Cass heard little in the tavern that she didn’t already know. All the gossip was about the Festival, which, in retrospect, wasn’t surprising.

  The expectation among the populous was Alyx, as Major Blessing Holder, and Fioreya, as Alacrity’s Champion, would be the two winners this year. Cass didn’t want to hear about that, though.

  She left the tavern in favor of finding the city’s temple. There had to be one around here somewhere, and who would know more about Champions than the priests or devout patrons?

  The temple sat on the river between the sides of town. Literally, over the river. It sat on a spire floating in the space between the cliff-sided banks.

  It was shaped like a stereotypical diamond, the tip maybe three yards over the surface of the rushing water below, the flat ‘face’ the top of the spire, upon which a domed building of glass rested. Sizable suspension bridges connected either side of the river to the spire.

  Were they still called spires if they were wider than they were tall, like this one was?

  Cass let her idle thoughts run as she crossed the bridge. It was better than worrying about Alyx and Salos.

  The building itself was like nothing Cass had ever seen. Cass was a modern woman. Glass was a commonplace element of her world. It belonged in every window, and she held little wonder for the endless walls of glass that made up the skyscrapers of the cities.

  This was different.

  Glass, in Cass’s world, was a flat thing. A clear thing. A fragile thing.

  This building turned all that on its head.

  The glass here had been fashioned into bricks and then stacked tall and wide into a towering cathedral. The bricks shimmered in the sunlight, largely opaque but still casting colored shadows over the surrounding grounds. Sculptures decorated the walls, dancing glass swirling into figures from legends Cass didn’t know.

  More statues lined the path. Some were humanoid figures, presumably in mythologically significant poses. Others were abstract twists of color and pattern that rose from the gardens.

  The walk up was short from the bridge to the Temple’s doors.

  The doors were set in a wall of more glass, all colored and thick enough to obscure what waited on the far side.

  Twisting dragons had been sculpted into the glass around the doors.

  The doors hung open, allowing the continuous flow of people.

  The temple was busy. Perhaps they held some significance to the Festival as well. That seemed likely.

  Standing in the doorway, Cass realized she didn’t know what to do from here. Lacking better ideas, she followed the flow of the crowds inside.

  Like the temple in Hervet, this one had one big central room with a large statue of Alacrity in the center, adorned in her dragon-horned crown. This one had a crimson dragon twisting around her waist.

  Around the room were seven alcoves, each with a statue of one of the other gods. One was missing, unless Cass was miscounting. But no, counting Alacrity in the center, only eight of the nine gods were represented here. Cass wasn’t familiar enough with their iconography to figure out who was missing with any confidence, but she was willing to guess it was Dexterity, the demon god.

  From what Alyx had been saying, there was beef there.

  She walked around the room with the crowd. Most went and knelt at one of the benches before Alacrity. Many split off for the smaller alcoves, bowing before the others. It was quiet inside, but not silent. There was the low murmur of people and a shuffle of clothing and feet all around. Cass kept her eyes peeled for a priest.

  Instead, she spotted a familiar hood and diminutive stature along the far wall.

  Pellen stood before a closed door, visibly hesitating.

  “Pellen!” Cass pushed toward the little mage, getting several glares from other patrons.

  The mage startled, her head jerking over her shoulder toward Cass, all of her eyes widening. “Miss Cass? What are—You are—Are you here to pray for Lady Alyx’s success?”

  Cass bit her lip. Was that what most people were doing here during the festival? Maybe that was expected of ‘retainers’ like her. She didn’t want to explain her falling out with Alyx right here, so she just nodded. “Among other things. What are you doing here? I can’t imagine you’re particularly hoping Kohen will win?”

  Pellen shook her head. “I have no quarrel with him, but no. The choices of the dragons are well outside my worries. No. I, um.” Her eyes flicked back to the door and the sign pinned to it. “I’m here to check something I should have had checked ages ago.”

  Cass squinted at the door as if her low Jothi Language Comprehension could be compensated for like failing eyesight or low light.

  There was a sign on the door. Her language skills had been improving, already up to level 10, but her mastery of the written language was still riddled with holes. She was pretty sure the sign said something about knocking for help, but what kind of help was less clear.

  If she knew more, she could probably divine what Pellen was here for from these clues, and this would be the end of the conversation, to Pellen’s relief.

  Cass’s curiosity warred with her courtesy. Clearly, Pellen wanted to move on as quickly as possible. If she were willing to spell it out, she would have done more than gesture at the door.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Cass suppressed a sigh and let it go. It wasn’t her business. Instead, Cass changed the subject. “Any idea where I can go to talk to a priest?”

  Pellen’s eyes widened again. She glanced at the door beside her and then back to Cass.

  Cass sighed. “They’re through that door, aren’t they?”

  The sign had said to knock for help. Talking with the priests was probably the help they meant.

  Pellen nodded.

  Cass shrugged. Nothing for it but honesty at this point. “I can’t read that.”

  Pellen’s eyes widened even further. “No?”

  Cass shook her head.

  “Then… Oh. Um,” Pellen stammered.

  Cass shrugged. “No worries. Is there a procedure? Am I cutting in line?”

  Pellen bit her lip and shook her head. “I won’t be long.” And she knocked on the door.

  It opened a moment later. A man in a grey robe stepped out. “How may I help you this fine morning?”

  “I need to have my affinity checked,” Pellen said quietly.

  He nodded. “Of course, right this way.” He gestured for Pellen to enter the room before glancing at Cass. “Are you in need of help as well?”

  Cass nodded. “I was looking for information on Champions?”

  “Ah, inspired by the Champion selected in our very city? Many are. Wait over there and I shall send a faithful to answer your questions.”

  “Thank you,” Cass said, following his finger to the nearest alcove. Cass stopped suddenly, spinning around to shout after Pellen, “Meet me in front when you’re done! I have some stuff for you!”

  Pellen’s eyes widened before she nodded, perhaps remembering as suddenly as Cass the books Cass had stashed for her, perhaps just hoping to melt out of sight to avoid the eyes staring at them. She scurried after the priest, disappearing deeper into the temple.

  Cass continued toward the indicated alcove. It was awash in grays. Green-grays, mostly. And yet, it wasn’t drab. Rather, it was subdued. Quiet. Quieter than the rest of the temple, though no wall or anything separated this space.

  A glass statue of a broad-shouldered woman in full plate armor stood in the center, a hefty shield worn on one arm and a mace in the other.

  The goddess’s eyes almost seemed to follow her as Cass sat down in one corner as far away from the handful of other patrons in the room. But that would be ridiculous. Right?

  Then again, two other gods had already shown an interest in Cass. What was a third?

  Cass took a deep breath and did her best to ignore it.

  A few minutes later, another man—this one robed in soft green and brown—came and slipped into the seat beside Cass. “I heard you had questions, miss?”

  Perception had suggested that Identifying people in a temple was rude, but she needed to double-check what she was working with before she went any further.

  Priest of Fortitude

  Lvl 27

  [A man dedicated to his chosen divinity: the Goddess of Fortitude, She of Unyielding Might and True Endings.]

  That was all very above board. It looked like he was an ordinary priest. Definitely not a god in disguise.

  He was a younger man than she had expected. His hair was still well and dark, his skin smooth and wrinkle-free. Even accounting for Vitality doing de-aging things, she would have guessed his age closer to her own than her parents’. Perhaps priests being old men was just a stereotype.

  “Yeah,” Cass said. “I was curious if there were other Champions right now?”

  The priest raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Yes, there are. Each of the gods may pick one. Currently, four do: Alacrity, Strength, Will, and Fortitude.”

  The three Powers and Alacrity? Was that a coincidence?

  “How long have they each had Champions?” Cass asked.

  “Alacrity, as I’m sure you know, has only had her champion a few days. Strength summoned an (Angel?) about three years ago. Will selected his head priest as his Champion shortly after. Fortitude announced her Champion last year, selecting one of her promising Paladins.”

  Cass frowned over the described options. None of them sounded like Kaye or Robin. An angel, a head priest, or a paladin? Not likely. And the timing was wrong on all of them. Even the most recent was a year ago. She’d only been here about a month. She’d been kidnapped first. If they had been summoned by one of the gods, it must have been one of the others.

  That left Dexterity, Endurance, Resolve, and Vitality.

  “How is one selected as a Champion?” Cass asked.

  The priest laughed gently. “Hoping to be picked by your god?”

  Cass shook her head emphatically. She was certainly not! She had a standing offer she did not want.

  “They pick who they think are worthy of representing their interests,” the priest explained. “Usually one who holds a high value in their chosen stat. Usually, one who holds a similar role in this world as they do.”

  That didn’t sound right. Of the Champions, Cass had only met Fioreya, but Cass was a candidate for Perception as well. Neither she nor Fioreya exactly exemplified the gods that had picked them. Fioreya almost certainly used other stats more than Alacrity, given her highly physical attack style. And Cass needed to only glance at her stat sheet to confirm that Perception wasn’t even top three for her.

  But Cass wasn’t exactly going to tell this random priest all that. Instead, she asked, “Do the gods just pick someone from anywhere?”

  He frowned at her words. “They might pick from any believer of theirs anywhere on the continent or any of her many isles and spires.”

  “So it was just a coincidence that Fioreya was chosen in a city that strongly worships Alacrity?”

  He shrugged. “Who can say? Perhaps it was simply odds. Perhaps she only considered those in this city. The gods are unknowable, after all.”

  Cass didn’t think so. Alyx had said Alacrity had offered her the position too. Alacrity had granted everyone who entered the Catacombs a Quest to become her Champion. She wanted a Dragon Knight for a Champion. Did that mean she should dive into the places that held the potential gods dear when looking for her siblings?

  Maybe there were other contests like this one she should be looking for.

  No. Alacrity had held this tournament because she didn’t have a summoned Champion. Any god holding a contest for the position couldn’t have one of her siblings ready to take the role and could be ignored in Cass’s search.

  “None of the other gods are looking for a Champion then?” Cass asked.

  He shrugged. “If they are, their call has not reached our fine city.”

  “Is Velillia considered Alacrity’s seat of power?” Cass asked.

  A playful smile crossed his face. “I suppose it is. Though the other gods are no less powerful here.”

  Cass waved him off. “Sure, sure. But one of the gods here is standing in the middle of the room, and one of them is just missing. That’s not a coincidence, is it?”

  “No, I suppose it is not.” He straightened and continued, “Velillia is not the only place that holds the Goddess of Alacrity, She of Brilliant Lightning and Striking Inspiration, in the highest regard. She is also wildly celebrated in Trell and Filador.”

  “What about Dexterity, Endurance, Resolve, and Vitality?” Cass asked.

  He quirked an eyebrow at her. “You truly are not trying to become the Champion for one of these four?”

  Cass shrugged. She wasn’t, but what was it to him?

  He stood. “Follow me. We have a map in the back which might help you.”