“What are these things?” Kari murmured as she leaned over.
I glanced at what she was looking at and saw several knobs located around the edge of the basin. She grabbed one as though merely feeling it out, but then the knob accidentally rotated, and suddenly enough to startle us, water burbled up from several holes in the basin’s side, filling it to the brim with steaming hot water.
“It looks like these knobs somehow bring water into the basin.” I tilted my head. “I guess they are like the showers we have back home?”
“Seems so.” Kari seemed to ponder this for a moment, but then she smiled. “Well, either way. It looks like we can clean off now.”
“Yes… though we don’t seem to have any towels, rags, or even a loofa to scrub ourselves with.”
Kari’s eyes popped and her mouth parted at that. She glanced around as though searching for something we could use to wash with, but as the reality of our situation came crashing down, her shoulders began drooping. I could tell she was on the verge of despair. That was why I looked around as well.
I immediately noticed the stone drawer to our left, which had the same ridiculously artistic aesthetic as the basin. I went over to it and opened one of the drawers. I found several towels inside and something that looked like a brush made of foam. I was pretty sure this was the Dweorg version of a loofa.
“Found it,” I said, grabbing the brush and holding it up.
Kari’s face lit up like the sun. “I love you, Eryk.”
“So all I need to do for you to love me is find a loofa?” I asked as I came up behind her.
“Only when I’m desperate to get clean. You’ll have to work harder once I’m clean.”
“Good to know.”
Pulling her long hair over her shoulder, Kari presented her bare back to me. Now that I was really looking, I could see that she was indeed absolutely filthy, covered in dirt and smudges and dried blood. I probably didn’t look any better. That said, it was shocking for me to realize only now that the two of us really were in a rancid state.
After soaking the foam-like section of the brush in the water, I turned my attention to Kari, reaching out and using the loofa to scrub away the dirt around her shoulders and the back of her neck. As the water trailed down her body, it left muddy streaks on her skin. Everywhere the loofa left became a soft pale color, so unlike the blackish-brown it had been. As her shoulders became clean, I moved down her back, causing the thick, black water to run down her butt cheeks, between her butt crack, and drip down her legs and onto the floor.
“It’s almost shocking to see how much dirt you’ve accumulated,” I muttered as I began scrubbing her butt. The elasticity of her rear end was something I never tired off. It was springy and bounced even when I barely touched it. I loved the well-defined muscles of her rear. Running my hands over her ass, even if it was just vicariously through the scrub right now, gave me a thrill of pleasure.
It had been far too long since she and I had sex.
Even though I felt ravenous just then, I ignored my arousal and continued cleaning Kari’s body. After I finished her backside, I cleaned her arms, then moved around to her front.
“Your chest is filthy,” I muttered as I glanced at her breasts, which were coated with just as much grime, sweat, and dried blood as the rest of her.
“Says you,” Kari fired back.
“Anyone who saw you right now would say this.” I grinned as I placed the loofa back into the water, watching as the inky black substance that was the accumulation of several days without bathing soaked into the water. “Now that is gross. Is there a way to replace this water?”
“Try twisting one of those knobs,” Kari suggested.
“Worth a shot.”
Since I really didn’t have any other ideas, I grabbed the knob to the right of the one Kari had twisted. There were four in total, so I figured one of these would drain the water. The first one I grabbed did not drain the water but squirted a strange blue substance into it. I didn’t know what it was at first, but when I leaned down and took a whiff, I realized it was some kind of shampoo.
The second one I tried was on the right of the one I had just twisted, and it shot out soap. Reaching for the last one, I watched as something behind the drain opened and all the water was drained out of it. Twisting the knob Kari had first twisted, I filled the basin with more water, and then used the third knob to squirt out some soap.
I went to work on Kari’s front. Working my way from top to bottom, I first cleaned off her face and neck, and then moved across her collar bones. When I reached her chest, I took extra care to make sure I missed nothing. After roaming over the peaks of her breasts until her nipples were visible again, I moved the loofa down the valley between them. Her breasts jiggled as I worked. Kari bit her lip and stifled a moan, but it wasn’t like she could completely stop herself. I had to ignore my erection as I lifted her breasts so I could scrub her underboobs, which had more sweat than the other areas.
“Ugh… my underboobs sweat so much,” Kari complained.
“Would you like me to lick it off next time?” I asked.
“Would you if I said yes?”
“I have before.”
“Oh… in that case, make sure to clean it thoroughly with your tongue from now on.”
“As my queen commands.”
The two of us traded banter back and forth as I moved lower, pressing the loofa over her flat stomach. Her muscles twitched several times. I was sad that I couldn’t feel her stomach twitching under my fingers. One of my greatest pleasures was rubbing my hands over that firm, flat stomach when we were taking a shower.
I also liked kissing it during foreplay.
I had to rinse the loofa again, but then I started in on her legs. They were probably the cleanest part of her. The boots did a good job of at least keeping her calves and feet from getting dirty, though even with that, she had sweat so much I wasn’t sure it mattered. As I cleaned around her crotch, her smooth lips came into view. There was a small patch of blonde hair. She hadn’t been able to shave since coming to this realm. Even though I was somewhat tempted to lean up and clean her with my tongue, I continued scrubbing her down with the loofa until I reached her feet.
“You know, I just realized that even though this floor should be soaking wet with dirty water, there’s hardly a single drop of water anywhere,” I said as I found myself staring at the floor around her feet. Kari’s toes wiggled a little bit. They were wet, but she wasn’t standing in a puddle.
“Now that you mention it, you’re right.” Kari also looked down.
I noticed after a minute of staring that this area had a slight cant inward, moving toward the basin, which had drains at the bottom. So that was how it worked. That was kind of ingenious. I still believed a shower was better, though.
“Raise your foot please,” I requested.
Kari placed her hands on the lip of the basin and lifted her left foot. I grabbed her foot and first cleaned off the bottom. Her cute toes wiggled a little as I dragged the scrub from the sole of her foot to her toes, which I made sure to clean between before setting her foot on my knee and cleaning the rest of her calf. Once her left foot was done, I cleaned her right one.
“I feel so much better,” Kari said as I stood up, drained the basin again, and refilled it with hot, soapy water. During this time, Kari ran her hand over her breasts as though testing them. They bounced several times as she hummed. “I do kind of wish we had a bathtub, or at least a shower. Maybe we should ask if they have something like that.”
“It couldn’t hurt,” I said.
“Hmm, I’ll do that then. But first, since you’ve already cleaned me…” Kari licked her lips as she grabbed the loofa scrub from my hands and plunged it into the water. “I am going to clean you.”
I realized from the hungry look in her eyes that we would probably be doing more than just getting clean. Well, so long as she made sure I was actually clean first, I didn’t mind getting dirty aga
in.
The next morning, our group packed up camp and moved out. Our goal that day was Nymph Lake, a well-known gathering spot of Water Nymphs. I only went there once in my previous life, and at the time, the Water Nymphs living there had been under the rule of a Water Queen. Given how many years it took for a Water Nymph to evolve into a Water Queen, I didn’t think we’d run into one this time.
Our journey took us deep into the forest. In this area, we had to remain on constant alert. Even though we weren’t too deep into the Demon Beast Mountain Range, this particular forest was home to many C-Rank Demon Beasts. Even though I had every confidence that I and the others could take care of them, I didn’t want us spending too much energy on Demon Beasts that weren’t our target. It would be bad luck on our part if we exhausted ourselves before reaching Nymph Lake.
Spiritual Perception was not very good at sensing Demon Beasts, which exuded very little Spiritual Power and therefore had no real signature. Some of the most powerful Demon Beasts like the A and S-Rank ones had a strong Spiritual Aura, and the B-Rank ones could be sensed to some extent as well, but Demon Beasts ranked C and below tended to have so little Spiritual Power that it required an existential amount of effort on my part to sense them.
We did end up running afoul of a few Demon Beasts. Fortunately, all of them were easily taken care of by Kari and Fay. Earland, Geirolf, and Mykkel had tried to fight them at first, but I held them back. I wanted those two to gain some experience.
“Wa… Big Sister is really strong,” Lin said as she slithered along beside me and Dyr. We were traveling immediately behind Kari and Fay, who were taking point with Mykkel at my suggestion.
“They have been training hard,” I answered. “I’m not sure what kind of training Kari has been doing since she’s been trained by Hellen Brynhild, but Fay has been working incredibly hard to become as strong as she is now.”
“Hmm… it is unfortunate Lamia cannot gain power through training,” Lin lamented.
Looking at her from the corner of my eye, I spotted the somewhat petulant way her cheeks were puffed out. Some part of me wanted to put my hands on her cheeks and squish them. I’d have probably done that if we weren’t in the middle of an important quest in a dangerous area.
“What about physical strength and combat training?” I asked. “Surely you can become physically stronger and learn more about fighting?”
My question almost caused Lin to stop moving. I saw her stop, then start again when she lagged behind a bit. She considered my question for a moment before nodding.
“Yes, we Lamia can indeed become physically stronger and refine our martial prowess through training. This princess remembers witnessing her guards train in this manner, though she has never done so herself. However, Lamia cannot increase their Spiritual Power through training. Our Spiritualism can only become stronger with age.”
It was interesting to hear about how Lamia grew more powerful the older they became. That was the exact opposite of humans, who grew weaker when they aged.
I made a mental note to convince Lin to join us for physical strengthening and combat training once we returned to Nevaria. Maybe she couldn’t become a stronger Spiritualist, but she could at least become a stronger fighter.
Our group traveled for nearly half an hour longer before Mykkel raised a hand. That was the signal for us to stop, which we all did. While the seven of us—myself, Kari, Fay, Lin, Dyr, Geirolf, and Earland—remained in place, he moved forward with slow, cautious footsteps. The area in front of us was covered with heavy amounts of foliage, so we couldn’t see past it. Mykkel had to move into the foliage and push it aside before he could get a glimpse of the other side. After a moment or two, he turned back.
“It looks like we’ve arrived,” he announced.
“Did you get an estimate of their numbers?” I asked as I walked up to the front.
“I counted no less than twelve Water Nymphs,” Mykkel said.
“That’s more than I expected, but I think we can still take care of them if we act with caution.” I could probably take care of that many by myself, but this was as much a training exercise for Kari and Fay as it was a mission to acquire Water Nymph bone marrow. “I’m going to circle around to the other side and begin my attack. Once I launch my Spiritual Water Technique, Kari, Fay, and Lin, I want you three to launch whatever Spiritual Techniques you have to separate them.”
“But how will we fight them?” asked Fay. “Won’t they be in the middle of the lake?”
“They won’t be for long,” I said. “Just keep your eyes and ears open and get ready.”
I didn’t say anything more as I wandered away from the group, slowly inching my way through the forest, keeping myself mindful of the lake’s position relative to my own. While moving, I caught glimpses of the lake through my peripheral vision. I couldn’t see much, but I was able to at least confirm the existence of Water Nymphs. There were quite a few lounging around in the lake.
Using Spiritual Perception as a marker, I walked until I was certain that the lake was between me and the others. Then I turned around and crawled until I was hiding beneath a bush. I pushed away the last few leaves in my face, then caught sight of the lake as it spread out before me.
The lake wasn’t very big, but the water was purer than most. That was due to the Water Nymphs. As Demon Beasts with a strong affinity for water, they had a purifying effect on the water they lived in. Speaking of, I counted twelve Water Nymphs just like Mykkel had estimated. It looked like most of them were just lounging around.
Water Nymphs looked like beautiful women with blue skin. Their naked bodies were voluptuous, with large breasts, tiny waists, and wide hips. Although they looked gorgeous, they were only about half the size of a full-grown adult. Water Nymphs were quite small. Only the Water Queen, which was a Water Nymph who’d exceeded a certain level of Spiritual Power and evolved, had the height of a full-grown woman. There were some Water Queens who’d actually grown to be twice the size of a normal person.
I couldn’t see a single Water Queen.
Creeping out from underneath the bushes, I kept an eye on the Water Nymphs as I made my way to the lake’s shore. All of the Water Nymphs were in the center of the lake, which meant that in order for Kari, Fay, Lin, and the others to fight them, I needed to push them to the other side.
That should be easy enough.
Placing my hands in the water, I released a surge of Spiritual Power through my hands and directly manipulated the water in the lake, causing the water in front of me to swell abnormally. The Water Nymphs immediately saw the rising water. They didn’t seem to realize what had caused it, but all of them released ear-splitting shrieks as the massive wave rose high above their heads. Some tried to get away from the wave. Others were just staring at it like they couldn’t figure out what was happening.
It didn’t matter what they tried or didn’t try to do.
The wave soon descended upon the lake, crashing down and sweeping all the Water Nymphs along with it. I couldn’t hear their squeals over the sounds of rushing water. However, I could see the looks of panic on their faces.
At about the time I unleashed my Spiritual Technique, the other members of my group—sans Dyr—emerged from the bushes on the opposite side of the lake. They halted for a moment when they saw the rushing wave. It was only for a second, though, as they soon realized this was my Spiritual Water Technique when the Water Nymphs, disoriented from the surprise attack, were washed ashore.
I cut straight through the lake and ran across the water’s surface. My water affinity allowed me to walk on the water with ease. Ripples appeared where my feet touched, but I didn’t fall.
Everyone else had already launched their attack. Kari, Fay, and Lin were acting in tandem. Fay was protecting Kari against potential attacks as the blonde girl rushed up and skewered a Water Nymph on her ranseur. The creature shrieked as blood spurted from its chest, which alerted the others to the danger.
Several Water Nymphs
tried to attack Kari, but two of them were blocked by Fay and another was struck in the face with a dark purple whip made out of Lin’s Spiritual Power. The one who’d been struck let out an agonized shriek. Even from this distance, I could see the blackish vapor wafting off her face. That would be Lin’s poison—a specialty of the Lamia race.
Fay was having a bit more trouble defending Kari. She rotated her right arm as she pulled it into her torso, then released it in a powerful thrust while putting her entire body into the attack. Her fist burst into flames, which were launched forward and slammed into the Water Nymph, but while the attack caused her enemy’s body to boil, a Water Nymph’s physical composition derived from their strong water affinity made them strong against fire attacks. The one she had struck was pushed back but not killed.
Fortunately, Fay’s primary duty was to protect Kari, which she did admirably, keeping several Water Nymphs at bay with her talent at close-quarters combat. She activated her Spiritual Aura to protect her own body. The fiery red aura blazed around her body like an intense flame as she viciously fought against two Water Nymphs, trading blows at a rapid pace. I could see the heat waves forming along the air as she blocked several slashing attacks with her forearms. Her metal gauntlets also offered some extra protection.
While she was acting as a defender, Kari was dancing across the ground, twirling her ranseur around as though it was an extension of her body. A golden light emitted from the tip. It left a trail in its wake, which soon transformed into a series of small spear-shaped objects that flew forward and pierced a Water Nymph through the torso. That particular Demon Beast went down, its body full of holes, and Kari went on to attack the next one.
One Water Nymph tried to come up behind Kari, but just as it was about to leap, Lin swung her arm, causing the whip to lash out and catch the creature in the throat. The acidic poison sliced straight through the Water Nymph’s flesh, splitting it open with such ease that even I was a little shocked. Black steam wafted from the wound as blood spurted out like a geyser. The Water Nymph choked as it fell to the ground, landing face-first on the soil.
Wiedergeburt Page 3
