In the overgrown courtyard north of Eldre'Thalas, the Dwarf explorer was setting explosives in front of a hidden door, which was the secret passage mentioned in the diary.
"Alright, everyone retreat to a safe distance!" Brann, holding his hat, jogged over to Arthas's side and yelled at the Dwarf looking at the detonator, "Hey, kid, you can press it!"
The Dwarf heard Brann's shout and quickly pressed the detonator down with force, and everyone covered their ears and crouched down.
However, awkwardly, the deafening explosion they imagined didn't come. Brann released his hands from his ears and cursed in a low voice, "Oh, no, are those damned Goblins selling me expired explosives again?"
The Dwarf adventurer complained as he walked towards where the explosives were placed. Arthas's eyebrow twitched, and an extremely bad premonition rose in his heart.
Arthas spread his five fingers, and a barrier of Holy Light condensed around Brann. Brann glanced at the Holy Light barrier beside him and said with a chuckle, "It's not that serious, not that serious. I'm an old hand at setting explosives. I've encountered this kind of thing countless times—"
"Bang!"
A dark, spherical object flew out from the explosion's flash. If it wasn't Brann, then who was it?
The Dwarf rolled three times on the ground before being helped up by his teammates. Brann's face was charred black, and he exhaled a puff of black smoke, almost rolling his eyes. "Cough—cough—! Alright, next time I'd better be more careful."
Arthas looked helplessly at Brann, who had been thrown back by the explosion's impact. Although he didn't have his Holy Light protection, this thick-skinned Dwarf, who inherited the Bronzebeard Clan's bloodline, wouldn't have any major problems, but he would inevitably suffer some minor injuries and a period of dizziness.
Fortunately, although there was a slight issue with the detonator, the explosives themselves did not malfunction, and the sealed door was successfully blasted open by the Dwarves, which was much faster than the High Elf mages breaking the magical seal.
Even including the time spent moving the explosives, it didn't exceed half an hour.
After the secret passage's hidden door opened, it seemed the air current triggered the still-intact magical mechanisms inside, and the previously extinguished magic lamps lit up one after another.
Brann was actually not injured in the explosion, only looking disheveled. He patted the black ash off his body, haphazardly wiped his face, and rushed to the secret passage in two strides.
"Wait! Let me check first—these kinds of secret passages usually have all sorts of mechanisms and are very dangerous. This kind of thing should be left to a professional like me… Hey, why did you two just walk straight in?!"
Arthas and Kael'thas ignored Brann, who was standing outside the passage observing left and right, and entered the passage past him. Kael'thas even smiled and said very kindly before entering, "Ah, that diary mentioned that this is less of a secret passage and more of a private fast track for the librarians and those mages. These magic lamps are also a common style used to decorate such passages."
Brann's face was full of black lines, "Why are you only telling me such important things now… And, if it's just a fast track, there's no need to make it sound mysterious by calling it a secret passage!!"
Kael'thas still patiently explained, "The term used by the diary's owner indeed means 'secret passage' in ancient thalassian, but in his other records, it shows that this was a fast track for staff and mages to use."
"It's better to be careful," Arthas said after entering the passage, first observing his surroundings. "The diary's owner was a madman who dared to defy the mages' prohibitions at the time. We cannot expect everything he left in the diary to be true."
"You're right," Kael'thas also deeply agreed. He could hardly imagine that, regarding their relationship with the Dragon Legion, even the ancient Elves maintained extreme caution. A mage who dared to capture a dragon for experimentation would absolutely not be someone easy to deal with.
However, a question lingered in both their minds: why did this mage only use the word "secret passage" once throughout the entire text and never again afterward? Was it a misuse of the word, or was it intentional?
Brann casually lit a torch and held it. If the torch went out, it would serve as a warning. He had explored at least eighty, if not a hundred, of these secret passages and generally knew what might happen.
It's unclear if it was due to the ancient Elves' peak architectural artistry, but despite being sealed for a long time, there was no oxygen deficiency. It seemed that the entire corridor maintained ventilation during the long period when the door was tightly closed.
Brann walked along, admiring this ancient corridor. Due to being sealed, the architectural style within the corridor was remarkably well-preserved. Apart from some oxidized and faded glazes, there was almost no damage.
Arthas maintained a high level of vigilance while walking through the corridor. The mysterious mage's diary had already put his nerves on edge; he always felt that Eldre'Thalas hid more unknown secrets—and those might be things even the Highborne currently residing in Eldre'Thalas were unaware of.
As they walked, Brann suddenly stopped in front of a wall. He frowned, examining the wall, which seemed no different from other parts, and stuck his torch into a crack between the bricks nearby.
"What's wrong?"
"Uh… there's something unexplainably strange about this wall," Brann extended his right hand and gently tapped on the wall, then pressed his ear against it. "It just gives me a… very abrupt feeling?"
It was unclear whether it was the Dwarf's intuition at play or Brann's experience, but as he passed this wall, he felt his eyelids twitch.
"Sound? That shouldn't be possible. According to the ancient Elven architectural style, this corridor is integrated with the buildings in Eldre'Thalas's northern district," Kael'thas also came to the wall where Brann had stopped. "Which means, behind this wall is either a building or dirt."
"Building and dirt… Wait, yes, this wall definitely has a problem!" Brann pulled out the torch inserted into the brick crack, stepped back two paces, and said to Arthas, "Arthas, hit this wall with your warhammer!"
Arthas gripped his warhammer and asked Kael'thas, "No problem?"
Kael'thas nodded lightly, "Damage to this wall will not affect the stability of the entire corridor."
"Then let's try it."
Driven by Arthas's immense strength, the warhammer directly shattered the air in its path, and the hammerhead embedded directly into the wall. Cracks radiated from the point of impact across the entire wall, and even the whole passage seemed to tremble slightly, showing the power of this single blow.
Arthas, without changing his expression, pulled his warhammer out of the wall, bringing with it a pile of rubble. Brann's expression changed, and he picked something out of the rubble, handing it to Kael'thas.
Seeing the debris Brann handed him, Kael'thas rubbed it in his hand, then told Arthas with great certainty, "This wall indeed has a problem."