Rise Of The Godking

For the rest of the session, the twins had been dead set on making him eat as many blows as possible. He had completely gone on the defensive, but still, his body ached as if it had been put through a grinder.

Ignoring it for a second, he recalled that perfect moment when he had improved… and got the answer.

"I would do it all over again if I could! But maybe… I would say it after they left…"

The second thought was born in the aftermath of the deep aches returning with renewed strength. Knowing that he needed something to distract himself, he turned to the system and asked, "Is it done?"

[Affirmative.

Progress percentage: 17%

Host"s progress increased by 1% in recent training session.]

For a moment, Daneel didn"t know whether to feel infuriated that he was so far away, or ecstatic as just a single moment of going past what he was capable of had made him improve by an entire percent.

"That means… that if I repeat it for 83 times, I"ll be in the next rank! That doesn"t seem so hard… or am I missing something here, system?"

The reply made him scowl.

[The closer host reaches to the next level, the harder it will be to improve. Additionally, according to the data of the training session that was recorded, it might not be possible for such drastic improvement to take place each time that host is pushed.]

Daneel almost let himself be swept into a foul mood… but as soon as remembered that he still hadn"t added the crystals to the equation, he perked up and tried to get to his feet.

They throbbed painfully in response, so deciding that he needed a little more rest, he searched for something to think of while he waited for the agony to recede.

Slowly, he found himself recalling the conversation he had had with the old man. It had started with a single sentence that was the perfect description of the entire tale, before turning into a flood of anguished details that had made him understand just how much the events had affected the entire family.

It was also the first time he had heard the name of his host. He was called Gerard, and when he had told Daneel about his past, it had been quite surprising to hear of the absolute depths from which the man had climbed, step by step, to reach where he was now.

He had been born a slave, to parents he had never known. The man hadn"t been very clear, but due to circ.u.mstances surrounding his upbringing, he had grown up with a very strong determination to get the h.e.l.l out of the Pit.

As one of the most a.s.siduous workers in the mines, he had distinguished himself by going above and beyond each and every task he was given. Soon, he was noticed by those on the surface when he prioritized the safety of a store of mined crystals over his own life. He was awarded a position in the Refinery to spur on the others, and even there, without resting on his laurels, he had sought out the then accountant and begged the man for a role under him.

According to him, that was the only moment in his life when luck had graced his efforts. The former accountant had happened to be a kind individual who gave value to one"s motivation. Even though Gerard had grown up without an education, he was taken in, and he devoured each and every piece of knowledge he was taught voraciously.

He was soon skilled enough to take the place of his teacher. He married a woman from the Refinery who died after giving birth to Reese, and he had raised his two sons with just one ideal: to aim to reach the next stage in life, just like he had.

And that… was what he lamented to be the greatest mistake he had made in his life.

He had been very successful in inculcating in the two boys a hard-working ethic and the zeal to ascend. Reese was born with deft fingers and a mind for learning. From the resident healer of the Refinery, he acquired his trade, and even though Sébastien had no option but to take up the same job as those in the rest of the town, he turned out to be the best Refiner in the entire layer.

Things started to go disastrously wrong when both of them came together, and decided that it was time to rise above.

On the surface, they identified a certain vacuum where the rich folk of the town didn"t have a very good healer to help them out whenever they got too exhausted in their efforts to enjoy life to the fullest. With Reese"s knowledge of healing and Sébastien"s skill in refinement, they set up a shop that sold potions for various things.

Everything was fine for a month. Business was booming, and they had even begun to make plans to diversify into other areas.

And then, one day… a team of enforcers arrived and threw them into the Pit.

They were given no explanation except that they had been found stealing. They couldn"t even do anything to disprove the accusation; they had immediately been knocked out and had woken up directly as slaves, and it was only later that they found out that the enforcers had brazenly added few pouches of money to the coffers of their shop that were found by the lawkeeper of the surface. The sentence was pa.s.sed, and from then on… their future was set in stone.

Much, much later, after putting in a lot of effort, they slowly uncovered the scheme that had resulted in their downfall. Apparently… their business had irked the main healer on the surface who was a descendant of an esteemed family, and using his connections, it had been easy for him to send them back where they belonged.

The tale had made Daneel so angry that his fist had banged down and created an indentation in the lacquered wood of the table. The old man had even descended into sobs, blaming himself for everything that happened, and even though Daneel had wanted to console him, he had done no such thing as there was no way that he could understand the pain that the man felt.

All he could do… was try to make things better, and even though he tried to tell himself that he should focus on the problems he was already facing, he just convinced himself that he would only do something if it didn"t detract too much from the plans he would soon be setting in motion to deal with Lord Burrow.

He stayed for ten more minutes on the bed, and after seeing that there was nothing else he could find to take his mind off of all the things he was supposed to do, he got up, ignoring the protests of almost all the parts of his body.

After an initial wave of deep aches, the pain slowly started to recede. He got dressed in the same robes he had woken up in, which were supposed to be those used by all the residents of the Refinery who were learning a certain art.

His day was already planned out. He found the old man waiting for him at the table when he came out, dressed in the same immaculate suit that he had welcomed the enforcer in on that first day.

No words were needed. They merely nodded to each other, and for the first time, Daneel was just as slow as the old man who hobbled along with his walking stick.

They made their way to the Refinery, shading their eyes frequently against the light of the artificial sun that sometimes blazed so brightly that he felt that it would dig through his eyes and burn his skull to nothingness. Due to its heat, the entire layer was always trapped in a perpetual season of summer, so his heavy robes were soaked in just a few minutes after their departure. When they finally reached their destination, Daneel sighed with relief while the old man stopped and said, "It"s your first time in there. Things might get overwhelming. Just remember this: don"t touch anything you aren"t supposed to. The entire structure you see in front of you is a careful arrangement of different cogs constantly in motion. Accidents happen often, and if one comes to be because of you… the enforcers won"t let it go easily. So, keep your wits about you, and your hands at your side. Come on."

Daneel saw the old man hurry forward, but he lingered there for a few moments.

He went over the plan he had already made based on everything he had learned about the Refinery. If everything went well, he would be walking out of the doors in front of him with his pockets full of crystals.

So, with a grin of antic.i.p.ation that he quickly hid away, he took a step forward and prepared to reconnect with an old friend that he already missed so, very much.