Chapter 539: Stowaway Most Unwelcome

Frustration, as a term, didn't even begin to convey the extent of the emotional turmoil Ares was going through as he came to the conclusion that staying outside the barrier was a better course of action than returning to Isaz. From a purely robotic standpoint, even without the Brotherhood expectation in play, even if he hadn't been a member, integrating with the outside world, searching for rarer resources, and taking advantage of his high-end connections to Gods and legends was undeniably a better choice. Perhaps there were untouched secrets buried in Sheryashka and Vraizon, those domains had been locked away from the rest of the world and their deepest depths lay relatively uncharted and un-looted as a result, but the possibilities outside the barrier were limitless in comparison and there really wasn't much contest. Ares already knew that but he wanted his family; he was a product of flesh, blood, memories, and emotions, and he prioritised that over extra cultivation chances. Also, he was convinced he could have a happy balance of both anyway if he stayed within the confines set up for him as it's not like he'd been falling behind or anything so something must have been going his way up until now.

Ares wasn't asking for much, if anything he was sacrificing options and rewards aplenty to continue on his path and stay besides those he cared about... But was it really correct to do this? He'd never asked himself that question up until now because it hadn't ever been relevant and it wasn't a problem he wanted to entertain. Even after arriving out here in the Lowe domain he still didn't entertain the thought because there wasn't anything forcing his hand, necessitating him giving it due consideration. Now, though? Now he really had to think and, to make matters worse, he had a very valid reason not to return to Sheryashka beeping away and warning him of the punishment he would incur if he was disobedient. Excommunication at bare minimum... Though staying was the clearly superior option, Ares was forced to admit he didn't want this outcome to come to fruition. It wasn't a measured response weighing up the pros and cons, he just didn't want it. Maybe he'd be compared to a kid not wanting to eat his veggies and, as pathetic as it was, it was probably somewhat true. There was no vocal outburst or whatever but an emotional tantrum was definitely occurring internally; it was his right to at least be unhappy with this whole mess. This was the best path to the best fate he could possibly weave with his own two hands, he knew that well, but he really did not want any part of it.

Ares could stay outside the barrier and even remain in communication with his family via Transmit. There were methods to talk to them. Also, the sect could wait another few years for his return, at which point he'd be in a way better position to grant them an immediate safe haven in the wider world instead of having to battle for freedom, resources, and space the hard way after breaking out of the barrier. Ares could set up a world for the sect that would welcome them with fanfare, reputation, and vast wealth... But he really had no interest. He wanted to go home to his loving family, see his cute daughter, sleep beside his partners, and just relax. The Federation, Xasca, this, and the business he still had with the mutated mountain... It was tiresome and he wanted a reprieve. He'd worked hard and he wanted to just return to normalcy for a spell, embrace the mundanity he earned as a result of having built up a good and warm home. The thought in the back of his mind that he'd get to see everyone's smiling faces again soon was what had kept him in high spirits and now he was feeling utterly miserable as he found himself unable to come up with a valid excuse to defend that ideal.

Whether Ares liked it or not, his body was already in motion to exit the passageway and return to the Lowe domain. He couldn't stop it. There was really nothing he could do about this and he'd just have to be thankful for Enyo, Bellona, Sandy, and Appa's forgiving and understanding nature. They would be upset, maybe even more than he was if that was somehow even possible, but this was no longer an option. Ares' get out of jail free cards had run dry and the Brotherhood robes he was wearing were a trip straight to duty-bound jail. Sacrificing Brotherhood status, and worlds filled with opportunity, because he waned to go home... The scales were not even and his hands were tied. Ares was cruelly thrust into the role of judge and forced to bear witness as the Lowe domain side of the scale overwhelmingly sunk. He knew this would benefit everyone in the long run, he could become that much stronger and forge a safer path with his own two hands for them all to tread... But man did it sting...

Ares closed his eyes and reached for the edges of the exit, preparing himself to pull his reluctant body through and attempt to forget about everything he was leaving behind. He wasn't ready, he wasn't accepting, and he definitely wasn't willing; there was just a pit of emptiness in his stomach and a hollow misery ringing in his skull. All he could do was sigh and pull himself forward towards his new home.

BANG

... Or so Ares thought.

Ares had been mere inches away from making a decision he never would have forgiven himself for, mandatory or otherwise, but it seemed like fate was chucking him a bone... Though the word 'bone' was highly ironic as this twist of fate stemmed directly from Dido's involvement! Her attempt at messing with Ares had backfired splendidly as the puzzle Ares was contemplating earlier pieced itself together. Dido's true intent, with that little spatial anomaly earlier, had revealed itself and come to trouble Ares in the way it was supposed to but it was also providing him with a way out of this terrible situation! He'd been saved by the bell because Dido's original goal wasn't to interfere with the spatial passageway, it was to act as a beacon. The magic she ingrained into the passageway was indeed very obvious, too obvious. So obvious, in fact, that anything with a damn pulse could see it. Now, usually, that meant nothing. She'd left a spatial anomaly inside the void so yes, it stood out, but who exactly was around to see it? Well, there were only three beings that were known to trespass behind the folds of reality with any sort of regularity.

Ares,

Astraeus...

And the venators!

Spatial passageways, broken or otherwise, were dangerous not because of how they could be tampered with and made to go haywire, but because any cracks in their stability gave the venators prowling around nearby a way in to cause havoc. Venators leaping into passageways and attacking people was relatively uncommon but not unheard of. Typically, one of two things caused it. Either A, two experts had a fight and destabilised the passageway with powerful magic or, B, spatial magic was used in copious amounts and attracted the venators. Space, being the diametric opposite of nothingness, was an unmissable spark when seen from the void. Venators, aware that space was a potential way of escaping the void and invading reality, would flock to these beacons like bulls seeing red. Dido's earlier prank wasn't intended to delay Ares journey, that would be a mere slap on the wrist and not worth acknowledging, it was intended to give him a tag along companion for the ride by summoning a venator to his location! A venator that, while Ares' eyes were shut just now, had punched him smack bang in the cheek and sent him reeling deep into the passageway. Ares hadn't noticed this thing coming, he was far too distracted with his own downcast brooding to spot a monster creeping up on him from beyond the walls of the passageway, and he had genuinely been blasted away from the exit that he could no longer reach. This wasn't him going 'oops, I very definitely, unintentionally, completely accidentally, messed up and now can't return to the Lowe domain'. No. Like Velcro, or perhaps a bandaid, he'd been forcibly torn off his one track trajectory from an outside party and couldn't possibly rectify the situation! Ares had never been so happy to get his ass beat before! And the best part? It was all that idiot dog Dido's fault! It had been trying to mess with him, trying to force him to fight for his life in a narrow spatial passageway against a strong foe, but ended up saving his life instead!... Ok, maybe nothing that excessive, and 'saving his life' was a gross over-exaggeration of the truth, but in the moment Ares felt that way for sure! The next few years of his life were his own to decide once more!

Blood streamed down Ares face like he'd just taken a bath in a river of crushed tomatoes and his jaw was definitely broken, slightly unhinged even. He'd taken a serious walloping and a good deal of his face was misaligned which just made his victorious cackling and unrestrained grin that much more unnerving. Thankfully he was stuck inside the passageway and nobody could see or record him doing this otherwise he might have had various rumours spread about him being a creep or masochist, maybe even both. The venator had really done a number on him and was even close to killing him had Ares been struck in a way that caught his brain more directly. Ares was a tough nut, though, and could take a hit or two and so was still alive and kicking in spite of the rude awakening. That punch had single handedly dispelled the despair lingering over Ares in one fell swoop.

As for the venator, they were a purple human, basically. Venators came in all shapes and sizes, most were human, and this one just so happened to be a very plain venator. Bog standard, run of the mill, nothing unexpected. It was recently born, its relative weakness compared to the rest of its race made that apparent, but it was still a problem most people couldn't solve like a Rubik's cube with a missing square. Their souls intertwining with void, and becoming the core foundation of their indestructible bodies, meant Ares was the only person around for miles that could fight off this purple freakshow thanks to his ability to interact with souls that he honed back on the Federation against the wyvern. It was still an ask, and he couldn't take this foe lightly, but he had to do it. The exit to the Lowe domain was closing, the venator seemed intent on bothering Ares, and Ares had to make sure this thing didn't sneak into Sheryashka otherwise it would be unstoppable. The knowledge of how to deal with venators was maybe known only to a select few individuals living in Akarala thanks to the Frozen Thunder League's long standing heritage. Sure they could do something about one measly newborn venator but the mayhem it would cause prior to their intervention was enough to put Ares in a bind, a position where he felt that dealing with this thing here and now was important.

There was definitely no way Ares was making it out into the Lowe domain now so he was in a fantastic mood; his foggy and foul aura clouding his judgement, obscuring his awareness, and dragging down his disposition had all been wiped away. He was in a great way and more than willing to take on this venator. That being said...

Poof

There was no need to! With newfound clarity, Ares simply manipulated the negative spatial avenue to chuck out the unwelcome intruder! This was basically his home and he had the means to kick him out! With a click of a finger, the passageway narrowed and sucked the venator out, flinging him miles away back into the void. From there Ares manifested a few void chains to lock up the trouble child. He could have killed it but unfortunately his time here was limited. He could delay things for a while but the passageway would start crumbling if he hung around too long and he had no intention of getting randomly stuck in the middle of nowhere, not after he only barely managed to worm his way back into Sheryashka.. The venator was unbelievably resilient and Ares did not have the leisure to destroy it at his own pace. He'd never fought one before and learning its patterns, abilities, magic, and how best to kill it would take far too long. Besides, there was no real reason it ought to be able to follow him now that it was chucked out of the passageway and left to wander in the void again. Ares turned around and left it to its own devices... Unaware of the small blue glow attached to the back of his leg, a glow that the abandoned venator was more than happy to follow for as long as it took to escape this insufferable red hellhole of never ending boring eternity. Venators were instinctually drawn to murder the living, those without twisted souls, and it new all too well that following that light was his ticket out. Breaking into reality was a lot harder than breaking into a spatial passageway, so it would take some time for the venator to pop out into Isaz, but, unbeknownst to Ares, it definitely would.

A few hours passed and, eventually, at long last, Ares was freezing his ass off in Isaz once more! He still had his Brotherhood robes on and, while they certainly were great at keeping out the cold, they weren't tailor made for it like the Scaled Insulator was. Ares was about to take off the robes, begrudgingly as they were comfortable, stylish, and very sturdy, but he found a small rune on the inside that acted like a mini heater while active and it only costed tiny amounts of mana to maintain. The cold vanished instantly and was replaced by a comfy haze so it seemed he could continue wearing this for now. The robe wasn't better than the Insulator, it would struggle in extreme conditions, wasn't capable of using arts, couldn't expel flames on demand to attack with, and didn't have potential draconic upgrades in the future, but it was definitely better to use right now in Isaz at least. There was nothing here in the region specifically designed to freeze a person to death, no ice traps or excessive minus degree temperatures. It was a relatively normal cold area for the most part with the only real stand out being the mutated mountain that Ares was now heading towards. His biggest threats were the Frozen Throne, the wildlife, and the neo Vikings, all of which were better defended against with the superior craftsmanship of the robes than the Insulator. Maybe as he climbed the mountain, and reached higher altitudes, would he need to whip out the Insulator to resist the aggressive climate. For now, though, the protection offered by the robes was infinitely more applicable against what he needed it for. Also, this robe was probably crafted by Mimi herself and remembering that, each and every time, brought a small smile to Ares' face and lifted his spirits. That and the shade symbol on the bottom of his Protection Racket, after how their last interaction went, would never not be funny to him.

Ares set off and vowed to make it to the mutated mountain within the next day or so. It was already relatively late, and he was in the mood to rest in the Roving Elliot for a while after travelling a bit, but there ought to be nothing stopping him from trekking to the mountain tomorrow without hindrance. In the mean time, he could sort out all his yet-to-solved problems one by one and start working on overcoming them. He still needed to control his annihilation better, to funnel it into Visitation, and that would be his most immediate priority. His use of Skip earlier had once again broadened his horizons when it came to nothingness and nothingness knowledge would then cascade into Backfire Binding improvements and, finally, moulding annihilation would maybe be possible. The ground work was plentiful but, now that most of it was already done, Ares had to piece everything together to get the result he was aiming for.

Ares also wanted to start thinking carefully about his scythe mastery and where to take it from here. Even if he wouldn't make any ground-breaking discoveries yet it was still good to experiment somewhat and maybe start opening up pathways for the future. Also also, exploring his new and improved Quietus and Protection Racket in full, maybe testing it on some monsters here and there, was in the cards. Finally, at least in terms of what Ares could remember off the top of his head right now, the Brotherhood robes had many runes worth analysing with Omniscience to get a feel for what they did. It was like a larger Stygian Zephyr, in that it was a Swiss army knife type gear, but had very different uses from what Ares had seen. Most runes attached to this were for convenience's sake so it made wearing both the robes and the Zephyr complicated.

The Zephyr didn't really fit alongside the robes and so Ares was made to choose between protection and utility Vs both offensive and mobility tools. It wasn't an easy choice, and he'd have to swap between clothes at the start of fights to make sure he was wearing something appropriate for whatever he was going up against, but it was definitely worth thinking about and coming up with a general plan of action. For instance, he could wear the Scaled Insulator alongside the Zephyr, which was a strong combination that also provided decent defensive properties, but it wasn't as great as it seemed on the surface. The Scaled insulator was baggy, it slowed Ares down and cut his speed, which meant he might take a hit or two he wouldn't have otherwise without it on. On the flipside, the Brotherhood robes were lighter, and he could dodge easier when wearing them, but Ares wouldn't have access to the Zephyr as a gliding tool or a mid-air platform. He was trading normal mobility for aerial mobility in this case. It might even be a good idea to wear neither the Scaled Insulator or the Brotherhood robes and just stick with the Zephyr by its lonesome sometimes as that offered him the most mobility. Pros and cons, pros and cons. All worth thinking about... Unless Ares wasn't in the mood, in which case he could just, you know, transform into Garmr... Once he reached bloodline awakening Ares' choice of clothes would hardly matter if his best course of action was to wear basically none and go commando in his big wolf form! Just as nature intended! Ares contemplated such matters long into the night, even dreaming about them once he finally fell asleep, but soon it was a new dawn and time to rise and shine. Though his journey up the mountain had been delayed, and hadn't even started properly yet after he got massively side-tracked, it was about time he trudged his way through piles of snow and over bridges of ice to find himself a Celestial Cluster treasure!

Elsewhere, back in the void, however, a certain baby venator was hacking away at the folds of reality in a bid to follow the blue glow that disappeared around this very spot. That wasn't the most interesting thing about this current situation, though, as the origin of the blue glow, the mana source, an ethereal blue, and slightly see through American Eskimo dog, was watching all of this unfold with a smug smile and beady eyes. Dido's head rested on a perpendicular angled paw while the other front leg dangled lazily to and fro in the void. Once her unwitting minion cleared the path, Sheryashka was going to have a new top dog in town.