Bab 422: Intuition

Vahn had learned a great deal during his 'rendezvous' with Tsubaki within the warm confines of her forge. Chief amongst them is that she was currently, as far as he could tell, the best method to generate OP through the use of his [Petting] Development Ability. He had already confirmed this was the case previously, but using his actual massage techniques increased the amount OP he received through the skill and also increased the efficacy of [Hands of Nirvana] at the same time. Since he had already pushed his massage technique to S-Rank, Vahn was excited at the possibility of one day increasing the skill even further and breaking the limit of its potential. He was aware that his 'Nirvana' was actually different than the described version, most likely due to his source energy, so increasing the potency of the skill even further was a tremendous boon.

In the three hours he was with Tsubaki, other than getting her to call his name a few times, Vahn had managed to accumulate an additional 7,143OP. This was more than producing an A-Rank piece of equipment and made Vahn giddy with expectations about the future. Unfortunately, as he had gotten somewhat carried away, he ended up receiving Tsubaki's punishment when she managed to recover which inevitably led to him being nearly suffocated in her breasts before she released him and let Vahn lay on her stomach. He spent the remaining time they had together listening for signs of life, which had become a very therapeutic thing for Vahn in the last couple of days.

When their 'break' had officially come to an end, Vahn was helping Tsubaki wipe down her body with a hot damp cloth that also had the functionality of diffusing scents. Vahn knew he wouldn't always have time to take a bath every time he released his tensions during the day, so he had scoured the shop until he found a 'solution' to his problem with the beast-humans being present in the Manor. It wasn't that he was embarrassed to have daylight rendezvous with the girls, and he knew it would spread regardless of the actions he took, Vahn just didn't want to 'inconvenience' himself and his partner by forcing them to have to bath every time they were together. Besides, wiping down the body of the woman after the fact was something Vahn was very fond of since it felt like he was taking personal care of their bodies and it also allowed him to help recover any fatigue they might feel.

As he was wiping the sweat off her breasts, Vahn had stopped his hands for a moment so Tsubaki smiled widely and asked, "How are they~?" Vahn nodded his head with an earnest expression on his face and said plainly, "They have a great shape a 'full' feel to them. I could be off by a bit, but I'd say they're nearly 9kg combined...it's amazing that you can fit nearly a fifth of your body weight on just your chest..." Tsubaki began to laugh loudly at Vahn's words before swatting away his hands and taking the towel from him. With a lecturing tone, she gave Vahn an appraising look and stated, "Vahn, you say too much, too often, but at least you're honest about how you feel. I'll finish up here myself since you shouldn't keep others waiting...ah, by the way, I'll be keeping these." Tsubaki held up the [Midnight Passion Panties] for Vahn to see and commented, "I want to study them for a bit and see if I can crack the principles behind them on my own. In exchange, you can keep my earlier pair that you sneakily stowed away with your storage magic. Make sure to wash them later, okay~?'

Vahn gnashed his teeth slightly at the impact of Tsubaki's words because it made him sound like a pervert that collected warm panties from his women. Other than Tsubaki's current pair, Vahn only had a pair belonging to Loki so he didn't think it was a fair accusation to make. Shaking his head, Vahn walked forward and embraced Tsubaki for a short while before preparing to leave. Thinking he could get an advantage, he decided to cop a feel of her butt as well and, when he separated from the embrace commented, "I think your butt weighs more than your breasts..." Using [Shundo] to evade the smack that was approaching his head, Vahn exited through the door after auto-equipping his clothing and running away before the blushing tyrant could get her hands on him.

As he made his way through the Manor, Vahn wasn't exactly sure what he should be doing right now. Tsubaki might have told him not to keep others waiting, but he hadn't actually made any plans for the afternoon since Riveria had gone into the Dungeon. He could do a bit of research for himself, but his perception was slightly askew from normal and it was hard to 'break' the current common sense of the world without someone deeply rooted in it nearby. Passing his perception over the entire Manor, Vahn looked to see who was currently within the residence and saw Hestia with Tina, Shizune, and Preasia, while Syr seemed to be in the kitchen chopping vegetables, likely for use in this evening dinner.

Everyone else was currently either in the Dungeon or out on the City, so Vahn could only rely on his Status Logbook to find out if anyone was 'available' to have fun. If not, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to go spend time with Hestia and the youth troupe for the afternoon. Other than Tsubaki, who was still 'Free', most of the girls were currently 'Busy - In the Dungeon'. The ones that were currently available were Hestia, Loki, Syr, Aisha, Anubis, and Nanu. Loki could be fun to hang out with and Vahn hadn't visited the Twilight Manor in some time, but there were a few names that caught his eye that made him ruminate over the matter for a short while. For her to be on the list, Aisha had to have received 'permission' from the network, but Vahn had never actually spent any time with her at all.

Vahn still remembered his first 'fateful' meeting with Aisha and how she had tried to 'tempt' him by removing her bottoms in the middle of an alleyway. Even though he had only taken a brief glimpse, he could still perfectly recall the image in his mind if he thought about it. Vahn had somewhat expected her affection to fade with time but, much like the peculiar Senna, her affection constantly hovered around the upper 90s, even though he had rarely ever spent time with her. He recalled in the past that, right after he 'turned' her and the Amazons away her affection was in the lower 80s. This meant that, even without him being around her at all, her affection had constantly been growing for him and Vahn felt somewhat guilty about it.

Aisha hadn't done much for him, not that he had done much for her either, but she had helped him out with Welf's 'situation' in the past and Vahn felt like he owed her one. Though he could try to make it up to her through 'normal' means, Vahn knew that she would probably want to have sex with him eventually. The problem with that was...Vahn didn't want to end up having any Amazons getting pregnant with his children right now since he wasn't remotely prepared to deal with Kali and the Amazon Queen. He also didn't want to 'force' anyone to have to use a drug just because he didn't want them to get pregnant, and he felt like it would be an insult if he refused to actually ejaculate inside of her even though he was willing to have sex.

Though she was Level 4, Aisha was an experienced woman when it came to dealing with men and, since she already recognized him as being stronger than she is, there was a very high chance she would get pregnant after the fact. Vahn wanted Tiona to be the first Amazoness he impregnated so it wasn't an easy decision to make. It would probably be better to just go and check in on Welf, or make the rounds to the other members of the Alliance since he had never done so, even though he was the Captain of the Hestia Familia. There was also the option of going to visit Anubis and Nanu, but Vahn knew he would be too 'tempted' by Anubis if they were alone at any point in time. Even if he went there with the intention of just playing with the children, it would probably escalate to something more 'risque' by the time he left.

After ruminating over the matter for a few minutes, Vahn decided to leave the matter regarding Aisha alone until he could talk it over with Tiona, Tione, Loki, and Aisha herself. She seemed like a rational girl, so there was a good chance she would take contraceptive after the fact if Vahn explained the situation to her. He decided instead to head toward the Miach Familia's temporary residence before stopping over to visit Takemikazuchi, Welf, and, potentially, wrapping things up by stopping over for a drink at the new Hostess of Fertility.

Even though it was just right across the street from the Manor's gate, Vahn hadn't actually visited the establishment yet. Other than Syr, all the girls should be working there right now and Vahn could also spend some private time with Chloe. He was almost certain that Mama Mia, and the girls themselves, would have prepared a private booth for him. Because he couldn't put the girls into a compromising position, Vahn would be able to relax and just enjoy some quiet time with them without having to worry about things devolving because of his own lack of inhibitions. There was also something about 'sneakily' spending time with the girls that other people desired right under their noses that made Vahn feel somewhat prideful.

After letting Hestia and Syr know about his plans, Vahn left the Hearth Manor for what felt like the first time in nearly two weeks, which made sense seeing as how that was the case. He had been so absorbed in his training, forging, and research, that Vahn hadn't really exited the Manor at all ever since his return from the Dungeon. Stepping outside of the gate made him feel an incredible sense of incongruity as he looked around at the few pedestrians walking along the street. His appearance drew the eyes of several people, as it was no secret he habitated the Hearth Manor as the only 'male' within the residence. Vahn knew about the rumor calling his home as the 'Harem Manor', but he decided not to let it get to him since, regardless of how he 'felt' about the situation, it wasn't exactly a baseless claim like many other rumors.

Some guys looked like they had been waiting for him to exit, but Vahn just ignored them after scanning them with his [Eyes of Truth] and left from their view using his [Shundo]. They had relatively neutral auras, but Vahn noticed they were somewhat grey and probably didn't have great intentions if they were camping his gate. He could deal with them when he got back, assuming they had the courage to stick around after he had sent a pulse of his intent to stun them for a brief moment as he disappeared. The strongest among them was only Level 3, so Vahn wasn't intimidated by them at all...

However, soon after he had left the area, Vahn felt his instincts trigger slightly so he stopped and passed his perception over them a second time to see if there was anything he missed. Two of the grey auras now had a slightly darker color to them intermixed with the red of fury and anger, but everything else seemed normal. Releasing a sigh, Vahn couldn't help but feel like karma would never actually give him any breaks. Even after spending twelve days within his Manor, the moment he exited the premises there was already trouble waiting for him. He felt like Bell, who seemed to simply 'stumble' into the plot irrespective of time, place, or distance. Vahn never understood how the boy was able to seemingly 'teleport' to wherever the plot was happening, but now he was starting to understand that it was the whims of fate that machinated such events.

Since the men were 'hostiles', Vahn decided to deal with them himself so that they couldn't badger any of the girls returning from the Dungeon later. A single Level 3 wasn't a threat to any of the dungeoneering groups, but Vahn would rather resolve the situation on their behalf so they don't have to experience such a distasteful event. He also wanted to understand why his 'instincts' would trigger for such inconsequential people since this was the type of feeling he usually had when something 'important' was happening.

Appearing right in front of the men, Vahn asked in a cold tone while bearing down his aura on the men, "Why are you standing outside of my gate? What business do you have here?" The only Level 3 in the group, a strong looking man in his mid-twenties with brown hair and orange eyes, glared at Vahn and said, "You arrogant little..." Cutting his words short, the man tried to fix his expression as he continued in a low tone, "We came to join the Hestia Familia since there seems to be a severe lack of men present. Having so many women 'unprotected' will invite disaster, so we decided to-" Before the man could continue spouting his drivel, Vahn raised his hand and said, "That's enough of that. The Hestia Familia isn't accepting any applicants and I'm personally turning you away as the Captain of the Familia. If I catch you skulking around my Manor in the future, I'll turn you over to the guards."

Vahn could tell from their behavior that they were just some random horndogs that thought they had a chance at some of the girls in the Familia. It wasn't his first time seeing 'jealous' men, so Vahn dismissed them after committing their features to memory. He would draw up a sketch and submit it through the network so that, if they continued trying to pressure anyone in the Familia, they would be dealt with. The only thing that confused him was that his 'instincts' obviously weren't triggered by these men, yet he had sensed the fluctuation almost immediately he parted...Vahn realized that his instincts didn't trigger until he had already left them behind, so it might not have anything to do with them at all. Remembering the number of people, and who they were, still remaining in the Manor, Vahn disappeared from view once again before reappearing outside his own front door and passing her perception over the entirety of the Manor.

There weren't any new presences inside and Vahn could tell that everyone was behaving normally so he released a small sigh of relief as he passed his perception around the area and looked for any abnormalities. He had a small scare that, when he had left the area earlier, one of his enemies had used it as an opportunity to invade the Manor while it was relatively unprotected. Right now, the strongest person in the Manor was Tsubaki, who was Level 5, but if they were able to slip through undetected it could lead to a tragedy before she had the time to react. Fortunately, at least on the surface, it seemed like his intuition was wrong.

However, Vahn wasn't satisfied with that at all and continued to look around the area for any abnormalities. The group of men were still outside the gate throwing stones against the barrier preventing their entry. Growing fed up with the idiots, Vahn used his [Heart of the Eternal Flame] to heat up the area around their bodies until they were no longer able to tolerate the heat and fled away with steam rising from their bodies due to how cold it was outside. All the while he was dealing with them, however, Vahn kept his focus on his surroundings and was waiting for his instincts to trigger once again. He assumed that whatever had set them off had used the men as a cover and expected them to take action while he was 'distracted' again.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he 'pretended' to have dropped his guard, nothing else set off his instincts and this annoyed Vahn greatly. He felt like he had to be overlooking something so he began systematically inspecting the formations installed around the Manor while also looking for any abnormalities both inside and outside of the walls. Once he had finished his rounds, he inspected the area where he had used [Shundo] earlier just to make sure it wasn't something in that area that had triggered him. The problem with the Alliance buying up all the surrounding properties was that there were several vacant buildings that were scheduled to be demolished in the future or appropriated for use by future residents. Vahn noticed that there was a secret pathway under the building near where he had landed previously and released a sigh at his own oversight.

Because he had separated from the men earlier, Vahn had been paying more attention to them than the rest of his surroundings and completely ignored the fact that there had been presences inside the building to his left earlier. Now, however, the building was completely empty and Vahn could see the escape tunnel that was hidden within the basement. After penning the info into his communication scroll so that Hephaestus and Loki were aware of the situation, Vahn inspected the interior of the residence and found signs that a lot of stuff had been rapidly cleaned up and there was a fair amount of burned debris inside the hearth located in the basement. Whoever had been present had likely carried what they could before burning the evidence of whatever they had been up to.

Making his way to the upper floors, Vahn found that several of the curtains were open, which wasn't anything abnormal, if not for the fact that it was just the windows facing the Hearth Manor. Every other window was tightly shut, likely so that nobody could see inside to find out the building was occupied. Vahn speculated that they were likely spying on the people going in and out of the Manor, probably in an effort to determine the strength of the Hestia Familia and document the schedule of the inhabitants. There was a real possibility they had been targetting one, or many, of the girls that were heading to and from the Dungeon every day in order to get some leverage against him, or the Alliance as a whole.

Vahn released a long sigh that caused a massive cloud of condensation to spread through the interior of the small residence. A cold sensation ran through his mind as an eerie blue light shone in Vahn's pupils when he destroyed the false wall that concealed the hidden passageway. He could tell from the layout of the tunnel that it hadn't exist for more than a few weeks, but he didn't know how anyone was able to secretly accomplish building such a thing when there was so much construction going on in the area and several thousand members of the Alliance moving about.

The only thing that really mattered was that they obviously didn't have any good intentions if they were watching over the Manor in secret. Even though they hadn't done anything yet, Vahn couldn't forgive anyone that plotted against the people he cared about. If their target was him, that was one thing, but if they targetted his loved ones he would make sure they paid the price of their transgressions. With that thought in mind, Vahn transformed into his Báihǔ form and 'willed' his sense of smell to become even stronger as he sensed the air for ambient scents. After finding several, Vahn's tiger-like blue ices shone with a cruel light as he stepped forward into the dark escape passage without any hesitation...

(A/N: Important announcement~! I'll be driving to Florida to celebrate my Father's birthday and spend the holidays with my family. Though I'll be taking the week 'off', I'll still be releasing around 2 chapters a day with the promised 'special chapters' that will be released on X-mas as well. Look forward to it, and thanks for all of your support~! Happy holidays (UwU)!)

(A/N: 'Teasing Tsubaki~','Karma is a bitch o3o','Vahn's wrath is invoked')

If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the Patreon link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful <3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)

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Pilih

Bab 423: Within the Darkness

Progressing through the tunnel, Vahn had a scowl on his face as the corridor had quickly broken off into several directions after progressing for nearly 300m. Because his domain stretched 474m, he was able to tell that the system of tunnels was far more complicated than he had anticipated and it seemed like the one he had just passed through was just a recent addition. The most annoying thing of all was that the smell he had been tracking went down every single corridor and he was able to understand that it was a 'false scent' that had been spread to mislead anyone trying to pursue those that had fled through the complex system.

However, Vahn wasn't so easily led astray by the lack of a proper scent and there were several ways he could track his 'enemies'. Using his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn scanned through the area and looked for any signs that the elemental energies in the air had been disturbed. Just like when he was tracking the goddess Laverna, Vahn was able to see the somewhat chaotic fluctuations that occurred in the air when people passed through a location very recently.

Everything, be they people or monsters, were constantly absorbing elemental energies from the air while releasing small amounts passively. Unless they could completely constrain their energy, Vahn would still be able to follow them even without their scent. The only exception would be is if there was a powerful flow of mana through an environment, which could happen with some formations, but nothing like that had been installed in the tunnel system, at least at his current juncture.

Knowing that his enemies had tried to trick him through such a method, Vahn's anger increased marginally as he used [Shundo] to arrive at the next juncture and repeated the process of inspecting the fluctuations in the air. During this time, he detected the arrival of two of his own allies and waited for them to catch up to his current position before continuing forward. Moments later, Vahn saw the subtle glow of two pairs of eyes before both Chloe and Arnya showed up inside the corridor and quickly closed the distance with him. Removing their hoods, Chloe asked in a cold tone, "Did you find anything?"

Nodding his head, Vahn explained, "I don't know who they are, but to have a system like this shows they have to belong to a large organization or Familia. The way the tunnels are constructed doesn't seem like they were dug out normally, but more like they had been carved with the use of magic. I can track them through their energy fluctuations, but I'm not sure if I should continue forward. Since the scent in the air is fake, they probably already returned to the surface and blended into the crowd...what do you think we should do, Chloe, Arnya?"

Chloe was wearing her 'assassin' attired that consisted of a black top, white shorts, a black cloak, and several sets of daggers fixed to the belt around her waist. As for Arnya, she looked like a typical adventurer wearing a white tunic, red skirt, black spats, and a pair of leather gloves and boots. There was a large belt wrapped across her chest and abdomen, and she was carrying a spear that had the head concealed by a tan cloth.

Vahn knew that is was the golden spear that was partnered to the silver spear of her brother Allen, though he didn't yet know why she kept it concealed. He wanted to mention that, if her spear gave away an identity that she wanted to conceal, she could simply use a different weapon. However, though she pretended to be a ditz at times, Vahn knew Arnya was actually very intelligent and she had to have her reasons behind it. Even now, she had a cool look that completely contradicted her normal character and her expression was very serious.

After listening to Vahn's words, both Chloe and Arnya sniffed the air before Chloe sighed and said, "Nyahaaa, I can tell that the scent is fake as well. It smells like someone walks through here periodically and just sprays around...they have to be part of an organized group to pull off something like this. I think we should fall back and let the Alliance investigate it and just report it to the Guild for now. It could very well be a trap they had laid specifically to draw you in, so it's not a good idea to continue the pursuit if there is little chance we'll actually catch them."

Continuing where Chloe left off, Arnya nodded her head and said in a clear tone that belied her usual mischievousness, "For them to have been so close to the Manor and avoid detection, they couldn't have been there for long. The Alliance has patrols that periodically sweep the buildings, so there is a high chance this entire setup is just a trap. Let's return to the surface and then we can try to map out the corridors from above ground. Even if you can probably escape it, I imagine it wouldn't be pleasant to have the ceiling collapse in on you. Its too dangerous for you to expose yourself like this, especially when the enemy seems to be organized, Vahn."

Hearing both girls telling him to return to the surface restored a bit of clarity to Vahn's mind and allowed him to relax a little. He could see the concern clearly shown in their expressions and knew it was as they said, that he was the likely target for any larger schemes. Even if one of the girls was captured, they would have likely been used as leverage to get to him specifically. By heading into the enemies territory without any information, Vahn not only exposed himself to more danger, but he also left fewer defenses for the Manor as a result. As Arnya said, he could just as easily map the tunnel system from above as he could from below. It was far less likely they had set traps on the surface, as they would have been noticed by the Alliance patrols when doing so.

Though it wasn't the best time for such a thing, Vahn reached over and stroked both girls on their heads and felt a little at ease when they both squinted their eyes and dropped their serious expressions. With a smile on his face, Vahn said, "Let's get out of this place...I can just stroll around when we get to the surface and create a map of the tunnel network. My [Shundo] will be much more effective aboveground anyways..." As he spoke, Vahn felt his instincts flare up slightly and he turned his vision to the corridor he was about to go down earlier.

For a very brief moment, Vahn felt fluctuations in the air so, without questioning his own instincts, he sent a wave of flames down the corridor and increased the temperature to nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius after a few seconds passed. The flames caused the airflow in the tunnel system to fluctuate greatly and created a powerful backdraft as the fire consumed the oxygen in the air. Within the flames, Vahn saw a silhouette appear for a brief moment before they slammed their hand in the wall and lines of earth elemental energy appeared which caused the entire tunnel system surrounding them to begin collapsing.

Arnya's tail turned rigid as she tried to grab Vahn's arm as she shouted, "We need to get out of here, nyaow!" Vahn pulled free from her arm as he glared at the 'person' that had started the collapse. He wasn't sure how the figure was able to pull it off, but their aura was almost entirely concealed and the only thing that gave it away was the 'absence' of energy within the area surrounding it. Vahn's domain turned a pale gold as [Enkidu] emerged from the air and created a grid above their heads that stopped the collapse from reaching them as he extended two chains to try and capture the figure. Realizing the danger contained within the chain, or perhaps just trying to escape, the silhouette dropped into the ground and 'burrowed' deep into the earth before disappearing from Vahn's perception several seconds later.

Chloe had been watching Vahn's actions and asked, "What was that, the enemy? Could you tell how strong they were?" Vahn shook his head before looking back at the two girls and saying, "I couldn't sense them at all. If not for my instincts warning me something was wrong, they might have been able to walk right up to us without me noticing at all. The only thing I could detect was 'nothing', and that was what gave them away. Just seeing that it was able to resist my flames shows that, at the very least, they have high capabilities...though I don't think they were that strong. They're probably a specialist that uses unique magic related to the earth, but I didn't sense any magical fluctuations until after the magic activated...it could also just be a rare skill since I wasn't able to see through it at all..."

Chloe nodded her head before looking at the beautiful golden chains preventing the ceiling from collapsing in on them. Most of the tunnels surrounding them had collapsed and they would have been buried in debris if Vahn hadn't taken action when he did. It was somewhat ironic that they had been warning him about such a possibility right before it actually happened to them. Realizing what she was thinking, Vahn chuckled before reaching out and patting her again as he said, "It was actually your warning that made me more cautious and I had already started thinking about preventative measures if such a situation actually occurred. Thanks, Chloe, Arnya."

Arnya didn't stop Vahn from stroking her ears, but she still cocked her head slightly and asked, "How are we going to get out of here? My spear isn't very suitable for digging..." Vahn laughed at her words before pointing toward the ground where the shadow beneath their feet had been growing and becoming darker. There was nearly no light in the tunnel earlier, but Vahn's [Enkidu] was casting a beautiful golden light that illuminated the area they were in and cast long shadows in the small area. Once they saw the shadow, both girls understood what was going on and made room for Fafnir to peek up out of the spot it had been hiding in since earlier. Since the Hearth Manor was nearby, Vahn had been able to call over Fafnir and it arrived a few seconds later and had been on standby since before he even entered the tunnels.

Once they had cleared enough space, Fafnir lifted its head out of the shadows and asked, ("Vahn, Chloe, Arnya, do you need my help~?") Vahn smiled before walking forward and stroking Fafnir's head and saying, "Yes, please help us get out of here Fafnir. You should be able to shield us from the debris and break through to the surface, right?" Fafnir lifted its head toward the ceiling and its stark blue eyes glowed for a bit before it said, ("I can't get through the chains, Vahn. You will have to move them or I will be stuck in the shadows.") As it spoke, Fafnir raised its body and leaned over Vahn to shield him from the debris that would be freed as soon as he removed [Enkidu].

Chloe and Arnya moved under Fafnir's head as well and clung to Vahn as he allowed [Enkidu] to disperse so that Fafnir could take further action. He had already confirmed there was nobody on the surface so, other than a bit of collateral damage, everything else should be okay. When the silhouette collapsed the ceiling earlier, it had probably done a fair amount of damage on the surface anyway, so it wasn't like adding a little more would have any major consequences. Thus, when the golden radiance faded and the entire tunnel returned to darkness, Fafnir began to raise its body from the shadows while using its darkness magic to 'dissolve' the surrounding earth.

Other than the magical light glowing from the scar on its chest, everything else was completely dark for several agonizing seconds until beams of light broke through from above and entered the tunnel. Fafnir continued to clear around the area until debris stopped falling onto its back before saying, ("Okay, everything is clear, Vahn~!") Vahn rubbed Fafnir's stomach and used [Hands of Nirvana] to pass energy into its body as he said, "Thank you, Fafnir, you've been a great help once again." Fafnir 'giggled' under his touch and said, ("Vahn, that feels very nice, much better than normal! How strange, hehehehe~!") As it spoke, Vahn noticed that his OP was increasing and this made him laugh because he had been somewhat distracted earlier and forgot about his [Petting] ability for a moment.

After Fafnir dove back into the shadows, Vahn grabbed Chloe's and Arnya's waists before using [Shundo] to escape from the tunnel. They would have easily been able to climb out on their own, but Vahn wanted to be 'gentlemanly' and save them the effort. The tunnel system had only been about 10m underground, enough that they could have jumped out, but they still allowed Vahn to do as he pleased and 'obediently' held onto his body. When they appeared on the surface an instant later, Vahn released their waists as Arnya said, "That technique is amazing...if possible, I'd like to learn it in the future. Or, if nyaat myself, you should at least teach it to our child. Yes, that sounds like a good idea~nya."

Vahn nodded his head complacently as he scanned around the area for any signs of the enemy, even though they had likely escaped long ago. It was weird to be looking for 'nothing', but now that Vahn knew what he needed to be aware of it was much easier. He could from the surrounding devastation that nearly an entire City block had been collapsed from the enemies earlier attempt to entrap them, and this showed they were likely a mage that was around Level 5. Vahn would probably come out ahead in a normal fight, but they would be a troublesome enemy if they used guerrilla tactics like this.

Since reinforcements were already mobilizing, Vahn surveyed the area with Arnya and Chloe for a while making casual conversation. When people began to arrive, Chloe and Arnya had dawned their hoods and retreated from the area, as they both had somewhat sensitive identities. Their enemies probably already knew about them, as they lived at the Hearth Manor, but they still didn't reveal themselves to the public, or even the Alliance at large. Knowing they wanted to protect their identities, Vahn started thinking about a few new equipment designs that might be suitable for such things while he explained the situation to the Alliance squadrons and the City Guards from the Eirene Familia.

Though he had planned to walk around the area and visit his friends, Vahn spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and 'mapping' the tunnel system instead. He drew out a map for the Alliance so they could investigate the network of tunnels at a later date and also alerted them to several empty buildings that were connected to the system. The network was far extensive than even Vahn had suspected and he realized that the enemy 'earth mage' was going to be a pain to deal with.

Unless they set up formations to prevent them from using magic, it was even possible that the mage could burrow underneath the Hearth Manor itself and collapse the entire building. Fortunately, the type of security formation they had installed prevented such thing and, unless they collapsed the entire ground supporting the foundation of the land the Manor was built on, it wouldn't be a problem. However, realizing that the enemy had such an extensive network, Vahn knew it was possible for them to actually perform such a feat given enough time. The fact that they didn't try allowed Vahn to infer a very important piece of information and allowed him to connect the dots on a few factors that might have otherwise been overlooked. For them to avoid tunneling under the Manor in such a manner showed that, one way or another, the enemy knew about his detection ability...

---

During the evening, after he had returned from assisting in the mapping of the tunnels, Vahn gathered everyone in the Hearth Manor to discussed the matter in detail. Even Loki and Hephaestus had shown up for the occasion and gave their input on the matter as they discussed countermeasures that could be implemented against the mage. The Manor was about to be under construction soon, since they were going to be expanding several things and building a few new structures, so they would also be digging a network of tunnels themselves that would serve as the core of a much more powerful formation that would link together all five of the main Alliance Manors in a massive defense network.

This would be an exorbitant cost, but there were plenty of ways they could make enough Valis to cover the costs in the future. Though they hadn't sold any of the materials, Vahn's mini-expedition had earned over a billion Valis in just the span of a week so, if he accompanied a larger expedition, they could likely increase their earnings greatly. It was already planned, since the Loki Expedition usually made deep Dungeon probes every 3 months, that they would be trying to increase the record floor clear towards the middle of January. This meant that in as early as three weeks, Vahn would be on an expedition that would last upwards of a month. During this period, as many powerful members of the Hearth Manor would be away, the Hestia Familia would be protected almost exclusively by the Hephaestus Familia and, after Loki suggested it, the Freya Familia.

Vahn was 'scheduled' to meet Freya before the expedition began and they would be able to use the protection of the Hestia Familia as leverage since Vahn was going to be doing her a big 'favor'. It was a bit awkward, but he had agreed to help Freya get pregnant with one of her other lovers so that he wouldn't have to worry about her doing anything to him or the people around him for at least nine months. Though she wasn't part of the Alliance proper, Freya was one of the three members of the Tripartite Cooperative, so she had actually been 'taking care' of several enemy forces that were approaching the Hestia Familia in the shadows.

As for other security measures, it was decided that everyone would always travel in groups of four, even though this was already the case from before. Because there were a few low leveled members in the Hestia Familia, they were almost always looked after by someone that was Level 4 or higher, with someone that was Level 5 accompanying them in the Dungeon itself. It might seem a little 'overprotective', but Vahn wasn't the only potential target for their enemies. In order to get to him, or just to weaken the Alliance, any of the girls were a potential target, just like Milan and Tina had been in the past. They each understood this and hadn't any intentions of going against the decision in the first place, so everyone agreed to follow the security protocols without complaint.

After the long discussion came to an end, Vahn retired for the evening with the accompaniment of Hephaestus, Loki, Arnya, and Chloe. They had all worked very hard on his behalf today, so Vahn wanted to thank them for their efforts and reward them while developing his [Petting] ability. Though Chloe and Arnya had already noticed it the previous night, Hephaestus and Loki also realized the 'difference' in Vahn's touch and gave him a few heavy compliments that inflated his ego somewhat. By the end of the night, he had actually given each of the girls a half-hour massage before they 'thanked' him in their own way after the fact. It was the first time the girls had cooperated together and Vahn was reminded once again about how 'dangerous' Loki could be when she made Arnya's back arch after playing with her for a few minutes...Vahn could get a similar reaction with a bit of effort, but he was surprised with how 'deftly' Loki was able to handle other girls...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'I have 'special eyes'~!','Who dat!?','Countermeasures')

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