The Innkeeper

Lex spent the next 2 days getting used to the changes in his body. Getting used to his new strength was the easy part, as his brain did most of the work for him. To further refine his control, he used chopsticks to move rice from one bowl to another, one grain at a time. The chopsticks themselves were quite flimsy, and every time he accidentally broke them, he started from the beginning.

This method seemed pretty stupid when considering all the resources available to him, but sometimes it was just about putting in the work. He quickly gained precise control over his strength, not only in both his hands, but his feet as well - though he hadn't used chopsticks to train them.

His dual vision was difficult to get used to, to be honest. It might have been easier if both his eyes had obtained the upgrade, but since they hadn't, he had to keep track of both streams of data consciously. In all honesty, it was something he was completely capable of doing due to his recent improvements, but it was just tedious. It was like constantly being aware of your breathing. One could, of course, consciously take control and maintain the required rhythm, but it was so much easier when it was something being done on autopilot.

In the end, it was not something he overcame. Instead, while browsing all the techniques he got from the Infinity Emporium, Lex found a technique that trains the spirit, allowing him to multitask better. It was like splitting his mind into two, to perform two different tasks without bothering or being affected by the other.

This was something he could already do to some degree due to his new realm, but the difference between being able to do, and training to do it specifically, was huge. Moreover, the moment he started training in the technique, his intuition told him that the effects of this technique would compound. Since it was focused on training the spirit and not the brain, every time the spirit grew stronger, the effect would increase without him making any additional effort.

Currently he could completely focus on 3 different things without suffering any interferences in his concentration or having a drop in his performance.

One of those 3 things was constantly dedicated to his new eyesight, so now he could easily switch between focusing on one stream of information over the other, without really stopping his eyesight.

He had no progress so far as far as discovering what characteristics his affinity had, although he had determined that it wasn't corrosive or hazardous in any way.

What he had not been able to do, however, was train his spirit and soul sense properly. He had attained some initial progress, to the effect of being able to keep his senses from extending out of his body randomly, but not much else.

Unfortunately, the Regal Embrace did not provide him with some kind of training regimen to train those, so Lex had to rely on other resources.

Finally, after spending two days locked up in his room, he came out. But, this time he did not appear as the Innkeeper nor did he appear as Leo. This time, he came out as Lex.

One reason was that he needed to drop a few hints of his identity, though even that he would not do purposefully. He was going to browse the Henali portal for guides on learning how to train his spirit senses.

The portal had both free and paid services, and apparently some kind of hidden authority system, as Lex learned. After all, it was a network available to the entire realm, so how could there not be tiers?

Lex currently only had access to the common tier of the portal, with no idea of how to reach a higher authority. For now, though, it was completely irrelevant to him, since the kind of information he needed could be accessed publicly.

Besides that, there was one more thing he wanted to do that he could only do as Lex. The system wielder who had been following Suzuki, the man Larry had fought, was now spending a lot of time with Larry over the past few days. Lex wanted to make contact personally and learn a little more about him.

He could have spied on him using the system, but his way he wanted to test out if his eyesight could detect the system as well, and that was only something he could do in person.

Moreover, the new group of people Larry had been hanging out with were extremely suspicious. Lex wanted to get to know them better as well. After all, more than once, he had seen Anakin lead people into the Chamber of Secrets to conduct secret business meetings. Even he could not spy on them in there, for it was strictly forbidden by the system.

With his agenda set, Lex strolled through the Inn as he took in the festive mood. Even if nothing special was happening, everyone was just happy about their breakthroughs.

Lex wasn't able to help the smile that appeared on his face as he enjoyed the positive feedback the Inn kept getting.

Finally, things were going well for once without any problems randomly popping up.

He did not spend too long strolling around, for training still had priority. After registering himself on the portal, he quickly logged on and began searching for guides related to spirit sense and soul sense training.

For spirit sense, he immediately found many guides, both paid and unpaid. For soul sense, however, let alone guides, he couldn't even find a mention of it. He highly doubted that it was such a rare thing that it had never been encountered before. Most likely, this was one of the topics that was hidden behind the secret authorities or tiers mentioned earlier.

Overcoming his disappointment, Lex glanced through one of the free tutorials available. Initially, he found it very informative, but as he continued, a strange look appeared in his eyes. Why was this using chopsticks, too?