Ares was no fool. He realised that making his way to the large wolf tribe would take some time, and knowing him, there would be a ton of issues.

However, he soon found himself and his pair of companions, or rather tribe members since Lana could take that the wrong way, surrounded by hundreds of wolf folk that were half nude and dancing around them.

Jorgan had poured him his drink, and he had returned the favour, as well as pouring Lana hers too. He dunked it down and then looked around at the tribe. Jorgan was a relative of the chief, but apparently the wolf chief’s grandparents held Jorgan’s in great regard.

The chief was a woman in her thirties, and was drinking copious amounts of alcohol with them. She was quite short, probably about a foot shorter than he was, and she was quite thin too. Though her hair, which was long and pure white, went down to her waist, and was let to sway freely. “Cha! So what’s this about you trying to conquer the mountain then?” She asked.

“I have come to ask if you would like to join my tribe.” Ares stated firmly.

The chief, Heria, stared at him in surprise. She then was poured more drink, and dunked it down, before then letting out another sigh. “Why would we do that?”

“It’s your own choice whether you would like to join.” Ares started, making sure she understood he wasn’t here to start a fight. “The humans will soon overrun this land. I’m going to stop them, but I can’t do it alone. Jorgan has asked me to come and see if you’d be willing to join me. I believe he did so because he has faith in me.”

Heria looked over to Jorgan. “Then I will speak with him, to see how he feels about you without your oversight.” She said as she waved her hand around her. “Any of my tribe would be happy to entertain you.”

“Thank you, I’ll take you up on the offer.” Ares got up and Lana followed him away. He walked away, fairly far away, because he didn’t want to eavesdrop on Jorgan, he had far too much respect for them.

Lana eventually called out to him, but at that time he had reached a small family of wolffolk. “Ah, yeah?” He asked as he turned to face her, but she shook her head.

“Nothing.”

So Ares introduced himself to the family. “Would you mind if we joined you?”

The wolffolk family began to panic a little, pushing aside some of their possessions in order to make space. It seemed that they hadn’t expected to put up with him, which caused a smile to appear on his face. This was rather fun too and then he realised just how much Lana had when she teased him. He threw her a look and shook his head, though she smiled at him, slightly confused.

“I’m Ares, the travelling chief. My compa- confidant is a relative of your chief, and I have come at his discretion. I don’t mean to intrude, so please be at ease.” Ares flashed a smile as warm as the sun.

The family seemed to be rather young all around. There were the pair of parents who seemed to be barely adults and they already had a pair of children. It would have been rude to pry into their circumstances, especially considering this was probably the norm, in fact, there were no doubt those younger than them having families…

Ares sat beside Lana opposite the wolffolk and then began to chat with them about themselves. They were Isk and Aska, apparently they were distantly related to one another. Isk was a member of the hunter pack that went out to find food, no wonder he was so muscular. Aska was a nightly guard, though she seemed to have the build of a panther, so sleek and agile. Their toddler was a little passed a year old, whereas their baby was only about a month.

Speaking of children, Ares got to brag about his own children. He was in the middle of bragging about his own children when Lana elbowed him in the side.

“Perhaps you should tell them how you are still a boy?” Lana smirked at him and Ares narrowed his eyes.

Ares shook his head. “Lana is just angry I was able to beat her within a few seconds of our bout, please ignore her ramblings.”

Lana huffed out of her nostrils and then leaned back, crossing her arms. Her eyes narrowed and then flashed with annoyance. “I would have defeated you if it weren’t for your underhanded trickery!” She snarled at him.

The baby shifted and then stirred as she did so, and it began to cry. Ares threw a look towards it and then back up at Lana, raising his brow. She seemed a little flustered.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle him.” She said, reaching up to bump her horns, but instead rubbing her forehead with the sides of her fists, bowing her head as she did so.

“Oh no! It’s fine, babies cry at any little thing, I’m sure he’s just a little tired.” Isk replied back.

“Well then if that’s the cas-”

“What’s this, are you trying to steal some of our babies too?” Came out the voice of Heria from behind them.

Ares turned to face her, raising his brow. Jorgan’s face flashed with panic as their eyes darted from Ares and then to the back of Heria’s head.

“I have no need to steal any of your babies, mine are more than enough for me.” Ares said as he then stood up, excusing himself from the family and thanking them for their company. “So, has Jorgan told you how amazing I am?”

Lana then elbowed him in the side again, causing him to hiss out and then he threw her a look, only for her to smile. “What he means to ask is, have you thought about his offer at all? My chief doesn’t have a way with words.”

Ares threw her a look and was about to remark something sarcastically when Heria replied back. “Yes, I have thought about it.” Then she turned and led them back to the middle of the town.

This was the first town Ares had come to that had walls around it and a large number of permanent fixtures. Though many still slept wherever they pleased, it seemed as though many had settled down to a place they preferred since they had so many items that seemed to be permanent fixtures near them.

“I have heard much from my cousin, especially concerning your peculiar behaviours.” She smirked at him. “You wish to conquer the mountain and defeat a God.” This time she grabbed a bottle and took a swig of it. “Aren’t you someone whose head is filled with fountains?”

“I would say that Rivea is looking out for me, since I’ve won so many bouts in their name.”

“How many do you already have to take on the mountain? I hear you have twelve, though Jorgan wishes to join you as well.”

Ares glanced over towards Jorgan who stared at him. “If you want to join me, I’ll accept it. I had something else to ask of you though. It’s for something that I can trust to someone like you.” Then Ares returned his look to Heria.

“You’re going to need an army to conquer the mountain and to kill a dragon…” She said.

“No. I don’t need that many.”

“… If you’re able to conquer the mountain, then I’ll follow you.”

Ares’ brows raised in surprise, but he smiled regardless. “Oh? Then I’ll be sure to do that as quickly as I can. I’ll head back tomorrow morning if you don’t mind, we’ve been travelling for a few days, so some rest would be nice.”

“Very well. Then I will offer you twelve of my warriors to go with you. We will share the burden with you. However, if you do not conquer the mountain, then we will consider you our enemy.”

Jargon sat up straight, the colour draining from his face. Ares could only smile as he then reached out a hand. “I only need seven of your warriors.”

Heria had been reaching out her hand before she stopped at his words. Then she grabbed his forearm. “Nine it is.” She said.

Ares laughed. “You shouldn’t underestimate me.”

“I’m not. That’s why I don’t expect we’ll come to blows.”

Ares bowed his head. “Good, me neither.”

“I don’t know how I should treat a god slayer.” Heria grinned wide, revealing her fangs.

“Don’t worry about such things.”

“Don’t disappoint me.”

Ares grinned. “I shall surpass your expectations… no… I shall surpass the heavens.”