章節 201: Comfort

When Vahn awoke early the next morning he could feel a pressure on his chest and, after moving the covers a bit, he could see that Lili had changed her position in the night and was now hugging his body like a koala. Vahn noticed that she was incredibly light so it wouldn't have been that uncomfortable if not for the wet stain on part of his tunic where her drool had soaked into the fabric.

Turning his head to the right, Vahn noticed that Naaza didn't seem to have moved a single millimeter while she was asleep and continued to rest on his shoulder while holding his sleeve with her hand. Since his right arm was pinned by her body, and he didn't want to wake her, Vahn used his left hand to pull out the orb. Before he immersed himself into it, he looked at the tiny white ears on Lili's head for a few seconds before blowing into them with a puff of air. The small tiger-ears twitched and Lili turned her head to the other side and found a new spot to drool on.

Vahn smiled at her reaction and then inserted his consciousness into the orb to meet Eva and calm his mind. Contrary to his expectations, Eva didn't drop onto him like all of the recent times he had visited. Instead, she was sitting off to the side in a white sundress with her hair somehow tied into a long braid that reached down to her butt. When they made eye contact, Eva asked, "With how you look, it doesn't seem like things went that well?"

Releasing a sigh, Vahn sat up from the bed and rested against the headboard as Eva snuggled up next to him and waited for his explanation. Vahn recounted all of the events of the prior day from start to finish since it had been more than four years since Eva heard everything. She listened in silence all the way until the end while resting her head against his shoulder.

When his story was finished, Eva asked in a quiet tone, "What do you want to do now? Will you continue to forge, or do you want to start training to become stronger?" When she got to this point, Eva repositioned herself before transforming into her adult form and hugging Vahn's head into her ample breasts. She whispered in a comforting tone, "Or do you want me to pamper you for a bit...?"

Vahn allowed her to hug his head as he his body with his arms around her waist. The moment he embraced her, Eva began to stroke his hair gently and didn't say another word while comforting Vahn. After a while, Vahn asked in a slight daze, "I'm not sure what to do, Eva...I want to be stronger so things like this never happen again. But, I also want to keep the promises I've made as soon as possible."

Releasing a sigh into her breasts, Vahn continued, "I want to be a hero...I want to be the light that helps people find their way out of the darkness...but I don't know what that really means. People tell me to just continue being myself, but everything I'm doing feels like it is only delaying the inevitable. The harder I try, the happier people become...but I feel like it just creates a gap in my own mentality that invites terrible things to happen. I want to be happy, but if my actions lead other people to suffer..."

At this point, Vahn began to cry warm tears that trickled down Eva's cleavage as he hugged her waist tighter. She rested her cheek on his head as she continued to stroke his back and hair while Vahn continued trying to organize his thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, Vahn continued, "I don't want to be bad...I don't want to be evil...but I feel like the only way to protect the things I care about is to seek out and destroy the people that might harm them. The only way I can protect them is if everyone is too afraid to take action...but, I also don't want the people I care about to see me in that way...I don't want people to be afraid of me."

Eva continued stroking Vahn's back as he turned silent for a long period of time. After a while, she spoke in a soft and gentle tone, "This is why most heroic tales end in tragedy...because there is too much darkness in the world for one person to resist. The harder you try, the more reliance people will place on you as they seek the warmth and security you provide. Since there is darkness in everyone, you'll bear their burdens and become susceptible to the plots and schemes of others..."

Vahn silently listened to her words and knew that she was speaking the truth, at least as far as he could rationalize things. If he had never been involved with anyone in the 'record' of Danmachi, he wouldn't be wrapped up in all of these things...but he also wouldn't have been as happy as he had become. Lili would have continued to suffer until Bell saved her, and Naaza would have lost her arm. He didn't regret his actions, and there were so many things he wanted to protect, but Vahn still felt the strain of the burdens placed on him. If not for this secret place where he could vent, Vahn wasn't sure he'd be able to cope with the rapid changes to his life.

Suddenly, Vahn felt a sense of weightlessness for a brief moment before he could smell various new aromas around. Lifting his head from Eva's breasts, Vahn noticed she had teleported the entire bed into the lively garden she had been developing over the last twenty or so years. The trees that they planted long ago had already grown by a fair amount, and it looked like a small piece of paradise with the neatly arranged rock formations and the artificial creek that had been carved into the landscape.

Eva rubbed the side of Vahn's face with her hand and looked at him with gentle eyes as she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. Vahn's mind blanked for a brief moment and didn't have time to reciprocate the kiss before she pulled away. Seeing his reaction, Eva smiled and said, "There is a simple solution, and I'm sure it's one you have already thought of but overlooked because of your focus and drive..."

Vahn listened attentively and waited for her to continue; Eva laughed at his eagerness and explained, "Aren't there plenty of people around you to help share your burdens? Instead of trying to bear everything yourself, you can find those you trust and place your reliance in them. Just like now, when you're letting me consul and guide you, I'm sure there are others that are willing to do the same. Weren't you always talking about all the things that Hephaestus woman did for you that you wanted to pay back?"

Eva's words caused Vahn to think about all of the various people in his life and realized that there were actually a number of people trying to make his life easier. In fact, there were few people within Vahn's immediate recollection that weren't trying to help him as he continued trying to move forward. It was their assistance and his willingness to try and make them happy that had been driving him all this time.

While he was recalling all of the people he was in a relationship with, Eva continued, "I think the biggest problem is that you are too reliant on receiving their care and then trying to repay it and live up to their expectations. If you learn to work alongside them and help each other out, you'll be able to cover for each other's weaknesses and overcome difficulties together. You don't have to face everything alone..."

At this point, Eva turned back into her normal appearance and crawled into Vahn's lap with her back resting against his chest. She grabbed his hands and placed them around her as she held them with her own. Turning her head to the side and tilting her body, Eva kissed Vahn on the chin and then said, "I'm sure you realize how much I rely on the time we get to spend together, even if it is only for a brief period every few years. It is because of what you have given me and the things we have faced together that I can continue forward and stall the decay of this space. I think that, if you learn to rely on others like what you're doing in here with me, you'll have a much easier life."

Vahn considered her words for a while before releasing a somewhat tired, yet relieved, sigh. Putting a bit of strength into his hands, he held Eva tightly and hugged her against his body as he traced his head around her face and kissed her on the lips. Since she had been staring at his face, Vahn didn't have to go far before they made contact and kissed for nearly a full minute. When the kiss ended, Vahn looked into Eva's icy blue eyes and whispered, "After everything you've done...I feel like I need to repay you now."

Eva began to laugh mischievously as she reached her hand up and caressed the side of Vahn's face and said, "Wrong again, my idiot disciple...we should work together to make each other happy. Every bit of affection you show me, I'll 'repay' it with interest. That way, no matter what, we'll always be working toward a greater happiness...together."

In response to her words, Vahn traced his palms along her stomach and felt a gentle flow of mana as her white dress disappeared under his hands. Vahn also discarded his equipment and the two spent nearly two hours affectionately caressing each other without doing anything intense as they had done in the past. They just focused on exploring each other's bodies and discovering new things about each other that made them happier...together.

When Vahn left the garden where Eva had fallen asleep, he felt incredibly refreshed and revitalized. He had learned that Eva was actually weaker to gentle caresses than she was more intense stimulation and after hugging her body as she drained his blood, she actually fell asleep while he was stroking her long golden hair. It turns out, when her blood pressure increases during excitement, she actually needs to release the pent of emotions and relied on his actions to do so. Since he didn't give her an easy outlet, her emotions continued to rise until her face was nearly beet red and Vahn felt like she was beginning to let off a small amount of steam. Since it was such a different reaction than her normal mischevious behavior, Vahn had gotten a little carried away and spoiled her quite a bit.

Vahn had also seen (Nameless) sleeping under a tree and noticed that his body hadn't changed much. Other than its age increasing, there was no visible difference between his former and present self. When he noticed Vahn, (Nameless) rose from the ground and hobbled toward him with uneven steps and Vahn used Shundo to close the distance so it wouldn't have to struggle. Without any magical ability to speak of, (Nameless) couldn't substitute its energy by absorbing mana and it was barely able to sustain itself using some of the ingredients Vahn had left behind for Eva to cook with.

Though (Nameless) was still quite ugly, Vahn treated it affectionately and scratched behind its ears as he channeled his energy into its body. (Nameless) seemed to be very pleased by Vahn's affection since, as Vahn learned later, Eva hadn't exactly been too fond of it. Though she made an effort to interact with it and even fed it so it wouldn't starve, she didn't like its ugly looks or lack of intelligence. Since they had no easy way to communicate and he couldn't understand her orders well, they had more or less lived in the same space without interacting too often.

After fully replenishing its energy, Vahn made he way toward his workshop as (Nameless) trailed closely behind. Vahn allowed it to do so since it shouldn't cause any problems if he orders it to stay off to the side while he was working. Surprisingly, even without his order, (Nameless) just stood at the elevated platform where Eva's desk was and laid down on the floor as it watched Vahn work. If it had been a normal dog, its actions would have appeared cute, but Vahn couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved to see a dog with human-like arms supporting a dogs head as it stared at his actions with interest.

Vahn resolved that, once the cooldown for [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] was up, he would come up with a name that would either make (Nameless) look very cool, or at least more appealing than the mangy humanoid dog that it currently appeared to be. He had already thought about naming it [Fenrir] based on the same mythos as Fafnir, but Vahn had a few misgivings about naming all of his subordinates after entities known for destruction. Fafnir already looked 'evil' and suddenly having a 'world-devouring' wolf might make people think he is some kind of evil tyrant.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Poor (Nameless)','Vahn is still just a kid','Sometimes, being intense isn't as intense as being gentle')

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章節 202: Some things change, Some things stay the same...

Over the course of the next three days within the orb, Vahn only spent about half the time forging as he did in the past. He had quickly reached the point where his cooperation with the 'eternal flame' was nearly flawless and he could retain more than 90% of any type of metal, including the difficult to work with ones like Adamantine and Orichalcum. The only thing he needed to do now was focus on developing specific pieces of equipment and trying to push his skills further. Since he could process most materials, he needed to get to the point where he could forge them into the items that he wanted.

The other half of the time, Vahn was relaxing with Eva who had turned relatively docile and attentive as the two spoiled each other. They spent time doing almost everything together, including cooking, cleaning, bathing, and sleeping. Unlike the relatively passionate interactions they had in the past, Eva seemed to be focused on helping him relax, and Vahn was very grateful to her. Though he wasn't as affected by the events as Milan and Tina, he had undergone a pretty big impact to his mentality and needed time to recuperate.

After replenishing the stock of ingredients and spending a bit of time coaxing Eva, Vahn managed to convince her to treat (Nameless) a little better. He told her that when it finally evolved, it would end up being cute and it would remember how she treated it in its kobold form. Though she pouted a little, she eventually gave in and petted the ugly dog-head of (Nameless) which caused Vahn to see the illusion of it crying in happiness. Soon after that, they returned to the room and Eva drew Vahn blood as he once again held her gently until he dissipated from the space.

Since he had been stroking Eva's back with his eyes closed and in a relaxed state of mind, Vahn awoke in the real world in a partial daze. His hands continued to stroke the back of the girl resting on his chest and he recognized that the sensation was quite different from Eva. When the bundle under the blankets began to squirm, Vahn remembered that he had returned to the real world and had just been affectionately stroking Lili who had been asleep in a similar position as Eva always rested.

Lili had been having a good dream and was enjoying the warmth and scent of Vahn as she hugged his body, completely opposite of her offer to act as a hug pillow for Vahn the night before. When she felt his hands begin to wander around her back, she immediately woke up in a slight daze and thought she was still dreaming since Vahn seemed way more affectionate than normal. Her body went slightly rigid at first before she quickly began to melt from the sensation of his hand stroking her body.

Though it hadn't been long since he began, Lili was quickly heating up and began to writhe on his body as she tried to return his affectionate actions. Unfortunately, her movement had awakened Vahn and he lifted the covers to stare down at her somewhat sleepy expression with a bit of confusion on his face. When she saw him staring at her, Lili felt suddenly emboldened and crawled up and gave him a kiss on the lips before he could awaken from his daze.

Vahn was only slightly surprised by her actions and didn't let her take things too far as he gave her a simple kiss before trying to pull her body away from his face. Seemingly unwilling to let go, Lili clung to his neck and kept trying to kiss his lips but kept missing the mark by a small amount. Since Vahn didn't want to hurt her, and it was partially...well, fully his fault she had been triggered, he was trying to gently resist her advances. He was surprised with his much strength she could put into her arms and eventually decided enough was enough when she tried to grab his face with her furry palm-padded hands.

Reaching his hands to her sides, Vahn pinched the fleshy part of Lili's waist and she yelped loudly as she shrunk her body away from the moderately painful sensation. Realizing what Vahn had done, she stared at him with a slight aggrieved look and said, "What happened...I thought you were finally showing me more affection..." She had a bit of tears in her eyes and, if not for the fact he could see auras, Vahn would have thought she was in pain.

At this point, Naaza had woken up from the commotion and had sat up from the bed and stared at the teary-eyed Lili with a slight frown on her face. As far as she could tell, Lili had probably tried to do something to Vahn and had taken things too far. Surprisingly, Vahn reached out both of his hands and cradled Lili's face as he began stroking the side of her head and ears while wiping away the tears on her face.

Vahn said in a gentle and apologetic tone, "Sorry, Lili, it was my fault. I...had a pleasant dream and hadn't been paying proper attention when I woke up." As he spoke, he continued to affectionately rub Lili's head and face as she had entirely stopped her whining. She had a slight blush as she allowed Vahn to continue caressing her for a few seconds. When it felt like he was about to stop, she opened her eyes and said, "It hurts..."

Lili raised the hem of her nightgown and revealed the side of her hips where there was a small red mark from Vahn's earlier pinch. Though he knew she was just trying to receive more affection, Vahn just smiled as he placed his palm on the area and used [Hands of Nirvana] to alleviate any discomfort she might have been feeling. Since his hand was right above them, and she made no effort to cover herself, Vahn noticed that Lili was wearing pure white panties that had a slightly mature design that didn't compliment her petite body very well.

Since the healing didn't take that long, Vahn removed his hand while Lili continued to hold up her nightgown as she visually inspected the area for several seconds. Vahn sighed at her attempt to try and entice him as he rustled her hair heavily until she tried to stop his movements with both of her hands. Finally finished dealing with her, Vahn turned to Naaza who had been watching them quietly since she woke up. Remembering that she had done her best to comfort him through the night without disturbing his rest, Vahn leaned over and gave Naaza a brief kiss right on her lips before stroking her head a bit with his right now.

When Vahn kissed her, Naaza's mind blanked as her eyes opened wide in shock. It wasn't their first time kissing, but having someone kiss her right after she awoke was a completely new experience. Remembering the fact they had slept together while she used his shoulder as a pillow, a pink hue began to color her face before it transitioned into a full blush a few seconds later. Vahn smiled at her reaction before giving her another kiss on the forehead and crawling out of the bed to prepare for the day. It was still very early, and there wasn't any training going on, but Vahn intended to contact Hephaestus early this morning through the use of the communication scroll in Anubis's room.

Lili and Naaza also climbed out of bed after him and began to change their clothing as well without speaking. Naaza had stood behind him, out of Vahn's line of sight, but Lili had taken the initiative once again by changing directly in front of him. Since she had only been wearing a nightgown, she quickly stripped off the singular piece of fabric as Vahn prepared to close his eyes. However, moments before he did so, he got a better look at Lili's transformed state and become a little curious. Though it was only brief, he glanced over her body in an instant before closing his eyes and pretending to not have seen anything.

Seeing Vahn close his eyes, Lili sighed silently before putting on her normal clothing. She hesitated for a moment since she didn't like to wear the same clothing multiple days in a row ever since her lifestyle had improved after meeting Vahn. She decided that she would change her clothes after taking a bath in the onsen at Tsubaki's and was trying to come up with a method to get Vahn to enter as well.

While Lili was hatching her scheme, Vahn had been getting dressed with his eyes closed while picturing the image he had seen right before he closed his eyes. Since she had been familiar with his Báihǔ form for some time, Lili's transformation closely matched his own appearance except she was more 'cute' than he was 'fierce'. Her hair had turned white with black undertones and she had two tiny tiger-like ears on her head. Even her eyes had changed color to be a similar blue to his when he was transformed. Since she could copy racial traits, she likely also had his night vision and enhanced senses as well.

The most notable change, however, had been that she grew a layer of fine black and white hairs on her forearms and calves and now had incredibly tiny claws on the ends of her fingers and toes. Unlike his long and sharp claws, her's seemed to be little nubs that didn't look like they could deal a single point of damage against a monster. On her palms and the tips of her fingers, she had small little pads of sensitive skin and Vahn assumed it was the same for the bottom of her feet as well. Another notable feature was the fact she now had a long tiger-like black and white tail that was a little too long for her body. Vahn decided to inform her about it, but he was a bit conflicted since it would seem like he was advising her how to better appeal to him. Though he didn't want to admit it, Lili's ability to transform was very interesting to him, especially if she could copy his transformations to an extent.

After they had all changed, Vahn opened the door to his room and was greeted by an empty corridor for the first time in a while. The two girls noticed his pause and asked if anything was wrong, but Vahn just shook his head with a somewhat sad smile on his face. He knew his life was changing and expected something to have happened the previous night, especially since he obtained a notification of his quest being completed when he had been walking Milan and Tina to the Hostess of Fertility. As he led the way to the dining room to prepare an early breakfast, Vahn looked through his system and reaffirmed what he had seen the previous night.

//Quest Completed//

[Quest: Forge an Alliance, Progressive]

Rank: A (I-SSS)

Objective: Convince Gods/Goddesses to form an alliance between their Familia(s). Current Allies (4)

Rewards: 10,000 OP x Familia Rank. (S(received), I:10,000OP, F:30,000OP, D:50,000OP). Quest completion rank depends on the total number of allies.

Grade Reward(s): A:40,000 OP(received), 1x[Rallying Whistle], 1x[Magatama of Fortitude], 1x[Saint's Reliquary]

He had completed the [Forge and Alliance] Quest and additional three times and had obtained rewards for an F, I, and D-rank Familia which increased his OP by 90,000 and brought the total Origin Points in his possession to 490,294OP. The three items he received were also quite good and fit along nicely with his [Banner of Command] from the previous Alliance with Loki.

[Rallying Whistle]

Rank: Unique

Use: Creates a magical frequency that can only be heard by allies. Increased agility for 1H and creates an invisible tether that can be traced back to the source. Range: Infinite

[Magatama of Fortitude]

Rank: Unique

Use: Increases Endurance of all allies by 30% while reducing agility by 10% within an area for 10 minutes. Activation requires shattering the Magatama and the effective area with 30m.

[Saint's Reliquary]

Rank: Unique

Use: Container capable of storing any singular healing potion and enhancing its effects by 500%. Converts the contents of the potion into a mist that spreads through an area and affects all entities within.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Lili gets triggered','Old Habits Die Hard','Dat Reliquary...')

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