The Innkeeper

Lex just could not help himself. There was a part of him that wanted to go down and work on the monument some more. He had thoroughly underestimated how much fun it was to create something, and his weird knack for perfectionism that he had thought disappeared made a comeback.

It was a strange trait he developed during his programming days. Sometimes, certain pieces of code would function, but would have theoretical limits or flaws. Any programmer worth his salt would just make a comment and just move on. Not Lex, though. He would have to find a way to fix the code so that it would work regardless of the situation.

Other times, when he couldn't get a piece of code to work, even though it really should be working, he would go insane working on it until he fixed the issue. Honestly, he half blamed his tumor growth on the stress of one particular project that just wouldn't work and required weeks of debugging, only for someone to realize they used a colon instead of a semicolon.

But for all the stress it gave him, the feeling of making something that worked flawlessly, or at least as intended, felt wonderful. It was great, and to see others use and experience his work felt even better!

Which is why he felt slightly alarmed when his tendencies to perfect his work, which had disappeared for so long, suddenly returned.

The monument, as it was, worked as intended. He did not expect to encounter anyone within this sealed domain who would be powerful enough to unravel the restrictions of the monument.

But there was a part of his brain that kept insisting he fix the flaws that were created as a result of him trying to finish the monument in his very first attempt ever!

Lex's understanding of treasure manufacturing was limited as is, but even with his limited experience and knowledge, he could spot a few glaring flaws. Theoretically speaking, he could fix them if he tried. Fixing them without starting from the beginning and retaining the existing monument would make the task a little more complicated, but it was still possible.

Fortunately his amazing comprehension abilities made it so that he was a quick learner, so it shouldn't be an issue.

The only actual issue was the mental struggle he was undergoing between leaving it alone and moving on, and spending a bit more time here to fix it.

But while he could not come to a conclusion on what to do about that, he didn't mind at all spending a little time to sit and watch everyone take a crack at getting the legacy of the monument, as it were.

Originally, he was going to place the monument in the city, but then realized there was no need for him to discriminate against the other races like that. There were countless beasts in the forest, and many of them had great intelligence. Even if they weren't intelligent, they at least cultivated, which made them automatic contenders.

So he changed the plan midway. Adding an amphitheater was a good way of limiting the influence of the monument as well as creating a neutral zone. But he was not inside the Inn, where the snap of his fingers could pop out any building he could imagine. So naturally he spent a few hours making that as well.

It was tedious, but the results spoke for themselves. There were thousands of people inside the amphitheater, but there were a few hundred beasts as well. Their instincts could sense the opportunity that Lex had left for them, as well as the safety in this territory, which is why they flocked to it.

Maybe he hadn't fully considered the repercussions this could have on the region, but realistically speaking, it was impossible to predict how big of an influence such an action would have. It all depended on if anyone was able to get a legacy.

Indeed, Lex left behind more than one legacy, though each was of varying quality. The legacies were also not a one time thing, so they could be unlocked a number of times as long as the conditions were met.

He tried to add failsafes, such as disqualifying anyone who broke the rules, but it was not exactly easy to attach an 'if statement' to a monument, not to mention that it was not easy to check everyone for everything they did.

He did the best he could, and hoped things would work out. He could already see that the Torrin and Wood families were struggling with the decision over what to do. They wanted to limit access to it, but the warning given was keeping them hesitant.

Not that it mattered. Even without his system for disqualifying people, Lex had not made it easy to gain any of his legacies. The techniques he put into the monument ranged from some he used himself to others Pel gave him, but all were very useful on some scale.

As he watched the crowds struggle to get closer to the monument, he noticed something. Someone tripped, and fell forward. Although that person hadn't noticed it yet, they stumbled upon a loophole that would allow them to make great progress towards coming closer to the monument.

Detecting that loophole, so early on, was the feather that broke the camel's back. Lex could not ignore the monument's flaws anymore. But, if he was going to fix it, he had to think about it. Rubbing his chin, Lex began to pull out more materials and glanced over the many manuals Pel had given him for manufacturing treasures.

He also had to find a way to get everyone to leave for a few hours. Well, hopefully only a few hours. He could not afford to pull a repeat of that debugging incident. In fact, to make sure of it, Lex entered his Flow state.

How was it that this was the first state he ever unlocked, yet it was still the one he used the most? Whatever. It didn't matter. He had work to do.