The award ceremony kicked off with a display of fireworks over the coliseum. It was nothing too fancy visually, compared to some of the big displays Lex had seen on Earth, but he noticed for the first time that the fireworks he had been setting off gave a unique fluctuation in spiritual energy that was pleasant to experience! Who could have guessed? Other than the sound of the fireworks, and the dazzling lights, another sensation had been added to the ones at the Inn. This made them wonderful in their simplicity.
After admiring the fireworks for a moment, he looked at the massive crowd. He recalled the nervousness he had felt the first day. He recalled how he had stressed over every single exchange, every conversation. He remembered his panic when the zombies had entered the Inn, followed by the devils revealing themselves. It was not so long ago, yet at the same time Lex felt like so much had changed since. His Inn had changed a lot during that time, and so had he.
The coliseum was packed with beasts and humans alike, all looking at him. In one particular corner, Pramod, Harriot, Creel and Ahjour sat and watched as well. Well, at least some of them were watching him – Harriot's attention was solely focused on Rorick, whom she was pining for.
He noticed a few of his other guests that had stood out to him as well during this period, but Lex only chuckled and moved on, otherwise he'd spend the whole chapter – eh, no, the whole day reminiscing.
"Dear guests, we are gathered here once again, finally, to end this small interlude in our lives that has been the Midnight games. I think by now you will know that I am not one for long ceremonies, so we'll get right to the matters we have all been waiting for.
p,and a-n,o,vel "The first order of business is to recognize that while for many of us, this was but a small interlude, for many, it was the end of a journey. They may not have wished for it, but regardless, they have become heroes for the people of a land, and so I commemorate them with this statue, so that their names may be remembered till the end of time."
He waved his hand, a fifteen feet tall statue appeared beside him. Cut from the purest of white marbles, the statue depicted a man with a sword, fighting side by side against an unseen foe with a wolf. They stood upon a rectangular base, upon which the names of all the fallen participants were written, along with a story of how they fought for the freedom of the people of Vegus Minima. Once the event was over, Lex would relocate this statue somewhere else in the Inn.
After giving a moment for everyone to admire the statue, Lex continued.
"Now that we have paid respect to those gone, a small commemorative token to those who participated in the games. May you remember your time fondly."
Lex snapped his fingers, and all those who participated in the games, whether in the cultural portion or the fighting, received a small golden token with the words Midnight Games engraved into them. The humans received rings, and the beasts received other small ornaments that they could wear in various places on their body depending on their species. Of course, many of those who participated in the games were not at the Inn and had returned to their respective planets, but since when had distance stopped the system?
"And now, finally, for the award that everyone has been anticipating for so long." Lex turned his hand and, like a street magician, revealed the prize in his hand from seemingly nowhere.
"For the planet Nibiru, and its inhabitants, the prize will be a single drop of Bailey's Vitalizing Dwarf Star Ferment."
Lex waited a moment to see if anyone recognized the name, but it did not appear to be the case. It appeared that this reward was extremely rare, and not many knew about its existence or use. But that only made sense, when Lex received the reward from the system and read its description, he was amazed.
The reward did not look too spectacular, only like a drop of water that had a crystal suspended in the middle. Lex closed his hand into a fist, and the reward disappeared, already being teleported into the core of Nibiru.
"Since you all do not seem too familiar with the reward, I shall explain, briefly, some of its uses. The Dwarf Star Ferment has already been mixed into the core of Nibiru and will initiate a great change. Not only will it raise the Star rating of the planet drastically, over the next few years, and potentially give birth to a planet spirit, but all the natives of Nibiru will gain a massive increase in strength! For Beasts, your bloodlines will be refined into the best versions of themselves, or will undergo enhancing mutations! The chances for some Beasts being born with some extremely rare bloodline being born will increase greatly, and their cultivation talents will be vastly superior to their peers. As the planet changes, natural treasures will be born with every changing season, and opportunities will fall from the skies like rain in a monsoon."
Some people may have felt like Lex was exaggerating a little, but true to his word, he had indeed been extremely brief in the benefits it provided. Only those that lived on the planet would truly understand how much things would change soon. His mind went out to that little girl he had met on Nibiru, Tiffany, who had been called the carrier of the will of Nibiru by the system. She would likely benefit a lot as well, based on his limited understanding of the 'will of the world' and 'world spirits'.
The system had provided him with some information on those topics, but not much. But recalling all that would have to wait, as Lex didn't want his thoughts wandering. The same thing had happened to him when read the description for this prize and almost shed tears when learnt that the prize could also be used on a human rather than a planet. Considering how beneficial it was to an entire planet, he could only begin to imagine what it would do for a person.
Different guests had different reactions to hearing his description, but Lex only focused on a few. First of all, the devils quickly noted down the benefits and whispered to one another about turning it into a prospective farm. Ragnar's eyes widened when Lex mentioned 'world spirit', but recovered quickly. The sloth, Golden Hair, had the greatest reaction, and was grinning as widely as possible.
It did not care about any other thing, just the increase in star rating meant that the planet would be able to bear the strength that he was unable to control, and he would be able to spend more time awake from now on. The most curious reaction, however, was by Marlo. He seemed way too excited for someone who should have no interest in this, since he could never go to Nibiru. What Lex didn't know was that Marlo's intuition had become extremely strong after his change into a Prime human, and his intuition was now telling him that an opportunity for his son's recovery lay on Nibiru after the change.
"And with that, dear guests, the Midnight Games are concluded! I hope you all enjoyed thoroughly, and had no complaints about your stay at the Midnight Inn. I hope you will remember the Inn the next time you are planning a vacation."
Contrary to what many expected, the Innkeeper did not disappear after his grand announcement, and climbed down from the stage and mingled with the guests. It was mostly some of the guests who wanted to introduce themselves before leaving, but not everyone took this opportunity. Many guests decided they would come and meet the Innkeeper later, once the crowd remaining from the event had all gone.
And indeed, many guests were leaving quickly. The soldiers had all retreated as they had work to do in clearing out the rest of Vegus Minima. The beasts also quickly disappeared, as they were eager to go home
Igishima, the tree, had thoroughly enjoyed its time at the games, but it too had to return home. But it saw itself returning often to the Inn in the future, after all, it had about 20,000 MP worth of winnings from betting to blow away.
*****
Nibiru, Igishima's personal garden
Tiffany stared out into the large empty patch of land where Igishima normally slept. From her hiding place inside a hollow portion in a tree, all she could really do was look. If Lex saw her now, he would not recognize her at all. This was not only because she had grown a lot in height and size due to the many fruits she ate that increased her power, but also because of the various scars she wore on her body.
She could currently only see out of her left eye, as her right eye was swollen shut. Many of her bones were covered in hairline fractures, and her muscles screamed in pain as if they were being torn apart. In fact, once she had retreated from the latest battlefield and hidden here, her body had completely stopped responding to her. She was paralyzed, at least while her body finished healing. For reasons she did not know, she would always heal very quickly from her wounds. That was the only reason she was still alive.
Had Igishima been here earlier, it could have participated in the defense of what was once the Red Nation. As much as she had prayed for the Lord Protector's return before, she wished just as much that the tree would not return.
Yet since when did life go according to one's wishes? With a flash of bright light, Igishima returned to its home after weeks, feeling good. The feeling lasted barely a moment, as an ambush lay waiting for it. Several Nascent level beasts attacked at once, not giving it any time to defend.
Tiffany could only watch with a teary eye as the Lord Protector, once a mighty being that had protected this nation and its people and beasts alike, died and its legacy ended.
Back at the Inn, Lex received an unusual notification.
One of your guests with MP credit at the Inn had died. Transferring the MP to the inheritor.
Lex, who had been conversing with his guests, was extremely confused by the notification, but noting that it was not something urgent, set the matter aside for later. Currently, he was preoccupied with his guests. Seeing that the Innkeeper wasn't actually disappearing, and actually greeting his guests, many wanted to take an opportunity to get acquainted.
Lex knew for a fact that even with his enhanced mental capabilities, he would never be able to remember all the people he was meeting, but Mary's memory was reliable so that was his reliance on if he should ever meet them again.
It was nearly five hours later that Lex finally got some room to breathe. By now, most of the guests were gone. He had gone from several thousand guests to only a few hundred in the span of a few short hours. Even then, of the few hundred, nearly 50 people were those close supporters of the family heads who were too afraid to return home. The Morrison family was still also here, but a few moments of spying let Lex know that they were already forming a plan on how to go back to Mars.
Despite ending the event, the coliseum had not vanished nor had the guards because, contrary to what one might expect, the official end to an event did not actually signify the end of that event. Normally, the end of an event would be followed by the cleanup and packing up of everything. While those were not of any concern to Lex, he had received 24 hours after the end to see off guests and make any arrangements if he needed. This was naturally important, considering that many of his guests had been staying at the coliseum instead of his actual residences.
Once he was done, he considered going back to his room, but then, on second thought, went towards Midnight Manor instead. Rather than teleporting, Lex walked into the restaurant inside and took a seat. Only a few other people were here, as Main Street had started pulling most of the crowds as of late, but that suited Lex just fine.
"Would you like something to eat?" asked Velma, who approached the Innkeeper.
"Bring me whatever was the most popular dish during the Midnight games," he told her as he leaned back in his chair. Noting the relative silence in the Manor, he recalled that he had been considering hiring a musician, but never got around to it.
Not giving it too much thought, he purchased another AI named Frank and had him start playing the piano in the lobby. The few people who were sitting in the restaurant instantly noticed when a soft melody started playing, as if to accompany them for the evening. A lot of them guessed that the Innkeeper was in a good mood, but none of them tried to take advantage of it.
A few moments later, Lex was served a dish that made him chuckle. How could he have known that the dish that was most popular during the games, enjoyed by humans and beasts alike, was a burrito? Not that it left him with any complaints.
For once, Lex enjoyed his meal out in the open, for his guests to see, rather than in the privacy of his room. Currently, he did not look like some overbearing entity that was beyond their comprehension, but like a simple man enjoying a burrito after pulling off a successful event.
Once he was done, Lex looked around the room one more time, then disappeared. Of course, before leaving, he also decided to pay for the meals of all the guests who shared the room with him. What was the point of being rich if you couldn't do things like that?
. Back in his room, Lex ordered 100 more burritos – his new appetite would not be sated with just one, but he didn't want to embarrass himself by eating so much in public – and began looking at his notifications.
Much to his surprise, Igishima was the guest that died! The MP he had in credit had been transferred to his inheritor, whoever that was. That was quite unfortunate. This was probably the first guest that Lex knew of that passed away. He decided that he'd take special care of whoever Igishima's inheritor was, if he ever met them.
Then he looked over the rest of his notifications. Despite his heavy expenditure on the last minute trinkets and awards, he still ended up making a profit of 780,000 MP during the last day, bringing his total MP to 8,780,000. Now that he had only a few hundred guests left at the moment, he had to be a lot more careful with how he spent it.
Next, he went over a deluge of miscellaneous issues and matters, anywhere from how many Midnight Suits were left, what areas required more AI staff to manage high guest densities, a request from Gerard regarding upgrades to his golf cart and more.
To be honest, Lex was filling his time with small, less important matters because he didn't want to do anything big until he received his quest reward. The final wait usually felt the longest, so he kept himself busy so that time would pass faster.
Unexpectedly, the day passed by very quickly, and at last the massive coliseum disappeared from the Inn skyline. The hundreds of guards disappeared, and from his hiding spot from which he viewed the entire Inn, Lex's personal bodyguard vanished as well.
There were literally dozens of things he wanted to do now that the event was over, but first things first, it was time to view his quest rewards!
Quest Complete! The Host's rewarded is being calculated:
– Reward upgraded for having over 1000 participants!
– Reward upgraded for having participants many cultivation levels above host
– Reward upgraded for attracting attention of several Dao level cultivators
– Reward upgraded for changing destiny of 3 planets (Earth, Nibiru, Vegus Minima)
– Reward upgraded for hosting Dao Lord level guest
– Reward upgraded for spreading prestige of Inn
– Reward demoted for letting guests die
– Reward demoted for discriminating against guests (devils + zombies)
– Reward Rank: SSS+ -> Destiny rank achieved
Reward:
– Authority +1
– 1 Free Inn Expansion (Size double)
– Inn Star Rating + 0.5
– 1,000,000 MP
– 1 SSS Rank Protector recruitment token
– 1 Destiny Protection upgrade for Inn
– Unlocked Special System feature: Special Quests
– 1 System upgrade (blocked)
Remarks: With your tumor gone, who will you blame for your bad decisions? Quickly deploy preparations for the amnesia trope!
Notification: System upgrade reward blocked due to unknown errors! Reward being replaced! Reward received: Bathroom robe!
Notification: Set items detected! When items 'Bathroom Slippers', 'Bathroom robe' and 'Bathroom towel' are equipped at the same time, they will unlock a special ability!
Just like the last time Lex received a reward that upgraded his Inn, a subtle change swept through his Inn. A wave of spirit energy swept across the Inn, washing all of his guests in such concentrated and pure spirit energy as they could never have imagined.
It was unfortunate that the stronger guests Lex had recently hosted had already left when this happened, or they would get to enjoy untold benefits. Well, all the strong guests except for Remy, the man who wanted the Inn to be the official meeting of his secret society.
All of Lex's guests, whether they were the arguing family heads, to Marlo who was butting heads with his wife, to Chen and Blane who had once experienced this sensation before, immediately stopped what they were doing and sat down to cultivate wherever they were.
Since Lex himself could finally sense Spirit energy, he too was suddenly overwhelmed by the sensation of having a breakthrough, and had to stop pursuing his notifications to sit and cultivate instead. Those of Lex's workers who could sense spiritual energy also stopped all their tasks to cultivate.
The Galactic Sovereign Turtle that had literally just returned from Nibiru was so surprised that even as it sat down and retreated into its shell, it did not know why it was instinctively behaving this way. Little Blue suddenly felt sleepy and decided to nap on top of its father's shell. The gardener, who was cultivating an unusual technique given to him by the turtle instead of the one given by the Innkeeper, went into a daze as spirit plants that surrounded him started growing rapidly. Even the few extremely rare seeds Lex had received that had yet to actually sprout, despite the turtle's personal care and attention, vibrated just a little. Then one of them immediately burst open and formed a Lotus.
Only Mary, a few mortal guests and a few of the AIs who had not yet entered Qi gathering remained undisturbed during this time, and only they got to see how the Inn quickly began to increase in size as well. To be more specific, the Inn had doubled in size. It was no longer possible to easily see from one end of the Inn to another, unless one climbed the Midnight Mountain.
A few hours later, as the first of the guests who had begun cultivating finally stabilized their realms, opened their eyes to a world that seemed more magical than ever. But how could they know that for the Midnight Inn, this was just the beginning.
When Lex finally opened his eyes, he was so shocked he barely understood what was happening. He had only just entered the Qi Training realm, and yet a couple of days later he had a spontaneous, repeated breakthrough and entered Qi training level 3! A part of him wanted to believe that Lex was just an unprecedented genius of epic proportions when it came to cultivation, but knew that that was probably not the truth.
"Mary, what just happened?" Lex asked as he quickly started to munch on his burritos. He did not expect that raising your cultivation was hungry work, but he was starving!
"Your Inn's Star ranking was upgraded. The Midnight Inn is now equivalent to a 2 Star ranked planet and is now the ideal destination for higher leveled cultivators. Every time there is an upgrade in the Star ranking, the Inn undergoes a qualitative change. The initial burst of spirit energy during that qualitative change is extremely useful to all cultivators, but is not something that can be easily sought out.
"It is almost impossible to find spiritual energy of that concentration and purity, which is simultaneously very docile in nature. This is why, whenever a cultivator encounters such a wave, their body will naturally absorb it and strengthen their cultivation based on how much they are able to absorb. In fact, if you recall, Bastet and Falak also left shortly after one of your upgrades. I've always strongly suspected that the surge in spiritual energy is what prompted them to leave, for whatever reason. If you look out to the rest of the Inn, you'll notice that there aren't just a few of your guests undergoing a breakthrough."
Lex scanned the Inn, and he was flabbergasted. Almost all of his guests were sitting on the ground, cross-legged, and were cultivating wherever they happened to be. As amazing as it was, it was also incredibly dangerous! Just the Qi training stage was so dangerous it could cause ruptures in the meridians if not done properly, so one can only imagine how much more difficult it was in a higher realm. Yet all of them seemed to be completely fine. In fact, some were more than fine.
Lex immediately noticed not only Rorick but also Audrey Morrison breaking through to the Nascent realm, along with various other Earthlings making great progress in the Golden Core realms.
Lex let out a sigh. As great as it was that these cultivators were growing, Earth was currently too unstable. Their breakthroughs, albeit great for them individually, might destabilize the situation once again.
But while the growth of the Earthlings might be problematic down the road, his various AIs that were undergoing a breakthrough were nothing but great assets! In fact, Lex was astonished that any of them had reached the Qi training stage at all, but a quick glance let him know that at least a dozen of them had done so. Gerard, Velma, the gardener and nurse Jubilation were only a few amongst the many who had surprised him like this. And here Lex was feeling great about his own quick breakthrough, but had already been surpassed by his workers. He needed to start paying more attention to them.
Lex quickly moved on from that thought, as he had many things to do. He also noticed, during his scan, that the area of the Inn had expanded greatly! Furthermore, unlike when he purposefully expanded the edges, this natural growth happened differently. The land literally doubled, which meant the distance between any two points was twice what it used to be. For example, the distance from Midnight Manor to Main street had doubled.
This was not necessarily a bad thing, as he felt that these two areas had extremely different vibes, and needed some distance from each other. Yet now, more desperately than before, Lex needed to figure out a way to fill in all that empty space. Landscaping was an option, but even that could only do so much. What Lex needed was a YouTube tutorial on city planning and rural development. And a vineyard.
Lex looked at his notification and read through it properly this time. While his reward had been increased for several feats he had accomplished, ultimately raising the reward ranking from SSS+ to Destiny rank, whatever that meant, Lex noticed that his quest rank had also suffered some demerits. One was because he allowed guests to die during his event, and another because he purposefully targeted zombies, and subsequently devils, which the system did not approve of.
Still, his rewards were plentiful. His authority had been raised once again, which came with the usual upgrades he could perform on his various buildings and a few new ones. The size of the Inn was also increased. The Inns Star ranking had been raised as well, which would definitely serve to attract more guests in the future. He received 1 million MP, which was always nice – who didn't like free money? But after this was when the new and interesting rewards began.
He looked at his inventory and saw the SSS Rank Protector recruitment token. He summoned the token that was in the usual gold color associated with the Inn, but was in the shape of a shield. The token that filled his hand also filled him with a sense of security, and put his mind at ease.
"Is this why you didn't want me to get security yet? Because you knew I would be getting something like this." Lex asked Mary, who was sitting on his shoulder.
,??m "Yes, but not exactly. Though it may seem random to you, there is a method to the quest given out by the system, as well as the rewards. Ultimately, the goal is to help you grow the Inn. The quests you receive will progressively get harder as you complete them, but still, you managed to perform well over the expected level on this quest.
"Normally, you would have only received something to help you beef up security, but would require your supervision or control. Ultimately, the security would still depend on how you handle the situation. But this token is much higher ranked and falls into a completely different category of rewards.
"Similar to the unique opportunity token you used to get the Regal Embrace, when you use this token, the system will scan the entire universe for a suitable protector for the Inn who will be completely loyal to the Inn. But you still have to be careful when you make your choice. Suitable can mean many things, and you may not end up with what you want if you aren't careful."
Lex nodded. It was basically pretty much what Lex himself expected. Even when he was receiving the Regal Embrace, some of the rewards seemed questionable to him.
Then he turned his attention to the next reward. Apparently, he had received a Destiny Protection upgrade for the Inn, but got no description of what that meant. He could speculate on his own, but his understanding of the universe was too shallow, so he asked Mary once again.
"What does this Destiny Protection upgrade do?"
Lex expected to receive either a straightforward answer, or to be told he did not have the authority to know. Mary's answer, however, completely took him by surprise.
With a confused look on her face, Mary said, "I… genuinely have no idea. The only information I received from the Inn says, and I quote, 'While at the Inn, one is protected from the influence of destiny'. Destiny is a very… abstract concept. I guess we'll have to wait till you reach a higher realm, or develop your own understanding of destiny to fully understand what this means."
Lex frowned. He could guess what destiny meant, but his understanding of destiny was heavily influenced by Earthly media and culture. In the context of the universe at large, it may have a different meaning. Either way, since the Inn provided protection from the influence of destiny, then he did not need to worry about it. Unless his destiny was actually very positive, then he felt like me may be missing out. But, again, this was based on his understanding of destiny as perceived by those on Earth. The reality may be different.
Putting the matter aside, he looked at the newest unlocked feature for the system, Special quests. Currently, there were no quests available in that tab, but the description of this feature was very interesting.
Special quests were ones that would become available to him from time to time based on special circumstances or during special occasions, and he could choose whether he wanted to accept them or not. Furthermore, the rewards for special quests were not predetermined, and he could actually specify what he wanted. His request may or may not be accepted, but would definitely be considered and influence the final reward.
That was it. That was all the information he was given, without any knowledge of what would qualify as a special event or circumstance, and what kind of quests he could expect. So far, all his quests were related to the Inn in one way or another, but Lex felt like this might not be the case for special quests, after all, his normal quests could handle those matters. Only time would tell.
Then finally came one of the most curious matters which was his System upgrade, or rather the lack thereof. It had been blocked, for some reason, and his reward had been replaced. There was no information whatsoever about why his upgrade was blocked or what caused it.
"Hey Mary, any idea why the system upgrade didn't work?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"The system upgrade I got as a reward. It was blocked, and I got a different reward instead. Any idea why that happened?"
Mary looked at him curiously, then seemed to go through some records in her mind.
"I'm sorry Lex, but my records don't show any system upgrade other than the destiny protection one. The only remaining reward I see is the Bathroom robe."
Lex frowned as he thought about it. First, the upgrade was blocked, and then, according to Mary, he never received an upgrade in the first place. There was something fishy going on, but like so many other things when it came to the system, Lex could only sit back and wait till he got more information.
He turned his attention to the set equipment. He had no idea that his various equipment were a part of sets, and this opened new doors for him. For example, his Fancy Monocle was already amazing. If it was a part of some set, then he could only imagine what its effects would become once worn together. Lex visualized himself wearing his Fancy Monocle, a Fancy Top Hat alongside a Fancy pocket watch, strolling in some forest, decimating wolves wherever he went. Realistically, he knew the system would never give him something OP, but one could dream.
With a smile, he woke up from his daydream and viewed the Bath robe and read its effects.
Bath robe:
When worn, the host enters an extremely relaxed state, as if just coming back from a day at the spa, boosting the host's comprehension. The host can use it to comprehend new techniques, understand difficult concepts, make various plans, etc.
Lex smiled. As unusual as it was to be wearing a bathrobe while working, he could see this benefiting him greatly while he planned various aspects of the Inn. He just had to be sure not to let anyone see him working like that.
Then he checked the set ability of wearing the Bathroom slippers and Bathroom towel at the same time.
Bathroom slippers:
Entering different areas requires different kinds of preparation. Equip the bathroom slippers while leaving the Inn in foreign environments to protect yourself from hazardous environments. Note, the slipper only provides protection from the environment and does not act as a defensive item.
Bathroom towel:
p?(??)? ?o??? Don't you hate it when you get something disgusting on yourself? Cleaning up is such a hassle. The Bath towel rids the user of any negative statuses that are affecting the user via the skin, i.e. poison, paralysis paste, petrification, tracking powder, bad makeup etc. Can affect Foundation realm and below.
Bathroom set:
When all bathroom accessories are worn together, the Host is cleansed completely from both internal and external factors. Internal factors include soul poisoning, artificially induced inner demons, constipation, indigestion, bad breath, etc. External factors include tracking techniques, poisons, curses, body odor, dandruff, wrinkly skin, etc.
Note: Please collect more items from the Bathroom set to enhance the effects of the set.
Remarks: Since the host is too lazy to shower, the system has provided a solution. Please maintain a high standard of hygiene.
Despite being used to the system, and despite ascending to a higher level, giving him complete and total control of his body, Lex could not stop his lip from twitching as he read the remarks. He was an extremely clean person! No one had ever complained to him about body odor! If the system were a person, Lex would kick its behind!
Still, the set seemed extremely useful, especially considering there was no restriction on taking it out of the Inn. The original Butter Knife, now known as the Fruit knife, despite its amazing ability could not be taken out of the Inn. This would be useful to him when he was out exploring other worlds if he ever got into a precarious situation.
Slightly curious, Lex equipped the Bathroom set to see how it feels. The robe, warm and soft as it was, released a gentle energy that Lex felt wash over his body and pass through him. It was like being massaged by the hand of a hundred angels, and when the energy disappeared, Lex felt extremely refreshed and… lighter – both mentally and physically. It took less than a second for him to recall the set also cleansed him in case he was… constipated… and now he suddenly felt physically lighter…
"System, you are a goddamn pervert," Lex said loudly before he removed the robe and moved on to his next task. He could not help but stop to notice that he smelled like Lavender.
Putting everything aside, Lex focused on the Protector token. There was no use in waiting to use it, as every moment he didn't was a moment he was left without protection. Without any further hesitation, Lex crushed the token.
Immediately, a display appeared before him with a few lines of instructions, which read:
Please wait while the system scans for suitable protectors of SSS rank. Please note, you may only select one of the displayed protectors. Please note, to protect the identity of the protectors, their names will not be displayed. Please note, the protector selected will be a real existing entity in the universe, and not a newly created AI. Any loyalty displayed by the protector will be a result of his/her/its particular circumstances, as the system will not influence or manipulate the mind of a preexisting being. Please note that while the protector will be subject to certain restrictions by the system as an employee, should the difference between cultivation realms between the host and protector be too vast, the system will not be able to prevent the protector from betraying the host in case the intention to do so should arise.
Lex could not help but chuckle. He should have known things were never so straightforward. Originally, he was looking forward to picking the strongest protector for his Inn, but now the situation had taken a dire turn. What should he do? It would depend on his options. Of course, it was more realistic this way as well. How convenient would it be if a Dao Lord directly agreed to be his protector?
But at the same time, even with the immense power of the system, how was it possible to restrict someone at that level? Even if not necessarily at the Dao Lord realm, any strong entity that realized that Lex depended on them for security might develop thoughts about gaining Lex's power. Even if they did not know about the system, it would not stop a greedy person from attacking an interrogating Lex. This was why choosing a protector suddenly became a lot more difficult.
Finally, the writing on the display changed, and five options showed up.
Protector A
Cultivation: ???
History: A lone warrior on a mission of vengeance, Protector A was left alone from the tender age of 8 when his family was killed by assassins. Escaping only due to the sacrifice of his siblings, this protector spent his life raising his skill and strength. He was eventually able to defeat his enemies and retook his place as rightful king. Once he became King, he gave rise to the most glorious Kingdom in the history of his planet, but even that could not escape from the sands of time. The King's cultivation rose endlessly due to his limitless potential, but only resulted in him having to watch as his new family died, and his once glorious kingdom eventually fell to ruin in the hands of his descendants. Defeated not by any enemy, but from the sorrow of his own heart, he roams the lands, searching for something that will not fade before his eyes, and can accompany him on his endless journey of cultivation. Inviting him to the Inn, an entity even beyond his own strength, may invigorate his beat heart and plant the seeds of wanting to protect it in his soul
Protector B
Cultivation: Nascent
History: Once a valiant warrior with endless potential, this protector suffered a grave wound that nearly destroyed his cultivation and took his life. With the loss of his talent and potential, he fell into depression and has spent 100 years in bed. If his talent were restored, he could cultivate back to his peak and beyond on his own, and his gratitude would be endless.
Protector C
Cultivation: None
History: A protection formation array that gained sentience, but awoke only to discover that the sect it once protected had long since perished. A protection array without anything to protect, the array feels like its existence is pointless. Although unable to move, the array has endless potential and can grow limitlessly as it has a deep understanding of how to grow the strength of its own array endlessly. The only thing it lacks is resources. By inviting it to the Inn and providing it a place to protect, you could give its life purpose.
Protector D
Cultivation: Mortal
History: A pup that has just been born a few minutes ago. It has no cultivation, but has a bloodline that will allow it to grow extremely quickly, with the only limits to its potential being the kind of resources it can absorb. It was put to sleep the instant it was born, and so its personality is unknown, but could easily be trained.
Protector E
pan,da n<0,>v,el Cultivation: ???
History: The sun and the moon are her food, and her very existence defies fate. Her glory is boundless and her supremacy is without question. She was trapped by her Father on a planet in a deadzone known as Earth where she protected a village of humans who worshiped her for thousands of years, but eventually escaped due to her own ingenuity. Now free, the Protector sought to roam the universe freely, but her escape alerted her father quicker than anticipated. This Goddess of pleasure and prosperity is searching for a place where she may hide from her father, without losing her freedom. If allowed to hide in the Inn, she will be extremely grateful. Probably. As long as she is worshiped properly.
Lex read through all the descriptions and had several thoughts. The first of them being, in the entire universe, were these the only qualified protectors?
When he asked Mary, she gave him an answer he should have expected.
"No, these are not the only ones available, but the limit you have on options is only 5. It's similar to when you only received 5 options for your previous rewards from which you picked Regal Embrace. So, when the system discovers any 5 that fall into the qualification category, it stops the search and presents you with the information. So these aren't the only ones in the universe, but the first 5 the system encountered.
"Since you have raised your authority sufficiently, I can tell you that in the future, once your authority rises even more, you can enter the search parameters for such rewards on your own. Of course, the premise for that is to once again receive an award at this level. I'm going to be honest, I never expected you to receive such an award even once, let alone twice, and it'll only get harder in the future."
"Teh, lazy system. Okay, now that I understand that much… look at Protector E and tell me that isn't Bastet. That's definitely her, right?"
Mary read the description and… based on what she knew… it did seem like it. But how was that possible? This was too much of a coincidence, right? One may think it made sense, as she was probably somewhere close to Earth, and any scan performed by the system would find her first, but the system did not work that way. The concept of space was vastly different from how mortals or lower leveled cultivators perceived it. The only thing she could chalk this up to was fate.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter if she is or isn't. She's not amongst the ones I was considering."
Lex's considerations were Protector C, the formation, and D, the pup. They both came with their pros and cons.
First, the formation. Since its primary purpose was defense and protection, using it to protect the Inn was perfect. Furthermore, as the formation was sentient, it could help guide Lex in letting him know how to strengthen and grow the formation. But for all the good it brought him, the sentience also presented him with a problem. Since the system could not guarantee loyalty, Lex felt hesitant about hiring it. He did not know what kind of personality the formation would have, and how effectively his orders would be. Lex was extremely vulnerable right now, and had to make a decision before any incidents could take place, after all, his Inn had garnered a lot more attention now, and from various groups of people. Lex was confident that he could continue to put on a performance so that the array would never realize how weak and dependent on it Lex truly was. Yet at the same time, a single slip up was all it would take to reveal that Lex was relying on the formation for protection. Of course, none of this truly even mattered if a random security incident ended up killing Lex while he was busy pretending to be strong in the first place.
If he showed any kind of weakness… well, Lex did not need to imagine what would happen to him. It was too dreadful.
Then he turned his attention to the pup. The system said it could grow quickly, depending on the kind of resources it was fed. Resources, with a bit of imagination on Lex's part, could easily be arranged. He rubbed his hands together like an evil villain in a movie.
Tuning into the piano music being played at the Midnight manor, Lex slowly rubbed his fingers together as he listed down the pros and cons of Protector D, the pup. The pro was obvious. Since it was a newborn pup, Lex could train it from birth, which would mean that loyalty was not an issue. After all, dogs were extremely loyal. But the con was also fairly obvious. The whole point of having a protector in the first place was to provide security, but if the protector was even weaker than Lex, then its position would be pointless. While it had limitless potential, and could benefit Lex far in the future, it would not help Lex from any troubles today or tomorrow.
Basically, Lex's issue was boiled down to only two factors. He could choose immediate strength and questionable loyalty, or eventual strength but assured loyalty. It was… surprisingly difficult to choose. Hmm, but tomorrow, or the days that followed, wouldn't matter if he could not live past today. He had to deal with his immediate protection first.
Lex opened up his system and investigated what kind of protection he could purchase directly from the system, as this should help him decide. Fortunately, because of his increase in authority, he had more options available to him. One of the options, though very expensive, immediately caught Lex's eye. While this would not provide an immediate solution, it was still very quick.
He scanned his Inn and found the Sovereign Galactic turtle sleeping in its shell near the greenhouse. A quick scan showed him that the turtle did not have a breakthrough to a higher realm, and had only increased its cultivation level within the Golden Core realm. This was good news, as Lex would not have been able to wake it up otherwise since a breakthrough like that would put it into a very deep slumber.
Teleporting directly to the turtle, Lex directly woke it up by knocking on its shell like a guest, knocking on a door.
After a few tries, the sleepy turtle eventually brought out its head to investigate what was going on.
"Hey turtle, if I raise the effectiveness of the greenhouse and give you a cutting of a Delinquent Viper Vine, how quickly can you raise it to maturity?"
The turtle was confused by the question, mostly because it did not know the name of most of the plants he worked with. Lex showed him a picture and, after considering for a while, gave an answer Lex found acceptable.
With a heavy heart, Lex spent 5 million MP, leaving him with only 4,780,000 MP, and purchased a cutting of a Delinquent Viper Vine. He then spent another 100,000 MP upgrading the Greenhouse to the maximum amount his authority would allow.
With both of those tasks done, Lex handed the cutting to the turtle and said,
"This is your immediate priority for now and everything else can be taken care of later. Plant this in the Greenhouse and grow it as quickly as you can. I'm counting on you."
With that, Lex disappeared back to his room, as he had a decision to make. The turtle let out a tired sigh and slowly stood up, completely unaware that Little Blue was sleeping on its shell. Just like that, the gardener woke up to the unusual sight of the baby whale sleeping on a giant turtle that was walking across the greenhouse.
Then he noticed all the overgrown plants and cried out, "my art!" He quickly took out a pair of shears and began trimming them where he could, to try to reclaim what had been lost of his artwork. The gardener had been trying so hard to create his own art using the plants. If taken care of properly, when they grew up according to his desires, they would become a display worthy of the Inn. But somehow, something always got in the way! The gardener kept cutting with tears running down his face, unaware that wherever he tears would drop, new plants would start to grow and… ruin his artwork.
Back in his room, Lex did not delay any further and selected his protector before he ended up changing his mind. A blindingly bright light flashed in front of his eyes, and when it disappeared, it left him with a pup before his eyes.
A white and black dog, one that Lex assumed was a husky, lay before Lex, sleeping soundly. The reason Lex assumed, and was not sure that it was a husky, was because… the pup was as big as a grown horse! Even as a mortal… he was afraid of what would happen if this dog tried to give him a hug, or tackled him with love. Who the heck would train this massive puppy about where to relieve itself?
He felt a headache coming on, but regardless of what happened, his choice was made. He could not allow a being that was much stronger than him to stay in the Inn permanently. Regardless of how loyal it might be at the start, there was no guarantee that with time, it would not have a change of heart.
With this puppy, though, Lex could train it well, and provide it with the best resources to help it grow. Best of all, the turtle would help him grow the Delinquent Viper Vine. Although it was very expensive, at full maturity it could grow up to one level above the Nascent realm. Furthermore, it normally lived underground and could cover an area of up to 20,000 acres! The best part was, this vine could be controlled directly by Lex via the system! He could even pass the control over to Mary! Over time, according to the system's information, he could nurture the vine's spirit so that when it formed, it was completely loyal to Lex!
Of course, it would not immediately reach that realm, but the turtle promised to speed it up as much as possible. Until then, Lex would have to get by with using the Fruit knife. This was a dangerous move for Lex, but he was betting on the fact that there would be a short lull in terms of guests after the games. This got in the way of some of Lex's plans, but it wasn't a big deal to spend some time at the Inn and just concentrate on improving it in the meantime.
Anyway, now Lex turned his attention to something very, VERY important. He had to name the puppy. Somewhere deep inside, he felt a calling to inherit his place as an MC and name the dog Little White, but could not find it in himself to name the dog so casually.
He scanned the pup once to learn more about it first.
Name: None
Age: 0
Sex: Male
Cultivation Details: Mortal
Species: Dog
-n,o,ve,l Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1
Bloodline: Fenrir 100% purity
Condition: The dog has been injected with a powerful sleeping and priming agent, making it susceptible to bloodline theft. If left alone, it should recover on its own in a day.
Remarks: You have probably made a powerful enemy somewhere in the universe by stealing this dog. Lol, get rekt.
Of course, Lex made an enemy somewhere in the universe, but he couldn't care less. How would that person ever track Lex down?
Lex rubbed his hand over the massive pup's head and looked at it fondly. He had no idea what a 100% purity Fenrir bloodline meant, but he liked the sound of it. Henceforth, he would be called Fenrir.
*****
As is the way with these things, far away somewhere in the universe, a massive wolf stared at an empty cage with red eyes. It took it 1 million years to finally breed a purebred Fenrir, the source for the final ingredient to evolve its own Superior Lykaios bloodline. Yet, as he was preparing for the extraction ceremony, the pup disappeared from right in front of its eyes. How was it possible for the pup to disappear before his very eyes, in his own private domain?
The wolf searched its domain for the intruder using its senses, but it was no use. The most frustrating part was that while giving birth to the pup, its mother, which had long been the subject of its various experiments, finally died. Originally, the wolf did not care, but now he was left without a mature breeder.
The wolf turned its eyes to another cage which held a similarly sleeping dog, the original pup's sister. At least he did not need to start from scratch this time. A 99% purity whelp like this would greatly increase his chance to breed a 100% one again. It needed to raise this new breeder to maturity, which would no doubt take a while, but at least it didn't start from scratch.
More importantly, it needed to figure out how the original pup disappeared, and how to prevent any future pups from disappearing. It would never repeat its mistake again.