章節 1051: Frustration
Without even waiting for 'Rin' to create a gap for her to use, Fenrir relied on her keen instincts to navigate the traps surrounding the warehouse before jumping through a window with a dark-blue shroud of mana covering her body. Her priority was eliminating the enemy Master as quickly as possible, only fighting the Servant if they tried to get in her way. Since her Master wanted to recruit Servants, as they were often 'good' by virtue of being Heroic Spirits, Fenrir wanted to avoid getting into a battle against a potential ally. At the same time however, she had the contradictory desire that sought out a battle against the enemy Caster, regardless of her Master's intentions. Fenrir's instincts told her that most Servants would be drawn to her Master's charisma and ideals while, at the same time, he would also be interested in their various techniques and abilities. This would decrease the amount of time she got to spend with him as, with numerous Servants proving to be females with strong characters, Fenrir felt it was only a matter of time until she was not the only one sharing her Master's bed...
With her mind straying a bit, Fenrir stepped on an invisible magic circle that quickly grew to around 5m in size beneath her feet. At the same time, she used [Shundo] to move outside of its effective range a small explosion resounded behind her. This brought her mind to a focused state as her ears set at a 30-degree angle as she bounded through the unexpected labyrinth she had found herself in.
Using her powerful sense of smell and her inherent sensitivity to magic, Fenrir was able to quickly progressed through the corridors using the walls, floor, and ceiling as navigable terrain...
Kicking off a corner, Fenrir bounded to the wall in an extreme display of acrobatics before twisting her body mid-leap as she arced over a purple blade of magical energy that had manifested from the wall. She could feel a few of the hairs from her tail get singed by the blade, causing Fenrir's eyes to glow with greater intensity as the shroud of mana around her body more than doubled in size. When she landed on the ground at the end of her arc, several magical arrows shot from the wall in an instant before bounding off her aura with a sound similar to metal colliding at his speeds. Then, using the increased defense and speed provided by her activation of [Melodia Bella], Fenrir moved like a blur through the corridors without even relying on [Shundo]. Since activating her shroud at full capacity already ate a lot of mana, Fenrir didn't want to expend even more just to move around flashily...
After a few minutes of traversing the maze-like structure found within the warehouse, Fenrir eventually felt that she was near the source, leading to her to use a more direct means of attack by cutting through the final few walls instead of going the 'intended' route. Upon breaking through, her scarlet eyes reflected a mature woman wearing a lab coat and red-rimmed glasses. The moment Fenrir saw her, especially with her dark purple hair and pale-yellow eyes, she immediately designated the woman as a 'danger'. As for the other presence within the room, it belonged to a tall man with a slender build and a delicate appearance. He also had a lab coat, much like the woman, but there were several embellishments that made it stand out from the norm. These included a raised collar that extended into a deep v-neck that came to a stop around his navel. Within the fabric, there were black epaulets and small red gemstones that radiated an extreme amount of Magical Power that caused Fenrir's hairs to stand on end. Unlike most of the annoying men Fenrir had come across, this powerful entity had an aura that wasn't all that dissimilar from her Master, including an uncealed 'gentleness' in his hazel-brown eyes. With his long black hair forming into a braid that rested against his shoulder, even Fenrir felt he was a man who could qualify as 'beautiful' according to the standards of normal people...
Though she had been intending to attack immediately after entering the room, Fenrir's instincts screamed at her to retreat from the very moment the man's eyes gazed towards her. He had a soft smile on his face as he politely muttered, "Young lady, you should not involve yourself with this matter. Please return...I am not fond of battle..." There was a lot of sincerity in the man's voice but, apparently not sharing the sentiment, his Master showed an expression of distaste as she exclaimed, "Caster! If you can't even eliminate enemies that have invaded our territory, how do you plan on helping me secure the Holy Grail!?"
Unlike the gentle and delicate man, the female Magus had eyes that barely contained a glimmer of light, almost as if she held the entire world in contempt. Though she had a shapely figure and a well-structured face, Fenrir could tell she was 'rotten' at a glance. As she retreated back through the same hole she had created, Fenrir sent a wave of ice spears towards the woman without a moment's hesitation. This caused her eyes to widen in shock before, in a manner similar to Rin, she threw out a dark blue gemstone that exploded into a gaseous cloud of mana that instantly evaporated her ice spears. At the same time, the man in the lab coat released a tired sigh before a rather plain but masterfully crafted sword manifested in his hand. From around his body, five 'flowers' seemed to bloom into existence before a series of crystallized orbs, each a different color, began orbiting around his body...
As Fenrir used the shortest route, literally cutting a path through the surrounding walls, her mind was abuzz while an agonizing frustration was rising in her heart. The fact she had to flee for a second time made her nose turn sour as her vision was obscured by a developing layer of moisture. She was going through the painful realization that, while she believed herself to be powerful, the absence of her Master in close proximity made any competent enemies too dangerous to fight. Her highest priority was making sure she didn't end up losing her life, knowing full well it would devastate her Master, so any 'real' threats would instantly trigger of fight or flight response. In a way, this was a 'shadow' that had been carved deeply into Fenrir's mind as a result of her Master's overprotective nature...
After cutting her way through the last wall, Fenrir immediately ascended to the sky by creating several footholds in a zig-zag pattern. Then, with tears building at the corner of her eyes, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Master, give me strength...!" Following this, several magic circles began to form around Fenrir before she layered them together in front of her body and began chanting, "Heed the Contract and Serve me, oh Queen of Ice! Come, Unending-" Without being afforded the opportunity to complete her chant, Fenrir crossed her arms in front of her body as a blue beam of pure Magical Energy slammed into her body, destroying her multi-layered magic circle in the process. Though she ultimately emerged unscathed, Fenrir's eyes were now bright enough to obscure the features of her face as they created long trailing arcs as she moved at a speed far greater than what she could manage indoors...
Though it was difficult to tell, due to how quickly she was moving, Fenrir had a far more feral appearance than normal as her hair spiked outwards in a wild and chaotic fashion. Even her mouth, which looked small and delicate in normal situations, had 'stretched' in a wide and uncanny manner as her teeth formed sharp and angular protrusions. As she dodged around, evading a series of magical beams targetting her, Fenrir was maxing full use of her agility as she vaulted around, twisting her body and even moving on all fours at times. Instead of trying to create more distance, however, her aggressive movements were taking her closer to the warehouse she had only recently escaped.
As Fenrir neared the building once again, several figures seemed to manifest from the walls themselves, each having vaguely humanoid appearances with a clay-like structure. They were wielding swords and spears of the same material as they threw themselves into Fenrir's path without any semblance of self-preservation instincts. Fenrir didn't even put any of these entities in her eyes, tearing through them with extreme ease as their weapons broke apart after striking her chaotically flaring mana shroud. They were, however, slowing her down a great deal since there seemed to be a night infinite number of enemies to replace those she struck down...
Slowly but surely, the warehouse began to change shape as it seemed to be using the materials used in the production of the labyrinth to create the golem-like entities blocking Fenrir's path. To make matters even worse, every enemy she struck down seemed to melt into the ground before reforming as a completed golem moments later. Vahn was watching all of this transpire from a much closer distance than he had previously stood. A few hundred meters away, Ishtar had also stopped curling up on her bow like a cat, deciding instead to channel a truly phenomenal amount of mana from the atmosphere. She hadn't attacked yet, but it was easy to see that she was preparing to annihilate the entire warehouse when Fenrir was no longer in the target zone...
Seeing Fenrir tear through what should have been her two-hundredth golem, Vahn released a tired sigh since she seemed to quickly be losing her rationality. She was no longer even heading deeper into the warehouse, choosing to instead tear apart each new golem that appeared as if she had a personal grudge against them. Exacerbating the situation was the fact that, instead of using up her internal reserves, Fenrir actually seemed to be getting stronger as the fight progressed. The [Spirit Choker] around her neck seemed to have kicked into high-gear, indicating that she was using the active ability in her berserk state...
Deciding it would be best for Fenrir to tucker herself out, Vahn was watching the fight closely as he wondered why the enemy Servant wasn't trying to attack using more direct means. Other than the seemingly infinite stream of relatively weak golems, neither Master nor Servant had appeared to put pressure on Fenrir. If they combined powerful Magecraft with the constant waves of golems, it wouldn't be that difficult to take down Fenrir in her enraged state. This indicated that their enemy was either the type to exercise extreme caution against during battle or that they were simply trying to chase off Fenrir without killing her...
Though there were 'exceptions', the Holy Grail primarily summoned Heroic Spirits that were either 'good' or 'neutral' in their moral alignment. It would sometimes allow for what Rin referred to as Anti-Heroes and, in even rarer cases, actual Villains, but these were extremely uncommon. This was the reason why Vahn would rather recruit the Servants as even those who performed 'evil' deeds often did so because their Master forced them to act with a Command Spell. If not for the forced compulsion of the Command Spells, there was no way to force someone like Scáthach to harvest the life energy from nearly two-hundred people. It was the existence of this kind of system, almost completely centered around the selfish greed of a few errant Mages, that fueled Rin's and Lord El-Melloi II's desire to abolish the entire ritual...
With her extreme energy expenditure, Fenrir eventually started to slow down after fighting for around twenty minutes. At this point, the entire battlefield had become a frozen wasteland while the warehouse, previously appearing like a normal building, now formed a multi-layered dome that would repair any damage it sustained almost instantly. Though Fenrir would undoubtedly be able to break through it in a calmer state of mind, she had reached the point where the hair on her head now extended to the small of her back while, on her arms and legs, it now nearly covered the entire limb. This was a state Vahn had never observed before, especially with how Fenrir's 'adorable' appearance had morphed into a maddened visage as she stopped using her claws and began biting through the enemies as part of an instinctual effort to replenish her reserves...
Realizing that Fenrir would probably 'never' stop fighting in her current state, Vahn's expression revealed complex emotions as he sent an order, directly telling Fenrir, ("Fall back. Focus on retreating to a safe area and let your energy deplete..") This immediately caused Fenrir to 'freeze' after just tearing apart a golem, a huge chunk of its head hanging from her mouth. Within Vahn's Unit Management, he could see Fenrir's Loyalty drop by a few hundred points but, compared to the billions she possessed, the was only a drop in a vast ocean. When the value stopped decreasing, Fenrir immediately stopped her endless slaughter as she moved like a phantom, apparently determining the 'safest' area was at his side since she was moving toward him like a homing missile.
Vahn habitually opened his arms, just as Fenrir tackled him with enough force to trigger his 'nullification'. The fact she collided against a seemingly immovable wall didn't deter Fenrir, however, as she began panting like an animal out of breath while tightly clinging to his body. Vahn pulled her into a tight embrace and began to gently stroke her bristly fur to help her calm down. Her eyes were glowing so intensely that, even when she blinked, the vibrancy could be seen through her eyelids. In order to expedite the process, Vahn used another 'order' to say, "Calm down...sleep...I'm here..." This caused another drop in Fenrir's Loyalty value as her eyes began to dim before finally losing their light, coinciding with Fenrir fading into a deep state of unconsciousness...
Near the same time that Fenrir had passed out, Vahn felt a pulse pass through his body that even caused his instincts to signal danger so he immediately moved back just as a massive purple explosion expanded outward, the small dome at the very center of its focus. Ishtar had ascended high into the sky before releasing a single arrow which, like a small-scale nuclear explosion, caused a massive shockwave to spread out faster than the speed of sound. Fortunately, though Vahn wasn't sure of the principle behind it, the energy seemed to bend curve upwards after spreading 500m, forming what appeared to be a deep purple sun that lit up the entire city with its radiance...
As Vahn stared at the devastation with a blank expression, Ishtar slowly descended next to him, having resumed using her bow as a perch as she lazily watched the 'sun' continue to burn alongside him. Though Vahn felt it was overkill in the extreme, as there was no way such devastation could be covered up under normal circumstances, Ishtar seemed to enjoy the result of her attack as she hummed a happy tune. It wasn't until nearly three minutes had passed that the explosion began to flicker out of existence, leaving an almost perfectly spherical crater that would have caused Vahn to facepalm if not for the fact that, the only 'blemish' within the crater was a crystalline sphere that had undoubtedly been formed by their enemy...
Seeing that her attack fail, even though it easily fit the classification of an 'Anti-Mountain' grade attack, Ishtar's expression turned into a pout as she slid off her bow and prepared to fire a second volley. This time, however, Vahn held up his hand to stop her, saying, "Large-scale attacks like this are too high-profile, Ishtar. For now, we'll pull back and recuperate...this doesn't seem like an enemy who will go out of their way to counterattack. Since we don't know the limit of their abilities, it is safer to pull back and strategize..." Though Vahn felt he could probably break through the pristine blue crystalline structure, he didn't feel like the Caster within the sphere was an enemy. If possible, he wanted to recruit them to his side as they would undoubtedly prove to be a powerful ally with this level of defense...
With her expression still forming an admittedly adorable pout, Ishtar flew over to his side before 'casually' wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her breasts into his upper back. With her lips right next to his ear, she complained, "We'll fall back, but only if you promise to give us a reward when we return...we went all out in our attack to try and avenge your little playmate. Don't we deserve at least some gratitude~?" At the end of her question, Ishtar gently bit the tip of Vahn's ear before tracing her tongue along its curve. Vahn moved his head to the side but, as if gravity and momentum didn't apply to her, Ishtar moved smoothly with the motion before giggling as she tried to lick the inside of his ear.
Feeling a little annoyed at Ishtar's behavior, Vahn was about to reprimand her but, before the words could form on his lips, she spontaneously stopped as they both watched as the ground had started repairing itself at a rate visible to the naked eye. Almost as if time was being reversed, the ground began to fill itself in as soil and gravel quickly formed a foundation to support the various pipes which formed to replace the damaged sewer system and underground substructure of the surrounding area. Even complex components, such as electrical cables and brass pipes were not exempt from the large-scale restorative Magecraft. Though it would obviously take a bit of time, Vahn estimated the damage would have been completely repaired in less than two hours...
Seeing this, Vahn was absolutely certain that the Caster-Servant within the crystalline sphere was not a 'real' enemy. With the trend of other Servants he had seen, there was a good chance they may not even harbor the intention to obtain the Holy Grail. Though their Master was obviously of a different mindset, they didn't seem 'foolish' enough to waste their Command Spells to compel their already powerful Servant to do their bidding, at least in a way that would expose themselves to danger. If the Caster-Servant was sensitive to the surroundings, they would have informed their Master of the several powerful presences within the area, especially since Ishtar made no effort to conceal herself. Her presence was proud and haughty, even though her nature had been changed greatly by the [Page of the Akashic Tome]. It was almost like she 'needed' to be seen which, considering she was a Goddess of Beauty, may very well be the case...
Holding Fenrir in a princess carry, Vahn surprised Ishtar a bit as he also began to ascend into the sky while she was still clinging to him. Though he couldn't fly for extended periods of time, it wasn't a great distance to the Tohsaka Manor from their current location. At this point, Vahn had no doubt that most of the enemy Master's knew their identities as, even though Ishtar's appearance had a few differences, she looked almost identical to Rin. As one of the 'main contenders' for the Holy Grail, Vahn didn't fool himself into believing their enemies weren't aware of her appearance. However, after seeing the devastation of Rin's attack, the odds of anyone going out of their way to target here were slim, albeit not negligible.
Deciding to play it 'safe', Vahn did take a few detours before finally arriving back at the Tohsaka Manor via spatial teleportation. It took a heavy toll on his reserves to move three people but, considering the sun would be rising relatively soon, Vahn had more than enough time to recuperate within the Sub-Space Orb. With that thought in mind, Vahn wasted no time in entering the basement while still carrying Fenrir's now 'normal' figure in his arms. Ishtar had stopped clinging to him earlier but, now that they were indoors, she deigned to place her feet on the ground as she curiously inspected the formation he had created earlier in the day.
Soon after Vahn had deactivated the trap component of the formation, Scáthach and Nobunaga both appeared nearly simultaneously. They actually hadn't been able to enter the basement, even in their Spirit forms, as the formation was nigh-impregnable, even in an immaterial state. The only ways to get inside were through the door leading to the basement or from Rin's workshop.
Nobunaga seemed more than a little surprised by the complex formation covering all the walls but, before she could inquire about its purpose, Ishtar had suddenly appeared at her side. She was about to say a teasing remark but, long before the words formed on her lips, Ishtar showed a 'radiant' smile before slapping Nobunaga hard enough to create a loud and audible smack. This caused Nobunaga to take a few steps back as she rubbed her cheek, eyes formed into a fierce glare as she exclaimed, "What the hell was that for!?" In response to this, Ishtar crossed her arms in a huff before stating, "This Goddess has never desired to lay with a woman before. Even if it was only our vessel, you still defiled this Goddess' body with your greedy hands. We were going to let it go, out of respect for our kin, but, now that you have declared War upon us, do not expect any leniency...!"
Though she was bothered by Ishtar's words at first, Nobunaga's eyes widened a bit when the Goddess unceremoniously mentioned the matter of 'War'. For one of the few times in her life, Nobunaga felt her heart palpitate a few times as she found herself at a complete loss for words. Fortunately, Scáthach intervened at the best moment, emotionlessly stating, "Do not fight amongst yourselves. The transition to Dawn, just as you begin to drop your guard, is the most dangerous interval during the Holy Grail War. I will not stop you from settling your differences, but I will not tolerate your behavior when there is an actual war going on outside."
Ishtar frowned deeply when she heard Scáthach's words but, realizing there was truth contained within, she gave Nobunaga one last glare before closing her eyes. Vahn noticed this, pulling out a cloak in a single swift motion and placing around Isthar's shoulders just as her raiment dissolved into nothingness. When her eyes opened, they had transitioned into an aqua-blue color, indicating that Rin was now in the driver's seat. Seeing that Vahn had used his telekinesis to support Fenrir's body in order to put a cloak around her body, Rin's expression formed into a surprisingly shy smile as her cheeks quickly became suffused with a ruddy glow. She knew that Ishtar had, for lack of a better phrase, 'thrown her under the bus' in the heat of the moment so Vahn's care felt especially touching at the moment. Even though she was normally very intelligent, Rin had failed to realize that this was just one of the ways in which Ishtar intended to get small victories in the ongoing war for Vahn's affection...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: "Shaaaaaa~!!! You interrupt Fenrir!?','Ishtar still has a few character flaws...','The war has already begun (>,...,<)~!')
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章節 1052: Larval
After getting everyone up to speed on the function of the Sub-Space Orb, Vahn found himself excavating the surprisingly durable 'white' flooring in order to install a large bath. Due to his focus on stability and the tiered separation of Space, the ground was far more durable than he expected. Though this would prove to be a boon during their intense training sessions, it made his job a lot more difficult as there was no Earth Elemental Energy within the ground in which to manipulate. Since it was an opportunity to exercise his body a bit, Vahn had elected to purchase a durable pickaxe from the system shop and was currently working tirelessly as a dense layer of sweat formed across his body. Since he had failed to find an opponent to vent his frustrations on, Vahn was exerting his muscles to their limits, creating small fissures in the super-dense white material with each strike.
Contrasting Vahn's 'serious' efforts, Nobunaga and Rin both sat at the sides of a low wooden table, cushions between them and the hard ground below. It was clear there was a bit of 'distance' between them, both literally and metaphorically, as Nobunaga had a bored expression on her face as she pretended to ignore Rin's presence. As for the latter, she had originally been watching the rather exciting training session between Scáthach and Fenrir occurring a few hundred meters away. With the passage of time, however, Rin's attention had shifted periodically until she now found herself supporting her head with one hand, watching Vahn work with an absentminded expression on her face...
---
By the time five hours had passed, Vahn stretched his back before releasing a contented sigh as he looked around at the much larger than anticipated hole. He had practically made a medium-sized lake without even realizing it as, after getting in the groove, Vahn just kept going until his pickaxe fragmented. Considering it had a low-grade Indestructible quality, this was both a testament to how much he was putting it through and the durability of the floor material.
Almost as soon as Vahn had stopped causing microexplosions with his now broken pickaxe, Nobunaga tapped the table hard enough to draw Rin's attention before jumping to her feet. Before the latter could react to what she was doing, Nobunaga jumped down the slope of the bath before landing next to Vahn and asking, "Think you might've overdone it a bit?" At the same time as she asked the question, Nobunaga came very close to Vahn, making no attempt to hide her gaze as she eyed up and down his body before remarking, "Not bad...feel any better?"
Vahn gave a muted chuckle after hearing Nobunaga's words, tossing the remnant of the pickaxe into his Inventory as he answered, "At least until you, Scáthach, or Ishtar set me off again. You know, you should get along better with Rin, she-" As she listened to Vahn's words, Nobunaga crossed her arms before interrupting as she plainly stated, "You do you, Vahn. Us women, well, we have our own way of doing things. Until you decide to be more decisive, it's best you just keep being eye candy to keep us motivated." Towards the end of her words, Nobunaga tried to touch Vahn's abs with her index finger but quickly found her wrist within his grasp as he exasperatedly said, "Don't. I'm trying to relax and work off stress, not build up even more..."
As if to punctuate his words, a loud explosion sounded from beyond the ridge that denoted the side of Vahn's 8m deep 'bath'. This caused him to release Nobunaga's wrist before using [Shundo] to appear at the side just in time to see Fenrir skidding across the white terrain before coming to a stop. She didn't immediately bound to her feet and instead stayed on the ground for several seconds, her chest heaving noticeably, even from a distance. At this time, Nobunaga had already appeared at his side once again, commenting, "You're not the only one stressed out. That kid, she hasn't experienced many setbacks, has she...?"
Hearing Nobunaga's question, Vahn released a heavy sigh before explaining, "A long time ago, I had entrusted Fenrir's care to one of my lovers, an Elven woman named Ryuu. Back then, she was a lot more independent than she was now, even though her stress levels were all over the place. When we began facing powerful enemies...well, there is a reason why my archery was able to overtake most of my other skills. In order to let the girls around me grow, I relegated myself into a support position where, even if the battle seemed dangerous, I would always be there to protect them the moment things got out of hand..."
Nobunaga laughed in a borderline mocking manner, causing Vahn's brow to twitch slightly when she said, "I'm not even surprised to know you coddled others, not just Fenrir. Let me guess, even when the girls became powerful, you still fought all the difficult enemies yourself, right?" As she had seen first hand how Vahn 'guided' the girls during their time within the Dungeon, Nobunaga's question was more of a condescending statement than anything. She didn't really expect an answer, nor did Vahn intend to provide one as he sent a look her way before vanishing from the spot with [Shundo]. Nobunaga's expression didn't change throughout though, after Vahn used his movement technique to leave her behind, she mused, "If you look at me like that, don't blame me for wanting to tease you even more...hahahaha~."
Without hearing Nobunaga's parting remark, Vahn appeared at Fenrir's side, causing the latter to twitch before weakly raising her body. At this time, Scáthach appeared like a shadowy phantom, her red eyes glimmering as she said, "She can keep fighting. Do not interfere." This caused Vahn to frown but, before he could say anything, a thin mana shroud surrounded Fenrir's body as she rose to her feet. She coughed a few times, nearly falling back down in the process, before showing a resolute expression as she said, "I will fight. I must...!" With this said, Fenrir leaped past Vahn as she attempted to tear into Scáthach's body with her claws. The latter moved back at the exact same speed, using one of the moments where Fenrir had to step forward to create a gap in the latter's form. Fenrir's body tensed up in preparation for the coming blow but, instead of an impact, she found her body pulled forward by Scáthach, throwing her off balance and causing her to fall face-first into the ground again...
Showing a complete lack of emotions, Scáthach silently watched Fenrir slowly rise to her feet, using the moment when she recovered her balance to immediately begin her attack. Currently, she was only using her bare hands to battle against Fenrir, defeating the latter with her own style and techniques. Fenrir tried to roll to the side, feeling intense pain in her ribs, but was ultimately unable to escape as Scáthach, even without willing it, was able to predict all of her opponent's moves by instinct and the passive functionality of her [Clairvoyance]. The moment Fenrir was twisting her body around to try and defend, her opened hand, forming the shape of a claw, hit the much smaller Vanargandr in her already bruised ribs before sending her careening across the ground like a projectile fired from a canon. With the durability of the floor material, Fenrir's momentum didn't easily transfer into the ground as she skid much further than normal, this time coming to a complete stop...
With an approving nod, Scáthach began to make her way over to Fenrir's side before, as if she had just remembered his presence, turning her gaze towards Vahn. In her characteristic monotone voice, she warned, "When I am teaching, you will not intervene. Your methods will only bring greater hardships to both of you. If you do not agree with my way of doing things, you may try to change my mind when our training begins..." With this said, she vanished with a natural speed that could even rival [Shundo] before appearing at Fenrir's side. The latter had lost consciousness with nearly half the bones on the left side of her body being broken. During the battle, Scáthach had continued to target Fenrir's left side due to her balance, seemingly 'perfect' from the perspective of others, leaving a lot to be desired from her point of view...
As he watched Scáthach gingerly pick up Fenrir's body, Vahn kept himself calm by gripping his fists tight enough to caused blood to drips from his knuckles. Though it turned into small particles soon after, returning to his body due to the influence of [Magia Erebea], the pain was enough to keep him from lashing out. He knew Scáthach was right and, based on how determined Fenrir was, the latter likely agreed with the rather 'foreceful' methods. The one thing that worried Vahn to no end was the fact that Scáthach had 'refused' to allow for anyone participating in her training to use an [Effigy of the Hero]. She cautioned that, while the 'artifact' was quite powerful, relying on such methods was a mental crutch that would prevent true growth. As Vahn had often 'hidden' the effigy's on the girls during their earlier training, for the very same reasons, he could only watch Fenrir desperately trying to increase her strength in silence...
Somewhat unexpectedly, Scáthach had carried Fenrir over to his side, something that had been rather awkward due to how Vahn was glaring at her. Her calm made him feel an incredible feeling of perturbance, causing him to eventually avert his eyes until she was right in front of him. Without leaving any room for argument, Scáthach pushed Fenrir's unconscious body toward him, saying, "She worked hard. Take care of her until she wakes up." Then, just as Vahn's expression softened a bit, Scáthach added, "My mana is low. When you get a chance, I will require your assistance in replenishing it. This place has more mana than the outside world, but I am unable to absorb it into my body without Magic Circuits. If you do not want to use the previous method, fill a bowl and I'll take it off to the side..."
Though she might have put it off until later under other circumstances, Scáthach could see the blood on Vahn's hands, even though it was 'evaporting' at a discernable rate. She had never particularly liked the taste of blood in the past but, after sampling Vahn's a few times, Scáthach found that she had become somewhat fond of its peculiar and sweet flavor. Since it also made her feel 'alive' after the fact, a feeling she had all but forgotten to the sands of time, it was somewhat frustrating to see it 'wasted' due to his misguided anger.
For a brief moment, Vahn was tempted to hold out his palm and have Scáthach lap up his blood like a dog. Immediately following this thought, however, Vahn felt shocked by his own thoughts, finding them uncalled for, regardless of his current state of mind. As he used his sub-processes to try and figure out if anything was wrong, assisted by Sis, Vahn's expression on the outside became calm and implacable as he answered, "When it is time for my training to begin, I'll make sure to top you off. For now, return to the outside and revert back to your Spirit form. I'm expecting Astolfo to show up any time now, so it will be helpful if there is someone to receive him..." Vahn had given Astolfo the task of escorting Catherine to the Fuyuki City Hyatt Hotel previously but, now that a little more than an hour had passed in the real world, he expected the flamboyant Paladin would probably be showing up soon...
Showing no discernable change in her expression, Scáthach gave an understanding nod before saying, "I will carry out your orders." In the next moment, her body vanished without any form of argument, showing how she effortlessly transitioned between her Teacher and Servant personas. This left Vahn holding Fenrir's body as his own face maintained an expressionless visage, contrary to the chaotic state of his mind. Then, pulling out a thick cushion, comparable to a modern beanbag, Vahn plopped down into its plush embrace while holding Fenrir close to his body. Since Scáthach wanted her to recover on her own, apparently to train Fenrir's regeneration, he settled on trying to bring her as much comfort as possible so that she could rest easy...
---
With the time dilation of the Sub-Space Orb, something that had blown Rin's mind when Vahn explained the process, it was another five hours before Scáthach eventually appeared within the orb. At this point, Fenrir had already recovered, instantly resuming her training as Vahn meditated at the side with an intense aura surrounding his body. Since she didn't want to interrupt either of them, Scáthach made her way over to where Rin was sleeping before squatting down next to her body and poking her cheek. This caused Rin's eyes to snap open, resulting in her nearly falling off of the small bed Vahn had brought out for her use.
As if she hadn't just startled Rin awake, Scáthach plainly stated, "Our companion has arrived. They are skulking around the Manor's perimeter with a terrible disguise on. You should let them in before any of our enemies decide to eliminate him." Though Astolfo was perfectly capable of entering the Tohsaka Manor without assistance, especially with the ability to revert to Spirit form, he wasn't fond of the idea of hiding away. Unless he was 'forced' to do so against his will, Astolfo preferred being the center of attention whenever he could get away with it. He wouldn't dress up in cute clothing while styling his hair similar to a Princess if he wanted to skulk around in the shadows.
Having recovered from her initial shock, Rin lazily rolled out of bed while commenting, "You know, Scáthach, you could show a little bit of tact after what you did to me..." In response to this, Scáthach lightly shook her head and, as if correcting Rin's misguided views, stated, "You will recover faster by facing your fears head-on. I am not your enemy; this is something you are aware of. I do not believe you would react positively if I treated you with unnecessary kindness." With this said, Scáthach turned her attention back to Vahn and Fenrir before walking away from Rin without sparing her a second glance. The latter was just left blankly staring at Scáthach's back, at least until Nobunaga commented, "If you work hard, I'm sure your ass with develop nicely. Don't gawk too much or you might develop strange tendencies..."
With a light flush, Rin glared towards Nobunaga, shouting, "You're one to talk...you...you...rrrrgh...!" Deciding there were no benefits in even humoring Nobunaga with a response, Rin departed the orb in a huff. This left Nobunaga laughing in a boisterous manner before picking up one of the small animal-shaped crackers Vahn had given them and biting its head off. She then directed her gaze towards Scáthach but, as much as she 'wanted' to try and tease the cold beauty, Nobunaga felt that she would be the one to suffer. The only reason she was spared from having to participate in any training was due to the fact that a 'container' couldn't become any stronger without absorbing the life essence of living humans. Since there was little chance of Vahn using such methods, Nobunaga was wearing blood-red pajamas as she lazily watched other people working hard.
---
Having detected Scáthach's return to the orb, Vahn's focus shifted back to reality as he peeled open his eyes and saw her staring at him in the distance. In the next moment, Scáthach was standing right in front of him, temporarily creating the illusion there were two of her as the one in the distance faded away soon after. Vahn had no idea how she was able to move at such speeds as, even though he could 'see' her, for some reason it felt like he was never looking at her directly when she moved at high speeds.
Understanding what she would inevitably ask, Vahn rose to his feet before unhesitantly cutting his finger. This elicited a rare smile from Scáthach as she used her left hand to move aside her hair before bending forward slightly and suckling on his finger. Much like Scáthach herself, Vahn chose to close his eyes during the process as it was too easy to let his eyes wander when she was draining his blood. Even if it wasn't intended to be intimate, it undeniably felt that way so, with Scáthach's attire essentially comprised of a purple leotard, Vahn felt it was easier to just focus on the indiscernible sounds caused by the [Mantra of Eternity]...
After a few minutes had passed, Scáthach released his finger with a light 'pa' sound that made Vahn's heart twitch as he dropped his hand to the side and allowed the wound to close up. Then, as if she could not tolerate delaying the matter, Scáthach asked, "What do you want to learn...?" As there was, quite literally, nothing she couldn't teach, Scáthach left it up to her students to choose their own discipline. Even if they pursued a specific kind of magic or skill, she would help them master it with a proficiency rating between B~A. This would ultimately depend on their potential but, seeing that Vahn had 'no limits', Scáthach was admittedly a little excited to see how far he could go.
Feeling a strange pressure radiating from Scáthach's gaze, Vahn had to fight the urge to take a step back as he decisively answered, "Everything. I want to know what it means to truly master oneself...I want to see the pinnacle that you were able to reach." As Scáthach had reached Tier 4 through pure skill, even if her Innates helped, Vahn felt she would help him lay a strong foundation that he could rely on in all Records, not just the Nasuverse.
For the first time since they had met, Scáthach's face showed an expression of genuine surprise, to the point her brows raised and she drew in an audible breath. Immediately following this, Vahn felt a dreadful shiver pass through his body as a determination even greater than his own was reflected in Scáthach's eyes. Without mixing her words, Scáthach's weight began to shift slightly as she used her characteristically monotone voice to state, "So be it..." Following this, Vahn tried to jerk his head to the side but, even though he was sure he had dodged the attack, Scáthach's fist still hit him squarely in the face before sending him flying backward. For a brief moment, Vahn's vision was obscured by a 'flash' of light, leaving him to rely on his external senses and domain to evade Scáthach's follow-up attack with [Shundo].
When his vision had recovered, Vahn's eyes widened in shock as he found his view obscured by Scáthach's hand before it tightly gripped his face and slammed him into the hard white floor. It was only at this moment, when a searing pain ran through his head, that Vahn realized that Scáthach was able to damage his body. Since he should be outright immune to most attacks, this meant that she was either using her [God Slayer] from the outset, or her raw power had reached the A-Rank. As some Noble Phantasms didn't even reach this point, Vahn knew that his training with Scáthach wasn't something that Tsubaki's could even come close to...
---
Appearing within the Sub-Space Orb with a confused-looking Rin standing at his side, Astolfo used his hand as a visor as he excitedly exclaimed, "Woooow~! I never expected a place like this to exist! Does it really go out-." Without finishing his question, Astolfo was brought to silence in an instant as, in the distance, he watched as a purple-haired woman moved like a machine with infinite precision as she hammered Vahn with heavy blows. His face had swollen up like a pig's, blood dripping from various parts of his body as he was continually pushed back by her seemingly unstoppable rush. Since Astolfo had, technically, lost to Vahn, his mind currently drew a blank as he internally exclaimed, ("What the heck did I just get myself into!?")
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Diggy diggy hole...','Fenrir is the goodest girl (TT ^ TT)...','I feel like there is some kind of catharsis to be had in knowing that Vahn is taking a beating...')
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