The Innkeeper

"What's wrong, Axios?" asked one of the others sitting in the ship, the voice carrying a sharpness that would actually give an electric shock to those that heard. The strange thing was that the man who spoke had no lips, just like all the others within the ship.

His face had the same contours of a human face, but it was plain without any actual features. There were no eyes, no lips, no nose - as if a cloth had covered a human face. The only thing he did have were small hexagons etched into both sides of his face with light blue lines, as if there was electric energy running through them, onto the much darker navy blue skin.

The hexagons on Axios' face were shining much brighter than normal, indicating a heavier use of energy than normal.

"I don't know," Axios responded after a few seconds of silence. "I saw someone who caused significant fluctuations in my Energy Shard. I could not get an energy reading on him, but I sense that he is quite dangerous."

"That's not unordinary," the first person said. "Countless powerful beings have come to this brand new realm for various purposes. It is completely expected that more than a few Heavenly Immortals have had their own unique experiences, and can cause our Energy Shards to react. Though our Nas race remains superior, we cannot ignore that the universe hosts many other powerful beings."

Axios turned to the Nas race member who was speaking, and after some contemplation, said, "I suspect the target that caused my Shard to fluctuate was an Earth Immortal."

The vehicle fell into silence, as none could respond to Axios' words for a time. None of them considered, even for a moment, that he may be wrong. But if someone in the Earth Immortal realm felt dangerous to Axios, then that person was especially someone they needed to watch out for.

"What race was he? Could it be a genius from one of the top races?" one of them asked.

"I'm not familiar with the race. Here, take a look," said Axios as he held out his hand and an image appeared right above it, perfectly displaying Lex's looks.

"That's a human, a declining race that is a part of the Humanoid Alliance and is aligned with the Path of Order. Their decline was initiated by an alliance of the Gon and Tyranis races who joined together to kill all their Dao Lords and, predictably, are aligned with the Path of Chaos. It is quite surprising that your target turned out to be a human."

"What is the Nas race's relationship with humans?" Axios asked as he scanned the horizon, searching for Lex once more. But he seemed to have disappeared.

The thing that Axios was wondering most was why that human had turned to look towards him. Had his Energy Shard also reacted to Axios? What did that mean?

"Officially the Nas race is neutral towards the Human race, and we do not have a strong stance either way since there is little to no overlap in our interests or areas of influence. We do have a cooperative relationship with the Celestial race however - the leaders of the Humanoid Alliance. Are you thinking of making contact?"

Axios turned his head and looked towards the projection of Lex he himself created, pondering for a moment.

"No, we cannot be distracted from our mission. However, if I run into him again, I might make contact. This human has aroused my curiosity."

Axios dismissed the projection, and turned his thoughts towards their more immediate concerns. While it was rare for someone to trigger a response from his own Energy Shard, as the heir to a Dao level power, he had much on his plate.

This was especially considering that the Artica realm was his last stop before he initiated his tribulation to enter into the Celestial realm. He needed this job to go perfectly, lest he develop a heart demon before his next tribulation.

As for the fact that a mere Earth Immortal made him feel danger, though he did not make it obvious, he was naturally not intending to let that human go. While a poor job in the Artica realm might cause him to develop a heart demon, feeling threatened by someone an entire realm below him would definitely do the job!

A Major tribulation for crossing into the Celestial realm would make him encounter all his internal demons, so it was best to be as clear headed as possible.

"System, begin a new game. Target the previous human I locked eyes with," Axios spoke in his thoughts.

Inside his mind, a new image of a massive game board appeared with seemingly limitless columns and rows drawn with fine lines, intersecting each other. But if one looked carefully, they could see that the top down view did not present the whole picture, for there were countless levels to this game as well, each directly atop another.

Then, in a far and inconspicuous location right at the interaction of a row and column line, a single white, oval stone, shimmered with a soft luminescence, its rounded shapes evoking freshly fallen snow, appeared.

Unknown to Lex, a game had begun between him and the Nas race member called Axios, linking the two inextricably until the game was resolved.

"What's wrong?" Gerard asked, as he looked at Lex, who was staring out into the distance. The reason he specifically knew something was wrong was that initially Lex just got up, as if he was startled, but in the seconds that had passed since, Lex began to frown. It was not often that Lex visibly displayed his emotions, at least if they were negative.

Yet, unknowingly, he had begun to frown. For something to distract him to the level where he would show his emotions, it must be a very big deal.

"I'm not sure," Lex responded slowly. "I just had a strong premonition. At first, it was neutral, but just a moment ago it turned eerily dark."

Lex closed his eyes and tried to clear his thoughts, but it was not so easy. Within his mind he could see what he could only describe as a Go board on steroids, with limitless intersections on each level, and countless levels. As if that was not enough, a single, white piece had been laid down on that board on one of those levels.

The image itself only appeared in his mind for a split second, right after he saw that odd fellow from that unusual race, but the weight of that seemingly inconsequential piece of stone felt far from insignificant. In fact, just the memory of it was still distracting him, even now.

"Yeah, usually when you lock eyes with a stranger across a crowded hall, or in this case a large landing zone, you either discover your true love or your arch nemesis. Just saying," said Velma as she shrugged. She had full confidence that whatever issue was troubling him, Lex would be able to handle it, which is why she was quite relaxed.

"Bad customer reviews are my arch nemesis," Lex said as he sat back down. The ominous feeling was finally beginning to fade, and the image also gradually began to disappear from his mind. Ultimately, he could not go pursue that guy he had locked eyes with for the vehicles were automated and did not open.

Sure, he could teleport out, but considering how strict the Artica race was, he didn't think causing a commotion was the best way to make a solid first impression.

Also, he was entirely truthful about the customer reviews, for if the customers at the Inn left negatively about their experience at the Inn - specifically due to the Inns service and not because of external factors - then everything at the Inn would become more expensive for him.

"What are your impressions on the realm so far?" Lex asked, trying to change the subject.

"It's too early to say so far," Gerard said. "But I have noticed that the flow of energy here is unique. There was no noticeable difference in the Uzuz realm, so this is not a Major realm thing. I cannot comment on what exactly the difference is just yet, but it is interesting."

"My ability to listen to secrets is completely suppressed," said Velma, though she didn't seem too bothered by it. "I think any ability to snoop or pry into secrets, as long as it belongs to a guest in this realm, will all be blocked. At least it's reassuring to know that no one can look into us as long as we maintain our covers."

"It is good to know. I think this realm will hold many surprises for us," said Lex out loud.

Internally, he was checking how long it would take for him to link this new Major realm to the Inn - in case he was interested. The answer was both predictable, and yet surprising.

Linking a major realm would take, at minimum, an uninterrupted 1000 years to link.