The Innkeeper



Although Lex was not intimidated for he could escape to the Inn whenever he liked, the first impression was indeed quite overwhelming. In a meadow, there were perhaps thousands, tens of thousands or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of blades of grass, yet each and every one was radiating an aura that was at least at the nascent realm.

Interestingly enough, although the flora had cultivation, he could not detect any signs of sentience from them. They were ruled completely by their genetic programming which told them how to grow, how to photosynthesize and how to blend in with their environment.

He was thoroughly impressed, and wondered if this was similar to the wonder his guests experienced when they entered the Inn. Although he did not have an endless horde of powerful beings filling every inch of the ground, the Inn itself was also pretty cool, right?

Regardless, now that he was here, on this unusual planet, the first thing Lex did was inquire if he could link it to the Inn. The answer Mary gave him was yes, but to establish a connection he would still need to spend an extended time here.

Lex shook his head. As much as he wanted this place linked, he did not have the time to waste.

He looked around to see if he could find a path, for he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do next. He would have considered exploring the place if the circumstances were normal, but even he did not dare to randomly step on the grass here. Although his defense was strong, he doubted it could handle an onslaught if the grass here decided to target him!

"Follow the path," a voice whispered in his ear, and suddenly the grass parted, revealing a thin dirt road.

Lex, who remained unsurprised, simply nodded and began walking where the path led. From what he knew, Zuri Adisa was one of the strongest beings in the Origin realm. Well aware of how powerful high leveled cultivators became, nothing he saw would surprise him.

As such, Lex strolled casually through what could easily be described as the garden of Eden, and took mental notes. In many ways, the place was very ordinary. It was just that the incredibly high cultivation realm of each and every plant elevated the beauty and presence that they generated.

Lex even saw a small butterfly, and he had no doubt believing that a single flap of its wings really could cause a hurricane.

The winding path eventually led him from the meadow into the forest, where each and every tree stood tall and strong, making them seem more durable than the walls of many fortresses. They probably even were.

It was ironic then that the thing they were supposedly protecting was a million times stronger than them.

There was no special clearing, no sudden change or strange temples. One moment, he was walking through the forest, surrounded by normal trees, until he arrived at one peculiar looking tree that was shaped like a throne. Upon that throne sat a tall, petite woman, her skin light green, as if it was made from a leaf.

She had a humanoid appearance, though her height of 8 feet (2.4 meters) made her much taller than any normal human. She also had long, pointed ears, so maybe it was more appropriate to say she had an elvish appearance rather than humanoid.

"Greetings senior," Lex said, giving a simple bow. He was not exactly sure what etiquette to show when meeting such an eminent being, but he definitely was not about to be subservient. Bowing was already enough of a show of respect in his opinion.

Of course, he could not be sure that he was addressing Zuri Adisa, but the fact that she was the only being on this planet not blasting her aura told Lex that she was different from the rest.

"Greetings child," she said, her voice soft and creamy. Listening to her made Lex's heart melt, as if it was the most beautiful melody to have ever existed. But that was it. It did not influence his psyche, nor did it want to make him want to worship the woman. Anything he felt was out of pure and genuine appreciation for something beautiful, and not a result of some powerful laws affecting him.

"I am Zuri, as you can probably guess," she continued. "Your aura is so familiar, child. I wonder where I have met you before."

Lex was stumped, for he was certain that he had never encountered Zuri before, but she did not seem to be asking him. She merely closed her eyes for a moment, as if recalling.

"Ah yes, I see now. You have been near one of my clones. First on a planet called earth, and then in a place referred to as the Midnight Inn."

While Zuri spoke, back at the Midnight Inn, the tree that was being constantly taken care of by the turtle and its adopted pets trembled, ever so slightly. But nothing more happened, almost making one feel as if they had imagined it.

"Your… your clone?" Lex asked, genuinely surprised. If he ran into one of her clones on earth it would be fine if he didn't recognize her, but how could he have missed her at the Midnight Inn?

It made no sense. He made a mental note to go back and sweep the Inn again, to make sure there were no entities hidden from him.

"Yes, I have clones across the Origin realm. Don't fret. Most of my clones don't really do anything. Consider it an inclination of my plant heritage to want to spread myself as far and wide as possible."

Zuri thoroughly observed Lex while she spoke, as if inspecting him for any secrets. Or perhaps she wasn't looking for secrets, and just wanted to study him. Either way, she seemed satisfied with whatever she saw.

"If you don't mind me saying so, child, your body is a mess. You should consider cleaning yourself - there are too many external influences attached to you."

For some unusual reason, Lex suddenly thought back to the system's remarks. More than once, it had asked him to shower, or rather, clean himself. As expected, Lex only took that as the system being mean to him, but now that Zuri said something similar, perhaps there was more to it than it seemed.

"What… what external influences? I have never detected any problems."

He was, of course, worried that she might mean the system, but his gut said otherwise.

With a soft, gentle smile, Zuri leaned forward and touched his forehead with her index finger.

"There are remains of one inscription here. Although the inscription has long since deteriorated, its remains still exist, polluting your aura."

Then she touched his heart.

"There still exists a very active inscription here. According to what I can see, it is hiding your bloodline from being detected."

Then, she touched the base of his neck.

"The last one exists here. It is a silent tracker. It will stay dormant most of the time, but once activated, it will immediately reveal your location to whoever cast the inscription."

Lex was thoroughly startled! There were so many hidden inscriptions in his body! He had never realized they were even there, despite his extremely potent intuition and self awareness. The only people he could imagine having placed that… were his parents! This was extremely dangerous. He did not know how potent the tracker was, but what if it was activated while he was acting as the Innkeeper?

Although he suspected his Host Attire kept his body safe from external probing, otherwise many others would have long noticed the issues with his body. Or maybe, many had noticed it, but never mentioned them.

"The inscriptions are not a problem generally," Zuri said, "but due to the special nature of your body, the laws within them are polluting your aura. Long term, it could be bad for you."

"Thank you for pointing this out!" Lex said very sincerely! He would think of a way to resolve this issue as soon as possible!

"There is no need for such formality. I quite like your aura, so I don't mind helping you out."

Lex nodded, and did not continue to focus on the matter. Instead, he pulled out two vials of the Cosmic Erosion Elixir.

He meant to give the second one as a thanks, and a show of good faith since she helped him out, but Zuri did not bother with it, and only took a single vial. Perhaps, to her, Lex's gesture was akin to a small child giving an adult a piece of candy. It could be appreciated, but it was not really needed.

"Take this blade," she said, sending towards him a small clay pot full of soil, and a single blade of grass.

"I do not recommend you plant it anywhere. There are very few places that can provide the required nourishment to keep it alive. You are more likely to turn a thriving planet into a barren, desolate land than support this blade."