novelRoad Through Hell
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"Young King, the method with the highest success rate lies before you."
Although Daneel heard this in his mind from Drakos, he couldn't help but stare at the holographic diagram made from light elementary particles in front of him with both of his eyebrows raised up as far as they could go.
"Daneel... Are you sure about this?"
As he heard Faxul say this next to him, Daneel couldn't help but shrug.
It had all been fun and games when he announced his grand idea to Faxul, but after asking Drakos about the best methods that were used during the time of the Empire to help a Human break through to become Warrior, the plan that the Ancient Dragon put forward was what had made both of their jaws drop.
In fact, it reminded Daneel of a very popular movie series back on earth, which released horrible sequel after horrible sequel with recycled plots even though the first few movies were the best.
In front of them was a deathtrap filled maze which would push an Exalted Human to their limits and beyond, step by step, methodically until they either broke through to become a Warrior to get out of it, or died trying.
This was what it looked like on first glance, but on closely observing a few of the deathtraps and seeing the descriptions floating on top of them, Daneel noticed that there were always safety measures installed which would stop the imminent death of the Exalted Human taking part in this activity right before it was too late.
Still, it really did look like the basement of a deranged murderer who had decided to put his victims through a very specifically designed journey of torture.
"Designed by the legendary Hero known as'Torture King' who was defeated by the Emperor and brought under his command in the 176th year after the establishment of the Empire of Angaria, this is the method that has the best success rate in terms of turning an Exalted Human into a Warrior. However, it only works if the person going in is aware of the fact that there are going to face certain death. In fact, at that time, when this method was first designed, there were no safety traps installed."
Hearing this, Daneel couldn't help but feel a shudder go through him. Even with the safety measures, this looked like an extremely dangerous endeavor for anyone.
"Out of 10 Exalted Humans who entered, at least two would always die, two would be inflicted with injuries that caused them to take rest for months, two would escape with a scare that would traumatize them their entire lives and four would break through to become Warriors."
Wait... Every 4 out of10 Exalted Humans who entered this became Warriors?
That was shocking!
Even though the other statistics were chilling, this one overrode them all in terms of how impressive it was.
However, at what cost was this rate of success achieved?
"The Emperor later intervened, stating that there were easier methods which would allow a Warrior to be born, albeit at a slower pace, but without any of the danger in this method. So, secretly, safety measures were implemented which significantly decreased the death rate, but also the success rate. Of course, the latter was also because all the Exalted Humans going in knew exactly how much danger they would be facing. As you must already know, Young King, becoming a Warrior is all about'need'. Some who could afford it even used to employ the services of Peak Champions or even Heroes who would change their memories to make them forget everything they knew about this method before entering. This method was used before this, too, to begin fights where one would think that they were going to die, but the method of the'Torture King' was proven to have a higher success rate because of how it was designed. At that time, other than these two, the only methods available to others who wanted to break through quickly were exceedingly dangerous ones such as entering dueling rings with beasts or opponents above their level, or taking part in one dangerous situation after the rest where there was no chance of life. Young king, I should say that this method suits your commanders is the best, as they know nothing about the history of this so-called "Road through Hell"."
Road through Hell.
Right. That name definitely suited this method well.
At this moment, Daneel remembered an illustration of the historical description of hell by Dante, which had multiple levels that tortured a person in different ways. In a certain way, this was similar, so the name felt very fitting.
Also, Daneel had blushed slightly when he heard mention of that method of editing one's memories to elicit a breakthrough, which was exactly what he had done using the system. It did make sense that he wasn't the only one who had come up with this method, but it was still surprising to hear it from Drakos.
As for Drakos's point about how this was best for his commanders, Daneel did agree. They knew nothing about the history of this method or any relevant details, so they would think that they really had been kidnapped by some sadistic individual who wanted to see them suffer before dying.
Yet, every time he laid his eyes on what was in front of him, he couldn't help but flinch.
Borrowing the significance of the number nine in the continent of Angaria, the Road through Hell also had nine stages, with the first being a duel with an Exalted Human.
The whole idea was that each method would try to bring forward the'need' of the challenger in different ways.
The first was the most simple, and it was also one of the most direct methods employed typically in attempts to make one breakthrough.
Only, here, according to Drakos, the one attacking was typically a prisoner who would be promised a period of freedom or some other thing that he wanted if he managed to kill his opponent.
At each stage, the only way to win would be to push one's own power to the limits.
'Need' was something that might become clear in different ways. So, at each stage, a different aspect of one's power was tested, to give as many opportunities as possible for this'need' to come forward.
After the first stage, the Road through Hell differed for Fighters and Mages. Fighters would be put through stage after stage where their endurance, agility, explosive power and speed of reaction would be tested using dangerous scenarios such as escaping the pursuit of multiple assailants at their own level who would definitely kill them if they caught up, punching a certain wall to break through to the next stage while the room they were in was closing in on them to crush them into paste, escaping a hail of deadly arrows from different directions while searching for an exit, et cetera et cetera.
In particular, that second scenario had reminded Daneel of that movie series once again.
As for Mages, their aspects such as complexity, speed of spell casting and endurance were tested by placing them in scenarios where they would have to solve complex elementary particle puzzles while being threatened that they would be dropped into a vat of lava if they weren't fast enough, or one where a Mage would have to tread through a billowing blizzard without becoming frozen while repeatedly casting a fire spell that would make them pull out everything they had in the process.
Each and every stage could be passed easily by a Warrior, so, the moment one broke through, they could easily escape.
As for the safety measures, they were designed to alert the onlooking staff about imminent death at which point someone would step in and remove the challenger from the stage.
This was the trend in the seven stages after the first, but the last one was different.
Apparently, if all these methods failed and if the challenger was still alive, they would be placed in a bewildering formation where their deepest fears would be dug out and placed in front of them.
On the surface, it might look like this was also a very efficient method, and one that should be placed in the beginning.
However, according to Drakos, this bewildering formation often resulted in people having mental breakdowns who would need to take months of counseling and treatment to recover from.
All in all, this... was something that one wouldn't wish upon their worst enemy.
Seeing Daneel's hesitation, Drakos spoke up.
"Young King, it is definitely a fact that a breakthrough can be achieved through rigorous training and other, safer methods. However, let me tell you about another metric that was discovered and only known to the top echelons of the Army. Only those who managed to find their true'need' in the process of taking this first major step in their journey on the Path to Power, often ended up being the ones who were able to reach dazzling heights where they were admired by everyone. This kind of opportunity to find out one's own motivation comes rarely in life. The Emperor admired this method, but, at the same time, despised it due to the extreme danger and death rate. Yet, he still let it stay, because he knew how valuable it was. I encourage you to keep it secret, because if those who have no regard for their soldier's lives get their hands on it, they will definitely put every Exalted Human they have through it."
As Daneel heard this, he took his decision.
This whole thing has started because in that meeting just before, he had also asked them about the levels that they had reached in their training.
Except for Eloise, all of the rest of the Sovereigns who hadn't already done so had reached the Exalted Human level and had all been trying to break through to become Warriors for a month.
The frustration was apparent on their faces, but they had been hiding it.
The truth was that these were all individuals who had been in the Exalted Human level for quite a long time, but after Daneel had set up those energy faucets in their room, like in his parents' room, which were directly connected to the horde of Ker Gems in the Treasury, they had been able to boost themselves forward and reach the peak in one go. After all, training with a Key Gem was just incomparable to training with Ether Blocks, which was what they had been doing till now.
He decided to keep the safety measures, and step in as soon as someone was about to die. If they failed, he could decide what to do next.
Also, he decided to remove the last stage.
"Faxul, let's do it. You're in charge of being the sadistic mastermind who has some grudge against Lanthanor. Think of some story. Maybe you're someone who was unintentionally harmed by Lanthanor, and you've been biding your time while training yourself. Now that you're strong enough, you abducted all the Commanders. You'll be bringing them here, and you'll be dueling them in the first stage. I'll keep a close watch. Got it?"
Faxul had to take a few moments to respond, but when he did, he sighed and said, "Well, why should these guys have all the fun. I'll bring over some of my commanders from the Black Raven Kingdom, too."
This made Daneel chuckle. He knew how much Faxul disliked them because of how much they liked to oppose him, so, he agreed, as it would do good to the Black Raven Kingdom. Afterward, he could just erase their memories using Mind Control.
With the plan decided, Daneel and Faxul were just about to head off, but that was when Daneel received an urgent message from Kellor.
"My King! We've just received news that Arafell has agreed to the War Games! There is already talk brewing that those who don't agree to participate are cowards!"
This made Daneel take a double-take. What the hell was that b*tch thinking?
At the same moment, Daneel received another message.
This one was to the exclusive trinket he had which connected him to the Queen of Arafell.
"Erm... King Daneel, Priscilla, here. Lady Arafell wants to speak with you."
| ← Ch. 0535 | Ch. 0537 → |