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Chapter 6 - Man In The Wall

Hours passed and before Nathaniel even knew it the dead of night had come. A sea of shadows charged in from all directions threatening to engulf the palace but it was all warded off by the bright light of the lamp posts that stood everywhere like soldiers guarding against the swarming darkness. Creating a beacon of light in this now dark world.

Nathaniel in his office with a magnifying glass in hand inspected the antique axe he broke one last time before he put it down. The once chipped edge of the blade was pieced back together again while the cracked handle looked brand new. Since the weapon was no longer in its original condition making it worthless to any experienced buyer Nathaniel decided to go all out with restoring it profit be damned. Though the weapon looked newer Nathaniel missed the grime it once had on it. The dirt and splashes of blood didn't just give the weapon character it made it unique. By cleaning it Nathaniel felt as though he had washed away a bit of its history but also restored the object to what it was supposed to be. It was a conflicting feeling that he was goanna have to deal with later because it was time to take the first steps on his own adventure.

Nathaniel placed the antique back in the spot it once rested, cleaned himself off, and made his way to the second floor study room. Rows of books lined the walls while a map of the known world was built into the tiles on the floor. The map depicted three main kingdoms Fedondria, Osland, and Logelon. Fedondria was depicted to be in the middle, Osland was on the upper right of Fedondria, while Logelon was to the left of the other two kingdoms by itself. Only Fedondria and Island were connected by a thin piece of land bridging the gap between the two.

 Each kingdom had a large body of water separating them all. Fedondria was medium sized, Osland was the largest, while Logelon was the smallest mostly because it had a number of smaller islands broken up that form its territory. Right besides these three kingdoms towards the east was a large continent called the central continent. It is the main hub that all three kingdoms use for mainly trade. The central continent is controlled by the three kingdoms which is then further broken down into the separate territories within.

The map was circular in shape because the world Korroth as everyone knows is flat. Journey off its edge is impossible because there is nothing there except death.

Logelon is currently the most advanced country of the three though Fedondria's capital where Nathaniel is now is quite advanced most other places aren't like that. Fedondria and Osland are currently playing catch up with Logelon. Osland's infrastructure has advanced the least but its weaponry is just as advanced as everyone else's and they produce it the most making weapons Osland's greatest export, Logelon produces the most ore, while Fedondria has the most fertile land.

The three kingdoms while allied with each other to face off against the Lanshi threat hate each other and do not agree on anything else. The kingdoms do fight with each other constantly but that fight is mostly done by the nation's nobility. Though it has happened before the three nations try not to engage in all out war. Neither country has any interest in fighting each other now because their attention is focused on colonizing the new world which is a newly discovered landmass across the sea.

In this room, Nathaniel walked across the tiled floor to a bookshelf that wasn't bolted into the wall. It was wide and tall enough to almost reach the ceiling. Nathaniel grabbed the sides of this bookcase and slowly moved its massive body to the side by himself. This task was strenuous for him because the bookcase alone was around 800 pounds and with the added weight of the books it neared 1000 pounds Nathaniel was moving by himself. The movement wasn't fast but there was progress. Nathaniel's hands turned white from the strain while his face flushed red. A dull thump sounded when Nathaniel dropped the bookcase down. With the stress of the bookcase gone Nathaniel leaned back to crack his back to relieve the pain.

Ready Nathaniel walked towards the wall he just exposed and pushed forward. Without much strength, the wall moved open exposing a separate hallway veiled in darkness inside. Nathaniel stepped in without hesitation and pulled the bookshelf close behind him with one hand hiding his nefarious exploration. Inside Nathaniel picked up a flashlight that he put in there beforehand. The light from the flashlight illuminated a spacious hallway with wooden floors and peeling purple wallpaper with flower patterns on them. The hole in the wall wasn't always there Nathaniel made one in his office after he discovered a similar hole in an old archive room under the palace that no one goes to anymore. This decision was made because going to that location consistently was too suspicious.

This originally was just to satisfy his curiosity about the palace's past architectural styles, but it became much more than that one day after a trip through those decrepitate hallways. Nathaniel's footsteps echoed out with each step on the withered wood which cracked some of the old wooden boards from just his weight alone. As he traveled Nathaniel heard other sounds in the hallway from people outside it. The noise seeped in pounding louder in his ears than any sound he ever made. It was muffled a bit but he could still tell what each sound was rushed footsteps down a hallway, a clipboard falling, people speaking, and someone fornicating with a secretary in a private room.

This wasn't his first trip he had heard it all before so it made it easier to ignore as he walked by it. At the end of the hallway, Nathaniel reached a section that collapsed. Many such areas are like this because of it Nathaniel has only been able to explore the architecture belonging to the fourth and third remodeling's he hasn't seen a glimpse of the original architecture. Since it's been so long Nathaniel believes that those places are either blocked off or collapsed completely. Though the route was blocked his path wasn't a dead end a large hole was in the floor opened up from years of rot. Nathaniel jumped down it and at the bottom he splashed into water.

The water wasn't deep it reached only up to his ankles the flooded room was a ballroom that was once frequently used during the third renovation. Now the only guests that come here are Nathaniel, the rats, and whatever insect manages to crawl in. Nathaniel didn't like this section because the rats and the insects all joined together to make a very potent cocktail made up of the remains of their friends in the water. The smell was potent to the point he could taste it. Nathaniel rushed through this section to the open hallway on the other side. A large fallen chandelier was in his way but he climbed over it easily enough. The pathway he entered was above the water but still smelled like rotten eggs. As Nathaniel walked down this hallway he passed by an old picture frame that he always likes to stop and look at. The painting itself was damaged beyond repair by the water. What was left of it was wet sludge and a barely noticeable face. Nathaniel only cared about what he could read which was a plaque on the painting that read.

[Completed First Era 13/40/950; 8th King of Fedondria Victor S. Ferrise]

This old photo was actually what got Nathaniel interested in Victor in the first place allowing him to find out that embarrassing secret behind the palaces name. Such information was difficult to dig up because the further back records go about the kings and what happened in the land the more unclear they become. Especially after the fourth ruler of Fedondria takes over because all knowledge of way back before them stopped almost entirely. Nathaniel attributed this to the nonexistent record keeping of the old days but that's just his opinion.

Nathaniel likes to always look at this distorted painting because it questioned the mind and challenged what he knew. Nathaniel's problem with the plaque is the dates because they didn't aline with what he knew. A new palace is built every 4-500 years apart from each other but the third renovation happened before the start of the second era which begins every thousand years. For three palaces to be built in the same era doesn't fit in with leshman culture or make sense economically since the cost of building a palace is enormous. The best materials, craftsmen, and works of art are brought over with the thought of cost being nonexistent.

Only two reasons could explain this problem reason one is the first palace was attacked destroying it completely forcing people to build a new one which is almost impossible since Fedondria's capital palace has never been attacked. The second option is that the palace was built before the start of the first era. A piece of information that has a big meaning if found true because palaces aren't just homes for the countries rulers. They are the symbol of the start of a new era, a symbol of strength, prosperity, wealth of the country. The larger the palace the stronger and richer the country is what it symbolizes.

For the palace to have not been built inside an era means that it existed before the god of steam before god blessed the world with fire and gifted them the knowledge to form marvelous works of iron. A time of heresy where there were probably worshippers of stone and nature. For the nation to be descended from the likes of tree huggers has big repercussions. Nathaniel likes the thought of the palace marking the rise of a dynasty more but that makes little sense because palaces don't mark that for leshman. There is actually nothing that marks the rise of a dynasty because there has always been 3 royal households and forever will be. Whether it be blood or any other factor there right to rule is god given. The royals are not like nobility who can have their titles stripped, land seized, lineage wiped out by time. Royal blood is eternal and not like any other.

Nathaniel moved away from the painting and proceeded onwards. He went through multiple other corridors, climbed high and low, squeezed through different sized crevices. After a bit of time, Nathaniel made it to the location he wanted to reach the same cramped spot by the wall with a small crack in the wall. A steady stream of light seeped through. Nathaniel crouched down beside it with excitement hoping he wasn't too late.