As we neared the massive Hall of Heroes, I glanced at Thea, who was practically glowing with excitement.

“Already more proud of your second disciple, huh? I might just betray you and steal your secrets out of sheer jealousy, you know,” I said, grinning as I recalled the classic web novel trope.

Playing along, she smirked. “My second disciple is so much stronger than you, he’ll avenge me before you even get the chance to use my secrets.”

I let out a laugh, the kind that shook off some of the exhaustion clinging to me. But it stopped as we reached the Hall's grand entrance. Standing awkwardly near the massive archway was a familiar face—the younger healer who’d offered to patch me up after my fight.

He was glancing around nervously, his hands clutching his point orb like it was some fragile lifeline. The moment his eyes landed on me, his shoulders sagged in relief, and a smile crept onto his face.

“He’s coming over,” Thea said out of the corner of her mouth.

The healer hurried toward us, gasping for breath, clearly not the poster child for cardio excellence—unlike myself, of course.

“How are you feeling? Is everything… alright?” His voice carried genuine concern, his brow creased as he scanned me up and down.

“Uh… fine? Your partner healed me up just fine,” I replied hesitantly.

The moment I spoke, his expression tightened. His eyes darted around, scanning the crowd as if he expected someone to jump out and tackle him.

Sensing his unease because, naturally, I am excellent at reading people, I stepped in to ease the tension. “How about we head inside first? We can talk there.”

“NO!” he shouted suddenly, loud enough to make several recruits nearby glance our way.

I blinked, taken aback, and even Thea stiffened beside me. His face paled as he realized how loud he’d been, and he opened his mouth to explain—only to freeze at the sharp voice that cut through the crowd like a whip.

“Elric! What are you doing?”

The older healer from yesterday strode over, his face twisted in fury. His sharp gaze flicked to me, then back to Elric.

“You—what did you tell them?!” He raised his hand, fully intending to strike Elric across the face.

Before he could, Thea stepped forward, her storm-gray eyes narrowing with a sharp edge I’d only seen in our spars. “You’re hiding something so serious that you’d hit him for it?”

The older healer froze mid-motion, his hand trembling slightly in the air. His jaw tightened, and his lips curled downward into something between anger and frustration.

I couldn’t help but notice the way his shoulders tensed, like a cornered animal. The thought struck me—healers probably weren’t built for combat. My guess? Their stats leaned heavily into mana, intelligence, or magic power. Maybe they even avoided fights entirely.

The older healer let out a sharp exhale, his chest rising and falling rapidly before he spoke again, his voice low and venomous.

“Do not come back, Elric. You’re not welcome in the Healers’ Guild anymore. And I’ll make sure everyone knows what you did.”

Elric flinched as if struck, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to protest. “I didn’t say—”

“Shut it!” The older healer spat, his face a twisted mess of anger. Without another word, he turned on his heel and stormed away, disappearing back into the crowd milling near the Hall entrance.

Elric stood frozen in place, his shoulders trembling slightly as his head hung low.

I glanced at Thea, and our eyes met briefly. The weight of what just happened settled heavily in the air.

It wasn’t hard to piece together the basics. Healers were probably allocated roles to heal different people—fairly or unfairly distributing work based on skill, connections, or whatever arbitrary system they had in place. They had to sign up for fights as well, but maybe they had some deal to prevent too much injury, or maybe they could just get healed by their colleagues for free. Either way, being an outcast couldn’t be good for him. No guild support, no easy access to resources, and likely no protection if something went wrong.

“Elric is it? I don’t know what you were about to tell me, but it seems like it's too crowded to do it secretly, let’s head inside, we can get a training room for some privacy.” He must have been hiding something that healers did not want getting out too far, maybe some already knew about it but kept quiet, either way for a complete stranger like me, he had gotten himself in serious trouble.

He nodded and shuddered looking like he was about to start crying.

Elric stood a little shorter than me, his frame wiry and lean, built more for precision than brute strength. His shoulders had a slight inward slope, like he was used to avoiding attention rather than commanding it. His black hair fell unevenly around his face, the strands hanging just above sharp, observant aquamarine eyes—eyes that flicked between nervousness and quiet resolve.

There was a delicate sharpness to his features: a straight nose, a defined jawline, and thin lips that often seemed pressed together in thought or hesitation. His skin was pale, not sickly, but like someone who spent more time indoors under lantern light than outside under the sun.

His hands, though, told the real story—long fingers, steady despite the tremor in his shoulders, nails kept clean, and faint calluses on his palms from hours of careful work. These were healer’s hands—meant for stitching wounds, crushing herbs, and channeling energy with precision.

We walked into the Hall of Heroes, and I could already feel the weight of more than a few sideways glances. It wasn’t subtle either—people weren’t even pretending not to stare. I wasn’t sure if it was because of Elric walking with us or because we still looked like we’d been rolling around in the woods for a week. Honestly, could’ve been both.

I started heading towards the training area, but Thea grabbed my arm and stopped me mid-step. Her face was… hesitant? Embarrassed? Nervous? That wasn’t like her at all.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, a flicker of concern creeping into my voice.

She shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact. “I didn’t want to waste our points before, but now…”

“What? Thea, we’ve got plenty of points. Just tell me.”

Her lips pursed into a tight line before she finally said, “You smell.”

There was a pause.

I blinked. “Wait… I smell?”

She blushed slightly and quickly added, “We smell. Both of us. And it’s… bad.”

Oh. Oh no.

Now that she’d said it, I couldn’t unnotice it. Days of training, sweating, sparring, and no actual bath had left me… ripe. The bathroom situation had already been a whole other circle of discomfort, but this? This was something else entirely.

“Right,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck as my ears burned with embarrassment. “A bath. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

Elric, who had been quietly trailing behind us, popped up with an awkward half-raise of his hand. “I can show you where they are, but… I can’t go in. I don’t have enough points. Registering with the healer’s guild took all I had.”

I glanced at him, then at Thea, then back at him. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll cover it. Just… let’s go before someone starts spraying us with perfume.”

Elric gave a tiny, grateful nod and started leading the way, while Thea shot me a look that said, See? I was right.

I sighed, already dreading what the point cost for basic hygiene was going to be in this place.

Eventually, we arrived at another alcove tucked into the coliseum’s stone walls. Two separate hallways stretched out behind it, one on the left and one on the right. I could only assume they led to the respective bath areas for boys and girls. The faint scent of soap and something floral lingered in the air—it was almost enough to make me forget how much I probably smelled.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Behind the small desk sat yet another attendant. She was, predictably, disinterested and radiating the universal aura of someone who had long since stopped caring about their job. Before we could even ask anything, she pointed wordlessly to a sign propped up in front of her.

I squinted at it, but yeah… reading wasn’t happening. I turned to Thea with what I hoped was my most pitiful, pleading expression.

She chuckled into her hand, her storm-gray eyes sparkling with amusement. “It says, ten points per person for full access to soaps, showers, baths, and perfumes.”

I perked up at that. “And other courses…?”

“Nope,” Thea said firmly. “We’re getting this one.”

“Princess,” I muttered under my breath.

“Rube,” she shot back without missing a beat.

Rolling my eyes, I held up my orb to the attendant. “Two, please. Me and my buddy here.” I nodded towards Elric, who was still half-hiding behind me like he expected someone to toss him out at any moment.

Thea followed suit, holding up her own orb.

The attendant sighed dramatically, like we’d just asked her to move a mountain, then tapped our orbs against her own. Twenty points drained from mine and ten from Thea’s, leaving our glowing numbers at 320 and 315 respectively.

As Thea turned toward her hallway, she gave me a sharp glance over her shoulder. “I’ll see you in a bit. Don’t rush.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I waved her off. “Go get cleaned up, Princess Grandmaster. You’re stinking up the place.”

She froze mid-step, slowly turned her head back toward me, and narrowed her eyes in a way that sent an icy chill down my spine.

Oh no. Mistake. Big mistake.

For a second, I thought she might actually tackle me right there in front of the attendant. Instead, she just shook her head and disappeared down her hallway without another word.

“Okay,” I muttered to Elric as we turned toward our side. “Note to self: Avoid hygiene-related comments with Thea. Ever. Again.”

Elric nodded solemnly, his face serious despite the faint smile tugging at his lips.

We entered an area filled with nozzles hanging off the wall.

“Communal style,” I muttered.

To be honest, it didn’t bother me too much—we were both guys here, after all. But then I started peeling off my clothes, and yes, I mean peeling. The grimy rags I’d appeared in this world with had fused to me like some cursed glue made from sweat, dirt, and who-knows-what else. As for undergarments… the less said, the better.

“Elric?”

“Yeah?” he responded, his voice a little too jumpy, like he thought I was about to attack him.

“You know where a clothes store is?”

“What? Oh—oh yeah, of course. I can show you and Thea after.”

I nodded and stepped in front of a nearby mirror.

Yep, it was me. Same black hair—messy, sticking out in odd directions like it had declared war on every comb I’d ever owned. Same brown eyes, sharp but a little tired, like I’d been surviving on sheer stubbornness for a while now. My face was the same too—dirty, smudged, but unmistakably mine. No sudden chiseled jawline, no mysterious scar that hinted at a dark, brooding past.

I ran a hand through my hair, grimacing as my fingers caught on grit and tangles. The dirt clung stubbornly to my face and neck, and the smell… let’s just say it wasn’t great.

But under all the grime, under the exhaustion etched into my face, it was still me. Not some hero, not some larger-than-life protagonist. Just… Peter. The same average height, lean build, and unruly hair I’d always had.

Well… except dirtier. A lot dirtier.

There were two handles for what I assumed were the water controls, and in the corner, a neat little collection of bottles sat waiting. Soaps, probably.

“Elric, which one’s for hair, body, and… whatever else?”

Elric handed me bottles one after another. “Body, hair, and this is perfume for after.”

I rolled my eyes before I even realized it. Oh no. Is Thea infecting me? “I know what perfume is, thanks.”

I plopped myself down on one of the small stools placed in front of the faucets and turned a handle.

Then it happened.

A squeal. A high-pitched, glass-shattering squeal that, if recorded, could probably double as a car alarm.

Cold. So cold. My soul briefly left my body, and I’m pretty sure Elric had to physically hold back a laugh.

“Hot water is the other one,” he commented, his face twitching with barely-contained amusement.

Well, at least I’d cheered him up a bit. Just like with Thea, I was confirming—I’m funny.

I turned the other faucet cautiously.

And oh. Oh.

Some things, you just don’t know how good they are until they’re gone. The warm water poured over me like liquid gold, seeping into every pore, washing away the grime and exhaustion, and wrapping me in an embrace so soothing I could’ve cried.

I might have cried. We’ll never know for sure.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I used up half the bottles scrubbing myself down—hair, face, arms, legs—every inch of me practically shining by the time I was done.

And then I realized a very important detail.

My clothes.

My ragged, tattered, biologically hazardous clothes. Could they even still be called clothes at this point? Wouldn’t it have been smarter to buy something before cleaning up?

Wait… did Thea have anything to change into? Did anyone?

Now that I thought about it, most of the recruits I’d seen were wearing pretty much the same worn-out basics. Maybe they stripped everyone down to even the playing field at the start—make sure nobody had an unfair advantage.

But only at the start.

Those of us who proved ourselves worth the investment got the benefits—the gear, the resources, the opportunities. The others? Well…

I pushed that thought aside and let the warm water run over me for just a little longer, savoring every drop.

One step at a time, Peter. One step at a time.

Unfortunately, I did eventually don my cursed rags again after drying off with a rough-but-effective towel. I gave myself a couple of spritzes from the perfume bottle—no point in going overboard when my clothes smelled like… well, despair. It seemed like Thea hadn’t come out yet, so I thought of something.

“Is the clothing store close by?” I asked Elric.

“Yeah, just across the hall there,” he said, pointing across the corridor.

Figures. Probably set up this way intentionally to milk us for points after bathing. Clever.

I stepped into the store and was immediately surrounded by rows of neatly folded training clothes—comfortable, breathable, and infinitely better than the fabric-based horror currently clinging to my skin. I grabbed a pair of pants, a belt, and a shirt for both Thea and myself. For me, I added five sets of underwear. As for Thea… well, let’s just say I wasn’t brave enough to pick those out for her.

After a total of forty points—leaving my orb reading 280—I changed into my new clothes in one of the small fitting rooms. The scratchy, cursed rags were officially dead to me, and as if by design, you could dispose of them here. I might have actually held a ceremony later. But for now? Better to be swift about it.

I felt like a new man.

Returning to Elric, I realized Thea still hadn’t come out. A small pit of worry grew in my stomach.

“She’s not… sitting there refusing to put on her old clothes, is she?” I said aloud.

Elric blinked at me.

I sighed, already knowing the answer. “Never mind.”

Walking up to the attendant at the bathing hall, I held out the neatly folded clothes I’d bought for Thea. “Could you give these to the girl who went in earlier?”

The attendant glanced up at me, then back down at… well, nothing. Apparently, I was the least interesting thing she’d seen all day. I sighed again and fished out my orb.

“Five points?”

Suddenly, her face lit up with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for free cake. “Absolutely!” she chirped, holding out her orb with lightning speed.

The transaction complete, she snatched the clothes and bolted off with surprising agility.

So… tipping is a thing here, or at least, attendants really want it to be.

A few minutes later, a faint commotion echoed from the women’s bathing area. There was a muffled yell, something like, “He—not—!” but the words got lost in the acoustics of the stone walls.

Moments later, Thea emerged, and… yeah. Wow.

Gone were the dusty, tattered rags, replaced by clean training gear that actually fit her properly. Her chestnut hair, usually tied back in a loose ponytail, was still damp and clung to the sides of her face in soft waves. Her storm-gray eyes looked brighter, clearer, and her skin—now free of grime and dirt—glowed faintly under the warm light of the hall.

For a second, I forgot how to blink. Or breathe, really. It was like seeing a different person entirely. No, not different—just… more her.

Unfortunately, my moment of stunned silence was cut short by a firm shove from Elric.

“You can stare at each other later,” he muttered, voice low but firm. “We need to talk about the healer’s guild.”

Thea paused mid-step, her brows raising slightly as a faint blush crept across her cheeks. Whether it was from the hot water or my unintentional staring—I wasn’t sure.

Snapping out of my daze, I cleared my throat awkwardly and nodded. “Right. Uh, yeah. Let’s… let’s talk.”

Elric glanced between the two of us, his delicate features set with a rare seriousness. Whatever he had to say, it wasn’t going to be good. “Can we go somewhere private first?”

Thea nodded without hesitation. “Sure, let’s go. But… one thing first.”

I followed her gaze as it flicked toward the clothing store across the hall.

“That way,” I said with a smirk.

Before I could blink, she was gone, practically sprinting toward the store. Clearly, whatever final piece was missing from her wardrobe wasn’t something she planned to delay any longer.

She returned just as quickly, a small bag clutched tightly in her hand.

Once that was sorted, we reserved a basic room for an hour. Thea handled the points this time, her orb flickering as it dropped to 290 after her earlier shopping trip.

Inside, the door clicked shut behind us, muffling the constant noise of the bustling Hall. The small, dimly lit room felt almost too quiet after the chaos outside.

Elric took a deep breath, his delicate features tense with uncertainty as he looked between Thea and me.

“The healers aren’t actually helping anyone.”

The words dropped into the silence like a stone into still water, sending ripples of unease through the air.