Author pov: Basic world-building is mostly over, now to the fun part.
Chapter 7
The moment he went inside, he darted straight towards the bathhouse to get his well needed bath.
Ravik wasn't blind to the wrinkles on people's faces and blowing of their nostrils when they were in his presence, but unfortunately, a normal water bath only suppressed his smell for a few hours before giving eventually giving in and he didn't see the need and desire to bath every few hours as it would be too tedious.
Now, with the advanced application, hot bath, along with magical or high quality shampoo and body wash, he could finally stop smelling like shit.
His mind briefly flashes to the past, to the scene of an animal he was about to hunt turning to their turd to escape from his 'smell'. "Yes, truly well needed"
And unfortunately for him, he didn't know where the bathroom was located as the mansion was truly big and he didn't want to open every door that leads to who knows where or already occupied, though he was pretty sure that only a few rooms would be occupied.
He walked and walked and to no avail and just as it seemed like he would spend the better part of half an hour wandering about with no fruit, and lady luck seemed to be on his side as he finally saw a butler and a maid together in one go, a bit awkward for him as he saw them getting close and personal with each other. The butler bit the neck of the maid while she panted and hugged him back, then the butler whispered something into her ears and she in turn squished her breast towards him closer, while gently squeaking
And they even looked like they were about to just strip and do it in the hallway. Making Ravik question their sanity and consider his options.
Spend who knows how long wandering the hallway that for some reason is too desolate and empty, contrast to its immense size that suggests otherwise.
Or just ignore their physical advancement and be straight and save himself time.
As tempting as observing the beauty of the place would be, Ravik would much rather not go through the meaningless motions, so he walked close to them.
"Where is the bathhouse?" Ravik asked, while standing behind the couple, the closed eye of the maid visible in his never blinking eye.
The eyes of the maid wrinkled and became uncomfortable while the butler's face wasn't visible in his eyes but from the disgruntled sound he was hearing, he didn't sound pleased.
"Follow the hallway. Ignore the first two turns and keep going straight. Take the third left, walk past another turn, and you'll see a white door with a symbol on it" the butler said in an annoyed voice and just continued his …unexemplary action.
But he shook his head and just left, not caring much about them afterwards. Though he did see them going into the room beside them, no doubt to …exercise.
And he did just that, he followed the path that the butler pointed straight to the word and finally he saw the door. Just that it was a door that he bypassed previously due to the broom symbol on it with water dripping downwards.
He entered the room and he was greeted with a sight that confused him slightly. It is not that there wasn't any shower or bathtub, there was and more. Just that there were seven separate sections with each section bearing their very own shower head, bathtub. Making him question if it was truly a bathroom that would be given to a dozen or so people as he saw number two on the door outside, that meant there was another one similar to this.
But he shrugged and didn' t care as he just took a bath.
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Ravik sighed in deep seated satisfaction and shook his body for the third time as he exited the bathroom.
The vapor bellowed and escaped from the bathroom along with him as his three hour long bath finished at last.
"Now I only need to find my room and the kitchen." Ravik thought as he turned to the direction that he came from, only to be greeted with both the butler and maid from prior along with another older looking maid, though despite it, she still looked beautiful. Approximately early forties, that was the age the older maid looked like but Ravik couldn't begin to imagine how old she was as he remembered that Zeoticus Gremory in the anime looked younger than her.
"Hello, Sir Ravik, i have come to lead and guide you through the mansion" The older looking maid said as she walked forward and bowed. The butler and the younger maid behind her, bowing even deeper.
"I apologize if I made you wait." An older looking maid secretly cast an empty and loathing glance at the pair behind her, who shivered and bowed even more deeply. "There have been complications and the original guide, the two behind me, has been unfortunately delayed."
"No need for the bow, I was mostly occupied during the last few hours and did not have a need for a guide" He calmly spoke while assessing the one before him.
Ravik then turned towards the pair, not minding that his supposed guide was the two from prior. Though there was a small bit of annoyance, Ravik admits, but in the end, Ravik knew that he was only a recently recruited familiar of the young heiress of the clan. A servant much like them, just a bit higher in hierarchy as he would probably count as a direct servant.
Ravik focused more on the pair, whose forehead was covered in sweat, their eyes dilated and slightly unfocused, even their body was stiff as bone. Then he turned to the head maid, and was inwardly impressed how much respect and fear she managed to gather from her subordinates even though she herself probably possessed not much strength, if his instincts are correct that is.
"Then, lead the way, Miss ?"
"Beatrice"
"Mmm, Miss Beatrice, since we are serving under the same master, there is no need for this much formality, just a pleasant and honest atmosphere would suffice." Ravik tried his best at smiling and tried to make a workable relationship with her as she seemed quite competent from the fear that she radiated to her subordinates. Not the most clear signal, Ravik admits, but another form of respect is fear, at least that was what Ravik liked to think. And those who can garner respect are most of the time, competent or at least above average.
(Beatrice POV)
Beatrice saw and knew of many voices and tones people wore and adorn.
Hearty laughter that a tired father wore as they played with their children in their little time of rest. While singing into their tunes of joy as the father masked his ... .exhaustion.
A maddened plea that an abandoned widow bore as they looked at the moon every night, wishing and praying in a voice akin to a shrill cry for the gods or anything out there to reap the life out of their cruel spouse.
Also the masks that all nobles wore.
The kindness that nobles give to the poor is a bread, dipped in poison.
Their speech, a snake that silently slithered around your neck.
While their smile is a sadistic grin that was barely concealed under the mask of compassion, yet they seemed to never realize it. Oh poor fools, Beatrice laments, yet the one before her took the trophy in her list.
The supposed voice of the being in front of her was wrong, so wrong.
In her entire life, she saw many beings laugh in joy, or bellow in happiness, whenever it is a Gloom Owls that some devil questions if they can even have an vocal cord or Withered Treants that desperately and madly rushed and sucked the life out of trees, their distant kin. She heard and saw it all.
But the voice that reached her was wrong… far too wrong.
His bird-like head tilted, beak twisting as though straining to form human words. What came out was not speech but an imitation of it—measured, practiced, like he had heard people speak a thousand times yet never understood why. The sound wavered, hollow, like a melody struggling to find its notes, always trying, never truly alive
The vapor around him did not disperse as normal steam should. It clung to him like a shroud, tendrils curling around his wings and arms, writhing as if reluctant to let him go. Every step he took left a faint dampness behind, a trail as though something unseen followed, still dripping and the way it tried to act like an outspoken gentleman only made it worse.
As if it was trying to imitate an act yet not remembering a few ingredients. An dish without salt, smile without eyes, and love without heart
And from what she knew, the being in front of her is only supposedly four years old, an age where a devil would barely know how to count and think independently.
Yet, it's young age instead of making it seemingly harmless and cute, only made it more ... .spine-chilling. Beatrice cast one look of blame and loath to the fools who had quite possibly written their name off the world of the living by not only going to his room and having fun, even ignoring their only duty they were assigned to today. Which was to accommodate the supposed harpy, familiar of the young heiress. And she might even be implicated as well judging by how he was casting a few gazes towards the pair before her and a few silent ones on her face.
"I will order a complete cleaning of the room and I must relocate him to another room." She observes the pair who already realized how deep the hole they dug up was as they silently led him and introduced the manor. His wings behind him moving more than limbs, akin to a silent claw and his clawed arms swaying and moving as if it did not understand the concept of instinct as it with the slightest graze, cut a hole onto the floor.
No doubt a silent warning of her to not to interrupt him as he relishes their pain and consumes their agony.
Possible a simple pastime for him, to satiate his hunger for blood by drinking a soup made out of their life.
A cruel one she would share a roof with.
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The day continued seamlessly and Ravik ate an extremely delicious meal at the dinner and slept in a king sized bed that looks like it was meant for more than a several people together.
And he might say, he loved every single part of it.
The soft fabric that is akin to cloud pulsing and touching his back while he twisted in joy and the belly full of delicacy only made it much more as he set the timer on the alarm beside him and slept like a log.
His mind drifts onto the dream landscape, where impossibility is only a minor problem and the distance, a relative concept.
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And he woke up feeling refreshed and energetic as always, a perk of his reincarnation into a body this healthy and energetic.
Ravik turned to the alarm clock beside him that displayed 6:40, twenty minutes before the alarm he set. Not wanting to waste time on the bed doing nothing, he got up and went to the kitchen to eat and then go to the field to start his training.
Perk: (Foul and disgusting) - You are a creature of sin and the opposite of beauty; all who bear witness to your appearance shall feel profound disgust, and their subconsciousness shall view you as a construct of what you look like. {Intimidation is 300% effective; fear and terror effects are much more likely to spawn. Unlocks unique jobs later on. Warning: neutral NPCs are much more likely to attack you, and the trust would be much harder to cultivate for every character.
The skill says and what it doesn't say is that the the effectiveness would be much more on creatures weaker than the user and weaker on being stronger than it. An shielding mechanism, a person might presume and it might true, it might be false.