Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn spent the rest of the afternoon just pampering the twins, chuckling at their ’sad’ expressions when it was time to make dinner. Even though they had seemingly fallen asleep, it was apparently a very pleasant sleep that made them feel refreshed when they woke up. He had been able to see the invisible tendrils of ’petting laws’ still coursing through their bodies after the fact, a sign their parameters and stamina had been temporarily enhanced by the long exposure.

Since he had the opportunity, Vahn helped prepare dinner alongside the girls, being joined by Milan, Tina, and Syr when preparations began. They made small talk with each other, enjoying the pleasant mood in the relatively large kitchen that was full of fragrant and mouth-watering aromas. Cooking was one of Vahn’s favorite hobbies ever since he came to this world because it didn’t require that much effort but could still put a big smile on people’s faces. He still remembered the very first time he had ’real’ food at the Hostess of Fertility, earning a heartwarming smile from Syr when she asked what he was thinking about.

Dinner was strangely tense because everyone was thinking about tomorrow, knowing that it would be a day filled with nervousness, excitement, and eventual celebration. Everyone was looking forward to having children in the house, especially Hestia, Tsubaki, and Lunoire. As a goddess with a Divinity related to Family, Hestia was bubbly with an expectant grin covering her face all throughout dinner. Tsubaki had strong maternal instincts because she had always been looking after kids, excited at the prospect of watching over the kin of her future daughter. As for Lunoire, she felt that the only thing lacking in the Manor was the presence of children and believed it would make everyone feel even more like family than before.

When everyone was almost finished cleaning the table, Fenrir came over with an innocent smile on her face, accompanied by Eina and Preasia. Seeing the two she had brought along, Vahn had an idea of what she had in mind so he gave a wry smile, stroking her large fluffy ears as he asked, "Are we all going to sleep together tonight?" Eina, looking even more beautiful than she had the previous day, gave a small smile in return and said, "Fenrir asked if we could help you relax through the night so you wouldn’t be so nervous tomorrow. Preasia’s dreamscape will give you plenty of time to think and I believe it would be fun~."

Vahn was somewhat surprised, giving Eina a curious look until she explained, "Since Preasia has been trying to master her abilities, she asked for help from everyone in the Manor. I’ve been able to visit the dreamscape twice now, both times equally as interesting." Preasia gave a small nod, thinking about adding on some words of her own but ultimately deciding to keep it to herself. She wasn’t sure if talking about the fact that some of the girls used the dreamscape to just relax with a self-created version of Vahn was beneficial for the current mood...

Once the dining room had been cleaned up, the small group made their way to Vahn’s room, causing Preasia to take give his bed a strangely reminiscent look. Hephaestus, Hestia, and Loki had been ’monopolizing’ Vahn’s bed while he was away so she hadn’t been able to sleep in his bed for the last few weeks. One of the only downsides to her dreamscape was the fact that smells and sounds didn’t work very well. Even touch didn’t have any real ’feel’ to it unless you were touching the other people within the dreamscape.

While Eina and Preasia prepared for bed, Vahn snuggled up with Fenrir while observing them from the bed. Eina changed into a pair of light blue silk pajamas that were both comfortable to wear while being soft to the touch of anyone fortunate enough to cuddle with her. As for Preasia, she surprised Vahn by wearing what looked like small creme-colored silk shorts and a loose silk top that didn’t even cover her navel. Vahn could see clearly just how much the fur on her body had developed, now even having a very light layer on her abdomen that would be indiscernible for her fair skin from a distance. The places that previously already had fur had become denser and there was already a slightly magical light shining when Vahn gave her a glance with his [Eyes of Truth] active.

Fenrir had also been watching them, muttering in a voice, "Preasia is very soft...Fenrir wishes her fur could be that soft..." Though it wasn’t unpleasant to the touch, Fenrir’s fur was a little bristly and could even become moderately sharp when she was in high tensions. It didn’t bother Vahn that much, but Fenrir had a habit of comparing the softness of her fur to the other girls, with Haruhime being at the top of her list. Though the latter wasn’t nearly as soft as Preasia, it was the fact that Haruhime’s tail was much softer than Fenrir’s that made them ’rivals’ in the past.

Vahn, fluffing up the adorably floppy ears of Fenrir, mused, "I think Fenrir is fine as she is, but you can also look into developing a spell to make your fur softer in the future...?" Fenrir nodded, enjoying the pleasant sensation from her ears as she said, "Fenrir has been trying to make a spell to make her hands and feet like everyone else so she can interact with people normally..." As if to demonstrate, Fenrir held up her paws and Vahn could see the visually shrink to assume a more human-like appearance. The peculiar thing about it, which Fenrir was likely still working on, was the fact that the hands looked tapered and much smaller than normal. It was a very strange sight, causing Fenrir to frown slightly before reverting back to her original paws.

Before he could comfort her, Fenrir said, "Fenrir’s ability to transform is limited for now but, one day, Fenrir will be able to change her form just like Master..." Fenrir had spent several months within the orb trying to improve her ability to change form but would always end up reverting back to her ’default’ appearance without a constant supply of magical power. It was the same thing that made her regenerate from any kind of wound and one of the few detriments to being an ageless creature. This didn’t really bother her too much, however, as being able to spend an eternity with her Master was the greatest blessing she could imagine...

Eina and Preasia both climbed into bed a little while later, Fenrir surprisingly giving up her spot so that Preasia could climb onto his body. She had a light blush on her face as she straddled his waist but didn’t do anything too sensual as Eina hugged his body from the side while Fenrir snuggled up against him on his right. Though her ability worked by proximity, the sensations shared between people were far more effective if you were closer together. If they were all in contact with Vahn, being able to smell his aroma while they slept, they would even be able to feel his body heat and enjoy his smell while inside the dreamscape.

Preasia looked down at Vahn’s face for a few seconds, absentmindedly nibbling on her own lip before saying, "E-excuse me..." as she laid against his body. Because of her horns, she had to rest her forehead against his chest but Preasia didn’t mind it much, instead, stealing a few whiffs of Vahn’s aroma as the glimmering gold light on her fur became more vibrant. As if no time had passed, all four of them ended up within the dreamscape moments later, laying on a duplicate of Vahn’s bed while ’floating’ around in an endless blue sky. There were fluffy white clouds billowing around them with a vibrant sun casting gentle rays of light through the small breaks of pristine white. Strangely, though it was as bright as day, there were numerous stars present, each glimmering with a variety of different-colored lights...

For what felt like several minutes, everyone just acclimated to the changes in the dreamscape, a process that Preasia called synchronization. One of the things she had learned was that, while she could ’forcibly’ control what happened in the dreamscape, it was better for everyone if they all ’agreed’ on the same experiences. Establishing a proper baseline and clearly defining rules made it much easier to bring about changes within the dreamscape that would easily be remembered when they returned to the real world. If you just let the dreamscape itself take over, things would become very ’strange’ in a decidedly short period of time. This would make it much more difficult to remember what happened since the mind couldn’t keep up with the peculiarities that occurred, many defying logic or simply being too overwhelming for the mind to comprehend.

After they had all synchronized together, Preasia sat up, staring down at Vahn’s face with a somewhat mischevious smile on her face. Sounds were something she hadn’t quite figured out yet so, other than a few ’phantom echoes’, it was nearly impossible to communicate unless you wrote it out. Preasia drew her finger through the air, saying, ’Welcome to the land of dreams~’ in wispy golden words. Then, tapping on her own horns, they vanished in small particles of light as a giggle echoes through the space, causing small fluctuations to occur. If she had the opportunity, Preasia wanted to play with Vahn but knew this wasn’t really the time for doing so.

Vahn sat up, giving a smile to the surprisingly playful Preasia while passing a cursory glance over Fenrir and Eina. He noticed that Fenrir had become almost completely human in an instant, having a slightly more mature body with normal hands and feet. The white tufts inside her floppy ears were more pronounced and her tail looked much longer and softer than normal. As for Eina, her ears were slightly longer and there was a mesmerizing glow in her emerald green eyes. Perhaps she had been thinking about it a lot lately, but she looked even more pregnant than normal, having a small curve in her abdomen.

As if she understood what he was thinking, Eina smiled before writing out, ’It isn’t just the four of us sharing this dream...’ After writing it out, Eina stroked her own belly, causing Vahn’s mind to buzz as he curiously observed her actions. If the brain had developed enough, it made sense that the children inside the girl’s bellies would indeed be dreaming alongside them, something that was strange to consider since it was far outside the norm. Fortunately, the only thing they really knew was being inside their mother’s bellies and couldn’t really interfere with the dreams since their perception was highly limited.

Vahn placed his hand against Eina’s abdomen, imagining himself sending waves of comforting energy into her body to ensure that their developing child was having a pleasant dream. Echoes of laughter appeared in the space, simultaneously feeling close at times while infinitely far away at others. Eina reached out, running her fingers through his hair with a loving expression on her face until a small blush appeared on her cheeks after seeing the looks on Preasia’s and Fenrir’s faces. Vahn gave a soundless chuckle, causing small changes in the dreamscape until they were all sitting atop a verdant hill, surrounded by trees and flowers.

Preasia looked around with a curious expression on her face before plucking one of the nearby flowers, finding that there was both a strong sensation of touch and a flowery aroma reaching her nose. Since she spent a lot of time researching her own abilities, Preasia was very intrigued by these changes and wondered if she could convince Vahn to take a nap with her in the afternoons. Though it was difficult to remember, Preasia knew there was something ’unique’ about Vahn’s presence within the Dreamscape and this had confirmed her speculations.

Though Preasia was the first to notice the changes, Eina and Fenrir figured it out rather quickly as well. As for Vahn, this was only the third time he was in the dreamscape so it was still a very fresh experience for him. There were numerous things he wanted to try out but decided to instead just share the experience with the girls. His thoughts began to race, bringing about great changes to the dreamscape while Eina, Preasia, and Fenrir simply observed alongside him. They all had faces of wonder as Vahn started plucking stars out of the sky, turning them into small creatures like rabbits, puppies, and kittens before releasing them into the verdant flower fields below.

After what felt like several hours, though it was hard to tell unless you were focusing on it, the dreamscape had completely changed into a wonderland where wispy elemental sprites danced around in the air while several dozen different types of animals grazed around them. Vahn ended up sitting in a clearing with the girls, holding each of them with a version of himself in their own private realms. It was a little strange having his perception split into three, but Vahn already felt like there were ’two’ of him when he was in the real world. Just adding on one extra perspective wasn’t that difficult to deal with and it allowed him to share a unique experience with each of the girls.

Most of his time with Preasia, they were just floating around while she nestled into his chest, rubbing her hornless head against him with a happy expression on her face. Fenrir spent a lot of time petting and playing with the various small creatures that Vahn had created, feeling a bit of kinship towards them but spending the majority of her time getting pampered by her Master. Much like him, she made copies of herself in various shapes and sizes, including a child-like version of herself she enjoyed watching her Master cradle in his arms. She knew it was almost impossible to actually have a child of her own while having an ageless and unchanging body, so it was nice to be able to ’play’ house with her Master...

Vahn’s time with Eina was decided more relaxing than his experience with the other two girls. He used Eina’s lap as a pillow as she slowly ran her fingers through his hair, performing actions like cleaning his ears or humming. The sound didn’t carry properly, but Vahn could still feel a great deal of comfort coming from her presence. He didn’t have many preferences, but Vahn always found that green eyes made it easier for him to relax. Chloe was the first green-eyed girl he associated with and, if not for her care, he wouldn’t have been set on this path. She had served to anchor him to this world, allowing him to feel like he belonged in it for the first time. As for Eina, she had seen through his facade and become one of the key people that allowed for him to share his happiness with so many others. If not for her and Hephaestus, the Hearth Manor likely wouldn’t have been a thing since Hestia never would have come down for him...

There were so many things Vahn was grateful for, with each of the women in his life taking up a special significance within his mind. Knowing that he would become a father tomorrow, Vahn found himself reflecting on everything that had happened int he past. Though it hadn’t always been easy, he had been incredibly fortunate to have experienced so many different forms of happiness. He was already one of the strongest people in the record and had enough power to start bringing about real change in the world. Considering that he had only been in the world for less than a year and a half, his progress had been exceptionally quick.

There were still a lot of things he needed to worry about, especially outside of the City, but Vahn felt that it was a good opportunity to slow down a bit. He wanted to be a good father while focusing on increasing his own understanding of magic, elevating himself and the girls to the point where no enemies could harm them...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Fenrir is very clever...’,’Sheepish Sheep Person’,’Comfort’)

(A/N: Keep in mind that, though I’ll be releasing a chapter every day, I’m not sure what times they will come out. I’ll try to make sure they are out by the daily reset, but it’s difficult to plan since there are a lot of things happening with work. Even when I was writing this, two of my co-workers were distracting me during breakfast xD...)