The Innkeeper

𝒩𝑜𝐕𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

“But like I said, the true cause and effects of the matter are being investigated,” the Henali said, a very serious look adorned its black, rectangular face. Only 6 of its 26 eyes were on its face, framed right above a mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth, while the rest of its eyes were hidden across its body.

Its face was attached to its body through a short, thin neck. The body itself was massive, with a majority of its scales hidden behind the soft cloth robe it had adorned. Eight legs kept it standing, with two sets of four legs protruding from the left and right of its torso. A tail, much longer and thicker than the width of its legs came out from the back of its robe and hung directly over the Henali, making it look like an oversized scorpion without the actual pincers.

“But, regardless of what the result of the investigation may be, it can be confirmed that as of now, the attack on Ra does not seem to have resulted in any long term adverse effects on the Origin realm. In fact, due to the rich nature of the energy that was dispersed into the realm, it has even sped up the growth of the realm. Preliminary investigations reveal that the realm may mature billions of years ahead of schedule.”

“So does that mean there will be no punishment?” asked a random Daolord. “Instead, it sounds like there should be a prize for speeding up the maturing process.”

The remainder of the Henali assembly awaited the response. It was a rule that Daolords could not casually release their might in the Origin realm, or else they would be punished by the Henali. Even if they had to fight, they would have to ensure that their strength would not adversely affect the realm.

After all, the Origin realm was still not capable of handling the might of Daolords since it technically wasn’t capable of giving birth to any Daolords. All the Daolords in this realm were either guests from other realms, or had their strength raised artificially through special means.

“No, regardless of whether the result was good or bad, there will definitely be a punishment. It has just yet to be decided if the one receiving the punishment should be Ra, or the one responsible for the attack. We allow Daolords into our realm so that they can benefit from an immature realm, in exchange for a small fee-“

Someone at the assembly scoffed at the mention of the fee being ‘small’.

“-but that does not mean we can allow them to interfere with its natural progression. Once might be a lucky event, and if it is let go, it will only encourage others to try the same. In the long run-“

The Henali that was speaking paused when another being suddenly teleported inside the assembly.

The Henali assembly was held in a special arena, cut off from the rest of the Origin realm. It was an extremely secure location under the control of the Henali which allowed them to host many prestigious guests, the various Daolords being amongst them. But the secure nature of the location meant that no one could teleport in or out once the session was called into motion, unless it was an emergency. This assembly had already been interrupted once, an almost unprecedented feat, so that information about the attack on Ra could be shared amongst those attending.

This second interruption… was genuinely unprecedented in the history of the Origin realm!

As soon as the teleportation was finished, another Henali appeared, seemingly perfectly identical to the first. It was a common trait amongst Henali. Those not of the race would have a difficult time distinguishing amongst them based solely on appearance.

“Someone is resonating with the laws of the realm,” the newcomer announced loudly.

“What do you mean?” the convener of the assembly asked, bewildered by the statement.

“I mean exactly what I said. Someone… or something is having a breakthrough, and that breakthrough is resonating with the laws of the entire realm!”

“But that’s impossible. The realm is not mature enough to birth a Daolord,” the convener exclaimed!

“I am not here to argue with you, I am only here to tell you what’s happening. The resonance can be felt throughout the entire realm. Its repercussions… cannot be predicted. Attempts to divine the identity of the entity responsible are being blocked. Whoever is doing this has Destiny level protection to keep them from being divined, which means they’ve obviously been planning this for eons.”

Silence fell across the hall as everyone tried to guess what this meant. Everyone wondered what the identity of the person responsible was. Even Ballom was unsure if he should attribute this latest development to the Innkeeper, for it was just too bizarre. Only one thing was certain. If the being responsible for this was a Fuegan… this could be the buildup for a full on realm war!

*****

Back at the Midnight Inn, the few guests who had recovered, and the new guests who had arrived at the Inn, all were looking up at the sky in awe. There was no sun, no clouds, no sky, only a golden hue that stretched as far as the eye could see!

If it was just a matter of different lighting, everyone may not have been so captivated by it. Instead, the golden hue radiated a majestic aura that not only overwhelmed anyone and everyone exposed to it, it made them feel oddly connected to it, as if the aura had come from within them, but at the same time was something that endlessly surpassed them.

Truth be told, the guests who were exposed, one and all, could not fully comprehend the majesty of the aura, for it far surpassed what their minds were capable of comprehending.

Outside the Inn, in the rest of the Origin realm, however, there were many who could make a few guesses, but even they only saw an obscure golden hue. After all, no matter how much they stretched their spiritual senses, they were too close to it to see the full image.

It would take someone to look at the entire Origin realm all at once to notice that the hue that had enveloped the entire realm… was actually in the shape of a golden key.