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Chapter 1233 - A Master\'s Duty

Vahn was always surprised with how aggressive Artoria could be when she was in control but, when remembering that she had a wife of her own, it wasn’t hard to understand where her confidence came from. Since Gray put a lot of trust in her, obediently following her distant Ancestor’s lead, the two could play off each other in a way few others could emulate...

Shaking his head to clear his wayward thoughts, Vahn’s attention returned to the present moment. Though it was very pleasant it was to reminisce about such things, as his recollection of events was borderline perfect, he had other matters to attend.

Now that his short break had come to an end, Vahn picked up his hammer once again, an act that caused his mind to immediately focus as the atmosphere around him changed subtly. He had just finished replenishing his reserves so, without wasting any time, Vahn began to hammer the piece of dark-red metal before him without even heating it up.

With each successive hammer strike, a pulse of sorts would spread through the hammer without even producing any sound. Vahn was constraining his domain around the blade itself, trapping in his Source Energy and causing the blade to heat rapidly, even without a forge. This was a technique that Scáthach had suggested he work on as, if he could get used to refining and shaping metal without the use of a forge, it would make his future projections far more powerful.

Though this might seem like a downgrade compared to shaping the blade and enhancing it directly, it gave him a lot of practice with his domain and helped externalize the ’image’ inside of his head. Since his domain was essentially an extension of himself, Scáthach believed he could even overcome his weakness of being able to use his Source Energy externally.

In the end, it all came down to control and, though he might waste a lot of Source Energy during the process of casting spells, there was no reason why he couldn’t shape and control the energy after the fact. Instead of letting it dissipate, his current training direction involved manipulating the end result of Magic spells, greatly increasing his efficiency by preventing unnecessary waste. Since it was a lot like Elemental Manipulation, Vahn had already achieved some success so, in order to push his skills further, his demonic Shishou had him work on fine-tuning his control...

After a short seventeen minutes of hammering, Vahn held up the white-hot blade without using any tools whatsoever. It had a slight rainbow hue to it and, even without placing it into his Inventory, he could discern its rating to be near A-Rank. Since his goal was to push himself to the point of being able to shape middling, or even peak, A-Rank equipment, this was just another small step toward his goal.

Before the blade had even cooled, Vahn focused his mind and whispered in a solemn tone, "You will be [Proto Laevateinn V113]." This caused the blade to darken, gaining a basalt hue as the runes he had set into its surface began to glow dark-red with wisps of flame dancing across its surface. The mere act of naming it cemented the blade at the A-Rank and, so long as he channeled his Source Energy into it, it could serve as a powerful Mystic Codex.

Once the blade had become dormant, Vahn checked its status and, after giving an approving nod, tossed it into his Inventory alongside the other 112 iterations of the same weapon. In the future, he wanted to be able to emulate Gilgamesh’s [Gate of Babylon] and, as he had made some progress in his [Acceleration Gate] Magecraft, he needed a lot of expendable weapons. Though it might be cruel to the blades themselves, they had been created for the purpose of destruction and, so long as he had the time, Vahn would recover their materials and reforge any damaged ones.

Though he still had an ample amount of Source Energy to expend, Vahn liked to be at his peak when forging as, even more so than the materials themselves, the mentality of the Blacksmith determined the final quality of their products. Thus, as his reserves gradually replenished themselves, he allowed his mind to wander to the day of Artoria’s reward. This time, rather than envision the two in lingerie, he had a grin on his face as he remembered Artoria making him swear never to tell anyone that he had her dress in a version of tiger pajamas that had an ’ease of access’ hatch...

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After completing up to [Proto Laevateinn V120], Vahn decided it was time for a much longer break as he had already spent more than forty hours within the Space-Time Orb. On his way out, he made an updated version of his memory fragment before leaving behind a few research and entertainment materials. He then bid farewell to his counterpart and the small host of Companions that now called the Space-Time Orb home after he asked Da Vinci to produce a Nexus and a Factory for his personal use.

Though it was impossible to bring Companions into the Space-Time Orb directly, despite them being largely inorganic, there was nothing preventing him from bringing in the equipment required to produce them. Now, rather than a simple domicile and forge, the interior of the Space-Time Orb looked like a high-tech laboratory and, instead of empty white space, there was now a small forest that had grown over the hundreds of years that had passed within the Orb.

Upon leaving the Space-Time Orb, Vahn immediately felt a familiar warmth surrounding his body. He opened his eyes and smiled affectionately at the girl laying to his right, as she snuggled up against his body, ears twitching periodically. She produced a lot more body heat than the person on his left but, for two very obvious reasons, Vahn couldn’t help but be hyperaware of Iris. Currently, she was using his shoulder as a pillow while tightly holding on to his arm to the point it was nestled between her b.r.e.a.s.ts while his hand was dangerously close to a far more potent source of heat.

This wasn’t the first time he had shared a bed with the mother-daughter duo, as he would usually stay with them at least once during a day-night cycle. Recently, however, he felt that Iris’ defenses had lowered considerably and, though it was subtle, she seemed to be becoming more emboldened with the passage of time. A few weeks ago, Projection time, she had even started wearing a negligee rather than normal pajamas, claiming it was more comfortable. Since Illya hadn’t offered any kind of objection, Vahn had accepted her excuse at the time but, now that his arm had been ’claimed’ by the immaculate beauty, he could feel what little inhibitions he had toward her slowly chipping away.

Fortunately, as he had timed his use of the Space-Time Orb with the moment they were supposed to wake up, Vahn managed to extricate his arm from the sleeping beauty, waking her and Illya in the process. The latter sat sleepily atop the bed as she released a long, drawn-out, yawn. Since she had long ago developed the habit of using his shirts as pajamas, the sleeves dangled adorably beyond the reach of her arms as she stretched her body.

While Illya was slowly building the resolve to leave the bed, Vahn gave her head a few pats, causing her ears to twitch happily as she mumbled a girlish, ’mnnyaa~’. This earned her an elegant giggle from Iris who, after waking, dutifully hopped out of bed to get changed. Since wearing accessories for a long period of time could sometimes be uncomfortable, most people would take them off before going to bed. This allowed Vahn the option to watch Iris dress down into nothing but her underwear as she took her sweat time to pick out an accessory for the day.

Though he never stared directly, Vahn was very aware of what Iris was doing as, for better or worse, his senses allowed him to perceive such things in high definition. His mind stored this information passively and, with perfect recall, he could even ’remember’ a scene from a perspective other than his own. This was a dangerous voyeuristic capability that he tried not to exploit so, in order to avoid the ’trap’ Iris had set for him, Vahn kept himself distracted by helping Illya prepare for her day. She used to get annoyed at him for treating her like a child but, as she was far from a morning person, she had eventually accepted his assistance graciously.

After escorting the two to the Library, where they often spent the majority of their time, Vahn began to consider how he should spend his time. Since he generally didn’t plan his evenings to the same extent as his days, due to this being the period where he usually spent time with his various lovers, Vahn had quite a few options.

Usually, when he couldn’t think of anything on the spot, Vahn would just go pander to the pregnant troupe as, while it was somewhat troublesome at times, he genuinely enjoyed being together with them. This time, however, he turned his head to Gareth who, knowing full well when he would wake up, had arrived outside of Iris’ room around half an hour prior. She used that same time to get some rest herself so she was always in an upbeat and happy mood by the time she greeted him.

With her Master looking toward her, Gareth’s smile instantly became more radiant as she excitedly asked, "Is there something I can do for you, Your Majesty~!?" To this, Vahn gave a habitual chuckle as he extended his hand out and began stroking her head with a smile on his face. This caused Gareth to close her eyes with a contented smile on her face as Vahn answered, "Since you’re supposed to be my Page, why don’t I teach you a few things?"

As if he had said some magical words, Gareth’s eyes became starstruck as she tightly gripped her fists and shouted, "Yes! It would be my honor!" Since it was an opportunity to spend time with her Master, learn something new, and get praised, there was no way Gareth would refuse. She had been looking forward to the moment when he began to teach her as one of the primary duties of a Page, before becoming an Esquire and a Personal Knight, was learning from the person you had tasked to serve. This was how Knight’s trained their apprentices and successors, often superseding the official Knight training.

Vahn was already very familiar with Gareth’s capabilities at this point, as she was very enthusiastic about displaying her capabilities to him, so he had a few ideas about how she could improve. Since she focused on speed, jousting, and defeating her opponents without killing them, Vahn wanted to teach her [Cantus Bellax], [Shundo], and [Koku Shundo]. She already had extremely high Agility and enhanced reflexes due to her bestial traits so she should be able to emulate Fenrir’s combat style, to an extent.

To avoid any teasing accusations from a certain crimson-haired individual, Vahn took Gareth with him to the primary training orb near the Knight’s Training Field. It had changed a lot over the past few months, now possessing several buildings and an extremely large hot spring, but those were places Vahn had forbidden himself from venturing due to the hundreds of Homunculi that partook of the mineral-rich waters.

In many ways, this training orb had become the dominion of Kenshin but, if you traveled far enough away from the center, it was possible to find twisted landscapes that had been brought to ruin in the conflicts between people like Artoria, Karna, Heracles, Kenshin, Siegfried, and Scáthach. Even though weeks had passed since the apocalyptic battles, their energies still lingered in the area, a testament to how monstrously powerful they were when they got serious.

Vahn specifically chose the location where Karna had used his full-powered Noble Phantasm, causing a massive crater that was more than a kilometer wide to scar the landscape. The center depth had even reached a staggering 13m below the standard plane of the white stone, a material that could be directly compared to refined Tungsten in hardness and compression resistance.

Gareth was awed by the devastation but, rather than the terrain, the majority of her attention was focused on her Master. She was really looking forward to what he would teach her so she wanted to avoid giving him the impression that she was distracted by other things. What she didn’t expect was for him to suddenly nod before saying, "Okay, I want you to use your maximum speed to reach the edge of the crater before returning here. Also, remove your shoes, as it will be important for your training."

Rather than question her Master’s intentions, Gareth instantly plopped onto the ground before pulling off her shoes. She also had a [REquip] system but, rather than use it for casual wear, hers had been calibrated to her armor and other armaments. Though it was possible to use more than one at a time, she didn’t like wearing accessories, feeling they didn’t suit her self-image while also being uncomfortable. The sole exception to this was the choker she wore around her neck, though, at a glance, many would misconstrue it as a collar...

After setting aside her shoes and removing her leggings, Gareth wasted no time in sprinting to the edge of the crater and returning. In total, this took her almost exactly two seconds, indicating her base speed was close to 2100km/h. This was actually a bit slower than Vahn had expected from her 47 Agility but, considering she had to stop for a brief moment before returning, some variance was to be expected. If she really pushed herself, she should be able to reach upwards of 2,500km/h in short bursts.

With an approving nod, Vahn pat the eagerly waiting Gareth’s head, saying, "Very good. Your speed is quite something, Gareth." This caused her to laugh somewhat abashedly but, without refuting his words or trying to brag, Gareth just accepted the praise despite her embarrassment. She was a bit sad when he pulled his hand away but, knowing this was training, she did her best to prevent it from showing on her face.

Though her knew Gareth was aware of the existence of [Shundo] after her training with Fenrir, Vahn was actually intending to see how quickly he could refine this unpolished gemstone who, according to Artoria, Gawain, and Galahad, had the potential of becoming one of the most powerful Knights. Since Artoria was the one who came up with the idea of making Gareth is Page, Vahn felt he should treat her training seriously so that he had a better understanding of how to draw out the potential of others in the future.

After formulating a plan in his mind, Vahn squared up his feet and said, "Watch closely...", despite the fact that Gareth rarely even looked away from him. Then, straining himself to his limits, Vahn’s body flickered slightly before he released a small sigh and asked, "How long?" This caused Gareth to blink in confusion but, fortunately, Alaya was there to answer, "0.19 seconds" in a voice that only Vahn could hear. He parroted this value, surprising Gareth once again as she asked, "You...moved...?"

As the version of [Shundo] Vahn used formed near-perfect after images, combined with the fact he had set two anchor points from the start, Gareth had only seen his body twitch momentarily before he suddenly asked her how long it took.

Finding her reaction more than a little adorable, Vahn couldn’t help but smile, earning him a chiding remark from Sis as she said, (*Your bad habit is flaring up again.*). This caused Vahn’s smile to turn a little wry as he promptly decided not to tease his young Page. Instead, he adopted a more serious demeanor as he explained, "Though my maximum speed with [Shundo] is a bit slower than Fenrir’s, there are all kinds of tricks you can incorporate into Magic Spells to greatly increase their versatility. My version of [Shundo] makes use of both Space and Time, while the original spell only uses the former. As for Fenrir, she has a version that incorporates Yin Elemental energy into her steps, causing the terrain and surrounding air to rapidly freeze as she moves around."

Gareth was wide-eyed when she heard her Master claim that Fenrir was even faster than he was as, even with her enhanced kinetic vision, she hadn’t been able to follow his movements. Though she knew the peculiar Vanargandr was much faster than her, which was why she felt embarrassed by her Master’s remark, she didn’t think the gulf between them was that vast. She suddenly began to feel as if her value had been lowered but, before she could give in to such negativity, her Master began to caress her head as he confidently stated, "I will help you develop a version of [Shundo] you can call your own. When your training is complete, even your base speed should more than double."

Hearing this, Gareth immediately set aside her previous train of thought, allowing it to fade away completely as she excitedly exclaimed, "I’ll do my best!" Then, causing her little heart to perform an acrobatic routine within her chest, her Master gave an approving nod before saying, "Change into this outfit and then sit down with your legs crossed. Your D-Rank Magical Power and C-Rank Magic Circuits are holding you back. I will help you refine your Magic Circuits by circulating my own energy in your body. This process will take a few months to complete but, even without further training, you will be significantly stronger."

Though she attentively listened to everything her Master had said, Gareth had to fight against the urge to snatch the top he had produced out of his hands. It looked like a sports bra in structure, as it was very form-fitting, but the back was almost completely exposed. She knew what he had in mind by having her wear such a thing so she was greatly looking forward to their future training. What she didn’t know was that Vahn had actually elected to use a less efficient method as, if he sat with his palm on Gareth’s abdomen for several hours, he was afraid she might pounce on him at some point.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Irredeemable!’,’TFW other people understand your abilities better than you (UwU)...’,’Gareth may not be the goodest girl, but she has a lot of potential~’)

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