Off the top of his head, Daneel could remember two major ways to incriminate someone: either spread a rumor about their involvement in a particular event, or plant false evidence to make others think that they had done something they hadn"t in reality.
Usually, the Sect Master was one of the most respected figures in the entire Sect.
However, just like everything else, this wasn"t the case in the Sect of Hedon.
Either due to the fact that the one who was in control of all of them wasn"t that much older than the average Warrior, or due to the reason that the Sect Master was an aloof person who didn"t spend much time in the Central Tower, the general opinion on Sect Master Ashah.e.l.l was mostly neutral.
Very few disliked him, but there were also only very few who liked him a lot in his post.
In such cases, the best thing to do was to find a rival who could take their post, and empower them with tools that they could use to take their rival, who would be, in this case, Ashah.e.l.l down.
Here, Daneel hit a snag.
"A rival for Sect Leader Ashah.e.l.l? Are you kidding? Do you think Peak Champion Level powerhouses just pop up wherever you want like cabbages?"
"Sect Leader Ashah.e.l.l isn"t the most charismatic of people, but he is the strongest amongst us all."
These were the typical answers that Daneel received when he casually brought up the topic over lunch with a few people that Travis was supposed to be acquainted with.
Everyone knew he was dead meat in a few weeks anyway, so they had begun to pity him.
Ignoring this annoying att.i.tude, Daneel continued his investigations.
He knew that somewhere, there must be something that he could use to bring suspicion and blame on Ashah.e.l.l.
For this purpose, he had even tasked the system with actively eavesdropping on all conversations around him, 24/7, looking for clues.
Although this put a strain on his mageroot due to the fact that the system had to develop a spell to make this happen, he didn"t mind, and put up with the slight throb in his forehead.
Finally, 2 days later, Daneel caught a break.
"The Sect Leader was definitely gloating over the Mad Doctor"s misfortune. I was right there! On the surface, it looked like he was consoling him but I could tell that he was happy! The Mad Doctor could, too! He screamed with frustration after the Sect Leader left!"
"Really? Can"t that scream be because hundreds of thousands of Ker Gems, the Mad Doctor"s lifetime acc.u.mulation, were wasted due to that culprit"s actions? From what I heard, it was only his son who had the actual solution. The others only had lesser ones, and their fathers paid for it! Although those people are just a bunch of retired Warriors, it was their life savings too! Apparently, they all formed a group which has sworn to take revenge!"
"Nah, I know it for sure. That scream was because of whatever the Sect Leader told him. I bet they must have had some disagreements before."
"Might be. It"s a pity that solution couldn"t be purified. What a waste of resources."
"Meh. What do you know. This happens all the time with the top levels of the Sect. They spend hundreds of thousands of gems, like obtaining the solution for their sons, but they just turn out to be whiny brats! Now THAT is a waste."
"Sigh."
That last sigh was definitely to lament over the disparity between themselves, who were regular Sect Officials that were at most at the Eminent Warrior level, and the higher echelons of the Sect.
Daneel had had to put up with a very irritating headache for 2 days in order to finally obtain this very valuable information, so he felt really glad that he had taken the decision to persevere.
Hearing them, he couldn"t help but think that there was definitely a parallel between Earth and this Sect.
Even on Earth, the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world would never hesitate to spend bucketloads of money, that would count as a treasure and lifetime sustenance for most of the rest of the world, for trivial reasons.
Of course, the argument could be made that these people had the right to do so as they had worked hard to obtain that money, but similar to the case in Angaria where the saving of those Ker Gems might result in the decrease of the rate of overall Energy dispersal over the centuries on the continent, those people could act to save the planet they were on before it became too late, even though there were many warning signs.
This line of thought led Daneel to once again think that Ashah.e.l.l"s purpose really had some merit to it. He just wanted to save the continent, and he saw no other way to do so.
However, killing millions of people was definitely not the way, and Daneel would put a stop to him.
Yet, when he asked himself what he would do regarding saving the continent from the fate of completely running out of Energy, he could only say that he had to take things one at a time.
Ending this inner monologue, Daneel concentrated on the other important information that had just surfaced.
The Mad Doctor had some kind of feud with Ashah.e.l.l.
What could it be?
Personal things such as these definitely wouldn"t be lying around randomly for him to read and find out.
Also, it wouldn"t be wise to ask around specific stuff like this. If word got to anyone in the higher echelons, it would definitely arouse suspicion. Just asking about people"s opinion of the Sect Leader, and possible rivals had already been pretty risky.
Sinking into deep thought, Daneel finally hit upon an idea that was bold, and frankly, a little bit reckless.
However, it had the most chance of succeeding.
Deciding to act immediately, he exited his office and made his way to the infirmary.
The Mad Doctor had that moniker for two reasons: One, of course, was because he was pretty mad, but the other was because of the fact that he was one of the most accomplished healers in the entire Sect.
Such mastery of healing spells required detailed study, as one would have to watch for themselves exactly what kind of effect elementary particles had on the skin and tissues of a human in order to learn and figure out ways to heal life-threatening injuries.
He officially held the post as Head of Medicine, and according to the rules of the sect, all "Head"s had to entertain requests to pick disciples who would continue their craft.
This was to make sure that a post wouldn"t stay vacant when the time came for the one possessing it to step down.
The infirmary occupied an entire floor of the Central Tower, mainly filled with strange solutions of various colors in which injured people were placed, and beds where those who had gotten out of the solution was resting.
As he paused, he saw with his own eyes how the index finger of someone who had crushed it during training regenerated from the stump, albeit at a slow pace.
On one corner, there was a room t.i.tled "Head of Medicine", which Daneel headed to.
However, he was stopped on the way by a man who was wearing blue robes, which meant that he worked as an official healer in the Central Tower.
"Whoa, whoa, do you have a death wish? Where are you going?"
"I wanted to apply to be taken as an apprentice with the-"
"Oh, so you"re definitely mad! The Mad-, err, I mean, the respectable Head has just lost his son. He is in no state to take requests. Instead, you might find yourself become the unwilling test subject for a radical healing approach! If you want to live with all of your limbs, I suggest you leave, right now."
Daneel smiled ruefully at first, as he was actually counting on the fact that the Mad Doctor would be unstable.
Yet, so as not to appear odd and make this man suspect that something was going on, he got an idea and said, "That"s where you"re wrong! Yes, the respectable Head lost a son, but I think this is the best time! Think about it! Isn"t there a chance that he might pick me as a replacement to train?"
Hearing this, the man looked at Daneel with pity.
Shaking his head, he said, "Ah, I see you have the incurable disease of stupidity. Carry on. It was nice seeing you. If you need a message pa.s.sed on to your next of kin, you can tell me now."
"Pfft. Just watch me."
Shrugging off the hand laid on his shoulder for consolation, Daneel proceeded to walk towards the office of the Mad Doctor with confident strides.
Knocking on the door, he heard a guttural voice say, "Come in."
As he entered under the pitying gaze of the man, Daneel froze, as he was quite shocked by the sight of the Mad Doctor.
The man"s veins were jutting out all over his body, and his eyes were so bloodshot that Daneel could barely make out the whites in them.
His hands were covered with blood, but Daneel couldn"t tell whose it was.
Seeing someone he didn"t know enter, he bellowed, "What the f*ck do you want?", while the anger of a Champion sent the surrounding elementary particles into a tizzy, making random lightning and fire appear across the room.
This sight finally made Daneel wonder whether he had been just a bit too reckless.
…
Meanwhile, inside the waterfall at an unmarked spot east of the Black Raven Kingdom.
As Faxul hesitantly walked forward and touched the stone podium, a voice reverberated in his mind, making him step back with shock.
"Hehe, kiddo, it"s your lucky day. Are you ready to become a Peak Champion? And oh, by the way, your closest friend used one of my brethren to grow that strong, too. How else do you think he was capable of all those wonders?"