Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

With each day in the real world constituting an entire week within the Sub-Space Projection, more than a month and a half had passed since the arrival of Irisviel, Da Vinci, Kenshin, and Siegfried. In that time, the most notable presence within the castle was Iris as, without exception, everyone was rather fond of the innocent and gentle woman who treated everyone in a friendly and sincere manner. Because of her efforts, even Nobunaga had stopped holing herself up in the room while Artoria, having been close with Iris in the past, had become even happier than before. When she wasn’t training Mordred or trying to keep her out of trouble, Artoria could be found escorting Iris around the castle grounds or sitting quietly within the Library enjoying tea together. Catherine and Astolfo would often join them as well, bringing Kenshin, Nobunaga, Medusa, and even Illya into the mix as she enjoyed spending time with her mother whenever possible...

As for Da Vinci, Kenshin, and Siegfried, the latter got along well with everyone but couldn’t be considered close to anyone. He spent most of his time training his body or solemnly sitting atop the castle walls as he looked out across the currently ’empty’ Empire. During the evenings, he could most often be found drinking with Vahn and, on occasion, Astolfo, Nobunaga, and Kenshin. The latter was a bit of a lightweight when it came to alcohol, but could almost always be found following behind Nobunaga around, the only exception being when she was helping Vahn train. Though she was improving steadily, having no problems with anyone in the castle, Kenshin was very reliant on following the social cues of others to determine how she would act. It was easy to see that she was making a sincere effort, however, so Vahn would often spend time with her and Nobunaga after his training had completed...

The one person who didn’t really fit in with any of the other social groups, not that she had caused any problems, was Da Vinci. She very rarely left their shared workshop, the only exceptions being when Vahn took her around to do a land survey and when she needed to be on-site for one of her projects. Her body apparently didn’t even need to eat anything, as she could subsist entirely off of mana, and, no matter how hard she worked, Da Vinci actually smelled ’better’ if she didn’t bathe for a few days. When Vahn had asked about the ’secrets’ of her body, Da Vinci had teased him about needing to discover them on his own, all while going out of her way to point out that she didn’t need to poop...

Since it was almost impossible to tear Da Vinci away from the workshop, most of the other castle residents had only seen her a handful of times. However, due to the fact that she had left for a specific reason, Da Vinci wouldn’t spend much time talking to them as, more than anything else, she didn’t like to ’waste’ time. The only exception to this rule seemed to be whenever she was interacting with Vahn and, after seeing them for the first time, Fenrir and Medusa. She showed a great deal of interest in Fenrir’s Devouring Laws and had tried to ask Medusa for a ’sample’ of her hair. Neither girl was fond of the idea of being an experimental test subject, however, so they less than politely made it clear they had no intentions of helping her research without Vahn asking directly. After that, Da Vinci didn’t bother the two girls any further, nor did she try and pressure Vahn on the matter as, with the latter being both more interesting and far more willing, she was already content with her current research material.

Vahn had been learning a great deal from Da Vinci, to the point that it felt like his prior efforts had been the aimless floundering of a child, but his focus had actually been on other things as of late. Ever since Scathach had placed Kenshin in charge of helping him train, it felt like he was making real progress once again. Though he never doubted for a moment he was getting much stronger, it was difficult to ’feel’ strong when you were fighting against someone like Scathach. As for Kenshin, she would always get very excited during a fight, to the point she seemed simply incapable of holding back after realizing that Vahn could essentially take any kind of punishment she could dish out. She never went as far as Scathach, as it wasn’t her intention to torture Vahn, but their battles were often rather bloody for both parties. This didn’t deter either of them, however, as, much like when he would fight against another battle junky like Tiona, Vahn would get just as excited as Kenshin during their training...

To that end, Vahn found himself wielding a black katana as his arms, neck, calves, and parts of his face were covered in black scales. There were several wounds on his body that, even with his regeneration, were slowly mending themselves as he stared down at an equally ragged-looking Kenshin. She had a wound on her abdomen that looked rather visceral while several small cuts were present all over her body. Though she was far more skilled than he was, Kenshin lacked high-speed regeneration of her own and, as the fight progressed into the fifth hour, she was breathing heavily while wielding a jitte and medival looking mace that Vahn had been batted around with a few times at this point. Things were just now progressing into their final stages, as Kenshin was simply too tired to try and keep up with Vahn’s seemingly endless stamina...

Regardless of her fatigue, Kenshin had an excited smile on her face as she pointed her jitte towards Vahn and said, "This will settle it, Master. Let’s see if you can take out more than two of me today...!" With that said, a massive tidal wave of mana exploded outward from Kenshin as she shouted, "Biten-Hassō Kuruma Gakari no Jin~!" Following this, seven more versions of Kenshin appeared behind her, each wielding different sets of weapons as they all eyed Vahn with the same excited smile. This was how most of their battles ended so Vahn could now be considered intimately familiar with Kenshin’s Noble Phantasm. Not only did it give her a set of armor that was impervious to anything beneath A-Rank, but each of the ’clones’ was a real version of herself that was capable of independent action. There was no ’true’ body and, so long as there was at least one survivor, Kenshin herself was not in danger of being killed.

Without being afforded any opportunity to make his own preparations, Vahn instantly created a barrier around his body using the active effect of his Xuanwu form. This coincided with the exact moment that the leading Kenshin stabbed her spear towards him, impacting the barrier and causing it to ripple slightly. Right behind her, another Kenshin used a heavy tetsubo to smash the end of the spear, causing the shield around Vahn’s body to fracture slightly. He wasn’t simply turtling idly, however, so, by the time his shield had been broken open, Vahn had opened his hands to reveal small particles of ’sand’, each a different color as they glimmered and pulsed with elemental energy. When Kenshin saw this, her eyes widened slightly but, instead of backing away, three of her attacked with fierce momentum as they cut Vahn’s body into several pieces. Another Kenshin actually used her body to directly receive the small particles of sand before tucking her body into a fetal position in a vain attempt to stifle the resultant explosion...

Though it could be considered more than a little unfair, Vahn knew his immortality was one of his strengths, something both Scathach and Kenshin had taught him to actively exploit. Thus, he had no qualms about throwing out several small granule-sized [Elemental Star]s, each capable of rivaling a B-Rank magic spell in destructive power. As a result, nearly a hundred small explosions wrought havoc on the surroundings, consuming Vahn’s body and a total of five Kenshin’s in a surprisingly beautiful display of destruction. The other three Kenshin’s had already vacated the area and were currently waiting a few hundred meters away with bows at the ready. When she used her Noble Phantasm, the fight wasn’t over until there was only one of her bodies remaining. With that in mind, the three surviving Kenshin’s began to loose arrows towards the ’pieces’ of Vahn at the very instant the explosive plumes disappeared.

With Kenshin’s understanding of Laws related to pretty much every weapon, Vahn’s regeneration was significantly weakened whenever they fought. Even small wounds would take several seconds to heal while, having parts of his body pierced by her arrows, Vahn felt as if each of his individual cells was made of lead as he essentially turned his body into a liquid state just to try and hasten his regeneration. Unfortunately for Kenshin, she had no reliable means to deal with an Immortal and, so long as Vahn didn’t ’believe’ she had killed him, he was able to avoid a repeat of what happened with Musashi in the past. Now, if he were to face against the Master Swordsman once again, Vahn believed he would be able to tank several blows without losing himself a second time...

As this wasn’t the first time she had seen Vahn turn into a form akin to a metallic black goo, Kenshin could only release a tired sigh as her fatigue had long-since caught up to her. Though she came out ahead in virtually every exchange, it was simply impossible for her to keep Vahn down without using weapons specially designed for that purpose. She had never ’lost’ against him outright but, at the same time, she had also never been able to ’win’ against him either. In a way, all of their fights ended in a draw as she would tire out and, though this could be considered her loss, the fact she had struck down Vahn 147 times over the last five hours more than justified calling their battle a tie.

Now that Kenshin had stopped pelting him with arrows, Vahn slowly reformed his body into a seated position, making sure to properly wear clothes before he took on a human form. She had dismissed her two remaining clones and was walking over to his position with a tired expression that failed to diminish the fire in her eyes even a little. After helping him to his feet, Kenshin smiled radiantly as she said, "You’re always improving, Master. At this rate, it will only be a few years before I am no longer a match for you..." Though this was intended as a compliment, Kenshin realized her words could be misconstrued as boasting. Vahn, however, just laughed light-heartedly in response before pointing out, "You are also improving, Kenshin. If possible, I’d like for you to become even stronger so that, instead of a few years, it takes me a few decades to surpass you..."

Since Vahn had needed a rival to hone himself against, and Kenshin fit the bill surprisingly well, he wanted to see her become even stronger so that he could further refine his own skills. Though it was frustrating to fight against Scathach, Vahn actually felt that it was a little ’lonely’ to be peerless within the world. He had never truly reached that point but, after becoming stronger than most mortals and gods back in the Record of Danmachi, Vahn could tell there was an invisible gulf between him and most people. Though Fenrir was doing her best to breach the gap, Vahn felt it was refreshing to have someone like Kenshin who he could strive to surpass without suddenly growing far beyond her own strength...

Hearing Vahn’s words, Kenshin’s fighting spirit could be seen burning in her eyes but, after a few seconds, it had died down a bit as she pointed out, "My strength may stagnate a bit in the near future. However, I will do my best to become even stronger after the fact...!" As she had already discussed the matter at great lengths with Nobunaga, Kenshin was fully intending to bear a child at some point over the next few years. Since she would never abandon fighting on the battlefield, she needed to have a child during peaceful times to avoid any unnecessary complications. Since the flow of time within the Sub-Space Projection was seven times the norm, she could easily raise a son or daughter to become self-sufficient long before the battle with Angra Mainyu took place. It was even possible for her to leave behind several descendants as, with Vahn’s capabilities, Kenshin knew it was possible for her to live for hundreds of years without issue...

Knowing what Kenshin was referring to, Vahn gave a light-hearted sigh as he shook his head with a smile and stated, "Once Rin, Sakura, and Gray show up, we’ll talk about this matter in greater detail. I want Sakura to be comfortable within the castle before I suddenly start giving her younger siblings to worry about." Though there wasn’t anything he could do about Mordred, who had already been made aware of her ’younger’ sister, Vahn wanted to avoid having additional children until Sakura had moved into the castle. Since it could potentially take more than a year in the outside world for her and Rin to finish wrapping up everything, that meant any siblings he created for her would be around her own age by the time she moved in. Though this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as she would have a group of children her own age to play with, Sakura seemed like the type that would be happier as a big sister instead of trying to fit in with children her own age.

As she wasn’t in a particular hurry to get pregnant right now, Kenshin gave an understanding nod without commenting further on the matter. Instead, she moved off to the side after wishing Vahn well, knowing full well nothing she said could ’help’ him overcome what he was about to face. As for Vahn, he gave a wry smile before rising to his feet and increasing the density of his body without compromising his mobility. He was given a ten minute rest period after his training with Kenshin and, with less than twenty seconds left, he wanted to at least make some preparations against the expressionless ’Purple Monster’ staring at him from fifty meters away. She already had a set of spears in hand, one short, one long, both glimmering with a subtle light that made his skin tingle. Then, the moment his ten-minute ’break’ had come to an end, Scathach turned into a phantom as Vahn did his best to survive her onslaught for another three hours...

Following several more thrashings and a few other small developments, Vahn managed to survive another ’day cycle’ within the Sub Space Projection. He wrapped things up by playing hide and seek with Mordred, Medusa, Fenrir, and Circe within the massive apple orchards present on the island so Vahn was in a good mood by the time he entered into the workshop located beneath the Amory of Camelot. As was exclusively the case thus far, Vahn found Da Vinci had at work, this time trying to synthesize completely new compounds by mixing together elements and ores that, under normal circ.u.mstances, could never be fused together. Fortunately, though he had no doubt she would be able to pull it off in the future, Da Vinci hadn’t been able to make too much progress, only creating three new compounds of the thousands of potential combinations she had tried.

As Vahn entered into the workshop, a small mechanical sparrow flitted over before perching on his shoulder, its eyes opening and closing like the shutter of a camera as Da Vinci, without looking back at him, stated, "I will be finished in approximately seventeen minutes. I don’t mind if you gawk, but please do not distract me for the time being." When these words left her mouth, Da Vinci tapped the gemstone around her neck, causing her outfit to dissipate into particles of mana that retreated into the large ruby present on her necklace. Vahn had allowed her to research the process of storing physical objects as energy, a technology Da Vinci had already innovated on several times at this point.

Da Vinci now had a necklace that had seven different gemstones present, each representing a ’slot’ on her own body that worked in much the same way as his Equipment Function. Each gemstone had a specific type of clothing that coincided with a certain part of her body, allowing Da Vinci to freely modify her outfit at her leisure. She had even made a ’template style’ lingerie that, by tracing your finger along the elastic band of the bra and panties, could adjust the density of the fabric in real-time, to the point it would dissipate entirely if ’necessary’. It even had a small gemstone on the very front which, when tapped, completely changed the style of lingerie in much the same way as her necklace.

At this point, Vahn had no idea how many different outfits Da Vinci had ’programmed’ into her gemstones as, instead of making the outfits first, she had modified the technology to simply store a certain amount of magical energy instead. So long as you could ’imagine’ the outfit you wanted to create, you needed only tap the respective gemstone to change your attire however you pleased. Though this required you to be able to form an actual mental image, Da Vinci was working on a version that could be used by others that they could pre-load with various outfits that could be downloaded from a terminal she intended to place inside the men’s and women’s baths. Fortunately, Vahn managed to avoid the situation reaching the point where there was communal bathing this time around, even though he sometimes found himself sharing the bath in his own room with one of the girls on occasion...

Since he didn’t want to interrupt Da Vinci’s work, Vahn took her advice and just sat down in a recliner that he pulled out from his Inventory. He didn’t exactly ’gawk’ but, having her permission to look, Vahn would occasionally spare a glance at Da Vinci’s silhouette and backside. She really did have an immaculate body and, though they hadn’t done anything ’too’ intimate just yet, Vahn was beginning to grow rather fond of the time they spent together.

Though she had no sense of boundaries, and would often do things like this, he just considered it another one of her quirks. With that in mind, Vahn fed a fragment of a magical core to the small mechanical sparrow as it used mana to keep itself running. The fact that Da Vinci could make ’artificial entities’ such as birds and other small animals, each capable of emulating their living kin without any variance, had been yet another example of her unrivaled genius. She hadn’t even been able to get access to a computer just yet but, using his own memories and the knowledge she had obtained through the summoning system, Da Vinci now had small mechanical golems implementing a network throughout the castle, intending for it to expand throughout the entire Island in the future.

Da Vinci had even hollowed out a ’secret’ chamber that she openly admitted existed but asked that he never enter without her permission. This was supposed to serve as the central nexus of the network while also allowing her to work on a few projects without his scrutiny. Since everyone needed a bit of freedom to keep secrets, Vahn had no problem with Da Vinci having a few private projects, so long as she followed the ’rules’ he had laid out for her. This included respecting the decision of the other castle residents and never invading their privacy, two things that Da Vinci had readily agreed to as she wasn’t all that interested in them from the start. She had even gone out of her way to inform him that, once she had finished working on her ’secret’ project, she would allow him to periodically access the room, promising he would greatly appreciate what she had been working on...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Irisviel is impossible to hate’,’A Healthy Rivalry’,’Da Vinci-chan is even sneakier than Fenrir~!?’)

(A/N: Guys, I’m dealing with a lot of stuff IRL at the moment but I will try to continue publishing chapters when I can. There should still be 2-3 per day but the hours will be even weirder than normal for a few days. Pretty soon, I plan to ’fix’ the schedule once again so reading and commenting will be easier for those that like to try and get first comment and such. Thank you for your patience and please don’t forget to vote with Power Stones xD...)