The Innkeeper

Chapter 1453 Worthy opponent

Chapter 1453  Worthy opponent

The moment Lex accepted the invitation, the image of the Go board appeared in his mind again. Three black pieces of stone, like polished onyx, smooth to the touch, reflecting the faintest gleam of light like a distant moon in the midnight sky, appeared on the board.

The first piece was right opposite to the single white piece, as if in direct confrontation, while the other two were each on a higher level! All of a sudden, Lex had gained an advantage in the game that they were playing.

But now that he had gained an advantage, Lex became aware of just how fleeting and feeble an advantage he had for the depth and strategy of this game seemed somewhat beyond the limits of even his impressive mind!

With each piece placed on the board, Lex gained a subtle feedback from the board itself. It was not direct information. Instead, it was an incredible subtle feeling, as if hinting him in the general direction of what was going on.

The feeling was so subtle, in fact, that Lex suspected he would not have noticed it at all if he weren't consciously on the lookout for anything unusual. The mental image of the board itself was the greatest hint he had, which allowed him to start dissecting what was happening and contemplating how to respond.

Otherwise, it would have taken him an extremely long period of time, where possibly hundreds of pieces would have already been placed on the board to even notice its existence!

As for the hints given to him by the pieces, Lex would need to actually meditate on them to discover what they indicated. There were a few things, however, that he had confirmed. First, this was absolutely not a friendly game and its purpose was direct subjugation of the loser - worse even than granting the loser death!

Whoever lost would become the winners slave, truly and completely, with not a shred of hesitation or doubt in their minds. It was as if the very purpose of the loser's existence, from the very beginning, was to serve the winner!

For example, if Lex lost, then not only would he willingly and directly reveal the existence of his system, he would also reveal every other advantage he had ever gained over, so that the winner might benefit! Conversely, if Lex won, then the loser would do the same for him!

This challenge that Lex had suddenly been thrown into was perhaps one of the greatest obstacles he'd ever face! The easiest way, which was to go and kill the opponent to end the challenge, was something the game itself discouraged!

This meant that the reason Lex could not find his opponent was because the board itself prevented them from finding each other. Of course, the board could only prevent them from getting results in searching for each other through means similar to divination, tracking or tracing. Lex could still hire someone to look for him, or put a bounty out on him.

This served as a form of protection for Lex as well, in a way. The issue was, Lex would much rather directly find and kill him. The rules of the game were extremely complex, and having more beads on the board was not a guarantee that he was winning.

He needed to strategically place the beards to occupy an advantage, but Lex had no idea how the beads were even placed, let alone figuring out how to place them where he wanted.

The only way to learn more about the game was to place more beads and get more hints.

Although he did not know the exact method to place a bead on the board, he could speculate. Merely accepting an invitation to meet a member of the Artica race placed 3 pieces on the board.

Lex did not think meeting another member of the Artica race would trigger the same result. Instead, it was more of what this meeting signified that resulted in placing of the three pieces - or at least that is what Lex suspected. It would require more testing.

Naraka trembled in his fingers with excitement as the sword intent Lex was channeling into it suddenly strengthened. This was not because Lex had been holding back before, but because the sudden challenge he faced was unlike any he had faced before, and instead of scaring him, it instead stirred the competitiveness in his heart, allowing him to experience a breakthrough.

Suddenly, another black piece appeared on the board, this one carrying a hint of sword intent. Then, another piece appeared on the highest board, this one carrying a hint of Lex's tenet!

With each piece, Lex gained a deeper understanding and more clues. He decided to accept the challenge of the board, and defeat his opponent on his own playing field, confronting him in challenge for supremacy where his opponent was strongest. This personification of his tenet allowed his tenet to breakthrough as well, thus the bead on the highest level.

But the reason it was on the highest level was not just because it was resultant from a breakthrough in his tenet. Instead, the bead was laced with Lex's intention, which was to declare his challenge to the opponent in an open and aboveboard manner.

That single bead was a declaration that Lex had realized that a game was afoot, and that he would play to win.

Haribo, who had been talking and introducing the asteroid belt to the three of them, paused and turned to look at Lex. His aura had undergone a subtle change, becoming more regal and like that of a sovereign. Such a slight change remained undetected by others, including Gerard and Velma, but the Prism Whales were especially sensitive to such things.

Haribo did not comment on the change, however, and continued on as he was previously. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

Elsewhere in the Artica realm, Axios paused his sentence. He had been talking to the other Nas in the ship with him, discussing the details of their plan, but something much more important grabbed all his attention.

He received a special kind of quest, triggered by the change on the board. This quest actually gave him the reward before the quest was even completed, because if he failed, he would be no better than dead. He had unlocked a new kind of piece for his board, because his system determined that he had never faced a challenge as perilous as the one he was facing now.

Yet that challenge only excited Axios. Only a strong foe was worthy of defeating. This human really was someone worthy of causing his Energy Shard to react!