Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 86 - *Spoilers: Title at End*

The man remained silent after hearing Vahn’s demand. Looking around, he could see that all of his companions were still breathing so he released a sigh. Vahn waited for the man to speak, but after seeing him remain silent for more than twenty seconds, Vahn removed the hood masking the man’s features. The moment the hood was removed, Vahn saw two pointy black ears reveal themselves.

The ’man’ ended up being more like a ’boy’, as he looked to be around 13-14 years old. Though the boy’s face was pale from the pain and bloodloss, Vahn could see his skin was a natural olive-brown color. Atop his dark-brown, almost black, hair stood two large pointed ears covered in fur. The ears were unlike any cat person or chienthrope Vahn had ever seen before. The most notable features of the boy were the pale gold markings on his face and the pale-red wine colored eyes.

The large-eared boy continued to stare at Vahn with a hint of blame and anger in his brows. He seemed to be contemplating something and kept looking toward his leg that had been severed by Vahn previously. When Vahn had removed the poison earlier, he also channeled his energy into the leg to re-attach it. The boy hadn’t recovered its use due to his shattered knee, but with rehabilitation, he would be able to walk again.

Vahn, though he didn’t care about the hooded figures, noticed none of them had the black auras as the previous three he had observed earlier. Though there was no doubt they were tracking him, Vahn didn’t think they were after his life. The only things that confused him were the black knife and the reason they had to track him in the first place.

"I said talk. The longer you stall, the worse their injuries become." Vahn gestured towards the people laying on the ground. The boy followed his hand as his frown grew deeper. After a few more seconds of hesitation, he grits his teeth and asks, "Will you make a vow to spare them if I talk?"

Vahn frowned in turn before responding, "I will vow to spare them if they do not pursue or attack me. But, you must also vow to speak the truth or I won’t hesitate to go back on my word." Vahn looked into the boy’s eyes and after a few seconds the boy raised his hand and made the oath. As they both possessed crests, they were bound by their vows or risked permanently losing their falna and bearing the mark of a curse.

Vahn, after waiting for the boy to finish, also made his vow using their agreed upon terms. Aftward, he recovered the bodies of the other hooded figures and unmasked them. Vahn did this to allay the doubts of the boy and make him speak more easily. Even if he was bound by a vow to tell the truth, there were loopholes to everything. After he had gathered everyone, Vahn noticed their auras became more stable after seeing that everyone was alive.

"Speak. Tell me why you were tracking me and what you intended to do when you found me." Vahn moved about 3m away and surveyed his ’captives’. Like the boy, they were all very young, most looking to be around 10-13 years of age. They had the same colored skin, dark hair, and pointy ears that seemed a size too large for their heads. Among the group of seven, there were four males and three females. The males all had golden markings on their faces while the females had red markings. Each of them had the same light-red wine eyes. (A/N: I want to say rose-colored so badly.)

The boy, who Vahn believed to be their leader, nodded as he began explaining their purpose. It turns out they were foreigners from the Southern Sands and belonged to the Anubis Familia who had followed their Goddess into the City only recently. Their orders were to track Vahn down and, if possible, capture him and bring him to their Goddess. The boy said he didn’t know why his Goddess wanted to meet Vahn, but that she was acting at the request of a God called Osiris. They didn’t know what agreement Osiris had with their Goddess but he seemed very hostile towards Vahn. Members of the Osiris Familia had tipped them off earlier about Vahn’s existence, so the group had set out in pursuit.

Vahn listened to the story and became confused. He couldn’t understand why a god he had never even heard of was hostile towards him. According to the boy, Osiris had also just recently entered Orario, so there should be no connection between him and Vahn. After asking a few questions to allay his concerns, Vahn’s frown only grew deeper after receiving no real answer. Lastly, Vahn decided to ask questions about the Anubis Familia.

"What is with your group? Why are you all kids, and I’m not sure what race you are." Though it wasn’t uncommon to have children in a Familia, the fact that the entire group seemed younger than him and yet they were expected to track others was odd to Vahn.

The boy frowned like he was insulted before he answered, "We’re chienthropes, but all the members of the Southern Tribe have dark hair and pointed ears. We’ve been trained by our Noble Goddess Anubis to track criminals and possess an unrivaled sense of sight and smell. Lady Anubis taught us how to survive and saved us from the life of a street orphan. Don’t look down on us just because we’re young!"

Vahn noticed that while the boy was letting out his frustrations, his ears began to twitch which made his anger seem more comical than threatening. He stifled a laugh, which the boy seemed to realize as he started gritting his teeth.

Vahn shook his head and sighed. "I can’t meet your goddess now, as I’m on a mission, but as long as she harbors no ill will towards me she can always pass a message to my goddess Hephaestus. After I’ve finished my mission, I don’t mind meeting her personally." Vahn didn’t believe that someone who took in orphans was a bad person. The fact their orders were just to capture him was enough evidence to convince him.

A thought passed through his mind, so Vahn asked,"That knife. What kind of poison was on it?" Vahn remembered that, even though the boy claimed to only want to capture him, he tried using a poisoned knife to attack at the end. Remembering how the boy frothed at the mouth, Vahn thought it was a very potent toxin.

The boy answered, "It’s a poison that causes people to become disoriented and eventually pass out." After hearing the words, Vahn was confused. "Why did you froth at the mouth and act like you were dying then?" The boy flinched when Vahn asked his question and looked at him with an incredulous expression. "You threw the knife into my kneecap and shattered it! It f.u.c.k.i.n.g hurt!!!" The boy yelled the words with tears in his eyes.

Seeing the tears and hearing the boy shout, Vahn began to feel guilty about his own actions. He had noticed none of them had black auras, so maybe he should have held back more...Shaking his head, Vahn decided he wasn’t wrong to take the actions he did. If he didn’t have ’View Affection’, there was no way he could have recognized them as anything other than assassins. They were very lucky he hadn’t killed them all, as he would have been justified in doing so according to common logic.

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They continued to talk for a while longer while Vahn began treating their wounds. None of them tried to attack him, and they even had a bit of fear in their expressions as they accepted his treatment. Vahn felt especially bad for the two he had shot with the arrows earlier. They were both girls, around twelve years old, and he had hit them in the area right above their bushy tails. Even after he healed them, they looked at him with eyes of resentment after having to expose their backs to him.

Though Vahn felt awkward under their gazes, he pretended to be unperturbed and helped treat the entire group. After everything was done, Vahn wrote a letter that the goddess Anubis would be able to pass on to Hephaestus if she had no ill intent. Vahn trusted Hephaestus to see through the unknown Goddess, so if she didn’t receive the letter he would know it was a trap. Handing the letter to the boy, who had identified himself as Rasui, Vahn allowed them to leave.

After a few minutes, the group had left the range of his domain and Vahn released a heavy sigh. At least he managed to obtain information about some of the people scheming against him. The letter also informed Hephaestus about the ill intent of the god Osiris, and he believed she would take action after knowing. With the speed of the group and the fact they held resentment towards Osiris’s lackeys after this event, they would be out of the dungeon by tonight. If things went well, Hephaestus would receive the letter early tomorrow morning.

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After trekking through the forest for half an hour, Vahn finally came to a clearing that had a small pond that was fed by a creek. Taking the opportunity while no-one was around, Vahn took a bath and washed his clothes. The water was incredibly cold, but Vahn could keep himself warm by channeling his [Heart of the Eternal Flame]. Not only did it make him fireproof, but by activating it he could resist the cold as well.

Once he had finished bathing, Vahn spent an hour mapping the area. Even though Rasui’s group didn’t have any malicious intent, it didn’t change the fact there were still members of the Osiris Familia that wanted to harm him. He would have to keep on-guard until he was able to return to the City and sort things out with Hephaestus and Anubis. Hopefully, Anubis was the noble person her children believed her to be, and Vahn wouldn’t have to guard himself against two Familia at once.

He at least had the benefit of meeting members of the Anubis Familia and identifying them. According to Rasui, every member of the Familia was a chienthrope from the Southern Tribe, so Vahn was able to recognize their members by smell as long as he was in his Báihǔ form. Osiris seems to have formed his Familia after entering Orario, unlike Anubis who had migrated her people into the City.

Vahn looked around the area until he found a tree with a large canopy with poor visibility from the ground. Climbing to one of the larger branches, Vahn stretched himself out before laying on the branch. Vahn had long possessed the ability to remain absolutely still while sleeping, so even laying on a branch wasn’t dangerous. Spreading out his domain, Vahn slowly drifted off to sleep after inspecting his status.

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[[Stats]]

Name: [Vahn Mason]

Age: 14

Race: Human, *sealed*

Parameter: [Danmachi: 1-4]

-Level:2(+)(2)

-Power:1001+(B714)->(B760)

-Endurance:1108+(S998)->(SS1019)

-Dexterity:887+(C686)->(B737)

-Agility:940+(B751)->(A822)

-Magic:1611+(SS1072)-(SSS1114)

Total:5547+(4221)->(4452)

Soul Strength: Tier 2 (Hero Soul)

[Karma]: 1,219

[OP]: 234,241

[Valis]: 171,630

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(A/N: Vahn didn’t kill a lot of monsters on the 17th floor as they were usually alone or small groups. Also, you don’t gain exilia from fighting or killing the sentient species and those with falna unless its an official duel where you made a vow. Murder isn’t really accepted by the gods~!)

Title: Osiris : Anubis

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Vahn uses his brain’,’Vahn : Bully’,’Ouch!’,’RIP Osiris’)