After about an hour, the twins stared down at Arad, “How is it now?” sweat dripped across their faces as they panted. The bath’s steam only made it harder to breathe.
“Better,” Arad replied. He could feel his being a bit lighter than before. Their effort worked to an acceptable degree.
The twins jumped down his back and fell on the floor, exhausted. Isdis and the bathmaids sat down, trying to catch their breath.
“That was tough.” One of the bathmaids sighed, feeling arms screaming in pain.
“Really, what is he made from?” Another one looked at the ceiling, wanting nothing more than to take a nap.
“I’m going to get some water,” The last of the bathmaids stood and went out for a moment.
“Don’t relax too much. We still have the tail and wings,” Isdis said, trying to stand up.
The twins stared at her, “You must be joking, right?”
“Look at it. Do you think we can leave it?” Isdis touched Arad’s tail. It felt like a large lump of hard steel.
“Don’t bother with it,” Arad said, sitting up and sucking his tail and wings back to his body. “You’re already exhausted,”
“If you think so,” Isdis sat down.
Arad cracked his neck and stood. The twins stared at him. It was clear that they missed his neck.
“How about you get Isdis a massage instead,” He said, walking away from the marble bed. The twins stared at Isdis with sparkling eyes, “That’s right,”
“Aren’t you a bit too excited?” Arad asked.
“Compared to you, she’s as soft as cotton.” Rey said with a smile, pointing at the marble bed, “Get on the bed.”
Isdis lay on her stomach as the twins started massaging her back. Arad sat there watching them with the bathmaids, his eyes fixated on their hands.
The bathmaids looked at Arad as they saw his hands move on their own, his fingers twisting and his fists opening and closing. A sense of terror washed over them as they realized what he was doing, “Impossible.” One of them gasped with a sweaty face.
It was clear from the start that Arad didn’t know how to massage anyone, yet now his hands were moving like an expert out of nowhere. The bathmaids have spent five years training and worked here for another ten years, yet right now, the skill he’s showing is far beyond what they can achieve.
“How in the…” One of the bathmaids cried, her eyes shifting toward the twins massaging Isdis only for her to realise the reality. Arad’s hands were mimicking the twins’ movements.
^Impossible, he already surpassed us who have over fifteen years of experience.^ One of the bathmaids looked at Arad. ^He wasn’t known until recently. I bet he wasn’t hiding. He only started becoming an adventurer lately. This learning speed is unheard of,^
Arad stood, approaching the twins, “Can I try?”
Rey looked at him, “No. With your strength. One wrong move, and you would break her spine.”
“Sister is right.” Ray looked at him, “We will teach you later,”
Arad looked at Isdis’s back, his eyes sparking dark purple with a hue of yellow flickering. His void eyes, vampire, and wyrmwolf vision all activated at the same time.
He could see blood flowing in Isdis’s vein, the muscles and bones of her body twitching and moving. The weakest of them were the stiff ones.
“So now you would go here,” Arad pointed.
“Yes, good guess,” Rey replied and went back to her work.
“You forgot this part,” Arad pointed again, “Look, it’s a bit tough if you poke it.”
Ray looked closely, “Wait, you’re right,”
“How about here? This joint didn’t pop yet,” He pointed at a part of Isdis’s spine.
Rey stared at Arad, confused. She put her hand on Isdis’s back and pushed down. CRACK! The twins paused and stared at Arad, “How the hell did you know?”
“I can see it,” Arad replied.
“No, that doesn’t make sense. How can you see it?” Rey gasped. Arad was displaying a strange sense. Most expert massagers relied on their experience the most, but he didn’t have that.
“That’s it, I can see it.” Arad replied with his hands resting on his hips, “My eyes are powerful enough,”
“The same way you detected the intruders? How sharp are your senses?” Ray looked at Isdis, “Did you know about this?”
“Yeah,” Isdis replied, “Arad can see the weakness in people’s bodies to fight them. I bet he’s using that on me,”
Arad’s three eyes work in a simple way. His void eyes detect magic and show him mana as a blue haze. The vampire sight clearly shows the flow of blood through the body, which usually allows the vampire to bite efficiently, but here, he’s trying to see which part of the body has weak blood flow, too much. And lastly, the wyrmwolf eyes are sensitive to motion and can detect the slightest twitching in muscles and bones due to the heart pulses. And from that blood, Arad’s nose also became extremely good at smelling pheromones and hormones inside other people which allows him to learn their mood, how they feel, and if they are sick, exhausted, or the like.
“Let him try, you trust his skill,” Isdis said with a smile and Arad started helping the two maids massage her.
As Arad slowly worked on Isdis’s back, one thought coursed across his mind. ^This would work well with the slapping style. Instead of pain, I can disable someone by hitting them in the correct spots,^ 𝚍ｏ𝚟𝚕.ｏｒｇ
***
After the bath, Arad, Isdis, and the twin maids headed to the dining room for dinner. To their surprise, the royal dinner was canceled that night with everyone taking their food to their room. Simply because the king isn’t present.
Arad, Aella, Mira, Eris, and Isdis talked for a while as the maids quickly prepared their food.
***
“Lady Isdis,” The twins approached carrying and pushing a whole table, “Dinner is ready, shall we head to your room?”
Arad and Isdis stood, it was time.