Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though it had little to do with his own training, it was strangely 'refreshing' to see someone other than himself suffering under Scáthach's guidance. It made Vahn feel like a senior disciple watching as his junior did their best to complete their foundation training.

Unfortunately, as there were seven Scáthachs now, Vahn only caught very brief glimpses of Richard's training, generally when he was just wrapping up with his own. The rest of his time was spent wholly focused on the challenges he had been assigned as, with each passing day, the pack of purple beasts seemed to grow more restless. It didn't seem to matter how much effort he put into completing the tasks, rather, the harder he tried, the higher his Shishou's expectations of him.

If not for his otherwise fulfilling lifestyle, combined with his massive increase in strength, Vahn felt there was a non-negligible chance he would have been broken by Scáthach's training. Since he had been able to persevere, however, the current him couldn't even compare to the version of himself from a few months prior. He always seemed to be making leaps and bounds in his progress, to the point he could now fight against his Shishou for upwards of eight hours without suffering the fate of having his body and mind temporarily broken.

Though he couldn't dodge Scáthach's strongest spear attacks, which basically used the power of the Laws to bend causality, he could now avoid a hit to his vitals nearly half the time. This alone was such a drastic improvement that, the first time he pulled it off, Scáthach showed a, very rare, expression of shock. Though he hadn't been able to take advantage of the gap in her mentality, the aftercare that day had been especially relaxing.

Vahn still had a long way to go before he was the 'strongest' but, so long as he was serious about it, he could defeat most Heroic Spirits without even having to rely on his [Magia Erebea]. If they didn't have an A-Rank Noble Phantasm or advanced mastery over certain Laws, most Heroic Spirits would be hard-pressed to even damage him. His body tempering and reconstruction had reached such an advanced stage that, using his bare hands and forearms, Vahn was even able to deflect blows from weapons like [Excalibur], a weapon with a powerful holy element, with superficial wounds.

By the time he completed all of Scáthach's challenges, Vahn had the distinct impression he would have become a real monster. Since this was only a fraction of the strength he would need to link the Records, however, he knew better than to assume he was truly strong. Rather, even if he was tens of times stronger than his current self, he would still be hard-pressed to deal any meaningful damage to Akasha and her superiors. In a way, he was much like a child playing within a calm bay, aware of the dangers beyond the reef but unable to truly comprehend their terror...

Still, at least within the Root System, there was an ever-decreasing number of entities that could hope to even damage him, much less kill him. Even sealing him away was an ultimately futile action as his Source Energy, combined with his [Chainbreaker], allowed him to break through virtually any kind of seal. This even included his own [Enkidu], a Tier 5 artifact that should be able to restrain him with considerable ease due to his Divinity.

Due to his training with Scáthach, Vahn could still move around while bound by [Enkidu] and, if he pushed himself, even using his domain was possible. Though manifesting energy externally was still beyond him, he had never been all that good at it, to begin with...

If he really wanted to, Vahn could wrap [Enkidu] around his forearms, using the resplendent golden chains as heavy whips that could even lay low the Gods. Though it wasn't his preferred way to attack, it had given him a few advantages against Scáthach as, despite her prowess, she didn't actually have a counter to the higher-tiered artifact. They weren't known as the Heaven-Binding Chains for naught and, if he used them skillfully, even the space around him could be sealed away with ease.

When his climactic battle against Scáthach came, Vahn knew [Enkidu] would be his strongest ally as, with her ability to hide clones within the void, sealing off the surrounding space was necessary. After her battle against the unseen swordsman, she now hid dozens of herself within the void so, when it came down to it, Vahn knew he might have to defeat more than a hundred Scáthach, rather than just a single version of herself.

In preparation for this, Vahn had been conducting 'secret' training of his own within the Workshop. It wasn't the most realistic method but, using Da Vinci's Virtual World, Vahn could battle against a truly infinite number of Scáthach's.

Da Vinci had asked him to help stress test the system in preparation for a large-scale launch so, while the virtual version of Scáthach was considerably weaker than the original, her numbers and the system's ability to learn over time, more than made up for it.

Unfortunately, no matter how many updates Da Vinci had made to the Virtual World, it didn't seem to be able to properly account for the existence of Innates. Vahn could still activate his [Will of the Emperor] within the Virtual Space and, due to the peculiarities of Source Energy, his ability to create and manifest items worked flawlessly. This made absolutely no sense to Da Vinci, as physical objects should not be able to exist within virtual space, so Vahn was forced to spend a considerable amount of time helping her test the system's limits.

Truthfully, Vahn didn't actually like the Virtual World all that much as, despite how fantastical it was from the inside, his sense couldn't be fooled so easily. He always had the feeling that, regardless of how immersive it was, everything he was witnessing wasn't real. It was strangely annoying so, unless he was training or directly assisting Da Vinci, he tried to avoid using it too often. To him, that 1.73% variation between reality and the virtual world was like being covered in a layer of grease, something palpable and annoying.

The Virtual World was, admittedly, one of the most innovative and technologically advanced pieces of technology to ever exist. Vahn's discomfort was primarily the result of his 'awareness' and, to an even greater extent, his affinity with the Space element. It was discovered that the higher a person's affinity with Space, the greater the sense of incongruity they felt within the Virtual World. Ishtar and Aoko had been equally as affected when they gave the system a try and, though you could get used to it after a while, neither woman elected to do so.

Fortunately, the Virtual World was merely one of the options Da Vinci had developed when it came to experience an immersive world. To that end, she had also developed the Environmental Projection Medium, basically replicated the methods used in the creation of a Sub-Texture using a combination of Science, Technology, and Magecraft. Though it still had a long way to go, as the projected objects were effectively just solid holograms, it was possible to create very realistic representations of reality.

Though it wasn't entirely accurate, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Da Vinci was developing a way to mass-produce Reality Marbles. She had already developed a version of the [Space-Time Orb] that could map the surroundings and make a perfect replica of the environment within. This was very useful for battling against opponents in high population centers but, compared to the final product that Da Vinci envisioned, it was still a nascent technology.

Eventually, Da Vinci wanted to merge all of her current technologies together, essentially creating a portable Reality Marble that could be activated by anyone who held the key. In its penultimate form, it would even be able to simulate entire planets, a terrifying thought until you considered that most [Space-Time Orb]s already had functionally infinite space within. So long as they had enough energy, they would continue to expand without limit, emulating real-world Laws and harboring life without issue.

The hardest part of the equation was finding a way to actually store physical objects within what was effectively a purely Spiritual world. Vahn could manage this easily due to his Source Energy but, even after countless simulations based on the data she had collected, Da Vinci was no closer to finding a solution to this problem. While she had never believed anything to be impossible, there were some things that simply defied all explanations, both logical and irrational.

Vahn's ability to manifest solid matter within a virtual or spiritual environment made absolutely no sense whatsoever, as, even from the perspective of the system itself, it was unable to even analyze these objects due to the fact they lacked the requisite data. The fact these anomalous objects could still interact with physical data constructs was yet another nonsensical development as the coding should be unaffected by anything not defined within the system. Even stranger was the fact that she could program a block to be indestructible but, as if his power overwrote the source coding, Vahn was still able to destroy them.

Needless to say, Da Vinci was no closer to understanding the complexities of Vahn's existence, even after observing him for several years. The more she learned about him, the more there was to learn as, despite every theory she came up with, he seemed to be able to completely shatter it with little to no effort. While this excited her to no end, as there was nothing she enjoyed more than trying to comprehend the inexplicable, there were times when she would just lose herself in a fit of laughter after seeing him do something completely outside her expectations...

---

Hearing Da Vinci laughing in a sonorous yet incredulous manner, Vahn could only smile wryly in response while Sophia, seeing her mother lose it, fretfully observed from the side. This wasn't the first time she had seen her mother 'snap' but, as she was usually very calm and composed, it never got any easier seeing it. Thus, with a worried expression on her face, she looked toward the slightly glowing Vahn and said, "Papa...I wish you wouldn't just casually break mother..."

As if he had been dealt critical damage, Vahn visibly tensed in response to Sophia's words, his brows twitching slightly as she smiled and said, "I only did what she asked me to do...you know I can't help but do my best when your mother asks..."

Though she nodded her head in understanding, there was still a visible hint of blame in Sophia's eyes as she walked over to where Da Vinci was curled up in a laughing fit. Then, much as she had done in the past, Sophia pinched her mother's side rather forcibly, breaking Da Vinci free from the curse of laughter in an instant.

Seeing her lovely daughter's concerned expression, Da Vinci mustered her usual smile as she mused, "Oh, you're so cute when you worry, Sophia-chan~." while extending her hand to muss Sophia's hair. This caused the latter to sigh in relief as, due to her emulation of Vahn, Da Vinci had made quite a bit of progress in her comprehension of Petting Laws. Rather, due to Vahn's influence, quite a number of people had developed a basic mastery of the once-obscure Law...

Once Sophia had been pacified, Da Vinci turned her attention back to the waiting Vahn, her smile reaching all the way to her eyes as she mused, "There is never a dull moment when I work together with you...tell me, how do you feel?"

In response to Da Vinci's question, Vahn flexed his fingers a couple of times before popping his joints and answering, "It feels a lot different from my normal body but it doesn't feel 'off' like it does within the Virtual World. I'm guessing the presence of defined Spatial Laws has something to do with it."

As this matched her own speculation, Da Vinci nodded her head in agreement before pulling Sophia to sit on her lap. Afterward, she pulled up a holographic panel and began typing a list of commands while interrogating Vahn. The fact he had been able to manifest his Virtual Avatar in the real world, all while his actual body continued to rest peacefully at the side, was, once again, completely outside initial projections. Since he could do it, there was a non-negligible chance others would be able to do the same so, in order to prevent Virtual Avatars from wreaking havoc on the real world, Da Vinci had to get a better understanding of both the real and virtual worlds...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Scáthach is the ultimate tiger mom','Vahn's existence defies logic xD...','Stay strong, Da Vinci-chan...!')

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