The sound of running water filled my ears.

Although the air was almost sticky with humidity, it was not uncomfortable in the slightest- rather it was welcome in its warmth. Light trails of steam glided along the lush fauna that hugged the edge of the water. Reflections of soft sunlight entering from the glass ceiling at the center of the octagonal room scattered across their leaves.

That's right. I was in the bathhouse.

A black blur zoomed through the water in front of me.

There he goes.

Mr. Flippers was swimming laps in the cold bath like usual. I did make him his own bath in our domain a while back, but honestly, it could not even come close to competing with the quality of the bathhouse, so we kept coming here.

While we're on the topic, I also tried making my own soap using domain creation. Soap itself has a fairly simple structure; it's just a carboxylate ion with an alkyl group and a salt keeping them company. Sadly, since I didn't know what else to mix this soap with, it was not very pleasant to use.

Well, my failure gives me an excuse to come here more often, so I'm not complaining. I doubt Mr. Flippers minds coming here so frequently either.

A familiar black and white bird sped under my feet as I thought that.

He is going way too fast for a bath this size.

Although I asked him to slow down, he only stuck his head out of the water and squawked before he immediately went back to swimming.

"Fine, keep going then. Just don't say I didn't warn you when you bang your beak on the side of the bath," I said with a strained smile.

"Huh? Jacob, is that you?"

A voice called out to me from my right- in the direction of the warmer baths.

That voice...

"I'll be right back, Mr. Flippers. Please be careful while I'm gone, okay?"

Given how it was the middle of the night and the bathhouse was nearly empty, there was no real reason to worry about leaving him alone- other than whatever he does to himself, that is.

I stood up and made my way towards the hot bath; a golden and red figure peeked through the steam as I neared.

Alishia... isn't it?

I first met this lamia on my fourth day at the academy when Julia, Mr. Flippers, and I visited the sauna for the first time. She was chilling... or should I say warming, in there with that lizard and ogre. We've met a few times since then, but none of our greetings were anything noteworthy, so I was a bit surprised that she called out to me.

"Hey, Alishia. What's up?"

"Jacob! So it is you!" What brings you here so late?"

"You know, just doing normal bath stuff. How about you?"

"Same for me. It's a good time to come here if you want to avoid the crowd and the stares that come with it."

I could only nod my head in response.

Her wanting to avoid too much attention was not surprising; it would be pointless to deny that Alishia was an attractive girl- at least from the waist up. I've never been the kind of guy to be attracted to snakes. Yes, I lost most of my memory, but I was pretty confident in that. I prefer my girls to be tail-less.

It didn't matter anyway- I had Julia to direct my attraction towards.

"Care to join me, Jacob? I'd hate to keep you standing there while we talk," the lamia offered while scooching over.

She's the only one in there... the heck is she moving over for?

"No thanks. I think I'll pass for today."

"That's too bad. Would you at least keep me company for a bit? As much as I dislike the crowd, it does get a bit lonely staying here all alone."

Even though I was a bit wary of her intentions, I ultimately decided that it wouldn't hurt to entertain her request. Besides, it would give me a chance to learn more about her.

Like Sun Tzu said, knowing your enemy is the first step to figuring out how to destroy their lifeforms in a weird, semi-magical battle-royale type competition.

"Alright... but I'll only join you for a little while," I said while sitting down on the edge of the bath and dipping my feet in the steaming water.

Man, this really is hot.

I glanced over to the lamia's toweled figure.

"How long have you been in here anyway?" I questioned.

Alishia's face was flushed red despite her being a creature that should be suited for the heat.

"Maybe an hour?" she guessed, "I usually stay until either it starts getting busy or Levon comes to get me."

"Is that lizard gonna be meeting you here today?"

"Levon? I don't think so, at least he didn't mention it..."

"Alright, good," A sigh of relief escaped my lips.

"... You really don't like him, do you?"

"You could tell?" I said sarcastically with a smirk on my face, "Honestly, I'm surprised you and Ferguson are friends with that jerk."

A small smile appeared on Alishia's face.

"Levon is a good guy. He's actually really nice once you get to know him," she defended.

An expression that was a mix of concern and disbelief appeared on my face.

"... Now I know you've been in there too long."

Alishia let out a small laugh but added, "I'm being serious though. He is a good friend even with his short temper."

"... Are you sure? I can't even think of a time that I haven't seen him mad."

It was Alishia's turn to be surprised.

"Really? He's usually very tame when he's with Ferguson and me."

A tame Levon... now that's something I never thought I'd hear.

"He's probably just angry when I'm here because he's constantly thinking about how I'll destroy him in the competition," I joked.

Alishia laughed but then cautioned, "I think you are underestimating him a bit too much."

I stopped to think for a second.

Am I underestimating him? We were pretty even in terms of strength on our first day, but I'm sure that I've made a giant gap between us after all of my training. That being said, he does have those sharp claws and tough scales... in a battle with no weapons, he would have a fairly strong advantage. But that's only without weapons.

In regards to the competition, I was sure that the Arctic conditions where the invaders would arrive in my realm would buy enough time for my humans to develop tools to defend themselves. That's not even mentioning the addition of elements and resources in my realm that most of the other creatures probably don't have access to. Having access to the periodic table really opened up my options for the future.

"Maybe I am underestimating him, but honestly, I like my chances against anyone that I've seen here... except maybe Ferguson. That guy is basically a meatball of muscle," I truthfully admitted.

For the first time in this conversation, Alishia's carefree and tempting expression was replaced by one of complete seriousness.

"What makes you so confident?"

"A mix of my training, planning, and a certain sticky stick that gives me an advantage."

"Oh? And could I see this special stick of yours?"

... What?

It felt like the gears in my brain came to a grinding halt at her words.

I slowly glanced over to the lamia who had uttered such seductive words in an equally as seductive tone.

Why would she...?

My eyes unconsciously drifted lower to the two mounds peaking out of the water.

Slap!

An impact on the side of my face dealt by my own hand snapped me back to my senses.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, but it's time for me to get going. Have a good one, Alishia," I shot up and turned around.

"Oh, sure. I'll see you-"

I was already gone before she could finish her line, sprinting away at full speed.

Splash!

"Squawk!?"

My body was engulfed by cold water as I dove into the leftmost bath. A confused Mr. Flippers swam up to me as I surfaced.

Any fog present in my mind quickly dissipated from the chilly water and I was soon left standing awkwardly with the penguin in the bath.

This is nostalgic, isn't it?

"Don't worry about it," I muttered while avoiding his curious penguin eyes.

Disregarding the faint laughing coming from the hot bath, I spent some time swimming with the penguin since I was already soaked. I intentionally did not mention the blatantly obvious mark on his beak that was not present before I left him alone.

Let's just keep today's mistakes to ourselves.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

We find ourselves back on the continent where a lot has changed in such little time.

Predator chickens have quickly exploded in population and have taken over most of the eastern continent. With harsh competition and dwindling prey, these predators have developed into killing machines now with longer bodies and sporting sharp talons that could rip through flesh.

The ferocity of these creatures has caused some problems. Normal chickens were steadily pushed out of the cherry tree forests leaving them struggling to find food and shelter.

One group of them in particular was chased so far out of the forest that they ended up on the shores of the eastern gulf.

It was an unfamiliar landscape- the moss that was usually abundant wherever they stepped was now nowhere to be seen along these sandy shores. No trees grew here either to provide shade from the warm sun nor were there fallen cherries to snack on. There was nothing but sand and water in sight.

Sadly, they were stuck. Any attempts to go back into the forest were quickly met with predator attacks, and so, the newly beached chickens trotted along the sand searching for anything of use.

Eventually, one made its way over to the water and took a sip before quickly shaking its head in disgust.

Salty, isn't it?

Although it could not drink the water, it was still helpful in cooling him off from the summer heat. And so, with his feet in the water, the chicken stood until a small fish eventually swam up to hide in the shade of his shadow.

Seeing the movement, the chicken pecked at the small creature before lifting its head and revealing the tiny fish in its beak.

Gulp!

Such a yummy treat!

The chicken fascinated by the new and delicious source of food spent the rest of the day catching and eating the fish.

It was not long before his friends took notice and joined the fun as well.

HypnoticNovels

Hey guys! Thank you all so much for all of the support T.T you guys are so freaking great. Hopefully you guys enjoy this little-side chapter to celebrate 100 readers :D . I found an old pic I generated of Alishia, so I'll toss it under the author's note. (Also I do not plan to make this story a harem thing lol)  Remember guys, chapter 25 marks the start of the competition! We'll get there eventually XD . Enjoy the chapter~