Ares flung himself onto the floor and rolled around until he put out the Stigma fire.


    Phew


    He sat up and wiped the sweat from his brow. Although he hadn''t been piloting the body, he was still sore regardless. The mimic, Rox, wandered over and poked him in the back of the head, seemingly trying to figure out which ''Ares'' he was dealing with. Both were evil incarnate, so it didn''t really matter, but at the very least the real Ares probably would be done with him here and now and put him away again. Rox could feel the aggression oozing out of Dominus and his thirst for combat so he was glad the lunatic had been put away lest he start getting his ass beat again. Ares leant back and looked at the mimic upside down, told him "Your name is Rox from now on," and tossed him back in the Primordial Blade. His breathing was still rough, but Ares managed to stand and stretch as he looked around. He realised the exam was still going for some odd reason and so he deduced there was still, somehow, someone left. He did the math in his head and the number of people he / Dominus had killed perfectly matched up with the amount of ranks that had been given out. He was ranked twenty two, and he''d killed twenty one other participants with the aid of the mimic... No... Wait a minute.


    Smack


    Ares palmed his forehead as he realised his mistake. His math was correct, the issue was that the stupid Lighter Duo only counted as one rank and not two separate ones! The Lighter Duo were jointly ranked sixteen even though there were two of them so, although he''d killed twenty one people, there were twenty two enemies total!... Ares narrowed it down in his head and, at the end, he realised it was rank eighteen that had slipped between his fingers... "Oh no." Rank eighteen... He remembered now who that was... He turned around slowly and saw the menace in question waddle over and stare up at him, ready to inflict the inescapable fatal wound. He looked into his killer''s cute eyes and pleaded with all his heart. "Appa, sweetie... Could you ple..."


    "HMPH. Dad, you''re a meanie! You hurt mum! Shame On You!"


    Ack


    Ares collapsed on the floor and died the second the art was finished chanting. He foamed at the mouth and his eyes whited out as he flopped on the ground and spasmed. Steam came rising out of his head as his brain shut down and, the next thing he knew, he''d been revived outside the Training Field. He looked around and recoiled when he saw everyone else crowded around him and cracking their knuckles. He had the means to beat them when he had Dominus available but what about now? Now it was time for revenge! As Ares had the daylights beaten out of him by an angry mob of twenty one people, some of whom were clearly riding on the coattails of others to get their licks in, Appa floated over and tilted its head. It wasn''t sure why Ares was getting beaten again, only that he probably deserved it... And so, when Ares finally thought he had found the light at the end of tunnel, after everyone backed off and trudged away, Appa floated over and froze him too. On the way by, Sadie kicked the ice block Ares was encased in for good measure. It''s unverified, but Rud may have also spit on the ice block too. The only solace for Ares was that Allie had stopped Leo in the nick of time before he peed on him. The little shit had started cocking his legs and all, he was really going to do it! And after all the meals he''d given him! The fact that Charity had cheered him on too, and that these two mortal enemies come together to fight off a greater evil, was seriously unfair...


    Rud walked up on top of a podium and cleared his throat before he started announcing the results. He made no effort to wait for Ares to dethaw because it was obvious he''d made it anyway. Even if Ares didn''t bother showing up today they probably would have found an excuse to sneak him into the inner court regardless. He was too important to the sect to let rot in the outer court so his attention and attendance were both unnecessary and everyone here knew it. Rud went in the listed order from 1-22 and denied all the first ten disciples. They''d made no particularly notable moves during the exam and were thus given a ''no'' for their troubles. Rud did note that Jackie working with Onno to bait Ares near the start was a good idea but, unfortunately, the idea was Onno''s and the execution had been done all by him too. If Jackie had been a bit more involved, they might have given her a slightly higher mark. Still, although she was the closest of the first ten to make it into the inner court, she would have to try again next time just like everyone else. The one benefit was that all of the unusually strong cultivators were leaving the outer court now. There was no one left to upstage then during the next inner court trial so their lives would be considerably easier. Getting paired against all the nonsensical newcomers and people like Enyo was the epitome of DOA. Many had even given up before the exam started. As for the rest...


    11. Charity. No. Her mistake was costly. Not just as in it cost her her life but it also cost the rest of her ''teammates'' a healer. Her presence and role on a battlefield was indispensable. Arrogantly rushing to the front lines, not picking the right fight, not working in tandem with the stronger combatants. It was all a big mess. Still, she knew this better than anyone so she took it on her chin and instead focused her efforts on chasing down Leo who was meowing various curses at her in his native language.


    12. Gladius. Yes. Like Lightning Guy during his entrance test his bravery and willingness to sacrifice himself for a greater cause was commendable. His talent with the spear, although it didn''t get much of a chance to shine due to unfortunate circumstances, didn''t go unnoticed. He was an individual stronger than most others at his cultivation in a normal fight, plus he was handicapped by not really having a chance to use his Essedarius art. All in all, he''d done good. Falling for the mimic trick was fair because even the elders didn''t see it coming. Ares was just a prick, is all.


    13. Onno. Yes. The strategist of the bunch had played a good few mind games with varying degrees of success. He''d caught Ares hook, line, and sinker with the first Doppelb?nger and come up with an appropriate solution for the mimic. Yes the mimic became incredibly powerful as a resort of Dominus and thwarted all his schemes from then on before killing him; but it was unreasonable to say that was because Onno hadn''t done a good enough job. He had, it was just that Ares was a prick, is all.


    14. Li Li. No. The same things that could be said about Charity could be said about Li Li. She wasn''t a healer and so her role was different, but she should have worked together with Dirk from the start. Whether that was more her fault or Dirk''s for being arrogant was debatable but she was still at fault for the rest of her actions. Li Li was on the same team for the international as Ares and she should know better than most others here how strong his magic was and how unpredictable his nature was too. Ares being a revenant meant he would fight dirty at every opportunity and falling for his first scheme was pretty inexcusable. Yes she wasn''t the only that fell for it but, of the other two, one also failed and the other defended herself. It''s not like her denied entry to the inner court was egregious compared to how everyone else involved in the incident was treated so she had no complaints either.


    15. Esme. Yes... Barely. She didn''t really get a chance to shine during this fight and, for the most part, wound up being a bigger detriment than a helping hand. It''s undeniable that her timing with the Swipe Right was phenomenal but her contributions ended there. After that, the one thing she did was summon Wind Mines that assisted in killing Aejaz and even lead to her own demise. Her last ''effort'' before death was pitiful and she just died with minimal resistance. Yes she was terrible in close quarters but her showing overall was really quite disastrous. Luckily for her, the Swipe Right, plus the elders'' foreknowledge of her talent, meant she wasn''t judged too harshly. It was extremely close though and she should be grateful for making it by the skin of her teeth. Arguably, she didn''t really deserve it. They knew she was a good cultivator but that was why today had been somewhat of a let down. In all fairness it wasn''t solely her fault, it''s just that Ares was a prick, is all.


    16. Lighter Duo. Yes. It had become abundantly clear to the elders that they had made a massive mistake when ranking everyone as these two clearly should have been way higher. Their combination arts were the stuff of legends... If you ignored the presence of Dominus, a real living legend in the flesh. Their arts were powerful, they made a good team, and they were flexible. The only problem that could be identified with these two is that they needed to maybe work on their ability to fight without mana. They seemed to have a habit of running themself dry on the mana front so they should either learn to fight without magic or find treasures that can increase their mana capacity. Still, it was a resounding yes with no debate whatsoever. The advice was literally just that, advice and not condemnation. If Ares hadn''t been here, there was a chance they would have even been able to fight on even footing with either Bellona or Enyo and that was a respectable feat for ''ordinary'' cultivators. Of course that ended up not being the case because Ares was a prick, is all.


    17. Aejaz. Yeah, sure, whatever. He existed... That was about the sum of everyone''s opinion of him and his performance. He tried, he died, the end. His invisibility had improved, he made a few good calls early, and his technique was decent enough. The elders didn''t know what a true monster this dumbass was but that was fine because he''d done ok today and passed regardless. If anything, the most annoyed person here was Ares because his brother had lost to the stupid mimic. Yeah, sure, the mimic was pretty incredible now thanks to Dominus, but Ares wasn''t satisfied. He would pit his useless brother against the mimic until he learned to beat it damnit! Hell, Ares might even throw in a few beatings himself to speed up the process. Why? Because Ares was a prick, is all.


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


    18. Appa. Uh... Yes? You know, she did kill Ares... Did it even count? Yes? Maybe? Really the biggest issue here, that all the elders secretly agreed on, was that Appa was just to cute to say no to. Appa was powerful enough as a cultivator to make it to the inner court anyway, but not a single one of the elders had the heart to go up to Appa and tell it it had failed... Again, not that it didn''t pass anyway, they just couldn''t stomach the thought of making Appa sad if they had too. As an aside, unfortunately for the elders, they couldn''t find a reason to call Ares a prick for this particular candidate as he hadn''t actually done anything to Appa, but that didn''t stop Rud from saying it aloud anyway.


    19. Dirk... No. This one hurt a bit but the elders could tell Dominus was right and not just because he killed Dirk either. Dirk complained about the result but their minds were made up because, really, Dirk had been pretty useless. He was a strong cultivator but letting someone into the inner court just because of that was foolish. Esme had at least partially displayed her talents but Dirk got kicked around like a punching bag and made no dent on either Ares or Dominus. He didn''t even try to support anyone despite having the capability to do so. In the face of a foe that was clearly greater than him he tried to do everything alone and fell for provocation. In some ways, his showing was more disappointing than Li Li''s because more had been expected of him. Unfortunately, it would seem the blood and guts duo were not going to be seen hanging around the inner court for a month for two. If at least one had made it then the other could have just lived alongside them but this way, unless someone else offered them residence, they wouldn''t be allowed into the inner court. Sad but deserved. They would make it in next time pretty much guaranteed but that was next time, not this time. This meant they wouldn''t get better resources in the inner court for a while which was a pretty big set back but it wasn''t all bad. Li Li was on the sect''s team for the international, so the rewards from that would keep her afloat for now, and Dirk was really strong to begin with and didn''t desperately need anything anyway. Still, the failure of this couple was somewhat tragic and lamentable by the elders who had to hold back two talented cultivators.


    20. Bellona. Yes and no. This was a weird one because she barely scraped-by having done little more than Dirk. Unlike Dirk, she had actively supported someone else. Like Dirk, she had gotten her ass beat without really putting up a fight. The most notable thing she did was summon a meteor that did effectively nothing before punching herself in the face thanks to Dominus. Bellona got in mostly because of how strong she was normally. Dirk didn''t pass for this reason whereas Bellona did, and there was definitely some hypocrisy here, but Dirk was offered a chance to fight Bellona tot take her place and he simply didn''t bother... There was actually just such a massive difference that he knew he would lose instantly if he even tried. What helped Bellona get a pass was the help she gave Enyo near the start when she dealt with the Shock Bead Ares threw at his brother. This action freed up Enyo to do as she pleased and it was looked upon favourably. She''d done more than Dirk at least, but it was still very close to being a no... Because Ares was a prick, is all.


    21. Enyo. Did it even need to be said? Obviously the answer was yes. She''d done the most of everyone, learnt the most, and even been the one to come up with the plan to kill Ares from the very start. She''d gone up to Appa and told it what to do so part of the kill credit was Enyo''s to begin with. She was clever and she was strong. She soldiered on even the face of death and didn''t hesitate to trade her life to apply Stigma for everyone that came after her. She''d really outshone her sister in this particular instance and more than earned her position in the inner court. The only reason she even died at all was because Ares was competing. Under normal circumstances she would have swept. Actually, she probably would have become the next target to gang up on had Ares not taken the exam. A real prodigy amongst prodigies. Unfortunately, in order for her grand plan to succeed, she had to die and make Appa''s art all the more potent. Drastic measures were necessary because Ares was a prick, is all.


    22. Ares. Was a prick. That is all.


    And when all was said and done, Rud led everyone who passed over to the inner court. It was somewhat visible from the outer court, especially if you frequently visited any elders in their workspaces as they typically resided on the edges of the inner court. Not all cultivators could access the inner or core disciple courts so anyone that needed to be found on the regular had to be somewhere in the outer court. In a way, it was actually more of a pain in the neck for the core disciples to find the elders but they had other privileges that more than made up for it. They could even get private lessons and tutoring with those very same elders and they had better environments to practice in. Blacksmiths and alchemists in the core area had their own forges and labs they could invite the elders to in their time off. Anyway, the original point being that you could sneak peeks at the inner court when visiting elders if you wanted to, so it wasn''t an entirely unfamiliar place to Ares. He knew that the overall quality of the buildings, tier leaders, cultivation rooms, and disciples here were a step above the outer court. What he cared about the most though was the grocery shop! Each area had a different one that sold progressively rarer and rarer ingredients! He could earn more stardust and take more difficult requests? Bah, who cares?! He could maybe find some cultivation resources here and finally use some for God damn once? Not important! He could make dishes that were, on average, maybe ten percent better at most? Now you were talking!


    Everyone made it to the gate blocking off the inner court and Rud put his hand on it. A light passed through the gate and Rud signalled everyone else to come up and touch it too, at which point they were registered as inner court disciples. Their sect tokens would allow them to pass the gate whenever they wanted from now on. Once everyone was done, Rud opened the gate and gestured for everyone to step inside. Aejaz hid near the back, as close to Ares as possible, because there was one little detail he hadn''t forgotten from when he first arrived here. The bandit brothers were absolutely despised! Sure some outer court disciples held grudges, but they were few and far between compared to sheer number of inner court disciples that wanted them buried six feet under. Plus these people were actually strong enough to warrant being a worrywart. People in the inner court were at minimum, 5th stage mental accumulation and, at most, sensory enhancement, 10th stage. There were some inner court disciples at the top of the pecking order here that were stronger than some of the weaker elders. It wasn''t common, but it was possible. If one held a grudge against Ares or Aejaz their lives would be a lot less peaceful than it was in the outer court. As the group passed through the gate it became apparent they had a gathering waiting for them on the other side. The real question was ''is this because they wanted to see the new inner court disciples or because they somehow knew Ares and Aejaz would be coming.'' If it was the latter, Aejaz was prepared to pick up Allie and flee using his secret art. He couldn''t save it for the tournament if he was dead before then!


    A lot of the faces were vaguely familiar too as they''d been around to watch the outer courts fight for a position on the sect''s team for the tournament. The ones that had participated were a bit more timid upon seeing Ares come sauntering into their home but the ones that weren''t were glaring rather fiercely. Even if he was providing the sect with resources they couldn''t hope to have otherwise, it seemed that they weren''t able to get over their personal grudges. At the very least Rud was here and he shooed off anyone that got too close. It didn''t stop everyone from following him until he arrived at the residences to drop the new group off, though. Ares wasn''t sure whether anyone would be bold enough to try and attack him in his own home but he considered setting up a perimeter of Shock Beads if these people kept being nosy going forward. Rud clapped his hands to get everyone''s attention.


    "This is where you''ll live from now on. The tier distribution for you lot will be done in a few week''s time during the next tier assessment and Teng will be here to guide you to the place in question. Until then you''re free to do as you please." Rud left post-haste and went to go find somewhere isolated to take a nap. His odds of success were low thanks to Yulo''s magic but if he didn''t at least try his odds would forever remain at zero!


    Whilst the peanut gallery of enraged onlookers stared daggers into the backs of Ares and Aejaz, everyone went inside their new homes to investigate. There wasn''t really much to see, however, as they were almost identical in terms of layout to the outer court houses. The only real notable difference was that they were bigger and had a few more rooms for guests and such. The most major change was the cultivation rooms that had more ambient mana but it would still be less than the tiered areas anyway. If you wanted really fancy housing then becoming a core disciple was a must as that was when houses started to get grander. Of course becoming an elder or any other important figure within the sect would work too as their houses were also swanky. The real crème de la crème belonged to the sect master though. Ares paid little mind to his housing until he became sect master as getting attached to a house he wasn''t going to be living in for the foreseeable future was pointless. Bellona went into her very own room and unpacked before throwing herself onto the bed and happily rolling around. She didn''t have to sleep on the sofa anymore and she could finally escape her sex pest of a sister! Everyone else followed suit and settled into their own rooms with more than enough to spare. Appa technically didn''t have a dedicated room and mostly just floated around looking at everyone else''s. It would find anyone who was available for cuddles at night and go with the flow; although it did also spend an unusual amount of time looking at the bathroom. Old habits die hard?


    Ares poked his head out of one of the windows and threw Shock Beads at the other disciples who were nosily poking their heads around the property. They screamed and fled despite the obvious fact that Ares wouldn''t detonate the Beads and cause damage to his own property. The Shock Beads simply lay on the floor and acted as a form of dissuasion for all the onlookers who didn''t dare try and step past the line of explosives. Ares would go outside alter and pick these up before burying some others under the ground just in case.


    The rest of the day passed and night came around, at which point Bellona was dismayed because, after she''d gotten comfortable in her bed, she realised Enyo had crept into the room and was hugging her from behind again... It seemed this was a warning to her that she wouldn''t be able to escape just because she had her own room... Meanwhile, Ares was cuddling with Appa in his own room like he used to back before Enyo became a part of his life. It felt weirdly nostalgic but it was also nice to have some alone time with his daughter again.


    Life returned to normal for a while shortly after the exam and everyone settled down in their new housing. It looked like smooth sailing up until the internationals... At least up until a couple days before it started when all manner of shenanigans started occurring.