After asserting dominance, Enyo spent the rest of the conversation acting like a normal human, one who was well adjusted to society... Minus the groping, she still did that and was fairly adamant about doing that. Something something 'bonding exercise'. Bellona did step in to try and save Sandy from her perverted fate but in the end she just wound up getting fondled too so the situation was looking quite dire indeed. luckily for both of them, however, a certain unaccounted for individual eventually showed up at the front door and Enyo's attention was instantly divided. The succubus had arrived! One of Ares' gifts to Enyo, the pet succubus! She'd also arrived in Red Sun alongside everyone else but went to check on news about her home town to make sure everything was ok in the region. Afterwards she got into a bit of a rough situation with some creeps, who were ironically probably less sexually deviant than Enyo, but was saved by the betting brothers who happened to be doing the rounds and scouting. Once they knew the succubus was related to Ares in some way they sent her on her merry way after giving her directions to the sect. Of course after arriving she was questioned as to why she'd shown up here and was escorted to Ares' house by Slick who was preparing all sorts of mockery for Ares when he came back.
Ares had two wives, maybe even three partners now that some other woman was being dragged in there by Enyo, and yet he was still playing around with succubi? Slick didn't know the whole story but he didn't need to in order to poke fun at that annoying bastard! Spreading a false reputation about Ares being some drunken prostitute chaser might not work very well, he wasn't even in the sect currently, but if even a few of the disciples believed it then Slick would be satisfied! Anyway, after dropping the succubus off she promptly introduced herself thinking she might be able to live a relatively normal life in this town... But Enyo would never let it be so. Enyo left Sandy with Bellona while she snuck the succubus into Ares' room, looked through her memories, and explained her new role as a pet. Put simply, Enyo would come up with pleasure pillar magic that could be used remotely on targets and test them on the succubus whenever she was in the mood to. She wouldn't do anything too personal, this was technically Rox's partner and Enyo didn't want to get too deeply involved, nor would she hurt the succubus if it could be avoided. Other than that, though? Enforced lewd dreams, constant arousal, art creation and experimentation, etc... Anything else was fair game and the succubus would not have it easy from now on as she would be the subject of Enyo's rampant curiosity in addition to transferring knowledge of the 'lewd' to her too.
As for where the succubus would stay... Ares could keep her beside Rox in the Blade and let her out every now and then when she wanted freedom or she could have a temporary residence in the sect once Ares became the leader of it. She could have a little cozy shack to live in with Rox or something; there was more than enough space in the sect to build them a hidey-hole somewhere they could live in peace... Relative peace until Enyo came and dragged the succubus away for periodic testing, anyway. It was actually somewhat concerning that Enyo's pleasure pillar affinity would see considerable improvements via the help of this succubus, it was already quite powerful in its own right, but at this point nobody could stop Enyo from doing whatever she wanted so she would make great use of her brand new toy excessively. To repay Ares she would send him memories of her time with Bellona in the Grecian Lands when next he was available. A reasonably fair trade.
Once that was all said and done, sorting out accommodation for the test subject, Enyo went back into the living room and found Bellona consoling a downtrodden Sandy who was feeling worse for wear and dispirited after being effectively tamed by Enyo. All her pride and confidence had been shattered, smashed into the dirt, and then she had her own nose rubbed in it as Enyo's fluffy boot stomped the back of her head. Of course Enyo lifted her up by the hair afterwards and gave her tender kisses as an apology but the damage had already been done! Sandy felt like she'd been savaged and only just come out of a hundred year war, her emotions were scattered over her inner no man's land and her brain was operating on fumes... Hot, steamy fumes...
Somewhat apologetic for her rough handling of the new recruit, Enyo lifted Sandy's spirits with food from Ares. If there was one thing that both sisters understood about Sandy from her memories it was that she was a glutton and then some, capable of putting even Xhilihx, devourer of dimensions, to shame. Enyo recalled nabbing Sandy off the street just after she finished eating too so Sandy was going to be the foodie sister it seemed. Her tour had been interrupted, so Enyo would make up for that later on and help her resume it with Bellona as away to get to know each other better, but for now some homecooked dishes Enyo had been storing for a rainy day was in order. There had been plenty of stick so it was time for some carrot, literally in the case of the roasted carrots Ares had made a week or so ago and sent via Transmit. The mini feast was one thing but, again thanks to the shared memories, it was clear what kind of person Sandy was and so Enyo promised to spar with her whenever she was in the mood from now on as it was also good training for her while Sadie was away. Sandy agreed and they actually found time later that same day to go at it with one another.
Sandy was left dumbfounded after she struggled immensely to get even a single win against Enyo whose cultivation was lower than hers! Putting it lightly, Sandy got her ass beat! She only stood a chance when she used her new-found elemental powers to their fullest and even then, as a raging elemental God of sand, it was a tough fight, forcing her to claw her way to a single win she wasn't sure she could replicate now that she'd lost the element of surprise. Either the power of love was far vaster than Sandy gave it credit for or Enyo was a once-in-an-eon genius. It was maybe a bit of both but, regardless, Sandy's respect for Enyo was pretty profound at this point because she was just a normal human for crying out loud! The level she was at was was preposterous given how little of anything special there was about her. Sure there was her past life as a Goddess but it wasn't exactly affecting anything at the moment so this was just Enyo's own raw skill without any tricks or advantages... No wonder Ares couldn't explain this woman's intricacies despite being engaged to her, she was just odd. Perhaps the best word that could encompass Sandy's understanding of Enyo was 'extreme'. Enyo was extreme. No half measures no matter what she devoted her energy towards; full throttle, peddle to the meddle, dialed to eleven-level conviction. Her love, barriers, and will were all unbreakable because her devotion and loyalty when it came to maintaining these things was 'extreme'.
...
Then Sandy fought Bellona. Bellona was rather forthright in that, before the match even began, she said two things straight to Sandy's face.
1, she was weaker than Enyo... But also...
2, she was sorry for what was about to happen.
Naturally Sandy wasn't in the know regarding Bellona's magic, so she was absolutely trounced hardcore, turned into a baby during one fight and struck by a meteor during another, but the humiliation went deeper. Losing to the second weakest of Ares' partners was one thing, it put Sandy dead last on that hierarchy / list... But Sandy could occasionally beat Enyo if she tried really hard! Why was Bellona unbeatable if she was weaker than Enyo!? It didn't make any damn sense and yet the fights were categorically one sided to the point it didn't even look fair from the outside! Bellona was putting in minimal effort but won every time anyway! If Sandy stayed human, she was subjected to incomprehensible barrages of elements, concepts like time and space, and could feel her body ail in ways she couldn't wrap her head around as her innards twisted into doughnuts and her brain's computational speed sunk into the abyss. Sandy figured she could maybe avoid these problems by turning into her giant sand elemental form but she was promptly shrunken down to a few grains of sand which were then blown away by a wind that inexplicably picked up and formed hurricanes on the spot.
Sandy, at this point, believed Bellona to be a mage specialist who could use an extraordinarily wide variety of pillars with great mastery but she openly said she was only using one aspect this entire time which blew Sandy's mind and caused her to reel comically! This was apparently the worst matchup Sandy had ever had against anyone in her life but, as mentioned earlier, the humiliation didn't merely stop at this. If she was beaten in a contest of magic she could sweep it under the rug but she also lost, hard, in close combat as she was whacked repeatedly over the head by Bellona's cane and ./ or suplexed into submission! Bellona had a strong physique, Sandy was aware of that going into the fights because her eyes were keen enough to pick up on the power packed into her arms and well-maintained frame. Sandy didn't expect to win a slugfest easily, per se, but she was confident her own might was enough to win out, when up close, consistently... Bellona was a freaking mountain! A mutated mountain, even! Sandy was unaware that Bellona had to use her magic to double her physical strength, and half Sandy's too, but she was left gobsmacked and decked on the floor with her world upside down anyway. Even if she knew, the fact that Bellona was strong enough at a base level to win a direct confrontation with only some additional magic was shocking down to the core. This sporty tomboy was surprisingly very beefy! Maybe she was secretly a gorilla wearing human skin?! Though, really, that argument didn't hold much weight coming from a rhino... Bellona didn't say anything but she was left nervously sweating as she'd never struggled to bash someone effortlessly in a fist fight. Sandy putting up that much of a fight and refusing to go down was like brawling an undying berserker with infinite rage and stamina... Sandy might not have won much, not even once against Bellona, but the sisters were wondering where on earth Ares found this freak of nature because she was clearly just as special a cultivator as they were and had some real potential. It would not be surprising if Sandy became a Goddess candidate down the line and people like her where not a dime a dozen. Ares seemed to have a 'strong woman' radar inbuilt into his veins at this point!
Anyway, Sandy was at a loss. She viewed herself as debatably the strongest person down in Sheryashka and yet she spent about an hour getting thrashed by some random pervert and her flat chested tomboy sister. The world was a very cruel place indeed. This was an eye opening experience if ever there was one. It even left Sandy wondering if becoming a pervert herself could make her stronger although, realistically, that was a power unique to Enyo... Thankfully Bellona came clean about her ridiculous unique aspect and Sandy felt somewhat better knowing there was little she could do about it. It wasn't an excuse, and she needed to work on her own skillset to be able to overcome these sort of unexpected surprises in the future, but it was relieving to know she hadn't just been completely outclassed because her own innate talent was lacking. From another perspective, she kept up with Enyo, perhaps the second strongest person in Sheryashka after Ares, and was merely blindsided and unable to adapt to a magic that was unlike anything she'd ever seen. No reason to become a dejected rhino! Plus Enyo gave her some of Ares' desserts so she was in a good mood and pepped up again almost immediately, like the previous defeats didn't even exist in her mind anymore. In this way, Sandy was really just as easy to read as Enyo in that what they liked, and what they were feeling, was quite obvious to anyone who paid any sort of attention. Easily placatable, basically, and simple and honest in their wants.
Back over in Isaz, while the first ever Redhome gathering was taking place, and as Sandy was ushered into the family with lewd teasings and sparring beatings...
"This is the place." A bundled up Frozen Throne disciple, pretty much indistinguishable from his comrade walking alongside him to his right, analysed the crash sight before him. The person who took the giant fist head on, and was ruthlessly blasted down to earth with a bang, landed somewhere around here and it was his, and his fellow disciple's, job to find them. They weren't the first team sent over to search but it became clear the body was buried under a sizeable mass of snow and so more thorough measures were needed to dredge up what they assumed was a corpse. These two disciples had magic that was specially tailored and suitable for detection. Preferably the buried individual was still miraculously alive, as then they could then sense his heartbeat or thermal signature, but if he wasn't they would still find him eventually it would just take a little while longer. It was a good thing Ares, before he fell unconscious, used the last of his strength to cover himself in snow otherwise he would have been found by the very first team sent over... But his time to wake up and defend himself was now running out and he needed to do something urgently. It had been about a day since he was struck down and he didn't have the luxury of being a lazy bones anymore!
The two disciples loitered about, using their magic like metal detectors to scan various snow piles here and there. They slowly wormed their way closer to the spot Ares was hidden under when a sudden shift in the floor caught their attention. Some snow rolled off a small mound and the sound of something beating under the floor drew their attention. They both walked over and stared at one particular spot where the sound was easiest to pinpoint as one of the two tried to activate their magic again and understand what was going on exactly... The magic picked up nothing. This was far too strange as it was pretty clear there was life underneath this snow pile trying to break free and rise to the surface... And yet apparently no such thing existed down there according to their reliable magic. They were disciples who were given the job, specifically, of tracking down and locating Throne members who had frozen to death and been lost to the mountain's harsh weather and other such trials. They were experts in this field and their magic was lauded by the clan so it was only natural they were overly confident in it. They would sooner believe there was some kind of anomaly causing a localised quake at this one anomalous spot rather than assuming their magic was faulty.
CRASH
""AHHHHHH!"" Both disciples yelled and jumped in fright as a hand shot out of the snow and reached towards the fresh sky. Though shaky, one of the two mustered enough courage to go and stand beside the stiff arm and try to poke it. This action netted a response as the strange hand grabbed the disciple's leg firmly while a dry, croaky voice groaned from underneath the sand.
"Braaaaiiiinnnnsssss"
"ZOMBIE!" Both disciples tripped over themselves as they ran away at full pace without ever turning back. This was perhaps an exaggerated response but also perhaps not. Zombies usually took a while to come back to life so one forming this quick meant the cultivator who served as the base was pretty strong. The hand didn't appear to be too damaged either so if this zombie was born of a powerhouse the deaths of the disciples would be all but confirmed if they hung around like idiots to check what they were dealing with. Also, the situation was too creepy! First their magic didn't pick up any life signals and then the hand began groping them liker some kind of subway pervert! It didn't help that the crash sight looked like an alien graveyard so the mood had been set long before this incident.
Shhhhh
Snow rolled off an upper body that rose through the pile it was buried under. Ares popped up out of the ground like a meerkat with a snowy ushanka lining the tippy top of his head as he wore a mean smile. his lips parted into a chuckle as he watched the Throne disciples scarper jsut out of the edge of his vision beyond the snowy storm swirling all around. "Hehehe, just kidding. There weren't any brains between 'em!" Ares stretched every limb imaginable, dusted himself off, and stood with an elderly sigh. He was feeling grand. There was no way he could be a zombie, he'd never been this alivebefore! He was like a sieve and fresh air flowed through him, bringing a soft but invigorating breeze with every blow of the wind. His blood boiled and the energy he contained within him was fit to burst at the seams. If that giant fist came back, through he couldn't actually do this, he was convinced he could fight it with his bare fists! He was overconfident but the main point was that he was feeling brilliant.
Ares' wounds were gone and in there place a verve that was empowering. A quick check, by cutting his finger, revealed to Ares tha this blood had become pure gold. He knew he'd undergo substantial changes, his blood especially, and that seemed to be cemented now. He would eternally be a golden blooded weirdo. He could also funnel disintegration or nothingness into his blood to tinge it a slightly different colour, and this probably brought about other untold changes too, but for now he was content with simply knowing he was definitively in bloodline awakening and he'd survived his trial. There was a lot to go over, his power was palpable and his aura was heavy, but he'd have plenty of time to figure these things out down the line. Ares took a deep breath and effortlessly glided through the snow. His foot broke through piles as though they weren't even there, he practically phased right through them as they weren't capable of obstructing him or providing any manner of inconvenience any longer.
Ares was a new man and he looked it too. There weren't many visual changes, he was just a bit more lean all around, but his presence was unmistakable. You would know he was there before you could even see him, it was a regal presence that commanded respect and displayed an unspoken authority. It was arguably similar to a Godly presence, like an infantile version of one. It would take one glance at Ares for anyone uninitiated to become aware he was someone who could not be trifled or messed with. Even Enyo and Bellona would view this as a stark difference, his being had significance. He was a fundamental champion previously but now he really felt the part, like he was someone greater who had a role to play that was far grander than any average person around him. Something about him just screamed 'protagonist' now and that was not something many people could accomplish because it required a combination of talents, treasures, hidden strengths, and bloodline advantages that was out of reach for the majority of the universe. He might as well have walked around with a large neon sign hovering above his head that read 'I'm special' twenty-four seven. He felt it too, he knew he'd come attention grabbing the moment his eyes opened under the snow even if he couldn't quite place the change. It was like his golden blood was giving his flesh a subtle sheen that twinkled in the eyes of others. He was a harbinger of gold and a herald of destruction, that was the only way he could explain it that made any sense... But he didn't have time to dig deeper. For now he wanted to find somewhere quiet, which was ironically difficult thanks to the massive show he'd put on yesterday, and cross the last hurdle to becoming Garmr. Ares had been sent all the way down to the bottom of the mutated mountain, he'd rolled poorly in a metaphorical game of snakes and ladders, but he wasn't bothered because he had a feeling he would be able to make up for lost time in a flash when he could swap to Garmr freely. Climbing the mountain as a human was laborious but... As Garmr? This mutated mountain would barely be any different from a jungle gym for children...