Oh.

Dante slowly turned around. Sure enough, everyone had found a cubby, and already some were undressing. Face burning, he quickly turned around but found every spot he looked at was similarly … problematic.

I know these people’s customs are strange to me in every other way. Why did I ever think that their views on nudity would be any different? Though I guess this is the first time we’ve gone bathing. I know that certain cultures like the Japanese, Romans, or hell even the Swedish do something like this. I never expected this.

Previously, they had kept relatively clean using soap, a rag, and water from the well to wipe away the day's sweat. You didn’t have to disrobe for that and it hardly was a communal affair. It had helped keep them clean but, after weeks in the mud and blood of the trench, everyone reeked. You just got used to it after a while. This seemed like a medieval society, so he had just assumed that was the way it was going to be.

He was grateful that this wasn’t going to be the case. He just wished that it wasn’t going to be like this. What was he going to do?

It’s not like I can leave. I don’t want to isolate myself by being the only dirty one. Besides, I paid for this. Maybe I can keep on my underclothes? Except no one else is doing that and I will stand out. He swallowed, reaching the only conclusion.

I am just going to man up and do it.

Bracing himself Dante turned back around and, keeping his eyes planted at eye level, marched over to the group. Most had already finished disrobing and were standing around chatting. Completely nonchalant to their state of undress. He took a cubby next to Svōl, stuffed his recent purchases in, and then began stripping. With every article removed, his nervousness was built. By the time he reached the last piece, his heart was pounding.

C’mon, I’ve faced death more than a couple of times in the last few days. This shouldn’t scare me as much as it does. Dante took the final step. He fought the urge to cover himself as he walked over to the group, who were standing near one of the walls near the entrance. From the wall, steaming water water fell from on high in an unbroken sheet. People stood in it and were washing their accumulated sweat, dirt, and blood away. They had acquired soap bars from somewhere with which they used to scrub away anything that lingered. The now filthy water accumulated in a running channel and disappeared underground.

Yep, it absolutely makes sense to wash this off before getting in the bath.

Dante reached one hand into the water and gasped, snatching his hand back. The water was scalding. He slowly reinserted his hand, getting used to it. Once he was sure that it wasn’t hot enough to cause damage, he stepped into it completely. He found one of the bars of soap located on a hidden shelf behind the waterfall and set to work removing the grime. The water came away black and red for far longer than he expected. It nearly had layers to it. He didn’t think that he had ever been this dirty.

Eventually, he no longer dirtied the water and found that he was by himself when he looked for everyone else. Dante glanced around, but the heavy steam blocked the majority of the room. A surge of anger went through him.

They are always leaving me alone. It’s like they don’t even care.

Feeling exposed, he entered into the uncomfortably warm waters of the bath, eager for it to cover him up. It smelled strongly of minerals and the water was a matte green color that reminded him of jade. He thought he detected the sharp smell of herbs as well. It was an enticing, relaxing atmosphere wholly at odds with the storm inside him. He went further and the water quickly reached his neck. With a splash, he kicked off into the deeper water and drifted along. The spray earned him a sharp look from a pair who had been standing near him and he murmured a rueful apology. With careful strokes, he paddled through the middle of the bath and looked for his squad.

His strokes got more sure as he fell back into old habits. Very old habits. Before he had lost his parents, he had swum quite a lot. He had been good enough that he had considered going competitive. It was as soothing now as it was then. He missed those times. He flipped onto his back, kicking occasionally so that he could gaze around while still moving.

As he was drifting along, he looked around and was glad that he was likely too red from the heat for anyone to notice his blushing. On the battlefield, everyone wore armor and the baggy clothing that this nation seemed to prefer. But in here, he glanced at one woman who had an eight-pack that would make Photoshop jealous. Her … other features were just as exceptional. Dante looked away again, the thought made him feel like a creep. He was surrounded by supermodels. Olympian supermodels. All the scars hardly change the attractiveness. Sometimes they added to it. At least they would be on earth. Here it was the norm. At least he was able to confirm that everyone looked completely human.

Guess that's what attributes will do to you… Wait a second.

He reared up and swam towards the shallows. Once he was waist-high, he looked down at his reflection. The face that greeted him … well it was his, but wrong. Before, he had always looked sickly. A product of a lifetime of poor nutrition, sleep, and drinking. Now, his skin was a healthy tone, the bags under his eyes were gone, and his teeth were white. The change did not stop there. He had put on substantial weight. Where before he had been frail, now he was merely skinny and he had some definite muscle. Even his blonde hair seemed to gleam, despite not being cleaned since he got here. While not nearly as ethereally beautiful as most here, he was far from what he was before. The main flaw in his visage was the fresh stitched-up scar on his cheek, which he traced with a finger.

It didn’t look like him. It was a stranger's face. Uncanny, like he was seeing a distorted image. A wave of dysphoria passed over him and he felt sick.

I have to accept that this is the new me. There is no going back. A new life, a new face.

For a long time, Dante memorized his new features. Slowly, the sickness in his gorge fell until it was merely uncomfortable. He resolved that the next time he changed his stats, he would do this again before the changes became so noticeable. Also so that he could see what attributes caused this.

Once he had his fill, he turned and found his team relaxing a fair ways away against the side of that bath. Dante hardly recognized them. Their features which he had once likened to being like stone had relaxed to something more human. For some, it was like they had grown younger by years. They chatted lazily with one another and he could hear frequent laughter. A good number had an arm around another or had placed a comforting hand on a shoulder or back. He even spotted Svōl and Varvi wrestling, which Svōl promptly won, throwing Varvi a good distance to the laughter of the group. In the short time he observed them, he saw more emotion than they had shown in the rest of his time in this world behind. They looked so happy that he hesitated to approach and ruin the moment. He felt out of place.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Dante nearly turned around when he caught one of Pauwna’s many eyes. A smile spread across her face, which she quickly hid. She waved, then nudged Svōl who gave him a nod. News spread amongst them. Sūnva gestured him over and even the pair he had been following, Ren and Urvun, spared him a not unfriendly glance.

A warm feeling spread through him and he could feel a grin spreading across his face. Perhaps I judged them too harshly, maybe they trusted me enough to find my way over here. I might just be feeling too insecure given, well everything. I shouldn’t assume.

He made his way over to them and found that this area of the bath did not get shallower and remained at about stomach level. A fact for which he was grateful. Finding that there was a step that wrapped around the lip of the bath, he sat on it between Pauwna and Varvi. Conversation in the background resumed as Pauwna turned to him.

“Hail. Acquiring lous good?”

Dante firmly kept his eyes looking straight ahead and affixed to a point between her eyes. It is not polite to stare. This is normal in their culture. He just hoped it would become normal for him soon. It was distracting. He shook his head, forcing himself to listen to her words.

Compared to how she talked to the others, she spoke slowly and clearly enunciated words. He also noticed that she used simple words that she knew he had memorized. It was touching and he appreciated it. Talking like that must be exhausting. Especially when he had to ask so many questions. She had truly defied his initial impression of her, she might have been the most kind amongst the group.

At least he was getting better at speaking. His most recent triumph was noticing that adding a ‘ru’ at the end of the last word in a sentence turned it into a question. A fact he immediately took advantage of.

“Lousru?” Dante questioned. That was a new one. He wished he had access to the scroll. Taking notes would make all of this so much easier as he would no longer forget words.

Pauwna hesitated, clearly searching for the right words, then said: “Sword, food, branch. All. Lous”

That was a lot of different things for a word to be. He mulled it over a few seconds before snapping his fingers as it came to him. Perhaps it might be something like ‘things’?

“Yes armor, No soldier?”

“Yes!” Pauwna gave him a pat on the arm and the other went over her mouth as he noticed that she always covered her smiles with one hand. Perhaps her fangs unnerve people? There were so many small things that he wanted to ask her that were so far beyond his current abilities. Though perhaps not that specific question, it seemed like something she was sensitive about.

Similarly, they carried on a roundabout discussion. It was slow, but he learned that Pauwna had also bought things. Food and also something that had to do with writing. Dante was excited about the last part, perhaps she could also teach him the written language.

I should do something nice for Pauwna one of these days. To thank her for all of this.

When he asked her what they were going to do after this, Pauwna simply said: “Vūaw Fight.” Which he supposed he should have expected. Unlike before, he was unable to figure out what ‘vūaw’ meant. The only explanation Pauwna gave was flexing her biceps while saying: “Look.” Which was about as helpful as it sounded.

Their conversation was interspersed with long periods of silence where Pauwna talked to someone else and Dante listened. Despite only understanding about one word every few sentences, he found that it was enough to generally tell what the conversation was about.

In such a way, he was able to figure out that Urvun and Ren had been shopping for something related to magic. They had found it after he left, which was a shame because he would have loved to have seen what was involved in using magic. He could tell that the muscular Rēva — seriously the woman was Amazonian — had likely picked up a new sword by the exaggerated swinging motions she was making while talking animatedly. Varvi, the weasel-faced man who had barely talked to, was responsible for the group's food stores. It seemed like he was more of a general quartermaster for the entire group.

I should see if I can get closer to him. It would be good to figure out how to cook and what is edible for when I escape. Though it would be nice to make friends with everyone now that I can have somewhat of a conversation.

All he was able to figure out about Sūnva and Svōl was that they went somewhere far away. To him, it sounded like they had been dealing with administrative duties. It was hard to tell, that conversation especially was filled with hard words. He did not envy them.

His interest peaked when he heard the words ‘fight’, ‘Ahsmati’, and ‘attack’ in quick succession. He listened intently, but the only thing he was able to observe was that the good mood fled for a time during that discussion. That and Sūnva gave a short speech that sounded suspiciously like a battle plan. When she reached him, she paused and then said just two words.

“Be safe.”

Soon after, the group stood up and moved towards the exit. He followed after a brief period of lightheadedness. It turned out that taking a bath while stressed and exhausted wasn’t the best of ideas. When he reached the shelf with all of his clothes, he was pleasantly surprised to see that they had been freshly laundered.

Not a bad deal overall for the price, he thought while pulling on his shirt. He stopped for a second and stuck a finger through a singed hole in a sleeve. Though I could use a change of clothes. I would prefer not to wear this if I don’t have to. I’ll pick something up with my next pay.

When they exited, he took a deep breath of the cold night air. Dante felt like a man reborn. He was surprised to see that it was quite dark outside. If he wasn’t wrong, they had spent a couple of hours in there. They traveled deeper into the camp. If it weren’t for everyone, he thought he would have quickly gotten lost. All the rows of tents looked the same and he could not read the signs at the intersections. They reached a row of tents just like any other and stopped. After a few parting words, people went their separate ways and he was left with Svōl. Who, true to form, simply told him to “follow.”

It was a short walk away, but they entered a medium-sized tent that was completely occupied by two bedrolls. It was lit by a single lantern with a chunk of glowing crystal at the center which provided illumination. Svōl sat on one bed roll and pointed at the other.

“Yours.”

Then, the man turned the light off and flipped onto his side facing away from him. That suited Dante well enough. He lay on his own bed roll and was asleep nearly as soon as his face hit the pillow.