Chapter 50 Three Options (3)

Chapter 50 Three Options (3)

'I should go see if I can take a bath or something of the sort. I saw a well earlier. They should have access to fresh water even if it's cold.'

Sylas preferred cold showers anyway. He wouldn't mind it not being heated.

He slipped off of his cot, feeling some of the aches and bruises on his body. But it was already better than it had been yesterday. It seemed that his Constitution was doing wonders. The nails on his right hand were already half grown back.

Walking out of the large tent, he rounded it, heading toward where he had seen the well. But when he got to the back of the large tent, he heard a splash of water.

He looked to the side.

There, down in a deep squat, a woman with her back to him threw some water over her shoulder with a cup and almost furiously wiped herself with a rough cloth.

He couldn't see much from this angle, but because of her deep squat, he could see some of the curve of her buttocks. But more than that, there were the clear and deep scars she had suffered. It was clear that anyone who could make it so far had dealt with their fair share of struggles.

Sylas shook his head and looked away. "My apologies."

Lauren was startled and covered her chest. She looked back to see that Sylas was already facing away from her.

"No, it's not your fault," she shook her head. "I didn't expect that anyone would be awake this early. I was a little careless. The well has good water. You can use it to clean yourself if you want."

"Mm, that's what I planned to do," Sylas responded. "I also wanted to ask if they might have some spare clothes. I'm in tatters."

Lauren laughed, pulling on a towel she had to the side and wiping herself down a bit before wrapping it around her armpits.

"You can look now. Don't worry, I'm not such a prude. I've already prepared myself for much worse in this world, plus I'm already almost thirty. I left that phase long ago."

Sylas turned back, mostly out of politeness. Since she had said as much, he would only make her more uncomfortable insisting on not doing so.

Sylas grabbed onto a word she used immediately.

"Months?"

Lauren reacted with surprise. "Did you find another water source?"

This was her immediate reaction. If Sylas didn't know about this, then could it be that he was getting his water from somewhere else? That would be huge.

Sylas put two and two together immediately.

He had been in the Dungeon for months? But that was impossible. His Soft Gene Stat was still there, and it would only last for seven days. Looking at the time, he still had four days left. That meant that he could have only used three days so far at best.

How had months passed on the outside?

"No," Sylas shook his head. "It just doesn't feel like it's been that long. I really lost track of time."

"Ah..." Lauren sighed. "Yeah, it really is hard without phones and the internet to keep you on track." She shook her head. "Anyway, I'm going to go be a prude now and put on some real clothes."

She gave Sylas a smile and walked past him, holding a bundle of clothes in her hands as she slipped back into the tent.

Sylas conveniently took the bucket she had used and filled it to the brim at the well. It wasn't like the water was used, this was just the bucket she had been scooping water out of, so he didn't have a problem with using it.

He began to clean himself as well, sighing that he still only had a single pair of pants. He should have asked about it last night, but he had to admit that it felt a little weird to have to ask Cassarae for things.

They had ended on good terms, he thought. But that didn't change the fact they hadn't talked in almost a decade. He didn't want to try to take advantage of a former relationship.

Everything in this world was earned, and she had worked for months to get to this point apparently, as had the others.