Within the bog, for the first ti, Fenrir's excellent stealth abilities failed the duo. That was because as much as his abilities could hide them from being sensed, if the pup ran across a beast's nose, then it would not need to rely on spiritual sense to find them. The problem was that this example did not carry any exaggeration at all, and was exactly what the duo faced.
At tis, the bog was so completely empty that they would not co across a single living thing. Other tis, the place was so packed that let alone run from in front of a beast, Fenrir directly used a beast's head as a platform to jump over.
Yet what was fortunate was that none of the creatures chasing them held any considerable threat. In fact, the reason they were chasing was because Lex and Fenrir couldn't be bothered to deal with them, as it would be too tedious. Besides, after chasing them for a while, the beasts would either get tired, or return to their respective territories.
Of course, once or twice they encountered so beasts that they could not afford to ignore. Most of the ti, in such scenarios, they would choose to circle around them. If that was not possible only then would they fight. Moreover, they attacked with full force right from the get go, so they usually overwheld their targets.
Many tis, while on their journey, they crossed by so places where Lex would feel incredible opportunities waiting for them. He felt his instincts tell him that he would benefit greatly by diverting to a certain direction, or the lenses identified so incredibly rare treasures. For example, once while running, Lex spotted what looked like a decaying tree, only for the lenses to identify them as a certain incredibly valuable herb. Moreover, the age of the herb was already several hundred years old. Among many of its other uses, the one that his lens listed that appealed most to Lex was that it could be used by Body cultivators to temper their bodies even if they were in the Nascent realm.
Such a herb was genuinely extrely valuable, and Lex even considered having it sent to the greenhouse at the Inn. But, for better or for worse, Lex had decided not to take any detours during this journey. No matter how attractive an opportunity seed, he ignored it.
It may have seed like a waste at first, but the longer they kept running, the more appropriate it seed. After a day of running through the bog, Lex still felt so reluctance. Three days later, he had more or less beco used to the feeling of ignoring opportunities. A week later, he was completely numb to it.
It was taking so long to travel to their destination, if he were to take small stops at every opportunity, their journey would only beco that much longer. Still, he ntally marked the bog as an area where he could potentially co back if he ever needed to gather so treasures.
The tedium and monotony of their travel changed on the eighth day, when the flock of Sol birds in the region suddenly flew away. Their departure was extrely sudden and left them no room for preparation.
The darkness that followed was all encompassing, and carried a weight with it that the entire bog felt, not just the duo. All the creatures that had been chasing them so far suddenly stopped, and in fact did sothing that surprised Lex. They left their territories, and participated in a mass migration where no one creature hard another. Despite their usual animosity, they traveled together in harmony.
Where they were heading was a mystery to Lex, for it was not in the sa direction as him. An hour later, the bog had beco the most silent he had seen since he arrived. The sound of Fenrir's running was muted due to the pups own abilities, so the only sound for them to hear was of the bog itself.
Each bubble of noxious gas that escaped a nearby puddle, the rustling of the grass in the wind, the eerie wailing and croaking of old dead trees all seed to form an orchestra that could be heard for miles.
For a short while, they enjoyed, or suffered through, the symphony of nature that the bog orchestrated before soft, distant sound disturbed it. It was the sound of a footstep in the mushy, squishy ground of the bog. Then, a few monts later, there was another.
Slowly and steadily, bit by bit, the monsters of the darkness started to appear. But these monsters, who were born from the fresh darkness, would be the weakest, and were not worth Lex's attention. In fact, it would take weeks or even months before any monsters capable of attracting their attention could even be born.
None the less Lex remained careful, for he did not know how the creatures of the bog would react. Since they had lived in such circumstances for countless years, they clearly had a way to deal with monsters, and Lex didn't want to get swept in with them when that happened.
Through the pitch darkness, the duo continued their journey for several more days. The vast size of the Crystal realm was finally coming into perspective, for they had gone running nonstop for days without crossing through it, and this was only supposed to be a small territory.
Finally, after running continuously for two weeks, Lex decided to take a break. Even if he could continue to stay awake for longer, he thought it was best to refresh themselves so they stayed in peak condition. He was also especially concerned for Fenrir. The pup displayed no agitation or exhaustion, but this was the longest the pup had ever gone without resting or playing at the Inn, so he wanted him to get so rest as well.
The duo teleported back, and both of them went to their own abodes to clean and freshen up. Although they had already beco numb to it, that did not an that others could ignore the stench of the bog that they were reeking.
After a nice, refreshing bath, Lex ca to the conclusion that the Inn needed to focus more on spa facilities.
New Notification: The Midnight Inn is not liable for the hosts' bad hygiene.
Lex froze. That was the first ti the system had directly responded to one of his random thoughts with a notification. Was this a result of the system's functionality improving? He tried to test it out by thinking of a few other random but derisive thoughts, but the system provided no other notifications.
Lex took note of the occurrence but did nothing else about it. He went straight to bed to get his first sleep in over two weeks.
He was out the mont his head hit the pillow, a miracle on its own, and enjoyed a deep, restful sleep that lasted only six hours. Even that was a result of Lex refusing to wake up stubbornly. He was quite upset about his body's decreased dependance on sleep. It was one of his favorite hobbies.
Fortunately, Mary appeared to provide him with a distraction from his woeful sleep situation.
"Alexander has co back to the Inn, and has requested to et Lex."
"Is Fenrir awake?" Lex asked, hoping the pup shared in his misfortune.
"No, he's asleep." Unfortunately, it was not to be.
With a defeated sigh, he picked himself up and teleported over to Alexander, who was once again waiting for Lex in a remote location of the Inn. After ordering an unnecessarily large amount of food, Lex approached the teenager.
"I heard you're looking for ," Lex said with a pleasant smile as he sat across from him.
"Yes. Although, I didn't think you'd arrive so quickly."
"It just so happened that I was free and available. If you had arrived a few hours later, it was unlikely you'd be able to get in touch with ."
"It appears I am quite lucky. You once offered to spar with , saying that it would be a good experience for the both of us. Is that offer still available?"
"Yes, of course. But I just ordered so food. Why don't we eat sothing first before we get down to business."
Alexander looked reluctant, but eventually sat down across Lex. Lex, in the anwhile, was reminded of sothing by Alexander's ntion of sparring. John, who had been challenged to a fight in the Murder grounds, had still not returned. The challenger had not returned either, so there was no chance that he was dead - at least, he was not dead yet anyway. But the exceedingly long fight began to worry Lex. Was it normal for fights to last so long?
The truth was, fights between immortals really could stretch out for days, or sotis even weeks. But in this case, the fighting was taking long, because John was slowly and steadily wearing his enemy out. Since the fight had turned out to be harder than expected, he had to take drastic asures.
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