Chapter 571 The Secret Archives 2
"I guessed that that would catch your eye."
Seeing the King captivated by the alcove made of stone that looked like it had been built many ages past, Xuan said this with a chuckle.
Molan, who was beside her, remained silent, but her displeasure could clearly be felt in the way she kept grumbling to herself.
The field they were in was so large that Daneel would have mistaken it for a location outside, if it weren't for the sources of artificial light on the ceiling which were actually simulating sunlight in this place.
The ceiling was at least half a kilometer above him, and this whole place would definitely have an area of at least 100 km2, which meant that it was roughly the size of the capital of Lanthanor, itself, which could hold around a million people in it.
To think that this was something constructed by someone to be placed in the palm of the figure outside- was something so mindblowing that Daneel couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of workforce needed for such a task.
After entering, Daneel had seen that the whole place was mostly open, with buildings present here and there, which must be the facilities that Xuan had talked about.
There was also one large building in the center with the word "Library" on its plaque, which Daneel could guess would be his next stop.
Where they were was roughly a few kilometers from the library, and it seemed to be an isolated place that didn't see much footfall, which was indicated by the path made of tiles that weren't worn like the others.
Well, it did make sense that not many could access the Secret Archives of the Sect.
The alcove, itself, was the size of a 2-bedroom house, which surprised Daneel, as he had thought that there might be much more data, as Xuan had said that these were records kept from the time of the Empire.
He curbed his enthusiasm and waited for Xuan to lead the way, but instead of doing so, she turned to Molan.
Taking out a bracelet of sorts that looked like it was made of silver, Xuan said, "Here, Molan. I wanted to give you a gift because I broke through!"
As soon as Molan saw the bracelet, her eyebrows went up as far as they could go, and her jaw dropped with shock.
After a few moments, she stammered, "Th-this…"
"Yes, it gives you special entry to the location with all the combat and auxiliary arts of the Sect. It also allows you to take away one item you wish."
"Oh, Xuan!"
Exclaiming like so, Molan walked forward and almost grabbed the bracelet, before feeling it with her hands.
Xuan was standing in front of her with her hands folded in front of her, but from her expression, Daneel could tell that she was up to something.
Indeed, after a few moments, she said, "There is a problem, though. It expires today, so that means that you only have…6 hours to go through them all and select something you want. Don't look at me like that, it was coincidental! I even got this one only because one of the Sect Members got injured, and couldn't use theirs! You know how difficult it is to get one quickly!"
Right after Xuan stated the deadline, Molan had looked at her with a glare, before glancing at Daneel suspiciously.
Yet, she then once again focused on the bracelet, before looking like she was trying to make a decision.
Finally, she said, "Argh! Fine, I'm leaving. But I don't need to tell you to follow what the Matron said, Xuan. Even if you became a Goddess, some rules can't be broken."
Saying so in a vexed voice, Molan flew away, leaving Daneel and Xuan alone.
As the latter laughed to herself silently before turning to him, Daneel asked, "What rule is she talking about?"
This made the laughter stop, before she answered in a neutral voice.
"The rule that Goddesses cannot enter relationships. You know Marcus, right? The man who saved you. The Matron has always loved him, but the two can't be together because of the stupid rule. I have a plan regarding it, though, and although I can't tell you about it, I can say that you shouldn't worry about it. Just trust me. Come on."
Daneel didn't know what he was supposed to 'trust her' about, but he followed when he saw her walk in the direction of the alcove.
She was wearing a simple, purple gown that moved and fluttered even though there was no wind, and her perfect hair cascaded down her shoulders before reaching the small of her back.
She had a petite figure, as she must be at least a head shorter than Daneel, who stood 6 feet tall.
As Daneel saw her from behind, he couldn't help but notice other details, such as the perfect arc of her waist.
He hurriedly looked elsewhere as he saw her glance behind, which was why he didn't notice her contented smile, as she had noticed him looking.
It looked like choosing this dress and altering it had worked out, after all.
Xuan had always thought that her best approach was to wait patiently, but it was during her breakthrough that she had realized that that was just not her.
She had already decided that she would use any and all means to try and get what she wanted, as she trusted the feeling that told her that this was the best man for her.
Her fondest memory from that horrid village which constantly used to curse her and call her a bringer of bad omens because of the fact that she had always been able to tell what would happen next was of her seeing the happy couples, who were always so involved with themselves that they would forget the world and everything else.
She had always wished for something like that, and now, she was ready to go out and get it, herself, instead of waiting around for some miracle to occur.
When she reached the door, Xuan took out a seed-shaped trinket from her pocket which she inserted into a groove in the stone door before dripping a droplet of blood on it.
As the door opened slowly, she turned back and said, "Come on. We might not have too long. If the Matron realizes that I'm using the key she gave me right now when I am supposed to be showing you around the library, she will definitely come to see what is going on. She's in training, though, so I hope that that won't happen too soon."
As Daneel saw the darkness inside the room and heard Xuan say this, he nodded before quickly walking in.
All he actually needed was a few seconds, after all, so he wasn't worried at all about them being interrupted too soon.
Right after he did, Xuan entered and closed the thick double doors of stone behind them, which made light blossom on the ceiling that drove away the darkness.
As soon as Daneel laid his eyes on the contents of the room, he felt like jumping in the air with joy.
There were rows and rows of faintly glowing blue-colored cubes, which he knew to be data trinkets.
That was when Xuan spoke up.
"Our Sect is also unique because we are the only force among the Big 4 which has endured from the time of the Empire, until now. Here, you will find the chronological history of the Continent from that time, and also quite a lot of information about the Empire, itself. The latter is only a small part, but it is the largest exclusive collection of records that you have. Help yourself. I need to check on something, too."
Saying so, Xuan smiled at him and moved in a particular direction.
It was a small room, but the ceiling high rows of trinkets made it so that he couldn't see much beyond the row he was in.
Hence, he didn't see the playful smile on her face as she made it to a distant row and picked up a data trinket.
Daneel felt as if he was a kid who had been given all the toys in the world.
Only nodding in response half-unconsciously, he quickly moved to the where the rows started.
Here, he at least controlled himself and looked around to make sure that he wasn't being watched.
Seeing that it was so, he quickly began to touch trinket after trinket, while the system started to record all the data.
He did this for the most part, except in the row in which Xuan was there. There, he acted as if he was just giving cursory glances to all the trinkets, while he made sure to touch them all, anyway.
Soon, he approached a specific section which was different- here, the trinkets seemed older, and they were golden instead of blue.
As he touched the first one with curiosity and read its title, he almost shouted in glee.
"Fragmented Records of the Empire. Part One."
Until now, all the other trinkets had detailed the history of the Sect, from the actions taken by each Matron, to everything that the Continent had faced over the millions of years.
Such an incredible span of time couldn't even be imagined, and if it weren't for the fact that a shorthand form of notation was used which only summarized events in the format of a sentence for each year, this alcove wouldn't have been enough to hold the number of data trinkets needed for this purpose.
These golden data trinkets were what Daneel had come for in the first place, and as he touched them all to devour them, the anticipation inside him grew to new levels.
He was already bracing himself for the possibility that he might be finding a lot of stuff that he had already found out from Drakos, but he really hoped for something concrete which would lift the veil over some mystery or the other.
Drakos was silent throughout all this, and Daneel didn't know what he was thinking.
Soon, he had reached the end, and as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before putting forward the question, Daneel felt like a student from Earth waiting for the result of an exam that might dictate his life.
[Analyzing data. Summarizing and assigning sub-headings. Categorizing into 'known' and 'newly discovered' data. Listing 'newly discovered' data in order of importance using metrics given by host.
The first item on the list is : "The Grand Inheritance". Would host like system to read out a generated summary of the topic?]
Daneel had never answered so fast in his life.
"Yes!"
[The Grand Inheritance: A lot of different records were found on the subject, but one thing is clear: the court, the vassals, and the secret corps of the Emperor tried, together, to stop him from implementing a way for it to be accessed in the future.
The reason behind this is that everyone feared that a catastrophe might occur if it was ever used.
From the records, it is clear that everyone was fearing some sort of threat that would destroy the continent.
The only way to drive back this disaster was to use the Grand Inheritance, and this was why the Emperor put in a lot of failsafes to ensure the future of the continent in case the catastrophe did occur.
The information regarding the identity of the threat seems to have been deliberately purged, but the data gives the impression that a lot of attempts were made to keep it at bay, while this was touted as the last option.
From what happened afterward, system can infer that the Grand Inheritance was used, and the threat was beaten back, but the catastrophe also occurred.
The Emperor tried to convince everyone that the way he was leaving forward for the future would also ensure that the person who did inherit the Grand Inheritance would not cause a catastrophe to occur again.
He failed, but he went forward with his plan anyway.
As for what the Grand Inheritance is, it is simple: it is a method for one to connect with Angaria, itself, and control it at their whim to do anything they wish.]