"Hallelujah! Free at last!" Ares threw celebratory fists into the air with an innocent, pleased smile on his face as the tribulation finally backed off. It wound up hurting a fair bit towards the end not necessarily because of how dangerous it was but because it was an endurance test. If Ares' concentration slipped for even a split second a zap would shock him down to his core. He needed to block every single attempt at his life every single second and, to be completely honest, that was way too boring for Ares to ever feasibly succeed at. He made mistakes here and there and got his head zapped multiple times as a result. He was still alive though and, if anything, feeling better than ever! Not only had his troubles receded, leaving him peacefully lying on fresh grass surrounded by cool air, but his cultivation improvement felt particularly noticeable this time around. Bloodline awakening really was going to be a massive deal for Ares and the closer he got the more excited his body became in response. It was thirsting for that extra power almost within reach.
As a revenant, it was Ares' natural instinct to want to have access to his wolven form and Ares never realised how shackled he felt while stuck in his human body until he was tasting his true self just around the corner. He gradually grew very accustomed to the fact that this humanoid form really wasn't who he truly was and the two Canis Stimulants he'd taken already really hit that home. Soon he could return to his natural state and frolic freely as the rightful God king of wolves everywhere. He'd never been in control of his own body before, thanks to Garmr's somewhat persistent-but-understandable desire to take control in what little time he had left, and that was something that had burdened Ares subconsciously for quite a while now. It might not have sounded like a big deal but if a normal human suddenly had their mind transferred to a robot for an extended period of time they'd inevitably want to go back to their pile of flesh eventually too. Rather, Ares had quite literally been born in his human form, and never experience his real revenant form properly for nearly twenty years at this point, so he wanted control back over his body!
Ares was definitely a wolf at heart and even his fangs had grown considerably to reflect that. They weren't large enough to definitively point Ares out as a revenant, he'd probably never have any visual mutations or identifiers due to the rank of his revenant form being unprecedented, but they were above average in terms of size and general pointiness. A normal person would think nothing of it, maybe give a passing remark at best, but someone who detested revenants, for whatever reason, would do a double take at least and want to get a closer look. Actually, if anything, Bellona's fangs would probably grow more pronounced than his once Ares lay with her and their bloodlines mixed. Ares' pure bloodline would inevitably do her favours and what happened from there was anybody's guess but there was a high chance some revenant traits appeared and / or became more pronounced.
Regardless, Ares was feeling refreshed and ready for the next trial which was about to start. There was another minute or so before Finnian gathered everyone and chucked them back into the fenced area but, before that, something interesting was happening. Something Ares could never possibly get involved in due to his actions prior. Arriving at the tenth stage of sensory enhancement was wonderful and all but it wasn't going to suddenly mend his reputation as the 'tribulation guy' and therein lay the problem he now faced. The other cultivators, coincidentally during his tribulation which was highly ironic, had been forming groups... And Ares was learning in real time what it meant to be ostracised from such a group in real time! His earlier, tactless stunt was a bit of a social-cultivator faux pas and so now he was having to deal with he consequences of his blunder. Even if any of teams forming before his very eyes didn't actively hate his guts, and want to make him the target of their combined efforts, taking Ares onboard was a huge issue that would cost the person foolish enough to do so to have the rest of their group destroyed. Ares' presence was a curse and he would only serve to invite death and destruction wherever he went given he was the direct target of at least eighty percent of everyone still remaining. He was a bomb nobody wanted to hold.
There was technically a way out of this situation, and the solution was already ninety or so percent complete... But again this was not a path Ares could take just because he wanted to. Finnian mentioned the next round was best handled with the five most powerful people amongst the contenders and anyone with functioning eyes could guess who the current top five were. Ares, Alice, Gram, Marlar, and the mystery mage woman. Logically speaking, if they formed a group, like everyone else was doing, they'd be completely unstoppable and guarantee a ticket to the third event... And they certainly had done it because it was simply too convenient not too... But they weren't going to let Ares in either! He was sowing what he'd reaped!
Alice either didn't care about Ares or found the problem he was dealing with now funny enough to not be interested in saving him.
Gram seemed upset about something directly related to him but Ares, for the life of him, couldn't pinpoint what exactly and gave up even trying to understand this asshat. Knowing a pompous man like Gram it was almost definitely something completely insignificant so Arse shook his head and moved on.
Next was Marlar and his refusal to have Ares along for the ride was because he didn't want the attention from the other groups. It's not that he couldn't deal with them if he needed to, it's that he simply didn't want to personally interfere in other people's affairs. Ares' arrival into the group would mean getting dragged into the mess of his own making and Marlar refused because he had no interest in hurting people who hadn't wronged him or those he cared about. Some of the remaining cultivators here were still his own spacian companions, after all. Plus anyone with decent enough connections would already know about the spacian confrontation that took place between Ares and that bull when he arrived here. Marlar might have been somewhat upset about that incident and now treated Ares as a reckless spacian murderer. It's not that Ares wasn't right to do it but not even attempting to try and save it, and mercilessly slaughtering it in seconds flat on the spot without a hint of remorse, told Marlar a lot about him and that they probably wouldn't agree on this matter. Of course Ares had never met a single spacian prior to then in his entire life and was told it was a mindless monster, so it wasn't exactly his fault, but Ares likely wouldn't have done things differently anyway even with hindsight. The spacian was causing problems and attacking innocent people so he killed it, that was all.
And last but not least, the mystery woman... Well she just didn't say anything... Being in the same situation as Ares, she was likely thankful she had an opportunity to showcase her raw talent which would disincentivise people from attacking her carelessly. On op of that, she was already a member of the strongest group possible so she basically had a guaranteed pass to round three and felt no need to jeopardize that for a weird stranger. There was no reason to risk her own hide for the sake of Ares whose overall ability was still unknown. That last part was an important factor because it gave those who weren't keen on Ares' hope in taking him down and those who might have been swayed to aid him pause. Even if Ares was incredibly strong or whatever the next round didn't require a full team of strong individuals and, contrary to what Finnian said, it was for the best if a member or two were actually weaker. It was complicated but the next round was something infamous that Finnian himself devised and became a sort of pseudo 'official' sport. The way it worked made it both a team and versus game so having stronger and weaker teammates respectively were both helpful, actually. So, if anything, the other members of the top five would be more inclined to help Ares if he was weak, funnily enough, as he would be more useful to them in the next round as he'd be easy 'points'. Well that was a problem for later, Ares still didn't even know what the final test entailed and it didn't solve his current predicament.
"Alright, time for resting is up! All groups... And one man armies... Gather over here please!" 'One man army' was very clearly referring to Ares, the only muppet who was going solo in the upcoming trial. Granted it wasn't on purpose, he wouldn't have been in this position if he had any say over the matter, but it was still a slap in the face for Finnian to try and frame it in a positive way! This was his cheery optimism in play and Arse couldn't help but chuckle. "Something else to mention real quick, there's no time limit but if things take too long I'll be personally spicing up the trial. If you don't want magic bombardments raining down on you try not to be too passive. I want this tryout to be finished by the end of today so let's all get a move on ok?"
Finnian waved his hand and the remaining cultivators were all transported back into the fenced area. Everyone waited around for some kind of starting signal before slowly coming to the realisation there wouldn't be one. They were already in the arena, after all, so why did there have to be a bell to get everyone moving? Their enemies were right in front of them! All around them, even! Just start blasting!... And yet nobody did... It seemed there was an unspoken and unwritten agreement because every single cultivator began scanning the area, only pausing their swivelling heads once they caught sight of Ares trying to hide in a tree... He wasn't doing a particularly good job at it but he also didn't care if he was found or not so its not like he was putting much effort in. He could have used Visitation to hide properly, and force everyone else to start making moves lest Finnian get involved, but he wasn't the kind of person to run away from a fight he was capable of winning. He was mostly just climbing this tree as a joke that only he found funny. Correction, Alice also found it amusing but she was readying a dagger to throw at him so Ares saw no kinship in her! Traitor!
Seriously... Ares hopped off the tree branch and took in the view of every other person here staring at him like carnivores gazing longingly at a piece of raw meat. These people were seriously desperate but it was also understandable. There was no greater way to make it into the top five than by taking out a member of the top five and he was in the most easily assailable position of them all. This was a once in a lifetime chance to gang up on someone stronger than they were and then reap the opportunity that rightfully belonged to him in any other situation. Finnian had arguably really done Ares dirty here by not making any rules to prevent teaming up like this. Why would any of the riff raff fight and kill each other when they could band together to take down a behemoth first? Apes together strong. In the eyes of pretty much everyone here, Ares was still assumed to be the weakest of the top five because he'd not shown anything thus far, other than his general aura, that implied otherwise. It was a safe bet to make but little did they know the only reason Ares weaponised his tribulation was because he really wanted to cultivate up a stage and couldn't be bothered to wait for the end of the tryouts. It wasn't an act of desperation, he didn't have to do it to win and it wasn't a secret card he played or anything, he was bored and looking for some stimulation. That was it. He found it funny, that was quite literally his only driving motive to inflict rage and death upon his fellow cultivators in such a manner during the first trial. Perhaps if the people glaring at him now knew that they wouldn't chose to willingly pick a fight with a guy that crazy. You had to have a few screws loose to think like that and, more importantly, you had to see everyone around you as weak toys that existed solely for your own twisted amusement. Toys not worth taking seriously. It was a lofty attitude but one that only those who were well and truly above and beyond, prodigious to the extreme, could ever dare hold so assuredly.
Ares sighed to himself and took a few steps forward which was already strange enough as is. He was staring down nearly eighty cultivators at once and yet he didn't back up or try to flee. Instead, he carved out a line in the stony, still dented floor. His tribulation earlier really did a number on the courtyard, rocking its world, and it wasn't exactly fixed yet so the line he created by dragging his foot across the ground was bumpy and dishevelled. The line looked like it woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, which earned a giggle out of Alice who thought Ares' clumsiness was hilarious, but its purpose was pretty self-explanatory in spite of how it looked aesthetically. "Cross this line and I'll kill you where you stand. You have a better chance making it to the next round if you pick a fight with anybody else here."
There was arrogance and then there was this. For starters, Ares was challenging the entire rest of the contenders all at once and daring them to attack him in whatever way they wanted to. That was bold enough as is but the real kicker was the 'you'll be safer attacking anyone else' bit. It not only implied that the other top five were weaker than him but that he was stronger than all of them combined. After all, if any of them were attacked then all four of them would retaliate together to assert dominance and cement their immovable positions, dissuading further action against their group. There was no way Ares wasn't aware of this and so his words, if taken at true value, meant it was better to pick a fight with those four simultaneously than it was him individually! Such an attitude had long since transcended base level arrogance and become something else entirely. Arrogance had grown wings and sprouted a second head, becoming a superiority complex that would be the death of Ares sooner rather than later if he was unable to back up even fraction of his wild statements... Or so the cultivators staring him down thought. There was a brief window in which they wondered if his claim was true but they decided to hope it really wasn't and attack him regardless. There was the devil they knew, the top four who'd openly displayed their talents or were already known legends, or the devil they didn't, Ares. In the end, they advanced towards Ares while channeling their mana and preparing to cast a maelstrom of arts. Perhaps if they knew his name, and his status as a fundamental champion, things would be different. Ares could have leveraged it but he figured he would teach these people a lesson they wouldn't forget about picking fights haphazardly.
Front lining the charge against Ares was a man of medium build wielding a curved sword. There was nothing particularly outstanding about him but Ares estimated him to be a member of the top ten cultivators here. He wasn't on par with people like Marlar or 'Alice' but he definitely wasn't so far behind them that he'd be effortlessly swept away in a fair confrontation. He'd lose eventually but not immediately and that was impressive in is own way. There were some talented people here that Ares hadn't paid much attention to and not everyone left at this stage was a pushover that could be bullied freely. This wasn't the inside of the barrier, where the average hundred talented cultivators were mostly all chumps, no the people here were all veterans in their own right as there was a way higher talent pool to pick from. Plus this was an event that attracted those with skill to begin with. Many people couldn't make it but those that did weren't ever going to be slouches. This swordsman was maybe about as powerful as Dirk, with his heart, was and that was no joke because Dirk was hardly a weak cultivator or anything.
Still, Ares showed no signs of backing down or even really moving from where he proudly stood. He simply watched the swordsman draw closer with a smirk on his face that sent a chill down the spine of anyone who saw it. It was incomprehensible why he was so confident, Ares didn't appear to be doing anything, but there was no use in pondering over such matters now. The swordsman took a single step over the boundary Ares had just created in the floor and, for reasons unbeknownst to everyone else, froze on the spot. Beads of sweat trickled down his trembling lips and his eyes widened as he hurriedly took a step back and begun walking away. He limply carried his sword, dragging it behind him, and simply departed from the area by Ares to go look for other opportunities elsewhere. He'd rather fight the other top five than go back into that demon's domain. What he saw in there was enough to make the hairs across his body stand on end as the danger was palpable and suffocating. He'd never felt such certain death before and no matter what action he took he knew there was only one fate awaiting him if he dared step fully inside that boundary. All it took one was one single step and he saw an entirely different world and side of that carefree kid, one he hid so exceptionally well that, even now, those scattered around him couldn't see it. Ares was controlling his talents so brilliantly that they only became apparent once someone entered his designated radius and the skill needed to do such a thing was almost as horrifying as what the swordsman had witnessed.
Everyone else witnessed the swordsman turn around in a panic and leave and couldn't help but wonder what he'd seen that was so damning he couldn't bring himself to continue moving forward. Some others stepped into the boundary too and immediately showed the exact same reaction, all promptly leaving because the thing on the other side was not worth provoking no matter how unassuming he looked otherwise. Some who dared enter collapsed and fainted dead on the spot. Their bodies were teleported out of the fenced area and they were disqualified off the back of an intangible aura alone. It was an inviting mystery that teased those who'd yet to wander inside the boundary. How bad was it really in there? What was everybody else glimpsing that shook them so? What evils did this kid possess and hide under that friendly smile he was throwing out even now? For some cultivators, the answer didn't really matter. These lot weren't like the bulky and the brawny, they had magic up their sleeves that could do the job for them. If everyone who crossed that line in the floor was sent packing with fear embedded deep into their hearts then why even cross that line in the first place? If it was detrimental to do so then firing an art from outside the boundary ought to suffice as a working measure against Ares.
There were still plenty of cultivators left and if they all pooled their magical efforts together then blowing up this one kid with a mana bombardment from afar was hardly a difficult task. One quiet mage-type cultivator lead the charge with a simple Fireball. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this magic; it was decently big, fast, and contained a well of power that made it hard to outright ignore. If it struck a tree, the tree would be blasted into half at the point of collision and burn to cinders. That was about the level of strength this Fireball possessed and so it was decently functional against cultivators. Of course cultivators were stronger than trees but if anybody here was hit by this magic they'd need a trip to the burn ward even if they didn't die, injures were inevitable. It was a low-mana cost check to see how many measures this kid held up his sleeve... And yet nothing would come of this pitiful magic. Ares didn't raise a hand, chant anything, or exude any sort of miscellaneous ability like pressure or aura. At least not outwardly, anyway. Maybe he was using such tricks but constraining it to the area he'd marked out earlier. Either way, he visibly did nothing and yet the Fireball that entered his domain, much like the cultivators earlier, simply turned around and left. Yes, the Fireball performed a flawless U-turn and booked it for the hills. Non-sentient magic entered Ares' field, realised how screwed it was simply being there, developed sentience, and then ran away...
Magic grew sentience... So it could disobey its creator and flee...
This was a shocking sight but one that would be seen again multiple times over as others also tried to fire off various arts towards Ares. Basic beginner arts, intermediate staples, and advanced prestigious arts all met the exact same fate, one that was arguably terrible for them. At least, back when the arts weren't sentient, they were incapable of feeling that pesky emotion called fear. Sure they were able to run away after gaining sentience but that memory of what awoke them was so horrifying some of the arts outright dispersed themselves, spreading their mana to the wind so they could die and disappear from the same reality as that motionless monster and his despicable grin.
Off to the side, Alice couldn't help but satiate her curiosity prickling away at her. It was gnawing at the seams of her sanity and she categorically had to know what everyone else was experiencing within that zone under Ares' control. She had a feeling the war aura was involved, it was part of why she was interested in this potential new recruit, but that alone wouldn't be able to do all of this. War aura was immense but it was not Omnipotent. It was likely Ares was mixing the war aura with other measures but what exactly? Not only did she want to find out but this was also a good opportunity to confirm the war aura definitively was in somebody else's hands and, without a shadow of a doubt, know that the old man was dead. Party of why 'Alice' had been so interested in following the war aura was because she quite liked the previous sect master. He was the one who hosted the sect tryouts she took part in and won all those years ago to become a sect member. He was like a kindly grandpa to members of the sect, even if he was slightly belligerent, rude, and cranky to the tryout challengers initially, so it would be a lie if Alice said she didn't miss him or feel sad at his sudden departure.
Still, Alice was regrettably already aware that some things were inevitable and the old man had long since warned everyone he'd be croaking soon. His impending demise was something everyone had long since come to terms with and most of the grieving had already been done after his disappearance. Of course this was all still quite tragic but they were professional cultivators and breaking down over such a thing was childish. Sure some cultivators had their quirks and personality flaws but excessively languishing over the past wasn't going to do anyone any favours and the old man wouldn't have wanted that anyway. If anything, if that happy farmer were here today, he'd be interested in the younger generation war aura owner and finding out what kind of person he was. Alice knew this. She wasn't an expert in mimicking other people for nothing and she knew precisely what sort of personality the old man had and what type of actions he'd take in any given scenario. Perhaps it was because of that she was interested in quenching not just her own thirst for information about Ares but the deceased spirit of that old farmer's too.
Maintaining her carefree smile, one born of confidence that she was untouchable in these lower domains due to her immense strength, Alice stepped towards the boundary. She wasn't a member of the Brotherhood for nothing, she was one of the top upcoming talents across the entire universe. You didn't get to join the Brotherhood sect with being an unmatched rising star, and old calculating demon, or an as of yet undiscovered diamond in the rough. It was impossible for a talentless person to enter the ranks of the sect even as a janitor and, even then, only the cream of the crop could ever be here. A brotherhood disciple was a top 1% cultivator at bare minimum across the entire dimension and even then that was just the starting point. This fake Alice had every reason to be cocky and self-assured like this and assume she was the strongest person here bar none; she could make quick work of the likes of Marlar and Gram if she so wished to...
But something was off with this Ares kid.
Ever since she'd met him he carried himself in a way that was reminiscent of the way she carried herself. A complete lack of care or sincerity for his current situation. Just as she belittled everyone else with her playful attitude Ares did the same but to an arguably higher degree. Back when this fight started he was casually climbing a tree he knew he would never be able to truly hide in, for example. He had not only the ire of every other cultivator here but also potentially even the rest of the top five, Alice included, and he simply didnotcare. To be honest, deep down, this bothered Alice on a personal level. Her confidence was matched and even dwarfed but she wasn't convinced he was stronger than her! This was her playground and so she Boldy smirked to herself and strolled right up to the line that had firmly blocked every other participant from progressing much further beyond it. She glanced at Ares, the man responsible for her interest, but he wasn't even looking in her direction... Which admittedly pissed her off even more! She didn't show it, she would never show such emotions because she could control herself perfectly, but she would be lying if she said she didn't feel those emotions at all from time to time depending on the person she was dealing with.
Ares' lack of concern regarding her presence was unacceptable so she stepped over the line, ready to teach this arrogant prick a lesson, but was forced to freeze just like those who came before her. She didn't immediately descend into a nervous wreck state but her breath was caught in her throat and every swallow of saliva became a conscious and laborious effort under the scrutiny of the higher being watching her. Ares hadn't spared her a single glance and yet the second she crossed the line it was as if he was staring at her from ten different directions, and even dimensions, all at once. His neck craned towards her instantly as she sunk into a pitch black void. His body merged with the darkness except for his face which became hollow and resembled a golden skull amidst the encroaching darkness. That smarmy grin was still etched into the bones grinning at her in derision as the war aura made her ears feel as though they were bleeding. A compulsion to let loose and kill nearly overtook her but it was soon tempered by the immeasurable pressure crushing her willpower. The desire to kill was replaced with an understanding that she was about to be killed and the script was flipped on its head entirely, as if she was given a glimpse of the feelings that belonged to Ares before being abandoned with her own comparative patheticness instead. The pressure combined with the war aura was frightening and insurmountable. There was something really horrifying about the pressure that made it inescapable and unbeatable. Alice considered herself respectably talented when it came to pressure wielding and yet every attempt to summon her own was practically scoffed at by the tilting golden skull and its many mocking divine senses scattered around the void, laughing at her feeble attempts to resist.
Death
Death
Death
Death
Every angle, every inch, every movement. Every single thing in this place resulted in the same outcome and Alice could not for the life of her figure out a solution other than a shameful retreat to reorganise herself. There was simply nowhere in here that was safe from that maniac and it didn't get any better the closer she considered moving towards him. She hadn't even taken the first step but knew that things would only deteriorate if she dared... But curiosity was a hell of a drug. She wanted to test the waters at least once more to see what lay beyond this... One more step couldn't possibly hurt, right? How crazy was this guy? What other secrets did he hold? He was worthy of the war aura, Alice couldn't' deny it, but was he worthy of joining the brotherhood? In her own way she was testing people here at the tryouts too, the form it took was just different to Finnian's by-the-book approach. Alice took a deep breath, controlled her rampant emotions, rolled her neck, and smiled through the discomfort as she placed her right foot forward.
Initially nothing came of this action but Ares hadn't yet responded so the implication was that he was giving her a last chance to turn around and walk away. 'Alice' was a stubborn girl, however, and defiantly brought her left foot forward too. This was a mistake. Ares summoned his scythe and the temperature around Alice's neck region dropped several degrees. Amidst the black void, slightly below the golden skull a white mark appeared that Alice, and everyone else in this courtyard, knew all too well. It was a mark that shouldn't have appeared here, or really anywhere, due to the consequences it entailed.
The reaper's mark denotes a fate sealed...
Typically this was a statement more focused towards the victim but, as of late, given Charon's personality, it was more so a warning not to stand out in the field of scythe wielding lest you get cut down unceremoniously by the embodiment of death itself. Those who bore the mark, and travelled down the path of the scythe, all had to contend with a grumpy Charon who would never leave them alone. He wanted to survive so Charon clung to his position as reaper and dispatched anyone who got in the way of undead immortality that was a perk of the job. Only a few survivors lived to tell the tale and still existed to this day and amongst them was actually the previous sect master. The old farmer repeatedly assured Charon he wasn't interested in stealing his position and would gladly pass away peacefully back at his farm without seeking a life-extending method. Charon must have kept a watchful eye on the old man over the years and eventually deemed his words to be true so didn't pick another fight with him.
Back to the problem at hand, however, this new kid... Well he was a bundle of crazy talent, that was for sure. War aura and ridiculous pressure aside, tribulation at sensory enhancement notwithstanding, the reaper's mark was not something some random guy could possess because the chose to train with the scythe here and there. That mark was reserved for real geniuses that were hard to come by... And yet here was Ares, displaying it in all its glory... But that in and of itself was a problem. Not just for Alice, who was once more struggling to breathe in the oppressive presence of this new addition that only made her life harder, but also for Ares himself. He wasn't inside the Blade barrier anymore... Charon... He needed to be stopped...
Alice and Finnian both understood this. If they did nothing then Chron would show up here and cause serious troubles with someone who was looking to be a new recruit with every passing moment and talent he displayed... In fact, Charon the cranky skeleton was already showing signs of appearing right this very instant as the space around the courtyard turned greenish and began warping around a specific point that would later function as his gateway into this domain... This was going to be an issue so Finnian got ahead of the curve and pulled out his dark red and gold Brotherhood robe. He tapped a small rune on the front and then put the robe back in his spatial ring as he contemplated how to deal with Charon until help arrived. He'd invoked the aid call of the Brotherhood but now it was a question of whether this undead could be fended off for long enough...
This potential new recruit was already causing trouble and they didn't even know his name yet!