The Innkeeper

Getting to the heart of the domain wasn't exactly simple. He had to consistently check with Leroy to see if he hadn't accidentally teleported past it. But, at a certain point, Lex was able to tell on his own where the heart was.

It started with entering a bog that gave off a noxious gas that was both corrosive and poisonous. Of course, it did nothing to Lex, but he could see how anyone else would have been highly inconvenienced if not completely deterred by it.

The fact that the bog also contained countless venomous beasts was also a strong indication that they were close. By this point, Leroy was already deeply invested in sharing the troubled past of his people, so Lex felt slightly awkward disturbing him, so he continued on his own.

His Wyrm's Glyph also helped at this point, as it could pick up the value of whatever secret the domain was hiding. After the bog and an extremely rocky region with a terrain that would be difficult to traverse for anyone traveling by land. Countless rabid beasts flew in the air, discouraging anyone from taking that route as well, though once again Lex just ignored them.

After countless deep canyons, rivers of acid, a pool of blue lava, a field of surprisingly beautiful flowers that were obviously carnivorous, a gravity field, another bog, and finally an enchanted forest later, Lex finally encountered a small building that managed to restrict his teleportation. Fortunately, at this point, his projection came in handy, opening the otherwise sealed doors.

Lex noticed a few human bones at this point, as well as a small man made hut belonging to someone who probably lived here for a while, but the occupant was long dead already, so he ignored it.

He entered the building, only to get caught in a trap. Lex had to admit that he figured out a way to solve the trap, but it was much easier to just let it spring and then walk through the harmful effects of it to the final chamber, so that's what he did.

As it turned out, some kinds of corrosive liquids actually made good hair gel if they could not eat through the hair and scalp. Who knew?

Finally, after nearly eight minutes of extensive travel since he began the journey, Lex reached a pedestal over which a golden crown was floating. It looked identical to his projection.

But more than the crown, Lex could tell that the golden jewel embedded in it was the real prize. His Domination aura was reacting to it in a strange way, though oddly enough Wyrm's Glyph was ignoring the gem and telling him that the crown was the valuable thing.

It was fairly obvious, but he interrupted Leroy anyway, just to be sure. Who would be responsible if there were some secret twist and the actual secret was the pedestal and the crown was just a distraction.

Poor Leroy, however, was too stunned to respond. His elders had informed him of the treacherous journey to the heart of the domain. They had told him that he would likely not make it to the center, or if he did, it would take decades at least.

The beasts that blocked the path were immune to the effects of the projection aura, and the terrain was specifically designed to test the mettle of anyone who would dare lay claim to the secret prize.

No, this had to be some kind of trick or delusion! Leroy used the special technique given to him by his elders to guide his path and it… it pointed him directly to the crown! He turned to look at Lex, who was just looking back at him curiously.

"If that's the secret, then I'd really like to get this over with. I don't want to tell you how many chapters- eh, I mean, how many days I've been waiting for this."

Leroy still didn't respond. His brain shut down. He was reliving the painful past of his people. He was ready to sacrifice and join the long list of martyrs who had paid the ultimate price for his people. The obstacles before them were insurmountable.

His elders had warned him to be mentally prepared for the fact that their savior may even die in the pursuit of the great secret. But now he was supposed to believe that the man took just a few minutes to get to it?

What about the epic journey? The trials they had to overcome? The bond they would build over the dangers they faced? He had rehearsed the words he would say when he would be dying to encourage the savior not to quit. Now… now he was just supposed to believe it was all over? Just like that?

Sensing that poor Leroy was not in the right mental state to respond at the moment, probably too welled up with the emotions linked to his imminent freedom, Lex decided to ignore him and just check for himself. He walked up to the podium, ignoring the strange pressure that was supposed to be weighing down his steps, and just grabbed the crown from midair.

There was an invisible barrier around it, which was awkward, because Lex ended up grabbing the barrier alongside the crown and pulling it as well. It seemed not everything could be brute forced!

Lex used his own, golden aura one more time to disable the barrier, and finally got his hands on the crown.

A pulse of energy traveled from the crown into Lex, and then into the ground itself. The entire domain began to tremble as a massive earthquake suddenly began to rock everything. Back in the underground temple, in the final chamber, the fairy who was being suppressed by the river of energy coursing through him finally sensed the flow ebb, and took his chance.

He had been prepared for this day his whole life!

It was time to break the enchantment. Lex, however, ignored everything, because he heard a very familiar sound in his head.

New Notification!