Mira approached from behind. "What's happening?"

  "The sensors in the ice spiral field detected a ground disturbance. Small. But not like an animal." Kieran weighed his options. "We could go check, or wait for further reports."

  "If we go now, we can see it directly," said Mira.

  "Yes. But it could also alert whatever is there that the location is being monitored." Kieran let out a slow breath. The classic surveillance dilemma: when to observe, when to strike. "We'll wait. The sensors haven't reported the presence of a large living creature yet. Maybe it's just wind, or a small landslide."

  But a thread of unease took root. His network was working—it had detected something. But what?

  That night, as they were eating a simple dinner—bread, cheese, and bean soup—Starlight Bloom suddenly pulsed faster.Kieran immediately rose to his feet. The flower was still blue—meaning mana activity. But its pulse… was agitated.

  He crossed to it, placing his hand on top of it. "[Signal Translation: Decode Activity Source]." Data flowed: sensor at the ice spiral location. Small mana fluctuation detected. Not explosive, not like released magic. More like… a leak. Like someone or something passively emanating remnants of magical energy.

  Then, the large living creature presence sensor triggered.

  Something—or someone—was standing within a three-meter radius of the sensor pebble. "Activity at the ice spiral field," Kieran reported, his voice low. "Presence of a large living creature. And small mana fluctuation."

  Rhen set down his soup bowl. "A monster? Another Frost Wisp?"

  "Not like a Frost Wisp. The mana fluctuation is different. More… muted. And the ground vibration sensor showed previous linear scratches. Not claw tracks." Kieran curled his hand into a fist. "We need to decide. Go now, or stay here and rely on the sensors?"

  Mira looked at him. "You said we should be more patient. But this is a chance to see directly who or what is visiting the symbol's location."

  "Yes." Kieran gazed toward the door, toward the darkness of night outside. The rain had stopped. The crescent moon was hidden behind clouds. "But we can't afford to be reckless. We'll go, but carefully. And we won't confront directly—only observe from a safe distance."

  Rhen nodded, already reaching for his cloak. "I agree."

  Mira nodded quickly.

  Preparation took only a few minutes. Kieran gripped a plain wooden staff into which he had carved several basic reinforcement runes—not for attacking, but for defense. Rhen held a hand axe and a covered oil lamp. Mira carried Starlight Bloom in a small pot—the flower could serve as a compass and alarm if anything strange occurred.

  They stepped out into the cold night.

  The journey to the ice spiral field took less than an hour at a brisk pace. They did not use magic to hasten their steps, wanting to remain as silent as possible. Kieran activated [Night Vision: Contrast Enhancement] Tier 1.5 for his eyes, and [Sound Dampener: Step Shroud] Tier 2 for all three of them.

  The field was located at the edge of a small forest, an open expanse normally used for grazing livestock. Since the freezing incident, no farmer had dared to approach. The ground felt sterile, cold, even on this spring night.

  From a distance, Kieran already spotted it.

  A figure.

  Standing in the middle of the field, precisely at the location of the former ice spiral. The figure was bent over, as if examining the ground. Not very tall, perhaps as tall as Rhen. Standing on two feet. Its form was humanoid.

  "Human," murmured Rhen, his voice barely audible.

  Kieran nodded. The figure wore a dark cloak, a hood covering the head. No light, no source of illumination. But from the mana sensor, Kieran could sense a faint emanation—very low, perhaps Tier 1 or even less, like someone with very weak magical affinity or who was suppressing it.

  "They're alone," murmured Kieran. "[Long-Range Analysis: Body Heat Count]." Only one heat source. No one hiding nearby.

  They knelt behind bushes at the forest's edge, watching. The figure walked slowly, circling the area. Occasionally bending down, touching the ground. Then, they stopped, glanced up toward the sky for a moment, before turning and walking away—northward, away from them, toward a footpath leading in the direction of Frostpeak City. Kieran waited until the figure had disappeared from sight, and the sensor reported no more presence of a large creature within a three-meter radius.

  "They're gone," said Mira.

  "We check the location," said Kieran.

  They left their hiding place, walking carefully toward the center of the field. The crescent moon emerged from behind the clouds, providing minimal light. Kieran activated [Light Source: Floating Orb] Tier 1, a fist-sized ball of light that floated above them, illuminating the area.

  The ground at the former ice spiral looked… disturbed. There were scratches on the surface, as if made with a stick or something pointed. Not a random pattern—some straight lines, some curved, like symbols half-scratched then erased.

  And there were footprints.

  Boot prints, medium size. Not monster claws. Human tracks.

  Rhen let out a soft whistle. "So there's someone else who is interested in this place."

  Kieran knelt, examining the tracks. "Good quality boots. Not a farmer's shoes. The sole has a distinct pattern." He followed the tracks with his eyes. The tracks came from the eastern direction—not from the main footpath, but from the bushes. And departed to the north, to the footpath. "They avoided the main road when approaching."

  "Why?" asked Mira.

  "To avoid detection." Kieran stood, gazing northward. "They might be a scholar, an artifact hunter, or an agent from a third party. And they know this location is special."

  "What were they looking for here?" Rhen looked at the scratched ground.

  "Perhaps trying to read the residual energy. Or searching for the symbol that has already faded." Kieran exhaled. This was developing. Not just monsters or anomalous phenomena. Now there was a human—or humanoid—actor involved. "We need to be more cautious. These tracks prove that our symbols are not only attracting our attention."

  Mira shivered, though not from the cold. "Are they dangerous?"

  "Don't know yet. But they have enough knowledge to find this location, and enough cunning to approach quietly." Kieran deactivated his light orb. "We go back. We've gathered important data."

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  They turned, leaving the field and the mysterious tracks behind. On the journey home, Kieran felt a new unease. His network had successfully detected activity, but that activity had only opened new questions. Who was that? What was their purpose? Were they connected to the symbols, or just an explorer who happened to be there?

  As they approached the warehouse, Starlight Bloom in Mira's hand suddenly pulsed with a rapid rhythm again—but this time, its color shifted.

  Slightly greenish.

  "What?" Kieran stopped.

  "Green… that means the presence of a creature," whispered Mira.

  But they were already far from the ice spiral field. The mana sensor was reporting?

  Kieran focused. The signal was coming from… a different location. Not the field. From the hill. The third location, the place of the Woodward feather. "There's activity at the hill," said Kieran, his voice tight. "Right now?"

  They looked at each other. This was too fast. One activity tonight was already enough—but two? "We can't go there now," said Rhen. "It's already late, we're tired, and it could be a trap."

  Kieran nodded slowly. His logic agreed. But his Archmage instincts were screaming to move immediately, to secure the observation point, to seize control. He drew a deep breath. Patience, he reminded himself. You chose not to rush. "We go back first," he said. "We'll monitor from a distance. If the activity at the hill continues or escalates into a threat, we'll decide tomorrow."

  They entered the warehouse. Kieran immediately sat down in front of Starlight Bloom, placing both his hands beside the pot, closing his eyes. "[Intensive Connection: Data Streaming Sensor Node Three]."

  The flow of information from the hill streamed into his mind. Ground vibration sensor: active. Repeating pattern, like footsteps. Two, maybe three steps, then stop. Walking around the large rock where the sensor pebble was hidden.

  Creature presence sensor: active. One large living creature. Perhaps human as well? No mana fluctuation detected—none at all. As if the creature was completely non-magical. Mana fluctuation sensor: inactive. Calm.

  Then, suddenly, the ground vibration sensor stopped. The creature had halted. For several minutes, no activity. Kieran opened his eyes. "They've stopped. Maybe they're checking something, or just sitting."

  Morning mist hung low over the fields, blanketing the scratches on the ground like a thin blanket reluctant to reveal secrets. Kieran stood at the edge of the faded ice spiral area, his eyes sweeping over the disturbed ground surface. The footprints were still clearly legible in the morning dampness—quality boots, sole with a distinct pattern, coming from the east through the bushes, circling the central point, then departing to the north. Toward the road leading to Frostpeak City.

  Someone did come, he thought, the voice inside him flat. Witnessing our ritual? Or just examining the location?

  His Willpower still sensed residual vibrations from the previous night, like echoes lingering in the air. His sensor network had worked flawlessly, but its report was too simple: presence, movement, gone. No identity, no intent. Only the fact that there was another party interested in this place.

  "The tracks are still fresh," said Rhen, kneeling near the first impression. His fingers touched the edge of the track without actually pressing down. "Maybe a few hours ago. Before dawn."

  Mira stood beside Kieran, her arms wrapping around herself even though the morning air was not that cold. "They were alone?"

  "[Track Analysis: Temporary Visual Reconstruction]," Kieran murmured. Tier 2.5. Mana flowed from his palms, touching the ground, reading pressure, moisture, and micro-distortions in the soil particles. Before their eyes, a blurry shadow began to form—a faceless silhouette, posture bent, moving carefully. No strong magical details, just a neutral silhouette. "One individual. Unhurried. They examined the area systematically."

  The shadow walked in circles, paused at several points, then departed. The visualization faded after ten seconds.

  "They knew what they were looking for," said Rhen, straightening. "Not someone who was lost."

  Kieran nodded. "We follow their tracks. But carefully. If they're a scholar or trained agent, they may have left traps or surveillance."

  They began walking, following the tracks heading north. Kieran maintained [Perception Enhancement: Environmental Anomaly Detection] Tier 2, a passive sensor web that scanned for small changes in the surroundings—hidden tripwires, unusual ground pressure, micro mana fluctuations. Nothing was detected.

  The tracks led them out of the field, along the edge of a small forest, then joined a wider footpath. This was where they found the first item.

  A torn piece of cloth, caught on a blackberry bush thorn at the side of the road. The cloth was dark grey, fine fiber, not the coarse wool worn by farmers. Rhen picked it up carefully. "Quality linen," he said, rubbing the cloth between his fingers. "Tightly woven. Possibly from the city."

  Kieran took the cloth. "[Composition Identification: Surface Molecular Deconstruction]." Tier 3. His Willpower crept through the fibers, analyzing composition, stains, residue. "There's a little herbal residue here. A mixture of… mint, sage, and something else. Not for cooking. For medicine or…" He paused, focusing. "Silvershade. A rare herb. Enhances sharpness of vision under low-light conditions."

  "Night vision," whispered Mira.

  "Exactly." Kieran handed the cloth back to Rhen. "Someone who prepared well for a nocturnal expedition. Not a local farmer. Not a bandit. Possibly a scholar, herbalist, or artifact collector."

  They continued. A hundred meters further, behind a large rock marking a crossroads of footpaths, they found the second item: a small glass bottle, empty, lying among tree roots. The bottle was thumb-sized, with a metal cap still tightly attached. No label.

  Kieran picked it up, opening it carefully. A sharp aroma immediately pierced the nose—a complex mixture of herbs, with silvershade as the dominant component, supplemented by moonfern and whisperroot. All of them were herbs associated with enhancement of sensory perception, specifically vision and hearing under magically-infused environmental conditions.

  "[Residue Analysis: Chemical Component Separation]." Tier 3. In his eyes, the layers of aroma decomposed into distinct color bands, each representing a plant. "Professional mixture. Precise proportions. Made by someone who understands basic alchemy. The purpose is clear: to sharpen the senses for detecting magical activity or environmental anomalies."

  He closed the bottle again. "They were searching for something magical. And they knew the ice spiral location was a place of power."

  Rhen crossed his arms. "So we have an unknown individual, experienced, interested in locations of magical anomaly, and careful enough to come quietly at night. Are they from Frostpeak City?"

  "Most likely." Kieran looked northward, where the footpath disappeared behind a hill. "Frostpeak is the nearest center that has scholars and resources for this kind of investigation. But why be interested in the incident of frozen livestock in a remote village? Unless…"

  "Unless they've already been monitoring other magical anomalies," Mira finished. "Or they work for a party that is monitoring."

  Kieran was silent for a moment, considering. In the original timeline, there were no records of early investigations into pre-Tower phenomena. But was that because no one survived to record it, or because humans were too busy surviving to conduct research? His knowledge had gaps—small things, local events, that were not recorded in the great history of extinction.

  "We won't pursue any further," he finally decided. "The tracks lead to the main road. There, they'll be lost among other traffic. And approaching Frostpeak without preparation is an unnecessary risk."

  "We just let it go?" asked Rhen, sounding dissatisfied.

  "We sharpen our vigilance." Kieran looked at the bottle in his hand. "This person is proof that we're not the only ones paying attention to the anomaly. That is valuable information. Now we know there is an active third party. Our task is to understand who they are, without letting them understand us."

  He tucked the bottle into his robe pocket. "We return to the warehouse. We need to analyze these findings further, and evaluate our security protocols."

  The journey back felt quieter. Each was submerged in their own thoughts. For Kieran, this discovery was an uncomfortable reminder: his regressed world was not a vacuum. The changes he had made—investigating the symbols, activating the sensors—emitted ripples. And those ripples had drawn attention.

  Whoever they are, he thought, they have the resources and interest to investigate low-tier phenomena in a remote village. That means they or their employer had already been monitoring regional mana fluctuations. A primitive monitoring system? Or just coincidence?

  His old mind began calculating possibilities. An independent scholar driven by curiosity. A royal agent monitoring illegal magical activity. A representative from one of the ancient races already watching this territory. Or—the most disturbing possibility—another regressor. But no, their operational style was too… ordinary. None of the paranoid efficiency he himself would have employed.

  Upon arriving at the warehouse, Kieran immediately placed the bottle and cloth on the work table. He pulled a chair, sat down, and began a deep analysis.

  "[Resonance Scan: Residual Magical Fingerprint Tracking]."Tier 4. His Willpower enveloped both objects, combing through the remaining mana left behind—searching for any trace of affinity or magical signature that might still be attached to their owner.The results were almost nil. Only a faint shadow of the herbs themselves remained, without any personal signature strong enough."Clean," he murmured. "Either they were exceptionally careful, or they truly do not possess significant magical affinity."

  Mira sat across from him, staring at the bottle. "What will we do with this information?"