Chapter 1536 — 1536: What do you think?

Speaking of mysteries, the notification that told Lex to get his hands on some special material to trigger a special quest was not a new one. To be more specific, when he had seen Belail, the Kraven prince, the remarks on his status stated that he had some special material on him, and that acquiring it would trigger a special mission.

Considering the Crystal realms connection to the Primordial Garden, not to mention the connection between the Kraven and Ventura, who had a monopoly on said Garden, Lex could easily surmise that the special material was either related to the garden, or Primordial energy.

Speaking of which, the System seemed particularly desperate to get its hand on some of that energy, going as far as to offering Lex one of the few things he specifically requested for. Back when Lex was dealing with the pressure of having to read letters from Dao Lords, he had mentioned that having protective Innkeeper glasses that would save him from the influence of the Dao would surely come in handy.

The System, at the time, had not responded to his request. But now that it wanted something from him, it knew exactly what to dangle in front of his face.

Speaking of mysteries, there was that little, small, barely consequential mystery of WHY the System was trying to tell him NOT to attempt this quest just yet. Why had the System tried to warn him, and why had it failed?

That was not suspicious AT ALL. Lex's generally relaxed demeanour and lack of any concern was totally because this wasn't an issue, and not because he had just become numb to these things.

Lex resisted the urge to massage his forehead, and instead summoned Mary.

"Hey Mary, you can turn your senses back on now," he said, allowing the projection to appear in front of him, wearing a very elaborate suit of armor. It bore the emblem of the Midnight Inn, though the colors were pastels instead of the traditional gold.

"Is it finally over?" she asked, lifting her helmet's visor.

"It's been over for a while," said Lex. "I need to update you on a few things - a few unrelated things. I want your opinion, if you can share it, on the matter."

"I don't envy your situation," Mary said, taking off her helmet entirely now that she knew that a certain guest had left.

"The system went through a change and offered me a couple of quests, that part's not unusual. What's unusual is that access to Primordial energy is what initiated such a big change, and I'm pretty sure that the System itself tried to warn me not to complete its own quest."

Mary whistled, as if what she was hearing sounded tough. Yet her relaxed demeanor also portrayed that she didn't think the situation was so serious.

"Tell me what you can," she said, looking curious. "Primordial energy is quite rare nowadays. It's questionable whether it even exists in the Primary realm anymore - a question I can't answer since I've never been. There are very few spots in the universe with confirmed presence of Primordial energy, and all of them are incredibly difficult to reach, if not entirely impossible. Even I've never had a run in with it, despite handling a few remains and artifacts from the Primordial Age."

"Well, the Primordial Garden - you know, the one connected to the Crystal realm - definitely has some. But, let's put those things aside. The moment I touched a container carrying some Primordial energy, I unlocked something called the Primordial Scale, and apparently if I bring it to 100, it will unlock some hidden features of the System - hidden features that I'm pretty sure the System warned me not to get within the remarks!

"Speaking of hidden features, I also unlocked something called Joint quests! You know anything about that? According to the description, they're for quests too important to fail, which does not really sound like the modus operandi of the System so far.

"What else am I missing? Oh yes, for the second time the System told me about some special materials that can unlock a special quest if I get my hands on them. Oh, and also, apparently getting my hands on some Primordial energy can speed up the Systems recovery. Yes, I think that about covers it from my end. What do you think about all of this?"

Lex expected Mary to know quite a bit about his situation, but as he saw her sit down with a frown, he got the feeling that he had entered a territory even she was unfamiliar with.

"What is it?" Lex asked when she didn't answer for a while.

"You remember the bits I've told you about my past? About my prior experience with Systems. What I had was an undamaged System, meaning it was far more powerful than what you are currently using. Even so… I've never encountered a joint quest before, nor have I ever heard any hints of it.

"Moreover, the act of the System warning you not to complete a quest… that doesn't make sense. You remember how particular it was about not breaking the rules? Despite having souls, Systems are meant to operate under a certain set of rules. This is… new territory, even for me."

"What are your thoughts?"

"Primordial energy is clearly the key in this matter. Even though I have accessed many other energy types, even those technically just as powerful and potent as Primordial energy, such as Chaos energy, I never triggered anything like this. I cannot advise you not to complete a quest - all I can say is that you need to use your own discretion on this matter."

"It's good that you feel this way," said Lex. "I'm pretty sure this poses a huge risk - one that I'm probably far from ready to deal with right now. But… given what I've learned about the powerful organizations of the universe, and how they're probably already planning on taking over the Inn in the next few hundred thousand years, likely already laying the plans, I cannot afford to be hesitant.

"I'm going to start doing my research and getting ready to connect to the Primordial Garden. I feel like I'm going to find a lot of answers to many of my questions over there."