The Innkeeper

On a remote planet, devoid of all life, a swordsman was sitting cross legged with a normal looking double sided sword on his lap. The area where the man sat was completely black, as if the surface of the planet had been charred by a strong flame, yet the char did not rub off on his clothes.

The sound of thunder rumbled in the sky above him, causing the cultivator to open up his eyes and look up. His lightning tribulation was finally coming, though that did not seem to elicit any emotion from the man.

"All the oracles, fortune tellers and prophets in the market seem to have disappeared," said a woman reading from a file. Though she was quite a distance away from him, her voice carried as if she was right beside him.

"I told you, we should stop relying on them," the man calmly replied as he stood up.

"Well excuse me for trying. One of my daughters, and my son have disappeared and I have no other way to look for them. What do you want me to do?"

"Put your shoes on, it's almost time," the man said looking up.

The woman grumbled, but she listened to the man and quickly put on her shoes that she had taken off while she rested. The man seemed cavalier and uninterested in the fate of his children, but it was only because he could sense that they were still all alive.

While the two were chatting, the man's lightning tribulation began, yet the lightning did not have time to fall. As soon as it formed, a sword slash filled with incredibly sharp sword intent cut the skies open, revealing an unknown space.

The man and the woman quickly jumped through the opening, leaving the planet for some unknown destination. 

*****

Silence filled the room as Lex and Powell stood face to face. They were staring each other in the eyes, neither willing to back off. A silent tension began to build as the seconds passed by as neither said anything, though they both knew the value of each second surpassed that of an entire spirit stone mine.

Tick. One spirit stone mine. Tock. Another spirit stone mine. Tick-tock. Two more mines, and each second that passed by like this, they were losing out on mines like this!

Finally, Powell could no longer contain himself and opened his mouth, but the door behind him swung open and another Powell walked out! For some reason, Lex knew that he was once again face to face with the original Powell.

"Are you serious? You have unlimited access to a dragon's hoard?"

"Yes, but I cannot say for how long. You can decide whether you want to suffer a loss by wasting time negotiating, or you want to minimize your losses and just give me what I want."

"Are you willing to sign a soul contract? The only stipulation will be that inside the hoard you will look for a very specific treasure for me and do your best to get it without having to suffer mortal danger. If there's too much danger, you can stop, or if you don't find it then it's my loss. But if you do find it, you have to hand it over. In exchange, I'll give you the best protection we have against spirit pull, and the largest spatial treasure we have available. Both will be free, as long as you sign the soul contract!"

Lex raised an eyebrow, but did not give his emotions away in any other way.

"Let me see the contract. You should also tell me what the treasure is and where it might be. Every second I waste, someone else could be closing in."

"It's called Peronian Jade. I'll give you a compass that looks for it, and a special container for it as well. The jade has no harmful qualities so you don't need to worry about anything, but you have to give every bit of it you find. It'll be a part of the contract."

He pondered for a moment, but had no recollection of the item. Although it was no doubt going to be extremely valuable, Lex would be getting sufficient gains in exchange. He examined the soul contract but found no tampering, or any other conditions besides the one Powell stated.

He didn't like having to sign a soul contract, but considering he would be getting two extremely valuable treasures in exchange, Lex suppressed his discomfort.

"Fine, I'll sign it," he said. "But first, I want to see what you'll be giving me."

Powell nodded, and brought out two items. One was a large drum that could be worn on one's back. It was not exactly inconspicuous, but it contained 1 mile square of area inside it. Unfortunately, that was still too small compared to the dragon hoard, but it was big enough for now. The second item was a crown that looked quite flimsy. In fact, Lex was slightly concerned he might break it by just picking it up, but Powell assured him that that was the best tool they had to protect him from spirit pull.

Not wanting to waste any time, Lex signed the contract using his finger as the pen and spirit energy as the ink. As soon as he signed it he felt an uncomfortable sensation in his body. It was something he could ignore, but at the same time it was mildly suffocating, as if he wore a tie too tightly.

Powell also handed him a thin, black piece of jade, which was the compass that would point him towards Peronian Jade.

With everything in order, Lex promptly left the shop, and then teleported to the Inn, then back to the hoard. Barely a couple of minutes had passed, but Lex's situation was completely different, hopefully. He put on the flimsy crown and tested to see if his thoughts still drifted. Nearly 30 seconds later, Lex finally concluded that he was safe, as he was able to retain his lucidity throughout.

The capitalist in Lex was finally set free, and he grinned like a madman as he descended to the bottom most floor of the hoard. Getting free money and treasure felt even better than collecting tax refunds!