We continued our way to the baths. Like everything in the place they were spectacular. There was an area to undress and store your clothes. It was made obsolete by our storage artefacts though. After that was a room with marble showers, followed by the actual bath area.
I was surprised to see that there was a large outdoor section. Steam rose from the hot water in what looked like a big natural stone pool. Blue crystals illuminated the area. While it was not dark yet the sun had begun to set. A wooden wall on the outside stopped people from peeking. The bathing area we were in was for females only. I wondered if there was a natural hot spring here or if it was a magical construction.
The inside bath featured a lot of marble and golden decorations. It looked rather luxurious but I preferred the more natural outdoor area. It reminded me of a japanese onsen. We all agreed to use the outdoor bath. We undressed, used the shower and slipped into the nice hot water. While the maids brought us towels they had little to do while we were relaxing in the bath. Still, they stood nearby in case we wanted something, like a drink. Having a cold beer would be nice actually.
The maids also offered massages or to scrub our backs. I declined but did ask them to get me a drink. While I always had something in my storage device I wanted to try more local beverages. Se we just relaxed, mostly in silence. There were some stones you could sit on while being in the pool. A deeper area allowed you to swim if you wanted to. But we just enjoyed the hot water, the fresh air and a lovely ale.
I was sitting on a stone, leaning against the wall of the pool. My eyes were closed. Loriel and Lucy were next to me in a similar position. Suddenly, I had a strange feeling. It was hard to identify. The air felt charged. I opened my eyes and looked around.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“Do you feel that?” I asked. “Something is wrong.”
“I feel it too.” Lucy said.
Loriel looked at us. “What is it? I haven’t noticed anything.”
“The air. Something is changing. It feels like it is charging…” My eyes widened. I was not sure how I knew but I was certain an electrical attack was coming. Maybe it had something to do with my class being lightning focused. There was no time for a spell. I grabbed Loriel and threw her out of the water. She yelped in surprise.
Not even a second later a giant lighting bolt hit our bath. For a moment the world was filled with light. Then it was gone. I blinked my eyes as I slowly recovered from being briefly blinded. Lucy and myself were immune to lightning. That attack did nothing to us and thankfully I got Loriel out of the water in time. She would have likely survived but it would have hurt. As I was recovering my vision I noticed a black sphere in the water.
“It’s not over yet!” I yelled. We were all naked in the bath, except for our storage artefacts. So we could equip our gear instantly. I was glad that I was wearing clothing now when a tentacle emerged from the water. It was about as thick as my arm, black and looked slimy. I easily cut it with my sword. Lucy’s spear was not ideal for slicing but she managed to stab another tentacle and make it retreat. Loriel had recovered from her shock and equipped some chainmail and a staff.
“Any idea what we are fighting?” I shouted. There was definitely some magic happening under the water. Were those tentacles coming from a portal?
“No idea.” Loriel responded. She also cast a spell. It looked like a 7th circle Ray of Destruction. A beam of red light emerged from her hand towards the black sphere. The water evaporated in the path of the spell but nothing happened when it hit its target. It looked like it was absorbed.
Meanwhile Lucy was busy intercepting all the tentacles coming for Loriel. There were 9 of them. The one that I sliced seemed to have fully regrown. I was the only person still in the water so I jumped out of it. While the enemy attacked with lighting first the monster seemed to appear afterwards. So I decided to give electricity a try. It was a usually rather good choice for a target in water.
I used my sword to cut any tentacles coming too close while I focused on Storm’s Judgement. My free hand pointed at the water and I unleashed my spell. Once again the world lit up. Electricity surged through the water. The tentacles spasmed and began to smoke. Then they fell limply into the water. The black sphere was gone.