Lex was not ready nor was he expecting to get right to work the absolute minute he arrived at the Inn. But the incentive to become a trillionaire was exceptional. Not that he was in need of a great deal of money at the moment, but he knew that he would be in a state of expansion for the foreseeable future.
Not only would the expansion cost a lot of money, buying anything for a higher cultivation level always cost more money. He had merely bought a drink that could affect an immortal and the price had gone in the millions, were he to buy a building or service the price may even go in the hundreds of millions. Getting too comfortable would be a mistake.
With that mindset, he put away all thoughts of going out for a stroll and decided to get right into the thick of things. Before anything, however, he looked at the Innkeeper's office building.
While the building existed as a service, the shape and design were completely up to him. If he had extensive time he would have assigned the task to the planning commission, but since he did not, he took matters into his own hands.
He thought for a minute about the kind of office someone of the Innkeepers status should have. He could go overly grand, but to Lex it seemed slightly desperate to prove the status of his position, or just plain gaudy, which he did not like. He could go for extremely simple and basic, but he felt like the whole 'transcended the need for worldly possessions' and 'find the truth in simplicity' bit was an exhausted and overused spiel.
In the end, he just decided to keep it as he liked.
His mind, now faster than ever before due to the boost provided by his elevated cultivation, recalled every office he ever liked and tried to find a commonality. He'd visited a few penthouse offices as well when he worked back in New York, not to mention his own regular offices, so he had some ammunition for his thoughts.
Once he figured out what he liked, he began picking out a position.
On a small plateau near the Midnight Manor, a rectangular building appeared. There was a torch lit, pebbled path leading up to it, with open gardens on each side. There was not much in the building, since it only served as his office.
The entrance led to a large hall with marble flooring and granite walls, with a reception desk at the far end. There was a waiting room that could be entered from on the right, but the entrance to Lex's office was in the corner behind the reception desk.
Unlike the entrance hall, the floor of which was gray, Lex's office floor was black marble. But it was not plain black, as streaks of gold flowed through the midnight black, like water flowing down into the dirt. On the left and right side of the office were ceiling high bookshelves, stacked with hardcover books that had no titles.
There were a few sofas placed in the center of the room, amidst a few decorations and plants here and there. Opposite those sofas, towards the far wall, was a single desk with an office chair tucked neatly in.
Speaking of the far wall, unlike the rest of the building, it was made entirely out of one-sided glass with an extensive view of the Midnight manor, and the rest of the Inn.
๐ต๐๐๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ญ.๐๐ธ๐ถ
Lex teleported into the building to see it for himself, and was immediately hit with an oppressive feeling.
Lex remained unaffected, for what could truly affect him at the Inn? But he felt the oppression nonetheless, and knew immediately that it radiated from the very walls of his office. Each and every step was daunting, but somehow the oppressive feeling was not exactly intimidating. Instead, it was a sort of reminder of who one was about to meet.
As he walked, the sound of his footsteps echoed loudly in the empty hall, prompting him to stop immediately, a frown upon his face.
He snapped once, and then continued to walk. The sound was no longer a loud and never ending echo. Instead, each of his footsteps was incredibly light and respectful, yet not entirely gone.
Not bothering to check out the waiting room, Lex headed right into his office. Unlike the entrance hall, there was no oppressive feeling here. Instead, the room wafted with a clean and refreshing scent that reinvigorated Lex as soon as he stepped in, despite the fact that he had just recently woken up and had been full of energy.
Lex felt incredibly calm and peaceful in his office, as if he knew from deep within his heart that this was a safe space. He walked to his table and pulled out his seat and sat down.
The moment he sat, he became even more in sync with the Inn than when he wore the Host Attire. The Host Attire, which was currently in the shape of a three piece suit, allowed Lex to fully control everything happening at the Inn.
It was a conduit between himself and the system, for he knew now that he was simply unable to even begin to process everything his system did, let alone control it directly. When he sat down in the chair, however, it was kicked up a notch.
For example, while he could become aware of everything at the Inn at any time, he would need to scan the Inn, or look for someone in particular to know what was happening. Once in the chair, however, it was like a portion of his newly acquired mental strength was diverted towards always keeping in touch with the system. Every action taking place within the system was being ranked by a level of importance from 0 to 100, and at the back of his mind he knew the numbers for each action. As soon as a number appeared that was abnormally high, or even a minor anomaly for that matter, he would know immediately.
Moreover, while previously he could perform generic scans, now he could look for something more specific. While this was not entirely new for him, since he was always able to directly ask Mary whenever he needed to know something, it was still a good feature.
His attention turned towards a few items that had been placed on his desk. There was a journal, an ink pen, an ink well, a letter opener and a card holder full of cards that only said 'Innkeeper' below 'Midnight Inn' written in bold letters.
He was convinced that these things were not ordinary, but he decided that first he would deal with the matter of the person wanting to take Ragnar's requests before anything else.
Yet even that required him to do two things before he addressed the matter.
The first was the matter of having a receptionist. Lex could hire one of his workers randomly, but he wanted instead to have a dedicated receptionist, who would perhaps even be his assistant.
Not to mention, it gave him an opportunity to use his new workers status panel.
While previously he could directly hire what the system called A.I. to create living workers who could take up jobs at the Inn, leaving their skills and traits up to fate, he could now be so much more specific in his requirements.
First of all, for gender he chose male. As a bachelor it would be inappropriate for him to have a female receptionist, mostly because it would trigger the memory of every corny tv show he had ever seen in his life. The trope of falling in love with your employee was too cliche for him to even joke about.
He skipped over stuff like age, appearance, height etc. and went directly to his skills, abilities, bloodline, and cultivation. Every amendment he made would drastically increase the price of his worker, but Lex had money to spare.
Without hesitation, he picked anything that sounded even remotely helpful, from eidetic memory, perfect recollection, exceptional multitasking, strong mental calculation abilities, exceptional perception, excellent reflexes, the best possible health recovery, immense vitality, and so much more.
He made sure the assistant had a strong sense for etiquette and morality. Unfortunately, he could not have the assistant created with an elevated cultivation system, as everyone would still start as a mortal, but he could choose the bloodline.
Other than Regalia Bloom, which all his workers seemed to start with, he had two other options. The Regalia Bloom was of great assistance in manipulating energy but it was not necessarily the best choice for his assistant, so he looked at the other two.
The next one was called Anachronistic Ignition. When he read the description Lex's jaw dropped, and for the first time he actually felt incredibly jealous.
It was hard for him not to envy his workers, who were all born with such an amazing bloodline right from the start. But he controlled his emotions for he knew he had advantages of his own - especially when Regal Embrace was unique in the whole universe.
This next one though... it was just ridiculous.
The Regalia Bloom bloodline allowed the user to take control of all kinds of energy within a certain zone, with only physical strength and stamina as the determining factors for how much energy the user could manipulate. The energy could be used by channeling it into any weapon or item as the medium for energy transfer. Though there were a few limitations and price, such as the endless beautification of the bloodline holder, and the user's ability to transfer the energy fast enough, theoretically such a bloodline would make one night invincible.
๐๐๐ท๐๐ฆ๐ถ๐.๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ
If Lex had this bloodline, along with his incredible reflexes and abilities, he most likely wouldn't even get a chance to use that incredible defense of his. Just the fact that, as a Qi training cultivator Gerard was able to combat a Nascent level cultivator should be a clear indicator for how powerful and deadly this bloodline was.
Yet Anachronistic Ignition, while supposedly on the same level, seemed ridiculous to Lex. Unlike the Regalia Blood, which had an area effect, the Anachronistic Ignition was completely confined to the user's body. What it could do, though, was that it could completely displace any kind of effect, status or feature acting on, or part of the body, to a later date. In simple terminology, it could manipulate time with the user's body as the medium for time displacement.
The use could be from something small to anything incredibly massive. For example, if the user was fatigued, he could use his bloodline to displace the effects of the fatigue over the next several hours, days, or years, depending on the users ability. Moreover, he could do so endlessly as long as the bloodline was not exhausted.
But the beautiful part was that bloodline exhaustion, in itself, was an aspect of the body that could be displaced, making the use of the bloodline potentially endless. Of course, at a later time the user would still have to suffer the displaced effect, but the potency of the effects could also be determined at the time of use, for example in the case of fatigue, only 5% of the original fatigue will affect the user, but the duration is extended to make up for it.
These were the simple things being displaced. The more complicated things could be something like severe wounds, such as stabs, illness, burns, poisoning, organ damage, and even, if one were fast enough, death.
But something as mundane as indefinitely delaying death, or instantly recovering from severe damage such as a stab wound through the heart, was no longer enough to startle Lex. What completely drove him overboard was the second effect of the bloodline, as so far only the Anachronistic portion of it had been discussed.
The way to completely and properly utilize Anachronistic Ignition was to take something the body was suffering from, and instead of sending it forward in time, completely ignite it and remove it from ever returning in the timeline!
This part was not as easy as the first part, but if succeeded, and say the user took a lethal injury and ignited its occurrence on his body from ever returning, based on the event being ignited, the user would be filled with a massive burst of energy - as a sort of reward from time itself! So, in essence, a skilled user of the bloodline, could not only endlessly suffer lethal attacks only to erase them moments later, with each injury he erased the user would not get weaker but stronger and more energetic! There was almost no drawback.
Almost, because once the user activated this bloodline for the first time, they would suffer an unspeakably horrific curse! Their body would stop aging forever, making them essentially immortal. Oh, how burdensome it was to know you could never take another sick day from work ever again because your body is forever stuck in its peak, healthy state!
Lex gulped and turned his attention to the last bloodline. He was almost afraid to read about it. Fortunately, its name was simple, and not as unique or intimidating as the last two. Moreover, unlike the previous two its effects were not so multifaceted.
It was simply called Death Counter. Its effects were that the user could hide a drop of blood anywhere and, once the user died, 24 hours later, the user would come back to life from that drop of blood, in perfect health and at the peak of his power. There was no distance or realm restriction to where the blood could be hidden, and in the case the drop was hidden behind some kind of barrier such as the one that secluded the Inn, and 24 hours passed, the user would come back to life whenever the barrier had any disruption at all.
It was not at all too fancy, and just made one essentially immortal, even beyond the previous bloodline.
Lex needed a minute to stabilize his mood as he struggled with the thought that such insanely cool bloodlines existed, which his system could give his workers, but he himself was forever without any bloodline. After all, if he had a bloodline, it should have been activated by now, right?
Regardless, Lex didn't waste any time and selected Anachronistic Ignition as his receptionist's bloodline, which raised the price to 350 million MP, but it would not change his mind. He didn't know why there was such a gap in price between Regalia Bloom and Anachronistic Ignition, since they were both impressive in their own right, but they were thoughts for later.
Having made all his selections, Lex completed his purchase. A familiar gold light flashed in front of him, and from within the light stepped for a young man. His appearance seemed to be in his early 20s, and he was wearing the signature suit of the Midnight Inn.
He could have been called handsome, were it not for the fact that he had an entirely too delicate frame. He was a petite man, as if he could be blown away by the wind, but his expression was stern and serious.
"Luthor reporting for duty, sir."
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.
"Luthor, you will be my receptionist," said Lex with a smile. "Yours will be a heavy responsibility, so I hope you will be up to the task. I do not expect to be seeing a lot of guests too frequently, so you will have a lot of time on your hands. I hope you use that tie wisely and raise your cultivation level as soon as possible. It would be slightly embarrassing if my own receptionist has too low a cultivation level."
"As you wish," Luthor said with a bow, his expression forever unchanging.
"I am expecting a guest soon, Mary will update you on the details. Send him in once he arrives."
Luthor bowed even deeper, before he promptly stepped outside Lex's office and took his place at the desk. A deep, almost malevolent look flashed in his eyes once he left Lex's office, but he quickly suppressed it. He was nothing more than a common receptionist, and things would remain that wayโฆ for now.
"Mary, send me the list of Ragnar's requests and any information about them," said Lex as he once again sat down on his seat.
"There are a total of 7 requests he's set, and they have been listed in order. To do the second one, you must first complete the first one. All requests have to be carried out in order, though they don't seem to be connected. According to what Ragnar mentioned, his true request has not yet been written. Only after someone is able to complete all 7 tasks in a satisfactory manner can they be qualified to learn about the real task."
Lex nodded and looked through the 7 tasks. To be honest, they were completely beyond his comprehension. Even while reading them, he could not understand what it was Ragnar wanted.
For example, the first task was to light a Jaded horn Lantern in a field of Bedravens underneath a sky full of moons blocking out a star. The fifth task was to swim in the ash of Gilder, while the final task was to whisper the name of the deathly precinct under the shade of a Divine Mango tree.
Literally he had no idea what answer he was supposed to give if the person who came asked him what any of that meant. Well, Lex shrugged. If he was unable to answer, he'd just tell him to ask Ragnar instead.
A short while later, Luthor opened the door to his office and welcomed in the person who wanted to attempt Ragnar's tasks.
What walked in was an eight feet (2.4 meters) tall creature in the shape of a centaur. But instead of the lower body of a horse, it was a gray skinned, six legged creature with massive rippling muscles all over its body. Its upper body, still gray in color, was humanoid, but had four hands instead of two, and six eyes.
The creature had long, straight hair falling down his back and all over his face and a sharp and pointed beard.
Curious, Lex scanned it.
Name: Dillion Jormander
Age: 6755
Sex: Female
Cultivation Details: ??? (Too high for host to view)
Species: Bravenharbinger
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1
๐ญ๐๐ฃ๐โฏ๐ข๐น.๐คโด๐ฎ
Remarks: The only thing more lethal than a Bravenharbinger with a weapon, is one without.
Not to be biased, but Lex would never have been able to guess that Dillion was a female just based on how muscular her figure was. But then, he had never seen anyone from her species before so he had no point of reference to judge the appearance of a male or female. Whatever the case, it was true that she struck a formidable sight.
While Lex was undergoing musings of his own, Dillion had several of her own thoughts going on. She was from the Henali court, and had recently heard about the appearance of a new potential member. Out of curiosity she came to the Inn at the same time as the representatives who left Lex a gift behind.
Other than the teleportation, she saw nothing too impressive. Yes, there was a lot of potential here, for example that toddler Galactic Sovereign turtle, but nothing that struck her as worthy of a new member of the Henali assembly. Even the dragon was clearly not a member of the In.
The tasks she saw put up on the board in the Guild room interested her, if only slightly. It was actually the price that attracted her most. She wanted to use those requests as an excuse to meet the Innkeeper, but the moment she stepped into the office, she regretted her earlier arrogance.
How could she even begin to suspect a potential member? When had her station been high enough for that kind of judgment?
The pressure that each and every brick of this building exuded shook her to her very core, yet the ease with which it transitioned from the hall to the office, which was calm and comfortable, scared her even more.
She was wise enough to recognize a silent warning when she encountered one. So the moment she laid eyes on the Innkeeper she expected to have her spirit shook and her soul pressured. Instead she saw a rather handsome human, his sleek and suave appearance which would have usually disgusted her, appeared rather pleasing to her eyes.
He had a soft smile on his fair face, and his eyes were filled with politeness rather than the usual disdain she witnessed in Daolords.
Suddenly she was startled at her thoughts, and suddenly realized her mistake!
Without an ounce of hesitation Dillion dropped to her knees and lowered her gaze, pleading "please excuse my transgression noble one, my eyes were unworthy to gaze upon you."
Her heart was trembling with fear. As someone who worked at the Henali court, it was unimaginable that she would make a mistake as basic of looking towards a lord without permission. Yet she had made it. Now, she could only hope for forgiveness and leniency.
"Relax," said Lex, his voice filled with brilliant gentleness. "Here at the Midnight Inn, we treat our guests with great care."
Dillion relaxed upon hearing the Innkeepers answer. It was not unheard of for Daolords to be nonchalant about etiquette, but whether or not they were was their prerogative. Regardless of her status or strength, unless she touched upon the Dao, she had to prostrate herself before them.
Now that he had told her to relax, however, she must not emphasize on continuing her display. Another very important rule about dealing with Daolords was not giving them a reason to repeat themselves.
She silently chided herself for ever doubting the veracity of the rumors regarding the Innkeeper. If she had not been arrogant enough to request an audience with the Innkeeper to further investigate the Inn, she would not have ended up in this situation.
Upon noticing Dillion instantly obeying his instructions, yet detecting the strong sense of fear and regret radiating from her body, Lex connected many dots and immediately came to a conclusion of his own about what was happening.
He chuckled and said, "sometimes our own extensive experience can be our own detriment. At the Inn, so long as you do not break any of the Inns rules, you are completely safe. Now tell me, how can I help you?"
Dillion's body trembled, but she managed to keep herself from having any stray thoughts and bowed deeply towards Lex. Only after a minute, when she got up from her deep bow, did she say in a reverent voice, "I am Dillion Jormander, great lord, a custodian in the Henali court. I came to seek some clarification on the tasks posted in the Guild hall."
"In that case, why did you seek me out, and not the person who put down these tasks?"
"Great lord, I feared that checking the details of these tasks was beneath you, and the person who put up these tasks may have been using your platform with insidious intent. That way, should news of the tasks come to light, the one to suffer the fallout would be the Inn instead of the original author of these tasks."
Strictly speaking, Dillion's words were true, which was the best answer she could give in this circumstance. Naturally the whole truth was that she doubted the Innkeeper's actual strength and status, but the coercion she suffered back in the hall before his office set the record straight. It was not something that could be easily fabricated.
"Oh?" Lex said, suddenly pulling up the tasks and looking at them again. To be honest, even with this new information he could not make heads or tails of it - yet he could not allow her to realize as much.
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐น.๐โด๐ฎ
The second request was a little strange, to tickle the soul of an aged Marble moon fruit. Was that the one that was insidious? Lex, an extremely ticklish man, always felt that the act was the devil's work. Or was it the third request, to steal the death of an Akhroat? It literally had the words death and steal in it.
Nope, Lex could not make heads or tails of it, so he had to look at the matter from another angle. The tasks were put up by Ragnar, so did Lex judge the man to be one with machinations behind his actions. He had a strong feeling that Ragnar was not such a man, so he would not use the Inn to perform any evil tasks. He was a man with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, so he wouldn't be out here wasting time over nothing. There had to be more to these tasks, but whatever the secret was, Lex was convinced it was not something evil. Also, he really wanted that 1 trillion MP!
"The tasks have been put up by a repeated guest of the Inn, one I have met personally many times" Lex said, his voice as reassuring as the warmth of the winter sun. "I trust that there is sufficient reason for him to put up such requests."
Dillion did not know much about the Innkeeper, mostly because there was not much information about him available. However, his reputation at the Inn seemed to be very good and based on what she heard he did not seem to have many evil practices. In fact, he seemed to care very little about anything unrelated to the Inn itself. So, perhaps, in his eyes, the task that seemed very dangerous, with potentially catastrophic repercussions if not handled carefully, was of no importance whatsoever.
She was hesitating about whether or not she should elaborate, or if it would seem rude for her to continue on with a topic the Innkeeper already deemed safe.
Lex, who was now more in sync with the system and its space than ever before, was naturally able to pick out the expressions on her face. While he was not familiar with her race, his instincts, in this heightened state, were naturally able to detect what was on her mind.
"Do not be afraid to say what's on your mind." After all, the more you speak, the more I will learn.
Naturally, Lex did not say the second part, and only thought about it.
"The last task, of speaking under the shade of a Divine Mango tree, especially taking the name of the deathly precinctโฆ if it is not performed with the utmost care, it could end up interfering with the preparations for the Henali Champions tourney. Such a transgressionโฆ it is not one that can be easily borne."
Dillion dared not look directly at the Innkeeper, despite his assurance that it was alright, but she was observing for any reaction that the Innkeeper had at this information. After all, even Daolords had to obey the Henali.
But there was none. The Innkeeper was as casual as before, as if he did not care at all.
"Maybe the whole purpose of the task then," he eventually said, his voice as if explaining something simple to a mere child, "is to find someone capable of fulfilling the requirement without causing problems. I'm sure he does not mean to attract endless trouble towards himself, but is rather searching for someone brave enough to attempt it, and skilled enough to pull it off. I suggest you do not take the task if you do not consider yourself of sufficient skill."
Dillion was startled, and somehow she felt challenged. Though from the Innkeepers voice she heard nothing but genuine concern, calling her courage and skill into question, for her own safety, affected her more than any insult ever could have.
She was not crazy enough to try and offend Henali butโฆ suddenly she was curious about what kind of requirements they have for a person, if just their test alone is already so tough.
"No, I cannot risk anyone else attempting the task and messing up. I will take this upon myself," she said, both reassuring herself and informing the Innkeeper.
He smiled at her, his eyes filled with more gentleness than even her own father had shown her, and said, "then I wish you luck."
He truly did, for there was 1 trillion MP on the line here!
*****
Once Dillion left, the Innkeeper retreated leaving Luthor free to do as he wished. The Innkeeper had suggested he cultivate, and had even provided him with an excellent cultivation technique. But Luthor's heart could not settle down.
He spent several hours familiarizing himself with the Inn, then used his position as the Innkeeper's receptionist to get a meeting with one of the most famous of the Inn's workers, Gerard - the Head of Security.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Gerard said, as amiable as ever. His appearance had changed drastically due to Regalia Bloom, making it so that he no longer looked like an aged man, but rather a handsome, mature man. Compared to him, the delicate Luthor seemed very lacking, yet Gerard saw a fire in his eyes that let him know not to take this man lightly.
"Senior Gerard," Luthor began, his voice polite yet professional. "I have been doing some research since my appointment, and, if you do not mind, there are some matters I wish to discuss with you."
"Oh? Taking initiative, I like that. Tell me, what do you want to talk about?"
"Well senior, it has come to my attention that up until very recently, a lot of the security was handled by guards that had been outsourced for the Lady Cosmos competition. But since the competition ended, the guards also returned. During that entire time, and still, many guests took the Inns' rules as nothing and kept breaking them, causing the security to have their hands full. Now that the extra guards are gone, your teams should be even busier now than ever, correct?"
"That is true."
"I believe, senior, that the reason people keep trying to break the rules, is because of how lenient the Innkeeper is. Naturally, someone of his caliber would view all the guests as nothing but children, and so would treat them gently."
An evil light shone in Luthor's eyes.
"But as the representatives of the Inn, and the Innkeeper, we need to maintain the respect that they deserve. I believeโฆ if we took a stronger stance against rule breakers, the rest would be too afraid to transgress."
"What do you have in mind?"