19
"Have you not heard about the Sacred Water before?" Korin asked curiously, to which Chi-Chi responded by slowly shaking her head. "When Goku and Roshi came up here for the first time, it was precisely to look for this water since it is well known that if you manage to drink it, your abilities will increase considerably."
"Really?" Chi-Chi exclaimed, surprised. She then turned to look again at the vessel on the column. Its surface shone with the light of the morning sun that touched it. "Is it some kind of magical water?"
Chi-Chi continued contemplating the vessel in silence, initially overcome by a marked feeling of skepticism. Indeed, the idea of magical water that made you stronger sounded a little unrealistic to her. However, she could not forget that she lived in a world in which there were balls that, by gathering them, could make any wish come true, including reviving the dead. A world where she could fly on a cloud, travel to the very shore that separated this world and the other, or fully recover her strength and heal from all her wounds after eating only a small seed. And, especially, a world where a man like her husband could perform feats far surpass those of any other human being.
If Chi-Chi had thought about it objectively, everything would have sounded, to some extent, possible in comparison.
"And Goku and Master Roshi drank from it?" Chi-Chi then asked with marked interest, looking again towards Master Korin.
The old hermit nodded solemnly.
"They both drank the water. And by the time they did, they had become astonishingly stronger. Thanks to that, Goku managed to defeat Tao Pai Pai when he was just a child."
Chi-Chi knew that story. Upa had talked about it the night before they began climbing the tower. Furthermore, if she remembered correctly, Tao Pai Pai was one of the participants in the tournament five years ago, seeking revenge against Goku. So, Goku was able to defeat him thanks to the water.
"That means that if I drink from it... can I become stronger? Enough to be able to train with the others?"
"It's likely," Korin answered calmly. "Definitely, if you manage to drink it, you will have become much stronger than you are now. And so I could give you a sleigh bell to go up to the Lookout. What are you saying? Are you interested?"
Chi-Chi's first reflex was to answer that question affirmatively, without even thinking about it too much. However, although her mouth opened to speak her response, she backed away at the last moment and remained silent a little longer.
Something seemed a little strange to her about all that. Would just drinking that water allow her to go up to see Kamisama when, a moment ago, Korin flatly refused to do so? Would it really make her that powerful? Why didn't he offer it to her from the beginning instead of telling her all that stuff about her going home?
She didn't want to think badly or get too paranoid, but something was definitely making her distrustful.
"Are there any side effects?" Chi-Chi asked suddenly. "From drinking the water, I mean."
"Not at all," Korin responded normally. "No negative effects different from drinking normal water."
"There's no trick, then?" Chi-Chi murmured, narrowing her eyes.
"No trick," Korin replied in a smiling voice. "If you drink the water, I will give you a bell. You have my word."
He then raised his right hand (or claw?) in a sign of oath.
Chi-Chi did not perceive any malice or lies in his words. He seemed really sincere.
The young woman's lips smacked with a happy smile but also one of gratitude. Maybe everything she had told him had moved Master Korin somehow, and he wanted to give her a chance. Deep down, he was indeed the wise hermit everyone had told her to be.
"Thank you very much, master," Chi-Chi pronounced solemnly, bowing her body respectfully towards him. She stood up straight again and looked over her shoulder at the pot. "So, I can take it, right?"
"Forward."
Chi-Chi nodded and quickly turned towards the pedestal. She began to advance with a hasty and determined step towards it. She was excited by the idea of obtaining all the promised power, enough to train with Kamisama, perhaps even to face Piccolo directly. All the effort of climbing the tower would have been entirely worth it after all.
And while she had her attention fully focused on the vessel, a few steps away from being more than ready to pick it up and drink from it, she suddenly felt something hit her feet mid-step. It was a quick and direct blow, from front to back, that dragged her feet and caused her entire body to rush straight forward and her face to collide head-on against the pillar on which the vessel was supported.
"Ah!" Chi-Chi screamed in pain after that strong blow. Her body continued to fall until she was chest-first on the ground. Once on the floor, she turned on her back and grabbed her face, which had been reddened by the blow, with both hands.
What had happened? What had she tripped over?
Chi-Chi removed her hands carefully and tried to look around for some explanation. The first thing she saw was Korin, who, from one moment to the next, had positioned himself standing next to her just a few steps away. He licked one of his paws, wetting it, and then ran it all over his head; like a regular cat would do. However, as soon as Chi-Chi's eyes fell on that long cane he was carrying, it didn't take her long to guess that that was exactly what had caused her to fall.
"Why did you do that?!" Chi-Chi snapped furiously, sitting down.
"Why did I do what?" Korin responded indifferently.
"What? You threw me to the ground!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the catman whispered laughingly. "But come on, don't waste your time," he added, pointing his cane towards the pot. "You don't want to keep Kamisama waiting, do you?"
Chi-Chi looked at him with marked distrust. What had that been? Some kind of trick? An accident, perhaps? It was hard to say. Anyway, she decided to focus on what was important, so she stood up quickly, overcoming the pain on her face. She turned towards the vessel and extended her hands towards it. But before she could take it, she felt something hit her with tremendous force on her buttocks, like a strong whip.
"Ah!" she shouted even louder than before. The pain that coursed through her body was so great that she fell suddenly to the floor again, this time in a sitting position, which did not help mitigate the stinging pain in her butt.
She leaned on her knees and one of her elbows against the ground while, with her other hand, she rubbed the bruised area. Chi-Chi quickly turned to see Master Korin, still standing in the same place, quite calm. But she noticed his long tail waving behind him, and knew that it was precisely this that had hit her in such a forceful way.
"Hey!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, now more than furious.
"Why are you still on the floor?" Korin commented normally, ignoring her tone. "I thought you wanted to drink the Sacred Water."
"I'm doing that!" Chi-Chi pronounced out loud.
She didn't understand what that was all about but wasn't willing to fall for his provocations. The important thing was to drink the water at once. So she quickly rushed forward and extended her hands towards the pot to grab it. However, when she was just millimeters away from reaching it, the vessel simply disappeared, and her fingers ended up touching only empty air.
"What?" She muttered, completely confused, even waving her hands at the exact point where the pot was until a few moments ago as if she still hoped to somehow find it there.
"Are you looking for this?" She heard Korin's shrill voice say behind her.
Chi-Chi turned quickly. A few meters away, she noticed the old master standing. But now, attached to the upper tip of his staff with one of its handles, was the blue and gold vessel.
"What are you doing?!" Chi-Chi questioned with annoyance, but also a lot of confusion.
"Nothing special, and you?" Korin answered her with sarcasm.
"You told me I could drink the water!"
"And you can do it. Come on, take it."
At that moment, Korin extended his staff in front of her, with all and the pot, so that it was a few centimeters from Chi-Chi's face. She reacted immediately, extending her hands to take it. But, similar to a moment ago, the pot simply disappeared from her sight as the master quickly moved it to the side so fast that she wasn't even able to see it.
The little patience Chi-Chi had left ended up running out. She began to quickly throw herself against the vessel, trying in every way to reach it, desperately slapping the air. But the same story was repeating itself. Korin managed to get it away from her, even beginning to move around the entire space of that terrace with quite impressive agility, especially for his short and stocky appearance.
"You're very slow, young lady," Korin laughed as he jumped back, avoiding Chi-Chi's quick hands. "Are you sure you really want the water?"
Chi-Chi stopped for a moment to try to catch her breath.
"Are you playing with me?!" she rebuked him aggressively.
"No play," Korin denied and handed her the water again. "Here."
Chi-Chi let out an angry growl and extended her hands towards the pot again, even knowing that exactly the same thing would happen.
After only a few minutes of failed attempts, Chi-Chi felt tired again. It became difficult for her to breathe, and she had to stop abruptly. She leaned on her knees and lowered her face. She breathed heavily while a few drops of sweat ran down her face.
"What's happening? Did you get tired so quickly?" Korin asked her in a mocking tone.
"What do you propose?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, raising her furious gaze towards him. "You told me there was no trick!"
"And there's no trick," Korin stressed calmly. "I promised you that if you managed to drink the water, I would give you a bell. And I am a cat of my word. But to drink from this vessel, you must take it from me."
As he said that, he shook his cane a little in the air, and Chi-Chi could clearly hear how the liquid inside it also shook to one side and the other.
"What is this?" Chi-Chi asked suspiciously. "Some kind of test?"
"You don't think I can allow anyone to drink the Sacred Water, do you?" Korin pointed out, accompanied by a couple of giggles, or at least sounds that seemed to sound similar to that. "Obviously, you must prove that you are worthy of it."
"Well, then you forgot to mention that little point."
"More like you didn't ask," Korin said ironically, laughing again in the same way as before.
Chi-Chi's fists clenched tightly, and her jaw tensed. At that moment, more than taking the pot away, she wanted more to hit that crafty and deceitful cat.
"But if you think it's too much for you, you can go home as I suggested at the beginning," Korin indicated apathetically.
"No way," Chi-Chi answered without hesitation, standing up again and preparing to continue what she had started.
She didn't know if this was a test or a simple, practical joke. But he had promised that if she drank the water and became stronger because of it, he would give her a bell and let her train with Kamisama. That was the only thing she cared about and the only thing she would focus on.
Without further ado, Chi-Chi launched herself at Korin again, trying, by all means, to snatch that damned pot away from him.