The Innkeeper



John was aiming for a long, drawn out fight to maximize his advantages so let alone a few weeks, even a few months was acceptable. The hard part was not waiting, it was staying hidden as his opponent was truly, genuinely skilled. This was perhaps the most difficult fight he had ever experienced, which is why the reward would no doubt be so much sweeter.

But John wasn't the only one locked in a tough battle. Down on earth, Marlo's domain was under attack. Although, as of yet, the attack had not reached the level that Rafael had predicted, things were moving in the direction he predicted. He suspected that the enemy wanted to exhaust all their energy and resources before they came in for the finish, to prevent the use of any unexpected, hidden trump cards.

But none of that had anything to do with Lex, at least for now. He had his hands full with his own endeavors, and could not afford to be distracted. Even meeting Alexander was a luxury he would not have availed if Fenrir were not still asleep.

"So how come you suddenly thought of sparring?" Lex asked. "From what I recall, you were extremely busy with your mission. Taking time off to fight a few rounds does not exactly sound like the best course of action when chasing terrorists. Not to mention, you don't look too great either."

Alexander gave Lex an exhausted look, before letting out a long sigh.

"Things are not going well," Alexander confided. "There are too many unusual aspects about my current mission. You know, I used to think that I was thoroughly disadvantaged as someone who was raised on earth. If I had received the nurturing of the empire from birth, I would have been much stronger."

The teenager paused for a moment, as a waiter arrived and began laying food at the table, but then figured he wasn't saying anything confidential so he just continued.

"But, lately, I've finally come to realize a significant advantage I have based on my upbringing."

"Oh, what is that?" Lex asked as he began having fries.

"I've avoided the lifelong conditioning and propaganda that comes with living in such an environment. When I see things, I can retain an objective view, which allows me to see patterns and trends others are blind to.

"The empire is supposed to be this unstoppable behemoth, which has managed to gain control of over 20 galaxies and retained full control of each one. Can you even imagine 20 galaxies? Each one filled with vast, endless space. Each one populated with hundreds of trillions of different races. Each and every one of them harboring their own intricate and delicate internal systems of trade, competition, enmities, intrigue, politics, wars and more. Yet despite all of that, in its history, the control of the empire has never supposedly waver.

"That's the history that I was taught, or an overview of it. This control has been maintained through the use of excellent and ingenious administration, but moreover, a very advanced and powerful military, which is divided into various categories. One of the more important branches is the Cross Regional Interstellar Neutralizing Godfiend Experts (CRINGE). They are one of the most elite units, who scout talented recruits from each and every galaxy and train them to be loyal only to the empire, as they can be deployed absolutely anywhere to ensure safety and stability of the empire.

"The entire specific purpose of CRINGE is to ensure that no major force within the empire ever harbors rebellious thoughts. After all, there are quite a few forces in the galaxies who could make life incredibly difficult for the empire."

Lex was listening very seriously to Alexander, doing his best to not distract the kid as he continued to eat during his speech. But after the pause he took extended a little too long, Lex had to quickly swallow to ask a question.

"I take it that something happened to them?"

As if woken from a reverie, Alexander was momentarily startled, before he refocused again.

"No, no nothing happened to them. It's just that such a force already exists. Yet more and more often, across the empire, there are reports of small forces trying to gain independence from the empire. Such a trend is not limited to just one galaxy, but is occurring in many of them. Even the large forces don't dare to cross the empire, so why are so many of the small ones taking that step?

"But, for now, the trend is completely insignificant. Based on the size and strength of the empire, such a thing will never destabilize it. Yet the fact that the trend even exists is concerning me. Moreover, instead of reducing, the terrorist attacks across the empire are increasing. As if that's not enough… as if that's not enough, I've heard rumors that the Fiery Mammoths are showing signs of aggression. That is not an adversary the empire can just shrug off.

"The timing of it all… it just doesn't seem right. I don't know if I'm imagining things, but I keep seeing all these signs as precursors… precursors to something absolutely devastating. And if something happens which can be described as devastating to the empire… I don't even know what we can do to survive."

Looking at the teenager, Lex could not help but pause. It was easy to always see him as Alexander, the incredibly talented and driven young man who had taken it upon himself to venture out into space alone to build a place for himself in the vast universe. Yet as a result of that, it was also easy to forget that, at the end of the day, he was a teenager.

To be clear, he did not look depressed, or even demotivated. If anything, he actually felt stronger than when Lex saw him last. It was highly likely that Alexander would be able to regulate his own mood himself soon enough. In fact, if Lex hadn't made him sit to chat, and instead directly consented to the spar, it was unlikely he would have mentioned anything at all.

Still, Lex felt like giving him a little motivation couldn't hurt.

"Do you know about the Henali?" Lex asked, taking a bite from his burrito between words.

"I've heard about and studied the Henali convention, if that's what you're talking about."

"No, not that. Well, it doesn't really matter. All you need to know is that, even the all mighty empire has to abide by the rules set forth by the Henali, or the Henali convention. So, atop the seemingly insurmountable force of the empire there is a bigger force. Yet even they, the Henali, cannot blatantly do as they please, and have to show due respect to a small, certain group of people. So that means that there are bigger fish than even them out there. Who knows how far along that chain goes.

"The point is, the universe is a big place, and as hard as it is, you have to accept that you're only a small part of it. Instead of focusing on far off and distant things, it's a lot more useful to focus on growing your own strength. That way, when you face any problems, you can do your best to resolve them. And if you can't, you can always run back to the Inn."

Although his last words were not the most pleasant to hear, Alexander seemed somewhat relieved to hear them. But the effect was only limited, as Alexander was only somewhat exhausted, he had not succumbed to the pressures he faced.

The two continued to chat for a while longer as Lex ate. As absurd as it seemed, he really did need to consume such large amounts of food to keep his body running effectively. Although his dependance on food had dropped drastically, it was not eliminated. Besides, he liked it.

But once the meal was coming close to ending, Lex could not help but bring the topic to their upcoming spar.

"You never really answered my question about why you wanted to spar," he said, before grabbing some sushi with his spirit sense.

"Like I said, the situation is bad. I need to improve my strength. Raising my cultivation realm would be the best solution, but it will take a considerable amount of time, especially since I have no time to cultivate at all these days. The next best thing is increasing my repertoire and getting my hands on new techniques. But while I have learnt the techniques, I'm not sure how effectively I can deploy them amidst battle yet. That's where you come in.

"If we spar, I don't really need to worry about hurting you, so I can go all out without any reservation. It's the closest thing to a live combat test I can get."

"What, the empire doesn't have sparring bots?"

Alexander winced as he heard that.

"They do… and I can't afford to keep breaking those."