With the official call, Warden was to move into the 3rd infantry as soon as possible. But he wasn't really that interested anymore, considering how his companions had been warming up to him.
Even the stone-faced captain who had been so cold at him at the beginning was somewhat of a friend of his. He had improved a lot through sparring with her.
He got that it was probably Jason paying him back with this. Unfortunately, Warden saw no benefit in changing the crew. Most of the condemns were in the 16th infantry for minor offences, or mistakes of the past. The real criminals did not really have any aspect of subordination.
Unfortunately, Warden had no say in the matter. It had already been decided. And Jason's sister must have to call some favour to make it happen.
Still, he had the night to himself, and what better way to spend it than relaxing in a bath for hours?
Warden didn't know if it was the same river, but a similar stream snaked its way near the second Fold base. In the middle of the night, after they were done with the report, he sneaked out to bathe.
However, there seemed to be a catch. The water in the river was far from being pure. There seemed to be some spiritual element present, or perhaps the very source of the water had been twisted under the continuous pressure of the suppression. Whatever it was, submerging in the water wasn't as relaxing as he had thought. He reckoned it wasn't healthy either.
Warden was frustrated at the beginning, but as he resisted in the biting water, an idea dawned on him. He was a Master runesmith, goddamn it. It was about time those skills would come in handy.
With that thought in mind, he laid an isolation formation to separate a small portion of five cubic metres of water from the river. That was the hard which required a tier-3 isolation formation—well, not hard for him. It barely took him a few minutes. The easier part was to form the Tier-2 Purifying formation, which took about five minutes to clean all the water from the biting aura.
A warmth grew in his nether region. Soon Warden slapped himself softly on the face, coming back to his senses. What would June think of him if she learned of this? It was better if he fantasised about her instead... her supply and sultry Elven form, the sweet taste of her tongue, her pillowy bosoms—
"By the way, the others were looking for you," Agnes' voice brought him back from his idle fantasy. "Since you'd be leaving tomorrow, they were planning to throw your welcoming party tonight with only the six of us."
"Party? Do they have drinks and food for it in here?" Warden asked.
"They didn't, but I offered what I had in my dimension cube," Agnes said. With the silence reigning, there was no trouble for her soft voice to carry to him. "As for the food, I'm sure you can cook up something great."
"Well, I have no problem with that," Warden said. "So, we party tonight."
"Might want to turn up soon... I give no guarantee that they won't finish up the drinks on their own," Agnes said, "and leave you with cheap rum."
Warden could clearly see them doing that. These condemned soldiers could be many things, but alcohol was one thing that binds them together.
Still, Warden would like to relax some more in the water. Not to mention he intended to have some talk with the captain. "Will you be there, captain?"
"Of course, wouldn't miss it for anything," Agnes said. "But before that, I need to ask you about-- You know what lets postpone that for tonight."