Chapter 49 (1/2)

Karta stretched her jaws wide, taking in a huge yawn. She smacked her lips a few times with her eyes still shut. A moment later, her hackles and ears raised, and her eyes shot open. She bounced to her feet and looked from side to side. The last thing she remembered was being forced to consume a divinity while surrounded by thousands of titans. Where was she? In front of her, there was a black dog with sleek, glossy fur. It was also a Labrador retriever, and it looked like a much cuter version of her. Karta’s lips pulled back, and she let out a growl, but the fancy dog did the same exact thing. Who did that dog think it was!? She was now the god of the marketplace and potato chips! There wasn’t any other snack god as strong as her!

Karta sniffed before furrowing her brow. Something was wrong. The dog in front of her didn’t have any scent; instead, she smelled lavenders coming from … herself? Karta looked down, and her eyes widened upon realizing her hair was sleek and glossy! A bark escaped from her mouth. That wasn’t an intruding dog. That was her! What the heck happened to her!? Absorbing Rynok’s divinity must’ve changed her appearance! The change wasn’t a bad one either. Karta strutted in front of the mirror while inspecting herself. She looked good! She’d like to see if Vremya would still call her a stinky dog now!

“That’ll be three earth-grade spirit stones.”

Karta turned her head. There was a closed door in the room, the only exit. She hopped down from the table she was on and nudged the door with her paw. It creaked open. Outside, Vremya was standing in front of a desk with a lady counting spirit stones sitting behind it. Vremya turned his head, meeting Karta’s gaze. “Oh? You’re finally awake?”

Karta pushed the door open all the way and burst into the room. Her eyes widened as she took in the sights around her. “A doggy daycare!? You washed me!?” Karta’s hackles rose, and her body tensed, her nose pointing straight at Vremya. She barked and stomped her front paw. “Do you know what it means to wash a dog!? No! In the first place, I’m not even a real dog! I’m a snack god, a god!”

“You stunk,” Vremya said with a blank expression. “I’ve seen a few advertisements for this place, and I’ve been meaning to take you for a while but was too lazy to do it.”

Karta’s vision went red. That was it! She had had enough of Vremya calling her stinky! Even if she were a bit fragrant, from what place did a naked old man have the audacity to criticize her? With a bark, Karta ran forward and tackled Vremya … and promptly hit an invisible barrier. She bounced off of it with a thud, and she groaned while rubbing her head. A shadow covered her vision, and she looked up to see Vremya towering over her with his fanny pack in plain view.

“You might’ve suffered some side effects from absorbing Rynok’s divinity like that,” Vremya said with a furrowed brow. “The divinity is influencing your feelings towards me, making you more aggressive. Rynok must’ve cursed me a lot before he died.” Vremya shrugged. “It shouldn’t take long for the divinity to fully digest. Just lay in bed for a few days.”

Karta was about to reply, but something dark covered her vision. Was that the opening of a bag? Before she could figure out what was happening, she was already lifted off of her feet and stuffed into a sack. “Hey! What are you doing!?”

“Making sure you don’t run away from me,” Vremya said. “Anyway, stop struggling. Focus on your new divinity for now. Make it yours.”

Karta stopped squirming and curled her paws while furrowing her brow. Her eyes squinted as she focused, looking deep within herself. In her mind, a golden mist was going up against a sea of potato chips. The mist was circling and attacking the chips, separating single chips from the group before surrounding them like ants. Karta frowned and barked in her mind, and the potato chips, which were falling apart like a sea of fish being hunted by a shark, gathered together, solidifying into a wall instead of a sea. The edges of the potato chip wall lunged forward like arms going for a hug, and a circle made of potato chips was formed around a blob of golden mist. The potato chip circle shrank and crushed the golden mist trapped in the center, condensing it into golden potato chips. The process was repeated over and over until all the golden mist was gone, leaving behind an ocean of potato chips, some glowing gold.

When Karta opened her eyes, she was lying in her spot on the couch. Vremya glanced at the dog from the corner of his eyes. “Awake now?” he asked. “How is it? Are you still the stinky dog?”

“You’re the stinky one, old man,” Karta said and rolled her eyes. She glanced around before slapping her personal computer with her hindleg, turning it on. “What happened? What’d I miss? Anything interesting?”

“Looks like you successfully ate Rynok,” Vremya said and turned back towards his screen.