Poor old Velma, who had not really paid much attention to her cultivation, was completely overwhelmed by the responses that she got for her first newsletter. Over 100,000 guests had responded within just a few hours and asked her questions for her segment. How was she to pick which one to respond to?
For the first time, she regretted not having a higher cultivation level. If she did, she would not need to split this task. But either way it was not much of a loss, as she was only sharing the task with her good sister Antia, the pregnant lich. She had a happy and successful marriage with Qawain, the sword that had assumed a human shape after gaining sentience and entering the Immortal realm.
Her romantic advice was sure to be excellent, right?
She recalled that Antia had once shared a story about a romantic date she had when she was still dating Qawain, where he invited 9 generations of a cultivation family that had antagonized Anita and permanently resolved their disputes. It was such a warm and kindhearted gesture. That was exactly the kind of man… -eh, exactly the kind of sword every woman was looking for.
Anyway, whether Velma answered herself or it was Anita, the true identity was hidden behind the persona of 'Rachel' which is why she chose such a name in the first place instead of just directly using her name.
While the hype at the Inn was all about the Newsletter, barely anyone had learned about the Henali portal for it had been introduced at such a time that Velma didn't have time to edit the newsletter. In the next one she would definitely mention it, and anyone could even ask their personal holographic assistants about it, but otherwise it would remain a relative secret.
That was why when Tiffany, the girl who was the chosen of the will of the planet Nibiru wandered into the registration building, it was completely empty.
As a relatively ignorant girl whose worldview had mostly been limited to Nibiru, and the little she could learn from interacting with the Inn staff, Tiffany could not yet even grasp the concept of 'internet' or 'online'. So, completely ignorant of what she was doing or what it meant, she entered the virtual world of the Henali portal for the first time.
*****
A soothing incense filled the room, keeping Lex calm yet focused. He sat in his office chair with his eyes closed, completely still as if he was a statue. In front of him was the epistle, and on it was a countdown steadily heading towards 0. In fact, it was less than a minute away.
Despite his better judgment, Lex decided to attend the assembly. Since he was in the business of hosting guests from across the universe, and currently especially from the Origin realm, the more he understood it the better. He also had to understand what these 'Fuegans' that the Henali strongly despised were, and how large was their population in their realm.
How would the Henali react if he ended up hosting them? Even besides that, there were so many things Lex was unaware of that he didn't even know that he didn't know them. For example, the champions tourney that Dillion, the creature that took up Ragnar's tasks, mentioned. Lex did not even know of its existence, yet had somehow hosted tasks that could negatively influence it.
He needed to understand what the repercussions for such a thing were and what other potential pitfalls there were waiting for him. Also, and this was not in any way a significant factor in aiding his decision, he really wanted to see a living T-rex up close if one appeared there as well.
To be exact, Lex did not really understand how rare 'Daolords' were, but he supposed that a race that controlled over 100 galaxies probably had at least a few, right?
Just as he completed that thought, the timer on the epistle hit 0. Lex opened his eyes and focused on it. It was time to conduct his experiment and see if he would be successful in sending a clone to the assembly in the first place.
Picking up a business card from the cardholder, Lex channeled some of his energy into it, activating it. The, by now, familiar sensation of a clone being formed appeared before he saw an ethereal figure of himself standing before him.
This wasn't the first time Lex had summoned a clone by himself, so he was not surprised, and did not spend several minutes admiring the Adonis-like, perfectly sculpted representation of resplendence that was his clone. Not that he did so during the first time either.
Instead, he picked up the epistle and tossed it towards what should have been his intangible figure, and watched as its descent slowed down drastically while it passed through his clone's body. That was good enough and, using the clone, he activated the epistle.
He held his breath as he waited for the teleportation but… after a few moments, nothing happened, and the epistle fell through the clone's body onto the ground.
Just as Lex was trying to understand what had happened, for this should have theoretically worked, the epistle began to blow, and a projection of a few words formed above it.
The words read:
'Error 404: Connected teleportation point not found'.
It took but a moment for Lex to realize his mistake. He was so used to teleporting right out of the Inn that it did not occur to him that the Inn's protective formation would prevent others from teleporting in and out of it.
Not feeling dumb at all for making such a basic mistake, Lex directly teleported to one of the planets connected to the Inn and repeated the attempt. This time, the clone was sucked into a mini-wormhole, without losing connection to Lex whatsoever.
Lex quickly returned to his office and sat on his chair with his eyes closed. His entire focus, for now, had been diverted to his clone.
The teleportation it was undergoing was not nearly as instantaneous as the one the Inn afforded, giving him a little insight into how incredible the Inn's teleporting actually was. Instead the clone felt himself surrounded by a bubble with the faintest hint of blue in it. Outside the bubble was an endless void of gray… stuff.
Whatever was outside the bubble seemed liquid and solid at the same time. It flowed around the bubble like water flowing around a boulder in its path, yet at the same time it would solidify and form unusual shapes around it. It was like various colored sands mixed in together, forming different shapes, yet at the same time not quite. Even Lex's instincts weren't able to make sense of it, and gave him no warnings or recommendations regarding the substance outside the bubble. It was most likely because even his instincts weren't able to exceed the bubbles' limitations.
The teleportation took several minutes, which is something Lex could only tell because his main body was at the Inn. Otherwise, within that strange gray space, even time seemed somewhat abstract.
When the teleportation ended, Lex's extremely focused mind picked up various bits of information all at once.
Firstly, he was in a room that strongly reminded him of the US congress. But instead of getting a single chair, he had an entire booth. Though he was in the form of a consciousness clone, he could tell that the booth was filled with such… such… excruciatingly, beautifully pure spirit energy that he had never felt anything like it. At the same time, he knew that if his real body had appeared here, neither the Lotus on his back nor the system's ability to absorb energy would have been enough to prevent his body from being overloaded with what was surely the pinnacle of all energies, and exploding as a result.
Even as merely a clone of his consciousness, he had been influenced by the energy, resulting in him feeling such immense, orgasmic pleasure that it nearly drove him insane! Had he not entered the 'Overdrive' state before sending his clone away, it would have taken him a long time to recover.
Fortunately, he had made sufficient preparations. Moreover, the extreme control his Host Attire gave him over his expressions somehow extended to his clone, so even in the brief moment of near insanity, he had kept his expression placid.
The second thing he noticed was that while the room was large, it was not nearly as big as he had been expecting considering this was a gathering that invited 'all' those that had entered the Daolord realm in the Origin realm. In fact, there were probably less than 50 booths altogether.
Moreover, even of the existing booths, very few were actually occupied. Though he was not able to actually see into the booths that were occupied. This was probably one of the safety measures to ensure anonymity.
Well, to be more specific, he could not see in most of the occupied booths. This was because the third thing he noticed was a very familiar figure. It was the Devil Ballom.
The hall Lex was in was large and majestic, with every inch of it covered in an intricate pattern carved directly into the very walls of the hall itself. The lighting was a dim yellow, as if a chandelier hung over the hall, filled with old incandescent bulbs. Yet if one were to look directly above, they would see what looked like a miniature version of a star, wrapped in and hung by what seemed an ornamental chain.
Something about the scene was unusual, but even in his Overdrive state Lex found it difficult to focus on any one thing for too long, due to the crashing waves of pleasure the energy kept giving him. He could have sworn that if it weren't for the perfect control his suit afforded him, he would occasionally moan from pleasure.
He looked around his booth, straining his mind to see if there was anything he could use to control and reduce the amount of energy, but he saw none. If things continued at this pace, he would be mentally exhausted long before anything substantial happens. For a meeting that was only held once a century, Lex assumed that it would last, at the very minimum, a few days if not weeks. Now it seemed like Lex wouldn't even be able to last the first hour.
Nothing was happening yet, or at least no one was talking where Lex could hear, which meant that Lex was exerting himself constantly just to stay sane, and not even hear anything relevant.
In fact, he couldn't even spend time trying to observe the other Daolords, for the moment he looked at the Devil who he already knew, the man that was Loretta's dad, and thought of his name, the Devil reacted, and looked directly towards Lex. Lex's mental state was too strained to pick up any details of his expression, and detect whether there was curiosity or recognition in the gaze. It took all his strength just to stop thinking about him.
Lex was in a strange situation, where it would take all of his strength to focus on one thing, due to the distraction created by the energy, while he would also need all of his energy to stop thinking about a certain thing.
To reduce the strain on his mind, he allowed himself to relax a little while until nothing important was happening, and let his gaze wander the hall.
13 of the booths were hazy, meaning that 13 other guests were here keeping their identities hidden while only 5 of them didn't care at all and let their appearance be shown to all. Other than the Devil, there was another humanoid being. She was an angel of otherworldly beauty, with a bearing truly surpassing that of mere mortals.
From that one time the representatives came to send an invite to the Inn Lex knew of a small list of other humanoid beings that existed in the universe, which is why Lex thought that the woman was an angelic beauty. It was because she was literally an Angel!
One of the other beings that were present in the was somehow extremely massive and small at the same time. He was small, because he fit perfectly in the booth that was the same size as the others, but when Lex passed his gaze over him, the image in his mind was so vast Lex could not begin to comprehend its size. The being was a beast of some kind, and that was all Lex could determine.
As for the remaining 2... Lex's feeble mind could not comprehend what kind of existences they were.
To avoid the risk of earning anyone's attention, Lex looked away. His gaze returned to the roof, which was filled with the intricate pattern that filled the room somehow without ever actually making the room look too full, or congested with decor.
The sight was almost as intoxicating as the pleasure provided by the energy, and as he had loosened the reins on his self-control, Lex quickly lost himself in a daze. There seemed to be no end as the swirls went from one to another, a never ending weave forming immaculate shapes... In fact, it was so perfect Lex began to imagine that they were a physical representation of the universe... and through that, he began to see odd shapes and began hearing weird sounds. Despite his best efforts, his feeble mind could no longer tolerate it, and he began to hallucinate.
He began to imagine that the patterns were coming to life, and taking the shape of the characters he used in his arrays. Only, these characters were a hundred million times more complex than any character he had ever seen or used, and just perceiving them subject him to untold pressures.
Colors began to lose meaning to Lex, and bled into sound. Then his sense of touch mixed into the pot, and somehow, his sense of taste as well. All his senses were going haywire as Lex experienced a trip worse and more vivid than any drug Earth had to offer.
By now, his Overdrive state had completely collapsed and even Lex's main consciousness had entered into a trance alongside his clone.
Let alone participate in the assembly, Lex could not even tolerate a wisp of his consciousness being in the room where the assembly was held. In fact, it was a testament to not only the immense strength of his mind, but the Regal Embrace as well that he had been exposed to an environment suited to perfectly host Daolords, and he had not completely collapsed.
In a very accurate way, Lex was now subject to the kind of pressure low level cultivators usually experience around cultivators with levels much higher than their own, except that this time the system was no protecting him since this was not inside the Inn.
The craziest part was that Lex's consciousness clone had not even absorbed any of the energy that it was submerged in - only exposed to it.
Outside his booth, exactly one minute had passed.
"Amana, I'm surprised to see you here," said the Angel, looking at one of the two Daolords the shape of which Lex could not even comprehend. "Are you not afraid that Ra will once again start pursuing you?"
"The last time he tried, I froze him in time for eternity. Had it not been for Ballom, that is where he would remain," replied Amana, showing complete disregard for this Ra that was being referenced.
"My sincerest apologies, Goddess Amana," Balloon said with a casual smile, "but we Devils are businessmen. For a sufficient price, anything is negotiable. In fact, I believe even your sons have availed some of our services."
The Devil's reputation was spread not only in the Origin realm, but many others as well. Like the Henali, they had ownership of various realms, and considerable influence in many realms which they did not directly control.
"Speaking of children, I heard Ra's daughter has left her prison. Does that mean the wedding is back on?" asked the beast. The beast had an amused glint in its eyes - a glint that Velma was all too familiar with.
It seemed that even the highest strata of the Origin realms cultivators could not escape the relentless clutch of gossip and drama.
Before it could receive an answer, however, one of the booths suddenly emptied. The hall became still, as all the Daolords, both that had hidden their identities and the ones that openly displayed their identities turned to look to confirm for themselves at what they had just witnessed. In fact, for the briefest of moments, they even considered the possibility that they remembered incorrectly, and that this booth had been empty all along.
Countless Daolords were invited to these events each time, and most did not attend. But regardless of whether they attended or not, none disrespected the Henali. For someone to come to the assembly, but leave before the Henali even began to convene the meeting... it was unheard of for sure. But then again, it was easy to be courageous when the Henali assured complete anonymity...
As soon as the final thought entered everyone's mind, they erased it, for in the now otherwise empty booth, a single business card hovered gently in their air, supported by the thick, tangible energy that filled it.
On it, in clear and bold letters, was written 'The Innkeeper' just below 'MIDNIGHT INN'. A million thoughts ran through everyone's head, trying to understand why the Innkeeper would leave so rudely. If he hadn't wanted to come, he should have never made an appearance, and if he wanted to leave, there was no reason to leave his calling card.
Other than Ballom, none had heard of this place, but suddenly each and everyone made a mental note to stay clear of it. Whether this Innkeeper was ignorant, or truly someone who did not need to give Henali some face, either way, it was best to keep their distance for now.
Only Ballom developed a small smirk on his face. How interesting. Was this meant to be a challenge?
Lex lost all concept of time as his mind traveled through a strange vortex of colors that did not exist, and marinated in a pool of sounds his body could not actually hear. It was both an instant and an eternity at the same time, for while Lex was going through the vortex, he could not perceive it. It was as if he was moving forward, yet at the same time, somehow, time was frozen.
But how could there be an after, during or even before if time was still? How could he move through the vortex if time was frozen, for there could be no displacement if time did not exist as a medium through which to displace.
Yet ultimately that is what it seemed like, for when he finally exited the vortex, and time returned to normal, all the memories of his journey came crashing through in an instant.
Afterwards his mind became numb, for it was too exhausted to do anything. In fact, while it seemed like only his spirit was drained, since his spirit, soul and body had all been merged, all three dropped to an extremely low point of activity for they were just too drained to work.
Such a state was extremely dangerous, and was barely better than death, yet ironically it was due to the fact that his spirit had been reinforced by both the strength of his body and soul that he had been able to survive the experience he had just undergone.
Even though he was not there in person, and he had been exposed to the Henali assembly through a mere clone of his consciousness created by the system, it was far beyond what someone at his level could possibly tolerate. In fact, it was only because the clone had been created through the system that the system itself was able to detect when Lex was nearing a point of no return and forcefully canceled the clone.
The forceful disruption of the technique was precisely why the business card had not been used up, and was left behind on the scene of the incident to be misunderstood by everyone on the scene.
Mary, who was deeply connected to the Inn, instantly learned of Lex's deteriorating situation. The problem was... she could not move Lex himself, for she had no body, and she could not ask one of the workers to move him, for the Innkeeper could not be seen in such a weak state. But at the same time, Lex needed to be moved into a Recovery pod as soon as possible, lest there be no Innkeeper left to even protect. Of course, earlier Lex had given her a lot of authority and even made her the assistant Innkeeper, but that was only via the increased authority he had in the Crystal realm. Now she was back to only being able to communicate with the Inn staff at most.
Stuck between a difficult decision, she could only compromise, and summoned Gerard. He was one of the oldest two workers Lex had at the Inn, and while all the workers could be trusted, if she had to take a risk, it was best to be as sure as possible.
Gerard teleported right over to Lex's office building using his security access when he heard there was an emergency, and when he entered the building he nearly collapsed from alarm when he saw the Innkeeper unconscious at his table.
Nearly on the verge of a heart attack, and on the verge of having his immeasurable faith in the Innkeeper shaken, Gerard managed to gather himself back up. After all, if he wasn't able to recover, someone else would need to come, and he could not allow the Innkeeper to be seen like this!
As quickly, yet gently as possible, Gerard lifted the Innkeeper from his seat and teleported to the Recovery room. With the absolute utmost speed he could conjure, he took the Innkeeper to the Recovery pod before anyone could see who he was carrying.
Once the task was done, Mary informed him to keep the secret, and that she would let him know if she needed anything. Gerard, who was thoroughly shook, only weakly nodded and teleported away.
𝙡𝙞𝙗𝒓𝙚𝓪𝙙.𝒄𝓸𝓶
For the first time in his nearly one-year-old life, Gerard chose to take an alcoholic drink that day.
Mary, on the other hand, did not rest, for she was keeping a constant watch on Lex's situation. Technically, Lex was not injured. Instead, it was just his body, spirit and soul which had entered artificial dormancy due to a severe exhaustion. Some external aid, any external aid really, would help him recover.
It was only a matter of time now.
*****
Qawain, the sentient sword, was sitting cross-legged in his abode. When he joined the Inn, he had been asked nothing more than to become a swords teacher for any guests who wanted to avail his service. The extent of his education, however, was left completely up to him. After all, if he felt that a certain guest could not be taught, it would only be a waste of effort to offer him the most in-depth teachings.
As a result of this, he had made his abode within a hole carved into the side of the Midnight mountain by a sword strike. He filled the entrance of his abode with a mild version of his own sword intent, so that any guest who wanted to meet him would, first, get some free benefits by meditating on the intent, and second, so he could filter out as many untalented people as possible.
Still, he couldn't be too harsh, lest he upset the Innkeeper for not doing his job. As such, he reduced his standards to the lowest possible amount. Even still, he ended up becoming revered as an excellent teacher with the harshest possible standards.
Considering he changed 10,000 MP for a single class, and that he avoided as many classes as possible, he should have been mostly free. Yet that was far from the case. He was almost always busy, for the path of the sword was one of the most popular universe wide.
Still, this day, something slightly unusual happened. He saw, through his spirit sense, a lone human wandering towards his abode casually. On his waist, the human wore a sword, though it was of a different kind than Qawain's own body. Still, being different didn't mean that Qawain discriminated, or that the human was weak. On the contrary, his performance was better than most others he had seen.
Intrigued, Qawain decided to increase the difficulty - just a bit - to see how the human performed.
Still, right up until the end, the human did not slow down, and even then, towards the end, all he did was frown.
An appreciative light flashed in Qawain's eyes before he decided to quit testing the human. After all, he was only there as a nominal teacher. He had no interest in taking any personal disciples.
"Your understanding of the path of the sword is pretty good," Qawain commented. "Tell me, what do you need guidance in, and I will guide you how I can."
The human, still frowning, did not speak. Instead, slowly, he grabbed the handle of his sword and began to draw it. His pace was extremely even as he drew the weapon, and the sword whistled sweetly as its body rubbed against the sheath on its way out.
A beautiful Katana was drawn with a sheen of blue running across its edge. Even the human paused for a moment as fondness flashed through his eyes, before they became focused again.
Instead of elaborating on his issue, the human struck forward with his sword with all the strength he could muster, instantly displaying his peak form.
Qawain nodded, as if he immediately understood many things.
"Your sword is one of devotion and servitude, but in your form there is defiance and resistance. You either need to find someone new to serve, one whom your heart can agree with completely, or you need to change your path of servitude."
Anger and frustration flashed through the man's eyes, but he still said nothing, only paid and left.
'If only it were so easy to leave,' Souta thought to himself.
His system had literally made him a slave to his feudal lord, and his feudal lord was incredibly evil. The only way out he could even think of was for his feudal lord to die, but then his system would just make him slave to yet another. After all, it was the duty of the samurai to serve their master.
He could not think of a way out. His future looked incredibly bleak. He could see no way out.
"Ho there friend," yelled someone walking his way, "you look like you've seen better days. What's the matter? Anything you need help with?"
Souta looked up and saw two other humans walking his way, both with an idiotic look on their faces.
"No," was all he replied, and continued to walk forward. That is, until he heard one of the men murmuring, "he's lying."