Chapter 24: Bath

The next ten days passed by with Fang continuing his usual routine, and as the third holiday hit, he made up his mind.

After all his classes ended, he found Mii again and apologized that he had somewhere to go, then promptly headed to the gate of the school.

Rhodes was already present – on Fang’s arrival, they departed directly towards Valeria’s tower.

Valeria had already been waiting in the living room of the tower. “Oh, Fang, I’m glad to see you again; it seems I didn’t have to wait long at all.”

Actually, he had debated internally as to the consequences of this agreement; it was completely verbal without a contract, and all that he was responsible for was the extermination of the Ragged Pirates. Fang considered the benefits of getting access to the conditions he could only dream of, to the potential risk he was taking. If he died, Mii would be alone in this world. But as he was right now, he wasn’t confident at all he could protect her.

They both had lost their loved ones. He lost his parents by monsters, while Valeria’s father and brother had been slaughtered by pirates. The drive for justice was something that Fang wished he could uphold, and so, for the sake of preventing tragedies, he made his decision.

A smile bloomed in Valeria’s eyes, as if she knew Fang couldn’t refuse. “Well, Fang, then let me deliver my first gift to you. Before that though, dinner has been prepared.”

At the dining table, perhaps it was because it was the second time, Fang wasn’t so nervous.

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Valeria led Fang into a large, spacious bathroom and handed him a bathrobe and a towel. “Go wash, then change into these clothes.”

He couldn’t help but think this was strange. “Lady Valeria, why am I taking a shower?”

Valeria beamed, “Because before taking an energy bath, you should clean your body to allow better absorption.”

Energy bath?

This training method was possibly the most effective, by collecting and mixing plants and precious materials from monsters, a concentrated solution of energy could be produced to absorb from. Among the various supplements, this was the most expensive, as it was consumable compared to renting out a tower or hiring a private instructor.

Fang obediently took the clothes and towel, then entered the bathroom.

Filled with cloudy steam, the relaxing atmosphere was quite different from the baths he had taken back home. Carefully, Fang got into the water and washed himself thoroughly, ensuring that even the dirt in his nails were removed. Once he was sure that he was clean, he put on the bathrobe and got on.

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Valeria took him into another part of the tower, where a distinct herbal smell permeated the area. In the room, a glass boiler was connected to an empty wooden tub.

She closed the door and walked to the boiler, and dropped in some herbs to the ghastly mixture of water and powders. The mixture frothed furiously as a white flame lit up beneath the glass, and moments later, a captivating smell wafted out. As the solution completely liquefied, Valeria opened a latch and a slow, crawling fluid flowed into the wooden tub.

Not wasting any time, Valeria turned to Fang. “Take off that bathrobe and get in!”

“What?”

Valeria laughed. “Well, if you want to add impurities into the energy, then you can go in with your clothes on.”

His face flushed red, after all, being told to undress so suddenly before someone he had only met three times was awkward.

“But, you better hurry, this energy is pretty volatile, and will easily evaporate.”

Fang gritted his teeth then turned around, taking off his clothes quickly, and leapt into the pool.

But his embarrassment was quickly replaced by surprise, as Fang realized that the energy contained in this concoction was full of abundant energy, more so than the energy tower. Once he started to use the endless method, the energy was sucked in extremely greedily, as the medicine also seeped into Fang’s body. Greedily, everything was being absorbed and he could only an indescribable comfort.

Two hours went by, and the liquid had reverted from its sickly green into water,

Valeria showed a hint of surprise; she anticipated that Fang would take at least six hours to absorb and process the bath, but it only took him two hours. And the majority of people couldn’t refine all of the materials used, perhaps at most 70%, leaving the solution discolored. However, Fang had managed to absorb enough that the solution turned clear – this efficiency had to be near perfect for this result to happen.

Judging from this, he might be able to take some more!

So, in the alchemic contraption, Valeria added an additional third of the components to brew. She wanted to know exactly how far Fang could go.

But this second batch was completely depleted in an hour.

A third, fourth, and finally a fifth time was the solution made when Fang reached his limit. Things went more pleasantly than she had expected, being so greedy, he had absorbed almost twice as much as she had predicted.

Restfully, Fang leaned against the back of the tub, his body sparkling with a light fluorescence.