Chapter 295 - The Talk

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?"

Julia nodded before she confessed

"Actually I have a skill that makes me able to tell when someone's lying… Sorry that I haven't told you before"

Mercury saw how down Julia suddenly seemed and reached over and patted her on the head as he spoke

"Well I didn't tell you that I am literal god so I think we're even"

Julia giggled a little before she stood up from the chair and then sat down in Mercury's lap as she asked

"So what's the catch? You said there was a penalty for dying right?"

"Well I have these 'status points' that detriment how strong I am, they decrease when I take lethal damage… And if there's nothing left I die for real"

Julia looked a little concerned and asked

"Then how many of those status points do you have left?"

"Let me check… Status"

Name: Mercury

Age: Error

Race: Null

Class: [Metal]

Class level: 1

Titles: [Last member of the ********* ** *** ******] [First of the ********] [Sinner of the ****** race] [Cursebreaker] [Crippled leg] [Iron ranked hunter]

Strength [9/1000] - Constitution [7/1000] - Dexterity [10/450]

Intelligence [10/100] - Wisdom [10/100] - Carisma [10/10]

Class skills: [Metal assimilation, lv--] [Essence refining, lv--] [Essence consuming, lv--] [Essence shop, lv--]

Active skills: [Earth magic, lv10] [Lesser metal weaving, lv--] [Metal domination, lv--]

Passive skills [Cursebreaker, lv--] [Pain resistance, lv03]

"56 points left, I lost 4 points when I died earlier"

"That's not so bad is it?"

"Nah I don't believe so since I can buy 406 points more using my skill… You remember when I consumed the golem earlier right? That was for these points"

"I see… Well, then you're basically immortal right?"

"Yep, basically"

Julia showed a smile, a slightly sad one at that, Mercury asked

"What's wrong?"

"That means you'll outlive me right?"

"That's… Well…"

Mercury suddenly looked lost before he gave a long sigh and spoke

"We still have time together before that happens, who knows I might be able to make you immortal too sometime, I'll do anything for my woman after all"

"Oh, you know just what to say don't you~"

Julia hugged Mercury before she pushed him down on the bed for some… Shall we say cuddles?

"..."

Mercury was awake, he laid on the bed staring into the ceiling, it was early morning, Julia was still in dreamland as she lay half on top of him in the small bed, however, Mercury was far too distracted to enjoy the soft feeling of her body.

He was thinking about how he was going to tell her that they needed to leave the small town

'Actually, I should tell her that the golems came after me from the crypt too…'

Mercury's thoughts went in circles as he thought about how to tell her, this continued for a few hours until around midday when Julia stirred and slowly awoke, or in fact, she was lucid rather fast

'As expected from an adventurer…'

"Good morning, or noon…"

"Morning Mercury… What's wrong?"

Mercury decided not to butter her up beforehand and simply told her

"We need to leave this town"

Julia looked into his eyes for some time until she asked rather seriously

"Why?"

Mercury took a deep breath and told her straight out

"Because those golems came for me… And if someone figured that out I'll be held responsible for the damage they did"

Julia looked Mercury in the face for a long time before she gave a long sigh and asked

"Where do you want to go then, Mercury?"

"Wait, are you going to agree just like that?"

Julia nodded before she told him in a matter of a fact way

"I am your woman after all"

Mercury was dumbfounded for a moment before he showed a smile and hugged Julia before he whispered passionately 

"Thank you, Julia…"

After that, well you know the drill, more cuddles(?)