The Path of Ruin

Chapter 76: Returning to the Empire

After their crushing defeat in the town, the trio of Kael, Matthew, and Scher left the Barony of Halve and arrived in a different town in about two days.

It was a neighboring town to Halve. And just like Halve, it was ruled by another baron.

They showed the Imperial crest and told a few things about what had happened in Halve. Then asked the baron of the town for a carriage. With that, they managed to get one without much trouble.

This way, since there were three of them, they were able to move a little faster and travel in four days which would normally take them six.

After entering the imperial palace, instead of resting, they wrote their reports as fast as they could, not hiding anything.

And then... Kael suddenly found himself in front of Hakon.

It had been about half an hour since he gave his report. He had wanted to meet Scher and Matthew one last time... but couldn't because of Hakon's urgent call.

When he had heard that he had been called in such a hurry, he had thought it was urgent. But when he saw Hakon smiling at the table across from him... he couldn't help but be involuntarily annoyed.

"I heard that you failed your mission, Kael."

And then the annoying feeling only intensified.

"Yes."

Still, he answered honestly. He couldn't lie to Hakon anyway...

"Depending on your report and the situation in the town, the consequences of this mission will be determined for you. But if what you say is true, you will not be punished or anything like that... don't worry. The Empire is quite fair in such matters."

He had no idea if that was supposed to be comforting to hear. But he made no comment.

Hakon widened his smile.

"You do know why I called you here in such a hurry, right?"

Kael remained silent for a while. He made eye contact with Hakon for seconds. The man's dark eyes seemed to grow darker every second he waited without answering... but the smile on his face did not fade.

Kael sighed slightly. Then he replied in a rather flat tone.

Stay connected with M V L

"Because I'm a Follower, right?"

Hakon widened his smile.

"Right. And we need to talk a little bit about that. Because being a Follower is a lot different than being a Bearer. Especially in your case."

Hakon raised his right hand, pointing a finger at Kael's chest.

"Thanks to your curse, every time you kill a living being, the maximum amount of eon your body can carry, its purity, output power, efficiency, and more increases. That's why, before you became a Follower, you already had far more eon than a normal Bearer. That's normally a pretty good thing, but when you become a Follower... things change a bit."

Kael paused, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

Wasn't it in his favor to be a Follower, in short?

"Because you became a Follower, your eon reserves, which were already excessive, became even more so. Now, because of your curse, the amount of eon in your body is so high and your characteristics are so distinct that you are practically shouting your Path and that you are a Follower. Because your body can't hold so much eon compared to your level and it leaks out. Even if you don't realize it."

Kael narrowed his eyes, finally understanding what Hakon was talking about. Now he understood why the people around him always looked at him with an uneasy expression. It had been like this since he left the Barony of Halve, but he hadn't paid much attention to it. He didn't care much about other people anyway.

"And on top of that, because my eon is not exactly the feel-good kind, I unintentionally affect the people around me."

But this was a bit of a bigger problem.

"Exactly. It's hard to make an accurate guess, but what your eon makes people feel is... simply destruction. But don't worry, it's nothing that can't be solved. You just need to learn how to keep your eon in your body better."

Kael sighed slightly as he realized where this was going.

Training, they were going to do that, basically.

He was going to go through that hellish training again... probably a lot harder this time.

Still... this time, he didn't approach the idea with as much resentment as before.

After all...

'I'm weak.'

So... he had to get stronger.

"We'll start training directly tomorrow. And tomorrow, we will talk in detail about your Path and the ability you have gained through it. For now... I have to deal with the results of your mission. So you can go to your room to rest."

Kael nodded respectfully. He turned around, preparing to leave the room.

But then, his hand remained on the door handle and he paused. Slowly, he turned around and looked at Hakon.

"I want to ask you something."

Hakon kept his smile and raised his eyebrows curiously.

"Yes?"

"Seeker... what does it mean?"

Hakon paused. His smile faded slightly as his eyebrows flattened.

"May I ask... where did you hear that word?"

"The woman in Halve and Amar said it to each other when they were fighting."

"Hmm... I see."

Seeing Hakon's demeanor change, Kael wondered if he had said something wrong. Was this... something he wasn't supposed to know?

"Here's the thing in a nutshell, Kael. Most things about blessings, curses, and Paths are usually kept secret. For example, most normal people know about Bearers, but the only people who know about Followers are those who have the opportunity to do business with them... at least unless they hear it from others. In the same way, eon is also not something that is well-known. And Seeker is one of those things that is kept secret."

'Oh...'

He had really... said something wrong, then. He wasn't going to be killed just for knowing that word, thankfully. No one would have gone that far...

But Seeker was not a word he could say in public, apparently.

"Follower is the common name for people who follow a Path. But it is also the name of only the 'first stage' of a Follower. There are stages that are reached as you advance on a Path. And 'Seeker' is one of those stages. For example... I too am a Seeker. Although I introduce myself to people as Follower of Hunt, my real title is Seeker of Hunt because of the actual stage I am in."

Now... quite a lot was clear in his mind. Just as he had guessed, Seeker was a title that represented one's power, just like Bearer and Follower.

"Like everything else, we'll talk about it tomorrow. For now... I really have a lot to deal with."

Kael nodded meekly. Then he left the room.

As he took slow steps towards his own room, he couldn't stop thinking.

What stage was Seeker the title of?

Bearer was technically stage zero. Because a Path was not yet being followed.

Follower was both a common name for all people following a Path and the title of the first stage.

Was Seeker, then, the second stage?

Kael frowned after dwelling on this thought for a moment.

'That woman... technically used three abilities related to her Path.'

One was to make living beings go insane, another was that purplish smoke she could control by spraying it from her palm, and the third was the transformation of her body.

'Followers have only one ability related to their Path. Logically, they should have two abilities in the second stage... So Seeker is the title of the third stage, not the second?'

What was the title of the previous stage?

How many stages were there?

How powerful was a Seeker... basically?

With countless questions on his mind, Kael finally reached his room. Without bothering with anything else, he got into bed, put his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling.

He had... missed his bed, actually. The one given to him in Halve wasn't bad, but lying down on his own bed was a different thing after being away from it for a long time.

But he didn't sleep immediately. He sighed a little while looking at the ceiling.

'Ruin...'

His Path.

Tomorrow... with Hakon, he would use his Path for the first time.

He would be lying if he claimed he wasn't excited.