Chapter 396 - Giving a bath to the redhead
When Luna and Liam arrived at the guild residence, coincidentally Alex also arrived at the same time.
The two of them did not say anything as they silently gazed at the damage and destruction, not inside the guild residence but rather outside it.
There were huge craters on the ground that the groundskeepers were cleaning up, and some of the nearby trees and plants were destroyed.
There were even greyish black smoke fumes still coming out of some places. Blood and bones were scattered everywhere.
No matter which way one looked at it, the guild residence couldn't have been under attack.
Rather it appeared as if some unwanted cattle or sheep wandered into the territory and someone blasted these foolish animals into smithereens.
"How..." Alex gaped with her mouth open wide.
"Heh. What else would happen if some idiot gathers an army to attack and take over an S-rank guild? They will be shot down of course!" Liam shrugged.
"By tanks or cannons or something?" Alex looked up at the compound walls to see if anything of that sort was there.
"No" Liam corrected her. "The compound has a magic formation inscribed in the building walls and boundaries."
"Well, this is the most basic for an S Rank guild. We can do a lot more fortifications. We just need to cough up more gold."
"Ah… I see."
As she looked at the craters on the ground, Alex gulped in anticipation of just how powerful those upgraded fortifications might be.
Snapping out of her thoughts, she noticed that the person next to her had already disappeared.
"Liam!" She called out after the guy. He was walking towards the alchemy tower.
Alex quickly followed him because there was still a lot more that they needed to discuss and she did not intend to let him slip away this time.
She followed him all the way to the alchemy tower and as she entered the building, she finally caught up to the guy.
Liam seemed to be standing at the entrance and looking at something.
"Hmmm?" Alex walked over and saw several big barrel-like containers on the showcase. "Eh? What is this?"
Usually, guilds only showcased their most prized possession, very rare potions in the guild lobby to entice other players to contribute more and improve themselves further.
So what were these unattractive barrels doing here? Shouldn't be there some stylish colorful glass potion bottles instead?
Just as she was pondering over this, Liam turned towards her and said, "Good you are here. You can try this."
"Huh? Try what?" Alex squinted her eyes to read the label of the potion. "Body cleansing potion?"
"Yup. It cleanses and purifies your body. I want to see how effective it is. Do you want to try it?"
"Ohkay?" For some reason, Alex felt a little wary. Nevertheless, she followed Liam up to the top floor where Seeka greeted them with a smile.
He gave a set of instructions to her and she started preparing for the bath. Soon everything was set up and Alex eyed the boiling water in hesitation.
KYUUU!
Luna was this close to pushing her in but Liam chuckled as he pulled the fox back into his arms.
"Just step into it. It will be a bit painful but you will be fine." He explained. "I will be right here if you need anything."
He was doing this because he wanted to check just how efficient the potion is for someone who had already progressed this much in their strength.
This solution gave the best results when one was in the initial stages of mana exposure, but this way shouldn't be too bad either?
Even if they manage to gain some bonus stats, it was still a plus. So he urged Alex to step in, waving his hand with a misleading smile.
Alex as well nodded and started climbing into the vat, when Liam abruptly interrupted her. "Oh, you just remove your armor and other items. Best to just enter the bath in your underwear."
"Huh? In my…" The woman's face instantly changed as she became anxious.
"What are you thinking about? Calm down. This is the way to get maxim benefits." Liam shook his head helplessly. "Besides, haven't I already seen everything there is to?"
"You!" Alex's blood immediately shot to her cheeks, making her face and neck red with embarrassment and she turned to retort back angrily.
But seeing the calm indifferent look on Liam's face, she was once again reminded of the past and she did not want to make the same mistake again.
She knew that the guy was probably just giving instructions for her betterment so she let out a small sigh and stripped down before quickly stepping inside the vat.
The hot sizzling liquid scorched her skin and suddenly being embarrassed and half-naked in front of Liam was no longer her biggest concern.
Mother! Alex bit her lips as she let out a loud yelp.
After being killed and wounded several times inside the game, she should have already been used to this kind of pain, but it was still unbearable.
Surprisingly, she saw Liam walking toward her. He sat next to her calmly on the ground. "You are doing good. Hold on a little longer." He even encouraged her.
Alex did not expect this kindness and dumbly nodded.
As the burning waters slowly warmed her body down to her very core, she felt something deep inside her burn.
She did not know why but tears started spilling out of her eyes as let go of everything she was holding to.
It was easy to react to this overwhelming straightforward physical pain when compared to the other things that she had buried inside her heart and mind.
She closed her eyes and silently cried.
Liam did not say anything. He did not disturb her and silently waited for a few more seconds. "It should be done now. Did you get any notifications?"
He did not want to embarrass her by saying anything else so he only talked about the stats. Also, that was the only thing that really concerned him.