With Aeterna assisting him, Vahn felt like he had finally caught up with his former skill at forging. He had already known this but, with the eternal flame being at his side since the beginning of his career as a Blacksmith, Vahn was infinitely more used to working with a ‘partner’ than working on his own.
After losing the eternal flame, it always felt like something was missing every time he picked up a hammer and tried to get the proper groove. It was simply less ‘fun’ doing it on his own as, from the very beginning, Vahn had never really aspired to walk the path of forging for forging’s sake. He had done it out of necessity at the time and, after seeing how much people benefitted from his creations, he tried polishing his skills further and further.
Now, Vahn was actually enjoying forging again, rather than treating it like a task he needed to focus, not just his mind, but his very existence on. This wasn’t just due to the existence of Aeterna, either, as the Dwarves had actually given him permission to use the Great Forge. After Aeterna appeared along with her crown, he had been given the honorary status of an Elder. If not for the fact that the title of Master could only be given by the Council of Dwarven Lords, representing the remaining tribes, he would have already been recognized as a Master due to the craftsmanship of the crown.
Since then, Vahn would make a point of visiting the Great Forge every few days, both as a means of building rapport with the Dwarves and allowing Aeterna to show off in front of her subjects. Though this ate into a lot of his time, Vahn felt it would be for the betterment of the Empire that he make an effort now, rather than later. If he could build his reputation amongst their community early on, any future Dwarves that came to reside in the Undercity would be influenced by the existing members. After they had a taste of the [Dwarven Draft], which was popular for obvious reasons, even the most obstinant of Dwarves viewed him in a positive light.
—
It was during one of Vahn’s visits to the Great Forge that Alaya, who liked to watch him forge while hanging from his back, informed him, “Da Vinci is trying to give birth to herself. You should hurry.”
Vahn rarely lost focus during forging but, when his mind processed what Alaya said, his hammer was off target by a millimeter, causing a ripple to pass through the metal a compromising the structural integrity irreversibly. Since he had never really made such mistakes before, the spectating Dwarves were quite surprised but, after he quickly explained the situation, they practically chased him off so that he could be with Da Vinci. They might treat forging as one of the most sacred practices but, just from seeing how ardently they protected their womenfolk and youth, it was easy to understand what their priorities were.
By the time Vahn reached the Workshop, less than ten minutes had passed within the Projection but, despite this, he found Da Vinci standing next to herself with a baby in her arms. He nearly slouched against the door upon seeing this but, considering who he was dealing with, Vahn actually wasn’t all that surprised. There was no way Da Vinci would have wanted to make her delivery as public an affair as the past deliveries as, while she enjoyed conversing with people, she wasn’t very social.
Seeing Vahn appear in a flash of light, Da Vinci poked her tongue out at him before musing, “Looks like I beat you to the punch this time around, ufufufu~”
Despite having just given birth, Da Vinci didn’t even have sweat on her brow, making Vahn wonder what exactly happened. This was a question for later, however, as he was far more concerned about the blanketed bundle in her arms. He made his way over without retorting to her comment to find what could only be described as a ‘masterpiece’ staring back at him.
Much like Isanna and Naavi, his new daughter was looking back at him with a discernible glimmer of intelligence contained within her sapphire blue eyes. She wasn’t crying, nor did she seem confused about the situation in the slightest. Instead, she smiled as if recognizing who he was before reaching out her tiny hand and giggling happily when he extended his index finger for her to grab.
While he was distracted by the antics of his newborn daughter, Da Vinci had a loving smile on her face as she whispered, “I always wondered what it would be like to be a mother…it feels like my heart is suddenly much larger…filled with a fluffy feeling that makes it impossible not to smile…”
As she finished speaking, Da Vinci gently cradled their daughter in her arms and, for the first time since he had known her, Vahn saw a tear escape from her left eye. Though she enjoyed teasing him, Da Vinci wasn’t actually that adept at expressing herself. The main reason she didn’t like interacting with others was due to the fact that they simply couldn’t understand her. She also had considerable trouble trying to empathize with others and, as her discussions usually resulted in the other party feeling awkward or dumb, she preferred to just avoid them whenever possible.
Vahn couldn’t attest to understanding Da Vinci completely but, as they spent a lot of time together, he had, at the very least, reached the point where he understood her character. Thus, after using his thumb to wipe away her singular tear, he looked her in the eyes and stated sincerely, “Here, at this moment, you are the most beautiful woman in the entire world…there is nothing beautiful than a mother’s love…”
Despite trying to comfort Da Vinci, Vahn felt a little emotional as the words left his lips. He managed to avoid crying but, with her attention to detail, it obviously couldn’t escape Da Vinci’s notice. Her smile blossomed into the most radiant expression he had ever seen on her face, causing Vahn’s mind to blank momentarily as she extended the bundle in her arms toward him. He instinctually reached out to hold his daughter, cradling her gently in his arms as Da Vinci, with a slightly husky voice, said, “She needs a name…don’t disappoint me~”
Seemingly understanding what her mother had said, the beautiful baby girl in Vahn’s arms had stars in her eyes as she expectantly waited for her name. This caused both Vahn and Da Vinci to chuckle before the former adopted a thoughtful expression. He actually didn’t get to name his children all that often so he suddenly felt a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially with the expectant look on his daughter’s face.
After sifting through a few names within his mind, Vahn looked between Da Vinci and his currently unnamed daughter before smiling as he asked, “How about Sophia?” He asked this question to his daughter while Da Vinci, turning her eyes up in rumination stated, “A name meaning Intelligent and Wise…not the most clever, but I think it is suitable. What do you think, little one~?”
In response to her mother’s question, ‘Sophia’ giggled happily, seemingly indicating her consent. It was a bit on the nose but, as she had undoubtedly inherited her mother’s fearsome intelligence, it was a name suitable for a future prodigy. Unfortunately, Vahn would soon lament not naming her something along the lines of Pandora as, compared to all of his other children, Sophia would quickly become fond of making trouble for him.
—
Like all of his children, Sophia was given a Guardian of her own. It took on the form of an owlet with creamy-white and golden-brown feathers. It was a type of Spirit known, quite literally, as the Spirit of Wisdom. They were typically Spirits that protected Libraries and served as the familiars of powerful Magi, at least when Spirits were more common in the world.
While the Spirit of Wisdom wasn’t exactly proficient at combat, it had the unique ability to share the knowledge it had obtained with others. They also had the ability to archive information in their mind, much like a Library with an auto-search function, making them extremely capable Familiars for any Magi dedicated to their research. In the future, Sophia, assuming she didn’t have a perfect memory already, would benefit greatly from its companionship.
For now, however, the Spirit of Wisdom was just a tiny owlet that looked similar to a great-horned owl, albeit with different colored feathers and unnervingly black eyes. Though they were actually just a ‘very’ dark shade of brown, it was impossible to discern at a glance. This made it seem like the tiny owl’s eyes were like a bottomless abyss as it stared, almost unblinkingly, right back at you. Still, this wasn’t enough to really bother Vahn all that much so, despite the rather creepy visage, he gave the tiny owlet a few head scratches before letting it retreat inside Sophia to rest.
After the tiny owl had vanished, Vahn lightly rubbed the tip of Sophia’s nose before turning to Da Vinci and saying, “Though you may be troubled, it-” Before Vahn could finish, Da Vinci turned her eyes up at him, saying, “I haven’t even fed her yet. Don’t worry, I intend to introduce her to the other children later. For now, I’d like you to keep it a secret, okay? I really want to see the reaction of the other girls when I suddenly appear with a baby in arm~”
Vahn felt his brain buzzing a bit after hearing Da Vinci’s words but, while he would normally humor her, this time he smiled wryly as he said, “That is a little…extreme. I have to inform Artoria and Gray, at the very least. Though we can keep the celebration private, it is a little unfair to the others to keep it a secret like this.”
Da Vinci adopted a playful pout in response to Vahn’s words but, rather than insist, she ultimately gave an affirmative nod before stating, “I want to surprise Nobunaga and tease Luvia. After that, you can do whatever you want. You already have a feeding apparatus so I’ll entrust you with taking our daughter to explore the castle and interact with others. I don’t want her to be cooped up in here all the time so you’ll have to work hard to make sure she gets along with the others~”
Hearing Da Vinci’s words, Vahn knew she had seen through his intention of having her socialize with the others by taking Sophia to the daycare. Though he hadn’t really expected her to go that often, as she was very busy with her research, he wanted her to at least be on friendlier terms with everyone else.
Seeing through Vahn’s thoughts, Da Vinci began giggling in amusement before saying, “This is the path I’ve decided to walk. You needn’t worry so much, my darling Master…I’ll make sure to spend a bit of time with the others in the future. You should worry more about our daughter. If you don’t want her to become a reclusive genius, you’ll need work pretty hard, ufufufu~”
If Sophia was anything like her, Da Vinci knew it was only a matter of time before she grew bored of playing with the other children. They simply wouldn’t be able to keep up, regardless of whether they were Demigods, Vanir, or something else entirely. Being a peerless genius was a lonely path so it was only a matter of time before her daughter began spending more time in the Workshop than with the other children. This was the reason she wanted Vahn to spend time with Sophia now as, in the future, she and her daughter would likely be working alongside each other for the remainder of their lives.
—
While Vahn was spending time with Da Vinci and the newborn Sophia, Merlin was seated in his Magus Tower with an amused smile on his face. He was very tempted to go spread the word of Sophia’s birth throughout the castle but, as there were no real benefits to antagonizing Da Vinci, he ultimately decided against it. Instead, he tried to peer into the mind of the newborn Sophia, only to find that she was completely resistant to his attempts, just like her parents.
After discovering his, Merlin began to laugh in a light-hearted manner, understanding the Empire now had another ‘monster’ in its midst. Not only did Sophia practically radiate intelligence, but he could also sense a phenomenal amount of power contained within her body. Like all of Vahn’s children, she was completely immune to his foresight, something he had become increasingly fond of with the passage of time. Life was simply more interesting when you didn’t know what was going to happen.
Since he didn’t want to let his intent linger in the Workshop for too long, as he was fully aware of the effort Da Vinci was making to detect his presence, Merlin let his focus shift elsewhere. This resulted in him peering in on Illya, something he had been doing with increasing frequency. He was honestly shocked after learning about the girl’s attempts to fuse with Cath Palug, as it didn’t really make a lot of sense to him.
Before seeing it with his own eyes, Merlin would have never even considered the possibility that a Beast of Gaia could completely fuse with another person. Though Illya had a slightly better chance than most due to her nature being comparable to a Greater Nature Spirit, he knew it was primarily the influence of Vahn that made the fusion possible. The man produced mysterious energy that he couldn’t make heads nor tails of. It seemed capable of literally anything, surprising Merlin time and again with its functionality.
At this point, he was certain Vahn’s energy was the reason why he had been selected as Type Omega by the entities governing reality from the ‘Outside’. He knew something was going on that Vahn was either unable to tell them, or simply elected not to. The former seemed to be far more likely as, even when there were ‘gaps’ in Vahn’s mind, which he normally would have been able to exploit, a foreign presence had, with great prejudice, kicked him out.
Merlin knew there was a second entity inside of Vahn’s mind as, even when the man was focused on other things, he had noticed discrepancies in the memories relayed to those he summoned. Just the fact that the memories varied from person to person, though not by much, was proof enough that something was guiding the process. Though it didn’t seem like the memories themselves were false, it was apparent that Vahn was either keeping a lot of secrets, or the entity existing within him did so at his behest.
Despite all these red flags, Merlin’s opinion of Vahn had only increased with the passage of time as he really was a very hard-working individual. Though he had his quirks, he very rarely contradicted himself and the image he presented within his memories. This indicated they were indeed the truth and, while some parts were obfuscated, there was likely a good reason behind it. Vahn simply didn’t come off at the type of person that lived by deceiving others. He was honest to a fault, almost to the point of seeming very naive at times…
Though there was a chance Vahn was putting on an act, Merlin feared there was literally nothing he could do if the man was that capable of deception. Thus, rather than focus wholly on what Vahn was up to, Merlin focused on the changes he inspired in others. Since he was a very hardworking person, everyone around him worked a lot harder than they needed to, almost as if they were compelled to do so by some unseen force.
The most obvious change could be observed in individuals like Cath Palug who, over the last fifteen-hundred years, had essentially served as Merlin’s Familiar. During this time frame, he had come to know the peculiar Beast of Gaia nearly as well as he knew himself. Because of this, Merlin was a little shaken to see how much he had changed in fewer than two years. He had expected it to take several decades for any real change to occur in the destructive beast yet, with what could only be described as a middling effort from Vahn, the beast had practically been tamed.
Gender had no real meaning to a Beast of Gaia, as they were singular existences, but Cath Palug had even abandoned the fact that it was originally male. Now, it had almost completely fused with Illya and, though nothing had happened, Merlin knew the beast was growing increasingly impatient as a very strong desire to mate had been seeded inside of it. It was, honestly, a little unnerving to try and peer into the fused mentality of the two as, though Illya was the dominant personality, she had been influenced by the ‘feral’ nature of Cath Palug.
Merlin could only smile wryly as he watched Illya roll around in a pile of clothes that she had asked Fenrir to secure for her. She would hide them whenever Vahn came to visit but, at other times, she practically buried herself in a pile of dirty laundry. The most curious part of this development was the fact that Vahn was completely aware that Illya had stolen an entire wardrobe’s worth of clothes yet pretended to be completely unaware of it. This wasn’t to deceive and manipulate Illya, as that wasn’t really necessary at this point, but because he willfully chose to avoid stressing her out as her fusion with Cath Palug progressed into its later stages.
At this point, Illya had pure white hair, two large fluffy ears, and a fluffy tail that curled in an s-shape sticking out from her backside. Her formerly red eyes were now a vibrant violet color while, similar to Fenrir, she had fur covering her forearms and calves. She even had sharp nails and tiny pink pads on the interior of her palms and the bottoms of her feet, something Merlin himself was interested in. He had asked to touch them once but, as if she had never been more offended, Illya looked at him like a predator trying to entice her with candy. Since he liked to think of himself as a rather likable person, Merlin had been quite hurt by her reaction…
(A/N: Alternate Titles: ‘Control the alcohol, control the Dwarves’,’Da Vinci is a cheeky weirdo xD’,’RIP Dick Wizard. Even little girls and companions of 1500 years avoid him (UwU)…’)
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