Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn was very satisfied with the growth of Maemi and Emiru, as it was a great amount of progress for their first trip into the dungeon. The only thing he found unsatisfactory was the fact he was unable to read any of the information related to their Innate ability at all. Since he could barely interpret his own Innates, Vahn understood the reasoning behind why he was unable to see the details, but it was still somewhat inconvenient. This meant the twins were the only ones who were able to figure out how to use their Innate ability, but at least he could inform them about his speculation and the fact the skill exists in the first place.

After waiting for a few minutes, Maemi was the first to recover as she raised up her body and stared blankly at Vahn for a few seconds before a mild blush appeared on her relatively fair skin. Even if he hadn't touched her body directly, Maemi had enjoyed the pleasant feelings of Vahn's massage and had dazed about for a few minutes after he raised the back of her blouse. Though she was very embarrassed, Maemi felt an excitement bubbling up in her belly that made her feel a little giddy. Vahn gave her a curt nod when they made eye contact and handed her the piece of paper that recorded their updated Status.

Maemi received the paper and a smile bloomed on her face after seeing that, other than her magic parameter, every other parameter was increasing rapidly. She suddenly felt like Vahn's words about her becoming stronger were true and the only thing she needed to do was make the effort to improve alongside Emiru. As she scanned down the paper, Maemi noticed something peculiar and c.o.c.ked her head to the side as she asked, "What is [Gemini]? I've never heard of such a skill before...could it be a rare skill!?" Maemi suddenly started to get very excited and Vahn explained with a smile, "Yes, it wouldn't be incorrect to say it is an incredibly rare skill that is unique to you and Emiru. Even with my powerful identification ability, I can't see through the secrets of your skill though, so you'll have to rely on each other to understand its uses. At the very least, it seems to allow your growth to continue in pace with each other while also linking your senses and experiences, both positively and negatively."

Hearing Vahn's words, Maemi started to get fired up even more, since she understood that Vahn's identification ability was even stronger than most gods. If he couldn't see through it, it meant the skill had to be very powerful and unique, even though it was currently only Rank-E. Since they had been lectured several times about how skills grow, Maemi knew that the skill being at Rank-E, even though she was Level 1, showed that it had a lot of potential for development in the future. While she was thinking about its potential uses, Emiru lazily raised her body as well before turning to stare at Vahn and Maemi. They had noticed her movements and looked over with moderately shocked expressions when they noticed that the color of her eyes had changed from lilac to a snowy blue color.

Maemi immediately pointed with her index finger and said, "Emiru, your eyes, they are blue!" Emiru tilted her head with an, 'Eh~?' sound before Vahn pulled out a mirror for her to check her reflection. The moment she verified her sister's words, Emiru frowned a bit and said, "But, I don't want to be different from Maemi..." Her eyes began to mist up a bit and Vahn noticed that the snowy-blue color faded until the original lilac color returned. Emiru had been the first to notice the change and released a relieved sigh as her shoulders drooped. After a short duration, she walked over and shared a hug with Maemi while Vahn was ruminating about what he had just seen.

Since it wasn't a simple matter to change the color of the iris, that meant it had to be the result of a magical ability, or a skill that changed the basic function of the eye. The only skill the twins had was their [Gemini], so Vahn was positive it had something to do with their Innate ability. After thinking for a while, Vahn asked, "Wehn your eyes had changed, did you notice anything else strange?" Emiru and Maemi gave him a confused look so Vahn explained his speculation about how the change in her eye color likely had something to do with their 'rare' skill. Because it was a very serious matter, Emiru tried to think about if there had been any other changes since the time she woke up.

After a few seconds passed, Emiru's face showed a bit of confusion as she said, "I don't think there was anything after I woke up...but I remember hearing Vahn-sama talk about the skill and explaining things earlier. It was like I was Maemi for a short while...?" Vahn squinted his eyes and could feel his own interest in the subject expanding rapidly as he asked inquisitively, "Do you think you can focus on that feeling even more? Now that the two of you know about [Gemini], I think you'll be able to make better use of the connection you share from now on."

Hearing Vahn's request, Emiru nodded before making eye contact with Maemi and the two seemed to be having another private conversation that excluded Vahn. He didn't know if they had telepathy, or if there was something more unique going on, but he understood they were somehow able to understand each other without even speaking. More than a minute later, they both held out one of their hands and placed them together so that they looked to be mirroring each other. Vahn immediately activated his [Eyes of Truth] to see if there was something going on and he saw the mana in their bodies had started to intertwine until, nearly ten minutes later, it became a smooth flow. The moment the flow stabilized, a snowy-blue light flashed and Emiru vanished completely.

Vahn panicked for a brief moment until he noticed that Maemi was very calm as she looked toward him with a small smile on her face. Her smile wasn't the only thing Vahn noticed, as she now had heterochromatic eyes with one being lilac whilst the other was a snowy-blue. On her left hand, instead of a half-faced image of himself, it had now become a whole as if the two girls' bodies had completely fused together. Vahn was about to ask what was happening until a gentle lilac colored magical light shined and Emiru reappeared after splitting from Maemi's body. The moment they separated, both of the twins passed out on the spot and Vahn could tell they were in a 'Mind Down' status and had completely used up their mana.

Before they fell to the ground, Vahn caught the two girls in his arms and stared at their unconscious forms with the light of interest burning vibrantly within his pupils. He had never seen two people fusing together in the manner that they showed, and it represented countless possibilities for the future if they were to master the skill. Though he couldn't be sure, since he had been somewhat shocked when Emiru disappeared, he still had his [Eyes of Truth] active at the time and felt like Maemi had become a lot stronger when they fused together. As that thought passed through his mind, Vahn angled his head a bit and mused, "Maybe that wasn't Maemi anymore...but both of them together?" There were so many questions that Vahn wanted to know the answer to, including if Emiru was the only one that would 'vanish' and be absorbed by Maemi. If it worked both ways, the girls might even be able to avoid damage by absorbing the other into their body and randomly splitting to evade other attacks...

Vahn grew excited at the prospects that their shared Innate showed and wanted to help the girls find out the best way to make use of their abilities in the future. For now, however, he just let the two lay down as he watched over them while they slept. Though it might have been misunderstood by a random passerby, Vahn placed his palms against the navels of the two girls and began to channel his energy into their body while using [Yggdrasil's Favor] and [Hands of Nirvana] to replenish their mana with his source energy. Since the 'core' of a person's mana came from around their navel, it was the best place to insert the energy, even though simply holding hands would have allowed for a somewhat inefficient transfer.

Though he had pretended to care at first, Vahn felt like the stomachs of the sleeping girls were somewhat springy, even though they still had the softness he associated with women. Since they had very lithe figures, there wasn't much, if any, fat on their stomachs and Vahn was tempted to press his hand more firmly against their bellies but resisted the urge. After a few minutes passed, the girls finally awoke at the same time and stared at Vahn's hands where the two strange energies were entering their body. Vahn smiled at them and pulled his hands away and explained, "The two of you went into a 'Mind Down' state and I replenished your mana reserves with my own. I didn't imagine you'd like to spend the night sleeping on the dungeon floor so I decided to wake you up, sorry about that."

Without responding to his words, the twins looked at each other as if they were having another private conversation before turning back to him several seconds later and saying, "With Vahn-sama protecting us, we don't feel like sleeping in the dungeon is that scary at all~." Vahn gave the two a wry smile before ruffling their silver hair and standing up. He extended his hands to help the girls stand as he said, "We've done enough for tonight, let's head home and get some proper rest. You two did very well, and thanks for listening to my selfishness whenever I asked you to try something new."

The girls shook their heads and said, "No, Vahn-sama has allowed us to understand something very important about ourselves. Without your help, we may have grown apart at some point and never developed our own rare skill. Now, we feel like we can become a lot stronger..." The twins bowed their heads low and continued, "Thank you, Vahn-sama~!" Vahn felt very satisfied by the twins response and couldn't prevent a genuine smile from appearing on his face as he said, "You two have endless potential...I look forward to seeing how far you'll be able to go in the future. Now, let's get out of this stuffy place before it gets too late..." The twins responded with happy smiles as they followed along behind him obediently.

On their way out of the dungeon, Vahn let the twins fight together to improve their coordination further and they were able to slay most small groups of monsters without difficulty. This was the benefit of being able to update a status within the dungeon, because the twins parameters had been able to increase without having to return to the surface. They were already much stronger than when they had entered and it was very obvious to both themselves and Vahn. Seeing how rapid their own improvement was made the twins especially fired up and they managed to kill an additional 31 total monsters before they finally returned to the surface.

It was slightly after 11 PM when they exited the dungeon, but there were still stalls within Babel that were open 24/7, so Vahn purchased a late-night snack for the twins before they headed back to the Manor. It was nearing midnight by the time they arrived, but Vahn was able to see that Hestia was still awake because she had just left his room and was heading down the corridor towards the stairs. Vahn had a wry smile on his face, because he briefly imagined Hestia laying on his bed like a certain Pallum and Chienthrope girl while enjoying his scent. Though they tried to get him to join them, Vahn sent the twins off to the bath alone as he moved to intercept Hestia. Though they seemed 'dejected' at first, Vahn teased them by asking them if they had learned to read from Fenrir yet. The moment he mentioned the 'terrifying' wolf girl the twins immediately gave up on their attempts and trotted off to the bathroom to change out of their somewhat grimy clothing and enjoy a nice, hot, bath.

Hestia finally made her way down and Vahn caught her out of the air when she leaped into his arms. They exchanged a brief kiss before Vahn asked, "Did something happen that you needed to tell me before going to bed?" Hestia released a short sigh before staring up with her crystalline blue eyes and said, "I just wanted to welcome you back when you finally arrived. There is some information though, from Hephaestus and Loki. They said that, as long as you avoid approaching Freya yourself, she shouldn't be a problem for the time being. Here, let's go take a bath and I'll explain all the details." Hestia dropped down from Vahn's body and started leading the way towards the men's changing room. Vahn saw her 'casual' actions and the glaringly pink aura rising like a column of flames from her body as he followed behind her with a small smile on his face.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn's Experimental Nature','Fuuuuuuuu-sion! Ha~!','Endless Possibilities')

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