The chamber was large but dimly lit, while the air carried the pungent smell of burnt materials, bitter medicine, and old parchments.
Shelves lined the walls, filled with books, scrolls, and stacks of weathered documents. Various tools and instruments lay scattered across the wide worktables, where a group of researchers worked tirelessly, preparing the ingredients for another experiment.
In one corner of the chamber, several men sat slumped in their chairs, their wrists and ankles tightly bound with thick ropes.
Their eyelids drooped with exhaustion. Their pale faces and sluggish movements suggested they hadn't rested in days.
Fear lingered in their hollow eyes.
The men had been kidnapped and forced to translate an ancient journal without respite. Their captors showed neither pity nor mercy, driving them to work from dawn until deep into the night.
