Ares and Bellona kept mucking around for a while before getting tired, at which point they took a nap together out on the grass. Ares watched Bellona doze off in his arms and he followed shortly after but not before giving her a kiss on the forehead and whispering the words ''I love you'' into her ear. Whether the smile on her face widening was a result of his affection or not Ares didn''t know but it did have the same effect on his own smile either way. The two peacefully slept together for a few hours before Enyo came over and woke them up. They were underneath a blanket which meant Enyo had probably been keeping an eye on them. This also meant she hadn''t interfered and had just let the two of them share their moment which Ares was grateful for. For all of Enyo''s horny faults she understood the concept of time and place quite well. It wasn''t easy remembering that, underneath Enyo''s freaky fa?ade, there was a actually a well adjusted individual somewhere inside this woman. Ares got up and gave Bellona a hand in getting up too. God knows she needed it as this woman was barely functional after waking up for at least a good few minutes. Ares had once thought she just wasn''t a morning person, turns out she was like this every time she woke up regardless of what time of day it was. Lazy bones! After abandoning Bellona with Enyo, Ares went back to the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready as it was nearly time for everyone to eat. As he was doing so, a certain drunkard came to visit. Leo had opened the front door for Sadie who marched straight into the kitchen. Ares thought she was just here to absorb some food off some plates and get drunk as balls while doing it but, actually, her reason for being here was somewhat different this time! How rare!
"Ares! You have been gone for a week and that is unacceptable levels of truancy! I know you were technically training but I want to make sure you haven''t been slacking off so I came here today to test you... And I also want you to feed me again because it''s been a while... But that''s just a training fee so I won''t hear any complaints!" The food was very clearly why she was actually here but Ares ignored that and agreed to do some training after dinner with her. She''d been pretty consistent with rounding up the Red Sun team to train whenever they had spare time and her efforts in shaping everyone up was much appreciated. A lot of the combination arts that had been used during the nationals were a direct result of her pushing everyone to their limits and beyond. Though a lot of the improvements had been made on an individual level, Sadie''s training had facilitated a lot of it too. Especially for Li Li, Esme, and Aejaz who all became much more proficient with their weapons, or magic in Esme''s case, of choice. Li Li was stronger and faster while Aejaz was now capable of killing a person in a one on one fight. If the new Aejaz, the one hardened by Sadie''s training, were to go back in time to Crane''s residence, killing the guards that stonewalled him at the time would be more than doable. He could probably have taken on all the guards by himself if anything. His speed had been fantastic to start with and, now that his technique with the Black Ice Acrimony was up to snuff, he was doing extraordinarily well for himself. Of course working for Hans had also cemented his talents via real-life practice. Aejaz was flawlessly assassinating countless targets per week and his record was perfect. Zero failures was impressive and Hans couldn''t believe his eyes. Little ''Jazz was secretly a mass murderer! And a good one at that!
"Food first, fight after. Not that you''d have it any other way... But don''t get too drunk! I don''t want you making excuses when you lose."
"Heh, feeling confident are we? I''ll have you know I''ve been training too! Beating me is a pipe dream for you now, Ares, so you best hope I drink or else your loss will be even more embarrassing!"
Ares shook his head and didn''t elaborate any further. This woman had no idea what was going to hit her... A massive reality check is what. Sadie hadn''t the foggiest what Ares had been up to or where he''d been so she couldn''t even mentally prepare herself for the horror that was about to run her over like a speeding train. The whole ''Veteran beating you silly'' experience was no longer available to her but Ares would replicate it so she wouldn''t feel left out! First came food though. Ares had made some crispy chilli beef for everyone to enjoy so he went ''round rounding up the family and got them all seated. He noticed that Aejaz and Trixie seemed to be a lot closer than before and was able to put two and two together. Thankfully Allie didn''t seem upset about it and was her usual self. Maybe she was preoccupying her thoughts with alchemy instead and that was helping her cope with the homewrecker but, regardless, she seemed to be doing alright in her own way. She''d get used to things soon enough which must have been a massive relief for Aejaz. Naturally he was really happy about this whole situation. Two loving partners and, plus, Ares was back making food again? Life was good for him! He was also almost definitely the second strongest person in this household right now, maybe tied with Enyo, but still succeeding as a cultivator no matter which way you sliced it. He hadn''t been the centre of attention in a while but he was working hard in the background to become the kind of man he had always wanted to be. The Baja and snatcher town sagas must have really lit a fire under his ass and pressured him to get a move on.
The meal was good and everyone enjoyed chatting away with one another. In particular Ares made an effort to get to know Trixie a bit better because he hadn''t really had a chance to speak to her as of yet. What with the situation during the party when he was helping Aejaz, the international, and the pagoda, he hadn''t greeted her properly or taken the time to get to know her. A few short talks during the banquets were good and all but he was also trying to spend time with the Legion and Umbra Wolf families more than anything else. Trixie was an interesting and clever woman. She always seemed to be thinking multiple steps ahead about what course she needed to take to get her desired result. She was similar to Fate in that regard but, whereas she was worse at manipulating situations, she was better at handling actual people. She had a good eye for deducing personalities and expected behavioural patterns in others. It was part of why she''d been so successful in winning over Allie as she''d gone all out in profiling her and catering to her sympathetic side. It had taken a while to unearth but she knew where to find it and that was the key to her hard-earned victory. Apparently Enyo and Bellona were on good enough terms with Trixie as they''d been getting to know her too, while Ares had been inside the pagoda, and they''d even brought her along with them when they went clothes shopping. Her and Lacy had both been invited. Or rather Enyo and Bellona were feeling sorry for Lacy as she''d been kinda trapped in the house since she arrived so they offered her a chance to be free for a while and, at that point, adding Trixie was the right thing to do. Lacy had picked out something she liked and Trixie just stuck with her usual clothes, plain black from head to toe aside from a picture of a cute kitten on her top. Surprisingly, Trixie was actually a solid undercover agent if she needed to be, and part of it was that she was good with disguises, but she chose not to expand her wardrobe for that precise reason. Trixie had a lot of clothes, she just didn''t like wearing them and only put them on when she felt she had to. Lately she''d only been wearing them when working alongside Aejaz to help him get intel on trickier targets to approach. That or, again, with Aejaz just this time in the bedroom. There were a lot of work outfits and that was useful for cosplay which she didn''t mind in the slightest. It was one of the few times she actively enjoyed putting them on. Granted they typically came right back off but such was the way of life. Once Enyo learned of this wardrobe she became incredibly jealous and demanded to know where Trixie had gotten her hand on these outfits...
Ares also made an effort to drag Lacy into the conversation while he was talking with Trixie as she was a cute kid. She was quiet, and stuck to herself regularly, but she was a kindly soul and yet another person Ares could run around giving head pats to whenever he wanted. He and Bellona would do it frequently as their appreciation for cute things and/or people was truly boundless. In that sense, Ares missed having Fate around. Her pouty reactions to head pats were always enough to put a smile on Ares'' face. His family were doing their own thing now though. They''d been competing during the tournament and were still making good headway. It looked ever more likely that there was going to be a fight between the Legion and Umbra Wolves, which would be one hell of a sight, so they were currently training somewhere or other with Calla overseeing their practice. Ares had no clue who was more likely to win as, from a completely ignorant standpoint of their respective abilities, it seemed even. Naturally Enyo and Blo Blo would scramble that balance but they weren''t competing so it didn''t matter. The fight between them was shaping up to be the first true nail-biter of the tournament as, right now, the weak teams were still being dusted off by the powerhouses. Usually the competition was a bit closer at this stage of the tournament but this year a select few teams were just completely stacked. Aejaz'' family, the Red Sun team, the Legions, Mako''s team, and the Umbra Wolves'' team were like giants let loose atop ant farms, stomping the helpless opposition. Only when fighting amongst themselves would they start to be felled but it had yet to happen and so they were currently running rampant and uncontested.
Anyway, back on topic, Lacy. The one thing Lacy had bought on her outing with the Legion sisters and Trixie had been a rather genius suggestion from Bellona... A onesie! It was black and white with bear ears and, although Ares had yet to see it, he knew her cuteness levels would be off the charts! As an aside, Bellona and Enyo had also bought their own onesies but Ares had yet to see them either. He would likely start seeing them soon though now that they were both sleeping in the same room as him as Bellona supposedly wore hers frequently and Enyo would probably get off on matching with her because... Well... Enyo things? More than anything, Enyo''d probably wanna swap onesies with her sister and wear each other''s clothes. That was almost definitely her real goal, feeling her sister''s warmth from a freshly worn onesie... Well that was Bellona''s problem. Ares could safely ignore it for now; at least up until Enyo started wearing onesies during their romps, anyway, then he''d be dragged into it intentions be damned.
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As far as night-time allocation of bedrooms went, now that Bellona was making the switch and joining her fellow wife and husband, her sister and brother... Which was an awful way of wording it... That meant there was now a free bedroom for guests and so they could host more people on the regular. Also, as Trixie was in Aejaz'' room now it left Lacy by her lonesome but, luckily, Appa was an easy to please shade and was more than happy to have some company no matter who it was. To that end, Appa went searching for cuddles and wound up in Lacy''s room more than anyone else''s as everyone else was busy being intimate. It was unfortunate for Appa but this was just the way things were right now. Of course every now and then somebody would keep it in their pants for the night and cuddle with Appa but, for the most part, it was either Leo or Lacy Appa slept next to now a days. The best case scenario for Appa was when one of the matriarchs came around for a night as then it usually had their undivided attention and was spoiled rotten. Calla and Rhea especially were very generous with their time so Appa was always in a good mood whenever they were around... Although Appa was almost always in a good mood anyway. It only ever really got upset when people were hurt or attacked and that hadn''t happened much as of late. The last time it had gotten mad was during the party when Sho and his family were being ''meanies'' to Aejaz but Ares was already on the scene sorting things out so it watched from the side-lines.
Dinner eventually came to and end and Ares felt a bit more comfortable around Lacy and Trixie after getting to know them a little better. It had been fruitful spending time with these two as they were going to be living here from now on, and they were Aejaz'' family, so it just made everything more cohesive in terms of the family unit getting along swimmingly. Not to be arrogant or anything but Ares was the lynchpin of this household as he acted like the glue between all the different families. It was a role he took very seriously and so he wouldn''t be caught dead slacking with anyone. If he hadn''t made an effort to get to know someone, he would do so as soon as his schedule permitted it.
A few washed plates later and Ares was heading to the back garden for his appointment with Sadie. It seemed she''d wisely heeded Ares'' advice to not get drunk... Tipsy technically wasn''t drunk! Or that was her argument, anyway... She basically didn''t suffer any cognitive setbacks when tipsy so this was fine. Sadie had gotten intoxicated so many times it was starting to have less effect on her, like someone who trained their body on poisons to become immune. She could control it to some extent, and allow herself to get drunk or prevent it, which was a handy talent for situations like this. She would train, and then she would let the drunkenness take her after! For now though, she was being wary. Despite her snark Sadie knew better than to flaunt her power before Ares. She''d been thoroughly humiliated the first time they trained and she was aware Ares was no simple cultivator. Sadie talked a big game earlier but, deep down, she was definitely scared of what Ares had in store for her. If he wasn''t bluffing then she was really going to be put through the ringer here. Remaining confident in the face of a confident Ares, knowing now what kind of devil he was, was a tough challenge. Ares wasn''t an exaggerator so if he was assured of his victory then all of Sadie''s gusto would inevitably vanish. All she could do was hope Ares'' advancements in his cultivation journey weren''t so significant her own training couldn''t keep up. If she could at least put up a respectable fight then her pride would remain undamaged! It was bad enough that, when she lowered her cultivation, she had to still leave it a whole realm ahead of Ares just to contend with him... If it got any worse Sadie might cry on the couch tonight! She wasn''t above it!
Ares set up the Training Field and it was a small one at that. There wasn''t much room in the garden but going all the way to the sect''s proper training area would be time consuming for no good reason. Also they wouldn''t disturb anyone here. If Ares was going to whip out his Annihilation enhancement he was already going to kick up a fuss in the neighbourhood as is, let alone the people he would worry if he unleashed it right in the centre of the sect. All Ares could try and do was use the enhancement for as short a duration as possible so as not ro raise security concerns. Then again, he''d already thrown a Perish Wheel at the sun today so maybe the elder''s would be able to just ignore his actions and treat it as Ares being annoying as per usual? Well if Rud showed up, then Rud showed up. There was nothing else for it as Sadie had to be taught a lesson right about now. This damn freeloader had been nicking his plates while he wasn''t here! Ares thought he was going crazy when he was searching for them in the kitchen but Enyo ratted Sadie out and Ares was pissed! He kept in his burning rage until this moment and now it was time to put this Aejaz wannabee in her place!
Standing opposite one another had become a familiar position for these two as countless matches of theirs had started in such a fashion. Unfortunately for Sadie, however, this position was on that Ares had been conditioned by as of late and it was going to be a real problem for her. See Ares had been having this exact same stare down with Veteran for the past week and so Ares was subconsciously treating Sadie like some kind of legendary foe in his head. He wasn''t going to hold back because he was genuinely expecting a bit of pushback from Sadie. His miscalculation here was that A; Sadie had no pressure mastery to speak of and B; she wasn''t a legendary cultivator. Strong, sure, but not quite there yet. If Veteran had an advantage of ten cultivation stages he could have put up a fight but Sadie? Would she be able to hack it? Could she stand strong against Ares? The short answer was no and the long answer was noooooooooooooooo.
Sadie''s habit of letting Ares make the first move was only going to exacerbate her loss tenfold. Her approach of wait and see followed by a counter was great and all but when the gulf between you and your opponent was so wide you couldn''t even react to their attacks doing this was the height of stupidity. Now in Sadie''s defence, she had no idea how ridiculous Ares had gotten. No one did. Even Enyo and Bellona, who were watching on the side, had no clue what exactly it was Ares had become. Enyo never made it to the fifth floor and only experienced partial annihilation enhancement in the bathroom as Ares only used it one specific part of his body... Sadie never even entered the pagoda so she was blissfully unaware just what it was Ares had been through and accomplished. Bellona, on the other hand, was at least partially aware as she''d made it to floor five... She gave up after five tries... It was so far out of her league she didn''t even want to sit around and watch Ares because she wouldn''t be able to even follow the fight with her eyes and so it was pointless. Bellona was astonished Ares had actually beaten Veteran somehow and was curious to see what his time in the pagoda had changed about him precisely. All she knew was that Ares had become a monstrous cultivator and, although it wasn''t much, it was still more than Enyo or Sadie knew.
Ares could tell he was being given the first move and that felt off to him. Back in the pagoda Veteran just ran away immediately every time so he viewed Sadie''s decision as amateurish. Again it wasn''t her fault... But Ares couldn''t help but tut out loud. Sadie heard it and was about to complain but she was unable to open her mouth because she was already dead and in the process of being revived...
...
...
...
No one had seen it.
One second Ares was standing still, the next Sadie had a bloody hole where her face once was. Ares had clearly moved forward and punched her at some point but when? No one knew. It was like watching a slideshow. There was clearly a gap in what happened on slide one and slide two that their eyes were just incapable of catching. They definitely knew Ares had done something, though, as the golden wave that appeared for a split second and dulled their sense made that very apparent. Everyone in the neighbourhood felt as though they''d been thrust into a golden vault and spun around a thousand times. Being hit by the wave for a split second was nauseating. From a sensory perspective Ares had just run up to everyone and smacked them across the face with a gold bar like it was a baseball bat. The heaviness and sluggishness the golden annihilation enhancement brought about was still lingering even though Ares had already turned it off. Meanwhile Sadie had revived and fell on her rear as her head was spinning and she felt dizzy. The punch had been so intense she''d resurrected into a new body and could still feel the hole in her old face. Her hands were touching her face repeatedly as the phantom pain was an unusual sensation she couldn''t quite wrap her head around. Shock and awe was the name of the game and Sadie felt it multiple times worse than everyone else as she''d been directly on the receiving end. She didn''t understand what had been done to her but all she knew was that she didn''t want to fight Ares again. Veteran had been turned into a coward upon experiencing this and so it was no surprise anyone else who was weaker than him would feel the same way, if not worse. Having both your legs cut off and having to crawl away from a violent, cannibalistic bear was less of a frightening scenario than going up against Ares in that form. Sadie stumbled to her feet and had to hold onto the nearby fence so as not to fall over.
Ares gave her a minute to recuperate from the colossal beating she''d just received before calling out to her when she looked a little less pale. "That was probably a bit much for you to handle? I''ll use the weaker version and remove the treasure to make it slightly more fair." Ares had the bindings on, increasing the pressure available to him, and he went with annihilation pressure off the bat. Clearly he should have started with normal pressure enhancement, the silver variety, and taken off the bindings from the get go as this was overkill. Then again, this plate thief needed to be taught some damn manners! Earlier he gave her dessert, now she was getting just deserts! Next time this woman crept into his kitchen and looked at one of his plates with mal intent, he hoped the death she''d just suffered would repeat on her head in high definition! She needed to be dissuaded from ever going anywhere near his plates ever again and this was the solution he''d come up with! Still, now it was time to have an actual fight with her. This was supposed to still be training no matter how one-sided that last ''fight'' was.
And so Ares trained with Sadie... And the word ''trained'' was used lightly as Sadie didn''t land a single hit on Ares the entire time they went at it... One whole cultivation realm wasn''t enough to even land a hit against Ares at his absolute weakest level of enhancement so the training session was ended early with Sadie feeling incredibly dejected...
As Ares, Bellona, and Enyo went to sleep together that night, they could have sworn they heard drunken sobbing coming from the couch in the living room...