Chapter 43: Private Bath

For the sake of Roland’s upright and law-abiding nature, Zarian hunted down a medium-sized beast and dragged its carcass around the camp the soldiers had set up for the night. He found his party, had Para prepare the meal, and waited for Bianca to cook it.

Everyone from the party had a piece. Zarian ate the biggest chunks, sharing some with Para. By then, the cart with the bath was prepared for him.

For a long while, Zarian had wondered what would happen if he turned off the Parasite Cloak. Would everything in Para’s dimensional storage come rushing out? Could he turn it off or switch it from alpha to beta?

Before he dove into the water, he walked away from everyone and took some time to talk to Para directly, making his intentions known.

She was a good girl, loyal to a fault, even if she could act a little unruly sometimes. Still, she did what she could to support Zarian, even at the risk of taking damage for him.

A man couldn’t ask better from a parasitic article of clothing. Once he had Para’s consent, he tried to turn her off in a small glade away from the camp.

Nothing happened. The System denied the shut off for the Parasite Cloak. Zarian emptied her pocket dimension carefully.

He set aside corpses, old gear from Castle Grimrock, a few odds and ends. There wasn’t as much as he would think after nearly two months of adventuring.

Hell, they still had spare goblin bodies. He was tempted to turn those into advancing skeletons, but held off. He wanted to see what happened to Loner first once he advanced.

Zarian attempted to turn Para off again and succeeded. The cloak slurped into his back and disappeared. A presence in his mind winked away, which he hadn’t realized was a prominent feature until now.

His body lost its extra physicality and felt more frail, more vulnerable. Zarian shivered, hating the weakness and the lack of Para’s presence.

Was she a clutch?

Or was she a major part of what he was now? A wizard of evil +2.

Looking up into the night sky with a grimace, Zarian wondered if he pushed the line too much with the soldiers. Then he shook his head. The gods were meddling, and they hadn’t even reached Bramblevale yet.

The meager and careful route didn’t feel viable anymore.

“We’re better off being outlandish and upfront,” Zarian said. “If we’re going to be anyone’s target, we can at least set the bullseye where we want it.”

The gods were meddling.

Zarian would meddle back.

He reactivated the Parasite Cloak while it was a beta skill. Para felt brain dead and too weak. He switched her back to being an alpha skill, making her better, and swept all the dropped items back in Para’s pocket dimension.

As they returned to camp, Para contracted until she was nearly as thin as a scarf. The hood remained, but it had patchy holes in it, making it more breathable with airflow.

Zarian didn’t bother with modesty and tossed every old scrap of clothing off. The Surface Walker Boots were already in the pocket dimension.

The soldiers had heated the bath to near boiling, steam wavering over the surface of the tub.

One soldier informed him there was a runic device at the bottom of the tub that would grant him temperature control with a touch and his magical whim. The soldier explained quickly, and once he saw Zarian was satisfied, he fled away.

He doesn’t have the skills I want, Zarian thought, watching the soldier flee before looking around.

He spotted soldiers with the type of skills he wanted for himself and for the party. I wonder if I should go after them now or wait to see if I can find the better versions.

The soldiers had basic skills. Knowing that there were higher quality skills, Zarian could aim for the more advanced versions. If he was going to stack up on some Level 0s, he might as well get the best of those.

Zarian clambered into the cart and jumped inside a tub that could fit his entire party. The curtain was on a hoop held up by metal bars attached to the tub’s sides. Para used a tendril to slide the curtain around for his privacy.

Zarian sighed as he felt the water’s heat seep into his body. He felt around for the runic device at the bottom of the tub with his foot and raised the heat a little further.

It would’ve felt nicer if he’d kept Para deactivated and assumed a weaker body. But he preferred having the parasitic threads interwoven with him, reinforcing him, eliminating excess weakness.

At the very least, the bath was everything he could ask for, and it came with a scrubber. No oils or scents or soap, which was fine. The hot water and scrubber worked perfectly.

He didn’t feel like a hero. He’d chosen the ‘crash out’ option because if it failed, at least he would be satisfied with the ridiculousness of the play. But it had worked, and now he was an advisor to rising gnolls and a hero to a kingdom that would hate him.

What the hell?

Zarian cracked a grin. “The looks on those elder gnolls’ faces were priceless. Totally worth it.”

He’d faced a group of elder gnolls in the Level 80s while he was in the Level 30s. They had him totally outmatched, outgunned, pretty much dead, and he’d overpowered them. He’d scared them

That should’ve been impossible.

“You watching little sister?” Zarian asked. “Your Big Bro will always find a way.”

She didn’t respond.

Once everyone in his party was updated with each other, Zarian figured staying in Bramblevale for a while would be good for them. They could try milking their connection with Roland for all it was worth.

Roland had called himself a Low Rose Noble. That should mean something not so poor, right?

Zarian wondered what it would be like to have a mansion with enough big rooms and a common area for his party. When he imagined the kitchen, he envisioned Foodie already working on the next meal, the pantry, shelves, fridges, all stocked.

“Yeah, what’s next hasn’t changed. We’ll rest in Bramblevale, gather information about the land, then hit the Forgotten Kingdom Dungeon. Once we’re in the Level 60s, we’ll head for Castle Grimrock to slay the warlock and free Foodie.”

It sounded simple, yet Zarian figured there would be complications. If so, then he imagined his party would be strong enough to handle those.

And if they couldn’t, he would figure things out. After all, he’d grown a lot so far based on how his profile looked now:

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Origins: Zarian Darkrun, 21 yr-old Human, Honored Outsider.

Level: 35

Class: Dark Wizard Apprentice (Epic).

Alignment: Evil +2

Traits: Dark Affinity (Rare), Overpower (Epic), Identify (Rare), Aura Channeler (Rare), Fractured Mind (Uncommon), Basic Aura Manipulation (Rare).

Alpha Skills (3/3): Grimoire of Dark Arts 102 (Level 13), Parasite Cloak +1 (Level 13), Grimoire of the Dread Mire Gator (Level 5).

Beta Skills (4/12): Spectral Spiders Network (Level 2), Straight Darkness +1 (Level 23), Tranquil Mind (Level 0), Adrenaline Jolt (Level 0).

Willpower: 112

Strength: 25

Agility: 30

Wonder: 64

Mysticism: 234

Free: 0

Achievements: Honored Outsider (Divine), SSS Dance with White Silk Reiki (Epic), Heroes of the Eternal Garden Kingdom (Legendary).

Spells: Bloody Lifesteal (Uncommon), Raise Advancing Skeletons (Rare), Black Fire (Rare).

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