"Honey?" George called out, confused. From his angle, he couldn't see into the room very well, so all he knew was that she simply entered the room with a look of reverence. He exchanged looks with the other couple, who were just as confused.
Synchronously, they got up and walked towards the door, intrigued, and the moment they smelled the scent wafting through, they entered a trance almost. Their tired bodies, aching muscles, exhausted mind all gave in at the same time, and surrendered to the pleasant aroma.
When they arrived, they didn't go through the same surprise as George's wife, mainly because they were already hooked. They did not notice at all when the door closed on its own behind them, and the entrance from the hall mysteriously vanished.
Absentmindedly, they approached the hot tub, and all got in, one by one, all forgetting to remove their clothes.
A collective groan could be heard as they all got in, and the hot, healing water began working on their injured bodies. The two families could not be blamed for their state. They had just exited an incredibly high stress period, so not only were they high strung, but their bodies had undergone exertion they were completely not used to.
The only reason the situation was not worse, and they had suffered no fatalities, was because the foul creatures formed early in the darkness were weak - relatively speaking.
Moreover, this was no ordinary hot tub. How could it be, when this was one of the services offered by the system?
The hot tub was not a replacement for the recovery room or recovery pod, but it would definitely help the body relax and speed up its natural recovery. Moreover, the waters were mixed with healing and soothing concoctions that not only helped the body, but the spirit as well.
The waves of pleasure that were washing over them was actually all the knots in their muscles being untied, and their bodies rapidly recovering. While this would not drastically help them recover, for example, it won't fix broken bones, but it would bring the body into the optimal state to recover on its own.
As if that wasn't enough, small dark waste started washing out of their pores, instantly evaporating under the waters purifying effects. While it could not perform the process thoroughly, the hot tub could purify the toxins they had accumulated in their bodies throughout their life. Once they were done, not only would their health improve, so would their cultivation.
For one hour, the two families sat in the water in silence, letting their bodies be nourished by the magic waters. They reached a point, however, when they all suddenly felt that whatever process had been happening was complete, and staying in the water any longer would no longer help them.
It was a subconscious thought, and they could not source where it had originated from, but they all had it at the same time.
One by one, they exited the hot tub and took short, wobbly steps towards the door. Their wet clothes dried in a few steps, the water evaporating magically, as if it could not exist too far from the hot tub.
When they exited the room, both the couples somehow exited into their respective rooms. It was magical, but for some reason, at the moment, none of them questioned it. The gentle aroma of the hot tub room seeped into their bed rooms, relaxing the numerous kids sleeping on mattresses, and pushing them into a deeper sleep.
The parents, once again without changing, climbed into bed - amongst the youngest of their children, and fell asleep instantly. It was a deep and dreamless sleep, letting their mind and body recover.
The hot tub room disappeared as magically as it appeared, and there was no indication on whether the families would even remember it or just consider it a strange dream they all shared.
*****
In front of the chamber of secrets, Anakin, Larry, Rafael and Noman once again gathered. Although Anakin had informed them about the function of the chamber, they were not completely satisfied.
Each of them tested the room by depositing and recollecting small, inconsequential memories and testing each other on it. Once all of them had tried it out, and were satisfied with it, they decided on forming an agreement via the guild room that they would honestly answer each other's questions, and then deposit each other's secrets in the chamber, leaving only the memory of the surety that their own secrets or matters were secure.
That left the matter for why Anakin was still amongst them. While he had no secret to share, for he truly was just an ordinary person adept at finding and using opportunities, he had convinced Noman that he would benefit greatly by following Anakin from then onwards.
How he had done it was unknown to the rest, but Noman completely believed Anakin, and involved him in this matter as well.
Thus the four of them signed the agreement and arrived at the chamber. Since it was so secure, they decided to exchange their secrets right inside the chamber. First up was Noman.
Everyone was staring at him intently, making him slightly uncomfortable. He was also nervous because he had never shared his secret with anyone before, but at the same time, it also filled him with a strange sense of relief.
"I was born with a special power," he said, scratching his cheek. "Whenever I hear or read a lie, I can instantly detect it. That is not to say that I automatically know or understand the truth. It just means that whenever I come across anything that has the intention to communicate anything so that it is perceived as anything but the truth, I can detect it.
"For example, if a person named Harry says to you that you can call him Adam, he is not lying. You, indeed, can call him Adam. But, if in saying that, his intention is not to say that you can call him that, but to make you believe his name is Adam, I can tell that he is lying.
"This ability of mine has no restrictions. It can detect lies in any format, and it does not matter how high or low someone's cultivation is. I have yet to see anyone who can hide from my ability."
His short and simple dictation was followed by utter silence, as everyone absorbed the weight of everything he had just said. His ability was... absolutely broken. Being able to detect lies, regardless of cultivation. In the right hands, or maybe even the wrong hands, this ability could wreak havoc.
Of course, the premise was that it had to be someone smart enough to use the ability effectively. Anakin's eyes were gleaming as various thoughts ran through his mind, though his expression revealed nothing.
Larry went next. He had none of the nervousness of Noman, and directly began his tale.
"My family was an extremely wealthy family back on Earth, and owned several spirit stone mines. That made me extremely lucky, but I was also extremely unlucky because I was born without the ability to cultivate. Even the tiniest bit of spiritual energy would be poison to me, so regardless of the method or type of cultivation, I could not use it.
"But my fate changed one day when, in one of my family's mines, a unique treasure was born. The birth of the treasure caused a major disturbance in the spiritual energy of the region, and attracted a lot of attention. Many people attacked my family in secret, trying to uncover whatever was found. Many of my family members died to protect it.
"But, the treasure ended up being completely inane to everyone other than me. As such, I got it, and after an expensive and dangerous surgery, my father had the treasure merge with my spine.
"It took a few years, but when my body finally acclimatized to it, I gained the ability to cultivate. But it was no longer ordinary cultivation. I could cultivate by absorbing new and various kinds of metals into my body. The rarer the metal, the greater it would boost my cultivation. But at the same time, the more I absorbed one kind of metal, the less it boosted my cultivation.
"At the same time, my body has developed an incredibly high affinity for metals, to the point where it's almost impossible to harm me with a metal weapon. A while back, I was being hunted on Earth, and I fell into an ambush. Someone shot me in the head. That should have been the end of my life, but instead of my brain blowing up from the bullet, it simply absorbed the bullet. I was still hurt a little, because I couldn't absorb the bullet fast enough, but the more metals I absorb, the stronger my body becomes. I was able to survive the shot, and quickly killed the ambusher.
"But I suspect someone knew, or somehow learned, about this unique treasure, and began targeting my family for it. They ignored me at first, because I was simply a mortal, but eventually they must have realized something was wrong.
"I have been looking into this matter for a long time, but I cannot find out who the person hunting me is. At first, I thought it was someone from the Council of New Order, for only they would have the ability to target my family. But the matter seems more complicated than that."
Everyone looked at Larry with interest and curiosity, but it could not garner the level of attention of Noman's secret. Larry did not regret this, for he was not competing for who had the deeper secret. Moreover, no one other than him understood how amazing his ability to cultivate using metals really was. Soon, he would enter the Nascent level. Then he would return to Earth and get his revenge, on whoever it was that was hunting them.
Then, finally, they all looked at Rafael. It was his turn to share.