THE INNKEEPER

The damn, accursed Go board. Lex saw no resolution in sight, and he saw no way to keep himself safe from its influence. Lex had a very powerful cultivation technique, and he was confident in saying that it was likely the best, if not close to being the best one in the universe.

Yet the Go board could find flaws in even that, causing him cultivation deviations whenever the Rook piece was used. To be honest, Lex appreciated the opportunity to refine his strength further, but the timing of it was not the best. In fact, Lex suspected that his opponent had some way of detecting the most inopportune moment for Lex to use it.

He had originally been hoarding beads in the hope that he could somehow transform them into a Rook piece of his own. Now he’d changed his strategy. He was going to place as many beads on the board as possible, even if that made him vulnerable to more attacks. The reason was that with each bead placed, he’d learn a little more about the game.

But… playing by the rules was stifling Lex. Since when had he done things the normal way? He was certain he could discover some loophole or flaw to exploit – it was just that he hadn’t found it yet. If the Go board really was a consequence of a System, then Lex had finally faced a worthy adversary with a powerful System.

The user of the Murder System was entirely egomaniacal and incompetent, which had barely allowed Lex to survive his onslaught and counter kill him. Yet such a powerful System in the hands of someone even remotely competent would be a devastating challenge.

Sitting in his Meditation room, Lex closed his eyes, while allocating a facet of his mind to focusing on the Go board. Another part of his consciousness was focusing on his newly acquired Karmic eyesight, while another had appeared as a projection of the Innkeeper in his office. There was yet another part of him that simply focused on cultivating.

As an Immortal, Lex’s mind had strengthened incredibly, allowing him to be able hold numerous concurrent streams of thought. It was about time he took advantage of it as much as possible.

The Innkeeper, sitting in his office, looked over the numbers of the Midnight Games. He wished he could say that the Games were close, and the winner could not yet be determined, but that was far from the truth.

While numerous worlds fought on countless battlefields, destroying the insect hordes that Sanguis Pluvia had bred across the years, some performed better than others. It was inevitable.

Some fought only to gain points which could be used to upgrade their own powers and abilities, becoming stronger. Others fought to save their worlds. A bunch fought for money. Everyone had different reasons for fighting, and that often reflected in their effectiveness on the battlefield.

None, however, were as effective as the Deathsworn family. A family, connected by oath and not blood, their numbers were not few. What was more important than their numbers, however, was their unparalleled combat prowess.

They were not necessarily the most skilled fighters, or had the best techniques, but their fearlessness and combat synergy made it so that they were far more efficient in killing than anyone else.

What’s more, the fact that they could be supported by viewers, sent health and upgrade packages in critical moments, and receive support, made their already superior combat abilities multiply manyfold.

It was like someone took a tiger, an apex predator, and taught it how to use nuclear bombs. Oddly enough, despite fighting the most recklessly, they had the fewest deaths. That meant that over the course of the Midnight Games, their strength had increased drastically, pushing their lead even further.

No one was even close to matching their effectiveness in combat. The Deathsworn family alone had cleared over 200 battlefields. Their victory was all but determined, but they never slowed down at all, as if they couldn’t care less about victory.

In truth, Lex knew that the Deathsworn family consisted of a bunch of people who had sworn revenge, and cared for nothing other than revenge. The family had been made by those people who had achieved their revenge, and then created a family to help others who had been wronged attain their revenge.

The target of their revenge need not be the same. Some sought revenge against organizations such as the Sanguis Pluvia, who wrought untold death and destruction, while others sought vengeance against individuals or powers who weren’t necessarily evil. The target didn’t matter – only that they were a group of individuals who had been pushed to the brink of their tolerance.

“Now, what to reward them,” the Innkeeper mused as he looked through the system event panel. In truth, he had many rewards he could offer, as the system generated the list on its own. But none of them seemed to match a family such as the Deathsworn.

These rewards were more suited towards people who generally had some desires from life, whether it was a better life, the growth of their own families or organizations powers, or anything along those lines.

He wanted to give them something that would allow them to be self-sufficient in some regard, so as to be worthy of a reward from the Inn. But the Deathsworn family, unlike other contenders, did not have a home planet, or a fixed base, or any kind of unified base.

They were spread out across the Origin realm, for just as they sought out revenge, many targeted the Deathsworn family. Only by hiding effectively could they ensure their survival.

Maybe he should give them something to help them hide more effectively.

Unable to decide on a suitable reward, Lex continued to peruse the panel. Comparatively, it was much easier to decide on the reward for second place, and those that placed lower.

“Lex, Orin has arrived as you requested,” Mary said, appearing in front of him.

“Excellent. Send him in.”

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