Daneel had no idea what to say. In fact, he knew that no matter what he said at this moment, it would do nothing to aid his friend"s pain.
Faxul definitely hadn"t told him this secret now because Daneel had come to ask.
Indeed, the determined words that rang across the room confirmed Daneel"s thoughts.
"I want to get trained in the Hidden Kill Sect."
Yes, this was the reason.
The Hidden Kill Sect was a force which boasted its feat of beheading a King. This was exactly what Faxul wanted to do.
He had very few memories of his parents. All he remembered were two men with smiles on their faces who always took care of him. Their blurry shapes and the secure feeling that came when being held by them were the only things that came to mind when Faxul thought of the word "family".
The caretakers were good people, loyal to his father and grandfather. Yet how much ever he asked, they refused to tell him the stories about his childhood, saying that they were forbidden from doing so.
With no memory of his mother, Faxul could only a.s.sume that she had pa.s.sed away due to some mishap.
For most of his life, he had become used to being alone. Yet, that had all changed when he met Daneel.
On that day in the training hall when Daneel extended his hand, Faxul had seen something in his eyes which reminded him of something from his childhood.
In fact, to this day, he still had no idea what it was. Yet, their friends.h.i.+p had blossomed into one where they could trust each other with their lives.
His time with Robert and Maria went a long way in a.s.suaging the grief he had always felt due to losing his parents.
But today, when Faxul saw the man who had chased him all those years ago when he was getting away from the Black Raven Kingdom, he felt his blood boiling while he resisted the urge to pounce forward.
The blood of the Black Raven flowed through him. And it called for revenge, setting alight his heart in a fire of fury.
Yet, he was indeed, useless.
In the academy, he had followed his instincts and chosen the path of a Vanguard: One who trained as both a Fighter and a Mage.
His instructors had told him that this was a waste especially with his potential, but Faxul trusted his instincts.
Now, he was only a 2nd Grade Human Fighter and 2nd Grade Human Mage. The others who hadn"t chosen this path had already proceeded to the 3rd, but he was still stuck at the 2nd.
True, he would most probably be able to defeat them in many scenarios due to the added advantages of a Vanguard. Yet, he was still an ant before the mighty foe he had to face.
This was why he wanted to go to the Hidden Kill Sect and learn their techniques.
"You want to become an a.s.sa.s.sin and kill the King of the Black Raven Kingdom who killed your family?", Daneel asked after thinking for a bit.
"Yes."
"Oh? With your talent, how many years would it take to reach the level where you can a.s.sa.s.sinate a King?"
Faxul looked into Danel"s eyes to see that there was no condescension on his friend"s face. It was simply a direct question, but he had no answer.
Someone with his potential simply took too much time to advance in level. He didn"t even know what level was required to threaten the King, thus he stayed silent.
"Look Faxul, I know that you probably want to go to the Hidden Kill Sect out of desperation. But will you hear me out before that?"
Nodding, Faxul looked at his friend who had risen up from a common stature to be the King of Lanthanor. Yet, what could he give him that was more valuable than the opportunity to become an a.s.sa.s.sin who was the bane of rulers across the continent?
Daneel saw this questioning look in Faxul"s eyes. Taking a piece of parchment out of an inner pocket, he handed it to his friend saying, "Study this, and make your own decision regarding whether you want to leave and train as an a.s.sa.s.sin or stay by my side."
Daneel walked towards the door after handing over the parchment. Before he left, he turned around one last time to see the strong back of his steadfast comrade.
The decision was in his hands now. Closing the door, Daneel made his way back to the King"s chambers.
Cras.h.i.+ng onto the bed, he fell asleep instantly with the gnawing worry that he still hadn"t found time to train his body and mageroot. It had already been many days since the last training session, and Daneel was even starting to feel sluggish.
Deciding to tackle it tomorrow, he fell asleep and snored through a dreamless night.
.....
The palace gates had once been a solemn location, with the wide avenue almost always empty.
Thus, when one of the guards who was posted around the clock to monitor intruders saw a rag-tag group of individuals strutting through the central pa.s.sageway with their eyes fixed on the palace, he immediately alerted the higher-ups that some stragglers were approaching.
They walked as if they owned the place, taking in all the sights while chatting animatedly amongst themselves. People of all ages could be seen, with the youngest being a man who didn"t look a day over 25 and the oldest being a woman with white hair.
Aran, the commander of the elite forces, happened to be on call at the palace when the alert was sent up the ranks.
Hearing that a group of unidentifiable people were making their way through the central pa.s.sageway, his interest was piqued.
Being someone who always loved things that were out of the ordinary, he decided to check out the situation himself.
Yet, as soon as he came to the gate, he was shocked to see the guard who had reported the incident shaking in his boots while surrounded by 10 other guards who were glaring at him.
"You dare report my Master as someone unidentifiable!? Who do you think you are?"
"Master helped us train to get into the army! I couldn"t pay him anything, but he still let me train on credit! Just because your merchant father could afford to send you to a training hall, you think you can besmirch our master"s reputation?!"
"Kneel and apologize right now!"
The guard in the middle could only cower while his fellow guards made these statements in an angry voice. If they weren"t on duty, they looked like they wouldn"t mind beating him up to make him apologize.
Seeing the commander walk towards the gates, the guard"s face lit up as if he had seen a ray of suns.h.i.+ne.
"Commander! Please help! I was only doing my duty and these guards want to beat me up!"
Like a child crying to his father, the guard shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping that the commander would get him out of this precarious situation.
Yet, his jaw dropped as Commander Aran, known to lead the elite forces of Lanthanor while only being answerable to the King, silently made his way towards a bearded, bulky man wearing only a waistcoat on his upper body who stood in front of the group.
With an expression of absolute respect, the commander bowed deep before getting back up and saying, "Master! You should have let us know you were coming, we would have made the necessary preparations for a grand welcome. Did this guard offend you? Say the word, and I can dig up even the smallest mistakes he did and use them to demote him to the position of a kitchen helper."
A kitchen helper?!
As the guard imagined himself cleaning dishes and helping the cooks cut vegetables and meat all day, he shuddered, cursing at his bad luck in being the first to notice the group.
Yet, he regained his confidence remembering the new King of Lanthanor who promised fair treatment for all.
"Even if the commander has a link with this man, there surely must be nothing with the King.", thought the guard, gleefully imagining the plight of these people when they would see the ruler stand on his side because there was definitely no chance that this man had a link with both the commander and the king.