In another instance of the same floor...

"Serene, is it? Of all the matriarchs, I believe I've spoken with you the least. Then again I've spoken with your son plenty and he has the capacity to talk for two and then some. I'm guessing his first words came quickly? What were they? 'Me number one?'"

Serene took a deep breath and reminded herself she was dealing with a revenant here. He wasn't being too annoying just yet but he had it in him to pull the lever and switch from mostly harmless to downright pest at any given moment. "He has always been the way he is but perhaps that was my fault. When I discovered his pillar, and met with Terros who explained it all to me, I unintentionally got into the habit of calling him special. He's my only son and I was happy to give birth so I got a bit big headed at the time. I was proud and went a bit too far in treating him like he was special. Don't get me wrong, he is, but as a cultivator and not a regular elf. Although it's a shameful past, and he doesn't like to admit it, he used to be insufferably arrogant, distaining everyone around him. As a parent I understood my mistake and my duty was to correct his behaviour by spanking him when he was naughty. He did learn after a while but he was a right little tyrant way back when. Haha, it was kind of cute in hindsight, actually. Of course that was never the kind of child I wanted to raise, that stereotypical young master with narcissism running in his veins, so I made it clear to him the difference between arrogance and pride. Rather than abandon said arrogance, he simply converted it into excessive pride and that's where his current personality comes from.

I think it's fine the way Mako is. He can be a bit blunt, and definitely aggravating to deal with at times, but he has a good heart and it's in the right place. He just wants everyone to be the best they can be... Even if it's only so that he can then be better than them and take the number one spot... But what he does for others is genuine. He's hyper fixated but I think that's fine as he's a good kid and always funnels that fixation into bettering himself or the people around him. If you slack off often, I can think of no better mean-spirited cheerleader to give you a harsh but honest piece of encouragement. He doesn't mince his words, and that can cause misunderstandings, but what he says is often valuable in its own right... Provided his pride isn't on the line... He can be a bit of a liar in some situations... Again, never to anyone's detriment though. Although it might sound immodest, I think I did an excellent job ironing out those negative traits that would have made him a terrible person. I realised that just giving birth wasn't enough. I could feel proud in having done that, sure, but I needed to do more in shaping him as a functioning member of society before I could really feel like I earned that pride. I guess I also used to be a little arrogant. When I learned my child was 'better' than those of the other matriarchs' a part of me got a kick out of it. But as I went through Mako's flaws, and saw them in myself, I knew we both needed to change."

Ares sniffled and wiped a tear from his eye... One he'd pretty much forced out, and clapped his hands. "Wow. Just wow. I'm so glad that, after all your hard work, you and your son finally managed to act like every other normal human being on the planet. Truly an inspiration!" Serene's blank stare was piercing but Ares just chuckled in response. "Ah lighten up, I'm messing with you. I may not think it's admirable you had to change, but I do think it's admirable you did change. Big difference! Also, saving the world as we know it from an arrogant Mako is something I personally will give you a massive 'thank you' for. I'm the one that would have had to put up with it so you really have no idea how much this change you brought about in him is worth to me! But yeah, no, really swell job and I'm not being sarcastic this time. Being an asshole is fun but I know when to curb it and give actual praise. You made some mistakes, who hasn't? But you fixed them without making excuses or trying to sweep them under the rug. You're A-O.K in my book... Dunno about Mako though, I'm gonna have to dock points for being the way he is. Not that I should be one to complain about other people's personalities considering how despicable mine is but I'm a revenant so double standards are acceptable when I do it. Anyway, you don't need to tell me Mako is a good person, he makes that clear himself... If you can be bothered to listen to him for more than five minutes anyway. I can see why he's struggled to get his true self across to people but there's nothing wrong with it when he actually does. Given that the fundamental champions are going to be a relatively close-knit group, I think he'll have a good set of comrades in us even if we do give him a bit of ribbing every now and then... Or at least I definitely will, that I can promise you. It's like flipping a turtle onto its back and watching it squirm. Of course I would never actually do that to a poor widdle cute turtle but Mako is fair game and he's just so easy to mess with."

"Thank you. That's reassuring. After everything is said and done, all I want for him is to be safe on his cultivation journey and to make a few friends here and there. I trust him to keep himself alive and I know Terros will steer him well so, although it might sound strange, I'm actually more worried about the latter half of my hopes for him. Knowing that you don't hate him makes me happy. It can be hard to tell with a revenant if their pranks are a sign of affection of if they're just generally being a nuisance so your confirmation has put me at ease. Mako had been talking about you a lot lately and it may very well be the first time I've ever heard him call another living person 'impressive'. Of course he would be remiss if he found I told you that so keep it a secret, ok? He wants to be number one but I know deep down he also just wants friends. His attitude early in life pushed everyone away so he's always been a bit of a momma's boy because I was one of the few people that gave him attention. Considering you and him are out to save the world and what not, I know this might sound like a silly request, but get along well with him please?"

"Alright alright, no need to be so formal. Sure... Or rather, you must already know I'm going to anyway, right? I mean, the real me outside won't know about this conversation so you have to be expecting the real me to do it already as is?"

"Mhm. I don't want to pressure you into agreeing to something you don't want to but, for the sake of my son, I did also want to ask you. I figured this was the best way to gauge your response and see how you were planning on treating him without directly asking the real you. I'm glad. Thank you."

"No need to thank me, I'm not getting along with Mako for anyone's sake. At the end of the day, I choose who I interact with based on completely arbitrary criteria that suits my whims in the current moment. All I can say is that those whims only ever require the absence of specific traits, not the existence of any. As long as Mako doesn't become the kind of person I hate then he can hang around all he wants. Hell I'll even make soup for him occasionally. If he crosses any lines I'll give him a warning but don't expect me to be so lenient as to give him multiple. He may have been a problem child but he's an adult now and needs to act like it with or without you. I can't see him not showing the bare minimum respect and not acting like a decent person but, on the off chance he does, I'm not promising I'll stick by him. Again. I don't think he needs babying, I'm just saying I won't do it. There are only so many lengths I'm willing to go to for someone who isn't family."

"That's more than acceptable, I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, if he gets out of hand for whatever reason, I'll be the one to set him straight. You can count on that... Also, before we got onto the whole pressure training thing... I'm sorry about the mecha-dryad. I never intended for anyone to discover it and knowing that it attacked not one, not even two, but three of the other matriarchs' children is something I deeply regret. I was careless in my confidence that it wasn't something anyone would locate but it got a bit excited and started exploring its surroundings instead of staying put like I ordered it to. Then it disturbed the local wildlife, which in turn affected various businesses, and then the rest of the story is as you know it with the sect's mission hall putting out a request to investigate. It's not much but I promise to keep the other one in check and, should you ever visit my home planet, I will offer you the finest hospitality I can give. You're always more than welcome and should your exploits and adventures put you in a situation wherein you need to lay low for a while, you have an option in the Willow clan."

"Much appreciated. Don't worry too much about the mecha-dryad. Things happen and it wasn't intentional so whatever. I had almost forgotten about it anyway. Did you ever get the corpse back?"

"I did, yes, and I can make use of it. The generally agreed upon consensus that mecha-dryads are useless is false. The Willow clan has its own uses for them and so recovering the body is a fantastic development for us."

"Lucky you... Is what I would say if you weren't about to get pushed around by yours truly. You ready to get down to training? If you are, then could you show me the extent of your pressure manipulation please? If you can't do enhancement, physical pressure will do and, if that's also a no go, then just using your regular pressure on me will suffice for now." Ares saw Serene's pressure start manifesting and he could tell she was easily the furthest behind in terms of pressure mastery. She wasn't even capable of creating physical pressure yet which was rough. She'd ignored pressure in its entirety and only ever explored the basics. Even that was lacking as the amount of time it took her to summon pressure was impressive for all the wrong reasons. As in Ares was astonished it was possible for someone to take this long! Even though Ares' pressure reserves were inside his heart he still managed it way quicker than this. Maybe there was something wrong? Ares paid close attention because he felt like something was definitely affecting Serene that needed to be addressed. He trained his eyes on her pressure and eventually figured it out but waited to say it until Serene finished summoning the pressure as he wanted her to use it on him. It would all but confirm his theory and he was curious to see what Serene's pressure felt like given its strange nature. A few moments of waiting around later, she finally draped her pressure over him like a blanket and let it sit on his head. It felt like the kind of lemon-scented wet wipes you would get from a restaurant and was pleasantly warm and soothing on his soul. "Though your pressure control is most likely the weakest of the matriarchs, you have the most interesting pressure due to a bloodline... But it makes me wonder, doesn't Mako possess it? I've fought against him and his pressure seemed normal?"

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"He does have the bloodline it's just yet to be awakened. I imagine he would have access to it already if it weren't for his creation pillar affiliation overwriting his water pillar affiliation. Our bloodline is one that guarantees water pillar affiliation, usually, and mutates any water we touch but being a fundamental champion must have clashed with it and taken precedence. He can either wait until bloodline awakening for the bloodline to return to normal and start functioning again or he can use his 'prompt-potential pocket watch' which is what I imagine he's doing right now."

"Sounds like some kind of rare cultivation resource?"

"It is extremely rare according to Terros. He was shocked to find out such a thing even existed down here in the lower domains. Only a few had ever been found and not many people could even recognise them on sight due to how uncommon they are. Put simply, they allow you to cheat the cultivation requirements to unlock certain abilities. Most cultivation realms have a passive benefit. Sensory enhancement gives you divine sight, bloodline awakening / aspect assimilation awakens your bloodline and improves your magic by dying your blood in your affiliated mana, etc... Some of these passives are minor but there are a lot that are extremely important like the ones of the weaponised core realm, the legacy everlasting realm, and the apotheosis calling realm. Point being, the sooner you can raise your cultivation to these points, the better off you'll be. What the pocket watch does is immediately give the user access to the passives of the next two cultivation realms directly above them. Mako is in sensory enhancement right now so he'll gain the effects of bloodline awakening / aspect assimilation and transition. In other words, his magic power will spike considerably, his bloodline will reawaken, boosting his current pressure abilities as well as a few other minor things, and he'll learn to fly.

The pocket watch wouldn't be a legendary treasure if that was all it did, though, and there's a little more to it. It also increases a cultivators general stats such as physical strength, magical power, mana capacity, resilience, speed, brain power, etc... Pretty much a universal benefit across the board and it's a sizable one too. The last benefit it provides is cultivation. The amount it gives is proportionate to how old you are. For instance, if you are 18 years old, it will give you the same amount of cultivation you would have gotten if you cultivated for eighteen days straight with no breaks. It also lowers the amount of cultivation needed to ascend the next two realms as you technically already have their passive benefits and are familiar with them internally. Naturally this is more beneficial to those who are older, in their millions, which is why this resource is such an incredible commodity in the realm of the Gods. As it becomes harder and harder to gain stages, a resource like this prematurely giving you access to massive benefits, and speeding up your cultivation drastically, is almost like a cure-all that fixes the painstaking process of cultivating in the highest realms. Gaining so much instantly puts a lot of stress on the body, depending on which realms you're 'achieving early', so Mako using it right now isn't going to be easy on him. The transition realm is the first major realm that demarcates a clear distinction in cultivators. You can consider it the 'big leagues' realm as it's a place where some people start to struggle. It's also where you'll start occasionally dealing with tribulations every now and then; tests that will aim to smite you during cultivation and prevent you from going up stages and realms. Mako cheating such a massive hurdle will not be easy on him and I imagine it will be twenty to thirty times worse than if he just waited until he passed the transition realm... His stubbornness can move mountains."

"I see... He might actually be a very real threat to me during our duel then. It's a long list of advantages that, individually, aren't anything too out of the ordinary but, when piling them all on top of each other, becomes one hell of a resource. I must admit I'm a bit jealous. Not that I have any right to complain seeing as how I've gotten my own special items here and there but, still, that's just how it goes in the cultivation world, right? You find something great, look over at the next guy along, and he's found something just as great if not greater... Although usually you'd then kill the guy and take it for yourself... That's kind of a staple... Well anyway, lucky him. I look forward to our fight.

That aside, let's get back to your pressure. Normal pressure is aggressive and fights for control. Physical pressure is chaotic and dangerous. Pressure enhancement boosts the users capacity for violence and personalised brutality. Essentially, it's all offensive focussed. Sure you can deflect, and sure you can find a few other ways of defending yourself with pressure, but that's really not the main point. Your pressure, however, is different. Your pressure can heal, is more like a sluggish fluid than a weighty gas, and has exceptional defensive properties. It isn't heavy but it is thick. It isn't fast but it is potent. It isn't offensive but it is supportive. Your normal pressure can heal allies, prevent mental attacks, and deny normal pressure. Your physical pressure can form walls to block out magic or physical pressure, can create water on demand for your bloodline to mutate, and can nurture anything natural. Your enhancement doesn't boost your physical state, it boosts your mental state and your magical prowess. It's effectively a side grade to normal pressure and can either be better or worse depending on how you utilise it. For instance, my bloodline from Dominus lets me overpower every other pressure in the world but it might actually struggle against yours. My bloodline would win eventually but it would be a slower victory than against literally anyone else, enabling you to fight back and prevent it in the meantime. Combine that with your healing and defensive walls and you become quite hard to deal with. Your bloodline is pretty good, actually. Now is it going to trump something like Dominus' or mine? No, not even remotely, but it does other things that ours don't in regards to mutating water. Your bloodline does a lot and all of it is just generally useful so I can see Mako becoming a lot stronger after using that pocket watch. Awakening his bloodline and altering his pressure, to be capable of putting up a 'fight' against mine by delaying the inevitable, will help give him an edge against me. He won't ever beat me in a pressure contest but the amount of time it will take him to lose will increase by an amount that is actually very relevant. As aspect assimilation, aka his new pressure enhancement that boosts magic, and his magic improvements from the pocket watch all synergise nicely, he can resist my pressure while trying to beat me through arts. In other words, right now, my pressure is stronger than my magic and he's the exact opposite. Ought to make for an interesting matchup when we go head to head."

"I knew the pressure was different but I never expected it to be so useful. I must admit, I had no intention of ever delving deeper due to how much 'worse' I was than every other matriarch at controlling it. Had I known it would enable me to match them in the areas I needed help I would have gone right back to practicing. With the benefits you've listed I might be able to raise my standings amongst the matriarchs... I had originally come here for confirmation it wasn't worth the effort but I guess that's no longer the case. As such, can I trouble you to lend me aid in controlling my pressure? I would be ever so grateful."

"Yeah, no problem. A friend of Calla's is a friend of mine. First and foremost, like your son, your pressure reserves seem to be in your ears... Elf ears are sensitive so that's both a good and bad thing. Your pressure reserves will be greater than normal but accessing it is going to be something you have to practice carefully and often. The amount of time you take to draw your pressure out is abysmal. I get that your pressure is thicker and slower, making it a drag to pull it out, but your current speed needs to improve drastically before we even move onto the next steps. As drawing out pressure is the base step of literally every other technique, this is by far the most important thing for you to work on right now. There actually isn't much I can do to help you with this but a few small pointers here and there is better than nothing. Still, mindless practice and constant repetition, until you can borderline automate the process, is what's needed here. If you want to train here I'll make whatever useful comments I can but there's no real, mandatory reason to be here in the pagoda if you would feel more comfortable somewhere else." This was the honest truth and Ares was mostly saying it because Serene probably wanted to be back at her current residence right about now. Her son was about to undergo a gruelling experience that could potentially be a risk to his health so it was only reasonable to assume she wanted to be there just in case. Additionally, Ares was here for a long time, not a good time, so she could freely come and go as she pleased. Unlike Ares, she wasn't trapped in here... Although it would cost her stardust every time she wanted to re-enter... But she was also a rich matriarch so who cared?

"Right, I think I'll take you up on that suggestion. If I'm lucky I'll make it back before that kid starts using the pocket watch."

"... Now that I think about it... It's called a pocket watch so I'm guessing it's shaped like one too? Usually you eat most cultivation resources... How does that one work? Surely he's not eating a metallic timepiece, right?! If he is, I'm so calling him metal muncher from now on! Or maybe even time taster!"

Serene chuckled gracefully and shook her head. "No, it is a watch but you aren't supposed to digest it. It has an abundance of time mana inside it so, while you twist the winding crown, it flows into you and sends your body into the future temporarily. As the hands on the face of the pocket watch spin, your body learns the passive abilities of the realms it's now in before coming to a halt when the time mana runs out. Afterwards, your body is wrenched back through time to the present but you keep all the advantages you gained. What makes it hard to use, apparently, is that you have to keep twisting the winding crown even while you're wracked with pain. If you stop, you can lose out on all the potential benefits of the resource and waste it entirely. You have to be committed and have a strong will. I know I say this a lot but I really am proud of my boy so, yes, I think I'll go back and cheer him on by making him some soup and bread like always. Even if it's not much, I know he'll feel glad to have it there waiting for him when he's done. He works hard so, though he doesn't express it, I know he enjoys his breaks; especially when he feels like he's earned them. He gets to bask in his accomplishments while he thinks of ways to boast to others about it... But he never had anyone to share it with so it was always me he celebrated beside. It's been a while since he sat down with me and blabbered about something great he's done so that will be a nice change of pace."

"Enjoy spending time with your family... But I do have some bad news... In order to get out of here I kinda have to kill you... Death is the only escape I'm afraid. Don't worry though, I'll make it qui...!"

Serene didn't hear the last syllable of 'quick' because she had already been booted out of the pagoda. Ares distracted her with his talking while killing her in the background. Kind of like how you poke a needle in a young kid's arm while asking them questions about school so they don't realise what's happening to them. It was demeaning... But also kind-spirited. Serene was glad her son had a made a friend and that it was someone like Ares. Although Ares was a revenant, he could be considerate and caring underneath his annoying persona and that was the kind of person Mako needed. He needed to be challenged but he also needed to be respected. The amount of people that could and would do both were countable on a single hand so meeting Ares was a stroke of luck for him. Knowing that her son was in good hands, she flew back home at peace with a heavy load lifted from her heart.