The Innkeeper

King Cornelius II was not an idle man. Every minute of every day was filled with purpose, and not the kind where others schedule meetings or appointments, giving you commitments that you had to keep. No, he was a man who planned his day himself, and filled each part of it with a conscious effort to fulfill his goals.

Due to this stringent discipline he maintained, he was often called callous or uncaring towards those close to him. The truth, however, was not that he was uncaring specifically towards them, but that he cared too much about his goals. The people he chose to surround himself with knew this well, and so were selective in providing him news unrelated to whatever he asked. Sometimes, however, there were situations that could not be expected and needed his comments.

For events like these, Cornelius had allocated a certain time during his regular briefings. Of course, all of this was dictated by the fact that the event did not require urgency! In case of an emergency, his assistants would obviously interrupt him.

Today, however, was not such a case, which is why, as he ate breakfast, he received various bits of news. To be clear, he wasn't receiving news while eating breakfast, but that so much time was wasted on these things, he decided to eat to fill the time. Someone like him didn't actually have any need for food. He was an immortal, after all.

"There is a bit of news about one of your children again," said Miscellaneous Assistant A. Despite having the same first name, there was no connection and Miscellaneous Assistant A and Miscellaneous Friend A.

"Ah, tell me, another disappointment or did one of them achieve something worthy of note?" the King asked.

Assistant A paused, unsure how to respond, directly shared the news. "Cwenhild, your daughter from the Haugen estate, has dropped your name from her academy identification papers and when asked about the reason, responded with, 'I don't give a shit about that name,'."

Despite himself, Cornelius chuckled, then paused. He didn't care about the name being dropped or her comment - he was a King by right and power, and had forged his position through blood and carnage. He did not feel his position threatened by such things.

No, he paused because the mention of the Haugen estate reminded him of some unpleasant memories. In his life, due to his position and power, there were few who dared accost him, and fewer still of those were humans. Cwenhilds' mother happened to be one of them, though. She was his only legal wife who he did not actively pursue.

Instead, she was the one who approached him and, very bluntly, negotiated the title of wife as well as a child from him. It was not like she was in love with him or anything. She was an extremely capable woman of influence and merely needed the title to progress her own agenda. Of course, she could not threaten him because, honestly, who could? But her influence was genuine, and she could create endless problems for him, and she was not afraid even in the slightest that he would be offended by her bluntness, or think he would harm her. In the end, she outmaneuvered him politically, gained what she wanted, and then left of her own violation. The latest news he had of her, she had expanded her influence to the realm of the Sentinels and actually controlled vast territories there!

"Next," he said placidly, unconcerned by the news.

​ "On the topic of your children, there is another one showing potential, just that... it is actually unconfirmed if he's actually your child."

"Oh?" Cornelius was actually genuinely surprised. "Elaborate."

Assistant A briefly detailed Lex's various achievements with a degree of accuracy that would have shocked Lex himself had he heard - especially his involvement in the battle between the Trelops. The details of his actions on that front were stated as inconclusive, but he was listed as the primary instigator of the battle. His breakthrough to the Foundation realm was not mentioned, for that had only just happened, but a medical report stating that his body seemed ready to undergo the breakthrough at any time was attached as well.

"The issue arose when he was being treated for his wounds. Having heard the rumor as well, Vernan, the local instructor, ordered his bloodline tested to see if he was related to you. The tests were inconclusive! There's something in his blood that prevents it from being traced to any relative, and he showed signs of a lineage bloodline, but that too has been hidden somehow. He, or at least someone, has taken great care to ensure the boy cannot be connected to his family in any way."

"Inconsequential," Cornelius answered, having lost interest in Lex's origin. Whether Lex was his son or not, why did it matter? "But I like his focus and initiative. Update his file. So long as his purpose is to improve himself, help him however the academy can. Reassess him in six months, and if he maintains such discipline, notify me again."

Of everything he heard, he really liked the way Lex spent all his time either working, studying or improving himself in one way or another.Thi kind of focus he appreciated, and wouldn't mind helping to nurture.

"While we're on the topic of your children, 12 of them have tried to breakthrough to the Earth Immortal realm since I last updated you. 11 of them failed, and their funerals were organized. The one that succeeded..."

The reports continued for only a short while longer, for the King had too many other things to do.

*****

Lex hummed the tune to 'I feel good,' as he walked into the academy library, a ridiculous grin painting his handsome face. Despite its size, the academy had only one library that had been built directly into a mountain range. There was only limited alteration to the natural appearance of the mountain Lex was currently on, mostly to mark the entrance to the library. How far the library itself ran, and how many mountains it filled, perhaps only a few handful of people knew.

None of that mattered to Lex, for early in the morning he received a notification on his PT, and it was one that surprised him, as well as filled him with enormous glee. Due to the size of his contribution during the expedition, he was provided free access to a limited portion of the library, which included the spirit techniques section! The free access would only last for 6 months, but that was more than enough time for Lex!

Oh yes, Lex felt good because he was about to have a free hand at whatever technique he wanted for the Foundation realm!

"Good morning," Lex said in the warmest way he knew how to one of the librarians as he passed his student identification.

"I'd like to look at the list of Foundation realm techniques, please."

"That's a big list. Do you have anything specific you want?"

"I'm good for now, thanks," replied Lex, flashing a generous smile.

The librarian shrugged and led Lex to a private room, and helped him log onto the library's terminal. After that, he opened up the entire list of techniques they had available, and showed Lex how to narrow the search if he needed to.

After thanking the librarian, Lex looked at the list. A list of 130 million techniques was before him. The size of the list did not overwhelm him, but instead made him sad. He would have loved to see how helpful the Fancy monocle could have been if it had access to this library. But, it was best not to dwell too much on these things.

He went through the list randomly for a bit, to get an idea for the kinds of techniques they had. But Lex was not here without any focus. He remembered the Midnight Games well, and recalled the performance of the best few Foundation realm players. Alexander Morrison and Cara Deathsworn were two of the best performers, and he thought back well to their fighting styles. He thought back to all the kinds of techniques they deployed, and how they used them.

He had a few days before his classes began, and he was in no rush, so it was best to take his time and choose well. He thought back to the battle with the Druk that he saw. Despite being an almost indestructible beast, it was captured and incapacitated due to cleverly using its own sturdiness against it.

Lex had excellent defense, but that would be pointless if he ever got in a situation where he was captured. Then, it would only be a matter of time before his enemies defeated him. So, his first order of business was to investigate mobility and or escape techniques.

He narrowed down the list in front of him and began searching.

*****

Origin realm, unnamed region of space

An escape ship crash landed on a planet deep in the wilderness. The pilot, a simple merchant, ran out of the ship, covered in blood, and escaped in a random direction. Mere minutes later, a small but vicious looking spaceship landed near the escape vessel, and its inhabitants investigated the escape ship.

Among the various belongings the merchant had been too panicked to bring along with him was a golden key. Along with everything else of value, the key was brought back onto the spaceship, to be brought before the captain.

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