The Innkeeper

An awkward peace returned to the isolated realm. The leaders were still spread out where they had been fighting the Kraven while the two deities stood in front of the tavern. While the leaders were mostly fine, feeling only embarrassed that the Kraven had come and gone and they could do naught but watch. They had not even been able to kill a single one, though admittedly it was unfair to ask anyone to kill an immortal in only a few moves.

But besides their ego, they suffered no hurt. The ones feeling the most awkward were the two deities. Although they had contributed by bringing the fight to the isolated realm, that was the end of their contribution. Normally that would be more than enough for them, as beings who lorded over the realm and had ultimate power. But Lex was not hiding his dissatisfaction at their lack of participation. To be clear, he had not said anything, but his expression while looking at them was enough.

Moreover, although there was no proof, anyone who even glanced at the situation could tell that the two of them were conversing with Belail in secret. Their purposes were hidden for now, but even if they truly were noble or for the greater good, what did that have to do with Lex? By making them aware of the situation he was already contributing massively, yet this was how he was being repaid. Strictly speaking, they did not owe him any help. But when one had such a ridiculously powerful elder, who cared about such trivialities.

"I, for one, did not share an invitation with the Kraven. I wonder how they learnt about this meeting," Lex mused out loud. He did not accuse anyone out right, but his glare was still pointed at the birds.

"Even if a secret is kept close, when such significant figures are involved in matters, unless special preparation has been taken to hide or masquerade the tides of fate, it is easy to divine something. They may not necessarily have known about the meeting, only that something significant is happening in this place."

Lex looked around and discovered that everything had happened very quickly. Barely a couple of minutes had passed by. Although the tavern had been attacked, the town itself remained wholly unhurt. The wedding could, theoretically, still continue. He had to wrap this up and ensure that the ceremonies were not interrupted for he really needed a good result for this quest.

"I am no longer in the mood for a long conversation. How are you planning on discovering the anomaly? Without learning what it is, there can be no remedy."

"Previously I estimated that the realm had a few decades of time, but due to the… strain the realm suffered while your elder arrived, that time has surely reduced, though I cannot say by how much. Taking our time with the matter is no longer advisable. I suggest that since we are already gathered, we take this opportunity to approach the branch head for Ventura Chaotic-Gold and ask him directly.

"Although Ventura is an overwhelmingly strong organization, they are not considered an evil one, or that would affect the number of students they receive. They will surely leave a way out for us."

Just as Lex was about to ask how the manager can be contacted, a new figure appeared within the isolated realm. Although Lex had never seen him before, he recognized the race as Bravenharbinger. He had seen one before - Dillion Jormander, someone who worked for the Henali and had accepted Ragnar's trillion MP quest. Although, admittedly, this one did look bigger and more intimidating.

"What could you possibly have to ask me?" the massive, gray creature asked, his double bladed weapon in his hand. The creature's deterrence was incredibly strong, and would have cowed everyone had they not just felt the even stronger aura of Lex's elder.

"There is something wrong with the realm," said Cornelius, his tone accusatory. Unlike the others, he was an actual member of Ventura so he was not concerned that he would be attacked. After all, if members of Ventura wanted to fight one another, there was a lot of paperwork that had to be submitted beforehand!

"The entire realm is deteriorating, and could be destroyed in a number of decades!"

"Oh, so you finally noticed," he said in a completely dismissive tone. He did not seem to think that such a matter deserved such concern.

"Well, all I can say about that is that you have been quite lax about the Kraven. You are completely ignoring them and letting them do as they want. Who can you blame but yourselves for not noticing how they are using treasures to feed on the laws of the realm? I told you long ago, when we first met, that the Kraven were one of the foremost races employed in inter-realm wars. Why did you think that was? Just because they are a little tough to kill?"

The creature scoffed.

"They have even used the laws of the realm as raw materials to build an inter-realm portal, connecting this realm to a much, much larger one! While they feed on the foundation of this realm, and artificially create Earth Immortals, they have already built themselves an escape route to leave for when they ultimately leave this realm barren and unable to support life."

Lex heard the sound of a notification, and had a sneaking suspicion his long awaited quest was finally complete. Unable to hold back his anticipation, he peeked at the notification.

New Notification: Quest Complete! Source of anomaly detected! System is making adjustments to avoid such anomalies in the future…

There was more, but Lex stopped reading for now. The quest was finally over! He could soon move to his own realm! The excitement of it nearly swept away his negative feelings. But he controlled himself and kept his focus on what was happening before him. He would have time to review the notification later.

"You knew of all this, and yet you did nothing?" Elena asked, anger radiating from her voice.

"You can only blame yourselves for misinterpreting my intentions. I told you all that the pressure of an extinction-level threat will produce many excellent students. You thought I told you to keep the war going so that many students would be born from the pressure. But the truth was, you never needed to hold back, for facing the Kraven, you really are facing an extinction level threat."

The creature paused, but then shook its head and continued speaking.

"But you do not need to fret too much. Ventura will not allow the realm to be actually destroyed. An exam is being prepared for some of our elite students who will be sent to the Crystal realm to destroy the treasures the Kraven are using to feed on the laws of the realm. At most, the foundation of the realm will be damaged but not destroyed. Of course, if you feel like that is unacceptable, you can fight against the Kraven yourself.

"To be honest, you all think that Ventura needs your cooperation to maintain its interests, but that could not be farther from the truth. Whether the war is kept on going, or ended prematurely, it does not affect Ventura at all. After all, we have more than one objective in this realm. Just ask the Crystal race if you are interested in knowing more…"

The creature suddenly paused and looked to the side, where a new figure had emerged from the shadows. Even Lex had failed to detect the new figure, though that was because without the incarnation of the Innkeeper, his senses had all been reduced in potency once again. He was, after all, just a projection.

"So while I slept, my home has become the playground of giants," said the figure, his voice calm and smooth, and most pleasing to listen to.

The new figure showed no animosity towards the Bravenheart who was so callously taking advantage of their realm. After all, it understood the truth of power better than anyone else here.

"You are finally awake," said Firin in a hushed tone.

"I could have woken up a long time ago, but what is the point? The deity of Crystal has long suppressed us, and betrayed us to these outsiders."

Shaking its head, as if it did not want to discuss things, the figure turned and looked towards Lex.

"The voice I heard earlier said that any who give the head of Belail can be brought out of this realm and provided an opportunity to grow. Does that hold true for deities as well?"

"Yes," said Lex, though he had a suspicion the request was not so easy. But he had faith in the system. Surely it could achieve it. Just to be safe, he should really look into deities, and any restrictions they had.

"I look forward to being your colleague in the future," the figure said amicably before vanishing. His confidence was through the roof, and he could even easily ignore the oppressive aura of the Bravenheart. Whoever the figure was, he was far from simple.

The Bravenheart, instead of being offended, only smiled, and departed, leaving behind a group of unresigned immortals.

"He is mostly lying," Cornelius told Lex, using his spirit sense. "I suspect he was too afraid of your senior, and so made things sound better. There is definitely more to this than it seems."