Although this news had shocked Daneel and made him drop his jaw, the next one served to make him fall on the ground with bewilderment on his face.
[According to preliminary analysis, approximately 200 Ker Gems are required for host to reach the peak of the Human Realm as both a fighter and a mage, if all methods are used.]
200 Ker Gems!
Hearing this exorbitant price, Daneel couldn't help but sit and shake his head with incredulity.
With years of effort, the previous King of Lanthanor had only managed to accumulate 10 Ker Gems which he prized as his most valuable possessions.
Apart from the fact that the exchange rate was so high, their rarity was something which pushed up the price even further.
Thus, the regular price of 10,000 blocks of Ether or 100,000 Gold Lans for a single Ker Gem could go up to 15,000 blocks and 150,000 Gold Lans easily.
After all, cost was based on demand. If someone was looking for a high number of Ker Gems, they might find the rate rising even more because the seller would be able to guess the importance of the need.
Thus, the final price for 100 Ker Gems could be anywhere between 20 to 25 million Gold Lans.
This was truly an extravagant price, especially when one considered that the entire budget of a large Kingdom like Lanthanor was only around this range.
Daneel now finally understood why the King had gone so crazy as to even cut essential funds to spies so that he could save more money in order to obtain Ker Gems.
As someone who had the best body potential and comprehension in all of Central Angaria, Daneel knew that this was already the most minimal price possible. After all, the number of resources needed decreased with an increase in these two areas.
Along with this, there was also the fact that Daneel had the system which could use energy in the most efficient manner possible.
Even though he required more energy in order to train both his body and mageroot, it was still a very high number when taking into account all the other factors.
After analyzing everything in his mind, Daneel realized that even with top comprehension, it was a very resource-burning process to gain power.
One had to realize that this number was already obtained after taking into account the 5x multiplication in energy that came into effect due to using the clone to accelerate his training.
Of course, if he wanted to use only 40 Ker Gems to reach the next realm, it would require 4 years.
And if he didn't even use Ker Gems, then it would require 8 years by using only a fraction of the cost.
Asking the system, Daneel found out that using Ether instead of Ker Gems only required 1/10th the energy required, if one used the conversion rate of 1 Ker Gem=10,000 Ether Blocks.
His head reeling from all the statistics, Daneel stood up and arranged everything in his head, realizing that he only needed to understand one thing: he needed to somehow obtain 200 Ker gems to train to the Warrior stage as a fighter and mage in 2 years.
Of course, there were a few Ker Gems in the treasury that he could utilize. Subtracting them, he now needed 180 Gems.
At the base price, this came out to a whopping sum of 18 million Gold Lans.
Considering his options, Daneel realized that he couldn't possibly obtain this much money from the Kingdom, unless he took drastic measures just like the previous King.
Unless things were truly desperate, this was definitely not an option.
Thus, just like before during his academy life, it seemed that Daneel would have to obtain money by himself again.
It seemed that it was time to restart production of the product which had revolutionized the economy in Lanthanor and had almost resulted in Daneel's death.
....
Meanwhile, in a remote area 300 kilometers west of Lanthanor Capital City.
All over Central Angaria, there were multiple pockets of wilderness which hadn't yet been claimed by a Kingdom as their own land. Often, these areas were devoid of human life.
Yet, walking on ground that hadn't seen human footfall in decades, a lone adventurer with scraggly hair and a huge bag on his back trudged through the foliage and the bushes which prevented him from having a smooth path forward.
Using a knife to cut through bushes, he preserved his strength of an Exalted Human Fighter while holding a round trinket in his hands which looked to be flashing.
Seeing the flashing becoming more frequent, an exhausted smile appeared on the adventurer's face, making him increase his pace forward while setting his eyes on a distant destination.
A half hour later, he came upon a burrow in the ground which led into darkness.
Without hesitation, the bag on his back was thrown to the ground after which he leaped inside with a crazed expression on his face.
Although the burrow was small, it was just enough to fit his lean body. After a few seconds of free fall, his instincts made him curl into a ball just before he impacted the ground with a loud "grunt".
Taking out a light trinket from his pocket, he activated it before turning around to examine the cavern he was in.
As the red reflection shone in his eyes, an expression of extreme satisfaction and joy spread through his face, making him laugh out loud uncontrollably while still wincing from the pain he felt from landing on his back just a few seconds before.
....
In the throne room of the Kingdom of Lanthanor.
Daneel sat on the throne while waiting for Kellor to close the door. Saying that it was a matter of national importance, he had come running to Daneel's chambers before asking to convene an emergency meeting.
Presently, Aran, Cassandra, Faxul and Kellor were in attendance, wondering just what was so important which had caused the King to call for the first emergency since ascending the throne.
Walking to the throne, Kellor immediately got into the topic, saying, "Your Majesty, a Ker Gem deposit has been found approximately 300 kilometers west of our location. This news was leaked after someone bought the information at a high price from the adventurer who found it."
Although Daneel was initially puzzled hearing these words, he got the answers he needed by asking the system. For the past few weeks, he had been making a point to go to the library and analyze as many books as possible whenever he had the time.
Apparently, unlike Ether Blocks, Ker Gems were found in small deposits in remote locations. It was even an occupation in Central Angaria to go out and search for these locations, as just one find could result in an adventurer being set for life.
Each and every discovery like this always led to a storm in the surrounding area. Once, it was even told that a Kingdom had been invaded just so that one could snatch away the deposit.
After all, Ker Gems were classified as strategic assets by all of the forces in Central Angaria.
"My King, a decision must be made right now. The other forces are already on the move, and the one who paid for the information must already be close. It always takes time to extract the deposit, so if there is an intention to compete for it, we must set off right away."
Hearing this, Daneel pondered for a few seconds before turning to Cassandra and saying, "Are we ready to deploy our troops?"
With a stoic expression, Cassandra replied in the voice of a commander who was ready to go to war.
"Yes, My Lord. We have shock troops ready to march at a moment's notice."
Nodding at the reply, determination shone in Daneel's eyes as he gave the order which made Kellor smile seeing the decisiveness of the King of Lanthanor.
"All right. Give the command. We leave immediately."