"Where were you trying to escape to?!" Ares pulled Aejaz far enough into the room such that he could no longer see the living room and all of Aejaz'' hope was now rapidly fading. "You''ve known about this match against your family for forever at this point, don''t get cold feet now! I''m not letting you go hide and take the day off! Seriously, with the magic you''ve trained up this should seriously be a cinch for you!"


    Aejaz sighed and accepted his fate. As he was reeled backwards with his heels dragging along the floor he looked backwards at his brother and whined. "I''m not scared or anything, I just don''t wanna do it. I mean, picture yourself in my shoes. You wake up to two cute bickering partners. They decide to have a competition with each other, in which you are most definitely the real winner, and then you get up to find your very talented brother making the best breakfast ever..."


    "No amount of kiss-ass-ery is going to save you. Continue."


    "... Worth a shot. Anyway, a great start to the day, a great breakfast... And then ruined! I''mma have to go up against those insufferable bastards who are going to find a way to annoy me for no good reason! It''s not that I don''t want to FIGHT them, it''s that I don''t want to fight THEM. Catch my drift? Like yeah I can beat them no sweat but, man, do I really even want to? It''s like bullying children who are lost at the mall and can''t find their parents. Sho is gone and I really don''t care about them anymore. With Trixie and Lacy here, there''s nothing for me over there you know? Now imagine I hide successfully, ok? You win the match, come back, make some incredible lunch. I go back to my room after eating and enjoy a nice and chill day with my two wonderful lovers and then all is well that ends well! Like, come on! You gonna tell me you wouldn''t choose the second option literally any day of the week?"


    "Of course I would... If I had a choice. What did I tell you before? Some things can''t be avoided Aejaz. You have to do this at some point and there will never be another opportunity like the one laid before you today. You would have to put your family in their place at some point and you would have to display this magic at some point too. Why not do both today instead of having to do them both separately on two different days? If you truly value being lazy then this is the best course of action and procrastinating will not help you."


    Sigh


    "Fine fine fine! Twist my leg, why don''t you?! Whatever, but I''m not gonna showboat like you. Go into the arena, the match starts, I kill them, I get out. No fuss! No verbal sparring! No monologuing! No arguing!"


    "Monologuing and arguing is half the fun but whatever, do as you please." Ares just shrugged and let his brother do things his own way. As long as he was actually willing to do it for once Ares really didn''t mind his methodology. It was a good enough change for now that he wasn''t actively fleeing from his problems like he used to. This was a win in Ares'' book and one the had been a long time coming. Hard fought too... Although really, the main reason it was even happening was because Aejaz had probably come to realise that he actually needed to man up and defend the people he loved instead of hoping all his problems would magically disappear on their own. "If nothing else, you ought to remember this though; the better you do now, the less hassle you''ll get in the long run from nosy cultivators who want a piece of your life. Give people a reason to think twice about messing with you or your family. Sure I exist, and am one hell of a deterrent, but I won''t always be there and you''ll have to make do on your own sometimes. You should care about your reputation not for your own selfish sake but for others around you. Anyway, I won''t ask this of you and give you nothing in return... Even though you should be jumping for joy at such a perfect chance to strut your stuff... Regardless, here, you can borrow this again." Ares held out the pressurised Nyxian Prowler and Aejaz'' eyes lit up like those of a sly honey badger finding a pair of unguarded nuts to terrorise. "As you can probably make an educated guess, the Prowler has been upgraded. it will now do the whole slicey and stabby thing way better than it used to so I''m expecting good results. If you disappoint with this thing in your back pocket I will seriously be in a bad mood, you hear me?"


    Gulp


    Aejaz nodded with a nervous smile as he put the weapon in his space ring. "Jeez, you saying that just makes things worse! I was feeling fine up until you started threatening me, now I''m anxious about messing up..."


    "Oh? You used to be quite motivated whenever I threatened you... I see the easy life has softened you up a bit... Maybe I should start up our well-regimented training regime again and beat some of that ugly tenderness out of you? Give you a real reason to feel anxious!"


    "NO! NO MORE TORTURE! BAD ARES! Just because you disguise it as ''training sessions'' that doesn''t mean I''m not on to your Geneva convention un-abiding ass! I know my rights!"


    "Good, ''cos I sure as hell don''t! How about a training session right now?!"


    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO." Aejaz ran away, screaming for his dear life even though Ares was not in the mood to chase him. The idiot would be fine... Hopefully. There was a non-zero chance he panicked and made a mess of things but Aejaz usually wasn''t that kind of person. For all his scaredy-cat tendencies he was usually quite capable of performing in the moment even if his hands were shaking nonstop. Ares figured it was for the best if, actually, he just left him alone here as he would deal with things appropriately if given some space. He wasn''t the same person he was even a month or two ago and could act like a mature adult when he needed to. All that was really left was for him to prove he had the strength to back up his new conviction and, hey presto, he didn''t have to rely on Ares'' nurturing anymore. Yes Ares could still whip him into shape here and there if need be but, overall, Ares would feel comfortable dumping him on some random planet and wishing him the best of luck. Aejaz wouldn''t want to be there, as he''d see it as a chore, but he wouldn''t starve to death in some random back alley at least. He''d be able to fend for himself and defend himself. Did that mean Aejaz was perfect now? Hell no! Not even close. There was still even more room for him to develop but his current level would be sufficient for now. One day Ares wanted to get to a point where, in that previous scenario where he abandoned Aejaz on a random planet, Ares could come back a year later and the idiot would be running the place from top to bottom. He was very much capable of that, even if Aejaz himself was reluctant to believe it, and Ares knew he could if his brother put in the effort. Aejaz'' unique aspect went above and beyond and was truly something in a league of it''s own even when compared to other unique aspects; that much would be proven today when all was said and done after the match ended.


    Ares served up breakfast, kept occasionally glaring at Aejaz to lay on thick the pressure for the fun of it, and passed time idly with everyone. He used this opportunity to chat with Trixie and Lacy a bit as these two were still the only ones he hadn''t really spoken to much in comparison to everyone else under this roof. He didn''t really have much time for any long conversations, as the match would start soon enough, so he kept things brief and casual while getting to know them a bit better. Trixie was interesting in that she had decided to lay low in the Fleeting Glimpse from a very early age so as not to draw the attention of Sho and be scouted / directly trained as a result. She was supposedly capable of even being the three main brothers, not including Aejaz, in one to one combat which was impressive for just a random cultivator with no special training. Then again, she had a strong unique aspect that was fit for purpose so maybe it wasn''t too surprising. Trixie had to lose intentionally when up against the brothers multiple times to lay low apart from one specific instance wherein Job tried to force himself on her.


    Job could tell there was something going on between her and Aejaz and wanted to ruin it so he made a go at her one night but was promptly shut down. The threat of being bombed into tiny pieces was enough to send Job packing for good and discourage him from ever making another attempt. If he went and complained to Sho the old coot would have beaten him senseless not because of the animalistic and evil nature of his attack but simply because he failed and brought shame to the main family. Pretty much everyone would have just laughed him off and ''politely'' encouraged him to get back to training. He couldn''t take up his grievances with Trixie either because she outclassed him by a fair margin so he had to just keep quiet about it and run away from her with his tail tucked between his legs whenever he saw her. There were a million and one reasons why Job hated Aejaz and this, even though it had nothing to do with him, was one of them. Job had mainly tried his luck because of Aejaz but he was also extremely jealous of the guy because Trixie was a pretty decent looking girl and was likely to grow up to be quite the eye catcher. That had turned out to be true and the more Job saw of her the more he cursed his inability to make her his. Although he hadn''t made a scene regarding her betrayal back during the party it must have stung to high heaven. Anyway, the main point here was that Trixie was a strong cultivator, not too far behind Aejaz even after his training. She was worth keeping an eye on and maybe trying to help improve. The hidden bombs she could sneak onto people would be a real doozy if combined with Ares'' annihilation magic. That could happen some other time though, right now it was time to get going and head towards the coliseum!


    Everyone up and left, as per usual, but they did run into someone new during their trip. Well he wasn''t new in the sense they''d never met him before but rather new in that he hadn''t been to the coliseum to watch any matches as of yet. The newcomer was Zhang! He''d come to watch Aejaz'' match because he guessed today would be a big one for his son-in-law and wanted to at least show a little support. He''d been busy making pills for the sect and didn''t really have time to take more than one day off during the competition so the fact he chose this one made Aejaz secretly very happy. Aejaz did consider Zhang to be family and he''d even gone to go meet him at the alchemy department occasionally on his own just to say hi. Of course he also went with Allie and watched everyone work but he was close enough with Zhang to pay personal visits and he was even recognised by the disciples there whenever he stopped by. Luckily for Zhang, having connections to Aejaz meant having connections to Ares, who had connections to Enyo, who had connections to Bellona. In other words, he could finally pay the top floor of the coliseum a visit which was nice as he''d always wondered what it would be like up there. Yulo had described it as a comfortable mini paradise so getting to rest his weary old bones on a throne was rather pleasant sounding.


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    After arriving at the coliseum, the group split in two and bade each other goodbye / good luck. Aejaz was given a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs up by Zhang who handed him a pill that boosted a person''s clarity of mind and calmed them down for roughly an hour. It was a relatively common pill but it was seen as a gesture of good will and well wishes before major events in one''s life. It was also something taken fairly regularly by students before exams so the pill was a very well known one to say the least. It''s many uses put it firmly in the list of top ten most frequently sold pills of all times down in the lower domains. The higher domains obviously had better versions so it wasn''t really comparable to anything you could find outside the Primordial Blade. In fact a pill of the quality Aejaz had just receive would be thrown in a bin or fed to a dog as a snack beyond the Blade''s barrier. Harsh but true. Alchemy methods and talents were abundant outside the barrier and many people who were beginners would be better than Zhang. That wasn''t his fault, he would just have to play catch up when he finally had a chance to get out and see the wider world. The same was also true of Allie but her unique aspect was extremely beneficial as it would simplify that process. Her methodology wouldn''t really change, just the ingredients, and the quality thereof, that she was working with. It would lead to all kinds of new avenues and she wouldn''t be held back by access to resources anymore.


    Allie stood to gain the most simply from exiting the barrier and would no doubt shine outside this place. Something like the gold rabbit weed would be purchasable basically everywhere for a couple hundred low grade stardust whereas here they were capable of costing upwards of a few hundred high grades under the perfect storm of availability circumstances. Aejaz managing to get Allie one had been a serious game changer regarding her opinion of him. It had already been about average but that one moment was at least partially to thank for his current relationship with her. She wasn''t materialistic but it was hard not be particularly appreciative of such a gift. At the very least, she was more willing to try and understand what kind of person he was and get to know him better... Even if it was partially selfish as she hoped she could get more out of her new friend. In hindsight, she knew it was mean to act in such a gold-digger-esque way but she couldn''t help it! Alchemy was her life''s meaning at this point so she hadn''t even done it with negative intentions, her body and mind just sort of gravitated towards the opportunity that was Aejaz. Conning him and abusing his friendly nature wasn''t a part of the plan at all!


    Ares, Aejaz, and Enyo met up with Li Li and Esme who were chatting away as per usual. They''d become close, and had a good friendship what with their frequent chats, so finding them shooting the shit in the sect here and there wasn''t uncommon when they weren''t spending time with their respective partners. As for what they''d just been discussing... Well Ares overheard the tail end of it and they were complaining about the lack of action throughout the tournament. Their last match had basically been the previous one as they weren''t getting a word in edgewise in the last two. They''d win the rewards, provided Ares beat Mako, but did they even earn it? It felt a little cheap as far as they were concerned and they were genuinely thinking about forgoing the rewards, giving them either to Ares or the sect. Ares could have rightly laid claim to it, as he was basically the lynchpin of Red Sun''s victory thanks to the existence of Mako necessitating his own intervention, but he wasn''t going to be a loot gremlin and demand spoils of victory.


    Esme and Li Li could make their own choice on the matter. Besides, everyone on the team would get individual rewards regardless so Ares was more than ok with just getting what he''d expected from the get go. If they wanted to donate to the sect then that only really benefitted Ares in the long run anyway as it would be his soon enough. At this point, making the sect stronger instead of him was a valid path to take seeing as how he was absurdly powerful compared to a normal cultivator right now. After getting a fine grind blue worth his prestige, permanently accessing Garmr, and finding something to boost up his magic, Ares would have no immediate needs. One of those was guaranteed to happen as soon as he entered bloodline awakening, the fine grind had a high chance of appearing in Xasca, and only the magic boost resource was a completely unknowable wild card. Still, the power increase he was likely to get on his upcoming journey would not be a small one provided he got at least one of the three. Not reaching bloodline awakening wouldn''t be an issue if he found the fine grind and the reverse was also true. His trip would be a little wasted though if he got nothing but there was no point fretting about that before he''d even embarked on his long overdue adventure.


    Back on topic, Ares did feel a bit bad for these two. He''d robbed them of a good bunch of training via strong opponents if nothing else. If they could have gone up against either the Legions or the Umbras their skills would have seen a drastic increase due to the calibre of competition. Ares had nothing to do with the poor draws but he had everything to do with killing everyone within breathing range of him during the earlier rounds. They''d gotten some hits in but wanted a lot more so Ares figured he would throw them a bone and offer to train with them after the tournament. The next appearance of the Freeride Federation in Central Land wouldn''t be for a while so he could hang around the sect and take care of whatever loose ends he had to first. In that time period, spending a bit of it making up for his highway robbery of Li Li and Esme''s international experience was the least he could do for them. After openly asserting as such, and assuring the two he would work hard to help them improve, everyone went inside the coliseum and lounged around inside the waiting room. They really didn''t need to be here as everybody other than Aejaz wasn''t required to take part in this match but, just in case something went terribly wrong, they could be the backup plan. The chances of Aejaz losing were slim but that didn''t mean he couldn''t start having a stroke or something mid match.


    Ares kept shuffling ever closer to Aejaz, inching towards him as he whistled to himself innocuously. Ares was just innocently applying a teensy bit of pressure via subtle threats as the distance between himself and his brother shortened. A knuckle crack here, a throat slitting gesture there. Really just standard forms of encouragement no matter how you looked at it... Fortunately for Aejaz, the menacing idiot with all the subtlety of a brick thrown through a window, which might actually happen to Aejaz if he found a way to lose this fight, wasn''t able to crawl his way over to him before the angelic voice of the disgusting demon Lex boomed down the hallway, summoning them to the arena. Lex may have been a piece of crap, and would probably still continue to be one long into the future, but right now he was saving Aejaz'' hide and he was definitely thankful for it, unintentional though it was.


    The group sauntered into the arena with lazy confidence. There was little room for four of the five of them to do anything here today so they were mostly ambivalent about the situation. Not competing was boring but competing was a waste of time against weaker opponents. If one person could beat the entire enemy team then they weren''t worth anyone''s time really. Now, granted, Ares and Enyo were different beasts altogether and shouldn''t have been included in that statement but it was applicable to the other three... As far as Esme and Li Li were aware. They had no idea just how powerful Aejaz was right now and didn''t view him as being much stronger than he was during the inner court test. He''d done alright there, and throughout this tournament had improved a fair bit, but being Enyo or Bellona tier was unthinkable to them. The truth was a bit more complicated than that, though, as he might actually even be stronger than them right now... It was a fifty fifty toss up between him and Enyo but he could very likely beat Bellona if for no other reason than the one art he came up with that would counter her aspect thoroughly. Aejaz'' new art was a game changer and he would display it here during this fight, although the extent of what it could really do might only become apparent towards the later end of the scuffle when Aejaz was finishing everything up.


    Standing opposite the Red Sun team were the Fleeting Glimpse lot who''d arrived before them and, for lack of a better term, were pissed the ever-living fuck off... With Ares... Why was it always Ares?! Whenever anyone had a grudge with the Red Sun team he was always suspect numero uno! This shtick was getting old! Yes he may have caused the reputation and position of the clan on a global scale to spiral from grace like a crashing meteorite but... But... Ok, maybe they did have a reason to be annoyed! But he wasn''t the one they were going up against so they could all take their mean mugging ugly mugs and shove it! Ares hit his glaring foes with an internal why I oughta! before calming himself down. He was this close to smacking them around at the start of the round but he had to hold himself back here. It wasn''t his job to clean up this filth! Although they were probably going to gun for Ares regardless. They must have known attacking him was pointless but Aejaz'' mother had probably ordered them to so they could get revenge publicly. A stupid idea from a stupid woman but the thought process was logical at least. It''s not that the idea was wrong, it''s just that executing the idea to get the desired result was literally impossible and everyone knew it. How the hell was anyone other than Mako supposed to go toe to toe with Ares?! But if the Glimpse clan were going to lose anyway then obeying her was the smart choice. They''d rather be reprimanded for failing than for disobeying as the punishment for the latter would be WAY worse. This did mean that Ares was going to have to direct everyone towards his brother like some kind of chaperone. No sir, the fight you are looking for is other there in isle GO SCREW YOURSELF.  At that point, surely Ares should just kill them himself no?! Maybe just one? For sport? Ok maybe not, Enyo was glaring at him from the side because she could sniff out his intent from a mile away...


    Drag


    It seemed Enyo wasn''t willing to take any risks so she was currently pulling Ares away by the tail end of the Stygian Zephyr as he waved his fist at the other team. She threw him against the wall of the arena and, for good measure, sat on his lap which prevented him from getting right back up and picking a fight. Ares was oddly scrappy but it was probably because he wanted to flick his scythe around again today against marginally better opponents than last time and get some good practice in. That was almost definitely the reason he was doing this but there was no way Enyo would allow him! "No! Bad Ares! Sit!" Enyo picked up Ares arms and wrapped them around her before clasping down on them, fully locking him down. When Ares finally sighed in defeat she knew she could relax a bit as he''d given up on his silly plans. In the end, the person who was closest to ruining Aejaz'' match was even the coward himself, it was very nearly Ares, the person who set this whole thing up himself! Fool! Well whatever, the match was starting and he could nothing to involve himself anymore. Li Li and Esme had also taken a back seat so, now, it was all up to Aejaz. It was his time to shine and steal the show! There was about to be a daylight robbery of considerable importance in Red Sun today!