The first shot hit the Alpha directly in the face, but the Alpha did not even flinch. The shot barely broke its skin, and after a couple of drops of blood the wound completely healed. Lex felt like cursing, but instead focused his fire on the other wolves behind the Alpha while retreating. He had retreated only a few steps when he felt his body tense, his instincts screaming at him to dodge! Lex did not hesitate in throwing himself to the side, but he was still too slow. He felt something hit him on the chest, launching him off to the side. The air left his body and he puked all over the ground as soon as he landed. He did not let that stop him, however, as he reached into his bag and pulled out his last flashbang. He pressed the button on it and started running – or stumbling – away from the wolves.
The ten second delay seemed like infinity, and he kept shooting towards the wolves to try and keep them at a distance. When there were only a couple seconds left he threw the flashbang towards the Alpha and bolted away. He heard a bang behind him, followed by the howling of wounded wolves.
'Bloody hell!' he exclaimed internally as he ran. He had no idea what had hit him, and he just realized that he had lost his grip on his short sword when he was hit. Fortunately the gun was still in his hand, but there was no way he could go back for the sword. Hopefully he bought himself a few-
Lex felt his body tense and immediately rolled to the side, just in time to see a large object fly by where he was just running. He looked back and saw the Alpha standing in the distance, launching some kind of air blast from its mouth towards him. Lex rolled again to dodge, and immediately aimed the Heavy Harley towards the Alpha. He tried to shoot it in the mouth, but he was too disoriented to aim properly and missed all his shots!.
'Bloody hell give me a break!' he screamed internally and he threw himself behind a tree to break line of sight with the Alpha, and kept running.
"You have 20 bullets remaining. You should also drink a Botlam Dew in case you have internal injuries," said Mary, but stayed out of his sight to avoid distracting him.
Immediately Lex bought a Botlam Dew mentally and drank it, ignoring the familiar taste. He was in trouble, reloading his magazine took a couple of minutes. He needed to get somewhere he could hide for a few minutes. But how could the wolves give him any time? The few wolves left that had been accompanying the Alpha ran in front of him, cutting off his escape path as the growling Alpha slowly made its way towards him. Lex backed up against a tree once again, to keep the wolves from attacking him from his back, and focused on the Alpha.
'Never gonna wish for some more excitement ever again,' he said to himself internally. His initial excitement for combat had worn off, but it wasn't fear that replaced it. He was filled with immense focus and determination. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't still nervous, but he had his nerves firmly in control. Right now he was in a tough situation, but not an impossible one. He already felt his body recovering, not to mention he was sure that his body armor had reduced the damage he had taken from the Alphas projectile attack.
When it was about fifteen feet away the Alpha lurched at him, ready to bite his throat off, but Lex was also ready. In one fluid motion Lex raised the Heavy Harley and shot one single bullet straight into its open maw. Before the shot even connected he'd already aimed the gun away, shooting continuously at the other wolves around him. The Alpha was injured and it fell on the ground, but it was far from weak enough for Lex to take advantage.
Lex bolted into the forest once again, his gun finally out of bullets. He removed the magazine and threw the empty one into his backpack, hoping the close proximity to the spirit tokens would work in refilling it while he took out the magazine with the iron ranked low caliber rounds. He really hoped he could find some time to rest, the recoil from these bullets was still too strong for him.
"I think I hear the sound of running water!" Mary exclaimed. "It could be a river, you coils use it to hide. That way," she said, pointing Lex in the right direction. Panting heavily now, Lex forced himself to run where Mary pointed and hoped the wolves would give him some time. But the very next second an angry but somehow gargled howl from behind him let him know that the Alpha had started the chase again. Lex grit his teeth and forced himself to run faster. Fortunately the river was closeby, and Lex reached it quickly. Unfortunately, so was the chasing Alpha and its speed had picked up beyond anything it had shown before.
Its speed really was too fast, and before Lex could aim his gun it was almost on top of him. Lex's body tensed again, and for the first time Lex felt like he was staring death right in the mouth. To be more specific, the open mouth of the wolf that was lunging towards his throat once again. For an instant time seemed to freeze and Lex's thoughts forze as well. He could only see the sharp and bloody teeth of the wolf, each one as big as one of Lex's fingers. He absolutely could not get bitten!
Without planning or realizing, Lex raised his right arm defensively – blocking the wolf from reaching his throat. The angry Alpha chomped down on his arm and Lex felt insane, unbelievable pain as he felt his muscles rip and his bones shatter. The boy and the wolf fell into the raging river, but even as their bodies were carried by the cold, rushing water they did not separate. Angry, incoherent and exhausted, Lex did the only thing he could think of. He fought against the force of the water to bring the gun upto where he assumed the wolf's eyes were and shot!
The recoil hit him like a hammer, and threatened to tear the gun out of his arm but he held on. The pain of his wound, the vertigo of being flung around like a rag doll by the water, the exhaustion of running and fighting all day threatened to knock him unconscious, but he fought to keep himself awake. The wolf, still biting into his arm, flailed its paws around in an attempt to find something to grab onto, to pull itself out of the water but to no avail. Lex brought the gun to the wolf's skull and shot one more time, finally prying its jaw loose and separating the two.
But Lex did not have any time to celebrate, the force of the river was beyond what he had anticipated and he had absolutely no control over his body as it was rushed down river. He moved his one good arm around to try and maneuver himself but there was no luck. Just as he was beginning to lose hope – what little hope he had left – he felt something grab his leg and pull him aside. He felt a tinge of panic, and readied himself to shoot, but then he realized that he was being pulled out of the river! Hallelujah!
It only took a few moments, but felt as if an eternity had passed by the time he was pulled out. He raised his head to see a giant turtle with a horn on its head staring fondly at him.
"Silly humans, why are you always so helpless," Lex heard a soft voice in his head, and almost chuckled despite his condition.
"Stop chuckling and bandage your hand. You're losing a lot of blood, you'll bleed to death!" told Mary, appearing above him.
'Can't catch a break,' he murmured to himself
Taking a deep breath, Lex forced himself to sit up – a task that was monumental given how exhausted he was. Nonetheless, he pushed himself upright and holstered his gun before taking off his backpack to search for his mini-medkit. The giant turtle watched him with great interest, as if he were watching a pet perform a trick. Lex withdrew the medkit and took out the gauze to wrap his hand with, but when he took a look at his right arm he was extremely alarmed! There weren't just a few bite holes like he was expecting, his entire right arm was disfigured and ripped in various places. In normal cases a wound like this would require major reconstruction surgery or even amputation. The Recovery Pod should be able to handle it when he gets back to the Inn, but he had to make sure he didn't bleed to death before that.
"That doesn't look like a wound from the river," the giant turtle spoke in Lex's head again, bringing its head closer to his arm for a look. "Oh dear, that does look really bad. Let me help you a bit." The grass from the ground started growing rapidly and started gently wrapping itself around his arm. Lex winced, a sharp pain shot through his entire body, but suddenly he felt a cooling sensation run through his right arm, which was followed by his entire arm going numb.
"Oh dear oh dear, this is very bad. This is very very bad. Let me see what I have." The giant turtle withdrew its head into its shell and made a few mumbling noises, as if talking to itself. Then, unexpectedly, from its shell Lex started hearing the sound of various things being moved around – as if someone were rearranging stuff in a storeroom. Finally it brought its head out again with a large fruit hanging in its mouth. It brought the fruit over Lex's arm and crushed it, letting the juices fall on the cast made of leaves. The leaves greedily sucked all the juices without letting a single drop fall, but Lex felt no difference. His entire right arm was numb, but as long as the bleeding had stopped he was content. He'd led the Recovery Pod handle whatever the injury was.
"How did you ever get yourself into so much trouble," the turtle gently asked, sitting down in front of Lex.
"I was being chased by a pack of wolves. They chased me from the road into the forest. I thought the roads were supposed to be safe."
"Wolves? Oh dear, why would wolves be chasing you? No offense, but you don't look like you could feed even a couple of them."
Lex looked at the harmless looking giant turtle in front of him, and suddenly became slightly wary. It had saved him, and even helped him, but did it truly have no ulterior motives? Whether it did or did not, Lex was in a bad condition right now. He was in no shape to protect himself.
He reached his left hand into his backpack and bought a Golden key from the Inn, pulling it out for the turtle to see..
"They were chasing me because they wanted this piece of treasure I found." He held it up so the turtle could take a good look at it. "As thanks for saving me, I'd like to give it to you."
The turtle looked strangely at the key, and for a moment seemed attracted to it, but as soon as the moment passed it returned to normal.
"Oh dear little human, I don't want your treasure. I was only asking why you got in trouble. You humans are so interesting. You're always running around doing different things. All I ever do is tend to the forest. Meeting you humans adds a little color to my life."
Lex was taken aback at the fact that the turtle resisted the temptation of the key, based on his understanding it should be very attractive to anyone who sees it. But still, since he had already bought the key there was no point in wasting it.
"No please, I insist. You should take it. If I keep it with me, the wolves will come back for me."
The turtle was silent for a while and stared at him.
"I know you are just saying that so I accept the gift. Oh dear oh dear. You are such a kind human. I suppose I can accept your treasure. But I have no use for treasures anyway. I only like to stay in the forest and take care of my plants."
The turtle reached forward and picked the key up with its mouth before retracting its head back into its shell, placing the key somewhere in there. When its head came back out the turtle was smiling.
"Why don't you come with me, I will take you somewhere safe. The wolves won't find you there and you can eat some food. When you're feeling better you can leave, I know you humans don't like staying too long in the forest."
Without waiting for Lex to reply the turtle lifted Lex off the ground with its mouth and placed him gently on its shell. The turtle then lifted itself off the ground and slowly started making its way into the forest. It was still dark and Lex had lost his night vision glasses somewhere in the river, but his eyesight had acclimatized enough for him to be able to vaguely see around himself.
"This is free territory, no one can claim the land right next to the river. But right after this is my garden. I let the rabbits and owls live in my garden, and they take care of my things for me. It's a little trouble keeping the rabbits safe though, they're so mischievous…" The turtle began telling Lex about the forest and the creatures that lived in it. The turtle seemed to have a good relationship with all of them, and treated all of them as children. Lex tried to keep listening, but found the turtle's voice carried a certain charm that was making him drowsy. Eventually he could not help himself and dozed off.
The turtle, as if unaware, kept talking as it slowly made its way deeper into the forest. Eventually it reached a treehouse built on a large Oak tree and lifted Lex up, placing him inside one of the rooms through a window. Then the turtle continued its stroll through the woods, still softly talking even with no one around.
Lex slept soundly through the night and woke up the following noon to the sound of a notification from the Inn.
Quest update: Quest Complete! The host has helped the carrier of the will of Nibiru complete her task. The Host's reward is being calculated:
Quest completed in 26 hours
Host influenced the carrier's personality
Host has influenced certain events, affecting the trajectory of Nibiru's development
Reward Rank: B+
Reward: Mystery trials! 10,000 MP!
Lex was pleasantly surprised, the quest was already completed! To be honest he never doubted that Tiffany would be safe. She carried the will of the entire planet – although Lex did not know what that exactly meant, he could at least guess that she was extremely lucky. The way she had escaped her pursuers when she was alone was already very telling, not to mention the fact that Lex teleported directly in her path when he reached the planet. He was sure that this was by no means a coincidence. Still, he wondered how she was able to complete the quest so quickly.
"Hey Mary, what are these Mystery trails?" he asked, in a good mood. His right arm was still numb, and he was grateful for it as he assumed otherwise he would be in excruciating pain.
The tiny floating assistant appeared before him, but she didn't immediately answer. She stared at the young man with a very serious look, as if contemplating something.
"Lex, let me ask you a question. Why did you fight the wolves?"
"Huh? Because I was confident in myself, not to mention all the preparations I made beforehand. Didn't everything turn out fine?"
"No, based on your personality you would never take such a huge risk like that. Since you've gotten the Inn, your first priority has always been protecting yourself. Your cultivation is based on defense and you've even registered for self defense lessons instead of direct combat training. Taking such a huge risk doesn't match your habits."
Lex was stunned. What she said did make sense, but he was free to decide to do things differently whenever he wanted. Just because he did things a certain way previously didn't mean he couldn't do them differently in the future.
"I have a feeling…but it's best to be sure. Why don't you check your status first, just to be sure."
Lex shrugged and pulled up his status.
Name: Lex Williams
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Cultivation Level: Regal Embrace Body Tempering Stage 1
Health: Suboptimal (enlarged brain tumor), crippled right hand, bruised torso, bruised legs
Midnight Points: 17,961
Midnight Inn Level: 3
Inventory: Bathroom Slippers, Self Defense Butter Knife, Host Attire
When Lex saw the tab about his health he froze. He was not concerned about the hand or his body, the Recovery Pod could take care of that. He was focused on the part that said enlarged brain tumor. It had grown!
Name: Lex Williams
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Cultivation Level: Regal Embrace Body Tempering Stage 1
Health: Suboptimal (enlarged brain tumor), crippled right hand, bruised torso, bruised legs.
Midnight Points: 17,961
Midnight Inn Level: 3
Inventory: Bathroom Slippers, Self Defense Butter Knife, Host Attire
After recovering from his shock, Lex focused on his health tab for more details.
Health:
Enlarged Brain Tumor:
After growing a certain amount, it has started affecting the hosts' decision making capabilities. It may result in headaches, blackouts, moon swings, impaired decision making, memory loss and more.
"It says my brain tumor has grown and will affect my decision making process," Lex told Mary seriously. "Is this what you thought when you told me to check my status?"
"It's what I was afraid of. This might be an inadvertent effect of the first procedure whilst cultivating Regal Embrace, which causes all your bodily functions to become more optimized. It even optimized the growth of your tumor. The problem should still be solved once you complete all four procedures, but just to be on the safe side you should do your best to make sure you cultivate as quickly as possible."
Lex tensed up in frustration, but after a few moments let out a sigh and relaxed. There was no point dwelling on things he could not affect. He would focus on other things.
"So what's this Mystery trial?" he asked again.
"It's an upgrade for the Inn. Guests can enter and undergo a trial based on their cultivation as well as their personalities. The 'mystery' in its name comes from the fact that no one can know what kind of trial they will encounter. So a soldier or someone who enjoys fighting will have a combat trial, but someone who likes carpentry will have a trial based on building or fixing something. The trial allows you to discover your flaws and grow your skills, and if you succeed then there are even small prizes. The prizes however are only a minor focus, and the growth of your skills and abilities is the real focus of the Mystery Trials."
Lex and Mary kept talking, as Lex was in no mood to explore the planet further and was simply waiting till he could return to the Inn. Hopefully it won't be much longer.
*****
Hugo Laurant left his room, and for the first time in many years felt a sense of contentment. He had reached the Peak Foundation realm and even stabilized his cultivation in only a few days. For the first time in years he saw hope in his future. Although far off, his cultivation was going smoothly enough now that he imagined that he would be able to enter Golden Core sometime in the future. Once that happened, even if the Bentham family could not help him find his enemies, he would have enough influence to find out on his own.
A part of him wanted to continue cultivating in this place, but his soul contract mildly influenced him to let him know that he should either continue investigating or return to old man Will with his information as quickly as possible. Still he was content with his gains. He was planning on visiting the Gift Shop once and then returning to Earth, but as soon as he ventured outside he noticed that the area surrounding the Inn seemed to have changed. Not only did it seem bigger and fuller, but a few hills appeared in the distance. He went to Gerard to ask about it, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that a Meditation room had been built on the hills in the distance, which aided one in cultivation!
Still, as much as he wanted to go test out the new addition, his soul contract kept reminding him to focus on what was important. He went directly to the Gift Shop and carefully went through all the items, memorizing their effects. He only bought a bottle of Botlam's Dew however, as he assumed that it could be useful to the old man. When he received it in card form he was extremely shocked and impressed. If he could learn how to store items in cards it would be immensely useful to him.
With that done, Hugo left the building to explore the rest of the Inn. He saw a new guest sitting in the garden, a young girl. At first Hugo was tempted to go talk to her, but then remembering that he was armed to the teeth he thought it might not be such a good idea. He explored the grounds and then ventured towards the hills. When he finally reached the Meditation room he took his time to admire it, but ultimately resisted his urge to venture in. Making sure he had seen everything at least once and remembered all the details, he summoned Gerard and asked him if the Innkeeper was available. He wanted to say his farewell before leaving, but unfortunately was told that the Innkeeper was away on some business.
With nothing left to do, he thought about returning – the way Gerard told him he could leave – and felt himself being transported away. Slowly his surroundings faded away and he found himself back in the hall in Will's house. He found a couple people waiting for him in the room, and as soon as he appeared they rushed to him to ensure that he was alright. After making sure that he was hurt anywhere, one of the staff members ran off to report to Will while the other led Hugo to a clinic. Even though he said he was unhurt, tests needed to be conducted to be sure.
A team of doctors was ready waiting for him when he arrived. They took blood samples, conducted X-rays, MRI's, eyesight tests, psychological tests to determine his mental state and many more. Hugo went along with all these as he had already been through them once before he ventured to the Inn, so that the doctors would have his baseline. Eventually, while he was still being tested, Will was brought into the room on a wheelchair.
His skin had paled even beyond what it was before, and he looked incredibly weak. He was wearing an oxygen mask and it was clear that his situation had deteriorated drastically while Hugo was gone. This could also explain why his soul contract had been prompting him to hurry so much lately.
The old man didn't speak, but he looked at the mercenary with hopeful eyes.
"I believe you'll be very happy to hear what I have to report," Hugo told the old man as he kneeled before him. He handed the old man the Golden Key he had received when he returned from the Inn, and began his tale.