The Innkeeper

After a good bit of trying with no significant result, Lex decided to stop and take a break. He needed to reflect on his battle with the killer a bit. At the time, he hadn\'t noticed, but the signs of the killer being a system user were all there.

From the get go, being able to teleport Lex without any prior warning was a significant indicator that he was not simple. Moreover, being able to spontaneously summon monsters and mannequins, having a mannequin heal him, randomly disappearing or teleporting away. To be honest, any one of these abilities was extremely powerful, and had they been in the hands of anyone more competent, the fight would have been much harder.

Lex was not belittling himself, for he had literally survived a meteor crash, but he also needed to be aware of the fact that the opponent had a system that directly increased his battle prowess. Should he face such an opponent again, and the possibility that he would encounter such foes in the future was great, he needed to be better prepared.

After all, now that he was sure other systems existed, he would constantly be on the lookout for any hints or clues of system users. Similarly with the renown of the Inn increasing, he had to anticipate that other system users might suspect him as well.

He tried to summarize the similarity between himself and the murderer that could be used to identify a system user and be on the lookout for those attributes, while hiding the same features in himself.

The most common was the random appearance of new items, such as the mannequins. This was bad, as he had already displayed that ability multiple times at the Inn. Next was the ability to teleport. He had displayed that as well.

As for his other peculiarities, Lex suspected they had much to do with the Lucky Sutra and not the system. He would need to do more research on the matter to come to a conclusion.

With that out of the way, Lex then thought of the \'overdrive\' state that he had entered during his last fight. It was significantly different from his \'flow\' state.

During the \'flow\' state, he would achieve extreme mental clarity. His focus would improve and he would be able to perform any and all actions to the best of his physical capabilities due to the extreme control and precision he gained over his own body.

The overdrive state was all that and more. It was not tapping into the maximum mental clarity or aptitude or focus he could physically achieve, but directly increasing it for a short duration. But, for now at least, the increase was limited to the mind only. That meant he was technically not any stronger than his normal maximum physical limit. But, with his mind working much faster and with greater and more detailed control of his body, he could easily create the necessary situation to exceed his limits.

The drawback was, once the overdrive state ended, if he overused it, he would be completely mentally drained.

The greatest benefit, at least as far as Lex was concerned, was that he could sense how to enter such a state. It had originally been triggered by his strong sense of pride. He could feel that, with a little effort, he could enter the state again.

He closed his eyes and focused, concentrating on his pride. What was he proud of? It was not something that appeared out of thin air. Even if he set aside everything the system gave him and his success with the Inn, his repeated success and achievements in the Crystal realm were definitely his own.

Just the fact that the crazy man Vernan wanted to recruit him into strange classes and that everyone mistook him for being born from royalty spoke volumes. Heck, he single handedly took control of various minor realms when even someone like Cwenhild went with a group. He was not just Lex Williams, a simple programmer from New York anymore. He was a genuine cultivator who was cutting out his own path in the universe.

Just as he was swelling on these thoughts, his overdrive state was triggered. This time since he was not overtaken by feelings of wanting to kill someone, he could actually take the time to appreciate all the changes.

He could feel how his brain influenced his emotions. He could feel how each heartbeat affected every step he took. He could feel each breath nourishing his body. He could feel his arm... wait a minute.

Lex turned to look at his left arm and was very seriously surprised to find himself wearing the golden bracelet, but more than that, he was surprised to find it melding with his arm!

Alarm bells rang in his head as he analyzed what was going on, and realized that, even without being conscious of it, he had been running his spirit energy through his arm and into the bracelet. The moment he cut off the energy the fusion stopped and, after a few agonizing moments, the bracelet popped free of his hand and fell to the ground.

He dared not pick it up and checked the condition of his body again and again. All seemed to be fine, and his instincts gave him no warning of anything good or bad happening. It was as if his body failed to recognize this as anything but an ordinary piece of jewelry.

He didn\'t know if that was a good thing or bad, but he used the space formation to seal the bracelet for now. He dared not mess with it again before the system returned. Maybe then he could use something to scan this item.

In fact, when he thought about it, it was very lucky that he even considered trying out his new overdrive state. Had he delayed the matter for a few hours more, the bracelet may have completely fused with him. He did not know what would have happened if it did, but he didn\'t want to find out by experimenting on himself.

Lex exited his overdrive state and went back to the bar. He needed a drink.

As usual, the hall was as crowded as could be. Most people were forcing themselves into a state of escapism by playing board games and drinking all day and night long, and with the tavern at beyond capacity, there was almost no room.

It would have felt extremely congested if everyone wasn\'t cooperating with each other very well and behaving appropriately. Of course, Lex\'s firm control over the space in the tavern, and his emphasis on maintaining decorum greatly helped as well.

"You don\'t normally drink," said Roland, the enterprising young businessman who was sipping hot chocolate while sitting at the bar. He looked sleep deprived and worn out, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.

Lex did not know much about his personal life, despite spending so much time together, but he understood the kid enough to realize he was mature beyond his age. Unfortunately, with that maturity came stress and anxiety that not everyone knew how to manage.

"I\'m celebrating," said Lex as he took a sip of a chilled glass of Cocaina Cola.

"Celebrating? What is there to celebrate?" the kid asked in a defeated voice.

"I have a scoop," said Lex, teasingly. "Are you interested in the latest news? From beyond the tavern?"

"From beyond the tavern?" he asked, suspiciously. Unable to guess anything, the kid relented and asked Lex the news.

"The problem with the light formation is going to be fixed real soon," Lex whispered. Roland was startled upon hearing the news, but then gave Lex a defeated smile.

"I\'m not a kid, you can\'t fool me."

Shaking his head in disappointment, Roland got off his seat and went to look for his friends. Although he knew nothing would happen to them at the tavern, he couldn\'t help but worry.

Lex said nothing and only watched him leave, his hand fumbling the crystal in his pocket. After he got some rest, he would test his overdrive state on figuring out how to manipulate the formation. That should speed things up.

A loud slamming sound woke Lex from his musings.