Chapter 248 Detection
"System, what level of a scanning technique should be used to evade your detection?"
[Champion Level technique. Any scanning technique up to the peak Warrior Level can be detected by the system.]
Daneel had known this fact, but he had still decided to ask the system for confirmation.
This meant one of two things, both of which did not bode well for him at all.
One, there was a Champion observing him right now.
Two, there was someone like him, who was capable of using techniques above their own level, spying on him right now.
The only consolation was that Daneel felt no sense of danger.
The fact that he was detecting something which the system couldn't, could only be attributed to one thing: the breakthrough he had had before.
This raised the value of this new level in his mind further, as it basically meant that he had somehow gotten a level of awareness that was comparable to a Champion.
Regardless, the issue right now was that he had to decide what to do.
One thing was weird about the scanning: the feeling of being seen never stayed, coming and leaving in waves as if he were an ant hidden in tall grass with someone above trying to spot him by looking in his area again and again.
As a formation which was one of the strongest in Central Angaria, the Dragon-Heart formation had certain anti-surveillance capabilities which stopped others from peeking into the Palace easily.
Hence, Daneel became hopeful that the formation was actually doing its part, but the one scanning was adamantly trying to remove the veil and peek through.
First, Daneel proceeded to move to his chamber, as there were too many things in the Energized Training Chamber which couldn't be seen by anyone else.
Then, after thinking for a while, he finally got an idea to locate whoever it was that was spying on him.
"System, using the Anti-Surveillance Tool, scan the area around me for locations from which you receive no surveillance data."
The anti-surveillance tool of the system worked in such a way that the system scanned the area using its capabilities.
If he was right, whoever was scanning him had definitely also hidden themselves with a technique at least at that level, if not stronger.
After all, if he were the one doing the surveilling, he would always prioritize hiding himself over the level of scanning technique used.
[Scanning using parameters given. 1 null spot found east of host.]
Grinning briefly seeing that his guess had been correct, he contacted Kellor using the oathstone.
"Kellor, do what I say without asking any questions, I'll explain later."
.....
Meanwhile, at the location that had just been 'detected' by Daneel's system.
This was actually a small private forest in one of the mansions which were adjacent to the Royal Palace, owned by one of the ministers who was still in service in the government.
Although all of the mansions were protected by expensive formations which would require the power of at least an amateur Warrior to be breached, it seemed that they hadn't given any difficulty to this duo.
"Any luck, Sister?", Molan asked, looking around idly with a bored expression on her face.
"Molan, ask me one more time, and I swear that I might 'mistakenly' suspect things about you that won't let you sleep soundly at night. How does the possibility of waking up with spiders crawling on your face sound?"
Hearing the cold voice of Sister Xuan who usually remained very cool-headed, Molan froze where she stood with shock before hurriedly saying, "No, please, Sister, take your time. It's not like we have any pressing engagements right now."
Saying so, she immediately conjured a book out of thin air and began to read, as if it contained the secrets of the universe which were oh so interesting to her.
Seeing this, Sister Xuan sighed softly before saying, "All right Molan, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm frustrated that the Champion level technique taught by the Matron is being suppressed by their damn formation. You know I've only mastered the first level; all I can see is a vague, blurry picture of a man training. Seeing him seemed to make the suspicion about this Kingdom…. Stronger. But again, not strong enough to make me believe it will happen like the others. Let me try for a little more time, if nothing works out, let's go to that restaurant that serves the all-meat soup you liked so much."
Although Molan had started to panic again when she heard mention of the suspicion, she controlled herself and smiled after the last sentence.
Getting back to the book, she waited while Sister Xuan closed her eyes again, launching the Champion Technique which she had mastered despite being only at the level of a 6th Grade Warrior Mage.
Yet, after a few minutes, both of them were interrupted by the footsteps of a man who seemed to be walking up to them.
In an instant, Molan got up from the ground and raised her hands in the air.
First, a silvery barrier appeared around them before two balls made of what looked like condensed lightning and fire appeared, circling the barrier as if looking for foes to attack.
"I detected him before, but I didn't think he would head this way. Should I make him leave?"
As Molan asked this question, Sister Xuan thought for a bit before saying, "No, leave him be. There is no way he can detect us. We will leave soon anyway."
Nodding, Molan relaxed a bit but chose to keep the barrier up, carrying out her duty of being the bodyguard for the treasure of the Sect.
Observing this and sighing, Sister Xuan deployed the technique again, hoping that this would be the final distraction.
Yet, she was proven wrong.
The man turned out to be a woodcutter, who started to cut the trees around them and pausing after felling each, closing his eyes as if imagining something.
He seemed to be randomly moving from tree to tree, but the simple axe which was imbued by the power of an Exalted Human Mage made short work of each of the trees.
Finally, in less than a minute, he was just a few feet away from them.
Even at this point, the duo had been ignoring him.
Yet, by chance, the man cut a tree in front of him which just so happened on the location they were standing in.
The angle at which a tree would fall could only be discerned after the last swing of the axe, so the duo only noticed this after the tree was in motion.
Panicking, they opted to teleport a short distance away immediately, leaving the task alone.
Appearing at different locations before teleporting again to get to each other, Molan said, "Bad luck, Sister. Do you want to go back?"
Seeing Sister Xuan deep in thought, Molan waited, hoping that they would go eat.
"No, I was almost done anyway. Did you feel anything after teleporting away from that location?"
"Umm…no. What kind of feeling do you mean?"
"Forget it. Let's go eat first before deciding what to do next."
Seeing Molan smile on hearing these words, Sister Xuan sighed and smiled slightly to herself before heading towards the inn that served that soup.
Yet, right before she turned around, she couldn't help but look back at the Palace, wondering whether she had really imagined the feeling of being watched that had swept over her the split second after they had both teleported away.
...
Back in the King's Chambers, Daneel let out a long sigh as he finally felt the crawling sensation of being spied go away.
Yet, hearing the notification from the system, a smile spread across his face.
[2 individuals detected by system as per host's instructions]
The whole point behind sending Kellor to cut that tree had been due to the hope that the two would teleport away.
As far as Daneel knew, any Mage would let go of active spells at least for a split second to cast the teleportation spell.
It was that gap that Daneel had used to detect them using the anti-surveillance tool.
Also, he had given the system specific instructions to only switch on the tool for the smallest amount of time needed to detect them before immediately switching it off.
This was something only the system could do, as Mages would require at least a little more time to deploy spells.
Hence, the goal had been that that minute amount of time would be too little to be spotted by the two.
Daneel had no idea if the latter had worked out, but his primary goal had at least been fulfilled.
He now knew the faces of the two powerful individuals who had infiltrated his Kingdom for reasons unknown.
And it was now time to carefully find out just why he had attracted someone who had the background of actually being able to learn a Champion-level technique.