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47.56% Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos / Chapter 1120: Balance

บท 1120: Balance

With the Sub-Space Projection Orb established, the only way Vahn could 'balance' his life was to come up with, at the very least, a loose schedule to follow. He needed to spend time being a good father to Mordred, taking care of Illya, and splitting himself between the girls based on the situation. Fortunately, with how the day/night cycle was split within the Orb, Vahn could split his focus so that he was training and spending time with Mordred and Illya during the 'day' while, once night fell upon the Orb, Vahn would focus on learning and getting intimate with the girls. Though this wasn't set in stone, as it would obviously depend on the situation, it was the easiest template to work from since the atmosphere within the castle varied greatly between day and night.

When it came to his training, Vahn spent the majority of his time 'learning' from Scáthach, often spending upwards of ten hours at a time being beaten by her as, after his 'success' with [Laplace's Key], she never showed any openings. Now, though she had alternated between using her fists and spears int he past, Scáthach completely changed up her fighting style at times. She would use bows, scythes, flails, bo staffs, swords, daggers, and even katars to cut his body into ribbons. This was to ensure he was used to fighting against all kinds of different opponents instead of unilaterally getting 'used' to being beaten in a specific way.

On one occasion, she had even used a set of bladed pistols at close range to break through his guard before firing spherical bullets that had various effects into his body. The purpose behind this training was to allow him to 'counter' different kinds of Magecraft on the spot as, much like Illya, Vahn had the ability to deconstruct Magecraft and prevent its activation. As a result, Scáthach would embed various different spells into the bullets, giving Vahn only microseconds to react before his body would be torn apart by explosions, shocked to a charred state, or even frozen solid in an instant. She never once gave him any quarter and, the worst part of it all, Vahn knew she still wasn't going all out. Since he had believed her thrashing him in the past was her being serious, when it wasn't even a tenth of his current beatings, Vahn knew she was increasing her strength to prevent him from ever 'adapting' to her current level...

Fortunately, Mordred was never allowed to watch his training as it always took place in a third Sub-Space Orb that had been created. In total, there were now three Sub-Space Orbs and seven Space-Time Orbs present around Avalon. The third Sub-Space Orb had been created specifically for training with Scáthach, existing as another empty white space where there was no danger of damaging the surroundings. As for the Space-Time Orbs, five of these were used almost entirely for growing herbs and other useful ingredients, each having a dilation ratio of 100:1. These lacked Memory Fragments to regulate the space, meaning they were 'anchored' using a five-elements formation, while the other two Space-Time Orbs had time dilation effects of 50:1, each with a version of Vahn and Fenrir within.

Since Fenrir did a lot for him in the 'real' world, she was the first person that crossed Vahn's mind when it came to having a companion Memory Fragment. Though the purpose of the orb was for research and production, Vahn fully intended to 'download' and 'update' the Memory Fragments periodically so that he could expand his knowledge further. Since he wanted to avoid 'losing' himself to feelings of loneliness and apathy, Vahn needed a companion to keep him focussed and allow him to relax. This would allow him to spend a lot of time with Fenrir and, even though it might not be the same 'quality' as reality, they would eventually share thousands of years between the two of them...

As a result of these changes, Vahn didn't spend nearly as much time with Fenrir in reality as, the more 'focused' he was, the more emphasis she placed on her own duties. Unless he wanted to see her, she would always be off training, playing with Mordred, or spending time with Illya and Cath Palug. She also acted as a 'Big Sister' to Medusa who, somewhat against expectations, became really good friends with Astolfo since she spent most of her time with Catherine. Though Medusa wanted to get stronger as well, she was going down a completely different route than Fenrir as, instead of pursuing the path of a 'Magic-Knight', she was focused entirely on being a 'True Mage'. As a result, Medusa spent a lot of time studying with Catherine before expanding her 'circle' to include Circe and Merlin.

One of the things Vahn appreciated the most about his current situation was that everyone, for the most part, helped each other out. Though it was 'extremely' common for Magi to keep secrets and only care about themselves, even Tristana had exchanged knowledge with Medusa and Circe, albeit rarely. Of course, the two people literally everyone sought out for advice and knowledge were the duo of Merlin and Scáthach. The former could be extremely roundabout, talking circles around the questions you wanted answers to, but he would eventually help you understand if you continued making an effort. As for Scáthach, she was marginally more difficult to approach unless she thought you were 'worth' teaching. For the Heroic Spirits, as they couldn't really increase their parameters and obtain new skills, she had no interest in even sparring with them. The only people she showed an interest in were Vahn, Fenrir, Medusa, Mordred, and, as a member of the 'Imperial Family', Illya.

With her [Wisdom of the Haunted Ground], Scáthach was suitable for teaching practically anything, including the method to obtain skills she herself couldn't emulate. The only pre-requisite for learning from her was that, once you become her student, she had borderline sovereignty over your actions. If she wanted you to have a specific diet, or wake up at specific times, there was absolutely no room for debate. Though you were allowed to quit whenever you like, that would be the same as losing your value in the eyes of Scáthach since it showed you simply lacked the willpower to reach your full potential. After all, though she pushed you far beyond what you believed your limits to be, Scáthach never pushed you beyond the breaking point. Thus, so long as you had enough willpower, there was no limit to the amount of growth you could achieve by studying under her...

Of the people that Scáthach was willing to teach, Medusa had only lasted a few hours before she ultimately quit. She had been given the task of inscribing a magical formation either one-thousand times or within five seconds. Though this in itself wasn't that difficult, Scáthach would periodically flick you with a thin red switch, often drawing blood as a result. This was enough to break the focus of most people, especially someone who lacked patience like Medusa. After that, Vahn was forced to console the pouting Gorgon, both after the lesson had ended and when Scáthach refused to teach her a second time. Even if Medusa also had 'limitless potential', it didn't matter to her at all since she placed more focus on her own emotions than her desire to improve...

Fortunately, Merlin was far more agreeable so, even after losing Scáthach as a teacher, Medusa was able to pester him to teach her every now and then. Since the airy Magus had a penchant for cute things, he wasn't able to hold out long whenever Medusa invaded his tower and refused to leave without learning something new. As a result, though her progress wasn't all that remarkable, Medusa was steadily growing stronger in her own way. The most important thing was that she was learning and having fun, at least from Vahn's perspective. Though he might need Medusa to increase her strength at some point, the main reason Vahn had brought her with him was to observe her hidden Innate. He still had the distinct impression that Medusa's fate was somehow linked to him through an Innate, even though there wasn't even the subtlest fluctuation of 'Fate' around her body...

When it came to Innates, Vahn knew there was no end to the amount of research he could put into them without fully comprehending them. The only thing that was 'absolute' was that they were linked to the soul yet, even if there were infinite instances of a person with the same Innate, each could have subtle differences. Ultimately, the only thing that seemed to matter was the individual's understanding of their Innate as, so long as it was within their comprehension, there were seemingly infinite ways in which Innates could manifest. As even The Path wasn't able to see through them, even though it was an existence beyond Tier 9, Vahn could intuit that Innates were the product of something on the same level as The Path itself...

With that in mind, Vahn actually spent a great deal of effort on training his own Innates, using his [Will of the Emperor] and [Eyes of Truth] almost constantly throughout the day. As for things like [Rakshasa Body] and [Keeper of the Akashic Tome], Vahn's reserves couldn't sustain prolonged use of the former while the latter had only been useful for test-naming a pendant he had forged back when he was working Rin's basement. Since it was actually his most Source Energy-intensive skill, Vahn had only been able to elevate the pendant to the B-Rank, meaning it was around A-Rank if going by the standards of Danmachi. Though this wasn't that bad, Vahn had been going for S-Rank yet had ultimately failed to achieve it. Now, his Od was steadily increasing and, with the time dilation of the Sub-Space Projection Orb, Vahn was intending to get some use out of it when he tries to produce equipment of similar grade and quality to a Noble Phantasm.

One of the things Vahn wanted to try was reproducing Artoria's [Excalibur] and, though it was a bit ambitious, the 'key' that was used to access the [Gate of Babylon]. Even if he couldn't steal Gilgamesh's [Gate of Babylon] itself, having access to a similar ability to essentially weaponize his Inventory was something that fascinated Vahn more than a little. Though the speed left something to be desired, Vahn felt he would be able to improve upon this weakness by using [Primordial Rune] Magecraft to multiply the speed and momentum of objects in motion. He already had some marginal success by pulling swords out of his Inventory but it was difficult to control the orientation of items placed into his Inventory without 'setting' them in certain positions when he placed them inside. It was significantly different from the golden spatial gates that were produced by the [Gate of Babylon] so Vahn knew he had a bit of work ahead of him. Fortunately, with the knowledge he had obtained just by having access to the key for a short period of time, Vahn was confident he would be able to pull it off if given enough time...

---

In what felt like the blink of an eye, nearly three months had passed within the Sub-Space Projection Orb, equating to just over two weeks since the end of the Holy Grail War. Vahn found himself laying on a slopped hill beneath the canopy of an apple tree, one of the most common types of trees on the island of Avalon. He was relaxing with his hands behind his head, enjoying the warm rays of the sun shining down from above, even though the air temperature made it very clear that it was Winter. This didn't really bother him at all and, based on how she was drooling on his chest with a silly smile on her face, it didn't seem to bother Mordred either. She had really embraced being a child over the last couple of months and, though she trained hard every day to become a Knight, the times they spent together as father and daughter had been increasing lately. Though she still had a 'slight' preference for her mother, the fact that the latter always forced her to train hard, while Vahn often played with her, had slowly been shifting the odds in his favor...

Seeing the happy face of his sleeping daughter as she lightly clung to his tunic, Vahn couldn't help but smile as he allowed the gentle breeze, made warmer by his domain, to wash over them. The only 'complaint' he had about Mordred was, after realizing she could get away with quite a bit, she had defaulted to wearing form-fitting shorts, often with a 'cut', punk-rock style, while her tops usually consisted of a loose camisole or a tank-top. Though he had convinced her to wear sports bras and tube tops underneath, Mordred never liked wearing restrictive clothing and even ran around without shoes on more often than not. She reminded him a lot of how Fenrir used to behave in the past, a fact that brought the two 'wild' girls together as Mordred considered Fenrir her 'best' friend. They would even take naps together, cuddled up in a sunny area within the castle, much like what he and Mordred were doing right now...

There were only two things that could make Vahn 'happier' right now, excluding having Rin, Sakura, and Gray coming to stay with him. He finally had an understanding of how often the Summoning System could be used, at least without a catalyst to reduce the interval. The standard cooldown was a startling three years in real-time, meaning twenty-one years within the Sub-Space Projection Orb, while the only reliable means to reduce the amount of time was to use something on the leve of the [Divine Energy Cube] he had been given by Akasha. This could 'instantly' reduce the amount of time, something she had likely taken into consideration when giving it to him in the past. Because of this, Vahn was able to quantify how much a Heroic Spirit cost from the perspective of OP, making a single summon worth around 2,000,000,000OP.

One of the things Vahn needed more than anything right now was a means to increase the amount of OP he was able to earn, something that was surprisingly difficult even though he was in a Tier 5 Record. The only 'reliable' means seemed to be striking a deal with Akasha and her superiors or, acting as the second biggest issue he was facing in the present, getting the help of Alaya. After a series of rather peculiar events, Vahn now had a good idea of how much each of his body parts and their constituent biomass were worth. He also knew that his semen had a startling 300 times the amount of 'mana' compared to his blood, making it only marginally less valuable than outright exchanging his heart or brain to Alaya for Magical Energy. His heart had been worth around 400 times the amount of his blood, by volume, while his brain had beaten it out by having an exchange rate of 418 times blood alone.

Since it wasn't exactly viable to continually produce brains and hearts for Alaya to process, the most cost-effective and 'efficient' means was to give Alaya his semen. Using a manner similar to what he had previously used with Scáthach, however, proved that there was a significant reduction in the 'energy' contained within the vital fluid. His mentality and intentions seemed to considerably affect the potency of his semen, much like how his blood was more effective when he was 'happy' during the time he was still imprisoned in his first life. With Alaya taking in concentrated spheres of semen or sucking on his finger, the ratio was reduced to between 60-100, making it three-to-five times less efficient than more 'direct' means. However, this was still far more efficient than having her suck his blood so Vahn had created a specialized 'pouch' with a vein that ran near his neck. Alaya would latch onto his neck in much the same way as before, sucking a cocktail of blood and semen from his shoulder with a persistence that would make a leech blush...

Though he had gotten used to her presence, Vahn was also troubled by Alaya as it almost felt like she was slowly becoming a part of him after more than three months together. During the moments they were separated, Vahn would have the strangest feeling that 'something' was wrong as he rolled his shoulder to release tension that didn't go away until she latched onto him again. Even now, as he looked down at Mordred's sleeping face with a smile, Vahn had a small blue furball tucked into the nape of his neck, even smaller than she had been in the past. She looked like a baby squirrel that was latched onto his neck like a pup suckling a teet. Her eyes were closed as if she was 'very' focused on the process, at least until she knew Vahn was paying attention to her. During moments like this, Vahn could see her glowing violet eyes silently asking, 'Do you need something?' as if he was the one bothering her...

Of the two things Vahn needed a 'solution' to, dealing with Alaya was a slightly higher priority as he had a growing urge to just be separated from her again. Even if he knew it was for the best that she continued to drain his bodily fluids, as more Magical Energy meant more potential uses, Vahn felt like he was developing a strange dependency on her. His body would feel colder when she wasn't near and he was always 'aware' of his movements so as not to disturb her too much or dislodge her from her perch. The only occasion in which this incongruity went away was whenever he was training with Scáthach as, during moments like that, he simply had no time to think about such things...

The worst part of his current situation was that Vahn could 'rationalize' things in a way that had him having sex with Alaya, potentially increasing the efficacy of his semen beyond 300:1. Since he could extend his ejaculation virtually without end, having her intake his semen 'directly' for a few hours each night would be the same as having her latched to his shoulder for the whole day. He had even suspected that she had 'skewed' the numbers a bit to make this apparent but, as his own analysis with Sis had confirmed things, Vahn knew it was the truth. Unless he could alter his mentality to place just as much emphasis on having sex as having her suck fluid from his neck, it was impossible to bring the potency to the same level. It was all a mental thing but, as Vahn simply couldn't place the two on the same level, for various reasons, there was no simple solution to the problem...

Though Vahn had increased the rate of Magical Energy transferred to Alaya from around 200,000 per hour to around 12,000,000 per hour, it was still a far cry from the potential 60,000,000 he could be transferring. As he grew stronger, this number would increase and, if he placed more 'emphasis' on the exchange, it was possible to greatly increase the exchange rate. This would, however, require him to actually develop feelings for Alaya but, as she fundamentally lacked the means to reciprocate such things, it would always be a one-sided dependency on his part. He had even tried to use his [Hands of Nirvana] on her previously but, unless she 'let' him affect her, Alaya had no reaction at all. Then, just as quickly, she could dismiss what little progress he had made the moment she determined there was no longer any value in continuing.

As a result of Alaya's unique nature and constitution, Vahn knew that anything between them would almost be akin to him having emotionless sex with a doll. He felt this would pervert his experiences with the other girls, especially if he was sacrificing time that could have been spent with them just for the sake of 'efficiency'. Since Alaya already had now stored around 22 billion units of Magical Energy on his behalf, a number that was both massive and infinitesimally too small, Vahn found himself unable to make a decision. As a result, Alaya continued to leech off his shoulder while, as much as possible, Vahn pretended she didn't exist. Though this reduced the efficacy of the transfer even further, he would rather focus on his happiness rather than dealing with a source of potentially infinite stress.

Fortunately, Vahn had plenty of sources for happiness and, even though twenty-one years was a long time, it wasn't as if he 'needed' to summon more Heroic Spirits. Increasing his power and spending time with everyone he was currently involved with was more than enough for the present. As he began to get involved with the affairs of the Mage's Association and the Holy Church, Vahn felt that most of his problems surrounding the Summoning System and Alaya would gradually resolve themselves. The Clock Tower was apparently built atop the corpse of a mountain-sized True Dragon that had tried to dig its way through to the Reverse Side of the World in the past. As a result, there was a structure not all that dissimilar to the Dungeon of Orario located beneath the Clock Tower, filled to the brim with progressively more powerful monsters the deeper you went...

In much the same way, the Holy Church had a 'trial ground' that was used to help train prospective members of their Exorcism department. By sealing away powerful Daemons throughout history, regardless of whether or not they were good or bad, there were a lot of deeply rooted 'grudges' and 'living curses' located in their trial grounds. As a result, various 'demons' and other forms of pseudo-spirits like 'ghosts' would manifest in the area, allowing Exorcists to practice their Sacraments, the most powerful form of Thaumaturgy in the world due to the Holy Church's influence. By using verses that were powerful by faith and conviction, they were able to kill demons and spiritual entities using nothing more than words and holy-elemental Magecraft that they claimed to be divine providence.

Vahn knew there were several Spiritual Lands located all over the world so, once he entered open conflict with the current powers of the world, it would be possible to secure a few for himself. He had no doubt that things like monsters, demons, and spirits would be able to grant him OP while also providing him a means to gather resources and train. Since he had been able to bestow his 'blessing' on Rin, Fenrir, Medusa, Mordred, and even Illya, Vahn knew they would be able to increase their strength considerably if they fought against enemies and gained 'experience'. Even though he was in a different world, the blessing should work in a relatively similar way as, much like all forms of thaumaturgy, such things were strengthened by belief. Since Vahn 'knew' his blessing worked, there was absolutely nothing to prevent anyone with his blessing from becoming much stronger than normal, in a significantly reduced time. After all, even more so than something like the Welsh Dragon, he could be considered his own source of Mystery, rivaling other gods even without an active Divinity...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'This chapter feels like a fever dream')

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บท 1121: Productivity

Due to the fact that Paracelsus spent most of his time outside of the Sub-Space Projection Orb, the only time Vahn ever saw the pacifistic Magus was when he directly went to visit. Since every second spent with Paracelsus was an investment of seven seconds, things had never developed to the point that Vahn could truly consider the man his friend. His 'dream' of having a guy friend he could just hang out with still seemed to be a far off goal as both Merlin and Astolfo had more than their fair share of quirks. As a result, Nobunaga could be considered his closest male companion yet, more often than not, that atmosphere would change between them toward the very end when she ended up getting 'triggered' and wanting a bit of affection...

Vahn currently found himself following behind Tristana as the latter led him up the Magus Tower she and Paracelsus had claimed for themselves. Along the way, they passed several rather stylish looking golems that had a glossy black sheen with accents of gold. Though they were far removed from the appearance of humans, it didn't seem strange for them to be wandering the castle's grounds as they went about the process of cleaning every nook and cranny with precision and focus humans simply couldn't manage unless they somehow had an Innate related to 'cleaning'. With Paracelsus creating upwards of twenty per day, so long as he had the requisite materials, there were already close to 150 stylish golems that had been 'programmed' to upkeep the castle.

After passing through a heavily enchanted wooded door, Vahn found himself inside the top of the tower, a room almost precisely 10m in diameter. Paracelsus was nowhere to be seen but, if you were to observe the corner of the room, you could see a mirror that was covered in runes. Instead of reflecting their image, however, Vahn could see the profile of a man with long black hair standing in front of a large tank of emerald green liquid as he periodically twitched, appearing to moving several times faster than normal, even as he performed casual movements. Since this was indeed the case, and Vahn had seen it before, he wasn't all that surprised when Tristina walked through the mirror, sending ripples across its silvery surface as if it was more of a liquid than a solid.

Mirrors were one of the oldest 'Magical Tools' that had ever been created, making them one of the most 'stable' means of creating portals to link sub-spaces and other dimensions. Since even normal people believed that mirrors were somewhat mystical, to the point that it was common for children to play games with them, they were the first option when Merlin wanted to establish gateways between reality and the Sub-Space Projection Orb. Now, so long as it was inscribed with the proper sequence of runes, it was theoretically possible to access the Orb from anywhere on Avalon, so long as there was a matching mirror on the other side.

Following closely behind Tristana, feeling as though he was passing through a thin layer of ice, Vahn found himself in Paracelsus' Atelier as the Alchemist turned to him and gave a polite bow, stating, "Welcome, Your Majesty. It is my honor to see you in good health." Vahn gave him leave to raise his head with a hand gesture before looking at the three tanks that Paracelsus had lined up side-to-side. Currently, suspended within the very center of the tanks, there were microscopic sources of vitality that were wrapped up in a thin membrane of organic matter that was linked to several tubes at the base of the tank. The process for creating a Homunculus was very similar to gestating an actual human being, at least using the method that Paracelsus incorporated. It was easy to see why he would treat them as precious lives that deserved his full attention as, in more ways that one, Paracelsus was essentially the father of the developing Homunculi...

Seeing Vahn's attention drawn to the tanks, Paracelsus had his usual smile on his face as he placed his palm against the center tank and explained, "They are still in a nascent and highly malleable state but they are already alive. Everything from their sex, appearance, and the structure of their Magic Circuits can still be decided but everything else is up to their fate. I hope these three will become my assistants so that I might ease Tristana's burdens a little..." These words caused Tristana to avert her eyes with a light blush on her face as she muttered, "Idiot..." in a low voice. She had offered her own eggs as a catalyst, one of the reasons many Alchemists kept female assistants, so it wasn't a stretch to say the three in the tanks were her children. Though she would have never seen them as such in the past, Paracelsus had been rubbing off on her in various ways...

Understanding that the two hadn't just been focusing on their research during the previous two weeks, Vahn had a smile on his face as he stated, "If you need anything at all, just let me know and I'll try and provide it." Though the Homunculi were already going to be of a much higher quality than normal, as they would use [Philosopher's Stone]s as their 'core', Vahn couldn't deny that he was more than a little interested in helping out where he could. Since he even had an active Quest to create life himself, something that seemed surprisingly easy in the Nasuverse, he was intending to make Homunculi of his own in the future. This could make his life a little more complicated, as they would, in a way, be his own children, but Vahn was prepared to treat them well, even if they were born with a 'purpose'. If he didn't intend to make them for such things, it would be better to simply have actual children with the girls he was slowly but surely falling deeply in love with...

---

After listening to Paracelsus talk about the Homunculi for a little over an hour, Vahn gave him all the materials he would need to help them fully develop before returning back through the mirror. This trip and been very informative but had ultimately eaten up an additional six hours of his time, one of the few 'troublesome' things he would have to get used to when dealing with Paracelsus. Since the man didn't care about his title of Count at all, it was impossible to pressure him with Vahn's own status as an Emperor. People that were fully committed to their ideals, to the point they were fully willing to face death, were both commendable but extremely troublesome to deal with. This little trip had eaten into Vahn's own relaxation time so, with a heavy heart, he made his way to the small room that housed his own Sub-Space Orb.

Even before Vahn entered inside, his eyes had already sharpened as, from the very moment his feet touched down in the empty white space, his training had begun. His focus reached a point where even the subtle fluctuations of mana couldn't escape his perception. At the same time, his domain shrunk down to around 50m in diameter, the space within becoming compressed in a way that would make it extremely difficult for anyone but himself to move. As all this happened, a red shell, equivalent to a 22mm anti-tank round bore through his domain at close to ten times the speed of sound. This wasn't too impressive a speed, meaning Vahn could easily dodge it, but that kind of mentality often ended badly for him in previous instances...

Instead of dodging, Vahn extended his palm outward and made a five-layer [Reflexio] magic barrier while, at the same time, analyzing the runes covering the surface of the projectile. By the time it slammed into his first barrier, Vahn knew it had penetrative properties so he twisted his body as the shell broke through all five layers with extreme ease. In the same motion, he grabbed the projectile out of the air before tossing it to the side, now inert since he had stripped away the runes that would have served as the trigger for a pyroclastic explosion. While the shell was still in mid-air, several more rounds had broken into his domain, this time having a variety of different colors, some going for him while two were obviously intended to strike the shell he had tossed aside.

Knowing it was a bad idea to stay in the area, Vahn blinked away with [Shundo] as several magical explosions rippled through the space he had previously occupied. Then, like an immaterial phantom, Vahn zig-zagged along the ground and through the air as he closed the distance between him and the distant Scáthach. She was using a massive rifle that was more than 3m in length from a distance of more than 10km away while supporting herself in mid-air with reddish-purple chains that came out of the void in a similar way to his [Enkidu]. Though she couldn't copy his 'Noble Phantasm', she was capable of producing functionally anything through the use of her [Gae Bolg Alternative] and the [Wisdom of the Haunted Ground] skills. It might only have a rank between B+ and A, but that was more than enough when it was Scáthach using the weapon...

As Vahn drew closer to Scáthach's location, his body instinctually tensed up as a massive array seemed to come into existence just as his foot touched down around 3km from her location. In less than a microsecond a 500m wide formation that had several massive [Primordial Runes] serving as the basis for its structure lit up with a blood-red light beneath him. Immediately following this, Vahn was smashed into the ground as the surrounding gravity increased by around three-hundred times in an instant. It felt as if each blood cell in his body became like a small boring laser as it ripped through his crumbling flesh and bones in an instant before spreading out across the ground. Then, punctuating the fact he had fallen for her trap, several shells rained down from the sky as the tore apart both Vahn and the massive formation without discriminating between the two...

With a multi-colored mushroom cloud in the distance, sending out several shockwaves that passed over her body without even causing her to flinch, Scáthach dismissed the large rifle she had been using before pulling out two hand sickles that were linked together by a red chain. They had nearly ten meters of slack between them, making it almost impossible for a normal person to use, but Scáthach just swiped with one sickle, causing the chain to seemingly levitate around her body as she threw the second one outward with enough force to cut through the air, leaving a red and black streak in its wake.

From the edge of the massive explosion, Vahn had burst out of the cloud of debris wearing nothing but a pair of ragged shorts and wielding two black gauntlets on his forearms. The sickle intercepted his rush just outside of its effective range but Vahn was able to deflect it to the side without much difficulty. This wasn't the end of the attack, however, as there was already a small ripple passing along the length of the chain that made the sickle curve back, tracing an arc towards Vahn's neck from behind. He had already seen through this attack, flipping forward to kick the sickle high in the sky as he pressed off the ground with both hands, twisting through the air as he attempted to kick Scáthach in the face. She almost casually stepped to the side, using the curved blade of the sickle to hook around the top of Vahn's foot, cutting half of it off in the process. He outright didn't react to this at all as, by the time his foot reached the ground to serve as a pivot, it had already regrown as he twisted his hips like a whip in an attempt to sweep Scáthach's legs.

Jumping back just outside of Vahn's range, Scáthach then stepped back in with the motion of his attack, planting her foot on the side of his leg and pressing her weight down in and attempt to snap it. Vahn flowed with the momentum of his own attack, changing the angle of his knee slightly so that Scáthach was stepping into the soft tissue instead of the side of the joint. This was answered by her stepping in and trying to cut his head off with her sickle but Vahn managed to push her back by sending black spikes out from his back, using his ability to change the shape and structure of his body as a weapon. Though he might not be able to upkeep his [Rakshasa Body] for very long in combat, there was almost nothing preventing him from changing his appearance to suit the situation since the only thing it required was an 'image'.

As this wasn't the first Vahn had changed form against her, Scáthach managed to step back with only one of the spikes lightly grazing her bodysuit. This was, in a way, a small victory for Vahn so, when she was done thrashing him, Scáthach would undoubtedly give him something like a lap pillow or tightly embrace him as he recovered. This was infinitely better than the punishments she would come up with so, even though Vahn was still perturbed by her behavior, he had come to appreciate her 'gentle' moments when he performed well. He knew this was her intention from the start, serving as a means to motivate him further, but that didn't really alter his perception of the events all that much...

---

For the better part of ten hours, Vahn fought a futile but ultimately productive battles against Scáthach as he was inarguably more powerful now than when he first arrived in the Record. Not only had his Od increased to a value of 7,590, but his parameters had all increased marginally while his skills and magecraft were steadily improving. It felt like the day when he might actually be able to fight as equals against Scáthach wasn't all that far away, even though he also couldn't really imagine ever reaching that point. All he could do right now was enjoy the feeling of her cleaning his ears as he used her plump and warm thighs as a pillow. He had managed to singe her a bit with a close-range explosion so, combined with the small cut he had left on her bodysuit, Vahn had done 'very well' according to this peculiar Teacher of his. As a result, he was getting a bonus reward by having her comb through his hair with her hand while using a soft and flexible brush to clean the inside of his ears...

After spending about ten minutes cleaning both of his ears, Scáthach lightly tapped Vahn's shoulder, causing him to almost immediately jump to his feet before she could unceremoniously toss him aside or drop his head against the ground. Following this, Scáthach rose to her own feet before lightly wiping her thighs as she said, "Keep working hard." With that said, Scáthach vanished from the Sub-Space Orb without another word, leaving Vahn alone as Alaya came down to hover next to him. In the past, she had asked if he liked being beaten up by women and offered her 'services' in that regard, the very same incident that had resulted in his failure to use [Hands of Nirvana] against her. At the time, he had been tempted to tell her that he would have been happier if she reacted better but, knowing she would just be 'pretending', Vahn opted to remain silent...

With Alaya now firmly latched onto his shoulder, Vahn left the Sub-Space Orb behind to enjoy his eight hours of relaxation. During his 'day' cycle, Vahn would spend around fifty hours training and forty hours either relaxing, playing with his daughter, or spending time with Illya. Since he had lost the opportunity earlier, Vahn made his way over to Mordred's room as, according to the actual time, both she and Illya were likely sleeping. This didn't really matter all that much, however, as Vahn had free access to their rooms, both as an Emperor and because they had given him permission.

After traveling for a short while, Vahn opened the door to Mordred's room, seeing her oversized bed and the little girl rubbing her eyes sleepily as she sat up to see who was entering her room. When she saw it was her father, Mordred knew that he had come to pick her up so her sleepiness had been dashed away in an instant as she crawled out of her bed and slipped into the same clothes she had been wearing before going to bed. She had a habit of sleeping naked so Vahn had turned his head until she had jumped on his back from behind and said, "Let's go~!" in an excited voice. Though he was tempted to tell her to change into a cleaner set of clothes, disciplining Mordred was something expected of him only when she did something especially naughty. The rest of the time, it was Artoria who lectured and tried to correct her rather uncouth and unladylike mannerisms.

Carrying Mordred piggyback for a few meters, Vahn lightly knocked on the door located a little further down the hallway. It didn't take long before Artoria opened the door, revealing her figure in a long and rather tame white nightgown, complete with blue ribbons. A light blush had already spread across her face, as Vahn was the only one who would knock on her door during resting hours, but it faded away quickly when she saw Mordred with him. Instead, Artoria gave an affectionate smile as she opened up the door and said, "Please, come in." Vahn gave her a polite nod while Mordred laughed mischievously from his back. Matter's between men and women weren't remotely unfamiliar to her, even though she had never experienced them directly, so she understood that her mother essentially had cold water poured over her head. This made it feel like she had pulled a successful prank on her, something Mordred had been attempting rather often as of late...

Though she hadn't minded Mordred's laughter all that much, it still caused Artoria to scrutinize her a little more than she otherwise would have. She noticed that Mordred was wearing the same clothes as before she went to bed, causing Artoria's face to sour as she 'snatched' the rambunctious girl kicking and screaming from Vahn's shoulders. This wasn't even remotely the first time such an event had happened, allowing Mordred to understand that the jig was up. She was dragged back to her room by Artoria for a good twenty minutes, likely receiving a lecture, before appearing back wearing a very familiar set of pajamas. Vahn couldn't help but smile with a somewhat silly expression on his face as he mused, "What an adorable little tiger cub~."

Ever since Nobunaga had made the comment about Artoria being a 'tiger mom', Vahn had given her the idea of punishing Mordred by having her wear a set of animal pajamas that made her look like a tiger. It even came with a hood that had two rounded ears and a long plush tail that drooped almost pathetically from the fabric around Mordred's backside. She had a deeply set frown on her red face but, after being pushed forward by Artoria, Mordred crawled into bed before 'pouncing' on Vahn with an admittedly adorable 'Rawr~!' sound. The moment she was outside of her mother's 'domain', Mordred seemed to transform into a playful child that wanted her father's affection.

Seeing this, Artoria shook her head in mild exasperation before walking around to the side of the bed and crawling in alongside them. Vahn had made a habit of sleeping with the two of them if his own break coincided with the time they would normally be resting. This had brought the three of them much closer together as, after a bit of playing, Mordred sprawled out between them as Vahn and Artoria flanked her from the sides. Then, when she finally fell asleep, Vahn decided to tease Artoria a bit by mentioning, "I'd like to see what you like in tiger pajamas...seeing a tiger mom and her cub cuddling up might just cause my heart to explode..." This immediately caused Artoria's face to turn red but, instead of refusing, she bashfully averted her eyes and muttered an almost silent yet affirmative 'Nn...'.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn is cursed to never have bros (T ^ T)...','Yes, I managed to barely nick her bodysuit! Progress...!','Tiger mom approves')

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