After paying I put everything into my pouch and then follow Lin as she looks in a few more stores. There is nothing else that I need, so I just walk with her and keep my senses on those following us. From what I can tell they are just locals who are curious or watching us for someone else.

None of them pose a threat and I don't sense any hostile intent so I don't pay them much mind. However, their presence does keep me from relaxing and enjoying myself. Lin is having no such problem, she is enjoying shopping even though she doesn't buy much.

The exception to that is when we enter a store that carries nothing but cloth of varying types. Lin finds a number of fabrics that she likes and we buy the store out of them. Once we have hit all the stores, we head out of town with the people still following us.

As we get further from town the followers drop off one by one until none are left. Once the last one gives up and returns to town I drop my shapeshift. Lin climbs into the saddle and I fly for about ten minutes before landing again.

After a quick scan of the ground to make sure nothing is living there, I set up the castle. Before Lin can run off to her library, I fill the table with dinner dishes. After we are done eating, she heads into her tower while I start modifying our room.

First I put in the fireplace, which is fairly easy, but I don't want to have to constantly fetch wood. My answer to that is to enchant some logs of the magical wood to generate flames and heat without burning. It just means that when I want a fire I will have to feed a little mana into the logs.

That also turns out to be fairly simple and I don't even need to experiment much. Once that is done, I lay out one of the rugs in front of it and then move on to adding the new room. In order for the room to be big enough I decide to put it into the foundation beneath our room.

This will weaken the structure slightly, but there isn't any other place I can put it safely. After shaping the room and making stairs down to it, I go down and make the bathtub. This is the reason for putting it down here, I am making the tub big enough for my normal form.

I can't put something this big in the ship, or above any of the existing rooms of the castle. If magic wasn't available, I would be working on a way to make this heat the castle. Of course, if magic wasn't a thing, then the castle and the ship wouldn't exist.

Building the tub, enchanting it and the room all go smoothly, but now I need lava. Sending my senses straight down I find some, but it is far too deep to dig to. Not that that would be a good idea, I don't want to create a new volcano.

After thinking for a minute I decide that gating the lava in is probably the best bet. Making a gate that goes to the lava is easy enough, but I didn't account for the pressure the lava is under. When the gate opens the lava explodes out with much more force than I expected.

Luckily I put an enchantment in place to keep the lava from being splashed out of the tub. The only problem is that by the time I close the gate, the tub is overfilled. There is about a foot of lava above the top of the tub and the enchantment is struggling to contain it.

I can't think of a better idea at the moment, so I suck the excess lava into my ring. My ring will keep it in stasis, so I can always use it when I make the smaller tub on the ship. Thinking about it, that would be a good weapon in an emergency, it should even work in a null magic zone.

Other than getting more lava than planned, everything else worked out and the tub is ready. So I drop shapeshift and climb in, the heat immediately soaks into me and I can feel my muscles relaxing. It feels great, so I stretch out, close my eyes, and just lay there enjoying it.

Lin says "Ash? Are you awake?"

"Hmm? Yes, I'm awake. What's up?"

Lin says "Aren't you going to open a soulscape?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, this feels so good that I forgot."

Lin says "Is it the lava bath? Or being in your natural form?"

"Both I think. Don't get me wrong, I love being in my human form when I am with you, but my normal form feels more comfortable."

Lin says "Is it still comfortable if you shrink down?"

"Yes, it is. Why?"

Lin says "You can control the size you shrink to, right?"

"Yeah, I can. Again, why?"

Lin says "I'm not making any promises, but later if you shrink to human-ish size, I am willing to try a few things."

"Really?! Are you sure?"

Lin says "Like I said, no promises, but yes I am sure. I knew you weren't human when I fell in love with you. I don't only love you when you are in human form."

"I know that. I know you love me for who I am, not what I am and I love you the same way. I didn't want to suggest doing anything outside of human form because I wasn't sure how you would react."

Lin says "It would be best if we take things slow and let me get used to it, but I am willing to try."

"Thank you. Even if you end up not liking it, the fact you are willing to try means a lot to me."

Lin says "Anyway, are you going to open a soulscape tonight?"

"Yeah, I will open it right now."

Lin says "Aren't you going to get out first?"

"Nope. I am perfectly comfortable right here. Besides, the heat can continue soaking into my muscles while we are in the soulscape."

Lin says "Alright."

I close my eyes, easily slip in a meditative state, open the soulscape, and invite everyone. Everyone but Brightfire shows up, she is probably still with her dad and great aunt. Instead of recreating the castle for the kids, I make a huge field full of interconnected cat trees. Then I sit down with Lin and Myria to continue the anime we started last night.

No one mentions last night's conversation, Lin and Myria just cuddle against me and watch the anime. By the time the anime is done, the kid have long since worn themselves out and left. So, I give Myria a goodnight kiss, which makes her ecstatic, and end the soulscape.

When I open my eyes Lin is still standing just outside the tub and my entire body feels limp. It is something of a struggle to make myself get out of the bath, I haven't felt this relaxed in ages. However, my desire to follow Lin upstairs is greater than my desire to be lazy.