Chapter 123: Hot Spring

Chapter 123: Hot Spring



The branches and greenish vines draped down the side of the mountain like a cascading waterfall of nature. They were tangled, almost like they were performing an ugly dance.

It was exactly where Kory was heading-towards that wall.

Adam raised an eyebrow. He wondered whether the old man wanted to climb up the small mountain using the branches and vines as a makeshift ladder.

He doubted the old man would be able to climb with his frail body. Walking alone seemed like a strainous task to complete for him.

Kory, using the cane, moved the branches and vines out of the way, almost like he was opening a flap to the tent. Instead, there was a nature-made entrance to a strange cave.

"What's this place?" Adam asked.

"Come in, and you'll see." Kory said, beckoning him inside.

They stepped through the nature-made entrance. The branches and vines came back down, blocking the light of the moon from the outside world.

It became very dark.

Kory put his cane against the wall and brought out a small lighter. With a flick of his thumb, a small flame appeared at the end.

It wasn't much light, but enough.

They headed deeper into the small cave and came across the hot spring. It wasn't steaming anymore. The water was still bright, but the fog was gone and the air was warm.

"A hot spring?"

"Not just any hot spring," Kory said. "The King himself found this a couple of summers ago."

"What makes this so special?" Adam asked, crouched near the water, and dipped his hand into the warm pool.

His eyes widened. The tips of his fingers tingled as if tiny sparks of electricity danced across them.

"A hot spring that can heal you, increase your talent, help you learn any skill, increase your mastery over the Three Powers, and even improve your appearance."

Adam frowned. It sounded far too good to be true. He hadn't heard anything like this exist in the world of Mortal Online before.

If something like that existed, why was he shown this? It was fishy.

"You must be wondering, why did I show you this?"

"Yes, why?" Adam looked over to him.

"The King wanted you to take a bath on it," Kory said. "He has given the privilege to every S- ranker so far. Sapphira and Arkham took baths yesterday; Calamity and Mauricio just took

baths this morning."

"Why?" Adam asked.

eyes.

There was no need to hurry for him yet. The real reason why he wanted to get here hadn't appeared yet.

It was still a little bit over an hour until the beginning of the Gathering.

...

"Ah, my back..." Kory dragged his feet, keeping himself up with the cane while he made his way down the dark forest.

It was hard for him to walk through the forest. There were treacherous roots, slippery rocks, and low-hanging branches that threatened to trip him at every step.

"Ah~" A soft-looking hand moved one of the branches out of the old man's way. "Saint Kory,

I didn't know you were also here~"

"A-ah...?" Kory raised his head with great struggle; his old vision needed a moment to clear up before he could see the figure standing in front of him.

After a few blinks, he recognized the familiar face and smiled warmly.

"Young Yu, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you."

Lady Yu smiled warmly. She didn't have her veil on, revealing her kind and pure face, which has aged gracefully over the years.

With each blink, her long eyelashes, almost like she had eyelash extensions, fluttered gently against her rosy, blushed cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" Kory asked gently, seeing the town's buildings looming near.

"The party is ongoing..."

"I wanted to visit the hot spring." Lady Yu said and touched her soft cheek. "I am afraid that my skin has been feeling dry lately."

"Nonsense, haha." Kory laughed with a reassuring smile. "I am dry, wrinkly, and all that; you are as beautiful as ever. A goddess among mortals, if I may say so myself."

"Hmph," Lady Yu playfully pouted. "You make me blush. You old flirt."

"You wanted to visit the hot spring?" Kory asked, holding the cane with both hands.

"Yes, is it currently free?" Lady Yu asked innocently.

Kory smiled. "Yes, it is currently free. If my old mind remembers correctly, haha."

"Then I'll be on my way," she said with a smile and a skip in her step.

Kory watched as she disappeared into the depths of the forest. The low-hanging branches hid

her from view.

"The flow of destiny..." he whispered.