"'Don't overestimate yourself just because you're strong', huh... 'There are plenty of unknown variables out there that will give even you a run for your money', was it? Interesting..." Vargaraad's warning to Ares about the Torchbearer was stuck in his head because he'd not yet really come across any sort of threat to his life before. His strongest foes to date were the Tom Tom sphinx, which was promptly dealt with the second Garmr showed up, and the mecha dryad back when Ares was weaker than he was now. Being told he would struggle in a fight almost surrounded surreal to him and he really couldn't even picture it. It's not that he didn't believe the warning, he did because it seemed to come from a reliable enough place if his gut instinct was correct, but Ares couldn't for the life of him figure out how that was even possible. There were always hidden experts and crouching tigers but Ares had sort of brushed them aside in his mind because of his overconfidence. Even now, hearing about the Torchbearer's power only made Ares more interested in meeting him rather than less. Maybe he'd live to regret underestimating the Torchbearer, maybe Vargaraad was selling Ares and Garmr short and it would just be another foe swept away by limitless fundamental champion might. Ares' curiosity was very much piqued and he wanted to know now! What did a cultivator who could theoretically compete with a fundamental champion on even footing even look like? What treasures did they possess? What resources must they have gobbled up to keep in line with the most radical and explosive elements of cultivation society? How well would the Torchbearer fare? Vargaraad's warning was perhaps having the opposite effect. Still, Ares wouldn't venture over to Neo Gear just yet anyway for a variety of reasons, his lacking cultivation base being just one of them. Rather, the suggestion to visit the Frozen Thunder League in Akarala was an almost prophetic recommendation as Ares had been contemplating heading over there for the next leg of his journey around Sheryashka regardless.
Dominus had mentioned that there ought to be a certain something left behind in Akarala that could benefit Ares so it was worth checking out. Also, Ares couldn't ignore the large frozen venator slumbering in the region and he wanted to check it out first hand. He might not even be able to deal with it in his current state but it was still worth having a look regardless. If he was doing that then there was no reason not the check in with the Frozen Thunder League too while he was there as their entire modus operandi was sealing away venators that crept into Sheryashka. They couldn't really kill them but they'd devised sealing and binding arts for this very purpose so the existence of Ares would be monumental for them. If Ares could make Sheryashka that much safer by removing any potential future risks then there was no reason not to if he was already in the region. Plus he could maybe learn more about the different types of venators. The baby one he met today was still an infant but he'd been smacked across the face by it before, over by the Lowe domain, and it hurt like hell. These purple people weren't pushovers and Ares believed he'd be seeing more of them in the future so it was a wise choice to become more familiar with them and their ranks. Also also, just in general, Akarala was a rather large stretch of land inhabited by small tribal groups that weren't capable of holding onto everything without stretching their limited forces too thin. This meant there was plenty of uncharted, unexplored, unowned territory and hidden treasures to unearth and lay claim to. Rare monsters to kill and loot, exotic resources, etc... All valid reasons to go and give the place a once or twice over in search of goods either for the sect or for Ares to use personally.
Last but not least, Vargaraad's little introductory speech also mentioned the Legions... Ares knew he hadn't seen the last of them. Rather, he hadn't really seen much of anything of them as they were holding back during the international because Sheryashka was seen, for the most part, as neutral ground they couldn't mess with. The Umbra elders had been at the international too and so kicking up a big fuss would have dragged countless innocent lives into their squabble and for no good reason. So what if the three clans banded together and wiped out the revenant youths and some elders? They'd all come back anyway and at what price? Countless lives of clan members and spectators incapable of fleeing alike, thus ruining their reputation. They would have been the bad guys no matter how anyone looked at it so it was wise to simply not make a move. Even still, though, there were plenty of Legions who were not happy with the closeness between Ares and Enyo because it was a rather Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers type of relation that shouldn't have been permitted.
There was a deep resentment for Ares who'd snatched away their prized jewel of the younger generation... Though they didn't give a damn about Bellona, because of her reputation, so it was pretty hypocritical to only care about Enyo. Point being, the Legions fell into one of three camps; those who hated Ares and Enyo being a couple, those who hated Ares because he was a powerful revenant and his Garmr form was a bad omen, and those who didn't mind Ares so long as he left them alone. The third group were miniscule to begin with and, with Rhea effectively getting kicked out of the home planet, that faction had been suppressed until further notice and could not muster any sort of meaningful place in Legion politics. So, from here, it was all either radicals who wanted all revenants dead, and Ares was a huge obstacle so he was one of their top priorities, or those who wanted Enyo to see the error in her ways and return to the clan which was also decently sizable. Either way, Ares was the crux of both issues and so he was in the firing line right now and Vargaraad's assertion of such wasn't all that shocking.
For the most part, it was safe to assume any Legion members Ares came across from here on out would be in one of the two troublesome 'Ares is the problem' camps and he'd have to fight them. It wasn't likely he'd come across them in Sheryashka, unless it was a member of the younger generation, but it wasn't impossible either and Vargaraad's warning about this was perhaps the most pertinent of the ones he gave out. The Torchbearer was never going to actively seek out Ares, he was hiding behind the scenes and biding his time for the right moment to launch and all out, huge scale attack on mankind after softening them up with meticulous planning. He was smart and taking advantage of having an impenetrable home base with plenty of resources at his disposal to make things happen in foreign nations without getting involved directly, a real megalomaniac who was cautious even in spite of supposedly overwhelming power. Highly dangerous. In that regard, in terms of being unable to stop him right now, Ares was at a loss as to how to deal with him effectively when the time even came to. It was, however, less of a concern than someone strong hunting Ares down and taking advantage of the fact that Ares was far younger than them and didn't have time to cultivate.
In that sense, Torchbearer was a preferable type of foe to any maddened Legion fanatic going off the rails and invading Sheryashka to give Ares a hard time and reclaim Enyo. There were checks in place but all it would take was one rogue Legionnaire and things would get tricky. Even under the assumption that nothing would happen in Sheryashka there would definitely be scuffles and assassination attempts the second Ares entered Vraizon, they weren't going to let him roam around freely forever and it was just a matter of time until action was taken. There was actually nothing Ares could do if he was at home minding his own business and a high ranking Legion member showed up, it would be a matter of luck if he could get away or survive by any means necessary. They mostly weren't that brazen, and the consequences of doing so would be catastrophic in terms of clan cohesion between them and the Starlight and the Willows, but all it took one was individual and the situation would get messy. Ares was seriously going to have to keep an eye open for these lot.
None of this even touched upon whatever it was Vargaraad was really hinting at, though, which seemed to be some sort of bigger problem that Arse was currently unaware of. Bringing up the Legion was mostly irrelevant because there was no way Ares wouldn't already know all of this or have given it any though, he was the direct recipient of their ire, after all. It was blindly obvious what their stance towards him was so there must have been another, darker and more sinister plot in the works he wasn't privy to. Ares would find out about Coffin in due time but for now he would be left to wonder and keep that worry in the back of his mind. It's not like there was anything to be done about it now so he'd just deal with it whenever it became relevant and he knew more. For now, it was time to find a nice secluded location and go over his recent spoils. The Moongate Mountain wasn't going to insert itself into Ares' brain without a helping hand! Ares was sincerely hoping installation of this treasure wouldn't be as painful as the Celestial Prisms was but who was he kidding exactly? If there was one thing he knew for sure it was that pretty much everything he ever had to do to become stronger resulted in immense pain for some odd reason. Aside from turning into Garmr, the second time anyway as the first unchaining the clone in the pagoda did was definitely more violent, and consuming the psychic AAA, all of the benefits Ares ever wracked up retaliated during consumption or development and put the hurt on. He'd probably have to undergo some kind of lobotomy just to shove the damn Mountain in and he knew it! He knew what he was getting into! Dominus' silence on the matter could not would not fool Ares!
Ares grumbled to himself as he searched around for a nearby cave. He was huffing and puffing about having to endure yet more torturous self-improvement but, for what it was worth at least, once he was done with all this, he would get a small break after returning home. That bright future was enough to give him the drive to go through with this without fussing too much. He was still within his right to complain a little though! And he did precisely that up until he found a safe spot to hide away in. It wasn't a cave this rime, rather an igloo that belonged to a grumpy iciclops but... Unfortunately, Ares was far grumpier right about now and promptly kicked the iciclops out. The igloo was under new tenancy. The iciclops was only removed temporarily mind you, so he would have to sit outside on its butt until Ares was done using its home, but it was still pretty mean to do this without warning so Ares would leave behind some stardust, about a hundred high grade, for the big lug after he was gone.
Stardust could be used to cultivate if you were truly desperate and had no better options, it wasn't nothing and a decent enough quantity could be worth using if you were somewhere remote with no access to better resources. For Ares, he would rather just use dedication cultivation and go around picking fights to improve his cultivation base if possible. For the iciclops, though? The one who'd been hiding away in his home and avoiding conflict? Stardust would make getting evicted for the day, and presumably the chilly night, worth it. He had fur too anyway so it's not like he was that cold out there, he just wouldn't get to lie atop his comfy 'bed'. 'Bed' as in the tree he accidentally knocked over when out for his morning jog and dragged back to sleep atop. He could probably get and make another 'bed' outside if he really wanted to. Iciclops were defensive about their territory and rarely strayed away from it so a lot of them weren't overtly hostile compared to other races, like fairies, and would silently bow down in fear when they realised who strong their opposition was. Ares had beaten the iciclops a little and then showed it Garmr to fully subjugate the monster. Even if Ares was fully distracted, in his own head and not paying attention, the iciclops wouldn't so much as even dare to peek back inside its home or try and make something happen against Ares when he had the chance. They were scaredy-pants when they knew they weren't the strongest thing around but, hey, it worked for them and, right now, it worked out for Ares too. This was bullying of the highest order but, well, Ares didn't much care. He had a lot of stuff to sort out and there was nowhere better to do it nearby. Plus the iciclops' presence would be like that of a security guard's while he was preoccupied, on top of the war aura flag and Garuda who were also out in force, so it was a great opportunity Ares wouldn't pass up on just because he was hurting the monster's feelings. The monster had hurt a lot more than just feelings when dealing with innocent humans before and it should be grateful that Ares didn't give a toss about it enough to kill it. This whole situation was lucky for it, if anything, that was how any rational cultivator would see it a least.
"Uhhh... Do I eat it?" Ares was holding his miniature mountain and inspecting every nook and cranny. It wasn't huge or anything but it was definitely still too big to be placed inside any orifice and so there was more to incorporating it than mere consumption. Though it pained him to do this, Ares unmuted Dominus and tried to ask him what was up with this thing. Of course Ares was immediately met with more senseless bickering but at this point it was basically jsut background noise, Ares had seen his song and dance one too many times before. "Get a room, you two." Ares sighed as he said this because, actually, they did have a room. He was the room! Hopefully the Moongate Mountain would act as a divider between them, though, and maybe bring about some peace and quiet. To that end, Dominus was more than willing to help Ares with this matter as it indirectly benefitted him too by getting rid of the dragon-nerd lizard. Apparently equipping the Moongate was a process not dissimilar to the unchaining, as in Arse had to visit the location with his mind and not be physically present. In this case, he needed to place his hand over the Moongate and channel his mental space. He would then be forcefully pulled into the Mountain and be forced to go hunt down the keys to the kingdom, as it were. It wasn't hard, really, and the location of the ownership pedestal Ares needed to stand atop was well known. Dominus gave him directions to it, even, but the real issue was that there would be a sharp pain in Ares' head the nearer he got. It was a test of will power and mental resilience so it was better to ignore everything and race towards the podium. Many had struggled with this in the past, taking multiple breaks about halfway through and promising they would continue tomorrow only to then be unwilling to get out of bed the next day and keep procrastinating. It wasn't the hardest treasure to overcome but it wasn't a walk in the park either and the best advice Dominus could give was not to be a 'pansy' and 'just get it over and done with before it becomes a problem'. Delays only made the issue pile upon itself. If you were likely to give up and retry once, there was little to no mental barriers stopping you form feeling complacent a second or third time as they'd already crumbled to dust earlier. Power through, get it done in one fell stroke. That was the real challenge, not even the pain itself. Some people were good at this, others were terrible. As for where Ares fell... It was a difficult mix of the two. His usual apprehension was not going to be helpful here but, at the same time, once he was committed he was basically unstoppable and there was no better level of persistence to have than Ares at full throttle. Dominus reckoned he'd be ok.
Ares followed the earlier instructions, shut his eyes, and waited patiently until he felt a biting chill running down the back of his neck. His shut yes were pried open, like a rime encrusted chest, partially frozen, cracking as it split. Ares' eyes remained somewhat narrow though as the snowstorm around him threatened to annoy him constantly with snowflakes drifting right at his retina and poking him like a nuisance. he could just about spy the entrance to the Moongate Mountain ahead of him but, this time, it was full scale and larger than life. Through the white mist stood tall a gate a few hundred metres high, imposing and sturdy, unbreakable and uninviting. What Ares was seeing now was what intruders in his mental realm would see when they tried to assault his mind after acquiring this treasure. This was still just the beginning too and there were many traps, trials, and challenges lying deeper in the Mountain that would need to be overcome if they wanted to get anywhere near Ares' precious peanut brain. On top of that, the traps and tribulations would all grow as Ares did, and evolve as he devoured resources and relevant treasures, so this was only the Mountain at its base form.
An improved mental realm wasn't as flashy as other cool things Ares could learn or develop, like Garmr or pressure control, but it was undeniably very important and would make a huge difference whenever it was relevant. Attacking Ares mentally before and after the Moongate Mountain was the difference between having to get in a car and drive in a straight line or getting in a shoddy, broken down van and having to escape from the police in a high speed chase, guns blazing, while navigating an intricate race course, on fire, with helicopters above and a jeering crowd as one of your wheels came off around a tight bend... Or something along those lines anyhow. A normal mind labyrinth was long but that was where the inconveniences ended and was the extent of the difficulties one would face, for the most part. Mental specialists could spice it up but not to the same degree someone who found a rare mental treasure could, it was easier to craft an artifact for the purpose rather than doing it naturally with magic and mana. That's not to say crafting mental realms was easy, though, smiths who could do it were rare and even then they didn't succeed all the time either. Unless you had enough money and material laying about to outright purchase a couple of domains most smiths who could make these sorts of artifacts wouldn't even work for you anyway. Forcing mental attack-specialised opponents to do multiple calculations, and defend themselves against the risks challenging the Moongate entailed, mid combat was not trivial. These kinds of treasures and artifacts were expensive a very valid reason despite how plain they were from the perspective of the person using it. Once this was all done and setup Ares would never really have to interface with it again if he couldn't be bothered to fine tun it. Granted he probably would, ignoring a treasure this incredible was silly, but the innate effect of this treasure was already plenty useful.
Ares walked up the gate and peered through a moon-shaped hole in it that allowed him to spy the other side. The first task an invader would have to go through was opening this gate which presumably meant find a fitting key of some sort. luckily Ares didn't have to do any of this. He was seen as an intruder, yes, but there was always more than one solution to any given problem and Garmr happened to be a brilliant problem solver. Unless the mental pain stopped Ares, nothing on this mountain was going to keep him at bay as he raced across it in his furry form. Garmr was a bit of a cheat code like that. Point in case, after transforming into Garmr, Ares simply leapt at the gate and began climbing it like a jungle gym. His hands gripped onto small door knockers located at regular intervals, and small jutting spikes that would be tough for even the most experienced mountain climber to grasp, and promptly began running up the wall vertically. Even when there was a gap between places to hold onto Garmr would just utilise his speedy momentum to essentially walk upwards with his body completely horizontal via his feet generating their own immense gravity and functioning like suction cups thanks to their astonishing grip strength.
Garmr raced up into tthe clouds before finally arriving at the peak of the gate and coming face to face with a large moon that shone brightly and radiated his entire being. Ares froze for a moment because he'd, admittedly, forgotten about the other benefit this thing provided him, a constantly available moon to empower Garmr with. Though it slipped his mind, the second he came within touching distance of the moon his brain froze and a strange power enveloped him. His body floated briefly in the air as his fur gleamed and sparkled. His draconic slit eyes curved at the edges slightly like golden crescent moons and a silvery glow emanated from his pure body. In a single moment of serene quiet and blissful stillness, Garmr gently tipped his head upwards towards the tip of the mountain behind the gate where the pedestal for claiming this treasure resided. One moment Garmr was hovering in the air above the gate and, the next, he was gone, He'd vanished in the blink of an eye.
Where had Garmr gone, exactly? Well, Ares was awakened from his inwards slumber, back inside the igloo, and he could feel a connection with the Moongate Mountain that had appeared inside his mental realm and was comfortably resting there. In other words, Garmr leapt a single time from the gate to the top of the mountain and bypassed the entire challenge awaiting him in under a second flat thanks to the power of the moon... Ares wouldn't' be able to summon that moon power all the time as Garmr but, when the was able to... Garmr would get way more frightening than even Ares had expected himself to be. The buff the moon provided Garmr was unlike what it did for any other revenant, the scale of it was infinitely larger. It made sense, Garmr was the revenant overlord and had arguably the strongest bloodline ever, so his connection tot he moon was immeasurable, but it was eye-opening to see how strong moon related treasures and artifacts would be on him. Ares definitely needed to find more but, also, he definitely needed to experiment more with the moon he now already had. That level of power was hard to control and he wasn't even sure, in hindsight, what happened back there. It was all one big silver blur and, while undoubtedly impressive, it wouldn't benefit him in do or die situations if he wasn't sure how to actually wield that power properly... Though Ares was going to remove a lot of stuff from his to-do list today, he'd just found yet another thing to add to it and this was a pretty big one! Learning about, and understanding, the power of the moon!