The Innkeeper

Belmont did not say much, but a subtle smirk grew on his face as he watched mesmerization in Lex's eyes. Sure, his reaction was still tame and not nearly on the level he expected, but no one could deny the greatness of the Crystal race.

Indeed, Lex really could not come up with a single flaw in the exquisite structure. Despite all the ease the system afforded him in designing buildings, there was no replacement for meticulous and detailed planning. This was a step beyond anything he or even the Planning division had designed. What's more, he was a hundred percent sure that there were many details of this place that he was overlooking or simply unable to detect, for the fundamental purpose of this place was a prison, so how could there be no security measures?

Sure, he saw the endless number of guards, but he was sure that the security measures were greater than just that. Sure the majestic pressure the structure radiated was impressive, but he was sure that it had other more practical reasons as well.

Instead of directly taking Lex and himself to their next destination, as Belmont had been doing previously, he decided to walk and allow Lex to take more of the structure in. Unfortunately, walking through the structure did not elicit anymore reactions from Lex as his expression had long since returned to normal. Sure, he was studying the structure, but his motive was to absorb ideas to implement at the Inn rather than to appreciate its beauty.

The one thing he noticed only once he reached the structure was that the pattern made using spirit stones as tiles was identical to one of the characters he had studied for arrays.

The meaning of the character could not be expressed in a single word, and the nearest English translation of its meaning, or the way it expressed its power, meant 'strong earth'.

"The addition of a 'character' into the structure's design is ingenious," Lex said lightly. Of course now that he had seen the idea he could mimic it at the Inn, but something told him his implementation would still fall short of the original architect that designed this place.

"Returning to nature is a strong theme within the Crystal lifestyle," Belmont said with pride. "Biomimicry goes beyond just basic shapes and structures. True biomimicry is when one is able to recreate the laws of the universe within one's own design."

Lex nodded very seriously. This was already a very enlightening experience for him. If he could recreate what he learnt here, and implement it across the Inn, he felt he would reach a whole new level. But he still needed to study more. He had only seen things at a surface level. The most ideal situation would be if he hired a Crystal race architect for the Inn, and then thoroughly studied his process and learned it himself.

Though they were walking, it was not as if they were out for a casual stroll. Their speed was still incredibly fast, and in mere minutes they reached the center point of the pyramid, which was the entrance to a massive and elaborate underground structure.

Once inside, they took a spiral staircase that seemed like it was carved right out of the ground and seemed to go down forever. Since there were walls on both sides there was no way of seeing how far deep the staircase went, but every so often they would encounter a door to a certain floor.

Even with their impressive speed, they had to descend for at least 20 minutes before they reached not the bottom but the door they had to use. If Lex had to guess he would say they were around 60 miles (100 km) deep underground, which was an inconceivable concept to him. Across the various floors he felt differing auras, meaning that different restrictions were applied to each floor.

Although he did not know what the effects of those auras were, his instincts told him plainly that if he were to get trapped here, there would be no chance of escape. Teleporting to the Inn would be his only option.

Suddenly it occurred to Lex that there was probably some kind of formation deployed here to prevent teleportation as well. That was probably the first and most important part of a prison holding cultivators. But since he could still feel his connection to the Inn, he was sure he could still teleport out. At most, his teleportation would be delayed, like it had been on earth when the A.I. locked space somehow.

Lex continued to study the elaborate complex and took down notes as they went along. Luthor had long been asking for a prison, and Lex was considering taking inspiration from here and making one for him to manage when he returned from the war.

After going through various twists and turns, and descending several more floors as well as traveling through short distance teleportation formations which could not be accessed from outside the structure, they finally arrived at what was supposed to be a prison cell.

To Lex, however, it seemed like an underground mansion furnished luxuriously! Was this really the Crystal races concept of a prison? He was dumbfounded. This made even Swedish prisons look drab!

The duo did not knock or announce their presence, and simply walked through the forcefield that was shielding the 'prison cell'. They entered the building and made their way through, as if Belmont knew exactly where Ezio would be, and indeed he was correct.

They found their target meditating inside what looked like a zen garden, a small bird resting on his shoulder. Small yet colorful insects flew around him, reminiscent of butterflies and ladybugs. The scene was very beautiful and peaceful to watch. Lex decided that in the prison that he made… he might not add this feature. Or maybe he would. Who knows what kind of requirements he might have in the future.

Lex studied Ezio and tried to determine if he was the same Crystal elder he saw. As far as appearances went, he looked more or less the same, but Lex had very limited experience with Crystals so he was not sure if that was enough to identify him.

"When I gave you the letter, I expected it would be at least a century or two before you arrived," Ezio suddenly said, opening his eyes and focusing on Lex. As soon as Lex felt Ezio's gaze on him, he was sure of one thing: this was actually not the same Crystal he saw earlier!

Although back then Lex was comparatively much weaker than he was now, he still had a very good idea of the power level and aura of the Crystal he met. The Ezio in front of him was countless times more powerful.

But then Lex frowned. Despite the power difference, he could not explain why he knew Lex. Unsure of the correct answer, Lex could only share his findings with Belmont and leave it up to him to judge.

"This Crystal is a lot stronger than the one I met in the Minor realm. They cannot be the same."

Both Ezio and Belmont were surprised by the certainty in Lex's voice.

"How can you be sure?" asked Ezio, studying Lex thoroughly.

"About these things, I've never been wrong yet. You're definitely a lot stronger than the Crystal I met before."

Ezio shook his head in disappointment.

"There's a reason for that. If you had arrived in a couple of centuries as I expected, it wouldn't have mattered. But now that you've arrived so early, my plan is completely ruined. They'll find out sooner or later anyway, so I'll just tell you. The person you met earlier was still me, but that was just a clone of me that I've left in the outside world. That's why I appear more powerful in person."

Both Lex and Belmont were startled. Lex had been searching for a good cloning technique for so long. If he was able to discover one now, then Ezio really would be his lucky star. Not only had Lex received his 'thinking hat' from him last time, but had learnt incredible things just on the way to meet him. Should he hire him at the Inn?

"Ezio, do you know what you've done?" Belmont asked gravely, his body emitting a dangerous and furious aura. "Your sentence will only be increased further if what you've said is proven true. You know we'll track the activities of your clone now that we know about it. How many more crimes will we uncover?"

Ezio shook his head, as if he was uninterested in conversing with Belmont. Instead, his attention remained on Lex.

"I told you to find me when you've discovered enough secrets, and for every secret you share with me, I'll share one with you. The fact that you've come so quickly must mean you've learnt something important, or you wouldn't be confident enough to find me. So, tell me what you've learnt."