Rise Of The Godking

All he recalled were vague flashes of him tottering along the streets, his eyes darting around as if he was a madman in shock. If any enforcer had come upon him, they would definitely have arrested him on the suspicion that he had somehow wandered here from the Pit, but thankfully, the streets had been empty.

He came back to his senses only after reaching Mr. Merry"s home and taking a long swig of the strong wine that had been poured for him before he had left.

The red liquid sloshed down his throat, burning his insides instead of just giving them warmth due to sheer volume he had thrown in his mouth. The sensation brought his mind to life, and finally, he decided to face the ramifications of what had just happened.

His "brother", the dwarf king… somehow had connections on the surface, and not even weak ones, at that.

First of all, he was watching, so each and everything that Daneel did was in his purview. Daneel had pondered on this before coming to the third layer, but it had seemed ridiculous that that huge being would be able to use his dwarves for reconnaissance even in such a place as the Courtyard.

Second, he had pulled strings so that the sons of the privileged families on the surface had had to leave, leaving him intact instead of turning him into a disfigured mess, like they had intended to do.

He was grateful. That was undeniable, but more than that, he was oh, so curious.

It was almost a painful curiosity, because he couldn"t even begin to understand how such a shadowy person, who wasn"t even supposed to exist in the eyes of everyone he had met so far in all three layers, had such power. He kept thinking about this, even refilling his gla.s.s from the bottle on the table which had been offered to him graciously by his host, but even after 10 minutes, he got nowhere.

In the end, he could only leave it alone even though it was quite hard to do so. He had to satiate himself by chalking it up to plans that might have been laid centuries in advance, as after all, the giant"s lifespan was simply inhuman.

As he tried to get back to the matter at hand, he found it difficult to concentrate, so cupping his face in his hands, he went back to everything that the plan he was going to set in motion would achieve.

First and foremost, he would be able to finish the mission given by the system and unlock a skill that he knew he needed if he wanted to further navigate this maze of a town.

"Who knows? In the information that I find out after keeping my promise, maybe I"ll even discover the answers to many of the questions I have about this place…"

This thought made him nod and raise his head, his eyes clearer than they had been before.

Secondly, the dwarf king would trust him completely, and perhaps unveil some of the secrets he was keeping. The giant had set the fulfillment of his promise is a test, and after pa.s.sing it, Daneel would also be allowed to access all the information present in the draft city.

The system was his strongest weapon, and data was the whetstone he needed to sharpen it. Also… it was the key to unlocking his memories, which was a topic that was always on his mind no matter whether he was sleeping or awake.

Not a night had gone by when he hadn"t dreamed of those images that had flashed in front of his vision as soon as he had entered this body.

"Why does that vast land feel so familiar? What is that name that invokes so many emotions inside me when I say it? And who are those people… who seem like strangers, but feel like family?"

It was these questions that haunted him the most, and right now, they rekindled the fire inside him, making him stand up so that he could surge ahead. He knew that he was surrounded by secrets that he had to ignore, for now, by setting his sights on the goal ahead, and he did so by slapping his cheeks once and then focusing his eyes on the gla.s.s in front of him.

Downing it in one go, he walked to the door again, determined to restart the task that had been interrupted by his "friends".

His stomach was still on fire due to the beatings he had taken, but with the fort.i.tude achieved from taking some time for himself and gaining clarity on what he was supposed to do, it was almost easy to ignore it.

To find Jezara"s pa.s.sed, the step he wanted to take was simple: he needed to find those who had known him when he was Jeza, and for that, he needed to find a certain place that he knew was somewhere around this layer, but hadn"t been referred to or glimpsed in his time here so far.

He was basing it on a single hunch. Jezara was almost Lord Burrow"s slave, and that meant that his origin was mostly humble. From what he had seen of the Courtyard so far, it didn"t seem very possible that he might be a son of one of those here, so that left only one other stratum of the society: the servants.

He hadn"t seen any of them, yet, but that didn"t mean that there hadn"t been signs of their presence. The servants on the surface followed a particular mantra, and it seemed that those here had been taught to do the same. As if just thinking of them was disgraceful for the masters they served, they were always told to be "out of sight, out of mind", which meant that they had to finish their work without being seen.

Mr. Merry"s house had been cleaner than how they had left it after they had returned from the expedition to that sn.o.bbish old man. Even in that old man"s house, they had trudged in leaving dusty footprints in their wake, but the floor had been cleaned before they made their way out.

From the layout of the Courtyard, Daneel guessed that the servants must be at the edge of the town. He followed the winding streets, always on the lookout for enforcers who might put him in a tight spot if he was seen, but as it seemed that this was the time for a siesta for the entire place, he found no one.

He rejoiced when he turned a corner… and saw the well-built houses vanish. There was a tall wall behind the last house, and although he couldn"t see anything behind it, there was nothing blocking the road.

As soon as he walked across the wall, the sounds. .h.i.t him like a truck.

The road was rougher here, and the houses were all smaller, each barely enough to hold two people. Yet, in front of each were at least five men or women, but in many ways… it was a sight much more pleasant than everything he had seen in the Courtyard.

Children were playing all over the place, skipping over rocks here and chasing each other gaily over there. Groups of old men and women are sitting all over the place, talking to each other and laughing, their faces honest and happy.

A few were even cooking, bent over fires out in the open, stirring large parts that smelled simple, but soulful.

Daneel almost smiled as he instantly knew that he loved this place… but all of it fell silent when they saw him.

Initially, he had pondered on the idea of going to each house and asking his question, but as he saw now that he was able to address them all at once, he cleared his throat and raised his hands to speak.

"h.e.l.lo, everyone! I"m from the layer below. I"m here to find out a little about someone I know on the Surface…can any of you tell me about the one formerly called Jeza?"

Daneel waited, getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute as he was stared at by almost a hundred people, all with steely, intense gazes that had hardened as soon as they heard him.

Suddenly seeing that this might be a bad idea, he decided to drop it, for now, and come back later. Just as he was about to raise one hand and say the same, though…he heard a faint sound behind him that made him whirl around.

THUNK!

Before he could finish the motion, he felt something hit his head from behind, and just like that…darkness swept over and engulfed all his hopes, thoughts, and plans as if they were all naught but dust motes in the air.