When Felix saw Daneel glaring at him, he chuckled, knowing that the gig was up. In response, he merely shrugged.
Daneel first calmed himself down. Although being tested like this left a bad taste in his mouth, he could understand the reason. After all, if they swore the oath and later realized that Daneel wasn"t who they thought him to be, it would be too late for regrets.
As for the teens of the World Domination Corps, many of them were still considering their options, including even those who had first joined him. Although death was quite prevalent in this world, it wasn"t at a state where they absolutely needed to grow stronger in order to live. With the present conditions, it was possible that one would be able to live a happy life in the sanct.i.ty of a Kingdom by staying out of harm"s way.
Realizing that this was too big a decision to be taken right away, Daneel walked back to the clearing and said, "Take your time. Even if you have decided now, think on it again and tell me your decision 3 days from now. Dismissed."
Turning around, he started walking back to the palace with the other three following.
Although some in the Domination Corp such as Joshua had already made their decisions and had been about to state them, they stopped themselves on hearing Daneel"s words.
On reaching the same small meeting room in which he had talked to Felix before, Daneel first shut the door before saying, "Old Man, well done. I never saw the test coming. It"s still disconcerting to be played around with, though."
Sitting down, he motioned the others to do as well before waiting for the Master"s answer. With all the time they had spent together, this wasn"t the first time Daneel had called the crafty croney in front of him an "Old Man".
"Haha, kid, I had no choice. This is in line with what the founder of the training hall placed as the condition for the hall to completely swear allegiance to any force: a test of moral character. But I do admit, the idea was mine, and your expression when Volma told you about it was priceless! A startled King is truly a sight to behold!"
No longer holding himself back, Felix burst out laughing. In fact, he was very happy from the way Daneel had conducted himself, and proud because his observations about the King weren"t wrong.
Kellor also chuckled, as if he had been in on the matter.
On the other hand, Daneel and Faxul were both bewildered when they saw the look the two old men exchanged.
There was a connection even between these two?!
"My King, pardon me for not telling you about it sooner. I have known Felix for a long time, especially because of his efforts in helping the downtrodden. In fact, he was also one of those I charged with finding someone who could lead Lanthanor to a new age. I still tease him that you pa.s.sed right under his nose, while I managed to notice your brilliance."
An expression of realization came on both of their faces as they heard this. Indeed, Kellor had always secretly worked towards his goal of changing the ruling party of Lanthanor. Thus, it should be no surprise that he was acquainted with Felix, who had the same ideals.
"Anyway, I need to get back to the instructors. We are all ready to swear the oath, after which we need to go back to the hall for a little bit of time to take care of some pending matters. You should also come over when you can to peruse the secret techniques left behind by our founder. In fact, many of them are so high level that we cannot comprehend them ourselves, just like the Hidden Kill move. As for the talk about "freedom", all the instructors who followed me to the palace are already those who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the welfare of the people. Their actions in the clearing had just been an act,"
Nodding with chagrin, Daneel told Kellor, "Give him a copy of the oath. I will take the oaths into the oathstone a few hours from now."
After Kellor handed over a parchment which Daneel had asked him to prepare beforehand, Felix left with a spring in his steps. It seemed that the old man was the happiest he had been in years.
"Kellor, this is the technique for mages. Practice it well, and aim to break through to the Warrior Realm. You have already sworn an oath to the oathstone, and Richard"s oath is in no way less stringent than mine. Again, thank you for supporting me."
As Kellor saw the square piece of parchment gleaming in Daneel"s palm, he reached forward and took it with shaking hands.
With the technique in his hand, the Warrior realm was in reach!
Although he had been one of the first to receive the introduction, it had seemed like something too fantastic to exist.
Only now, when he held it in his hands, did he finally believe it.
If he reached the Warrior realm, he would have even more time to serve the people he loved so much.
As tears came into his eyes, Daneel asked, "I know you were initially taken in by the previous Court Mage because he saw your talent, but what makes you feel so happy to be able to rise in power?"
This was a personal question, but Daneel found that he was becoming more and more interested in the motivation that drove people forward.
In fact, he wondered at this moment whether the curiosity had arisen in order for him to find his own.
Regardless, this new type of curiosity gnawed at him each time he witnessed a sight like this.
"Guilt, My King. Guilt from all the times I saw the many horrible things happening to people in the Kingdom while my hands were tied. I still remember each and every one of their faces. Especially, Jonah"s. His stands out because we were quite close, yet I could do nothing to help him. With more power, I wish to a.s.suage this guilt in me by serving the people as much as I can before my life comes to an end."
Daneel nodded as he realized that his supposition had been correct. He had seen the signs of guilt in Kellor"s eyes, but he had just wanted to make sure.
"All right. Train well, and you will have 100 more years to do whatever you wish. Oh yes, what happened to the search for my Master anyway?"
Daneel had already asked Kellor before to locate his master who had helped him out quite a bit in his journey.
"No results yet, My Lord. The last time he was seen was when you were proclaimed King. After that, he seems to have vanished."
Sighing, Daneel waved his arm to let Kellor know that he was dismissed. Finally, it was just him and Faxul in the room.
"Faxul, you have a choice now. Do you still wish to leave to the Hidden Kill Sect? If so, I cannot give you the technique, as the risk of it being noticed by the instructors over there is too high. With our present situation, this needs to be kept a secret."
"I will stay."
Three simple words, but they had in them a determination that Daneel had never heard from his friend before.
No more needed to be said. After handing over a parchment with both the fighter and mage techniques, Daneel dismissed him too and sat in the chair, looking into the distance.
What was his motivation?
Of course, he was motivated to serve the Kingdom and do the best he could for its people, but was that all?
Before, his main motivation had been to get revenge for his family"s condition. That had already been accomplished, with the King dying and the n.o.ble responsible for having his father thrown out of the army scheduled to be executed tomorrow with all the others who had crossed the limits set for a non-lethal punishment.
At this moment, he found himself recalling the events back at the library when his name had been shouted out loud for bringing justice to all those cheated by the cruel duo. He had felt the same when his name rang across the Kingdom, proclaiming him as King.
Without knowing it himself, Daneel realized that a thirst had been born in him.
This thirst was only quenched when he saw people happy and satisfied with what they had, instead of living their lives buried beneath mountains of misery and suffering.
He did not even need to be credited for his efforts. For Daneel, it was enough that the end result came to be, regardless of who was responsible.
For now, this thirst had been temporarily quenched due to him killing the previous King and giving an avenue where all the injustices so far could be addressed.
But would this thirst arise again? He did not know himself.
Only time would tell.
Getting up, Daneel walked to one of the many Energised Training Chambers in the palace and finally started to train again after what felt like forever.