<h4>Chapter 2123: Long Game</h4>


    After serving up a light lunch and sending the girls off to share the bad news, Vahn returned to what he was doing prior to their arrival.


    Though they wouldn''t discover it until their spiritual power had umted beyond a certain point, the Companions Vahn had gifted to Asuka and Yo were far more special than he let on. They were effectively Pure-Blooded Dragons that had been attuned to very specific Laws, and, once they matured to the point of being able to sustain their transformed state, their power would serve as a foundation for change within the Little Garden.


    Simply put, the current form of the Companions was their Shikai state. Once the girls were strong enough to enter Bankai, their true power as Pure Blooded Dragons would be released. Yo''s had the power to manipte mes in all forms. As for Asuka, her Companion was even more unique as it derived its power from the transitory phase between Life and Death.


    While it wouldn''t be as powerful as the Companion he created to govern the ''Boundaries'', Asuka''s Abyssinian, the true name of the inordinately regal creature, could trespass barriers, teleport, bend space, and, once she had mastered its power, resurrect the dead.


    Though these abilities sounded unbelievably powerful on paper, they were difficult to master and required a specific mentality to even be able to pull off. As for Yo''s Agnyon, it was simpler to use, but, depending on theprehension and authority of its user, mastery over mes meant mastery over creation and destruction. A Phoenix''s mes could heal injuries and resurrect the dead while the mes of a Pure-Blooded Fire Dragon could break down and destroy matter in its most basic form.


    When it came down to it, the Companions Vahn had created had no limits to speak of. Even the Law of Death was capable of creating life, and, under the right conditions, fire and ice could manipte space and time at their leisure. After all, time didn''t truly exist. It was simply a convenient construct to recognize the changes in matter and energy from one state to another until harmony had been achieved. Time moving forward was an observation of chaos and entropy. Time moving backward was a reflection of order and negentropy.


    With all Laws sharing the same Origin, mastery over the Laws meant approaching the Origin of all things. The closer you got to this point, the more abstract the Laws became. Eventually, you would reach a point where there was no difference between even the most prizing of concepts. If you were able to reach the Origin itself, you could even rewrite the Laws of reality at your leisure.


    In the end, Vahn was intended to produce a total of 81 Elementary Spirit Companions. These were creatures that would rule over the elemental forces and various lesser concepts. The Companions gifted to Asuka and Yo were of this variety.


    Ruling over these 81, at least from a conceptual standpoint, would be 18 Companions representing Bnce. They represented various prizing concepts such as Yin-Yang, Life-Death, Order-Entropy, and Creation-Destruction. On the most fundamental level, these were basically the same thing, but, from the perspective of beings attempting to master them, they were drastically different.


    The thing that truly distinguished the 18 from the other 81 was the fact that they were Star-Grade by default. In other words, if Vahn were to gift them to Asuka and Yo, they would be able to battle against Demons and Gods on the level of Algol and the Olympians without the need for training. With basic mastery, they could even reach the level of the Northern, Western, and Southern Floor Masters.


    Vahn was still against the idea of granting people power, so, as an added precaution of sorts, he made it so that the 18 prizing Companions could only manifest their full power in conjunction with their pr opposite. Lyfa(Life) would need to team up with Nyxxs(Death), Racana(Creation) would need to ally with Tabahi(Destruction), and so on and so forth.


    At the present moment, Vahn wasn''t entirely sure who to entrust the 18 prizing Companions to. He was just preparing them in advance so he would be able to give them to people he believed to be worthy of them. More specifically, he was intending to entrust them to people who already had extremely powerful bonds. This could be a familial bond or a bond between lovers. The only thing that mattered was that they were willing to fight alongside and support one another no matter the odds.


    Though he would never force them, Vahn was currently considered Jin and Lily as the candidates for Yin and Yang. He believed they would make a good couple if Jin could only muster up the courage to surmount the barrier between childhood friends and lovers. If he didn''t, there was a good chance that Lily would always see him as a child she needed to protect. In the absolute worst-case scenario, she would end up falling in love with whoever facilitated this almost instinctual need.


    Previously, Vahn was worried that Lily would imprint on him due to the care and concern he had shown towards the No Names. Fortunately, most of the sentiments she directed towards him were respect and adtion, not love.


    Now that Izayoi had been introduced into the picture, there was a very high probability that Lily would imprint on him. Girls, especially young girls with kind natures and well-developed maternal instincts, had a penchant for crushing on "bad boys". One reason for this was their innate desire to try and change the object of their affection into a better person. Even more than that, however, was their attraction to the prizing nature of a bad boy''s character. They could see through the facade of confidence and find the vulnerable boy hidden within.


    Though he felt sorry for Jin, Vahn knew there was a very high chance that Lily would eventually fall for Izayoi. Tsunderes were prime targets for girls with pronounced maternal instincts so there was no way Lily would be able to ignore him. If it wasn''t for the seal on her body preventing her from evolving to her next stage, Izayoi probably wouldn''t be able to ignore her either. After all, while he would never admit it, Izayoi had a soft spot for motherly women. He even had a crush on his foster mother. So much so that every aspect of his life revolved around bing the person she believed he could be...


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    Staring at the Axolotl-like creature levitating in front of him, a glimmer of intrigue radiated from the very depths of Vahn''s eyes as he remarked, "Fascinating. Every time I create one of you, I can''t help being awed by the variability of your nature and appearance. Truly breathtaking..."


    Though its mouth and eyes didn''t move in the slightest, the vaguely feminine Axolotl telepathically replied, "Thank you. It pleases me to know my Creator has such a fascination with the myriad forms of life. I''m not sure what I would have done if you thought I was ugly..."


    Chuckling in response to the peculiar pink Dragon''s remark, Vahn resisted the urge toplement its beauty as he produced a spherical assortment of runes and sent it flying into the newly created Companion''s chest. This caused its form to immediately shrink until it resembled arge chibiesque Axolotl with four arms,rge eyes, and a serpentine tail.


    Picking up the cat-sized creature, Vahn allowed it to perch on his shoulders before exining its purpose. He made sure to infuse his intent in the Companions prior to their creation but it never hurt to exin things in greater detail. This was also his way of bonding with the creatures, as, in more ways than one, they were effectively his children. The more innocent ones even referred to him as their Father rather than their Creator. Thus, while their paths were fated to diverge from his own, Vahn wanted to be there for each of the unsurprisingly adorable creatures...


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    With less than a day remaining until he was supposed to Host the Gift Game, Vahn had to meet with a bunch of organizers who had been trying to get in contact with him ever since news of the event went public. He had intended to leave the arrangements to the Thousand Eyes Community, but, as the official Host of the event, there were a number of formalities that required his personal attention.


    One such formality was participating in an interview that would invariably be broadcast throughout the entirety of the Little Garden. Fame and poprity were two of the most significant aspects of life within the Divine Realm, so, as could be expected, the Little Garden had its own version of the news media. There were even Communities that specialized in organizing and broadcasting events as documenting the rise of an up-anding legend was one of the most direct methods to earn the designation of a Poet.


    "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us. Our Leader, the Chief Editor of our News Community, was starting to worry."


    Staring at the petite woman seated across from him, an amused smile developed across Vahn''s face as he shook his head and said, "It''s a small matter. However, I would prefer to get this over with. I''m a lot busier than most people seem to believe."


    Pushing up her square, red-rimmed sses, a mischievous smiled developed across the bob-haired woman''s face as she asked, "Is that so? Perhaps you''d like to shed some light on the inner workings of the Sage Dragon''s Hearth? People are also curious to know, what does a Pure-Blooded Dragon such as yourself get up to when nobody is looking~?"


    Restraining a chuckle, Vahn''s eyes briefly shifted to the woman''s recently tinted hair, musing, "I''m sure you''ve already reached a conclusion in that regard. Unfortunately, I won''t be able to provide the exclusive you''re looking for. Others might consider me licentious but the truth of the matter is I have a soft spot for certain kinds of women. I''m afraid you''ll have to settle with a normal interview."


    Punctuating his statement with a wink, Vahn nearly chuckled when the woman shrugged helplessly and said, "That''s a shame. It took a long time to dye my hair like this. I was really looking forward to the opportunity to get to know you. After all, it''s not every day a girl gets to interview a Dragon."


    Supplying a wink of her own, the rather hip-looking journalist, full name Kanade Katana, pretended to turn on her already running recorder as she asked, "So, what can you tell me about your reasons for hosting such a high-brow Gift Game? Rumors regarding your spat with the Perseus Community have already started to spread. Is this intended as a slight against the Olympic Gods?"


    Shrugging his shoulders, Vahn casually replied, "I don''t particrly care what the Olympians think. If they''re offended by my actions, that''s on them. My reason for hosting this Gift Game has nothing to do with them. Rather, I just wanted to give people the opportunity to experience apetition that celebrates the founding principles of the Little Garden rather than punishing all but the strongest."


    With visible stars in her shimmering grey eyes, Katana leaned forward in a manner that entuated her ratherrge bust as she asked, "Oh? It''s rare for a Pure-Blooded Dragon to be so magnanimous. In fact, as far as I know, you''re the first authentic Dragon to promote such a phnthropic ideology. The only other group thates to mind is the Smandra Royal Family but it''s been generations since they could call themselves genuine Dragons."


    Though he wasn''t too surprised, Vahn still raised his brows at the mention of Smandra. He didn''t expect them toe up so quickly, but, considering her firstment involved an organization in the South, it wasn''t too surprising that she would mention an organization in the North. Still, just to be sure, Vahn had Loi-chan manifest to make sure Katana wasn''t a nt by Shiroyasha just to mess with him...


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    (A/N: Alternate Titles: ''Sekirei vibes...'',''Axolotls are cute (O w O)...'',''Journalists are scary...'')