The Innkeeper

The comedian's status was quite interesting to Lex.

Name: James Brent

Age: 21

Sex: Male

Cultivation Details: Mortal

Species: Human

Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1

Bloodline: Incubus

Remarks: Ensure that he does not elope with any Inn staff! It will be too embarrassing!

Right off the bat, the first thing that stood out to Lex was that James' species was identified as only human, but he had the bloodline of an Incubus. He did not know if actual Incubi were different in any way from what he knew in stories from Earth, but they were definitely not supposed to be human. So either he had some way to hide details from his scan, or the reality of things were more complicated than they appeared.

The second thing he noted was that, supposedly, Incubi and Succubi were supposed to hold untold charm towards the opposite sex, yet James' charisma was resonating not only with all the humans present, it was even affecting beasts! Yet despite influencing so many, Lex saw none of them having any sexual reaction to anything James said or did. Maybe that part of Earthen lore was incorrect.

The thing that surprised most, however, was that James was a mortal but his influence, though subtle, affected even those multiple cultivation realms above him. In his heart, Lex treated this as one of the most dangerous abilities he had come across yet.

The reason he was sure this was an ability or effect that James was having instead of natural, normal charisma, was because he could feel himself being protected by the system from it. Yet for some reason, the system was not preventing the guests from the effect, the way it protected them from the natural aura of his bodyguard.

Lex made a mental note to learn more about James. Though he was not sure how he felt about it yet, because according to Earthen lore Incubi were demons, he did keep in mind that such an influential person could make a good addition to the Inn.

Should things have been different, Ragnar and Golden Hair would have also picked up on James' anomaly, yet since they were busy, and the effect was not malicious, they did not pick up on it.

Since the qualifying rounds had ended, there was a short lunch break. This was not specifically timed so that the guests would eat his spiritual food. Not at all. That was, to say the least, the farthest thing on Lex's mind. Absolutely!

In his heart, Lex actually felt an itch to mingle a little with his guests. He wanted to ask them what they thought of the event so far, and what they would like to see in the combat portion of the games. But he had a feeling that they would be too formal in front of the Innkeeper, so donning his Leo persona, he stepped out to the coliseum.

The first person he headed towards was Harry. He still needed to establish a relationship with his 'coworkers' for this persona, and Harry seemed friendly enough.

"Hey, you're Harry, right? My name's Leo, owner of the Gamers den. We haven't had a chance to meet."

Harry, who looked a little pale from overworking himself, looked at the jolly fellow in surprise. Indeed, although Harry had seen him around they had never gotten a chance to get to know one another.

"Yeah, though I've had the opportunity to meet Z. You work the fellow too hard."

Leo laughed, as if he had heard a hilarious joke and said, "That kid needs to be a little more social. If no one came and talked to him, he would watch anime all day everyday! But I try to show up and share some of his burden, but it's hard for me to disappear back on Earth. The folks would get suspicious if they don't know where I am or can't reach me."

With this simple statement he created a strong alibi for why he couldn't stay much at the Inn. Anyone who heard it would assume that he had many people around him who would notice if he were gone for long intervals. Lex planned on repeating versions of this statement while staying as vague as possible to let people fill in their own assumptions.

It worked, Harry immediately realized how inconvenient it would be for him to come here if he weren't living alone. All he needed to do was keep track of his appointments back on Earth and he could spend the rest of his time at the Inn. He hadn't done so yet, but he was planning on giving up his apartment on Earth as well. This way he wouldn't need to pay rent, and he could live in his room at the Inn all the time.

"Yeah, it must be tough. It's easy for me since I live alone, but I can imagine the hassle of trying to dodge people so you can come to the Inn."

"It's okay, I've gotten used to it. What do you think of the Midnight Games so far?"

Like that, the duo continued to chat and started getting comfortable with one another. It helped that Harry was enjoying the games and kept complimenting them, which directly fed Lex's ego.

After a short break, the finalists were announced. To Lex's great surprise, the finalists were the YouTuber and the comedian! He truly was not expecting such an outcome. Since he had decided to watch the finale with Harry to give his Leo persona more presence, he had to be very discreet when checking how exactly those two had become the winners.

As it turned out, despite their few numbers, the Beasts became the deciding factors. Unlike the humans, who spent a lot of time thinking about things on a deeper level, and gauging how much or how little they liked things, the Beasts were a lot more straightforward. They liked simplicity, and relied more on their instincts than humans. While the other performances had depth and complexity to them, these two performances resonated with them so much that their enjoyment was overwhelming.

So while the humans enjoyed each performance, because they were more analytical and critical, their enjoyment was also measured. Long story short, those two were the winners. It seemed regardless of whichever one of them won, Earth already had the prize in the bag.

The comedian went up on stage again, and gave his performance. It was unfortunate that he didn't have many more jokes so much of his performance was a repeat. His effect on the crowd was tempered due to that, but it also allowed Lex to carefully understand how much of his influence was his own natural charisma and talent, and how much of it was the effect of the bloodline.

"There's something a little strange about this comedian, don't you think?" Leo asked Harry.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's repeating his jokes, but people are still finding him to be hilarious. I just think it's a little curious. It's not an easy thing to have so many people like you so quickly."

Harry stopped to think about it, and wondered if he could notice something strange. Yet before he could think of anything, a voice came from behind them.

"You are very sharp. It's the effect of a bloodline, and a very high level one at that. All bloodlines naturally affect all living beings around them in a certain way."

John stepped up beside them, revealing a smirk. He was not happy because he knew the answer, but because he had managed to save up enough MP to go to the Mystery trial many more times.

What his reaction would be when he discovered the long queue at the Mystery trial was unknown.

"Mary, why is the Inn not stopping the effect of this bloodline?" Lex asked in his mind.

"Because it's not detrimental in any way to any of the guests. Were it to harm the guests physically or spiritually, the way your bodyguard's aura from his bloodline would have, the system will intervene."

"Do you know what his bloodline is?" Leo asked John

"No, it's not developed enough for me to identify, but I can tell it's powerful. If he were to cultivate his body, its effects would grow and eventually I'd be able to tell."

"Do you know a lot about bloodlines? Can you tell me?" Leo asked again with excitement. John would be a good source of information.

"Yeah sure…" John started, but then froze. An idea occurred to him and after clearing his throat he said, "Since you are my colleague, I don't mind sharing some information with you. But I must charge you 1000MP per topic."

"Sure, I don't mind," Leo said quickly, before John had a chance to change his mind. He suddenly felt so much better knowing there was someone he could ask questions. Not that Mary didn't answer his questions, but every time he heard he didn't have enough authority he felt like choking the system.