Ares whistled to himself as he twirled the keys to the Elliot in his hand while walking back to his 'getaway' vehicle. He'd left the scene of the crime a bloody mess and was going to take his leave with a clear conscience. The cultivators did wind up picking a fight with him and it unsurprisingly turned out to be a mistake they wouldn't live to regret. It was a cascade effect as once one or two idiots jumped into the fray the rest followed soon after thinking they had a numbers advantage that would net them a victory. Only two people were smart enough to not be overly eager in throwing themselves onto the chopping block and they stayed alive by the end of it thanks to their foresight. Ares had bombed the rest of the cultivators into tiny pieces and ran multiple holes through them with the flag. It was a gruesome sight and the fight was so one sided it wasn't even worth describing as Ares probably could have won with one eye closed and a hand behind his back. To their credit, the cultivators did manage to hit the flag and beat it back a little after working together but such a minor achievement was never going to save them in any way. The victor was clear within a minute of the fight starting.
Just because a treasure or resource was worth dying for that didn't mean their deaths were worth it, they stood no chance of getting the resource from the start so it was a false premise. Ares spared those who attacked him no mercy and moved on with his life promptly afterwards, ignoring the two who practically begged Tom Tom for an exit to the hub room on both knees and fled. It meant they'd have to do the floor over again, and that fight with the Anubis too, but it was preferable to staying anywhere near Ares as he was unironically more dangerous n their eyes and they weren't necessarily wrong. If he snapped and chose to kill them too there was nothing they could do to stop it. He wouldn't but they couldn't possibly know that so they made the wisest choice available to them and left. As such, Ares became the first person to ever clear floor twenty alongside...The 'riddle God' Aejaz... There were actually a few more riddles on that floor, after the boss room, and Aejaz' cockiness was wiped clean off his face as his track record of abject failure, that had been dormant recently, gained a second wind and came back in full swing. Wrong guess after wrong guess over and over... Ares was mentally and physically prepared for it but didn't appreciate it! He almost wished every single person in the Anubis room died earlier as then there would be nobody left to spread the 'riddle God' nickname far and wide. Everyone who knew of Aejaz' miracle nearly perished in the brawl so the world was thisclose to not having a riddle God and, quite frankly, that was still the case as far as Ares was concerned. Ares refused to ever entertain the idea that Aejaz was a real riddle God, not after the things he'd seen...
Ares managed to collect a few more miscellaneous resources and treasures here and there, most of which would go to the sect's treasury when he returned, by getting the first clear on the remaining rooms on the Anubis floor and then left to go back to Xasca city where he promised to meet up with Sandy in a few days time. He didn't know when exactly she'd get there but she mentioned, back before leaving, showing up in at most three days which was roughly how long it had been now. Ares wanted to go pay a visit to Transmit as well as he was sending the Legion sisters some dinner today after they requested a hearty meal in their most recent letter that Ares received on the way back to the Elliot. Maybe tonight was a special night for them or maybe they were just being greedy, it really could swing either way, much like Enyo, but Ares wasn't going to ask. They'd also flat out refused his attempt at sending them a stepper limb because they were hesitant to eat this unknown monster limb without seeing someone else eat it first. When he returned, if he ate it in front of them to prove it wasn't a prank, they'd entertain his whacky idea then. That was fair. He wouldn't ever prank them in such a fashion but they were wise to think he might as he wouldn't ever pretend such an idea wasn't tempting at least.
Ares set the Elliot to automatically drive over to Xasca while he pressurised the Deep Blue and finally finished up pressurising all his newer treasures. There were still other older ones on the list, namely the Primordial Blade, but pressurising was a slow burn and so Ares was just happy to strike another treasure off the list. As an aside, regarding the Deep Blue, it had been long enough now since Ares used the targeted Pelagic Prison on Sandy during their initial meeting, not the one he summoned around himself, so he could use it again now if he ever needed a temporary jail art for whatever reason. He was paying the scavenger base a visit soon so this might come in handy to stop Diggers from fleeing through the sand if Ares played his cards right. Or he might just not need it all, Diggers was pretty damn weak as far as Ares could tell. The main issue with Diggers was actually that Rod Aejaz mentioned that could control western monsters. Tom Tom mentioned the first and only discovered lab, prior to Ares' and Kazaz' snooping, didn't contain anything useful but he never mentioned what was actually taken. Ares figured this rod was a product Sevorus himself made and Diggers had somehow gotten his hands on it via his scavenger goons discovering the lab thanks to their sheer numbers stumbling around looking for corpses to loot. No doubt the rod was way more powerful than just being able to control one monster at a time but thankfully Diggers was seemingly incapable of really getting proper mileage out of it. It was better to deal with him now before the rod became a real issue and maybe it could be swiped and given to the fellahin elders as an extra method of protection after Sandy left. That was the plan, anyway.
After arriving outside the city, and parking in the shade of a large wall, Ares checked the nearby area with divine sense but initially didn't spot Sandy. He assumed she wasn't here but then realised there might be more to this situation than meets the eye so he stepped outside the Elliot and dangled a pleasant smelling chicken wing in front of him for a few seconds. A sand geyser erupted before him as a familiar greedy rhino shot up out of the sand and snatched away the goods, proving Ares' guess correct. He figured if she got here early she would just rest under the sand and treat it like a warm cocoon. His divine sense couldn't check under the floor so, aside from Omniscience which would have also worked, this was the next best method, baiting her out with food! The only problem with this method, if it could even really be called a 'problem', was that Sandy the sand shark was now going to want to eat more food and so Ares was going to have make more. He enjoyed it though, especially when the recipient of his efforts was as invested in eating it as he was in cooking it, so that was all good. Plus he could chat with Sandy and catch up over a nice dinner... Though Aejaz might be a bit of a third wheel... Thankfully he mentioned returning to the sect to sleep in the palace. Aejaz had earned it, apparently, for getting a riddle right. A day of sweet relaxation and basking in his resplendent success, as he put it. This was just a way of shirking any and all training Ares was going to put him through but Ares let him escape because he wasn't really needed for anything else happening today.
"We can talk more about it later but, out of curiosity..." Ares began chatting to Sandy as they walked back to the Elliot. "... Did everything go alright with the fine grind?" This was a pretty important step in Sandy's recovery so he wanted to make sure things were alright. He was reminded of this topic thanks to the amplifier he got earlier today. There had been a brief temptation to give the amplifier to Sandy and really rocket her potential to the moon but, at the end of the day, Ares had to keep legendary resources such as this one for himself. He could maybe look for more in the wider world one day but it was imperative he kept up his own rate of mythical resource and treasure acquisition up so as not fall behind. He had a lot of weight on his shoulders to carry so keeping something like the amplifier was unfortunately necessary. No matter how much he wanted to spoil his partners, present or future, there was a limit and this amplifier was it. He wouldn't hide the existence of it from Sandy or anything, he'd be upfront and she would no doubt not care, but he still felt a little selfish.
"Heh, why don't you see for yourself tiny ant?" Sandy waded over through the sand, cumbersomely dredging her heavy clothing towards Ares, and stretched out a bulky hand. The cloth-laden hand pinched Ares on the back of his neck and Ares was easily lifted off the floor and dangled much like the chicken wing from earlier. With one hand, Sandy had lifted Ares with ease and had plenty of room to spare. Her strength had undeniably increased by a factor that was extremely significant for the sake her future growth. Though Ares looked like a kitten being dragged around by the scruff of his neck as Sandy carried him to the Elliot, he was proud and pleased as punch things had gone without a hitch for her. There was a spring in her step so she was clearly a happy rhino too and it seemed like this good tiding took her mind off the hunter situation somewhat. She'd gotten everything troublesome back at the fellahin base out of the way now so a happy ending after years of hard work was finally in sight again and there was realistically nothing left to stop her, time could merely delay the start of her new journey. Even just returning to the Elliot, her and Ares' little pseudo love nest, and eating good food by his side was refreshing and gave her energy to power on. This place was like a portable charging station, filled with succulent meals, and was a particularly cosy one too. So much so that the two of its inhabitants got a little distracted and wasted too much time drinking and eating to go and deal with the scavengers today.
There was still time to go and deal with the stepper brood mother tonight, though, so the plan had changed a little. Tonight they'd deal with the brood mother, which was perfect as it hid pretty well during the day, and tomorrow they'd finish off the scavengers to round out the biggest western issues. Simple! From there Sandy had basically put in her three weeks notice, although it was more like a three days notice, and was no longer required to show up for work as her replacement was already learning the ropes and in a position to take over. She could follow Ares freely form now on and she had nothing else to do anyway so she'd probably mingle and ascend with him through the Riddlemyd. Tom Tom would let her join the group, Ares was sure of it. Currently, Tom Tom was pretty defeated and mentally checked out regarding Ares and Aejaz' antics so one more person was hardly going to make a difference at this stage regardless of how powerful they were. Sandy was strong but there was nothing she could deal with that Ares already couldn't. Maybe she'd help a bit during some of the more difficult remaining challenges but, really, Tom Tom was pretty sure only the final fight, and his own intervention, could possibly halt Ares in his tracks regardless. Plus, if it really came down to it, Sandy could just be a spectator and not be permitted to take part in any of the rooms or challenges. That was also fine as she was free and bored otherwise, although she'd much rather get her hands dirty and fight too, so she'd take what she could get. Either way it was up to Tom Tom's discretion.
Ares set a course for the location Sandy mentioned the brood mother was spotted at frequently and the two prepared themselves for the fight. Sandy put her bulky fellahin clothes back on for protection, as she'd taken it off during dinner... Although eating comfortably was mostly an excuse as she used the opportunity to get a bit tipsy and lean on Ares to feel his warmth directly. Sandy was a bold woman who knew what she wanted and didn't beat around the bush which was a fresh change from Bellona who was more timid when it came to displaying affection and had to be coaxed into it. Bellona was a long haul effort and would feel pretty earned. There was nothing wrong with either approach, they were just different and Ares was more than happy to tiptoe around their preferences for intimacy so long as there wasn't any signs of reluctance as that probably required intervention and a long discussion. Of course Enyo was the queen of this particular bold approach, and dwarfed Sandy completely, but she wasn't here right now to establish dominance in that regard.
Ares had informed Enyo already about Sandy and gotten a response that was basically summed up as 'cool. I'll check her out when she arrives'. Enyo was a bit easy going with stuff like this but she was actually really excited for another new family member too. She especially liked the name 'Redhome' and said it gave her 'good vibes'. Ares had a feeling Sandy would slot right in and get along with the sisters so he was quite looking forward to them meeting... Although he wouldn't personally be there when it happened. He'd discussed this with Sandy and she was going to go to Red Sun ahead of him while he went to Isaz. Aejaz, the Lighter Duo presumably, maybe Massai depending on what he was up to, and Sandy and her fellahin cohort that were following along after her would all be taking the Federation back across the ocean when next it docked here. The Federation usually aimed to stop by at its previous destination a few weeks after it first arrived there for return trips and Xasca was next on its list and would be everyone's ticket back to Central Land... Except for Ares, obviously, as he would be making his own way back later by Voidwalking his way across the continent starting from Isaz. If he reached bloodline awakening the amount of mana reserves he had, when combined with the Converter, would be more than enough for him to make the trip and maybe even back if he wanted to. Bonus points if he used telekinesis for a while to hover over the ocean on a makeshift platform as that took up basically no mana whatsoever. Ares could already make the trip but it would be a whole lot quicker after going up a realm as the range of his Voidwalk per step and the rate at which he could Shift through the void would both increase tremendously, maybe even cutting down on the journey time by about a third. Going up a stage was not the same as going up a realm so the gap between 10th stage of sensory enhancement and the first stage of bloodline awakening was truly massive. Plus bloodline awakening also doubled as 'aspect assimilation' so Ares proficiency with the nothingness pillar would see a sizeable improvement too. If a cultivator possessed a bloodline to awaken then aspect assimilation technically doubled as two realms at once and was seen as a major realm that really separated the wheat from the chaff.
While Sandy was getting dressed, Ares figured it was high time he named this damn eagle. If nothing else, it was annoying as hell to analyse a fight between his own eagle and any other whenever the situation arose as he would have to refer to them both as 'eagle' and that got obnoxious quickly. Like the fight against the Anubis, for example. His own eagle, though it pained him to admit it, was a special birdbrain so 'eagle' and 'Adaptive Shot' really wasn't going to cut it anymore and had overstayed its temporary welcome. Ares came up with many names before finally settling on one and summoning the eagle before looking it dead in the beak. "You. From now on, you shall be known as Garuda. I imagine this ought to sufficiently stroke your ego, yes?" The eagle side-eyed Ares, wondering what the trick here was. There was no way Ares would give it a name this glorious without there being some sort of hidden catch but it really couldn't sense anything amiss. Plus, once the name was set for the art that was pretty much it; there would be no going back, removing anything, or adding anything either without both their permissions. Ares couldn't come up with some dodgy second name or alter the pronunciation of it to make it weirder. Whatever he was planning had to be based around the name 'Garuda' as is. The eagle, however, was starting to believe that maybe Ares caved and simply gave it what it wanted so he could put this matter behind him and move on. It took about five minutes of deep contemplation before the eagle eventually nodded and Ares smirked in response. "Congratulations. I hope you're happy. You are now officially Ga-ruder than every other bird in existence you feathery prick!"
SQUAWK
A fight ensued in which Ares was pecked and the eagle was bitten but no clear winner was determined by the time the group arrived at the ruins the brood mother frequented. Sandy officiated their match and declared it a draw so they went back to their respective corners of the Elliot and glared at each other from across the caravan. Ares stopped paying it attention, though, as the area outside was pretty interesting. Upon seeing this, Garuda snorted and disappeared because it had accepted that this name was inescapable now. Besides, the name Garuda was still a respect worthy name for the most part so both parties here had gotten their wish. Garuda got a Godly name not inferior to 'Ares' in any way while Ares got to insult the rude bird openly. It was a win-win but Garuda still had a bitter taste in his mouth for being played like a fiddle! He would not forget this slight and vengeance would one day be his!
As for what Ares was looking at... Hands... Lots and lots of hands. Stepper hands, to be exact. Large ones too that were bursting out from the sand and groping at air aimlessly. The area here was a decently well known ruinous place wherein an old civilisation once perished thanks to an almighty sandstorm that swept way all life. This was long before the brood mother took over, and had nothing to do with it, but now it was home to a pretty terrifying monster that abducted the terrain and made it its own. These hands were a sort of passive effect of the brood mother and they followed it wherever the monster went. They provided the brood mother with awareness of its surroundings and it could launch attacks at people through them. The hands weren't particularly strong or anything, they seemed quite poisonous though, but the feeling of being surveilled twenty-four seven when within its territory was eery. The hands, partially blending in with the darkness of night due to their murky and dusty black colour, were all currently directed towards the Elliot but, as they couldn't move, their encirclement remained motionless but alert. The brood mother was relatively non-aggressive as its intention was to just keep popping out steppers and little else. That was its one job in life and maybe it didn't even understand why it was doing it; there was really no way of telling as it didn't possess a particularly high level of intelligence. It was smarter than the steppers it produced, sure, but not any smarter than the psychopath stepper from before and was pretty incapable of discussion. Anything that invaded its personal space it would attack, it was that simple.
According to Sandy the brood mother's main method of said attacks was to rely on its humongous size and ability to spread potent, corrosive poisons. It actually didn't have that many limbs, compared to other steppers anyway, nor was it invisible, so it had a very different toolset. It wasn't unique, the other steppers inherited a lot from it, and it never received the Sevorus treatment, only its spawn did, so it felt a little basic as far as monsters went, actually. It was the blue print, essentially, from which its spawn was improved drastically. Still, it was an ancient creature that had seen the rise and fall of various eons and was at the very peak of what was accomplishable cultivation-wise in this domain. It was smart, knew how to survive, and was more than capable of fending for itself. Even though Ares was mostly immune to poisons he was admittedly somewhat concerned about the effectiveness of the brood mother's. Ares' regeneration healed damage dealt to him fairly quickly, so counteracted against poisons reliably, but if the poison was simply too strong then there was a chance his regeneration couldn't keep up. His regeneration was sill in its infancy so he might not be able to ignore these poisons so freely depending on how strong they were, exactly, and that was concerning. These hands outside the Elliot alone were enough to give Ares pause so it seemed like the brood mother had taken a very different path compared to the psychopath. The psychopath honed its limbs and combat techniques to be a lethal warrior whereas this monster seemingly had little interest in attacking others directly. Though the psychopath was tougher, there was a very real chance this monster was more annoying if nothing else. Ares would just have to see for himself...