Arrival and Trial
Kassadin stood over the massive hole in one of the ruined temples of Icatiha. He had been right to teleport to the desolate desert after sensing a calamity. Kassadin jumped down, directly in front of the voidspawn that had crossed to Runeterra. Unlike the several void monsters that had breached the rift, this one would not make it any farther. Kassadin found it peculiar that this time it was a man in green robes, the man reeked of undeath. A necromancer. It mattered little, he would die in moments.
Kassadin launched a sphere of void energy forward, but the man made no move. The sphere vanished halfway.
This one was unlike the others. He could be a greater threat to Runeterra than his previous kin. All the more reason to kill him before he wreaks havoc. Kassadin welled the void energy inside of him and riftwalked onto the man. Pain coursed through Kassadin's body, he felt as if his body was being ripped apart, cell by cell.
The necromancer watched as the void mage was brought to his knees. However, it was obvious that he had a lot of fight in him. There was no time for that. Before Kassadin could stand up, the necromancer was looming over him. He slammed his hand on Kassadin's chest and funneled energy into him. Kassadin was ensnared.
"After I learn what you know, I will enjoy breaking you apart." The man spoke, his face wearing a sadistic grin.
Kassadin felt his mind being probed. How could he let a voidling best him? Without him to guard Runeterra, Malzahar will freely strengthen the link between Valoran and the void. The fall of Valoran would be inevitable, he couldn't accept that. Kassadin struggled to expel his enemy out of his thoughts to no avail. Yet when all seemed lost, the invasion of his mind immediately receded. He was free. Kassadin stared at the man towering over him.
"I misjudged you. Our purpose is common. The void must be stopped at all costs."
The necromancer extended a hand to Kassadin. He had undoubtedly came from the void, the only logical conclusion was that this one must be a deceiver. However, Kassadin understood his position, he was not ready to take this one out by himself. He would play along and feign ignorance, then strike at the opportune moment, and it will inevitably come.
Kassadin stood and nodded in agreement. The latter smiled. "My name's Sariel. Could you lead me to the institute of war?"
"What business do you have with the institute of war?"
"I need to meet with an old friend. She goes by the name Kayle."
It was impossible for Kassadin to believe that Kayle would associate with such people, yet he still communicated with his summoner, requesting a teleportation spell. Inside the institute, the necromancer would be in no position to make any move. Perhaps confining him within the league of legends would be ideal for the time being. Two blue pillars of light swirled around both Kassadin and the necromancer. Moments later, they vanished.
As the light swirled around Sariel, he absorbed some of the energy to identify the nature of the spell. Sariel understood the spell, but immediately regretted his curiosity as he felt the spell going haywire. He would not be teleported to he intended destination, hopefully his interference was minimal.
Before he could think of something, spell wards gnawed at his life essence, they were protection spells and traps, warding against unwanted intruders. They were poorly designed, they had many flaws. He quickly undone the warding spells one by one, only to find himself in agony. Blasts of energy slammed into his body with crushing force, each blast significantly more painful than the one before it. He felt their force in every cell of his body, yet he felt no push from the blasts, he looked ahead and saw a stone golem, holding a massive hammer with a blue crystal placed on its head, sending powerful blasts crashing violently into him. It was painful, but he had endured worse. He raised his hands, the land heaved and giant boulders broke off from it, surrounding the stone golem. With a clap, they went crashing into the hostile golem, destroying it in a thundering collision.
Before he could savor the triumph, Sariel felt sharp pain stinging his chest as a blue orb of energy flew through him, he watched as it reversed its trajectory and passed through his back, and sharp pain coursed through him once again. He faced his gaze to the attacker. Two angry ember eyes met his gaze, a captivating face scowled at him, threatening to renew the attack.
Ahri was confused, there were no champions joining the league recently. More worrying, he destroyed the outer turret with one attack, only unsanctioned magic was capable of that…but that was strictly prohibited across Valoran.
She did not know what to do but to attack. Hurling her fox fire towards him, the stranger made no effort to dodge, letting the fire hit him straight in the chest. He groaned as air rushed out of his lungs, the fiery blasts sent him flying. He lied on the ground for a few moments before he stood up, this time facing away from Ahri. There he was standing. Cho'gath.
Seeing the voidling ignited all the hatred and anger inside of Sariel. He let the energy flow, and with an angry growl, sent pillars of flames towards the lumbering monster. Cho'gath shrieked in agony, but the fight was far from over. Cho'gath charged at the necromancer, letting out a deafening shriek. It caught Sariel off guards. The necromancer felt as if his innards were exploding, he put up his barrier until he could recollect himself.
Cho'gath's snapped his mouth in an attempt to devour his attacker, but his teeth hit an invisible barrier around him. Before he had time to react, the necromancer's hand touched him, and as he felt the energy pour into him, he was unable to move. With his free hand, Sariel pulled a dagger from his robes and sank it into Cho'gath's neck and started pouring flames into him. After a few moments of agony, the voidling had collapsed.
Sariel turned around to find the fox girl staring at him. She was so utterly captivating that he found himself plainly staring at her with a dumb expression. Moments later the entire area was caught in a temporal stasis. Magic shackles sprung from the ground grasping him before the same teleportation spell took him to a dimly lit room. In front of him, a council of three people was seated. They were powerful magi. It would be best if he refrained from breaking the chains. Whoever designed this binding spell had left many weaknesses, but the mages that stood in front of him were forces to reckon with, each in their own right. Perhaps there was a hope left.
"Who are you, and why were you in the summoner's rift?" An old woman, seemingly head of the council spoke with a calm voice.
Sariel looked at the woman, old age had not gotten the best of her. He assessed her essence. A very powerful mage indeed, tapping to her full potential, unlike those he had fought minutes earlier. They all had great potential, some greater than the council leader even, but they had not even begun to grasp the extent to which their power levels could rise. They only used their innate affinity for magic at its most basic level.
"My name is Sariel. I assume the rift you refer to was that battle field. Going there was…an unintended outcome."
"Unintended outcome? Do you believe us fools, young man? The rift is protected with warding spells. No one could enter it without permission." The head of the council spoke calmly.
"The way I entered the rift was through teleportation. It was an accident."
"The rift is warded against these kind of spells. How did you manage to get past them?" the councilman asked.
To everyone's disbelief, the man undid the magic shackles binding him with ease. He stood up, his hands ablaze. What on Valoran was that person?
"Just like I undid these shackles, I had no issues with the wards. They were dangerous, but not flawless."
"And how did you end up teleporting to the rift?"
"I was being teleported to the institute of war. I meddled with the spell and faced the consequences. I'll cut to the chase. I am here because I want to join the league of legends. As a champion."
The council members exchanged glances. Sariel sensed telepathic energy surging between them. He would be respectful of their desire to hide their conversation. Intruding upon their secret discussion would be insulting. For now he would try to gain favor, so he let their discussion go unchecked.
"Well, then, young man. Shall we begin your trial?"
He nodded. Before he recognize what had happened, Sariel felt three presences in his mind, they were boring into it, unraveling his thoughts and memories.
His mental work raced; he had to lower the defenses he had put before dire consequences further complicate his mission. They surveyed bits of his past, he intentionally let afloat good images of his ruined world, hiding everything about its destruction and the horrors of the void in the deepest corners of his consciousness. Instead he put together fake memories of love, family and simple life, with a bit of indulgence in magic practice. It should suffice.
The presences continued to dive deeper, unraveling more bits of his past, his current thoughts and his personality. He had set fake courses for them, and they fell for all of them. Or so he thought. Masks began to fall one after the other, it was an active battle of the mind, and they were no fools. He realized that at this rate their lives would be in danger.
The council unraveled true bits of his past. How the void had trampled Terra, how he, in his foolishness was instrumental in his world's downfall. Then the council bordered on the darkest of corners in his mind, and with it, the stronger barriers of his magic. The barriers proved reliable. The council struggled to break through, but to no avail. Then Sariel sensed the horror of what they were orchestrating. The three worked one spell together, concentrating their efforts into a single mind spike. Their invasion pierced through the barriers with dreadful efficiency. If they tread any further, they will reach his most dangerous and aggressive form of seals…ones that seek to annihilate rather than ward off.
The council managed to break through the barrier to only to find numerous seals. Their construct was very advanced, but nothing too complicated for them to undo. "Leave. No good will come from breaking these seals." Sariel bellowed in their minds.
They ignored the warning, judging it to be a desperate bluff. As they broke the first seal a dark whirlpool appeared in its place. Claws held to the edges of the gaping storm in front of them. The claws lashed forward with a demonic howl, slashing the air towards their mental manifestation, where the claws moved, they could sense the very fabric of space around their physical bodies rip and distort. Should a slash land, the damage will be directly inflicted to their minds. An injury of that sort would prove fatal. Although the only undid the first seal, more seals started to unravel, revealing things that should not be. The intruders were forced pull back immediately.
They were out of his mind, the shock visible on their faces.
"I asked you politely! There are bits of my being I would rather remain buried. Unknown to all. If you're willing to understand that…"
The exhausted voice of Vessaria replied to him "This was only meant to test your capacity. We have little interest in your past, we only focused on testing how you would defend against us. You pass."
"We shall begin preparation to announce you as a champion. But first, we must sanction your magic. Powerful spells cause harm to the world, this is why we maintain strict restraints on magic practice across Valoran." Vessaria announced.
"I shall comply, lady."
"Vessaria." She answered.
"Lady Vessaria." He responded.
"You may choose a city state with which you can affiliate yourself, or choose no allegiance and live here within the institute."
"Is there a library, or a good source of knowledge in this place?"
No one answered him. Instead, the high councilor raised her hand, a blue pillar of light swirled around the recently approved champion, and he found himself outside the institute of war. Its gate was majestic. White marble gave off a feeling of serenity. He entered the institute into a wide arc the arc had numerous entrances and small paths, each labeled after the place it leads to. He searched for the library, a passage to the left. He followed the path until he found himself in a giant round hall, shelves were carved into its marble stone walls, books were covering every inch of the walls, a marvelous sight. A keeper was at the entrance of the library. The keeper uttered no words as Sariel bypassed him. He simply wrote down in a small notebook. Sariel returned his focus to the majestic library. The books were well organized. He stopped at the history book section, searching for something that might help him understand the nature of the world and its development. He was there when it was created, but hadn't seen it since.
Sariel had a tower of books, with several pages worth of notes he had taken throughout his reading, when Vessaria patted his shoulder. "Let us talk, champion." Nodding, Sariel folded the notes and slipped them under his armpit. The two reached the entrance hall, he had not realized how much had passed. It was already dark. The book he was reading offered so much knowledge that he lost track of time.
"What do you need from me?" He asked, eager to return to his readings.
"Minor issues. We will be announcing your arrival to the league of legends next week, and introducing you into the field of justice a month later. The month gap will be used for testing how much limits we should establish for your power, during that month you will tune your spells to a reasonable degree and establish connection with some summoners. During that time, we need to provide a written introduction of you for summoners who might be interested in working with you. You can choose a city state to affiliate with, or just pass off as a wanderer, or someone of unknown origins."
"Affiliate me with Ionia."
"Quite a fast decision…why Ionia?"
"Very interesting place. They are the only place with an artifact item named after them. The Ionian boots. Their history is quite interesting as well." He lied. He suspected she saw through it, but further inquiry would be in vain. He would lie to her until the end of time if need be. She was not to be trusted.
"Is there a certain place you might want to be settled in? The capital perhaps? We exert tremendous influence, these matters can be arranged with minimal issues, so please don't refrain from picking the place of your choice."
"The footholds of Tevasa Mountain. A simple home, and a lot of books. I read about a village with 100 people living in it, good for peace of mind." He lied about his motives once more.
"As you wish. In a week your place will be ready to host you. Any books you require will be brought to you. For the time being, please rest in the Institute's facility."
"I have one request. I need to meet a champion named Kayle."