Chapter 17: The Comfort Man

When the others saw our blood, they tried to stop us as they thought that our fight was real. I told them that it was just a sparring and I can always use [Heal] to our injuries. They moved back and watch our ‘sparring’. We were like chickens thrown into a cockpit arena and fight each other to death.

“Go girl!” Melissa cheered.

“Kick his ass!” Apparently, even Eric cheered for her.

Most of them cheered for Claire including the six year old kid, Ethan. Dianne wasn’t cheering though. She looked uneasy while gripping Melissa’s right arm tightly as she watched the fight. The only one cheering for me was Sir Gerry. I swear if we pass by a convenience store, I’ll give him a six pack beer and we’ll drink it together.

Anyway, Claire and I were careful as we tried to predict each other’s moves. It was hard to predict her because of her speed. My mind was having a hard time to register her movements. However, her movements and her attacks were undisciplined and full of unnecessary movements.

Claire didn’t even use the stances nor the technique that I taught. She charged at me and tried to break my defenses with speed and relentless attacks.

-0 HP! Attack Missed!

-0 HP! Attack Blocked!

-0 HP! Attack Blocked!

-27 HP!

I didn’t see the fourth strike coming. I staggered as she landed a hit on my right shoulder. The pain was manageable, but her attacks were strong enough to make me flinch. When she saw me stagger, she used the opportunity to strike me down.

-0 HP! Attack Blocked!

I blocked the attack just in time before it hit my head. I had a feeling that she’s really trying to kill me with a wooden stick. I rolled to my right side as she tried a swipe attack. I countered her attack with 3rd Stike – A strike to the left knee.

-16 HP!

She flinched from my attack as a red mark appeared on her leg. I missed the knee by a few centimeters. I stood up and continued to be on a Back Stance. Using a Forward Stance would be detrimental as she’s too fast on her feet.

Claire and I exchanged blows like there’s no tomorrow. She was wild and drunk with blood. At first, it seemed like it was a stalemate. Even though I was the one with experience, she’s faster and definitely stronger than me. I almost couldn’t keep up with her speed, and whenever she lands a hit, I stagger.

It’s obvious that I wouldn’t be able to beat her even if I use my tactics that I used in the Arnis tournament. I could only dodge and block 50% of her attacks, but at least I could hit her almost 100% of the time.

“Alright stop…” I said as I raised my hand.

Attribute(s) Gained:

+1 AGI

When my stamina was drained, I fell down on my knees, but Claire can still keep going. I think the difference in our AGI decided the outcome of the fight. I was panting like a dying horse, but when I looked at her, she was standing like it was just a warm up for her.

Fortunately, Claire got the message that I couldn’t keep up with her and she stopped. Both of us were full of bruises and cuts. She looked like a vampire covered in blood, especially with her glowing silver eyes. I immediately cast [Heal] on myself before I lose too much blood and faint. She approached me to be healed and of course, I healed her too.

“So… did you get my point?” I asked her.

“What point?” Claire asked as she gave me a puzzled look.

“My point is you have to practice the flow. I practiced Arnis since I was 7 and yet you can defeat me. Imagine, if you practice every day. You can instantly beat me.”

“I see…” She said and lips slightly smiled.

It seemed that my lesson for today didn’t go to waste as I saw a burning passion in her eyes. Thank god, it worked. The pain, sweat and the blood I spilled today also have rewards. My AGI increased by 1 and my skill [Masochism] and [Heal] also levelled up once.

I tried to stand up and even though I was completely healed, my body was aching like hell. Perhaps I wasn’t warmed up enough and I had a slight muscle strain.

“Ah!!” I cried out in pain.

“Are you okay?” Eric asked as he helped me get up.

“Uhm-hm… I’m fine.”

The others cheered as Claire won the fight and she looked very happy. I didn’t try to ruin the moment by criticizing her movements in the fight. I decided that I will tell her the next day. Like I said before, she was trying hard to compete with me in academics but she always loses. Even though I hate losing, I let her cherish her moment of victory because it was the first time that she won against me.

I felt bitter and a bit angry as the others were cheering for me to lose. I went straight to the bathroom and took off my blood stained shirt. Luckily, I wasn’t wearing my usual attire which was the mage robe. I’d hate it if it was stained with blood. I threw away the shirt because I have lots of clothes to wear in my bag.

Anyway, I saw a bathtub and the feeling of bitterness and anger went away in an instant. My heart was filled with excitement at the promise of relaxation of a bath. You see, most bathrooms in this country didn’t have bathtubs and like I said before, we use buckets and tabo for bathing. I closed the bathtub drain and pulled my staff from my inventory.

I cast [Water Manipulation] in combination of [Fire Manipulation] to and filled the tub with cold water. I prefer cold water for baths than warm water because of the heat. I didn’t need to be warmer in a country with a temperate climate.

Luckily, the bathroom closet had a bottle of shampoo, so I grabbed it and poured a generous amount to make a bubble bath. I went into the tub as I took a washcloth and cleaned the blood stains and dirt in my body. I massaged my scalp as I applied shampoo on my head and on my beard.

I noticed that the water became dark in color as I cleaned my body. I grabbed my staff near its end and cast [Water Manipulation] to summon water and rinse my hair. After all the soap was gone from my hair, I relaxed my body and closed my eyes as I activated [Meditate] to enjoy the bubble bath.

Perhaps one of the most important things I learned in an apocalypse was that, you have to enjoy little things such as dipping in the tub. We took all these pleasures and luxury for granted and when it all goes, the world is just a grim and dark place. These things will help you keep your sanity.

I felt my consciousness slowly drifting as I fell asleep in the bathtub. After a few minutes, I heard an annoying noise.

*Knock* *Knock*

My heavenly relaxation was disrupted when I heard a knock on the door. Damn it. Why can’t I get a moment of peace?

“Miguel, are you okay?” It was Claire.

“Yeah… I’m fine.” I answered.

“Uhmmm… Well… I just want to say that… uhmm… You were a good opponent and you’re hard to beat… I realized that you would’ve have won that fight if… you know, if your stats…”

I rolled my eyes in annoyance as Claire kept on blabblering and trying to console me. Sure, I was bitter, but I already knew that I was bound to lose that fight since I was weaker and slower. I already moved on and I’d appreciate an alone time in the bathtub. I reactivated [Meditate] as she goes on.

“…I’m sorry if I beat you up so badly… I mean, you never held back when you hit me too… And uhmmm… I’m still willing to learn… and I'll do like you said and keep practicing… I hope that you’ll still teach me and practice with me… even after what happened…”

When will she shut up? My skill kept on deactivating as she continue her babble.

“Are you listening?” The door opened as I realized that I didn’t lock the door. “I’m really sorr…”

“…”

When Claire saw me in the bathtub, she was shocked and immediately went outside and closed the door. It’s weird that I didn’t feel embarrassed or anything.

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t realize that…” Claire said as she stammered.

“It’s okay… I forgive you. Now, do me a favor and continue with your training. Okay?”

“Okay.”

When I heard the sound of her footsteps faded, I got up from the bathtub and locked the door. I didn’t want anyone to disturb my special alone time. I went back to the tub and activated [Meditate] as I relaxed.

Speaking of alone time, I was thinking if I should relieve myself of my sexual urges. It’s almost a week since I masturbated. The skill [Meditate] deactivated as lewd thoughts entered my mind. It’s a shame that my phone no longer worked and I couldn’t watch porn. Well, I’ll just let my imagination run wild.

*Knock* *Knock*

Goddammit! Who is it now?

“Miguel, dinner’s ready…”

“Okay… Just a minute.” I shrugged.

I got up from the bathtub and drained the dirty water. My body was still full of soap, so I grabbed my staff and summoned water to rinse myself. I grabbed a towel from my bag in order to dry myself. I noticed that there’s a toothbrush from the bathroom closet and a toothpaste.

I grabbed the used toothbrush and cast [Fire Manipulation] to kill the germs. After I made sure that the toothbrush was okay to use, I rinsed it with water and proceeded brushed my teeth. It sounds disgusting, but after a week without brushing was more disgusting and hellishly uncomfortable. This will have to do and I’ll just try to find a new toothbrush to use later.

After I rinsed my mouth, I grabbed a set of clothes from my bag and got dressed. I wrapped the towel on my head in order to dry it. I didn’t want to use my magic as a hair blower because I was afraid that I might burn hair accidentally. I went back to the living room and I saw Claire practicing the flow of the Six Strikes technique.

“Your stance is wrong. Your legs are too close to each other.” I said.

“Okay…” She replied and corrected her stance. “Is this correct?”

“Yeah…” I nodded. “It’s time for dinner. Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

“I’ll eat later…” Claire said

As Claire continued with her training, I left her alone and went to the kitchen and saw the others eating at the dining table.

“So what’s on the menu?” I asked as I sat.

“Here’s yours…” Melissa said as she brought a plate of rice topped with omelette.

I took a mouthful of rice and omelette in my mouth and I noticed that there’s cheese inside. I ate slowly and savored the taste of my favorite food: cheese omelette.

“You took a bath?” Eric asked as he pointed the towel on my head.

I nodded as I continued to eat.

“We’re running out of food, by the way…” Melissa said.

I felt that the food went to the wrong pipe as I swallowed the food in my mouth. Dianne handed me a glass of water and drank it.

“How come?” I asked as coughed for a bit.

“The ones who left took most of our supplies. That’s the last of our eggs, by the way and I spared one for Claire…”

“I see…” I said as I continued to eat. “We’ll just loot a store or something on our way….”

“Oh, Miguel, I want to show you something.” Dianne said as she took something from her inventory. She placed a plastic water bottle filled with a strange liquid on the table. I grabbed the bottle and inspected strange green and slightly glowing liquid.

“What is it?”

“It’s a healing potion that I made.” Dianne answered.

“Healing potion? How did you make this?” I asked as I used [Observe] on the bottle.

Green Potion of Healing

Quality: Rank G (Very Low)

Heal Amount: 30 HP

A low quality potion made by Dianne Duria. It restores HP by a small amount.

“I’ve been reading Alchemy for Dummies for a while, so I picked up some herbs on the way. You saw those strange grasses and plants that grow in road cracks and walls?”

“Uh-huh…”

“Well, it turns out, they’re alchemy ingredients. I made that potion earlier with Green herbs and Worm vines. When I made the potion, I gained a title [Alchemist] and a skill [Alchemy Mastery].”

“Wow…”

“That one’s yours, by the way. I made a lot of it so I gave one bottle for each of us. You know, for emergency…”

“The potion tastes bad. It’s tastes more bitter than a bitter melon.” Gerry said.

“I-I’m not that good, I suppose…” Dianne frowned as she looked down.

“No, no… You should continue making more of these.” I said to her as I stored the potion in my inventory.

“Really?” She turned her head up and clapped her hands together.

“Yeah… I mean, if I have a mental strain again, then I wouldn’t be able to heal you. You should make more of these and practice some more. I’m sure you’ll improve… You did a good job...”

Dianne’s frown turned into a smile when I praised her.

“By the way, can you make poisons?” I asked.

“Uhmmm… I don’t know, but why do you need poisons?” Dianne asked.

“Well, you can dip your arrows into one and when you shoot your arrows, you’d kill the enemy more effectively… Did your book said anything about poisons?”

“That’s a good idea, Miguel. I can dip my spear with poison too!” Eric said excitedly.

“Hmmm… I think it mentioned something about a mixture that can paralyze… I’ll look into it and I’ll see what I can do…” Dianne replied.

“Good…”

Dianne may not be good with chemistry, but at least she has talent with alchemy. I was impressed by Dianne’s initiative and hard work. Although I didn’t like her personally, there’s no doubt that her talent in alchemy would be extremely valuable in our group in the future.

After I finished my meal, I went back to the living room and saw Claire swinging her sword instead of a wooden stick. The others also followed and went to do their own business. I removed my towel and hung it to dry.

I took my folding chair from my inventory and unfolded it. I sat on it and continued to read Beastiary of Earthland as I supervised Claire’s training. I glanced at her once in a while to see progress. It seemed that she’s now taking the training seriously. As a teacher, I should’ve felt ashamed when I lost against a student.

I actually felt proud that my student found her dedication in training even if it means I sacrifice my own pride as a teacher. Or something like that. At least, she’ll strive to be better after her victory. I’ll just make sure that she won’t end up being too arrogant and that’s the usual mistake of most who practice martial arts.

After a few hours, Claire was breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Her body was still soaked in blood and the blood stains on her skin started to form a sticky red gel. Disgusting.

“You should go and clean yourself.” I said.

“Sure, but can you use your magic and make the water cold for my bath?”

“Yeah, I guess…” I replied.

As soon as Melissa heard us, she rushed towards us and requested the same thing. “I want a cold bath too! God knows I could use a bath…”

“Me too! Me too!” Dianne said.

“Okay, sure…”

The others heard our conversation and started to request the same. I didn’t mind their request, since it’ll level up [Water Manipulation] and [Fire Manipulation].

“I’m first!” Claire grabbed my arm and tried to drag me towards the bathroom.

“That’s not fair!” Eric grabbed my other arm and pulled me. “Men should go first. Women take too much time taking a bath.”

“What? That’s not true!” Melissa said.

The others argued about who should go first as Claire and Eric pulled my arms in a tug of war.

I let out a sigh as I rolled my eyes. “You will all get your turn, okay? It’s not like I’m going anywhere. Now, let me go.”

Claire and Eric let go of my arms. “Claire will go first. She’s the first one to ask. You’ll get 15 minutes of bath for each of you. I’ll decide who will go next, okay?”

“…”

All of them nodded and agreed as Claire stuck her tongue out.

“Dildo…” Eric blurted.

“Idiot…” Claire retorted.

“Stop that and let’s go.” I said to her.

Claire and I went to the bathroom and I filled the bathtub with cold water. She immediately took off her shirt and dropped it on the floor.

“You want to join me?” Claire asked as she smirked.

“Nope.” I answered.

“You sure? It’ll be fun…” She continued to tease me as she stripped off her shorts. When she reached on her back and I saw her removed her bra, I gulped. I turned my back and quickly left the bathroom.

I didn’t know what to do. My heart was pounding hard and my junior was rock hard. Should I go back and tell her I changed my mind? No… I’m sure it’s a trap and she might call me a pervert for doing so. I shrugged as I cleared my mind.

I went back to the living room and told them the order of who’s going next. I sat back in my folding chair and continued reading my book to distract myself. After a few minutes, Claire was finished as she exited the bathroom and Melissa and I went to the bathroom as I filled the tub again with cold water.

The cycle continued until everyone had their bath. Their morale seemed to increase as I saw their smiles and content look on their face. Claire, however, didn’t look too happy as she dried her hair with a towel. When we looked each other in the eyes, she gave me a ‘Hmmph’ as she turned away her head. I didn’t know what I did, but I was sure I pissed her off somehow.

Anyway, I was waiting for them to finish, so I went to the kitchen and looked for a detergent soap or anything I can use to wash my stinky mage robe in the tub. Thankfully, I found one in a cupboard. I went back to the bathroom and placed my mage robe and hood along with some underwear. I put a decent amount of detergent soap in the water.

Using [Water Manipulation], I made a whirlpool similar to how washing machines work. When I felt my mana running low, I stopped and meditate to recover. I repeat the cycle five times until I drained the water and rinsed the clothes.

Since I didn’t have time to dry them in the sun, I used [Fire Manipulation] along with [Wind Manipulation] to create hot air to dry the wet clothes. It took a while before they dried out completely. When I was done, I took the mage robe, hood and my underwear back to my inventory.

When I went back to the living room, the others were preparing their beds. They decided that we should sleep in the same room, since it will be much safer to stay together, in case someone come knocking on the door. It seemed that the attack of the gnolls back in the clothing store was traumatic for them as they placed their weapons next to their beds.

“I’ll take the watch.”

“You need to sleep.” Claire said to me.

“I will… I’ll just take the first watch. Don’t worry, I’ll wake someone up to take the next shift.”

“Fine… Whatever.” Claire rolled her eyes and hugged her pillow.

I didn’t want to sleep, since I got that fucked up dream. I didn’t want to know what my next dream will be. As I sat on my chair and meditate, I noticed that Dianne was reading her alchemy book. It seemed that she also volunteered to take the watch.

Since I didn’t need to close my eyes while meditating, I watched Dianne do her experiments. She took a mortar and pestle and grounded some kind of herb. She held a vine and tore it into pieces and put it in the mortar and continued to pound it. After that, she poured the contents of the mortar into a bottle filled with water. She shook the water bottle until the mixture was mixed. The result was a green potion of healing.

It was too boring to watch, so I closed my eyes and continued to meditate. I stayed in my position for hours as Dianne continued her study with alchemy. After a few more hours, I noticed that she stopped and she took a seat and placed it beside me. I ignored her as she sat down.

“Uhmmm… I just wanted to say that… I’m happy for you…” Dianne said.

I opened my eyes and looked at her as my meditation was interrupted. Even though Dianne said she’s happy, the looks on her face was telling me otherwise. She was looking down as her hands were resting on her lap.

“I’m happy for you… and Claire…” She replied.

“Is that so?” I closed my eyes and reactivate meditate. “Well, she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Oh…”

There was a moment of silence after that. I opened my eyes and looked at her again. I noticed that Dianne was still there and she looked conflicted about something. Her hands were shaking as her eyes looked teary. I didn’t want to hear another word from her, so I stood up and stored the chair from my inventory.

“I’m tired… I’ll wake up Gerry and Beth to take the shift.” I said as I faked a yawn.

Dianne didn’t say anything as I approached Gerry and Beth. When they got up, I took my bed and pillow from my inventory and placed it on the floor. As I lay down on my bed, I saw Dianne wiped her eyes as Gerry and Beth took our shift. She stood up and she also took her bed from her inventory.

Dianne placed her bed far away from me. I could hear her sniffing, but I ignored it. I closed my eyes and tried to catch some sleep. After a few minutes, my consciousness slowly drifted off and I fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes, I was afraid that the Dark Lord has cooked up something for me. I sat up and looked around and saw from the window that the sun was starting to rise. Gerry was playing his guitar and Beth was busy reading a pocket book while the rest of them were still sleeping. I activate [Meditate] as I replayed on my mind that this wasn't real. After a few minutes, I sighed in relief as I learned that it wasn’t a dream.

I got up and stored my bed to my inventory and approached Claire to wake her up. This was a part of my grandfather’s training. Waking up in the morning to train. Of course, I didn’t want to spar with her today, so we’ll just practice the flow patterns.

“Claire, wake up…”

“Uhm hum…” Claire groaned as I shook her.

“Come on… wake up.”

Her eyes were half opened and she was scratching her head irritably as she sat up. “What is it?”

“Time for training.” I replied.

She went back to her bed and covered her head with a pillow. “Five minutes.”

No wonder why she’s always late in her class. If my grandfather was her teacher, he’ll grab a stick and beat her until she’s awake. It was tempting to do the same, but I still value my life. She’ll probably beat me to within an inch of my life.

“Wake up and move your big ass!”

As soon as she heard it, she immediately sat up and when she opened her eyes, she gave me a terrifying glare. “What did you just say?”

I may have taken it too far. Beth and Gerry looked away and pretended that they didn't hear anything. I gulped. “J-just get up…”

Claire grudgingly stood up as she stored her bed to her inventory. I gave her a wooden stick and we started our stretching and warm ups. Normally, she’d brush her hair first thing in the morning, but this time, she didn’t. Her messed up hair made her looked like a wild animal ready to pounce me at any moment.

After the warm up exercise, we practiced the flow of Six Strikes technique and the blocks. Claire practiced the attack patterns while I was doing the blocking, and then we switched. We continued this exercise for hours. The others were already awake and prepared for the day’s journey.

Also, I checked my Character Screen and put all my points to intelligence.

Name:Miguel ArevaloRace:HumanLevel:17HP:531/531MP:1040/1040SP:130/130EXP:21.25%STR:19WIS:48AGI:13INT:65VIT:42LUK:13DEX:12CHA:21Satiety:FineStatusRested: +10% EXPUndistributed Attribute Points:0Title(s):Masochist: +10% Pain Tolerance and HPPerk(s):Leadership: +10 Charisma and increased follower loyaltyTactician: Tactics and Strategies have higher chance of successMana Affinity: Increase in Mana Control and +10% MP

I also checked my Skill Screen to see the improvement of my skills in these past few days.

Unique Skill(s):Quick Learner Lvl. 1 Max (100%)Active Skill(s):Fire Manipulation Lvl 3 Intermediate (24.19%)Wind Manipulation Lvl 2 Intermediate (57.15%)Earth Manipulation Lvl 9 Beginner (48.64%)Water Manipulation Lvl 1 Intermediate (16.93%)Bash Lvl. 8 Beginner (84.01%)Fool's Act Lvl. 1 Beginner (0.00%)Heal Lvl. 5 Intermediate (9.44%)Meditate Lvl. 3 Intermediate (72.19%)Observe Lvl. 1 Intermediate (15.14%)Power Kick Lvl. 1 Beginner (0.00%)Cure Disease Lvl. 4 Beginner (11.02%)Mana Transfer Lvl. 8 Beginner (35.98%)Passive Skill(s):Auto-Cast Lvl. 9 Beginner (81.15%)Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 10 Beginner (41.92%)Masochism Lvl. 2 Intermediate (12.35%)Muffled Steps Lvl 8 Beginner (12.89%)Sword Mastery Lvl. 7 Beginner (5.49%)

It seemed that using my magic for the group’s comfort and convenience was worth it. Note to self: If someone asks for cold water or anything that my magic can do for their comfort, I’ll do it for the sake of grinding my skills.

Anyway, after we eat our breakfast, we discussed that one of our priorities was to find a store to loot for food. I also suggested that if we find a bookstore, I’d need to loot for books about physics, chemistry and geology to improve my magic. Of course, they agreed since guard duty was boring and they also needed books to pass the time.

Dianne took out the map and judging from it, we might reach Cubao in a day from Kalayaan Avenue and we’d reach Camp Aguinaldo the next day assuming that nothing wrong is going to happen.

In our experience though, nothing’s wrong except nothing’s wrong. [1]

[1] Reference to Mel Gibson’s We Were Soldiers

Author's Note:

I'm aware that the entire series were full of grammatical errors and inconsistencies about the game system. I'm also aware that the world building is lacking and that's why I will do a major edit after ARC 1 while I write ARC 2.

Anyway, the next chapter will be about Cubao. They will find out what happened about Claire and Eric's family. Sorry for the long delay. I was suffering from a massive writer's block, so I read other novels for inspiration. Thanks for reading!