Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

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

Amidst the excitement of the crowd, still high off of the battle between Tiona and Bache, Vahn slowly made his way into the arena. His presence had already been noticed in the waiting area but, now that he had officially stepped into the arena, the atmosphere began to bubble up and was quickly approaching a critical level. Even Kali had fixed her seated position, straightening out her back and leaning forward slightly so she could see the battle more clearly. A lot of the choices she would make in the future would be heavily influenced by the outcome of the coming fight...As if the crowd around them simply didn't exist, Vahn and Tiona had kept their gazes affixed to each other. Tiona's battle-hungry nature seemed to be tempered, at least for the time being, as she happily smiled, saying, "I never really thought the day would come where we would both stand in this arena together...the last few years have really changed the way I view the world..." She didn't think about it as often as some of the other girls, but Tiona knew the life she was living now was far from 'normal'. Vahn had been slowly changing even the common sense of the world and now, even though it should have been impossible, he was now creating a world where she and her sister would be able to have children without worrying about losing them...The corners of Vahn's mouth curled up even more after hearing Tiona's words while his overall facial expression softened, clearly showing the love and affection he had for the generally lively Amazoness. He held up his right hand, clenching it into a fist as he said, "The world has only just begun to change, Tiona. I'm glad to have someone like you at my side. Without the steps you had taken those many years ago, things may have ended up very differently..." Though her actions were certainly troublesome, Tiona had been the catalyst for the rather 'peculiar' situation Vahn had found himself in. Without her and Ais paving the way, and a lot of effort on behalf of girls like Hephaestus, Eina, and Loki, Vahn's family would have been much smaller at this point...In response to Vahn's words, Tiona practically beamed as she held her hand behind her and leaned forward, much like she would when they first met. The difference now was that she had to look up to him quite a bit and, instead of Tiona being his goal, they now tread the same path, side by side. Because of this, Vahn took a deep breath before saying, "We should go all out from the start..." Now, though she still seemed very happy, a small glimmer immediately appeared in Tiona's eyes as she nodded her head with an 'Nn' sound. She opened up a bit of distance with [Shundo], shouting, "Adeat~!" in a voice that showed her escalating excitement.This was Tiona's first time transforming in front of the crowd so it caused a great stir, especially when they saw her appearance. Though she was almost devoid of clothing, only covered in a few small pieces of fur and cloth, the tribal runes and Tiona's long, wild, hair caused her to stand out greatly. At the same time, the instincts of almost every Amazoness present were screaming at them that they would never be able to defeat the animalistic-looking Tiona before them. Even though they didn't harbor much hope of victory before, her current presence was simply beyond their understanding...Vahn always found himself marveling at Tiona's figure whenever she transformed, finding her lithe and flexible body extremely attractive. With the white tiger-like pattern on her body creating a contrast with her healthy brown skin, Vahn couldn't help but showing an appreciative expression before he opened his previously clasped fist and revealed a miniature mountain. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand but, upon closer inspection, had an incredible amount of detail that made it appear 'real'. This was yet another one of Terra's breakthroughs in Magic and was entirely comprised of Earth Elemental energy that had been compressed using Space Magic. As for the name, Terra had been rather whimsical at the time, calling the majestic yet diminutive, mountain as [Mt. Terra].Though it may not have represented 'his' strength, Vahn knew that the power of those who supported him was his greatest asset. Thus, without any hesitation, Vahn began to condense a massive amount of mana as he shouted, "Fixate. Seize. Load magic, 'Terra Ruler'!" With a quick clasp of his fist, Vahn crushed the massive amount of energy contained in the magical artifact, absorbing it into his own body with his [Magia Erebea]. Though the structure of [Mt. Terra] was different from normal Magic, it still had many uses in its seemingly inert state. Vahn wanted to avoid a situation where Tiona kept breaking his body apart so, even though he would have to 'pacify' Terra later, he unhesitantly used her painstakingly created artifact as a consumable item...After a brilliant gold and green light faded away, Vahn's figure had appeared within the arena once again. His tanned skin now appeared darker yet, at the same time, emitted a subtle green glow that seemed to radiate from his body. The sclera of his eyes had turned pitch black while his irises were an emerald green colored with a single golden ring present in each. His hair had grown much longer than before, now extending past his shoulders, and had an earthen brown coloration with moss-like green towards the tips. As for his outfit, he was almost completely bereft of clothing, fully displaying his muscular body, while a green sash was wrapped around his hips. The thing that stood out the most was the large golden disc behind his back while his wrists and ankles both had thick golden cuffs that each had large links of golden chains extending for a full meter from their connecting point...This was Vahn's first time assuming this form and, for a brief moment, he felt as if he had become the earth itself. It felt like he could have just stood there for millennia without taking any action whatsoever, completely content with simply allowing the passage of time to wash over him without regard for the lives living on his surface. Fortunately, he was brought back to his senses very quickly when Tiona had launched herself toward him, a small fist with spines beginning to protrude from her knuckles as her body was already adapting to try and defeat him. The thing that surprised them both, Tiona especially, was the fact that Vahn hadn't actually made a move to counter or evade the attack...Vahn had instinctually transformed into his Xuanwu form while still maintaining his Terra Ruler transformation. As a result, Tiona's momentous attack collided with his chest and sent a powerful shockwave into his body as a result of her [Fist Strike] Development Ability. However, as if his body had the literal depth of the earth, there were only a few small cracks on the very surface of his skin as the shockwave almost immediately dissipated before reaching his 'relatively' soft internal organs. Then, before Tiona could even pull her fist away and attack a second time, the damage she had caused vanished completely, leaving Vahn standing like a veritable mountain as a thunderous shockwave, caused by Tiona's initial movement, resonated throughout the arena...Even as Tiona leaped away from him, Vahn still had the urge to remain stationary and noticed that, where his bare feet contacted the ground, a phenomenal amount of Earth Elemental energy was surging into him. Since he already had experience manipulating the earth, Vahn waved his hand towards Tiona and caused 'ripples' to pass through the arena's floor that attempted to swirl around and engulf the rather surprised Amazoness. Vahn was making sure he wasn't harming the integrity of the Coliseum with his attacks, especially since there were thousands of infants in the underground chambers, but his attack still carried a terrifying momentum.Tiona managed to twist her body agilely, kicking against the encroaching earth to escape the range of Vahn's attack with [Shundo]. She appeared next to him in the next moment, her fist now covered in dense black scales while her knuckles had red gem-like protrusions sticking out. This time, Vahn brought up his left arm to receive the attack and felt a large amount of Fire Elemental energy try to invade his body. Though Tiona couldn't control it well on her own, her body seemed to have tried to adapt to the excess of Earth Elemental energy by countering it with Fire Elemental energy. Unfortunately, Vahn was completely immune to its effects and managed to deflect the shockwave back at Tiona using his Xuanwu's ability.With her own attack feeding back into her arm, Tiona's fist and forearm practically exploded with a wide array of cracks. The dense scales on her arm had prevented the limb from being destroyed but there was still a large amount of strangely purple blood flowing from the rapidly regenerating wound. As for Tiona herself, she completely ignored the pain as she attempted to sweep Vahn's legs with a low kick, relying more on leverage than power to try and destabilize his stance. Vahn, however, remained unmoved as her foot hooked against the back of his ankle before coming to a complete stop. Tiona felt like she was trying to move a literal mountain and, instead of pursuing her futile action, pressed off the ground and leaped backward to avoid Vahn's counter.Both Vahn and Tiona noticed that his speed had been severely reduced after his transformation but, covering up for the lack of mobility, his body was nigh-indestructible. Vahn could feel his defenses continuing to increase as the coloration of his body became a darker shade. Though it felt like his joints and muscles had also turned to stone, making it very difficult to move, the power contained within was something even Lili might not be able to achieve. The downside was that it would be nearly impossible to actually hit Tiona in this state so he could only rely on manipulating the earth around them and simply withstanding each of her attacks, hoping she didn't land a critical...This seemed to be Tiona's intention as her body was changing at a noticeable rate to make herself more agile while adding penetrative force to her attacks. She grew a dense layer of white fur on her arms and legs as a small nub of a tail protruded from her backside. At the same time, her hair became sleek as it compacted itself into a shape that would allow her to cut through wind resistance and maintain her balance without interference. The most notable feature was how her right hand had not only healed but now had a vicious black 'spike' sticking nearly 25cm out of her forearm. It shimmered with a dangerous light while small spatial fluctuations could be seen every time Tiona moved around, even with the slightest bit of motion...Vahn prepared for the attack by channeling a veritable ocean of Earth Elemental energy from the ground and condensing it into his Xuanwu scales. At the same time, he supplemented the runes with his Source Energy, causing them to shimmer with a green light that emanated a rainbow hue. He brought his palms together at around the same time that Tiona had vanished, causing two dense walls of earth to slam towards his position as Tiona reappeared, her spiked forearm tracing a lethal path towards his diaphragm. Her eyes had widened slightly upon sensing the attack coming her way but she didn't try to flee, fearlessly charging forward without caring if she would win or lose...As a result of their actions, Vahn ended up with an exceedingly painful spike in his chest while Tiona, having curled up her body slightly, was being compacted by earthen walls. They hadn't been able to overwhelm her defenses but, at least for a short moment, she had been contained in a defensive posture. Vahn's body was naturally repelling whatever chemical Tiona's spike was trying to insert into his bloodstream so he ignored it for the time being and made use of the opportunity to try and conclude things. If Tiona was left to continue 'adapting', she would eventually get to a point where he would need something like [Enkidu] just to keep her bound...There were a few ways Vahn knew to end the fight quickly but most of them would cause later complications. He decided to use the most direct method available to him, placing his palm against Tiona's almost exposed chest and earning a wry smile from her in response. In the next moment, Vahn flooded her body with his Source Energy, overloading her muscles and nerves with a type of energy that she simply couldn't adapt to. The mana she had been absorbing to maintain her [Pactio] was immediately forced out of her body, reverting Tiona back to her default state as each of her muscles seized up painfully in response. This was a technique derived from Vahn's understanding of the physical structure of his target and his experience using [Hands or Nirvana]. It wasn't an actual extension of the ability, however, allowing him to avoid accruing any kind of negative karma, even if he decided to use it to cause lethal amounts of damage...While Tiona was unable to move, Vahn caused the super dense stone that had been keeping her in place to dissolve away into sand. He then manipulated the fine particulates of Earth Elemental energy to restrain her body completely, only leaving a small cavity so that she would be able to breathe without any obstruction while her head was poking out from the top. It was a rather anti-climactic way to end the fight but Tiona had an excited blush on her face while thousands of Amazonesses in the surrounded released loud war cries. They didn't really care about the means used, only that the battle had been brought to a decisive conclusion.Before things could even begin to get out of hand, Kali had stood atop her platform and allowed her aura to spread out, causing the excitement in the air to transition into confusion as a very tense atmosphere encompassed everyone present. With her blood-red eyes glimmering with a cold light, Kali plainly stated, "From now on, any Amazoness that isn't at Level 5 or higher will not be allowed to challenge Vahn to battle. If he challenges you or decides to help in your training, that is fine. However, I will not tolerate anyone going out of their way to cause trouble when they lack the capabilities to even stand on equal grounds with him. In two day's time, Vahn will be having his official duel against Queen Hippolyta and there will likely be many changes coming in the following months and years. Continue to work hard and temper yourselves further if you want to have any chance at pacifying those lingering desires welling up in your hearts..."With her words finished, Kali plopped down onto her pedestal once again and began to lounge about, even though her aura was still present within the arena. She knew that things could have taken a dangerous turn if she didn't address the crowd before the momentum shifted in a troublesome direction. Her own time with Vahn would be jeopardized if there were suddenly hundreds or even thousands of Amazonesses pestering him for a battle. Many knew they would lose and, much like her own Familia during their sea voyage, the Amazonesses themselves didn't consider this a 'bad' thing. Since their instincts compelled them to try and secure the strongest mate, someone that could easily defeat a Level 7, an existence many of them couldn't truly fathom, was inarguably the best choice...Knowing that she was trying to cover for them, Vahn took the exhausted Tiona in his arms and exited the uncharacteristically quiet arena alongside Tione. Some of the stronger Amazonesses present had followed him with their eyes, many noticing that Vahn didn't even seem remotely affected by the aura of their goddess. He could feel their hungry gazes lingering on his body, still in it's transformed state since he was actually having trouble expelling the excessive quantity of Earth Elemental energy still coursing into his body from the earth below. He had equipped a pair of thick-soled boots with Adamantine in them to stimy the flow, but it was still difficult to return to normal without leaving the ground for a short while.Once Vahn had left the arena, Kali let her aura begin to dissipate and suddenly felt extremely bored, even though another pair of Amazonesses had started a battle below. Since she was present, they were going all out against each other but, contrary to how she would normally behave, Kali's mind was wandering a bit. It was only now that Kali had noticed how much she had been 'fretting' over Vahn as of late and, trying to understand the reasons behind the change, memories of the last few months were playing across her mind. At the very end of this chain of images, Kali was able to recall the warmth and comfort she was able to experience just by being around Vahn, even without doing anything. Then, for the first time in recent memory, Kali felt that watching the battles below was a waste of her time and a small desire to follow after Vahn was seeded in her heart...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Towards the future~!','Vahn is a cheater!!!','Doki-Doki Kali-sama...?')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

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

Chapter 949: Momentum