Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 1539 True Friend of the Elements

With three days passing since Jack’s return to the Capital, Vahn was beginning to wonder whether or not the man was going to seek him out. What he didn’t know was, despite many people calling him an idiot, Jack was an exceptionally cautious man when it came to his missions. He balanced his thirst for battle with careful planning, taking measures to ensure innocents weren’t harmed when he went all out. This was very important to him, as, despite his bravado and his general lack of respect for the Nobility, Jack genuinely cared about, not just the people of the Hellas Empire, but all those who just wanted to live their lives in peace.

Unaware of the machinations of his future opponent, Vahn spent his days idling about inside of his room, consolidating his power and spending time with Medusa. He was also conducting experiments with the various Elementals that had gathered around him, taking advantage of his affinity to learn a few tricks Eva had mentioned in the past. As a result, he managed to unlock the [Elementalist] Skill in a relatively short period of time, becoming even more popular among the Elements as a result...

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With Medusa lazily watching from the comfort of a hot bath, Vahn hovered a few centimeters above the surface of the bed, a pale-green aura shimmering around his body. The curious thing about this state, other than the fact he was floating in the lotus position, was that it was virtually impossible to actually sense his presence. He had veritably become one with nature, his aura permeating through his domain to the point it was less noticeable than a gentle breeze.

Though it was impossible to sense him, looking directly at Vahn would have allowed you to see quite a number of peculiarities. His tanned-skin had become a healthy shade of brown, and, though it was less noticeable, his brown hair now had a slight tinge of green. What really stood out, however, were the pale green runes that seemed to grow across his body like vines, and, more than everything else, the two branch-like horns protruding near his temples. They vaguely resembled the horns of a Long-type Dragon, but, instead of ivory or gold, they were like two meticulously carved pieces of wood...

Taking advantage of his affinity with the Elements, Vahn attempted to infuse natural energy directly into cells, much like how he would absorb magic during his [Magiea Erebea] transformations. He had been experimenting with absorbing and manipulating external energy even as early as the Record of Danmachi. This experience, combined with the fact he was simply loved by all manner of Spirits gave Vahn a unique advantage over others, as, even compared to a Druid that dedicated themselves to a forest or planet, Vahn affection for nature was unmatched...

Without opening his eyes, Vahn slowly brought his hands together as if he were praying, causing the large gathering of Elemental Spirits to dance in response. Then, as Vahn slowly separated his hands, revealing a tiny seed-shaped mass of vital energy, the Elementals began to quickly gather into their respective groups. They had to freely fuse together, so, like a bunch of excited children, they began to dogpile on top of each other, forming larger masses that would eventually become high ranking Elemental Spirits.

Seeing how excited the Elementals were, Vahn adopted an affectionate smile as he lightly muttered, "Now, now, there is no need to compete. You’ll all a chance so don’t force yourselves..."

As if they were perfectly capable of understanding him, the Elementals quickly mellowed out, their actions less volatile than before. They lacked individual consciousness and Ego, but, so long as you knew how to communicate with them, the Elementals were surprisingly understanding. So long as you could communicate your intention to them, much like communicating with the world through Magic, they would happily lend you a hand. They seemed to be genuinely ’happy’ to simply have people acknowledge their existence, and, under the right conditions, nascent Elemental Spirits would even gather together just to produce a form that made communication easier.

Perhaps as a result of his affinity to fire, the first group of Elementals to finish their fusion were the nascent Fire Elemental Spirits. As a result, Vahn manipulated the tiny ’seed’ toward the giant globule that almost looked like a ball formed from gelatine. It would be more accurate to say it looked like a Slime, but, for reasons Vahn could only attribute to the Record, it had a rather adorable expression that looked like a caricature of a cat. (A/N: ’O w O’)

Without waiting for the seed to reach it, the nebulous Fire Elemental bounced through the air like a cat pouncing on its prey. It managed to devour the seed in a single gulp, causing a ’wave’ of energy to spread through its body as the mass of energy dissolved in an instant. Its semi-translucent body began to release an intense light, and, after a few seconds had passed, its body had shrunken from the size of a tub-sized basin to a far more compact and recognizable form...

As Elementals were very sensitive to the perception of others, the final form adopted by the Lesser Fire Elemental was about what Vahn expected, a cat. In colloquial terms, it was a creature known as an Embercat within the Magical community. Curiously, it had a physical form that resembled a large housecat with a tiger-stripe pattern, blazing blue eyes, and an underbelly of soft white hair. If not for the ember burning on the edge of its tail, it would have looked indistinguishable from a very exotic-looking cat.

Seeing his second successful attempt at producing a Lesser Elemental from scratch, a happy smile spread across Vahn’s face. This seemed to please the Embercat, causing it to hop into his lap and nuzzle against his abdomen in an affectionate manner. In response, Vahn rewarded it with a few strokes along its surprisingly smooth and expectedly warm body before saying, "I still have a few more seeds to produce. We’ll play later, so behave yourself..."

Hearing Vahn’s words, the Embercat turned its head up at him before tilted its head to the side with a ’mreow?’ escaping its mouth. It had never had to think before so it didn’t understand his intentions well, requiring Vahn to point at the figure sunbathing on the veranda. There, what appeared to be a diorama of a mountain could be seen, complete with tree-like moss and detailed rock formations. If you looked closely, however, you would notice it was actually a large turtle, a relatively rare creature known as an Aspidochelone. They started off pretty small, much like all Lesser Elemental Spirits, but, if allowed to reach maturity as a Greater Elemental Spirit, they would, quite literally, become the size of islands.

Understanding what Vahn wanted from it, the Embercat jumped down from his lap before trotting over Aspidochelone. Then, after tentatively sniffing around the base of the peculiar turtle, it jumped onto its back before making itself comfortable. The Aspidochelone itself didn’t seem to mind this at all, simply peeking out from its shell for a few seconds before returning to its dormant state. It was a type of Elemental that allowed all manner of creatures to live on its back, so, after confirming that it wasn’t under attack, it simply acknowledged the Embercat as a new resident.

Though it wasn’t unexpected, as Elementals generally lived peacefully alongside each other, Vahn couldn’t help but smile when he saw the Embercat curl up at the top of the Aspidochelone. It was like the proverbial tiger taking over a mountain, a rather amusing thought that made Vahn wonder whether or not the other Elementals would vaguely resemble the Divine Beasts...

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After a very long period of reflective meditation and gathering natural energy, Vahn ended up with five Lesser Elemental Spirits and a handful of nascent Elementals who were unable to coalesce into a larger form.

As could be expected, the five were formed from the primary Elements of Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, and, Wood. The rest, consisting of Light, Darkness, Ice, and Lightning were too small in number, so, unless he accumulated more, Vahn wouldn’t be able to guide their evolution.

Joining the Aspidochelone and Embercat, Vahn ended up with a Waterwyrm, a Wind Rabbit, and a Flower Sprite. As could be assumed from their names, these were Lesser Elemental Spirits of Water, Wind, and Wood, respectively.

Waterwyrms were a type of Lesser Elemental Spirit that had some affinity with dragon-kind. They had vaguely serpentine bodies formed from watery-blue scales and heads that loosely resembled the fusion between a cat and a dragon. Vahn actually found it kind of cute, especially with its tiny limbs that didn’t seem to have any purpose other than making it more adorable...

Continuing the trend of adorable creatures, causing Vahn to think he might have a problem, the Wind Rabbit resembled the animal its namesake was derived from. The biggest difference was that it had a few patches of lime and emerald-green feathers sticking out nears its joints. Its ears were also much larger than a normal rabbit’s, and, rather than serve the singular function of enhancing their hearing, the feathery appendages actually served as wings. It was a curious blend between avian and mammalian qualities, two things most people wouldn’t imagine blending well...

Not losing out in the cuteness department, the Flower Sprite had a vaguely feminine appearance that made it look like a fairy. Instead of human features, however, it had appendages that seemed to be formed from plants. Its winges were large leaves, and, as its name implied, it looked a lot like a flower with its petal-formed dress and the flower-like headdress atop its head. It also had compound eyes, much like an insect, and a tiny gemstone embedded in its forehead.

Though the Flower Sprite was the smallest of the Lesser Elemental Spirits, allowing it to sit snugly in the palm of a person’s hand, it was just as powerful as the rest. Its tiny figure belied a truly massive amount of magic power, and, during an emergency, it was able to bind enemies using deceptively powerful Wood Elemental Magic.

On average, it took around one-thousand nascent Elemental Spirits to create a single Lesser variant, so, while the Aspidochelone seemed to be the strongest, they were all around 300BP. Though they would find it difficult to secure a victory, this actually made them stronger than all of the opponents Vahn had faced thus far, the strongest only having a BP of around 250. This put them on the same level as teachers in a Magic Academy, showing just why higher ranking Elementals were considered a threat to entire nations.

It would take a while, but, with Elementals able to subsume natural energy from the environment, it was only a matter of time before the five Elementals he had summoned became much stronger. The best part, however, was the fact that they could regenerate from virtually any kind of wound, so long as there was mana in the environment. Since their presence naturally increased the concentration of mana, any place that housed multiple Spirits would, quite literally, become a Spiritual Land on the level of a Sacred Grounds.

Vahn wasn’t sure how long he would be in the Akamatsuverse, but, at the very least, he would reach Tier 5. Since he didn’t want to become directly affiliated with any country, he decided to simply make a territory for himself, a place where Spirits and magical creatures could thrive. He felt a kinship with the Elemental Spirits, so, in lieu of expanding his Empire into the Magical World, he wanted to leave it in a better state than when he arrived. His actions were guaranteed to cause considerable damage to the environment, so, as penance for the mistakes his future self would make, Vahn was preparing to produce a few Greater Elemental Spirits to watch over the world when he finally departed.

At present, there were a total of nine Greater Elementals inhabiting the various Sacred Lands of the Magical World. Assuming he didn’t intervene, four of these were fated to lose their lives in the Great Magic War, leaving massive scars on the Magical World itself. The remaining five would slowly lose their power due to modernization, so, before that could happen, Vahn intended to provide a helping hand. He generally cared more about the worlds he visited than the people that inhabited them, so it made him feel somewhat melancholic just knowing the innocent Elementals would suffer as a result of conflicts that had nothing to do with them...

As if they could sense his concerns, which very well might be the case, all but the Aspidochelone had congregated around Vahn. Even the nascent Elemental Spirits showed great concern for him, causing Vahn’s heart to lighten as he affectionately caressed each of them in turn...

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While Vahn was setting in motion events that would leave Magical Scholars slackjawed, Rakan had been idling within the Imperial Palace for the last three days. It had been a while since his last visit, so he was enjoying teasing any reasonably attractive female that worked in the Palace. He also spent a fair amount of time teasing the Magistrate, as her reactions were nearly as priceless as those of the Second Prince...

Walking through the vast corridors with a fresh handprint on his face, Rakan followed a familiar path until he reached the first set of doors Vahn had passed through after his arrival in the Record. These obviously led to the Third Princess’ room, and, after knocking loudly on the door, Jack couldn’t help but smile widely as the slightly indented door slammed open. Immediately afterward, a dainty pair of feet slammed into his face, but, like an immovable mountain, he remained perfectly stationary as he said, "It is good to see you too, kiddo."

After bounding off Rakan’s face and nimbly landing on her feet like a gymnast, the Third Princess, Theodora Bashireia Herasu De Vesuperisujimia, affectionately known as Theo to her friends, matched his smile with one of her own as she remarked, "You big lug, how is it your head is even harder than a metal board? It’s no wonder everyone calls you an idiot. How dense is that brain of yours~?"

Rather than take offense to Theo’s words, Rakan released a boisterous laugh that seemed to resound throughout the entire Palace. His voice was so loud that it forced Theo to cover her sensitive ears, a wry smile on her face as she exclaimed, "Are you trying to make me go deaf!?"

Despite how loud his own voice was, Rakan could easily make at Theo’s words, causing his laughter to stop as he plainly said, "I came to talk to the big lizard. Are you busy right now?"

Shaking her head in a way that caused her long bangs to bob from side-to-side, Theo stated, "I have to take a bath pretty soon, but I can spare some time. We’ll have to go to the courtyard though. Vrix is huge so I can’t summon him in the Palace."

Having fought against the Ancient Dragon previously, Rakan knew exactly how monstrous its size was. It might only be around 120m long, but, when it opened its wings, Vrixho seemed to cover the sky with his 250m wingspan. He was several times larger than the most advanced flagships, and, if you failed to make adequate preparations, dealing any damage to him at all was impossible. He was virtually immune to both physical and magical attacks, teaching Rakan an important lesson, there were always greater heights to aspire toward.

Eager to see the only ’person’ he had ever failed to damage, Rakan’s smile widened into a battle-crazed expression as he said, "Well then, let’s get going! Hahahahaha~!"

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(A/N: It was alluded to previously, but Theo looks up to Jack quite a bit. She let her bangs grow out because Jack has unnaturally long bangs (Seriously, the boyo has Sephiroth syndrome). This is one of the many reasons people call her the Tomboy Princess. She does mature into quite the beauty when she is older, but the current Theo looks like a ten-year-old tomboy with short hair. She also likes to wear more manly clothes, much to the chagrin of the Governess assigned to take care of her xD...)

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’This might be the closest thing to a literal ’Sage Dragon’ mode...’,’Vahn, Lord of the Elementals’,’Jack be swaggering around the Imperial Palace like he owns the place xD...’)

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