The Innkeeper

Sitting in the tavern, Lex smiled. It was such a strange experience. He was sitting indoors, but at the same time he could feel the wind on his face. He was sitting indoors, but he could see the vast horizon. He was doing absolutely nothing, but at the same time he was embarking on a great adventure. It felt surreal.

It was a rare moment of peace where Lex could kick back and sincerely say that despite all the crap that he had to face, the dangers, the risks, the uncertainty, life was really interesting and worth living.

Lex was not someone who easily got bored - when he didn't have a tumor. Others would get tired of the monotony, or generally lose interest in things, but that had never been Lex. A cold drink on a hot day was always good, leftover pizza was always good, the sunset was always good, going on an adventure was always exciting and experiencing new things was always interesting.

Heck, Lex wouldn't even mind enjoying a nice volcanic explosion once he was done conditioning his body to not be absolutely devastated by it.

Which is exactly why, despite the many problems he had on his checklist to resolve, he didn't mind enjoying this moment. Who knew, in the future his fairy self might collect a crew of misfits and go search for one piece of resin. It would be a dangerous adventure, considering his fairy body didn't have the same toughness as his regular body yet.

But since his fairy body had left, he should really head back and check up on the rest of the fairies. It would be quite a waste if by the time he went back, they had already left - not that it would be too hard for him to search for them.

Lex got up, setting his drink on the table, and said to the owner, "well, I'm out. Sorry for the misunderstanding - and the hole in your wall."

The owner looked at him, and though he had not a shred of exhaustion left in his body, still gave Lex a fed up look.

"If I were you, I'd stay for a while longer - if you want to avoid being annoyed."

"Oh? How come?"

"I'm not in the habit of showering in blood, just so you know," the tavern owner said, commenting on his state. Lex, honestly speaking, hadn't paid attention to the blood at all.

"The city lord has lost his mind. Without his projection to subdue others in the city, he suddenly started feeling insecure, so he's ordered his guards to attack anyone he feels could threaten him. Most of the city is in chaos, to be honest."

Lex was actually surprised to hear that, and then realized that he didn't have his spirit sense spread out observing the place because... well because he wasn't particularly looking for anything.

"This city lord, would you say he's a good ruler generally? Or is this sort of thing a norm for him?"

"You a foreigner? Well that makes sense. The city lord is a spoiled idiot who had life handed to him on a silver platter. His family was rich so they spoiled him, and helped him raise his projection level as high as they could. With that to help him subjugate others, he's forcefully held his position for years. Now that the projections have faded, he's lost his mind."

Lex nodded, then continued to walk out the door. On the topic of enjoying life, there was one thing he'd once thought about doing but never really got around to. Now that he just happened to encounter an insecure tyrant, he wouldn't mind being an unknown hero to the city.

But naturally he would not just take the tavern owners word for it. He spread his spirit sense out and collected information, and it didn't take much time. The city lord was an extreme result of the caste system that was prevalent in the sealed domain. In fact, Lex didn't doubt that if he could raise his projection level even higher, he would absolutely start taking slaves.

His orders to the city guard to go kill a bunch of people didn't really help his case either. For a moment Lex hesitated. Was it right to go around being a vigilante just because he was powerful?

It was a slippery slope. Once he got in the habit of deciding peoples fates, it might not stay limited to cruel city lords.

But the hesitation lasted only a second. Whether he wanted to or not, he was already in a leadership position, and every decision he made was already affecting the fate of countless others. Every single being in this entire realm was only born as a result of his decisions. It was a little too late to become squeamish about making such decisions. He just had to make sure that he wasn't harming others for no reason, and bringing about a net positive result.

That might not be the most ethical mind set, but in an existence where he was just a bug compared to the rest of the universe, he didn't exactly mind if had to make some compromises.

He teleported directly to the city lord, who was sitting in a security bunker surrounded by dozens of guards. The man was literally taking some kind of drugs when Lex arrived.

"Pel, teach me how to make illusions," Lex communicated with his ring, and received the corresponding feedback. Having an incredibly high comprehension was amazing, because it took him only a few minutes to learn the technique completely.

The entire time, Lex just stood there in the bunker right in plain view, but the city lord did not notice, for he was too busy preparing his next hit of whatever he was taking.

Up above the city, a massive image appeared, immediately attracting the attention of the residents. Even the few who did not notice immediately caught on soon enough, as everyone was peering into the sky.

The image was from Lex's point of view, showing the city lord dedicatedly working hard on his passion project - a blunt strong enough to affect a cultivator.