The illusion disappeared right after uttering those last words.
"Okay, I think we should first go through the enchanted items first, and then check the books." Said Calen
Everybody agreed, so they got to work.
Unfortunately, most of the items in the Archmages stash were regular survival and travel related ones, which they already.
There were however, a three very precious relics:
The Moon Eye was a well known artifact, as it often appeared in various myths and legends. It was a small charm made of gray glass bound in silver, and it's function was to detect illusions or invisible things. It also allowed people to see through the illusions by looking through the glass of the relic.
The Pathfinder was just as recognisable - a compass-like contraption, that could point towards any place or person you know of. It sounded deceptively simple, but was in fact extremely powerful. It couldn't be fooled by fog, illusions or pocket dimensions.
The last artifact was not as well known as the rest, but it was just as powerful. The Echo bell was inspired by an ability some of the moon clerics supposedly possessed - perceiving impressions of the past from traces of magic or particularly strong emotions.
"Those will be pretty useful. Cass, take the pathfinder, you are probably the most well traveled from us. Isa, take the other two." decided Calen.
After dividing the artifacts they turned to the books occupying various shelves and desks in the room.
The right side of the chamber was filled almost entirely by Koravel's journals - it seemed like he was quite busy for the past five centuries.
The books were numbered, and had a brief summary of the things inside on the cover, so they could easily come back to information they needed.
On the other side of the room the tomes weren't so well sorted, and included all sorts of topics.
It was clear that they couldn't realistically read all of this in just one day. They could of course take all the books with them, but that would make finding specific ones much more difficult.
To remedy that, Calen came up with an idea:
"I think we should take two days of break here. We'll have the time to read the most important books and make an index of the rest, so we have easier time finding them later on."
"Do we really have time for something like that?" Questioned Cassian.
"Why wouldn't we? Not like we have a time limit on our quest." Shrugged Calen
"I suppose it would give us opportunity to come up with a plan... alright, fine."
The girls didn't have any objections, so they began dividing tasks.
"I-I can index the books." Offered Elira
"I'll help Ellie, you two can, I don't know, come up with a plan or something." Said Isara
With the work assigned, Calen and Cassian took a book that covered one of the important topics, and left the underground space.
They went to the atrium, and sat on one of the stone benches lining the perimeter..
Cassian looked at the thin collection of pages Calen was holding and commented:
"That's very little information, considering how vital it is."
He was right, the title Calen chose could barely classify as a book - it was little more than a dozen pages haphazardly stitched together - the cover read: 'Serakhiin, the foe from beyond'.
Judging by the handwriting, it was written by Koravel, and if an Archmage could find out only a few things about Blightborn during centuries of research, Calen didn't want to think how bad was humanity's knowledge of their enemy was.
Caken opened the booklet and started reading:
The Serakhiin, or as they're more commonly known - Blightborn - are the invaders that conquered our world all those years ago. Not a lot is known about them, but I will attempt summarise what we do know.
Physically their humanoid, but they're built slightly different from humans, they're very thin and tall - over two and a half metres on average. Their skin is grayish with a blue or purple tint, and their eyes don't have irises or sclerae. Their teeth are much sharper than human ones, which means they're likely carnivorous.
Their society is militaristic in nature, and almost every adult Serakhiin joins the army to take part in their 'eternal conquest' - that's what they call invading new worlds and corrupting them.
It is currently unknown what came first, the Blight or the Blightborn, but we do know that they are intricately connected at a level we can't quite understand.
The Serakhiin seem to have a degree of control over the corruption and the creatures touched by it, particularly the Withered.
Since the their empire is very hierarchical it is speculated that a single emperor or empress stands at the top, and the information we got from the few people that managed to converse with the Blightborn and survive supports that theory.
Near the beginning of their invasion they must have discovered a translation matrix, because they learned common far quicker than should be possible, and partially because of that we don't have a good understanding of their own language.
We know that they, and all corrupted creatures, are very weak to sunlight and fire, which is why part of the Blight's power allows it suppress the sun of any world they conquer. Naturally, it also makes the divine flame a perfect weapon to fight them.
It is worth noting that the current number of the Blightborn in the world is far lower than it was in the first years of the invasion. After they subdued the human race the vast majority of them returned to their home world, leaving only a relatively small army of guards, scattered around handful of fortresses.
The purpose of their 'eternal conquest' is still unknown...
The text went on to describe various unimportant small facts about the Blightborn, and a few important positions in their army.
The Blightwarden was a commander in charge of an entire region and one or two fortresses, but it wasn't clear what they were guarding, exactly.
The Plaugeshaper was something akin to an alchemist but working with corruption, and most likely what Drithen was referring to in his journal.
The Mindcarver was a tactician or an advisor, and their position was entirely reliant on the position of the person they were assigned to.
The Ravager was the simplest of the four - it was simply a commander in charge of a large battalion.
The book also said that the Serakhiin believed in merit over bloodline - a peasant could become a general, and a noble could end up as fodder on the front lines.
"Well, that was rather illuminating." Commented Calen.
"I agree. There was a lot of important information in there for something so... thin."
They sat in silence for a bit, but then Calen remembered something:
"Say Cass, do you know methods of strengthening human body? Other than exercise of course."
His friend squinted and eyed him suspiciously.
"Why, was the dragon's spit not enough?"
Auren's saliva did help, Calen felt a bit stronger this morning, but it wasn't a big difference and he knew he needed more to not spontaneously combust when the time comes.
"It was wyrm's, not dragon's and no, it wasn't enough. One of the aspects Koravel mentioned in the basement is the vessel, aka my body and I need to enhance it if I want to properly control the flame one day."
Cassian's face baceme serious and he thought for a moment.
"There are a lot of ways to get stronger, but unfortunately a lot of them involve mystical plants, which doesn't seem viable with the current state of the world. I'll think about it and get back to you."
He stood up, extended his hand and Added:
"Also, you should exercise. Draconic essence not only strengthens you but also improves your limits."
Calen took the hand and joked:
"You want to become a knight, and know a lot about dragons... Do you dream of rescuing a princess as well?"
"The royal line is long gone." Responded Cassian in a deadpan voice.
"A damsel in distress, then."
Cassian only huffed in annoyance, so he said something that his friend would like:
"Let's train a little then."
___________________________
In the dimly lit basement two young women were sifted through the large amount of books, carefully indexing each of them.
Isara was sitting on one of the desks, while Elira chose the floor. They divided the books evenly between them an each of them had a paper partially filled with titles and their brief descriptions.
They scribbled in silence until Isara Spoke up:
"How are you holding up Ellie?"
Elira froze froze, and worded her reply very carefully:
"...why are you asking?"
"Because you spent all your life in Asharil, tending to a potion shop and people with minor ailments. You never asked to be dragged into a grand post apocalyptic quest that will decide the fate of humanity."
"Did you ask ask for it?" Elira asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, but I knew that my life wasn't going to be peaceful since the moment I became an apprentice for the oldest living Archmage. And don't even ask about Cass, with that guy's devotion to knightly virtues he would have been mad at Cal if he didn't pick him."
Elira sighed.
"I'm fine, really. I might be nervous around people I don't know very well, but I'm not as fragile as you think. Besides, Cassian and Caleb are both really nice, it won't be long before I get comfortable around them."
It was Isara's turn to look doubtful:
"I think this is the first time I've heard someone other than me or Cal describe Cass as 'nice'."
"But he is! He's just... bad at expressing his feelings." argued Elira with unusual fervor.
Isara giggled a little and Elira blushed slightly, embarrassed by her sudden outburst.
"Don't worry, you're right. As far as I know it's in the Ironvale blood to be terrible with finding the right words."
Elita cocked her head.
"What do you mean?"
Isara shook her head
"I don't think I'm in the position to tell you everything, but let's just say Sir Vandrel isn't exactly good with words. I'm sure Cass will explain it to you soon enough, he seems quite taken with you and nothing brings people closer than some quality trauma dumping."
Elira opened her mouth to ask what did she mean by that, but she decided against it, so instead she changed the topic:
"I thought about the message that Archmage has left us, and one thing keeps bothering me, you know."
"What?"
"The Guardians. I've read countless books, and I know I seen this title before but I can't remember where, or what it meant."
Isara put down the book she was currently studying and looked at her friend.
"Well, do you remember anything about it? Like what it was related to or when did you learn about it?"
Elira's forehead scrunched up as she tried to recall any relevant information.
"I... I think it was related to the old gods, in some way."
"So maybe it was a title for their priests or something?"
"Maybe, but that doesn't seem right. I'll try to find something in Koravel's journals after we're done with this."
They both went back to quietly scribbling on their lists after this exchange.
____________________________
Cassian and Calen were both laying on the ground, breathing heavily. They didn't mean to go all out, but the constant brushes with death made limiting themselves harder.
Fortunately they found a pair of training swords in one of the hidden rooms in the temple, so they didn't have to fight with real weapons.
Calen was once again reminded that Vassian was the better swordsman bog the two. The wooden weapons they found were longswords, Calen's preferred type of a sword, and they still fought to a draw.
He wasn't particularly upset though, His friend might be better with a sword, but he had magic as well, so he would probably still win in a real fight.
After a few minutes of rest they finally got up and started working on their future plans.
"I think we should prioritise finding the temples over looking for the Guardians, we don't know who or what they are, so looking for them would be pointless." Said Calen.
Cassian nodded in agreement.
"Currently we're around two days journey south from the capital, if we're going by regular travel speed. The Archmage said the temples are all around the country, but in my opinion only the west is viable for now." Stated Cassian.
"Why?"
" Well, the capital is to the north, so that's not an option, and we've seen the Blightborn raider travel east, so that's were their base is probably."
"Fair point, we travel west then."
Calen looked around the grand temple, the empty space made him think of something:
"Do you think we should look for human settlements? This building could easily fit at least 400 people, and they would be completely safe here."
"I think it's our responsibility to do so."
Calen should have known his friend would immediately agree, he strived to be a perfect knight after all - nobility, generosity, et cetera.
"So we're in agreement, the day after tomorrow we travel west in search of the second temple."
It sounded like a solid plan, but in reality they would probably wander blindly in search of their next target for at least a few days.
Calen was a bit curious as to why Koravel didn't make a map of the temples. Did he not know where they are? How did he know how many there are then? Was it some kind of a weird test?
He realised that a lot of the questions he had probably had an answer in Koravel's journals, so he should probably read them.
They trained for quite long, and the sun was already setting, so the other two were probably done with sorting the books.
"Come Cass, let's check on the girls. Tomorrow will be a day filled with reading so we should probably pick something beforehand."
They took the short walk to the subterranean chamber, where the two girls were sitting an chatting.
Isara waved at them and said:
"You're done as well? Come join us!"
They exchanged information they gathered and shared the plan.
"Good, now take this" Isara handed Calen to sheets of paper. "And pick something to read, the titles with pluses next to them are the ones I and Elira chose."
The list had almost 300 entries, and they needed to go through as many as they can before they leave for the next temple.
Their break turned out to be quite busy.