After realizing that the place they had just entered had been visited before, Torne moved on to the underground levels of the area.
This outpost was a place where groups of the order could temporarily stay below the radar of local forces and, if necessary, act quickly and decisively in support of the order's interests.
It was also a place to store the group's resources so that members of the order would have an option in desperate times.
As such, this secret altar had a total of four levels below the entrance, one of which was the living and sleeping area for the members who previously lived there, another was the training and cultivation area, and the last two were related to the resources of this post.
Torne led the way for Vicente to the third level of the basement, passing some interesting places in the building until he reached what looked like a large vault.
Just beyond the stairs that led to this place was a metal door, 10 meters high, 8 meters long, and at least 40 centimeters wide.
Passing through it, after opening the entrance for Vicente, the three of them entered an area of 100 square meters where several shelves divided the space.
On one side were two of the four walls, and the shelves closest to those walls held the magical artifacts that remained there. Meanwhile, on the other two walls and the shelves closest to them were potions, pills, crystals, minerals, in short, a variety of raw resources or those prepared by professionals.
On the shelves between the two parts of this area were some special resources, scrolls, and the like.
According to Torne, places like this were always full of resources and artifacts when the order was in place.
At the moment, the place was about 35% full, with a few items of each type here and there, but not so many that one could pick and choose.
"I think the group that was here before the Cataclysm Order took some items with them before they left. After that, someone must have returned to this place." Torne said to Vicente and Onyx.
Vicente looked at the items there with interest and saw that although there were few things there, everything was between the end of the 3rd and the end of the 4th stage. The artifacts' efficiency was quite high, while the consumables had reasonable purity rates.
"Why would someone come to this place and leave things here?" Onyx asked the obvious.
Torne said. "Only high-ranking members of the order knew about such places. And even someone like me didn't know where all the secret locations of the group were.
Those who knew about these places were very loyal to the order. If they could somehow help the order come back to life, they would certainly do so."
"Do you think whoever came here before us intentionally left things for those who came after?" Vicente asked with interest, seeing that these people from the Dark Path who belonged to the order were not simple.
"Of course. The order has fallen. That's a fact. Even if there are survivors, bringing it back to life is a difficult task that cannot be done by one person.
Whoever came here left things behind that they probably wouldn't miss, and that could help give the order a 'breath of life' if someone else found the opportunity." Torne gave his opinion.
"It could also be that the person who came here was looking for a specific item. For example, every secret outpost has maps with the locations of other secret outposts.
No such outpost has all the locations of the others, but they do have the locations of different places that can lead members of the order to different resources and opportunities." He explained as he watched Onyx and Vicente scan the items available on this level. "Whoever came here might have picked up the map information and some resources before leaving."
"What is the purpose of the Cataclysm Order, old Torne? For that matter, what is the purpose of the Congregation of Revelations?" Vicente asked as he stored some items from the area in his space ring.
Torne thought for a moment. "The order was born out of the need for representation for the magicians of the Dark Path. Since ancient times, Dark Path magicians have been seen as villains, representatives of death and evil.
Some are truly consumed by their powers, becoming abominations that spread terror wherever they go. But many are in control of their emotions, have wishes and desires, have families, and don't want to fight or hide all the time.
Darkness exists naturally in the world, so eventually, a cult for the darkness magicians was born as a form of defense and alliance. But eventually, it became much more, gaining prestige and new goals.
There was no goal of domination behind the group, but there was a will or desire for change. We had been on a crusade for millennia, trying to show the continent that we were an essential part of the stability of Polaris Realm. We wanted to change the influence of the religions of the Light Path and avoid the unjust persecution of the magicians of the Dark Path simply because of their elemental affinities.
To do this, we would have to stand behind governments and have our own spheres of influence, of course. But we didn't want to destroy our rivals.
The Congregation of Revelations is different. This group has always wanted to dominate. Their purpose is not to cultivate mana on the continent nor to breed powerful new magicians. You've probably heard the Temple Master talking about how he hopes to meet the next Archmage of the continent, right? That's nonsense.
The temple members keep a close eye on those who have the potential to become Archmages. Those who can be of use to it are allowed to live or are even brought to its side. But those who can harm it are eliminated without anyone knowing."
Torne laughed at that part of the story. "They say we Dark Path magicians are mad killers. It's not a lie. But the Light Path magicians of the Congregation of Revelation have killed at least ten times as many creatures on the continent as we have."
He paused for a moment while Vicente watched him and then finished. "The Congregation of Revelations aims to choose the leaders and 'gods' of Polaris Realm. Their goal is to control everything on the continent, from life and death to the most trivial things.
Vampires are terrible, but if the leaders of the Congregation of Revelations could do 10% of what vampires are capable of, they would have enslaved almost the entire continent and would be as bad or worse than vampires."
