The Innkeeper

"Hey, hey, hey, that's not the kind of stuff you should be saying randomly," said Jotun, although he was more than inclined to believe his brother. After all, analytical deduction was Williams' strong suit, and he had more or less been responsible for developing the Empire's growth strategies. It could not be said to be flawless, but considering the massive scale of the empire, he could not really be blamed.

"It's just a theory. But the thing that I can't decide… is that if he really does have bloodline resonance, should we set our sights on him, or his abnormal parents who are able to achieve such a thing."

"What's bloodline resonance?" Damian could not help but ask, but regretted it immediately. Due to the casual attitude the brothers adopted, he forgot his position and status. The five brothers could not be blamed. They had a good relationship with each other, and had been like this since they were young. They were brothers spending time together, with all their other identities put aside. But did others really have the qualification to treat them casually as well?

The five brothers looked at Damian, and realized that they were not really done questioning him. Although he had described Leon's life so far, now he had to inform them about the three sisters and how they were trained.

"Bloodline resonance… you don't need to worry about it too much. Just think of it as the key… for the human race as a whole to move up on the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum. It is no wonder he would gain the protection of an entity like the Midnight Inn. I am now beginning to suspect that the name on the top of the Guest Registry really is him, as if he has been using the resonance, then that really is an achievement few can compete with. But these things are none of your concern. Now tell us about Belle…"

*****

Lex looked at Bacterius and did not drop his guard, but in fact raised it higher instead. That was because he tried to use Targeted Scan on him, but failed. The failure of the system's ability likely meant that Bacterius was not really here, or that he had some means to avoid the system's abilities.

The first option was the most likely, but he could not discount the second either.

"What is the invitation for? What does this have to do with my family?" he asked. It was too suspicious for someone to just appear and start mentioning his family. Moreover, he really was not a fan of how these unbelievably powerful beings just dropped in on him without him being able to detect them.

"The invitation has nothing to do with your family, be assured of that. No one's lineage or background can assure an invitation. Only a display showing strength far outside your own realm is the bare minimum requirement to get such an invitation. It is only the bare minimum requirement, mind you.

"I have already investigated Frigra thoroughly, so I can assure you that your invitation is much higher ranked than the bare minimum. I must say, like father like son. Your old man also dealt with a dragon back when he was in the Golden core realm, though he managed to kidnap it using his own abilities, and then later killed it in secret with his own strength as well. "Your achievement of climbing a soulless corpse falls a little short of that, but then again, you were faced with a Heavenly immortal corpse, while your old man only dealt with an Earth immortal. So it's understandable if there is a difference in performance."

Bacterius seemed to enjoy teasing Lex, giving him only the bare minimum information without extrapolating further. He grinned, and continued telling his story.

"By the way, as this is my job, don't think for a second that I did not do it thoroughly. I also discovered how you resisted an attack from an Earth immortal down in Polebitvy, which is impressive for a Golden core cultivator, but is not enough to fulfill the minimum requirement. Speaking of which, your mothers invitation was only the minimum requirement. Unfortunately, neither your father nor your mother were interested in attending this little event."

Lex pursed his lips as he was forced to listen to information about his family. Since they had kept so many secrets from him, and chose to not involve him in their lives, he had decided to ignore them as well. Now, suddenly receiving so much information about them made him feel uncomfortable - assuming it was all true of course.

"Your sister has a bit of an attitude problem, by the way. I was telling her all this as well and she just attacked me! Just because she was able to kill an Angel and absorb its bloodline to create her own does not mean she can just do whatever she wants."

"I think attacking you might really be the only way to make you get to the point," Lex said, his mood deteriorating. "If you do not want to talk about what this invitation is for, then I suggest you just leave. I don't think I'm much interested in it either."

Against this enigmatic foe, Lex did not hesitate to use Dominate, and noticed something peculiar. Not only could he tell that Dominate was affecting Bacterius, although he was too strong for it to produce any tangible results, he could sense him with his instincts now as well.

So Dominate could work on collaboration with other abilities as well…

"I see impatience is a family trait," Bacterius said, not at all perturbed by Lex's demeanor.

"It's quite simple really. The invitation for a tournament, of sorts. The best, and I mean the absolute best, from the entire realm are being gathered. The purpose of this tournament… is actually to determine if you are qualified to take part in a much larger, much more rewarding tourney.

"Yes, of course, there will be prizes and rewards and many opportunities for you to come in contact with the highest levels in this realm. But the main thing is, you can compete against anyone else who is considered the best, and see how you match up? So, are you interested? I can feel a lot of pride in you. Do you dare… to test that pride?"