y

From the dark, ebbing waters of the coast, two massive claws emerged and set themselves deep within the docks. The ground crumbled under their weight, and the earth itself began to split when the creature they belonged to put pressure on them to pull itself out of the water.

A massive head, 30 feet (9.1 meters) large emerged from the water, two equally massive tusks emerging from the base of its jaw and ran closely down the length of its face.

The weight of its gaze froze countless monsters nearby, but their existence was too paltry to even notice to the behemoth. Unable to sense the aura it had traced all the way here, the creature continued to lift itself out of the water, its body emerging from depths like a nightmare escaping a dream.

Zagan, the ocean king, was not impatient. It would take its time and search thoroughly.

On the other side of the town, Pvarti and the crown prince had been testing the formation for its abnormalities. They did not want to take any drastic action until they fully understood the situation.

So when the formation returned to normal, they were taken by surprise. But when the town full of monsters revealed itself to them, their expressions fell. Before they could even completely comprehend the situation and even consider eliminating the monsters, Zagan had revealed itself.

Pvarti instantly reached into his pocket, looking for the emergency summoning talisman for his father, but found his pockets empty. Now, weeks after it happened, Pvarti was struck hard by the truth once more. He was no longer a part of the Noel family.

The prince wasted not a single moment and unleashed his strength in full, the radiance of his immortal aura illuminating the war-torn town with its splendor. With speed mere mortals could not comprehend, he appeared in front of Zagan, only acting in deterrence and daring not to attack first.

Of the many monsters born from the darkness, very few ever reached the immortal realm. Moreover, for them to reach the immortal realm, they would need to live in the darkness for hundreds of thousands of years.

But even amongst the immortal monsters, there was a higher class that not only gained complete sentience, but had strength and recognition so great they had names and titles that were passed down through generations.

Zagan, the ocean king, was one such monster, and the prince recognized him immediately.

"This is human territory, Zagan," the crown prince said in a warning tone. "Withdraw lest the situation escalate."

It was not that the prince feared Zagan. Honestly speaking, the prince feared no one other than his own father. Instead, it was the certainty that if they fought, the entire town would be destroyed that kept him from taking action.

His appearance was right out terrifying, but Zagan did not have a feisty personality. He did not get aggravated or agitated. This was because, with his strength, getting what he wanted was always a certainty. It was merely a matter of getting what he wanted a bit sooner or later.

So Zagan did not bother replying. Very lazily, he focused on the prince and shot lasers from his eyes. In the beaten and battered lands that had just experienced the greatest struggle it had witnessed in years, two immortals began to fight. The mere mortals down below could do naught but cower in fear and hope to avoid even the gusts released from their battle, for it would be lethal.

As anarchy rained from the skies and the laws of the world itself bent in the air, the triplets served fruit trifles to the tavern guests. With illusion formations protecting the tavern from the view of what happened on their doorsteps, and a space formation protecting the building, everyone inside was completely unaware of what was happening.

Lex, after fixing the formation, surveyed everything. Technically, the formation also had defensive features to attack monsters, but he dared not try to activate them for he had no way of differentiating friends from foes.

But now that new monsters wouldn't spawn, the Nascents and even the Golden core cultivators would easily handle the monsters. Especially since the unusual interference to everyone's emotions, making everyone afraid, had also been deactivated by him.

𝒍𝒊𝒃𝓻𝒆𝓪𝙙.𝒄𝙤𝒎

Satisfied with his progress, Lex decided to finally relax a little. He entered the Hot tub room and soaked himself in the warm bubbling water for an hour to allow himself to unwind. Once he was done with that, Lex donned a cozy night suit and slipped into his bed. He fell asleep almost instantly, for he'd had very little actual rest the last few days.

Outside the tavern, the state of the town was even worse. Buildings had collapsed and rubble fell from the sky like rain, crushing monsters left and right.

While Pvarti could not help with the fight, there were other things he could do. Though he was no longer from the Noel family, his entire life had been spent in it so he knew their secrets in and out.

He broke into the formation chamber underground and forcefully served the connection of the formation with its control crystal and reconnected it to a new one. He searched the town for signs of life, and was elated to discover that a good number of citizens had survived by hiding in underground bunkers.

What he didn't know was that this was not a coincidence. The murderer had created safe zones in areas with emergency survival bunkers and herded all survivors that way.

He immediately began using the formation, which was the only thing unaffected by the fight happening due to it being buried so deep underground, to further secure the survivors.

Well, almost the only thing as the Midnight tavern stood tall and proud on what was once known as Bakers street. It was the only building still standing in the vicinity, with all others having collapsed due to the aftershocks of the battle. Still, Pvarti knew none of that.

Pvarti also enabled the emergency aid broadcast, alerting the Noel family to the situation here. He did not think he'd be meeting his father again so soon, but it couldn't be helped.

While all this was happening, the tenets of the Midnight tavern were playing a game invented by the tavern owner called bingo. It was immediately a crowd favorite, and Lex even allotted a few glasses of very expensive drinks as the ultimate prize to keep the audience hooked.

Around 8 hours later, Lex woke feeling completely refreshed. The first thing he did was check on the status of the system, but it still only said 'updating'.

The long duration of disconnect had made him nervous. He did not know what was happening at the Inn and he wasn't used to it. Hopefully, things were alright.

*****

Fenrir growled aggressively, ready to rend the world asunder under its might. But it was futile. In the face of overwhelming strength, even the little deterrence afforded to it by its bloodline meant nothing.

The Galactic Sovereign turtle lifted Fenrir up by its leg using a vine, and threw him into a pool of water. The dog really needed to get used to showering.

Fenrir yelped and struggled, but the turtle didn't care. It liked its garden to smell nice, not like a sweaty dog.

Little Blue, which had entered the Foundation realm, laughed at Fenrir's state. Its little brother, Fenrir, was far too powerful for the whale to handle or even run from anymore, so whenever it got bullied by the turtle Little Blue would enjoy it endlessly.

Unfortunately, it's fun times were about to end. Under the orders of Mary, Little Blue was about to start its first job. Lex had once instructed them to plan out a play area for kids and, after extensive research, it was discovered that Little Blue had a natural instinct when it came to effectively communicating with kids, regardless of its species.

Although Mary could not contact Lex at the moment, she could not let anyone know. So, unofficially, work was still in progress on all his projects. But, soon, things would spiral even out of Mary's hands. That was because the final for the Lady Cosmos competition was coming up, and more than one complication had arisen.

Things were under control so far, mainly because of Lex's thorough preparation, but she could not guess how long it would last.

Up on Midnight Mountain, the dragon no longer slept and was instead watching the Inn intently. A fight had broken out just a day ago when a rather powerful cohort appeared, claiming that one of the finalists in the competition was their slave and that the Inn needed to hand her over.

The dragon had to personally make a move to prevent the situation from going downhill quickly, for no one else at the Inn, even Qawain, could handle them.

More importantly, there was a notorious playboy whose reputation had been spread across the galaxy who had been attracted to the Inn, and a fight between him and Harry Styles had nearly broken out - and he wasn't the only one who nearly fought with him.

The situation was incredibly tense, and everyone was awaiting the finals to see if any drama would occur.

Unable to check up on the Inn, Lex decided to have some breakfast before going up onto the roof and investigating the state of the town. Once he confirmed everything was alright, he would go and alert the necessary people about the changes.

Since Lex hadn't really been following a fixed schedule when he slept, it was well into the night when he awoke meaning most of the guests were asleep. The few who were awake sat in silence mostly by themselves, or whispered to someone nearby. Lex paid them no mind and got himself some leftovers, heated them up and enjoyed his meal.

Feeling good at his recent accomplishment, he decided to pair his 'breakfast' with a 10,000 MP glass of warm malt. Taking his time, Lex began to think about what to do during the next few days. It was unknown when the system would finish updating, and he was limited to the tavern building, so the most he could honestly do is cultivate.

He was also thinking of how to keep the tavern guests occupied. Bingo had been a great success so his next plan was karaoke night, but he was not familiar with local songs and did not know if there was much of a culture based on singing.

Lex's musings stopped when he noticed that Rick was walking towards him. Lex was startled, for he was supposed to be controlling the space formation which, for Rick, would usually completely occupy him.

"We haven't been attacked by a single monster in well over an hour," Rick explained when Lex asked. "But I had to solidify the entire space around the tavern, preventing anyone from coming in or out, because the tavern seemed to be suffering from some kind of long range attack."

Treating the matter extremely seriously, Lex took back control of the formation and quickly climbed up to the roof. Yet when he expected to see a brightly lit yet monster filled town, all he saw was a warzone.

The wooden tavern building was the only structure still standing as far as the eye could see, and stood out like a sore thumb. Everything else - every building, every wall, every statue, every monument - had been reduced to rubble under the might of an epic battle.

In the air, a man battled ferociously with a massive monster that looked like it came out of Godzilla's nightmare.

Each gust of wind released from their clash blew fiercer than a hurricane, and carried with it massive boulders like flakes of snow in a winter storm. The town's formation, despite the state of what could no longer be called a town, seemed to be active and running for the battleground was well lit, and it seemed to restrict the monster somewhat.

With each clash the human would release a roar that would put thunder to shame, his fists carrying might that made lightning seem like mere static, yet the monster remained unperturbed.

In fact, the monster was not even paying full attention to the man. From time to time, it would try to attack the ground, as if looking for some buried treasure. The man, who looked more like a single flea in front of the creature, however managed to block each and everyone one of its attacks.

Lex gulped as his brain finally managed to process the clash straight out of science fiction that was actually taking place before him. It would be fair to say that, at the moment, Lex was at his most vulnerable. He did not have access to the system right now and could not make additions to the formations, or use some other method to help him out from this predicament should the battle divert towards the tavern.

He should have felt fear. Instead, his gaze was focused yet calm. He put on this thinking cap to put him in the artificial state of 'flow' so that he would not make a mistake or miss out on something important. While he could not make any last minute additions to the tavern using the system, he was not unprepared.

From the moment his gut gave him the unusual warning from earlier, he made plenty of additions. While he still lacked a means of attack, as ever, he had more than one formation to protect himself.

In fact, as absurd and crazy as it may seem, Lex spent 780 million MP just on adding different formations to the tavern to increase its protection. It may seem like an absurd amount, but there was no amount of MP Lex wasn't willing to spend for his own protection.

But even though he was willing to spend MP, the reason he ended up spending so much was because he did not know what kind of trouble to anticipate. He had to add various formations to cater to as many possibilities as he could imagine.

"Zagan, this is your last warning," yelled the man, his voice sounding more irritated than angered. "Retreat. If this goes on much longer then even if it means I have to stop holding back, I'll make you regret it."

Lex was startled to learn that the state of the town was a result of a battle where the participants were still holding back. He didn't know what had caused the battle, but he really hoped the monster would be deterred.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. The monster only increased its pace of attack, bombarding the humans and the ground with pulses of energy. The human tried, but he was not fast enough to block all attacks, causing them to create massive craters in the ground.

The lights produced by the formation flickered as the formation was finally being threatened, though it still seemed to be holding on.

"Mr. Innkeeper," whispered a familiar voice in Lex's mind. "I sensed something really, really wonderful underground for a moment. If you can find it and eat it, I think it would be very delicious. Even I'm feeling a little hungry after sensing it."

Lex was startled, but quickly made the connection. Indeed, there was some kind of treasure hidden here, and the formation's real purpose was to hide its aura! Well, Lex couldn't be completely certain of this fact, but it seemed completely plausible to him that someone would build a town here so that the addition of such a massive formation wouldn't be questioned, and it could continue to hide the prescience of whatever treasure was here.

But the monster's attacks seemed to be threatening the integrity of the formation, causing it to leak the aura of whatever it hid.

The World Seed Lotus on Lex's back wasn't the only one to notice the aura. The monster had as well, and its eyes lit up as it began to concentrate its attacks.

But the human was no pushover. True to his earlier threats, he had stopped holding back, and instead of blocking the monster, he now focused on attacking. Cracks seemed to appear in the sky itself whenever he attacked, and the monster was finally forced to take things seriously. It stopped attacking the floor and instead defended itself.

The speed of their fight soon exceeded what Lex could comprehend, and all he could witness was the continuous aftermath of the battle.

Before things reached their crescendo, two more humans seemed to arrive from a distance and immediately joined the battle. Lex had no idea who they were, but they were definitely also extremely powerful.

The fight, still beyond his comprehension, only seemed to be getting more intense with the addition of the new participants. There was no indication that they were close to defeating, or even intimidating the monster. Moreover, the cracks left behind in the sky from the various clashes seemed to be increasing and Lex could feel an acute threat from them.

It was best to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. He thought for a moment which one of his formations would be most helpful, for no matter which one he used, he could not directly defeat the monster, only fool or intimidate it.

There was a gentle shift in Lex's expression as he shifted into his Innkeeper persona, exuding innate confidence even in the face of the most powerful guest.

He activated the formation called Dragon's wake, a formation that had cost him 180 million MP and performed only one function. It acutely replicated the dragon's aura that was released by the dragon back at the Inn, though in greater intensity - even if only for a short moment.

The aura spread from the lonely tavern building and, in the blink of an eye, covered the entire battlefield. Zagan, the crown prince, Bertram Noel and his father, both of whom had just arrived, were washed in the feeling of being eyed by a predator. Their hearts froze as an inborn terror filled them, and in their heads they all saw the image of a single reptilian eye quivering just a little. It was as if a dragon was on the verge of waking up.

The aura disappeared just as fast as it appeared. It was but a single moment of pure suppression but it had completely stopped the flow of battle. Each participant eyed each other warily, as if to determine if the others knew the origin of the aura, yet they were all equally surprised.

Lex considered making a statement. A simple one liner to let them know that he was displeased or that he would let the matter stay so long as they ended their battle. But the move didn't feel right.

As the Innkeeper, if he gave excessive explanations while in the Inn, it would still make sense since he had to provide an explanation to his guests. Outside, however, he did not need to explain.

Since he was playing the role of a powerhouse, no matter how down to earth he made his personality seem, some things would be beneath him. In such a situation, the fact that he supposedly flashed his aura at them was already enough of a warning. Giving further explanations would make him seem weak.

So, with arms folded across his chest and an impassive face, he just looked up in the air and watched everything. Whether or not the battle continued would determine his follow up. In fact, he was already preparing for the battle to continue.

After all, while he was using the mindset of a powerful overlord to judge the situation, he had to live in the reality where he was pathetically weak in front of those up in the sky.

A single second went by since the aura disappeared. For Lex it was a miniscule amount of time, barely enough to form a couple of thoughts, but for the immortals in the sky, a single second was akin to a lifetime. The speed at which their minds worked was not comprehensible to mere mortals and so, a single second of indecision was actually an immense deal. It showed just how much of a deterrent that aura had been.

Zagan understood that the target of the aura had been him all along, since he was the one who came here and started making trouble. Since whoever released the aura marked this place as his territory, he surely had an understanding with the humans. The only question that remained was if he was willing to risk fighting whoever released the aura for the treasure.

After all, it need not be explained that for a being of such level to reside here, the only attraction was whatever that treasure had been.

Zagan was confident in his own strength, but if he had to fight the owner of that aura, alongside these humans, it would be a little difficult. Zagan hated things that were difficult, for he was somewhat lazy by nature.

Letting out an irritated groan, Zagan turned around and returned to the watery depths.

The immediate threat of the beast was gone, but the humans remained frozen in the air. This was because they did not understand where the aura had come from. Was there some ancient monster sleeping in the area from long before they ever even arrived? It seemed like it.

Yet even as they waited, nothing happened. No monster arrived. There was no follow up.

When they were convinced that all was well, Bertram and Joseph Noel, the patriarch of the Noel family, finally turned their attention to the battlefield that had once been Babylon.

Bertram was especially hit hard by the town's current state because he had visited it so recently. It was hard to believe that there would be a single survivor.

Then they turned to look at the Midnight tavern.

Amidst the broken land, filled with monster corpses and the burnt up remnants of what might have once been houses, a single, three story wooden building stood pristine. The small garden at the front had the sheen of freshly cut grass but other than that, it did not seem like it had even suffered from strong winds. They even noticed that, by a particular window sill, a robin had made a small nest.

It was safely nestled on top of its tiny eggs, asleep without fear or concern of the carnage that had struck the lands. It was too peculiar. If there was any chance of survivors, it would be there.

Suddenly, Bertram was struck by a memory of a visit on his passage through the town.

"Midnight tavern…" he mumbled, softly remembering the place where his brother had last partied.

But, before he even had the time to reminisce, a hole was blown open in the ground, and Pvarti emerged.

"There are survivors," he yelled up into the sky, uncaring that his family would treat him as a stranger. "But the entrances have been buried, and the formation isn't working properly, it's been too badly damaged."

The family that did not expect a reunion so soon quickly began excavating an entrance to the underground bunkers. Finding survivors would help them understand what exactly had happened here, and what exactly that one building was.

Back inside the tavern, Lex descended from the rooftop in a jolly mood and clapped his hands loudly to attract everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen I have excellent news," Lex said slightly formally, forgetting to step out of his Innkeeper persona. "The town's formation has returned to functioning normally, and all the monsters outside have been taken care of. For safety reasons, I suggest you still stay indoors for a bit longer but someone should be visiting us soon to let us know it's safe outside."

The crowded tavern was frozen still, unsure if they believed what they were hearing. The problem had been resolved? That was… easier than it should have been, right? Though they were crowded, they were never hungry or bored.

They realized long ago that some kind of illusion had been cast on the windows for they could never see a single monster outside. Even now, things seemed exactly the same if they looked outside. But the tavern owner had no reason to lie to them for this was a lie easily exposed. That must mean it was true.

Cheers erupted altogether, and even those who weren't in the hall quickly found out what happened. The kids especially were the happiest, and some started crying. It had been too long that they had been away from their parents, and they were too afraid to even think of what had happened to them.

In the jubilation and merrymaking, no one besides Lex noticed that the front door softly opened and a single man stepped in. He was holding, in his hand, a remarkably familiar looking plastic fork and he was looking directly towards Lex.

The two exchanged glances before the man turned towards the bar and, after hesitating for a moment, went and sat down.

Lex went and sat beside him.

"What can I get you?" Roan, the barkeep, asked.

"The strongest drink you have," the man answered.

"The strongest? You sure? It's expensive."

"Yeah, yeah, I can afford it," he said casually.

Roan looked at Lex who only nodded, before he retreated towards the kitchen. He had to go to the Wine cellar to bring out the truly expensive drinks.

There was silence between the man and Lex, as neither said anything first. A few minutes later, Roan returned holding a small jade bottle sealed by a cork. After showing the man the bottle, and clearly stating the price just to be sure, he poured him a drink.

This single bottle had been worth 1 million MP and held only two servings worth of spirit. Which meant the drink the man was having was 500,000 MP in value.

When he heard the price the man almost thought he was being ripped off, but when the bottle was opened the man went into shock. The plastic fork dropped from his hand and his attention was solely focused on the small white bowl in which the drink was poured.

A milky white drink with chilled fog hovering around it appeared in his eyes, and became the only thing in his world. As the drink poured from the bottle he observed its flow like he was watching the most beautiful woman in the world.

When the bowl was ready the man reached forward with shaking hands, but when he held the cup his hands became steady. In his world silence descended as he brought the cup near his face and took a deep sniff.

Even with eyes closed the man saw an explosion of colors in his mind. Waves of red clashed with yellow and green, forming a tempest of raging beauty. The colors changed form and became a river flowing from the highest peak, filled with fish swimming up and down the stream. Birds chirped as they flew over the river and rainbows bloomed. Grass spurt from the ground along with the most fragrant of flowers.

The man was lost in his own world, for he had gotten drunk just from the smell - the cup still full in front of his nose.

The crown prince of Hum had lost himself in the intoxicating smell of his drink, his world now a clash of vibrant visuals and obscure concepts. He seemed to have lost himself in the world where grass grew in moments and life flourished in rivers of milk, where honey dripped from trees and the concepts of beauty and peace merged together to form angels with the sole purpose of giving him their love.

The blue skies were filled with Sol birds, dancing in the distance. Fairies formed communities in trees and the wind carried within it the sound of laughter always. It was heaven, for the world was perfect, and it was hell, because it was forever out of reach.

His eyes still shut, the crown prince moved the cup to his lips and took a single sip. As refreshing as the morning dew, the spirit sat in his mouth, refreshing all of his senses. He savored the soft flavor for a while but he finally drank.

The heaven that had filled his mind now enveloped his body, but not as strongly as it had captured his mind. It was like a tingle on the back of his neck, like a teasing wink of a lover just out of reach.

Unable to stop himself, the prince downed the whole cup in one go and let the sensation fill him. It was like the embrace he had longed for, the warmth of a hug he never knew he needed.

He felt everything that was broken inside of himself, and then he felt a gentle hand run through his hair, playing with his curls. He heard a whisper - no one would heal the injuries in his heart for him, but there was no rush for him to heal either. He could be weak, for as long as he needed, until he had the strength to heal himself.

Lex did not know what was happening inside the man's mind. He was simply curious as to the man's mission. He could guess much, simply based on the fork that he recognized.

That was not to say that he believed the fork was extremely unique or completely unavailable on the market. It was more of the fact that the chances of him running into a mysterious stranger who was incredibly powerful and happened to be walking around with a fork that was identical to his. He was more inclined to believe that the man had used it to somehow track Lex down.

When Lex had left the Hum nation, he did not actually know what danger he had been avoiding. He was blissfully unaware that the king himself had made an appearance in search of him, and wanted to procure his cultivation technique. He was also ignorant of everything that had happened after.

It was for this reason he did not immediately make the connection between the man and the King himself. His first thought was that the crazy professor Vernan had sent someone to track him down.

He was patiently waiting for the man to finish enjoying his drink, but was taken aback when the man suddenly started bawling his eyes out. One moment he was fine, and the next tears were streaming down his eyes like a waterfall and he was wailing like a baby. His face had turned completely red, and he had completely lost all control of himself.

Others, who were celebrating, and were caught in the emotional tempest that the announcement of the end of their self-imposed imprisonment in the tavern was ending, saw the man crying and began crying as well.

The triplets themselves were too anxious to work so Roan and Rick were passing out drinks the fastest they were able to, and the presence of the drinks made everyone even more vulnerable to the fluctuating emotions.

The doors to the tavern opened and Joseph and Bertram Noel stepped in, ready to encounter a life and death battle, only to encounter the scene of hundreds of men and women drinking and crying.

They were frozen still, unsure of what to say or do, when an annoyingly familiar voice sounded out from behind them.

"Drinks all around, barkeep! The Noel family will foot the bill today!"

𝒍𝓲𝒃𝙧𝒆𝒂𝒅.𝓬𝙤𝒎

Pvarti, who no longer had any responsibility towards helping his family out, strutted into the tavern and ordered a Dimmelon juice. He had forgotten the name of everything, but he did not forget the name of his new favorite drink.

The crowd did not cheer as he expected, but he could not be bothered as he crossed his family and made his way to the bar. He found Aegis, who he had spent some time with already, wailing away.

Slightly creeped out, Pvarti decided to ignore the man for the moment and just drank on his own.

Lex, upon noticing the arrival of Bertram, dissolved the illusion formation around the tavern. Even if his guests saw the mayhem that had occurred, there were others who would deal with it.

But before he could go greet the man himself, the mayor quickly arrived in front of the duo and began whispering something to them. Lex decided to let them have their privacy and kept their distance for the meantime.

Soon, the crowd began to notice the situation outside the tavern and were struck by horror and disbelief. What was happening? Where was Babylon? Had they teleported somewhere?

Too afraid to exit the building, they gathered by the door and windows and looked outside as a hush fell over the tavern, with only Aegis still crying loudly.

But the mayor was an accomplished man. He did not let chaos descend, and quickly conscripted most into his rescue party. He had sent a large number of soldiers to gather the town's citizens and lead them towards underground bunkers.

The bunkers had now been buried by the rubble, and needed to be excavated. The truth was, this was something that could have been easily achieved if he did it himself but the people could not be allowed time to wallow. They had to work, and helping to save people would give them some hope in this situation where they had been struck by despair.

Soon, the tavern was relatively empty once again. Many of the children had to be put to sleep because they became hysterical upon seeing the destruction, but some, like Roland, managed to keep themselves from acting out.

As he watched everyone leave, the triplets along with the baker and his wife included, Lex had a heavy heart. He was not sure how many survivors there were, but he'd venture that most of those who went out had lost someone.

Even the formerly spoiled workers at his tavern went out to search, doing their best to keep themselves from trembling as they saw the destruction.

Soon, only the now drunk Pvarti, Aegis, Bertram and Joseph were left in the hall. Lex exchanged a look with the two who still stood at the entrance, shrugged, and went to the bar as well and poured himself a drink.

He could not decide what was the best explanation to give as to how his tavern remained unharmed, but decided to be as vague as humanly possible about it.

Upon noticing that Lex was making no moves to approach them, Bertram stepped forward and ordered a glass of Sunset wine.

"We meet again," he said as he swung the wine in his glass, making no actual move to drink it again.

"So we do," replied Lex, as if there was nothing unusual going on at all.

"Your tavern has made quite the impression on me," Bertram said, slowly introducing the topic.

"Thank you, though I must say, the neighborhood isn't as safe as advertised when I bought the property."

Bertram smiled weakly. It seemed the tavern owner was taking a dig at him.

He readied himself to broach the topic directly, since if Lex hadn't shown any hostility so far there was no reason to believe there was any. Yet, as luck would have it, at that exact moment, the Midnight system finished updating!

Along with a mental notification beep that only Lex could hear, a sort of spatial tremor released itself from Lex's body startling Bertram and his father. The tremor did not travel far, only till the boundary of the tavern building, but that was more than enough to give the two much to speculate on.

Lex, who was also taken by surprise, felt an immense change overtake him. Moreover, the system kept giving him multiple notifications, drowning his mind with the repeated beeps.

"Excuse me for a moment," Lex could not help but say to Bertram. "I have a small matter to take care of. Please make yourself comfortable, I'll be back shortly."

Though he said he was back, the Noel family had already received the answer they were looking for. Lex was some kind of hidden expert, and a powerful one. But, he seemed to not want to get involved in others matters, which is why the tremor only went as far as the tavern premises. It was a silent way of letting them know that whatever happened outside the boundary of his tavern was none of his business.

In truth, they were forming their own explanation for what had been a coincidence. Or rather, a lucky coincidence.