55 The Castle Part 1 (1/2)

”You are starting to get greedy.. That's how it's done! Hahaha” Said Sewah inside Daniel's mind.

With the newly acquired coins still in his hands, Daniel couldn't help but giggle at Sewah's words. He couldn't admit it, but since he had found out how to abuse the system, his first solutions to a matter would always be those who that allowed him to earn more.

The fact that earning karma went along with helping people out, was only a bonus.

Once he finished healing the injured, Daniel proceeded to set the spiritual cultivators in position, and then, opened the tunnel.

Surprisingly, on his way to the other side, nobody created any problem for him. They all quietly crossed through the underwater tunnel, just like they were supposed to do.

And so, almost a tenth of the participants of the tournament had finally managed to pass the first obstacle.

They all regrouped in the air bubble, just outside of the castle.

Not many had an idea of what the next tests would require them to do. So, since they had managed to find the castle this early, many of them started to set tents in the surrounding.

They planned to wait and see what others would do.

Daniel wasn't one of those people. Since the moment he had entered the tournament, he felt the overwhelming need of competition. He wanted to explore, he wanted to fight.. And he wanted to win.

Most members of his group thought of it the same way. The only ones who disagreed to rushing into the castle, were the martial and spiritual cultivators of Heimart's team, and the two spiritual cultivator's of Paule's team.

Under Daniel's suggestion, they had decided to join another group which intended to take it slowly, leaving the group with Daniel, the petite girl, Heimart, Ligart, Paule, Imblen and finally, Roley.

The seven of them approached the entrance of the castle, and immediately, they felt the stale air coming from inside its semi-opened double door.

They were not the first people to enter, as some of the teams accompanied by water cultivators had probably managed to reach the castle before them. Not to mention the spiritual cultivators who had defected Daniel's team of tunnel workers.

Behind the large black double door, was a huge hall.

Two large files of columns, which divided the hall into three even parts. At the sides of this hall, were four corridors, while in the opposite side of the door, were two large sets of stairs that separated until halfway up, then joined again to the second floor.

Between these two sets of stairs, was a dark corridor whose destination was impossible to discern.

This hall's roof was made of a large crystal ceiling, while the columns reached all the way up to support what looked like rooms of the second floor.

The walls were made of dark stone, and the poor illumination made the place look unearthly.

”Does anybody know what we are supposed to do here?” Asked Ligart all of a sudden, scaring the tense Roley out of his wits.

Paule was the first to respond. ”I have heard that we are supposed to find the chambers of the two masters.. And then, pick an item that truly represented.. Their inheritance, or something like that.. Then take the item with us into the treasure room.”He said.

”Wow.. that's good information.” Said Ligart sarcastically.

Slightly irritated, Paule responded in an animated manner ”Hey! What do you want me to tell you.. It's not like the place is filled with people who passed this test before..”

Paule made a good point. In fact, the participants who could reach the treasury every decade, were no more than a few dozen. And of course, reaching the treasury was not enough to enter, otherwise many every ten years would have been able to receive the two old master's inheritance by now.

The moment Daniel and the rest took a step into the hall, their view turned black and white.

Behind them, the door had closed shut, and their companions had disappeared from their view.

”Did we shift through space again?.. I hate when it happens..” Said Sewah in Daniel's head.

After hearing Sewah's words, Daniel asked him curiously ”What do you mean?..”

”We aren't where we were before.. Last time I felt like this was when that wrinkled old man threw us into that portal..” Explained Sewah, sounding almost nauseated.

Completely devoid of color, the hall looked even more ghastly. The total lack of sound would make a person go mad in time, as not even a slight wiffle of air could be heard moving through the corridors.

”I wish Paule mentioned this earlier..” Daniel muttered, before entering the first of the two corridors on the left side of the hall.

-----

Past the first corridor, Daniel entered a small training room. Inside it, were two men sparring. Calling these two ”men” was a bit of a stretch, as in truth, they were two training dummies.

These training dummies were performing the art of the sword and the art of the spear. According to what Daniel had studied, there were no flaws in their movements. An instead of sparring partners, their function appeared to be closer to a demonstration.

On the walls to the side of the rooms, various sets of weapons were placed in order. Each wall perfectly mirroring the other.

On the floor, right in front of the walls covered in weapons, were two small altars, on which, two small stone hands grew.

One of them was currently holding a simple sword, while the other, was holding a spear.

The moment Daniel entered the room, The door behind him and on the other side of the room disappeared, while instead, the dummies kept practicing as if nothing had happened.

Daniel knew that this room was part of a test.. He simply didn't know what the test was about. So he sat on the ground, and observed the two dummies spar.

What was interesting, was that the two dummies weren't on a loop. Daniel had now observed them for at least an hour, and yet, they had never repeated the same movement twice.

They would always variate their attacks, and defend just as well.

Despite of how long he watched, none of the dummies could manage to gain the upper hand against the other. No matter how close to hit a dummy was, the other would always counter perfectly and proceed with the spar.