It's odd. I killed men in cold blood with figures that represented their worst fears, and yet never felt a thing. I guess the most sensible explanation was that rage overtook me. That, or Night was regulating my emotions.
Leyra led Selvar to the Lord of Lesron’s mansion in the center of the city. Elite guards stopped the two at the entrance. “Lady Leyra, who is this man with you? Is he cleared to enter the estate?”
“Of course he is, he's the Champion of the Night. I doubt you could keep him out if he wanted to be in there.”
“Very well then. Lord Kine will be expecting your report on the status of the siege.”
“Of course he will be. Get a message to him, tell him I'll report later. I'll be showing Selvar around.”
“Okay. I'll make sure he knows.” The two guards stepped aside, letting Leyra and Selvar in.
“First stop should probably be the Champion’s Hall. There are 12 rooms there, each corresponding to one of the major gods. The doors will only open for the respective Champion, so your room will probably be untouched.”
Selvar followed Leyra to the Champion’s Hall. Strangely, none of the doors in the room had any handles, but did have markings above them. He found his door rather easily, as it was marked with a crescent moon symbol. “So I just walk up to it, or what?”
“Place your hand on it, it should open.”
Placing his hand upon the door marked with a crescent moon, it creaked open with the sound of hinges that hadn't been oiled in centuries. A strangely thin layer of dust coated the room. “Those hinges need to be fixed and the room needs to be dusted… how old is this room anyways?”
“Several centuries. Nothing has been in there since the first Champion of the Night gave up the powers of Champion. He might have left some things behind, but probably not many.”
Selvar stepped into the room, looking around. Apart from a few very old books on the bookcase, there was a single book on the desk. Curious, Selvar wiped the dust off the cover to discover it had no title. Opening it, there was only a single paragraph on the first page.
I leave this book to my successor, whoever and whenever he may be. The secrets of my greatest efforts are here, usable only by you. The few spells contained here can only be used within a Night Domain, meaning only a Champion of Night can properly use them. I wish you luck in whatever your endeavor may be.
“I'll get a maid to bring you some oil and a duster. Lord Kine will expect you in a couple hours for dinner, so I'll be back then.”
“Alright. It looks like the previous Champion of Night left a few spells behind, so I'll probably study those in the meantime. Thanks, by the way.”
“Not a problem, Selvar. See you later.”
Selvar turned back to the book, turning the page. The second page listed three spells and the pages on which to find them. Turning the page to the first of three, Selvar began reading about the spell Nightmare’s Reign.
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About two hours later, Leyra stopped by again. “Time for dinner, Selvar. Lord Kine’s waiting.” Leading Selvar back into the bowels of the estate, the two came to the dinner hall. In the hall, there were already two people, one male and one female. The male was getting on in years, looking to be in his late forties. The girl on the other hand didn't look a day over twenty, and had long, vibrant red hair with matching eyes. Upon seeing the girl, Selvar instinctively knew she was a Champion. Meeting his eyes, it appears the girl knew he was as well.
“Oh wow, you really are a Champion. Bout time old Night took a new one. I'm Veren Felsa, Champion of the Sun. Nice ta meet ya.”
Selvar bowed lightly. “Selvar, Champion of the Night. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Don't be so formal. Us Champions are all regarded to be of equal status. So what's your family name?”
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“Don't have one.”
“Ah, rose from a peasant? Probably a bit overwhelmed then. I take it the annihilated remains of an army out front of the city was your doing? Impressive.”
Selvar shrugged. “Almost all of it was the nightmares and Leyra. All I did was kill a single patrol and the general.”
Leyra chose to jump in here. “He says that, but all I did was support those nightmares of his whenever it looked like one of them was about to be taken down.”
Niren cocked her head. “Nightmares?”
“Yeah. I can take the nightmares of those I face and create a monstrosity from them. I can also give them vague commands but that's it.”
Veren looked genuinely surprised. “Wow, that's… terrifying. I'll help you catch up with everything else after dinner, but Lord Kine has been patiently waiting while we've been talking. You can sit now, by the way.”
Lord Kine nodded at her while Selvar sat across from Veren while Leyra sat at the other end of the table. “Thank you, Lady Felsa. Lord Selvar, I would like to offer my gratitude on behalf of the entire city of Lesron for breaking the siege we have been under for the last week.”
Selvar shrugged. “Please, just Selvar. And I needed to enter the city. The army was blocking my way, so I had no choice.”
“Be that as it may, you still broke the siege. Even though Lady Felsa arrived just an hour ago, her abilities aren't nearly as good at cutting down large swathes of opponents. May I ask why you needed to enter?”
“I need a spell of either the Shadow or Subconscious affinity, meant to revert memory changes caused by spells.”
Lord Kine frowned. “I don't think there are any in the Shadow affinity, but perhaps in Subconscious. You're welcome to enter the library and search, but if we had found one this war against the Empire would be less one-sided.”
“Well, that's what I'm here for. My goal is to destroy the Holy Empire of Andstine.”
Veren coughed suddenly, drawing Selvar and Kine’s attention to her. “I'm sorry, but by goal do you mean the one Night gave you at the end of the trial?”
“Yes, why?”
Veren let out a small laugh. “Oh that's fantastic! If anyone could do it it would be someone who has the Subconscious affinity but those who have it tend to be terrible fighters. Add in the Shadow affinity and a Night Domain and it's like your abilities were tailored just for this!”
Selvar shrugged. “I didn't really plan it, Night was the only god without a Champion besides Andstine and there was no way in hell I was going to ask him.”
Lord Kine cleared his throat. “At any rate, with the siege problem cleared up our librarian will be free to return to taking care of the library soon. You're welcome to stay in the Champion’s Hall until you decide to leave Lesron, of course.”
“Thank you, Lord Kine.”
Kine clapped his hands once. “I believe it is time for dinner.” Servants came out carrying food as Kine finished speaking, placing trays of food on the table before leaving the four to eat.
After dinner, Selvar headed back to the Champion’s Hall with Veren. “Hey, Selvar. You've been in the Room of Night, right? What's it like in there?”
“The door’s hinges creaked extremely loudly, there was dust everywhere, and quite a few books in the bookcase. The previous Champion did leave a spellbook for me, but it only contains three spells. Other than that, it's pretty extravagant compared to what I'm used to.”
“Makes sense. You were a peasant before you became a Champion, right? As for the dust and hinges, it HAS been over a millennia since the first Champion of the Night lived. A word of advice, get familiar with magical theory for your domain. It's almost a requirement for Champions.”
Selvar looked strangely at Veren. “Yeah, I was. And why do I need to get familiar with magical theory?”
“Because your current abilities can be used as a base to create more abilities that can be passed down to future Champions. Don't worry about the time required for learning magical theory, Champions live a long time.”
“Immortal until we choose to give it up, right?”
“Yup. I've been studying magical theory for about eighty years now. That meteor spell Leyra uses was created by me.”
“Wait, eighty years? You don't look a day over twenty!”
Veren laughed. “Well yeah, being immortal does that. Wouldn't be much use if it didn't stop us from aging, after all. Also, a side note: at the start, your eyes will only change color while in your domain, but eventually they'll change permanently.”
“Ah. That's why your eyes are red.”
“Yup. And don't worry about not having a family name, as a Champion you'll probably pick up a title or two during your life. Your family will probably be amazed.”
“My hometown was captured by Andstine. I was out hunting at the time, but my family was in town. You can probably guess what happened.”
Veren stopped walking. “I… I'm sorry. I didn't realize…”
“It's fine, you had no way to know. It's the reason I decided to seek out the God of Night.”
The two walked the rest of the way in silence, finally reaching the Champion’s Hall. “Good night Lady Felsa, I'll see you tomorrow.”
“I would say the same to you, but the night belongs to you. See you in the morning.”
Selvar entered the Room of Night, leaving the door open by a crack. Changing into the nightwear he had brought with him in his backpack, Selvar slept, prepared to meet the god he had declared as his worst enemy.