As he made his way through the training grounds he heard a yell from behind “You in the fur coat what are you doing?” he turned around, and the man who was yelling at him was the drill sergeant. He wasn't a man of large stature but he had quite an imposing presence.

He wore a black cloak made from the fur of a monster, underneath he wore padded armor to protect him from the cold with chainmail over it.

“The name is Cornelius sir I'm here for the noblesse oblige,” he stated in an even tone.

The Sergeant gave a menacing smile before saying “Ah fresh blood I see” he said before turning to one of the trainees “Thompson the young man to the Commander's office so he can sign up, everyone else get your arses back to work.”

One soldier separated himself from the training soldiers and made his way to Cornelius giving him a wide smile and extending his hand for a firm handshake, Cornelius of course complied returning the man's smile with one of his own.

“Name’s Thompson it's a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he motioned him to follow.

“Cornelius and the pleasure is all mine,” he said as he started to follow. Thompson was an absolute giant of a man standing at 6ft5 he towered over Cornelius, he had unruly blonde hair and subtle grey eyes he wore the padded armor white in color marking him as a recruit.

“So what made you want to join the cause?” Thompson asked in an effort to make small talk,

“Well as a champion I did not have much of a choice, I figured I would rather go voluntarily.”

Hearing that Thompson's eyes widened “A Champion you say what affinity did you get?” he asked curiously his eyes glowing with curiosity.

“Star of the Twilight Abyss whatever that means,” hearing this Thompson’s brow raised before he started laughing.

“Oh that is a good one, but no seriously what affinity did you get,” he asked again.

“I am not joking that is what the priests called it, though I have no idea what it does,” he responded his annoyance clear in his voice.

Thompson gave him a measuring look before responding “Well it definitely sounds impressive I myself only got an augmentation affinity, it makes me stronger and I can even make myself taller.”

Cornelius observed the cobbled floor made from black marble showing clear signs of deterioration even the walls were showing signs of dilapidation. The walls were hardly decorated showcasing that the commander was a man of practicality above all else. The few decorations that were present were depictions of battles against the savages of the frozen plain. Cornelius had zoned out but when he came to he was standing in front of an unadorned door at the very heart of the Fortress.

“Well this is my stop, I better get back before Sergeant Myers gives me a punishment it was nice to meet you, Cornelius, and good luck,” he said before turning back the way they had come.

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“Wait, what do you mean good luck?” Cornelius shouted back to him but he was already out of earshot.

He took a deep breath before knocking on the door “Enter” a deep voice said from the other side, he opened the door and made his way in looking around the office he saw a desk of ebony wood with stacks of paper orderly placed on it there were two chairs in front of the desk and behind it sat a domineering man with black hair he had a goatee with the edges of his mustache curled upward.

His uniform was immaculately straightened not a single crease visible on it, it fit his muscular frame perfectly, he wore a trench coat with the coat of arms embroidered on his chest he had a stern expression on his face his hazel eyes mirroring the horrors he had seen in his time in service.

Cornelius had not realized that he was holding his breath until he started getting dizzy so he slowly exhaled “Champion Cornelius here for the recruitment” he said his voice betraying his nervousness.

The Commander silently observed him causing Cornelius to shift nervously on his feet his discomfort growing “Well what are you waiting for take a seat,” he said motioning to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

Cornelius sat down in front of the commander before the commander continued “Do you understand what will be required of you as a soldier in our garrison,” he asked raising his brow questioningly.

“Yes sir, the duty of the soldiers in the fortress of Frozen Dreams is to defend against the yearly raids of the savages of the plain and to deal with the monster hordes that frequent the plains,” Cornelius said trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

“Then there is no need to explain, now you said you were a champion, have you received training yet?” he asked questioningly.

“No sir I have not received any training yet,” he said matter of factly.

“Then on top of your normal training you will spend your evenings with Captain Zagreus he will teach you how to harness your power, now make your way back to the training grounds you are already late.” The commander stated before going back to his paperwork.

Cornelius got up from his seat and made his way back to the training grounds, the soldiers were running laps. The drill sergeant looked at him for a second “Fall in recruit” he yelled.

So Cornelius did just that they ran for 5 lapses before doing strength training, when they were truly tired only then did they start swinging their swords some wielded spears others had glaves. Their arms were tired so every swing was like hell, only after 2 more hours of training were they finally allowed to stop.

“That is enough for now maggots get to the bath and make your way to the mess hall,” the Drill sergeant said “You,” he said pointing at Cornelius “Follow me I will take you to Captain Zagreus,” he said before turning around and walking away.

He took Cornelius to the western side of the fortress to a small room with some chairs haphazardly placed around inside was man straight from a fairy tale he had delicate features and a face that would make women fall to their knees by just seeing him, he had blonde hair with icy blue eyes.

He looked Cornelius up and down a look of disdain appearing in his eyes he did not even bother hiding it. “So you are the wasterel im supposed to teach, I am Captain Zagreus,” he said his apprehension clear in his voice.

“State your name and affinity and we will begin,” the captain said.

“My name is Cornelius and my affinity is the Star of Twilight Void,” he said matching his so-called teacher's apprehension he was the embodiment of the people Cornelius hated most a pretentious noble who sees everything as beneath him.

“Ah so you are the wonderboy I have heard so much about but do not for a second think that you are special, on that note let us begin, sit in the middle of the circle,” he said pointing to the runic circle on the floor.

Cornelius did as he was asked and then sat in the lotus position in the middle of the circle, “This runic circle will allow you to feel the mana of the world, we humans are not naturally attuned to mana so until you learn to control it will we use this crutch,” he imbued his mana into the runes causing them to start glowing with a faint ethereal light.

The reaction was almost immediate he could feel it, it was almost like an ethereal mist flowing on his skin. “That mist that you feel is the ambient mana, the first step is to try and coerce it inside of your body and make it flow like a whirlpool,” Captain Zagreus stated in a teacherly voice.

He put all his effort into trying to force the mana inside of him but it hardly even moved, “Do not force the mana to move you must convince it, mana is somewhat sentient so it feels intent,” Captain Zag said.

Changing his approach he mentally tied coercing the mana with sweat promises and finally a change happened the mana started to respond it slowly started to make its way inside of him, suddenly he felt energized all his fatigue from training vanished he felt stronger than ever before.

His skin started to glow a soft white looking almost like glowing porcelain.