Daneel soon reached his cottage and found it empty.
On the way, the Sect Members had been looking at him various expressions on their faces, with the most prominent one being one of anger and vexation.
Understanding that these people must be part of those who despised him because he was from the Central Continent, Daneel had continued on his way.
Searching around in the house, he found a note addressed to him in Elanev's room.
"My training is beginning. The old man says that I will only be able to come out of it for the Legacy Battle, so I'll see you then. And remember, if you can find the identity of that f*cker because of whom I can't go to the village, intimate me at any cost. I don't care if the old man said that I shouldn't be disturbed. This is too important a matter to be ignored!"
Daneel could see the anger that was still in his elder brother due to the incident before. Chuckling, he burnt up the note and sat down, wondering what he should do next.
The answer was simple: the initial idea behind coming to the sect had been to collect all the information it held, before he had become distracted by other things.
So, Daneel recalled the route they had taken before, and went back to the Secret Archives where he was directly allowed in again.
Except for the core techniques of the sect which weren't present here, he could access everything else, so he began to store it all in the system.
Many people shot him strange looks when they saw him casually browsing through all of the shelves, while making sure that he touched at least the spine of each and every book that was present.
This couldn't be done continuously, as it would arouse too much suspicion, so Daneel took constant breaks during which he continued his perusal of all the Champion Paths that he had obtained from behind the third seal.
He would look as if he was poring over the book in front of him that he randomly selected without even seeing the title, but in reality, he would be arguing within himself about things such as the inherent weaknesses that Emotion-driven paths had when compared to all other types of Paths.
The Fortress actually held a lot more books than the other sects, and Daneel had found this out from a journal of one of the previous sect leaders who had written about how this Fortress supposed to be the last Bastion of Angaria. Hence, it only made sense that all the essential information should be recorded here, in case a similar apocalypse occurred which might result in the loss of all the cumulative knowledge of the continent.
Along with that, general information about how Angarians should handle multiple situations was also given, that had apparently been researched thoroughly by scholars who had contracted to do so.
All in all, this place reminded Daneel of the famous Georgia Guidestones back on his home planet, which existed to help humanity in the event that an apocalypse wiped out most of the population of the Earth.
Daneel recorded it all anyway, as he never knew when it might come in handy. Even if it didn't, he wasn't willing to let any piece of information go, as he knew that it would leave him with an unsatisfied feeling.
This, in itself, took two days, and on the morning of the third, he was finishing up the last section.
The same building that had the Secret Archives also had the library behind it, where Daneel currently was.
He had been having his cool-down time in order to not irritate everyone and have them demand that he should be thrown out as he was simply passing time instead of seriously utilizing all the knowledge gathered around him. He had just been about to get up and begin another final round all over the place to make sure that he hadn't missed any book.
That was when he saw two familiar people enter through the doors of the library and look around, before finding him and heading in his direction.
They were Tall and Snake, and they were actually a funny sight to behold as Snake was half the height of Tall, although Daneel still believed that he was the more dangerous one.
Soon enough, they were in front of him, and they sat down as if it was the most casual thing in the world.
This made Daneel raise an eyebrow, but he simply remained calm and waited to see what they would say.
The two of them looked like they were struggling with something, as hesitation and unwillingness could be seen on their faces.
They even started to look around casually, almost as if they wanted to put on an act that they hadn't come here to speak to him. Daneel had no idea what the objective behind something like that could be.
While absorbed in this, Snake looked at the book in front of Daneel, and this made him pause and then smile slightly, as he had found a starting point to begin the conversation.
"I didn't know that you like romantic stories. I tried reading them, too, but I couldn't stomach even the first 10 pages. Tall here, though, is widely known as someone who is an expert on all the romantic novels present in the sect. In fact, when he goes to the village, the women request him to quote their famous lines from these books, and it is said that he even enacts out certain sequences from them."
Daneel had no idea what the f*ck this guy was spouting, but when he looked down, he understood. The book he had in front of him was titled "Unrequited, Yet Endless."
He hadn't been paying too much attention to the books he had been picking up, so he was now pretty startled when he saw that these kinds of books were also present here. What was the point behind that?
Daneel almost asked the two in front of him, but he decided that that would be too strange. So, he asked the system and got his answer.
[Romantic novels were introduced into the library by Sect Master Brutus, who was famously known to have romanced the Sect Master of a different sect. It took 20 years for his relationship to succeed, and when it did, for a period of time, he was in "incorrigible puddle of goo", as quoted from a friend of his from that time. He gave the order that these books should also be stored here, and that they should be perused by all Fighters and Mages alike, as it would motivate them to grow stronger and find what he had found in the then most powerful mage on the continent. When they had fights, these incidents were said to be on such a scale that the Head at that time had had to intervene in order to make sure that entire swathes of land would not be devastated permanently.]
Daneel really didn't have to know all that, but he was definitely amused by the information. Closing the book, he raised his head to see a slight blush creep into Tall's face before the man shook his head in order to hide it and said, "Let's get to the point. Snake and I need to tell you something, and we really hope that you agree to our request. It'll be alright even if you don't, but we can't help but ask."
This statement uttered with extreme hesitation caused Daneel to raise his eyebrows and wonder what the heck was going on.
The last time he had met these two, they had wanted him to join them and help them last as much as possible during the Legacy Battle.
Daneel's current plan that had been formed from the data that he had gathered regarding all the factions of the sect did not include him having to join either of them. So, seeing them, he had been prepared to let them down, but he was now curious as to what favor these two were talking about.
As Snake opened his mouth to continue, shock appeared on Daneel's face as the puzzlement he was feeling only deepened.
"First of all, we rescind the offer given to you to join our group, even though you made it clear that you have no interest in doing that. Secondly… We really hope that you do something in public which shows everyone that we have cut all ties with you. We were constantly being targeted because others saw us meet, which made many in the sect think that we are together in your plan. We don't even know if doing this will help us, but we have no option but to try. In fact, this is even the perfect opportunity. You can simply get up and slap both of us, and also make it clear just how worthless you think we are, and that you don't care that we rejected your offer. You know, it's all a story that doesn't affect you at all, but it would really help us out. Would you please consider it? If you do, we are even willing to hand over a few Ker Gems and some Warrior level weapons that we have stored away. As a gift, of course."
Daneel slowly couldn't help but understand that these two knew something that he did not.
Activating the Basilisk's Breath and slowing down time so that it wouldn't appear as if he was clueless regarding what they were talking about, Daneel asked the system to once again scan all the conversations around the sect and find out if anything had happened in his absence.
Soon, the system gave him the answer, and with each word that sounded in his mind, his face grew darker and darker.
[Numerous conversations have been detected regarding the same topic. Three days ago, an individual who looks like the host and has assumed host's identity walked up to the Challenge Board of the sect, where conflicts were resolved using regulated fights so that deaths would not occur. Host is said to have written down that he wishes to challenge the entire sect, as he believes that they are all worthless cretins who do not even deserve to lick the bottom of his boots. Host proceeded to fling various courses detailing how all of the members of the sect at his level should just commit suicide, as they would never be able to reach the heights that host would soon ascend to. When all the leaders of all the major factions in the sect flared up and gathered at the Challenge Board, host made a proclamation that everything would be decided during the Legacy Battle.]
What…the f*ck had that chieftain done?
Well, this explained the strange looks that he had ignored thinking that they were just because of his identity.
Daneel decided to go ask the man himself, but first, he needed to handle this situation.
Going back to what they had said, he made a decision and immediately stood up by breaking the table in the process.
This made wariness appear on the faces of the two in front of him, even though Snake had been prepared because of his paranoia.
Without hesitation, Daneel punched out with both of his fists, sending the tall and short guy flying.
He was in no mood to do the other part, so he simply left the library knowing that those two could probably spin the situation however they wanted to get out of the predicament that they had placed themselves in.
When he arrived at the Chief's building, he got even more infuriated when he saw that the doors were open, waiting for him.
And inside, the Chief was serenely sipping a mug of beer before he looked up with interest and smiled broadly on seeing Daneel enter.
Before Daneel could say anything, he raised one hand and said, "I never said that I would be your version of yourself. I simply did what I would have done if I were in your shoes. Oh, don't blame me, you already know what I want, and this is just a way to make sure that both the Head and I can see what you are truly capable of. One man against the entire sect. It sounds pretty great, don't you think? Well, it will definitely be a sight to see."
Daneel glowered on the spot as he heard these words, knowing that he had been thoroughly bamboozled. Assuming his identity, the Chief had placed him in this position where he now had a gigantic target painted on his back.
However, he soon calmed himself down and recalled the plan he had made, and realized that this actually… Helped him. In fact, the plan might even have gotten better.
Still, that didn't erase the irritation that he felt on being blindsided like this. So, gritting his teeth and vowing that the 'sight to see' would be so shocking that the Chief would have no option but to regret doing this, Daneel left the room.