Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though he had largely gotten used to such things, it wasn't long after his chat with Maschenny that Vahn had the physical body of the not-so-young girl lying atop a massage table with her pale white back exposed. Fortunately, while she had made a few impulsive and half-hearted remarks that were intended to rile him up, her desire for power prevented her from causing too much trouble. He also had a fair amount of experience with 'petite' women, so, even when she sat up without even trying to cover herself, he was largely unaffected, explaining, "It might take some getting used to, but that body should have a much higher affinity for Shinsu than your original. This will make things easier in the future, but you should avoid using self-destructive techniques like your Lightning Redan until you have become accustomed to your new body."

Staring directly at Vahn during the explanation, Maschenny waited until he had finished speaking before asking, "Are you used to seeing little girls naked?"

Adopting a somewhat stern expression, Vahn resisted the urge to give Maschenny's head a chop as he said, "I have traveled various worlds and interacted with species who look like human children in their adulthood. You're over 163cm tall and nearly a thousand years old. You might be petite, but it would take an extreme level of acting to convince anyone you're a child."

Snorting through her nose, Maschenny hopped from the table in an effort to try and step closer. In response, Vahn gave the center of her forehead a not-so-gentle flick, adding, "Don't push your luck. It should have been obvious from my conversation with Eduan, but I'm more than capable of seeing ascertaining your thoughts. Why do you think I added the sincerity clause to our agreement? You are more than welcome to accumulate power through your own efforts. If you expect me to provide you with extra resources and direct support, you'll need to fix that venomous nature of yours. Don't think I'll just allow you to do as you please."

Rubbing the visible bump on her forehead, Maschenny adopted a moderate pout as she said, "You are too violent. If you can really read my thoughts, you would know I'm being sincere. I might not have any experience with relationships and such, but there isn't anything I wouldn't do in order to obtain power. For all I know, you've placed all kinds of charms, enchantments, and failsafes in this body to prevent me from betraying you. Rather than becoming something like a slave or a servant, I would rather take proactive measures to secure my position. I don't wish to waste the next several hundred years just trying to catch up to my counterpart inside the Tower. Tell me what I need to do to receive more power from you and I'll do it..."

Despite playing the 'little girl' card not even five minutes prior, Maschenny was now doing her best to appear alluring, eyes turned up as she reached out to tentatively touch Vahn's chest. Before she could, however, the latter gingerly grabbed her wrist, a melancholic smile on his face as he said, "If you try your best, it is only a matter of time before you surpass the other Maschenny. I'm not here to help you satiate your curiosities about the opposite sex, nor am I a convenient tool that can be used to increase your standing within the Tower. So long as you genuinely believe I'm trying to use you, it will be impossible to close the distance between us."

With that said, Vahn released Maschenny's wrists before ruffling her hair and adding, "I remember a certain someone telling me to have some self-respect. You should consider following their advice."

Clicking her tongue, Maschenny bat away Vahn's hand before pulling the covering from the table, concealing her body as she said, "Fine, then. We'll see how far 'trying my best' gets me. So long as you provide me with the resources you promised, I won't cause any trouble. If my power doesn't increase quickly, however, don't expect me to remain silent...!"

Rather than responding to Maschenny's words, Vahn used Unit Management to call Scathach to his side while manifesting the Little Garden in his right hand. This caused Maschenny to startle slightly, but, recognizing the purple-clad beauty as the one who had completely thrashed Asensio, a potent desire to do battle began swelling up inside of her. Unfortunately, though she would only come to realize this later, she was about to be provided with ample opportunity to test her skills against the crimson-eyed beauty.

Though it almost felt cruel to entrust her to Scathach, Vahn knew that Maschenny needed to be broken down and built up from scratch if she was to have any hope of redressing her bad habits and ill-tempered nature. She was the product of a remarkably flawed system, and, after spending hundreds of years inside the Hidden Floor, she had become unbelievably obstinate. It would likely take years for her to be able to nondestructively socialize with others, but, before that, she needed to understand exactly where she stood in comparison to everyone else within the Little Garden.

To this end, Vahn gestured to Scathach, smiling as he said, "This is the Goddess of Spears, Runes, War, and Slaughter, Scathach. She will teach you about true spearmanship, something even your father has yet to achieve. If you complete her training, I can guarantee that few within the Tower will even be able to comprehend your power, much less defend themselves against it."

Hearing Vahn claim that the presence-less woman before her was a greater Spear Bearer than her father, Maschenny couldn't help but frown. During the demonstrations in her childhood, she had seen her father completely erase mountains with a casual flick of his wrist. He also gave off an aura that made him seem unreachable even when you were standing right next to him or sitting in his lap. Thus, while it had always been one of her goals to surpass her father, Maschenny had a difficult time believing anyone was even remotely comparable to him in terms of his skill with a spear.

Smiling in response to Maschenny's disbelief, Vahn extended his hand to caress Scathach's smooth hair and deceptively soft horns as he said, "I'll entrust this one's training to you. Help her get her to the point that she would be able to survive in the Seventh Layer without assistance for a year."

Ignoring the gawking gaze of Maschenny, Scathach shamelessly nestled against Vahn's palm, a faint smile on her face as she softly replied, "Understood..." before adding, "She doesn't seem to possess any real talent, but, if Master wishes it, I will turn her into a great warrior..."

Though she never had access to the Wisdom of the Haunted Ground, Scathach had tapped into and assimilated a vast amount of knowledge and experience from her former self. Her [Pathfinder] and [Scathach] Innates also provided her considerable insight into the capabilities of others, so, in a manner similar to her original self, she could ascertain a person's talent with a single glance. As for why she claimed Maschenny lacked talent, despite the latter being considered one of the Tower's greatest prodigies, it was largely due to how little progress she had made despite having nearly a thousand years to refine her skills.

Knowing nothing about the strange woman with curved horns and a dragon-like tail, Maschenny's expression darkened considerably as she asked, "You say I lack talent? I'm one of the youngest-"

Before Maschenny could finish speaking, Scathach cooly interrupted her, stating, "People who cling to past glory are just making excuses for their incompetence. If you want to prove me wrong, do so during our training. Now, come. The current you is so painfully weak that I'm afraid you might die if someone accidentally bumps into you."

Without waiting for Maschenny's response, Scathach appeared behind her with such extreme speed that a near-perfect afterimage persisted in her original location. Then, with a swift chop to the neck, Maschenny was out like a light, her body going limp as Scathach effortlessly placed the topless girl onto her shoulder. This caused Vahn's smile to turn somewhat wry, but, rather than saying anything, he just allowed the new Master-Disciple duo to return to the Little Garden before exhaling a sigh in their absence...

---

Though it took longer than Madara would have liked, Izuna eventually managed to defeat the version of Vahn he was faced against due to the latter being unable to use any potentially fatal attacks. This provided them a nigh-absolute advantage during battles, but, as the defeated Vahns were most certainly just clones, dissolving away after sustaining substantial injuries, securing a finite victory was going to be difficult.

Fortunately, as troublesome as they were, the Sworn Enemies were still a far cry from the original. Thus, with the exception of a few of the weaker and more passive residents of the Little Garden, it wouldn't take much effort to defeat them. The only real danger was that the Sworn Enemies would try and draw things out by turning the conflict into a war of attrition. There was also a chance that they might resort to one of Vahn's most troublesome techniques, using their clones as exceptionally powerful suicide bombers.

Before things could get further out of hand, Madara was intending to suggest that everyone swiftly retreats from the Hidden Floor. She was far from being afraid, but, considering who her opponents were, they were ultimately fighting a battle that simply couldn't be won. Vahn wasn't exactly known for fighting fair against his enemies, and, while he would happily face them directly, there was never a time when he didn't have some kind of backup plan.

Though the notion of battling against an army of Vahn clones was rather tantalizing, Madara could just as easily fight against the real Vahn if she wanted a challenge. Thus, rather than allowing things to escalate further, she had her group retreat to the Town of the Wandering Minstrels before finally informing Vahn of the situation. This caught the latter by surprise, not because he was unaware of the Sworn Enemy versions of himself, but because they had targetted Madara's group rather than attempting to kidnap Ryun and Ai.

Realizing that their primary intent must have been to recover the body of the Big Breeder that was almost assuredly Yura's brother, Vahn decided it was for the best that everyone regroups before the enemy could get a better grasp of the situation. It was obvious at this point that the Sworn Enemies were working together, so, at the very least, he wanted to implement a few failsafes and reorganize the teams so that no accidents occurred.

Fortunately, as was often the case, the system shop had quite a number of solutions to aid them in any future confrontations. This included a number of weapons with the ability [Data Drain], a rather unique ability that had the effect of irreversibly corrupting and ultimately erasing Data Constructs and other Digitalized Entities. This effect had been stringently studied by Da Vinci for the purpose of eliminating 'Cyber Demons' and 'God Programs' within the Virtual World, so, while it was a little underhanded to rely on such weapons so early on, Vahn wasn't particularly concerned with fairness when it came to eliminating people targeting his friends, family, and loved ones.

Since it would be disastrous to allow the weapons to fall into the hands of the Sworn Enemies, Vahn made sure they were Soulbound and limited them to one per team. As an additional failsafe, every member of the party was given a trigger that could remotely detonate the weapon if it turned out that, similar to himself, the Sworn Enemies could ignore the restrictions of Soulbound equipment by emulating the wielder. If this ended up being the case, everyone below Tier 5 would retreat to the Little Garden, as, from that moment onward, it would become far too dangerous for anyone with a Zanpakuto to face them.

Though he had limited success during his own experiments, Vahn was pretty sure he could forcibly wield the Zanpakuto of other people. This would, however, place an extreme burden on the original wielder's Ego, so much so that it might fracture completely after prolonged use. If the Hidden Floor was somehow able to replicate this ability, anyone beneath the absolute pinnacle of Tier 4 would be in extreme danger. Inversely, anyone above had absolutely nothing to worry about, as, the moment an enemy tried to forcibly wrest away the Zanpakuto of a higher-tiered Soul, they were in for a very bad time. Eduan was the perfect example of this, and, were it not for the artifact that was sealed in his right arm, he likely would have self-destructed during his attempt to steal Rho...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn be like, "You're twice my age, you damn granny...!"','Scathach about to learn ya (O w O)...','Tri-Edge would like to know your location...')

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