Chapter 422: Don’t Get the Wrong Idea!

'Charm'. A rather simple name for a rather simple art. Much like some of the older and initially discovered / created aspects / arts during the early days of cultivation, names were more important as identifiers rather than imagery evokers. In the case of arts, names were kept simple so that they could even be constructed in the first place. Again, the length of a name, and its relevance to what the magic did after being cast, all had an effect on how powerful an art was so simply naming charm magic 'charm' meant the art was highly functional, consistently powerful, and easy to create. Of course people experimented and things changed over time as subtlety of what you were casting, and increased power by increasing the length of the chant to make up for misleading or hard to-immediately-grasp names, were deemed equally important. Theoretically, Charm could be renamed and restructured to something along the lines 'At First Sight' to throw an opponent off without losing any of the overall effectiveness in exchange for a slower chant. It was a linguist's heaven to mess around with such things but that only came later when the baseline of arts were set in stone. Arts like Fireball, Flamethrower, Sharp, Water Bullet, Spike, etc... These were all some of the original arts developed for each pillar and spread far and wide. Nowadays there are billions of arts, a lot of which share similarities, but each individual factor involved in naming them does provide some variance in terms of use-case. It's not even necessarily uncommon for a person to know two arts that function in a similar way but have entirely different names. One that's quick and snappy for dire emergencies, and situations where adaptability and quick reactions are key, and another for when more time is at the cultivator's disposal and they want to finish an opponent off. The nifty thing about arts was that most people were capable of inventing new ones if they could be bothered to so many people, who'd lived for at least a couple hundred years, actually new a variant of a traditional art if not a unique one. That didn't mean the classics fell out of favour, though, as they were all very much still stock standard options that never let you down even if the opponent knew what you were doing because the name hadn't been masked.

Then there were aspects and this was where the 'usability' element of the art discussion vanished entirely. Put simply, the names were boring and a not-so-small contingent of people over the years wanted change. Take the weapon's pillar, for example. Swords were incredibly common weapons during the early days of cultivation, as new technology and discoveries was still a few hundred years out, so its aspect needed to be established quickly in a way that was simple to understand. In order to make sure comprehension for all was easy enough to do, aspects back then were just named directly after whatever was relevant about them. Another example would be bare fist' which, nowadays, wasn't even completely accurate as weapons like gauntlets also counted. Then there were weapons that only really became popular down the line, like scythes, and were given more fancy names because people were already familiar with the arts, aspects, and pillars system. There was no real reason for this, naming things in a more convoluted way, other than a mix of boredom and a desire to stand apart from the plain and boring old folk still using 'swords' but this trend caught on and, thus, any time a new aspect was discovered, it typically received a non-standard name. This wasn't always the case, and some aspects that came later didn't adhere to this, but to this day there were still massive debates about renaming aspects. There were people raging constantly on forums outside the Blade barrier about sprucing up the name 'sword' aspect and, naturally, there were traditionalists who refused to even entertain the thought. Put simply, for every aspect, at least a few hundred names were floating about and it wasn't uncommon to hear them in day-to-day use depending on who you were talking to. 'Blade's edge' was a common replacement name for the sword aspect, for instance. Ah but the reverse was also true, minimalists who valued simplicity wouldn't mind reducing verbiage across the board and changing something like falx' inevitability to 'scythe' aspect for the sake of clarity. In the grand scheme of things none of this mattered in the slightest. Aspects weren't like arts and it made no difference to combat but people were bored and had nothing better to do, or generally liked / disliked the name of whatever they were proficient in, and thus sought change. There was an international body for this that had votes on aspect names but things rarely changed and, even when it did, the results were frequently ignored by a good chunk of people who'd goteen comfortable with whatever the previous name was anyway. The long in short of it was that names mattered! For trivial reasons or actual important day to day usage reasons! People really got up in arms about them.

To that end, charm was a bit of an odd art. Given what it aimed to do, you'd think a more indistinct manner of name would suit the goal better so opponents took longer to react to what was happening to them... It was one of the rare old arts that didn't see too much regular use because most other options were considered better. It wasn't useless, per se, but it was quite... Old school and somewhat outdated. It's main benefit was being particularly strong against anyone who was weaker than the caster, anyone with low mental resistance, or anyone who was unreasonably horny twenty-four seven. The power of the art was considerable and so anyone inherently weak to it would struggle to resist even if they knew it was coming. From there it would latch onto the opponent's brain and make them a temporary slave that would do the caster's bidding or, at the very least, become unable to do anything other than blindly follow around the person who used Charm on them in the first place. Teh victim became a bumbling stumbling idiot but it was also worth noting this effect would disappear immediately if the person was attacked by the Charmer. Sure you could kill somebody who was defenceless thanks to this but if you missed your shot, for whatever reason, then you would waste it in spectacular fashion and undo your own magic. It was generally advised to command your shiny new stalker to go jump off a cliff, or just generally do something that you yourself had no hand in, because at least then there was no real risk of human error. One particular femme-fatale once put a gun to a man's charmed head, shot him through the brain, and then had her career and life ended when she was stabbed in the back as she was walking away from the man she failed to kill off properly. Surviving a bullet to the brain was something even a mortal could do if they were lucky enough so her overconfidence had wound up being her demise. Charm's effect was powerful when it worked but it didn't guarantee things would go smoothly if you weren't hyper vigilant with the result of whatever you did after!

As for Ares... Well he wouldn't have been affected by charm even without Enyo's mutation. He was no head-over-heels simpleton who would chase after a skirt just to get his leg up! He was not mentally weak, he had disintegration to prevent the magic, he wasn't a lusty degenerate who couldn't control himself, and he certainly wasn't an inferior cultivator compared to this succubus. There was absolutely zero chance for Charm to be successful to begin with and the barriers on his flesh needed not even attempt to deflect this art. Ares still had his arms wide open and let the pink smoke snake Charm slither into his brain and, a few seconds later, it became apparent to the succubus he did not care in the slightest about her futile attempts to woo him. "C'mon, is that the best you've got? Attract me!"

...

The succubus admittedly felt somewhat indignant. Succubi rarely had to actually try and seduce someone as it happened on its own without the need for inherent racial abilities or arts most of the time. Having someone look her dead in the eyes, after getting hit by a Charm art directly no less, and telling her to do better, implying he wasn't attracted to her in the slightest currently, clued her in that this man was insufferable!... Or maybe just completely uninterested in women... He was travelling with a guy... She was getting the entirely wrong picture here! Still, she had no interest in giving up and losing here because she wanted out of this room and so she'd either charm Ares, and walk out while the two men in this room were distracted, or have to have her life put at risk and be teleported out. The latter was technically an option she didn't have to do anything to have happen on its own as the mechanism for it was automatic but, if there was one thing she understood, it's that the teleportation function wasn't a guarantee. Plenty of trial and punishment monsters in the Riddlemyd had lost their lives due to untimely activation of the Teleport magic as quicker adventurers could still deal a lethal blow if they were determined enough. That or being applied with poison before laving the room could do the trick. Just because there were safety measures in place that didn't mean the Riddlemyd defence force were 100% safe, far from it! They weren't all just fighting because they were told to, and would be punished if they disobeyed, but because their life was actually on the line here! Or, as far as the succubus was aware it was anyway. Ares had nothing but the purest intentions of handing her over to the im-purest of women! Enyo would probably want to learn how to cast Charm as well as have a target to practice it on, as well as various other arts, ss it's not like the succubus would have it easy... But surely that was still better than being stuck in this place forever?

Anyway, the succubus wasn't going to just stand around and admit defeat so she tried casting Charm again while directing a large bundle of pheromone smoke directly on top of Ares' head. She condensed it all into one spot and watched Ares sink beneath the smoke and, yet, she could tell he was still resisting everything she threw at him... Not even the combined might of both her simultaneous attacks could leave a dent in his pants... Was this guy a eunuch?!... Again, she was getting the wrong idea about Ares... He was a hot blooded carnivore! Ares could tell by the look in this succubus' eyes that she was really starting to come up with unhinged assumptions about him so he gave up on provoking her and sighed. Rather than explain things to her he simply took out his scythe and slashed the chains around her ankles with disintegration magic lining the blade of his weapon. This must have triggered a recapture mechanism from the Riddlemyd as spatial magic flooded into the room in a bid to drag away the succubus back to the cold dark depths of this place. She would likely be sent to an automated rechaining facility and then duly punished even though none of this was her fault. That was the downside of full on automation, it couldn't make judgement calls about how obedient the puppets working for Sevorus' were in his absence. Not that any of this mattered, Ares was already prepared from the start to deal with something like this. He'd remembered the gatling gecko incident clear as day and was expecting spatial magic...

Although not to this degree, admittedly.

The Riddlemyd was being more forceful with an escapee than a test subject, at risk of being murdered by an adventurer, and the quantity of spatial magic rushing into the room was definitely no joke. It was more than enough to drag any average transition realm cultivator back to wherever it wanted to take them irrespective of their wishes and resistance. Even if you were a stronger cultivator, spatial magic was hard to resist in most cases anyway but, luckily, Ares was a bit of an expert in this regard. There were actually a number of options he could take here, from using Not Even Light to breaking the spatial magic with nothingness, but he opted to go with the simplest option available to him as he swiped up the succubus... Very carefully! He wasn't entirely sure where to put his hands but he found a safe spot eventually near here waist. He then activated Voidwalk, Shifted over to Aejaz, and then took both his kidnap-ees into the void where spatial magic could simply not exist. It would need to be at the level of Astraeus, the God of the spatial pillar, a primordial God, in order to even think about hanging around here. Not that it could even attempt to chase Ares into this place anyway so all he had to do was wait for it to give up and he could return to the room freely. Until then he had to make sure Aejaz and the succubus weren't at any risk.

An average adult cultivator could live in the void for a while, though it might hurt, but as long as Ares was also in here he could easily keep them safe from the void with minimal effort. He controlled basically everything in here so it obeyed him and didn't force the intruders to feel the weight of simultaneously existing across the entire void at once. Their bodies would split into quadrillions of pieces and be in all places at once, some of which even overlapping, and that pressure was rough for a first timer or a weaker individual. Generally speaking, anybody Ares chucked in here would die eventually if he did nothing to them; it would just take a while depending on how strong they were. Actually forcing a person in here, though, was tough and he would be better off baiting somebody into chasing him in if they got overconfident they could best him in a fight, sort of like what happened with Candy that one time way back.

Ares appeared directly beside the scared-witless and shit-less succubus and tried to explain what was going to happen from here on out, how she was basically going to be a 'prisoner' for a little bit longer, under better conditions, but would have guaranteed freedom after... Or, well, explaining this was the goal but the first words that came out of Ares' mouth were poorly chosen. "Alright, listen up lady. You belong to me now!"

...

"Disgusting pig."

...

Why did this woman keep getting the wrong idea about Ares at every single possible opportunity?! "That... That's not what I meant..." Based on the look in her eyes she really didn't believe him. She'd resigned herself to her fate already, she was just wishing this pervert would admit all the thigs he was gonna do to her instead of pretending to be some kind of saint! This was very much what the exasperated frown she was directing at him meant! Ares sighed deeply once more and explained to her from the top. She seemed to understand his position but couldn't quite accept that it was the truth... Not that she had a choice. Ares was going to shove her inside the Blade one way or another so, even if she was adamant Ares was a terrible person, she was going to find out eventually that he was telling the truth. Or maybe she'd just refuse to believe it forever more but that wasn't Ares' concern, she belonged to Enyo now and what happened between them was their own problem! Ares hadn't even asked for the demoness' name because he really just wasn't interested. Naturally she misunderstood this as well, and figured he simply viewed her as an object, or a toy, to pass the time with, but Ares was getting real sick of dealing with these unfounded assumptions and so he didn't even try and correct her again.

Ares placed her in same area he stored the kitchen in his Blade so she could keep herself fed with whatever he had lying about. He would feed her every now and then, even if she got the wrong idea and claimed he was just fattening her up to devour later or something, but while he was busy she could find food without starving. This wasn't a Jebben situation so she didn't have to work like a slave on a farm for edible sustenance. Speaking of, Jebben had somewhat gotten into a rhythm but was still struggling a bit regardless. Ares intentionally placed him on a planet with harsh winters so, in the early stages, there was a very real cruelty the planet was capable of directing towards Jebben. He was still alive and kicking but he was definitely a quieter person than he was before and ended every day exhausted on his bed wishing to be literally anywhere else right about now. The roughest days were those when snow or heavy rain came calling and he had to get up and work regardless; bonus misery points if he hadn't slept much the night before.

Jebben's one solace was that Ares had given him an animal or two so that he could have some meat in his future if he worked towards it. Ares was a bit devious in that he only gave two of each animal, one male and one female, so if Jebben wasted his meat source early he would never get anymore. It was despicable! Ares was like the demon on his shoulder tempting him to give into his urges and desire for that mouth-watering juicy meat! Jebben had worked so very hard for weeks on end now and he was craving something more filling but had to resist so they could produce offspring. Having those animals there, and worse still having to care for them while getting nothing in return, was arguably worse than having nothing! Ares was a real bastard... But the intent behind it was fairly clever because Jebben was forced to respect a lower animal that gave him absolutely zilch. Somebody who's sole obsession was money, power, and possessions would struggle without them but, most importantly, he would understand how everybody else had to live in that there was nothing to gain from antagonising those harmless pigs. He would exploit them and then the well would run dry so he was forced to show compassion to dirty pigs even if he really didn't want to.

Maybe Jebben was building up resentment for the pigs, chickens, and whatever other animals Ares had given him, but respect was mandatory. By the time he finally felt like he had enough off their offspring to stat a new generation, that didn't require the initial livestock anymore, he would eat them, sure, but his attitude would have been tempered to be grateful for even something as small as a single piece of pork. Long story short, Jebben was a very visibly different person and that snarky condescension had vanished as he wasn't even capable of feeling such a way to simple farm animals anymore let alone another human. If Ares put the succubus on that planet he would worship the ground she walked upon if it meant getting any help in the form of manual labour or companionship. Still, this was punishment so Ares wouldn't do that... Though the succubus did need food... And not the kind she was going to find in this kitchen... Whatever! Ares would figure out something for her down the line! Jebben was a no-go because he was supposed to be in hell not heaven, Ares and Aejaz were no goes as well because they were taken... Tsk, here this succubus was, worried about getting taken against her will when in reality nobody wanted her! If she knew as such then her pride would be truly devastated...

Ares stopped dwelling on his Primordial Blade captives and turned to face the sleeping Aejaz, drifting through the void with a perry grin on his face... By channeling some disintegration mana Ares could easily save his brother from his pleasant dreams right now, and it was time to move on to the next challenge in the Riddlemyd anyway, so his relaxation period was up! Ares flicked Aejaz' skull and sent him spinning through the void only to resummon him to his initial position with a snap of his fingers. Aejaz was very much awake now, and felt like hurling due to his dizziness, but the real discomfort was what was going on in his lower region. He'd absorbed all that lust, and those images, and was left feeling mighty unfulfilled and uncomfortable right now. He was arguably not in any condition to keep adventuring so Ares decided it was for the best if he was sent back to the palace to cultivate and remove any impurities from his brain that were still lingering... Also Ares would get a chance to speed through tthe Riddlemyd without this slug by his side!

Normally Aejaz would have to catch up in his own time but Ares had a sneaking suspicion Tom Tom would allow Aejaz to just appear on the same floor as Ares in the future. Ares wasn't going to go back or wait for his slowpoke brother under any condition so Tom Tom would be more inclined to dump Aejaz on Ares and slow his pace down that way. Having Aejaz around was more of a demerit than an upside so bending the rules and allowing Aejaz to skip some floors was actually beneficial from Tom Tom's perspective. Ares was gaming the system here but the system was rigged by Tom Tom, and arguably his brother, to begin with so this was just a small little trick he could pull to even the odds a little. Still, it was better to discuss this with Tom Tom first and see what his thoughts on the mater were just in case he had other plans. Ares really didn't want to have to do every floor he skipped over without Aejaz again so double checking, instead of rushing headfirst into a mistake, was the wiser of two options. Ares kicked Aejaz out of the void and searched around for Tom Tom's head... It took Ares a moment but he eventually spied the sphinx directly above him on the ceiling. Why he liked high places like this Ares didn't know but it was time to discuss this matter!... Although Ares really hoped he wouldn't have to keep craning his neck upwards like this the whole time... Damn cat! Get down from there!