The Innkeeper

Chapter 2533: A talk IV

Elizabeth did not need the analogy. She understood the necessity of it, not that her intentions had been to clear the decay when she finally let herself loose. Even her father hadn’t stopped her then for he felt the guilt over what his daughter had to endure.

These days, there was hardly anyone around who openly messed with the Primals, but it hadn’t been like that back in the day. Though they sat on top of the proverbial foodchain, she knew better than anyone the price they had paid to get there.

Lex, meanwhile, was reassessing the young lady he had been talking to. She hadn’t seemed so ruthless when he saw her, and he hardly ever made mistakes like that. The fact, then, that he hadn’t been able to discern her bloody past meant that someone or something was hiding it. Moreover, the immense composure she showed while talking to him also revealed that she herself was not some untrained savage. Being strong, and being strong with training and a deep understanding of tactics were two entirely different concepts.

"You’re not wrong. Regardless, I hope you do not ever have to see such a day. I suppose, with someone like the Innkeeper watching over you, it’s unlikely you’ll face such problems," the young lady said, but that only caused Lex to shake his head. Someone who could halt a Universal Mandate from being broken with a single word was not a simple being.

"The Innkeeper protects us, yes. But he also makes us resolve our own problems as well. Often he lets us face trials that he could easily resolve so that we may learn and grow ourselves, even if that means coming to harm. Once that’s done, he will surely avenge us if needed. But in the process he won’t intervene. After all, if we know we’ll be saved, there’s no sense of danger, and we won’t grow. It’s brutal but... it’s also the reason everyone in the Inn has grown so fast."

When Elizabeth heard those words, she became more sure than ever before. Everyone had been wondering what the true purpose was behind the Innkeeper establishing the Midnight Inn. Although he had given answers, no one truly believed them.

Now, Elizabeth felt like she may have discovered the truth, or come close to it. The Innkeeper had specifically created the Midnight Inn all just to nurture Lex. That explained his abnormal growth rate, his naturally occurring motivation for growing stronger, and the expedited exposure to the universe and its secrets.

It was an organic and natural way to encourage his growth without breaking any universal laws, or without infecting his karma or fortune artificially. He was not the first to have made a play for a nephilim, but he was the one to have made more progress than anyone else.

It was just a shame that he had also resorted to giving Lex a system to push along his strength, but then again, it only made sense. The infernal creations were the best at nurturing their hosts and making them stronger - like a good little parasite, strengthening its host for it to take over later.

A wave of rage came again, but it could not break past her firm control over herself.

"The Innkeeper is wise," the young lady said, and turned her face away. Lex understood that the young lady was done talking, and got up and left. He had no shortage of things to do, and meeting a random guest was just to help get him in the right state of mind before rebooting the system.

Shortly after he left, quite coincidentally, Mary came strolling down the same road, humming to herself. Just like Lex, she seemed to be having a good day, right up until she saw the young lady sitting there.

Mary froze, and not in the way Lex had frozen. No, the small fragment of her Dao that remained with her sensed something, though she could not figure out what it was. But even if she didn’t specifically understand what she was sensing, she understood enough. The young lady sitting in front of her was a Demi-Dao Lord at the very least. Somehow, she doubted that it was just at that level. She also understood that it was very unlikely that she had randomly decided to stroll down this road and encounter a Dao being. No, she had finally encountered someone who wasn’t afraid to use their powers inside the Inn.

In that case, if this young lady was a Demi-Dao Lord, Lex’s system would have warned him when she acted.

The fact that he hadn’t been warned, and that Mary was now standing here, meant that this was a full, bonafide Dao Lord who was using her powers without restraint inside the Inn. That was far from good news.

Mary did not need to think. The moment she sensed something, she understood all these things at once, and knew that she was now facing a critical situation. The slightest mistake now could cause catastrophic consequences.

Instead of avoiding the situation, Mary instead walked up to the young lady and sat down beside her without the slightest expression of uneasiness. She glanced at the Inn workers standing behind the lady and noted that he seemed entirely fine, and gave a subtle nod.

"So, what is this all about?" she asked, as if she was taking care of a menial chore.

The young lady turned her head and finally looked towards Mary, taking a moment to observe her.

"When I came here, I hadn’t expected that of all the people, I would run into you here. You’ve become incredibly weak, Avery. But then again, I suppose it’s not easy to escape the Nether unharmed. Tell me, what was it like there? Are all the rumors true?"

Once again, Mary froze as she heard a name she hadn’t used in a long time. Hearing it again seemed to stir up some memories, and caused both her soul and Dao to ache.

Instead of responding, Mary narrowed her eyes and studied the woman once again, trying to determine if there was anything familiar about her, but she could not discover anything.

"You know me?" Mary asked, instead of responding.

The young lady nodded her head subtly, as if confirming a suspicion.

"It seems you have lost a good deal of your memories too, alongside your strength," she said, as if it was a declaration.

For the first time since she had woken up, Mary finally saw someone from her old life - potentially - and she didn’t like how it was going.