After we finished eating, Ophelia pointed out a section of the building I had overlooked before.
The room next to the bedroom was divided into two sections with wooden dividers. On one side were the indoor latrines I had already found earlier while going through my system updates. On the side I hadn't explored was a large stone tub.
Several control, heating, and force runes were set on the edges of the tub. A spout led in from one wall and a stoppered drain was set into the other.
“More luxurious than you would normally see in a camp like this.” Ophelia explained. “The scent of unwashed explorers offended Lady Halrand’s noble sensibilities, so she ordered baths to be added to the bunks. I'd say that's good news for you.”
I was well aware that I was in desperate need of a bath and a change of clothes. The last opportunity I had to get properly cleaned up was when I found a stream a few days before meeting Martin’s group. Though we had passed several more sources of running water on our way to the camp, I couldn't bring my self to use any of them while traveling with a handful of men.
This unfortunately left me in a rather sorry state. At this point, I was wearing more dirt than fabric. My clothes were so ragged and torn, it was a small wonder that nothing embarrassing was showing. It was utterly impossible to tell what color the fabric had once been under the myriad of stains and layers of filth.
After showing me how to fill the bath using the cistern outside the bunkhouse, Ophelia left me to finally get myself clean.
Just like all of the other absurd luxuries that these people seemed to consider commonplace, the bath was absolutely amazing. The runes set into the side of the tub kept the bath at a pleasant temperature while also creating massaging flows in the water. It was like nothing else I had ever experienced.
At some point during my bath, Ophelia brought me a change of clothes. The fabric was so wonderfully soft and smooth compared to what I was wearing before that I didn’t mind how oversized the outfit was.
As I walked back into the bedroom, Ophelia caught my attention and pointed at another pile of clothes on the chest by my bed.
“I scrounged up a few more things for you. Don’t worry about giving any of it back. After one of the recent monster attacks, the girls that stuff belonged to won’t be needing it anymore.” She said with a hint of remorse.
I gave a silent thanks to the shades of my most recent benefactors. I really hoped they didn’t mind me taking advantage of their misfortune.
The pile was mostly clothes, though I was happy to find a few other useful items underneath. To my astonishment, even the bleeding rags were made with the same ridiculously soft cloth as everything else.
Ophelia wasn’t the only other woman in the room. At some point during my bath, a few other women had come to bed.
Rather than stay up talking, I decided to follow their example. I waved goodnight to Ophelia and crawled under my covers.
I was cleaner than I had been in months, well fed, and enveloped in luxuriously soft sheets. It didn’t take long for blissful sleep to find me.
----------------------------------------
“The first thing you will need to fix is your stance.” Ophelia began. “Go ahead and stand like you would while facing an opponent.”
Despite the pouring rain, we were out by the camp’s wall going over the proper way to use a spear.
As I moved my feet into place, Ophelia suddenly shoved me backwards. Had she not grabbed my shirt, I would have fallen flat on my back.
“Why did you do that?” I asked, surprised by her sudden aggression.
“To show you the problem with how you are standing. Your legs are too close together and your feet are positioned awkwardly.” She pointed out. “It’s laughably easy to knock you down.”
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The large woman took a stance of her own with one foot forwards and her legs spread somewhat apart.
“Go ahead and try knocking me down.”
I sincerely doubted that I would be able to do much against someone who had to weigh at least twice as much as me, but I gave it my best try. As expected, slamming into her was like trying to tackle a stone wall.
“See? Much sturdier. Now, you have room in your codex for some memories right?” She asked.
I nodded.
“Good. I’m going to send you a memory to help you get a feel for the right footwork. Go ahead and take a look at it now.”
It didn’t take me long to search my codex to find the mentioned memory.
Examining it was a bizarre experience. Just like when examining my own memories, time moved as I willed it. Unlike my memories, I wasn’t experiencing things from my own perspective.
I was Ophelia.
The feeling of being in an alien body was disorienting at first. It took me a bit to adjust enough to take in my surroundings.
The room around me was fairly wide and open. The walls were a light color, but it was hard to make out any of the details. In contrast, the details of Ophelia’s body were crisp and clear as she repeatedly stepped through a series of motions over and over again.
I was momentarily distracted by the novelty of having such a large and powerful body. The elevated point of view was quite different from what I was used to.
With some effort of will, I eventually focused on the steps being taken.
Step by step, I walked through a mock battle. Each step was precisely placed in a practiced motion.
I eventually figured that I had learned what I could from the memory, so I dismissed it. I nearly fell over as I returned to my own body.
“I take it you haven't shared many memories before.” Ophelia remarked as she helped steady me. “Don’t worry, you eventually get used to it.”
Once I could stand on my own again, Ophelia had me try to replicate the stance she had showed me.
Though I didn’t quite get it right on my first try, I was able to shuffle around a bit until I found the position that felt right.
“Much better.” Ophelia said while shoving me again.
I was still almost knocked over by the strong woman, but it was a significant difference from before.
“Now let’s move onto how to hold your spear. The way you hold it is like this.” She said as she drew her spear. “With your grip so high on the weapon, it may be a little easier to control, but costs you a lot of reach and power when you try to strike. You want to keep your hands closer to the middle or back of the spear like this.”
She gave a few strikes with her hands placed in different spots to demonstrate. I was pretty sure there was a difference in how fast her spear moved, but it was hard to tell.
Ophelia gave me another memory to examine.
Once again, I was in the same ill-defined room. With practiced movements, Ophelia struck out with her spear. Immediately after returning to her original position, she performed the exact same strike.
Time and again she repeated the action, leading me to question if it was actually the memory of a single strike repeating endlessly. The differences between her motions were so minuscule that I could barely notice any of them.
Returning to myself was only slightly less disorienting the second time around.
“Alright, go ahead and give it a try. Try to match the memory as best as you can.”
Despite having just seen and felt exactly what I needed to do, I couldn’t quite match the strike I had seen in the memory. Unlike the precise and deliberate motions of Ophelia’s weapon, the head of my spear veered slightly to the side.
“Not a terrible start. Again.”
I ended up having to try again dozens of times. Even when I thought I did things almost perfectly, Ophelia had me do it again.
I was starting to regret letting her teach me.
Just as I was thinking of saying something, someone spoke up behind me.
“A fine morning to practice with the spear, wouldn’t you lovely ladies agree?”
Ophelia, utterly soaked by the rain, leveled an unamused glare at Salvador as he walked next to me. “What do you want? We’re busy.”
“No need for hostility. I simply wished to check on our mutual friend here.” He replied in his usual, jovial tone while nodding towards me. “Seeing as you two are getting along swimmingly, I will happily take my leave. That is, of course, if this practice session lacks room for one more.”
“We could always use a practice dummy to hit.”
“Sadly, while I may consider myself to be a man of many talents, ‘getting hit’ is not something with which I may claim much proficiency.” Salvador said with mock remorse.
“Actually, that sounds like something that could be fun to put to the test.” The large woman remarked with an eager grin as she readied her spear. "How about it?"
“Oh, you wish for a friendly spar? Come then, I will happily oblige.” Salvador said as he drew his spear and stepped away from me.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about my friends getting into a fight, but at least it gave me an excuse to stop training. My arms were really getting tired.