Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though Europe didn’t fit the traditional definition of a Continent, as it was just the western section of a much larger landmass, there was a reason the Mage’s Association had made it their core. It had the largest number of leylines present anywhere in the world and, with the exception of Egypt and a few regions of China, it had the closest connection to the Age of Gods. As a result, it served as a gateway of sorts for accessing the Reverse Side of the World and, despite their doctrine directly opposing the existence of Thaumaturgy, even the Catholic Church had exploited this property for their own gain.

Since Avalon was also located in Europe, it was the most obvious choice for building a Supercolony. It was the region that would be most heavily affected by the coming convergence so, in preparation for what was to come, it was necessary to develop precautions against Gods, errant Spirits, and the Phantasmal Species that would soon return to the Surface.

With this in mind, most of the Empire’s forces had been consolidated around modern-day Czechia, specifically around the former capital, Prague. Here, much of the historical city had been reduced to a flat plot of land, one surrounded by a massive ivory wall a startling 50m in height. Though this was a relatively short wall from Vahn’s perspective, it was monstrously tall from the perspective of normal humans. Even the Great Wall of China was only around 12-14m at its highest point, making the ivory white walls of the nascent European Supercolony tower over most modern structures.

For the people that had seen the wall be built in a short two weeks, they had completely given up any semblance of resistance against the Empire. Even the former citizens of Prague accepted the loss of their city as, prior to the Supercolonies destruction, they were arranged temporary living quarters, ample food, and access to various temporary facilities. This included an Immigration Office where, so long as you were willing to uphold the Common Law, you were provided with a Companion, a set of form-fitting clothes to wear under your normal attire, and, as a way to entice even more people, full treatment of any past medical issues.

It hadn’t been long since the world was set on its current path so, while information regarding the existence of Alchemy and advanced medicine had been made public, most people didn’t have the time to focus on developing even basic potions. Thus, with Paracelsus and Tristana literally healing things like blindness, deafness, lost limbs, and chronic diseases, a considerable number of people had been willing to take the Oath of Citizenship in exchange for treatment.

Though there was a bit of resistance to the Companions, as the catalog detailing their treatment was offputting for those who had never even had a pet, it didn’t take long for their popularity to increase. After all, while adults could be skeptical to a fault, it was hard to hate something that was both cute while simultaneously helpful. The hardest part for most people was treating Companions as partners rather than pets. After that, it was accepting the fact that, despite the number of children they had, a number of people were simply ill-suited to being parents.

The Empire advocated that people be able to live freely but that didn’t mean they were simply able to live however they pleased. If they had bad habits or poor parental skills, the Companions weren’t going to just stand around and watch a drunkard beat their wife and children. Their opinion in the matter meant absolutely nothing to the Common Law as no child deserved to suffer violence and mistreatment from the people they should have been able to trust above all others.

It would take a while but, given enough time, people would learn to accept that being a parent didn’t grant you the right to treat your children however you pleased. You had an obligation to do your best to protect and love them, regardless of your personal faults and burdens. If you couldn’t do that, you didn’t deserve to be a parent from the very beginning. No child deserved to suffer just because their parents were ill-suited to taking care of other people so, if necessary, the Companions would become the primary caretakers of the children; backed by the Empire.

This reality was impossible for some people to accept so, despite considerable protests, the Empire did not hesitate to separate Companions and children from bullheaded parents. Those that tried to fight the process had their crimes publically exposed and, if they attempted to cause trouble, incite a riot, or slander the Empire would face expulsion from the community. If they wanted to retrieve their children, they would need to prove themselves capable of parenting over a probational period, not stir up trouble just because they believed they were entitled to the lives they had created, regardless of whether or not their children were happy...

Once the outer wall of the European Supercolony had been completed, Vahn had arrived alongside Boudica and Nero to survey the land and its surroundings. The chances of an enemy attacking were all but guaranteed so, in preparation for the coming conflict, it was necessary for them to familiarize themselves with the terrain, the people, and environmental factors.

Seeing the massive wall, with a circular diameter of 300km, Nero couldn’t help but whistle, her hands on her hips as she mused, "To construct something of this magnitude in such a short period of time; the Empire is, truly, without equal. Umu, I’m starting to feel motivated."

Nodding her head in agreement, Boudica looked around at the vast expanse of land, the place that would effectively become her dominion in the future. She couldn’t even fathom what it would be like to have upwards of a hundred million people living in close proximity to each other but, trusting in the plan formulated by Vahn and his advisors, she decided not to question it. The only thing she had to worry about was protecting this land from those who would seek to bring it to ruin...

While Nero and Boudica were familiarizing themselves with the region, Vahn was silently observing the people gathered outside. He could feel a palpable animosity present within the community, one which needed to be dealt with before people were allowed access to the Supercolony. Unfortunately, there was little he, personally, could do to remedy things as people were not so easily convinced.

By the time the Supercolony had been completed, most of the people wanting to move inside would find themselves barred entry. After all, it wasn’t meant to be a shelter where people just leeched off the resources of the Empire without contributing anything. Though most people would quickly fall in line when their livelihoods were at stake, Vahn knew a considerable number of dissidents expected to be allowed within the city. When they learned they couldn’t get in, they would undoubtedly try to deter others from going inside and, in the worst-case scenario, attack those trying to gain entry.

At times, Vahn was tempted to just use the Heaven’s Feel ritual to get rid of the people who had no intention of even trying to get along with others. Unfortunately, this would be the same as running away from a problem he had created so, no matter how difficult things got, he would continue to try and remedy things using less ’extreme’ methods. Eventually, he would cut off food and supplies to those still opposing the Empire as, if they had no intentions of changing, they would be left with no choice but to support their own way of life, still bound by the Common Law.

Soon enough, the Common Law would be upheld with prejudice as it was the only way to convince those in opposition to the Empire to acquiesce. Until they were forced to face the consequences of their actions, those manipulating others to secure power for themselves would never cease leading others astray. These were the types of people Vahn hated more than any other as, in order to keep their ill-gotten positions, they would resort to the cruelest acts imaginable, all while believing they were in the right...

Just as Vahn was about to release a tired sigh, a fair white index finger poked him in the cheek. It belonged to none other than Nero and, upon seeing him look back at her, she smiled happily and said, "Even when things get difficult, you should continue smiling. Umu, a lot of people rely on that smile of your’s so don’t hide it away, Master~."

Hearing Nero’s remark, Vahn issued a light-hearted laugh while caressing the top of her head. This caused Nero to ’Umu’ proudly, her hands on her hips as she graciously accepted his praise. She was the type of woman who enjoyed being praised without any shame so, even if there was a crowd of people around them, Nero would, at times, openly ask for head pats. Vahn had gotten used to this so, even without her asking, he had developed the habit of stroking her head whenever she was in his effective petting range.

After a while, Boudica ended up giving Vahn a ’warning’ look so, as much as he enjoyed caressing Nero’s silky-smooth hair, he ultimately retracted his hand and said, "After you finish your survey, let me know what kind of forces you think you’ll need. If you feel uncertain about anything, Ark can help by making suggestions about personnel deployment and the allocation of resources. You don’t have to worry about the construction efforts themselves as the Dwarves have agreed to help excavate and lay the foundation. Within the next three years, this place will become a marvel of engineering unlike anything the world has ever seen..."

Since it wasn’t really something that could be easily imagined, Nero and Boudica just smiled along with Vahn while imagining the grand city that was expected to emerge within the next three years. If not for the fact the walls they stood upon hadn’t even existed a few weeks prior, they would find it very difficult to believe such a marvel of engineering could be completed in such a short period of time. Now, they looked forward to it with great anticipation and, in order to make sure nothing ran amiss, they would do their best to protect the nascent Supercolony.

Overlapping with his escorting of Nero and Boudica, Vahn was simultaneously idling about in his, Da Vinci’s, and Sophia’s workshop. He had originally come with the intention of discussing any changes to their initial projections but, after finding Sophia trying to test a pair of ’universal boots’, all while Da Vinci busied herself with other work, he ended up babysitting his most brilliant yet troublesome daughter.

Now, Vahn was walking on the roof with the Sophia monitoring various panels within her personal hovercraft. She used a pen-like stylus to quickly draft up new designs in one hand while, with no loss in focus, observing the readings of the boots while having her Papa perform various trials. In truth, it didn’t really matter whether or not he had volunteered to assist, as her suit allowed her to fall from virtually any height without injury, but she still appreciated his willingness to assist.

Since she had aspirations of building a personal spacecraft and moon base, Sophia had come up with several inventions that would allow her to easily traverse within a vacuum. These boots were no exception to this as, by relying on a neural link and an on-board computer, they were able to adapt to virtually any surface by using millions of tiny nano-machines to prevent detachment. This, when combined with her previous inventions, would allow her to freely navigate within a neutral or zero-g environment with considerable ease.

Now, Sophia just needed to test their functionality in actual space, an environment where radiation and other factors needed to be accounted for. Thus, while her Papa was still messing around on the roof, she pulled out his ultimate weakness, her face forming a radiant and hopeful smile, her eyes glimmering with expectation as she asked, "Papa, can we go to space~!? I promise I won’t wander off this time~!!"

Hearing Sophia’s words, Vahn nearly fell from the roof but, due to the nanomachine tread, he ended up sticking without issue. Then, rather than answer Sophia directly, he looked toward Da Vinci to find her smiling toward him with an amused expression. This indicated she had already given permission to Sophia, so long as he was in agreement. Since he didn’t have the heart to refuse such an earnest request from his brilliant little genius, Vahn ultimately released a small sigh before flipping down to the ground and answering, "Sure, that sounds like fun. Don’t think I won’t spank you if you break your promise though."

As she had received a number of light spankings in the past, Sophia flinched atop her seat but, in the name of scientific progress, she couldn’t be deterred by something as base as corporal punishment!

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Don’t you tell me how to raise my kids! *proceeds to beat them after drinking themselves into a drunken stupor* Aye knows was besht *hic* for them...!’,’Vahn surrounded by loyal women’,’FOR SCIENCE!’)

(A/N: As some already guessed, I haven’t been feeling well since yesterday so my schedule is all over the place. Sorry for the late chapter today but I ended up sleeping for about eleven hours xD...)