The Innkeeper

The sealed domain was like a massive cube, with all sides sealed perfectly. It did not even give off an aura, and if it hadn't been for Wyrm's Glyph, Lex never would have found it. It absorbed no spiritual energy, and gave off none either.

According to Pel, that meant that it had formed the perfect cycle within it, achieving zero loss of energy and recycling everything. Such a case was unbelievable, and only further strengthened Pel's belief that the ones responsible for it were fairies.

But the thing about fairies was that if they were completely infallible, they never would have fallen so low. He could not comment on what they were like at their peak, but at least as things stood today, their abilities had certain flaws that were simple enough to take advantage of.

Pel transmitted another set of exercises to Lex, this time also focused on Domination, though not for a Glyph. Instead, it was a more enhanced way to use the technique. Lex had already been using Domination for similar purposes, but he had been doing it like an amateur. It was as if he had been using a sword for a long time, only to be told that he had to remove the scabbard first for maximum effect.

With the proper guidance on hand, Lex quickly learned how to make best use of the technique, and began to display it. Previously, the reason Lex would slam down Domination where he wished to use it was because of the impact Dragons Might had on him. He had barely survived just the passive Dragons Might given off, so he imagined that when properly used, the aura was even more overwhelming.

He was both right and wrong. The reason he was right was because when used properly, it would have been much more powerful, making it so that it would have been impossible for Lex to achieve the feats that he had.

But he was also wrong because, well, in the end, aura was just aura. To a dragon, their aura was just a passive way to display their prominent status while eliminating those unworthy to even stand in their presence. It was the literal tip of the iceberg when it came to their abilities.

In this case, what Lex needed to use was exactly the very feature of his aura, or Domination, that would enhance his status while pushing away that which was unworthy of being in his presence.

It was a very arrogant way of putting it, but then again, he was using a dragons technique, so it made sense that it was worded this way.

He withdrew all his natural aura completely and then wrapped his body in Domination. He allowed it to pervade every fiber of his being, and come in contact with every aspect of himself.

The application of Domination he was about to use could not be trained or manipulated. It would emit an aura depicting his true worth, and how effective it would be in pushing others away would be completely dependent on that.

Ordinarily, this would only work on living beings, but in the case of fairies who were purposefully brought low and weakened through curses and much more, it would apply on all of their techniques and works as well.

Lex himself could not sense the flavor his aura took on, so he was not certain what it felt like when displayed like this, and there was no other living creature around to tell him either. He could ask Pel, but he felt that might give him a biased answer.

Regardless, whatever it felt like, it was at least effective. Slowly, the domain under his feet parted, and gave way. Lex got the odd feeling that the reason the partition was slow to open was not because his aura was not super effective, but that it was a display of deference rather than fear.

Since it was effective, he did not particularly care what the specific feeling was. He lowered himself through the opening carefully, passing through what felt like a very long and narrow tunnel.

Just the thickness of the sealed domain barrier must have been at least a mile long. When he finally reached the end, he passed through a thin film that seemed to separate the outside and the inside.

As soon as he passed through, Lex felt the difference. It felt like he was no longer within the Midnight realm as he noted a number of differences.

First off, the gravity was about half the strength of the realm. Secondly, the ambient spiritual energy was also weaker. But, that hardly made a difference as it was still more concentrated than most places Lex had visited before. In fact, due to the spiritual energy being weaker, Lex felt like the environment here was much better and clearer.

Third, he felt a number of restrictions trying to lock on to him. They had to keep their distance because of the aura he was emitting, but they were constantly trying to find a way to latch on to him.

He did not feel that the restrictions were particularly powerful, or harmful, so he slowly ended his technique and allowed them to latch on to his body. After all, each domain had special rules, according to Pel. As long as he acted within those rules, he would have an easier time. If, however, he kept breaking the rules, then the domain would specifically start targeting him.

As interested as he was in exploring this domain, his primary interest was in locating the resin. Preferably, he should have already found the resin by the time his system upgrade from absorbing the Lone Assassin system finishes. That way, he would immediately be able to test if the resin worked.

He felt the restrictions latch on to him and… empower him? Lex felt incredibly confused as he felt a projection of a gold crown appear around his forehead, a diamond shaped golden crystal embedded right in its center.