The Innkeeper

When Lex returned, the Inn had calmed down considerably. A part of it was because, after hours of consistent playing, the kids had become exhausted. They returned to their parents to sleep and get some rest. Jimmy and his friends had also contributed greatly to the cause, though more of that had to do with sharing the incentive of 'sea peacocks' with other kids than anything else.

There had been some confrontation amongst the kids as well. Peacock warriors, which was once the largest group among the kids, had suffered somewhat of a decline after the sudden disappearance of their leader, Layla. Jimmy had been reluctant to declare himself the new leader, though effectively that's what happened regardless.

A result of that decline was that the groups formed by other kids felt braver to confront them. Tensions did not break out into fights. They were, after all, just kids. Instead, territories in the daycare/spaceship were traded. The peacock warriors agreed to stay out of the hangers for smaller ships, a massive sacrifice.

All of this helped calm things down. So did the fact that, after so many hours, many parents also woke up from their cultivation sessions.

For now, only the weakest of the group had woken up. The same was true for the workers. But nevertheless, the Inn was once again at peace. In fact, stating that the Inn was livelier than it was back in the Origin realm would be a more accurate description.

The adults and the older kids were all filled with excitement, and discussed the few moments they'd managed to observe from the platform above the realm. They also compared their improvements, and excitedly explored the new Inn.

Even with the same layout, it was obvious to all that the Inn had changed tremendously. After all, if nothing else, then there definitely was not a group of singing daisies plating themselves in the greenbelt beside Main street.

The flowers had newly gained sentience, and apparently could only communicate through song.

The sun was brighter, the air was clearer, the grass was greener, and measuring oneself on the weighing scale had suddenly become redundant, freeing everyone from their worries after a brief bout of panic.

In short, life was good and the Inn was better.

Lex, feeling pleased with the progress, decided to take a nap for a couple of hours. Perhaps the real reason he had gotten so tired so quickly was the massive deluge of information still flooding his brain.

Something interesting he learned was that this realm was continuous. Unlike the Crystal realm, which was flat, the Midnight realm had no borders. At the same time, it was not round either. Through a strange manipulation of space, it just became one neverending existence. That meant that if he kept walking in one direction, eventually, he'd arrive right back where he started.

As strange as it was to try and understand that concept without visualizing a round world, that's what was happening.

Another strange thing was that in this realm, strawberries existed. That in itself was not strange - the strange part was that strawberries are a savage, carnivorous tribe of flora that constantly waged war and were responsible for the extinction of many races. They were extremely vicious. But they retained the same size they had on earth, which made them even more dangerous somehow.

Lex, feeling the effects of fatigue on his psyche, lay down his head to nap. He told Mary to wake him up in a couple of hours at most, in case he does not wake up on his own. Then he fell asleep.

Somehow, falling asleep did not slow down the flood of information, but only sped it up. But, as a result, he fell deeper into his sleep than he intended, and even Mary's many calls and probes could not rouse him.

The hours rolled by, and more and more of his guests began to wake. Within the Inn, the situation only became more stable, as all the guests and workers were long familiar with the reliability of the Inn.

But the world outside the Inn was experiencing massive changes. The three empires underneath the tree received a revelation of the direction of the Midnight Inn from the tree itself. This was a monumental occasion, for it had been centuries since the tree had made any revelations.

Immediately, all three empires dispatched ambassadors alongside an appropriate retinue. They needed to understand the Innkeeper and his Inn before arriving at any conclusions. On the other two continents none seemed to know or be concerned about the location of the Inn save a tribe of eagles, who had also dispatched their champion.

Deep in the Inn's territory, the invading empire had suffered colossal losses in their first few clashes against the local beasts, much to their surprise. Their technology and weapons fell short against the formidable foes this new land had to offer.

But similarly, the carcasses of their defeated foes had much to offer. A single meal on the meat of those beasts had resulted in hundreds of breakthroughs for the surviving soldiers. Instead of being cowed by the difficulty, they became even more intoxicated with the thought of ruling these lands.

Elsewhere in the Inn, from deep underground, a hidden evil emerged, and began to spread across the land like a plague. Before Lex's nap was concluded, the sentient wild potato had already spread its seed across the lands. In a matter of days, thousands of acres of land would be covered in the growing vegetable.

Beasts and animals began to run away and escape those lands as quickly as possible, before they became prey to its malevolent vines.

Elsewhere, on the border of the Inn, the ground suddenly caved, and from it emerged a team of small, hairy creatures. It seemed like they had found their target, and soon began to climb the great boundary walls.

In another corner of the Inn, John sat and stared at the notebook in front of him. Dragons were… truly beyond anything he had expected. To weaken one… seemed almost impossible. The body was passively restoring itself continuously. It was as if it had an infinite supply of energy. How was a new, feeble soul supposed to weaken it? It seemed impossible.