The Innkeeper

"What is it?" asked Jotun, leader of the Jotun Empire. It had been too long since he\'d last taken a vacation, so he\'d basically spent the last few days drinking nonstop, though, of course, he could not get drunk.

He also sent a missive back home to have the golden keys delivered to his favorite wife. Even if he had learnt nothing else about the Inn, its ability to teleport people from anywhere was phenomenal! He finally had a way to spend time with his family. There were tactical benefits to this place as well, he knew, but he could not be bothered to worry about them. He had people who made plans according to his desires, so they would see to the gritty details.

"It\'s called a guest registry," said the man who had signed his name, Nisar Butt. "When you sign your name, it ranks you according to the achievements in your life. The top 1000 get rewards, and the higher the rank, the better the reward. I signed up, but barely made it to the top 80s."

Nisar\'s statement might have sounded simple, but only someone who knew him would understand the weight that it carried. Not only was Nisar one of the founders of the top 3 families in the Jotun Empire, he was a businessman whose influence spanned multiple galaxies. His individual wealth, in the entire Empire, could only be surpassed by the empire itself. He also had the strength to be able to afford such wealth, yet he was only in the top 80s!

The rest of the group was intrigued and similarly signed their names. The names of the other three ranked similarly, with two of them not even making the top 100, while Jotun himself earned the rank 10.

While the ranking seemed unbelievable, especially since each person\'s achievements weren\'t listed, they had no one to argue with. So they looked at the other names in the top 10.

7 of the top 10 were devils, all of which were well known. One was Jotun, one was from the Deathsworn family, and the top one was Lex. They had no way of knowing which race the Deathsworn, who was ranked 5, was, for the Deathsworn family was unusual. They were not a family bound by blood, but by their creed, and as such, included many different races.

But even if they did not know who Aslan Deathsworn was, they at least understood his background. Instead, it was the top person, Lex Williams, who was completely unknown.

"Hm, this really is interesting," Jotun said, though not because he cared whose names were above him. He could feel the various anchors the book gave him, and he immediately began to comprehend their value.

But his attention on the registry did not last long. He did not reach his level by coveting the prizes of others, and so he did not care who were the people above him. He would take whatever rewards he had gotten, for they were free and unexpected, and continue to focus on his very important task of relaxing until the Innkeeper showed up. The rest, though, kept their eyes locked on the top 100. These were names worth knowing, and one of them, which was currently standing on 99, was actually a guest whose name they had heard of.

"Marlo…" one of them muttered. He was a human, and he was in the top 100, which meant they should find the time to introduce themselves.

*****

Lex had spent a few hours enjoying himself at the theme park before he decided to return to his duties. Amongst the very many minor things he needed to oversee, the first and most important was to meet with the replacement the griffin had summoned.

Lex did not appear in person, and instead used his Remote presence ability to appear in front of the figure surrounded by black fog, and scanned him.

Name: Shroud

Age: 67,000

Sex: None

Cultivation Details: ???(Too high for host to detect)

Species: Abyssal fog

Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1

Remarks: Silent AND deadly, so you won\'t want to know where it came from.

"How is the Griffin doing?" the Innkeeper asked, his voice devoid of any dissatisfaction.

"I believe he is undergoing a bloodline evolution, which is why he was unable to stop himself. I have been called in as his replacement. On behalf of the Reaving Dread mercenary corp, I would like to extend my apologies for such an unprofessional display. You will be given a satisfactory explanation for this once the Griffin is finished with the evolution."

"I am not concerned about that," said Lex, shaking his head. "Instead, I care more about how he summoned you without using the proper means. I do not believe you used a golden key to come here, correct?"

"Ah, that is easy to explain. All high-ranking members of the Reaving Dread have a spatial anchor carved onto their souls. In emergency situations, such as the one the griffin faced, they can use the anchor to call in reinforcements. The moment I was summoned, I took his place in the contract you have, so you do not need to worry as I am bound to the same restrictions as the Griffin."

The projection retained a neutral expression, but Lex\'s true body frowned.

"Does that mean you can teleport anywhere when needed?"

"Indeed," the black fog answered honestly. "Though the Reaving Dread only operates in a few realms, within those realms, its members can teleport anywhere. The Reaving Dread corp aspires to be the best mercenary group in the entire universe, if it hasn\'t achieved such a rank already."

The Innkeeper only nodded before disappearing, while Lex made a mental note. He was fairly certain he had just discovered another system. Moreover, with how the Fancy Monocle used to be a product of the Infinity Emporium, and how the system hired security from this Reaving Dread mercenary group, if he assumed both were systems, then it meant that systems were able to interact with one another. He had all but confirmed as much.

The thing that actually caused him to worry, however, was the fact that the mercenary group could teleport directly into the Inn, because it was in the Origin realm.

A sense of urgency filled him, and he scanned the Inn for a few targets. Unfortunately, everyone he knew from the Crystal realm was currently cultivating. All he could do was wait for them to finish cultivating, or hope that Zagan completed his test soon.