Marlo and Lex did not talk much after that. He simply escorted the former giant to the Guild room and showed him how he could put up requests. Marlo directly put up several requests, from information about the soul and soul related items, to treasures and medicine that could aid in the healing of the soul.
At some point after they left, one of the Devils stumbled into the Guild room and saw the various quests related to souls. This only increased their confidence that the Innkeeper or his subordinates were greatly interested in the soul. He passed their information back to his superiors, who started making various plans.
Just like that, the night passed quietly and quickly. Most of the guests had no need for sleep in the short term due to their cultivation, and thus spent the entire night awake. Some of them enjoyed picnics, some of them stargazed, some of them waited for their turn in the Battle Ax of the Mystery trials. Those last two had quickly become the most popular attractions of the Inn.
Most guests from Earth, however, spent the night in their rooms, cultivating. The rooms did not have the amplification effect of the Meditation room, yet for the Earthlings cultivating here was already amplified enough. In a single night there had been various breakthroughs in minor and major realms.
Lex himself stayed awake for quite a while. For some reason, he found it very peaceful watching his guests enjoy themselves at his inn. No, he was not awakening his inner voyeur! It filled him with a sense of pride and accomplishment that people were enjoying his hard work.
Eventually, though, he went back to his room to sleep for a few hours. He could, of course, continue to stay awake and he would still be fine the next day, but there was no reason not to be well rested..
Early in the morning, Lex woke up and checked on all the winners for the qualifying round. There were ten qualifiers, but he learnt that one of them – the ballerina he had seen yesterday – had dropped out for some reason and so only nine were left.
Of the nine, Lex had already seen a few. The orchestra of birds was included, naturally, along with Igishima's display. The last performance to be included into the qualifiers was by a single, unusual Beast that Lex must have missed. It's body's shape was like that of a jaguar, yet it's body was made out of a silverish liquid. Every time it moved it felt like looking at water moving in a sealed bottle. Lex must have missed this performance, and was quite interested in it. He had never seen something like that. He was so intrigued he even checked its status.
Name: Rezin
Age: 1
Sex: –
Cultivation Details: Initial Foundation realm
Species: Mercury Gloubin
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1
Remarks: Extremely, extremely toxic! Do not touch (or date) under any circumstances!
Lex raised an eyebrow as he wondered if this Beast was actually made out of mercury, or was that just a name? Whatever the case, since it managed to be a finalist, he was sure it would put on a good performance.
Other than the Beasts, there was one other qualifier that was composed of two soldiers, while the remaining qualifiers were all from Earth. Lex honestly did not know whether to be surprised or not when he recognized one of Earth's finalists as a youtuber.
She was a… Lex almost blushed when he recalled the first ever remark he got from the system about his YouTube history. She was an ASMR artist but also had another channel where was a solo vocalist and did covers for songs. Lex had never heard her covers…
Lex quickly gathered his thoughts and began preparing for the qualifying rounds. He needed to step up on the sales and earn more MP before the next round began. There was a reason for this. Due to his unexpectedly high cost for his bodyguard, he had actually not finished paying for the combat portion of the games. This was the real reason he was so focused on selling merchandise. As of now, he had enough to ensure that the games would actually happen, but considering that Mary told him he needed to ace this quest, he wanted to go all in. The more MP he had to spend, the better he could make it out to be.
During the night, he had sold three more suits and made another 3000 MP from the Battle Ax alone! The rest of the services and the coins, along with the items from the gift shop generated 4000 MP, making his overnight total to be 34,000 MP. That brought his total to 249,733 MP! By the end of the day, he should have crossed 250,000 MP, which was his minimum requirement. It was unlikely, but if he sold enough suits and brought his total up to 500,000 MP, then that would be ideal.
Something that must be noted was that the three suit purchases last night were not from humans, but Beasts who were impressed by Little Blue's own suit. Somewhere around the Inn, three rams were walking around wearing a suit.
At 9 am, fireworks went off at the coliseum, letting the guests know that the event was about to begin. Many of the guests came, but most watched the event from their rooms. This time, each performance would happen one at a time to let everyone appreciate them completely. As such, they didn't need to be at the coliseum and watched in the comfort of their privacy.
Soon the event began. The birds gave the first performance, and their light but sweet voice was a refreshing way to begin the day. Most of the guests enjoyed the performance thoroughly, and since they performed a new music piece this time, even those who had already seen them before were entertained.
The birds were followed by the duo of soldiers. They wore some dress that Lex assumed was traditional to where they were from, but on Earth was recognized as a sundress most commonly worn by women during the summer. Their performance, despite their unusual image to the Earthlings, was genuinely entertaining despite being simple. They were fighting.
Each held a massive and unwieldy looking blade and clashed head on! It was a display of unfettered strength, yet at the same time, had the elegance of a sophisticated dance. As far as Lex could tell, this was not a rehearsed skit. They were genuinely fighting, and often, genuinely getting hurt. Massive cuts and gashes were carved into their bodies, but their traditional dress quickly wrapped itself around each wound, preventing it from bleeding. As the performance progressed, the dress went from looking like a sundress to skin tight sportswear.
The two soldiers had the ability to dodge or block, but they didn't do that. Each attack was met only with another attack, and the one with greater strength or technique would come out as the winner. Eventually, the show came to a close when one of the soldiers could no longer hold on to the blade and it went flying away.
Contrary to other performances Lex had seen, this was not pleasurably entertaining but thrilling instead! It received loud applause despite its simplicity and received greater crowd engagement than Lex had seen before.
The next performance was Igishima's. Like before, his performance was filled with a lot of visual stimulation. The colors of various flowers as they moved and aged melded with one another to give birth to a living, moving piece of art. That, along with its stimulation of the sense of smell, gave a performance that many members of the audience enjoyed. Unfortunately, it was not as engaging as the soldiers, so this was likely the trees end in the performances.
Next was the YouTuber. Hers was a very simple performance. She sat on a stool at center stage and sang softly. There was no accompanying music, just her voice as she sang her own version of Hallelujah.
As simple and straightforward as it was, Lex had to admit that he was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. He doubted that she would win the competition, but there was no question about the fact that she would gain many fans today. In fact, a part of him wondered if he should hire her as a singer for the Inn. Her singing, along with live music, would really create a special ambiance at the restaurant.
That was followed by another performance by the Earthlings. It was a band. They played a few songs, and the insanely quick tempo and rhythm of the drummer as well as the masterful performance of the guitarist who was playing an electric guitar won the praise of much of the audience – even the Beasts.
After that came Rezin, the liquid Jaguar. Lex himself was very interested in seeing just what this unique Beast would do.
When the performance began, there was not much to it. Rezin walked around the stage in circles, the liquid that made up his body bobbing back and forth as if in an invisible container. One moment it was as if it had a complete head, but as the liquid receded, it seemed as if it was just a neck. The liquid did not spill, nor did it move around outside the clear border that defined the jaguar's shape.
Had the jaguar not been moving, Lex could have mistaken it for the most clear glass container. Yet it was moving, and as it slowly picked up the pace the liquid started moving even more violently.
Suddenly Rezin let out a roar and leaped into the air, its liquid body quickly changing shape to that of a sparrow. The now bird glided through the air in an elegant display, before flapping its wings right before it hit the stage. With each flap, Rezin changed into the shape of a different bird, flying higher with increasing speed.
When Rezin reached its crescendo, it changed to the shape of a human and dove like a swimmer about to enter the water. Right before it hit the stage floor, it changed shape again and turned into a snake, slithering onto the ground.
Rezin continued its performance for a few minutes more, entertaining the guests as it switched form. The few Beasts watching were intrigued while most of the humans watched it as a spectacle. Ragnar and his followers, however, looked on with a grave look in their eyes. In front of Ragnar were a few reports, some containing the information his soldiers were able to collect about Nibiru, while the rest were about the Midnight Inn. There was a distinct lack of reports on Earth in the pile..
Both had interesting information, but right now, Ragnar was concerned with the reports on Nibiru. At first, he had thought that Nibiru was just another planet that was heavily populated with Beasts. It was not unusual and considering that the definition of 'Beasts' used by humans included most non-humanoid or insectoid living creatures, they were some of the most common kinds of planets that supported life in the universe.
But quickly, an anomaly was spotted. Since the Beasts were not unified and did not have the concept of keeping matters confidential, any person who was even slightly friendly with any of the Beasts was able to extract a lot of information about the planet. What Ragnar had learnt was that Nibiru hosted an extremely high number of extremely rare bloodlines and Beasts.
An excellent example was the Mercury Gloubin performing on stage. This was one of the most deadly Beasts in the entire known universe. It did not need to fight. It could simply use its liquid body to intrude into the body of cultivators with realms much higher than itself and poison them. A single drop of its body could eliminate an entire Star class civilization should it want to do so.
Another example was the sentient tree, Igishima. It did not qualify as a Beast, but that did not change the fact that a sentient spiritual plant was so rare that entire civilizations would go to war to obtain it. Such a tree could greatly aid in the cultivation of spiritual plants and was greatly coveted by the Galactic Pharmacology Society, also known more traditionally as the Pill Refining society.
The two Beasts, Greens Haven and Blood Fang, were suspected to have rare and valuable bloodlines as well. This was not to mention, after Ragnar did a little research, he discovered that the Three toed Bradious clan that the sloth Golden Hair was actually a clan that ruled over an entire galaxy.
Such a thing must not be underestimated, even by a force such as the Jotun Empire. Since they controlled many galaxies, they knew exactly how much strength it took to take control and maintain control of an entire galaxy. This was not to mention that some forces were strong enough to take control of multiple galaxies, but actually chose not to. This was because, even with control over an entire galaxy, actually harvesting and using the resources of that galaxy was not an easy task. Even the Jotun Empire did not fully utilize the resources of any one of the galaxies under their control.
There were even more examples of rare Beasts on Nibiru, and if Ragnar knew that the Sovereign Galactic Turtle he'd seen in the Inn also came from there, he would be even more sure that there was something unusual about this planet.
All of that aside, what truly caught Ragnar's attention was a rumor. It was a simple rumor, with little evidence to support it, but still was not one he could ignore. It was a rumor that a mermaid existed in Nibiru. While Ragnar could ignore all other potential gains or dangers, a mermaid he could not ignore.
"Anthony, compile a report. Make a list of all known and suspected Beasts found in Nibiru, and also add the suspected presence of a mermaid in the report. Send the report directly to the Royal Family. Let me know when it's done."
"Yes sir," Anthony replied, and quickly got to work. Other than Ragnar's assistant, Anthony had another identity, which was actually the main reason he got assigned to Ragnar as an assistant. He was distantly related to the Royal family of Jotun. His relation was not enough to be anyone important, but still he served as a means of communication with the royal family in case of an emergency. Such was a common practice, and each General level and above in the Jotun army had such an assistant.
This was because if normally Ragnar wanted an audience with the royal family, he would need to go through proper procedure, which would take too long. This was a shortcut. A shortcut that Ragnar was using for the first time. Considering his mission, he could not divert his attention towards Nibiru. The royal family would decide how to deal with the situation.
In a different room, Havval El'Yun, the Serpent King of the Jade Sea stood before the sloth. The serpent had a serious and angry look in his eyes, but the sloth was enjoying Rezin's performance. Greens Haven stood in the back with a somewhat defeated look on its face.
"This is a dereliction of duty!" Havval roared at the sloth, barely containing itself. "Your laziness has resulted in great losses! You did not even make your presence known when you arrived and slept through many millennia of destruction! Had I known a representative was on the planet, how could I have let the Kinari tribe fall? Only a single descendant lives!"
"Life and death are a part of nature, child. As painful as it may be, as important as some may be to you, to the universe, all lives are equal."
"DO NOT…" Havval began roaring, but despite his anger controlled himself. After suppressing his anger, he spoke again, in an aggressive but quieter tone, "The child is in danger. The shark tribes have discovered the effects of their blood and have devoured almost the entire tribe. I was able to hide her, but the shark tribes have become too strong. They will challenge my reign, and I do not know the outcome. She must be taken off the planet, somewhere safe. The humans will no doubt hear of the tribe's existence."
For the first time, the sloth frowned a little. After a moment, it seemed to make a decision.
"I will be taking some of the Beasts to the Mammoths soon. Have the girl ready, I will take her too. If you want to send someone else as well, for your service, I will allow it. But I will not interfere between your feud with the sharks. They are as much residents of Nibiru as you."
"I do not need your help in my fight, sloth! Were I not held down by duty and responsibility, the whole planet would be under my reign. I do not ask for you aid, just that you perform your own duty."
With that Havval gave the sloth a derisive look and left. He had no interest in the games, nor did he care for Greens Haven who was standing in the corner. He had to ready the mermaid and his daughter so that they could leave prepared. Once they were safely off the planet, Havvel would have no more constraints. He would be able to finally begin his conquest. Though he had not earned the honor of being called a Dragon yet, he would snatch the title with his own claws. And even that would be just the beginning of his journey.
In the background, the last three performances took place – an artist who could make a painting and then enter it, changing it from within, a standup comedian who got an unusually large audience response and finally an entire cast of actors and actresses that performed a play that resonated with almost all the humans as well as the Beasts.
After a short break, the finale would begin and the selected two performances would take place. Yet Lex was not paying attention to that. He was focused on the status for the comedian. He could not believe what he was seeing. If he did not know better, he would think the comedian had walked out of a harem anime.
The comedian's status was quite interesting to Lex.
Name: James Brent
Age: 21
Sex: Male
Cultivation Details: Mortal
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1
Bloodline: Incubus.
Remarks: Ensure that he does not elope with any Inn staff! It will be too embarrassing!
Right off the bat, the first thing that stood out to Lex was that James' species was identified as only human, but he had the bloodline of an Incubus. He did not know if actual Incubi were different in any way from what he knew in stories from Earth, but they were definitely not supposed to be human. So either he had some way to hide details from his scan, or the reality of things were more complicated than they appeared.
The second thing he noted was that, supposedly, Incubi and Succubi were supposed to hold untold charm towards the opposite sex, yet James' charisma was resonating not only with all the humans present, it was even affecting beasts! Yet despite influencing so many, Lex saw none of them having any sexual reaction to anything James said or did. Maybe that part of Earthen lore was incorrect.
The thing that surprised most, however, was that James was a mortal but his influence, though subtle, affected even those multiple cultivation realms above him. In his heart, Lex treated this as one of the most dangerous abilities he had come across yet.
The reason he was sure this was an ability or effect that James was having instead of natural, normal charisma, was because he could feel himself being protected by the system from it. Yet for some reason, the system was not preventing the guests from the effect, the way it protected them from the natural aura of his bodyguard.
Lex made a mental note to learn more about James. Though he was not sure how he felt about it yet, because according to Earthen lore Incubi were demons, he did keep in mind that such an influential person could make a good addition to the Inn.
Should things have been different, Ragnar and Golden Hair would have also picked up on James' anomaly, yet since they were busy, and the effect was not malicious, they did not pick up on it.
Since the qualifying rounds had ended, there was a short lunch break. This was not specifically timed so that the guests would eat his spiritual food. Not at all. That was, to say the least, the farthest thing on Lex's mind. Absolutely!
In his heart, Lex actually felt an itch to mingle a little with his guests. He wanted to ask them what they thought of the event so far, and what they would like to see in the combat portion of the games. But he had a feeling that they would be too formal in front of the Innkeeper, so donning his Leo persona, he stepped out to the coliseum.
The first person he headed towards was Harry. He still needed to establish a relationship with his 'coworkers' for this persona, and Harry seemed friendly enough.
"Hey, you're Harry, right? My name's Leo, owner of the Gamers den. We haven't had a chance to meet."
Harry, who looked a little pale from overworking himself, looked at the jolly fellow in surprise. Indeed, although Harry had seen him around they had never gotten a chance to get to know one another.
"Yeah, though I've had the opportunity to meet Z. You work the fellow too hard."
Leo laughed, as if he had heard a hilarious joke and said, "That kid needs to be a little more social. If no one came and talked to him, he would watch anime all day everyday! But I try to show up and share some of his burden, but it's hard for me to disappear back on Earth. The folks would get suspicious if they don't know where I am or can't reach me."
With this simple statement he created a strong alibi for why he couldn't stay much at the Inn. Anyone who heard it would assume that he had many people around him who would notice if he were gone for long intervals. Lex planned on repeating versions of this statement while staying as vague as possible to let people fill in their own assumptions.
It worked, Harry immediately realized how inconvenient it would be for him to come here if he weren't living alone. All he needed to do was keep track of his appointments back on Earth and he could spend the rest of his time at the Inn. He hadn't done so yet, but he was planning on giving up his apartment on Earth as well. This way he wouldn't need to pay rent, and he could live in his room at the Inn all the time.
"Yeah, it must be tough. It's easy for me since I live alone, but I can imagine the hassle of trying to dodge people so you can come to the Inn."
"It's okay, I've gotten used to it. What do you think of the Midnight Games so far?"
Like that, the duo continued to chat and started getting comfortable with one another. It helped that Harry was enjoying the games and kept complimenting them, which directly fed Lex's ego.
After a short break, the finalists were announced. To Lex's great surprise, the finalists were the YouTuber and the comedian! He truly was not expecting such an outcome. Since he had decided to watch the finale with Harry to give his Leo persona more presence, he had to be very discreet when checking how exactly those two had become the winners.
As it turned out, despite their few numbers, the Beasts became the deciding factors. Unlike the humans, who spent a lot of time thinking about things on a deeper level, and gauging how much or how little they liked things, the Beasts were a lot more straightforward. They liked simplicity, and relied more on their instincts than humans. While the other performances had depth and complexity to them, these two performances resonated with them so much that their enjoyment was overwhelming.
So while the humans enjoyed each performance, because they were more analytical and critical, their enjoyment was also measured. Long story short, those two were the winners. It seemed regardless of whichever one of them won, Earth already had the prize in the bag.
The comedian went up on stage again, and gave his performance. It was unfortunate that he didn't have many more jokes so much of his performance was a repeat. His effect on the crowd was tempered due to that, but it also allowed Lex to carefully understand how much of his influence was his own natural charisma and talent, and how much of it was the effect of the bloodline.
"There's something a little strange about this comedian, don't you think?" Leo asked Harry.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he's repeating his jokes, but people are still finding him to be hilarious. I just think it's a little curious. It's not an easy thing to have so many people like you so quickly."
Harry stopped to think about it, and wondered if he could notice something strange. Yet before he could think of anything, a voice came from behind them.
"You are very sharp. It's the effect of a bloodline, and a very high level one at that. All bloodlines naturally affect all living beings around them in a certain way."
John stepped up beside them, revealing a smirk. He was not happy because he knew the answer, but because he had managed to save up enough MP to go to the Mystery trial many more times.
What his reaction would be when he discovered the long queue at the Mystery trial was unknown.
"Mary, why is the Inn not stopping the effect of this bloodline?" Lex asked in his mind.
"Because it's not detrimental in any way to any of the guests. Were it to harm the guests physically or spiritually, the way your bodyguard's aura from his bloodline would have, the system will intervene."
"Do you know what his bloodline is?" Leo asked John
"No, it's not developed enough for me to identify, but I can tell it's powerful. If he were to cultivate his body, its effects would grow and eventually I'd be able to tell."
"Do you know a lot about bloodlines? Can you tell me?" Leo asked again with excitement. John would be a good source of information.
"Yeah sure…" John started, but then froze. An idea occurred to him and after clearing his throat he said, "Since you are my colleague, I don't mind sharing some information with you. But I must charge you 1000MP per topic."
"Sure, I don't mind," Leo said quickly, before John had a chance to change his mind. He suddenly felt so much better knowing there was someone he could ask questions. Not that Mary didn't answer his questions, but every time he heard he didn't have enough authority he felt like choking the system.