The Innkeeper



Harry may have been the first to take up the name, but he was certainly not the last. When it occurred to the staff that they could take on the name Midnight, fervor and zeal spread through the masses. No longer would they only have one name. No longer would they have no origin. They would be one family.

But just as quickly as the excitement spread, so too did fear and hesitation. Unlike Harry, who was acknowledged by all, and had a special relationship with the Innkeeper, most others felt unworthy of the name.

On one hand they yearned for the name and all it entailed, but on the other hand because of the immense worship they felt for the name and its prestige, they felt unworthy to adopt it. They dare not admit to anyone the struggle they felt, yet they could not come up with an answer to their internal struggle.

Sensing the deep demoralization spreading through his brothers and sisters, Z took it upon himself to come up with a solution. After all, the more important members of the Inn were all swamped with tasks delegated by the Innkeeper. How would they have time to notice such details, especially when everyone kept them hidden so deeply in their hearts.

Only one as attentive as him would pick up on such details. Even though he looked younger than most of the Inn's workers, since most of them called him big brother, he had to act as one.

He did not make a big show of things, nor did he make an announcement. He directly called some of the others and shared the situation, as well as his plan. None of them hesitated to support him, and Luthor especially praised for his initiative.

It was thus that the houses under the banner of Midnight were formed. Only the most prominent and specially accomplished of the Inn's workers would take on the name Midnight. For the rest, they would join one of the lesser houses.

Z selected for himself a surname, and took it upon himself to be the founder of the Starcloak house. The Starcloak house would be for the masses, and would be vast like the infinite starlit night sky. It would be the place that perfectly captured the magic and wonder of Midnight, and the place where most of the Inn's workers would find themselves.

Gerard, as the head of security, founded the house of Umbragard. As the guardians and protectors of the Midnight Inn, they perfectly encapsulated the meaning of the name Umbragard. The shadow, or darkness, of umbra perfectly represented Midnight, and as the first line of defense and guardians, they themselves were the 'gard' in the name.

The entire security team joined Umbragard, bringing them closer than ever to one another, and turning their secret insecurities into pride instead.

Velma founded the house Nyxheart. Her intention was to establish a house full of the romantics in the Midnight Inn, but more and more the house was taking shape to ensure the will of the Inn - to ensure that the Innkeepers hearts desires were met. Spies, secret agents and intelligence operatives filled this house.

Finally, Luthor himself created a house called Nightshade. Its purpose was simple. To poison and kill anyone who would threaten the Inn. Unlike the Umbragard, who would protect, the Nightshade would proactively attack!

Members of all four houses encircled the three rhinocentaurs and watched in silence as Luthor, for the first time, performed the duty of his house.

"I have studied the rules of your Inn!" one of them roared, still trying his best to avoid a deteriorating situation. In fact, it only appeared that was his intention. He was delaying so that his partners could quickly sell the information inexchange for a teleportation reward, as well as some points that could be used within the chat room.

Unfortunately for them… the level of teleportation that the chatroom awarded that could forcefully work in the Midnight Inn… was far beyond anything they could afford.

"Yes, unfortunately, you have not. But don't you worry, I won't kill you - yet! After I capture you, you can be the perfect excuse to finally get permission from the Innkeeper to build the prison I've always wanted. Not to mention, how can I question you for your motives if I let you die so easily?"

Without waiting for a response, Luthor attacked. Red flames engulfed him, immediately searing the head of the rhinocentaur he was standing on. The rhinocentaur screamed in pain and convulsed, but by then Luthor was already gone.

Displaying an absolutely abnormal speed, he had dashed from the first centaurs head to the legs of another. He controlled his red flames and wrapped them around the legs of another, attempting to completely immobilize it, but how could three members of the system hunter organization have such little combat experience?

Before his flames could burn the centaurs legs, it employed a technique to increase its fire resistance as it charged towards Luthor. From the side, the third centaur coordinated with it to simultaneously attack Luthor.

They had teamwork, skill and plenty of experience working for them. They were prepared to fight against those even with the cheats of a system, let alone a single normal human. But Luthor was not at all a normal human, and who was to say the cheats a system user had were more than that granted to him by his bloodline?

The flames he used were called Hellflame, and were so strong they would harm both the user and the enemy. But the reason Luthor appeared fine was because he could use his bloodline to move the lethal damage being accumulated from the raging Hellflame constantly burning him alive. In the case where he was accumulating enough damage to kill himself every second, what was accumulating just a little more?

Completely ignoring the attacks landing on his body, Luthor reached forward and grabbed the centaurs face with his hand and brought it close to himself.

Fire resistance did not mean fire immunity, so while the centaur tried to ignore the pain of its face being burnt, and attempted to free itself from Luthor's grasp, it missed the look of pure malice in his eyes.

How dare they threaten an employee of the Inn? Luthor would ensure they lived to regret it.