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241 True Line

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Back in the situation room, Daneel had a thoroughly impressed expression on his face as he listened to Elanev saying those words which struck a chord even in him.

From his assessment of the Black Raven King so far, there was a very high possibility that the words would have a profound effect.

"Well done, Elanev. That was definitely the best way the conversation could have gone. It is definitely that old man who is controlling the King in some way. If you can, see about following him without arousing his suspicion. But above all, stay safe. You are the most important asset we have right now."

Hearing the transmission from Daneel, a broad smile spread on Elanev's face as he walked towards the chamber he had been assigned.

This feeling of being useful and valued had exactly been what he had aspired to achieve by growing in mind and body by traveling through the continent. The many tricky and dangerous situations had honed his mind, allowing him to decide the best option in a situation as quickly as possible.

It was this quality that had enabled him to speak like so in the Throne Room, making it so that there was now at least a chance for him to still stay close to the King.

Hoping that everything would work out, he resolved to befriend some workers in the Palace to find out about the daily activities of the old man.

After all, no one had more eyes and ears in a place than those who worked there on a daily basis.

...

After deciding on a future date for another meeting and dispersing everyone in the room, Daneel waited for them to leave while looking at Faxul with a slightly worried expression on his face.

He had noticed his friend's reaction when the Throne Room had come into focus on the display trinket, leading him to believe that it was definitely a place which possibly held many memories for Faxul.

True enough, after they found themselves empty in the room, Faxul said, "I remember spending many moments with my father in that room."

Nodding, Daneel repeated the question which he had regularly asking nowadays.

"How is the entity? Any problems?"

Knowing that his friend was only asking so much because he was concerned about him, Faxul answered, "It's hibernating a lot. My blood seems to have some kind of … effect on it. It is definitely much weaker than when it attacked you, and I mostly have no problems during cultivation except for the pain."

Seeing his friend shrug off the pain that would have made others kneel on the ground screaming, Daneel marveled again at the tenacity that came with the desire for vengeance.

As for the mention of the blood, Faxul had mentioned it before, and Daneel had even asked the system to assess Faxul's blood to see if it could identify anything.

Sadly, the only thing that the system had been able to find was that there was a specific strain of blood intermixed in Faxul's. It had been unable to even say where this blood originated from.

Of course, this was definitely the Black Raven's blood which Faxul's father had mentioned in his parting video.

Even regarding its effect on the entity, Daneel had no idea.

Yet, regarding the hibernation, Daneel surmised that the entity was probably storing up its energy to attack once all together and take control of his friend.

If it weren't for the countermeasure which would definitely stop it in its tracks, Daneel would have been worried sick and insisted on removing the damn thing in the first place.

Nodding at Faxul, Daneel got up to leave the room, but he was stopped by a question.

"Can I have the Black Raven that was gifted to you? And the recording of the fight between Tenebrol and Elanev?"

Daneel actually had to think for a few moments before realizing that "Tenebrol" was actually the given name of the Black Raven King.

Yet, it was used so little that he always referred to the man by his position in his mind.

Thinking for a second, Daneel understood why Faxul had chosen to use the name.

After all, to him, the real Black Raven King was his father who had been killed.

Thus, it would make sense why he wouldn't want to call that man by his position.

As for the gifted Black Raven, it had been placed in a specific room and fed regularly. According to the report he had on the Black Raven Kingdom, this was an unawakened Raven which had been trained to the Eminent Human Level. Even though it hadn't been able to connect with anyone, due to the heightened intelligence it had because of its level, the Raven had been trained to obey basic commands such as "Attack" and "Guard".

He had already studied it with the system, so he found no reason to reject his friend's request.

"All right. But just be a bit careful. It's a feisty one."

Saying so, the King of Lanthanor left the room, leaving Faxul alone.

....

After the King left, Faxul sat back down on the chair in the situation room and replayed the recording from before.

Pausing at the image of the Throne Room and the enormous Raven statue, he tried to control the tears that came to his eyes.

Memories and moments flashed through his mind.

Playing hide and seek in the Palace and hiding behind the statue, while his father and grandfather searched everywhere before finally finding and berating him fondly for using the "Sacred" statue as a hiding place.

Being carried on those broad shoulders while he toured the grounds, watching Fighters and Mages train while feeling content about his life.

Happy smiles.

A happy family.

It was these memories that had led him to take the decision to keep the entity even if it had threatened the life of his close friend.

Daneel truly was the person he valued most in his life right now, so there was no way that he could have taken this decision if he hadn't been confident that he could handle whatever the entity threw at him.

This confidence came due to what he had felt when his body had been temporarily taken over.

At that time, he had felt a calling from somewhere within him that offered solace, comfort and strength.

It was like a bottomless pool, yet Faxul with his limited power could not even dive into it to tap its potential.

Yet, just the slightest connection with that well had enabled him to repel the entity's advances effortlessly.

The pain was still there, but the risk had disappeared, as there seemed to be some kind of wall formed by that power in the well which stopped the entity from even trying to affect or attack his psyche.

All it could do was try, which was the reason behind him feeling pain.

This was a tradeoff which Faxul heartily agreed to. The increase in training speed was well worth it even if the total pain that he endured each day doubled in amount.

He had also tried to explain this to his friend after he had gotten a clear idea about it, which had led Daneel to test his blood.

After a few moments, an official brought over two objects: a small, round ball made of what looked like marble, and a silver cage with a large Raven inside it.

As soon as the Raven entered the room, it had fixed its eye on Faxul who had also felt something that he hadn't before when the Raven had been gifted to the King in the Royal Court.

After the official left, Faxul walked forward and opened the gate without hesitation.

The reason behind Daneel calling the bird "Fiesty" had been that it refused to be touched by anyone except the King, who it must have been instructed to obey by Bevis, the envoy of the Black Raven Kingdom when he had handed it over.

In the same way that it had done before, the Eminent Human level guardian beast hopped on to Faxul's hand and ruffled its feathers, as if it liked the feeling of being in contact with him.

Even Faxul was fascinated by this feeling, as he felt connected with the Raven in a way he couldn't explain.

Although he had interacted with the Raven before, no such feeling had arisen.

Hence, the reason behind the present occurrence was quite obvious: it was because of that "well" inside him that had been tapped when he was rendered helpless by the entity.

Still, this connection wasn't like the one that was rumored to exist between Ravens and the citizens of the Black Raven Kingdom. Apparently, even thoughts were supposed to be able to be shared, but all Faxul had was a vague feeling that he would be able to understand and control the intelligent beast if he wished.

Pointing at a wine bottle on the counter in front of him, he tried to send a signal to the Raven.

WHOOSH

In a flash, the Black Raven shot off from his arm and accurately attacked the bottle, breaking it into pieces before calmly returning to Faxul's hand.

Seeing this, Faxul could only stand there dumbstruck, amazed that it had actually worked.

Just like his father had said, the blood of the true line of the Black Raven was indeed ... special.

Previous242 Link

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Using the surveillance abilities of the system using the Dragon-Heart Formation, Daneel observed as Faxul bonded with the Black Raven almost instantly.

Any guilt that could come from taking this cautious approach to always keep an eye on Faxul had been wiped away due to the risk that his friend might be affected by the entity even if numerous countermeasures were taken. If there was even the slightest hint that the entity was changing Faxul, then he wouldn't hesitate to pounce on it and rip it to pieces.

Although Daneel had tried to look for the 'well' that Faxul had described, the system had been unable to find any trace of it.

This led him to believe that it was probably something that was above and beyond what could be detected even by a peak Warrior, which meant that its origin was definitely something terrifying.

Dragons, Ravens, and Giants. What were these beasts that had apparently once inhabited this continent before leaving behind their legacies and even sometimes, their physical bodies to disappear and never be heard from again?

The heart that beat behind him was living proof that the beasts were no fairytale conjured by a drunk bard.

If so, what were they?

The only clue he had was from Faxul's father, who had given the statement:

"Only the true line of the Black Raven can connect with the God-Beast's direct descendants."

God-beast. Could it be a level above that of the rumored "Heros"?

Alas, for now, all Daneel could do was speculate.

Besides, as a puny Exalted Human, even talking about these levels was useless.

Yet, what gave Daneel hope was both the system and his newly reached comprehension level, which was already showing its power by boosting him towards the next stage.

As for the Black Raven Kingdom, too many mysteries surrounded it right now.

How did the present King defeat Faxul's father and show himself as the one with the strongest Black Raven Blood, if Faxul's family was the true line?

What was the motive of the old man? How powerful was he?

Where were the lands ruined by the Echer seeds? Spies were keeping a close watch on all the fertile areas in the Black Raven Kingdom, which were actually quite few in number. Yet, none of them showed signs of being barren.

And finally, which of the Big 4 was the one which the Black Raven Kingdom was in contact with?

Sighing as he shelved all these questions without any other choice, Daneel thought again of his elder brother.

It was all up to Elanev.

Knowing that things would be relatively calm for a short period of time, Daneel prepared to enter a serious training period to accelerate his way towards the 8th Grade as a Human Mage.

Yet, just as he was about to plunge his hand again into the red goo that had been extracted from mosquito blood, an idea came to him which was triggered by the sight of the last modified mosquitoes which were still alive, stored in a box in the corner of the room.

...…

One month later.

SHWIP

BOOM

As the target made of wood standing in front of Faxul at the end of the large room shattered into pieces, his eyes shined seeing the Raven that had done its job take an abrupt u-turn before heading back towards him.

In barely a few seconds, it crossed the 40 feet of distance between them before agilely landing on his shoulder and adorably nuzzling at the spot behind his ear.

Feeling the tickling sensation, Faxul smiled before lifting his finger to scratch the Raven on its forehead, just like the Black Raven King had done in the video which he had seen.

Yes, Faxul was actually smiling and playing with the beast which he had only known for a month.

If Daneel were here to see this scene, he would definitely have been shocked at the change that had come over his friend.

Yet, the smile only lasted for a brief moment before both the man and the beast became alert, hearing the door open in the room which was reserved for their training.

After all, someone seeing a trusted friend and advisor of the King of Lanthanor training with a Black Raven would definitely blow his cover and result in disastrous consequences.

Hence, Daneel had given them this room which had been emptied of everything and now had just a sparring ring whose floor was enchanted with cushioning magic and the target practice area which the Raven had just attacked.

Over the month, Faxul had been becoming closer and closer to this bird which was now a trusted friend of his.

It was almost as if interacting with it was healing the wounds he had sustained, allowing him to find the happiness that he had lost for over a decade.

Communication was mostly through gestures, but Faxul was feeling more and more like he was almost at the point where he could understand the beast's thought.

Yet, there seemed to be something blocking him from reaching that final point.

The feeling which came when he trained with the Raven was truly intoxicating, as it felt just….right.

If he had to put it into words, Faxul would have said that it was as if he had been reattached with a body part that he hadn't known was lost.

Both from the video and the information he had read about the Black Raven Kingdom, he knew that the final barrier that was stopping him from fully connecting with the raven was definitely the trinket which Tenebrol had used to bind his blood with that of the Raven's before the fight with Elanev.

These trinkets were apparently strictly restricted, making it so that it was impossible to obtain one for himself in order to carry out the process.

Putting this hopeless matter aside, Faxul fed the Raven some raw meat before beginning coordination exercises.

...

Meanwhile, in the King's chambers.

Sitting in the secret Energized Training Chamber, Daneel was absorbing energy alone from the freshly gathered mosquito blood from the Valley of Mist while a display trinket that had been newly fitted in the room flickered.

In it, Faxul could be seen balancing on one leg while the Raven did the same, as if mimicking him.

After an hour or so after which Faxul ended the training with the Raven to leave to the Energized Training Chamber, another Daneel walked into the Energized Training Chamber before touching the one in the room on its shoulder to absorb the Energy contained in it.

Indeed, it had been his clone training all this time, while he had hidden himself near the room in which Faxul had been training till now.

"System, any increase in progress today?"

[Negative. Human-Beast Link Analysis Progress: 70%.]

With a slightly frustrated expression on his face, Daneel conjured the clone again before starting another training session.

Indeed, this had been the idea that had occurred to him when he had seen the mosquitoes: to analyze the link that was forming between Faxul and the Black Raven.

The sight of the mosquitoes had reminded him of the fact that he had only been able to modify them due to the years of research data on them that had been acquired from the Kingdom of the Elves.

Analyzing complex things was all about data. If so, why not collect data from the interactions between Faxul and the Black Raven to understand how the link worked?

In the beginning, the plan had worked perfectly, with the progress bar filling up rapidly with each training session that Faxul underwent with the Raven.

Yet, since the past week, it had been stuck at 70%, as if some sort of limit had been struck which Daneel had no idea how to cross.

Of course, along the way, Daneel had also seen the positive change in his friend's attitude.

As someone from Earth, Daneel was well aware of the profound effects that pets could have in healing mental trauma.

If the pet in question was something which had a link with the owner's blood, then there was no need to be said exactly how effective it could be.

Daneel knew that he was right in this matter, as he had clearly observed how Faxul's entire body language changed whenever he was with the Raven.

He was open and less restrained, with his body loosening up, as if it were free.

Such a freedom could only come from comfort.

And comfort was definitely what Faxul felt when he trained with the Raven.

Hence, Daneel only felt happy with this change, glad that his friend's years of trauma might finally heal to allow him to smile and speak like a normal person. In fact, he wished that he had gotten the idea to do something like this sooner.

Regardless, the matter of the link's progress being stuck was quite concerning.

Yet, Daneel could guess the reason behind it: it was possibly because of the absence of the trinket which the King had used to bind that Raven.

Resolving to ask Elanev to look for a way again to get that trinket, Daneel continued training while idly daydreaming about commanding a horde of Eminent Human level Black Ravens to destroy his enemies without even leaving a bone behind.

Index243 Bonding

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Over the past month, Elanev had been trying his best to find out some clue about the whereabouts of the old man.

None of the servants knew where his room was, and many had even told him that they didn't see the man for weeks at a time, as if he disappeared from the Palace and returned on a whim whenever he liked.

There had been no word from the King, but there had also been no order to chase him away from the Palace, making him at least hope that there was some chance that his words had some kind of effect.

Today, finally, a summons had come which had made Elanev's face light up.

The Black Raven King had requested his presence in the King's chambers.

This message broke the boredom; as he had had nothing to do in the last week.

The first week had been a lot of fun. Whenever he went to the sparring grounds, there would always be a Black Raven Fighter waiting to challenge him, whom he would defeat with minimal effort.

No Mages came, and no one above his level bothered to come both because they were actually not confident in a victory, and also because it might be called "bullying" if they did end up winning.

After three weeks of consecutive defeats where the soldiers went back to their camps each more bruised than the one before, they understood that they either had to step up their game or stop the challenges altogether.

Elanev had been hoping for the former, so he was very disappointed when he saw the latter happening.

Hence, for a week, he had had nothing to do except spar and train alone.

Finally, it seemed that things might change.

The Black Raven King's chamber was a huge room, at least 20 meters in length and 30 meters in breadth. The black doors through which he entered seemed to be made out of some kind of material which was harder than wood but lighter than metal.

On entering, Elanev noticed that there were no personal embellishments anywhere.

Most of the room was empty, except for the occasional sofa.

On one side was a bar counter, while a large King-sized bed was on the other end of the room.

As for the Black Raven King, he was presently standing, looking out at the sparring grounds of the Palace through one of the many windows in the room.

Even though Elanev entered and closed the door behind him, there was no response from the King who seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

Thinking for a moment, Elanev chose to walk up to the King's side before trying to see just what the King's eyes were fixed on.

As someone just a step away from the Exalted Human realm, Elanev's eyes were quite sharp, allowing him to spot some sort of ceremony that was taking place in the distance.

20 or so kids were lined up beside each other, while baby Black Ravens with glossy coats of feathers and small, cute bodies were placed in front of each.

Although the Ravens only looked like they were weeks old, they were already looking around intelligently and trying to study their surroundings.

Each of the kids were trying to communicate with a Raven in their own way. Some also laid down on their stomachs to look into the eyes of the Ravens and speak with them, while some raised the Ravens in their hands before conversing with them.

After a set amount of time had passed, each kid was given a ring-shaped trinket which they wore before coaxing the Ravens onto their fingers, just like the King had done in the stadium.

While around 15 Ravens stayed on the 14-15 year-old kids' hands after this happened, the rest flew back, leaving the ones who had been communicating with them dejected and depressed.

One of the kids even fell on the ground and started crying, while another tried to chase forward in desperation.

Yet, he was stopped by a Black Raven Fighter, who announced the end to the process.

Both Elanev and the King had been watching together this entire time without a word, so when the King spoke softly at this moment, Elanev became slightly startled.

"I remember meeting my first Raven. I named him Grull, as I thought it sounded cool. Each time we interacted, a glaring match ensued between us with the one who blinked first being the loser. When we connected during the final ceremony, I finally understood that the Raven was only doing so because it was half-blind."

Hearing the story, Elanev had to try hard to resist the urge to chuckle, as it had been told in a somber tone.

From what he had found out in the past month, all eligible 14-year olds were given 3 months to connect with a particular Raven. Over that month, they would frequently interact with the Raven for a period of time in an attempt to make a connection with it, so that there would be no hiccups when the time came to make the final connection by blood.

It seemed that the King wasn't expecting any reply, as he calmly walked to a table in the center of the rooms beside which there were two chairs.

Opening a bottle of wine and pouring two glasses, the King sat and drank one while still not looking at Elanev.

Never being in such a situation before, Elanev had no idea how to react.

With no other option, he followed the flow and also sat down before taking a sip from the wine which tasted sweet.

"I was never known for being smart. No, I know I am not very smart. But what I am good at is plunging my sword into the hearts of my enemies. These days, I feel that I am forgetting the warrior in me who ascended to the throne after wading through blood. Will you help me in finding him again?"

After speaking the last sentence, the Black Raven King turned around and looked straight into Elanev's eyes.

In those eyes, Elanev saw many conflicting emotions which he could not even begin to make sense of. Yet, there was one which stood out: desperation.

Swirling the wine in his glass for a second and downing it in one gulp, he looked back into the King's eyes before replying:

"It would be my honor."

....

Daneel, who had halted his training on being notified that the Black Raven King had finally called for a meeting with Elanev, smiled wide on seeing this to-the-point discussion that had happened between the two men.

Just like Elanev, he also noticed the emotions in the King's eyes when he had made the request.

Yet, he read something else which Elanev had missed: these were also the eyes of someone who felt trapped.

And for any such person, a way out of the trap was something which would entice them to do anything.

....

The past month had been one of the happiest in Helena's life.

First, in just a day after the King had told them about the Bank of Angaria, a brand-new shiny embroidery trinket had been delivered to their home along with the remaining materials that they had requested.

To accept these, the square golden plate that they had been given before had been used.

After checking the identity using the plate, Helena had had to drop some blood again to verify that it was really her who had the plate in the first place.

Seeing this, Dalia had innocently asked, "Will my Mother have to bleed every time we take something from the Bank?"

For this, the official had had no answer.

Indeed, the system wasn't perfect, but what was essential was that it worked.

Due to the increased speed of the trinket which apparently cost 300 Gold Lans, Helena had been able to complete the order in much less time than quoted.

Thus, those who had given the order were quite happy, even giving them a 50 Silver Lan bonus over the 10 Gold Lan payment that they had made.

In this, the profit that the duo made was 1 Gold Lan, as the material was enchanted fabric which had cost quite a lot.

Still, this was a huge amount for the mother and daughter who mostly earned Silver Lans since the beginning of the business.

Of course, of this 1 Gold Lan, 20 Silver Lans went to the Bank.

This presented Helena with a thought: orders like these were quite rare, and even this one had only been obtained by luck.

If she could get more of them, she would definitely be able to pay back the loan faster, so that she could even think about expanding her business.

What could she do to make that happen?

Index244 Re-Investmen

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In the underground field of earth beneath the Black Raven Palace.

The Black Raven King let out a deep sigh looking out at the wide patches of land that were completely barren.

Just over 2 years ago, it had been lush with the unique plants which allowed them to train Black Ravens. Now, it looked like it had been abandoned for decades, wasting away due to its inability to sustain any life.

"Damn those Big 4!!"

No matter how many times the King said these words, there was no changing what had happened to these hallowed ancestral lands that had been set up by their deity to train his descendants.

Turning around and seeing the old man walk up to him, the Black Raven King wondered inwardly whether this day could get any worse.

Yet, remembering the sparring match he had set up with Elanev that evening, he slightly perked up because of the fact that there was at least something to look forward to.

The old man looked worse than ever; his skin was pallid and his eyes had dark circles under them as if he hadn't slept for weeks.

His clothes were drenched with sweat even though the temperature here was regulated to a balmy level which felt pleasant to the skin.

Reaching the spot beside the King, the old man also took up a similar, arms-folded stance before asking, "Any word from the mine hunters and scouts?"

"None," answered the King simply, not wanting to speak any more than necessary.

Knowing that it was kind of illogical to expect results so soon, the old man looked at the fields for a few seconds and said, "We need to find that healing method soon. Any word from the King of Lathanor?"

"None. A few months still remain for the harvest time to come."

Hearing another succinct answer from the King, it seemed that the old man had gotten irritated.

"What? No words for me? Too busy talking to that new friend of yours?"

This finally elicited a larger reaction from the King, making him turn around with both anger and fear that even this one thing which brought him happiness might be taken away.

"I'm always watching. Do what you want with him, but if there is even the slightest mention of this ancestral plane, …"

Even before the old man completed his sentence, the Black Raven King hurriedly nodded.

This location was definitely the most guarded in the entire Kingdom, and there was no way he would speak about it in front of anyone else.

Nodding to himself, the old man began walking away.

Relieved, the King turned back and was about to resume his brooding stare before he heard a final sentence from the old man float into his ear.

"Remember, one mention, and he dies….."

....

In a small meeting room in the Lanthanor Kingdom.

Helena and Dalia sat in the plush chairs while they waited for the official head of the Network of Angaria to arrive.

Indeed, after long thought, Helena had realized that the main problem plaguing her was lack of exposure.

Lanthanor city was a huge place, and there were numerous people who might end up buying her product if they got to know about it.

Hence, she had decided to use the newly obtained profit to perhaps run an advertisement which was the rave in the Kingdom right now.

No matter what the age of the person was, there had begun a trend where they would be looked down upon if they hadn't heard of the Network.

In fact, this was in part a result of Eloise's and Daneel's successful plan to use slogans such as

"A Network to make a wise man, wiser" and "The Network with the most learned listeners in the continent" to incorporate such an attitude.

On hearing the door open, both mother and daughter were snapped out of their thoughts as they saw a beautiful lady entering the room and smiling at them before taking a seat.

"Hello, I am Eloise, head of the Network of Angaria. You don't need to introduce yourselves, I already know that you are the reason for the wondrous Bank of Angaria! How can I help you, Helena?"

Hearing Eloise say these words in a pleasant tone, Helena smiled wide at the recognition before saying, "Miss Eloise, we came here because we want to run an advertisement on the Network. I know that there is a long backlog, but I was just hoping if you can add us to the list."

Along with Helena's humble request, Dalia also turned to look at Eloise with large puppy eyes and her upper lip covering her lower.

Seeing such an adorable expression, Eloise couldn't help but reach forward and pinch the cheeks of the little girl who smiled inadvertently feeling Eloise's soft hands.

"When you ask so cutely, how can I say no?", she said, chuckling at Dalia's blush and patting her on her head.

"The King has already told me that he plans to give as many benefits to 'Citizens in Need' as he can. He really trusts you to be a model example for others, so that they can be inspired by your success. Let me converse with him for a moment."

Saying so, Eloise took out a piece of parchment from her pocket before holding it and closing her eyes.

After a few seconds, she opened them to look at the two and grin, saying, "He's ecstatic! And he also insisted on a discount for all 'Citizens in Need'. You can't refuse! And also, all costs will be borne by your account in the Bank. If you brought any money to pay for the advertisement, keep it! You never know, some need might arise where you might not have the time to ask the Bank…"

On listening to the kind words, Helena couldn't help but ponder for a bit.

After all, her motive behind coming for the loan had been to clear the loan faster. Yet, by using an advertisement, she would be taking even more of a loan? Wasn't that counterintuitive?

Yet, when she imagined the entire city finding out about her store resulting in a flood of orders, she realized that she would be able to pay back the loan definitely.

Hence, thinking along these lines, Helena nodded and said, "Please thank the King for his generosity! I bless him with all my heart. We are truly blessed and lucky to have him as a ruler. And thank you, Miss Eloise!"

Seeing her mother's shining eyes, Dalia also grinned wide before turning around to look at Eloise with a much better impression than what she had had before.

"Miss, do you work with the King daily? Mother said that if I study hard, I can become like you! I really can't wait! Can you tell me how the King is? After Mother, he's my favorite person in the world!"

Eloise actually blushed hearing this question, reminded of the gesture from before in the situation room.

Taking Dalia onto her lap, she pinched her cheeks again before starting to speak about Daneel, telling what she could about her interactions with him.

As Helena watched on with a happy smile, the room became filled with "aah"s and "ooh"s from Dalia as she listened to tales about how Daneel repelled multiple Kingdoms and defended Lanthanor with a single hand.

....

Back in the King's Chambers, Daneel couldn't help blushing himself hearing the fantastical tales about his "bravery".

Of course, these tales were a continued product of the bards he had hired long back to write the story about how he had ascended the Throne.

When Eloise had closed her eyes, she actually hadn't contacted Daneel at all. That act had been pre-planned by the two, as Daneel had guessed that the citizens would come back with this request.

After all, as someone from Earth, he knew very well about the deadly concept of "spending money to earn more money".

This was actually fine up to a degree, if citizens did not get trapped in a never-ending cycle of doing the same.

Hence, he had told Eloise to do so if the citizens came asking after explaining to her about how important it was to raise public opinion about the ruling party at every instance they got.

As someone who wasn't new to politics, Eloise wasn't foreign to this concept, and even though it was a little disingenuous, she knew quite well that something obtained was always more valued and appreciated than something given for free.

Hence, she had agreed to the plan.

This resulted in the scene he had just observed, making him feel as if Eloise was now his 'partner-in-crime'.

Getting up from a satisfying round of training, Daneel took a deep breath before assembling his thoughts and heading towards the door of the chamber.

It was time to check on the Empire Spirit.

Index245 Demonic Plan

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"So you finally found time to return, sonny! What a mess you've made of the Kingdom!"

Hearing the mocking words of the Empire Spirit as soon as he put his hand on the podium in the Secret Library, Daneel found himself to be at a loss for words.

"What … mess are you talking about?", he hesitantly asked, like a fearful child who trod mud all over the house but didn't know what he was getting admonished for.

"The mess of the general satisfaction of course! I swear I've never seen so many ups and downs in all my existence! It is on a rise now, but seeing your performance so far, I doubt it'll hold up….. what did you even do to create so many upheavals?"

Hearing the Empire Spirit's response, Daneel let out a long breath before feeling relieved.

It was good news after all.

Clearly, the only sources of information the spirit had were the general satisfaction level and the interactions with anyone who talked to it.

Hence, it didn't know that the ups and downs actually reflected Daneel's learning period, whereas the steady rise now meant that he was well past the stage of committing mistakes and learning from them while feeling said about the mistake being committed in the first place.

After all, he had just been a typical teen from Earth who found himself in such a daunting situation. Looking at it in one way, it could even be said that he had accomplished more than what one would typically expect, mainly because of his dedication and attitude of being ready to learn.

Smiling slightly, he was just about to answer the Spirit's questions when a thought occurred to him.

"Well, tell me something about the information you are guarding, and maybe I'll answer your question. Only if you want to know the answer, of course."

Silence followed for a few seconds, before a booming laugh resounded in Daneel's ears, startling him.

"Ha ha! I haven't seen such sass in decades! Now, I hope I'll be proven wrong in the matter of the general satisfaction, boy, because I wouldn't mind being commanded by someone like you. Sadly, I can't tell you anything you asked for, but I will say one thing: if the rise is something planned, then keep implementing those plans, because you are coming close to what is required. Goodbye for now!"

Feeling the connection being shut off, Daneel stepped back from the podium with an even broader smile on his face.

Even though the Spirit had said that it couldn't answer his question, it had still given him valuable information either by choice or chance.

The Spirit could be commanded by whoever unlocked it.

And, his efforts to increase the satisfaction level were actually paying off.

Of course, this was corroborated by the Kingdom Management Statistics, whose latest tally had been:

[Kingdom Management Statistics updated.

Satisfaction Level: 19%

Dissatisfaction Level: 36%

Next milestone for reward: 20% Satisfaction Level. Reward: 10,000 EXP]

So far, the effect of the Healer's Academy and the School had reflected more on the dissatisfaction level than the satisfaction level.

After all, after the massacre in the Palace, the satisfaction level must have definitely gone down due to the people not feeling safe in the Kingdom.

Even though this news hadn't been publicly announced, it had still created waves in those who got to know about it.

Hence, the satisfaction level had actually dropped by 1% at that time(coming to 17% from 18% previously), which would have been higher if the news had spread out more.

As for the dissatisfaction level, it had actually grown by 4% to 44% from 40% previously.

Thankfully, both with the Network and effective implementation of the Bank of Angaria, school and Academy, the numbers had risen again.

Thus, Daneel knew that there was a long way to go. Still, the thing to rejoice was that he would soon be obtaining the EXP and unlocking the Empire Spirit to find out its secrets.

Resolving to periodically check on the Spirit whenever he could, Daneel returned to his training.

...

Meanwhile, in the sky of the Kingdom of Lanthanor above the spot where the Echer seeds were planted.

Two women wearing flowing clothes that seemed to have different varieties of life-like leaves embroidered on them were standing on a cloud, looking down at the crops which occupied a wide area.

One of the women, who had a dimple on one side of her face, currently had a frustrated expression on her face, as if she were trying to remember something.

The other seemed unconcerned, as she was idly looking around before conjuring a glass of wine out of thin air and sipping on it.

After a few seconds, the first woman flicked her finger, making a plant complete with the root appear in her hand which she studied by placing it close to her eye.

Down in the fields, no one noticed anything as it was just one plant among the thousands that were there. Besides, even the roots had been pulled out cleanly without even disturbing the ground where the plant had been planted.

After observing the plant for a few seconds, she sniffed on the root before saying, "Sister, I've seen this somewhere. It reminds me of the forbidden plant which was banned in Angaria by the High Council because it caused permanent damage to the continent. I know they look nothing alive, but the suspicion is so strong that I can't ignore it."

Hearing the word "suspicion", it seemed as if the other woman had gotten a jolt.

Hurriedly making the wine and the glass disappear again, she turned around in a swift motion and asked, "Is this one of 'those' suspicions?"

This particular woman was quite famous across their sect, as there had been rumors that she had been brought back by a traveling professor who had seen an entire village of over 150 people chasing after her and attacking her.

Apparently, a few weeks before, she had had a 'suspicion' that her neighbor's cow would die by wolves.

It had happened.

Next, it was a 'suspicion' that bears would attack that night.

It had happened.

Lastly, the girl had 'suspected' that the entire village would burn down.

As it was a village in the wilderness between the forces which wasn't under any force's control, the Village had only survived due to its tough Fighters and the smart traps laid out all around the village.

Yet, all of them turned out to be irrelevant, as a forest fire had burned the entire location down.

Driven to rage, the village had taken to attacking the little girl.

Thankfully, the professor had been there to save her.

And now, she was on the track to becoming one of the youngest Champions in the history of the continent.

"I can't say for sure, but…I think it is."

The answer made the woman's eyebrows rise, causing her to immediately take out a trinket shaped like a leaf and say, "Requesting immediate information lookup on topic: Possible Demonic Plants growing in Lanthanor Kingdom."

After a few seconds, the woman let out a sigh of relief before turning to the first and saying, "Thank the heavens, there is already a team on this. They know that the seeds were given by the Black Raven Kingdom, and they are waiting for the harvest date to see who would come to pick them up. We have also been ordered to stand down till that date, as when the Matron gave the order to question the King of Lanthanor regarding the modified mosquitoes, she was not aware of this matter and she went into closed-door training afterward. What do you want to do? Go back to the Sect? I say we explore the places here, however primitive they may be. We have a reason to be outside anyway."

Saying everything due to the rush of relief she had felt after finding out that the Sect was already aware of this grave matter, the woman took a few deep breaths while waiting for the other to answer.

"Yes, I want to do the same. Let us check out this Kingdom first."

Saying so, the first woman simply flicked her fingers again, changing her clothes and appearance into a typical rich lady due to the expensive-looking fabrics she wore.

Seeing this, the other woman mimicked her before they both slowly flew down into the capital city.

No formation detected them, and no one could even see them.

After choosing an inn, the two started discussing about which part of the capital city to explore first.

Index246 Opportunity

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Book

As Dalia came home from school, she was surprised, no, shocked to see a crowd of at least 20 people in front of her house.

Afraid that there might be some problem which could have harmed her mother, she hurriedly ran inside before finding that Helena was actually smiling wide and talking to one of the people in the crowd.

"We would be delighted to take your order, sir. The only problem might be that the delivery will take time because there have already been a flood of orders today."

Hearing these words, Dalia wondered if she was dreaming and even pinched herself to check if that were so.

Feeling the pain and massaging her hand, she walked up to her mother with a puzzled expression on her face.

As she did so, the man in expensive robes who had been talking to Helena looked at her and smiled.

"Dalia, say hello to one of the largest importers of embroidered works in the Capital City. He's here because he heard about us on the Network!"

The Network!

Finally realizing that this was all actually because of that small meeting in the Palace before, Dalia also grinned before greeting the man who only smiled wider seeing her adorable expression.

"Miss Helena, that won't be a problem. With creativity and quality like yours, I would be willing to wait weeks or even months. I'll be taking my leave, then."

As soon as they saw the man out of the door, another entered, greeting them and talking about an order again.

Unable to keep the smile off her mouth, Helena quickly said to Dalia, "Dear, get out the parchment and note everything they are saying. May the heavens bless the King who made all this possible!"

The latter's sentence also elicited a nod from the other party, who had actually just been about to go out of business before hearing the advertisement that had run on the network of Angaria.

"Mother and daughter duo appreciated personally by the King for their unique and creative embroidery pieces, perfect for any occasion! Contact this address for more information!"

Even in spite of the disastrous massacre in the palace, Daneel's image in the people's hearts was still very strong both due to the efforts he was taking with the School and the Healer's Academy and the execution that had recently taken place.

Hence, when this advertisement ran through the network, those who could actually make use of it went into a frenzy and immediately approached Helena to at least see what the fuss was about.

As someone who loved her work, Helga's designs were indeed some of the most creative that Eloise had ever seen. Hence, she had decided on this advertisement to give the greatest opportunity for the family who had been through so many hardships.

As for the cost, the usual price of 1 Gold Lan every time the ad was run had been decreased to 50 Silver Lans.

The initial price had actually been 10 Silver Lans, but it had been hiked seeing the insane demand. Still, requests still flooded in every day, because each and every business owner knew that this was an incredible opportunity to reach an unprecedented number of potential customers in one go.

Whether the mother and daughter would be able to use the opportunity was up to them.

And evidently, Helena had no intentions of disappointing her.

Each and every one of the 20 people outside the house and even more who came a while later were received cordially and spoken to with an honest smile which made them feel at ease.

There was one thing which made almost all the customers like her: she had one base price which she stuck to, even if she was offered more.

Such steadfastness without getting greedy which was required at this early stage in business only showed that this was an establishment which definitely had the potential to rise in Angaria.

It was only at the end of the night that Helena finally closed the door for the last time before being hugged by Dalia who came running towards her.

"Mom! I can't believe it! So many orders! How will we will complete them all?"

This was a question which was also on Helena's mind, but she had put it aside when accepting the orders because she had known that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"I don't know. But we will find a way. The King did his part in helping our business. Now, it is time to do ours. We going to be very busy, Dalia. But let's just work hard and we can have everything we ever wanted. Remember the dreams you had as a little child to live in a large house and help as many kids as you can by giving them food and shelter? Maybe we will even be able to do that!"

Hearing this, Dalia's eyes shone as she thought about the dreams and wishes she had had back in the village when she was still naïve about the world.

Although they were one of the poorest families in the village, there had still been some who didn't even have food to eat and traveled from village to village looking for work. Due to her own lonely childhood, Dalia had wanted to help such families and their kids in any way she could.

Yet, after growing up and understanding their financial situation, she had given up on such grandiose stuff and had replaced it with a singular dream of serving the King who had done so much for the family while also taking care of her Mother.

Now that she heard that both could be possible, hope and happiness filled her which made her smile and hug her mother even tighter.

For this family's business, the essentials were in place, and all that was needed was proper execution.

…

Grumbling to himself, Elanev gingerly sat down on the sofa in his room before wishing that he hadn't said yes when the king had asked to spar with him.

It seemed as if the man had been penting up frustration, anger and the desire for battle for decades, as each spar almost devolved into a fight to the death which generally left Elanev bruised because of his weaker body.

Of course, the flip-side to this was that he was getting closer and closer to the King, who was letting down his guard more and more.

At the same time, Elanev had also set into motion a few plans to infiltrate the Palace further.

Daneel had specially sent over monitoring devices which could be discreetly placed at locations to surveil the Palace, but he hadn't found a location yet where they could be placed.

The best option was obviously the Throne Room, but this was one of the most heavily guarded in the entire Palace.

Hence, the only opportunity he could use was if he were called again by the King for some reason. Sadly, it did not seem like this would happen any time soon.

Besides, Daneel had been slightly afraid that the unknown capabilities of the old man might include being able to scan whether there were any such devices in his vicinity constantly.

Hence, since finding out that the old man was the true perpetrator, Elanev had been ordered to switch off the audio and video relaying trinket in case the old man was there.

After all, such devices worked by transferring information in the form of a complex array of elementary particles.

The complexity of this array and the difficulty in detecting it decided the cost of this trinket. As something which was being used for such an important project, the one Elanev had been given was the most top-notch that Daneel had produced based on the designs he had developed using the system.

Only those at the peak Warrior Level would be able to detect it from a close distance if the information was being transmitted to a different location.

Hence, the trinkets that were to be placed in the Palace were a different type: instead of relaying information live, they stored them. Elanev would later have to manually remove them and transmit the information to Lanthanor to be analyzed.

Although this method was a bit redundant, even Champion level individuals wouldn't be able to spot it.

In a way, this was akin to computer viruses on Earth where only sufficiently advanced programs would be able to detect and get rid of them.

Touching a spot near his bosom to make sure that the pouch which held those trinkets was still there, Elanev started to think about how he could make the King invite him again so he could place the trinket.

As for his other assignment of obtaining one of the trinkets which was used to connect a citizen with a Black Raven, he had no idea where to even start.

...

Meanwhile, in the Lanthanorian Kingdom, 2 women were standing in front of the "School of Lanthanor" and wondering whose harebrained idea it was to set up such a money-losing and useless initiative.

247 Molan and Sister Xuan

Index

Book

"A school for kids without testing them? Isn't that just….a waste of time and money? Whose dumb idea was this?"

"Molan, don't make judgments without finding out all the facts. But I must admit, it seems impractical."

Of these two women, one stood at around 5 feet with a tiny figure while the other was at least a head taller, with more of an athletic figure.

The latter who had just been referred to as Molan shook her head, but opted not to say anything else about the matter.

Instead, she asked about something which had been bothering her since coming to Lanthanor.

"Sister Xuan, have you felt anything … else since coming to this Kingdom?"

The famous "suspicion" of Sister Xuan was usually something which only activated on rare occasions. Its occurrence seemed to be random, as she would sometimes have many in the span of a week and not even have one for months afterward.

Hence, now that she had had one "suspicion", Molan wanted to know if there were any more that needed to be reported to the Sect.

The two were standing in a busy street right in front of the School, but it seemed as if no one could see them.

Almost unconsciously, each citizen who was about to stumble into them seemed to nudged away to pass them by.

If someone were seeing from above, it would look like they were a heavy stone which split the river it was in, forcing the water to go around it.

Frowning at the answer, Sister Xuan thought a few moments before finally opening her mouth and saying, "Remember the time in the Sect when I had a suspicion that all the undergarments of the sisters in our building would be stolen?"

Molan's face, which was currently that of a pretty woman with high cheeks and an oval face blushed deep red as she remembered the embarrassing incident.

Theirs was a female-only Sect, but they had once hosted a tournament where others of the Big 4 had come to compete.

During the tournament, Sister Xuan had had this suspicion which no one believed as the formation which repelled all males from the dorms was something which could only be broken through by a peak Warrior level Fighter or Mage.

At the time, there had been no one of this level in those who were coming, so everyone had ignored it, thinking that Sister Xuan might finally get something wrong.

This was also because of the fact that she had said the 'suspicion' was faint, unlike the rest which were very strong.

In the end, the undergarments had all been stolen, but the perpetrator had actually been one of their own sisters because she had lost a bet with one of the men who had come for the tournament.

"Are the people's undergarments also under danger? Are there perverts abound?", she asked with agitation, remembering the time that they had had to spend without any while new ones were getting stitched.

"|Cough| No, Molan, I was only referring to the weak suspicion. Here, I have a similar weak suspicion about the future of this Kingdom. It tells me that…. This Kingdom will be center of the struggle that is about to come."

Molan, who had just been about to take a sip of conjured water spit it out with shock as she heard Sister Xuan's answer.

"Are you sure, Sister Xuan? This puny Kingdom taking part in that struggle of behemoths….how can it be possible?"

This made Sister Xuan ponder more, but she finally gave up and shook her head after a few seconds.

"I don't know. Like I said, it's vague. We can tell the Sect about it when we go back, in case it gets stronger. You never know, Molan. It is sometimes an ant which tips the scales in favor of victory or defeat. Let's go. We need to examine each and every corner of this Kingdom thoroughly to look for clues which can strengthen my suspicion. In the process, we can also find out what the motive and the effects of these…. Seemingly mindless schemes are."

Nodding, Molan followed Sister Xuan as both of them made their way into the school to examine each of the classes in which the basic courses were being taught.

No matter where they went, no formation could stop them and no eye could see them.

In this way, they began their detailed tour of Lanthanor.

.....

Meanwhile, in the King's Chambers in the Royal Palace of Lanthanor, Daneel had just taken a break to check the report sent by Elanev.

The news that he was getting closer to the King was good, but Daneel knew that everything would come to a junction at the time of harvest, which was only a couple of months away.

The mysteries needed to be unraveled fast.

Hence, he had to find ways to speed up Elanev's infiltration.

First and foremost, the call of action was to find some way in which Elanev would be invited to the Throne Room and possibly be left alone inside for at least a short period of time so that he could place the surveillance trinket inside. The issue of extracting it could be handled later.

No matter how much he racked his head, Daneel couldn't think of some way through which he could make this happen.

Just like in Lanthanor, the Throne Room of the Black Raven Kingdom was only used for official meetings on the behest of the King.

Hence, there was no chance of personal interactions taking place there, which ruled away many possibilities.

Only something which heavily affected the King, like the question before about the fight which he had had to ask right at that moment, or matters relating to the Kingdom could be discussed inside.

Exasperated, Daneel once again started going through all the aspects relating to the Black Raven Kingdom.

For one thing, the economy of the Black Raven Kingdom wasn't doing very great. Their primary source of income was mining from an Ether mine which had existed for centuries.

The military was the primary spending area, with most of the money going to rearing the Black Ravens which were an integral part of their society.

Other than this, farming was a secondary occupation in the Kingdom on the few fertile lands remaining.

Going through his memories on Earth, Daneel tried to think of more things like the concept of the assembly line which could be adapted to Angaria.

As he was doing so, an idea finally occurred which was related to something he had already implemented: entertainment.

Entertainment was one of the largest businesses on Earth. Activities which could make a common individual forget everything about their mundane daily lives and immerse themselves either into the thrill of games or the mystical worlds of films, books or music were something which always made money when done right.

In a way, the Network of Angaria was an entertainment device, allowing people to forget themselves by finding out about the world around them. In it, there were also regular programmes featuring famous bards who enthralled listeners with their well-sung albeit overtly grandiose tales.

Yet, what Daneel was thinking about was another aspect of entertainment which was both a huge money-maker and a crowd puller: game entertainment.

Each year on Earth, millions flocked to see their favorite players show their skills.

In Angaria, although there were a few primitive games which people played in their pastime, there was nothing like a standard game in which competitions could be held.

If there was such a game which could make money for the government and also entertain the people to increase public opinion, could Elanev request a personal meeting with the King in the Throne Room to propose something regarding it?

Of course, no ties had to lead back to Lanthanor, which would be easy to accomplish, at least for a time. Later, if everything went according to Daneel's plan regarding the leadership of the Kingdom, it wouldn't matter.

Just as he was thinking of deciding on the particulars which Elanev would use to approach the Black Raven King, a feeling of being watched swept over him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Yet, it only lasted for a second before fading away.

"System, is anyone surveilling me currently?", he asked, puzzled, as there had never been an instance where the system couldn't detect if someone was looking at his location discreetly.

[Negative]

Just as he was about to assume that he could be mistaken, the feeling appeared again, making him stand up straight and look around in alarm.

Someone, or something, was definitely looking at the area he was in without the knowledge of the system.

Index

248 Detection

Index

Book

"System, what level of a scanning technique should be used to evade your detection?"

[Champion Level technique. Any scanning technique up to the peak Warrior Level can be detected by the system.]

Daneel had known this fact, but he had still decided to ask the system for confirmation.

This meant one of two things, both of which did not bode well for him at all.

One, there was a Champion observing him right now.

Two, there was someone like him, who was capable of using techniques above their own level, spying on him right now.

The only consolation was that Daneel felt no sense of danger.

The fact that he was detecting something which the system couldn't, could only be attributed to one thing: the breakthrough he had had before.

This raised the value of this new level in his mind further, as it basically meant that he had somehow gotten a level of awareness that was comparable to a Champion.

Regardless, the issue right now was that he had to decide what to do.

One thing was weird about the scanning: the feeling of being seen never stayed, coming and leaving in waves as if he were an ant hidden in tall grass with someone above trying to spot him by looking in his area again and again.

As a formation which was one of the strongest in Central Angaria, the Dragon-Heart formation had certain anti-surveillance capabilities which stopped others from peeking into the Palace easily.

Hence, Daneel became hopeful that the formation was actually doing its part, but the one scanning was adamantly trying to remove the veil and peek through.

First, Daneel proceeded to move to his chamber, as there were too many things in the Energized Training Chamber which couldn't be seen by anyone else.

Then, after thinking for a while, he finally got an idea to locate whoever it was that was spying on him.

"System, using the Anti-Surveillance Tool, scan the area around me for locations from which you receive no surveillance data."

The anti-surveillance tool of the system worked in such a way that the system scanned the area using its capabilities.

If he was right, whoever was scanning him had definitely also hidden themselves with a technique at least at that level, if not stronger.

After all, if he were the one doing the surveilling, he would always prioritize hiding himself over the level of scanning technique used.

[Scanning using parameters given. 1 null spot found east of host.]

Grinning briefly seeing that his guess had been correct, he contacted Kellor using the oathstone.

"Kellor, do what I say without asking any questions, I'll explain later."

.....

Meanwhile, at the location that had just been 'detected' by Daneel's system.

This was actually a small private forest in one of the mansions which were adjacent to the Royal Palace, owned by one of the ministers who was still in service in the government.

Although all of the mansions were protected by expensive formations which would require the power of at least an amateur Warrior to be breached, it seemed that they hadn't given any difficulty to this duo.

"Any luck, Sister?", Molan asked, looking around idly with a bored expression on her face.

"Molan, ask me one more time, and I swear that I might 'mistakenly' suspect things about you that won't let you sleep soundly at night. How does the possibility of waking up with spiders crawling on your face sound?"

Hearing the cold voice of Sister Xuan who usually remained very cool-headed, Molan froze where she stood with shock before hurriedly saying, "No, please, Sister, take your time. It's not like we have any pressing engagements right now."

Saying so, she immediately conjured a book out of thin air and began to read, as if it contained the secrets of the universe which were oh so interesting to her.

Seeing this, Sister Xuan sighed softly before saying, "All right Molan, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm frustrated that the Champion level technique taught by the Matron is being suppressed by their damn formation. You know I've only mastered the first level; all I can see is a vague, blurry picture of a man training. Seeing him seemed to make the suspicion about this Kingdom…. Stronger. But again, not strong enough to make me believe it will happen like the others. Let me try for a little more time, if nothing works out, let's go to that restaurant that serves the all-meat soup you liked so much."

Although Molan had started to panic again when she heard mention of the suspicion, she controlled herself and smiled after the last sentence.

Getting back to the book, she waited while Sister Xuan closed her eyes again, launching the Champion Technique which she had mastered despite being only at the level of a 6th Grade Warrior Mage.

Yet, after a few minutes, both of them were interrupted by the footsteps of a man who seemed to be walking up to them.

In an instant, Molan got up from the ground and raised her hands in the air.

First, a silvery barrier appeared around them before two balls made of what looked like condensed lightning and fire appeared, circling the barrier as if looking for foes to attack.

"I detected him before, but I didn't think he would head this way. Should I make him leave?"

As Molan asked this question, Sister Xuan thought for a bit before saying, "No, leave him be. There is no way he can detect us. We will leave soon anyway."

Nodding, Molan relaxed a bit but chose to keep the barrier up, carrying out her duty of being the bodyguard for the treasure of the Sect.

Observing this and sighing, Sister Xuan deployed the technique again, hoping that this would be the final distraction.

Yet, she was proven wrong.

The man turned out to be a woodcutter, who started to cut the trees around them and pausing after felling each, closing his eyes as if imagining something.

He seemed to be randomly moving from tree to tree, but the simple axe which was imbued by the power of an Exalted Human Mage made short work of each of the trees.

Finally, in less than a minute, he was just a few feet away from them.

Even at this point, the duo had been ignoring him.

Yet, by chance, the man cut a tree in front of him which just so happened on the location they were standing in.

The angle at which a tree would fall could only be discerned after the last swing of the axe, so the duo only noticed this after the tree was in motion.

Panicking, they opted to teleport a short distance away immediately, leaving the task alone.

Appearing at different locations before teleporting again to get to each other, Molan said, "Bad luck, Sister. Do you want to go back?"

Seeing Sister Xuan deep in thought, Molan waited, hoping that they would go eat.

"No, I was almost done anyway. Did you feel anything after teleporting away from that location?"

"Umm…no. What kind of feeling do you mean?"

"Forget it. Let's go eat first before deciding what to do next."

Seeing Molan smile on hearing these words, Sister Xuan sighed and smiled slightly to herself before heading towards the inn that served that soup.

Yet, right before she turned around, she couldn't help but look back at the Palace, wondering whether she had really imagined the feeling of being watched that had swept over her the split second after they had both teleported away.

...

Back in the King's Chambers, Daneel let out a long sigh as he finally felt the crawling sensation of being spied go away.

Yet, hearing the notification from the system, a smile spread across his face.

[2 individuals detected by system as per host's instructions]

The whole point behind sending Kellor to cut that tree had been due to the hope that the two would teleport away.

As far as Daneel knew, any Mage would let go of active spells at least for a split second to cast the teleportation spell.

It was that gap that Daneel had used to detect them using the anti-surveillance tool.

Also, he had given the system specific instructions to only switch on the tool for the smallest amount of time needed to detect them before immediately switching it off.

This was something only the system could do, as Mages would require at least a little more time to deploy spells.

Hence, the goal had been that that minute amount of time would be too little to be spotted by the two.

Daneel had no idea if the latter had worked out, but his primary goal had at least been fulfilled.

He now knew the faces of the two powerful individuals who had infiltrated his Kingdom for reasons unknown.

And it was now time to carefully find out just why he had attracted someone who had the background of actually being able to learn a Champion-level technique.

Index249 Spor

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Book

Hearing the door open, Daneel looked up to see Kellor enter the room.

The Grand Court Mage was someone who regularly went to whichever forest he wanted in order to train his creed and advance on the path of understanding his ultimate technique.

Hence, he had ordered Kellor to go instead of sending anyone else as he was the safest option present.

Besides, if the ones trying to spy had any ill intentions, things would have been very different already.

"Well done. If I'm right, our Kingdom is now an unknowing host of two individuals from one of the Big 4."

Just as Kellor had been about to ask the intention behind Daneel giving those very specific orders to cut that tree in that exact angle to fall on that exact spot, he heard these words from Daneel which made his jaw drop.

The legendary…. Big 4?

They had actually attracted attention from them?!

Seeing the panic filling Kellor's eyes, Daneel quickly said, "Don't worry, they hold no ill intentions, at least presently. I have also managed to find out their faces, but that may be useless because they seem to be using some sort of spell to hide their existence from the world. Anyway, they are definitely not people we can face right now. We can only hope that they are here in passing, but we should act with the knowledge that someone has their eye on us. Follow me outside."

Saying so, Daneel led the way outside.

While walking to the destination he had in mind with Kellor following behind him, he tried to think of any way he could proactively use this information about the presence of those from the Big 4 to further his goals.

Deciding to keep thinking on this matter, he realized that he had gotten to the lawn on the back side of the Palace where he had set out to.

Behind him, Kellor had closed his eyes and was taking a deep breath in the lush greenery. As a woodcutter, such forests and wide open areas were where he felt most at home.

Yet, a second later, he had to snap them open as the King had done something which made no sense whatsoever.

He had thrown a round rock at Kellor.

Although the speed of the rock wasn't very fast, Kellor didn't have much time to react as he had been in a completely relaxed state.

Still, he was an Exalted Human Mage. A wall of earth immediately came into being in front of it, decreasing its momentum and resulting in it harmlessly falling in front of his feet.

Looking up, Kellor realized that Daneel was looking at him with a slightly disappointed expression on his face.

What was he supposed to do? Let himself get hit?

"I guess I should have explained first. Kellor, when I throw the rock, catch it and try to get past me. No magic, and I will be doing everything I can to stop you. Your goal is to set the rock down by hand 20 feet behind me"

Thus began one of the most grueling experiences in Kellor's memory.

Initially, he hadn't understood exactly what the King wanted, leading him to try and walk past while moving quickly.

Soon, he understood that it wouldn't cut it.

As he began to run, the King let out a laugh as if he were finally seeing what he desired.

This had actually startled Kellor a bit, as such pure expression of emotion was not something the King usually did.

Yet, this thought quickly disappeared as he found himself tackled to the ground by the King who seemed to be holding back the power of his body.

Each and every time he got even a little bit closer to moving past the King, he would find himself on the ground due to being grabbed expertly by the King who seemed to be doing it naturally.

Finally, after about 20 attempts, Kellor gave up and lay on the ground, panting,

Beside him, Daneel who had just tackled him was also lying with his back on the ground, staring up into the blue sky while memories flooded through his mind.

Back on Earth, in the orphanage, this was one of the only sports which all the kids played to pass time.

They hadn't even had a proper ball; instead, it was one thrown away by someone because it had a puncture.

Yet, this was enough for the orphans. In an open area, they would draw two lines on the ground before aiming to get the ball across while holding it in their hands.

It was their own version of Street American Football, or more accurately, Rugby.

Although Daneel had been one of the scrawniest kids, his specialty had been his speed which often brought their team the victory.

Even though tackles were dangerous, no serious injuries ever occurred, with bruises and scrapes being the most common thing with which the kids walked away.

As he kept looking into the sky, he relived that simple life he had left behind.

After a few minutes, his expression still joyful due to the nostalgia, Daneel got up and held out an arm to Kellor.

As the Grand Court Mage got up, Daneel asked, "What do you think? Would this be a game people would like to play?"

The unexpected question made Kellor tonguetied, causing him to ponder for a few seconds before saying, "My King, I must say that I do not know."

Chuckling at the answer, Daneel thought about the motivation behind choosing this game.

Knowing full well that sports was one of the biggest businesses on Earth, Daneel had been meaning to bring some or the other sport over to Angaria in order to both develop a new business domain that he could take control of and to give a pastime to the people of this continent.

As for why this game, Daneel's main reason had been that Fighters were much more prevalent than Mages on Angaria.

Hence, if he wanted to make a proper business out of the game, it would have to be something that could be adopted by everyone. Even though sports specific to Mages might come later, it wasn't his focus right now.

Also, the game also had to be simple enough. In his opinion, the simple game of "getting the ball across" which could be done in numerous ways was much simpler to understand than other more complex sports like basketball and soccer.

Of course, the fact that the highest earning sports association on Earth was actually the NFL(National Football League) had also been a factor which led to him choosing this game.

Regardless, although Daneel knew that it was an experiment, its primary focus right now was to do one thing: give Elanev a way to enter the Throne Room without arousing any suspicion.

Hence, he set about making the plan to have this happen using this game he had chosen which would hopefully change the sports landscape in the continent of Angaria.

....

A few days later.

After an especially grueling spar, Elanev had just collapsed onto a chair beside the sparring ground while the Black Raven King walked over, smiling with satisfaction at having temporarily vented everything he was feeling.

Although Elanev was constantly soaking up the experience and getting better day by day, there was still a long way for him to go before he could hope to fight toe-to-toe with the King without using any of his trump cards.

Seeing the King sit down and calmly take a sip of the chilled wine that had been served beforehand, he turned around to check what was happening in the adjacent field before deciding that this was the best time to broach the topic.

In the adjacent field, soldiers were lined up in rows facing wooden puppets.

All of them were Black Raven Fights, and as the gong sounded, numerous Black Ravens shot off their hands and soldiers to impale the puppets.

After a few seconds, the soldier whose Raven had been the fastest was declared the winner.

Indeed, these were war games which were carried out in almost all the Kingdoms.

While the King idly watched these proceedings, Elanev said, "King, this reminds me of a bet I had with a friend I made in one of the places I passed through on my journey. Would you like to hear about it?"

Hearing Elanev speak, the Black Raven King turned around with an interested expression.

Over the weeks, he had been enthralled by stories from Elanev about exotic locations and people, giving him a view of the World he hadn't gotten to see. They had repeatedly piqued his interest, and there was no reason for this one not to do the same.

"His bet was that by putting in very little investment, he would be able to make 1000 Ether Blocks by making people run around holding something in their hand. I didn't believe him, but I actually ended up losing the bet. Would you like to hear about this 'business' which, according to him, has the potential to change the face of the continent?"

Index250 Meeting

Index

Book

In the Throne Room of the Black Raven Kingdom.

"King, this is what I was talking about. A hollow ball made of multiple layers of cloth, enchanted to not deform when force is applied to it up to a certain degree. The objective of the game is to get the ball to the opponent's side of the field in a set period of time. Whoever does this the most in a match, wins. No magic can be used. As you must have guessed, the game requires top-notch hand-eye coordination. For instance, imagine that I was standing there-"

WHUP

As Elanev threw the ball in his hands at the Black Raven King, the latter could only raise his hands before having the ball bounced off his palm to land in a corner of the room.

"Got you! Attention at all times and skill that can even aid in battle. These things are required to play the game well. Wouldn't it be a spectacle to witness magnificent performances of skill in the stadiums which haven't changed their mode of entertainment in centuries? Let me get the ball first."

Without waiting for the King's answer, Elanev briskly walked to where the ball had fallen before picking it up and coming back to stand in the center of the room.

In the process, no one had noticed that his hand had brushed against the statue of the Raven.

After successfully placing the surveillance trinket and continuing the explanation of the sport, Elanev marveled at the mind of his younger brother which had come up with something so unique to enable them to listen in on the truly important secrets that they were trying to find.

Besides, even the rules of the sport and the ball that had been delivered to him felt like they hadn't been made up on a whim.

After receiving the materials, the plan had been simple. He had to bring up the idea in front of the King before saying that such a matter could only be discussed officially, as the King would have to contact Elanev's 'friend' if he wanted to get the full list of the rules, format, and equipment required to play the game.

The mention of thousands of Ether Blocks had piqued an interest in the King, whose mind was always concerned about the emptying treasury of the Black Raven Kingdom.

Hence, acceding to the request, the meeting had taken place immediately after Elanev went to his room to get the ball and the trinkets.

After that, it was a simple matter of having to move to where he wanted without arousing the suspicion of the King.

After studying the rules that Daneel had sent over, Elanev had come up with this plan which had thankfully succeeded.

Of course, thanks was in due to the spars which had allowed him to build up the rapport with the King that let him act as he just did.

And indeed, if anyone else had chucked a ball at Tenebrol when he was off-guard, he would have definitely reacted with a fury that would bring ruin to whoever dared to do such a thing to the King of the Black Raven Kingdom.

Here, it was Elanev, who had already used sudden attacks like these even in their spars.

Feeling glad that the problem of the surveillance trinket was finally solved, Elanev started to wholeheartedly get into the rules of the sport which had interested even him with its novelty and potential for entertainment.

After all, the hyper-aggressive goal of getting a small object through numerous Fighters out for blood without using any weapons or trinkets was something which appealed to the hot-bloodedness in him.

Yet, suddenly, the door opened letting in an old man who had a dark expression on his face.

He seemed to be absorbed in his thoughts, not noticing Elanev until reaching within a few feet of him.

Hence, he was not able to see Elanev's hasty action of touching the surveillance trinkets on his body which had been transmitting data to the situation room in the Kingdom of Lanthanor.

After almost walking up to Elanev's side, the old man finally looked up to see both men staring at him as if they had seen the ghost.

Elanev first got control of his expression, choosing to stay put and close his mouth after reining in the shock of seeing his target after many days.

As for the King, it was as if his worst nightmare had chosen to come into reality to torment him.

In the eyes of the world, the old man was actually only the Royal Mage who was both tool and protector of the Black Raven King.

Hence, he immediately bowed and said, "Oh… greetings, My Lord! I am sorry, I must have gotten absent-minded because my entire mind was on something I read the other day. We did have a meeting on hand to discuss a few issues. Would you like me to come back?"

This caused an awkward atmosphere in the room. For one, Elanev had no idea what to do because he knew nothing about the man in front of him.

As for the King, he was shocked as he remembered that there was also this side to this old man.

Looking into the eyes of the old man, he clearly saw the order to get rid of Elanev immediately.

"No need. Eganev was just about to leave. Send me a copy of the rules and the proposition about implementing it in the Black Raven Kingdom. We do, after all, have the most stadiums in all of Central Angaria. Keep that in mind when drafting the proposal."

Cursing the timing of the old man, Elanev could only nod and smile amiably before saying, "I will do so, King. I'll send the proposition as soon as it's ready."

Taking his leave after giving one last glance at the old man, Elanev made his way out of the Throne Room before swiftly moving to his own.

Switching the surveillance trinkets back on, he proceeded to explain everything that had happened to Daneel.

...…

Meanwhile, in the situation room in the Kingdom of Lanthanor, the King, commanders and Faxul had all panicked when the display trinket had gone blank.

The time that had passed before Elanev contacted them again had been nerve-wracking, as the possibility of Elanev being somehow found out as a spy and executed was very real.

Thankfully, after a few minutes, Elanev contacted Kellor and told everyone what had happened.

Although the matter in regards to the old man was only getting worse by the day, there was at least a silver lining: the surveillance trinket had been planted.

Yet, the amount of effort they had had to go through to get this done had simply been tremendous.

Daneel felt a slight fear start to seep in as he realized that the date of harvest was only getting closer and closer while the progress on the mysteries surrounding the Black Raven Kingdom was agonizingly slow.

It was time to take risks.

Turning to Faxul, he said, "What do you think about going an expeditionary mission?"

...…

Lying down on the couch and lazily patting her stomach, Molan wistfully dreamt of the possibility of staying in Central Angaria instead of going back to the dreary hallways and bland food of their sect.

Beside her, Sister Xuan had was engrossed in an item she had obtained from the mansion whose forest they had been spying in before.

It was a bowl filled with a sticky, yellowish substance that had numerous mosquito bodies inside, disgustingly swirling about while Sister Xuan used her finger to stir the solution.

Seeing this, Molan almost got the urge to throw up before hurriedly looking up again.

"Sister, what is so interesting about it? Don't we have many more advanced methods to keep the mosquitoes out?", she asked after a few minutes, fed up of the disgusting squishing sounds that came whenever Sister Xuan put her fingers in the solution.

After continuing to examine for a few more minutes, Sister Xuan finally washed her hands using a conjured globe of water before saying, "The individual who made this solution and the one who modified those mosquitoes seem to have at least….learned from the same person. Otherwise, I have no idea how to explain the increase in sophistication but similar type of spellcasting that is evident."

After saying so, in a scoffing tone, Sister Xuan laid out the other possibility which was surely impossible.

"It's either that, or the individual found some way to magically increase the complexity of their mind in the span of a few months."

Index

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