The Innkeeper

The soldiers studied Lex for a moment, with him still being in his Leo persona, and quickly judged him to be an inexperienced youth. This did not put him at ease, as he had not intended to fool Lex to begin with. He was just disappointed that the effectiveness of their instructional course would drop.

"There are a few things to keep note of about the universe. According to our notes, your civilization has not achieved interstellar travel nor has it been contacted by external civilizations, so it is unlikely you will need this information, but life is unpredictable, so you should memorize it anyway.

"The first thing to take note of are civilization levels. The first and most basic level is identified by a civilization that has been unable to leave their home world. That is called a Ground level civilization. The next is one that has inhabited all the other planets, or in the process of inhabiting the planets in its solar system, which is identified at the Sky level. The next is known as Star level, in which a civilization has the means to be able to travel from one star to the next within a reasonably short amount of time.

"This is varied, as civilizations that are creating their own technology usually have a teething period where travel between stars starts out taking centuries, but eventually gets whittled down to a few decades. But that is not enough to earn the Star rank as a civilization. If the average distance between two stars is considered to be 5 light years, then the travel between them must take no longer than 10 years minimum to earn the Star rank.

"The Jotun Empire is one rank higher than that, which is known as the Galactic rank. The minimum requirement for that is to be able to travel between two galaxies in a minimum of a century.

"If you're wondering whether there are levels above even that, then the answer is most definitely yes. What those levels are, even I do not know, so you definitely don't need to worry about it.

"I won't go into detail about the average civilization rank distribution, as that knowledge won't serve you with any purpose. What you need to do need to know, however, is identify if a given force is neutral or friendly towards you. In the known universe, the qualification for a 'neutral' or 'friendly' force is very difficult to get, with a lot of qualifications that need to be met.

"Among other requirements, these forces or civilizations must maintain their neutrality to everyone. For friendly forces, they have to have a long history of cooperation and friendly relations with your associated force.

"Whether a force is neutral or friendly towards you, there is a very simple way to identify either. You can log onto the Henali portal and check the forces affiliation there. As for what the Henali portal is, it's a digital platform with a live connection throughout most of the known universe. A force that claims 'neutral' status without having its status confirmed on the portal is most likely unreliable. There is no real consequence for doing so, but only when its status can be confirmed on the portal will it be completely neutral and trustworthy."

"Wait, are you saying there's a universe wide internet? How is that even possible?" Lex asked, genuinely shocked!

"No, not universe wide. I said it covers most of the known universe, not all of it. That's not to mention that there are clear borders to the unknown, or as yet unexplored, universe. The portal is maintained by all forces that are a part of the Henali alliance, such as the Jotun Empire. The empire is responsible for building and maintaining connector planets throughout its territory."

"How do I log onto the portal?" Lex asked curiously. The Earth probably wasn't a part of the portal, but he was definitely interested in checking it out. Since he traveled to multiple planets, there was no doubt he'd get a chance to log on at some point.

"The first time you log on, it has to be at a registration point. However, once you've finished registration, you can log on using simple verbal commands that will prompt the minimum interface required to use basic functions. The verbal commands will work no matter where you are in the universe, so long as a connection is available. Naturally, the connection can be blocked using technology or formations, otherwise there would be a serious threat of invasion of privacy. For more detailed interactions, you would obviously need to purchase a login device. Those can be anything from a simple smartwatch to an entire body immersive VR chamber. For the purpose of identifying a force's status, the verbal commands should be enough.

"Still, as dangerous and treacherous as the universe is, some simple safety precautions will get you a long way. Your biggest threat is, and always will be, the demons!"

At this point, the soldiers wore a terrible grimace and exuded a killing intent so powerful Lex could physically feel it pressing up against his body. It was like a feeling of being submerged in water, but instead of your skin getting wet, it was constantly being pricked by tiny little needles. Lex had to constantly look at himself to ensure he wasn't actually bleeding.

"If you had been here at the meeting, a few days before the Games started, you would have had a chance to see them for yourself. They are nothing but vile, ravenous monsters that want nothing more than to destroy everything they touch and consume anything that has life. But you don't need to take my word for it, every force in the universe is hostile against them! This is a war you have no way of staying away from, even if you want to. The moment you see a demon, you will have to judge if you can fight it. If you can't, then you must run. They will kill you every chance they get!"

At this point, the soldiers spiraled into a long barrage about the evils of demonic beings, how they were the sin of existence, the bane of all that was pure, etc. etc. The soldier gave Lex a lot of information before he began peddling his propaganda, although Lex agreed that the demons were most likely a threat to most people. But he had seen them obey the Devils, not to mention he had seen them become progressively smarter as they grew stronger. There was definitely more to it than what the soldier said, yet Lex had no interest in investigating on his own.

He looked forward to the information that would help him 'grow' not only as an individual but also his society. Yet it was nothing more than a lot of rhetoric about helping the whole rather than the individual, the greater good over personal gain, etc. He was honestly expecting more, since they specifically asked for a recruitment stall, but maybe they had their own plans. Lex would watch a replay of things later on to see if they did something he missed, but for now, his interest waned. Little did he know, their original seminar was supposed to be very different.

Thanking the soldiers, he left before turning his attention to the Devil's stall. He was curious about what they were doing. Maybe he had a bias, but he did not believe for even a second that they did not have any ulterior motives. He also wanted to know their stance on this 'Henali' term that kept coming up repeatedly. He tried asking the soldier if it meant or represented something special, but got no real reply.

Strolling casually, as if he was watching the different stages and looking for something interesting, he made his way to the Devil's stall. As much as he expected this stall to be barren and despondent, it was quite crowded and lively. Humans and Beasts alike stood in line, waiting their turn to get an opportunity.

There was no way the soldiers would line up, so these humans must be from Earth. They should already have been informed to stay away from the Devils, or provided some basic information about what happened at the meeting, but it seemed they did not care.

"Hey, what's the deal with this stall?" Lex asked one of the men in line, and received a questioning gaze instead. Once the other man had made sure that Lex was not trying to cut in line he said, "My brother told me about this place. Apparently, they help you raise your cultivation level! He's already returned back to Earth, and he's getting ready to break into the Foundation realm! Can you believe it?"

No, Lex could not believe it. Unlike the man in line who had a huge grin, Lex was frowning. There was no free lunch in the world. The devils must definitely be taking advantage of everyone somehow. He needed to figure out what they were doing immediately, lest they damage the reputation of his Inn!