Chapter 89 Oathstone
[Achievement: "First Crowning As A King" obtained.
First Crowning As A King: With a singular dedication and astute planning, your years of hard work have paid off and made you King. Congratulations on obtaining your first Kingdom on the journey to World Domination!
10,000 EXP Awarded
Hidden Award: Faction Points have been upgraded to Kingdom Points. Existing Faction Points have been changed into Kingdom Points and Faction Tools have been upgraded to Kingdom Management Tools.
Hidden Award: New Kingdom Management Tools are now available in the store.
10 Kingdom Points Awarded]
Big achievements harbored big rewards, mused Daneel as he heard the voice of the system in his mind.
Hearing the cheering, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief. Finally, everything had paid off.
To the side, Kellor had tears of happiness on his face as he stood up and kneeled. As for the nobles in the room, they could only watch on with horror as the King lay on the ground, bleeding.
"I knew I made the right decision to support you. Get the oathstone, Daneel. Axelor's army is still at the borders, and you can communicate with the commanders directly through it."
Nodding, Daneel made his way to the King's body. The man still had his eyes open, while the expression of shock and unwillingness could still be seen clearly when one gazed at the dead King's face.
His father's plight finally avenged, Daneel felt himself starting to let go of the anger he had held for so long. Closing the King's eyes with his hand, Daneel plunged his hand under the King's chainmail and robes.
This was because after the King's death, something had appeared from his body in the center of his chest. It pushed against his clothes, making it look like a weird bump that came out of nowhere.
This was the oathstone. Oathstones were made of wondrous materials that were absorbed into a person's body when bound by blood. They could be taken out at will in case new oaths needed to be added, and the person who bound the oathstone could enforce the oaths which were contained in the stone.
On the death of the person who had bound the stone, it would exit the body, waiting for its next master. In fact, as Daneel had read in the library, oathstones were one of the founding treasures of a Kingdom in this world. Highly expensive and rare, it was said that the number of the oathstones in this world were limited as the material which constituted them had long been completely excavated.
As Daneel pulled it out, he saw that it was a yellow, round stone with murky depths that had some sort of particles swirling inside. Half the size of a man's head, it felt very light, as if Daneel was holding just a pebble on the road.
"Use your blood to bind it, and you shall officially become the King of Lanthanor."
With Kellor's words echoing in the room, Daneel pricked his finger with his nail and let a drop of blood drop on the stone.
To his amazement, the drop of blood seemed to melt the stone. Collapsing into a puddle of yellow liquid, it disappeared into Daneel's palm entering through the pores in his skin.
As Daneel got the odd feeling that someone was poking his chest, the system sounded in his mind.
[Oathstone detected. Assimilating Oath Data.
Data analyzed. 1489 active oaths detected. Host can now communicate with each oath-taker and issue orders.]
Almost 1500 oaths! Daneel was initially shocked at the high number, but then recalled the King's words at his First Year Assessment where he was told to swear an oath to the throne. Most of these oaths were probably people like those who had relented, while others could be the top members of the government like the judges, heads of departments or commanders.
"My Lord, we see unrest in the army. We can take them by surprise if the Mage Corps initiates the attack with a barrage of meteors."
"I object that, My Lord. We need to save magic power till the end and use it where it is most needed."
"I second the Mage Corps Commander's words, My Lord."
"Awaiting your final orders. If we want to engage and drive them away, now is the time."
[Private communication channel detected. Host can now use this channel through the system. Please let the system know whenever you would like to address this channel.]
Voices started talking in his head as if his brain had suddenly become inhabited by a few more people. Hearing the system's notification and realizing that it was the communication channel between the King and the Commanders, Daneel replied, "The King is dead. I, Daneel Anivron, have bound the oathstone and replaced him after gaining acknowledgement from the people. Introduction can come later, first tell me what the situation is at the border."
A stunned silence followed this proclamation. Just before Daneel was about to ask again, he heard Kellor's voice respond.
"All hail King Daneel Anivron, newly crowned ruler of the Kingdom of Lanthanor! Commanders, following protocol, all duties have been handed over the new King. Hence, we are oathbound to follow his orders. My King, do you need me to do anything?"
Looking around, Daneel saw that Kellor was still kneeling. The commanders seemed to be conversing something amongst themselves, hence while Daneel waited, he walked to Kellor.
Lifting him up by his shoulders, Daneel hugged him tight. Kellor was half a foot taller than him, making the hug look awkward, but the watching people could see the heartfelt feelings present in the hug.
"I couldn't have done it without you.", he said, while more tears started to flow from Kellor's eyes.
As the emotional Court Mage nodded, Daneel walked to the dragon claw holding the Vice Sect Master.
Just before he proceeded to open the dragon claw, the commander's voices sounded in his head.
A female voice was the first he heard. It seemed to contain an unhidden elation, as if the person was resisting the urge to laugh and cheer.
"Congratulations on ascending to the throne, My Lord. I am Cassandra, commander of the Mage Corps. Allow me to give you an update about the situation. The enemy army outnumbers us 5 to 1 even though we managed to pool almost all of the available forces we have. This is only counting the regular soldiers. The elites on both sides are hidden, along with the mages. But according to the estimates, they outnumber even the elites 2 to 1. Our advantage is the border. Numerous formations are available to be deployed in the case of an attack. Right now, the enemy forces seem to be hesitating. We should either make a definitive attack and chase them away at the cost of our soldiers' lives. I suggest a nonviolent method. If we can find out exactly what they are hesitating about, we can try to use it to make them cancel the attack. After all, from everything I've heard, the attack seems to have some sort of motive. Whatever you decide, we await your orders, my King."
It had not even been 10 minutes since he had taken the mantle as the King, yet he had already been thrown into a war situation.
As Daneel started arranging everything he knew in his mind, he felt the seconds ticking away. Each second lost made him panic more and more, as he racked his mind trying to decide on the right thing to do so that his first orders as a King would not bring disastrous consequences.