Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

"I refuse."

"You can't be serious..."

Surprising Asuka, Yo, and even Black Rabbit herself, Vahn immediately shot down their request to participate in the coming Gift Game. This earned him a glare from the former heiress, but, as he had already made up his mind, he just shrugged his shoulders, explaining, "My Community has declared itself a neutral organization. If I made an exception and allowed the No Names to participate, every Community I refused will cry foul play. Since they won't be able to take out their anger on me, who do you think they will target...?"

With an expression similar to someone that had just swallowed a bug, Asuka remained completely silent in the face of Vahn's reasoning. Yo, however, appeared completely calm as she said, "That's a shame..." before following it up by asking, "Is Fenrir here...?"

Since she didn't want to implicate the children as a result of her selfishness, Yo quickly accepted the reality of the situation. She also knew they would have plenty of opportunities to fight in the future, so, rather than insisting Vahn make an exception, she immediately shifted her attention to far more important matters.

Amused by the animal-loving girl's eagerness, a chuckle escaped Vahn's throat as he said, "Thanks for reminding me. I actually have a present for the two of you."

Snapping his fingers, Vahn caused two Companions to manifest out of thin air. One resembled a Maneki-neko with calico fur along its backside and crimson red fur lining its stomach. The thing that separated it from a normal Beckoning Cat was the fact it was wearing a cat mask and had two tufts of crimson flame for ears. As for the second Companion, it resembled a cartoonish jackal, but, instead of a normal jackal, its body was covered in sleek obsidian fur with accents of pure gold and ghostly blue. It also had long ears, and, much like the Maneki-neko, its face was covered in a mask.

Though Yo's eyes had lit up as if she had just been proposed to by her crush, Asuka adopted a far more cautious demeanor as she asked, "What are these...creatures? Why do their faces look like masks?"

Answering in Vahn's stead, Black Rabbit explained, "These are called Companions. They are basically artificially produced Guardian Beasts. Vahn has been developing them to look after members of the Burgeoning Communities Accord."

Understanding what Asuka was about to say, Vahn raised his hand to silence her, explaining, "I am well aware of the fact your Community does not belong to the BCA. Also, while it is true these two adorable little fellows are Companions, they are among the first of their kind..."

Before explaining what a Companion was, Vahn grabbed the ceramic mask covering the Maneki-neko's face. To the surprise of everyone present, its body spontaneously vanished into strangely cool crimson flames as he positioned the mask over his own face.

Similar to when he entered one of his Elemental Emperor forms, Vahn's body released a burst of crimson flames as his clothes instantaneously changed to resemble a stylish crimson yukata with a calico-themed haori. Then, as he raised his hand to produce ghostly crimson flames, he explained, "Normal Companions are life-long partners that protect their user autonomously. This is a variant I developed after drawing inspiration from a special weapon known as a Zanpakuto. Unlike the usual variety, this particular variant shares its strength with its partner and helps to promote their spiritual development. I noticed your Gifts are heavily reliant on the amount of spiritual energy you have so I developed these two with that in mind. Of course, whether or not they accept you as their partners depends entirely on you..."

Removing the mask, Vahn used telekinesis to direct it to Yo as the jackal-like Companion walked gracefully to Asuka. It didn't actually have a gender, but, based on its inordinate beauty and the natural grace in which it moved, most people would assume it was female.

"You're just giving these to us...?"

Though she had no idea what a Zanpakuto was, Asuka understood enough to know that these Companions would shake the very foundation of Little Garden society. Even humans relied on the development of spiritual energy to transcend their limits. If people learned Vahn had developed a means to naturally promote that growth, they would spare no effort to obtain it for themselves.

Shaking his head, Vahn's expression became stern as he said, "Companions are not objects. They are sapient creatures with thoughts and feelings. If you regard them as pets or convenient tools to increase your power, they will promptly abandon you."

While there were still a number of questions she wanted to ask, Asuka was silenced as Yo, without a moment's hesitation, placed the mask on her face. The Vanargandr-themed onesie she was wearing immediately burst into flames. In its wake, an outfit similar to the one Vahn was wearing manifested to cover her body. Instead of a Yukata, however, she was wearing a calico-themed kimono wrapped in a crimson obi. As for her haori, it was pure white on the outside, crimson on the inside, and lined with golden trim. Last but not least, she had a bright red collar around her neck with a large golden bell resting between her collarbones.

"Whoa..."

Feeling a surge of power spread through her body, Yo couldn't help issuing a soft exclamation. She didn't know how to describe it but it was like her perception had expanded beyond the confines of her body. More importantly, she could still feel a connection to the power she had borrowed from Fenrir.

Trusting her instincts, Yo manifested a peculiar magenta flame in her hand. At the same time, a chill began to spread through the room, as, unlike a normal flame, the pretty purple fire was powered by pure Yin Elemental Energy.

Seeing Yo produce flames in both hands as if it was the simplest thing in the world, most of Asuka's inhibitions faded away. She was actually the weakest among her, Yo, and Izayoi, so, after a moment of deliberation, she gazed into the ghostly blue eyes of the jackal and asked, "Will you lend me your strength...?"

As it had been specifically attuned to Asuka's aura, the jackal Companion merely nodded its head before presenting it to her. In response, Asuka grabbed the edge of its mask and pulled, confusion marring her expression as she felt absolutely no resistance. In fact, as far as she could tell, the mask didn't even have a mass. She could feel it in her hands but the sensation was similar to placing your hand over the vent of an AC on the lowest setting.

Shaking away her fears, a resolute light flashed across Asuka's eyes as she placed the mask over her face. Her red and white dress immediately burst into ghostly blue flames. Appearing in its place was a form-fitting outfit comprised of an obsidian-blue material accented with gold and blue. It left very little to the imagination, and, to make matters even worse, at least in Asuka's opinion, she now had a long and slender tail protruding from her backside.

If it was just the tail, Asuka wouldn't have minded. In fact, she actually thought it looked kind of cool. The problem was that her outfit was basically a futuristic plugsuit. It hugged her body like a leotard and allowed everyone and their mother to view its contours at their leisure.

Covering her modest yet developing breasts, Asuka glared at Vahn as if he were her mortal enemy, shouting, "I should have known you would pull something like this! You...you damned perverted lizard...!"

Were it not for the mask covering her face, everyone present would have been able to see Asuka's beet-red face. She even had tears pooling in the corners of her eyes as she had never in her entire life felt this level of embarrassment.

Reacting to Asuka's surging emotions, ghostly blue flames began to manifest around her body as space within the room began to billow outward, distorting the shape of the room.

Ignoring Asuka's remarks regarding his perversion, Vahn nodded his head, muttering, "Not bad..." in an audibly impressed tone. Asuka may have had no idea what she was doing but it was still quite a feat to distort the remarkably stable space within the Sage Dragon's Hearth.

Thinking he was commenting on her figure, Asuka's face became even redder as she extended her hand to produce a torrent of blue flames. Unfortunately, the flames immediately dissipated as Vahn said, "Calm down. If you confer with your Companion, you'll learn that your appearance has nothing to do with me. Rather, I'm guessing they just prefer sleek and slender designs. If you ask nicely, they should also be able to make adjustments. You really need to stop lashing out at every opportunity."

Though she was anything but calm, Asuka did her best to suppress her turbulent emotions as she attempted to communicate with her Companion. To her considerable relief, she was immediately greeted by a soft and velvety voice that had no qualms with making adjustments to her outfit so long as it didn't feel restrictive or interfere with their movements.

While it wasn't much better, Asuka felt considerably less embarrassed when an Egyptian gown manifested to cover her body. The skirt was a little on the shorter side, barely covering half her thighs, but it was infinitely better than walking around in a skin-tight bodysuit. She already had to tolerate the leers of countless men. The last thing she needed was them staring at the contours of her breasts and butt with only a thin piece of cloth concealing them.

"Now that our resident Ojou-sama has calmed down, how about a short recess? I'm not going to change my mind regarding your participation in the coming Gift Game but I can at least fill your bellies before sending you on your way."

Though his words weren't intended to be an innuendo, Vahn noticed the auras of all three girls fluctuate to varying degrees. The roots of Black Rabbit's hair had even started to turn pink as she had been thinking about pregnancy with increasing frequency over the past couple of months.

Restraining a wry smile, Vahn took the initiative to rise first, saying, "I'll be in the kitchen preparing the food. If you don't want to wait, feel free to look around. Fenrir is in the nursery and the onsen is always available if you want to take a bath. Food should be ready in about twenty minutes."

On that note, Vahn departed from the room in a flash of pale-blue light. In his wake, Black Rabbit, now sporting pink hair, looked towards Asuka and Yo, saying, "I knew Vahn was incredibly generous but I never expected him to simply give away something so incredible. If converted into Gifts, those Companions might be graded as high as S-Rank. I'm not sure the two of you realize just how lucky you are to have received such an amazing gift..."

Snorting through her nose, Asuka was briefly tempted to refute Black Rabbit's words but ultimately decided against it. She wasn't a fool. Rather, back in her world, she regarded as a prodigy in terms of business acumen. Sure, her Authority helped but it wasn't like she had been mind-controlling the entire world. If she made bad decisions, they would have come back to bite her.

Simply put, Asuka understood when she was getting an incredible deal and when she should hold her tongue. She could also tell Black Rabbit was head over heels for the perverted dragon, so, while she still suspected Vahn had an ulterior motive, she wasn't going to badmouth him right in front of his lover.

While that, and many other complicated thoughts were running through Asuka's mind, Yo had a much simpler view of things. Her mask concealed it but a happy smile had developed across her face as she pressed the tips of her fingers together and mused, "I can't wait to show this form to Calico Cat. He is going to be so happy now that we match..."

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Rohan be like...','Casually creating world-breaking creatures...','Yo is precious (U w U)...')