NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 150: Rapport
[Day 8]
With news of his deal with Subaru making the rounds among the other Ascendees, Vahn expected to become a bit busier, but with nearly three out of every four people having him as a Contact, most of those who had queries or requests just messaged him directly.
Fortunately, even if he didn't have clients, Vahn wasn't without things to keep him occupied. There were still a lot of worlds within Invirtua that he had no direct knowledge of, so he almost always had at least one display playing a random anime, several to check on what various people were up to, and multiple chat windows. One, in particular, was a rather active chat he was having with Korra, who had added him five days prior at Grayfia's suggestion...
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[Flashback to August 28th DxD/April 17th DBT]
After being convinced by Venelana and deliberating on how to approach the matter for three days, Vahn decided to repurpose one of the Training Rooms of the Crimson Palace, which functioned identically to those of the 0th Floor, into a venue for vetting Ascendees. He wasn't going to vet all of them, obviously, but he felt that if he approached some of those who had refused invitations directly, they might reconsider.
With his preparations finished, specifically turning the venue into a misty mountain valley with a large, square-shaped arena reminiscent of the one used in the World Martial Arts Tournament, Vahn sat down in a lotus pose, closed his eyes, and waited until Korra performed her daily attempt to try and connect with the Spirit World and her past selves before summoning her before him.
"Wait, what? Did I actually succeed...?" questioned a roughly 170cm girl with warm brown skin, angular, aqua-blue eyes, dark brown hair fixed in a high ponytail, and a notably fit and athletic body with a healthy balance of muscle and curves. Her attire consisted of a pale, sleeveless blue top with a white trim, baggy, dark blue pants, similarly dark blue armguards, a blue and white accessory on her right bicep, and a brown, fur-lined waistcloth with a muted blue belt whose ears dangled freely to her knees. Ordinarily, she would also be wearing brown, fur-lined boots to complete her almost uniform-like ensemble, but as she had been meditating in her room before heading to bed, she was presently barefoot.
Noticing Vahn, Korra raised her right brow, adopted a broad smile, and asked, "Are you one of my past selves? Because you sure as heck don't look like Aang."
Opening his eyes, Vahn adopted a smile of his own as he responded, "My name is Vahn Mason, one of the architects of a place known as the Tower of Ascension, an intersection point between various worlds. Soon, you will receive an invitation to become what is known as an Ascendee, but only if your strength and character can be proven here..."
Though she originally wanted to ask about the Tower of Ascension and what an Ascendee was, Korra's brows immediately furrowed when Vahn mentioned proving her strength and character.
Crossing her arms and sporting a defiant look, Korra asked, "And who are you to determine such things? I've never heard of this Tower of Ascension place, but do you know who you're speaking to? I'm the Avatar, Master of the Four Elements, and keeper of the peace between the human and spirit worlds. Do you really believe you're cut out to test me?"
"Well, I could call someone weaker here to test you, but I didn't want you to feel disrespected," retorted Vahn, his smile gaining a hint of cheekiness as Korra's smile noticeably cramped.
"Are you calling me weak...?" asked Korra, uncrossing her arms to punch her right fist into the palm of her left hand, a battle-hungry grin adorning her face as she proclaimed, "Well, you're obviously picking a fight. But if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. Now, get off your butt and bring it...!"
"Alright, then..." responded Vahn, rising to his feet and brushing the front of his legs before striking a pose he had always wanted to try at least once, resulting in him turning his body to the side, sliding his left foot forward, placing his right hand behind his back, and extending his left to make a come hither gesture.
"Oh, you are asking for it...!" groaned Korra, sliding her left foot forward, bending her body low, drawing her hands near her right hip, and then raising them in a sharp motion toward her left shoulder, causing the stone arena beneath Vahn's feet to tremble and shift as a flat pillar erupted from the ground to his left.
Making it clear from the very beginning he wasn't someone she should underestimate, Vahn swept his left hand back at the stone pillar, causing Korra's eyes to widen as he shattered it into countless pieces. Instead of backing down, however, her expression firmed as she said, "Then let's see you deal with this...!"
Throwing her hands up and raising her left foot as if she were about to start breakdancing, Korra brought her foot down, twisted her hips in a sharp motion, and punched out with her right fist, producing a stream of bright, yellow-orange flames comparable to a flamethrower.
Though he could have easily swatted aside or simply ignored the flames, Vahn leaped up and over them, acrobatically twisting his body mid-air as he flipped over Korra, meeting her gaze upside down with a smile before landing softly behind her.
Demonstrating that bending the Four Elements wasn't her only repertoire, Korra anchored her left foot, spun around, and performed a sweeping kick that may have hit Vahn in the face if he didn't tilt his head back. Using the momentum from that, she drew in her leg, causing her spinning motion to accelerate before she leaped backward to create some distance, spinning rather gracefully through the air.
"Nice," remarked Vahn, nodding approvingly before appending, "You might lack power, but you move your body well."
"Lacking power...?" repeated Korra, her expression one of annoyance as she asked, "What do you want me to do, enter the Avatar State? Besides, you haven't attacked once. If I'm weak, show me you're strong."
"Sure..." responded Vahn, leaning forward slightly before surprising Korra as he abruptly leaped forward, spanning the roughly ten meters between them in what seemed like an instant. To her credit, she managed to react with a fiery straight cross, but he preemptively ducked under it and drove his right shoulder into her unsurprisingly toned abdomen.
Though Vahn held back considerably, Korra promptly found herself sent flying back and eventually tripping on her right heel as she attempted to find her footing, causing her to tumble backward and cradle her head to avoid smacking it against the ground as she rolled several times before bouncing back to her feet.
"Alright...I'll admit it...you're not weak..." conceded Korra, panting heavily as she hunched over, hugging her bruised abdomen with both arms and staring at him a bit of spit leaking from her mouth and her aqua-blue eyes emitting a faint glow. She had never taken such a weighty blow before, so the only thing keeping her standing was sheer obstinance.
"I'm undoubtedly stronger than you, but there are countless people the current me can't hold a candle to..." refuted Vahn, shaking his head before extending his left hand to the side, condensing a vibrant, bluish-white ball of Ki and firing it into the distance a few hundred meters away. Korra was bewildered by this, wondering what kind of Bending it was, but when she saw the building-sized explosion produced when it impacted the ground, her confusion turned to a wide-eyed, almost comical expression of shock.
"And that's just a casual, almost effortless attack..." stated Vahn, modeling a wry smile as he revealed, "There are people in other worlds who can destroy entire planets, and even that isn't a particularly high bar. The world you're from is just one of countless, and in the grand scheme of things, you're nearer to the bottom than the top in terms of power, Avatar State or not."
Feeling the pain in her abdomen suddenly disappear, Korra caused Vahn's brows to rise as she raised the front of her shirt, revealing the faint outline of a six-pack and no injuries to speak of.
"I healed you so we could speak freely," revealed Vahn, his smile gaining a hint of playfulness as he commented, "But if you would prefer to keep fighting, I wouldn't mind watching you dance around a while longer. Your lack of power aside, you're very graceful."
"You can just heal people with a thought...?" asked Korra, staring at Vahn with a skeptical look despite witnessing his power firsthand.
"I can also cure any disease, dispel any curse, and the list goes on and on..." stated Vahn, shrugging casually before adding, "More importantly, now that you've witnessed what someone just a bit stronger than you can do, how would you like to pit yourself against others across the multiverse in an environment where death has little influence, and the only restriction to your growth is how hard you're willing to work and train?"
"Alright...I'm listening..." responded Korra, making it clear she wouldn't be convinced easily by crossing her arms and adopting a standoffish, slightly pouty expression. She hated losing, and with Vahn beating her in a single blow, she felt obligated to hate him as well...
"Then let's change venues," suggested Vahn, snapping the fingers of his left hand as Sis adjusted the environmental setting to place them next to a small Japanese manor in a bamboo forest.
"What the...did you just...but how...?" asked Korra, unable to find the words to construct a complete question. Instead of answering her, Vahn, changing into a loose black and grey yukata, leaving the upper half of his chest exposed, hummed, "Let's head inside first. I will prepare you some tea and snacks, and then we can chat as long as you have more questions to ask. The flow of time here is two-thousand, five-hundred-twenty times faster than in your world, so even if you stayed here a full year, only three and a half hours would pass in what you perceive as reality."
"Seriously? That's insane..." remarked Korra, tentatively following after Vahn but remaining on high alert as she didn't yet fully trust him. That changed somewhat when he provided her with the tastiest sweets she had ever eaten, her favorite being a large slice of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, but she did her best not to completely lower her guard until she had been returned to her home and had a chance to reflect on everything he had said...
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[Present Day August 31st DxD/April 20th DBT]]
Reading the message sent by Korra, enthusiastically detailing everything she had done during the day and how well she was getting along with the members of the ORC, particularly Xenovia, Asia, and Koneko, who formed a Party with her, Vahn couldn't help smiling relaxedly as he thought about how he was going to destroy her the first chance he got. He knew it was a little shameless to harbor such thoughts, but as his dick was continuously being stimulated by Venelana's pussy, he couldn't resist imagining how he would go to town on the dark-skinned woman, hopefully preventing much of the drama that compelled her to make profoundly bad decisions for her world, herself, and virtually everyone around her...
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