"Miss. Xuan! Please! If you insist on attacking our guest, then we will have to respectfully ask you to leave! I request you to handle your matters outside!"
As Skrrag said these words with indignation on his face, Sister Xuan shrugged and was about to speak, but Daneel cut both of them off.
"It's all right, kiddo. I can handle her. In fact, I'll do so right now. Let's go to your place, Missy, because you've destroyed mine! I'll tell you all about where I'm from, so that your Matron doesn't go on a tizzy. All right?"
"Humph."
Crossing her hands and glaring at Daneel for a bit, Sister Xuan walked away, making Skrrag stare.
Finding this as the perfect time to test whether his memory was a dream or not, Daneel laid a hand on Skrrag's shoulder and said, "Hey, don't worry about it. Like I said, I can handle her. Thank your dad for that crash course. It helped heaps! But I would love to spar with you again. Not in the stadium, though. Maybe that way, I can show you how a real expert fights, with no strength limiter. What do you say, kiddo?"
Through the shirt that Skrrag was wearing, Daneel could feel the scales.
Just like a reptile's, they felt cold, and he could tell this even through the fabric.
Nodding with a smile, Skrrag replied, "Yes, Sir. I would love to. I'll come find you after you…handle her."
As Skrrag walked away after leaving these words, Daneel couldn't help but smile to himself on seeing that the ordeal yesterday had a secondary benefit which might end up helping him to reach his goal.
Hoping for the best, Daneel followed the route Sister Xuan took and was led to the mansion on the other side of the road.
It seemed to be a replica of his, with all the rooms mirrored.
After closing the door behind him, he was about to turn around and speak but stopped when he saw Sister Xuan shushing him.
Taking out a globe-shaped trinket from her pocket, she activated it before talking.
Clearly, it was meant to stop others from surveilling their location.
"King Daneel, if you had told me you were coming here, we could have left together."
Daneel still remembered her bold words back in Lanthanor, but he tried to ignore that memory while talking to her.
Apart from the previous King of Lanthanor, Sister Xuan, Molan, and the Matron were three people who were also aware of Daneel's other identity.
Back in the Black Raven Kingdom, when he had almost died to the black-robed man, he had been saved by them but also exposed in the process by Sister Xuan's intelligence.
"I thought it was a secret! What are you doing here, anyway? And where's your sidekick?"
"Oh, Molan? She had to go back to the Sect for something. I'm alone for now."
Hearing her say this in a happy tone, Daneel also smiled before taking a seat in front of her on a sofa.
After that angry performance before, if Skrrag could see the both of them acting in this way, he would definitely have been shocked.
"I'm here to take a shot at the Basilisk Heart Formation, just like you. This is something momentous, so the Sect Leader isn't placing his bets only on you. He has invited people from all 4 of the Big 4, and I'm representing the Goddess's Sanctum. The Matron says that if we do find a way to make the Hidden Kill Sect stronger by extracting the things stored in their formation, it might help Angaria on the whole. So, she sent me with the best formation-breaking trinket we have."
This made Daneel raise an eyebrow in surprise.
He was finally going to meet people from all 4 members of the Big 4?
Frankly, he had been irritated for a long time because he had no information about them except the name of the one that Sister Xuan belonged to.
"So will I finally be knowing their names, at least?"
When he had asked before, she had said that she wasn't authorized to talk about them.
It seemed that that was still the case.
"Well, if they tell you, you'll find out. I can't go giving out their names! I hope you understand. You have a kickass inheritance, by the way. If I didn't know you, I would already have started a fight to take it from you. So, does the inheritance help you with analyzing formations, or did you find some trinket that does the same thing? Come on, you can tell me."
Seeing her talking so casually with him, Daneel tried to remember when their relationship had gone from 'acquantances' to 'friends'.
Well, it would be rude not to respond in kind, and she had helped him a lot by keeping him updated on the Big 4's actions during the Olympics.
"I'm not that easy. I might tell you, though, if you could tell me more about inheritances in the first place. You know that I only have mine. Where are inheritances found, in general?"
Now, it was Sister Xuan's turn to raise an eyebrow.
After putting an expression of thought for a few seconds, she said, "I guess I can tell you, because this is information you can find in other places too, if you look hard enough. Inheritances can be found…anywhere! In a random cave, a hole in a tree, in the ground. They might be protected by formations which require conditions to be met for them to be accessed, but for the most part, inheritances can be found just lying around if you're lucky."
This shocked Daneel, who had been thinking that they were some mystical objects that could only be found after going through great peril.
"Don't look so shocked! An inheritance is a loose term, really. If you find a way to cast a spell in a way that's better than the norm, you've made an inheritance! Anything which can be passed on to the future generations is an inheritance, after all."
This explanation made Daneel roll his eyes.
However, just as he was about to ask her to just say that she couldn't disclose any information instead of beating around the bush, Sister Xuan spoke again.
"Don't be so impatient, King Daneel. All these things can be called inheritances, but the real ones, which are valued even by the Big 4, are those which have survived tens of thousands of years. They are the same: spells or techniques passed down by someone. However, if that someone happens to be a reputed individual in the history of Angaria, then there's a chance that what they passed down might contain something that we call the jackpot of inheritances: A Core Inheritance. Core inheritances change the way the body or the mageroot works, thereby multiplying the effective power output of whoever is lucky enough to find them. They could be spell models, fighter techniques, anything! If an inheritance multiplies your power, then it is a core inheritance. And these are coveted by the entire continent itself. There is a rumor about them, though, that core inheritances are present in all major Kingdoms in Central Angaria. The Big 4 searched, but we didn't find any."
As Sister Xuan gave this explanation, Daneel noticed something.
She had her eyes focused on his face, as if she was searching for something.
Daneel had noticed this even before she began telling about the information about core inheritances, so when she brought this important thing up, he realized what she was doing.
She was trying to trick him like before, when he had revealed his identity!
This smart girl wanted to check for a change in his expression so that she could figure out whether what she was saying applied to his inheritance.
In fact, Daneel got a doubt that she had spouted all that stuff before to knock him off guard so that when she did tell him the important stuff, he would be more susceptible to revealing his feelings.
However, Daneel was one step ahead of her.
"System, freeze my face."
All she saw was the same interest as before, so as Sister Xuan cursed inside with frustration at having her plan fail, Daneel rejoiced.
This woman was really smart!
And this was actually…quite impressive.
Thankfully, he had been prepared, or she would have gotten to know that he did, indeed, have a core inheritance.
And that too, not just one, but two.
As for the information about that rumor, it sounded VERY interesting to Daneel.
However, just as he was about to ask about it, a knock sounded on the door.
Glancing at Daneel, Sister Xuan got up and went to open it.
"Sister Xuan! What a pleasure! I didn't know I would be finding you here!"
Turning around, Daneel felt like punching whoever was the one with this voice.
He couldn't help it; it had such a slimy tone to it, as if the person who possessed it must be the most annoying individual on the continent.
It was really strange, he could swear that he had never felt this way about anyone he had met so far on Angaria.
However, when he laid eyes on the man who was entering the house after saying these words, Daneel realized that he was right.
This man had slicked back, blonde hair, and he was clean-shaven. He had a round nose and shifty eyes, along with a wide forehead. Yet, all these couldn't describe why Daneel felt like he had been right; this was the most punchable man on Angaria.
If he had to guess, it might be because of the expression which was so naturally smug that it would make anyone puke.
Following behind the man were two other people, but these two elected to stay silent.
"Percy? So they sent you?"
Hearing Sister Xuan's reply, Daneel understood who they were.
Clearly, the representatives of the other three members of the Big 4 were here.
With a sigh, Daneel realized that he was running out of time.
With people from the Big 4 around, he would have to tread even more carefully, and the auspicious moment when the formation would open was fast approaching
Getting up, he was about to leave, but he stopped when that punchable guy looked at him with narrowed eyes and said, "You must be the one from that village, Lanthanor. Your disciple made my dad cut off my younger brother's |gulp| tool. Sit down. I need to have a talk with you."