Chapter 17 - A Night of Temptation

The warming bath quickly filled the room with steam as the temperature rose.

Ethan and Amira entered the bathroom together wrapped in the same soft towels he had received from the system his first day. Although still not completely comfortable, they were no longer as nervous to be seen by each other after their past experiences.

After testing the temperature, Amira was the first to enter the bath while Ethan got in shortly after.

"Ahh, this is the life..." He said with a content expression

"So this is a bath." she said in somewhat of a daze "It's almost like a dream."

After relaxing in the warm water for a few minutes

"Shall I wash your back?" came the the soft and sweet voice of Amira through the steamy haze

"Yes, please." Ethan replied

He turned away as Amira approached from the other side of the bath, a clean rag in her hand. Using fluid motions and just the right amount of pressure she helped him clean his tough to reach places.

"Thank you for doing this." Ethan said as he felt her small hands scrub his back

"What do mean? This is what I should be doing for you." Amira replied

"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't still appreciate the help." he stated

She continued until she had gone over his firm back until it was completely clean.

They then traded places, Amira in front and Ethan behind.

It was at this point that He felt it difficult to control himself. The feeling of her soft skin under his hands and the two glorious peaks floating in the warm water caused his nether regions to roar to life.

'Calm down, calm down.' Ethan told himself.

It was no use however. The combination of a young body and a beauty being so close was fueling the flames of desire in his heart.

'I need a distraction!' He screamed internally as he tried to turn his gaze

Noticing that his movements had become erratic Amira asked "Is something wrong?"

"Uh, N-no. Nothings wrong." Ethan said nervously

"I was just thinking that it would be good if we got some soap for future baths."

"Soap? what's that?" she asked curiously

"You don't know?" He asked

"No, I've never even heard of it." Amira said

Ethan was a bit taken aback but then realized that it might not be all that strange for someone from a village to not know what soap is. If he used the bath as a reference, then soap would probably be unimaginably expensive, If it existed at all in this world.

"Soap is something you use during bathing to get extra clean. We can make some pretty easily if we can find the ingredients." He explained

"There's something like that?" Amira said with a hint of surprise

"There is. And we can even make it scented, so you'll smell like flowers when you use it. Are you interested?" Ethan asked while know the answer

"Let's make it!" Amira cried out in excitement

"Alright, We can look for what we need starting tomorrow." He said with a grin

The pair soon got out of the bath after the both had finished cleaning themselves, and Ethan removed the wooden plug in the bottom to drain the water.

After drying off they moved toward the room to prepare for bed.

While Ethan changed into the light cotton pants of his new travel outfit, Amira took the opportunity to look at the gift she had received from Janessa.

The small package was wrapped in colourful paper and tied with a pink ribbon

As soon as she unwrapped the contents, Amira understood what Janessa had meant when she called it 'Night battle wear'.

"What's that?"

The sudden question startled her and so she hid the items behind her back while turning to face Ethan

"Turn around." Amira ordered with a bright red face

"And don't look until I tell you to."

He furrowed his brow, puzzled by her reaction to his question, But Ethan decided to go along with the demand so he turned away

A few moments passed in silence then suddenly

"Okay, you can look."

When He turned back, Ethan's eyes nearly leapt from their sockets

Standing before him was Amira in Jade green silk underwear and a matching shear top that revealed just enough of her figure to leave any sane man senseless. The light from the lanterns In the room made her appear angelic, and her shy, blushing expression only enhanced her beauty.

"What do you think?" she asked when he still hadn't said anything

"Beautiful..." Ethan replied in a daze as he moved toward her figure

However, as he reached out to embrace her, Amira ducked under his grasp and hurridly jumped into the bed and quickly covered herself

A bitter smile crossed Ethan's lips as he figured out what was happening. She was teasing him!

With a defeated sigh he joined her on the bed. Although he wanted to do 'that', All he could do at this point was kick himself and hold it in. He had been the one to say they should get married first, But it was obvious to him that tonight was going test all of his willpower.

Under the covers, Amira had a beaming smile. Her plan had worked! When Ethan had rebuffed her advances that night, her pride had been hurt, but now she had gotten her revenge. Even if just a little bit.

Laying Beside Amira in bed and unable to sleep at the thought of what she was wearing, Ethan decided to access the Imperial System instead

'System' He said silently

[Welcome User!

One System Quest has progressed and One Quest can be completed!

Would you like to see the Quest Tab for more information?]

'Yes!' He agreed immediately

The Panel then changed to a list of Quests

[Quest #1 - Follow The Leader

People Recruited 0/5

Quest #2 - Empress of The People

Steps Fulfilled 4/5

Quest #3 - A Journey of A Thousand Miles

Base Established 0/1

As the new leader of Lorik, you can complete Quest #3 by establishing your base in this location. Would you like to complete this quest?]

Ethan thought about it for a minute before deciding to go ahead with completing the Quest. He couldn't see any downside, he already lived here after all.

'Yes, complete the Quest' He confirmed

[Acknowledged!

Confirming the establishment of a base by the user.

Please standby for your rewards....]

Ethan wondered how long it would take and what he get when suddenly

[Calculation of Rewards complete]

'That didn't take long' He thought

[Rewards from the System are as follows

Access to Construction Tab granted

Defensive Tower Blueprint

Onager Blueprint

Cement Recipe

Scutum(Shield) x1

Javelin x2

Greave x2

Congratulations! With the addition of the Construction Tab you can now plan and build any objects you have blueprints for, given there are appropriate materials gathered.

Would you like to view the Construction Tab, View your items, Or move items to storage and close the system?]

'Construction tab? And it even gave me blueprints?' Ethan pondered

However, it was already late and he was finally tired enough to sleep, so instead of investigating further, he moved his items into storage before falling into a deep slumber.