Chapter 1374: Temper
With Solon submitting to him, Vahn only had two Objectives remaining until the completion of his World Power Quest. This included defeating seven more Dead Apostle Ancestors and the slaying or subordination of Mavis Maxwell, the Pontiff of the Holy Church.
Though he could take care of them himself, Vahn had been convinced by Artoria to leave the defeat and capture of the Dead Apostle Ancestors to others. Thus, for the time being, Vahn's main concern, in regards to his ongoing Quest, was summoning Mavis. Since she had been teleported away prior to her original death, it could be deduced that she wasn't an evil existence.
Fortunately, as it was a relatively simple matter to summon Mavis through the Throne of Heroes, Vahn actually had very little to do in regards to the World Power Quest. Though it was undoubtedly a cause for concern, he really needed to learn to entrust matters to his subordinates and retainers. If he continued handling everything himself, there would be no end to the burdens he would have to carry.
With Da Vinci handling the preparations for the Supercolonies, Olga managing Chaldea, Artoria in charge of the Empire's affairs, and Solon administering the Clock Tower, Vahn actually had very little to do outside of his usual duties. Thus, for a time, he decided to focus on his training, spending time with his family, and tending to his lovers. He still made time to listen to reports and hold Court but, in the grand scheme of things, this only took a few hours out of his weekly schedule.
Since a single week could be upwards of 1200 hours, at least from Vahn's perspective, it felt like a considerable amount of time passed between each session. Though this was primarily the result of his vassal's capabilities, as Gawain, Lancelot, and Bedivere actually worked very well with each other, Vahn still felt like he wasn't doing much as Emperor. Of course, whenever he expressed this to girls, they would generally sigh in exasperation before making very clear he did a considerable amount to ensure the Empire's prosperity...
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It what felt like both the blink of an eye and an impossibly long period of time, fifteen days had passed in the outside. During this time, the Empire's forces had been providing aid all over the world while, around the locations where the Supercolonies would be built, hundreds of advanced Golems and other Automatons worked to flatten the land and protect the region. There were a number of small conflicts but, due to the vast disparity in the forces on both sides, the Empire rarely suffered anything more than slight injuries.
During all of this, Vahn followed his usual schedule and, as a result of his diligence, he had been able to make a fair amount of progress on Scáthach's challenges. Though he was only on the fourth one, it was much easier than the previous three as, rather than focus on increasing his base Parameters, tempering his spirit, or refining his control; Vahn had been tasked with 'breathing life' into the once-desolate Training Orb. This involved him simply meditating in the center of a massive formation for hours on end, powering what Scáthach plainly referred to as a 'Terraforming Magic Circle'.
Due to his past experience with Terra, Vahn had very little trouble converting his Source Energy into the constituent elements necessary to create life so, by the time Scáthach informed him the fourth challenge had been completed, a forest nearly 300km in diameter had appeared in the previously white void. He could have made it even bigger but, instead of focusing on the expansion, Vahn had a compulsion to simply allow the life to develop as it pleased. Though order could introduce beauty in all things, there was always something captivating about seeing what form nature took without any external influence...
Since she would never tell him the purpose until after he had completed a challenge, Vahn waited until he was accompanying his Shishou through the forest to ask, "Was this challenge intended to increase my affinity with Life and Creation Laws?"
Without sparing him a glance, Scátach shook her head before answering in her usual monotone, "It is difficult for others to stay in a place like this. Ciel has been struggling since that man left for Japan, so I decided to give you an easier task, one which would make you both happy. You should prepare yourself; the next challenge will be more difficult than the others combined."
Hearing Scáthach explain the reason he had been given such a simple challenge, Vahn couldn't help but raise his brows slightly. After all, she basically admitted the reason was a result of her concern for Ciel, not to push him beyond his limits. Unfortunately, her latter words all but guaranteed he would be experiencing a considerable amount of suffering so he ultimately decided not to comment on the matter.
After reaching their destination, a traditional Japanese house now surrounded by an expansive forest of lush greenery, Vahn saw Ciel hard at work doing squats while hefting a large obsidian rock on her shoulders. When she noticed their arrival, she finished her final squat before tossing the 5kkg stone statue on the ground and running over to issue a proper greeting.
Though she would normally recover to her 'default' state in an instant, Ciel's current outfit, a skin-tight dark-blue bodysuit, had various seals to restrict her regeneration. As a result, a layer of sweat covered her body as the hair near her scalp was matted to her skin. Fortunately, as the bodysuit was provided to her by Scáthach, it didn't actually reveal any of the 'finer' details of Ciel's body, sparing Vahn from having to avert his eyes.
Once Ciel finished her greeting, Scáthach gave her a small nod before emotionlessly stating, "If you continue as you have been, I will allow you to pursue that man in three years. This is slightly over five months in the outside so you needn't worry about anything major happening in that time. Focus on your training...the sooner you complete it, the sooner you will reunite with that man."
When she first heard Scáthach mention three years, Ciel became visibly deflated but, upon being reminded of the time dilation within the Projection, she instantly became more fired up, pumping her fists as she exclaimed, "Righ! Leave it to me, Shishou...!"
Without having to be told what she ought to do, Ciel returned to the large stone statue and, after taking a deep breath, she strained her body in order to heft it onto her shoulders. From there, she started her previous set from scratch while. Scáthach observed this for a short while before giving a small nod and giving Vahn a sidelong look.
Sensing his Shishou eye him up, Vahn averted his eyes from Ciel, a smile on his face as he said, "I still have a few hours. If there is time, I would like to begin your next challenge, Shishou."
Since he was her student within the Training Orb, Vahn had made a habit of lowering his head every time he requested something from her. She showed him similar courtesies outside so this was the least he could do for someone who had helped to qualitatively improve his capabilities. It wasn't an exaggeration to say she had saved him years of aimless experimentation as, without her guidance, Vahn would have undoubtedly strayed onto various paths before arriving at a correct answer.
In response to Vahn's request, Scáthach placed her hand on his shoulder, changing the surroundings from a lush forest to a vast expanse of white stone. The only landmark feature was a circular pool of molten red liquid, reminiscent of both blood and superheated metal. Vahn didn't really need to ask what her intentions were as, in the next moment, Scáthach pushed him into the boiling pool while explaining in a cold voice, "This pool extends one-thousand meters below the surface. As you dive further down, the heat and pressure will increase exponentially. At the very bottom, you will find a fragment of a spear. Retrieve it using nothing but your physical body..."
After making direct contact with the peculiar liquid, Vahn quickly realized what it was made of. As a result, he barely had time to process Scáthach's explanation as the pool, formed from a mixture of Destruction, Poison, and a myriad of other Elemental Energies dissolved his body like cotton candy in water. This wasn't enough to kill him but, for several minutes, Vahn's existence became pain as he endeavored to reform within the destructive pool. Throughout this entire process, Scáthach watched quietly from the side, waiting until he had reformed to give him a small nod and teleporting away.
Seeing his demonic Shishou abandon him, Vahn let the upper half of his body rest against the side of the pool while doing his best to keep his lower body from dissolving into nothingness. He felt this training was to temper his ability to maintain his form despite whatever his enemies would throw at him so, while it would be a nightmare trying to reach the bottom, Vahn didn't complain. It was only a matter of time until he adapted to the pool and, with very few ways to train his [Rakshasa Body], this was actually a blessing in disguise.
Scáthach had told him he was only allowed to use his physical body to complete the challenge but, while this might prevent him from using his [Magia Erebea] transformations, it would be impossible to deny that his [Rakshasa Body] was part of his actual physique. Unfortunately, his Zhuque form all but guaranteed even greater pain due to the impurities contained within the pool so, for now, Vahn transitioned into his Xuanwu form to temper its already insane defenses even further...
---
While his main body was struggling within the Training Orb, Vahn's secondary body was within one of the rooms adjacent to the Knight's Training Field and the primary Quest Board. Here, an isolated space had been created for one specific purpose: tempering the bodies of the children using his Source Energy.
Originally, Vahn had only helped Mordred and Sakura to temper their bodies, as they had learned of the process while he was training Gareth. Now, however, he ended up helping all the children after it became very clear that Mordred and Sakura had received considerable benefits from his daily care.
At first, Vahn had some inhibitions about the whole process, as he feared the girls would begin to imprint on him in a strange way but, after seeing Zoë and Astrid saddened by his refusal, he didn't have the heart to refuse them. After all, while they weren't his children, he had always tried to treat them as such. Since he would never refuse to help his actual children become stronger, Vahn didn't have the heart to refuse after seeing their puppy-like expressions.
Fortunately, unlike how Mordred would sometimes misbehave, Mash, Zoë, and Astrid were all well-behaved girls. Though they would turn red up to their ears during the procedure, they had enough self-restraint to prevent things from becoming too awkward. Thus, after a while, the event became just another part of Vahn's peculiar schedule, one which earned him a fair amount of teasing from girls like Nobunaga and Aoko...
Having just completed a tempering session, Vahn removed his palm from Sakura's exposed back, a red handprint marring her fair skin as a result of the prolonged contact. Then, leaving her to wear her clothing properly, Vahn wiped down his hand while casually remarking, "Before he gets cold feet, have Alex come inside, okay?"
With her face still flushed from the half-hour treatment, Sakura nodded her head in understanding before wiping her face with a cold towel and heading outside. There, a line of girls were all waiting their turn while, idling near the edge of the Knight's Training Field, Alex periodically looked over with an apprehensive look on his face.
Before Mash could head inside, Sakura quickly stopped her, explaining the situation before they both went over to secure a very disagreeable Alex. Unfortunately, due to the vast difference in their strength, the boy ended up being forcibly dragged into the room. This wasn't the first time he had thought to find out what the girls were doing to become so much stronger but, due to his pride, he had never been able to muster up the conviction to head inside. Now, the choice had been made for him and, though he would lament the mishandling of his pride, his strength would receive a marked increase over the following days...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'One day = one week, one week = 1.8 months','Scáthach is a bully','FBI-san, it is this person here..."')
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