"Alright Barbs, listen up..." Ares clasped his hands together to gain Barb''s attention but she seemed to be extremely livid right now, like she wanted to bite Ares'' throat out and roast his corpse for any nearby monsters to feast upon... Ares looked over at the axemen who were all simultaneously gesturing for him to cut out the nicknaming and abort that idea entirely. It didn''t take more than this for Ares to figure out what was going on here... That was her pet name used by Onno''s father... Whoops... Ares had a few nicknames up his sleeve, Barbara, Barbie, Barbados... And of all them he just had to pick the worst one imaginable! Curse his rotten luck...


    Ahem


    "Let''s try that again from the beginning, Ms Barb." Ares course corrected and went with a more formal tone and, thankfully, that helped Barb settle down a bit... "I have a question I want you to think long and hard about the answer to as it will affect the offer I make you after you''ve given your response. Revenge, the Firestarter stuff, robbing people in Baja... Are you doing all of this because you have nothing left and have given up or because you simply want revenge on that HMTG bastard?"


    "... What do you mean?" Barb was finally speaking to Ares like a human being and not lashing out at him after every syllable.


    "What I mean is, would you be capable of putting your past behind you and starting anew if possible or is that man your only driving force in life? Do you care more about your lost business or about payback? Hypothetically, if you could push a button and go back in time to restore your business to what it was and have it back in your name, or you could push a button and that man instantly had a heart attack and died, which would you press?" Ares didn''t much care which answer she picked as he was fine with either option really. Barb was just a stranger to him and he was only going to offer her this one chance before giving up completely. If she was stubborn about getting revenge then Ares would quickly drag this lot back to Red Sun and have Hans lock her up until the Federation left port. She wouldn''t be able to get involved in the Firestarter stuff and Ares wouldn''t have to deal with her later and actually kill her. This would take some time but then Ares could just book it with Aejaz afterwards and even carry his brother when he ran out of mana. It wasn''t ideal but letting this woman go only for her to become pain in the neck again later was worse.


    Barb seemed to be lost in her thoughts as she hadn''t expected such a weird question. On the one hand, having that insufferable man be dead would give her peace of mind but leave her feeling empty afterwards. On the other hand, if she could get her shop back she would be fulfilled for life but never comfortable knowing she couldn''t get her revenge on that man... Both had ups and downs so it was just a matter of which one she would prefer. Ares said he''d accommodate her choice but she had a feeling there was a right and wrong option here, one of which would surely lead to a greater future than the other. Truthfully she already knew the answer to this question deep in her heart because all the things she stolen from others she''d kept tucked away in her spatial rings in the hopes she could sell it all and get her shop back even if it cost her everything else she owned. "My shop. I would want my shop back... And for that man to die even though I didn''t pick that option but I take it that''s not going to happen..."


    "No. I''m not going to kill that man because I have no reason to. He''s yet to offend me, your plight is irrelevant to me, and he''s also technically innocent even if hearing that boils your blood. I don''t care about him and killing him would probably bring me a great deal of hassle so it isn''t worth it, despicable though he is. He''s also the father of an acquaintance of mine... Though, granted, that acquaintance might actually encourage me to off him if he could speek freely on the matter... Anyway, I''ll get you your shop back one way or another but there is a catch."


    Barb recoiled and blinked her eyes wide open as Ares delivering her shop back to her on a silver platter was not an outcome she was expecting. She didn''t know what he had planned exactly but the shop she raised from the ground up coming back to her was not something she could have ever foreseen. Surely there would be too many legal hoops to get it all back again? "If you can get the shop back then I don''t care what the catch is. You want to use me like that man did? Go ahead, I don''t care about my body anymore. But I have to ask, kid, how do you plan on getting it back?"


    "First of all, ew, no, I don''t want your body. Even if I did I''m on strict orders from my wife not to play around with other women and she will smell you on me even if I don''t see her for the next two months so that''s a no go for multiple reasons. Second of all, you should care what the catch is because it involves uprooting whatever''s left of your life and it also involves those axemen as they need to make a decision too. The catch is that I''ll be relocating your shop into Red Sun to serve as the local alchemy shop. We don''t really have one worth mentioning as of right now and you''ll be filling that gap basically forever. You can leave Red Sun yourself down the line if you want but that shop''s new and final home will be Red Sun. It will also be your home too so be prepared for that and get your life in order. The same applies to the axemen but obviously you''re free to do as you please as you can either keep following the merchant lady or go do your own thing. As cultivators, though, it would be wise to tag along as the potential for growth is incredible and it doesn''t seem like you have anything else going on, especially if you were willing to throw your lives away on the Federation for the fun of it.


    Honestly, none of you are really useful to me but I need an alchemy shop and having more cultivators around, even if they''re only really slightly above average at best, is all convenient for me. I came across you at the perfect time and you should thank your lucky stars I did because this position would have gone to someone else had I taken a path even half a mile or so to the left or right of where we are now and missed you. I''m not one for miracles but this seems to be one such event so take fate''s blessings and consider this option wisely. Lastly, how I get the shop back isn''t really any of your concern but if you must know I can do it basically however I want. I can take it by force, I can steal it stealthily, or I can do it legitimately. I''ll see what mood strikes my fancy when the time comes. I''ll make it a priority when I return from my trip but until then you can stay in Red Sun and wait patiently. If you make this choice then go look for Hans, explain yourselves, and tell him I sent you as that will make things go smoothly. Remember this though, you all mean nothing to me and if you decline here then I''ll do whatever make''s my life easier regardless of what you want. Also, if you agree just to get me out of your hair then go towards the federation anyway when you think I''m not looking I will make your lives as excruciatingly painful as possible before I finally kill you. Hell I might even keep you alive, Barb, and go gift you to Mr. HMTG out of spite and then he can sell you around like he does his wife. I am not someone to be trifled with as there exists a deep well of pettiness within me so make a choice you won''t regret, whatever it may be."


    Barb shook her head from side to side. "There''s no need to think about it, I''ve already made up my mind. I just want my shop back and I don''t care about anything else. As for the axemen mercs..." Barb glanced over and it was pretty clear they were all aboard this plan too because a golden opportunity like this was a once in a lifetime thing and they weren''t going to scoff at it. "... I guess there was never any doubt about what they''d do. We''ll take you up on your offer but if you don''t follow through then I''ll just make you the next target of my revenge instead and make Red Sun pay the price."


    "An empty threat. Normally I would slap you sideways as punishment for daring to threaten me in such a manner but I understand your head isn''t in the right space due to that previous betrayal so I''ll ignore it. let me be clear here though, never threaten anyone I know or anything I own ever again or there will be consequences. Our deal be damned I will find a new owner for that shop of yours and they''ll have to be ok with the very real skeletons in the closet I leave behind as an example of what happens when you pick a fight with me.


    Well? What are you waiting for? A second invitation? Go directly to Red Sun and don''t harass anyone there either. If I catch wind of you bothering the locals then, again, our deal is off. I don''t care about what you''ve been doing up until now but that behaviour will fly no longer, not in my neck of the woods." Ares shooed the merchant lady away and she obediently walked towards her axemen to help them up and then leave. She was tempted to be obstinate and fight back with her venomous tongue but she wasn''t certain Ares wouldn''t get fed up with her and just kill everyone because it was too much of a hassle. There was a lot at stake here, namely her shop, so she didn''t want to ruin it because of the petty habits she picked up after being betrayed. She had a mean streak in her as a result of that nonsense but if she was going to stop this lifestyle then she ought to get rid of that problematic aspect that was still clinging to her like a parasite and go back being polite to people. She really never did use to be as bossy and bitchy as she currently was but that was just the only way she thought she''d be able to get by in this merciless world. If that was how all the big business owners did things then maybe if she emulated it, and put herself at the top of the world while stepping on everyone else, then maybe she could get a taste of the highlife and do as she pleased for once. Of course she had no real power to speak of so it was more like a kid playing pretend, and was every bit as threatening, but, embarrassing though it was to look back on, at least it was over now... the way she''d treated the mercs like underlings was really cringey though and she was going to struggle to look them in the eye from now on... Well, they''d put up with her this far so something minor like that wouldn''t phase them. It hadn''t up until now and it coming to an end would be a good thing for them so they''d forgive and forget. They looked rough and were always ready for a fight but they were good enough people at the end of the day.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    While the merchant lot were leaving, Aejaz walked over to Ares and tried to dig deeper into the whole ''recovering the shop'' thing he mentioned. "Sooooo. Care to explain how you''re gonna get the shop back? I''m really curious how you''d do it legitimately. Obviously you''ll use the Primordial Blade to store the shop and relocate it. By force is self-explanatory. By stealth means you''ll be borrowing my Concealed Serpent and using your Nyxian Prowler to sneak it away in the dead of night. But legitimately? I don''t think you have the money or, and I''m sorry to say this, the brains to pull that off. You aren''t exactly and up and coming business tycoon so going head to head with HMTG doesn''t seem likely to me..."


    Ares defiantly folded his arms and snorted. "Hmph, I''ll have you know I posses plenty of business acumen! I''ve been around Onno long enough to pick up some tricks here and there and could sell a person their own kidney if I really wanted to!"


    "... I doubt that..."


    "Sure I could! If I just ripped it out and then offered to put it back in, for the right price, I''m sure I''d have plenty of takers!"


    "That''s not business you cretin, that''s violence!"


    "In the cultivation world, I fail to see the difference. Anyway, to get the shop back there''s a few avenues I could take. One, I could speak with the man himself and offer him a spot in Red Sun, in exchange for the shop, which he''d invest in quicker than you could blink. Two, I can get Onno involved and he''d get that shop back in no time flat by using his HMTG connections thoroughly. Or third, the way I intended on doing things, overwhelm HMTG with my support avenues via Transmit, the C.O, and then afterwards the A.O. With my backing I could breathe quite heavily down the neck of the A.O and have them withdraw support for that particular shop, opening it up to a pretty simple trade or purchase after devaluing the location exponentially.


    Of course, the more likely outcome, thanks to the C.O, would be that I just get the damn thing for free. It''s in a valuable spot but if the A.O leaves well enough alone then the shop become worthless and not worth fighting the C.O over as far as HMTG would be concerned. In short, there''s a few different ways to go about it and, even then, those options branch out into other ideas that are all wholly unnecessary because, honestly, I''d just take it. Legitimate means are long, boring, and exist solely for the weak. I want the shop, that HMTG guy is a dickhead, it shouldn''t really belong to him, and what I say goes in this domain. He can''t fight me and he doesn''t have the tools at his disposal to stop me from doing what I want. He won''t get any support if all he''s fighting for is one lousy fucking shop he stole from some random woman with duplicitous means in the first place. The public sentiment would not be on his side so who would he go and cry to? He can''t dissuade major business from joining up with Red Sun because it''s a greater opportunity than anything he can offer. If anything, I could even leverage those people against HMTG and cause him major losses which would affect that dream of his, to build a stainless empire. Long story short, that shop is as good as mine already and it''s really not any deeper than that...


    ...


    ... Now, as for the disapproving monk who''s staring holes into the back of my head in a bid to get me to repent for my tyrannical ways, I honestly have no idea what to do with you..."


    "..." As per usual, the monk made no noise whatsoever and just stared at Ares with a judging gaze.


    "Nothing, huh?"


    "..."


    "Ok, calm down, no need to get too excited now. Hold back the verbal landslide a bit, yeah?" Ares took a deep breath after mocking the guy and spoke one last time to him. "I''m taking my leave now. I don''t what you were doing here, or plan on doing after this, but you are free to keep doing it to your liking. Though I don''t entirely trust you, I''m sure you have no intention of doing anything unjust so go. Be free! Fly fool!"


    "..."


    "..."


    "...."


    "...."


    An unusual staredown began as Ares quietly waited for the monk to leave but he seemed uninterested in doing so and Ares was this close to kicking this guy''s ass for being so damn annoying. What did he want and, better yet, how on earth was he going to communicate that want with Ares?! A game of charades?! Before Ares could ask, the monk held out a letter of some kind towards Ares who took it and read the thing aloud.


    "Dear Massai..." Ares glanced up and over the letter with a ''that you?'' look on his face to which the monk, Massai, nodded. "On behalf of the Oasis..." Ares wracked his brain because he''d heard this name somewhere before... And recently too... Rud! Rud mentioned it to him briefly a while back because this was the name of the sect over in Xasca that had submitted the Riddlemyd request! Ares, as a foreign aid disciple, was going to go and meet with them to announce his arrival before heading over to the Riddlemyd. It seemed they were contacting this monk for some reason...


    "We seek your aid. Though you''ve already aided us once before, we ask that you lend us a hand once more regarding the same issue as last time. For some unknowable reason, the fine grind blue quarry has been contaminated again and we fear the worst. We have more clues this time about what keeps going wrong but we are still in dire need of someone to cleanse the quarry and that is where we hope you come in as we already know you are capable of such a feat. If you aren''t able to help with the quarry then we strongly urge you to send someone else who can as this matter seems to be a bigger issue than last time and may even be somewhat perilous to Xasca as a whole. We are working tirelessly to find anyone who can alleviate us of this issue but I fear you alone possess the means to fully purify the problem down to the root. We will offer more details once you arrive but, in the mean time, would it be possible for you to gather information on a person who goes by the moniker ''Torchbearer'' during your travels to share with us? We have a feeling this person is involved and we''d like to know what their goal is.


    Though you are a virtuous monk who wishes not to receive compensation for your good deeds, we have a reward already planned out for you so please be willing to accept it this time as we feel it will be incredibly valuable to you and your spiritual journey. We did some digging into your history and found something you will surely appreciate so do be sure to come and pick it up. I''ve entrusted this important letter to Transmit so I''m sure this message will find you well. Attached is sufficient stardust to get you aboard the Federation and cross over to our country should you be willing to lend us a hand though, knowing your personality, I''m certain you will. As such, I thank you in advance and look forward to greeting you with apt hospitality.


    Kindly


    Mr Drai, Sect Master of ''Oasis''."


    ...


    "Torchbearer again? And it seems to be something equally severe too... Why is this person trying to start shit everywhere and cause worldwide pandemonium? It''s all so well timed too as everything seems to be kicking off at once... How long has this person been planning this? Tsk, whatever, no pointing asking such questions because even if you knew thew answer, Massai, you wouldn''t exactly be willing to tell me, would you?"


    "..."


    "Yeah, as I thought... So you''re heading to the Federation as well to go help out Xasca? In that case, count me in. Knowing my luck I''ll get involved anyway, and I happen to be heading right to Oasis'' doorstep, so I might as well see if there''s anything I can do. You already know my credentials so I''m sure you have no complaints with me getting involved?"


    "..." Though his silence was impossible to decipher Massai did, thankfully, shake his head side to side so that meant Ares was good to jump in on this mess. He wasn''t interested in this Torchbearer before, when it was just a Freeride Federation thing, but now that it was becoming a more widespread problem Ares wanted to solve this before it inevitably affected Red Sun. If Ares could guarantee Red Sun would leave Sheryashka before shit went down for real then he might not have cared but, as things stood currently, it was looking likely that Red Sun was in the firing line. Everywhere was in the firing line, to be more specific, and Ares figured it was best to just assume Red Sun would be involved as a result. Anyway, he could worry about that when he finally came across the Firestarters on Freeride and the quarry in Xasca. For now, it was time to get back to travelling as this had been a lengthy enough detour as is. Useful in many ways but troublesome in many more as Ares'' workload for the foreseeable future had just increased exponentially and his to-do list had only gotten longer...


    "Alright Massai, we''re going to abandon you here now and leave you in our dust. You''re capable enough that you can make it to the Federation without getting offed by some random monster or thug so I''m sure we''ll meet again on the Federation. I know goodbye is the hardest word to say and your silence tells me all I need to know about how sad you are to see me go..."


    "..."


    "... But leave I must! So without further ado, adieu chump monk!" Ares gave a salute with his tongue out before Voidwalking away with his brother in tow. There was a lot of new information to consider, namely this Torchbearer individual, but right now it was time to keep training his lazy brother in the ways of destruction! If Aejaz thought worldwide catastrophes were enough to escape Ares'' harsh training curriculum he was dead wrong! As such, Aejaz was worked tirelessly and to the bone over the course of the next few days until, luckily for him, they came across the Federation and his training was over! Not! The Federation was still anchored down, and not leaving for a few days, so Ares was going to keep making Aejaz Voidwalk all over the place until it finally left as there was no good reason not to keep training like a spartan until then! Though Freeride freedom could be seen on the horizon, Aejaz was forced to camp out in the wilderness by his lunatic brother who was not affording him any niceties until his training was over... There was a warm bed waiting for Aejaz on the Freeride and yet it was out of reach... This was because he said Ares didn''t have the brains for business, wasn''t it... This was payback! One day, when Aejaz'' casino was up and running, he would scam his own brother for this cruelty! What goes around comes around!... Oh well, at least Ares was providing warm meals, that shut Aejaz up for now.