The Innkeeper

Chapter 1353 Repent

Lex did not immediately reply, for he needed a moment to decide exactly how to proceed. Ereboth was a genius, there was no doubt. Among all sentient worlds, he was probably one of the smartest, if not the smartest in the entire Origin realm.

Unfortunately, though he may be a genius by sentient planet standards, and had power enough to have few rivals, he was pretty dumb by ordinary standards. What kind of an excuse had he given?

That was as if a drug addict had come out of rehab, grabbed drugs at the first chance, and smiled guiltily when a cop caught him, openly bragging about his time in rehab. If anything, it only proved that the rehabilitation was not enough.

Though to be fair, Ereboth had not been let out by the Henali, and had escaped due to the Midnight Inn. It was unfortunate, but as a responsible and righteous man, Lex would have to take it upon himself to ensure Ereboth did no further harm. If, during that process, Lex was forced to maintain a close, working relationship with the planet then that was a burden he would just have to bear.

A trace of seriousness flashed through Lex's eyes. All jokes aside, if Ereboth ever sensed even the slightest hint of weakness from the Innkeeper, the devious planet would definitely make a move against him.

No matter how truthful his words had been, and they were truthful, that did ont change the planet's nature. Lex could see it as plain as day. Back in his early days in the Inn, he honed his ability to read people as the Innkeeper, and just as he decided to return his attention to the Inn, that ability was now coming in handy once more.

Lex quickly made a list of the things he needed to do. First, he needed to complete his quest, which required somehow drawing the anomaly in Ereboths system into his own. Or, at the very least, connecting their systems briefly.

Based on his analysis of the quest, Lex guessed that the anomaly in Ereboths system caused it to become disconnected from the system network, so this was actually also a good opportunity for him to learn how to achieve such a thing.

Secondly, Lex had to decide if he wanted to take advantage of Ereboth somehow. He had thought of numerous ways he could do that, but it all depended on what measures he could take to keep the planet contained. Cooperation would not be worth it if one day the bloodthirsty planet decided to renege on their cooperation.

Thirdly, and possibly the most important of them all, he had to understand why Ereboth had been unable to grow stronger. Although he could not reach the Dao Lord realm, Lex knew for a fact that there were many Demi-Dao Lords within the Origin realm, and wasn't that like an intermediary realm between Celestial and the Dao realm?

Lex did not know the details, and was quite curious to learn them. Was the reason that Ereboth could no longer absorb experience because the system could not forcefully bring him to the Dao realm, or was it due to other reasons?

Gaining some insight now might help Lex avoid problems later down the road in his cultivation journey.

"Speaking the truth does not preclude one from lying," the Innkeeper spoke as he gave Ereboth a knowing look. "I can forgive a guest for their behavior towards me, but I cannot accept the intentions you harbored towards my other guests."

Ereboth was suddenly stumped, and a trace of fear crept back into its heart. This was not according to the script it had imagined!

The Innkeeper waved his hand and pulled out a Midnight Inn Letterhead, summoned his Innkeeper's Pen, and dipped its nib in the InkWell.

On the letterhead, the Innkeeper wrote a single word: REPENT!

Ereboth's gaze was fixed on the letter, the Innkeeper fury and wrath flowing freely in the aura contained within the single word. As a planet, Ereboth did not truly have a heart, yet even so it felt its heart constrict with fear as it looked at the word, and was reminded of the fury of the Governor.

Back then, the Governor had allowed Ereboth to live because he found the planet's ability interesting, and wanted to study it. Yet his system was no secret in front of the Innkeeper, who seemed to know even more about systems than Ereboth himself!

Not only did he hold no interest in the secrets of the system, but there seemed to be nothing Ereboth could provide that the Innkeeper required at all. Carried within that single word was the aura of the clear disdain the Innkeeper felt towards the pitiful schemes of Ereboth.

In fact, if it were not for the Innkeepers inherent, merciful nature then Ereboth might already be dead.

In the back of Ereboths mind, he could not help but wonder how much experience one would gain for killing him. It was an absurd question, unless one knew the precarious relationship between Ereboth and the system users it created.

Any of them could become the main system user so long as they defeated Ereboth himself! That was a restriction of his system that the planet was unable to overcome, and was bound by. But since Ereboth never allowed any of its system users to cross into the Celestial realm, that was never a concern.

The Innkeeper tapped the letterhead once more, shrinking it until it looked like a simple card, containing only that single word.

"Wear this on your forehead for an age, to be a constant reminder for yourself. After all, since you are on the path to recovery, any more accidental slips should be avoided."

Ereboth winced at the thought of being bathed in that tremendous aura day and night, yet he did not hesitate. For crossing the Governor, he got imprisoned. For crossing the Innkeeper, he was suppressed.

Both those events would have to serve as a reminder for Ereboth not to overreach in the future. The fact that it had even survived these two encounters was a blessing.

Ereboth stuck the letterhead to its forehead, and its body trembled. It suddenly lost the form of a human, and reverted to its form as a planet. The letterhead no longer stuck to the surface of its body, but instead was pulled within it.

In a vast and open ocean in a region of Ereboth, a mountain suddenly emerged and on its peak was a simple plaque that read the solemn word, slowly diffusing its aura out into the world.

Lex himself was taken aback by the sudden development, but acted as if this was within his calculations all along.

He could clearly see that Ereboth suddenly wanted nothing more than to leave the Inn, so he spoke before the distraught planet had an opportunity to do so.

"Now that this matter is taken care of, why don't you tell me what I can do for you? After all, you still retain the status of a guest of the Inn."

The Innkeepers voice was filled with magnanimity that nearly brought Ereboth to tears. It had resigned itself to failure, but if the chance was presented for him to succeed in his quest, and gain the secrets of more growth, it would not give up so easily.

"Esteemed Innkeeper, I… I seek a path forward," Ereboth said humbly, afraid to even look at the Innkeeper now let alone speak for too long. He felt like the aura of that word seeping into his very soul. If he still had his human form, he would have already fallen to his knees.

The Innkeeper nodded, and simply brought his finger forward close to Ereboth, but stopped before it actually reached the planet.

Ereboth, too traumatized from the beating given to him by the governor, and from the aura of the Innkeeper, dared not look at the finger, or question it. Yet a notification flashed in front of his eyes, startling and amazing him! The Innkeeper was directly affecting his system!

In truth, Lex used this opportunity to reach forward and touch Ereboths system interface physically. Although the planet could not see it, Lex connected their two systems momentarily, using his body as the medium, and therefore completed his own quest. So while Ereboth received a notification of his own, so did Lex.

Quest Complete: Aberrant system reintegrated with the System network.

Quest reward: 1 instance of temporary authority to rewrite system operations. Granted as a token in Token shop.

Remarks: System anomaly incapable of correction.

Internally, Lex was both relieved and at the same time concerned. He was relieved that he got the reward easily enough, but what was this anomaly that the almighty system network was incapable of fixing?

He could not probe properly, as that might reveal the proper extent of his ability. However, the thing Lex could do was a lot more effective.

"There's something wrong with your system," the Innkeeper said. "Would you like me to look into it? I would not want to invade your privacy."

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