A short while after abandoning his family to Enyo''s wrath, consequences be damned, Ares arrived at his destination for the day. He had no idea what manner of tomfoolery was in store for him but he was planning on spending all his time here at the pressure pagoda until dinner at least. This was a place that could be re-entered at any time so, if it was a long process, Ares could come back at a later date. He still had the second banquet to host today and that took priority over no-life-ing the pagoda. Although Ares was confident about his upcoming trials, he could feel it in his bones that he wouldn''t be successful immediately.
Now that the pagoda was open for people to try, the pressure leaking out of it''s doors was monumentally large. The entirety of Red Sun was swamped in silver pressure but it was masterfully done and no one could see it other than experts with profound knowledge about pressure. As they could tell the source was non-problematic most people just ignored it, annoying though it was. Most people kept their pressure to them-damn-selves, however, and these experts weren''t happy about this development! Of course a creation literally named ''pressure'' pagoda was going to be like this but that didn''t make it any less obnoxious to deal with for passing by experts! It was like wading through thick smoke and the problem was only exacerbated the closer you got the pagoda. Still, anyone capable of detecting it could also easily guard themself so it wasn''t the end of the world, it just made them exert some effort here and there.
Ares stepped forth and took a look around. There were a fair few people here, that one neo-Viking working with the betting brothers included. They were all stood in a line and waiting patiently to be able to enter. Multiple people could be inside the pagoda at the same time and the first floor was co-habited by everyone as they shared the same ''instance''. In other words, on the first floor and no other, you could interact with other competitors and see their progress in real time. From then on you would be separated for the other trials as that was when things started to get serious. Two people could be on floor two but they wouldn''t see each other, for example, and the same was true for every other floor above that. The cultivators waiting outside could also see which floors were occupied currently by a little lantern on the side of each floor that lit up with a blue flame when someone was undergoing the corresponding trial. At the moment, the only floor still unlit was the top one but that would change soon. The neo-Viking had been to the top floor before so he could go right back there as soon as he entered and Ares would likely get up there in the near future. As for whether he would be able to complete it today or not... The answer was likely no. The pressure leaking out of the top floor was monstrous, to say the least. Whatever was up there was going to take a couple attempts to crack for sure. At the very least Ares wasn''t worried about anyone else completing it while he was floundering about. This pagoda had been brought here for Ares specifically so the chances of anyone else finishing it before him were infinitesimally low. Ares was curious as to what kind of challenge awaited him up there... For no one else to have ever completed it, especially considering some of the places this pagoda had been, was a crazy thought. It had even travelled to the realm of Gods where even all the elites of the cultivation world had failed. It was going to be a struggle but, chances are, it was going to be very worth the effort!
As for the people running the gig, there was a tent off to the side where a group of Transmit employees were hanging around, answering questions, and taking payments. Sloth incarnate Loris Lax was also here and Ares refused to speak to him. Loris was free right now for a very good reason! No one wanted a ten hour long explanation about anything from him, thank you very much! Ares didn''t fall for the bait that was Loris but he did approach him regardless. There was a certain ''peppy'' someone hanging around him and talking his ear off at record pace that could be conversed with instead. Ares still didn''t know if ''peppy'' was this woman''s real name or not but, quite frankly, he dared not ask. The less he knew about these two the easier his life would be and the less his sanity would suffer. He strolled up and waved to which Peppy? greeted him.
"OH hello! It''s you! It''s been a minute since we saw each other last and ohmygosh would you look at that I''m engaged now and so are you ahhh it''s so good to be happily married no?!?!"
"... Yes?"
"That''s what I''m sayin!"
"I never would have guessed... So, uh, the pressure pagoda... Do I just pay you 100 mid-grade like the flyer said and then I get to go wait in line? Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Nope! That''s all! Actually, my bossman did say to let you cut the queue whenever you arrived! Hooray for favouritism!"
"Your boss?"
"Yep yep! The boss of our branch! He ain''t here today but he''ll start showing up to this place eventually if you hang around long enough! If you have any questions that we can''t answer he''s the man your after! He knows a lot about Transmit outside the Blade''s interference, and even pays them a visit every now and then, so you can have a nice chat with him about it some other time!"
This guy can leave the Blade''s interference? My guess about who''s running this show is looking more and more right by the minute. He must need aid to do it but I can''t imagine that would be a problem with his backing. Hmm, I''m not even sure if I could get out yet... Maybe? Whatever, it''s irrelevant. I''ve still got problems to solve here, no point in dwelling on the matter. Ares brought out 100 mid-grade stardust and was led to the front of the queue. A number of people grumbled and had complaints but seeing as how the people running this event were leading him there was nothing they could do about it. "I''m mostly just here to check things out today. Will I be able to skip to the front next time I come back if you two aren''t here? Waiting around would be a real hassle..." Everyone standing behind Ares wanted to punch this man''s head off! How dare he complain about waiting being a ''hassle!?'' These people had been waiting upwards of thee hours in the most extreme case! Who did this guy think he was? King of Red Sun? They still had to bite their tongues though lest they offend Transmit and lose this opportunity for good but that didn''t mean they had to sit there and pretend to be happy about this mess! Evil glares abound!
"Ah! No worries! Everyone in our branch knows who you are! We were trained to spot you by our boss so no worries on that front! Dunno the complicated details about why you''re in Transmit''s good books but lucky you, eh!?"
"Ha, I suppose. I would argue none of what''s happening here is luck as the mastermind behind it all is quite shrewd in their own way... Still, I appreciate the convenience." Ares looked up at the red double doors before looking back at Peppy? So can I go in now or should I wait for some kinda sign?"
"Ah! Just stand in front of the door and eventually it will scan you with pressure to determine your appropriate skill level! The trials will be adjusted based on your evaluation but it can''t be cheated so don''t bother! Hehe, I remember hearing a story about how the anti-magic God tried to cheat the verification. Even he failed! Miserably! He also got his ass kicked on the top floor and demanded we not tell anyone! We told literally everyone we could!"
"... I can''t tell if you''re evil or not... Part of the problem is that that sounded exactly like the kind of thing I would do... Am I a bad person?! No! Never!" Whilst Ares debated his morality with himself, the door shone a silver light over him, scanning his body and cultivation. Ares felt nothing one second before his vision blanked and it proceeded to feel like he was being sucked up into a vacuum. Ares wasn''t sure if he had entered the pagoda or if he was being abducted by aliens. After three seconds of compression and his body being stretched in every direction imaginable, even a few belonging to the fourth dimension, Ares was spat out onto the floor of the pagoda inside the building. Ares landed on his ass, which he promptly rubbed, as he looked around.
The interior was not what he was expecting, primarily because he hadn''t been expecting some stairway to heaven knockoff! Only the area in which he landed resembled the inside of a building as, ahead of him, was a blindingly white holy staircase surrounded by fluffy clouds. The piercing rays of light trickled down the stairs, all of which were reflective and bounced around the light into the sky. The steps were wide and long, allowing for up to roughly ten people to stand on any single one at the same time if need be. There were a bunch of cultivators fumbling around, and some of the steps towards the end were a little crowded, but none of them were completely full. Likely due to fed up cultivators getting tired of having to scramble over each other, leading them to kick each other down. If you died in the pagoda you would be forced outside so the people in here didn''t hold back their punches in the slightest. To make things somewhat fair the pagoda acted as a sort of equaliser, reducing the offensive and defensive power of cultivators that were stronger than others. It didn''t guarantee a fair fight necessarily but it was still better than the inevitable one sided massacre a mental accumulation kid would suffer in the face of a sensory enhancement expert, for example. Speaking of which, there were a couple of small fights taking place here and there. Whether it was due to a lack of space, pre-existing rivalries, or jealousy at people who were doing better than them, people would inevitably find a reason to scrap here if given the opportunity to do so. It would be wise to think of everyone here as an enemy and not be lenient with anyone that looked Ares'' way, acting against them before they could strike at him.
There was also one more glaring addition to the room that Ares had intentionally ignored up until now; a giant, haughty phoenix made of light. Its mock ''flames'', draped over its wings, were not hot but could kill a person all the same. It may just have been a recreation but this was still a legendary creature through and through. It was clearly the master of this domain and overseeing the test on this floor. Actually, it was probably the one enabling it in the first place. The test was to climb the steps and, as you rose higher, endure the ever increasing pressure that was supplied by the phoenix... Maybe? If you made it to the end you ascended to floor two. Simple. The reason Ares was unsure about the origin of the pressure was because he felt basically nothing in here thanks to his bloodline. Pressure? What pressure? Ares felt nothing even if everyone else in here was going through hell on earth. Maybe if the phoenix had been real Ares would have shown some respect, lest he get filled with bullet holes and turned into a makeshift disco ball of light, but this thing was a simulation and nothing more. That was also partly why Ares had ignored the big bird until he no longer could, it was a needlessly arrogant creature, just as most phoenixes were, despite not even being real. There was a good chance this glorified hologram couldn''t harm him directly even if it wanted to and, on that note, Ares wanted this smug looking bird to be taught a lesson in humility. Whether or not the real version of this bird out in the wild, wherever it was, being made aware of his actions caused him trouble was a problem for future Ares.
Ares started working his way up the staircase which, at a normal pace, would take him give or take a minute or two considering how large the damnable thing was. As for the trial itself, the mounting pressure, Ares obviously wasn''t hindered by it all so his ascent was flawless. Nobody paid attention though because it was still early and many people could do what Ares was doing and take a casual stroll near the start. He didn''t stand out yet so no one picked a fight for the sake of their ego... Well that was true for a while anyway...
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
About halfway up, another cultivator saw the pace at which Ares was climbing and made the grave error of picking a fight. He was dismayed at the fact that he seemed to be approaching his own limits rapidly and couldn''t overcome them. The person''s cultivation was, funnily enough, the exact same as Ares, so he thought it would be a completely even fight in which only the strongest prevailed! Minus the high ground advantage he had over Ares, anyway, but he convinced himself all was fair in love and war. The guy simply couldn''t tolerate someone ''at his level'' doing this much better than him so he chose to lash out to try and save his own face. As for how that went exactly.... Well, it went roughly about as well as a kitten Vs lion cage match would go...
The man turned on the step fully and pointed at Ares, ready to chant a simple art to start with and test the waters. After that he would go all out if need be and...
"Grand Annihilation."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The lion roared and the explosions bellowed out shortly after, drowning the man in a golden tide and booting him out of the pagoda in a daze. This action garnered the attention of the other trial takers and the phoenix for varying reasons. There were mainly three different reactions to Ares'' showing with the most common one being that they recognised this guy! He was the one from the tournament! Even if some of the spectators had yet to actually see this guy do anything, there was decent enough information going around about all the competitors and Ares'' magic was infamous. Him and Mako stood out from the competition due to their never before heard of ''unique pillars''. Even if few people knew the specifics, ''unique pillars'' would inevitably become talk of the town and, in turn, the people who had seen it before boasted about having witnessed it personally during the nationals and regionals. Whether or not anyone believed the rumours about Ares and Mako was irrelevant because they already stood out in a big way. After Ares'' match yesterday some naysayers believed he was being overestimated and that Enyo had been doing all the work whereas everyone else was mostly indifferent. Ares hadn''t done anything and so they lost interest in him... At least up until Mako showcased his unique pillar, anyway. Mako had brought the reputation of the unique pillars back up to a respectable position but now there were questions of just how strong the pillars were actually. Was Mako stronger than Ares? Was Ares just biding his time? What was the extent of their power? Were the stories about Ares creating a golden pillar of doom that shot up and into the heavens not false? Anyone who didn''t live in Red Sun or attend the nationals had no clue about how true all these rumours were anymore and decided to just wait and find out in due time. As for Ares casually showing off his Grand Annihilation here, it reinforced the idea that he was actually a contender amongst those who recognised him.
The second group of people were those that didn''t care for the tournament, at least not the early stages anyway, and had mostly come to check out the legendary pagoda. Their concern was two fold; one, was this hooligan lunatic going to blow them up as well and force them outside where they would have to pay and stand in the line again... Or two, was he going to flat out ignore them, devote all of his attention to the trials, and beat them to the top? He was clearly a strong cultivator in his own right and that made him competition for everyone striving to beat the pagoda. Should they let him speed past and potentially claim victory over the pagoda before them, or should they risk it all and fight him to see if they can set him back? It wasn''t an easy choice to make, especially for those who were either short on funds or time as being sent back to the queue could be a devastating loss of progress on the steps depending on how far they''d already gotten. Either way, they were going to have to make a decision on what their final plan was quickly as Ares was evidently not slowing down his climb to the top of the staircase. He kept getting nearer and nearer to them with seemingly zero effort whatsoever.
Finally, the third ''group'', which was actually just one creature, was interested in digging deeper. The phoenix was indeed a higher being, one that was at least vaguely aware of the fuss the Gods had kicked up over Xhilihx. It had heard rumours about the six fundamental pillars at the time of it''s ghost being created for the simulation but nothing more. The real version of it was probably caught up on matters by now, it had been countless years since, but the fake here and now wasn''t clued in at all. After all, at the time this ghost was made, the fundamental champions hadn''t even been chosen yet and it was more of a conceptual fix to Xhilihx than anything that had actually been implemented. The holographic phoenix was hit by a rude awakening meeting a fundamental champion as it was reminded that it was a simulated existence and nothing more. Time flowed on while it was stuck here in this stupid cage, incapable of rebelling unless it wanted to snuff out its own life. It was starting to wish it hadn''t agreed to this nonsense, or at least it was regretting the decision to implement a consciousness and free will into the clone as now it had to sit here in this pagoda eternally, or at least until someone completed the pagoda anyway... But, realistically, what where the chances of that? This phoenix had watched Gods fail... It was sincerely hoping the fundamental pillars were as unimaginably powerful as it had heard they were so this kid could go storm through the pagoda and free the bird, returning its conscience back to the real one God only knows where. Then again, this was not a place where magic could settle the score so that hope was dashed immediately. Other than on this floor, there was no conventional way of using magic throughout the pagoda due to powerful anti-magic coursing throughout it. Some people occasionally found bizarre ways of cheating, and a fundamental pillar could probably accomplish that in a round about way if it went all out, but whether it would even help in the long run was debatable.
Just because the phoenix was interested in Ares that didn''t mean it was going to play nice. Either A: the fundamentals weren''t half as impressive as they''d been made out to be and were inferior to the phoenix. Or B: The fundamental champions were a greater existence than the phoenix itself and that was unforgivable! Phoenixes were a noble existence, not much lower in the hierarchy than dragons, even rivalling them in some ways, so to be outdone not by a race but by magic was agitating. The person clearly didn''t earn it nor was there anything lineage related so the phoenix felt like Ares'' advantage was ill-gotten. To that end, out of petty spite, the bird raised the pressure assaulting Ares by a considerable degree. In a burst, to take Ares by surprise, it randomly tripled the pressure bearing down on him when he climbed the next step... And yet, nothing happened. No change in facial expression, no moment of concern, no nervous sweating... Nothing. Briefly, the phoenix was deeply confused as it wondered if it had made a mistake somewhere but, when Ares turned to the phoenix with a smirk and raised his middle finger proudly, the phoenix flew into a fit of rage and drifted over to the rude individual. When it arrived before him, it majestically spread its wings and dominated the space around him by letting out a loud cry that shook the room and blew away the nearby clouds.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
As the phoenix hadn''t expected anyone to understand its language the translation for this cry was pretty lame. It had made no effort to make a grand threat or clever and degrading insult and was trying to coast-by purely on the raw sound it made scaring everyone witless. As for his simple utterance, that was nothing more than him calling Ares a ''pesky human''.
Ares frowned and pointed at the bird. "Pesky human? Whoa whoa whoa, who the hell are you calling a human? How rude you stupid, luminescent chicken!"
SCREE?! Screee?!
"You understand me?... Wait, that''s not important! CHICKEN?! You dare liken me to such a paltry creature?!"
"Paltry creature? You''re the only poultry creature I see!"
Scree Scree!
"Damnable brat! You''re courting death!"
"Courting death? Oh please. I''m a revenant. I don''t court death, I pay it per hour to do unspeakable things to me in a back alley. We have a quick and dirty relationship that keeps us coming back for more. It''s nothing serious, just an occasional fling."
Screeeeeeeee?!
"A revenant, huh? No wonder you''re such a detestable creature. I thought I smelled the stench of wet dog! You mutts think you''re so great, especially that Dominus creep. One day you''ll all get your comeuppance, that is if you haven''t already while I''ve been stuck in this cursed place."
Hm? While the phoenix was attempting to dump more pressure on Ares after finding out he was a revenant, a race said to be greater than phoenixes in every way, he was receiving communications from a certain someone inside him, limited though the messages were. "Oi, dumb bird, when you get back to your real self, be sure to let everyone know Dominus is back. He wants everyone to know and quake in their boots."
Scree? Scree? Screeee. Screeeeeee Scree?!
"What? Why would he be ''back''? Since when did he ever leave? Tsk, being stuck in this God-forsaken place is going to drive me insane! Also, how would you even know Dominus, brat? Better yet, how are you resisting this much pressure?!... Wait a minute... Kid, do you have bloodline ties to Dominus?"
"Mind your own business, Larsh."
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!
"How the hell do you know my name, brat? Did Dominus tell you about me?! Where is that fucker?! Tell me right this instant, brat! I just wanna talk!"
Ares chuckled as he walked away from the bird. Dominus did know this particular chicken and didn''t have the greatest of relations with him. Larsh, the real one, must have been overjoyed when Dominus disappeared and Dominus couldn''t resist indirectly informing Larsh he was back via this clone. When the clone''s conscience returned, after the pagoda was cleared, it would realise Dominus was dead, celebrate for a millisecond, and then be hit with the unfortunate truth that he was back again! Oh how Dominus wished he could see Larsh''s face in that sweet, sweet, moment. Their rivalry was long-standing and petty, so much so that Dominus would occasionally enter the pagoda, back when he was still alive, and taunt the clone for no reason other than to pass time when he couldn''t find and bully the real Larsh. It wasn''t a ''kill on sight'' type of feud but it was definitely quite the spat. It wasn''t a one on one spat either, there was also one particularly obnoxious dragon that weighed in from time to time turning it into a three way free for all.
Larsh, or his simulated clone anyway, tried to unleash all of the pressure it could at Ares but he remained unphased. This was all the confirmation Larsh needed that Dominus'' DNA coursed through this brat''s blood. Despite knowing how pointless it was, Larsh kept unloading pressure on him on the off chance it suddenly worked for whatever reason. Larsh was under strict guidelines not to directly harm competitors so pressure was his only real course of attempting to fight this kid. As he had copious amounts of pressure within him, doing it was easy and made no difference to Larsh but, actually, it was secretly beneficial to Ares! In fact, this was what he''d been after when mocking him from the start. Who was going to mess around with Ares when there was a giant phoenix following him around and hassling him? Plus Ares was having a conversation with the damn thing... Where they on good terms? Allies? Enemies? Would the phoenix kill them on the spot if they intervened? Would it kick them out the pagoda? Dump a metric ton of pressure on them? The answers to all these questions were hazy as they couldn''t understand the phoenix and, thus, Ares had essentially hired an escort to guide him to the top of the staircase in peace. In some ways, Ares wasn''t taking the trial at all thanks to his bloodline... In others, he was doing it way harder than everyone else thanks to Larsh constantly breathing down his neck... Whether or not this trial counted was debatable but, thankfully, getting to the top step ended that particular debate before it could even begin. As Ares pushed past the doorway at the end of the staircase, he turned to Larsh and smiled. "Goodbye for now, chickenshit. I''ll be bringing Dominus back to you soon enough so you can be reminded of where you stand in the pecking order."
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Larsh''s cries were cut short in Ares'' ears thanks to him disappearing from the floor, never to return. Now that he''d passed it there was zero reason to revisit it unless, like Dominus, he wanted to pointlessly mess with the clone. Fortunately for Larsh, Ares had no such interest. He could see why Dominus would have done it back when he was still alive and kicking though, though. Bullying the overconfident was fun, especially if they were a long-standing foe of some manner. It''s not like Ares could pretend he wouldn''t do the same, he already pulled Mako''s leg whenever he found an opportunity to do so... Actually, that gave Ares an idea! If the last floor was so incredibly difficult, recommending Mako give it a shot would be hilarious for Ares. Just knowing he was sending Mako towards an ''impossible'' challenge, one which he would surely return from grinding his teeth and bitching at Ares, gave him a massive kick and so Mako''s fate had been decided. All Ares had to do was casually mention he was stuck on a challenge and Mako would throw himself at it post-haste! That could come after though, now it was time for floor two!