Arthfael: The Grinding Hero

Chapter 3. The Fairy

The three women who were surprised by Arthfael's behavior eventually approached him, then held his shoulder and looked at him through a mirror reflection.

"Should we postpone it until after you shower, sir?" the woman asked while seductively touching Arthfael's body.

Arthfael's mind was not even focused on his desire to spend time with the three women. He was actually wondering in his mind about what was really happening to him.

Arthfael turned around and looked at the three women in turn, "Maybe I want to take a shower and clean up," said Arthfael.

"We can shower together if you want, sir." the woman beside him suggested.

Arthfael struggled to swallow his saliva, which made his throat feel dry.

"No need. I'll call you when I'm done." Arthfael refused.

Feeling rejected, the three women eventually obeyed Arthfael's command and quickly left the room. Before leaving, one of the women placed a bottle containing Phoenix tears to treat Arthfael's wounds.

"I put the medicine here." she said, then was answered with a nod from Arthfael.

Now Arthfael was alone again, pondering his confusion. Arthfael walked over to the glass bottle containing Phoenix tears and applied it to the wound on his stomach and gums.

Slowly, the wound began to close and stopped bleeding. Even the bruise that was once purple slowly faded and returned to the original color of his skin.

"Amazing," muttered Arthfael.

Arthfael looked at his gums, which were previously pockmarked due to his missing teeth, and now appeared to be starting to close. Now his body was only left with dirt and dried blood from his fight with the Dreadspawn.

"I should clean myself up first," said Arthfael as he went towards a door inside the room.

A large bathtub, complete with warm water flowing directly from a spring, greeted Arthfael's arrival. Arthfael's nose, which had been feeling stuffy, immediately felt relieved when he inhaled the steam that had accumulated in the bathroom.

Arthfael exclaimed with excitement, "Wow, I feel alive now!" and ran towards the bathtub, feeling the warmth of the water touching his skin.

His eyes sparkled as he felt the warmth that made him want to soak in right away. Without thinking twice, Arthfael immediately took off all his clothes and entered the bathtub, completely naked.

"Ah, it feels amazing!" Arthfael exclaimed as he felt the warm water covering his entire skin surface, directly from the spring.

He submerged his head for a moment to clean the remaining blood stains on his face. All the sweat dried up instantly as his wet hair was washed by the warm water.

After submerging himself for a while, Arthfael returned to his original position and wiped the water around his eyes.

"How are you feeling? Do you feel better? Has your wound been treated?" someone asked with a loud but quiet voice.

Arthfael frowned and thought about the three women who wanted to join him in the bath because they were impatient to play with him. Arthfael quickly opened his eyes and looked at the woman who had just asked him. Instead of the goddess-like figure that Arthfael had hoped for, it was a small-bodied woman with wings on her back who was looking at Arthfael from a very close distance.

"AAAAKKKHHHH!" Arthfael screamed as loud as possible when he saw the figure in front of him.

Arthfael immediately covered his naked body with his hands, which could even be seefrom the surface of the water.

"Who are you? Are you an insect?! Why are you here?" Arthfael asked the figure with many questions.

The tiny-winged woman flying in front of him only shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Geez! You screamed at me as loud as you could. Instead of apologizing, you asked questions!" she complained.

Arthfael's eyes were still wide open as he confirmed that the voice he heard earlier was indeed from the woman in front of him. Her voice was exactly the same as the one he heard before.

"Are you here to peep on me? Go away!" Arthfael shouted and splashed water at the tiny creature until her body was soaking wet.

Seeing her soaking wet body, Arthfael felt guilty, "I'm so- sorry!" Arthfael said.

The tiny woman was angry with Arthfael and dried her body with just one hand motion.

"Stop attacking me and accusing me wrongly! I also don't like your dirty and disgusting body!" she yelled, making Arthfael stunned.

Arthfael blinked his eyes a few times upon hearing the scolding coming out of the tiny creature's mouth.

"Who are you?" Arthfael asked.

The creature flew a bit closer to Arthfael, gazing into his grey eyes and then looking at his tightly closed gums, as if checking for missing teeth. Arthfael immediately shut his mouth when he realized the creature was examining the inside of his mouth.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Making sure you're okay." it replied with an irritating expression that made Arthfael want to swat it away in one fell swoop.

After ensuring that Arthfael was okay, especially with his healing wound, the creature moved away from his face and introduced itself.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Valentina. I'm a fairy who will be your guide. You may be wondering why you're here. But you were brought here for a noble purpose," said Valentina, the small fairy with golden wings who had just introduced herself to Arthfael.

"Valentina? Fairy? Noble purpose? What do you mean? Don't tell me you're the one who kidnapped me here? Quickly send me back!" demanded Arthfael.

Valentina shook her head.

"Fairies cannot summon residents from other worlds and send them back. We are only assigned when there is a resident from another world who comes here and we guide them home. The success of the mission depends on you." Valentina explained.

Arthfael furrowed his brow and tried to understand Valentina's words earlier. "What do you mean?"

"In short, you're stranded in this world and can only go back after defeating the SSSSS level monster named Krakensaur in the middle of the ocean. Your soul is linked to your body in your original world. If you die here, you'll also die there." Valentina answered.

Valentina's explanation made Arthfael laugh out loud. Valentina became annoyed because her explanation was only dismissed by Arthfael.

Arthfael stopped laughing as he remembered the video games he used to play. His character would return to the starting point if he died.

Without hesitation and convinced that his choice was right, Arthfael immediately submerged himself in the water.

Valentina, who was on the surface of the water, screamed at the top of her lungs to get Arthfael out. But her efforts were in vain because Arthfael, who was starting to run out of breath, remained unmoved inside.