As soon as Daneel got to the cottage, he noticed a familiar smell in the air. Knocking on Master Jonah's door, he tried to figure out just what it was. Although it was very similar to the honey trap solution, it was somehow different.
"Come in!"
Hearing the yell, Daneel opened the door and walked in to find his master bent over a jar of honey.
A thoroughly burnt bird was beside him, and he seemed to be cutting off pieces from the bird and mixing it in the solution.
Near him was a barrier which protected a single block of Ether. Just as Daneel entered, he deactivated the barrier with hopeful eyes.
Yet, a disappointed look appeared on his face seeing that not one mosquito entered the solution. Eight of them started munching on the Ether block, making Master Jonah cast a gust spell to shoo them away before reactivating the barrier.
"This damn solution! How does it work?! If only I figured this out, I could do so much more with it!"
At the doorway, Daneel chuckled secretly seeing his master's futile attempts. If his solution could be figured out so easily, then someone would have hit upon something similar a long time ago.
Turning around, he noticed Daneel and said, "Oh, Daneel. What did you come to find me for?"
Without a word, Daneel raised his palm, making a two feet long snake of lightning appear in front of him.
The number of elementary particles a mage could control was decided by his level. Now, with Daneel's 4th Grade Eminent Human Mage power, he had come a long way from being able to create just small sparks of lightning only a few inches long.
Seeing the crackling lightning, a glint shone in Master Jonah's eyes.
"You broke through! A new record, I see. So you don't just have pseudo-legendary potential after all. Well, that was pretty obvious after finding that Kellor supported you. So? Did you just come to show off?"
Hearing this, Daneel was reminded of the last time he had asked for a spar. He had just broken through to a 3rd Grade Human Mage, and he wanted to see just how powerful he had gotten. Not finding a suitable partner, he had chosen to ask his master.
A few minutes later, he found himself lying on the ground butt first with a blade of ice at his throat.
What was frustrating was that his master had used exactly the move Daneel did during the first year assessment. His leg had been pushed back by a strong gust of wind, and an ice prick appeared at his throat, sealing his defeat.
Daneel had had his elementary vision enabled, thus he saw that the true reason he had lost was that the gust somehow influenced the elementary particles around it, making it many times stronger and thus giving Daneel no chance to resist. It was the same effect he had seen the first time he met this man.
Daneel didn't even know the exact level of his master, but it left a bad taste in his mouth that he was defeated without even putting up a fight.
This time, he had a plan.
"I want a spar, and if I manage to hurt you, I want to know when the Church will attack the palace.", he said, his eyes shining with determination to obtain the information on his own terms.
Judging from everything he had observed so far, Jonah was at least an Eminent Human Mage at the peak level if he did not count the amplification that came from the peculiar spell model that he had acquired from the church. If he wished, he just might be able to put up an even fight if he gave it his all, but Daneel did not want to expose his full power. Of course, this was also disregarding the usage of spells like the compressed fireball which had been developed by the system. After all, a paragon was known for being able to defeat those above their level.
Raising his eyebrow, Jonah said, "Confident, are we? Fine, and I'll even let you make the first few moves. But if I win, you have to arrange a meeting with your master so that I can discuss a few.... business ideas." Kellor had already told Jonah about the figure behind Daneel.
Now, it was Daneel's turn to raise his eyebrow.
He agreed this easily?!
And here Daneel had prepared a whole list of taunts to try out.
Of course, he did not even know if Jonah was allowed to tell the date. After all, he did not know the details of the agreement between him and the church.
Puzzled, he asked, "You can tell me the date? I thought the Church would forbid you from leaking out their information."
As if remembering something unpleasant, Jonah grimaced before replying, "You let me worry about the Church. Besides, it won't be a secret for long. The Church believes in a ... straightforward approach. They want the people to see them beating down and purging the nobility. In this way, they want to incur good faith and make it all the more easier for them to convert them into their faith after they win. Of course, a direct assault is most risky, but they have a plan which even I don't know. As for the date, there's no problem in telling you. But, you must earn it first."
Daneel was quite shocked hearing this. He had been expecting that the forces would plan a secret attack and catch the palace off guard. Instead, they would march right through the front door?!
Well, he thought, at least he wouldn't need to worry about missing the occasion. Still, he needed to know the date beforehand.
"Let's do it."
Nodding, Master Jonah led the way out of the cottage. To Daneel, he looked like a treasure lode that might let him develop a new spell technique which would amplify his power and also give him the information that he needed to find.
Going to an open field nearby, Master Jonah took out and used the same trinket he had used before to activate the barrier that prevented spying.
Standing serenely, he simply gestured at Daneel to make his move.
The confidence irked Daneel, making him want to try his best and achieve something in this fight that would wipe that smirk off his master's face.
Immediately vanishing from his spot, Daneel reappeared behind his master. Pointing his hand forward, he made multiple fireballs much bigger than the ones he used to cast before appear in front of him. Each was the size of his head and blazed with a heat that distorted the air.
Shooting them without hesitation, he vanished again and appeared to the right of Jonah. This time, it was ice.
All Jonah did was conjure a barrier in front of him. Yawning, he idly watched the furious barrage of spells which stopped in their tracks and disappeared on impacting the barrier. It really seemed that he had been somehow affected by the fact that Daneel dared to bet with him, and now wanted to show him his place convincingly.
Daneel did not stop. Teleporting from location to location, he kept throwing balls after balls of multiple substances at the barrier that was protecting Jonah.
Soon, the barrier was almost completely coated by what appeared to be slushy mud.
"Whatever spell you throw at me is useless. And at your level, it is impossible for you to conjure a major spell this quickly. Let me end this farce."
Just as this voice was heard from inside the barrier, Daneel stopped teleporting around and stood in front of Jonah. A triumphant smile appearing on his face, he raised his hand for one last time.
Multiple lightning snakes just like the one he had shown to Jonah appeared around the barrier, coming into contact with the wet dirt and disappearing entirely.
Suddenly, a CRACKing sound was heard. Jonah's barrier broke, making all of the dirt on top fall on him as a shocked expression appeared on his face.
Immediately deploying another smaller barrier, he managed to stop the mud which was conducting electricity and threatening to electrocute him as soon as it came into contact.
An embarrassed expression appearing on his face, he said, "Nice trick. You still didn't touch me though."
Yet, Daneel simply pointed at the collar of Jonah's shirt, smirking. Looking down, he saw that a globule of mud had managed to pass through.
Touching it, he retracted his hand feeling the electricity that was still in it.
Sighing, he spread his arms and made the barrier expand, throwing the mud away.
Daneel had simply used a small trick to fool Jonah. A barrier made by a mage simply worked by controlling the elementary particles around them to make a wall that would only be broken if the power from the invading spells passed a threshold. There were two ways to break such a barrier: either a sharp enough force had to pierce through, or the overall integrity of the barrier had to be compromised by attacks from all directions.
Daneel had chosen the latter. Using spells like the fireballs and ice pricks as cover, he had made the surface of wet dirt appear, which was a good conductor. Then, he used this property to send the lightning bolts in and assault the barrier from all directions.
Of course, only a paragon would be able to master so many spells and cast them so quickly and precisely to result in the powerful effect.
"A bet is a bet. Good job, kid. You have grown up.", said Jonah, making Daneel smile even broader at the victory he had just grasped using his own abilities.