Aja stood beside a large pine tree and was motioning her fingers into some sort of impromptu measurement technique. They had spent the night in a nearby guest house and woken early to execute her grand scheme.
“Are you sure this is gonna work?” Elem asked, trying hard not to sound overly skeptical.
“Positive,” she answered without looking away from the tree. “This should work. Look, it’s very simple, we block the road and sneak in the back of the workers’ truck once it stops. And ta-da! Free admission to the Spring of Rebirth resort. What can even go wrong?”
Elem inspected the pine, laying his hand on its bark. “What if they can’t move the tree out of the way? That thing must weigh a ton.”
“Well, then they’re stuck. But I’m sure they got at least one Summoner in their crew. And if they catch us we just buy them a beer or something. Trust me this is gonna work out just fine.”
“If you say so,” Elem replied before taking a step back as Aja began calling her Bicorn.
The Void Summon appeared with a spectacular umbrakinetic flash. It elegantly strutted around Aja as if it was competing in an equestrian competition and then halted right beside her.
“You know what to do,” Aja commanded.
The Bicorn produced an affirmative snort. It took a few seconds to warm up, and then leaped forward with a dazzling speed, slicing through the pine tree’s trunk with relative ease.
“Wow!” Elem gasped.
The Summon’s cut was so clean that the tree seamlessly slid from its base without a single crack and before landing on the road with a deafening blow.
Aja turned to her friend. Her entranced eyes were still as black as a starless night.
“That should work, don’t you think?”
They hid behind a pair of bushes and waited for about half an hour until they finally heard the hum of an approaching heavy engine.
For a moment, Elem worried about the possibility that they had blocked the road for the wrong vehicle but he quickly recognized the vehicle from the day before. Luckily, there weren’t many trucks passing the mountain road.
The mining company’s truck came to a sudden, squeaking halt and its co-driver, an unshaven man with a cap on and a cigarette sticking from his mouth, immediately stepped out.
“What’s this crap!” The man shouted. He grumbled a few unintelligible curse words and then sat down in what looked like an unorthodox cultivation form.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Let’s go,” Aja whispered as she pulled Elem along with her and together they sneaked to the back of the truck.
Although it reeked of rotten eggs, the truck’s open semi-trailer was mostly empty. There were a few power tools scattered about, some ropes and a sheet of heavy duty tarp lay crumpled in the corner, but aside from that, there was more than enough space for two stowaways.
Just as they sat down, an angry shout rose from the other side of the truck, followed by the emergence of a towering Summon.
“What on earth is that?” Elem whispered.
“Looks like Golem to me,” Aja replied casually. “You’ve never seen one before? They’re nearly indestructible but they’re actually Common Class Summons.”
Elem peered at the Golem as it lumbered towards the fallen tree with slow, heavy steps.
The Earth Summon was so massive and thick that it almost resembled a moving building. While it was roughly shaped like a man, the Golem’s body consisted entirely of neatly masoned brown-reddish bricks and what seemed like cement sandwiched investeren. Its eyes were two yellow orbs that shone as bright as the headlights of a car and the creature’s arms moved with the robotic jerks of an excavator.
“That Summoner picked the right gig,” Aja joked as they watched the Golem grab hold of the log and toss it aside with ease. “I bet that Golem makes his job a lot easier.”
“Alright now, hop in and let’s get moving! We’re already late: the foreman is gonna kill me,” the driver shouted. “Of course that damn tree had to fall down on my bloody shift!”
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The entry gate of the Spring of Rebirth resort was only a fifteen minute drive. When they approached the gate, Elem and Aja hid under the tarp. The smell of the sulfur-covered sheet was almost unbearable but luckily they passed through the checkpoint within a minute.
They waited until the road towards the mine forked away from that to the resort and then jumped out right in front of the resort's main building.
Elem stared at the elegant construction of wood and glass, seamlessly blending in with the rugged volcanic surroundings.
“I can’t believe we actually made it in,” he murmured.
“Of course we did,”Aja replied with a quick snort, giving him a smug look. “Didn’t I tell you this would work?”
The Spring of Rebirth restort was as exquisite as advertised. Upon entering the foyer, they were welcomed by a friendly greeter who offered them fresh robes, towels and a freshly pressed juice of choice.
Aside from the private suites which required a reservation, the resort’s baths were split between a male and female section and after they changed, Elem and Aja were both escorted to their respective sides of the resort.
Just from hearing the sound of bubbling water and smelling the scents of sandalwood and calming incense drifting through the air, Elem already felt his body loosen up.
The worker led him to the main hall of the men’s bathing section. With its smooth wooden walls and carefully arranged decorative boulders, the hall oozed a deep sense of serenity. It featured a series of steaming pools each containing a different temperature of water. Unlike the water in the public hot spring, these pools featured water that was mostly clear aside from a mesmerizing, mineral-infused bluish tint. Each pool was surrounded by a collection of smooth stone benches for the guests to rest on in between bathing sessions.
Elem noticed a sign pointing towards the outside area, supposedly containing two large natural ponds, but he chose to ignore that for now.
He rinsed his body, picked a pool with a pleasant temperature and slowly lowered himself in the hot water. Finally, it was time to relax.