Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After nearly a month of searching, without a single sign of their enemy, the tensions around the Empire had gradually decreased. Nobody was foolish to believe it had been an isolated incident but, with more than half a year passing within the Projection, Vahn had other things to worry about than some unknown enemy. Circe had given birth to a second daughter, named Petra, and, in anticipation of an enemy attack, two groups of Heroic Spirits had been summoned.

While Vahn had used the summoning system to bolster the Empire's forces, one of the summonings was a test to see if the Greater Grail, completed by Illya, Iris, and Da Vinci, was functioning properly. Though it would take some time to make a wish using the tower-like golden chalice, summoning a group of Heroic Spirits wasn't that difficult. As a result, Sakura, Mash, Zoë, and Astrid had been given a chance to make a contract with a Heroic Spirit, Servants that would protect them from harm at all times.

Since the Heaven's Feel summoning system had a fair number of restrictions compared to his own, it was only capable of summoning one of each Servant Class. Fortunately, this didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things so, after a rather tense ceremony, Sakura ended up summoning a Rider Class Heroic Spirit known as Medusa. She was a rather buxom woman with a mature figure, long legs, a visored face, and silky purple hair that reached all the way to her ankles.

The summoning of Medusa came as a small shock to Rin and Artoria but, since Sakura seemed to have a high affinity with the visored woman, the former only expressed her concerns in private. As for why they had been worried, it was due to the fact that Medusa was the same Heroic Spirit that Sakura had summoned during the Fifth Holy Grail War. Rin was slightly worried that Sakura would somehow recover her past memories but, with no memories to recover, Vahn managed to allay her concerns without issue.

Fortunately, the summons of Mash, Zoë, and Astrid didn't raise nearly as many concerns. Mash had 'won' the lottery by summoning the Saber Class, often considered the strongest of the Seven main Servant Classes. Better yet, the Heroic Spirit she summoned was Richard the First, a fanatic who had ceaselessly pursued relics related to Arthurian Legends. He also bore the title of Lionheart and, while he was a little quirky, his skill with the sword even allowed him to pressure Artoria. Though this was primarily due to his Agility, which could reach EX-Rank while using his [Godspeed] Skill, it was still a commendable feat.

After Mash, the next to summon their Servant had been Zoë, obtaining the Lancer Class Heroic Spirit, Vlad III, as her Servant. Though his legacy was cause for some concern, as he wasn't known as Vlad the Impaler without cause, the rather domineering man had a True Neutral affinity and, with Merlin attesting to his virtues, his summoning didn't cause any problems. Rather, in exchange for his service, the only thing he wanted was the abolishment of the Dracula legacy as it had painted him out to be a monster for no better reason than to sell books and slander his name.

Though it seemed like a moderately wasteful wish, Vahn didn't mind agreeing to Vlad's request as it wasn't that difficult to achieve. He couldn't use their first wish to grant the request but, once things had settled down, using the Holy Grail to erase the legacy of Dracula was a simple feat. At the very least, they could expose the truth of the matter so that, in the future, people didn't associate Vlad with the atrocities committed by a wayward Dead Apostle Ancestor...

Following Mash's and Zoë's examples of summoning rather famous individuals, Astrid ended up surprising nearly everyone by summoning the Archer Class Servant, Atalanta. This was surprising for a number of reasons but, considering Astrid's affinity for animals, and her general disinterest in men, it wasn't hard to see the parallels between her and the famous Huntress.

What had surprised Vahn was the fact that, despite having human parents, no Divinity, and no Skills related to transformation, Atalanta had feline ears and a tail. Vahn felt like she was a Cat Person that had somehow made the transition between Records as, in conjunction with her feline attributes, she even had an exceptionally lithe body filled with flexible bones. This, combined with her wild unruly hair, which transitioned from leafy-green at her bangs, lime green starting from her scalp, and pale yellow, almost white, near the small of her back, gave her a distinctly 'inhuman' appearance...

When she had first been summoned, Atalanta hadn't bee all that enthused about her situation but, after experiencing the Memory Link with Astrid, she immediately became resolved to protect, not just her, but all the children. She was also familiar with Circe, Medea, Heracles, and even Medusa so, after mellowing out a bit, she became relatively docile, at least around Vahn. This was due to the fact that her wish was to protect all the world's children so, after learning Vahn had used his wish to the same effect, she no longer harbored any hatred towards him.

Fortunately, though she allowed him to pet her regularly, Atalanta took her vows towards Artemis and Apollo very seriously so, even though she was rather weak to petting, she hadn't developed any tender feelings toward him. Though she had 'jokingly' told him that she would marry him if he could beat her in a foot race, Vahn knew she would only do so out of obligation, not love. While he did, in fact, accept her challenge, this was mainly to prevent her from falling victim to her vow as it would cause a few issues if she was forced to marry someone she didn't love.

While Atalanta had been fast, almost ridiculously so, she wasn't even in the top five when it came to maximum potential speed within the Empire. Though Vahn's natural speed also didn't make the cut, he more than made up for it with [Shundo] and [Vis Maxima], allowing him to maintain a steady lead throughout their entire race. This had come as a shock to Atalanta but, as they had already agreed to allow him to make a singular request from her, Vahn surprised her a second time by having her vow never to marry someone she didn't love. Since he had already defeated her in a footrace, she had a complicated expression on her face but, after a moment of deliberation, ultimately relented...

---

With his enemies still laying low, Vahn had focused on increasing his strength far beyond his past capabilities. He was determined to reach the point where he would be able to defeat Scáthach in a direct battle as, after she lost an arm to an unseen enemy, it became clear that his current strength was lacking. Though he would undoubtedly win in a prolonged battle, especially with [Magia Erebea] and the support of various Tier 5 entities, Vahn wanted to reach the point where his individual power was all he needed to win.

Fortunately, or perhaps not, he had been convinced by Scáthach to summon even more versions of her, so, now, instead of two Shishous, there were a total of seven. As a result, the Empire was safer than it had ever been but, in exchange, Vahn's training had truly become hellish. After all, even one Scáthach was a 'monster' so, now that there were seven unique versions of her, combined with the fact she could make clones of herself; Vahn started experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations of his Shishou whenever he was 'slacking' off...

Since Scáthach qualified for virtually every Servant Class, with the exceptions of Saver, Foreigner, and Moon Cancer, Vahn ended up summoning the Ruler, Assassin, Saber, Archer, and, in order better to protect the children, the Lily version. Fortunately, as she had a proper understanding of where his limits lay, Scáthach had the wherewithal to avoid 'teasing' him in her fourteen-year-old form. This meant he only had to deal with her other six forms during training as, more often than not, the Lily version of Scáthach was proactively watching over the children, putting his mind at ease.

The upside to Vahn's current situation was that the longer his enemies delayed appearing, the more powerful he, and the Empire as a whole, would become. It had only taken him four weeks inside the Projection to reach the bottom of the 'Well of Destruction' so, with an additional twenty-four weeks to focus on other challenges, he had managed to clear all the way to the ninth. As a result, most of his Parameters had reached the quantifiable limit and, given a few more months, Projection-time, he was confident in being able to obtain his second Divinity. All he needed was to continue focusing on breaking through his limits as, at his current rate of growth, even S-Rank Heroic Spirits wouldn't be able to last more than a few minutes against him...

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[Status]

Name: [Vahn Mason]

Age: 158 (Ageless)

Race: Progenitor God, *sealed*

Parameter: [Nasuverse: 1-5]

Strength: 50A++

Endurance: ★

Agility: 48B

Magical Power: EX

Good Luck: 26D

Circuit Quality: EX

Soul Tier: 4 (Divine Soul)

[Karma]: 7,314,989,223

[OP]: 8,048,703,448

Noble Phantasm: [Enkidu:SSS], [Gate of Babylon(False):S], [Lævateinn(Alpha):S], [Lævateinn(Beta):S], [Lævateinn(Gamma):S], [Lævateinn(Delta):S], [Lævateinn(Epsilon):S], [Lævateinn(Zeta):S]

Origin: [?]

Skills: [Will of the Emperor:SSS], [Rakshasa Body:A], [Keeper of the Akashic Tome:B], [Eyes of Truth:A], [Chainbreaker:SS], [Veil of the Traveler:SS], [Hands of Nirvana:SS], [Type Omega:SSS], [Executor of Akasha's Will:SS], [Laplace's Key:SSS], [Blacksmithing:S], [Alien God: EX], [Charm: EX], [Martial Soul:A]

Magic: [Magia Erebea:SS], [Administrative Function: Space Lock:SSS], [Soul Imprint: EX], [Soul Transference: EX], [Great Sage:EX], [Magic Cancel:B], [Charisma:D]

Magecraft: [Magical Trigger:SSS], [Primordial Rune:S], [Trace:SS], [Reinforce:S], [Gradiation Air:S], [Enchant:S], [Alchemy:S], [Shundo:SS], [Reflexio:S], [Cantus Bellax:SS], [Melodia Bellax:SS], [Vis Maxima:S], [Sagitta Magicka:B], [Od Conversion:EX], [Mass Telelportation:C]

[Alien God]

Rank: EX

Passive: Recognition from the World as a God from another world. Those bearing this Skill are able to violate the Common Sense of the world, affecting various Textures and manipulating reality to suit their needs. (A/N: This is basically how the Root System interprets Vahn's Domain.)

[Charm]

Rank: EX

Passive: The ability to influence others, increasing their infatuation. Twice as effective on members of the opposite sex. At this rank, even inert stone and emotionless automata are susceptible to the user's Charm.

Active: Overwhelm a target's mind, compelling them to fall madly in love with the user. Even with a strong will, this conclusion cannot be completely mitigated.

[Martial Soul]

Rank: B

Passive: Denotes the user's comprehensive understanding of their own body, allowing them to emulate any martial art, skill, or combat style at the same Rank or lower.

[Soul Imprint]

Rank: EX

Passive: The user has the ability to infuse their soul into other objects.

Active: Allows the user to fragment their soul, splitting their form or infusing it into various objects. Even if these objects are destroyed, the fragment will invariably return to the user.

[Soul Transference]

Rank: EX

Active: Allows the user to transplant the souls of other people into vessels of their own creation. This Skill grants the target with D-Rank [Regeneration], B-Rank [Od Conversion], and EX-Rank [Foreign Body Immunity].

[Great Sage]

Rank: EX

Passive: Greatly increases the efficacy of unique Magecraft against all modern and ancient forms of Magecraft. Against Magecraft of the same Rank, this Skill artificially increases the user's Magecraft by one full Rank. (A/N: This is a Skill unique to Vahn and Da Vinci. It is basically the result of them using Eva's Magic System to develop a completely new school of Thaumaturgy.)

[Magic Cancel]

Rank: B

Active: Forcibly nullify all Magecraft of the same Rank and lower. (A/N: Vahn's ability to essentially prevent other people from using Magic within his domain.)

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'You get a summon, you get a summon, everyone gets a summon~!','Atalanta met her match','Seven circles of Hell')

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