Chapter 1362 - Tireless Endeavor
After spending a fair amount of time telling Tiamat about what had transpired since their last meeting, Vahn left the tremendously powerful vessel of Gaia to her own devices. She still had an innate fear of humanity and other forms of life so, when he wasn't around; she sealed herself away within her peculiar cacoon as a form of self-defense. This wasn't a fear he could remove from her through the use of a simple command so, until she was ready to leave on her own volition, Vahn would continue visiting her frequently...
"You must know that your efforts are in vain. Consciousness cannot be created arbitrarily from nothingness..."
Hearing Alaya's unexpected remark, Vahn gave the blue entity a curious look, asking, "Oh? And what compelled you to say this so suddenly, Alaya?"
Unlike her past self, Alaya had been growing increasingly more expressive these days so, when Vahn suddenly looked at her; she turned her eyes away from him, adding, "After being separated from her original strain of consciousness, Tiamat became a creature of pure instinct. You would be better off preparing her to receive Gaia's consciousness or transplanting another. Your belief that an empty vessel can develop consciousness is unfounded...your efforts are wasted."
Though he couldn't be certain, Vahn sensed there was a greater meaning behind Alaya's words. However, he knew better than most that consciousness could, in fact, be created; seemingly from nothingness. So long as the proper framework for life existed, the Soul with inexorably drawn to life. If given enough time and adequate stimulus, even inert matter or pure energy could develop an ego.
Instead of arguing with her over the matter, Vahn lightly caressed Alaya's somewhat squishy cheek with his index finger. She was in her shrunken, Companion-like state so; rather than an exotic beauty; she currently appeared as an adorable squirrel-like creature with a few human qualities.
Understanding Vahn had basically ignored her, Alaya furrowed her brows slightly. Then, in spite of the fact she enjoyed his caress, Alaya nipped Vahn's finger with her sharp teeth before jumping into the collar of his shirt and hiding. This left the man in question restraining the urge to laugh as he teleported to the Transfer Room; knowing Alaya probably wouldn't teleport him outside in her current state...
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With his comprehension of Space and Time increasing with each passing day, it didn't take long for Vahn to reach the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. His was actually well over the halfway point to developing a Divinity related to Space, possessing 76% comprehension according to The Path. As for his understanding of Time, it trailed behind by a considerable amount; peaking at 30% but, at times, miraculously dropping as low as 28%. Comprehension was something that could easily be affected by various influences so; if you weren't proactively trying to understand the nature of a particular Law; it was easy to be led astray.
What troubled Vahn was the fact that his understanding of Creation Laws had been stuck around 88~90%; making it clear that it was significantly harder to comprehend the Laws of Creation in a higher tiered Records. Still, it wasn't as if he hadn't made progress as; upon entering the Record, all of the values had reset to 0% until he had acclimated himself to the Laws of the Nasuverse. So long as he continued trying to improve his understanding and comprehension, it shouldn't take too much longer for him to obtain the coveted Divinity...
Since stressing over it was one of the things that led people astray the most, Vahn decided not to worry about his progress. Instead, he made his way to Semiramis' bedchamber; finding the latter laying lazily in a black negligee that did little to conceal her figure. She had even braided her hair into an impossibly long ponytail, a clear indicator she had certain intentions behind choosing not to meet him in the Throne Room.
Without shying away in the slightest, Vahn made his way over to the side of Semiramis' bed, her snake-eyes following his approach while an expression of placidity masked her true emotions. It wasn't until he sat down on the side of her bed that Semiramis broke the silence, remarking, "You know, it is improper to enter the bedchambers of a woman without their permission. I would have thought that you, of all people, would understand such basic courtesies..."
Having grown accustomed to Semiramis' biting remarks, Vahn simply smiled in response to the raven-haired beauty's words. This caused her to snort lightly through her nose while averting her eyes to the side, yet another reaction he had grown both accustomed to, and fond of. With this being the case, Vahn extended his hand to lightly comb through the pouting woman's silky fringe bangs, asking, "How long did it take to braid your hair? This style suits you..."
Though she still had a mildly annoyed expression on her face, it didn't take long for Semiramis to answer his question. She moved to prevent his hand from wandering aimless, grabbing it with her own as she said, "Don't look down on my abilities...something as simple as braiding hair, it took no time at all..."
Vahn was tempted to point out that he never said anything about the difficulty involved but, as this was basically Semiramis' way of saying, 'I worked hard so you better praise me', he continued to smile as he said, "It looks good...not that you need to style your hair to appear beautiful."
With Vahn casually grabbing the hand she used to prevent him from combing through her hair, Semiramis took an audible breath before turning her eyes up at him and muttering, "Rougish..." in an accusatory tone. Then, pulling her hand free, she snaked her way further onto the bed, her fair and pert posterior in full view as she moved to the opposite end to grab a golden chalice. It was a very obvious attempt to seduce him but, never one to complain about the view of a marvelous backside, Vahn had no shame in burning the image of Semiramis' translucent black panties into his memory.
Turning back to find Vahn gawking, Semiramis rolled her eyes; somehow making it appear as though she was simply fluttering them in a seductive manner. At this point, it was pretty clear what her intentions were so, deciding to play along; Vahn removed his boots before crawling into the bed and laying close enough that he could easily embrace her body at his leisure. Then, for the 317th time, Semiramis handed him a very potent poison; her eyes observing him closely as he downed the chalice's contents without a second thought.
Generally speaking, Semiramis' attempts to 'seduce' him almost always ended with her giving him some ridiculously toxic substance to ingest. Then, failing in her assassination attempt, she would allow him to take a few liberties with her body as recompense. If he wanted to, it wouldn't be difficult to have Semiramis offer herself up to him but; until her emotions had become sincere, Vahn didn't mind playing this game of theirs indefinitely...
For a brief moment, Vahn felt like he had swallowed hot magma but, without any real suspense, his body quickly purified the poison. This was one of the things he was most confident about so, even if Semiramis somehow came up with a Tier 5 poison, he would ingest it without fear. At this point, he knew his constitution was one of his greatest assets so, if given the chance to exploit it, Vahn would readily do so.
Seeing Vahn ingest her most recent concoction without even blushing, Semiramis released a sigh as she leaned against his chest and complained, "You're a monster, you know that? A single drop of that poison would make a hundred hectares of farmland inhospitable for ten years. Yet, here you lay, drinking an entire chalice without so much as batting an eye..."
Since he had already explained his immunity to her in the past, Vahn knew Semiramis was mainly just complaining to be heard. Thus, instead of answering her question directly, he kissed the top of her head before saying, "As much as I wouldn't mind dying next to such a beautiful woman, I would rather live on to enjoy spending more time with her. I guess I'm just selfish like that..."
While speaking, Vahn took the initiative to run his left hand along Semiramis' side and stomach, a gentle flow of energy spreading from his palm into her body. This caused her to release a hot sigh against his chest, a 'defeated' expression on her face as she closed her eyes and just snuggled a little closer to him. She knew he wouldn't fall for half-hearted seduction but, unable to convince herself that she wanted their relationship to move to the next level; Semiramis just allowed Vahn to spoil her until she felt better about her failure.
As the world's oldest poison user, Semiramis had a fair amount of pride when it came to being able to poison anything; be it God or man. She knew Vahn had multiple bodies so, at the very least, she wanted to be able to give him a slight stomach ache. Ideally, she would be able to kill one of him as that would at least help to recover her lost pride. As it stood, she felt more than a little helpless about her current situation as it was impossible for her to give up; even though it had become increasingly difficult to restrain herself.
Understanding Semiramis' character to a reasonable degree, Vahn helped to ease her frustrations by lightly massaging her body. This was the main reason she had braided her hair as, in the past, it often got in the way when they were being intimate with each other. This was the downside to having hair longer than you were tall; its immense volume requiring considerably upkeep just to prevent fraying and tangles.
Every now and then, Vahn helped Semiramis to wash and brush her hair as it reminded him of his time with Haruhime. He would, of course, never say this to the woman in question as there was no doubt in his mind she would legitimately lash out at him upon knowing the truth. Semiramis was a very jealous woman by nature so she wouldn't take kindly to being compared to other women, no matter how beautiful they were. She had a desperate need to be unique and, as a result, had all but given up on interacting with the other members of Vahn's harem. She would rather continue to isolate herself in the Hanging Gardens, basically pretending the others didn't exist.
Despite these faults, Vahn couldn't easily give up on Semiramis as he knew she had a lot of pain in her heart. She was a very lonely woman and, due to her nature; she was destined to remain alone unless someone could fill the void in her heart. This didn't really have to be him but, as one of the few people that could stomach Semiramis' poisons, he was the best suited to the role. Besides, he was rather fond of women like Semiramis due to her parallels to women like Eva and Riveria.
Thus, despite Semiramis' constant attempts to poison him, her constant need to be pampered, and a few other troublesome qualities; Vahn still dutifully came to visit her. Eventually, he would break through the walls of her heart and, with a bit of coaxing, convince her to get along with the others. Until then, he would enjoy their time alone like this; pushing the usually cold beauty a little further over the edge with each visit. Her reactions stirred a part of him that only women with long ears could awaken so, even if it took a few months for her to ultimately relent; Vahn wouldn't stop until he peeled away her facade completely...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Alaya is a QT3.14','Delicious poison o3o...','Resistance is commendable, but futile')
(A/N: I am going to be taking my weekly break today instead of tomorrow. Happy Valentines Day everyone~!)
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