By the time Raul arrived in the large arena that had formerly been just a series of empty rooms in the vast underground of the Palace of Lanthanor, the King was hard at work laying down multiple formations that he couldn"t even recognize.
In fact, this dueling ring had only been commissioned and built recently after Daneel gave the idea that it might be popular if they hosted some kind of tournament on the Network for which people from all over the world could attend.
Maybe there could even be a judging panel comprised of popular Fighters and Mages, and they could choose contestants based on both skill and power.
Right now, though, this place was going to be used for something very different, and remembering the power that Warriors, themselves, could wield, Daneel didn"t want this place destroyed when a battle between Champions took place.
He had a very happy expression on his face, and he was humming merrily to himself while he went about his work. The reason behind this was that his entire body had been woken up, where it had been sleeping before.
Each and every movement felt effortless, and the speed at which his body responded amazed and awed him. He felt as if a simple punch would be enough for him to cause a deep crack to appear in the ground, and he actually had to refrain himself from trying.
While waiting for Raul, Daneel had been thinking about power levels, over all, as he could now clearly estimate just how powerful a Champion was when compared to a Warrior.
Starting from the beginning, when talking about Fighters, the Human realm was one where an individual was able to display superhuman strength. Even though Peak Humans could use techniques that made them seem practically unreachable by normal people, the truth was that their feats of strength and speed were only a bit farther than those that could be reached if a human being trained to the utmost, and if they were blessed with talent. Daneel had already tracked this, and when compared to the world records in various areas set on Earth by athletes, what those at the Peak of the Human realm could accomplish was one step beyond. For example, on Earth, the fastest running speed recorded was 44 kph(27.4 mph), but a Peak Human could easily maintain a top speed of 60-70 kph(37.28-43.49 mph) for a brief period of time.
A similar comparison could be made in strength, too, but the thing to be noted was that these numbers would be taken further if specific techniques were used, and that techniques could also allow people on Angaria to do things that earthlings could only dream of. Case in point was Daneel"s first technique, itself: the Hidden Kill Fist.
Next up were Warriors, and this was where Daneel felt that individuals became beings who had already crossed the shackles placed on them at birth.
Right after breaking through, a Warrior could handle 4-5 Peak Humans easily, and after estimations, Daneel had also calculated the top speed of a typical Warrior, using no techniques.
It was a whopping 200 kph(124.27 mph).
Just the idea of someone being able to run calmly beside a car that was almost going full speed would be inconceivable to anyone from Earth, but here, it was possible.
Of course, this was simplest for those who focused on speed, but there were metrics for those who believed that the strength of their muscles was absolute, too.
According to the system, a Human and a Warrior who focused on strength mainly as their weapon in battle would be able to lift 700 kg(1543.2 pounds) and 2000 kg(4409 pounds) respectively. When compared to the record on Earth, which was 500 Kg(1102 pounds), this was astounding.
Of course, all these numbers weren"t the best way to estimate power, as anyone listening to them wouldn"t be able to visualize the difference clearly if they just used this.
So, if the strongest human could lift an adult horse, then a Peak Human would be able to do the same to a cow, and a Warrior would even be able to lift a large car.
When it came to Mages, though, such clear distinctions couldn"t be made, although Daneel knew that he could make an effort to cla.s.sify Mage power levels using comparisons with things from Earth, too.
However, he left that for another time, as the focus right now was on Fighters.
Coming to himself, he had already measured the amount of power he held in his fists.
He was a Champion level Fighter who had just broken through, and without any techniques that utilized Energy in special ways or the powers given by the Bloodline, his bare body could lift…an incredible 10,000 Kg(22,046 pounds).
It was amazing!
If Daneel was on Earth right now, he could practically lift a huge truck and throw it anywhere he wished.
Such power was approaching that which could be seen in superheroes back on Earth, and the best superhero to compare Fighters to was, of course, the big green man.
All those fancy actions scenes that Daneel had seen in movies, with that guy flinging around cars and trucks and even smas.h.i.+ng buildings into smithereens, were all feats that could be done by him now.
The breakthrough from being a Warrior to a Champion was truly a transformative one, and it brought about a much greater leap in power when compared to when an individual became a Warrior.
It was to be expected, though, as this was something that very few could achieve. Their body would change from the very core, and each and every cell would be able to hold more Energy to burst forth with power.
Of course, if they used the abilities that the Path they had used gave them, their power would rise to a different level which wouldn"t even be able to be clearly cla.s.sified.
Hearing Raul arrive behind him, Daneel finished the last formation and turned around before saying, "Welcome! How is the training going? And I trust your stay here has been well?"
Daneel had practically left this man on his own after giving him the duty of training the Domination Corps.
He had bee checking up on them a few times, and he was happy with the progress.
Nodding, Raul said, "It has been well. Those lads have the kind of determination that impressed even me, and their power is growing steadily. Soon, the first batch of Warriors should be ready. Actually, there was one thing which I wanted to bring to your attention…"
Raising one eyebrow, Daneel asked, "Oh? What is it?"
"It is regarding those Warriors who are still under lock and key. They really wish to be free, but most are still against swearing an oath. They want to know if any agreement can be reached where both sides will be happy, such as that the oath can limit the amount of time they will need to serve under you before they can achieve freedom."
Daneel frowned as he heard this.
The ultimatum he had given to those Warriors was that they should swear an oath to obey each and every thing he said, and it looked like their main concern was that they would be enslaved by him forever. Obviously, death would seem preferable to this. Of course, this offer was only given to a few of the Warriors who did not have violent pasts where they had ma.s.sacred people just for the heck of it. Those who did have such pasts had already been segregated by Daneel, and this group that he had been dipping into whenever there was a need, such as recently, when he had had to use a Warrior to display the efficacy of a spell.
Warriors were valuable, and now that he thought about it, Daneel wasn"t against giving them a set time that they should serve. He was pretty sure that they would want to follow him forever anyway after that much time after seeing exactly what he was capable of, but by then, he would have reached a level when he wouldn"t need them. When that came to be, it really would be interesting to see them regret not taking this offer before.
Chuckling to himself, Daneel was about to agree, but he suddenly got an idea.
"How about this? I called you here because I wanted to have a friendly battle. I just managed to breakthrough as a Fighter, and I wanted to test my power. But wouldn"t it be interesting if there were stakes? If you win, I"ll agree directly to their requests. But if I do, you will need to convince them to obey mine. Maybe I"ll ask for 20 instead of 10? I don"t know yet, but I mean that you should convince them in whatever I come up with. All right?"
Raul was quite surprised as he heard this.
The King…had broken through as a Fighter?
This was pretty astonis.h.i.+ng given his age, and it was possible that he would even give almost all the major seeds in the Big Four a run for their money.
However, he was more concerned about this fight, and the stakes.
The main reason he was advocating for them was a single person among them whom he cared for, and she had been the one to suggest this. He had already tried convincing her, but she just didn"t want to swear her life away.
Letting out a breath, Raul made a decision.
He would give it his all.
With a nod, he said, "All right. I"ll go all out."
Hearing this, Daneel smiled, and simply raised his fists.
Although the Bloodline of a Shapes.h.i.+fter was trashy, it was still the Bloodline of a G.o.dbeast.
And that…meant that there were already specific things which set him apart from normal Champion-level Fighters.
Raul was a different man from the one that Daneel had fought before, and it was clear that he had refined his fighting style.
Raising his hands, the Champion level Mage of Balance conjured a physical apparition of himself.
And, of course, the World responded to conjure another one, as his resonance made it so that no matter what he did, it would be replicated naturally without him having to put in any extra Energy.
"I haven"t been idle all these days. I have developed my technique of battle, and I must warn you that it might be dangerous."
In response, Daneel just laughed and ran forward.
He was a Fighter, so flying was a no-no. Although there were Champion-level Fighter techniques that would allow one to use their body to manipulate elementary particles in the same manner as a Mage who used his Mageroot, like he had seen other Champions do, they would be a drain on his over all power.
Unless he needed to, Daneel had no plan to use anything but his fists and legs.
The two apparitions shot forward, too, and they reached him quickly.
As they launched two fists at his face, Daneel ducked and tried to move forward to reach the enemy, but he had to stop as two legs were already whirling toward him from different directions in a bid to stop him in his tracks.
Each kick and each punch caused minor shockwaves to occur, and they even caused sounds almost like mini-explosions. That was just the explosive power imbued in them, as it looked like they each had the power of a Champion.
That was pretty…awesome!
In front of him, as he looked at Raul who was watching intently with his palms raised, he figured out his plan.
Raul was probably using half his power on these things, while the rest was conjuring a spell to bombard him and cause his defeat.
The apparitions would stall him, and Raul must be burning through Energy quickly to be able to imbue them with so much power.
So…this was basically a battle of who would reach who first.
If Daneel got past these two and reached Raul, he would win.
If he was stalled for long enough, Raul"s attack would reach him, and he would lose.
A smile appearing at the corner of his lips, Daneel felt the blood pumping in his veins as he rose to the challenge.
"Let"s play," he said, before pulling back his own fists and beginning the fight.
…
Meanwhile, Rayen, who was idly pa.s.sing time in his abode by reading a novel about a sultry maid, didn"t know that his son had gotten into a fight that was pus.h.i.+ng both him and the King of Lanthanor to their limits.
Suddenly, hearing a "beep", he walked to a communication trinket and picked it up to see who was messaging him.
It was a Hero named Gregor, and the two of them didn"t get along.
Wondering why this guy was contacting him, he touched it, and his jaw dropped as he heard the message.
"Rayen. Didn"t you want to kill that upstart King of Lanthanor who turned your son to ash? Well, it seems there"s a plot going on for just that to happen, and we"ve found out about it. What do you say we lend a hand?"