The Innkeeper

Chapter 1770: A better compliment

Lex was sitting at his desk, working while also enjoying the unique way in which Anthony was using the Inn. Believe it or not, despite this being an Inn, a majority of guests never slept here. It only made sense, kind of. After paying so much to stay at the Inn, who would waste their time sleeping?

Only kids, and people who had effectively moved into the Inn would do that. Even then, considering the number of cultivators and their needs, those who had moved into the Inn only slept the bare minimum required to function normally.

It was a nice change of pace, then, to see someone who valued rest. Of course, for some enjoying watching others rest, Lex hardly ever rested himself. Lex couldn’t remember the last time he slept because he wanted to, and not because he needed to recover from some injury.

Someone knocked on his office door, which was highly unusual, but Lex didn’t look up.

"Come in," he said, fully aware of who was on the other side.

Mary opened the door and stepped in, still completely dressed up in her debut fiery red dress.

"Looks like someone had a lot of fun," said Lex, smiling softly as he looked at her. Her projection utilized the same solid projection capabilities utilized by his Innkeeper projections, so it was actually quite tough to tell she was a projection. Considering her projection could also interact with her surroundings as if it were a real body, she had now effectively escaped the realm of being trapped as a simple illusion.

Of course, a projection was still no replacement for a real body. It was merely a tool of convenience in the absence of the user’s real body, for whatever reason.

"Of course I had a lot of fun, though you’re a total bore. You know how long I spent thinking about this outfit? What kind of a reaction is that? The least you could do is compliment a lady."

Lex looked up from his table and studied Mary’s attire carefully, taking in its full effects.

"You look quite stunning - literally, I might add," Lex joked, thinking about everyone who had frozen still upon Mary’s appearance on stage. "Of the many costumes I’ve seen you wear over the years, this is definitely a contender for the best outfit."

Mary paused for a moment, but then just shook her head.

"Forget it. I shouldn’t expect a better compliment from someone forever alone like you. I’ll take what I can get, pun or no pun."

"Hey, that was clever," Lex defended himself as the crimson lady came and sat right opposite to him. Even this close, he couldn’t feel any of the so-called Dao presence that everyone else was stunned by.

"Alright, jokes aside, what’s up with your appearance? Why do you appear differently to me compared to everyone else," he asked, getting right to the matter.

"I fused my soul with the system," Mary said, reminding Lex of how she got stuck in her predicament. "Even though it was a tiny portion of my soul, injured severely, and even though the system itself was severely damaged, that did not change the fact that I was, and am, still a Dao Lord. It’s just that I am so severely injured that I can barely use any of my powers."

"You can use the powers of a Dao Lord?" Lex asked, genuinely taken aback.

"Technically, yes, but practically, no," said Mary. "Let me start from the beginning. This is a long conversation, and a very important one at that."

"I’m all ears," said Lex, leaning back into his chair, and moving away from the table. Through the window behind him, a panoramic view of the Inn showed thick grey clouds beginning to cover the Inn - this time as a result of a real storm that was building up. As a result of all the tweaking Lex had done, the climate in the Midnight realm was going to be messy for a short while, until the realm completely absorbed the effects of all that Lex had done.

"I was injured, and it seemed like I would die," Mary said, her expression becoming somber as she looked out at the landscape, her mind somewhere distant. "As a contingency, I fused my soul with the system, but that didn’t protect it either. Even the system suffered tremendously, though it managed to survive, and managed to keep me alive.

"But the system was far more powerful and versatile than I had imagined, and the injury sustained by the system further weakened my already damaged soul, restricting my powers even more. As such, the system absorbed me to a degree I never intended, and without the protection of my status as a host, I became a pawn for it to use. In truth, a very big reason that the system survived, and managed to retain the little functionality that it had, is because it used me as a power source. It used my Dao... to help it to continue functioning even when it was so severely damaged."

Mary paused for a moment, letting the weight of her revelation hang in the air for a while. But the somber mood did not last, for Mary became her usual chipper self just moments later.

"In fact, the truth of the situation isn’t as dark as I’m making it out to be. Instead of saying the system used me, or I used the system, it would be more accurate to say that we, two extremely powerful entities, mutually and blatantly made use of each other to survive a near lethal situation. Had either one of us contributed any less than we did, neither of us would have survived for you to encounter a working system."

Lex nodded, not bothering to ask what situation had resulted in the two of them being so seriously injured. Mary was naturally revealing all that she could at the moment - though Lex did notice that what she was revealing now was a whole lot more than what she had been able to say previously.

"Now, our situation has evolved once more. As the system restores its functionality, since it is so deeply linked with me, it is also restoring my soul. As of right now, my soul is already stronger than my soul was when I originally fused with the system. That is why, whenever anyone looks at me, it is impossible for them to miss the presence of a Dao Lord that covers my existence. After all, weakened and injured though I may be, my station remains the same. You are the only exception to this rule, and that is because of your identity."

"My identity as the system host?" Lex asked, even though he knew she was probably going to answer momentarily.

"Yes, as the system host, the system is not allowed to harm you. This may surprise you, considering you received quests where the punishment for failure was death, and most systems often put their hosts in dangerous situations. Yet it does not change the fact that the systems themselves are strictly prohibited from even harming hosts. Not just their own hosts, but all hosts. This may sound ambiguous, considering all the possible ways in which..."

"I can understand the concept," said Lex, interrupting Mary. "For example, I can use the Butter Knife to kill another system user, thereby utilizing a function of the system to harm another host. However, the system itself, as an individual with a soul, cannot harm a host. Any perceived danger or threat to hosts derives from the system’s other directives, such as to create the most entertaining situation."

Mary nodded.

"That’s the gist of it, though the restrictions are very strict. This may be one of the only things in which there are no loopholes. If a system truly desires to harm a host, even the use of those other directives becomes restricted. Anyway, we’re getting sidetracked. The point is, even though I’m a Dao Lord, and appear as such to everyone in this form, as a part of the system, I cannot exert even the slightest bit of influence on you whatsoever. That, too, is a form of protection for you. So let alone my presence, even if I had the full breadth of my powers, as long as I am fused to the system, I would not be able to exert even the tiniest fraction of it towards you whatsoever."

"How reassuring," Lex said, though Mary genuinely couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or genuine. After all, it was reassuring to know that he couldn’t be influenced by a Dao Lord who usually sat on his shoulder and watched him struggle with romantic problems as well as other stuff. Then again, he didn’t seem too concerned to begin with.

"But carrying on with that line of thinking, what will happen to you once the system restores its functionality to 100%? Will your soul be completely healed?"