The Innkeeper

His hand suffered no damage at all as the black energy flowed through his fingers like strings of silk. It was slippery, but he felt like he could completely take hold of some of it, if he wished. This was a result of combining Impervious Hands with Domination, his two most versatile techniques.

But Lex was not most amazed by Domination. That was a technique that grew out of feeding off of Dragons Might. It was only natural that it should be incomprehensibly powerful. No, Lex was more amazed at Impervious Hands. How was this technique, after so long, still so useful?

He recalled that when he originally encountered this technique, it was a fairly ordinary one. It was only after it underwent an upgrade from Regal Embrace that it reached a new level. Lex, at the time, guessed that the technique had reached S rank, but now he was beginning to feel like it might have been even higher.

What was more important, however, was that he lost the automatic upgrades techniques got as a result of Regal Embrace. However, under the influence of his new technique, he had the potential to grow and improve techniques himself. If he could upgrade more techniques to the level of Impervious Hands, or even create his own techniques, then he would be much more powerful than he is now.

But that was a matter for another time. His hour was up, and he was done testing out what he wanted to test. As for the drone, it would be a 'guest' at his Inn, kept in a safe and secure location, for its own health, and would wait for when lex had more time to study it.

Taking ahold of the creature, Lex teleported back to the Inn. His hand, which he had stuck into the black energy, was extremely itchy and he was tempted to get into a Recovery pod, but he ultimately resisted the urge. He wanted to see how long it would take his body to naturally heal from such an injury.

But before going out to search for resin, he checked on John, as well as Luthor. John was sitting on the floor in front of the dragon, scribbling something in his diary. It seemed like he was having trouble coming up with a technique. That was to be expected. In fact, Lex did not actually expect him to succeed any time soon.

When he looked towards Luthor, the situation once again pretty much fell within his expectations. A battle hand unfolded, and now countless soldiers were sitting, stripped of their armor and weapons, under supervision. Many had died in the initial clash, but none from the Inn were even harmed.

Luthor was currently sitting across from someone called Narin, and negotiating. Feeling slightly intrigued, he decided to check it out - but as himself rather than the Innkeeper.

After sending the drone to the turtle to keep an eye on, he teleported over, immediately attracting everyone's attention. The invaders were bipedal, but had a hunched frame that made them look short. But compared to them, Lex was even shorter despite his straight frame.

Yet it was not his height that attracted the attention of the countless soldiers who were being held prisoner, but the distasteful aura emanating from his hand. Although the Inn was suppressing any harmful effects of aura, his hand was not emitting any such thing so it was not suppressed. Instead, on his hand was only a mild remnant of the black energy's aura.

Yet what was mild and weak to Lex seemed monumentally dangerous to all the invaders, the strongest of whom was in the Foundation realm.

Even Luthor, who was mid negotiation, immediately sensed something, and turned to look towards Lex. Although he did not know what happened, he knew that Lex was not weak. So for him to sport such a serious injury, he may have come from a devastating battle.

"Is everything okay? Are there enemies?" he asked with concern.

"No, no, just taking care of a threat. It has already been resolved. Then I heard about the situation here so I thought I'd come check it out. What's the update?"

"After we identified ourselves and told them to stop, they immediately attacked instead. The official commander is dead, but as far as I can tell, this doctor here has the highest authority now. I was learning a bit about their empire when you came."

"From what you've learnt, do you think the empire will stop the invasion?" Lex asked.

"Highly unlikely. Their emperor is extremely ruthless from what I can tell. I doubt he will see reason so easily."

Lex studied Narin, and saw from him many conflicting emotions. He was afraid and nervous, but at the same time he was also irritated and inconvenienced. There was a tinge of excitement buried in there as well.

"Then what are you planning to do?" Lex asked. Since he had originally given this task to Luthor, he did not want to put ideas in his head. He was just making sure that Luthor was not thinking along the lines of massacring the empire to eliminate a future potential threat.

Luthor narrowed his eyes and spent a moment in contemplation. He also looked at Narin, who was nervously observing him.

"First, I want to learn as much as possible about this empire. Then, once I understand it fully, I plan on personally delivering a message to the emperor so that he understands that it would not be in his best interests to act against the Inn. Even though I doubt the emperor will so easily listen, the message has to be delivered sincerely. After all, the Midnight Inn should give them the benefit of doubt.

"But, if they still act out against us… then it would be best to eliminate the emperor with a show of power. After all, the Inn does not provoke enemies, but it should not tolerate them either."

Lex was actually surprised. Luthor's answer was a lot more tame than he expected. It seemed that he had matured a lot from when he first entered the Inn.

"If you need any help, let me know."