The Innkeeper

Harry was in awe of the man before him, and all the amazing things he told him. Cultivation? Multiple worlds? The whole universe? These things were too vast and vague for him to comprehend - but the one thing he did understand was that this was an amazing opportunity for him. Harry had a hustling attitude. Every minute of every day his mind was either on how to make money or how to improve his skills and make connections.

Truth be told the apartment he was living in wasn't under his name, even though he paid the rent. Harry was an orphan and at the age of fifteen he ran away from his foster home and came to New York. It took him some time, but eventually he worked his way into a decent life. His apartment was under the name of a rich student Harry met at an event at NYU. He liked Harry's skills, and had him cut his hair every two weeks. He even did all the paperwork to help Harry get the apartment, though he was very clear about the fact that Harry would have to pay the deposit and rent himself.

He was able to achieve all of this because he availed every opportunity that came his way, and he wasn't about to miss this one either. But before he could officially become a member of the Midnight Inn, he had to undergo a test. And what were the details of the test? He had to completely restyle some girl named Velma's hair. Harry was a little nervous as he usually cut men's hair, but he had seen a lot of tutorials online on cutting womens hair.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing his nerves. When he opened his eyes again they were filled with focus and determination. He would not fail.

Lex watched as Harry worked. He only set the test that he wanted to have Harry cut some hair. The system decided that the test would be cutting Velma's hair, but just the haircut wasn't enough. It would test various things, such as professionalism, knowledge, skill, Velma's satisfaction, her charm factor - whatever that was - and many more. To be honest, he wanted to use some loopholes and just hire him directly, but the system would never relax its standards for anyone - even its host.

The equipment was provided by the Inn, and the haircut took place in the white room. When Harry asked what kind of a look Velma wanted, she said that as she dealt with guests a lot a formal look is what she wanted. Other than that she did not have much in mind, as this was literally the first makeover of her very short life and she knew nothing about them!

As Harry worked everyone waited, filled with anticipation.

*****

Brother Chen and Blane had been through a lot the last couple of days. When they reached the 'reclamation outpost' they were shocked to see that this simple 'outpost' was already bigger than any settlement they had ever seen. They were led to the registration and background check department, where they were questioned by Golden Core cultivators about their past in general such as if they had any affiliations with other settlements, if they acted against any settlements and what kind of crimes they had committed. They were hooked up to lie detectors so they could only tell the truth. Fortunately, although the two had killed humans before it was mostly against bandits and they never attacked settlements for resources or committed heinous crimes.

Once their background check was completed and they were approved for registration, they were sent to a rehabilitation and reeducation center. The purpose of the rehabilitation and reeducation center was to diagnose what mental health issues they had, what disorders they had developed, and determine if they were suitable to join society. The Jotun Empire took it as a foregone conclusion that living their entire lives in survival mode, attacked at every opportunity all natives of Vegus Minima would have some mental health issues and disorders. Not that they would be discriminated against for having disorders, they would receive the appropriate help.

Once they were diagnosed, they eventually learnt why all this was happening. The Jotun Empire was not an empire founded by anyone on Vegus Minima, but was a galactic empire that had many solar systems under their domain. They were in a massive war against demons that spanned the entire known universe. It wasn't just the Jotun Empire that was at war against them, but various other Empires, Sects, Families, Organizations and powers.

The war was a complex issue and the two did not get too many details about it, but they were assured that as recognized citizens of the Jotun Empire they would be protected and no longer needed to fight - unless they wanted to!

The two could not believe it, and were in shock. They didn't know what their lives would look like now that they had a chance to live peacefully. Before they could wrap their heads around it, they decided to look for their lost caravan. It must be said that the people at the reclamation outpost were extremely organized. As soon as the two provided information about their caravan, they were informed about their whereabouts. The caravan had actually split up once they reached the outpost. The Jotun Empire offered them homes, security and jobs as well as professional training as to how to fit into a peaceful society and live meaningful lives. More than half the caravan took that offer and were relocated off planet. Among these people was Iris, Blane's girlfriend. Others, who had a strong hatred for zombies which were identified as lesser demons, joined the war efforts. Lily, Brother Chen's sister, was among those people.

The two soldiers looked at each other with mixed feelings as they knew that soon they would have to split up. For now however, they decided to go find Lily as she was nearby. She no doubt thought that Brother Chen was dead, and they had to let her know they were alive, as well as about the Inn. Even with the Jotun Empire bringing change to Vegus Minima, it was true that the Midnight Inn would be the best way to raise their strength.

*****

The Rose Society was an organization Will and his High School friends had formed. It was meant to signify that they looked harmless like a beautiful rose, but their thorns could cut if you try to pluck them. It represented a fanciful dream, but to them it was their lives work. The cultivation resources of Earth were limited, that much was evident, but how exactly were they limited?

The actual fact of the matter was, there was an abundance of cultivation materials for cultivators at the Foundation realm and below. However, the real scarcity was for Golden Core cultivators. In fact, most of them never make any progress after entering the Golden Core realm at all. Yet because the world was controlled by these cultivators, a resource shortage was artificially created so that fewer people would ever even reach the Golden Core realm.

The Rose Society was supposed to be a secret organization that worked behind the scenes to slowly take control of the resources from the few. Even though Golden Core cultivators were the strongest, it wasn't as if they could stay on their farms, mines and manufacturing plants all the time, or that they had a good or even adequate understanding of buisness. These things were managed by those at lower cultivations, so taking control of the flow of resources slowly but subtly was entirely possible. Yet the dream was cut short because the Society could not garner enough momentum and keep their activities secretive enough. Now however, Will wanted to restart the organization. The six other members as well as Hera looked at Will curiously, wondering what he wanted to do.

"Thank you for trusting me," Will said with a smile. "I know you all have questions. But this is not the place to answer them. To get your answers, we have to go to another place." Will smiled as he picked up the Golden key and activated it.

*****

"If what you're saying is true," said Brandon with a rare, serious expression, "then this truly will change a lot of things. We should go investigate this Midnight Inn with you. I'll call your grandma over and we'll leave once she arrives."

Alexander and Rorick nodded and began waiting. Everyone in the room was filled with anticipation.

*****

Somewhere in a forest in Nibiru, a giant turtle finally ended its daily tasks, and stopped to take a rest. Unexpectedly, in a rare occurrence, the Turtle actually fell asleep. It had recently experienced a breakthrough in its cultivation, so its control over its spirit energy was shaky, and in one of those moments where its spirit energy broke free of its control, it was attracted towards a Golden key it had placed in its shell, activating it.

*****

"But mom, I was only playing!" cried RussianPrincess77, but her mother would have none of it.

"I've told you a million times, you're not allowed to touch the book of prophecies! Now hand over the key and go to your room!"

"Never!" the young girl exclaimed and started running and laughing.

"I told you to hand it over!" the mother roared as she took off her slipper in an experienced manner and threw it towards her fleeing daughter. Like a homing beacon it followed RussianPrincess77 until it gave her a solid whack on her bum. The girl fell over, accidentally releasing some spirit energy and activating the key.

*****

Somewhere on a space shuttle near Vegus Minima, a lone man was meditating in a prison cell. His body was impaled with various chains that restricted the flow of spirit energy, yet the man did not seem to mind. The pain in his body did not torment him, it only served to strengthen his will and solidify his focus.

Suddenly, a floating, golden door appeared in the cell in front of him, offering him freedom. The man did not even hesitate. Before anyone one the ship could realize what was happening, the door was gone and the prisoner along with it.

*****

Lex was grinning as he read the notification.

Quest Complete! The Host's rewarded is being calculated:

- Reward upgraded for completing the quest in less than 24 hours

- Reward upgraded for locating employee with unique talent

Reward Rank: B-

Reward: Heritage for Glamor Sorcerer (given directly to employee), 1 barber shop, 1 employee residence, 1000MP, Event Manager panel

The little Innkeeper was too excited about his recent success, with no idea that he was about to welcome more guests than he'd ever had before!