Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Lefiya's sudden actions had not only surprised Vahn, but she earned a few strange looks from the nearby Emiru and Maemi as well. As for Ais, she tilted her head slightly in curiosity before displaying a slight smile and continuing to wash her body. Since Lefiya often 'hovered' around her, Ais had already noticed the abnormalities in her Elven companion but she didn't mind the change at all, seeing it as something that was bound to happen eventually. She and Lefiya had often talked about Vahn when they were reading together and Ais knew how fond of Vahn Lefiya had become recently.For a few seconds, Vahn became distracted by the unexpected sensation against his back before turning his head in a mechanical fashion. Lefiya had been 'fine' when she was comforting him but, the moment Vahn looked back at her, the young Elf's face became beet red in an instant as she finally seemed to realize what she was doing. However, instead of trying pull away in a bashful manner, Lefiya just lowered her head slightly and muttered, "I want you to be happy...Van..." as her ears drooped before 'waggling' up and down. Seeing this, Vahn smiled and said in a low voice of his own, "Thank you, Lefiya." before turning away so she could calm down.Though she likely hadn't intended it, Lefiya released a hot sigh of relief against Vahn's back when he turned away, still pressing her own body against his for several seconds after the fact. Vahn just closed his eyes and focused his mind on other things, including the Dungeon and his future arrangement with Riveria. Today he would be watching over Shizune and they were going to be taking her down to the 5th Floor for the first time since she had become very adept at killing Goblins and Kobolds. This would take up the majority of his morning, potentially stretching a bit into the afternoon, and then he would be meeting up with Riveria to tattoo the formation onto her stomach. Today would be a busy day full of interesting developments, so Vahn wasn't going to let Lefiya's unexpectedly affectionate display knock him off kilter.Sensing that Vahn had calmed down greatly, Lefiya released his body and was happy that she had been able to help comfort him. However, the gaze of the twins was very heavy so she eventually 'retreated' toward Ais for the remainder of the bath. Even so, she would periodically cast her gaze to Vahn just to check up on him and there were also moments when Lefiya would close her eyes as if she was trying to sense something. Ais watched her actions with interest and was curious about what she was trying to do, saying in a quiet whisper, "Lefiya had become bolder..." Hearing this, Lefiya became very red and looked to Ais with a pitiful expression, explaining, "I'm just worried about Vahn...please don't misunderstand, Ais, I..." Though she intended to say something to refute Ais' words, Lefiya remembered her earlier actions and couldn't find the words to excuse herself...After the bath had come to an end, Vahn headed to the backyard while the girls returned to their own rooms to prepare their clothing and equipment. HIs ability to equip clothing always saved him a great deal of time, earning him 'envious' looks for the girls on occasion. This only encouraged Vahn to try harder in his own research since he figured it would be far more convenient for everyone when he managed to crack the method of 'storing' items in gemstones. He could clearly remember the basic structure of Hephaestus' dress from the Divination, including the fact that she had used 'emeralds' to store the rather beautiful palatial outfit. Since her necklace had more than one emerald, Vahn even suspected it was possible to store multiple items in a single piece of equipment, though the method for doing so eluded him for the time being.Though he had arrived a bit earlier than normal, someone else had beaten him outside and Vahn could see Mikoto doing her morning stretches. She sent him a glance when he arrived, nodding in a polite manner before returning to her own training. Vahn showed a wry smile and just transformed into his Báihǔ form and began stretching his own limbs. During the morning training block, Vahn had been doing his best to familiarise himself with his [Rakshasa Body], often spending the first half of the day in one of the forms he had awakened permanently. He finally realized what the runic marking on his Báihǔ form allowed him to do, surprised to find that it allowed him to manipulate wind elemental energy.Vahn hadn't realized it in the past, as he had become somewhat more reliant on his Xuánwǔ form after awakening it, but his Báihǔ form had actually become much stronger than in the past. Not only were his senses more enhanced than they had been, but he could 'sense' the flow of the wind almost instinctively while also being able to compress it into various different shapes. Just like when he manipulated water, Vahn had to 'will' the movement of the energy through movements but he had thus far been able to make small tornadoes and vortexes of air. He had also tried to create a wind blade, as he thought it was a cool idea and had seen similar attacks in a variety of Manga, but he simply couldn't make 'air' condensed enough to cut through objects.Things within the record of Danmachi could be very hard and his wind seemed better suited to destabilizing and moving things than it was at cutting things. However, this didn't mean it wasn't very powerful in a combat scenario as Vahn had been able to 'fuse' his [Heart of the Eternal Flame] with his wind elemental control, creating vortexes of flames and superheating his flames much faster than normal with the introduction of a higher concentration of wind energy. It was to the point that, if he pushed it to the extremes, Vahn could become a Báihǔ that was completely shrouded in flames and his attacks could send out waves of fire with every attack. Since he had been fond of Fairy Tail in the past, Vahn felt like he could fight a lot like Natsu and it was a very 'fun' and 'freeing' way of fighting, even though it was somewhat 'unfriendly' to any allies that might be around him.The other girls began arriving for their morning training, causing Tiona and Tione to make their way over to him since they had typically been his sparring partners in the past. After their 'battle', both girls knew better than to underestimate Vahn and he often fought the two of them together since Tione couldn't keep up with him easily anymore. As for Tiona, her instincts were very surprising and Vahn had trouble even coming to a draw against her if she was fighting seriously. He had been able to glean a bit of understanding about her inactive Innates through their fights and it was very terrifying to realize what she may one day be capable of.He wasn't sure if it was her [Titan Virga] or her [Magic Devouring King], but Tiona seemed to get 'stronger' the longer a fight went on. Not only did her parameters increase, but she seemed to be able to absorb the elemental energy from both his attacks and the environment itself, giving her greater stamina and enhancing her perception greatly. Vahn speculated it was both abilities working in conjunction since he was almost certain her ability to absorb elemental energy was related to her [Magic Devouring King]. It was very strange that, even though her body seemed to have no 'flow' at all, Tiona could still use magic weapons and absorb elemental energy to enhance her attacks. There was something going on with her body that he couldn't understand at all, making Vahn feel both excited and worried at the same time since her combat capabilities were already somewhat scary.Fortunately, they didn't go all out during their morning spars so Vahn just got to 'play' around a bit as he worked up a sweat with the two lively Amazon sisters. They fought without the use of weapons and just practiced their close-quarters combat since Vahn had become somewhat over-reliant on [Shundo] in the past and wanted to make sure his combat instincts hadn't waned. It was interesting to see how the girls grew to match his fighting style and it was like they were all 'polishing' each other, with Tiona typically becoming the most vibrant since Vahn couldn't beat her at all without using 'underhanded' methods...Once the morning training had come to an end, everyone began to break off into their various groups after eating a hearty breakfast. Vahn paired up with Chloe and Shizune but also had little Shirohime with him since she didn't invalidate the Mentor's Mark and could inform him if Haruhime was in danger. Since he could also send energy through Shirohime to Haruhime, there were almost no negative benefits at all after Shirohime had 'mellowed' out a bit. She was arguably even more clingy now but typically remained silent much like how Fenrir had behaved in the past. Most of the time, Shirohime just coiled up around his neck and 'slept' with her eyes closed, but she was also very fond of 'sleeping' inside of his tunic as well. Though it was more of an illusion, Vahn could sometimes feel her wet nose against his body and felt her tiny breaths tickling against the moistened area.After receiving Shirohime from Haruhime, Vahn placed her on his head and endured her wriggling as he updated Shizune's Status Board. With the change in the atmosphere of the Manor, Shizune had calmed down a fair amount as well, knowing better than to try tempting and teasing him as she had done in the past. Though her aura often showed very 'dangerous' colors, Shizune seemed to be practicing patience since Vahn already 'spoiled' her a bit whenever she worked hard. Thus, she very obediently lowered her kimono to reveal her small back and just hummed a tune as Vahn traced a line of blood down her fair a youthful skin.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Shizune YuelRace: KitsuneLV. 1POW: I79-&gt;G247END: I68-&gt;G219DEX: H126-&gt;F315AGI: H142-&gt;F370MAG: I47-&gt;H108Skill: [Tamomo: Innate(sealed)], [Featherfoot:I-&gt;H], [Stealth:I](new)Magic: [Moon's Prayer: Innate(sealed)]Development Skill: [Abnormal Resistance(sealed)], [Insomnia(sealed)]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Shizune had been making steady progress in her 'assassination' techniques and could generally take out small groups of monsters before they even knew what had happened. Instead of just using her dagger, Shizune fought with a variety of different weapons, including throwing knives, senbon, and consumables like smoke balls, flash bombs, and paralysis powder. She also had poisons that had been mixed by Chloe, typically using it to coat her curved dagger to give her an edge against difficult foes. It had a strong paralytic effect on weaker monsters and could numb the reaction time of stronger monsters, not the Shizune had actually fought any just yet. As for the biggest change in her general combat system, Shizune now wore a cloak that had large holes for her ears to poke through. This allowed her to finally awaken her [Stealth] because Vahn had purchased one that enhanced stealth capabilities from his shop and gifted it to her.(A/N: Btw, Senbon are a type of needle used by ninjas.)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[Shadowstalker's Cloak]Rank: BP.Def: 110M.Def: 380Abilities: Shadowstep(C), Stealth Enhancement(C), Sound Dampening(C)A cloak once used by a feared assassin in a foreign record. Allows the wearer to blend into the shadows as if they were one and the same. Provides a moderate enhancement to speed when moving under the cover of darkness.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Once she had her status updated, Shizune fixed her pitch black kimono before tightening the muted purple obi around her waist. When she was 'decent', Shizune turned around and looked at her own parameters with a light frown because she had been falling progressively further behind Tina as of late. Vahn smiled before reaching out his hand and gently stroking her head, saying, "You're doing very well, Shizune. Remember, your path may align with Tina's, but it isn't the same...keep doing your best to refine the combat style you're comfortable with and you'll one day become much stronger." Chloe also nodded her head from the side and said, "That's right, Shizune~! You have to remember that those who walk amongst the darkness are typically weaker than those that are drawn to the light. We get the advantage using subterfuge and sneak attacks, so keep refining your skills further unless you want to deviate. I'm sure Vahn would help you, even if you did stray a bit, nyahaha~."This wasn't the first time Chloe had 'reminded' Shizune that she always had the opportunity to walk a more 'straightforward' path in life. However, she knew that there were people that couldn't easily be exposed by the light and wanted to become an assassin, just like Chloe. After returning the paper to Vahn, Shizune's amethyst-like eyes had a glimmer to them as she said, "This is the path I've chosen for myself...please watch over me, Vahn, Chloe..." Vahn had been stroking her head the entire time but had turned to Chloe since she seemed to want some head pats as well. Hearing Shizune's words, Vahn smiled slightly before nodding his head, saying, "I will watch over you for as long as you're willing to let me do so..."After talking for a short while thereafter, Vahn ended up letting Shizune ride his shoulders as they made their way toward the Dungeon. Since she was typically well-behaved, Vahn had started treating her like a child again and she had simply learned to accept it. Even though she had the mind of a mature woman, it was hard to experience the 'joys' of being a child and she wouldn't be able to do things like this when she got bigger. As for Shirohime, she had 'retreated' into Vahn's tunic and it made him look a bit lumpy, drawing some curious gazes from random passersby. He didn't mind them at all and just passively scanned the surroundings with Chloe for any signs of danger...Once they reached the Dungeon, the trio took the stairs down to the 5th Floor because they had passed through it previously to save time in the future. Shizune was made to take the lead after being cautioned about the various dangers that would be present. Since she was walking the path of a stealth assassin, Shizune couldn't easily fight against large groups of enemies just yet and had to be 'smart' in how she fought. Since Killer Ants began to appear on this Floor, she would have to be even more cautious and Vahn was interested to see how she would progress. Fortunately, her weapons would be able to easily penetrate the hard carapace of the monsters so she shouldn't have too many issues.Shizune had been preparing for this trip for the last three days and had already steeled herself for the dangers she could face. Killer Ants were known as the 'Rookie Killers', even overwhelming entire parties of weaker Adventurers. Since she was more of a 'support' specialist instead of a vanguard fighter, she was at a very big disadvantage if she got their pheromones on her weapons or armor. To counter this, she had coated her blade with oil that could counteract the scent to an extent and had one of the 'masking towels' that Vahn had provided upon her request. If possible, Shizune wanted to avoid fighting the Killer Ants directly so she was also carrying a high-quality crossbow with her that she had obtained from Tsubaki.All of Shizune's preparations were made by herself, even though she was very reliant on the 'wealth' of the people surrounding her, so it was very clear to Vahn that Shizune was much like the former Lili and was prone to planning for everything. Though their expenses had been very great, especially during the 'migration' phase of the Alliance's establishment, their actual wealth had been steadily increasing. Vahn's personal assets accounted for 2,317,804,020 Valis and had very rarely ever gone down. If anyone were to tell him he would be a billionaire after being in the City for less than a year, Vahn would have looked at them like they were mad. Now, however, Vahn felt like Valis was almost useless and typically just used his to give some of the girls an 'allowance'.Since 20,000 Valis was the basic earning for a normal adventurer party, Vahn allowed Shizune and Tina to have an allowance of 200,000 Valis per week so they could buy their own things. As for the other girls, most of them had their own earnings and Vahn just bought them gifts on occasion. After all, even the 'low earners' like Maemi and Emiru were easily able to earn around 70,000 Valis a day just by exchanging their magic cores to him to feed his OP reserves. None of the girls had any money problems at all, while the Alliance itself was easily the wealthiest organization in the entire City, even exceeding the Guild by a fair amount.Fortunately, this didn't cause any major issues since the Alliance didn't compete with the Guild and the majority of the Alliance still exchanges materials, magic cores, and other resources with the Guild to maintain a proper 'balance'. Even Vahn accepted commissions from Eina and turned over a large number of materials for exchange. Though they kept the majority of the monster cores they earned, this was only for those within the Hearth Manor and not the entire Alliance, meaning they were easily able to cover up the 'filtering' of magic cores into Vahn as simple 'upkeep' costs. The Alliance currently had more than 160,000 personnel, though the vast majority were farmhands and City guards, so the resources of 20-30 people weren't missed at all...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Lefiya is 'growing' up...','Shirohime Sneakily Sniffing Stomachs (OwO)','Imagine if the entire Alliance filtered their magic cores into Vahn o_o...')https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

---Shizune PoV at start o3o--After progressing into the 5th Floor for a few minutes, Shizune came across the first group of monsters, a total of seven Killer Ants. Seeing their numbers, Shizune furrowed her tiny brows in contemplation before sinking low to the ground and concealing her figure. Killer Ants didn't rely on the sight as much as other monsters and instead relied on pheromone trails and sensing things with their antennae. As long as she didn't draw their attention, the Killer Ants were essentially blind to her presences. She used her [Stealth] and observed the Killer Ants for several minutes, getting a feel for their movement patterns and how they interacted with the environment around them.Though she had studied about them in books, there was a big difference between reading about a monster and seeing them for the first time. Shizune didn't want to make any mistakes so she didn't mind observing them for several minutes while formulating a plan to eliminate them all without exposing herself to any real danger. An assassin wasn't someone that fought head-on unless they had no other choice, so Shizune was waiting for the most opportune moment to deliver a decisive strike that would incapacitate the largest number of enemies...Shizune watched as the ants felt around their environment before a slightly larger Killer Ant entered the room from one of the small tunnels in the walls. It was more engorged than the other ants and they immediately grouped up around it as the larger ant began 'feeding' the others through a process called trophallaxis. It regurgitated a strangely scentless liquid and the other Killer Ants would bring their mandibles close to each other to transfer the food directly. Shizune watched this play out with a straight face before reaching into the pouches at her back and pulling out what looked like a paper-wrapped sphere. With her other hand, Shizune grabbed an off-colored brown dagger before tossing the small sphere toward the gathering of Killer Ants.When the sphere impacted the ground, a small rune activated on its surface before an explosion of grey particulates expanded outward in a small cloud of around 3m. It didn't encompass the entire group of Killer Ants, but it was more than enough for Shizune's purposes as she threw the brown dagger, not toward the Killer Ants themselves, but at the ground around their feet. The dagger was a specialized projectile weapon made almost entirely out of carved flint with abrasive edges that could easily make sparks. As for the paper-sphere Shizune tossed out earlier, it was full of a chemical powder produced by the Dwarves and was used to make explosives for mining purposes. Chloe had shown her how to compress it into a sphere and it was useful as both a smoke grenade or, in this case, the catalyst for an explosion.As the flint dagger slid against the ground, it created a large spark that immediately caused the 3m cloud of powder to ignite, creating a large explosion and a flash of light. At the same time, Shizune had dashed forward and used the cover of a boulder to shield herself from the shockwave. After the pulse of energy passed over her, Shizune leaped over the rock and targetted the closest Killer Ant, stabbing at the back of its head at the area where its brain was located. The magic core of a Killer Ant was very small and it was much easier to hit the brain stem than it was to nick the core itself. Though they could even survive being decapitated for a short period of time, a direct hit to the brain typically did enough damage to kill even tenacious monsters.After stabbing the Killer Ant, Shizune jumped to the side and brandished her dagger to dislodge any fluids that were clinging to the blade. Then, without any significant delay, she sprinted at the next Killer Ant and tried to stab it in the same spot. The explosion had managed to kill three of the monsters and it had disoriented the other five while also causing numerous injuries to their bodies. However, Killer Ants didn't have a very complex nervous system and they didn't experience pain the same way as most monsters. Though they were seriously injured, they still tried to attack Shizune after realizing they were under attack. To avoid getting swarmed by the monsters, Shizune evaded the sharp mandibles of a Killer Ant and simply turned around to run away.Shizune's parameters were still very low and her defensive equipment wasn't that suitable for fighting monsters with pincers and sharp mandibles. She could deflect blades with her arm-guards, but there wasn't much she could do against the serrated jaws of the ants that were easily large enough to grab around her thin waist. Though it was a little frustrating, Shizune didn't waste any time trying to be 'bold' and immediately ran towards Vahn and Chloe. However, she didn't forget the 'proper' steps she was supposed to take when fleeing and dropped two small smoke bombs behind her to obscure the senses of the Killer Ants further.The eyesight of a Killer Ant wasn't that great, to begin with, so there was no way they could detect her within the dense cloud of smoke. Since she had been careful not to get any of the pheromones on her weapons and armor, Shizune was easily able to escape. However, this didn't stop more Killer Ants from beginning to swam the area since one of the defensive mechanisms of the ants themselves was to send out a 'cloud' of pheromones when they were stressed out. They also had a very shrill cry that could sound for several hundred meters with ease, calling their companions to come to their aid.Vahn received the heavily breathing Shizune with his arm and used his free hand to erect a barrier in the corridor that the Killer Ants had no hope of penetrating. Though he could easily deal with the horde, Vahn wanted to let their numbers build up a bit before he scorched them. Killer Ants were a bad matchup for the current Shizune because she wasn't fast enough to outmaneuver them with her 370 Agility. Even Vahn had need nearly a thousand just to be able to cope with their numbers in the past, and that was with the enhancement of his Báihǔ form. While waiting for their numbers to build up, Vahn stroked the back of the heavily breathing Kitsune girl to help her calm down.Though she hadn't fought for very long at all, explosions were very taxing on a person's mental state and Shizune had gone 'toward' the explosion before immediately engaging the ants. When things didn't quite go as she expected, she made the correct decision to run away but the physical and mental exertion had been great during that short period of time. After all, she only had 219 Endurance and her stamina was somewhat lacking. Even during training, she could typically only fight for around ten minutes if she was conserving her energy. She could manage up to half an hour if she pushed herself to the limit, but this would typically cause her to pass out and it wasn't healthy for a growing girl to strain their body so much.Chloe watched Shizune for a little while and waited for her breathing to calm down a bit before saying, "Watching your enemy is a smart decision, especially if its something you've never encountered before. As for your use of the powder ball and the flint dagger, that was a good decision for most enemies. However, such attacks aren't that useful against insectoid enemies with hard carapaces and dense fluid-like bodies. Most shockwaves can be absorbed by them pretty easily and it won't be nearly as effective as it would be on other monsters..." Since Chloe was Shizune's mentor, she spoke to her very seriously when giving evaluations of the young fox's performance.Shizune had turned her purple eyes to match Chloe's green eyes, listening attentively to each of her words while Vahn replenished her energy. This wasn't the first 'mistake' she had made and Shizune knew she needed to rely on the wisdom and experience of others if she wanted to continue improving. She wasn't an 'instinct' based fighter and focused more on the technical aspects and preparation phases of combat. Besides, she had a lot of trust in Vahn and it was very comfortable to be held in his arms while she was getting a lecture...Chloe went on to explain how Shizune could have handled the situation better, primarily encouraging her to set up multiple layers of traps to cover potential paths of retreat and kiting the monsters around while controlling the terrain to her advantage. Though there wasn't much she could do to prevent the Killer Ants from calling support when they were together, she could have whittled down their numbers a bit without exposing her presence at all. However, these were all things that should only be considered if killing a small group was her only goal. Since she was simply too weak to make use of other methods currently, Chloe just gave a brief summary before they turned to watch the 'show' Vahn was about to put on.At this point, more than one-hundred Killer Ants had filled up the room and were trying to knock against Vahn's barrier to get at the fleshy intruders beyond. Others had tried to attack from different locations but Vahn had been passively killing those that tried by infusing fire elemental energy into their bodies and burning them to death. Though he did his best not to try and act 'cool' anymore, Vahn still showed a calm expression to Shizune and explained, "There is nothing wrong with the fighting style you're trying to adapt, Shizune...but you must keep in mind that there are no limits in the world that can't be overcome. If you want, you can even become the type of person that can kill an entire room full of enemies with a wave of your hand..."As his words fell, Vahn created a ball of fire on the other side of the barrier and began turning the entire room into a massive furnace by condensing wind elemental energy to fuel the fire. Shizune watched with unblinking eyes as Vahn slowly 'waved' his hand across and scorched the entire horde of Killer Ants without any serious effort on his part. She couldn't help but swallow a bit of saliva to lubricate her dried throat, shocked and awed by the sight she was seeing before her. Since she had seen magic being used by other people, Shizune knew that Vahn's words were true and that she could one day perform similar feats if she decided to become a Mage. Though she didn't have the 'talent' for it, Vahn's support would allow her to reach the peak of any path as long as she put in the effort...Vahn could sense a subtle change in the aura of Shizune, immediately activating his [Eyes of Truth] to see if he could discern what was happening. He knew from experience that his [Mentor] Development Ability actually made those listening to his words more attentive to everything he said. He wanted to nurture Shizune and Tina to the point where they could naturally awaken their Innates since children were highly impressionable. Though Shizune was mentally an 'adult', she was treated as the daughter of Milan, the sister of Tina, and he also went out of his way to spoil her a bit and treat her like a child. This made her more receptive and impressionable than normal because her trust for him had already increased greatly.He wasn't quite sure what was happening, which was a good thing since it often implied something related to an Innate, but Vahn saw Shizune's mana-flow change slightly as a result of her change. She already had a relatively rare 'darkness' elemental affinity, but now there were strands of a hazy purple and a light icy blue that intermixed with her mana. The most curious thing was that they still constituted a single stream and Vahn watched as what he believed to be ice elemental energy 'shift' into 'darkness' energy before once again transitioning into the hazy purple he couldn't identify at all. It wasn't impossible to convert pure mana into almost any element, but transitioning a specific type into another type was almost impossible unless they branched from the same 'law'. Water could become ice, but it was almost impossible to make water into fire unless you had mastery over a higher law...Since it was unlikely her Innate had awoken just yet, Vahn kept this information to himself for the time being and just intended to 'encourage' Shizune a bit more in the future. She seemed to be influenced by his display of power along with his words, so Vahn figured he could show her a few awe-inspiring sights to 'trigger' her awakening. It had been a while since he went 'freefalling' and she would probably be inspired by the view of the planet from above. Everyone that he had taken into the upper atmosphere with Fafnir had undergone a change in perspective and Vahn believed it would be even more effective on the younger girls.Once the room had been cleared, Vahn created a circular vortex of wind within the room with his left hand before infusing water elemental energy into the vortex to cool things down and air out the smell of burned corpses. Vahn gently ruffled Shizune's head, even though she was wearing her cloak, and said, "That should have been all the Killer Ants around for a few hundred meters. Everything else should be either Frog Shooters, War Shadows, and potentially something like Needle Rabbits, though they would be uncommon on this Floor. We'll follow behind, so do your best, Shizune."Shizune nodded her head, completely unaware of the subtle changes in her body and just focused on the warm energy in Vahn's palm and his encouraging words. When he pulled his hand away, her eyes became more focused and she started making her way deeper into the Floor. As long as she could avoid getting surrounded by the ants, Shizune was confident she could kill most of them with her crossbow from a distance. If she pulled them to a chokepoint, she could probably eliminate a similarly sized group and just whittle down their reinforcements while moving to other areas of the Dungeon. As long as they couldn't get a trace on her location, she could avoid the horde and continue forward without making the same mistake again.Fortunately, as Vahn had speculated, the next encounter was an entirely new enemy and Shizune wasn't forced to put her 'theory' to the test so soon. This time, her target was a group of three Frog Shooters, enemies that weren't that difficult to deal with as long as you could evade their tongues. They could spit them out at a very fast speed, but the trajectory was easy to read if you were paying attention to the angle of their head. Since they only had one large eye, the Frog Shooters would focus on a specific point and shoot out their tongues at the same direction their eye was facing. They didn't have a lot of mobility with their neck so this often meant their head faced the same direction and you could even bait their tongues out and severe them if you were properly prepared.After watching the group for a few minutes, Shizune pulled out a small brackish-green ball and activated the rune on it before throwing it high up into the air. The Frog Shooters had keen dynamic vision and immediately turned their three large eyes toward the object flying through the air. Before they understood what was happening, a blinding flash of light burst forth from the small ball and completely robbed the monsters of their vision. Shizune had already started moving forward at this point, using her small crossbow to pepper the Frog Shoots with bolts, aiming for their eyes and throats. Unable to see where their attacker was, the monsters entered a panicked frenzy and even shot their tongues at each other after sensing movement.Shizune observed their movements closely and, when one of the Frog Shooters shot out its tongue toward its ally, she stepped in agile footwork and sliced across the back of its head with her dagger, several the connection of its brain to the rest of its body. She wanted to use the monsters as cover so hadn't immediately killed it, allowing the 'counterattack' of the other Frog Shooter to slam into the one she just paralyzed. Using the frog's body as leverage, Shizune flipped over the other two as the first one was knocked away. She couldn't jump too high just yet, but her balance had increased greatly with the advancement of her [Featherfoot] skill.Shizune managed to land atop the Frog Shooter that just attacked its companion and buried her dagger into its eyes before twisting and pulling it out in a practiced motion. This time, the Frog Shooter died almost immediately so Shizune fell toward the ground and kicked away to get her distance, turning to glance at the last Frog Shooter to see where its head was angled. Fortunately, it didn't seem to have been able to track her position just yet and instead looked toward where the paralyzed Frog Shooter was twitching around. Without any 'inhibitions', it shot its tongue blindly at the flailing frog and created a large puncture wound in its body. Finding purchase, the Frog Shooter continued to shoot out its tongue several more times, allowing Shizune ample opportunity to get right behind it and pierce it in the back of the head...Once all the enemies were dead, Shizune looked around before dashing to cover and observing her surroundings. One of the 'drills' that Chloe had been teaching her was to never remain exposed, even if you think you've already defeated your enemy. The greatest threat to an assassin's life was complacency and things weren't over until you had eliminated the target and escaped successfully. There was almost no such thing as a 'famous' assassin since, the more well-known you were, the less 'successful' you had been in your job. Your name should be a 'rumor' and all of your 'success' should be speculative, spoken in hushed tones amongst your enemies and employers. Chloe herself had made the mistake of letting herself become complacent in the past, taking a job to hunt down Ryuu only to find that she had been lured into a trap by their shared enemies...After waiting for around two minutes, Shizune came out of hiding and picked up the spoils of her battle before running over and handing them to Vahn. She could have come out even earlier but had used the time to recover her breathing and calm down from the adrenaline rush of combat. Vahn accepted the three monster cores and the small piece of frog hide that had dropped before wiping away his hands and petting Shizune on the head, saying, "Well done, Shizune. I don't think there were any problems in how you handled the situation..." As he spoke, Vahn phrased his words like a question and looked to Chloe for her input. She nodded her head in agreement but a mischevious look appeared in her eyes and she asked in a playful tone, "What happens when you run out of consumable items~nya?"(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Killer Ants Are Annoying','BURN~!','There is 'always' room for improvement')https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

After their vow had been 'completed', Maemiru eventually ended up splitting back into Maemi and Emiru, fortunately allowing Vahn ample time to 'remove' himself beforehand. Now that they had lost their virginities, the girls wanted to properly service Vahn because they had felt a little guilty for their earlier behavior. Neither girl seemed to be embarrassed by how they behaved, they just wanted Vahn to feel good since he had treated them so gently. They coordinated their efforts and both took a turn to have slow and relaxed sex with him while the other hugged his body from behind as they sandwiched his body, affectionately caressing his muscles and licking around his head and neck.Vahn felt very pampered by the two girls and greatly enjoyed their time together, showing them his gratitude after the fact with a bit of 'heavy petting'. They didn't 'purr' in the same way as the various Cat People within the Manor, but they emitted a strange nasally 'grunting' sound, especially when he stroked around their abdomens and the sides of their head. It was a little bit of an awkward noise, but Vahn felt that it just added to their charm, especially because they would be very embarrassed after uttering the sound. The most interesting thing was how they could coil their tails around him with a surprising amount of strength, which was strangely comforting with how soft their tails were.By the end of the evening, Vahn ended up with a sister on each arm as they worked together to lick around the sides of his head, a grooming behavior common in those descended from felines. They also had dry tongues and it was very comfortable as long as they didn't focus on one area for too long. Since they could perfectly mirror each other, Vahn just had to relax his body and he got to experience their unique method of spoiling him. Though they sniffed around his body in a somewhat embarrassing manner, Vahn had long grown accustomed to such behaviors and just loosely held their waists while they explored his body with an insatiable curiosity...After the twins had fallen asleep, Vahn reflected over the events of the evening and check his system once again to confirm what he had seen earlier. When Maemiru split back into the two girls, her name completely vanished from his Unit Management tab while Maemi's and Emiru's names reappeared in his Affection list. Their Love for him had increased a fair amount, but it wasn't the drastic 'loyalty' they showed when they were fused together. As it was the product of an Innate, Vahn didn't really understand how things worked but it seemed as though The Path treated Maemiru as a unique entity while the twins were individually considered as 'normal'. This meant that he couldn't give them 'orders' while they were split, not that it really made that big of a difference since they would generally do what he asked of them.Vahn sometimes found himself wondering about his Unit Management function and his ability to make other entities into his subordinates. It was inarguably a very powerful function of The Path and, if he used it to his advantage, Vahn could imagine slowly taking over an entire record if he subordinated enough creatures, especially if they were entities he could name through the Akashic Tome. Because it worked by 'compelling' them based on their own thoughts and instincts, it was almost like a subtle form of mental manipulation, bordering on full-blown mind control if their Loyalty was high enough. Though he had never acted on it, Vahn couldn't deny he was tempted at times to see how 'effective' it could be.One of the things he had considered was trying to give Fenrir an order to 'become a great scholar' to see if it would change her mentality over time. He also considered 'impossible' orders to see if he could help promote the growth of Innates and even awaken new skills. Vahn suspected if he gave Lefiya an order to 'try and awaken the [Featherfoot] skill', she would be able to get insight into it much faster because of the change in her mentality. To a greater extent, Vahn had wanted to try and 'order' Fafnir to learn how to transform into a human by learning from Terra, ordering her to do her best to teach him the method. Though they would certainly try to do these things even if he asked them normally, Vahn felt like they would be able to achieve it much faster if their loyalty is high since it seemed to change their thoughts to reflect his intentions...Another thing Vahn had discovered was the 'passive' effect of having someone as his subordinate, which he had been researching through his interactions with all of his subordinates. Even without sending them orders, those with high Loyalty were able to understand his thoughts and were 'attuned' to his emotional state. Much like how Hephaestus could sense the changes in his heart, they were able to sense when he was happy, sad, or angry, often sharing these emotions themselves. Terra didn't get angry easily, but she had shown clear perturbation during the confrontations against Alosrin and Ash. For those like Fenrir and Anubis, they were even susceptible to his senses, often hearing phantom sounds, instinctively looking towards the things he had detected, and even feeling 'sensations' if he thought about touching them.Vahn had discovered this when he was playing around with Fenrir and he had been able to 'pet' her without actually touching her body. Her Loyalty was a monstrous 143,293 at this point and Vahn could increase it simply by 'focusing' on her with enough intent. Even if he was far away from her, Vahn could imagine them being together with his imaginary self petting her and Fenrir would feel it. He sometimes did this whenever he saw she was 'bored' and she would begin to laze around happily as she daydreamed along with his mental image. Though he hadn't tried it with the other girls yet, Vahn was sometimes tempted to tease Anubis, Terra, and even Lefiya to see how they would react...As this thought passed through his mind, Vahn could 'sense' Anubis stir awake even though they were separated by several kilometers. He smiled and 'apologized' for waking her and could sense 'warmth' emitted from her before she returned to her slumber. This once again showed just how attuned they were to each other, though it still paled in comparison to his current bond with Hestia. She had a similar 'adaptation period' as Hephaestus since every time he was with another girl or got riled up, she had felt the sensations with her own body. Though she already spent a lot of time in her room, she had almost locked herself up inside of it for the better part of three weeks so as to avoid suddenly being brought to climax in the middle of a conversation. Even if he was with another girl, Hestia could feel his actions almost as if he were touching her body and she had been both 'enjoying' and 'lamenting' their bond for a while.When she came to his mind, Vahn could 'see' Hestia laying in her bed with a red face as she looked upward and gave him a gentle smile. Vahn imagined caressing her face and saw Hestia scrunch up happily as if he was actually stroking her. Her 540 Million Love wasn't for show and Vahn almost felt inseparable from her regardless of what else he was focused on. She didn't take advantage of their bond at all, fortunately, and had become much more content and docile after it was established. She had previously been somewhat clingy and liked to behave in a spoiled manner but now Hestia was almost 'always' being spoiled by him whenever he was with another girl. He could also sense her presence when he was hard at work sometimes and it allowed him to work harder and maintain focus feeling her gentle and encouraging aura around him.As he had started to feel very tired at this point, Vahn allowed his mind to wander and slowly fell into the embrace of darkness. He only dreamed when it was 'important', so Vahn typically had peaceful nights and would quickly awaken to find himself at the dawn of a new day, completely refreshed from the previous day's exertions. This time, however, just as he was able to fade into the darkness, Vahn 'accidentally' humored the thought of getting closer to all of his subordinates, causing the image of a bashful Elf to appear within his mind just as darkness fell upon him...---Lefiya's eyes snapped open and she looked toward the ceiling, almost as if she could see through the barrier between her room and Vahn's. She resided in the room right below his alongside Tiona, Tione, and Ais, so Lefiya was always in close proximity to Vahn. Though she wasn't remotely close to the same level as girls like Anubis, Fenrir, and even Terra, Lefiya could still feel her connection to Vahn after learning how to focus on it. After having him give her several different kinds of orders, Lefiya had grown accustomed to recognizing his 'presence' within her heart and mind, something that got progressively stronger the more she 'desired' to know his thoughts.Though she would normally be enjoying the warmth of Tiona and Ais right now, Lefiya continued to stare up at the roof in confusion because she didn't understand what the signal she had received meant. It was very 'abstract', almost like Vahn hadn't intentionally given her an order and simply allowed it to slip subconsciously. She might have put it to the back of her mind in normal circumstances, but Lefiya felt like it was strangely 'important' to determine what he wanted. If it was something he desired in his subconscious mind, Lefiya felt like it could bring them even closer together if she could figure it out and make his desire a reality...After laying in silence for nearly half an hour, Lefiya felt a bit at a loss because she couldn't think of anything even if she tried focusing on their bond with all her might. The only thing she managed was to sense 'sadness' and 'melancholy' from Vahn, which made her heart twinge in pain as her mind retreated from their bond. She felt he must be having a very sad dream and it made her feel sad even whenever she tried to comprehend what he was going through. Tonight was the night he had been with Emiru and Maemi, so Lefiya expected he would be happy instead of feeling sadness, melancholy, and even fear. It was like he was having a nightmare and it made her have a strange urge to go up to his room and try to comfort him.Since she knew the twins were with him, Lefiya remained in her bed but continued to stare up at the ceiling for a very long time thereafter, trying to 'will' Vahn to feel happy through their shared connection. As she was unable to understand what he had wanted from her, Lefiya resolved herself to try and understand Vahn better in the future. If she got closer to him, Lefiya believed she could support him when he was sad and help drive away the negative emotions that burdened his heart. Vahn often talked about their 'shared' happiness, so Lefiya wanted to do her best to share some of the happiness she felt being with the people she cared about. If Vahn could feel the same feelings she felt, Lefiya believed he wouldn't be so sad and only have good dreams...---Vahn awoke early the next morning and felt very refreshed, enjoying the lukewarm body heat of the two girls that were snuggled up in his embrace. They had very cute sleeping expressions and Vahn felt a little guilty about having to awaken them for an early bath so they wouldn't be late for morning training. It was also necessary for them to take a contraceptive within the next few hours or their chances of being pregnant would go up a great deal. He didn't mind if they actually got pregnant, as it seemed to be the 'trend' right now, but Vahn knew they wanted to increase their strength in preparation for the future. After Maemiru made her oath last night, Vahn suspected the twins' desire to get stronger would be even stronger now.After enjoying their warmth for a while longer Vahn gently shook the girls' shoulders to stir them awake, feeling his brain buzz a bit when they both slowly opened their eyes and mirrored each other's yawn before stretching their bodies in an alluring display of flexibility. When they had finished stretching, Maemi and Emiru turned to him before closing the distance and kissing both of his cheeks, saying, "Good morning, Master~." in a very sensual tone of voice. Vahn smiled and stroked the two girls' hair, saying in a gentle tone, "I feel like you have become even more beautiful now...thank you, Maemi, Emiru, for allowing me to experience something so 'fulfilling..."Maemi and Emiru turned to look at each other for a few seconds before issuing a peal of playful laughter from their lips as they stroked their stomachs and said, "We should be thanking Master for 'filling' us up so completely...maufuu~" Toward the end of their words, the twins leaned forward and hugged him once again and rubbed their faces against his in a very affectionate manner until Vahn eventually ushered them towards the bath. However, things took a strange turn when Vahn entered the landing on the second floor and saw Lefiya dragging a very sleepy looking Ais, both still in their pajamas. When she turned and saw Vahn standing with Maemi and Emiru, Lefiya's eyes opened slightly before she said, "Good morning, Vahn..."Though she had already noticed him, Ais smiled after hearing Lefiya's words and repeated, "Good morning...Vahn..." in a soft and sleepy tone. Vahn was surprised to see the two girls up at this time since they would typically be heading outside in around an hour. Feeling a strange incongruity at the situation, Vahn looked toward Lefiya and asked, "Lefiya, why are you up so early?" With a strangely resolute look in her eyes, Lefiya pursed her lips slightly before saying, "We don't get to spend that much time together, so I wanted to try and..." She had started off strong, but Lefiya started to blush fiercely at her own words since Maemi and Emiru were present.Vahn squinted his eyes slightly and noticed that Lefiya's aura was gravitating towards him much more than normal, though still decidedly less than the sleepy Ais standing right next to her. Just as he was about to ask why she was acting like this, Lefiya beat him to the punch and explained, "When you were asleep last night, I felt that you were having a bad dream and wanted to try and make you happy...I'm sorry if I inconvenienced you, Vahn." With her words finished, Lefiya bowed apologetically and Vahn immediately felt very guilty for calling her motives into question. He wasn't sure what she meant by him having a bad dream, as he couldn't remember anything at all, but it was very obvious she was concerned about him.So as not to belittle her concerns, Vahn smiled as he walked forward and placed his palm atop Lefiya's head, saying in a gentle tone, "Thank you for caring about me so much, Lefiya...I am very grateful such a cute Elf is worrying about my well being." Though she was still blushing, Lefiya's complexion actually normalized a fair amount as she squinted her eyes slightly and enjoyed the feeling of the warm energy flowing through her head. Ais watched this occurring from the side and had a look like a starved child that just saw sweets on display in a candy shop. Vahn resisted the urge to laugh and simply stroked both girls' heads for a short while before all five of them went to the bath together...Though it wasn't the first time she had made the offer, Vahn was a little surprised with how 'insistent' Lefiya was when she wanted to wash his back. Maemi and Emiru were still in a very affectionate mood and had taken up the task of washing his body before Lefiya very uncharacteristically offered her assistance. Since Ais was present, Vahn immediately noticed that this was very 'abnormal' because Lefiya was typically more aware of her presence than his own. Checking his system, Vahn's eyes widened a great deal when he noticed Lefiya's Loyalty had somehow increased from 439 to 1,223 over the course of a short few hours.Lefiya's initial Loyalty value had been somewhat high at 91, but it typically only increased a few points per day, never nearly 800 in a single evening. Vahn wondered what had changed for such a drastic increase to have occurred, asking, ("Sis, what kind of dream did I have last night?") Though he was a bit distracted by Lefiya's awkward hand movements, Vahn ignored it for the time being and decided to ask his always reliable Big Sis for guidance on the matter. Almost immediately after he asked, she responded by explaining, (*I can't know for certain, but it should have been a nightmare related to your previous life. Your [Will of the Emperor] protects your mind from things that could destabilize your mentality and it inhibits the part of your brain that allows you to have bad dreams...*) Sis wasn't entirely sure how it worked herself, as Innates were beyond her own understanding and she could only infer what was happening by analyzing the chemical signals from Vahn's brain.Vahn's mind blanked for a short while, causing Sis to answer the question he wanted to ask, (*Yes, you've been having nightmares almost every night since you arrived in this world. It usually doesn't last very long, but you have intermittent impulses of negativity when you are asleep...*) With Sis's explanation, Vahn understood why Lefiya might have had such a massive increase if she had somehow managed to tap into his negative emotions. She was probably very worried about him and this made Vahn feel both warm and extremely apologetic at the same time. However, long before he even finished thinking about if he should apologize or not, Vahn felt a very soft sensation press against his back as Lefiya hugged him with her naked body and said, "Master, don't be sad..." in a very quiet and soothing voice.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Sage Mode After Sex','The Power of Lefiya's Delusions','Night Terrors and a Maiden's Embrace...')(A/N: For those that are a bit confused, please remember that Lefiya has always been a girl that has very powerful delusions. She essentially got the signal from Vahn and allowed her own thoughts to run rampant until she had 'convinced' herself to act in accordance with his subconscious desire. It wasn't that Vahn had inadvertently brainwashed her, he just 'triggered' her own over-active imagination to run rampant until it was blown greatly out of proportion.)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 583: Transition