The Innkeeper

Chapter 1745: Another name on the list

Lex narrowed his eyes and read the log in detail, not just once, but multiple times. He could not afford to overlook, or even misunderstand, anything that happened. The system logs could not tell him what had happened to him that caused him to black out – it only detailed the system operations, and its interactions with Lex.

The first signs of an anomaly came when the Guest Registry activated his soul anchor, allowing him to share a burden that was being placed on his soul. It was sufficient to say that all the notifications of the ’system operations being influenced by external forces’ were as a result of whatever pressure was being placed on him.

Considering that the system actually lost 3% of its functionality simply from supporting him, Lex could easily conclude that if he hadn’t had that support, he would have straight up died. The loss of all his MP and MT seemed like a big loss, but it probably was the least of the damage that his system suffered. Lex couldn’t imagine what he would do if the system actually stopped working!

There was also another reason Lex wasn’t too bothered by the loss. He already had a plan in mind concerning how to make up, and even surpass his previous MT. Lex really hadn’t been using the Token shop properly, so it was about time to get his hands on some of those tokens with his hard earned money.

Regardless, that was a task for later. Lex continued to focus on the logs. The actual issue with the attempted possession didn’t start until much later, after the system recognized his completion of the Well of Forgotten Dreams optional quest, as well as recognizing its own issues with the location.

The system couldn’t identify who had tried to possess it, but the logs contained a replica of the aura that had tried to infiltrate his soul and try to possess the system, and Lex recognized it the moment he felt it.

The aura belonged to It. That thing, whatever it was, could only be described as It because it was too fluid to identify with anything, yet too esoteric to even be identified as a fluid. It was simply… It.

From the earliest days of Lex’s arrival in Abaddon, It had been hunting Lex, studying him, confronting him, and trying to destroy him. Initially, Lex thought that was because of his karma, and that the matter had to do something with Universal Rejection.

It knew his name, his techniques, his relationships, and though Lex had tried to defeat it once and for all, that was not so easy in Abaddon – especially because It seemed to be much stronger than it was showing him.

Still, It never became a serious concern for Lex, simply because anything and everything in Abaddon could be his undoing, so he couldn’t afford any distractions. Ironically, now that Lex had left Abaddon, It became a huge concern for him!

Not only did It know his identity, and his connection to the Midnight Inn, It also knew he had a system!

There was no way it could know that he had the Midnight Inn System, but even without that detail this was the greatest exposure of his secret Lex had ever suffered! Even Dao Lords hadn’t been able to detect his system, so how could It have done so?

Lex even began to suspect that It had known about his system from the very first day. He had the urge to go back and kill it somehow, but he knew that he was no match for it. Abaddon was way too creepy a place, and even Dao Lords seemed insignificant in there – a feat Lex never imagined was even possible.

Whatever the case with Abaddon, and whatever the case with It, it hadn’t been able to forcefully possess the system, nor had it been able to attack him during his incapacitated state, so maybe it was restricted somehow.

What was interesting was that the system had some kind of self defense mechanism. Lex wondered how that would have worked if the system had actually fused with his soul, as it was supposed to when he became a Nascent soul cultivator. Would that have offered more protection, or less of it?

Either way, Lex didn’t regret not fusing with it. Even though he was giving the system the benefit of the doubt, even though he could still find countless reasons to be wary of it, he didn’t want to take any chances.

It was like that old saying: don’t doubt anyone, but also don’t give anyone the opportunity to betray you.

As far as fortune cookie pieces of advice, that was a good one. Or at least, it was the only one he remembered.

Lex read the rest of the logs, and found nothing else amiss. He now had the answers he wanted, but knowing that he couldn’t do anything about it left him stifled.

Now, more than ever, he wanted to create some contingencies for if… for whenIt would inevitably cause him problems down the line.

Lex didn’t want to live in hope that nothing would go wrong, that Abaddon was too secluded and so no one would go there, or that It would never escape. No, he had to face this problem head on.

Lex had faced enough nightmares to no longer be afraid of another, seemingly insurmountable, undefeatable foe. No, he would just prepare. It would be just another step in this path – another foe for him to fertilize his Inn with.

Speaking of that list, there were quite a few enemies from his path he could not take care of. One in particular, though, needed his attention right now more than ever.

Lex closed his eyes and began to plan out his next steps once he returned to the Inn. The first thing to do, naturally, was to utilize the quest rewards, whatever they were.

After that… well, he was a little conflicted between what he wanted to do, and what he should do. He’d make the right decision when the time came, he was sure.