Brian sighed as he washed himself at the low stone basin, pouring the warm water over his head with a copper bucket. While he was nerdy enough to know what a more modern Japanese bath was supposed to look like, this was something different. Everything was blocky and sharp-edged stone, with copper or brass fittings and little to no decoration. He wondered if that was just the Dwarven style, or if it had something to do with the fact that it was a “topsider” bath house. It did have soap and surprisingly soft towels available, though Brian wasn’t sure what exactly they were made out of, both having a strong earthy smell.
While he washed, he thought over his group’s current situation. Their primary objective was to get to the Dwarven city of Vashkelholme in order to find out exactly what the Guild Leader’s letter meant, and then succeed on the subsequent job it would give them. Then they needed to… Brian’s train of thought trailed off as he heard someone approaching from behind him, sighing quietly to himself as he dumped another bucket of warm water over his head.
“Shall I wash your back?” the sultry tone came, Karen moving up beside him as she held out a damp towel and block of soap, “It would be a great honour to have a being as powerful as myself do such a thing for a lowly mortal as you.”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Brian replied, immediately getting up and walking over to the large bath at the back of the room.
“Are you sure? You need to take care of yourself in order to level up as fast as possible,” she hummed, “Otherwise it would be pointless for me to consume your power.”
“I’m sure,” Brian muttered as he stepped into the slightly raise tub, sitting down on the bench-like step under the water.
“Then, shall we discuss our next steps in this “adventure” of ours?” Karen hummed as she settled into the water beside him, sitting uncomfortably close to the man.
“There’s not much right now,” Brian replied, shifting slightly further away from the woman, “Just getting to Vashkelholme and doing whatever job the Guild Leader gave us. Oh, and find an Artificer or something to try out my wand idea. Other than that, I can’t think of anything.”
“Hmmmph,” the Dragon snorted, “So bland. Hopefully this job for your Adventurer’s Guild will be a source of some excitement. What level are you currently?”
“Don’t know,” Brian shrugged, calling up his Status Screen and reading over the floating text.
Name: Brian Andrews
Level: 10
Class: Dark Mage
Job: Scribe
Skill Points: 250
Titles: [Holder of Forbidden Knowledge] [Marked by the Darkness]
“Huh, still only level ten,” he muttered, the Dragon growling in annoyance.
“Then you had better gain more Experience, and fast,” She said, “You may possess powerful Abilities and Spells, but that is no reason to neglect your level.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Brian chuckled, “I’m sure I’ll start gaining levels quickly once we get to Vashkelholme and start on this Quest we apparently have.”
“I should hope so,” Karen nodded, looking up at the sound of small feet slapping against the damp stone, “It would seem the brat has finally finished washing and has seen fit to join us.”
“What are you two talking about?” Grisha asked as she stepped into the bath, sitting on the step on Brian’s other side.
“Nothing of importance to you, brat,” Karen laughed, “Your jealousy is as amusing as ever.”
“J-jealousy?” Grisha stammered, looking away to hide the slight blush on her dark cheeks, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“I’m sure you don’t,” Karen chuckled, “Then perhaps it is best that we make our true intentions known.”
“True intentions?” Brian groaned, “Okay, no. Not happening. I’m not interested in either of you in any way, can we please just leave it at that?”
“Whatever do you mean?” Karen laughed, her eyes going cruel, “A True Umbral Dragon such as myself would never stoop to producing lesser Dragonkin. I simply wish to consume your power when you are suitably strong.”
“Thanks,” Brian groaned sarcastically, glancing over to Grisha as the young girl fidgeted nervously, “And you, Grisha?”
“I wish to prove myself worthy of your attention,” the girl answered automatically, Brian swearing under his breath as he remembered the Soul Contract she was under, before she continued, looking down at the water as she blushed, “Not in any untoward way, though. I simply wish to be useful to you.”
“Ah,” Brian nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed by the fact he’d forced an answer, “I suppose that makes sense. Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to force you to say anything.”
“It is quite alright, Master,” the girl smiled as she looked at him, “You have already given me much, and I simply wish to be worthy of it.”
“How touching,” Karen chuckled smarmily, “I wonder if your words really are as truthful as they appear, or if you are hiding your true intentions behind half-truths?”
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“No!” Grisha spat, “I have no ulterior motives. I have already come to terms with my previous…feelings and have cast them aside.”
“My quite the impassioned answer,” Karen goaded, “Are you sure?”
“Enough,” Brian interrupted, standing up and stepping out of the bath, “I’m done, you two are welcome to stay longer, but no fighting.”
“I jest,” Karen laughed, “I have no intention of breeding conflict between myself and the brat. It is simply amusing to see her so…flustered.”
“Stop calling me a brat!” Grisha huffed as Brian walked away, heading back into the changing rooms and going to his locker.
With a wave of his hand and small pulse of mana into the crystal embedded in the door, the locker clicked open. The mechanism was simple, yet effective, the runes that powered it written in Dwarven script, but thanks to his Literacy Ability, he could read them easily.
When first claiming the locker, you pushed a small amount of mana into the gem, attuning it to your personal signature, and locking the metal door with your effects inside. Once you were done, all it took was another pulse of mana to unlock the door and retrieve your items. Your mana signature was then cleared from the gem, allowing another person to use the locker after you.
Nodding his head at the impressive craftsmanship of the enchantment and the thick door itself, he dried off quickly using a large soft towel and redressed in his gear, putting on his clothes, then pulling the Eletrian Mail over his shirt, before covering himself with his robes and putting on his Traveller’s Boots. Done, he walked out of the changing room and into the main foyer of the bath house.
“Satisfied?” the dwarf behind the counter asked, their expression blank as they glanced at him, “I know some of you topsiders have a thing against shared baths. Makes no sense to me, but I guess since your women are so different, you get embarrassed or something.”
“Different?” Brian blinked, “What do you mean?”
“Ah, you don’t know, do yah?” the dwarf chuckled, “Tell me, would you think I’m a man or a woman?”
“A ma…” Brian started to say, before trailing off, “Actually, I can’t really tell, to be honest.”
“A better answer than most,” the dwarf snorted, “In the Dwarven tongue there is no “male” or “female”, only dwarf. Physically, there’s almost no difference as well, except what’s between your legs, and that means jack squat if you’re good at what you do.”
“Oh? That’s actually quite interesting,” Brian muttered, “I’ll have to remember that. Say, do you have anything to drink? I’m a little thirsty.”
“Alcohol?” the dwarf asked, Brian shrugging as they produced a small glass bottle of dark brown liquid, “Two silvers.”
Brian placed the two coins on the countertop, accepting the bottle and heading over to one of the stone benches to wait for his companions, pulling the cork free of the bottle and taking a sip.
The liquid burned slightly as it went down, yet was surprisingly refreshing, tasting like a mix of beer and fruit juice. Looking at the drink in mild surprise, Brian took another sip, already starting to feel the buzz of alcohol in his system. He was half finished with the bottle by the time the two women emerged, Grisha looking slightly flustered and annoyed, while Karen just grinned mischievously behind her. The pair quickly spotted him and headed over.
“Already drinking?” Karen laughed, “Be wary of Dwarven liquor, even weak and watered down ones can be quite strong for your kind.”
“Agreed,” Brian chuckled, his words slightly slurred as he spoke, “Am only halfway through this bottle and I’m already pretty drunk.”
“Then it is probably best we return to the inn before you finish that,” Karen hummed, “I shall not carry you, and I do not believe that the brat has the strength to support you all the way there.”
“Fair ‘nough,” Brian nodded as he got unsteadily to his feet, almost falling over as Grisha rushed to his side to support him, “Thanks Grisha. Let’s get going.”
The three left the bath house, Brian still sipping on from the bottle as they headed back to their inn for the night.
------
“I regret everything.”
“Come now, it cannot truly be that bad?” Karen chuckled as Brian sat at the table beside her, Grisha on his other side picking at the strange gruel they’d been served, “It was only a single bottle.”
“I need water,” Brian just muttered, “And an Advil or six.”
“What’s an Advil?” Lucas asked as he sat opposite the three, already halfway through his own meal.
“Pain medication, specifically for headaches,” Brian sighed.
“Oh, then try this,” the young man said, pulling a dried root from his storage ring and handing it to Brian, “Chew on that, it helps numb pain.”
“Thanks,” Brian nodded as he took the root and began chewing, cringing at the bitter taste, “It tastes nasty.”
“It’s either that, or keep suffering,” the young Merchant chuckled, “Or I suppose you could drink more, that should help your hangover a bit.”
“Okay, I’ll stick with the root,” the man sighed, glancing up as the old man walked over to them from the counter, “Any success, Gustus?”
“Aye,” the old man grinned, “The topsider market is open for business, and we’ll be able to get most of what you need from it. Of course, we could get better quality materials if we were deeper in, but that would cost more to get us through the gates.”
“That’s fine,” Brian replied, checking his bracer, “I’ll pay, I still have about… three and a half thousand gold left.”
The two Merchants could only stare at him as he casually announced the amount as though it wasn’t much, before shaking their heads.
“Right, well it’d be best if the three of you ate your food,” Gustus nodded, “It may not be all that tasty, but it’s nutritious and filling.”
“Right,” Brian nodded as he started to eat, forcing the gruel down as his stomach protested slightly, “Anything we can do here before we move on?”
“We could get a better wagon,” Gustus nodded, “I spotted a fine one on my explorations yesterday. It is rather pricey though. But I doubt that’ll be an issue for you, Brian.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred and fifty gold,” the man replied, “But that covers the cart and the beasts of burden.”
“You need new horses?” Grisha asked, still eating the gruel slowly.
“Not horses,” Gustus shook his head, “Burlacks. They’re like boars but tamed and far stronger than horses. We’ll need them to even be able to move the wagon when it’s fully loaded. They’re also far more comfortable underground than horses.”
“Right,” Brian nodded, pulling the five plates and a purse of fifty gold coins from his bracer, sliding them across the table to Gustus, “Go buy it and bring it here. We leave as soon as you’re back.”
“Right away!” the old man laughed as he quickly grabbed the money, storing it and dragging Lucas off after him.
“Was that wise?” Karen hummed, “With that amount, they could easily pay their way through several gates and leave us here.”
“If they do, then they do,” Brian sighed, forcing more of the food down his throat, his stomach finally starting to settle, “And we’ll find them and make them pay it all back. Though I doubt we’ll have to.”
“Very well,” Karen nodded, “I shall trust your judgement on such things, as I know little of how your kind’s minds work.”
An hour later, Gustus returned, a bright smile on his face as he hurried the three of them out of the inn. He happily presented the new cart, made of what looked like white stone bolted together with steel bands. It also had a large cloth roof over the top, providing protection from prying eyes and weather, though Brian wasn’t sure what weather they would encounter down here. The Burlacks were just as Gustus had described them, large boar-like creatures that stared boredly at the five of them.
“Well, on you get!” the old man chimed happily, “We’re wasting time! It’s a solid week by cart to the Capital! Vashkelhom, here we come!”