Joe chuckled and shook his head, “That is decent exercise, but not really that great for our age and strength. We need more.”
Kilniara pulled back from him in shock at that and stared at him, “More?!”
Joe laughed and nodded, “Probably running around the city on the outside of the city walls once a day would be really good.”
“Run around the city?!”
“Yup. Once a day… maybe for about a year. Then you’ll be at pretty decent health.”
Kilniara stared at him for a bit before leaning back against him, “You’re a monster.”
“Nah. Many of my people do this all the time. Children all must do this, to a more or less degree, in school.”
“Truly?”
“Yup. Your body is as important as your mind. Same for other aspects; relationally, spiritually… or I guess you might call it philosophically. I’m not sure.”
Kilniara didn’t reply to this and he looked down to see her stumbling along in exhaustion. Joe smiled and laughed before he reached down and picked her up.
“Here. Let me.”
She squealed a bit, shaking her head but not rejecting his offer, settling for burying her head in the crook of his arm as they walked through the city to the baths. Joe normally wouldn’t have offered, but she was quite exhausted and they were less than a small block away from the baths. She was truly exhausted.
Joe headed into the bathhouse and Joe set Kilniara down carefully.
“You OK?”
She kept her head down but nodded quickly and spoke well enough, “Yes. Thank you.”
Joe smiled and waved her on, “Go rest in the shower. I’ll stay in mine until we need to leave or until you send a runner, OK?”
She nodded then stood, fidgeting for a bit. Joe looked at her, confused as he was uncertain why she was staying.
“Do you need something?”
“No, I…” Kilniara took a deep breath then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him and Joe looked down at her in surprise before he chuckled and reached his arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug.
“Thanks. That… I needed that. And today was fun.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“OK. Now go take a bath!”
Kilniara looked up at him at that, smiling as brightly as she blushed. She waved then turned and escaped into the woman’s side of the baths and Joe turned, chuckling as he walk into the men’s side.
The bath proved exactly what he needed and he settled in, melting into the hot water. Joe made sure to ask for a warning to exit for dinner time, and spent the rest of the bath simply relaxing in the water. He did take the time to flip open his skills and stats. He wasn’t as concerned for his stats since he’d taken medic for the skills but found it a bit disappointing.
He was excited, at first, as the level thirty skill was called heal, but when he delved into it, he realized what he had was considered a rather basic junior high or high school understanding of how to treat, clean, and care for a basic wound. He did pull out a bladed weapon and tested it by slashing his skin, a small slice along the back of his forearm. It immediately healed and he frowned. Why… ooh! HP! He flipped open his status and began slicing at his arm and legs again and again, watching his HP carefully until it bottomed out. He then cautiously sliced what was essentially a small, if long, scratch into his forearm once again. He used heal, and the skill told him to wash and clean it before wrapping it in a clean dry cloth. Joe sighed, annoyed.
The other skill, at level twenty, was called diagnose, and he ended up playing around with that more than the heal skill. He used it on his wound and it told him the size and depth of the wound, and also of any complications, which, for his wound, were none. He then diagnosed his arms, legs, and torso, but didn’t learn anything beyond being told that he appeared healthy.
A surprise came when one of the boys working the baths came in to drop some more hot water in the bath and he diagnosed the boy. The boy was hot, red faced, and sweating. The diagnoses was that the boy was strained, exhausted, and a bit overheated. The skill then told him how to treat the boy optimally.
Status
Blessings
Current Job
Available Jobs
Current Skills
All Skills
Log
Joe McConnell
Status
Physical Resistances
Magical Resistances
HP
30.00
Physical:
Wind
0
SP
30.00
Piercing
0.00
Water
0
MP
30.00
Crushing
0.00
Earth
0
Attack
30.00
Slashing
0.00
Fire
0
Defense
30.00
Ice
0
Magic
Stolen novel; please report.
30.00
Gravity
0
Magic Defense
30.00
Magnetic
0
Strength
30.00
Light
0
Dexterity
30.00
Medic
30
Shadow
0
Agility
30.00
Space
0
Speed
30.00
Spirit
0
Endurance
30.00
Mental
0
IQ
720.00
Sound
0
Wisdom
120.00
Electricity
0
Will
240.00
Learning
300.00
Luck
0.00
Joe sighed at the skills, then frowned at apparent redundancy of the two skills as both seemed to offer treatment plans. Why do I have two skills that do the same thing? Joe tried both skills on his wound on his arm again, paying closer attention, and noticed that heal actually did have some minor effect on his cut. He noticed the blood reducing by such a small amount Joe almost thought he was seeing things he wanted. He triggered the heal skill a couple dozen times, exhausting himself a few times which was when he noticed that the skill took mana. But, after a few dozen times, he saw a very thin rudimentary scab forming and he nodded, simultaneously excited and disappointed.
He was disappointed that the skill was so weak, but also excited that he had definitive proof of magic. Maybe more of a form of low magic? Although the way Kukurnal and the others talk about it seems like… more of a high magic world? Joe put aside his thoughts on the skills and decided to at least look at his stats then let his mind rest as his body was resting in the warm water.
Joe looked over the stats without much emotion, finding nothing really useful. The learning, as always, was huge, offering another thirty points to his base learning. The only notable stat was the IQ. After looking at everything carefully, Joe dropped it and swiped the status screen from in front of him and just closed his eyes and rested in the water.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed, but he received a runner who came up to him and spoke quickly, “Sir. Miss Kilniara has said you must prepare to leave.”
“Oh, is it already time? OK. Thanks a lot,” Joe offered the runner who quickly slipped out of the room.
Joe got out of the bath and swiped himself down with some soap before dunking once again and then drying off. He dressed quickly enough, grabbing his bag before walking out into the common area, looking for Kilniara. She hadn’t come out yet, so Joe sat on one of the comfortable chairs dotting the common area, waiting for her.
She came out leisurely about ten minutes later but when she saw Joe already there, she rushed towards him and quickly apologized.
“I’m so sorry. Were you waiting long?”
Joe laughed and shook his head, “Nah. Just a couple minutes. You ready to go?”
“Yup,” she offered cheerily and then slipped her arm through his.
Joe chuckled again and they soon were back outside, walking back towards the dungeon and the adventure guild near there. They arrived early enough to get decent seats and Joe asked for a semi private booth located near the rear of the dining area. What he received was actually a private room with sliding doors, which suited him just as well. Joe offered Kilniara her seat before taking his and they were soon enjoying a private conversation while they waited for the mob boss to show up. They left the doors open and Joe sat facing the entrance so he was easily visible from the entrance.
They ended up waiting for almost thirty minutes, but Joe wasn’t too concerned and simply took it as time to spend with Kilniara, his nervous unhappiness of the morning gone having accomplished some form of meaningful work towards his current goal. Kilniara noted this and joked with Joe on it, both spending the time to explore this personal quirk. The conversation quickly turned to small talk after.
A little way into the typical time for a meal, their guest finally arrived, although not in any form he was expecting. She was dressed in a way so completely different from earlier that even the other guests quieted when she walked into the dining area. The quiet is what first drew their attention and Joe and Kilniara looked up to see her enter.
She was dressed in a dark forest green and brilliant red dress obviously meant to draw attention. While the dress wouldn’t be considered overtly sexual, it was designed beautifully to reveal her figure. The deep slit in her dress revealed a single leg to just above the knee while the off shoulder sleeves left her arms and shoulders bare. She had the classic hourglass figure with full hips, waspish waist, and full breasts, yet he could see muscular tone through her arms, shoulders, and single leg still visible despite the dress. She was a stunning beauty, which did shock Joe a bit. She would compare quite well with the more beautiful of the great entertainment stars available in the global show business back on Earth. What truly caught his attention were the two feline or canis ears riding high on her skull although spaced widely on her skull with the outer parts of the ear actually draping down the outside of her skull all the way down to where the ears on a base human sat. The ears didn’t reach as far down as human ears did, but it did reach to about the middle of where base human ears sat.
Joe glanced at her, noticed her, and then returned his eyes to Kilniara only to see her still locked on the lady who’d entered. While his eyes still wanted to be drawn towards the other lady, he kept his focus on Kilniara and waited for her to come back. He leaned forward in the seat and leaned his head on one of his arms, staring at her. It took Kilniara a bit of time, but she did finally look back and when she did, her eyes opened with some shock to see him staring at her. She looked at him, then back at the lady in red and green before glancing back at Joe.
“What?”
Kilniara stared a bit more before she began giggling a bit manically, laughing in surprise as Joe continued to stare at her. She finally brought her laughter under control before she looked up at him, ready to speak again.
“She is not beautiful?”
“She is very beautiful. Incredibly so. But I’m here with you, not her. And you are just as beautiful.”
She seemed surprised at his statement, her expression quickly souring as she tried to school her face before her expression changed to surprise then satisfied happiness.
“I’m not going to lie,” Joe continued, firmly but cautiously.
Kilniara stared at him before smiling, “So you do find me beautiful.”
“I told you. She is beautiful, yes, but your beauty is at least equal to hers. She only is better… packaged. A beautiful dress, makeup, or accessories can easily accentuate beauty. I just think you haven’t seen how beautiful you could be if you were in the same dress or had the same preparation.”
“You think I could be as beautiful as her?”
“You are as beautiful as her!”
Kilniara breathed a tiny gasp at that, before smiling brilliantly, “Really?”
Joe chuckled softly but nodded, “Yes! You’re incredibly beautiful, just as she is. Her beauty does not limit, remove, or have any bearing on yours.”
A voice came from their side, “That is well said.”