And with that, Ares was done with Foolio and Dabble. The two were itching to get back to their squabbling, Ares could see it in their eyes, so he bid them goodbye and slipped back upstairs. As he left, he could hear them bickering about ownership of artifact three and Ares couldn''t help but feel sorry for the disciples on the off chance Julio got a hold of it... The amount of stardust they were going to be conned out of was not minor... Still, if you fell for a scam run by Julio of all people then you probably deserved it. Any sane person wouldn''t trust Julio as far as they could throw him.
Before Ares managed to escape the forgery department, he''d been somehow roped into giving more autographs... The disciples wanted them to sell at a later date when Ares became a legendary figure... If these had been some random nobodies Ares wouldn''t have agreed to this request but, seeing as how they were disciples of what would one day be his sect, helping them earn some stardust wasn''t a problem... Although surely this was highly unethical? Ares decided not to dwell on the matter because, really, since when did he care about being ethical? If anything, he should go walking around the sect more and offering his autograph to anything with a pulse! Unless it looked like a spider... Ares still hadn''t forgotten about the rak''ne! Ares was seriously going to Grand Annihilation the thing on sight... Maybe even a Perish Wheel for good measure... Whoever this rak''ne was better be very good at dodging for their own sake!
Meanwhile, as Ares double, if not triple, checked every corner of the inner court for spiders as he was on his way back home, the matriarchs were gathering at the pagoda to test just how ridiculous Ares was. Sure they''d seen his hand, first hand, but they wanted to know what it was like to be on the receiving end of it. They all had room to grow in terms of pressure manipulation so learning some stuff here was very much a worthwhile endeavour for them. Ares seemed to be preoccupied with a million and one other things right now so hassling him, when they could just pay his clone a visit, was the right way to go about it. Plus the clone had infinite time at its disposal and could teach them all simultaneously. Also the major draw was that this clone would basically never return to Ares and share its memories so Ares would never know they showed up here... It being revealed that all four of them got their asses beat by him was something they would never live down. Still, tutelage for pressure manipulation was more important and so the clone in the pagoda could give them all the snark it wanted because it would never escape from the pagoda. Calla wasn''t particularly worried about it though as she was confident her baby wouldn''t insult her! Rhea, Serene, and Margaret would almost definitely not be so lucky... After all, although they would definitely make Ares, the real one, pay afterwards, the clone wouldn''t give a damn... It would throw real Ares underneath the bus so it could have fun at the matriarchs'' expense as it wasn''t him getting punished after all! A right devious bastard Ares could be, even towards himself!
As the matriarchs had a connection to Ares, even if some of them only indirectly, they were allowed to bypass the queue... Not before handing over the stardust, though! Even if the Gods themselves showed up they would have to pay! And actually, that had been quite a funny sight back when it did happen. Something about demanding Ject pay 100 mid grade stardust in broad daylight, making him seem like a stingy bastard for trying to refuse, made for a hilarious story that frequently did the rounds at the higher ends of cultivation society. Of course the Gods all laughed at him until it was their turn to cough up the fee and suddenly that same embarrassment was transferred to everyone else as well. Even when Terros went inside the pagoda with Mako he was treated as a separate entity and had to pay too... Nickled and dimed... Hell if Transmit had paid more attention, and noticed Rox when he kept respawning outside the pagoda, they probably would have charged Ares double too... They were bloodthirsty! No wonder they were able to make so much profit at such a cheap price... They didn''t charge much for any of their services but boy did they charge often.
Rhea entered first and found Ares lounging in the sun, underneath a tree, as a few birds hovered around him. He was chatting with them about how many people they''d shat on today... Why the floor simulated that during Ares'' downtime was anyone''s guess. Perhaps he set it that way to keep himself entertained? It''s not like they were real people so it was technically fine? As long as they disappeared before the fight started then who cared, really? In doing this, Ares had also learnt that Veteran could have summoned his war-dead buddies from the past but must have opted not to as he didn''t want to relive those mental scars.
Upon seeing his new visitor, Ares mouth slowly widened into that of a malicious grin and he said a single word that would all but doom outside Ares to the most catastrophic beating yet... "DiarRhea!" Unfortunately for real Ares, he hadn''t forgotten about this stupid joke from back in Baja... And now his clone was taking advantage of that small detail to rile up his opponent... Clone Ares was genuinely curious if Rhea would blow her top and kill real Ares for this. Probably not but the current look in her eyes was glorious and hinted at the possibility! The clone Ares belly laughed and rolled around on the floor. It had been getting the most kicks of its life as of late, insulting everyone who came his way now that he was literally unstoppable in this room! No one could beat him and therefore no one could shut his foul mouth! It had been a while since Ares let loose his inner devil and gone balls to the walls but, in here? He was free to do as he pleased without any repercussions whatsoever! Real Ares? He could deal with the real problem! Wasn''t any of clone Ares'' concern!
Rhea was seething somewhat but seemed relatively unbothered compared to how Ares thought she would react. "Ares, you are the biggest turd of them all! If I don''t take vengeance on the you outside then my name isn''t Rhea!"
"Eh? You''re taking it well? I remember Enyo telling me you''d bite my head off, or something akin to it, if I ever said that to you... I mean your reaction was fantastic but it was missing that extra oomph, you know?"
"Yeah, well, you asshole, turns out hearing the same joke for the millionth time makes you numb to it. You think you''re the first kid to have tossed that name around? But you know what? Every single kid that said it to me when I was younger went home crying to their parents with a busted nose! See if I don''t break even more of the real Ares'' bones! He''s older than the other kids I beat senseless, he can handle losing a few more than they did! And you''re a revenant too so I can be extra generous with my dollops of wallops!"
"Fair enough. While you''re at it, give him an extra punch in the face and tell him I send my regards!"
"... You are a twisted motherfucker... The real you isn''t this consistently unhinged so what gives?"
"Hmm, I guess it''s just nice to finally be free? Free of duty, free of my work, free of expectations. I have nothing in here but time and there are no life-changing decisions I have to make. It''s all quite simple and I can just relax and have fun so it''s kinda like having a weight lifted. I wish the real me luck but I don''t envy him. I know I''ll get bored in here but at least I won''t be out there, dealing with all the crap he has to. I''m in the eye of the hurricane! So yeah, I feel a bit more spritely... Does get a bit boring in here... I should have asked for some board games or something... Not that anyone would be willing to play with me, I don''t think. Messing with people is its own reward though so que sera, sera. If I find myself entertained by my guests then lucky me!"
"Hmph, you almost make me pity you. Whatever, I assume you know why I''m here?"
"Yep yep. I can teach you pressure enhancement, if you don''t already know it, and how to use it to its full potential. If you haven''t learned enhancement, and you''re talented enough, you could maybe even get 100% Not likely though as the requirements are quite strict..."
"Unfortunately I''ve already done my enhancement. It''s at 60%"
Ares whistled to himself. "That''s actually an incredible number for someone in a lower domain, supposedly. Congratulations. I guess we''ll work on preventing any leakages as well as controlling it flawlessly. If your control is rough it might feel straight up worse than just not using it and that''s no good!"
Rhea eyed up Ares and scrutinised his cultivation. "Why are you 36 stages below me? I know the pagoda is supposed to equalise our cultivations so what gives? Did it bug out? Heh, can I sneak in a win and become the new queen of the pagoda?"
Ares raised an eyebrow. He''d been intending on checking Rhea''s enhancement first and foremost but if, like Sadie, she needed to be taught a harsh lesson first... Then Ares could oblige! "If that''s what you think, then would you care to give it a try? No point in improving your enhancement if you can beat me, the number one pressure wielder, after all!"
"I''m starting to think this is all a load of crock. Sure, alright, let''s do this. So how do we start? Just go at it whenever or what? A bell gonna ring or..." Rhea''s line of questioning was brought to an abrupt halt when Ares gave her the Veteran treatment and launched a pre-emptive attack. He spared no effort either and the annihilation enhancement was out in full display right now. the punch felt like it was travelling in slow motion but Rhea''s response was somehow even slower. Under the weight of the golden aura, she couldn''t even really lift her arms to defend so she had to bear the brunt of the punch in her face. She mistakenly assumed that being that many stages down meant Ares wouldn''t be able to kill her. Of course that was the last thought that ran through her head before Ares'' fist did and she was unceremoniously booted outside the pagoda...
As with Sadie, her head was still spinning and she felt like vomiting with how dizzy her vision was. Even when drunk she''d never felt like this and it was an entirely new feeling... And a wholly unpleasant one at that. More than anything, though, she was just confused. Taking in the golden enhancement aura during the tournament match had been tolerable because of the overwhelming difference in cultivation. It was still effective against her, due to Dominus'' bloodline, but not to the same extent it was to everyone else. Rhea had clearly been mistaken about how insane the aura was because even just the split second of it in the pagoda was enough to turn her worldview upside down almost literally. Never in her life had she seen anything quite like it and she understood what it was like to feel truly overpowered by someone stronger than she was. Calla sort of emulated that feeling but fights against her were still closer than the fight she just had with Ares. She would pick a fight with sadistic Calla over smug Ares any day of the week if that was the kind of strength he was packing. At least against Calla, Rhea actually got a chance to participate in the fight and maybe swing a fist or two. If she had her magic she would do marginally better against Ares but wasn''t this completely unbelievable? Even with that much of a cultivation gap he was able to overpower her to that extent? Yes her ability to resist his golden aura would go up with constant exposure to it, and developing her own enhancement further would help alleviate the issue, but what about people who didn''t get more than one shot against Ares? People he killed during his first encounter with them? Honestly, even without his destruction pillar, Ares would be a nightmare just off the back of his pressure alone. Granted it was the annihilation mana that was truly special but it''s not like his regular pressure was slacking either. This was a good thing right now, though, as it meant Rhea had found a good teacher. Having connections to a person like this was only ever beneficial as she could get pointers that were top of the shelf. Keeping that in mind, and trying to distract herself from the crushing defeat she''d just suffered, she stood up and marched back inside!
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She was sent spiralling through the portal and was met by a smug Ares who''s face was so, SO punch-able right now... Unfortunately, after that last exchange, Rhea was painfully aware she couldn''t do it. There probably wasn''t anyone that could get a meaningful punch in on this Ares so that did slightly alleviate the grudge she bore. Treating Ares like an unavoidable natural calamity was for the best. A volcanic eruption that wiped out you house? A snowstorm that locked everyone inside a building for days on end? Pagoda Ares? Disasters, all of them! Of them all, the one that brought the greatest destruction was Ares but, thankfully, he was very easy to avoid. You didn''t need a forecast for him because he only ever existed in one place even if he was a permanent fixture. "Alright you bastard, I get the message. I''ll drop the arrogance so teach me already."
"Aw, damn. And here I thought you''d stubbornly keep marching to your death for a few more hours. I know Legion women can be bull-headed, Bellona especially, so I wasn''t expecting you to fold this quickly."
Rhea shrugged. "I know when I''m beat. We Legion are stubborn but not to a fault... At least not all of us...If anything, the clan only became like that after Major took charge but, well, you know... So come on, what do I gotta do?"
"Show me your enhancement and I''ll give it a once over to see what needs to be fixed." At Ares'' behest, Rhea covered herself in a shaky, partially unfilled silver outline. Ares nodded and asked her to move which caused all kinds of flickering to occur with the enhancement. No wonder Rhea didn''t bother with her enhancement, it was garbage! At least compared to Ares'', anyway. And still Rhea would be considered one of the top 10 pressure wielders across Sheryashka and Vraizon... These were lower domains so mastery was typically built on a severe lack of knowledge. Not many could use pressure and even fewer actually had any talent. Combine that with a lack of Dominus-tier cultivators to pass around tips and it was just a bunch of babies figuring out how to walk and speak without any input from a parent. Stumbling over each step and ending up with a half-baked ''success'' was the inevitable end result of the environment they learned in.
Ares initially didn''t realise just how different he was compared to the average, especially the average around these lower domains. An average cultivator, one capable of wielding pressure, outside would have less pressure percentage than Rheas but way better control. 35% with a bit of leakage was considered the basics for anyone serious about cultivation. Despite her position within these domains, rhea would be a laughing stock in the outside world due to her awful control... In her defence though, if it was known what conditions she achieved her pressure under, people may actually do a 180 on their opinion and consider her a genius. She''d basically learned to swim in a drought. Though Rhea wasn''t the most talented cultivator ever, she wasn''t on the lower end of the scale at least. Of the matriarchs, overall, she was second strongest, beaten only by the anomaly that was Calla. Calla, in fact, was so strong that she was inching dangerously close to achieving an apotheosis form. It typically happened during a specific cultivation realm but it wasn''t impossible to retroactively gain it later. Calla had hit a cultivation wall and if she could overcome it then she would become an even more horrifying existence. Rhea couldn''t beat her as is so Calla''s dominance doubling would actually be a worrying matter that could create tensions amongst the clans again. Thankfully the stupid mutt-ess was aware of what earning an apotheosis form meant and was holding back a little. She was annoying, like all good revenants were, but she wasn''t selfish or unable to read a room. Besides, she had an eternity to go that extra step and she wasn''t in a rush.
Ares had finished diagnosing the issue with Rhea''s pressure manipulation and gave her the unfiltered verdict. "Rhea, your control is abysmal. I''m not being rude or trying to goad you, it''s just awful. I''m not even kidding you when I say it''s somehow worse than Enyo''s. She has an unusual way of benefitting from her atrocious control but I''m going to assume you don''t so fixing it is going to be a multiple year endeavour. It is worth your time, the only problem is you''re going to have to woman up and face the real Ares head on. Granted he''ll be busy but, after ascending to Vraizon, and dealing with all his problems and goals there, he can help you after. I can give you pointers to work on now, and homework to do later, but you''ll need follow-up sessions even further down the line."
"It''s that bad?!"
"Yes. maybe even worse. To put it into perspective... Imagine trying to put a pin through a needle while blindfolded..."
"That doesn''t sound too bad?"
"... No, that''s not the point. You threw the pin away after getting fed up with it, whipped out a hammer, and have been smacking the needle until it bent out of shape. Not only is the needle in need of fixing, but the pin was thrown into an ocean somewhere and you''re going to have do some digging to find it again... The ''needle'' are your pathways that have been battered by numerous failed attempts and needs to be healed by circulating mana through them in a specific way. That''s simple and will just take some time. If you cultivate in seclusion regularly you can maybe fix that issue in about a year or two. It also doesn''t stop you from using enhancement anyway, it''s just going to be a wonky and weak until then. Still, a weak enhancement is better than none and training in the mean time is invaluable. You''ll still be miles ahead of the rest of the pack even with such a massive disadvantage. That''s the needle... As for the ''pin'', this matter is a bit more tricky. The ''pin'' is your mana. You were mixing it with pressure and trying to jam it into your body which is correct but you seem to have stopped and restarted the process multiple times. Starting it up is both painful and problematic but, provided you don''t do it too many times, shouldn''t be an issue... You must have been too busy to focus on enhancement calibration as you should have and caused issues by never dedicating the proper amount of time to the process?"
"..." Rhea scratched her head. "Uh, yeah, it was annoying and got on my nerves ''cos of how long it took. It was about three weeks total and this was back during the time you died so I was busy trying to console Calla. I wasn''t in the right head space to do it but I didn''t want to restart by giving up entirely so I kept at it. Bringing myself to do it was hard and there were so many times I wanted to check up on Calla that it became a real muddled mess... So how screwed am I?"
"I would argue not very, it''s just that this step is a pain in the neck. It won''t take longer than the mana circulating but it ought to be way more painful. By stopping and restarting so many times you created artificial blocks at each of your stopping points. Part of why I got 100% during calibration is because I never stopped... Because I wanted to cook the banquet in time... But that''s not the point! A few blockages aren''t important if you aren''t aiming to break records but the amount you have is actively interfering with your pressure routes. As the pressure sifts through more and more blockages, it becomes thinner and thinner, leading to a weaker enhancement overall. It will be choppy and cut out at times which is why you flicker instead of having a constant glow. Now to fix this you''re going to have to remove the extra blockages you have. You technically did better than 60% it''s just that your method screwed you. You can make it to roughly 70% and increase the potency of your enhancement if you remove those artificial blockages you created with all your pauses. They form for different reasons, like innate talent, bloodlines, etc... So you can''t remove all of them, just the ones causing your issue. To do that, you are going to have to pry them open with mana and that is going to be quite stressful and painful. Again, you don''t have to do this now. You can work on your ability to control leakage with me now if you''d prefer to do that other fix in your own time. Of course if you work on the blockages here I can give you what limited aid I can in locating said blockages. Finding them isn''t hard but might take you a day or so for each whereas I can do it instantly. The only thing you can''t do without me is get accustomed to your enhancement via training. It''s up to you how you want to go about this all. The pagoda is going to remain in Red Sun until the end of the tournament so how you allocate the remainder of my time here is your choice."
Rhea sunk into deep thought and gave this matter consideration. Removing the blockages with the help of Ares would be quick but embarrassing. Screaming in pain in front of someone else when she could do it in private wasn''t appealing but him helping her locate them and giving an explanation of the process while it was happening was helpful... But she also needed to train to control her leakage as well as her efficiency with moving around while enhanced... Plus she needed to circulate mana to heal herself which was long but simple... Decisions decisions... "Ok... I think I''ve made up my mind for now at least. Right now I want to do training. Like you said, you aren''t leaving this place just yet. I can always choose to change up my goals whenever I want so let''s just stick with something simple for now and see how things go."
Ares nodded and gave a thumbs up. "You''re the boss, boss lady. Oh and don''t worry, I''ll restrain myself and not punch you in the face... Well that''s not true, I definitely still will, I just meant I won''t hit you hard enough to make you explode like last time!" Ares liked his new found power to bully people! He was admittedly a little power drunk but, really, who was going to stop him?! No one! Ares, and the freedom to torment individuals at his discretion, was a hellish combination... But still, it was one people had to willingly subject themself to so Ares wasn''t tolerating any complaints right now! If they wanted to submit any, they could find his real body...