Chapter 242 Link
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.