Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos-Novel

Chapter 478 - Subtle Changes

Once Lefiya had recovered her ’soul’ back into her body, she spent a few awkward moments undressing as Vahn turned his back. He had seen her n.a.k.e.d body several dozen times, but things were a little different when it was just the three of them. She normally gravitated around Ais in the bath anyway so it wasn’t as though she had ever shown signs of being ’comfortable’ around Vahn, other than the time when she had cared for his ’static’ body after his battle with Tione. Vahn still remembered Lefiya’s behavior at the time and knew she was similar to Eina in that she had a disposition that made her look after others. That was also the moment when Lefiya started letting her guard down around him, but that didn’t mean she had dropped it entirely.

Though he knew she had already removed her blouse, Lefiya remained silent for a short while before eventually mustering up the courage to say, "Sorry for the wait...you can turn around now, Vahn." When he turned back to look at her, Lefiya was plopped down on the ground as she hugged her clothes to her chest and kept her head low. She was a very fair-skinned girl so it was even more obvious how embarrassed she was since even her shoulders had turned a rosy color. Vahn saved her some unease by treating the matter as casually as possible as he traced his finger down her back as she tightly held her clothing.

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[[STATUS]]

Name: Lefiya Viridis

LV. 3

POW: 421+(I59)->(H119)

END: 692+(I74)->(H150)

DEX: 1281+(H125)->(G202)

AGI: 1459+(H154)->(G243)

MAG: 1998+(G215)->(D577)

Skills: [Fairy Cannon:D->C], [Concurrent Chanting:E], [Prometheus:A]

Magic: [Rattatoskr:Innate:(sealed)], [Arcs Ray:C], [Fusillade Fallarica:D->C], [Elf Ring:C]

Development Abilities: [Daughter of Wishe:Innate(sealed)], [Mage:C], [Abnormal resistance:G->F], [Spirit Healing:(sealed)]

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The moment Vahn recorded Lefiya’s status, he turned around and said, "I’ve turned my back, Lefiya..." so that she could relax a bit. She turned her beet-red face to the side to confirm he was indeed looking away and began to get dressed as quickly as she could manage. To make things easier for her, since she was still very fl.u.s.tered, Vahn eased the mood by saying, "Your parameters are increasing at a normal pace, but I’m very concerned about your lack of physical-based parameters. Other than your Agility and Dexterity, everything else is much lower than they should be. Your combined parameters for Levels 1 and 2 are less than the individual parameter development of some others per level..."

Lefiya listened to Vahn’s words closely and knew he was correct since she had never placed any focus on them whatsoever. She had always been focused on her ’duty’ as a Mage and had never valued them that much but, after learning that their magic system was flawed, she had been worrying about it lately. Though she hadn’t been able to truly experience what it meant to break through the ’limits’ yet, Lefiya had Vahn’s flame seed inside her chest, something that she often stressed about, and knew her growth was only restricted by her efforts.

She had been talking to Riveria a lot in private, as Riveria was her mentor and she had accepted the role as the prolific mages protege. During their conversations, Riveria had stressed the importance of following Vahn’s doctrines since it would allow her to become much stronger in the future. She had even disclosed the fact that she was going to accept Vahn as her ’Master’ in the future in order to study magic from him. Thus, Vahn’s words fell heavy on her heart and she wondered how she would be able to satisfy both him and Riveria...

Contrary to her expectations, however, Vahn continued his words, "Well, it isn’t really that much of a problem if you just want to focus on mastering magic. As long as she isn’t against it, I plan to teach you how to use Eva’s magic in the future and it should allow you to enhance your body using your mana. Even I’ve been focusing almost exclusively on my Magic parameter these days, so I can’t really say much to others..." Vahn began laughing at himself as he saw his own magic had reached 2,431 just for his current level. If he tried to lecture other people about having a skewed stat line, he would probably have to reflect on his life choices.

Lefiya had heard Eva’s name several times from Vahn and she often talked about the ’godlike’ mage with Riveria when they were in private. She really wanted to meet the powerful magician who could purportedly freeze several hundred meters of space in ice with the wave of her hand. Vahn had even described her as having the capability of walking on the air, teleporting through the void, and even creating things like clothing out of thin air. Lefiya was very interested to learn how she was capable of doing all of these things and, if Vahn was willing to teach them to her, she wouldn’t mind becoming his official apprentice alongside Lili, Haruhime, and her own mentor, Riveria...

After fixing her clothing, Lefiya turned around and pat her chest to calm her heart before saying, "Okay, I’ve finished getting dressed..." Vahn turned around and smiled at her, something that always made her heart palpitate powerfully before it began beating rapidly. She almost resented how handsome he was at times because it was almost ’unfair’ when he gave her kind and gentle looks. However, just as she was thinking this, Lefiya’s stomach released another loud protest and she couldn’t stop herself from releasing an embarrassed squeal as she crouched down and hid her face once again. She wasn’t even holding the staff right now, so Lefiya felt like she had produced the sound on her own...

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Vahn set out some calming tea for Lefiya as well as several dishes of delicious breakfast foods and pastries that he knew she was fond of. To make things easier for her, he was even using [Hands of Nirvana] through his domain to make a calming atmosphere spread through the tent. Because they had already been up for a while, and Lefiya couldn’t constrain her voice earlier, the majority of the other girls had woken up by now and had joined them for breakfast. With the inclusion of more people, Lefiya was finally able to return to normal except for the fact that she had been continually nibbling away at food without ceasing for nearly twenty minutes.

Even without holding the staff, it was something that was ’gifted’ to her and was inextricably linked to her for the time being. As a result, unless she relinquished ownership of the staff, Lefiya had become a ’Glutton(A)’. She was a little embarrassed by this fact, as Tiona found it very interesting and continually offered her food. Though she resisted at first, Lefiya eventually gave in because Ais also offered her a fish-shaped fried pastry that was filled with a sweet bean paste that Vahn called ’Taiyaki’. Tiona had been ’offended’ by the fact that Lefiya accepted food from other people and clung to her until she eventually relented and allowed Tiona to feed her as well...

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As they had lost a bit of time, Vahn ended up convincing Lefiya to allow him to carry her so they would be able to reach the further entrances of the 51st floor quickly. During the short seven minute trip, Lefiya tucked her face towards Vahn’s body in an attempt to hide her expression as she loosely clung to his tunic. He was giving her the ’notorious’ princess carry and it took every fiber of her being to resist passing out from the pressure building up in her head. To make matters ’worse’, Vahn had even given her another Taiyaki to munch on to ’distract’ her from the trip out of concern for her well-being. Lefiya wanted to comment that it would be ’easier’ for her if he didn’t show so much concern but just accepted the snack and nibbled on it without commenting.

Once they reached the entrance, Vahn set Lefiya down and began explaining things a bit, even though he knew she was actually well aware of what to expect. She had been accompanying Tiona, Ais, and Tione into the 51st floor all week so there wasn’t much for her to know other than the subtle differences in how they were going to do things. Towards the end, however, Lefiya was stunned when Vahn said, "Since I want you to be able to develop your parameters even faster, I want you to consider the idea of having me act as a mana battery for you. Instead of replenishing your stores after the fact, I think it will be more efficient to recover your mana as you use it..." Vahn was really just practicing his own control over energy today, so he wouldn’t be fighting up close unless it became necessary. He wanted to see if he could help promote Lefiya’s magical growth by essentially baptizing her body with his source energy as she channeled her magic.

Though she was fl.u.s.tered by the proposition, Lefiya considered the matter properly and understood Vahn’s reasoning and the intentions behind his words. She had already tested the ’Radiant Lancer’ earlier and it was an instant-cast magic spell that was similar to her own [Arcs Ray] except that it was much stronger, in exchange for having less of a homing capability. With Vahn supplementing her mana with his own ridiculous amount, Lefiya knew it would be possible to cast the spell over and over without experiencing the mental exhaustion that would typically be associated with the consecutive use of magic spells. This meant she would be able to develop her own Magic parameter much faster than normal, something that should be celebrated if not for the fact that it would require her to be in almost constant contact with Vahn...

After thinking it over for a few minutes, Lefiya hardened her resolve as she gripped the [Miki’s Tulip] in her hands and said, "Yes, I’ll do it! P-Please look after me, V-V-Vahn~!" Thus, though it was a little bit of a strange sight to behold, Vahn ’escorted’ Lefiya through the Dungeon with his hand on her shoulder. Fenrir continued to fight in the vanguard with ever-increasing efficiency and was like a veritable whirlwind with her [Severing Claws]. As for Lefiya, she gripped her staff so tightly that her fingers had turned white as she pointed the staff toward enemies and continually shouted, "Radiant Lancer~!" She did her best to ignore the hot surge of mana that would instantly enter her body every time she cast a spell and tried to vent her frustrations by spamming the spell at the enemies.

Vahn was watching over Lefiya like a protective hen while he also observed the flow of mana in her own body and the effects of her spells. Each time one of the bright beams of light shot out of the tip of the flower at the end of Lefiya’s staff, another monster would disappear from the world. Though Lefiya compared it to her [Arcs Ray], Vahn could see that the ’Radiant Lancer’ was several times stronger even though its actual consumption of mana was lower. The projectile itself was only around 30cm wide, but when it hit the Black Rhinos would create a small explosion of light that had even caused some of the monsters to disappear above the waist.

The most important thing that Vahn noticed, however, was the fact that Lefiya had actually been siphoning off a bit of his own source energy to cast the spell. When he normally helped replenish their mana, there was a rapid conversion process that took place in the girls’ bodies before the energy was adapted for their own use. This conversion ratio was incredibly efficient because the pure source energy was much stronger than mana which meant Vahn could top them off without using much of his own energy. His current pool was at 5,903 source energy and Vahn could convert that into about 68,000 mana by channeling it into Riveria and Lefiya. With his own regeneration, which was about 50 per minute, this effectively gave Lefiya a mana regeneration of 565 per minute even though her total pool was only 2,575.

As for why it was ’important’ that her body was siphoning parts of his source energy, it was because the flow of energy within Lefiya was undergoing a subtle change as her body itself adapted to the higher tier energy system. Vahn was able to see the composite mana that made up the structure of objects, so seeing the flow within a person’s body was very easy. He had long learned that everyone had a ’color’ to their mana that showed their affinities somewhat. It was also the same color that appeared when a person’s magic circles appeared. Riveria’s was an emerald green color while Lefiya’s was typically a light pink that matched the color template of the outfits she commonly wore. Now, however, the flow within her body was beginning to turn even lighter and there were strands of pure white mana that had started to appear in her mana pathways...

Unaware of the changes occurring in her body, Lefiya pointed the [Miki’s Tulip] toward the last Black Rhinos and shouted, "Radiant Lancer~!" once again. The projectile streamed forward with an unstoppable momentum that caused empty space to appear in the area where the monster’s left shoulder and head used to exist. There wasn’t any blood or gore, only a blackened wound that was momentarily visible before the monster dispersed into purple dust. Lefiya released a sigh before noticing her own lower jaw was quivering slightly as a result of her anxiety. The moment she paid attention to it, however, a warm energy entered through her shoulder and helped calm her down. Lefiya gave Vahn a sideward glance without saying anything before she started walking forward once again...

Fenrir had been paying close attention to Lefiya for a while and was beginning to believe that it may be better to act like the ’strange’ girl on occasion. She wanted to be able to walk through the Dungeon with her Master and began considering if she should learn magic in the future. Though she wasn’t sure how to do magic, Fenrir believed that her Master would teach her if she asked him. However, when this thought crossed her mind, Fenrir was reminded of the ’scary’ Eva and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face...though she didn’t like the ’evil’ woman at all, Fenrir knew she was a powerful Mage that was even the ’Master’ of her Master. With this realization, Fenrir began flexing her paws in frustration as an icy flame appeared within her glittering scarlet eyes...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Bashful Elf’,’Feed the tiny creature~!’,’Magical Girl Fenrir-Chan!?’)

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