Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Ideally, Vahn would be able to increase his strength without limit during the interval where his enemies prepared their own plans. If he really wanted to, it was possible to enter Azathoth's, Tiamat's, Arcueid's, or even Aoko's personal dimensions but, fearing he would become even more detached from the world, Vahn elected to just follow his usual schedule. Though he did, in fact, make use of these 'Realms', it was generally to relax and enjoy a few hours alone with the girls themselves, rarely to increase his strength.Vahn had been hunting within the forests of Avalon alongside Fenrir, Hati, Gareth, and, as could be expected, Atalanta. Since it would be too easy otherwise, Vahn opted not to use his domain and, much like the girls themselves, he wielded an ornate wooden shortbow. It reminded him of his past as a skilled archer so, ever since Atalanta first invited him to go hunting, Vahn had made a sport of things, inviting the more 'feral' women in his entourage as a means of bonding.Unfortunately, this evening proved more eventful than most as, shortly after he had watched the girls sprint off into the forest, Alaya informed him, "There is an attack on the European Supercolony. Knight Tristan sustained critical injuries but was saved by Knight Lancelot. The latter is engaging an enemy Heroic Spirit, the Child of Light, Cú Chulainn."Vahn had turned serious the moment he heard Alaya's words but, upon hearing who Lancelot was fighting, he couldn't help but blank as rare lightheadedness overtook him. He had never met the infamous spearman but, as one of Scáthach's students, Vahn obviously knew his senior disciples well. Cú Chulainn had been the protege Scáthach was most proud of and, due to how famous his legend was, Cú was one of the most commonly summoned Lancer-Class Heroic Spirits...After quickly recovering, Vahn sent a telepathic message to everyone he was connected to, Scáthach included. The latter instantly appeared at his side, even before he had finished the message, asking in a cold tone, "Are you certain...?"Though her expression didn't show it, Vahn had known his Shishou long enough to see how 'excited' she was to encounter her former student. She had been the one to dismiss the idea of summoning Cú to aid the Empire, as he was rather notorious for doing things his own way, but, as could be expected, there was no way she would miss reuniting with her former most promising student, even if it was on the battlefield.While offering up a prayer to his senior disciple, Vahn offered a wry smile in response to Scáthach's words. What he didn't expect was for her to instantly grab him, stating, "This will be your eleventh challenge." before teleporting them both outside of Avalon. It was pretty clear from her reaction that it wasn't up for discussion so, for entirely different reasons, Vahn offered another prayer to the rather unfortunate Hero...---Though the distance between Avalon and the European Supercolonly was just under 2,000km, it took less than twenty seconds to reach their destination with Scáthach literally tearing through the fabric of Space to transfer them. It would have actually been faster to just have Alaya perform the transfer but, perhaps as a result of knowing who was protecting the Supercolony, Scáthach wasn't thinking clearly.Cú Chulainn was undoubtedly a very powerful Heroic Spirit but, with six former Knights of the Round Table, a legendary Queen, and a battalion of Homunculi protecting the construction site, it was only a matter of time until he was defeated. Any of the Knights would be able to match him for a short period of time but, considering his opponent was Lancelot, there was little chance of him lasting for an extended period of time. After all, with Cú already injuring one of his comrades, Lancelot would not give the infamous spearman any quarter...By the time Vahn and Scáthach reached the European Supercolony, Lancelot, Gaheris, and Percival had surrounded a man wearing a form-fitting blue bodysuit trimmed with glistening silver trim. It was easy to see, based on garb alone, that the man was an apprentice of Scáthach as, in the past, she had even tried to get him to wear something similar. The scarlet red spear made this even more apparent as, while less intimidating than those formed by his Shishou, Vahn could sense the Law of Slaughter emanating from Cú Chulainn's [Gae Bolg].Just as Vahn was about to tell the others to back down, as it was pretty obvious Scáthach wanted him to battle against Cú, he found himself at a loss for words as, without any decorum at all, she threw him through the air like a meteor with all her might. Though Vahn was able to right himself before landing, he still left a deep crater between Lancelot and Cú Chulainn, sending both men jumping backward, shouting, "You dare interfere in an honorable duel!?"As the cloud of debris marking his landing cleared away, revealing Vahn lightly patting down his clothes, Lancelot and the other Knights immediately bowed, the former exclaiming, "Forgive me, Your Majesty, I spoke out of turn...!"Hearing Lancelot's remark, Vahn gestured for everyone to rise, stating in a firm tone, "Worry not. It is my mistake for intervening in your battle. However, these are special circumstances so, please, stand aside and protect the Supercolony. Given Cú Chulainn's presence, there is a chance other enemies are skulking about in the shadows."Though their first instinct was to protect their Lord, none of the Imperial Knights dared to disobey a direct order from Vahn. He had proven his skill on several occasions and, even if he somehow fell in battle, even this wasn't enough to actually kill him. Thus, after issuing proper salutes, Lancelot led the others to secure the perimeter and scout for other enemies. The only one to remain behind was Boudica but, from the very beginning, she had been observing the battle from atop the perimeter wall, sword and shield at the ready...Seeing how the other had reacted toward Vahn, Cú Chulainn had a battle-crazed smile on his face as she shouldered his spear and asked, "So, you're the one they call the Sage Emperor, eh? You must be pretty confident in yourself to send your men away like that. Even I would have had trouble with that purple bastard, you know?"Hearing Cú mention the color purple, Vahn's brow nearly twitched as, despite knowing the remark was in regard to Lancelot's armor, the fact Scáthach was watching from the void made him strangely nervous. Fortunately, his training hadn't been for naught so, without letting it show on his face, he kept a calm and composed demeanor as he answered, "You know, I'd really like to know the value of your Luck Parameter...I can't imagine it is higher than E-Rank..."The moment he heard Vahn's remark, Cú's expression darkened slightly as a dry and coarse laugh escaped his lips. As Vahn implied, his Luck was notoriously low and, as a result of the peculiar way he had been summoned, it was even lower than normal. It was so bad that, at times, he would actually trip on flat ground while, during his battle with Lancelot, he had even breathed in a live mosquito, something that should have been destroyed by the clash of their weapons...Feeling as if his pride had been attacked, Cú adopted a fierce expression with his spear pointed toward Vahn, saying, "Draw your weapon, bastard...I'll show you Luck means nothing in the face of true skill..."Since Scáthach would probably lambast him for footing around the issue, Vahn answered Cú by pulling out a scarlet-red spear of his own. This was enough to cause the man's expression to darken even further as he lunged forward with incredible momentum, roaring, "Where did you get that spear from!?"Vahn was slightly surprised by Cú's speed but, considering most Lancer-Class Servants had A-Rank Agility, it wasn't completely outside his expectations. Unfortunately for the blue-haired man, it was very difficult for the current Vahn to hold back against enemies who emitted killing intent so, using his own exceptional Agility, he deflected Cú's onslaught of spear strikes using similar techniques. As could be expected, this incensed the man even further so, after performing an overhead strike and launching himself backward, he shouted, "Try and copy this...!"While sliding backward along the ground, a swirling vortex of red energy had surrounded the tip of Cú's spear. It was a violent and malicious amalgamation of energy, one which threatened anything unfortunate enough to cross its path with death and, once it had reached a critical level, he instantly changed direction, accelerating to several times the speed of sound in as he shouted, "Gae Bolg~!" in a voice that somehow reached Vahn's ears before the attack was fired.Like a snake made of red lightning, Cú's spear covered the relatively short distance between himself and Vahn in an instant. Despite this, Vahn was able to deflect it with his own, diverting the attack to the side with what appeared to be considerable ease. In the next moment, however, the world itself seemed to 'flicker' for a brief moment as time began to stagnate. Then, with the sound of several panes of glass shattering, causality itself was rewritten, this time with the tip of Cú's spear piercing toward his heart.It was here where Cú's bad Luck really shone as, not only did Vahn have a considerable amount of experience dealing with attacks that altered causality but, due to Cú's Noble Phantasm only being at B-Rank, it wouldn't have even been able to pierce him in the first place. Thus, shocking the youthful spearman to the core, Vahn's left hand seemed to move faster than time, appearing in two places at once for a brief moment as he caught the tip of [Gae Bolg] with his bare hand.Before Cú could process what his eyes had just witnessed, he felt a subtle shift in the force acting on his spear. In the next instant, Vahn's figure had vanished from his perception and, though his instinct allowed him to twist his body and strike towards Vahn's new location, this wasn't remotely enough to deter his counterattack. As a result, Vahn stabbed through Cú's leg with his own spear, deflected the latter's with his left hand and, in less time than it took to blink, formed a second spear out of thin air before stabbing the man a second time in the chest.Vahn possessing [Gae Bolg] had been both a surprise and an insult as, with the passage of time, it was always possible to obtain the weapons of former Heroes. However, seeing how Vahn was able to create another [Gae Bolg] from thin air, Cú instantly realized the truth so, even as he was skewered with a third spear, he managed to smile, blood dripping from his lips as he asked, "How is she...?"With two more spears in hand, Vahn pierced through Cú's right wrist while placing the tip of his second spear at the man's throat before answering, "Harsh but fair..."Hearing Vahn's response, Cú began laughing in spite of the pain. Then, without caring whether or not Vahn was evil, he smiled appreciatively as he said, "I'm glad she was able to find someone else to mentor. Maybe you'll be able to succeed where I failed...hey, do me a favor, will ya...? The next time you see that woman...tell her...I died with a smile...so...as a Teacher...she should be able to live with one...hahaha..."Accompanying his final laugh, Cú attempted to use one of the [Gae Bolg]s Vahn had stabbed into his body to perform one last counterattack. At the same moment, a white aura emanated from his body and, though the light had already faded from his ruby-red eyes, he managed to strike nearly as fast as Scáthach's most powerful attack. Even this wasn't enough to take down Vahn, however, as 'close' simply wasn't enough to cut it. Without even moving, he opened up a hole in his body, allowing the spear to pass through harmlessly as Cú, with a smile on his face, died on his feet...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Hunting with the Animal-Eared Entourage','That Luck Parameter...','Can you even call it a Nasuverse fanfic unless there is at least one Cú Chulainn death?')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

It was only after Cú Chulainn's body began to disappear into particles of light that Scáthach finally appeared from within the void. She manifested herself right in front of her former student, a wistful look in her ruby-like eyes as she muttered, "You always were a foolish boy..." Then, just before Cú's body disappeared, Scáthach gently ran her hand down his face, closing his lightless eyes to give him a more peaceful appearance...When Cú's body finally disappeared completely, Vahn could hear Scáthach audibly inhale before she turned around, her gentle look nowhere to be seen as she stated, "I had not expected something like this to happen. Now that it has, only your final challenge awaits...once you have steeled yourself, find me on the Isle of Skye. I will await you at the place where my legend began..."With her words finished, Scáthach disappeared within the void, leaving Vahn at a loss for words. The last few months had been relatively uneventful so it was rather disorienting to have things progress so quickly. Though he knew Scáthach had been losing her patience as of late, the appearance of Cú Chulainn seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Now, the next time he met the purple-clad beauty, it would undoubtedly be a fight to the death.Feeling more than a little exasperated, Vahn released a tired sigh before looking toward the top of the wall and waving down Boudica. In response, she unhesitantly jumped down and, even without reinforcing her body with mana, her physique alone was enough to withstand the 50m fall, even in full armor. Though she landed rather roughly, without much grace, Vahn dutifully pretended not to notice as he turned his eyes toward where Cú had been standing moments prior...After taking a few deep breaths to collect herself, Boudica approached Vahn's side, a confident and dignified look on her face as she asked, "Is there something you require of me, Master?"Answering Boudica's inquiry with a curt nod, Vahn explained, "Make sure nothing snuck in during the personnel evacuation. Once the Supercolony had been cleared out, we'll be performing a detailed sweep and scan of the entire region. Cú must have been sent here for a reason...we'll not rest until it is found."With her orders received, Boudica performed a knightly salute, striking her breastplate with her gauntleted hand, before shouting, "Ha! I will carry out your orders without fail!" Afterward, she gave a courteous bow and, after being dismissed by Vahn, quickly set out to perform her duties.After watching Boudica's departing figure, cloaked in a thick white cape, Vahn released another sigh before turning his eyes skyward and expanding his senses through the area. Now that he was here, he was compelled to sweep the area a few times. Part of him was tempted to give chase and pursue Scáthach directly to the Isle of Skye but, knowing he wasn't in the proper state of mind to face her in an unrestricted battle, this was the next best thing.Fortunately, or perhaps not, Vahn's senses did, in fact, pick up the presence of an anomalous magical signature. Sensing it, he couldn't help but roll his eyes before muttering, "I suppose we're not at the point where you'll inform me every time something like this happens, huh?"Without replying to his question directly, Alaya made her intentions known by wiggling around and biting him a little harder than before. Truthfully, there were a lot of things she could tell Vahn but, as it would only stress him out even further, she never proactively fed him information. The only reason she had informed him about Tristan being attacked was due to a prior order, not out of her concern for the red-haired Knight's safety. This information had to be paid for with Magical Energy so, unless Vahn fed her a phenomenal amount, there were limits to what she could actually provide him.Vahn, of course, knew that Alaya was still bound by the restrictions placed on her. This was actually a very good thing as, with the recent changes in her behavior, it would cause a lot of problems if she was able to act freely. Thus, while part of him wished she would be more 'proactive' when it came to important matters, it, honestly, wasn't really her job. He already expected quite a bit from her so, as frustrating as her silence was, at times, Vahn couldn't hold her accountable...After teleporting to where the anomalous magical signature was, Vahn found a peculiar metallic box that, from appearances alone, seemed high tech. It had a sleek black surface with a laser-engraved runic pattern embossed onto its surface. This was a technology that Da Vinci had developed around two years ago but, as only Imperial Tech made use of such systems, seeing a foreign device possess a similar level of tech showed just how advanced their enemies were.Since nothing good would come from leaving the device alone, Vahn placed his palm against its surface and, after a brief tug-of-war against whatever was controlling it, he forcibly took control of the object before throwing it into his Inventory. Then, passing his intent through the foreign magical energy, Vahn attempted to trace the energy back to its source. He had been able to send his intent around freely even before entering the Nasuverse and, with his mastery over Space Laws, it would be difficult to avoid his detection.Unfortunately, while Vahn was able to pursue the source for several seconds, whoever had been in control seemed to realize what was happening. In response, they sent an explosive pulse of magical energy through the original signal. This was similar to how Modern Magi used Counter Curses and, if he was a normal person, Vahn could even receive a backlash if he continued his pursuit. Fortunately, he was anything but normal so, despite a small trickle of blood running down his nose, Vahn forced his way through the surge, latching onto the original signal and tracking the source to a mountain range near the border between Pakistan and China.Despite the constant lectures he received about taking action on his own, Vahn wasn't the type to just sit around while his enemy slithered in the shadows like a snake. He was already holding council back in Avalon, the benefit of having two bodies, so he instantly gave out mobilization orders while teleporting to the location, courtesy of Alaya. Moments later, several other ripples appeared in the surrounding space as, from within the void, Arcueid, Okita, and, as he knew she had been longing for battle, Altera appeared.Vahn was tired of just letting his enemies do whatever they wanted so, with a calm and commanding tone, he ordered, "Arcueid, I want you to pull this entire mountain into your Marble Phantasm. Okita, make sure none of the enemies are able to escape. If you have the option between killing or sparing them, lean towards the latter but do not be afraid to strike them down if they are dangerous. Altera, you will stay at my side...if there are any powerful enemies, I will let you take care of them..."Though Arcueid could manifest her Marble Phantasm with ease, pulling things from the real world into it was considerably more difficult. Despite this, she unhesitantly stepped forward and brought her hands together, much like she was praying. In the next moment, her aura seemed to cover the heavens themselves and, after a couple of seconds had passed, the night sky became a bright blue as she forcibly pulled everything in her surroundings into her Marble Phantasm. This left her gasping for breath but, after a minute or so of absorbing energy from the earth, combined with Vahn feeding her a considerable amount of Source Energy, she was back at full capacity.The moment Arcueid's Marble Phantasm manifested, Okita vanished like a phantom from Vahn's side, immediately followed by the latter muttering, "ORT, keep watch from above. If anything tries to fly away or forcibly intervene, feel free to capture or kill them..."With just a few simple commands, Vahn now had three Tier 5 existences acting on his orders while, back in Avalon, Aoko and Maxwell were helping to feed magical energy into his body. It wasn't the most efficient process but, with Maxwell being able to output an infinite amount of energy, Vahn would be able to muster a functionally infinite amount of his own. As a result, his normally green eyes began to blaze with a divine blue light, his momentum seeming to rise even higher than the 8600m mountain before him.---Mountains had always been a source of great mystery and mysticism, even dating back to the Era of the Gods. Most mountains were natural formations that came into being as a result of two tectonic plates moving against each other. As a result, the energies contained within the earth spilled out in these regions and, while not necessarily part of a Leyline, many acted as Artificial Leylines as a result. It was for this reason that so many Magi, Sages, and Spiritual Hermits had made their home atop mountain as, more often than not, many were direct portals to Spiritual Lands.A Spiritual Land was an area on the Surface Texture where the boundaries between the Surface and Reverse Sides, at times, became weakened. This allowed for various mutations in plants and animals, often resulting in the formation of treasure-grade medicinal herbs and powerful monsters. Since the strength of a Magus family was often directly related to the number of Spiritual Lands under their influence, it wasn't uncommon to find powerful Bounded Fields wherever famous mountains existed.Due to lacking the personnel to police them, and generally not caring about the resources inside, the Empire had left most Spiritual Lands to whoever felt like claiming them. Eventually, the entire planet would become a Spiritual Land so, while there were certainly benefits to be had, the Empire would have to invest manpower it didn't have in an effort to claim them. Most of them had been left to the Mage's Association to police and, now, as a result of his half-measures, Vahn bore witness as, from within the subsumed Bounded Field, a veritable army of Golems and Magical Constructs poured out.Despite a seemingly endless sea of enemy forces, neither Vahn nor any of his allies showed any sign of perturbance. They all remained calm and collected as, when it came to true power, numbers rarely made much of a difference. A billion ants might be able to take down an elephant but even a billion times that number could do little against entities on the level of planetary bodies. Vahn himself had yet to reach this level but Arcueid, ORT, and even Altera, easily qualified as Tier 5 existences.As there were some enemies within the air, a brilliant flash of emerald green light caused all other colors to fade into darkness as ORT, appearing much like an angular green spaceship, tore through every aerial enemy in seconds. At the same time, Okita was leaving behind cuts in the air that, even after several seconds passed, continued to sever the void. This caused a powerful and destructive gravitational force to suck in anything foolish enough to near the affected area and, as her attacks continued to build, lightning formed from reddish-black energy began to dance between each of the rifts.Since it was a good opportunity, Vahn gave a small nod towards the patiently waiting Altera, saying, "Take care not to cause collateral damage to the mountain and your allies. You have enough power to wipe these enemies out with devastating your surroundings. Other than that, feel free to cut loose as much as you want."Hearing Vahn's words, Altera simply replied with an, "I see..." before pulling her tri-colored sword out of her chest. In the next moment, she kicked off the ground with enough force to cause Vahn's and Arcueid's clothes to flutter as a shockwave of dust and debris crashed into them. This caused Vahn to issue a small sigh and, though she was slightly annoyed by Altera's actions, Arcueid decided to just laugh it off. Then, entangling her arm with Vahn's, she adorned a radiant smile on her face, asking, "Shall we go~?"https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Though it had little to do with his own training, it was strangely 'refreshing' to see someone other than himself suffering under Scáthach's guidance. It made Vahn feel like a senior disciple watching as his junior did their best to complete their foundation training.Unfortunately, as there were seven Scáthachs now, Vahn only caught very brief glimpses of Richard's training, generally when he was just wrapping up with his own. The rest of his time was spent wholly focused on the challenges he had been assigned as, with each passing day, the pack of purple beasts seemed to grow more restless. It didn't seem to matter how much effort he put into completing the tasks, rather, the harder he tried, the higher his Shishou's expectations of him.If not for his otherwise fulfilling lifestyle, combined with his massive increase in strength, Vahn felt there was a non-negligible chance he would have been broken by Scáthach's training. Since he had been able to persevere, however, the current him couldn't even compare to the version of himself from a few months prior. He always seemed to be making leaps and bounds in his progress, to the point he could now fight against his Shishou for upwards of eight hours without suffering the fate of having his body and mind temporarily broken.Though he couldn't dodge Scáthach's strongest spear attacks, which basically used the power of the Laws to bend causality, he could now avoid a hit to his vitals nearly half the time. This alone was such a drastic improvement that, the first time he pulled it off, Scáthach showed a, very rare, expression of shock. Though he hadn't been able to take advantage of the gap in her mentality, the aftercare that day had been especially relaxing.Vahn still had a long way to go before he was the 'strongest' but, so long as he was serious about it, he could defeat most Heroic Spirits without even having to rely on his [Magia Erebea]. If they didn't have an A-Rank Noble Phantasm or advanced mastery over certain Laws, most Heroic Spirits would be hard-pressed to even damage him. His body tempering and reconstruction had reached such an advanced stage that, using his bare hands and forearms, Vahn was even able to deflect blows from weapons like [Excalibur], a weapon with a powerful holy element, with superficial wounds.By the time he completed all of Scáthach's challenges, Vahn had the distinct impression he would have become a real monster. Since this was only a fraction of the strength he would need to link the Records, however, he knew better than to assume he was truly strong. Rather, even if he was tens of times stronger than his current self, he would still be hard-pressed to deal any meaningful damage to Akasha and her superiors. In a way, he was much like a child playing within a calm bay, aware of the dangers beyond the reef but unable to truly comprehend their terror...Still, at least within the Root System, there was an ever-decreasing number of entities that could hope to even damage him, much less kill him. Even sealing him away was an ultimately futile action as his Source Energy, combined with his [Chainbreaker], allowed him to break through virtually any kind of seal. This even included his own [Enkidu], a Tier 5 artifact that should be able to restrain him with considerable ease due to his Divinity.Due to his training with Scáthach, Vahn could still move around while bound by [Enkidu] and, if he pushed himself, even using his domain was possible. Though manifesting energy externally was still beyond him, he had never been all that good at it, to begin with...If he really wanted to, Vahn could wrap [Enkidu] around his forearms, using the resplendent golden chains as heavy whips that could even lay low the Gods. Though it wasn't his preferred way to attack, it had given him a few advantages against Scáthach as, despite her prowess, she didn't actually have a counter to the higher-tiered artifact. They weren't known as the Heaven-Binding Chains for naught and, if he used them skillfully, even the space around him could be sealed away with ease.When his climactic battle against Scáthach came, Vahn knew [Enkidu] would be his strongest ally as, with her ability to hide clones within the void, sealing off the surrounding space was necessary. After her battle against the unseen swordsman, she now hid dozens of herself within the void so, when it came down to it, Vahn knew he might have to defeat more than a hundred Scáthach, rather than just a single version of herself.In preparation for this, Vahn had been conducting 'secret' training of his own within the Workshop. It wasn't the most realistic method but, using Da Vinci's Virtual World, Vahn could battle against a truly infinite number of Scáthach's.Da Vinci had asked him to help stress test the system in preparation for a large-scale launch so, while the virtual version of Scáthach was considerably weaker than the original, her numbers and the system's ability to learn over time, more than made up for it.Unfortunately, no matter how many updates Da Vinci had made to the Virtual World, it didn't seem to be able to properly account for the existence of Innates. Vahn could still activate his [Will of the Emperor] within the Virtual Space and, due to the peculiarities of Source Energy, his ability to create and manifest items worked flawlessly. This made absolutely no sense to Da Vinci, as physical objects should not be able to exist within virtual space, so Vahn was forced to spend a considerable amount of time helping her test the system's limits.Truthfully, Vahn didn't actually like the Virtual World all that much as, despite how fantastical it was from the inside, his sense couldn't be fooled so easily. He always had the feeling that, regardless of how immersive it was, everything he was witnessing wasn't real. It was strangely annoying so, unless he was training or directly assisting Da Vinci, he tried to avoid using it too often. To him, that 1.73% variation between reality and the virtual world was like being covered in a layer of grease, something palpable and annoying.The Virtual World was, admittedly, one of the most innovative and technologically advanced pieces of technology to ever exist. Vahn's discomfort was primarily the result of his 'awareness' and, to an even greater extent, his affinity with the Space element. It was discovered that the higher a person's affinity with Space, the greater the sense of incongruity they felt within the Virtual World. Ishtar and Aoko had been equally as affected when they gave the system a try and, though you could get used to it after a while, neither woman elected to do so.Fortunately, the Virtual World was merely one of the options Da Vinci had developed when it came to experience an immersive world. To that end, she had also developed the Environmental Projection Medium, basically replicated the methods used in the creation of a Sub-Texture using a combination of Science, Technology, and Magecraft. Though it still had a long way to go, as the projected objects were effectively just solid holograms, it was possible to create very realistic representations of reality.Though it wasn't entirely accurate, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Da Vinci was developing a way to mass-produce Reality Marbles. She had already developed a version of the [Space-Time Orb] that could map the surroundings and make a perfect replica of the environment within. This was very useful for battling against opponents in high population centers but, compared to the final product that Da Vinci envisioned, it was still a nascent technology.Eventually, Da Vinci wanted to merge all of her current technologies together, essentially creating a portable Reality Marble that could be activated by anyone who held the key. In its penultimate form, it would even be able to simulate entire planets, a terrifying thought until you considered that most [Space-Time Orb]s already had functionally infinite space within. So long as they had enough energy, they would continue to expand without limit, emulating real-world Laws and harboring life without issue.The hardest part of the equation was finding a way to actually store physical objects within what was effectively a purely Spiritual world. Vahn could manage this easily due to his Source Energy but, even after countless simulations based on the data she had collected, Da Vinci was no closer to finding a solution to this problem. While she had never believed anything to be impossible, there were some things that simply defied all explanations, both logical and irrational.Vahn's ability to manifest solid matter within a virtual or spiritual environment made absolutely no sense whatsoever, as, even from the perspective of the system itself, it was unable to even analyze these objects due to the fact they lacked the requisite data. The fact these anomalous objects could still interact with physical data constructs was yet another nonsensical development as the coding should be unaffected by anything not defined within the system. Even stranger was the fact that she could program a block to be indestructible but, as if his power overwrote the source coding, Vahn was still able to destroy them.Needless to say, Da Vinci was no closer to understanding the complexities of Vahn's existence, even after observing him for several years. The more she learned about him, the more there was to learn as, despite every theory she came up with, he seemed to be able to completely shatter it with little to no effort. While this excited her to no end, as there was nothing she enjoyed more than trying to comprehend the inexplicable, there were times when she would just lose herself in a fit of laughter after seeing him do something completely outside her expectations...---Hearing Da Vinci laughing in a sonorous yet incredulous manner, Vahn could only smile wryly in response while Sophia, seeing her mother lose it, fretfully observed from the side. This wasn't the first time she had seen her mother 'snap' but, as she was usually very calm and composed, it never got any easier seeing it. Thus, with a worried expression on her face, she looked toward the slightly glowing Vahn and said, "Papa...I wish you wouldn't just casually break mother..."As if he had been dealt critical damage, Vahn visibly tensed in response to Sophia's words, his brows twitching slightly as she smiled and said, "I only did what she asked me to do...you know I can't help but do my best when your mother asks..."Though she nodded her head in understanding, there was still a visible hint of blame in Sophia's eyes as she walked over to where Da Vinci was curled up in a laughing fit. Then, much as she had done in the past, Sophia pinched her mother's side rather forcibly, breaking Da Vinci free from the curse of laughter in an instant.Seeing her lovely daughter's concerned expression, Da Vinci mustered her usual smile as she mused, "Oh, you're so cute when you worry, Sophia-chan~." while extending her hand to muss Sophia's hair. This caused the latter to sigh in relief as, due to her emulation of Vahn, Da Vinci had made quite a bit of progress in her comprehension of Petting Laws. Rather, due to Vahn's influence, quite a number of people had developed a basic mastery of the once-obscure Law...Once Sophia had been pacified, Da Vinci turned her attention back to the waiting Vahn, her smile reaching all the way to her eyes as she mused, "There is never a dull moment when I work together with you...tell me, how do you feel?"In response to Da Vinci's question, Vahn flexed his fingers a couple of times before popping his joints and answering, "It feels a lot different from my normal body but it doesn't feel 'off' like it does within the Virtual World. I'm guessing the presence of defined Spatial Laws has something to do with it."As this matched her own speculation, Da Vinci nodded her head in agreement before pulling Sophia to sit on her lap. Afterward, she pulled up a holographic panel and began typing a list of commands while interrogating Vahn. The fact he had been able to manifest his Virtual Avatar in the real world, all while his actual body continued to rest peacefully at the side, was, once again, completely outside initial projections. Since he could do it, there was a non-negligible chance others would be able to do the same so, in order to prevent Virtual Avatars from wreaking havoc on the real world, Da Vinci had to get a better understanding of both the real and virtual worlds...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Scáthach is the ultimate tiger mom','Vahn's existence defies logic xD...','Stay strong, Da Vinci-chan...!')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 1393: Eleven