The Innkeeper

Chapter 2174: Dungeons & Primordials

The Innkeeper had stood up to see Harriot off, but noticed that the poodle paused, as if lost in thought. He did not interrupt his thought process, and waited for him to speak on his own.

Harriot was weighing the various possibilities and feasibilities in his mind.

Letting out too few Primordial beings to explore the universe would hardly have an impact, but too many would cause chaos. Moreover, there was a question of challenge. The point of having them exit the Primordial Garden was not so that they would take a retreat and enjoy themselves inside the Midnight Inn. They needed to face challenges - they needed to overcome deadly situations to attain their own unique opportunities.

Despite the fact that the Primordial Garden was actually quite dangerous, it could not be denied that it was, ultimately, akin to a greenhouse. Everything was curated, and thus it lacked the necessary element of randomness and chaos that produced truly powerful beings.

"Innkeeper, I wonder if it would be possible to allow a few beasts from within the garden and allow them to face some challenges. Their life or death need not matter - only that they gain such a possibility, all without allowing them to escape into the universe at large?"

While Harriot had no doubt that the Innkeeper could arrange something if asked, having a curated trial would defeat the purpose. The threats needed to be genuine and unpredictable, while the possible rewards needed to vary, sometimes being very helpful and other times being disappointing.

The realm, too, was somewhat underdeveloped at the moment making it so that it would be difficult for any Primordial beings to face any real challenges here. That is exactly why Harriot asked such a question.

"Of course," the Innkeeper said, with a hint of amusement in his voice. "While the Midnight Inn is still developing, I have done my best to cater to as many of my guests’ needs as possible. A place to face challenges is, naturally, included as well. The difficulty can be increased or decreased as desired.

"Some testing might be required before it is ready for Primordial beings in general, but I’m sure that won’t be an issue. I’ll have Luthor specific preparations for Primordials, but that would first require setting up a tavern at the destination. I will let you know once it is ready."

Lex was, naturally, referring to the dungeons he had created in partnership with the sentient planet, Ereboth the Insatiable. The dungeons were, in general, quite a great hit. In fact, once the number of dungeon goers went from a few thousands to a few hundred millions, Ereboth began to take his role as dungeon maker much more seriously.

To be more specific, Ereboth had a system that allowed him to grant others simplified systems as well. A feature within his own system was to design a dungeon for his subordinate system users to go through to try to grow stronger.

The guests from the Inn who went there often found themselves experiencing small but consistent gains from going through the dungeons. Upgrading their cultivation by a Major realm was unlikely, but they could hone their strength and strengthen their foundations. Such an opportunity made the dungeons invaluable.

On the other hand, Ereboth was continuously devouring stars and planets within the galaxy where he was trapped in an attempt to use the materials he gained from them to create more dungeons for the guests from the Midnight Inn. For now, he had no thoughts about trying to doublecross the Innkeeper - he was too strong for that.

Moreover, the feedback he got from his subordinate system users would make him stronger. However, there was one issue. He was at the peak of the Celestial Immortal realm, with no knowledge of how to continue to grow stronger. The feedback from his system did continue to grow his strength, but it did so while remaining in the Celestial immortal realm. Such a situation was far from ideal.

Of course, during the lockdown guests couldn’t visit Ereboth’s dungeons since he was in the Origin realm, but if Lex established a tavern on his planet, that would solve the problem.

It was quite convenient that Lex had recently built a lot of taverns for a quest. Since then, Orin had not actually stopped building more taverns, raising the total to twenty five for now.

With a wide tavern network, the Midnight Inn could both stay in business, and avoid provoking the universe with its wide-teleportation capabilities.

Now he just needed to find a way to deploy the taverns themselves. Within the Origin realm there should be no problem. Since the Brazilian tavern existed there already, that could become the point through which he sent others to go establish more taverns. The Henali would naturally take care of protection, as well as transporting the taverns to the relevant places.

Getting the tavern to the Primordial Garden would be an issue. Also, Lex just happened to have a tavern inside the Artica realm as well. The Castle Tavern, which could shrink into a snowglobe, had been given to Velma long ago, and now it could serve as the means to connect these realms.

Lex had avoided doing so on purpose, though he had already sent Velma instructions to return to the Midnight Realm immediately if she were in trouble. Honestly, the Inn sorely missed her presence. However, this was for the greater good. She was learning a tremendous amount about the universe at large while working for the Humanoid Alliance, and the contacts she built there would ultimately help the Inn.

"This is excellent news," Harriot said, feeling pleased. "I shall return to the garden for now. When the time comes for the next batch of migrants, I will bring over a few weaker Primordials so that we can test these dungeons of yours. I look forward to our cooperation."

The Innkeeper smiled as well, especially since he heard a familiar sound in his head. He wondered if he had unlocked a new quest.

When he checked, he found out that was not the case. Instead, one of his existing quests received an update!