Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(1-3VOL)

Taking a Bath

The two of us sat in silence in the room for a long time before I finally couldn't help but bluntly point out the key issue. "From Vivianne's tone, it must be a communal bath. Now we can only go to the women's bath and will inevitably be naked with other women..."

"So what?" To my surprise, Nicola just blinked, seemingly not expecting me to get tangled up in this. She looked very disdainful. "Now everyone is female. No one will say anything if you go in."

"But I'm scared! I used to be male! What if I lose composure later?" I had a panicked expression on my face. After all, I had never seen other females naked before, let alone more than one.

How could Nicola be so nonchalant about this? She used to be male too!

"Aren't you afraid?" I asked in surprise. "Ah..."

Suddenly I realized with a start.

"Haha, I've seen plenty." Sure enough, she had a smug expression as she boasted to me. I then remembered who she used to be—Reilly, a playboy who had dated so many girls they could circle our high school track field. Of course she wouldn't care about this.

"Then what are you worried about?" I was confused again for a moment. "If that's the case, just go take a bath. Why are you sitting here looking miserable with me?"

"Because I'm afraid of myself." Now it was her turn to complain bitterly to me. "Although I've slept with countless girls, they were still others after all. It's completely different to have to scrub and wash my own female body now. I'm afraid I can't stand it and won't be able to do it. Don't you think it's very weird?"

"Ah? Right!" It was like a bolt from the blue. I had forgotten to consider the issues with my own body. Although I had unintentionally seen my nude body several times before, at least when I walked naked in Elara Woodlands for half a day, I was covered in feathers. So it didn't really feel different from wearing clothes and I couldn't say I was used to it.

That would be troublesome. It seemed we might not be able to bathe after all! I was even considering giving up the bathing option. But I felt it wouldn't work—first, I couldn't stand not bathing myself, and second, it wouldn't look good to fool Vivianne and the others if they found out.

Moreover, even if I avoided it today, what about later? This was inevitable sooner or later. I'd have to bathe eventually.

"Why don't you...go first?" I tentatively suggested to Nicola. "Anyway, you have fewer mental obstacles. You can come back and give me some experience for reference."

"Hey! You're too unfair." She looked very unhappy at me, as if I was sending her to her death. "Am I cannon fodder?"

"Well, I can't go first either" I said with a nonchalant expression, trying to make her let go of any psychological burden. I even used facts to help her see the situation. "You're already immune to harm from others. You'll have to get past this eventually. You can't not bathe for a lifetime, right?"

After all, this made sense. She couldn't find a reason to refute me. At least for now, it seemed too inhumane to drag me to be a scapegoat. So after a period of intense inner struggle, Nicola grabbed the towel and toiletries provided by the inn and rushed out of the room.

"Good luck!" I stood at the door watching her slowly walk towards the women's bath. I happened to see Adrian and Brennan also come out of their room with towels at the same time. The three of them even greeted each other.

"What a coincidence!" I could vaguely hear Nicola's voice trembling a little.

I couldn't help laughing to myself. This was the first time I'd seen her so embarrassed. It was really fun.