God Of Crafting

Chapter 40: Herbal Bath

Waking up from the state of lost consciousness was a skill I had no other choice but to master in my attempts to tame my very own skills.

This instance, however, was far harder than any of the trials I faced before.

It felt weirdly… warm?

As if I was in some thick, heated sludge.

It was so extremely cozy and relaxing it grew all the harder to even maintain the desire to regain my consciousness.

But this was a trap I knew better than to fall into. And so, I continued to flow up and up, desperate to free myself from this comfortable restraint.

And so, I finally managed to pry my eyes open, only to see my hands floating in some strange sort of bath while my legs comfortably stretched on the bath's bottom.

To call this place a bath would be a mistake so grave it could be classified as a sin.

The whole place appeared like some sort of indoor garden, with vegetation thick enough to hide all of the walls, roof, and the floor of the room. And right in the middle of this soothing jungle stood a massive, wooden bail, filled with some strange sort of strangely thick yet perfectly clear water.

But it couldn't be water… Because no water was so thick and thus hard to move around!

Even though I still couldn't control my body, I could feel the strange sensation of having my arms static because of how hard it was to move them around.

Or rather…

It was the same as my experience back when I nearly QI-bombed myself by leaving the device to run overnight with my window closed… Just much, much more intense.

'Is it water…?'

My strangely tired mind lazily woke up to pose the first question.

In the end, my curiosity was unmatched, really.

Was this strange thickness due to the some sort of quality of this specific water?

'Or is it… just that thick with Qi?'

The sensation was the same. Just like the air that was hard to move around in, the water, by nature much thicker than any gas, was now much harder to manipulate or move through. But the sense this resistance provided was exactly the same.

For a second, the joy of this discovery was enough to light my brain up a little bit more, allowing me to form a slightly more complex form of thought or observation.

Which finally allowed me to answer the question of my arms and legs somehow… doubling?

'Wait, no… what?!'

The water in the bail was rather clear, despite all the herbs floating in it. And through this water, I could clearly two sets of limbs that didn't match my own at all.

What's more, while my legs and hands lay straight, enjoying the sense of comfortable stillness… Those two sets of limbs were firmly wrapped over my hips and just below my arms…

And the very moment I noticed this, I also realized that there was one more source of heat of much more varied texture and… degree of softness.

Before another thought could form in my head, all my muscles jerked, fueled by my desperation to get out of a sketchy situation like this…

"Stay still, damn it!" In a strangely sleepy voice, Claire scolded me lightly only to tighten her hold and easily force me back down onto the floor of the bail. "It's way too early for you to move…"

Putting this nerve-wracking situation aside, her voice…

Claire's voice was weird.

Too sleepy to be the actual way she spoke!

Yet, the very moment I turned my head around to check what was going on, Claire wiggled up as she nested herself over my back, rubbing her arms and legs all over my torso in the process. And the feeling on my back was… unmistakable, providing my creative mind with all the fuel it needed to fully wake up.

This situation didn't make any sense.

'Why is Claire climbing to me while we are both fully naked, submerged in some strange, QI-rich bath and…'

The very moment I posed this question, my memories finally came back to me.

A rush of images, thoughts, and feelings that all made up the events of yester…hour? Yesterday? Or maybe…

And now, things made a little more sense.

'So this is a… herbal bath of sorts?' I thought, finally regaining enough strength to move my arm through the water, allowing me to raise but a handcup of it over the surface before dropping it down into the pool-sized bath.

"Didn't I tell you?" Claire tightened her hold over my torso again, effectively bringing me deeper into her naked hug. First and foremost, however, her voice indicated she was clearly asleep…?'

Whether she was asleep or not, I apparently wiggled a just not enough to free myself from the dangers of her comfortable hold yet more than enough to prompt her awake. And as she moved all over my back again…

"Huh?" Claire let out a small cry of surprise, her body jerking up as she did.

"Erm…" No matter how much fake bravado I could create… It wouldn't be enough for a situation like this!

'Why in all hells is she holding me like that? Why are we together in a bath?! What the hell, when I wasn't even injured in that explosion…?!'

Looking back, I could remember what happened. A trick I somehow found myself just powerful enough to pull. Just like when I dismantled the gun, I allowed this strange force of my crafting to flow through me as I targeted the car instead.

This time, however, beyond just redoing it as my heart desired, I also made sure to arrange it just perfectly enough to save myself.

To be honest, the explosion was an oversight. A small example of my control lapsing for but a second, allowing a stray spark to reach all the fuel fumes, the ignition of which lead to the explosion of the car's main tank.

Within that half-meditative state, I've managed to cover myself with just the right kind of car parts to shield myself from what I turned the rest of the vehicle - tiny parts that couldn't threaten the integrity of my improvised shield.

When the explosion happened, I simply let go of all the parts, allowing them to scatter all over while I used two seats and two doors to cushion my landing. There, for a short moment, I lost it.

I still dropped right from the ground from moving in a car racing at a great speed! Putting aside what kind of force allowed me to dismantle the car at wish, it apparently cushioned some of the force of my fall too, ultimately knocking me out for but a short moment.

The very moment I woke up, I walked out to assess the damage and harm I've suffered… Only for a sudden wave of weakness to take over when this powerful force suddenly vanished, only for the numbing cold to explode all over my body in an instant, right from the spot where those bastards injected me just before…

Then, the next thing I knew, I was rubbing my back against Claire's naked front while she desperately wrapped her arms and legs around me, treating me as if I were her cuddle toy.

Then again, she woke up. But besides that, the sense of this chilling cold on my back… it was now no more?