Di dalam Valesco, begitu perubahan tertentu terjadi di dalam sel penjara Ezio, para penjaga menyadarinya. Seluruh penjara masuk status lockdown dan sejumlah penjaga mendekati penjara dan mencoba masuk, tetapi betapa terkejutnya mereka karena tidak bisa! Batu-batu dan bebatuan di area sekitar telah berubah bentuk sehingga semua pintu masuk dan jendela terblokir. Namun terblokir bukan masalah utama. Masalahnya adalah seluruh 'sel penjara' entah bagaimana telah menjadi kotak tak tertembus, mampu menahan bombardir serangan-serangan kuat.
Meski begitu, ras Kristal tidak bisa diremehkan. Berdasarkan penilaian mereka atas ketangguhan sel itu, mereka akan butuh tepat 12 detik untuk menghancurkannya dan masuk. Mereka hanya bisa berharap tidak ada hal konyol yang terjadi dalam selusin detik itu, karena suara pertarungan sengit terdengar dari dalam.
*****
Lex, yang muncul kembali di Inn, masih dalam suasana hati buruk. Tetapi dia bukan anak-anak, dan dia tidak kekanak-kanakan, jadi dia tidak bisa membiarkan suasana hatinya terus memengaruhinya. Alih-alih memeriksa Inn seperti biasanya, Lex masuk ke ruang meditasinya sendiri dan mulai bermeditasi. Dia menenangkan pikirannya dan membiarkan dirinya rileks, menahan diri untuk tidak merenungkan peristiwa terkini. Setelah interval singkat dua puluh menit, mengingat lingkungannya yang tepat, dia memutuskan untuk meluangkan waktu berkultivasi.
Sejak dia memasuki alam Golden Core, dia menyadari bahwa kecepatan kultivasinya, meskipun lingkungannya sangat baik, terbilang rendah. Ini bukan hanya karena lebih sulit bertumbuh di alam Golden Core, tetapi juga karena dia hampir tidak pernah berkultivasi. Dia bisa lolos dengan berkultivasi sesekali selama alam Fondasi, tetapi di alam Golden Core, tampaknya tidak demikian.
Beberapa jam kemudian, ketika dia selesai berkultivasi, dia menghela napas perlahan dan membiarkan dirinya sepenuhnya rileks.
Sekarang dia yakin telah benar-benar tenang, dia akhirnya membiarkan dirinya merenungkan apa yang baru saja terjadi. Sampai batas tertentu, dia menganggap ini juga kegagalannya sendiri, bukan karena dia bisa saja tinggal dan menyelamatkan situasi, tetapi karena dia seharusnya tidak pernah membiarkan situasi memburuk seperti itu.
Dia sangat bangga bisa memanipulasi orang dan mengendalikan peristiwa secara halus, tetapi kali ini dia membiarkan situasi lepas kendali. Kegagalan itu membuat tugasnya berikutnya lebih sulit, meskipun dia masih belum menyerah. Sudah lama sejak dia merasakan kegagalan seperti itu.
Ketika dia baru memulai perjalanannya di dunia kultivasi, dia tampak terus-menerus membuat kesalahan bodoh, tetapi seiring waktu dan pengalaman dia menjadi lebih baik. Dia menghadapi berbagai situasi rumit, dan selalu keluar sebagai pemenang. Kini, setelah sekian lama, dia kembali keluar sebagai pecundang.
Daripada mengeluh atau meratap, lebih baik dia belajar dari itu. Misalnya, sudah ada tanda-tanda halus tentang karakter Belmont sejak dia bertemu dengannya, namun Lex begitu terbiasa berurusan dengan orang-orang cakap dan intelektual sehingga dia mengabaikan semua kekurangannya.
Terlebih lagi, dia begitu yakin bahwa begitu dia bertemu tetua dari ras Kristal, Ezio, masalahnya akan selesai sehingga ketika dia akhirnya menghadapi situasi itu, antisipasinya menempatkan dia dalam posisi psikologis yang inferior. Meskipun tidak terlihat jelas dari perilaku Lex, fakta bahwa dia merasa tidak bisa memanipulasi mereka adalah tanda mentalitas semacam itu.
Tentu saja, selalu lebih mudah menemukan kesalahan dan masalah setelah kejadian, jadi Lex tidak terlalu keras pada dirinya sendiri. Setelah selesai merenungkan bagaimana dia bisa melakukannya lebih baik, dia mulai merencanakan apa yang bisa dia lakukan sekarang. Dia masih belum mengetahui rahasia alam Kristal, dan dia perlu menggunakan cara tertentu untuk mengumpulkan sebanyak mungkin dignitari di pernikahan guna menaikkan nilai performa misi.
Sumber daya apa yang dia miliki? Bagaimana dia bisa memikat orang untuk datang? Bagaimana dia bisa memanfaatkan situasi saat ini di alam Kristal untuk keuntungannya? Mengumpulkan orang di Inn akan lebih mudah, tetapi itu sama sekali tidak menguntungkan misinya.
Dia belum bergerak dari posisi meditasinya saat semua pikiran ini melintas di benaknya, dan dia juga tidak berniat berpindah sampai selesai. Dia juga tidak berencana menggunakan keadaan flow-nya untuk membantunya merencanakan.
Hampir secara naluriah, tanpa bahkan memikirkannya, Lex merasa ini akan menjadi cara terbaik baginya untuk pulih dari kemundurannya.
Segera, garis besar rencana terbentuk di benaknya. Beberapa bagian masih belum pasti, dan akan bergantung pada bagaimana hal-hal berjalan di dunia nyata. Sekarang dia punya rencana, senyum kembali ke bibirnya.
Kesalahan terbesarnya, menurut perkiraannya, adalah mengandalkan ras Kristal untuk menyelesaikan semua masalahnya. Sejak kapan dia membutuhkan bantuan orang lain? Bahkan, orang lain seharusnya datang kepadanya mencari bantuan.
Dia berteleportasi ke kantor Pengelola Inn, dan mengambil Pena Pengelola Inn, mencelupkannya ke Wadah Tinta. Dia meratapi sejenak bahwa tidak ada 'kartu memo Pengelola Inn' atau 'buku catatan Pengelola Inn' yang bisa dia tulis untuk efek yang lebih meningkat, tetapi dia akan bertahan tanpanya.
Selembar kertas putih persegi muncul di depannya, dan dia akhirnya mulai menulis. Meskipun Lex tidak secara khusus berlatih kaligrafi, dia punya cukup kendali dan imajinasi yang cukup untuk menulis karakter-karakter indah di halaman itu.
Adapun bahasa yang dia tulis, itu tidak masalah sama sekali, bahkan karakter yang dia tulis sepenuhnya dibuat-buat. Tidak peduli apa yang dia tulis, bahkan jika itu coretan, selama dia menggunakan tinta dari Wadah Tinta, siapa pun yang memandang tulisannya akan sepenuhnya memahami persis apa yang ingin dia sampaikan. Terlebih lagi, karena dia menulis dengan pena Pengelola Inn, tulisannya juga mendapat manfaat dari fakta bahwa kata-katanya diresapi aura Pengelola Inn. Tentu saja, karena dia tidak berniat menandatangani namanya sebagai Pengelola Inn, identitasnya akan tetap tidak diketahui pembaca.
Setelah selesai menulis, dia menyingkirkan kartu itu dan mulai menulis di kartu lain, menghasilkan dua kartu identik. Tetapi dia belum selesai, dan terus membuat beberapa kartu lagi.
Setelah selesai, dia tersenyum nakal saat membaca isi kartunya.
Inside Valesco, the moment certain changes took place inside Ezio's prison cell, the guards noticed. The entire prison entered lockdown and a number of guards approached the prison and tried to enter it, but found to their amazement that they could not! The stones and rocks in the surrounding area had morphed so that all entrances and windows had been blocked. But being blocked was not the main issue. The issue was that the entire 'prison cell' had somehow become an impenetrable box, able to withstand a bombardment of powerful attacks.
Still, the Crystal race could not be underestimated. Based on their judgment of the toughness of the cell, it would take them exactly 12 seconds to break it and enter. They could only hope that nothing ridiculous happened within those dozen seconds, as the sounds of a fierce fight could be heard inside.
*****
Lex, who reappeared at the Inn, was still in a foul mood. But he was not a child, and he was not immature, so he could not let his mood continue to influence him. Instead of checking up on the Inn, as he usually did, Lex entered his own meditation room and began to meditate. He calmed his mind and allowed himself to relax, keeping himself from reflecting on recent events. After a short twenty-minute interval, seeing as how the environment was just right, he decided to spend some time cultivating.
Since he had entered the Golden core realm, he realized that his cultivation speed, despite the excellent environment, was quite low. This was not only because it was harder to grow in the Golden core realm, but also because he barely ever cultivated. He got away with cultivating now and then during the Foundation realm, but in the Golden core realm, that did not seem to be the case.
Several hours later, when he finished cultivating, he slowly exhaled and allowed himself to completely relax.
Now that he was certain that he had completely calmed down, he finally allowed himself to reflect on what had just happened. To a degree, he considered this his own failure as well, not because he could have stayed back and salvaged the situation, but because he should have never even allowed the situation to deteriorate as such.
He had great pride in manipulating people and controlling events subtly, but this time he had allowed the situation to get out of hand. That failure had made his subsequent task more difficult, albeit he still had not given up on it. It had been a while since he tasted such failure.
When he had just begun his journey in the cultivation world, he seemed to be constantly making stupid mistakes, but with time and experience he became better. He faced numerous tricky situations, and always came out the winner. Now, after a long time, he came out as a loser once again.
Instead of cribbing or complaining about it, it was better if he learnt from it. For example, there had been subtle signs of Belmonts character from as early as he met him, yet Lex had become so used to dealing with capable and intellectual people that he overlooked all his faults.
Moreover, he had been so determined that once he met the elder from the Crystal race, Ezio, that his problems would be solved that when he finally encountered the situation, his anticipation had put him in a psychologically inferior position. Although it was not obvious based on Lex's behavior, the fact that he felt like he could not have manipulated them was a sign of such a mentality.
Of course, it was always easier to pick out mistakes and problems in hindsight, so Lex was not too hard on himself. Once he was done contemplating on how he could have done better, he began planning out what he could do now. He still had not learnt the secret of the Crystal realm, and he needed to use some way of gathering as many dignitaries at the wedding to raise the quest performance value.
What resources did he have available? How could he entice people to visit? How could he take advantage of the current situation in the Crystal realm to his benefit? Gathering people at the Inn would have been easier, but that did not in any way benefit his quest.
He had not yet moved from his meditation position as all these thoughts crossed his mind, and he did not intend to relocate either until he was done. Nor did he plan to use his state of flow to help him with his planning.
Almost instinctively, without even thinking about it, Lex felt like this would be the best way for him to recover from his setback.
Soon, an outline of a plan formed in his mind. Some parts were still not certain, and would depend on how things played out in the real world. Now that he had a plan, a smile returned to his lips.
The greatest mistake he made, in his estimate, was relying on the Crystal race to fix all his problems. Since when had he needed others' help? In fact, others should come to him in search of aid.
He teleported to the Innkeeper's office, and grabbed the Innkeeper's Pen, dipped it in the InkWell. He lamented for a moment that there was no 'Innkeeper's memo card' or 'Innkeepers notepad' upon which he could write for even further enhanced effect, but he would make do without it.
A square, white paper was summoned in front of him, and he finally put pen to paper. Although Lex had not specifically practiced calligraphy, he had enough control and sufficient imagination to allow him to write beautiful characters on the page.
As for the language he wrote in, it did not matter at all, so even the characters he wrote were completely made up. No matter what he wrote, even if it was a scribble, so long as he used the ink from the InkWell, anyone who gazed upon his writing would perfectly understand exactly what he meant to convey. Moreover, since he was writing with the Innkeeper's pen, his writing also benefited from the fact that the words were imbued with the aura of the Innkeeper. Of course, since he did not intend to sign his name as the Innkeeper, his identity would remain unknown to the reader.
Once he was done writing, he put the card aside and began writing on another one, resulting in two identical cards. But he was not done, and continued to create a few more cards.
Once he was done, he smiled mischievously as he read the contents of his cards.
"You are cordially invited to the wedding of Pvarti Noel and Jasmine Phillips to celebrate their union. As their houses unite in matrimony, so too should the nations unite to discuss the darkness that ripples through the lands. Although the Crystal nation has forsaken action, and tacitly allowed the growing conspiracy, no other can afford to."
Besides those words, there was only the venue, which was the Midnight Tavern, and the time of the wedding. If the address was explained in too much detail, it would take away from the mystique of the invitation, so he left it up to the recipients to conduct their own investigation on where the tavern was. He was confident that they would manage.
These words seemed simple, and perhaps even underwhelming as the prologue of his plan, but that is only when one failed to consider the immensity of the aura radiating from those words.
For a realm that was limited to Earth Immortals, the full dignity and immensity of the Innkeeper's aura was not something they had ever witnessed or could even conceive. This was an aura that even Dao Lords did not belittle and allowed them to assume the Innkeeper should be of rank with them. So how then could a measly Earth Immortal compare?
When seen from that lens, this entire invitation took an entirely new meaning. Although Lex had not said outright what the invitation was for, anyone would be able to conclude that the only 'darkness' rippling through the lands at the moment was the Kraven. Moreover, there was even a jab at the inaction of the Crystal race in the letter, as well as the insinuation that they were somehow involved in some conspiracy. Even if the recipients actually knew the truth behind the Kraven and the Crystal race turned out not to be involved, just the fact that these words had been written by someone of such immense aura, they would begin to doubt if what they knew was the truth to begin with.
Truthfully, Lex was not so petty that he would malign the whole race just because one member earned his ire. No, he would first create that misunderstanding, and then later pin the entire blame on Belmont. He would pretend as if his entire purpose in going to the Crystal realm was to personally deliver one of these letters to them.
As for the consequences of his actions… well, who asked Belmont to mess with him? Sure, Lex wasn't SO petty, but he was still a little petty. He wouldn't ignore being bullied due to a higher cultivation realm.
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