Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

As it was already dark on the 50th floor, Vahn carried both girls back using [Shundo] since it was always better to avoid engagements during the night. He had confronted Naaza earlier about increasing her level, but she had wanted to wait and see if she could break through the 'limit' in her Dexterity as she had already managed the feat with her Magic parameter. Vahn cautioned her about overtaxing her body by pushing it beyond the bounds of its 'container', but Naaza had remained firm on the matter since it was only an additional two points in Dexterity and she could potentially even reach it after a single extended fight...Keeping that in mind, Vahn looked for signs of any enemies within the forests of the 50th floor but hadn't managed to spot anything along the way. By the time they had reached the encampment, Vahn had a slight feeling of regret inside of himself since he felt like he should have simply extended their time on the 51st floor a little so that she could reach her goal. The fact that she had stopped at 998 bothered him a fair amount because it was almost like fate was teasing him a little. Vahn even suspected that, when they tried to get the last few points to help her growth, that would be the precise moment when their enemies appeared.Once they reached the plateau, the smell of roasted meat reached the three which caused Naaza's stomach to growl as she averted her eyes from Vahn. Though they had eaten a few snacks during their excursion, they hadn't enjoyed any large meals and Naaza had been pushing her body quite hard. Constantly using your mana could actually drain away at your stamina while also leading to mental exhaustion so it wasn't surprising that she would be hungry. Unlike Fenrir, who could subsist entirely on the energy she received from him, Naaza's hunger was only quelled by actual sustenance like food.After dropping off the two girls near the canteen setup, Vahn made his way toward the Command Tent to 'report' to Finn about the day's findings. He had actually been mapping out the areas he passed through along the way and was planning to hand it over to the diminutive Captain while seeing if he had any new information. As one of the 'decision makers' within the group, Vahn was privy to any information that could affect the success of their current missions. Though the Loki Familia obviously had its secrets, Vahn was a bit of a 'unique' case amongst other outsiders since Loki herself was one of his lovers.Vahn tapped the bronze bell near the entrance before Finn's voice could be heard from the inside giving him permission to enter. Though it was subtle, Vahn could hear a bit of exasperation in his voice and also noticed that Finn's aura was slightly chaotic, though primarily stable. Even when they had been in the thick of battle, the experienced Pallum remained mostly unperturbed so Vahn was beginning to feel a bit of concern as he stepped into the tent. However, when he saw Finn's reaction to his presence Vahn realized his conjecture had been inaccurate and a frown appeared on his face.Finn showed a wry smile and said, "Welcome, Vahn, it's good to see you have returned safely..." before releasing a sigh and saying, "Your intuition is correct...I had a bit of trouble with Lili earlier." Hearing his words, Vahn's frown grew deeper and he said in a firm tone, "I warned you about trying to pressure her Finn. She is still just a child and she has spent the majority of her life experiencing great difficulties. If you continue this little charade, you'll find that I'm not the type that will stand idly at the side while someone 'badgers' my companion!"With both hands raised in a 'surrender' gesture, Finn winced slightly as he said, "You're misunderstanding a bit, Vahn. I just wanted to apologize to her for my previous actions but she didn't even give me an opportunity to speak before causing a bit of a scene and scurrying off to her tent..." Though Finn had an apologetic look on his face, Vahn wasn't truly convinced by his words at all as his aura fluctuated slightly as he spoke. It could have been the result of him remembering the 'difficult' scenario, but Vahn had grown to associate such fluctuations with dismissal and attempting to cover up motives. In other words, though Finn was telling the truth, there were undoubtedly lies mixed within his words.Vahn walked forward until he stood right in front of Finn's desk before pulling out a chain from his inventory and taking a seat. He continued to make eye contact with the Pallum, who required a tall chair to even sit 'normally' at the desk, before saying, "From now on, you should stop trying to get closer to Lili. Much less courting her, I don't even want you bothering her unless she is the one to come to you for aide..." Finn's eyes opened slightly wider after hearing Vahn's words before a conflicted expression appeared on his face and he said, "Vahn, I'm not going to force Lili into anything, but you must understand my situation a bit. Though she might not be fond of me presently, our feelings can grow for each other with time and I would-"Before Finn could finish his words, the air around them began to sparkle with a golden luster as Vahn's eyes turned an icy blue and he said, "Your situation is entirely your business, not something others need to take into consideration to live their own lives. You may have your own goals Finn, some of which are very profound and even noble, but that has nothing to do with anyone that does not share your aspirations. Lili has already decided on the path she wants to walk so your current behavior is off-putting at best and obscene at worst. You're a sensible person, one that carries a great burden on your shoulders, but it is a burden you had decided to bear of your own volition. If you continue trying to force others onto that type of path, while also purporting that you're 'waiting' for ideal candidates to appear, you're simply a hypocrite. You're trying to shape Lili into something she doesn't want to be in order to serve 'your' needs, not the supposed needs of your people..."Just as Vahn stared at him unwaveringly, Finn returned his gaze with the light of conviction within his eyes. After waiting for Vahn's words to fall, and taking an adequate amount of time to process them, Finn said in a calm tone, "You are right, Vahn...but I must still act in the way I see fit. Though she might feel a bit of pressure from my advances, I will never force Lili to accept my reasons..." Finn wanted to continue his words but he could feel his instincts warning him of impending danger and he could see the coldness that had set within Vahn's expression.Though he considered himself tolerant, Finn couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed by Vahn's actions so he said in a firm tone, "Vahn, there is nothing wrong with being ambitious and sharing love between other races, but there are simply too many incompatibilities between Humans and Pallums to have a healthy relationship. From human standards, Lili's body is around the size of an eight to ten-year-old girl so it isn't 'right' for you to allow her to pursue you like this. You might not have seen what it's like for a Pallum to be pregnant with the child of a human, but I have and it's absolutely horrifying. You're more likely to kill her than make her happy!"Contrary to Finn's expectations, Vahn had actually seen a Pallum that was pregnant with a human child as the girl observed in the red light district was such an example. He had later seen a 'normal' Pallum pregnancy and had actually been rather surprised by the difference between them. Finn wasn't wrong to be worried about Lili's well-being when it came to the matter of pregnancy, because there was a real threat of her dying during childbirth as a result of the size of the fetus compared to her body. However, this wasn't a restriction that Vahn actually faced as there were several ways he could guarantee her safety and the safe delivery of their future children.Without flinching in the slightest from Finn's relatively harsh words, Vahn continued to stare directly at him as he said, "Just like Lili, there are many things you are unaware of regarding me, Finn. From now on, I would encourage you to consult Riveria and Loki on such things as, even though they might not reveal to you my secrets, they will allow you to make more informed decisions in the future. I can ensure you that Lili is in absolutely no danger from being with me, so if that is your only concern I'll have you take a step back and reflect on your current actions before we discuss this matter again. Know that I find your behavior reprehensible because you are making too many decisions based on your own shallow understanding of the situation and actually consider yourself to be in the right based solely on your ignorance..."Finn had been somewhat confused by Vahn's composure during his earlier exclamation and the confidence he felt radiating from the boy actually made him feel like he had erred greatly. He knew full-well that Vahn was a 'unique' existence compared to the vast majority of people and, as he said, that was about all he knew about him. Though he was part of the Alliance, Finn wasn't privy to the secrets of the Hearth Manor as even Loki refused to budge on the matter. He had tried to discern some things from Riveria, but she had simply closed her eyes in response before saying she couldn't speak on the matter.Though he wanted to refute, or even rebuke Vahn for his words, Finn found himself unwilling to find any meaningful things to say under the stalwart gaze of the boy in front of him. He had never been concerned with the height difference between himself and others in the past, but Finn couldn't help but feel a bit of pressure from Vahn's presence. The sad fact of the matter is, his lack of information about both Vahn and Lili were a severe detriment if he wanted to have any rational discussion as he knew little to nothing about either of them. Realizing this, Finn ground his teeth a bit before a numb sensation spread through his thumb and it began to tingle, signaling to his mind that there was much more at play than his understanding allowed him to rationalize.After having stared at each other for nearly three minutes in silence, Finn eventually released a sigh before rubbing his forehead and saying, "Forgive me, Vahn, as I let my own assumptions affect my judgment. As you say, I will consult with Riveria on matters from now on and do my best to not interfere with Lili or the other girls within the Hestia Familia in an attempt to approach her. I will trust that you are acting in the girl's best interest on the matter, especially considering that there are many other notable female presences in your life...I'm not sure why I hadn't realized it previously, but I don't imagine they would allow anything to happen if she were actually in any danger..."Though he obviously couldn't fully accept things, Vahn could sense the sincerity in Finn's words so he eased off his own pressure and the golden aura around them completely vanished. If push came to shove, Vahn didn't mind coming into conflict with Finn because he knew the 'dutiful' Pallum would eventually have to back down regardless of his own desires. Fighting Vahn seriously would not only damage his status as the Captain of the Loki Familia, but it would also create tension between him and Loki while also causing Lili to have an even worse impression of him.If Finn actually mustered up the resolve to kill Vahn, not that he would be able to easily accomplish such a feat, his goals as 'Braver' would never be met because he would have earned the ire of the entire goddess community while also offending the High Elves and losing the trust of almost every member of the main party of the Loki Familia. Things were simply stacked too heavily in Vahn's favor and that was what enabled him to stare down the seemingly harmless Pallum as his instincts screamed at him to 'run'.With tensions easing greatly between them both, Vahn stated his original reason for visiting and also handed over the maps he had created. Finn briefed him about the events that had taken place during the day, including the loss of one of their Level 4 Adventurers who had died as a result of an ambush from a Deformis Spider. It wasn't someone that Vahn knew so he didn't really feel anything other than a mild empathy for the deceased's surviving companions. Though it wouldn't bring them back, Vahn swore to dedicate the next group of Deformis Spiders he killed as a parting gift to the deceased. He was very aware of concepts such as reincarnation, and even transmigration, so Vahn hoped it would give them some peace while simultaneously blessing their next life...After getting caught up on matters, Vahn ended up leaving the Command Tent without any special courtesies shared between them as he was currently not very fond of Finn. Though the Pallum had apologized, Vahn knew there would always be a small part of him that still sought Lili as a potential wife in the future. However, Vahn would never allow that to come about any longer unless it was expressly desired by Lili herself, and not simply through her words. She had been working too hard to simply become a cog in someone else's machinations and Vahn wanted to do everything he could to guarantee she lived the life she chose for herself.Arriving at his own tent, Vahn detected several presences inside before passing through the barrier that had been inscribed into the dual-layered fabric that led to the inside. Since the tent also doubled as a private bath for the girls, Vahn wouldn't allow it to be unprotected so that any random passerby could sneak a peek at the contents contained within. Though he didn't consider himself the 'jealous' type, Vahn wanted to protect the dignity of the girls as he knew they would be offended and upset it a stranger managed to take in the sight of their naked figures.Since only Vahn could pass through the barrier, other than the girls themselves, none of them were surprised by his arrival as they all exchanged greetings. Other than Naaza, who Vahn could sense eating near the canteen, everyone else was present including a very disgruntled Lili. Without any hesitation, nor explanation of any kind, Vahn walked forward before standing over the rather small girl as she looked up at him with a hopeful light in her eyes. Vahn was never good at hiding his expressions so she had already seen through his state and expectations had begun to rise inside of her. With a soft expression and a gentle smile on his face, Vahn leaned down and embraced Lili's body tightly as he said, "I won't allow anyone to take you from me, Lili...the only person that can make decisions about your life from here on is you yourself and, as you have blessed me with the opportunity to care for you, I will not shy away from the responsibilities entailed...it may be a little belated, and I'm not well-versed in such feelings, but I want you to know that I care about you deeply...and that I love you dearly..."Vahn had avoided saying such words to Lili for a long time because he knew they were somewhat 'dangerous' for her to hear. However, now that he had butted heads directly with Finn, Vahn wanted to return to her some of the hope and expectations she had been placing in him for the last five months. Though she wasn't one of the closest people to his heart, Lili was still one of the most important people in his life and someone he had once resolved himself to protect regardless of the cost. With the same resolve that he had when he nearly died for her in the Dungeon, Vahn now spoke comforting words into her ears before she hugged him with a surprising amount of strength and began crying. Though it took her a bit of time to compose herself, Lili managed to mutter through trembling lips, "I love you...Vahn..." before tightening her grip even more...-------------------------------------------------------------------------//Liliruca Arde Has Reached Maximum Affection////Quest Completed: [The Hearts Desire: C-SS]//Completion Grade: ARewards: 10,000OP, 1x[Hearts Desire: Liliruca Arde]Grade Rewards: 1x[Heroine's Prayer], 1x[Burden of Love], 9,000OP[Heroine's Prayer]Rank: UniqueUse: When the person this item is bound to is in mortal peril, this crystalized prayer will activate and cause them to enter an 'Immune' state. Duration: 30SSoulbound:(Vahn Mason)[Burden of Love]Rank: UniqueUse: When the person this item is bound to makes a heartfelt promise with the originator, they must see it through to completion. Success will reward the bound dependant upon the severity of the promise made. Failure to complete the promise with cause an increasing amount of pressure to weigh on the bound unless they receive the forgiveness of the originator.Soulbound:(Vahn Mason)-------------------------------------------------------------------------(A/N: This is something of a bonus chapter as the idea had been preventing me from going to sleep...good night you EPIC readers~!)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Boi...','BOI...','Tears of an overlooked Heroine...')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

Though it was somewhat embarrassing, Vahn explained to the other girls about his confrontation with Finn as he cradled the still shaking Lili in his arms. She had been in a bit of a daze since earlier and, even though she was obviously 'enjoying' his scent, Vahn didn't mind her antics since he had no reason to deny her affectionate behavior anymore. If she got too out of hand, he could always talk to her about the matter and it was highly likely the other girls would step in as well. As she had just undergone a bit of emotional turmoil, Vahn decided to spoil her for the time being even though she was a little distracting.The girls had already known about the 'conflict' between Lili and Finn earlier as it was public knowledge that was known by pretty much everyone in the expedition. The encounter had been during the meal time so there were several people gathered in the canteen when Lili had her outburst and essentially accused Finn of being a 'selfish bastard' before storming off. She had spent the rest of the day being pacified by Haruhime and Mikoto until the girls from the Loki Familia had arrived. Tione, especially, seemed to be highly affected by Finn's behavior and Vahn had seen her aura flickering about in a chaotic manner that was tinged with negative emotions, including anger.As someone that had spent two years pursuing Finn, Tione knew his personality better than almost anyone and it shook her a little knowing how he had behaved. In her heart and mind, Finn was the type of man that made sacrifices for others and invested most of his efforts in pursuing the ideologies he believed in. Imagining him pressing the issue about Lili, especially knowing she was still too young, and even trying to confront Vahn over the matter of their races unnerved her a little. She knew he considered himself the representative of Pallum 'liberation' and wanted to create an example others can follow, but now she was starting to believe that his intentions weren't as 'pure' as they had originally seemed...After their discussion, which had included a meal and Lili's eventual 'recovery', came to an end Vahn had called an early end to his own day since he planned to get an early start the following morning. As they were the two girls within his own Familia that had yet to accompany him, Vahn said he would venture into the 51st floor with Lili in the morning before returning around lunch time to accompany Mikoto. Since she also wanted to get an early start tomorrow, while also maximizing her 'quality' time with Vahn that had been going on for more than an hour already, Lili also 'retired' for the night by essentially clinging to Vahn.With the exception of Mikoto, who had been struggling on the matter as a result of her own sense of propriety, everyone had actually been sleeping in the same room using one large futon that covered the entire floor. His side was usually taken by Ais or Tiona in the past, but tonight it had become occupied by Naaza and Fenrir as Lili stole the wolf girls spot on his chest. Though she was somewhat annoyed by this new change, Fenrir didn't say anything about the matter and simply snuggled up against Vahn's side with a slight frown on her face.Fenrir knew that this was a 'special' circumstance where her Master was 'spoiling' one of the other girls, something she generally wouldn't be present for, so she allowed Lili to be spoiled for the time being. From her memory, Fenrir knew that Vahn often kept Lili away in the past and it was his interaction with the 'bully' Finn that had caused this result. Fenrir swore that she would become stronger than the small Finn creature and bully him in the future if he made her Master upset again. As a result, though he couldn't quite pinpoint the reason, Finn felt his thumb itching as if it had a thousand ants crawling on it as a chill ran down his spine...---Though no one had fallen asleep yet, everyone had become silent as the majority of the group actually decided to rest early as Vahn was generating a very pleasant aura presently. The exceptions to this were Tione and Lefiya, the former seemingly lost in her own thoughts while the latter had gone to discuss matters with Riveria, as was something she often did. Using the peaceful atmosphere to his advantage, Vahn pulled out a chestnut brown orb and shattered it without anyone being aware of his action. He had already resolved to make use of [Hearts Desire]s when he obtained them, with the exception of Riveria's, so he wanted to see Lili's now that he had an opportunity.As time slowed to a crawl, Vahn speculated that Lili's space would likely be similar to Nanu's and that she wouldn't place much emphasis on her past anymore. They had actually discussed her past several times at length and Vahn was relatively sure he knew most things about Lili already. He didn't mind viewing some of the tragic things that had happened to her, even though it would probably cause him to seek revenge against the Soma Familia members, but he also hoped that she could put it behind her and walk toward the future with him instead of worrying about such things...When he opened his eyes within the vision, Vahn released an audible sigh of relief before smiling at the unnervingly small naked girl standing right in front of him. His current height was 171cm so it was a little strange seeing the 110cm tall Lili looking up at him with her large chestnut colored eyes. However, without minding it too much, Vahn bent down and hugged her just as he had done in the real world and, much like her real self, she also trembled in his arms and began to cry. All around them, Vahn saw memories full of negatively fragmenting into small particles with very few colored with warm colors. There was so little 'warmth' within the series of memories that it almost seemed 'wrong' that there was any at all...Lili had been born into the Soma Familia as a result of her parents sleeping with each other without considering the consequences of their actions. Because her Mother had been on Soma, while also ingested several other detrimental things like drugs, Lili had actually been a slightly premature baby and had been even frailer than most Pallums. Though they had resulted in her creation, her parents weren't actually married and were simply members of the same Familia so there was no real love between them at all. They both saw Lili as nothing more than a 'convenience' that would one day be able to make their own earnings easier. If she was especially useful, they wouldn't have to work nearly as hard because they could get her to earn money for them...By the time she was old enough to comprehend her own tragic situation, Lili was already being forced to work by her parents at the ridiculous age of three. However, her tragic fate had only just begun since, not long after they had put her to work both of her parents actually ended up dying within the Dungeon as the result of falling prey to a Monster Party. Lili was left alone in a Familia full of criminals and scoundrels and, now that she didn't have the 'protection' of her parents, she was quickly exploited by others that wanted to make use of her for the same reason as her parents. This meant Lili spent her formative years, the most important period of her life, knowing nothing by pain, exhaustion, and the exploitation of others...In an effort to change her fate for the better, Lili actually tried to increase her own earnings and become 'independent' at the tender age of five years old. However, as a result of the fact she was only around 70cm tall at the time and was even weak by a Pallum's standards, there was absolutely no way she could become an Adventurer. She didn't have any real equipment, other than broken pieces she had picked from the garbage, and there was absolutely no way the Guild condoned her venturing into the Dungeon. This meant she had absolutely nothing supporting her growth while also having a much harder starting point than almost anyone else in the entire world...Lili failed to become an Adventurer and, after having nearly died to a goblin, which was actually much taller than she was, Lili fell into an even more tragic state as she was derided by her own 'companions' for her 'lack of talent'. As a result, Lili spent the rest of her life from then onwards with only a moment of reprieve when she ran away and was taken care of by an old couple. Since her existence was 'convenient' for them, however, the Soma Familia tracked her down and 'punished' her for trying to escape instead of knowing her 'place'.Until Vahn had appeared to save her, she had suffered nothing but beatings, malnutrition, and the borderline perversion of some of the members of her Familia. If he hadn't stepped in and taken responsibility for guiding her, Vahn knew she would have even become addicted to Soma and deviate even further into the darkness until Bell had shown up nearly two years from now. If he hadn't shown up, she likely would have even been forced into prostitution at some point because she would be able to earn the disreputable members of the Soma Familia even more money...The only warm memories that Vahn could see, which had taken the longest amount of time to vanish, were the memories Lili had forged after their meeting. Some of them had 'dangerous' colors to him, especially when Lili had been making advances at him, but the rest were relatively tame and there were even a few with girls like Tsubaki, Chloe, Naaza, Preasia, Hestia, Milan, Tina, and Haruhime. Then, as if she had been waiting for the memories to nearly finish fading away, the avatar of Lili said, "Being held like this makes me feel safe and secure...almost like all the bad things in the world don't exist and the only thing that matters is that you are with me...Vahn, I know I can be a selfish girl, but...but..." At this point, tears had begun streaming down Lili's face as her body trembled greatly and she muttered, "The only thing....I've ever wanted...was to be loved....just once...."Though he did his best to restrain his own anxiety, Vahn's body had begun to tremble as he cradled the small crying girl in his arms. She really was very tiny and, knowing what she had gone through in life, Vahn felt righteous indignation spread through his heart similar to when he had first learned of her past. Even though she was putting the past behind her after this, Vahn had saved the images of everyone that was ever cruel to Lili within his mind as he glanced over the darkest memories she possessed. Though they might have a changed a little with time, Vahn now knew the faces of the people that had tormented her the most. He wouldn't go out of his way to track them down, but Vahn swore that he would bring them to justice if they ever met in the future...Vahn continued to hold the avatar of Lili all the way until the final memory faded, which lingered for several seconds longer than all the others and was the moment they had just experienced in the real world. It showed him entering the tent and Vahn was surprised at how 'big' he appeared from Lili's perspective as he walked forward and hugged her tightly and confessed his care and love for her. Compared to all of the other memories, this one shone the brightest of them all and even the avatar cradled in his arms looked up at it with moist eyes as if she was reliving the experience all over again. When it finally faded, she nuzzled into his chest and hugged his body tightly before saying, "Thank you for saving me...and giving me the love I longed for..." as the entire world around them faded from existence...When he returned to reality, Vahn was in a slight daze as he felt the relatively high body temperature of Lili spreading through him and her nearly negligible weight. Her [Hearts Desire] had been completed by the time he returned to his senses and he had received the 'standard' quest as a result. What had surprised him, however, was that Lili's awakened Love parameter was at a relatively low 1,338 even though she was one of the girls he had known the longest. However, Vahn also noticed that it was steadily increasing at a relatively fast pace now and, by the time three minutes had passed, it had already reached 1,354. It seemed that Lili's Love for him had actually been stunted because he hadn't truly reciprocated her feelings until today. The fact it was as high as it was was a testament to the struggle she had been undergoing over the past few months and it made Vahn feel very guilty.As Lili was very obviously still awake, since she had been burying her face into his chest while straddling his body, Vahn looked down at her and said, "Lili, from now on, I will do my best to show you the love you deserve...but please act with a bit of moderation until you reach adulthood..." The reason why her Love had been increasing was that her 'infatuation' with his scent and she had even transformed into a Chienthrope earlier to take it in even more. Her relatively heavy breathing was actually the reason why almost everyone else was awake as well, as it was rather 'distracting' given the circumstances.Lili turned her head up to match his gaze and there was an almost drunken look on her face as she dazed for several seconds. A smile appeared on her face and her Love increased by a full thirty points in an instant when she said, "I'll behave if you give me a kiss goodnight..." Vahn had actually already embraced all of the girls while giving them differing intensities of a kiss, with the exception of Mikoto, including Lili. What she was asking for was like a bit 'more' than the relatively tame exchange from earlier but Vahn nodded his head, somewhat against her expectations, and said, "I will do my best to keep my promises to you, Lili, so please treat your own with the same seriousness..."Then, before the small girl could react, Vahn temporarily liberated his arm from Naaza, as Fenrir's body tensed up slightly when he tried to move his right, before pulling up Lili and kissing her in an effort to 'pacify' her. She immediately released a sigh through her nose and eagerly sought his lips as her rather small tongue entwined with his. Vahn even stroked his hand along her lower back where a tail was poking out of her nightgown and beating with loud thumps as she began to lose herself in the moment. Though several auras flared up around him, Vahn promised he would make it up to the other girls in the future and did his best not to mind them for the time being.Lili had been shifting her weight further up his body as she more eagerly sought his lips so Vahn eventually had to bring her back to her senses by sending a jolt of energy above the base of her tail. Though it wasn't to the same extent as Cat Persons, Chienthropes were sensitive around their tails and Lili immediately scrunched up her body as a result of his actions and began to release hot and heavy breaths against his chest. When she pulled away, she had coincidentally locked eyes with the blushing Naaza and her senses began to return to her as she remembers Vahn's words, as well as the 'promise' she had made prior.After regulating her own breathing a bit, Lili said in a slightly anxious tone, "Eight months and twenty-seven days...please make me truly your's on that day, Vahn...promise me..." When Lili's words finished, Vahn felt strange energy fill his body and begin to hover around the vessel of his soul with an anticipatory vibe radiating from it. He knew this was likely the [Burden of Love] activating with Lili's words as the catalyst but he didn't mind it too much and just nodded his head and said, "I already made that promise in the past, but I will repeat it if it brings you some comfort, Lili...I promise, when you become a proper adult, I will be the one to seek you out..." Speaking his words, Vahn felt like his previous actions of sharing a passionate kiss were somewhat 'suspect', but their actual age was less than a year apart so he didn't feel too guilty...A beautiful smile blossomed on Lili's face when she heard Vahn's words while he himself felt the energy circling his soul activate before entering within the same stream as [Enkidu] as it waited for his promise to be completed. It was a relatively 'significant' promise so light had become rather dazzling as it 'patiently' drifted about and revolved within his soul in the same direction as [Enkidu]. With their promise literally soulbinding at this point, at least for Vahn, Lili seemed content and started 'behaving' once again but Vahn noticed she didn't exist out of her Chienthrope transformation. Though she wasn't directly breathing in his scent any longer, he could still see her Love parameter tick up every now and then so she was obviously still 'enjoying' the moment.For the rest of the night, things were relatively uneventful and most of the girls began falling asleep soon after Lili stopped misbehaving. As for Vahn himself, he stayed awake until Tione and Lefiya had crept into the room before finally allowing himself to drift off. With him finally relaxing, Fenrir also drifted off to sleep at nearly the exact same time but not before she nuzzled up against Vahn and began to tickle his arm with her shallow breaths. He might not have noticed it in the past but, now that Lili was doing something very similar, Vahn was aware that Fenrir was 'passively' enjoying his scent...(A/N: Though it might not be necessary, I wanted to explain he original title, 'Burden', for anyone that was confused. It's essentially the ridiculous burden that was literally forced on Lili before she even knew what was going on in her life. The fact she awakened the rare [Artel Assist] and [Cinder Ella] show just how terrible things had been for her. If you take into consideration that her Innate ability is also [Atlas], even though she was born with a weak body, it essentially shows that it was her 'fate' to experience such suffering...fate can eat a dog turd and choke (O,...,O)!!)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Tione's awareness expands...','Fuck the Soma Familia...','*shallow breathing*')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

Unlike the previous formation they had assumed earlier in the day, Vahn had decided to change things up since he wanted to practice his mid-range combat capabilities. He had come up with the idea of refining his close combat skills in the mornings while trying to further develop his magic and control skills in the afternoons. Fenrir needed practice fighting multiple enemies to develop her own polish her own instincts further, so it was a good opportunity for her to get even stronger. Vahn actually believed she would be able to reach Level 4 by the time the expedition came to an end because her earlier progress had been startling, even by his standards.However, it wasn't Vahn initial intent to adopt this type of training style and he had made his decision after taking into consideration Naaza's existence within the group. Though her agility was very high, she didn't have any mobility skills and was a pure backline specialist. Her ranged capabilities were exceptional and she could even kill powerful enemies with her [Darbh Daol] magic. It was an incredibly rare magic ability that made use of 'devouring' laws, so there were few enemies that had any resistance to it at all. As long as she managed to land the initial hit, it was almost guaranteed to kill her target after the spell literally ate through their bodies like a series of scarabs devouring the flesh of a corpse.Since it was a spell that targeted the insides, there was almost no way to survive it unless you had some form of magic resistance or outright managed to evade it. With her increased Magic parameter from obtaining his flame seed, she had refined the skill to a scary extent and would likely even be able to solo the Goliath on her own, assuming she could evade its rage after landing the blow. The biggest weakness to the spell was that the initial projectile was somewhat slow and that it took time to devour the enemy.Fenrir happily led the way through the 51st floor as Vahn followed a few meters behind her while scanning the Dungeon with his [Eyes of Truth]. As Fenrir was even more sensitive to their bond now, it was almost like she shared his sight because she could intuit the location of enemies the moment Vahn located them. She was also in a very good mood since earlier and seemed to enjoy leading the way instead of waiting for others to guide her. As for Naaza, she kept pace at a relatively close distance to Vahn with her bow always at the ready.Every time Vahn saw the [Yi Bow], he couldn't deny that he was tempted to make use of the somewhat terrifying weapon himself. For a relatively small amount of mana, Naaza could infuse a bit of the record of Yi into the arrows and they could deal catastrophic damage to enemies while crowd controlling stronger monsters. Even a grazing blow could rip limbs from monsters and she had garnered herself quite a reputation amongst the expedition party since her attacks seemed to ignore both physical and magical resistances. Vahn wouldn't be surprised if she actually carried the alias [Yi] in the future or became known as a 'goddess' of archery.The coolest thing, however, was the fact that whenever Naaza focused on something in the distance, her purple eyes would actually turn a golden color as the white sclera of her eyes turned black. This was the physical manifestation of her [Eagle Eye] skill and Vahn was somewhat envious of the striking golden eyes that seemed to pierce through anything. Though his eyes literally carried that trait, Vahn knew they simply shone with a blue magical light which was actually rather common amongst the phenomenon that would be generated by skills that affected the eyes. He could change his eye color whenever he wanted, sure, but there was something 'cool' about how Naaza's change in an instant.Their first encounter was surprisingly not against a group of Black Rhinos and Vahn was rather shocked to find a slightly wider room that had three hidden presences within. As she had also sensed the strange enemies up ahead, Fenrir scrunched up her nose and began to sniff around in the air before saying, "It smells like rotting meat..." Though she didn't care much about taste, Fenrir wasn't fond of powerful smells since her olfactory senses were stronger than almost any other race found within the record.Vahn's expression turned into a somewhat cruel one that surprised Naaza but didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever on Fenrir. He looked back at the hesitant Chienthrope girl and said, "Sorry, Naaza, but I have something of a personal grudge against Deformis Spiders so I want to take this group out on my own..." Hearing Vahn mentioned the massive spiders, a shiver passed through Naaza's body and it was Vahn's turn to be surprised. She saw his expression and a wry smile appeared on her face as she said, "I'll leave this one to you...I'm not that great with spiders..." Though he had been rather serious previously, Vahn couldn't help but laugh in a hearty manner before giving Naaza a playful look and saying, "Leave it to me..."Without entering the room, Vahn actually sat down on the floor of the Dungeon and began to focus his mind as his domain converged around them. Even without his urging, Fenrir drew closer to Vahn and assumed a defensive posture which incited Naaza to partially draw her bow as her own alertness was increased. As for Vahn, he was trying to draw on his earlier experience where he had used the 'vanish' ability while also making use of the experience he had quarrying stone for the encampment. Vahn knew that he could exercise control over elemental energies within his domain and the Dungeon wasn't an exception to this. It took more effort than inert material, but Vahn could essentially 'override' sections of the Dungeon temporarily...After infusing his intent into the areas of the Dungeon near the Deformis Spiders, Vahn opened his eyes a cruel glint passed through them. Though he wasn't sure why he took such actions, Vahn brought his palms together as he sent out a subtle pulse of energy. Even though he wasn't in the room, Vahn could 'envision' the entire scene within his mind as he willed the Dungeon itself to attack the unsuspecting spiders. Within the blink of an eye, three thick spikes protruded from the wall and pierced through the large abdomens of the Deformis Spiders as they began to writhe around and release a shrill shriek that made Naaza flinch behind him. Even Fenrir's ears twitched as her brows furrowed in distaste at the unpleasant sound.Though it was a bit cruel, Vahn began infusing flame elemental energy into the Deformis Spiders bodies using his [Heart of the Eternal Flame] as they began to roast on the skewers Vahn had created. He actually had no intention of torturing them, he just simply chose an indirect method to fight them as they themselves were ambush predators. Though it likely wouldn't be interpreted as such by The Path, Vahn knew there was such a concept as karmic retribution and 'getting even' with things on behalf of another person was actually an acceptable thing as long as he didn't take it too far. It was futile to try and hunt every Deformis Spider within the Dungeon, as they could be infinitely spawned, but Vahn wanted to at least enact some form of justice on the first group he encountered.As a result of his own 'grudge' with the Deformis Spiders, Vahn actually only obtained a single point of negative karma while gaining a surprising nineteen positive karma. This meant that his 'retribution' had come to an end and that 'fate' was rewarding him for carrying out his task without taking it to the extreme. However, since the method he employed was rather cruel, Vahn still obtained a cheeky point of negative karma, almost as if fate was giving him a mild reprimand. Moderately content with the outcome, Vahn simply resolved himself to create an 'anti-spider' weapon in the future that he would use as his weapon of choice for whenever he encountered another Deformis Spider.After rising to his feet, Vahn looked at the somewhat startled Naaza before smiling gently and stroking her droopy ears. She was one of the few Chienthrope girls he knew with flat droopy ears and it always made her look somewhat sad whenever she wasn't smiling. As was the case with most of the girls these days, Naaza closed her eyes and a pleased expression appeared on her face as she completely relaxed. Vahn's smile widened before he ruffled Fenrir's hair and said, "Let's continue forward...we can all become much stronger, but only if we put in the effort to do so." Though brief, Fenrir was satisfied by the fact that Vahn still 'remembered' to reward her for protecting his body when he was focusing earlier. With his orders fresh in her ears, a predatory looked appeared on her face as she activated her [Huntress] and began hunting the unfortunate prey would find its way across her path.As Deformis Spiders were relatively rare, they didn't encounter anymore for the rest of the day as Vahn continued to refine what he was calling his 'elemental control'. Though it wasn't easy, he was slowly learning to manipulate the elemental energies in the air through the motions of his body. Other than fire, his control over the other elements was lacking, but Vahn was still capable of manipulating each of them to an extent. As long as he practiced, Vahn was confident he would even be able to use time elemental energies to literally freeze his enemies, at least temporarily.The more complex elements took a greater amount of focus and actually had a surprising impact on his stamina instead of his source energy. As he was using the ambient elemental energies in the atmosphere, instead of using his own energy, the only upkeep for the ability was the energy he used to sustain his domain and the stamina usage he used in his movements. Vahn found that certain hand shapes and motions could actually influence different energies more easily and it kind of felt like he was creating 'hand signs' like in Naruto, except none of the ones from his memory actually seemed to do anything.Whenever they engaged enemies, Vahn would instantly start off by infusing flame elemental energy around the heads of the Black Rhinos, with emphasis placed on their eyes, and he was actually getting much better at hitting them while they were moving after a bit of practice. Without the ability to see, the monsters continued their momentous charges without any sense of direction as Fenrir jumped from their bodies with her increased Agility and carved massive gashes in their bodies. There was even one unfortunate Black Rhinos that Fenrir had vaulted over as she swiped her claws across its head. Vahn got to see the somewhat unnerving sight of a monster's head quadrisected before it burst into purple dust a few milliseconds later.As for Naaza, her hands moved with impeccable precision as she skillfully loosed arrows towards the joints of the Black Rhinos, similar to Vahn. She actually only used the active ability of her bow whenever enemies began targetting her as she was experienced enough to know that conserving her mana was important. Since she had never partied with Vahn before, she wasn't accounting for the fact that he could replenish her mana or she might have been spamming them. She might not be that open about it, but Vahn was very aware that she enjoyed small moments of contact with him and it made his own heart flutter because of her adorable reactions.A pair of Black Rhinos managed to break from Fenrir's defensive line but she simply sent them a glance before turning her attention to other enemies. There was a slight frown on her face, as she had intended to prevent anything from getting through, but she was 'mature' enough to know that pursuing every enemy would overdraft her. Instead, she decided to take out her frustrations on the other enemies while leaving the two stragglers for Naaza to deal with. Though she would definitely become the strongest, Fenrir knew it was also important for the other girls to become stronger too so Vahn wouldn't have to watch over them so much.Seeing the pair slip through Fenrir's claws, Naaza's eyes turned sharp as she loosed two arrows that shone with a black luster in less than a tenth of a second. Vahn followed their path with his [Eyes of Truth] as they slammed into the heads of the Black Rhinos and exploded into miniature black holes that caused space to warp for around 1m and distort the heads of the monsters until they had been compressed to a point. Before the effect of the arrows had faded, the monsters had burst into purple dust that was also absorbed by the small vortex of space elemental energy before disappearing from this world entirely.Every time Vahn saw the effect activate, he was impressed by the incredible firepower because he knew that Naaza only used about 3% of her total mana on the two arrows. Once she learned [Spirit Healing] in the future, Naaza's capabilities would become monstrous and the effect would be even more pronounced. By the time she hit Level 5, or higher, Vahn could even see her taking out floor bosses with a single well-placed arrow. Though the credit might ultimately belong to the bow he had created, Vahn now associated the weapon with Naaza and couldn't see her using anything else after her current display. Since she wasn't the most expressive girl, she looked stoic as she skillfully drew each arrow before accurately hitting her target with commendable efficiency. More than any other person that used a bow, including himself, Vahn felt like Naaza was especially suited to using it.Though it was a strange thought to develop in the middle of combat, Vahn wondered if he could 'shape' the future of other Adventurers with the equipment he forged for him. He was now beginning to understand why [Master Smith]s were so selective with their clientele and typically only made weapons to suit the current capabilities of the Adventurer. If they gave out powerful weapons, it wasn't incorrect to say the Adventurer would be 'defined' by the weapon they wielded. Vahn, however, didn't see this as something that was inherently bad since he knew it was possible to make soulbound equipment that would exclusively belong to the individual he created it for.As long as they continue putting in the effort to improve themselves, Vahn didn't think it was 'wrong' for relatively weak Adventurers to wield powerful weapons. This was, of course, a bit of a bias and Vahn recognized it as such. It was his desire to ensure the girls were protected that allowed him to justify his actions as he didn't even mind using every last bit of OP in his possession as long as he could ensure their continued survival...By the time their hunt had come to an end, they had encountered a total of 417 Black Rhinos over a period of six hours. Naaza had eventually gotten a bit winded during the extended engagement and blushed beet red when Vahn 'playfully' placed his hand against her navel and efficiently recharged her mana. It was, after all, the most effective spot to insert his energy and he enjoyed seeing her try to keep her cool as her tail trembled behind her as a result of her attempts to keep it under control. However, from that point onwards, Naaza began spamming her Yi arrows a bit with the excuse that it was good for her Magic parameter development. Of course, for future replenishments, she made sure that Vahn inserted it through her back so she could hide her face from his view.As a result of their exertions, Naaza's parameters had increased a fair amount, to the point where she would need to level up soon, while Fenrir had experienced another moderate spurt of growth. Proactively engaging opponents was her preferred method of fighting and she was adapting at a visible rate that would stun veteran Adventurers. Just this morning, though she didn't exactly struggle against them, Fenrir had taken a few minutes to defeat three Black Rhinos. Now, however, she could manage a group of seven in the same amount of time and had become increasingly proficient at using her [Severing Claws]. Though it varied in length, Vahn had seen the wave of energy reach as far as 23cm at times and it had allowed her to completely sever the limbs of some of her more unfortunate enemies.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Naaza ErisuisRace: ChienthropeLV. 2(+)POW: D529-&gt;D570END: D598-&gt;C619DEX: S903-&gt;S998AGI: A820-&gt;A860MAG: S955-&gt;SS1071Skill: [Bow Mastery:B], [Eagle Eye:B], [Prometheus's Blessing:A]Magic: [Awen:Innate(sealed)], [Darbh Daol:A]Development Skill: [Mixing:B], [Spirit Healing:(sealed)], [Mage:(sealed)]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: [Fenrir]Level:3POW: E419-&gt;E478END: G299-&gt;F340DEX: D583-&gt;C639AGI: C612-&gt;C688MAG: G202-&gt;G299Skills: [Insatiable Hunger:Innate(-)], [Lunar Cry:A], [Freezing Roar:A], [Chainbreaker:C], [Devour:SS], [Huntress:SS], [Endeavor:E], [Severing Claws:G-&gt;E]Magic: -Development Abilities: [Chain Attack:E-&gt;D]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------As for his own development, Vahn's parameters hadn't changed much but his proficiency in manipulating elemental energy had increased greatly. Though there was nigh-infinite room for improvement, Vahn could envision a future where he could even direct the spells of enemies after they had already been fired. Without using his own source energy, he would even be able to upturn the earth, freely transition water through its various states, or even lock his opponents within time. If he could grasp the concept behind it, Vahn might even one day be able to emulate the effect of the Yi arrows through his own domain and cause spatial vortexes to appear within the bodies of his enemies...---(A/N: Some people might be a bit concerned about the borderline 'info dumps' present in the current chapters. Note that these chapters are recording the somewhat 'explosive' growth of the members of the Hestia Familia as they are currently around Level 2-3 and fighting enemies that are AT LEAST Level 4. The amount of exilia they are capable of gaining on these floors, at least at their current level, is actually quite immense. Even though they might be dealing with the enemies with relative ease, there is still a very real danger of them sustaining heavy injuries if they make even a simple mistake. This is also a good opportunity for me to flesh out some of the relatively 'obscure' characters that had fallen to the wayside, so please be patient with me (UwU)~!)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn is the Avatar (O⇩O)','What Hero doesn't have a 'legendary' weapon?','Progression Diary of an Adorable Murder Floof')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 470: Ignorance