Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 227 - Fallen : *Title At End*

By the time Vahn had left the onsen, gotten dressed, and arrived at the room, Hestia was already on the bed waiting as she supported her head with her hands and was staring towards the door. When Vahn came inside the room, her smile grew wider and she sat up on the bed and said with a bit of excitement in her voice, "Remember, no matter how I react, I want you to finish the massage completely~! I might be scared at first, but I'll be fine!" As she spoke, Hestia had balled her fists in front of her like she was psyching herself up.

Vahn laughed and made his way over to the bed before crawling toward Hestia who was already beginning to panic. From her perspective, she could see Vahn crawling on the bed with a bit of excitement as he made his way toward her. She could feel her heartbeat quicken in her chest and started taking slightly longer breaths. Vahn stopped next to her and sat on his knees as he said, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to put you in danger. It should feel really pleasant and ease out any tensions that may have built up in your body. Though your muscles might be forced to relax, they'll recover quickly after the massage ends and you'll feel very refreshed."

Hestia nodded her head before laying back down on her stomach and saying, "Okay, I'm ready...this time for certain!" Vahn smiled before taking a pillow and putting it on her legs due to how awkward it felt previously trying to massage her body. Hestia gave him a strange look and he explained, "I might have to sit on your legs and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable." She looked like she wanted to say something but eventually turned her head away and began performing some kind of strange breathing exercise to remain calm.

Vahn sat down with his weight partially on Hestia's legs and began his routine starting with the sides of her waist. Unlike the last time, when she instantly showed signs of fear, this time Hestia's aura fluctuated between several warm colors with only brief hints of purple every now and then. By the time Vahn had eased the muscles of her upper body, Hestia's aura was 'burning' like a flame but she didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping Vahn's actions.

A small smile appeared on Vahn's face because of the efforts Hestia was putting in, so he decided to make things more comfortable so that the event would be more memorable. Rubbing his hands together, the white energy from his palms began to coalesce more and there were even small sparks appearing between them before Vahn placed his hands on her lower back. He could feel the muscles of her lower back spasm a bit as he traced his hands from her spinous process all the way up the outer edge of her tr.a.p.ezius muscles before pressing his thumbs into the connecting point between her teres minor and deltoids. The entire time he was moving his hands, Hestia's aura continued to fluctuate and Vahn felt like it was taking on some watery, somewhat hazy, properties.

Repositioning his hands, Vahn stimulated the nerve center at seventh vertebrae along her spine, right at the base of her neck, and traced his finger down the line of her back before coming to a stop at the center of her thoracolumbar fascia connecting muscles right above her butt. Vahn was somewhat tempted to touch her butt as well but remembered that he was trying to keep the situation from taking a dangerous turn. Creating fine needles of energy in his fingertips, Vahn began to diffuse energy into her pressure points to loosen up her muscles even further. It was usually around this point that Vahn felt like girls turned to 'putty' under his hands and Hesti had a very similar response as all the tension in her body immediately dissolved.

Since she already had the tendency to drool while sleeping, Vahn realized that Hestia had turned into a veritable waterworks as she stared off into space with a dazed look in her eyes. Her body wasn't twitching like it had when he was with Hephaestus, Anubis, and even Loki, and Vahn wondered if there was something different between them and Hestia. They seemed to get very excited and had vibrant pink auras when he gave them a massage, but Hestia seemed to be reacting in the way he had originally expected the process to work. This was a massage designed to ease tensions and revitalize the muscles of the body to improve beauty and increase blood flow within the body.

Vahn always thought he had been making a mistake since girls had a different reaction than described within the manual for [Hands of Nirvana]. Now that Hestia was reacting 'properly', Vahn wasn't sure what had caused such a strange reaction in the other girls. He suspected it might be because they all had 'expectations' toward him or that it could be because they were 'experienced' unlike Hestia who was still a v.i.r.g.i.n. Vahn thought it could be a difference in mentality that determined how the person reacted to his massage and decided to verify it in the future. Since [Hands of Nirvana] was one of his most versatile skills, Vahn needed to increase his understanding of the skill in the future.

A half hour since the massage began, Hestia was sound asleep with a 'droopy' expression on her face and her aura had completely stabilized into a subtle golden glow with a slight tinge of pink along the edges. She didn't have the 'infinite spasms' Vahn had grown to expect, but instead had all of the tension removed from her body and it almost looked like her skin was 'glowing' now. Since she was very fair-skinned, now that she had a somewhat rosy coloration, it was very obvious and Vahn felt she looked especially beautiful when there was a flush to her skin tone.

Waving his hand along the magic stone that controlled the lighting in the room, Vahn laid in the bed next to Hestia and stroked her hair a bit before going to sleep himself. Unlike the previous nights, Hestia didn't immediately crawl on his body, perhaps due to how relaxed she currently felt. It wasn't until nearly 4 AM, when Vahn was already getting ready to wake up, that she slowly crawled on top of him and 'reclaimed' her spot on his chest. Her actions awoke Vahn and he laughed inside his mind as he combed her hair with his fingers and waited for 5 AM to roll around.

WIthin the orb, Vahn asked Eva to help him better understand his [Hands of Nirvana] for a bit and they had a 'short' four-hour session where she gave him feedback on all of his techniques. Since she was almost immune to the skill, Eva was probably the best possible candidate to help him polish the skill further; She was the one that allowed him to increase the skill to Rank S after all.

For the remaining three days, all the way up until there were only a few hours left before he was ejected from the orb, Vahn continued to prepare materials for his final push to become a [Master Smith]. Since mass production had begun to stagnate, Vahn wanted to refine the highest quality of materials and focus on exceeding his limits in order to break through the current bottleneck. Other than that, Vahn had also prepared a space outside for an event he had been looking forward to for quite a while.

With about five hours left, the cooldown for [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] was finally over and Vahn could now use it to give a name to the unfortunate (Nameless) that had, technically, been his longest companion. Putting a bit of energy into the magic stone, Vahn summoned (Nameless) and explained what he was going to do while Eva watched from the side. She didn't like (Nameless) much, but Vahn had promised it should be 'cute' whenever he named it so she was somewhat looking forward to the show. She also wanted to try and increase her understanding of the skill since it seemed to defy any semblance of logic, at least pertaining to her magical system and the research she had put into Vahn's world.

Stroking (Nameless)'s head, Vahn explained in a gentle voice while also relaying his intent through the bond they shared, "From now on you'll be able to grow much stronger. You won't have to suffer being looked down on and you'll even obtain a new form that should appeal to others...what do you say?" Even though it was ultimately his decision, Vahn still wanted to get 'permission' before he changed (Nameless)'s body. Even though Fafnir didn't seem to mind at all, Vahn still felt a little awkward about making such decisions since he now had subordinates like Anubis.

Though (Nameless) didn't really understand what Vahn was trying to say, it knew that he was offering it a rare chance that would change its fate forever. When it originally joined Vahn, it just didn't want to die, but now he had treated it well on the few occasions when it had been summoned. Since it had met 'cold' people like Eva, (Nameless) was a lot more fond of it's Master compared to others. To respond to Vahn's intent, it opened it's crooked dog mouth and had a silly smile as it released a rancid breath at Vahn while emulating a smile.

Even though he felt a small urge to choke in his throat, Vahn smiled without his expression changing as he stroked (Nameless)'s head. He had been trying to improve his control over his expressions lately and things like this were a good way to temper his ability to do so. Now that he had permission, Vahn smiled and placed his hand directly on (Nameless)'s forehead as he activated [Keeper of the Akashic Tome]. From Eva's perspective, she could immediately feel magical elements converging in the air that shouldn't exist in the space at all so she squinted her eyes to carve the entire sequence of events in her mind.

Vahn closed his eyes and confirmed the name he wanted to give nameless while also trying to focus on his intent for it to be 'cute' while still being powerful. Opening his eyes, he looked into (Namelesses)'s expectant face and said in a powerful voice that shook the void around them, "From now on...you shall bear the record of Fenrir!" As his words fell, Vahn could feel an incredible surge of energy from the atmosphere as his own internal energy rapidly depleted from his body as if a floodgate had been opened in his palm.

The brackish-grey hairs on Fenrir's body began to turn rigid as they took on a darker shade as an energy began to expand from its body. A midnight blue sphere of light exploded from it's body and had a strange radiance like a small, dark-blue, sun. It glowed a vibrant azure on the edges and Vahn could see a shadowy silhouette appear within the sphere as his own body was pushed to its perimeter. The shadow looked to be several meters high and had scarlet red eyes that cut through the midnight blue of the orb as it howled toward the sky.

The air in the space began to crack and Eva took actions by creating a large spatial anchor to stabilize the space and prevent it from collapsing. She was surprised with the frightening aura coming from the humanoid shadow roaring silently toward the sky. Even though there was no sound, she could see waves of energy pulsing in a very similar manner to the time when Vahn had tried to destroy the orb in the past.

Since he could see the magical elements in the air, Vahn could also sense the strange pulse coming from Fenrir and he had similar thoughts as Eva. He could even see that the anchor she had set to stabilize the space was beginning to crack slightly as small cracks appeared within the viccinity of the midnight-azure 'sun'. Strangely, even though the energy was incredibly powerful, Vahn felt like it had no effect on his body at all. Just like when he created [Lævateinn], he seemed to be completely immune to the chaos caused by the process. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was glad he hadn't named Fenrir in the real world...

After nearly ten minutes, the shadowy, red-eyed, figure in the 'sun' ceased its howl as it began to converge its body and aborb the midnight-blue energy surrounding its body. Vahn and Eva both released relieved sighs because the pulsing energy had finally stopped as the shadowy figure began to absorb the energy contained within the spatial cracks around it. Eva looked over toward Vahn as she kept her focus primarily on the figure within the shrinking sun. She said in a very serious manner, "This orb can't withstand this type of power much more. If you want to keep 'naming' things, you'll need to find a safe place in the outside world from now on. We're lucky this space didn't collapse because you'd have lost the opportunity to learn the Magia Erebea if it had."

Vahn nodded his head and seriously listened to every single word she said. At one point, he was even preparing to use [Enkidu] to seal her memory fragment because he also felt like space might collapse in the orb. Since he wouldn't be able to communicate with her when she was sealed, there would be no way for him to learn magic from her and he would even lose the orb and everything within, including his materials and forge setup.

After another couple of minutes had passed, the energy of the sun had completely converged into a small form that made Vahn's brain buzz a bit. Eva was standing next to him at this time and had a somewhat amused expression on her face as she said, "Well, she is certainly cute, isn't she?" She then began to laugh as Vahn stared at the small 'wolf-girl' that was sitting on her butt completely n.a.k.e.d while looking up at him. She had midnight blue hair that looked somewhat spiky and untamed with large blue ears that grew to points on the side of her head.

Unlike a 'normal' chienthrope, or wereperson, she had a bushy blue tail with white hair at the end and both her forearms and calves were completely covered in midnight blue fur. Her fingers and toes seemed a bit shorter than normal and they were also completely covered in fur with dangerous looking claws that even made Vahn feel a hint of danger. On the bottoms of her hands and feet, she had pale paw pads that matched the coloration of her ashen-colored, pale, skin. Her most striking feature, other than the fact that she was completely n.a.k.e.d, was her scarlet eyes that glowed slightly and moderately large canines that Vahn could see in her mouth.

While Vahn was staring down at her, Fenrir was also looking up at him while also inspecting her new body. She opened and closed her tiny paws and patted around her body as if learning its shape. When she tried to 'inspect' the spot at her groin, Vahn coughed out loud while Eva began laughing like a bell. He pulled out a pair of panties and a tunic for Fenrir to wear and spent a few minutes trying to get them on her body as she resisted.

"No, Fenrir no like, weird, no!" She didn't seem to want to wear clothes at all, but Vahn explained in a firm tone, "You have to wear clothes or you won't be able to leave this space and be around other people." As if his words were like a hammer, Fenrir's eyes glowed slightly brighter as she looked toward Eva and said in broken words, "No!, Fenrir go, leave this place, stay with Master!" Afterward, she let Vahn show her how to properly wear clothes and told her to never take them off unless he gave her permission or it was someone she had been entrusted to by him.

Fenrir didn't really seem to understand his words as she began pulling at the tunic with her hands which immediately began shredding it to pieces. Vahn sighed and gave her a new one and explained that she needed to no damage it or it would cause problems in the future. He also noticed that, even though the tunic was quite durable, her claws cut through it without any resistance at all. Taking his paw into his hand, Vahn poked her claw with his finger and noticed it easily cut into his skin even though his Endurance was very high.

Though she seemed to be very uncomfortable wearing clothes for the first time, Fenrir still obeyed Vahn's words even though he could see she was struggling quite a bit. He pet her on top of her head and stroked her ears that seemed several sizes larger than a chienthropes. She seemed to enjoy his caress and lifted her paws to grip around his wrist to make sure he would stroke her longer. Unfortunately, all ten of her claws cut into his arm and Vahn immediately began to bleed profusely.

Fenrir pulled her hands away at the same time as Vahn pulled his hand away as well. He looked at the puncture wounds on his arm with intrigue and a bit of concern. As he was thinking about matters to prevent her from hurting others on accident, Vahn saw Fenrir do something that shook him to his core. She dropped down to all fours with her butt high up in the air as she began to lap up the blood that had fallen onto the ground. Before he could correct her behavior, she looked up at him with glowing red eyes and said, "Master, hungry, feed Fenrir, please, hungry!"

Title: Fallen : Fenrir

(A/N: If you're wondering, this is the Fenrir from Shadowverse and Granblue Fantasy. Oh, and I can assure you now there is almost no chance Fenrir would be a 'harem' candidate. At least, this will be the case until something very drastic changes, probably after like 800+ more chapters? I know how the story ends, but the way it evolves over time depends on the readers~!)

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Relax','Dangers of Naming','Heaven Devouring Wolf')

I am currently at $721/1200 of my new goal~! If I can reach this amount, I intend to start having character profiles and images of all the characters created so I can update the information to a wiki~! Though the Wiki will be accessible by anyone, only Patrons will receive the high-res versions of the images <3