Chapter 127: Gluttonous beasts

Time to make a mystic wand. No point in having the power and not the tools to use it. This is actually one of the more annoying tasks that must be completed.

First, I need a branch, not just any branch, a branch from an Ent. Let’s start with the Ent, as annoying as they are to find.

In the game, the spawn condition was the destruction of a ton of witchery trees. Taking out my stash of witchery trees from the chest, I begin mass planting and bone mealing them. A massive array of trees in front of me, I get to work.

Chopping them one by one as if I were in a trance. Nearly 2/3 of the way through the army of trees, it happened. Instead of breaking, the tree disintegrated into green petals. Swirling in a vortex of wind, hiding the inner space from sight.

When the leaves finally clear, an Ent stands within. A hulking creature of wood, long dangly branches for limbs and a head of yellowed leaves; large spear-like hands warn me of its danger. Thankful of my nigh-indestructible armor, I stand with confidence.

It turns its green eyes towards me, anger clearly within. Locking onto me like a missile, it rushes towards me. It’s heavyweight clear by the audible thump of every step. It reaches me in moments, lifting its spear-like appendage into the air.

I hear for a moment silence, before the limb descends like lightning. The strike was mighty, creating a shockwave from the impact. My armor stood, to my appreciation. Yet, I couldn’t help but marvel at the power of the strike. “Nature isn’t messing around.”

If a tree could have facial expressions, theirs have bewilderment. Recoiling back both from the impact and shock. They looked over me for a moment before the Reapers scythe removed its head.

My power staff knocked its head like a bat and baseball. I watched as its head disappeared into the horizon; “oops, a little too much power.” Thankfully, the body broke apart as normal. Leaving behind 2 Ent branches.

Picking it up like a delicate treasure, I bring it back to my witchery area. Placing it down, I quickly return, cutting down the remaining trees. My island isn’t big enough for that many trees.

Heading to my witchery chest, I remove a valuable item – a Creeper’s heart. I got it by pure chance, having considered using it for a witchery robe. I am glad I didn’t do that, as I need it for this recipe.

Demon blood, Creeper heart, and Redstone soup; the most valuable ingredients, also ingredients I have. Mixing the ingredients into the kettle, I quickly bottle a blue-tinted green syrup from the kettle. A single bottle from all those ingredients; made my heart wince.

Taking this magical liquid and Ent twig, I head to my ritual circle. Setting them both down, I activate the ritual. Natural energy quickly begins to course through me; I notice that it is faster and smoother than before – curious.

The energies coalesce onto the branch, releasing tendrils of green that crawl out towards the liquid. As the liquid disappears, an ocean blue covers the Ent Twig. As the ritual ends, the color fades away, leaving a shiny stick. A flicker of green and blue occasionally sparking off the twig.

“I now have a mystic branch; let’s test it!” I say with excitement. “You are a wizard Aeternum.” I always wanted to say that.

Holding the wand in my hand, I suddenly feel a tug on my chest. Slowly the white energy flows into the branch. It feels relaxing as the energy moves. I admire the flow before suddenly I am assaulted by chest pains. I watch as the pure white stream is tainted by other colors. Blues, greens, yellows, and a hint of black; all mix with the white changing into an unstable rainbow, “this might be bad.

I stop the flow, recoiling in shock. “This is definitely not normal.” Realizing nothing will get solved if I sit around, I start again. Slowly the flow begins; I watch as the energies slowly taint it.

I start to follow the other energies back to their sources, attempting to find where they are coming from. Going from size order, I follow the blue stream; it leads to my mind, my mana. I already knew this; I still checked nonetheless. The green next, it led to my heart; I assume some form of natural energy – blame botania. Next, the yellow, no, gold stream; leads below my navel. “What is that?” I can only ask myself in confusion.

Looking back towards the stream, I see the final energy that I can see. Like chocolate chips, black seeps into the stream. Different from the others, it appears to not have a source. Following the few flecks I can, I realize my body is riddled with them. Like contaminants, my body has lots of this energy throughout. I watch in horror as they split apart into more of them.

“Potential energy, it must be.” It is the only downright evil energy I have been exposed to. I guess this solves the insanity mystery. Everyone who looked upon the void went insane. If this energy gets into the body, It will just keep on increasing in amount. Hypothetically, if this reached a sufficient density, it could cause insanity. Evil enough for such a result.

Focusing on the particles, I realize I can manipulate them like every other energy. The only issue being the lack of them, spread out too far. Focusing on my will, I begin to collect them together. I watched as they went from particles to a sizable chunk of energy. One by one, I grabbed them, bringing them together at my right shoulder. When the final black shard was brought to it, I heard an audible crack. The energy shrunk rapidly to a 5th of its size.

The at first gaseous energy became a thick liquid. Reminding me of tar from the color and viscosity. “At least it is somewhere I can keep an eye on it now.”

I suddenly had an epiphany. Since when could I control all the energies in my body? Having infused myself, I can now control them all with just my mind. Like a muscle, I didn’t know I had. The feeling of control is intoxicating.

My abuzz with ideas, I realize night has fallen. Time has flown a bit faster than I thought. Heading home, I jump in bed. Sleep was difficult, my mind jumping between ideas. Eventually, I fell asleep.

When I finally woke up, I positively jumped out of bed. Ready for a day of experimentation, but first… “Gurgle.”

“Guess I could use some breakfast first.”

Heading downstairs, I see Cassie on my sofa. “Hey, good morning, Cassie.”

“Hey, did you sleep well?”

“Took a while, but I did.”

“Good, glad you had a good night.”

“I was about to make breakfast; want some?”

“Sure.” She replies with a smile. I wonder if this was her plan.

Heading towards the kitchen, I spot both Cassie and Chi follow me. Turning to the spider, “you too.” Which got vigorous nodding in reply. I just sigh; damned gluttons.

Just before reaching the kitchen, I hear a splat sound behind me. Turning once more, I see Sling following everyone. Narrowing my eyes at the slime, I swear they looked away before having the same unaware look.

Am I imagining it? Bloody hell, I am questioning if a slime has a brain; I’ve gone too far. Shaking my head in defeat.

I kept the slime in the corner of my eye until I reached the kitchen. “You lot, go wait. I am going to make breakfast.

With such a large group, I have only one option – pancakes. Mixing flour, milk, sugar, egg, lemon zest, and salt. Eyeballing it until it reached the right thickness.

I made a massive bowl of the stuff, realizing I have 3 gluttons in the room next door. Crafting a giant frying pan, I begin. Letting the big hunk of metal heat up, I work on the fillings. First, lemon, squeezing a dozen lemons into a jug. Next, I melt some chocolate before mixing it with palm oil, sugar, salt, and roasted hazelnuts. I had to leave it on a high-speed mix for ages.

Eventually, I am left with a viscous spreadable chocolate paste. I also prepare a variety of sugars and some candied lemon zest. By the time all that is done, the frying pan is hot enough.

Spraying it with oil, I pour the mixture into the pan. Moving the pan to evenly move the mixture across it. Once the bottom is cooked, I flip it with a spatula. I was about to flip it before I realized they are supersized.

I had the oven set to a low temperature, where I placed the pancakes to keep them hot. I repeated this process so many times I lost track. Somewhere around halfway through, I began flipping them.

I heard Cassie groan about me taking ages, which prompted me to finish off. Making one last mega-pancake with the remaining mixture. First, I take the toppings into the dining room. Walking through the door, I spot “Jengal.” Taking a double-take. “The gluttons are multiplying,” I say while shaking my head. Setting down the toppings, I head back to the kitchen.

Returning to the kitchen, I take the heavy plate of pancakes towards the dining room. Spotting Cassie and Jengal talking, I wonder when they got acquainted. I neglected to introduce them to each other. My own failing, but it seems unneeded now.

I give them a simple rundown of the food and how to eat it. Immediately after, I began filling my plate. This prompted an all-out fight for the food. The only one not involved being Sling, whom I made some chocolate pancakes for. Given the lack of limbs and or sensory organs. At least the slime can taste food; I would be lost without my sense of taste.

If I couldn’t taste food, I would just hook up a meat injector and cry in the corner. With startling speed, the 3 dozen or so pancakes disappeared. How they consumed such an ungodly amount, I don’t know.

Jengal leans back dramatically; “that… Was good.”

Cassie adds, “Yeah, I loved the chocolate.”

Jengal frowns, “You're crazy; the candied lemon and lemon juice was the best.”

“Chocolate is superior!”

“Lemon.”

“Chocolate.”

I mindlessly relax in my chair while they fight like children. Eventually, they conceded to a draw, given the fact taste is subjective. Chic mentally added to me, “chocolate.” As their vote. I didn’t say it out loud, but I agreed with Jengal. Both are nice, but you can’t beat lemon pancakes.

“So, what are you two doing here?” I ask the two trouble makers.

Chic mentally sends, “Bored.”

I reply, “not you; you live here.”

Which got a shrug.

Cassie speaks first, “Checking up on you.”

Jengal interjects, “what happened; did he get hurt?”

Which got Cassie turning a bright rosy color. Jengal looked between us, coming to some form of a conclusion. I don’t even want to know what he is imagining.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say to defuse his imagination. “So, what’s the visit for, Jengal?”

In a mirror of Chic, Jengal replies, “bored.” Which got me facepalming.

“Chic could use someone to play with. I cant always give them my attention.”

“Who is Chic?” Jengal asks.

I point towards the spider, “that is Chic, my familiar.”

He frowns a little, “I see. What is a familiar.”

“It is when you bind your soul to an animal, it becomes your familiar. It is an intimate bond, uplifting the intelligence of the creature and creating an unbreakable mental link. I am half positive even death wouldn’t break it.”

“So cool.” He says in amazement. Suddenly stroking Chic, to the spider’s pleasure. He turns to me with childlike enthusiasm. “Can I have a familiar?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Awesome.”