1655 Incredible Boon

Opening his eyes, Vahn saw a familiar living room and a table full of still-steaming food. Not even a second had passed in the outside world, and, no matter how much time he spent inside, his mental and spiritual energy would not recover. As a result, the mental fatigue he had accumulated during his battle against Nagi and his foray through Megalomesembria came back with a vengeance. This, combined with the fact his existence always felt incomparably small outside of his Realm, caused a momentary depressive state to descend upon Vahn's mind.

Fortunately, after a few seconds had passed, these feelings gradually receded as he quickly adapted to the reduced size of his domain. It helped that he could still sense Asuna hiding bashfully beneath the covers in her bedroom, a realization that brought a small smile to Vahn's face as he recalled her previous antics.

Rising from the sofa, Vahn stretched his body a bit before deciding to follow up on his intentions prior to entering the Realm. At the time, he had wanted nothing more than to just take a bath and relax, so, with nothing else to do but sort through some information, he decided to drag himself to the attached bathhouse.

Prior to entering the onsen-like facility, Vahn considered whether or not he should put up a divider for genders in the future, but, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he shook his head. It would be infinitely more prudent of him to create a second bath, as, even if they were just playing around, he wasn't sure he could forgive anyone trying to peep.

Being a pervert wasn't necessarily a bad thing when you were with or around people you shared a mutual affection with. If you were imposing your perversion on unwilling people, however, you had a serious problem, as, regardless of your intentions, it was still sexual harassment. If a woman didn't want you to look at them naked, you had no right to cast your gaze upon them. After all, there was a distinct difference between admiring someone and being a creep, something a surprising number of people failed to comprehend...

Shaking his head, Vahn rinsed his body using the shower before submerging himself into the pale green mineral waters. There were a number of elementals that immediately gravitated towards him, but, without paying them any mind, he allowed his body to sink up to his neckline, his head resting against the warm stone as he released a tired sigh and closed his eyes. Then, as it had simply been too risky to complete it within his Realm, he turned his attention to his Quest log before selecting one of the highlighted options with his mind...

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//Quest Completed//

[Quest: Genesis Path: Dawn of Creation]

Rank: Zenith

Completion Grade: (-)

Objective: Obtain Divinities related to Space:[100%], Time[100%], Creation[100%]

Rewards: 10,000,000,000OP, [Little Realm Guardian Contract]x1, [Book of the Dawn]x1, [Book of the Dusk]x1, [Book of the Twilight]x1

Bonus Rewards: 1,370,000,000OP, [Breath of Life], [Beyond the Flesh], [Divine Father], [Little Garden]

[Little Realm Guardian Contract]

Rank: Unique

Use: Allows the user to summon a Guardian to act as their proxy within Realms under the dominion. The power and capabilities of the Guardian are directly tied to the vitality and stability of the Realm.

Restriction: A Guardian cannot use its power outside their Realm of origin.

[Book of the Dawn]

Rank: Unique

Use: An ancient text that records the history of every entity living within a Realm.

Restriction: Bound to Realm of origin.

[Book of the Dusk]

Rank: Unique

Use: An ancient text that records the names of the dead and all Souls awaiting reincarnation.

Restriction: Bound to Realm of origin.

[Book of the Twilight]

Rank: Unique

Use: An ancient text that governs the cycles of life, death, and reincarnation. Laws written into this text determine the reward for virtue, the penance for sin, and preservation of the Ego upon death.

Restriction: Bound to Realm of origin. Only works when the Book of the Dawn and Book of the Dusk is in effect.

[Breath of Life]

Rank: Unique

Use: A Grimoire that bestows the user with the ability to infuse their vitality and essence into others. Mastery over this ability can drastically extend the lifespan of the user, allowing them to extend the lives of others and even resurrect the recently deceased.

[Beyond the Flesh]

Rank: Unique

Use: A Grimoire that bestows the user with the ability to infuse their vitality and essence into inert, inorganic, objects. Mastery over this ability drastically extends the lifespan of the user, and, under the right conditions, objects influenced by their essence may obtain an Ego of their own.

[Divine Father]

Rank: Unique

Use: A Grimoire that bestows the user with the inheritance of a Primordial God. Those blessed with this inheritance are able to form conceptual offspring within their mind, and, so long as the target is willing, the offspring will carry the traits encoded into them. (A/N: This basically implies that even a normal human could give birth to something like a Cat Person or even a baby Cthulhu.)

[Little Garden]

Rank: Unique

Use: A Grimoire that bestows the user with the ability to create a miniature Realm that is governed by the Law of Progression. Entities inside experience accelerated growth until the point of maturity, never aging beyond their biological prime. If the potential for evolution exists, offspring produced within the Realm will always inherit progressive traits, and, in the event of genetic inbreeding, there is a drastic reduction in deviation rates and birth defects.

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Though it wasn't unexpected of a Zenith Quest, Vahn couldn't help but blow bubbles at the sheer ridiculousness of the rewards he had received. The three Realm-bound books basically provided the user with a form of omniscience, and, though most of the Grimoires were relatively useless to him, Vahn understood their potential very well.

After completing his previous Zenith Quest, Vahn had obtained Grimoires called [Inspiration] and [Might]. The latter had been gifted to Artoria, drastically increasing her raw power, but the former was the more impressive of the two. Though it originally only had the effect of boosting morale and temporarily increasing the capabilities of allies, it only took a few years for the ability to evolve into Fenrir's [Queen of the Pack] Innate. This suggested that the Grimoires functioned like unawakened Innates, and, so long as they were suitable for their user, it was possible to develop them into full-blown Innates with concerted effort.

Since he had been unable to make any real headway on his Innate training in the Realm, primarily due to his omnipotence, Vahn was very tempted to use the Grimoires on himself. Unfortunately, as they provided abilities that he technically already possessed, they were generally useless. Even the ability to determine the species and abilities of his offspring wasn't particularly useful, as, due to the nature of his Source Energy, his children already developed in accordance with the expectations of both parents.

With [Breath of Life], [Beyond the Flesh], and [Divine Father] having little value to him, especially as a Creation God, Vahn turned his attention to the [Little Garden] Grimoire. It actually seemed like the most powerful among the ancient texts, but, similar to the first three, it wasn't all that useful due to the existence of his Realm. The only real benefit it provided was allowing him to cultivate plants and animals within an existing Record, as, even with all his power, Vahn was powerless to remove even a simple stone from his Realm without it turning to ash...

After considering the pros and cons, including losing everything inside when he migrated to a new Record, Vahn ultimately decided to sit up before manifesting a platinum-colored Grimoire from his Inventory. It looked rather generic at first glance, but, with glistening golden pages and a revolving planetoid embossed on the front, even an ordinary person would be able to tell it was anything but normal.

Since the pages of the Grimoire were always blank, Vahn didn't bother to sift through them. Instead, he placed his palm on the surface, his intent sinking into the image of a planetoid as a phenomenal amount of information entered his mind. By the time he opened his eyes again, all that remained of the Grimoire were specks of silvery light that quickly dissolved into nothingness upon contact with the water's surface.

Without paying any attention to the disappearance of the Grimoire, Vahn quickly sorted through the information in his mind before lifting his hand and uttering, "Hortulus(Little Garden)..."

Following his utterance, a pristine blue sphere appeared within Vahn's hand, and, though there were a number of differences, he couldn't help but be reminded of CHALDEAS. It was like he was holding an entire world in the palm of his hand, and, with a simple thought, Vahn found himself in a small garden without any clothes on.

Ignoring his nakedness, Vahn looked towards the azure sky above, his mind feeling a considerable amount of 'latency' due to the distortion of space and time within.

To Vahn's surprise, the flow of time within the Little Garden moved nearly one-hundred times the rate of the outside world. There was also a truly absurd amount of vital and life energy contained within, greatly eclipsing even a World Tree in its potency and concentration.

After taking a few deep and refreshing breaths, a natural smile spread across Vahn's face, followed by an urge to spread his arms and fall back into the dew-covered grass surrounding him. The Little Garden was an extremely relaxing place to be in, and, if not for the fact it placed a heavy burden on his mind trying to maintain his other vessels, he wouldn't mind just taking a nap without his domain activated...

While deciding he would make time to relax in the Little Garden in the future, Vahn began to take in his surroundings using his original five senses. He noticed he was in the center of a small island that existed within a much larger lake. The only flora present was the grass beneath his feet, so, with his enhanced vision, Vahn was able to see an endless grassy meadow surrounding the lake, seemingly stretching far beyond the horizon.

Deciding it would be best to ascertain more of the garden's structure, Vahn took a few breaths to relax his mind before slowly ascending into the sky. Controlling his body was pretty difficult right now, but, so long as he retained his focus, there were no actual restrictions on his abilities.

After ascending a few hundred meters, Vahn couldn't help but raise his brows slightly as he noticed the garden was similar to a target. The island he had manifested on was like the center, surrounded by a perfect circle of sapphire blue water that was, in turn, surrounded by lush green meadows. This pattern seemed to continue indefinitely, but, after ascending a few hundred meters, Vahn noticed it seemed to cut off at a distance he approximated to be 23km, similar in size to his domain...

---

With nothing to do within the Little Garden, at least for the time being, Vahn retracted his intent from the interior, finding himself back in the murky green waters of the bath. The surprise of the elementals and the rippling of the water implied that his physical body had actually entered the Little Garden, but, regardless of how he moved within, it seemed he would always revert back to whatever position he had been in prior to entry.

Deciding he would explore the capabilities of the Little Garden more in the near future, Vahn let the baseball-sized orb disappear as a wry smile spread across his lips. His brain felt like it was pulsating in tune with the beating of his heart, but, even if there was a literal spear sticking through his head, Vahn would be able to pull off an 'unaffected' smile. Scathach's training had made sure of that, and, after decades of martial discipline, he could even emulate being completely emotionless if he really wanted to.

The only time Vahn really struggled with controlling himself was when he was around the people he cared about. Thus, as the door to the bath slid open, Vahn maintained a wry smile on his face as he looked over his shoulder and mused, "You certainly bounced back quickly..."

Hearing Vahn's remark, Asuna bashfully averted her eyes, her right hand combing through her hair as she hugged a white towel to her chest, partially concealing her naked body. She would normally be fine even if she were completely naked, but, after the previous kiss, Asuna was feeling a mixture of emotions she wasn't quite sure how to deal with. Her body felt lighter than usual, and, though it wasn't the first time she had felt something similar, the fluttery feeling in her chest was far greater than anything she had experienced previously.

After taking a few seconds to organize her thoughts, Asuna peeked over at the still-smiling Vahn, a look of conviction spreading across her countenance as she nodded to herself. Then, after allowing the towel to fall to the ground, she smacked both of her cheeks, seemingly in an attempt to psyche herself up before stating, "I'm going to wash your back. When I'm finished, you can help me wash my hair. Make some room."

Though there was plenty of space in the rather massive tub, Asuna wanted Vahn to move away from the side so she could nestle in between. She liked to rest her back against the warm stone, and, though she used to enjoy nestling in his lap, she had quickly come to realize the dangers of such a position after what Vahn referred to as a 'lucky pervert' moment. Since then, she had been too embarrassed to assume such a position, as, even after more than a year had passed, she could vividly recall the incident in her mind.

Feeling that her thoughts were wandering a bit too much, Asuna decided to enter a pseudo-State of Nothingness as she submerged her body in the warm waters. Her expression instantly became a perfect mask of calm, but, after realizing she had forgotten both a rag and a sponge, a subtle blush spread across Asuna's cheeks as she began to lather her bare hands with soap. At the same time, a knot began to form in her throat as she internally remarked, ("I wonder if this also the influence of Fate...") before running her palms along Vahn's sculpted back...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'He did the thing (O . O)...','Imagine leaving two goldfish in the pond and then returning to find millions xD...','Asuna is quite 'lucky'...')

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