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Whistle
"That's not half bad." A nod, and few words, of approval signified Ares' respect. It's not as if the suiciding guardian came even remotely close to him in terms of destructive capabilities, it didn't, but combining its death with the Meteor collision was creating a very wide spread event and quite the colourful one too. All sorts of elemental mana was firing off every which way like a light show while the ground rumbled and curtains of pure white energy descended over the sandy plains. Or, well, they were sandy but Sandy had retracted it all so now the area was back to being a grassy haven. Not that anyone could see it as even stretching an arm would render their own hand obstructed by the mana ravaging the surroundings. It was safe, though. Very safe. Not just because everyone was in Enyo's Shrine but also because the dampening effect reduced the output of the hazards by a significant margin. Ares was currently taking a stroll around outside Enyo]s barrier, in search of the remains of the guardian, and all he needed was a thin layer of disintegration over his body to remain unharmed by the storm of mana. The ground under his feet had a holy aura emanating form it that the Meteor fragments and bird bricks rocketing about the place like dangerous projectiles couldn't penetrate. It was comfortable to tread upon but, functionality wise, nothing could realistically damage the surrounding area because of it. Ares had been treading very even ground which was incredible given the fact that a Meteor had just hit this place not even a few seconds ago.
Of course Enyo, and everyone else, had performed as expected. They'd done well. But, circling back around to the original point, the guardian was 'not half bad'. This had just been one of six and while it was felled by a handful of cultivators in a single combined effort it had put up a respectable fight. Against this specific group that was honestly admirable and worthy of the quiet slow clap Ares was giving it as he wandered around in search of its corpse, or what was left of it anyway. He wasn't expecting to find much, the head was the only normal part that might be worth anything but it was also the most defenceless and probably turned to mush already. Still, a monster like this might possess a core of some kind, Ares viewed it as being incredibly similar to a golem, so he was off in search of it on the off chance he wound up with good loot. Not for him of course, he didn't do anything to help kill this guardian, but recovering it safely for the others was the least he could do. Wit his Omniscience, and sufficient capacity to defend himself from the unexpected, it was for the best if he checked the remains of the self-destructing bird to make sure it didn't have any more tricks up its feathered sleeves... Though it was debatable whether he was suited to this role after being done in by the Thundraga paralysis trick. To be fair, that was different! The bow had already accepted him so Ares lowered his guard because he didn't think Thundraga would launch an actual attack on a recently reborn Dominus. Though he was known for keeping his cultivation on death he'd been gone for so long that there was a risk he hadn't this time as something had clearly gone wrong. Thundraga, not knowing his condition, wouldn't play around with that risk and potentially by the person to re-kill Dominus when he was finally back. With that in mind, Ares lowered his expectations for danger. Against an enemy, or even a shady friend, Ares would never waltz right into a potential trap like that without double or even triple checking it. And again, Omniscience was the best tool for the job regardless. Why send someone else to defuse a potential bomb when the guy with the clippers and instruction manual was right there?
Though it was all a precaution it wound up being the correct decision as Ares happened across a seemingly innocuous, colourless brick. It was completely see through with only the chalky-black outline visible so theoretically it could have been anything but it was brick shaped and so Ares made the connection and assumed that's what he was looking at. He hadn't seen this brick on the bird anywhere at any point during the fight but it clearly existed and so he reasoned it was its core and was content to take it back to the group for their own use. Really, a material like this was probably best given to Dabble but it was always better to make sure nobody else could get any use out of it before handing it off. At least, that was what Ares was going to do. His Omniscience, however, warned him that was a bad idea because of a slight bluish flame hiding within the centre of the invisible brick that he otherwise wouldn't have spotted. When Ares temporarily turned his omniscience off, the flame would vanish, only reappearing after he turned it back on. The brick remained invisible regardless, so that was clearly just its natural state. It wasn't a visible entity to begin with, it hadn't been made invisible, it was simply how this material worked. The blue flame was a different issue altogether though and where it came from was also a concern. Kelo-Koloko wielded many types of magic, some of which it didn't even get to show, but they all had a commonality. They were all basic. Not in terms of scale but rather in terms of remaining true to the element. Blue fire existed but the guardian had no incentive to ever go down that path and seemed locked to the basic elements anyway. Red blood thunder existed but regular thunder did the trick as far as Kelo-Koloko was concerned. There were always upsides and downsides to learning variations of magic, more power less speed etc... And Kelo-Koloko was incredibly simple in thar regard as it chose not to deal with any of that and run the standard elemental arts one would expect. Unique arts were as creative and experimentative as it was willing to get do what was the blue mana lingering inside the brick? Certainly not anything Kelo-Koloko would have used, that's what.
Water and, by extension, ice mana could be blue. Sure. Metal and light in certain circumstances could also be blue. The former when the metal in question was blue and the latter in colder regions where auroras were prevalent. Blue wasn't an unusual elemental colour but a blue fire? The mana was flickering like a silent flame, ready to burst into embers. Plus it wasn't exactly the deadliest thing ever. It wasn't harmful but it wasn't harmless either. It was the kind of fire that would grow in the dead of night and set the Elliot ablaze. It wouldn't kill anyone but it was an obnoxious prank that might hurt a little. Kelo-Koloko was undoubtedly petty but surely it would have done something more aggressive than this? And blue fire wasn't a part of its repertoire anyhow so this reeked off outside intervention. Who and why, though, was impossible to guess. 'When' was also a pretty major question that needed answering as it was the difference between intentional sabotage or selfish experimentation. If this core was modified earlier, before the group arrived, then there was nothing much to say about it other than that somebody had taken inspiration from Sevorus and was dumping the results of their tests wherever they pleased again. If this happened at any point after Ares group got into the scuffle then this was targeted. Also, Ares hadn't seen it happen which was slightly worrisome. Nonetheless, there wasn't any way to prove mal intent here and he'd spotted the ember before it became something more troublesome. It was best if he stored this brick inside the Blade and kept it away from everyone else until he could dismantle whatever the 'trap' inside this thing was exactly.
As the dust settled, and vision beyond an inch or two was restored, Ares made his way back over to the shrine where Aejaz was moping. He'd been quick to realise that the area outside the Shrine wasn't dangerous so long as he protected himself and wanted to go searching for loot. Ares saw this and his gut instinct told him to go and be the one to check so he held Aejaz back and went in his stead. Returning now something about Ares must have given the game away because Aejaz had a sixth sense for loot detection. He was already sad he didn't get to go and hunt for treasure and seeing Ares come back with his pockets full was enough to make a grown thief cry. Worse still, he'd convinced himself from the get-go that Ares wouldn't share the wealth he stumbled upon so he was feeling mighty conned right about now. Out of pre sympathy, Arse showed Aejaz the goods. "Look. Invisible brick. Don't know what's it's worth but you could have a lot of fun chucking it at people you don't like I guess." Aejaz' eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. This was unironically a good weapon for him in its own way as he could return it to his hands after chucking it from the shadows. He could lob this at a sentry's head and the partner standing on guard with them wouldn't see a damn thing. Before they could find the weapon it would already be right back in Aejaz' mitts, ready to be thrown again and finish the job. An invisible brick with unlimited 'ammo' was certainly crude but nobody would argue it wasn't functional so it was obvious Aejaz wanted it... Though he really did have better options. He just wanted a new toy! "I'm not giving it to you."
"I knew it!" Aejaz cried aloud and pointed his finger at Ares, waggling it for good measure to really express his feelings of betrayal. "I knew you were going to horde all the goodies the second you told me to wait here! And then you have the nerve and audacity to flaunt that beautiful brick in my face!"
"Ok, first of all, it's invisible. Beautiful my ass. Second of all, don't be a muppet. What makes you think I want this useless brick!? The only use I can get out of it is hitting you over the head with it! I'm confiscating it until I disarm it. The fact that nobody here other than me can see the danger hidden within this thing means none of you are allowed to hold onto this brick until I say so! Youin particular!" Ares returned the finger wagging gesture and he and his brother had a staredown while their fingers warred in the coliseum of wriggles.
"Hmph, the invisible brick is hiding invisible danger within? How convenient! I don't believe you!" Aejaz genuinely believed Ares was messing with him and jsut coming up with excuses to keep the brick for himself. To be fair, it wasn't exactly a far fetched conclusion as it was really the kind of thing he might actually do. Ultimately, though, he was satisfied when Enyo assured him Ares wasn't actually lying this time via her bloodline... Well, he wasn't fully a believer, Ares could cheat Enyo's bloodline, he'd done it before... Still, he didn't think Enyo was lying. She was on Ares' 'side', sure, but her lying for his benefit over a silly brick wasn't really in the cards. Everyone was just going to have to take Ares' word for it that there really was something lurking inside the brick and that it was better kept at a safe distance for now.
"This is where I would give you all a reward for a good performance but I don't really have anything to give so I guess I'll make whatever food you want for dinner tonight... Though I do that anyway..." It was meager compensation for taking the brick away temporarily but it was better than nothing. Some were more pleased with this outcome than others, namely Sandy, for reasons that didn't need to be explained, Allie, who was craving a banana split, and Enyo who wanted to 'eat' Ares. The latter would not relent until she got her wish, and would die on the hill that it was a technicality but still counted, so Ares had to take her somewhere into the forest region a mile or two away from the group, lean her up against a tree, and show her the 'deep woods'. Once he was done planting seeds, they returned and spent the rest of the day sort of meandering in the grassy plains, taking a break after fighting a guardian. There was no real time limit for this trip so kicking back instead of rushing was perfectly reasonable even if Kelo-Koloko hadn't been particularly tiring. It made everyone use their brains more than usual, that was true, so this could be considered more of a mental reset than recovery of physical exhaustion. Either way, it was a pleasant time and Ares distributed meals as was requested of him... Though Aejaz had a few complaints when Ares gave him a bit extra to his order. He definitely hadn't asked for a yule log 'in the shape of a brick' but he knew why he received it and did not appreciate it one bit! He couldn't stomach the sight of it, it reminded him of his precious brick, which he'd already nicknamed 'Throwy' for some bizarre reason, so he let his greedy other half devour it after she was done chomping on her banana split. Ares could have sworn he saw his brother shed a tear for Throwy while it disappeared into Allie's stomach but that was none of his business.
Night came and went, much like Ares in the forest with Enyo, and it was time to hit the road again. The Elliot was cruising once more, this time with Bellona driving because she was in the mood to burn rubber... Thankfully not literally. She drove while abiding by the bare minimum responsibility needed to not crash and not make the passengers hurl the contents of their breakfast. As for said passengers, they were currently discussing the exact location of the bow they were chasing down. According to Ares it was on the border between 'bloody big bear' and another guardian's territory, luckily leaning more towards the former. It wasn't moving currently, as far as Ares could tell, but there was another presence beside it. Bloody big bear was known for not leaving the central region of its territory but perhaps it was curious about this inhuman intruder and went to investigate... Though why it was still hanging around the bow after days of staring at it Ares didn't know. Maybe the bear was reverent towards Thundraga as the other guardians and it was conducting some multiple day long tribute to the bow or whatever. Still, this was relatively problematic to some degree. Ares had been asked not to make a bear-skin pelt as this guardian in particular was the only one actually appreciated by the local tribes as it was a symbol of inaction typically. It defended itself and that was about it. It trained those who entered its metaphorical 'Thunderdome' by sparring with them, it prevented violence in its territory so it was a good location to hide out in if a straggler was lost in the forest, and was generally seen in a positive light. It was a recluse who didn't like others in its territory but didn't kick them out either. So long as nobody tried to lay claim to it there was really no reason to actively avoid passing through if somebody needed to. So why was it awkward for Ares? Well... He wanted his bow back! Typical that the otherwise quiet bear would take an interest in his treasure! The bear that doesn't leave his training grounds come hell or high water just had to go and leave his training grounds the second Ares didn't want him too! If it weren't for the fact that the bear spoke human languages rather well, though rarely spoke, he would curse the damn thing out upon catching sight of it. Ares could only hope diplomacy was on the table because he wasn't about to give up a God's legacy treasure over some wild animal who gained sentience. Bloody big bear was the strongest guardian but Ares had no worries he couldn't bury him alongside his ancestors if push came to shove. Also, why should he have to be diplomatic and negotiate in the first place!? It was his bow! Just because it was getting moody and running away from home that doesn't mean the bear can take it in and become its adoptive father!
While Ares was muttering to himself about the best way to cook bear meat, the group had long since entered big bear territory and were marvelling at how pretty and well maintained it was. Full of life and colour, happiness and peace had attained harmony in this area. Birds chirped, pink flowers bloomed in large quantities, the air was fresher than it was even in Kelo-Koloko's domain. The natural order of the world seemed 'right' here and there wasn't really any other way of describing it. How exactly big bear kept the region this serene was unknown but it did a swell job of it... Though the reason would become clear soon and it was quite a sobering realisation, one that hit quite hard given the stark contrast it provided to the current scenery. See, about ten minutes of semi-reckless Bellona drifting later, the group found a clearing to what appeared to be a wasteland arena. A football pitch sized no-man's land had been carved into the region, dead centre, and stood out like a sore thumb. The boundary between nature at its finest, and sentience at its worst, was a thin line. On one side, bountiful harvests of fruit and a parade of sensory enlightenment and satisfaction. On the other, blood stained, cracked brown ground. Uneven and sharp earth and white lines carved into the ground to signify were the violence started and ended. Anyone who stepped within the no-go zone was giving explicit permission to make their own lives forfeit. The amount of blood that had seeped into this earth was inestimable as parts of the arena were stained a dark red like they'd been burnt under the scorching sun for hundreds of years straight. And yet Ares couldn't sense the presence of overwhelming death mana, funnily enough, so there weren't actually that many corpses buried here if any.
The vibe he got from this bear-home was that a warrior who fought hundreds of thousands of battles stood tall, beat back all opposition, and showed innumerable instances of mercy. Mercy but not quite forgiveness as the blood shed was not trivial. Years and years of enforced solitude, fighting off all those who wished to change the status quo. To think this place had too once been like the surroundings but was turned into this all because one bear resolutely refused to budge an inch was rather stirring in its own way. Supposedly big bear was usually here practicing something akin to 'Wushu', a martial dance that served as both training and ever-constant warm-up for the unending line of foes that sought him out. His movements were at one with the universe, as though he blended in with the heavenly region, but that was a might difference from the blood-soaked lands he danced across. He was a monk who belonged to the peaceful side of this region but had unwillingly been made to create this zone of brutality, ever expanding it time and time again. Though Ares wasn't exactly helping, he felt a rising urge to throw hands with the bear too... He would still avoid doing so if possible but he wouldn't complain if he couldn't. He'd been relatively uninvested in bloody big bear up until now but how he could remain tha way after seeing this? If nothing else, big bear reeked of opportunity. This one piece of land had single-handedly convinced Ares the bear was worth sparring with and that he might even get his ass kicked Veteran style. Of course that was on the condition Ares didn't use his magic, annihilation pressure, or Garmr but that was the point. If it boiled down to hand to hand combat and Ares couldn't win then this was an opponent worth training with if he could manage it. The bow was important but it could be put on hold as this was arguably a more valuable use of Ares' time. He'd always have an array of ridiculously powerful weapons and treasures by his side but, should he find himself bereft of them, knowing how to use old righty and lefty seemed like a good idea.
Put simply, it was time to wrestle with a bear!