58 The Castle Part 4 (1/2)

After a few seconds, the silhouette of the old man slowly got up on his feet, and walked all the way to the opposite corridor.

Daniel followed him closely as he entered a large and well decorated room. Once in, the silhouette disappeared.

This room contained well kept furniture, and its walls were covered in paintings. One of them in particular, caught Daniel's attention.

This painting depicted a family of three. A father, a mother, and a son.

The man in the picture looked extremely serious. His brows furrowed above two clear blue eyes, and his blonde hair were short and very well kept, just like a soldier would.

He wore an impressive looking armor, on which a crest had been carved. This crest was similar to the one Daniel had seen in various other places within the castle. From the sword and spear that had been painted by his side and hand, Daniel could guess that that person was the warrior whose silhouette he had followed.

Next to him, was a beautiful woman. Her hair were long and straight, and she let them flow behind her back. Her smile was wide, and she looked happy.

Standing between the two, was a kid. This kid's hair were blonde, just like his father, but that was the only trait the two shared. His look was serious and detached, as if staying in pose for the family portrait had been the last of his worries.

Of one thing Daniel was certain. This castle was this family's home. What he didn't understand, was why he would have so many visions about this armed man and his child.

Daniel looked away from the panting, and when he turned around to inspect the room, he noticed the silhouette of the old warrior sitting at his desk.

His back was now curved, and he looked completely dispirited. His head moved up and down, and at times he covered it with his hand.. as if trying to cover the shame, point at something in the direction of the wall animatedly, or punch the table, as if trying to convey his emotional state along with his words.

He was clearly having an animated discussion with someone on the other side of the desk.

The conversation went on for awhile, and the more they talked, the more dispirited the man became.

At a certain point in the discussion, Daniel noticed the man's head turn rapidly towards the direction of the door. Panicked, he swiped his hand on the table, and hid something inside one of the desks drawers.

He then stood up and walked toward door, before suddenly disappearing.

Daniel walked towards the desk and started to inspect it.

The desk was in perfect conditions, and it didn't seem like the influence of time had any effect on it.

He sat in the chair, and opened the drawers one by one. The first of these drawers contained clean sheets of paper, quill pens and bottles of ink, while the second was filled of documents and letters.

On these documents and letters, many different wax seals appeared.

Daniel had no idea what he was looking for, so he took the large pile of documents out, and started to read through them.

Purchase agreements, contracts, agricultural reports, military documents.. Daniel spent a full hour going through these documents, but aside from understanding that this family had been a noble and rich one, he couldn't understand the correlation with the visions he had had.

Putting the documents back inside the drawer, Daniel tried to remember the scene he had seen, and imitate the old man's actions, but no matter how much he tried, everything lead him to the drawers.

Daniel opened these drawers and emptied them once again, but still, he found no secret space.

It was only when Daniel had decided to remove the drawers altogether to examine them better, that he noticed a vertical part of the desk whose edges didn't match the rest.

It was a simple piece of wood who shouldn't have been added separately, and instead should have been carved along with the rest of the desk from the original piece of wood.

Daniel removed this piece of wood, and behind it, he found a secret compartment. Inside which, was a rolled up scroll.

After opening the scroll, Daniel read its content. In it, were the instruction for the construction of a large scale magical trap.

Before Daniel could find a way to comprehend the workings of this trap, a blue silhouette entered the room. It was a middle aged man.

His posture was straight, and he looked like a refined and powerful cultivator. Daniel recognized him as the man he had seen in the previous room. But he didn't seem to be in such a terrible state.

The man approached the bed, and sat next to it. His back bent forward, and his elbows rested on the edge of the bed. His hands joined together, slightly spaced apart, as if he was holding another person's hand between them. It appeared that he was talking with someone who was lying in bed.

The figure suddenly disappeared, leaving the room empty once again.

Daniel's attention turned back towards the magical trap, but unfortunately, after two full hours, he couldn't understand any of its symbols or words. The language was completely different from that on the other room's wall, and looked just as ancient.

The only thing he had managed to read, was the title written in a more relatively recent language, and that title was 'Purgatory of the Damned'

Giving up on the scroll, Daniel left the room and explored the rest of the castle. Unfortunately, nothing else of significance happened.

It was only when Daniel decided to go back to the main hall, that he managed to see the appearance of the silhouette.

The old armed man was standing straight in the middle of the hall. His expression could not be seen, but he was looking down on something of great importance.

Suddenly, a second silhouette barged in from the entrance of the castle. He walked a few meters in, and then stopped while looking left and right.

The old man waved his arm, and only then, did the second silhouette proceed toward the old man.

He stopped once again, exactly two meters away from him. He looked down, and put his hand above something solid. His hand stroked this object gently, and before long, he fell on his knees and started to cry above it.

Five long minutes later, the second silhouette which Daniel had recognized as the young man from the first vision, got back up on his feet, turned to his right, took one large step to the right, then turned left, and took three more steps.