Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After a longer than expected session of lovemaking, as Luvia ended up getting a 'second wind' after going at her own pace for a while, Vahn found himself helping place rollers and pin curls into her hair after taking a hot bath together. She would normally have a number of stylists help give her hair the characteristic shape women in her family were so fond of. Since none of her servants had been brought along, Vahn ended up displaying his skills as a stylist, earning a few compliments from Luvia in the process. Still, as much as she appreciated his efforts, Luvia expressed the importance of always maintaining a large staff, both as a means of providing jobs and cultivating loyalty while also serving as a way to balance the status quo and free up hands for menial tasks.

With her financial clout, Luvia could purchase land in another country and have an entire Mansion constructed in only two days. Though this wasn't beyond means, Luvia reiterated a few lessons that Vahn had already heard back when he was in Danmachi, chiefly that he 'needed' to delegate work and responsibility to others in order to elevate his own status and alter the perception people had, both towards him and their position in the structure of society he was creating. The easier he made things for others, and the more he took personal action, the less self-reliant his people would become. At the same time, they would begin to expect that he would make life easier for them, to the point that they would even blame him for small inconveniences later on down the line.

Even if he wanted to turn the Island of Avalon into a meritocracy based Academy, people needed to be able to measure their accomplishments by overcoming difficulties, not having everything handed to them. Though creating a system that everyone could flourish in, assuming they made the efforts, was a commendable sentiment, 'nature' proved such systems never worked unless strictly enforced. The more power people had to regulate the system, forcing a rigid hierarchy later down the line, the greater the potential for future corruption. Luvia even suggested having the governance and policies of the Empire being separate from those that were followed by their subjects.

Assigning Governors and giving land rights to trusted families, essentially establishing his own system of Nobility, was the only way he would be able to one day govern the entire world. Then, so long as he mandated that it was a requirement of all heirs to first graduate from the Academy on Avalon, he would be able to keep power consolidated within the Capitol, just as he had intended to do back in Danmachi. This would also allow him to incentivize and reward the various Heroic figures he was calling into the present day as, in many situations, they had been rulers themselves.

Though there were some who would be perfectly content helping him protect the world from Angra Mainyu, those sentiments would fade with the passage of time. After all, having a 'purpose' was fine, but it was infinitely better to give them 'meaning beyond purpose'. If they had the promise of being able to manage their own territory and build a family anew in the present, the number of Heroes he could pull to his side, including various kings, queens, and other rules, would drastically increase. This would be incredibly important as the Surface and Reverse Sides of the World began to merge as, without forces present all over the world to protect the people, billions would lose their lives...

Vahn appreciated how much thought Luvia was already putting into the management of their Empire as it was infinitely better to get these matters sorted out before things reached the point that they 'needed' to be decided. Though Vahn had actually put a fair amount of thought into it, even coming up with a potential 'solution' for government with Da Vinci, the system Luvia proposed was a good template to use if things went south. As for his and Da Vinci's idea, the latter plainly stated that humans were fundamentally incapable of governing other humans as, regardless of how righteous an individual was, there would always be conflicts of interest that forced them to compromise. Even Vahn wasn't immune to this as, depending on the circ.u.mstances, he could become a very ruthless individual, at least towards his 'enemies'.

In order to collect data from all over the world, and garner a better understanding of their subjects on an individual level, Da Vinci had devised a 'network' that wasn't all that dissimilar in concept to the internet. Instead of giving people access to arbitrary information, however, Da Vinci believed it was a potential solution to have people grow alongside Artificial Intelligences that were imprinted onto their users and connected to a larger system. She got the idea after designing Skoll and Ark, wanting to combine the two together and mass-produce even small versions that would be issued to everyone throughout the world. These AI would observe their users throughout their entire lives, giving them access to information they were 'qualified' to receive and providing them educational resources that coincided with their interests.

As someone who had experienced first hand how genius could be suppressed, Da Vinci wanted to completely 'destroy' the current educational system as, other than producing easily manipulated people to support a broken system, she wanted education to become an entirely individualized experience. She wanted the companions to be able to monitor the physical and mental health of their users while also providing them unlimited access to any information they themselves had become qualified to receive. At the same time, it would become 'impossible' to gain access to information and resources you weren't properly qualified to use, avoiding the situation where people rose to positions they were not suited for, weeding out corruption and exploitation by removing the 'human' element entirely.

So long as a person was able to prove to their companion that they had a proper understanding of whatever they had taken an interest in, the AI would be able to access the larger system and allow them to move to the next level. She even wanted to design it like a game, making an achievement system while 'destroying' the larger internet as, in its current form, it was grossly inefficient. Other than existing as a means to monitor its users an monetize their very existence, it seemed useful for nothing more than 'wasting' time. Since Da Vinci concluded that laymen only relied on such things because they lacked proper stimulus, she wanted to redesign the system from the ground up to promote individuality instead of monetizing stagnation.

The 'best' part of the system Da Vinci wanted to implement was the fact that, instead of just being adorable little companions, the AI would also serve as familiars and amplifiers. If there was ever a global threat, the 'Mother' system, meant to monitor every other AI, would be able to repurpose the adorable little creatures to act as a Global Defense System, channeling Magical Energy through billions of catalysts that would allow them to destroy even moon-sized meteors inbound toward the planet. Though some, especially in the current social climate, would consider the companions an extreme invasion of privacy, that was a mentality that had been cultivated by the current media and emphasized by the powers that ruled the world in the shadows.

When the world shifted towards a social structure that made Magecraft commonplace, the perception of people would change within a single generation. Though it would not be an easy transition, especially with most conglomerates and corporations rallying to vilify the use of AI, something they had already been doing for decades, it was only a matter of time before each of these organizations was completely dismantled in the not so distant future. Treating people as a commodity to be exploited, while promoting a system of waste that slowly siphoned the life of the planet, simply couldn't be allowed to exist in any world that wanted to avoid extinction and one day be able to colonize other planets. People needed to get out of the mentality where the only thing that mattered in the world was money and personal possessions. In order to become a species that could one day populate entire galaxies, they needed to transition into a mentality where the 'goal' of the species was more important than the consolidated power of a few individuals.

In Da Vinci's system, resources would always be allocated to the people most qualified to use them while most menial tasks such as labor and agriculture would always be handled by golems and non-sentient species. People would be left in a state where work itself was simply unnecessary unless you wanted to increase your status and prestige. Though some people would undoubtedly complain about not being able to eat their favorite fast food or purchase commercialized products from a supermarket, that type of mentality was cancerous to humanity as a whole. With the companion AI monitoring the development and health of its users, they would always be provided with a properly balanced and nutritious diet.

Things like obesity and sickness would become a thing of the past unless, for one reason or another, the person themselves used their companion AI to set themselves on a path where they were able to eat whatever they liked. This would require them to study cooking, tasting, and other specializations related to Gourmancy, it was possible for them to become world-famous as a Chef or Food Critic. They just needed to 'earn' the right to have those resources spent on them without endangering their mental and physical health. In this manner, people could become an 'Elite' in anything they chose to specialize in, from something as simple as playing a board game very well, to becoming a frontier explorer that was able to visit other worlds without ever having to worry about financing and political interference. The only thing anyone would need to do in order to be able to explore space was to become 'qualified' through their own efforts...

After explaining this to Luvia, she gave him a look as if he had said something extremely fantastical, as it was easier to imagine the existence of Gods wandering the lands than the system Da Vinci wanted to implement functioning without issue. It would essentially require destroying the Holy Church in its entirety and rooting out fundamentalist ideologies throughout the entire world. At the same time, all governments would have to be dismantled from the top down while literally billions of companion AI would need to be produced. The only way she could imagine such a system being successfully implemented was if around 80~90% of the current population was simply wiped out.

With how long they had been manipulated, people were 'extremely' resistant to such change and, even with Magecraft being introduced into the world, she knew there would actually be a number of zealous individuals who would sacrifice their lives to protect a system meant to exploit them. There would be others who would form communities that 'refused' to ever use such systems and, even if they were isolated from other communities, these would become the seeds for future rebellion and other issues. The only way such a system could be implemented was if people felt 'there is no other choice'. This would require 'forcing' those that resist to obey or, if they were allowed to form smaller communities, cutting them off completely from the existing system of governance.

Eventually, with resources becoming scarce, these individuals would ultimately be 'forced' to comply by necessity or, in the more likely case, resort to violence and other crimes to 'take' what they need. Thus, even if Vahn wanted to try and implement Da Vinci's system which, while almost impossible, would certainly allow all the peoples of Gaia to prosper, he would have to put people in place to prevent such outbreaks. If this was left to the very companion AIs that were their partners and protectors, people would grow increasingly fearful of them with the passage of time. These could be people that had 'earned' the right to police others, through their own personal convictions, but there simply 'had' to be humans regulating humans in some form just to prevent people from feeling as if they were just cogs within a new system meant to keep them from under control...

Though Vahn could understand Luvia's concerns, he knew that Da Vinci would never introduce such a system and simply trust that it was 'good enough'. She would infinitely innovate upon the system she established, fixing every issue that arose by looking at the data gathered from billions of people all throughout the world. He also knew she intended to make 'artificial wildlife' that was practically indiscernible from real animals, meant to cover up the cracks and allow for proper monitoring of the entire planet. Just the micro-golem ants she had made would be enough to spread throughout the entire world, taking geological samples, collecting Magical Energy, and working to tirelessly maintain the infrastructure of the idealized society she wanted to create. If given enough time and data, there was 'literally' nothing she wasn't able to accomplish as, with [Pioneer of the Stars: EX], it was only a matter of time before she turned the species of Gaia into a multi-planetary civilization...

To that end, it would come down to Vahn in order to negotiate with the planets themselves to allow for colonization but, as that was a matter in the distant future, he wasn't too worried about it in the present. So long as the implemented a system that didn't arbitrarily exploit the environment and drain the life of the planets they inhabited, he expected they wouldn't mind all that much. After all, while the planets had their own self-preservation instincts and were governed by unique logic that might even contradict that of Gaia, there was always a common grounds to be found. They wouldn't have compromised with Gaia so many times if they were incapable of being reasoned with so, once he reached Tier 5, Vahn intended to become an ambassador of sorts, representing his Empire as its people expanded to other planetary bodies...

It wasn't a simple feat to envision the future he was working to create but, as Vahn knew he would one day have to govern entire Records, he couldn't be afraid to expand his influence beyond a single planet. One day, he would become the Emperor of an Interplanetary Empire that, with the passage of time, would evolve into an Intergalactic Empire. He couldn't even imagine what kind of troubles he would face in such an endeavor but, so long as he continued to press forward, Vahn knew it was only a matter of time before he found success. His was an existence beyond concepts such as death and, with a lifespan that made eternity itself look like a singular blip in the infinitely vast expanse of incalculable Records, Vahn knew he was still at the very start of his journey...

---

After their long back and forth discussion, Luvia ultimately conceded on the matter as, while she was extremely astute when it came to business, she lacked the hubris to consider herself an intellect on the same level as Da Vinci, someone with the [Natural Born Genius: EX] skill. She could understand that, as prodigious as she was amongst her peers, she was simply another one of the people that believed certain things were simply 'impossible'. Da Vinci, however, was an existence that 'literally' existed to make the impossible into the mundane, dulling it down so that even laymen were able to benefit from her research. Since she had already decided to invest everything into Vahn, expecting even greater returns, Luvia was content with just receiving his care, at least for the time being.

To that end, things had developed to the point that Vahn was straddling Luvia's backside as he helped massage her to sleep. Though it was still 'early', considering she had only awoken a few hours prior, Luvia's body needed to rest properly after exerting herself so much. Since she was unable to fall asleep on her own, as her mind was still wide awake, Vahn didn't mind helping her ease into a gentle and comfortable slumber. This was one of the things he took pride in and, with Luvia drifting off only a few minutes after he started, Vahn couldn't help smiling in response. Still, for the better part of twenty minutes more, he enjoyed the feeling of straddling Luvia's plump backside as he systematically worked the tension and fatigue out of her muscles...

Satisfied with his efforts, Vahn playfully patted Luvia's perk white buttocks like a pair of drums, using a gentle amount of force as he didn't want to stir her awake. After this, he levitated himself out of the bed before landing silently on the floor near the door. Then, after changing into suitable attire to walk around, Vahn's long night continued in earnest. He knew that tonight was one of those peculiar instances where his presence was 'required' in various places, meaning it would be some time before he was able to rest. This didn't bother Vahn at all, however, as he was looking forward to spending time with Gray, remembering his promise to take her to a place he believed she would appreciate a great deal.

After his moonlit rendezvous with Gray, he needed to at least have a discussion with Olga, hopefully after she had calmed down by talking with Lakshmibai, Fenrir, and any others she encountered over the next couple of hours. Vahn knew she had likely formed some unhealthy delusions so, for the time being, he was intending to just help her establish a Workshop and Observatory. If he could get her talking about the things she was passionate about, Vahn knew he could look for opportunities to give her the praise she needed in a more 'productive' setting. He wanted to avoid seeding the idea within her mind that the praise she sought from him would be in the bedroom. By making her work the primary focus, he could slowly guide her along the path she had already set herself upon while any relationship they developed would just be secondary...

Though it didn't seem that common within the Nasuverse, Vahn knew that Astronomy actually had a lot of hidden potential outside of simply predicting the future. There were Laws related to the Stars themselves, providing extremely pure and borderline Holy energy that could be used to completely overwhelm enemies. Ryuu had been one of the few people that, even after becoming a God, Vahn knew she would be able to deal heavy damage to him. He intended to help Olga build confidence by introducing her to other aspects of Astronomy that her family, and seemingly every else, had simply overlooked. After all, some of the most powerful Gods in every pantheon were those that embodied the Stars and other Heavenly Bodies so Vahn felt it was silly that the Magus community considered Astronomy a dying form of Magecraft when, even compared to Elemental Laws, it was one of the most powerful systems of Laws he had ever seen...

With that in mind, Vahn expanded his senses, covering the entire Ivory Castle in his perception, with only a few dark areas beneath the superstructure of the castle itself. He could sense Artoria and Gray leisurely strolling around the castle, likely as a result of the former simply showing around the latter. As for Mordred, she was with Sakura, helping her younger sister work on her fundamentals as they played together in one of the castles many large halls. Fenrir was also with them, allowing Vahn to breathe easily as his attention shifted to where Lakshmibai and Olga were still conversing over tea.

Just as before, they were located in the Library and, as this was the closest destination, Vahn decided to move Olga up on his list of priorities. It was important that Artoria and Gray were able to bond without his interference as, with the subtle changes in Artoria's nature over the last six months, Vahn knew she needed someone to look up to her. He had been considering summoning someone she was familiar with but, if Gray could fulfill that role, Vahn could delay introducing new elements into the castle as the current residents adapted to each other. Currently, he was waiting for Da Vinci's formation to acc.u.mulate enough energy for a standard summon, with the first candidate on his list being Karna.

Though this could change depending on his interactions with others, Vahn felt that it would be best to introduce more male companions into his inner circle, both as a means to give Siegfried more companionship and avoid a repeat of his situation in Danmachi. Since Karna was supposed to be a Demigod that was extremely empathetic towards the people, while being fiercely loyal to the one he served, Vahn was interested in introducing him earlier, rather than later. For his type, it was far more meaningful if he was summoned early as, if he was only brought in during an emergency situation, he would feel less valued and more like a tool. Vahn wanted to avoid this scenario so, while there weren't too many major events going on, he wanted to summon Karna and genuinely befriend the man beforehand...

While thinking of how his number of drinking buddies might expand in the future, Vahn stepped through the open doors of the Library, this time startling Olga and earning a pleasant smile from Lakshmibai as Fenrir hadn't been present to alert them to his arrival. Vahn returned a smile of his own before asking, "May I join you...?" in a polite manner. Without missing a beat, Lakshmibai rose to her feet, walking over to meet Vahn as she answered, "Please, it would be our pleasure. We were just talking about you so your timing is impeccable..." As she reached his side, Vahn's smile widened as, contrary to her nature of rarely showing displays of affection in public, Lakshmibai gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He knew she was being more 'forward' than normal, perhaps as an example for Olga to follow, so Vahn unabashedly placed his hand around her waist as they walked toward the very nervous-looking pale-haired woman on the sofa...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'People are fundamentally incapable of governing other people xD...','Luvia knows that EX-Ranked skills can't be ignored...','Siegfried also needs more friends. An Emperor and a 'peculiar' Paladin aren't really the best companions for cutting loose (>,...,<)~!')

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