The Innkeeper

Bertram, Joseph and the drunk all looked at Fenrir with curiosity. Although only a very short time had passed since they arrived. Bertram and Joseph at least had gotten a full debriefing of everything that happened during this period and had paid special attention to everything relating to the tavern.

There had been no mention of a pet dog whatsoever, and in a building as cramped as this had been, it was impossible to hide such an animal. After all, even if the animal itself was hidden, any sound it made would still be heard by the various guests.

The drunk, instead, looked at Fenrir like a man parched in the dessert, finding a glass of water before him.

By instinct, without even realizing that it would be inappropriate, all three immortals scanned the dog with their spiritual senses. It had been a split second only before they snapped out of it, and recalled that Lex may find the gesture rude. Yet that split second was more than enough to give them an overwhelming amount of information.

First of all, even under the pressure of three immortals, Fenrir did not flinch. He continued to wag his tail and stroll towards Lex. He had entered a whole new world full of new energies and new smells and, best of all, no scary turtle to give it baths. He was incredibly happy. The fact that he had returned to Lex also greatly improved its mood.

Just his amazing resilience to their aura was enough to alarm them, but then what their scan revealed was even more amazing. A simple scan was not enough to reveal to them the secrets of Fenrir's bloodline, but it was enough to let them know that Fenrir was of an astounding pedigree.

So much so that Joseph and Bertram came to a tacit understanding that the beast that had revealed its aura earlier had been related to this dog here in some way. Now they were certain that Lex himself was a powerful person, hiding his identity for some reason, and had an even stronger entity hiding in the tavern.

They did not do something as immature or juvenile as blaming or judging Lex, despite his immense strength, for not helping out the town instead of sticking to his tavern. The strong did not need to give an explanation for what they did, and it was not their responsibility to begin with.

In fact, saving as many as he did, and even going so far as only charging Joseph something as paltry as money for his service, already spoke of Lex's immense magnanimity.

All these thoughts went through the immortal's heads in merely the first second of Fenrir's arrival, and though Lex noticed something, he did not comment on it.

"Of course, if you remove all danger, then it won't count as proper training," continued Lex. "Let him battle on his own, but if the situation gets too dangerous, you can help him out. A few scrapes here and there won't be a big deal either."

"Understood," said the drunk as he accepted the task.

Lex was not worried that he would end up not doing his task properly and let Fenrir get hurt. First of all, Lex had seen how he fought Zagan. Despite his drunken appearance, the man was a legitimate powerhouse. Secondly, with his connection to Fenrir, he would always know if Fenrir got hurt, and could summon him right back to himself in case of an emergency.

Still, as a precaution, Lex scanned the drunken man.

Name: Aegis Cornellius

Age: 88

Sex: Male

Cultivation Details: Earth Immortal

Species: Human

Condition:

Drunk

Remarks: A child that never grew up.

Lex raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. He had dealt with Cwenhild enough so that he was no longer intimidated by the thought of someone from the royal family. But an immortal who also happened to be from the royal family, tracking him down specifically with the plastic fork in his hand. This required a bit more caution.

But it mattered not. Not only did Lex have ways of protecting himself, Aegis seemed to have forgotten whatever his task was. The remark, alongside his reaction from when he had his drink, gave Lex some ideas on how to proceed with helping him overcome his drinking addiction.

Once Lex told Fenrir that Aegis would take him hunting, he became extremely excited and began jumping up and down with excitement. Aegis too wasted no time and quickly took Fenrir alongside him outside the town formation.

The darkness did not intimidate the dog, and the various monsters that suddenly turned their attention towards them seemed only like play things. Fenrir looked at them with his head turned out of curiosity. He was supposed to hunt these things? He felt no threat from them though.

Whatever, he would treat it as a game. He bared his teeth and leaped into the closing horde. Weak as they were compared to Fenrir's own strength, the pups total lack of combat experience immediately began to show. Fenrir did not give up though, as the pain from the various attacks unlocked a memory it had suppressed.

It recalled the pain it had been feeling from even before it was born. It remembered its flesh being torn open and stitched back again and again, helpless and unable to even understand. Most of all, it remembered a vague memory of another pup... of a sibling, maybe.

Slowly the anger that had been buried deep within its bones, but had turned cold due to a simple and easy life, began to rekindle. Slowly, his viciousness began to return. Slowly, Fenrir began to step onto the path destined for it.

Back at the tavern, Lex turned to Joseph. Before they were interrupted, they had been probing each other silently and secretly. Now, though, before they could return to such a state, Lex took control of the situation and diverted the conversation.

"I'm sure you have much on your plate right now, with all that has happened, but if you get some free time, there are some things I could use your help with. Of course, I would not take your help for free, and will see how I can repay you. Maybe I can even ask my 'friend' to help out with some matters, though at most he will help get some precious materials instead of directly helping out."

Bertram and Joseph both turned towards Lex, interested in what he had to say. Pvarti, who had been drinking on his own all this time, had fallen asleep at the bar and was lightly snoring. Though Lex still did not know the details of what had happened to their family, he assumed that his presence was not required for such important conversations. After all, his personality seemed more inline with partying than actually working.

"I'm in need of energy, massive stores of energy. Something like spirit stones won't cut it. I've seen crystals before, completely clear crystals that contain extremely pure and dense energy that are used by the Crystal race for cultivation. If you can get your hands on those, I'll try my best to satisfy your requirements as well."

"How many do you need?" Bertram asked, his voice steady, not revealing what he was thinking.

"Not many, about a hundred would do."

"A hundred!"

Bertram and Joseph were both startled. Unbeknownst to Lex, they actually had a mine from which they extracted such crystals, but even so, producing 100 of them was a monumental task.

"A hundred is impossible, but I'll see what I can do. The question is, how will you pay for them?"

"Providing you with a formation like mine is impossible," Lex said flat out. "But I can procure other precious materials for you. I'm not sure what will be available, but you can provide a list of things you need and I'll see what I can get."

The father and son exchanged a glance and no doubt had a mental conversation, discussing the details of their trade.

The truth was, Lex wasn't really in need of energy. Asking for the crystals was only the first step in helping them become more comfortable trading with Lex. This was because the rare items he said he could procure would come from various requests in the guild room. Since he could ask for rare materials, he could skip the middleman and directly ask for concentrated energy stores.

In fact, he had already put up various requests in the guild room for energy stores or batteries or whatever. Since he had Inter-realm broadcast now, he'd be able to summon items from the Inn which had, essentially, resolved his energy crisis. It was only a matter of time now.

What Lex was truly after now was secrets only strong natives would know. He wanted to know the history of Kraven. Although the elder from the Crystal realm he met hinted at the fact that he could find out from him, Lex did not want to place all his chips on a single horse.

Once the Noel family began to trust him a bit, he could begin his investigation.