Daneel felt a disturbance in the air as he walked towards the student quarters.
Just as he took another step forward, everything around him changed.
The colors of the night which had been drab became grey, as if the moonlight s.h.i.+ning down had changed color. The quiet sounds of the crickets in the night were also cut off, and a semi-transparent dome flickered into existence above him.
A familiar man appeared in front of him, stepping out of s.p.a.ce before saying, "Someone wants to meet you."
It was Master Jonah. Daneel calmed down as he knew that this was someone Kellor trusted.
"You have been busy lately."
A voice that made him s.h.i.+ver floated into his years, after which another man stepped out of the s.p.a.ce beside Master Jonah.
His s.h.i.+vering was because he was reminded of the exact moment the Firewind dragon had roared, bringing fire and destruction the likes of which he had never seen before.
It was the Priest of Rect.i.tude with red hair that had helped him and said that he owed them a debt.
"Nice to meet you again, Daneel. I am Radagast, and I would like to invite you to the Church of Rect.i.tude."
An invitation to the church? Daneel was intrigued. The last time they had met, Radagast had simply shown a slight interest in Daneel. He wondered what had changed now to make him offer an invitation.
"Remember, state your terms and let him decide. Our arrangement has nothing to do with him. You will not touch him or his followers no matter what he decides.", said Master Jonah, interrupting Radagast who had been about to continue. His drunken manner was gone, and he now stood alert as if he was watching every one of Radagast"s movements.
"Of course. The Church never forces, we only suggest. Daneel, let me tell you something about this Kingdom before I put forward my offer."
Master Jonah opened his mouth as if he were about to stop Radagast from speaking, but he simply sighed and shook his head before allowing him to continue.
"In 10 years, the n.o.bility of this Kingdom will be dead and a new ruler will take its place."
Hearing such an explosive statement, Daneel couldn"t help but think that he had heard wrong. The n.o.bility would be a.s.sa.s.sinated?! Such a news out of the blue made his mind go completely blank.
In fact, he even doubted whether Radagast was telling the truth. The n.o.bility had established this Kingdom in the first place, and for centuries they had ruled it with very little opposition. With all of that acc.u.mulated power, how could anyone kill off all of the n.o.bility, and that too in such a short span of time?!
"Don"t overthink. This is something that even the King himself knows, and it is the main reason why he is training so maniacally to reach the next level. To state the reason briefly, they brought it upon themselves. Oppressing 90% of the population is simply a bad idea, but the King turned a blind eye towards all the warning signs before it was too late. Now, no matter what he does, it is simply impossible to turn public favor towards him.", said Master Jonah, seeing that Daneel had fazed out after hearing the news.
"Indeed. And by doing so, he allowed my Church and a few other inst.i.tutions to gain a foothold inside the city. The most powerful of those is the TriCobra Sect, which had set up its operations in the city before any of us even turned our gaze towards this Kingdom.
"As for the annihilation of the n.o.bility, this has been in planning for decades. The previous King, who is presently the strongest Mage in this Kingdom, will pa.s.s away in the next 10 years. At that time, nothing can stop the forces we gathered from stamping down the doors of the palace and carrying out a ma.s.sacre. All the sinners will be the kindling which will set alight the fire from which this Kingdom must be reborn. And we, the Church of Rect.i.tude, will take control of Lanthanor and turn into a holy city where the Almighty Saint will reign."
Looking into Radagast"s black eyes, Daneel was almost sure he could see fire raging in them.
"State your conditions and get moving. We don"t have much time.", said Master Jonah, breaking Radagast out of the expression of triumph that had appeared in his face after saying those words.
"As you wish. Join the Church and swear an oath that you will follow our doctrine till the day you die. In return, we will give you the spell technique that is many levels above the one taught in your academy. Also, if you form enough of a following, the church will promote you to a Deacon and let you set up a branch of the Church that you can command. Any resources that you need will be yours, and even your followers will get the opportunity to become priests of the Glorious Church of Rect.i.tude."
Taking out a piece of white parchment from his priest"s robe, Radagast handed it to Daneel before saying, "In there is the doctrine of the Church, along with a detailed list of all the support the Church promises you. This is an offer usually made to those with legendary potential, but you are an exception. Being a seed with pseudo-legendary potential in a Kingdom that will soon be purged, you are very valuable to us and you can achieve great things with our support. I will meet you at this spot again in 3 days. I hope to hear a positive answer from you at that time."
With these words, Radagast vanished, leaving Daneel standing there holding the parchment.
"Seeing your shock, I know that Kellor must not have had the time to tell you these things. This meeting was simply me returning a favor that the Church did for me. It is up to you to decide whether you want to slowly build a faction yourself or join a faction that will fully support you with everything you need. Not everyone will swear fealty to you as easily as that brat Joshua did."
"If you need to talk to me, come to my cabin tomorrow."
The dome flickered out of existence and the colors returned to normal as Master Jonah teleported away.
Everything that he had heard was simply too much to take in. His mind blank, Daneel could only trudge to his room and fall on the bed.
Deciding that the morning was probably the best time to figure out what the h.e.l.l to do next, Daneel carefully put the parchment in his cupboard before falling asleep.
The last thought that he had before drifting into dream land was that he would definitely have to find a way to stop people from seeing everything he did. He was sick and tired of having his every move be visible for anyone to see, and it was high time he found out a way to put a stop to all of them.