Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

As the celebratory atmosphere began to fade away, a serious discussion had started after Riveria took Pram and Sierra to meet with Eina and get them settled at the Guild branch building. The second floor had a total of eight rooms, with the only people currently living there being Mona, Misha, and Rose. They were going to apprentice under Rose alongside Mona until they had enough understanding of the City to make their own decisions. As for the topic of the discussion that was taking place, it was the direction they wanted the Alliance to go in the future. Thus far, other than forming the Alliance, they hadn’t made any big movements so it was a good opportunity to discuss various matters while they were all gathered together.

Though Loki guided the discussion, many of the topics were actually brought up and run by Vahn to get his opinion on things. Even more so than the gods themselves, Vahn had the most important role in the Alliance because he was the primary reason they had come together in the first place. It helped that the top three Familias in the City supported his ideas directly, but there hadn’t been any real opposition from the other gods either. With the opportunity presented, Vahn talked about the research he had been working on while also discussing the significance of getting a proper foothold in the Dungeon. Looking around at those gathered, Vahn explained, "I’ve mentioned this before, but it is of paramount importance that the Alliance starts treating exploration into the Dungeon seriously. If we have a united front, we will be able to completely change the power-balance within the City and slowly turn the Dungeon into the heart of our power..."

Takemikazuchi had a serious expression on his face as he crossed his arms and seriously considered things before saying, "But won’t this cause conflict between the Alliance and the other Familia? Will the Guild really cooperate with us, or will they accuse us of trying to seize power away from them?" Vahn looked to Loki, who nodded with a smile and said, "Things are never quite that simple, Takemikazuchi, especially when you consider things as part of the grand scheme of all things. It is an irrefutable truth that it is ’necessary’ to probe into the depths of the Dungeon because it is where the three major threats to the surface had emerged from in the past. The Guild has done well in providing structure and regulations for Adventurers and many Familia, but it isn’t nearly proactive enough and it is easy to see that things will only become more problematic if not addressed sooner, rather than later..."

Piggybacking off Loki’s words, Vahn said, "Loki is right...we have an obligation, as one of the strongest forces in the entire City, to do our best to create a better future for everyone. I’m not saying we need to make sacrifices for the benefit of others, but we need to consolidate our power and seize authority if we want to change regulations and enact new policies. The Guild might interfere if we take things too far, or try to rule over the City, but they won’t stop us from doing our best to strengthen the Alliance if we’re not going against their interests. Ouranos also wants the Dungeon to be conquered in the future but, as more time passes, it becomes progressively more difficult to accomplish. If we don’t start taking action now, it may be too late to do so in the future..."

She had been very silent for a while, but Freya took the opportunity to speak out in a casual manner that had undertones of sensuality, "I suspect that the children sired by Vahn will become the heroes of the future, especially those born to the goddesses. We should be taking action now to create a foundation for their actions so that things don’t become chaotic...after all, there will be no end to the number of enemies we face if we continue to act passively. If Vahn thinks the best route forward is to change the policies within the City, while also trying to get a foothold in the Dungeon, the Freya Familia will support his decision~."

Vahn was somewhat surprised by Freya’s words, but he still nodded his head and said, "Thanks, Freya..." which caused the beautiful goddess to laugh in an elegant manner with slightly glossy eyes. It wasn’t unexpected that she would support him, but saying it in front of the other gods and goddesses with somewhat different than making deals behind the scenes. With her taking the lead, Hephaestus and Loki also offered their support while Eirene said she would help out, but was unwilling to send her Familia into the Dungeon en masse. As for the Anubis, Takemikazuchi, and Miach Familias, they simply didn’t have enough strength to provide much in the way of support. However, this didn’t stop them from saying they would do whatever it takes as long as the Alliance kept its goals aligned with the interest of the masses.

To allay any concerns they might have, Vahn began explaining his idea of creating a Supply Depot on the 39th Floor, where Adventurers would be able to replenish their dwindling stocks and venture deeper into the Dungeon, while building a small City on the 50th Floor. Within the City, which would be closer to a fortress, Vahn planned to build an Academy and all kinds of shops that would be able to support Adventurers that ventured into the Deep Floors. Over time, this would also allow the average strength of people to increase and they could incentivize people by selling specialized goods that could only be obtained there. With the Alliance running the City, they could also strictly regulate Adventurers that made it that far as they expanded the City over years.

As for the name of the City, Vahn said it would be called Haven and, since every god and goddess present was vow-bound to protect the information, revealed to them the existence of his [Seed of the Tree of Life]. With it, they wouldn’t have any problems growing food in the deeper floors and, even if they ended up having a small City of a hundred thousand people, they would have more than enough space as the 50th Floor was around 300km in diameter. Since the actual numbers would be far fewer, especially for the first couple of years, they had plenty of time to build infrastructure and prepare for those that would ’migrate’ towards the lower floors in the future.

Since Vahn was the ’key’ to making the plan work, it was decided that he would be the one to lead the next expedition, but he decided it would be best to leave the larger details to the Loki Familia for the time being. It was a bit ’shameless’, but Vahn wanted to let them make the preparations and then he was going to take charge of the actual ’mission’ once it started. He was essentially going to have the expedition itself act as his escort to help him reach the 39th Floor easily so they could start building the supply depot. They would be taking a lot of personnel that were capable builders and then, once everything was finished, several members would be left behind and they would slowly start to consolidate supplies and materials there in the future.

For the Supply Depot itself, though it would be shared territory of the Alliance, the Loki Familia would be left in charge of it while the Hephaestus and Freya Familias helped bolster the numbers and provide workers. By paying large stipends and bonuses to the people that would take up residence there in the future, there were be more than a few people willing to spend months, or even years, within the 39th Floor. As long as they weren’t constantly barraged by enemies, it wouldn’t be too difficult to defend the Supply Depot as long as there were a few elites present. The biggest threat, which was also discussed, was the existence of their enemies that had yet to take action.

Vahn had obviously discussed the matters of the Divination with Hephaestus, Loki, Hestia, and Anubis, so they explained some of the ’deductions’ they had made for the benefit of the other gods present. It was essentially ’assumed’ that their enemies couldn’t take action for around two years so they had a decently sized window to at least work on the Supply Depot. With Vahn’s ’storage magic’ being described as capable of holding an entire warehouse of items, the number of supplies they could transport was massive. If necessary, they would even be able to take the majority of the building materials down in a single trip and, if escorted by a group of elites, moving between the 18th and the 39th Floor would only take around 2-3 days. Though it wasn’t ’safe’ to allow him to do so, Vahn even speculated he could make the trip within a day since he had a skill like [Shundo] that greatly increased his mobility. He could also sense the emergence of things like Monster Parties and carry Fafnir and Fenrir on his person for emergency situations...

By the end of their conversation, it was decided that the next Expedition would place around a month after the Denatus, shortly under two months from the present. They had also discussed matters like the aliases they were going to push for the girls, especially the somewhat unfortunate Lili. After that, the subject of which goddesses they would help i.m.p.r.e.g.n.a.t.e was mentioned since the line was rather long. They were coming up on the weekend, so Vahn agreed to devote around an hour of time each day to help a goddess get pregnant, with the requirement they already have a partner. Though they were certain ’exceptions’, Vahn wasn’t trying to have a lot of Vanir children as their accelerated growth and the potential issues with their Divinities would have to be taken into consideration.

Right now, other than the goddesses he was involved with, the only true exception was Freya, though her behavior had undergone a shift as of late. She had initially refused to join the Alliance but, after Vahn helped her get pregnant and allowed her to view his soul, she had completely changed her tune. Shortly after he had ventured into the Dungeon with the Loki Familia, she had approached Hephaestus, Loki, and Hestia to ’negotiate’ with them before joining the Alliance as a core member. Though she certainly wanted to get her hands on Vahn, Freya knew that Vahn’s growth would actually be ’limited’ by her interference instead of being promoted. Her Divinity compelled her to test great warriors so that they could become stronger, but she couldn’t even see the extent of Vahn’s potential at all. So that she wouldn’t be ’left behind’ when he approaches the peak of power, Freya had decided to take a step back and support him indirectly instead.

The Freya Familia had quickly tracked down the secret base of the Thanatos Familia and had killed a total of five of their Elites, including Valletta Grede, whose head had been claimed by Allen Fromel. Afterward, Freya had personally bid farewell to Thanatos before sending him on a return trip to Heaven with a stern warning not to interfere with her ’happiness’ in the future. Thanatos wasn’t really the type that cared about such things, to begin with so, after having Freya stab him in the heart, he simply yawned as his body turned into particles and returned to Heaven. He actually didn’t care what his children did and had just been working with Evilus because his Divinity related to Death and the people that were drawn to him were murderers and sociopaths.

It was the head of Valletta Grede, which had been preserved for posterity, that cemented Freya’s acceptance into the Alliance because Hephaestus, Loki, and Hestia were very aware of the significance of her early death. With Valletta’s death, Chloe wouldn’t die in a similar matter as in the Divination which meant that the future was changed on a fundamental level. Just knowing about the future had inextricably altered the course of history, but changing the significant events, especially the tragic ones, brought about much greater changes. Now the initial event that had set Vahn down that ’lonely’ path no longer existed, at least not in the same form...

After the discussion had ended, Vahn had Fafnir escort Loki back to the Twilight Manor while the other gods and goddesses returned to their various residences. Most of their Manors we only a few City blocks away while Freya had actually secured a large region to the South and had been slowly transitioning her forces into the area. They still needed to maintain a force at the South Gate, as it was part of an agreement they had with the Guild, but the majority of her Elites were being moved closer to the Hearth Manor. Even Freya, who typically resided at the top floor of Babel, would be spending a large portion of her time within her newly constructed Manor. She had initially wanted to move into the Hearth Manor in the future, but she was outright denied the opportunity because she would undoubtedly be a negative influence on the current residents and the future children that would reside there...

Vahn was surprisingly tired when everything was said and done and he eventually just collapsed against a large sofa within the first-floor study while using Hestia’s lap as a pillow. She gently stroked his head and had a beautiful smile on her face as she muttered, "There are so many new an exciting things taking place so quickly, Vahn...the mortal world is much more interesting than Heaven, fufufu~" Vahn laughed along with her before lifting his left arm and stroking her cheek as he said, "I’m glad you came down to the mortal world, Hestia...if it weren’t for you and all the other girls, I don’t think any of this would be possible..."

Hestia placed her hand overtop Vahn’s as her sapphire-like blue eyes glimmered resplendently and she said, "Vahn, I think you would have been okay even without us...I’m just glad I had the opportunity to experience all of these things with you. I’m certain everyone else feels the same..." Vahn squinted his eyes and his expression turned softer as he replied, "It is the support of everyone that allows me to continue walking forward s-" Before he could finish his words, a pleasant and plush sensation pressed against his abdomen as Tsubaki sat down on top of him. She reclined against the sofa and spread her arms along the backside as she exasperatedly said, "Vahn, you really do talk too much at times...pay attention to your surroundings me, ahahahaha~."

Even though he had been aware of the other people present in the room, Vahn hadn’t expected the sudden reaction from Tsubaki at all. Yes, he had seen her approaching, but her sudden action of sitting on him was very unexpected. Looking around, he saw the somewhat ’envious’ looks on the eyes of several girls as they had been watching him and Hestia ’flirt’ with each other. After the discussion had ended, Vahn returned to the Hearth Manor with Hephaestus, Hestia, and Terra before explaining the situation to everyone, including the decisions that were made. Afterward, he had felt a bit fatigued and decided to use Hestia’s lap as a pillow without thinking about the consequences. It just looked so tantalizingly soft and he hadn’t been able to resist at the time...

Vahn released a weird mixture between a laugh and a sigh as he sat up, allowing Tsubaki to slide from his chest to his lap. He had never actually had her sit in his lap before, and it was a little strange since she was somewhat ’tall’ compared to other girls. However, before she could escape, Vahn shifted while placing his hands around her waist and holding her belly. Without minding the fact that she was slightly flushed as a result, Vahn addressed everyone in the room, saying, "I’ll be taking Tina and Shizune in the Dungeon on Thursday and Friday, but it will only be for the first half of the day. Since I’ll be working to complete the prototype armor next week, I’ll try to free up my afternoons over the next few days. Anyone that is interested can come into my salon and I’ll be giving beauty treatments and massages~."

His words seemed to resonate within the room as another ’discussion’ began about what kind of ’services’ he would be providing. The entire time this was going on, Vahn ’cradled’ Tsubaki’s belly while hugging her from behind, even when she had pinched his thigh hard enough to make him lose feeling in the tender skin. Afterward, as the conversation had gotten somewhat heated and exciting, they continued talking about various matters during dinner. It was also during this time that Vahn noticed the looks Maemi and Emiru kept sending his way and he realized they probably wanted a ’reward’ for their earlier efforts. They had actually exposed themselves to danger on his behalf while also successfully goading Alosrin and Keelan by following Loki’s guidance. Vahn felt compelled to reward them properly, but he wasn’t exactly sure what the best method would be...

By the time dinner had come to an end, there was around an hour before Vahn usually went to bed and this was typically when he would find companions to take with him. He was actually feeling kind of tired, at least mentally, so Vahn wasn’t too sure about doing anything too intense since he wanted to relax. As he hadn’t been able to come up with a proper reward for the two girls, even though he suspected simply ’pampering’ them would be enough, Vahn decided to do something neither of them had expected in order to set a precedent for the future. After thinking about it several times, Vahn eventually approached the two girls and said, "If you’re willing to ’behave’ yourselves properly, I’ll allow you to sleep in my bedroom tonight..."

Maemi and Emiru both opened their eyes wide at Vahn’s words and couldn’t form any of their own for several seconds before they bent forward and said, "We’ll behave~!" in concert with each other. Both of their long tails had shot up high and drew a gentle S-shape and they each had glittering eyes full of eagerness. As for their auras, they had transitioned from a sunny yellow and mild pink into an almost ’sickly’ pink with passionate reds intermixed along the edges. Vahn plopped his palms on the two girls’ heads and said, "No victory underwear, and no trying anything strange. Tonight, just let me pamper the two of you a bit and we’ll cuddle up and enjoy a peaceful night together."

Though it might be a little ’unfair’ to them, Vahn didn’t want to break his promise from the past and he wanted the girls to wait until they were Level 3 before he did anything too intimate with them. He knew they had somewhat ’deviant’ tendencies and were somewhat delusional in their thought process, so creating clear boundaries was very important. He could easily imagine them becoming somewhat like Anubis or Loki in the future since he had seen their ’plays’ when he viewed their [Hearts Desire]s in the past. Vahn wanted them to at least have a basic amount of restraint because he felt that things would take a strange, potentially even dangerous, turn when they had greater mastery over their Innate. Maemiru, their fused form, could even pose a threat to him when they reached around Level 3. The fact that they could essentially double their parameters, at least for a little while, was a powerful trump card...

Since he wasn’t planning on doing anything too serious, Vahn had considered if he should invite someone like Fenrir or Lili to stay with him as well, as they would be able to restrain the two girls quite a bit. In the end, however, he decided to simply give the girls the benefit of the doubt and, after waiting for them to change into their nightgown, took the girls by hand into his room. It was a little awkward walking through the corridor holding their hands, but Vahn didn’t think much of it since he was supposed to be pampering them a bit. When they finally entered the room, Maemi and Emiru became very tense and actually started breathing somewhat heavily in concert with each other. They had often ’dreamed’ about sleeping in the same bed with Vahn and they could smell his scent all over the room while the aroma rising from the bed was almost intoxicating to them.

Without even waiting for Vahn’s ’invitation’, Maemi and Emiru climbed into the bed with lithe movements as their rather large tails swayed about happily. Compared to other Beast Humans, Snow Leopard People had long tails that were covered with a thick arrangement of hair. They were incredibly soft to the touch and looked similar to a Cat Person’s tail, just several times thicker. This allowed the two girls to have very good balance, almost to the extent of Terra, as they could use their h.i.p.s and waist as a pivot to perform complex movements. Other than Vahn himself, and perhaps Lili as of late, they also had the most flexible bodies of all the girls within the Manor, almost to a scary extent. They could easily press their relatively small chests to the ground and flip their legs over their body before bringing their pert butts to rest atop their heads. Vahn had even seen Maemi nearly twist her entire torso around 180 degrees during one of her attacks...

Vahn really did find both girls to be very beautiful, especially considering the fact they were twins with uncharacteristic features. The fact they mirrored each other’s movements so well was very eye catching and it was very intriguing to consider what kind of experiences he could enjoy with them in the future. Right now, they were around 158cm in height with relatively small chests, only marginally larger than the somewhat non-existent b.r.e.a.s.ts of Tiona, while their butts were somewhat pert and toned, a common feature of most girls amongst the various Beast Human species. Their most striking feature, however, was their silvery hair that marginally reflected the light and their lilac eyes that made all their expressions seem soft and playful.

Knowing Vahn had been watching them, Maemi and Emiru had ’waggled’ their butts slowly from side to side as the crawled into bed. They were very excited, even more so than most people since they could share each other’s emotions, but they kept their rationality. Even now, they were ’communicating’ with each other to try and make the most of the situation. Though they probably couldn’t get Vhan to have s.e.x with them, it was easily possible they could get him to do ’other’ things with them. Just thinking of the possibilities gave both girls slightly flushed expressions as their heart rate and breathing matched the other’s perfectly.

Reaching the head of the bed, Maemi and Emiru turned back to look at Vahn as they reclined against the bed and asked, "Are you coming to bed, Master~?" Right now, they were wearing matching light blue pajamas, but the material was made out of silk and it outlined their figures perfectly. Vahn had told them not to wear their victory panties so, following his orders, they had elected not to wear any underwear at all. Because of their excitement, there were small ’bumps’ on the font of their silky pajama tops and they had set their arms to rest on their sides to make sure Vahn could see them.

Vahn blanked for a brief moment as his aquamarine eyes flashed blue and he confirmed the current ’status’ of the two mischevious girls. He realized the loophole in his own words and simply laughed while shaking his head as he crawled into the bed alongside them. It really didn’t matter to him that much, even if the girls had decided to sleep completely n.a.k.e.d, as he had already decided he wouldn’t be having s.e.x with them tonight. Their actions did make him want to tease them a bit, however, and Vahn suspected this was the intention all along. Thus, to make good on his promise and meet their expectations, Vahn stopped right as he was about to reach them and said, "How about the two of you lay on your backs...I’ll pamper you plentily tonight~"

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Freya Wants Dat Boi’,’Tsubaki’s Plump Rump’,’Mischevious Kittens~?’)