The Innkeeper-Novel

Lex smiled because he had finally been encountering some easy quests. Before, from quests ranging to recruiting an immortal behemoth to visiting a 5 star planet, and developing a permanent guest district, Lex kept getting quests way beyond his capabilities.

Lately though, finally, he had some good ones.

He shook his head, denying himself the hope that his luck was getting better, and looked at his rewards.

Fire Temple

A building to host divinities with a fiery temperament, though others can visit it as well. It contains all the basic necessary facilities required by a divine being. Must be built in an extremely hot environment.

New worker class unlocked: Draconian Apostle.

Draconian Apostle

An Insecta found in only the most hazardous environments, these extremely versatile can freely adapt the structure of their bodies to suit their survival needs. A powerful but simple minded race, their lives are hollow until they find a master to serve, or an ideology to propagate.

This… was a surprise. Lex always knew he would eventually hire workers that were nonhumans, but he always thought he would need to take the initiative in finding them. To be honest, he was so comfortable with humans that he hadn't really felt the need to hire races. In fact, he somewhat believed that his perception as the Innkeeper had strongly been tied to humans or at least humanoid creatures, for even the Henali sent all humanoid representatives to greet him.

But before he even got around to it, the system had provided him with a new race, or as it called it, class of workers.

He spent 5000 MP to purchase a Draconian Apostle to see what they looked like, and get a better understanding of them. All he understood, so far, was that they were some kind of insect.

Though what he was mentally prepared for, and what appeared in front of him were completely different. A three feet long honey bee appeared in front of him, wearing the signature suit all Midnight Inn employees wore.

Its yellow fur made the suit fitting look fluffy and snug, while its two massive eyes on the sides of its head made it look like it was in a perpetual state of puppy dog eyes. It made a gentle buzzing sound as it hovered in the air in front of it, but it was actually quite pleasing.

"Greetings, Innkeeper," whispered a cute, baby voice in his head.

"Greetings," replied Lex verbally, testing if the Apostle could hear. "Introduce yourself and what you're capable of doing."

"My name is Fredrich. I can do most basic physical and spiritual tasks, and have a racial advantage in building stable structures in extremely volatile areas. For my survival, I cannot long stay in such a… temperate environment, and am best suited for places with extreme heat, cold, radioactive decay, strong electrical clouds etc. I can change my shape as needed to suit my environment and task.

"The cultivation of my species is dependent heavily on the environment in which we live. The more chaotic environment we are able to adapt to, the stronger we will become. Naturally, the environment must also have spiritual energy for us to grow from, but it need not be stable at all. In fact, it is best if it is even a little violent."

'So a race of masochist bees,' Lex mused.

"Take a look at this ravine, do you think you could survive there?" Lex asked as he pointed towards the ever growing pool of lava.

Fredrich took the request very seriously, and even flew down into the ravine to properly inspect everything. Due to the Draconian Apostle's being an entirely different race Lex could not determine its facial expressions, or even detect the to be honest, but his instincts let him know that the was filled with excitement as it flew back.

"This area is perfect for me, and will greatly boost my cultivation!" he said, barely able to suppress its joy.

"Alright in that case, whenever we have a guest come to this area, you will be incharge of taking care of their needs," decided Lex as he summoned a few more of them to give Fredrich some company.

With that done, Lex decided to place the Fire Temple within the ravine as well. As it turned out, the ravine was just large enough to accommodate the structure of an ancient mosque, with tall spires on four of its sides and a pointed domed structure in the middle as the temple itself.

Not interested in exposing himself to the heat of the lava, though he'd be protected from it anyway, Lex simply scanned the temple to see what it was like on the inside. Considering it had what all divinities needed, he was expecting to see a few rooms and amenities, but all he saw were several altars in closed off sections of the temple. Other than that it was very plain and mostly filled with decorations.

Lacking an adequate understanding of divinities, Lex simply shrugged and moved on.

He was feeling a little tired from meeting all his workers for the past several hours, so instead Lex decided to catch up on a few other tasks that were waiting for him, the primary of which was the gifts left behind for him by the Henali representatives.

There was an epistle with the words Henali embossed right onto it, a small sealed booklet which contained the conventions alongside a small, wooden chest that contained some kind of a gift for him.

Such official business was best conducted in his new office, so he retreated back to it and comfortably sat down on his chair. He had asked Mary to try and open them, but she had been unable to open it. There was a very decent chance that Lex himself wouldn't be able to open it either, but he would only find out by trying it out for himself.

After a moment's consideration, he reached towards the epistle first, since it was addressed to him directly. Supposedly it was an invitation to the Henali assembly, whatever that was.

He did not wait for dramatic effect and tried to open the epistle as soon as he got his hands on it but, predictably, nothing happened. The epistle did not open.

Lex sat back in his chair and frowned as he considered why he was unable to open it. Perhaps since they assumed him to be a Daolord, he needed the strength of a Daolord to open it in the first place. Such reasoning would make sense, and if that were the case, these items would remain untouched for a long time, if they were ever touched again at all.

While he was thinking, his sight wandered over the other items on the table, and he noticed the letter opener. Could it be..?

Lex scanned the items on the table, for he hadn't had a chance to earlier.

He started with the leatherbound journal, but discovered it was not a journal at all.

Midnight Inn Letterhead

An Inn, one as prestigious as this, cannot be without proper stationary. The Midnight letterhead can be used by the Innkeeper to write official letters or messages bound for outside the Inn. They will be tinged with the aura of the Innkeeper.

Innkeeper's Pen

Each of the Innkeepers words is worth a hundred worlds. Writing anything with this pen will imbue the words with the aura of the Innkeeper.

Ink Well

The medium to carry power must be powerful as well. No word written with this ink may ever be misconstrued, misunderstood or manipulated to mean anything other than what the author's intentions entail.

Innkeepers Letter opener

A prestigious man must have prestigious friends. An exchange between people of status needs proper etiquette. The letter opened uses the aura of the Innkeeper to open letters and packages addressed to the Innkeeper to confirm the identity of the recipient.

Innkeeper's business cards

Everyone cannot be everywhere all the time. These business cards carry the aura of the Innkeeper with them, and when spiritual energy is passed through them, a temporary clone linked to the Innkeepers consciousness can appear. The Innkeeper can send it to those with whom he wishes to converse.

Lex was genuinely impressed by these items that had remained completely unmentioned so far. They were genuinely so useful for his identity as the Innkeeper, but the system had not deigned to mention them at all. Or maybe they were just a part of his new office, which is why the system did not give him individual notifications.

The business cards especially were blowing his mind and opened up so many potential options for him to continue to use his Innkeeper persona. He had been invited by the Henali to attend some kind of assembly, but Lex honestly had no intention of going. It would only expose him, and maybe even put his system at risk of being detected. But with such clones, he could now consider the option.