The Innkeeper

Lex finally stepped off the platform and followed the projection to another room while he considered his future plans. Killing Ra seemed like the most urgent matter. Since they already had a vendetta, Lex did not want to see him becoming stronger, so it seemed that for now his objective was aligned with the projections.

To reach Ra, according to the projection, Lex would have to go through approximately 8 tests, each one giving him access to deeper parts of the temple as well as more authority. The projection promised to reduce the difficulty of the tests to the best of its ability, making it easy for Lex to reach Ra.

But apparently, the deity had regained some of its strength by plundering the various divinities hidden in the temple, so Lex would not have such an easy time facing it as last time.

What to do after he defeats Ra… Lex put that aside for now. Instead, he focused on his immediate plans. The projection had offered him guidance and aid in his training, and Lex could not really find a flaw with the plan, so he would go along with it for now.

"What's your name?" Lex asked the projection. "I'm Lex, by the way."

"Mateo," the projection answered simply. "I am one of the many caretakers of the temple. Unfortunately, in its current state, the rest of the caretakers are dormant. Even I would be dormant if you all had not entered."

"And there's not much you can tell me about the origin of the temple," Lex stated, as if he did not even need to ask.

"Sometimes, information can be more harmful than helpful. Since the temple was hidden, it was clearly done so for a reason. If you know too much about the temple, its enemies will sense it. Then… there is no then. You will cease to exist after that, since the temple will automatically kill you to protect its secrets."

Lex frowned. It seemed like things were more complicated than they appeared, but none of that mattered. Lex would eventually retreat to the Inn, and even if he wanted to continue using the temple afterwards, he could simply use it without looking into its secrets.

As Lex and Mateo talked, they passed through a myriad number of halls and rooms. The temple was absolutely massive, and Lex could not tell how far it would go.

Eventually they reached an internal teleportation pad, through which the two reached a new area entirely. While the previous section looked like a hostel, or living area, the place they had entered now looked more like a laboratory of epic proportions.

"It will take some time to prepare for the removal of your divinities," Mateo said, the lab coming to life around them. Certain machines which had not moved in an unknown number of years finally began to tremble, and others began roaring as they came to life. For a brief second, Lex felt a tremendous amount of energy accumulate in his surroundings before a shield covered the area, and the energy was suppressed.

"In the meantime, why don't you tell me about your bonds?"

Lex jumped up on a table so that he would be at eye level with Mateo, and took off his tiny shirt. He pointed to his back, which was plain and ordinary. But then, after a few seconds, a tattoo of a lotus began to appear.

"For certain reasons, the Lotus is accompanying me. But I never officially bonded with it, it just attached itself to my back. But earlier on, the tattoo never vanished. At the same time, it protected my back from any kind of damage. But lately, it has stopped negating the damage to my back, and often the tattoo disappears.

"Currently, the Lotus is asleep. It's helped me quite a few times, sometimes to heal me, and other times to refine my body. But doing so uses up its energy, so the Lotus has been sleeping a lot lately."

Mateo studied the tattoo for a while, as if his eyes alone were enough to understand its intricacies.

"Even if you did not bond the Lotus initially, because it has been so closely connected to you for so long, and it has helped refine your body so much, it has naturally developed a bond to you. But since neither of you have ever purposely tried to connect the bond, it is only partial. My recommendation to you is that you try to build the bond. In the short term, it will be tremendously beneficial to you. But in the long term, even the Lotus will benefit from it.

"When a World Seed Lotus blooms into a world, its consciousness will fall asleep, and eventually fade. The world will then gain a new sentience of its own. But if it is bonded with you, it can use that bond to help prevent it from falling asleep. That will naturally ensure that its consciousness is not replaced."

Lex frowned. Although there were about 499,999 years until the Lotus bloomed, he was already quite attached to it. The idea that it may die, or have its consciousness fade, was quite off-putting. But at the same time, he did not want to force or trick the Lotus into a bond like it had done with Pelvailin.

"I'll communicate with it to see if it is willing to form a bond," Lex said, informing the projection of his decision.

"Don't do it here. Follow me. There's a special room that facilitates bonding between humans and planets. Although the seed has not turned into a world yet, it qualifies for the same treatment."

"There's a specific room for that? How often do people bond with planets?" Lex asked, astounded.

"It's pretty common, actually," Mateo said. "Even if the world does not gain sentience, when people become higher-level immortals, they get sentimental. They often bond with their home planets, and take them around with them."

"Right, of course. Because why wouldn't they?" Lex asked, his mind already filled with different ideas about going back to the solar system and bonding with Uranus when the time came.