Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 1587 Everything in Due Time...

Having obtained Divinities related to Space and Creation, Vahn was only a few Objectives away from completing the Zenith Quest, [Genesis Path: Dawn of Creation]. He had completed all but one of the Optional Objectives, but, if he really wanted to, it was surprisingly easy to create a few unique lifeforms, especially with his [Keeper of the Akashic Tome]. The only real ’downside’, if it could even be called that, was that he would end up with a few more exceptionally loyal subordinates...

One of the most important aspects when obtaining a Divinity related to Creation, even though it seemed rather contrary, was understanding that you should never arbitrarily create anything. As he had learned through his used of the [Keeper of the Akashic Tome], the things you create and name became an intrinsic part of your own existence, so, if you misused the ability to Create, it would be ’very’ difficult to obtain a Divinity related to it.

Fortunately, though it had caused him innumerable problems, Vahn had always been an empath, so, even before he meandered down the path of Creation, he never wandered far. He couldn’t help but care deeply about the things he created, his instincts compelling him care for, spend time with, and love them. This was what truly separated Creators from those who used their mastery over the Laws to artificially create life, and, as a result of the love he felt toward his own creations, Vahn, rightfully, took exception to those who treated their creations as tools...

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Though comprehending the Laws of Time were exceptionally difficult, especially with his existence representing a singularity within the Time Axis, Vahn had been on the cusp of a breakthrough for a considerable amount of time. Fortunately, he had Da Vinci’s brilliant mind to aid him, and, though they might not seem like the best reference to draw from, Vahn could find inspiration in fiction. He knew all fictional worlds, including those based on real-world events, had the capacity to become a Record of their own, so, while some authors took ’extreme’ liberties with concepts such as Time, the Laws were so mysterious and abstract that they had no trouble manifesting in virtually any form...

If Vahn really wanted to, he could create a story where fire ’naturally’ flowed like water, and, rather than oxygen and nitrogen, the people of that world could breathe the void itself. He could make up a completely ridiculous story, and, so long as it became relatively popular, a Record would be born from it. Thus, even if it seemed like a waste of time from a scientific point of view, he had purchased millions of fictional novels, storing them as information within his mind. Then, largely thanks to Sis, he was able to sort through the information, filtering and constraining it into a digestible form that, to an extent, reflected the true nature of the Laws.

Ironically, the only thing preventing Vahn from obtaining a Divinity related to Time was himself. He had known it was possible to reverse the flow of time even back in Danmachi, demonstrating the process for Riveria quite a number of times, but, ever since learning he was a singularity within the Time Axis, Vahn had convinced himself it was impossible to travel back in time. Though this was still true, Vahn had ignored one fundamental flaw in his logic; while it may not be possible to travel to a point in time prior to his entry into the Record, there was nothing preventing him from inverting the flow of causality and entropy, effectively ’reversing’ Time...

When Vahn realized his mistake, he quickly retreated into his own Realm to put the theory to the test, and, as a result, he watched in awe as everyone, including Tier 5 beings like Alaya, Gaia, and Tiamat, moved backward through Time. Though they were still able to perceive that ’something’ had happened, they were unable to understand the cause of the incongruity, interpreting it as a feeling of Deja Vu more than anything else.

Upon realizing the power he held in his hands, Vahn was like a child with a new toy, as, within his Realm, he didn’t have to worry about running out of energy. He could even reverse the flow of Time for the entire Realm all at once, but, much to his surprise, Vahn learned that the flow of Time within other Realms was unaffected by his changes. It could be due to the fact he wasn’t a true Tier 5, but, during his experimentation, Vahn ended up causing Azathoth and Da Vinci quite a bit of confusion...

After a series of long lectures, Vahn spent a few months learning how to properly manipulate the flow and direction of Time within a controlled environment. This, once again, reminded him of how truly brilliant Da Vinci was, as, after granting her the authority to govern Time, she became the one teaching him. Because of her, he came to realize that Time, as Sis had always told him, simply didn’t exist. It was just another aspect of Space, a conditional function specifically tasked with observing the direction of entropy and record the location of individual particles along the Time Axis.

Though it could be ’very’ difficult to comprehend, the easiest experiment to show the relationship between Space and Time involved created an isolated temporal field, similar to a Sub-Space Orb. If you then destroyed an object within the field, taking special care not to use literal Destruction Laws, its constituent particles would basically be spread all over the place. No part of it would actually be destroyed, only converted into a different state.

Most people would mistakenly believe that, if you reverse the flow of entropy around the object, it would simply revert back to its original state, but that wasn’t the case. Depending on how long you waited, the individual particles ejected from the object might have moved outside your domain of control, so, unless your domain was the universe itself, reverting something to its original state was virtually impossible. In fact, if you constrained the temporal field to the dimensions of the original object, reversing entropy might not even leave you with ten percent of the original object...

Fortunately, Da Vinci was never constrained by setbacks, and, having pioneered some of the most advanced quantum and spiritron computers in existence, it didn’t take long for her to come up with a solution to this problem. She referred to this as creating a ’Save State’, borrowing the term from a concept that existed within video games.

Since Time didn’t actually exist, you could effectively ’trick’ distant particles into returning to their original position so long as you established a domain of control before the object was destroyed. In other words, you created a ’Checkpoint’ to serve as a quantum reference point, and, so long as your domain of control was never destroyed, you could effectively create an entropic loop. If you created a trigger that activated upon death, it was possible to have the person infinitely revert back to that same point in Space-Time, and, so long as it remained, they were, effectively, immortal.

Though the results could have been skewed by the fact they did their research within his Realm, it was possible to find countless examples of video-game mechanics within fictional universes. This meant there were an infinite number of Records where the world was structured like a game, and, if he thought back to Sis explanation prior to entering the Akamatsuverse, it was very possible that all Records met this criterion. If he had used his Karma more proactively, he could even turn a Record like Naruto or One Piece into a world with a Leveling System and other RPG elements...

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Following his emergence from within his Realm, Vahn wasn’t surprised when he felt his ’existence’ surge outward. Since this wasn’t the first time he had obtained a Divinity, however, there were no major, ’heaven-shaking’, phenomena created by his ascension. Instead, it was a perfectly natural transition, his Time Divinity forming a pale-grey fragment that seamlessly fused with the golden Creation and bluish-black Space Divinities. They came together to form a tri-colored gemstone that, very slowly, siphoned away a bit of the Source Energy produced by his Soul Realm.

Seeing the indescribably beautiful gemstone lazily floating within him, a calm smile spread across Vahn’s face as he cupped his hands together like someone about to draw water from a river. Near the very center, tiny flakes of green energy began to manifest from the void, coalescing into a tiny green lotus that seemed to be formed from pure, unblemished, crystal. Then, while releasing a very pleasant hum, it began to slowly blossom into life...

Whenever Vahn thought about creating life, his thoughts always took him back to the time he had created Jade, his first true creation. It always made him feel a little sad whenever he recalled the tiny white lotus formed from Pure Fire Elemental Energy, but, knowing they would meet again, he never allowed his melancholy to negatively influence him. Instead, it was one of the catalysts that allowed him to be a Creator, his memories of that time serving as a constant reminder of both his successes and failures...

With the tiny green lotus floating in his right palm, Vahn manifested an equally beautiful blue lotus in his left hand, smiling affectionately as he said, "Celeste...meet Norn..."

Responding to his words, the sapphire blue lotus released a mystical blue light as a resonant chime echoed through the surrounding space. This caused the light emanating from the emerald-green lotus to dim slightly, but, after a few seconds had passed, it gradually recovered before releasing a gentle hum. The two sounds blended together almost perfectly, and, without him directing them to do so, the two loti came closer before seamlessly fusing into a vibrant aquamarine green lotus.

Vahn hadn’t expected the two loti to suddenly fuse, but, considering the intrinsic relation between Space and Time, he wasn’t too surprised. Instead, he tenderly caressed the petals of the combined lotus, eliciting an indescribably pleasant sound for the duo. It was impossible to describe, but, upon hearing it, Vahn felt as if he was becoming closer to the origin of all things. It even reminded him of the Mantra of Eternity, and, though he was capable of experiencing it, his mind couldn’t process the ’truth’ contained within the mysterious sound...

After admiring the fused duo for several hours, Vahn coaxed them apart before having them both return to their dormant state. He had a very specific purpose in mind for the Elemental Loti he had created, and, until he linked the Records together, he wanted to keep them safe within the storage dimension of his Unit Management Function. They were the purest form of Elemental Energy, and, as a result, they were ’extremely’ susceptible to all forms of corruption. If they somehow fell into the wrong hands or developed destructive tendencies, the amount of devastation they could cause was simply unimaginable.

The last thing Vahn needed was for Fate to see the Elemental Loti, and, discovering they had no fate of their own, using them as it pleased. He knew best how inconvenient Fate could be to those who had none, so, until he bestowed them their True Names, Vahn wanted to keep them safe. They had the potential to become the principal representatives of the Laws within his unified Record, so, until he linked Danmachi and reunited them with their big sister, he wanted to avoid assigning them True Names and exposing them to the whims of Fate and Karma...

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Before emerging from his seclusion, Vahn created enough vessels to attend to his numerous duties before turning his attention to the system interface and staring at his Zenith Quest. He now had the option to complete it whenever he wanted, but, if he wanted to obtain the greatest rewards, he still needed to complete the [Divine Father] Option Objective. This required him to create a total of ten unique lifeforms, but, despite being over 273 years old, Vahn had only completed five out of ten.

Fortunately, four of the five had actually been created after he entered the Akamatsuverse, as, for a number of reasons, Zanpakuto were all considered unique existences. With the three Elemental Loti, Lave-tan, and Kyo, Vahn had already completed half of the objective. If he waited for everyone else to awaken their Zanpakutos, he would naturally complete the final objective, so, rather than stress over creating more life, Vahn just decided to wait. At the very least, Musashi and Eva should be able to awaken their Zanpakuto in a relatively short period of time, and, even if it took a few years, Arika, Theo, and Fenrir should be able to figure it out. The only real variable in the equation was Xiao Bai, as, despite having his own Ego and personality, he was still just an extension of an Innate. He might never be able to awaken his own Zanpakuto, as, on the most fundamental level, even his form and personality were completely dictated by Vahn’s perception...

Shaking his head, Vahn smiled calmly as he mused, "So long as I continue to believe he can awaken his Zanpakuto, there is no reason he won’t be able to..."

As Innates had no limits whatsoever, there was nothing dictating that they were unable to produce life. Rather, there were Innates that specifically related to the creation of life, so, with enough time, Vahn was certain the Divine Beasts would become truly unique existences.

Confident in his conjecture, Vahn casually stepped through Space and Time, instantly appearing at the beach house without requiring any energy whatsoever. At this point, Theo’s Resort Diorama had basically become a Sub-Realm of his, so, within its confines, he had an almost inexhaustible amount of energy. In fact, if Eva’s words were to be believed, the number of nascent Elementals within the diorama had reached the point of being able to directly contend against the Magical World itself...

It only took a few hundred nascent Elementals to ensure the health and prosperity of a large city, and, in the entirety of Mundus Magicus, there were only a few million of the intangible creatures. Whenever their population within a given area grew beyond a certain point, they would naturally fuse together, so, generally speaking, the actual population of Nascent Elemental Spirits depended wholly on the amount, and composition, of mana within the environment.

As an endless factory producing Source Energy, Vahn’s influence on his surroundings was, as Eva put it, ’absolutely terrifying’. His presence, alone, could slowly convert an illusory or spiritual space into a physical world, and, when he stayed in one area for an extended period of time, the number of Elementals would increase at a phenomenal rate. His influence was so extreme that, if you were to walk around the constantly expanding island, encountering Lesser Elemental Spirits wasn’t even uncommon. If you ventured to the areas where the concentration of elemental energy was higher, you would even find Intermediate Spirits with enough sapience to converse.

Though there weren’t any Greater Elemental Spirits just yet, it was only a matter of time before one finally appeared. The Aspidochelone, in particular, had already grown to the size of a small island, and, if you sat on the beach long enough, you would eventually see it lazily circling the main island at around 2km/h. If you were especially lucky, you might even see it lift its massive head out of the water for a few minutes, its wrinkled face forming a vaguely human smile as it peered ’through’ you with seemingly blind eyes...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’The burden of a Creator’s love...’,’Da Vinci, the ultimate cheat function’,’Vahn the type of guy that puts on a VR headset and slowly transform it into a real world...’)

(A/N: This chapter, despite its length, took over six hours to write xD...)

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