Breathing heavily, Daneel got up in a flash and asked the system to repeat the notification.
Am-ambrosial fluid?
What the heck?!
How the hell could such a thing exist?!
Daneel had already known that the Mad Doctor was doing something to push the levels of those scum to the Peak Warrior level.
However, he had just thought that they were a few levels away, as he had had no way to find out their exact power levels during his short confrontation with them.
Now, hearing that this method was so magical that it could actually let an Amateur Warrior become a Peak Exalted one in a matter of months…he couldn't believe it!
Why the heck wasn't the sect practically filled with Exalted Warriors then?
There must be plenty of Warriors who only broke through due to sheer effort!
Why weren't they given this option, so that the Big 4 could grow powerful with leaps and bounds?
As he asked the system this, Daneel got his answers.
[Ambrosial Fluid requires top-grade materials that are rare in Angaria. Hence, the effective cost of setting up the fluid comes out to be in the hundreds of thousands of Ker Gems.
Also, the process of destruction and reconstruction is excruciating. Any foreign drugs or spells during the working of the Ambrosial Fluid results in abnormalities forming, so one can only handle the Fluid using their own fortitude. Hence, it has been recorded that many ingredients always used to get wasted because those undergoing the procedure would break in the process, critically injuring their consciousness.
Finally, those who are ready to leave behind any chance of advancing to the next level after working so hard to reach the Warrior level are few and far in between.]
Hmm…since when had the system started to reason?
Chalking it up to the recent upgrade, Daneel thought about the reasons listed, and realized that it made sense.
Still, one doubt appeared to him.
"Why was I not informed about a method like this if it was recorded before?"
[System has not been instructed to relay information on this topic. Also, in the data collected, it has been written that the ingredients for this process are extinct.]
Berating himself for not doing so before, Daneel immediately said, "Always prioritize information which can help me advance faster, and relay it to me as soon as it is recorded."
[Affirmative.]
Setting the alert now and feeling a little at ease, Daneel pondered over everything he had heard so far.
Clearly, this process must still be available to the higher ups of the sect. Still, the third point of the system did make the most sense: no one would be willing to give up the chance like that.
Putting aside the matter as he didn't have enough information, Daneel took a deep breath to ready himself for the bad news.
The good news was that he had a method to race to the Peak Warrior level. However, whatever material the system had said was needed to counteract the drawbacks must definitely be either extinct, or very hard to get.
Since coming to this world, he had almost never been directly handed things like the protagonists in many of the novels he used to read when he was back on Earth.
Instead, he had always had to claw his way to whatever he wanted to accomplish, and although he didn't regret this, he sometimes found himself wondering how it would be if he were like the overpowers characters in those stories.
Shaking his head to get rid of stray thoughts like these, Daneel finally asked, "Which item is required to counteract the drawbacks?"
[Ker Root.]
As Daneel heard these two words, he felt his heart drop, simply because of the fact that he had never even heard of them before.
Bracing himself, he asked the system what a Ker Root was.
[Ker Root: Ker Roots are one of the energy sources that used to be used by Champions in the ancient ages.
According to the data collected regarding Energy and Angaria, the occurrence of high-Energy areas across the land is random. The level of higher Energy also varies.
These high-Energy areas result in mines.
The two known levels of Energy result in Ether mines and Ker Gem mines.
Ker Roots are abnormalities which form during the conversion from a high-Energy area to a Ker Gem mine.
In 10 occurrences out of 100, part of the high Energy is converted into a red-colored heart-shaped object called a Ker Root. The other part results in the formation of the Ker Gem mine.
The Ker Root also constantly releases it's Energy to the Ker Gem mine, which means that by the time the mine reached full potential i.e the extra Energy vanishes, the Ker Root vanishes too.
Ker Roots have the property of releasing Energy peacefully in such a way that the one absorbing feels no discomfort whatsoever. The drawback of having one's path cut off to becoming a Champion while using Ambrosial Fluid is due to the repeated remolding, which results in a body lacking the ability to fulfill the conditions required to break through to become a Champion. A Ker Root's higher grade Energy would protect the Warrior's body and Mageroot, resulting in the elimination of the drawback.]
As Daneel took in all this information, he felt as if his head were reeling.
Some times, he felt as if the system was like those old men in the stories, whose only purpose was to spout exposition.
Finally digesting everything the system had spewed at him, he let out the breath he had been holding.
Great! Now, he had to find something that was rare even during the ancient times!
Calming down, Daneel first realized that he had no reason to complain at all.
Even having the possibility of using just months to do what others needed years for was a dream come true, so it would only make sense that it required something that was so rare.
So, now what? He was supposed to find a Ker Gem mine that hadn't been completely found yet?
Great.
Still unable to stop himself from grumbling a little as he had had his hopes up that it might be something easier to obtain, Daneel lied back down on his bed and started thinking about what to do next.
The scum were all dead, but the Mad Doctor was still alive. Heck, he was probably happily torturing Percy by now.
The spell that Daneel had given him was derived from the system's capability to control his face when needed. According to the system, it was a sort of self-hypnosis, and this was great as if Percy cast some spell while being inflicted with horrible weapons, the Mad Doctor would definitely notice using the movements of the Elementary Particles. With this spell, all Percy had to do was pre-cast it.
Feeling happy and proud that he had come up with that idea to help his disciple, Daneel got back to the matter at hand.
If he thought about it, even training every day felt futile next to the possibility of finding a Ker Root and somersaulting to become an Exalted Warrior.
Sill, Daneel didn't even know if one could be found in this day and age.
Whatever the case was, it seemed that he would have to break into the Central Tower again in order to visit more rooms in the floors which were hidden in the hope of finding more information he could use, and to look for ways to incriminate Ashahell.
Deciding to do this next, Daneel went to sleep.
….
Meanwhile, at a particular location on one of the rocky beaches surrounding Angaria.
This was a place that was frequently visited by the locals, as it had an incredible view, but none of them knew that this had been the base of operations for the Church of Rectitude for quite a long time.
Hidden using a 'Confounding Formation' that hid all traces of a base from those around it while also having the capability to constantly shift around if needed, the base of the Church comprised of a single tent, inside which was seated a man wearing purple robes.
The robes were similar in style to those worn by the members of the Church who had invaded Angaria, but it seemed to be made of a better material.
At the moment, this figure seemed to be in a deep sleep, but when a high-pitched alarm of sorts started to reverberate in the tent, he woke up and looked around.
His facial features were mostly unremarkable, except for his eyes.
His eyes seemed to be like two blinding torches that would scorch anyone that dared to look into them, and just a glance of them would definitely make one wish to bow down and pray that the one in possession of these eyes did not decide on a whim that they no longer needed to breathe.
Finding the source of the sound, these eyes dimmed, before the man stood up and shook off the dust that had settled on top of him during his long 'nap'.
Walking to an apparatus in the corner of the room that looked like a wooden table on which lay 3 shining human skulls that had patterns etched on them, the man placed his hand on the skull in the center and closed his eyes.
"Incoming Directive from the newly ascended Bishop who is in charge of foreign activities."
Raising an eyebrow in surprise due to the unexpected news, he asked, "Newly ascended Bishop? What happened to Bishop Francis?"
"He was killed in cold blood by an unknown assailant. Stand by for transmission."
Compressing his lips into a thin line due to the news, the man waited patiently, before hearing an authoritative female voice.
"As per my analysis of the Church's handling of the island-continent known as Angaria, the Church has been too soft. We need to increase our efforts and move forward the date of the purge, lest we risk the TriCobra Sect reinvoking their efforts on that continent after all the efforts which were made to drive them away. For this purpose, a Deacon of the Church, who was originally born on that continent but has now seen the Truth, will be sent."