*Huff* *Huff*
*Clang!*
Two swords clashed for less than a second before one was pushed back and eventually dropped to the ground. Alex panted and wiped the sweat from his face as he struggled to sit himself up off the ground.
It was now the evening again and he was sparring with Alan.
"That's enough for now. Get something to eat and don't be late tomorrow." Alan said and walked towards the stairs.
"Alan is there a way for me to use the showers without essence?" Alex struggled to ask. Although he felt awkward about it, it was necessary.
Alan also raised an eyebrow like his daughter and thought it was weird.
"Oh right. You can't use essence." Alan rubbed the stubble on his chin for a bit thinking.
"How about I get someone to help you out when you need it?"
Alex was confused. Like a servant? Wasn't he supposed to be the servant though since he was freeloading right now?
"What do you mean?" He asked for clarification.
"Here take this." He handed Alex a ring that was on his hand. It was all black and had some unknown engravings on it.
"I will give this to someone later tonight and when you need help with something like turning the shower on, just talk into it and the other side will hear.
"It only affects the one wearing it so whatever you say won't be heard by people around the other ring wearer. Just don't abuse the power I'm giving you. I'm only doing it because there really is no other way for you to use E-stones without help, since everyone can use E-stones."
Alan finished that and finished going up the stairs as well. Alex admired the ring for a while before getting up and heading upstairs too. He took a long time with how sore he was but he eventually made it to his room.
When he got there, he noticed the rug was back on the floor and the bedsheets were neatly laid out. Someone must have come and cleaned the room. Hopefully, someone could clean his clothes as well.
He sat on the bed and took a deep breath. He needed to shower and clean his clothes so he had to ask whoever was on the other end to help. He put his hand with the ring up to his mouth like a radio.
"Uhhh hello this is Alex... the freeloader." He said cringing at his own words.
"I need to take a shower so could you help me out with that?"
He waited for a bit to see if they would respond. In the end, all he got was a quiet "Okay." The voice was a bit feminine and sounded familiar but he couldn't tell exactly. His first thought was Emma since her dad probably gave her a ring like this so they could talk when they needed but he doubted Alan would trust him with his daughter.
The only other woman he knew was Alicia but felt that having her use it was a bad idea considering what they did recently. He could only shrug and go to the showers.
Having a woman take care of his needs didn't sound like a good idea but he wasn't going to criticize Alan's choices.
It was already dark outside when he left the building and reached the showers. In front of the shower entrance, was a short woman in a maid-like outfit. She was smiling when her features came into few and Alex immediately realized who it was.
"Hello again Freeloader, I thought he had killed you but I guess I was wrong." Alicia teased as she looked up at Alex.
He smiled as well, "Unfortunately I'm still kicking. Although my body constantly feels like I've been hit by a mountain but other than that I'm fine. How are you?"
"How are you, as in if I got in trouble? Or how are you as in is your body okay?" She pursed her lips and moved them to the side while tapping her cheek with a finger. She looked away from him waiting for an answer and Alex could only chuckle.
"Both?" He responded. Both were concerns but at the time he probably worried more about her still having her job rather than her body condition.
Alicia started laughing which caused Alex to follow suit. After a while, she smiled again and asked,
"So you really can't use essence? I thought Mr. Setter was just messing with me as a form of punishment." She asked curiously but also with worry.
"Yes, it's true. I can't use essence so I haven't been able to take a good shower ever since I got here." He sighed.
Alicia approached him and got up close. With a big audible sniff, she smelled him. Her little nose scrunched up a bit before she backed away but it was only about half a step.
"You do smell a bit, although you shouldn't ask me to be the one to judge considering how bad it was a few days ago." She blushed a little bit but she didn't hide.
Over the last few days, she had become more open with the others around her. Her roommate was the most shocked since she knew her the best but thought it was a good thing for her. Kaya especially, and eventually other girls who worked with her, soon found out she finally got laid and that's what brought her out of her shell.
Even some of the patrons of the restaurant were surprised by her newfound confidence. Many speculated she must have met some boy and fallen in love or something.
They weren't completely wrong, and although they didn't know who it was, it was only a matter of time before they found out the truth.
"Anyways you need help with turning on the showers? Am I assume you can't use the E-stones then?" She asked and Alex nodded.
"Yeah, last time I tried using it, it wouldn't turn on and when I asked another person there, they thought I was gay." Alex smiled wryly causing Alicia to laugh.
She held a hand to her mouth, "I would think that too. I don't think there's ever been a case of someone not being able to use essence. There may be some people who are cursed or injured their core so they can't use it, but it isn't something that can be born with. You really are strange since Alan said you didn't have a core either."
"What's a core?" Alex asked. He was curious about these new terms and using amnesia as an excuse for not knowing was definitely helping him.
"It's where the body houses its essence. Although people can use essence in the surroundings as well, that is only when they have a high proficiency of control over it at higher evolutions.
"The stronger you are, the denser your core becomes but it doesn't matter much for you since you don't have one." Alicia shrugged. She got pretty used to him being weird, pretty quickly.
She considered herself a weirdo as well so it was nice to have someone "similar" to her.
She sounded like she was disparaging him but she probably didn't mean it that way. It still stung a bit for Alex though.
"Alright no more questions, I still have stuff to do tonight and I don't want to be late." Alicia said as she walked into the shower area. As it was already nighttime, there was no light to see their surroundings yet Alicia seemed to know just where to turn.
Alex followed closely until they reached the shower area. Nobody else was in the building and the farthest they would probably go was just to the restrooms in the front.
Alex watched as she approached one of the shower heads and stood off the side enough to not get water on her before putting a hand on the E-stone. In the dark of the night, Alex could see a faint green glow and then the water suddenly began pouring out of the head attached to the stone.
He was intrigued but his thoughts are interrupted.
"What are you doing in your clothes still? The water is on for only ten minutes and I won't be here forever." Alicia scolded him.
Alex nodded but soon felt a little embarrassed, was she going to watch him?
He took his shirt off but she still didn't move, she only watched his silhouette in the dark of the night.
"Are you going to watch me shower?" He teased.
"Nothing I haven't seen before." She retorted.
Alex couldn't find anything to come back with so he stripped all the way and stood under the shower. It felt nice to be able to get the dirt and grime off him from the past few days and completely absorbed himself in the entire 10 minutes he was allowed.
When it turned off he sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair.
"You want another 10 minutes?" Alicia's voice echoed in the quiet shower room.
Alex jumped and almost slipped from fright. Why is she still here?!
"I thought you had to be somewhere?" He asked glad he didn't decide to jerk his meat today.
"I do, but I didn't say I had to be there right away." Alicia smiled in the dark and only the small bit of illumination from the stars and moons lit up the side of her face.
Alex shook his head to the sides.
"I'm fine, but it would be nice if I could clean these clothes as well. I've been wearing the same pair of clothes for everything."
Alex looked at his pitiful clothes. They were worse than himself since they also took the brunt of the attacks during his spar sessions. There were even a few tears in the material and small splinters of wood woven in.
Alicia put pursed her lips to the side again and held her hand to her chin thinking. After a bit she went over and turned the shower on once more before grabbing his clothes and walking towards the entrance of the shower room.
"Wait here and I'll wash this."
She left him no room for negotiation and Alex could only sigh and enjoy the water flowing down his body for a little longer. Right around the time that he had finished the last 10 minutes, Alicia showed up again and waited for him to dry off being handing him clothes.
They weren't the ones he used before but were plain white cotton long sleeves and leather pants. He raised an eyebrow at her but she only smiled.
"These aren't my clothes, can I use these?" He asked.
"Yes this is from our 'treasure room' which is basically just a code name for our confiscated items. When someone gets kicked out we take their stuff. This was in there and any worker can take something as long as we are given permission.
"I've never asked for stuff so they were more than happy to let me grab something."
Alicia made it seem like no big deal but it actually was a big deal. Employees got a special token when they went above and beyond their current duties and this token could be exchanged for a one-time wage bonus or to take an item from their treasure room.
Sometimes there could be some really good stuff in the treasure room, even pouches of gold coins or magic rings with various effects. However, Alicia used one of her precious tokens for old clothes for Alex.
He couldn't understand the gravity of what she did here at this inn but he still thanked her sincerely regardless.
He got dressed in front of her and she watched him. Although it was a little awkward for him, Alicia didn't seem to mind. Although there was redness on her cheeks, it was hard to tell in the darkness.
When he was done, they just stood looking at each other for a minute, waiting for the other to say something.
""So-"" They both said at the same time.
"You first," Alex said. "No go ahead," Alicia responded quickly.
A few seconds later and Alex decided to go with Alicia keeping her mouth shut tight.
"I was just wondering if you regret what we did?"
It was an awkward subject but it weighed on his mind. It had bothered him for a while since they were found out easily and Alicia risked her job and Alex risked his life. They got lucky, but they wouldn't be able to get away with it again.
Alicia looked down for a moment. Alex couldn't see her face so it was hard to tell how she was feeling. It was a tough question to answer especially when he was being so direct.
Eventually, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. At that moment one of the moons in the sky moved just enough to shine into the shower room through the little slits at the top to let steam out. The faces of the two people lit up and they could see each other's features.
Alex looked down to her with worry on his face while she had a beautiful smile planted on her face. Without answering, she grabbed his collar and pulled him down before giving him a kiss. It was a long kiss but there was no tongue or touching involved.
It was just a deep passionate kiss.
"I don't know..." She trailed off and turned her red face to the side with a huge smile after breaking it off.
Alex was dumbstruck unsure how to react. The kiss was amazing but her words contradicted her actions. He furrowed his brow and looked at her.
"How do you not know? What was that kiss for then?" He interrogated her.
She then punched his chest and giggled. 'This girl is strange.' That was all Alex thought.
"And what was that for?" He raised an eyebrow. It didn't hurt him so he didn't really mind much but she was being weird and he didn't know what it meant.
"Just because." She grinned.
Alex sighed, "So? Do you have an actual answer? Or will you continue to kiss and hit me?"
"I like that option, but I really don't know." Alicia teased before she looked towards the bright moon in thought.
"You're really sweet and much kinder than you look. Despite being an adventurer you don't throw your weight around and you're nice enough to help me even if you don't actually care."
She was silent for a moment before adding something else.
"I guess I would consider you a friend... a close friend... with benefits? Haha!" She laughed to herself as she never thought she would say something like that.
Her laugh was adorable and Alex couldn't help but join her. When they finished, Alex smiled as well.
"I'm fine with that, as long as you don't fall for me." He teased.
"Ha! Impossible, you aren't my type." Alicia replied casually.
"Wait what?"