Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-617

After leaving the Clubhouse, Vahn made a quick stopover to spend some time with Anubis and Nanu, the latter of which seemed to be going through a growth spurt. She was now 141cm tall and showed signs of her secondary sex characteristics developing, causing Vahn to urge her to start wearing a proper bra. Since she liked to cling to him when they spent time together, it was a little distracting when she got 'excited' so he helped her pick out some suitable underwear. Now, she was showing more 'awareness' compared to the past and was working much harder, nearing the peak of Level 3 through her own efforts.

Once his play time with Nanu had ended, Vahn had Anubis laying across his lap for a while as he used his [Petting] skill to pamper her for a bit. She spent most of her time these days just managing the Southern Manor, waiting for the hounds to mature so she could move into the Hearth Manor permanently. Vahn felt a little guilty that she often spent her days cooped up in the Manor alone, but she was a very dutiful goddess and didn't seem to mind it at all. He still pampered her quite a bit whenever he visited though, generally taking long 'walks' with her and giving her a bit of 'heavy petting'.

While he was fluffing her long and bushy tail, Anubis would bring her feet up in a happy mood, arching her back a little when Vahn combed his finger through the dense fur and touched the sensitive tail beneath. He also helped support her body but holding her chin, even though it would have been awkward for most other women. Anubis preferred to be 'handled' a bit and Vahn could tell she was always happier when he took a few liberties with her. During the times she stayed over at the Manor, Vahn always 'played' with her a bit to appease her, not because he was pushing himself, but because he enjoyed how responsive she was to things...

Turning her face towards his, Vahn leaned down and kissed Anubis as her moonlight eyes glimmered with a hazy glow. When they parted, he said, "I'll be going away for around two months during the Expedition..." Anubis didn't seem to be affected by his words much and just smiled, saying, "I know, Master. I will wait patiently for your return..." with her tail wagging affectionately. Vahn smiled in return and began stroking the side of her head a bit roughly, saying, "Good girl..." and kissing her a little more passionately before. Though she had to hold an awkward angle to kiss him, Anubis did so happily with her tail turning into a turbine as the long kiss continued...

After leaving the Southern Manor, Vahn felt a little aimless and was tempted to just wander around, deciding instead to just return to the Hearth Manor. There were times when he wanted to 'pamper' the girls even more, especially when it came to the case of Anubis, so leaving her behind was always a little difficult. Just like Loki, Vahn felt like he didn't get to spend enough time with her and he had already been feeling a little conflicted after the matter regarding Renka. Instead of letting himself get swept up by it, Vahn just returned to the Manor where he knew other girls were always waiting for him. It was also a place where he could work on his research, or potentially make more pieces of equipment, so it beat wandering around and 'brooding'.

Most likely as a result of sensing his state of mind, Fenrir ended up meeting him at the door so Vahn immediately felt better. Stroking her head, Vahn said, "Let's go to the workshop and I'll start designing your shorts." Since Fenrir was going to be accompanying him into the Dungeon, Vahn didn't think it would be a bad idea to go ahead and move forward on his next project. Fenrir, however, shook her head and said, "Master, come play. Fenrir doesn't care about shorts right now~." Before he even responded, Fenrir began pushing against Vahn's back so he began to laugh before allowing her to lead the way.

Fenrir had been in the back yard playing a strange game with Tiona, Tione, and Ais. Lefiya was also present and seemed a little fidgety before running over the moment Vahn appeared, asking, "How are you feeling, Vahn?" in a concerned tone. Vahn habitually stroked her head and said, "I spent a bit of time with Anubis and felt a little sad to separate from her. Don't worry, I'm already in a much better mood since there are so many cute girls worrying about me~." Lefiya had a light blush on her face and squinted her eyes, clearly pleased by the head-petting as she said, "That is wonderful..."

Vahn ended up joining as a spectator for the time being as he learned the 'rules' of their game and watched Tiona and Fenrir play. Because she was literally able to eat anything, Tiona had been lobbing various objects while Fenrir was moving to catch them with her mouth. It was strangely adorable to see her running around and jumping through the air, especially since she was still in her maid outfit. Though her sharp teeth were a little perturbing, Vahn had long grown appreciative of her unique traits and thought everything about Fenrir was cute, as long as she didn't try biting him.

Turning his head, Vahn saw the second gluttonous member of their group who was currently munching away on animal-shaped crackers while sitting next to him. They were close enough that Lefiya's thigh touched against his, even though everyone else was sitting around normally. She earned a few teasing remarks from Tione but seemed to completely ignore them, a far cry from her behavior in the past. Ais was also eating a few snacks because it was around the time when they would normally eat lunch anyways, causing Vahn to just set out a few items like rice balls, fruits, and some kebabs for everyone to eat.

Since watching wasn't as interesting as participating, Vahn ended up playing the game as well, altering a few rules so everyone could be more involved. It became a small game of 'keep away' with Fenrir in the center trying to intercept the objects the threw between each other. They weren't going all out, as it would be a little unfair and potentially injure Fenrir, but it was still very fun. Though he would have assumed Fenrir would get 'frustrated' about being unable to catch things, she instead got more motivated and Vahn could tell her movements were becoming more refined through practice. This was just another example of how even playing could be turned into training because Fenrir was able to train her kinetic vision and response time by trying to read the trajectory of the objects and timing her own movements to intercept them cleanly.

After they had played around for around twenty minutes, Fenrir had begun to sweat a bit since she was wearing a somewhat stuffy black maid outfit and it was pretty warm outside. He let her sit in his lap after the fact and dabbed her face with a wet rag that he cooled using ice elemental energy. Because she was interested in it, Vahn also used the cold rag on Ais, inspiring the other girls to want to experience it as well. Since he didn't really have any plans, Vahn decided to move to the salon and just asked them to all come with him. There was a sauna attached that they had never really made use of and Vahn felt like it would be a good opportunity to do so now.

The 'rules' of the sauna was that you could be naked, but you had to have a towel with you at all times since the wood could reach temperatures of 50-55 degrees Celsius. This wasn't enough to really get through the Endurance of most of the girls, but it would prevent them from getting small burns from extended exposure. Thus, after they all stripped out of their Aegis outfits, Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya all wore white bathrobes and carried towels into the sauna while Vahn helped Fenrir get out of her maid outfit. She was actually one of the 'exceptions' to the rule, as she wouldn't really get burned even if she sat on a much hotter surface, so Fenrir happily ran into the sauna with her arms spread wide in excitement, completely naked.

When he followed behind, Vahn felt the incredible humidity in the room hit him like a wave the moment he crossed through the thin membrane. The sauna was designed like a large rectangle and there were four stoves in the corners containing smooth grey stones. Pressing a small mechanism would cause water to pour into the stoves, releasing a large amount of steam that made the room foggy and incredibly humid. Vahn originally got the idea of the sauna when he heard about the Divine Bathhouse that could be used by the gods, which also had several saunas and hot tubs available. It was supposed to be good for opening the pores and helping to exfoliate the skin, causing a great deal of comfort and allowing people to feel greatly refreshed afterward.

Unsurprisingly, Tiona, Ais, and Tione had already removed their bathrobes and were currently sitting naked on the wooden bench as they enjoyed the comfortable heat. Tione noticed his gaze and showed a somewhat seductive smile as she said, "You should have asked us to come by sooner...this place is very comfortable and it gives you an excuse to see us naked~." Tiona laid down against the bench and said, "Fuaaaah~, this place is so comfortable. What else can we do in here, or is it just used for sitting and relaxing?" Fenrir had been standing at the corner of the room, inspecting the stones and 'poking' the mechanism to make more steam for a while now. Her pale white butt was sticking straight out but, after hearing Tiona's words, she turned around and asked, "Can we play in here, Master~?"

Vahn smiled at Fenrir before looking to Ais and saying, "How about you help me demonstrate Ais?" Hearing his question, Ais' golden eyes shone with an expectant light but she shook her head and leaned back against the wall, ignoring the heat, as she said, "You should use Lefiya or Fenrir since they were worried about you..." Lefiya had still been wearing her bathrobe this whole time, which caused the heat to be a little unbearable for her even though it had only been a few short minutes. Hearing Ais' words made her feel a little flustered but she still matched Vahn's gaze and said, "I don't mind..." in a quiet voice.

Lefiya had actually been one of the only girls to never really show up for his massages in the past so it was a little surprising to hear her agree so readily. Since he wasn't going to be doing anything sexual, Vahn didn't mind her helping out so he nodded before pulling out a table and saying, "Go ahead and relax on this table. It's better if you face upward, but you can lay on your stomach if you're nervous." At the same time, Vahn set out a table for everyone since it actually didn't take much involvement on his part to do what he had in mind. Lefiya stood up from the bench and removed her bathrobe, revealing her thin and naked body beneath, which seemed to be perpetually stuck in the transition between being a young girl and a young woman.

Everyone watched as Lefiya climbed onto the table, laying face-up with her nervousness apparent for all to see. She wanted to be more 'bold' in the future and decided it would be better to lay facing upward since she would be able to see what Vahn was doing. Fortunately, things got a little easier to deal with when Vahn pulled out a thin white towel and covered her lower body with it in a casual manner. He smiled to her before turning to everyone else and saying, "Since everyone was interested in getting a cold wipe, I thought using the sauna would be better as it would enhance the experience a great deal. By letting the pores open, you will begin to sweat a bit and its a great way to exfoliate your skin. With a cold wipe, you can force the pores to close rapidly and force out any dirt or bacteria that might have gotten into your skin over time. It's also very comfortable and should be quite refreshing after its repeated a few times..."

When his basic explanation was done, Vahn pulled out a wet rag and infused ice elemental energy into it before dabbing at Lefiya's forehead. Her golden-yellow hair was already a bit sticky from her sweat and was clinging to her scalp and brow as a result of the humidity. The moment the cold rag touched her skin, Lefiya released a pleasant sigh that also made her blush a little deeper than before. Vahn continued to dab around, touching her cheeks and the area around her ears, asking, "How does it feel..?" in a calm and professional tone. Lefiya's dark blue eyes were a bit hazy and she responded, "It feels very refreshing..." in a very quiet voice.

After wiping away the first layer of sweat from her face, Vahn folded up the rag and placed it on her forehead to keep her from getting a fever as he pulled out a second rag. This one was much larger than the previous one and, after infusing some ice elemental energy into it, began dabbing around Lefiya's collarbone and shoulders before moving down to her budding breasts, which were fair to the point that Vahn could see small veins present underneath her skin. Vahn didn't pay too much attention to them, as Lefiya, though only a year younger than him, wasn't yet an adult. He always felt guilty if he 'focused' too much on the bodies of young girls and just went through the motions as deftly as possible without letting his eyes wander too much.

Lefiya had tensed up a bit when the cold rag first touched her chest because it really was a very startling experience to go from 'hot' to 'cold' in an instant. After she adapted, however, Lefiya felt it was actually very comfortable and there was a strange 'urge' in her body that wanted Vahn to continue touching her. 'Unfortunately', Vahn ended up covering her breasts with a loose rag after wiping them down before using the third rag on her arms and abdomen. He continued to work all around her body, excluding her lower abdomen, inner thighs, and groin, covering each part with a cool and damp rag when he was done. As he had described, it felt very refreshing to feel the extremes of hot and cold intermixing together since several parts of her were still exposed to the hot and humid sauna.

When he was finished applying all the rags, Vahn turned to the others and said, "You can go ahead and pick a table and I'll treat you all at the same time. There isn't really a rush, so you can lay on your back and then swap to your stomach for a second pass later. Just make sure you're relaxing and not causing any disturbances as this is more of a professional service than something intended to be intimate." As they all knew the 'rules' of Vahn's salon, none of the girls had really intended to make a scene in the first place, especially since they saw how 'serious' Vahn had been with Lefiya. The entire process only took about five minutes from start to finish, but he had been both meticulous and professional at the same time, not stalling on any point in an attempt to get a rise out of her.

While the others were getting on their own tables, all in excited and expectant moods, Vahn began moving the rags of Lefiya's body, exposing her cool skin to the hot air once again. She released a relaxed sigh that caused Vahn to smile before saying, "Turn over onto your stomach. I'll wipe down your back this time..." Lefiya blushed even more than when she had exposed her front because she was actually a little self-conscious about her butt. Like most Elves, she was a very thin girl and, even though she had tried to exercise a bit, her butt was still small and lacked the fullness of a mature woman. Seeing that Vahn showed no signs of being 'disappointed', Lefiya felt a little relieved but also somewhat sad since he also didn't seem to 'care' at the same time.

Other than Lefiya, who was currently on her stomach, all of the other girls opted to get their fronts done first since they already had some expectations about it. Like Lefiya, Vahn covered their hips with a white rag, not only for their benefit but to keep himself from being distracted. He then began treating them all with a cold wipe while also infusing his [Heart of the Eternal Flame] into his domain to regulate the temperature a bit. Using his [Hands of Nirvana], Vahn also infused calming energy into the air and focused entirely on helping the girls just relax. He did everything in passes, starting by wiping down their faces before moving onto the next step and alternating between their bodies.

When he got to her breasts, TIona giggled a great deal when Vahn was wiping her down since she was actually quite ticklish. Though she could be very 'forward' when she was excited, Tiona was generally very innocent in her behavior at other times. Since this wasn't mean to be an intimate moment, she was behaving naturally and this caused her to laugh happily, saying, "It's cold and ticklish at the same time. Ahahaha~!" Fortunately, she managed to calm down a bit when Vahn covered her chest with the rag and moved on to Tione. She had a much more 'reserved' reaction that Tiona but Vahn also noticed her nipples had become completely rigid even before he began wiping her down. Unlike Tiona, who could be very easygoing at times, Tione was the type that could get a little carried away at times because of her pent up emotions...

Ais was very well behaved throughout the entire procedure and just watched Vahn with intrigued eyes every time he wiped a different part of her body. As for Fenrir, she seemed to have taken a note out of TIona's book and also laughed in a similar manner while writhing about under his hands. Lefiya, being the only girl on her stomach, just closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment since it really was very relaxing and it felt like her skin was 'breathing'. The only time she really reacted was when Vahn wiped around her butt without actually touching the soft white cheeks. He had covered her backside just the same as her front because, as she was a very thin girl, Lefiya had a bit of a gap between her thighs that made her delicates visible even when she was laying on her stomach.

After a little more than an hour had passed, Vahn did a cold wipe on the fronts and backs of the girls, making them all have loose and happy expressions by the time he was done. The combination of heat and humidity, contrasted by the cool and refreshing sensation of the rags really was very comfortable for all of them. When he was finished, everyone just lazed around for a bit and talked about the upcoming Expedition without any regards for decency, at least in the cast of Tiona, Tione, and Fenrir. Lefiya hadn't gone back to wearing her bathrobe, but she sat with her thighs together and her back straight while Ais strangely had great posture at all times, almost like she was a doll that had been designed with 'perfection' in mind. Fenrir was the 'worst' of all though, as she had no sense of distance with Vahn and ended up sitting on his knee to get some head pats for herself...

Vahn spent the rest of the day just relaxing around the Manor, deciding to make the rounds and check up on all the pregnant women when he parted with the sauna group. Riveria was confirmed to be pregnant, even though it took around eleven days for her body to show the first signs. She had shown up for breakfast and, after taking a few bites from her food, ended up nearly throwing up before Ryuu helped support her to the bathroom. Morning sickness was a very common thing among the pregnant women, with the exception of the goddesses, so they all looked out for each other. Vahn often wanted to help them out but was generally prevented from doing so as it was a 'natural' thing that most of the girls were strangely adamant about dealing with on their own.

At this point, Riveria was a little more than three weeks into her pregnancy but hadn't really shown any changes in her figure. There was a little tenderness in her breasts, which she had complained about during one of the nights they were together, but that was about it. As for Ryuu, she now had a very small bulge in her stomach that she could often be seen caressing with a lovely smile on her face within Terra's Garden. She and Riveria were often together these days with Aina, Eina, Lefiya, and Ais often appearing at their sides as support. Riveria had actually been Ais' surrogate mother when she first joined the Loki Familia so she had been spending a lot of time with Riveria after the latter got pregnant.

After Riveria and Ryuu, Vahn spent the greatest amount of time with the more pregnant girls who were now well into the later stages of their pregnancies. Even Arnya, who didn't really seem like she would ever show significant signs of pregnancy, started to have a moderate bulge in her belly. The biggest change, however, had been that her breasts and butt had grown even fuller at this point while she became very docile and affectionate whenever they were together. Aki was much the same, but her belly was much larger than Arnya's even though they were both only carrying a single child.

In that same category, though decidedly different than them both, Tsubaki had also progressed much further into her pregnancy and was now around 23 weeks along. Her belly made a gentle curve, but it was also hemispherical at this point and she had also stopped working actively in her forge. Much like Loki, who almost looked 'scarily' pregnant at this point, she had decided to take a break and prepare for childbirth instead of potentially endangering their daughter by being obstinate. As for Hephaestus, her pregnancy had been 'accelerated' a bit and she was now around 9-10 weeks away from giving birth if left alone.

Both Hephaestus and Loki now had big and full bellies that were a little unbalanced because the rest of their body didn't change to show the signs of pregnancy at all. Hephaestus even worse loose-fit trousers that accented her butt while wearing a stretchy top on her upper body with the [Fertility Band] worn over the top. As for Loki, she actually started wearing a simple dress that went all the way down to the ankles and had strangely started acting in a somewhat reserved manner while walking around with an escort at all times. She would soon be staying at the Hearth Manor in preparation for the birth and Vahn kind of wanted her to stick around, if possible...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Happy Pupper','Hot and Cold, Relaxation','Dangerously Pregnant')

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