The Innkeeper

Khuno, the now 14-year-old boy, looked up at his older sister, Cava. Both of them had been working for months now, something wildly out of their expectations, but the two of them paused now. Something was in the air, and it made him afraid.

Originally, they meant to spend some time at the Inn and then go back. But as they dug through the soil, as they worked with the plants, as they plucked fruits from trees, they were farming, but what they were actually growing was their own strength.

A week of working at the greenhouse at the Inn allowed them to grow a lot more than their ancestral training ever could. Even their parents were taken aback when they saw them. Unsure if the Inn was really the cause, the parents joined them as well. To their entire families great surprise, even their parents began to see rapid growth in their strength!

That's when they realized, whether it was the water from the Well of Invigoration, or the soil nurtured with the most potent fertilizers, or the air that was pure and filled with energy, they all joined together to make the greenhouse the best place to train they could ever hope to find!

The Lycanthropes had been losing the war in their home country. The human princess wielding secret powers had fallen in love with one of those absurd, shining bats, which turned the tides in their favor.

To protect the two, as well as train them, they had been sent to the Inn. Then, the Inn stopped accepting new guests. Just to make the most of the opportunity, they stayed and continued to train. Then a few days ago, a strange heaviness filled the Inn. They sensed something amiss, but assured by the familiar staff, they decided to stay.

A few more days passed, and the heaviness only continued to increase. Just as Khuno was considering actually leaving, there was a change in the air. Something was happening. Then they heard the Innkeeper's voice.

At the other side of the Inn, the Mountain-man was dreaming. His system made it so that his 'daily' cycle was actually several years long, so he spent a lot of time sleeping and resting. But even within his dream, he heard a familiar voice. It was calm, and reassuring, but he could not help but think that the voice did not belong in this dream.

Cassandra, who was still sitting atop the Midnight mountain, observed everything around her with rapt attention, as she did not want to miss a single thing. This was exactly what she had been waiting for.

The Sovereign turtle looked up, as it sensed something.

Hera firmly held her son Jimmy's hand. It would be alright.

Z, surrounded by members of his house of Starcloak, stood at the forefront and looked up at the sky. There was not an ounce of nervousness in his body.

Gerard and Velma sat together, in silence. They had been together the longest, and at this turning point, could not help but think back on their days together. Not all of it had been sunshine, and not all of it had been easy. But all of it had most definitely been a wonderful ride.

Fenrir and Little Blue cuddled together. For reasons that neither of them understood, they felt incredibly small and weak, and were reminded of their weakest moments. Both of them had come to the Inn as helpless babes. They had come far.

John looked up at the sky, slowly taking on an orange hue. It had been months, and he had not been able to get over the loss of his system. He felt just as broken as his system was, and did not know if he had the strength for a new journey. But a new beginning had arrived nonetheless.

Harry and Hailey stood on the balcony of their apartment, right above the barbershop, and looked at the Inn. They did not know how or when they had been infected by a melancholic mood, but there was something driving them to contemplate their life so far, and what they wanted from the future.

Every single living soul inside the Inn, at that moment, felt infected by an unknown mood.

Lex, who stood in the office of the Innkeeper, looked out at his Inn. The time had finally come. The past few days had gone by in a blur, and they had done the best they could to prepare. Now, all they could do was sit back and watch as the change happened.

As his mental countdown reached 0, he received a series of notifications from the system. The first was slightly alarming, or rather had the potential to cause alarm, so he used the system to spread his voice out across the Inn.

"Dear guests, fellow workers. Do not be alarmed. The Midnight Inn is about to undergo a massive renovation, because of which the teleportation function has been shut down completely. Until the renovation is completed, it is not possible to leave the Inn."

He used his utmost to speak those words in as soothing and calm a voice as possible, for he really needed everyone to not panic. That was because there were many more notifications he had received, and he needed to communicate the information to his guests as well.

"During the renovation process, you may witness some alarming scenes, but you will not be harmed at all. You can sit back and enjoy the scene treating everything as if it were just an illusion. For those with a slightly higher cultivation realm, you can also pay attention and observe. This may be beneficial for your comprehension."

He did not elaborate any more. Instead he just looked out at his Inn. Suddenly it made sense. In his visions of the future, he saw the Inn destroyed in fire right before his eyes, but he remained calm nonetheless.

It was because the realm was being reborn, but before that, it had to be utterly destroyed. Massive balls of fire appeared in the air, and began their descent. Fortunately, the second notification he had received informed him that the system would protect everyone and everything during the destruction of this realm.

So much for all the preparations they made. He continued to look as the first fireball crashed into the ground, and sent a rippling shockwave through the Inn.

WIth his eye that could see laws, Lex saw both the unfolding destruction, and the rebirth hidden within. The birth of the Midnight realm had begun.

[End of Volume 3]