"Faxul, how did you get us here?", Daneel asked, unable to understand how his friend had been able to teleport in the forest which had clearly been teleportation-locked.
"I-I don't know. As soon as I entered the forest, I felt something… pulling me. So I just gave in, and I appeared here. It seems I can voluntarily activate it."
"Has there been any change in that 'well' of yours?", he asked after a few moments, wondering whether this strange occurrence was due to his friend's true blood of the Black Raven.
Closing his eyes tightly, Faxul stood still for a few moments before opening them with an expression of enlightenment on his face.
"Yes! That power seems to light up when I activate the teleportation!"
Seeing that his deduction was correct, Daneel nodded.
Yet, although he had been hoping for this, he had a very, very slight feeling that something was off.
"System, have you analyzed the teleportation? Is it how he says it is? Is it because of his blood?"
[Analyzing formation. Complexity exceeds system's level. Only a preliminary analysis is possible. Preliminary analysis shows that the formation does some kind of scanning on those who enter its target area. It is likely that this is a scanning of the blood.]
Hearing this inconclusive answer from the system, Daneel put the matter aside not having any other choice.
Feeling the space particles around him, he realized that they were actually in a state of flux-which meant that teleportation was possible.
The way teleportation and teleportation trinkets worked was that mages connected with space elementary particles in the air with their mageroot before using a method of visualization to envision their destination. After doing so in the correct way and with enough particles, the particles would transform into a portal that would allow the mage to step through to the place they envisioned.
A space-lock trinket froze the space elementary particles in an area, barring mages from connecting with them using their mageroot, effectively stopping all attempts at teleportation.
Yet, what was strange about their present location was that although there was no lock where they stood, Daneel couldn't teleport to any location outside.
This meant that anyone could teleport anywhere they wanted inside these grounds, but they wouldn't be able to leave, at least by teleportation.
Daneel had never seen or heard of such a spell before, leading him to wonder just how powerful the person who set up this formation had been.
Even communication to the outside was blocked. Realizing this, Daneel proceeded to make a plan which placed Faxul at minimum risk. After all, his job which had been to get them into the ancestral grounds was essentially done.
"Faxul, I'll use a method to investigate this entire place without being spotted. I don't know how large it is, so I don't know how much time it will take. I need you to teleport back to the forest right now and hide. After every half hour, teleport back to this exact location to check if I'm here. I'll make sure to come back soon so that you have enough time to go the barracks to act out the rest of the plan. Got it? Any questions?"
Looking into Faxul's eyes, Daneel waited as his friend understood everything and nodded helplessly.
These were the ancestral grounds of his Kingdom which they had been able to access through him, but he had no option but to wait outside because he was too weak.
Without saying anything, he teleported back up, beginning the timer.
Seeing his friend leave, Daneel sighed knowing how it felt to always be weaker than one's enemies. For the longest time, he had been feeling the same thing, and he was frankly sick of it. Even though it was better now that he had gotten to the Exalted Human Mage level, he knew that he was still leagues away from his true opponents, the Church, which definitely had Champion level individuals, if not those even higher.
Yet, with the system and time, he knew that he could triumph over them all.
"System, begin a sweep of the entire area by teleporting underground. Keep an eye out for danger, and make sure I return here before 2 hours pass."
This was his method of safe surveillance: Daneel could surveil an area 1 Kilometer in any direction around him. Hence, by teleporting underground in a grid which covered the entire area, he would be able to gather all the information about it.
Of course, this also meant that he would not be able to see anything. The system was the one surveilling, so all he could do was keep being teleported to cave after cave while allowing the system to deploy all the spells necessary.
There were still 3 hours till all the soldiers had to verify their identities, so Daneel's plan was to get this over in two.
Closing his eyes, he let the system take over as he relaxed while keeping an eye on the efficient deployment of spells by the system.
80 minutes later.
[Surveillance complete.]
Hearing the notification, Daneel roused himself and looked around, seeing that he had arrived back at the location where he and Faxul had parted ways.
Knowing that his friend would come sooner or later to pick him up, he asked the system to give the main information about the area.
[Total area: Around 4300 km2
Fertile Land Being Used: 2000 km2
Fertile Land Not Being Used: 1000 km2
Dead Land: 1000 km2
Unused Land: 1000 km2
Land used for other purposes: 300 km2
Crops Planted: Unknown. Similar to some which increase Fighter Level in database, but no exact match found.
The land is used in a revolving basis. When half of it is used to plant the crops, the other half is left alone to rejuvenate.
Other purpose: A breeding ground has been found where Raven eggs are submerged in a solution made out of the crops.
Additional Point of Interest: Natural Energized Training Chamber found.]
Although the rest of the information was shocking in its own right, the last sentence made his jaw drop.
A Natural Energized Training Chamber?!
The only object that had been classified as a "treasure" by the system since he had transmigrated into this world??!!
Daneel couldn't believe his ears. Yet, on asking the system again, he confirmed that it was true.
After finding out that there were still 8 minutes for Faxul to arrive, he said, "Take me to the location under the Chamber."
After waiting for a few moments, he teleported to the cave while a current of air materialized in front of him to allow him to breathe.
"Are there any hidden traps in the area near it? And is anyone here?"
[Affirmative. Formation and trinket traps which are above the complexity of the system have been identified. There are no individuals near the area, and the location seems to be cordoned off. The chamber has also been disguised, but system was able to identify it as host is in possession of a similar treasure.]
Disappointed, Daneel knew that it was too risky to carry out his initial plan of checking out the chamber to find clues about the one using it.
As for the identity of the individual, it was quite clearly the old man, as he was the only one in the entire Kingdom who even had the chance of being someone powerful enough to place trinkets and formations with complexity higher than what the system could analyze.
As he was pondering about the implications of this discovery, he remembered the latest information about the Black Raven Kingdom which detailed that it was desperately searching for Ker Gems or Ker Gem mines.
Adding two and two together, it was quite obvious that the old man was in need of energy for some reason.
Without the discovery of this chamber, Daneel wouldn't have been able to make this deduction as the information could also mean that they were simply trying to refill their treasury.
Noticing that it was getting close to the time when Faxul would arrive, Daneel teleported back to the initial location while still having his brows scrunched up because of all the plans that were swiveling in his head.
After a few seconds, the half-hour mark came and went with no sign of Faxul.
Thinking that he could simply have counted the time wrong, Daneel waited for another few minutes before starting to panic slightly.
Had he been compromised? Was there a problem with the formation?
Even as questions like these came into his mind, the possibility that he was trapped in here affected him more, making him hope that none of them were true.
Minute after minute passed, with Daneel growing more and more frantic.
Finally, 20 minutes after the time he was supposed to come, Faxul finally appeared near Daneel, making him jump with shock due to his agitated nerves before sighing with relief.
Yet, seeing the weird expression on Faxul's face, Daneel realized that something was wrong.
"Come with me. I found something."
Saying these words, Faxul walked forward and caught Daneel's shoulder, teleporting both of them out of the Ancestral Grounds.