“So, we’re all agreed we’re killing these two alright? Yep? OK, good. I’ll just head on over and take out my sword and kill them, no questions asked.” Ares whistled to himself and started to leisurely stroll over to the two men.
“Very funny. Don’t even think about it.” Enyo positioned herself in between Ares and his goal.
“You’re not seriously suggesting we go all the way back into town just to have them arrested, are you?”
“Of course I am, and you knew I would too, so don’t act so surprised.”
“That’s hardly democratic, I say we kill them.”
“I won’t let you; the law is responsible for these people.”
“So, when they’re eventually let free after their punishment, and they inevitably commit another crime, will the law be responsible for the people they hurt?”
“You can’t just assume they’ll remain stuck in their ways.”
“Oh really? Then how about a little test? Why don’t we leave Allie here alone with them and see what happens! You seem so very confident after all.”
“I wouldn’t trust Allie with anyone, that’s not a fair comparison.”
“Yes, well neither is using you as an example ‘cos you’d just kick the shit out of them. Most women wouldn’t want to be left alone with them regardless of whether they’ve ‘changed’ or not. Abiding by the law here will just cause complications further down the line. The world would be a better place without these scumbags in it.”
“And why do you get to decide that? I’m standing right here and have my own perfectly valid opinion. Why should we just do what you want?”
“Two reasons. First, this isn’t just what I want. What do you think I asked Fate before she left? She said she would rather they be dead, not just because of what they tried to do, but because of what they will invariably keep trying to do. See? That disciple is broadminded. She’s not so selfish as to jeopardise other women’s safety because of her own values, unlike a certain someone. Secondly, and this is the only thing that actually matters, it’s going to happen because no one can stop me. I’ve told you time and time again that the strong will always decide things in the cultivation world and, on that note, even if all three of you worked together, you couldn''t stop me from murdering those two.”
“Are those fighting words?” Enyo put the shield away and hunched over into a fighting stance.
“Nope, I have no intention of fighting you.”
“Well, you aren’t getting your way without a fight, so make your choice.”
“I have made my choice, I already told you they’re going to die. I’m just not going to fight you for no reason, it’s not like I have to anyway.”
Enyo didn’t quite understand what he meant at first but then she immediately remembered their last, brief exchange. Ares could Shift around at speeds she couldn’t match. He could just run circles around her and kill the two men without needing to fight at all. Enyo quickly altered her original idea of standing in the way of Ares and repositioned next to the two men so he couldn’t get away with his little murder quite as easily.
“That’s cute and all, but I’m still far faster than you. This isn’t a head on fight, so you can’t and won’t win this.” Ares darted over to Enyo in a zigzag fashion. The trailing Zephyr paired with the afterimages he left made it near impossible to keep track of his movements.
Enyo was surprised he could move this fast. She had seen him use the movement art twice before, but this was the first time she had seen him running around without it. For a 4th realm early-stage cultivator to be moving this quickly was an impressive feat. Enyo decided not to waste time even trying to follow his erratic movements and instead just waited for his presence to fill the empty space in front of her. Even though Enyo was fairly fleet-footed herself, it wasn’t her forte like it clearly was for Ares. Enyo felt confident that if he tried to just run past without a fight, then she could hit him before he snuck by. With the difference in cultivation, she also believed a single good hit would put him out of commission or, at the very least, severely hinder his mobility. “Hmph.” Enyo was feeling overconfident when Ares seemingly materialised right where she had been expecting him to. “Idiot.”
Ares smirked. The amount of fun he had toying with people’s expectations of how a fight should play out was simply immeasurable. People always seemed to think they were smart for taking the obvious countermeasure when, in reality, they weren’t being reactive in the slightest. To be reactive is to be able to react to everything that’s thrown at you. It’s not about having a plan B; it’s not about having a plan at all. It’s about being able to deal with any situation as it’s happening, and these same people were never prepared for anything beyond their first expectation. Of course Enyo was this kind of person. It just made too much sense for her not to be. She was no rogue! She had been trained day by day, diligently in the arts of blah blah blah. Long story short, you learn to fight by actually fighting, and Ares has done far more of that than most people. He didn’t even wait to see if she was going to swing at him, he just knew she would the second he entered her immediate area. Instead of carrying on forward, he planted his furthest forward foot down and used it to spring backward. Ares had managed this in such a fluid motion that it looked as though time was reversing and that he was simply floating away. Ares'' footwork was completely incomparable and truly masterful to a frightening degree.
Enyo realised far too late that her swing was going to go wide but, as far as she was concerned, it didn’t matter. Ares was still floating backward in the air and couldn’t realistically do anything. He had been forced back, and that was a win in Enyo’s book. So much for that confidence of his!
Enyo was far too engrossed in her pride to realise that Ares was reaching around to his back to grab the Zephyr. This situation looked very familiar to Aejaz who had seen Ares take off Slick’s arm in this fashion. Surely, he’s not going to actually injure Enyo… Right?
Thankfully, Ares wasn’t that much of a fool. He aimed not to cut off her arm but instead to wrap the Zephyr around it, specifically the arm that she had just swung with as she couldn’t stop the momentum of it. The Zephyr made a loop around Enyo’s arm as if Ares had thrown a lasso. It reached its max distance and became taught. Ares pulled hard on the Zephyr to pull himself over and Enyo’s swinging arm was now effectively reeling Ares back as well. Ares was once again in Enyo’s comfort zone but, this time, Enyo’s arm was preoccupied and there was no way to stop Ares who had just slid around her.
Enyo didn’t even bother to turn around. It was fairly obvious the two men would already be dead so why bother gazing upon the proof of her loss? Normally Enyo would be furious, but now? Now she was trying to hold her anger back because it would just seem petty. She was actually more annoyed at having been beaten in this little game of cat and mouse than she was about the deaths of the two men, and she refused to admit it. If it were anyone but him, she would be reprimanding their ears off right now, but she could just imagine that annoying bastard''s smug face, and she simply didn’t want to have to put up with that.
Allie let out a small, shrill shriek as she witnessed death for the first time. It wasn’t as bad as whatever had happened back in the Sect would have been and, therefore, wasn’t as bad as she was expecting, but it was still an ugly sight.
Blood sprayed, heads rolled, and the sound of Ares sliding his sword back into its sheath filled the quietude of what once was a peaceful forest. Ares covered the bodies and made a mound of dirt that blended in quite nicely with the surroundings. Those two bodies would never be found but, even if they were, no one would care.
“You ok, Allie?” Aejaz decided to check up on Allie and see how she was doing.
“Um, I think so,” Allie replied somewhat nervously and half-heartedly.
“It gets easier, I promise.” Aejaz was trying to soothe her nerves. “You! Shoo, shoo!” Aejaz was trying to shove Ares away to give Allie some time and space.
“Fine, fine. I’ll leave for a bit. Come let me know when you''re all ready to keep moving.” Ares wandered back off to the log benches.
Allie sniffled as a tear formed in her eye. “Sis? I want a hug.” Allie moved over to Enyo, who was still just standing around aimlessly, and hid her head in Enyo’s chest plate.
Enyo hugged Allie and patted her gently on the head. “There there.”
Sniff
“I don''t think I want to travel with him anymore,” Allie’s voice was somewhat muffled as she spoke into Enyo’s armour.
“Honestly, I don’t either.”
“Whoa, whoa, I know he can be rash, but that’s unnecessary, surely? I thought you said you wanted to get used to these kinds of things? They’ll sure as hell happen a lot around Ares.” Aejaz really didn’t want to split up this early.
“If she doesn’t want to put up with him, not only do I not blame her, but I agree fully. Ares is a menace. If Allie doesn’t want to travel with him, then that’s the way it shall be.” Enyo laid down the law. They had no real obligation to travel together anyway.
“...” Aejaz was at a loss for words, Ares was really causing him trouble here!
“Although, I suppose you can follow along, Allie doesn’t have any issues with you as far as I know.” Enyo decided to throw Aejaz a bone. She also did it to try and get one over on Ares. He wouldn’t be able to report back to the sect until everyone else returned so he would just be stuck doing the mission on his own. He wouldn’t die or anything, but it would probably at least irk him.
“Really? You don’t mind?” Aejaz was directing that question more towards Allie.
Allie nodded her head in acceptance as Aejaz had been nothing but friendly so far and basically completely non-aggressive.
Aejaz left the two alone for a while, so Allie could calm down in peace, as he went ahead to inform Ares. Aejaz really wasn’t sure how he was going to break it to him, he was worried that Ares'' bloodline might make a fuss. As he walked back, he slowly realised that, actually, he had no idea how Ares would react to this at all. Would he be understanding? This was technically his fault after all, who told him to act like this? After some time, he found Ares lounging on a log bench.
“Hm? Where are the other two? Did they need a minute?” Ares opened one eye and closed it again after asking his question.
“Yeah but, uh, I have something to tell you.”
Ares opened both of his eyes, Aejaz typically never worded anything in such a serious fashion. “What?”
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“Allie doesn’t want to travel with you.”
“Tsk, of course she doesn’t. Fine, whatever. We might have to wait for them to finish when we’re done with our end of the mission, but that’s fine, I guess.”
“Not we… You.” Aejaz suddenly started to feel guilty and shifted his gaze to the side a little.
“Excuse me?” Ares sat up.
“They’re letting me stay. Enyo said I could; after all, you’re the one acting like this, not me.”
“Acting like what?” Ares didn’t have any particular tone to his voice, which was worrying Aejaz.
“Come on man, you’re just killing people left and right. Can you not tone it down a bit? You’ve been a little much with the bloodline recently too.”
“HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!?” Ares got off the log and lunged at Aejaz, pinning him to the ground underneath him. “It was one thing to show me how much of a disgusting ingrate you are and to make the decision to follow Allie around like some little pet, but to lie to my goddamn face to justify it? What do you mean ‘just killing people’? I know for a fact you don’t agree with Enyo because I taught you better than that!” Ares raised a shaking fist but couldn’t bring himself to hit Aejaz.
“Ares I…”
“BE QUIET YOU BASTARD. Why do you think I’m even here!? IT’S FOR YOU! IT’S ALL BEEN FOR YOU. Everything I ever taught you, everything I’ve ever done, FOR YOU. AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!? I can’t even go back. I can’t go back to Appa, to a family member that would never stab me in the back like this. Weren’t you saying something about not loving people you just met? You’re a hypocrite. SIX YEARS I cared for you and the first chance you get; you ditch me and then have the NERVE to try and blame me for your actions!?”
Unbeknownst to Ares and Aejaz, Enyo and Allie had just arrived and were just watching from the side as this really wasn’t their place to get involved.
“Why did you even bring up the bloodline? Nothing has changed about who I am in relation to it, someone who cares about the people around him. You, on the other hand, have just been getting more and more useless lately. What was that little moment you had during the entrance trial? How long did I spend training you? WHAT FOR? JUST SO YOU CAN KEEP BEING USELESS? You should have been able to beat Slick. You’re the one getting worse, not me.” Ares, for the second time in his life, shed a tear.. “Unbelievable. I took you in. I’m the one that helped you when you thought about giving up. I’m the one that taught you to survive in the streets. I’m the one that taught you about cultivation. I’m the one that would give you what was left of my food when we were both starving. I’m the one that let you live a comfortable life. I’M THE ONE THAT PROTECTED AND CARED FOR YOU LIKE YOU WERE MY DAMN BROTHER. HOW DARE YOU LIE AND BLAME ME FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH DECISIONS!?” Ares raised his fist and followed through this time, punching Aejaz.
Enyo couldn’t sit idly by and watch anymore so she pulled out her shield and rushed over.
Ares was still completely unaware that Enyo and Allie were here watching everything. Ares felt something sturdy crash into his ribcage before he was sent rolling off into a Tree. He was momentarily disoriented but eventually came to and spat out some blood from his mouth before managing to uneasily stand back on his feet. “Why are you interfering?” Ares growled.
“Clearly you have issues. You’re far too aggressive.”
“He isn’t a child. He’s completely fucking worthless, but he isn’t a damn child. Our relationship has nothing to do with you. He should be grateful one punch is where I decided to end it for what he’s done. I hope you all learn a hard lesson because the easy way has been too soft for you three. I’ll leave, but you better not waste my time because all I want right now is to go home to Appa. I miss Appa,” Ares'' dejected voice betrayed the fact that he had given up trying to make these three see any kind of reason. “You''re a spoiled brat,'''' Ares spoke to Allie before turning to Aejaz. “Some brother you are, so quick to throw me to the wolves when something better comes along, and to not even have the courage to own up to it and at least be honest about your intentions. And you…” It was Enyo’s turn now. “... You have to be the most disappointing of everyone here. You''re just doing this out of petty spite. Where’s all that pride of yours? Why does it just disappear when someone who disagrees with you comes along? How fragile and frail is your ego and your so called ‘justice’ that you resort to this when you don’t get your way? Was trying to pit my own brother against me really in line with whatever bullshit agenda you have?” Ares solemnly limped away with a trail of blood following him.
Enyo thought she would be pleased to see Ares finally on the losing side of one of their interactions, but she felt a tinge of guilt and nothing more. Whenever he had ‘won’ an argument of theirs, it only ever really resulted in Enyo feeling perturbed at worst. This had clearly crossed that and she was partly responsible for encouraging a dispute between brothers. Wasn’t she supposed to be the one who was morally superior and not play silly games like this? Why was she so obsessed with getting one over him that she abandoned her own virtues and ideals just to end up seeing him like this? Did he really remind her of her father that much? And even if that’s the case, he isn''t actually the same man, he didn’t deserve to be punished for the misery her father had put her through... ‘Misery?’… She’d essentially just admitted something to herself she really didn’t want to.
“Aejaz? Are you ok?” Allie had slowly walked up to Aejaz and put her hand on his shoulder while speaking softly to him.
“What?” Aejaz was staring off into the distance where Ares had left, he was so preoccupied and lost in his mind that his response was barely audible.
“Are you ok?” Allie was worried for him.
“What have I done?” A bit of colour returned to his face and his eyes seemed a little less hollow than before. “What have I done?” Aejaz’ hands started trembling and tears were running down his cheeks. “Why did I make him mad? Why was I so selfish?” his voice was strained.
“You weren’t being selfish, and clearly he gets mad easily, don’t blame yourself,” Enyo wasn’t even really trying to make him feel better, just noting her own observations.
“No, that’s wrong. I lied to him. I lied to him so I could get what I wanted. He doesn’t get mad over nothing,” Aejaz was still speaking with an unsteady voice. “I’ve never seen him get mad.”
“He did yesterday though? And earlier today with me as well?” Enyo couldn’t quite understand what Aejaz meant.
“No, that was his bloodline. I’ve never seen him mad like this without it. He’s never been angry before. It’s my fault. He would always forgive me.” Aejaz took a few seconds to catch his breath before he managed to speak normally. “He always forgave me whenever I did something wrong, and he never got upset at me, and he would never hit me.”
“He’s overreacting, you’re just doing a mission without him, he doesn’t have a monopoly on your presence.” Enyo was starting to feel worse and worse the more Aejaz kept correcting her misunderstandings so she was almost now subconsciously trying to validate her own actions by painting Ares as unreasonable. If she was being honest with herself, all four people were at fault here for one reason or another, but she’d probably gone the furthest.
“He only did it for me.”
“What do you mean?” Allie asked.
“He promised to show me the world. He taught me all about this world and I always kept saying how cool it sounded. He promised to take me with him and show me everything I ever wanted to see.” Aejaz started crying as the guilt came flooding back. “He said he wanted to be a good older brother and let me experience the world and that he wouldn’t let anything come in the way of his little brother’s happiness.” Aejaz was whimpering and sobbing uncontrollably now and couldn’t speak anymore so Allie and Enyo quietly waited off to the side as the mood rapidly deteriorated.
---------------------------------
Ares was sitting in a clearing, pushing his bones back into their correct positions. “Bitch,” he half-heartedly muttered. He didn’t even punch Aejaz that bloody hard, why was she borderline breaking his bones? Excessive force much?
Ares had calmed down slightly… Granted it took turning part of the forest into a clearing that was definitely not there before, but he was certainly calmer. Blowing things up was a source of catharsis for Ares whenever he felt disgruntled, and no one except the most hard-core of hippies would miss a few trees. It was either that or cooking, but he had no ingredients left and this method would at least benefit his cultivation.
After healing, he stood up and set off for the mission area. He might as well go blow up some more stuff, not like he had any choice really. He was definitely going to complain to Rud about this stupid system when he eventually returned to the sect, why should he have to wait for others to be done with something he didn’t even really want to do anymore? Working on completing the mission would at least be good for his cultivation and allow him to practise his Echo technical on living beings, so it was still better than sitting around and just moping though.
The mission area was a forest roughly five times the size of the one he was currently in and about a three-day journey away or, at least, it would have been if he was still travelling with those backstabbing snails. Ares could make it there in just under a day and half if he really booked it, but what was really the point of doing that? He would just tire himself out, and for what exactly? He wasn’t childish enough to care about racing the others there, so he would just take things at his own pace. This was the first time he had been on his own in a long while so he figured he might as well enjoy it. As for what exactly he was going to enjoy doing, he would wing it and figure that out as he went. He could always just start blowing the forest up if he got really bored.
Two days passed and Ares’ mind had returned to its normal state. He was still furious with the others, but it wasn’t preoccupying his thoughts like it had been prior to now. He had arrived at a junction in a field. One route led to a small, nearby town while the other led to ‘Baja’ forest where the mission was located.
The small town looked rather rundown. Ares couldn’t make out too much detail from where he was, but the entire place just practically screamed ‘crooked’. Ares wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of staying in a dull place like that, hell, he would rather go and sleep back in Red Sun’s streets than stay there. Unfortunately, from their earlier conversations, Ares learnt that Allie was headed for an alchemy competition in Venti City after completing the mission and that they would be staying in that small town for a while. They would meet up with Zhang in 12 days’ time there as it was on the way to Venti City. Of course, this meant Ares would waste even more time doing nothing, waiting for Allie to finish her stupid competition before he could go back to Appa.
Ares took the path leading into the forest and began memorising as much of the forest as he could. He was going to be spending the next two or so weeks here after all. The forest was far, far denser than the one close to Red Sun. Oddly enough, it felt less dangerous. Although it was supposedly teeming with monsters, right now, all Ares could hear was the chirping of birds and some running water. There were freshly bloomed flowers which filled the air with a pleasant fragrance, and the grass was lush enough that you could practically taste it in the air. Ares was quite pleased with the state of the forest, specifically how the ground felt underfoot. It wasn’t wet and muddy, nor was it hard as concrete. It was soft and springy, perfect for running around on. It would make killing monsters and, depending on his luck, humans, that much easier.
Ares had a habit of judging terrain based on whether it was suitable for him to fight on and it all stemmed from one particular instance that Aejaz would never let him forget. “Tsk, dammit,” Ares complained aloud. And just like that, he was thinking about his moron brother again. Whatever, at least Aejaz would get some pity points from Allie for the beating he received. Yeah… He was definitely just helping Aejaz get along with Allie... That was why he felt a rising urge to find him and hit him again. Ares shook his head to get the unnecessary thoughts out and kept on keeping on when, all of a sudden, he felt a strange feeling. The feeling bore some similarities to when he first started cultivating. Ares looked around hastily to keep an eye out for any flying swords that happened to be coming his way, but found nothing. He realised he was probably overreacting. The feeling was similar, yes, but not the exact same. Instead of something coming to him, it felt like something was telling him to go to it. Like a calling. A calling coming from the other bloody side of the forest. Why couldn’t it have just been here at the start? Was it really necessary to be this inconvenient? It better be worth the hassle! Although that was what he thought, he also admitted to himself that actually it made no difference. He was going to be here for a long stay anyway and had nothing better to do regardless of how far it was. Still though, he wanted to complain as things hadn''t been going his way lately, and moaning was always satisfying with regards to stress relief.
Ares sped through the forest, primarily taking the low route along the ground but occasionally jumping from branch to branch when it was more convenient than having to skirt around an area full of bushes. Birds fluttered and scrambled whenever he passed by. Ares became accustomed to the various wing beats of the indigenous, aviary species so, when he heard a flapping that was unlike every other sound he had encountered so far, he rapidly veered off his path and jumped in the opposite direction to dodge. He turned around and saw a creature he had once read about in a book a few years ago, a ‘treetop tiger’.
These treetop tigers were only about the size of a palm and, as the name suggests, they looked like tigers and primarily lived in trees. They were excellent climbers but typically never had to resort to that as they came equipped with tiny wings that allowed them to fly freely. The most unusual aspect of these tiny things was that their teeth and claws were just as sharp, if not sharper, than their regular sized counterparts.
Oh, and they could spit fire, there was that too.
The fire they spat would take on various properties depending on the type of area the tigers lived in. Swamps would mean poisonous fire, rainforests would mean thunder fire, etc… It should also be noted that treetop tigers are pack animals whereby if you find one, you are essentially guaranteed to find at least five others.
Sure enough, ten more treetop tigers prowled around Ares on various branches and clung to the bark of the nearby trees.
Ares really didn’t want to fight them, not because he was scared of them, although they were certainly strong, but because he didn’t want to hurt such adorable kitties. It simply went against his code of conduct, so he began Shifting away.
Treetop tigers are territorial, so while they may give chase for a while, eventually they’ll stop if you get far enough away from their habitat.
Ares slid under fallen tree trunks and occasionally used his Zephyr to swing from one tree to another. The tigers had pretty good aim with their fireballs, so Ares had to use the Zephyr as a mid-air platform on multiple occasions to give himself a sort-of double jump and change his trajectory and avoid them. The main reason he was having such a hard time with these things were because of the particular environment they lived in, thus affecting their fire magic.
This forest happened to be rather plain, but the most distinct thing about it would be that it was always rather windy. This enabled the tigers to curve their shots with wind magic and somewhat alter the direction of the fireballs after having shot them out. That was the unique trait of treetop tigers in this region. The fireballs weren’t quite heat-seeking, but they were quite annoying.
After some time had passed, the tigers backed off and flew away. Ares made a note of those little fella’s habitat and went on his way. It would still be quite a long journey from here until he reached whatever was calling out to him, so he decided to take things a little slower to minimise his chances of needlessly running into any other aggressive creatures that were too cute to kill. Of course, this forest was littered with monsters the deeper he went and it didn’t take him long to find an entourage, the scientific name for a group of ‘hydra deer’. These things were definitely not cute.
These occult, demonic creatures sought out darker parts of forests so they could ambush prey easier when on the hunt. As for their physical appearance, hydra deer had the largest antlers of any known species of deer and, on the tips of their antlers, were other shrunken deer heads. Typically, only one entourage of hydra deer will exist in any given habitat, coexisting is never an option. The shrunken heads are gathered when conflict concerning habitats occurs. Hydra deer are actually weaker than even normal deer at birth, but get far stronger the more heads they have attached to their antler. The hydra deer with the most shrunken heads is the leader, and all other deer are subservient and may, occasionally, in times of great need, sacrifice their own heads to their leader.
Ares could have very easily snuck up behind them and used a Grand Annihilation to wipe them off the face of the planet, but that would be dull and he still wanted to experiment a little more with Echoes. Ares threw caution to the wind and lobbed a stone at the leader of the entourage to catch their attention, whistling too for good measure.
Clack
Although Ares wasn’t even remotely worried about fighting the deer, he had to admit, what came next was a little off-putting.
All seven deer paused with an ominous stillness. A grinding noise resounded throughout the forest as they slowly began twisting their necks in his direction. As their necks craned and their heads turned, they began to convulse in a rickety manner causing their antelopes to make a clicking noise. Suddenly, with one final spasm, their heads all flicked to face Ares simultaneously. As they all stared deeply into Ares'' eyes, the shrunken heads began wildly rocking back and forth over and over again as though they were about to tear themselves off the antlers.
Then they simply stopped.
A strange peace rolled over the forest and everything was quiet once again.
The shrunken heads didn’t remain still for long as they gently shook once.
Twice.
Thrice.
On the third shake, all 100 total heads attached to the seven deer’s antlers let out a blood curdling shriek and opened their eyes wide, emitting pale and ghastly yellow beams of light from their shrivelled retinas.