"Mr. Daneel Anivron. Or Master Novrain. Which do you prefer?"
Right now, Daneel was having the oddest conversation of his life.
In front of him was a table, on which sat a gla.s.s box.
And in that gla.s.s box, was the head of a man which was now talking to him.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn"t stop staring.
"Kid, I trust you"ve seen stranger things. How much time do you need to stare? Maybe I"ll take a nap."
As Daneel heard this, he tried to shake off the urge to curse while listening to the notification in his head.
[Champion level individual detected.]
This…was a Champion? This head in a box?
Was he having a very odd dream?
After the previous sect leader had told him that the rumor about the Hidden Kill Sect having a Champion level powerhouse was true, and that he wanted to meet him, Daneel had been quite happy.
Before, even though he met Champions in the forms of Marcus, the Matron, and the Mad Doctor, he hadn"t been able to a.n.a.lyze them using the system due to it being too weak.
However, now, the upgraded system was powerful enough to present to him all the secrets of anyone up to the peak of the Champion level.
Again, all he needed was data-things to a.n.a.lyze, and he hoped to get them by talking to this Champion.
Only, after the previous sect leader led him to this room whose door opened on its own which was located right below the stadium, Daneel had had no option but to just stand there, shocked.
After the previous Sect Leader had left the room, Daneel finally found it in himself to take a seat after being told by the head to do so.
First of all, could someone survive with just a head and no body?
Back on Earth, Daneel had read up on the topic, and the consensus was that it wasn"t possible.
However, here, in a location with magic, that clearly did not apply.
Second, could someone without a body still retain Champion level powers, like this man was doing?
And third, how the h.e.l.l did this guy know that he was Daneel?
[Host under influence of brain wave a.n.a.lysis. Would host like this to be blocked?]
"What? Brain wave a.n.a.lysis? Is that something at the Champion level?"
[Affirmative. A target"s brainwaves are scanned using the minute interactions with elementary particles that are a part of everyday life. Someone whose mind works at a high complexity can decode these interactions and get a rudimentary idea about what the target is thinking. From a.n.a.lysis, this only works on the foremost thoughts of the target. Deeper thoughts and convictions are unable to be a.s.sessed by the spell that is being used on host.]
"Then don"t block it."
Making this quick decision, Daneel kept thinking about how his real ident.i.ty had been exposed, over and over again.
He did not want anyone on this continent to know that he was capable of anything at the Champion level while still being an Exalted Human himself.
He had learned from his mistakes. Before, he had shown capabilities that were at the Warrior level while being an Exalted Human. However, this had been explained away as being due to an inheritance.
Yet, the news of him possessing just that level of inheritance, which could exhibit feats that could only be done by those one major level stronger, had already placed him in a position where he would soon be targeted by many reclusive experts.
Now, if it was found out by anyone that he was capable of things another step beyond, it might even definitely make the strongest people on the continent move.
He could not risk that. Right now, he already had his plate full, so he had no intention whatsoever of being targeted by even stronger people.
So, Daneel decided that caution was the way to go.
"You"re asking yourself how I know your ident.i.ty. A simple question. With a simple answer. But if you want to know it, I have a few conditions."
Well, it worked.
So, it was time for some more acting.
Getting an expression of surprise on his face, Daneel turned it into apprehension before saying, "State them."
"First, you swear an oath that whatever we speak right now does not leave this room. Second, you give me access to the inheritances you obtained in Lanthanor and the Hidden Kill Sect. And third, you promise to get a chef from Lanthanor to replace the one here. I"ve grown sick of the reptilians" dishes."
Daneel didn"t even hear the third condition, as he had been caught up on the second.
This…head knew that he had gotten inheritances in the two Kingdoms.
What the h.e.l.l?
For once, Daneel felt truly threatened.
Here was an existence which had been tracking him for, apparently, a long time, and he hadn"t even been able to guess it.
But…that didn"t make sense either. If this man was tracking him, the system should have been able to detect him after upgrading. Why hadn"t it done so?
Deciding to find the answer to this from the mysterious Champion himself, Daneel said, "Your first and third conditions are fine, but there is no way I am agreeing to the second. I can live with being curious about who you are for the rest of my life."
As Daneel heard a clapping sound from near him, he felt slightly alarmed, as he couldn"t see who was responsible for it.
However, looking at the head, he saw that it had a merry expression on its face, as if it had been the one to clap in amus.e.m.e.nt.
It had a long head of grey hair, and although the face looked like it belonged to someone old, one could guess that this man must have been quite the lady killer back in his prime.
He had striking green eyes and a long nose along with a sharp chin and an angular jaw. His cheekbones were high, giving him the overall look of someone who commanded respect and admiration.
"Oh, that was me. I don"t have my body, but in antic.i.p.ation of the day I do get one, I keep making the sounds that would appear if I weren"t just a head in a gla.s.s box. Anyway, it was worth a try. The first and third are fine. Swear the oath and we can begin."
Hmm. So, it seemed that this head also had a mischievous side to it.
Being bombarded with too many questions in his mind, Daneel quickly swore the oath before sitting back.
"Good that you made that decision. But let me tell you one thing- oaths aren"t completely foolproof. So, I"ll be sticking to the bare minimum."
Even before Daneel could respond to this, a large image flickered into being in the air in between them.
They were in quite a large room under the stadium in which the tournament was going on. The ceiling was also quite high, standing at at least 3 meters in the air.
The image almost stretched to the ceiling, but as Daneel watched, it zoomed into one part near the center.
To his shock, the image then s.h.i.+fted to the scene of Lanthanor.
More specifically, it was his mother who was carrying out the philanthropical works that she loved so much.
Currently, she was distributing enchanted blankets to common folk who couldn"t afford them, as winter was set to arrive soon in Angaria.
Then, the image s.h.i.+fted to Eloise, who was handing out some newly minted IDs personally to citizens. Apparently, the first test runs for Daneel"s ID plan was underway.
How the h.e.l.l was this man surveilling those places while sitting here, in this room?
Just like before, the bodyless man "read his mind".
"Kid, I won"t go into the details, but don"t worry. I haven"t sneaked communication eyes into crucial places in your Kingdom."
As he said this, the image zoomed out again to show that shape from before.
"This is Angaria.", he said, in a tone that made Daneel know that he would have waved with his hand grandly if he had one.
For the first time, Daneel was seeing the continent of Angaria from above, clearly.
It reminded him vaguely of some shape, but he couldn"t place it.
As he continued to spectate the figure with awe, the head continued.
"Kid, just call me the "Watcher". Right now, before I find a way to make sure that I can remain safe after you exit this room, I can tell you this. I watch over Angaria. All of it. At any given point of time, I can be paying attention to over a thousand locations at once. Don"t ask me how; just know that I am capable of it. The only areas out of my purview are those hidden by trinkets. Returning to the question of how I know your ident.i.ty, it"s just like your commander, Luther, must have guessed who you are. Mannerisms, my boy. I"ve watched you for a long time, so I can recognize you no matter whom you transform into."
These d.a.m.n mannerisms.
Daneel was tempted to curse about them, but there was a more pressing question at hand.
However, what this "Watcher" said next drove everything out of his mind.
"As for why and how I"m able to do it, I can tell you that it is because a "Watcher" is an official post held at any point of time by a Champion a.s.signed by the High Council of the Big 4. I was the previous Watcher. However, I saw something I shouldn"t, and I was attacked by a man who is in charge of that High Council itself. It is that man who gave Doom Mosquitoes to Axelor with some hidden agenda. And if he is not stopped, or at least slowed, it is also that man who will cause the descent of the Church much sooner than anyone can expect."