The Innkeeper

The Raskal was smashed into the ground, forming a large crater with spiderweb cracks that spread across the forest floor. He was injured and a trail of blood flowed down from his lip, but that was the extent of his injury.

It was not anger that filled the Raskals' eyes, but discipline. He was a trained soldier, but more importantly, he did not have much room to think. In this disadvantaged situation, the only thing running through his brain was the training he received.

He drew his weapon, a section staff with four chained staffs instead of the usual three. Each one of his hands firmly held onto one of the sections. Letting out a battle cry, he attacked!

Dashing up into the air, the Raskal swung his staff furiously at the flying, shining golf cart in an attempt to squash it like a fly.

Yet, instead of clashing, the staff gently patted the cart as all its energy had already been diverted. A green flame shot out of two exhausts at the back of the cart, before the cart seemed to jet out towards the flying alien.

Yet, the cart was still in its original location. What flew towards the Raskal was an attack in the image of the cart, followed closely by a few more!

No longer underestimating the opponent, the Raskal promptly dodged the raining golf carts and pulled back his staff. Holding the two ends of the staff, he started swinging it around himself like a jump rope, while his two free hands pulled out a slingshot and took aim at Gerard.

It did not matter if his attacks were useful or not; the Raskal was not able to think so far ahead. All it knew was to attack, and so it did. Launching endless projectiles at the cart, the Raskal also moved closer to smash the cart with his staff that he was constantly swinging. Even if Gerard absorbed some energy from it, the alien was providing energy constantly. And yet, it seemed to make no difference.

Like a swan gliding across a lake, the golf cart moved around the forest, easily dodging the attacks. Realizing his attacks up until had now failed, a seriousness entered Gerard's eyes as a silver, shining clutch and gear appeared beside him.

Wiping off the first bead of sweat he had ever experienced in his entire life, Gerard revved the cart. He was far from done.

*****

Near the forest, four Raskals were searching for enemies. Since they had appeared in an isolated area, Lex had yet to teleport them into the formation because they were not a priority and he was too busy taking care of nonstop emergencies. Suddenly, they heard a familiar battle-cry coming from the forest, and immediately turned that way.

The battle-cry was actually a signal of a tough fight and a call for reinforcements. Since their aid was needed, they would respond, for that was how they had been trained. They began jogging towards their goal, pulling out their weapons as they did.

*****

Z was at the edge of his seat, watching an anime called Sasuke, doing his best to hold back his tears. The start of the show was so emotional, and he could really feel the protagonist's pain, while cursing the antagonist of the show, Sakura, with all his heart. But then, suddenly, everything changed.

One moment he was in the Gamer's Den, the next moment he was at the front gate of the Inn. Before he could even begin to feel confused about what had just happened, the assistant innkeeper sent him, as well as all the other workers, a message telling them that they were being invaded.

Still amped up by all the emotions he had been feeling, and filled with frustration and hate, he immediately turned on his battle music and let loose a war cry. Instead of a single card, all 52 cards from his deck started flying in the surrounding air, before they flew directly into the army of Raskals.

This time, he did not use the flat of the cards, and used their sharp edges to cut through the enemy horde! He was visualizing all the enemies from every anime he had ever seen, and did not forget to yell the name of his attack while he was at it.

"Is-this-your-card jutsu!"

But, as spirited as Z was, unlike Gerard, he was neither at the peak of Qi training nor had his bloodline evolved. Let alone killing, even hurting the Foundation realm Raskals was a difficult task for him.

Fortunately, even as his cards swept through the enemy ranks, and the surrounding guests were starting to realize something unusual was happening, he was not the only staff member there.

Doe, the rarely seen worker who was John's assistant, along with Pamela, were up on their feet and quickly bringing the guests to a corner away from the fighting that had abruptly erupted.

Gerards fellow chauffeurs were also doing their best at separating the enemies and the guests, even as Lex began teleporting them away one by one. The caretakers and staff from Avallon were doing their parts as well.

On one side, Harry was frozen in fear, unable to fight because he was just a normal human until recently... not! He was standing still because he was using his sorcery and literally burning the souls of any Raskals that dared near him. He was born and bred in New York. Something as mundane as a fight to the death could not phase him at all.

But, even with all their help, as well as the hundreds of vines that started to emerge from the ground to attack the Raskals, the Inn staff was but a single strong attack from the Nascents away from being destroyed.

So far, the only reason the strongest of the Raskals hadn't attacked yet was because, according to their training, they had to let their subordinates test out the enemy's strength first. They would wait 2 whole minutes before attacking, unlike what they would have done if they were alone, in which case they would have attacked immediately.

The Golden core Raskals would attack after 1 minute. While these intervals were short, they were enough to analyze the enemy's battle strength. Fortunately for the Inn, this is where their lack of intellect played in. The strategy they employed was for direct or pitched battles, and not a surprise raid, in which case they should have used their strongest attacks first.

This gave the Inn's staff, Mary and Lex enough time to respond.

*****

While Lex was still teleporting his guests away, managing to move several each second, Mary was not resting either. She was controlling the vines, yes, but she was also doing something else equally important.

John had not even begun to torture- no, eh, to interrogate his attacks when she appeared right before him.

"John, the Inn is under attack. I need you to go to the front gate and help out," she said in a commanding tone.

John, however, was not too keen on it. Not that he didn't want to help, but that he would rather not get involved with anyone with the guts to attack this Inn, whether they were misguided or not. He was even more reluctant to fight since his cultivation was actually sealed, and while he had a tough body, in actuality, he was not a body cultivator. Not to mention, he was not an actual official Inn staff member as he had never used the Platinum key, so technically, it was none of his business. Finally, while the Innkeeper was mysterious and powerful, he could tell this assistant was nothing more than a hologram. She did not intimidate him.

"Assistant innkeeper, I don't mean to be rude, but you probably know that my cultivation is actually sealed. Although it may not seem like it, I am not really able to fight."

Mary, who had been about to leave, froze. She turned and gave John a look that spelled death.

John was not deterred, and just as he was waiting for her to threaten him or something, he heard a sound that he never would have expected. It was the familiar ping of his system.

New Quest: Eliminate invaders

Quest time limit: 5 minutes

Quest Reward: Jericho puzzle piece

Quest failure punishment: Permanent drop in cultivation by 1 major realm

Remarks: A good assassin needs to be able to eliminate armies

John was not only startled, he was aghast. This was not the kind of quests his system usually gave him, and he had never encountered a ques punishment before. But more than that, he dreaded a single thought that was roaming in his mind.

"But, despite my inability, as a part of the Inn, I will do my best to protect it," he quickly said, and bolted towards the Inn's gates. 5 minutes was not a lot of time, he absolutely could not suffer such a disability as letting his cultivation drop. To be fair, he had gained all his cultivation through the system so it made sense that it could also take it away. Still, it was not something he wanted to experience.

Especially since, in the back of his mind, he could not stop imagining the death stare Mary gave him moments before his quest popped up.

'Could she have... No, It was Impossible!' he thought to himself, but his grimace only worsened.