Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

To say Yura was displeased to learn what had happened to her brother and mother would be the understatement of the century. Had Vahn not been there to intervene, she might have choked the like out of Hwang without a second thought. Fortunately, while she was quite a bit stronger than the average C-Rank Regular, her strength didn’t allow her to act with impunity within the confines of the Little Garden.

Though he felt a little guilty about it, Vahn didn’t have the heart to let Yura kill Hwang. His only real crime was wanting to live, and, though he had employed underhanded means to guarantee himself the chance at life, his transgressions were not carried out with the intent to do harm. Instead, he did his best to be a filial son for Hyejin, and, had she never learned the truth, he would have supported Yura to the best of his ability.

Simply put, Hwang hadn’t actually done anything wrong from a purely objective standpoint. Had he not stepped in, Yura, her unborn brother, and even their mother would have died. She had already been on the run for years at that point, and, after losing her husband aboard the Hell Train, the only thing preventing her from committing suicide was the minuscule possibility that one of her children would survive. Without Hwang’s interference, however, the odds of a successful birth were less than 3%, even with the ’blessing’ of the Ha Family.

While it wasn’t the most ideal solution, Hwang’s efforts had ensured that both Hyejin and Yura were able to survive. Had the former not returned to the Ha Family to accept their judgment, both would have been alive and well to this day. There was no room for debate in this regard, so, while he could understand Yura’s desire to kill the man who had occupied her twin brother’s body, allowing her to kill him was the same as letting her murder the benefactor who had saved the lives of both her, her mother, and, in a way, her brother...

Vahn would never allow someone to be murdered simply because they wanted the opportunity to experience genuine love and affection. He wasn’t fond of the method Hwang had employed, but, considering he didn’t have any other alternatives, it would be unfair to blame him for circumstances beyond his control. Thus, after separating the two, he had Yura confined to her quarters, forcing her to listen as he revealed everything, the motivations of those involved, and the aspirations they each held for the future.

Needless to say, Yura wasn’t at all enthused by how things had developed, but, hearing his pledge to do everything in his power to resurrect her parents, she gradually mellowed out over the course of several weeks. This was aided by the fact he had officially inducted her into his Familia, and, as a result, her strength had been increasing by leaps and bounds. The problem was, despite the efforts and advice of several people, she stubbornly refused to even be in the same room with Hwang. The times they did meet, she pretended like he didn’t exist, and, whenever he tried speaking to her, she would invariably give him the silent treatment. This led to Hwang showing signs of depression, but, with a sizable population of Asteria within the Second Layer, there were plenty of people willing to treat him as kin.

A stark contrast to the situation between Hwang and Yura, the matter of Roen had been resolved relatively smoothly. Daniel had once again proven that his love for Roen far eclipsed his personal wants and needs. He had been fully prepared to die for a chance at restoring her to life, so, despite learning about her change in preferences, he was unwavering in his resolve to see her made whole.

This was where the only hiccup in the situation occurred, as, despite spending the better part of six-hundred-years in the Hidden Floor, Roen was still the same kind and caring woman she had always been. Just as Daniel was willing to sacrifice himself for her, she was fully willing to do everything in her power to force herself to fall in love with him. This was vehemently opposed by Daniel, but, just as she had done countless times in the past, Roen was willing to move forward without minding his objections.

It was around this point that Vahn decided to mediate between the two, offering them a number of alternative solutions that ensured neither would have to compromise. First and foremost, he talked about creating a backup of Roen’s data and reverting it to the state it had been in prior to the time she had spent in the Hidden Floor. This would allow Data Roen, who had already developed an Ego of her own, to continue living among her people without forcing herself to change. At the same time, the backup data would be superimposed onto the current Roen’s fragmented Ego, effectively creating two distinct versions of the same person.

Though they were apprehensive about employing such a method, Vahn managed to convince the duo with relative ease after reminding them that neither version of Roen was the original. There was no reason for them to sacrifice for a version of themselves that was, in many ways, wholly unrelated to them. If they wanted to truly honor her memory, they should be doing everything in their power to live their lives to the fullest, not sacrificing them for the sake of sentiment.

As Vahn could be ’very’ persuasive when he wanted to be, it didn’t take long for Daniel and Roen to agree to his proposition. This resulted in the existence of two different Roen’s, neither of which was in love with Daniel. Fortunately, due to the fragments preserved from the original Roen, the version that had been left in Daniel’s care did possess a particular fondness for the freckle-faced blond. The only downside was that she had also inherited the memories from the period that Daniel was taking care of her. This included some ’very’ embarrassing memories, so, while the seeds of love and trust were there, it would take some time for them to blossom fully.

Fortunately for Daniel, he had a lot of support from the version of Roen formed from the Ego of her data self. She quickly became something of an elder sister for the duo, and, though it was ultimately unnecessary considering Daniel’s and Roen’s characters, she tried playing matchmaker between the two whenever the opportunity presented itself. The rest of her time was spent doing everything in her power to increase her strength, a common trait among former Data Humans.

Due to being unable to increase their strength for inordinately long periods of time, regardless of their efforts, experiencing actual progress was, for lack of a better descriptive, addicting. The led to many former Data Humans seeking power, and, as a result of her rather unique circumstances, Roen was in a position to receive more benefits than most.

In an effort to distinguish herself from the original, Roen asked that her new body have a number of alterations made to its physical appearance. Vahn not only granted this request but, in the hopes of making things a little easier for her, he asked Kisuke to both reinforce her mana circuits and change her race to Amazoness. This was effectively what she and her eleven followers had become, so, after discussing it with the entire group, the Second Layer gained a small population of Amazons focused on becoming stronger.

At this point, the population of the Second Layer had exploded to more than a hundred thousand residents, but, thanks to the unique properties of the Little Garden, there hadn’t been any issues. It was impossible to die from things like starvation, disease, or old age, so, while they did their best to keep up with food production, it wasn’t particularly important. The only reason most people ate was that it was ’mandated’ they do so, as, at some point, every resident of the Second Layer would have to return to the outside world.

Vahn had made sure that the races in his charge understood from the start that he wasn’t going to watch over them indefinitely. As tempting as it was to turn the Little Garden into a multiverse, there were bound to be problems once the population had grown beyond a certain point. The biological immortality provided by the sub-realm was the primary reason for this, but, more so than anything else, it was the ’faith’ of the people within the Second Layer that was a problem.

While it wasn’t an issue in the present, quite the contrary, Vahn knew it was only a matter of time before a societal divide occurred. Immediately thereafter, the belief that presently supplied him a rather substantial power increase would begin to fluctuate as he was forced to mediate between groups with differing values. This was an inevitability derived from the differences between races, and, while it wouldn’t be a problem for quite some time, living within the Little Garden could be ’extremely’ boring at times.

Though he could create a system to help alleviate the boredom of those within, Vahn didn’t want the interior structure of the Little Garden to become unnecessarily complicated. He already had a number of issues managing the Seventh Layer, so, rather than endanger everything for the sake of people who would inevitably turn against him, it was best to help them as much as possible before leaving them to their own devices. That way, they would always remember what he had done for them, and, while there were bound to be people born who didn’t believe in him, the legacy he had left behind would sustain their belief for generations to come.

By introducing new races into the world, Vahn was hoping to increase his power by becoming the progenitor and patron god of various races. This might seem like he was forming a religion of sorts, but, rather than preach a doctrine based on restraint and false promises, the foundational pillars of his belief system included things such as self-mastery, magnanimity, coexistence, and a passionate denial of superiority based on the circumstances of one’s birth. He also taught that children were born without sin, and, while some might be born with contentious elemental affinities, intolerance and fear were the nutrients that sustained the seeds of ignorance and corruption.

Vahn didn’t know how things would turn out, but, so long as implemented a system that reinforced the importance of education and understanding, he was hoping to prevent the spread of corruption in any civilizations built upon his teachings. Yes, it was only a matter of time before things collapsed in upon themselves, but, even if it was only a few thousand years, the people who lived during that time would be grateful for his efforts. Peace was never pointless, and, even if it invariably led to an equally long period of conflict and strife, that, too, would eventually yield to the forces that kept the universe in balance...

Having completed his objectives on the Hidden Floor, Vahn spent the rest of his time watching over the Town of the Wandering Minstrels. Jahad had made a half-hearted attempt to share information with him, but, after refusing his advice the first time, the would-be King never broached the subject again. Instead, he waited until the very last day to invite Vahn to the Hidden Hidden Floor. There, he expressed his desire to format the entire thing, but, as his programming prevented him from doing so, he ultimately left it up to Vahn to decide the virtual floor’s fate.

Since the only resident of the Hidden Hidden Floor at this point was Jahad himself, Vahn agreed to destroy it once he departed. As for the original Hidden Floor, he intended to transplant it into the Little Garden so that the R&D Division could study and preserve it. There, it would remain until the Laws within his Realm could be fully reconciled with those of the current Record. After that, it was a relatively simple matter to incorporate the Hidden Floor into the Moon Cell or convert it into one of Gaia’s Textures. This would allow the natives of the Hidden Floor to grow and develop on their own, wholly unaware of the fact they were originally nothing more than programs within a system...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’The important takeaway from this is that Yura had to exposed her back to Vahn (O w O)...’,’Daniel is a good guy...’,’Getting some Eternal Sphere vibes...’)