Chapter 152: Journey 10

Excerpt from the book “Energies of the world” By Rosalie

Potential energy; makes me shiver just saying that. Other aliases include Rift energy, void power, and chaos. It's not the same as Entropy-type energies, although I can see how you would think of them the same.

Entropy is of more natural chaos, whereas Potentia energy is parasitic and downright evil. If you get exposed to it, go to your closest energy expert or priest. It naturally creates more of its self by drawing energy from the general chaos of life. Like cancer, it doesn’t stop. Continuing to grow inside your body until you die of void intoxication. Like a slower form of void death. The only options are to purge it from your body or expel it if you can do so.

Most people who use this energy, first are killed. Second, use mediums such as dark tomes, staffs, and magical mediums. I once found a silver wood corrupted with the stuff. Given their affinity for magic, it didn’t die. It converted the potential energy into a power source. Turning into a potential energy generator that warped the surrounding woods and summoned a dark entity. That was a real mess to clean up.

As the dwarf approaches me, I close my eyes. Preparing to be pounded into meat paste. Yet, the pain never came. In fact, a soothing sensation spread across my back.

“Damn, ya shaldas ah well stiff.” I hear the dwarf mumble. Followed by graceful movements smoothing out the muscles on my shoulders. Feeling a rush of comfort and warmth as my muscles are gently massaged.

“I was expecting hell; this is actually great,” I say to the dwarf, eyes half-closed in comfort.

“Yeh not da first.” I can feel her exhale, “no one expects ma to have eh delicat tutch.”

“I am sorry for judging you. You are excellent at massaging.”

“Thnk.”

“What ah ya? Ant saw nuthin like ya.”

“Dunno,” shrugging my shoulders. “I woke up looking like a pale ghost. Modded my body, and here I am.”

She continues the massage, thinking for a moment. “I dunno. How ya massarg da wings?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

She gently rubs oil into them, carefully running her hands across them. It doesn’t feel good or bad, like someone rubbing your arm.

She moves onto my lower back, massaging my lower back muscles. “Ya hard, ya muscles like steel.”

“Thanks… I guess.” Is that a good thing? I really don’t know.

After massaging my back and legs, she rubs oils into my body. Placing a hot towel over the back of my head while she places a vibrating rod on my spine. It feels funny, but not bad.

“K, dis bit gonna feel a tad funne.” She says before cracking my back, vertebrae by vertebrae. Moving from my lower back up to my neck. Gently grasping my neck, she speaks quietly. “Relax yeh neck.”

Doing as she says, I allow my body to go limp. With a sudden movement, she cracks my neck to the side at a forward tilt. My neck cracks like lightning, sending my body soft in surprise. Moving my neck, I can feel how smooth it is. Marveling at it, this must be bone calibration.

“Thank you, that feels amazing,” I say to the dwarf. Turning around, I see the dwarf nodding smugly.

“Gotta get de other seid,” she says.

Lying back down, I feel her do the same thing on the opposite side of my neck.

Grabbing my arms, “losen ye limbsss,” she hisses. Doing as she says, she lifes it up at a funny angle, slipping her hand under my shoulder blade. Feeling freaked out as she carefully massages the muscles under my shoulder.

“I didn’t know my arm could do that,” I say in surprise.

She just laughs a deep laugh.

She repeats the same with the other shoulder blade, “on ye sied!” She commands me, guiding, as she puts me onto my side. Grasping my hip with one arm and my upper back with the other, she twists me like a twizzle. Hearing half the bones in my body crack, making my entire body feel warm.

After repeating it on the other side, she carefully massages my thighs and calf’s from the front. Moving down and rubbing my feet.

Once all is said and done, she had me face down once more. Finishing the whole massage with a head massage. Causing warm bolts to shoot down my spine as blood rushes to my head.

Sitting up, I marvel at how awesome I feel. The joints of my bones are like well-oiled hinges, my muscles tuned to perfect efficiency, my skin soft and supple, slowly testing out my body in awe. “Thank you, I feel great.”

“Course, tis meh job, ye fool.”

“Still, thank you. I don’t know when I felt this smooth.”

“Tis okay, no problem.”

Resisting the urge to hug her, I heard to the main reception.

“How was your massage?” the receptionist asks me.

“Amazing.”

“Glad to hear; did she treat you well?”

“I don’t have any experience for comparison,” I state with a laugh.

“Well, you will have to visit again sometime.” Idly wiping some dust off the counter, sneaking a grin at me.

“How smart and sneak of you,” I say jokingly. “I will absolutely visit for another some other time.”

“Glad to hear; would you like your bill?” She says with a customer service smile.

“Sure.”

“6 silvers, 2 for the massage, 1 for the skin oils, 2 for the bone adjustments, and 1 for the vibration therapy. Quite the list, a surprisingly good combination for someone’s first time having a massage.”

“I must admit, the masseuse chose for me.”

She cocks an eyebrow, “interesting, we appreciate the trust.”

Handing her the silver upfront got her slightly surprised, but she quickly schooled her expression. “Thank you, pleasure doing business.”

Just on time, Hanna walks through the opposite hallway to my own. The building has a reception and 2 hallways that branch off it.

She smiles upon seeing me, “how was it?”

“Wonderful,” I say to her.

“Good.” Walking up to the receptionist, she pays 4 silver.

“So, what did you have?” I ask Hanna.

“Hair removal, massage, nail treatment.” Flashing me her colorful red nails, skillfully shaped. “What about you?”

“Massage, bone adjustment, skin oils, vibration therapy.” I think the last one was a scam, said while lightly chuckling.

“That is because it is a bunch of hoodoo.” Affirming what I already thought.

We walk further into town, “let’s get some lunch,” she says.

“Sounds good; that spa left me hungry.”

We walk through the bustling streets, spotting a wide array of people. Even spotting a dryad if you would believe.

“Never thought I'd see a dryad out in a city,” Hanna comments.

“Is it rare?”

“Unheard of, They rarely leave nature. Even rarer is them entering an industrial area like a city. Something big must be going on.” She says with a frown.

Putting the thoughts out of mind, I continue to enjoy watching the array of people. Some tall, some short, some made of stone, some with razor-sharp spines, still mostly human, but still diverse.

“I didn’t know there were so many different species,” I say to Hanna.

“You should pick up a book sometime.” She jokes.

“I read plenty, thank you.” I retort with a frown.

“Yeah, if you were to pick every variation, you would see thousands. Subsets of humans are common; even that strange guy with slime genes is a new subset. They pop up like candy, sometimes sticking, sometimes disappearing. Anyway, aside from race variation, certain major species exist. The most common you will see will be: Humans, razer backs, dryads, dwarves, and stone born. Others exist but are far rarer.” She points out each of the ones she mentioned as she said their name.

“You will see more dryads in nature areas, dwarves and stone born around mountainous areas, razorbacks in hotter climates wherever they are most comfortable. Personally, I once met an aquatic species.”

“That is super cool,” I say, genuinely amazed at the diversity. I guess living in a small town has narrowed my view. “What are the rarest species?”

“Rarest? Let me think!” She mulls over, umming and arring. “Probably Lava faes and spinners. The first is rare solely because they seldom breed, don’t age, and avoid anything not covered in fire. Spinners are rare because they are hunted and killed whenever one appears.”

“What are spinners?” I enquire, wondering what warrants a sapient species being hunted fervently.

“They are an arachnid type species, who breed like rabbits and eat anything. They will appear once in a few decades, a spider getting lucky. Anyway, they have a queen and a bee-like hierarchy. They will eat the landscape desolate like locusts.”

“So, they are monsters?”

“No and yes. The queen is fully sapient, and so are any of her children over the age of 5. Still, they are born with little care for life. They are a danger, so they are eliminated whenever one appears. The last one we had was almost 40 years ago. Killed over 15 thousand people.”

“That is terrifying.”

“Agreed.”

“So, where can I meet a lava Fae?”

She just chuckles to herself. Walking ahead, I hear her murmur, “where can he meet one?” Shaking her head at the thought.

Catching up, we reach a long strip. The buildings are far apart, allowing for lots of foot traffic. In the middle, I see boardless fountains and the occasional palm tree decorating a sandstone floor. A notable amount more razorbacks are roaming around here.

“Welcome, Aeternum, to the best pizza area in 100 clicks.” Opening her arms wide and spinning.

“I haven’t had pizza in a long time; lead the way.”

Without further prompting, we walk along the left side of the strip. Finding pizza places broken up by bars and seafood places. Walking into one of the pizza places with glass windows and colorful fabric canopies over outside seating areas.

Inside, we find a desert-themed restaurant with colorful banners everywhere. The kitchen is open, allowing us to see a giant stone over in the middle wall. Pizzas are flying out of it every minute as waiters rush to serve a healthy and bust restaurant.

Taking a seat, we are approached quickly. “Hello, may I take your order?” The waiter dressed in a suit and tie asks.

Hanna speaks first, “spicy sausage.”

He quickly scribbles away into a notebook before turning to me. “Margarita, please.”

Surprised as he nods, guess the term is universal, how convenient.

He quickly runs to the kitchen, handing the ticket to a white-robed chef manning the desk. He accepts it, turning around and calling out the order in a rich accent. “Spicy sausage and margarita!”

Watching as the chefs behind him line up. The first chef rolls the dough with his palm, spinning it on the desk. Then toss it to the next person, who catches it with a single finger. Stretching it out slightly before applying sauce and cheese. He then slides it across the counter towards the third chef. He adds the spicy sausage; before loading it into the stone oven.

Watching in a trance as our pizzas are made within minutes. Loaded onto plates and brought to us along with some garlic bread.

Without words, we simply brought the pizza to our mouths and ate. The cheesy goodness went down a treat. Hanna looks equally pleased, smiling as she bites into the spicy pizza.

“Pizza is such a comfort food.”

“Isn’t it!” Hanna replies in agreement.

Being able to make chocolate and now having a source of pizza, my life is complete. I am glad I set teleportation points everywhere I visit. I’ve also been setting down sneaky telepads for Jengal. He even has a few to set down himself; if he deems it needed.

“I wonder what Jengal is doing?”

“Probably out shopping, you know what he is like with money.”

“Yeah, always looking for a good deal.”

“How right you are. I always send him shopping, he gets everything 20% cheaper. It’s his talent.”

“He is a walking coupon.” Chuckling at my joke.