Lone opened his eyes a few hours later only for his sight to be blocked by a bright smile. He could also feel a pair of hands playing with his fox ears.
"Good morning?" he asked in a questioning tone to Soph.
"Eh?" she was clearly a bit startled by the sudden greeting.
"Em, g-good morning..." she awkwardly stuttered as she pulled her hands away from his head. “S-Sorry…”
Lone chuckled. "It’s fine. I get the appeal,” he said as he raised his torso and rubbed the ears himself. “They’re very soft. Also, thanks, Soph."
"Huh? What for?" Soph asked in confusion.
"You protected me while I was asleep, right?" Lone said. "I can't believe I passed out as soon as we returned. How embarrassing. You should be the tired one since you got so little sleep, honestly."
"I was only playing with your ears and tails..." Soph mumbled sadly. “I-I should have been on watch… Sorry…”
"You don’t need to apologise. You were using Mana Sensing, right? It’s really not that big of an issue," he replied. “Now, if you weren’t paying attention with Mana Sensing…”
“I was! Of course I was. I just, didn’t really move from here,” Soph replied.
Lone stretched, popping a few of his joints. “Then there’s no need to be sorry.” He sniffed himself a bit and then frowned. “We kinda reek and my clothes are ruined again…”
"W-What should we do then?" Soph asked. “I, uh, don’t really mind how we smell…”
“You should. I could ignore it since I have Basic Regeneration which seems to heal me on a cellular level but you don’t. Personal hygiene is super important not only for the body but also for the mind,” Lone explained, tapping the side of his temple.
“So… we clean ourselves?” Soph asked. “How?”
“I can think of a few options but first,” Lone said as he glanced down at his clothes, “I’m gonna try to clean these and fix them. My Creation Magic says it can repair stuff too so I wanna try that out before I make a new set.”
He looked back at Soph and said, “I’m gonna have to strip down to my boxers to do that. Uh, will that make you uncomfortable? As much as I’d rather have you sit in a teepee and wait for me, it’s best we stick together since you can only see 15-metres away.”
Soph cocked her head to the side. “No, it’s fine. I can see all of you at all times anyway with my magic.”
“All of me?” Lone asked with a shocked expression on his face.
“Uh… should I not have said that?” Soph asked in worry.
Lone just laughed self-deprecatingly before shaking his head. “Nah, it’s fine. Don’t mind me and my sudden immense insecurity.”
He moved past it and tried to ignore that the almost 1,000-year-old woman with the most perfect face and the sweetest personality he’d ever met probably knew more about his body than even he did.
He left the teepee with her close behind him.
Once he was at the shore, he stripped down to his boxers and focused. Lone then created a simple washbasin made of wood that was held together by some iron bands.
"Iron doesn’t seem to be any more costly than wood provided I know what it is and how it’s made… Thank you, constant time-lapse Facebook videos creating random shit," Lone said to himself with a bit of a chuckle.
Soph inspected the basin carefully then asked, "Should I wash my clothes too?"
Scanning Soph from head to toe, Lone replied, "You look clean enough to me. Granted, there is some mud on the hem of your trousers and your boots could use a rinse, so sure, feel free."
"Okay!" Soph happily replied before she began taking of her boots.
Lone refocused his attention to his own matters while Soph was doing that. He stacked his clothes in a neat pile next to the water on the beach and started doing some light exercises to loosen up his body.
Soph was finished with taking off her boots, socks, and trousers, in a few moments. Her shirt went down to the top of her thighs keeping her covered just enough to not fluster Lone.
He watched in horror as she was about to dunk her clothes right into the ocean directly. He quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"Huh? We aren't washing our clothes?" Soph questioned, her perplexion clear on her expression.
"Come on, you're from the middle ages, right? Surely you know that seawater is horrible for washing clothes," Lone said as he let go of her and gestured for her to put her clothes next to his on the beach itself.
"I didn't live near an ocean..." Soph grumbled as she laid her boots, socks and trousers down.
"Ah, fair enough.” Lone said. “Well, I’m going to try and make fresh spring water. It should be possible and if it is, then we won’t need to drink the coconut water anymore.”
“I like the coconut water though,” Soph replied.
“You’re free to collect the coconuts yourself if you still want it,” Lone said. “I don’t exactly enjoy dodging them when I shake them off the trees.”
Soph giggled a little. “It is very funny though.”
Lone rolled his eyes, happy to see her laughing for once. He then closed his eyes and focused.
His home country, Scotland, was notoriously famous for its great highland spring water. The tap water was typically nice too as a result.
With that picture in his mind but making sure to preface his creation with the water existing on Altros, he used his skill.
Many such items exist on Altros.
The host has a perfect understanding of the item. 50 base MP cost.
50 total MP has been consumed to create the item: [5-litres of Fresh Spring Water].
The water had appeared above Lone’s outstretched hands and then fell right into the basin beneath them. Only a little bit of it splashed out from the impact.
“Fuck yeah! That was cheap,” he exclaimed in joy. ‘I wonder how much pricier it would be to create hot water? Surely not that much, right?’
He shelved that thought for later before he got to work on cleaning his clothes and teaching Soph how to do it too.
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The host has developed the passive skill: Laundry Mastery.
Passive skill: Laundry Mastery
A skill that allows the host to clean clothing more efficiently.
All clothes cleaned by the host have stains removed 5% more easily and dry 5% faster after being washed.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1
‘Not a skill I asked for, but one I appreciate nonetheless,’ Lone thought.
His and Soph’s clothes were still drying on some makeshift racks he’d cobbled together with some boar sinew and tree branches.
Right now, he was sitting on the beach in a pair of swimming trunks waiting for Soph to finish putting on her own swimming suit. He’d asked for her opinion and out of all of the options he’d given Soph, she chose a bikini.
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Of course, he’d made a more modest one for her. It was a standard bikini swimsuit where the bottoms had a skirt attached.
He had considered making a bathtub and hot water instead of using the ocean but figured that could wait for another day. He could use the exercise of a good swim anyway.
Lone was just glad that his trunks and Soph’s two-piece bikini hadn’t cost him much MP-wise. Whatever kind of world they were on, some civilisation out there had relatively modern clothing, that was for sure.
‘Maybe we’re not the first ones to have come from Earth… It would explain the many items like our survival gear and this being commonplace according to Creation Magic,’ Lone thought.
“I’m done! You were right. It was easy to get on though the top took a few tries to tie it properly,” Soph called.
He turned to see her approaching him with a smile on her face. “Damn... Uh, right. I’m, uh, glad you managed. Ready to do some stretches?”
"Stretches?" Soph asked with a tilt of the head as she pulled some of her golden-blonde hair behind her ear.
Lone sighed before he laughed lightly. "You really are clueless about a lot of stuff, huh? Nothing to be ashamed of since everyone is ignorant in some way or another. Just copy what I do with my body, okay? It won't be good if you cramp up and start drowning."
"Okay! I’m willing to learn!" Soph was clearly very raring to go.
After spending a few minutes to loosen their bodies, Lone stepped into the water and began floating as he slowly moved his arms back and forth to stay stable. "Well, gonna join me?"
"Yeah, but, um, I can't swim..." Soph confessed as she held her hands behind her back and twirled her feet in the sand.
“Wait, really?” Lone asked in shock. “Could have told me that before…”
“S-Sorry,” Soph mumbled from the shore.
Lone sighed. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
He got out of the ocean and held Soph's hand before he began walking back towards the ocean. "I'll just teach you. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to teach someone how to swim."
Not only had he done so with his little sister, Hazel, but also a handful of times at school when he had to sub in for the Physical Education teacher when that guy was sick.
He only had to do that since none of the other teacher’s wanted to. If nothing else though, it would be helpful here.
"You'll teach me how to swim? Thank you," Soph was thrilled. “I’ve never been to an ocean or lake before, to be honest…”
“Ah. Well, better late than never, right?” he asked with a smile.
Soph nodded in response.
"Teaching you how to swim will take more than one session though in all likeliness. I'll teach you how to float first, okay? It should be pretty easy but panicking can pretty quickly offset your natural buoyancy," he explained.
----------------------------------------
"Soph," Lone called softly.
"Y-Yes, Lone?" Soph replied hesitantly.
"I asked you a few minutes ago, but you never answered me," he said as the sound of the gentle waves around them accompanied his words.
"Y-Yes?" Soph began sweating even though she was in the water.
"I’m supposed to be teaching you how to be relaxed and float in the water, right?” he asked slowly.
Soph nodded. “Um… y-yeah…”
“Then, may I ask, why are you clinging to me like a koala?" Lone asked with a tinge of exhaustion in his tone. Less so from her actions and more so from the constant physical contact.
He was not built for this kind of interaction, and it was rapidly draining him.
As soon as Soph's feet had left the sand and she was fully inside of the ocean, she had immediately glued herself to him like a dog who was allergic to baths.
Apparently, not only was Soph unable to swim, but she was also afraid of the sea.
"S-Sorry..." Soph hung her head down, which only resulted in her leaning even further into him as she clung onto his chest for dear life.
Lone sighed. "You could have told me that you were frightened of the ocean, you know? I would have used my MP to create a wooden bath and hot water instead."
"I-I'm sorry..." Soph said as her voice cracked.
Lone sighed again. He didn’t want to make her cry. "It's not your fault. It's okay. Do you want to actually try or should we go back to shore?"
"S-Sorry..." Soph apologised, seemingly unable to find any other way to respond.
Lone smiled wryly. "Don't worry about it."
Lone wrapped one of his arms around Soph's waist and swam back to the beach. If nothing else, they were both clean now and Lone had gained yet another skill.
The host has developed the passive skill: Swimming Mastery.
Passive skill: Swimming Mastery
A skill that allows the host to swim with less effort and with more grace.
Swimming consumes 5% less SP and the host will find it 5% easier to read the waves while swimming.
Cost: N/A Mastery Beginner Level 1
Not overly useful but it could be lifesaving in the right conditions, Lone felt.
As soon as he was back on dry land, Soph tried to get off of him, but instead, her long hair ended up getting tangled around his legs and feet, making him trip.
It was easy to forget at times how long her hair was. It went all the way down to her ankles if she didn’t have it tucked into her shirt like she usually did.
"Are you gonna sit on me all day, or what? My chest’s starting to get numb," Lone said. ‘And my heart is fuckin’ poundin’ like a drum.’
Soph carefully got up and stood next to Lone awkwardly after untangling her hair from him.
"Well, we're both covered in the sand now," Lone said as looked down at his body.
"Sorry..." Soph apologised.
"Stop saying 'sorry' so much, please. It's fine. I'll just make a bath and some water for us like I said I would’ve done in the first place," he replied. “You’re kinda cute when you’re like this, y’know?”
"Huh? Oh, uh, th-thanks?" Soph responded, her words getting stuck in her throat.
Lone laughed. “There we go, didn’t say sorry for once.”
Soph blushed. “So you didn’t mean it…?”
Now it was Lone’s turn to get flustered, so he simply didn’t respond and instead moved closer to their teepees, stopping just outside of his own.
He decided to try making a wooden bath filled with the hot water itself. His thinking was that doing so would cost less than making both individually.
Naturally, he made sure to imagine the tub as being large enough to hold him inside it with enough room to spread out and relax.
Unfortunately, while he had seen all sorts of crafting videos online, how to make a bathtub did not list among them.
Many such items exist on Altros.
The host has a great understanding of the item but does not know much regarding its construction. 5,000 base MP cost. 2,500 additional MP has been consumed to compensate for the lack of knowledge.
The host has insufficient MP. All of the host's MP has been consumed and the host's MP will be sealed for [10 hours] to create the item: [Hot Water Filled Wooden Bath [Adult Male Sized]].
Near instantly, a searing pain overtook his mind.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.
Lone didn't immediately pass out like the last time this had happened. Instead, he grit his teeth and screamed to let out the pain, "Ahhhhh!"
"Lone?!" Running to his side, Soph frantically asked, "Are you okay?! What's wrong?!"
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.
"No! I'm fuckin’ not! It feels like my brain is being ripped to pieces from the inside! Fuck!" Lone roared as he clutched his head and began panting heavily.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.
"Fuck," Lone mumbled as he sat up and slowly climbed into the bathtub with Soph's help, still wearing his swimming trunks.
"You swear so much..." Soph noted while she kept her hand on Lone's head and gently stroked his soft and fluffy fox ears.
Her other arm was wrapped around a few of Lone's tails that were poking out of the bathtub.
"Forgive me for my crude language. Did you miss the part where I said it felt like my brain was being ripped apart?" Lone snapped a little as he felt the warm water seep into his pores. "Ah... This is heaven..."
"S-Sorry… But, um, why did you use your magic when this was the end result?" Soph asked as she continued to enjoy Lone's fluffiness.
"Two reasons," Lone said as he held two of his fingers up. "One: There might be some wizard goblins on this island. If you and I can perform magic, then we should assume that some of the monsters can too. It's better if I'm prepared for that. Mental Pain Resistance training can’t hurt in that regard."
"But that could be a different type of damage than mental, right?" Soph questioned.
"Sure, but the second reason is infinitely more important." Lone's ears twitched. He wasn't used to Soph playing with those, so it felt a bit strange, both physically and emotionally.
Soph gulped as she edged a bit closer to Lone. "Wh-What's the second reason?"
Lone grinned and moved so his and Soph's faces were now only inches away from each other. "It wasn’t fuckin’ intentional. I had no clue the base cost of a fuckin’ bathtub with water in it was 5,000 MP."
"O-Oh…” Soph blushed, not expecting such an answer. “Um… it looks nice though…”
"Yup, it is. Despite the migraine, this feels heavenly. I've always had a saying, you know? Showers are for cleaning while baths are for relaxing," Lone stated as he leaned back and laid against the smooth wooden tub and closed his eyes.
Even as he was enduring the mental pains that came with having no MP, his face was covered with a single emotion: Bliss.
Soph gulped again. "I-I don't know what a shower is, but c-can I join you?"
"Hmm?" Lone peered up at the bikini-clad woman who only looked even more attractive through the lens of his pain-addled mind. "Fuck it. Why not?"
“Yay!” Soph replied before letting go of his ears and tails. She then clambered on into the tub and atop of Lone, making him instantly regret his impulse decision to agree.