The Innkeeper

The measurement process was unusual, to say the least. By the end of it Geeves drew up a few mock designs as well to show Lex and get his feedback. Through the process, where Lex learned more and more about the suits and what they could do, he eventually realized that they were going to be much more useful to him than he anticipated.

For now, the suit he was getting aimed at being a general, all purpose one that he could use in his day to day matters, but already he had thought of various other suits he could have made. For example, the few times where he hunted with Fenrir, he realized the wolf's stealth capabilities were extremely useful. While Lex could not replicate them, he had the Orions scales which could be used for the same purpose. In fact, he already handed them over to Geeves and asked him to make a second suit, for the express purpose of stealth.

That would take a while, as Geeves would have to make the first suit first, then process Orion's scales and then use the fabric made from it to make the suit, which would be completely different.

Unlike the previous 1000 suits which had been made in a rush, Lex's suit gave Geeves a lot more leeway to do as he wished, and so the making of the suit would take much longer. Once Geeves had properly rested, it would take about a week to deliver both suits. That was a long time, considering Geeves had no other orders, but Lex did not complain. He simply paid a deposit of 100 million MP and then left.

With no other tasks left to distract or occupy him, Lex was now FINALLY free to return to the Crystal realm. Fueled by a sense of urgency, if it were up to Lex, he would immediately depart on his journey to find Valesco, yet it was not meant to be.

The last time he was here Jolene, the mother of Pvarti's fiance, had requested Lex facilitate her in the handover of some 'secret' items over to someone else. Naturally, the handover had been successful, and now Jolene wanted to expand the scope of their cooperation.

Lex had been dealing with the matter using his projection, but he felt he might benefit if he went and took a look at matters first hand, as his instincts would play a better role then.

But even that was a secondary matter. The first thing he had to deal with was the Trelop from whom Lex had taken the Cosmic Erosion Elixir.

Lex had scooped all the elixir away and teleported to the Inn while he was still in the Trelops territory, so naturally when he returned to the Crystal realm, that's where he reappeared.

The first thing he noticed once he returned was that the area already looked much better. The massive crowd that had gathered trying to reach the elixir had dispersed, and all the dead and decayed plants nearby had been removed. In fact, new saplings had already been planted and Lex could see that they were growing at an abnormally fast pace. He could only accredit that to Toro, the Trelop controlling the area.

One thing he had noticed, though vaguely, was that the Trelops he had encountered all seemed ridiculously powerful. Even when compared to other races in the same realm, Trelops maintained an overwhelming advantage.

It was while Lex was musing on the incredible strength of Trelops that a familiar fish made of grass and seaweed appeared in the distance, swimming towards him.

Lex waited patiently for the Trelop to arrive, and greeted him immediately.

"Good day senior. I hope you have not been troubled once again after I resolved the issue last time."

"You and you GODDAMN etiquettes!" Toro roared in frustration as soon as he heard Lex speak. Regardless of how unusual this particular Trelop may be, Lex remembered the importance of remaining extremely polite and respectful with him.

"I will take that as if everything is well."

"You're GODDAMN right everything is well," he said in frustration. "As soon as that stinking liquid disappeared, everything quickly returned to normal… or close enough. What the hell was that thing? How did you get rid of it? How can you teleport within my territory without my permission?"

Lex smiled weakly. He was not sure if he should reveal what he had learned… but then decided it was better to reveal what he knew than to hide it. Clearly something was wrong with this realm, and in the off chance that the anomaly was not common knowledge, the entire realm could be in jeopardy. He did not want the destruction of an entire realm on his conscience just so that he could benefit a little from the situation first.

"Originally, I did not know what the elixir was as well, so I went to consult a senior."

Lex produced a golden key, and threw it towards Toro.

"You can use this golden key to go to a place known as the Midnight Inn. I used it too, that's how I was able to teleport away. There, I consulted a senior and learnt that the liquid was called Cosmic Erosion Elixir. I obviously do not understand the specifics of the matter but… the senior told me that the liquid is only formed when… when an entire realm is destabilizing and on the path to destruction."

Lex paused, and waited to see the Trelops reaction. Based on his bombastic personality, he was expecting a great response, but no such thing came. At first, Lex quickly assumed that knowledge of the realms impending demise was common knowledge. But then, when he looked at the lost face of the Trelop, another theory popped up in his mind.

Before he could verify his theory, the Trelop confirmed it for him by asking, "what the GODDAMN hell is a realm, and what does it have to do with my territory?"