Chapter 263 - A Game Of Chess
When Daniel and Aeron finally got back to their area, and were sure that nobody would be able to listen to them, Daniel looked at Aeron, and formulated a thought in his mind, to which Aeron responded by saying "He won't. He knew you were telling the truth, and decided to let us leave because you've given him something to think about. He is likely trying to prove that you were wrong, by witnessing to your failure."
The two had taken the habit to communicate with each other in a certain way. Whenever Daniel had something secret to say, he would look at Aeron, and formulate a thought in his mind. Aeron had promised not to read Daniel's mind if there wasn't a good reason. One of which, was when they had to communicate secretly with each other.
What Daniel had asked to Aeron, was whether he thought that the dragon would screw them over in some way, or maintain his word and let them be for the next month.
Daniel was justifiably dubious about the dragon's motivations "Why is he hiding? Is the tamer so overbearing that he can't stand letting go of any member of the dragon's faction?" He asked while ignoring the fact that the tamer was, in fact, a woman.
While Daniel could understand why a faction would want to kill an outcast in order to protect their secrets, it was different for the dragons, as they did not have any. They were beasts, and had been observed for millions of years. Nothing new had been discovered about them, not even after they had been roped in by the infamous member of Iewah's faction.
Aeron's red eyes narrowed slightly from behind his mask, and with a grave tone, he said "That is because he is a prince."
"WHAT!?" Daniel burst out loud.
"From what I know, only members of the draconic royal family know how to morph from their draconic form, to their humanoid one.. His transformation isn't complete, so it means that he is young.. Probably one of the youngest princes." added Aeron in response to Daniel's outburst.
After taking in the news with evident surprise, Daniel muttered "So he will grow into a dragon king one day?"
"Hard to say.. I haven't witnessed this, and only heard it from my former superiors.. But the evolution of a dragon isn't much different from that of a human cultivator. The only significant difference, is the span of time required to reach maturity.. The older dragons are usually the strongest, as they would have had the most time to practice their methods to increase their power."
"Which is?" Asked Daniel with curiosity.
Aeron shook his head, and muttered "Battle."
While it was true that the dragon that the two of them had met belonged to the draconic royal family, Aeron was not fully aware of how the division within the dragon's faction was made, or what the value of a prince actually was.
Dragons weren't humans. Humans would generally have a few children and usually stop, while on the other hand, Dragons were beings that showed their dominance through various methods.. few of which being battling for dominance, and bearing as many children as possible, to prove that they are the better specimen amongst their kind.
The dragon which the two of them had met, was but one of the thousands of offspring of one of the many children of the king. Most of them had never even met with their own father, not to mention the king himself.
Unable to do anything about any of this, Daniel and Aeron put the matter to the back of their heads, and went back into focusing on the matters at hand.
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For the following three weeks, Daniel and Aeron made numerous trips outside of the city in order to gather the ingredients needed to create a medium level poison immunity pill. Whenever the poison needed could not be found outside of Ton Bes, they would unwillingly pay a visit to the chairman of the poisonous rose, and ask for her help in acquiring them.
Whenever they were forced to ask for a favor, they would end up having to give up a few information, but Daniel would never reveal too much. In return, the organization would send someone to make the purchase, and come back the same day to deliver the ingredients.
In these three weeks, the rumors of Daniel's special treatment had traveled through the entire city, and people had started to get curious about him. Obtaining a favor from the organization was not something that any of the big families would scoff at, as not even the senators themselves could grant these types of favors to their own families without having to give an explanation.
On the other hand, Daniel would always be welcomed by the chairman of the poisonous rose, which would listen to his requests, and entertained him until he decided to leave on his own.
A few of the bravest leaders of the families had tried to ride Daniel's wave, and push requests forward, but the rate to which those requests were accepted, was nowhere faster than before Daniel's arrival.
Unhappiness quickly made its way through the entire city, and the various groups started to meet in private, and pressure the members of the senate. At the same time, the idea of a change at the top of the company, was beginning to form in the minds of the leading individuals of these families.
Various events took place almost every day.. One of them being the encounter between the transparent thorn, and the chairman.
The transparent thorn had recognized Daniel's face from the time when he had tested his virus in the planet where Daniel was, and after a lengthy conversation with the black thorn, the two had met with the chairman, and raised the hypothesis that Daniel could have come to seek revenge.
For as convincing the points that the two old men had made were, the opinion of the chairman did not change in the slightest. While it was true that Daniel could be here in search of revenge, she also knew that he had nowhere else to go.. After all, he was an outcast, and a single mistake was enough for them to report him to Iewah's faction.
Ironically, for the chairman, after her discussion with two of the most powerful members of the entire senate, Daniel had gained even more value. Not only had he survived a lethal poison which in the past, was worth the chair of a thorn within her organization, but he had also survived from a sperimental weapon like the virus of the transparent thorn.
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Only seven days were left of the month that the dragon had given to Daniel, and yet, he still had no idea of how many more ingredients he was required to gather in order to finally be able to obtain the formula of the pill.
With the fastest speed possible, the two of them had gathered poisonous plants, hunted for venomous beasts all around ton bes, and even stolen a few items from various areas all around the city.. But unfortunately, the quest did not tell them how many were left.
At first, Daniel had thought that he would manage to finish his quest in just a few days, as they were making progress at a terrifying pace, and it would not be the first time that Daniel completed a quest way ahead of time.
An example of that, was the quest that required him to save his uncle from slavery, which had two decades of time limit, but that he had managed to complete in a few months.
Unfortunately, this quest was not as simple.. And as they were kneeling in the mud, trying to pick snails off of the ground, Daniel began to feel slightly anxious.
More than twenty sub mission had been completed, and whenever Daniel obtained another one, he would hope for that to be the actual formula to produce the mid level partial poison immunity pill, but instead, he would end up being sorely disappointed.
Left with no other choice, Daniel made his decision.
He quickly finished the current quest with Aeron, and went straight back into the city. The very moment they arrived, they walked directly towards the building where the office of the chairman was.
The two of them had come to visit almost every day, and therefore, they were let in without any problem.
"Daniel!" Said the chairman with a pleased tone as Daniel walked into her office.
Daniel did not say anything, and instead, nodded politely at the young woman, and walked towards the area where the couches were. He then sat with a face marked by seriousness.
"What is the matter?" She asked while sitting next to him, and feigning worry. She had tried her best to gain Daniel's friendship, as her ultimate goal, was for him to accept her invitation into the Garden of Death.
"I need your help." Responded Daniel without beating around the bush. He wanted to appear desperate, as he hoped that the chairman would feel to be in a position of power. "I have managed to find most of the materials I need, but I am missing the last few. I need your help with acquiring them."
"Are these ingredients also part of the pill for a mid level immunity?" Asked the woman with curiosity.
Daniel nodded quietly, then, after what looked like a sigh filled with helplessness, he said "I will make the first batch in front of you, the moment I get all of the ingredients I need."
"Are you implying that you already have a formula?" Asked the woman with eyes wide open in shock.
Once again, Daniel nodded in confirmation.
A few thoughts and ideas formed in the woman's mind, and only after a minute, she managed to calm herself down, and say "I don't care if you are really a genius, or if you found some sort of ancient record from which you are taking all of these formulas from.. I will help you out.. But I have a condition."
"What is it?" Daniel asked while smiling internally. A condition was exactly what he was hoping for.
"I want you to meet a person. And I want you to create the pill in front of him. If you agree to this small request, I'll do my best to find all of the ingredients you are missing for the pill." Said the woman with a calm tone.
Daniel could not be any happier. To be asked to meet someone, and to perform in front of that very same person.. He was aware that by 'performing', the woman meant auditioning in front of her superior, and for an audition to take place, someone of importance had to show up.. That, was all Daniel needed to go on with his plan. But of course, he couldn't simply accept right away.
"Who is this person?" He cautiously asked. Just like anyone else in his position, he had to show worry when facing the possibility of finding themselves into a dangerous situation.
The woman put her hand on Daniel's arm, and with a reassuring tone, she said "Oh, don't worry. He isn't an enemy. Just someone which shares your passion for the world of poison and alchemy."
Once again, Daniel lowered his head in defeat, and nodded in agreement.
"Perfect! Why don't you give me a list of what you need, so that I can take care of it." Said the woman with a bright smile while standing up form the couch, and walking towards her desk.
Before she could reach the desk, she was stopped by Daniel's voice, which said "I have a condition too."
The woman turned around, and asked "What is it?"
"It has to happen by the end of this week." Responded Daniel with a firm tone, showing that he was not willing to take no for an answer.
The woman was slightly perplexed by Daniel's request, but she was too close to her objective to think straight, so, she accepted without giving it too much thought.
In the end, Daniel gave her the list of the items he knew he would need, and left right after.