Chapter 412 Information
To the west of the Black Raven Kingdom, there was an abandoned forest with dead trees that few dared to travel through in order to get to their destination.
In fact, only nothingness was supposed to be present in this direction, except for a few isolated towns which survived by themselves.
This forest was said to have been the scene of a great fight between powerful figures, who had wrecked it in the process before moving upward to clash in the sky like gods. It was said that their power still remained, ready to harm those who dare to trespass.
Standing in the middle of the forest, Daneel, who was in his persona of Master Novrain, looked around with interest.
Before coming here, he had checked the spy reports about this place, and as the system scanned around him, he was surprised to know that those rumors might actually be true.
[Remnants of Champion level energy found. Estimated time since effect: 180 years.]
He couldn't believe his ears. Champion level energy was so potent that it could still be detected after almost 2 centuries had passed?
Besides, what kind of power was it that had killed all the wildlife but not destroyed it?
All the trees were blackened, as if they had had their life leached out of them. Also, there was an eerie silence, which frankly made Daneel feel that there might be someone behind him creeping up on him.
As he heard a twig snap behind him, he hastily turned around, thinking that his suspicion was true, before seeing that it was simply Percy who had just arrived.
They had decided on this meeting place, as the information that Percy had was too sensitive to be transmitted over communication trinket.
The place had been suggested by Percy, and Daneel had agreed, as the kid had said that it was easy to get to from his sect.
"Master!"
Seeing him, Percy immediately knelt on the ground, making Daneel say, "Get up. You left without even saying goodbye to your master?"
Standing up swiftly, Percy awkwardly looked to the side before saying, "I apologize, Master. We were all called back, as our leaders said that it is not safe for core sect members to be outside especially when there was nothing for us to do. After I went, I had to go through a session of closed-door training as was mandated by the leader. It was during that training that I got to know about this information, and I contacted you as soon as I could."
Whatever this kid's intentions might be, Daneel needed to know this information as the first fight he would have after the six-month period was with the son of the Mad Doctor.
Nodding, Daneel said, "All right, spit it out. If it's actually valuable, I even have a small gift for you."
His eyes widening at the mention of the gift, Percy said, "My father is putting them through a forbidden training technique which pushes them to the peak of the Warrior level if they can endure the pain, while cutting off any hope of getting to the Champion level. It is forbidden not because it has side effects or that reason, but because it uses just too many resources which can be much better utilized in other ways. There are supposed to be other side effects, such as people going mad due to the pain, but pain is something that my father is very specialized in, and I suspect that he used some of his tricks to make sure that my brother and the others don't go cuckoo. Master, I would really like to suggest that senior disciple should hide, as someone who is not even a Warrior cannot hope to defeat a peak Warrior, that too from the Big Four."
Raising an eyebrow, Daneel said in a displeased tone, "Really? So you doubt my ability in picking a disciple, and you think I'm not good enough to teach or instruct him to survive such an engagement?"
Raising his head in panic, Percy shook his head hurriedly and said, "No way! Master is all-powerful, and I'm pretty sure that senior disciple will be given some method or idea to help him overcome this trial. I… Just hope that I can also get a part of that method."
Seeing his shamelessness appear again, Daneel smiled before saying "Good job," and throwing a data trinket at him.
Surprised that his master hadn't berated him and had instead actually given him something for the first time, Percy almost missed the trinket but got it using a spell before quickly examining it with excitement.
"The - the Art of the Withering Leaf?! This is a tier 2 inheritance! Even though it's incomplete… It's something I definitely wouldn't be able to access anytime soon… Thank you, master! Your disciple is very, very grateful!"
Saying these words with a tone of deep gratitude, Percy knelt on the ground once again, and to Daneel's surprise, tears actually came out of his eyes.
What? Why was this slimy kid crying?"
"Get up. This is nothing worth crying about. If you keep helping me, there will be many better things for you. Now, I need something from you."
Nodding, Percy quickly got up and tried to wipe away the tears.
If he was acting, that he was definitely a very good actor, at least as good as Daneel.
After taking a few seconds and stopping the tears, Percy said, "Sorry, master. It's just that… No one has ever appreciated me or given me anything for my efforts. I was always the bastard son who had talent but who could be kicked around by all those with background. Thank you. Tell me what it is. Whatever it is, I'll do it even if it costs my life."
Wait… Wasn't this a bit too soon to pledge his life?
Either this was a very emotional kid who really had had a sad childhood and wasn't loved by anyone, or he was trying to get into Daneel's good graces to find out his plans.
Daneel couldn't help but suspect him. No matter how sincere this kid acted, he just couldn't trust someone from the Big Four, which was supposed to be completely corrupted. For that matter, he didn't really trust Sister Xuan and Molan either.
He had needed to give this kid something to string him along and make him want to be of service, and this something had to be quite valuable, as regular techniques definitely wouldn't interest somebody from the Big Four.
The Art of the Withering Leaf was a game-changing inheritance in many ways, but it was nothing compared to the other two inheritances that Daneel had.
So, he had decided to give it up to obtain something much more valuable.
Information.
"I need to know exactly where your elder brother and the others who had their organs severed by my disciple are training. And I need to know a way to access them. Are they training in the sect?"
Hearing this, Percy nodded and said, "Yes, master. But I don't know where they are training. My father doesn't trust anyone, least of all the sect. He has important hideouts all over the sect grounds, and I know for a fact that he's using one of those to use the forbidden technique on all of those guys. The only reason I got to know about it is that my elder brother was given a break recently and he used it to come gloat at me before going off to find some maids for himself. No one knows where these hideouts are."
This made Daneel frown and look down, as it put a wrench in a plan that he had just made. This plan was the reason why he had decided to use that inheritance in the first place, and he wondered now whether he had made the wrong decision.
Percy seemed to understand this, as he quickly said, "Master, leave it to me. Like I said, I am ready to risk my life. I don't know what you have planned, but I'll help you no matter what it is. I'm confident that I can gain access to that hide-out by telling my father something or if necessary, begging him to take me there. He is always the one who teleports other people there, so we can't really tell its exact location. However, I will sneak in a locator trinket with me so that you, or anyone else can find out the location using it. However, it can only be detected inside the sect, as we have a formation which blocks such trinkets' signal outside. I'll think for some way to overcome this, too. Just give me some time."
This made Daneel raise both his eyebrows in surprise, as it essentially meant that this kid was putting his life on the line to give Daneel what he wanted.
He wasn't dumb. He must have guessed why Daneel was asking for it, but he still gave this option, which made Daneel admire him.
Walking forward, Daneel put a hand on the kid's shoulders and said, "Good. I wasn't wrong to count on you. Don't bother looking for ways to overcome your sect's formation, leave that to me. Just get me their location."
"Yes, master!"
Seeing the smile on his master's face, Percy stepped forward to hug Daneel.
Yup. Definitely emotional.
Just before he touched his body, Daneel teleported away, making Percy lose balance and fall on the ground, face first.
Appearing a little distance away, he said, "Kiddo, I'm not a hugging master. Get it done in a month."
Leaving these words, Daneel again teleported away, this time leaving the location.
Appearing back in Lanthanor a few seconds later, he had a wide smile on his face due to the plan he had just set in motion.
He was going to infiltrate a sect anyway. Why not infiltrate another and kill those scum before they reached Peak Warrior level? A bunch of peak Warriors really would be very, very difficult to deal with even if he used all of his trump cards.
After all, he wasn't a dumb hero in some story to train in the time he was given and meekly wait to fight.
Chuckling, Daneel made his way to a training chamber to begin training in the inheritances.