The Innkeeper

Beyond the Grave was an extremely broken ability that the Inn had gained, in Lex's opinion at least. While it did not completely revive a dying person, it allowed them to continue to exist, at least in some form, for a limited duration of time.

When Lex first read about it, one of the fears he had was that once this became widely known, the Inn would have more ghosts than actual guests. After all, people die every day, and if they discover a way to continue to live, even if it was for a short time, he expected many people would avail it.

Yet his worries seemed unlikely, at least for the moment. This was due to the fact that the only guest who had used the ability so far had spent an enormous amount of money - a truly stupendous amount - and gotten 13,000 years.

Most people, even if they were considered wealthy, probably could not match the wealth of this guest, so the amount of time they would stay would be relatively short. Still, this increased the pressure on Lex to yet again increase the size of the Inn, and maybe create a specific zone that would 'attract' his spirit residents, for he couldn't really force his guests to stay in a specific area.

For that, first, he had to learn about spirits. Fortunately, the Inn was now connected to the Henali portal which had allowed him to conduct a search earlier on.

The first thing that came to one's mind when someone said the term 'spirit' was one of the three fundamental aspects of living beings. Spirit, when mentioned in the context of living beings in general, is what provides them with the ability to think and behave in certain ways.

So then, what does it mean to exist as a spirit, or be from the spirit race? The answer was closer to Lex's original assumption of ghosts than he had originally realized.

Spirits, or the spirit race, was a generic term used for beings which only had a soul and spirit, but no body. There were further specifications, for not all spirits were the same or had the same attributes. But as far as the Inn's ability was concerned, it referred to the most common kind of spirit.

They had no real shape, and were most commonly perceived as being balls of translucent sentient energy. Various professions such as oracles, prophets, mystics and such often communicated with spirits for various tasks, for their ability to interact with energy without the energy changing form due to passing through a body gave them special insight and abilities.

Generally, they could pass through any physical barriers, as they were nothing more than an accumulated clump of energy.

They communicate telepathically, though they could still 'hear' what other beings were saying due to the disturbance their voices caused in the ambient energy.

They did not have the typical senses of touch, sight, hearing, etc. but rather a collection of their own senses based on energy fluctuations.

Different spirits were formed of different energy types and usually stayed in areas dense with that specific kind of energy.

Lex revised all this information in his mind as he scanned the Inn for the new spirit, and found it in an extremely remote corner of the Inn. In fact, let alone guests, there weren't even any birds or small animals in the area.

Clearly he wanted to be alone, but Lex couldn't afford to wait so he would have to intrude. He and Cirk teleported away, appearing at a patch of open area lacking most trees and bushes. It was just grass and some wild flowers, far from any road or path.

A grayish translucent ball was hovering in the air just above the ground, not moving at all. Lex scanned the ball to see what he could learn about the guest.

Name: Abroar Kashinga Lailai…(click to expand)... Jameel

Age: 0

Cultivation Details: None

Species: Spirit

Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1

Remarks: Once a giant gray thing, now not a thing at all. Still gray, though.

Lex was surprised, but not by much. He had been expecting Abroar to show up at some point, and even suspected that he was the one who might have arrived. He just didn't expect that unusually sentimental guy to be so wealthy.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

"I'm glad to see you could make it," said Lex. "Although it's quite unfortunate that you were brought to such a state to begin with."

"I must do what is necessary for my race… my former race," Abroar replied, his voice echoing in both Lex's and Cirk's mind. "At least this way I can also watch over one of the few remaining members of my race as it grows. I can also teach it and give it guidance. Hopefully, I will complete my mission and rid us of our enemies before the young one has to face them."

"It might not seem like much to you," began Lex, remembering that Abroar had originally been over 800,000 years old. "But you have at least 13,000 years at the Inn to use. Hopefully, you'll have enough time to complete your tasks by then."

"Indeed, I hope. I am also grateful to you, Innkeeper. Were it not for your guidance, I would not have even had this refuge."

"I hope you find the Inn to your liking during your stay. We have many activities going on here all the time, so I'm sure you'll be entertained. I also plan on adding some features to better cater to spirits soon. When the time arrives, please give me an honest review."

"I have no doubt that they will be magnificent."

"I will try," replied Lex with a smile. "I hate to bother you when you have just arrived, but I was wondering if I could get some of your assistance with a matter."

"Please, do not hesitate to pass orders. I have yet to fully repay you for your grace of extending my life."

"There's no need to talk of repayment, you have already paid sufficiently for your time here. Consider this as doing me a small favor. This here behind me is Cirk, I plan for him to be the captain of the ship you have given me. I would appreciate it if you could teach him as much as possible about the ship."

"Consider it done! I will oversee his education myself, and will assist him until he is completely proficient in every aspect of the ship."

"Excellent. If possible, teach him as much as possible about the basics as you can in a week. I'm planning on using the ship during an event, though don't worry too much as the ship's involvement will be minimal. At the same time, I'm sending you some MP as well. Since you're going to be living here, and there's a festival coming up, you'll need it."

Lex sent Abroar 200 million MP, for now. While it may seem like an absurd amount, it had to be remembered that Abroar was basically teaching Cirk how to pilot a massive spaceship! Lex honestly expected it to be a few years before a crew was ready to properly pilot the thing, so this was only the beginning. Considering how useful the ship would be to Lex in the long run, this was barely acceptable as tuition money.

Lex was about to continue the conversation, but something happened which caused Lex to apologize promptly and teleport away.

Cork and the gray floating ball were left alone, quite suddenly, possibly looking at each other. It felt awkward, because Cirk didn't even know if the 'ball' of energy was looking back at him Moreover…

"So uhh… can the ship beam us up or something? I'm not sure how else to get up there. I can't really fly."

*****

Lex had teleported back to his apartment and quickly sat down with his legs crossed in the meditation room. His cultivation was causing him issues!

This was the first time Lex experienced such a thing, mostly because of how stable Regal Embrace was. Every other cultivator had plenty of experience with these things, mostly because their cultivation techniques were never able to stabilize spirit energy to the same level as Regal Embrace.

Still, even when he was experiencing problems, his problem was extremely unique. His body and Foundation were too exquisite, naturally pushing his cultivation to the next level. Sure, Lex could break through right now and it would be a smooth breakthrough, but his instincts told him that breaking through when the star rating is being increased will benefit him greatly.

So, while other cultivators struggled to maintain their cultivation and keep it from causing problems within their bodies, Lex had to struggle with his cultivation to keep it from naturally increasing. It was a lot harder than imagined, and left Lex physically and mentally exhausted.

He had to wait 2 more weeks before he could breakthrough, and something told him it would be a long wait.

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