The Innkeeper

Things at the Midnight Inn were going great. The festival was a great success and in the span of a few hours five different Minor realms had been discovered. Nearly a hundred thousand guests had already entered the realms, except for one which apparently had an age restriction. Only those below 20 years of age could enter that realm, for whatever reason.

While that dissuaded ordinary guests from trying to enter, as humans, beasts and other races alike were usually still very weak at that age, several sects were greatly interested.

The Evil Diplo sect were the first to gather at the portal and sent countless members of their sects, alongside their slaves below the age limit.

But while they were the first to act, they were not the only ones who had such an idea. Soon dozens of other sects who had unexpectedly arrived at the Inn during the festival also began sending their younger generation inside, including even the Paladins.

That one Minor realm became a confrontational ground for the various secs, especially since they were banned from fighting at the inn. It wasn't as if they hadn't tried, but the Inn was a lot stricter now with such a situation. The guards would immediately capture whoever started a confrontation and exile them from the Inn, irrespective of their excuse.

Being banned from the Inn was too major a loss for these sects who had just discovered this excellent holy land. But the Inn had given specific disclaimers that its protection did not extend to the Minor realms, so everyone should only proceed at their own discretion. While that represented danger, it also represented an opportunity to compete for unclaimed resources. The sects would never give up such an opportunity.

Lex sat in his office, monitoring the situation. The Minor realms had increased his MP earnings because many would come back in need of Recovery pods, or would put up the treasures they obtained for sale at the Guild room.

This was exactly the kind of progress he liked to see. He could tell that the Minor realms would bring in even more guests soon enough, and that even the village would become too crowded. He would need to build yet another settlement, so he once again began working with the planning division.

He had Main street, which had some of the Inn's unique attractions but also handled less of the crowds. The village was where most of the guests spent their time because that's where most of the attractions and entertainment were located. The third settlement would have to be focused around the Minor realms.

Watching the Inn grow was exciting, but he was in a rush because the Grand Prix would start the next day and he was participating in that. He wanted the new settlement to already be in place before that began, as the race would be the perfect opportunity to bring attention to it by having the track pass through it.

But while Lex was busy with expanding the Inn, there was something else going on that had escaped his attention. With the Host Attire and his office chair making him in sync with the Inn it wasn't as if he hadn't been exposed to it, but with the number of things going on at the Inn, this really was not worth giving any extra attention to.

While the numerous guests and even staff underwent a growth period due to the latest star rating increase, many of the normal animals at the Inn had only barely benefited from it. Such was the case with the many Magikarpet that Lex had brought to the Inn. Their vitality had increased and their colors grew more lustrous.

One of them, however, was experiencing something very unusual. It had fallen into a slumber, allowing its body to fall to the bottom of the lake where the fish lived. As if the unusually long slumber was not odd enough, in recent days its body had started to emit a soft glow.

A dim but clear light was emitted from between the Magikarpets scales, but as the days went by, the light began to get brighter and brighter. Eventually the light became so bright that it started to attract attention, not only of its fellow Magikarpet, but of the various guests who were swimming in the lake.

Thinking they had discovered another entrance to a Minor realm many swarmed towards the light but, before they could actually approach the Magikarpet, its shape began to change!

A storm of spirit energy appeared over the fish, similar to the one that had encompassed Lex during his breakthrough, and its body began growing rapidly. From just a few feet in size, it rapidly grew to a dozen feet, then to twenty before it began slowing down until it reached around twenty-five feet (7.6 meters) in length.

A heavy, intimidating aura enveloped its still shining body, resulting in all the guests retreating in alarm! The light continued to envelop the shape for a few more minutes as its body changed further, but when the light faded, it revealed a new monstrosity.

No longer did it have the soft and cute round eyes of the Magikarpet, and no longer did it have warm, red scales that made one want to cuddle with it.

No, Magikarpet had mutated into a ferocious creature with each and every fiber of its being radiating a savage aura. Its strength was not from a growth in spiritual cultivation, but rather its body packed strength that could shake the very seas.

The various Magikarpets in the lake slowly swam to the new being to observe it, and then began swimming around it as if carrying out some ritual.

But the creature was not paying attention to any of that. As a being that belonged to the Inn, the moment it grew and gained sentience, it automatically became an Inn employee. So its attention was completely diverted to a screen that had appeared in front of it, with words written on it that the beast could somehow read.

The screen read: 'For the first annual Inn employee retreat, please list down any dietary restrictions. Also, please confirm whether you would like dancing lessons before the retreat."