Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn learned through Hestia about the meeting between Hephaestus, Loki, and Freya within the top floor of Babel. Though he wasn't aware of the details, Vahn knew that Freya had likely been scheming against him and that she had come to an agreement to not interfere with his life and had even allied herself with Hephaestus and Loki, though she didn't actually join the Alliance. Vahn knew that he would probably have to compromise with her a bit in the future, but at least he didn't have to worry about the troublesome goddess targeting the people close to him for the time being.

Now that the looming threat of Freya had been temporarily dealt with, Vahn had a lot of freedom to take actions and start increasing the strength of the Familia. Even though he was Level 3, with two Level 4's assisting him, the Familia itself was still only I rank. Since they had never completed any actual missions through the guild and obtained any achievements, their Familia's standing was still low and Vahn wanted to improve it now that there was time. He wanted to help the girls get to Level 2 while also trying to improve his [Mentor] Development Ability in the hopes that it will allow him to mentor more than one person at a time.

During the next day's training, Vahn noticed that Haruhime, Emiru, and Maemi were in much higher spirits than normal and were putting in more effort. It could have just been the result of their parameters increasing, but Vahn was able to see their auras burning brightly and knew they were very motivated. Once they were finished, Vahn gathered everyone together and explained what had been happening behind the scenes for the last two days. He also explained that now was the best time to try and improve their abilities while progressing into the dungeon and completing quests for the Guild. Since they were going to be much more active, Vahn consulted with Ryuu and Aki to draw up a schedule for everyone's duties, which even included a points system to obtain rewards.

Aki had explained that it was 'bad practice' to always give equipment and items to the members of the Familia, because it would inhibit them from developing a self-reliance on their own capabilities. Their members should be encouraged to push themselves a bit in order to obtain benefits since it would also promote their mentality and give them the motivation to grow stronger. Vahn agreed to their terms, even though they had only shown him one of the lists for the rewards, which included custom items and other things that the girls would have to exchange Valis, points, and materials to obtain. Vahn was aware there was a second list, but it was kept a 'secret' from him which pretty much told him it was related to 'services' he provided, amongst other things.

For Vahn's own schedule, he would be alternating between escorting Haruhime into the dungeon, and teaming up with the twins so they could progress at a relatively even pace. Vahn's main focus was on developing their skills and abilities, while Ryuu and Aki would alternate taking the other girls into the dungeon to develop teamwork and increase the Rank of the Familia. Fenrir was left on 'guard duty' since Vahn wasn't the only one worried about how the other girls would react when they saw her devouring monsters. Though they knew she was Vahn's 'tamed monster', it was hard to see Fenrir as anything more than a cute wolf girl that liked to be spoiled. Until their mentalities improved, and they were less sensitive to that type of thing, Fenrir wouldn't be partying with the other girls.

Other than the time he had scheduled for entering the dungeon, Vahn also gave Hestia the green light to accept bookings for massages in the future as well as scheduling time to take the measurements of the various girls he would be making equipment for. Though he wasn't aware of it at the time, there was also a second list going around about who would get to spend time with Vahn when he took the weekends off. There was also a 'Vahnatus' scheduled since Hephaestus and Loki wanted to gather everyone together and discuss the upcoming Denatus and what would change in the future. The number of attendees had grown by a fair amount, and they also wanted to make sure everyone was up to speed on the 'need to know' information concerning Vahn.

Though it might seem like the girls were trying to organize Vahn's life for him, he actually had a lot of sway in what he wanted to do and could easily move about as he pleased. He might not be able to visit the 'headquarters' of the members of the Alliance, but it didn't stop Vahn from meeting up with their members. The Guild had taken a 'wait and see' approach when it came to enforcing his probation anyways since Ouranos suspected there was a major event playing out that would likely come to a head at the Denatus. Using this newfound 'freedom', Vahn visited Hephaestus with Haruhime and they enjoyed a long tea time where they cuddled together after Vahn gave her the [Maternity Band] and explained its uses. Haruhime also tried to make a good impression on Hephaestus and the two seemed to mesh together well when Vahn showed Hephaestus the equipment and accessories he was developing for the young Renard.

When Hephaestus saw the accessories and learned about their function, she gave Vahn a fervent gaze like she was about to eat him up on the spot. Though it wasn't the first item she had seen that could contain mana, it was the first time she had seen it in such a compact form like a bracelet. The capacity of its storage was actually very high as well, as it could store an average of 720 mana within each accessory. This meant that, with proper preparation, a mage would have an emergency store of 3600 mana while also improving the actual efficacy of their spells. Vahn's accessories were another 'revolutionary' concept that would fundamentally change the world in the future.

Vahn explained how the items were produced and, after having Haruhime wait outside, gave her a specialized container that stored 500ml of his own blood within. Though the container he initially used couldn't keep the blood from decaying, Vahn had discovered that he could use the crystalline containers used for preserving the medicinal properties of potions to keep his blood for an indefinite period of time. Hephaestus took the container and had a serious expression on her face as she said, "I'll protect this process with absolute secrecy..." Hephaestus knew that it would cause a stir if people discovered that the blood of demigods, or gods for that matter, could be used as a container to store mana. Vahn nodded his head before lovingly stroking Hephaestus's face as he kissed her deeply for a time.

Before they eventually parted and Vahn left for the dungeon, he kneeled down and caressed her relatively firm, muscular, stomach for a short while before kissing below her belly button. Hephaestus lovingly stroked his hair and Vahn could hear an endless number of notifications sounding in the back of his mind about how her Love parameter was increasing. She was currently the person with the absolute highest parameter for him, with her Love reaching 21,483 points. The next closest was Fenrir, who had a Loyalty value of 11,992 followed by Tiona who had a Love value of 1,165.

After leaving Hephaestus's workshop, Vahn casually made his way toward the Dungeon while escorting Haruhime who was currently wearing a new kimono with a few other pieces of equipment to compliment her outfit. Her previous kimono had been torn on the sleeves, and she now wore one that was slightly more durable while also wearing a pair of thin, black, bracers on her forearms. Underneath her kimono, since it only extended to the upper half of her thigh, she wore a pair of black spats that ran to around the middle-point of her thigh with a pair of thin shin guards that merged into her black boots that had a slight heel to them. She originally wore a pair of sandals, but quickly learned that they interfered with her mobility and exchanged them for something more practical. Vahn felt like she was turning more into a kunoichi than a 'priestess', but he planned to fix the 'image' a bit when he finished her equipment in the future. She also wore a black obi around her waist with the white-gold accessories on her wrists and ankles.

Because her stats were still quite low, Vahn had decided to trade in the [001] he had given Haruhime before purchasing a magical weapon for her to use. He wasn't sure what item would suit her the best, but Vahn had noticed that Haruhime had been trying to replicate his movements with the katana in the past so he used the gacha function that he typically avoided and spent 30,000OP for three of the basic gacha roles. Since it allowed him to narrow down a few search terms, Vahn had input 'Katana', 'Magical', 'Beautiful' since he thought they were the most suitable terms for Haruhime. Within his mind, there was a giant wheel that appeared and spun around before spitting out two white lights and a single blue light. Vahn quickly inspected the basic drops and compared the items to their original OP cost and realized he had lost around 13,000OP as their combined total was only 7,000OP. Fortunately, the blue item was actually worth 91,000OP so he had obtained a net positive.

Vahn pulled out the katana named [Sakura Blossom] out of his inventory and raised his brows slightly due to the actual 'beauty' of the design. Its scabbard was predominantly black and it had vibrant pink sakura petals decorating its length as if a branch were extending from the guard. The handle of the katana was also black, with white undertones, and the cord wrapped around the scabbard was a mesh of black and pink interwoven in an intricate pattern. The guard itself was black, but it had a beautiful design that also showed sakura petals inlaid into it as if the blade bloomed from the handle. When Vahn unsheathed the katana, he noticed the blade was flawless and had an impeccable wavy pattern along the actual blade. Vahn could read the characters on the blade and understood they meant, 'Infinite', 'Sakura', and 'Blossom'. Along the spine of the katana, there was an almost unnoticeable red line that, when Vahn channeled his energy into the blade, glowed with a vibrant pink.

[Sakura Blossom]

Rank: A (Magic)

P.Atk: 440+40

M.Atk: 880

Abilities: Blossom(B), Magical Amplification(B), Piercing(A)

An intricately designed Katana that had been forged at the request of a proud Lord in a distant land. He had gifted the weapon to his daughter, whose favorite past time had been polishing her swordsmanship under the perpetually blooming cherry trees within the mountains.

Use: Blossom(B): Creates a storm of cherry blossoms that dance around the user and cuts through foes.

Chant: Dance, fading effervescence. Blossom, petals of spring. ~Blossom!

After reading the chant within his mind, Vahn c.o.c.ked his head a bit since he was able to imbue his energy into the blade without saying a single word. He swung the katana and a gentle wind sprung up around his body as beautiful pink flower petals danced lazily through the air. They seemed to defy gravity, and whenever Vahn moved around, they petals would move with him and follow the path of the blade. From the side, Haruhime had been watching his movements and muttered in a quiet tone, "Beautiful..." In her eyes, Vahn was moving around fluidly while surrounded by vibrant pink flow petals, almost like he was dancing in the wind, untouched by the murky darkness around them.

Once he was satisfied, Vahn sheathed the katana and the petals dissolved out of the air before he handed to Haruhime and said, "This is for you, it'll help you develop your Magic parameter while also improving your other capabilities in the future." Haruhime's eyes widened as she quickly snatched away the katana and held it like a priceless treasure. Vahn saw her reaction and smiled since he found her to be quite adorable at the moment. She had noticed his look and blushed slightly as her ears twitched about. After calming down, she fixed the [Sakura Blossom] through her black obi and Vahn quickly realized the black design perfectly matched the aesthetic of Haruhime's outfit.

After explaining the use of the weapon, Vahn led Haruhime into the dungeon without any hesitation as they made their way towards the deeper floors. Since he was worried about her ability to take on monsters with higher endurance, Vahn wanted Haruhime to fight some Dungeon Lizards while also learning how to control the [Sakura Blossom] to deal with groups of enemies. He noticed that the energy consumption of the katana wasn't that high, so Vahn hoped Haruhime would be able to make proper use of it since her Magic parameter was already over 600 points. She also had the accessories fully charged and Vahn was curious to see how far she could go without his support.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Calm...','Hephaestus's Overwhelming Love','Scatter...I mean Blossom!'

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