Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

As part of his ninth challenge, Vahn had to dodge a series of needle-like projectiles, each around the size of a chopstick. While this alone wasn't that difficult, he had to do so for an entire hour, all while his arms were bound. To make things even more complicated, his feet were forcibly separated by a bar, forcing him to rely almost exclusively on [Shundo] and his footwork to evade the ever-increasing number of projectiles. If he was hit by a single one, his time would not only be reset but, as a result of their speed, he was all but guaranteed to be turned into a porcupine if he lost his balance even for a moment...

Thus far, Vahn had been able to last upwards of forty minutes but, with the speed and number of projectiles gradually increasing, those final twenty minutes seemed insurmountable. Despite this, he could be found with his wrists tied behind his back, his feet shifting in complex patterns as his body bent and bowed like a willow in the wind, at least to those who could actually trace his movements.

From the perspective of a 'normal' person, Vahn's upper body seemed to blue unnaturally, almost as if he were a graphical glitch in the real world. Since Scáthach was basically trying to have him break through quantifiable limits, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that his Agility would be reality-defying if he managed to complete her challenge.

With the exception of his curiously low Luck Parameter, Vahn's Agility was the Parameter he stood to gain the most benefits from improving. Though he could easily achieve EX-Rank speed using [Magia Erebea]'s Emperor of Light form, that was an extremely costly transformation that, for the time being, couldn't be controlled. After all, he had to literally aim away from the planet in order to move at his maximum speed as, if he aimed elsewhere, the devastation caused by his movement could level an entire Country, on the low end.

In his transformed state, Vahn's movement generated a force of 2.7 Terajoules of energy which, when modified by his Source Energy, equated to an explosive yield of 6.5 megatons of TNT, 27 Petajoules of energy. This gave his movements alone nearly half the force of the most powerful warhead that had ever been detonated by mankind, all condensed within a point the size of an average man. If he wasn't careful, puncturing a hole straight through the mantle of the planet wasn't an impossibility.

Since his Emperor of Light wasn't a form to play around with, Vahn wanted to increase his base state to the point where, unless he was backed into a corner, he wouldn't need to transform at all. While he actually thought the transformations were pretty cool, there was a certain 'impact' that went with the image of a normal person doing the impossible. He wanted to reach the point where, even if he wanted to pluck the stars from the sky, it would only take extending his hand slightly. This may seem like an exaggeration but, with how strong those at Peak Tier 5 seemed, it was all but guaranteed he would eventually reach a point even beyond his imagination...

For now, however, Vahn could only grunt in annoyance as a scarlet-red needle pierced his right calf. In the next moment, several dozen needles pierced various points of his body and, if not for the fact he used [Shundo] to completely escape the encirclement, thousands more would have followed suit.

With one needle stabbing into his right eye socket, dislodging the glimmering orb within, Vahn had to turn his head away due to his mild embarrassment. Fortunately, he was able to dislodge it pretty quickly and, after a few seconds, the rest of the needles had been removed. At the same time, one of the three Scáthachs tormenting him appeared next to him, expression frostier than a tundra as she coldly stated, "You only lasted thirty-eight-minutes-and-twenty-two-seconds. This is your worst time in the last fifty-three attempts..."

Understanding there was no point in making excuses, Vahn just answered with a small nod before saying, "I'll do better this time. Come, let's not waste time. I want to make our enemies regret giving me time to grow stronger..."

Though she nodded in response, a neutral expression on her face, Scáthach sent chills through his body when she said, "If you don't surpass your personal best on the next attempt, I'll increase the size of the spreader-bar by three centimeters. If you don't want to be doing the splits by the end of this challenge, you'll focus your mind instead of wasting your breath..."

---

Though his training was 'extreme' compared to everyone else's, that didn't mean Vahn was the only person working hard to become stronger. Rather, even before the Temporal Anomaly a month prior, nearly every resident of the Ivory Castle spent several hours, every day, improving. With things like the Quest Board to keep them motivated, you could almost always find a handful of people within the Knight's Training Field, the Primary Training Orb, or traveling around Avalon to complete various Quest Objectives.

Among the people training hardest, Fenrir was at the head of the pack with more than four-hundred Quests completed and seventeen million Variable Experience saved up. She had actually earned a lot more than this but most of it had been invested in her various Skills, Magic, and Magecraft. Her main reason for saving up now was to unlock the [Full-Body Transformation] Skill, something she had seen used by Hati to great effect.

With [Full-Body Transformation], Fenrir would be able to tap into her heritage as a Vanargandr and, at least for a time, transform into an actual wolf. While this may not seem that impressive at first, the fact she could freely alter her size, increasing her offensive, defensive, and magical capabilities, was the main selling point.

When going all out, Hati was able to exceed fifty-meters in height, her fur becoming nigh-imperious to both physical and magical attacks. Though she had to sacrifice some of her mobility, the ability to cause absolute devastation to her surroundings, overwhelming entire armies, more than made up for this.

Truthfully, the main reason Fenrir wanted to unlock the Skill was due to the fact she had once seen her Master riding atop the giant Hati's head. Another time, she had shrunken down to the size of a wolf pup, happily dozing away in their Master's lap with a contented expression on her face. Though Fenrir could do the latter whenever she pleased, her pride as the Alpha Vanargandr didn't allow her to be less capable than her subordinate. This mentality caused the Skill to appear within her Skill Tree for a whopping 20,000,000VE so, in order to obtain it, Fenrir had been Questing in overdrive.

Today, in order to complete one of her Quest Objectives, Fenrir was walking across the bottom of the sea, her lungs straining painfully as she hefted a heavy limestone block over her head, using a membrane of magical energy around her bottom paws to prevent them from sinking into several meters of muck. Around her, several Undine watched curiously, their presence both an annoyance and a small comfort as, even if an accident occurred, they would undoubtedly step in to assist.

Fortunately, even if it made her feel like she would blackout at any moment, Fenrir couldn't actually drown. Even if she relented to the pressure and tried to take a breath, filling her lungs with briny seawater, she would only experience excruciating pain and frustration, never death. Her regeneration and energy reserves meant she could even survive in a vacuum without too much trouble so, even if the pressure reached upwards of a thousand times normal atmospheric levels, she could persist.

Still, this didn't mean it was a pleasant experience in the slightest, but, in order to obtain the final three-million Variable Experience, she was determined to complete her Quest. She only needed to cover 1,000km with the stone before moving on to her final Objective: defeating a Sea Serpent or a Giant Squid in a contest of strength without using magic. This might prove difficult for others but, with her teeth and claws, Fenrir was completely confident in her ability to secure victory...

---

While Fenrir was making headway on her Quest, Mordred, who generally accompanied her when she wasn't at school, dangled her legs off the edge of the pier, fishing rod in hand. Since it was a humid and balmy Summer day, she elected to wear nothing but a black bikini top with flames, a matching set of bottoms, and a pair of denim shorts just so her Chichiue and Hahaue wouldn't complain too much. If not for the fact she didn't bother to button the front, giving her a somewhat slovenly look, she wouldn't have looked all that different from the models in the magazines she used to peruse.

Next to Mordred, her Guardian, the massive white lioness, King, lazily lay at her side while, laying against her, a boy with tanned skin, raven-black hair, and ruby-red eyes, stared aimlessly toward the horizon. This was none other than Kamiya, Nobunaga's son and, by his own volition, Mordred's usual tag-along follower. He ever referred to her as Aneue so, at least until he became a proper man, she obliged by calling him Otouto and, at times, brat.

Kamiya had never been the most patient boy but, knowing he would get knocked upside the head if he complained, he opted to remain quiet while periodically sneaking glances at his Aneue. Originally, he had tried to fish alongside her but, while much stronger than the average three-year-old, it only took getting pulled off the pier once, courtesy of a large tuna, for him to abstain from trying again.

There was no way Kamiya could get away with stealing glances without her notice but, rather than stop him, Mordred just made a mental note of how many times he shifted around, pretending not to gawk. She didn't particularly mind his mild precociousness but, when he did something to annoy her later, she would let him have it for each glance he stole. It would be bad if he became too cheeky in the future but, if it could motivate him to secure more wins against Daiki, she didn't mind giving him a bit of sisterly love and encouragement.

Mordred didn't think much of Kamiya's developing crush. Rather, because of how often Isanna and Naavi doted on Daiki, she would feel a little guilty if she didn't do the same, in moderation. Kamiya was a very hard-working boy and, due to having Nobunaga as a mother, he was often teased, albeit lovingly. This had turned him into a rather prideful boy who didn't speak all that much so, instead of being yet another person to pressure him, Mordred liked to think of herself as the ever-reliable big sister.

With this in mind, Mordred remained relatively silent until she felt something take hold of her line. Then, with a smile on her face, she looked back at Kamiya, startling the boy and sending him into a small panic until she said, "Hey, come over here. There is something biting. Here, I'll help you reel it in this time, okay~?"

Having followed Mordred for much of his life, Kamiya didn't really have the will to disobey the words of his Aneue, especially when she had that smile on her face. Thus, with a reddened face, he moved with a bit of trepidation in his steps before sitting in her lap. This caused his ears to turn red, made worse by the fact that Mordred forced the rod into his hands, her voice tickling his ear as she walked him through the process of reeling in the fish. Though it was a real trial, in various ways, Kamiya had learned to enjoy fishing by the time he managed to reel in the palm-size carp...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Scáthach is getting tired of hearing excuses xD...','Fenrir is always working hard...!','Irredeemable...!')

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