Exchange

[Day 20]

thoom thoom thoom thoom

"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH—!"

"It appears we've reached an impasse..." remarked Vahn, maintaining his calm and standing his ground despite a ten-meter-tall, thirty-meter-long, t-rex-like monster turning its head sideways and opening its toothy maw after reaching a charging speed of more than two hundred kilometers per hour.

With the monster, known as a Razorback Devourer, abruptly slowing to a crawl, at least from his perspective, Vahn sidestepped its open maw and slapped its snout with his left hand. Despite the immense disparity in their size, his brief contact with the monster's snout caused its mouth to close and a notable undulation through its long, muscular body as it stumbled in slow motion.

As he had already received his bonus stats from defeating a Razorback Devourer, Vahn casually leaped back at the same pace the monster was stumbling forward. At the same time, Xenovia and Erza moved in perfect concert with one another, the momentum and air pressure produced by their sword slashes allowing them to pass through the temporary gaps created in the Razorback's body, creating a phenomenon that, from afar, made it appear as though they had phased through the unfortunate apex predator without cutting it.

As the Razorback was promptly split into three parts after Xenovia and Erza struck their post-swing poses, Vahn extended his hand to stop the momentum of the central section, allowing the legs, tail, and head to fly past him, carried by the monster's momentum.

"That...that was incredible...!" exclaimed Riko, producing a powerful burst of wind pressure as she dropped down from the sky, sporting her custom flight unit and wielding a rifle nearly as long as her body.

Following Riko, Tanya descended from the sky wearing similar equipment while Kunoh, a German-shepherd-sized Shiroyuki, Colette, Nanachi, Mitty, and Prushka gathered around. The expanded Party had asked for Vahn's assistance with the Razorback due to its inordinate resistance to Magic and general durability, but they hadn't expected to see him attempting to reason with and talk the fearsome creature down while relaxedly evading its boulder-crushing jaws and club-like tail—not to mention Xenovia and Erza, both modeling combat attire resembling Maid outfits, defeating it in the blink of an eye.

Though he was briefly distracted by the sight of Faputa turning into her amorphous form to drill into the Razorback's spine to consume its white and grey matter, Vahn habitually handed out headpats to everyone within range as he smiled, nodded, and stated, "And each of you will be capable of similar feats in the future. As long as you keep training, the only limiters to your growth are your passion and ambition."

With even Tanya presenting her head for petting, Vahn gently ruffled the golden-haired girl's hair with his right hand before turning his attention to Xenovia and Erza as they approached, sporting relaxed, confident smiles.

"Excellent work. But I would expect no less from the two of you," affirmed Vahn, nodding approvingly before adding, "Once you've finished sweeping the surrounding area, return to the coastal settlement."

"As the Lord wills..." responded Xenovia, closing her eyes and respectfully bowing. Meanwhile, Erza remained casual, her smile becoming marginally more prominent as she affirmed, "Alright. We'll see you there," before she and Xenovia departed to carry out their new orders.

"I still have a long way to go..." muttered Riko, drawing Vahn's gaze and causing her to startle as she had been eyeing Xenovia and Erza enviously while cupping her modest breasts. Prushka overhead this, causing her to puff hers out triumphantly, but Vahn quickly intervened before they could get too excited, gently chopping the white-and-mint-haired girl's head as he reminded them the Razorback's meat and materials would soon spoil if left to bask in the Abyssal Maw's perpetual sun and tropical heat...

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Though he stuck around for around six hours to help speed things up, Vahn eventually parted with Riko's Party, leaving them to process and defend the Razorback's remains alone after being informed by Venelana that he had a client. When he arrived, he was somewhat surprised to find Yoko in the process of giving an unresisting Kamina a beat-down, but she promptly returned the spiky blue-haired to his seat and took her own the moment he entered the room, leading to her sporting an intense, clearly embarrassed blush as he made his way around the young couple to take his own behind his desk.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit...?" asked Vahn, maintaining a composed, business-like aura despite an overwhelming desire to gawk curiously at Kamina's many bumps and bruises. They notably healed at a rate visible to the naked eye, but as he and Yoko originated from a setting with comical or gag elements, inordinate or superhuman regeneration was remarkably common.

Crossing her arms in a way that naturally accented her breasts, especially in her black, red-flame string bikini top, Yoko, going from embarrassed to immensely frustrated in the blink of an eye, revealed, "This idiot wants to resume entering Dungeons and exploring the Tower despite knowing that the next time he dies, it's over."

"Men need to face danger and live boldly, Yoko," argued Kamina, adopting a broad, toothy grin as he maintained, "If I were the type of man who was content to accept his lot and live safely, we wouldn't have met, much less fallen in love."

Unable to refute Kamina's reasoning and weak to his smile, Yoko averted her eyes, puffed her cheeks, and flushed before meeting Vahn's gaze and asking, "Is there anything you can do?"

Nodding, Vahn produced a small, stubby wooden figure that resembled a sword and shield-wielding warrior, his expression and tone casual as he explained, "This is a special-grade item known as the Effigy of the Hero. They're expensive, but as long as you have one in your trinket slot, it will mitigate an otherwise fatal blow, completely heal the user, and multiply their parameters by three for three minutes. The caveat is that, once the effect ends, the beneficiary enters a dormant state, becoming completely immobile for three hours."

"That would definitely be useful in a pinch..." conceded Yoko, her brows creasing as she pointedly appended, "But it would have been more useful when this idiot was still alive. What we're looking for now is a way to allow him to respawn like any other Ascendee..."

"I'm aware..." affirmed Vahn, closing his eyes, sitting back in his chair, and exhaling from his nose before opening them to meet the duo's gaze as he carefully explained, "But actions need to have consequences. What you're asking for would set a dangerous and exploitable precedent, so this is the best I can offer on request. The rest depends on your efforts."

"Depends on our efforts? What do you mean...?" asked Kamina, mirroring Yoko's cross-armed posture with his right brow raised.

"Well, if you can secure the top spot in the tournament set to occur once every ten cycles on the 10th Floor, you can receive a special item called a Lesser Holy Grail as a reward," explained Vahn, revealing, "Its power is far from omnipotent, but creating a new vessel for your spirit to inhabit is well within its capabilities. You wouldn't be able to return to your original world for reasons I won't get into, but you could leave the Tower and return as a proper Ascendee."

"Seriously!? Now we're talking...!" exclaimed Kamina, bursting from his chair and striking a dynamic pose with his left hand raised, clenched in a fist, and his right foot on the edge of Vahn's desk. The latter, in particular, caused Yoko's eyes to widen, but when she noticed Vahn sporting a calm, ostensibly unconcerned smile, she suppressed the urge to lash out at her excitable lover and instead asked, "But doesn't that tournament allow any Ascendee, regardless of Rank, to enter? Even if we bust our butts to reach the 10th Floor, I doubt we can secure the top spot..."

"That just means we'll have to train harder!" exclaimed Kamina, his smile broadening as, within his mind, being weaker than their competition just meant they had room to grow.

'His spirit is impressive...' thought Vahn, briefly considering giving Kamina a Phoenix King Piece, the same as Kazuma. However, as each piece cost a whopping one hundred million Origin Points, he didn't have the means or the motive to purchase one at that exact moment. He respected Kamina a great deal, but were it not for his relationship with Aqua, he wouldn't have afforded Kazuma such a tremendous boon...

Interrupting Kamina's and Yoko's brief back and forth, Vahn offered a curt nod and proposed, "I sincerely believe you should endeavor to obtain the Lesser Holy Grail yourselves, but since you've come to me, I could act as an intermediary between you and person most likely to secure first place in the next tournament. Most S-Rank Ascendees don't really need such items, so I'm sure they could be convinced to part with it if the terms are agreeable."

"We would greatly appreciate it..." responded Yoko, forcing a cramped smile as she compelled Kamina to bow his head while holding his right arm in an improvised standing arm bar. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop Kamina from insisting they acquire the Lesser Holy Grail themselves, but since that could take decades, if not longer, she graciously accepted Vahn's offer and the Effigy of the Hero he presented them as consolation for being unable to fulfill their initial request...

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[Day 21]

Following his meeting with Kamina and Yoko, Vahn met up with Xenovia and Erza to reward them for assisting him with Riko's request. He hadn't needed their assistance, but since Grayfia, Venelana, Yasaka, and Misla advised that he should provide his most ardent supporters opportunities to act, serve, or simply show off before him, he was making a concerted effort to include his harem and the many beauties of the Maid Battalion in everything he did.

"I've noticed your body is becoming more muscular..." commented Erza, casually coping a feel of Vahn's right bicep as she and Xenovia wiped him down while standing. Ordinarily, they would enjoy a lengthy bath after a night of intense coupling, but Vahn had made arrangements to meet with Yamato for a morning swim, and they didn't have the time. He could give it to them, but since he regarded the Tower as an opportunity to slow things down, he saved his time compression for emergencies.

"Not that that's a bad thing..." appended Xenovia, planting a protracted kiss on Vahn's left shoulder blade as she could no longer reach the top while he was standing. Her height had increased to 170cm, but that was still more than a head shorter than his 195cm.

Nodding, Vahn, sporting an exceedingly content expression, remarked, "This is the result of spending time with the two of you. You should know by now, but everything from my height to my length varies depending on the women I'm with..."

"Mmn...I do recall you being significantly taller and more muscular when Yamato is around..." noted Erza, noticing Xenovia's actions and deciding to join her in kissing Vahn's body.

"Call it a man's pride...I don't mind being shorter, but I prefer being taller than my women..." hummed Vahn, turning around and drawing the red and blue-haired beauties into his embrace by their similarly toned bottoms. He was aware that Yamato was already waiting for him, but as there were still two hours until their scheduled rendezvous, he wasn't keeping her waiting so much as she was compelling herself to wait out of consideration for his Godly status...

'At least she isn't arriving a full day in advance like she used to...' thought Vahn, his eyes flashing and smile broadening as Xenovia waited for him to begin making out with Erza before invariably lowering herself to her knees and proceeding to deepthroat him. It wasn't the most opportune time, but since he appreciated her enthusiasm, he allowed her to do as she pleased while habitually caressing her head...

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