Vol 2 Chapter 22: The Under-Bath part 2
With his new skill, Foin could work more quickly than before using his wooden tool. The process was so much easier and faster than before, but he noticed something crucial as he was digging. He noticed that he gradually grew tired, not only physically but mentally, as well. However, it was not something overly tiring, so he was capable of maintaining his speed and working diligently.
He had envisioned that the room would expand to the left side of the passageway so that when he entered, he would need to go to the left to get to the bath. That way, he could avoid privacy problems even without a door, at least for the beginning.
The work was tedious and long, as he wanted to make a large room in which latter he could put more flowers due to the humidity that would be caused by the bath. Though first, he was focused on the bath itself. He left a large block of dirt intact, from which he planned to carve the bathtub later. Since he planned it for relaxation, he made it quite large, about three meters by three meters. However, he was not quite certain about its depth. The block itself was about a meter high.
He had already marked out a few steps so that it would be easy to get inside, though the roof still needed to be expanded upwards a bit more. Also, the block had another mark where Foin planned to have the heating; it was on the adjacent side of the side where he had planned the steps since the other two sides were facing the wall.
While Foin was working on the room, both Énilo and Gobu were busy. Énilo made a full set of clothes for the goblin; it was so well made that it didn't seem to be made of grass at all. In the meantime, Gobu watched over the main fire and put another larger piece of wood under the boiler.
"Alright Gobu... Put your clothes on, and then I have a task for you!"
Énilo said coldly as she slightly stretched her arms and then started flying.
"Erm... alright!"
Gobu complied, although she had mixed feelings. She didn't understand why she was the one to get clothes first, but since she didn't want to go against Énilo's order, she only lowered her head a bit.
While Gobu was dressing, Énilo flew towards the new room in which Foin was working diligently. She took a sneak peek at how Foin was working, but he quickly flew back over to Gobu with a grin.
"Nice, you are already dressed! Alright, grab the bucket and go up to harvest the fruits from that tree!"
Énilo said as she landed on the ground and looked up at the goblin. Her eyes were staring into Gobu's eyes. Gobu, on the other hand, felt that Énilo was not simply staring into her eyes but into her very being. Although it was a common occurrence, as that was the gaze Énilo gave every time she ordered Gobu around. It was still quite a frightening experience each and every time it happened.
Gobu only sighed and complied. She quickly fetched the bucket and then returned to the entrance of the underground base. Since it was used quite a lot, Foin had dug a usable leader into the wall so that it would be easier to enter and exit the base.
The panel covering the entrance was slowly pushed away, and then Gobu could finally look outside. It was showering. As far as she could see, there were massive pools of water all over the once-flourishing garden. The level of the water has greatly risen as well. And along with the rain, it was cold. So cold that she could not believe it.
Since she had no shoes, she needed to walk on the muddy, ice-cold ground all the way to the tree, which seemed to have grown considerably, and despite the hazardous weather, it bore even more fruits than it usually did.
She counted 15 fruits on the peteach tree, and as she looked at them, they even seemed to be slightly larger than the ones they had previously harvested. Since she was not well versed in farming, she couldn't understand whether it was due to the larger size of the plant or due to, the abundance of water, or because of the new environment.
So she quickly put the bucked down onto the wet ground and got to harvesting. After only a few seconds of being outside, water was already streaming down the hoody of her clothes, but she had experienced that at least it was relatively waterproof and warm, as she only felt cold where she was not covered.
She hurried and harvested as fast as she could, but even so, she needed to turn three times in order to gather each and every piece of peteach from the tree. As soon as she was taking the last bucket of fruit down, she quickly put the plate back on and shook herself, splashing water everywhere, even at Énilo. She only glared at the goblin as the water was flowing off of her face.
Gobu quickly put the peteaches into the pile onto the pile she had already made not far from the beds. Once she was done, she quickly took off the clothes, leaving her usual torn clothes on only. She quickly put the wet cloth onto the ground not far from the boiler, and then she stretched her arms and legs.
With a grin, Énilo flew into the new room to see Foin. She gently tapped on his shoulders to get his attention.
"Master, we have harvested the peteaches, and it seems that the yield has been considerably better than usual!"
"Hm... I see... Maybe we should try planting another peteach tree... Anyway, thank you!"
Foin said with a smile as he processed the great news. If he could still harvest the peteaches every day, he could work as well as plant another one; he would have no problem at all. He could focus on making more utensils from the sturdy material.
As a result, for a brief moment, he stopped digging through the room, and walked back out, into the living quarters. he could feel that the boiler was in full swing as the room was much hotter than the one he was working on.
Foin looked at the large pile of peteaches and grinned out of excitement. He quickly grabbed the bucket and filled it halfway with dirt, then put fruit in it, and then covered it with more dirt. And he finished it off by watering it from his inventory. Just like with the dirt, he put a small cube of water above the bucket and then let it spawn. The water instantly moistened the dirt.
He then brought the bucket into the new room and put it down in a well noticeable location. Since he had used his last container, he decided that before going to bed, he would make at least a few more buckets and maybe plant a few élion flowers as well. After all, bathing in water enhanced by the élion flower was much greater than regular normal water.
As soon as the bucket was placed, he returned to his digging. And he kept working until he started feeling overly tired, and only then did he stop working and get ready to end the day. It was better to follow his instincts as he didn't know how long he had been working since he was underground.