Daneel had been wondering about the special viscousness he had seen in the Ker Gems for a long time.
Except for certain rare energy materials which could conceal their form, the grade of energy of a material could be decided based on the visible concentration of the energy inside it.
For instance, Ether blocks had a faint swirling mist which decreased with each usage, until the block became bare and shattered.
As for the Ker Gems, it was like that mist had congealed into something thicker which almost looked like it was a liquid, but wasn"t.
With the deployment technique, Daneel first felt that everything was fine.
It was only a few moments later that he had to resist the urge to get up and scream with pain.
Typically, when absorbing Energy from Ether, Daneel always got a calm and comfortable feeling.
Now, he felt as if hordes of animals were trampling him underneath them while they galloped over his body and under his skin.
This was followed by an urge to scratch, as if millions of ants were crawling all over his body while biting him wherever they wished.
Finally, all these feelings mashed into an intense pain that made him grit his teeth until blood almost flowed from them.
"System, why does this feel so...different?"
[Replying to host, because the grade of the energy is higher than what can be handled by host"s present body, there is slight pain caused by the energy pathways being forcefully expanded. Would host like to half the development techniques?]
"No! Continue."
To Daneel, it felt as if the system was mocking him by calling it "slight pain".
If he couldn"t even handle this "slight pain", then how was he worthy of being King?
Thus, with staunch determination, Daneel closed his eyes and focused on the techniques again.
After an unknown amount of time had pa.s.sed, Daneel felt a saturated feeling inside which awoke him from the deep state of meditation he had gone into.
[Preliminary a.n.a.lysis concluded. Please wait for results.]
Although Daneel felt slightly frustrated that he had to wait for results, he knew that the system was probably handling calculations which were way beyond the complexity of those which it regularly tackled.
Besides, Energy a.n.a.lysis itself was one of the most resource-consuming processes of them all.
Thus, Daneel had no option but to wait until the system finished a.n.a.lyzing everything in order to give him an answer which would decide his future course.
Not wanting to waste time while waiting, Daneel decided to continue absorbing energy from the Energized Training Chamber.
Yet, when he tried to inhale the energy as usual, he felt as if there was something inside him which was threatening to break.
All over his body, he felt as if there were some sort of shackles restricting him from absorbing any more energy.
A wide smile appearing on his face, Daneel realized that he was about to break through.
Even without the system"s a.n.a.lysis, he realized that Ker Gems were truly magical. He had only been at a progression level of 81%, but from just a single session of meditation, he was already breaking through to the 5th Grade Human Level.
Knowing what to do, he concentrated on these ephemeral shackles while trying to force the mist he was inhaling along its usual route.
It was as if the energy was a river which was blockaded by something invisible which wouldn"t let it pa.s.s. Especially at his forehead, this feeling was very strong.
Finally, after a few minutes of perseverance, Daneel thought he heard a slight "CRACK" in his head.
With a flood, the energy that had stopped swept vibrantly throughout his energy pa.s.sageways and mageroot, reveling in the higher quality of existence that it now felt.
Indeed, training in power was all about tempering the mageroot or the body with constant bombardment of the magical Energy. With each level, the entire existence of the body would elevate, allowing more and more energy inside.
5th Grade Human Level!
Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Daneel smiled triumphantly while gazing at his fist which he had closed tightly ever since the moment he felt the blockage of energy inside him.
Finally letting it go, he stood up and threw a punch, eager to test out his new power.
At each level, there was a marked increase in all skills which came with the elevation.
Getting lost in the feeling of discovering his newfound leap in strength and power, Daneel agilely moved around the room while starting to understand just why these gems had been so enticing to the previous King of Lanthanor.
....
Meanwhile, in Elfaven, the capital of Eldinor.
In a remote alleyway which was at the farthest location from the Palace of the Elves, a lone office with a minimal signboard could be seen with its shutter closed down, looking as if it hadn"t been opened in decades.
"Voice of Eldinor" was the name written boldly on the banner, with the grandeur that such a name carried absent on the peeling board which was threatening to fall, hanging by a single nail.
A man with a bushy mustache and a weak chin walked along this road with firm strides while looking around as if he was searching for something.
Although there were many people walking through the street, almost all of them consciously s.h.i.+ed away from the office. Yet, it was exactly this place that the man walked to before going to the back through an alleyway and entering through the door which seemed to be open.
Inside, he first pa.s.sed through a large room which was filled to the brim with what looked like pamphlets.
"Queen Eldara charged for betraying the dignity of the Elves by exhorting large amounts from helpless nations."
"Queen Eldara has a daughter. But is she of her blood?!"
"Find out exactly why this man was sent away from the palace without a word when he requested a meeting with our dear queen."
Almost nonsensical sounding headlines like these could be seen dotting the dusty pamphlets which looked like they would fall apart from a mere touch.
The only reason that these three headlines were visible was that they were framed on the wall.
Walking into the next room, the man saw an elf with blunt blades on his earlobes leafing through pieces of parchment sadly with one hand while nursing a gla.s.s of wine in the other.
"Once known as the most prominent news organization in all of Eldinor, the "Voice of Eldinor" now wallows in self-pity, stuck in a repeating loop remembering its days of glory while wis.h.i.+ng it could rise back to its former prominence."
Picking up a piece of parchment from a table nearby, the man who entered read out this line, startling the elf who hadn"t even noticed the sounds made when someone intruded into his private sanctum.
Standing up woozily, the elf first clutched his head tight with an expression of pain on his face before gasping out the words, "Who-who are you? This is private property! I can report you to the guar-guards!"
His speech was slurred, giving evidence of the fact that he was quite inebriated even though it was not even the afternoon.
"Oh? You want to throw me out and lose the last chance to make your name known throughout Eldinor again? I understand that you went out of favor mainly because the cost of a.s.sembling information was too high. What do you think about this?"
Taking out a parchment trinket from his coat pocket, the man held it out to the elf.
Taking it with shaking hands, the elf sat down and first went through the trinket with increasingly wider eyes.
After a few moments, he dropped the trinket with shock before saying, "How ..... is this possible?! Information from all over Angaria... in one place? Is it real?"
With a gleam in his eyes, the man who had been covered with waste just the day before smiled wide and spread his arms wide with the pride of someone who had achieved his goal.
"You only need to check a few to find that out for yourself. Join with me, and we shall make your Voice heard all over Eldinor again!"
.....
Meanwhile, the King of Lanthanor was sitting with his jaw hanging wide open from the notification he had just heard.
[Preliminary a.n.a.lysis completed. Estimated approximate time to reach the Warrior level as both a fighter and mage: ~ 2 years.]
It really seemed like this chamber could be renamed into the "Room of Surprises", especially due to the numerous shocks that Daneel had been sustaining in the confines of these round walls which oozed mists of Energy.