Ignite the Sun

The group decided to rest for now and continue the hunt tomorrow – they weren't particularly tired, but even with Leon, Greg and Damien they didn't want to stay out past sundown.

"You were so sure about your combat abilities Leon, would you care to tell us what was the most impressive beast you've slain?" Calen asked.

"I could tell you, but how will you know I'm not making stuff up? You haven't seen even half of the weird creatures that are out there."

"Don't worry, Cass and I both read a bestiary provided by Koravel, we'll know if you're bullshiting."

"Very well." Leon scratched his chin, thinking about his answer. "I didn't do it alone, but together with Damien we fell a Spectral Serpent."

"We did." Damien agreed. "But not before the bastard bit off my arm."

"Lucky that limb loss isn't permanent at your level." Leon chuckled. "You were way too dramatic about it."

"Oh, was I? Let's chop of your arm and see how you'll cope for three weeks of near constant meditation and pain."

Despite their bickering the deed they described was very impressive – Calen remembered Spectral Serpent page in the bestiary very well, as it was one of the most comprehensive descriptions in the book.

Those creatures were a corrupted version of giant constrictor snakes living in the far West of the kingdom. Their original form was already large enough to eat a human whole, but the form they took after Blight's influence was apparently enormous – their open mouth was reportedly big enough that a person could comfortably walk through it.

A flick of their tail was enough to break every single bone in human body, and as if that wasn't enough the creature could turn itself intangible for a short while.

To put it in perspective how dangerous they were, their diet consistted mostly of juvenile Noctharax, and the Blightborn only managed to tame one in five hundred years.

Unexpectedly, Calen's appreciation was cut short by another bombshell dropped by Leon:

"It might've been the most dangerous beast, but it wasn't the most dangerous thing I've killed." He looked into the altar's fire wistfully. "That title belongs to an imperial Pathseeker."

That was unexpected – from what Calen read almost all Pathseekerd left this world together with the invasion force.

"I think I've read about a situation like that." Cassian suddenly stated. "The Fool witnessed a situation where a young man killed a Pathseeker by throwing a knife."

Leon's eyes widened.

"I don't know who the Fool is or how he knew about it, but that is what happened – would you mind telling me what else was written about that situation?"

"From what I remember it was some sort of a stand off, a few knights against a Pathseeker trying to open a passage for troops. According to the book, the man snuck behind the Blightborn without anyone's knowledge, and used a simple knife to pierce the Pathseeker's head while he was focused on the portal."

Leon nodded.

"That lines up with what I did, but obviously some context is missing. What happened there was no mere stand off – it was a situation that could've destroyed the Order of someone didn't intervene."

"What led to this situation in the first place?" Calen questioned. "How could a single Pathseeker threaten the entire the Order? Surely he couldn't bring that many people through a portal."

"That's were you're wrong." Greg shook his head. "An imperial Pathseeker could open a gate for thousands in mere minutes, and what's worse most of them have enough political power to simply order the troops to do their bidding."

"The entire thing was our fault in the first place – we tried to counterattack the Serakhiin, and we not only lost hundreds of experienced fighters, but also got threatened with another invasion as a retaliation." Leon sounded bitter. "What I did that day was insubordination, all recruits were ordered to remain inside the castle, but I thought I could help by sneaking out and attacking the enemy unexpectedly."

"You did help – you killed the Pathseeker and saved the world from a possibility of a second invasion."

"By sheer luck, if my blade missed or the first hit didn't kill him we probably wouldn't be talking right now."

"But it didn't miss." Damien placed his hand on Leon's shoulder. "Thanks to the fact that you killed him the Blightborn gave up on retaliating – you made them afraid of losing more resources for nothing. Whether it was luck or not, you should be proud of what you've done."

"Damien is right." Greg agreed. "I can count on the fingers of one hand all the imperial Pathseekers who were killed, they are extremely valuable assets for the empire and every time one dies they have to delay their conquest."

That statement picked Calen's curiosity.

"Do they need a specific amount of Imperial Pathseekerd to invade other worlds?"

"Yes, this elite unit is compromised of exactly hundred individuals who went through a specialised training before joining, and they need every single member to open a connection to a new world."

"Does that mean we could stop the invasions completely if we killed all of the imperial Pathseekers?"

"Not indefinitely, because they would inevitably train replacements, but it would take them decades to fill the unit completely." Greg sighed. "Not that something like that would be easy to accomplish, a good chunk of the Pathseekers are also powerful combatants."

"Not to mention you'd have to somehow infiltrate the very heart of the Serakhiin empire." Leon added.

"I understand why Greg knows so much about the Blightborn, but how come you know a lot as well?" Calen frowned.

"I really don't, most of it is just educated guesses based on centuries of very slow research." Leon shrugged. "I'd say it's more surprising you know so much – I'm guessing that Fool of yours might be the reason?"

"Yeah, we got an encyclopaedia about Serakhiin written by a dead archmage – I can make you a copy if you want, you'll just have to provide materials."

"We'll see what we can find once we're back at the castle."

Once the topic was exhausted they webt back to listening to Leon's and Damien's stories about vicious beasts they slain.

Somehow the ridiculous stories made them calmer about tomorrow's hunt.