The Innkeeper

Chapter 1221  Development

”Your objective in the Trial of Eternity is simple. For reasons, as of yet unknown, the Henali have detected signs that the barrier that keeps the Trial of Eternity inside a segregated zone of existence is beginning to unravel. These are very early signs, of even if it does end up happening, it will still be thousands of years in the future. But there is no need to wait until the problem has grown to treat it.

”You only have one mission in the Trial of Eternity, with another bonus objective that is not mandatory or even expected. Your mission is to identify the reasons behind the weakening of the barrier, and your bonus objective is to resolve the issue. The time frame for this mission is three years. If, within three years, you are unable to complete the mission it will be treated as a failure, and you will be sent to a subsequent portion of the tourney based on your performance.

”Now then, I am going to brief you on the conditions inside the Trial of Eternity. Iʼm sure you already know some things, but it is best to give you a full detailed report. Inside there is one major landmass, with countless smaller masses floating around it. They exist in stasis, which means they just kind of float there without moving.

”There are no stars, or anything of the sort, so it is mostly imbued in darkness, although spontaneous explosions occur frequently, which then become sources of light. The energy distribution there is highly skewed towards lightning and fire, which is why the treasures which are born there are inclined towards those two elements. But as a result, there are countless lightning storms and random combustions in there.

”There was a genius who once had the bright idea of having his Immortal tribulation there. The first lightning strike itself reduced him to dust. As comedic as it was, it set off a chain of lightning storms so brutal that almost everyone in the entire zone died.

”As a general rule, any kind of energy spike anywhere in the entire place will set off some kind of storm since the energy there is highly unstable, so do not try to do anything too flashy there. In fact, one of the reasons why all of you have been selected to enter the Trail of Eternity is because if we send in stronger cultivators, the storms they might cause will be even bigger, which might end us causing more harm than good.

”Now, the wind patterns…”

The briefing continued for a long time while the Oolin, his body pulsing with dangerous energy, impressed upon them the importance of not causing an incident within the Trial of Eternity, and avoiding any fights. Unfortunately for him, from the very get go, that was destined to be impossible.

Lex felt various gazes on him, all of them hostile, and he was absolutely certain that at least one of them was from a dragon. He also hoped another one of them might be from his own grandfather. But in the very likely event that it was from someone else, he at least hoped at least one member of Sanguis Pluvia was there.

According to Roland, they had major plans for the Champions tourney. Lex was partially right, in that there was a dragon staring at him. But he was also extremely wrong in guessing that only enemies were staring at him.

”Whatʼs wrong with Lex?” Anakin Indiana McClane asked Alexander and a few others, using his spirit sense. ”Has he entered his goth phase? Isnʼt he a little old for that?”

”Itʼs because heʼs never had a girlfriend,” Larry responded, sounding utmost morose, as if the failings of his friend brought him great personal pain.

”You know why heʼs like this,” Alexander responded seriously. ”Youʼve all heard the rumors. We should make contact as soon as the trial starts and offer our help.”

”Offer our help?” asked Noman, feeling incredibly blue. ”And who is going to help us out? Have you forgotten how exactly we got into this mess?”

”No, I havenʼt forgotten,” Alexander said, glaring at Noman. ”If someone hadnʼt gone around spouting nonsense about people lying, we wouldnʼt have been sent inside the freaking Trial of Eternity.”

Noman, who had the uncanny ability to detect when someone was lying, also suffered from a huge curse. As soon as he detected a lie, he was forced to whisper that it was a lie. He himself was completely unaware of it happening, though he knew it was something he did, for it got him into a lot of trouble frequently.

But then, Alexander sighed.

”At the same time, thatʼs also why I suggested contacting Lex. We can try avoiding this problem, but the quicker we handle it the better, and as much as I hate to burden him again… Lex is very resourceful. Heʼll be able to find a way to help us.”

Alexander felt conflicted. He had grown so much stronger, and he was still asking Lex for help. It was not asking for help that caused him to feel conflicted, rather how embarrassing his current problem was. If he asked Lex for help, he would have to explain the situation, which was…

”There is no need to get Lex involved in this,” said Rafael, who suddenly walked up to them. He knew most of them from his visions of the future, which is why he knew the potential they held, and also knew the fastest way to help them realize it, which was to face these problems themselves.

”He is already under great scrutiny, and if we reach out to him, he will make new enemies as well. There is no need to increase his burdens.”

”Heʼs from Earth, just like us,” said Souta. ”That will be enough for others to suspect him.”

”No, youʼre wrong about that,” said Rafael as he shook his head. ”He is not from Earth. He is from the Midnight Inn. No one will think otherwise unless we give them reason to.”