Five years earlier…
Sitting in a chair a young boy with ashen grey hair and sharp yellow eyes was procrastinating while doing his studies his mind was filled with childish dreams of becoming a champion and valiantly fighting for the dynasty vanquishing great evil, the thought brought a smile to Cornelius’s face.
Just then he heard a knock on his door “Come in,” he yelled as he hastily pretended to be hard at work, his door opened and his father walked in.
He was broad-shouldered with a strong chin, and stubble was visible on his face he had the same golden yellow eyes as his son he was a tall man 6ft2 in height his hair was a light grey almost white in color he was wearing his military uniform, it was grey in color the emblem of the Diyu dynasty embroidered on his chest the image of a lion with a snake in its mouth, on his shoulders where two stripes marking him a captain of the army.
A frown found its way on Cornelius’s face his father only wore his uniform when he went on deployments.
Draken Amydros was a mighty man of great military renown, he was the Captain of the Slaughter force. His father made his way to Cornelius he bent down till he was at eye level with his son a stern expression on his face, Cornelius started worrying his father was usually a carefree person rarely had he seen him this serious, a worm of doubt formed inside his young heart.
“Son, your mother and I have been called to arms, the kingdom of Varda is trying to expand their borders again so we have been tasked to deal with them, I know it's hard son but you have to be strong.” his father stated and encouraging smile on his ever stoic face.
“But Dad can’t they send someone else, why does it always have to be you and Mom?” he pleaded with his father to no avail.
“Because we are strong son, we have a duty to protect that is the oath we swore, remember our code son ‘Strength Beyond Measure’ that is the Amydros way.” his father said before getting up and making his way out of the room.
3 months later…
There was a storm in the Amydros Barony a rare occurrence in the northern reaches of the Diyu Dynasty especially this close to the frozen plains.
Cornelius was sitting in the lounge area enjoying the heat of the fire with a warm cup of tea, he just finished his tea when the doors to the lounge opened up and one of the maids barged in.
“You have a visitor m’lord” she said as she bowed and let the man in.
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The visitor was wearing full battle regalia of plate mail he held his helmet by his side, he was an older man with scars running through his face some grey mixing in with his raven black hair.
“I bring news from the border young lord,” he paused as if to collect his thoughts before continuing “Your parents have passed”.
At that moment his world fell, at first he thought it was some cruel joke but the seriousness it had been stated with made him believe it was true. A deep pain blossomed inside him ‘No that can't be true his parents were the strongest people he knew there is no way that it is true’ he thought.
As if sensing his doubt the old man said “Their squadron had been ambushed as they were making their retreat, your parents held them off for as long as they could giving their soldiers a chance to escape but in the end, they fell” the man's voice trembled as he said the last part.
That was the first day he had met Samien but also the day his world had fallen apart.
Present day…
It had been a week since the Awakening not much had happened since then he had mostly been preparing for the journey to come, The Champions only really had two choices and one was only reserved for nobles and affluent merchants those who had wealth could attend the great academies and embark on the journey to become magi.
This option was out of his reach although he was a noble he was not very wealthy therefore he only had one option, to join the militia of course as a noble with an aspect that would give him a certain level of prestige.
But even that was limited because actions and contributions would weigh more in the eyes of his future superiors, so he had been preparing this was also the fastest route to strengthen his house for there was no shortage of wars in the Alban Continent.
He had just finished packing when Samien made his way inside his room. “Young master it is time,” he said with a somber tone.
Looking up at him Cornelius sighed as he gave one final look at his room, it had once belonged to his parents but as the master of the house, it was now his.
He sighed again before saying “Let’s go”
The closest military outpost was the fortress of Frozen Dreams, it was situated at a clearing near the top of the mountain pas the only way to pass the mountain without having to brave the dangers of the underground caverns.
It took two days to travel there by horse, when they arrived Cornelius got out of the carriage and took in the Frozen Hand in all its icy glory.
It was a truly massive chain of mountains and home to many harrowing monsters but they lived near the top of its icy peaks.
Breathing in the chilly mountain air, the biting cold made him shiver so he brought his fur cloak closer to his body. Looking up he saw the ancient fortress of Frozen Dreams it was made of the same black marble as is common within his Barony, the roofs covered in snow its massive walls looked like they were built to keep giants out for they stood at an impressive 12ft tall.
He turned his head and thanked his driver before making his way toward the fortress's mighty gates, two guards were standing guard seemingly unbothered by the terrible cold, There were archers on the walls as well ‘It seems well fortified’ Well of course it was.
The guards stopped him and asked in an even tone “State your name and business”.
“Champion Cornelius von Amydros here to comply with the imperial decree, as is my duty,” he said in a flat tone, he did not feel in the mood to engage in pleasantries perhaps it was just the cold, or perhaps he was just tired either way he did not care.
The guard simply nodded and motioned him to go through the mighty steel gates, and he did just that looking at the cobbled road he noticed that it was slightly deteriorated from years of soldiers marching on these roads.
As he made his way to the fortress he noticed a large training ground where soldiers and trainees alike were put through many different drills and exercises.
The fortress itself was truly a sight to behold just like most of the structures of his barony it was of gothic design with gargoyles adorning its walls the intricacy of its design made his eyes widen in awe.