El crawls out of bed and into his clothes for the day. They need to be washed. He should see if those hot springs are a viable option for bathing. He could honestly use the time to relax. Though he didn’t necessarily feel deserving.

The teen enjoys a meal in the main hall when Fenbar sits across from him. The gnome eyes El curiously.

“You have something to say?” El narrows his eyes at the little man.

“Where is Kib?” Fenbar asks.

“What? He didn’t show up for work?” El leans across the table.

“No, he didn’t.” Fenbar slips out of his seat.

“Leaving?” El moves to follow.

“Well you obviously don’t know where your friend is. I’m going to ask around. Hard to miss a purple kobold.” The gnome calls out as he exits the tavern.

El sighs before sitting back down. He finishes his meal and then heads out to Kreak’s farm. Ralph scolds him for missing a day, something Arkin never did, but El gets right back into the job.

Earn Capital

Result = Silver Earned

20% chance random event

Profession: Farming

15(D20)+12(Skill)=27

57%= No event

El pockets his change from Ralph Kreak and sticks around until the others get their pay and leave. Ralph looks at El suspiciously before the teen can ask anything.

“What is it you need?” Ralph snaps at him.

“Are the hot springs on your land?” El points in the direction of the springs.

“Yeah, follow the streams up, there’s a bath house. No funny business though.” Ralph nods to El before leaving.

El walks down past the barn and up the hill to a bathhouse on the top of a hill. It’s slightly over the crest, out of the view of those from the road. He approaches and opens the front door. Inside the air is humid and hot. Definitely steam. The wood has a wax-like seal to it.

Across from the door is a desk, behind it sits a child, barely over ten, who looks suspiciously like Ralph. Her looks are unfortunate then, hopefully, she gets something from her mother as she grows.

“Here for a bath?” She slams her hands on the desk.

“Ugh, yeah. Are you the attendant here?” El takes a single step into the bathhouse looking anywhere for an adult.

“Yeah! My name is Sandy! My sister and brother are here, but they’re busy. You want a bath?” She calls out loudly.

“Yeah.” El winces from her shrill voice.

“That's one silver!” She holds out a hand.

“What?” El snaps his attention to her. “A bath is six copper.”

“Not in a hot spring.” She shakes her head with a slight downward tilt.

“Fine.” He plops a silver coin in her hand.

“Alright. Head through the doors on the left to the bathing room. Once you are clean, you can go through the next set of doors, and jump into the communal bath.” Sandy points to the door.

El nods and heads through the doors. There are a few baths in the room you can block off with private screens. El slips into one bath and pulls on a lever. He watches curiously as the hot water pours down from an opening and into the bath.

With some soap nearby, El bathes, washing away the blood, soil, and sweat. He’s been working hard to train and he works hard on the farm. Although, he might need to pay more attention to the quests from Fenbar. El wondered how Arkin was doing, what Bandlor was getting up to, if Top was okay, and if Kib would ever reach back out to him.

Where could Kib be anyway? Didn’t he say something about two hunters brewing tea? Maybe Tulzia will have some information for me.

El finishes washing up. Instead of relaxing like he usually would, interest in the hot springs proper grows within him. He steps out, wraps a towel around his waist, and washes his clothes. Once good and clean he hangs them up to dry and then walks into the communal bathroom.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The room is more steamy than either of the last two rooms. El makes out that there are two others in the room. A young woman wrapped in a towel sitting at the edge of the large stone bath. And a teen boy sitting in the water, letting his arms float, as he relaxes. His eyes open and he catches the gaze of El.

“You stare at naked boys often?” The teen calls out.

“Naked?” El mutters, before he realizes what the teen had said, and quickly turns his nose upward to stare at the ceiling.

“If you were going to get into the bath, you can, plenty of steam in the room, I’d hardly see you if you sat way over there away from me.” The teen smiles as he speaks with confidence.

“Don’t mind Wilbur, he gets cranky when I pull him out of his library.”The young woman shifts and ensures herself that her towel is secure. “I’m Jane, it's nice to meet you.”

“Alright, you two must be Sandy’s siblings.” El sits at the edge of the bath putting his feet in the water.

“Yeah, the twerp give you trouble?” Wilbur asks.

“Hey, be nice.” The woman gives a slight tap to Wilbur’s skull.

“I’m El.” He answers. “And Sandy was nice enough. Said you two would be in here.”

“That’s a surprise,” Wilbur mutters.

“Yeah, for some reason she always complains about people turning down our expensive rates.” The woman remarks.

“Yeah, like six copper is too much to afford.” Wilbur scoffs.

“Six copper?” El furrows his brow.

“Yeah, right? It’s not that much.” Wilbur waves to El seemingly frustrated by the topic.

As Wilbur moves, El becomes aware of a leather strap around his midsection that secures him to the wall. El’s eyes wander up and peer behind the two. In the corner of the room is a strange chair with wheels.

“Huh.” El huffs.

Jane follows his gaze looking behind her at the wheelchair. She turns back to El as the man floats forward in the bath.

“What are you doing?” Wilbur asks, squirming backwards.

“Your legs? Can you not use them?” El stops a little closer to the teen.

“No,” Wilbur looks up to his sister with some concern.

“Huh, I knew a healer.” El remarks.

“They aren’t damaged.” Wilbur clenches his fists.

“He was born with no lower motor functions,” Jane says.

“No motor… what?” El floats backwards in the pool looking up at the women.

“Are you serious?” Wilbur scoffs. Jane covers her mouth containing her laughter.

“What, you two had access to a library? I grew up in the rafters of a barn.” El retorts.

“You didn’t even live in the farmhouse with your family?” Jane asks. El flinches.

“You didn’t have one.” Wilbur relaxes his fists.

“Ugh, no, I didn’t. I don’t. But there have been a lot of good people in my life.” El shrugs.

“Alright, I’m getting pruney. El, could you leave first. I can’t hide my privates as easily as you can.” Wilbur says bluntly.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll go.” El turns and exits the bath. Grabbing his towel and wrapping it around him.

“It was nice meeting you,” Jane calls out.

“I hope to see you two again some other time.” El smiles before he turns and leaves.

El travels to the training grounds in town ready for another brutal fight. He arrives at the training grounds but no one is there except for Sairene Boardin and Sheriff Grace Amfall.

“What’s going on?” El asks.

“The guards are in the middle of an investigation. Sairene has volunteered to perform the next part of your training.” Grace explains. “We both will. See, much of combat is actually desperation and holding one’s morale long enough to surmount impossible odds.”

Sairene and Sheriff Grace both draw their swords. Sairene has a light and skinny sword that still has some reach. Grace has a slightly larger sword, her grip is tighter, adjusting for the weight of the blade. El draws his sword. Sairene looks to Grace and then back at El’s sword.

“Is that a shovel on the other end of your blade?” Sairene raises a brow.

“Ugh,” El holds the sword up, "yeah, it is.” He admits.

“You could use your greatsword instead,” Grace suggests.

“Well, I just thought this is more my speed.” El nods looking at his blade.

“Alright.” Grace shrugs.

“Go!” Sairene yells.

Grace lunges forward stabbing out with her sword. El partially deflects the blow upwards but it still slashes his shoulder for three damage. Sairene lunges lower stabbing straight forward, her sword must be designed for piercing. With no way to react in time, El is stabbed in the side for five damage.

“Are you actually trying to kill me?” El shouts at the two women.

“Don’t worry, we already paid the church to heal your wounds after this fight.” Grace smiles.

“That isn’t comforting in the slightest!” El lunges forward with his weapon.

Grace steps to the side, tripping him, sending him rolling through the mud. El scrambles back up his feet and turns to face the two women again as they approach for another onslaught of blows. Grace swings her sword, but this time El puts his weight behind his blade deflecting her blow easily. When Sairene’s blade buries itself in his side opposite of her previous blow against him dealing nine damage.

El swings in a wide arc at Sairene, but she easily dodges backwards. Grace brings her sword down on El’s shoulder for ten damage as it chops into his collar bone. He grabs the blade and shoves it upwards away from him. Sairene goes to strike him again and he quickly kicks her in the hand.

The field hand pushes away from the two women, taking a deep breath, before swinging his weapon at Grace. The Sheriff parries El’s sword slash before her elbow crashes into his nose. El hears a resounding crack as his vision goes black and air rushes past him.

Retraining - El

Class Levels

Takes 5 Days

Fighter Level 2

⅘ Days Trained

Costs 100 Gold (60 discount)