Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-529

After the long celebration, which had lasted from around 7:40 AM until nearly 1 PM, Vahn decided to spend the rest of the afternoon with Hephaestus and Hestia, as they had both worked very hard on the growth weapons for Tina and Shizune. Though the only assistance Hestia offered was her blood and prayers, she had spent nearly sixteen hours a day applying her blessing to the material to ensure it would be able to carry a falna properly. Since she wasn't the type that usually focused intently on such things, she had been very exhausted over the last few days and Vahn felt like pampering her a bit. Of course, the person to work the hardest had been Hephaestus, so Vahn took the two girls into his 'beauty salon' next to the onsen area to help them relax.

Vahn had set up two tables, including one with an indentation that would allot Hephaestus to comfortably lay on her stomach, even with her pregnant belly. His proficiency with [Hands of Nirvana] had developed to a point of mastery, so Vahn could easily regulate how 'intense' the experience was for the two girls. For Hestia, he gave her the standard massage and quickly turned her body into putty beneath his hands whereas, for Hephaestus, he did something relatively more 'tame'. He mainly focused on her shoulders and lower back, easing any muscle tensions she might have and alleviating the strains her pregnancy had been putting on her. Though she was a goddess, and would recover very rapidly from most things, her pregnancy seemed to override that recovery a bit as a large amount of her energy went into protecting and nourishing the children in her belly.

At this point, Vahn had developed a theory regarding why Loki seemed to be progressing in her pregnancy at a faster rate and it was related to the differences in their Divinities and the number of children. So that their compulsion doesn't cause them a heavy mental burden, gods have to use their Divinity and release divine power to appease their urges. When they were pregnant, however, this seemed to lessen because a large amount of their divine power was diverted to nourish the child in their bellies. Vahn presumed this was the reason why the children possessed the Divinities of their mothers, as they had been nourished by them during their development...

Unfortunately, this meant that Hephaestus, who had to proactively practice her Divinity while nourishing two children, was actually slowing down their development. As for Loki, her Divinity was one that shaped her personality but it primarily manifested in the influences she had over other people. This meant she didn't actually use a lot of her power at all and had inadvertently 'sped up' the development of her single child as a result. It was very likely that, instead of a nine-month pregnancy, Loki's would be closer to seven whereas Hephaestus' might be extended until around ten-to-eleven months. Vahn had already mentioned his hypothesis to the two, to which Loki said she would somehow 'hold on' until Hephaestus gave birth.

If she actually managed to pull it off, this meant the child in her belly would have been nourished and developed even further by her Divinity, likely making it even stronger, but also endangering Loki. Vahn was confident, however, that he would be able to prevent any harm from coming to her as he suspected something similar had happened in the Divination. If necessary, Vahn could even forcibly restrain her Divinity and make her body undergo 'Nirvana', effectively removing the child from her belly without her even having to give birth directly. Though, given Loki's nature, she probably wouldn't allow such a thing since it was a very important event to her...

For nearly four hours, all the way until it was time for dinner, Vahn put Hestia and Hephaestus through several treatments that made the two already 'flawless' goddesses even 'more perfect'. Hestia's pearl-white and fair complexion had adopted a ruddy glow and she had a satisfied expression that also made her look profoundly sleepy. Her hair had been let down earlier, as Vahn had carefully combed through it after massaging her scalp, so it loosely draped all the way past her plush little buttocks. As for Hephaestus, she had a beautiful smile on her face and Vahn could feel her love radiating from her body as her aura had taken on a deep and passionate red shortly after their session had started.

Though he wanted them both to relax, Vahn invited the two lovable goddesses to stay with him during the evening, not necessary to have sex, but just to spend it together. He could already see Hestia's fatigue, so it wouldn't be good to continue pushing her body further, even if she was a goddess. In regards to Hephaestus, Vahn actually just wanted to experience her embrace during the night while he tried to assist in the nourishment of their children. His source energy was much weaker than the divine power of the gods, but that didn't mean its quality was lower, just that he couldn't make proper use of it with the restrictions of his soul. Even if it was only by a small amount, Vahn was confident Hephaestus' body could be nourished by his source energy which would then feed into the children in her belly...

During dinner, Vahn noticed that Milan, Tina, and Shizune were all absent, to which it was explained that the small girls had been a little over-eager in trying to familiarize themselves with their new weapons. Even though they worked very hard, they were still only around 10-11 years old so it wasn't surprising they would tucker themselves out when their bodies were in high tension. This would change when their parameters further developed but, at least for right now, they were both 'young' girls that needed plenty of rest to grow properly. Thus, since Hestia and Hephaestus wanted to give an opportunity to other girls for the time being, Vahn ended up sitting with Syr and Arnya while Shirohime lazed about atop his head.

Shirohime had surprisingly calmed down a lot over the course of the week and she spent a large part of her time talking with Haruhime instead of 'bothering' him. Because he had been in his workshop for large stints of time, during which she wasn't allowed to interfere, she had lazed about at the side for a while until eventually going off to see what other people were up to. Unable to sense her presence, Shirohime was able to roam around and 'spy' on any part of the Manor because she could even walk through the barrier-laden walls without issue. As a result, she had developed a habit of sneaking around and watching others before sharing the information with Haruhime. This led Haruhime to inform him about the matter but, seeing as how Shirohime wasn't actually 'stalking' anyone, just roaming around out of curiosity, he didn't treat the matter too seriously. He did, however, inform the girls on the network since it wouldn't be fair to them otherwise.

Of course, though she had 'mellowed' out a lot, it didn't mean Shiro wasn't clingy whenever he wasn't busy. During most of their meals, or when the group was just talking outside, she would linger around his head and neck until he eventually put her in his lap and stroked her. She actually preferred being 'hugged', much like he had done in the past, but it was somewhat awkward for Vahn to have others see him holding an invisible object and stroking it against his chest when he was talking with them. Even though they knew Shirohime was there, the only girls that had seen her were Terra, Fenrir, and Haruhime, leaving Vahn and Fafnir as the only others. Even Hephaestus, with her god's eye, and Tsubaki, with her magic eye, were completely unable to sense her at all. If not for the fact they had an intrinsic trust of Vahn, and that Shirohime could actually 'show' them her presence, they might not have believed him...

As a 'compromise', as Shirohime had been 'behaving' more, Vahn allowed her to sit atop his head, hug his neck, and sit in his lap when he was enjoying meals. After he was full, he would pet her fur and massage her ears to reward her for being a 'good' girl, to which she would 'reluctantly' allow. The only 'danger' spots were that she didn't like having her belly touched and completely denied Vahn the right to touch near the base of her nine tails. She really behaved like a 'spoiled princess' at times, but Vahn found her appearance and behavior to be somewhat cute and allowed her to get away with it as long as she didn't act out.

After dinner, Vahn returned Shirohime to Haruhime and stroked both girls' heads before retiring to his room with Hephaestus and Hestia in tow. Though they shared a bit of intimacy, primarily cuddling together naked and caressing each other, they didn't end up having sex and Vahn spent several long minutes before he fell asleep stroking Hephaestus' belly as he infused his source energy into her body like a warm radiating heat. He could feel the heartbeats of his daughters through his palm and urged them to be born faster, though not too fast that it would harm their development. Vahn didn't really know how to be a good father, though he had been studying up on it, the only thing he knew was that his heart was filled to the brim with love for the unborn girls and he hoped that would be enough...

Early the next morning, Vahn performed his daily ritual of checking on Eva's orb before returning it to his inventory after seeing there had been no changes. He didn't feel sad seeing this, as he expected she would appear shortly after Hephaestus gave birth, so he took a few deep breaths of the fragrance radiating from Hestia and Hephaestus before gently maneuvering to extricate himself from the two goddesses. They generally didn't wake up early enough to watch the morning training and it wasn't an exaggeration to say they were fatigued after the hard work throughout the week. Vahn stroked their faces and made sure the blankets were covering them properly before making his way down to wash up at the onsen.

During the training, Vahn saw that everyone was in high spirits, as usual, but there was now the somewhat 'peculiar' sight of Preasia being mentored by Tsubaki. Other than her Endurance and marginally high Power, Preasia's stats were marginally lower than even Tina's and Shizune's. Since she was eighteen, more than seven years older than even Tina, this showed how little she had exercised throughout her life. She had been somewhat sickly as a child and then had the traumatic experience of becoming a slave and being terribly mistreated. At this point, Vahn knew that Shiva, the Dark Elf he had liberated, was undoubtedly the one that had killed all those cruel men. As a result, even though the men she had killed were villains, there was an 8,000,000 Valis bounty on her head that Vahn had already been working to resolve.

After watching the training for around an hour, during which he made several notes on the girls' progress and combat styles for future reference, Vahn decided to stop by and drop some snacks off for the girls at the Guild. He also wanted to eat breakfast with Eina and help replenish her stamina because she had worked the night shift last night and was probably tired. As expected, though she had a gentle smile on her fact, Vahn could see the light discoloration under her eyes that belied her fatigue. Vahn returned her smile and said, "Even when tired, you really are a very beautiful woman, Eina~."

Eina playfully puffed her cheeks and said, "Moooou~, if you took pity on me you wouldn't be teasing me so early in the morning, Vahn..." before releasing a cheerful giggle. Vahn walked over and scanned the area, prompting Eina to say, "The way our shifts overlap means there is always a two-hour gap where just a single person is on duty. We really are a bit understaffed, not that the workload requires us to work that hard~." Vahn nodded his head and reached out to Eina, immediately caused her face to take on a rosy hue as he expertly placed his hands around her hips and snuck in a kiss. Eina flustered for a brief moment before 'sighing' through her nose and reciprocating his affectionate embrace for a short while...

After 'recharging' his Eina-energy, Vahn released the loveable Half-Elf and stroked her blushing cheek with the back of his fingers as he said, "Eina, I love you..." The ruddy color of her cheeks grew deeper as she turned her eyes up at him bashfully and said, "I love you too, Vahn..." before giving him another short peck to punctuate her words. They then spent around twenty minutes just talking with each other while eating a light breakfast, as Eina intended to go to sleep in around three hours. Eina surprisingly talked a lot about Rose, Misha, and Mona, all girls that Vahn didn't interact with too much. Misha would show up at, at least, one of the meals throughout the day but Rose and Mona typically resided in the small staff dorms on the second floor.

According to Eina, Rose was very obviously avoiding interacting with him while Mona's situation was already something Vahn was aware of. He had heard about her arrangement with Hephaestus and Loki and how she intended to 'retire' in a few years to open a bakery. She had initially wanted to show her gratitude by working for free, as she felt highly indebted to Vahn for everything he had done, but Hephaestus insisted that she enter into a contract and accept compensation. Because she would 'literally' be looking after the first generation of Vanir as their wetnurse, she was in a very 'critical' position and should be compensated properly. Loki was of a similar mind and even offered to have a small Manor constructed for her after the fact as gratitude.

Though she accepted the contract, Mona refused other assistance and simply wanted to move on with her life and try to live as a normal woman. She was already nearly twenty years old and had spent several years as a slave, during which she had been forced to partake in many shameless plays. She appreciated everything Vahn had done, even to the point where she harbored hopes that they would be together at one point, but quickly realized he wasn't what she was looking for. Mona simply wanted a 'normal' relationship and the opportunity to build a family for herself without having to worry about things like politics and the matters of the Alliance. As a result, she would eventually leave for Milan, the port City near Orario, before settling down and trying to start a family of her own. She would undoubtedly receive the protection of the Alliance, as there was always a chance people would target her, but it would be from the shadows so that she could find the 'normalcy' she had craved for so many years...

After parting with Eina, around the same time that Misha came 'wandering' into the Guild branch yawning, Vahn made his way over to complete his morning walk with Anubis and Nanu. They were already waiting near the entrance of the Southern Manor and Vahn could see the black loop in Anubis's hands. He accepted the relatively short leash from her and heavily stroked both girls' head and ears before leading the way to the maze area where they would walk around for around half an hour before drinking tea near the center of the maze. Though it was somewhat embarrassing, there was a statue of himself located at the center but, after his experience with Eva in the orb, he didn't mind it that much. He was well aware of the devotion both girls showed him and he wasn't going to 'force' them to hide it just because he was somewhat embarrassed. Besides, it was much better than the naked and 'heroic' statues that Eva had made as this one had Vahn wearing a loose robe in the style of the Southern Sands and made him look like a kind and noble leader.

Vahn ended their walk after giving Nanu a belly-rub for a few minutes and 'fluffing' up Anubis's tail and ears for her. He used a wire-brush with small beads on the end to comb through the thick hair of her tail as she lay across his stomach and allowed him to 'fiddle' with her tail and stroke her exposed lower back. Nanu had left very quickly after her belly-rub, very obviously 'triggered' by his actions, and Vahn could feel her presence running around at high speeds as she tried to calm her body by sweating it out. He knew she would have such a response, as it wasn't the first time, but Vahn still accepted the offer to rub her muscular little belly since she already accepted the consequences before asking for his affections...

After fluffing up her tail, Anubis raised her body while using Vahn's as a support before 'casually' straddling his hips with an enamored look on her face as she said, "Master...when will you stay the night with me again...? I know it hasn't been that long, but my body aches for your rough touch..." This was also a common occurrence after their walks, so Vahn wasn't caught off guard by Anubis's actions at all. He grabbed her butt firmly with his hands, causing her body to tremble, before pulling her firmly against him. Because of his 'training', Vahn allowed his body to react naturally as Anubis 'grinded' against the bulge of his trousers. Though she had a sash around her waist, it was somewhat loose and could easily ride up her hips, allowed the thin fabric of her panties to be on display as she rubbed against him in an eager manner.

Anubis released a 'whimper' and said, "Anubis has been a bad girl...Master should punish Anubis properly..." As usual, Anubis changed her speech pattern when she was appealing to him so Vahn reached up and pulled her head to the side slightly as he began to 'play bite' around her collarbone and neck. Anubis released heavy breathing through her nose and tried to move around, finding herself unable to do so because of Vahn's 'forceful' hold on her head. Though she writhed about as if she were trying to escape, Anubis offered no complaints and Vahn could feel her aura expanding in an almost blood-red color as a result of her passion. She liked being 'forced' since she had a highly submissive nature and Vahn was very aware of it. He never pushed her too hard, as it was somewhat outside his comfort zone, but he still pandered to her a bit on occasions like this.

Several small incenses appeared around the area along with an 'altar' of sorts at the base of the statue. Vahn stood up and carried Anubis's body toward the altar before setting her down near it and saying, "Bend over..." as he pressed against her back to guide the action. Vahn didn't often 'reward' her like this, but Anubis had realized from his earlier biting that he was in the mood. Without any real hesitation, though she put on a facade of fear and reluctance, Anubis bent over the altar as Vahn ran his hot hands up the back of her thighs. Her tail beat furiously, causing Vahn to grasp it firmly with his left hand as he said, "Look up at the statue you shamelessly erected...I want you to think about what you have done while I 'punish' you..."

At this point, Anubis's panties had already been liberated from her body and, because she had failed to raise her head properly, Vahn leaned over and arched her body so she could stare up at the statue. The sun had just risen a few hours ago, so the light it cast against the statue made it have a subtly different aura than normal. Though it typically looked like a kind and wise version of himself, the shadows cast by the sun gave it a moderately 'darker' look than normal. Anubis craned her head and stared at the statue she had 'begged' Hephaestus to help commission as a throbbing heat invaded her body. She opened her mouth widely and released a passionate moan as she clung to Vahn's arm supporting her chin and 'forcing' her to look up at an awkward angle.

Vahn felt like he would never get used to having sex with Anubis because her body behaved in a completely uncharacteristic way compared to other girls. It was incredibly stimulating, but it made him a little uncomfortable knowing that it was undoubtedly a little painful for her. Chienthropes didn't require their partner to move during sex, as their vagina clamped down and stimulated the glans on its own, so moving around would cause them great discomfort. However, with Anubis's nature, she could only experience proper release if things were somewhat forceful and she derived a great deal of pleasure from pain. Vahn was somewhat afraid to probe her limits, but he had already adapted to having sex with her 'normally'...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Peculiar Pregnancies','Mona's Desire','Pampering Anubim...meanwhile, Nanu running laps (UwU)')

(A/N: This chapter was originally 4,100+ words but an error occured that crashed the inkstone client. I couldn't remember exactly how things had developed so I decided to just wrap it up here o3o...)

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