Chapter 142: Unfortunate news.

With difficulty, my eyes open. World coming into clarity, I nearly have a heart attack spotting an unfamiliar room. Sitting up, a blanket slides down my body. It took me a moment, but I realized I was inside Cassie’s living room.

No longer tired, the anxiety having woke me up. A quick check out the window tells me it is really early morning.

Not my usual wake-up time, but it works. I send a message to Jengal, enquiring when we are leaving for the capital. I doubt he will reply this… “buzz.”

2pm, we are leaving at 2pm. “Up a bit early, Jengal.”

“Busy packing.” He replies.

“How are we getting to the capital?”

“Carriage for half the journey, then we will use a short-range spatial mage.”

“Want me to get us their faster?”

“Cassie spoke with me; we are going the slow way.” I wince, reading the words. “Trouble maker.”

“Fine,” I reply, adding a tired emoji.

What should I do with myself while I wait? Guess I could visit the End for some breakfast, Paul is probably missing me.

Teleporting directly to the End was a bad idea. The distance combined with the dimension caused an extreme headache. Falling to the ground and grasping my head in pain. Realizing I can feel my head clued me in that I am not in my armor.

Once the pain subsided sufficiently, the passing people just walked around me; I equipped my armor. Feeling better, knowing I am secure inside it. Wouldn’t want to lose the cultivated energy inside this body. The black energy accumulates over time, and the Golden seems to be difficult to acquire. Haven’t figured out the source yet.

Mana and natural energy regenerate passively, and the light energy requires my regen circle.

Having sorted my armor, I take stock of my surroundings. The square is the same as always, although a few other creatures roam. Some kind of black-winged avian species seems to be moving through the streets. I wonder what species they are?

Spotting a chair made of some kind of black wood, I sit down. It doesn’t take long for me to hear a very distinct voice.

“Buddy! How ya?”

“Hey Paul, I am good. How are you?”

“Good, just out for some brekky, coming?”

“Sounds good. I will give you something from earth to pay.”

“Deal.”

“But I didn’t say what it was?”

“Ma buddy wouldn’t cheat me. We shared some of dat special booze.”

“Fair enough. Can I even use… Charges?”

“Nah, ya need ta be a Rozmer.”

“That is a shame,” I whine.

“Yeah, you’ll live.” He says with a joking eye roll.

He guides us through the swarms of enderman towards another shadowed alley. Out of the corner of my eye, I see eyes peering at me from a corner. The next moment, they are gone.

Putting it out of mind, I turn to Paul. “ Why are all your visited places in shady alleys?”

“Cause, best damn food is exclusive to da shadow clan.”

“I see.”

Following my questionable guide, he brings us towards a door with some kind of dim LED sign. The door is made of wood, aged, and eroded somewhat. The sign stands above it, lighting up the dull alley. Paul, without care, walks through the door. Once through, it reveals a brightly lit, white hallway. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and staff members run around with silverware and cleaning tools.

I am startled by the sheer difference. Paul looks at me, a grin on his face. Schooling my awe-struck expression back into normalcy, I continue to follow him. We are brought to a small dining area.

Paul approaches a fellow enderman at the desk. The enderman immediately greets paul, “hello, Paul, here to cause another incident?” He says with a mixture of annoyance and humor.

Paul claps him on his shoulder. “Sental, don't ya worry. Me, and my buddy are here for some brekky. Wasn't my fault dat fat guy thought himself the best fighter.”

Sental just rolls his eyes. “2 charges each.”

Paul’s jaw drops, “that’s extortion!”

Sental returns in kind, “that is a fair price for someone who caused 10 charges in damage. Your premiums will be sky high until you have paid off the damage.”

Paul concedes, walking back to me with an annoyed expression.

He then brings us to a small table, handing me a menu. I take one look and realize I can't read it.

“Paul, I don’t know what language this is, but I can't read it.”

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He deflated slightly, “sweet, sour, savory?”

“Sweet.”

“Okay.”

He calls over a waiter, “Chorus pancakes, wild fruit syrup, and crystal breakfast muffins.”

The waiter nods, disappearing off. Shortly, we are brought a stack of food. Purple pancakes with a translucent blue syrup on the side and a starry black array of muffins, well these do look pretty.”

Turning to Paul, I see his face already stuffed full of purple pancakes. Shaking my head, I try the muffin. Taking a small bite, I find a sweet and fruity flavor that shifts slightly as I chew. Having enjoyed the first item, I take a bite out of the pancakes.

I find them slightly sour but okay. Paul, without prompt, just pours a jug of syrup on top. I shoot him a glare.

“Better,” he says with a smirk.

Bringing a portion of pancake up to my face, positively covered in syrup. Hesitantly, I eat it. Finding it explodes with a combination of sweet and sour. The flavor is intense, over flavorful. Everything, in the End, feels designed to give you sensory overload.

Shrugging off the stun effect apparently caused by my meal, I see Paul laughing.

“Yall weak,” he says while laughing.

“Nah, yall just crazy,” I say with a smirk.

We share a laugh as we polish off the remains of the meal. He, at regular intervals, grumbles, “not worth four charges!”

“Don’t worry, I will give you something really nice,” I say in an attempt to appease him. Mentally preparing to give this guy a phone. Don’t know how he will react.

“Really, what is it?” His mood immediately does a 180 degree flip towards excitement.

Handing him an eyephone, “a phone.”

He gingerly takes it from my hand. “What is it?” He enquires.

“It is a device allowing you to communicate with everyone else who has one. It can also help you find your way, read, translate different languages, and a mountain of other things.”

He looks at me for a moment, an empty look in his eye. “That’s a lot; it sounds fake.”

“Well, it’s in your hands; why not test it?”

He shrugs, “can’t argue with that. How do I use it.”

“Well, first, let’s turn it on.”

I then go through the long process of educating him on how to use it. He, to my surprise, was quite good at using it. It looked rather comical, seeing him lean down and look at the small phone.

“This damn thing, amazing. Thought ya lied a little, but Nah, you full truth.”

“Thing this was worth breakfast?”

He looks at me like I am stupid. “More like breakfast every day for the next month.”

“Wait, you guys use months here? The End doesn’t have a daylight cycle.”

“Exactly, we don’t have one. Your one works.”

“I see, that makes a lot of sense.” So, they stole our system of telling time.

“Look at this video.” He says, thrusting his phone into my face.

I calmly push it slightly further away before watching.

A woman is standing in front of a decorative garden; red hair and shiny amber eyes. “Hello, and welcome to the first day of daily news. This news video is in honor of one specific piece of news. The release of the eyephone!” Fireworks go off in the background.

“These wondrous tools will no doubt bring us into a new age. So far, all eyephones have been donated by a man named Aeternum. The distribution started in the town of Fro, a town on the rise during recent times. Aeternum used Mayor Average to assist him in distributing these devices for free.”

“We have reached out to Average; in the hopes of an interview with him and Aeternum. The town in question, Fro, has recently had a rise in popularity for the self-coined Carnival Island. A large resort with a variety of games to play; also reported to have been made by Aeternum.”

“With his name on everyone's tongue, who is he? Well, no one knows. He is currently a resident of Flo, having accidentally teleported into the town. The populace considers him fondly, citing him as abnormally kind. He has been tied to a large variety of incredible achievements over the last few months. These include the previously stated island, his report on a dangerous hidden facility, his handmade house, which we have seen, and wow, it is a sight to see. And finally, his recent escapade of releasing the eyephone.”

“We have no record of his existence before his appearance in Flo. This is causing unrest among the nobles and royals, who are considering opening an investigation.”

I just turn away from the screen, “lovely.” Bowing down and cradling my head in mental anguish. “Why me? I have just inadvertently given the news a medium to tell more people about me.”

“Wat's da issue?”

“People will be hounding me even more, now.”

“People's interest equals power. Use it, don’t fear it.”

Looking up at Paul, I smile. “Some wise words from a meathead like you.”

He laughs, “meathead? I am damned smart, yano.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks.” I will definitely use this publicity to do even cooler things. First, let's get some shards of Laputa. I can then mass produce islands and create some cool floating kingdom. The media will love it.

“So, what ya wanna do?”

“Can you fish in the end?”

He places his hand under his chin, “I know just da place.” Grasping my shoulder, the world whizzes by. “Here we are, cost a charge, but anything for my buddy.”

For some reason, I don’t feel nearly as sick. “How far is a charge anyway?”

“One charge, between 1 meter and 1000 meters. Takes bout 5 charges to cross a dimension.”

“I take it you regenerate them quite quickly.”

“Varies, but generally? 3-8 a day. Don’t wanna teleport too often; otherwise, ya footprint gets too big.”

“Right, your dimensional footprint. Why haven’t I been attacked yet?”

“Dunno, luck?”

“You fill me with confidence,” I say sarcastically.

At this moment, I look around. Seeing a large lake suspended on a massive end island. The water is a cool blue; “this the fishing place?”

“Yeah, got a rod?”

“Yep, here, take one.” Tossing him my spare.

“Thanks, bud.”

“No dock to sit on?”

“No…?”

Walking towards the water, I quickly erect a wooden deck. Placing 2 chairs, the biggest one I have for Paul. He walks forward and sits in the chair. “This is nice.” He says.

“I hope so; let's do some fishing.”

We toss our lines into the water, no bait. Just those fake plastic lures that bob and the magic that powers the rods. With no wind nor rain, the water is still. The blue water is clear but becomes thick and almost white at the bottom. The occasional lap of small waves our the only movement, caused by large fish, “I'm coming for you.” I say with a slight laugh.

I fall into a relaxed and comfortable state, my mind at ease. I wonder what fish are in this pond? “Paul, how do the fish eat here?”

“They eat anything. Try tossing something in.”

Throwing a steak in, I watch as it is gobbled up by a fish the size of a car. “Yes, but how do they get food?”

“Ya know monsta spawns? When they spawn, they are attracted to da pond.”

“I see.”

It isn’t long before I feel a pull on the rod.