The Innkeeper

Mary looked at Lex with a mix of frustration and pride. It frustrated her at how critically he was questioning her, but at the same time she was proud of how careful he was being. The system really was an entity that was beyond Lex's understanding. It let him confuse beings so much more powerful than him that currently, Lex could not even properly comprehend how weak he was. Using the system, he was affecting events on a galactic scale, if not universal yet. So an adequate amount of prudence was a good thing. It just made things slightly awkward for her.

"I can answer that question, there is a bit of leeway there. But if I answer it, you'll be able to draw a lot of conclusions, Lex. And those conclusions won't be any good for you, and will in fact get in the way of your growth. So, if you trust me, then I would give you the advice to stop asking questions about the system until you are much stronger. I'd say the minimum acceptable level would be Ragnar's. But if you still want to know, I can answer."

Lex wondered for just a moment, then dropped the matter. For better or for worse, he was stuck with the system. Even if it wanted to harm him, there was nothing he could do about it. Waiting until he got stronger was the correct move.

Lex clapped his hands and jumped off the bed.

"Alright then, let's get to work."

With that, both Lex and Mary disappeared from the white room and returned to Lex's apartment.

"Anything important happen while I was asleep?"

"A group of pirates entered the Inn. I don't know where they got the golden keys from, but they left as soon as they were sober enough to understand that our guards were stronger than them. They didn't cause too much trouble though, so that's good. Other than that, the fourth Golden Core Midnight game is currently going on. Tomorrow will be the last match, so you woke up just in time. Other than that, not much related to the Inn has happened. Blane was looking for you, but you weren't available, so he said he would wait. He said he wanted to meet you privately, without his companions finding out."

"Blane…" Lex muttered as he scanned the Inn, and found the man sitting in the guild room with Chen, Lily and Iris, and watching the match.

"Alright, have his personal hologram tell him I'm available. If he wants to see me privately, he should step outside the room and I'll summon him to me."

The message was passed along, and a few minutes later, Blane excused himself and stepped out of the Guild room. Lex teleported him, but not to Lex's bedroom where he was when he sent the message. Blane appeared in a secluded campsite on Midnight mountain, overlooking the rest of the Inn.

Lex was already sitting on a bench, staring out at his Inn.

"I hope you did not have to wait too long," Lex said, without turning back. At the moment, looking at the Inn, he was feeling extremely emotional and didn't feel like putting up a front.

"Not at all. You must have many matters to take care of. I apologize for disturbing you."

Lex did not correct him, nor did he dissuade him from the excessive flattery as he usually would. He simply said, "How can I help you, Blane?"

"That… er…" Blane felt slightly awkward bringing up his request, but eventually worked up the courage. "I was hoping to get married to Iris, at the Inn. But eh… I didn't know if you would allow that here… and eh, I don't exactly know how to get married either."

Lex was startled by the revelation, and looked at Blane in wonder. He supposed it made sense, considering how much the man loved the woman. Lex just somehow never considered that someone might want to get married at his Inn.

"Well, of course, you can have a wedding. What do you mean you don't know how to get married? Don't they have weddings back at Vegus Minima?"

"People remember marriages, but, the way life was, it's probably been over a 100 years since anyone got married. After all, your partner could die the next day. Not to mention, there was no shortage of other problems to worry about. That isn't to say that there weren't any couples. But, at least I don't remember seeing anyone get married. Even Chen and Lily, their parents, probably weren't married. Wait, they probably don't even share both parents."

Lex was both amazed and filled with pity at listening to Blane's story.

"Do you have anything in mind about how you want to do it? Or would you like some suggestions?"

"I don't know how it's supposed to be done, but I have an idea. I wanted to…" Blane discussed his marriage plan with Lex, and as simplistic as it was, for warriors such as them, Lex felt like it was perfect.

Blane let Lex know that he had taken a loan from Chen for the wedding, and would pay whatever the Inn charged. Although technically this was an event, and Lex planned on using the event panel to hold the wedding, he only charged Blane 1 MP for the wedding. He wouldn't be so sentimental if the wedding had been happening at any other time, but currently he was very emotional and did not feel like charging the man for his wedding. If Alexander could get up and go to war on a whim, why couldn't Lex sponsor a wedding on one?

"Go back, I'll prepare things. We'll start at night," Lex said, and then sent Blane back. If he was gone too long, his friends might start wondering where he was.

Lex teleported to the absolute peak of the Midnight mountain. The peak was barely a dozen feet across and had nothing except snow. Furthermore, it was forever surrounded by clouds, making it invisible for anyone to view. But the peak also contained a secret Lex had prepared for any curious adventurers who climbed so far, but the secret would only reveal itself if the guests climbed manually and did not fly over or somehow use their cultivation.

Actually, the surprise was likely not a big deal to high leveled cultivators, but Lex liked it nonetheless. Once someone climbed to the peak, if the secret activated, they would be able to climb the clouds as well, as if they were solid, until they climbed to the top of the cloud. The view was a sea of clouds, illuminated by hundreds of sky lanterns. There was no need to embellish, as to Lex, the sight was absolutely amazing.

Lex activated the event panel and started the second event, which was Blanes' wedding. He built a small stage on top of the clouds, with a simple bonfire in the middle. The warrior did not want roses or flowers; he wanted simple and straightforward. Though getting married on top of a literal cloud was anything but straightforward, Lex could not help himself from up-scaling the wedding a little.

Then, using the event panel, he made two silver-colored daggers, each engraved with a name. Making these daggers was the real reason Lex wanted to use the event panel, as these were momentos related to the event. Without it, Lex would not be able to make them. They were nothing too special and had no attacking power over a normal dagger. But they would last.

A few hours later, once the match was over and night had fallen, Blane asked his friends to follow him. Curious about why their friend was acting so mysterious, they followed him to the base of the mountain, where the Innkeeper was waiting.

"Are you ready?" the Innkeeper asked.

"Yes," Blane replied simply.

With that, the Innkeeper gave a simple nod and teleported Blane, Chen, Lily and Iris along with himself to the stage on top of the clouds.

For a few minutes, everyone was stunned by the sight, as they had never witnessed anything like it. A cold wind blew over the clouds, but the gentle warmth of the bonfire kept everyone comfortable.

"Blane, what is this?" Iris asked, finally turning to look at her boyfriend. That's when she noticed that while everyone else was looking at the lanterns floating in the sky, as if stars that were within reach, Blane was only looking at her.

"Iris, I cannot say that the thought has never crossed my mind, but the time was never right," Blane began. By now, Chen and Lily were also observing him as an idea of what might be happening crept in their minds.

"Whether it was war or famine, or zombies or hunters, the future was too uncertain, and I did not want to make a promise that I would eventually break. But things are different now, and our lives have changed. Yet even if they had not changed, I would have no doubt in my mind that the reason I live, the reason I fight, the reason I survive is for you."

He took the silver knife that had his name on it from Lex, and cut the palm of his hand, staining the blade with his blood.

"I do not have much to give you, Iris, only the blood in my body. But if you will have me, then everything that is mine will be yours. Iris, will you be my wife?"

Blane held out the dagger to her with his bleeding hand, the drops of his blood falling into the clouds.

For a moment, Iris was too dazed to respond, but when she came to, she quickly cut her hand on the other dagger and exchanged it with Blane.

Before the man could spew more nauseating romantic lines, Iris had hurled herself into Blane's arms and kissed him furiously.

Throughout the process, Lex never got the opportunity to speak at all, and it appeared that he did not need to ordain the event. Just like that, with a simple exchange of blood and daggers, the first Vegus Minima wedding in over a hundred years took place amongst the clouds.

Lex did not receive any notifications or quests from the system, but he did not care. While he did not understand the metric with which the system judged events as important, he knew that he would remember this simple wedding forever.