Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2146: Impression

With a helpless yet affectionate smile on his face, Vahn was currently staring at a map of the entire Little Garden while Xysteria, clinging to his head and back, curiously observed his actions.

If she was just clinging to him, Vahn wouldn't have minded Xysteria's presence. The reason for his mild discomfort was the fact she would periodically sniff his hair, climb into his clothing, and bite him. She was also remarkably clingy, so much so that it was nearly impossible to separate her from him whenever they spent time together.

"Papa...Papa...hungry...!"

Though she was well over three hundred million years old, Xysteria had never really matured. She was an extremely intelligent being, but, for reasons even Da Vinci couldn't understand, her mental development had stalled around the age of an extremely curious toddler. It was really peculiar, as, despite speaking in broken sentences, Xysteria's Wisdom parameter was even higher than Leticia's. She had memorized countless books, studied advanced magecraft, and could even dismantle and fix the advanced machinery produced in the Moon Cell. She just never matured.

At first, Vahn thought that Xysteria's stalled mental development was similar to Fenrir's, but, even after spending a considerable amount of time with her, she hadn't progressed. This implied it had something to do with one of her Innates, but, as a being of Chaos, it was hard to ascertain the true nature of Xysteria's abilities. The more you tried to understand her, the greater your surprise when you later discovered that her ability had evolved into something completely different...

Holding up an amethyst-colored insect that resembled the crystalline shell of a locust, Vahn said, "It's almost time for lunch. This is your last sna-"

Without waiting for Vahn to finish, Xysteria extended her frog-like tongue to latch onto both the locust and his hand. Unfortunately, no matter how much she pulled, she was unable to move either as Vahn adopted a wry smile and muttered, "Someone is about to lose their desert..."

With an adorably panicked expression on her face, Xysteria immediately retracted her inordinately long and sticky tongue before nuzzling her cur-covered head against Vahn's neck and lower jaw as she said, "Xysty be good..." in an assertive yet audibly anxious tone.

"Mmm..."

Feeling even more fretful after hearing her Papa's response, Xysteria's body spontaneously became noticeably more malleable as she slithered around Vahn's neck and shoulders before slinking into the collar of his tunic. Moments later, she poked out the upper half of her face, amber eyes focused on the gem-like locust in his hand as she patiently awaited permission to eat it.

Since he didn't want to stress his daughter too much, Vahn used a spell to increase the size of the insect as he assured, "Xysty is a good girl..." before drawing it closer to her mouth. In response, she promptly poked out the rest of her head, rows of razor-sharp teeth appearing in her maw as she bit down on the nigh-indestructible insectoid as if it was a rice cracker.

Understanding she was probably going to curl up in his tunic to take a nap once she had finished eating, Vahn seized the opportunity to caress Xysteria's inordinately fluffy head as he returned his attention to the diorama of the Little Garden. It showed, in real-time, the current state of the Little Garden and its Communities. This included recently formed Communities so Vahn had been using it to keep track of the situation without making direct contact with the groups formed by Artoria, Da Vinci, Semiramis, Mordred, Tamamo, and Ureko.

Unfortunately, the diorama wasn't always as cooperative as Vahn would like it to be...

Tired of sitting still, Loi-chan reverted back to her default, scantily clad appearance before saying, "I'm bored." with a slightly pouty expression.

Restraining the urge to both laugh and sigh, Vahn forced a smile as he asked, "Is there something you had in mind...?"

Though Xysteria was a little confused by her Papa's sudden monologue, she just looked up at him for a brief moment before promptly descending into his tunic and curling up into a ball. The locust did little to satiate her hunger, so, for the sake of dessert, she intended to hibernate until lunchtime.

Placing her index finger on her lips, Loi-chan appeared to be serious thought as she slowly rotated in a mid-air, cross-legged position. This continued for several cycles until Vahn manifested a cup of coffee out of thin air before lying back against the fabric of space and time as if it were a hammock.

Despite possessing an Ego of her own, Loi-chan had a difficult time forming thoughts of her own. Vahn had been trying to help her with this, so, even if she sometimes took several hours to make a decision, he didn't mind waiting. Time didn't have any real meaning to him at this point. After all, he could literally extend a single moment into eternity if he really wanted to.

Fortunately, it only took Loi-chan around forty minutes to inquire, "Want to watch an anime? You can send a version of yourself inside or I can transform into all of the interesting female characters that appear on-screen. Though we have sex every time you have sex, it's been a while since we did it directly."

Since she was fully aware of Vahn's exploits in alternate timelines, Loi-chan didn't see the harm in changing her appearance and personality to match the characters in an anime. They were all her, so, unlike other girls, she had no qualms about changing her appearance on a whim. Rather, she enjoyed seeing Vahn's reactions when she suddenly transformed into someone else mid-coitus...

Smiling wryly in response to Loi-chan's suggestion, Vahn found himself seriously considering the proposal. He would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in quite a number of female characters that appeared in various 'fictional' universes. Loi-chan allowed him to fool around without directly expanding his harem, so, despite feeling it was pretty degenerate of him, it was hard to refuse her outright. It didn't help that she was literally cycling through all the women that came to mind as he allowed his thoughts to wander...

Seeing Loi-chan settle on a slightly muscular woman with brown skin, dark-brown hair, and icy blue eyes, Vahn's left brow abruptly twitched as countless memories related to the woman's background and origin surfaced in his mind. She was the titular Main Character from a relatively low-tier Record known as the Legend of Korra. When he first watched it, Vahn had been fascinated by the animation style and plot, but, the moment the story began delving into the drama of Korra's love life, it wasn't long before things went south, fast.

Though he would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in bedding Korra, it was far from the first thought that came to Vahn's mind when he saw her. Rather, it was her dysfunctional rearing and the gross incompetence of the people involved in guiding her as the Avatar, the Spiritual Leader of her world. She had been born in an era where people were transitioning from traditional sensibilities to a more modern perspective on the world around them. This placed her in a rather precious position from the start. It didn't help that the organization responsible for training her allowed her nature to run rampant while they did everything in their power to 'protect' her by concealing the truth to the point she was effectively ignorant of the world around her...

Interested to see what kind of changes his Template could introduce into the world, Vahn created a second version of himself so that Xysteria could continue her nap. Then, along with the transformed Loi-chan, he teleported to his private viewing room before making himself. She immediately did the same, but, instead of paying attention to the screen, she straddled his lap before wrapping her arms around his neck and grinding against the bulge in his pants. In response, Vahn unhesitantly reached around to grasp her toned yet remarkably pliant bottom. He may not have any interest in pursuing the actual Korra but that wasn't going to stop him from having a bit of fun as the revised episodes began airing in the background...

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After enjoying themselves for the better part of twenty-six hours, Vahn had Loi-chan revert back to the diorama of the Little Garden. He might have all the time in the world but he liked to stay on top of things whenever he was planning a conquest.

Though it had only been nine days since he allowed his girls to venture out and have fun, a few were well on their way to becoming 5-Digit Communities. The only Communities lagging behind were Da Vinci's and Semiramis's but that wasn't too surprising. Progressing in the West required a fair amount of diplomacy and even greater amounts of scheming, so, despite having functionally unlimited resources, Da Vinci's progress was stalled by bureaucracy. As for Semiramis, she wasn't exactly the type to get her hands dirty so she was allowing Ebony and Raven to take charge while advising them from the comfort of her refurbished Hanging Gardens.

Seeing one of the blue lights flash with a red light, a wry smile developed across Vahn's face as he connected his senses with the System Template active within Mordred's body. She and Ureko had founded their Communities in the South Side so they had been fighting multiple times a day ever since their formation.

Finding himself in a familiar cockpit, Vahn could feel Mordred's thirst for battle as she piloted her crimson-red mech, the Mechanized Dragon: Red Clarent, against a horde of beasts led by a group of men and women resembling Viking Berserkers. They were literally charging at her without regard for life or limb, so, without disappointing them, Mordred cut through the seemingly endless horde using a massive claymore resembling her Zanpakuto, Superbia.

Matching its name, Superbia was a sword that embodied Mordred's tremendous pride. As a result, it resembled a combination of Artoria's Excalibur and Vahn's Laevteinn. It also had a lion's face on the cross-guard, but, unless you looked closely, it resembled the visage of a Dragon more than the chimeric beast it was meant to resemble.

Unsurprisingly, Mordred was making short work of her foes. Anything that got close to her was cut down, and, due to the tremendous heat emanated from her mech's numerous exhaust ports, much of her surroundings had caught fire.

Shaking his head, Vahn sent a telepathic message reminding Mordred not to go overboard before cutting the connection. He knew his words would actually have the opposite effect, but, at the very least, they would prevent Mordred from behaving like a villain. Her affinity with War had a powerful influence over her nature, so, every now and again, he needed to remind her that she was supposed to be one of the good guys...

Fortunately, the one thing that hadn't changed about Mordred's character was that she was very eager to please the people she cared about. Thus, if he really wanted her to calm down, the only thing Vahn needed to do was ask her to spread her influence without relying on violence. After all, wars weren't fought solely on the battlefield. A true God of War and Conquest was also proficient in diplomacy, delegation, and resource management. After all, while fighting was a core component of war, it wasn't the reason they were fought.

Mordred was equally as skilled on the battlefield as she was at the negotiation table. If Vahn ever chose a successor, she would be near the very top of his list. Until then, she would remain his most pampered princess and one of his most reliable Generals...

With that thought in mind, Vahn watched over Modred's battle from the perspective of Altria. She was the laziest member of the group, so, whenever he wanted to keep tabs on their progress, Vahn would usually interface with the cat-like woman to see what everyone else was up to...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Xysteria <3','There are times when I can't help wanting to punch Vahn...','RIP Viking-sans...')