Almost all "Citizen in Need" cases were profitable, and even in cases where the initial businesses had failed, the process of vetting individuals carefully had shown its worth. Even after failure, citizens tried again and more often than not, succeeded at least on the second try.

These were all small businesses, like the restaurant in the case of Janice. Still, the sheer number of the cases made it so that the total amount that the Bank was earning was quite sizeable.

Although none of them were at the scale of H&D, this was nothing to be scoffed at, as H&D was truly special.

Since the Olympics, they had seen an influx of orders from all over the continent. Many spectators had zoomed in to see their logos on all the clothes worn by the partic.i.p.ants, and this had been followed by an effective marketing campaign which let everyone know just how special this brand was.

Helena and Dalia were shown as the perfect dream family who had overcome poverty through hard work, thus, they knew just how much quality was to be valued. Besides, they had many innovative and new designs, and they also seemed to have an unlimited pool of money to draw on to fulfill the orders, no matter how many came.

Of course, the last one was due to the partners.h.i.+p that Helena had signed with Daneel, which gave her almost unlimited funds to invest in her business.

All in all, H&D was slowly becoming THE brand to own in the continent.

Eloise was really happy for them, as she knew that this was what the King had envisioned for the company when he had thrown his support behind them.

She missed him. She really, really missed him.

Although they had never gotten as close as she wished, she had just loved to be near him. Even now, the thing which gave her the most happiness was seeing his dreams come true.

His last communication had been two months ago, when he had said that he was entering 'deep-state training', which meant that he wouldn't be able to respond to messages unless they were at the level where the Kingdom might be destroyed.

Since then, she had had a weird itch, as if she felt him close. She knew it was false, but she just couldn't get rid of it.

Every day, she took care of the Kingdom, she trained and she thought about him.

Already, she was almost an Eminent Human, and this was astonis.h.i.+ng given the fact that she had been an Amateur one just months ago.

Clearly, the fact about her having top-grade talent was true.

On this day, more than ever, she felt that the King was near.

Little did she knew that she had just been scanned by him.

….

Get gem.

Get blood.

Train.

Absorb clone.

Rest.

Get gem.

Get blood.

Train.

Rest.

This had been Daneel's schedule, day in and day out.

2 months.

2 months of isolation.

2 months of being cut off from the world, so much so that he couldn't tell night from day.

If it hadn't been for the numbers on the status that kept going up, he knew that he would have lost himself long back.

He lived for those numbers. Those tiny percentages which meant that inch by inch, he was crawling towards his goal.

To be a Warrior.

His food consisted of bare basic bread, as his body was already getting enough nutrition from the Energy. If he had to go to the bathroom, he would use magic to construct one.

When he rested, he couldn't dream, as his mind was completely occupied by a singular feeling.

The feeling of being changed, inside out, by Energy.

He knew that if he broke off his concentration on that feeling, he might never be able to go through with such a long, continuous period of training.

He knew that if he even heard others' voices, he would be tempted to leave, and probably never come back.

He became sick of the blood that stank.

He became sick of the dust that fell on his clothes when Ker gems dissipated.

He became sick of himself.

In these two months, Daneel got closer to insanity than ever before.

If there was any other way to achieve his goal of breaking through, he might have chosen it.

However, there was none.

What he needed to do was get in a state where he would be able to keep absorbing, day and night, while taking only the briefest of rests.

And that-demanded this kind of singular isolation, which was the longest period of torture that Daneel had ever felt in his life.

Since entering that chamber, Daneel had followed his plan of pus.h.i.+ng through. It had been so tempting. All he needed to do was think, and he could contact anyone he wanted. His mother, or his father. Eloise. Sister Xuan. Anyone.

But no, he had resisted.

Until today.

Today, he had allowed the system to scan his surroundings, and let him hear Eloise and his parents talking above him in the Palace.

Because he had hit a dead end.

[Host status updating. Please standby.

Host status:

Host Fighter Level: Human-9(99%)

Host Mage Level: Human-9(99%)

Host Body Potential:

Host Comprehension Level: ????

Host Condition: Nominal]

He was at the absolute peak of the Human level, but no matter what he did, he couldn't take that next step.

It was as if his body and mageroot had become sieves, which let all the Energy out, no matter how much more he absorbed.

Deciding that this approach and just sitting and training had taken its course, Daneel finally broke his self-imposed isolation.

As he listened to their voices, tears came in his eyes and flowed down his cheeks, falling on his feet, which were quivering, just like his entire body.

He was…back.

He had grown a beard, which he shaved with a flick of his finger after managing to control himself.

Right now, all he wanted to do was embrace his mother and cry. Cry with happiness that he hadn't become lost in that dark place where he had been in till now.

So, he did just that.

The King of Lanthanor, a man in command of 4 forces in Central Angaria, possessor of mage talent which surpa.s.sed that known to all in the Central Continent, Paragon, holder of a Tenebrous Flame, inheritor of the Ruler's Inheritance, inheritor of the Basilisk's Breath, inheritor of the Art of the Withering Leaf, Basilisk Rider and, last but not least, heir to the Anivron family, hugged his mother hard and found comfort in her embrace.

He was all of those things, but right now, he was just a boy who had been shut in the darkness for far too long.