Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-437

Vahn awoke the next morning holding Ryuu’s tired body in his arms. Even though Ryuu wasn’t overly fond of showing intimacy in front of others, Vahn realized that most of their experiences together had been with a ’group’. Knowing that she had died in the Divination, Vahn wanted to spend some time with just the two of them so he had asked Ryuu to stay with him. She was somewhat surprised at first but, after ’warming up’ to the idea, Vahn got to see how proactive Ryuu could be when she wasn’t embarrassed by others. Though he wasn’t the type to be ’managed’ by one woman, Ryuu had put in a great deal of effort and had been able to match Vahn for nearly three full hours on her own.

Realizing he had awoken, Ryuu opened her sky blue eyes and stared into Vahn’s face for several seconds before releasing a hot sigh against his chest and snuggling up against him as if she were afraid to lose his body heat. Vahn felt his heart itch a bit with how cute she was acting and hugged her body even closer until she inevitably whispered, "We have to get up, Vahn..." Vahn nodded his head but didn’t release her body as he responded, "When I learn magic from Eva, I’d like you to become one of my disciples, Ryuu..." Without showing any signs of confusion or complaint, Ryuu pulled her face up to match his as she said, "Sure..." before kissing him once again.

During the morning training, things had changed quite drastically and it was decided that, instead of the one hour of training, things would be split into two one-hour segments that would also combine breakfast as a break between them. Though it wasn’t wrong to let people develop their own combat style through actual battle, there were various things that could be shared between the members of the group to improve the overall capabilities of everyone present. Tsubaki had taken charge of the events, but she also had direct assistance from Ais, Tiona, Tione, Ryuu, Vahn, and even Riveria. For the first day, Tsubaki had her assistants demonstrate actual combat at a moderate pace that could be followed by the other members of the group. Unfortunately, this resulted in Vahn becoming something of a punching bag for Ais, Tiona, and Tione until he had an internecine outcome with Ryuu later.

Vahn’s combat style relied heavily on the use of his Innates and the support of The Path, so he had never fully developed his combat potential to the highest point he was capable of reaching. He had started to improve his foundation when he lived with Tsubaki in the past, but there were several areas where he could make drastic improvements. It was a little frustrating being able to see the movements of girls like Ais but being unable to react to them properly. He had a major advantage if he took the battle to the middle-range, but that wasn’t an excuse to improve his capabilities further.

One of the most important things that were discussed, even though it was relatively common knowledge, was how to develop useful skills and abilities that could potentially be beneficial to combat. Vahn had been keeping track of the development of all of his skills and had verified things with Riveria and was confident he had gleaned into the secrets that would allow others to develop the same skills. After all, skills like [Featherfoot], which allowed a person to be far more nimble and also conceal the sound of their footsteps, were useful for everyone. One of the biggest ’weaknesses’ of many of the girls present, even for people like Ais, Tiona, and Tione, was that their skill development had taken a back seat to their natural combat proficiency. Ais might be able to get around the need for the skill with her [Ariel] magic, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be very beneficial for Tiona and Tione.

Using Haruhime as an example, Vahn postulated that the only major requirement for skill development was having a basic understanding of the skill and ’wanting’ to develop it. Just like how he had been able to create an entirely new Development Ability, the record allowed for intent to directly translate into capabilities if you pursued them seriously. The absolute best example of this was the various rare skills and magics that were awakened by people that went through traumatic situations, such as Lili and her [Cinder*Ella]. Her desire to be able to change herself and escape her situation had turned into an incredibly rare transformation magic, something that had boggled the minds of magic ’scholars’ for centuries.

Though they had all heard the ’speculation’ about skill development before, it was much more impactful when Vahn and Riveria were both lecturing them and showed several examples that validated their claims. After learning about the events in the Divination, everyone’s desire to learn and improve had increased by a great deal so the lessons were taken very seriously by everyone present. Even though they were supposed to be eating breakfast, Vahn had noticed they were hardly even touching their food as they listened attentively to his, and Riveria’s, words. Having them treat the matter seriously made Vahn feel more confident in his own words which caused the atmosphere to bubble up with a bit of excitement as everyone got wrapped up in Vahn’s momentum.

For the second half of the training, the groups had been divided based on the types of skills, abilities, and potentially even magic, that everyone wanted to learn. Being able to measure your progress in a group was a great way to build confidence because, if anyone in the group managed to awaken the skill, it would inspire the others to redouble their efforts. Even the stronger girls, such as Tiona, Ais, Tione, and Tsubaki were in the pool of people trying to develop the [Featherfoot] skill. Because of this, Vahn got to experience the strange sight of Haruhime teaching the girls how to ’dance’ since it was considered the most practical method to unlock the skill. Tiona and Tione were naturally gifted at such movements, and Vahn really enjoyed watching them emulate Haruhime’s movements. Ais and Tsubaki, however, were somewhat lead-footed and were struggling a bit though it didn’t seem to bother either girl and Vahn could see a competitive fire burning in both girls’ eyes.

After the training had come to an end, the entire group migrated to the bath and Vahn got to experience what it was like to bathe with the girls after the ’change’ brought about by the Divination. In the past, everyone acted very casually and took turns having Vahn wash their bodies, but now things were far more lively and there were even people playing around in the water, primarily as a result of Tiona and Fenrir stirring things up. Many of the girls were far less reserved in their behavior now and Vahn even ’struggled’ a bit when he was washing Tina’s hair because Haruhime and Preasia were insistent on helping wash his body. Though Vahn was briefly tempted to refuse them, he ultimately decided to stop harping over such things and allowed the girls to ’compete’ against each other as the washed his back.

All the while this was happening, Syr continued to sit at the side observing everything with Ryuu and Aki sitting with her as the partook of a private conversation amongst themselves. Vahn had noticed their small huddle but, when he looked over out of curiosity, Syr just waved playfully at him before sending a wink and turning away. Vahn knew Syr took her role in the Manor very seriously and understood she was likely discussing things with Ryuu and Aki because they were his Vice-Captain and Lieutenant respectively. Tsubaki and Hestia were probably more influential in the group, but they were also the types that would easily support Syr’s decisions if she already had the backing of other girls. Though she didn’t like Syr much at first, Hestia now spent a fair amount of time talking with her as they corresponded with the other girls on the network. As for Tsubaki, she immediately got close to the core of the group and was one of the most well-liked persons in the entire Manor even though her arrival hadn’t been that long ago.

To Vahn’s surprise, the bath actually took less time than normal and was a lot more ’fun’ than it had been in the past. Other than the brief hiccup where Shizune caused a stir by calling him ’Papa’ in a very affectionate manner, everything else went rather smoothly and Vahn could feel his own confidence increasing as if it were a parameter within The Path. By the time he had arrived at his workshop, he had even been discussing things with Sis to find out if there were a way to track his own emotional parameters for things like affection, confidence, anger, etc. Unfortunately, though he seemed to be able to do such things for other people, Vahn wasn’t able to view himself in such a way...at least for the time being.

Because he had some success developing panties, Vahn was thinking about making a pair of stockings for Eina and Hephaestus but, after failing to make any form of progress for nearly an hour, he inevitably gave up on the idea. It was far more complicated than he had expected to try and create a seamless fabric and, after he did a bit of research, Vahn learned that it was nearly impossible to do by hand. There was also the fact that stockings were far too thin to have any practical defensive capabilities unless he made them out of very valuable materials, so Vahn scrapped the idea until he could discuss the matter with one of the gods that specialized in creating fabrics. Vahn had long known that the clothing technology was far higher than almost anything else in the world, though he wasn’t sure of the reason, and that seamless garments were very common.

Almost every female adventurer wore thin layers of cloth that perfectly conformed to their arms and legs and Ais even had a pair of arm warmers that wrapped around her fingers without the cloth bunching up at the joints. Vahn’s ability to create clothing was arguably better, as he was able to incorporate defensive capabilities and abilities into the garments, but his actual skill in producing clothing wasn’t even a fraction of the record’s standard. Fortunately, it should be relatively easy to meet a god or goddess that had such capabilities and Vahn should be able to learn from them directly if he gives them adequate compensation.

After deciding to scrap his idea to create stockings, Vahn purchased a pair of light green stockings that would highlight the green accents in Hephaestus’ dress before deciding to buy a stark white pair for Eina. Vahn felt like Eina was currently a very ’pure’ woman, so he thought white stockings were very suitable for her and even decided to make her new pair of panties white to match. It didn’t really matter of the underwear matched the color of the dress, as Vahn would be the only one seeing them, so he went with his gut and created a tantalizing black pair for Hephaestus before putting in a great amount of effort making an almost ’angelic’ pair of white panties for Eina. He even accented the design with small white feathers and used an almost indiscernible blue thread to sew the fabric together.

During this process, Vahn had long noticed the arrival of the two girls that had been ’obediently’ watching him at the back but decided to focus on his work unless they specifically asked for him. It felt a little awkward ’seriously’ creating undergarments in front of the two, especially considering that his spectators were Preasia and Fenrir, but Vahn knew it was better to overcome the awkwardness now than let it actually bother him. Eventually, it would become ’normal’ within the girls of the Manor that he created clothing for them, so Vahn decided to just act as if this was already the case.

[Tantalizing Secret]

Rank: C

Slots: 0

P.Def: 31

M.Def: 55

Abilities: Secret Revealed(E), Size-Correction(C), Dark Resistance(D), Weatherproof(E), Insulated(E)

A pair of panties forged by an obsessive Master Smith that grew determined to draw even more power from an undergarment. Though they are a glossy black in their default state, these panties are actually capable of turning completely transparent when the wearer enters a state of arousal.

[Maiden’s Purity]

Rank: C

Slots: 0

P.Def: 29

M.Def: 60

Abilities: Blessing of the Maiden(C), Size-Correction(D), Weatherproof(D), Insulated(E)

A pair of panties created by a delusional Master Smith intended as a gift to his betrothed as a testament to her maidenly purity. As long as the wearer maintains her purity, these panties can never become soiled and also emit a gentle and pleasant aroma. When the wearer loses their purity, the color of this garment will change to red and, depending on their depravity, they may even one day become black.

Vahn felt that every time he read the descriptions of the lingerie he made, it was like The Path was trying to insult and tease him. He had checked to make sure but Sis assured him that the descriptions weren’t influenced by The Path at all. It was apparently based on his own mentality when he was creating them and how his actions were ’interpreted’ by the record itself during the production process. Vahn knew there had to be more to it but it didn’t seem like Sis was able to give him any insights into how the process worked in detail. Eventually, he decided to not let such things bother him and simply turned to the two waiting girls and asked, "Did the two of you have something you wanted to talk about?"

Preasia had been brushing Fenrir’s hair lazily and had been paying close attention to Vahn’s actions for the last few hours. Now that he had started paying attention to them, she showed a small smile but was beat to the punch when Fenrir hopped off the sofa and asked, "Vahn makes panties now~? Fenrir wants a pair, as cute as possible please~!" Vahn laughed as he heavily pat Fenrir’s head and completely invalidated the efforts of Preasia from her earlier brushing. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Preasia also asked in a muted tone, "I would also...please?"

Vahn blinked before turning his attention to Preasia and saw her somewhat bashful behavior as she stared at the pair of panties on the table with her light grey eyes. She was currently wearing a pale yellow fleece sweater and, though she didn’t bring it up herself, Vahn knew she wasn’t wearing anything else under it. Though it was only a brief glimpse, Vahn had seen the contents of the sweater when she was sitting with her legs slightly parted earlier. He wasn’t sure what she was expecting to happen, but it was very obvious by her behavior that she wanted ’something’ to happen. He imagined her getting him to ’pet’ her only to discover that she wasn’t wearing any clothing under her sweater and then trying to tempt him to take further action...

Shaking his head slightly to clear the thoughts from his mind, Vahn nodded and said, "Sure, I don’t mind making you a pair but it will take a bit of time..." A thought passed through Vahn’s mind and a smile appeared on his face as he set out a stool and lifted Fenrir onto it before waving over Preasia and saying, "How about the two of you help me come up with a design? You can also pick the materials you like and I’ll try to make you a comfortable pair to wear." Since he decided to treat this as ’normal’, Vahn wanted to act casually and even get the girls involved to make things less awkward. Yes, it was a little strange to have them help ’design’ the garments he would make for them, but it was also kind of fun and seemed like a good way to spend time with the girls when he was working.

Preasia walked over happily and then, without any suspense, leaned against the table at an awkward angle like she was trying to peer over at something, even though there wasn’t actually anything of interest in her line of sight. Vahn knew what she was aiming for so, instead of pretending like he was unaware, he cast a glance over at the flash of pale white that appeared in the periphery of his vision. Preasia had leaned forward to allow her sweater to rise up on her body and Vahn was able to see her fair butt supporting the fluffy tuft of platinum blond fur that constituted her tail. Though it was only a brief glance, Preasia had been paying close attention to Vahn’s reaction and she seemed to be very pleased with the turn of events even though she didn’t show any changes in her expression and pretended to not notice.

For the designs of their underwear, Preasia decided on a combination of cotton and silk for her panties and chose a similar color to the other clothing she often wore. Vahn had noticed this in the past, but she liked the ’pale’ version of most colors and it made her entire appearance always look somewhat ’soft’ compared to most people. She ultimately decided on a pale pink color that wasn’t too different from her actual skin tone and tried to get Vahn to ’fit’ them for her by taking her measurements. Vahn, however, told her in a teasing tone about his ability to create panties with a ’Size-Correction’ ability and she became somewhat distraught as a result. She knew Vahn was teasing her, which made her somewhat happy, but she was also disappointed that her ’scheme’ had fallen through so quickly.

As for Fenrir, she kept asking what Vahn would like the most so he ended up making a pair of panties that he thought was suitable for her instead of a pair of her own design. Because he knew she would probably wear them often, as they were something he made himself, Vahn designed Fenrir’s to be very durable and layered three different fabrics together to make the interior absorbent while ensuring that the exterior was ’cute’ and liquid proof. Fenrir, however, did have one alteration to add and wanted Vahn’s ’Mentor’s Mark’ imprinted as a design on the front. Vahn’s mind had blanked at the request at first until Fenrir explained that she had heard about it from Tiona, who had learned about it from Ais and Lefiya. Vahn had worked with the two girls in the past and knew they had seen his designs for some garments and had probably spread the word about the design that had his face on it...

Because of her insistence, Fenrir ended up with a pair of white panties that had a ’cute’ miniature version of Vahn’s face on the front and she seemed very happy with the result. Preasia looked like she had taken a bit of an impact because she also wanted something similar after seeing the final product that Fenrir was wearing proudly as she ran around the workshop wearing nothing but the underwear and a beige-brown top covering her diminutive b.r.e.a.s.ts. From the moment Vahn had completed the panties, Fenrir had excitedly gotten Vahn to help remove her dress before stripping off her bottoms and wearing the new garment.

After making a round around the workshop, Fenrir ran over and gave Vahn a hug as she said, "Fenrir is going to go show the other girls~! Thank you, Papa~!" Vahn had stalled at Fenrir’s words and she began laughing in a mischevious manner like a child that had just completed a prank as she bolted out of the workshop. Vahn knew the other girls would see them eventually, so there wasn’t any need to actually stop her, but her calling him ’Papa’ was still a critical attack against his mind. Fortunately, Preasia was still present and he was able to recover quickly when she asked in a quiet voice, "Can you help me wear mine also...?"

Preasia had lowered her head with a blush as she stared ’sheepishly’ toward Vahn with an anticipatory look in her eyes. Vahn gave a somewhat wry smile before it turned into a more casual expression and he said, "Sure, Preasia, but there are other things we need to talk about as all. Know that I don’t mind your behavior, as it’s actually somewhat refreshing, but you need to show proper restraint or it could negatively influence some of the other girls..." Preasia knew Vahn was talking about Fenrir so she nodded her head and muttered, "Sorry...I just...want to be closer to you..." Vahn smiled at her words and reached out to stroke her curly platinum blonde hair with the influence of his [Petting] and [Hands of Nirvana]. Preasia almost instantly closed her eyes and showed a happy smile on her face as she enjoyed the warm and tingling sensation coming from her head.

Using his free hand, Vahn picked up the pale pink panties before squatting down and bringing Preasia back to reality as she looked down at him with slightly glossy eyes. Before she lifted her legs to help him, she instead lifted her own sweater and revealed that it wasn’t just her eyes that were moist. Vahn gave the ’fragrant’ mound a brief glance and noticed the relatively thick, but neatly maintained, pubic hair that matched the platinum blonde of Preasia’s hair and fur. When he originally healed her body, she had been bare down below and the flesh was covered in the marks of her abuse. Now, however, she looked very ’healthy’ and Vahn smiled before turning his eyes up at the girl and saying, "Lift your leg..." Preasia nodded her head, but she didn’t lower her sweater at all throughout the entire process.

Once he finally managed to cover her neatly maintained garden, Vahn released a slightly frustrated sigh before standing up and patting Preasia’s head once again. In a calm down, Vahn looked into her moist eyes and said, "As long as you continue working hard, it won’t be long before we can be together. I’m getting married tomorrow, so I don’t have any plans of making advances on other girls right now..." Though her aura fluctuated for a brief moment, Preasia nodded her head and said, "I...understand..." Vahn smiled at her response before, against her expectations, picking her up by the armpits and seating her in his lap after sitting on the sofa that had been next to them. Preasia was very confused at what was happening because Vahn didn’t explain before he started stroking the sides of her head and face and scratching around the area where her horns connected to her head.

Vahn smiled because he noticed that, while he felt a lot of heat coming from Preasia’s lower body he couldn’t feel any dampness at all, at least for the time being. Since Preasia seemed to be confused, Vahn traced his finger from her collarbone to her chin as he said, "Just because I don’t want to have s.e.x with you right now, doesn’t mean I can’t pamper you a bit. I know you’ve been working hard over the last few months, even though I haven’t done much to reward you for it. Since I have about an hour free in my schedule, let me catch up on my backlog a bit..." Preasia’s bottom lip trembled under his touch and Vahn could hear her teeth chattering quietly.

She really was an adorable girl and her entire body was very ’soft’, almost like she had a thin layer of fat covering her body even though she was actually very skinny. Vahn couldn’t deny that he had always been curious about the girls living in the Manor so, now that he had decided to be more proactive, he wasn’t going to keep holding back, especially when they were the ones making advances against him...

//[Petting] Development Ability Increased from F -> E//

Seeing the notification, Vahn’s smile increased marginally and he began to massage around the sides of Preasia’s head and the muscles in her neck. Her head began to droop a bit and she was releasing pleasant sounds under his touch. Vahn supported her head for a bit before deciding to hold her close to his body so she could relax more. Preasia immediately used the opportunity to hug around his rib cage as Vahn began to press the pressure points in her back. Because her sweater was very thick, Vahn ended up inserting his hands through the bottom and touching her bare skin only to notice that her body temperature was much higher than a normal person’s. He didn’t know if it was a racial trait of Sheep People, but Preasia’s core temperature seemed to be near 40 degrees and was somewhat hot to the touch.

Soon after he began rubbing her bare back, Preasia started trying to lift her head but notice she couldn’t put much strength into the muscles of her neck. It was very frustrating because she wanted to use the opportunity to try and kiss Vahn but couldn’t easily lift her head from his shoulder. She could feel her own body trembling under his touch and, unlike the disgust she felt in the past, everywhere Vahn touched radiated a pleasurable feeling that made her want to do even more. Even if they couldn’t have s.e.x, Preasia knew there were several other things they could do but she was powerless in his arms and suffered his one-sided ’pampering’.

Eventually, less than five minutes after he started, Preasia felt her body begin to vibrate slightly and she experienced a powerful contraction in her lower body when Vahn traced around the base of her tail. It wasn’t the first time she had experienced a climax, but it was unlike anything she had come to expect from her own actions in the past. To compound everything she was feeling, Vahn even lifted up her head and kissed her gently on the lips and began to probe against her own with his tongue. Before allowing his invasion, Preasia tilted her head to draw a breath and say, "Vahn...I love you..." She could see Vahn’s eyes widen from a brief moment before a genuine smile appeared on his face and he hugged her waist tightly while supporting her chin and whispering, "I love you too, Preasia..." before kissing her deeply...

//Preasia Has Reached Maximum Affection//

//Quest Completed: [The Hearts Desire:C-SS]//

Completion Grade: B

Rewards: 5,000OP, 1x[Hearts Desire: Preasia]

Grade Rewards: 5,000OP, 1x [Proof of Affection], 1x [Vision of Aries]

[Vision of Aries]

Rank: Unique

Use: Allows the user to view any subject, irrespective of distance and obstacles. Duration: 30M

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Dance Dance, Skill Revolution’,’Vahn, Panty Expert’,’Excessive [Petting]’)

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