As the gears in his mind turned, one sect member after another entered the lake and tasted the baptism of pain.
Without fault, none of them managed to understand anything, but they still stood to the side in deep thought, as if they had comprehended something amazing and needed time to process it.
After all, no one had asked them to make those statements before.
Each sect member took around 2 minutes or so, so the line was moving quickly.
One option for Daneel was to reveal his ident.i.ty, and make the kid prostrate on the ground to his "Senior Brother", or even his master.
However, he discarded this, as it was too risky.
No matter how the kid acted, there was no reason to trust him completely yet. Hence, exposing the fact that he had infiltrated the sect might bring him trouble so immense that he would have no time to regret later.
So, he had to do something else.
After a few seconds, Daneel hit on an idea.
Percy had been observing the proceedings in the cave with a frown. Although he also felt very excited about the inheritance, he calmed himself and chose to see how the others were doing before entering by himself.
Yet, no matter how much he watched, he couldn"t understand.
All of them winced, and then acted as if it had been very "enlightening".
After around 20 people were done, he couldn"t control himself anymore and decided to cut the line to find out what was going on for himself.
However, he found his way blocked by the blonde-haired kid.
"Senior brother, your status is above us all. Why do you need to cut through these normal sect members? If you could wait till the end, you can spend as much time here as you want. Besides, whenever this phenomenon appears, it lasts at least for a day."
Hearing this, he did agree that with his status, there was no meaning in taking the same time as everyone else.
When such an easy fix was around, it didn"t make sense to insist to make the others wait and grumble.
So, nodding with an expression of dignity on his face, Percy walked to the side and leaned on a wall before closing his eyes, as if he was some cool master who had entered meditation.
"Senior brother is so kind!"
Even as Daneel said these words, he gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to punch this kid in his guts right away.
With one thing ticked off his list of things to do, Daneel climbed on top of a rock from where he could view everything happening in the cavern.
30 people were already done, so the next problem should be arising soon.
Sure enough, the 33rd sect member, who was a large kid with bulging muscles, exclaimed, "What is this bullsh*t? I just got beaten up! There"s nothing to learn in this! I still think you"re scamming us! Maybe you learned that inheritance in some other way!"
It was about time.
Hearing this, the others who had been acting so far also started to erupt in protests.
"Yes! This is still a scam!"
"Out with it, Travis! How can getting beaten up help us to learn?"
Hearing the commotion, Percy opened his eyes and glanced up.
They were getting beaten up? How?
Although he didn"t understand, he decided to wait and watch like the "dignified" senior he was.
As Daneel was about to open his mouth to respond, one of those who had already gotten into the pool walked forward.
He had stayed silent till now, but after stepping in front of the crowd, he hit his right palm with his left fist and exclaimed loudly, "I GOT IT!"
This shout stopped the others, who were puzzled as to what was going on.
The kid who had walked forward was named Keefer, and he was one of the more talented ones in the Amateur Warriors of the Sect of Hedon.
After a pause, he continued.
"Guys! Don"t blame Travis, it"s you all that need to change your perspective! When you are getting beaten, focus on how the opponent is doing it! I did that, and I think I almost grasped something! I"m not lying! Travis, this the correct method, right?"
With a sigh, the blonde haired kid glanced at everyone and replied, "You are too impressive. I was hoping to hide this and charge extra for it. That is the correct way. Just focus like that, and you should be able to grasp something."
As if on queue, 2 of the 30, who had been shouting before but had apparently sunk into deep thought on hearing Keefer, clapped their hands and thighs respectively as if they had realized something.
"He"s right! I realized something, too! That"s the right way! I want to go again!"
This settled it. As one, the others quieted down and began pondering again with renewed enthusiasm, while those in queue smacked their lips as if in antic.i.p.ation and looked forward to their turn.
Meanwhile, Clyde, who had been prepared beforehand, stood to the side and said, "If you want to go in again, pay 5 more Ker Gems here. You can try to say no, but if you do, Travis knows a way to make this entire thing disappear."
This made everyone exclaim in shock, before they glanced at Travis as one.
"Yes. I didn"t mention it before, as you all needed to see that it existed in the first place. Please pay up. It"s not like you aren"t charged extra to enter the library even if you go out for lunch and have to go back in. Besides, the benefits are too amazing!"
With this, it became clear that the crowd had two options: either risk it, or follow along.
With the allure of the possibility of entirely changing their future, they chose the former.
As they grumblingly nodded, some in the initial 30 started to walk up to Clyde to pay.
"Great! Remember, use your time carefully. This phenomenon is somehow sentient- it appears and disappears in random places. That was why I advertised this expedition with caution, saying that it"s only "possible". Who knows, this might be the last time it graces us."
As a sense of urgency appeared in everyone"s face, they started to try to spend more and more time in the lake.
Percy was watching everything, but he chose not to comment.
However, he was slightly impressed with Travis"s tact which enabled him to milk this as much as possible.
It was mostly the case that he was bluffing, but it had worked.
As everything settled down once again, Daneel shared a look with the other 4 from the Shameless Sect.
All of this was scripted, and it had gone beautifully.
Last night, this was what the other 4 had been doing: they had approached those in the list of people who had signed up who were known for being opportunists.
These people were charged to fake this, and they were promised simplified explanations of what Daneel had learned, and 20 Ker Gems.
With such a large reward, and the possibility of succeeding using the explanation that had agreed.
This was his second phase of the scam: when doubt arose, he would use it to convert it into more earnings.
There were no risks, as it was impossible for these kids to comprehend anything without being beaten to an inch of their lives.
As for those who had been charged to act, Daneel would be giving them a different technique altogether which had been created by the system.
Only, it was barely on the level of an inheritance, which they would realize later and find out that everyone, including Daneel, might have been mistaken.
All in all, everything went smoothly until everyone gave up all the Ker Gems they had.
The actors were still posing, while the others were still puzzled.
Of course, the actors were staggered, so new ones arose with time so as not to arouse suspicion.
With everyone"s pockets empty, Daneel was wondering just how to dismiss them so that he could end this first operation of his successfully.
Thankfully, Percy helped him in this regard.
Stepping forward in a stern voice, he said, "Everyone, go back to the sect. You can get more Ker Gems and come back later. Comprehension also takes time, so think hard and rest. According to Travis, this will stay here for a day, so you can come back."
Hearing Percy say this, all of the sect members, who were already very mentally exhausted due to being beaten up continuously, nodded and made their way out.
Daneel was delighted, but he kept it to himself.
With an expression of reverence on his face, he gestured to Percy, who started walking to the lake.
However, on the way, he said something that surprised Daneel.
"I know that you bribed those few to act as if they understood. In truth, it takes a lot longer, right? You must also have promised them detailed notes about your experience. Hehe, don"t be surprised. I"ve done my fair share of scams, so I know how things work. Good job. I think you"ll definitely get away with this, until the sect seniors clamp down."
Daneel was honestly surprised, so he hadn"t hesitated to let it show.
Following it up with an expression that made him look like all of his secrets had been exposed, he accompanied Percy to the lake and waited in silence.
"I beseech you one last time, Senior Brother. I don"t know what adverse things might happen. Please reconsider."
In response, with a humph, Percy entered the lake.
He knew what was going to happen: he was going to enter a dream-like state, and he would be attacked, but the pain would only be illusory.
He was ready to endure as much as was needed, so he braced himself when that figure appeared in his vision after he felt drowsy on entering the lake.
Initially, he wanted to just experience the blows and try to investigate using that, so he just waited.
When the figure shot forward and punched him in the chest, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Pain! Waves of pain racked his body, but weirdly, it stayed.
The others had been talking that the pain usually faded after the first hit, so what was this?
Bang!
The next punch was to his face, and it made his jaw sting like it was on fire.
Again, the pain stayed.
With a horrifying realization, Percy fought to regain consciousness, and when he did, he looked down to see the imprint of a punch on his stomach.
He tasted blood, which meant that his body had suffered it too.
What the f**k? He was being hit in reality?!
As he tried to understand what was going on, he felt someone watching him and turned to see Travis standing on the sh.o.r.e and looking at him with an innocent expression on his face. He looked like he had just moved to somewhere else and gotten back, but Percy dismissed this.
No. This needed to stop! Each punch hurt like h.e.l.l!
However, just when he was about to call out to Travis or try to exit by himself, he felt himself being dragged back into the illusion, where the punches and kicks resumed with full force, even as he started to beg for them to stop.
Finally, 2 minutes later, he clawed his way to the sh.o.r.e and looked up at Travis, who was standing there with surprise on his face.
As Percy heard him speak with innocent shock, he felt like crying.
"Senior brother! Heavens! These are some REALLY adverse effects!"