Back outside the pagoda, inside the Heaven''s Path sect...
Ares had heard the howl. Well everyone had but only he really had an inkling as to what went down. As with the pagoda clone, he hadn''t realised initially that the clone would have access to the revenant form but now he''d received an indirect reminder he was jealous! He wanted to become a doggo too! If nothing else to see what it was like... Ares had no idea just what kind of being he was and that irked him because some silly clone of his already did! Now he just wanted to use a Canis Stimulant for the fun of it even more... After all, that howl had pierced straight through the pagoda so he had to be at least a little incredible, right? Even Dominus inside of him muttered a pretty audible ''fuck me!'' back then! Although he''d been grumbling in the background since then, clearly unhappy about something, but the connection between them wasn''t strong enough to have a proper conversation so Ares just let it all slide. Ares'' reaction to the howl wasn''t as significant as anyone else''s because he was unaffected by it. If he''d known just how devastating a noise it had been to other revenants, who were all currently curled up in a ball and shivering like they were frozen, maybe he would have treated it like a bigger deal. Hell he didn''t even know everyone in existence heard it, he thought it was just a local thing. Ignorance is bliss...
As for what he was currently up to inside one of the cultivation rooms in his house, he''d been working on a few bits and bobs he''d gotten from the elders. First up on his list of things to do was learn to improve his pressurised Echoes. It wasn''t the most useful tool in his arsenal but learning this set of improvements was safe, quick, and easy. Relative to shoving his untested annihilation pressure into treasures he cared deeply about, this was a calm process and one he was already somewhat familiar with. This wasn''t the first time he''d improved his Echoes'' efficiency and might after all. Part of the issue with his original creation was that the mana outshone the pressure, limiting the power output of the pressure. Provided the user was better at controlling mana this was actually almost a non-issue. For someone like Ares, though, it had considerably hampered his own usage of the art. Someone like Rud would get a very minor benefit from this change but Ares'' usage of it would be noticeably better from now onwards. Other miscellaneous benefits included a quicker merging and shaping process, allowing for a quicker fire rate, as well as a better design on the shape of the Echo. By using pressure to create a funnel in the air the speed of ranged Echoes would increase drastically and close range Echoes would be able to cause more havoc should they wind up rattling around inside an opponent. More bounces, more speed and therefore more impact, and more problems for the victim. The changes were extensive and didn''t end there but if Ares went over them all he would be here the entire day just checking them all. He trusted Lizzy and Rud''s work, as they were experts who stood to gain a lot from this, and just adapted his own understanding of the art according to the tome''s suggestions. Rewiring his automatic mana flow was always a hassle and had a learning period associated with it as it was effectively throwing away countless little bits of muscle memory. It was worth it though, very worth it. The mana cost of Echoes had barely budged and yet they were now way better so there was no way Ares wasn''t going to take advantage of it. Making his toolkit more deadly all around was never a bad thing and the treadmill work of constantly improving yourself was part and parcel of what it meant to be a cultivator in the first place. He couldn''t skip it, boring though it could be!
A few hours later he felt comfortable with all the changes and could cast the new Echoes consistently. Currently it wasn''t any faster than before but that''s because he was still in an adjustment period of sorts. Actually, matching the previous speed despite being uncomfortable with the art still was a goof sign as it meant the improvements were already making their mark. Now that he was done combing over the tome it was time to start shoving pressure into artifacts and treasures... But where exactly was he supposed to start with all of this? Do the artifacts first and use regular pressure? What if he went too far? Start with the treasures because they could take his mana in safely? But they weren''t as powerful as his personal treasures which could benefit more... Start with his personal treasures? And risk potentially breaking them?! Poor choices all around, unfortunately, but he had to make a choice and do something!
Ares wracked his brains for a bit before deciding on the artifacts like his Black Ice Bane and... Actually, technically, that was the only artifact he owned. Most of his rare stuff were all treasures... But he did have other artifacts on him! Artifacts he''d been making for the sect in the form of armour and weapons. He would also start incorporating pressure into these but he needed to make sure he got the right amount otherwise it would be unusable for the other disciples. It''s not like any of them were going to somehow overpower his pressure, that was a preposterous expectation. So in other words, he had to not break the Bane, and he had to refrain from putting too much pressure in everything else as well but their limit was considerably lower... It wasn''t an easy task, and he would mess up more than a few of the artifacts due for sale at this rate while he was trying things out... Was there an easier way that could prevent all of this risk?... Ares went through all the tricks he had at his disposal and eventually settled on attempting to use his Omniscience to try and cheat the process. If anything he owned was going to simplify the process, it would be the treasure that had done arguably the most for Ares up until now. These things were seriously far FAR too powerful compared to any other treasure out there. The fact that the Celestial Prisms were only one part of a set was mind boggling. The idea of other, equally legendary treasures existing was crazy to Ares who was still unable to completely wrap his head around the myriad problems Omniscience could effortlessly solve. It was a cheat code, plain and simple.
Ares turned it on anddddddd it worked. Of course it did. Of all the treasures in the Celestial Cluster that Ares could have picked up first, he was oh-so grateful it had been these bad boys. Right now, he could see a sort of gauge on his Black Ice Bane with three clear segments, split between two red lines. The first section was basically irrelevant as all it showed Ares was how much pressure he could freely add without making literally any difference to the weapon. Its increase in power would be minor. The second was where it all started to spike and the limit here was one Ares couldn''t cross if he wanted anyone else to ever be able to use it. The final segment, starting from the second red line, could be filled up until the end of the gauge at which point, when crossed, would cause the weapon to explode and break. Before Ares celebrated his new finding, he took this opportunity to pick up some random sword he''d created for the forgery department and created a wall of disintegration, around his arm, between him and the weapon. He imbued the weapon with annihilation enhancement and winced as he expected a bang...
.... A bang that never came, thankfully. Ares opened one eye and peeked at the sword with his Omniscience activated and inhaled deeply upon seeing how bursting to the brim this thing was with his pressure. Even an ounce more would have sent this weapon over the edge and made it go kablooey in his hands. It wouldn''t have been a small detonation either as this was annihilation pressure and it was fully rigged to explode just about all the damn time! Good news had fallen right into Ares'' lap with this experiment, though, as it meant he could feasibly put his annihilation enhancement into the Black Ice Bane. The other artifacts were a no-go as they shot right past the second segment, which was where they needed to be at for the sake of the disciples purchasing them, but that didn''t concern Ares himself.
Ares took stock of the annihilation pressure imbued sword and nodded his head in satisfaction. It was a fantastic weapon by any standard really. He''d created a weapon that anyone in mental accumulation would kill for if they could actually wield it. As that wasn''t the case though, and literally only Ares could, it was a complete waste. Ares had no reason to use it over his Bane so... What was he supposed to do with this useless thing!? Ares could use this new found information to craft some powerful artifacts of other weapon types and practice his weapon mastery but this sword was pointless to the extreme! Ares just opened a nearby window and chucked the sword out of it, letting it sit around on the floor near the fence. He had no use for it and no one else ever would either... Or so he thought, but that sword eventually went on to form it''s own sort of silly legacy down the line. Long story short it was worth a crap ton when it was discovered, thanks to Ares annihilation pressure, and traded so many hands it became one of the most valuable swords of all time despite being relatively low quality compared to other stuff you could find in the higher realms. After many murders, and subsequently the repeated changing of hands of ownership, it eventually ended up in a museum of all things. As with many stories about the unknown, the tales of this particular sword were blown way out of proportion but Ares never bothered correcting any of it because, honestly, he didn''t even remember the sword at all... If people wanted to treat his leftovers as a work of art then, stupid though it was, they had every right to do as they pleased...
After closing the window and dusting his hands off, Ares sat back down and picked up the Bane. Ares knew he could safely shove the same amount of annihilation pressure inside it as it was a far stronger artifact than the one previously experimented with. Ares still winced, mind you, because an explosion in a confined room like this would not be pretty. No matter how much faith he had in his success, pulling that proverbial trigger was still as much of a problem as it always was for him. Still, his reluctance had been for naught as all was well and dandy by the end of the process. Actually, Ares could put a bit more pressure in so he took a few deep breaths and began the surgical process. He had to lower his pressure output to the point it felt like he was poking a balloon with a needle without making it pop. A hard task but one he was very much able to do with the assistance of Omniscience. Without the Celestial Prisms he would have had to practice pressure control for maybe another week or so before he felt comfortable finishing off the Bane. As that wasn''t the case, however, Ares now held in his palms his trusty Bane with a fresh, golden tint to it. It was a small tint, and hardly perceptible during combat scenarios, but it was definitely there! Ares could feel the weapon surging with new force, ready to unleash it all upon any foe it clashed with. Maybe the pressure would even benefit the various runes he could use with this thing as they relied on annihilation mana to begin with. Having a pseudo extra source of annihilation might raise the deadliness of the explosions it could create which was always nice. Now that Ares had completed his initial probing, he could move on to the other artifacts he had lying around. Sure there were more interesting things to be doing right now but he wanted to just finish this stuff up, hand it over to Onno to put on sale, and be done with it all. He viewed this as work and, worse still, unpaid work! The stardust he earned from such masterful creations was, unfortunately, limited and so he never really felt inclined to do it. He was aware how much of a benefit he was providing, though, so he stuck to it for the sake of the sect that would one day be his.
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Ares worked long and tirelessly throughout the day, only taking a break when it was time to cook dinner, after which he returned to his little cultivation cave to keep up the grinding. He was even prepared to burn the midnight oil and go whole hog on this endeavour to finish up sooner but he was paid a visit by Bellona who demanded he take a break and get some rest. Ares had no idea why she was calling him but it''s not like he didn''t have time to spare. There was still a good while between now and his next match so he wasn''t in a rush or anything, he just wanted to declutter his mind and cross off some of the things on his to-do list. The sooner he finished messing around with pressure, the sooner he could cultivate to the next stage of mental accumulation and, subsequently, take the trailblazers. A new cultivation realm was right around the corner and Ares was interested in it, doubly so now that his Omniscience had proved its capabilities yet again. He could technically work on it before everything else but it was a series of tasks that would cause one more to pop up every time he finished the first one in the queue. To that end, his list would never actually shorten and, from a neat and tidy perspective, it irked him. He would rather have a short list with long problems than a long list with short problems. Anyway, point being he was somewhat reluctant to halt his progress but he did so regardless. Tomorrow was a new day and he could start working on everything again then anyway. Not working wasn''t really the issue, working on the wrong thing was where Ares'' hesitancy lay. He predicted he had more than enough time to get all the smaller stuff done in time and still have enough leftover time for the trailblazers before the next match so a setback like this wasn''t an issue.
Ares got up and, on the way back to the bedroom, attempted to have Bellona divulge her secrets. Why she wanted him in the bedroom today, specifically, he didn''t know. She didn''t seem to be in the mood to play around and if it was actually Enyo that was she would have fetched him herself. Hell she might have just jumped him in the cultivation room so that clearly wasn''t it. If it was just a matter of spending time she would have owned up to it and said it already so that wasn''t the reason either... There had been one weird event earlier in the day that could have potentially clued Ares in had he asked questions at the time but he just chalked it up to Enyo and Bellona''s usual occasional spats and left it at that. They''d been debating something in the kitchen when Ares went to cook but they hushed themselves the second he walked into the room... It was suspicious but if they wanted him to know they would have outright said whatever it was to his face... They were planning something! The dastardly sisters were up to no good.... But what could it possible be?
Ares arrived at the room and he had no clue. There wasn''t any prank or sort waiting for him and the closer he got to the bed, the more he started to think that, actually, maybe, it really was just a matter of spending time with him? Maybe they were concocting plans to get him in the room had he denied Bellona''s earlier requests and, now that he agreed on the spot, it was all unneeded? Ares was starting to believe this train of thought up until he went to get into the side of the bed and Enyo shooed him away, pointing towards the centre of the bed instead and indicating he should go there...
WRONG!
IT WAS ALL WRONG!
Enyo had gotten moody last time because she wasn''t in the centre and yet, despite offering her a chance tonight, she''d denied it without a shred of reluctance in her eyes?! Nope. Nopenopenope. Something was very wrong here! There was fuckery afoot and Ares knew it... But what could he possibly do about it? He wasn''t going to walk away now that he was already in here. The bed was comfy and he was feeling a bit tired so he kind of wanted to stay. Plus sleeping with his wives was cathartic and enjoyable... Ah screw it. Whether they drag me to hell or heaven at least they''ll be along for the ride... Ares decided to stay. Whatever these two sneaky women were up to Ares wouldn''t mind in the end and they were free to mess around in whatever way they wanted. If they wanted him here to have some kind of fun at his expense, he would oblige and make them happy. If it was anything for his benefit then there was no point in complaining. Essentially, there was no reason to leave and spoil their plans. Of course his acceptance of the current status quo didn''t answer any of his burning questions. Was he about to get the short end of the stick? Was Enyo fiending for the big end of the stick? Who knew?! Ares sighed, shook his head, and kissed both Enyo and Bellona goodnight. He would find out tomorrow morning what these two were cooking...
The night was a peaceful one and Ares slept undisturbed. No matter what these two had in store for him, at the very least, he had gotten a full night''s sleep so that was a silver lining on his uncertain future. There was one small incident in which Ares woke up to the sensation of his arm being headbutt but that was just Bellona sleep... Walking? Headbutting? Was this woman secretly a ram?! Not that it wasn''t cute in its own way but why was this woman so obsessed with headbutting things?! Ares ignored it and went back to sleep while Bellona leant on his arm and started drooling all over him... No one ever said love was easy... As much as Ares wanted to clean the dribble on his clothes he just let it happen because any movements might wake one of the sisters up and then he would feel guilty. It wasn''t dissimilar to having a sleeping cat on your legs and wanting to move about either because there was something you needed to do or because your legs were getting numb. Ares didn''t have it in him so he just let Bellona slobber in her sleep. In the morning it would be her who''s cheek was soaked anyway...
Morning came and the sun peeked into the room around the edges of the curtains but Ares was still asleep. Usually he was the first one up but it seemed the sister''s had co-ordinated their efforts to wake up before him for some reason... Although really it was just Enyo waking up first and then punching her sister in the arm until she also woke up. Still, Bellona being willing to get up this early meant something was definitely up! She was actively fighting off her grogginess in order to wake up early?! Did someone kidnap the real Bellona?! Ares would have been shocked at this development had he been awake and it would have put him on full alert. As this wasn''t the case, poor defenceless Ares had no way to fend off the two women who were doing... Something? In all honesty, as he felt their hands roaming around him, he probably wouldn''t have stopped it even if he was awake. Right now he felt like he was in heaven and, though he''d very much woken up now, even if he''d yet to open his eyes, he still wasn''t entirely sure if he was dreaming or not. Was this what it was like to be Bellona in the mornings? Struggling to open your eyes? Maybe a bit of unwillingness to as lying there while your partner toyed with you was fun in its own right? Maybe she had the right idea all along... Or maybe she was actually just lazy and this was all just a bunch of convenient excuses. Either way, Ares felt like he was drifting on a cloud of soft hands and it was delightful. Whatever these two had planned seemed like it was trending towards a good thing rather than anything untoward, allowing Ares to lower his guard even further and unwind. He didn''t know what he''d done to deserve this but he would accept his reward with open arms.
One pair of hands roamed south and started fiddling with him and Ares knew who it was the second their hand made contact because there was a pretty distinct difference between the two wives. Since Enyo''s change a while back her skin had gotten so much smoother that her entire body could practically double as a soft pillow. That included her hands so, in turn, it meant Bellona''s rougher palms felt noticeably different. As for what that affected now that she was going to town on him, well it sort of depended. Ares came the conclusion that Bellona''s hands were preferable for a quick job if she put more oomph into her grip whereas Enyo''s slow and steady work felt better in the long run if she was gentle and slow. With Enyo hogging his mouth and Bellona pecking away at his neck, with her hand busying itself downstairs, Ares didn''t last all too long as his morning wood was eventually chipped down to size. To be fair it was their fault it turned into a woodpecker in the first place! Ares was curious to know why this teamwork had come about in the first place so, although he was still battling with his tired eyes, he managed to partially open them and squint as he queried the two. "Good morning... Better than good but I think you catch my drift... What''s the occasion?"
Enyo was currently too distracted with licking Bellona''s palm clean to answer so Bellona took the wheel and steered the conversation in her sister''s stead. "Today''s a special day, you''re not wrong about that. You mentioned it in passing a while ago so Enyo and I did some digging, talked to Calla, and found out today''s your birthday! Happy birthday, mutt!"
Ares chuckled to himself. "Well I certainly enjoyed my present. It was a hands-on experience worth remembering. You got me good, I really didn''t see it coming... Wait, does that mean you two are going to cook for me today?! Is that why you were hanging around the kitchen yesterday?... I see... Well, do try not to burn the kitchen down..."
Thud
Bellona headbutt Ares and hmphed in his general direction with narrowed eyes. "We''re not master chefs or anything but we''re not so inept at cooking we''d burn the place down!... Well Enyo might if left unattended... But not me! I''ll have you know I learnt how to cook decently enough back when I lived on my own after leaving the Legion clan."
Ares rubbed his head and slowly sat up with his back against the headboard. "Then I look forward to what you and Enyo will make... But speaking of the devil..." Ares looked down at Enyo who was slowly crawling up his body whilst looking like something straight out a horror film; the kind where some woman fresh from hell drags herself out of a tv screen and skitters around on the floor... "... Can you even cook?"
Enyo looked up at him through her messy hair, which was a result of having moved from Bellona''s palm to the source of the mess and cleaning that up for a spell a little earlier, and smirked. "Nope." Whether this was truthful or not Ares didn''t know. His lie detector was going off but if she treated his question literally then it was obviously a lie. There was no doubt Enyo could cook on a basic level, that was a given, but the extent of her abilities beyond the scope of a beginner were unknown... She''d used Ares own tips and tricks to overcome his lie detector and keep him on the edge of his seat regarding how today was going to go... There was only really one way to find out! Ares braced himself for what was yet to come...