Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-451

After leaving the Manor, Vahn realized that he hadn’t taken into consideration what it was like being a woman. All of his movement felt awkward, almost like there was a void that he couldn’t quite adapt to as he walked around. He wasn’t cold or anything, but it felt strange wearing shorts meant for girls and feeling the wind against his legs was rather strange. Noticing his awkwardness, Loki had gotten close to him and asked, "How long are you going to stay like that? Don’t tell me you prefer being a woman now..." Vahn flinched at Loki’s words but it was Hephaestus who answered for him as her fist fell like a hammer on Loki’s head. With a wry smile on his face, Vahn explained, "The item I used has a duration of twenty-four hours, but I can forcibly change back if I use my own transformation ability. It would likely take more than an hour though so I’ll stay like this for a while..."

Rubbing the bump on her head, Loki glared at Hephaestus before saying, "You should show that form to Tione and see if you can pull a prank on her...it should be pretty interesting seeing how they react." Though her words were a bit strange, Vahn couldn’t deny that he had actually thought the same thing earlier. It seemed like a unique experience that he could take advantage of since it was a relatively rare occurrence. He had no intention of ever transforming his body into a girl’s through normal methods so it wasn’t a bad idea to take advantage of the circ.u.mstances. Though he couldn’t see himself as anything but a man, Vahn couldn’t deny that he was somewhat interested in his current form...

Before they got to the gate, Vahn brought the group to a stop and asked Freya, "How far away is your residence?" Freya had been paying close attention to Vahn ever since earlier so she immediately answered, "It would only take us around ten minutes to get there..." Vahn nodded his head before closing his eyes for a few seconds. By the time he opened them, a large shadow had started to appear near the group and he looked toward Ottar and said, "Don’t attack my dragon..." As he had actually been present during the Monster Feria, Ottar was already aware of Fafnir’s existence and didn’t show any change in expression even when the black dragon towered over the group.

Freya looked up at Fafnir with a slight glimmer in her silver eyes since she was actually quite fond of it ever since she learned of its existence. Vahn had Fenrir lower its body to the ground as everyone climbed up on its back for the short flight. Since Freya’s residence was within the ’airspace’ of the Alliance, Vahn didn’t see any reason to walk. He wanted to get this matter taken care of as expediently as possible since associating with Freya wasn’t exactly the best way to pass time. The sooner he could return to his own research in preparation for the upcoming expedition, the better.

Once they were on Fafnir’s back, Vahn looked toward Freya, who was currently being supported by Ottar, and said, "Hold on tightly...Fafnir’s acceleration can be a bit intense." Following his words, Hephaestus, Loki, and Ottar all grabbed the protrusions that came out of Fafnir’s back and held on tightly. Hestia had stayed behind at the Manor since she wasn’t the type that left very often and wasn’t that interested in Freya getting ’knocked up’. With his signal, Fafnir flared its wings and sent a powerful gust of wind before it took off into the sky like a rocket. Within twenty seconds, accounting for deceleration and landing, Vahn had arrived at the area designated by Freya.

Realizing how quickly they had arrived, Freya looked around in abject shock before commenting, "I need to get me a dragon like this..." Loki nodded her head in affirmation as Hephaestus dizzily stood up from Fafnir’s back. Vahn had never expected her to be the type to get motion sickness and he found her reaction somewhat adorable as he rubbed the pale goddess’ back with gentle energy emitting from his palms. Suddenly, Vahn heard Fafnir say, ("Vahn, there is a strange feeling...") before it took the initiative to dive into the shadows and leave everyone standing in the grass. Vahn frowned and looked at Freya with a stern expression on his face as she averted her eyes and commented, "I can’t turn off my charm completely..."

Vahn had gotten a notification from his system saying that Fafnir had ’resisted’ a powerful charm magic and knew that Freya had tried to sneakily charm Fafnir for a brief moment. Even if it was an ’accidental’ thing, Vahn felt very offended by her actions and said in a firm tone through gritted teeth, "If you try to charm one of my subordinates in the future, I will cut all ties with you from then onwards..." Both Loki and Hephaestus also glared at Freya while Loki shook her head and said, "You never learn, idiot woman..." Freya gnashed her teeth at Loki’s remark before turning her back and leading the way into the Manor without refuting their words.

Once they were inside, the group split into two as Vahn and Hephaestus went into a small parlour where several servants began attending them immediately. Loki, Freya, and Ottar left for a nearby room that was still within Vahn’s range. The reason why Vahn had asked Loki to be involved was that she would be able to handle Freya more easily than he would be able to. They had already coordinated a signal and Vahn was going to use [Enkidu] when Loki informed him things were ready. Vahn might be able to sense everything that is going on in the room, assuming he focused on it, but he was going to distract himself with Hephaestus and Loki until things were ’finished’...

When they entered the room, Loki looked around at the furnishings, including the massive canopied bed that was against the far wall. Before Freya asked, she already started explaining, "Well, it doesn’t really bother me too much but I don’t want to watch your little play personally... let’s see, the things you need to be aware of are pretty simple. Vahn has a specialized artifact that he has created that can temporarily seal the Divinity of us gods. When your body is wrapped in the chain, you will become mortal and that will allow your little pet here to take care of the basic part of the procedure. When he gives you the baby batter, have him wipe down your body and get dressed before he goes to retrieve Vahn. You won’t be able to move throughout the process, but its a small price to pay in order to receive a child. The second part will be taken care of by Vahn himself, and that process is a secret you’re not privy to. Just know that you’ll be coming out of things with a lovely little stamp on your backside~."

Freya tilted her head slightly and looked like she wanted to ask questions but Loki held up her hand and said, "Do you really want to keep trying Vahn’s patience to find out the limits of his tolerance? You might not care about your own ’pets’, but Vahn treats his like his own children, and not in a shallow way like most of us gods. If you keep pushing your luck, you’ll run out sooner than you’d expect..." Freya furrowed her brows slightly before looking to Ottar and saying, "Ottar, dear, I’ll be in your care for a little while..." Ottar nodded his head in a firm manner before Loki raised her hand and said in a serious manner, "Oi, big guy, make sure you properly wipe down your goddesses body and ensure she is dressed when you’re finished. Even if they knock bodies in the future, that isn’t something you need to worry about right now. Since she doesn’t seem to have any, at least make it look like she has a sense of propriety, would you~?"

Ottar seemed to take offense at Loki’s words but Freya simply sighed and said, "Ottar, do as she says...even I don’t want to keep offending that boy if I can avoid it..." Toward the end of her sentence, Freya looked in the direction of where Hephaestus and Vahn were sitting with a thoughtful expression on her face. Loki, noticing her strange behavior, showed a mischevious smile and said, "Didn’t I ask you at our previous meeting what you’re willing to give up in order to prove yourself to Vahn~? Even without the ability to see souls, I can tell that boy has the makings of greatness in him. Seriously, do you think it’s a coincidence you’re able to have a baby through his efforts? You would do well to find your own resolve in the future or you’ll end up having regrets for the rest of eternity..."

Freya turned back to Loki and saw her slightly open red eyes staring at her with a surprisingly serious fervor contained within them. Even though her expression looked mischevious, Freya could tell that her words were filled to the brim with caution. Though she might not have understood it in the past, Freya now earnestly believed Loki’s words contained a fair amount of truth. Vahn’s soul, though smaller in size, was more vibrant than any god she had seen in Heaven. His potential wasn’t even something she was capable of comprehending and most of his actions brought about change that had never before been seen in the world, even after nearly six-hundred-million years...

Seeing Freya’s ruminating gaze, Loki began to tap her foot before releasing a long yawn and saying, "So, we gonna get this started or what? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to make this into a whole day..." Freya was broken from her momentary reverie and showed an elegant smile on her face before plucking one of the petals of her dress. She wasn’t ashamed of being seen n.a.k.e.d by Loki at all and moved over to a large wardrobe and pulled out a babydoll nightgown that covered her chest and a pair of frilly lace underwear for later. Even if she couldn’t be n.a.k.e.d in front of Vahn, yet, she wanted to appeal to him as best she was able.

When Freya had made her preparations, Loki pointed to the bed and said, "It’ll save time if you do it from behind since you’ll have to be held by the chains for a while. The crest will go on your backside as well, and I’m sure Vahn doesn’t want to stay here for too long..." Loki knew that Vahn was fond of butts and, even though he didn’t seem to like Freya, he would be able to ’appreciate’ the view. It also prevented Freya from being able to look at him easily since she would be wrapped up firmly in the chains. Thus, following Loki’s instructions, Freya got on all fours before staring inquisitively as Loki pulled out a small golden orb.

The air within the room took on a golden hue as five resplendent golden chains emerged from the void and began to wrap around Freya’s body in a smooth fashion. Since they had been informed about the existence of the chains, the sudden appearance didn’t cause Ottar and Freya to panic but instead caused the goddess of beauty to marvel at the innate beauty contained within the chains. Even though she considered herself to be one of the most beautiful things in all creation, Freya felt like her own appearance paled in comparison to the resplendent golden chains. Even as a goddess, she felt like the chains twining around her body were more Divine than she was. Then, as if evidence of this fact, she suddenly found her own body to be completely bereft of her own Divinity...

Loki gave the bound Freya a thumbs up before smacking Ottar’s adamantine-like back and saying, "Well, you’re up to the plate now big fella...seriously, make sure you dress her properly after the fact. I’ll be checking personally so, even if Vahn forgives her for the lack of decorum, I won’t..." Ottar gave Loki a sideward glance before moving toward the bed as he expertly peeled away his armor and clothing. Though she was briefly tempted to look, Loki shook her hand, which was sore from smacking Ottar’s body, and left the room without sparing them a further glance...

Vahn and Hephaestus had been talking about his designs for the ’under armor’ that he was creating back at the Heath Manor before Loki appeared at the large set of doors with a tired expression on her face. She walked over and unceremoniously sat in Vahn’s lap as she held up her hand and said, "Vahn, heal my hand...that bastard is harder than any metal I’ve ever seen..." Without minding Loki’s behavior, Vahn took her hand into his own and used [Hands of Nirvana] to ’soothe’ her pain, even though he used [Wounds Transfer] to completely remove it the moment she complained about it.

Loki smiled before leaning her back against his chest before a peculiar expression appeared on her face as she mused, "I’ve gotta be honest, if you were going to choose a girl to transform into you should have picked one with a bigger chest..." Vahn had been ignoring Loki’s behavior until she began to rub her shoulders against his relatively diminutive chest. Releasing a sigh, Vahn pinched Loki’s bottom and sent the mischevious goddess jumping as he said, "When I was thinking about who to transform into, I wanted to pick someone with a smaller chest since it seemed even more awkward than simply having small b.r.e.a.s.ts...I’m already dealing with a fair amount of awkwardness without having to worry about the size of my bust..."

Hephaestus showed a wry smile on her face as she placed her palm against her cheek and gave Vahn a slightly worried look and asked, "Why did you even transform into a woman? Don’t tell me you were simply curious...?" Vahn nodded his head without glossing over the matter and said, "Since I had the item on hand, I wanted to at least try experiencing it once. Besides, I needed to test the limits of the item in case I needed to make use of it in the future." Vahn then showed Hephaestus and Loki some of his own notes about the unique items he had been collecting. He didn’t want to talk about it openly, as they were currently in the residence of Freya, and there was a fair chance they could be being spied on.

Loki, seeing that the item had been obtained through her bond with Vahn, was quite excited at the prospect of being able to acquire similar items in the future. The fact that it was a relatively non-descript item, yet had such a powerful function, made Loki feel like it suited her personality well. Vahn told her that he was researching the items with Riveria and would let her know once he found out a method to produce them reliably. As he only had a single spare on him, Vahn couldn’t give in to Loki’s request to try out the item for herself. She was curious if the item actually worked on gods, something that Vahn also desired to know, but that would have to wait until later. The only reason Vahn had used one earlier was that he had a spare and wanted to gain momentum against Freya.

After a surprisingly long time of around fifty minutes, Ottar showed up at the doors and said, "Vahn Mason..." without explaining anything before turning away once again. Vahn rose from the sofa and followed behind Ottar with Hephaestus and Loki in tow. Though he had already prepared himself, Vahn was still caught off guard when he walked into the room and saw Freya’s butt poking out with a pair of pristine white lace panties on her bottom. After he entered, Ottar bowed to the flushed-faced Freya and exited the room without delay. The moment he left, Freya released a gasping sigh and said, "I didn’t expect things to be so intense when my Divinity was sealed away...is this something you girls get to experience often?"

Contrary to her earlier demeanor, the current Freya had a more ’genuine’ appearance and seemed to be exhausted after her earlier ’exertions’. Without her Divinity supporting her, it was actually a lot more difficult to manage someone like Ottar than she had expected. Loki began laughing at Freya’s question while Hephaestus simply averted her eyes and sat down on a nearby sofa. As for Vahn, he approached near Freya’s backside and spared the perfect buttocks a few glances as he climbed into the bed. Freya tried to look back at him but found her movements largely restricted and laborious. Eventually, she simply decided to let her tired body hang by the chains without trying to discern anything from the procedure with her own eyes.

Once Vahn had climbed on the bed, Loki’s eyes widened and she mused, "This is such an incredible sight...I never imagined that gorilla girl as the ’dominant’ type." Loki held the bridge of her nose as she spoke and Vahn could even see a small amount of blood coming out of her left nostril as she peeked toward him with glimmering eyes. Vahn knew Loki was more interested in women than men, but it was a little awkward seeing her current behavior since she was directing her ’lecherous’ gaze at him. She looked a little bit like an old man with a long face as she eyed him leaning over Freya’s body as if she were beholding an indecent act. Even Freya, who was typically immune to such things in her normal state, hung her head and refused to look at Loki for the time being.

Deciding that the matter was best taken care of sooner, rather than later, Vahn grabbed Freya’s h.i.p.s and activated his [Eyes of Truth] as he peered into her body. She released a sensual m.o.a.n when he grabbed her but Vahn ignored her actions and focused on the matter at hand. Though he had already expected this would be the case, it was decidedly more awkward to ’guide’ a woman’s body into pregnancy if it wasn’t one of his own. Seeing the inside of Freya’s body stained white with the color of another man made Vahn feel a strange feeling of anxiety as he hastily completed the procedure.

When he finished planting the fertilized egg against the wall of the fallopian tubes, Vahn straightened Freya’s body and began the process of carving his crest into her lower back. Even though Freya wasn’t one of his women, Vahn felt a sense of conquest carving his own crest into her backside. Since he wasn’t looking into her body anymore, Vahn got to enjoy the sight of her white buttocks for around ten minutes as he completed the final part of the process. From now on, unless she had it altered by someone else, Freya would carry his mark on her body until she returned to Heaven. Of course, there was nothing that stopped her from concealing it whenever she wanted to.

The entire process took about twenty minutes before Vahn lowered Freya’s tired body onto the bed and removed his [Enkidu]. The chains melted away into golden particles that dissipated into the void as Freya released a long sigh and rolled over. From the moment the chains were removed, her Divinity returned to her body and she felt immediately revitalized. When she was on her back, Freya looked up at Vahn and gave a somewhat sad smile as she said, "It’s too bad you aren’t a man right now...though I suppose I should still be grateful...thank you, Vahn Mason." As she spoke, Freya rubbed her abdomen before a magical light shone in her eyes. Even though the fetus hadn’t started to develop yet, Freya was able to see life energy begin to converge in her own body and knew she was pregnant.

Vahn didn’t continue to stare at Freya’s body, which was splayed out in an obvious attempt to seduce him, and instead moved off of the bed in a casual manner. Looking toward Hephaestus and Loki, Vahn smiled and said, "We’re done here... let’s go home." From behind his back, Freya looked at Vahn with a somewhat annoyed look before closing her eyes and ignoring him. Her charm had absolutely no effect on him so she would need to find another way to approach him if she wanted to have any luck getting through his defenses. At least she would be able to experience giving birth to a powerful child, even though it wouldn’t be nearly as strong as the one sired by Vahn...

When Vahn left the room, Ottar was waiting nearby and looked toward him with his characteristic emotionless expression. However, though his expression didn’t chance, Vahn could see the burly man’s aura fluctuating slightly so he smiled and said, "Congratulations, you’re going to be a father..." Hearing Vahn’s words, Ottar’s expression changed for the first time and Vahn was surprised to see an incredibly small smile appear on his face as he bowed and said, "Thank you..." before making his way into the room. Vahn’s smile widened as he followed the back of the ’King’ into the room before shaking his head. It was somewhat tragic knowing that Ottar was so grateful to have a child with his goddess yet Freya would likely not care about it in the slightest...

Before heading back to the Hearth Manor, Vahn escorted Loki back to the Twilight Manor using Fafnir as a mode of transport. She tried to convince him to stay over for a bit and ’play’, but Vahn ’politely’ refused her offer since he didn’t want people to spread weird rumors about Tiona. As one of the ace members of the Loki Familia, everyone would think he was Tiona and it wouldn’t take long at all for rumors to spread beyond the Manor and reach the rest of the City. Vahn was fine having rumors about himself proliferate but he didn’t want to be the cause behind why is own lover’s reputation was tarnished.

Because she had tasks to tend to, Hephaestus also had Vahn drop her off at the workshop even though it sent a crowd of pedestrians running when they landed in the street. Vahn had been tempted to embrace her, as was his usual method of parting, but decided against it for the same reasons that he had declined Loki’s invitation. Hephaestus also felt somewhat awkward about Vahn’s current appearance and, before they parted ways, told him, "Make sure to return to normal soon..." Vahn nodded his head before waving at her in a somewhat awkward manner and flying back to the Manor...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Freya, that ain’t no Silverback...’,’Nothing is Divine before [Enkidu]’,’Vahn just wants a hug TT__TT’)

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