"Hey man, it's ok, just give up!"
"I can't watch anymore…"
"Who is he? Is he crazy?"
"I'm gonna be sick…"
"Ya, I'm outta here."
Hearing these comments from the crowd, Daneel was going to chuckle, but he was in too much pain to do so.
It was as if there were no more bones inside his body; instead, he was just made up of mush which wouldn't hold together no matter what he did.
Only, he kept finding the strength somewhere to get up and get beaten down.
This was the 10th fight he was having with Skrrag, and by now, he had learned a bunch of things about this place.
Apparently, the Hidden Kill Sect was weird in the fact that it had more non-sect members than actual assassins.
Daneel had only gotten a vague reason for this, but from what he could gather, it was because the training equipment they used needed a lot of manpower to maintain.
Also, there seemed to be a lot of activities which needed human personnel.
Hence, this stadium had been constructed as a past-time for them.
At least, that was one of the reasons.
The other was that this was where non-lethal techniques were best learned.
The idea was that motivation in the form of condescension or cheering would push an individual to take more than they usually could in order to learn more.
Also, it could put them in an environment of high pressure, which was sometimes the case in assassinations.
And lastly, it was great to resolve conflicts between would-be assassins, which was very crucial as it would be a great loss for the sect if 2 assassins ended up killing themselves without being contracted for the deaths.
According to the Sect Leader, who had been so kind as to find him repeatedly after each fight to dissuade him from participating in another one, the 'crash-course' was designed to beat the techniques of the sect into someone's body.
This was a method set down in their archives for willing individuals who didn't meet the conditions to enter the sect to learn their techniques.
The techniques would be practiced on them, and they could take away whatever they learned to apply as they saw fit.
If…they didn't run away screaming.
This conversation had occurred after the 2nd fight, when Daneel had passed out again.
Then, he had also gotten a stinking suspicion regarding what the hell those from Lanthanor had been taught, if the conditions were so stringent for someone to learn the Sect's techniques.
Thankfully, there was nothing to worry about.
The Hidden Kill Sect's techniques were divided into major and minor tiers just like the levels of Fighters and Mages on Angaria: Amateur, Eminent and Exalted Humans, Warriors and Champions.
Apparently, the first two-Amateur and Eminent Human level techniques, which were meant for dealing with individuals of that level, were the ones that had been taught, because their rules stipulated that these techniques could be used for bargaining when the Sect was in dire need of something.
Clearly, whatever items were in the Basilisk Heart Formation were of very high importance to the Sect Leader.
Daneel didn't even ask why he wasn't being taught those techniques; an 'expert' wouldn't concern himself with low-level techniques that would be useless to him.
However, when he asked just what level of techniques were being taught to him using this 'crash-course', he didn't get an answer.
All he had gotten was another explanation that this was all they could give him, unless he wanted to learn the simpler techniques, which his 'disciple's soldiers knew anyway.
These were the instructions and rules set down by their ancestors, and they COULD NOT be broken.
If Daneel really were an expert, maybe he would have thrown a fit and given up.
Yet, he didn't do so, as he seemed to have hit a jackpot.
[Fighter Assassin Core Technique Analysis Progress: 78%]
This was the fruit of all those beatings.
Whenever he felt like giving up and surrendering, he would ask the system for the progress.
The thing that he hated most was: he was useless!
All his fighter prowess was NOTHING against Skrrag, who somehow moved so fast that his fist or leg would always be buried inside some part of Daneel's body before he even had a chance to make a move.
It was so darn frustrating that Daneel almost cast fireballs to burn the fool.
Yet, the system was analyzing, and that was all he needed.
He had heard before about the absurd effectiveness of the techniques of the Hidden Kill Sect, but this was his first time seeing them.
And, he couldn't be more impressed.
By now, there were bruises all over his body, even though Skrrag insisted that this technique was meant to be a 'hidden' one, which meant that it messed up the inner body without leaving any sign on the outer.
This made Daneel recall the move he and Elanev loved so much, which coincidentally had the same name.
He had half a mind to ask about it, but he was 'Master Novrain', not Daneel.
Of course, the crowds had given him a new name: 'Masochist'.
After the 10th fight, Daneel lost track of time.
All he remembered was flashes.
Being hit until he couldn't get up.
Being carried to a side-room, where the Sect Leader would be waiting with his rosy speech.
Telling both him and Skrrag to piss off while insulting them and their Sect.
And then getting beat up again.
In the middle of it, he even thought he got a dream of actually bonding with Skrrag because the guy became admiring of Daneel's persistence to keep taking it.
Pain was his world.
No matter how much it tried to consume him, he held on.
81%, 83%, 84%.
The incremental growth of the progress was all he lived for.
Each fight only lasted 15 minutes or so, and he also recovered and woke up fast because the system was there which kept casting healing spells on him.
This pain also had a secondary effect: it made him discover something.
Whenever he thought he was going crazy, Daneel would hang on, and by doing so, he found a way to focus his mind even if it didn't want to.
In other words, he was slowly learning to better control his mind.
By the 15th fight, Daneel had swellings and lacerations all over his body.
By the 20th, he was losing his grip over reality, and he was half convinced that this was all a nightmare.
By the 25th, there wasn't a single spot which wasn't bloody.
The stadium was completely empty by this time, so the only one spectating was the Sect Leader, who couldn't believe his eyes.
'What is wrong with this man?', he wondered.
This was the 26th fight, and if anyone had as many injuries as this man, they would have collapsed after a single strike from his son.
However, this man kept getting up and raising his hands to fight before being knocked down again.
His body had been through hell, but his endurance still seemed to be the same, or even better.
As the Sect Leader watched, he realized that something was wrong.
The actions of the man which had been forced till now, were robotic.
Casting a spell, he zoomed in and took a step back in shock on seeing that the man's eyes were actually…closed.
He was…fighting unconsciously?
What kind of willpower was necessary for something like this?
And what purpose could he possibly have for doing something like this in the first place?
Just as he was about to call for the fight to end, something incredible happened.
As if he had been jolted awake, the mysterious and masochistic master opened his eyes and raised his hands in surrender.
Suddenly…he had had enough?
What the hell?
Skrrag's elbow had stopped right in front of his face, where the next blow was going to be, so when the man collapsed, Skrrag immediately caught him and laid him on the ground.
"Check for the pulse!"
After all the bad luck the sect had had in the past few decades, it would be right up the Sect Leader's alley if their possible savior died due to them.
It was only after Skrrag did so and nodded did the Sect Leader calm down and call for the medical personnel.
This man had been so crazy that he had insisted on not receiving any help in between the fights, but now that he had surrendered, it didn't matter anymore.
After instructing the medics to keep him alive, the Sect Leader stormed back to his room, cursing at the King of Lanthanor for having such a crazy master.
…..
As Daneel slowly came to his senses and tried to open his eyes, he panicked when he saw that he couldn't.
Thankfully, a voice that was heard from beside him calmed his fears.
"Master Novrain, we are using a secret medical concoction of the sect to paralyze you while your body heals. Please do not panic."
Not trusting them, Daneel asked the system and felt relieved when he got the same answer.
If he could, he would have shivered on looking back into his memory and finding so many blanks.
The only thing he could remember clearly was the desire not to give up, as he did not trust himself to start enduring the pain again if he stopped in between.
That, and the notification at the end which had caused him to finally surrender.
[Analysis Complete. 'Basilisk's Breath' Inheritance detected. Basilisk's Breath: A fighter inheritance which requires certain conditions to be met to be obtained. Host has fulfilled the first condition: 'Bloody Baptism'.
Inheritance ready for activation.]
Daneel hadn't been able to believe it then, and he couldn't believe it now.
The technique he had been analyzing…was actually an inheritance?
What, it was raining inheritances now?!