Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

On the morning of his fifth day in Telskyura, Vahn was within Kali's chambers, absentmindedly tracing his fingers through the sleeping goddess' blood-red hair. Though she didn't really require sleep, Kali had been laying across his lap the previous night as she watched the 'performances' of the various Amazonesses who came to update their status board. Shortly after midnight, she had gotten bored with the entertainment and decided to have Vahn spoil her a bit as the two talked about some of what he had seen during his observation of the Amazoness nation. Since he had been petting her head and feeding her small slices of fruit, Kali had passed out with a relatively rare contented expression on her face and had yet to awaken.Eventually, shortly after the sun had started to crest over the horizon, one of the Amazonesses who kept watch outside Kali's chambers peered into the inside to pass information. When she saw Kali curled up like a kitten in Vahn's lap, the mature brunette had a blank expression on her face before locking eyes with Vahn and falling silent for several seconds. Eventually, instead of reporting to Kali, the Amazoness kept her voice down and explained, "Banka-Mundi-sama has come to pay her respects to Kali-sama. Should we have her wait...?" Not wanting to be the one to 'bother' her goddess when she seemed happy, the mature Amazoness decided to place the responsibility and decision on Vahn's shoulders...By now, Vahn knew that the three goddesses that generally resided within Telskyura were Kali, being the primary idol for worship amongst the Amazonesses, Banka-Mundi, a Goddess of Hunting, Fertility, and Nature that represented the Hunting Tribe, and Nanshe, Goddess of Fishing, Fertility, and Prophecy who represented the Fishing Tribe. There had been a time when Ishtar had also resided within the nation of Telskyura but, much like her jealousy towards Freya, she had also resented Kali for being the goddess that garnered the most respect amongst Amazonesses. She had also wanted to bring more men into the country, putting the two goddesses at odds until Ishtar had eventually moved to Orario before ultimately being slain by Freya.Since Banka-Mundi was supposed to be relatively close with Kali, Vahn didn't want to keep her waiting for too long so he gave a curt nod to the informing Amazoness before sending a few threads of gentle, yet stimulating, energy into Kali's mind. Her eyelids flickered a bit, showing that she was beginning to awaken before she slowly opened her eyes. Like a cat, she began stretching her body across Vahn's lap before going limp, almost as if she were refusing to move as she said, "You know, I could get used to this...fuuu...." For a brief moment, Kali humored the idea of trying to 'conquer' Vahn and have him wait on her for the rest of his life, something she knew was impossible but still found amusing...Kali had left herself a little too exposed but, at this point, Vahn had grown accustomed to her behavior and, as she had promised to 'behave' if she ever visited the Manor in the future, he allowed her to act in her characteristically uncouth manner. He even extended out his index and middle fingers, pressing it into the tender skin beneath Kali's navel and causing her body to tense up like a bolt of electricity had run through her. Her eyes looked angry but there was a taunting smile on Kali's face as she stared back at Vahn for a few seconds before asking, "What did you wake me up for...?"Vahn returned a casual smile to Kali's rather fierce expression, explaining, "Banka-Mundi has come to visit you." Upon hearing this, Kali immediately released an annoyed sigh as she curled up into a ball and exclaimed, "Wake me up when it's something more important. She probably just wants to report about people trying to enter into the country through the jungle or about some beast that has popped up recently. Besides, it'll probably become more annoying if you meet with a goddess like Banka-Mundi before you deal with Hippolyta and return to Orario...haaa..." Kali knew her companion goddess' nature well and, having observed Vahn for the last few months, she knew it could be problematic for them to meet so soon.Though it bothered Vahn that Kali was just ignoring someone that had come to visit her, especially since they should be 'friends', he also knew it wasn't really his place to force their meeting. He did, however, annoy Kali a bit when he moved her body to the side, placing her gently on the cushions, before rising to his feet. She gave him an accusatory glare before asking, "Where are you going...?" Even though she had a good idea about what Vahn was intending, Kali was annoyed by the fact he was suddenly leaving her alone when they had been so comfortable previously.As she had expected, Vahn gave her a casual smile before saying, "I'm supposed to be fighting against Tiona this morning after she battles with Bache. Some of the Amazonesses have been pushing my boundaries lately and they wanted to nip it in the bud before things got out of hand." Ever since Kali had explained the reason why Vahn was in Telskyura, he had become the central focus of many of the more powerful Amazonesses. He practically had to skulk around and linger around areas where people rarely visited just to avoid having some random Amazoness try to pester him. Since many of these girls were around Level 3-4, it wasn't that easy to avoid them and there had even been several who had been intending to challenge him. Even if they lost, that wasn't necessarily a 'bad' thing, so some of the Amazonesses wanted to try their luck...Since he didn't surprise her by saying he would go visit Banka-Mundi on her behalf, Kali released a small sigh of relief before rolling onto her feet and saying, "I'll come and watch. Some of those brats might think the whole event was staged unless I'm there to officiate things." Because of their laws and traditions, any event that Kali witnessed 'had' to be taken seriously. As a result, many of the more serious injuries that occurred in the arena were the result of her showing up to view the fights.Vahn gave Kali a curt nod before having to correct his balance when the diminutive goddess vaulted through the air and tried to sit on his shoulders. Since she was wearing her raiment, this could have caused a variety of issues so Vahn instead caught her out of the air and held her in a bridal carry. Kali issued a small cackle in response while linking her arms around his neck and placing her head against his chest. She spent a few seconds getting comfortable before saying in an overbearing and subtly mischevious tone, "Let's go~."The short journey to the arena felt a lot longer than usual since Vahn had to deal with the 'hot' gazes of several hundred Amazonesses along the way. Since he was carrying Kali, they drew even more attention than normal, causing Vahn to regret the fact that he was only wearing very minimal clothing. His attempts to blend in with their culture had instead brought more attention to himself and he could now feel gazes lingering over his exposed flesh, many of which were focused on a very specific part of his body...Fortunately, Kali's chambers were relatively close to the arena so Vahn was able to quickly deposit the trouble-making goddess onto her viewing platform before preparing to make his way to the waiting area adjacent to the arena. He noticed his timing was a bit awkward since there were around thirty young Amazonesses waiting in the wings for their own chance to battle. This group didn't have any 'unique' Amazonesses so they all had excited and expectant gazes as their small bodies shook with anticipation. Some of them looked toward Vahn with intrigue in their eyes, not even knowing what a male was just yet but still feeling a little bothered by his presence...Vahn didn't pay too much attention to the group of younglings since it could invite far too many problems for him to deal with in the future. Fortunately, they would be fighting before him and would have been moved out of the arena by the time his own battle was supposed to take place. Even if he didn't bring it up, Vahn knew Kali would arrange things so that they weren't present whenever he was displaying his strength, infinitely more aware of how 'troublesome' it would be since she was constantly pestering him about maintaining his own awareness. Vahn had sensed her call to an Amazoness around the peak of Level 4, likely explaining the situation since the latter passed word to a couple of other Amazonesses who quickly began to send away the younglings who weren't going to be fighting.As he took his own seat in the waiting area, it didn't take long before Tiona and Tione found their way to his side, following shortly thereafter by Bache. Tiona had an excited smile on her face, clinging to Vahn's back in a playful manner while Tione, having calmed down a lot over the last few days, just sat snuggly at his side. Their antics drew the attention of thousands of Amazonesses but, knowing they had no chance against the two girls, many looked away as Tione passed her gaze around. As for Bache, she sat a small distance to the left after giving Vahn a short greeting, a serious and battle-hungry expression visible in her pale-gold eyes...For a little over an hour, Vahn watched with a slightly pained expression on his face as the group of younglings, many well under 100cm, began to brutalize each other with feral grins on their faces. Most of the battles were over in relatively short periods of time since both of the young Amazonesses would fearlessly charge at each other, both attacking with the intent to disable or incapacitate their enemy in the shortest period of time. It was obvious they had never received any real training as their forms and movements were completely wild, wholly reliant on their instincts and natural battle prowess. When a victor was finally decided, the surrounding Amazonesses would cheer loudly for the victorious youngling, causing the smiles and excitement on their faces to blossom into over-eager smiles before they released high-pitched and happy war cries...Vahn felt that, even if he watched these battles for several years, he would never truly get used to witnessing them. It was distinctly different from the relatively 'safe' battles that took place between the children who were accepted into the School. They underwent a great deal of training and had refined their skills over hundreds or even thousands of hours of practice before stepping into the Space-Time arena. Though they also fought intense and bloody battles, they did it in a guided and structured manner, not the wild and feral way in which the Amazonesses fought. With the crowd reaction being relatively similar, however, Vahn could see that the two, while inarguably different, weren't that dissimilar on a basic level...Releasing a small sigh, Vahn earned a curious look from Tiona who, at the same time, wrapped her arms around him a little tighter. Knowing she was trying to comfort him, Vahn gave a wry smile in response before softly stating, "I'm fine, Tiona...thank you." Vahn wanted to explain how difficult it was when trying to compare things that weren't necessarily the 'same'. The simple truth of the matter was that the current structure of the Amazoness society worked and, though there were certainly a few things that could be implemented to make things 'better', he shouldn't treat them the same as other races.With a relatively blank expression on his face, Vahn continued to watch the battles between the younglings until the final fight was about to take place. Because there had been an odd number of participants, the last match had three Amazonesses who seemed to be around the age of six or seven. The tallest girl was around 124cm while the shortest amongst them was only 103cm tall, making her appear 'much' shorter than the other two. Irrespective of this disparity, it was actually the two taller younglings who showed a bit of hesitation as they got into their starting positions.Even without his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn's perception was relatively high so he had already realized why the other two girls were slightly cautious of the red-haired youngling. She had red tribal markings on her body, denoting her as one of the more bloodthirsty and feral children. At the same time, her red-hair and dark-red eyes were rather intimidating as she looked toward her two competitors with a toothy grin that showed off slightly overdeveloped canines. As for what Vahn was able to discern that most were completely unaware of, it was the fact that this particular little Amazoness had far greater mana reserves than normal...Since he had been observing what occurs in the underground of the Coliseum for the previous four days, Vahn knew that the infants who were pitted against Kobolds and stronger monsters had a lot more mana than normal. Though they weren't able to use magic, at least without training, the excess mana stimulated their instincts and caused them to be far more aggressive. This was a state that Eva had referred to as 'Mana High', the exact opposite of the 'blank' state a person would experience when they were completely drained of mana. Since the younglings had no way of controlling this excess energy in their bodies, it manifested as an inordinately high bloodthirst and a fervor for battle that few could match. This was because 'Magic' could take the form of a person's intent and, as the undisciplined Amazonesses genuinely craved battle, it would greatly increase their battle capabilities...As soon as the Amazoness presiding over the match gave the signal to start, Vahn saw the red-haired youngling's aura flare up before an invisible membrane pulsed across her body. She was only Level 1 but moved with a swiftness that was approaching the edge of Level 2, even though it obviously strained her body to a dangerous extent. This was the reason why very few of the girls marked with the red tattoos survived to adulthood as, even if their battle prowess was much higher than normal, they destroyed their own bodies as a result of far exceeding their limits. With nearly 30,000 younglings residing in the Coliseum, there were less than one hundred who had survived until the age of eight after being labeled as a 'Berserker'.Without any flair, the smaller Amazoness took out one of her opponents after vaulting through the air and performing an ax kick on the older girl's collarbone. A sickening thud sounded out but it wasn't nearly as intense as the sound of shattered bones that caused the taller girl to scream out in pain. Her bones would need to be reset or her left arm would be useless for several months, at the very least. Fortunately, before the tiny Berserker could do even more damage, the Amazoness presiding over the match quickly stepped in and repelled the follow-up attack. This earned her a feral hiss from the Berserker as she scuttled away backward while on all fours.The remaining Amazoness tried to use the opportunity where the Berserker was distracted to attack her flank but, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, the latter twisted her body in an agile manner and deflected the kick upward. At the same time, she grabbed the older girls ankle and, instead of trying to pin one of the joints, pulled the limb toward her mouth and attempted to rip out the tendon connecting the calf and foot. Since the difference in their speed made it nigh-impossible for the older girl to react in time, she could only grit her teeth in preparation for the pain that would follow. Fortunately, before she ended up suffering an injury even more severe than having her collarbone shattered, an oppressive aura descended upon the entire arena...Though she had been watching the matches with unveiled intrigue on her face, Kali had also been paying attention to Vahn's reactions throughout. She could see that he was very close to interfering with the match and, though it caused her to feel frustrated, Kali decided to interfere herself instead. After allowing her Divinity to pressure everyone in the arena, Kali's blood-red eyes reflected the image of the young Berserker as she plainly stated, "That is enough. Let's move on to the next match. I'm bored with watching children maim each other instead of trying to learn anything from the battle..." Even though this wasn't the truth of the matter, Kali knew that she needed to start to show annoyance about the current state of things if she wanted to implement changes in the future...Since she had been the main focus of Kali's intent, the young Berserker immediately lost consciousness after Kali restrained her aura. She was collected by the Amazoness who had been presiding over the match while the youngling who had been spared a horrendous injury showed an expression as if she had swallowed a bug. This was a combination of the fact that she felt embarrassed in front of her goddess while also feeling relief after avoiding a serious injury. The shame resulting from this conflict caused her to pale as she dragged her feet toward the rest of the younglings before being shepherded out of the arena.Even without her saying anything, Vahn knew that Kali had, once again, compromised on his behalf. He gave her a grateful look that caused the small goddess to snort before averting her eyes and resting her cheek against the palm of her hand. Fortunately, as Tiona and Bache had already entered into the arena, the attention of almost every Amazoness present was focused on them. Though some felt it was 'odd' that their goddess would have stopped a battle prematurely, they were equally as excited about the coming match and quickly put it to the back of their minds. Amazonesses weren't particularly known for mulling over matters and putting much thought into things so, even though Kali had been behaving very differently lately, none of them had really noticed the change...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Kali, Cat Goddess...nya?','Berserker-chan has no chill...','Kali is still Tsun-Tsun, but growing progressively more Dere...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

From the very moment Tiona and Bache both stepped into the arena, the atmosphere within the viewing stands had greatly increased in momentum. Even more than the duel Vahn had witnessed when first entering Telskyura, every Amazoness present had their auras ignited like flames as they looked forward to the coming fight. Vahn was also affected by the atmosphere a bit, even though his mind was focused on a few other matters. Still, in an effort to support Tiona, Vahn rose to his feet with Tione at his side and leaned against the stone railing so he could get a better view of the battle to come...Tiona had an easygoing and infectious smile on her face as she stretched her body, proudly displaying her flexibility and power by releasing a few quick strikes that caused waves of air pressure to disperse dust towards the periphery of the arena. Bache, standing around twenty meters away, had her veil lifted slightly but, with the small weights on the ends, it prevented anyone from getting a clear view of her rather large scar. She ignored Tiona's display and focused on her own stretching, twisting her body around to the point that she was nearly able to turn 180 degrees, effectively facing backward while her hips were still oriented toward the front.Though it felt like an eternity, the actual warm-up took less than a minute before Tiona began bouncing on her feet, smiling as she said, "I always wanted to be stronger than you when I was younger. Let me show you how far I've come..." Bache already knew the disparity in strength between her and Tiona but still smiled behind her veil before turning her body slightly, extending out her left hand while her left leg was bent at the knee. She made a taunting gesture as a battle-crazed light glimmered across her golden eyes, simply stating, "Come..."Seemingly without any time passing after the utterance of the word, Tiona had already vaulted forward with tremendous momentum, kicking against Bache's guard with the heel of her right leg. The tension in the air felt like it was shattered by the resultant shockwave as, for a brief moment, there was the sound of shattering glass before Tiona had kicked against Bache's guard, vaulting backward more than a hundred meters. To her credit, Bache had withstood the opening blow without any major difficulty but it was clear to those with higher perception that she had lost out in the exchange. Vahn had even seen a 'ripple' pass through her arm, creating a peculiar sight where Bache's arm seemed to lose its solidity...Not willing to let Tiona get enough momentum for another charge, Bache had immediately given chase, ignoring the fact that her left arm was completely numb. Her eyes were already beginning to glimmer red as her medium-length sand-colored hair beat violently as a result of the aura that had begun to emanate from her body. It felt like a powerful bloodlust had descended upon the entire arena, causing the spectating Amazonesses to begin breathing heavily as a fervent light burned in their eyes.Tiona had landed near a massive stone pillar, one of six that were interspaced in a hexagonal pattern. Her feet traced a strange rhythm that made her footwork almost impossible to follow before she eventually turned into a blurred after-image. Bache's right hand had pierced through the area where Tiona had stood, her eyes already darting toward the right as a healthy-brown foot barreled towards her head. Vahn was briefly reminded of the first time he has sparred against Tiona but, unlike how she had stopped to tease him, this time she completely followed through with her attack and sent Bache crashing through the 6m diameter stone pillar before a cloud of dust and shrapnel emerged, pelting the surroundings as Bache's body was sent careening across the arena's floor.The difference between someone around the mid-line of Level 7 and someone who was around the middle of Level 6 was a monstrous and seemingly insurmountable wall. If Tiona had been a normal warrior who reached her Level after several decades of effort, the match could have been a bit closer. The simple truth of the matter was that Tiona was truly prodigious when it came to battling and, even though she had yet to use her [Pactio], the fight was already extremely one-sided. This was something Tione had noticed as well, deciding to lean against Vahn's shoulder with her arms crossed as she muttered, "I give up..."Over the last few days, Tione had started to come to terms with her past in the truest sense and, with more than three months to recover after her fight with Argana, she had already put much of her past behind her. Now, though it was still profoundly frustrating, Tione no longer felt the need to try and compete with her prodigious sister any longer. She had already found the happiness she had been seeking since childhood and, instead of stressing out over things that ultimately had no meaning, Tione decided to start going at her own pace and enjoying the rest of what life had to offer...Vahn habitually placed his hand around Tione's waist, holding her a little closer to him as they both continued to watch the match. Even though Bache had nearly no hope of gaining any real advantages against Tiona, the fire in her eyes hadn't dimmed in the slightest. After climbing out of the rubble, the black veil covering the lower half of her face was noticeably suffused with blood as a line of the crimson red liquid was also running down her body. She didn't seem to notice or simply didn't care as she immediately launched herself with even greater momentum than before.Bache's initial movement caused her body to blur and, at least from the perspective of most Amazonesses, she had completely disappeared from the arena. Tiona, however, wasn't most Amazonesses and, seemingly without any initial movement, her body vanished with an even smoother transition. The after-image she left behind had persisted for nearly a full second, during which time she and Bache had exchanged several heavy blows. Each strike caused a thunderous pulse to pass through the arena, further stimulating the crowd of Amazonesses as their blood boiled in expectation.As the fight progressed, Bache's attacks were becoming faster and heavier, sending out spheres of air pressure that were almost like heavy cannonballs. Everywhere the spheres contacted turned into rubble after a loud explosion resounded out yet, completely unaffected, Tiona simply danced around Bache without any major difficulty. She didn't even turn her head whenever a piece of shrapnel would launch toward her and instead made small movements, completely evading the seemingly unseen projectile. As for Bache, her chest was heaving up and down noticeably as the momentum of her attacks continued to increase, a powerful light of determination burning in her crimson-red eyes...After a series of intense exchanges, Bache managed to close the distance between herself and Tiona but this resulted in her being in a 'bad' range. Her only real choice of attack was using a quick elbow strike or a headbutt unless she wanted to try and grapple, something Bache's instincts warned her wouldn't end well. Tiona had a happy and excited smile on her face as she made the decision for Bache, twisting her waist around quickly while tucking in her leg, fully prepared to release a spring-like whip kick into her former mentor's waist. Bache had no choice but to close the gap even further, grabbing he pareo cloth around Tiona's waist while her left hand snaked towards her former protege's neck...The instant Bache grabbed the cloth around her waist, Tiona had moved both of them forward with [Shundo], causing a momentary gap in the mind of the sandy-haired Amazoness. Her kicking motion turned into her pushing off of the pillar they had appeared next to, allowing her to slam into Bache with her shoulder while moving her hand up and grabbing the extended left hand that had gone for her neck. Bache's body tried to move backward with the momentum of Tiona's blow but, with even greater force, the latter had jerked her arm forward with a slight twist. It felt like her arm was being wrenched out of her shoulder and, even though her muscles strained to resist it, Bache felt a 'pop' before her arm was painfully dislocated.In a normal situation, Bache wouldn't have been caught so easily, even with the difference in stats, but her arm had still been numb since Tiona's very first attack. By the time her mind processed what was happening, it was already too late to do anything about it so Bache chose to sacrifice her arm completely as she tightly gripped her right fist and struck towards the small of Tiona's back. For the first time in the match, her blow landed true but, from the eyes of those with high perception, the only result from this blow was sending a small 'ripple' through Tiona's flesh that was quickly dissipated by her inordinately high Endurance. Had Bache been able to throw a fully extended punch, the outcome might have been different but, with her body experiencing conflicting forces and her proximity to Tiona being too close, the result was lackluster at best...Tiona felt a thump against her backside, causing her brows to perk up slightly in surprise before she quickly twisted her waist once again, this time using her hips as a lever to flip Bache over her. The latter tried to move with the motion, twisting around to land on her feet, but Tiona had long anticipated this, putting strength into her legs and feet as she pushed hard against the ground. Tiona released her grip on Bache's wrist, causing the latter to fly up into the ground well over a hundred meters as a look of acceptance slowly began to extinguish the fire in her eyes. When people were capable of moving at hypersonic speeds, being caught in the air without something to spring off of was a death sentence...Bache had nowhere to run and could only fall as slowly as gravity would allow her, leaving her unable to do anything but shore up her own defenses as Tiona adopted a proper stance on the ground below. She had stepped forward with her left foot slightly, opening up a bit of a gap between her legs as she lifted both hands like a boxer. As Bache was beginning her slow descent, Vahn was able to see the elemental energy in the atmosphere congregating towards Tiona as, even though she wasn't using a magic item, her body was channeling the mana into her physical attacks themselves...From Tiona's right arm, jade-green runes began to spread across her skin starting from the back of her hand and extending up her arm. They were very similar to the markings that Tiona would have whenever she was in her [Pactio] form, indicating that her constant use of the ability had bee 'remembered' by her body. Even without using Vahn's own mana, Tiona was able to use the mana from the atmosphere to power her attack and, to the shock and awe of everyone present, this attack ended up being far outside their expectations...Long before Bache was anywhere near the ground, Tiona had shifted her weight slightly, using her knees, waist, abdomen, shoulders, and even wrist to create a rotational movement as her fist struck out with monumental force. Though it wasn't as extreme as when Lili would attack, Tiona's singular blow had created a green pillar that was a little more than three meters in diameter, instantly rising to meet the falling Bache. She had no choice but to try and defend it from her aerial position but, having no real resistance against magical attacks, even if they seemed purely physical in nature, things quickly took a turn for the worse...Bache's clothing had practically disintegrated from her body, veil included, as parts of her skin and muscles began to crack at a visible rate. Even Tiona realized she had erred greatly as the attack she launched out had been a 'critical' strike, causing it to completely overwhelm what little defense Bache could muster. Fortunately, just as Bache's body seemed like it was going to begin breaking apart, Vahn began using [Wound Transfer] to move most of the damage to his own body. As a result, Bache was able to withstand the blow but her consciousness had been robbed long before her bloody and maimed body was caught by Tiona.The moment Bache had touched down, the arena practically exploded in fervent cheers as each Amazoness in the crowd was extremely riled up by the spectacular display of speed and power. The fact that their Captain had been defeated didn't seem to bother them much and, seemingly without any regards for her well-being, they were more focused on chanting Tiona's name and releasing exciting war cries instead of moving to provide aid. Tiona simply ignored them and instead pulled some master-grade Elixirs out of her storage bracelet, quickly applying the vital liquid to the surface wounds lingering on Bache's body...Tione's perception wasn't nearly as enhanced as anomalies like Vahn and Tiona, but she had still noticed the moment when Bache's body 'stopped' breaking down. She gave Vahn a questioning look that seemed to ask, 'Are you sure...?', earning her a small nod in return. Just as he had been cautioned about several times, there was a great price to pay for interfering with a match. Though it was obviously Bache's loss, the fact the blow very likely would have killed her meant his actions were the same as saying, 'You are mine now'. If Bache understood he was the one that saved her, it would be almost impossible to stop her from trying to pursue him without taking a hard stance. However, since she was supposed to be one of the women who he would have a relationship with in the future, Vahn was willing to accept responsibility for his actions...Eventually, though the excitement hadn't even started to die down, a group of Amazonesses came into the arena to fetch Bache's unconscious body and move her to one of the recovery areas. Her body was already in a stable condition but it would probably take her more than an hour just to regain consciousness after the strenuous battle. As for Tiona, she watched the group carry away her former mentor with an uncharacteristically stoic and measured smile. She then turned toward the direction of Vahn, allowing her smile to soften into something more natural before it practically blossomed on her face. Tiona felt like she had just settled the matters of her past and, though she still cared for her former mentor, now was the time to look toward the future...(A/N: Short chapter today since I worked from 7AM to 11PM yesterday without many breaks in between. I had to wake up at 5AM just to write this before going back to work once again xD.)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Tiona Hiryute, the Amazoness vs Bache Kalif, the Veiled Reaper','Tione is moving forward in her own way...','Tiona still takes center stage, however...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

After the initial culture shock, a good amount of time talking things over with Loki, and a bit of time playing with his children, Vahn had calmed down a great deal. Though he felt a little shaken each time he peeked into the underground structure of the Coliseum, closer observation of events had allowed him to rationalize things a little better. He had seen more parts of the early cycle of an Amazonesses life and was gaining a better understanding of the situation, including the emotional, cultural, and biological components.Vahn had seen that, shortly after an Amazoness gave birth, they would only spend a few hours with their daughters, usually for the purpose of naming them. After that, many of the new mothers would turn their children over to the larger group of women who cared for all of the children. In some cases, these new mothers would then join the larger group, caring for their new child while also tending to the needs of other infants. Other times, the mothers would leave to receive some healing before almost immediately beginning their training once again. Having carried a child for around nine months, many from the warrior tribe were determined to make up for lost time and worked hard to refine their bodies back into a combat-ready state just hours after giving birth...Observing how several new mothers interacted with their daughters, Vahn was able to see that there wasn't a strong emotional attachment between most Amazonesses and their children. Even those that decided to help out in the maternity ward were on the older side and, after listening in on a few conversations, Vahn knew they considered it more of a duty than anything else. Since they were already passed their prime, they would spend a few years watching over the newborn Amazonesses before leaving Telskyura on their final journey. Their next time venturing out into the world would be to find powerful monsters, fighting to overcome their limits until inevitably dying after a few months. Because of factors like this, there were no Amazonesses in Telkyura that were over the age of fifty...This was a way in which the older generation always made way for the new generation, choosing to end their lives in honorable battle instead of fearing death and trying to hold onto life for a few more years. Unlike many other races, who 'expected' the young to care for them as they aged, the Amazonesses of Telkyura knew that they would only burden younger generations, relying on the work and gains of their kind just to preserve their own lives for a few more years. This not only consumed precious resources that could have been used to nurture the next generation of Amazonesses but it also bred malcontent and led to bloody infighting and repression. In the distant past, the Amazonesses used to have a culture that respected Elders and deferred to them for decision making but this had resulted in deeply rooted corruption and internal wars between contending tribes...It only took a few generations of this kind of infighting before the then generation of Hippolyta changed the law to unify all of the lesser Amazoness tribes after eliminating all of the Elders. After that, fighting in a dishonorable manner, or scheming to exploit your fellow Amazonesses, was grounds for immediate execution. The Elderly were no longer allowed to exercise their influence over the younger generations as newborn Amazonesses could be highly impressionable and were easily exploited if the people they 'trusted' had malicious intentions. As a result, it became less and less acceptable for older Amazonesses to even remain in the tribe, causing them to venture out of the country after crossing a certain age threshold, a number that had decreased from around 70 during the inception of the law to around 55 after a few thousand years had passed.By coming to understand a bit of the History of the Amazonesses, Vahn had been able to slowly accept what he had been witnessing. He had already known that it would take a demonstration of extreme power and violence to even have a hope of changing how the Amazonesses lived while the only alternative was to essentially subordinate the entire race and 'tweak' their biology to inhibit some of their more problematic traits. This was something entirely possible with The Path's Modify function, but Vahn knew it was also extremely wrong and selfish to do so.For well over ten-thousand years, the Amazonesses had actually put in a lot of effort to create a culture where their people could flourish without placing any heavy restrictions on themselves. Because of this, they had created a society that had withstood the test of time longer than any other civilization, almost completely bereft of the concept of waste, exploitation, and corruption. They even avoided any major conflicts with other nations and countries, only taking action when one of their taboos had been violated. This had given them a very strong sense of unity and was the primary reason that most other countries didn't even try to antagonize the Amazonesses of Telskyura, regardless of how they viewed the 'tribal', 'savage', and 'uncivilized' race...Because of the ongoing matters within the Iron Hills and Westport, Vahn felt it was confoundingly ridiculous that other societies considered the Amazonesses as an uncivilized race. Though they lacked in technological development, it was a simple fact that their society functioned with almost none of the issues that plagued the so-called civilized countries. Almost everywhere Vahn had gone, he could find examples of merchants taking advantage of people, self-proclaimed nobles exercising power over 'their' people, and massive criminal organizations that performed various heinous acts. Though Telskyura also had its fair share of problems, they were all exposed on the surface and could be dealt with after a bit of time had passed. It was a far more honest and open example of society while a large majority of the population seemed genuinely happy with how things were managed...These were the types of thoughts passing through Vahn's mind as he sat upon a ledge at the very top of the Coliseum, looking down on the larger mass of Amazonesses going about their day below. During the daylight hours, Telskyura always seemed 'alive' as everyone was constantly moving about in order to contribute to the larger society, all while making earnest efforts to try and improving themselves. There were constant small scuffles and disagreements but things were usually settled very quickly after a few exchanges of punches and kicks. These were almost always between Amazonesses of similar strength unless it was the lower Level Amazoness challenging someone at a higher Level.It was heavily frowned upon for the strong to try and oppress the weak, especially if it was over a minor matter. In the event that there was a large difference in strength between the two disputing Amazonesses, they would consult a third party, usually a member of the Kali Familia, to make a determination over who was in the right. This mediator would typically be around the same strength as the more powerful Amazoness and, in some cases, they would even fight on behalf of the weaker one if there were further disagreements...One of the only things Vahn consistently saw that was troubling to him were the younger Amazonesses that ran around naked, performing various menial tasks after having 'failed' to overcome their trials during the crucible. The reason for their failure was either related to a deeply rooted injury, preventing them from keeping pace with similarly aged Amazonesses, or the fact that they had experienced severe trauma and couldn't overcome it. Vahn felt it was exceptionally tragic and cruel that they were then forced into a situation where they were constantly attending to others just to earn enough food and resources to continue surviving until the next day. Kali had explained to him the 'reason' behind their existence, as it was something 'necessary' to keep their society functioning, but Vahn didn't really agree with it since his sensibilities told him it was 'wrong' to punish anyone in such an extreme manner...Kali had explained that, by being stripped bare and forced to listen to the whims of other Amazonesses, it was a way to stimulate the dormant instincts within those that had failed to pass through the crucible and become proper Amazonesses. Eventually, they would grow dissatisfied with serving others and, knowing their own weakness, work even harder on their tasks so they could acquire larger servings and more training resources. They would then overcome their past trauma and, through constant effort and training, reach Level 2 and become 'proper' adults that were readily accepted into society. This would give them a sense of accomplishment and pride at having overcome a very different kind of trial, even though they would normally end up as a member of the Fishing or Hunting tribes after the fact...Vahn understood the reasoning and, after witnessing several hard-working young girls doing exactly as Kali said, he knew the system worked. Even so, Vahn 'knew' there were better ways for them to overcome their weakness without being backed into a corner and pressured so heavily. He also knew it was possible to implement a few small innovations that would greatly improve how every Amazoness lived, all while giving them even more ways to express themselves and increase their strength. Having literal children deal with all the menial tasks in society wasn't much better than the Elders exploiting the young for their own selfish purposes, even if the intentions behind the process were entirely different...The main reason behind Vahn's thought process was the existence of the 'unique' Amazonesses that were born within Telskyura, even if they only made up less than 1% of the population. Even if it was difficult to accept some of the things he saw, Vahn could tell that the system implemented in Telkyura worked very well for the vast majority of Amazonesses. In a way, it worked better than pretty much every other system he had seen, including the one he was trying to build through a series of long-lasting reforms. However, this still didn't really justify the 'sacrifice' of that small minority, especially since it wasn't even difficult to help them survive and prosper.Vahn didn't like the idea that, while almost every Amazonesses was allowed to thrive in a society catered to their instincts, these young girls were 'forced' to either adapt, often deeply scarring them, or die. If they lacked talent and willpower, something that shouldn't be outright expected from infants, their only fate was to end up as victims of the system. Girls like Tiona, Tione, Aisha, Lena, and Taliah were the 'exceptions', usually only because Kali had taken an interest in them. This was one of the things that Vahn had come to respect about her because, even though she was perfectly fine with allowing people to simply die, Kali still made small efforts to try and help those that 'went against the natural flow'. She found them interesting and, though she didn't show them any preferential treatment, the way she awarded these unique Amazonesses varied from the norm...In Tiona's case, though it was primarily because Bache had wanted to support her disciple, she had been awarded translations of heroic tales and novels. As for Tione, who experienced quite a bit more suffering than her younger twin, she had been given a great deal of leniency, though this was mostly a result of Tiona's efforts, not her own. Tione was an example of one of the 'victims' within the system, as she had fallen under the mentorship of the extremely cruel and vicious Argana. This was entirely due to the fact that she was a twin, a very rare existence within the Amazoness community. Kali had wanted them to become her next Captains and had hoped that Tione would eventually overcome her own limitations with the assistance of Tiona...This was where Vahn's agreement with Kali usually came to an end, as it had been very unfair of her to have such expectations, to begin with. It was obvious that Tiona and Tione were 'different' from a very early age and, though they both had extreme levels of talent, it simply wasn't right to forcibly groom them into something that she had wanted to make use of. In a way, this was the very same thing as someone in another country taking in an infant Amazoness and grooming them to their preferences, something 'extremely' frowned upon. If it had happened outside, the entire Amazoness community would have been up in arms, pursuing the offender until they were completely annihilated. Yet, because of her unique position as the primary goddess of the entire Amazoness people, Kali had been able to bend the rules without anyone even batting an eye...Vahn didn't outright resent Kali for what she had done, as he still wasn't in a position where he could truly understand the perspective of a god. He also knew that her actions weren't inherently wrong as, without a doubt, she had tried to help both girls achieve their full potential. After Tione had failed to meet her expectations, Kali didn't punish her or hold the fact against her, allowing Tione to leave Telskyura along with Tiona after they had both reached Level 3. She had willingly allowed the two girls she had been grooming to be her future Captains to venture out into the outside world with no guarantees they would ever even return. This was because Kali knew that, even though Tiona was considered the 'perfect' Amazoness by some, neither twin truly fit into the larger Amazoness society...It was things like this that allowed Vahn to see Kali's wisdom and, though he felt like she could have done more to aid the growth and progress of her people, it wasn't really her responsibility to do so. If he truly believed that gods 'had' to contribute to the proper development of the surface races, Vahn would be putting himself above them and forcing his perspective onto existences that were far older than he was. In a way, it would be the same as Kali imposing her perspective onto Tiona and Tione, trying to change them into something that was beneficial for herself. This would undoubtedly have severe negative consequences and Vahn was beginning to understand that his methods may not have been as 'correct' as he had thought.As 'pure' and 'righteous' as his intentions may be, Vahn's time amongst both the Xenos and the Amazonesses had started to make him better realize the 'necessary' restrictions imposed on those with power. He previously felt like it was the 'obligation' of those with power to essentially shepherd those that were weaker than themselves. This, however, was automatically placing himself above others and believing that his own sensibilities and perspective were simply 'broader' and 'more right' than those beneath him. It was this same mentality that allowed Nobles, who often rose to power through individual strength or authority, to claim they were 'above' the commoners within their dominion.Vahn had developed an extreme distaste for most Nobles and the Aristocracy in general, finding their often deeply rooted corruption and the nation-wide exploitation to be disgusting. However, his own actions weren't distinctly different from theirs, even though the choices he was trying to make were for the betterment of everyone. The main difference was the fact that he had an extreme amount of power compared to most people and was proactively trying to make a world where 'everyone' had the right to happiness. Even then, Vahn was still creating a merit-based society that would inevitably favor those that rose to prominence through their own efforts. They would find themselves in positions of power and authority and, after a while, it was guaranteed that some of these individuals would eventually become corrupt...In order to prevent himself from losing control of the situation, Vahn knew that he always needed to be the most powerful person within the record. Yet, by taking proactive actions and regulating things himself, Vahn knew that he would be disrupting the balance of the world and inviting greater threats into existence. The more he tried to make a 'perfect' world, the more powerful the forces opposing him would become. Eventually, there could even be a singular entity that was more powerful than the entire organization he had structured, including a myriad of actual gods of creation and destruction. Though he would likely survive the battle, it wasn't impossible for the very record itself to become destabilized for a very long period of time...Vahn was beginning to understand that, the stronger he became, the less direct influence he would be 'allowed' to have over the record. It was much the same for gods like Ouranos who, compared to almost every other god, had an extreme amount of power. If he wasn't created by the record as an objective force that observed the world, there would have been nothing to prevent him from shaping this world to his preference. He could have even killed most of the other gods and created a small paradise for himself, something that seemed peaceful and innocent from an 'inside' perspective, but was morbid and terrifying from an external perspective.One day, Vahn knew he would have the power to create an entire universe if he wanted to while, at the same time, he could also create a small record that was entirely isolated from others. This could be a completely peaceful world where only his family lived and he could even make all of them immortal. However, after enough time passed, Vahn knew there would be some who would become unhappy or depressed unless he went to even greater extremes and limited their ability to even feel such emotions. Though this would inarguably guarantee they were happy, Vahn couldn't help shuddering as the thought passed through his mind. He would essentially have to imprison and brainwash the people he loved, just to make sure they were always happy, robbing them of their freedom because of the choices he had made. Vahn knew this was 'extremely' wrong and it was this same understanding that allowed him to rationalize that changing the Amazonesses, especially when they didn't want to change, was also wrong...(A/N: A lot of introspective stuff this chapter but I felt it was important to show the inner workings of Vahn's mind while providing some insight into the past/present/future.)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Not every species as strong maternal instincts...','The unique should be celebrated, not oppressed','Eternity is a long time...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Chapter 948: Observation