Given that Yulo was about to invite Ares to scout the sect master's residence, it was only right to bring the rest of the family along as well to get a lay of the land. Ares would probably move into the new place in a day or two, once he'd sorted out various other matters he wanted to resolve first, but there was still plenty of time to at least go and check the accommodation out. It was located pretty deep within the sect, and the only other thing of note in the area was the sect's treasury, so it was better to have Yulo show it to him than to have to stumble around and get lost later. Though, really, it would be pretty incredible if Ares got lost searching for it because it was semi-visible from most places within the sect. It stood atop a hill near the heart of the sect and functioned like a kind of panopticon; whether by design or unintentional was impossible to know because the person who designed it that way was long dead. Still, it's not like the house stood out. It was quite fancy, according to Yulo it was a Queen Anne style building, so you think it would be glaringly obvious but there was some trickery involved that obscured it from lower ground. Namely, the part of it that stuck out was a tower with a conical top but the upper part of it sported one way glass. The person residing within that tower could see the rest of the sect, especially if they had powerful divine sense, but nobody could see them from down below at that distance. The remainder of the house was blocked by brick walls acting like a fence of sorts and the natural curvature of the hill. Put simply, it was a cottage-esque paradise hidden away from view but capable of spying on the every day happenings throughout the rest of the sect. Why the house was built in the style it was has been a mystery for generations. It's not like there's anything wrong with it, per se, but compared to the general housing styles in the region it was quite a drastic departure from the norm. It used to be a grand pagoda, stretching tall and standing proud, but one of the sect masters, generations ago, changed it and none of his successors since felt the need to change it back because of how cozy it wound up after the changes. Yulo wasn't the kind of person to wastes sect resources rebuilding the house in a way that suited his personal preferences and he was more than content with the house anyway.
Anyhow, Ares had sent Enyo a mental message to round everyone up and drag them over and she'd done precisely that. The only person missing was Leo but he was napping at home and wasn't interested in the ceremony here to begin with. He didn't much care where he lived either, as his only requirement was being around his de-facto owner Allie, so missing out on this tour meant nothing to him. As the rest of the group was gathered, Yulo began guiding them through the core region towards the hill while reassuring lazy Aejaz he wouldn't have to 'climb that damn hill every time'. Aejaz being Aejaz he would probably choose to stay in the inner court, or move to the core court, instead of having to bother himself with such a massive hill every time he wanted to go out. There was a runic elevator inside the hill that lifted residents / visitors to the top so it wasn't actually that bad. Plus most people in Ares' group could fly so they could skip that entire wait and descend / ascend of their own accord from the outside. Really the biggest inconvenience was that exiting the sect from this new house was a slower process given its central position. No matter which exit they wanted to take it was the same distance, so that was nice, but it also meant some exits were further than they used to be when they lived in the inner court. Previously they lived closer to the east so the exits to Red Sun over there would take longer to reach. Anything on the western side would be faster now though so it was both a blessing and a curse. For the most part, Ares had almost exclusively used the southern exit throughout his time at the sect so really there wasn't much difference to him. He had a tendency to Voidwalk or Shift to the sect exit anyway nowadays so he wasn't much fussed.
Incidentally, Leo worked just outside the north gate. His fieldwork, hunting giant rats as the sect's chief mouser, was much appreciated by the farmers who had previously struggled to safeguard their crops out in the open. Inside the sect was fine but the northern exit was unlike the others and most didn't even know it existed. That was because the sect's northern outer walls merged with the outer walls of Red Sun and beyond it lay open plains and a dense forest to the left, the very same one that Ares had trekked through a few times now both on his way to Baja forest and the Freeride Federation. Point being, the sect was surrounded by city on three sides but the north was primarily ownerless land. The sect was placed here specifically to act as a Red Sun outpost and defend against invading armies a long time ago but hadn't seen much use in that regard in recent years. Now, indented-servitude farmers just used the empty land to help feed the disciples and produce sellable goods for the sake of the sect's treasury. A lot of them owed the sect's previous masters favours and lifelong debts that even their children's children felt the need to repay but that wasn't to say they didn't have a choice. Those debts had long since been repaid, or defunct in some capacity, but it was still a well paying job and a lot of the farmers quite liked their current lifestyle. The only thing that troubled them was the giant rat infestation outside the northern exit but, again, Leo was their saviour in that regard. As for Ares, he would have used that exit multiple times now if he was aware of it but, alas, he didn't expect there to be a gate there due to the layout of the city. He'd visited the farms inside the sect, to get his hands on scythes, but never knew there were plenty more elsewhere. He'd come to learn in due time, he was the sect master so he had to, but this was a good example of the kind of minor details that would go unnoticed by disciples until they entered a managerial position and had to take various logistical matters into consideration. The northern exit was where a lot of foreign imports were brought in from by merchants or traders who came from abroad via the Federation. It wasn't uncommon for core court disciples to be the recipients of mission hall requests to escort said salesmen of clear monsters blocking the path. Granted all of this would become irrelevant once Ares uprooted the sect and transported it to Vraizon but it was still useful information to know until then.
The runic elevator ride was short, Julio was the modern day runemancer of the sect responsible for the inscriptions so naturally his aggressive-elf side tuned the speed up to eleven. It wasn't enough to send anyone flying off the open-roofed elevator but a normal human would probably hurl their lunch if they had to endure it. Ares and co were lifted into a pleasant and fresh, open air garden of sorts. The grass was pretty tall but not unkempt and swayed peacefully in the comfy breeze and there was a stone path leading up to the sect master's house that was currently garnering some 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the gathered crowd. The majority of the building was painted a warm blue which contrasted nicely with the white colouring of the various joints and edges. The house's shape was hard to describe as it felt more like an amalgamation of asymmetrical rectangles and squares planted, deliberately, on top of one another to given an illusion of depth. The triangular roofs across the various parts of the building only further served to confuse onlookers and the aforementioned tower was shaped like a vertical hexagon so it reflected light in an odd way. The house was picturesque in a way that was convoluted but also easy on the eyes and satisfying to look at. one previous sect master was quoted saying 'I'm very nearly tempted to buy a tent and camp on the grass. I would sincerely prefer living outside the house and looking in rather than living in it and looking out.' They were so taken by the unorthodox design they preferred the aesthetic and form to the actual function. That same sect master even commissioned a painting of the house that he then hung inside the house itself to look at in the living room. This was a bit much, so a future sect master removed it, but it's not like anyone who came to live in this place since disagreed with the general sentiment that it was a brilliant sight to behold. At the very least, no sect master had ever not been momentarily taken upon first sighting. Even Yulo, who didn't care much for such things usually, whistled to himself and nodded his head many years ago when he was brought here. It had a sort of Mediterranean and ye-old English fusion vibe which, combined with its relatively large size, made it an ideal living space in both function and form.
Bellona nudged Ares with a cheeky grin. "That's quite the crib you've got there, sect master."
"Ha..." Ares shook his head and rolled his eyes. "When you call me sect master like that it just sounds like you're teasing me."
"Sorry sorry. That's quite the crib you've got there, brother."
"On second thought, I think I prefer sect master..."
"Me too" Enyo nodded and joined in the conversation. "It would make for some nice roleplaying in the bedroom." And naturally Enyo's thoughts had drifted way off track... Though, then again, embracing her as she cried 'sect master' did have its own charm even if Ares couldn't pinpoint why his dumb man-brain enjoyed the thought of it. Thankfully Enyo steered the conversation back on track and gave her opinion on the house. "I really like it. Coming back here after a long day of training the new recruits and cuffing criminals... It really does have that 'large family' vibe. Kids playing in the grass, Leo sleeping under the sun, Sandy nibbling on tea and cakes on the patio, Bellona upstairs in her room playing games, Ares in the kitchen, etc..." Bellona didn't have internet access yet but Enyo was looking into the future and she liked what she saw so this place got a thumbs up from her. "That being said, and I say this knowing full well it's large already, but I don't think it's big enough? For now it will suffice but we'll have to really expand it down the line as the harem grows." If Enyo was looking into the future it was only natural she'd have such a concern but, luckily, the problem was easy enough to solve. Ares' nothingness allowed him to carve up land mass so he could probably do the necessary earth manipulation and landscaping when the time came. As for expanding the house... Well hopefully by then they'd be outside the Blade barrier and they could search for an intergalactic house renovation agency or something. Ares was willing to use his Transmit connections, or any others that happened to be relevant, to find a good quality business for renovations and large scale adjustments. At least he didn't have to worry about it for now. As is, the house was big enough for every person living in it to have their their own room with a couple spare. The harem could still grow a bit before more space was needed, not that that was going to happen any time soon but it was still good to keep that int he back of Ares' mind. The only immediate changes on the horizon would be a larger bed and a communal bath for the harem. This was prep for the future too but it would be useful now as well. The communal bath especially was just generally more convenient than adding multiple, smaller, individual ones. There were a lot of people living in this house so one bath was never going to cut it. As for the bed, a normal one was ok but struggled to fit the current harem as is. Ares was on the lookout for a bigger bed and heard rumours about a furniture shop that opened up recently so that was on his to-do list as it would be a great help to get at least that problem out of the way.
"Come on, I'll show you the interior." Yulo gestured for everyone to follow him to the front door as he kept talking. "Ah but there's no furniture or anything like that. Anything useful I've already packed into my spatial ring and anything left is unimpressive. I was never one to be bothered by a plain living space so there's no art or antiques. Still, maybe this place being empty will make it easier to visualise what you want to do with it?" With a shrug, Yulo opened the door and stood aside to let the group go and explore to their heart's content. He'd wander around and answer any questions but he had a pretty hands-off approach to showcasing the building as he wasn't an expert in this sort of thing. His days usually consisted of waking up, getting out of bed, getting ready, and then heading to the sect headquarters to sign documents and whatnot. He was rarely anywhere else and so this building was pretty much only used to sleep in as far he was concerned. He didn't even really know what some of the extra rooms looked like, that was how infrequently he entered them.
Aejaz, Allie, Trixie, and Appa all went straight up the stairs in search of bedrooms as they figured they wouldn't get any of the ones on the ground floor. There were a couple but they were probably reserved for Ares and the harem so as to keep them all relatively close together. plus the largest bedroom was downstairs too so naturally that was where Ares would wind up one way or another. It's not that he had a preference for larger rooms or anything but he would need it for the larger bed so that was just how things had to be. Sandy gravitated towards the kitchen for whatever reason. There was no food in there at the moment but perhaps a part of her understood innately that she would be poking her head in here a lot going forward so she was analysing the fastest routes to get there. She also looked through the windows in the kitchen to check the back garden and see if there was room to spar back there during downtime. There was, in fact the space was large enough to be considered a mini Training Ground, so Ares could set up Training Fields for her and everyone else when need be. It was a bit surprising though, as the back garden had been extremely well hidden by the house itself, so the sight of this open space was rather unexpected. Nonetheless, it was great to have as small events could be held here too. Barbeques, parties, etc... Ares held small feasts every now and then but now guests wouldn't have to be cramped in the living room anymore so long as the weather was good. As for Bellona, she went to go check the bathrooms, of which there were two, and the cultivation rooms. Bellona spent more time looking in the mirror lately, now that she'd been taught a bit about makeup and skin care from the Grecian land maids, and there wasn't much else for her to be interested in around the house. She spent most of her spare time cultivating the boredom away, albeit less so now that Ares brought her all those souvenirs from the Federation, so the heated cultivation rooms, with soft carpet, were a sight for sore eyes. This would be infinitely better than sitting on cold, hard flooring all the time so if she ever wound up in one of these rooms she would much prefer it over what she was used to. Between the tall mirrors in the bathroom, which she could use to pretty herself up for Ares and make herself feel girly every now and then with, and the luxurious cultivation rooms, Bellona was happy.
Then there was Ares, Enyo, and Yulo. The three had each planned on checking out the rest of the house along with everyone else but they were all currently standing in front of a strange hatch near the end of a hallway. Ares was the first to spot it, Enyo's curiosity drew her to follow him, and Yulo came over to explain. "This is an underground cultivation chamber. The mana that congregates down there does do in higher quantities than anywhere else in the sect. Hell you'd be lucky to find a better cultivation spot across most of Sheryashka." Yulo seemed to be rather prideful of this chamber. He was still loyal to the sect so knowing it had such an exquisite room made him feel good. "It also serves as as bunker in trying times but there's no second exit so it's not a good idea to rely on it excessively. Still, other than the bedroom, this was the other room I spent most of my time in. If you ever need to cultivate for whatever reason then this is the place to be. Unfortunately only one person can use it at a time... Unless you're dual cultivating then all your partner can benefit too..." Enyo perked up and kept this titbit in mind. "... But yeah, the results speak for themselves. I highly recommend using it... Though..." Yulo was about to mention something pretty important when he was interrupted by, ironically, the very thing, or rather person, he was about to mention.
The hatch swung open and an old man poked his head out. He was hunched over, wrinkled to high heaven and back, and walking around with a cane for support... But he seemed spry as can be. The goofy smile on his face screamed youthfulness that was in stark contrast to his appearance and there was an air of childishness about him. The smile on his face disappeared as soon as he spotted Ares, though. "Who the hell are you?!" His accusatory tone, and the way his head recoiled back, indicated he wasn't expecting to find anyone inside the house.
"Me?" Ares was stunned at this reproachful, cranky man but wasn't going to take this lying down! "I'm the sect master, who the hell are you?!"
"Sect master? I'm the sect master, that's who the hell I am! Who the hell are you?!" The conversation seemed to have made zero progress and Ares was as confused as ever.
"Well if I'm the sect master, and you're also the sect master, then who the hell is he?!" Ares pointed at Yulo who was sighing loudly and slapping his forehead.
The old man pointed his own crooked finger at Yulo and thought hard for a second... "Well he's also the sect master, that's who the hell he is!"
"Oh God... Now there are two idiots..." Yulo couldn't bear to listen to this nonsense any longer and was about to clear up the misunderstanding...
"Oh wow, what a pretty woman!" The old man finally spotted Enyo and his eyes widened as drool trickled down his crusty lip. "Hey lady, you wanna spend a night with this spry old pappa?"
SLAM
Ares' boot swerved into the old man's face, blasted him back down the staircase, and he then slammed the hatch for good measure. The sound of the old man tumbling down the stairs one by one was masked by Ares' golden pressure forming a lock on the hatch. "The demon is sealed."
"That 'demon'..." Yulo began hesitantly... "Well, I'm sure you've figured it out, but he's the previous sect master... He's a bit... No a lot, of a pervert... Don't get me wrong, he doesn't force women or blackmail them or anything... But he is persistent... The amount of times we caught him asking female disciples for their used underwear... I don't even want to get into it..."
...
Ares did not like this old man one bit!