Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

With Olga laying atop a table that was slowly scanning her entire body, Vahn remained nearby to help her remain calm by holding her hand and making small talk as Ark analyzed the structure of her Magic Circuits and Crest. Though Olga was still red in the face from earlier, she had calmed down a great deal now that several hours had passed. If anything, she was getting a little bored and, without someone to talk to, she felt the only way she could stay in one spot for such a long period of time was by either sleeping or conducting research. To that end, she and Vahn talked about her results over the last month and a half, followed by Vahn explaining some of his own insights into the Laws and Astronomy in general.

Though it may not be a proponent of all worlds within every Record, Vahn knew through his own research that energy like mana was not found in a usable form throughout the universe. Gaia was the only planet within the Solar System that produced mana from within, allowing it to propagate throughout the atmosphere and into the various plants and animals inhabiting the surface. Because of this, most forms of Astromancy used the Geocentric Model when conducting their calculations, placing the Earth, Gaia, at the 'center' of everything, even though it had long been proven by Science that Sun was the center of the solar system.

Because of the unique ways in which reality was shaped by the beliefs of people which, on a global scale, could rewrite parts of history, this meant Astronomy had been very powerful when people still believed Gaia was the center of the universe. Now, as Science continued to uncover the secrets of the universe, purporting their enlightenment even as they failed to see beyond the surface, it was a given in the eyes of the Magus community that Astronomy would weaken. This, however, was only true if you allowed your own comprehension of the Laws to be influenced by the perception of other people.

The most powerful people in the world obviously did not care about such things and, by persistently pursuing greater heights, they had continuously been able to reach them. Though this was largely in part due to their appropriation of resources and hundreds of years of concerted efforts, it was still a sign that their individual will could break away from what the Magus community referred to as the 'Collective Common Sense of Mankind'. By freeing themselves from these limitations, though it took an extreme amount of effort, it simply wouldn't matter how other people viewed the Thaumaturgy you were studying. From the very beginning, the principles themselves had always existed and, even if there were no humans to observe and practice them at all, they would have never been weakened.

Vahn was trying to have Olga understand that there were no limits to her potential growth, clarifying another misunderstanding of hers by explaining, "All things in the Universe originate from the Root. As a result, it would be rather odd if you were able to reach the Root by only focusing on Gaia? Even in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, there are nearly four-hundred billion planets. Instead of limiting your path to a single planet, you should have already started looking toward the stars and other planets to push your understanding of Astronomy and Astromancy even further. Just imagine how powerful your predictions would need to be in order to make predictions using the entire galaxy...?"

Though she knew Vahn was right, Olga still felt apprehensive about deviating from the methods her family had been developing for generations. In a vain attempt to cling to what she was comfortable with, she explained, "But even the Heliocentric model that some modern Magus families have been trying to convert to has proven less accurate than predictions made with the Geocentric model..."

Hearing Olga's rather meek remark, Vahn's smile softened a bit as he stroked her hand and patiently explained, "Why wouldn't that be the case when the Geocentric model has been used for thousands of years? With the Heliocentric model being less than five-hundred years old, with most of the more prestigious families discrediting its value to Thaumaturgy, how could it overtake its predecessor? It would take a Genius, going against the grain of 'common sense', to have any hope of achieving such a feat. It isn't meant to be easy, Olga, as comprehending the true nature of the Universe is the same path as achieving, or even rising above, Godhood..."

With Astronomy on the decline for the last few hundred years, Olga knew Vahn's words had to be true and, considering he even had existences like Alaya at his beck and call, it almost felt silly to even try arguing against him. Thus, after collecting her thoughts for several long seconds of silence, Olga affirmed her resolve, asking, "Will you help me...?" This caused her face to gradually redden, followed by a gratified smile spreading across her face when Vahn stated, "Of course..." Though he may not be the best suited to teach her, Vahn knew he could at least increase Olga's understanding of Laws themselves.

Vahn's quick affirmation made Olga feel giddy and, as she looked at the smile on his face, her mind briefly wandered back to her Observatory. Though she had almost immediately regretted asking for a kiss, Olga hadn't been given time to take a step back as Vahn quickly sealed her lips. Then, instead of ending after a mild peck, she had been taken on a long journey lasting nearly twenty minutes. She had a strong desire to separate at the beginning but, as the kiss progressed further, Olga had felt her body heating up as expectation began to grow within her heart and mind. Unfortunately, though he had brought his right hand to her side, gently stroking her flank, Vahn only kissed her, causing Olga to feel some regrets about her wish in hindsight...

Seeing Olga momentarily daze, her face suffused with a red hue, Vahn knew what she was thinking about. Though it was a slight contrast to his original intentions, Olga had been working hard over the last month and a half, causing Vahn's expression to soften as he squeezed her hand to bring her back to reality. Then, when her eyes came into focus, Vahn stated in a calm and guiding tone, "I look forward to seeing how much you progress, Olga. If you work hard, I'm certain you can make all your wishes come true..." By placing a little more emphasis on the word 'wishes', punctuating it with a wink, Vahn knew Olga would be able to understand the meaning behind his words. Ultimately, it was her decision to make and, if this was able to help guide her onto the path of progress, Vahn didn't mind being her anchor for a bit, just as Chloe had for him a long time ago...

It would take a few days for Olga's Magic Crest to be fully analyzed and, as neither of them wanted to spend all of their time just waiting for Ark to scan her body, Vahn suggested she start sleeping in the Workshop for the next few days. This would allow her to continue her work and, as he needed to train and conduct his own research, staying at her side at all times wasn't possible. Olga herself was very aware of how busy he could be so, rather than try to plead that he accompany her, she put on a strong front and just asked that he visit when he wasn't preoccupied with other things. In response to this, Vahn had rubbed her head affectionately and, though they had already shared a far more intimate kiss, he punctuated the evening by lightly pecking her forehead.

---

After parting with Olga outside her room, Vahn stretched his body while walking through the empty corridor, wondering how he should spend his time. Since he was feeling a little motivated after his long discussion with the pale-haired Astronomer, he decided to move his body and see if he could make progress in his own understanding of the Laws. With that in mind, Vahn made his way towards his Sub-Space Training Orb, this time accompanied by just Alaya and Skoll as Skoll V2 had retired to Olga's room for the night. They had the ability to interpret when someone wanted companionship and, as Vahn felt Olga wasn't ready to have s.e.x just yet, it was up to the adorable little Vanargandr to comfort her in his stead...

As was often the case, Vahn felt slightly incongruous after entering into the endless white space as, from his past experiences, he would almost always have to immediately defend himself. He would never admit it but, not training with Scáthach every day had caused Vahn to miss her presence, just a little. Fortunately, these feelings often passed quickly as, the moment he began thinking about the purple-haired, ruby-eyed, woman, Vahn would become much more focused. If she discovered he was slacking off due to sentiments, her most likely response would be to skewer him through the chest with her spear. Thus, assuming a partial transformation that caused small golden antlers to appear from his head, Vahn instantly shifted in a training mentality...

Though it was impossible for him to maintain his full Qinglong transformation for long periods of time, that wasn't necessary if he just wanted to practice Space and Time Laws. Just by assuming a partial transformation, his sensitivities to the two enigmatic energies were greatly increased and, with the intention of reaching the point he could even sense them in his 'base' form, Vahn used the bare minimum amount of energy to sustain his transformation. Then, while recalling the phenomena he had witnessed during his short elevator rides and his brief skirmish with Solon, he extended his palms outward and tried to 'fold' space in front of him...

It was difficult to describe but, using the same method of compressing Space that allowed the outer edges of the Sub-Space Orbs to have increased pressure, Vahn could create an almost physical plane using the fabric of Space itself. This was achieved by contracting the Space against itself, creating an invisible membrane that, with practice, Vahn knew he would be able to shape at his leisure. He had several goals at present but, knowing it had the potential to sever and fracture virtually anything, the highest priority for Vahn was creating physical constructs using Space and Creation energy. Since the [Yi] arrows were already capable of creating powerful gravity wells, Vahn knew it was only a matter of time before he could create arrows of his own, reducing the need to rely on expending OP just to get an edge against his opponents...

Unfortunately, though it was possible to create a physical membrane for a short period of time, there was an almost irresistible compulsion for Space elemental energy to 'expand' outward. It vehemently refused to stay in a solid state, causing most of Vahn's efforts to end in vain. This wasn't much of a deterrent, however, as it had led to other important and interesting discoveries. One of the things he found rather interesting was, by using Time Laws to try and stabilize the spatial membrane, Vahn had discovered that he could create an isolated flow of time within reality. As this was one of his ultimate goals, even scratching the surface of this principle had been very exciting to him.

Using a combination of Space and Time Laws, Vahn had quickly reached the point where he could make a small disc-shaped membrane where time itself had been slowed to the extremes. This not only created a nearly indestructible barrier but, by focusing energy and objects through the super-dense membrane, the resultant speed could even reach was very near the speed of light. Vahn had tested this by creating several Acceleration Gates, the same type he had developed to try and launch objects from his Inventory. By compressing the Space-Time around these gates and then trying to send objects through them, the lead ball Vahn had used to conduct the test had instantly fractured into small pieces, each carrying such incredible momentum that the shrapnel produced several large shockwaves that tore through the dense white 'stone' within the Orb.

It didn't take a genius to understand how powerful this functionality could be in a fight so Vahn was trying to reach the point where he could execute this process almost instantly. Currently, it took a few milliseconds to establish and, though this wasn't exactly a long period of time, any competent Magus or Heroic Spirit would be able to exploit this momentary gap. Even Artoria, if she pushed her limits, was capable of reaching bursts of speed that were massively hypersonic. Though it would sap her stamina and strength at a monstrous rate, she could even reach speeds nearing 120,000km/h, or 33,000m/s. This wasn't actually all that surprising, however, when he considered that even Ais had been able to achieve comparable feats, with her maximum speed nearly double that of Artoria's...

Knowing that Tier 4 and Tier 5 entities could very likely move faster than the speed of light, Vahn did not allow himself to fall into the mindset that his own limits were restricted by the Physical Laws of the Records. By pursuing Speed Laws themselves, it was even possible to move without having to worry about things like air resistance and other restrictive mediums while, at the extremes, even things like instantaneous acceleration would have no detrimental effects on your body and its rather important organs. In normal circ.u.mstances, moving at such speeds would tear the body apart and, as Physics made very clear, convert matter into energy. This process would not occur, however, if the object moving at those relativistic speeds was 'bending' the Laws of the universe itself around them.

Remembering how even Scáthach's spear strike seemed to move at the 'speed of thought', making it completely impossible to evade without having a similar level of comprehension, Vahn knew he had a long road ahead of him. That didn't stop him from coming up with all kinds of interesting ways to use what he had learned, however, even if, like in his current predicament, it sometimes ended rather catastrophically.

Wanting to see what would happen if he tried to overlap two spatial membranes, similar to a set of lenses against each other, Vahn sent a small sphere of Adamantium through the Acceleration Gate. On contact, it seemed to freeze in the air but, as it was being directed forward by the energy of the magical ward itself, the perceptive could sense that the sphere was gradually accelerating. When it reached the second spatial membrane, however, Vahn quickly realized he had erred as, without the ability to defy the Laws of Physics, the sphere began to rapidly expand as it neared the speed of light. The only thing keeping it from exploding outward was the spatial membrane which, having several acceleration gates inside, caused the particulates of energy to accelerate far beyond the speed of light...

Even before the mass of energy had cleared the spatial membrane, the 'light' it had been emanating vanished entirely, sending out an indiscernible pulse of energy that passed through Vahn's, Alaya's, and Skoll's body. Though this seemed rather harmless at first, even the flow of blood in Vahn's body had been brought to an instantaneous stop and, as his heart attempted to pump once again, every part of him began to break down into sub-atomic ash. Fortunately, as his awareness had not been robbed from him, Vahn was able to prevent himself from being completely destroyed but, with an extreme level of guilt, he watched as the nearby Skoll plopped forward, dissolving into nothingness. This action set off a chain reaction as, even with the subtle vibrations of the mechanical golem's fall, an area of several kilometers of white stone turned to sub-atomic ash along with it...

Though he knew Skoll was still alive, as its 'consciousness' was just a single part of the system that Da Vinci had created, Vahn still felt heartbroken to see the adorable creature turned to ash. Even if this discovery of his was the same as unlocking another Trump Card, he decided to place a seal on its use until he could get a better understanding of the principles that made it possible. He would need to develop another Training Orb, this time using his and Da Vinci's Workshop since he knew full well that she would want to analyze this phenomenon in detail. Accelerating physical matter beyond the speed of light was rather significant and, though it was a dead end without comprehension of the Laws that governed it, Vahn knew it would only be a matter of time for someone like Da Vinci...

With a heavy heart, Vahn looked around at the vast expanse of nothingness, wondering if this was another expression of the Laws of Destruction. Though it hadn't affected Alaya and ORT in the least, this was a level of power that anything beneath Tier 4 would be unable to resist. If he had used this technique in the real world, the entire Ivory Castle would have been destroyed, including all of its inhabitants. This thought caused a shiver to run through Vahn's body before he found some comfort in knowing that the materials and magical barriers in place would likely have reduced the destruction considerably.

Still, Vahn was grateful for the existence of the Sub-Space Training Orbs and, to avoid any accidents happening, he wasted no time in seeking out Da Vinci to create a new one. If someone were to have entered into the Orb while he set off that attack, the only fate that would have awaited them was an almost instantaneous death. As the energy wave was moving faster than the speed of light, Vahn had only been able to sense it long after it had passed through his body. If he hadn't been immortal, he wouldn't have even known how he had died before vanishing entirely...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Doki-Doki Olga-chan','So, he essentially created the Stasis Rune...?','Vahn, you bastard! Skoll-chan (T ^ T)!!!!')

(A/N: To put it into perspective, some Rider-Class Servants can reach between Mach 180~400. This would be 1.8~4x faster than Artoria's maximum speed. Gilgamesh's Ship of Light even moves at the speed of thought, allowing him to move hundreds, or even millions, of lightyears in an instant, so long as he understood where he was going. Also, for those wondering where the earlier chapters went, there was a power outage early this morning so I ended up just going back to sleep and taking it easy until around noon. Now that I'm awake, I'm going to be releasing some more chapters, I just can't say when they will be published. It feels like my attempts to get back on a consistent schedule have met with little success xD...)

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