Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After resting for a few hours, Maemi and Emiru woke up and were ready to start the second day of their training in earnest. Before they started, however, Vahn stopped them and explained, "We’ll be doing things a bit differently today...but only if you’re comfortable with it. I’m sure you both know, but pain tolerance and willpower are very important characteristics for growing stronger. The bond you share is one of your greatest assets, but it can be a double-edged sword if you aren’t mentally prepared for the consequences of making mistakes..."

Vahn waited for the twins to process his words for a moment before the continued, "Cutting the connection so you didn’t sustain any injuries was the correct decision, but there is a fair chance it could have mitigated some of the damage and prevented things from getting out of hand in the first place if the link was stronger. I know it’s scary, but the two of you will likely suffer injuries in the future...sometimes even serious ones. Withstanding the pain and pushing forward is the only thing that can guarantee your life in such situations. Today, I will show you that sharing pain is sometimes necessary..."

The twins had somewhat solemn expressions on their faces and both swallowed simultaneously after hearing Vahn’s words. Seeing their reaction, Vahn smiled and said in a soothing tone, "Don’t worry, I’m not telling you to go out of your way to take damage just so you can get used to it. In fact, you should do your best to avoid damage and constantly strive to deal with the enemies as efficiently as possible. The simple fact of the matter, however, is that you ’will’ take damage in the future and you have to be prepared for that inevitability. If you don’t want to experience it, the only thing you can do is develop your skills to the point where you are untouchable."

Vahn had reached out to pat the girls on the head and continued to smile as he said, "Today will be different since I’m worried about you completing the objective within the time constraints. I’ll help guide you to the monsters and also observe the fight out in the open. I won’t help you defeat the monsters, but I’ll show you that it is sometimes necessary...well, you’ll find out when the time comes. Just know that, no matter how dangerous things might seem, as long as you have allies you can trust there is always hope. The bond you share is something special that most can’t even comprehend, you must cherish and nourish it because, when you finally master the skill, there will be few things that can actually threaten you."

After giving them a few more encouraging words, Vahn let the twins lead the way but always told them which direction to take in order to find monsters. He didn’t reveal their actual locations, so the twins still had to rely on their own senses in the misty environment of the eleventh floor. Because of their parameters, it wasn’t that easy for the twins to deal with large enemies like Orcs who had tremendous physical strength. They had the speed advantage, but their weapons weren’t very suitable for dealing any real damage to the thick-hided monsters. Though they were able to easily penetrate the defenses of the Orcs, it wasn’t a practical solution with how quickly the wounds would heal due to the incredible regeneration of the brutish monsters.

Emiru and Maemi managed to take down several of them using their combined attacks, but it wasn’t long before the inevitable happened. Maemi ended up getting blindsided when she was attacked by an Orc wielding two tree-like clubs. She scrunched up her body in a defensive posture with her dagger to receive the blow, but the tree still smashed into her hard and sent her flying several meters as she rolled on the ground. Though she coughed out a mouthful of blood, Maemi noticed that the pain in her body instantly disappeared and she felt like there was a strange incongruity in her body before returning to help Emiru. With their combined efforts, they managed to break through the raging Orcs’ whirlwind like blows before landing a strike on the monster core located beneath its collarbone.

When the fight ended, Emiru walked over and asked with a concerned tone, "Maemi, are you okay? I feel like you are fine, but saw you take that hit and felt the pain..." Maemi furrowed her brows slightly and gave Vahn a sidewards glance and saw him standing casually a short ways away. Without answering directly, Maemi turned back to Emiru and sent a mental signal to her twin because their connection was still going strong. Emiru’s ears twitched and she tilted her head to peek over at Vahn as well before they both nodded in a subtle manner and continued further into the floor.

Though they still struggled, the twins were getting much better at fighting the Orcs after slaying more than twenty of them. As for Imps, they weren’t very dangerous at all as the majority lacked the deadly daggers that made them dangerous. Without the weapons, they were just emaciated looking humanoids with somewhat sharp claws. Though they had fast speed, their actual agility wasn’t that great and it was very easy to cut through their thin bodies and make short work of most groups. Of course, this required there only being a few monsters present and things could take a bad turn if you found yourself surrounded by them in a choke point.

Maemi and Emiru had been fighting a pair of Orcs that were assisted by a group of seven Imps. This wouldn’t have been too troublesome, if not for the fact there was a Bad Bat that kept sending blades of wind at them from outside of their range. The combination of powerful Orcs, fast Imps, and ranged Bad Bat were somewhat overwhelming for the relatively inexperienced girls. After managing to take down three of the Imps, Emiru tried to exploit the gap that Maemi had made when one of the Orcs failed its attack.

She leaped up with the intent to stab it in the back of the head but, before she was able to strike down, a blade of wind passed by her flank and she felt an incredible pain on her lower back and a sickly feeling that made her feel nauseous. However, almost as soon as she felt the urge rise up, the sensations faded entirely with a strange warmth and she was able to finish her attack and disperse the Orc into a cloud of purple smoke.

After landing on the ground, Emiru kicked off to continue the fight and briefly locked eyes with Maemi and they both understood what was going on. They didn’t know about Vahn’s [Wound Transfer], but they knew he was doing something to help them. Remembering his earlier words, they had a bad feeling and, after evading around the area for a moment, Emiru took a glance over where Vahn was standing and sniffed the air. A deep frown appeared on her face when she smelled the somewhat pleasant, almost sugary, smell of what she knew was Vahn’s blood. Though he didn’t show any signs of being injured on his face, there was a thick aroma of blood in the air and she knew he had somehow taken the damage for her mistake...

Understanding the situation, Maemi and Emiru put a lot more effort into the fight and took out their frustrations on the monsters that had no idea what was going on. After a few minutes had passed, they managed to defeat the final Orc and finished off the remaining Imps before simultaneously barraging the Bad Bat overhead with their crossbows. It dodged the majority of their bolts, but they eventually managed to hit it before pummeling its body after it fell to the ground. When everything was finally finished, they both ran over to where Vahn was waiting and saw the wry smile on his face.

Seeing the frowns on Maemi’s and Emiru’s faces, Vahn knew they had realized what was going on and he knew this would be their reaction when he decided to take this approach. When they neared him, he smiled as best he could and asked, "Seems like you figured it out...?" Emiru walked right up to him and went around to his back to see the large bloodstain on his tunic. The wind blade that had hit her earlier actually cut several centimeters deep and actually damaged her internal organs a fair amount. Vahn had immediately transferred the wound to his own body and used a combination of healing magic and natural regeneration to recover the damage. He actually left the blood because he knew something like this would happen and he wanted them to pick up on it eventually.

Seeing the large blood stain, Emiru and Maemi both teared up but, before they could say anything, Vahn explained in a soft tone, "A little bit of pain is nothing as long as the two of you can continue improving steadily and increasing the strength of your bond. I can’t stop you from experiencing the pain of the blows, but I can bear the brunt of the damage for you. Don’t feel sad since I would be much sadder if anything actually happened to the two of you. Allow me to do at least this much and, if you don’t want me to have to feel this pain, you just need to do your best..."

The moment he finished his words, Vahn heard two notifications in his mind as a fiery resolve appeared in the twins’ eyes and they shouted simultaneously, "You’re a big idiot, Master!" Then, just before they turned away to go hunt down the next batch of monsters, the twins looked up at him in concert and said, "We don’t want you to be hurt...so we’ll get even stronger. Please watch over us until we’re strong enough to watch over you..." Vahn nodded his head with a smile and tried to reach out to pat their heads but they simply turned away and ran off into the mist. For a brief moment, Vahn held his hands awkwardly in the air before pulling back and smiling widely as he checked the earlier notifications.

//Emiru Rain Has Reached Maximum Affection//

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

Completion Grade: B

Rewards:10,000OP, 1x[Hearts Desire: Emiru Rain]

Grade Rewards: 1x[Proof of Affection], 4,000OP

//Maemi Rain Has Reached Maximum Affection//

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

Completion Grade: B

Rewards:10,000OP, 1x[Hearts Desire: Maemi Rain]

Grade Rewards: 1x[Proof of Affection], 4,000OP

Vahn decided to use part of the 28,000OP he obtained from them to pick out a reward when they returned to the surface. He was also somewhat curious so, as he started to trail behind the twins once again, Vahn pulled out the two [Proof of Affection] and wondered if they would be the same thing. Vahn activated the two items while thinking about each girl respectively and a magical light appeared in his hands which quickly took the shape of an item. Two strange fabrics appeared in his hands, one light blue, one black, and Vahn was confused for a moment as a feeling of incredulity started to rise up in his mind.

At first glance, Vahn was sure the items that had appeared in his hands were simply panties and he felt it was strange that the [Proof of Affection] that the twins sought was simple lingerie. They had a complex lace pattern and were somewhat transparent but the thing that caused Vahn’s mind to stall was when, after he grabbed the sides and inspected the fabric closely, he noticed there was a ’gap’ in the area that was undeniably supposed to be covered. After hearing the sounds of combat from the distance, Vahn immediately returned to his senses and threw the dangerous fabric into his inventory.

Once inside, Vahn was able to see the name of the garments and felt his brain buzz at the words [Naughty Maid’s Victory Underwear]. For the first time since he had used a [Proof of Affection], Vahn was very seriously considering not giving the item to the intended recipient. He knew the items were supposed to increase his affection with the giftee, but giving such items to the twins right now seemed to be a bad idea. The moment when a person’s affection hit 100 was the ’ideal’ moment to make use of the item, but Vahn didn’t want to send them any ’signals’ that they might misinterpret. Though he was actually very interested in being with them in the future, if they chose to accept him, Vahn didn’t want to go back on his word and wanted them to increase their strength first. Giving them ’victory underwear’ seemed more like an invitation than anything else...

For a brief moment, Vahn imagined the twins in their adorable maid outfits both lifting their frilled skirts and ’displaying’ themselves with bashful expressions on their faces. The image, especially with the stockings and garter belts, caused Vahn’s mind to go blank for several seconds before he made an earnest effort to safely store it away in the back of his mind. Though he didn’t like the idea of keeping a present from someone, Vahn decided to hold onto the garments for the time being until things developed more. He suspected that, if he gave them the lingerie now, they would probably work even harder because of the ’motivation’, but Vahn wanted to see how far they could go without being overly ’incentivized’. If he decided to actually give them such an item, it would be very difficult to refute their advances in the future if they came at him wearing the ’gift’ he had given them.

Vahn felt like his inventory was holding two ticking time bombs and it wasn’t until he used [Wound Transfer] after Maemi shattered her wrist that his mind became ’calm’ again. He started paying closer attention to their ongoing fights and followed them around for the rest of the day. Whenever they were tired, Vahn would pamper them a little and help replenish their stamina before they returned to their task in earnest. By the end of the day, they had made it from the eleventh floor all the way down to the entrance of the fourteenth. They had struggled a bit with Hellhounds, primarily due to their fireball attack, but were able to overcome them easily after Vahn ’Gifted’ them both [Fireproof Mantle]’s. He had several items on hand that could resist flames because of his own tendency to catch his equipment on fire and turn it to ashes.

Before they went to sleep, Vahn helped the girls wash up again and tended to their hair and tails before updating both of their Status Boards. The girls were very receptive to his care and their synchronicity had increased greatly, especially since Vahn had been doing his best to ’mirror’ his actions for both girls. When he had been washing them in the bath, both twins responded in an identical manner to his touch and released the pleasant sounds in the same intonation to create a harmony that echoed in the ’safety’ of the corridor. Vahn had been ’overly aware’ of them ever since getting their [Proof of Affection]s earlier and he had been contemplating giving the items to the girls on several occasions. The way they responded to him was slowly whittling away at his sensibilities and Vahn started to feel like he was becoming a bit of a deviant because he had seriously considered going back on his word several times...

[[STATUS]]

Name: Maemi Rain

LV. 1(+)

POW: G274->E403

END: G256->F371

DEX: F303->D549

AGI: E420->B700

MAG: C679->A813

Skill: [Gemini: Innate(E->D)], [Prometheus’s Blessing:A], [Fearless Spirit:H]

Magic: -

Development Skill: -

[Fearless Spirit]

Rank: H

Use: Increases Focus and helps the user remain calm in stressful situations. Increases Pain Tolerance by a small amount. Active Trigger. (A/N: Active Trigger means the user has to ’toggle’ it on and off. It consumes mana while active.)

[[STATUS]]

Name: Emiru Rain

LV. 1(+)

POW: G274->E403

END: G256->F371

DEX: F303->D549

AGI: E420->B700

MAG: C679->A813

Skill: [Gemini: Innate(E->D)], [Prometheus’s Blessing:A], [Fearless Spirit:H]

Magic: -

Development Skill: -

[Fearless Spirit]

Rank: H

Use: Increases Focus and helps the user remain calm in stressful situations. Increases Pain Tolerance by a small amount. Active Trigger. (A/N: Active Trigger means the user has to ’toggle’ it on and off. It consumes mana while active.)

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Paladin’s Sacrifice’,’Not your average pair of panties...’,’Emotional and Physical Growth’)

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