Five minutes prior.


    “Bellona?”


    “Enyo? What are you doing here, sis’? Wait, no, now’s really not a good time for this. We’ve gotta leave, like, yesterday.” Bellona held Enyo’s wrist and tried dragging Enyo off, only to find her completely immovable. Like a boulder.


    Bellona wore armour which, aside from the smaller frame, was identical to Enyo’s, minus the helmet which she had in her possession but chose not to wear. She sported a black emo shag with a middle parting in which the sides and back of her hair came down to just below her jaw. The front tuft leant to the right side of her face and was just long enough to curve over her amber eye which was nosily peeking out from behind the mini curtain bang, emphasising the sly and mischievous look on her somewhat-freckled face. Slightly longer than usual fangs, a sharp face with a small mouth and a small, pointed nose allowed her to switch looks from ‘soft and cute’ to ‘devilish little gremlin’ in a heartbeat. The messy scene kid aesthetic combined with her tomboy-ish face was rather distinct. So distinct in fact, that if Ares were here, he would have immediately recognized her as the person that had kicked a hornet’s nest directly onto his lap as she was the person that was running away from the Mecha-dryad. Of course the armour would have also been a dead give away.


    “Geeze, what have you been eating? Why are you so damn heavy!”


    Thunk


    Enyo had brought out her shield and whacked Bellona with it. “Why are you in such a rush? What’s going on? Why are you here? I don’t plan on going anywhere until you explain things.”


    “Ahhhhhhhhhh, can you not just listen for once? You were always like this. We really have to goooooooooo.”


    “Why?”


    Allie and Aejaz were just standing off to the side, they turned to one another and shrugged their shoulders at each other, neither had any clue what was happening.


    “There’s a Mecha-dryad! I was with some other clan members on a hunting mission when we ran into it. We all scattered and ran for our lives. Unfortunately, the damn thing chose to chase me, and I’ve been running since!”


    “Not that I don’t believe you, but there’s absolutely no sign of anything chasing you.” Enyo peered around Bellona and found nothing except the calm tweeting of nearby songbirds.


    “Ahh hell, that idiot’s probably wishing he had just listened to me. I guess it’s his problem now.”


    “What idiot?”


    “As I was running, I passed by some air-headed fool who didn’t seem to care all that much about the fact that I was yelling at him to run. Ha, I bet he’s running now though. No way someone with his poxy cultivation can put up a fight against that thing.”


    Enyo’s face twitched under her helmet as she had a gut feeling she knew exactly which poxy-cultivation, airheaded idiot her sister had run into. Enyo sighed and put her hand where her forehead would be under her helmet. “Black-cape with engravings, highly punch-able face, and probably sitting on a tree branch?”


    “Huh? Don’t tell me you know that guy? I mean, I wouldn’t say his face was punch-able necesarilly, but the rest is accurate.”


    “Unfortunately, yes. I know him.”


    “Oh, uh, oops. In my defence, I did warn him though.”


    “Tsk, don’t worry about him. He’s comparable to a cockroach, he won’t die. I’m sure he would sooner become a half-decent person than keel over.”


    “Uh, you don’t seem too fond of him?” Bellona tilted her head slightly.


    “He’s a damn weasel. Actually, he makes weasels look like role models. Just don’t even get me started on him.”


    “Enyo?” Allie had finally decided to speak up and try to figure out what was happening with this mysterious person.


    “Oh, right. You know I come from a clan so, technically, I have a lot of ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’, but Bellona is one of my actual siblings, a blood relative. We grew up together. She, along with the rest of our clan’s generation, have come to this domain to carry out our task. I was the only person who went to Red Sun, but most other clan members grouped up when they joined their respective sects. I’m the only one that doesn’t have regular contact with other clan members, which, depending on the clan member, can either be a good or a bad thing I suppose.”


    Bellona had looked over to see the other two people she hadn’t paid any mind to previously. “AHH! She’s sooooo cuteeeeeee.” Similarly to Ares, Bellona liked both cute people and things to a shocking degree, and Allie was like a porcelain doll to her.


    “Bellona, this is Allie. I’m acting as her guardian, and she’s like a little sister to me.”


    Bellona had run up to Allie and started hugging her. “You’re adorable! And who’s this? You’re not gonna say you picked up a little brother too, are you?”


    “No, that’s the ‘idiot’s’ brother.” Enyo used air quotes when referring to Ares as an idiot.


    Aejaz smiled and waved politely. “Heya.”


    “Heyo! Sorry about your brother, really didn’t mean to run into him.”


    “Ah, no worries. He’ll be fine.”


    “Damn, that’s either some serious trust, or some serious laziness. Anyway, we need to get out of this forest and go inform someone who can actually deal with that thing before it becomes a serious threat.”


    “You''re at mental accumulation, 4th stage right? And you were with others who were presumably at a similar cultivation. Could you really not kill it?” Enyo questioned. She had vaguely heard of Mecha-dryads, but had no clue just how problematic they were.


    “Nope, couldn’t even scratch its outer hull. That thing is majorly tough.”


    “Was it back that way?” Aejaz pointed in the direction Bellona had come running from.


    “Yeah, why? You aren’t seriously thinking of trying to fight that thing, are you?”


    “No. No, God no.”


    “Good, ‘cos that would be idiotic.”


    Enyo spoke up as she started heading towards the dryad’s last known position, “Yeah, that’s the problem. It’s the kind of thing an idiot would do.”


    “... You’ve gotta be kidding me… That guy isn’t the type to actually try and fight a Mecha-dryad, right? There’s no way he could put up a fight against that thing.”


    “As much as I hate to say it, you’d be surprised.”


    “Seriously? I thought you said he was a cockroach and a weasel? What the hell kind of person is he?”


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


    A colossal dark-gold dome wrapped over the horizon like a regal rising sun. The air shook and the vibrating pulses gave rise to a buzzing sensation that prickled away at the skin.


    “The Ostentatious kind.”


    The four travelled for a while until they reached a scene of pure carnage. Actually, calling it carnage was probably inaccurate as there was simply nothing left. Carnage was whatever had taken place here before they arrived.


    “I thought we were in a forest?” Bellona was utterly bewildered. Her confusion was justified though as the area in front of her more closely resembled a desert. The only things still left here were the occasional shards of metal buried deep in the massive pit and a trail of blood.


    “Unbelievable! Is all Ares good for seriously just leaving behind a mess wherever he goes!? It hasn’t even been a day since his last explosive escapade! A DAY!” Enyo’s fists were curling into balls.


    Bellona slipped over to Allie’s side and gently nudged her while whispering, “Uh, is she always like this with this, ’Ares’, guy? ‘Cos this is definitely not the stoic Enyo I remember.”


    “Yeah. He really drives her up the wall, but I don’t think she actually hates him. It’s really weird.”


    “Ha, you''re not wrong.”


    Aejaz scratched his head. “Um, I don’t know about you three, but I’m gonna follow the blood and see if I can find Ares.”


    “Are you sure? he might still be in a bad mood with you, with all of us actually,” Allie reminded Aejaz.


    “Maybe, but I should still go and check to make sure he’s ok. He can tell me to screw off after if he wants.”


    “What? That’s not right!” Bellona jumped right into the conversation, and almost literally at that. “No sibling should ever tell their sibling to get lost, ain’t that right, Enyo!”


    Enyo just groaned in response. She knew why Bellona was saying that. Bellona was probably expecting an apology at some point for their last, argumentative, interaction a few years back.


    “Come, come. Let’s go find this brother of yours!” Bellona put both her hands on Aejaz’s back and started to push him along. Honestly, she mostly just wanted to meet Ares. He was clearly not your everyday guy, and she wanted to know a few things. How he beat the dryad, how he made that giant explosion, which she imagined was linked to her first question, and most importantly, how he managed to make her sister get this riled up over him!


    “Bellona? Enyo!?” A man’s voice, that wasn’t Aejaz’, sounded out from somewhere behind everyone.


    “Aww hell.” Bellona shut her eyes and scrunched her face while grumbling inaudible curses under her breath.


    Three armour-wearing individuals had shown up, it wasn’t hard to guess they were from the same clan as Enyo. One with darker skin had a scar running across his eye and looked surprised to find Enyo here of all places, but he was also somewhat distraught at this discovery. He knew the companion of his that just spoke was going to become even more insufferable than he had been prior to this point.


    The woman of the group had her hair down and it came all the way down to her waist. She looked pale and tired thanks to the bags under her eyes. The black eyeliner alongside everything else made her look like an evil witch, which was certainly quite odd and led to a feeling of incongruence considering the holy-esque armour she wore.


    The man who had spoken out earlier had short, clean cut, black hair and a streamlined face. His eyes and face gave off a cold, unfeeling, and detached vibe. He had a ‘similar’ ruggedness to him that Ares possessed, but didn’t pull it off even half as well. He was trying far too hard to look like an imposing commander with his posture and hairstyle, but he really just wasn’t suited for it. If he were lined up next to Ares it would be hard to call him anything other than a pale imitation of a truly heroic personage. Whether that was because the man just didn’t fit the look or because Ares had mastered it, to a point of making anyone else look like a child playing hero in comparison, was up in the air.


    “Bellona,” Enyo had a hint of agitation in her voice and she clearly wanted an explanation.


    Bellona shuffled next to Enyo and whispered back, “Look, I tried keeping him away. I did! I swear! He requested permission to change sects ‘cos he thought you and I would be in the same one. When he found out you weren’t with me, he kept pestering me to tell him where you went, but I kept telling him I didn’t know. I was seriously hoping we wouldn’t run into him.”


    Enyo sighed and turned to face the two guys and the girl that had just arrived. “Gladius, Charity, Trew.” Enyo made it pretty obvious which of the three she wasn’t thrilled to see.


    “Enyo, it’s good to finally see you again,” despite the friendly smile, Trew’s voice was rather lofty and arrogant, like it always had been. “Where have you been all this time?”


    “Conducting the operation as standard, exactly like everyone else. It doesn''t leave much time or room for cordial visits. I’m sure you understand.”


    “Of course, of course. Still a shame nonetheless. I have quite missed chatting with the pride and joy of our clan.”


    “Thank you, but there are many competent individuals in our clan’s generation. It wouldn’t be right for me to lay claim to such a title.”


    “Modest as ever, truly respectable. I see you’ve gotten involved in our plight with the dryad. Perhaps we can use this as an opportunity to chat, catch up, as well as figure out what exactly happened here.”


    “That won’t be necessary,” Enyo replied immediately. “We were just leaving.”


    “Well, we can always come with you.”


    This was what Enyo had been dreading, but there was no real excuse to turn him away. “Fine,” Enyo replied in a completely bland voice. Enyo was well aware of Trew’s affection for her, hell, everyone in the clan was, but she wasn’t even remotely interested in him. She was far more concerned with fulfilling her duties and obligation to the clan and besides, Trew was Annoying. Annoying with a capital ‘A’. Annoying in the clingy sense. He had always done everything he possibly could to follow Enyo around wherever she went, like some kind of obsessed pet, which was part of why she had sequestered herself in Red Sun. She just didn’t want to have to deal with him. Enyo had politely put up with him for years, but he was truly unbearable. Some guys just can''t take a hint, but Trew was a step above that and still wouldn’t understand even if you flat out gave him the answer.


    Trew was perhaps the stiffest of Enyo’s clansmen in regard to regulating pride and strictness. He was even more determined in his convictions than even Enyo, and was incredibly stuck up and egotistical about it. He was by no means anyone special in the clan, but he was one of the better fighters from one of the more well-known family branches, and so there were a few people who respected him. Regrettably, for those who had to put up with him, that all went to his head, inflating his self-worth to the point he thought he deserved a chance with Enyo, who was widely considered the Legion Clan’s ace of the younger generation, even though stature really had nothing to do with anything. In fact, Trew was so uptight that even Enyo thought it was ‘a little much’. It was to the point that his presence irked people as they felt a compulsion to maintain an image that wouldn’t disgrace themselves, or the clan, at all times lest they become the target of one of his infamous rants. No matter how frequently Enyo tried implying that she couldn’t care less about him, regardless of his achievements, Trew ignored it. Whether it was because he was oblivious or in denial, Enyo had no clue.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    “So, where are we headed!?” Trew had a bit more pep in his voice now that he had gotten what he wanted after months of searching.


    “We’re following the blood trail and looking for someone we know.” Enyo sympathetically nodded at Charity and Gladius, both of whom had walked over without having had a chance to say a single word yet. “Hey,” she said knowingly and apologetically.


    The two clansmen smiled bleakly and wearily. “Hey, Enyo.”


    “Hey, good to see you again.”


    These poor souls had to put up with Trew for far longer than any sane person should ever have to, all while he was no doubt prattling away about trying to find Enyo.


    “This… ‘Someone you know’... Was she the one that did… This?” Trew gestured at the wasteland around him.


    “Yes, and it’s a he, actually,” Bellona felt like she had a chance to see something funny so she responded on Enyo’s behalf.


    Sure enough, Trew’s hand momentarily twitched which Bellona, being as impishly playful as ever, got a massive kick out of. “Oh, my mistake. Who are these friends of yours? I should have asked sooner!” Trew tried to play off his worries while simultaneously digging up more dirt.


    “This is Allie, and this is Aejaz. As for the person we’re following, his name is Ares, but calling him a ‘friend’ is a bit of a stretch.” Enyo was not pleased with the thought of having to deal with a lovesick-puppy Trew as well as an agitating Ares at the same time.


    “Ares? What a… Fascinating name.” Trew was clearly unhappy at the mythical implications of the name. He attempted to cover it by following up with, “It reminds me of the naming scheme the main family uses, what with gods and goddesses of war and such. If he’s no friend of yours, then why are you looking for him?”


    “Because we were originally travelling with him. Even if he’s the most annoying person I’ve ever met, he’s still Aejaz’ brother. That, and we have our own argument to settle. It also wouldn’t be right to leave him injured like this, he doesn’t seem like the type to do it to us. All in all, we should check on him… Even if I really don’t want to.”


    “You could just not check then,” Trew suggested.


    “No, again, we should. I’m also worried he’ll just keep progressively causing more and more trouble if left alone anyway. I swear that man is a problem magnet.”


    “Yeah, and besides, I wanna know how someone at 4th realm skeletal structuring, 2nd stage, managed to kill the Mecha-dryad of all things,” Bellona jumped into the conversation.


    “What!?” the three newcomers all responded collectively.


    “Weird ain’t it? So come on, let’s go find ourselves an Ares!” Bellona turned around and linked her arms with Enyo before marching off and whispering into her ear, “If Ares is even half as annoying as you say he is, maybe he can play around with Trew for a bit?” An evil smile crept up on Bellona’s face.


    Meanwhile Trew had gotten closer to Aejaz and Allie and was asking them about how they met Enyo and how long they had been with her. Although he seemed interested on the surface, when he eventually came to the conclusion that Aejaz was here more for Allie than Enyo, he found an excuse to leave and catch up with her. In his stead, Charity and Gladius came over and they started a more genuine conversation which was like a breath of fresh air in comparison.


    Bellona and Enyo did everything in their power to try not involving Trew in their conversation, but that didn’t stop him from doing everything in his power to join in.


    They followed the trail for a good 10 or so minutes before arriving at a cave. The cave was well-hidden amongst the foliage and would have been a pain to find if it weren’t for the blood trail. Even the entrance had been covered up by Ares. He’d used copies of his Zephyr to create a sort of barricade at the mouth, keeping the less intelligent monsters out with a warding rune embedded in the capes.


    “Let’s go in and meet the man, the myth, the legend,” Trew spat un-energetically.


    Enyo put a hand in his path and shook her head. Trew may be insufferable, but he was still a fellow clan member. Letting him step head first into a minefield would be wrong, no matter how much she personally wanted to. She took out her Steadfast Aegis, and took a low stance behind it, slowly but surely moving toward the cave. The four other clansmen were lost as to what she was hoping to achieve by doing this but, because it was Enyo, no one questioned her. Enyo took another step forward and four Shock Beads hidden in nearby mounds sprung to life. They quickly rose into the air and hovered for a second before shining brighter and brighter. How Enyo knew about these Shock Beads was anyone’s guess but, really, it was likely she just took the route of automatically assuming the worst whenever it came to Ares. That or, maybe, she was actually starting to understand the way this rascal thought to some extent.


    “Stronghold!”


    Enyo wasted no time in activating her holy pillar, ‘Defender’ aspect art. Phantasmagorical, pure white, castle curtain walls appeared directly in front of Enyo and her shield, encircling everyone present.


    Booooommmmmm


    When the explosions settled, everyone was completely unharmed and the walls only had a few minor cracks in them. The walls faded out of existence and Enyo walked up to the cave entrance to start tearing down the makeshift barrier. “ARES, YOU BASTARD. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?” Enyo was crassly yelling into the cave, much to the surprise of her clansmen.


    A somewhat strained voice came back from within, “THEY WERE FOR KEEPING OUT MONSTERS. CLEARLY, I DIDN’T PUT ENOUGH.”


    Bellona snickered and tried as hard as she could not to laugh. She had never seen anyone stand up to even Trew, let alone Enyo. They were people in the clan that no one really dared disrespect. This ‘Ares’, so brazenly offending people that had been admired their entire lives, was very satisfying.


    “WE’RE COMING IN!” Enyo was trying to dissuade any further ‘misunderstandings’, but a lone sword came spinning out of the darkness. The throw had been pretty lazy, so Enyo just swatted it away like a fly. “ARES!”


    “ARES ISN’T HOME RIGHT NOW.”


    Bellona couldn’t hold back her laugh anymore and even Charity and Gladius were chuckling to themselves.


    Trew felt as though the clan’s honour was being slighted and mocked, he wasn’t going to tolerate this any longer. “ENOUGH OF THIS FOOLERY! BEHAVE YOURSELF YOU RAPSCALLION. WE’RE COMING IN!” Ares didn’t respond this time, so Trew thought his voice had scared him into passivity and a hint of a smug smile started to form on his face. That same smug smile was wiped clean off when a fifth Shock Bead lifted itself from the dirt right behind Trew. He spun around and braced for impact as the Bead shone but, much to everyone’s surprise, the bead didn’t get any brighter. If anything, it started to dim. It was a dud.


    Thunk


    Ares had thrown out another sword, while everyone was distracted by the Bead, and smacked Trew in the back of his head with the hilt.


    “YOU… YOU CHILDISH DULLARD!”


    Despite Enyo’s bitterness towards Ares, she couldn’t help but find the way he messed with Trew very gratifying.


    There was no response, and no sign of any more explosives or flying swords, so everyone cautiously ventured into the cave. They had to walk a surprising distance considering how far Ares would have had to throw the swords. Eventually though, they found a dimly lit dead-end, with Ares lying on a Stygian Zephyr hammock and one leg dangling off the side. He had his arm wrapped over a tear in his clothes, around his bleeding stomach which had turned a blackish-blue as though it had been heavily bruised. Ares smirked through the pain. “Go ahead foul monsters, devour me. I’m warning you though, I taste like gunpowder.”


    “Shut up moron. You deserve this for being so troublesome.” Enyo was quite pleased to see Ares in pain.


    Ares surveyed the new crowd and groaned before deflating into his hammock. “God damnit. What did I do to deserve not one, but five of you uptight, armored lunatics. Can I really not bleed out any quicker?” Ares was jokingly jabbing away at his wound.


    “Very funny.” Trew had never felt so insulted.


    Bellona, on the other hand, was having the time of her life watching this mockery unfold.


    Ares sighed. “Well, it’s not like I’m in any position to shoo you all away, so make yourselves home I guess.”


    “Ares…” Aejaz started to talk but couldn’t quite find the right words. “I…”


    “Ugh, spare me. Just shut up and sit. I’ll deal with you when I stop dying.” Ares dismissively waved his hand to signify he didn’t care.


    “Sorry about earlier,” Bellona said.


    “Hm? About what?”


    “About the dryad?”


    “Not sure why you''re apologising, those things are easy to run away from. I chose to fight it, that’s not your fault.”


    “Oh, well aren’t you reasonable and responsible for your actions? Name’s Bellona, I’m Enyo’s sister. This here is Charity…”


    “Hello.”


    “Hey.”


    “This is Gladius…”


    “Nice to meet you.”


    “Likewise.”


    “And this is…”


    “Trew,” Trew abruptly cut Bellona off to speak his own name while trying to convey his dissatisfaction towards Ares.


    “Dew? You mean like the stuff you find on trees?” Ares pretended not to hear correctly.


    “No, Trew.”


    “Who?”


    “Trew!”


    “Wow, your parents really named you Shrew? I mean, I guess it’s accurate.”


    “IT’S TREW!”


    “It’s true your parents named you Shrew? Sucks to be you.”


    Although no one could see it, Enyo was smiling giddily under her helmet. It’s your turn to deal with him now. She enjoyed being on the other end of the foot and not having to be the one putting up with Ares for once, and for it to be Trew of all people dealing with him was simply fortuitous to the extreme. She almost started laughing alongside her clansmen, but kept it in.


    “IT’S TR…” Trew took a deep breath and gave up so as not to give in to Ares'' provocations. “Call me as you like, it matters naught to me.”


    “How’d you do it? Kill the dryad, I mean?” Gladius queried.


    “Yeah, that dryad’s metalwork was solid as hell,” Charity followed up.


    “Ah, tell me about it. I could barely even make a few dents here and there. You know those Beads you ran into outside? I can bury them inside things. I shoved a couple hundred inside its frame and blew up the tree itself.”


    “Hmph, so you couldn’t break its defences after all?” Trew snorted.


    “Uh, yeah? Why would I even try?”


    “I just thought you were more impressive than you actually are, is all. Turns out, you fight dirty.”


    “Hey now, we couldn''t even make a dent in it, I’d say his performance was quite impressive.” Bellona tried to prevent the tensions from rising any further.


    “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t live my life caring about whether I impress people I’ve never met before,” although Ares was clearly not happy, he spoke in a light-hearted tone to try and just end this pointless argument here.


    “Oh really? Then why even fight it if not to show off after? You said it yourself; you could have run. It’s not like you got off scot-free, you went through all that pain for what exactly?” Trew spat.


    “Because it looked at me funny? Why the hell do you think? It was because I wanted to. I thought it would be fun. I enjoy a good fight every now and then. Also, I’ll have you know, I don’t consider being smacked around by a tree something worth showing off. It’s not like I put a giant neon-sign outside saying ‘come see a dead-man walking!’ Hell, I didn’t even raise the topic of the dryad.”


    “You’re lying,” It was Enyo that replied this time.


    “What?”


    “You didn’t do it for the fun of it. Well, you sort of did, but it wasn’t the main reason. You didn’t do it to show off either, but it wasn’t primarily because you ‘wanted to’.”


    “Says who?”


    “Says me. My bloodline tells me when people are lying,” Enyo said flatly.


    “And? I bet it’s wrong all the time. Nothing’s perfect.”


    “Her bloodline is.” Trew shot Ares an angry glance.


    “Why did you fight it?” Enyo was really curious now.


    “Why does it matter? It’s dead now. No use in worrying about it,” Ares said while shrugging his shoulders.


    “Were you trying to kill it so it couldn’t kill other people?”


    “No.”


    “You’re lying again. Aren’t you a good little samaritan?” Enyo finally had a chance to one-up Ares and decided to rub this in his face as much as she could.


    “No, I’m not. I don’t care at all about strangers I’ve never met.”


    Ares started fidgeting and tapping his finger against the side of his hammock not wanting this conversation to go any further. He was wishing he’d just silently agreed with Enyo on that last part and let her gloat, but he instinctively felt the need to clash with her at every opportunity which put him in this situation.


    “So, you were trying to stop it from killing people you knew? You were doing it for us? So we wouldn’t run into it?”


    “I didn’t say that.” Ares was unsuccessfully trying to skirt around the topic.


    “You didn’t not say it. We could have just run from it, why did you go to all that hassle? Especially considering how many times we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. Was it just for Aejaz?”


    “No, he’s an idiot, but I’ll be damned if he isn’t one of the fastest cowards I’ve ever met.”


    “Then it was for Allie’s sake?”


    “... No,” Ares hesitated before answering.


    Enyo knew he wasn’t lying, which only left one other possible answer. “You did it for me? Why?”


    Ares kissed his teeth out of frustration at having been cornered into speaking truthfully. “Who knows? Maybe you’d be stubborn and try to arrest it, or do something equally stupid.”


    “Don’t be ridiculous, I know you don’t mean that. So why?”


    “... Because I was worried you would try and fight it, ok? If, for some reason, you felt it was necessary to do so in order to save lives. If it got too close to the outskirts of the forest, you might have done something stupid. If Allie or Aejaz, or anyone really, was in need of help, you would be the only person I can think of dumb enough to throw your life away to try and save someone else’s.”


    “... You don’t know that.”


    “It’s not hard to guess. You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t so hard-headed about your ‘justice’. Something-something ‘Justice is not, never has been, and never will be passivity’, right?”


    “I didn’t think you would care much if I died, so why bother?”


    “You can be like a brick wall at times, but I don’t dislike you even half as much as I respect you, which I know you might find incredibly difficult to believe.”


    “... No, I know you’re not lying,” Enyo spoke a little quieter.


    “No, you don’t know. I’ve already told you nothing’s perfect, including your bloodline.”


    “It’s never been wrong before,” Bellona mentioned.


    “Oh really?” An evil smile that Enyo was all too familiar with wormed its way onto Ares’ face. “I bet I can break that flawless record.”


    Enyo was a little worried he actually could, but refused to back down because of her pride. “Try me.”


    “Ok, well let’s start off simple.” Ares clapped his hands and cleared his throat. “My name is Ares and I’m 18. I met you recently, and my first opinion of you was not great, like, at all. In fact, I still think my first impressions of you are quite accurate even now. You’re stuck in your ways in perhaps the most arrogantly obnoxious way possible. Although I wouldn’t go as far as to call you completely dismissive, I do think you’ve shown you''re quite capable of intolerance. You don’t always follow what you preach to a tee and you aren’t even necessarily sure of what it is you preach to begin with. You aren’t particularly good at handling things that don’t go your way, and can be somewhat of a hypocrite. You talk about not respecting a lot of people, but I think that’s because you don’t even know who would qualify as a person who deserves respect to begin with.”


    “If you’re just trying to be an asshole, then you''re doing a good job, because you truly believe everything you’ve just said.” Enyo was upset that he thought so lowly of her, especially after he said he respects her. It was strange though, if he believed all of that and still respected her, then something was definitely amiss… Maybe he really could lie to her bloodline?


    “Nope, you’ve misunderstood.” Ares leaned over his hammock and smiled gently at Enyo. “I’m in love with you.”


    “...” silence filled the cave as everyone tried to wrap their heads around what just happened.


    Ares'' evil grin returned and he directed it specifically towards Enyo who had just sat still, unmoving. His plan to mess with her relied on his ability to sell a lie, but he was really only doing this for fun.


    “How? How did you do it?” Enyo asked unsteadily.


    And his plan worked like a charm. “Did what?” Ares playfully fiddled with his fingertips. “Dunno what you’re talking about.”


    “I… I know you’re lying, but my bloodline is telling me you aren’t.”


    “Like I said, nothing’s perfect.” Ares gave Enyo a wicked grin of victory.


    Why wasn’t Enyo’s bloodline perfect? Because, at the end of it all, whether or not she believed what she knew, came down to her. If she simply refused to believe something nonsensical that her bloodline was telling her, then she would never know the truth. Ares acting like he was lying from the get-go allowed him to get away with telling her the truth, right to her face, and she was none-the-wiser. Enyo would sooner doubt her innate talent and Ares’ almost nonexistent ability to trick it than believe there was even a hint of truth to his ‘confession’, especially after his long rant about her flaws. Long story short, she’d convinced herself Ares was lying before she’d even gotten the result and dismissed her bloodline via her own volition, thus taking her own innate talent out of the equation. There was no such thing as a tool that could give results to a person who didn’t want to see them. There were, of course, other ways to actually cheat the bloodline, but Ares didn’t need to go that far as this was way more entertaining anyway!


    While Enyo’s clansmen were all slowly coming back from gaga land, also believing Ares had somehow duped Enyo’s bloodline, Aejaz still had his jaw open wide in disbelief. Balls of steel! Conman supreme! Fibber fantastical!


    “Impossible! What trickery is this?” Trew was really not in a good mood, even if he too believed Ares was lying.


    “That’s a secret.” Ares put a finger up to his lip and started laughing.


    “Ugh, you’re insufferable,” Trew groaned.


    “As a wise woman once said…” Ares'' evil smirk came back again. He was well aware of how Trew felt towards Enyo as it was hardly subtle. Ares thought it couldn’t hurt to mess around with the ‘competition’ a bit. “... ‘My roguish tongue and insufferable nature drag those around me down into a pit of idiocy where I reign supreme.’ I think that description is spot on, so welcome to my pit.”


    “Tsk, you? ‘Reigning supreme’? And which stupid woman said that!?”


    Honestly? Sometimes, manipulating people was just too easy to even be fun for Ares. He pretended to be shocked and subtly nodded his head at Enyo to make sure this idiot fully understood the gravitas of the situation.


    Trew hurriedly turned to look at Enyo who, under her helmet, was presumably staring daggers at him. He lost his calm and started frantically waving his hands. “I… I didn’t mean… I swear that wasn’t…”


    “It’s fine.” Enyo’s heavy tone shut Trew up real fast.


    “Not that it hasn’t been fun, but I’m exhausted. I’m gonna take a nap ‘cos there’s somewhere I have to go tomorrow. Feel free to stay or leave, it doesn''t bother me either way, but don’t expect any hospitality as, regrettably, I have none to spare,” Ares stretched in his hammock.


    “Where are you going tomorrow?” Aejaz asked.


    “Not important.”


    “Can I come?”


    “Nope.”


    “I’m sorry,” Aejaz’ voice trailed off.


    “This isn’t about that. I wouldn’t have taken you where I’m going regardless.” Ares wasn’t lying. He had a gut feeling this place would be far too dangerous for him to have to worry about protecting other people. Ares closed his eyes and dozed off immediately, the sleep-inducing flower had really done a number on him.


    “What do you think you’re doing? You’re just going to sleep in the presence of company!? Shameless!” Trew was nearly spitting.


    Ares, despite already having supposedly fallen asleep, turned his head away from the noise.


    “Unbelievable!” Trew barked.


    A light green glow came from beside Enyo. Charity had an ethereal green mist around the tip of her finger and a runic pattern had formed on her cornea.


    “Why are you doing this for him? He’s clearly fine if he can play around and joke at our expense the way he has,” Trew harumphed.


    Charity just shrugged in response. “I’m a healer and there’s a wounded person in front of me. Why not? Besides, a friend of Enyo is a friend of ours.” Charity was one of the few medical specialists in the cultivation world that had actually taken the Hippocratic oath and was actually dedicated to her profession.


    “Don’t throw around the term ‘friend’ so loosely, please.” Enyo felt a headache coming on every time she had to deal with Ares.


    “Wow, he really took quite the beating,” Charity mentioned as she analysed Ares’ body with her runic eye.


    “It doesn’t look that bad,” Gladius said.


    “Most of his injuries are on his back. Lacerations, abrasions, bullet wounds, lingering ice and electricity in his veins, internal bleeding, sleeping powder, leftover traces of mental energy, burns on his feet, severe blood loss, and a whole lot of dirt and bacteria infecting the various wounds.”


    “Did he get into a fight with Pandora''s box!?” Gladius was lost for words.


    Charity waved her finger and the hazy mist grew in size while floating over to Ares, covering him from head to burnt toe. “I’d recommend he not go on his excursion tomorrow, but he doesn’t really seem the type to listen, so I won’t even bother suggesting it to him.” Charity sighed. Being a professional in her own right who was so frequently ignored was beyond infuriating.


    “Is he stupid? Why is he lying on his back then?” Trew couldn’t fathom Ares’ actions.


    “I don’t know, ask him when he wakes up if you really care.” Charity leant back and closed her eyes to go to sleep as well. If Ares was allowed to, then why couldn’t she? Screw being polite!


    “He’s hiding it,” Allie spoke in hushed tones. Allie directed her opinion at Enyo, “Like when he left so you could eat. I think he doesn’t want you to feel bad or guilty. He’s being considerate.”


    Enyo didn’t respond, she just looked over at the hammock and kept going over her previous interactions with Ares. She was trying to figure him out because she had come to the conclusion that, actually, she didn’t really understand this strange person at all.