Daneel had really been taking it easy, as he knew that even if the Aegis team failed horribly in keeping them safe, he could just use the aura of the Godbeast to scare away the Great Sharks.
True, the last time he had used this idea, it had almost ended in a disaster with Skrr, but this time, the situation was under control.
These Great Sharks were just oversized beasts which had used the abundant Energy present in the Endless Sea to grow to a size where very few things could even hope to harm them. They might be the descendants of a Godbeast, but that didn't mean that they had the same power, or prestige.
Hence, when faced by one which used to terrorize even their ancestor, they would have no option but to flee, or die.
Using the system, Daneel could dial the 'intensity' of the aura, making it vary between the effect that would be caused if the Leviathan just glared at something, or if the Godbeast had decided to kill the one it was looking by any means, meaning that it would use its full focus to target it.
For the Great Shark that had died, Daneel had used the latter, and if he needed these Sharks to disperse, the former would be enough.
Neither could be detected by those who weren't Godbeasts, themselves, and even if there was a chance that Heroes might be able to sense something, there were only Champions here.
He had expected that someone might be sent in case there was a dire situation, but he hadn't expected Cain to arrive, as this man had seemed like quite a bigshot.
The reason behind this assumption was that usually, Daneel was able to obtain a general feeling regarding someone's power level.
For instance, when he had seen the Head for the first time, he had known right away that the man was formidable.
There were usually a lot of ways to judge such things. In mages, one could see the level to which elementary particles moved erratically whenever a powerful mage even spoke, as they would be so used to casting spells that they would end up affecting the world unconsciously with every movement.
In Fighters, it could be estimated from the way one moved. Elite Fighters were often able to do so in a way which wasted the least Energy, and they could also be judged by the toughness of their body.
In the matter of Cain, though…Daneel had been able to sense nothing.
He had seemed like a normal man, and because his clothes were also not too special, he would fit right into any town or city in the Central Continent.
That…had made it clear that his power was so profound, and that he had such a grasp on it that he was able to control himself from giving any indication regarding what was hiding within him.
When fighting such a person, even trying to estimate what they might do next would be so difficult that foes might be left shaking their head with hopelessness.
He had wanted to remark on it before, but he hadn't done so as he had wanted to confirm it, and now that he saw him again, it was clear.
When Cain had appeared, he had been floating in the air, but the spell he had cast was so clean that Daneel had had to try hard not to react to it and blow his cover of a cocky guy who was just taking it easy.
It was difficult even to explain how it was different, but once again, it all came down to control.
If casting a spell by manipulating elementary particles could be compared to cooking a complex dish using a variety of ingredients, then what normal mages would do was follow the recipe and add in ingredients at appropriate times to get a good end result.
As for Cain…he had obtained such a high level of ability that he could throw in bunches of ingredients together and even use techniques to shorten the 'cooking time', but still create the same dish, or an even better one.
In the first case, there might be a bit of tardiness that could be detected, but in the second, such an absolute level of control was breathtaking to see.
Whoever Cain was, he had definitely been using magic for so long that he had obtained a level of skill that almost bordered on having an Inheritance like the one he had seen his Master use long, long ago, where all spells of his had been amplified.
He had been thoroughly impressed, but he was now even more surprised by the statement that had been sent to him discreetly, after making sure that no one else would hear him.
It would be an understatement to say that it had startled him, but still, he managed to maintain his casual attitude after deciding to think on what had been told to him after he was out of here.
Cain was impressed by this, and he knew right away that he had made the right decision.
SPLASH!
Interrupting his thoughts, one of the Great Sharks which had managed to swim the fastest leaped out of the water with a loud sound.
He got a slight frown on his face, but that turned into a smile as he said, "I guess events played out in such a way that you couldn't get the motivation I wanted you to…so let me remedy that. Watch."
With this, he turned around to face the 9 Great Sharks that were practically jumping over each other to get to the place from where the mating call was coming from.
Of course, the one that had jumped out was closest to reaching them, and it seemed like all of them would be swallowed in its massive jaws at any moment.
Staring into its maw, none of the four members of the Aegis team were worried, and this showed the confidence they had in Cain. It was the same with the newcomer, who seemed to be finally recovering from what he had seen, and Skrr was even mildly curious, with her expression making it clear that she was wondering whether she could eat the Shark from the inside. It was only Eloise who was mildly panicked, but seeing Daneel being calm, she controlled herself, too.
However…none of them could have been prepared for what would happen next.
All he did was wave his hand, but at that moment, it was as if he…transformed into the embodiment of Death, itself.
A transparent, dark scythe traveled from his hand, passing through both the Great Shark that was so close, and all the others which were about to follow it.
Not even a moment after that…all nine completely ceased movement, and went still in the water.
As for the one leaping towards them, a simple spell to push it up made it fall behind them harmlessly, and just like the others, it began to float with its belly facing the air, with no life left in its body whatsoever.
Daneel was so bewildered by this sight that hehalf-convincedinced that Cain was putting on theatrics, while something else had achieved this effect in the background.
For killing one Great Shark, he had used the system to scare it by dialing up the intensity of the aura of the Leviathan to such a level that it had caused its heart to stop beating. Although it had looked simple, it had taken up quite a lot of the energy in his body, so faced with 9 sharks, this method definitely would not have been able to be used. If he used his powers fully, he might have defended himself for a time, but that was it. After all, each of these Great Sharks seemed to be at the Peak Champion level if they were compared to humans, so even for a Hero, he couldn't believe that it would be this easy to kill so many, with just a single spell that hadn't even required time to be cast.
Yet…it seemed that he was wrong, as the system sounded in his mind right away.
[Hero Path created through further resonance detected.
Progression of Path:
Hopelessness(Warrior Realm)-> Crippling Despair(Champion Realm)-> Gloom Reaper(Hero Realm)
Belongs to the 'Reaper' Class Paths, which stand even above top-tier Paths.]
A-a-a Hero who broke through naturally, by further resonating with their Path??
But how?! These Heroes were supposed to be extinct! All Heroes of this Age were supposed to be those who had broken through using Willstones!
More than anything that Daneel had seen so far today, this shocked him the most.
A Hero who had broken through in this method…was incomparable to someone who had simply used someone else's Will to do so.
Glancing to the side, he saw the eye of one of the Great Sharks which was dead.
In it…was present more despair and sadness than Daneel had ever seen in his life.
It was almost as if it had gotten so bad…that the Shark had lost the will to live.
Right! That was how it must work!
Now this…was power!
As Daneel turned to Cain with desire burning in his eyes, the man smiled, because that was exactly what he had been going for.
Following that, he took a deep breath and sent one last message which was audible only to Daneel, just like the one before.
"The Order is hiding more things than you can ever imagine. Some day soon…I hope that you grow strong enough to let me know that I made the right decision here. Next time we meet, we will be strangers. Farewell, King."
There was such despondency present in Cain's tone that Daneel could only stare at him with puzzlement in his eyes, but after that, without waiting for a reply, Cain raised his hand, and all ten sharks began to be gutted.
It looked like he had done it many times before, and he was done in a minute.
The remains were allowed to sink down into the ocean, and the meat was neatly stacked into a humongous pile.
With that, all eight of them were made to rise into the air, and they shot off in the direction of the coast.
The journey wasn't very eventful, with Daneel pondering on everything he had heard, and with the Aegis team coming to terms with what had happened.
It seemed that Cain's aura was enough to scare away any other threats that might have stopped them, and he was releasing it consciously for that purpose. Only the thunder in the ever-furious skies was a problem, but Cain conjured barrier after barrier to defend them.
As Daneel watched this, he also understood why the Endless Sea was so untraversible. Even such a powerful Hero needed to expend a lot of energy to travel for a few tens of kilomters, and if anyone wanted to go beyond that, it might even be impossible.
As soon as the coast was in sight, they teleported, and after Cain looked at him one last time with a smile, Daneel found himself in a new place he had never seen before.
It was almost like a marketplace, with many people bustling around and with stores located to the sides where people were haggling prices.
As he looked up, though…a magnificent vista appeared in front of him.
Gigantic obelisks were floating in the sky, and in front of each of them were displayed various lists.
There was one that was the biggest, though, and it was displaying the name of the place they had arrived in.
"Order Headquarters."
Written in grand words that seemed to resonate with strenght, they seemed to greet Daneel, who understood that he was finally in the Order.
The newcomer, who had also teleported along with him, spoke in a meek voice.
"The other people you came in with are starting their trial now. They have a normal one."
With a nod, Daneel send a message through the Oathstone to Aran, as he had decided that the time for caution was past.
"Aran, tell everyone to go all out. We're here to dominate, so let's get started."