Chapter 372 - Rita, Of Hunting

Mercury felt a little tipsy when the 4 of them finally stopped their makeshift liquor tasting, Mars looked like he did normally, Tim was shitfaced and Thomas was in a merry mood, then after getting one of the guards to carry Tim to bed the 3 people left the city-state of Glorya behind as Mars ripped open a portal and they walked through…

Back at Mars' palace, the sun had risen, as soon as Mercury stepped through the portal he was ambushed by a flying ball of smoke, in other words, Qutil

[Ohmygoshwheredidyougo!]

Mercury sighed before he tried to calm Qutil that seemed to be panicking slightly

"I went with Mars, to find this guy"

Qutil twirled around Mercury a few times before she looked over at Thomas and spoke bluntly

[What's with this albino?]

Thomas narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked Mercury

"Oi Mercury… Why is it that you're keeping such a foul-mouthed… Snake thing around?"

[I am a dragon you ignorant natural selection failure!]

"What's that!? You say something lizard!?"

Mercury sighed as he watched the two of them argue, then he glanced over at Mars that was standing there like he was watching a show while eating an apple, then he noticed Mercury seeking help and showed a smile before he spoke

"Alright Thomas, don't take Qutil's words to heart, she's just like that"

Thomas nodded before he turned his head away from Qutil and walked away, Mercury sighed before he whacked Qutil on the

[Ouch! What's your problem!?]

Mercury quickly spoke

"Imagine you make a new friend at work, he's nice and he takes you out drinking, then a few days of harmonious friendship later you bring him over to your place for some drinks… And then your rapid dog proceeds to piss on his leg!"

[What! I would put that rabid dog down at once!]

Mercury sighed before he asked Mars

"What about the other living god?"

Mars sighed before he spoke

"She's a special case…I suppose we could go at once..."

[I want to come with you!]

Mercury nodded, he found no reason not to bring Qutil, other than the fact that she would worsen the first impression, he spoke out loud

"Do you want to come too Darrik?"

A spacial disturbance passed before Darrik arrived next to Mercury

"Sure… I could do with stretching my legs a bit"

Mercury nodded before Mars showed a slight smile and asked Mercury

"Are you sure you want to bring those two? I can't guarantee their safety, nor yours for that sake"

Mercury blinked twice before he asked

"What kind of living god are we talking about?"

Mars showed a mysterious smile as he spoke cryptically

"The kind that sees everyone as prey, I think she said she was a lioness in her past life"

Mercury frowned slightly, but then Darrik's voice sounded out

"If she thinks she can kill a star wolf she's got another thing coming"

[That's right! I ain't afraid of no lioness, I am a mighty dragon!]

Mercury sighed before he spoke to Mars

"You heard them"

Mars nodded

"Yes I did, then let us go"

"Sure"

Mars ripped open a portal before he walked through, Mercury, Qutil, and Darrik followed after him before the portal closed behind them…

On the other side of the portal was a large open plain, Mars stood with closed eyes for a few moments before he nodded and spoke

"This is one of the many wild continents"

"Wild?"

"There are no people here"

"Oh…"

"And there probably never will be, this continent is guarded by a particular race of merpeople that find this continent sacred ground and sink any ships that come close"

"...Then why are we here?"

Mars shrugged

"She did me a favor, in return, she wanted to go to a place with no people so she could hunt in peace"

Mercury connected the dots rather quickly and asked

"Then are we not disturbing her by being here?"

"Sure, but we aren't people, we're living gods… Or you are"

Mercury nodded before he paused

"Wait… You're not a living god Mars?"

Mars showed a smile and nodded

"Not anymore, I am what comes after that, and as pathetic as it sounds I am quite mortal..."

Mercury sensed that Mars was being serious and was about to ask what exactly there was after being a living god when a roar sounded out from nearby, the two of them looked over and saw a pack of minivan sized wolves running towards them, Mercury sighed before he slipped into a boxing stance and disappeared from view before he reappeared right in front of one of the wolves and sent out a simple-looking jab towards the first wolf which made its skull collapse onto its spine, then Mercury used [Essnecse consuming] and made a long metal wire which he then controlled and used as a wire saw to dismember the rest of the wolves, then he sighed before he shook the blood of the wire and consumed it for essence again, then he looked over at Mars and asked

"Shall we get going?"

Mars shook his head before he spoke

"She's already noticed us, it's best if we stay here…"

"...And why is that?"

"If we move in the wrong direction she'll think we're fleeing and hunt us for real, so come and take a seat on the grass kid"

"Sure…"

Mercury sat down on the grass, he was leaning against Darrik that lay with his eyes closed, Mars appeared completely carefree as he laid down and chewed on a long piece of grass, Qutil twirled around the air while looking around, time passed like this until Mars opened his eyes and spoke

"Could you not?"

Mercury looked over at Mars that suddenly reached out and caught an arrow that was inches from his eyesocket, Mercury stood up and looked around, still he could not detect where the arrow had come from, then Mars' voice sounded out

"Why don't you play with your new little brother for a bit?"

Mercury looked over and saw that Mars had disappeared and muttered

"Mothertrucker… Fine… Let's play"

Then he stomped his foot sending out an echo pulse and closed his eyes to feel if there was a hit, though they quickly opened again as he leaned his body to the side slightly as an arrow whizzed by his face

"That's rude"

Then he suddenly slipped into the ground below him, as for Qutil and Darrik they had long since made themselves scarce, Mercury traveled through the ground for a bit before he popped up in another spot, as soon as he popped out from the ground an arrow he had not detected gazed right by his face, Mercury sighed before he spoke

"I give up"

A few seconds passed before a woman appeared, she had brown skin and brown curly hair, her eyes looked like that of a cat, overall she gave off a certain 'wild' beauty, this was also due to the fact that she was dressed in furs that seemed to have been sewed together, a bow made of bone was swung over her back and she had a quiver on her hip along with a set of daggers that seemed to have been crafted from bone too, she had a slightly proud but also mischievous smile on her face as she spoke

"You know when to give up, not bad little brother"

Mercury showed a smile and nodded as he stated proudly

"I know when I am beaten"

The woman's cat-like eyes narrowed slightly as her smile widened as she spoke

"But you are probably confident if it came to a life and death fight, right?"

"Of course, I am not going to lay down and die"

"Very good… Very good indeed, I can see why you like him so much Mars"

"Yeah, Mercury is a good seedling"

Mercury smiled before he called out

"Qutil, Darrik, you can come out now"

The space above them shattered like glass as Qutil came flying out while screaming

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---"

Mercury popped a vein in his forehead as he yelled back

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SCREAM ALL THE TIME?"

[---AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!]

Then he sighed as Qutil twirled around him as she laughed, then Darrik silently appeared next to Mercury, the woman narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at Darrik, Darrik looked at the woman and for a bit, the two of them locked eyes before she showed a smile, then Darrik sighed and spoke

"I'll behave, but only if you do the same, cat"

"Sure thing, wolf"

Mars watched on with a smile before he spoke

"This is Mercury, he's the new metal"

Mercury showed a friendly smile, then the woman introduced herself

"My name is Rita, I am the current living god of hunting"

Mercury nodded and spoke

"Nice to meet you, Rita"

Rita nodded and spoke

"Likewise, little brother Mercury"

Mars clapped his hands before he spoke

"Then let's go back, we'll start the banquet at once!"