The Innkeeper



Lex could not tell what the figure was thinking, or what it felt about his question. The only thing he had to go determine anything about the figure was its voice. Compared to everything else about the figure, which was quite enigmatic, the figure's voice itself was a very standard masculine voice.

The fact that the figure didn't immediately answer, however, was unusual and created the first real pause in the conversation. Lex didn't think the answer was beyond the figure, since he did not hesitate to talk about systems with Lex. Moreover, he did not really seem all that impressed by the systems either. He so easily talked about the Midnight Inn not being the strongest system, as if even the strongest system was beneath him. Or, maybe, he himself had the strongest system.

Eventually, the silence ended, but instead of providing an answer, the figure sighed.

"Wrong question, boy. But, considering how abruptly all this is happening, I'll do you one more favor and answer a better question. I think the more pertinent question would have been 'what kind of questions should I ask you'. While I can answer whatever questions you have, such as the purpose of the systems, knowing the answer will not in any way improve your situation whatsoever. Instead, you should focus on questions the answer to which will immediately benefit you, either by guiding your actions or saving you from some hazard. Of course, if you still wish to know about the system, ask again. I'll answer this time."

Lex paused for a moment, and thought of all the problems currently plaguing him. There was the quest of discovering the issue with the Crystal realm, the Henali asking for toll payment, his family, information about improving his own system, the Regal Embrace, the…

Lex's eyes widened as he rearranged his priorities very quickly. He could use the figure to help him resolve a lot of problems, sure, but there were many problems he could resolve himself if he were stronger. So, he would receive a greater benefit from increasing his strength!

"How can I overcome the issue with the Regal Embrace?" Lex asked, this time more confident about his question. This was probably the most important issue plaguing him. He could try to resolve it on his own, but his lack of knowledge would be a huge issue.

"Good question! The answer is twofold. The simple answer is, you can resolve the issue using your system. More specifically, the system can give you a reward that will resolve your problem. But just knowing that will not resolve your problem, so let me elaborate.

"I believe currently, the prompt you have been given is that the Regal Embrace has no way of progressing forward, as you have deviated from the path it had developed. That is actually incorrect. A more specific prompt would be that there is a path forward, but based on your current cultivation, you likely have no way of accessing the resources that will be required to pave the way forward. But the Regal Embrace is a self-contained entity, and it has no way of knowing that you can use the system to get resources.

"So now that you know that there indeed is a path forward, the question is, what are the resources you need and how can you get the system to give them to you? It's very simple really, you need to get a minimum of a SSS rank reward for a quest. Trust me, any reward you get from the system of that rank and higher will be exactly what you need to fix the Regal Embrace.

"But, and now this is important, whatever reward you get will evolve the Regal Embrace based on the reward as well as your new current affinity. So, the higher your reward, the better the result will be, so I suggest you put your full effort into this matter."

Lex immediately had a few other questions to follow up, such as what did he mean by the Regal Embrace was a self-contained entity? But he did not ask them. Since his questions were limited, he would not make such an obvious mistake.

He had another question, but he wasn't sure if asking that question would be a waste. He hesitated for a few moments while he debated with himself, but decided to ask anyway.

"What can my Soul sense do? I don't understand it completely."

Although he still could not see the figures true appearance, Lex got the feeling that he smiled.

"Not a bad question. The gist of it is that it can allow you to detect, interact with and influence any soul or soul related item. Heh, once you become adept at it, it won't be an exaggeration to say you can literally rip the soul out of someone's body! You can also change the nature of a soul. Sometimes, souls have inherent natures and sometimes they are developed, but whatever the case, you can interact with them. Heh, if you had a more… evil inclination, it would be within your capacity to manipulate someone's soul to turn them into your slave forever. Of course, there are other minor things such as detecting the presence of life, being able to detect lies through fluctuations in souls, and communicating directly through souls similar to how spirit sense is used. The difference is, Soul sense is a lot harder to detect as very few races inherently develop it.

"The most relevant thing to you, however, is that if you meet someone with a system, you can remove the system from their souls without harming them! Even if the system merged with their souls, all it would take is a little bit of skill and practice, and you can pull that bad boy right out!"

At this point, the figure started to chuckle.

"Not right now, but once you grow a bit, you can even become a phenomenal doctor, able to dismiss even death. All you'd have to do is move a soul from a dying body to an empty one capable of supporting life. Of course, that's only if the cause of death is physical, and not directly related to the soul. Oh, did I mention you can directly assault souls? Yes, there's that too."