The Innkeeper

“The universe is a cruel place,” the sloth said slowly, suppressing a yawn. “Staying on a small planet, living out a peaceful life is already a great gift. Only the most talented can be selected to be transferred off planet. Not all Beasts have a powerful presence in the universe. If those talents belonged to a species that do, It is my job to send them there. If those talents do not belong to a species that have such a presence, then they are most likely subordinate to someone else. In that case, I would send the talents to the superior species.”

“Then what is the qualification to be classified as a ‘talent’?” Green Haven asked. Its question was asked casually as it seemed to have already accepted that it was not good enough. After all, it had never heard of any Beast stronger than itself, and its predecessors who had reached its level did not know of the sloth either so obviously, their realm was not good enough.

The sloth did not answer immediately, but looked at its single hair that had a golden tip. It really liked it.

“Actually, you and that little wolf have already surpassed the qualification level. When we return, I can get in touch to find out who will be recruiting you.”

The deer was astounded. What did it mean they had already surpassed the qualification? Why then had they never heard of anyone else being recruited?_.

“Then how come you waited so long? I’ve been in this realm for hundreds of years.”

“I was sleeping,” the sloth replied, as if it was the most natural answer ever.

The deer was dumbfounded. HOW LONG HAD THE SLOTH BEEN SLEEPING?

But before their conversation could continue, a party of very strong humans approached them. Even though Greens Haven knew that they were safe at the Inn, the thought of humans stronger than itself made it feel unsettled. Yet the sloth besides it was also very strong, so that reassured it a little.

“Greetings. I am Ragnar Asulf of the Jotun Empire. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”

“Greetings, Ragnar Asulf of the Jotum Empire,” the sloth replied with declining energy. For some reason, the atmosphere at the Inn made it feel so comfortable all it did was want to sleep.

Both the deer and Ragnar watched the sloth, waiting for it to introduce itself, but only saw it struggle to keep its eyes open.

“Greetings Ragnar Asulf of the Jotun Empire. I am Green Havens,” the deer introduced itself loudly, hoping to wake up the sloth. Its knowledge of the universe still bordered on nonexistent, but it was beginning to get concerned for being assigned such an irresponsible Beast.

Startled awake the sloth looked around, before remembering where it was. “I am…I am…I am…” the sloth said a few times, suddenly realizing it did not remember its own name. “You can call me Golden Hair of the Three-toed Bradious clan,” the sloth proclaimed, renaming itself.

Ragnar quickly went through all the Beast clans he knew of, but could not recall this cla. Still, that did not mean that this clan was small or weak. The universe was vast and Ragnar’s only concern had always been the demons, so it made sense that he was not familiar with it.

“It is well that you came,” Golden Hair continued, “the others at the meeting promised to fulfill my request to bring the Beasts of their planets – only you did not. I request you again, bring the Beasts and expose them to broader horizons. They should not miss out on such an opportunity.”

Greens Haven looked at the sloth with a confused look, wondering if it realized how many Beasts had missed out on opportunities because it was sleeping.

“Our presence on Vegus Minima is fairly new, and we have not had time to establish relations with the Beasts yet. However, I will try to reach out to them. If they are willing, I will invite them.”

“Thank you,” the sloth said simply. Its eyelids started to get heavy again, and Ragnar recognized the potential for an awkward silence building up once again, so he decided to be upfront with his questions – it was quite clear that a long conversation was out of the question.

“Earlier you said that your planet is not without allegiance. I was wondering to whom you were referring. The Jotun Empire has many allies, it could turn out that our relations are deep.”

“Nibiru is one of the nurturing planets controlled by the Fiery Mammoth clan,” the sloth replied with eyes practically closed. His answer doused any interest Ragnar had in building an alliance. In fact, he was suddenly grateful that the Devils were ready to create some trouble for the sloth. He hoped that they would succeed.

“I can see that you have important matters to deal with so I won’t take up more of your time. I look forward to seeing your performance in the Games.” With that Ragnar quickly left. It almost seemed like he was doing his best not to run away. Suddenly, on observing the humans reaction at hearing the answer to his question, Greens Haven was very concerned for its future.

“Anthony, when we get back I want you to compile a report on our latest status on relations with the Fiery Mammoth clan. Also, send someone back to Minima Vegus to immediately request a diplomatic relations officer from home base. I refuse to deal with this myself.”

“Yes sir,” Anthony replied, but looked at the General with pity in his eyes. They were too far from home base, it would take weeks for a qualified officer to come, meaning Ragnar would still have to deal with it should a situation arise. Furthermore, there was no need to look up relations as everyone was clear on what the status was. Who here did not know that scandalous story? It was the talk of the empire for centuries, when one of the noble families of the Empire had…

Anthony shuddered. His rank was too low to gossip about such things. All he could say was, some men really had…heavy…tastes.

“What’s next?” Ragnar asked, already setting the matter behind him.

“The humans from Earth are still conducting their own meeting. The meeting with the Devils and Beasts went by faster than expected, so we still have some time. Might I recommend that you tour the Inn in the meantime.”

“Slag, do you have a recommendation for what I should investigate first?”

“Of the services I’ve tried so far, Battle Ax and the Recovery room are very interesting. Although they have limited effect on higher level cultivators, they are still worth investigating. Other than those, I would recommend investigating the Mystery trial, but that takes a long time so you should wait till after the meeting for that. Apparently, there is a prize for completing the trial, but I have been unable to do so. Yet despite that, I gained a lot during my various attempts at the trial. True to its name, it is very mysterious.”

“Understood. Let’s investigate Battle Ax first.”

The soldiers made their way to Battle Ax, only to find a large crowd already waiting. Most of the Beasts had already left the Inn, so it was the humans of Earth that crowded around the building. As most of them were at the Foundation realm and had limited resources and heritages, a chance to get a technique based on your own requirements was unbelievable to them. As soon as the first person discovered this hidden treasure, its popularity exploded!

John could not be happier and was working nonstop. Yet even with his expertise, each technique would take a few hours at the least. His greatest regret was that he could not split himself so that he could work on more work.

Similar to the Battle Ax, there were crowds outside the training room and Gamers Den as well. If Lex were awake he would have used this opportunity to buy more Training and Meditation rooms to meet the demand, but he was asleep so for now the problem would persist.

The crowd at Gamers Den didn’t consist of Earthlings, oddly enough. They were already familiar with the games so they had no interest. It was the soldiers who had discovered the AR gaming mode that Lex had installed for Chen’s ‘training’ that crowded that building, much to Z’s chagrin. He had never dealt with so many people before. He hated it. All he wanted was to watch some Tv, was that too much to ask?