The Innkeeper

Chapter 1389  The chosen one I

The elf, ancient as mountains, old as the sky, raised his slightly moist hand, and then used it to wipe the tear off his face. In that sensation from touching the grass the elf, Freman, felt something extremely core to his entire existence - something he had been deprived off for a very long time.

Overcome by a sudden bout of mania, the elf did something that his partners - and basically anyone of Arra-kiss - would consider insane. He took off his boot, and without waiting, stepped forward into the lush, green grass.

The ground on Arra-kiss was more than just hot, though it could cook an egg in under a minute. The constant exposure to the star of the star system, which was abnormally active, caused an overabundance of Yang energy to be immersed in anything the starlight touched for too long.

Now, regardless of temperature, anything containing Yang energy could sear off the skin of anyone below the immortal realm, unless they specifically had a cultivation technique attuned to it, or against it.

Of course, the natives of the planet did not know that. All they knew was that the ground was radioactive during the day time. At night, the natural cycle that the environment had formed caused the Yang nature of the ground to be suppressed, allowing others to come into contact with the ground.

Fortunately, simply wearing protective equipment made from locally harvested materials was enough to resist the searing effect of the ground. That was why the other elves reacted so strongly to Freman taking off his boot and stepping towards the grass without protection. The burns from Yang exposure were not so simple.

But Freman ignored it. Instinct had taken hold of him, and he could not resist stepping onto the grass. Something deep inside of him craved it!

The soft crunch of grass as he stepped on it was weirdly audible, and Freman was forced to close his eyes lest he let more tears fall. His body was reacting to the touch of nature, something it had been mostly deprived of its entire life.

Vegetation on Arra-kiss was scarce, prickly, and was usually more root than anything. In fact, the only things that were green on the planet were some tones and precious gems that were occasionally mined. Step by step, Freman walked deeper into the garden under the treehouse, and was suddenly hit with the feeling of wanting to take off his pants so that he could fall to his knees and let his legs bask in the glorious embrace of the grass.

Fortunately, Lex had been keeping an eye on the elf, and managed to stop him before that happened.

"Wow there pal, this is a common area. Indecent exposure is not allowed," Lex said, breaking him from his reverie.

If he had been acting as the Innkeeper, he would have been polite about the reminder, but as himself he could just get to the matter.

Freman broke free from the grass' trance, and looked ahead towards Lex who was walking towards them.

Although, as an immortal, Lex was not affected by the temperature of the planet, he felt like he might as well take advantage of the new environment to change things up a bit. With the exact same thought process he had about his beard - which he was still unable to grow at the moment - he felt like it would be nice to wear something other than a suit, but also didn't want to wear informal clothes.

Thus, Lex put on the white thobe that Arabs used to wear. It felt very unusual, and oddly freeing. But, since he was not used to that kind of freedom, he didn't know how to feel about it - especially since he had a random thought about how women who wear sundresses felt the same sense of freedom. Of course, that only proceeded to him imaging himself in a sundress.

The problem with having a super powerful mind that could have a million thoughts a second was that many of those million thoughts would be absolutely horrible.

"My- my apologies, great one!" Freman exclaimed, bowing deeply towards Lex. "I was overwhelmed by the greatness of this… this thing beneath my feet which safeguards from the burning touch of the ground."

"It's no problem," Lex said with a smile. "The grass growing under the Treehouse tavern is special, so I am not surprised that you enjoy it. You can even invite your friends over to enjoy it as well. Just… keep your clothes on in public. We have rooms if you really need to remove your clothes."

Freman turned back, and saw that the others he came with were still watching hesitantly from a distance. Even though they were just as much entranced by the beautiful garden underneath the treehouse, they managed to resist its allure. Such caution was to be expected in the face of something so unexpected.

"Come on guys, you must feel what this is like," Freman said, inviting the others. "It's as if we have been living an incomplete life so far, cut off from our true purpose."

But, for completely incomprehensible reasons, the other elves were not reassured by the claims Freman made in a near obsessive voice. Strange. Instead, they grew even warier, and drew their weapons as they looked towards Lex as if he were some kind of demon.

"No need to be cautious, allow me to introduce myself," Lex said, though he doubted they'd be convinced so easily. "My name is Lex, and I am running this humble little tavern. This is a place that welcomes guests, which is why, well, we don't particularly harm our guests."

"Oh yeah, totally," responded one of the elves sarcastically. "You don't want to hurt us, which is why you've totally bewitched Freman, and are attracting us into your domain." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lex laughed, for he could totally see how it seemed like he was some evil entity, trying to capture them all.

"I assure you, this is nothing but a tavern. It may seem a little unusual to you all, but I assure you that it is perfectly safe."

"Oh yes, it makes sense. I often visit taverns that are in the middle of nowhere, far away from any town or city."

"Hey man, you try getting the trade licence and zoning permits for a giant tree inside a city. It's not as easy as it seems."