Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Over the course of the next few days, Vahn had the opportunity to experience that raising children wasn't exactly easy. Because of the accelerated growth rates of the Vanir, they needed to eat every two hours, typically like clockwork. Vana ate a fair amount more than both Ina and Erika, but she also showed the highest amount of energy compared to the other two. Also, since they were constantly eating, this meant the girls were also constantly producing small amounts of waste to accompany their meal plan. Vahn had been asked to help out, so as to familiarize himself with the process, meaning he had changed nearly thirty diapers over the course of a few short days.This didn't mean Vahn wasn't happy, however, as every moment he spent with his daughters felt like a true blessing. Just being in the same room as them made him feel like his body had endless energy and he often had to be 'forced' away by the teasing of Loki, Hephaestus, Juno, Epona, and Tsubaki. Mona never said too much but showed a tired smile on her face most of the time since she had constantly been tending to the girls both day and night. It was fortunate that Juno and Epona actually produced milk, allowing them to relieve her so she could actually get adequate sleep, while the other expectant mothers also helped out a bit.When he wasn't spending time with his newborn daughters, Vahn had been guiding all the younger girls in their magical training and planning his next course of action with Minerva and Fortuna. They had counseled him about the best course of action to take in regards to his interactions with the Rakia and Elven Kingdoms. As it stood, almost anything he did against the Rakia Kingdom would be used as a justification for them to rally forces and try a more meaningful attack. This was an opportunity to get them to overextend but relied on Vahn being willing to fight against an army and potentially claim many lives. The problem with this was the fact that many of the people fighting on the frontlines were being forced into service, making them relatively innocent in the grand scheme of things...Under the guidance of the two goddesses, Vahn eventually settled on a median between two extremes, allowing the Rakia Kingdom to move their forces the vast distance between the Kingdom and the City while eliminating their supply lines and damaging the terrain. If they didn't have enough resources to continue the campaign, they would inevitably be forced to retreat under the constant harassment of various smaller mercenary troupes and the scouts from the Elven Forest. There was a chance they could detour to the south, trying to sweep through the Plains area where the food was produced, but this would guarantee their Kingdom was wiped off the map. It had been hundreds of years since anyone even tried to cause harm to the food production region of the Continent, as doing so would earn you the ire of every single country while simultaneously be cutting off your own potential resources. As foolish as Ares might be, he knew better than to draw the attention of all the forces on the Continent simultaneously...As for the Elven Kingdom, they were much trickier to deal with than the Rakia Kingdom since most of their issues were internal. Vahn didn't have the power and authority to 'force' change within the Kingdom without acting like a tyrant, meaning the only plausible course of action was to continue pressuring them until the Elven Kingdom either attacked or gave up. There was a very high chance they would tear themselves apart from the inside, but the ones most damaged by this course of action would be the so-called Nobles. The Sage Council had been consolidating their forces around the western front while keeping their Elites in reserve. As for those that had already aligned with the High Priestess faction, which included the majority of the most powerful High Elves and influential Elven families, they were just tiding over until things came to a head.With Riveria as a mediator, they had reached out to the High Priestess Faction, offering aid and the creation of an emergency teleportation 'formation' to allow them to escape during an emergency. Strangely, though they had been fairly amicable in the past, the High Priestess Faction seemed intent to continue forward without their assistance. Riveria had been confused and frustrated when she learned how 'obstinant' the faction had suddenly become, complaining to Vahn almost every time he had gone to check up on her. Before this sudden change, Riveria had a very good relationship with many of the senior members of the High Priestess Faction, so it was upsetting for her to suddenly get the cold shoulder.Unable to do much about the situation in the Elven Kingdom, other than help refugees that were trying to flee the internal struggles, Vahn had no choice but to wait and see how things developed. He decided that, even if the High Priestess Faction didn't directly ask for help, he would still go to their aid if news of an emergency situation reached them from the borders of the Western Forests. With Fafnir, he could close the distance between Orario and the Elven Kingdom in less than an hour, though Terra would potentially be able to get him there in an instant...Terra, after returning from the Dungeon, had spent the majority of her time expanding her dominion to encompass the entirety of the Manor. She had also modified the structure of her 'formation', enhancing several parts of it with wards that she had learned through studying with Eva. Everything above ground had now become an 'inviolable' space for her since one of the first things she had implemented was a massive assortment of wards that enhanced the defensive barrier around the Manor. Now, unless someone was near Level 7, or had a special Innate that allowed them to penetrate such barriers, there was almost no chance of the Manor suffering a direct attack. Even the underground, especially the underground, had been completely barred off for anyone that Terra herself didn't allow free passage...One of the bigger changes with Terra was the fact that she was very open about the changes in their relationship while simultaneously being very secretive about what she had learned from Eva. Other than Vahn, Fenrir, and Fafnir, Terra kept her knowledge a secret and only gave advice when some of the girls came to her in order to ask questions. The rest of her time was spent resting on her perch, sunbathing and absorbing large amounts of energy, completely in the buff. She kept the egg at her side, nestled against the base of her perch as it reflected the sunlight off its emerald green scales. Vahn had offered to awaken it, as he was the only one with the key to breaking through Eva's spell, but Terra refused on the grounds that he was already distracted with other things.Unlike the Vanir, there wouldn't be any accelerated growth for his child with Terra, meaning it could actually take dozens, if not hundreds, of years for it to reach maturity. Though Terra and Fafnir had been something of an exception, this was only because their bodies had been adapting to the changes brought about by their 'evolution'. Terra herself hadn't changed at all, even after nearly 150 years, while Fafnir's size was still growing, even though it had functionally eternal life. Thus, Terra had decided to wait until she had finished creating a sub-space orb with enough of a time dilation effect to teach and raise their child to the point it could, at the very least, defend itself.Though her affinity with Space wasn't nearly as good as Eva's, or even Vahn's, Terra had a lot of knowledge in regards to the subjects and had been entrusted with the secret of imbuing laws into a medium to create a sub-space. To change the laws and make them apply to a physical body was very taxing, requiring a large amount of magical power and incredibly rare resources provided by the system shop, but Terra could still pull it off. Her restriction was modifying the passage of time to equate to seven days for every one day that passed, but it was still adequate. Fortunately, she could make use of Vahn's 'peculiarities' to create Spirit-Time Orbs, which was the same as Eva's original orb.Spirit-Time Orbs required the Mage to create a faux-persona, referred to as a memory fragment, that regulated the laws within the space with a much greater degree of influence compared to a Sub-Space Orb. Since the latter applied to the physical body, there were much greater restrictions on the user compared to the rather lenient restrictions in a Spirit-Time Orb. Terra could influence the time dilation to reach ten hours for every minute that passed, allowing the user to stay inside for up to 100 hours every day. With Vahn being able to actually bring physical objects into a Spirit-Time Orb, he could 'break' many of the limitations that applied to them, something Terra found fascinating and intended to take full advantage of...After a fair amount of discussion, as Vahn found himself lacking the time he wanted to spend with all the girls, it was decided that they would create several different kinds of orbs, as Vahn was learning from Terra how to actually form them. Terra would create two primary orbs, one Sub-Space, and one Spirit-Time, with the goal of allowing the girls the opportunity to train their physical bodies while she would make personal use of the Spirit-Time orb for her own research and raising her child. As for Vahn, he would be creating several different types of Spirit-Time orbs for a variety of purposes, many geared towards teaching specific skills.There would also be three 'reward' orbs, which had been put forth as a recommendation by Loki and 'approved' by the girls in the Manor. These orbs would have three different 'programs', with varying intensities that would allow the girls to exchange their accumulated points for private recreational time with Vahn's memory fragment. It wouldn't affect their physical bodies, but their spirit would actually be tempered through the interactions, even if they ultimately decided to do something a bit risque with the Tier 3 memory fragment. Since Vahn could also 'download' the memories from the orbs, he would be able to know what was going on inside, though it was suggested that he didn't pry into things unless someone was acting strangely...So that nobody got in the habit of trying to overuse the orbs, it was decided that they would have access restrictions of one-week placed on them, meaning they could only be used up to four times a month at most. Vahn would also be spending a fair amount of time accompanying the girls' physical bodies within the Sub-Space Orb, as he would also be conducting his own training and research. After all, if he had an extra 100 hours each day, not only for his own research but to spend with the girls, that was a boon he had no intention of missing out on.As for the what kind of restrictions would be placed on the orb's use, Loki had actually concluded that only 25% of the time in the orb, essentially around one day, should be used for 'work'. If anything, Vahn already spent too much time on his projects and tending to the various obligations he had fallen into, thus making the orb the perfect solution to give him time to relax. If he entered with all the girls, he wouldn't have the same issue as with Eva's orb since he would always be able to seek out other people if he was feeling lonely. This also allowed them to monitor him without becoming overly reliant on using the Spirit-Time Orbs for their interactions with Vahn...Unable to refute Loki's claims, though there would certainly be 'exceptions' made depending on what was happening outside the orb, Vahn accepted the terms. It would take several weeks to create a single orb, so they had plenty of time to think about what changes to make later on. However, just knowing they would have a place where they could essentially spend three extra days with Vah, almost everyone in the Manor was very excited. The only exceptions, though they didn't really mind it, were the goddesses. Because of how the orbs functioned, they wouldn't actually be able to enter the orbs since their actual bodies and souls were still in Heaven. If they could detach their spirit to enter the Spirit-Time Orb, it was very likely their body would dissipate and they would be returned to Heaven. As for the Sub-Space Orb, it didn't have nearly as much risk but none of them were willing to find out the truth of the matter since they had no desire to be barred from the mortal world for a few decades.To compensate for the goddesses inability to enter the orbs, most of the time Vahn spent in reality, especially during the evenings, would be spent with them. This also extended to all the pregnant women as well, as one of the first things that had been decided during the discussion was to never use the orbs to 'accelerate' a pregnancy. Though the variable pregnancies of goddesses could be explained away as a result of the peculiarities of the Vanir and the influence of Divinity, it would become very obvious something was going on if mortals began having children much faster than normal. The orbs, though some may be used for special classes in the School, would become one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Alliance.The orbs were far too easily exploitable so it wasn't a good idea to ever circulate them amongst mortals. One of the examples Loki had given, which caused a shudder to pass through almost the entire room, was slavers using the orbs to 'breed' stock. Another one had been people using orbs with more lenient restrictions, as it was possible to make a sub-space that functioned at a 1:1 ratio without any limitations, to store people they had kidnapped. If you could keep thousands of people within the space of a single drawer, there were no ends to the means by which it could be misused.Fortunately, there was a restriction that Sub-Space Orbs required being 'anchored' to the world itself, often making use of leylines and larger formations to supplement their energy requirements. Moving an orb would destabilize the space, destroying any structures that had been built inside while forcibly ejecting any people, assuming that function had been 'programmed' into it. If it hadn't been, anyone inside would cease to exist when the space collapsed, making it an easy way to hide evidence of wrongdoing...When they were talking about the restrictions, Vahn couldn't help but think about the Heavenly City from the Divination, wondering if it was possible to 'anchor' an orb to such a colossal structure. After all, planets were often just objects floating through space, meaning the only 'real' restriction was the amount of energy feeding into, and stabilizing, the orbs. He intended to try and create modified orbs in the future but, for the time being, decided to agree to all the rules and restrictions that had been put forth by the collective group. They would talk about it again when the rest of the girls returned from the Expedition, as it was unfair to make decisions without their input, but they weren't likely to oppose the decisions that were made...The only real points of contention had come from the presence of Lili, Tina, and Shizune, as Hestia had proposed making the Sub-Space Orbs off-limits to anyone that had yet to reach adulthood. Mortals already had relatively short lives and she didn't think it was healthy for 'children' to essentially shorten their lifespans by potentially spending 80% of their life within a Sub-Space Orb. After all, just using it for a year would make Tina's age chronologically closer to seventeen years old. As an extreme case, this would mean the Vanir could actually reach physical maturity in less than a year...Ultimately, it was decided that Lili would be able to make free use of the orb, as she was almost an adult and had already lived a very trying life, while restrictions would be placed on Tina and Shizune. The later would have far more freedom in the orbs use, as she was already mentally an adult, while Tina would only be allowed to access the orb once a week, at least for the time being. To pacify her, Vahn promised he would spend a lot of his time in the 'real' world playing with and teaching her, at least when he wasn't looking after his own daughters and spending time with the various expectant mothers. He also promised that, by the time the orbs were functional, he would give her a flame seed so she could potentially keep up with Shizune's accelerated growth by increasing her parameters much faster than the small Kitsune.Shizune had initially been happy to have relatively free access to the orb but, after hearing all the concessions Vahn made for Tina, she began to feel like she had missed out on a golden opportunity. Vahn would obviously be spending the majority of his time with the other girls in the orb so, unless she managed to convince Tina to let her 'play' with them, she wouldn't have that much time with him herself. Fortunately, while Tina was denied access to them, Shizune had been given leniency to use the Tier 1 and Tier 2 Spirit-Time Orbs. This meant, as long as she saved up enough points, she would be able to get some 'benefits' from the memory fragments of Vahn. Though she wouldn't be able to do anything 'adult', for the time being, it was better than nothing...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Endless Poop : Infinite Diapers','Haaaaaaax','Tina, lucky or unlucky? Only time will tell (OwO)~!)(A/N: The previous chapter was technically the end of Volume 14, so the next 2-3 chapters will be intermission chapters explaining and wrapping up some loose ends. Pactio chapter should be next and, as I felt it would be kind of funny, I decided to do a 'perspective' chapter of some of the side characters on Friday. There were actually a number of people that had different reactions to Vahn's aura when he thought about protecting his daughter, some which would be interesting to read. Saturday will be the start of Volume 15 and, by the start of the new week, I'll be back to around 100-120k words per week (UwU)~!)

Though he had put it off for a few days, primarily as a result of his daughters being born, Vahn eventually made due on his promise to give the girls their [Pactio]s. As awkward as it may have been, the entire thing turned into a relatively big event where they all got together in the clearing, located within the illusory forest. Other than the participants themselves, there were several goddesses present since many of them were curious about such a unique form of contract magic, as it seemed to make use of laws they were entirely unaware of. For entities that had existed for hundreds of millions of years, they weren't the type of people to simply miss out on something new and exciting.Loki, carrying a closed-eyes Erika in her arms, had already returned to her natural appearance and had a look of intrigue on her face. Even till this day, Erika had never once opened her eyes so Loki had eventually opened the slit-like lids to see what color they were. Unlike her own, Erika seemed to inherit Vahn's eye color, making them a pristine aquamarine. This had made Loki strangely happy and she had been teasing him about it ever since, often saying things like, "She has your nose..." or "She has your eyes...". The most notable change, however, was the fact that Loki seemed to have calmed down a fair amount and currently had a much more stable aura than in the past. It may be a temporary change, but she said her own Divinity seemed to have weakened in influence for the time being, though the presence and power of the Divinity was still there.As for his other two daughters, Vana and Ina, the former always seemed full of energy, even making an effort to look around while producing adorable baby sounds that always made everyone present smile. Ina, unlike her elder twin, was relatively quiet and seemed far less interested in the world and instead seemed fond of a few select individuals. She allowed people to hold her, but would often make a small frown unless it was Hephaestus, Juno, Mona, and, somewhat strangely, Haruhime.It had become apparent that his children, including their guardians, could see and interact with Shirohime. Ina seemed fond of the small fox and its counterpart, though not nearly so much as she was of her 'favorite person', Vahn himself. If he was present in the room, Ina would make small pouting sounds and wriggle about in the arms of whoever was holding her until they eventually passed her over to Vahn. She always saved her biggest and brightest smiles for him, earning a few exasperated looks from Hephaestus. Even Vahn was surprised that, after just a few days of being born, his second daughter's Affinity had actually reached 99 points, still listing him as her (Favorite Person). He was somewhat curious if there would be any kind of quest update when she hit 100 but didn't really mind it too much since it wouldn't really change how he felt about any of his daughters. To Vahn, they were all perfect little angels that he needed to protect, regardless of what life, fate, or karma, might throw his way...After passing the sleeping Ina back to Hephaestus, leaving her to hold both of their daughters in her arms, Vahn finished creating the large magic ward for [Pactio] in just three seconds. All the girls were already waiting at the side, having decided their order by drawing lots. Though they had initially thought about making the ceremony a private affair, the various discussions that had been going on within the Manor ended up changing things to make it more of an event instead. It all started when Loki and Hephaestus both mentioned they were interested in observing, leading Hestia and Anubis wanting to do the same. Thus, Naaza, Chloe, Aki, Lunoire, Milan, Lili, Ryuu, Syr, Tsubaki, Riveria, Preasia, Emiru, Maemi, Arnya, Eina, and, after a bit of cross-talk, Shizune were all waiting patiently at the side. As for everyone else, including Haruhime, Mikoto, Fenrir, Terra, and, after hearing about the event from her sister, Risna, they were all observing the proceedings from the side with a very low-energy Tina, who had suffered a critical hit at being the only one 'left out'.Being the first up, Naaza had a light blush on her face and nervously played with a few strands of her hair as she walked into the circle where Vahn was waiting with a smile. Though they had kissed plentily in the past, this was the first time she would be doing so in front of an 'audience' of more than twenty people. Naaza was more than a little nervous but, after Vahn reached out at patted her head, most of her nerves strangely faded away. With the evolution of his [Petting], Vahn had become 'especially effective' against all the Beast-Human girls. If not for the fact that he spent the majority of his time 'hovering' around the maternity ward, it may have even ranked up with how fond he was of using the unique Development Ability...After she had calmed down a fair amount, Vahn shared a relatively tame kiss with Naaza as the ward activated, shrouding both their bodies in light before her [Pactio] card came into existence, named 'Spiritus Pharmacopola'. It floated around a bit before disappearing into her chest, causing Naaza's clothing to 'burst' as her unique 'raiment' replaced it. Vahn was a little surprised with her outfit, and it made him feel a little dull in a part of his mind since she looked a lot like one of the researchers from his previous life.Naaza's raiment took on the form of a white blouse, a straight black skirt that nearly reached her knees, a white lab coat, a pair of brown loafers, and square-rimmed glasses. Even her hairstyle had changed, pulled up into an ornate bun on the back of her head that was held together by two pen-like objects. Of course, the most notable thing for everyone else present, was the fact that Naaza had a large bandolier-like pouch that was full of a variety of vials containing strange liquids. What asked about them, Naaza explained that she could apparently convert her magical energy to create a variety of different compounds that could temporarily boost an ally's parameters or debuff an enemy's. It was a surprisingly powerful support [Pactio] since it didn't seem to take much of Naaza's magic power to actually fill one of the vials...As there wasn't much time to investigate each individual [Pactio] in detail, Naaza gave Vahn a contented hug before stepping off to the side, making way for the smiling Chloe to walk into the circle. She had a very intrigued look in her eyes as she playfully said, "Nyahaha, I wonder what kind of outfit I'll get~nya?" Then, without waiting for the ward to activate, Chloe gave Vahn a quick kiss before laughing as she stepped away. Vahn gave her a wry smile, deciding he needed to 'pamper' her a bit later since she seemed to be wanting his attention. For now, however, he did his duty by drawing the [Pactio] circle once again. When he was done, they shared a second kiss, considerably less tame than Naaza's as her card, 'Umbra Princeps', came into existence.Chloe's Umbra Princeps took on the form of a misty-black substance, very similar to what was produced by Fafnir when it was using [Shadow Walk]. Her outfit itself couldn't be seen since the shadowy mist covered every part of her body, even extending to her pointed ears and covering her beautiful green eyes. It wasn't until Chloe reached up, pulling down a part around her face, that they were able to see her form again. The Ministra Magi had an intuitive understanding of their own [Pactio] so Chloe explained that her raiment and artifact seemed to be one object, much like Haruhime's.When asked about the effects, Chloe laughed in a mischevious manner before 'diving' into Vahn's shadow. He found his muscles tense up, making it very difficult to move as his own shadow began coiling around his legs and slowly pulling him into the 'pool' below until Chloe eventually popped back out, freeing him from what she called 'Shadow Possession'. Her actual ability allowed her to move through shadows, much like Fafnir, but also allowed her to manipulate her own shadow, and the shadow of others. As a quick demonstration, she formed the shadowy substance around her body into a variety of different shapes, many of which looked like bladed weapons...After Chloe was satisfied with her mischief, she made way for Aki, sending the pregnant Cat Person a playful laugh while apologizing for the wait. Aki didn't seem to mind, holding her pregnant belly as she walked into the ward, which Vahn had already re-established. They spent a few seconds just hugging each other before Aki herself initiated the kiss, enjoying the warm light flowing around her body as her card, 'Reciproca Imperium', popped into existence. Since she didn't want to try using it while she was pregnant, Aki just accepted the copy of her card from Vahn while he looked over the image shown on the front. It showed Aki, in her normal state, wearing a black battledress with several arrow-like motifs covering it. Her artifact, which she was still able to summon safely, took on the form of two gloves which allowed her to reverse the force of anything she touched. It was an incredibly powerful offensive and defensive artifact if used by a skilled weilder and Aki seemed happy to have obtained such versatile ability.Once Aki had joined the crowd of observers, Lunoire entered into the ward, showing her characteristic gentle smile with a hint of expectation in her eyes. All of the girls had been interested in what form their own [Pactio]s would take so, after seeing what Naaza, Chloe, and Aki had gotten, Lunoire was very excited and quickly initiated a kiss with Vahn. When the card came out, she almost ended the kiss early in an attempt to grab it but instead found her focus wavering as she fell deeper into the kiss. Lunoire hadn't realized how much she missed contact with Vahn and suddenly found it harder to part from him than she had expected. It wasn't until Vahn slowly pulled away from her, showing a gentle and understanding smile on his face that Lunoire returned to her senses...Lunoire's [Pactio], Mons Taurus, took on a form nobody had expected, almost causing Lunoire to 'regret' obtaining it before the 'knowledge' of her artifact and its uses embedded themselves into her mind. She was currently wearing what looked like a one-piece pajama-like outfit that was similar in appearance to a golden cow. There were even small horns and droopy ears connected to the hood section of the one-piece outfit. Though it was adorable, it didn't exactly inspire confidence in the user, nor did it have any intimidation factor towards enemies. However, when Lunoire claimed she could make the outfit harder than Adamantine and that it multiplied her strength in increments of ten, the more experienced Adventurer's all swallowed nervously. Each multiplier took a progressively greater amount of magic power, something Lunoire was currently lacking, but it was an utterly terrifying offensive ability...Milan was next to receive her [Pactio], showing a great deal of excitement on her face as she grabbed Vahn's cheeks and gave him a very passionate and loving kiss. At this point, everyone was getting progressively more excited and, much like Lunoire, Milan had missed Vahn a great deal over the last few weeks. It wasn't until she could practically feel the awkwardness of the atmosphere on her skin that Milan finally pulled away, showing a blush on her mature face as she sent an apologetic look to everyone giving her wry smiles. Fortunately, tensions eased when Milan used her [Pactio], taking on the appearance of a female gladiator wearing a mix of black and white leathers with pristine metallic plating covering her vitals.When Milan pulled out her artifact, which took on the form of a massive circular shield, Vahn flipped the card in his hand, reading 'Provocator Scutum' on the front. Milan went on to explain the use of her [Pactio], which seemed to enhance her defenses greatly while allowing her to forcefully 'pull' attacks towards her shield. Anything contacting the mirror-like surface seemed to be completely absorbed, allowing Milan to store the energy of the attack in the 39 small runes circling the shield. At any point, she could release the stored energy in the form of a powerful counterattack that would send out a wave of neutral energy in a directed shockwave towards her enemies. Though it seemed like a decided 'broken' ability, Milan said she could only activate the defensive aspects of the shield every three seconds and there was a cooldown depending on the strength of the counter...Lili was up next, entering the ward before Milan had even stepped out of it. Things had been going very well for her lately so Lili almost always had a smile on her face, a far cry from her past self who always had a fake smile or spent her time brooding. Not only had her strength been increasing in strides, but now she would be able to 'functionally' shorten the amount of time she would have to wait before finally entering a permanant relationship with Vahn. Now, she would even be able to explosively increase her own strength once again and would even be learning magic from Vahn...Lili was so happy that it felt like all the pain and suffering she experienced in her past had been 'worth' it...Vahn had to kneel down to kiss Lili, somewhat that always made him feel a little awkward about, but she didn't seem bothered by the fact and practically leaped into his arms. Since it seemed to be the trend, Lili gave an almost 'greedy' kiss that lasted much longer than the duration of the [Pactio] ceremony itself. Though she didn't completely get her fill of 'Vahnobtainium', Lili eventually pulled away and 'snatched' up her card, immediately activating the transformation without even checking the name. When the light faded away, Lili's smile became even bigger as she pumped her fist victoriously and gave Vahn an excited hug.Lili's [Pactio], Simia Regina, took on a form similar to her previous Adventurer's outfit. She had a tight top that didn't extend past her ribs, made up of a strange tanned cloth that extended down her arms, much like the [Nezha Lady's Toga] she often used. As for the bottoms, she had tight black spats with a pair of shorts made of the same tanned material as her top. The edges of her shorts, collar, and sleeves, were all covered in white fur and there was a small monkey-like tail poking out of her backside. It didn't serve any purpose, other than aesthetics, so Lili got rid of it before growing a real tail in its place, making her entire appearance look adorable. The reason why she had been so happy, other than the information that entered her head, was because Lili knew Vahn would like the outfit since he seemed to have a 'weakness' for cute things...When Lili had finally calmed down a bit, she pulled out her artifact and explained the details of her [Pactio] to everyone present. Her outfit didn't provide any defensive capabilities, other than the basic ones provided by the [Pactio] itself, but allowed her to have enhanced senses in natural environments with greatly increased agility. Lili had already been very flexible, but she now felt like her body would be able to contort even easier, without feeling some of the discomfort she would have to deal with when doing some of her more 'daring' maneuvers. As for her artifact, it took on the form of a crimson red staff with golden bands attached to it. It had the quality of being indestructible and being able to change both its size and weight at her whim. Lili demonstrated it by placing one end in the ground and causing the staff to extend nearly 20m in an instant, vaulting her into the sky as she performed a few flips before landing on her feet with a smile.After receiving Vahn's praise, Lili eventually moved to join the rest of the girls at the side, not bothering to return to her normal form just yet. Ryuu moved to replace her, breaking the trend of sharing a passionate kiss with Vahn and instead settling on something far tamer. Though she was more expressive than in the past, Ryuu still wasn't fond of public displays of affection. She had opened up to most of the girls in the Manor but didn't want to do anything 'shameless' unless they were alone...or at least in a small group.Ryuu's [Pactio], Meteoron Imber, took on the form of a dark-blue cowl that glimmered with small star-like lights. The rest of her outfit looked relatively casual but gave the feeling of a hunter even to the untrained observer. She had a sleeveless black tunic with glistening white buttons around the collar, a pair of pristine white shorts, dark-blue stockings with a similar starry pattern as her cowl, and small white boots that matched the color of her shorts and the vambraces on her arms. As for her artifact, Ryuu strangely ended up with a bow that seemed to be made of an inordinately beautiful crystal. Though they didn't match any of the constellations he had seen, there were several linked star-like lights within the interior of the bow, giving Ryuu a very ethereal look when everything was taken into consideration...When asked about her artifact, Ryuu explained that it functioned as both a bow and a magical staff since it was able to enhance other spells and magic. As for the active component of the artifact, Ryuu was able to channel a strange form of energy Vahn had never seen before, forming it into an arrow that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. It was a very pure and pristine energy that seemed like it could pierce through anything, making his [Magia Erebea] infused cells 'writhe' about somewhat uncomfortably. According to Sis, though she didn't really know why she could tell what kind of energy it was, it was comprised of 'Star Energy', making use of one of the higher-tiered laws of the world. It had a powerful suppressive effect on anything comprised of negative energy and, even though Vahn's [Magia Erebea] was a purified form, he still felt itchy just being in the presence of the indescribably beautiful arrow...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Poor Hephaestus, relegated to Ina's 'Second Favorite Person'...','You get a kiss, you get a kiss, EVERYONE gets a kiss~!...except for Tina (UwU)...','Everything Has a Weakness')(A/N: I didn't expect the [Pactio] chapters to take so long so I had to split it into two parts, at the very least. Though I'll probably be very tired when work ends today, as I have to stay a little late, I'll try to get out part two this evening. If not, I'll post two or more tomorrow before increasing the release rate to the normal amount starting at the weekly reset. Thanks for being patient with me during this week, but know it puts me in a much better financial situation for continued writing in the future :P)https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Things became relatively peaceful for a short while after Vahn had laid his head down to rest but, as it was like to do, the peace didn't last for very long. A few hours after she had gone to sleep, Vana woke up with a loud cry that seemed to be able to pass through the soundproofing of the room with ease, causing Vahn to bolt up from Tsubaki's lap in less time than it takes an electron to circumnavigate a nucleus. If not for Tsubaki laughing out from behind him, Vahn would have entered a high alert state but instead calm down enough to hear her say, "Don't worry, Vahn, she is probably just hungry. It isn't uncommon for newborns to eat every 2-3 hours between their naps~."The tension released from Vahn's body, visibly causing his shoulders to sag as he reached down and gingerly picked up Vana's body. Mona would likely be showing up within a few minutes so, for the time being, Vahn just rested her against his chest and gently traced circles along Vana's back. She was still hungry but, after feeling the calming energy entering her body, Vana stopped crying and made adorable baby sounds that tickled Vahn's ears. Tsubaki had walked over to his side, peering into the other cradles to see if Ina and Erika had been awoken by Vana's cries. Surprisingly, they didn't seem bothered by the fact, even though it was obvious that both of them had been alerted by the outburst.Since they were already awake, Tsubaki picked up Ina's body, showing an almost silly smile on her face as she cooed, "My goodness, you're such a cute little baby~." Unlike Hephaestus and Loki, who didn't produce milk during their pregnancies, Tsubaki suffered no such limitation. As if it was the natural thing to do, she pulled aside the loose fabric of her kimono and held Ina against her exposed teat, letting the little one feed off her milk with a contented smile on her face. Though Mona might be their hired wetnurse, it didn't mean the other mothers couldn't help her out and spend time with the other children. After all, it actually made them more capable of producing milk in the long term and helped to relieve any discomfort and sensitivity in their breasts.Vahn looked at Tsubaki, showing an affectionate smile that caused Tsubaki to poke her tongue out at him before she turned away and gently rocked Ina's body. Not long after that, Mona showed up, pausing for a brief moment when she saw Tsubaki before taking Vana from Vahn's hands. He gave her a polite nod and a small smile in response, deciding it was best he take a momentary leave to avoid making things awkward. When he left the room, Vahn felt a small amount of melancholy but continued forward, checking on Hephaestus and Loki before deciding to take a bath and head to bed. As much as he would like to just watch over the children all day, Vahn had other responsibilities and it would make the girls uneasy if he spent all his time cooped up within the maternity ward...At this point, it was already late in the day so Vahn was the only person using the large open onsen, a rare occurrence given the sheer number of people living in the Manor. He enjoyed the hot water against his skin, floating around aimlessly for a few minutes before deciding to head to bed. Tomorrow would be a busy day and Vahn wanted to rest his mind before it was time to take action. There was a fair chance that, even though he would be performing a show of force, his enemies could misunderstand things and use it as an excuse to try and attack him. The fact that he intended to give them time to evacuate the border fortresses before he destroyed them might cause them to believe he lacked the resolve to take lives. This wasn't true, as he would likely end up killing a fair number of people, but the Rakia Kingdom wasn't exactly known for their brilliant leadership and tactical planning...Unsurprisingly, Eina had been waiting in his room, already laying in the bed before she rose up to smile at him upon his entrance. The girls were a little worried he was going to push himself too hard so Eina had been 'elected' to comfort him for the evening. Vahn felt a little a guilty, as he hadn't really spent much time with the other girls since his return, but still climbed into the bed with his lovable wife and enjoyed the rest of the evening at her side. Though she wasn't that far along in her own pregnancy, Vahn felt comfortable hugging her gently from behind as he stroked her slightly protruding belly. She carried yet another one of his reasons for becoming stronger and facing his enemies head-on and Vahn didn't want to let her down...---Though it hadn't been publically circulated that Hephaestus and Loki had both given birth, there were still murmurs around the City since the defenses of the Manor had suddenly shot up. It was already known that Vahn had returned, especially with some of the rumors being spread through Hermes' network, so many informed individuals assumed he had actually returned because the event had already happened. Some of the gods and goddesses within the City were already planning to request audiences with Hephaestus, Loki, or Hestia in order to learn the truth of the matter while other forces, chiefly those bothered by the power and influence consolidated within the Manor, began putting their own plans in motion.With Freya proactively eliminating anyone that openly machinated against the Alliance, many of the dissidents had decided to lay low and only discuss their plans during secret meetings or with the use of relatively rare communication scrolls. There were several Familias, chiefly serving as personal harems to many gods, that felt threatened by the Alliance. After seeing the extents they Alliance had gone to in order to deal with the Elven Kingdom, those forces had all banded together to avoid being picked off individually. Though their combined strength could barely oppose a single S-Rank Familia, it didn't mean they weren't able to plot behind the scenes in order to weaken the influence of the Alliance...Freya had spooked him in the past but, after failing to take up residence in any of the 'respectable' countries surrounding Orario, Apollo had eventually returned to the City. He lived far less extravagantly than before, deciding to instead reside in one of the smaller districts near Daedalus Street. With his charisma and influence, he had slowly united many of the smaller dissident forces within the City, creating an Alliance of their own with the purpose of undermining the power of the Alliance. Their main target wasn't the Alliance itself, but the various merchants and nobles that held power within the City. By bribing the right people, the 'True God Alliance', as they had decided to call themselves, had been causing various problems for the Alliance itself.Though Freya and Loki had control over the northern and southern gates, there were plenty of ways to get illegal goods, chiefly Elven slaves and other contraband materials, into the City. As a result, Apollo's own Familia had increased from a small eleven official members to a startling eighty-three, mainly comprised of Half-Elves and a few pure-blooded Elves. Since the Elven Kingdom didn't 'export' those that had a lot of power, many were only around Level 1 or 2 but, with enough 'guidance', they could still become powerful assets under the influence of the Falna. Apollo, along with the various gods of the True God Alliance, had been sending his 'children' into the Dungeon to become stronger. They had a long term plan of producing a large number of 'elites' to contend against the forces of the Alliance, not directly, but by arson, assassination, and attacking trade routes for the weaker merchant Familias...Having made the decision to lay low on the surface, Apollo had instead cleared out many of the underground chambers near his residence, linking them together to make a small subterranean palace. Though the surface building looked like a downtrodden Manor, in desperate need of repair, the underground area was adorned with gold and ivory and Apollo himself was currently sitting on his throne, showing a cruel smile on his face as he tightly gripped the hair of the girl servicing him. They were very useful for his plans, but Apollo was also quite fond of how appealing Elven men and women could be, already expanding his own personal harem to include many of his favorite slaves.A large set of stone doors opened at the entrance of his chamber, making the arrival of a rather beautiful young man very apparent. He appeared to be around twenty years old, having silky black hair tied up into a ponytail. Though human, his looks could easily rival that of some of the most handsome Elves and he was adorned with black militaristic garb that still showed his lean and fit figure. Apollo smiled, not minding the intrusion as he pushed the Elven woman to the side, rising to his feet with arms spread as he said, "Ah, Hyakinthos, all the worldly treasures within my throne room pale before your beauty. Tell me, my child, what news do you bring me this evening? Or, did you perhaps wish to spend some time with me...it has been a while~."Without waiting for a response, Apollo had already neared Hyakinthos' side, caressing the beautiful young man's face before sealing his lips. There was a fervent and almost passionate look in Hyakinthos' eyes as he reciprocated his god's affections, entering into a long kiss before remember his purpose. With a fair amount of reluctance, he turned his head to the side, eliciting a small bout of laughter from Apollo as he mused, "How unfortunate...well, there is always a place for you at my side...after all, the nights can be oh so lonely~." Hyakinthos nodded his head, taking a moment to fix his clothing before saying, "I am always willing to serve, Apollo-sama..."Apollo smiled, happy at the words produced by his trusted Captain, turning to the 'groveling' Elven woman and saying, "See, wench, this is how you should behave. Hyakinthos isn't even my slave and still shows me the proper respect...tsk..." The Elven woman, named Elize, bowed her head low to hide the indignant look on her face as she said, "Yes, Apollo-sama...My apologies, Apollo-sama..." Shaking his head, clearly annoyed by her presence, Apollo waved his hand and said, "Begone...I've grown tired of you. Go to the training cell and reflect on your actions." Hearing Apollo's words, the Elven woman visible trembled, tears staining her face as she fought to stifle her cries. She knew there was no point in trying to convince him to show mercy and, as hesitant as she was to go to that nightmarish place again, she slowly moved her feet forward, compelled to obey by the slave collar around her neck...Once they were alone, Apollo sat back on his throne, making no effort to conceal his 'dignity' as he asked, "Well then, my faithful Hyakinthos, what brings you into my throne room this evening?" Bowing in a deferential and respectful manner, Hyakinthos said, "Apollo-sama, Cassandra had another 'vision', this time more clearly than the others..." Apollo frowned, tempted to dismiss the matter if not for the fact that one of Cassandra's 'visions' had actually born fruit. When they were looking for a place to settle outside of the City, she had seen a vision of half of their Familia being taken out by a rock slide. He had dismissed her at the time but, fortunately, Hyakinthos had been on the alert as a precaution, allowing them to narrowly evade the fate that would have befallen them.Giving Hyakinthos a gesture, urging him to continue, the beautiful man said, "In her most recent vision, the Apollo Familia had been completely wiped out by a man with onyx-black skin, covered in glowing golden tattoos..." Apollo inadvertently swallowed, gripping the arms of his throne as he asked, "Are there any more details to the vision, such as a time frame or what triggers the event? Who is the man from the vision...is it...?" Hyakinthos nodded with a solemn look on his face, saying, "Though it is obviously somewhat different than our reports, it is undoubtedly Vahn Mason within the vision. He must have developed some kind of new ability that greatly enhances his power...as for what triggered the event, Cassandra was unable to determine because everything had happened in what she described as an 'instant'..."Before Hyakinthos gave his report, Apollo had been planning to hold a meeting to try and get Loki and Hephaestus to show off their children during the next Denatus. He believed that the spawn between Vahn and a goddess was unnatural, going against the order of the world and a clear afront to all gods within Heaven. By 'exposing' them for the abominable monsters they were, Apollo hoped to turn the tides against the Alliance and allow them to publically shame Vahn Mason. Now, however, Apollo felt like this action would have been the catalyst leading to their destruction. Hyakinthos might not have said it directly, but it was easy to see from the boy's complexion that he had likely been forced back to Heaven as well...After taking several deep breaths to calm his nerves, Apollo stated, "Hear me, Hyakinthos...we will continue increasing the strength of our forces until we have a strong enough team to pick off the individual members of the Hestia Familia. Don't let anyone antagonize Vahn Mason directly and make sure all the slaves have a self-immolation talisman carved into their bodies. I don't want any of their corpses giving away our presence until we're prepared to strike..." Though he looked down on Vahn, Apollo wasn't foolish enough to try and fight against him directly, at least for the time being. Until they had more information about that 'onyx black form', he wouldn't send his forces against the Hestia Familia, instead, targetting the weaker Familias within the Alliance...Hyakinthos bowed low, holding his position for several seconds as he said, "Yes, Apollo-sama. I will make your will known and carry it out without question..." After he was finished speaking, Hyakinthos raised his head and planned to immediately execute his new orders. However, he didn't make it too far before Apollo called out, "Halt, Hyakinthos...I require your services. This news, as shameful as it may be, has affected my heart. Please, help put it at ease..." Apollo gave Hyakthinos an appraising look, earning a small blush from his Captain's face as the latter said, "Yes, Apollo-sama!" in a slightly excited voice. Without any hesitation at all, Hyakinthos approached the throne where Apollo was sitting, loosening the collar of his military-style coat and kneeling down...---Thousands of kilometers away from Orario, in a massive forest beneath the canopy of a giant tree, more than ten kilometers tall, there was several women gathered around a reflecting pool. Each of them had an almost ethereal beauty to them, having flawless faces, unblemished complexions, eyes deeper than the ocean, and a pair of long pointed ears adorning their heads. Though their beauty was enough to topple kingdoms, their disposition seemed entirely removed from the rest of the world, almost as if they were unaffected by anything else happening outside of the Sanctum they currently stood in.Amongst them, there were three unique beauties, all adorned in ceremonial robes and holding ornate wooden staves that contained so much power they caused the mana around them to fluctuate and distort. These three women, with the exception of the one at the very center, were the elders of the High Priestess faction. As for the girl in the center, who was somewhat short for a High Elf, standing only 158cm tall, she was the current High Priestess, having been groomed by the woman to her right, the former High Priestess, Irisalia Els Lainu. Though never holding the title of High Priestess herself, the woman on the left, named Deina Els Lainu, was the half-sister to Irisalia and one of the most powerful Mages in the previous generation.With the exception of the current High Priestess, the youngest woman present, each High Elves, was nearly 150 years old. Though they weren't all as prodigious as Riveria, their average strength was also Level 6, with Irisalia and Deina both currently standing at the peak of Level 7. As for their rather diminutive High Priestess, she was currently only Level 5 but, considering that she was only 38 years old, this was rather amazing for a High Elf that had never left the forest. The reason for her becoming the High Priestess so early, even though Irisalia was only 371 years old, was because the young High Elf possessed various unique abilities, including one related to Divination.Having an almost unmatched intelligence, combined with the power of foresight, her guidance allowed the High Priestess Faction to avoid many potential dangers as she had even predicted the current inner turmoil of the Kingdom itself. Other than Riveria, she was the 'hope' for the future of the Elven Kingdom, being kept as a closely guarded secret from the rest of the world, especially the Nobles and members of the Sage Council. In fact, other than Irisalia and Deina, none of the other Priestesses even knew the girl's name, simply referring to her as Venerable High Priestess within the Inner Sanctum. Irisialia and Deina did much the same but, when they were counseling the girl in private, they still referred to her by her true name, Sylfia Dal Alfan, direct descendant in the line of Wishe...The group, consisting of thirteen Priestesses, two Elders, and the High Priestess herself, had been observing the changes within the reflecting pool they had gathered around. Sylfia's ability allowed her to reflect her vision onto the surface of the water so it wasn't uncommon for them to gather like this. Typically, the 'clarity' of the vision determined how accurate things were and allowed them to understand how difficult it would be to change 'troublesome' situations in their favor. Unfortunately, there were some things that weren't so easily changed, such as in the case where the vision was almost perfectly clear...Currently, the entire chamber had become absolutely silent as Sylfia stared down at the looping projection with her pupils dilated and a pale complexion on her face. Within the image of the reflecting pool, everyone could see what looked like a 'demon', covered in onyx-black skin with glowing white hair and strange runes covering its body. Chaotic energy danced around the figure, shrouded in darkness and lightning elemental energy as the forest burned behind it. The most terrifying thing was the demon's eyes, reflecting a mystical light that seemed as if could peer through all things, currently locked on Syflia with its penetrating gaze. As for why the room had become silent, it was due to the fact that the image had a crystal clear quality, almost as if it was part of reality itself...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vana is very energetic (UwU)','The 'Return' of Apollo...','RIP Sylfia-chan...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 667: Intermission : Orbs