The Innkeeper

Chapter 1350  Story time I

Now that he knew what Ereboths objective was, Lex relaxed. Power lay in knowing what others wanted. With that knowledge, he could manipulate the situation to his benefit. In the beginning, the only reason he was on the backfoot was because he knew nothing about Ereboth, or its intentions.

Now, not only had he gained the advantage, he also understood his intentions, which were to get into his good books. Lex literally held all the advantage, so he relaxed, and let Ereboth make the next move.

He would mold the situation like clay, turning it into an outcome he found acceptable. He was especially interested in Ereboths system, and what could be done with it. In fact, he even got a few ideas of how it could be useful.

Unfortunately, Lex could not actually slay the evil planet and absorb its system, so he would have to settle for something else.

Ereboth may be lacking in social grace, but he was not stupid nor was he inexperienced. If nothing else, just the lives of the trillions of beings that had once inhabited his planet were stored in his mind like memories, a reservoir from which he could search for solutions.

He went through the memories of billions of humans, compared their characteristics and nature to that of the Innkeeper, and came to a certain conclusion.

The fact that he was even able to sit and have this conversation now meant that the Innkeeper was not too upset with him. If such was not the case, then the Innkeeper would have already either killed or banished him.

With this knowledge, the planet felt like it had secretly regained a bit of its momentum, as the threat of death evaporated in its mind. Then, it continued to evaluate the lives of those humans, and determined the best way to proceed from this situation was to appeal to the Innkeepers sense of empathy and mercy by being completely truthful. Even a hint of deceit would cause the plan to fail.

With his decision made, Ereboth decisively took action. He looked at the Innkeeper with a melancholic look, and asked a question.

"Innkeeper, would you mind listening to my story? It is not an excuse for my behavior… but maybe it will explain why I act the way I acted, and how I've known no other reality save one of the winners eats the losers. I have never known another kind of relationship."

The Innkeepers eyes flashed with a look of pity, as if he was looking down upon a lost child in need of guidance.

"Very well. I will hear you out," he said, his voice returning to his previous calm and collected state.

"I… my… my very birth itself was linked to the system," Ereboth said with wistful eyes. "I always knew it was an external thing, come to me from the great unknown. But I did not question it, mostly because for the first billion years of my life, I was wholly incapable of such complex thoughts to begin with.

"When I gained sentience as a planet, I was guided by instincts. I wanted my planet to thrive, wanted to eliminate parasites who take but do not give, and wanted to grow stronger in spiritual energy.

"As it happened, my system wanted a similar thing. My system… my system is the… the…"

Ereboth had hesitation written all over his face as he struggled with revealing the details, so Lex helped him.

"The System System, yes I am aware," the Innkeeper said as if it was the most insignificant thing in existence.

Ereboth trembled, but said nothing about the matter, and instead continued his story.

"My System System also wanted me to grow stronger, but using the system. It gave me quests to do. As I was being ruled by instinct anyway, slowly controlling the slow and growth of natural treasures, affecting the flow of history of sentient beings within myself, I instinctively began using my system as well.

"My system allowed me to pass out systems to a few others. When I started out, I could only give one system out, thus creating the first every system user on my body. The system user grew stronger by killing others on a similar level, by gaining something called experience. But what it did not know was half the experience it gained was actually passed onto me, slowly raising my level as well and helping me grow stronger.

"The first system user died in the pursuit of strength, and so did the second, and the third. But the fourth was something special. He was a mastermind of death, and killed with precision and ease, allowing him to grow stronger quicker.

"As he grew, so did I, and I unlocked more features of my system. Instinctively, I gave the fourth system user more and more quests, helping him grow stronger and stronger. But then came a point he became the strongest on the planet, and I stopped growing.

"Fortunately, by then, I unlocked the ability to pass on more systems, and so a culture of killing developed. I started growing stronger even quicker, but then came a problem - an all too predictable problem. My planet became devoid of almost all life."

Silence once again fell in the room, and objectively speaking, Lex could understand how growing up in such an environment could shape Ereboth into a malicious, bloodthirsty, power hungry planet.

Of course, that did not mean he would excuse it, or even allow it. As Lex heard the potential that Ereboths system held, he could not help but admitting that he saw immense potential for it. Not that he wanted to condone killing. No, Lex already knew the other features the planet held by peeking at the interface, and had a feeling he knew where the story was headed.

The feature of the System System that Lex was most attracted to was dungeons! He was already planning how to help Ereboth in the future.

"That brought a lull in my growth for a long time," the planet continued its story. "Until there was finally a change. My system naturally ranked up."