The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Heretic in Hot Water

Read chapter 64 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 64: Heretic in Hot Water Kael didn't even have a second to make out the silhouettes through the steam before the door was slammed behind him. Sweat trickled down his temples. He turned slowly. Steam clung to a bony ribcage leaning against the door. The skeleton towered in front of him, its empty eye sockets locked onto his dirty face. It lowered its skull to his yellowed, bloodstained shirt, then coarse pants. The smudges of sludge from the sewers and beggar street's alleys had hardened into a second layer of fabric. It shook its head, its jaws clattering in anger, disappointment, or both—Kael couldn't make himself choose. Instead, he slid into the steam's cover. For three breaths, silence. Then, the skeleton lunged right at his face. He barely had time to scream, "Stand back!" before thick ivory fingers clasped his shirt. With a pull, the skeleton tore it off. He was flung back, and before he could join the buttons on the ground, the skeleton snatched his pants too. His legs hit something—a low wall perhaps—and he tumbled. SPLASH Warm water rushed up his nose as he gasped. Naked, eyes wide, he shot up. A single cough left his lips before the skeleton's hands pressed him down. Forced to sit against the low wall in what looked like a basin broad enough for him to stretch his legs, he grabbed the skeleton's wrist. "What are you doing, you rotten lump of bones? I'll break your skull!" The skeleton smacked his hand loose. It pulled the bandage on his forehead before it turned toward a cauldron hung over a crackling hearth. Without that macabre nightmare looming behind him for more than a breath, and hearing Els' laughter from the living room, it finally struck him. Bathing had always been wiping himself with a wet towel; it had been for everyone in Ashcoil Row. But he sat in a whole basin of water! How rich did Ransley have to be to afford that much, and a room to hold it? He pushed the thought away for now. He slumped against the low wall. A knot he hadn't even known existed loosened in his back. Maybe more heat would help? Just as he thought that the water could be slightly warmer, the skeleton returned with a bucket. It poured boiling water. At first, he pressed himself against the wall. Was it trying to burn him? But the skeleton stopped, glanced at his pale skin, then repeated the process until the added heat further disentangled more knots in his muscles. It felt good... But why was his skin turning red? The answer came with the sound of a jar being unsealed. The skeleton stood behind him, holding dark goo. Kael gulped when it scooped a handful of what looked like sewer water. "Don't tell me..." The skeleton reached its smeared palm. "Hell no, bastard, not before you explain what it is!" That bag of bones pinned his chest to the low wall with its free hand. All his struggle did was to splash droplets onto the skeleton's skull. Was he scared? Not truly. He even enjoyed discovering Ransley's definition of bathing. Just... when the cold goo touched his skin, he imagined the bite of a blade. If the skeleton willed it, he'd be bleeding out by now. He hated it. He had to become stronger. A tickle broke the dark lines creasing his forehead. He gazed at his chest, his eyes wide. "What—" The skeleton rubbed the goo. If it looked like sewer water, the smell was fresh, earthy, and smoky. Wherever the skeleton smeared it, dark bubbles followed. At first, he thought it was because the goo itself was black. But when the skeleton rinsed his left chest, his skin glowed paler, with a healthy hue it never had. The water around him greyed noticeably. A taste of bile rose in his mouth. The more the skeleton rubbed him, the surer he became that the water greyed because of him. Am I really that filthy? As the skeleton rubbed him clean from head to toe, he watched the water turn murky grey. No way. I'm cleaning myself like that from now on... It's... He swallowed his gag. The skeleton checked behind his ears, his feet, and his armpits befo