The Innkeeper

A wave of excitement traveled through the crowd as they heard Gerards words. It had been a long time since the Innkeeper gave them an order, and though they were enjoying the quiet environment at the Inn, they would rather feel productive.

Once the Midnight battalion had returned, and stories of what they experienced spread out among the other works, through Velma's comics of course, many of them felt horrible for not being able to help them. It was never their fault, of course, since the number for the battalion was limited. But nevertheless it had a massive effect on the entire staff.

"I have received word from Mary that the Innkeeper will be sending us to a secret location," Gerard continued, looking out at the endless sea of workers. Not all of them were summoned by the system, and included people like Harry and Charles, who were equally invested.

"You are not allowed to share the details of that location with anyone, and it's best if you don't even mention it, even to each other, unless you are in secure areas where only workers are allowed."

Intrigue and curiosity spread amongst the crowd, but even Gerard did not know the details.

"Now everyone get ready as we'll be teleporting over shortly."

Getting ready did not really require them to do anything, since the teleportations from the Inn were always seamless. It was more of a mental preparation for the actual event.

Lex, who had been watching the entire process through the system, covered all the workers with his authority and chose to teleport them over to the temple.

One hundred and forty nine thousand, nine hundred and eighty four workers teleported to the Inn all at once, appearing in a massive hall! Lex had no control over where they actually appeared in the temple once they got here, but did not think it should be an issue either way. Fortunately, the entire group was teleported over together.

He did not really need to inform Cassandra and Mateo when the teleportation was complete, as he saw their expressions change as soon as it happened. He was well aware of the skepticism they maintained about his claim of being able to bring his coworkers to the temple, since the temple was supposed to be in hiding.

The fact that he had accomplished this revealed a massive flaw in the temple's security! Fortunately, neither of them had the authority to relocate the temple on their own, so all they could really do was consider how to train them.

Lex, personally, felt great satisfaction in watching the emotionless Cassandra get startled by the event, as well as the number of Inn workers who had arrived. But since all of them were human, there should have been no issue.

Before he could say anything, making sure to hide his amusement, the temple trembled underneath his feet.

"Is that normal?" Lex asked, suddenly concerned about the situation. Perhaps he should have brought them in smaller groups, but it should not have mattered since he informed Cassandra of it beforehand and she did not raise any concerns.

"Yes, yes," Cassandra said, gathering herself. The faint signs of any expression she wore faded, and she returned to casually drinking her tea. "The activity of the temple depends on the number of humans populating it. Since the number jumped massively, the temple flooded its systems with energy. Since the systems have been inactive for so long there was a mild reaction, but it's settled now.

"The group that has arrived will all undergo the initial assessment, as you did, before they are assigned living quarters. More... teachers and trainers will have to be woken up to handle this many students. But it shouldn't be an issue. The temple can handle this."

"Excellent. Now, if you can take me to the worker called Luthor, he has something for me. He will also have the Innkeeper's business card so that you can meet with him personally."

"Let's go," Cassandra said, and led Lex to an area of the temple he had never been to before.

"Due to its size, the temple has multiple modes of transportation across its many zones. While short range teleportation is the quickest, for whatever reason, most people preferred to use these."

She waved her hand, gesturing in general to the set up around them. Giant crystal balls, with four chairs set inside of them, stood in rows over some kind of track. One of the balls rolled over towards them, the chairs unaffected by the movement of the ball itself.

"It doesn't take too much time, and you can get a nice view of the temple."

Lex waited for a door or something to open so he could enter, but when it never did, he turned to look at Cassandra.

"You can just walk through the glass. It's not actually 'glass' but is rather a visual effect added to a forcefield. This way, the orbs aren't affected from traveling anywhere, and there's no chance of anyone getting run over, even if the orbs come off their tracks."

Lex touched the orb, and upon parsing through, jumped to his seat and buckled himself in, allowing Cassandra to lead the way.

He had expected that the orb would travel within the temple, but was stunned when the orb, with him and Cassandra as well, moved through the walls as if they were a mirage, and began following a trail on the outside.

Lex was stunned by the sight, as he was for the first time able to observe the enormous size of the temple, protected from the crushing influence of the Void by the orb. But the orb was moving fast, and Lex could not get a detailed view of the temple, so he turned his attention to the Void instead.

His limited exposure to the Void behind space had been very turbulent, so he had no real impression of it. Now that he could finally look at it, he was surprised to learn that it wasn't filled with darkness.

No, instead a strange, flowing energy filled the Void, giving off a faint light that was constantly changing colors. The energy, visible due to the light it gave off, seemed to be traveling in thin streams and filled nearly the entire Void, making it a mesmerizing spectacle when one didn't have to protect themself from it.

In the distance, though it was difficult to judge exactly how far since the concept of 'location' and 'distance' were inherently connected to space, Lex could see Void dwellers, swimming through the energy.

Lex had fought not just a few of them, but it only occurred to him now that considering how dangerous the Void was, the dwellers he faced were not so powerful. It didn't make sense. How did they even survive the crushing pressure of the Void if just his attacks were enough to kill them?

He asked Cassandra, and received a surprisingly simple explanation.

"Void dwellers are incredibly powerful, only so long as they remain in the Void. Over here, they could have peak Nascent level, or even immortal level strength but be reduced to the Foundation level once they leave it. That's because their biology makes them dependent on the energy from the Void. The energy actively fuels their strength.

"Because of the abundance of this particular Void energy, Void dwellers do not have any way of storing it in their bodies, as they do not need it. But as a result, as soon as they leave the Void they are deprived of their strength and become exceptionally weak.

"Despite their loss of power, however, all Void dwellers try to leave the Void any chance they get. It's difficult to know the exact reason. There are many theories about it, but studies and research have revealed unexpected and confusing results. If you try to read the memories of a Void dweller, you will see that they only recognize the Void as their eternal prison. But no one has ever been able to find any proof of them being imprisoned here by anyone. All signs indicate them being born naturally in this environment. Even the Void dwellers themselves don't seem to remember who imprisoned them or why, just that they want to leave, even if they suffer a massive drop in power because of it."

Lex was intrigued, and wondered what secrets lay awaited to be discovered out in the Void. The universe was filled with such secrets, and the Midnight Inn allowed him to get in touch with them and explore them, which is why he really liked it. But he could not get rid of his suspicions at the same time.

Continuing to exist like this was not viable. He had some ideas on what he could do to remedy the situation, but all of that would have to wait. For now, he admired the incredible view, and promised himself that if he ever became powerful enough, he would try to uncover the secrets of the Void, and the Void dwellers.

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