Setting his goals clearly in his mind, he eyed Faxul who was beside him still lost in thought from the incredible story.
Daneel thought back to each and every instant that he had been with Faxul so far. As he did so, he noticed that he had developed an instinct which told him whether or not to trust someone based on his experiences with them. Of course, although this instinct was still developing, it had already shown its worth when he had chosen to trust Kellor, prompting the system to award the achievement.
Now, he decided that Faxul would be one of the leaders of the faction he would build. Although his friend was lacking in social skills, his determination to work towards a goal was really something to be admired. Daneel knew that whatever mission he gave to Faxul, he would do his best to fulfill it in any way possible.
Unexpectedly, the system spoke at this moment.
[Secret Condition Met: 2 allies decided. Faction Module-1 Unlocked. 100 EXP awarded.
Faction Module-1: 1 official faction can be created with a maximum of 20 members. Host can now use the faction tools that are available in the system store. Additional faction tools have been unlocked.]
The notification made Daneel smile as he remembered all the incredible tools he had seen in the store. He had decided to start the faction first and then inquire as to how to use them, but the system had given the answer now itself.
Faxul, who had just awoken from his thoughts, had a puzzled expression on his face seeing a glint pass through Daneel's eyes. They were the eyes of a lion eyeing the prey that it would soon consume.
Seeing that Faxul was eyeing him from the corner of his eye, Daneel put away the thoughts that had started after hearing the notification from the system. He would have to make a trip to the Yellow comprehension batch very soon.
Coughing to break the awkward atmosphere, Daneel lead the way back to their rooms. Although Faxul simply followed, he was still wondering as to what exactly his friend had been thinking to make such an expression appear on his face.
Even before reaching the room, the sound of snores greeted them as they made their way up the stairs.
Master Jonah was still sleeping soundly on his bed, and the reek from the vomit had started to emanate outside. Due to the large quarters being mostly empty, Daneel and Faxul had chosen side by side rooms in a wing where there were no one else present.
Daneel closed his nose before opening the window and casting a gust spell to drive out the stink. Then, he made ice appear on the ground, freezing the vomit and choosing to deal with it later.
Finally, he bent down and screamed with all his might in the man's ears.
"MAAAAAAAASSSSSSSTTTTTTEEEERRRRRR JOOOOOONNNAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Eh?"
As if being pleasantly woken up from sleep, Master Jonah first looked around the room before staring at both of them. Then, he checked his pockets to take out another wine bottle before noticing that the two letters had vanished.
"I guess you two have handed in the acceptance letters. I won't be at the ceremony, so don't bother attending alone and being embarrassed when the council member calls out our names. If you want something, come find me at my cabin.", he said, before groggily getting up and walking out of the room. His slurred voice was quite deep, echoing in the room as the two watched on.
"What would you do to take revenge on the King?", Daneel asked suddenly, startling Faxul who had never expected Daneel to broach the matter of the master's past in this way.
Master Jonah, who had reached the door, suddenly turned around. His expression which had been one of inebriation had suddenly morphed into one of utter solemnity on hearing Daneel mention the king.
The drunken visage was gone, replaced by one of absolute seriousness as his eyes shone with the craftiness of a fox.
"I would wait and bide my time until I can take down the whole government in one fell swoop."
Seeing the smile on Daneel's face, Jonah smiled back before returning to the lackadaisical attitude of one thoroughly drunk. Daneel had suspected that this man must not have given up like the image he portrayed to everyone. Now, his suspicions were confirmed.
As he walked out with the same staggering steps, Daneel felt something odd in the air.
Switching to elementary sight, his jaw dropped seeing the incredible sight that followed his now master as he walked to the stairs.
As his body moved through the myriad particles that suffused the air, many of the particles moved aside seemingly of their own volition.
These particles definitely weren't being controlled, because it was easy to spot when one was deliberately controlling particles. This was because the rigid movements that replaced the free, floating dance of a typical elementary particle were quite easy to notice. At least, this was what Daneel had been taught so far.
As for Master Jonah, his steps seemed to have a certain rhythm in them which caused the particles to move away on their own. Noticing this pattern, Daneel was shocked out of his mind as he had never even imagined that one could move particles in this way.
This was true connection! In front of this, what Daneel and the other mages did looked like some children's game. True connection meant that particles would move by simply being coaxed, instead of having to be forced to move like what had been taught to them.
Turning around in the corridor and seeing Daneel looking at him with shock on his face, Jonah winked before disappearing in the air.
Suddenly seeing the man vanish, Daneel snapped out of the shock before decided to reorder his priorities again. He had to visit this man and find out just how the hell it was possible to have such magnificent control. This was definitely not the method taught in Lanthanor, and Daneel needed to know where this technique came from. There was no response from Phenomena Analysis Module-2, hence it meant that he still needed to observe the technique more.
His master was definitely not a simple man. Yet, such natural control of particles felt oddly familiar.
This feeling only dawned upon Daneel because he had been reminded of the first time he had truly been awed by magic.
The Firewind Dragon! That was something that he could never forget. To make sure if his peculiar feeling was correct, he decided to ask the system.
"Was the technique to control particles I just watched similar to the one used to control the Firewind Dragon?"
[After analysis of host's encounter with the Firewind Dragon, it has been deduced that there is a 70% similarity between the effects that were observed in both phenomena. With present information, system cannot ascertain whether this is the result of a similar spell technique.]
Spell technique! Daneel had learnt this concept but had put it aside after hearing that there was only one technique in the Kingdom of Lanthanor. Spell techniques were frameworks, or rule books, by which any spell was designed. In Lanthanor, the technique was to connect with particles first after which a mage would send particular instructions to make the particles act in a certain way to bring out the desired effect.
His suspicion had been right. This phenomena was just too startling to go unnoticed, especially now when he was in possession of Elementary Sight and had already trained an year as a mage.
Connecting to as many air particles as he could in front of him, Daneel walked forward, trying to emulate what he had just seen.
A blinding headache suddenly assaulted him, making him fall to the ground as a watching Faxul ran over to see what was wrong.
His forehead felt like it was on fire, but Daneel couldn't help but feel joyful on hearing the system's sweet voice.
[Threshold particle limit reached. Host is undergoing breakthrough to 1st Grade Amateur Human Mage.]