Chapter 297: The Meeting Begins

Time passed and only one incident really occurred during that time period. Calla finally figured it was time to take mini Ares on a tour around Sheryashka and take pictures with him. It was over and done with in a matter of, give or take, two hours but it had been a wild rollercoaster for the entire duration. The first stop was Baja forest where Ares was lain down on the floor and had the old group of hydra deer and treetop tigers smother him in bundles of fur. Calla took great joy in watching all the fluffy animals cling to her son and this was undoubtedly where she took the most pictures. The next stop afterwards was a relatively remote location that was yet another forest of some sort. Ares didn't know this one but, as it turned out, Calla was doing precisely as she wanted to back when she first saw mini Ares. That is to say, she was currently sitting him atop Serene's spare mecha dryad... She'd hidden it in a separate forest to the last one but, after being threatened by the fluffy matriarch, Calla had walked away with that information squarely in her back pocket in case she ever needed it. This being what she used that information for was rather strange but, hey, she seemed to be having fun so Ares and the mecha dryad, which was fearing for its life and quaking in its boots right now, complied and followed orders. Ares understood the mecha dryad, thanks to his bloodline that allowed him to communicate with non-humans flawlessly having improved as of late, but he understood well that even if he told Calla how uncomfortable this thing was right now she wouldn't care... Ares quietly apologised to the dryad both for killing its brother as well as putting it through this, as that was arguably the far more cruel part of this whole mess, as he sat atop its hull and waved with a forced smile.

Most of the rest of the photos after this were interesting in their own way as Calla made Ares take pictures atop giant cruise ship sized whales out in the ocean, had him freefall through the sky with no safety net, buried him up to his neck at a nearby beach, and even rolled him down a snowy hill... Although with that last one Ares could have sworn she was laughing way more than she was taking pictures! Not that she should do either! Also, what if he got ill again!?... Ok, that last part was an excuse because she'd made him wear the Scaled Insulator and his cultivation was decent enough now that the chances were slim. Anyway, these pictures were the more ridiculous ones but they weren't quite the final ones Calla had in mind as she also bought him some ice cream, amongst other minor day to day scenarios, while snapping away.

Ares thought his own personal hell was over until he found himself being whisked away once more. He saw where he landed and instantly wanted to run away! He tried escaping into the void but his tiny legs couldn't carry him fast enough and so his mother hoisted him over her shoulder by using her tail like some kind of portable crane. Ares wanted to flee and avoid the ensuing embarrassment but, alas, he was already in the clothes shop and there was no way out. The boy's clothes were fine, he managed that without a grimace... But the girls' clothes.... Ares never wanted to do this again... The humiliation was too strong... And the clerks who were failing to hide their laughter... Ares wanted to go hide in his bed forever... Not that doing so would erase those foul pictures his own mother had taken! Betrayal of the highest order! It didn't help that she showed Enyo and Bellona all the photos too when she returned with mini Ares in tow... Ares was never going to hear the end of this... It was far easier for him to slip back into bed and sleep his troubles away so that was precisely what he did.

Though he was mostly back to normal by the end of that day, regarding his cold, he still hid inside the room and never really ventured outside of it up until it was time for the meeting because there wasn't much for him to do. He could cook every now and then but, other than that, it was just a constant barrage of laughs directed at him for the whole clothes incident. Ares was making up for his many hours of lost sleep on the run up to the final match of the tournament and that was pleasant in its own way. The only other thing he could mess around with were the Backfire Bindings as pressurising them a bit here and there wasn't entirely out of the cards. It was small progress but that was still better than nothing and might actually help make pressurising them before he left for the Federation plausible. Most of the work would be done after he recovered proper but, until then, this would suffice. This sleep, cook, eat, get mocked, and pressurise process repeated for a while but, on the promised date and at the agreed upon time, Ares heard a shout from outside his house as Teng had come to guide him towards the meeting point.

Ares got up and got dressed, stretched as it had been a while since he left the bed last, and went outside where he met the elder he'd seen the least of as of late. Teng seemed to show up for official business and then promptly disappear into the bowels of the sect until he was needed again. The entrance exam, the inner court test, and the pre-tournament selection process. Those were the times Ares had seen / spoken to Teng and today marked the fourth. He wasn't an interesting guy by any means but he was consistently consistent. He followed the rules to the letter, did as was asked of him without complaint, and was generally really efficient. Definitely a good person to have around in the sect as a whole. Plus he was generally liked by the disciples for being on their side more often than not when it came to elder / disciple disputes. Even if the disciple was wrong, provided it wasn't too massive a mistake, he would try and bail them out so he was well respected. Also, he had insider information on the elders and what kind of moods they were in so avoiding trouble was easy whenever he had loose lips in the core court (which was where he spent most of his time).

Ares and Teng chatted away about the result of the tournament as well as Ares' crazy plans for the future as they made their way through the inner court and arrived at the gates to the core court. Ares had been here before but the place he visited was the venue for the international party and the sect HQ that one time so he wasn't all too familiar with the majority of the core area. Having Teng be a guide was handy as he was chatty about this sort of stuff and seemed to have a story for every building they passed by. Ares also got a chance to spy the living quarters, which was nice after Yulo pre-empted him a while back and prevented him from having an excuse to come in and see this stuff for himself. Still, this wasn't where he would be living as the sect master had their own lodging deeper in the sect. Where the sect master stayed could be considered a core CORE area as it was easily the most secluded spot in the entire sect. Unfortunately Ares wouldn't be passing by today but he would get to see it soon enough regardless and so didn't sweat it. Instead, he was taken to a rather large building that existed solely for the purpose of gathering the elders. It was the same place Rud had called everyone to that one meeting to discuss Ares after he passed the entrance exam as it had a few tools that made it convenient for such meetings. Namely people could be checked in and their attendance marked down automatically. Plus the lights in the room could be remotely dimmed and their were a few runes / artifacts present that made small tasks simple. A water dispenser, a heater / cooler, a microphone to speak louder and make sure everyone can hear you, etc... Just a bunch of really neat additions that turned the room into a casual war room of sorts. If ever the elders of this sect needed to plan for an upcoming war with another sect, or something similar in nature, this was the building that would be retrofitted for such a purpose.

Ares went in and used the identification token doohickie he got way back when he first joined to have his name jotted down on a list of attendees. He hadn't used this token much but it was useful whenever he wanted to enter the training areas and whatnot. Nowadays, as it had been updated by Rud at some point without Ares knowing, he could use the token to get just about anywhere. His status had been updated to be nearly equivalent to that of Yulo's ahead of time and so he had a lot of freedom in the sect. He could easily have come to the core court area for a stroll if he really wanted to but, as Rud hadn't mentioned this token business to him as of yet, Ares had no clue. Rud was an ass like that because although he done the job he'd been asked to, and updated Ares' privileges, nobody ever told him he had to inform Ares of this change! It's not like he didn't have ample opportunity to either as his clones were pretty much everywhere and Ares had walked by a few of them here and there. He might have considered telling him if the twerp didn't keep sticking his tongue and / or middle finger out at him. Oh well, karma's a bitch! It's not like Ares had much use for these access privileges anyway so it wasn't too big a deal and he wasn't missing out on much.

Ares and Teng entered the meeting room and there were already a few familiar faces, namely Zhang, Slick, buddy Ruddy, Lizzy, Dabble, and Julio. There were a whole host of others too including, but not limited to, the tier leaders in each court, various department elders Ares hadn't yet met, logistical elders, elders that spent most of their time outside the sect acting as liaisons, and everything in-between. Some elders dabbled in multiple fields and had a few different jobs all at once and some were legacy elders that had been here for a long while but no longer really worked on much. They would lend their aid and fight if anybody came invading but, other than that, and a few comments here and there to aid the disciples, they kinda just took up space. Still, they were friendly and loyal so they were given a small salary and allowed to hang around much like guard dogs past their prime. Nobody was heartless enough to get rid of them after all they'd done for the sect in the many years prior to most other people arriving here even if they weren't capable of contributing as much as they'd like to.

In addition to these groups, there were also a few new faces that had joined recently and seemed to be happy to see Ares in the flesh. A lot of these elders had joined specifically because of him and his plans for the future so naturally these weren't the elders that had gripes with him becoming the sect leader. As for those that did, it would mostly be a mix of elders from various different jobs in the sect as no one group had any reason specifically to despise Ares. It was just a bunch of individual grumpy elders who were either jealous, obstinate, or wary. They also seemingly weren't here yet, as Ares wasn't receiving any mean muggings or glare-downs, but that was to be expected as they wouldn't exactly show up early to this sort of meeting just for Ares' sake... Or well maybe they might if they really wanted to send the message they weren't fond of him by getting their unpleasant looks in ASAP. That took real dedication though and surely nobody would

GLARE

... Never mind. Scrap that last part. Evidently somebody really had it out for Ares! Thankfully Teng was kind enough to send Ares a mental message and maybe clarify why the hate emanating from this person was so considerable.

[That's Dascar and, put simply, he wants to be the next sect master.]

Ares got a good look at the fellow with a cigar in his mouth and the first thing Ares noticed was that he was always huffing and puffing... Though that might have less to do with his temperament or his cigar and more to do with his pudgy build. The man was at transition realm, near the early stages of it (putting him firmly in ass-whooping territory if need be after Ares recovered), and didn't really appear to be all that special. His bearing was confident, sure, but not in a way that would dwarf anyone else in this room if they all tried to match him. At a glance, at least, there was nothing about him that screamed 'worthy' of such a lofty position. Even excluding the people Ares knew were talented, like Slick or Rud, there were a bunch of unfamiliar faces in the crowd Ares would sooner pick for sect leader if he had to choose than this guy. Was he weak? No, he might actually be in the top fifty percent of the room as is, before everyone else arrived, but he wasn't anywhere near the heights of the strongest. He wouldn't make top ten in the sect, that was for sure, and even top twenty was likely a stretch. His cultivation was decently high but he wasn't as well trained as others and Ares could tell just be looking at him and his stance.

[Ha... The confusion on your face is kinda giving your opinion away... Not that the rest of us don't feel the same, mind you.]

Ares was taken aback because he genuinely wasn't aware he was looking at Dascar like the guy was out of his league. Maybe it was because he was a child and he didn't have quite the control over his facial muscles that he thought he did? Maybe Ares was so overtly assured this guy couldn't pose a threat that he just gave no fucks and let loose on the expression? Maybe Ares was subconsciously doing this openly to taunt him because his inner revenant was having a good laugh right now? Could be any of the above, really, but regardless Ares hadn't done it on purpose and so he stopped... Not that the damage wasn't already done as Dascar's glare was twice as fierce now as it was before at the bare minimum.

[He's been here longer than some but nowhere near as long as many. He's not a powerhouse nor does he contribute to the sect in ways that someone like Rud or Yulo does with their hard work. He can be lazy, he's not great with managing finances, in terms of leadership qualities he really doesn't possess any, and he's just generally disliked by disciples and elders alike. Even if another elder didn't want you to be the sect leader they wouldn't pick this guy, I can tell you that right now. We've no idea what makes him think he deserves the position but, and I'll be honest with you, none of us have ever cared enough to ask. I think most people would really just like to have him fired but supposedly he brings in a lot of revenue because he was born into money and has made extensive use of that. He wanted to run a sect since before he even joined and must have thought we'd be easy pickings due to our monetary issues. This was right before Yulo became sect master though and his status alleviated a lot of issues in and of itself. Throw in the stardust Dascar lent and the problem he wanted to capitalise off vanished on the spot. It's not like we were completely out of the woodworks but we weren't at rock bottom.

I think Dascar also picked this sect because he realised that, despite our relative poverty to other sects, we were still a strong sect overall. He wouldn't need to do much to turn Heaven's Path around provided he threw money at it because the roots were good. Even broke we were still middle of the pack, give or take, so he smelled blood in the water and leapt in at the worst possible time. Had he arrived any sooner, before Yulo took charge, he might have gotten his wish. He's probably stuck around this whole time out of desperation to get his money's worth and try to take over after Yulo leaves. There was never really a clear second in command and Yulo had made it obvious he didn't want to remain here forever. You're quite the thorn in his side as you're perfect for the role in every way. Plus, as a result of all the stardust we've earned off you indirectly, we aren't reliant on him anymore for money. You're his worst nightmare and he will no doubt be the person who gives you the most pushback during this meeting so keep an eye out for him. Still, he'll likely chuck plenty of bad faith arguments at you but none of the elders here are stupid and will just ignore him. Those that aren't fond of you have their stance but they aren't morally corrupt enough to back Dascar even when he's talking nonsense. Dascar is easily the worst person we have in this sect and it's not even close; the only reason we haven't kicked him out for good is because he's mostly kept his mouth shut. That doesn't mean you can ignore him entirely though as a broken clock can still be right twice a day. He might strike a chord that's actually relevant with his blind assault so be prepared.]

Ares took this information to heart and swore he wouldn't let this guy especially get the better of him. Dascar needed to be kept away from the reigns of power whatever the cost as he was no longer needed in this sect now that Ares was here. In fact, his first order of business as sect leader would be kicking this guy to the curb as the description given to Ares did not align with his vision for the place. Ares did not need nor want someone around only because they were trying to usurp his position or blackmail the sect a s whole with monetary aid. Nope! Not happening! Put simply, this guy was unnecessary bloat. Ares went over all of the worst possible scenarios in his head regarding what this guy could bring up that would be damning and came up with measured responses for all of them. There weren't actually that many but there were definitely a few sore spots that Ares wouldn't be too keen on having to answer because there was no cure-all comeback to them. Where these things damning? No, just a pain in the ass to have brought up as it meant Are was going to have to openly lay down the law.

As Ares went over various issues with his ascension to sect master in his head, the rest of the room gradually filled out and Yulo arrived last of everyone who was going to show up. He already knew precisely what time everyone would arrive at so he allowed his alarm clock to snooze a couple extra times without feeling too worried about showing up late. His prophecy magic didn't really have many better uses while he was stuck inside the sect so why not? He walked over to Ares, gave him a brief nod, yawned, and finally spoke when everyone had quietened down to listen to him. There was almost nobody who had issues with Yulo being the sect master, as he'd long since proven himself, so even the people who weren't a fan of Ares necessarily didn't have any problems with Yulo. If anything, the fact that he was endorsing Ares made a number of Ares naysayers hold their breath and refuse to comment otherwise there would have been nearly twice as many elders with complaints overall. There were still some that thought Yulo just desperately wanted out and wasn't thinking entirely straight, picking the first option that came to him, but they were willing to wait and see how Ares did first before complaining... Not that it wouldn't be too late by then but they didn't really want to oppose Yulo anyway. He was wise beyond his years and not the type to make an error when it came to such an important decision. They weren't sure what he was going to say but if he basically summed up his thoughts on the matter as 'he's next, deal with it' then these elders would just quietly put up with the choice.

Yulo used his magic a little just to check the response his upcoming 'speech' before actually giving it, as was customary, because if you had magic that could guarantee you picked the right dialogue option every single time then why not use it? Then again, his upcoming talk was going to be incredibly simple so there wasn't much to check and the reaction was roughly what he expected. "Alright, let's get down to important business. You all know why we're here, you all know Ares' plans for the sect, and you all know I'm going to endorse him. Anyway, I'm handing over the floor to him now so do whatever you want." Yulo turned around, walked away without a care in the world, and sat down in a chair in a position that implied he was going to try and get some shut eye...

The elders were shocked! it really looked like he was throwing Ares under the bus here but he had technically given the endorsement after all... This was his way of saying 'Ares is capable of defending himself, he doesn't need me and you're all free to try and disprove that'. In hindsight, after giving it some thought, this was arguably the best thing he could have done in this situation so although the elders were still reeling from his lackadaisical approach, they had to respect it at least. Unfortunately, however, this just went to show how capable Yulo was of making the right decision at every turn, with or without his magic, and now Ares had to go second after such a display. It was better for him in some ways and worse than others because now he could stand tall on his own two feet but he was going to be compared to Yulo and that was not easy competition. He was unphased though as he hadn't been expecting much support from the get go, all he wanted out of Yulo was for him to arrange the meeting in the first place.

Yulo honestly didn't have to show up and could have stayed in bed if he wanted to sleep so bad... Though it was better to have him here just in case things somehow got out of hand. It was unlikely but if two argumentative factions formed and a fight broke out then what was Ares supposed to do in his mini state?! He wasn't so divisive though, and had no intention of trying to create such factions to make his own life easier, so this was mostly irrelevant and Yulo really didn't have to worry about it. Oh well, him being here lent credibility to Ares as it felt more like a succession and less like Yulo casually abandoning everyone without so much as even making an appearance. It was probably better for his own reputation than it was for Ares'. Not that it wouldn't have a knock on effect on Ares if his reputation declined... Maybe he really did have to be here? Ares had to admit Yulo was clever for figuring this all out but if Ares had come to the same conclusion then that was good enough! Besides, what Ares might have lacked in foresight, which wasn't saying much when he was being pit against someone who could see the damn future, he made up for in terms of power and potential. Those where his best assets and what he really needed to focus on selling these people so, with that in mind, he took over Yulo's previous spot and readied himself to speak.