Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

---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

For around six hours, Shizune progressed further into the 5th Floor under the direct tutelage of Chloe while Vahn watched over them from the back. Until Shizune was able to fight the enemies on her own, Chloe had been helping her out a bit while demonstrating different ways to dispatch opponents. One of the 'problems' that Shizune had was that she focused too much on the preparation before combat, which wasn't a 'bad' thing in normal situations. If she were just fighting a few enemies on a 'mission', the items she had in her pouch would be more than enough to get her through. This didn't translate well into the Dungeon, however, and she was limited in the number of tools she could bring with her, assuming Vahn wasn't replenishing her supplies.Chloe was trying to teach Shizune that her tools should be used when her abilities aren't enough to easily deal with the situation. If she was too reliant on them from the beginning, her own strength would never develop to the point it needed to be at in order to fight stronger enemies. Like Vahn, Chloe had also noticed the subtle change in Shizune's mentality so she wanted her to build her confidence and only use her tools situationally instead of proactively. Right now, Vahn always escorted both her and Tina into the Dungeon, but this couldn't continue indefinitely as he needed to help the others and would be delving deep into the Dungeon in the future. This meant Shizune wouldn't have a way to restock and, unless she never planned to go further into the Dungeon, her own strength would have to be increased or she would fall further behind Tina.Vahn actually intended to have Tina and Shizune team up so they could grow alongside each other, but he had been putting it off because there wasn't anyone else around their Level to make an actual team. Preasia might be a suitable member, but Vahn had doubts about her ability to actually venture into the Dungeon and knew she didn't have the right mentality to fight monsters. He had even considered 'scouting' Rye, Fina, and potentially even Roux, as they were similar in 'age' to both Tina and Shizune. Tina was nearly twelve years old right now, with Shizune having the physical body of a girl around ten. Rye and Fina were both nine years old right now, but Roux was only around eight, meaning she was the biggest concern. However, if she became a pure Mage, she wouldn't really have to fight in the frontlines and could use the equipment he made for her to protect herself.The problem with this plan was that Vahn wouldn't really allow them to enter the Dungeon so soon and would require them to attend the School for a while before they began venturing into the Upper Floors. This meant Shizune and Tina didn't really have anyone near their age to help them venture deeper into the Dungeon, not that this was a bad thing as Vahn wanted them to take it slow to begin with. He was just thinking of 'solutions' to help the girls get stronger because they were already working very hard and he felt a little guilty slowing their potential progress. Without 'flame seeds', their growth was already 'normal' but was still much faster than the average Rookie Adventurer. At their current pace, both girls would reach Level 2 in a few months, which was still much faster than the majority of Adventurers starting out...Seeing Shizune accurately shoot a Purple Moth out of the air with a crossbow bolt, Vahn raised his brow because it was an impressive feat for someone that didn't practice archery. Judging by how happy she was, Vahn realized it was a bit of a 'fluke' but still praised her by saying, "Nice shot~!" in an encouraging voice. Shizune's ears twitched and she looked over with a smile on her face before Chloe snuck up right behind her like a predator and snatched her up, tickling Shizune's body while saying, "Nyahahaha, you dropped your guard again~nya!" Shizune had flinched when she was first grabbed but Chloe had deftly knocked the dagger out of her hands before she could spin back. One of the things they had been training was her muscle memory to respond to attacks from behind, so Chloe had already been prepared to avoid an accident before she snuck up on her.Vahn smiled as he watched Shizune flail around in Chloe's hands, laughing like a bell that was being fiercely shaken about. Shirohime wriggled around in his tunic before peeking her head out through his collar and observing the scene with her pale golden eyes. Vahn scratched the bottom of her throat, causing the little white fox to tilt her head back with squinted eyes, clearly pleased by the contact. Since she had come out on her own, Vahn asked, "How is Haruhime?" without minding the curious gazes of Chloe and Shizune. Everyone knew of the existence of Shirohime at this point and were used to Vahn 'talking to himself'.Shirohime rubbed the back of her head against his chest and enjoying his petting as she muttered, "Haru is fine...she is currently on the 22nd Floor with the golden one and the orange one~." Ever since they had first been introduced to each other, Haruhime and Ais had gotten along very well with each other since the latter was very interesting in Haruhime's unique style and rapid growth. As for the 'orange one', Shiro was obviously referring to Lefiya, who usually acted as a backline and 'Supporter' for Ais. She usually carried the drops items for the other girls since her combat style didn't currently emphasize speed, something Vahn wanted to change when he taught her 'real' magic in the future.Thinking of Haruhime and Lefiya, Vahn placed his palm against the scruff of Shirohime's chest, making the little fox tremble a bit as he injected his source energy into her body. Since their bodies were linked together even more so than Maemi and Emiru, anything Shirohime felt was immediately sent to Haruhime. This worked for energy transference as well, so Vahn could judge Haruhime's state based on how Shirohime was behaving. Since the little white fox was acting a little tired, Vahn helped replenish their energy with his [Yggdrasil's Blessing] and [Hands of Nirvana]. Haruhime had grown accustomed to the 'sudden' contact and Vahn knew that she would probably be happy to get the sudden influx of source energy. As for Lefiya, Vahn just sent her some encouraging thoughts since he was confident the huge boost to her Loyalty made her more receptive to his intent.Shirohime began licking his wrist in a gentle and affectionate manner, causing Vahn to stroke between her ears and say, "Behave, Shiro..." If she got too riled up, that would mean Haruhime also got riled up and Vahn didn't want any accidents to happen. Though Haruhime's strength was derived from her emotions, specifically directed toward Vahn himself, a little bit of 'contact' was very motivating for her. If it got too intense, however, Haruhime might push herself to her limits out of excitement. This had actually happened in the past, causing Shirohime to freak out a great deal until Vahn calmed her down by 'flooding' her with his source energy.When he had seen the small red stain on her fur, Vahn had also been rather worried, finding out later that Haruhime had been clipped by the natural weapon of a merman. The cut hadn't been deep, but Haruhime's 'illusory aura' typically made her impossible to hit, meaning she had erred as a result of her excitement. Vahn had apologized for his actions, though Haruhime didn't seem to blame him for it and simply said she would become even stronger in response...Vahn let go of Shirohime after a few seconds, causing her to yawn before diving back down into his tunic once again. He knew she was 'enjoying his smell', but such a small motivation was all it took to make Haruhime a monstrous force in normal circumstances. With the little fox dealt with, Vahn smiled to Chloe and Shizune, saying, "Let's go home..." while extending his hands to the two girls. They had already eaten a light lunch, but it would be better to get something up on the surface since Vahn knew Shizune probably had to go to the bathroom based on how she fidgetted around. She was bad at relieving herself in the Dungeon, even though Chloe seemed to manage it with ease and had tried to get her to 'relax' more.On the way towards the surface, Vahn had carried Shizune as her 'reward', secretly pressing into one of her pressure points and inserting a threat of energy to make sure she didn't accidentally pee on him. In total, they had spent a little more than six hours in the Dungeon, one of the longer stints for Shizune given her lacking stamina and combat style. Tina had been lasting for around six hours on 'average', even lasting as long as ten before Vahn urged her back to the surface. Each time they would return, Vahn carried them back because he knew their legs were probably sore from running around for so long. Tina usually fell asleep very quickly, since he usually gave her a princess carry, while Shizune seemed to like high places and usually asked to ride his shoulders. Since he was in his Báihǔ form often, Vahn had once smelled a powerful aroma of urine once and had been somewhat cautious about the matter ever since...Once they reached the surface, Vahn sent for Fafnir since Terra was actually somewhat bad with both Chloe and Shizune. Their affinities clashed a bit and it always made Terra feel very uncomfortable when she was giving them a ride, something Vahn was very aware of. As for Fafnir, it was attuned to the darkness and didn't really seem to mind the aura of anyone, since the only clashing elements for darkness were light and purification. If it was exposed to either element, Fafnir could actually tolerate it quite easily and it just restricted its abilities a little. The only 'bane' of Fafnir was barrier magic, though only if it covered the 'scar' on its chest. Fortunately, most magic wouldn't get beyond its nullification sphere and the only true danger was if its allies tried to put a barrier over its torso for some reason. Vahn had long ago discovered that Fafnir had absolutely no immunity to close-range magic spells, meaning if you could get within the sphere around its body it was very vulnerable.As it was common for Fafnir to appear in the area, the Guild had actually designated an area in Babel Plaza and asked Vahn to make use of it to avoid problems arising. Vahn respected the relatively simple request but made sure to check the area to make sure there weren't any traps that had been lain. He wasn't too fond of the idea of creating a habit for people to exploit but his own confidence had been steadily increasing as of late since his domain was currently at 598m. Unless they had a way to completely conceal their presence, Vahn was confident in being able to detect any enemy within his domain. Most Mages couldn't cast magic beyond 500m and, even if they could, Fafnir's anti-magic aura would completely invalidate the attempt.Fafnir popped up out of the ground, causing curious passersby to look over and open up a bit of distance when they realized what they had seen. Most Adventurers that frequented the area were already adapted to Fafnir's existence, but it was still very 'spooky' to see a dragon appear out of the shadows for 'normal' people. Taking this into consideration, the Guild had actually posted signs around the area 'cautioning' people that it was a landing zone of the Alliance and there would be dragons in the area.Vahn walked forward and rubbed Fafnir's snout as the girls climbed onto its back using the 'steps' it had made for Shizune. Fafnir had 'slimmed' down its body a great deal after interacting with Terra and looked decidedly less 'evil' now, assuming you didn't stare at its 'vicious' and 'icy' gaze. Vahn, however, found Fafnir very cute and muttered in a comforting voice, "Fafnir is a good dragon~" while 'scratching' the base of its neck with his [Petting] skill working in overdrive. Fafnir cocked its head to the side and 'mewled', ("Gnuuu, feels pleasant~!") as a throaty rumble resonated from its throat and caused people to open a greater distance from their position.After constant use, Vahn's [Petting] had reached B-Rank at this point and he was now aware of a 'peculiar' energy that flowed from his hands that had nothing to do with his source energy at all. It was a little strange to consider, but Vahn referred to it as 'petting laws' since it was something that seemed to transcend everything else he knew about mana and energy. When they felt this 'petting energy' enter their bodies, even Fafnir would find the sensation very pleasant and Vahn often used it to make the Beast Girls released their characteristic sounds of 'contentedness'. It was his desire to make Arnya purr more than had pushed the skill to the next level and 'awakened' Vahn's awareness of the strange energy. Ever since then, his hands had truly become 'godly' since he was even able to make Fafnir 'purr', even though it didn't actually have nerves attached to the surface of its scales.Once he had topped off Fafnir's energy, Vahn released a heavy sigh before ingesting a mana potion and jumping atop Fafnir's back. Even though his own reserves had greatly increased, Vahn still had less source energy than the amount that constituted both Fafnir's and Terra's bodies. Fortunately, he had never been forced to return them into their core state recently and hadn't had to reform them from scratch, saving him a rather strenuous effort and what would typically amount to several tens-of-thousands of OP...Less than thirty seconds later, the trio arrived overtop the Hearth Manor and Fafnir 'slammed' into the ground without stopping the majority of its momentum. Though this would have made a crater in the ground in the past, Fafnir had gotten the idea from Terra to use its ability to dive into the shadows to cushion its landing. This had saved the various craftsmen that performed maintenance on the Manor a lot of efforts because Fafnir generally did a bit of damage even when it walked around normally. Now, however, Fafnir's feet were often enshrouded in shadows and it created a large 'pool' of shadows when it took a nap. This consumed more of its energy, but it hadn't damaged the Manor ever since then, at least not directly.As usual, Hestia greeted them at the foyer before Shizune dashed off to the bathroom to relieve herself. When he helped her get off Fafnir's back, Vahn inserted a small thread of energy into the pressure point he had numbed earlier, allowing it to slowly return to its normal function. This made Shizune need to pee very badly and he didn't do anything to stop her while Hestia and Chloe laughed at her actions. Shizune almost always did the same thing every time they returned to the Manor, so neither girl was surprised as they all made their way towards the onsen. It had become a habit for everyone in the Manor to bathe whenever they returned home while Hestia typically used it as an opportunity to spend time with him before returning to her own room.Vahn helped wash Hestia's body while Chloe very affectionally washed down his body, which had returned to a normal state at this point. He knew most of the girls actually liked when he was more 'handsome' than muscular, so Vahn had toned down his physique a great deal, making him look far more youthful than he had in the previous months. The desire to be more mature and powerful had slowly shaped his body to become somewhat tyrannical and he looked closer to twenty than his actual age of fifteen. Now, however, Vahn looked like a handsome youth with healthy brown skin and a very lithe and nimble figure, something Chloe was especially fond of. She liked to playfully stroke his butt on occasion, but Vahn didn't mind it that much since she typically 'restrained' herself very well.Shizune eventually showed up in the onsen a few minutes later and trotted over, causing Hestia to lazily say, "Don't run, Shizune..." since Vahn had been [Petting] her while washing down her body. Following Hestia's words, Shizune began walking over before dipping her small and delicate feet into the water. Without any inhibitions at all, she made her way over towards them while Vahn minded his eyes and made sure not to 'gawk' at her youthful body. One of the habits he had developed when bathing with the youth troupe was to simply let his eyes wander on the other girls' bodies or simply close his eyes. Shizune still had a bad habit of trying to draw his gaze, so Vahn had learned to interact with her using his spatial awareness instead of his sight. Yes, he could still perfectly outline her body using this method, but at least he wasn't 'staring' at her...Knowing better than to try anything, Shizune lowered her body into the water and turned her back, saying, "Excuse me..." in a low voice. Vahn looked over at her small back and pricked the tip of his index finger before drawing a line down her back. Hestia looked over out of interest when her own crest appeared and tried to glean more information than she could see with her eyes. One of the reasons she often 'intercepted' Vahn when he returned was out of curiosity since most of the girls didn't actually come to her to get their Status Boards updated. She didn't really mind, as it required her to do less work, but still wanted to see how the 'children' of her Familia were progressing.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Shizune YuelRace: KitsuneLV. 1POW: G247-&gt;G253END: G219-&gt;G222DEX: F315-&gt;F324AGI: F370-&gt;F388MAG: H108-&gt;F303Skill: [Tamomo: Innate(sealed)], [Featherfoot:H], [Stealth:I]Magic: [Moon's Prayer: Innate(sealed)]Development Skill: [Abnormal Resistance(sealed)], [Insomnia(sealed)]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Master and Student','*Petting Intensifies*','That Magic stat though...')https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

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

Chapter 584: Technical Prowess