The Innkeeper
chapter-1190

Havval El'Yun roared triumphantly into the night sky, the corpses of an entire legion of insects all around his long, serpentine body. He was the ruler of the Jade Sea, the King of Serpents, but most of all, he was a warrior who had built his odyssey over the corpses of his enemies.

Years ago, when he had been invited to the first Midnight Games, he had not imagined how much of a boon it would be, and how much of a burden. As Nibiru thrived under the influence of the Innkeepers rewards, so too did chaos thrive.

The world was brought to war with itself, as new contenders rose everyday and challenged him for power. Many of his peers had fallen. Many other kinds were replaced. New beasts grew to replace them and begin their own journeys.

But any who sought to challenge him met the same, gruesome end. He was still king, and he was stronger than ever.

Which is why, this time, when news of the games arrived, Havval was ready. This time, he let his ambitions guide him, and he was no longer afraid to dream the impossible dream, and it was exactly as he expected.

The Innkeeper did not disappoint him. The Innkeeper gave him war, gave him combat, but more important than anything, gave him a means to grow stronger.

Havval looked around, and after ensuring that no living insects remained, swiped its claw in mid-air and summoned an interface that showed the number of people he had saved, the number of insects he had killed, the amount of points he had earned, and how many points he had been donated. There were also a few gifts many generous patrons had sent him, alongside a side-tab filled with quests that viewers had assigned him. If he accepted and completed those quests, he would get even more amazing rewards and prizes, all sponsored by the viewers.

But Havval was interested in no gifts, nor did he care for quests lest they earned him more points. He navigated to the shop tab of the interface, and then went to his shopping cart where he had an item waiting for him.

Without hesitation he bought it, and a moment later a Manastone of Humility appeared in his hand. This unparalleled treasure of epic proportions could achieve the one single feat that Havval had dreamed about his entire life.

Without hesitation he ate the rock, and felt its power spread through his body, strengthening the lost traces of a bloodline until only the smallest fraction of it became noticeable. Yet even that tiny change caused a massive metamorphosis in Havval's body, causing him to begin shedding his skin prematurely.

From beneath the shed skin, scales began to appear, and the Serpent King suddenly took on a dragonoid appearance. He roared once more, but this time his roar carried a hint of Dragons Might!

It was just a tiny, nearly imperceptible hint, but it was enough to show that the Manastone of Humility had purified his bloodline, and brought him closer to his stronger ancestor. With enough points, he could continue to buy this mythic treasure, and refine his bloodline until he became a full-fledged dragon!

Only the Innkeeper could bring him such a reward! Only the Midnight Inn wielded such awesome power.

Feeling a surge of energy, the dragonoid serpent leaped forward in the hunt for more insects. It was impossible for him to know that the treasure he was so desperately seeking was a random pebble found in the Midnight realm.

Guests who stayed at the Inn could literally pick up a pebble, eat it, and it would purify their bloodlines. But most guests never thought to look at the pebbles they were walking over as treasures. More importantly, as the Inn was divided into levels, which level actually contained such pebbles was also something that needed to be looked at. Finally, the most important measure Lex took to prevent the Inn from being strip-mined in case any guest ever realized how truly valuable everything in the Inn was, was to keep only a certain threshold of things from the Inn they could randomly take before they'd get charged for it.

For example, if a guest booked a room at the Inn, there was only a certain number of rocks or grass or anything else they could randomly eat before they'd get a prompt that eating anymore would cause them to be charged for it. It sounded mean, but the Inn was, well, an inn and not an all-you-can-eat buffet.

On another planet, Pramod, the heart demon that led the zombie horde in the first Midnight Games, was once again leading an army of zombies against the insects. Every once in a while, he would buy Radiant Mire, which not only increased the toughness of his skin, making it more durable, but it also removed freckles and pimples and made his skin fairer. Another name for Radiant Mire, inside the Inn, was mud. It was the common roadside mud.

On another planet, the former pontiff of Bunny nation on Nibiru, Faloofa, was using a pair of nunchucks to completely dominate the battlefield. His every strike would break the earth and shatter tectonic plates.

Time and time again he would get warning to restrain himself lest he get disqualified, but the bunny knew only how to exert itself, not hold back.

When it gained enough points, it bought for itself a Wilting Dream, eating which would bring it one step closer to the next realm. What realm was that? It did not know. It had no concepts of realms. It was only a bunny. Faloofa would settle for whatever realm brought its brethren peace.

Unfortunately, as it had not visited the Inn in a while, it did not know that its brethren were very much at peace - excluding the kids harassing them. It also did not know that it was just eating dead flowers.

Like that, millions and millions of humans, beasts, monsters and creatures of other kinds slowly became stronger using only the mulch from the Midnight Inn, and every time they grew stronger, Sanguis Pluvia grew weaker.