The Innkeeper

Lex continued to fight with the training dummy for hours. After his initial burst of energy, he stopped trying to learn combat from it and simply just focused on survival. Every now and again he'd take a break due to exhaustion, but after lying down for around twenty minutes in the Training room he'd get back up again. By evening he was so physically drained that he decided to end it for the day. He teleported to his room and drew himself a bath, falling asleep almost the instant he lay down in the tub. Only a few moments later, he disappeared from the bathtub and reappeared in the white room where he first cultivated.

Even though he was already asleep, a sedative was injected into his arm to ensure he did not wake up during the process. Instead of tubes connecting to his body like last time, a metallic helmet was attached to his head which began softly vibrating. The first procedure he underwent affected his body, while the second one would affect his spirit. The third would affect his soul, and the final procedure would merge his body, soul and spirit into one entity that had the characteristics of all three. After the fourth procedure was complete, Lex would finally gain control of his cultivation and would have to consciously cultivate to grow his strength. That, however, was a matter for a later time.

*****

William Benthan, for the first time in many many years, woke up without the sensation of pain in his body. It was so surreal that initially he did not even realize he was awake and that this was not a dream. When he finally did realize what was happening, he raised his arm and looked at it in disbelief. He pinched himself, just to ensure this was real and when he felt the sharp sensation of pain run through his body he did not wince but instead laughed. He felt light as a feather, and in better health than even when he was young. His cultivation had regressed, yes, but with his resources it would take him no time at all to restart.

He exited the Recovery Pod(RP) and found Hugo patiently waiting for him on the side.

"How do you feel?" the man asked.

"Like a young man," Will replied, jumping onto the ground. Then, so amused by the sensation, he jumped a few more times to test his body. His back wasn't jolted by the shock of the movement, his knees didn't hurt and his muscles didn't ache. This truly was much better than he even hoped for.

"Come, show me around this place." Will said, as he exited the room. A part of the soul contract for Hugo was to explore whatever the golden key led to, but afterwards he would become Will's body guard. Hugo's temperament and experience didn't really make him suitable as a bodyguard, but he was strong enough for the job and that's all that really mattered.

"This place has changed somewhat," Hugo commented, looking at the small lake outside the Recovery Room (RR). "I think it would be better if we let the staff show us around." With that, he called for Gerard to give him and the old man a tour. Gerard showed up driving the golf cart, secretly quite satisfied with the opportunity to drive this vehicle around.

"This lake is for resting, and for fishing," Gerard commented as he began his tour. "The Innkeeper is usually busy, off visiting other worlds, but every time he returns he improves the Inn to better cater to his guests. This lake is one of his newer additions to the Inn's environment, but he has not fallen behind in adding new services for his guests as well."

Gerard drove them around to the Training room, the meditation room, the forest and finally the Mystery trial. Along the way they encountered Helen as well, who was surrounded by peacocks. Will asked about her but Gerard commented that he is not at liberty to discuss other guests. Gerard did let him know that if he was interested he could go and talk to her, but Will put it off for later. He was curious about the Mystery trial and decided that he would enter, but decided to wait till he saw the Gift Shop.

As expected, he was very interested in the items he saw there. He had no use for the Zombie Cores as he was not a body cultivator, but he knew their value. Besides that, Botlam Dew attracted his attention and he directly bought ten bottles. He also bought seven Golden keys and a Saturn cake. With that he was quite satisfied.

"Would you happen to have any water affinity cultivation techniques?" he asked Gerard. The fact that they were not shown in the Gift shop did not mean they weren't available, however he was destined to be disappointed.

"Unfortunately, at the moment we do not have any. Perhaps I can forward your request to the Innkeeper the next time he returns."

"No, no need to trouble the Innkeeper," Will said cheerily. He would have been happy if he could find a cultivation technique here - he expected it to be better than whatever he could find on Earth - yet he was not disappointed by the lack of one. It would not be troublesome for him to find one on his own.

Once he was done seeing everything, Will retired to Hugo's room where he set the cake and invited the bodyguard to have some as well. The two ate in silence. For Hugo, it was simply a delicious cake, but as Will had dropped his cultivation and was no longer even in Qi Training, he lost himself in euphoria. It was not a physical sensation, as if it was like a drug giving him pleasure, but it brought his mental state to a peak, and slowly he went through all his pleasant memories. At some point, the man dozed off and took a short nap. He woke up completely refreshed and feeling good.

"Hugo return back to Earth and summon all my children. Tell them they need to be physically present when I return. Also, summon Hera as well. It is time I let her know the worth of her gamble. Also, contact Bluebird. I want to view their collection of cultivation techniques, but also tell my Butler to invite a few private dealers so that I can have a wider pool to choose from."

"What will you do?"

"Me? I'm very curious about the Mystery trial. Gerard said that there is a reward if I'm able to pass. Since my first visit is free, and it's not dangerous, I see no reason why I can't visit it."

Hugo nodded, and left the Inn. This time, he didn't get a Golden key since he himself didn't actually purchase anything or avail any services.

Once Hugo left, Will walked towards the trial. A large metal door awaited him, giving off an ancient feel. It was as if the door had existed since the beginning of time, and had trapped behind it an ancient power. As if the door knew his intention, it slowly opened, revealing a dark hall behind it.

Will mustered up his courage and stepped through, and was taken aback by the sudden change. The moment he stepped through the threshold of the door, his environment changed. He found himself dressed formally, surrounded by various dignitaries and noblemen at a ball. He did not recognize anyone there, and yet he knew everyone. To be clear, he had never met anyone here before in his life, but somehow he knew the name and details of everyone here. He also found that he knew that he was not here as William Benthan, but under the guise of another strange identity. The ball was being hosted by the King of whichever country this was, and everyone was speculating as to the reason for the ball. Somehow, Will knew that his trial was to befriend as many people as possible, and learn the truth of what was happening behind the scenes.

This was a strange trial, and completely different from what Will had been expecting. Yet on some level, it made sense. If Will had to define his strongest ability, he would say that it was networking. Despite his feeble cultivation and illness, he boasted a large financial empire and strong contacts in both the mortal and cultivation world. He knew how to win hearts, and how to influence people when he wanted something.

Since Will knew the details of his trial he saw no reason to delay. He approached a middle aged old man who was sporting a rather handsome handlebar mustache, and said, "Bernie! It's good to see you here! I was rather worried you wouldn't be able to make it due to the whole smuggler business." The man Bernie recognized Will, and laughed as he reached out for a hug. Will thought everything was going well, until he saw a red colored '+1' appearing above Bernie's head. When Will focused on it, he learnt that Will had negatively impacted Bernie's mood by reminding him of something unpleasant.

Although the middle aged man didn't let it show, he did not appreciate Will's comment. A smuggling ring had been caught by the local authorities in the area under his charge, and was now under investigation to see if he had any connections to the smuggling ring. While such a small incident would not affect their relationship, nurturing positive feelings was the most basic rule of networking. It seems Will had made a very basic mistake.

Will continued to talk to the man, and realized that his attention would somehow be naturally attracted to small gestures the man made, or minor details about his behavior. When he associated those gestures or behaviors with the blue numbers that would represent positive feelings or red that would represent negative, Will found himself learning a bit about how to anticipate the others reaction. Soon, he found himself experimenting with the others as well as he tried to charm them. He was already good at socializing and grasping at people's hearts, but now he found his skill improving. Soon, he forgot all about the purpose of his trial, and was more absorbed in improving his networking and reading people as much as possible.