The old man closed his eyes and pondered for a while. When he opened them again, he still had a doubtful expression. He shook his head and said, "The people who delayed you on the road were probably just tools to be used, and didn't necessarily know much. Also, your father let you come here, but he wasn't the first to suggest it. It's just that he should have known the dangers of Icepeak Stronghold, so he agreed to let you come here, and even let you stay here for a long time. This matter is very strange. "
"What dangers does Icepeak Stronghold have in the end?" Reynolds finally couldn't help but ask.
"They didn't tell you? Oh, I guess they were afraid that you would be distracted from your training, which is actually kind. Icepeak Stronghold will be haunted in winter. The wandering souls of the Sunset Mountains will gather here to disturb people's minds and take their lives. This phenomenon has been going on for more than three hundred years, and has never been solved. "
Reynolds opened his eyes wide, "Haunted? If it's very dangerous, can't we avoid it for a while? "
"Icepeak Stronghold needs someone to be on guard, it can't be empty for the whole winter. In winter, it will snow here, and the roads will be closed and impassable. Therefore, someone had to stay here for the entire winter. However, although it will be haunted, within the stronghold, as long as the body is strong enough, or the soul is firm enough, or the protection of divine spells, those wandering souls won't necessarily be fatal. "
The old man went on to explain that under normal circumstances, the young apprentices would go down the mountain before the snow began to gather, and go to Collingwood, which was several dozen miles away. That place was in the hills below the mountain, and the snow was much better. People could still come and go, and supplies wouldn't be cut off. There was a warm fire and a bed, and even a soft body to relieve the loneliness.
Going to other strongholds was also an option to pass the winter, but it wasn't suitable for Reynolds either. Because his "place of exile" was Icepeak Stronghold, and that was it. Not to mention the other strongholds, even Collingwood couldn't be considered a part of Icepeak Stronghold, and couldn't be considered as Reynolds' area of exile.
If Reynolds didn't complete the training and the ceremony, or didn't get a certificate of atonement, then he couldn't be sheltered by the church anywhere except Icepeak Stronghold. If it was especially strict, Reynolds could even be counted as a "deserter", and be killed with a reward. If he was executed as a deserter, not only would he lose his life, but this infamy would also be traced back to the count's family.
"You are very close to death. If you couldn't complete the training, you could either stay here and wait to be tortured to death by the wandering souls, or go down the mountain and take a gamble to see if you could avoid the assassination. Even if you completed the training, the strengthening ritual wouldn't be safe. There was still a 30% chance that you wouldn't be able to survive. This has never been a good place, except to die. "
Reynolds sprang to his feet and walked up and down the room. He had already encountered the blade of an assassination attempt and had to rely on the demon's power to resurrect himself. But that didn't mean that there wouldn't be a next time. The threat of death was real, and the conspiracy was definitely not a conjecture drawn from a piece of paper. The big hand formed by the conspiracy and malice of the past was still strangling Reynolds' neck. The enemy hiding in the dark raised a deadly sharp blade, ready to stab his organs again at any time.
"I … If I had your intelligence, or if you could see my memories directly, you might be able to find out the truth." Reynolds sat down again. He was still gloomy, but he couldn't hide his determination. "No matter where the enemy is, it definitely won't like to see me alive. Then I will continue to live! Not only will I survive, but I will also become stronger and smarter, surpass the enemy, and then I will continue to move forward.
"My brilliance is to shoot arrows at the enemy, and I can always follow the arrows and find it.
"So, please tell me what I should do so that I can get through this crisis and survive."
"First of all, you have to fully realize one thing: you have no way out. Do you still remember the three choices I gave you? Only the third choice is to take your life and death into your own hands. The first two are gambling. I'm very happy that you can choose the third choice, and it's a decision you made before this conversation happened. This shows that you are not dispirited, and you don't lack ambition. You just lack the methods. "
Gravel stood up and let Reynolds follow. He leaned on his walking stick and didn't let anyone help him. He slowly moved forward. As for the letter from the Count, it was on the table. Reynolds thought for a moment, picked it up, folded it, and stuffed it into his pocket.
"I … As for Hall's surname … I'd better become Reynolds Bingfeng first. I'll hold on to this letter first. "
After he finished speaking, Reynolds noticed that he was behind Gravel, and his words couldn't be heard by the old man.
"Every castle in the Setting Sun Mountain Range had its purpose carefully considered when choosing its location. Ice Peak Fortress was naturally not built for the sake of enjoying the snowy scenery. For most of the year, the fortress can be a wreckage made of barren courtyards and broken walls. But during the three months when the snow closes the mountains, Icepeak Fortress must play its role — to suppress the outbreak of wandering souls. "
The black shadow slowly climbed up the stairs, panting as he spoke. Reynolds hurried forward, and without any explanation, supported the old man and walked forward with him.
After passing through the fourth floor where the platform was located, the stairs leading to the top of the tower were crooked, mottled, and shabby. The soles of their shoes left clear marks in the dust. Obviously, very few people passed through here, let alone take care of it.
Generally, spellcasters' towers would set up the top floor as a stargazing platform, equipped with instruments to record the changes of the stars. Icepeak Fortress was different. The topmost floor was a divine ritual room.
In the middle of the square room, there was a circular divine circle drawn with sky-blue lines. The Goddess of Thunder's Double Lightning Cross occupied the central position, surrounded by dense prayers and divine runes. Three smaller diamond-shaped magic circles were outside, each occupying a corner.
In the corner, there were four locked stone chests, and three shabby futons covered with dust, stacked next to the chests. Apart from these things, there was nothing on the top floor. There were no tables, chairs, cabinets, statues, paintings, books, or artifacts, which were normally found in a ritual room.
There were no windows on the top floor, and the outside light couldn't come in. Only the dim light from the corridor below illuminated the room. But the old man didn't seem to be affected. He went straight to the stone chest, found the correct key from the bunch of keys on his waist, inserted it into the keyhole, and opened the chest.
"Lantern … If the lantern is here, then the alchemy match should be next to it. Good, it's really here … "The old man muttered, and took out what he needed and handed it to Reynolds.
It was a metal lantern, except for the transparent crystal in the middle, which was green from top to bottom.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
