The Innkeeper

With six, sturdy legs spread across its long, muscular body, four sets of claws, two on either side of its long body, and the ability to move its internal organs as it wanted, a Qwash was a menace in a fight. Naturally, they had their own weapons designed to suit their bodies that were very different from swords and guns, and since they were not commonly seen, they were all the more dangerous.

Nzaar operated as a sort of space pirate, but not exactly. In the Origin realm, pirates were obviously a menace and extremely notorious for their danger, but they weren\'t inherently evil. Many of them were driven by circumstances of their own, and their target was more towards getting rich and then secretly retiring than anything else.

Rather than a pirate, Nzaar qualified as a pillager. He and his crew actively looked for undefended or weak prey and attacked just as much for resources as for the thrill of the hunt. They would take what was useful to them, and burn the rest - something a pirate would never do, or they would take along even what wasn\'t useful in an effort to sell it.

He was in the middle of a hunt when his crew, a mix of various species, from slimes to beasts and more, brought him a golden key. As a species that did not have eyes, Qwash had other senses to compensate, which is why he became aware of the key long before it was actually brought to him.

Unlike the humans of Earth, who only felt vague sensations of what the key could offer to them, Nzaar immediately picked up on the purpose of the key - it would teleport him to a special Minor realm. Interested, he gathered his crew to explore this new arena.

*****

At the Midnight Inn, Gerard was currently on his regular patrols in his reliable old golf cart. The video game tournament was going well, as the semi-finals were taking place, and the Inn was more lively than it had been in a while.

Old man Will and Hera were going to finalize a trade agreement today with the Governor of Vegus Minima worth billions of dollars, and so were present with a large entourage. Jimmy and Layla were, as usual, conducting a raid towards the heinous and malevolent peacocks of the Inn.

Queen Sophia of New York was celebrating with her son, Rafael, for not only was he walking once again, he had miraculously learnt about the location of an incredible panacea on Earth that would heal him and allow him to cultivate once more. King Marlo was currently busy retrieving that medicine himself, as it was too important to leave to someone else.

The Morrison family was also gathered at the Inn in its entirety, for Alexander had come to the Inn after many months. His journey in joining the Jotun army had been anything but smooth, but his horizons had expanded rapidly. He was currently having a meeting with his family, discussing the future direction of the family.

Blane, Chen, Lily and Iris also happened to be at the Inn, discussing old times. Considering the fact that Blane and Lily had left on a spaceship, the only time they got to interact with their friends was at the Inn.

Many of the original Nacsents from Earth were here as well, drinking to forget their problems. It had been long enough for the Inn to be connected to Earth, not to mention the new Minor realm that never closed, that the number of Nascent cultivators on Earth had exploded. Of course, these new Nascent cultivators could not compare to the old ones, but suffice to say, the original 5 families had long since lost much of the power they held.

Just the Morrison family had 4 Nascent cultivators, in fact, and Marlo was obscenely strong for incomprehensible reasons making it so he was currently the strongest individual on Earth - at least on the surface.

At this particular time, there were even a few Devils at the Inn. They had claimed that they would visit the Inn regularly to recruit Earthlings, and this was their first ever visit. Pramod and Harriot Shelby Ruby Selma Jane happened to be visiting as well.

Suffice to say, through a random coincidence, the Inn was currently hosting almost all of its most regular or renown guests.

As it so happened, it was at this time that Nzaar and his small crew of 100 aliens entered the Inn. As soon as Nzaar entered the Inn, he got a sense for the size and spiritual concentration of the Inn, and immediately decided to seize the Inn. Without wasting any time, he ordered his subordinates to begin scouting the Inn for all its dangers.

Such insidious intent was obviously picked up by the Security room. Chad, the deputy head of security, was currently in the room and as soon as he got the notification, he activated the formation around the entrance of the Inn, trapping the pillagers there.

Calmly, he notified Gerard of the situation while also reporting to Mary. Mary then reported to Lex, who was currently reviewing spiritual techniques. As soon as he scanned the Inn, and understood the situation not only of the invaders but of his guests as well, he smiled.

He had been waiting for the next time the Inn was invaded, and the situation of the invasion couldn\'t be better even if he planned it himself. He passed along some instructions to Marry, stunning her, before he turned his attention to the Event Management panel. A small 100,000 MP later, his plan was set in motion. Just to be sure no problems occurred, Lex used his advanced authority to disable the invaders ability to return from the Inn - since they had come here with ill intentions, there was no reason to leave.

Across the Inn, the sound of a gong was heard, followed by the voice of the assistant Innkeeper.

"Dear guests, the Midnight Inn is having a spontaneous, special event for your entertainment. A small horde of invaders have entered the Inn but, under the direction of the Innkeeper, instead of being eliminated, they have been placed in a trapping formation.

"Since there are 101 invaders, 101 participants may enter the special event and take place. The participants will enter the formation and fight the invaders. Killing an enemy gives you one point, but capturing an enemy gets you two points. At the end of the event, the participant with the most points gets an award of 50,000 MP! Betting and special commemorative items for the event will be available. The event will begin in 30 minutes."

As soon as the announcements ended, projected screens showing the invaders army appeared in front of all guests. All spots for the event were filled within the first second, as numerous guests were attracted by the prize, while the others just wanted to join in the fun.

When the list of participants was concluded, the betting pool over the winner began and immediately excitement filled the air.

Many guests left the Inn to call their friends to join in the festivities. Once they returned, since the primary teleportation point was locked, they were teleported to a secondary point surrounded by various Inn guards to ensure no one with evil intentions could enter. After ensuring they were normal guests, they were allowed to go as they pleased.

Rafael watched the screen curiously. This event was titled Midnight madness, and he had no recollection of anything like that from his previous life. But then again, since he lacked all interaction with the Inn, it was not a surprise. He ordered a Saturn cake in anticipation for the event, and placed a few bets himself, though they were mostly small.

By now, Nzaar had noticed that he was trapped in a formation and was trying to figure out a way to bypass it. Little did he know, all his actions were being watched by thousands of people. In a few minutes, as it so happened, the merchant that he had been chasing finally remembered the specialness of the golden keys. He had never tried it before, but he was desperate enough to try anything, since he was too wounded to properly hide his tracks.

When he arrived at the Inn, and then learnt about what was happening, he burst out into a melodious laughter, before eventually fainting due to blood loss. Though, before fainting, he took advantage of a special feature of the event. A placed a special, individually financed bounty on Nzaar that could only be claimed if the person who killed Nzaar sent the unaware Qwash the merchants regards right before killing him. That was bound to haunt him even into the afterlife.