When Daneel finally woke up in a puddle of his own drool, sunlight was pouring through the windows.
The 21 rogue Warriors and Mages had attacked during the evening, and the show had gone till midnight. After that, Daneel had been occupied with the Hero, and, now, it looked like he had slept on…Drakos until morning.
Oh, yes, the stone pedestal was Drakos!
The moment he realized this, he made fire evaporate the drool before hastily wiping what was left on his mouth.
"I-"
"Don't say it."
He knew Drakos was going to say 'I told you so,' so he cut off the dragon before it could finish.
Shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the pounding headache, Daneel asked the system, "Has all the information been categorized and analyzed?"
For the first time in a long time, the system took a moment to reply.
[Categorization completed. Analysis in progress. Most of the data collected exceeds system's complexity. Hence, storage is taking longer than expected. Hero-level information which cannot be analyzed is being placed in 'blackboxes', where spells can be accessed when needed, but their working cannot be analyzed and modifications are not possible unless host upgrades the system.]
Daneel had already expected this. The system was still at Peak Champion level, so it couldn't really analyze Hero-level stuff. However, by imitation, it could cast the spells given by Drakos. This taxed Daneel's mageroot heavily, as it was just like someone using a tool to get an output without understanding what that tool was or how it achieved the result.
Before Daneel revisited those categories which had made him froth at his mouth when he heard them, he decided to find out how much EXP he had accumulated over all this time, and whether he was close to the upgrade.
Until now, the system's complexity had always been a full realm above his. Yet, now, if he wasn't able to upgrade it, he might break through to become a Champion and be on its general level for the first time.
"System, tell me my total EXP and tell me what is needed for the upgrade."
[Affirmative. Would host like to hear the pending notification regarding the Kingdom Satisfaction Level Milestone?]
"Yes!"
This was the second major thing he had been looking forward to after hearing that he had managed to have his Kingdom reach the level required to break the second seal.
These Kingdom Development Milestones that the system had given him, for some reason, coincided with the levels required for the seals to be broken. Daneel didn't think that this was anything except a coincidence, as he assumed that these metrics might be things that the Emperor had found out after a lot of research and time, so it wasn't surprising that the system was using them, too. After all, the system usually did use the best metrics available to judge his performance.
Last time, with the Olympics, Daneel had gotten the Kingdom Satisfaction Level to 26% with great difficulty. He had been told that the next milestone was 30%, and that the reward would be multiplied by 5 times, from 10,000 to 50,000.
The system responded at this moment, making him smile on seeing that his memory was right.
[Satisfaction Level: 38%
Dissatisfaction Level: 19%
Milestone Reached. 50,000 EXP awarded.
Next Milestone: 60% Satisfaction Level.
Award: 250,000 EXP]
For a few moments, Daneel could only stare into the air slack-jawed while he asked the system to repeat the notification.
He couldn't believe it!
Earlier, he had had to try so hard to increase the satisfaction level by a few percents using the Olympics. Now, it had suddenly increased by this much?!
The next moment, he remembered what Queen Arafell had said.
The more people there were, the easier it was to get a high satisfaction level!
"System, is this satisfaction level only for Lanthanor, or for Eldinor, too?"
After all, he was ruling both of them out in the open.
[System informs host that satisfaction level is only for the Kingdom of Lanthanor, as the tool only allows system to scan a set area around host. Please upgrade the tool if host wishes to scan more areas. Upgrade cost: 15,000 EXP]
Oh, right.
He had forgotten about this little tidbit.
Unlike the Empire Spirit which had been given the ability to judge satisfaction level by the Emperor, the system was simply using a tool which he had bought. If he wanted to scan more area, he needed to upgrade it.
Yet, before he started spending EXP, Daneel decided to wait for the answer to his other question.
[Total EXP: 247,000
Cost/Requirements of Upgrade: Locked. Certain conditions must be fulfilled by host for the requirements to be locked. Currently, only the EXP required is available.]
Daneel was a little crestfallen, as he had been hoping that gaining so much information might have changed this. Well, at least he could find out how much EXP was needed.
Bracing himself, he said, "All right, tell me how much EXP is needed."
[EXP needed for upgrade: 1,000,000]
Yeah…there it was.
Daneel had actually expected this, but he just hadn't wanted to admit it.
For the first upgrade, the cost had been 10,000 EXP.
For the second, it had been 100,000 EXP.
So…if the trend continued, the cost would have been multiplied by 10 times, again, which was what had happened.
Also, there seemed to be additional conditions which he hadn't unlocked yet.
Sighing, he felt happy, for now, that the bad news was out of the way.
Rubbing his hands, a smile came on his face as he said, "Ok, list the categories of data collected, and give me summaries about each."
He decided he needed a chair to sit in while he received all this so that he wouldn't faint from excitement again(even though that hadn't been what happened before), so Daneel conjured a Throne behind him and sat down.
Sure enough, with each sentence, the smile on his lips broadened more and more, until it filled his whole face.
[Listing all categories with descriptions.
Hero-level formations: Formations such as the one encountered during Host's travel to the Kingdom of Arafell have been obtained. Also, numerous key offensive, defensive and obfuscating formations have been recorded which are ready to be deployed.
Hero-level spells: Destructive Hero-level spells such as Large-scale Earthquake, Thunderstorm, Hurricane, Firestorm, Icestorm have been obtained. However, system can only cast these spells without modification, which means that with host's power level, only a small area of effect is possible.
Artifact Creation: Artifacts are special items which surpass trinkets. They have a measure of sentience, which is not on the level of Warrior-level trinkets which have also been seen to have a certain level of awareness. Yet, in the latter case, this awareness only extends to fine-tuning shape/size according to user's preferences and checking whether the one wielding the trinket has the requisite power level. Artifacts, when made properly, are capable of understanding instructions to a certain extent. Also, the feats capable by using Artifacts cannot be compared to trinkets.
System has recorded several Artifact Creation techniques and models.
War Strategies: Large scale Army Deployment strategies, Mage and Fighter training strategies, Mage-Fighter integration strategies and Guerrilla strategies using high-level Mages and Fighters have been assessed and recorded. With this data, new module- 'War Strategist' available. 'War Strategist' can assess a live battle situation and suggest the best strategies to host.
Empire Development Strategies: These are the personal logs left behind by the Emperor regarding what can be done to develop an Empire in the direction of one which is supposed to be sought after by all people to live in. The schemes used by the Emperor, along with his reflections on the potential and drawbacks of each have been recorded. With this data, new module- 'Development Strategist' available. 'Development Strategist' can take into account all factors of a Kingdom to suggest host regarding what schemes can be used with available materials.
Fighter techniques: A special set of Fighter Battle and Training techniques for all levels from Human to Champion have been recorded.
Common Paragon Constructs: An exhaustive list of Paragon constructs at and below the Champion level have been recorded. These include ancient weapon constructs such as Barrier-Piercing Ballistae, Self-Adjusting Elemental Catapults, and Amateur Shadow Soldiers.
Common Champion Paths: An exhaustive list of common Acquired Champion paths which are usually chosen by those of medium to low talent have been recorded.
Although there is a qualitative power increase when one goes from being a Warrior to a Champion using these paths, the corresponding Champion Domains are simple and do not play a major role in battle.
For example, one who becomes a Champion using the 'Happiness' Champion Path by deeply delving into the state of happiness and understanding it to an intrinsic level, will only have the domain effect of either influencing the opponent using that emotion, or possessing increased attack/defensive power when in the state of that emotion.
In the case of Elemental Champion Paths, an amplification of power is acquired when said Element is used.
These include Champion Paths of Anger, Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Fire, Water, Ice, and Lightning.]
When Daneel went through all of this, a word appeared in his head, and he felt as if it applied now, to this situation, more than ever before.
'JACKPOT!'
New modules, new spells, more Champion Paths, the Emperor's own logs…what more could he ask for?
Historically, the Kings of Lanthanor had written in their memoirs that it should be a priority for every King to attempt and raise the Satisfaction Level so that one could unlock the 'invaluable treasure trove of knowledge' that was supposedly sealed inside the Spirit.
If they knew how right they had been, Daneel felt that they would really be regretting that they hadn't put in more effort in this endeavor.
Yet, there could also have been no King like him, who had a tool with which he could accurately judge the satisfaction level and see how well he was doing.
Putting such thoughts aside, Daneel forcefully stopped himself, at the moment, from going into a full on 'nerd-mode' where he would explore each category by himself in depth.
Instead of focusing on what he had gotten, he decided to list what he hadn't received.
No…maybe, it was better to ask Drakos, rather than do the list himself.
"Drakos, I've just gone through all the data. But I see that a lot is missing. Is all of that hidden behind the last seal?"
"Young King, you were knocked out and were drooling on me, so how were you able to…"
"I have a thick mind which doesn't quit.", Daneel interrupted and answered, aiming to nip any suspicion before it grew into something troubling.
Well, he had slipped in his excitement, so he could only seek to rectify the situation in this way.
Drakos looked like he didn't buy it that much, but he let it go.
"Right. If you need me to repeat, you can ask, Young King. There is no reason to be ashamed."
Oh. So he had understood it in that way.
Daneel felt like chuckling, but he stopped himself on realizing that this was an opportunity to make sure that Drakos didn't suspect anything, at all. He decided to sit with the Dragon and go through everything again, but, before that, he needed an answer.
"Ok, fine, you got me. But I was able to understand the categories. So, tell me what's missing?"
"Good. For reasons that only my father knows, he chose to place all prominent Champion Paths, which include the one you saw when that man in your captivity broke through, all information regarding the Hero-level, and all of his signature spells and Artifacts that allowed him to control the Empire for so long behind the last seal. And…I must say that breaking open the last seal will require so much more satisfaction level than the first two, Young King."
It was just as he had thought.
Still, Daneel honestly couldn't complain, as the Emperor had given him many, many tools which he could use to reach that level.
But…what should he do, first?
Daneel was lost.
Yet, he realized that he didn't have to be.
So, by using the special trinket he had made out of the Ker Root with Drakos's help, Daneel called for the second meeting with all of his 8 trusty advisors and friends.
Also, he had just come up with a name for this gathering, as it was quite difficult to refer to it in this way every time.
It would be called…The Council of 9 Sovereigns.