"Uh, Enyo, you know I have to clear the pagoda as soon as possible in case Candy''s life is in danger, right? Like, I have to do this now right? I''m not going crazy am I?"


    Enyo sighed deeply. "No, but there is a thing called tact. Had you explained that to Bellona properly instead of making a pseudo ''inside joke'' about it then you wouldn''t have to suffer through whatever it is she has planned for you. I do not pity you nor do I fell sympathy."


    Bellona returned and Ares winced immediately. He didn''t know what her end goal was but she''d done something extremely concerning! She''d brought Appa! Ares always lost to Appa! Bellona pointed at Ares in an exaggerated fashion as she knelt down next to Appa. "Appa! Do it we like we planned! Use Crocodile Tears!"


    Appa floated forward until it was in front of Ares and looked up at him as mental essence slid out of its eye sockets. Sniff "Dad? It''s been so long since we''ve spent time together... Do you not love me anymore?" Sniff "I wanted to cuddle with you tonight but now you aren''t going to be here?" Sniff "It... It''s ok dad... I''ll sleep by myself... It''s ok if you don''t love me anymore... WAAHHHHHHHH!" Appa''s new art under the cuteness aspect, which allowed it to bring forth a flood of fake tears at will and inspire guilt in its target in preparation for a Shame On You, brought Ares to his knees in under a second.


    Ares bowed his head until it hit the floor before looking up at his daughter and begging. "Appa! Sweetie! Please don''t cry, I''ll do anything! You want a pony? A unicorn?! TEN?! I''ll stay tonight! You can have all the cuddles in the world just please don''t cry anymore!"


    Sniff "Really?" Sniff


    "Of course! I will sleep by your side until the sun comes up and no sooner will I stop!"


    "Yay! Hehehe, we win Bellona! Now we can all sleep together tonight!"


    "Eh? ''All''?"


    "Yep! Me, you, and mummy Bellona!"


    ".... I see what the point of this was now... And I see how she roped you into it..."


    "Mhm! Bellona is clever! She also asked me to do this... Sorry dad, but you''ve been bad again!"


    "Hm?... WAIT! NO! DON''T FREEZE ME AGA..."


    Crackle


    Ares had been expecting this from the start but when Appa started crying he figured things wouldn''t end up this way... He''d been frozen when he least expected it! The distraction had been a massive success... Actually every part of Bellona''s plan had been a success. How long had she been plotting this for?!... Then again, if she felt she needed to rope Appa into this just to get Ares'' attention maybe things were really bad after all... Maybe Ares would be fine to take one night off? Candy''s clone had been in the pagoda for years and, although things were definitely getting worse by the minute with her real self, surely one extra night wouldn''t make much of a difference? Ares would just have to hope that was true... Still, he would be firm with Bellona and explain the situation to her so she could understand why he was so determined to revisit the pagoda instead of spending time with her. He would make it up to her after and she was going to have to accept the delayed reparations whether she liked it or not. As for right now... Well he wanted to get out of the damn ice encasing! The drama between Aejaz and Zhang was still unfolding and he wanted to watch! Not that he technically couldn''t from behind the wall of ice but he couldn''t really hear properly so that was a bummer. Ares simply assumed he would have to thaw out the old fashioned way and be patient but, to his surprise, a minute or so later Bellona melted the ice with her magic. Apparently Enyo had explained the Candy situation to her, in full this time, while Ares was in the ice and she felt bad for jumping to conclusions. She still wasn''t happy but she was far more tolerant of the status quo and she forgave Ares for his actions... Not his words though! This idiot needed to learn to speak clearly and not make jokes of everything when serious conversations were being had!


    Now that Ares was out, he could hear everything between Aejaz and Zhang and, oh boy, what a time to regain the ability to hear. It looked like Zhang had just dealt the lethal blow and made clear to his brother what was really going on with Trixie! Ares couldn''t help but laugh at Aejaz as he dumbly looked between Allie, Trixie, and Zhang. When looking at Allie he had a nervous ''I didn''t do nuffin!'' kinda look. When his head shifted to Trixie his face practically screamed ''really?! REALLY?!''. Last but not least was Zhang and Aejaz reserved his ''I swear I had nothing to do with this'' look for him. Aejaz really put a lot of effort into that last one because a part of him must have realised Zhang was the biggest obstacle to leaving this back garden with his gonads still intact. Ares couldn''t help but buckle over with laughter when Aejaz finally turned to him and mouthed the word ''HELP'' with a tear in his eye. Ares slowly mouthed the word ''NO'' and went back to cackling on the side-lines. Aejaz had no way out! He was trapped between a triangle of mixed emotions from the two ladies and Ares was dying to see how his brother would get out of this mess! Things were getting good!


    Knock Knock


    "Ah son of a bitch..." And thus Ares'' fun was ruined! He was about to whip out some popcorn for his fellow spectators and himself but now he was being dragged away from the live performance to go and open the door for his guests... How unfortunate... But maybe if he was quick he could make it back in time to see the ending? All he had to do was let the person in and usher them to the living room... Ares went back into the house and opened the front door to find...


    Slam


    Ares shut the door and started walking away! If it wasn''t his siblings, he wasn''t letting them in! Especially not that person, no sir!


    Knocknocknocknocknock


    ... He''s just going to keep doing that until I let him in, isn''t he?


    KnocknocknocknocknockKnocknocknocknocknockKnocknocknocknocknockKnocknocknocknocknock


    "ALRIGHT. AL-FUCKING-RIGHT!" Ares wanted to pull his hair out and scream because, lately, he couldn''t seem to get rid of this person. He went to compete in the tournament? This person was watching him. He hosted a banquet? This person showed up uninvited, TWICE! Hell if Ares wanted to go toilet this person would probably already be in there waiting for him just to annoy him with the usual petty bullshit! Ares banged his head against the door before opening it back up and looking Mako square in the face... He needed to see him again at some point to send him to Golgo but it didn''t have to be today!... Actually, maybe this was a good opportunity? If Ares played his cards right, maybe he could convince Mako to go there now!? It meant the conversation was going to drag on for a while, and Ares would likely miss the back garden bonanza at this rate, but if it got rid of this guy who was inevitably going to chase him around his house for the rest of the day and pester him then maybe it was worth it. Ares was hosting a banquet, not an elven day-care here! "You! I am not in a good mood right now so either get your ass in here or keep it out there forever!"


    "Whoa whoa whoa! What''s with the hostility?! I just came to keep an eye on the competition, what''s gotten into you?!"


    Nothing really but Ares kept up the act. The more Ares seemed to be bothered for by what he was about to say, the more Mako would want to accomplish what Ares couldn''t and rub it in his face down the line. Ares wasn''t even remotely mad... Well he did kind of want to slap Mako in the face for being serious when he said he was here to check out the competition... This guy needed to go and live life instead of being so bogged down by Ares, this was ridiculous behaviour! "I got my ass beat that''s what! Who''d be in a good mood after a one-sided beatdown?! Do I look a masochist to you?! Why? Are you a sadist?... Actually that reminds me of Sado and Maso... I wonder how they''re doing? WAIT! NO! I DON''T CARE! I''M MAD RIGHT NOW! VERY MAD!"


    "You lost a fight?! How dare you, you blithering idiot! You are a fundamental champion and you lost? Think about the repercussions to our reputation! Who the hell did you lose to anyway... If they''re strong I want to go and assert my dominance... Unless they''re more than two cultivation realms higher than me. I have an ego, not a death wish."


    "You know that pagoda that''s leaking all the pressure?"


    "Uh, yeah, I saw it a while ago. No idea what it is though. I mean I can hazard a guess but I''ve never been up close and personal with the thing. Why? Did you get your ass beat in some kind of trial?"


    "Yes. Yes I did. A trial that is clearly impossible no matter who you are! Even a fundamental cham[ion such as you or I definitely won''t be able to do it! Probably just there to scam people out of money, honestly. Well the last floor anyway, the ones before it are fine... Actually. you need to go there at some point yourself. There''s a guy on the third floor called Golgo working with the organisation aiding the fundamental champions. He wants info about you to take back outside. Also I have a note for you to give him so it''s not really optional. As for how you''ll get to the third floor... Not my problem. learn the basics of pressure you shmuck."


    "Ok... Your attitude seriously took a turn halfway through that explanation..." Mako was holding up his hands in a bid to try and slow Ares'' rambling down "That organisation has a guy in the pagoda? If it''s a consciousness fragment how are they planning on getting it back? When the pagoda is completed? It must be doable then you idiot! Clearly it''s not a scam if it can and has to be done! I bet it''s easy for a fundamental too... Whatever, you know what? I''ll go and do it right now. How long did you spend there?"


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    "I pretty much just got back less than an hour ago and I left as the sun started to peek out of the horizon. Basically the whole day. Why?"


    "You took the whole day?! Fuck me you might actually be more useless than I expected you to be... And here I thought our competition might be a fair fight... Tsk, you disappoint me Ares. You should go and train instead of hosting banquets if even some shitty pagoda can do you in. I''ll go and be back before the banquets over! Give me that note or whatever and I''ll hand it over to... Golgo? The hell kinda name is Golgo anyway?"


    "... Just wait to you hear the name he gives you..."


    "What was that?"


    "Nothing! here you are!" Ares handed over a note that Mako promptly read despite not getting permission from Ares to do so. In all fairness if Ares had sealed it in an envelope or something and asked Mako not to he probably wouldn''t have. It was right there though so Mako assumed Ares didn''t care about privacy regarding the note. The note, summed up, was basically asking the organisation to act as a mouthpiece and make an official statement regarding a woman named Candy who was to be Ares'' wife. It was for the sake of her safety so he wanted to aid the foxian despite not being in a position to do so. All he needed was to attach his name to hers so Mako assumed the organisation would be more than happy to speak up about it. That was doubly true considering the fact that Ares emphasised his willingness to work for them like a dog in exchange. Clearly this woman meant a lot to him but now Mako was doubly confused. He looked at Ares with a piercing side eye before asking for clarification.


    "Another wife? I thought you already had two?"


    "Buddy, I got nine in my future, don''t sweat the small stuff."


    "NINE?! In what universe is two... Three, not enough? Again you''re wasting your damn time on irrelevant bullshit instead of training. You are a lazy playboy and your only redeeming quality is the fact you can cook a half decent soup. For crying out loud... I hope the other fundamentals aren''t like this! Or rather, I hope the destruction pillar retracts its support for you. Clearly you aren''t taking this seriously and I refuse to believe there aren''t any better options out there than you!"


    "... Have you ever been in a relationship?"


    "No?"


    "Ah, you and I really are completely different. I guess we just have different priorities. You can''t understand mine because you''ve never been in my shoes but let me make it clear to you I''m not messing around, not when it comes to family. You might not think what''s happening in my life involving Candy is a big deal but that''s because you have no idea what you''re talking about. As for being a lazy cultivator, if you want a good fight you''ll get one so maybe you shouldn''t be so judgemental until you''ve actually beaten me because, as things stand, let me tell you a little secret. You can''t beat me! After visiting that pagoda today I have become stronger than even Enyo and I''m not even halfway done improving yet. So which one of us is messing around exactly? You keep chasing my tail and showing up unannounced at my house to spy on me but I''m the only one making any actual progress while you waste your time, aren''t I? I don''t have to train for you, you need to catch up to me. So go to the pagoda and pay attention because you''ll need all the help you can get. Oh and, you wanna know why I''m so much stronger than you? Because there are things I want to protect. Go find love before you judge me for doing precisely that! Maybe then you''d understand just how hollow what you''re chasing is. You want to be the world''s strongest, right? You want something you don''t currently have, I want to keep the things I do have. Which one of do you think would die for his cause? You have the drive, I''ll give you that, but you don''t have the resolve or the purpose. So don''t worry about me and what path I''m taking, noodle arms, go and sort yourself out!"


    "Noodle arms!? You rat bastard! Alright, watch me! I''ll be back before you know it and when I''ve completed that pagoda in your stead you can remind me just how you''ll go about protecting your family with your meagre strength!" Mako huffed and puffed as he started storming off to go and pay the pagoda a visit. Terros shook his head... Well he was a ball so it was more akin to rotating side to side but the intent behind his gesture was clear as day to Ares who was chuckling to himself in amusement.


    Terros turned to Ares and groaned, "Why must you always rile him up like this? I was rather quite looking forward to having more of your food today... What a shame..."


    "Ah, I''ll make it up to you. I''m experimenting with some food for Enyo and I''ll let you be my guinea pig... Not in a bad way! Like, as in you''re actually the only person I can ask for help with this... Ah but it''s a prototype right now so I''ll send you some via Transmit down the line."


    "And it''s not poison?"


    "Not as far as I''m aware? No but in all seriousness I really have to rely on you for this. I''ve got no one else so I''d really appreciate it. Also you get to try probably the best dish I''ll ever make so.... Win win?"


    "No strings attached? No revenant bullshit around the corner?"


    "Nope. Nada!"


    "Alright, count me tentatively in. If you mess with me even once I''m out though!"


    "Ah come on, I''m being straight with you here. I really can''t afford to screw you. I can''t even taste my own dish so it really has to be you..."


    "... Should I even ask?"


    "Nah... I can send you an explanation alongside the first attempt if you''re really curious but for now you should probably catch up with Mako before he realises he''s forgotten his lucky pebble. I didn''t put on my greatest acting chops to get rid of him only for him to come right back not even five minutes later..."


    "Still an asshole I see. Before I go I do have one more question."


    "Shoot."


    "Are you really incapable of beating the pagoda? Mako will get to the final floor quickly, he has his own advantages in life and he''s found his fair share of treasures... But there''s no way he''ll beat it. I know what lies on the top floor and, well, he really is a bit of a noodle arms... Veteran will beat his ass mercilessly. Even if Mako achieved 100% pressure enhancement I still don''t think he could beat him. And yet this Golgo fellow seems to be expecting a return ticket back to whence he came which must mean you''re the intended victor, are you not?"


    "I am and I will be, yes."


    "How? I''ve seen that floor and there are plenty of geniuses who couldn''t make even a dent in it. What is it you have up your sleeve exactly? I won''t tell Mako if you don''t want me to, of course."


    "I don''t really mind, my only goal was to get rid of him for a while. Long story short there are four things. I have Dominus'' pressure bloodline. My pressure reserve is in my heart so the amount and quality is extraordinary. I have a unique bloodline myself that lets me merge annihilation mana with my pressure. And finally, and this is the big one, I have 100% pressure enhancement ready and raring to go after I''ve trained a bit."


    "100%?! By God... That''s astounding! And I can only imagine how absurd your pressure must be after mixing it with fundamental mana... I understand now... It seems Veteran''s reign of terror over the pagoda is going to come to an end. I wonder if that fellow has found what he''s searching for after all this time?"


    "Not yet but when I tell him I can help him he will have..."


    "Figures. If anything could destroy his brother''s magic it would be yours... I have a suggestion."


    "I''m all ears... Unlike you who has none to speak of anyway."


    "You cant'' resist not being a prick for two minutes, can you?... Whatever, my advice to you is to request Veteran also weigh in on the ''Candy'' situation. He''ll be more than happy to lend you his name if you promise to aid him. Or rather that will just be the start of it. Lending his name is trivial so you might as well throw in that stipulation when bargaining with him. The more safety nets you can put up, the more likely you are to catch the anti-magic rat God in one of them. I''d heard he''d taken interest in a somewhat famous foxian so I''m assuming this matter is one and the same? Anyway, if you need to dissuade a God, Veteran is a good method of doing it. I can also send word back to my main body and have it keep tabs on him to prevent any untoward or underhanded sleight of hand on his part... Provided you actually send me that food you''re promising me and you don''t play some childish prank on me, at least."


    "I''m incredibly grateful but why go to the hassle? Quarrelling, even indirectly, with another God must be troublesome?"


    "Two main reason. One, you are a fundamental champion. I would rather you focus on Xhilihx than getting revenge on the anti-magic God because of something stupid he did that angered you. If I can prevent that the world will be that much safer because of it. Also, reason two, the man is a piece of shit. I am not the only God who has attempted to pick fights with him on the off-chance he falls for the bait and we get to kill him. He''s always plotting to overthrow this or that and we''re all fed up with him. The sooner he dies the better everyone''s lives will be. He has no allies amongst the Gods but we have no reason to justify murdering him and there would be pushback if we outright did. A matter like this is a good opportunity for us and if he slips up on it we can pounce his stupid self."


    "I see... This anti-magic God seems real good at making enemies... Anyway, I also have another guy called Caribou Coronos who might be willing to stick his neck out. You know the guy?"


    "Caribou? He''s a bit of a living legend that one. More powerful than a fair few Gods but rarely willing to make appearances. I believe the followers of Astraeus are on the verge of war with, unsurprisingly, the null legion, so he might show up to that and make a few heads roll. All in all I''d say things are looking pretty good for this Candy individual. Some of the biggest names out there vouching for her will do her good. More importantly, if you can have all these big shots come out and say they''ve formed something of an alliance with you that will also bolster your own reputation. God knows it will come in handy considering how much the destruction cultists have done to besmirch it... Real annoying bastards they are. Then again, like cultist, like God..."


    "Yeah I''ll have to do something about them too. Disavowing them publicly is a good start until I can start weeding them out. Anywho, thanks for your assistance oh mighty rock."


    "I can''t tell if you''re pulling my leg or not but at least you aren''t calling me a pebble anymore so I''ll take it. Goodbye for now and we''ll be seeing you later. Please keep some food on the side for us, thank you."


    "Will Mako really get to the top floor that fast? If he can I might actually be a little impressed..."


    "Again, every cultivator has had their own adventures and gained their own advantages because of it. Have you ever heard of the herb that makes it easier to learn pressure enhancement?"


    "Vaguely from Dominus."


    "Well Mako has two of them at his disposal. I told him to keep them for now until he had a chance to learn how to use pressure so he ought to speed through the early stages of the pagoda once he finds his footing. He obviously won''t end up with 100% enhancement like you but he ought to be able to crack 80% and beat Veteran''s record number too at least. A real shame it''s wasted on him though... If he were better in physical fights he might actually stand a chance... Alas... Still, he might try and stay there forever so I''ll be sure to tell him about our discussion when I think he''s been there long enough. I don''t want to be there all night when I could be here eating food. Sorry in advance if he comes back and annoys you, it''s pretty much your fault anyway."


    "Yeah, understandable. I''ll take what quiet and peace I can get for now at least. Again, thanks for everything. Good luck with that insufferable elf."


    "Goodbye, insufferable revenant."


    As Terros floated away Ares couldn''t help but admit the stupid pebble got him good with his final remark! Terros had won this time but Ares would be back!


    Eagerton and Edgerton, who''d also shown up for today''s banquet after hearing many a good thing from their mother, decided not to question why Ares was menacingly waving his fist at a floating rock... Some questions were just better left unanswered...