The Innkeeper

Lex had gotten used to using the technique to disable his divination before he slept, but today, before this nap, he tried something different. Instead of trying to prevent vision, he focused on two key words: 'treasure' and 'system'.

He was hoping that, through the use of divination, he'd be able to get some clues. He was not depending on it entirely for answers, but it was worth a try. It was one of the reasons he wanted to wake up after only a couple of hours, lest he be completely drained when he woke.

But, as usual, things spiraled out of control. A part of him had expected as much, to be honest. Due to the flood of information, he entered a deep sleep and was unable to wake up naturally, or even through Mary's probing.

But, though the nap ended up being longer than anticipated, it did not go on for too long. Around his eighth hour sleeping, something 'clicked' and Lex suddenly woke up fully ready for a fight.

His instincts had always been a large contributing factor to his survival. Heck, back in the Crystal realm, they had even warned him about attention he received from an Earth immortal! Back then, he had sensed an unknown danger approaching.

Right now, in his sleep, Lex's instincts suddenly kick in, and with much greater clarity than ever before. It was as if previously his instincts would only vaguely point him in certain directions, but now it was using short sentences to explain the problem.

The moment Lex woke up, he knew exactly what his instincts were picking up, and he could even trace it to its origin. To his north, something had clear and concise malicious intentions towards him specifically, and had the ability to threaten him.

Using the Host Attire, he extended his vision all the way to the boundary of the Inn, but the danger was beyond it.

The inability to instantly locate the threat gave Lex pause, and finally allowed his thoughts to catch up with himself. Even without asking Mary he knew that he overslept. But he was not disappointed. In fact, he felt exhilarated.

He had a few visions in his sleep, but he could not recall them. Perhaps that's why he did not feel drained. But that hardly mattered, for he had finally gained all the knowledge relating to this realm, and besides a few dangerous weather patterns he needed to prepare the Inn to guard against, he discovered something he was very sure would help the system.

It was a type of resin buried deep within the continents, and was something left over from the time before the continents even formed. It was a condensed form of highly potent energy that was actually used in the creation of the realm that had become trapped due to various reasons, and solidified.

If there was anything in this realm that could help the system, it would be that resin. But there was a catch. On Menara, most of the resin had actually been discovered by the massive tree, and absorbed. Only very few traces of it remained, though Lex had mentally marked their location for himself.

On the bright side, on the other two continents, the resin remained undiscovered. All he needed to access it was to find his way across the sea to the other lands and dig it up somehow.

To be honest, with his new array of abilities, he did not consider the task too difficult. Besides, he had teleported across entire galaxies, so what was a small sea to stop him?

But getting the resin could wait, as he had a few things to take care of first.

He summoned Luthor, who had completed his breakthrough just an hour prior, and had successfully fused with the fire Lex had given him that he took from the test in the Temple of Fasting.

It was best not to delay the matter of addressing the invading empire, for despite the number of deaths they were sustaining in securing their area, they just kept throwing more and more soldiers at the problem. Moreover, with each victory, they gained access to more materials to catalyze their growth.

Lex did not think they would become a real threat, but very much believed that they could become a nuisance.

Lex instructed Luthor to take the Silent Wanderer, as well as a group of stronger workers, including Fredrich, to go and inform the empire that they were encroaching on owned territory.

He strongly doubted that they would comply so easily, but he hoped they would. It was best if things were handled peacefully. While he was still deciding on whether to act against such civilisations on the grounds of morality, he was absolutely firm in his decision to act if they wanted to become enemies.

A part of Lex wondered why it was so easy for him to acclimatize to such a brutal way of life. He never had that mental breakdown that he'd often read about characters having when they kill for the first time. He didn't suffer from that whole identity crisis of taking another life either.

He shrugged as he couldn't come up with an answer. Maybe the boomers were right. Maybe playing video games had turned him into a desensitized monster. Or maybe he just felt such thoughts were pedantic, and a product of modern society on earth. He doubted people in olden times spent so much time thinking of such things.

Luthur set off with Cirk, Gerard, Z, Chad, Leonidus the leader of the next battalion Lex was forming, Jace, the Inn worker who had earth powers, Sandra, the worker who could control electricity, and Alfonso, the kid who had unlimited food in his pockets.

There were about a dozen more workers who joined them, all old members of the old battalion. Compared to the number of invaders, this was too few. But Lex seriously doubted they'd face any problems. Just in case they did, he'd be paying attention and would teleport over immediately.

But until then, he had other issues to personally deal with, starting with the invasion of potatoes. They had displaced countless animals and beasts, and though Lex did not understand why they were dangerous, he did not want to let them spread unchecked. He would consult the turtle first to see if it had any suggestions.