate related to her principle goddess showed that her noble bloodline wasn't just for show. Not only did she have an incredibly rare magic, but her Innate ability was probably the most powerful one that a Renard could possess. If his intuition was correct, Haruhime might very well have nine tails one day and be able to make use of her [Kokonoe] without even having to use the chant...assuming it didn't let her grow an additional nine tails. Vahn had trouble imagining what eighteen tails would even look like, so he believed his deduction to be true.Now that she had a better understanding of her skill, though Vahn wasn't even sure she knew it was active, Haruhime was able to defeat most of the monsters on the 10th floor without any real difficulty. The only thing Vahn felt somewhat unsatisfactory was how 'slow' the battles were, even though it was literally a mesmerizing sight to behold. It was looking more and more like Haruhime wouldn't be able to slay 1000 monsters within the 72-hour window unless he came up with a solution to 'accelerate' the process a bit. Since it might negatively influence her to know about it, Vahn decided to keep the matter to himself and try and probe some information out of Haruhime when they rested in the evening.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The Power of Emotions','Jiiiiiiiiiiiii~ -Vahn Mason 'observing' Haruhime','What do we say to the God of Death? Lets dance~!')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

---Haruhime PoV---After spending three hours on the tenth floor, Haruhime was very aware that this floor no longer presented the 'challenge' she sought. She didn't understand the changes in her body well, but Haruhime had realized something had changed ever since Vahn updated her status earlier. Though it was an incorrect assumption, Haruhime felt like Vahn had 'changed' something inside of her and she had become much stronger. She accredited her current progress to his support and the thought of him watching over her just made the feelings welling up inside of her even stronger. Her final fight on the tenth floor had been a group of nine Orcs that were surrounded by fourteen Imps. If it were her old self, before Vahn changed her, Haruhime would have certainly died against such great odds. Instead, after a few minutes had passed the only thing that remained of the enemies were several magic cores on four Orc Hides which Haruhime didn't bother to loot.After arriving at the relative safety of the stairwell, Haruhime waited for a minute or two before sitting down after Vahn didn't show up. She felt her tensions ease up slightly and sat down on the cold Dungeon floor to recuperate for a bit. One thing she had noticed was, though her parameters had increased greatly, her 'dance' slowly drained both her stamina and mana at the same time. Since [Sakura Blossom] didn't take too much mana to sustain, Haruhime understood there was something unique occurring in her body that allowed her to break through her normal limits in exchange for a bit of mana. She felt like her emotions had reached a level that broke through common sense and had become her actual power. This thought made the bubbly feeling in her tummy rise even higher as she peacefully sat humming a tune for nearly an hour before continuing into the marginally more dangerous eleventh floor.Though she felt confident, Haruhime knew the eleventh floor was very dangerous for a single person to traverse since it was habitated by Hard Armored, Silverbacks, Orcs, Imps, and very rarely, Infant Dragons. Hard Armored had the highest defense of any monster on the upper floors while Silverbacks had incredible power and decent agility that could overwhelm rookie Adventurers. The Orcs and Imps wouldn't be too problematic but a single Infant Dragon could spell the end of her journey if she weren't careful. Their flame breath was powerful enough to burn large holes without the hard dungeon floor and could melt through steel with relative ease. Her only hope when encountering such a threat was to hit it from a distance with her magic even though its scales were some resilient against low-level spells.As she walked through the mist of the eleventh floor, Haruhime kept her senses trained on her surroundings and noticed there was a strange earthly aroma all around the area she had entered. Her ears bobbed up and down in a steady rhythm as she crouched low to the ground and stifled her own breathing to an inaudible level as she waited. Her senses had warned her of danger and she felt like retreat wasn't the correct course of action since it would expose her to whatever lurked within the mists. Her decision had proved the correct one as a 5m tall monkey-like creature shambled through the mist with glowing green eyes. Unlike a normal Silverback, instead of a single stripe of silver fur, its entire body was covered in silver fur and Haruhime quickly understood she had encountered a variant species. Since variants were typically a level higher than their counterparts, that made the monster before her a Level 2, and one marginally stronger than other Level 2 monsters.The large monkey sniffed the air with loud inhalations before releasing a steady stream of hot condensation that caused the mist around its body to evaporate. Unfortunately, though she had made efforts to conceal herself, a solid red kimono and long blond hair weren't exactly stealthy against the white grass backdrop of the eleventh floor. The 'Silverback Alpha' noticed Haruhime's figure crouching as the fur on its body started to take on a reddish hue and it breathed a long stream of flames toward her. For its troubles, an ice spear crashed into the side of its face and caused a fair amount of damage that made the Silverback Alpha howl loudly as he leaped the full distance between itself and Haruhime.Haruhime's eyes had widened when the flame breath came at her suddenly and she held out both arms to cover her face. Even if she got burned elsewhere, Haruhime didn't want Vahn to see her with burns on her face. She wanted to be able to smile for him always and couldn't forgive the monster for its affront against her on this matter. Strangely, other than a bit of heat, Haruhime didn't feel any painful burning sensation and noticed a bubble of invisible energy coming from the accessories Vahn had lovingly forged for her in the past. Because the Silverback Alpha's flames were magical, the M.Def of the accessories prevented any harm from reaching her as a beautiful smile bloomed on her face and she called out, "Piercing Chill, Icicle Edge~!"Moments after her spear hit the monster, the flames came to a stop and Haruhime heard a loud roar overlapped with the sound of bells as she dodged to the side in a strangely slow spin that still allowed her enough time to evaded the leap of the monster. The moment she did a full turn, Haruhime smiled and whispered in a small voice, "Piercing Chill, Icicle Edge~!" while aiming at the side of her assailant. The meter long spear of ice smashed into the side of the monster but only caused a small abrasion covered in ice to appear on its silvery fur. Less than a second later, the ice melted away and the only signs of her previous magic spell was a patch of mangled flesh that hadn't gone remotely deep enough to do any serious damage. Fortunately, the monster seemed to be slower than expected and most of its attacks missed her by a large margin even though Haruhime felt like it should be faster than she was.Unable to hit the small creature flitting about around its body, the Silverback Alpha began uprooting trees and boulders to try and smash the small figure into a paste. Every time it tried, however, it noticed the weak creature seemed to disappear before popping up in a new location which made it roar in anger as its fur became progressively redder. Its anger exceeded the limits of its tolerance and the Silverback Patriarch began to smash the floor of the Dungeon around it with its heavy fists without even bothering to try and hit the small creature anymore. If it couldn't smash her when trying to, it would just smash everything around it instead.Loud explosions sounded through the room as a cloud of debris was slowly concealing the body of the Silverback Patriarch as large chunks of sharp shrapnel began to fly about in random trajectories. Haruhime's tempo was disrupted by the random attacks and she cried out, "Dance, fading effervescence. Blossom, petals of spring. ~Blossom!" Haruhime began to take small steps as she rotated her body faster and faster in a strange manner as the sakura petals danced about her at a high speed. She tried to trust her instincts to evade the oncoming debris but several pieces still collided with parts of her body before a fragment of a decayed-looking tree lodged itself firmly into her thigh. Haruhime gnashed her teeth and continued her dance as large amount of blood began to trickle down her leg.Though there were tears in her eyes, Haruhime's mind remained clear as she brandished her katana and a blue light began to shine as she began to chant without stopping her dance. She had never tried to chant while moving under duress, but Haruhime's instincts told her that, as long as she followed the tempo of her dance, she should be able to pull it off...she believed this monster's rage would not be the end of her journey. Though it was much stronger than she was, Haruhime refused to back down even though her body was screaming at her to simply 'stop'.After taking a short step and turning, Haruhime muttered in a whisper as a blue light began to shine on her tail, "Kokonoe. Beloved snow. Beloved crimson. Beloved white light..." A large piece of debris came toward her and Haruhime's body leaned on instinct but it still smashed into her shoulder and tore part of her kimono. Though she got knocked back a few steps, Haruhime continued to chant," Please let me be beside you - this love I have found at the end of two thousand nights. My name is Magic Fox. Former destroyer..." The Silverback Patriarch seemed to realize the coming danger and stopped its tirade before running toward Haruhime on all fours with a fierce momentum and death contained deep within its glowing green eyes. Haruhime's dance had never stopped as her body 'vanished' from the spot and reappeared to the left of the monster as she said, "My name is Ancient Song. Former dreamer. For you who beat your wings like a bird, I shall allow the nine spirits to dwell in me. Echo, song of gold, sacred poem of Tamamo. White face, golden fur, king of nine tails..." In its panic, the Silverback Patriarch forgot its earlier failure as it released a long stream of fire towards Haruhime who received the blow head on by positioning her katana in the path. The mystical bubble guided the flames around her body without damaging her in the slightest as she continued, "Oh, tails of the auspicious beast, consume all, grant all wishes, Piercing Chill, Icicle Edge~! - Dance!"Instead of the normal four tails, five tails bloom behind Harhime's back, each with a small blue flame on their tips as five 3m long spears of ice appeared around her body, completely unaffected by the heat. A powerful light glowed in her pale golden eyes as the speared continued to grow in size despite the powerful heat before launching forward with an air-breaking speed and piercing deeply into the body of the Silverback Patriarch. Unlike the meter long quick-cast spears she threw out earlier, the final attack of Haruhime had condensed the magical energy to form five 4m long spears that were far more lethal than the weaker version of the spell. She packed all of her mana into the attack alongside the remaining mana into her accessories and believed in her victory as she sent the spears forward with a loud cry, "I won't stop here, not when my story has just begun!" After her shout, Haruhime saw the spears pierce into the Silverback Patriarch as its body began to swell up before exploding into a large cloud of purple dust. The last thing she remembered before darkness claimed her was a warm feeling embracing her body that prevented her from falling to the ground...---Standard PoV---When Haruhime had entered the 11th floor, Vahn had followed closely behind her and detected the presence of the variant much earlier than she did. Because the mist had nearly no effect on his vision, Vahn had seen the lumbering behemoth walking on all fours through the mist before changing its path toward Haruhime. He nodded his head because she had made the correct decision to hide, but also knew it would be futile since the monster seemed to have a very powerful sense of smell and eyesight that could pierce through the fog. He was tempted to step in and help, but Vahn thought it would be a good experience for Haruhime since there was no guarantee he would always be around to protect her. The [Effigy of the Hero] would allow her to win regardless of how strong the monster ended up being and it would be an 'eye-opener' that would prepare her for the future if she could overcome the trial before her.Of course, though he rationalized it this way, Vahn's body was incredibly tense as his fingers dug deep into the hard dungeon floor. There was a chilling cold in his mind because he had a powerful urge to leap forward and annihilate the monster every time it got close to injuring Haruhime. His [Will of the Emperor] was the only thing keeping him in place as he constantly muttered to himself, "She'll be okay, believe...she'll be okay, believe..." When the Silverback Patriarch began to slam the ground in a rage, Vahn felt like his molars were going to be ground into powder with how hard he clenched his teeth. He saw the ten cm long piece of wood pierce clear through Haruhime's thigh and had almost leaped forward in the very next moment before noticing that Haruhime hadn't given up at all. With a deep breath, Vahn pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow while maintaining his [Stealth] and trained his sights on the Silverback Patriarch so that he could kill it at a moments notice.Though his focus was on the monster, Vahn noticed the mana around Haruhime's body began to fluctuate and he turned his eyes toward her and saw the illusory aura around her body had actually formed a large bluish-white fox with golden eyes sitting behind her. It was more than 3m tall and had two wispy tails behind its body as and followed each of Haruhime's movements like her shadow. Vahn could see the mouth of the fox's mouth moving, almost as if it were whispering into Haruhime's ears and he could also hear Haruhime's chant even though she was still dancing. A peculiar feeling welled up inside of him, almost like a powerful burst of inspiration, as Vahn lowered his bow. He knew that Haruhime was at a pivotal moment in her development and that his interference would be a slap in the face to her convictions. Vahn saw the confident glint in her now pale-golden eyes and knew she wouldn't give up no matter how difficult the fight got.Toward the very end, when Haruhime had faced down the flames of the Silverback Patriarch head-on, Vahn saw the illusory fox behind her step forward before 'diving' into her body. The moment her chant ended, Vahn saw Haruhime's four tails sprout into five as an illusory blue flame appeared on their tips. He felt a powerful convergence of ice elemental energy pulled into the flames at Haruhime's tails before large ice spears, far larger than anything Haruhime had ever used before, began appearing out of thin air. Vahn, with his [Eyes of Truth], saw that there was a line of pure elemental energy contained within each spear, almost like an arrow of unstoppable magical energy. That small line nurtured the entire spear and prevented the flames from having any effect as Haruhime launched them forward with a loud cry. Vahn saw all five spears penetrate through the body of the Silverback Patriarch before using Shundo to step forward and catch Haruhime's collapsing body. She went into a state of 'Mind Down' and had lost consciousness as Vahn held her body tightly in his embrace before vanishing from the eleventh floor and retreating into the safety of the adjoining corridor to tend to her wounds...(A/N: 'The Power of Belief','Never gonna give up~!','-sounds of popcorn being eaten-')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

While Haruhime had been 'dancing' around and slaying monsters, Vahn had been following behind her wearing a brackish brown cloak that, when used with his [Stealth] and domain, obscured other people's perception of him. Even someone with a powerful sense of smell, or those sensitive to magical fluctuations, wouldn't be able to detect his presence unless they were within his domain. Because he had compressed it a great deal, he lost the functionality of mapping large areas, but he was easily able to keep track of Haruhime and observe her progress. Though her attacks didn't have the 'liveliness' of Tiona's, they were similar in the vein that both girls appeared to be 'dancing' about when they fought. Vahn could even tell that Haruhime was trying her best to move at the same tempo as the monsters and it allowed her to exhaust them while conserving her own stamina.After nearly four hours, Haruhime had slain a total of 61 Goblins and 33 Kobolds as she cut a somewhat random path through the ninth floor of the Dungeon. The numbers were far fewer than Vahn expected, but he considered it was due to the small party size and the fact that Haruhime was progressing forward very cautiously. He was satisfied to see her polishing her capabilities, but it did make things feel a little 'slow' as he was more accustomed to a faster clear speed. Normally, though he let the girls fight, Vahn was the one picking the route they took and always went directly towards enemies without long gaps in between. This was one of the reasons why he often had to help the girls recover their stamina, but Haruhime didn't have that 'benefit' at this moment and had slowed her pace to a reasonable speed.Of course, though he thought the pace was 'slow', Vahn didn't notice the passage of time clearly because he had been training his focus and intent on Haruhime the entire time. Though it was a little narcissistic, he felt like she was putting on a performance meant for him and her movements were somewhat 'mesmerizing' as she continually pressed forward and cut through her enemies. The red kimono, black obi, beautiful blond hair, fluffy tail, curved ears, and Haruhime's elegant, dance-like, movements overlapped with her swordsmanship and created a scene that was strangely alluring. Vahn felt like the only thing needed to elevate the experience to an idyllic level was a bit of accompanying music and some fragrant tea...While he watched her fight, Vahn had started to tap his finger to the 'tune' of Haruhime's dance before realizing he had uncharacteristically fallen into a daze and stopped paying attention to his surroundings. It wasn't until a Kobold lost its leg and began wailing that Vahn snapped out of his temporary daze and increased his alertness. Haruhime cleaned up the group of Kobolds a few minutes later and brought her new total to 50 before continuing onwards with Vahn on her tail...---Haruhime PoV---After clearing several rooms of enemies, Haruhime had started to get into a natural 'rhythm' and each of her actions became more fluid as she continued deeper into the Dungeon. Though she never dropped her guard and always scouted for the enemies using her senses, Haruhime felt a lot less concerned about the enemies on the ninth floor and had considered progressing deeper into the Dungeon. Since it had been explained to her that the only practical way to increase parameters was through trial, killing the same enemies over and over actually had diminishing returns after a while. To test her limits a bit further, Haruhime followed the trail of a pack of Kobolds silently before drawing their attention and kiting them to another group she had discovered nearby.Haruhime decided that, if a group of 17 Kobolds wasn't enough to 'challenge' her, she would move on to the tenth floor after taking a short rest in the adjoining passage leading further down. Because she had pulled one group by having them chase her, Haruhime ended up surrounded by the two groups from the moment she entered the room. Instead of feeling afraid, a small smile appeared on her face and her pure green eyes became somewhat lighter as they began to glow with a gentle light. She unsheathed her katana and muttered in a sing-song like voice, "Dance, fading effervescence. Blossom, petals of spring. ~Blossom!" This time, she had used some of the magic power contained within her bracelets to enhance the effect and managed to summon a total of twenty petals. As she had been expecting, the moment Haruhime took a step and spun her body, she heard the sound of bells and whispered toward the darkness, "Please watch me...Vahn."Though she didn't know where he was, Haruhime believed Vahn was watching her attentively to ensure that she would be safe in the event of any mishaps. She felt like this moment, when it was just the two of them, was one of the few blessed moments she had experienced in her life. Previously, Haruhime had spent her entire life locked away from the world, be it when she was a noble's daughter, or when she had been turned into a slave and trained as a prostitute. Vahn had not only given her the freedom she so desired, but he also gave her a safe place to stay and also helped increase her strength so she could fight against any injustices she might face in the future. Now that she had his attention, Haruhime wanted to 'dedicate' her performance to him because the thought of having him watch her made her attacks feel smoother, more powerful, and more elegant.As Haruhime swayed like a willow in the wind, she cut a path between three Kobolds and severed one of their legs before it fell to the ground with a painful howl. She actually felt pity for the poor creature, but there was also a strange feeling of contempt inside of her because it's cry had disrupted her dance for a brief moment. However, it was the energy fluctuation that caught her attention as she spun around and severed the head of an attacking Kobold before sliding back in a smooth pattern that kept her on the outside of the group of Kobolds. Though she didn't turn her attention fully to the location, Haruhime had seen a silhouette in the shadow of a boulder and for a very brief moment, she saw Vahn's aquamarine eyes watching her. Haruhime didn't know why he had revealed himself, but she suddenly felt like all of her parameters increased marginally as happy feelings spread through her heart. There was a big difference between 'assuming' someone was watching and 'knowing' they were watching and now that Haruhime knew his location she did her best to always angle her attacks to better appeal to the boy hidden in the shadows.When she cut through the final Kobold, Haruhime brought her body to a slow stop before smoothly sheathing her katana as she angled her body casually towards Vahn's location without showing any other signs she had discovered his presence. After her breathing had returned to normal, Haruhime turned around and swayed her hips a bit as her tail drew an S-shaped curve through the air, almost as if it were inviting Vahn to continue his 'pursuit'. Now that she 'knew' he was nearby, Haruhime felt less tense and emboldened to delve deeper into the dungeon. It wasn't that she was becoming overconfident, she just wanted Vahn to watch her defeat even stronger enemies to show him the results of her efforts.She wanted him to know that, without having to say anything to him directly, Haruhime feared nothing within the darkness of the Dungeon. Even if she inevitably fell to the attack of an enemy, Haruhime believed her life would have been worthwhile because she died 'pursuing' the things she desired. Unlike her fate of being forgotten after having been sacrificed as a tool for Ishtar's plot, Haruhime knew that not only Vahn, but several people would grieve for her loss. This thought alone made any fears and inhibitions she had about fighting vanish and inspired her to continue forward without any hesitation.After traveling for an additional twenty minutes, Haruhime found the path leading towards the stairs and continued forward while clearing an additional two rooms full of enemies. By the time she 'cleared' the floor, her total count had been 72 Goblins and 59 Kobolds. The numbers weren't too high, but Haruhime was still full of energy and hadn't depleted much of her personal mana stores. Other than some general fatigue, she was good to keep going for several more hours as long as she got a little bit of rest and ate some food. She initially planned to rest against the wall for a few minutes and enjoy a light meal, but got a pleasant surprise when Vahn walked out of the door she had just exited a few seconds prior. Though she had been about to sit, Haruhime jumped back up to her feet and did her best to appear as elegant as possible as she bowed politely and said, "Thank you for your efforts, Vahn."---Standard PoV---(A/N: This means it focuses on Vahn's perspective, but can jump around to other characters depending on dialogue. Pretty much, if Vahn is present it is 'standard pov' since he is the main character.)Since she had made her way towards the side-passages at a much faster pace than she had been advancing earlier, Vahn assumed Haruhime intended to head deeper into the dungeon. Though he didn't mind letting her progress at her own pace, he was curious about her Status and wanted to make sure her supplies were topped off one last time before she continued forward. He walked over and Haruhime's smile bloomed further before she walked forward in small steps and closed her eyes before bending forward slightly. Vahn laughed once through his nose before reaching out and petting the top of Haruhime's head. He had been planning to reward her, and she must have seen it in his expression because she instantly moved to appeal to him further.While continuing to stroke her head, Vahn thumbed the base of Haruhime's right ear to make it twitched slightly before he said, "You're doing very well, Haruhime...but before you continue deeper into the dungeon, I wanted to update your Status Board and make sure you were properly supplied. From now on, I'll let you progress at your own pace until you decide to rest for the day. We still have a few hours left in the day so continue doing your best, okay?" Haruhime opened her previously closed eyes and Vahn noticed an almost imperceptible glow pass through them before she smiled and said, "Certainly, Vahn~." Without any hesitation at all, Haruhime began to loosen up her obi while continuing to look up into his face.Vahn felt his eye twitch before he averted his eyes and removed his hand from Haruhime's head as it was somewhat awkward to pet a girl that was undressing. After several long seconds, Vahn heard Haruhime giggle before she said, "Okay, I'm ready." Vahn turned to look at Haruhime who was standing with her back exposed to him and her kimono hanging around her arms while covering her chest. She had pulled her hair to the side and was currently looking back over her shoulder with the same subtle glow Vahn had seen earlier. His eyes squinted slightly because he knew there had to be a reason for the glow since such phenomenon was always related to magic. He pricked the tip of his index finger with a pin before tracing a line of blood down the lovely curve of Haruhime's back.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Sanjouno HaruhimeRace: RenardLV. 1POW: H133-&gt;H185END: H174-G206DEX: I98-&gt;G233AGI: G201-&gt;F314MAG: C665-&gt;B748Skill: [Inari:Innate(sealed)], [Prometheus's Blessing:A], [Heroic Strike:G], [Featherfoot:I-&gt;E]Magic: [Uchide no Kozuchi:B],[Kokonoe:D],[Icicle Edge:G]Development Skill: [Moon Priestess:Innate(sealed)], [Spirit Healing:D-&gt;C]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------For a moment, Vahn had harbored hopes that Haruhime's Innate might have awakened, but he suspected it was at least somewhat close, even though he didn't know which one it was. Fortunately, though his expectations were incorrect, Haruhime had experienced a massive leap in her Dexterity, Agility, and Magic while her [Featherfoot] had jumped an entire four ranks since her last update. After she fixed her clothing, Vahn showed the status sheet to Haruhime and said with a pleased smile, "It seems your parameters are increasing rapidly based on the fighting style you're trying to develop. Your footwork is making incredible improvements and your mobility parameters and magic are progressing in a good direction. By the time you learn [Concurrent Chanting], you'll be a force to be reconned with."Haruhime stared at her own Status with an elegant smile and slightly squinted eyes before turning to Vahn and bowing politely while saying, "If not for the guidance of Ryuu and Aki, I would not be able to progress so quickly..." Haruhime wanted to credit everything to Vahn's presence while watching over her, but she decided to save it for later when it would be more 'impactful'. It was also an undeniable truth that, without Ryuu and Aki's guidance during their morning training, Haruhime's foundation would be unstable. They taught her how to move her body, make proper use of her senses, and also helped educate her on the dangers associated with the Dungeon. Of course, if not for her desire to follow Vahn, Haruhime wouldn't have been nearly as interested in their teachings.Before letting her continue deeper into the Dungeon, Vahn decided to 'reward' Haruhime for her efforts by brushing her hair and tail for her while she ate lunch. She happily accepted his offer before sitting on the pillow he had placed on the ground for her use. Of all the girls Vahn knew, including most of the goddesses, Haruhime had the longest and most beautiful hair. When she sat down, it trailed all the way down her back and even touched the ground and it had a beautiful sheen with a satin-like quality to its texture. While fighting, Haruhime's hair danced about with her movements and, if not for the fact that she had a natural grace, would have likely gotten in the way.After entering the Dungeon the first time, Haruhime had considered cutting it but asked him what he thought and Vahn openly admitted he thought her long hair was very suitable for her. He had actually been researching a way to help damaged hair grow and retain its sheen ever since the incident with Milan, and now he had an added incentive because the idea of a Haruhime with short hair seemed 'strange' to him. To get around the issue of it getting in the way, Haruhime typically wore her hair in a loose ponytail with a large red ribbon holding it together.Because of his interactions with Hesti and Fenrir, Vahn had grown accustomed to brushing the hair of girls and he found it to be a very therapeutic experience. It also seemed to be enjoyed by the girls, so Vahn felt encouraged to continue since he couldn't see any downsides to the dual-purpose experience. It helped him relax and also served as a reward for the girls, so Vahn was happy to perform the act and had also wondered about trying other things. Now that he was getting into making clothes for the girls, Vahn considered other things he could do to compliment their beauty. He was surrounded by so many unique, beautiful, and literally godly beauties that Vahn wanted to put in a bit of effort himself to nurture their traits further. While researching other massage techniques, he also looked into beauty treatments and learned about things like manicures, pedicures, and even cosmetology and hairdressing. He hadn't had the chance to use it yet, but Vahn suspected there were a few girls that would be willing to let him try it out on their bodies. If he did well, it would allow him to interact with each of the girls and offer them the individual treatment Vahn felt they deserved.By the time he was finished, Haruhime's hair and tail were very glossy and Vahn helped tie up her ponytail for her before she turned away with a gentle expression and resplendently glowing eyes. Her normal eyes were a natural shade of green, but they were currently much lighter and appeared closer to glowing green jade than normal eyes. Vahn didn't draw any attention to the change and helped Haruhime perform the final checks on her equipment before using a whetstone on her [Sakura Blossom] and allowing her to delve into the tenth floor. As she crossed over the threshold of the door, Vahn pulled out a journal and documented Haruhime's changes, including the number of monsters she had slain and. Because he had a strange obsession for details, Vahn even noted a few hairstyles that might suit her in the future...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Stalker Mode : Exposed!?','Haruhime's Unwavering Heart','Vahn Mason, Massuer, Stylist, Cosmetologist, Technician, Master Smith, Tailor, Dressmaker, Lingerie Specialist, Connoisseur of Fine Liquor, Gourmand')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 353: Moment of Reflection