Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

As a Wandering Minstrel, Mi-eum acted as a guide, scribe, and, loremaster for ’warriors’ venturing through the Hidden Floor. As a result, she knew virtually everything related to historical landmarks, persons of interest, enemy Shinheuh, and, most importantly, the peculiar mechanics that governed the entire Floor.

Though he expected they would prove irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, Vahn had everyone listen attentively as Mi-eum spiritedly explained, "The Hidden Floor consists of various stages, many of which contain rare prizes that can only be found here. To advance to the next stage, you will have to choose from among a list of available Quests, each graded based on degree of difficulty. To start, you need only hold up your hand and say the words ’Quest Screen’~!"

Following Mi-eum’s instructions, Vahn raised his hand, and, as could be expected, a rather stylish system window promptly appeared in response. At present, there was only a single stage listed, but, depending on the choices he made in the future, various paths would open.

Seemingly enthused by his cooperative spirit, Mi-eum’s smile became even more prominent as she went on to explain, "Right now, you’re in the ’Introductory Stage’ that some warriors refer to as the Tutorial. This period of time is intended to help you familiarize yourselves with the basic mechanics and lore of our world. Once we reach the Town of the Wandering Minstrel, your Quest Screen will update to display stages based on your presumed power level. Of course, there is nothing forcing you to complete Quests. If you wish to spend the next couple of months enjoying the hospitality of the Hidden Floor’s residents, we are more than happy to oblige. As visiting Warriors, all food, drink, and supplies found within the Town are absolutely free of charge. There are also a number of other services we provide, but you will have to inquire about those from the Chief Minstrel, Lady Rose."

Given the nature of most Regulars, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what kind of ’services’ the creators of the Hidden Floor had come up with to entertain guests. This wouldn’t have been that bad if the residents of the Hidden Floor were wholly digital existences, but, perhaps as a result of the amount of time that had passed, the system had evolved to the point that important individuals were able to keep their memories post reset. Said memories could be manually erased or even altered, but, so long as they were not directly tampered with, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the majority of Data Humans within the Hidden Floor experienced the same year for eternity.

As if she could understand his thoughts from the subtle changes in his expression, Mi-eum adopted a slightly somber expression as she said, "You don’t have to worry about us. Though we do get the occasional bad seed, the Big Breeders have come up with a system to deter evil and malicious acts. If you check your pockets, you’ll find a device that strongly resembles a pocket watch. This is known as the ’Good and Evil Monitor’. By completing Quests and performing good deeds, the black part of the gauge will begin to fade. Inversely, any bad deeds you perform will cause the black part of the gauge to drastically increase. Once it fills beyond a certain point, your Sworn Enemies will spawn at a random location and begin tracking you down without rest. If you manage to fill up or reduce the gauge completely, a statue of the Evil Giant will either devour or seal away an artifact known as the Fruit of Good and Evil. If the fruit is devoured, the giant will come to life and wreak havoc upon the entire floor until everything has been destroyed. If the fruit is sealed away, each of the warriors on the Hidden Floor will receive a tremendous boon to aid them in their future trials~!"

Nodding his head in understanding, Vahn habitually extended his hand to caress Mi-eum’s head as he said, "Thanks for the explanation. Don’t worry. While I can’t promise we won’t cause a scene, my companions and I have no intention of harming the Hidden Floor’s natives."

With her programming compelling her to pander to and abide by the decisions made by warriors in her charge, Mi-eum made no attempt to evade Vahn’s hand. This made the latter feel slightly guilty, and, for a brief moment, he began to consider whether or not the Virtual World was a healthy thing for his Empire. At the very least, he would need to implement controls to either prevent this type of thing from occurring or come up with measures to isolate and support entities that had ’awakened’ within the digital world...

After a surprisingly long journey through the mountains, complete with a view of the giant statue and the aforementioned Fruit of Good and Evil, Vahn and Co found themselves at the entrance of what appeared to be a city-sized hot spring resort. This was the Town of the Wandering Minstrels, and, as could be expected, nearly every resident was dressed in similar ceremonial attire.

Noticing that most of the residents seemed ’copy-pasted’, Vahn’s earlier frustrations began to relax a bit. This illustrated that people like Mi-eum were outliers, so, at the very least, he wouldn’t have to live with the knowledge that the entire population was imprisoned by their programming. The vast majority followed an adaptive script, and, though a number showed clear signs of awakening, they were generally a part of the group programmed to escort warriors during their journey.

Follow Mi-eum’s suggestion, Vahn booked a room at one of the largest hot spring resorts before taking the girls to dine at one of the most popular restaurants in the city. As Mi-eum had promised, everything on the menu was completely free of charge, as, unlike an actual city, their supplies were functionally limitless.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been a veritable paradise for a glutton like Index, but, undoubtedly as a result of eating Rindo’s food every day, even the most expensive and extravagant menu items tasted rather bland. Fortunately, the kitchen staff had no qualms about letting warriors make use of the kitchen, as, much like the rest of the city, there were no truly off-limits regions. You could even venture into a person’s house, forage through their cabinets, and even make use of their bath without any real repercussions. The only downside was that you risked accumulating evil value, but, so long as you completed a few Quests, you could basically act however you pleased.

Imagining bored, sadistic, or perverse Regulars treating the town as a playground, Vahn couldn’t help but reflect on the structure of his own Virtual World. He knew there were quite a number of people who used the Virtual World to vent their frustrations and live out their deepest and darkest fantasies without consequence. Now, he was beginning to feel like this wasn’t a true solution, and, though it was infinitely better than allowing them to force their fantasies onto real people, one of the things Vahn had come to learn about the nature of existence was that the boundary separating fiction the real world was thinner than most people realized...

Hearing the sound of lively singing resounding from the streets, Vahn emerged from the kitchen to find a peculiar quintet of nearly identical girls entering the restaurant. This was the party headed by none other than Artoria, and, for a number of reasons, every member of her group was what some affectionately referred to as a Saberfaces. This included Artoria, the always-excitable Mordred, the monochromatic Gray, and the two perennial gluttons, Altria and X.

Noticing Vahn’s presence almost instantaneously, natural smiles blossomed on the faces of Artoria and Gray. Before either could say anything, however, Mordred effectively leaped through the air, a vibrant smile on her face as she exclaimed, "Chichiue~!"

Catching his lively princess out of the air, Vahn adopted a notably wry smile as he said, "We just saw each other a few hours ago. You’re acting like we haven’t seen each other for a long time..."

Snickering in response to Vahn’s words, Mordred returned his embrace with her own as she rested her head against his chest and replied, "Two hours, two weeks, or two years. It doesn’t really matter how long we’ve been apart. I can’t help but feel happy whenever we reunite. What, are you actually embarrassed~?"

Exhaling a sigh, Vahn naturally shook his head before planting a kiss on Mordred’s forehead and saying, "Don’t be silly. My day is made exponentially better just by being able to see you smile. I’m just worried we’ll both receive a lecture if we take things too far..."

Understanding the meaning contained within her Chichiue’s words, an awkward laugh emanated from Mordred’s throat as she turned her head to find her Hahaue observing her with a pointed look on her face. This compelled her to loosen her grip and quickly fix her clothes, as, despite the drastic increase in her strength, Mordred found it virtually impossible to contend against Artoria. This was largely due to the difference in their Soul Tiers, but, even more than that, Artoria’s combat prowess had blossomed due to her increased comprehension regarding various Laws.

Nodding in approval of Mordred’s swift recovery of her bearing, Artoria’s expression softened into a smile as she and Gray executed courteous bows. As for X and Altria, the former flusteredly emulated her more youthful-looking counterparts while the latter, as could be expected, shifted her attention to the food, asking, "Can I...?" in a dull monotone.

Gesturing for the others to raise their heads, a lighthearted chuckle emanated from Vahn’s throat as he answered, "Go for it. In fact, I’ll join you. There are a few things I wanted to ask you about before we make execute any future plans."

Seemingly confused by his words, Artoria, Gray, Altria, and X all tilted their heads at the exact same time. This gave Vahn a strong urge to laugh, but, doing his best to restrain the urge, the corners of his smile curled upward as he went on to explain his group’s unique assortment of Sworn Enemies.

Fortunately, while it was all but guaranteed that other versions of himself would appear, Vahn was relieved to know that none of Artoria’s group were responsible for generating a version of himself as their Sworn Enemy. Instead, Artoria’s Sworn Enemy was none other than Merlin, and, as could be expected, Mordred’s was her birth mother, Morgan le Fay. As for Gray, Altria, and X, the first had the misfortune of generating her former obsessor, Svin, while the latter two manifested versions of each other as their Sworn Enemies.

As amusing as it was to hear about Artoria’s, Altria’s, and X’s Sworn Enemies, Vahn couldn’t help but worry about Mordred’s and Gray’s. He knew Mordred had never truly forgiven her mother, as, even after several decades had passed, the former refused to meet with the latter. As for Gray, she put on a strong front most of the time, but, regardless of how much time had passed, she was still haunted by memories of her past. This was one of the detriments of peace, as, without other things to focus on, it gave people ample opportunity to wallow in their past tragedies.

Ideally, Mordred and Gray would be able to overcome their deeply seeded traumas by facing their Sworn Enemies directly. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done, as, for obvious reasons, each person’s Sworn Enemy possessed power comparable to their own. They were also empowered by the perception of whoever had manifested them, so, while the original Svin might have been weak, his SE counterpart was guaranteed to be around Gray’s level.

Fortunately, much like in the real world, Mordred and Gray wouldn’t have to face their pasts alone. They would have the support of everyone around them, and, if necessary, Vahn was willing to step in and eliminate each and every Sworn Enemy with prejudice. After all, while there was much to be learned from facing off against a reflection of your deepest fears, nobody should have to be forced to face their trauma. He also found the notion of other versions of himself rather uncomfortable, so, while he would only step in if it was absolutely necessary, Vahn already harbored a small amount of enmity towards the other versions of himself...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Vahn be casually petting people he just met...’,’Virtual Worlds can be a hell or a paradise depending on the perspective you view them from...’,’Team Saberface has arrived...!’)