At the same time, he was even tempted to continue amusing this guy in front of him even more and tell him about his poisoned wound, but he changed his mind. The man had already been gracious enough, and he didn't want to be a bother or end it in such a grave tone.
The man had a pondering expression as he said, "You know what, although I was waiting for my friends to meet me here, I can't just leave you like this after what happened to you."
Melvin's eyes immediately lit up when he heard that, and soon the man added, "Here, come with me. I'll give you a simple bath, clothes, and some food. How about that?"
"Thank you, thank you. I'd really appreciate the help very much." He uttered with a wide toothy grin that his eyes turned into crescent moons, and then the man slowly walked with him to his house, but he continued to ask along the way, "But what happened after that?"
Melvin was feeling excited at the prospect of saving time and eating food was naturally generous with the details and continued telling him what happened next. How terrified the old man was, how agitated he was, the guards, and so on...
By the end of that, the man was roaring with laughter and he said after he turned some keys and opened the door, "My, oh my, you're quite the storyteller young Melvin. You have a talent, you should do something with it. What's your Class?"
They had already exchanged names during the conversation, and he learned that the man in front of him was named Karl.
Melvin naturally wouldn't expose such a card of his, and so he innocently answered, "No class, unfortunately..."
The man seemed as if to have remembered something and his smile became stiff, before he awkwardly changed the subject, "Either way, you're good! How many Charisma do you have?"
Having no reason to lie this time, Melvin quickly checked and answered, "I only have four..."
A puzzled expression was immediately reflected on the man, and he muttered as if to himself, "Hmm... I expected it to be way more with that engaging way of talking."
The man quickly pushed the door open and entered gesturing for Melvin to follow.
Melvin didn't hesitate and stepped inside after climbing the small steps, and was greeted by the inviting warmth of the house's interior. A hallway stretched out before him, adorned with tasteful chandeliers casting a soft glow against the stone walls. The floor beneath his feet transitioned from cool, smooth stone to warm, polished wood as he ventured further.
Entering the spacious living room, Melvin's gaze swept over the elegant furnishings and carefully curated decor, and he couldn't help but praise the man's taste in his mind.
Paintings filled the walls, depicting scenes of both serene landscapes on one wall and fierce monsters on the other, and surprisingly the contrast drew Melvin even more. Sofas and armchairs dotted the room, adding a touch of coziness to the whole house.
Sunlight filtered through the windows, casting a golden hue across the room and illuminating the intricate details of the wooden beams that crisscrossed the ceiling above. The scent of freshly brewed tea still lingered in the air, soothing Melvin's spirit even further.
Seeing the look of enjoyment on his face, Karl had a smug expression on his face questioning without the slightest shred of humility, "Quite good, huh?"
"Quite good, indeed." Melvin smiled back, and as if he felt comfortable enough he couldn't help but ask, "What do you do for work, Karl?"
"I am young and I have a whole house in the South Cirnes district, so naturally an Adventurer." The man replied as if it was a matter of course.
'There is that word again,' Melvin pondered, but he couldn't ask too much as that would go against the persona of the guy from the same city and world that he conveyed in his stories. At the same time, he just didn't have the time, and so he just praised, "Impressive indeed."
Karl led him down a narrow hallway to the opposite end of the house. He stopped at a sturdy light brown wooden door with basic symmytrical engravings and swung it open with a creak. "Here you go, the showers," he announced, gesturing inside.
Inside the room, Melvin saw an array of stone tiles lining the walls, with a large stone basin in the center. In the corner of the room stood a huge wooden container filled with water, connected to the basin and the contraption above by steel pipes. The contraption resembled a metal hoop, emitting a faint magical glow.
"It's enchanted," Karl explained, noticing Melvin's puzzled gaze. "You just need to turn the knobs to adjust the temperature and pressure. The water comes from that container in the corner. Feel free to use as much as you want."
He then pointed towards the wall of the shower where a grey towel was hung and said, "I don't imagine you have any skills to dry yourself afterward, so you can just use this towel. It's pretty clean. I'll go now and get you the clothes I mentioned."
With that, he closed the door behind Melvin leaving him stupified as he watched everything with wonder, 'From the uneven wooden cartwheels to this fancy shower. Talk about a dichotomy'
Karl quickly came back and said behind the doors, "Here are the clothes on top of a chair here, when you finish just open the door and you'll find them. Alright?"
"Sounds good, thank you!" Melvin expressed his gratitude, and then he immediately started taking all of his clothes off. Once that was done he glanced down at his clothes with a disgusted expression before he jumped into the stone basin, and started tinkering with the knobs.
After understanding how they worked, he quickly started showering using some soap and shampoo he found around there, and in less than five minutes all of that disgusting filth was washed off of him.
He got out of the stone basin with much difficulty and thought with a sigh, 'If I wasn't going to die in less than an hour I would have liked to stay there for a while longer.'
With careful steps to avoid slipping down, he reached for the grey towel and began drying both his body and hair. Realizing that time was of the essence and that he had already lost much of it, he pushed the door open which made even the chair behind it follow.
In an attempt to go get the clothes on top of the wooden chair, he nonchalantly walked out completely naked unafraid of any gazes, however, when he saw that many eyes were staring at his naked body in shock, he was indeed mortified.
Several men and women all wearing red-colored clothing stood in the living room conversing with Karl, and when they heard the noise of a chair creaking along the floor, all of them without exceptions turned to look. At that moment all Melvin could think about was, 'I was cold when I got out...It shrinks...'
He swiftly grabbed the red sweatshirt, undergarments, and black pants and returned to the warm shower with an awkward expression. He wore everything Karl gave him, put on his still-dirty black boots, and walked out of the shower with hesitant steps.
Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Karl's friend acted as if they hadn't seen anything and greeted him warmly, but he could sense the underlying awkward and amused tone underneath each of their words and expressions, which made him deeply sigh at his misfortune.
Turning towards Karl, he spoke with a smile, "Thank you, Karl, I'll remember this favor. But I still have something very urgent to do, so you'll have to excuse me."
Karl gestured towards the food on the table and questioned, "Don't you want to eat?"
Seeing the delicious two sandwiches on top of the table with a glass of juice, his stomach audibly grumbled in protest, "I'll just eat it on the way then, time is running out."
He took the two sandwiches in both of his hands and began to slowly make his way towards the door under their stupefied gazes. Just as he was about to descend on the first step to go out, he remembered something and said, "Karl, I left my dirty clothes in the shower, can you give me a bag or something I'll throw them out with me?"
Smiling faintly, Karl moved his hands towards the shower, and soon the door opened up on its own, much to Melvin's surprise. But what happened next, left his mouth agape in disbelief.
The pile of his dirty clothes began floating on their own at eye level, and the moment they were out of the shower, raging flames that seemingly appeared out of nowhere engulfed the clothes and soon not even their ashes remained.
It took Melvin a while for his mouth to close and for his mind to finally start working, and he said, "See you later then and left."
However, when he left the scene, what he had just seen was still very vivid in his mind.
This could be said to be the very first time he actually witnessed real magic.
Even those godly phenomena he saw in the afterlife couldn't measure up to it, and he knew that it wasn't because they were weaker, but because they just felt too distant.
On the other hand, Karl was just a friendly random guy he met on the streets, for him to burst out with such powers made him feel infinitely excited about his prospects as well.
Melvin's eyes gleamed with resolve as he stuffed his face full of food, and began walking with a brisk speed towards the alchemy shop he saw from before.
This time it didn't take him a long while to arrive because he felt both refreshed and energetic, and most importantly he knew exactly the way.
With a head tilting upwards glancing up at the big sign with the bold letters, "Gerrald and Sons" he finally swallowed the last bite of his food and shifted his eyes to the entrance of the shop.
To his shock, two men were getting out of the shop and closing the doors behind them. He could tell that one of them was a teenager whereas the other was much older.
He hastily approached the older one of the two who was about to close down the shop and pleaded, "Wait, wait. I need your services please."
Turning around, the tall, bald older gentleman, dressed in pristine white attire, spoke with an apologetic tone. His middle-aged face bore a thick black stubble, accentuated by a well-groomed mustache. "I'm sorry, customer, but the ceremony will be starting soon, and we don't want to miss the first dance."
But how could Melvin let them go, and so without wasting any time talking, he lifted his shirt and pointed towards his wound that had already worsened with a pleading look on his face.
When the middle-aged man followed Melvin's finger and saw the wound, he was shocked, his arms had already begun turning around the keys of the shop abruptly stopped.
"Come with me." He said after he began opening the door once again.
Melvin on the other hand couldn't muster out the faintest trace of relief at that, 'I am still here to just ask about the price...'
When he looked at the remaining time and found that he only had 30 minutes, he despaired even more.
As for some meaningless hope of the being helping him? There was no in hell for that to happen.
He understood how religious that being was about his, 'Life meaning', and it had conveyed to him how much it dreaded interferring.
In the grand scheme of things, he was but a little pawn moving in the direction of entertaining that great being, if he proved to be useless then he would naturally be discarded, that much he was certain of.
At the same time, he was even tempted to continue amusing this guy in front of him even more and tell him about his poisoned wound, but he changed his mind. The man had already been gracious enough, and he didn't want to be a bother or end it in such a grave tone.
The man had a pondering expression as he said, "You know what, although I was waiting for my friends to meet me here, I can't just leave you like this after what happened to you."
Melvin's eyes immediately lit up when he heard that, and soon the man added, "Here, come with me. I'll give you a simple bath, clothes, and some food. How about that?"
"Thank you, thank you. I'd really appreciate the help very much." He uttered with a wide toothy grin that his eyes turned into crescent moons, and then the man slowly walked with him to his house, but he continued to ask along the way, "But what happened after that?"
Melvin was feeling excited at the prospect of saving time and eating food was naturally generous with the details and continued telling him what happened next. How terrified the old man was, how agitated he was, the guards, and so on...
By the end of that, the man was roaring with laughter and he said after he turned some keys and opened the door, "My, oh my, you're quite the storyteller young Melvin. You have a talent, you should do something with it. What's your Class?"
They had already exchanged names during the conversation, and he learned that the man in front of him was named Karl.
Melvin naturally wouldn't expose such a card of his, and so he innocently answered, "No class, unfortunately..."
The man seemed as if to have remembered something and his smile became stiff, before he awkwardly changed the subject, "Either way, you're good! How many Charisma do you have?"
Having no reason to lie this time, Melvin quickly checked and answered, "I only have four..."
A puzzled expression was immediately reflected on the man, and he muttered as if to himself, "Hmm... I expected it to be way more with that engaging way of talking."
The man quickly pushed the door open and entered gesturing for Melvin to follow.
Melvin didn't hesitate and stepped inside after climbing the small steps, and was greeted by the inviting warmth of the house's interior. A hallway stretched out before him, adorned with tasteful chandeliers casting a soft glow against the stone walls. The floor beneath his feet transitioned from cool, smooth stone to warm, polished wood as he ventured further.
Entering the spacious living room, Melvin's gaze swept over the elegant furnishings and carefully curated decor, and he couldn't help but praise the man's taste in his mind.
Paintings filled the walls, depicting scenes of both serene landscapes on one wall and fierce monsters on the other, and surprisingly the contrast drew Melvin even more. Sofas and armchairs dotted the room, adding a touch of coziness to the whole house.
Sunlight filtered through the windows, casting a golden hue across the room and illuminating the intricate details of the wooden beams that crisscrossed the ceiling above. The scent of freshly brewed tea still lingered in the air, soothing Melvin's spirit even further.
Seeing the look of enjoyment on his face, Karl had a smug expression on his face questioning without the slightest shred of humility, "Quite good, huh?"
"Quite good, indeed." Melvin smiled back, and as if he felt comfortable enough he couldn't help but ask, "What do you do for work, Karl?"
"I am young and I have a whole house in the South Cirnes district, so naturally an Adventurer." The man replied as if it was a matter of course.
'There is that word again,' Melvin pondered, but he couldn't ask too much as that would go against the persona of the guy from the same city and world that he conveyed in his stories. At the same time, he just didn't have the time, and so he just praised, "Impressive indeed."
Karl led him down a narrow hallway to the opposite end of the house. He stopped at a sturdy light brown wooden door with basic symmytrical engravings and swung it open with a creak. "Here you go, the showers," he announced, gesturing inside.
Inside the room, Melvin saw an array of stone tiles lining the walls, with a large stone basin in the center. In the corner of the room stood a huge wooden container filled with water, connected to the basin and the contraption above by steel pipes. The contraption resembled a metal hoop, emitting a faint magical glow.
"It's enchanted," Karl explained, noticing Melvin's puzzled gaze. "You just need to turn the knobs to adjust the temperature and pressure. The water comes from that container in the corner. Feel free to use as much as you want."
He then pointed towards the wall of the shower where a grey towel was hung and said, "I don't imagine you have any skills to dry yourself afterward, so you can just use this towel. It's pretty clean. I'll go now and get you the clothes I mentioned."
With that, he closed the door behind Melvin leaving him stupified as he watched everything with wonder, 'From the uneven wooden cartwheels to this fancy shower. Talk about a dichotomy'
Karl quickly came back and said behind the doors, "Here are the clothes on top of a chair here, when you finish just open the door and you'll find them. Alright?"
"Sounds good, thank you!" Melvin expressed his gratitude, and then he immediately started taking all of his clothes off. Once that was done he glanced down at his clothes with a disgusted expression before he jumped into the stone basin, and started tinkering with the knobs.
After understanding how they worked, he quickly started showering using some soap and shampoo he found around there, and in less than five minutes all of that disgusting filth was washed off of him.
He got out of the stone basin with much difficulty and thought with a sigh, 'If I wasn't going to die in less than an hour I would have liked to stay there for a while longer.'
With careful steps to avoid slipping down, he reached for the grey towel and began drying both his body and hair. Realizing that time was of the essence and that he had already lost much of it, he pushed the door open which made even the chair behind it follow.
In an attempt to go get the clothes on top of the wooden chair, he nonchalantly walked out completely naked unafraid of any gazes, however, when he saw that many eyes were staring at his naked body in shock, he was indeed mortified.
Several men and women all wearing red-colored clothing stood in the living room conversing with Karl, and when they heard the noise of a chair creaking along the floor, all of them without exceptions turned to look. At that moment all Melvin could think about was, 'I was cold when I got out...It shrinks...'
He swiftly grabbed the red sweatshirt, undergarments, and black pants and returned to the warm shower with an awkward expression. He wore everything Karl gave him, put on his still-dirty black boots, and walked out of the shower with hesitant steps.
Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Karl's friend acted as if they hadn't seen anything and greeted him warmly, but he could sense the underlying awkward and amused tone underneath each of their words and expressions, which made him deeply sigh at his misfortune.
Turning towards Karl, he spoke with a smile, "Thank you, Karl, I'll remember this favor. But I still have something very urgent to do, so you'll have to excuse me."
Karl gestured towards the food on the table and questioned, "Don't you want to eat?"
Seeing the delicious two sandwiches on top of the table with a glass of juice, his stomach audibly grumbled in protest, "I'll just eat it on the way then, time is running out."
He took the two sandwiches in both of his hands and began to slowly make his way towards the door under their stupefied gazes. Just as he was about to descend on the first step to go out, he remembered something and said, "Karl, I left my dirty clothes in the shower, can you give me a bag or something I'll throw them out with me?"
Smiling faintly, Karl moved his hands towards the shower, and soon the door opened up on its own, much to Melvin's surprise. But what happened next, left his mouth agape in disbelief.
The pile of his dirty clothes began floating on their own at eye level, and the moment they were out of the shower, raging flames that seemingly appeared out of nowhere engulfed the clothes and soon not even their ashes remained.
It took Melvin a while for his mouth to close and for his mind to finally start working, and he said, "See you later then and left."
However, when he left the scene, what he had just seen was still very vivid in his mind.
This could be said to be the very first time he actually witnessed real magic.
Even those godly phenomena he saw in the afterlife couldn't measure up to it, and he knew that it wasn't because they were weaker, but because they just felt too distant.
On the other hand, Karl was just a friendly random guy he met on the streets, for him to burst out with such powers made him feel infinitely excited about his prospects as well.
Melvin's eyes gleamed with resolve as he stuffed his face full of food, and began walking with a brisk speed towards the alchemy shop he saw from before.
This time it didn't take him a long while to arrive because he felt both refreshed and energetic, and most importantly he knew exactly the way.
With a head tilting upwards glancing up at the big sign with the bold letters, "Gerrald and Sons" he finally swallowed the last bite of his food and shifted his eyes to the entrance of the shop.
To his shock, two men were getting out of the shop and closing the doors behind them. He could tell that one of them was a teenager whereas the other was much older.
He hastily approached the older one of the two who was about to close down the shop and pleaded, "Wait, wait. I need your services please."
Turning around, the tall, bald older gentleman, dressed in pristine white attire, spoke with an apologetic tone. His middle-aged face bore a thick black stubble, accentuated by a well-groomed mustache. "I'm sorry, customer, but the ceremony will be starting soon, and we don't want to miss the first dance."
But how could Melvin let them go, and so without wasting any time talking, he lifted his shirt and pointed towards his wound that had already worsened with a pleading look on his face.
When the middle-aged man followed Melvin's finger and saw the wound, he was shocked, his arms had already begun turning around the keys of the shop abruptly stopped.
"Come with me." He said after he began opening the door once again.
Melvin on the other hand couldn't muster out the faintest trace of relief at that, 'I am still here to just ask about the price...'
When he looked at the remaining time and found that he only had 30 minutes, he despaired even more.
As for some meaningless hope of the being helping him? There was no in hell for that to happen.
He understood how religious that being was about his, 'Life meaning', and it had conveyed to him how much it dreaded interferring.
In the grand scheme of things, he was but a little pawn moving in the direction of entertaining that great being, if he proved to be useless then he would naturally be discarded, that much he was certain of.
