Chapter 295 - The Talk (1/2)
Mercury sat on the hot sand for a while, embraced by Julia, the other adventures gradually calmed down and started to do some after battle work, which included giving first aid to the injured as well as collecting the dead and identifying them, a few of them wanted to offer Mercury a few drinks but they didn't go near when they saw Julia still embracing him as she cried softly
”There, there”
Mercury patted her on the back as he thought about what just had happened
'I really did it now… I need to leave the town behind before someone begins asking where those golems came from, but first…'
Mercury patted Julia on the back one last time before he grabbed his cane and stood up, Julia sat and looked up at him as he suddenly asked
”I get the right to the golems since I defeated them right?”
”...Yeah you do, but I don't think it's a good idea to keep both”
”I know…”
Mercury cleared his throat before he spoke loudly
”May I have your attention! I hereby pledge the profits of one of the dead golems to the families of the fallen as well as all that participated in the battle!”
Cheers were heard all around before the adventures and guards went back to work, Mercury held out a hand to Julia that took his hand and got on her feet before she leaned in and spoke in a whisper
”You have some explaining to do”
”...Yes ma'am… But first...”
Mercury walked up to the golem he had defeated first, Julia was curious and followed him, he then put his hand on an outer piece of armor and mumbled
”Adamantite bauxite alloy… that's why it's so tough…”
Mercury then spoke
”[Metal assimilation]”
Julia's mouth opened wide as she watched the outer shell of the golem rusted away in mere moments revealing the inner pipes, wires, and workings under the armor shell, after a few moments she asked
”What was that Mercury?”
”A skill… 2656 points, nice… I'll explain it all later”
”Okay…”
Mercury kept stripping the outer shell by grabbing an armor piece and using [Metal assimilation] until the golem was completely stripped of its armor, then he began stripping the inner pipes and guts of the golem and a few hours later he was left with a wooden skeleton and a gem the size of a fist that both were covered in inscriptions the size of ants, Julia looked baffled, but Mercury was over the moon, after all, he had managed to get 55.627 essence points
”[Essence shop]...”
[Essence shop]
Current essence: 55.627
Available skills: [Lesser metal weaving, cost: 5.000] [Metal domination, cost: 10.000]
Available purchases: [Metal gamble, cost: 1.000] [Advanced chunk of Living metal Assimilation, cost: 100.000]
Random status point, cost: 100
Specific status point, cost: 500
Level up, cost: 1.000
”Unlock [Lesser metal weaving] and [Metal domination]”
Mercury felt his hard-earned essence points decrease a few thousand 15.000 to be specific, leaving him with 40.627 points
”Well then…”
Mercury looked back at Julia that stood and waited, he stuffed the fist-sized gem into his backpack before he walked over to her
”I'm done”
Julia showed a sweet smile as she nodded
”Okay, then let's head back to the town”
It was long into the night before Mercury and Julia got some alone time, both of them were slightly hungover since they had been drinking with the adventures and guards, Mercury felt a headache come one as he sat down on the bed in his inn room, Julia sat down on a chair and looked over at him with some expectations on how he was going to explain not dying after having a hole melted in his chest, Mercury massaged his leg as he thought on how he should explain that he was a living god
”Well… Here goes… You are probably wondering why I didn't die and how I am alive right Julia?”
”...Yeah”
”Well the answer is simple, I did die, just not completely”
”...You are going to have to do better than that”
”Well… I am what's called a living god”
Julia looked at Mercury for a few moments before she gave a nod and asked
”What's a living god?”
”Well… first off they are more powerful than mortals and they don't die when they are killed, instead there's a penalty... When I woke up in that crypt I had the strength of 10… People combined”
”What's the pause for?”
”Well, I don't know what race I am…”
”Wait… You said you woke up in a crypt too?”
Mercury gave a nod as Julia stared blankly at him for a few moments before she began speaking
”So when you say that you don't have any memories then your first memory is waking up in a crypt?”
”Yep… Inside a sarcophagus too”
Julia once again stared blankly at Mercury before she massaged her temples and asked
”So… You are a living god that woke up inside a sarcophagus without any memories a week ago?”
”Yeah, this has been a very eventful week for me”
”...I see, what then?”
”You actually believe me?”