Daneel double- and triple-checked the coordinates, but this was the place.
He was off the coast of the North of Angaria, right after crossing the Black Raven Kingdom and going farther and farther onward until one reached the shore.
The shore was usually not a very populous place, because of the tendency of the Endless Sea to occasionally swell forward and inundate everything nearby, resulting in any house that was built being swept away by the waves that held the wrath of the sea within them.
There were quite a few villages a bit inland, though, mainly because there were a lot of people whose wish was to see the Endless Sea for themselves. Even though before the advent of the Network, there hadn't been much information being shared across regions, the tale regarding the Endless Sea was always present, and many wanted to see the sight of lapping waves stretching into the horizon before they died. There were no major water bodies on the continent, so this was the only place where they would be able to see such a thing. It was almost like a pilgrimage, and these villages served to act as tourist locations where one could lodge before going forward and gazing at the sight that made almost all drop their jaws.
Daneel was puzzled as to what he should do. He first went to the villages nearby to check out whether there were any strange incidents that happened in this area, and mainly because these villages were cut off from the rest of the world as they were so far away from the forces in the Central Continent, there was a possibility that there might be things that hadn't been reported to him present which might give him some indication regarding just where the Treasury was.
Sadly, there was nothing to be gleaned, and although he did find signs of those who came from the Big 4 to fish for that meat which had tasted so good in the Sect of Hedon when he had tasted it, there was nothing else.
Even those who took part in this activity of fishing apparently only came every six months, and each time, the number of those who left would be lesser than that of those who came.
This was quite peculiar, and because he hadn't investigated too much into this activity of obtaining the meat which acted as the Energy resource for those in the realm of Champions and Heroes, he didn't know why this would happen. The Endless Sea was known to be treacherous, but if one was careful, they were supposed to be able to keep their lives, especially if they had trained to bee Warriors in the big four.
Deciding to shelve that question for later, Daneel returned to the spot that was indicated by the coordinates and decided to give something a try.
He was around a few hundred metres from the shoreline, but even then, just to be safe, he cast a spell to make sure that the sound from this area would not travel anywhere.
After that, hoping that something would happen, he shouted, "I may take many shapes, but the shape of my heart shall forever stay true: I e in the name of Xandar, Seventh in the Line of The Noble Seven, and I beseech you to grant me entry."
That was the password given to Daneel by the Shapeshifter, and even for a few seconds after he said it out loud, nothing changed.
Just as he was about to think that he had been taken for a ride by that guy who really did look like he would pull pranks for amusement, the system sent an urgent message.
[Ining Hero-level attempt to teleport host. Would host like an attempt to be made to block it]
"No! Allow it!"
No sooner had he given the answer, he blinked out of existence, as if he had never stood there in the first place.
If anyone was watching the spot, they would have seen a very peculiar sight.
For a split second after the King of Lanthanor said those words, it was as if a gigantic eye the size of a large ship had opened in the depths of the Endless Sea, and the only reason that it became visible was because the very waves of the sea had stilled for the briefest of moments. It was as if it had some sort of aura which caused even time to stop near it, but after that, it disappeared, leaving no signs behind.
Of course, Daneel didn't know about this, as he had been teleported to some place where there was no light whatsoever.
After waiting for a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, he finally saw that he was in a cave, of sorts.
He didn't really understand the fascination of this continent with caves, because it was as if this was the umpteenth time that he had found himself somewhere underground where something was hidden.
Putting this thought aside, he started walking inward in the pitch black darkness, his hands feeling the walls which were smooth, almost as if they had been cut by a very sharp object.
The passage was only able to fit one person, and even the ceiling was only a few inches above his head. He kept walking and walking, and it was as if time had no meaning in this place. Thankfully, Daneel had the system, so after finding out that he had been walking for 5 minutes, he decided to pick it up a notch.
He began running, and except for the eerie silence around this place that slowly began to creep him out, there was nothing untoward here.
One thing which did make him think that he had arrived at the Treasury was that the system was unable to scan past these walls, which meant that there was at least a Hero level formation blocking him. To be able to be maintained for so long… Daneel wondered how it could be possible, and he hoped that he would find the answer soon.
Finally, after 5 more minutes during which he kept wondering whether he should pick up the pace even more and zoom along, he started to see light somewhere far away, and this made him increase his pace, even though he had been hesitating till now wondering whether it would be disrespectful to do that.
According to the system's estimate, he had already walked and then run for over 10 km, and it was in the direction of the Endless Sea, rather than of the continent. It had to be said that the idea to put something so precious like this outside the continent was brilliant, as it was practically the last place that anyone would even want to search, as it would exactly be like looking for a needle in an endless haystack.
The spot from where the light was ing seemed to get closer and closer, and finally, when Daneel reached it, he got the shock of his life.
In front of him was a hole that seemed to go on and on until eternity. A normal human would have gone right ahead and fallen into it, but his reflexes had allowed him to stop himself. He couldn't see the end of it, so he focused his gaze on the source of the light, which was a globe of peculiar grey-colored fire that was burning right in front of him.
It gave off a grey light, too, and it seemed to be of the same hue of the walls.
To the left and right, Daneel saw the same smooth walls branch out and then end, and in front of a was also a wall. It was like he had traveled down a corridor and then e upon an elevator shaft, yet there was no elevator, and the shaft seemed to go on endlessly.
Except for the globe of fire which cast shadows on the smooth walls which were so polished that they almost looked like mirrors, there was nothing else, but a second after he reached it, it suddenly changed.
It transformed into a mouth, which opened to speak.
"What do you want?
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