[Author’s note: In hindsight, the description for runes here is, quite frankly, garbage. I will rewrite the explanation here with more clarity at a later date in another chapter down the line, please ignore it for now. Sorry for the messy writing during that specific segment.]


    “Hello Sadist.” Ares waved and smiled happily.


    Sadie folded her arms. “If hitting you wouldn’t just give you more verbal ammunition, believe me, I would do it.”


    “Oh, I believe you alright. Anyway, what can I do for you?”


    “The technical and the sword art. I want them.”


    “Echo and Gamble? I mean, sure. There’s already a tome for Echo in the library, and I can write something down for Gamble if you give me some time.”


    “If Echo is in the library, why hasn’t everyone learnt it yet?”


    Ares shrugged. “It hasn’t been in there that long, they probably don’t know it’s in there.”


    “Tsk, I’ll make sure at least the core and inner court disciples that are competing in the tournament learn it. It’s too good to pass up on.”


    “Thank you.”


    Sadie squinted at Ares from under her helmet. “I wasn’t complimenting you, brat. It was meant for the person who made the damn technical.”


    “Thank you,” Ares repeated himself in the exact same manner as before.


    “... Seriously?”


    “Mhm, you can see it on the tome or even check with the technical department Elder, Lizzy, if you’d like.”


    “... Is Gamble the same?”


    “Yes.”


    “... Ah.”


    “Thank you.”


    Sadie groaned. Putting up with revenants could seriously be a test of patience sometimes.  “How soon can you get me the Gamble tome?”


    “Before the end of the day.”


    “Good. I’ll be in the weapon department inspecting the place. By the way, why hasn’t Enyo moved up to the inner court yet? She could be getting better resources and guidance if she just did the test. There shouldn’t be any hesitation as I’m sure she’d pass with her eyes closed if need be.”


    “Well, see, as a member of the Legion clan, it’s her job to hunt down revenants. Apparently, there’s a pesky one running around in the outer court somewhere and I hear she keeps chasing after him as she doesn’t want to lose sight of him.”


    “... You’re a grade-A asshole, you know that right?”


    “Is there a higher grade? Grade S, maybe?”


    “No.”


    “Ah, good, for a moment there I was feeling insulted.” Ares gave a thumbs up and Sadie could no longer resist smacking him.


    Smack


    “That… was really satisfying.”


    “Thank you.”


    Smack


    “You’re oddly smack-able. I should stop before I get addicted.”


    “Speaking of smacking, could you take me back to Enyo?”


    “Ha, why? Is she gonna have her way with you?”


    “Actually, it’s my turn today, but let your imagination run wild, I won''t stop you… Sadist.”


    Smack


    Ares walked up to Sadie and whispered to her, “Should you really be hitting me? I’m just going to take it all out on Enyo.”


    “...”


    “...”


    Smack


    Ares was stunned, this bitch was kinky!


    Maybe all Legion clan women were secretly like this?


    Before he knew it, Ares was dropped off next to Enyo with multiple marks on his face. Between the speed at which he was dropped off, and Ares’ tendency to get mouthy, Enyo didn’t even have to ask the ‘why’ or ‘who’ questions and instead skipped straight to a different one, “Fun?”


    Ares could feel a fire rising in his loin. “Fun.” Ares Shifted Enyo back to the house and had his way with her for the full duration of the two hours.


    ---------------------------------


    Enyo took a long time to stagger to her feet as Ares had really gone to town on her body. She liked it though. She got dressed in front of a mirror so she could get a few parting glances at the marks Ares had left on her skin. She could get rid of them with mana, but hiding them under her helmet felt racy, and she liked the lingering heat from his hand and her sore cheek. Just before she put her helmet on, Ares came up behind her and kissed her along the marks on her neck and face while telling her he loved her. She turned her head and kissed him back, told him she loved him, and put her helmet on. They opened the door and found Appa sitting on the floor in the hallway. Enyo bent over and picked it up while stroking its head. “Hey sweetie. Have you been waiting here this whole time for us?”


    Appa nodded. “Mhm! I wanted to say congratulations for winning earlier! Also, I wanted to say you’re so cool, mum! I wanna be just like you!”


    Enyo smiled warmly under the helmet. “You’re perfect the way you are, Appa.” Enyo walked into the living room, with Appa still in hand and Ares in tow, and found Allie and Aejaz cuddling. “Cute.” Enyo snickered when they hurriedly separated. “If you''re done stealing Allie’s heart, we’ve got places to be!” Enyo put Appa down, who then floated over to Allie and sat on her lap as she was the only other one who wasn’t going.


    The three left and headed to the meeting point. They were a little early, but Li Li and Esme were already there and talking about something.


    “He just wants a favour from me… I think.” Li Li looked unsure about something.


    “Oh please, honey, ALL men are parasites. I just think this one wants more than a few drops of blood, if you know what I mean.”


    “I doubt it, he seems obsessed with this other woman.”


    “Yeah, and she’s a B.I.T.C.H. If you want him, just wait ‘till he realises that, and I can promise you, you would have to bend over backward not to get him.”


    “What makes you think I even want him?”


    “Do you?”


    Ahem


    Enyo figured she would bust Li Li out of this situation so she wouldn’t have to answer that question. Esme had a habit of digging deep like that.


    “Speaking of loo~oove, if it isn’t the hands-on happy couple in the flesh!” Esme put her hands together, tilted her head slightly, and repeatedly blinked her innocent doe eyes.


    “Hmph, don’t be jealous Esme, it’s a bad look. You’ll never find a man like that.” Enyo went to stick her tongue out, but realised the helmet was in the way.


    “Ooh, me~ow, your claws have certainly gotten sharper, haven’t they? Hmph, put a man in your life and now you’re singing a different tune. He must be good in bed!”


    Ares nudged Enyo and whispered quite loudly, “I think she knows.”


    “Ha.” Esme rolled her eyes. “Men. Always so proud of the… Little things.”


    Ares ‘whispered’ again, “Never mind, she knows nothing.”


    “How can I know anything!? Trying to talk to Enyo is like trying to talk to a brick wall half the damn time.”


    Enyo snorted. “Well, I’m different now, so ask away.”


    “Oh really? Then how’s your sister doing? Getting along with his brother any better than the last time I saw ‘em?”


    “They kissed recently, so there’s that.”


    “Jeez, brother and brother with sister and sister. Oi! Petty thief! You got another brother? I’m in the market.”


    “Yeah, but how could I submit a member of my own family to such torment?” Aejaz retorted playfully.


    Esme tapped her fingers together rhythmically. “I’m sure there are some men out there who can appreciate a bit of torment.” Esme turned back to Li Li. “Dirk seems like that kinda guy. Have you seen the scars on that man? I’m sure you could add a few more and he wouldn’t complain.”


    Li Li threw her head back and groaned, “Ughh, just had to bring it back around to me, didn’t you?”


    “I hope you’re not all arguing.” Teng arrived with another man, who was dressed formally in a suit and holding a clipboard.


    “Nah, we’re getting along fine.” Esme waved her hand dismissively.


    “Good.” Teng took out the scroll and handed it to the official. “These are the five.”


    The official nodded and wrote down the names. When he was done, he took out a testing device to jot down everyone’s cultivation. Esme was at mental accumulation, 8th stage, right on the cusp of the lower bracket’s limit. Everyone else was fine as they were, though the official did double check with Teng when it came to Ares. The official assumed Red Sun would just have a weak showing in the lower bracket if the best they could do for the last spot was a 4th realm, 8th stage cultivator. Ares had gone up a stage earlier and was closing in on the 9th stage, but it was still quite low for a participant. “Alright, now we just need a picture of each of you for identity purposes as well as advertisements of the team should you make it to the nationals or internationals.”


    Enyo, without thinking, removed her helmet.


    “...”


    While everyone just stared blankly at all the marks on her face and neck, Ares shuffled over and took the helmet off Enyo before putting it back on for her. Ares shiftily moved aside and put his arms behind his back while whistling and staring at the sky like none of this concerned him.


    Enyo’s hands were shaking as she realised what a monumental mistake she’d just made.


    “Oh. Wow. Hands-on was an understatement.” Esme was amazed. “You are so explaining that to me later in VIVID detail.”


    Aejaz hopped in front of the official to draw attention away from his sister-in-law. “Make sure you capture every inch of my handsome features.” Aejaz gave a coquettish grin to the camera.


    Ares stopped whistling as he came up with a cruel idea. Just as the official set the camera on a timer, Ares called out to Aejaz, “Quick! Pretend the camera is Allie!”


    Aejaz’ charming face vanished immediately and was replaced by a shy, panicky one as there was no way in hell he had the courage to make a face like that to Allie.


    Snap


    Ares was laughing uncontrollably as the picture printed and Aejaz’ sorry self was immortalised before him.


    Oh really!? You wait and see you bastard. You wait! Aejaz swore vengeance would be his as Li Li went in front of the camera.


    Esme was tempted to shout ‘Dirk!’, or ‘That’s not a man!’, to throw her off, but decided not to be mean. Esme’s turn went without a hitch too and Ares went up for his turn.


    As the camera timer hit one, something strange happened to Ares. His memories disappeared and he felt oddly cold. He was blinded by a strange light and realised what was happening far too late. Everyone else, Teng and the official included, were laughing at him as his picture was printed.


    The Ares in the picture had a confused look, but the real issue was that he was shirtless.


    Aejaz had stolen his memories and clothes as the picture was taken to get back at him. The worst part of it all was that he still had the Zephyr on.


    “Hahahahahaha.” Aejaz had tears in his eyes. “I call it the caped weirdo! Hahahahahaha!”


    Ares wasn’t a bad sport about it and laughed it off. He was ok with his upper body’s physique, which was neither perfect nor disappointing, so it wouldn’t be too embarrassing. It might cause somewhat of a disconnect if he went on a murderous, domineering rampage during the tournament, and then people looked back at his goofy picture, but oh well.


    Enyo took her helmet off and the marks were gone this time. The fact she even felt comfortable enough to take the helmet off in this situation was a remarkable achievement for her. She pretended nothing happened and waited stoically in front of the camera. The timer reached one and Esme snickered. She didn’t even have to say a single word for Enyo to know what she was laughing at and Enyo instinctively blushed and got a little nervous. Rather than making her picture worse though, it actually made her look rather pretty. She looked far more approachable than the look she had been going for previously and Esme just sighed. Some women are just too beautiful to mess up. Esme had, on multiple occasions, admitted to Enyo that she was envious of her looks, and it’s not like Esme wasn’t proud of her own either.


    The official took the pictures and chuckled to himself as he said goodbye to Teng. “They’re quite the lively bunch.”


    Teng heartily chuckled too. “You don’t know the half of it, wait ‘till you see what they do to everyone at the international.”


    “You really think they’ll make it?”


    “Make it? They’ll win it! Seriously, this new generation is spooky. Makes me feel like I should just retire already.”


    “Ha, I know that feeling. Anyway, good luck.” The official left.


    Teng walked back over to the group where Ares was currently kicking Aejaz in the ass. “Alright you lot, you’ve got a week before the regionals start. It’s only a one-day event, but make sure you''re ready for it. Don’t forget to train. Speaking of, will you be doing it as a group? The sect can set aside a place for you and allow you to skip your lectures so long as you actually train.”


    “Sadie and I will be training Aejaz. I don’t know about you three...” Ares looked at the three women. “... But Aejaz and I work better individually rather than as a group.”


    “I’ll be training with Sadie as well. What I really need right now is experience with weapons as my barriers are ok as they are,” Enyo mentioned.


    “Ah, Sadie and I had briefly discussed training you with spears and working out what kind of offensive arts you could learn.”


    “Then we might as well go to Sadie’s training as a group of three then.”


    “Can I join too?” Li Li jumped in. “The Li Clan’s fighting techniques are great and all, but that doesn’t mean I should limit myself to them. Sadie told me she wanted to train me too anyway.”


    “Am I the only one that didn’t get an invitation to Sadie’s training!?” Esme felt defeated. “Bah, the unfairness of it all.”


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Teng informed her that it wasn’t a matter of talent, “Sadie is a weapons expert and you don’t really use any weapons or fight hand-to-hand. It would probably be better for you to focus on your magic but, seeing as how things have turned out, I’ll ask Sadie to let you join in on their training so you can all practise in the same place even if you’re doing your own things. Besides, Sadie is an expert in her own right, I’m sure she can offer you advice even if its not weapons based. You can all start tomorrow then.” Teng left, presumably to go find Rud and wake him up.


    Esme grabbed Enyo’s hand and started dragging her off for a girl chat. Li Li followed because she was nosy and just as curious. Aejaz went back home to enjoy his few moments of peace with Allie before he would, inevitably, be manhandled by Ares and Sadie during training.


    Ares had a few things to do today so he figured he would start with Sadie’s request first. He went to the fifth-tier cultivation rooms and brought along a few tomes to write down the Gamble art on. As he was familiar with the process of transcribing, he was able to cultivate as he did it and, thanks to his explosive rampage earlier, went up to the 9th stage from the 8th just as he finished writing out Gamble. He dropped the tome off at the weapon department front desk, as Sadie was busy, and went to the forging department next. As per usual, Ares could hear the tell-tale bickering of a dwarf and an elf before he’d even gotten inside. Thankfully, he was after Julio as well as dabble, so this was rather convenient… Oh no… I’m starting to think like Rud!


    “Ugh, come on short-stack! Ares disappears for a month and you lot can’t handle the load anymore?”


    “Nae, and ye were warned about this. He’s back now, so quit yer whining and wait for teh laddie to show.”


    Julio started to bite his nails and pretended to panic. “What if he doesn’t come back!?” He shook Dabble’s shoulders. “I CAN’T GO BACK TO WAITING FOR YOUR SLOW-ASS!”


    “I’m back.” Ares waved. “Oh, and I’ve a new trick up my sleeve that you''re going to absolutely hate, Julio.”


    Julio’s eye twitched, he wasn’t a fan of Ares'' last ‘trick’. “It’s ok, really. You can feel free to leave the sect again, the sooner the better actually.”


    Dabble put down his hammer. “Whatcha got laddie?”


    “I can now copy, reproduce, and dismantle any single rune I’ve ever seen before,” Ares said nonchalantly.


    “... Ha… Haha… Good… Joke. That was a joke, right? Good one GREAT ONE, actually.” Julio was now actually nibbling away at his nails after Ares’ statement put the fear of god in him.


    “Nope. here.” Ares handed over a sheet of paper with something written on it to Julio.


    Thud


    “Strange. That’s the third time I’ve seen an Elder faint today. Maybe you should all pay a visit to the medical department?” Ares joked as he stared down at Julio, who was still furiously  clutching the paper despite losing consciousness.


    Dabble picked up the paper but wasn’t well-versed enough in runemancy to understand what he was looking at. “What is this?”


    “That’s the rune formation Julio used on the training ground earlier for the game of tag, fully transcribed, including the dismantle code for the rune lock.”


    “By my beard, I’ll be damned! It took Julio four years to learn this! It seems ye weren’t kidding, ay?”


    “Nope. I was hoping to take a gander at Julio’s runes so I could copy them for future reference and use them as I see fit. I should now be able to create my own weapons as well as inscribe the runic enchantments single-handedly.”


    “Ah, yer making Julio and I look like fools.” Dabble wobbled over to Julio and kicked him hard.


    “HUH!? WHO? WHAT? WHERE? HOW MANY?” Julio looked around frantically as he fought off an imaginary enemy which may or may not have been a horde of smug Ares. Julio decided on the nomenclature then and there and referred to his vision as an ‘outburst’ of Ares.


    “Wakey wakey ye pointy menace. We’re headin’ down to me forge, and yer coming along too fer good measure.”


    Julio grumbled as he stood up and walked behind Dabble, occasionally turning around and glancing at Ares while mumbling curses under his breath and taking bizarre martial stances as though he were trying to figure out the optimal way to beat Ares up. They arrived down in the forge and Dabble took out Enyo’s Steadfast Aegis from the spatial ring, which Julio had given him earlier, placing it down on a table.


    “Julio, can I see the runes you’re going to put on this shield?” Ares asked politely.


    Julio scrunched his face up, turned it to the side, and pouted. “No.”


    Dabble kissed his teeth and smacked Julio’s toes with a small hammer, causing him to yelp. “Fool. He’s gonna see it anyway when yer done. We’re testing ‘ere, make yerself useful.”


    Julio begrudgingly agreed and took out a few papers with mock-up versions of the runes. It was common practice to write them down on paper or waste-materials to practise before doing it on the actual weapon.


    Ares activated his Celestial Prisms’ Omniscience and gave each of the runes a looksie. Every rune was a long combination of myriad symbols. Normally, a runemancer would have to do varying mathematical equations to work out what each symbol should be and where it would go, but Ares could just see the answers. While everyone else was taking a test, he was just staring at the cheat sheet. The defensive setup was a little more complicated though, but not by much. The defensive runes were referred to as ‘rune layers’. Rune layers were barriers that protected the main rune from prying eyes and attacks. It’s impossible to damage the main rune without first going through the layers. How many layers there are and how long the code for each layer is, is dependent on how much time the runemancer has and how skilled they are when creating them. More often than not, the rune layers tend to be longer and more complicated than the main rune itself. Although Ares’ Omniscience would just tell him the structure of the main rune, he had to cycle through every available option for each part of the rune layer that defended it. He would start in slot one and flick through every single known rune like a spinning slot machine until he found one that stood out to him with a bright, golden glow that indicated a correct answer. Other runemancers wouldn’t see that glow and had to do things the hard way. Dismantling rune layers for Ares was just a matter of time based on how many slots each layer had and how many layers there were guarding the main rune. As for the main rune, as demonstrated previously, Ares could just flick them if need be. Ares, with one glance, already knew the runic structure and started copying them down to show Julio and double-check.


    “Tsk, bastard. They’re all perfect,” Julio commented in disgust. “Whatever, those are just the main runes. Those types of runes are just the base, they need to be altered to specifically match the weapon. Every weapon is unique, so even if you know the main runes, you won’t be able to use them willy-nilly.” Julio snorted.


    Ares looked over at the shield and an ethereal rune combination appeared in front of him and him alone. The rune combination was a slightly longer version of one of the basic runes with a few holes in it. Those holes were the specific changes the shield required to adapt the rune. Unfortunately for Julio’s sanity, those blanks were rapidly filling in. Ares wrote the altered rune down on a piece of paper and gave it to Julio, who inspected it while writing down various calculations. This process alone took Julio ten minutes, one minute for each blank space Ares had filled in.


    Thud


    Dabble sighed. “I guess that’s his way of saying yer correct.”


    “Mhm, I guess I can create runes with this too. That’s good to know.” Ares nodded. “Suppose I might as well do the inscriptions for Enyo’s shield then and see how things go.” Ares got to work and started adjusting the base runes to fit on the shield before then using mana to etch them into the Aegis. When each rune was finished, they would fade into a single, tiny shape (one that was dependent on the type of art it bestowed the user) and would only require a single press or chant to activate. Ares would then put multiple rune layers (AKA rune locks stacked on top of each other) on them to make sure they weren’t just removed mid-combat by a runemancer. These rune layers didn’t have to be too plentiful, or strong, as it was a lot harder to analyse and calculate weapon runes while they were in the middle of being swung at you. Still though, Ares put up multiple, highly complicated rune layers, as well as a rune lock, to ward off the nosy. This was for Enyo after all. 15 minutes later, Ares had implemented all four runes successfully and tested them all. His shaping of the shield previously had done a number of favours for it, and it was far easier to utilise the runes compared to what the earlier iteration would have been like. Between the single minute he’d taken to create the shield, and the 15 he’d used for the runes, Ares had done in 16 minutes what would have taken the two greatest experts in the sect about 160 days to complete fully even if they rushed.


    Julio had awoken and was looking down and out with dead-fish eyes as he spoke half-heartedly, “I know now why it’s called the destruction pillar. I can see all of my hopes and dreams, fading away in the ashes…”


    “Laddie, I know yer already doing a lot for teh sect, but could ye do one more thing?”


    Ares could see where this was going. “Create and enchant weapons, then sell them for cheap at my stall like with the Shock Beads? Sure, I don’t mind kitting everyone out. I’ll start with weapons, as I’m comfortable with them, and I’ll focus on armour after I’ve learnt the ins and outs of the different types of designs.”


    “Many thanks.” Dabble appreciated Ares being agreeable. “Ah, I suppose ye would want to make the Black Ice Bane on yer own then? Ye can just take the materials and make Julio cough up the runes, and ye should be good to go from there.”


    Ares looked at Julio who pouted miserably again. “Don’t wanna.”


    Dabble grumbled and took out his small hammer as he advanced toward Julio.


    Smack


    Crack


    Bonk


    Julio was lying battered and bruised on the floor as Dabble rummaged around through his spatial ring and personal belongings. “Ah, found it.” Dabble handed over the papers with the runes.


    Ares thanked Dabble and Julio before leaving and heading back home. He stopped off on the way as he realised he’d forgotten to do something for Enyo’s Steadfast Aegis. He hadn’t put the cleaning rune on! He’d already used Omniscience on the cleaning rune before so he could easily tack it onto the shield in a few minutes. Although it was a rune from a higher domain, it was quite a simple one, and applying it took hardly any time at all. He then went back home and went inside. He petted Leo, who was lying around lazily, and walked into the living room to find Enyo and Allie chatting. Appa and Aejaz were probably cultivating. “Hey.”


    “Hello handsome.” Enyo winked at Ares while Allie was blushing in embarrassment at her sister’s brazen display.


    “Well, if you''re going to compliment me, how could I not give you a present?” Ares took the shield out and handed it over to Enyo. “Here you go, beautiful.”


    “That was fast. I’m guessing you had something to do with it?” Enyo smiled as she inspected her new weapon.


    “Yep, I did all the runes. I also added the cleaning one because you seem to really like that one.”


    Enyo put the shield away and got up to hug Ares. “Thank you, it’s perfect.”


    “I’m glad then, it matches you.” Ares lightly kissed her cheek but that was all it took to send Enyo on the warpath.


    “It’s my turn to be in charge by the way.” Enyo licked her lips and dragged Ares off to their room for fun, leaving a bewildered Allie blinking repeatedly to herself.


    Enyo’s turn for what now? Allie thought to herself. She couldn’t figure it out, so she didn’t waste any more time thinking about it and instead took out one of Aejaz’ novels to read.


    A while later, Aejaz came out from the cultivation room and sat down next to Allie who kept reading while leaning on Aejaz. Aejaz wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they looked at each other and smiled. They were feeling more and more comfortable with each other with every passing day. It was quite similar to Enyo gradually becoming accustomed to having her helmet off the more she did it. Aejaz took the initiative to go for a kiss when the eye contact lasted a little longer than he originally anticipated. Allie closed her eyes and put the book down so she could focus on kissing him. Allie was still quite nervous about it all, and her heart was beating quickly, but she enjoyed it. Aejaz decided to be a bit daring and poke her lips with his tongue.


    “Hm!?” Allie instinctively moved back out of shock and opened her eyes to see Aejaz with a guilty look on his face.


    “I… I’m sorry. I just… I just got caught up in the moment. I should have asked before doing tha…”


    Allie fought against her uneasiness and placed both of her hands on Aejaz’ face, and her lips back on his, to interrupt him. Aejaz was startled as she’d never been the one to kiss him before, but that wasn’t all. Allie, with her eyes clenched shut, worked her tongue into the mix. She aimlessly wandered until Aejaz brought his tongue to hers, causing her to let out a cute, muffled yelp when they touched. Aejaz shifted position to get comfortable for a long kissing session, and was about to take charge…


    “Where’s mum and dad?”


    Aejaz and Allie separated in a panic and cursed their luck as this was the second time Appa had interrupted them. “Appa… could you learn to read the room?” Aejaz mumbled with red cheeks.


    “Dad told me not to worry about that. He said if you two are doing this stuff in the living room, then you have no one to blame but yourselves.”


    Aejaz was about to complain when he realised Ares was actually just right.


    Allie took a deep breath and sighed. “Enyo said something about it being her ‘turn’. I don’t know what that means, but they’re in their bedroom right now.”


    “Hmmm, maybe I should wait until they come out.” Appa tilted its head while thinking.


    Aejaz remembered the two times Appa had interrupted them, as well as everything Ares had put him through in the snatcher town in regards to Allie and Zhang. “It’s fine, they probably aren’t doing anything that you definitely shouldn’t interrupt right now. Go say hello to them. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to see you right now.” Aejaz snickered evilly and explained the situation to Allie as Appa floated off into the hallway.


    “... Is that what they mean when they say they’re going to have ‘fun’?” Allie asked.


    “I have no idea what else they’d be doing. But damn, they’re seriously like rabbits those two.”


    “... Will we also… do it a lot?”


    “... I think that primarily depends on you. I mean, I’d like to do it a lot, but, as far as I can tell, women have a lot more say over how often it happens than men.”


    “Oh. Um, then I want to keep kissing like before. It felt good.” Admitting that made Allie’s cheeks flare up.


    “Then let’s go to the room this time.”


    Meanwhile Ares and Enyo nearly had a heart attack when Appa burst into the room while they were naked and having fun with each other. Thankfully, they were in a position that at least allowed them to cover up quickly, but that didn’t mean Appa saw nothing either. “Mummy, what were you doing to daddy just now?”


    Enyo, who had just been drip-feeding Ares his own cowper fluids and choking him while grinding her lower half against his chest, replied surprisingly calmly, “Daddy can get quite mouthy sometimes, so I was just putting daddy and his dirty mouth in their place. Don’t worry though, we were having fun.”


    “If it’s fun, can I do it?”


    “NO!” Both Enyo and Ares freaked out and hurriedly denied the horribly mis-informed request to participate in their fun-time.


    “Oh, ok. I wanted hugs, but I wasn’t sure if I should come in or not. I found aunty and uncle smooching, and Aejaz told me it would definitely be ok for me to come in here.


    “Oh, he did, did he?” Ares grumbled in his ‘death-approacheth’ voice.


    Appa floated onto the bed and found an obstacle in its path. Appa used its rope to try and flatten out a strange road bump that was poking up through the covers.


    “A… Appa don’t do that,” Ares spoke to Appa as though he were convincing it to step away from a ledge.


    “But it’s in the way.” Appa attempted to prod it one more time before Ares twisted to the side.


    Enyo rolled her eyes as the mysterious bump was now rubbing up against her thighs. She clamped her legs shut on it so she could detain the foreign object and inspect it in greater detail later. “Appa, sweetie, that… Protuberance… Is Ares'' friend. It doesn’t like being poked, so don’t do that anymore, ok?”


    “Ok. What’s Daddy’s friend’s name?”


    “... White Camel.”


    “What!?” Ares lost his mind.


    “Well, it’s white, has rideable humps and, when attacked, it spits.”


    “... That’s… oddly accurate, but I beg you, please don’t call it that.”


    Appa sat on Ares'' side. “A camel? Can I ride White Camel?”


    “NO!” Ares and Enyo cried out in unison again.


    “Oh, I get it. He’s Shy!”


    “... Yes.” Ares took the easy but awkwardly shameful way out of this conversation. “Appa, could you give Enyo and I 30 more minutes to finish up what we were doing? We’ll give you all the hugs you want after, and I’ll make you some food too, ok?”


    “Okey doke!” Appa floated out of the room and closed the door behind it.


    “Where were we?” Enyo tweaked Ares'' nipples and bit his shoulder.


    “I’m pretty sure you were feeding me a dromedary’s saliva.”


    Enyo snickered. “Idiot. Let’s put that mouth of yours to good use for once. God I can’t wait to make you stick that despicable tongue inside me.” Enyo roughed up Ares for the next 30 minutes and they then cleaned themselves up before going back into the living room.


    Ares had made sure to clean all the marks Enyo had left on him so as not to have a repeat of earlier. Ares kinda wished he had armour too as then he could keep his ‘battle scars’ a little longer, he was as partial to them as Enyo was. He found Appa sitting on a chair at the dining table, happily bobbing its head in whichever direction took its fancy, while waiting for its Snappas.


    Ares ignored Aejaz, who smirked at him, as Ares was a high-brow individual who would not associate himself with the pettiness of others and also because he was going to pay that fucker right back anyway.


    Ares made the food for everyone and came back into the living room to give everyone their dishes. It was when Ares sat down that Aejaz started getting antsy.


    “Uh, Ares? Where’s my food?” Aejaz was anxiously searching the table for his non-existent dinner.


    “Strange. I kept telling myself to make it, but I guess my thought process got interrupted. Apologies, I appear to have cocked up and had some kind of mental block.”


    “This is cruel and unusual punishment!”


    “Oh, quit whining already. You share your tongue with Allie, I’m sure you can manage some food if you’re that desperate.” Ares turned to Enyo and Appa who were eating away at their respective meals. “I was thinking maybe we could leave the sect after and go and fetch Appa’s adoption papers, or at least get the ball rolling on the process anyway.”


    Appa looked expectantly up at Enyo. “Can we!? Can we can we can we!?”


    Enyo lovingly stroked Appa’s head. “We can.”


    “YAY!”


    Aejaz’ stomach rumbled and Ares felt like his brother had learned a suitable enough lesson, so he brought out some extra food and gave it to him. “Jeeze, you don’t have to eat that fast. I’m not gonna take it away from you, you know? You’re eating faster than even Leo does.”


    Meow (It’s true, look at that greedy guts go! Although, admittedly, I was planning on stealing some when he wasn’t looking…) Leo, who was resting on Allie’s lap after finishing its food, mewed in agreement.


    “By the way, I can understand Leo now.” Enyo brought up something she’d been meaning to for a while now, “Did you get anything from me?”


    Ares thought hard for a good 20 seconds. “I don’t know. If you got one of my bloodline abilities, then maybe I gained yours? Lie to me real quick.”


    “I hate you.”


    Ares could feel a rush of cold blood running through his veins, which was indicative of a lie. “Well, I''ll be damned, it seems I’ve inherited your bloodline lie-detector.”


    “What the hell? That’s not even a remotely fair trade!” Enyo fussed.


    “You never know, maybe you’ll get something better later when we go further.”


    “I want it now.”


    Ares rolled his eyes. “I know exactly what you want ‘now’.”


    Meow (Ugh, do you two horny freaks ever stop?)


    Enyo nudged Ares. “Great, even Leo’s telling us to get a room now too. By the way, since when can you talk to animals anyway?”


    “Ah, it happened back in Baja, a little bit before I killed the mecha-dryad. I was looking for a place to keep the hydra deer safe and tried bargaining with the treetop tigers. Halfway into the negotiations, the ability sort of just came online. It’s really strange though, as it doesn’t feel like it’s from the same bloodline as my revenant abilities. Maybe I’ve inherited more than one bloodline, and maybe this one is from someone who married a revenant but wasn’t one themself? Unless, of course, someone in my family history could speak to animals, but it doesn’t feel that way. The bloodline doesn’t feel like it came from a revenant at all. It still feels animalistic, but while the revenant bloodline gives a more wild and imposing kingly feel to it, this new one feels more powerful, more stoic and ancient. They definitely are different enough to lead me to believe it’s not a revenant bloodline.”


    “That would make sense. Isn’t awakening multiple bloodlines rare though? Lucky you. Still, I wish I’d gotten something from the revenant bloodline. It just seems objectively better than being able to communicate with animals, not that that doesn’t have its uses too. Oh well, if I want something from your revenant bloodline…” Enyo licked her lips playfully. “... Then I guess I’ll just have to wring it out of you… The hard way.”


    Ares couldn’t tell if he should be incredibly excited or incredibly worried but, either way, it was a problem for future Ares to deal with.


    Enyo, Ares and Appa finished their food and set off to go pay a visit to the town hall. The procedure for adoption papers was pretty quick when it came to shades so, predictably, it wouldn’t take up the rest of the evening. Ares still wanted to forge his Black Ice Bane later so he could start training with it tomorrow. There was always an adjustment period when it came to using a new weapon, especially if it came with new runes and possibilities. Ares and Enyo couldn’t help but smile dotingly as Appa cheerfully swayed around as it walked. Appa was like an excited child hopping, skipping, and jumping its way to a candy store. Well, it couldn’t technically do any of those things as it floated everywhere, but that was certainly the vibe it was giving off.


    They eventually arrived at the hall which, luckily, happened to be devoid of any queues. Most people never really needed much from the town hall so it was usually rather empty to begin with, but today was particularly quiet. Ares walked up to a specific desk as he recognised an old friend, both in the sense that Ares had known him for a while now and also because the man was borderline prehistoric.


    The man’s skin was dotted with the tell-tale signs of age, but that was in sharp contrast to his razor keen gaze. The man had a cane by his side and was wearing old-fashioned, brown clothes with a boater hat parked scrupulously atop his grey hair. All in all, for an old man, he was quite good looking. He would definitely be getting his fair share of action in a retirement home if ever he went to one.


    “Hey Hans, long time no see.”


    Hans looked up from his paperwork at the sound of a familiar voice he hadn’t heard in a while. “Ares, my boy, take a seat.” Hans gestured towards the cantilever chairs across from him.


    Ares obliged, sat down, and leaned in closer so he could speak softly without being overheard, “How’s business been?”


    Hans whipped out a cigar and flicked open his lighter with a ‘chink’. He didn’t raise the lighter to the cigar in his mouth and, yet, when he rolled the spark wheel down, clicking it into place, the cigar was set alight anyway. Forget raising the lighter to the cigar, there hadn’t even been a flame visible to the naked eye. Hans’ ‘Covert Crimson’ unique aspect, which came under the fire pillar, was undoubtedly as insidious as ever. “Annoyingly, it’s picked up as of late. I’m guessing you haven’t been in town?”


    “Mhm, went on a little excursion.”


    “With ‘Jazzy boy too? He hasn’t been buzzing around my grand-daughter recently, so it’s safe to assume he tagged along, right?”


    “Well, he won’t come hovering around Missy anymore even now that he’s back.”


    Hans puffed a ring of smoke and tapped the cigar with his thumb to knock off some ash. “Ha, that sorry sap finally figured out she was pulling his strings?”


    “That too, I suppose. He’s in love now; that''s the main reason.”


    “Oh? Well, I’m glad for the lad. I was almost starting to pity him, you know? So, what brings you here today then? Proper business or business proper?”


    “Just some regular old day-to-day business for now. I’ll get back to work on that side of things later after the tournament has settled down, maybe even do some work during it, if I can find the time.”


    “Ahh, that’s right, the tournament completely slipped my mind. Perhaps ‘cos those young’uns kept getting their arses thrashed and I could no longer bear watching them lose year-in year-out. Well, now that you’re involved, we should at least win something for once. That’ll be a nice change of pace for sure. Maybe we can even turn that win into something useful for this city. That aside, you don’t strike me as the kind of person to visit town hall. You’re more likely the kind of person to blow it up if anything. I’m guessing whatever you’re here for involves these two patient lasses?”


    “Exactly. Hans, I’d like you to meet Appa and Enyo. Appa and Enyo, this is Hans.”


    “Nice to meet you.”


    “Likewise,” Hans tipped his hat as he responded to Enyo.


    “Hel~lo,” Appa sang in good spirits and bobbed on top of Enyo’s lap.


    Ares patted Appa on the head. “Long story short, like Aejaz, I’ve fallen in love, and quite helplessly at that. We’re looking for adoption papers so Enyo and I can become Appa’s parents in an official capacity.”


    Hans chuckled as he signalled to a nearby worker to go fetch the appropriate papers. “Ah youth. I remember when you first showed up, and now look at you, eh? All grown up, wooing a woman and fostering a kid. I must say, you two seem like a good match. I always thought you, Ares, would do well with a person that has a strong enough will to rein you in from time to time. I dare say you’ve found the perfect other half. Congratulations sonny. Don’t forget to invite this old man here to your wedding down the line.”


    “That’s still a way away due to some unfortunate circumstances, but of course I’ll invite you. If I didn’t invite you of all people, then who would I invite? The Chen clan?”


    “Don’t take this the wrong way sonny, but you''re absolutely the type of guy to dig up Farro’s grave and give his skeleton a front row seat.”


    “I…” Ares hesitated to finish his refutation as Enyo’s helmet turned to face him with a steely, questioning gaze. “... Admittedly can’t say I wouldn’t consider it.”


    Hans snorted and did the ‘wrapped around her finger’ motion as a secretary handed over the papers. He watched the secretary leave in the wrong direction and brought out the lighter again. He rolled his eyes as the secretary yelped, abandoning all hope of sneaking off to chat with her friend. “If a tree in the woods falls down, and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Just ‘cos there ain’t no one here, doesn’t mean that paperwork of yours is gonna vanish, hon. Chop chop.” Hans turned back to Ares and sighed. “Impossible to find good help these days. You have to literally light a fire under their arses half the damn time to get ‘em moving.”


    “Have you tried giving them a decent wage?”


    “Hell no. Not like I can anyway, we earn less money here than a manaless, ripe skrank lizzle in a Dwarfingdom brothel.”


    Appa tilted its head curiously at the funny man’s funny remark, not having understood a single word as it was unfamiliar with many races and cultures. Ares re-adjusted Appa’s leaning head as he listened to Hans while filling out the documents. When he was done, Enyo started doing it too.


    “Makes you wonder, dun it? What exactly are the people in charge of this city doing with all those damn bribes? Are they shoving it up their arses? Are they using it as fucking tinder? Tsk, assholes,” Hans grumbled.


    Enyo had jotted down everything that was necessary and Hans gave everything a once-over. Normally there’d be documents for the adopt-ee to sign, but shades couldn’t exactly use pens proficiently. Instead, the shade would just be asked a very simple question. “Do you love these two people?” Hans had already ticked the yes box, as he could tell without asking, but procedure was procedure after all.


    “Very much! I love dad, and I love mum!”


    Hans'' lips curved upward as the shade reminded him of the child he himself once had. A bittersweet memory. “Take good care of those two, you hear?”


    Ares nodded with a sympathetic look. “I will.”


    “Good. Your documentation will be ready to pick up tomorrow. See ya round, kiddo.”


    “See ya round, Hans.” Ares stood up to leave and took Appa by the rope to walk outside.


    Enyo, however, stopped and turned around to ask Hans a question. She went outside after getting her answer, and went over to Ares to tell him she had to go do something and that she would be back in a few minutes. Ares was stumped as to where she could possibly be going, but paid it no mind and waited around. During the wait, Hans’ work-shift must have ended as he came up behind Ares and patted him on the shoulder.


    “That one’s seriously a keeper. You’ve found yourself a good, lifelong partner.” Hans left before Ares had a chance to question why he was bringing that up.


    Ares already knew that Enyo was great, but what did Enyo ask Hans that prompted him to mention it? It’s not like there was any reason to sit around and ponder excessively about it though, so, instead, Ares went into a nearby shop and bought Appa something he could tell it would absolutely love playing with.


    Pop


    Bubble wrap.


    Pop