Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though it was clear that Heracles didn't look down on Kenshin, Vahn couldn't help but feel that the prodigious Demigod wasn't going all out.While Kenshin certainly had the skill advantage, Heracles himself had mastered nearly all forms of combat. His Agility itself wasn't that much lower than Kenshin's and, while he couldn't use things like [Shundo], he should more than be able to make up for it with his natural mobility. It almost felt like he had given up the fight after realizing he wouldn't be able to easily catch Kenshin but, considering who he was thinking about, this didn't really seem that likely.Vahn made a mental note to have a chat with Heracles the next time they went out drinking but, as there was still a tournament ongoing, he waiting for the field to be cleared before pulling two more names from the box. Seeing who had been drawn, he wasn't even surprised anymore. Rather, he felt a little apologetic as he did his best to avoid frowning as he, instead, announced, "The fourth battle is set to begin! Okita and Fenrir, please enter the arena!"Much like Kenshin, Fenrir appeared on the battlefield using [Shundo] but, instead of a rather sloppy C-Rank version, her's was very near the pinnacle of A-Rank. While her raw capabilities were a far cry from Kenshin's, she had a distinct advantage when it came to learning Magecraft and Magic. Due to this reason, Vahn suspected that Fenrir would join the Magus' League, where she had a good chance of making it to the semifinals. Instead, she joined the Knight's League as, according to her, the path she followed was that of a Magic Knight, not a Magus.Unfortunately, while Okita may be an Alter Ego, her base Class was still Saber so, as per usual, she had the [Magic Resistance] Class Skill. This made her immune to most of Fenrir's base attacks but, as Okita could not unsheath her katana, the battle should be interesting. As for why she was able to use her katana at all, this was due to the fact that Okita, for indeterminate reasons, simply could not use any other weapons. Even a simple kitchen knife was beyond her and, while she could store her sword away in much the same way as Artoria, she had a habit of carrying it around in its physical form. The only time it had ever left her hand was when she allowed him to hold it, leading to a peculiar event that was still fresh in his mind...Rather than reminisce, Vahn raised his pistol for the fourth time and, without further ado, shot the now expected projectile into the sky. This time, nobody in the crowd bothered to mind it at all as they were afraid of missing even a single instant of the upcoming battle.The moment the explosion of mana occurred, Okita bent forward slightly with her right foot forward. Though she could not draw it, she had her right hand hovering over the handle of her katana with an expression of extreme focus. Vahn wasn't unaware of Okita's capabilities as, shortly after summoning her, he was able to experience first hand how powerful she was. She was, for lack of a better way to describe her, terrifyingly powerful.As one of the people present during the duel between her Master and Okita, Fenrir wasn't unaware of how powerful her opponent was. Rather, she chose to join the Knight's League because there was a higher chance of being matched against powerful individuals, many of which were, like her, loyal to their shared Master. Fenrir was determined to be the strongest person at her Master's side so, while it was almost impossible for her to egg out a victory, she would not be deterred in the slightest.With Okita taking her stance, Fenrir began to move swiftly through the battlefield using [Shundo] and [Koku Shundo] in sequence. Much of the battlefield had been destroyed at this point but she could easily create footholds in the air, making it very difficult to determine where she would end up.After reaching the effective, or instantaneous range for magic usage, Fenrir formed two complex magic circles around her paws. The structure of said circles was far more complex than any modern Magecraft and, with her understanding of Water, Ice, and Yin Elemental Laws, Fenrir could form a semi-permanant magic circle using raw elemental energy.In much the same way as Aoko, Fenrir began to rapid-fire hypersonic ice-elemental [Sagitta Magica] at Okita. These bolts of magical energy were enough to freeze organic matter through on contact as, while their temperature didn't necessarily reach absolute zero, the ice element had the capability to 'encroach' upon a target's mana, slowing their movements and making it harder to muster their own internal reserves.Okita made no attempt to dodge Fenrir's attacks. Rather, the moment they came her way, a powerful tempest surrounding her body as her right arm seemed to outright disappear. Her expression didn't change in the slightest as she began to cut down and destroy every single bolt of magical energy. To exacerbate matters even further, at least for Fenrir, the energy contained within the spells seemed to be completely destroyed.It was common for a spell to disperse, leaving ambient mana behind that could be used to enhance more complex spells. In a battle between two 'real' Mages, using Eva's standard, victory was almost always decided by how well each combatant could make use of, not just their own magical energy, but the energy expended by their opponent. This was one of the reasons why Vahn was so terrifying when it came to a magical duel as, with his domain, it was almost impossible for a similarly skilled opponent to command the mana surrounding him.Seeing that Okita was even able to destroy mana, despite not having drawn her katana, Vahn tensed up a bit in his seat. He never liked seeing any of his companions injured but, when it came to Fenrir, a tender spot in his heart always ached even before she suffered a setback. Though he tried to hold back his rising tensions, so as not to distract Fenrir, Vahn simply couldn't help himself. Since Fenrir would have an adverse reaction if he tried to weaken the connection between them, he could only hope things didn't end on a negative note.Seemingly unaffected by his anxieties, Fenrir continued to dodge around at high speeds. Since her initial attacks hadn't born fruit, she began to target the surrounding terrain instead. This caused the ground to quickly ice over while, in the impacted areas, plumes of icy spikes, almost like lotuses, had started to 'bloom' on the battlefield. As a result, the surrounding temperature steadily decreased yet, in spite of this, a 'dome' of sorts had surrounded Okita. The icy mist forming in the surrounding was unable to penetrate through this invisible membrane while any magical energy that came into direct contact was simply dissipated into nothingness.Vahn was reminded of Fafnir's Innate upon seeing this phenomenon but, rather than immunity, he knew this was just Okita's [Magic Resistance] at work. Still, it was quite the sight to behold as, even in the face of increasingly powerful attacks, she didn't flinch in the slightest as her pale silver eyes never lost their focus.Okita didn't seem to have any trouble following Fenrir's speed and, every time the latter was about to try and attack, the former would immediately react by twitching her right hand. As a result, Fenrir would immediately take evasive actions as, with her enhanced instincts, she could tell that the battle would end the moment she tried to break the current equilibrium. The bubble around Okita seemed to be an inviolable space and, while it wasn't that large at most time, it would suddenly increase a great deal whenever she placed her hand on her katana.With her other attempts failing, Fenrir gave up trying to attack at short range and instead began to vault into the sky using several footholds. Okita followed her ascent with her eyes and, realizing what Fenrir was about to attempt, she finally took action.Just as Fenrir reached the apex of her climb and shouted, "Master, give me strength~!", a ripple in the void appeared at her back. In the next instant, before she could react at all, a sheathed blade tore through space itself, striking her with a tremendous force and dissipating the large magic circle that had just formed. Fenrir could feel an extremely painful sensation in her lower back, despite the fact her unique nerve structure made her numb to even intense pain.As Fenrir was falling to the ground like a blue meteor, the result of her [Cantus Bellax] aura, Okita's figure faded from the ground like a phantom. At the same time, her actual body appeared in the air just behind where Fenrir had been standing, a cold and emotionless expression on her face. She had used one of her unique Skills, [Furthest Earth], which even made [Shundo] and [Koku Shundo] look like child's play as far as movement techniques were concerned. It allowed her to, very briefly, step outside of the axis of Space and Time, traversing through sub-dimensional space to reach her target in, quite literally, an instant.While Okita's attack hadn't been enough to completely take her out of commission, Fenrir quickly noticed that she had lost all feeling in her legs as she attempted to right herself before slamming into the ground. Fortunately, while she was moving rather quickly, her Strength and Endurance were more than enough to mitigate any damage. Rather, it was the loss of her mobility that troubled her as, while it was very painful to even try to move, Fenrir felt like she could keep going.Just as Fenrir was about to try and execute [Shundo] using her forward paws, another spatial ripple appeared at her side. By the times her ears had perked up in response, a black sheath was resting against her neck as Okita stated in a monotone voice, "This is my victory."Hearing the cold words, Fenrir felt a heavy feeling in her stomach as her hair began to stand on end in a feral manner. Still, she didn't completely lose control and, to avoid causing a scene, she forced herself to stay calm as she looked up at Okita and plainly stated, "I will become much stronger. Until then, you must protect our Master."As a result of her heightened state of emotions, a stark contrast to her calm demeanor, Fenrir's back had already healed up. This brought powerful hunger along with it but, as it was nothing compared to the hunger she had experienced in the past, it barely affected her mentality. Still, Okita was a little surprised to see Fenrir stand on her own, despite her expression being a perfect mask of neutrality.For several tense moments, the two 'expressionless' girls stared directly at each other until Okita gave a small nod and answered, "There was never any doubt. I am as much a part of Master as my katana is a part of me. I will become his sword to strike down foes and, if necessary, use my body as a shield to protect him. Until one more capable than myself appears, this is my duty...my purpose."Hearing Okita's response, Fenrir gave a curt nod before vanishing from her spot using [Shundo]. She would never accept anyone being in a higher position than her in the hierarchy beneath her Master but, until she had the strength to change things, there was nothing she could do to usurp Okita from her position as the strongest. While this wasn't necessarily the truth, Fenrir didn't count people like Artoria and Scáthach as, while they were important to her Master, they were not his subordinates...Vahn breathed a sigh of relief after seeing things end relatively peacefully. He suddenly felt fatigued but, as there were still several more battles lined up, he wasted no time in drawing two new names after the field had been cleared. This time around, he ended up drawing Gawain and Boudica but, due to Gawain's [Numeral of the Saint], granting him a three-fold increase in strength between the hours of 0900-1200 and 1500-1800, the battle ended shortly after it had begun.Boudica was, by no means, weak. However, due to the fact that she was not originally a warrior, her skill could not compare to someone that had trained their entire life to serve as a perfect proxy for Artoria as King. Since Boudica's unique Skills primarily related to her vengeance, she was stuck using simple swordplay against someone both older and significantly more experienced than her. With the boost to his parameters, Gawain would even be able to compete against people like Kenshin for a short period of time so, without any suspense, he ended up disarming Boudica before pointing his sword at her exposed neck.Following the battle between Boudica and Gawain, Gray and Lakshmibai took to the field. This was a rather surprising matchup as, with her E+ Rank Luck, Vahn had expected the latter to be matched against someone like Scáthach. Gray was one of the easier opponents to be matched against but, as a being infinitely close to a True Vampire, it was only a matter of time until she emerged victoriously.While Lakshmibai hadn't exactly slacked off in her training, she had to deal with conflicting energies in her body that made it difficult for her to progress. This was the result of her Divinity, tied to the Goddess of Misfortune, Alakshmi, and the fact that her power as a false-saint allowed her to draw from the Counter Force. This had led to situations where Lakshmibai's energy would run rampant and, in one instance, she had nearly lost an arm after trying to channel the energy into a beam of raw magical power.Fortunately, even the loss of a limb didn't mean much in the Empire so, while it had been a painful experience for her, she made a full recovery after only a few hours. After that, she always made sure to prepare healing items before training and, in order to avoid a tragedy, always trained alongside others. She was determined to turn her misfortune into a blessing or, at the very least, learn how to weaponize it against other people. After all, while a God may embody their Divinity, they were also able to express it through the World itself by projecting it onto others.As a result of her training, the audience got to see the rather peculiar sight of Gray wielding a giant scythe against Lakshmibai using a simple saber. During one of their collisions, the saber shattered under the force of the blow but, while this may have been a detriment in most situations, the shards actually impaled into Gray's neck and shoulder. If not for her nigh-instantaneous regeneration, she might have had to withdraw from the fight as the shard that had pierced her neck severed the artery cleanly.Unfortunately for Lakshmibai, the only way to really defeat Gray was to restrict her healing factor or throw her from the arena. If she had made use of her superior speed to try and draw the battle out to the edge of the battlefield, there was a chance she would have emerged victoriously. However, due to her nature, Lakshmibai wasn't the type to retreat so, despite only having half a saber, she never backed down. It was actually rather commendable but, with one party having infinite stamina, it was only a matter of time before Lakshmibai ended up with a scythe's blade at her throat, bringing the battle to its conclusion.Vahn was more than a little surprised by the outcome as, while Gray was indeed powerful, she wasn't quite at the level of a Heroic Spirit without using Add. Her defeating Lakshmibai was actually outside of his expectations. It ultimately came down to the fact that, despite her best efforts, Lakshmibai was still plagued by relatively bad luck while Gray, after undergoing the ritual to become his subordinate, had reached 50A in her own Luck parameter.Regardless of how things had ended, Vahn was proud of both women and, while Lakshmibai was a little disappointed in her own performance, he knew a few effective methods to cheer her up. It was starting to seem as if this tournament was a segue for a lot of discussions and small events as, even with the other rewards prepared, Vahn intended to express his satisfaction with everyone personally once the event had completed. He wanted to talk with each and every contestant and, with a better understanding of their current power, discuss the future with them.With this in mind, Vahn promptly moved on to the next battle, drawing out Siegfried's and Hati's names, automatically pairing Jeanne off with Galahad as a result. This ended up being very relevant as, with his [Armor of Fafnir], which was considered a passive Noble Phantasm, there wasn't much that Hati could do against Siegfried. As a result, he actually ended up surrendering the battle after a few exchanges due to the fact that it was simply unfair for Hati to have been matched against him.In truth, Hati's own Noble Phantasm, [Star Eater] would have allowed her to overcome Siegfried's [Armor of Fafnir] but, as this was an active ability that turned her into a massive wolf, it was not allowed under the current tournament regulations. This showed a few flaws in the current system but, as they never expected it to be perfect from the very beginning, it was something they could work on for future iterations of the event.After the rather awkward battle between the stoic Dragon Knight and an exceptionally mature Vanargandr, the final battle of the first round began. This, however, was another rather awkward matchup as, due to his principles, Galahad only brought a shield into battle. He was able to easily fend off most of Jeanne's attacks but, due to her ties to the Counter Force, there was only ever one outcome of their battle.Jeanne had an advanced form of [Instinct] known as [Revelation] that allowed her to always pursue the most optimum path to secure victory. It essentially allowed her to see a few seconds into the future so, while the battle actually lasted longer than all the previous matches combined, Jeanne eventually managed to stab Galahad in the left thigh with her banner-like spear. Even this wasn't enough to take Galahad out of the fight but, with only one good leg, it wasn't long before he began to suffer other small injuries that ultimately resulted in his loss. Considering he had never actually attacked directly, however, this was a foregone conclusion from the start.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Fenrir will never give up...!','Gawain is essentially Escanor!?','Like trying to crack open an unripe coconut...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Ever since the first time he held Court, Vahn had made a habit of convening everyone at least once a week, real-time. This gave everyone nearly a month and a half of recess within the Projection so it hadn't really caused any disputes thus far.During normal circumstances, Vahn would just listen to Gawain's reports before having everyone share any pertinent issues. When that was said and done with, he would make a personal address to bring the session to an end. Following this, a banquet would be held to discuss things of less import to the Empire where everyone, Gawain included, would participate. This was intended to be a social gathering of sorts, bringing together everyone in spite of their divergent schedules.This time around, Vahn thought the most important matter on the dossier was discussing the ritual and deployment of Semiramis' 'Hanging Gardens of Babylon' but, before the discussion proceeded to the next phase, Artoria interrupted the session with a matter of her own.As Empress, Artoria had more than enough leeway to make public requests so, after a brief moment of surprise, Vahn smiled affectionately before giving her permission to enter the well and address the Court. He could tell she was a little excited so, rather than confer with her in private, he was just as interested as everyone else to hear what she intended to discuss.After getting permission, Artoria had a fervent smile on her face as she gave a polite bow and stated, "Your Majesty. If it does not displease you, I would request that you play host in a tournament, one officially sanctioned by the Empire. The Empire currently stands on the brink of a mass expansion so, before things become even more chaotic, I believe it would be prudent to glean an understanding of everyone's capabilities."Vahn wasn't actually all that surprised by Artoria's request as he knew she and Da Vinci had been cooking up something behind the scenes. Still, he couldn't help but smile thoughtfully in response to her question. He gave her leniency to raise her head before tapping on the armrest of his Throne for several seconds in serious contemplation. She didn't really need to make any further arguments as, when it came down to it, the decision was ultimately his to make.Though his mind was mulling over the event's details, Vahn's eye had passed over everyone in the room. He even activated his View Affection for a brief moment to ascertain whether or not their reaction was dictated by genuine surprise, frustration, annoyance, or perturbance.As could be expected, a number of people present weren't at all enthused by Artoria's proposition, despite it being an inherent truth that it was better to understand each others' capabilities. It wasn't an exaggeration to say he was also curious about how strong everyone was but, as there was always a chance 'something' could go wrong, Vahn never thought to hold such an event himself. He would have to work with Da Vinci, Merlin, and Vivian to produce failsafes and, in order to make sure the greatest amount of participation, he would need to provide ample rewards...Not once did Vahn consider not hosting the tournament as, until now, Artoria had never really made any public requests like this. Since he was curious about the results, he felt this was an opportunity to give her the face she deserved as his Empress. It was obvious that Da Vinci had talked her into the event but, as this was leverage that could be used to have the hermetic Magus participate in a public spectacle, Vahn was more tempted than usual.It didn't take long for Vahn to work out the details before ultimately nodding his head and stating, "We cannot deny our own interest in this event. Though exceptions can be made, We will decree that all capable combatants participate in the coming tournament. If necessary, We will create a division between Knights and Magi. To compensate everyone for the trouble, a plethora of rewards will be prepared just for proactive participation. As for the final victor...hmmm...We will grant them a single request. So long as it is within my power and does not violate the ideology of the Empire, there is no limit to what you may request."While it may sound like a false promise coming from anyone else, there were few doubts among the standing members of the Court when it came to the veracity of Vahn's claim. There was very little he couldn't promise to someone as, when it came down to it, even concepts like Space, Time, Life, and Death were inconsequential to the Empire. He could even provide Heroic Spirits with physical vessels that far exceeded the limits of their original bodies, effectively granting wings to a group of tigers.There were mixed responses to Vahn's statement but, when they heard that there would be a divide between Knights and Magi, even people like Olga looked slightly contemplative. She knew there was no chance of victory but, after receiving a [Pactio] from Vahn in the past, Olga had always wondered how she would fare against a 'true' Magus with the Caster designation. It was said that even Lorelei couldn't match against a competent Caster from the Age of Gods so, with her newfound power, and the promise of a reward for simple participation, Olga was feeling a little competitive.After gauging everyone's response, Vahn quickly gave Artoria leave to return to her position before Mordred pounced out of her own. He wasn't at all surprised that she wanted to participate so, while she had already broken through much of the seal on her own, it seemed like the time to remove it was steadily approaching. She would want to train at her maximum potential as, even if there was a children's division, it wouldn't really be fair to pit Mordred against anyone else.Once Artoria returned to her position, the rest of the proceedings went according to expectation. It wasn't until the following banquet that they began to iron out the details, headed by a reluctant Da Vinci. Since it was originally her idea, Vahn wasn't going to let her just sit on the sidelines and collect data as, more so than most, he was very interested in how powerful she was. She had the longest list of EX-Rank Skills and abilities, combined with some of the highest parameters among everyone that currently resided within the castle, himself included.With Da Vinci's participation, it was decided that there would indeed be two divisions in the coming tournament. There was a proposed third division but, as Vahn felt the children were too young to be a part of such an event, especially with the stakes involved, he made an arbitrary requirement that required you to be at least fourteen years old to participate. The only exception to this was Mordred but, as she had been an active Knight of the Round Table, there wasn't any controversy regarding her participation in the adult's league.When it came down to it, Artoria, Gray, Mordred, Gareth, Gawain, Galahad, Siegfried, Fenrir, Okita, Jeanne, Kenshin, Lakshmibai, Boudica, Hati, Heracles, and Scáthach would be participating in the Knight's League. As for Karna and Astolfo, the former had fallen off the radar while touring India while the latter was in the middle of a movie shoot back in Alaska. It was possible to summon them both but, considering this would likely become a common event in the future, Vahn excluded the battle junkie Demigod this time around.The second division, the Magus' League, was considerably smaller in size when compared to the Knight's Division. It was also the 'easier' of the two on participants, at least when you excluded the existence of Ishtar and, once again, Scáthach. Her participation in both events was to essentially serve as a bottleneck of sorts, preventing anyone from actually winning unless they could overcome one of the strongest existences within the Empire.Participating in the Magus' League were Da Vinci, Ishtar, Nobunaga, Scáthach, Semiramis, Medusa, Rin, Luvia, Olga, Iris, and, despite her diminutive appearance, Medea. As for why Nobunaga and Ishtar were included in the running; this was due to the fact that both fought at a range and, without going all out, it would be virtually impossible for them to beat anyone in the Knight's League. Since the tournament did not allow the use of any active Noble Phantasms, they would be at a distinct disadvantage. They both used their own magical power to fuel their ammunition as well so, at least for this first tournament, they were both within the Magus category.While it may seem unfair for Rin, Luvia, and Olga to participate in a tournament that included literal Gods and legends from the ancient past, Vahn wasn't too worried about them. He had granted all of the modern girls a [Pactio] in order to protect them and keep in contact so, while they would still fall short of a Heroic Spirit, they wouldn't be eliminated outright. He was actually more concerned about Medusa and Medea, despite the fact that the latter may very well sweep everyone in the bracket, the sole exceptions being Scáthach and, for a variety of reasons, Ishtar...---With everything decided, Vahn gave everyone two weeks, projection-time, to make preparations for the event. He would have liked to give them more time but, as negotiations with the Association were scheduled to take place around the same time, there wasn't much of a choice. Nearly seven months had passed since the duel between Artoria and Lorelei so it was nearing time for the daily lives of everyone to transition from the Projection and into the real world.It was no secret that Vahn was looking forward to things both speeding up and slowing down as the primary stress factor in his life was having 'too much' time. If they stayed inside the Projection the entire time, he would be over two-hundred years old when Angra Mainyu made its appearance. Even his children would be in their forties and sixties so, while it was a viable choice as far as training was concerned, Vahn felt it was very unhealthy to be so detached from the rest of the world.At this point, both Mordred and Sakura were already ten years old, despite little more than four months passing since the time they entered the Projection. If they ended up staying inside for the entire year, they would be seventeen and sixteen respectively. They would be well over the age where it was easier to socialize with one's peers as, after High School and University, there were few opportunities to network effectively without borrowing from another person's connections.Vahn had a decent grasp of children's psychology but it was the guidance of Luvia, Rin, and, of all people, Iris, that made him decide to send the girls to school. Though they didn't mind their children getting a basic education within the castle, as it was actually very common for 'nobles' to educate their children internally, it was still important to send them out into the 'real' world to socialize. This was the only way for their perspective to expand beyond the confines of their own home and, while it may leave them with a few emotional scars, this was how people matured.Ultimately, Vahn intended to allow anyone below the age of fourteen to live inside the Projection, so long as they were accompanied by a parental figure. This was the opposite of how he did things in the Record of Danmachi but, as Vahn wanted his children to be able to protect themselves, he felt it was necessary for them to mature at an accelerated rate. He was slowly beginning to realize that age didn't matter all that much, especially in the grand scheme of eternity, so setting them on their path sooner was better than putting it off in a vain attempt to pamper and protect them.When it came down to it, everyone associated with Vahn had some limited form of immortality as, if they were not prepared for death, old age meant very little. Even if Vahn didn't take action, Merlin, Medea, Scáthach, or any reasonably powerful Magus for that matter, had the ability to extend a person's lifespan indefinitely. Scáthach could outright reverse a person's age and, if the right steps were taken, she could do so without diminishing their actual power. Thus, while it was important to protect the children while they were young, to prevent them from developing any dangerous quirks, Vahn was beginning to accept the fact that fourteen years was a very short period of time when they might live for thousands...Still, with fourteen being the age of adulthood back in Danmachi, Vahn decided to use that as his basis for maturity. While some of the so-called developed countries advocated the age of consent at eighteen years old, those same countries completely ignored the fact that children below that age experimented with each other. It wasn't considered exploitative if children took advantage of those in the same age range, despite the fact that, as a result of their experimental mentalities, they were inarguably more prone to exploiting each other than the average adult.Contrary to what was considered 'normal', Vahn felt that it was very important to educate children in sexual matters at an early age. He felt that demonizing it and treating it as some kind of taboo only invited the very crimes people sought to prevent as, for various reasons, people were drawn to such topics as the 'forbidden' was an irresistible temptation to the malleable mind. Thus, rather than send them down the path of deviancy, Vahn felt it was healthier to openly discuss such matters, even if it was extremely awkward to do so at times.Fortunately, rather than have to give these talks personally, Vahn could leave such matters to the women of the household. While he would not shy away from answering any questions related to the topic, this was wholly dependent on the intentions of whoever was asking. So long as they had taken the time to rationalize their concerns, he didn't mind clearing things up for them. After all, while it may not be necessary at higher Soul Tiers, sex and reproduction were the most intrinsic parts of any biological lifeforms. It wasn't something they should have to figure out on their own just because a few adults decided they were too young to be given a proper explanation...---With how busy Vahn's schedule was, two weeks passed in what felt like the blink of an eye. He had been given leniency by Scáthach to help others prepare so, after unsealing Mordred's power, albeit with her electing to keep the 'tattoo', Vahn helped her prepare. She wasn't the weakest participant in the Knight's League, a role that undoubtedly belonged to Gareth, but Vahn had the liberty to show a bit of favoritism when it came to his daughter having to fight against people several times her own age.Mordred had really grown a lot since the time of her summoning so Vahn was very interested to see how she performed in the upcoming tournament. Though it wasn't an exaggeration to say that he was interested in how everyone would perform, there were obviously a few people at the top of his list. After all, Mordred was his adopted daughter and, though he had only been training her for a little over half a year, Gareth was one of his official disciples. The latter had been training in secret over the last two weeks so he was interested to see how much she had progressed during the time she had been away from his side.Vahn had to admit that it was strange not to have Gareth following him around but, as Okita had become a permanant fixture accompanying him, it wasn't too bad. As for why she didn't train like the rest, Okita claimed that her strength was currently fixed and, as nobody knew her fighting style just yet, any training would only expose her weaknesses. This wasn't really something that could be argued so, when he wasn't training with Mordred and tending to his other duties, Vahn enjoyed the companionship of the quiet beauty. She had learned to make tea and, though it was rather bad, he appreciated the effort she put into improving.On the eve of the tournament's opening ceremony, Vahn was helping set up powerful barriers and defensive arrays around a 10km wide area that had been constructed within the Training Orb. This size was the bare minimum for fights between Heroic Spirits as, even without their Noble Phantasms, they could cover such distances with their bodies and spells in an instant.Rather than use a flat stage, various structures had been erected within the 10km square plot as open terrain was actually a monstrous advantage for certain people. The structures were meant to be used by those that had the ability to conceal themselves while, in other cases, they could be used as cover when evading rapid-fire attacks and abilities. Those like Fenrir would even be able to vault around the uneven terrain with considerable ease but, as this didn't really provide her a significant advantage against the average Heroic Spirit, it wasn't considered unfair.To balance things even further, the majority of equipment had been standardized so that people like Artoria and Siegfried weren't able to just overwhelm others with their inactive Noble Phantasms. As for people like Scáthach, who could easily produce an unlimited amount of weapons, even without her Noble Phantasm, she had been restricted to using traditional [Gradiation Air] Magecraft since it would honestly be unfair otherwise.Scáthach could elevate even simple iron swords to B-Rank Noble Phantasm so, with the equipment provided by the Dwarves being around the same grade, it was the best compromise they could make with the prolific Grandmaster. She was actually expected to sweep both brackets as, without their Noble Phantasms, it was virtually impossible for anyone to get a distinct advantage against her. Still, this didn't deter any of the competitors as Vahn had promised that, at the very least, they would be given a custom A-Rank piece of equipment just for participating.While this may not seem all that great in the grand scheme of things, especially with the nigh-infinite wealth of the Empire, it was still a considerable prize when you considered the piece of equipment could be virtually anything. If someone wanted, they could even have an A-Rank spatula produced while, in the example of people like Semiramis, she could be given a goblet that produced an infinite amount of high-quality wine. There were no real limits so, even if he was asked for an A-Rank pillow, Vahn was more than able to meet the demand.Thus, with the preparations completed, the opening day of the Imperial Tournament of Power was set to commence...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Karna is going to be salty xD','Sex is important! It may very well be one of the most important things xD!','Who will seize the victory!?')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Chapter 1273: Interlude: Tournament of Power (1/3)