A soothing bath

    "Anya?" Surrdon murmured.

He did not want to make a fool of himself in front of so many people. They were all staring at him shocked and perplexed.

   How could such a young man possibly be the first elder's teacher?

      "What are you all looking at? Kneel, all of you!" The first elder shouted angrily throwing them bitter glares.

   Endless apologies from the villagers and the elders lifted in the air, all sounding very strange to his ears. He tried summoning Anya again, but there was no response.

   "Dammit, Anya!" Surrdon mumbled a curse before standing upright to face the kneeling multitude. This was his life now. Whatever decision he made, it would affect him regardless. What was the point of waiting for a stupid snake to tell him what to do when he could make the decisions himself?

         His gaze was momentarily captured by the first elder's cleavage. Such a sight was rare to him from his previous life. And yet, here it was, belonging to a female claiming he was her teacher. The previous Demon Lord must have had some teacher-disciple relationship with her. If that was the case, then he could use it to his advantage.

   "Rise!" The order spread out, bringing all the villagers to their feet.

     He ran the sleeve of his right hand on his lips to wipe off the blood but the first elder rushed forward and offered her handkerchief. Surrdon studied the piece of fragrant purple fabric, looking for potential threats. When he felt no danger, he accepted the gift and used it to clean his mouth and dry off the blood from his chest.

   "Argh! Disgusting," he muttered struggling to get rid of the blood soaked by his clothes. The sight of dirt or stains on his body or clothes had always infuriated Surrdon. Both past and present lives.

     "Teacher, do you mind if this disciple prepares new clothes for you?"

   Surrdon stopped to nod at the first elder.

"And a showe- a bath."

It had almost slipped his mind that there were no such terminologies in this world.

   The first elder turned around, and her fierce scowl fell on her daughters before sending them away quickly, "Go and reflect on yourselves. I'll deal with you later."

   Taka's mouth opened, then closed. She had never seen her mother looking so serious in all of her life. The young man must have been from a powerful background or had helped her in a great way.

   She nodded sorrowfully, "Yes, Mother."

The first elder faced the second elder, a woman who seemed to be in her thirties but was already in her sixties. "Ready my bath for my teacher and find the best fabric in the village."

----------------------------

   Surrdon lowered his naked body inside the large pool of warm water. Flower petals of all colors and scents had decorated the surface, making it impossible to see his own feet. But he didn't mind, the warmth of the water was all he was after.

    Since he left Drolis, he hadn't had a good bath. The communal bathhouse in the sect had no warm water. The condition of the bathhouse itself was deteriorated, yet the sect didn't bother fixing it. After all, the outer disciples were like servants compared to the inner and core disciples.

     "This feels nice," Surrdon whispered throwing his bead back to rest on the edge of the pool.

The water was still, fresh and scented. It soothed his muscles and instilled a healing sensation in his chest. Was this how powerful beings were treated here? If so, then the weak had all the reasons to level up fast.

As he lost his senses to the steam rising in the small bathhouse, a figure emerged from the shadows carrying something. It approached Surrdon from behind, making little to no sound as it went closer.

   It raised its hand, and Surrdon's eyes flew right open before jumping to the side.

     "Who-"

The first elder lowered herself to sit on the edge, the golden light from lamps illuminated her body which had nothing on other than a towel. She lifted her right hand smiling at Surrdon, showing him the makeshift long-handle body brush.

    "Allow me to clean your back Teacher."

Surrdon's fists loosened slightly, but he was still on guard due to her naked state. Had she been sent here to seduce and trap him with a child?

   "It's not necessary," he dismissed turning away to shield his eyes from her tempting thighs. Despite being in a new body, he was still a man and a virgin. He still had sexual desires that he could easily succumb to if he failed to regulate himself. And the feminine charm didn't change whether it was a human, a demon, or a cat folk.

   He was aware that if he permitted her, she would jump in that pool and offer herself willingly.

But Surrdon wasn't here for any intimacy.

   "But teacher, I have a lot to talk to you about."

   Surrdon heaved a defeated sigh.

"Fine. But don't get in the pool. You can do it from where you are."

  The first elder nodded happily.

Surrdon moved backwards, his face still in the opposite direction of the female. Once he was close enough to her reach, he stopped. That was already as far as he could go. No physical contact was needed.

   The first elder smiled to herself and then started scrubbing his back gently.

  "You were never this shy Teacher. You feel, different."

   Surrdon's throat ran dry instantly.

There was no recollection of her memories in his head, and Anya was giving him the silent treatment.

   Act cool. Stay calm, he reminded himself.

  "Oh?! What was I like back then?"

A soft giggle came from the female behind him. One that could weaken any man.

  "Are you testing me, Teacher?"

"Maybe."

"You were very tough, your eyes never held any emotion in them, and you never spoke too much to anyone, except me."

   "Except you? Why do you say so?"

A short silence followed before she spoke up again. "Because you said I was the first and only disciple you would have. But Teacher, why are you back in Ozath?"

Ozath was one of the eight continents in Agrerea. It was mostly occupied by humans and cat folk. There were a few other races amongst them, but they did not participate in the power struggle on the continent.

Other than Ozath, there was; Arela-continent of the demons, Izeron-land of the mighty dragon folk, Eulix-land of the elves, Glanon-land of the fox folk, Benas-land of mere folk, Ocane-land of the snake folk, and Vinos-land of phoenix and vermilion folk.

There were other minor races, but they were far inferior to the eight major races of Agrerea.