Chapter 295: A familiar voice (1/2)
Even after the warning Aiden gave to him, Drake didn't spend much time thinking about his answer. After merely a few seconds, the strict look on his face softened into a reassuring smile as he met Aiden's eyes with his own.
”Don't you worry about me, Aiden. Although I'm not as monstrously strong as you, I am a skilled swordsman, after all.” He patted the hilt of his adorned sword hanging in its lustrous sheathe on his right. ”Mort and I will be able to handle ourselves fine! I will stay with you, so just lead the way!”
”Hah… do as you want, but don't say I didn't warn you.” Aiden sighed, not wanting to waste time arguing with him any longer. As dawn had already passed and they were marching further and further into the day, he wanted to hasten this last and hopefully not too long part of their adventure.
Shifting his attention from the silver-haired prince, he turned to take in the ground floor of this towering structure carefully.
The hallway they arrived in, was the base floor of the building, and as such, to their right, on the far side, an ominous-looking, matte black, double-door barred their way, that would lead them out of the building and back to the orcs' campsite.
To their right, the hallway ended with a simple dark brown wooden door. The door, unlike the many others that could be seen along either side of the walls, looked quite old, ancient. The wood was already weary, torn by the relentless passing of time. The door had no handle on it, and instead of a regular keyhole, a strange violet gemstone, a beautiful amethyst could be seen elevating the archaic look of the age-old oak wood barrier and giving it a more mysterious feel.
Scarlet, silk carpet was draped on the floor over the marble tile. All in all, the hallway that Aiden mostly ignored when he arrived looked quite astonishing, completely out-of-place in such a barbaric tribal campsite.
Despite the royal feel the place gave, besides Aiden, no one in the group was surprised by the least bit. For Drake, he already got over his shock when he was first brought here. As for Roas and the rest of the servants, they couldn't really care about this place at all. To them, this was just merely an already abandoned bastion of their enemies and not a marvel of architecture. After all, although they have evolved, they still originated from a species that lived in muddy huts and tents…
”So, where to now?” Drake asked, breaking the short silence, and pulling Aiden out of his reverie.
”Hmm… I'm not entirely sure…” Aiden answered thoughtfully, slowly scanning the hallway. As he did so, he also sent out invisible waves of energy. Using his trusty [Dark Sense] ability he wanted to make sure that there were no more surprises along the way.
As the pulses returned to him, he glanced over at his System's Generated Map only to see that they should safe. There were some strange responses coming from the direction of the gemstoned door, but at this time, neither he nor the system could discern if it would be harmful or not. He only felt a small pulsating source of heat, some energy coming from behind, further below.
After a brief moment of thinking, he turned towards the aged door to their left and pointed towards it.
”I believe that we will find what I seek behind that door.”
'Young Master, would you please allow us servants to go ahead and check if there is any trap ahead?' Roas's concerned voice suddenly resounded in his mind. Following his voice, Aiden could feel the activation of all the connections he shared with his servants. He could feel the same worry and concern coming from each of them.
They were all worried about the same situation happening as before. Not wanting to speak while in the presence of the human, they all focused on the magical connection instead. Being able to feel their true emotions, Aiden didn't want to deny this wish from them.
'Sure, you can check this floor and try the door as well. However, don't be disheartened if you fail to open it, as I have a feeling that it will only work for me…'
'No, Young Master! Don't worry!' Roas' excited voice came almost instantly which was a great contrast to his still stoic, cold look he gave outwardly.
As he approved, in the next moment, Roas, Glohn, Gob, and even Galina turned towards the run-down wooden door on the left and left the group. As they slowly approached the destination, they made sure to check each and every room they came across.
Seeing their receding figures, Drake looked puzzled. Why did they suddenly decide to go ahead? Why didn't they say a word? Are they trying to trick them?
”Umm… Aiden…” He leaned closer to the boy and whispered with a worried tone.
Looking at Drake's face, Aiden almost couldn't hold in his laughter. He knew what he was concerned about. After all, they spoke using the mental channel. Still, with great difficulty, he retained his usual carefree, friendly look. With a masked calmness, he asked.
”What is it?”
”Those four… Why did they leave so suddenly? What are they doing? Are they planning something?”