The Innkeeper
chapter-1181

Lex took one step, and paused.

That was odd. He sensed his affinity act on its own, and do something. He had no idea what it did, but he could tell that it was merely responding according to changes in his body. It seemed like… besides just putting a seal on his affinity, he had used some kind of technique that would automatically use his affinity, since grasping it currently seemed outside his realm of understanding.

But if it was outside his realm of understanding, how had he used this technique to begin with? His attention was once again reverted to the seal in his mind, but the dread that accompanied it once again took hold of him. It was so strong that he could physically feel the emotion of dread.

"Ugh," Lex groaned, and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. It seemed like, for whatever reason, he had found a solution to his problem. At least that's what it seemed like.

Lex leaped forward, and his affinity began to act on its own, once more.

Lex kept an eye on his quest time limit, as well the hill in the distance at the same time. As he confirmed that the flow of time was steady, and that he could actually get closer to the hill, a trace of relief filled him.

Lex then began to fly at his fastest speed. He had no idea how much time had passed by for others. While he still had hundreds of hours left on his quest time limit, who knew if others only had dozens of hours left.

It had been a long time since Lex had to travel a long distance without using his spatial abilities, but fortunately he hadn't neglected any aspect of his training. It took him ten hours to approach the hill, though oddly enough, he could not tell how much distance he had traversed.

It only felt like he had traveled 'ten hours' as if time itself was the distance that needed to be covered.

The hill, as it turned out, was actually a pyramid that reminded Lex a lot of mayan pyramids.The stone blocks were colossal, perfectly aligned, and strangely untouched by the encroaching vegetation of the forest, as if an invisible barrier divided them. No vines marred its surface, no moss clinged to its edges; it stood as a testament to an era long gone, defying the relentless advance of the jungle around it.

Lex's eyes traced the pyramid's steep sides, leading up to its peak where a solitary temple sits, shrouded in mystery. He did not need to be a genius to guess that this was the Temple of Frozen Dawn.

The temple was a relic of unimaginable age, its walls adorned with intricate carvings that depicted scenes from a forgotten civilization. The glyphs and symbols, though weathered, told stories of deities and heroes, of rituals and sacrifices, frozen in time.

His eyes eventually fell to a chamber with open doors, though the darkness within is impenetrable, save for a faint, otherworldly silver glow that seems to emanate from deep inside. From that glow, casting strange shadows and filling the air with a sense of profound, ancient power, Lex sensed something oddly familiar though he could not place it.

Yet what he could see was that the glow was fighting against the oppressive darkness, trying to lift its veil.

At that moment, Lex suddenly understood the significance of this place. This was not just a relic of a bygone era, but a monument to a time when the very fabric of reality was different. The temple contained the energy from when the Origin realm was still in its nascent stages, barely beginning to form.

Cut off from time itself, the untouched pyramid and its temple were a sanctuary of the past, preserved within the time bubble.

If the anomaly of this place was resolved, this sanctuary would reenter the Origin realm, and whatever secret it held would become available to the Henali.

If Lex weren't a walking collection of ancient secrets, powers and treasures himself, he might have been interested in uncovering what secret this temple held. If such great pains were taken to hide it, and the Henali were trying their best to get in touch with it, the treasure would be remarkable.

Heck, if Lex didn't have a mission he had to focus on, he might still be tempted to explore and uncover the secrets of this temple. But as it was, he could not afford to be distracted.

Even if a great treasure was hidden here, getting his hands on it would not be worth being distracted from his revenge.

He would leave this prize for the Henali, or anyone else who wanted to get it. Lex just wanted to end the anomaly.

He stepped into the dark room, where his instincts were guiding him, and immediately he felt the darkness try to swallow him.

In fact, Lex had entirely underestimated the danger this darkness presented, and actually stumbled.

But that was it. The weight of this darkness could only cause him to stumble at best. Yet to fight back against this darkness, Lex needed a light. He instinctively knew that, for his Domination, or aura, or any other ability would not work.

So Lex held out a finger in front of his mouth, and blew a small, thin streak of dragonfire that collected above his finger like a small candlelight.

Within the darkness, there were now two sources of light - one tiny, flickering dragonfire, and an ethereal silver glow.

The darkness was pushed back, and it was suddenly as if two lights were working together against the darkness.

Lex walked deeper into the hall, approaching the silver glow until he was only a few feet from it where he was forced to stop. For the second time today, Lex was stunned by what he saw.

Of all the things he could have guessed to be the source of that strangely familiar light, what he did not expect was to see a ballerina.

The darkness was her stage, and her graceful yet delicate dance, mesmerizing to behold, was literally lighting up the room.