The room that he had been teleported into was so musty that it looked as if it had not been intruded upon for centuries and centuries, and from how it had been so perfectly concealed, Daneel knew that that was probably the case.
He maintained the look of confusion upon his face, as he looked around and tried to take an estimate of exactly how large it was.
Behind him was a wall, and on both sides, bookcases could be seen stretching into the darkness in front of him.
Dusty tomes were present in the bookcases, and their names were so caked over that they could not be seen.
The entire reason behind him acting in that manner before, in front of the obelisk, and even here was that he did not want to ignore the fact that the Overseer might be watching him right now.
It had been clear from the beginning - someone had always wanted to hide some things, and that had been evident both in the rule book which had required the system to scan it and then analyze to find the hidden commentaries and rules, and in the list of rewards that he had just browsed through.
This meant that there could be an alert which the Overseer might be looking for in case someone availed this reward, and for all intents and purposes, this had to look like an absolutely normal and random intrusion upon this place.
To make it seem even more real, Daneel scratched his head and muttered, "Where's the weapon?"
As if intending to look for it, he began to pass through the corridor made by bookshelves. In the process, he ran his hands randomly over all of the tomes that were present, almost as if he was trying to see whether this was a simulation or reality.
Of course, while he was doing so, the system kept scanning all of them, and already, it had sent a message with said:
[Scanning tomes related to Origin of the Order.]
Was he truly about to find just how this thing had even come into being?
Hiding his excitement, Daneel continued, and as he did so, he marveled at just how large this place was.
He had also conjured a globe of light, and in front of him, the corridor stretched on and on. He kept walking cautiously, almost as if he was also convinced that this was a trap, and of course, he made sure to not miss even one tome. It did look a little strange, but he had no option as he was not confident in coming back and making it seem normal, so he had to ensure that he touched them all on this first run.
The consolation was that each book was huge, which meant that there were only two rows on the bookshelves even if they were taller than a fully grown man. Hence, it wasn't too difficult, and soon, Daneel came upon a junction, of sorts, where he could go forward, left or right.
Again, in all four directions, there were only the bookshelves, and Daneel decided to go to the left.
The result was that he came upon another spot exactly like where he had been teleported to - a dead-end.
Retracing his steps, he went to the right, and once again, he reached another dead-end.
Finally starting to understand just what the structure of this area was, he went on the path that was straight ahead from the one he had initially been on, and as expected, he reached another wall.
Clearly, this room was laid out in the shape of a '+' symbol, and he had covered it all.
Of course, the King of Lanthanor maintained the look of confusion on his face, as he returned to the central portion from where all four directions stretched out.
He had made sure to pause at certain places, and ponder on something, and he had also pulled out random books and then gotten confused because their headings had all been quite strange. Also, they were written in almost illegible words, and he had continuously repeated to himself that he wanted a weapon, and not all this.
Of course, not to make himself seem too dumb, he had also shown interest in certain tomes which detailed certain incidents that had happened in the past of the Order, such as one where there had apparently been a revolution. The result was that all of those who had turned against the Order were killed, and although this had been intriguing, he had once against said to himself that it didn't really matter to him, as it had happened in an age long, long past.
Finally, as Daneel continued to scratch his chin and ponder in the central area, he found himself suddenly teleported outside.
With shock, he checked in the obelisk to find that one of his 5-star tier rewards had been deducted, which made him break out into a litany of curses that were heard by all those below.
No matter how much he tried flicking through rewards, and complaining that he had been cheated, there was no response from anyone, and he could only give up and go back to his quarters while glaring at everyone he came across.
Once he reached them, he even slammed the door shut and got onto the bed while severely cursing even his own curiosity, but of course, deep, deep within his eyes, an excitement that he almost couldn't hide was continuously pulsing.
The reason behind that… Was that he was pretty confident that he had pulled off the act quite perfectly, without arousing suspicion from anyone who might be watching.
Keeping appearances up, Daneel continued to grumble for some more time before finally leaving the Order.
It was only when he reached his quarters, checked all the Hero level formations and even asked the system thrice that no one was surveilling him that he finally asked it to give him the lowdown on everything that it had gathered.
The answer that he got… Made him stare into the air in a daze.
[Sorting relevant and irrelevant data according to parameters. Listing relevant topics:
1.Origin of the order
2.Duties and identity of the Overseer(including emergency Wartime duties)
3.Conditions to be fulfilled for one to take the position of an overseer
Listing irrelevant topics:
1.Past wars and battles
2.Ideologies of various illustrious individuals who were once a part of the Order
3. Long dissertations on topics such as honor and duty]
Taking a deep breath, Daneel settled into a comfortable throne and asked the system to begin the first topic, after bracing himself for the flood of information that he would soon be inundated with.
[Origin of the Order: The Order began due to the single thought of a man whose name is not mentioned. Host must understand that in the library, timelines have been scrubbed. So, although there are vague indications to an age far, far before the Empire even existed, there is no clear measure of time given. The only thing that is quoted is that in the beginning, there was nothing, and then, life sprang into being. There is no information relating to how the continent evolved to its present state, and how the various creatures which are currently inhabiting the continent came to be. However, one thing that has been repeated continuously is that the Will of the World has always existed. It has always helped those who have the well-being of their home in mind. The individual who established the Order was one who deeply loved his homeland, and at the time of his death, his biggest regret was that he could not leave behind a way to ensure that there would be something, anything, to protect it in case forces from the outside threatened the existence of free will on the continent. This thought was so profound and intense that it aligned perfectly with the Will, allowing that person to obtain unimaginable power which he used to set down the rules that exist to this day. These rules have already been told to host by the Overseer.]
Hearing this extraordinary story, Daneel sat up straight from his relaxed position and exclaimed, "What the f*ck?!"
He couldn't help it! Until now, he had been expecting that this library that he had worked so hard to reach would through clear light upon just how this Order came to be, and in that process, also allow him to understand the origins of the continent, itself. The past was always an interesting topic that anyone who lived would want to unveil for themselves, and just like the scientists on earth who kept asking the question regarding how they had come to be, Daneel had continuously wondered about just what could have resulted in the formation of the continent of Angaria. Even in the topic of the name- who had given it? Why was it accepted by all that that should be what it's called? Why was there no other name, at all?
No matter where one searched for answers to questions like these, they would only be looked at askance, as most didn't understand why anyone would want to concern themselves with something like this which would not help them in any manner in the present. There were always much more pressing things to take care of, and hence, such pursuits would almost seem meaningless, except to those esoteric and reclusive individuals who would not come out to declare what they were doing anyway.
Well, today, although he had gotten the few hints regarding the origin, it did not look like he would obtain a clear answer.
Still… The origin of the Order was definitely interesting. Again and again, he had heard about the Will of the world being the most powerful force that anyone could wield. Of course, it was this that the Emperor had termed as the Grand Inheritance and left behind, and it was probably some indication to this that Daneel would find when he collected all of the keys which were still scattered throughout the continent.
It almost felt nostalgic to think about these things which he had almost forgotten recently, but of course, they were always in the back of his mind. If he was powerful enough, he would assemble them right away, but alas, he had no option but to bide his time at the moment.
Of course, the other reason why he was not so hell-bent on obtaining them was that he knew that right now, there was no way that he could control it properly enough to not result in another apocalypse.
Putting these thoughts aside, though, Daneel decided to focus on just what he had gone to so much trouble to find out: the identity of the Overseer.
So, he asked the system to continue before once again sitting back on the throne, while the beating of the Dragon Heart in the room faded into the background.
And from the first line that the system told him, itself, he was completely shocked.
[The Overseer, as the name suggests, is only an administrative role. The Overseer only takes command when the one who is chosen to lead the Order is absent. The Overseer also takes command when the role, is not filled due to no one being found worthy enough to obtain it. In order to entice people who truly have the continent's well-being in mind, the one who set up the Order ensured that those who were in both of these leading positions would obtain undue benefits. First of all, they would be able to gain access to an object which would allow them to continuously nourish their consciousness and allow them to exist for as long as needed. However, if even an indication is found that there is a chance of them changing their inclination, they are expelled. The duty of the Overseer is to look for the leader of the Order, or as he is called by his official title, the 'Saviour'. This leader has complete command of the Order, and can wilfully order around the Overseer. During times of war, the leader, or the Overseer(in case the leader is absent) can also forcefully enlist the members of the Order to dispatch them as needed. The-]
Although the system continued, Daneel's mind had already gone blank due to all the revelations that he had been subjected to.
Yet, it was actually the last one that shocked him the most, as it looked like he…had finally found the reason why the one who was in the place of the Overseer hadn't acted yet.
It was only in times of war that the Overseer could forcefully command the members of the Order. And from the Apocalypse…no such time had occurred in the continent.
If so…could it be possible that the one in that position had been waiting, patiently, for exactly this moment?