Chapter 173: Time for Loot!

For the first time ever, Ares got to see the floor regenerate around him. From the ground up the entire city dematerialised, temporarily leaving Ares inside a white void, before rematerializing with Ares back in the original starting point. Veteran was slumped against the wall as per usual but he was sighing out loud this time. It must have hit him just how wide the gap had gotten between him and Ares. Ares screaming during his annihilation enhancement may have been embarrassing but running away from Ares like a coward would be even more shameful should it ever become widely known. Ares wasn't that kind of person though so what happened on this floor stayed on this floor; that was simply for the best for both of them. Besides, as far as Ares was concerned, his pained yelping was far worse to have exposed... Everyone ran away from Veteran at some point so the tides turning on him was more ironic than anything else. People wouldn't judge him, really, they would just say that he got a taste of his own medicine. Ares' yells on the other hand... There was no excusing that... Granted if anyone ever went through what he did there would be some understanding but, given Ares' uniqueness, no one would ever have the chance to suffer as he did so that point was moot and couldn't save him. Long story short, everything that happened over the course of the last day was going to be buried deep in their minds and not spoken of ever again!

"You er... You ok?" Ares poked Veteran with his foot and another sigh was all that escaped his lips. Ares gave Veteran a moment and took a step back. Eventually the guy slapped his face and stood up with renewed vigour and a more spritely complexion and attitude. The guy must have just wanted to mope around for a bit as he came to terms with everything. Now that he'd gotten it out of his system he was right as rain again.

"Yes. I'm fine, thank you. Anyway, let's not get caught up on that disappointing performance I put up. The sooner I can stop thinking and talking about it the better. Instead, let's go to the next floor!"

"... Next floor? Excuse me?" Ares thought he misheard the bastard. No way there was another, secret, trial right? Surely he was done with this place?! There was nothing left that could stand in his way!

"Not that kind of floor, it's just a place where the rewards are stored. I'm telling you in advance, I don't really know what the biggest reward up there is. I'm just the guy that was asked to guard it, nothing more. At the time I was inducted into this position, the guy I spoke to from Transmit told me the person who would eventually claim it could figure it out themselves. So yeah, I'll lead you there but, after that, it's on you to make use of the rewards properly. Some of the more basic stuff though, like cultivation resources, I can inform you about their function if you aren't already aware."

"Cultivation resources? Those actually exist? I thought they were a myth..."

"You've never used any?!... I have no words... Where I'm from they're given to babies... Some people even make dummies that improve a baby's cultivation when they suck on it... Are things that different in your domain?"

"It's not quite prevalent to the same extent, no, but resources are usually abundant... Look, I'm just really unlucky ok?! Improving cultivation doesn't matter if your foundation is useless! I'm in mental accumulation but can fight people in early to mid bloodline awakening! Maybe even higher if I go all out! That's two whole realms higher than me! What good would cultivation resources have done in place of discovering more about my pillar? Or learning annihilation enhancement? N.A.D.A That's what!"

"... I see you feel quite strongly about this matter... Well, anyway, you'll finally get to use some resources that can aid you so, er, don't cry about it?"

"Hmph."

"I'll take that as an 'ok' and move on. If there's nothing left for you to do here, then we should get going. My time is limited now and it would be for the best if we don't waste it. The other overseers should already be seeing the option to leave this place. It will take a while for our consciences to return to our real bodies but this pagoda will be empty soon. It would be silly to get bogged down in meaningless conversation and lose out on the rewards because of it!" Veteran didn't wait for Ares to respond and started walking away. Ares knew the direction he was leaving in meant he was going towards the staircase as their repeated bouts almost always seemed to involve it in some manner or another. Ares had climbed the entirety of it a few times before but it felt different this time. Every step reminded him of his accomplishment because the stairs were no longer an environmental tool to use against his opponent but rather a pathway to claim his rewards. Travelling up the steps not to gain the height advantage in a fight but to ascend to the next floor of the pagoda made Ares feel giddy.

The two reached the roof and Veteran swayed his palm from left to right, revealing a hidden door. The door had also been intangible while invisible as Ares distinctly remembered stepping over that spot earlier. Also it would be kind of awkward if it collapsed to the floor whenever the building did. Still, having the door be right here under Ares' nose the whole time felt like a slap in the face! Veteran opened the door and gestured for Ares to take a step inside. Ares obliged and was sent spiralling through yet another vacuum. He'd become accustomed to this during his time in the pagoda and that was a good thing as, according to Veteran, most portals were like this. If one portal made you nauseous, they almost all would. Ares was happy to know he wouldn't be throwing up when traversing these things because that sounded awful. Then again, he had an affiliation for nothingness so he wasn't going to be fettered by space. Supposedly using a portal for the first time should have made him woozy at least but his destruction pillar was loaded with benefits so not experiencing that wasn't even a surprise to Ares.

When Ares ascended to the sixth floor he was taken aback by the small size of the room. It was barely big enough to fit ten people and, even then, the middle of the circular room was obstructed by a pedestal. The design of the room itself was reminiscent of what Ares had seen back on Caribou's floor what with the abundance of reds and golds. The pedestal had a golden dragon coiled around it, one that almost looked like it had a bit of life to it; like it would come alive and bite anyone who tried to steal any of the goods resting atop the pedestal. Ares could have sworn its eyes were trained on him but, then again, it may have just been Trompe-L'œil at work. As for the goods on the pedestal, there were four different groups of rewards. The first, and the hardest to ignore, were a pair of gloves... That instantly became Ares' newest personal treasure... Ares had only laid his eyes on them for a split second and yet he was already the proud of owner of... Whatever this treasure was! As for why the gloves were so hard to ignore... The pressure they were leaking was unfathomably monstrous. Ares now understood why the pagoda was leaking so much pressure all the damn time, it was this thing that was responsible! Veteran was a part of the issue but clearly this treasure was a rare one. It might even be rarer than the Celestial Cluster given the requirement to wield it was something hitherto impossible, 100% enhancement. Even then it wouldn't become a personal treasure as that was seemingly reserved for something even grander like, say, annihilation enhancement. The gloves were black and didn't really cover much of any hand they would be placed on as it was more like a bundle of straps that just so happened to be shaped like a glove. Ares could tell that, ironically, if you wore them and squeezed your hands it would apply a lot of pressure and tighten considerably due to the way the straps were interconnected. Ares picked them up and, as always, the information about the treasure's name and past was relayed to Ares in full.

'Backfire Bindings'. That was the official name of the gloves and, yes, these gloves were backfire gear! Well they were originally, anyway, but due to various circumstances they became a treasure. Interestingly, these gloves were the first 'backfire gear' ever made! Although the classification system didn't exist back then, nor did the term 'backfire gear', by today's standards they would be misnomer tier; the highest available. See, way back when there was a rather dangerous Goddess who's superiority complex doomed those around her to slavery and violence. She viewed mortals, and even regular cultivators, as pathetic, inferior worms that served no purpose other than convenient tools for her to use for her own benefit. Verdant, the Goddess of the wind pillar, was nigh impossible to keep in check due to her unparalleled mobility so none of the other Gods, or any of the powerful cultivators at the time, ever bothered to try and stop her. She was wind itself, thus she was untraceable and untouchable.

She was a colossal problem but the only ones capable of stopping her considered it to be a hassle so the masses were the ones that paid the price of everyone else's laziness. Amongst these suffering mortals, however, was one particularly renowned blacksmith. He wasn't the greatest ever but, for a mortal, he was damn good. Good enough that cultivators who were around Veteran's level would regularly seek him out for artifacts. That was no small feat considering his lack of cultivation. When he got roped into Verdant's madness, thus busying his schedule, one of his regular customers got annoyed and decided to indirectly help him out. The customer didn't want to stand against a Goddess but he wanted his quirky smithy back! As it just so happened, this peculiar customer was none other than 'Dingo'. For reference, this 'Dingo' was the same 'purveyor of rarity' that owned the fountain that could reset pressure calibration. As far as allies went, Dingo was an invaluable one to say the least. A hyper knowledgeable eccentric with a wealth of rare materials and a borderline legendary blacksmith... The results were basically already guaranteed to be preposterously grand and they'd yet to even decide what they were making together.

The common theme of their wacky ideas trended towards something that would hinder Verdant's mobility. They didn't need to be the ones that killed her, they could just enable someone else to do it! Dingo had the perfect material for such an occasion. No one really knows how but Dingo had managed to get his hands on the remains of the previous God of the metal pillar. The God's body was essentially made of metal but it was one that wasn't quite understood. There was no name for it and the properties were basically anyone's guess. That would also explain why Dingo cared about it so much but, as for how he obtained the body... He had his ways. That was all he ever said on the matter. Anyway, Dingo gave the blacksmith the God's body to create the binding artifact out of, as well as a few other rare materials to treat the metal, and even borrowed him some mythical smithing tools. The end result was supposed to be binding straps that would wrap around the target and lock them down on the spot. Breaking free should have been nigh impossible and moving around after being trapped even more so. Dingo, through various indirect means such as rumour spreading and gossip-mongering, subtly spread word to the other Gods of the plan to kill Verdant once and for all so as to ensure their attendance at the moment of truth.

A few years passed and the time for action was nigh. The bindings had been made but something was off about them. The blacksmith couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly was wrong with the bindings but they seemed functional enough? They were more than capable of wrapping around a target and stopping them in their tracks. Weaker targets would be outright killed that was how effective it was! Surely they wouldn't randomly fail him when he needed them to work the most... Right? Well, as it turned out, they technically didn't! When Verdant was eventually trapped during a ceremony in her honour, the bindings did exactly what they had always done... But that was actually the issue... The original goal had been to create something that sealed movement but, little did the blacksmith know, the bindings had become backfire gear. Their purpose was twisted into something wholly different. No longer did they 'bind', they 'squeezed'. An important difference for very specific reasons. The Backfire Bindings actually tempered a person's body, actively enhancing their flesh by making everything more compact. Yes weaker creatures would struggle to move but these bindings on a Goddess? It 'worked' for all of two seconds before the weight crushing down on her body became a sort of enhancement, not dissimilar to that of pressure enhancement. In fact it felt the exact same... What the blacksmith had very accidentally created wasn't some kind of binding, it was...

A pressure enabler!

This was utterly unfathomable. Enablers were supposed to enable pillars, not random cultivation techniques! There was actually no other treasure in existence quite like it... Well it was still technically an artifact at this point. Anyway, Verdant, boosted by pressure enhancement, tore through all the Gods that arrived to kill her and became an even bigger issue. She couldn't remove the Backfire Bindings but, really, she didn't want to! Why on earth would she ever give up something so invaluable?... And yet, here the Bindings were... Inside the pressure pagoda... How they arrived here, why Verdant suddenly vanished one day, and how they became a treasure was something only Ares and a few other select individuals knew. He knew that Verdant got a bit too arrogant and picked a fight she never should have. She was emboldened by her new artifact but that didn't mean she was capable of taking a pillar head on. She had attempted to usurp power from the wind pillar itself and was utterly trounced. Ares didn't know where she was right now but she was still technically alive, sealed somewhere or other by the followers of the wind pillar.

During the sealing process, the Bindings became an actual treasure. This was because the sealing was done using spatial magic and, as the Bindings passed through the seal, they were struck by a barrage of nothingness magic. Not only were they designed to apply pressure but the crushing weight of nothingness blasting the space around them moulded it into something far more incredible than it ever logically should have been. Forged with the dead body of a God, designed to create pressure, became a pressure enabler, and was crushed in a similar fashion to when Ares cancelled a person's Blink... The treasure it became was, inevitably, nothing short of insanely powerful... But no one could wield it! The requirements were unknown and, down the line, even Veteran, the peak of pressure wielding, couldn't use it. No one knew just how strong it was but Ares did. He knew this thing was as powerful as his Primordial Blade... It was no joke, that was for sure. Ares didn't need a pressure enabler but it was so much more than that now too... Anyway, as for how it ended up in the pagoda, the wind pillar demanded its followers hand over the Bindings to Transmit. None of them understood why but they obeyed nonetheless and thus, here they were with Veteran guarding them. As for the blacksmith, the poor guy was executed for his 'failure' as his actions resulted in the death of many Gods. Eventually the term 'backfire gear' was invented and, when it was discovered just how powerful the Bindings really were, the 'misnomer' tier was also invented. The blacksmith's work was a magnum opus, not a failure! He was kinda already dead though, so, you know... Unlucky for him. Still, having his reputation retroactively fixed was something! As for Dingo, as he'd only ever indirectly spread rumours through others, he was safe and sound... The conniving bastard! He did miss his blacksmith though... The blacksmith had created the first ever backfire gear so naturally Dingo had a soft spot for arguably the 'rarest' blacksmith he'd ever seen. 'Such a tragic loss of valuable rarity...'

As for the Backfire Bindings, despite their size being notably smaller (they once bound an entire Goddess and were now barely enough to fit on some hands), they were still highly functional. They were more compact and weren't lacking any of their original power as, if anything, its power had gone up since becoming a treasure. Ares was thankful for this because if he had to wear the Bindings in the same manner as the Goddess not only would it be embarrassing but Enyo would actually never let him go ever again. Ares in bondage gear? You can bet your ass that was somewhere on Enyo's never-ending list. Anyway, black 'gloves' were acceptable. Ares would add these to his wardrobe after he left but, for now, he put them inside the Primordial Blade as Veteran started speaking.

"The rough history of those Bindings are known but their capabilities are not. A pressure enabler is a rare thing, and based on the tales it was incredibly potent, but I have no idea what benefits it will bring you specifically. Requiring 100% enhancement as a bare minimum to even be wielded makes the enabling of pressure completely worthless but I have no doubt in my mind that treasure is one of a kind. It's up to you to figure out its intricacies and what it can do but I'm certain it will be worth the investment. Just the sheer amount of pressure oozing out of it was enough to make even me drool back when I first heard of it. Truth be told part of the reason I came here was so that I could try and make it mine. Still, my time in this pagoda wasn't pointless as, thanks to you, I can get my affiliations back. That was always my main goal anyway. But that's enough about that, let me explain to you what the rest of this stuff is."

Veteran walked up to the pedestal and picked up three red stalks of grass. "These wonderful things are called 'trailblazers'. If you boil them for a week straight and then eat them your cultivation stage will go up by one for each stalk you digest. There are no drawbacks to these. Your cultivation will rise no questions asked. Typically the best use case of these is when you're at the very edge of reaching a new realm, so being at the tenth stage. Crossing from the tenth stage of one cultivation realm to the first of the next one is usually a slog but, with these, it simplifies the process by a LOT. You're at mental accumulation, 4th stage right? Use these three when you get to 8th stage and you'll shoot up into sensory enhancement on the spot. Or if you're more patient you can use them individually but, let's face it, you aren't that kind of person... Anyway, point being, it's better to use them sooner rather than later. If people know you have them they will go to any length to take it off you in the higher realms. Each stage gets progressively harder and harder to escape from so these are sought after like crazy. Plus you can consume as many as you want and they never stop working. In short, just eat them as soon as possible and you'll be good to go."

As Ares had already stashed away the Bindings, and now the trailblazers, that left two more objects to dissect. Veteran pointed to two containers filled with... Blue sand! Ares knew this one, it was fine grind blue! The only question now was how old where these things? Ares knew better than to expect them to be thousands of years old, that was preposterous no mater how you looked at it. They'd been here that long but there was clearly a time-based rune on these containers that prevented them from aging. The fine grind blue here would be good but nothing heaven defying. Veteran could see Ares' intrigued expression and clarified. "The container on the left has 9 month fine grind blue. The one on the right has 11 month fine grind blue."

"Holy shit!"

"Yes, they're both incredible. I would recommend you take the 11 month immediately and give the 9 month to someone you can trust who's strong. Maybe one of your wives?"

"... I might wait."

"Why? That doesn't sound like a good idea. 11 month fine grind is infinitely close to the highest quality fine grind ever discovered. If you lose it... There are not enough tears in the world you could shed before the regret you would feel eases up."

"I know... But I have a gut feeling I can still do better. I know it's greedy... I know but this fine grind just isn't doing it for me... Plus there's a region nearby that literally spawns the stuff and I believe there's greatness waiting for me there. I would rather just never use fine grind blue instead of committing to one that doesn't meet my standards. Everything about me needs to be unfair. Every single inch of me needs to be above perfection and this fine grind, though legendary, isn't good enough for me. It's arrogant to an absurd degree, I know, but it's the mentality that's going to take me far. Further than anyone else. My revenant form is something I have to get right and fine grind blue will be to it what annihilation enhancement has been to my human form. Being lackadaisical and accepting the first great offer that comes my way, when something astounding may very well be around the corner, isn't my style. I'll give these two to both my wives and let them use it. Again, I have a strong feeling I will find better in Xasca..."

"Xasca? Ah, you know, you may be right. If anywhere is going to have a fine grind blue of the quality you're searching for, it would be there. It used to be the hub for all things fine grind back when I was still roaming around outside and I can't imagine that having changed in all these years. In fact, it was where the current greatest fine grind ever was created. Of course that means nothing due to the predetermined odds on fine grind exploding per day but it is indicative of how much fine grind those desserts spawn. The higher the quantity, the higher the odds of a one-in-a-million anomaly occurring. Well the odds aren't actually higher but you're more likely to see it... Look, I wasn't great at maths. You get the point I'm making."

"Yeah I know. So what's up with that last object?" Ares pointed towards the pedestal where one object remained.

Veteran hunched over and picked up a vial containing some blue liquid. "This one's also quite rare but nothing as serious as everything else. Put simply, it's a liquid called 'mana dew'. You drink it, the amount of mana you can store increases. Basically you have more mana. Nothing complex but something very useful regardless. You can only take it once and it won't have any effect if you use it again. Might as well just drink it now as saving it does nothing. Side note, I myself have had it before and it tastes like blueberry mixed with roses. It's fizzy too and I happen to quite like it. There are some people who treat it as a precious commodity similar to that of billion year-aged wines. Nobles and other members of high-society will frequently have it available at banquets and what not. If you aren't a well-known cultivator coming across this stuff is hard. If you have even a lick of fame to your name you can get some with a snap of your fingers. Overall a good thing to have but nothing you wouldn't be able to get your hands on at some point anyway. It probably doesn't exist in the lower domains, though, so acquiring it early is helpful."

Ares took the 'drink' that Veteran handed him, uncorked the vial, and took a sniff. Damn! This smells fantastic! Ares was already intoxicated by just the scent alone! he'd never smelled anything quite like it and he wanted to down it all in one gulp. It wasn't even alcoholic so Ares could see why nobles horded the stuff as everyone could enjoy the taste. Ares would horde the stuff too if he could! Ares poured the vial's contents into his mouth and swallowed as his eyes widened. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted! I just want more now... Where does this stuff come from?" Ares didn't even care about his meridians expanding and increasing the amount of mana he could store, the taste was his primary concern right now!

"Ha, told you it was good. It's a mellow flavour but manages to pack a real kick despite that. The fizz is where most of the taste comes into play so the clash between smooth and mellow water and strong, vibrant bubbles is a taste sensation. Ah but I'm getting distracted. Mana dew is siphoned from a specific type of blue plant that, for some bizarre reason, can cultivate. It has a limit to its cultivation and, when it reaches that max, it starts secreting excess cultivation in the form of mana. This dew is that mana. The plants themselves are pretty rare and no one knows how to grow them. They pop up sporadically and everyone always fights over ownership. Some people have multiple and can basically drink the stuff whenever they want. I had a few plants myself and, now that I've seen you drinking it, I can't wait to go back and have some mana dew myself... You should keep an eye out for these 'manamaxa' plants. The more the merrier after all. I'm telling you now if you somehow have a metric ton of them by the time we next meet I'm going to demand you hand some mana dew over! Knowing you you'll probably have a boatload for some inexplicable reason... Anyway, it goes really well with sushi and I was pretty addicted at one point... So don't leave me out in the cold if you get your hands on a good supply!"

"If I have any to spare then sure... Honestly, I think I might be addicted too..." Ares was disappointingly staring at the empty vial. That was one hell of a drink... Ares had many goals but a new one just appeared on his long list. Find a manamaxa plant and learn how to grow more! He had no idea where to even start with finding such a plant but Ares would fight tooth and nail if he ever saw head or tail of one! Then there was the matter of multiplying the plant... Ares was no horticulture expert but, if it meant gaining more mana dew... Well then Ares was going to have to keep an eye out for any plant-related treasures! Ares was completely obsessed! He would even go on to become a mana dew baron of sorts. It didn't benefit him monetarily or anything but he did have plenty of people begging him to spread the 'wealth'. Mana dew was kind of like opium on steroids amongst those who enjoyed it and Ares would be king in that regard. Mana dew, mana dew, my kingdom for mana dew.