The Innkeeper

Chapter 1698: The difference

Jack’s playful mood faded as he looked up at the stallion emerging from the portal. Although he did not understand how or why his wings reacted in the way that they did, he trusted his instincts. If there was trouble on the horizon, he could not afford to take it lightly – especially since he was currently unable to use his abilities effectively.

The stallion looked around until it locked eyes with Jack, and faint recognition seemed to flash through its eyes.

“Are you the being known as ’the captain’ associated with the one who identifies himself as ’Bob’?” the steed asked, looking down at Jack.

Jack frowned. He knew Bob was a trouble magnet, but for some reason, he’d never caused more trouble than the group could handle. Of course, that could be just a complete coincidence.

Jack flew a little higher till he was eye level with the steed and looked him in the eyes.

“That’s me,” he answered, no longer giving off any of the clumsy aura he had while dodging the kraken. “How can I help you?”

The steed blew out smoke from its nose and looked at Jack dismissively. No matter how the fairy posed or behaved, as a Celestial immortal, the steed took no Earth Immortal seriously.

“You are being summoned. There is a situation involving your crew, and as captain, you have been summoned so that a resolution can be reached.”

Jack frowned, and the troubled feeling in his gut grew.

“Lead on,” said Jack, and followed the steed back into the portal.

The exact moment Jack stepped through the portal, he knew the situation was worse than expected. He felt it in his bones the way an old man senses a coming storm in his knees. He felt it in the very air which tingled with anticipation.

Jack looked around and immediately found Tiny-Sparkles and the rest. They looked back at Jack too, yet they lacked the usual energy and mischievousness that they normally flaunted with their every action. Instead, a deep anxiety and worry filled them to the very core.

On the other side of what looked like a private booth, Bob sat with his legs crossed, back straight, playing with his moustache as if he had not a care in the world. Typical Bob.

Sitting beside Bob was… was…

When Jack looked at that figure, he felt a rush of wind blowing at him, as if the weather did not want him to look. But since when was he afraid of a little dirt in his eyes? Yet that was not the end of it.

He felt chains attached to every single inch of his tiny body, and attached to those chains was the weight of his entire race, pulling him down to the ground, down to his knees. His wings stopped moving altogether, as if they were subdued, and his fairy dust refused to exit his body.

The rancid stench of his curse surrounded his body, eating at his will, weakening him and reminding him of his place.

All of this, and he hadn’t even yet laid his eyes on the being beside Bob.

“You see,” said a soft voice in the distance, yet to Jack’s ears it sounded like thunder, shaking him to his very core. “I told you. A fairy might not even be able to stand straight in front of me, let alone discuss the matter relating to the Crystal alligator.”

The alligator? Jack focused in on those words amidst the words booming in his head, attempting to force him to prostrate himself.

What had happened to the alligator? As if to answer him, Jack heard the sound of glass cracking from afar, attracting his attention. He looked over and saw the stadium, saw the alligator, saw the chain.

More than anything, Jack saw how the alligator was limping because one of its legs was covered in cracks, almost ready to break.

Though the universe itself seemed to be pushing him to his knees in front of that mysterious being beside Bob, nothing hit him harder than that sight.

No matter how mischievous the alligator was, or how strong, or how special, it did not change that he was a baby. Jack had collected him from the Midnight Realm, where the leaking energy from the egg was turning the realm itself into crystal.

Since the egg had hatched, the alligator had been with Jack, and they had no shortage of memories together. Watching the alligator limp now, Jack was instantly filled with the anger that often Lex erupted with.

The difference was that, though Jack and Lex were one and the same, they simultaneously were different. Lex was a human and Jack was a fairy. Lex had the system and Jack had nothing. Lex had cultivated carefully and for a long time, and though Jack had cultivated too, his experiences weren’t nearly as crazy or unique as Lex.

Though white rage filled Jack’s head, at this moment, he could not conjure up any of his power.

Sheer anger, no matter how great, could not force his wings to bat. Rage could not lift the weight of the fairies position on the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum, which was pushing him down. Anger did not magically make him stronger, and there was no secret, powerful system for Jack to rely on.

Jack’s body started to tremble, though he could not tell if it was the anger taking over, or the instincts of subservience and fear forcefully ingrained in his race. Jack kept staring at the alligator and kept trying to summon his power, summon his fairy dust, kept trying to make his wings flap.

But, perhaps for the first time, Jack was faced with the reality of life without a system. No amount of willpower could make his wings move when the sheer difference between his race and that beings’ was so incredibly vast.

“Although I will admit, the fact that your captain is not on his knees yet is quite special,” the voice boomed. “He has successfully attracted my attention. Hey captain, would you like to be my slave?”

Jack’s body began to tremble even harder as his eyes reddened. He had not heard that being’s words, whatever they were. Instead, he only heard the alligators whimper.

A faint, green hue began to appear.