《Dragonborn Saga》 -1 The World Explained Creation !!!DISCLAIMER!!! -This exnation is influenced by the Author¡¯s Understanding to the Lore, there may be mistakes and not so solid theories but it is all part of the fun. -Some of the myths mentioned are part of the Elven Lore which favors their deities and demonize other beings. ~~~~~~~~~~ ¡ñ The Ultimate Entity - The Godhead ¡ñ The world of the Elder Scrolls originated from an entity referred to as the ¡¯Godhead¡¯, this entity is the ultimate being that creates the Universe by dreaming about it. It means that this entity is unconscious and shouldn¡¯t be woken up or the world wille to end. ¡ñ The Two Primal Forces ¡ñ First, there was nothing, then two powers came to be. (Begin of the Dawn Era) They were opposites. They were equals. They shed but none prevailed. The two got to be referred to as ¡¯Anu¡¯ and ¡¯Padomay¡¯. ¡¯Anu¡¯ the Light, the Order, the Stasis, the Positive part of the rtionship. ¡¯Padomay¡¯ the Darkness, the Change, the Chaos, the Negative part of the rtionship. After they opposed each other, they came to enlightenment and the two created Souls for themselves to understand themselves more. ¡ñ The First Two Souls ¡ñ ¡¯Anu¡¯ created Anui-El, the Soul of Anu in the Elvish tongue. ¡¯Padomay¡¯ created Sithis, Anui-El¡¯splete opposite. Just like their origins, Anui-El and Sithis were both opposite and infinite, nothing new would happen if they shed. At that point of iprehensible time, the Universe was only Anu-El, Sithis, their Origin Powers and a Universe inplete chaos. ¡ï The Universe is also known as The ///Aurbis// ¡ï The Nordic Skaal may refer to Anu-El as the All-Maker and Padomay as the Adversary. But that¡¯s only what I understood as the Author of this Fan Fiction. ¡ñ The Dragon God : Akatosh ¡ñ Anu-El gazed at the Universe and it all Choas that didn¡¯t represent itself. It then used its power to create a something that can make order out of chaos and the Concept of Time came to be. The Concept of Time was personified as a Spirit that became known as ¡¯Akatosh¡¯ for Humans, ¡¯Auriel¡¯ for Elves and ¡¯Alkosh¡¯ for Khajiit. It was the first and the most Anuic Original Spirit. ¡ñ The Original Spirits ¡ñ As the Concept of Time time was spread across the Universe, other Original Spirits came to be and started to realize themselves. These Original Spirits were the First Race of creatures that ever lived since the chaos settled down. They are referred to as The et¡¯Ada. Among these Original Spirits were Kynareath of the Wind, Xarxes of Knowledge and Magnus of Magic. ¡ï Take note that the Original Spirits came to be not from Anui-El, but by the power that created by the residual energies of the Choas that was resulted by the sh of Anu and Padomay thus some have Anuic Nature and some have Padomic Nature. ¡ï The Khajiit believe that Anu and Padomay married each other and resulted from all these Original Spirits, while the Elves mostly try to make them enemies and opposites. ¡ñ The Immortal nes (Aetherius and Oblivion) ¡ñ There was a zone between the Two Primal Powers in which all the Chaos happened and where all the Original Spirits emerged. What came after the emergence of the Original Spirits is the emergence of Myriad of Immortal Realms that were ssified as two main Regions; Aetherius and Oblivion. Aetherius, the Immortal ne, is thought to be the origin of all magic and arcane arts. Little is known about what does it look like but mortal souls travel to that realm as its Afterlife. Sovngarde, Far Shores and Sands Behind The Stars are three ces known to be the Afterlives for Nords, Redguards and Khajiit respectively. Oblivion is the underworld of Aetherius and what separates it from the void beneath. There are over 37,000 documented realms in Oblivion including chaos nes and pocket realities, although there exists far more than that. Aetherius envelopes Oblivion like ayer and Oblivion envelopes an area of void. The all shape arge globe that keeps the Universe together. ¡ñ The Missing God : Lorkhan ¡ñ ording to the Elvish Myth of Creation; Sithis, the counterpart of Anui-El, saw what became of the Chaos and despised the Order it came to be. It thus created an Original Spirit that the Elves call ¡¯Lorkhan, the Trickster¡¯ and the Humans call ¡¯Shor or Shezarr, the Father of Men¡¯. This Original Spirit was to be an opposite to Auriel and the most Padomic Original Spirit. ¡ï Lorkhan and Akatosh exist in nearly every pantheon. Akatosh or Auriel is mostly considered the Chief God in most of these pantheons except for the Nords of Skyrim who consider Shor (Lorkhan) the Chief God in Religion. The Elves (except the Dark Elves) and the Redguards view Lorkhan as the trickster who separated them from Immortal ne Aetherius and me their hardship and mortality on him and they consider creating the world an Act of Crulity. The Humans (except the Redguards) and the Dark Elves see Lorkhan as the Creator God and held in high esteem, they consider creating the World a Divine Mercy. I as the Author think of this as something rted to variation in opinion between two kinds of the Original Spirits, those who followed Lorkhan and those who followed Aureil. ¡ñ Creation of the Mortal World (Mundus) ¡ñ ording to the Elvish Myth; Sithis wanted Lorkhan to undo what Auriel did, in other words, drag the Universe back to chaos. However, Lorkhan seemed to have an agenda of his own, he went to the other Original Spirits and convinced them to create a ce distant from the influence of the Two Major Primal Forces, a ce where they are not forced to stay in, a ce they can fill with their own creations and have freedom. Kynareath was the first two agree, and even Auriel himself agreed. Not all the Original Spirits were part of this but those who were all departed from Aetherius down through Oblivion until its edge right at the Void beneath it, the core of the universe the Oblivion envelopes. With her power, Kynareath breathed in the void and opened a space for the other powers to flow through, once they all went in, they started to fill the world with their creations. ¡ñ The New World ¡ñ While many Original Spirits flowed through the void, other ones decided to stay in Oblivion and started to create their own Realms. These Original Spirits came to be knownter as the ¡ó Daedra ¡ó. ording to the Elvish Myth; Lorkhan hid one truth from the other Original Spirits, the more they create, the more power they lose, the less Immortal they be. Some of the weak Original Spirits started to fall from Immortality but Lorkhan was no way to be found. Magnus, the architecture of the Mortal World construction n, realized the plot of Lorkhan and decided to escape from Mundus, he gathered all the Original Spirits that could escape and abandoned Mundus. Magnus tore a hole through Oblivion all the way to Aetherius that became the Sun and his followers tore smaller holes that became the stars. Through the Sun and the Star, the Magicka of Aetherius flows to Mundus. Magnus and his followers came to be knownter as the ¡ó Magne-Ge ¡ó. Auriel, along with other powerful Original Spirits decided to stay and try to fix things. These ones came to beter as the ¡ó Aedra ¡ó. The other Original Spirits that fell from divinity became the ¡ó Ehlonfey ¡ó. ¡ñ The Ehlonfey War ¡ñ The Ehlonfey stayed on Nirn, the Core in Mundus and sacrificed themselves to create the Laws of Nature. Theyter split into two factions, the ¡¯Old Ehlonfey¡¯ who chose perseverance and the umtion of ancient knowledge, the other faction was the ¡¯Wanderers¡¯ who roamed the new world. The ¡¯Old Ehlonfey¡¯ter became the ancestors of ¡¯Mer¡¯monly known as ¡¯Elves¡¯ and the ¡¯Wanderers¡¯ became the ancestors of ¡¯Men¡¯monly known as ¡¯Humans¡¯. The two factions shed for some reasons which I as the Author think it was regarding Mundus and Nirn. The Elves always wanted to return to Aetherius and undo Mundus while the Humans preferred to stay in Mundus. It was then when the Fight dragged the Original Spirits in and it seemed that the Elves were under the Banner of Auriel while the humans were under the banner of Lorkhan. ¡î Other than the Old Ehlonfey and the Wanderers, there were other beings that chose different paths to survive like the ¡ó Hist ¡ó which is a sentient race of trees in ck March, home of the lizard-folk, the Argonians. ¡ñ The Convection of Lorkhan ¡ñ On Mundus, the greatest Original Spirit, most notably Auriel and his best knight Trinimac, gathered on a ce known as the Adamantine Tower in modern day High Rock. They all decided the punishment of Lorkhan. Sources vary at that event, the Elvish Myth ims that Trinimac knocked down Lorkhan in front of his Hordes of Men and tore his heart out of his body to destroy it. This Heart of Lorkhan was his Divine Spark and destroying it proved to be impossible either for its power or for it will take the world down with its residence once it is destroyed. Auriel then decides to fasten the Heart to an arrow and then shoot it into the sea where it turned into a Volcano in modern-day Vvardenfell. Some notes indicate that in order to stop the fight between Men and Mer, Lorkhan actually surrendered himself to the other Original Spirits. In the end, after removing the Heart from Lorkhan he was exiled to watch his creation and can¡¯t watch thus his corpse became Masser and Secunda. ¡ñ The End of the Dawn Era ¡ñ It was said that right after that event, the sky rained for the first time in history. The Nordic Mythos indicates that Kyne, the Warrior Wife of Shor, was mourning her Husband that was killed by the Elven Giants which can be tranted as ¡¯Kynareath wept over Lorkhan¡¯. Around that time Madness was born and with that I mean Sheogorath came to existence following the demise of Lorkhan. The Daedric Princes cursed one of their own known as Jyggg the Daedric Prince of Order transforming him to Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince of Madness. Many events followed after that as the Daedric Prince Boethiah devoured Trinimac transforming him into the Daedric Prince Mcath for reasons unknown but he mostly tried to prevent some elves from following Boethiah and got his ass handed over to him. With the chaos in the Dawn Era settling down, the Gods started to rest and it was the age of mortals, the Merethic Era. Chapter 1 The Most Immersive VR Ever since the first Virtual Reality games appeared on the gaming scene. The ¡¯Full Dive Virtual Reality¡¯ became technology¡¯s next target. And in 2020, it finally happened! Every gamer dreamed of this moment for a bloody long time. The FDVR gaming sets and softwares started flooding the market after a massive advertising campaign throughout the world. The FDVR technology allows a person¡¯s consciousness to transfer into the game world. Millions of gaming fans, scratch that, Millions of gaming fanatics, invaded the stores that sell the console of their dreams. I¡¯ve seen people fighting each other over their turns in the lines. They mostly got carried away by the dream of gaming with such an advanced piece of tech. What a bother! As an old gamer who spent many years ying RPGs, I also decided that I need to take this to the extreme and awaken my old gaming ghost from his slumber. I¡¯ll y that game once again, the game that was released in my years of high school and stole most of my time and money ¡¯The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim¡¯. One may wonder, that¡¯s an offline single yer game! Am I going all this way to this store and standing in this damnable heat under the burning summer sun of Egypt, just to by a single FDVR Headset for an offline single yer game? Hell Yes! I am. And before you start judging. I just want to say that I suck at MMOs. Seriously, too many idiots gathered in one ce trying to do the same boring quests over and over again between PVE and PVP to all this madness. I just can¡¯t stand it. To me, they are not enjoyable at all, and most of themck the good story that makes the yer fall in love with the game and its lore, to research the realism and immersion, and to discuss the game world online and build theories about it. That¡¯s how I enjoy a game. And also as a personal reason when ites to MMOs, I don¡¯t have any special skills or anything to stand out or make friends, I am your average gamer who ys just for fun. By the way, I am awyer, and I work my ass in aw firm that consumes me as a veborer. Sigh! Go tow school, they said, be a public prosecutor and horde money, they said. Damn it to hell! All I wanna do now is just to rx and y Skyrim. What a pain! Skyrim has been published for years and it seems that ¡¯Bethesda¡¯ (the gamepany) barely graced us with a teaser trailer for the sixth part of the franchise. [A/N: This was written in 2018, if by any chance TES: VI was released before 2020 then it will get edited.] Seriously now, ¡¯Ubisoft¡¯ (anotherpany) is publishing an ¡¯Assassin¡¯s Creed¡¯ game every year, while Skyrim is surviving all this long because of its freedom and depth, but more importantly, it is thanks to the outstanding efforts that was put into the ¡¯mods¡¯ by the ¡¯modders¡¯. As well as some official side projects like ¡¯Skyrim: Special Edition¡¯ and ¡¯Skyrim: Virtual Reality¡¯. They also published ¡¯Skyrim: Full Dive Virtual Reality¡¯. It¡¯s the reason why I am standing here after all. (E/N: If only they stop releasing Skyrim like eighteen times, maybe we¡¯ll get Elder Scrolls VI.) Speaking of the ¡¯mods¡¯ (the term stands for ¡¯modifications¡¯), they are DLC like content that overhaul the gamey or expand the world. Modders usually upload their mods free or with a charge on the inte. Forget the gamepany¡¯s mods, they stink, and you have to pay for them, what kind of weird fetish is that? Basically, we Skyrim yers download our mods mainly from NexusMods, where Skyrim has more than 57,000 modsst time I checked two years ago. And if that is not enough for you, then what else is? The mods are they pride and joy of us Skyrim yers, they are basically about anything and everything, from weapons and magic mods, to remodeling game mechanics mods, to graphics recing mods, there are even adult content mods. Anyway, everyone and their mothers can find whatever mods they fancy. I am a graphics fanatic, so I go mostly with 200+ mods in a gamey that are mostly all about changing how the Skyrim world looks like. What a time to be alive! I can make good old Skyrim into some Korean MMO if I wanted to. But there is an unwritten rule when ites to modding Skyrim, it is "Before looks,es immersion". That is what our Lord and Savior ¡¯The Immersive Lord MxR¡¯ taught us. [A/N: MxR is the best Skyrim mods reviewer on YouTube, in my opinion of course.] Enough about me remembering all that basic knowledge now. This damn line of people is barely advancing and my turn ising nearer and nearer. Let¡¯s just stop raising gs for now. Also, when one should spray in this goddamn heat, it¡¯s suffocating. After a long struggle, and thank God that the shop has an air conditioner, I bought the gaming set of my dreams. I almost fainted from happiness but my financial status can¡¯t allow me to ruin this suit now. I know should have gone home and changed before Ie here but the line was not that crowded yet so I took the chance. Now, I am ready to hit the road home. I also should stop thinking about ying so much. that can be considered raising a g too. While thinking about it, I was walking and about to cross the narrow street, that¡¯s when I heard a very unpleasant and uncalled for sound of tires screeching against the road. My mind worked rapidly as I knew what is about to happen. The legendary Truck-kun is trying to reap my soul! The sound of tires screeching drew nearer and nearer in a split of a second, and I was about to get pulverized when it reaches me. But at the veryst moment, I put all of my strength in my legs and leap for it to the side of the road while not neglecting the duty of safekeeping the FDVR set I just bought. Thankfully, I managed to avoid the crisis by a hair¡¯s width. I also was keeping my guard up from any possible vase to crash into my head from the building next to me too. "Phew, a trip to another world, perfectly avoided!" I said while making a sigh of relief. No reincarnation for me today. [A/N: That¡¯s how you avoid a reincarnation ident, my first novel and I am already ying it.] I took a look at the source of the noise and to my disappointment, it was not anything scary. It was just a tuk-tuk! What is a tuk-tuk you ask? Well, it¡¯s a what you call an "auto rickshaw" that is very popr in India. The tri wheels motorbike that pulls a carriage. We have that in Egypt too. [A/ N: What¡¯s with it? First time seeing an Egyptian MC? Well, here is some news for you. The Author is Egyptian too] [E/N: the editor is Dominican.] While I was looking with disappointment at the tuk-tuk, the driver hurriedly got out and apologized to me. The onlookers were giving him some cold gazes. This guy was rushing in a narrow street, after all, most tuk-tuk drivers are unlicensed and reckless anyway. Thinking about it, I came to the conclusion. ¡¯The best way to avoid getting hit by a tuk-tuk is to be the tuk-tuk itself.¡¯ I smiled at the driver and said ¡¯It¡¯s Alright¡¯ with a friendly face. As long as he reflects on his actions, there was no need to scold him. Or maybe because I was in hurry to y the game and didn¡¯t have time to argue about it. I asked him for a ride home just to get this problem over, everything went smoothly after that as the tuk-tuk stopped under my apartment. I took out 10 Egyptian Pound note but the driver strongly refused and asked me to consider the ride as an apology. Wow! What a nice guy! Seriously, you might not know this, but tuk-tuk drivers are mostly thugs around these parts. When the guy noticed my amazement, he puts on a smile and mentioned that he is a science school graduate, but just like most of his kind in this sorry excuse of a system, he couldn¡¯t find a job that suits his diploma, and due to his need of money he does some small jobs here and there. This is not something strange and I can rte to him, I am aw school graduate and not too much better than him. Lawyers careers here has more downs than ups. Also, we are not sexually attractive so we don¡¯t live long anyway. The tuk-tuk driver and I got into a ¡¯who is more unluckypetition¡¯ and started toment on the past. As people who shared some tragedies, we found each others best friends before we even know it. After the short conversation, we exchanged phone numbers and said our farewells. each on his way. I head to the pavement while saying Sm (hey) to the butcher¡¯s son in their shop next to the building entrance. Proceeding through the entrance, I smelled the stink of a cat. It is probably the cat that always sneaks into the entrance and made it itsir. Well, whatever her highness wants! I am a cat person myself and it¡¯s not like the stink will kill me or anything. I mean, we have a butcher next door so the smell is already ruined. I tried to interact with the cat but I got splendidly ignored. The cat scratches her neck with her rear leg with flexibility and walks away. I normally get ignored if I don¡¯t give her something to eat. Sigh! This cat! What an adorable tsundere! Forget that now! To the elevator, or what I call ¡¯The Hell Lift¡¯, as it resembles a narrow coffin with the length of a meter and the width of a half. I press the most unlucky number in the world ¡¯13¡¯. (E/N: Chapter has been edited by Josue561.) Chapter 2 LINKU STARTU! As I entered my apartment, I saw my roommateszing around doing a zero nothing. Why am I not surprised? Other than the holy sanctum (my room), this apartment needs to be cleansed by the pure fires and mes. What a mess! Let¡¯s forget that for now because it is introduction time! Ehem! From the room that has a balcony and yet no view to the sea, weighing over 120 KGs, he is an ountant in some bigpany¡¯s warehouse, I introduce to you... ¡¯Fatty¡¯! And on the opposite couch, sits the one who resides in the dark room next to the kitchen, weighing less than 80 KGs, he is a 6th-year medical school student, I introduce to you... ¡¯Four-Eyes¡¯! Those are my roomies and friends from ages, if one just can ignore the amount ofziness the can radiate just by their existing around. Fatty is an ountant so he¡¯s not much better off than me, and Four-eyes is still a student. It meant that the three of us is in a critical financial state. Still, since we are all of the same age, we tend to be on friendly terms, unless when ites to our anime¡¯s favorite genres. From what I know, they are greater perverts than I am. Fatty is a lolicon to the core, and shitty Four-eyes is even weirder! He sometimes brings bones back home saying he is going to study them. Study my ass! These are someone¡¯s bones you bastard! If I didn¡¯t know what Necrophilia is, I would have thought he was attempting some sort of Necromantic rituals. Although these guys have their ws, they too have been throughplications that lead them here. While saying ¡¯What¡¯s up¡¯ to the crew, they noticed the FDVR set in my hands and their eyes lit up. I told them beforehand that I was going to buy it but they thought that the sets will sell out before I even get to the store. Now that I have the device in my very hands, without any dignity or honor, they immediately offered their respect while cupping their hands as if we are in some Chinese Novel and also decided to call me ¡¯Boss¡¯, all that if I agreed to grace them with trying out the FDVR set. The amount of shamelessness that dwells within them is quite admirable. Well, these guys are my friends, so I am not really against it. Anyway, there is something more important right now. "Comrade Four-Eyes, is it done?" "Yes, Boss. Preparations areplete, we are ready for theunch!" "Good man! Comrade Fatty, I hope you don¡¯t fail me this time once again!" "...Eh! Sorry, Boss!" "So you did fail me." "I will go right away, Boss!" He took his keys and ran to the door. "Bring some coffee on the way back." "Understood, Boss!" Sigh! And he goes to his task. Anyway, theplete preparations meant something very important so I headed to my PC and checked the Download Tasks. Hehehe! Here it is! Bethesda¡¯s newest release is 100%pletely downloaded! Skyrim FDVR! "Hail Boss!" "At ease Comrade Four-Eyes, we still have more work to do." Yes. The work is still far from over! ¡¯Why?¡¯ one may wonder. Pretty simple! I am not ying this game with no mods. My precious immensely immersive immersion mods. I can pretty much guess how the game will look like without them, and I don¡¯t want to see those scary original game meshes, faces, and textures in my FDVR experience. That is why I¡¯ll have to take care of that with lots and lots mods. My next task is simple! First, I¡¯ll visit the NexusMods website and download all the goodies that I don¡¯t have right now. I have pretty much all the essential and the famous mods, but since the FDVR technology has very high capabilities and uses the brain as the area of operation instead of theputer¡¯s CPU, I can operate more mods than usual without worrying about crashing the game. After all, the human brain has the capability and capacity to process the data subconsciously faster than anyputer. The second task I have to do is to clean all the dirty plugins, install the animations, and sort the mods¡¯ load order. This is a basic routine for Skyrim yers, as we can¡¯t just leave anything to crash on our heads. In other words, it¡¯s going to get busy, so I guess I¡¯ll have to take my time. I can¡¯t really recall my entire mod list, but there are some particr ones that can¡¯t be easily missed. A mod like ¡¯Skyrim HD¡¯ is a must. ¡¯Sky UI¡¯ for modding the game menus and also a mod that one can¡¯t simply y the game without it. ¡¯Immersive Armors¡¯ and ¡¯Immersive Weapons¡¯ for various weapons and armors. A body enhancer such as ¡¯CBBE¡¯ or ¡¯UNP¡¯. ¡¯Static Meshes and Improvements¡¯ for making everything more detailed. ¡¯Enhanced Lighting and FX¡¯ for interior lights and ¡¯Climates of Tamriel¡¯ of exterior lights. ¡¯Skyrim Flora Overhaul¡¯ for the sake of natural beauty. And these are just some of the mods. There are around 500 mods in my arsenal by now, mostly for the sake of realism and immersion. Other than immersion, I also seek the gamey mods My gamey mods are not thatplicated because I am a ssic yer, so my gaming style is not about using all what the game has to offer. Rather I y as a certain ss, even though I have the ability to y with every option there is. The major ¡¯sses¡¯ in Skyrim are the Warrior, the Mage, and the Thief. The ¡¯Skills¡¯ in Skyrim are a total of eighteen skills. 3 sses and 18 skills, may seem rather few for an RPG, but that isn¡¯t really the case here. The game offers a high amount of freedom in choosing whatever Skill you want, so yers can create their own sses. Simplicity itself! One can make a mix between these skills that can be called a ¡¯Build¡¯, such as the ¡¯Spellde¡¯ which allows the yer to use both magic and melee weapons. This, however, will force the yer to give up the left hand for spell casting and devote the right hand to use a melee weapon. In other words, the yer won¡¯t be able to use the blocking moves. This was just an example. Back to the skills, the skills are divided under their respective ss. -Warrior skills are: Two-hand Weapons, One-hand Weapons, Archery, Blocking, Heavy Armor, and Smithing. -Mage skills are: Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Enchanting, Illusion, and Restoration. -Thief skills are: Alchemy, Light Armor, Speech, Sneak, Pickpocket, and Lockpicking. Each skill has its ¡¯Perk Tree¡¯ that offer ¡¯Perks¡¯, a passive skill that can be unlocked with ¡¯Perk Points¡¯. One can gain a single perk point per level and the only way to level up is to use the skills. Once a skill rose to a certain point it will give the yer a ¡¯Skill Advancement¡¯ and once the yers have a certain amount of ¡¯Skill Advancements¡¯ they will ¡¯Level Up¡¯. A skill has 100 levels cap which is rather inconvenient, so therees a great mod called "Skyrim -Community- Uncapper" which removes this inconvenience. Back to the sses, mixing some skills can make what is called ¡¯Builds¡¯ as mentioned before. Other great examples are Pdins, Assassins, Warlocks, and more. Pdins use One-handed, Heavy armor and Restoration to give yers more of a holy-type experience. Assassins use Archery, Sneak, and One-handed to kill their targets from a distance, or up close and personal. Warlocks use Conjuration and Illusion tomand their armies and summon creatures to help them. Herees another inconvenience. The ¡¯Necromancers¡¯ ¡¯Summoners¡¯ are a bit weak due to the limit on summoning and raising the dead which is restricted to only one creature, and until the yers reach the Level 100 in Conjuration, they can raise and summon two creatures. It¡¯s one of the game ws, in my opinion, so using a mod like ¡¯Multiple Summons¡¯ by Kangui can easily fix that problem in a very immersive way that doesn¡¯t break the game, unlike the other multiple summoning mods. It increases the number of summons relying on the ¡¯Skill Rank¡¯. The ¡¯Mage Skills¡¯ have 5 ranks, so its max number is 6 summons. ¡¯Pure Mages¡¯ are the masters of Destruction, so adding a mod like "Apocalypse" that adds 155 spells to the game that are totally bnced, lore-friendly and immersive. "Bnced Magic" is a mod that makes magic more powerful as the skill¡¯s level goes up as well as some other features. ¡¯Thieves¡¯ can be ¡¯Assassins¡¯ and ¡¯Hunters¡¯ but some yers add Illusion magic to the mix and make some sort of ¡¯Night de¡¯ build. After recalling all that, I noticed something interesting on the Nexus home page A new mod that was released just yesterday, it¡¯s a ¡¯Quest mod¡¯ called "Origins of The Lost". And the description of the mod is very interesting. It adds a backstory to the character depending on its race, it has three backstories for the human, the elf, and the beast races. I just saw it on the front page in Nexus and really got amazed by it, there are mods that tried to do something like that in the past but this mod has quests and voice acting so it will be a top ¡¯Quest¡¯ mod for sure, I definitely have to add it and try it out. All in all, that¡¯s what Skyrim is all about. Mixing mods, perks, and skills made this game is so much fun and never gets old. I mean look at it, it¡¯s 2020 already and the game is officially 10 years old, still, it¡¯s as lively and popr as ever. Away from the Nexus there are some mods thate from ¡¯LoversLab¡¯, these are the ¡¯+18 mods¡¯ that everyone know and love, Amorous Adventures and SOS (Sch***gs of Skyrim) as well as OSA and Osex, one can guess pretty much what are these mods about, I don¡¯t have weird fetishes so no more than that. [A/N: There will be some naughty content in the future so buckle up.] (E/N: Yikes.) While looking at my mod list, or what I would rather call ¡¯Mod Arsenal¡¯, with satisfaction, the loading was pretty much at its end. All what is left is using the tools to install the animation, sort the load order and clean the dirty plugins. Looking at the window, I found that it was already sunset. I went up to answer the ¡¯call of nature¡¯. Looking at the time, it¡¯s around 6 pm and Fatty hasn¡¯t returned yet, his task was to buy us some fancy dinner. Today we are celebrating of course, so some Pizza or Kushari won¡¯t do our financial situation any harm. While thinking about that, I went the balcony to watch the setting sun and the pink to orange horizon, smelling the sea breeze from the 13th floor is a blessing no matter how you say about the neighborhood. ¡¯Alexandria¡¯ is always this nice in summer and the scenery of ¡¯Castle Qaitbay¡¯ with the sea is charming as ever. Now now! It¡¯s not the time to get sentimental! Looking back at the screen, everything is already done! Yep! Let¡¯s connect the VR device. I read the instruction from the manual, and it was surprisingly easy, there is a device that connects the headset to the PC and it has a few buttons and lights. Following the guide, I went through all the steps without any issues. Ready for it. "LINKU STARTU!" (Chapter has been edited by Josue561.) Chapter 3 The Infinite Loading Screen I sat on the in front of my PC and rxed my body, then tilted the chair backward. Now that I look at it, the FDVR headset looks like the ¡¯NerveGear¡¯ from a certain anime. I felt the smoothness of its design and the softness of the padding inside. It¡¯s really a masterpiece, even though this is amercial grade product. Whoever produced this piece of tech has my utmost respect! I put the FDVR headset on and looked at it through my phone¡¯s front camera. ¡¯Handsome as always me¡¯, I thought to myself as I took a selfie. I put the phone away, and closed my eyes, then shouted "LINKU STARTU!!!" in excitement. As expected, nothing happened! Well, the only thing that happened was ¡¯Four-eyes¡¯ who retorted at me with the word "Idiot!" from outside. So you have shown your true color Comrade Four-Eyes! Also, I am not an idiot! You are the idiot! Your whole family are idiots! Seven generations of your ancestors are idiots! Humph! How about that you necrophiliac bastard! To tell the truth, I just couldn¡¯t hold back myself as my soul is that of a true fanboy. That is to say, I don¡¯t think I am the only one that has done that though, plenty of other idiots roam the under the same heaven too. Back to the FDVR headset, there are a few precautions one must take note of mentioned in the manual. Things like; maintaining a safe body posture while being in the game, not forcefully plug off the headset from someone¡¯s head even though the device is safe and there is no harm, it might have some hangover effects. It is also noted to not use the device for more than six hours a day, and any more than that will cause the FDVR headset to forcefully log you out. How very thoughtful! This device is amazing no matter how you think about it. After following the instructions, checking, and double checking everything, I readied myself and took a deep breath thenid down on the bed next to my Desktop, stretched my legs in afortable way, turned my head in a steady position, and looked at the ceiling. Couldn¡¯t help but grin while pressing the button on the headset. I closed my eyes and the metallic voice of a countdown started. As the countdown reached zero, my mind sank into the darkness. ~~~~~~~~ What I saw in front of my eyes was a wondrous space all in ck, looking around didn¡¯t really tell me where is left or where is right. Out of nowhere, a thick white text popped into my face. ¡¯Bethesda Studios¡¯ This was scary, next time, I¡¯ll add that mod that removes that scarecrow that thepany nted here. After that, some white smoke came from surroundings drawing near and nearer blending in the space. Strangely, I am breathing, but no type of scentes to my nose. I became aware of how does it feel when someone loses their sense of smell, I thought I would smell the smoke but I smelled nothing at all. It¡¯s a very weird and ufortable sensation, having to breathe like you are not breathing, it proved many things about the real world smell to me. What an eye-opener! Also, I noticed that the rest of the senses are pretty much weaker than usual too. That was expected. Actually, I heard on the TV that it¡¯s natural, due to the difference between the amounts of information between the digital realm and the real realm. But still, having to experience this myself is quite the feat! I checked my surroundings once again and I saw a very familiar scenery of a dragon emblem made of metal that has few cracks. The dragon is the Imperial Dragon, the symbol of the Empire from the game. Beneath the dragon on right was a smaller symbol of the gamepany and on the right of the dragon appeared to be a few words materializing midair. They are as followed:- -New -Load -Credit -Quit Everything seems to be in ce! I tried to select the ¡¯New¡¯ select option, only to notice that I have no hand. The hell? So it was like this! If I remember correctly, I have to use my mentality to move the marker between choices. So let¡¯s give it a try now! Actually, it¡¯s a piece of cake, me moving around the dark space a while ago was done using my mentality too. So that¡¯s how things work. Switching between the options for practice, I choose ¡¯New¡¯ and confirm for the confirmation message. From this point, things should go smoothly, but a message box appeared, looking at the box I realized it was not something from the game. Then it got to be a mod. [Thanks for choosing our mod ¡¯Origins of the Lost¡¯. This mod will take your primary character information before you start. You can choose appearanceter in the gamey.] [-Continue-] Oh, it was that mod. I forgot to read how it works and immersed myself in the overall details, silly me! Still, for it to work like that! Impressive. There is only one choice anyway so let¡¯s be done with it. First, it asked about the ¡¯Race¡¯. Races in Skyrim are categorized into ten different races but they are basically Humans, Elves, and Beasts. The Humans are Nords, Imperials, Redguards, and Bretons. Nords are Skyrim natives, strong, proud and beautiful people. They mostly reassemble the Vikings. Imperialse from The Cyrodilic Empire, they are good in both magic andbat. They reassemble the Roman. Redguards are the natives of Hammerfell, who are natural warriors and they resemble both Arabs and Africans. Bretons are the natives of High Rock, who has elven ancestry and like elves strong in magic. They are a bit shorter than most Humans but they are the closest race to Europeans. Elves are High Elves, Dark Elves, Wood Elves, and Orcs. High Elves are from Summerset Isle, and they are naturally gifted in the arcane arts. Tall, long living and arrogant folk with a bit of golden skin and pointy ears. Wood Elves are from Valenwood, they¡¯re known for their excellent talent in marksmanship and taming animals. They are the closest to your typical elves from the movies and they are much better in manners. Dark Elves are from Morrowind east to Skyrim, they are strong battle mages. They are not as haughty as the High Elves but their nobels are a true pain in the ass. Orcs, who are counted as elves, are a cursed race of elves, they are gifted in battle and smithing, they have the same looks as Warcraft orcs, but in a human size and a bit darker skin. Argonians and Khajiit are categorized under Beast. Argonians are the Lizardmen with human figures. Khajiit are people with heads and fur of cats. Both races are good at stealth. With that knowledge in mind, I choose the ¡¯Human¡¯ section and then ¡¯Nord¡¯. They might not seem attractive to a first-time yer, but Nords are all good. They have 50% Frost resistance andbat talent bonus. Also, they are good looking, tall, and fair-haired folk. More than that, they are the natives of Skyrim. I would normally not worry about racial buffs or abilities because with a high level enchanting and gear, all of that is meaningless. After selecting the race, another box popped up asking for the gender and the name. I normally y as a male, but I had no name in mind. Maybe the name "Jon" would do for now. I use it a lot since I started watching ¡¯Game of Thrones¡¯ anyway. I used my mind to entered the name and it was magically, or mentally, formed. A piece of cake! After finishing all that and choosing ¡¯Confirm¡¯, the screen changed and all items on it disappeared then another scene from the game came up. This was the typical first time Skyrim loading screen. It was a ck Dragon with fiendish appearance, it has a spiky ck scales, two rear legs, and two spread out wings. It also posed into a roaring position and looked scary ferocious. The Dragon was standing on a half circr Word Wall and that wall was full of runes of the Dragon Language from the inside. The dragon itself looked scary and sinister, this is one of the loading screens that shows up every time the yers start their gamey. There was also some ¡¯game facts and hints¡¯ on the bottom right side of the Dragon. It¡¯s usually some lore and gamey rted stuff. First fact or tip was... "And the Scrolls have foretold, of ck wings in the cold, That when brothers wage ware unfurled! Alduin, Bane of Kings, ancient shadow unbound, With a hunger to swallow the world! -- Song of the Dragonborn" Then... "When a dragon uses a breath attack like fire or frost, it is speaking in an ancient and powerfulnguage. A battle between two dragons is actually a deadly verbal debate." Yaaaawn... "Tiber Septim brought peace to Tamriel in 2E 896, by conquering all of the known world. Thus began the Third Era." Yes, thank you... "Nord belief holds that the honored dead live forever in Sovngarde." It¡¯s taking a bit too long... Tip after tip, fact after fact, it took longer than expected. Is it Skyrim¡¯s most infamous ¡¯Infinite Loading Screen¡¯? Come on! Something is not right... It¡¯s almost an hour and the loading is not done yet. Didn¡¯t they say the headset will make the performance much better? The hell is going on? Okay, this is serious! I can¡¯t do anything in the loading screen, and there are little to no methods to sort this kind of situation. ¡¯Emergency Logout!¡¯ Nothing... ¡¯Force Quit!¡¯ Also nothing... ¡¯Task Manager!¡¯ ¡¯Restart Program!¡¯ I suddenly realized that I am not aware of the track of time anymore. This has taken too long. I am feeling some pain in my head. What the fuck is going on? Seriously, what the hell is this all about? Did I perhaps put my head in an ufortable position? I can¡¯t even seem to force myself out. I don¡¯t want to spend six hours like this! Is it because of the number of mods I added? I do admit that five hundred mods are quite the amount but I thought it was fine. After a long while, the loading screen cked and nothing appeared on it anymore. Even its music has faded away. All that is left was ckness. Just ckness! It has been loading for an hour. I am starting to feel sick of seeing the color ck. I feel dizzy. I feel like a stone in water. I feel tired and sleepy too. this is bad! Why do I feel sleepy while actually sleeping in a FDVR set? This doesn¡¯t make any sense. I can¡¯t hold on much longer. I hope the headset forcefully pull me back out. Please... (Chapter has been edited by Josue561.) Chapter 4 A Warrior, A Knight and A Thief The sound of galloping drifted between the trees, breaking the silence of night. Two moons lit the sky as the howls of wolves echoed. Normally, no one would ride in such a way, yet the riders seem to be left with little choice. They seemed to be in a hurry, but all of a sudden, they came to a halt. One of the riders, d in armor and was armed with an unusual de. He jumped from his horse, and began his search for something. Finally, he fixed his gaze on some stone formation that were put together in an unusual shape... it¡¯s clearly someone¡¯s doing. He moved the rubble to find a stone with some carving on its base. \"Lady Hilda, we found a mark, just a little bit to the east.\" the man shares his discovery to the other rider, a woman with arge hood. She moves her gaze to the man and nodded. \"Then let¡¯s hurry, Brother Fultheim. We don¡¯t have much time before sunrise.\" she spoke with a voice which is young, yet dignified and noble. The man called Fultheim nodded his head and jumped back on his horse; he wore a grim expression, yet he never showed it to thedy. After a little while, they arrived to a bigke. Searching the area, they found another stone formation. Fultheim rode to it, then turned towards Lady Hilda. He nodded to her to confirm that this is the ce they were after. Hilda rode nearer to the stone formation, and took out something from her saddle¡¯s bag... it was a money purse made of a golden fabric, then she threw it in the middle of the stone formation. Just before it hits the ground, something happened, and it started to float in midair... then it disappeared. Fultheim, who was already in high alert, griped the hilt of his sword in preparation. Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from behind, and Fultheim turned hurriedly and unsheathed his sword. But then Hilda rose her hand to signal Fultheim to stop, barley moving her blue eyes. She had anticipated this meeting, thus she was not in full alert. \"Who calls for the guild?\" a man in a ck leather outfit and a hoodes from the shadow holding no weapon. His presence however, is that of a shadow, mysterious but yet cable of anything. Hilda took off her hood revealing her appearance. Under the light of the moons, her beauty had capitated the atmosphere... her crimson hair fluttered with the wind, her eyes were deep and blue as the ocean, and the freckles dotted across her face. Her height was quite admirable, giving off the feeling of nobility and honor. \"It has been a while, Delvin.\" her voice had a Nordic ent. The man in shadow, now revealed as Delvin, widen his eyes in amazement at her refine beauty... he sighed, then he looks to the stone formation. \"Tonilia, go back first.\" Delvin issued hismand to his subordinate, a few momentster, steps can be heard heading away. Fultheim immediately turned towards Hilda in a questioning gaze, not understanding why would they converse with the scum from Thieves Guild in the first ce. \"Thieves? Lady Hilda, what is going on?\" Hilda ignored Fultheim¡¯s question and looked at Delvin. Delvin stared back, looking into the depths of her eyes... if he had to describe them, he would say that it is impossible to not drown yourself in them. And thus, he was the first to avert eye contact. After a deep sigh, he looked at her again. \"I heard the news that Hammerfell is signing a treaty with the Aldmeri Dominion a year ago... I thought you woulde right away.\" Delvin questioned with a sad expression. \"I was dyed, and it was better to take a detour through the Empire.\" Hilda replied with a soft voice. \"I thought you couldn¡¯t make it... Anyways, back to the usual. How can I serve Lady Fire-Mane?\" Although Delvin showed his concern, he knew that Hilda did note to converse, but to talk business. Thus his attitude had switched back to fit the business persona. \"We need a passage into Riften.\" her request was clear and precise, but yet Delvin turned his head side to side. \"You can¡¯t, it¡¯s crawling with Thalmor agents.\" \"But the Jarl...\" \"No matter how sympathetic the Jarl is towards Ulfric, with arge sum of gold, she can be bought. In Dagon¡¯s name, even her steward is a high elf.\" \"Can¡¯t we go through the fishery? Or there any other secret way to the Ratway?\" \"Answer¡¯s no. Only the guild members have an understanding with the guards.\" \"I¡¯ll pay whatev¡ª\" \"Listen! Whatever you offer, the Thalmor offered twice the bribes. Usually, I would help you guys out, but the Guild has been through some bad luck recently... we have been at setbacks many times. I can¡¯t afford any to damage the Guild... it¡¯s bad for business, and bad overall. I¡¯m sorry, truly.\" After Delvin gave his exnation, Hilda nodded in understanding. Still, the uneasiness in her heart made her face crumble. \"You can still smuggle back something small, right?\" she asked. The look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, the seriousness of her expressions made the cold weather of Skyrim even colder. \"...Yeah.\" Delvin replied. Hilda¡¯s expression easied down when Delvin agreed to her request. She moved her arms, pushing the ck heavy cloak covering her body. When she revealed the infant in her hands, Delvin gasped in surprise and gave a wry smile. \"So that¡¯s why you were dyed.\" Hilda got down from her horse slowly and approached Delvin. Fultheim, who had his right hand away from his de a while ago, jumped from his horse and followed after Hilda. Seeing her approach Delvin, he unconsciously held the scabbard with his left hand and narrowing his eyes, ring daggers at Delvin. \"This is my son, Jonnhild.\" Hilda spoke with resolute, nobody noticed her throat getting a bit shrugged \"Take him with you. Please.\" \"W-What?!\" Delvin and Fultheim cried in unison, as Delvin¡¯s shock betrayed his expression and became clear on his face. Fultheim, on the other hand, as he was walking to Hilda¡¯s side, misstepped and was about fall. \"What are you saying, Lady Hilda?! That¡¯s unthinkable! That¡¯s themander¡¯s and your son, and you entrust him to a thief?!\" Fultheim was at his wit¡¯s end, as he couldn¡¯t keep up anymore. Hilda on the other hand, had a stiff look on her face. \"...Why?\" Delvin was bewildered. Why would this woman ask him such a thing? He¡¯s a thief, a criminal, part of the Ratway¡¯s scum... Yet, he was being entrusted with what most people would protect the most. \"I don¡¯t have enough supplies to feed him anymore... I can¡¯t go into Riften, but you can. Riften has an orphanage, make sure he is taken care of, keep an eye on him, until Ie back for him.\" Hilda words were heavy on her heart, yet she found the courage to say them. Delvin was silent; as a professional thief, he had to make rapid decisions in situations like this one. Fultheim was grumbling in a heavy mood while looking down. Hismander¡¯s wife was handing over her son to a thief... but yet he couldn¡¯t say a word. Why? Because the moment Hilda said that she could not provide the infant anymore, he understood that it was for the best that the infant must be given to someone as capable, although he is a thief, to ensure the baby¡¯s survival. Fultheim could not protect the child, he was unable to. If they go with the child, his fate is either death from hunger or death under a Thalmor de. It was just too bitter... Fultheim hated the great war, he hated the Thalmor, he hated the Empire that betrayed them. His hatred was to the point of murder... he just wanted to kill them like he did 6 years ago in The Battle of Red Ring, where he killed a 100 elves in a single raid. While Fultheim was in his dire state of mind, Delvin¡¯s voice sounded as firm as Hilda¡¯s. \"If it¡¯s for the sake of Lord Jonnrad¡¯s son, then it¡¯s finally my time to pay the old debt. I¡¯ll never fail, even if it costs me my hide.\" He took the child from the Lady, and looked at the boy. He was a bit simr to his mother, same eye color but his hair was auburn, darker than hers. His pale skin was a Nord feature, and even in this cold, the boy was sleeping peacefully. Delvin, who was a Breton, was shivering while this child was taking it easy. ¡¯Nords...¡¯ he sighed in his mind while looking back to Hilda, who¡¯s emotions betrayed her and looked at her son with sad expressions. She turned her back suddenly, startling Delvin. When she gets to her horse, she took a huge battleaxe and a fur knapsack, then she took out a journal and handed it to Delvin. \"This is my note, give it to him when he is strong enough. I want him to be strong for the fight ahead, never teach him of his ancestry or the name ¡¯Fire-Mane¡¯, his name will be only ¡¯Jon¡¯ and make up a solid story, you understand?\" \"Yes.\" Delvin nodded. Hilda turned but then she turned her head saying, \"And you know the price of failing me?\" Delvin gulped his saliva before nodding with a meek expression. \"Let¡¯s go Brother Fultheim.\" Hilda jumped nimbly on her horse. Following her, Fultheim rode his horse and galloped behind her. Leaving Delvin alone with a child in his arms he was so bewildered at how this meeting ended. \"Stay safe mydy!\" he whispered and went back into darkness. --------------------------------------------------------- Riding on the travelers¡¯ road Hilda and Fultheim were slowing down their horses. \"So... they finally caught us.\" Hilda shows a wild grin that of a beast, \"let¡¯s see how much will you bring down this time old man.\" She said as she waved her battleaxe. \"Let¡¯s not.\" Fultheim said, he took her horse¡¯s reins and looked at her, \"Don¡¯t die today, Lady Hilda. I¡¯ll take the horses and ride opposite to Riften, you run south then few dayster head north to Windhelm.\" \"What are you saying¡ª\" Hilda wanted to refute but she was interrupted. \"Let¡¯s meet at Windhelm.\" Fultheim has already made his mind. Hilda expressions changed to that of a sad look, then she smiled and nodded to the man. Like the wind, she took her battleaxe and knapsack disappearing south into the forest. Fultheim smiled, turned the horses and his killing intent felled the air, \"Now it¡¯s you and me you filthy elves\". (Chapter has been edited by Josue561) Chapter 5 Why is it Leaking? The night in Riften carries many dangers, as ruffians and degenerates roamed the alleys. On the surface, it was a quiet and calm city... but thieves lurked in the darkness, meanwhile the guards snooze in their posts. Near to Mistveil Keep, the castle where the Jarl lives, there was a two-story wooden building,monly known as ¡¯Honorhall Orphanage¡¯. A figure emerged out of the darkness, barely seen due to thentern on the front door. Delvin was about to knock on the door, but then he stopped, hesitating for a second. This was an orphanage after all, so it was not thatmon for him toe near this ce. And also there is another problem. To register a child in the orphanage, one needs to meet with the ¡¯Headmistress¡¯. The headmistress was someone very familiar with Delvin, and she also was a Dunmer (Dark Elf) called ¡¯Nurina¡¯. Nurina was a very beautiful woman with grey skin and crimson eyes. Dunmers are not a strange sight to see in Riften, after all, their home ¡¯Morrowind¡¯ was on the eastern borders of Riften. The Red Mountain erupted in the fifth year of the Fourth Era (4E-5), leaving many Dunmers with little choice but to find refuge in Skyrim, or other parts of Tamriel. [A/N: 4E stands for ¡¯4th Era¡¯, 5 is year 5] Delvin knocked on the door, expecting to see the beautiful dark elf greeting him. Footsteps could be heard from the other side and the wooden door opened slowly. Delvin, who gave his back to the door turned around with a friendly face, only to have his expressions turn sour. ¡¯...Right, I forgot about this old hag.¡¯ The one who opened the door was Nurina¡¯s assistant, Grelod, an unfriendly woman who res at everything and everyone; even the stones on the road¡¯s side has their share of her res. Her nickname, ¡¯Grelod the Kind¡¯, is quite ironic, since she treats the children with severe discipline, and punishments if they disobey her orders. "Who in Oblivion is dropping off another brat at this hour? I¡ª M-Malory?" although surprised by the unusual visit, Grelod was looking at the figure in front of her with scorn and more hostility than her usual res. "Where is the headmistress?" Delvin asked with difort. He rather not let hery a finger on the infant he was carrying. "What is your business with the headmistress?" Grelod insisted to ask. It was a surprise that Grelod had not attempted to call the guards, unlike any other sane person would do if they encountered a professional thief. Perhaps, she thought her nasty attitude and that re of hers would suffice in dealing with thugs like Delvin. Unfortunately for her, Delvin is one of the Guild Masters for a reason. Even though he is a thief, he had the aura of a killer. His eyes turned cold, and he moved his left hand to his back. A secondter Grelod could hear a dagger being unsheathed. "I don¡¯t have time to deal with a hagraven right now. Stand aside, and let me speak with the Headmistress. Or else, I might have to start an extermination." intimidation is one of the most powerful instruments that thief can have on his or her arsenal. With a rough, fearless tone and enough willpower, even merchants would yield to it. She hurriedly took a step back, sucking her teeth in utter defeat; of course, she could have called the guards, and then Delvin had to make a run for it, but it would ruin her reputation. Although his intimidation wasn¡¯tpletely effective, it had done its job. She would rather let him do whatever he pleased, as long it doesn¡¯t affect her or the children, strangely enough, then to be aughing stock for the rest of her days. She nodded, and closed the door. A minuteter the door was opened again, this time, another woman appeared. She was so beautiful that she could steal the moonlight with her radiance. She had pointy long ears and dark violet lips. Her nose was thin and very fitting for her face. Her body was slim, and the size of her breasts and the curves of her waist were impressive. What stood out the most, however, was her crimson beautiful eyes and her arched brows. Delvin barely held himself from changing his expressions... she was a woman that could ruin a nation. "No wonder Grelod is a feisty old bitch. Many children would rather have this fine beauty take care of them, rather than a hag." he mentally noted. The woman looked at Delvin with a friendly smile. "What brings you in this hour, Mister Malory?" "A favor... I came for a favor. Not for the guild, but for me." "Fufu, I knew you woulde to ask for another favor one day, Delvin." her prowess, her fine beauty, and her gentle confidence were indeed dangerous. Although she was just teasing, her seduction can even make a Guild Master sweat. The woman stepped outside the entrance and closed the door behind her. "...What is it?" she asked. Delvin looked to space beside the orphanage and nodded, a secondter a girl walked out, and she was carrying a baby that was sleeping peacefully. Due to the thieves nature of sneaking and walking in the shadow, the kid was never awoken. As the girl was walking nearer and nearer towards Delvin and Nurina, she stopped and removed her hood with her left hand, while keeping the boy with her right. "Headmistress." she greeted. "So it was you, Tonilia". The girl had brown skin and ck hair with grey eyes; these were some features that pointed to ¡¯Redguards¡¯, natives of Hammerfell. From the atmosphere between the dunmer and the Redguard females, it seemed that there was a history between them. Tonilia stepped forward and handed the baby in her arms to Delvin, and from him, he offered the child to Nurina. She looked between the kid and Delvin, then she takes the kid in her arms. "Too beautiful to be yours." These were the first words toe out of her mouth, and Delvin¡¯s face immediately stiffed. Tonilia was barely holding herughter, resulting in a ¡¯pfft¡¯ sound. "He is the child of someone I owe my life to, and I can¡¯t entrust him to just anyone." Delvin says in firmness. "So he is not just another child you will charm with words of wisdom and drag him to the Ratway to be yourckey? " Nurina¡¯s words seem to have hit the nail on its head. Delvin quieted down and was having conflicted feelings about how to reply to such urate words. He decided to only shake his head denying her usation. "His mother is someone that resembles you so much... she was alive thest time I saw her, but she was being chased." Nurina looked to the child and her face turned serious. "In what way does she resemble me?" "I cannot share much detail on that... but both you are monsters, I¡¯m sure you¡¯d get along quite nicely." "Then, this little one have to grow healthy, and be a strong man." Nurina raised her brows and looked at the child and with a smile. The child with red hair reacted by yawning in his sleep and leaning his head on her bosom. She couldn¡¯t help but smile vividly. "What is the boy¡¯s name and does he have any belongings?" "I would appreciate it if you register him in an earlier date than today." Delvin rmended. "Why?" Nurina tilted her head, not understanding why would Delvin request that. "We don¡¯t want any unwanted attention around him, especially from the cities¡¯test visitors." Delvin exined. "Thalmor?" Nurina opened her eyes wide in a shock, she unconsciously hugged the child tightly. "H-He¡¯s less than a year old! They wouldn¡¯t inflict harm towards an innocent child... would they?" "These bastards don¡¯t care for such things. If they ever find out his heritage, they will most likely put his soul on a ck Soul Gem, just for sport." Delvin spoke with hatred. Then he continued "I¡¯ll keep my eye on the kid from the shadows, his only belonging is a journal left by his mother... I will be safe keeping it until he is old enough." Nurina nodded silently. "And watch out for him from that ¡¯hagraven¡¯ Grelod." Delvin warned her. Thest thing he¡¯ll ever want for the boy is to have a miserable childhood. [A/N: Hagravens are a horrific cross between an old crone and a bird, they fire AoE magic and can be found in the ¡¯Reach¡¯ west of Skyrim] "Go away already, before any guardse by and get suspicious. I know what to do." Nurina began to be cautious, and shoo away Delvin from the orphanage. Delvin gave a wry smile before heading into the darkness. "Kid¡¯s name is Jon." He whispered, then disappeared into the night. Nurina turned around and closed the orphanage¡¯s door with the child. ..... [A/N: 1st person POV once again, MC is back] Was that light just now? I am out of the damn headset!!!! Finally, phew, I already have VR phobia, I really thought I will never make it. Damn, the light is too bright! Did Fatty and Four-eyes drag me out of my bed? Don¡¯t tell me I will wake up in a hospital after two years of nk memories! No! No! Definitely not! Calm down me, yes keep calm. Now let¡¯s see where this light ising from. Oh!? What is that? This hospital has a weird taste of decoration? I mean, a wooden ceiling is too weird in this part of the world, right? Maybe it¡¯s some weird ce where they treat people for less money... I knew it! These guys really did it this time! Man, wait until I, your daddy,es home and teach you a lesson! Now, to the matter at hand, where is this annoying lighting from? I look around to my left and open my eyes widely... is that?!!! A firece? In Egypt, these things don¡¯t even exist. "Waah! Waah!" Wait, what the hell? I am pretty sure I was saying "Is anyone here?" Wait a second... this furniture looks so damn familiar. I-I can¡¯t believe it... I¡¯m in game?!! Didn¡¯t I get out? But look at the ce, I downloaded too many realism and immersion mods till I mistook it with reality? UN-F**KIN-BELIEVABLE! This is the best thing I¡¯ve ever seen, WOWSERS! Can I take a screenshot? Doesn¡¯t seem I can... Not important! Anyway, why am I not moving? As I am trying to get up, I discover something strange! Oh, so that¡¯s how it is. I am a baby... A BABY???!!! Babies? In Skyrim? This ¡¯Origin of the something¡¯ mod is getting better and better... Skyrim modding at its bestdies and gentlemen. So, I guess I am a lost child and I grow up in somece. Then the main story starts when I get older........ PERFECT!!! This is exactly how I imagined it to be. Anyway will I wait for anyone now or should I save the game? Let¡¯s just... OH MY GOD! A GIANT! "WAAHH! WAAAAAH!" Nope, that¡¯s not what I wanted to say! I only said "OMG! A giant!". Stop embarrassing me! "So you finally woke up!" a womanly voice sounded from that giant... Oi, why do I feel so ufortable? Am I being carried up? Wait... this is no giant.... If it was a Giant, then it wouldn¡¯t be this attractive... By the gods, it¡¯s a beaut- beauti- beautiful Dunmer??!!! ¡¯DAAAIAIAIAMN¡¯ "WAAAWWA" (E/N: It was confusing to have them side by side.) Stop it! Seriously! Why am I making these damn noises? "Ehehe... you look so lively!" The Dunmer¡¯s voice-acting is so top-notch, who did such a fine job? And who could make such a fine looking NPC? Not even ¡¯Ethereal Elven¡¯ mod can make the elves that good? Was it Elianora¡¯s doing? Gotta be hers. ¡¯Have to take a screenshot dammit¡¯ "Wah WAAAAH." Let¡¯s ignore that voice... I can¡¯t find a way to screenshot at all, not even the mental control can do it? Then let¡¯s save the game... by the way, where is the HUD? Escape, not working? Save, not that either? Okay, let¡¯s.... Wait a minute! waitaminutewaitaminutewaitaminutewaitaminute... what is that feeling... Ah crap! I need to go to the bathroom. But why is it that I¡¯m about to cry?!! ¡¯Ehem, is there a toilet around here?¡¯ "Ewaa waaah waah?" Not good, it¡¯s leaking, why is it leaking? This is Skyrim, right? There are no toilets in this game, right? There are no babies in this game, right? This is not reality, right? ....Right? No, don¡¯t take my clothes off. Please! D-Don¡¯t look at it, if you do, it will destroy my dignity! ¡¯NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡¯ "WAAAAAAAH!" (Chapter has been edited by Josue561) Chapter 6 The REASON? I really waited for six hours to pass so the headset would force me out, but it wasn¡¯t just six hours. It was six years. Six years after arriving in this world, many things are different from the Game I used to know. More people, more space. The world is bigger, much much bigger than what it was in the game. I am to the tip of my nose in foreign waters. I may know some locations in Skyrim, some events that will happen in the future, I know many secrets and treasures whereabouts. But the people around me are not some NPCs, they are real people. Humans, Elves and Beast-folk really co-exist in this world. I questioned the reality of this world so many times but I can¡¯t seem to be in a dream or hallucination, it led me to even question the world I was in before but that won¡¯t make anything understandable too. This world is not some fabrication or a dream. What kind of a dream can be so vivid and warm? What kind of world can give this amount of data unless it is a real world? I see it everywhere, in people as they are not fixed to certain moves and routine like it is in the game. I see it in nature as there are so many things I haven¡¯t seen in the game. I see it anywhere and everywhere, many people thought of me as a troubled or dark child because of my out of age behavior, so I started to get along with the other kids in the orphanage. ¡¯Honorhall Orphanage¡¯ known nationwide in Skyrim as thergest orphanage, it was considered the only orphanage in the game but there seems to be one in the city of ¡¯Markarth¡¯ and another in the capital, ¡¯Solitude¡¯. I am d I was in Riften though, I got to meet with Nurina. Even though I miss my family in my past life I feel that Nurina is a family to me. She clearly favors me over the other kids, I know that, they know that but she always says that she raised me since I was less than a year old so she treats me as a rtive, I owe her more than what I can possibly pay back in a lifetime. She was one of the people that never appeared in the game, I am not sure if mods are taking effect in this world or not, but me being here was due to the mod called ¡¯Origins of the Lost¡¯. I requested to learn how to read and write from her at the age of 4, she never would have thought I already know how to do though. Actually this is just English so I am not in strange waters, even though it¡¯s not my firstnguage. About my firstnguage, I kept writing notes with it and mummer it to myself, just to not forget who I am or what I once was, I wrote these notes in secret and they were about all what I could remember about the mods, lore, secrets and event¡¯s that will happen in the future, I had to keep the knowledge that I am sure it will be of good use in the future. Grelod once found some of my notes in my nativenguage and used me of doing ¡¯Daedric¡¯ rituals. [A/N: Daedric refers to Daedra which are a group of gods that are evil and do mess with the world with more freedom than actual gods] This f*cking old crone doesn¡¯t leave me at peace. She hates Nurina and me, and also considers both of us her archenemies. Of course she does and why not? The only one who can stop her from beating the kids is Nurina and I alwayssh out at her, Nurina always tells me to respect thy elders but I am sure she excluded Grelod from the start. In the game Grelod always mistreats the children and abuses them, in that game Nurina doesn¡¯t exist, I don¡¯t want to believe anything bad will happen, but I won¡¯t let anything happen to Nurina even if it costs me my life, I swear on it. Aside from Nurina and my gang, there another person who visits me from time to time, he is Delvin, and not just any Delvin, it is Delvin Malory. THE Delvin Malory from the Thieves Guild, this man is a master at the sneaking skill, just what is his rtionship with me? He¡¯s a Breton so he can¡¯t be my rtive thank god, I love to be a Nord in this country of Nords, because of a very disturbing reason. ¡¯Nords are racist¡¯ and there are only two racist races in This world that I know of and they are Nords and Altmer (The High Elves), which means no more bullying. Now introducing my gang, they are Yosolda, Svidi and Wulfur. Yosolda as everyone who yed the game knows, is the chick that roams the market in the city of ¡¯Whiterun¡¯, she lost her parents and came to Riften and she has a strong desire for making money and being a merchant, Svidi and Wulfur were a sister and brother, Svidi is a quiet girl but was good singer, and Wulfur is an honest and kind guy. We usually y whenever it¡¯s possible and they treat me good so we are on good terms. Spending the days in this peaceful manner is not good for me, Yosolda is already learning how to count money and how to speak to people, Svidi practice most of the time to be a bard and go to the bards¡¯ college while Wulfur apanies me to read and learn from Nurina, he also helps Yosolda in her weird ideas of buying and selling worthless stuff. These guys are already six years old and they are so dependable and hard workers, if I was like that in my past life then I would have be something much more than just awyer. It¡¯s decided, then I will do not just my best but my bestest, this world can kill anyone easily so best is to prepare and meet the world ready go. My first choice in a fantasy world with sword and magic is to learn the damn magic and the skills of the game, but there is a big problem I faced long ago. I can¡¯t ess the skill menu or the magic menu. Of course this is reality there is no such thing as system or a handout but I never asked, right? I go to Nurina¡¯s room and knock on her door, she answers and says e in." I go inside right away. One of Nurina¡¯s habits is that when she sees me she always smiles, she heals everything with that smile, even though her smile would give me a trauma when I first came to this world but let¡¯s forget about that. I sit on a wooden chair opposite to her, she puts away a book she was reading and looks at me silently. "Nurina, I want to learn magic." I just got right into business, Nurina¡¯s brows rose up, then she closed her eyes and smiled, "finally." she said while widening her smile, and then she opened her eyes and leaned her body on her arms while resting her forearms on her knees like some sort of gangster. "Brat, you always read about magic but you never asked about spell tomes, what took you so long?" she said while being amused with the situation, so she was waiting for it huh? "My friends are working hard for what they want to achieve, I don¡¯t want tog behind." I replied nonchntly. "You don¡¯t have any dreams or goals?" Nurina asked again. Dammit it¡¯s that question, the same one I failed to answer in my past life so many times. I have to answer carefully this time, "I don¡¯t want to be a bard or merchant, I wanted to be an alchemist but you said materials need a lot of money, I wanted to be a smith but I feel learning magic now is more important than anything else." I gave my best answer. Nurina nodded while raising her brows again, "Anything else?" she asks. Damn, I put all the good answers in one go, let¡¯s y a six year old for now, "I- I also want to protect Nurina.", not a bad answer even if I say so myself. "Cut the crap." Nurina answer was as urate as ever, I feel so sad for myself, why can¡¯t my innocent child act work on her. "Fine, I will teach you magic, but only Restoration magic." Nurina deres as she takes out two yellow books with a drawing of a light spirit on top of it. "These are ¡¯Healing¡¯ a self-healing magic and ¡¯Healing Hands¡¯ a magic that heals other people." I receive the books with high spirits. "Can¡¯t I learn some Alteration magic?" I asked with a poker face. "And what do you want it for?" Nurina asked with puzzlement. "To mess with Grelod of course." I answered with a sly smile. Nurina smiled back slyly too, mainly she was the one who I learned fox-mode from so we always had this kind of conversations. She went back to her desk and took out two brown colored books with a tree drawn on them. I could read ¡¯rm¡¯ and ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ on them. WAIT a second here!! These are mod spells. The two of them are from mods, ¡¯rm¡¯ is from ¡¯Apocalypse¡¯ mod, it is a magic that alerts you when an enemy crosses the a certain perimeter, and ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ is a magic that adds ayer of protection for a certain time but it¡¯s altered by a mod called ¡¯Bnced Magic¡¯ from its vani version which is called ¡¯Stoneflesh¡¯ that changes the character appearance in that of a stoneman, ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ only adds a transparentyer of protection. This is serious! This means mods most certainly are affecting this world, this maybe not bad, but that is strange. Thinking about it there are only four conclusions I came up with. The first is this world already existed but when I came to this world mods made changes. The second is the world was formed after my death in the VR headset. The third is that this world is an illusion. The fourth is this world already existed but some conditions were met with my mod list that made my reincarnation in this world possible. The first is scary, the second is absurd, the third is not good at all, but the forth is the most possible conclusion I cane up with. So to summarize what happened to me; it is that I overloaded my mod list with realism mods that was not over the quota of the mod amount, but the amount of information itself had caused my brain to get overloaded and fall apart which resulted to my death, this information possibly made some kind of effect on me, or rather on something not visible like my essence, due to that effect some conditions must have been met like for example; the data in the game matched the information in the world and something like {my soul took over or reced Jon¡¯s soul} like when you move a file in a folder and the folder has a file with the same name already there, so the new file has to rece the existing file. This is too absurd, this can¡¯t be real. I am saying that the indecent in the VR headset had changed the information of me renaming me to Jon and for some reason the information vessel (let¡¯s call it soul) moved from Earth to Nirn and reced the person that I have matching information with, what exins that even more is that Jon was already born but I don¡¯t have any memories of that time he lived in this body. INCREDIBLE!!! Only one mystery remains. What is the reason that led my soul from Earth to Nirn? Chapter 7 Learning Magic That was too much for my brain to process. Even Nurina and my friends saw my expressions changing between questioning to frowning to amazement all day and they gave me space. This is was really an incredible theory if it was right. Fear took me for a moment but what would I do with fear? I need strength to ovee the hurdles, gain more information and make a stable foothold in this world. I go back to my bed and open my chest where the books, tomes and notes of mine are organized, I took my quill and inkwell as well as a red journal, this journal contains secrets that can make the Empire, Skyrim and the Thalmor turn upside down. For starters let¡¯s read what we know. [4E-186 2nd of Midyear (June). I start this journal as a reminder to collect every essential piece of information I can collect. First, this world called ¡¯Nirn¡¯ has two major continents that have all the action, Tamriel in the west and Akavir in the east. Some parts of Tamriel resemble Earth¡¯s Europe and Africa and other parts are just as alien as it can get. Akavir from what I could remember it resembles Asia and it¡¯s the home of some Beast-folk that are hostile to both Humans and Elves. Tamriel, where I live has nine nations. Skyrim up in the north, home of Nords. Morrowind in the north east, the home of Dunmer (Dark Elves). High Rock in the North West home to Bretons. Hammerfell in the east home of Redguards. The Empire of Cyrodiil home to Imperials in the middle, south and east of Tamriel, ck March home to Argonian (Lizard-folk) in the south-east. Valenwood home to Bosmer (Wood Elves) and Elsweyr home to Khajiit (Cat-folk) are two neighbor countries in south. And in the south-west lies Summerset Isle the home of the Altmer (High Elves) and the stronghold of the Aldmeri Dominion. Last is the Orcs known as the (Orsimer), they are of Elven Blood but sometimes rumored to be Beast-folk, no one really likes them for any particr reason what so ever, their home is the City of Orsinium located in High Rock and they have many viges around the world. Skyrim, where I live, is a kingdom with 9 holds(province), each hold has a major city and few viges, The Rift in the south-east has Riften City, Falkreath Hold in the south has Falkreath City, The Reach in the west has Markarth City, Haafingar Hold in the north-west has Solitude City the Capital of Skyrim and where The High King lives, Winterhold, The Pale and Hjaalmarch Hold are three holds that are located in the North, their cities are Winterhold, Dawnstar and Morthal in order. In the east lies Eastmarch Hold and its city is Windhelm andstly Whiterun Hold in the middle of Skyrim with Whiterun City. And now to the important information. As Nurina doesn¡¯t allow us away from the orphanage too far, I could gather important information. First, forget about how Riften looked in game, it was just a small city with a few houses that anyone can count. But this, this is way too different, the city in the game is only the core area in this world. Riften has many inns and lots of houses, Mistveil keep is so damnrger than the game and everything else is just that way. Even the orphanage which was a single story building in-game is front of me a double story building with lots of rooms and wings, each wing has a supervisor and there are 5 wings, I live the headmistress¡¯s wing. When I first went out to the market square I saw lots of people that I never recognized and the square has much more stalls than the game. This is a real world for sure. I went out once with Nurina and saw the lower part of Riften it was scary and had many Ruffians and lowlifes, too bad the master alchemist open his store in such a ce which we headed too. Neers may wonder why a city has a lower part, it was because half of the city was built on a Lake Henrich, this city was a ¡¯Two-Story City¡¯. ------------------------------------ 4E-186, 20th of Sun¡¯s Height (July) The weather in Skyrim changes from cold to freezing to cold to warm, I am a Nord so I don¡¯tin, but the four seasons are reflected in the world awesomely, when it¡¯s autumn no tree has leaves, and rain bes so annoying, when it¡¯s winter you a*s will catch frostbite if you stay an hour away from a heat source, when it¡¯s spring you can call that a cold spring but it¡¯s not that bad, and finally everyone¡¯s favorite is summer, everyone and their mothers just go swim in ake and rx. This morning the whole orphanage apanied with some guards and the Jarl¡¯s people to Lake Henrich and we yed the whole day celebrating the day of ¡¯Sun¡¯s Rest¡¯, I even saw the ck-Briar trio with their mother Maven. She always res like someone I know. Dear me! This is Maven ck-Briar the strongest woman in Skyrim and also the richest if I am not mistaken, she owns the ck-Briar Meadery and she is in cahoots with every evil faction in Skyrim from The Thieves Guild to The Dark Brotherhood of assassins and also the goddamned Thalmor. During the day I saw Sibbi ck-Briar Maven¡¯s oldest son ring at me. What¡¯s with him? Is there any discrimination towards redheads in this world too? I knew it, I thought would happen someday, I mean I am the most handsome kid in the orphanage, or maybe Riften a whole.] I close the journal and put it back, thank goodness it was written in an aliennguage. If anyone saw this I will die of shame, even though it recorded many memories that make me can¡¯t help but smile. Basically, all of my notes are all like this, I mean who can read them other than me? Yet for some reason Nurina saw them once and looked at them full of interest, I managed to trick her that thisnguage is a secret code of mine that I made to prevent others from reading it, kids in my age do that sort of weird stuff, right? Actually, kids my age can¡¯t read at all, let alone studying tomes the way I do. Spell Tomes or what referred to between mages as ¡¯tomes¡¯ are books that hold the techniques of manipting ¡¯Magic¡¯, currently I am learning the spells that Nurina gave me. Magic is all about ¡¯Maniption¡¯ and ¡¯Result¡¯ Maniption is how to use magic. The way humanoids use magic is different than dragons for example. The result is rted to the ¡¯Effect¡¯ and the ¡¯Target¡¯. The Effects are Absorb, Damage, Drain, Detect, Dispel, Cure, Weaken, Control, Alter, Reflect, Resist, Conjure, Command, Fortify, Restore and Bend. These words are what the spells ry on, and they also something like the key word in every spell in the game. The Target is moreplicated but it¡¯s divided into Attribute, Energy, Skill or a special target like an undead or a dragon in the case of the specialized spells. [A/N: Attribute is the max number of a certain state, for example; {HP: 88/100} 100 is the attribute. Energy refers to Health, Stamina and Mana. Skill refers to one of the 18 skills in Skyrim that has its own levels. Learning a spell in real life is so much time consuming and different from the game, in the game you buy the book and press ¡¯learn¡¯ the with a *puff* you learn the spell and the book disappears. In real life, it takes more time and books don¡¯t disappear, but mages are really selfish so they don¡¯t share their tomes with anyone, it also means that to get high level spells one need to do more than just paying money. Unlike the game, these books are very priceless, and due to that some spells and arts disappeared in time. Magic is divided into 6 major schools and they are; Conjuring, Illusion, Destruction, Alteration, Restoration, and Mysticism. [A/N: an exnation of the schools:- Alteration: Bound by thews of nature, it changes the world around the caster so normal physical truths no longer hold. Effect: Control and Alter Physical Conditions and Constitutions. Mysticism: Is involving the maniption of magical forces and boundaries to bypass the limitations of the physical world. Effects: Absorb-Detect-Dispel-Reflect-Block-Resist Magicka - Spatial mark and recall (Teleportation) Destruction: It is concerned with dealing damage to all forms of matter, both living and non-living, and with making matter more vulnerable to such damage. Effect: Absorb-Drain-Damage Energy / Drain Attribute-Skill / Weakness Element-Energy-Physical Restoration: Spells that heal, restore, and fortify the body¡¯s attributes and abilities, cure disease, and protect from or damage other malign (negative energy) influences. Effect: Absorb-Restore Attribute-Energy-Skill / Fortify Attribute-Skill / Resist-Cure Disease-Poison / Damage Undead Illusion: Not bound by thews of nature it changes the world around the caster so normal physical truths no longer hold. Effect: Bend Wills-Visibility-Sounds Conjuration: The art of summoning creatures or items from another ne. Effect: Summon and Banish / Command Daedra and Undead / Soul Command] Spells are divided from Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert to Master. With the mod ¡¯Bnced Magic¡¯ increasing the power of the spells with the yer¡¯s level was possible and it seems possible in the real world too. As long as reality is this kind it only the matter between me, my mental capacity and how much time I have to learn the spells. Chapter 8 Jon Dare Several days have passed, I was recording the new discoveries regarding my magic theory, and it was interesting to research such stuff. It was said that battle mages to research mages ratio was 3:7 and I can see why. I could think of many ways to make some spells possible, but don¡¯t get me wrong creating a spell is a hard job that needs more than just understanding a theory, it needs the techniques of maniption to be made with carefulness because magic energy can backfire and injure the user. My current problem isck of experience in techniques, they are the way youmand your magic to manifest like casting by putting magic directly into shape or shouting like dragons to force magic into some sort of form. While making the magic form you need to understand which form goes with which effect and how you fix that on a target to create a result. As making my own theories I improve rabidly day by day. One thing that is annoying me is that my Magicka regeneration is slow. This can be helped by a potion or an enchanted artifact, both cost money but an artifact willst longer. To make an artifact one needs a soul gem. Soul gems are graded from Petty, Lesser, Common, Greater, Grand and ck. One needs to perform a soul trap on something they kill to trap a soul into the nearest soul gem, the game was a little bugged in that regard so I used a mod like ¡¯Smart Souls¡¯ and ¡¯Mysticism The Lost Art¡¯. I also added a mod called ¡¯Transmute And Fuse Soul Gems¡¯ which allows one to Transmute two empty soul gems from a certain grade into an empty one from the next level. Fusion is about filled soul gems but it takes three to make one higher. These are all very handy spells to serve the art of ¡¯Enchanting¡¯ which I consider the most important craft. The crafts in the game are Enchanting, Alchemy and cksmithing. With a mod called ¡¯Honed Metal¡¯ one could ask any cksmith to make them a piece of armor and upgrade it, that¡¯s of course a real option in any world, it also works with enchanting but that¡¯s a different story in my opinion. I don¡¯t really like to waste time on cksmithing but it¡¯s a different story with Enchanting and Alchemy. Enchanting your own gear is the one way to make a good ¡¯Build¡¯ in game and you can bypass the normal enchanters by adding two ¡¯Effects¡¯ on one piece of gear, enchanting needs souls gems to put a soul in an item to work as its magic carrier. Enchanting weapons is different from enchanting an item you wear, the game didn¡¯t exin this but for weapons souls act as a fuel once you used all the power endowed within the enchanted weapon it will just run out, so you need another soul gem to recharge the weapon once again. Enchanted wearables, on the other hand, doesn¡¯t need to use the soul power in them to show effect, once they get equipped the soul in the item will fuse itself with the soul of the user to add the effect. And unlike in games there is more freedom in enchanting depending on the items quality, also in game one needed to learn an enchantment by destroying an already enchanted item, too wasteful yet in reality it¡¯s much betterpared, all you need to do is to study the ¡¯Effect¡¯ and copy it on another item for practice. Alchemy is the most rewarding craft in game, you can use a mod like "Harvest Overhaul¡¯ too increase the harvest rate because the game¡¯s original rate was very low unrealisticly, after having the ingredients you need to mix the them with others of a matching effects to make a greater effect. It may seem like the game but it¡¯s totally different, there are more tools to be used. You need to mix ingredients into a pot and heat them in either water or alcohol, some ingredients need to be mashed using mortar and pistil. And with a mod called ¡¯Complete Alchemy and Cooking Overhaul¡¯ many potions and items like bombs could be created, Magical alchemy at its bestdies and gentlemen. Today was the day when Nurina give me a lesson in Enchanting. Enchanting is a bit of a luxury but it¡¯s an essential part of mages¡¯ lives. You simply can make a piece of gear that allows your Magicka to regenerate faster or increase a certain attribute like Health. These are the most direct andmon enchantment, they are also the most efficient. With a mod called ¡¯Wintermyst¡¯ more enchantment could be added to the game and they are in this world too, these are pretty useful enchantments in my opinion. To enchant, one needs an enchanting table or one could simply make one, it isn¡¯t hard but it needed materials. A troll skull, few candles, an amethyst and a bone meal (powder). What happens next is to draw a star-shaped magic circle with the bone meal, put a candle on the five star edges and ce the amethyst in the troll skull, trolls has three eyes and their third eye is in the forehead and that¡¯s where we ce the amethyst, ce the skull between two star edges on the circle and you are pretty much done. After all of that is done, the circle will attach the soul to the item ced on it by sucking in from the soul gem, during the process one must activate his magic to endow a certain effect on the soul. While the process of ¡¯Soul Attaching¡¯ is happening, the item turns into an item with a soul that has a certain effect called and ¡¯Enchanted Item¡¯ or ¡¯Magical Item¡¯. Best Enchanters can add another effect making the soul inside the item has two effects, but that¡¯s a master level technique. After the lesson was over Nurina gave me few worthless items to enchant and it turned out that I am talented in handling magic, it was thanks to my theory in Mysticism that made my magic control so as Nurina¡¯s into a top-notch control. ......................... Days passed peacefully and we weed a new member to the gang, Akara the super cute Khajiiti girl. We took her around with us in our runs around the city, she turned out to be very talented in haggling. Ysolda fell in love with Akara after that and invited her to be a trading partner in the future, I really like where this is going, Ysolda in the future will return back to Whiterun which means Akara might be there, let¡¯s charm Akara about Whiterun, saying it is a safe city and also a trading hub will make that girl listen. Today the five of us nned on making some money by selling sweet treats. Last time Ysolda failed to sell and she was in a gloomy mood. This time I suggested making a big move. "Why don¡¯t we make a performance while selling our stuff? It will be legit and the neither the guards nor the traders will make a fuss about it." I made my ultimate suggestion. "What kind of performance?" Wulfur was a bit timed so he asked cautiously. I looked at Svidi and asked, "Remember the songs I thought you, teach it to Wulfur and Akara, then I and Ysolda will handle the rest." Everyone looked at Svidi, I thought her few songs from my past life that was sung be vocal bands, it was not much different to the way bards sing in Skyrim. One of my favorite is ¡¯Loituma - Ievan Polkka¡¯ the original Finnish song, not the Japanese rip-off. I taught her many other songs I remembered. Svidi was to sing, Wulfur was to y on the flute and Akara could do the drum so it was pretty much well nned. On the other hand, Yoslda would sell the sweet treats to the crowd and I would collect the money for the performance. We picked a good spot in the market square and made the n into practice. The song was rewrote by me so it was a ording to the lore of the world and it told a story about a certain warrior who fought a great monster with his axe and saved his maiden fair trapped on top of the tower that the bear nested in. In this part of the world this story fitted greatly, and the Nords would greatly love it and so it was. We gathered money like bees on honey, the hat I used to gather coin in was filled to its prim with copper and some generous paid silver. That was a huge hit. The treats sold quickly too, Ysolda was at her wits end, Haha witness the power of the 21st century. After the day was over we had two out of breath siblings and a due cheerful coin diggers, and there was me the mastermind of the day. After the performance few bards approached Svidi and invited her to the college and gave her rmendations, Wulfur was invited too, but to no surprise, no one wanted anything to do with other races like Akara the Khajiit. It wasn¡¯t unexpected but it was good to make sure that these two siblings have gotten a ticket out of Riften, that means Wulfur will get to live and Svidi won¡¯t get chased out like what happened in the game. This time my sess was at changing and affecting the game lore for the first time, one Thing I was sure of I must not interfere with the big events until 4E-201, the time when the main game events will start. Handing the big coin purse to Ysolda, she looked at it as if she had he very own child, she held it in two hands and was about to make a speech. But an unexpected turn of events happened. A taller figure with a covered face ran behind Ysolda and snatched the purse from her. Ysolda cried out and directed a re at the figure and shouted "THIEF!" I had the blood rush in my head and chased after the thief, Akara was the second to follow, the rest wasn¡¯t as fast as a thief in training and a Khajiiti girl so theygged behind. The thief gave his all while running, he seemed knowledge about the city and kept avoiding obstacles and kept on pulling stuff to block the road behind him. Akara had no problem whatsoever in moving past these obstacles, but I as a human would have trouble or that how it should have happened, I have made my own version of ¡¯Parkour¡¯ while training with Vex and the others from the Thief Guild a bit of a time ago and it showed its full might in this situation. Many people started to notice and I could even feel some presences following from the sides, I could see Brynjolf and Delvin with a figure d in a big cloak and a hood behind them, I think I saw these three in the performance. I could feel some gazes form the Meadery¡¯s window, it was Maven and a girl beside her that looked simr, Even Nurina saw me and Akara running while she was shopping and started following. I and Akara were so nimble that we started having fun and beganpeting who would catch the thief first. The thief felt us getting closer and then made a turn after the general goods store, there was adder that reached the roof, I made a jump and was about to catch the thief¡¯s foot but he moved faster, I had no choice but to climb after him. Reaching the roof four masked figures waited for the thief and he handed the money purse to the one with expensive looking clothes, I could see that as I have already reached and met eye to eye with these punch. "Hand it over." Akara roared at them. The person with the purse was amused at her anger, he clearly had a n in mind as his he winked to his cronies, the started to move and surrounded me and Akara. I and Akara stood back to back, "I smell mead from them." Akara said in a soft voice. They were not much older than us, they were around 15 and we were outnumbered at that. "They are the boys from the Meadery." I replied as I noticed their identities, the person with the purse in his hands was clearly Sibbi ck-Briar. So he started to pick on me finally. I have foreseen that since a while ago, he always gave me bad res, people would most certainly cower if a ck-Briar red at them but I kind of like to take a challenge head-on. I make a move as I pick a dagger from my boots, it was amon way to hide a dagger, but not for a ten years old of course. Akara brandished her ws, Khajiiti ws are on pars with a good early weapon in the game. The Meadery boys halt but Sibbi seemed dissatisfied, He said: "They are just two brats." Well he is right, we are no match for them, so how about that, I lunched the novice lightening spell ¡¯Sparks¡¯ front of Sibbi¡¯s feet. [A/N: Sparks is a channeling spell which you keep firing like a lightening thrower, it¡¯s the weakest lightening spell] "F*ck." Sibbi cursed as he jumped back with terror in his eyes, magic is magic after all. The Meadery boy retreat immediately, Sibbi shouted trying to hide his terror "F*cker, how dare you?" Akara stiffened as she heard his words, of course she knew that my magic words have been said. I can¡¯t resist a taunting with the word dare in it, everyone in the orphanage knows that, if you want to get hit say ¡¯How dare you?¡¯ and you will trigger me immediately. My smile turns devilish as I already made my mind, the five idiots became more afraid as I took a step towards them, Sibbi was going to piss himself as magic was still appearing on my left hand. Suddenly he made a move towards the edge of the roof, then he held the purse in a throwing pose and threatened "I¡¯ll throw it in the canal." There was indeed a big canal in the street, people started to notice and the atmosphere turned stiff. I look at Akara and she nodded, that girl is smart and already went down from the roof. I walk towards Sibbi again, he got more nervous and he suddenly make his move "I dare you go after it you f*cker." He threw the coin purse towards the empty air and it was going to certainly fall into the canal of the lower part of the city, that¡¯s a four-story height for you. My heart was going crazy as the purse rose in the air, my legs moved on their own and I ran towards the edge and jumped as after the purse. "¡¯DARE¡¯ IS MY... ...... [A/N: 3rd Person POV] Few hours before the confrontation of Jon and Sibbi, a tall figure d in a brown cloak with a big hood descended the stairs that lead from the upper city in Riften to the under city. The figure carried a big battleaxe on its back but its steps were soft and quiet. Upon arriving to the lower parts the figure stopped front of a gate with iron bars, what lied beyond that gate with a hell hole of stink and moist known as the ¡¯Ratway¡¯. The figures passed through the gate with ease not minding the smell at all. The Ratway was the sewers of Riften it was dim and filled with unexpected encounters, as the figure walked in the tunnels, a torch appeared illuminating the darkness. The figure stretched its hand to take the torch but it suddenly came to halt, looking around the figure noticed something the made a strange pose and then took the torch from the wall. A click sounded and a strange iron ball with spikes fell from the top towards the figure but it didn¡¯t hit. The figure sighed and shook its head helplessly, then took the torch and kept on advancing. After few turns the figure arrived at a door, on the door, there was a sign saying ¡¯The Ragged gon¡¯. It was a known as the ghost tavern as it was the location where the Thieves Guild members would gather yet it wasn¡¯t known where it was as the Ratway was as its name gave, a damnable maze. Few could find this ce and that figure was one of them. After pushing open the doors, a circr chamber with an uneven surface appeared, in the middle of it water gathered as if it was a pool, and around its sides, a path to walk around the pool was there. The figure walked to the right until other figures of people in ck leather appeared. The ce on the other end of the chamber was that of what resembles a bar with few stools and some table and chairs. As the figure wanted to advance to the bar a young giant man appeared to block its pass. "We are full on customers" The man tried to sound scary. The figure in brown cloak only cupped its right hand into a fist and buried it deep into the young man stomach, the man fell to his knees and with hand on the ground and a hand on his stomach it made an inappropriate sound. The figure moved its left leg andnded a stomp on the man¡¯s head sending him to the dream realm. Few stepster the other few figures around the bar was intensified from what happened to their look out, one of them was bald with a rough skin made an eye contact with the figure, the figure immediately headed towards him. As the figure sat on the chair opposite to the bald man it removed its hood and cloak. What appeared was a woman with red wavy hair and sharp blue eyes, she wore an armor known as the ¡¯Nordic Carved Armor¡¯, she wore it without a padding armor so her arms where full-on view until her armored bracers so were her legs. The bald man was Delvin and the red woman was Hilda, it was a meeting that didn¡¯t happen in few years. "Mama came for a visit." Hilda said while snatching the sweet roll front of Delvin. Delvin was surprised by the sudden visit but he was not in the position to argue with that scary woman. He looked at Brynjolf and said, "Your friend Jon is doing okay?" Brynjolf was in a daze from the strange situation but he nodded to Delvin. "Brynjolf was it? Come and lead me to him." Hilda demanded like a boss and Delvin nodded to Brynjolf confirming her words. Brynjolf could only walk in the front past to the passed out lookout, He exited the round chamber followed by Delvin and Hilda, and headed outside the Ratway. The three headed to the market square and saw arge crowd, they frowned, "That¡¯s Jon¡¯s ce." Brynjolf was Delvin¡¯s eye on Jon so he knew most of what was Jon up to. After a while the three passed the crowd and saw five kids in an unusual scene. A girl was singing, a boy was ying the flute, a Khajiiti girl was ying the drum, a girl was selling sweet treats and a boy was walking around interacting with people holding a hat which has some coins in. The crowd interacted with the unusual scene very smoothly, the song was so Nordic and the music supporting it was so synced with the song, the kids made vocal music with humming and words which was even more than just what a normal bard would do, it was a clearly new style that all people became curious about, the sweet treats of the kids sold by the lone girl, the boy with a hat collected money from people and was moving nimbly while showing off his half dancing way of walking and the band of three that stood on a tform made of crates kept singing. No matter how anyone looked at it, that was a selling business of a punch of talented kids. Hilda looked at the boy with a hat and was taken aback but she smiled and gave him a silver coin, the kid was not shy and made a bow with a smile and a wink to thedy. He was doing that with the girls anddies who were paying for the band to sing more. After some time the crowd dispersed and the kids gathered in a corner carrying away their stuff and gathering the coins in a single purse hurriedly. After they finished the girl that sold the sweets held the purse and was about to say something to her friends but a figure ran behind her and snatched the purse. The red-haired kid gave a chase followed by the Khajiit girl. Hilda was about to throw her axe at the thief but she held herself back. She followed after the kids who gave a chase and she was about to give a hand when she saw a very strange scene. The Khajiit girl way of running was like a beast in the woods it was so simple yet very nimble and fast. The red boy, on the other hand, ran in the most interesting way she has ever seen, he jumped over obstacles like a clown, he moved in a way that was so refined and artistic that made him look like he was doing it with ease. Delvin himself was surprised, he looked at Brynjolf and asked, "What was that just now?" "That¡¯s his style that I once told you about, he called it ¡¯free-running¡¯ or something, I don¡¯t know how he made it but it is really hard to master." Brynjolf spilled the beans immediately. The three looked at Jon¡¯s moves and followed to where he chased the figure, along the way they pumped into Nurina who joined them without questioning Hilda¡¯s identity, After Jon and Akara chased the thief to a rooftop, the four could see the confrontation from distance. After Jon threatened the big boys with magic, Hilda was surprised, even more, she never expected that a ten years old kid had arcane skills like magic and martial skills like his so-called ¡¯free-running¡¯ in his arsenal at such age. When the mood stiffened on the rooftop the Khajiit girl ran down and Jon ran towards the boss of the thieves on the edge of the roof. It was a sight to witness as the money purse was thrown towards the canal under the city and Jon flying after it. "¡¯DARE¡¯ IS MY SURNAME F*CKEEEEER!!" Jon¡¯s shout was heard by everyone in that part of the city. The time seemed like it had slowed down. The blood of everyone boiled as the heard those scary words. A thunderous roar apanied the voice of that child, it was a power that only true Nords could muster. It was a ¡¯War Cry¡¯. Hilda witnessed it, Nurina witnessed it, Maven witnessed it, Delvin and Brynjolf witnessed it yet they withstood it. Other people with weak hearts could only shiver from the power of that cry. Jon made a free fall after the purse and caught it, then he dived into the canal. Both Hilda and Nurina could hold their excitement no more and spoke in unison "That¡¯s my boy." The atmosphere froze at this point again as the two beauties looked to each other with a surprise. Anyway, from that day Jon was officially known as ¡¯Jon Dare¡¯. Chapter 9 Two Mothers Brynjolf ran towards the canal and started looking for Jon, a momentter Jon swam up and was a bit dizzy. Working the whole morning, chasing a thief through the city, jumping from a high rooftop to a deep canal while shouting a ¡¯War Cry¡¯ certainly took a toll on a 10 years old child, even though his mental age is about 35, it could only add to the burden on the body. Brynjolf fished the dizzy boy out from the canal and carried him back. The four kids from the orphanage caught up to Brynjolf and took the already passed out Jon from him. Wulfur carried Jon and the girls took the purse, they kept it away from people¡¯s sight, Jon¡¯s War Cry didn¡¯t scare them as he did not consider them to be hostile. On the rooftop the thieves were already at the brink of losing their souls, Sibbi who was the target of the ¡¯War Cry¡¯ was experiencing true terror, he was going to have PTSD after this for sure. One must know that ¡¯War Cry¡¯ is a racial skill only gained by Nords. Through it, warriors could conjure all their fighting spirit and bloodlust, then manifest it into a thunderous cry. The cry can devastate the morale of any weaker enemies and would make normal people faint from terror. Only strong warriors could make this cry, Ulfric Storm-Cloak the Jarl of Eastmarch and Kok Whitemane the Harbinger of the Companions were known living figures who were witnessed shouting a ¡¯War Cry¡¯. For a small kid from an orphanage to use such a skill, his future is certainly that of a great warrior, when the ¡¯Companions¡¯ hear of this, they would send their people to invite him to join. Outside Skyrim there were mercenary guilds but in Skyrim there were the ¡¯Companions¡¯, They are one of Skyrim¡¯s four guilds in game and they are those people whoe out to solve problems when the coin is right, they avoided political conflicts, so instead of calling them mercenaries they better to be called ¡¯Adventurers¡¯. The legend of Ysgramor and his 500panions is a basic knowledge for all Nords. A warrior from a faraway continent in the north was. He is one of the most legendary heroes of Men, who yed a pivotal role in the ascendency of humans on the continent of Tamriel, but that¡¯s a story we will continue in another time. Back to the present and few meters away from the passed out Jon, Hilda and Nurina stared at each other while Delvin was holding his forehead, he looked to both "Nurina this is Hilda, Jon¡¯s mother, and Nurina is the Headmistress of the orphanage." "I see." Hilda was the first to speak, she totally forgot about that. "I am Nurina Aren, a pleasure." Nurina turned cold a formal. "Hilda Fire-Mane. Thank you for raising Jon all these years." Hilda spoke politely. Nurina narrowed her eyes which turned cold and sharp, "You here to take him?" and she kicked right into the main topic. Hilda gave a wry smile while looking down then shook her head saying "... He¡¯s better off without me." Nurina felt the sadness in Hilda¡¯s voice, she wasn¡¯t going to give up her apprentice and the person she considered a family without a fight from the start, but she sympathized with Hilda. "... This way." Nurina walked ahead leading Hilda to the direction of the orphanage, Hilda followed after she whispered something to Delvin who nodded to her, he then signaled to Brynjolf and both disappeared in the crowd. A whileter Hilda who was in her cloak and hood reached the Orphanage with Nurina, and it seems the kids have already reached her before them. Passing the entrance and to the next floor the found the kids grouped around Jon¡¯s bed, Ysolda and Akara kept nursing him. Nurina arrived to the side of the bed and handed a blue potion to the girls, she instructed them and led Hilda to her room. Hilda looked at Jon without nearing him, she felt like a hole was being dug in her heart, she then followed after Nurina. Nurina opened her room, led Hilda in and closed the door tightly, she offered her a seat and sat opposite to her. Hilda sat and rested her big battle axe to a wall then removed her cloak and looked around the room. It was a big enough room with full wooden furniture and some foreign objects that clearly didn¡¯t originate from Skyrim, a basket that held some staves and many shelves packed with books, a wide bed and a few pots that had some medicinal herbs and flowers nted in, it was a gorgeous room that fitted the Dunmer style. Silence took the lead of the conversation but Nurina as the host had to cut it, she looked at the bucket beside her and fished out a bottle, she offered it to Hilda who with a "Thanks" dly took it. It was Honningbrew Mead, Nord¡¯s favorite. [A/N: maybe I can get a sponsorship lol.] After a sip, Hilda spoke, "So, the magic from a while ago, he learned it from you?" She asked. One must know that Nords are not fond of magic and some even hate it, they don¡¯t mind healing and enchanted weapon though. "He is talented and hardworking, for a Nord with a talent that surpasses some elves in magic is something that history has rarely recorded." Nurina bragged as much as she could. Hilda smiled and took another sip, "His father also liked magic." She gave off a smile yet it was felled with sadness. "I am sorry." Nurina gave her condolences. "Oh! No, he¡¯s alive... probably" Hilda made a not sure expression and shrugged her shoulders. "Probably?!" Nurina was puzzled. "The Thalmor failed to kill him in both the Great War and Hammerfell resistance, yet he killed them like a sickle in dry weed." That was Hilda¡¯s turn to brag. "The war ended, and as a war hero. Shouldn¡¯t that treaty of White-Gold something protect him and his family?" Nurina was a bit confused here. Hilda finished the bottle in one go and looked at Nurina with narrow eyes then said: "Unless...." Nurina thought for a second about what Hilda meant with "Unless" she soon found the answer. "Unless you are from the des." That was the only logical answer. ¡¯The des¡¯ archenemy to ¡¯The Thalmor¡¯, they were the personal guards of the Emperor after the Akaviri invasion in 1E-2703. Formally known as ¡¯The Dragonguard¡¯ they served Emperor Reman I, and evolved through history to be known as ¡¯The des¡¯ guards of the emperor and his intelligence operatives. The White Gold Concordant that was signed to end the Great War between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion, it stated on some outrageous terms like disbanding the ¡¯des¡¯ and ouwing the worshiping of the ninth god of the Empire ¡¯Talos¡¯. Nurina made a very worried face after discovering such a truth about Jon¡¯s family, she even felt sad for Hilda and her husband. "During the war, I was one of the Nords who were dispatched to the Empire as reinforcement. And after the treaty, I felt betrayed. The Empire abandoned its best of the best warriors and forsook mighty Talos. I was so ashamed of them but I couldn¡¯t do anything. After that, we heard that Hammerfell refused the treaty and made preparation for war. I traveled there with my brothers and met with a formermander from the ¡¯des¡¯, he was to be Jon¡¯s father. Commander Jonnrad Fire-Mane." Hilda kept telling the story to Nurina, who was so immersed in listening. After some time they reached the part when Hammerfell decided to make a treaty with the Dominion which was known as ¡¯The Second Treaty of Stros M¡¯kai¡¯. There Jonnrad and Hilda felt uneasy. The ¡¯Thalmor¡¯, the ruling faction in the ¡¯Dominion¡¯ will for sure send their spies and assassins to root out all of the unwanted trouble in Hammerfell. Due to some reason, Jonnrad couldn¡¯t leave Hammerfell, so he sent his most trusted man ¡¯Fultheim¡¯ with Hilda to Skyrim. Hilda was pregnant at that time and couldn¡¯t fight so she had to hide in the Empire as a detour to lose the ¡¯Thalmor¡¯ on her tail and she finally made it a yearter to Skyrim. Nurina was so in awe from the grand adventure and was taking a huge liking on Hilda, different from her first image of the mother who abandoned her child, Hilda was like some heroine in her eyes. Nurina talked about herself beforeing from Morrowind and talked about her life with Jon, and about their tiny adventures and discoveries. Hilda was at her wits end from what she heard. A child devolving a theory in Magic was something unheard of, and his aplishments and studies were on the par with some schr from the mages guild or the College of Winterhold. "But one thing I don¡¯t understand." Nurina asked, "Why did the Thalmor target you until now, I mean it has been 10 years and I am sure you have your secrets but you don¡¯t have to hide all that much." Hilda was astonished of Nurina¡¯s observation, she looked at her and sighed, "That is indeed another story, yet the ones the Thalmor looking for is not me or my husband" her eyes turned cold and her killing bloodlust was clear in her voice, "They are after Jon, the f*ckers are after my son". Nurina¡¯s eye shrunk and she stood up, her expression was like a scared cat that was about to cry, her soft voice was shaken and she only muttered "why? why?" while looking at Hilda¡¯s angry face. Hilda rudely stretched her arm and took another bottle from Nurina¡¯s booze bucket, looking at it was a ck-Briar mead, she opened it and walked to the window, there was a beautiful view of ¡¯Lake Henrich¡¯. Ten years ago on the other shore of theke, she stood and gave her child to a thief so he can live in peace away from her. The knight that followed her for a year went missing after that night and she traveled to her n for hiding among them ever since. "21 years ago while I was fighting in the war, an ident happened in the ¡¯Imperial Library¡¯, the inner circles of themanders only heard about this but it was revealed on ater date to the people. The disappearance of ¡¯The Elder Scrolls¡¯." Hilda stopped talking giving Nurina a breather after so many surprises. Nurina was moving around the room not sure how to handle so many information. ¡¯The Elder Scrolls¡¯, such a name was only associated with legends and major idents that shook the world and changed the face of the era itself. The Elder Scrolls also called the Aedric Prophecies [A/N: Aedric from Aedra, the opposite of Daedra (good gods, bad gods)] are scrolls of unknown origin and number which simultaneously archive both past and future events. The number of the Scrolls is unknown not because of their immense quantity, but because the number itself is unknowable, as the Scrolls "do not exist in a countable form". They are fragments of creation from outside time itself, and their use in divining prophecies is but a small part of their power. They simultaneously do not exist, yet always have existed. [A/N: Witness the power of the Wiki, MWAHAHA. No, seriously speaking the elder scrolls is so important that the name of the game itself is ¡¯The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim] No one would mention the two words ¡¯Elder¡¯ and ¡¯Scrolls¡¯ together in such manner unless there is something big happening. "What does the Elder Scrolls have to do with Jon?" Nurina finally organized her thoughts and asked. She finally arrived at the three points of issue. ¡¯Thalmor¡¯, ¡¯Elder Scrolls¡¯ and ¡¯Jon¡¯. "Ten years ago before I know I was pregnant with Jon, I met a Moth Priest from the ¡¯Cult of Ancestor Moth¡¯ in a market in Hammerfell. He was blind but it looked like he could see me. He came to my direction like mad and when he tripped and fell he crawled on all fours till he got to me. He was speaking like mad and said "I found it. Not one, not two, but three. You carry a child who is fated to carry three scrolls of the gods". I knocked the priest out and ran away from the market. When Jonnrad heard of it he devised a n to lead us away from the eyes of the Thalmor, few monthster I gave birth to a boy and ran away with him from Hammerfell just as Jonnrad nned. Jonnhild was born year 4E181 named after his father and me. A yearter, I arrived to Skyrim and you know the rest". [A/N: Cult of Ancestor Moth are a cult of people who can read The Elder Scrolls but they get blind after doing so] So that how was it really happening, such a child carrying such fate is sure scary. Not any parents could deal with such prophecy, yet these two kept their cool and made the right choices under pressure. That was admirable effort but too bad Jonnrad was nowhere to be found. "So what should we do after that?" Nurina was already nning ahead, "He can¡¯t stay in the orphanage after the age of 15 and truthfully I was nning to take him with me to Winterhold. With his ideas, he can make more wonderful achievements in the arcane arts." Hilda nodded, "That is a good idea but he needs to be more capable and survive the trials ofing of age on his own." Hilda added. "Coming of age? Don¡¯t tell me you mean that Nord nonsense tradition?" Nurina was angry at such words. "Those are the traditions. He must learn how to fight like a Nord. I know you don¡¯t like and neither do I, what kind of mother would send her child to such challenge? But that¡¯s for his best." Hilda resolve was firm. Nurina understood,pared to such challenge what lies in the future of such a kid is much more dangerous. "I understand, I¡¯ll arrange for some people to instruct him in hunting and fighting *sigh* his talent will support him no matter what he does, I am sure of it." Nurina came to the same resolution as Hilda. "Truthfully speaking he can make a ¡¯War Cry¡¯ at the age of ten. You really raised a dragon" Hilda remarked with a smirk. "Fufu..." Nurinaughed softly, the sweat on her face was already wiped away and she was feeling better. She offered Hilda a bigger bottle and opened a one for herself. The two mothers sat andughed a meaningful softughs, they were already releasing some bloodlust about the fight ahead. This meeting of the two monsters was a meeting that the Thalmor will surely regret they could not prevent in the not far future. Chapter 10 Wasnt This Just a Mod? I really wanted to ask whether or not should I continue writing in multiple POVs (between 1st and 3rd) or should I just make it only 3rd person. Leave a suggestion at thement section. .......... [1st Person POV again but in hallucination] This is one heavy head I have here. I was in a canal right? What is that? Looks so fluffy! I am a manly manly man who like fluffy stuff pleasedon¡¯tthinkaboutittoomuch. I want to hold it for a bit. Ah! here! Feels just like perfect! Ouch...! Darkness again?! Maybe heaven don¡¯t take fluff lovers, oh I am in Skyrim. So it must be Sovengard, which prefer warriors and stuff, dammit to Oblivion then, Ah as long as it fluff. [A/N: In Skyrim, Sovngarde is Valha-like ce where noble warriors consider it Heaven after death. Oblivion is the realm of Daedra and it is considered Hell to the most.] ........ [3rd Person POV] Jon passed out again. On Akara¡¯s hands this time. He was sleep-talking and the kids looked close to hear what he was saying, but it wasn¡¯t in themonnguage so everyone thought he was seeing something nice, but when they turned back they felt a shrieking from Akara who was the closest to the bed. Apparently Jon has grabbed her tail unconsciously and Akara reacted too fast. She punched him back to Oblivion. The kids looked to Akara with strange eyes. She felt awkward and said she was sorry, boys felt bad for Jon but Ysolda snorted and joined Akara¡¯s side while saying "A well-deserved punch". It was strange that Nurina hasn¡¯t woken up to the racket, but no one was as close to Nurina than Jon, he was the only one who can break into her room normally. An hourter Jon regained consciousness. ........... [A/N: 1st Person POV again] Let¡¯s never go after fluffy stuff half asleep ever again, dammit my face hurts. I had to apologize to Akara but it seemed everything was okay. Next they said that Nurina went into her room with a friendst night and hasn¡¯t gotten out yet, should I go in? Let¡¯s wait till noon. I¡¯ll stay in the wing for now and fool around with the boys. Normally we ate and cleaned, then everyone was with his own duty. Today¡¯s cleaning duty was on me and Wulfur, Everyone cleaned their beds and belongings, then it was all gathered in an old sack, we left the boys¡¯ room to throw out the trash sack. Each wing was has three rooms. Boys room, Girls room, Caretaker¡¯s room and a hall that links them, the hall serves as a dining hall and teaching room. Unlike others, Nurina tends to teach the kids how to read and write, so the hall also served as a ssroom. I, as Nurina¡¯s assistant has many privileges among the kids. I learned the most and I lived in the orphanage the most. I normally don¡¯t have a ce to go back to but I am not really thinking about it. While taking the trash out Wulfur was trying to talk about something and he looked a bit down. "What is wrong? Out with it." I asked him. He is a big guy with tall ck hair just like his sister, but he is the shy one. Thank god I was tall or it would look awkward lecturing him. "Jon my friend you see! The other day, you and the others really were impressive. I can¡¯t sing like sis or do amazing stuff like you and Akara, even Ysolda is a money digger on her own league. So I was thinking for a bit, if I am really as good as you guys." He was speaking and looking around. I get it, so it is like this. "Listen man, I know what you are thinking about, I understand it and I felt like that once." That was me saying the truth, about a life time ago though. "Really? I mean, You?" Wulfur questioned with a funny expression. "Look at me, I grew up with no parents, has no inheritance, and clearly the ones gave birth to me didn¡¯t want such a handsome child, so they gave me up. I mean I had to deal with that when I was younger, really depressed me, but I threw it to the back of my mind and did the best I could." That was me spouting bullsh*t. Wulfur was baffled. "Listen. Point is, you haven¡¯t done everything in the world to see what are you good at, right?" I smirked. "You are right, I haven¡¯t. But the others and you discovered yourselves easily though." Wulfur thought but he wasn¡¯t an idiot. I really like that guy, even though we are 10 years old, he has the guts to speak for himself. "They found what they are good at themselves inside the orphanage easily because what they could do was possible inside the orphanage." I remarked. "Then?" he was still timid though. "That means you have to look outside the orphanage, big guy." I was speaking like some gym coach now. "We are already outside so I know someone I want to introduce you to." I took the lead and Wulfur followed. ...... Few minutester near the market square one could hear many tinkering sound, it was a forge under a shed next to a house. "Come see Balimund perform miracles with steel, eh?" arge man with a big mustache made an appearance, wearing a cksmith outfit that didn¡¯t quite match his blonde hair. Wulfur jumped back scared. That was Balimund for you. Balimund is a known NPC in game, he was the only cksmith in Riften and he always says those words to greet the yers when they approach his workshop, He is very proud with his craft and his personality is extremely friendly. I rolled my eyes backward to his greeting and was saying ¡¯just stop it¡¯ in my mind. "Old man Balimund, this big guy is Wulfur. ?As you can see he is big and sturdy, and he seems to have interest in cksmithing." I made a salesman from a second-hand cheap store offer and introduced Wulfur. Wulfur was taken aback, he said ¡¯did I?¡¯ but I raised my voice to cover his. "Hmm, I see. Young Jon, it was a loss you didn¡¯t want to continue learning from me though, Yet any friend of Jon is a friend of mine." Balimund said with a sad tone. I¡¯ve met with Balimund a year ago and did a service for him, he wanted some ¡¯Fire Salts¡¯ which is a rare alchemy ingredient and I brought him some through my connections with the Thieves Guild. He was so excited and offered to teach me his technique and how to be a cksmith. I wasn¡¯t excited about it but I learned for a bit. My magic study is much more important for me but it was fun to learn how to make good metal, I might start learning againter. "This guy has a good head on his shoulders, and he is ten years old just like me, he even can carry weights as much as grown man, you won¡¯t get disappointed." I continued to make Wulfur look good. "You seem like a Khajiit merchant today, but let¡¯s see how long will hest." Balimundughed and led Wulfur in, I kept watching and learned few stuff myself. Wulfur could really withstand the heat from the smelter, and he could hammer the metal for longer than even me, frankly I wasn¡¯t expecting any of that. "Your friend is good and determined." Balimund said with a wide smile. "Fine then, You¡¯ll take him in?" I asked. "He¡¯s from the orphanage, right? What are his circumstances?" Balimund questioned. "He¡¯ll leave probably for Solitude, his sister was invited to the Bards¡¯ College and we don¡¯t want her miss a good chance. After she finishes her study they will settle in Whiterun." I informed Balimund about the siblings¡¯ circumstance. "I see. cksmithing doesn¡¯t get much talented people nowadays, they all want to be warriors and it would be a waste if I didn¡¯t teach any of you two. I might really regret it." Balimund was always this honest, fits Wulfur well in my opinion. "But during theing five years he have to be my assistance, I¡¯ll give him coin and food as well as training." "That¡¯s between you and him, anyway you have my blessing." I said, after that it wasn¡¯t my business. I said I am going back first and left Wulfur at Balimund¡¯s. ........ Back to the orphanage. I just barely passed the main door and what meets me is grumpy face ring. "So Oblivion hasn¡¯t swallowed you yet." Grelod taunted. "Not before you, old hag." I taunted back "And don¡¯t think the heaven is so blind to leave you on Nirn with no one to torment you." Grelod face darkened but she couldn¡¯t retort at this one, I guess me performing a ¡¯War Cry¡¯ the other day made my reputation in town soar. ¡¯War Cry¡¯. How impressive! I even surprised myself. It¡¯s strange though, I remember I had installed a mod called ¡¯Imperious races of Skyrim¡¯. That mod should overhaul the racial aspects and make new powers for each race, ¡¯War Cry¡¯ was supposed to be removed by that mod, yet that didn¡¯t happen. Maybe some mods didn¡¯t get transmigrated with me or something but I¡¯ll need to make more experiments on that. Anyways, powers in the game had one day cooldown duration, it also exins why my head feels so light. Moving on I arrived to the wing and informed Svidi about her brother¡¯s new job. She was happy for him. What a good sister! What impressed me was that Nurina hasn¡¯t woken up yet. This was a first time in forever for Nurina to be so carefree. I got to see what the hell is going on. I arrived at the door of Nurina¡¯s room and knocked hard, yet no response, seriously I am worried now. I pushed the door but it won¡¯t budge. I examined it and it was locked with magic. Fine! Here Ie, ¡¯Open¡¯. I used the magic that open doors, the door opened. What met me was darkness and a strong suffocating smell of something I could identify as alcohol. I originally hated alcohol smell. Like it or not I am a milk drinker. I closed the door hurriedly and went to the hall to catch a breath, there I remembered something. I ran to my bed in the corner of the boys room and opened my chest. There was a gift that a senior made for me before he leaves the orphanage, it was a Nordic War Horn. I took the thing and went back Nurina¡¯s room, covered my nose and went running into the dark room as I removed the curtains and opened the window to theke side. Turning around I blew the horn near the bed. What happened next was the funniest thing I have ever seen since I came to this world, Nurina and apparently, her friend was running from the bed waving around their arms in panic, screaming some words I couldn¡¯t understand but whatever. Well, mission aplished! I waited until they calmed down and then took out two potions I prepared beforehand, it was something to cure the hangover. "Jon you can¡¯t make such a cruel thing to a person who has such a nasty hangover, my head is about to split." Nurinained. She was holding her head with a hand and drank the potion with another. When I offered the potion to the other person I started to see her clearly. She was a Nord with some strong arms and thighs, her hair was fire red yet mine was a bit darker, she had the simr blue eyes as me. Damn! I thought I was unrivaled under heaven yet there is someone who is as beautiful as me. The woman looked at me in panic then she took the potion and looked away while drinking it in one go. "I must admit sleeping after drinking for three days in a row is an impressive feat on its own, I even had to wake you up with a horn." I made some joke to make them clear up. "THREE DAYS!" The two women screamed in unison at what I said. "Nah! I was joking! It was just a day, but it is afternoon already." I already achieved my purpose so more than that is too much. "Is he always like this?!" The red woman looked and Nurina and asked. "Just don¡¯t let him take advantage of you, you will regret it if he started to give you a lecture." Nurina said it. Yep, I am that nasty. The two sighed and already started to sober. I¡¯ll go make them some coffee. Yes! you read it right. Coffee. Our Lord and Savior! Coffee is not popr in Skyrim but it can be imported from different locations. Originally there was no coffee in the lore of Skyrim but it existed in ¡¯The Elder Scrolls Online¡¯. It came to the world of Skyrim through a mod called ¡¯Eli¡¯s Coffee Mod¡¯ by Elianora, one of Skyrim legendary modders. It was the right choice to install that mod. Well, I made some coffee for the women and they thanked me for it. "So Nurina has made a friend finally, I can leave this orphanage while being not worried in the future. Please treat her well." I turned into a mother mode and made fun out Nurina. Nurina was flustered in a blush and the red womanughed her lungs out. "Stinking brat, youe back from Oblivion and first thing you do is to wake up I, your old mother with a horn and make fun of me two times in a row?" Nurina was huffing and puffing after she shouted at me. "Well that was fun, I haven¡¯tughed like this in ages. Ah my stomach hurts." The red woman was already in the ground after Nurina¡¯s retort. Indeed it was funny. The other day I must have worried everyone to death and making a better mood is my responsibility. "Fine, fine geez. Breakfast will be ready, Akara will bring a tray in a bit." I said while leaving. "Wait!" a voice called for me and it was the red woman. "Yes?" I turned around. "I am Hilda." The red woman introduced herself, I really like the name. "I am Jon, nice to meetcha." I made my signature two-finger salute. "Hey Jon, bring me that axe." Hilda asked me while pointing at a big axe resting on the wall. Damn woman! I wanted to retort. Isn¡¯t that a Carved Nord Axe and Armor. This woman is the real deal. "Is that some sort of test?" I asked while not really want to embarrass myself. The woman was taken aback for a second. "Yes, I¡¯ll teach you how to fight so I want you to bring me that axe." "Really?" it wasn¡¯t me who questioned but Nurina. "Yeah, I¡¯ve decided to stay in town for some time and I want to do something worthwhile, we haven¡¯t seen each other in years, old friend. Right?" Hilda said while winking to Nurina. Nurina said "Eh? Ah right." And sipped in her coffee. "I don¡¯t know what are you two nning, but first when you wink try to hide it, and second it won¡¯t go your way if you are nning to make aeback at me." I made my statement. "The axe." Hilda demanded. Well if Nurina approved she can teach me fighting then I¡¯m not going to argue. I go to the axe and grab it, this thing is not light at all. I find a good spot to grab on to make the weight more bnced, I squat then push my legs up to stand. I made it but the weight was something else. This Battleaxe is ssified as a two-handed weapon, Preferred by grunts and it has a very high attack power in the right hands. "Good put it back. You passed." Hilda said after she saw what she wanted to see, I think it¡¯s about the bnce thing. "I will teach you for few days but you have to train and find someone to point out your mistakes, I know you like magic. And fighting with a weapon might not be to your liking but that¡¯s the Nord way, get it?" Hilda made amander speech but yeah I am good. I was nning to learn how to fight properly anyway. "Is there a ce we can borrow?" Hilda looked at Nurina and asked. "Let Jon take you at the ying yard. No one should be there now but don¡¯t make too much noise, and Jon close the door after you leave." Nurina was already going to make a check on the ce so she got going first. She looked at Hilda and said "And if you met with an old hagraven called Grelod don¡¯t kill her. Let Jon trash talk her to death." Then she left. Hilda was puzzled but I said "It¡¯s like that ....." and told her about the thing. Hilda was an interesting fellow, just from me exining she wanted to kill Grelod already, I am starting to like her. We headed to the yard. It was in front of the orphanage and it also a part that appeared in game. Good thing is it¡¯s a bit vaster in reality and has a high wall. Hilda asked me to bring an armor of my size and other training gear. I ran back to Balimund and borrowed the stuff. The lessons of Wulfur was going well and mine will start just now. Hilda tried the dull iron gear for a bit and nodded. She face me and tell me to make a stance. Left leg at the front, right at the back, sword with both hands and my head was guarded. That was something I remember from my past life so I stood like that. Hilda looked and pointed my mistakes in the stance and told me how to move, her way was flexible even though she wore heavy armor. I had a good lesson from afternoon till sunset, I was already beaten up ck and blue, *sob* how cruel! Next day was the same. Third day Hilda was really targeting my head. Hey, my handsome face can¡¯t afford a scar. The fourth day, I already became good at dodging. That day Nurina came and told us she asked someone she knows to train me after Hilda¡¯s departure. Fifth, sixth and seventh day went well for me. I really liked Hilda, her way in fighting was wild, precise and fast. She also could use magic to some extent which surprised me, it was Restoration School magic, yet I had to turn into the teacher and point out some of her shorings. She told me her husband insisted that she must learn it when she was pregnant with her child. I would actually do the same if I were him. Those who train on certain art get their bodies affected by it. Like for example if you trained yourself on Healing magic you will tend to have a healthy body, that¡¯s why Nords only liked the Restoration School and they really respected healers, in the same time the hated any other Magic. Following the same rule, training other arts made some effects on the users. Training Fire Magic will make you resist fire better and have endurance equivalent to the Health attribute, training Frost Magic will give you more Stamina as ice affects Stamina badly so resisting ice is actually good for Stamina, same goes with Lightning Magic and Magicka, Conjuring raises the strength of soul and gives more Magicka to the users, Illusion grants a stronger mentality and finally Alteration makes the body stronger. Training Martial arts will make you monsterly powerful, that is the same as earth but Itey noticed something different. Warriors are ridiculously strong, not just man level strong but superman level strong. They tend not to notice it in this world but people trained inbat can carry big rocks so easily. Same goes for those who train the Stealth arts. Their presence is weak and the are super fast, some can reach the speed of beasts. That also exins my good magic control, I trained Mysticism as the one true magic school and made the other schools only aspects originated from it. My training on Mysticism with my theories and discoveries made my magic capacity and control that of a High Elf, I think if my theory went public it will cause a grandmotion and super powers in this world will try to get hold of me. [A/N: The MC will not be OP rest assured] I also read that magic tends to make the people live longer, a magician Dunmer can live more than a thousand year. Which also means as long as the body is more trained and tempered by magic it will live longer. Due to the magic element in this world, human races in Nirn live longer than humans in Earth. Even Nords who are magic haters live up to 150 years. All that was written in my note in my otherworldly nativenguage. Today Hilda was leaving Riften, she seemed to me that she has some dispute with some powerful, so she tends toy low all time. I really had to see that amazing teacher off today so I woke up early. I saw her walking after Nurina while being d in a big cloak and a hood, her axe was surely under her cloak. I went after them and wanted to say ¡¯Hello¡¯, but I heard them talking while it felt like they were sneaking. I hid my presence like I learned from my thief friends and eavesdropped on them, it wasn¡¯t really intentional but I was a bit unsettled. "I am sorry, Sister Nurina. I can¡¯t go and see him. I don¡¯t think I am strong enough for it." Hilda¡¯s voice was sad yet she was trying to keep quiet. Seems like she was here for someone and didn¡¯t get to see them. "Don¡¯t worry, Your son is my son and he won¡¯t be harmed as long as I walk this nirn." Nurina¡¯s voice was warm and assuring as ever. But... Wait! ¡¯your son? my son?¡¯ what¡¯s going on here? "Give that to him when he wakes up, it¡¯s his father¡¯s. Our friends will send you the note they kept. You will know what to do with it." Hilda¡¯s voice firmed and she exchanged farewells with Nurina. I saw her give her an amulet but I didn¡¯t recognize it in the dark. I sneaked back to my room while thinking. How was that possible, Hilda¡¯s son is in the orphanage. Why is that? What is she so afraid to leave her son here? The ideas that popped into my head were crazy after crazy, I can¡¯t make heads and tails out of this. I have to see who will receive this amulet from Nurina. If Hilda¡¯s son is here then I¡¯ll have to take care of him for her, she is my teacher after all. Yet for her to stay away from the children and keep watching from afar, this must be really hard for a mother¡¯s heart. I¡¯ll wait. I¡¯ll wait. ...... I waited. Everyone is up. Nurina is organizing the kids for the breakfast. Here it is, the amulet, she takes it out. She is starting to walk. No, where is Hilda¡¯s son? Don¡¯t, don¡¯t point that at me? I don¡¯t want to know. Don¡¯t say it. I can¡¯t even look up. "Hey, Jon. Sorry about it but before morning Hilda left early. She asked me to give you this." Nurina said in a soft voice. Please don¡¯t be the amulet, please don¡¯t. I don¡¯t want to know, please. I have to look up and see but I don¡¯t want. "Hey, Jon. Don¡¯t be angry at Hilda. Listen she really wanted you to see her off but she was in a hurry and had to leave early." Nurina voice was warm but hesitating "See it¡¯s a blessed amulet." An amulet? Why? Why did it have to be like this? I looked up and saw it, it was indeed an amulet. An amulet blessed by Talos at that. The Amulet of Talos, that was the name of it. So that how it was! I get it now. "No, I am not angry." I took the amulet while saying. It was a bit different than the others. I felt more powering from it. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary amulet. But I don¡¯t really care. I noticed Hilda¡¯s hair. I also noticed her eyes. But why was it like this. I didn¡¯t want to believe it. Wasn¡¯t this just a mod? Why is it like this? I have a rtive? I have a mother? I look at the amulet again. Dammit! This is not really what I thought it would be like. What is going on with this world? Chapter 11 One School Theory It has been 3 years since I started learning magic, Nurina was always supervising me like I am some sort of a kid, I am a kid though. This year is 4E-191, ten years before the start of the game events. I am not sure if I am the Hero of the game or not, I don¡¯t have a skill system neither I can use the hero¡¯s power. Still, I would rather have a quiet long life, but if I am not the hero then I should hurry up and gather the good stuff before he/she collects them. Artifacts and rare treasures are out there in dungeons and ruins. Still, Ick the strength to survive. I am 10 years old which mean I have only 5 years left in the orphanage, I need to make sure Nurina is alright and keep her safe from that hag Grelod harm. Nurina is a mage and a strong one at that, but Nords hate magic and they are racist so if anything happened to her I willsh out at those people hard. These days I could find my way to the market square without anyone noticing, I sometimes apany and Vex in there runs around the city. These two are from the NPCs in game, they belong to the thief guild and they are older than me. I learnt how to pickpocket and unlock easy locks from them, I also learned how to sneak to. I should say it just to be honest that these skills are muchplicated than the game. Pickpocketing in game is to sneak behind a target and use ¡¯action key¡¯ unseen, but in real life I have to take care of what I am about to steal, the target must be moving and not slowly, there has to some crowd to cover and the target has to be a bit careless. Once the conditions met it would be easy. I¡¯ve once seen Vex cut someone¡¯s pocket from outside and took the money purse with no one even feeling her actions. How scary! Be d they are the thieves¡¯ guild and not the dark brotherhood. Picking locks is a pain, you need a thin de to act as a base and some lock picks, lock picks are bigger than needles with a hock-like end. The point is to make both the picks and the thin de that act as an all door key, and watch for the picks because they break, or that¡¯s what it should be like in game. In real life it¡¯s another sort of pain, picks don¡¯t break that easily, atop of that it seems like everyone has a different way to open a lock, Vex uses two picks at a time and Brynjolf only uses one. The problem doesn¡¯t end with just the lock quality and the picks vulnerability, unlike the game you can get caught, and if your hand slip while unlocking, a soundes from the pick that might attract attention to you. I remember I added a mod called ¡¯Life Takes Time¡¯ or something that makes every time pausing actions like picking a lock or reading a book in game to actually go along with time. Sneaking is another story, it doesn¡¯t just work like the game where you press ¡¯Ctrl¡¯ and you be a ghost. Brynjolf told me that first I need to be in control of my body from the inside to the outside. To sneak one needs to breath slowly to let his heart beat not to be heard, also not putting too much power in muscles other than the ones needed is fundamental in sneaking, one also needs to blend with the surroundings and know every in and out of where he is, in day walk among people in night walk with the shadow. I really like this part about sneaking. It¡¯s known that thinning one¡¯s own presence and reading the surroundings are most fundamental skills for ¡¯Hunters¡¯ and ¡¯Dungeon Raiders¡¯. As someone whose aim is to be an adventurer I need lots of skills and knowledge. After asking Brynjolf and Vex how to be better at it they told me "To live daily as a thief, every step must be calm and quiet, everything must be noticed and analyzed." Damn! being a thief is cool! where do I sign up? ah right in few years big bro Brynjolf will handle the recruiting and there are requirements I haven¡¯t met yet. Big sis Vex is as beautiful as ever with her silver hair and sharp features, especially when she tries to act dangerous, she is the most skilled junior in the guild after all. Once the ¡¯Hero¡¯ of the game joins the guild she would already be a master and a quest giver at that. Following the master trainers from young age is sure a good thing. I mean, I don¡¯t need to buy hard-earned gold for training. Money in this world and the world of game are totally different too, I mean in game you use only gold coins. These coins are called ¡¯Septims¡¯ and they are named after the Emperor who founded thest Empire in Cyrodiil ¡¯Tiber Septim¡¯. Septims in the game are mainly gold but that¡¯s didn¡¯t stop mods and modders for creating some coin overhaul mods like ¡¯Immersive Currency¡¯ or ¡¯Coins of Tamriel¡¯. The one I installed was ¡¯Coins of Tamriel¡¯ despite its terrible naming sense but that didn¡¯t affect the world that much. Anyway in this world there are gold, coin and copper coins, they are the empires official coin system. And when you go into a Pre Third Era dungeon in game, why do you find septims in the treasures you ask? No hay problema, mi amigo. In reality you get to find old coins from the ancient civilizations such as Nordic and Dwemer. And the Jarls exchange these coins from adventurers for a very satisfying ratio. Thinking about that I¡¯ve already arrived at the orphanage, only to find Wulfur waiting for me at the entrance. "What¡¯s up?" I spoke nonchntly. "You arete, Grelod will have you head." Wulfur said. "I would like to see her try." I couldn¡¯t hold back my grin. Normally that hag would nag at me whenever the chance arises but cornering someone who was awyer in his past life with just words is a bit overestimating oneself. Walking past the entrance room up to the second floor Grelod is waiting for me as far as she could from Nurina¡¯s room. I knew she could hold it no more as her eyes were zing with fury. "The hell were you been you little swine, it¡¯s already past the curfew time?" Grelod was spouting hatred with every word she could utter. "Energetic as ever, old witch." The mocking me said inwardly. "I was practicing magic." I knew this answer will turn her anger on. "And now she is teaching the brats witchcraft." Grelod said in with a wicked smile. "There is a wicked witch in this orphanage, everyone knows that." I said it with no care in the world. Grelod eyes were already turning red with anger and I added more oil to the me. Dammit my old habit kicked in again, I am as stubborn as Grelod herself and I am a troublemaker of my own league so I don¡¯t hold back with that hag. "You DARE mock me you pig? Do you think that dark elf will prote..." Grelod was already at her peak. "First of all her name is Nurina, and you are to call her ¡¯Headmistress¡¯. And I do dare, ¡¯Dare¡¯ is my surname." I spoke sharply meeting her eye to eye. You want some,e get some. Before I could say anything more we could hear Nurina¡¯s voiceing from her room "Jon, apologize." You see who is boss here? I grin while saying "sorry" as soon as Nurina¡¯s words ended, one must be that shameless to make a statement. "My room." Nurina¡¯s voice sounded again. That was my holy summon, can¡¯t make the goddess wait. I walked past Grelod while making a ¡¯got my eyes on you sign¡¯ with two fingers, I couldn¡¯t help myself. After all the kids were looking at me with eyes full of admiration, a cute Khajiit girl was waving her tail left and right as she witnessed the exchange of the powerhouses in this orphanage. That was Akara from our wing. She was sent to Grelod¡¯s wing when she came a year ago and Grelod treated her like how Nords normally treats non-Nords. Nurina stepped in and put an end to it, now she is at our wing. The poor thing was so broken when she came, apparently her parents were from one of the Khajiiti trading caravans and they got attacked by bandits between Riften and Shor¡¯s stone. The guards found her a week after the attack and she was in a bad shape, for Grelod to be mean to such a girl is the far-reaching end of cruelty. For a cat person such as me Khajiit folk are so wondrous, Akara on top of all Khajiit was so beautiful to my eyes, she had grey fur and ck lines like that of a tiger but her head was of a little kitten, her dark grey hair was braided in cornrows, and her eyes were radiant green, Just shoot me dead already I am barely resisting every urge to kidnap that girl and pat her somewhere deste. Resisting my inner cat lover urges, I am already entering Nurina room with a victor walk. Nurina was holding a letter and reading it in a bad mood. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what would make Nurina in a bad mood, one must say that as a ¡¯Mer¡¯(Elf), these guys are long livers so annoying them must take some effort. "This is a letter from my cousin Savos, he screwed up again." She said with annoyance on her face. "Savos Aren?! The Arch-mage of Winterhold?" My amazement couldn¡¯t help but leek out. "How do you know of him?" Nurina asked with a questioning look. "Isn¡¯t the Arch-mage supposed to be a famous?" I acted with no effort. "He only became an Arch-mage a week ago." Nurina kept cornering me. Opsss! What a blunder, now let¡¯s make up something. I walked to the chair opposite to hers and finally had an idea. "I saw a human mage with some college robes at the inn, He was so drunk and was talking ill of the new appointed Arch-mage Savos Aren, and he said that he won¡¯t work under some a Dunmer conjurer. Sounded like a Nord to me." Perfect covering up even if I say so myself. Nurina¡¯s expressions looked like she didn¡¯t even care at all and burned the paper on a te with fire controlling spell. "You won¡¯t help him?" I wondered. "His mess is his own doing, Nord mages abandoning the college is only because he perused that meaningless position for so long and they don¡¯t like it." Nurina said. "Forget about that. I didn¡¯t even know your surname was Aren. Like the famous Dunmer conjurers." I seemed to have hit the nail on its head as Nurina noticed where she slipped out such information. "*sigh* I cut all ties with these thick skull fools." Nurina said with. "A beautiful Dark Elf mage, specialized in Conjuration school, doesn¡¯t work in the college and says that other conjurers are thick skull only means one thing." I pause for a bit while looking at Nurina¡¯s eyes that started to shake, "You are a necromancer." I dropped a bomb indeed, it was my first time causing Nurina to be taken aback and I must hold on to such achievement. Nurina was having an urge to beat me up, I am sure of it. "Sometimes I regret teaching you anything, you rascal." Nurina paused for a second and said, "What do you think?" "Necromancy is just another tool, you can be an evil mage using even restoration magic." I said like it was natural. People think of necromancy as evil yet they just look at the undead as evil without realizing it is just magic. Even therge magic powerhouse dere that, not because their ignorance but just to keep their public image. "I know, Right?" Nurina was in bafflement to my understanding, I am not just a 10 years old you know, my total age now is 35 years you know. "My research was not on necromancy itself, I was aiming to understand how to conjure the Undead." Nurina turned to teacher mood, thank goodness I downloaded ¡¯Realistic Eyesses¡¯ mod, it added so much of ¡¯Sensei¡¯ air to Nurina. "As you know when we conjure something we conjure it from a realm called ¡¯Oblivion¡¯, it is the realm where many dark creatures reside and also where the Daedric Lords who are considered evil gods also reside. By conjuring Daedra creatures we are known as ¡¯Conjurers¡¯, but Daedra creatures have many flows, look at the Atronachs for example, they are elemental being thatck diversity as their attacks is mainly focused their respective element. Some figures recorded their adventures out of Nirn as they traveled to Oblivion, They recorded the appearance of undead creatures in their journeys, which means as conjurers can summon Undead, who are easier to Bound and control and have more diversity in attacks." She gave a long lesson filled with passion and her crimson eyes were giving off light. "And I chose Skyrim as one of the ces that is filled with old tombs that has many sorts of undead to study, of course along with my work on conjuring." Nurina made a dramatic ending to her speech. "So why are you living in an orphanage?" I asked the question that was on my head for some time. "Eh? Haven¡¯t I told you? Normally people wouldn¡¯t think that a Dunmer necromancer would live in an orphanage as a headmistress, I am also good with children." She answered whileughing. Damn! She has a disorder in priorities as usual of her. "Anyway have you seeded in you research?" I asked while trying not to reason with her. "Yes, Last year I finished my original spell to conjure some undead." As she answered that she checked outside the room then she came back and stood in the middle of the room. I stand on and focus on what she was doing, she is clearly going to show her result. She moved her left hand and performed the spell, it caused the void to emerge in the room and from it, a figure appeared, once the void disappeared a ck skeleton stood with a bow in its hand and its eyes glowed blue. That was a Skeleton archer with passing marks but why is it ck? "The skeleton came from a daedric realm so it should be different, clearly it belongs to a being called Dremora. Dremoras are beings with human appearance but are all ck, they are alive but they are Daedra so they are as mean and wicked as their lords, and they are hard to bound as their wills are much stronger, so unless you worship a Daedric Lord, they won¡¯t obey you and you will end up being their target. Undead of Oblivion on the other hand are as strong as Dremora and as easy to bound their wills as the Atronachs." Nurina boasted about the Undead she can summon. In the future, the hero of the game will enter a realm of Oblivion called the ¡¯Soul Carin¡¯, and he/she can collect three spells to conjure the same sort of undead. Amazing! Nurina could recreate such a rare spell without even visiting the ¡¯Soul Carin¡¯. "Can I take a look at the tome?" I asked. Without even answering she handed it to me, was it ready here? I looked at her notes in the tome and discovered something strange. These Effects are rather familiar, seeing my frowning Nurina giggled, "So, have you noticed?" she asked. Of course, I noticed. I noticed my theory being applied in this spell. This thing I call theory is my understanding of magic, I read many books about the schools of magic and I summarized what I understood and edited some parts that were unrealistic to me. Something like Necromancy is Conjuration school is hoax, it clearly belonged to Mysticism, that was my opinion. Also, the effect of ¡¯Bound¡¯ when ites to the target ¡¯Soul¡¯ is clearly my theory, not that I am the only one toe up with it but these are stuff I know because I once read the Wiki in my past life. There are also stuff I made as my original opinion such as ¡¯The Mysticism School is the original school of magic and other school serve it as Effects, understanding all Mysticism Effect is a must for anyone to be a full gged mage¡¯. This is a p on the face to every mage in existence but it sounded natural to me. Mysticism is about the full maniption of the force that originated from Sun and Stars known as Magic. I mean you can¡¯t practice marksmanship to its most skillful form unless you know how to handle bow as a second nature. In olden days in Hammerfell, warriors of the way of the sword known as Sword-Dancers reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship by starting their training in forging weapons and living their lives in a way that resembles the sword. So manipting magic must be done this way in my opinion. You can¡¯t live to resemble magic power but you can train every effect in magic as a row power without associating it to a certain school. I made a note on this subject and Nurina copied it for herself. She said it¡¯s worth researching. And now it has been applied in a spell. I see many effects from many schools, ¡¯Bound¡¯ from Illusion, ¡¯Call¡¯ from Mysticism, ¡¯Enforce¡¯ from Alteration. "I get it. Such a splendid undead can only be conjured by using many effects" I muttered. "Exactly, if you used your theory of ¡¯One School¡¯ andbined many Magical Effects in existing spells, you can upgrade them and be a genius mage in many schools." Nurina dered. I handed her the book and made a big sigh, so I made something that absurd? "I am not sure this is a good thing or a bad thing though." I said trying to think of how many trouble may this cause me. "Of course it¡¯s good as long as you keep it a secret, mages are secretive by nature and they respect other secrets so other respect theirs, it¡¯s a mutual understanding in the magemunity." She said to me while setting back on her chair. "Fine, is there anything else?" I ask while leaving. "Before I forget, Stop looking at Akara in such creepy way or I will hand you your ass." She said will opening a book. What a scary woman! Chapter 12 I Can Make My Own System [A/N: This chapter was a try to make a system.] That day I took that amulet, and I never told Nurina that I overheard hers and Hilda¡¯s conversation. I am not just a small kid who will be angry over such a thing. Hilda had a very good reason to abandon me, even if I don¡¯t know what is it, I understood from what she said to Nurina, and I already have guessed most of the matter. Hilda has never returned since that day, and it has been five years already, 4E-196. I am already 15, my mental agepared to my physical age are leagues apart. Yet it seemed that there is a part of me that wants to go as wild as teenagers go. Butposed must I be, thus I can attain the power I need. Frankly speaking; since the day of Hilda¡¯s departure, I swore to crush whatever made her too scared to keep her own son. I¡¯ll avenge her so hard and pour of my hate and anger on the culprit of her sadness. She gave me a special ¡¯Amulet of Talos¡¯ which was more powerful than the ordinary ones. Two times and a half I guess. From that amulet, I could understand that my birth mother and father are Talos worshippers, which means the biggest possibility lies in the Thalmor as the enemy. If it¡¯s the Thalmor, then they have made the wrong enemy this time. An amulet that strong means it had been passed through generations of worshippers, it also means that this is one of the first amulets made to worship Talos. The normal amulet of Talos has a very unique blessing. Most blessing can be replicated as enchantments but this one is impossible. It decreases the cooldown for the power of the Thum¡¯m, the Voice of the Dragons. The most Nordic honorable technique of using magic, the cooldown decreases nearly to 50% of its original duration. Normal amulets (which are also rare) can do it up to 20%, This amulet must have a grand history. I¡¯m not faithful to the gods but I believe in freedom of worship as long as it¡¯s not a harmful being like the evil kinds of Daedra. Yet I won¡¯t disgrace all those who carried that amulet before me. I swear on that. Even if I am not the ¡¯Hero¡¯ of the game, I will be the strongest. My training advanced smoothly since that day I decided to walk on the path of my desire. I¡¯ll be a righteous person when righteousness is needed and I¡¯ll be the devil himself if his methods are needed. ******************************* Today was a peaceful day as well as one of myst few days in the orphanage. I never thought I would actuallye to miss this ce but all the memories here are important to me. My training with the new trainer involved Hunting in the woods and Fighting with all kinds of weapons, thank goodness that this wasn¡¯t the game, or else I would have been only bound to use a certain type of weapons due to ¡¯Perks¡¯ limitation. In real life, these perks can be gained only thanks to talent and training. ¡¯Dual Casting¡¯ perk in the game is gained by focusing on syncing the output of the Magicka from two hands at the same time. I luckily nevercked talent at Magicka, which made my life easier. My teacher is a veteran who works as a hunter, he is quite old but his instincts are the best. With my current progress, I could stand my ground against him. There are many arenas and fighting pits around Skyrim as well as horse racing tracks and gambling houses as well as red-light houses. Those things are not involved with any mod I installed before. Well, let¡¯s face it, the world is huge and Riften here is hundreds of timesrger than in the game. Normally I participated in the fights many times and made a name for myself as the Greenhorn with a long streak of winning. The reason is; I am young, so others don¡¯t challenge me but I am the one who issues challenges and I won a fair amount before someone was able to put me to the ground. I am not invincible or anything but I know how to fight. I was well trained with swords, axes, maces and hammers. I was also trained with spears and bows. Fistfight has its own thrill and I always used Mixed Martial Arts techniques so I was a bit nasty to fight. Known as ¡¯Jon Dare¡¯ in the city I was already famous enough to be invited to join manypanies and wealthy people. I even got a few adopting requests which I already turned down with the excuse of me wanting to join thepanions. I still has a long way to go as a warrior though. As a thief, I was already invited to the Ratway and raided a few times with the thieves. And my training in magic was as smooth as it could get, I was already nning to break through to the rank of an Adept level at most schools. Since the time I was reincarnated, I was dissatisfied by not having the game system. Still, who needs such a thing. Being like this is much better. I am not bound with any styles. Even though I had to keep a memo to record all the spells and the powers I learned. ************************** Equipments: -Amulet of Talos (Thumm cooldown -50%) -Gold Ring from Nurina (Magicka regen 150%) -Reinforced Boots (Increase Stamina 10%) -Reinforced Gloves (Magicka consumption down 10%) -Belt (Increase Magicka 10%) ---------- Spells: #Mysticism:- -Control Magicka: Absorb - Drain - Dispel -Detect: Magic - Object -Ward: Quadrant -Divination: rm -Necromancy: Bones -Soul: Trap ----- #Destruction: -Channeling: mes - Sparks -Bolt: Fire - Lightning -Rune: Lightning ----- #Conjuration:- -Bound: Dagger - Sword - Battleaxe -Conjure Familiar: Mouse - Cat - Falcon - Wolf -Conjure Undead: Ghost - Boneman -Conjure Atronach: me ----- #Illusion:- -Mind: Calm, Fear -Light: Candlelight - Magelight ----- #Restoration:- -Heal: Healing - Necro Healing - Cure Disease -Anti Undead: Turn - Sunlight ----- #Alteration:- -Speed: Hasten - Linger -Protection: Stoneskin -Psychokinesis: Open&Lock -Weight: Burden - Lighten - Featherfall ----- #Power: -War Cry -Hide in Shadows: Shadow Stone buffs sneak -Blur: Shadow Stone buffs speed ******************************* Hehehe! I can make my own system. Seriously speaking, this just a reminder of my progress. In my equipment section, I mention the amulet and a ring gifted to me some time ago by Nurina. The boots, gloves and belt are the joint work of Wulfur¡¯s handicraft and my enchanting, We made two sets and I enchanted them in a proper way to suit him. In the spell section, every spell was listed with its school, Mysticism which has few spells as no one really did well in Mysticism the past few years and it was akin to a secret art so most spells were my originals spells. Quadrant Ward is my masterpiece, it¡¯s is a mix of four effects. Absorb, Reflect, Resist and Dispel, normal Ward spell normally ry on Resist and some can do it with Absorb but I am proud to say I made a much better job. And that¡¯s all to it, I made it in a red journal and felt so much proud about it. Back to the present. The city was in a festive mood. Why is that you ask? High King Torygg was visiting the Temple of Mara with his wife Lady Elisif the Fair. Normally for every High King, their weddings should be in the City of Solitude as their stronghold as kings, but the young king insisted to visit the Temple of Mara as the traditions of Nords say after performing the main wedding Ceremony in the Temple of Gods in Solitude. I led my gang to join the crowd and Nurina tagged with some other kids from the orphanage, the city was heavily guarded as the king¡¯s guard were here since two days ago. We found a spot near the temple and waited to watch the parade. I wasn¡¯t interested in it at all but the girls were dying to see the new high queen. It was rumored that Lady Elisif is young at the age of 17, and can be considered the most beautiful woman in Skyrim. In my opinion, she¡¯s not even as cute or fluffy as Akara. The cheers were getting nearer and the people were carrying baskets full of petals to throw it at the parade. What a careless act, I can hide a throwing de in the petals and no one will see iting. Anyway, the king is popr among the people these days, only for now though. Jarl L and Maven ck-Briar, as well as the other big yers in Riften such as Bolli the fishery owner and Vulwulf Snow-Shod of the Snow-Shod n, all these big names in Riften, lined up for the High King. And Just as the front guards of the parade arrived there was a man on a horse following behind them circled by two armored knights like warriors and he was waving to the people and smiling like a fool, good grief! He had medium ck hair and a short beard, he is a good-looking person, he also wore a full te armor with no helmet and wore a fancy crimson robe on it. That was the high king of Skyrim, High King Torygg. What followed after him was a gorgeous carriage and a girl riding in it, that was clearly the new queen. She was a beautiful woman as rumored. Blonde with innocent features and faint smile, her eyes were green as emerald and wide as gazelle¡¯s, and her skin was white and fine. What a refined woman, I totally forgot I added a mod to change Elisif¡¯s appearance long ago. Elisif in the game was not even as beautiful as Ysolda yet was called ¡¯The Fair¡¯. In my opinion, I had to make things right else it would ruin my immersion. The royal lot went into the temple and made the rituals they wasted everyone¡¯s important time for. I mean look at it. The city was totally in a tizzy since yesterday and I couldn¡¯t do my business with my contacts in the guild. And finally, they got out and headed to Mistveil Keep. I urged everyone back home because I hate this sort of festivals and stuff. I wasn¡¯t like that in the past though, I just became a workaholic five years ago and Nurina startedining about ittely. I will leave the orphanage in the first month of the next year and travel through Whiterun to Solitude with the Wulfur and the others. Ysolda and Akara will live together in Whiterun while Wulfur and Svidi will go to Solitude. I will go there to participate in a yearly tournament that happens for the honor of the High King and all that worthless stuff. I am interested only inpetition though. After thepetition, I will leave to Winterhold to join the College of Winterhold. To my surprise, Nurina informed me that Hilda will meet with us in the College a year from now when I reach 16. The reason is; she wanted me to participate in a ¡¯Coming of Age Ceremony¡¯ that used to be held by the ancient Nords and some hardcore ns at the present, she also told me that I will participate with Hilda¡¯s n. After the ceremony, I get to have a Warpaint or whatever they get from Hilda¡¯s n too. I get it now, they are nning to tell me the truth about my birth parents a year from now. That¡¯s more of a reason for me to why I should not fail Hilda in the ceremony. These ceremonies, if I remember correctly, is for the young Nords to head to thends which have heavy snow and fight with a monster called ¡¯Ice Wraith¡¯. These Ice Wraiths are lucid, serpentine creatures of magic as if conjured from the frozen tundra and ciers of Skyrim itself. [A/N: I am having trouble describing the damn thing, google it yourself] All in all, I have to kill one a year from now. I am not that sure if I relied entirely on Martial Arts but it seems that this is the rule. My weapon is something I had to pay Wulfur and Balimund a good price to make for me. It¡¯s a Warhammer as heavy as Hilda¡¯s Battleaxe, Mine was made from Steel but it has its custom design. I requested it to be made with some certain runes engraved on it, Nurina offered to enchant it with a Greater Soul Gem I acquired with a lot of money. The hammer was like any other, its handle was made of the best wood possible to buy reinforced with steel as and it was a real beauty, the head had a blunt side and a spike like the game ¡¯Steal Warhammer¡¯. After it was done, Nurina and I went into an argument about how to enchant it. I wanted it to be enchanted with Lightning st effect but Nurina had a different opinion, She wanted to enchant it with Sunlight effect. It¡¯s an effect that can harm living to a fair degree with Fire Damage Effect and harm Undead to a fatal degree. My idea of Lighting st Hammer was a bit from a movie so it was childish and Nurina didn¡¯t like it. Her idea was better anyway. Lightning works better against mages and mages didn¡¯t need to be dealt with by such a shy and big weapon as a hammer. A hammer was a tool to crush the armor and it was best used against big opponents like trolls and Armored opponents as well. After the hammer was enchanted I couldn¡¯t help but grin. It was a good weapon indeed but we left it unnamed for now. ....... After a few months of training, year 4E-196 has passed and it already became Morning Star (January) of 4E-197. I and Wulfur were making travel preparation and also made a deal with a carriage owner outside the city. We will be leaving Riften tomorrow. Nurina¡¯s things were packed in crates and transported by a carriage to Winterhold, She left before us. That day I said my farewells for all my friends in the city, the Ratway, the fighting pits and the orphanage. What really was upsetting that Grelod became the new headmistress. An era of terror would descend upon Honorhall Orphanage. I took all my stuff in two knapsacks and so was everyone else, my hammer was on my back. Wulfur was carrying hisrge shield on his back as well as an axe on his side. Svidi and Ysolda were carrying their knapsacks and followed along with Akara who carried two swords. She started training with Dual Swords but she was still a beginner. This is my first time to leave Riften, I didn¡¯t care much about it too much. But the other guys were really in mixed emotions. The road from Riften to Whiterun takes two weeks. Our first stop will be Shor¡¯s Stone. The second stop will be Darkwater Crossing. There, we will be officially outside ¡¯The Rift¡¯ hold and into ¡¯Eastmarch¡¯ hold. The third stop will be Valtheim Towers which is a military area but serves as a short rest for travelers. Right after passing Valtheim Towers we will be at Whiterun hold and heading to our first destination Whiterun City. While jumping on the carriage some of the people came to see us off, Balimund and Brynjolf as well as others. Well well, this is my first adventure so I better make it exciting. [A/N: It¡¯s also the end of Vol.1. Vol.2 will start tomorrow after I get some mental refreshment.] Chapter 13 Hitting The Road I have never been this far from home in this world before, or should I say the orphanage. It¡¯s not my home anymore. Riften is though. Filthy as it is, I love that ce, too many Argonians yet it¡¯s a ce I lived most of my life in. Opss, I almost became a bit Nordly racist here. I don¡¯t hate Argonians or anything. I am always trying to keep my cheerful yet moody personality and my otherworldly standards of thinking from being affected by the Nordic way of thinking and doing thing, but it¡¯s proving to be a challenge. Staying in this ufortable carriage really hurts the body, and my butt is going numb along with everything around. It¡¯s also affecting my mood. And SPRAY BEFORE YOU SIT NEXT TO ME YOU SMELLY DIMWITS. Dammit I¡¯m losing to my temper once again. There are no sprays in this world. I tried to recreate them with Alchemy and Magic yet it needs a certain degree of control I haven¡¯t mastered yet, and to cast it at people, it must be a very stealthy spell. I was known in the orphanage as a clean freak yet that was barely the normal standards of a modern world. This world need adjustments. I don¡¯t care about being the savior of the world or anything. If I can make these people spray, I¡¯ll be a damn legend. Back to reality and getting a better position to breath, away from the smelly fellows my sight fall upon the beauty of Riften¡¯s forest. Such a ce even though it¡¯s winter and snowing it¡¯s much better than many ces. In winter the whole damn Skyrim gets to experience a snowy season, I don¡¯t remember which mod used to have that feature but that¡¯s a very natural thing in a northern region like Skyrim. The infamous bears of Riften and its hold go into hibernation so travel should be safer, if not for those damn wolves. Winter¡¯s wolves are a mad bunch. They turn crazy because of Hunger and bite on every moving thing they see. Carriages don¡¯t travel together but they form caravans, each caravan has its guards and scouts to guard against beasts and bandits. I also joined the guards to deal with wolf attacks. I normally used a bow and was praised highly by the guards, the merchants in the caravan bought every wolf I put down and in no more than three days I have already gathered the coins we paid for the ride. Best business I¡¯ve ever done. It was normal to find better opportunities outside the cities where risks are involved and danger lurks into the shadow of each stone. Things got tizzy one night and my hammer was away from me, so I had to use magic. My favorite element is Lightning and I trained a lot with it, it resulted to make my mana denser adding that to my control which originated from Mysticism training. For that reason, my lightning sounded like the wrath of Thor. I¡¯m exaggerating, but it will be like Thor¡¯s lightning one day. After showing off my magic some people avoided me. Hey, I just saved your sorry butts. *sigh* Nords... For someone who came from a different world, magic is like everything they want to know about, but for the people who live in a world of magic and be so indifferent to magic is so unthinkable to an outsider. If these people were educated, they would know that the race that excelled in Necromancy thousands of years ago was theirs, The Nords. Ancient Nordic ruins are filled to the brim with undead. Forget about that now. It¡¯s camping time so let¡¯s camp and make fire. ¡¯Gaze mine magic thee motley-minded lot and engrave its beauty in thy minds.¡¯ That was me being cocky with my Fire magic. These people hate magic so much yet they can¡¯t help but watch me with envy, while I make fire by magic, not like their stupid way of smashing stones. I forced my friends to learn magic some time ago, Akara loved it and focused on magic that can add protection to her while making her move fast. Smart girl, Nurina praised her greatly and allowed me to teach her. She learned Alteration and some Restoration. Her Twin Sword style was natural and beautiful, she was like a dancer more than warrior. Wulfur wasn¡¯t good with magic but he learned beginner fire spells for survival sake. His fighting styles is that of a shield bearer and he¡¯s good with axes. That¡¯s a true Nord for you. Svidi was really good at illusion but she didn¡¯t show much interest. I am not that good with Illusion too, I just didn¡¯t give it much of my time. Ysolda is a tragedy in magic, she never cared about it and had a poor talent in it. Me and Wulfur were sharing a fur tent, I took out a note I drew things in and started showing him mytest ideas. It¡¯s a habit I developed to pull that guy¡¯s leg into something. They were mostly weapons and designs from Earth. I always try to show them to this guy so he can make what¡¯s possible from these, if he could ever make a firearm I would be so happy, this guy¡¯s talent was the real deal when ites to cksmithing. He kept taking notes and was immersed on how powerful and unique these weapons would be. I even made some movie weapons like the Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. Wulfur stopped me at a certain design that I put some effort in some time ago. It was a two-handed Hammer Axe in one. This drawing was extremely sinister. If anyone saw it the would mistake for some Daedric artifact. The Hammer Half was as followes, a front half of a skull as the blunt hitting side of the hummer with its mouth closed, its eyes had a spike each yet it was a bit out of the eyes to cause damage while not standing out, the skull design was to make it as blunt as it can get, it was linked to the pole of the weapon by a metal that was designed to look like a thick backbone that came out from the back side of the skull. The axe side with a sharp third of a circle with its de a bit thicker than its inner part, yet the inner part had these bone phnxes that looked as the link between de part and the weapon pole through the axe¡¯s inner part. The pole part was not straight and engraved with deathly drawings of snakes, flowers, thorns and skulls. The drawing itself gave a vibe of death. This weapons in reality must be the favorite weapon of the Harbinger of Death. If someone from modern Earth saw that weapon they might think it¡¯s some art design from emo or gothic culture designs or even anime stuff. But Wulfur¡¯s face was drenched with sweat once he saw it on paper. "Which Daedric weapon is that?" Wulfur asked. "Lord Jon¡¯s." I replied. "Cut the crap, this drawing is evil in itself, let alone the weapon." Wulfur retorted. "Can you make such a thing?" I asked. "Even if I can, I won¡¯t." Wulfur was already panicking. "Come on, once you be good enough, let¡¯s make it together. I¡¯ll enchant the axe side and the hammer side two different enchantments but once I master it the way." That was I really nning. "Are you mad? The Vignt of Stendarr will have our heads if that thing saw light." Wulfur cried in a low voice. The Vignt of Stendarr are what you call a brotherhood of fighting priests that worship Stendarr , the god of righteousness or whatever, these guys are anti-daedra and everything fun. This guy has a point. Still "Come on, I use necromancy and they never caught the wind of me. And this weapon is when we be masters, and also when you start working in Skyforge." I pressed on his weak spot. This guy may droll if he heard the word ¡¯Skyforge¡¯. The oldest forge in Skyrim. Wulfur¡¯s dream was to make weapons at Skyforge but that was not easy. The only person who can use the forge is the legendary Eorlund Grey-Mane the best cksmith in Skyrim in this age. One needs the acknowledgment of Eorlund Grey-Mane to use the forge or the forge may harm those who are not worthy. Skyforge, unlike in game is no ordinary forge. Mostly the Snow Elves believed it¡¯s a relic of the gods. It also was said that it would burn those who are not worthy of it. Hearing me telling him to make this weapon from my drawing in Skyforge when he became able to use it. He went into some day dreaming then his face twisted as if he ate something bad. "You want to make such an evil looking thing in the holy ground of cksmithing? you must be out of your damn mind." Wulfur was already mad yet he never let go of my sketch journal looking left and right at the designs. "What is this?" he stopped at a drawing. "An Airship." I replied. "From the name it¡¯s a ship that can fly." Wulfur made a dump remark. "You figured that alone?" I mocked. "How does it work?" He ignored me and asked. "Fell the ¡¯Balloon¡¯ that big air bag with hot air that has the nature of rising up above. As it has been already trapped in the balloon, the balloon will go up carrying the ship..." I stopped talking and began thinking. "But?" Wulfur questioned. "The weight of the ship is too heavy and it needs much bigger balloon to carry it. The only solution that came to mind was to enchant the body of the ship to be lighter and enchant the space inside of the balloon to be much bigger. I think the Dwemer (Deep Elves) did it like that once." I started making ideas. "You really are nuts." Wulfur sighed. To call me nuts, if this guy saw the flying aircrafts of another world he would lose his mind from shock. We kept arguing about this and that until it became a bitte. ......... After a while I felt a movement near the girl¡¯s tent. One of them were heading out somewhere. She was sneaking yet it was away from camp. What is going on? that¡¯s not the direction of ¡¯watering the flowers¡¯. I covered myself in furs and went investigating. The foot prints were Akara¡¯s, her legs have less pressure so she wasn¡¯t easy to track. After few minutes I caught up to her few hundred meters away from the camp and she noticed me. "Akara was just looking for something." Akara said. Looking for something, this was a ce on the middle of nowhere. Wait a second! Don¡¯t tell me... "Could it be, this ce?" I gasped after realizing something. "Nn. It¡¯s around here." Akara pointed somewhere and walked. So, this ce is where her family was attacked five or six years ago. Following after her we arrived at a strange looking ce, I get tensed up ready to use ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ but there was nothing when I used ¡¯Detect Magic¡¯, it allows me to feel other living beings magic power by it. The ce was as if a storm struck on a small scale. Big trees were thrown down and some had many w marks and damaged badly. even though these marks had many damage marks. Time seemed to have healed most of it. Yet the ce was in a havoc as if a small battle has happened here. "What can do such a mess?" I was in a daze from the sight yet I noticed Akara trembling with expressions akin to agony on her face. I couldn¡¯t say I was in her position before to understand such sadness. I only tried to calm her down or pat her shoulder but she didn¡¯t respond at all. Looking at the ce, I was really scared of what can do such a thing. I know that some creatures are crazy strong such as Mammoths and Giants but that¡¯s was too intense. "A ck Bear." Akara said with hatred chucking her voice. "Wasn¡¯t it bandits?" I remember the story that I was bandits who attacked Akara and her caravan. "A Bosmer (Wood Elf) was riding it, and he had people with him, they were bandits." Akara kept speaking while pointing at some ces. So, a tamer wood elf with a group of bandits operated here? And his tamed was not any bear. It was a ck Bear. Bears in Skyrim are; Forest Bears the brown normal ones, Snow Bears which have white fur but much stronger and faster (they are not pr bears) and ck Cave Bears which arerger than normal bears and crazy strong. This area¡¯s damage fit the description of a ck Bear. A Bosmer (wood elf) tamer is a good tamer but this time the tamer is a bandit. It will be nasty finding such a tamer in the forest. I tried tofort Akara until she calmed down and started praying. I left Akara to her prayers and surveyed the surroundings once more. I don¡¯t think I can do such a sight even if I go all out. ........ Back to the camp. Akara was a bit spiritless after going to that ce and went directly to sleep. Wulfur felt meing and questioned about what happened, I told him that I followed Akara for a walk and he started to make ¡¯fufufu..¡¯ while ncing at me with someughing eyes. "Go to hell" I punched the insolent fellow and sent myself to dreand. Before I sleep I noticed that my sketch journal was still with Wulfur. That meant he¡¯s interested in the stuff in it. Perfect. Next morning, we moved and arrived at Shor¡¯s Stone. That took us three days. If Riften in the game was a small samplepared to its full version in reality. Then Shor¡¯s Stone was aplete different story. This town had a mine and three or four buildings in game but the real deal was a proper town. A big travelers¡¯ inn, a stable, many houses, a big iron mine, arge industrial grade smelter, a forge and a wooden wall surrounding the whole town with a guard post. That was a proper towndies and gentlemen. We left the carriages and headed for the inn. The town was bustling and busy with travellers but we found a ce. After a while I went out alone on some exploration, Wulfur wanted to take a look around and the girls had no interest so they stayed in charge of the food. I took Wulfur around and started looking everywhere. This ce was amazing, we entered the mines, saw the smelter and the forge. I looked for any presence of the Thieves Guild in town but it seemed the guild¡¯s decline was taking its toll on them and they even couldn¡¯t expand to the next town. Returning on sunset, we ate together and kept arguing about my sketches till the night. I made new sketches from some games and manga. Well that was a way to spend time. The next day we went early to buy supplies and went to the carriages, the others came a bitter and we hit the road once again. We headed north and it was a calm ride. After we camped for a day we kept heading north and then headed west with the crossroads. After that it was a sight to behold. The road between The Rift Hold and Eastmarch Hold had a beautiful view over the sulfurous pools and rocky crags of Eastmarch. The Rift Hold was few hundred meters above sea level but the Eastmarch Hold was under sea level so the road was horizontally on a slope. We camped in camping spot near the road and headed to our next destination the next morning. After descending the slope, we were officially inside Eastmarch Hold and our next stop was Darkwater Crossing, the new mining town. Unlike Shor¡¯s Stone this was a new mine which was still undeveloped and barely had any features of a town. Even though we were at winter, the weather in the ce was warm and good. If the ce was not full with Giant tribes and predators, a resort city would have been built here long time ago. The mine here was a corundum mine which was a good metal for crafting. The one who discovered the mine was its current manager the beautiful adventurer Annekke Crag-Jumper. She settled here with her husband and daughter which was 11 this year. I know about all that because Annekke was in the game. A quest giver and a potential follower. After looking around in the inn, I forced the girls to follow us this time. I know some good stuff about this ce. First, we went to see the mine, there were also a farm and campsite. Strange enough the miners lived in these camps as the weather here was exceptionally good and the nature was lovely so no one cared about houses for the time being, as the vige needed some development first. The inn which didn¡¯t exist in game was built early to attract travelers and develop the ce faster. after the tour, the sun was still up and we were not really tired. I went to a guard and asked him about directions in the area north of the ce. Taking notes of what he said I drag the scared lot into the wildnds while promising them a good adventure. Ysolda and Svidi wanted to turn it down but this was for their own good so they got dragged. After an hour we reached a cave. I conjured a familiar andmanded it to explore a head. [A/N: I forgot to mention about this spell, it¡¯s Conjuration School for those who doesn¡¯t know and the familiar in game is a ghost wolf] Familiars can be used for exploring more than fighting and they have many forms. As long as one canprehend a certain animal¡¯s behavior and habits, then one can make a perfect replica as a conjurable familiar. As the control was easy they were better than atronachs in scouting. Atronachs needed more control and had to stay close the caster. My familiars were few other animals that I watched on documentaries in my past life, which greatly surprised Nurina. I can make dolphins, sharks, eagles, small birds and cats. My favorite was Falcons and Cats so I used them to explore a lot. Now I used a Cat to run inside the cave and controlled it while reading its mind. I confirmed the location and marked it on map. "This ce is called the Eldergleam Sanctuary, a holynd for the goddess Kynareth and the most beautiful spot in Skyrim as far as I know. This is also a ce where pilgrims happen so don¡¯t touch anything in there" I informed the guys behind me and went into the cave. Akara was curious so she was on my tail, Wulfur followed not really interested about anything as long as it¡¯s not rted to cksmithing. Svidi and Ysolda was too afraid to enter yet what made them more scared was to be left behind so they came. I casted a ¡¯Candlelight¡¯ spell and a hovering a bright white light sphere above my head. every one stuck close as we got into the cave¡¯s tunnel and followed silently. A minuteter light shone at the end of the tunnel and the scenepletely changed. I saw that in the game but..... I lost my wordspletely. The game didn¡¯t give this ce any justice. How to describe what I saw in words was just so breathtaking that I fall in love from the first sight. This ce was a true ce toprehend nature to its purest form. "So that what you meant with a holy ground." Wulfur eximed. "Man, I only read about it in one of Nurina¡¯s books. I made preparation to not be amazed but that¡¯s just too much beauty. Am I even worthy to enter?" I was making a dramatic speech. "Of course, as long as no one means harm to the sanctuary, anyone can enter." A voice replied to me. There stood an old woman in a yellow robe. A priestess of Kynareth it seemed. We nodded and passed the bridge over a small water creek. The sanctuary was in the heart of a hill that guards the ce. The space was uneven but there was a road and man-made bridge around the entrance. Once you pass you wille to a vast garden that can be mistaken for a paradise with so many trees and exotic herbs. I could feel few presences concealed in the trees. I recognized them as Spriggans, are tree spirits that take the form of female humanoids. They possess moderate intelligence, but despite being revered they are usually hostile towards travelers. Spriggans have their own uniquenguage, which can be learned by schrs and used to calm the creatures. They can be considered the Agents of Nature. They are usually found protecting secluded des and groves all over Tamriel, often blending in with the nt life and catching trespassers unaware. Spriggans attack with their long, sharp fingers as well as their teeth, and have the ability to poison enemies. They have incredible regenerative abilities, resulting in adventurers often having to defeat them several times before they remain dead. If threatened, they can call nearby woond animals to aid them in battle, and some even have the ability to magically summon ck bears. Looking around the ce we saw some ridiculouslyrge rootsing down from a high ce. Top of the roots was a tree, not asrge as its roots but it was still a big tree. That was it. "This is The Eldergleam." I and the priestess spoke in unison. I made an "ehem." and apologized for interruption. She smiled and said it¡¯s fine. We approached the roots and I touched them also I activated ¡¯Detect Magic¡¯, the felt inside Magicka inside them were like an ocean. "The Elder Gleam is maybe the oldest living thing known to this day. The energy in the roots just now was the real thing. These roots also are too mysterious, I don¡¯t think I can harm them even if I tried to." I dered my discoveries to the lot. "Really? At all?" Wulfur was amazed. "Yeah, this root maybe harder than metal itself. The magical effect in its magicka is ¡¯Resistance¡¯ of the holiest level." I said. "You know a lot." The priestess spoke after she followed up to me. "Yeah, I am trained as a mage." I said. The priestess nodded and stood in silence. "So, nothing can harm this tree." Ysolda asked while immersing herself in its beauty. "Maybe Alduin The World Eater." I said. That was true though. "Your nonsense about dragons again." Svidiined. Iughed at her. Let¡¯s wait few more years and see how you respond. "If an unholy artifact were to be used it may do harm, but on what cost. You will conjure the wrath of nature and its guardians. Maybe Grelod¡¯s kitchen knife can do the trick though." I said something and covered it with a joke. The guysughed when I made a joke about Grelod. The priestess looked at me with dark expressions but I ignored her. After a while we went away from the roots to the garden and stayed for a while. "You know too much young man." the priestess came close and said. I looked at her and smiled, "Don¡¯t worry, I can¡¯t afford the enmity of Kynareth priesthood. And who would want to harm such a beauty." "You mages are a wicked bunch." The priestess turn and was about to leave. "Can I meditate here for a while?" I asked the priestess. "Of course, This is what the ce is meant for anyway." She sighed and left after replying. I activated my magic and sent out all the magicka in my body till exhaustion. It really was a painful feeling to be with no magicka. I then activated ¡¯Magicka Absorbing¡¯ spell on both hands and made the target is the space around me. My body started absorbing energy so fast that I was full in no time but after I finished I emptied my Magicka pool again, and kept repeating the process for two hours. This training is something I copied from cultivation novels in my past life and thought of doing the same with Magicka. The result however was amazing and it has gonepletelypatible with Mysticism School. My Magicka pool was erged by that training many times before but I feel that the results this time are extraordinary. I opened my eyes happily to find a strange sight around me. Roots has grown around me and it felt like nature is clinging onto me. My friends wereughing and say nts grew on my as if some sort of a dork. Seriously? Couldn¡¯t you at least tell me. I looked around to find the priestess was looking at me strangely. "What did you do just now?" She asked. "I forced my energy out and let it regenerate from the energy of the surroundings." I replied have the truth, I actually absorbed forcefully from the surroundings, and irlt was much more than one time. "What is the use of that?" She asked. "It heals the body and the soul." I made up some b*llsh*t. "Would it hurt the surroundings?" She asked again. "No, you actually give energy and take back energy. The energy you gave will be changed by the higher quality energy of the space to a higher level and you gain new energy. It¡¯s a good thing for both mages and nature as you renew both your energy and the nature¡¯s" That was the truth. "Amazing!" The priestess eximed in wonder. Of course it¡¯s amazing, it¡¯s my personal way of training. And you just got themercial grade version. After a short while I urge my friends out while freeing myself from the small nts that grew on me. Heading out through the tunnel I made another ¡¯Candlelight¡¯ but something strange urred. The light sphere was so strong and bright that it hurt our eyes, even though I used the same amount of Magicka likest time. I dispelled it and made another one with quarter the output and it was just about right. I got what happened after few fast experiments. My Magicka didn¡¯t just increase, it also became denser and with a higher quality. This is incredibly amazing. I just don¡¯t have more Magicka, I also don¡¯t need to spend it as much as before. Perfect. I¡¯ll celebrate with a ¡¯Sweet roll¡¯ and some ¡¯green tea¡¯ter. Our next spot was the hot springs. Yes, there are hot springs when there are sulfurous pools. In game it was a ce with few hunters grouping and bathing but this ce has no one, and there was still sun. With the cold winter this ce was akin to heaven. I marked two spots and made on for me and Wulfur and the other for the girls. Bathing like this is a bless no matter how hot the water was. I just wanted to do another Magicka training here but was toozy to do anything. With my progress today, I can focus on training my control and the Illusion school I ignored this far. Just when the sun was about to set. We headed straight to Darkwater Crossing and went right to sleep. The day after we headed towards Valtheim Towers traveling along ck River and the up to White River and approached Valtheim Towers in another three days. During this journey we were going to run into a bandit ambush but I discovered them through my Falcon Familiar and the guards rained them down with arrows. I¡¯ve never killed a soul yet, other than beasts. I¡¯ll have to do it one day but I am still in some mixed emotions about it. A dayter we arrived at Valtheim Towers. It¡¯s a military ce with a very high strategic importance as it is the best ce to pass between the east and the west of Skyrim. There are only two other passes. One was the rocky road in the south between Helgen and Ivarstead. The other one was in the north in the barren frozennd of the Winterhold and The Pale Holds where nothing lived for miles. Valtheim Towers was modded with a mod called ¡¯Tactical Valtheim¡¯ which made it into a fortified location. Travelers were allowed to stay for half a day with no trade meaning what so ever unless between them. We rested for a while and finally made our pass to ourst destination in the first half of our journey ¡¯Whiterun Hold¡¯. Chapter 14 Tourism in Whiterun After a day from passing Valtheim Towers, we could see arge city in the far golden ins. The caravan passed side to side with White River. The hold and the city were both named after this river. White River starts from Falkreath in the south passing Whiterun and Windhelm all the way to the Sea of Ghosts. Sailing in it is impossible due to the waterfalls, else this journey would be really easy. I was setting in the carriagefortability, reading a note and learning few more techniques in magic. Other passengers got used to the fact I am a mage and didn¡¯t mind much of my strange looking notes. I could feel the road under the carriage bing smoother and better, which meant we are at a well-made road near to a major city or a town. Looking at the road ahead we could finally see it. Whiterun City walls in the reach of vision. We were at the afternoon and so we would enter the city at sunset. As nned Svidi will stay in Ysolda¡¯s house and we boys will manage it somehow. Girls get all the best treatment after all. But I am so happy I came to Whiterun. This was my base of operations in the game and I hope I can get that old ce. As long as it was modded of course. I can¡¯t remember which house mod I installed in Whiterun but I always download ¡¯Breezehome TNF - Elianora¡¯s vour¡¯, Elianora (The modder) just did a job well done in decorating the ce plus, with original mod author remaking for the house, this ce was just too good. I close the note I was reading. It was about a new spell called ¡¯Soulfire¡¯, its idea was to link the Magicka pool with weapons enchantment¡¯s power reserve. It would take the enchanted weapons to the next level. As the carriage stopped, the sun has already gone down. Darkness will swallow the world soon so we said farewells to our fellow travelers and went right towards the city. Unlike the game there were many houses outside Whiterun¡¯s wall, but that was also part of the city. The stables where the carriages stopped were to our right as we followed the road ahead and passed through the first gate. After it, we walked and turned with the road to see a second gate that was well guarded. We had to pay the tax of entering the city as we don¡¯t have the identity of a citizen. Identities are pieces of wood that are marked with the date of its issue. Ysolda has her citizenship pass so she was okay. That sort of thing happens in each city but the security in Riften didn¡¯t exist to begin with so things was easy. Passing the second gate we headed straight to thest wooden big gate. What met us in Whiterun was a very bustling ce even though sun was going down. I don¡¯t remember that this city was like this. After asking around we discovered that Jarl Balgruuf the Greater has been blessed with a third child and it was a girl, so he threw a party to the whole town. So that little sh*t was finally born, there is some bad blood between me and that girl, from the game of course. But I¡¯m a pity person who takes revenge even on little girls. Back to present, the city has 3 areas; The ins District is the lower level of Whiterun; it is where themon-folk reside and trade amongst each other. The Wind District is the second level of Whiterun, and it is the home of the nobility in Whiterun, as well as, other notable groups. The Temple of Kynareth is located in the center of the Winds District, parallel to the Gildergreen Tree, an ancient tree that grew from the Eldergleam Tree of Eastmarch. The eastern side is the home of the Companions and the Skyforge. The Companions stronghold was the first building in Whiterun. Finally, there is the Cloud District, which is the home of Dragonsreach. We passed the streets while looking at beautiful city, after a while we reach the market square that has been turned into a festival area. Avoiding it and heading straight to a big building. That was it, my second home in game. The biggest inn in Whiterun, The Bannered Mare. That was a good ce for early yers to stay and also a gorgeous inn. In real life that wasn¡¯t much different except for how huge it was. The number of tables inside and outside also the tavern bards and music. This was what you expect from a Nordic medieval inn. We walked inside after Ysolda of course and looked around for a ce to sit. A maiden with an unusual silver hair came and guided us into the inn, the ce was good and nearby the fire pit. Unlike other holds, Whiterun had ¡¯fire pits¡¯ in every house. Other holds have proper fire ces, gamers always tripped in them though. Just as we sat Ysolda jumped up and held the silver haired girl to stop her from leaving. The girl was surprised and turned around to look at Ysolda. Ysolda voice was soft when she said "Olfina?" The girl looked at Ysolda with strange gaze that turned at once to wonder and screamed "Ysolda!" Just as Ysolda was nodding, Olfina attacked Ysolda and hugged her tightly. The inn turned silent for a bit and then few people harried over. The innkeeperdy and some other old women. If I remember this is Olfina Grey-Mane, daughter of Eorlund Grey-Mane, the greatest cksmith in Skyrim. While I was remembering who was Olfina, a blonde boy said "Ysolda from nine years ago? Mathjar¡¯s and Bryfa¡¯s daughter?" The inn turned into uproar at once, from what Ysolda told us, Mathjar and Bryfa were her parents who owned the General Goods store nine years ago. As the people realized that all came to greet Ysolda. Well that was warm and we were invited to many drinks. That blonde boy saved us in time though. He called off the party and sat with us beside Olfina. "I am Jon from n Battle-Born, sorry for thete introduction. This is Olfina Grey-Mane and the innkeeper there is Hulda. We used to know Ysolsa since way back." He introduced himself and the others, what a polite fellow. "Hello." the four of us spoke and nodded, then I looked at Ysolda to introduce us. "This is Akara and she will stay with me from today onward. This is Svidi and her brother Wulfur. and This is also a Jon, but you can call him Jon Dare." Ysolda made introduction but she forgot something. "Ah they were with me in Honorhall." Then she remembered. Olfina and Hulda made an "Ah!" showing sympathy for the poor little orphans, while Jon Battle-Born looked at me and said "Another Jon? It¡¯s hard to see one of our kind these days." "Indeed." I raised my tankard to him and he raised his to me, we clinkedughed to each other. I always liked this guy as an NPC in game. Few years from now the Battle-Born and Grey-Mane ns will have a feud, But Jon and Olfina who loved each other will remain true to each other. Thinking about it and remembering how I changed the fate of Wulfur and Svidi. How about I try to change Jon¡¯s and Olfina¡¯s? these two must be wed before 4E-201. Or they will have it hard. "So, how well do you know this city?" I asked. "Been here all my life." Jon answered. The same answer from the game. "You see, I don¡¯t want to be a bother, but I heard to many good stuff about this town and we need someone who knows the ins and outs." I made a request for a guide. "HAHA, you found the right man for the job my friend. I am free all day long, all I do is training and singing." Jon¡¯s dered. "A bard you want to be? Did you join the college?" Svidi jumped into the conversation. "I am a bit in no hurry to go there, also if I left some things unchecked, they might get robbed away." Battle-Born made a vague answer. "Oh!" I was taken aback. He didn¡¯t want to leave because the Grey-Mane n might find a husband for Olfina. "Well that¡¯s one¡¯s own choice after all. You said you train. You are bing a traveling bard or something?" I asked him. "Singing and fighting are the closest two arts to each in Skyrim. You want to be a good bard, you need to learn how to fight. Singing for the affection of wenches and boasting on no true heart is no Nord way." Battle-Born replied with a strong voice. "Well said, truly." I acted as if I was impressed by his words and filled his tankard with mead. Frankly this guy is honorable and smart, but he¡¯s a bitx andid back. "So, what¡¯s the interesting stuff in town?" I asked. "You can join the Companions if you want, they ept many young blood these days, their ce is the Jorrvaskr. You can visit Skyforge if you went there too and you can see the Glidergreen in the square of the Cloud district. You can go hunt in the ins or go to Old va for a soothsaying. And finally, the inn, here old Hulda will sink you in mead if you asked." Jon made his brief introduction to the city and said "Rest for the night and I¡¯ll show you around tomorrow morning." As we agreed to it, the celebrations outside cooled down. Olfina took Akara and Ysolda to the castle. Akara registered as a citizen and Ysolda took back the key and the title deed to her parents¡¯ house from the Jarl¡¯s Steward. As they got back. Svidi went with Ysolda and Akara to that small house. Me and Wulfur stayed with Jon Battle-Born at the inn drinking all night, after paying for two beds, we headed straight into dreand. ....................... The next day, we made an early start even when it was snowing outside. The market square was empty so it was for the better. Jon Battle-Born was in the inn after breakfast and we went out the three of, 2 Jons and 1 Wulfur. [A/N: I¡¯ll refer to him as just ¡¯Battle-Born¡¯ from now on] "So, first thing we go to the cloud district, you can see the castle from there, as well as the Temple of Kynareth, the Glidergreen, the old shrine of Talos, the Jorrvaskr and Skyforge." Battle-Born listed the day¡¯s program. This will be a busy day but I¡¯m still thinking about how to help him and Olfina. I had a n but it¡¯s a bit of a gamble. Let¡¯s just go to tour first, I urged the two slow guys and made our way to the Glidergreen square. The tree was beautiful. It born from the branches of the Eldergleam Tree we saw near Darkwater Crossing. I touched the trunk and I felt the same Magicka, yetpared to the Eldergleam, the Glidergreen was like a smallkepared to the ocean. It won¡¯t be bad to meditate directly to the tree. After thinking about it, I move all my Magicka into the tree and absorb its Magicka. Clearly not as good but not bad either. Let¡¯s just move forward. After visiting the Glidergreen, the shrine of Talos was the next stop. Talos statue was of a man d in armor holding a sword stabbing it down on arge serpent that refers to Talos manteling Lorkan. How Nordic! [A/N: I could not really understand the part about Talos and Lorkan in the lore, but all in all; Talos was a reincarnation of Lorkan aka Shezzar aka Shor then Talos used a method to ascend to goodlihood and rece Lorkan, correct me if I am wrong] A man in a priest robe was cleaning around the statute. "This is old Heimskr, he¡¯s the priest of Talos in Whiterun. He is having a hard time since the Empire banned the worship of Talos yet no one mind him here." Battle-Born said then led us to a building not far. "This is the temple of Kynareth, the best ce of healing in all Skyrim, and also a beautiful building." He bragged about the temple and how beautiful it is from the inside for a while. I already knew all that. An hourter people started to walk in the streets and went through the just opened stalls. I noticed some ¡¯Shadow Marks¡¯ carved on some shops. These are some secret marks rted to the ¡¯Thieves Guild¡¯. I looked for a fence and exchanged some items and information about the city. There seems to be a way for Battle-Born and Olfina to be together, but I need some preparations. I went back to the boys and went to the Jorrvaskr, the headquarters of the Companions. Have you ever seen a gym full of pros moving around and doing all macho stuff, that was it. The Jorrvaskr itself was the mead-hall of Ysgramor and his five hundredpanions. They came from another continent named Atmora, killed the Snow Elves (Falmer) that lived here before and built that ce. How very american... I mean Nordic. The true story that the continent of Atmora fell into civil war, people went south to a new continent and wanted to settle there. Elves were never fans of Humans because humans grew in numbers faster than them, they attacked the first human city ¡¯Saarthal¡¯. Ysgramor survived and fled back to atmora to find the war ended but it was freezing over so he raised and army and brought them back as his 500 goons in an event known as the Return, then drove the Snow Elves from Skyrim and established the First Nord Empire. The Snow Elves went to seek refuge to the Deep Elves (Dwemer) underground. The Dwemer tricked them into very that resulted for the Snow Elves to be turned into today¡¯s ¡¯Falmer¡¯ or some rather call the ¡¯The Betrayed¡¯. A very mean and evil race that survived with bugs and guarded the Dwemer abandoned cities after the Dwemer themselves disappeared somewhere. [A/N: That was the most brife verson of the story. There was more but I can¡¯t really write it all here, If I am mistaken somewhere point it quietly] Thinking about that senseless story we start watching the Companions who were training their whelps (greenhorns). I could see some familiar faces. The beautiful tomboy A, Farkas and Vilkas. Moving on we arrived at the Skyforge next to the Jorrvaskr. It was a small stony hill and a forge onto of it. On top of it was a monument of a bird whose eyes and beak were opened in me. Wulfur was losing his marbles when he saw therge forge that was emiting heat from a long distance. that was a little bit too much in my opinion. He was thinking of going nearer but Battle-Born stopped him saying this is as far as people can go. I on the other hand was immersed in my thoughts. I can¡¯t check this forge directly but there were a lot of Fire Magicka emitting from it. That may be a very good ce to master fire magic. But without a proper training method it would be extremely dangerous. When Wulfur knew that Olfina was Eurlond daughter he lost it once again. Too him, the daughter of Eurlond Grey-Mane must be a forge maiden not a bar maiden. This guy has a simple head. Looking at Jon Battle-Born and Wulfur, I remembered my friends from my past life. Fatty and Four-Eyes, these guys should have given my corpse a proper burial, and never touched a VR headset ever again. I smiled and moved these guys away from here. I went to the Jorrvaskr again and asked about joining the Companions, they told me that I have to stay in the city for a bit of time and be a ¡¯whelp under guidance¡¯ for few days before they ept me as a ¡¯full fledged whelp¡¯. I only have few days before the next caravan to Solitude, though. Let¡¯s do that after theing of age ceremony. I asked to train with the whelps for few days and they epted it, I can use the training yard. Actually, they don¡¯t mind anyone as long as they know how to fight. Jon Battle-Born lived to his family¡¯s name. He was a good swordsman. Wulfur was a shield bearer and an axe-man, his throwing skills were good too. He probably learned a lot from Balimund. I showed off my bow skill to have a conversation with A. She showed interest andpeted with me. That was a waifu from the game so I had a good time. Her red hair was the same as Hilda and she didn¡¯t have and paint on her face yet, which meant she isn¡¯t 16 yet. Her armor was so clumsy and big for a girl with a small build, it reminded me why she chose the armor from the game. Promising to train again tomorrow I went back to the inn dragging the two beaten up fellows. They gave me strange nces with their eyes, they were being beaten up by machopanions all day and I was having an archery contest with a girl. Well, I am a handsome guy for a reason, so don¡¯t let me waste my pretty face on nothing. We went to the inn and drank again, this night Battle-Born was too tired to walk home so he stayed in the inn. ................... Next day was a cold. The three of us walked under the cold light of day and helped cleaning the inn. We met the with Olfina, Ysolda, Akara and Svidi. Compared to us the girls looked healthy and all well-rested. We were raving all night after all. After breakfast we left, for the market as the girls wanted to buy stuff. Girls were girls no matter which star-system they came from. We walked all noon after them, it was one of those nightmarish shopping when boys just follow girls and carry all the stuff. During that time someone came to me and introduced himself with a codename. That was the Theives¡¯ Guild. As a member I can get some stuff I want from every cities¡¯ crew. I asked for some time and followed the man to a deste alley. "So, what do you have for me?" I asked. "Best ¡¯Moon Sugar¡¯ in the city, if you hand it to that woman she will do it right." The man said. "You sure she isn¡¯t some trickster old crone?" I double checked with the man. "She is the real deal I tell you. She works better, the better ¡¯Moon Sugar¡¯ she uses." The man confirmed the information. I paid him and left. That was some information about ¡¯va The Feeble¡¯. She is a woman in Whiterun who can see future reading for a price. ¡¯Moon Suger¡¯ is an alchemy ingrediant from Elswyr, the main ingrediant to make the infamous drug ¡¯Skooma¡¯. I was thinking about trying some Skooma once, but I train all day and Skooma is addictive effects can hinder me. I returned to the girls and finished the shopping, then took the boys and went to continue our tour. Battle-Born showed us his house and the ¡¯Hall of the Dead¡¯ where Nords bury their dead. After that we went to ¡¯va the Feeble¡¯, for some future reading. I acted excited and urged the guys. She could do some future reading with many things that includes reading tea leaves, reading palms and cards. The ¡¯Moon Sugar¡¯ is her trigger though. But seriously what¡¯s with old grannies doing drugs and seeing the future. va weed people front of her house, she was an old and weak woman. I sent her someone from the guild and gave her some of the high quality ¡¯Moon Sugar¡¯, I asked for a certain reading to be customized a bit. She was not happy about it, but when she was promised more high quailty ¡¯Moon Sugar¡¯ she agreed right away. Battle-Born didn¡¯t like knowing about the future to not worry himself about it, I told him he can just ask about any worthless stuff since I¡¯ll be paying. To make the y better, va was cooperating with an unusual way of a future reading that I suggested through my agent. She used cards. That was a bit umon for her usual business. "You are using strange paper this time." Battle-Born wondered. "Your friends paid a lot of money for an urate future reading my boy." va said. We took a card each, they were empty but we had to write the first word thate to our mind. I wrote ¡¯Blood¡¯. I don¡¯t know what the other wrote though. While taking the cards and cing them in order I made my move. I switched my card with Battle-Born¡¯s card. va knew about this and she moved to the first card, it was Wulfur¡¯s card. She held it with two hands and asked Wulfur what does he want to know about. "I want to know about Skyforge." Wulfur was stright as ever, Battle-Bornughed and I sighed. va closed her eyes and hummed. She started talking "I see a path filled with fire, a fire that no human can approch but you have to walk that path. To reach the forge, you have to not only rely on your luck, but also on the luck of the boy who fear no fire, he will take your hand and name you his brother." I was astonished. That was one vivid reading. I kinda felt scared now. Wulfur was astonished. He found a hint to his dream. Suddenly he turned towards me and held my shoulders with his hands, his eyes were shooting beams of happiness. "Did you hear that?" Wulfue asked. "Yes, yes. Congrats! Now go find that unburnable man." I asked and tried to push him. He was beaming with happiness knowing that he had a chance. "Okay Okay, Geez. Don¡¯t droll on me. It¡¯s my turn now?" I pushed him away and looked to va. "Now please my card." I said. "What do you want to ask about?" She asked. "I am asking about love." I said my request while joking. Everyoneughed. Wulfur said somethings about why I sould stop ying around with girls. Who is that ying around? I just use my otherworldly gentleman style with my devilishly handsome face. va held the card and made the same posture while humming then said "You are running out of time my boy. If you don¡¯t hurry and make the silver girl yours, her family will never approve of you. You have four winters." "What? What silver girl? Who is that?" I made a dump face. Wulfur and Battle-Born were startled. "The silver girl you love." va answered. "I don¡¯t know any silver girl." I replied. va made uneasy face and looked at the card again. Jon noticed the paper card and looked at it "Isn¡¯t that my card?" "Oh, the cards were mixed up then. Wait! isn¡¯t the silver haired girl Olfina?" I made up a dumbfounded face. "What?" Jon Battle-Born noticed and looked at va again. "Is that vision true?" "The vision depends on the cards my boy." va said the b*llsh*t I asked from her. "Damn! By the eight, why four years?" Battle-Born looked worried. I apologized to him in my heart but it was the truth, No one will believe me if I told them that the biggest two families of Whiterun will have a big fued four years from now. What made Jon Battle-Born believe it more is what he knew about the two families¡¯ beliefs. The Grey-Manes were Talos worshippers and the Battle-Borns were not faithful to Talos that much. The soothsaying of Wulfur was 100% va¡¯s effort. Battle-Born¡¯s was as we made in the deal. va returned Battle-Born¡¯s card back and took my real card this time. "You will still ask about love?" va asked, and I nodded. va took the card and made the same stuff once again. Then shegged. Hello! Anyone home? I was about to say something but she screamed and threw the card away. Okay, that¡¯s out of scenario. I don¡¯t know what she is doing right now. "I looked at her..." She said. "Yes? and?" I asked. va glupped and said, "... and open her red blood eyes and looked back at me." ...okay! Perfect, really. "So, I am having a horror-romance plot twist at some point." I made a spection. "That sound ominous." Wulfur said. "Yeah, think twice before you think of following me around again." I mocked him. We said our thanks to va and I handed her the rest of the deal. She held to my hand and said "It¡¯s all true. The three visions are." Her hands were cold and trembling. I guess there is some truth to it. It was not afternoon yet, so we took our time walking, but the three of us were thinking without speaking. I looked at Battle-Born and asked him if he is okay. "I am fine, it¡¯s just too sudden." Jon was a bit pale. "So, you have four years." I reminded him. "What to do then?" He was a bit in a daze. "Get married." Wulfur said it. Battle-Born froze, he had many things to be worried about now. I guess he won¡¯t getx. "That won¡¯t be easy, the Grey-Manes won¡¯t take me seriously." Jon was still negative, guess I¡¯ll give him a hand. "If you want to, you can join the Companions and make a name for yourself. You can go to the Bards college and finish there quickly. You also can join the High King¡¯s tournament and make achievements there." I counted the opening opportunities for him. He thought for a while and said he will think about it. I told him to go home and take it easy, then meet us tomorrow at the inn with his decision. "Let¡¯s head to the Jorrvaskr." I talked to Wulfur who nodded to me. Walking to there, we entered the training yard and met with the other whelps. It was the same as yesterday, Wulfur got beaten and I shot arrows with A. She was only interested in my archery skills though. She was faster than me but I hit the marks more urate. We told them we were leaving tomorrow for the High King¡¯s tournament and said our farewells. Next day Jon Battle-Born came with a knapsack and a stiff face, he said he¡¯ll head to Solitude. I knew he would do it. Olfina meant a lot to him and he had to step up. Well, if I didn¡¯t do that he would have done nothing even after the beginning of the game¡¯s events, he is not even involved in quests, so helping him won¡¯t affect the other quests seriously. Jon Battle-Born stood front of Olfina Grey-Mane. "I am leaving." He said just that. "Mhmm, I will be waiting." She said and nodded with a smile. "Two years." He told her how long it will take him. "Two years." She nodded with the same smile. Akara and Ysolda were clinging to Svidi and saying their farewells to her and Wulfur. Igged a bit behind until everyone finished. I talked with them for a bit and said some words to Akara¡¯s ears secretly. Here gaze turned cold and said "This one doesn¡¯t do fluff". Dammit, so heartless. What is the point of being a Khajiit girl if you don¡¯t fluff. As soon as everyone was done, the four of us left ¡¯The Bannered Mare¡¯ and headed to the stables outside the city. The new caravan started moving to the west and it had a smooth start. The first stop will be the City of Morthal, and the second will be Dragon Bridge after passing Hjal River, then to our final distention, Solitude. Chapter 15 The Team The road to Morthal was a pain, We had to travel with only a little rest, yet too many annoying encounters happened. First we met wolves, unfriendly as usual. Then we actually bumped into some wild undead, I got to use my Hammer to its full might. It also means that some ancient nordic tomb were unearthed somehow, or un-nirn-ed if we take the world¡¯s name into consideration. This was my first time fighting undead and it was rather, how do I say it? It was strange. I fought with a spriggan before so I am no stranger to fighting monsters that used to be fantasy to me, and also I can summon some undead but that¡¯s was really interesting to see how wild undead behave. The weapon they use are ancient. Its metal is rusty and its wood is rotten and green. Undead must be burned after defeat so the don¡¯t spread some weird unknown disease. Jon Battle-Born never knew I was a mage up until we set off. I kinda don¡¯t go around saying I can do magic so I don¡¯t get cold treatment from Nords. After a week of traveling north-west, we reached a mountain range. There were many caves here but unless you want to travel in the wild ins of Whiterun to get to Dragon Bridge, you just have to get to Morthal through the mountains. Cold Rock Pass is a cave off-road that is as its name so cold but it is considered a road for some traders. I haven¡¯t seen it as an official road in game but this was really a smart detour and also a beautiful sight to see. But what met us in the pass was a troll. This was my first time seeing a living one. The whole damn protection squad got ready to fight the moment the troll was spotted. It looked like an evil grey gori with long ws, evil head and three eyes, I offered cover by fire magic at this point. Trolls have a terrifying regeneration ability that could only be nulled by fire. I spammed Fire Bolts at the damn thing and I kinda pulled its aggro, Wulfur shield took a hit from the troll and he was sent flying. Seriously that was terrible, to send someone like Wulfur flying can only be done by someone as powerful as Hilda. It got pinned down by spears and I roasted it with fire, The smell was terrible and I got injured few times. Things went like this until the fire and the spears made the troll too tired to fight and it died with an unsightly appearance. It wasn¡¯t an easy fight but no one on our side died. After the fight was over, we started taking care of the wounded. There were 20 men in the team and they were fairly strong, they could have won with some casualties but Fire Magic ended the party early. The healing was done by me and those who could use Restoration Magic. Everytime magic be useful and there are Nords around I always tease them and boast how almighty Magic is. Some get provoked and some argue but trouble-making is fun that way. The caravan kept going into the pass for six hours. After we got out from it, we officially were in Hjaalmarch Hold. From here we took the off-road way and arrived to Morthal after a day. No one really travel to such town. Morthal is damp and full of marshes so travellers hate it for a reason, I wanted to stay in the town of Morthal to check out some game rted stuff but the caravan leader told us that Morthal Jarl has a bad reputation with Witchcraft. I was offended and wanted to argue but he said that this woman creeps him out unlike mages like me. I wanted to retort but I had no energy to, I am a mage who could conjure undead and Morthal¡¯s Jarl ¡¯Idgrod Ravencrone¡¯ was actually a good and wise woman with a mystic talent in magic that could make her see some events in the future in her dreams, her children have inherited talents like hers. She was creepy and all. Actually all the town of Morthal is creepy if you look at it from a far. It waspletely different from the game, it had the woodmill, theke and all these features but it had more taller houses and they were rather darker due to the atmosphere around the city itself which was dark and cloudy, the reason is actually the marsh around the town but the caravan leader wouldn¡¯t be convinced by just that. It has been 10 days since we left Whiterun. I haven¡¯t eaten something well cookedtely and our tent has a new resident so it was a very weary journey. Unlike the road from Riften to Whiterun which had three rest stops, the road from Whiterun to Solitude had two rest stops one of them the travellers would rather avoid. One can imagine that this journey was too much on the nerves and I couldn¡¯t study one single word. As we were finally moving on road, the caravan hasted to the west and we crossed Hjaal River, half a dayter we crossed the first branch of Karth River and went straight to the second. Karth River starts from The Reach Hold west of Skyrim and from the highernds in Hjaalmarch hold, passing beside Hjaal River and they both meet in the marches which is connected to the sea. To pass Karth River you need to cross Dragon Bridge, Dragon Bridge is a very ancient looking bridge that connects Haafingar Hold to the rest of Skyrim. Haafingar Hold was thends of the High King and the hold where the Capital City of Skyrim, Solitude is located. Dragon Bridge was entirely made of stone and has a carved dragon skull on top of it, one could tell it was a part of ancient history. [A/N: I really didn¡¯t find much in the wiki and I was a bit busy so if I said something wrong point it please.] Passing the bridge we arrived at a vige called after the bridge, right after it. Dragon Bridge vige was on a rocky river side, yet it has developed nicely due to its particr location on the onlynd road in Skyrim that leads to Solitude City. Dragon Bridge had a mill that transports wood to the hold and a very big inn that can be mistaken for a wooden castle the Four Shields inn. The n was to stay at this inn and head to Solitude the next day to reach it in three days, that concluded this journey as a sixteen days journey. After arrangements, everyone was ready to sleep at any bed even if it is in Oblivion itself, I was no exception to that. Let¡¯s just not think about how to get back. thinking about such a journey really gives me headache, I have to find a way to travel better than this. Maybe if I was under the protection of the ¡¯Steed Stone¡¯ one of the 13 Standing Stones, I would have a better time traveling in the future. The ¡¯Standing Stones¡¯ is something that the annoying Author forgot to mention. But please, don¡¯t me that guy. Currently he¡¯s at a summer resort and trying to figure out his touring schedule. How enviable! Back to the topic, The Standing Stones are standing upright magical stones located throughout Skyrim. Legend tells of the stones granting special powers to heroes of old, giving them the ability to rewrite their fate. Standing at approximately 3 meters in height, the ancient looking stones each disy a different Tamrielic constetion carved into its body. A total of 13 stones are dotted across thend, one for each month of the year, and The Serpent, which has no month associated with it. The stones only seem to respond to certain individuals, but it is unknown what the qualifier for this is. Under the effects of the mod ¡¯Andromeda¡¯. it reced the mundane vani Standing Stone effects with two new abilities per stone. And upon discovering all Standing Stones, each of them also grants a unique power. The Steed Stone had two effects, Explorer and Gallop. By ¡¯Explorer¡¯ The Steed increases carry weight and with ¡¯Gallop¡¯ the Steed increases movement speed and Stamina regeneration when out ofbat. They are very good at lone traveling. I was under the protection of the Shadow Stone myself. It granted me Blind power increases movement speed inbat and Hide in Shadows which works near a wall or obstacle, it causes sneaking and sneak attacks to be more effective. Back to the traveling topic I was nning to buy a horse at some point but I am looking for a good breed. Nord horses on the other hand are hardy but slow. they can endure the cold weather of Skyrim. While thinking about that my heavy head already sank to deep sleep. .................... I woke up with no energy at all. Looking at the people around me, it looked like a scene from a zombie movie. They people were still tired and our bodies were screaming for some rest. I take my Knapsack and take out few options. Stamina restoration potion is the best choice for this moment. I go down to the inns hall and find my three friends setting on a table and leaving a ce for me. After I set I take out the green potion. Wulfur and Svidi saw it and held their tankards to me. I pour some in each drink. Battle-Born looked questionably and I told him what it was. He held his tankard immediately after knowing. Drinking potions in reality is different from the game. Potions are medicines so the must be used under strict rules. Drinking them watered didn¡¯t affect their effects so there were advised that way. After consuming the potion we were back on track and energy filled our bodies once more. Other travelers considered potions to be only for emergencies so no one would use stuff as wastefully as me. Speaking of my wealth I am actually not poor at all even though I just left the orphanage a month ago, I used to work with the thieves and I always trade stuff with travellers. Also I could gather some rare ingredients like Nirnroots and and other ones from around the Eldergleam sanctuary. I also sold many stuff I hunted in the journey to the merchants that traveled with us. I have a total of 24 gold, 19 silver and 37 copper Septims. [A/N: 1G = 10S = 100C] Carrying too many stuff made me wish for some extra dimensional storage like the ones they get in novels. There are magics that can do stuff like that but quite high leveled. After eating and drinking we headed to the carriages and waited for the rest of the people. The walking dead arrived and the caravan set route to Solitude. Haafingar¡¯s roads were much better than the rest of the holds, I could read the whole story of Queen Potema of Solitude. A powerful necromancer, she was. That all the hold of Haafingar was deserted after she turned it into a realm of undead. She was a Septim blood so she had a im to the Imperial throne. After her son died in the fight for the throne she griefed and unleashed all the undead she had on the world. After death she was sealed somewhere under Solitude. Closing the book I dozed off until we set camp. ............ Three day has passed and we could see a unique looking and extraordinarilyrge hill, or not? Let¡¯s just describe it as a hill rocky hill that arge river pass beneath it. It also serves as a wind breaker for the docks in the river. Above thisrge rocky hill, a city was built. That was our destination, Solitude. It had arge castle at the entrance of the city which was Castle Dour, the headquarters of the Empire in Skyrim. There was also arge windmill,rge towers and a blue dome. That blue dome is of The Blue Pce, the king¡¯s residence. The sun was going down so we had to hurry up and enter the city before dark. Entrance to Solitude is guarded by two gates and three towers. The first of these towers, situated at the crossroads, is Sky Tower. It¡¯s mostly a lookout, although in times of war, barricades are erected across the nearby road to act as a first line of defense. The second tower and first, smaller gate are collectively known as the Squall Gate. Here, attacking armies meet their first real resistance. Last and certainly most impressive is the Storm Gate. While Castle Dour, found just within the city¡¯s main gate, has always been a massive walled structure. Looking up and to the left of the main gate, one can see more rounded style of architecture that was the same as in the Castle Dour extension, as well as the windmill. Now we pass through the gates and enter the main shopping district of Solitude. Long road it was yet clean and has few trees left and right. There also was many stalls still working. I thought the city was going to be quite once it gets dark yrt it was lively. Let¡¯s just head to the inn. It¡¯s called the ¡¯Winking Skeever¡¯, why you ask? because the owner used to have a skeever and it used to wink. [A/N: Skeevers arerge rats, veryrge that if you are afraid of rats like me then all you can do is just spam Fireballs at them from afar] That was what he said in the game. I don¡¯t think having a Skeever will qualify you to manage an inn even in Riften. Booking two rooms and leaving our stuff at them we go down to get information. I was looking for specific information about the tournament. The High King¡¯s tournament is an event that happens once every year for the king¡¯s birthday. It also serves a yearly talent show for Skyrim¡¯s warriors. The tournament two major events for two different age stages. The Junior stage is for 20 years old and younger as long as you are suitable. The Senior stage is for 21 years old and older as long as you are suitable. No one really uses magic even though it¡¯s allowed but the people don¡¯t like it so it¡¯s mainly battle prowess. I won a token to enter the tournament in Riften, each hold has a fixed number of holds so I was able to participate. Each participant can have his team in the tournament. They could be chosen by the participants and the limit was five. I was nning to go in with Wulfur but we picked Jon Battle-Born from Whiterun and our chances were better. I wanted to have the upper limit but all the people I could find were Senior stage. Let¡¯s hope for the best anyway. They were five stages; duels, shooting, horsemanship , team duels and the most devastating of all, Battle Royal. The duels were by challenging each others. One can challenge each participant or helper once. Even helpers can enter the ranks of this stage. Its time limit was the whole damn tournament. The shooting was at the range by time and score, each participant and helper had only one chance to shoot whatever they are good at. From arrows to axes to knifes and even magic. The horsemanship wasn¡¯t much different. except it was for many targets and you ride in a track while shooting at them or hitting them with a melee weapon. The team duels were elimination matches. The Battle Royal was on thest day as and it was ast man standing match free for all. There was an Arena in main yard of Castle Dour. First day was the speech day. The king and the jarls along with the other emissaries will gather that day to congratte the king, and challenge each others along with the other famous warriors. The second day is the day of duels that all the senior and junior teams would gather and issue challenges to each others. The duels can keep going the for the whole tournament but must be issued beforehand and you can¡¯t challenge the same person twice, which means after you challenge him, he can challenge you. The shooting matches will be held from the third to the fifth day. The horsemanship from the sixth to the eighth day. Both have three days and it would be determined by the score of the highest team member. The team duels are the main event of the whole tournament. it starts at the ninth day and ends at the twelfth. 32 teams eliminate each other and rise for the champion title. In Skyrim there were know second or third ce nonsense. We Nords win the whole damn thing or go back to where we came from. The champions would receive Skyforge Swords for the participant and his helpers. These were one of the few ways to get your hands on a Skyforge steel. If I get one then I¡¯ll turn the whole damn Skyrim upside down for the best Soul Gem and ask Nurina to enchant it. After the Team Duels, the thirteenth day is a break and rest for the fourteenth day. The Battle Royal. The Legendary Last Man Standing Free For All Battle Royal. No alliances allowed. Just some good old pure Nordic mayhem. I read a brief note about this before but that big announcement on the wall of the inn made my blood boil. Many teams were with us in the inn, some teams were with their sponsors. we all looked at that announcement notice and some people read it for those who can¡¯t. These events were for both Juniors¡¯ Stage and Seniors¡¯ stage. I gave everyone their mission. Wulfur, Battle-Born and I will focus on training for now. Svidi and Battle-Born will register in the College of Bards and will focus on our propaganda. The best ce to neuter a bard is in the stage of fights so Svidi will sing for us as a cheerleader. A beautiful girl with long ck hair and lean figure will give us poprity. Battle-Born will go with a sword and dagger as his Duelist style was. Wulfur is my shield bearer but I used to call him ¡¯tank¡¯, and I will go on with a hammer. Finally the team must have a name. My naming scene is terrible and everyone knew that, actually I haven¡¯t given my hammer a name for that very reason. After nning it all in ten minutes, we to make a team name. I conjured all my past life knowledge to get a good one. After two hours of cursing and mocking each other we came to a decision. Our team¡¯s name will be.... [A/N: I spent 3 hours thinking about a name and never got one, I know how terrible my naming sense is and I always rely on name generators but you guys deserve better. you guys help me with the name or it will be a disaster next chapter if I picked it up myself.] [A/N: Also find a name for the damn hammer.] Chapter 16 Day 1: Start of the Tournamen The team name was "White Wolves". How we arrived to this name was funny really. A traveller named ¡¯Chaos_Chan¡¯ was setting on table next to us, while we were arguing about the name, she said "how about ¡¯Gwynblidd¡¯." which meant ¡¯White Wolf¡¯ so we epted it. [A/N: Thank you ¡¯Chaos_Chan¡¯ for helping with the name, I took the most likedment, Thank goodness I didn¡¯t steal a team name from the king¡¯s avatar] [A/N: The Hammer will be Agni-Ra, Gods of Sun from Hindu and Egyptian mythology, Thanks for AlexTolo suggestions. As long as it has something Egyptian in it, it works] ............. After a day Svidi and Jon Battle-Born came back to the inn with high spirits. Both have been epted after passing the test of the college. Svidi already had a rmendation from five years, and Battle-Born has been singing for long time. Both passed from the first test. One of the teachers in the college advised Svidi to make a more artistic name, as her name was fine and all but it was in and people may not remember it well, so it would be better for her to make a more catchy name. Svidi came back to the inn and took suggestions from us, another naming battle urred but Svidi already had a name in mind. She named herself Lynly Star-Sung. I was amazed for a second from her choice. The name was the same name she used to hide herself from Sibbi ck-Briar after he killed Wulfur in the game. I didn¡¯t know why, but fate was kinda scary. Once upon a time she choose that name to hide, once upon a time she choose it to be famous. Let¡¯s just say that things are going for the better this time. ............. I toured the city for a while yesterday alone and spotted few ¡¯Shadow Marks¡¯ of the ¡¯Thieves Guild¡¯. I tried to find a fence but all I could find was an Argonian from the ¡¯East Empire Company¡¯ his name was ¡¯Gulum-Ei¡¯ and he offered the information I needed. What I was after was information about the other 31 participant from the Juniors¡¯ Tournament. I had to buy a booklet with the info for 8 gold Septims. The booklet contained urate information about each participant and their origins, ages, sponsors, what skills are they known for and their possible helpers. Most of the sponsored participants and the high end gamblers already had these booklet, and the Argonian told me that the gambling on the Juniors¡¯ stage is much more fiercer than the one in the Seniors¡¯. The juniors are new blood and not as known as the seniors so people tend to gamble more on the unknown participants. And the known seniors duels are less in number than the hot blooded juniors, also most of them don¡¯t even bring helpers. So, from all that, all the junior matches are the important ones, while the seniors is only in the name of honor of fighting against the best opponents. That also exins why the rewards of the Junior stage is much better from the seniors. Once I looked at the names in the list I found many interesting ones. Each n, organization and faction has sponsored someone. From Solitude there were five teams most of them have the word ¡¯Wolf¡¯ like us as it was the city symbol, four were sponsored. Whiterun sent four teams three of them are Companions, all were sponsored. Morthal sent three teams, one was sponsored. From Riften four teams including ours, two were sponsored. Falkreath sent three teams, only one was sponsored. Markarth sent three teams too, two were sponsored. Windhelm sent five as much as the king¡¯s city, and Jarl Ulfric sponsored them all. Winterhold sent only two teams, one was sponsored by the Jarl and to my surprise one was sponsored by the College of Winterhold itself which meant there will be mages. Dawnstar sent three teams which all of them were sponsored. Jarls, weapon shops, miningpanies and guilds could sponsor many teams, even the king himself can. Of course none of that was official but sponsored teams would have much better gear and potionspared to other teams. Ulfric Stormcloak himself sponsored five teams, this man was aggressive as ever. One of the teams directly called themselves the Stormcloaks. The Companion sponsored three teams but that wasn¡¯t strange for the fighting guild of Skyrim. The king sponsored a team of the best Juniors in Solitude called ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯. In our section in the booklet my name was written and was mentioned as ¡¯a talented kid who grew up in the orphanage of Riften as for the skills then this boy has many rumors about him but we could say he is trained for only five years. As for his helper we could only suspect a cksmith boy who always followed him, the boy is talented as a cksmith which only means he has a strong build. No sponsor was found.¡¯ So no one knew about Jon Battle-Born yet. The Battle-Born n is big and old but they don¡¯tpete because the Grey-Manes don¡¯tpete too. The Grey-Manes are the n that was paid by the king to make some of the prizes of the tournament. Jon Battle-Bornpeted under a no sponsored team of a different city so no one will make fuss about it. I was reviewing the booklet information with my team, as we reach the castle¡¯s main yard. Castle Dour front yard, the ce where the fights will be held, also allowed the participants to enter the ce for training. We had four days left for the tournament so we went to train and see the other participants. This ce in the game is the ce on must go to for joining the imperial legion so I kind of knew how it would look like, but it wasrger than I thought. I also thought it would be strange to make and arena here but the preparations I saw made me in awe, it was a good job making all that. They made ces for the spectators and one got the VIPs, there were enough ces to take 5000 spectators with ease. We picked a corner and started our warming up. Some teams were here already but there armors and weapons were poorer than even ours. After all we have a personal cksmith, me a coin digger and also an apprentice alchemist, Battle-Born was from a rich n and have brought his coin purse with him so we all were at a good standing. After training we went back to the inn as. ........... Four days has passed and many people gathered in the arena. High King Torygg and Lady Elisif, as well as the Jarls and the Thanes of all the holds were here. High King Torygg thanked everyone who came and wished for a fair and a good tournament. The Jarls made the same and congratted the High King for another year of his reign, Ulfric Stormcloak wasn¡¯t that nice to Torygg but he said the customary speech. After that was done, the famous warriors of the holds and the Jarls started challenging each other. Jarl Ulfric challenged Jarl Balgruuf, Galmar Stone-Fist challenged Bolgeir Bearw, Thane Brylyn challenged Irileth the famous dark elf and close aide to Jarl Balgruuf, Unmid Snow-Shodst year Junior champion challenged Brunwulf Free-Winterst year¡¯s Senior champion. All these matches were to hype up the tournament and to make things more spicy, they all ended with draw except for the champions matches. Brunwulf Free-Winter sent Unmid Snow-Shod flying with a his hammer. What brought an end to the day was King Torygg¡¯s match with Jarl Igmund of Markarth. The king of course won, what a sham. The people cheered and all then the participants and their helpers were invited to the middle of the Arena to listen to the king¡¯s speech which was directed for them. He said few words of courage and honor then we had to cheer and make ourselves look like some crazy Nord warriors, only after that we could challenging the hell out of each other. An hourter I was bored and wanted to slip away and do some reading or anything just to discover that Wulfur received a challenge, and to my surprise the challenger was from team ¡¯ck-Snow¡¯ of Riften and he was none other than Sibbi ck-Briar. ck-Snow team was made of Sibbi and his brother Hemming along with Asgeir Snow-Shod. The three rich brats of Riften or as I like to call them in order. The Annoying, The Wimp and The Idiot. So that bastard came here. And he came all the way by himself to pick a fight, Fine. "Wulfur, have his head." I said to Wulfur who nodded with a sneer. Of course killing is not allowed. He thought he can win against his truma if he won against my friend, too bad what was known about Wulfur is only that he is a cksmith boy. Well, Unless you are a troll, you can¡¯t do anything about Wulfur¡¯s shield, ¡¯The High Dam¡¯. The High Dam is a shield one 1.5 meter of smooth steel enchanted with ¡¯Fortify Block¡¯ effect, and its weight is something that scares me, I barely can carry it. Of course Wulfur¡¯s physical strength is above that of mine. He can carry the damn thing and run around with it. I also suggested to him how to make a charge so he can bash people away. Wulfur always carried few normal axes that can be thrown and fought with, and no one would want to receive an axe thrown by him. He also liked to wear heavy armor, and one of his dreams was to create one of the sets in my skitch notes as his armor using Skyforge of course. His style was that of turtle that can jump at you any moment and may throw scary axes at you. He also can use a ¡¯il¡¯ which was a morning star mace with a chain connecting the stick and the mace itself. Let¡¯s just call his style the ¡¯Hopper Juggernaut¡¯. Wulfur carried his shield with one hand. How admirable! He walked to the middle of the arena and stood front of Sibbi, then he walked left the walked right like a lion sizing up his opponent. The people were taken aback by the Ironman, Wulfur¡¯s behavior, he really was acting a bit cocky for a 15 years old going against someone older. He took the il from his side and positioned his shield ahead of him. Sibbi was a sword user and also carried a shield and was donned in an expensive looking armor, he made a pose and stode face to face against Wulfur. The announcer came voice sounded, "Herees Sibbi of ck-Briar n, fame is his name, shiny is his armor and sword is not in. He issues a load challenge to an iron man, with a shield too heavy so what¡¯s his n?" The artistic words of the announcer made the people anticipating the fight even more, bets were set and the judge voice sounded, "Sibbi ck-Briar of team ¡¯ck Snow¡¯ and Wulfur of team ¡¯White-Wolves¡¯, fight with honor, don¡¯t kill, don¡¯t poison, don¡¯t use dirty words in the presence of the High King and the Jarls. any of these actions will revoke you from the tournament, understood?" The two nodded and looked at each other fiercely, that¡¯s the spirit. The judge gives them the permission to fight and Sibbi charges like a mad person. He tried to kick the shield but Wulfur was as steady as a rock and didn¡¯t attack back, Sibbi tries to sh shield to shield but Wulfur bash his shield against Sibbi who was about to fall. Wulfur was smiling, he could hear his sister speaking among the crowd cheering for him. She used some artistic lines as the announcer a while ago and some people was actually liking his heavy shield style. After few shes between the two I could feel Wulfur already had enough fun and was going to wrap this up. He bashes away Sibbi whose face was red after being yed around so much. The he takes few steps back and puts himself in a charging posture. This was something You can see at RPGs known as ¡¯Knight Charge¡¯ and Wulfur kinda liked to do it. Sibbi was huffing and looking at the big shield and its bearer and was ring as if his eyes were about to shoot out fire then her ran to Wulfur. Wulfur was waiting for this, as soon as Sibbi ran he jumped ahead in a charge and closed the distance in a second. What could Sibbi see was a shield growing so big in a second that it strangely felt so close. what the people saw was a beeline of a human and a shield the was about to bump into another human. A sound of sh could be heard and someone flew. That was Sibbi flying away after being charged at. In my past life we called that hit and run but the culprit was a car usually. This time it was a man with a shield. Sibbi fell to the ground and the whole arena went silent, they thought it was going to take a bit longer but Wulfur was as if a car had hit a person and couldn¡¯t stop his charge that easily so he had to take a second to stop. The judge looked at Sibbi and found him unconscious. This was all to it. A fast win is a fast win, this was expected to happen but it was reversed in some people minds. Everyone thought that the ck-Briar boy would y around with his heavy opponent and tire him slowly, but that charge was just too absurd. Even some of the Jarls were discussing how to deal with such a thing. After a while people came to carry Sibbi. Wulfur came from the stage and stood with a dissatisfied face. "What?¡¯¡¯ I asked. "Tch, too easy, That evil bas*ard was just yed with." Wulfur was expecting some more. "Man, you are just that good." I sighed and refuted. Some people looked at him from the VIP stage, this was a good opportunity to pick up good talents from the unsponsored teams. Few matchester we received another challenge and this time it was me. The challenger from the Companions first team, Farkas. Why is that ice brain is looking for me? I carried my hammer which was named ¡¯Agni-Ra¡¯ and headed to the stage. The announcer started spewing some b*llsh*t about thepanions and how unlucky the opponent is. I looked at Farkas and raised my brows, he smiled at me and said "I saw you in the Jorrvaskr before but I didn¡¯t know you wereing here, A said you are a good fighter and it happens I don¡¯t have anyone to challenge." "How arrogant! you don¡¯t have any of those great fighter in your eyes?" I asked whileughing. "Bah! these are some rich milk drinker or people who are trying to be picked by the rich. you don¡¯t look like that to me." Farkas was serious though. "Fine, game on." I raised my hammer which was resting on my shoulder while saying that. Farkas carried his two handed broadsword and took his posture, I also made my stance and held the hammer with both hand. The judge gave the permission to fight but we didn¡¯t move. We just kept ring at each other. The first to give up at this staring contest was Farkas, he tried to swing his sword horizontally but I swung the same time with him while taking a step back. My aim was not his body but the sword¡¯s pommel in his hand that was still in swinging motion. My speed was higher than him and I couldnd the hit urately, Farkas was surprised as the sword flew away from his hand and his hands became red and started shaking, I tried to take the opportunity and strike him again but he was still ready and he kicked me in the torso sending me back. I barely recovered from the kick, this guy is stronger than me but a bit slower. He jumped back to take his sword and I gave a chase. Once he reached his sword, he swung it back at me which I had to dodge away and retreat a bit back, but that was the beginning of my headache. Farkas relied on his strength to push me back again and again, I couldn¡¯t find a good opportunity to make aeback at him. On this rate it will be bad for me. I slowed a bit and waited for him to charge at me, with a step to the right I dodged him and attacked with a kick to his knee. I could see his face turn agunish from the sudden kick. His armor covered most of his upper body but his lower half was not that much guarded. I, on the hand had a full armor of reinforced leather leg and arm guards which were made of leather and bars of metal, and enchanted as well, I had a good piece of te armor on my torso and chest as well as a helmet. My armor was light and protective, Wulfur¡¯s best work. After few tries of pulling and pushing with each other, I found an opportunity while he was making a side step and ambushed the leg he was leaning on, soon after his posture crumbled and I found a chance to hit him with the hammer on the right side of his upper body armor. His breathing worsened but he was like a maniac, he threw away his sword and jumped at me from two meters away. I hurriedly took a step back while spinning my body around itself and in the process sent my hammer to his other armor¡¯s side. His jump changed direction midair and he fell down holding his side. The judgees to him and check his injury, then he ends the match was me as the winner. Farkas was hurting but he smiled while he was being taken to the healer. This guy likes to fight I am sure of it, let¡¯s just get along with thepanions from now on. After a while Jon Battle-Born was challenged and he won with style. After his name was announced as a Battle-Born, the VIP area was in a stir but they calmed down when they found out that he wasn¡¯t even in a sponsored team let alone representing anyone, he was here on his own. The day came to an end and people reevaluated the participants once again. let¡¯s just say that my team has got a better standing and we won many of today¡¯s gambles. [A/N: not a long chapter but I was not in any mood to write today, I may start writing smaller chapters to make it easier on myself for the time being and to be able to continue longer.] Chapter 17 A Good Bath, A Good Figh [A/N: Check out our new group on discord, link at the end of the chapter. Enjoy] Healing magic can¡¯t erase fatigue, that¡¯s something I learned the hard way. One night, when I was absorbed in reading I cast healing on myself to resist sleeping and I was still nine years old. The next day I copsed from fatigue and got scolded by Nurina. After that, I made a decision to take it easy when recovering from fatigue. And the best way was through a hot bath and a good sleep. Luckily for me, Solitude has a bathhouse and the participants like me who won and were witnessed by many were treated like nobility in that ce. The bathhouse was outside the city near the river. A ce were men spent time away from their wives. It was an open space with a water wheel to draw water in, and a boiler to heat water, along with many small and tall white tents, every tent has a wooden tub. Wenches of bathhouse were its number one feature. You can go in there, spend your money and go out with a wide happy smile. There are also some other services like cleaning clothes, and there was a barber. I¡¯ll definitely use all these features. I was beaten up the most after my match with Farkas, so I needed it the most. Using healing well only close my wounds and protect me from any internal injury but won¡¯t heal my soul. So, I took the boys and went to see the bathhouse. I must admit I didn¡¯t expect that many wenches, but it seems that the bathhouse owner expected many visitors during the tournament. And as we, the lucky customers arrived just first thing after the tournament, we saw a lot of girls ready for duty. But Dammit! No Khajiit wenches found. Barely some Bosmer and Dunmer girls, the rest were humans. Well, as my saying goes ¡¯if it doesn¡¯t have a chance to fluff, then go back to the original human way¡¯. I go in with most expensive two girls, a Redguard and a Nord, all that under Battle-Born and Wulfur cold gazes. "You can do it too, I won¡¯t tell a soul." That¡¯s what I said before picking a tent and disappearing with two girls. Removing my gear and clothes, I sat in the bathtub while asking the Redguard girl called Zena to take my stuff for cleaning. The other girl, whose name was Elishka, started washing and massaging my back, I must admit, this feeling is a blessing. All that month of traveling I have seen my naked body few times as I swam in some river for cleaning and it was cold as Oblivion itself. I kinda missed the bathrooms from my past life. Mirrors in this world were rarely found and I could see myself in is my reflection in the water. My muscles that I never had in my past life were in a good shape, my body is 1.8 meters and I still has a chance to grow more as I am not 18 yet. My face was as handsome as ever too, my red hair has grown very muchtely that I have to tie it together, I took many of my looks from Hilda. My blue eyes had a strong color and my brows were a bit wide and darker than my hair, if I had a beard then this young man will be a true killer. I smile for a bit and it seems like the massage has kicked in. "Bring me some of the city¡¯s spiced wine." I say, sending the girl away. She nodded and ran out. I hurriedly take my knapsack I brought with me and take out a white potion. This secret potion is something I found in an old book of Alchemy, it was about preparing a potion from Trolls¡¯ ingredients called ¡¯Essence of the Troll¡¯. This potion definitely came from the mod ¡¯Sch**ngs of Skyrim¡¯, it has the ability to make little Jon grow in size. I gulped it and put the bottle back. A few secondster the magic started to happen and the effects were great, I felt like a troll, a ho*ny one. I closed my eyes to calm my mentality and keep my thinking straight. A minuteter the two girls came back with few bottles and cups. A small cup in my hand, a Nord girl with an alluring body at my back and a Redguard girl with dark skin and athletic muscles in my front. Short minutester, I drank the whole cup in one go and looked at the girls while losing what¡¯s left of my sense. Throwing the cup away can only be followed by pulling one of the two girls on my hips. Though I was a bit greedy and pulled the two. Elishka¡¯s body was soft and sensual, Zena¡¯s body was very well toned and had soft muscles. I couldn¡¯t say which I would prefer between those two, I¡¯ll just have to find out for myself. I pulled the strings of their one piece clothes, they became wet long ago and revealed most of the goodies already. I was sitting in the tub and they stood up to undress. After removing their one-piece dresses they became in their battle suits ready and waiting. I stand up along with these girls in the tub ready to take my time with them. I could already make guesses on how good these girls were but that was too shocking. That Elishka girl on my left side is definitely using ¡¯UNP Blessed Body¡¯ in its most voluptuous options. her body is sinful beyond redemption, all these curves and canyons made me lose my words. Dibe did quite a good number using ¡¯BodySlide Studio¡¯. These east-west melons, the hourss figure, the soft skin and the long brown hair, the eyes which were downturned yet her hazel pupils were screaming ¡¯desire¡¯, all that can trap souls with no ¡¯Soul Trap¡¯ spell. On the right side was Zena, her figure was as if it was dancing with the vapor, her torso was thin but had the perfect amount of muscles for a dancer, her body was not as sinful as Elishka but it was more flexible and she could bend it anyhow, her melons were round and ripe, her face had a hint of thrilling danger in it, her eyes were amber and her hair was ck in curls that fitted her dark skin. I didn¡¯t know where to start so I picked a girl in each arm and started a kissing round with them, I don¡¯t know how it went but little Jon was having the time of its life in the girls¡¯ hands. A little while after, I pressed on Elishka¡¯s head down as she kneeled in front of me and started giving a special attention to little Jon. I carried Zena and she wrapped her beautiful athletic legs around my torso as my hands went everywhere around her body as our lips never parted. A while after I sent her down with Elishka, now little Jon had all the attention, in rounds. Not a long after I could feel my soul being trapped through little Jon and it became messy down there. The effect of the potion I took a while ago was making wonder as little Jon was demanding more attention. I could see the girls decided to teach that insolent fellow some manners and bake it in the oven. Zena came behind me and pushed me on Elishka who wasying in the tub. the tub has lost most of its water due to moving around all this while. Elishka leaned on left while opening the gates of Tartarus to receive me in, I couldn¡¯t help but take that woman on. Her everything was so captivating that refusing such invitation from such person may conjure the wrath of heavens on me. We answer the call of desire and stuffed little Jon into the oven. It was hot and wet as if it was powered by magma, staying like that for a while is the best option to take while waiting for little Jon to adapt in. We couldn¡¯t leave the rest of the game unmanned, as I had to go left and right making Elishka¡¯s moan loader. Our moans needed to be suppressed, but I had only one idea on how to do that, and it was a sessful double suppression. Zena wasn¡¯t free all that time, she used her lightweight to cling on my back and joined the game of me and Elishka. I could feel her round melons on my back all the time. Little Jon had already taken his time adapting and had to retort to that hot oven, it went back and advanced again, all the vigor started to return to it. Outside at the gates of Tartarus, Elishka¡¯s moans were hard to contain and I was no better, her legs were wrapped tightly around me. Due to the shaking, the sound could be heard as if Cronos himself was trying to break out of Tartarus. Elishka¡¯s leg lock meant that the only way outside is through, I must put down that woman or her demands won¡¯t be satisfied. Zena made the matter worse. She was moaning just from hearing us moaning, couldn¡¯t help but to send a hand to check her oven, it was already spewing magma and little Jon was fighting hard on one front right now. After a minute Elishka¡¯s body twisted up and down as her oven send all its magma at me, her arm can¡¯t support her anymore and she let her strength loose as her gate of Tartarus crumbled before mighty Cronos. [A/N: Should I change it from little Jon to Cronos?] Next was that troublemaker Zena, I grabbed her fiercely and took her on Elishka. Their faces met and Zena was out of sanity shing even with the fallen Elishka. Elishka sobered a bit and took Zena head-on in a long kiss. I center myself behind Zena and invade her oven with little Jon. That ce was tight and perfect, little Jon started action immediately. Zena was moaning crazy and Elishka was suppressing her lips to lips, I held to Zena¡¯s back while working on her oven, after a while I flipped her to face me, she rested her body on Elishka¡¯s and now I had the two girls cornered and ready to be yed with. I moved from Zena to Elishka and took my time with both. Not long after, Zena¡¯s oven was giving up all the magma it had to little Jon. That was it for round one, round two and three came after until little Jon finally gave it his all and made mess all around the girls. They were too tired to stand but a minuteter Zena stood and washed herself and Elishka. Then they washed me again and it all was clean. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. This was my first time in this world and it was fantastic. Living a normal life on earth made my standards so demanding in this life. After washing, the girls dressed me and remained naked in front of my eyes. "Master,e to see us again!" Zena waved while making a fake innocent face. "Yeah, sure." I was satisfied beyond description so I just waved away. On my way out, I saw the bathhouse mistress ring at me, I walked to her and said hey. "Your friends have already left, and you owe us two hours." The mistress said. "I already paid for two hours." I retorted, I paid and these people won¡¯t work unless be paid to. "These were the first two hours." Thedy said with scary cold eyes. But wait! "What do you mean the first two hours?" I couldn¡¯t help but ask stupidly trying to think it was not true. "You blind boy? It¡¯s already evening. You have spent four hours." The woman said something I was trying to mishear. "F- F- Four h- hours?" I was holding myself not to cry it out loud. "Seriously what are these girls thinking? I even went to yell at them to hear them moaning two tents away, no girl could take business around you." The woman was shaking her head in anger. I was speechless. What the hell did I do this time? Was it the potion? Damn it all, this is scary. But to hear our moans two tents away is absurd. I must apologize. "Sorry about that, next time I¡¯ll take a tent in the corner." I was trying toe up with something. "Next time you take it into the secrecy rooms where no soul can hear you? pay up and leave already." The woman yelled at me. I paid and went to the side of the bathhouse. ...... ... .. . There was a barbershop with an Altmer working it. I asked for a trim to make my hair short and stylish. Unlike the noobs in Riften, this man was an expert, he even witnessed the fights and bet on me, so his win was good. He told me toe back and was very friendly. I have a poor opinion of High Elves, but this man was alright. His name was a Micalo and he had a ¡¯Shadow Mark¡¯ on his shop. It was a triangle with a circle in it. This ce was a safe house for escaping thieves. Looking at the mirror he provided I could finally see my face to the clearest detail. I have been trying to find such a good mirror but of course, an expensive hair stylist would have one. Even Nurina who was rich and capable doesn¡¯t really have mirrors. What I could see in the mirror was I, a young man with racial features of Nords such as blue eyes, pale skin and colorful hair. But after asking for the same Taper hairstyle I used to have in my past life I already confirmed what I thought of long time ago. The facial features of my past life didn¡¯t change much. The colors of my hair, eyes and skin were the only things that changed. My eyes were the same Egyptian wide eyes with the saber like brows. I had the same small nose and the full long face, my chin was a bit thinner but that¡¯s due to healthy diet. This was not a dream, me is still me, just a little luckier and much more handsome. .... I returned to the inn and found the boys drinking in the first floor. I went and sat down, they looked at me with half eyes and kept staring. "Don¡¯t even start thinking about it." I was not in the mood to be lectured. They looked at each other and sighed then gave me a bottle. "Say Wulfur, What do you think of our brother here?" Battle-Born started it. "Normally he is a man among men, yet he has taken it a bit too far." Wulfur talked in a low voice but not minding me at all. I sat looking at that exchange. "You mean he is manlier among men now!" Battle-Born eximed and continued, "Say, how long did youst?" "A tad less than an hour, what about you?" Wulfer answered and asked back. "... Same as you." Battle-Born gulped and answered. "You saying that this bastardsted four times more than us." Wulfur made a calction. "... And with two girls!" Battle-Born made it worse. "Damn!!" They both said together while looking at little Jon¡¯s location. I caught goosebumps. "Calm down guys this was just a huge misunderstanding, I got a trim on the way back and visited some ces, that¡¯s all there is to it." I made excuses. "Look at him knowing no shame, as if we didn¡¯t go to check on his tent before we leave." Battle-Born said with disdain. "Tch Tch. He¡¯s a Khajiit lover after all, he even lies as much as them. I bet the first thing he did when he arrived at the bathhouse was to look for Khajiit wenches." Wulfur said, dammit! he found out that much. It took me the whole night trying to clear away this scandal. .... Next day I woke up and was in a good shape, yesterday was great and today is having a good start, breakfast tasty, weather warm, birds chirping, bards singing and morning coffee, ah! what a blessing, coffee can only be bought in Solitude from the East Empire Company, so I am taking all the coffee with milk I need. My friends woke up a little while after me and the looked at each other with their sleepy faces, the said in unison "F**ker." "What of it huh? I just woke up before you guys and ordered your breakfast too. Who is the bestest friend in the world?" I retorted. "That won¡¯t make me feel any better. Just admit it, what kind of a potion did you glup up yesterday?" Wulfur retorted back and asked. "Didn¡¯t you guys drink the Stamina Vigoration potions?" I remember giving them one each. One wouldn¡¯tst third of the time theysted yesterday. "I think you took something different though." Battle-Born made a spection. "I did. Remember that troll we killed on the way here?" I said it without hiding it. "What of it?" Both said in unison. "I extracted few ingredients from its marrow and made a medical potion that can enhance one¡¯s properties to the point of wonder. It never said anything about the duration in the prescription though." I dered with a grin. "Look at him having no shame, he tricked us with some cheap potions and gluped on the good stuff." Battle-Born said with a stiff face. "And saying it enhances properties but didn¡¯t say anything about the duration! taking us for fools? duration is a property you fiend." Wulfur said with another disdainful face. "Such a way is no Nord way." Battle-Born continued. "Ysmir¡¯s beard! What does this have to do with Nord ways?" I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. "I¡¯ll say anything as long as it makes you feel worse." Battle-Born spoke his true intentions. So it was like this, fine "I¡¯ll make you guys one each." "Told you he is our brother." Wulfur smiled while drinking. "I know, one can tell a true Nord when he sees one." Battle-Born kept making Nord rted nonsense. I couldn¡¯t muster any power to retort any more, these guys caught many bad habits from me. I couldn¡¯t help but smile though, I had once felt that feeling before. Fatty and Four-eyes were like that too. We did all sort of weird stuff. We swore to do all fun stuff that are expensive, immoral and fattening. I, as the one who actually made real money was in charge of the expensive section. and the two took the rest. I am sorry I left you guys earlier than I should. Or maybe these two are your incarnation in a different world and heaven was so kind to bring us together this way. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever know though. .... An hourter we walked out of the ¡¯Winking Skeever¡¯ and headed to the castle where the arena is. We didn¡¯t want to ept more challenges so we dressed like normal people. I walked up in my unique stylish otherworldly customized fashion. in Riften I requested many unique clothes such as modern looking shirts and pants. Tailors aren¡¯t that skilled in these parts but I could get my hands on few white shirts that can be worn like robes [A/N: Those from Witcher3] and fit tight dark colored pants, I also liked to wear custom made fur jackets on them for the cold days. My boots were made by me though in a sports boots style, they were soft and I learned an enchantment that remove smells and infection so they are the best for all purposes. I looked stylish in my own eyes, my Taper hairstyle was just fitting the whole thing. I only needed some shades, a watch and a thin chain ne yet these stuff can¡¯t be found in Nirn. I had ck dwemer eyesses that originated from the mod ¡¯Realistic Eyesses¡¯, I put on a very stylish Amulet of Akatosh, and some small bracers. I didn¡¯t carry any weapons as I couldn¡¯t ruin this style, I can just shoot spells if I need. Wulfur always wore Nord robes that fit hisrge build along with a triangr hat that he liked for some reason, he also had an axe on his side. Battle-Born wore some fine clothes from an expensive shop nearby, and his sword was hanging from his side. "Let¡¯s head out and watch some matches." We went out and as if the world was going in slow motion we walked in the street, Battle-Born to my left and Wulfur to my right. I don¡¯t know how could I hear (Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song) which I didn¡¯t mind at all, as it seams the Author was listening to it and it strangely fit the mood. We looked like rich people, even though only one of us was, the other two were fresh out of the orphanage orphans. Svidi or who became Lynly as ofte joined us on the way. That girl was always being spoiled and protected by us so she could be considered our little sister. Reaching the castle, I showed my token and went right to the special seats made for the teams. Team White Wolves one of few teams that didn¡¯t lose at all in the challenges so we had a good reputation already. Along with our beautiful Lynly, we already became famous. The arena was front of us and there were a lot of apuse as it seemed that a member of team ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯ of Solitude was challenged by a member from ¡¯North Star¡¯ from Dawnstar. These teams were ones of the teams that were sponsored. The first was sponsored by Torygg himself and ¡¯North Star¡¯ was sponsored by the Jarl of Dawnstar, Skald the Elder. I don¡¯t really know these guys well but one guy was a blonde with a very shiny armor and a bastard sword, his name Argir Swift-Hilt from the ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯. The other guy was Ongeim Scar-Mouth, a tower of muscle with two axes each hand. Knight style vs Barbarian style, this must be interesting as the two of them were not helpers but the main participants. Argir was a handsome guy with a tall blonde hair and good height, he looked to be one of the future king¡¯s men, his style is a bit mysterious to me. Ongeim was two meters in height and wore a leather armor with two axes in hand, one could tell his style was speed and power. Ongeim took the initiative and kicked the ground flying at Argir swinging his left axe from upwards, Argir who took a stance made a step dodge in thest second. He was not really making any effort but Ongeim was not that simple, he followed with his right axe horizontally at Argir who was on his right covering his side and making Argir retreat again. Argir jumped back and took a stabbing pose, I thought that he wouldunch himself at Ongeim¡¯s opening but he just waited. After Ongeim approached Argir started stabbing and shing and stabbing again. It looked messy but it was so urate that wounds and cuts started to appear on Ongeim¡¯s body, Ongeim on the other hand became slower and could only retreat while guarding. I couldn¡¯t see a rhyme to Argir¡¯s sword but he was something else, he was aiming at precise locations in his opponent¡¯s body. That was like a surgeon but he was dismantling people, not fixing them. I must admit it, he is good. As good as me and Farkas. His hitting speed is really high but his body is not that strong, that¡¯s why he would rather wear a heavy armor on his waist and his arms and legs only in protective light gear, the same also goes to my gear. I think I want to fight him but my hammer will get in my way. Let¡¯s think of thatter and watch the match now. Ongeim was having a hard time, his right arm has many cuts and it was barely moving now. I think that¡¯s as far as he goes. But to my surprise, he jumped back away from Argir¡¯s de andgged for a second. Argir was giving a chase but once he started cornering his opponent a fast shadow attacks him. He was able to protect his head but his shoulder guard was grazed and blood oozed out. It seems that Ongeim was waiting for Argir to chase and he threw the axe in his left hand once Argir wasn¡¯t able to dodge. Wise move, but now he had lost one of his weapon. He switched the axe on his right wounded arm to his left and charged. On the other Hand Argir was in a daze after taking the hit, he staggered and lost his momentumpletely, one could hear few girls screaming after he was hit, he barely started to react when Ongeim¡¯s shadow approached him. Ongeim was going for blood and was really in a bad mood now, he didn¡¯t swing his axe but he attacked with all the might he can muster in one straight kick. Argir received the kick and flew backward, he coughed blood from his mouth too, that kick carried all Ongeim¡¯s stress from the start of the match. I really liked these two guys, the have good judgement and also strong. Argir recovery was fast, he took his sword and was about to stand but a shadow covered him and he could feel the air changing from a certain direction. He dodge backward while on the ground, it looked like he could read his surroundings well. What caused the air to change was Ongeim¡¯s kick upward, he wanted tounch Argir again. Once he saw Argir dodge, he used his left hand and attached with a high arc towards Argir in the ground. Argir had no time to breath but that was not a problem, all he could do is roll to the side, once he could find a chance to put his feet on a solid ground, without even standing, he leaned on his left hand and used the sword with his right to stab at the nearest spot of Ongeim. The stab went into Ongeim¡¯s left thigh all the way through and blood gushed out. Ongeim fell and the referee made his announcement that he can fight no more. A healer ran to Ongeim to stop the bleeding and remove the de, another ran to Argir to check on him. I must say that match was something else, I really made a good decision toe today instead of participating in the shooting range. Duels are way much better after all. Argir was hailed as the winner and many girls started jumping around, seems like this handsome fellow is well-known in Solitude. I can¡¯t lose now, I don¡¯t have a weapon but I need to fight or else my adrenaline rush will go to waste. I look around for anyone who can fight. The arena was full due to Argir¡¯s and Ongeim¡¯s pre-announced match so I had to take the chance. After few seconds I spotted a tall elf woman in a college robe. She was an Altmer with with 3 boys and 2 girls around her. From her outer appearance I could guess that she is one of the NPCs I know. That is teacher Faralda from the College of Winterhold, Master level mage at the Destruction major. So they were here too, I don¡¯t have a weapon but most of my enchanted gear is on me, the Belt, the Ring and the Amulet of Akatosh that gives Magicka regeneration. I walked to her and greeted, "If I am not mistaken, you are Master-Mage Faralda from the college?" High Elves get things done quickly when people are more polite. "It is ¡¯Wizard¡¯ when you add the word ¡¯Master¡¯ to it, and your information is not right, though I would rather it would be, my rank is still that of a ¡¯Wizard¡¯ but that¡¯s of a little importance to people outside the college, I guess." Faralda said in a haughty manner, I feel like I was scolded just now but I can¡¯t point to where it was. Anyway she was no master yet. "So, by any chance, are your people up for a challenge?" I cut to the chase before any annoying ideae to her head. "I don¡¯t understand why should we join these barbarous acts ofmon folk? and why should my students fight a no-name like you?" Faralda kept spewing nonsense again. This woman is annoying, "So, you guys came to fight or not? you can¡¯t refuse a fair challenge once you are challenged or it will be considered a loss on your side, right?" I spoke to her students directly. These guys looked to each other and one of them stood, "I am Rusning, The main participant, whoever sent you, I¡¯ll take them on." His name was Rusning and he wore a blue college robe with a hood that, he looked Nord enough for me so as his teammates. It seems the college used their Nord students for this tournament, I guess they want to make their image look better with Nords. The people started to look at us and they knew there would be another match. "I¡¯ll be your challenger." I said. "You? But you aren¡¯t even armored or anything." Rusning said. He looked at my unusual appearance and gave me a weird look. "I don¡¯t go around unprepared. Let¡¯s get this over with, What should I call you with?" I asked. "Just my name is enough." He replied. I nodded and walked to the arena. I found the referee and told him that I am issuing a challenge. I then walked to the middle of the stage with many eyes looking at my strange appearance in tight pants and white shirt, people started pointing at me and I could hear words of ¡¯what is he doing with no gear?¡¯ and stuff like that. I stood in the middle and raised my voice "Rusning from the College of Winterhold, I Challenge you." this was the simplest way to call someone out for a challenge. Some people would exchange weapons and stuff like that. I could see Rusning standing and was about toe but Faralda stopped him and whispered something in his ears, probably she is suspecting something. Rusning nodded and came down from the seats, he held no staff so this meant he will spam many spells at me. He stood towards me and did nothing at all, just waiting for the referee. The announcer didn¡¯t know what to announce so he only announced our names. People were not really understanding what¡¯s going to happen but Nords in Solitude were more open-minded than any other ce so they didn¡¯t cheer for me just because I am against a mage, they waited too. Rusning was waiting, I was waiting too. The referee announced the start and we still didn¡¯t move. I was thinking of which spell this guy will shoot. I need to at least know the element he likes to use and think of a counter, that¡¯s how Nurina and I sparred. My favorites are lightning the fire, Lightning because I just love electromancy as a skill and Fire because I am very good with it for some reason. This guy, as Faralda¡¯s student must be a Destruction-monger if that was a word. He sighs and starts to call spells on both hands, from their appearance he is going to use ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ and a Fire skill. Fine, let¡¯s get into business, I used ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ too and changed it to ¡¯Conjure me Atronach¡¯. The people was startled seeing me use magic. No one came here expecting to see a mage fighting another. Some were scared, some were hyped. The VIP section was partly empty but due to the previous matches Torygg and Skald the Elder haven¡¯t left yet. They sat back, and all people started to show interest. Rusning was was narrowing his eyes, and Faralda had a look as if she was saying ¡¯I had a feeling it might be the case but it really is.¡¯ He fired a ¡¯Firebolt¡¯ at me which I received with a normal ¡¯lesser ward¡¯. I thought of hyping up the atmosphere and shot the spell in my other hand. What happened was a space distorting followed by an appearance of figure on fire, it looked like a female and was hovering around itself, that was a me Atronach. Before anyone react I summoned another me Atronach, my Conjuration skill was good and second only to main Mysticism, this was also due to the mod ¡¯Multiple Summons¡¯ that makes the conjurer summon more atronachs and raise more dead with every rank up. Two me Atronachs stood in front of me and the people just realized what happened just now. Some people screamed and some looked in daze, some children were very amazed by what they saw. The two daedric creatures I summoned made the arena in a stir, Rusning was calcting his strategy fast but why would I give him time? Imanded the atronachs to fire and made another two spells ready, they were my signature ¡¯Quadrant Ward¡¯ on my left and a ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ on my right. Rusning started spamming ice spells and my atronachs dodged left and right, my control over them was good, and I also can summon one creature more but my control would worsen over three atronachs. An exchange of spells were going between Rusning and my atronachs, I ran to the side and charged at Rusning. He was observing me the whole time and as I shed at him with the spectral sword I bound, he jumped away and fired an ¡¯Ice Spike¡¯ at me. I used the ¡¯Quadrant Ward¡¯ in my block it and charged again as my atronachs started blocking his escape routes. I am not even done yet I sh again and again, and he retreated to use Fire magic and deal with me as it wouldn¡¯t actually harm my atronachs, my strategy was to counter his fire magic with my me atronachs which don¡¯t get damaged by its own element. As I drive him to a corner he fired a bigger ¡¯Fire Bolt¡¯ I didn¡¯t think much about it tried to dodge it but it was fired to the ground right next to me. I suddenly understood but I was toote, he also ambushed me by using Apprentice level spells and then used an Adept level spell, this was ¡¯Fire Ball¡¯ and it tends to explode. My ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ was on so I didn¡¯t get harmed but I took the next flight to the other direction of the explosion and took me few seconds to recover. Rusning used that time to deal with an atronach swiftly and the other was going down. I couldn¡¯t let him has his way so I cancelled the Ward and fire a ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ at the insolent fellow. Mages tend to hate lightning damage and try their best to avoid or block it. Fortunately Rusning momentum against my atronach made his reaction speed to my long range attack slow and he was struck nicely. I could see his face turn anguish as he felt a chunk of his Magicka pool fly away. Lightning is a counter mages magic so he was disadvantaged with a good strike. I kept firing few lightning spells again but he was ready and I couldn¡¯t spam lightning forever, it was the costliest element for a reason. My atronachs were already defeated and I dispelled my spectral sword. Me and Rusning needed a breath for theing showdown. We looked at each other and readed spells on both hands. I readied ¡¯Sparks¡¯ and he readied ¡¯mes¡¯. ording to the mod ¡¯Magic Duels¡¯ if two spells met in the way of each other, a channelling contest shall begin by pushing each other with destruction elements. Rusning took a pose by positioning his hands to the right side in a dual casting way and summoned his fire, I do it more stylishly by raising my hands in the air together and summoned my lightning. Two beams of channeling spells gets fired against each other and sh between us. I raise the output a little by little but Rusning was going all out for some reason, it caused my beam to get shorter and being pushed back a little. This was fine, I haven¡¯t even spent much Magicka so I was confidant but I could see Rusning face sweating already while grinding on his teeth. I took a deep breath and I raise the output more and more as my blue beam took back its original length and advanced against Rusning steadily. Rusning was not able to move or his magic beam will get disturbed. His beam was at its end as my magic crashed into Rusning directly sending him flying. He flew for a few meters and hit the ground hard. The referee came and check on him to find him safe and conscious but out of energy. My win was dered and people actually liked what they saw. Torygg kept pping but Skald the Elder looked indifferent, he clearly hated mages. Anyway I had a good fight, that was all there is to me. By that time I hope strong people woulde to challenge me. At the end of the day I was still thinking about going to the bathhouse or leave it forter. Chapter 18 MADNESS [3rd Person POV] The night of the second day of the tournament was cheerful and many people started to celebrate after witnessing the amazing fights of the day. Two fights made the people of Solitude lose their minds. Argir Swift-Hilt vs Ongeim Scar-Mouth were too blood boiling. Many young boys after that match wanted to learn the ways of both junior warriors. But the second match was too shy that it covered the hype of the first match. Magic as a dreadful force in Nord eyes was the cause of many misfortunes. The Oblivion crisis when the Daedric prince Mehrunes Dagon tried to enter the realm of Nirn was caused by extremist mages, the Great War was against the High Elves who are also mages, adding to that the great copse that destroyed Winterhold and left nothing behind except for the college of mages. These events made Magic in Skyrim a dreadful force and any Nord who associated himself with magic to be alienated and shunned by icebrain Nord societies such as Windhelm. But today¡¯s matter was another deal. A young man called Jon from team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ challenged a boy from the college whose name was Rusning. Jon and Rusning were both Nords and they used magic in beautiful ways. Jon used summons to counter his opponent¡¯s dominant element and trapped him again and again, Rusning was not bad either, his only disadvantage was that his opponent was too capable and too cunning. Rusning ability to spam spells and control the fight against multiple summons and a caster showed how very capable this young mage was. When people who knew of magic started exining tomon folk how refind the match was people started to take a new idea of mages. Mages were capable of destruction yet their way of fighting was never this refined or beautiful in others eyes. A mage can easily st his opponent sky high if his opponent was a warrior of an equal rank but two mages fighting made mages¡¯ matches much better than it normally used to look like. The children who was admiring the first matches¡¯ warriors started worshiping the second matches¡¯ mages in their hearts secretly. One could not tell but the college¡¯s purpose of participating in the tournament this time was fulfilled in an unexpected way even though they lost their match. ******************* In a particr manor near the Blue Pce of Solitude a tall woman wearing a sky blue robe was sitting on an expensive looking chair while looking at a young man wearing a deep blue robe. Her gaze at him was emotionless but he was not looking back at her, he just looking to the ground while standing front of that woman. "A wild mage! That¡¯s all we could find about him. An orphan from Riften that can use magic and barely left the orphanage a month ago was able to defeat a trained destruction mage from the college. What the f**k was that? Someone exin it to me." The tall woman was shouting, that was clearly Faralda. The young man looked up and squeezed what¡¯s left of his courage to talk to his teacher "But master, his magic was so strong. You could see him able to control many atronachs and using conjuration to a strong degree. I couldn¡¯t have much space to breath." He said. "That¡¯s all you have to say? Fine, then what about the duel, what the f**k was that, he was clearly an Apprentice rank mage, you are a Journeyman mage already, how could you lose that bad?" Faralda was shouting her lungs out at Rusning. "I don¡¯t know master. I could press him at first but it was like pushing against a wall for a second then the wall started pushing back." Rusning said. "A wall? Are you f**king kidding me? Why would a Nord let alone a wild mage would muster such a strong Magicka? He wasn¡¯t even a Breton for Oblivion¡¯s sake." Faralda was angry. She stopped and looked at Rusning again then said "You failed the college, You failed me, and unless you atone, I¡¯ll deal with you when we return. Now get out." Rusning turned around and left hastily. After he walked out Faralda was huffing from anger and threw away the stuff on the end table next to her chairs. Outside the room Rusning stood with a sad face, his friends from the Destruction major stood around him showing support. They were the two boys Holman and Svadall, and two girls Svefna and Jolma. They were the best Nord students in the Destruction major, actually Rusning was better than many other students and was at the rank of Journeyman mage already. "How is Faralda?" Jolma asked. "In a scary mood." Rusning answered with heavy emotions. Faralda was his teacher and no matter how haughty that Altmer was, he never hated her. "We really didn¡¯t see this oneing." Holman eximed. "It¡¯s not strange for wild mages to exist but this one was truly powerful." Svadall said his judgement. "How powerful was he?" Svefna asked. "In terms of technique he is good as us, his casting speed and the speed of changing between spells were so refined." Rusning said "In terms of control, he is notcking when ites to Conjuration, his wards were very good too, but his Destruction is a bit hasty and uses too much Magicka." Everyone went silent, there was a strange statement came from their friend. "But if he used too much Magicka then he shouldn¡¯t havested this long against you let alone win a direct duel." Holman said. "That¡¯s where I find it strange, I thought he would was away his magicka early and tter in a direct duel but that was not the case, I pressed on him hard in the start and his spell fell to mine, you all saw that." Rusning said in a gloomy voice "But he suddenly felt like a wall, he stopped me and undid my spell with no effort at all." "Mara¡¯s mercy!" Svefna took a step back and covered her mouth. "What do you mean was he an elf or something?" Svadall made a strange face. "It felt like that I was against one. His Magicka was bottomless and he was pushing me back with ease. Dueling against that guy is a mistake." Rusning said his understanding out loud. "Then? How shall we atone for that defeat?" Jolma asked. "That¡¯s my mess to worry about, but that was more than an eye opener for me. That guys¡¯ style is amazing, I¡¯ll send some people to check on his matches. In the meantime you guys go challenge people and win, make a name for our college and never underestimate anyone ever again, some hidden experts might pop up any second. Onest thing, Never fail teacher Faralda." Rusning as the team captain regained his spirit and gave instructions. """"Yes!"""" The other four shouted and left, Rusning looked towards the room he just walked out from and left. Behind the door Faralda stood leaning her back to the door and smiling. *********************** In an alleyway behind Solitude¡¯s hall of the dead stood a single figure covered with darkness. The figure was hiding its features and looking around in high alertness. Looking at the street outside the alley for a while then going back to hide again. Every once in a while the figure would check outside the alleyway for something. While the figure was going back to the alleyway, it bumped into something. The figure jumped in a fright and looked at what he bumped into. Sure enough it was another figure standing there that came out of nowhere. The first figure was scared but controlled the fear within its heart, he was here from the very start to meet a person and here was the person. The figure removed its face cover and it was none other than Sibbi ck-Briar. He looked pale and scared. "You! You are one of those people? Mother have deals with you people? I- I- I ask for your peoples help." Sibbi talked in a shaking voice. "We do, but we don¡¯t help." the other figure spoke in a voice of a young girl, yet it was full of wickedness and evil. After hearing the voice Sibbi rxed as he could tell that the voice was of someone of the same age but he turned stiff again, the person front of him was by no means ordinary if that person was sent by these people. "Right, you don¡¯t, you get paid, sorry, do you need anything else?" Sibbi was scared as he handed over a purse of money. "Keep your money. We take payment after we deliver." The girl replied. "Fine, anything else?" Sibbi was starting to finally rx. The figure stood silent for a while and kept staring at Sibbi. Sibbi who was just started to rx, broke into cold sweat again. "What?" Sibbi cried in a low voice. "Isn¡¯t there anything I need from you?" The girl asked. "W- W- What is it?" Sibbi was scared but asked. "I don¡¯t know, you are the one who called me for.... ?" The girl asked. "Eh? Ah! To kill someone." Sibbi woke up from his panicking. "Perfect answer! *p* *p*, and?" The girl mocked Sibbi. "What else do you need from me?" Sibbi¡¯s stomach started to hurt him from fear. "Obviously a name." The girl in darkness replied naturally. Sibbi was stupefied. How could he forget such a thing? "Ah! Yes, about that. He is a boy from Riften who came here to the tournament, an orphan with the name of Jon." Sibbi was hesitant but he spoke with hate once he got down to business, then he said "Kill him, the slower the better." The assassin girl in the shadow raised her brows and thought ¡¯That talented boy! He offended the ck-Briars?¡¯ "Fine." The girl said while turning away, but she stopped and said "You know, I stood front of your mother once and I was with a senior of mine. The air she gave made me tremble, but for a ck-Briar, you are a pu**y." Sibbi stood in a daze and as he could no longer retort to that person. She left after insulting him. Normally he would retort and make a fuss, but since that day, when he tried to y his tricks on that boy, he never became the same person once again. He could be domineering in front of people but it was all just a facade. He could never forget that shout. He was so traumatized by it that he never had a good sleep since. He could barely hide from his siblings, he could hide it from his mother, but he knew he couldn¡¯t hide his fear forever, has had to face it. But this year was the year, after he trained his heart and mustered enough courage to face that person, he would face him and kill him where he stands. Yet life was cruel, he couldn¡¯t face him when he saw him, he could muster that courage he trained for long, all he could do was to challenge the other boy who always followed that person, he wanted to vent his anger and fear before he challenge the person, no the beast, the beast he has to y. He wanted to crush that boy, so he can face the final boss. But reality was even crueler, he was defeated so bad against another orphan that he felt he would have to kill himself. What did they feed them in that orphanage? Why did two monsterse out from such a ce. He could no longer tolerate it. First he need to find a way to kill these pests, he needed a killer. The ck-Briars had many of those but his mother would find out, so he had to find someone else. An assassin, his mother dealt with those people. He knew about it, nearly the whole city had a rumor that Maven ck-Briar is in cahoots with the thieves and the assassins. He would do that then. He would call for them. They will kill that beast for him. He is rich and they take money. Why was he so stupid and didn¡¯t do that before? This is it. He was happy he could find it. They always deliver. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILLHIM KILLHIM KILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIM. KILL. HIM. Chapter 19 The Crazy Poe The wimp gave name For whose came doom With swift leaps pace She goes back home .......... The sky was dim The night was grim that girl had ran On rope and rim .......... She jumps and rolls On roofs and walls As darkness dances When silence calls .......... She climbed on roof Chanting the proof Of darkness door In ce so aloof .......... In where she ran There sat one man Of wisdom deep And witful n ........... She neared him there In utmost care With some dead name Of boy Jon Dare ************** "Have you finished writing your nonsense?" A boy voice sounded. The boy was wearing a fit tight outfit of ck and red, he was also wearing a small hood covering the his head. What responded to the boy was a girl, she was a thin girl with a dark aura, she wore the same outfit as him, but she was crawling on something, and it seemed to be a journal. The girl had a pale skin and few scars on her left cheek with an eyepatch on her left eye, her hair was ck, tall and tied, her ears were pointy but not tall like elves, she looked ominous as he was grinning to her journal. "Stabrious, you know I can¡¯t resist writing poems when I have fresh ideas." The girl talked with no sanity in her eyes while looking at the words she wrote. "Mabia, focus now, you¡¯ve got a contract and we must get to business." The boy named Stabrious came and held the girl from her shoulder "Have you spoke to Veezara yet?" The girl who was looking at the journal with lust red to the boy with scary eyes, because of his interruption, which caused the boy to back away. "He said this night was a good night to shed blood in the name of the night mother." Mabia said. "So which one of us is going?" Stabrious looked at her and asked. "Both of us, the target is as old as us but he is too talented. We¡¯ll strike him in his sleep then run for it quietly." she said and continued "Veezara said that one of us is to attack while the other stays hidden, if the target bes aware, the attacker runs and when the target tries to chase the other takes his life from the back." "Failure is not an option as always." Stabrious made a sigh while saying that. "Let¡¯s head out. The nights of First Seed (March) is long and poetic." Mabia stood up from crawling, "I may catch on a good ending for the poem." Stabrious sighed in his heart again and again, this girl was a lost cause, her heart was one tenth on the kill and nine tenths on her poems. She always wrote poems for every contract. She was not that bad either as Veezara, the senior who mentors them didn¡¯t mind them at all and said that every assassin had his or her style that keeps them sane. ¡¯But that girl was insane¡¯ Stabrious wanted to retort but he couldn¡¯t. Even though that girl could barely focus on her kills yet she was still more skillful than him. He could only follow her lead and do as she says, even though he hated it, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Tonight they had another contract on one of the tournament¡¯s new rising stars. He was both mage and warrior with high agility. Frankly speaking, that was a scary talented person, yet strong people have the same weakness as anyone else, they have to sleep. Striking while sleep is the normal style of ¡¯yers¡¯ rank in the Dark Brotherhood. Mabia and Stabrious went to the rooftops and jumped through them numbly and unseen. After half an hour they arrived to the other side of the city. It was the shopping district, the target lived in the inn so that was where they had to sneak into. They, as professionals could easily locate their target. What was left was to figure out the fastest way out. After a minute all was done, Mabia and Stabrious climbed the wall that led to a certain window, that window was of the target¡¯s room, he was staying alone in a room so that made sneaking much easier. Now, the time to act, the target was confirmed to be sleeping. Stabrious was to go and kill while Mabia was to cover his back. They opened the window with swiftness and Stabrious sneaked in. He approached carefully then........ ******************* [1st Person POV] ¡¯Tik¡¯ ¡¯Tik¡¯ ¡¯Tik Tik¡¯ What? Why is that reacting now? I opened my eyes. This is my ¡¯rm¡¯ spell, it detects people with hostility, and I charge it with enough Magicka for it tost a day, but why in this hour? I don¡¯t understand but I can¡¯t be negligent. If someone wants to ambush me then I must ambush them first. Now, think quickly. First, where is that person? I don¡¯t have detect life spell but let¡¯s detect the Magicka around. There! outside the window, two magicka signals, less than average, probably humans. No other signal seemed to be out of ce except for those so let¡¯s make preparations first. Lately I learned a new spell and it was good, it was ¡¯Lightning Rune¡¯. It could make a magic circle appear on a solid surface and once something steps on it, it explodes with lightning. Let¡¯s go with that for now. I casted the spell under the mat near my bed and covered myself to act sleeping while preparing another spells in my hands. One was ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ and the other was ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯. I can¡¯t wear any armor now so I need to be protected. Once the presences started approaching, I could feel them right outside my window. Few secondster a figure descended quietly and sneaked near me. From a half opened eye I could see his gear and the skin of his face. That looked like an imperial man with the Dark Brotherhood gear, dammit! What do they want from me? The assassin came closer and unsheathed a dagger. Before he could have a chance to jump onto me, lighning broke out under the mat. The rune under the mat exploded in lightning and struck that assassin, soon after I casted the ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ and jumped out of the bed, then shot the ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ on my other hand at the assassin. After too much lightning went through him, the assassin fell and could no longer defend. What happened after surprised me as that guy took his dagger again and jumped at me. I reflexly took the dagger from him with a disarming martial skill and without thinking, I buried the dagger in his stomach. This was my first time stabbing someone like that, I could feel his muscles twitching from pain and his power seeping away. Getting stabbed like that is a kill, but a slow one, I don¡¯t like torture so I have to finish it. I took the dagger from his stomach and raised it up, after my hand descended, the dagger rested in the heart of the assassin. This is my first time to kill a human, I don¡¯t know how other felt but taking a life like that is not something I wish to do indiscriminately. This is not the game after all, I can¡¯t go around and murder all day. These are people. Anyway all that happened in a second. The other assassin only noticed that something went wrong after I disarmed his mate and couldn¡¯t react till now. I guess there is no need to be polite. As I was making me resolve to give a chase, my room¡¯s door was opened with a kick, calm your horses sheesh!! "Jon, what is that noise?" Wulfur came in and after him was Battle-Born. "Assassins." I said "I took care of one and going after the other." As I finished I saw the belt that Wulfur uses to carry his axes in his hands. In no time I snatched two axes from him and jumped through the window with an axe each hand. I could see the other assassin was running on the roofs, is that so? Time for some parkour then. The roofs in Solitude were dormer roofs so they were easy to run on. I take my left and run towards the edge of the roof, there were a wooden pole from the street that carries somenterns, I hopped on it and straight to the next building¡¯s roof, after arriving on the roof I ran forward few meters then jumps to the right as there were wooden poles linking between buildings, I ran on them to the building across the street. That was repeated few more times with some flips and backflips until I narrowed the distance between me and the damn assassin. From the way the assassin moves, this must be a girl. I don¡¯t really care, I threw the axes few times but the other party could really dodge and I had to collect these axes and run again. This is not getting me anywhere, while I was thinking that I could feel a presence running in the street, it was Battle-Born with a bow in his hands. "Hey, where is the assassin?" He shouted. "Just ahead. Listen, I need you to run towards the fletcher¡¯s and station yourself in good spot, have a full view of the roofs, will corner in the market." I made a hasty n. "Fine, Wulfur is behind but he will catch up to me. Good Luck." Battle-Born said, and ran towards the castle. Now let¡¯s corner her more. I ran towards the direction where the girl disappeared. I knew exactly where she was because I was detecting her magical energy. After few seconds I caught her trying to mislead me and hide but I casted a spell at her and she ran again. I had to focus my spells at the direction I don¡¯t want her to run to, the n was going so far so good. Her speed was good, I indeed can¡¯t catch up to her on open field. A minute of running felt like an hour but I managed to bring her where I needed. Now she was trying to run on a wooden pole but as soon as she found a foothold on it, an arrow broke the air and buried itself in her thigh. I could hear her a scream and the girl¡¯s bnce was already lost. She fell from the pole that was four meters high, that was not really a problem for a trained person but she was falling on her head. As I was watching, I saw someone waiting to receive the falling girl, it was Wulfur my man. "Good, catch the assassin." I shouted. He nodded with firmness on his face, but what I saw next left me dumbfounded. I told him to receive her but why is he carrying my hammer ¡¯Agni-Ra¡¯ with him? Hey wait, this is not how you receive a girl, just grab her and bin her down, I wanted to say all that but it was already toote. Wulfur used the hammer like an experienced baseball yer with a bat, he directly hit the falling girl horizontally in her stomach. That was a talented cksmith using a hammer inbat for you. What I saw was not unexpected but still left me in awe, the girl flied to the market square with a beeline, dammit Wulfur. After a second the girl crashed on a stall and fell to the ground, the ce was empty thank god. I jumped from the rooftop and ran to Wulfur then looked at the girl. She appeared to be in agony after she took the hit, some burn marks appeared on her body due to the enchantment on Agni-Ra. "Dammit man, that was a girl you hit just now." I looked at him and took the hammer. "A girl? Wasn¡¯t that an assassin?" Wulfur asked. "Yes." I answered. "An assassin girl?" Wulfur made a dumb question. "Isn¡¯t it possible?" I questioned his logic. But whatever, that girl started to move again, impressive! Suddenly I saw a cold light and my reflexes kicked in. I kicked towards Wulfur and sent him away, followed after a silver beam of light passed through his location. The girl threw a knife. And it was lethal and urate as hell. The girl crawled on all four quickly and entered some alley way, I ran after her and entered the alleyway but another silver beam was sent towards me. This girl is persistent. A minuteter I could hear heavy huffes from the alley, that must be hers. She was cornered and had only few bones intact to move her arms and throw stuff. Battle-Born and Wulfur were behind me, Battle-Born was ready to shoot and Wulfur was smashing some wood barrels with his axe. Wulfur made arge wooden shield and positioned it front of him, Battle-Born went behind him and I was thest. We invaded the alleyway with few sounds of knives sinking in the wooden shield. After a while, the girl ran out of knives, I went out of the shield¡¯s protection with my guard up. I could see her under the moonslight, she was a thin girl with dark short hair, she already removed her hood and mask to breath, seems like Wulfur¡¯s strike made a score on her lungs. Her left eye was white as she has lost its sight long ago, she also had many scars on the left side of her face, old ones it seems. Her skin was a pale, and on the sides of her head there were short pointy ears. Half-human half-elf, Nurina told me about them but that¡¯s my first time seeing one. The right side of her face was gave off her beauty, but no matter how pretty she is she was an enemy, I don¡¯t like killing and I hope I don¡¯t need to resort to it. I used ¡¯Bound Dagger¡¯ spell in my left and walked to the girl. As soon as I reach her she tried to kick away but she was already weakened, I grab her from her neck and tighten my grip while lifting her up, I could see more agony and she raised her hands to attack me, I expected as much so I used the bound dagger in my left to stab her shoulders, the girl screamed. "Sorry for being cruel but we have two ways to end this, the easy way or the hard way, that depends on how fast you loosen your beans." I said like a character from some spy movie. I dispelled the dagger and changed it into a ¡¯Calm¡¯ spell. I am not training in Illusion seriously so I put more Magicka to make the effect stronger. As soon as the spell was casted on the girl, her expressions changed from pain to madness and her shaking body, started to calm, yet my hand holding her neck remained locked. "Answer to me or answer to the guards, for an assassin girl, jail is only the start of misery." I made a statement with a deep voice like Ol¡¯ Delvin¡¯s. The girl red at me thenughed like a mad person but I returned it with a p, I could hear Battle-Born and Wulfur behind me saying ¡¯Hey¡¯ while looking away from my act. Sorry guy, but one needs to act like this to make a good understanding with that type of scum. After receiving the p, the girl didn¡¯t stop her crazyugh. What an M! But I could hear something fall to the ground, it looked like some journal fell from the girl¡¯s clothes after being shaken by my p. I threw the girl to the wall behind her, she coughed as fell on the ground with no power, but she looked at the journal with madness as if she had dropped her child. She moved her crippled arms to catch it but she was slow, I stepped on one of her arms and picked up the journal. She looked distressed with madness after I took the journal and wanted to move but I kicked her stomach. I was actually very angry, and I have a bad habit of acting impulsive upon anger so I did what I felt like I want to do. Due to the kick, the girl screamed with agony, I thought she was overreacting but I remembered that Wulfur just hit her there with my hammer. Oops, sorry, Ipletely forgot. Battle-Born was shocked of my actions and held my shoulder while saying "Hey, What are you doing?" but before he could say anything else Wulfur caught up to him and shook his head. Well, sorry you had to see that guys. Suddenly I could hear heavy footsteps and more than one presence running to our direction. I didn¡¯t turn but the guys did. A light fell on us but I could already guess who was that, still I hid the journal in my clothes hurriedly then turned. "By the order of the Jarl, Stop right there." A loud voice sounded. Chapter 20 Day 4: Then Kill Yes, that was them, our very iconic Skyrim Guards. Well, there were four of them. Dressed in padded armors with red cloth rounding it and tightened by leather belts, helmets made from wood and steel as well as speers and swords pointed at us. "You caused damage to property and used weapons in a restricted area, What say you in your defense?" The guard in the lead shouted. "We were chasing an assassin." I moved to the side while saying giving the guard a room to see the girl. The guards eye behind his helmet widened when he saw the gear of the assassin, he could tell too, it was the Dark Brotherhood¡¯s gear. "Impossible! hurry up and arrest her." The guard urged hisrades. After garbing the girl, the guard looked at us "You muste too, causing the damage in the market and using a weapon can be overlooked, but the assassin matter is serious, so we will need your statements." He said. "There is a corpse of another assassin in the ¡¯Winking Skeever¡¯, I killed him in my room." I informed the guard. The guard was taken aback and looked at me with amazement, "Damn! Taking down two assassins in the same night? What are you?" "A dragonborn." I said. The guard said "Huh?" with a stupid voice, Wulfur cut in and said, "He always says that joke, don¡¯t mind him." The other guardsughed at their colleague and took us away to Castle Dour¡¯s dungeon. ************************ We sat in some empty room with a small window and few benches to sit or sleep on. Our weapons were taken away but no one minded the journal on me. I opened it and started reading. That girl.... She is crazy. She is talented, crazy and dark. When we trapped her in the alley she was writing in the note with her blood. I can¡¯t tell if she had a poetic fetish or something but the part which was written by blood was about me. "A boy did sleep and a boy did sneak, And death was waiting which to seek. As one was waiting wide awake, and one was dying with no shriek. As seen she ran she could no beak, At death was calling gloom and bleak. As mother disowned me lone, To crush my flesh and bone. He¡¯lle he¡¯ll strike me, he¡¯ll bash or slice me. He¡¯lle and kill me soon, so so soon." And I thought I was a dark child! Let¡¯s keep that not for now. I read few parts but she was very careful not to add information in her journal. All I could tell that the one who asked for my death was a wimp in her opinion. I don¡¯t know any wimps neither do I waste time on such people. Who would hate me this much? Not the college kids or Maven ck-Briar, probably! I guess the guards will have to find out. Now while we were at it, I instructed Wulfur on more magic training, this guy has a goodpatibility with fire magic, much better than average and after I started convincing him to gain ¡¯Fire Resistance¡¯ by training in magic and how will it make him resist theshes of Skyforge, he agreed to it right away. Battle-Born, on the other hand, was only interested in ¡¯Restoration¡¯, not for the healing effects, but for the attacking effects. Restoration had many nasty spells much nastier than Destruction and even Conjuration at some points. Spells that devastate the Undead and spells that weaken the opponent like ¡¯Leech Seed¡¯ and ¡¯Welling Blood¡¯. After few seconds of teaching those guy about the aspects of every school, the door of the room opened. "Whoa whoa watch the magic!" A guard stood at the door and was in awe of the amount of magic he saw in the room. A man in armor pushes the guard to the side then enters the room, the guard noticed and said "Sorry Captain." "What¡¯s going on here?" The man looked at me and asked. "Nothing, just training some healing magic." I answered. "You are healers? seeing what you¡¯ve done to the assassins I say I would never fight with a healer ever again!" The man said andughed, "I am themander of the guards here in Solitude. You can call me Captain Aldis." The man said while shaking hands. So that was him! He is an NPC. "I must apologize in the name city guards, our duty was not fulfilled by watching over the residents so the bounty for two assassins and a bounce shall be paid to you as soon as the king receives the news." Captain Aldis said. "Oh! Thank you. No one really can me the guards this time, the Brotherhood is scary after all, haha!" I said trying to be friendly. Captain Aldis¡¯s eyes were wide open, he held me from the shoulders and looked serious "You could tell that was the Dark Brotherhood?" Eh? What is strange about that? "Mara¡¯s mercy! The Dark Brotherhood!" Battle-Born was shocked. "Well, the gear kind of gave their identities off, is it hard to not recognize the Dark Brotherhood?" I asked while feeling something was not right. "Nomon folk can just recognize the Dark Brotherhood when they see one." Captain Aldis said. "Well, I came from Riften, I can recognize Assassins and Thieves from their gear though." I said that as an excuse. "Hmmm. Riften really is not a safe ce. I remember the stories that the guards who apanied the King said when they went there." Captain Aldis understood, I¡¯m safe. "But to get targeted by them, aren¡¯t you worried?" He asked. "Rather than worried, I want to know which bastard wanted me dead, as long as the payer can¡¯t pay, the Dark Brotherhood won¡¯te after me." I said. "Did you get anything out from the assassin?" I asked. "She didn¡¯t speak but we found out something. The girl and the boy you killed are known as Birrisa and Vro, these two are from team ¡¯Blood Hand¡¯. Their staying location was raided a while ago but the ce was clean, we are trying to get something out of the girl but tutoring her may kill her in that state you left her in." Captain Aldis said. "So, Can I see her? I will heal her so that you interrogate her." I said. "Sorry, this is an official business from now on." Captain Aldis said, "But I can inform you once we know who wanted you dead." "May I ask for another favor?" I said. "Let¡¯s hear it." The man said. "Can the city guard take credit for the killed assassin?" I asked the man. "What? Why would we do such a thing? You will get rewarded for that you know." Captain Aldis said. "I¡¯d like to be rewarded and all but I don¡¯t want to be targeted for vengeance by the Dark Brotherhood. They rarely fail and I don¡¯t think they as fanatics to an unholy creed will make someone like me get away." I gave my reasons, even though they were not just that. "Hmmm, fine. If it¡¯s for your safety then will do it like that. I will also increase the guards around the inn." Captain Aldis said, what a nice guy! I thanked him and went away with the boys. After we got back to the inn there were some guards who came to investigate and everyone in the inn was awakened, Svidi was worried but we assured her. The news spread in the city like a wildfire the next day, a rising star gets targeted by assassins and the assassins got killed and captured by the guards, someone will be very furious today. I went to the ¡¯Shooting Range¡¯ outside the city near the stables and found some seats. There were not that many as people as in the arena but it was still crowded. I find the ce where I can register and see the rules. The shooting methods were open, one can use anything as long as it reaches the target. Wulfur will throw axes and javelins, Battle-Born will use a bow and I will use Magic. Each round has three stages, the first will be shooting the red targets between the blue targets, the second will be shooting the red targets floating in the river, thest will be shooting the flying targets. That was pretty much it. It was boring and I finished it in no time. My time was around a minute and a half faster than most archers or throwers as I used ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ spell. After the contest, I went back to the city alone but I met someone unusual on the way. It was Gulum-Ei the Argonian fence of the Thieves Guild in Solitude. "It has been a while, Jon Dare." Gulum-Ei said. "It has, what can I help you with?" I asked. I actually knew he woulde but that was too soon. "I heard you were attacked based on some misunderstanding yesterday, a friend of mine wants to have a word with you." He said. A friend? Is it the assassins. The Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood had a good rtionship and understanding as the biggest two underground organizations but that was another story. "What does that friend of yours want?" I asked. "To talk, nothing more." Gulum-Ei said. "Fine, let¡¯s see what the have to say." I said and went with Gulum-Ei. The docks of Solitude wererge and had many ships, unlike the game the ships wereing and going and the ce was bustling with life. We reached the office of the East Empire Company deep in the docks area. Gulum-Ei entered and I followed him, I could see an Altmer and an Argonian waiting there. "This is Micalo on of ours." Gulum-Ei introduced me to the Altmer. "Yes, we¡¯ve already met." I said and offer a shake to Micalo. [A/N: Micalo is the barber from chapter 17] "I never thought it would be you." Micalo said while shaking my hand. Gulum-Ei interrupted and introduced the other person, "This is Geem-Zaw, he is from our business partner¡¯s side." Geem-Zaw appeared to be an Argonian with two horns back on his head and his scales were green, He was wearing normal clothes but I felt he is strong, I can¡¯t tell Argonians apart actually but that maybe is Veezara from the Dark Brotherhood. "Nice to meet you, I am Jon." I introduced myself. "We heard about you but we never thought you are one of our friends¡¯ people, I must apologize for the matter of yesterday." Geem-Zaw said. "I came okay from it, can¡¯t say the same about your people." I said being no polite at all. "It¡¯s a shame, truly sorry about it." Geem-Zaw said, "But I need to ask you what exactly happened that night?" I thought you would never ask, but I am not that fool to tell you the truth. I sighed while looking down acting tired but I was rechecking my cover-up story. I looked to Geem-Zaw and said "I was sleeping soundly that night, suddenly my window was opened, normally anyone wouldn¡¯t feel it so fast but I am not used to the cold of Solitude. As I started to feel aware I could see a shadow for someone with a dagger on top of me, all I could do was to kick at it and then I fired a Lightning spell, It was not hard for the other people to hear the Lightning and all the inn woke up. Your people ran and we gave a chase. Finally, the guards cornered them and one was killed while the other was taken, you know the rest." Geem-Zaw was scratching his chin while thinking, "So it was like that. We can do nothing about it. But I am sorry to be blunt." Geem-Zaw said "I need your help." I was astonished, he tried to kill me and now wants my help, that¡¯s so thick skinned, or ¡¯thick scaled¡¯ taking his race into consideration. "I want you to find out how many information the guards took out from the girl, destroy any evidence and deal with the girl." Geem-Zaw said. Wow. That¡¯s nuts, I looked to Gulum-Ei but he ignored me, I looked to Micalo and he nodded to me. "So, what kind of evidence should I destroy?" I asked. "Anything that is rted to us." Geem-Zaw said, "There is a notebook that the girl used to carry I also want that destroyed." "And how do you want me to deal with the girl?" I asked. "If she didn¡¯t speak then please try to get her out." Geem-Zaw said. "And what if she spoke?" I asked. "Then kill." Chapter 21 The Ugly Truth? [A/N: Now listen, WE HAVE MADE A (((Discord channel))) YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!!! I post the temte images of the characters and the system that Jon created. There is ALSO a (((Patreon))) now, WHICH MEANS there will be bounce chapters. LINKS DOWN BELOW AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER AND AT THE DESCRIPTION. ENJOY.] *********************************** Kill her. That¡¯s what they want me to do, to kill that girl. I feel sorry for such a girl. She is as old as me, her face was messed with, her left eye gone blind, her head gone nuts.... And now they want to kill her. To tell the truth, I¡¯d rather not. How can I kill someone who I already read what they wrote and understood their pain? I liked these poems she wrote, they were mostly about killing and gore, yet some of them expressed how she felt, how trapped she was, how she was trained and brought up. She was abused because of her appearance, she was abandoned and lived in some orphanage like me. Well, I had Nurina so I was very lucky. Would I have been like that child if there were no Nurina? Maybe. I was in a bad mood after I left that ce. I told them that I will do it right before I leave Solitude, but I had no n in mind. I wandered the streets of the city as it started to rain, it was gettingte, rain is good. What should I do? The girl will die either way. She will be executed once they get no more information from her. And if she talked she will be considered a traitor to the brotherhood and must be killed. Don¡¯t get me wrong. She is an assassin... but, After I read her journal I had some mixed emotions about her. She may have been better off if she was abandoned at Riften, Nurina would have brought her well. But now she is a psycho killer with a poetic fetish. Hehe, I kind of liked her poems and I want to see more of them. Sheogorath really did a number on her. [A/N: Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince of Madness and all the fun stuff] While I was walking I saw someone familiar. "If it is not Rusning of the college." I greeted him. "Jon of the ¡¯White Wolves¡¯, well-met kinsman." He greeted in a Nord way. "I see you dueling a lot these days." I started a conversation. "Not as much as you, how many have you dueled till now? 11?" He asked. "12 this morning." I answered. Some people wanted to go against me these past couple of days and I took many head-on. I wasn¡¯t into fighting them as I really wanted to fight some strong people. "See, anyway what brings you to this part of the city?" Rusning asked. "Thinking, Rethinking and Overthinking." I answered how my mind was feeling. "Hah! You look like a man who needs a drink to me." Rusningughed, "Come,e, follow me." "Where to?" I asked. "The college has a ce in each hold and there where we stay, I have some good Argonian Bloodwine." Rusning said. "Fine by me." I followed right away. Walking in the main street that links the Blue Pce to Castle Dour we arrived at a well-established manor. It looked the same as the other buildings in Solitude, most of them were built in a manner special only to the city. As I entered I could really see how majestic this ce was from the inside, this ce was full of magical energy as many lightsphere from the spell ¡¯Magelight¡¯ were all over the ce. They seem to not use normal candles ornterns for illumination but they used ¡¯Magelight¡¯ spell. There were many books and circles of magic all over the ce, seems like these students from the college use this ce to study. There were also many flower pots from many locations in Skyrim. "Sorry, the ce is always messy like this." Rusning said. "No, not at all. The ce is actually beautiful." I said. "d you like it." Another voice came from upstairs. It was that haughty woman, "Lady Faralda, fancy seeing you again." "So it¡¯s you, the boy who the assassins couldn¡¯t kill." Faralda said while smiling. "I am d it wasn¡¯t Lady Faralda who wanted me dead though." I said, it was a joke. "If I wanted you dead, people would have seen it as a natural disaster." Faralda said while smiling. Scary, this woman is scary, rather than the scary Faralda from the game, and due to many mods, this Faralda is actually beautiful but scary. "Let¡¯s not get on Lady Faralda¡¯s bad side from now on, haha." I said while breaking into cold sweat. This woman is ranked as a senior Wizard. Nurina told me about the ranks before and Wizard is as a high one, I don¡¯t remember the rest of the ranks now though. [A/N: I am using Oblivion¡¯s ranking system and will exin it, Later] "What brings you here?" Faralda kicked the jokes aside. "I invited him for a drink." Rusning said. "Now you are buddies?" Faralda asked with a mocking tone. "We fight and share a drink, then we be friends, that¡¯s how it works." I cut in. Faralda was taken aback and then shook her head while sighing and said "Nords." then she went up and left. "She is actually a nice person but she hates losing, you understand?" Rusning said. "I know I know, just like my mothers, they would beat Oblivion out of me even it was just training." I said while remembering me spars with Hilda and Nurina. "Mothers?" Rusning asked. "Yeah, I was adopted but my real birth motheres to visit." I said. "I thought you were from an orphanage." Rusning said while offering me a seat and bring a bottle. "I was, The headmistress is my adoptive mother, she was the one who taught me magic." I said without thinking. "Oh! So she is also a wild mage like you?" Rusning made a face of wonder. "Wild mage?" This word was not in the game. "Ah! This is what we call the mages that didn¡¯t grow up in a magic teaching facility like the college or a mage faction." Rusning said. "Ah! I see, I am maybe what you call a wild mage but mother is not." I said. "That exins why you¡¯re that good." He said and offered me a tankard. "What about your other mother?" "She has her own problems." I said, I don¡¯t normally talk about Hilda to anyone but people you don¡¯t know are not bad listeners. "What about you? I never thought I would see one Nord from the college, let alone five." I asked. "Not everyone hates the college. My great grandpa was a mage, and our family at that time was rich and happy. After many years my family declined so they thought to send their child to be a mage too, and that¡¯s how I ended up." Rusning said. "Hmmm, family problems, let¡¯s drink to never have that ever again." I raised the tankard. "I¡¯ll drink to that everyday." He raised his tankard and said. After chatting for a while I came to know that guy and I really liked his personality. "You never told but your mother who adopted you is not a Nord, right?" Rusning said going off topic. "Yeah, she is at the college now." I was a bit drunk so talking was smooth. "Whoa! Who is she? I know everyone." He said. "She is a Dunmer, Her name is Nurina." I said nonchntly. Suddenly I could hear something fall and Rusning who was drinking started coughing and his wine came out of his nose. He was choking so I hit his back with my palm and he came back to life. "Nuri- Nurina Aren?" Rusning shouted. "That¡¯s her." I said. He was opening his mouth like an idiot, one can send a whole egg in and out with ease. Suddenly we heard fast footstepsing from the stairs and Faralda jumping with wide opened eyes. "Where? Where is she?" Faralda was looking around. I looked at her and asked, "Where is who?" "Hey, Rusning where is Nurina?" Faralda asked. "She- She is not here, b- b- b- but Jon here says she is his mother." Rusning said and pointed at me. "... Mother? Impossible. Nurina would never do that to me, right? He is a human, right?" Faralda kept talking to herself then she turned to me, "Hey, you, tell me the truth, if you lie I¡¯ll know, if you hide something I¡¯ll know, if you think about the idea of thinking about lying or hiding something, I will definitely know." Fralda turned crazy for a second, then she looked and grabbed me by the shoulders, "What is Nurina to you?" She asked. "Sh- sh- she is my a- a- adoptive m- mother." I broke into sweat and was started shaking. Faralda¡¯s appearance gave me shivers, she was shaking and due to the lighting, shadow was on her face which left her golden eyes gleaming. She also released a lot of pressure. "It doesn¡¯t seem you have lied." She said, "Where were Nurina all these years?" I was totally intimidated by that woman. "She just headed to the college a month ago." I spilled the beans. "And where was she before that?" Faralda demanded more answers. I honestly didn¡¯t want to answer but that was not possible now. "She was at Riften." I said. "Doing what?" She asked. "She was the headmistress of the orphanage." I said. Faralda face turned from full re to shock. She staggered backward and put her hand on her head. "All these years my Nurina was alone in Riften, and I couldn¡¯t find her anywhere." Faralda started mumbling to herself as she went upstairs in unsteady steps. But wait a minute! What was that just now? And what did she say ¡¯my Nurina¡¯? The hell is going on? I looked at Rusning who was in a daze, "Hey, what is in Oblivion is going on?" Rusning looked at me and took some time for him to collect his thoughts. "One of the seven wonders in the college was called Nurina Aren, she is the cousin of the current Archmage Savos Aren and she was the head of the Conjuration major but she disappeared one day, what could make the college know that she is alive and well was because she made some connection with an underground organization to deliver messages to the college and keep up with the situation there." Rusning said. "The only reason we think senior Nurina disappeared was teacher Faralda. You see, I don¡¯t know if this is an elf thing or some girls do that, but teacher Faralda is in love with senior Nurina, older members of the college used to say that teacher always clung to senior Nurina all the time and was stalking her which caused senior Nurina to disappear." Rusning said, "Teacher, on the other hand, kept looking everywhere for her for nearly 16 years now." Oh! Okay, so it was like th...WAIT JUST A SECOND!!!!! Who was doing what? When is going where? I can hear words but they don¡¯t make sense when my brain scans them. Time up please! Reboot system! Report Bug! What is the hell! Let¡¯s review the conversation log once again. Nurina was at the college - check. Savos Aren¡¯s cousin - check. Head of the Conjuration major - makes sense. Escaped from the college - sounds like her. Faralda was the reason - more reason to hate Altmer. Faralda loves Nurina - Go away. Faralda was Nurina¡¯s stalker - that¡¯s too scary. Hey, hey, what the hell was that? does this even make any sense? Hey Author, were you drinking? [A/N: That¡¯s haram] Hashish? [A/N: Illegal] Then how the hell did youe up with that? [A/N: It popped up just now and I wrote it] JUST F**K OFF! This guy is just running out of content and seems to be throwing all weird sh*t on me. No, this can¡¯t be right! Too much headache now. The assassin girl¡¯s matter was one thing, but Nurina¡¯s matter is just too awful to handle. I also need to handle Hilda¡¯s problem and a dragon breakout in the future, isn¡¯t the author just too mean? Let¡¯s keep drinking for now. "Hey, give me more wine." I said. "I got you." Rusning said, what an understanding person! "The matter I talked to you from before just keep them a secret for now, too much trouble will pop up because of it." I said, Rusning nodded quickly. This is too tiring. "I just can¡¯t get my head into this anymore. Still, I need to find a way to get to Winterhold after the tournament." I said to myself thinking about the future. "You are going to Winterhold? Will you join the college?" Rusning said. "Yeah, I am nning to for some time then I¡¯ll go wander Skyrim after that." I said. "I see, then you can juste with us." Rusning said. "How do you travel to Winterhold?" I asked. "By a ship of course." He said. Perfect! that solves one of the problems. "Hey, can I get two ces?" Chapter 22 Day 5: Let The Match Begin [A/N: My 7 years oldptop reached the end of its journey yesterday, I rewrote this chapter on my phone, and don¡¯t expect any editing because my shoulder is stiff as hell. Also don¡¯t forget about Patreon and Discord links in the end of the chapter] ************************ I went out of the college¡¯s manor in a good mood, some shocking events happened but I managed to find a fast ship to Winterhold. Better head home now, this day was too much for my mental health that I want nothing to do with it anymore. This night, I¡¯ll sleep on a different side, new day new me. Next morning I woke up with a headache and hangover. Seriously now, nothing goes how I want these days. I had to drink some hangover remedy potion, it tastes awful. Today was thest day of the archerypetition, which no one for some reason takes seriously. The horsemanship, on the other hand, is one of the best features of this tournament. One needs a horse to participate and luckily, Jon Battle-Born has one so we will be using it, one each day. But today, I have more important matters. I need to make a n to get rid of the trouble that the assassins caused to themselves by targeting me. First, I need to know how the ce looks on the inside. Second, I need to know how to get to the girl. Finally, I need her to cooperate with me. The first one is actually sneaking into one of the most fortified ces in Skyrim, the second was a prison infiltration and thest was nuts. The castle doesn¡¯t seem like anything from the game so let¡¯s put the game data aside, I need at least to have way in and out. I went to the main yard of the castle which was used as the arena and kept going back and forth looking at the ce, no one would ask me anything, as a known participant I have every right to be here. Next thing was to determine which ce was the fastest way in and out of the castle and of the city, I also need to survey the sewers. I remember a ce from the game that could lead to outside the city under the tower near the heart of the city, that was so exposed but I can think it is well-guarded now. As my escape route was roughly nned, I can now think of how to get in. What¡¯s more important to a thief is knowing how to get out before knowing how to get in. I remember that in the game there was a cell in the jail that one can break its wall and escape through the sewers, and unlike the game, each city has a sewer system, that is the best way to make a quiet escape. The ce where they should keep the evidence is either a ce that is locked well or a ce that is considered an office. These answers need toe out of the guards themselves. The man I can talk to about that was, of course, Captain Aldis. The man was watching the duels right now, he didn¡¯t stand in the VIP area or any special area, he just found a ce near the seats and sat there taking his rest. "Wel-met Captain." I said while walking to him. "White Wolves¡¯ Jon, wel-met." He greeted back. "How were the matches?" I asked. "Heated, the teams from Solitude are shing with each other fiercely, it¡¯s sad to see infighting from the same city kids." He said. "Oh which teams?" I asked. "Wolf Fangs and Wolven Storms." He said. "Strange, aren¡¯t those the teams supported by Thane Erikur and Thane Bryling?" I acted as if I was taken aback, those who yed in Solitude a lot knew about the bad rtionship between Erikur and Bryling. "So you know who sponsored them! It¡¯s more sad to see the politics affecting the sport, but a man of my position shouldn¡¯t talk about such matters." He said. The man didn¡¯t want to involve himself in politics it seems. "So, you hear for something?" He asked. "As a matter of fact, Yes. I was just going to ask about the interrogation." I asked. "I really wanted to tell you that we got something good from the girl other than the singing and the strange words she says, but all we could do we just writing down what we could understand." He said. "So, can¡¯t I by any chance at least know what she said, maybe I can get a clue of who wanted me dead." I said. "... Oh! Okay, follow me." He said. What! Just like that?! Well, this is getting easy for some reason. The man headed towards the jail and I followed, the jail was right next to the arena. After we entered the atmosphere inside was cold and deste, it was poorly let yet the ce was mostly clean. We just turned right to a room with a few chairs, chests and a desk. It was a bit empty but it fitted with the atmosphere of the jail. He offered me a seat and went to a certain chest then he took out a note. He handed it to me and sat, I had to read it even it wasn¡¯t my goal. Well, this was interesting, seems that the mental state of our friend is not going so well, she started talking to herself and questioning her was hard, even after she was tortured she kept talking crazy stuff. I had to make myself useful so I started saying nonsense, "She seems to be under some severe mental stress or some bacsh of an emotional shock, maybe the death of her partner was too much for her, it can be considered Post Trauma Stress Disorder, and... h h h." Captain Aldis looked at me as if he had some headache, "Okay okay, I don¡¯t really understand any of what you said, can you make it a lot easier?" "Ehem, what I said was some healer terminology, but these were mostly guesses, to give a certain answer I need to do an examination, unfortunately your rules say that no unauthorized people are to enter the jai.." I was pulling his leg. "I can make an exception." His leg got pulled. "Oh, thank you. I can¡¯t promise anything but I¡¯ll be helpful as much as I can." So far so good, as the victim of the assassin, I am thest person they need to worry about. But after going into the dungeon, I could feel that matters are not as simple as I thought, this ce is really a castle. Thick walls and strong structure, every door is locked and every corner is watched. That will result in more nning and tools. The dungeon was deep like a well, so we went down to the lowest floor, it seemed that this part of the building is older than the rest. The cells which were in the deepest part looked very dark, old an cold, only a few candles let the ce from outside. In there, I could see a horror scene. I girl in rags setting on the ground hugging her knees and moving her body forward and backward repeatedly. Her hair was on her face and madness was in her eyes, she looked left and right like she was feeling something threatening. She was saying something in a low voice and replying to herself, Captain Aldis stood far from the cell door and looked at me, I walked to the door and stood under enough light for the girl to see me. "What¡¯s up?" I said. The girl looked at me like she found the cause of her suffering, her facial expressions didn¡¯t have any hint of anger yet her ck clear eyes looked like the abyss and red at me. I am not a fan of horror movies, this really is creepy, still, I need to see how far this girl can think. I started talking but all I said was parts from the poems in her note, once I say anything she starts to repeat after while looking to space me and say the poem to its end. She was trying not to forget the things she wrote so she ignored everything else and made herself mumble all that she wrote, such love for poetry is unhealthy. "I think some light can enhance her mental state, she just can¡¯t calm down after witnessing her friend¡¯s death, being chased and tortured, she will be better in a dozen days or something." I gave Captain Aldis what he needed to hear. "Fine, after the tournament, if she doesn¡¯t talk, she will just be executed." He said. I was turning away and leaving with him, just as he turned to lead the way out, I took something and put it into the cell without him noticing. I couldn¡¯t see the girl¡¯s reaction though. On my way out I made a promise to him that I¡¯lle once again before the tournament ends as I was leaving after it does. This is the best way for a nosy guest like me to drop by once again, just make the promise on the way out, always works. Just as I got out I heard someone calling, "I challenge Jon of the ¡¯White Wolves¡¯." ********************************** Who was that? It was Argir Swift-Hilt from ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯, Solitude most dazzling junior. Among the main 31 participants, few were undefeated, on top of that list was me and Argir, as well as Vilkas from ¡¯Companions second team¡¯, Ralof from Windhelm¡¯s ¡¯Stormcloaks¡¯, As well as Lydia from Whiterun¡¯s ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯. [A/N: See what I did there?] Looking at mister Handsome, it really seemed that one beak cannot hold two tigers. I walked in a lofty manner an stood right in front of him. "And I ept your challenge, Blondy" I said in a dramatic way, "When?" "This after noon." The Blondy said as he made an irritated face from being called ¡¯Blondy¡¯. "Fine by me, prepare to eat dust." I turned away while saying. Some of the people were ring at me after taunting him like that, some girls started taking sides and it was a bit hectic. Returning to the inn, I informed the boys about the challenge and borrowed Battle-Born¡¯s sword. Facing Argir with a weapon as heavy as Agni-Ra is not a good idea, after all this guy hits like a machine gun. There is only one hour left to the afternoon so I wore my full gear and warmed up. They are:- .... -Amulet of Akatosh (Magicka regen 25%) -Gold Ring from Nurina (Magicka regen 150%) -Reinforced Sneakers (Speed up 15%) -Reinforced Gloves (Magicka consumption down 10%) -Belt (Link Magicka and Stamina 25%) -te Armor (Fortify Armor 40%) -Reinforced Leather Arm protector (Health Regen 75%) -Reinforced Leather Leg protector (Stamina Regen 75%) -Steel Masked Helmet (Awareness 4 meters)[A/N: Summermyst mod, fixed to fit the story] -Battle-Born¡¯s sword ¡¯Cold Song¡¯ (Ice Damage) ..... I don¡¯t like the chainmail or the heavy arms and leg protection, they put too much wight and it affects the Stamina consumption speed. After getting the hang of the sword, I switchedpletely to one and a half sword style. Unlike the game, weapons can¡¯t be ssified easily as two handed or one handed, even some swords that doesn¡¯t look like a great sword must be held with two hands, actually most swords should be carried in two hands unless you are holding a Saber, Rapier or an arming sword[swords with short grips that get used with sheilds] for example. Other than that most swords should be carried with two hands such as the katanas of the des. Also, no sword can be ssified as a greatsword easily though, an actual greatsword length might ovee two meters like the Zwihander swords and they only fit the big grunts. Axes and blunt weapons are much simpler but there is an art to them too. That knowledge was bestowed upon me by the Hilda, I remember when she asked me about weapons and I ssified them as one handed and two handed like the game with full confidence, my ass was handed over to me that day. Back to the topic, Battle-Born¡¯s sword was nearly 120 cm long bastard sword with excellent craftsmanship, I saw the damn thing and I fell in love with it, one can only love such a sword. The hilt¡¯s grip was made of white wood that probably came from Riften, the pommel was round, engraved and beautiful, and the crossguard was straight and had good thickness and bnce. As for the de part it can be called Strong which is the wider base of the de attached to the hilt, and Weak which is the thinner half to the de¡¯s point, the edge of the de was sharp and the point was steady. I sheathed it after getting used to its length and wight, can¡¯t afford to miss any detail in this fight. I also made preparation for the spell ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯, the sword I can conjure is a Daedric Sword, its style and bnce were all over the ce though, as it had the length of a saber with the thickness of a cuss. And thanks to the chance, bound weapons are a bit lighter due to its spectral properties. In the end I can wield two swords yet I am not optimistic about the damage they can deal. I regretted not learning more bound weapons spells as it can make my style much more diverse, I¡¯ll learn how to bound a spear and a bow once I get to the college. I was in deep thinking until the time came, I and the boys followed by Svidi reached the arena. But what the hell is that? The ce us just too crowded, did the jarls duel each other or something? I nned to wait and see but I found that everyone was urging me to go into the arena. So that crowd is for me? I kinda feel ttered. Hey, aren¡¯t those Torygg and Elisif? Skald the Grumpy, Balgruuf my friend, Creepy Idgrod, Big Bad Ulfric, Depressed Korir, Sleeping La, Dengeir of Stuhn Paranoia and The inest Jarl of them all Igmund. [A/N: I just don¡¯t have any impression of that guy] Beside them, there was the Bard¡¯s College Headmaster Viarmo, Maven ck-Briar, Eorlund Grey-Mane, Kok Whitemane, Wizard Faralda, Thongvor Silver-Blood and all the heavyweights that that came to the tournaments. What the hell is that? Did they decide to end the tournament today or something? Suddenly I heard a horn blowing, Viarmo popped out on some tform and blew the horn of the match, then he spoke, "Wee, People of All Holds, Today is a day of duels, a day that some of the best juniors of Skyrim will meet each other in front of your eyes, the participants are here, the guests are here, the fighters are here, then let¡¯s begin." After that, he pointed to me and Argir to get to the arena. "Ehem, Behold Argir of n Swift-Hilt. His name holds fame long has been built. The challenger he is, on the west right now. Unsheath your de and give us a bow." After Viarmo said his introduction, the spectators made an apuse for Argir who bowed to every direction. "On the east is Jon, known as Dare. With iconic hair as red as a re. His style is fair, magical and bold. Will fight in ways that no one foretold." Viarmo introduced me and many cheers erupted. I raised my hand and made a V sign. The horn was blown again and Viarmo kept speaking, "With fighters being all here. Give them a hearty cheer. And fighters, hold no grudge. As there will be a judge. But the beginning will be true. As the king do say so." Torygg was who smiling stood up and everyone in the VIP stood to him but he signed for them to sit. Elisif stood beside him and he whispered something to her. As he finished, Elisif stood forward and raised a hand, then she spoke, "In the name of the High King, Let the match begin." Chapter 23 Jon Dare vs Argir Swift-Hil [A/N: I watched tons of youtube videos for the sake of that chapter.] **************************** [A/N: 3rd Person POV] "Let the match begin." *Cling* *Cling* *Cling* Jon and Argir were already holding themselves and when they got the permission of the king from the queen¡¯s mouth, they didn¡¯t wait for any instructions from the judge. They didn¡¯t even think about trash-talking. Three exchanges which were too fast that most of the audience weren¡¯t even ready to watch, started looking around asking where that sound came from. After the three exchanges both jumped back. They already have a rough idea about the other but that made things more clear. Argir held his broadsword front of him with two hands. Jon held the sword in a different pose, which was more of taking a guard by raising the sword¡¯s hilt to a high point to his right with the de guarded downwardly. They both started moving in a circle and scanned each other again and again. They have already made many moves inside there heads for every possible response from the other. Jon took a half step forward but Argir changed his stance into a stabbing pose. Jon took another step and changed the pose into straight guard. While everyone was thinking how will Jon attack, Argir jumped with swiftness and stabbed with one hand towards Jon¡¯s left shoulder. Jon was ready as ever and deflected the opponent¡¯s swords with his left armguard and stabbed with one hand too. Argir felt threatened and tilted his body¡¯s upper half away from the stab, retreated one step, held the sword with the other free hand and shed the sword that was deflected away downwardly. Jon took a step back evading the sh by a hair¡¯s width, he didn¡¯t hold his sword with two hands but shed with one horizontally. Evading this was hard for Argir so he retreated his hands with the sword to guard his side, sure enough, the swords hit but Jon was not done, his second phase was in a straight kick to Argir¡¯s torso. Argir could no longer block or evade but this was still not a problem, this strong kick might do some damage but it¡¯s a one-way ticket backward. Argir was sure enough sent back by the kick he didn¡¯t put much effort resisting, his idea of not resisting was sure brilliant enough. In the VIP seats, Ulfric Stormcloak and Torygg were already sitting leaning on their knees. Ulfric was an old war dog but Torygg was not some unexperienced young man. Both were keeping up with every detail of the fight. Jon and Argir began another fast exchange, the scenario from just now was recreated once again with different tactics and traps. Jon has much more diversity in attacking, he can punch and kick and utilize his body to the fullest. Argir was relying more on speed, his actions and reactions were swift and his sword was like an extension of his body. Balgruuf the Greater was got into a heated analysismentary with Ulfric Stormcloak, their eyes as well as everyone were focused on the match but listening to them was very important as the two experienced warriors were reading the match. Argir decided to put an end to Jon¡¯s momentum, he jumped back and made a stabbing pose once again the he stabbed then stabbed then stabbed again and again. Jon was evading back, left and right with now no chance of counter-attacking. He could remember the Chinese martial arts movies that had the same technique but was used with spears. This technique can had some good chances to counter but being used with a sword made it slow yet hard to go against. It can¡¯t bepared to fencing as it was being done with two hands and supported by the mythical strength of the different world. It didn¡¯t look like Argir was going to finish today, he was gaining momentum and space while making Jon hot on heals. Jon started to think and changed his footwork, he was waiting for a single attack that can go his way. Argir didn¡¯t read this but he noticed that Jon started to slow down a bit early, the best way to intimidate anyone with an attack to the face and that¡¯s how Argir nned. The attack came aiming at Jon¡¯s forehead, yet that was the moment he was aiming for, his opponent¡¯s range was wide but took time to retreat the sword. Jon didn¡¯t retreat back one inch but tilted his upper body almost ny degrees to the back and used his sword to block Argir¡¯s sword and keep it up. Jon¡¯s counterattack came right after in another kick, but this one didn¡¯tnd on Argir¡¯s torso, itnded on his left knee from the side. Argir who had a lot of momentum suddenly felt a pain in his knee that caused him to retreat his body, yet Jon was already on his right side now so he could only use his left side. Using that side meant relying all the wight on that knee, it was not good, his knee can¡¯t carry him as it didn¡¯t recover and Jon¡¯s second attack wasing. Sacrifice needed to be made, Argir threw his weight on his bad knee and fell to the ground while flipping away. After he could secure a foot hold, he shed horizontally in 270¡ã sh to his behind. The wind sh carried a lot of might yet low uracy, Jon who was chasing after Argir to press him had to jump backward. Argir stood hastily and another stabbing pose was perfectly made, this pose can make the opponents think twice before making a move, especially when it was done by Argir. The VIP, the people, the arena guards and the Imperial soldiers of the legion that were guarding the emissaries were at loss for words. Everyone pped at that exchange, Jon was too unusual and his ideas didn¡¯t just came out of the box, it made the box look ashamed of itself. Argir¡¯s speed, judgment and wisdom far surpassed his age. These two youngsters are two rare geniuses that came out from the same nation, it meant a lot to the people in the VIP seats. Jon walked around and yed with the sword like a clown, the sword was spinning around his right hand showing another level of control. This was a direct taunting for Argir who on the other hand smiled back. Jon couldn¡¯t help but smile too, his opponent was too good, he started to feel his own growth once again. Fights like this with an equal can make the person only better and better. Argir could already deal with the pain in his knee and could ignore it. The next showdown was about to begin. *Cling* *Cling* *Cling* *Cling* shing and shing again, Argir didn¡¯t go overboard with speed and Jon didn¡¯t do any tricks, they were saying ¡¯I know what you are thinking but who moves first loses¡¯. Jon wanted more speed training from Argir but he can¡¯t afford to reveal many cards this early, there were few ideas he can use but he was waiting for the right chance. Argir knew what Jon was thinking but on the other hand he wasn¡¯t looking forward to Jon¡¯s next trick. To him Jon was so capable that he can make an idea out of nowhere and apply it right in the fight. To him, the creativity of Jon was like an unreadable future, he can¡¯t waste his time trying to think of the way Jon will use to counterattack, he had to corner Jon or deplete his Stamina. Jon was attacking in a wide manner, he wanted to put an end to the opponent Stamina too, Argir was just too good. Their talents varied but if one put the talents aside, Jon knew he would be yed by Argir. Jon had a rebel mindset that if one made him choose between 1 or 2, he¡¯ll immediately think of 3. This was reflected on his style, he can be cornered but he will rebel against that and make a shy way to counter. The match has already passed ten minutes, everyone was worried. Stamina was what the warriors relied their lives on, if someone lost his Stamina in the middle of battle his life is already as good as lost. The exchange of swords reached its peak. Jon could only describe this as a kendo match that has gone haywire. Suddenly and out of nowhere, Argir made a precise stab to the gab between Jon¡¯s left shoulder guard and body armor. The tip of the sword was starting to sink in Jon¡¯s flesh, this was his turn to make a sacrifice. He let his left hand go of the sword grip and retreated his left side around his right leg avoiding a major wound. He tried to scare Argir away with a horizontal-upwardly sh with the ¡¯Ice Song¡¯ in his right. It was the best anyone can do but Argir was not done yet, this was the payback to his knee, he mustered all the power, weight and speed. he can and directed a hit right to Jon¡¯s sword ¡¯Ice Song¡¯. The sword was in one hand and being swung, so it was not under full control. Just as the swords shed, Jon¡¯s hand couldn¡¯t keep up with Argir¡¯s force, the sword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with *clink* *clink* *clink*. Argir was at the top of his focus and no way for him to miss the chance, his desire to win was reaching the upper limit of just a desire and turned into frenzy, he moved from each his legs making a stance and in the same time kicking ¡¯Ice Song¡¯ away with his left, his sword was in a downwardly stab pose as his hands were on his left side and was about to thrust the sword at Jon. He was smiling widely for the victory he could see, taste and smell. But just in the very next second his face turned numb and he staggered backward. Argir didn¡¯t know what happened but everyone else was already on their feet from what they saw. When ¡¯Ice Song¡¯ fell Svidi was screaming, Wulfur and Jon were ring, half of the crowd held there breath and the other were saying gibberish words as their minds already on high function, the VIP area suffered the most as Elisif was jumping in victory pose and Torygg was opening his mouth, the rest were standing, even the mages were shouting. Argir way of the sword was of a way of nning genius, Jon¡¯s way of fighting was of an illuminated genius. Argir¡¯s win was anticipated for half of the people, but this was a bit sad for Jon. Yet that move that Jon made was out of every text or sketch book there were about fighting in Tamriel, it came right from clowns textbook. Jon jumped backward with a strange trajectory making his legs rotate around his body midair, his right leg smacked Argir right on the face, his face took the kick with all its might and his consciousness went to Oblivion and came back in a second giving Jon the chance tond upwards down on his hands. Jonunched himself again with his hands andnded on his legs, he didn¡¯t have enough from just that, he made another round again retreatingpletely from Argir¡¯s maai. [A/N: ¡¯Maai¡¯ is a Japanese martial arts term referring to the space between two opponents inbat; formally, the "engagement distance".] The ce was silent, no one has ever seen this before in a fight, thieves can do these moves but not in actual fight were all unnecessary moves are openings. This was just too absurd, even creativity should have a limit. Jon whonded far away just now was huffing after the intense engagement. He thought "Parkour, my life savior, Daedric Prince of Gymnastics, give me your blessing and I¡¯ll make you a shrine beside my cat shrine". Jon was having the time of his life in that match, he didn¡¯t notice that the fetishes he has, are growing in number. The audience, on the other hand, has already passed the shock and denial stages, they reach the reaction stage, the ce was erupting with apuse, even the people that didn¡¯te or hear about the fight were already trying to enter the castle¡¯s arena after thatud apuse. The VIP was already hectic long time ago, Idgrod was ring at Elisif who let her emotions slip, Ulfric was smiling, Torygg opened his mouth more, and the rest were having a unique reaction each. Argir and Jon red at each other, Argir was having a conflict between his emotions, he could already taste victory, he nned every move and even kicked ¡¯Ice Song¡¯ away from the arena, why is that young man still standing with no problem at all. He looked at the sword he kicked and said, "You have no weapon, better surr...." but he didn¡¯t continue. Jon has already made a spelle on each hand. Argir¡¯s heart sank, magic is strong and Jon is known for his strong spells, this will not be easy if Jon turned the tide by magic. As Jon casted the two spells, two swords appeared on each hand, the swords were spectral and looked sinister no matter how you describe them. At the beginning of the match, Jon used a longsword which was longer than Argir¡¯s broadsword, but these swords were shorter than it. This only meant a totally different fight style will appear once again, the possibilities of Jon now has increased. The Jarls who were dissatisfied about Jon using magic didn¡¯t mind the ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ spell. These were also swords after all. Jon faced Argir and pointed the right de to him, it was a haughty move that Argir won¡¯t get taunted with but with his mindset just now, he jumped at Jon like a mad person. His swords was on his hand was shing with both speed and power. He was not angry anymore, he was focusing every piece of his being on his sword right now. Jon noticed how Argir was focusing, this is a very wondrous state of mind known as ¡¯The Zone¡¯. All the unnecessary movements are canceled, all the necessary movements are urate, everything is how it should be, a top-notch style. Jon couldn¡¯t afford to lose here, he focused his Magicka and perception on the des he summoned. This was another special way to enter the same mind state, ¡¯The Zone¡¯. Magicka was the mystic power that can bemanded by concentration, and using the maniption methods of Magicka, one can direct his concentration. Right now to very focused young warriors engaged in a heated exchange of power and speed once again. It was just at the level of experts. In the eyes of experienced warriors, these guys have already won, no one of them can be considered a loser. In the eyes of the audience, if any of those two lost, it will break the hearts of everyone. The only way out of this dilemma was for them to continue fighting till the both reach their limit and it can be called a tie. Everyone thought of the same idea even the helpers of the two. Only two people disagreed with the rest, they were Jon and Argir. After few exchanges were over the two were already out of breath and barely able to raise their swords. Jon looked at Argir andughed then coughed few times. "You look like you were beaten up by a troll, Blondy" Jon said. "You look like the same, Redhead" Argir said. The bothughed while catching their breath. Jon and Argir knew it won¡¯t end well that way, the said something but this time the people didn¡¯t hear. They both moved away from each other to the directions outside the arena but stopped at the line. The both called for someone, Jon called for Wulfur and Argir called for a team mate. After a while, their helpers removed the gear from them and both of them walked back to the arena without an armor or a weapon. The people already understood how this is going to end, a brawl. Looking at each other, Jon has already devised his ns. Outside the arena people were discussing the matter with heat, some has already started cheering for Jon and Argir at the same time. Battle-Born looked at Wulfur and asked, "Did he say anything?" Wulfur shook his head and looked at Jon in the arena, "He was just smiling slyly." "Smiling, he is up to no good again?" Battle-Born said as he was already used to Jon¡¯s mischievous acts. "Nah, you only joined with ustely but this is something you must remember." Wulfur looked at Battle-Born with a serious face, "Never brawl with Jon." ********************** On the arena Jon and Argir stood against each other again, the fight has alreadysted for 20 minutes. Jon cracked his fingers and neck, he squatted and made all the preparations. Argir moved his stiff body once again and raised his hands in brawling pose. Jon saw this and shook his head in his mind, if that ¡¯Coach¡¯ from his past life saw that pose. Ten generations of Argir¡¯s ancestors will be cursed in a second. Jon took a stance, hands guarded up and feet moved up and down lightly. Jon hasn¡¯t trained much on martial arts in his past life but the basics were hammered into him, he watched tons of movies and was able to recreate his version of Parkour, of course he made his rough version of movie martial arts. Argir didn¡¯t think much of Jons stance but he was still aware of Jons capabilities, yet he knew that his won¡¯t lose easily too. Argir wanted to rely on speed and knock Jon with fast strong punches, yet he was he had some since of deja vu followed by numbness in his face. Jon attack light speed with Jab, Jab, Right Hock. The people were at a loss for words once again, one should muster a punch by rotating his body to the opposite direction the rotate it back with speed while throwing the punch. What Jon did was not a textbook brawling either. He moved his hands from the stance and only rotated his body with the Hock to a single direction. His feet started to jump faster and changed positions, Argir didn¡¯t read the next attack at all. The punches came but Argir was ready and evaded to a certain point, but when he left punched to counterattack, Jon evaded lightly to the back and countered with a single right punch to Argir¡¯s left ribs. Argir was annoyed, he decided to be the one to break the silence and use leg attacks. He moved his right leg to make a straight kick but what met him was Jon¡¯s left leg hitting his leg away,his state crumbled and staggered. A Right Hock, Left Hock, Kick Straight sent him back to the ground. Jon¡¯s stance didn¡¯t break for a second, his punches targeted the head, that was too hardcore even for a brawler. Argir didn¡¯t stay on the ground, he stood up again while say "Come at me." Jon didn¡¯t hesitate, he moved forward and right kicked Argir¡¯s right leg, after it hit the kick changed to a side kick and dived into Argir¡¯s abdomen, this was just the start. Jon retreated his right while jumping with the left, once the rightnded in the ground, the left moved in an arc to Argir¡¯s head who managed to guard by his right hand. Argir staggered to the side but Jon gave a chase and jumped while rotating midair andnded a light left kick to Argir¡¯s head with a heavy right kick to his chest, then bothnded on the ground. Jon staggered while standing up again and the judge ran to check on Argir. Everyone held there breath, Argir was still moving but looked in no shape to fight, he coughed blood long ago and his body was full of wounds. Jon wasn¡¯t any better but was standing still. Few secondster the judge stood. "I dere Jon of ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ the WINNER." ****************** That was a tough fight. I loved the swordsmanship of that fellow, but when he asked me to end it I a brawl, I told him not to do it. Well, he brought that upon himself. Fighting him in armor and using weapons, I couldn¡¯t do anything to him that easily, but once we used bare hand martial arts we were in totally different ins. This the difference between those who have watched "Yuri Boyka" and those who didn¡¯t. Well, let just get healed physically now and mentallyter. But just as the healer was done with us, Captain Aldis came out of nowhere, "You two are ordered toe to the big seats". The big seats are what I call the VIP, I can foresee a headache. I gave a hand to Argir who limped to stand. After a while, we reached the ce and the guards let us in. The ce was sure nice, the big shots were all in one ce. We bowed to High King Torygg a light bow, Nords don¡¯t bend the knee. We were congratted with promises of many gifts and stuff. I had to refuse Ulfric advice to join him in Windhelm, Torygg was giving him a cold eye but hepletely ignored it. Idgrod Ravencrone and Balgruuf are the only Jarls I have a good impression with so I promised to visit them for sure. Elisif, on the other hand, was really worried about Argir for some reason, I don¡¯t know the reason but curiosity is killing me, I tried my best to hear what are they saying and I cought something. "... Sis, you¡¯re embarrassing me...." I swear I could hear Argir say that. Damn! I just beated up the royal brother-inw, good thing we are Nords. Anyway, after evading Ulfric, I was excused and could run away back to my friends. "Let¡¯s head home" I said. We left with a lot of cheers, and the guards made a path for us to the participant¡¯s entrance. I changed into my dandy style clothes and coverd myself with a cloak. I was nning on going to the bathhouse but I saw a strange out of ce shop. The shop had many cages and looked a bit new. "What is that shop?" I asked. "This is a pet shop where rich girle to buy pet animals." Svidi said. "Milkdrinkers!" Battle-Born reacted. "Rich people.. sigh." Wulfur followed. I was in no mood to reply. I finally found it! After a full life time, I can make that dreame true! I will die with no regrets this time. "I am going in..." I said, "For me kitty kitty kitties." [A/N: There is a poll in Discord about the civil war,e and join us.] Chapter 24 Skyfire Pet Shop [A/N: MANY THANKS FOR @MO.FI.SA. ON PATREON FOR THE FIRST DONATION ON THIS NOVEL EVER, LET¡¯S CARVE HIS NAME ON THE WALL OF WINDHELM AND GIVE HIM A FREE TICKET TO SOVENGARDE] ******************************* "Kitty kitty kitties, fufufufu kitty kitty kitty kitties." A strange heavy voice sounded, "Excuse me, do you sell kitty kitty kitties." It came from the entrance direction. A girl stood in the store wearing expensive clothes and had a tied hair. She turned around to see who came in to her family¡¯s store. But what she saw scared Oblivion out of her. A huge shadow blocked the light of day thates from the entrance, it gave a powerful aura, the candles in the shop went down from that aura, the animals in the cages quieted down as well, the figure walked slowly making some weirdughs. The girl was scared, she was about to scream, but suddenly the huge figure fell on the ground turning into three smaller figures. The ce was dark and the girl couldn¡¯t see any of the figures¡¯ features clearly. A voice came from behind the figures, "Finally, he¡¯s down." It was a girl¡¯s voice. "If he wasn¡¯t originally tired, by Ysmir! He would have dragged us through the whole town." a young man¡¯s voice sounded out. But after a second the atmosphere froze, the strange voice could be heard once again, "Fufufufu, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but kitty kitty kitties will revive me." The figure in the middle bended its limbs in a weird direction and stood on all four, it suddenly creeped like a spider towards the girl with high speed. "Do you sell kitty kitty kittieeeeees?" The girl was about to scream and fall back once again, but suddenly one of the figures on the ground jumped and fell directly on the creeping figure. "Caught him, sorry about that, are you alrig...." A strong voice of a young man spoke to the store girl but it suddenly halted. The boy saw a ginger girl, with sky blue eyes and pure beautiful face. The girl saw a boy with strong build, dark hair and brown eyes. Something sparkled in their eyes, but that¡¯s a story for a bitter. ********************* [A/N: Five minutes earlier, outside the pet shop] "Hey, these shops are for milk drinkers, you can¡¯t just go in." Battle-Born was trying to stop Jon. "He won¡¯t listen, look at his eyes." Wulfur said. "His eyes are turning into that of a cat, his mouth too, he is not listening at all." Svidi was pointing from a far. [A/N: Basically like this ( ¡¯¦Ø¡¯ )] "That doesn¡¯t look good to me. Wulfur press him from above." Battle-Born said. "How?" Wulfur replied. "I don¡¯t know, climb on him." "Fine, and you cling to his legs." "Alright, Svidi give us a hand." "Leave me out of this." "Dammit, he is moving." "Press him harder." "I can¡¯t, watch out we are going in." The appearance was that of three young men, one was walking and the other two were restraining him, one clinging on his shoulders, and the other from his legs. There was a girl too but she didn¡¯t get involved. Finally they entered a shop. ********************* [A/N: Back to the present.] "I, I, I am alright, very alright." The girl was speaking without concentration while looking at the boy. "Give me kitty kitt...." Jon was about to rise again but Wulfer punched him back to Oblivion without breaking eye contact with the girl. It seemed like even Jon can¡¯t break the pink atmosphere that was forming right now. "Hey, is Jon alright?" Svidi asked Wulfur while giving a hand to Battle-Born on the ground. "... He is, he is very alright!" Wulfur replied in a soft voice and a slow manner. For some reason, Svidi and Battle-Born felt shivers, even Jon stopped resisting. "Wulfur, what happened to Jon?" Battle-Born asked. ".... I punched him." Wulfur said. "What! Is he alright?" Svidi asked and came be side Wulfur who was still on Jon. Wulfur was looking at a girl and the girl was looking back at him. Svidi waved her palm between them and they suddenly reacted, the girl looked away and blushed red, Wulfur looked left and right with a pale face, then he finally looked down. "Oi, Jon, Jon, what happened to this guy?" Wulfur shook him, "Answer me!" Battle-Born and Svidi looked at each other and their faces turned serious, this was a scary moment in the history of Wulfur. ********************** Dammit! My head feels very heavy! I remember that feeling! Once I yed a prank on Ysolda but I mistook her and it was a different girl, after that someone punched me, I got familiar with Wulfur and Svidi after that day. This punch is just identical, was it Wulfur again? I¡¯ll have his ass this time. I could open my eyes finally, it¡¯s a bit dark but I see light. What is that, I sat but the ce around me was strange, I was sleeping on fur, but I was in a cage. Yes, a cage. Wait! what¡¯s going on here? I was heading home after the fight and something about cats happened, my memory is not really clear. "Hey, anyone here?" I called. "Ah, you finally awake!" Battle-Born voice came from somewhere. "He awoke, can we get him out now?" A girl spoke but I didn¡¯t recognize her voice. "Just leave him until we confirm his sanity." Svidi said. Four figures came front of the cage. "Seriously! You knock out I, your old daddy and put me in a cage." I could understand what happened now. "We can¡¯t afford you to go berserk again." Battle-Born replied, "Just to make sure, did your head cooldown?" "Get me out or else." I was in a grumpy mood. Battle-Born just touched the door and it opened, so it wasn¡¯t locked, how embarrassing! I got out of the cage and looked around, this is a store I kinda remember. "Sorry for just now." I looked a the girl who looked like the clerk, "Mental fatigue must have umted after the match and I berserked out." "Ah! Your friends have told me, congrattions for the win." The girl talked in a shy manner. She was a beautiful girl with light ginger hair and blue eyes, kinda simr to me but she has her charm. "I am Jon, sorry for the trouble." I said. "I am Bjorna, wee to Skyfire Pet Store." The girl called Bjorna said. "Oh! Pet Store! Right? Cats! Kitties!" my memories came back all of a sudden. "Don¡¯t even think about it." Svidi warned me, she actually was scary, Bjorna was hiding behind her. "Ah! My bad! sorry, Do you have cats?" I asked holding myself to the limit. The girl looked at me and smiled wryly, "This store is more focused on exotic and expensive animals, especially those which has magical properties and those which can fight and hunt." Oh! So that kind of store existed, this is really like some MMOs. Why didn a game feature like thate to the world? Was it a mod? Let¡¯s think of thatter? "Magical properties, Does Nords even like that?" I felt it strange. "They crave for it, we don¡¯t really say they are magical put if it¡¯s from nature, then Nords won¡¯t think of it as anything strange." The girl said. "But you just said that to a Nord." I said. "And not just any Nord." Bjorna said. "It¡¯s Jon Dare, the one who defeated the mages in their own game." "Oh! You know about that?" Of course I was famous. "Yes, I was there that day, most of the girls went to see the match of Argir Swift-Hilt and I was lucky I was there that day." She said. "Anyway, may I interest you in one of our creatures?" Bjorna said. Wow! Just like Ysolda, this girl has a merchant face too. "What kind of animals do you sell?" I asked. "Anything that can be trained. My n trained most of these animals so they are friendly and all, I also have some rmendations for you and you warrior friends here." She said. "You n?" I asked. "Half of us are tamer, weird hobby for Nords ,eh? But we were brought up many of these beautiful creatures." She said, "I normally manage the store but my ma goes back to the n for the other ones, the big ones that can¡¯t be sold in a city, you see." Ah! Why is this world turning too mystical all of a sudden? "So what¡¯s do you normally sell?" I asked. "You finally asked, follow me." She said while turning around, but when she faced Wulfur she clearly blushed. The hell? I looked at Svidi, she shrugged and was unusually silent. Let¡¯s askter, following the girl we arrived at some small cages. "This a Dragonfrog, cute isn¡¯t it? Mages buy dozens of these beauties." She pointed at something. That thing was a frog, a big one. But it had two wings and it looked like it can use them, it also had scales like that of a lizard. I have seen these things in books, this creature also made an appearance in the ¡¯Elder Scrolls Online¡¯, I think it¡¯s weird but they really sell it! "Why do mages like these?" I asked. "They are clean, airborne and magical, the can evolve into a magical creature once they adapt to a certain element." She said. "Hmm, what else is there?" I asked. "There are canines like the Alik¡¯r Dune Hounds and Bravil Retrievers which are preferred by hunters." She said pointing at a cage. "There are also the Bear-Dogs." She pointed at a cage. "There are also Morthal Mastiff, a true fearless beast." I like that one. "Skyrim Wolfhounds." Oh! The ones from the game. "There are also wolves and bears cubs but we don¡¯t disy them here. You can order them though." Bears? Sign me up. "There are also Guars, we import them from Morrowind, some like to pick them as mounts, but their prices are a bit high in Skyrim." Oh! I know that one, they are Bipedal Reptilians from Morrowind and ck Marsh, they are the recement for horses there, I also see them as some sort of dinosaurs. Nurina used to raise one when she was young. "There are also Foxes right over here, many kinds from Skyrim, Hammerfell and Elsweyr. They are my favorite." "Also there mounts in our outer store, Horses and Ponies, Guars and also Goats, Elks and Rams that can be mounted, I think we had a War Boar once but Da cried like a baby and took it to himself." She said. What an interesting father! "Finally on our tour and the thing that might interest you the most are the Felines." She finally said it. "Finally" I couldn¡¯t help but let it out. "Time for his kitten heaven." Battle-Bornughed. "Let¡¯s call it Kittengarde." Wulfur said. He actually cracked a funny joke, peopleughed at it too. Something changed about that guy. "Seeing the Felines as only cats is belittling the might of one of the scariest breeds ever lived, Cats by the way are favored by Dibe, the goddess of love. There also is a breed of cats which is considered very cute is also the favorite pet in the old magic guild, even the college now has tens of them around." Bjorna said. Everyone made a serious face when she made a speech. "Wait a minute! You are speaking about the Mage Sentry Cats, right? They are in the College?" I asked. "More than the mages themselves." She said. "They tend to cling to people with purer Magicka and also no one can escape their senses." She said, "So if you are going to the college then just buy something more expensi.. ehem, suitable." I heard that! "There are a wide variety of Cats and Dragonfrogs, but most can only be found in the College due to evolutions based on magic." She said, "We on the other hand can sell you Lynxes which are more honest than cats if they were raised well." "The n also imported half Senche breeds." She said. Seriously say that earlier. "As you may know, Senches are sort Khajiits thates from Elsweyr, unlike their Bipedal brothers and sisters and they may breed with Felines like tigers and lions giving us many variants like Senche-Lions, Senche-Tigers, Senche-Leopards and Senche-Panthers." "But the best choice in my opinion are the Sabercats, they are faster and can adapt to Skyrim better." She came to a halt when she reached an office. We also stopped after her. "So, dear customers. Have you made your mind?" Bjorna said while making a merchant smile. "I am gratified from the amount of the stuff you guys sell." I couldn¡¯t help but say. "What are you talking about? This is a small just pet shop. The real business is done by almost half of my n. We tame, hunt and fight. This shop is only a ce for youngsters to manage and a ce to make deals, most of our the stables in Skyrim deal with us." She proudly said. Dammit! This girl is not simple. "Anyway you guys can be patient, most of the orders take a lot of time." She said, "And also you need to wait for my mother toe from the arena, she knows what¡¯s in stock better than me." "One question, please!" Someone finally interrupted her, oh that was me, sorry I am just dizzy. "Does your shop sell Pokemon Balls?" I asked. "No, what is that?" She asked back. "It¡¯s a magical device from my past life, people who had many pets kept them within these small balls." I said withplete honesty. "Woaaah! I want some of these myself, that¡¯s so handy. But wait a minute what past life?" She said. "Ah! That¡¯s one of his usual jokes when he is not sure about something, he normally involves past lives and dragons for some reason." Svidi cut in. "Dragons?" Bjorna was taken aback. "Dragons are real you know." I said. "Seriously?!" Bjorna was full of wonder. """They are not.""" Wulfur, Battle-Born and Svidi said in unison. "They are." I said, "Five years from now they will return." This is a normal argument we always go in since the time of the orphanage. "He just loves dragons too much, don¡¯t take him seriously." Svidi assured Bjorna. "Nah! I always wanted to see one when I was young." Bjorna said. Hah! Joke¡¯s on you guys. "Maybe dragons should be real after all." Wulfur who was unusually silent spoke. "Pffft!" I couldn¡¯t hold myself anymore, this guy has fallen, and fallen hard. Svidi and Battle-Born looked at Wulfur as if they looked at a traitor. This was really fun, but that fun didn¡¯tst that long. We could hear footsteps of someoneing to our direction, we were deep into the store so we couldn¡¯t tell who wasing. Suddenly Bjorna ran to that direction and looked, "Oh! it¡¯s Ma." That¡¯s what she said. Look good Wulfur, aunt-inw arrived. Few breathester the woman came in. The woman that arrived was tall, red hair, blue eyes. I couldn¡¯t help but stare. I couldn¡¯t help but freeze. Why is she here? Why does Bjorna call her mother? I looked at the woman and she looked at me, she also froze. I couldn¡¯t help but to look at Bjorna once again who was telling her that there were customers. Words were stuck. Stuck in my throat. As if they were wrestling which one toe first. Why are you here ..... ? Who is that girl ..... ? Why didn¡¯t you tell me ..... ? What¡¯s going on ..... ? All these words couldn¡¯t break free from each other but one word from each sentence brock out. "... Hilda?" Chapter 25 An Ambush [A/N: There is a new channel #vote on Discord, There is a vote about the civil war now, go check it out, much better than the old one.] [A/N: A side novel for this novel was made for the special +18 scenes, Skyrim: Sexual Adventures of Jon Dare. This novel is family friendly again.] [A/N: Bjarnna will be changed to Bjorna, apparently Bjarnna is a male name and the female version is Bjorna.] [A/N: Thest chapter was unedited the first few hours, it¡¯s now edited to the best of my current ability. Enjoy] ************************ "..... Hilda?" The woman stiffened in here ce and was surprised to see me, silence took over but someone spoke. "Hmm? Hilda? You know aunty" Bjorna reacted. I was taken aback! What aunty? Wasn¡¯t she your mother just a while ago? I couldn¡¯t say that as it was still confusing, I just pointed between the so-called mother and daughter while making a dumb "eeeeeeh!" "Hehehe! look at yar dumb faced! pretty much confusin¡¯ me an¡¯ dat she-troll." The woman said, "Oi am much prettier ya know! Hehehe!" What the hell with thisdy? She looks like Hilda? But the ent is so out of ce? "You are not Hilda?" I asked. "Poord! Oi told ¡¯er to visit ya every uonce in e while! Figured you¡¯d forget how she looked like." The woman said, "Anyways. Name¡¯s Skadi, Hilda¡¯s me oldar sista." I was processing this event but it felt like my brain was having a hard time keeping, just more headache for me. "Wasn¡¯t Hilda the one who taught you fighting after that day?" Wulfur tried to remember, I didn¡¯t really tell him the truth about her. "Mhm." I nodded. "What? Aunty taught you fighting?" Bjorna yelled. "Believe it er not, thisd got lucky an¡¯ Hilda saw talent in him." Skadi said. "But how did you recognize me?" I asked as I wasn¡¯t sure just yet. "Yer ma told Hilda yarin¡¯ to town, Hilda told me to keep an eye ya." Skada spoke while finding a seat. "This, still is, confusing." I sighed to myself. "Ya don¡¯t need to worry! Ya ¡¯ll see Hilda in year, she told me she¡¯ll be bringin¡¯ ya to the sermon, don¡¯t die till then." Skadi was still talking in that manner. "Yeah thanks, Still it¡¯s strange to see how much you resemble each other." I said making a wry smile. "Lair! Hilda¡¯s the older one, she¡¯s like giant besides me, Oi am a bit shorter, and she acts like a bandit and drinks all day." Skadi said, somehow I could feel that she is very close to Hilda. "And you act like a pirate." That was Bjorna. I kind of see that this girl was suffering for some reason. "Stinkin¡¯ brat, who¡¯s the pirate?" Skadi retorted. There was a bit of argument but I think I passed the trauma. "One question please, are there any more sisters I should be aware of?" I had to ask that one. "Nah! It¡¯s just me, Hilda, and a dozen brothers." She said. "A dozen!" I yelled. "Hahaha! Look at yer dumb face." Skadiughed. The trauma came back. *************** "So, ya all came here to buy somethin¡¯?" Skadi said. "Jon wanted cats." Bjorna said. "Cats? Big ones?" Skadi asked. "Well, it happened like this....." Bjorna started to tell her the story from when we entered the shop. Skadi wasughing but I didn¡¯t want to remember that experience once again. "Ya had it hardd!" Skadi was amused, "But that won¡¯t do. If ya want a beast then wait until ya see Hilda." "Why?" I asked. "Hilda¡¯s arrangin¡¯ somethin¡¯ good for ya, Oi don¡¯t want ta spoil the fun, but it¡¯s better than anything we normally sell." Skadi said. "Is the word cat anywhere in its description?" I asked. "Just look forward to it." Skadi sighed. Okay! If it¡¯s Hilda then I won¡¯t argue. "About yar friends here, did ya see anythin¡¯ you fancy?" Skadi asked the trio. Looking at Battle-Born, he puffed his chest and said, "I am no milk drinker, if a beast can¡¯t fight then what use do I have for it?" "If a beast can fight, it¡¯ll eat a brat like ya once it¡¯s hungry. If ya want a beast, then ya have to raise it from the time it was born." Skadi gave a cold reply. Battle-Born was taken aback and didn¡¯t argue, he started thinking about it. "What about ya big boy? Which do ya fancy?" Skadi turned to Wulfur. Wulfur said "I....." and his face turned stiffened. Poor guy! What were you thinking about just now? Skadi noticed and frowned, then she noticed Bjorna face turning red, she red back at Wulfur. "A bear!" Skadi said, "If ya can¡¯t raise a bear then ya ¡¯re no good." Rest in pieces my brother. "And yassy?" Skadi turned to Svidi. "I really have nothing I want." Svidi was about to cry. "Come on you can do better." Skadi insisted. "But I don¡¯t want a beast." Svidi was about to cry. "Fine, ya can have a fox." Skadi decided. "And ya ¡¯ll have a hound." Then she told Battle-Born. Seriously now! How do you do business like this? Speaking of Wulfur, as he was not speaking. I pointed at him and asked Skadi "About the bear thing..." But I was cut in by her "The biggest bear cub I find is his." Let¡¯s hope it will be a panda, as pitiful and gentle as Wulfur. I sighed for god knows how many times this day! Skadi led us to a ce where we found small foxes, Svidi picked a white snow fox. Jon Battle-Born didn¡¯t have it hard, he could choose a pup of a bear-dog, if this thing grows well it will be scary. "Next year, ya drag yer friend here with ya." Skadi said. "Next year I¡¯ll be in Winterhold and he will be staying here." I said. "I¡¯ll figure something out." Wulfur said, brave as ever. "Fine by me." Skadi said. "Excuse me! Does your shop offer a ¡¯cat therapy¡¯?" I asked something that was on my mind. "Oi don¡¯t know what¡¯s thatd." Skadi asked. "You see, in my past life people would go to cat-therapy ces to sit with a lot of cats for a day and get healed by how fluffy and cute they are." I said. "Oi could use some of that miself, but what¡¯s with that past life?" She asked. "Jon believes in past lives and dragons ma, it¡¯s just a joke he says." Bjorna said. "Good to believe in something while ya ¡¯er still young, I used to believe there is a dragon living on High Hrothgar when I was young." Skadi said while looking to the space. Okaaaaay! Let¡¯s not confirm that point. "Anyway, It was nice meeting you Skadi, it really took me by surprise." I said taking our leave, "I am all beaten up after the match today." "Fined, don¡¯t get yourself into trouble." She said, don¡¯t know what she meant by that but she looked at me right in the eye. I am nning to make an upheaval though. We said our farewells and left the shop. Wulfur looked back at the direction of the shop few times. "We traded few pets with some coins and Wulfur¡¯s heart, sounds like a good bargain to me." I said teasing him. Wulfur didn¡¯t reply but he walked to Battle-Born, "I am taking your horse." "Where to?" Battle-Born asked. "I¡¯ll go to the horsemanship contest, I¡¯ll go first." Wulfur said and ran. We looked at each other then sighed, it¡¯s not going to be easy from now on. ************************** [A/N: 3rd Person POV] After Jon and co left, Skadi looked at Bjorna and asked her about what does she think of Jon and his friends, Bjorna¡¯s impression on them was good but when it came to Wulfur the girl was stuttering in words, it made Skadi smile. Then she started asking about Jon, the strength he showed today in the fight was amazing for a youth in his age, he was unusual and his ideas were really strange, in her opinion, he was a dangerous foe to face either with a weapon or not, she was a veteran brawler and she could wrestle with even bears, yet she didn¡¯t think she can win against his style on equal strength. "Better grow upd, aunty wants a fight." Skadi was smiling like a beast. "Did you say something ma?" Bjorna overheard something and asked. "Nah! Nothing." Skadi said. "Enough cking then, go do your chores, or no booze for you tonight." Bjorna yelled at Skadi. "When did ya be my ma?" Skadi wasining about her daughter. Skadi went up but she looked at the ce where Jon was standing and remembered something. "Dragons! ... hmm!" ************************** [A/N: 1st Person POV] I was quite in a strange mood after meeting with Skadi and Bjorna, they were very good people, and other than Hilda, this was my first time meeting rtives. Seems like the n I hail from is pretty much wealthy too, thinking about it, I still don¡¯t understand why they had to let go of me? The 25 years old me doesn¡¯t care, but the 15 years old does. Was I carrying some sort of secret? Did they know that there is a possibility in the future that I may be a Dragonborn? I am not sure about that myself but the thing that happened seemed big and I don¡¯t think I will know unless I hear them. Me losing to my emotions yesterday and showing a shocked face was truly beyond my ability, I really liked Hilda and never minded her at all, But Skadi was really different now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t seen Hilda and stayed with her only a week, no matter what my emotions are I don¡¯t think I can remember her appearance now that well. Let¡¯s focus on being better for now, I can¡¯t protect myself from a troll, how can I be of any use with my current strength? I slept on these ideas. ************************* A day passed, Wulfur made a good record yesterday, as he had a lot of steam to blow off. It was my turn today so I took the horse and headed to the track, I had a long sword on me so I was prepared. The track starts from the first gate of Solitude, going down the road, passing the stables, turning left to the docks direction, galloping over the docks, crossing the bridge over the big warehouse under Solitude, then galloping all the way to Solitude Lighthouse, someone will ride behind me to record my time and see how many targets I hit. The leaderboard had the three top records with the college at the first ce, followed by the ¡¯Companions second team¡¯ and ¡¯White ins¡¯, the team that was supported by Jarl Balgruuf. This was unexpected to many. The college didn¡¯t look that good in physical arts but the surprisingly made the highest score, and it was not Rusning, it was a girl named Jolma, the reason was her initiate ability to cast spells in a very fast rate and she had a good amount of Magicka too. The girl really was like a machine-gun who can shoot the same Apprentice level spells twice in a second from one hand, that was the college for you. It was rumored that she could hit the target at least twice before she passes it while speeding with the horse. Problem is, some targets were really close to each other so most riders will need to slow down and make a hit but she would spam spells like crazy while riding fast. The time between her and Vilkas from the second ce was a challenge to beat. It was my turn and I was riding on Battle-Born¡¯s horse. It was your typical Skyrim horse, big legs,rge butt, dumb face. It wasn¡¯t that slow but I didn¡¯t like it. I have ridden horses in my past life and they were Arabian horses. Tall, fit, strong and beautiful. This thing was barely as fast as a camel. Its name was ¡¯Meatloaf¡¯, and don¡¯t ask me why. I was at the start line and a man came with a horse after me. This was the judge of the race, he would record how many targets I hit and record the start time on the sundial near the start line and the finishing time on the sundial near thest line. He nodded and told me "anytime now." I held the reins tightly and pressed on the horse with my legs with a "Hya!" Leaning my body forward while the horse starting to gallop, I could feel the fresh air on my face. Down the road through the stables there was a hanging target, it was a sand sack, a ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ spell in my right hand made it explode. Canceling the spell, I turned to the left after reaching the turning point. There was a target concealed in the corner but a spell can get it easily and so it was. Galloping again and hitting many hanged targets easily, the ground targets started to appear, I switched to the sword and started taking the down. Reaching the bridge I could see three targets in the same spot, one hanged, one on the left and one on the right. That was going to be hard, I didn¡¯t speed up but I sheathed the sword, shot the left and right with magic then unsheathed the sword once again, stood on the saddle and shed at the hanging target. I could hear the man riding behind me saying "Nice!" The next challenge was after the bridge, I could see many ground targets left and right. Recalling some TV Show scene, I sheathed the sword and switched to ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ on both hands. I made and upper sh while rotating my arms a full circle with every sh, every target was hit sessfully. [A/N: Like the Dothraki rider from Game of Thrones S7E4] I really wanted someone to get that on camera. Nothing hard came after that and I could reach the Lighthouse with no problems. After passing the finish line the man jumped down and ran to the sundial installed on a tform under the sun. He took a charcoal pen and made a mark then looked at the other marks and checked the note of the target record in his hand. "You took the second ce." He said. Damn! Seriously! That girl from the college was better than me? "Fine! I am not even dissatisfied." I said. "You have done well, see you at the group duels my boy." The man said and left away. I was in a good mood so I stood to watch the sea for a while then rode and headed back. While I was riding I felt the air change and my ¡¯rm¡¯ spell made a ¡¯tek tek¡¯ sound in my head. An Enemy! But where? I looked in the front and in the back but know one was there. ¡¯tek tek tek¡¯ Three times? That close? I galloped forward but I could see nothing. I made a detect magic spell and I could see a reaction from the roadside under some boulder. I didn¡¯t think and fired a ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯. The only reaction I got was an arrow flying at me. Act now! Thinkter! I don¡¯t know how many enemies but the ambush they prepared didn¡¯t work and it seemed the have no n B. Amatures! Let¡¯s catch them. Chapter 26 Murderer [A/N: An Extra Large Thanks to @MO.FI.SA on Patreon for reaching the second tier and bing a Companion. a bounce chapter will be posted after this one.] ********************* The road was narrow and hardly anyone would find a good ce to hide and make an ambush. This meant these fellows had made adjustments to ambush me knowing that I would be alone. Unfortunately for them, Nurina taught me that one can never be too careful, this is why I always activate the ¡¯rm¡¯ spell and charge it tost longer. Dark Elves like Nurina have been met with a terrible hospitality after they fled Morrowind so having a high awareness was what made them survive. I learned all that from Nurina and I could survive two attempts on my life now. About the current situation, the ambushers don¡¯t seem to be experienced in making a strategy. It reminded me of an event that happens in the game when the yer gets attacked by hired thugs. Anyway, now two of the ambushers had spears, and the other had a bow. One of the spearmen was blocking the road behind me, the other two were at the front. This was a strategy to deal with a rider. So, let¡¯s not ride. I went down from ¡¯Meatloaf¡¯ and hit its butt to clear the ce, wouldn¡¯t want the horse to get injured. "Who sent you?" I asked. "Look at him courting death, if you remained on your horse you might have a chance to run." The archer said. Seems like he is the boss around here. "Tell me who sent you and you will get out of it alive." I said, making them angry is better than keeping them cool-headed. "You¡¯ll know once we send you to Oblivion." The man said as he was aiming at me. As I go intobat state, the spell ¡¯Ocatu¡¯s Rectical¡¯ activates ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯, Protection is good at any case since I was unarmored. I ran towards the two in the front while unsheathing the sword. As I get near to the spearman I throw the sword at his unarmored arm. The sword grazed the arm and leaves a big wound. I was already near the man and was dodging the arrows that cam at me. Once I was close enough I grabbed the spear in his hand and pulled it while kicking the man away, he didn¡¯t offer much resistance. The bowman was few steps away and he was switching to an axe. I aimed the spear and stabbed at his hip, I seem to have hit a major blood vessel as the blood was going like crazy. Thest man was running at me twenty meters away, I looked at him and shot a ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯, after three hits he was already down. I switched my attention to thest man who was hit by my thrown sword and fell down. He grabbed the sword I threw at him and shed at me shouting "DIE." Seriously? Die? I just dodged him few times then held his arm that held the sword, used his charge, carried him over and to the ground with a tud sound. He coughed blood but I sent him to dreand with a stomp on his face. This was a disappointment in my opinion, someone sent the sheep to hunt the wolf. At least look for something as good asst time assassins. After healing the bleeding man I tied them up with their clothes and linds them in the ground. With few ps they regained consciousness, they looked around left and right and then to me. "Monster!" The archer said. "Who sent you?" I said. "We brothers won¡¯t betray a contractor no matter what happened to us!" Another said. "A milk drinker like you wouldn¡¯t even dare to kill a chicken." Thest one said. "Even the ruffians in Riften know when to give up!" I eximed. Seems like every city is different. No one can hide in Riften unless he had a backer, but seems like Solitude is a bit safe so ruffians here are softer than the lowlives in Riften. I took the axe and examined it, it looked like the ¡¯Woodcutter Axe¡¯ from the game. "Let¡¯s do it that way then." I said while raising the axe and burying it deep into the spearman¡¯s head. The blood went out and flew in every direction. This was the second life I take. I could feel the skull getting crushed and the sensation of the axe going into the soft organs of the body. I really couldn¡¯t hold it anymore and backed away. I threw up all I ate this morning. I felt dizzy, this was horrible, I didn¡¯t have to kill that man but I thought it¡¯s a good chance to get used to killing, my inner demons insinuated that to me, I¡¯ll need to kill to protect and survive, why not start now? I could hear the other two men wailing and cursing at me calling their brother¡¯s name, they sure didn¡¯t think a younger would do that. I kept throwing up, it was horrible. The more I do, the more fear will get out of me. I, who was born in a peaceful world would never think of living this experience. I remembered the assassin I killed, I was hyped with adrenaline and it was a clean stab, nothing like this mess. Finally, it stopped and I could stand up again while staggering. I looked at the corpse and the urge to throw up came back but I was emptied. "Who... sent you?" I asked again while trying to stand up properly. The men were wailing over there brother, cowards! Men don¡¯t wail like that. I went to the corpse and looked at it, then grabbed the axe that was stuck in the skull and pulled it out. One of the men was screaming and cursing while the other had his mind already broken. I pointed the axe under his chin and raised his face to look at me with the axe. "Speak or die." I said. "ck-Briar, Sibbi ck-Briar." He said as he already gave up, he was broken from just knowing that death was at hand. And it was none other than good old Sibbi, I¡¯ll deal with himter. The other man was going berserk so I had to shut him up. The axe found its ce into his skull just like his first brother. It didn¡¯t end here, I raised the axe again and did the same withst brother. Blood was everywhere, on my face! on my clothes, on my hands, even some entered my mouth. The sky turned dark, and dark clouds appeared, a storm ising. I looked around me and it was a bloody mess. I dragged the corpses away from the road, after spacing out for a while the sky started pouring its rain, it was a thunderstorm. I walked to the horse which was panicking and rode it back to the city. The rain cleaned all the blood on me and cleared my path as everyone was hiding in their homes. As I reached the inn, I tied the horse in the stable and went to my room. It was dark, but I just threw myself on the bed and slept like the way I was. ******************************** It was a terrible sleep, I also saw some unreasonable dream too. I looked around me and found that the room was messy, I had to clean it and change into some easy clothes. I went down but the ce was hectic on the first floor of the inn, it seemed that they discovered that three regr thugs were brutally murdered outside the city. The cart just brought them to the square and their families came for them. I went to look but it was just too much, one of them had an elderly mother and a sister, the other had no one and thest was married. I couldn¡¯t wait to see more, I just walked somewhere far. ********************** I reached the castle area and looked around, I saw some shops were open, stopping at a stall I picked up some street food to eat. I was hungry and ate like a pig. People around me were talking about the brutal murder that happened, even though the world wasn¡¯t peaceful, Solitude was a safe city and these events were rare. I couldn¡¯t stay around to listen to that, these three were there to kill me, and I happened to be much better than them. I kept walking and walking till it got dark, I saw the ¡¯Hall of the Dead¡¯ and there seemed to be a sermon. I stood and watched. The three were being buried in the crypt of the hall. Funny, I remembered a saying from my past life, it was "Killed the man and attended his funeral", I just literally did that. Dammit! Why am I smiling? This is not funny. I walked away again! I turned from alley to alley to escape reality for a while. I could do nothing about it anymore, I went back in the direction of the inn. Tomorrow is a big day after all, I need at least to be ready. As I walked in the inn, Wulfur and Battle-Born were there waiting while looking worried. "What¡¯s going on?" I asked. "Where have you been all day?" Wulfur asked. "I was just in a mood to go out!" I said. "Did you forget about the ¡¯Lots¡¯ event today?" Battle-Born said, "I went in your stead and something is not right." Drawing lots was that thing about arranging the 32 teams into the elimination contest, team duels were to start tomorrow and it could be considered the main event. "What happened?" I asked. "After the assassins¡¯ team were discovered, the teams became 31 so that means a team will go to the round of 16 without dueling, guess which team was that?" Wulfur said. "Which team?" I asked. "ck-Snow, the one sponsored by the ck-Briars." Battle-Born said. "You mean they are paying?" I asked. The two nodded, "Not just that." Wulfur said, "All the teams we are facing are a headache after a headache." "Who are we facing?" I asked. "We are the first duel tomorrow, we will face team ¡¯North Stars¡¯ of that guy Ongeim." Battle-Born said, "After it, in the round of 16 we may face the Companions¡¯ second team." "No problem on my side, I would hate it if we faced any weak team." I said. "Thought you would say so." Wulfur said, "But whatever bothering you today may affect us tomorrow, so you better be ready." "Okay? Anything else I should know about the matches?" I asked. "Nah! Just that each round will be finished in a day, which means this team duels will take five days to finish." Battle-Born said. "I know about this, anything else?" "The number of fighters in the arena will be ording to the lowest team in number, which means if we go five against three, the team of five will only send three, if one of those fell, then another can take his ce." This is unfair for small teams, lucky for us the smallest team is just 3 yers which means we can go in and out as a whole. "What about our strategy?" Wulfur asked. "We will go with the usual one, I will take a nk and support with healing, you will carry your shield and defend the middle while Battle-Born will be taking the other nk with fast hit and run." I said. "Sure it will work?" Battle-Born asked. "Like a charm." I said. Chapter 27 The Round of 32 is a Good Distraction [A/N: This bounce chapteres to you by the good graces of @MO.FI.SA , pray for him to never have diarrhea.] [A/N: There is a damn votedies and gentlemen and it¡¯s 7:6 for the people who wants not to save Torygg, what are you waiting for? Go to Discord and #Save_Torygg.] *********************** The first match was us against the team ¡¯North Stars¡¯, the arena was full and every big shot was there. Viarmo took thementary as usual and made the introduction of the teams. Team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ was me, Jon Battle-Born a swordsman and Wulfur a shield bearer. Team ¡¯North Stars¡¯ was Ongeim a berserker, Hjargrim with a sword and shield and Dri a giant tomboy girl with a spear and buckler. Wulfur stood in the middle with his big shield, he had four small axes on his back and a new il, to his right was Battle-Born with a longsword, and on his left was me with ¡¯Agni-Ra¡¯ on my shoulder. On the other side, Ongeim stood on the middle, on his left was Hjargrim and on his right was Dri. I could see Skadi and Bjorna in the crowd which made my mood much better, now I need to kick Ongeim and his goons to Oblivion and win the damn duel. As the match started Ongeim ran like a madman swinging his dual axes downwardly at Wulfur, Wulfur bashed him with his ridiculouslyrge shield and Ongeim staggered backward. Our n was to not give them a time for breath, I rushed at Ongeim and swung the hammer at him, the poor boy was taken by surprise and the hammernded on him nicely. His teamwork skills arecking, he rushed at us alone, we, on the other hand, didn¡¯t move from our starting ce. His team caught up but I was back to my position. As Hjargrim attacked Battle-Born but they were evenly matched, Wulfur and Ongeim shed once again yet Ongeim this time has the upper hand as his axes were faster than Wulfur¡¯s il. Dri attacked me relentlessly, I have to finish her before we get the others. After few exchanges, Dri stabbed at me with her spear but I retreated backward and hammered down her spear, as her spear touched the ground it broke, the girl was in distress but I kept attacking and she was defending with the spear¡¯s pole. I managed tond a hit after a long exchange and she was as good as done. "Wulfur, switch." As I say that, Wulfur backs away from Ongeim and faces Dri, Ongeim tried to stop him but I was on his way. "What¡¯s up?" I said. Ongeim was annoyed by my way of speaking and started waving his axes left and right. I dodged only to the back to make a space away from others, after taking enough distance and using his rush I started my counterattack. I swung my hammer at him and he crossed his axes to make a hasty block. The weapons met and he survived the surprised attack relying on luck, he thought he change the situation using the slow reaction of hammers, yet who did he think I am? The second swing was not a secondte to the first followed by a kick to his knee and a third hammer swing. Ongeim couldn¡¯t do anything but to retreat, he took some distance and started running at me like a madman. His axes moved faster than my hammer and he was moving fast too, I can¡¯t afford to lose in speed against that guy. I rotated my body around itself and throw the hammer at the rushing Ongeim, his rush was disturbed. Then I hastily made two ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ spells on each hand summoned two spectral swords. "Using magic you shameless bastard." Ongeim said, he must be one of those Nords who hate magic. "Humph!" I could only snort at that icebrain Nord, These people are simply stupid. The fast exchange started to happen once again, this guy was really tall, also he had a lot of Stamina, his strength and speed were good as well. I was faster than him but to overwhelm him, I needed to weaken his momentum. I cut him few times and he got annoyed of it, but as I should not exhaust myself on him I had to y it dirty, no, we had to y it dirty. Just as Wulfur was done with already beaten up Dri, he came rushing at Ongeim who started felt distress. Two on one ended quickly and Ongeim wasshed by sWulfur¡¯s il on his armor which barely absorbed some of the shock. Thest one was Battle-Born and Hjargrim, Battle-Born was already winning but we surrounded Hjargrim and thrashed him ck and blue. Our win was dered, it was an easy and fast fight. Following up was the Companions second team against team ¡¯Cold Wind¡¯, I could foresee an easy win to the Companions first team. The other important matches were ¡¯Stormcloaks¡¯ vs ¡¯Winter Era¡¯, ¡¯Wolf Song¡¯ vs ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯, ¡¯Wolven Storm¡¯ vs ¡¯Companions first team¡¯, ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯ vs ¡¯Shatter-Shield¡¯, ¡¯Arcane Wisdom¡¯ vs ¡¯Fair Winds¡¯. This only meant that the city will be watching the matches and the streets will be quiet. I told Wulfur and Battle-Born to watch the matches and left alone, I have a n to make. ********************** I tried to get a map for the sewers from the ¡¯Thieves Guild¡¯ but it seemed like there is no one who goes there for any reason. My interest in the sewers was because in the game, you can escape from the castle¡¯s jail through it, that¡¯s how I was nning to save the assassin girl. After all I left her a message when I threw her journal to her. I remember what I wrote, I thought to interest her if I wrote a poem back to her and this was my first time writing a poem to a girl, how embarrassing. I found a manhole in a hidden ce behind the alchemy store I spotted a while ago, I had already taken my te body armor off as well as the helmet and left the hammer away before I leave the arena. I was now light armored and pretty much agile, I went into the manhole and closed it after I went in. This smell of s**t that I never forgot from Riften¡¯s rat way was here, still much better than the Ratway, this sewer system was wide and its style was much more modernpared to Riften, I think the city takes care of this ce probably. Preparing a ¡¯Candlelight¡¯ spell and a ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ spell, I now was ready to explore this sewer system. Relying on my good sense of direction I made a guess and followed it towards the location I guess is the ce where the castle is. Some parts of the sewers were new, some other parts were really old, some parts had Dwemer pipes going through them, I guess the city imported them from Solitude. Skeevers were everywhere of course and I was used to killing them in the Ratway, what was unexpected was undead. An undead draugr appeared before me! What brings a draugr to a city sewer tunnel? I made a guess but maybe some old crypt was opened to the sewers or something. Draugrs are mummified ancient Nords to protect the old crypts of the dead, these things were one of the arts of necromancy that the old Nords excelled in. I didn¡¯t find the draugr to be that much strong but it moved so fast, I used the ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ with a ¡¯Sun Fire¡¯ spell on the left hand, It was pretty much done for. I checked the equipment on it, it looked like the ¡¯Ancient Nord Equipments¡¯ from the game but they were pretty much rotten, the wood of the axe turned green, it was a mystery how these things remained sturdy. Moving on, I arrived to corridor, it was going up somewhere, the area around was old so it meant this part of the underground sewers wasn¡¯t manned. I went up the corridor and could feel few presence, I think I reached where I want, I was under the castle. I could see some old walls and few holes in them, I cancelled the ¡¯Candlelight¡¯ spell and waited for my eyes to get used to the darkness. I tried to look through the holes but I found no clue to which part of the prison was this. I made a ¡¯Bound Dagger¡¯ and started removing some bricks from the walls, I could see few prisoners now. Examining the terrain, I found the cell of the girl but it was a challenge to get to. After finding a way to the wall behind her cell I started removing the pricks carefully. The girl noticed something was not right and approached the wall. "Don¡¯t make any noise!" I whispered to her. "Why are you helping me?" She talked in a low voice. "I am from the guild, Geem-Zaw wanted you out or dead depending on what you confessed." I said. "But I didn¡¯t confess anything." The girl said. "That¡¯s not for me to decide." I said. "Thank you about the Journal." She said, "And the poem." "No problem, five days from now the tourney will end, I will leave the city and I¡¯ll break you out that day." I said, "Remember what I wrote, wait until fire breaks out." "Fine!" She said. "By the way, what should I call you with?" I asked. "I am known as Mabia, but that¡¯s the name they gave me! I don¡¯t have a birth name." She said. What a tragic child! "The hole is big enough now." I said, "When the fire breaks out in the castle, know the bricks and run to the sewers, I¡¯ll be waiting." "Okay." She said, "I¡¯ll be needing some boots by then." "Demanding one, aren¡¯t you? Fine, I¡¯ll bring you food too." I said. After a I finished I left her and went back to the corridor and from it to the sewers. I can find my way back to the city, but where does the sewers end at? I followed the passage for a while and finally found the exit, it was barred but it seems there is a gap beside the bars. Using ¡¯Bound Battleaxe¡¯ I conjured a big battleaxe and started digging in that gap. After a short time of hard digging, the gap has widened enough, I could go in and out easily. The ce outside was under the city after the docks this was a good ce to make the second part of the n. After covering the gap, I went back and climber out of the manhole while checking my surrounding. The sky was about to get dark yet the arena was still bustling with noise, this has taken longer than expected. I returned to the inn and ordered some hot water to wash myself from the filth, these were some very annoying couple of days. As I got cleaner I dressed properly and went out of the city towards the bathhouse. Finding Micalo the Altmer barber, I entered his shop and looked around. "You got out early from the arena." He said. "You too." I said. "Were you up to something?" He asked. "I was making preparations." I said. "So, how will this go?" He asked. "The girl seems to have said some things but her mind is all broken from the torture." I said. "So it will be like this? Have you killed before?" He asked. "No, how do you think I should do it?" I asked. "A stab to a vital spot will be fast and clean." He said. "What should I do with the body?" I said. "Throw it in the sewers, unless you want to bring a shovel and a priest of Arkay." He said mocking me. I made up an upset face, but just as I turned and left I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Everything was ready, I will go and rx now. I headed to the bathhouse while whistling. "So you came back! Remember what I said. The private rooms for you, no cheap tents after you didst time." The bathhouse mistress met me with cold gaze. "Fine, fine, don¡¯t re like that or wrinkles will appear on your pretty face." I said. "The girls fromst time?" I asked. "Did you think I would give you any other girls? Do you know how they couldn¡¯t take a client withoutining how boring it was?" She said while ring at ¡¯Little Jon¡¯. "Okay, okay, I¡¯ll be going in, here, for 4 hours, just in case." I said while going to the one story bath building. As I entered the building I found a tub bigger than the ones in the tents with more space and some fragrant herbs, this was much more expensive than outside but I had no problem with the money. Before anything else, I gluped on a ¡¯Essence of the Troll¡¯ potion got rid of the potion vial. After looking around the door was opened and two girls in white one-piece clothes came in. They were Elishka and Zena, my favorite wenches in the bathhouse, they of course came with wine and everything, I like smart girls. "We missed you master, what took you so long?" Elishka, the girl with crazy body threw herself in my chest as if some addict has found his poison, her body was burning. Zena also put the wine and clung on me, she was a shorter than the tall Elishka and had belly athletic figure with high flexibility, Elishka¡¯s was soft and sensual, one would melt into it. These girls were two different categories yet together they can form a great team. "Bath now funter." I said while pping their butts. As they felled the tub with hot water I sat in it naked, this thing was much better than before, there even some herbs in the tub;vender, mountain flours and dragon¡¯s tongue, this was sure luxurious. After finishing their duties as bathhouse girls, they came and sat on my hips, they were already naked and waiting for approval. "You can¡¯t even give me time to breath, can you?" I said. "How mean master, we were waiting for you for days and you left us for this long." Zenained. "And we hid the subject from the rest of the girls, we couldn¡¯t let anyone share our master with us." Elishka said. "I totally did a number on you girls, this time however I am going to give you your fill from me." I said, "I¡¯ll leave right after the tourney." "How sad master, you¡¯ll have to visit me if youe to Solitude again." Zena said, "Elishka will return to her town to get married, this is herst night in the house." "I¡¯ll be happy to send her off then." I said while hugging Elishka tighter, there is a lucky basterd who will have all that for himself. Elishka was at herte twenties, a perfect bnce between youth and maturity. "Let¡¯s not waste time then." As I said that, Zena was already on her knees between my legs, and Elishka was engaging woth me into a round of kisses. Little Jon was standing high and mighty after being buffed by the potion, ¡¯Essence of the Troll¡¯ doesn¡¯t only enhance the performance temporarily with no side effects, it also increases the size permanently by a small rate. Zena took care of Little Jon in magical ways, and Elishka was sucking my soul through my mouth, this was how it felt like to be spoiled by two beauties, it Zena them five minutes to turn it into a mess, while Elishka was stuffing my fingers into her oven. The feeling was amazing, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s got my head but I took my fingers off Elishka¡¯s oven and stuffed them into Zena mouth who sucked them clean. This was a bit sadistic even for my standards, sometimes an inner devil insinuates me for these stuff though. Elishka body was burning with every second, I was starting to feel worried so I looked at her face, her expressions were already in another realm, yep! she is ready. I took her up and took her legs around me while sitting and carefully put it into hers, she was making all kind of moans that made me go crazy. A thrust after thrust, the main event started. Zena washed away the mess of fluids she was in and stuck to me from the back, I was sandwiched by two beauties, nothing feels better than being sandwiched like that. I was immersing my face in Elishka¡¯s buns while she was bouncing on me. After sometime she started to twitch and moan loader, her oven was running wild but I wasn¡¯t done with her, I went faster till I could feel myself going to make a mess, as I took it out, sure enough mesd went everywhere on her body. Strange enough, Zena was demanding for a share, this girl really loves fluids. Elishka was out of energy and lying bare on the tub side, she was a sight of curves and canyons, a sinful body no matter how you look at it. Zena jumbed on me with a smile while saying "My turn." Unlike Elishka who was tall and curvy with an hourss figure, Zena was shorter, thinner, younger, tighter and more flexible, her body was that of a gym model. One thing about her was her reputation, her Stamina was high and she was hard to satisfy, she also gets really tricky when she wants to pleasure herself, it¡¯s said that it¡¯s hard to survive between her legs when she¡¯s in the mood. Once I started kissing with her she started doing doing some yoga movements, she hanged herself on me while doing a leg spread the she fit herself onto ¡¯Little Jon¡¯, the she locked her legs around me. That was impressive! I kinda like these moves. "I didn¡¯t get thatst time." I said. "Last time we were not in the closed rooms." She said. So their services can be extended to yoga shows in the rooms! "What about her.. other talents?" I asked while looking at Elishka. Zena started moving up and down slowly then she answered "Her, moans, make, men, lose their minds." So it was like that, I was affected by that too. Zena started moving up and down while rubbing her buns on my chest, and she kissed me while sucking my tongue, I am learning new stuff today. Few minutester Elishka joined the action again as she replenished her energy, she was moaning as if she was still far from over. These girls today were for a long stand and I was getting along with the idea, I want to recharge my fill of these sexy girls, heaven know when will I be able to find such a quality again. Zena¡¯s turn was a heated one and shested much more than Elishka, Elishka was making it hard on me as she started to y with herself and kiss with me and Zena. Got to admit, I liked that girl on girl action. Zena wasn¡¯t easy but her strength started to loosen and I could feel her pleasure taking over and she started squirting like a fountain. Zena didn¡¯t let go but Elishka pulled her away and started sucking ¡¯Little Jon¡¯. There was no way that I can hold it anymore under her mercy. Zena was still sucking on my tongue as Elishka was switching between ¡¯Little Jon¡¯ and Zena¡¯s oven. Just as she was done, she climbed up and joined the fray upstairs. I was holding a beauty in each hand and engaging in all sorts of pleasure. I had an idea from a hentai clip I saw before, I lied Elishka on her back and Zena on top of her face to face, then I pressed on them as there ovens stuck tightly on each other. It felt so hot as if it was the living incarnation of the Red Mountain, I¡¯ll call that position Vvanderfell then. I stuck it between the two and started pleasure all of us. Elishka and Zena yed with each other and were firing each other up. This didn¡¯t end until I mad mess few times following one another without stopping. As we finished, the girls were already lying bare on the ground to rest, no matter how I see it, everything is too sticky that we needed a serious bath now. "This was amazing." I said. "Yes, master was greater thanst time." Elishka yfully. "Hehe, I felt that too." I was satisfied, "Now clean this mess up." Zena shouted for a servant to bring many barrels of hot water to the room, they came right away and everything was cleaned in few minutes. While they were bathing me I made a real conversation with them for the first time. "So what brought a nice ce like you to nice wenches like this?" I asked the question yfully. The girls giggled and looked to each other then spoke, "I escaped from home to find a family member who escaped from home too." "interesting story!" I said, actually it was messed up. The girlughed and spoke no more, this meant she won¡¯t tell more. "What about you?" I asked Elishka. "I just left my town to make money in the city. Once I get back, I¡¯ll buy my family¡¯s house back and get married." She said. "As long as you don¡¯t go anywhere near Helgen." I said. "What about master?" Zena asked. "I¡¯ll win the tourney then I¡¯ll wander Skyrim." I said. "We don¡¯t go to the tourney but we heard that master¡¯s prowesses in battle are as great as in bad." Elishka said. "Damn right." I said, then kissed her for her good choice of words. "Won¡¯t master find a jarl to serve as the other free participants?" She asked. "I am better of on my own." I said. Chapter 28 The Round of 16 Part 1: Jon is Angry [A/N: There is a new chapter on SSAoJD] [A/N: This chapter ispletely unedited, I wrote it while traveling.] Just as I finished the bath, I dressed myself and got out. The bathhouse started having customers after the matches ended. Walking out I saw the bathhouse mistress calling for me. "More money?" I asked. "I am wondering how youst this long boy." She said, "If it was not for Zena, even if I gave you five girls you shouldn¡¯tst that long." "The glory of being a dragonborn maybe reflected on this feature too." I said. "Dragonborn? Glory! I heard stories about that, but don¡¯t joke around with this word around Nords." She said. I know that but, "What stories?" I asked. "The stories of Tiber Septim, He had his ways withdies, like the Queen of Mournhold." She said, "But as I told you, don¡¯t go around saying jokes about dragonborns and Talos, Nords don¡¯t fancy these kind of jokes." "Fine, Fine! Thank you!" I said my thanks and left. **************************** I returned to the inn while humming ¡¯The Pink Panther¡¯ theme, my mood was just that good. "You¡¯rete, we sent people to look for you." Svidi was the one waiting for me right after I went into the inn. "Something did happen?" I asked. "Something did happen." She replied, "When we got out of the arena on the way here, some drunk thugs wanted to fight with brother and Jon, We took them as some drunks wanting to brawl but suddenly they took out daggers and went for blood." her tone was stiff and her face was pale. "Brother and Jon fought them and beated them up, one of the thugs bleed to much and no one saved him, now the guards have them in the castle jail." Svidi said and started to cry. "Calm down, they¡¯ll be alright." I said and hugged her, she was shivering She was barely holding herself together but now she¡¯s in a mess, if Wulfur saw her like this he¡¯ll go berserk, he is overprotective when ites to her. I ran to my room and found the armor, hammer and helmet I left behind, Svidi said she asked someone to carry my stuff here. I put on the armor and carried the hammer. Everything was done, I took the poor girl and ran to the castle. I was surprised of what I saw, a crowd was standing angry outside the castle and Captain Aldis was talking them away. Once the people saw and recognized me they made way for me to pass, it was kind of them, most of them are fans who witnessed the incident. Surprisingly enough, Bjorna was there as well as Skadi who was talking directly to Captain Aldis. "d you are here, say something to calm that angry mob quickly." Captain Aldis got close and whispered to me. Hehe! Witness the power of ¡¯Controlling the Public Opinion¡¯. "Thank you everyone foring here!" I raised my voice and spoke, "I will go in with good Captain Aldis now and will get my brothers out! You staying here will support us even more, thank you very much!" I looked at Captain Aldis whose face turned pale from what I just said, I was resisting myughter so bad, did he think I won¡¯t take advantage? The people cheered and done as I said, they waited. Captain Aldis walked into the castle and I followed him, I told Svidi to wait outside with Bjorna and asked Skadi toe with me. Captain Aldis looked at who followed him then said, "Why is Skadi following?" "We are rtives." I said, "Far rtives actually." Captain Aldis eyes widened and noticed the simrities between us. Skadi on the other hand was taken by surprise, yet she covered her expressions by a fake cough. "Look the situation is a bit hard and you worsened it." Captain Aldis said, "I¡¯m going to say this just in respect for Captain Skadi but some powerful people are using this incident to hinder your team¡¯s progress in the duels, most of the early bets were against your team and these people are losing a lot of money." "Even if powerful people were involved, one cannot just simply put pressure on Solitude guards, unless...." Skadi halted for a second then said, "What¡¯s going on Aldis?" "It¡¯s shameful to say it but we are being pressured by many sides, the gambling houses are pulling every string and favor they have, Your swift win against a strong team today probably made them worry." "This was just self-defense, even if someone died, witnesses can prove the aggressors hostility reached the point that weapons were raised with the intent to kill, all rights of self-defense belong to the victim of the aggression, and the death of the aggressor was not direct, it was due bleeding, which means the defense itself didn¡¯t carry the intent to kill, how can anyone ept such a ridiculous reason?" I spoke my innerwyer. "Your words speak truth but I¡¯ve got my hands tied, only the High King can pardon them without the normal regtions, and now iste night, even I can¡¯t be granted an audience." He said, "High King Torygg is just, he will free them right away once he hears of it tomorrow, if you are lucky he will hear of it and set them free right before the match." "This attack is a set up itself." Skadi was angry and made a scary face, "If something happened to the boys, my n won¡¯t leave this matter aside." Captain Aldis backed away, and raised his hands to calm her down, "Rx, I didn¡¯t put them in a cell, it was just a room me and my most trusted man can go into, also n Battle-Born sent the same warning." "Can I see them?" I said. "Of course, follow me." Captain Aldis walked inside the jail. As I walked I took the chance to memorize theyout of the jail, as we reached a room Captain Aldis walked in and we followed. Inside was Jon Battle-Born sitting looking to space and Wulfuring and going. When they saw me they halted what they were doing and stared at me. "I just leave you for a day and you guys go to prison, tch tch" I said, "I am going to leave for a year after the tourney you know." "Yeah yeah, like you would have let those attackers go." Battle-Born replied. "I may have broke some bones or took an eye out, you know, being light handed." I said. "You see, Wulfur here followed your teachings and killed a man with a p." Battle-Born said, "The man took the p and kissed into a wall, he went unconscious but no one noticed was bleeding until guards came to carry him." "Killing a man with a p, that¡¯s a mighty deed big man, Sovengarde is recruiting!" I said. Wulfur who looked gloomy smiled lightly and said "Svidi?" "Outside the castle with Bjorna." I mentioned Bjorna to buff his morale. "What will happen now?" Battle-Born asked. "You¡¯ll get out but the situation is like this....." I told him the details of my conversation with Captain Aldis. "Ba***rds, I bet they sent these people to set us up." Battle-Born was in a bad mood after hearing what happened. "Who are we should fight tomorrow?" I asked, I don¡¯t remember the matches setup. [A/N: And I deleted the note that had the tournament data by mistake, I made another one based on memory and packed it up.] "Team ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯." Skadi said. "Thane Erikur¡¯s team." I said then looked at Captain Aldis, "I bet he¡¯s behind this." Captain Aldis made an uneasy face and didn¡¯t reply. Erikur was one of the most annoying NPCs, same grade as Nazeem in my opinion. Beating up his team tomorrow will be fun, still I need these guys out. "It seems I can¡¯t get you out now but be patient, I¡¯ll do what I can." I said that and went out with Skadi and Captain Aldis. He asked me to solve the problem I made with the crowd outside, I was having another n though. Outside the castle, a crowd stood and on top of it was Svidi and Bjorna, I could only assure them about the wellbeing of Wulfur and Battle-Born. The crowd looked at me waiting for me to say something, and so I did "My brothers are locked inside and the reason is pretty simple, someone doesn¡¯t want them out, someone doesn¡¯t want my team to participate tomorrow, someone wants to hinder our progress, I don¡¯t know who is that someone but he picked the wrong team to mess up with. I will remain here until the sunrise and will be the first to enter the arena, if that time came and I could bring no justice to my brothers, then by Ysmir I¡¯ll face whatever they throw at me alone. Who¡¯s with me?" The people cheered with their blood boiling, they didn¡¯t look like a peaceful demonstration but an angry war band. Well, they¡¯ll do their purpose. I sat near on the ground the gate and other people sat, others went home to bring food and others slept where they sat, some people came and joined us. By the time I closed my eyes to take a little rest and woke up, I could feel the sun on my face. The sight front of me has changed and I could see more people. More than before I sleep. Maybe a bit more than needed. Okaaaaay! I underestimated the people in this world. This is clearly more than what the arena can take. I could see Captain Aldis standing behind the gate with the urge to cry. Skadi was standing next to me, "You¡¯ll make Hilda proud." I think this is just something that went too well. An hourter the castle gates opened, and we went inside. The people found their ces around the arena and I jumped on it. I looked around and no teams has arrived yet, so I took a chair to the middle of the arena, sat on it, put the hammer on its head and crossed my arms. Now, let¡¯s wait for Torygg. Few minutester the teams arrived and some of the jarls too, who didn¡¯t know what was going on asked and understood the situation. Torygg wasn¡¯t here yet, the five members of team ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯ arrived but even Erikur wasn¡¯t here. What was going on? Both Torygg and Erikur arete. Falk Firebeard, the steward of the high king arrived and said something to Viarmo. Viarmo stood and announced that the high king will bete due to some court issues and he will arriveter. Most of the people understood that the high king was being dyed by someone. Dirty! So I will participate alone against five. ************************** "The first match will be team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ against team ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯, due to someplications, only one participant of team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ will be on the arena. The matches will be one on one, team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ participant will have to face the five participants of team ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯ one after the other." Viarmo announced. The people went into uproar after they heard him, Jon was still sitting on the chair in the middle the arena. No one med his behavior as he clearly was clearly in a bad mood. The crowd looked at Jon with pity, five against one will be a hard and a long match even for a genius like Jon. The story of what happened yesterday spread far and wide except for a certain disappointment of a king. The judge entered the arena and called for the opponent toe up. Jon was still sitting. The opponent was a dual axe user, he looked at Jon with disdain and waved his axes around, Jon still didn¡¯t stand. The boy frowned and wasn¡¯t satisfied with Jon¡¯s reaction, or rather no reaction. He ran towards Jon in order to intimidate him, yet when Jon showed no reaction the opponent ran faster and jumped with is axes raised high as he ned to sh them down at Jon. Right when he was midair, Jon hastly moved up and met the flying opponent with a punch. Itnded directly on the neck. The boy who was flying, crashed to the ground in a bad shape while coughing violently. Jon was not done yet, he went back to his hammer and draged it back. The judge wanted to say something but he saw Jon carry the hammer with one hand over the opponent¡¯s head and let it drop. The opponent who was already out of breath went directly to dreand. Jon quietly picked up the hammer sat back on the chair, he then rested his right foot on his defeated foe. All of that happened in a few seconds so the crowd around the arena took sometime to recover from the shock. This was absolute dominance, some of the VIP shook their heads from how arrogant youth can be, some nodded with satisfaction and some were having dark expressions, Elisif who came without Torygg was covering her mouth with a hand from the brutal encounter. The other participants who most of them has faced Jon had some mixed emotions about this but mostly they were cheering for Jon. Jon looked like the harbinger of death and his hammer that was blunt on a side and has a spike on the other was akin to his scythe. The defeated opponent should be moved from the arena but everyone forgot about that. The second opponent jumped into the arena shouting at Jon telling him to remove his foot from his brother. Jon only smiled faintly back. The boy who was a sword and sheild user raised his sheild ahead of himself and ran towards Jon while roaring. Jon held the hammer properly this time and rotated around himself 360¡ã. Just as the opponent arrived, Jon¡¯s hammer was already weing the sheild, a high pitched *ting* sounded out followed by the sound of something getting broken. The shild appeared to be fine but the boy who was already on the ground started wailing while holding his left shoulder. Jon refused to show mercy and grabbed the other arm of his opponent, twisted his right leg around it, stomped tightly to the ground and twisted his whole posture this time, this was an otherworldly shoulder dislocating technique. [A/N: From Aikido I guess, did I say it right?] The boy screamed from agony and had no will to resist, Jon sent him to dreand with a stomp on the face. The crowd didn¡¯t make any sound this time, this was a punishment event hosted by Jon, if you don¡¯t want to watch then just look away.... like that was even an option. Jon sat back with a faint sadistic smile on his face, it caused people with weak hearts to tremble. The remaining members of ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯ were angry, that was too much in their heart yet it was within the rules, mostly. The one who came in the arena next was huffing in anger, he was a huge two meters meat tower covered by te armor, his weapon was arge battleaxe. The third opponent was controlled by anger, even though he was this heavy, he was known as the main participant of team ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯, Igvor the Feral. As the feral ran towards Jon with frightening spead not suiting his weight, people were already expecting a match, yet who knew what Jon was thinking. Jon didn¡¯t carry the hammer or any thing, he just summoned a spell on each hand and started shooting them. These spells were not direct attack spells, they only caused runes to appear under Igvor¡¯s feet, once he stepped on the first rune, lightning exploded out of it, and the second runes exploded after it was touched too, one must know that lightning magic and heavy armor ar the worstbination ever. Igvor took one shock damge after another during his charge, suddenly he fell and started rolling towards Jon. Jon wasn¡¯t merciful and spammed a rune after the other, the more Igvor rolls the more runes explode. Igvor kept rolling until Jon¡¯s feet and his helmet fell from his head, what appeared was a foaming ugly face. Jon rested his right foot on the new footstool. The crowd that was expecting a fight discovered that Jon didn¡¯t even get up from the chair this time, the show of punishment was still on. The VIP were in a loss for words, where did such a junior emerge from. "So, Nurina¡¯s son can be aswless as her." Faralda in the VIP seats murmured to herself. "Who is Nurina?" someone asked. All heads in the VIP area was looking at Faralda, they all were demanding an answer. "Nurina Aren, Arch Wizard and head of the Conjuration major in the College of Winterhold, she is his adoptive mother." Faralda was puffing her chest ¡¯showing off with her niece¡¯s hair¡¯. [A/N: An Egyptian idom for those who show off with stuff they don¡¯t have, it¡¯s caled ¡¯The Baldy is showing off with her niece¡¯s hair¡¯.] The VIP area gasped in a fight and saw Jon in a new light, he was an arrogant youngster with a scary background, the son of an Arch Wizard. Still three were down, two to go. Chapter 29 The Round of 16 Part 2: Whats The Plan? What was an Arch Wizard? In this world, Arch Wizard arevthe real powerhouses, their title represents wealth and authority, but before any of that, it represents personal strength. An Arch Wizard in any school of magic can turn the tides of strategic or political battlefields with only making appearance. An Arch Conjuration Wizard can summon a small army, and can afford to fight along side it and keep its numbers. An Arch Destruction Wizard is akin to a natural disaster, stuff turn into cinder in his path. An Arch Alteration Wizard can manipte, protect and do all iprehensible magics. An Arch Illusion Wizard can put a city to sleep or make it disappear. An Arch Restoration Wizard can aid an army of mortals to do his bidding or destroy hords of undead. And right in front of them was a younger who was the sessor of one, not just his background was scary, his magical and martial prowesses are beyond his age. This identity revealing made those who had ill intent towards Jon chase away these ideas as if they chase away rats. Now they were pitying the fools who made things difficult for him. Everyone was looking at the remaining two boys of team ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯, Jon was also looking at them with his newly developed sadistic smile. The two were in distress, going against that mad dog after what their sponsor has done is a suicidal idea, the other problem was if they surrounded in this fight without their sponsor¡¯s approval, they might get no money, and people will brand them as cowards. Skadi on the other hand was witnessing a scary side of her long lost nephew, the innocent looking Bjorna was reliving a truma, but Svidi who witnessed Jon¡¯s wrath before wasn¡¯t surprised. At the VIP area, hurried footsteps could be heard from the back stairs, who appeared was the supposed to be hero who would bring justice to the oppressed team, High King Torygg, followed by Erikur, a Thane and an owner of arge gambling business. "Told you to stop yapping about worthless stuff, let¡¯s catch the first match befo...." Torygg was trying to look as much dignified as possible while trying not to start running, yet he halted. "My king, I bet the match has already finished." Thane Erikur said, "Team ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯ is.... WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT?" Normally everyone would stand up for the king, yet no one was giving a skeever¡¯s butt about who just came in, As Torygg entered and noticed that he followed the line of sight of the spectators and halted his speech, Erikur who followed few steps behind did the same but with a different reaction. Torygg wanted to ask but he looked at the benches and found a ce between Elisif and Jarl Idgrod, he sat and closed to Elisif, "Eli, Eli, What¡¯s going on?" He whispered. "Shut up now." Elisif the gentle woman who looks away when there is violence and hates the arena was so focused that she shooed away her king and husband with here hand. Torygg was shocked but the scene on the arena was too mysterious so he won¡¯t think about her action, he looked at Jarl Idgrod, "Jarl Idgrod did..." He was about to say something. "After the match, we need to talk." She interrupted him without pity, he finally understood that he messed somewhere. Falk Firebeard the good steward didn¡¯t want his king to look clueless so he approached him from behind and whispered about the events and highlighted Erikur¡¯s scheme. During this, Torygg expressions were smiling then wondering the taken aback then wowing and finally ring at Erikur. Erikur on the other hand was breathing mes from the sight in front of him, his team of juniors that he gathered and honed was crushed singlehandedly by Jon in an unsightly manner. Jon¡¯s arrogant appearance added to the me and he was reaching the limits. Jon was watching what¡¯s going on in the VIP with half of his eyes, his focus was still on the two opponents that didn¡¯t want to go up. He was starting to get bored as the more he waited, the more he started to cool down. He suddenly had an idea and stood up, "I see that this is going to end quickly with nothing we can call a fight. So, I came up with something." He talked to the opponents, "I¡¯ll give you guys a good chance, I won¡¯t use magic against you or even a weapon, furthermore I¡¯ll take you on both at the same time." The crowd came into another uproar, this was going to be interpreting. Thest two opponents started thinking about it, they have a better chance but that could be a trap, and if thwy lost it would be unsightly. Jon wasn¡¯t afraid of anything, Erikur was dirty yet he wasn¡¯t the same Erikur from the game who owned half Solitude, he¡¯s wealthy but can be put down. Jon winning this tournament is already a good enough setback for Erikur. Erikur looked at the two and signaled for them to move, he was thinking ¡¯After getting this far, don¡¯t think of walking out of it alive, your head alone let alone the rest of you team worth three quarters of the bets.¡¯ Thest two were brothers, they both used spears. Jon walked away from the chair and the three unconscious fellows around it, as be stoped he was already facing the other two together. This match has already gone up and beyond the rules, it was rigged yet for some reason, everyone was satisfied with the way it headed. Except, of course, for those who were losing money. The round started and the two didn¡¯t rush like the othes but chose to take the sides and nned to pincer attack like that. Jon wasn¡¯t showing any expressions but took an open hand stance and made the same posture from hisst bare-handed match against Argir, all the experts around the arina longed to see that style once again. First spear came to Jon from his left, Jon guided it away with his left hand and rotated himself under the spear with a kick to the opponent on the left. The kicknded and the opponent felt its weight and power, even though he was protected by armor, the pain went through vividly. Next attack came at Jon from the front but Jon avoid aside and didn¡¯t counter, the opponent stabbed again and again but Jon was only jumbing left and right nimble. Few people noticed what¡¯s wrong, Jon was avoiding while advancing, his opponent was attacking while retreating, this was another level of dominance in the eyes of some experts. Once Jon approached enough, he held the spear and pulled the opponent closer with it, after that it was a kick buffet. Jon trained himself in martial arts from his memories of movies, his techniques were vere showy and had a stylish manner, especially the bbinging going kicks on his opponent¡¯s face made the crowd feel excited. The first opponent who was recovering from the strong kick stood and charged at Jon, Jon was keeping an eye on him all the time though. Jon held the opponent under his mercy from his legs and swung him two circles thenunched him at the opponent who was starting to charge. That scene was supposed to be seen in an inn brawl but it was all good and fine for the hyped spectators, the other opponent on the other hand saw the unsightly disfigured face of his brother and sank into despair, he barley could avoid the brother he grew up with with a hair¡¯s width. Concealed behind his brother who flied to the rest od unconscious team was a kick from Jon, he took received on the it and lost his helmet and an spear in the process. After getting some bnce he wanted to hurry away to the his team¡¯s test ce, he now was only thinking of a sheild. Jon saw his opponent running away to his chair¡¯s area, he was making this view carefully an finally gathered four foes around the chair, he couldn¡¯t let anyone ruin his artistic work. Jon looked around and all he could find was a spear, an iron helmet, some teeth and blood. He found a good idea and backed down few steps, looked at his opponent, and ran few steps then kicked something. The helmet on the ground was kicked like a ser ball towards the running opponent¡¯s head. it collided with a crashing sound and made the opponent crush the ground face-on. He was just beside his teammates. Jon snorted and looked proud with his handiwork, all he regreted was that no one caught that on camera, he would definitely show it to Nurina. He walked slowly to the chair in the middle of the five victims of his, rested his two feet over Igvor¡¯s body and made an arrogant appearance once again. He then looked at the judge and waved his hand. The judge didn¡¯t know what to do, he looked at Viarmo but Viarmo hasn¡¯t spoken for sometime now and only shrugged his shoulders then pointed to Torygg. Torygg saw that an was thinking what to say but Elisif has already moved, she looked at the judge and nodded. This was the approval of Lady Elisif in the presence of the High King, which meant its from the High King, the judge cleared his throat and shouted "The winner is team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯." The people reaction to these words was perfect, they cheered and made all sort of weird winning poses, most of them were the people who came in with Jon. Jon however kept sitting on the chair and looked with no expression to the VIP seats, he still isn¡¯t done. Erikur was going mad from what happened, he lost a huge amount of money and two years of hardworking and nning were erased just like that, this hateful youngster and this naive Lady Elisif were ganging up on him. Idgrod Ravencrone Jarl of Morthal gave Torygg and earful of words about how he was easily manipted by Erikur and how the poor boy in the arena fought for justice that he should have served. Torygg wanted to find a hole and bury himself, Idgrod was one of the Jarls he can¡¯t retort at. He hurriedly summoned Captain Aldis and ordered that Jon Battle-Born and Wulfur would be set free and added three gifts from his personal armory. ************************** That was quite the fun, I was a bit angry but it all went well. Unlike other ces, Skyrim values boldness and honor, if I did what I did in High Rock, I don¡¯t think I would have survived with it. Wulfur and Battle-Born came out ready to y a match to find that the party was already over. Still, having three gifts from the king was a good gain. three scaled upper body armor like the ones in the game, enchanted with ¡¯Resist Magic¡¯. This is light, flexible and sturdy, I took a liking to it right away, and I¡¯ll wear it from the next match. Skadi told me she would take care of Erikur if he made trouble, I started telling her about his n to monopolize business in Solitude, and said its from a valid source. She assured me that her n will overthrow him from the king¡¯s court in no time, that¡¯s a piece of mind to me, by the times the dragons return, he¡¯ll be a very annoying personality in Solitude. He also is making business with the Thalmor, I made sure to tell that to Skadi. Next matches were as follows; team ¡¯Great Bear¡¯ vs team ¡¯Stormcloaks¡¯, the ¡¯Stormcloaks¡¯ won. this team has the very First NPC the yers talks to in the game, Ralof of Riverwood. Uet these two teams came from thecsame city and sponsored by Ulfric. ¡¯Companions second team¡¯ led by Vilkas vs team ¡¯White ins¡¯ of Whiterun, the Companions won. team ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯ of Whiterun sponsored by the biggest weapons shop in Whiterun and the team was full girls team led by Lidya herself, they went against team ¡¯Golden City¡¯ of Markarth and won a glorious match. Getting the chance to see the young Lidya was amazing, I really am interested in my most basic NPC follower background. ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯ led by Argir and sponsored by Torygg went against ¡¯Companions first team¡¯ led by Farkas. it was a heated match but Argir won after a long sh with Farkas. Team ¡¯Snow Bears¡¯ of Windhelm vs team ¡¯Crossed Daggers¡¯ of Riften, team ¡¯Snow Bears¡¯ won. Now Big Bad Ulfric has two teams in the quarter finals. Disappointingly enough team ¡¯Arcana Wisdom¡¯ of the College went against team ¡¯ck Snow¡¯ of the ck-Briar and Snow-Shod ns. The college made a show of power and won with a style. That was the end of the day to me, I went straight to the inn and wanted to jump into bed, yet someone knocked on my door. "You have a guest." The inn girl informed me and I went down with her. Who was waiting for me was Rusning, he stood and said "Follow me out." Outside the inn he stopped and faced me. "Someone came for me and offered me a handsome amount of money for your head." He said. "You should have taken the money." I said as if I am joking, but this was really serious. "I did." He said, "But only half, I¡¯ll receive the other half once the deed is done." "Oh!" I narrowed my eyes and said, "And what are you nning to do?" "You killed those three from few days ago right? this boy will kerp sending people after you, why don¡¯t you do something about him?" Rusning said and smiled. "So, What¡¯s the n?" Chapter 30 Quarter Finals In an alleyway, three figures stood together under the cover of darkness and were discussing something. "I am sorry, there are bad rumors about you in our district, the three guys that died were said to be on a job for you." A voice spoke. "What are you talking about? I pay you and you do whatever I want you to do, why do you care about any of that?" Another voice replied. "There is a limit on what we can do, even for a ck-Briar." A reply came. "Especially when our lives are on the line." "You coward, don¡¯t talk to master Sibbi with that to...." Another voice interrupted but halted when he heard footsteps. "Who¡¯s there?" He said. No reply came, a figure appeared and walked slowly to the three figures, one of the three drew out a sword and the other two drew daggers. The moonslight fell on the approaching figure and made his features clear. "Oh! It¡¯s the mage I hired, he came back." One of the three who appeared to be Sibbi ck-Briar spoke. The mage approached but he started staggering, then he fell on one knee and from it fellpletely on the ground. The three were taken aback, what they saw on the mage¡¯s back was a dagger sinking into it. Panic started to take over and the three started feeling movements around themselves, from up a strange birdnded on a rooftop, it looked like a spectral owl. "G, Ghost?" The ruffian that Sibbi was hiring panicked even more which made Sibbi and his bodyguard to fall into panic too, this was not a usual sight to see, specter birds were a bad omen in this part of thend. Another spectral figure appeared, it was of a girl wearing robes, a hood and holding a dagger, this spectral girl came from behind the dead mage. The panicking trio were struck with fear and tried to run to the other side, yet they came to a quick halt. On the other end of the alleyway, two more spectral girls with the same description walked into the alley and stood there. "What is that? Why are there so many ghosts? What¡¯s happening?" Sibbi spoke as if he was about to cry. They wanted to act but suddenly they heard the sound of air breaking, an arrow flew towards the bodyguard and pierced his neck. Blood sshes dyed his surroundings as the bodyguard fell on his back struggling hisst breaths out. Sibbi, who saw the blood flying everywhere and even reached his face could stand no more, as he fell to the side, the three spectral gurls jumped on the ruffian and started stabbing him. A bloody scene was happening as the short specters filled the man with holes. As they stopped they turned to Sibbi who started crying and begging for his life. The surrounded him and did nothing, Sibbi was pale as fear controlled every inch of his being. Footsteps could be heard from the dead mage¡¯s direction, Sibbi looked to see a figure d in a ck cloak holding a bow in his hand. Sibbi knew this was the archer that killed his bodyguard, and the one who made the ambush. The figure stopped by the dead mage¡¯s body an stretched his hand, a horas voice sounded, "I call upon the ancient powers of Oblivion to bring forth this dead and raise a zombie." Sibbi was terrorized, these were some evil words that meant dealing with undead, he could only say "Necromancer!" The dead mage¡¯s corpse started to move and stood up in a spooky manner making weird voices. The Necromancer looked at Sibbi and walked slowly towards him, the undead mage was following in a weird walk. Sibbi started apologizing and begging for his life, yet the Necromancer snorted in disdain. "That¡¯s an appearance suitable for a ck-Briar." The Necromancer said and removed his hood. Sibbi looked at the necromancer in a daze, he was shaken and suffering from conflict in emotions. The necromancer who was naturally Jon, crouched down to see Sibbi face to face, "In the game, you used to be an arrogant asshole, but you were not a coward." Jon said and continued, "Why are you so persistent on killing me?" Sibbi was recovering from his shock yet fear was already ying him, he looked at Jon with mixed expressions of fear and hate, he didn¡¯t answer Jon. "Forgot about him, you already yed with him long enough." A voice came from the undead mage, it was supposed to be dead but now it¡¯s talking, Sibbi who was reliving a trauma was shocked again, he started pointing at the mage and murmuring "You... You..." "Was dead?" The mage who was Rusning removed the dagger from his back, "That¡¯s just a hilt." "So, so, it was like this?" Sibbi already understood he was being yed. "Yeah, it¡¯s like that." Jon said, stood and flicked his fingers, as he did that the spectral girls disappeared. "Show is over, you can leave." Jon said. "What?" Rusning and Sibbi were surprised as they looked at Jon. "No really, you can leave, this way, just go." Jon said while pulling Sibbi and making him stand. Sibbi stood in a daze not moving yet, Jon took out another arrow and with the bow on his left he aimed at Sibbi, "Go!" Sibbi jumped in fright and started running to the end of the alleyway. Jon smiled evilly and pulled the bowstring then let go. The arrow flew after Sibbi and pierced his neck. "The Lannisters send their regards." Jon just wanted to say that. Little did he know that there were a prying pair of eyes watching not far from the shadows. [A/N: The spectral figures were ¡¯ Conjure Undead: Ghost¡¯] ********************************* Tonight, one of the most annoying people on Nirn and the heir to the ck-Briar empire was sent to Oblivion by me. I don¡¯t think Maven will leave this matter alone, she will look under every rock for the killer. I am not really afraid of her. If I let Sibbi live he¡¯ll keep sending killers after me, if Maven knew, she¡¯ll also send killers after me, at least she may not know so I¡¯ll be at peace for now. After the deed was done, I put some final touches on the crime scene, erased any evidence, and went back to the inn with Rusning who changed back into his college clothes. Rusning asked me why did I have to trick Sibbi and kill him this way, actually it was for the fun, but I made a logical answer that if all victims were dead in one ce this will tell that they were ambushed, and I wanted it to look like a fight and robbery. We found a big coin purse on the bodyguard, that was clearly Rusning¡¯sst half of the payment, he gave it to me, 200 Golden Septims. The rtionship between me and Rusning was not known to the public so we had to make an appearance in the inn as an alibi and made a small scene. I don¡¯t know how good are the criminal investigations in this world as Riften had nothing like that but clearly, Solitude guards will at least ask questions, and Maven will use her influence. After an apple pie and some mead, I saw Rusning off and headed back to bed, I have only four hours before the match starts. *************************** Today¡¯s matches are only four, White Wolves vs Stormcloaks, Companions Second Team vs Warmaidens, Golden Swords vs Companions First Team, Snow Bears vs Arcana Wisdom. The Stormcloaks led by Ralof, a young Nord same age as me, an NPC and the first person the yer talks to in the game. Today, I was wearing the armor that was gifted to me by the king, it was enchanted so Wulfur had to make some adjustments to it very carefully under my guidance, Wulfur and Battle-Born wore theirs too. Now, we looked like a team. As the stage was already to its fill, Viarmo made his introductions and my team, as well as the Stormcloaks, were already on the arena. Their style was simr to each other and very organized, an axe and a shield to all the five members. Two members went away and three remained, Ralof, the main participant went out. I could see the want to drain us first, this might not work on me or Battle-Born but Wulfur¡¯s shield is too heavy. "Wulfur, once one of them is down, take his shield, this fight will be long." I said. He nodded and rotated his il, Battle-Born took his pose and I took mine. *************************** Jon, Wulfur and Battle-Born made their usual formation. The three opponents made a shield up pose and stood their ground. As their n was to drain the White Wolves¡¯ stamina as much as possible and let them for Ralof to weed them out. Wulfur advanced with his heavy shield on front and his teammates took nks, The three opponents still stood their groups. Just as the distance closed, the two Jons suddenly broke the formation and ran to the sides of the opponents who moved their shields to face them. Out of nowhere, arge shadow was seen flying, the opponents who were focused on the two Jons distraction didn¡¯t notice what was thrown at them. In an alleyway, three figures stood together under the cover of darkness and were discussing something. It was the ¡¯High Dam¡¯, Wulfur¡¯s oversized heavy shield. As it fell one if the opponents were caught off guard and took the hit hard falling down with it. Jon took the chance and kicked his head, the boy went unconscious, confirming the first fall into the Stormcloaks team. Wulfur didn¡¯t take his shield but took the fallen opponent¡¯s, the arena cheered and another opponent went in, Rf was still out. Three went against three but each two took each other, nothing creative happened and it was the normal theme in these matches. Jon opponent¡¯s axe was fast and his attacks were performed skillfully, Jon liked to dodging over blocking as he can act nimbly while his opponent is depleting his own stamina on his own, if the opponent understood and slowed down, Jon would always find a way to bring his opponent down. The opponent was slowing and his footwork started to crumble, just as Jon saw that, he attacked a full circle with a low posture, the hammernded on the opponent¡¯s left foot from the side pushing it to the right one and taking the opponent to the ground. As he fell, Jon raised ¡¯Agni-Ra¡¯ and hammered from above downwardly to the opponent who was lying defenseless. All the poor boy could do was to abandon the axe and hold the shield up with two hands, but that was of a little use, the hammer hit the shield ad pressed it to the opponent¡¯s chest, he couldn¡¯t take it and coughed blood, the cold-hearted crowd cheered for it. This was the end of his part as the judge signaled. Suddenly, another noise erupted from the crowd as it appears that something happened again, Jon looked around to see Battle-Born being blown away and someone rushing. Ralof, after his teammate fell and his turn came made a shield rush and headed towards Battle-Born who didn¡¯t notice him, Battle-Born was blown away by the rush and Jon who noticed tried to move but the opponent he hit just now was clutching to the hammer tightly. ¡¯So, you can still do that!¡¯ Jon thought, ¡¯Fine, if you like my hammer then let¡¯s exchange.¡¯ Jon acted quickly, he let go of the hammer and snatched the shield of his opponent. Ralof¡¯s rush was getting close and Jon didn¡¯t stand up yet, yet he rotated quickly facing Ralof and met him with a low posture. Ralof and Jon collided but Jon left hand only supported the shield while his right found a grip on Ralod body and pulled him from it. As the right grabbed and pulled while the left held the shield and pushed, Jon strengthened his stance and carried Ralof over himself from a side and threw him to the other. The crowd cheered at the exchange yet Jon was still worried about Battle-Born, He looked at him to find his opponent was closing on him while he was still on the ground. Jon looked around and found an axe from the fallen opponent, he hastily took it and threw it at Battle-Born¡¯s opponent. The opponent took it to his shield but looked like he was injured with it, more importantly, it gave Battle-Born a chance to recover. Jon looked at Ralof to find him already recovered and going straight not to Jon but to Wulfur, seems like their n was to remove Jon¡¯s allies then outnumbering him, it was a good n, ¡¯was¡¯. Jon kicked the ground and rushed barehanded after Ralof. He activated a spell and dual cast it in both hands, a green light surrounded him and he ran like a sh of green light. This was by no means a human speed, this spell was ¡¯Hasten¡¯, it granted the caster a high buff in speed. Jon ran with insane speed and jumped with a kick at Ralof. Ralof could only look back to see something closing with an insane speed at his face, s, there was no time to dodge. The flying kick ramed Ralofs head and sent him flying to a fair distance. Jon who was flying crashed in a bad shape, his speed was just too insane. This exchanges of blocking Ralof¡¯s charge, rescuing Battle-Born and chasing Ralof in an insane speed, happen in less than ten seconds, the crowd was recovering from a surprise to receive the next, and they were three. A loud cheer erupted for Ralof¡¯s n and Jon¡¯s multitasking, even though Jon relied on magic as thest resort, he still made a great show. "Hehehe, you relied on magic after all." Ralof stood up while staggering and holding his head. "Hehehe, don¡¯t get cocky, you are the one who got kicked like a doll." Jon was also staggering and holding the arm he fell on. "Let¡¯s end this with your style then." Ralof threw away his axe and shield, he as many others, craved to try his luck against Jon¡¯s barehanded style. Jon massaged his arm and walked to Ralof who raised his arms in a brawling pose and wanted to throw punches. Just as Jon reached a good distance he kicked with his right leg to Ralof¡¯s head, Ralof could foresee this and moved his head back to dodge. The kick passed and Jon returned it but what no one could foresee was how his right changed trajectory into a sidekick in Ralof¡¯s torso. Ralof¡¯s resisted the kick and moved his left leg back to support himself. Jon took his legs back then jumped at Ralof, his left legnd on Ralof¡¯s right leg and grabbed Ralof¡¯s head with two hands, what came next was Jon¡¯s right knee striking into Ralof¡¯s face. Ralof fell unconscious due to the impact. On the spectators¡¯ seats, a young imperial solider shouted for Ralof to wake up but no avail. In the end, Battle-Born and Wulfur brought their opponents down easily. The match ended and the judge announced the win of team ¡¯White Wolves and their advance to the semifinals. Jon healed himself and offered help to Ralof and his team, Ralof was holding his chin and waving to someone in the crowd, it was that young imperial soldier. Jon who was walking behind him asked, "Someone you know?" "Yes, that¡¯s my friend from home." Ralof talked, "His name is Hadvar, he joined the legion to protect Skyrim and I followed Jarl Ulfric as my hero." Ralof was taking proud about the paths they both chose, Jon, on the other hand, shivered from what he heard. He looked between Hadvar and Ralof and couldn¡¯t help but make a sad face, the future he knows will happen will be tough. Yet he didn¡¯t know should he interfere or not. After this match, a surprise happened and team ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯ led by Lidya won against ¡¯Companions Second Team¡¯ led by Vilkas. Team ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯ led by Argir won an easy fight against Morthal¡¯s ¡¯Dream Catchers¡¯, the lucky team that only met weak teams. Team ¡¯Arcana Wisdom¡¯ led by Rusning won against team ¡¯Snow Bears¡¯ of Windhelm, Big Bad Ulfric lost hisst two teams in the quarterfinals. The semi finals are now between team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ against team ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯, and team ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯ against team ¡¯Arcana Wisdom¡¯. Chapter 31 Semi-Finals Part 1 [A/N: MANY BIG THANKS FOR ALEX MARTZ FOR HIS DONATION ON PATREON, PRAY FOR HIM TO HAVE A DRAGONBORN-GRADE HAREM AND GO TO SOVENGARDE.] [A/N: 2 bounce chapters will be posted this week] *********************************** Ralof and Hadvar, two of the first NPCs that the yer interacts with at the first scene in Helgen, the yer walk to his execution as a prisoner with other war prisoners, Ralof is one of them, Hadvar, on the other hand, is one of the imperial officers overseeing the execution. After the events that led to the failure of the execution due to Helgen being under dragon attack, the yer chooses to either escape with Ralof or Hadvar. The choice has no effect on the game whatsoever but it affects the survival of those two NPCs, if the yer escaped with one the other will die. These two are from the same vige of Riverwood and that is amon knowledge for all yers, and now I am being told that these guys are actually best friends and they support each others¡¯ choice. But at the escape, they encounter each other, Hadvar calls Ralof a traitor and hopes that the dragon takes Ralof and his allies all to Sovngarde. It¡¯s sad, but I can¡¯t do anything about it, not just yet anyway, I have still not decided what to do about the future Civil War as it one of the most important turning points of the history of Skyrim. While thinking about that and watching the remaining matches, I could notice Maven ck-Briar in the VIP seats looking around at the seats. Hehe! He will not being, old witch. I couldn¡¯t see Hemming or Asgeir Snow-Shod either, they must be out there searching for Sibbi. About the time the matches ended, Asgeir Snow-Shod came and looked pale-faced, he looked at his father Vulwulf and whispered something, then he and his father walked to Maven and talked to her. Maven started raising her voice and the VIP seats started to look messy, the people noticed and started to ask around, some rumors started to fly around. ¡¯Sibbi ck-Briar was killed in a robbery¡¯, ¡¯... was found dead in an alleyway¡¯, ¡¯... killed by robbers¡¯ I guess my ¡¯redecoration¡¯ for the alleywayst night was good enough, now the main suspects are Solitude ruffians. If they investigated Sibbi¡¯s enemies such as me, or came looking for trouble then that¡¯s another story, but at least they will investigate me, so I made a solid alibi with Rusning. Speaking of Rusning, he wasn¡¯t looking well, this guy seemed like he never took a life before so I think he was nervous. The noise in the VIP area was noting down anytime soon and it seemed the Torygg has ordered the guards to dismiss the people. I returned to the inn, Wulfur and Battle-Born who didn¡¯t know what happened were taken aback by the news, I didn¡¯t tell them just yet for a good reason. Guards came to the inn and questioned all the participants lodging there including us of course. This is why I said nothing to them as they were not as shameless as me, the might start sweating from the first question. Well after the guards left night came and I could tell them everything, they didn¡¯t mind me killing Sibbi but for me to lie about it with a smile was just too much for them, they looked at me with disdain the whole day, I also told them if there is to be a funeral then I¡¯ll be going, this was their limit, they never spoke with me the rest of the day. ¡¯Killed the man and walked his funeral.¡¯ This is an Egyptian proverb about shameless evildoers and I am going to apply it literally. Still, we had to make preparations for tomorrow, we are going against Lydia and her team ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯, a team made of girls and for some reason I am worried. Why am I worried you ask? Well, I have two manly manly Nords with me who will most likely are not good at hitting girls. I made sure they don¡¯t underestimate team ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯ and made some strategies with them. At night, I went out and made an extra precaution, I hid the stuff I looted from Sibbi in the manhole I use to ess Solitude sewers, I will take them out in the big day. The next day we went to the arena at the usual time, I could hear many people still talking about the events from yesterday. The VIP seats were full except for Maven and Vulwulf, they naturally did not attend after what happened. Viarmo announced the events of today matches, he also announced the incident from yesterday to the people and also announced that the ck-Briars are offering handsome rewards for anyone who gives of information that leads to the arrest of the culprit. After he said that the matches started, I with my gang were on the arena against Lydia and two other girls, there were other two girls outside. Lydia and her team were all sword and shield users, most girls used that style. ************************************ Jon on the left with his hammer, Wulfur on the middle but he carried a hammer like Jon this time, and Battle-Born was on the right with his sword. The n was simple, overwhelm the opponent. Lydia and her team were very resilient and their winning to this point was due to three factors. They always stood in defense, they have good teamwork and they are always underestimated and seen as lucky. With the judge¡¯s signal, three boys made their moves as if they were unleashed wolves, Lydia shouted for her team to defend and they stood together tightly. Wulfur crashed into the shield wall with all his weight, the girls could feel like a mammoth was crashing into them but what happened next was a bit too unlucky for them. Jon who lessened his speed in thest second jumped on Wulfur¡¯s back then jumped over him once he crashed into the shield wall. The girls could feel a shadow flying over them, as they looked over they could see a flying Jon. "Retreat!" Lydiamanded and made a hasty order, she could see Jonnding and ready his hammer for a big swing. Lydia and the girl on the other side could run to different directions, the girl on the middle, however, tried to run but she couldn¡¯t, her shield was held by Wulfur. She looked at him and he said, "That¡¯s his n, sorry." Yes, that was Jon¡¯s n, Wulfur and Battle-Born won¡¯t hit girl¡¯s seriously but Jon had no problem with that, all they had to do was to pin down the girls and Jon will do the dead. He swung the hammer at the girl and she was sent flying, she screamed from the pain of Jon¡¯s swing. Wulfur, Battle-Born, the crowd and the VIP looked at Jon with cold eyes, this was a girl, how can he just hit like that? Lydia and the other girl shouted the name of their teammate, Jon clearly didn¡¯t take gender into consideration. Also, he didn¡¯t stop after one hit, he made sure that the girl stays down, then moved to another opponent. The judge announced that the opponent was down and her team can send another substitution. Before a substitution could enter, the three boys moved like wolves to trap the other girl. "Ganging on one, how shameless!" Lydia rushed at them, but one of the boys blocked her, that was Battle-Born. "Long time no see Lydia, didn¡¯t think I would see you here!" Battle-Born said. They seemed to know each other but Lydia didn¡¯t reply and attacked with a stab. Battle-Born was to stall her until Jon and Wulfur finish the other girls. Two fights were going on, Battle-Born against Lydia, while Jon and Wulfur were chasing the other girls. Lydia broke free from Battle-Born and headed directly to Jon, Jon had already taken another girl down, which means team ¡¯Warmaidens¡¯ has no substitutions left. "Now take them one on one, don¡¯t be so damn shy and hit them." Jon shouted at his teammates as he already achieved the first phase of his n, he didn¡¯t want the other team to have more members than his or it will cause his team to lose stamina early. Lydia and Jon met head-on, Jon looked at the angry Lydia and noticed her facial features. Dark hair, green eyes, saber-like brows, she was a beauty, this was due to the effect of the mod ¡¯Bijin Warmaidens¡¯. This was a mod the beautified some of the female NPCs that follow the yer. Now Lydia was that pretty, and she was angry too. Jon raised his hammer and swung at Lydia not charmed by her at all, Lydia stood strong and blocked Jon¡¯s strike with her shield, the people cheered as this blow has sent many people flying yet that strong girl was blocking it with one arm. She countered at Jon with a stab yet he guided it away with the hammer¡¯s haft, then returned the blow with the hammer¡¯s backspike. The backspike went directly into Lydia¡¯s safe zone and threatened her, she retreated back but the backspike sank into the wooden back of her shield, Jon took over the opportunity and pulled the hammer back taking away the shield from Lydia. Lydia retreated a few steps away and was now understanding why Jon was considered the true ck horse of this tournament. She held her sword with two hands and struck fast, Jon blocked with his hammer and counted with the knob of the grip right on Lydia¡¯s face. Some of the crowd started booing at Jon for his brutish behavior, yet who gives a damn, Jon attacked with a roundhouse kick to push Lydia back more. The crowd was cheering more as it seemed that Battle-Born already sent his opponent down and went to help Wulfur. This fight was already in the hands of team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯, Lydia looked around and saw it¡¯s hopeless. "Your team is simply too strong I admit it." She said while throwing the sword away and helmet, "But Just like the others, I want to try a fist fight." She smiled fearlessly. Jon was thinking ¡¯Why are Nords so fond of being beaten up?¡¯, he didn¡¯t realize how much they liked his style. He also put his hammer and helmet down and moved a bit to the side with Lydia, they went into brawling pose and stood still, the crowd cheered as thest girl fell to Wulfur and Battle-Born blows. [A/N: I felt something dirty with that line.] Lydia and Jon moved as if that was the starting signal, Wulfur and Battle-Born stood to the side to watch. Lydia punched faster than the normal opponents could as she was much lighter, Jon dodged backward as he could feel pressure from her punches. He found a chance and sent a fast jab at her nose, Lydia took the hit head-on and was forced backward, she put her hands on her face to check and found blood oozing from her nose. She smiled fiercely and started punching and kicking at Jon, he used the opportunity and kicked her kick causing her stance to crumble and fall down. Jon tried to hold her when she was down but she kicked while she was down and jumped on him and shed body to body Suddenly Jon could feel a sense of disaster, Lydia hugged him tightly and refused to let go, then she used her hips and carried Jon, she ran carrying him. Jon kicked her with his knee but she was so persistent, she refused to let go and still ran. Jon could feel she was heading out of the arena, she was aiming to throw Jon out of it and disqualify him. Jon used his arms to hug into her and tried to twist her body but she resisted to the best of her ability. As Lydia almost reached the end of the arena she made a jump, Jon looked at her and smiled, he thought ¡¯So that was it!¡¯ Lydia was trying to disqualify herself with him, a bit heroic in her Nordic brain, due to that Jon didn¡¯t offer more resistance. As she jumped with him he fell first and she was on him. ****************************** That was naughty! She tried to look cool using me. Well, I was the viin most of this match though. I was lying on my back outside the arena and she was on top of me, her head was on my chest. The crowd cheered and she moved, she looked at me with a grin and said, "I got you." Well, I was careless but whatever, my team won anyway, still, I could also feel like I won. "Can we stay like this for a while?" I asked. Lydia raised her brows questioning what I meant. She was sitting on me, it was what we call in the otherworld ¡¯Cowgirl position¡¯. She noticed how she sat and was shocked, I was really enjoying her expressions. As she got up slowly, she looked away and said "I am sorry." but I couldn¡¯t help but giggle. The judge announced my team¡¯s win, this was my first time to get disqualified though. This was the announcement saying that my team will get into the finales, our fans cheered and some people still booed, I guess I should have gone easy on the girls. Next match was something I had to watch. It was Argir vs Rusning, Golden Swords vs Aracana Wisdom. The winner is our opponent. Chapter 32 Semi-Finals Part 2 Argir and Rusning were facing each other on the arena, this was five vs five match, I guess it will be much better than my match, it¡¯s after all five mages vs five warriors. This match will be dangerous many healers stood near to the arena, even Sybille Stentor herself stood next to the arena, I was also invited to set near to the arena if my help was needed. Few mages and monks from Solitude rounded the arena with Sybille and casted a barrier spell, there were no barriers in the game but in real life it¡¯s actually a giant ward spell. I can do that to as the maniption of ward spells was easy, yet as the size of the ward grows the more the harder it gets to defend with it so more caster were needed. It can also be applied by installing some soul gems with the right amount of power, this technique appeared in game as traps in various locations in Skyrim, it is a bitplicated but it¡¯s like installing a program, you need to cast a certain rune spell and install and install a soul gem on it. Wards are anti-magic barrier they can stop magic perfectly as long as they overpower the magic they are against. All this meant that team ¡¯Arcana Wisdom¡¯ can go all out to their as they wished. I sat and watched closely, Argir and his teammates appeared as if they were knights with their expensive looking armors and their matching appearance. Rusning¡¯s team was mages, they will have a hard time facing the rush of the warriors, or so that appeared, I already could see confidence on their faces, these guys have already cooked something for today. Five stood facing five, the mages took their distance and prepared spells, the warriors unsheathed their swords as they all used longswords in this fight. The tension of the crowd was at its max, the judge gave the instructions as usual and ran like a rabbit. I could feel Rusning already using magic, he was charging his spell and already aiming for a big move from the start, the other mages on Rusning team were also charging spells. Just as the judge shouted "Fight!" Rusning and Argir shouted. "Summon!" "Disperse!" Four ¡¯Frost Atronachs¡¯ appeared, they were clearly dual-casted as the Magicka bounding them felt like that. Not only that! Rusning was not making a summon, he was making two Adept level casts of the same spell on each hand, as he unleashed the spells, they were two big ¡¯Ice Storm¡¯ spells, he must have invested a lot of Magicka on these. The warriors ran to every corner as there were afraid from a spell that does and area damage, smart move, but it was only two spells, now you have to deal with the summons. Four ¡¯Frost Atronachs¡¯ are a pain to deal with. ¡¯Frost Atronachs¡¯ arerge, hulking Daedra that deals melee damage, it¡¯s not that fast but it¡¯s very solid, On of its arms are pointy and the other is blunt. The four started to chase. As for the five warriors, the best way to deal with these creatures was to use silver, elven, ss or enchanted weapons. Sure enough, ¡¯Golden Swords¡¯ team had already their swords enchanted for this kind of situation. They started to fend against the Atronachs while trying to stay out of the mages sight, yet the mages were already making ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ Spells and moving to the next phase systematically. I was nodding to how they worked, they were very organized, they also sometimes waited for their Magicka to regenerate. As there were four Atronachs and five warriors one was able to break free. A warrior from Argir¡¯s team ran with a smile on his face, he was shouting "Got you!" while attacking one of the mages. The mage was the girl named Jolma or how I rather call her, machine-gun Jolma. This girl can fire spells like crazy. Once this warrior broke into run, Argir was shouting for him toe back and as he was reaching Jolma, the girl grinned and pointed her hand at him and the tragedy began. ¡¯Ice Spike¡¯ spells were spammed like crazy, even I started to be afraid, I can block that amount but if I was hit by it my survival will be questionable. This poor boy at his fill of ¡¯Ice Spikes¡¯, they were not aimed at fatal spots and his armor has anti-magic enchantment so he was fine... probably! He hit the ground and was announced out, someone sneaked into the arena and dragged him out. "Cast ¡¯Freeze¡¯, don¡¯t let the atronachs stray far, Holman, you heal the damaged atronachs." Rusning was giving orders and his team was moving perfectly under his lead. Argir was depressed after a member of his team fell, he was thinking how to win this tight situation. "These things are slow, draw them back and the mages will lose their cover." Argir started giving orders too, "Destroy them on by one, and don¡¯t let the mages fire a spell on you when you are in one ce." Argir and Rusning made strategies and moved ordingly, the team reached a point where the two were on equal terms even with the warriors being short in number. Ordinary people might think they were on equal terms, but truth is that the warriors were under a lot of stress. The Ice Element was the bane of warriors, also there opponents increased from five to nine, and they became four and were being pushed back slowly. "Buy me some time!" Argir shouted and retreated back, he then ran and went past the siege of atronachs, he ran with nimble steps and readied his sword. He was met with a barrage of spells but he was Argir of the golden swords, he jumped left and right and avoided whatever was thrown at him, he approached one of the boy mages with the speed of a ghost and shed at him. The ¡¯Stoneskin protection offered a niceyer of armor and could stop the sh but the enchantment on the sword made some magical damage, yet mages were used to that, what they were not used for was brutal physical damage as the mage was carried and thrown down with all Argir¡¯s weight on top of him. Argir went up fast and tried to attack another mage but he didn¡¯t notice what he stepped on and was blown away by an ¡¯Ice Rune¡¯. As that was done, he rolled on the ground with pain expression on his face, he could feel a bad promotion if he stayed on the ground so he jumped back like a rabbit enduring the pain and running back behind his team. He panted and looked at the mage he put down, he was being carried away and one of the atronachs were unsummoned. Now as the pressure lessened down, the warriors tried to take back momentum but fate was mocking them. One of the warriors was hit by a ¡¯Freeze¡¯ spell, a spell that can do magic over time and slow down the opponent. He was indeed slowed down and couldn¡¯t fend against the atronach he was fighting and was blown away. Mercy knew no address for him as he was struck again by an ¡¯Ice Spike¡¯ spell and couldn¡¯t stand from pain. Another warrior has fallen. The mages started to tighten their defense as they were expecting a simr counterattack. The attack dide, as the warriors could finally destroy an atronach and made a fast charge against the mages. This was a good charge yet another warrior fell during the barrage of spells that met them. That now left Argir and another warrior. Argir could finally close once again and he used many dodging moves to reach this annoying machine-gun girl, he hit her with the pommel of his sword on the head and she went unconscious. Now two warriors against three mages and one atronach. Argir¡¯s teammate used himself as a shield to block the atronach and let Argir run past it to face three mages on his own. His first target was a girl and a boy who stood close, Suddenly they summoned bound weapons and met with him head-on. "Aren¡¯t you mages?" Argir was taken aback but the answer made him smile. The boy and the girl shouted, "We are Nords." as they attacked him. Argir passed from their bound weapon easily as they were not bad at using them but his level ofbat was just too good. As he dodged them, he held his long sword from the de and used the handle as blunt weapon hitting both the boy and girl on the head, they fell to his blows and thest ¡¯Frost Atronach¡¯ also fell. Yet to his disappointment his teammate was also lying on the ground, now he waspletely with no backup. He turned to thest enemy and tried to rush at him but he was met with two hands casting two cold spells of ¡¯Frostbite¡¯ Spell, this spell was a stream of coldness. Argir was affected by his fatigue and the Ice Element that attacked his stamina, he could hardly make any moves now, he only depended on his will-power and tried to move forward. One of the spells was taken back but another one came after it, it was ¡¯Sparks¡¯ spell, now he was being attacked by two spells from Ice and Lightning elements and he could barely stand, yet he persisted and leaned on his sword. Another time, the sparks spell was stopped and switched from lightning to fire but the ¡¯Frostbite¡¯ was reinforced with more Magicka, few seconds it stopped. Argir looked to see what happened but he could see a big ball of fireing at him, he reflexively carried his sword with two hands and shed at it. As the swords and spell met each other the spell exploded, this was a ¡¯Fireball¡¯ spell, itunched Argir away and threw him to the ground a bit far away. Rusning, on the other hand, looked pale and exhausted, the crowd who never cheered in this match even once due to the enthusiasm still was shocked by the performance that was just too good. My show down just a while ago was nothingpared to this hype. Rusning couldn¡¯t stand anymore and fell on the ground, he was too tired as he already used most of his Magicka, I couldn¡¯t help myself but to stand up and start pping. My pping woke the crowd up and they also pped and cheered. Now it¡¯s settled, it will be my team against team ¡¯Aracana Wisdom¡¯, I have to be ready for tomorrow. Team ¡¯Arcana Wisdom¡¯ was now in the finals with our team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯, if you told anyone before this tournament that the teams which will be on the top two in the team duels would be a team from the College of Winterhold and another unsponsored team, they would beat you ck an blue. The fact that the college is hateful is still true in the eyes of many, but they may have changed their opinions about these five Nord young mages. Yet thatst match was just too good, the power of the warriors especially Argir¡¯sst maneuver, and the spells that Rusning cast along side his wise leadership, all that but mages into a new light. Many people were looking at me for god knows what reason, I already made a counter n to whatever the college brings on stage tomorrow, I wouldn¡¯t be as arrogant as saying they have no trump card left after this match, I think they did just like I did, they should left at least something big for tomorrow. I have that thing that I trained myself with in secret for few months before I leave Riften, only Nurina knew of it and she helped me to train it in secret, this secret is going out tomorrow. As the mages put down the ward barrier, healer rushed in like crazy, they also carried stamina potions. After a while, Rusning and Argir stood up and greeted each other, then were taken to the VIP seats as the big shots wanted to have a look at them. As they got down from they VIP, I was not far and we could see each other. "Nice fight you two." I greeted. "Thank you." Argir said politely. "Thank you, but I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re going to have more than that tomorrow?" Rusning said making himself look confidant. We three stood and trash-talked on the side, Viarmo announced the end of today¡¯s events and the time of tomorrow¡¯s events, as well as thest event the day after tomorrow, which will be held just before the Champions Ceremony. He also announced a funeral ceremony will be held tonight for a member of team ¡¯ck Snow¡¯ that met a tragic death two days ago. The ceremony will be held in front of the Temple of Gods. "We are going!" I said. "Sure I¡¯ll be there if my sis... ehem, if they needed anything." Argir said. "W, W, W, What? You are going?" Rusning was nervous. I looked at him and ¡¥\_(¥Ä)_/¡¥. Yet he looked at me with disdainful eyes. Come on, attending Sibbi¡¯s funeral was one of my dreams. Let¡¯s just get over with it. Chapter 33 Divine Elegance [A/N: The bounce chapter.] ******************************** I went back to the inn and looked through my stuff, seriously there were nothing elegant in my chest, I had to mix a few stuff together but that didn¡¯t look cool. I looked around my room and smiled, I knew someone who did that before, in my past life I had a sister, and just like all sisters, they would drag all their stuff on the bed and lookin how they have nothing to dress. I wonder who did I catch that habit from? If only I had my armor and clothing mods, I wouldn¡¯t be in such distress. This is something that I confirmed but all the mods that add unrealistic stuff to Skyrim didn¡¯t follow me to my next life, and the armor mods are not really there. Maybe if these armors were locked in somewhere in a dungeon or something I could find them but I am not expecting much anyway. I had to go out and buy something, this event is so special that I have to attend it with something so cool, sending Sibbi ck-Briar to Oblivion. So I¡¯ll have to ask anyone about a good ce. As I went out of my room I saw just the girl. Svidi, who was ying with her baby fox, I think she named it Grace. "Svidi Svidi Svidi, may I have a minute of your precious time." I said. "How polite! You really need something that bad?" She made a ¡¯fufufu¡¯ after I said that. "You see, there is someone we know being sent to Oblivion tonight and I have no clothes to send him off with." I said with a sad face, "Do you know a good ce?" "Oh your going to the funeral. Well, all I know are girl ces, you need to ask Bjorna for stuff like that, she knows the city very well." She said. Bjorna! Well, she is my cousin so I think she will help, even though I am not sure if she knows about me being her cousin or not. Well, let¡¯s ask her. Filling my purse with gold coins and few change, I locked my chest and rushed outside the inn, now let¡¯s head to Skyfire Pet Shop. I wonder if Skyfire is my n name? This will be like Jon Skyfire! Nah, doesn¡¯t sound good. While thinking about these meaningless Ideas I reached the shop, it was open and have few customers. I went in and looked around, so many cute animals were there. "May I help you with som.... Oh, if it is not Jon!" Someone said. I turned around, and it was the person I was looking for, Bjorna. "Hey, I was looking for you." I greeted. "Why?" She asked. "You see, there is a someone I know is being sent to Oblivion tonight and I don¡¯t have a good thing wear, Svidi said you know the good ces around?" I said. "You are sending someone to Oblivion then don¡¯t you need an armor?" She said. "It¡¯s just for seeing him off." I said. "The funeral you mean? Fine I¡¯ll ask ma for few minutes ande with you to a ce I know." Bjorna said and ran inside. A minuteter she came and went out with me. I looked at the shop sign and said, "So ¡¯Skyfire¡¯, is that the name of your n?" "No, the n¡¯s Fire-Mane n?" She said. Fire-Mane? That was not in the game? But Fire-Mane sounds familiar for some reason! Isn¡¯t that a boss in FF? Whatever, "Never heard about them!" I said. "Normally that¡¯s the case, Our business name ¡¯Skyfire¡¯ and that¡¯s the only name we use." She said. "So where are your n from?" I asked. "That¡¯s a secret, I heard you will be invited next year but you shouldn¡¯t know now." She said. Strange! Why the secrecy. "So your n doesn¡¯t live in a city or a town?" I asked. "Obviously!" She said. Well, that¡¯s mysterious! I hoped to know the reason but she didn¡¯t tell. As we walked she was taking me into the inn¡¯s direction and the she stopped and said. "Here we are." "So it is that?" I looked and the shop sign that read ¡¯Radiant Raiment¡¯. This a shop from the game, one that gives a quest and it was an annoying one. There work two high elves sisters, and they are hateful I tell you. "The shop belongs to Taarie and Endarie, they don¡¯t treat people very well but they are good to me." Bjorna Said. I know about their nature, Taarie is a typical high elf who normally looks down on people, but imagine a high elf who works in fashion business which is already looking down on people, this is just annoying to bear. Worse is her sister Endarie, she hates people altogether. Bjorna pushed the front door and I followed, we walked into a typical Solitude building, yet there were all kinds of clothes that I have never seen before. "Hello, Endarie, it¡¯s Bjorna." Bjorna called for Endarie as if they were familiar to each other. "One second!" A voice sounded then a minuteter a woman came out. An Altmer with their usual skin that has a very pale golden hue, I am happy I modded most of the NPC females in Skyrim, this woman in the game is actually scary, I think this is ¡¯The Ordinary Women¡¯ mod. "Bjorna, you came." Endarie said and she looked quite happy. Bjorna gave a smile and said, "This is my aunt¡¯s disciple, I came here to show him the ce." "Oh, what delight. Another charming customer..." Endarie said, I think she always said that in the game too. "He is also looking for something suitable to see a friend off to Oblivion." Bjorna said while giggling. Endarie raised her brows and said "I have few of those myself." Then she looked at me "I have something your size." She walked in and Bjorna told me to follow, actually the stuff is quite nice. Endarie brought out a ck outfit of a ck leather coat and pants with a crimson shirt, it had few leather strips with buckles, it looked fantastic in my opinion yet it was a bit familiar and I couldn¡¯t help but tilt my head. I think this is from a mod, I feel it¡¯s so familiar. "This is an outfit that we import from Old Hroldan town, there is a store that opened there and the export these good stuff." Endarie said. "What is the name of that store?" I had a hunch but I needed to confirm it. "It goes by ¡¯Divine Elegance¡¯, quite the cocky name but they do good stuff, so, buying or leaving." Endarie said but my head was already somewhere else. Old Hroldan was indeed a town in this world and not just a small inn in the middle of nowhere, yet the name ¡¯Divine Elegance¡¯ is that from a mod that made good clothing, it was one of my favorite clothing mods. This outfit was none other than Detff Outfit from the Witcher game series, it was created by the modders and put into the world of Skyrim. "Amazing!" I eximed, This outfit was a real cosy for Detff the vampire, hehe! I can¡¯t let that thing off. But wait, "What else do you have?" Endarie looked that she wanted to kick me out but she swallowed the urge and showed me another stuff, I could find many stuff from the mod. I couldn¡¯t hold myself back at all, I¡¯ll buy all these goodies. What I bought were Detff outfit, Dandelion outfit, Olgierd robes in ck, Avach robes normal one and ck, the suits of Nilfgaard and Beauir, the casual clothes, Silent Mist outfit, Spellmonger robe, Secret Apprentice robe and Robin outfit. I also bought some gifts for Nurina. The amount of money I spent was enormous yet it was worth it, when I asked Bjorna about what gift should I bring for Hilda she said "Look for the meanest and scariest armor or weapon in the market." This was not helping, maybe I¡¯ll buy her something when I reach Winterhold. Thinking about that I hired a carrier and paid him to carry my stuff and follow me to the inn, I said farewells and went away. After I reached the inn another problem urred, I didn¡¯t know which one to wear, no I have all the clothes I want and they are just too good, I don¡¯t know which one will make my handsome the most. Dammit, even his funeral, that Sibbi is giving me a headache. I¡¯ll just wear the Detff outfit. Damn, I look good! If I have some ck round sses right now this will end up being epic. I put on the shoes and gloves and did my hair, now this young man is ready to roll. I told Wulfur and Battle-Born not to follow, these guys will give me out and look nervous all the time. As I reached the Temple of the Divines, Rusning was waiting for me and saw my elegance, or not! He came and went in with me, apparently, I waste but nothing has happened, yet everyone was here. Those who didn¡¯t attend were mostly Big Bad Ulfric, Skald the Grumpy, Faralda who doesn¡¯t care and the ones who had no strong connection. I attended as the captain of the team who was making it for the finals as a fellow participant from Riften. The Temple of the Divines was in the castle and its high priest was Rorlund, a man who was mostly drunk. At the deepest part of the temple lied the eight shrines of the divines, as the shrine of Talos was removed due to the White-Gold Concordat. High Preist Rorlund started a speech probably written by Maven and praised the bravery of Sibbi and he fought his attackers as one of them was killed by him, yet he was attacked from the behind by a cowardly arrow. I actually the one who made it look like that,ter I heard that the guards cleared the slums and took out many ruffians and threw them to prison, all for the good of the city though. I could notice Maven and her family wearing ck, they didn¡¯t look sad at all, I bet that hemming was happy he became the only male heir to his mother¡¯s empire now. Maven was making her usual bi**h face, and her daughter Ingun was ying with something in her hands, and let me tell you, if Ingun ck-Briar yed with anything then it probably is involved with the word ¡¯death¡¯. Well, she didn¡¯t look sad to me either, I should just avoid any ck-Briar after that. As the sermon ended I excused myself and walked with Rusning, on the way out I saw Idgrod Ravencrone and her daughter Idgrod The Younger walking out. "Walk my girl, these are dark times, people kill people and go attend their funerals." I could hear Idgrod telling that to her daughter. I froze, Rusning froze, the air around us froze. We looked at each other and couldn¡¯t help but run out of the temple¡¯s yard. "I told you this is a bad idea." Rusning said. "It¡¯s not my fault, this jarl is weird, she can tell future and see all kinds of weird stuff." I told him. "What will happen if she told the ck-Briars?" Rusning said. "I don¡¯t think she will, but let¡¯s leave the city right after the tourney." I said. Chapter 34 Finals: Part 1 A day passed after the captains of the two teams went each to his way. Now they were standing facing each other again in the arena, ring and sneering that¡¯s all these two exchanged. Everyone one of them was at the head of the other, reading each other¡¯s thoughts and ying who acts first loses. The line-up was Jon who stood in the middle holding no weapon and wearing a scaled cuirass on a mage robe. Wulfur was wearing his full armor for the first time on the arena, a heavy steel armor with his ¡¯High Dam¡¯ shield, in his hand was not the il but Jon¡¯s hammer ¡¯Agni-Ra¡¯. Battle-Born was wearing the same scaled cuirass as Jon¡¯s, it has a good resistance to magic so it will be of use this match, he surprisingly was holding a bow, and his sword was sheathed. On the other side, Rusning and his team were on their top readiness. They didn¡¯t just wear robes, they also brought staves. They wanted to go all out and crush the hurdle known as ¡¯White Wolves¡¯. As most of the ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ were warriors, Jon could guess that these staves were ¡¯Ice Spick¡¯ staves. He was really not worried, he has already enchanted Wulfur¡¯s shield with ¡¯Resist Magic¡¯ enchantment and gave Wulfur and Battle-Born capes of ¡¯Frost Resistance¡¯. He already foresaw every move the opponent will do, and also was hoping that they will surprise him. As the mages of around the arena made their barrier, and the judge said instructions, ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ and ¡¯Aracana Wisdom¡¯ stood on the arena three to three. Team White Wolves, as usual, had the two Jons and Wulfur. Team Aracana Wisdom had Rusning as the leader and the one who could use Adept level destruction magic, Svefna the girl who can charge spells for long times, Svadall the boy who can aim magic to two different directions with his two hands without missing the two targets. Outside the arena was Jolma the machine-gun and Holman the healer and the ward master. After one falls Holman wille in to equalize then Jolma to put pressure on the White Wolves, that was the strategy and Jon saw through it. As the judge gave the signal, team Aracana Wisdom took their formation and aimed their staves, it was a normal formation, team White Wolves were Jon at the front casting his ward with his left while Battle-Born stood on his back and looked cool. As the judge said "Fight!" and jumped away, Rusning shouted "Fire!" and the team fired ¡¯Ice Spikes¡¯ from their staves just as Jon predicted. Jon was just standing and casting his ¡¯Quadrant Ward¡¯ with his left hand and his right hand was behind his back with a lightning spell being charged on it. A barrage of Ice Spikes fell on the ward and as the Frost Element was being dispersed by the ward, mist was forming from the way it was being blocked with. Few seconds of firing Ice Spikes should be enough to put pressure on Jon but the only mist was forming more and more. As mist blocked the view, Rusning signaled for his team to stop the casting, they kept looking at the mist as it was depressing waiting to see how their surprise attack would work on team White Wolves. But what they saw made their jaws drop, Jon was standing the same as he was and his team was still the same, no one even moved once. Sybille Stentor and Faralda opened their eyes wide, Jarl Idgrodughed softly, these three were the most well versed three in magic between the spectators. One must know that to block a spell with a ward, one needs to overpower this spell with his own Magicka, and Jon did overpower three staves with his Magicka alone, this was hard to be puffed by an artifact as it was connected to the nature of Magicka itself and Jon was a Nord and a human, however, his Magicka nature appeared to be on the level of elves. Only these three couldprehend that, Rusning knew that Jon¡¯s Magicka wasn¡¯t something he can go alone against yet not this scary point, he devised the first move especially to put pressure on Jon. Jon smiled and moved his right hand to his side and pushed it forward in a casting pose, fierce lightning broke out and headed towards the opponents. The spell struck Svadall but it was too much for him and he shouted from pain, the spell didn¡¯t just do that, it bounced from him to Rusning and struck him hard, then it bounced at Svefna who screamed from the shock. This was no ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ spell, this was ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯ spell, unlike the game where it only bounces on one target, in real life, it can bounce for any number as long as it was charged with enough Magicka, and Jon just mastered it two days ago. "Damn! That guy is a monster!" Svefna said, she could speak as she took the least damage from the spell, Svadall, on the other hand, was already on one knee. "No time to chat, next phase quickly!" Rusning gave orders and made the next spell. They took distance from each other and started with next spell which was already being cast, every one of them has summoned a frost atronach. "Let¡¯s move." Jon called to the heavily armored Wulfur and the light armored Battle-Born. Wulfur nodded and walked to the atronach on the left, Battle-Born started running to the side. Battle-Born started harassing the other team with arrows, and Wulfur shed head-on with a frost atronach. Jon made two spells and summoned two Fire Atronachs. The people were cheering for the show, the amount of magic they saw during thest few days made them able to identify the magic on their own. Now, there were 11 figures on the arena shing and shooting spells at each other, Wulfur was standing his ground against a frost atronach alone and hitting it with a fire enchanted weapon, he was doing good on his own. Battle-Born shot arrows and pushed the mages from their ground. Jon started using ¡¯Lightning Bolts¡¯ and fought with three mages on his own. They started changing the element against him from Ice to Fire as it would do more damage, Jon dodged and shot lightning again and again. Rusning started targeting Wulfur and Battle-Born on his own, he wanted to eliminate someone then focus his team¡¯s power on Jon. As Battle-Born ran out of arrows he switched to sword and ran to Jon and hid behind him, team Aracana Wisdom could finally take a little breath. Jon¡¯s fire atronachs were focused on the other frost atronachs. Jon could find a clear way to run forward with Battle-Born behind him, then he cleared the way for Battle-Born. Battle-Born ran and dodged nimbly, he was fast, so fast that people started to wonder, he could jump and do moves like Jon too. Actually, Jon started teaching Battle-Born some moves to dodge while rushing forward to avoid arrows and spells. Battle-Born could make his way through spells under Jon¡¯s cover fire, he reached Svadall and attacked him with a body sh. Svadall was carried by Battle-Born¡¯s push and was sent to the air, there was no mercy as it seemed the Jon thought him how to strike the head with a knee. Svadall fell unconscious to the attack and Battle-Born escaped back, Wulfur has finished a frost atronach on his own and was moving to the next to find it crumbling and being unsummoned, he just ran to the next one. The pressure on Aracana Wisdom increased and Rusning called for Holman. As Svadall was being carried back, Holman ran in and conjured a frost atronach to lessen the pressure. Holman healed Svefna and Rusning who were firing spells at Jon, Jon hid behind the barrier and retreated slowly. "We are being pushed!" Rusning was annoyed by the situation. "Give me time!" Svefna said and returned behind, Holman took her ce and started spamming spells. Rusning looked at her and saw what she was doing, he knew her specialty and didn¡¯t talk, he can¡¯t dishonor the determination of his teammate. Svefna charged an ¡¯Ice Storm¡¯ spell and dual-casted it on both hands, she then started to overcharge it. ¡¯Overcharging¡¯ was a technique used when a mage starts to put more Magicka than usual in a spell, in a destruction spell that was dangerous as one could lose control and the spell would explode yet that was Svefna¡¯s specialty. "Now cover me!" She said and started running to the side, Rusning and Holman could already see what she was thinking and ignored protecting themselves to provide more cover. Jon could see the change in phase and noticed Svefna¡¯s moves, She lined herself to face the three opponents of White Wolves at once, then she let go of her spell. Jon opened his eyes wide from the size of the spell, he was busy blocking Rusning and Holman who started casting magic like madmen and now a spell that size was heading for him. It was toote to manipte the ward to block it, the best way was to avoid it. "Iing! Avoid!" Jon warned Battle-Born who was behind him and Wulfur who was busy with a frost atronach. Svefna saw the situation and smiled "You think I¡¯ll let you have your way!" She shouted. It appeared that the frost atronach Wulfur was fighting was hers, she controlled it and made it throw its all weigh on Wulfur to pin him down. "Wulfur! Avoid!" Battle-Born Shouted at Wulfur but it was toote. Jon and Battle-Born could already avoid the Ice Storm yet Wulfur who was pinned down took the full force of it. Jon knew that Wulfur¡¯s shield and cape should save him in this kind of situation but to see his best friend take a spell like that made blood rush to his brain and he called a ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ spell and fired it on Svefna. Svefna¡¯sst attack was a suicidal one to damage team White Wolves and let Jolma in, sure enough, she was ready to be attacked. Jon¡¯s ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ struck her body and sent her to the ground, yet she was still controlling the frost atronach to not let it off Wulfur. A breathter, the frost atronach on Wulfur exploded and a hammer could be seening from it, this was ¡¯Agni-Ra¡¯ at the hands of Wulfur dealing thest blow to the frost atronach. Svefna saw that and said "Dammit!" then lost her consciousness as her Magicka ran out and she was beaten up badly. The judge made a fast announcement and signaled for healers to get her out, also Jolma was running in. Wulfur was panting from exhaustion and was standing on one knee leaning at the hammer. There were no atronachs left so Jon said "Rest now!" As Julma reached her teammates, they tightened their defense and made preparations to make an attack on their opponents with Jolma¡¯s speed casting and Rusning¡¯s powerful spells. Jolma cast a spell and another atronach appeared, Luckily her team was short on Magicka and they can¡¯t afford to conjure more, Jon now had Battle-Born and two me atronachs, and Wulfur was resting. "We need to surround them, an atronach will follow you and fire at them, another will face the new atronach and draw it away, I will take a side, you go right I go left." Jon made a n and said, "Once you take their attention, move out of the way, I¡¯ll do a big one." "Good luck!" Battle-Born said and moved. The people cheered from the strong exchange between the teams, this time team White Wolves was facing a strong opponent and made their best moves, even if that was a mage¡¯s match, it was an excellent match, no one could move their eyes away even the Jarls of Windhelm, Winterhold and Dawnstar who hated magic. Team Arcana Wisdom had Holman as the ward caster in the front to protect them from Jon¡¯s spells, Rusning was on the right of Holman and Jolma was on his left. Jon ran to the left at Rusning¡¯s side, Battle-Born ran to the other side and started dodging and jumping with nimble acrobatics, Jolma was spamming spells at him and he would throw stones at her if he could while trying to get close. Jon, on the other hand, was controlling two atronachs, holding Holman in ce with one, drawing away the new atronach with another, and he was exchanging spells with Rusning and pressing him bad. Faralda, Sybille Stentor and Jarl Idgrod were admiring what they were seeing, the level of control was hardly achieved by anyone in that age, he was managing all his team and summons while attacking. If Jon heard them talking about that he would say ¡¯ying Fifa was harder!¡¯ Rusning and his team looked like some heroes from a certain movie who were defending each other backs while taking attacks from all sides. [A/N: Avengers: Age of Ultron, thest fight scene around the device thing.] "Holman! I am running out of Magicka, a hand here" Rusning shouted. "That fire atronach is so annoying I can¡¯t face it with a hand." Holmanined. "Jolma?!" Rusning asked. "This guy is too slippery, I can¡¯t hold him or leave him be!" Jolma who reached a deadlock with Battle-Born shouted. Rusning thought and made a decision, he said "Move!" as he backed away from his confrontation with Jon and aimed at Battle-Born, then he cast a big fire magic squeezing thest of his juice with it. A ¡¯Fireball¡¯ flew at Battle-Born who was not making a good footing and exploded right next to him, his defense was not up and Jolma could damage him a few times from theirst exchange. He could see the fire turning from a spell to explosion, he barely looked at the guy who carried the same name as him and shouted "You turn!" while getting blown away and falling unconscious! Jon saw that and hardened his resolve. He had to make a move now, he moved like a ghost nearer and nearer to the three opponents. Jolma was focusing her attention on him and was readying a spell. Jon who has rolled and reached a far location was standing three meters away from team Aracana Wisdom. Too close, too daring, mages like Jolma can be dangerous at that range as their uracy will be better. Some started shaking their heads from the bad decision. Some started thinking about how Jon¡¯s mistake costed his team its first loss. Some were happy or sad for their bets that was confirmed right in front of their eyes. Some were really worried at Jon. Yet what Jon did was speaking two words. Two words, made the time stop. Two words, made everyone lose their senses. Made everyone wish to question their own sanity, yet they didn¡¯t have the chance as the words they heard were loud and clear. Elisif hugged Torygg from the shock. Idgrod jumped back from the scare her gifts couldn¡¯t foresee. Ulfric couldn¡¯t hold his goblet and it fell from his hands. Balgruuf opened his mouth and an egg could pass through it. Even the cool-headed Skadi was struck-dumb and couldn¡¯t believe what she saw or heard. None of these reactions were overreacted. They all were on spot. The two words said by Jon just were too scary that everyone was struck with fear of what they saw after them. Jon spoke and the world obeyed. Space was moved and power was unleashed. Half of Solitude heard those two words. They were "FUS RO!" ********************************* [A/N: A bounce chapter is ready, edited and all. Give up all your stones on the way out if you want to see it today. once we break into the top 20 again, I¡¯ll post it along with another few announcements.] Chapter 35 Finals: Part 2 [A/N: This is the second chapter thates to you by the good graces of Alex Martz on Patreon, @Drthrottlejr on Discord.] [A/N: There are a bunch of important notes at the end of the chapter.] ************************************* "FUS RO!" These words that turn the voice into raw power, pushing aside anything or anyone who stands in its path. They were not theplete shout, they missed thest word ¡¯Dah¡¯ which meant Push. ¡¯Fus¡¯ means ¡¯Force¡¯, ¡¯Ro¡¯ means ¡¯Bnce¡¯. The three words altogether would unleash a mighty force that would push away anything and anyone like a st. Yet, Jon only used the first two words for two reasons. The first reason is, the first two words are enough. The might of the three words together in real life is too much different than what was in the game. The first word can push an adult man across a room, the second will send him flying for a short distance, yet the third word may actually kill a man, the third word itself carried much more power than all the other two words that it would send a man flying like a ragdoll and might break his body or cause him to hit something really hard, it shouldn¡¯t really kill a man if only he was lucky enough or strong enough. The second reason was that Jon couldn¡¯t master the third word yet, he couldprehend the words of power because he saw them and he could understand their meaning due to the experience of ying the game, he knew all the shouts from the game yet mastering only two words in one year was his limit, even the hero of the game could master only one word per fulfilling a certain condition. These were his reasons for not using ¡¯Dah¡¯, he couldn¡¯t and if he could he may have killed these opponents. The power was unleashed from Jon who was only three meters away from his opponents, this distance was enough for him to devastate them from this distance. Jolma was the closest to the shout and she was being pushed away with its power, Holman was just beside her fending against Jon¡¯s fire atronach, he waspletely exposed from his side and was caught off-guard too. Rusning who just sted Battle-Born away could see what was happening yet he couldn¡¯t go anywhere, his power was depleted and was staggering even before the shout could reach him. On the spectators¡¯ side, Skadi, Bjorna and Svidi were screaming alongside the other spectators. Around the arena, the mages who were maintaining the ward barrier couldn¡¯t just leave the barrier and run, all they could do was to close their eyes and crawl ready for impact. The participants¡¯ seats were no better, Jon was facing them so they felt like the shout was actually heading for them and starting jumping away. The VIP area, as usual, suffered the most. Elisif waspletely on Torygg¡¯sp. Idgrod, for the first time around people, looked surprised. Ulfric stood, rushed and stood at the rail ahead of the VIP area holding onto it. The other Jarls suffered again from the same damn youth who always made their hearts jump yet this time was the hardest surprise. This was just too absurd, most of the people heard the legends about the words of power, the Voice, the Thu¡¯um, the ancientnguage of the dragons, few people understand that power, fewer witnessed it, it was noted thatst time the Thu¡¯um was used in battle was at 4E-176 at the Forsworn rebellion when the city of Markarth fell to the natives of the reach, at that time, Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak led a band of Nord warriors and retook the city from the natives, this happened during the Great War. The man himself was present and witnessed the shout of Jon being performed in front of him, he was the only Voice Master known under High Hrothgar, but now, there are two. The time that stopped in the minds of many people started to flow again and the results of the shout were vividly seen. Jolma and Holman were flying back, Rusning was a bit away from the center of the force unleashed so he only fell hard on the ground and rolled back. As Jolma and Holman fell down, the force wave continued to advance and hit the barrier, dispelling a part of it and sending the mages to their knees, then the wave was depressed after its power was depleted. Team Aracana Wisdom which was finally starting to take advantage in battle with the heavy price of two of its members, was devastated beyond recovering. Jolma and Holman were on the ground unconscious, Rusning whose power was depleted due to physical and magical exhaustion was still conscious but was panting for breath. On the other side, Battle-Born was eliminated, Wulfur was not able to move due to strong frost damage, and Jon was sitting on the ground while panting from exhaustion. All the atronachs were dispelled. The judge was not nning to enter anytime soon but few brave healers ran in to check on the unconscious and ran out carrying them. "That.. was.. crazy.." Rusning said was panting and moving his body, he could stand in a staggering pose. "This.. was.. really.. good.." He said, he took and deep breath and looked at Jon, "I am not done yet, a mage is always prepared." As he finished saying that he took out few papers from his robe, Jon¡¯s eyes shrunk, these were scrolls and he could barely stand up now. Scrolls are magical documents that can be used to cast spells. Anyone can use a scroll, regardless of magic skill, and casting a scroll does not use any Magicka. However, each scroll can only be used once. Now, Rusning was having four scrolls in his hands, he took one and opened it with hand speed and skill then fire could be seen on his hand, he did that then cast the spell all in one second. A ball of fire flew toward Jon which appeared to be a ¡¯Fireball¡¯ spell, it flew with speed at Jon who was defenseless at this moment, he tried to call his ¡¯Quadrant Ward¡¯ yet it takes time to switch between spells. Jon¡¯s eyes were on the fast spell that was about to hit him the next second. Suddenly a shadow covered him, a shadow so big that it covered all the light of day that fell on him. This was Jon¡¯s number one partner in crime and his right-hand man, Wulfur, making his coolest entrance ever. He stood in front of Jon then positioned hisrge shield the ¡¯High Dam¡¯ and with it, he took the spell head-on. The explosion could be heard and Wulfur shouted from the power carried by it, he looked at Jon and shouted "I can take this ba***rd for a couple more times, hurry up and finish him." Jon was in a daze from what he saw yet he got himself together and cast a spell he could cast in his state towards the sky, a specter bird flew from it as the second impact arrived, Wulfur shouted from the pain again. Rusning was no polite to the friends of yesterday at all, he could see Jon running out from the cover of the shield and aimed the third ¡¯Fireball¡¯ at him. Arge st urred as it seemed that Rusning added some of hisst Magicka to empower the spell, he was waiting to see the result. Wulfur was sted away by the spell and fell unconscious to the side. Through the fire of the explosion, a figure jumped making his arm into X shape to protect his face, his eyes were as that of a wild beast that was unleashed at a prey and his smile was wide and full of madness. Now the confrontation was only between Jon and Rusning. Jon started running right in a straight line towards Rusning not thinking of dodging anything, Rusning was readying himself to fire thest scroll right at the madly advancing Jon. It was thest hit of the match, Jon was using his body as thest resort he can use right now, the after effect of using the Thu¡¯um was making it hard for his mind to control his Magicka or make another spell. On the other hand, Rusning was firing hisst bullet at the opponent who was advancing. Rusning and Jon were smiling from the thrill, Rusning shouted, "Haha! Come at me!" He was about to fire his spell directly at Jon, Jon was not showing any sign of defending as if he would run through it. The spell was just about to leave from Rusning hand at the closest distance he can afford to not harm himself, yet something happened. A bird! No, a spectral falcon appeared from the side of Rusning and caught his stretched hand that was about to shoot the spell and pulled it away, the spell was fired yet toplete a different direction from where it should be aimed at. Hitting the spectral falcon with his other hand Rusning saw something not too good for him. Jon was already two meters ahead of him and was flying. Jon a few seconds ago controlled the familiar her conjured behind Wulfur while charging at Rusning and disturbed the scroll he was about to cast. Jon reached a good point jumped with two legs and rotated himself midair, his legs were facing Rusning and were ready to kick. He let himself get closer and kicked with all his might at Rusning. Even though Rusning was a Nord and had a strong body, he was a mage who didn¡¯t train physically that much, as he received the kick he wasunched away by it. Both boys fell with no strength after thest exchange, they officially arrived at their limit. ********************* The people were standing on. The VIPs were standing. The Judge didn¡¯t really want to go in the arena but he was red at by everyone. The three boys on the arena were lying down and not moving. The judge ran in with healers behind him. The nearest one was Wulfur, the judge checked on him and signaled that he was unconscious. Next was Rusning who was lying on his front and Jon who was lying on his back. The judge reached Rusning and signaled he was unconscious. Team White Wolves fans cheered yet the team was not out of the woods yet. The judge headed to Jon, if Jon was unconscious then this match may end as a draw, this will break the hearts of many fans. The judge reached Jon and was about to check on him, suddenly Jon who was lying on his back raised his upper half in a sat while looking around. The judge was frightened and screamed in an embarrassing voice. Jon and the healers looked at the man with strange eyes. The judge made and ¡¯Ehem!¡¯ and looked at Viarmo and signaled. Viarmo cleared his throat and said, "I hereby dere team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯ the victors of this match." ******************************** [A/N: First thing, thank you guys for the amazing support you have shown. Second, It¡¯s about the name of the novel, I feel that it¡¯s not attraction people or thepetition started bing much more heated with the other novels,st week we were on the top 20 now we are not, It really is important for me and I want more people to get attracted to it, I know my nameing skill is horrible, I am an author who uses name genereator after all.... So, I was thinking of renaming the novel, something that can make people more attracted to it not just as a fanfiction they mostly are not familiar with but as something that make thier eyes shine once they see it, something with the word ¡¯Dragonborn¡¯ would be good so I¡¯ll ask both suggestions here and on discord. Last thing it is about a suggestion I recived on Discord, we have an image section that we post imaginary stuff about the novel such as how the character look like and that. Now I think if any of the readers has any good drawing skill they can draw us something like the Legendry Axe that jon sketched at chapter 13. we want to start with that! it will make the novel much more fun and will give the people incpiration about how active and friendly we are on this novel. Thank you, remain supportive, and hail lord Dragonborn.] Chapter 36 Making Preparations It was loud how people cheered after that match, both teams showed the spirit and mindset of true warriors. With seedlings like these, Skyrim will have a glorious era of warriors. Every year thepetition of the king¡¯s tournament would bring out the best of the best in Skyrim but this year didn¡¯t just bring out just that, this year each force was going all out with its seedlings and they were all very talented and unique fighters with various skills and charismatic auras. They possessed the features of the leaders as they showed Valor, Honor, Compassion, Generosity and Wisdom in every showdown they performed in. Standing on the top of the future generation, a boy whose talent was just too shaking, he was the best performance and many people argued about his talent, some people even wanted to push him out of the tournament yet it was not possible. His background was scarier than ever, an Arch Wizard was his adoptive mother and many people supported him too. n Battle-Born threatened the whole big shots of the tournaments that they will react if their son Jon Battle-Born or any of his teammate were so much touched with harm outside the arena. And finally, the most mysterious, n Fire-Mane announced their sponsorship for the team. All these reports were revised again on the hearing of the High King and the eight Jarls. This was the Blue Pce and specifically, in the throne room, High King Torygg sat hearing the from his steward Falk Firebeard who was reading a report loudly in the presence of all jarls to hear. "So the Fire-Manes broke the long silence, they took their time." A womanly voice sounded in the room, it was Jarl La Law-Givermenting. "This n just doesn¡¯t like to get involved with power and politics, if that was the case, Winterhold would have been rebuilt long time ago." Jarl Korir of Winterhold spoke. "You damn fool, Winterhold once was a major city in Skyrim. A major city! I tell you. Yet with all the power you can muster you just sit your sorry a*s in your longhouse crying about the past, rebuilding nothing, and leave us to worry about people escaping from your hold!" Skald the Elder replied to Korir. "And all he does every meeting is toin about how the mages caused the downfall of his city, also what can this Fire-Mane n do?" Jarl Igmund of Markarth said. "The damn mages were the cause and history will prove it!" Jarl Korir couldn¡¯t take it and stood. "Also n Fire-Mane was no ordinary n, they survived the great copse and thrived away from Winterhold afterwards." "All we know about them is little yet they never were people of many words, they are true Nords who hold to the old traditions very deeply and they never forsook the worship of Talos, which meant they have a deep animosity with The Thalmor." Jarl Balgruuf said, "I had few dealings with them myself and they are the most honest mount traders in Skyrim as everyone know." "Their trade is taming, I heard they canmunicate with beasts like the old Atmorans, all that make little care to us anyway, all we know they are rich and powerful." Jarl Dengeir of Stuhn, jarl of Falkreath said. [A/N: He was the jarl of Falkreath before Jarl Siddgeir, in a previous chapter I wrote that Siddgeir was the jarl but I was wrong and edited it, Siddgeir only became a jarl just before the civil war.] "Their name held meaning for a long time we know of that." Torygg finally spoke, "All we are concerned about is how not to get ourselves in trouble with them and with that headache going on. But the people I want to hear their opinion the most are Jarl Ulfric and Jarl Idgrod." As Torygg said that, Ulfric who was thinking looked at the other jarls then sighed out, he was a middle-aged man with brown long hair and circle beard, he was the current living hero of Skyrim and one of the most distinguished figures that younger generations looked up too. He spoke with his strong voice, "About the background of the boy is nothing I care about, that n that sponsors him surely is strong and their words can affect many Jarls." He said, "What I am concerned about what this boy is capable of. His talents are by now the most shocking among all his peers, his magic even to the eyes that can¡¯t understand magic, it looked grand and deep, his martial arts are of a level beyond what we know of, they are very showy yet I wouldn¡¯t want to go against them on equal terms. But all that matters less when we talk about his Voice." All the jarls nodded to what Ulfric said, "I wanted to fight you guys out over this guy to take him under my wing but I am rethinking it now. The Thu¡¯um is no ordinary power, it¡¯s a power that goes beyond magic itself. For a youngster to learn it in that young age, it would make the Greybeards themselves surprised, my only guess was that this Arch Wizard had some secret knowledge that she passed to him and made him grow into such a fine talent." The jarls were dejected from the grand opportunity they had to miss just because they have no power to hold onto it. "Jarl Idgrod." High King Torygg called for thest jarl who didn¡¯t speak. "I can¡¯t weight him!" She just said that. All the jarls were taken aback, this woman would always say her opinion in anything she knew about or not, yet she refused to speak. Most jarls wouldn¡¯t take her words seriously but Torygg, Ulfric and Balgruuf knew what this woman was capable of, he divinations were scary urate, her talent in magic was that of a mystic, she had the weirdest talent among most mages. "What I saw in him; was a reckless boy who was never afraid to get his hands dirty, he walked the twisted path many times yet he was never stained by it." She said, "I don¡¯t think his fate will be easy, either if you want to associate with him or not, that¡¯s your choice, but supporting him maye with a heavy price or an enemy you can¡¯t stand against. It¡¯s all not clear but that¡¯s the best I can do" She took a deep breath and said "My advice is; don¡¯t hinder his path, treat him normally and life will go on just right." She was saying that while looking to Ulfric in the eye, few could do that. The atmosphere stiffened for a while but the Torygg decided to break the ice, "He is by all means the victor of this tournament as long as he participates in thestpetition." He said and smiled, "We will sink him in glory and send him on his way. Still, I am looking forward for tomorrow." As Torygg said that, all jarls started to giggle inwardly. Thestpetition is madness in the eyes of many, safety was guaranteed in the most of the tournament except in this one, people actually died in this one before. ******************************* [A/N: 1st Person POV.] That fight was really something, I seriously enjoyed it to thest moment. I really didn¡¯t want to use the Thu¡¯um in public especially when Ulfric Stormcloak is around but it came for the best. I learned the Thu¡¯um a year ago, I knew all the words from the game and I could remember everything about them, I even wrote a section about them in my magic note, while trying to learn them, Nurina would take me to a room where she would cast a ¡¯Muffle¡¯ spell around all the room so no one can hear anything, she took interest in the words of dragons herself but she couldn¡¯t master any of them, that made her really depressed. I, after few weeks of training, could master the first word ¡¯Fus¡¯, I think the hero of the game could master these words much faster than me due to him absorbing dragon souls. I have no dragon souls and I don¡¯t think they have any in the market, I had to take the hard way to learn it, the same way that the normal voice masters could learn the Voice. Yet I was talented ording to Nurina. She was a genius in magic and she couldn¡¯t master a single word. I think me ying the game and using the ¡¯Fus Ro Dah¡¯ on Lydia for thouthands of time was really giving some results. I wanted to learn other words of power but for some reason,prehending them was a pain, I really wanted to learn the ¡¯Disarm¡¯ shout or ¡¯Whirlwind Sprint¡¯ but they were simply too hard, I guessed the reason was due to the shout from the game has much different effect or feeling that I can¡¯t apply with imagination or memory. I guess I¡¯ll have to try harder. After the fight I was so beaten up that I went directly to the inn and closed my room, I slept like horker. After I woke up I found Skadi, Bjorna and Battle-Born were surrounding me asking me about the Thu¡¯um. I thought Battle-Born would feel betrayed that I kept that from him but he was very happy, he said he could see it before he lose consciousness and it looked grand from his point of view. Skadi was so hyped and was shaking me full force, my bones were going to crack from that woman¡¯s grabbing power. Wulfur and Svidi as well as Akara and Ysolda knew about that secret so I was safe from that side. Bjorna cameter and started to tell us about the rumors going on in the inn, some are saying that I am some sort of hero and others were saying I was brought up by Ulfric Stormcloak, so many rumors started to fly around me. There were so many congrattion gifts from some influential people, we even received a dinner invitation by Thane Bryling, but Skadi cancelled it off, I would have epted though. n Battle-Born sent a huge sum of money to Jon Battle-Born, they said that he made them proud and sent me few gifts too. I had to rent another room to store all these stuff away. Luckily a servant from the College of Winterhold came and asked me to register the luggage I will take with me on their ship, I showed him the stuff and he was about to cry. I really wanted to sneak around and go to the bathhouse but a party was thrown in the inn for the honor of team ¡¯White Wolves¡¯. Teams that also lived in the inn with us joined and drinks were everywhere, Svidi and Battle-Born sang many songs I wrote, they were some songs from my past life that I had to edit to fit this world sometime ago. I was smiling while drinking with Wulfur, for some reason I had to make him drunk before he can talk normally to Bjorna, this was fun. I didn¡¯t drink that much but I made sure that everyone drink till they fall down, that was part of the n going on. Seriously I was starting to feel bad for myself, I am always shaking people with a hand while holding a dagger behind my back, I guess my cheerful self from my past life has be some sort of distant memory now. As everyone was passed down on the tables and the floor this was the perfect time to act. I went to a girl called Lisette, she is a beautiful Breton girl who works as a bard in the inn, I gave her few coins and asked her to keep these people sleeping for a while as I wanted to sneak out somewhere. Lisette was a big fangirl to my team and one of Svidi¡¯s friends, if I stayed in this city for a while longer I think I would date her. As I made my way to my room, I opened my personal chest and there I took out a strongbox carefully. As I put it on the side with utmost care, I opened it and I could see some small sks in it. These little babies were my pride and joy, these were no poisons or potions, these were ¡¯bombs¡¯. Yes sir, these are explosives. The mod ¡¯Complete Alchemy and Cooking Overhaul¡¯ added these babies to this world, these babies can go *KaBooM!* when they feel heat or get broken, these babies are too sensitive you see. I take out a belt with many mini pockets, these mini pockets fit perfectly with the sks, they were designed and enchanted to keep them in safe condition during operations, Thieves Guild gear as you see, a gift from Uncle Delvin. I put the belt on and took some sks and equipped them in it, this looked cool, but I had to hide how cool it looked with my shirt. Putting on my sneaking gear and arge ck cloak, I was ready to roll. Going downstairs I could see Lisette doing a good job singing her luby, good girl, keep them sleeping. I went to the side and found someone who was drinking alone in the side, I sat front of him and didn¡¯t say anything. "Tonight?" Gulum-Ei the Argonian thief fence asked me. "Tomorrow night." I replied. "What will you do?" He asked. "The girl will die, I am afraid this may go a bit ugly and a little inexperienced, I never took a soul before." I said. He drank from his tankard and looked at me again, "So what happened to poor Sibbi was not your doing?" I looked at him and smiled then shook my head. "Well, you were in the inn the hole day drinking as it seemed, Maven wanted us to investigate you but we told her you are one of us and we treat our best clients with utmost care." He said, "I am d I was right." So Maven did suspect me after all, d I yed my part well. "I will make ast tour tonight, as long as everything is smooth, nothing will go south on my side." I said, "Make sure to stay clear of my way lizard" I made a dissatisfied face, can¡¯t afford to break my act now. As I said that, I took my leave and left the inn through the back door. Now, to Castle Dour. [A/N: Dearest readers, there are three votes going on in the Discord group, try them out!] Chapter 37 Like The Life of a Secret Agen I walked in the narrow market street of Solitude heading to the tallest building in the city, Castle Dour. It wasn¡¯t midnight yet and I could see many peopleing and going in the shops that looked like the bazaars, even though these areas were poor and the streets were narrow, they had no unhealthy establishments like Riften, it has somewhat reminded me with Cairo¡¯s Khan El Khalili*, I used to love that ce. [A/N: *A historical market in Egypt, A pic on Discord.] My appearance in the cloak and hood was not really out of the ce, some people would walk like that to do private business with ease, so I usuallye here to buy ¡¯Soul Gems¡¯ and other stuff too. I took this way to reach the castle because I can lose any pursuer if I felt any, as I don¡¯t want the thieves or the assassins to know about my ns. As I reached the castle from the back market I climbed the road up to the castle¡¯s side gate, there are a fletcher¡¯s and a cksmith¡¯s shops in this area. A guard stopped me at the gate so I showed him my tournament token and my face, I told him I was here to meet with Captain Aldis. The guard recognized me and let me pass, another one led me to Aldis in the training yard. "Oh! If it¡¯s not our young champion." Captain Aldis seemed to be in a good mood. "Wel-met Captain." I greeted him and started a long conversation about the tourney. "I want to talk more about this and that but I came here for a specific reason." I said. "Ah!" He eximed, "You are still after answers, I thought you might think they would be those big gamblers who hired assassins." "I investigated for a while but I need to see that girl for onest time." I said, "If assassins were hired again, I need to be extra careful, if I got an extra bit of information then I¡¯ll be a ease." "It¡¯s okay, follow me." Captain Aldis was a very understanding man. ********************* I followed him as he told, this is the only chance to do this part of the n, and I have to do it perfectly. I have to nt all these explosive sks inside the jail, the time is tight and I must do it right. I surveyed the ce many times and I found that there are some ces with windows, I tried to make a rough understanding of the building. This was not as hard as anyone would think, buildings here are not thatplicated. The bomb sks¡¯ size is that of an adult¡¯s finger, easy to hide, and with the damp and dark nature of the prison, storing them here is a very safe job, the most important part was how to avoid Captain Aldis¡¯s site and nt them as I follow him. We reached the gate that leads to the prison, passing it, my eyes started scanning every nook and cranny in the corridors we walked into. As I saw the first window that views the street, I nted a sk around it, from that point the distance between every sk must be between five to seven meters. Captain Aldis was walking ahead of me and I was nting sks on every shelf, clutter and every dusty and dark ce there is no use in cleaning it. I kept the conversation with Captain Aldis going as to not raise any suspicions. As we reached the cell, I had already nted more than twenty sks, this was a good result even if I say so myself. I looked at the girl who feigned madness and kept asking her questions yet she acted her part well. No matter what Captain Aldis didn¡¯t suspect me, these are the perk of being the young Nord hero in their eyes, too bad I cheated them. Acting as I got no result I left the girl and walked out with Captain Aldis, he kept talking about tomorrow¡¯s events and how much he was looking for it, tomorrow was thest round, the Battle Royale. It is a match between the thirty-two participants only with no helpers whatsoever, it was a lethal match that sometimes people die in it, anyone can forfeit from this round but they won¡¯t be acknowledged even if they won everypetition before. As for me who can be called the first team in the winning rate and the scoring rate, I need to make it through tomorrow¡¯s match anyway, even if was defeated, my position in the lead is solid and no one can put me down now. After the match the rewards will be given by the king, the Skyforge weapons as well as the mary reward and the champion¡¯s share of the gamblings, I am going to be filthy rich starting from tomorrow. Problem is, this money will be spent too fast if I think about it. I don¡¯t feel bad about money actually, the problem for mages are resources and money can solve that, and the next problem will face me is going to be the price of learning in the College of Winterhold. This is no game as I said, this is real life, the college charges money for every word one learns, the spells of the Expert level unlike the game are actually priceless, let alone the Master level spells that are considered secrets of the craft, with the forbidden spells and the original spells that mages created. All these problems need a lot of money. Nurina is rich and all but I can¡¯t ask more from her, I am a grown person who needs to survive on his own, so the earnings from the tournament is a grand chance for me. I have few ns of how to make a business and make it grow to support myself but most of these ideas are rough ns that depend on luck and fate. After speaking of this and that with Captain Aldis, I started to feel sorry of how many lies I am telling this good man so I took my leave and headed back to the inn, drinking it over and heading to bed is the best solution. As I reached the ¡¯Winking Skeever¡¯ I found no one on the first floor, seems like they all went to bed. Lisette was gathering her stuff and she seemed to be going to bed too. As I greeted her, she was looking at me and smiling as if she wanted to ask about something. I didn¡¯t really want to turn a beauty down so I sat and invited her for a drink, she sat happily and started talking about the Bards¡¯ College and how she is having a hard time there. She also was interested in the songs Svidi sings, as it seems that Svidi told her I wrote these songs. So that how it is! She wanted to learn some of these songs, but I am not getting out of this empty handed, hehe! "I have some songs I newly wrote, they are in my room." I said while drinking. "Oh! I would certainly love to get a look at them but..." She was taken aback as I made my condition ¡¯want songs,e to take them yourself¡¯. "It¡¯s a good song about warriors and all that stuff you bards love!" I said, now the offer is better. "Ehem! Is it okay?" She said, she knew she was being pulled into something. "This is myst night in the inn anyway, I¡¯ll leave tomorrow on a ship after thest round, so I would like to get some rest." I said, I was already putting down the tankard. "Ah! About the song!" She said. "You are wee anytime." I said. I went directly to my room, as I entered, I hid the stuff on me back in the chest and wore thefiest thing I have. After a few minutes, I heard soft knocks on the door, I wasn¡¯t in a hurry and pretended not to hear until it was knocked again. "Coming! Oh! What a pleasant surprise!" I said as I saw Lisette behind the door, "Come in!" I invited her in and she walked in slowly, and with one finger I closed the door. "Have a seat, I¡¯ll bring you a drink." I said while pointing at a chair and picking a wine bottle, mead won¡¯t do this time. "Mhm!" Lisette nodded while making a pitiful face, please don¡¯t make me feel like a bad guy. I put a goblet in front of her and poured some wine then went back and brought out a journal. "Here! These are some of the best stuff I wrote." I said and put the journal in front of her, "Have fun!" After I said that I went and sat cross-legged on the bed then closed my eyes. "Did Ie at a bad time perhaps?" Lisette asked nervously. "Not at all, I am just preparing the joystick." I said opening half an eye. "Th, th, the ¡¯what¡¯ stick?" She started stuttering with words and look frightened. "The joystick." I said, "It¡¯s a very delicate state of mind!" [A/N: A known meme in the game, know as fishy-stick.] "Oh! Right!" Lisette said while looking back at the journal. She started to ask me questions about the songs and we drank for some time, still, it¡¯s a mystery how she was sitting on the bed next to me right now. I looked at the girl who sat beside me on the bed, she was an angelic beauty no matter how I think about it. She smelled so nice! I think she bought that perfume from Angeline¡¯s Aromatics, Bretons know their stuff after all. She had a small build and a lively atmosphere that makes you wants to pat her head and see her smile, she was smiling right now when she was sitting next to me, I think I made a good job writing those songs after all. We sat side to side and held the journal between us, I stole few looks at her by going backward and gaining some height over her, the feeling she gives when I look at her that close is so intoxicating. She has a blonde wavy long hair as if strands of gold going down to her neck and on her shoulders, her skin was fair white like that of nords. Her eyes were grey throw theycked of color unlike the natives of thisnd, her eyes were still big and beautiful. Why am I speaking about her eyes now? Wasn¡¯t I sneaking peeks at her? Seriously! She caught me while I was intoxicated with her beauty, What a trap I walked in! Was it her beauty or the wine that trapped me I wonder? I don¡¯t care, I¡¯ll just throw that goblet away now. And I did just that. Oh! It was already empty, worthless empty goblet. Back to the beauty in hand, She was still looking at me eye to eye, yet she also woke up and started looking away. No! Not now! Not just yet! "I am not done!" I said as I touched her chin with a finger and returned her face to face mine. "I still want more." Yet she was moving her eyes to the side, No! I can¡¯t take it anymore, I want more from these eyes, there is a song that I haven¡¯t read written within, I can¡¯t take my eyes of hers just yet. She still held the journal front of herself, fine then, no journal for the naughty. I took that journal from her, I took it, and put it in my clothes, now she gazed her eyes to mine, yes, more, let me see them more. "The journal, I still want to read it." She said, she looked to where I hid them and her eyes teared, now now, these eyes tell a different song when her emotions change. "Why don¡¯t you take it out?" I said as I approached her, now she is in my trap, she is between my arms, she is not moving away. I want more of that, why is she different. I think I can¡¯t push her like this, I need to guide her, yes, guide her, she seems not knowing what to do now. I held her forearms and pulled her closer, then I loosened my robe just a bit, I got closer to her face and held her hand, then put it on me. "See, it¡¯s just there, why don¡¯t you take it." I said, "If you don¡¯t take it, I will take you." She was breathing heavily with her body getting hotter and hotter and she looked down, now now, don¡¯t look down, I raised her face to look at mine, she has submitted to much, I have no experience with a girl like her, the ones I knew were really bold and took the initiative for every move. I got my face closer to her, I could feel her warm breathing on my skin, I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Now I had to kiss her, and so I did, I kissed her on her lips lightly and she was not resisting. I had to hold her body from the waist now, she giving in and I was allowed to pleasure her as I want. I moved her on my hips and body stuck to mine, here temperature was so warm in this cold weather, I had to kiss her, again to fill my intoxication level once again. Now I am drunk in her vividness and beauty, I started telling her how to respond and kiss back, she was reacting sometimes andgging the other times, she clearly was a virgin. As we felt hotter our clothes started feeling like a blockage of fibers, we had to get rid of that and free ourselves. She was reluctant at first but I took her clothes away anyway, she looked so beautiful in her as she was naked, her breasts were smaller than that of the bathhouse girls yet the were round and full, they felt so good as I touched them as her body started twitching. When I touched her nibbles I could hear her moan, she was perfect, so perfect I felt like I was cheated when I went to the bathhouse, these sounds she made were of a true pleasure. I was going crazy from hearing her, I started using my mouth around to y with these goodies. She was pretty much heated up now, there were few underwears that separated us from the real pleasure. As I moved my hands to remove them from her she held into them, I could see her face looking hesitant, I understood her. I moved myself toy beside her and our bodies touched each other, I went to her face and kissed her cheeks and told her sweet words while fighting with our hands downstairs. "Don¡¯t worry! It won¡¯t be bad." I said that to her. "Please go easy!" She said in a very hot voice. How could I disobey her like this, I took her on me and slowly removed thest bit of clothes on us. Now I could see everything I want to see. I needed to make it easy on her so made ¡¯little Jon¡¯ touch with her hot over downstairs. Doing that the only best way to heat her up is to rub our bodies together, If we don¡¯t we may catch cold or something. I didn¡¯t waste any time as I took her and covered ourselves with the nket, I took her lips with mine and entered in a hot hug as our lower haves were heating each other. We moved between each others lips and necks exchanging all sort of sweet words, she started to react more finally, she was doing great. And here ites, I was nning for this, I fixed our position and pinned her down saying, "Ready or not, here Ie." She clothes her eyes and readied herself, ¡¯little Jon¡¯ invaded her over with vigor. This was so damn tight, so tight that I felt crazy from this tightness, this was the best tightness I ever felt. As I took it out, there was a small amount of blood, wiping it away, we continued like crazy. She appeared to be in pain at first but now, now she held me with her legs and didn¡¯t want to let go. Even when her tight oven spewed it¡¯sve out, she barely let me out before she would scream on my and pull me back in again. The amount of kissing and fluids that we made that day was amazing, she even didn¡¯t let me do it outside, I was worried but she insisted to take it all in. This was the best time I ever had in two life-times, can there be anything better than this? I didn¡¯t drink a potion this time, that girl would be done for if I did drink one, it needed a level of strength to take on someone with that amount of vigor, the after effect of the potion that was reflected on the size was great, as we pleased ourselves to the best of our ability. After a while weid down beside each other, I was sleeping on my back and she slept on her front borrowing the half of me to rest on. She took my right arm and hugged it with her body, I couldn¡¯t help but smile and yed with her hair, we exchanged few kisses and she directly went to sleep. I looked at her and closed my eyes, next thing I know was light of daying from the window. This light of morning is annoying, tch! I also feel something heavy, why is it heavy... Ah! How did this happen? I don¡¯t remember how did this happen! She is sleeping! Lisette is sleeping! And she is...!! SWEET BABY TALOS! Why is she naked? Why do I feel like I am missing an arm? No, she is just hugging it and it turned numb. Let¡¯s try to retrieve it! Yes, please I¡¯ll be needing that, move up a bit, thank you. This lucky arm of mine spent the night being hugged alone, the rest of my body is feeling envious now! No no no! Focus! This is not the problem now! I don¡¯t remember what happened and I think she will not remember either, it will be a pain if she freaked out. Under sunlight that came from the window, this girl appeared so vividly beautiful, her tinum hair and soft skin lying beside me can turn me crazy but the hangover was keeping me in check. I think I still have some of that hangover remedy potion somewhere. Fetching it from the end table, I drained it in one go. While clearing up my mind I started thinking about this and that, my life turned into that of a secret agenttely. I mean, I nted explosives in the castle then went and slept with a beauty, how nice! Judging by the angle of the sun, I woke up early as my biological clock is urate as ever, even though I slept for only three hours, I am wide awake now. After sobering up, I looked back at the sleeping beauty behind me to find her eyes open and were looking at me silently. I was about to freak out but she didn¡¯t seem to be shocked or anything, she just stared at me. "Good morning." I said while smiling. "Good morning." She said then she sat next to me. We were both naked and I felt a bit awkward. As I was about to say something she took my arm again and hugged it the same way she was doing when she was asleep. "Just as you said, it wasn¡¯t that bad." She said. "I did?" I was wondering what she said. "You don¡¯t remember?" She looked at me strangely, then she leaned her head on my arm and closed her eyes "It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t, you were drunk so I don¡¯t think you were lying?" "Did I say anything weird, embarrassing or crazy?" I asked, seriously now, how did I get this drunk? "Nothing out of the ordinary for a drunk Nord, just dragons, dragons, and more dragons." She said andughed. Dammit! I brought up dragons again. We stayed like this for a while as I couldn¡¯t resist the urge to y with her hair, doing that made me remember some of what happenedst night. "I¡¯ll leave the room to you if you want to sleep more, I¡¯ll go get ready for thest match now." I said as I separated myself, from her. "Beat them up, Dragonborn!" Lisette said and giggled, as she went back to sleep. Seriously now, how much nonsense did I sayst night? Chapter 38 Spies! [A/N: 1st Person POV] I went down to eat breakfast, I somewhat felt some presences downstairs so I could already guess that some people woke up! Judging by habit, Wulfur and Svidi would wake up before me. Back in the orphanage, our sleeping schedule was made by Nurina and no one could break it, so it became a habit. Wulfur was eating breakfast alone, I joined him and ordered something. "I went to your room for some hangover remedy." He said. Dammit now! "I think I was still drunk and I saw things that shouldn¡¯t be there." He continued. Let¡¯s ignore that guy. "You just can¡¯t keep it inside your pants can you?" He was still speaking. "Fine, here, a hangover remedy." I gave him all the potion left. "Now I forgot everything this morning, everything is hazy." He said. When did this guy be so shameless? Eating together for a while, the rest came walking like zombies and holding their heads fromst night¡¯s rave, you guys deserve it. "A courier for Jon Dare." I could hear someone calling. Strange! this is my first time receiving a courier. I went to the voice direction at the entrance of the inn to see who called, a person stood there and appeared to be a courier. Couriers are people who deliver messages to other people, in Skyrim there is a -post office-like- system that works under every jarl, people hire them formunication purposes and sending messages around all holds, couriers also appeared in the game on many asions. "I am Jon." I said as I faced the young man. "Oh! I have been looking for. Got something I am supposed to deliver. Your hands only!" Said the courier, "Let¡¯s see here. Ah! A letter, send by Nurina from Winterhold, to Jon Dare in the ¡¯Winking Skeever¡¯." As the young man was speaking, I startedgging, but Igged once again. Firstg, this courier just now said the same words courier say in the game, the exact same words when couriers deliver something, I just didn¡¯t know how to feel for a second, should I be happy that something is the same from the game or should I just freak out from the simrity, this was mortifying. The second thing is, Nurina sent a message, and she used a courier! Normally she uses the ¡¯Thieves¡¯ Guild¡¯ to do hermunications but she used a courier, strange! I thanked the man and gave him a few copper septims, then went back to my seat. Wulfur and Svidi were curious about who might send me a letter, we basically are a bunch of kids who just left the orphanage. "It¡¯s from Nurina." I said with a grin, "Seems like even she couldn¡¯t help but miss this handsome young man." I was buffing my chest, yet Wulfur and Svidi were looking at me with disdain. "He truly is headmistress¡¯spdog." Svidi said and Wulfur startedughing. I gained many nicknames over the years from always being around Nurina, thepdog, the minion, the thrall. And these aren¡¯t the worst names I got, god knows what Grelod used to call me behind my back. I was finished with opening the letter not enduring to wait any longer, hehe! Let¡¯s see what Nurina have for me! ¡¯Jon, Our friends in Winterhold has no business here so I am not able to make any use of them, I forgot to buy some stuff from Riften, as Winterhold is no better than wastnd now, Buy these stuff for me; -... -... -... .... ... .. . -Nurina.¡¯ Okaaaaay! Where is the rest of this letter? There got to be another letter, right? "What is that? A shopping list!" Svidi who sneaked behind me snatched the letter from my hands yet I didn¡¯t respond. I was overwhelmed with embarrassment now! Svidi startedughing like a pirate and gave the letter to Wulfur whoughed too. Guys! You can¡¯t do that to big bro, you know! "She really did it this time!" Svidi started tearing fromughter. "No one can make that guy know his ce like her!" Wulfur also became my enemy. I was so down right now! I thought she might say something good! It has been a month, you know! This is the longest time we were separated, you know! "Elves!" I said to myself, these guys have no concept of time at all. Some Altmer in the inn started eyeing me after I said that. "Ehem!" I noticed, "Dark Ones." and corrected myself. They got back to their business. "Sigh! Svidi! Can you help me with shopping?" I said. "Mhm!" Svidi nodded, well! She made fun of me so at least she has to apologize. But that¡¯s is strange! Winterhold is a major settlement in the game, even if it¡¯s in deep decline, I am sure they have some thieves or anything around, and the college also must be bringing business. For Nurina to send a courier and ask me to buy these stuff sure make me question the situation in Winterhold. "Enough deep thinking now." Wulfur said, "Make sure you don¡¯t eat too much! You have a big match this time big boy!" Why is he talking like a gym coach? I am sure I talk like that with him when I want to buff his morale. Is he worried and trying to buff my morales after Nurina¡¯s blow? What a good friend! Fine! I am back to normal anyway! After all, I have been dealing with Nurina¡¯s clumsiness for years till now. "Is there any news about who is going to bail out from thest match?" I asked Wulfur. He looked at me and smiled, "Aside from team ¡¯ck Snow¡¯ which ¡¯tragically¡¯ lost a team member, and team ¡¯Blood Hand¡¯ that was discovered to be in rtions with Assassins, there are only two teams that won¡¯t be participating." Wulfur said as he did some research, "The first team is ¡¯Swift des¡¯ from Riften as they seemed to be not interested, the second team is ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯ as you have already crippled most of their members." ¡¯Swift des¡¯ not entering is for sure, these guys are ¡¯Thieves Guild¡¯, their job was to get close to the participants and gather information about them, the guild also dealt with informations. As for ¡¯Wolf Fangs¡¯ then that was my doing. "So basically today is me against twenty seven others, haha! I can see myself winning already." I said, this was a true madness, I don¡¯t want to take part in that madness. Whatever! I finished eating and went to my room to dress. Lisette was still here, she was dressing and ready to go. "So, will I see you after the match?" I asked. "No, I will be at the college afterward." She said, "Don¡¯t worry, I will do fine until you decide to visit." She got close to me on her own so I kissed her in return and held her hands, yet I could see some sadness in her eyes, she was hesitating for some reason. "Are you alright?" I couldn¡¯t help but ask. "I am fine!" She said and made a cheerful face, "I¡¯ll be on my way now." She said her farewells and left the room. Something didn¡¯t feel right, yet maybe she is sad or something, I hope my rash actions don¡¯t cause her harm. ************************* [3rd Person POV.] Behind the inn, Lisette went out from the back door, she looked sad yet it was no sadness of separation, she felt a lot of guilt too. After all, she was after him for a purpose, not a good song or what people would think an ambitious bard would go after. She was after him for he was her target. Her mentor brought her into a fine bard for other reasons than just being a bard, this person had other ns for Jon and she was just the mean to pry on him. Yet she has never thought that she would romance Jon for a full night, he was just someone she needed to get close to and take what she wants, yet he overwhelmed her will as she felt no power but to be yed by him. Even after that night, he wasn¡¯t just after her body, he was also interested in her. He even saw through her mood and asked if she was alright, he also wasn¡¯t dishonest with her, she knew liars as of course, she was one. "Forgive me!" She couldn¡¯t help but mumble to herself. "For what?" A voice sounded, it came from her side. Lisette¡¯s face turned yellow from the shock and she jumped back from the fright, this voice was so sudden. As she could take a good look at who was speaking, her expressions calmed down and could breathe. "Nothing mentor." She could turn her expressions back to normal with no problem, as a bard, she knew who to act and perform too, only thing is, she felt more depressed than before. Front of her was her mentor. A man she respected ever since she was a girl, and also the only person worthy of her respects in the Bards¡¯ College. It was the headmaster of the college, the Altmer (High Elf), Viarmo. The same Viarmo who does thementary for the tournaments and the big events. She dreamt to be someone like this man, therefore she joined the college and endured how much rivalry and bad mouthing happened between the young bards in the college. Yet one day, she found out that the person she always admired was not just a bard, he was something more, he had his own secrets like any other person yet this time, this man didn¡¯t only just hide secrets, he also dealt with secrets. He was what people could call ¡¯A Secrets Merchant¡¯. Someone who knows what others want to know and sells it for the buyer that would bring most benefit. This was what this man recruited her into, and what he also recruited many other bards all over Skyrim, as bards were everywhere, in every inn, pce and sometimes, in the influential people homes. This mentor was the owner of the biggest secrets trading business that even the empire was working hard to establish a stable contact with him. Viarmo, the master of all the spies in Skyrim, was standing in front of her waiting for her results. "What did you know about the boy, Lisette?" Viarmo asked. Lisette who was in a storm of feelings started collecting her thoughts while thinking of how was she betraying Jon. "I, I talked with him." She said meekly. "And?" Viarmo replied with patience. "He was not much different than what he shows to people." She said, "Or at least that what I thought at first." She took a breath and continued, "He is an alchemist, a good alchemist too, I could smell many fragrant herbs and alchemical ingredients in his room." She said, " He also sometimes sneaks out at night but I couldn¡¯t tell where he goes to." Viarmo nodded and asked, "What about his Thu¡¯um? That power of the Voice?" "I couldn¡¯t learn anything, no one knows, not even his friends, but aside from obsessions with dragons, he had some books I could copy their titles in this note." She said as she handed out a note to him. "Hmmm!" Viarmo thought while taking her note, "These are all mysterious book of magic, mostly in the ¡¯Old Ways¡¯, interesting." He said, "Tell me, how did you get into his room?" Lisettegged for a bit, that answer was not easy to say. "Didn¡¯t I tell you not to sneak behind closed doors." Viarmo said, but he was not angry, he was smiling kindly though, "We are not thieves my girl." "I didn¡¯t sneak." The girl said, "I was invited in..." and halted. "Hmm..." Viramo thought and said, "So you slept with him?" Lisette¡¯s face turned red from shame. Viarmoughed softly and looked at the short girl in front of him then his tone turned serious, "Did he harm you?" Lisette shook her head hastily, she was already ashamed of what she did with and to Jon, her conscience didn¡¯t stand anymore harm to him. "I see..." Viarmo rubbed his chin and nodded. "Listen, Lisette, I know what you are thinking." He said, "This is your first real job, and for most of us we sometimes have to mix between personal life and business." Lisette looked down and didn¡¯t talk. "He is a youth that all the powers willing to curry favor with him, he won¡¯t be harmed by that much." Viarmo said and patted on Lisette¡¯s head. Suddenly cheers could be heard from the inn, it seems that participants started heading out to the arena. "I will go now." Viarmo said and left Lisette behind. She just stood there without lifting her head up. Chapter 39 Battle Royale All the twenty-eight participants were in the arena, listening to the rules of the match said by Viarmo on his tform. The rules were simple; first, the weapon used will be dulled and presented by the arena, second; the spells used must not exceed the apprentice level spells, third; don¡¯t use a special power like the Thu¡¯um for example. And one can be considered out of the match as long as he/she was thrown out of the arena and their feet touched the ground, even if he/she lost consciousness and woke up again, they can continue fighting as long as they were in. Vitors will not be rewarded and will be kicked out. These rules were for the safety of the participants, the arena was also surrounded by a lot of healers just in case. This year¡¯s tournament has many good seedlings and the none of the big shots wanted to lose any of them in a meaningless fight. As everyone choose their weapons from the weapons presented by the arena, the only ones who didn¡¯t move to choose weapons were Rusning and Jon, many foresaw this and it wasn¡¯t strange, Rusning was a mage and even though he wasn¡¯t bad with weapons, he wouldn¡¯t go out of his way to use them. Jon, on the other hand, was going to be a headache even if he didn¡¯t use a weapon, he can use barehanded martial art that no one can predict its movements and he can use magic, he wasn¡¯t going out of his ways either. Some of the participants, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t find the weapons they fancy and had to use the best ones avable they can use. After a minute or two, the twenty-eight were on the arena looking at each other with silence, even friends distanced themselves from each other, this was going to be bloody and they were getting ready for it. Unlike Jon and Rusning who just finished the team duels yesterday, the other teams were already getting ready for this event for days. Most of them were already having strategies to deal with the strong yers, even though it is shameful in this match, some alliances were made between many participants. The judge surveyed the arena and the yers, as he made sure everything was in ce and no one has smuggled a sharp weapon in, he could signal that all was ready. In the VIP area, High King Torygg saw that the people around the arena can wait no more and were jumping around like a bunch of baboons so he ordered to haste things up. In the arena, Jon was being targeted by many participants now, he was known to be the ultimate victor even if he didn¡¯t do well in this match, his overall score was just that good and this round in the tournament didn¡¯t mean much in the score as the point of it was to prove one¡¯s bravery by facing many opponents at once. As Viarmo announced the start of the round, Jon¡¯s right foot was already in someone¡¯s face, most of the opponents would take time to look at each other and intimidate one another but Jon was going hot on heels and started kicking people. Sooner than the anticipated wait, everyone started fighting and it turned hectic very soon, this was Jon¡¯s doing. The situation was getting out of hand very quickly, Jon wanted to end the match quickly as he was already on a schedule and wanted to make spare time to perfect his uing n. He moved between the opponent and started kicking and punching while avoiding most of the hits, that caused him to pull the aggro of many participants and he was being chased by Ongeim Scar-Mouth and three other goons. As he saw that, he activated the ¡¯Longstride¡¯ spell and his body was enveloped in green light and started to run like mad. His speed was doubled due to the spell and shook of who came after him, he was not out of the woods yet as Rusning noticed him and started throwing ¡¯Firebolts¡¯ at him. As Jon could locate him, he fired back some ¡¯Firebolts¡¯ himself and positioned himself away from Rusning. This move changed the scenario of the match as Rusning and Jon were on the sides while everyone was caught in the crossfire between them, some participants started falling after this. The casting speed of the two mages was high and their Magicka regeneration was not that bad, as they were dressed in enchanted gear. On another side of the arena, Vilkas and Farkas were fighting back to back, they were brothers so that was expected of them. Another side has Lydia facing Argir alone and no one disturbed their showdown, yet they were avoiding the ¡¯Firebolts¡¯ that were thrown at them from time to time. Ralof was still using his charging attacks on people and pushed many of them out, Ongeim was getting cornered by three opponents on his own but he was fending them off well as he found two axes that suited his style. The match was going well for these eight, after a few minutes the crowd was cheering like crazy and all sort of bets were made. As most of the participants were out of the arena, the remaining ones were the eight that was mentioned earlier. Farkas and Vilkas picked on Jon, Lydia and Argir were still fighting and it was not going anywhere, Ralof and Ongeim were having some sort of marathonpetition against each other as it looked like they were running more than fighting, Rusning, however, was thinning his own presence to regain his breath and some of his Magicka. Jon was having a hard time against the two brothers, he never faced Vilkas before but it seemed he was a very cunning opponent as he seemed to have analysed all of Jon¡¯s move and was fairing good against him, he even used his brother as a meat-shield sometimes as Farkas was much physically superior to Vilkas. Jon had to be more creative with these two, he tried so many times but one always avoided as the other attacked. Chances came and went, and even Jon who was cornered at the side of the arena could finally see one, his main goal was to take Vilkas down and Farkas would be less threat, Farkas was retreating with a big step and Jon didn¡¯t let that opportunity go. He jumped and stomped at Farkas¡¯s hip with a foot and the othernded on his face, just as Vilkas was advancing to save his brother, Jon used the kick on Farkas¡¯s face as a footing, and his other leg kicked at Vilkas¡¯s head. Vilkas took the hit perfectly and his head wasunched taking the rest of his body out of the arena, the people cheered after they saw that. Jon who was stillnding had no way to control his body now and it seemed that Farkas has taken advantage of the situation and kicked a straight kick at Jon. Jon was still cornered at the side of the arena and that kickunched him out of the arena. Disappointed as they were, the people didn¡¯t want to see Jon out of the arena that early, but their disappointment didn¡¯tst long either as they saw the way Jonnded outside the arena. The rules were; if someone went out of the arena and his feet touched the ground that would mean he is out of the match. Yet when Jonnded out he tried his best to keep his legs up in the air and stood on his hands. This made a lot of people to stand up and cheer, a creative way is a creative way no matter how many people said about it. As Farkas saw this, he knew that Jon would try to return to the arena on his hands, this made him smile and center himself at the way of Jon on the edge of the arena to prevent Jon from going back. Just as he was doing that, a ¡¯Firebolt¡¯ flew towards him from the back and he waspletely open and unprepared for it, he staggered out of the arena and looked back, Rusning was smiling and shrugging his shoulders. Rusning wasn¡¯t saving Jon, he was aiming for him too and just as he pushed Farkas out, he fired a barrage of ¡¯Firebolts¡¯ again at Jon. Jon who was on his hand cursed and tried to dodge, he was lucky Rusning was far so his aim was a bit off, yet Rusning was getting nearer. Jon pushed with his hands as much as he could and couldnd his feet in the arena but Rusning was closer now and his casting rate reached its apex, Jon was dodging left and right before even standing yet. The people started pping when Jonnded his feet on the arena. As he was doing that, he spotted a shield on the ground and jumped to take it. Jon wasn¡¯t going to use the shield to guard himself, as he held it he rotated his body and threw the shield at Rusning like a frisbee. Rusning was shocked and tried to make a ¡¯Matrix Dodge¡¯ yet he fell on his butt, the shield flew and hit the head of the unlucky Ongeim who was fighting Ralof behind Rusning. The shield made a perfect hit on the back of Ongeim¡¯s neck which made him ck out, Ralof took the chance and carried Ongeim then ran towards the side of the arena to throw him out, suddenly the power returned back to Ongeim and he clenched on Ralof when he was falling pulling him with him. The two went outside the arena together. Jon wasn¡¯t even looking at them as he jumped on Rusning and knocked him out, throwing him outside the arena and looking back to see who was left. To no surprise, Argir has just defeated Lydia and kicked her out of the arena, now the only two remained were Jon and Argir. The crowd was hyped after thest two faced each other, Jon and Argir were not smiling however, they were tired and out of breath by now. Argir didn¡¯t wait for Jon to catch his breath and attacked, sh sh stab, Jon who was not armed could only dodge these fast attacks. Argir kept draining himself and attacked faster, he could injure Jon few times, Jon was counter-attacking with ¡¯Lightning Bolt¡¯ spells on close range but his aim was off due to the fast attacks of Argir. Finally, Argir made a mistake and stabbed slower than his usual as his body also leaned more forward, Jon took the chance and attacked Argir hand with his own hand, kicked him in his unguarded area in his armor, headlocked him and performed a ¡¯Drape Drop Takedown¡¯ (DDT). Argir who was already out of breath didn¡¯tst after thisbo and went to dreand. Jon, however, was panting for breath beside the fallen Argir and barely stood up after it while the crowd was cheering. He pulled Argir and pushed him out the arena then sat on it breathing hard. Viarmo stood up from his chair and announced the winner as ¡¯Jon of the White Wolves¡¯. Wulfur and Battle-Born ran down from the crowd and ran to Jon holding him up and bringing the potions to him. All the healers started taking care of the after match first aid, lucky enough, no one died this year. The VIPs starteding down to the arena after the participants were fixed up and stood behind High King Torygg. The participants were brought and few words of encouragement were said, they were all going to be rewarded as it seemed, of course, nothing close to the reward of the victor. A grand party will be held to celebrate the tournament and hand the rewards right after this. ************************* [A/N: The chapter is meh :/ I know, I am a bit out of ideas for this chapter anyway.] [A/N: Vote news! Torygg¡¯s Survival vote: (30 vote to save) (16 not save) The vote will remain until the story reaches it. --------------------------- Renaming The Novel Vote:- Skyrim: Origins of the Dragonborn (3 Votes) Skyrim: Origins of the Lost (13 Vote) Skyrim: Dragonborn Within (28 Vote) Thest day of the vote is tomorrow.] Chapter 40 Meet Your Crazy Uncle [A/N: Bonus Chapter Everybody!!! 3/3 this week thank goodness.] *************************** That was hairy! I swear I won¡¯t participate in this madness ever again, that¡¯s it, I am done, don¡¯t call me up when this happens again. Why would they make a meaningless match like that? Will it be alright if anyone went to Sovngarde this young? Nords! All they care about is music, fighting and mead. These people need to learn how to chill. They actually do chill, like that! We were now invited to a banquet in the garden of the Blue Pce and it¡¯s all mead and bards. After the fight we were told toe to the Blue Pce like this, we could get healing in the arena but the food and mead will be presented in the pce. Won¡¯t we need to dress or anything? I asked but Argir shook his head and said, "When Nords die, they go to Sovngarde with the gear they died with, what is more honorable than being in your battle gear." He said. "I never took you for the hardcore Nord and Sovngarde type!" I looked at Argir and said, this guy didn¡¯t give that vibe at all. "The traditions are deep in Solitude, even though we are not like Windhelm, we are the capital and we have to be more careful with the traditions." He said, buffing his chest while holding his head. "How is your head by the way?" I asked while grinning. "I don¡¯t know. That move of yours made my head feel like being hit by a giant." He said. This guy is having his hard time after the ¡¯DDT¡¯ he took, let¡¯s leave him for now. I walked away from Argir and joined with Rusning and his team. "When will we be leaving?" I asked. "Didn¡¯t the servants take your stuff already? We will set sail at first light." He said, "But we will spend the night in the ship." Hmmm! Good time n, suits my other n. "Did you get a good ce like I asked?" I asked. "The ship is mostly empty. You can have as many ces as you want. But who will being with you?" He asked. Ah! I didn¡¯t think of cover to that. "Hmm, my servant." I thought fast and said while moving my face away. Rusning was taken aback but didn¡¯t say anything. On the side of that team, Faralda was making a grumpy face. I asked Rusning what¡¯s wrong with her. "She said that too many Nords in one ce gives her headache." Rusning said. "That¡¯s racist!" I retorted. High Elves are normally like that so all that Rusning could do was just to smile wryly. Never mind that now, food was one of the most important things I came here for. In the garden, there were many tables under sheds and a lot of food was served on them. I ate my fill from the venison meat, It was cooked really well and it was everywhere, how many deer did these guys kill? Some of the tes had mammoth steak, this thing was hard but it was very delicious too, back in my old world there were no mammoths, I couldn¡¯t help but think that I am the first Egyptian ever to eat a mammoth. All in all, the Nordic cuisine was not that fancy, yet it had many dishes that focused on resisting the cold and being healthy. I didn¡¯t do any otherworldly cuisine even though I recreated some food. Still, I couldn¡¯t make any progress. I was researching how to make noodles and also was looking around for rice, I heard that there is rice in Cyrodiil but sadly, Skyrim doesn¡¯t import it. Thinking about food this and food that, a servant came and told me that I was requested toe to the big table in the shade of the castle. There were fewer people there, these guys were the jarls and the other big shots from the VIP as well as Eorlund Grey-Mane and other representatives of the ns all over Skyrim. I went there and heard someone saying "Here hees, haha!" It was High King Torygg, he was smiling at me and calling for me toe. People started gathering and the area became quite, Torygg stood up "This tournament was an exciting one, and we could see many young heroes and know their names, the one shone brighter however, was the victor." "The fights this year between the junior warriors opened the eyes of many people to many things......." Torygg kept saying to many stuff that I didn¡¯t care about until he reached the end, "... After saying all that I hope I didn¡¯t make your heads heavier, now let¡¯s give these guys their rewards." As he said that, some servants brought up small and big chests. The first few participants were rewarded ording to their achievements. After some time, my turn came and I stepped forward followed by my team, Wulfur and Battle-Born who were dressed well and all. As we were in front of the king and jarls, Five weapons were put in front of me. "You and your team may choose a weapon each!" An old man stood next to a table that has five weapons on it said that. There was a saber, a bastard sword, an axe, a mace, and a warhammer, they somehow looked like the weapons from the game yet the design was different, these were the designs of ¡¯aMidianBorn wolf armor and skyforge weapons¡¯ mod, pretty impressive in real life. I was the first to pick, but when I looked at Wulfur I could read his mind, so I picked the saber, that choice of mine made some people surprised. I wanted the saber for a few reasons. First, I was going to use more magic from now on and I wanted a weapon that suits the use of one hand more than just a bastard sword that will need more force to control. The second reason was Wulfur, I could feel he wanted the warhammer, he always used warhammers better than me anyway, my only interest in big weapons came from my interest in fighting big opponents in the future, yet I thought that I don¡¯t need to concern myself with that now. Wulfur looked at me surprised by my choice, I looked at him and said "What?" "Didn¡¯t you always want a Skyforge Warhammer?" He asked. I looked at him strangely to continue my act then smiled, "Forged by you, brother." And said that. "Besides that, the one I have right now is pretty good." I looked away after that but I was pretty sure he was looking at me and thinking that I am an Idiot. Nevermind that now, after I chose the saber, Battle-Born went ahead and took the sword. "Young Jon, so you finally took the de you wanted." The old man who stood behind the weapons said. "Aye, Uncle Eorlund, I am a man of my word and I said I will own a Skyforge sword once." Battle-Born grinned and said, "I will finish studying at the college for two years and I will being home. You know what for." "Haha! Let¡¯s see if will are a man of your word that time." The old man who appeared to be Eorlund Grey-Maneughed at Jon Battle-Born. As Battle-Born picked the sword and Wulfur picked the Warhammer, we received a paper that carried the seal of the High King. I can cash the reward by this paper from any official treasury in Skyrim. This paper will remain with me and our gainings from the gamblings will go to Wulfur and Svidi, they were almost the same amount. The party continued for some time after that and Faralda sent Rusning to tell me to be ready for leaving. Taking my leave from the big shots who were swarming me, I followed Rusning out. ************* Back at the inn I finished preparing my chest which will be taken with me, it had my clothes and some money as well as my important stuff like the notes and all that, there was much other stuff yet they were stored into crates and were taken to the ship yesterday. Taking the books I left lying around back to the chest and making everything into order, I finally had nothing left in the room. I carried the chest down and handed it to one of the college¡¯s servants that will take it to the ship. On me, was a bag the had some stuff I will be needing this night, this night was the night after all. I was dressed in the ¡¯Casual Clothes¡¯ that I bought from ¡¯Radiant Raiments¡¯ and returned to my casual dandy self. "So, I¡¯ll be seeing you two years from now." I looked at Svidi who started crying, she held her fox with her and looked like a girl who was being abandoned. "Hey, I am feeling like a bad guy now." I patted her head then left out. Wulfur and Battle-Born were outside the inn talking with Rusning and his group, as they saw me getting out of the inn they looked at me. "I¡¯ll be leaving you guys now." I said, "Don¡¯t get into prison likest time I left you." "Bah! Look how shameless he can be! You were the one who left and went to the bathhouse that day." Battle-Born was annoyed. "Hehe! Next time I¡¯ll be seeing you in Whiterun, You should make a grand celebration for your brother¡¯s arrival." I said. "I¡¯ll be making a celebration and all but it will be my wedding." He said with a grin. "And you big man, I¡¯ll see you in a year. But what will you do in that year?" I asked. "The Legion was recruiting cksmiths, I made a deal to work for a year. They pay much better here Riften here." He said. "The Legion huh! Just don¡¯t do anything stupid like getting recruited or anything." I said as I was still skeptical about the future event. "Don¡¯t worry! The workshop is right at the end of the shopping district so I won¡¯t be seeing any action." He said. Aha! So that¡¯s how it is! This cksmith on the other side of the pet shop. I couldn¡¯t help but grin at Wulfur and remind him of the bear he will have to raise. After conversing for a while, Faralda made her appearance and told everyone to hurry up and leave. I said my farewells and went behind the college group. ******************* The dock of Solitude is a big ce and held a lot of ships, I was not amazed as I have seen it before. What amazed me was Skadi¡¯s appearance in the docks, she wasing down from a ship and her red hair was fluttering with the wind which gave her a very cool appearance, another man followed her, he was a giant among men and his long hair was all red and had a big beard. "Ah! Look who it is! Come here young Jon." I, who was following the college people got called by Skadi. "Wel-met Skadi." I said with a in face. "See this man here? This is my eldest brother Njord." She said. "This boy is the one Hilda talked about." The man looked at me with some scary eyes, He was a giant, and true giant among giants would tremble from that look in his eyes. What¡¯s wrong with this guy? Skadi said that¡¯s her brother! Then shouldn¡¯t he be my uncle or anything? He had the same features as me too, Red hair and blue eyes yet his eyes were so damn scary. He raised his left hand, he raised it high. I could see his hand reaching heaven, and now it was falling. The hell is that? Is he nning to kill me? Moreover, shouldn¡¯t my body move in emergencies like these? Why is it not moving? His hand was getting closer, and it was targeting my right shoulder! My poor poor right shoulder. Goodbye! It was good knowing you, right shoulder. I¡¯ll continue this journey without you. His palm fell on my shoulder! Pleasedon¡¯tkillmePleasedon¡¯tkillmePleasedon¡¯tkillmePleasedon¡¯tkillmePleasedon¡¯tkillme!!!!! I could feel my imaginary HP bar being drained like crazy. Yet I was still standing! I endured! "Skinny!" The giant, I mean the man said. "You are therge one." Skadi said. "Besides, he won the tourney, you know." "If a youngster from our n couldn¡¯t win this so-called tournament then the elders will disown them." Njord said, he held tighter on my poor right shoulder. I could already see that, what does that n feed you to grow this big anyway? "Just let him go..." Skadi said and pushed his arm away from me, "Sorry about this Jon. This guy is the one who controls the ships¡¯ business in our n so he is a bit of a pirate, haha!" More like a Poseidon incarnation, Davy Jones will pay tribute to this man if they crossed path. "Fine boy! Will be seeing you in a year! Grow taller a bit if you want to survive the ceremony." Njord said as he left towards the city. "He will be just fine." Skadi red at him, "Don¡¯t worry about him, he is normally like that!" I massaged my shoulder and looked at her and mumbled, "I am more worried about Wulfur now!" Skadi opened her eyes wide and said "Crap!" then she ran in the direction where Njord disappeared. Well! Whatever it is! Good luck Wulfur! I am bailing out from this one. It seems that I have a crazy family in this life. Let¡¯s hope this crazy uncle doesn¡¯t kill Wulfur with a ¡¯Thunder-Pat¡¯. Now, let¡¯s return to reality, we have a night operation now. Chapter 41 Prison Break [A/N: ording to the vote, we changed the name of the Novel from SBTTI Skyrim: But That¡¯s Too Immersive to SDW Skyrim: Dragonborn Within. I hope we didn¡¯t make the wrong decision.] ********************* As I started thinking of tonight¡¯s operation, my mood returned to the way it should be. As I returned to the group of the college after saying hey to Skadi and the newly appeared uncle, Njord. Svadall, one the other three male members of the college¡¯s team started chatting nonstop with me, this guy is too friendly as it seemed. After walking to the end of the docks we arrived at a beautiful ship. How can a ship be beautiful you ask? Well, I don¡¯t know, it just looked very beautiful to me. It was how a ship was supposed to look like, not whatever that sorry excuse of a ship that appeared in the game. These ships were the same models from ¡¯DK¡¯s Realistic and Lore-Friendly Nord Ships¡¯ mod, something you can just only look at and admire. The Nordic ships have their unique appearance as Nords were the best-known sailors in this world, their ships resembled the Viking longboats from my past world with the dragon figurehead that made them stand out. They were also vast and has a very close structure to the ships from the Georgian Era, yet their theme was Nordic. The ship in front of me was called the ¡¯Icicle¡¯, it has a glowing white sail that stood out with the insignia of the college drawn on it. I boarded the ship and got a good cabin under the deck, it has a bed, some simple furniture and my chest that was delivered here, it would be my room for the next few days. I made sure everything in ce and went back to the docks, the ship will sail at first light so I had a lot of time. I headed to the East Empire Company office and made sure that Gulum-Ei is in his ce and was busy. The same could be said for Micalo the barber after checking the bathhouse. I guess I should move now. I headed towards the docks again yet I passed it and passed the bridge. I could detect one around the area except for some weird looking owl, I went to the ce I dug at the end of the sewer tunnel. I hid that ce with bushes and it seemed it was as it is. Now let¡¯s head into Solitude. ************************ As I was walking through the sewer, I cast ¡¯Candlelight¡¯ spell and walked ording to my map. I also started thinking for thest time about my n, as I sneak, I mostly rely on the protection of the ¡¯Shadow Stone¡¯. The ¡¯Shadow Stone¡¯ is one of the 13 standing stones Skyrim, they give their protection to the ones born under their starts. I was raised in the orphanage so I didn¡¯t know which stars I was born under, in another meaning, I was a sad soul who doesn¡¯t have a birthday. Yet I gained the protection of the ¡¯Shadow Stone¡¯. It was a desperate try yet my luck was amazing, the ¡¯Shadow Stone¡¯ is very close to Riften and as one of thirteen stones, I guess I was lucky. This also meant I was born under the stars of the Shadow, which also meant I was born in the month of ¡¯Second Seed¡¯ (May). Brynjolf who took me to the stone that day was very d I was born under the Shadow, he told me it is one of the best stars for both thieves and assassins. ording to the mod ¡¯Andromeda¡¯ that altered the effects of the ¡¯Standing Stones¡¯ in Skyrim, the ¡¯Shadow Stone¡¯ gives two powers; the first was ¡¯Blur¡¯ which adds 20% speed to the inbat and it was a power which I used and abused this power a lot, the second was ¡¯Hide in Shadows¡¯ which makes sneaking much easier under the shade or in darkness. It didn¡¯t end just here, there is another power called ¡¯Shadow Step¡¯, it allows the one under the Shadow¡¯s protection to rush silently at a target within 75 feet without being detected, this power, however, is obtainable after a certain quest. What woke me from my deep thinking was the smell of the sewers that stink, as usual, I was in hurry to go back to the city and open a sewer manhole in the ce I marked on my map. As I got there, the city looked quieter than the time I left, this was the middle of the night after all, and by the position of the moon, one hour was left until dawn. I was under my ck cloak and thankfully, no one would mind my appearance anyway, there were others like me as usual. As I got closer to Castle Dour¡¯s side entrance, I had to walk quietly now, I got away from any light source and started sneaking to the empty marketce. My target was the window, I had prepared a sk of a highly mmable and violent incendiary bomb and started aiming it at a certain window in the castle. Suddenly, the side door of the castle opened, I was afraid to get spotted so I hid behind a barrel. I tried to sneak a peek and see who wasing out of the castle thiste. I couldn¡¯t believe what my eyes saw! Those were Skadi and Njord speaking with Captain Aldis at the gate! What are they doing here? I could barely calm my heart and breath to return to my sneaking mode again. Time passed slowly and they finally got away, I could feel some eyes prying on me though, it was that annoying owl from before standing on some roof above me. I couldn¡¯t afford to alert anyone so I kept myself hidden until I could notice no Magicka reaction with my ¡¯Detect Magicka¡¯ spell. Now, if we excluded that owl, I am totally alone. I prepared the sk again and aimed it to the window, then I used a good amount of power to throw it, itnded in perfectly. The fire grew quickly and some bomb sounds stated so sounding from the castle, the n is going just perfect. Now, let¡¯s run back to the sewer, time is running out. ************************** Back to the sewer, I headed directly to the tunnel under the castle, the smell of smoke finally came from it, this meant all bomb sks had made their effect. Yet that assassin girl was not yet out, dammit! I can go bring her just fine. Taking the corridor to the prison I could hear the sound of people coughing loudly, they won¡¯t die, as long as the fire doesn¡¯t catch them. Some people were shouting about the fire and running everywhere as I could feel them behind the wall, these were the guards I guess. Moving on to the girl¡¯s cell, I could feel her presence, she was not moving though. This damn girl knew what time she had to break the wall in yet she was just lying there? Why am I risking my ass for right now huh? I had to remove the bricks to check on her quietly myself, I could see her lying in the dark. Was she sleeping now of all times? As I removed them brick by brick the fire started to extend and illuminate the room....but, This? Why did this happen? Who did that to her? I told them not to torture her but this? This was a bit unneeded. She is breathing! She looked like a bloody rag but she was still breathing and mumbling something. Dammit! I have to hurry, I must not be seen while I take her out! My hands worked like lightning and I could reopen the hole in the wall quickly and entered the cell. "Hey! Hey! Do you hear me?" I whispered to the girl who opened her right eye widely, the left was blinded a long time ago and was already swollen from torture now. "Please..." That was all she said. She was in no shape to move, I can carry her slowly on my back and move her through the hole. I closed the hole faster than I opened it and carried the girl on my back then ran to the corridor again. From it to the sewers, I now could cast ¡¯Candlelight¡¯ to see how much the girl was hurt. This was bad! Really bad! I brought some potions just in case but this was hard to control now. "Kill me..." She mumbled. I can only ignore her now. "Th, the, the man..." She was still mumbling but I was not in the right mood to listen to her, "He made me *cough* made me talk." "I don¡¯t care now, just drink this." I brought a watered stamina potion to her mouth and sipped it slowly. I cast ¡¯Healing Hands¡¯ one her, she was responding to the treatment as her breathing started to be faster. After that, I poured a health potion on her wounds, this was effective but a bit painful, it supported the spell I was casting. Turning to my bag I took out your most in ¡¯ck Robe¡¯ from the games with some shoes and a hood scarf, she was not moving anytime soon so I was going to do the dressing. Bounding a dagger with magic, I started cutting the rags on her, surprisingly, she hid the journal of hers into her clothes so I stored it away. Anyway, she was stark naked right now but who cares, I could use these rags as bandages and dressed her in the clothes I brought up. The girl started to look healthier than before, and as I helped her up, she stood to lean on me. "Please kill me!" She said, "I told them everything I know." "What exactly did you tell?" I asked while taking her from this ce. "I told them everything..." And she started speaking about what happened. Apparently, Njord and Skadi were just giving her a visit. Njord made her talk about everything she knew, from who ordered the hit on me and everything else, she didn¡¯t know much about the core members in the brotherhood so she told him about the hideout in Solitude. This girl was now considered a traitor to the brotherhood and in their creed, she must be killed. I don¡¯t care about any of that now. I could reach the end of the tunnel and carried the girl on my back and ran to the ship. Yet seriously now, how many owls in this night must I deal with, this is so unlucky dammit. [A/N: Owls are a sign of bad omen to most Egyptians.] ********************** Away from Jon who was carrying Mabia and running to the docks, Njord and Skadi were running back to see why was there fire in the castle. Captain Aldis went out and told them that there were fire and the assassin girl escaped, they didn¡¯t appear to care and left him with thanks. "Hehe! So we were here earlier than them, let them take her, unless they have a healer, that girl is as good as dead." Njord was smiling. "To assault our dear little nephew, I was going to kill her the minute I saw her ugly face." Skadi was speaking like a beast too, not showing her motherly side at all. "But to think it was the ck-Briars, these people are really tired of living." Njord said, "I¡¯ll see how will they deal with it this time." While the two beast-like brother and sister were talking to each other another figure appeared. "You two are up to no good again." A tall and thin man with a hood on his head and a bow on his back came out of the shadow, he had the same red hair and blue eyes like the siblings. "Forseti! So you came out of the ship." Skadi looked at the man and spoke to him. "I was bored and Jax saw something going on so he came and whispered to me." As Forseti said that, an owl flew andnded on his shoulder. "Oh! Let us hear it, brother." Njord who was in a good mood asked with interest. Forseti approached and the light fell on his face, he was much more handsome than his brother Njord. "It appears we have a naughty naughty nephew!" ********************************** [A/N: ording to the vote, we changed the name of the Novel from SBTTI Skyrim: But That¡¯s Too Immersive to SDW Skyrim: Dragonborn Within. I hope we didn¡¯t make the wrong decision.] Chapter 42 Onto The Icicle I ran with the girl on my back and avoided every eye that can see us, I stuck to the shadow and sneaked around every corner until I reached the ship. Svadall and Rusning were on the deck drinking together and when they saw a figure board onto the ship, they stood up and faced me, other sailors took notice and also looked at me. "It¡¯s me!" I said and removed my hood. "What? When did you get out?" Rusning said. "The servant I mentioned was a bitte and I went back to pick her up." I said, "Sorry, I somewhat was in a rush." "Oh! Is she the one on your back? What happened?" Svadall asked and pointed out. "I found her in an alleyway, someone must have mugged her, is there a healer here?" I asked. "What a dull question! I¡¯ll go call for Holman, take her to your cabin, it is cold out here." Rusning said. I thanked him and hurried to the cabin, As I put the girl on the bed and continued casting healing on her, Holman arrived after a minute. "Mara¡¯s mercy! Who did that to her?" He was shocked by what he saw. Holman looked like an honest fellow with a ck hair and an early facial hair, he was three years older than me. "I don¡¯t know, she was supposed to buy me things from the market but I found her in an alleyway like this when I went to look for her" I made up a story I already thought of. "By the nine! Can¡¯t a girl walk safely alone these days? What happened to the world." Jolma, magically appeared from the door followed in and made a sad face. I made up a few things and assured them, I also had to stay beside the girl for a while before we could leave the room for her to rest. As we were getting out, I took out her journal and put it beside her, can¡¯t afford to let her go crazy again. ************************* I went out of the ship with the excuse of thanking someone who helped me getting ¡¯Junar¡¯ to the ship. ¡¯Junar¡¯ was the name I told them as the name for this girl, I didn¡¯t know her real name and made up a name from my past life. ¡¯Junar¡¯ is a Persian name which meant pomegranate flower. Shame! The name was just wasted on an assassin who tried to kill me. As I got away from the ship, I headed to the East Empire Company, I could see Gulum-Ei was talking with someone there. "Hey!" I said and acted as if in a bad mood. Gulum-Ei looked at me then nodded, then he talked the man away. "This was shy!" He said. "The deed was done, didn¡¯t it?" I said. "Overdone in my opinion." He said. "What? Does the guild in Solitude pay up for the damage they cause?" I said with a mocking smile. "No no, don¡¯t get me wrong." Gulum-Ei raised his hands and turned meek, "When I got the message from Delvin that you are a daredevil, I really didn¡¯t take it too seriously, d to see Old Delvin still has an eye for good people." "It¡¯s all good and fine but my ship is going to sail." I said. "Hmm?! Ah! You want your money! Here here." Gulum-Ei gave me a purse and said, "It was a pleasure doing business with you." "...." I didn¡¯t say anything to the lizard and turned my back, he stinks. ******************** Back to the ship, I stayed in the cabin with the passed out girl, her temperature started rising so I started brewing an herbal remedy to resist fever for her. Damn this Njord, how many times did he pat her, my shoulder is itching when I thought about that. I went outside the room after nursing her for a while, I also cast ¡¯Heal Other¡¯ on her, this was Adept level healing spell that I didn¡¯t master it very well yet it got cast by luck. As I was out of the cabin I could feel the ship shaking. So it was moving! It is my first time to be on a ship so I wanted to take a look at the deck. As I went out I saw many sailors moving around under the order of an elderly man, and the boys from the team were sitting on a crate and talking to each other. I had warped myself with some fur before I got out, the weather now was freezing, as I got close to the boys they noticed me and emptied a seat. "So, how is the girl?" Holman asked. "She is fine, I brewed her something for the fever that will keep her sleeping for a while." I replied. "Good man, here, something to warm you up." He said and gave me something. It smelled like milk with some seeds in it. "What is that?" I asked. "Don¡¯t know!" Svadall said, "The sailors made it and they give us when we ask." I tried it and it wasn¡¯t bad, yet had no vor, I could feel alcohol in it though. The ship started to move as the light started to shine, the scenery was great, on the left of the ship was the docks and Solitude, on the right was the great marshes of Hjaalmarch, ahead of us was the big rock of Solitude. "Did you guys hear about this, a fire broke into the castle after we left!" Svadall started chatting again, so the news reached here. I still can see some smoke over Solitude from here too. The ship passed under Solitude and continued sailing with Karth river, the sun started rising yet it was not getting any warmer. "This is the sea of ghosts for youds, it can make you shiver to the soul." The elderly man who was givingmands to the sailors earlier came close to us and talked, Rusning and the rest stood up so I tagged along and stood up as well. "This weather is nothing to a Nord, Captain." Rusning said, "We want to introduce you to our new friend here, this is Jon, he won the tournament and will be the new addition to the college." "Aye, we got ourselves a champion, eh? I see, goodd, strong arms, broad shoulders, you¡¯d make for a good sailor, if you were a bit taller I would have mistaken you for one of them Fire-Manes." The Captain said, "Name¡¯s Geldof and they call me Smiling-Hull, like the shipd?" This man said a lot of things, but wait a minute, didn¡¯t he just say something about the Fire-Manes. "Yes captain, It¡¯s my first time on a ship and it¡¯s quite a nice ship." I said. "¡¯She¡¯,d! The ship is a ¡¯she¡¯." Captain Geldof said. "Ah! Yes, sorry. But Captain, you just now said something about the Fire-Manes?" "Aye! The Fire-Manes, if you don¡¯t know of them then I don¡¯t know if you if should or not. That name refers to one of the great ns that don¡¯te into public. No matter how shameful for an old dog like me to admit it, they are the best to sail in a sea or ride in and." Captain Geldof said, "I only thought that you are one of them when I saw your hair and eyes but you are not as tall, and it would be strange if you board on a ship that is no Fire-Mane Ship, you ain¡¯t one of them, are youd?" "Not that I know of, I am an orphan from Riften." I said. "Riften! Far from home ain¡¯t youd!" He said, "No wonder it¡¯s your first time in a sea, ever thought about sailing?" I nodded. "Want to learn?" He asked. "I would like to." I said, I was interested. "Hehe! Fine, go untie that robe but remember it well, never let go of it."Captain Geldof said. I was curious about sailing actually as it was something I have never done before, so I went to the robe and held it with my left to its end tightly and rounded around my forearm, with the right hand I untied the robe. The boys were looking down for some reason and some other sailors were grinning, I didn¡¯t know what was going on so I continued untying. As I was done with it, I held with the right hand and was ready to hold it tightly yet the wind started making Yard that carried the mainsail change its direction around the mast. This was not the problem right now, the problem is, I was getting pulled by the robe and started flying. I don¡¯t know how it happened but I fell on the deck and everyone startedughing at me, this was not nice you know. "The first lesson is..." Captain Geldof made an appearance over me who was lying on my back saying "Never hold that robe alone, if you did, never hold to it." I was in pain from the flight I just took but I found the strength to stand up while rubbing my back. "But you said..." I was about to say something but Captain Geldof interrupted. "Learn from the mistakesd, as long as they don¡¯t kill you, you can learn from them." He said and acted like some wisea**. "Are you ready for another lesson?" He was grinning, "Lady Luck is with us this morning, the wind is fair and the sea is easy, a good time to teach youngsters." I looked at him with no power to retorte, "As long as I am not learning from another mistake." I said. "HA HA! You¡¯ll make them without me even tell you,d." He said, "Just do this and do that." Captain Geldof started pointing some jobs for me, and he was right, even without pointing a mistake I still did them anyway. I started learning about the ship and the sailing process all day long [A/N: And I watched documentaries], I somewhat enjoyed learning something I hadpletely no experience about. Although, I yed some sailing games in my past life, there was no experience like this. "You learn welld, these boys didn¡¯t evenst the first hour." Captain Geldof said and looked at Rusning, Holman and Svadall. "We are no sailor Old Geldof, we are mages." Svadall retorted. "And I am what? A tavern wench? I learned at the college one day like you, why do you think I work on this ship now?" Captain Geldof shouted at Svadall. Svadall didn¡¯t retorte. "Let¡¯s see how you fair tomorrow,d." The Captain said and went away to shout at the sailors. "My body is aching I am going to my cabin." I said to the boys. "Fine, just don¡¯t miss dinner." Rusning said and continued what he was doing. Now that he mentioned it, I am so damn hungry,st time I ate was at the banquet in the blue pce and that felt like ages ago now. Fine, I¡¯ll head down and wipe my body then go eat something. As I was thinking about food and stuff like that I reached the cabin and opened its door, I was also nning to check on the assassin girl too. I found her sitting on the bed while looking at around, she seemed to have just woke up. "Looking good." I said, "For someone who was half dead, you somewhat passed all the critical stage." The girl looked at me expressionless, "You should have left me to die." She said. Dammit! I guess I should start talking that girl into living now. Chapter 43 Jullanar [A/N: I am having exams three weeks from now and I am not sure I can do the bonus chapter thing now, I¡¯ll keep updating daily until I fix myptop.] ******************** I picked up a small round box that contained a ¡¯bruises healing ointment¡¯ I bought from Solitude, then sat in front of the girl and started applying it to her face. "Not a chance!" I said to the girl who wanted to die, "How would I torment you if you died." I couldn¡¯t help but grin. "The Brotherhood won¡¯t leave a traitor like me live." She said, "I told the red man everything." Seems that Njord had done a score on her. "Just what did he do to you to make say all that?" I couldn¡¯t help but ask. She shivered from the question so I cast ¡¯Calm¡¯ spell on her, one must know that this girl has a disturbed mentality. "So what did he do when you told him what you know?" I asked. "He just left! He also said that the one who hired me was already dead." She said. "Sibbi? Yeah, I killed him." I said. "You did?" She looked and appeared shocked. "Do you know what the ck-Briars may do?" "Yes, but she won¡¯t do anything to me." I said, "She has already killed most the thugs in Solitude though, I pinned the kill on them." The girl was looking at me surprised by what she heard. "So you did!" She said, "I guess thieves are good with these sort of stuff." I was done applying the ointment now. "So, what is your name?" I asked. "Mabia." She said. "Do you still want to die, Mabia?" I asked. "What choice do I have?" She said, "The Brotherhood will perform the ck Sacrament if they suspected that I didn¡¯t die yet." Oh! So she is worried about that? The ¡¯ck Sacrament¡¯ is a dark ritual that can be performed by whoever those who want to contact the dark brotherhood, that ritual is a way to contact the ¡¯Night Mother¡¯. The Night Mother, an immortal spirit who is revered and worshipped by the Brotherhood. She is only ever met face-to-face in very exceptional circumstances and is seen as a phantom-like form. When a person prays for the death of another, the Night Mother hears and passes on the details of the prayer to her Listener. At this point, the Listener informs a Speaker, who then goes to meet the hiring party in order to draw up a contract. But still. "Don¡¯t you know?" I asked. "Know what?" She asked. "Astrid, your leader, doesn¡¯t follow the teachings of the ¡¯FiveTs¡¯ anymore." I said. "What nonsense are you saying? How can this be? I¡¯ve never met the leader but my mentor told..." Mabia halted, "Wait a minute! How do you know of the name of the leader?" "Hehe! Don¡¯t you dare look down on how much I know girl, I know most of the important names in your merry little cult, Veezara that mentor of yours, Arnbjorn the husband of Astrid....." I said and started making an act but everything was true. "Your organization has fallen deeper than what you think, the Listener, Alisanne Dupre, was killed eight years ago in Bravil and the coffin of the Night Mother was lost since then." That also was true, these events happened in the game world yet not ¡¯the game¡¯ (Skyrim) itself. ¡¯The Elder Scrolls: Legends¡¯, a card game that told the story of a certain hero who lives in this world right now, this hero walked on a different path than the hero of ¡¯The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim¡¯ and had his own adventures. One of them was rted to the Dark Brotherhood and he interacted with the big shots from it, he also was the cause of their current decline. Astrid is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood in this day and age, she abandoned the five main teachings of the Dark Brotherhood which were called the Five Ts and converted the group from cultist killers to professional assassins. Hearing this information, Mabia was taken aback by what she heard. "That all means that there will be no ¡¯ck Sacrament¡¯ on you." I said, "And even if there is one, then just live your damn life now and face whateveres at youter." I finished what I had to say and went away from her. All I care about was a fellow orphan in distress, if she chooses the path of her own demise then I won¡¯t care anymore. "This all hard to take in." She said as she looked away, "All I ever learned was how to kill." "Then just learn how to live." I said, "Also you write some crazy nice poems, and I bet you can make a good Frey pie." "What is Frey pie?" She asked. "It¡¯s a pie that you present to someone you want to kill, its main ingredients are his/her family members, then you kill him/her after they eat it." I said, "Didn¡¯t they teach it to you?" [A/N: Frey pie is the pie that Arya Stark made for Walder Frey in Game of Thrones.] Mabia seemed impressed by what she heard and shook her head. "Figures, these people became too soft." I said as I was having fun ying with that girl. I stood up and headed to the door, "I¡¯ll head out to wipe myself and I¡¯ll bring you something to eat, rest now." ****************** Heading out, I went to a cabin that had a tub in it, I took some buckets and filled the tub from the sea. Heating the water with fire magic was a usual practice for mages, even these sailors learned some spells to do their chores. The tub is a blessing even though the weather outside is freezing, I can now enjoy some nice bath in this dangling ship. As the water is nice and warm, my head started spinning from a thought to an idea, there was much stuff I wanted to do and experience, from this moment onwards I will focus on magic and be stronger, there is one year and I should master most of the spells I couldn¡¯t master yet. ¡¯Mysticism School¡¯ also known as the ¡¯Old Ways¡¯ is one of the main six schools but it¡¯s not really supported fully by the College of Winterhold, I need to dig into their famous Arcanaeum for more information on it. [A/N: Arcanaeum is the library of the college.] During my research, I also n on; understanding more about Conjunction School, create my original style in Destruction School, start taking the Illusion School more seriously, learn all the aspects of physical magic from the Alteration school, and seriously make progress in the Restoration School. I found out all of my shorings in this tournament and I must admit, I am worse than I thought. I won this tournament because my physical ability, I am also not that talented as I thought, Argir¡¯s body movements on equal ground are much faster than me, also Ongeim and Farkas are far stronger than me. My superiority lies in three talents I have; the first is that I am very talented in Mysticism even with theck of spells and knowledge, my practice in mysticism also made my Magicka poolrger than most of my peers, the second is about my body my body which is very flexible due to my training on my own versions of Parkour and MMA, The third is my natural gift in the Thu¡¯um, one of the reasons I think I am the hero of the game. Adding all that to my knowledge from my past life, it made the person I am today.... dammit the water got cold, heat heat heat! Ah! Just about right. Where was I again? Ah yes! My qualities. I am d I could see through myself this early, I need all the power I can muster, all knowledge is good, and my memory is sharper the better I control and increase my Magicka. I remember a lot of knowledge from my past life which helped me greatly in something like the Electromancy. Magic is about understanding the power and I can make some scientific theories about it. I also remember a lot of stuff I read in the Wikis, this is all power I have right now and I should make use of. Yet, too rough! None of it is refined! My time in the Orphanage gave me a good head start and my good luck met me with Nurina, I was lucky to meet her alongside all the people I know. That¡¯s right! People! My people! My friends! That¡¯s what I need more right now! A lot of friends to stand beside me. Wulfur is guaranteed, he would follow me anywhere even if I asked him not to, Jon Battle-Born is a new brother but I know his quality doesn¡¯t lose to Wulfur. Nurina is more powerful and mysterious than I could fathom, I don¡¯t like to be greedy but I can¡¯t let go of her guidance. Hilda and these crazy Fire-Mane folk are my next possible ally, I¡¯ll let fate decide this one. The people from the college I met so far are good people but I need to work on this rtionship on my own, this will be one of the tasks at hand. Who else? Ah! Her... That girl, Mabia. She is alone in this world, she is a fighter too, if I help her, I can make her into a follower of mine, we just need to build trust with each other. Dammit! This water is getting colder without my noticing! Heat heat heat! Phew! That was close. Let¡¯s stop overthinking for now! I finally can make up some n for the future. Thest thing is the money but I¡¯ll think about that in Winterhold, at least there will be some good ways to earn coin there. Now after this bath, I should get food for Mabia and me. ****************** The ship has a big dining cabin and I could get warm food from there, two warm meals for me and Mabia. As I got back to the room, I found that the girl is still sitting on the bed. Sigh! What a helpless creature, I moved my hand to her head and pushed the hood on it away. What appeared was a face of a half-breed girl, she is half Dunmer half Nord. On the left side of her face are three old scratch wounds under her left white blind eye. The right side of her face is actually pretty, her right eye is hazel, and her skin was a bit bluish, she had the most features of a Dunmer but her pointy ears are shorter than usual elves and her face structure is that of a human. Her ck hair reminded me of mine from my past life. Her body was not that tall yet if she stood, she would reach my shoulders, the rest of her body is quite nice. All in all, if we fixed that girl¡¯s face, she will be a hot little treat. I put a tray in front of her and she started wolfing it up. I talked to her while eating, I noticed that she had a few screws loose. Well, I guessed as much, she was brought up on killing after all. After saying this and that, Mabia was not awkward as she felt before and started taking normally, she also told me her story as if nothing, even though it was a tragic one. Apparently, from what I could understand from her, her mother was a Dunmer in Windham, there are many refugees there and Nords treat them like s**t. One day, a Nord raped her mother and Mabia was the result of the crime, normally the Nords wouldn¡¯t care and her mother wouldn¡¯t be helped out even by the Dunmer folk because she decided to raise the daughter. In a society full with racism like Windhelm, a child between a Dunmer and a Nord will be considered some sort of a taboo child, both races were at each other¡¯s throat since the time the refugees started to flee from Morrowind to Windhelm. The mother decided to take her daughter and leave to a more suitable ce for her child, Falkreath was her choice. The mother died after they moved out and she was brought to the orphanage of the hold, her unusual appearance caused her to be mistreated and she escaped to the forest one day, there she was attacked by a lynx and her left eye was wounded before she was saved by an Argonian whoter became her mentor and made her into an assassin. This was a sad story, I do sympathize with her but the only one who can help her now is herself. "This ship is heading to Winterhold, do you have any ns for yourself from there?" I asked. Mabia shook her head, she thought for a while then said, "Do you have a job for me?" "I can use someone with your set of skills." I said. "Won¡¯t that bring you bad attention?" Mabia asked. "You can act as a maidservant and no one will mind you." I said. "So you just want me to do your dirty work in the shadow?" She asked. I smiled, "I am not really taking advantage of you, I¡¯ll give you whatever you wish for as long as I can trust you." Mabia thought for a while, "Fine, I don¡¯t have any choice left, do I?." "Onest thing." I said, "I told them that your name is Junar, I think your current name will bring you trouble anyway." "Mhm!" She nodded and asked, "Junar! What kind of a name is that?." She asked. "It a name for the pomegranate flower, from my past life." I nonchntly said. "Ah! Right, past life.." She looked away while mumbling. "Heh heh!" Iughed and said, "Wait until you see dragons." Junar looked at me again and said, "So I am not the only one who hear voices!" I think this is my turn to freak out. Chapter 44 To The College The next three days were simr to one another, I would go help the sailors and learn from Captain Geldof, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s hard for me to navigation an average longboat now. Still, I need a lot of time to understand how to read the sea and the wind. Putting that in mind I started using magic to achieve that goal, my ¡¯Detect Magicka¡¯ spell can now detect more than just Magicka, after few days of studying in Solitude, I made a breakthrough due to my attempts to read the wind and sea. Due to trying to synchronize my detection with the movement of air and sea, I could detect the Magicka more urately between heaven and earth. This is a groundbreaking development on my part, I was so immersed in the feeling of detecting the Magicka around that I forgot to sleep one night, which made Junar nag about me giggling in a creepy manner the next morning. By the way, we are still sharing the cabin now, I left the bed for her and borrowed a few furs and a sleeping bag to sleep on the ground, how gentlemanly of me! Back to the topic; my detection became clearer, I could feel the Magicka in the emptiness around me, dead objects didn¡¯t seem to have Magicka so they seemed as the void to my detection, even though my detection can pass through them, some objects are just harder than others in that aspect, iron blocks Magicka more than wood for example. Still, I couldn¡¯t detect Magicka in dead objects. My original goal was to monitor the moment of the air and sea but I never thought I would reach this level from that idea. The ¡¯Detection¡¯ spells fall under the categorization of the school of Mysticism and it is like having an eye on the back of the head, very useful indeed. Summing my discoveries in a note, I revised what I wrote now and before about the Mysticism after all this research. I could make a rough idea, but Mysticism techniques are much more than the maniption of Magicka, it can also reach the point of predicting the future and the understanding of space. More urately; Space and Time magic can be manipted by Mysticism. This can open tons of possibilities in my understanding of magic, due to the fictional works I read in my past life as well as thews of science I still remember, I can think of millions of application right now. One thing I also noticed and started to understand greatly was the Magicka nature, the Magicka in the sea was denser than the air yet felt more alien and strange, I could only note that and put a big question mark beside it. The ¡¯Detect Magicka¡¯ spell right now was turned into ¡¯Detection¡¯ spell for general detection of many things, maybe there is stuff it can¡¯t detect yet but I can already see much more than before with it so I renamed it this way. I don¡¯t even need to use my eyes right now, I can just close my eyes and immerse myself in the emptiness around me with such a spell. Truth be told, I just can¡¯t stop my addiction to this wondrous feeling. The good stuff didn¡¯t end just here yet. With this breakthrough, I could enhance my Magicka training technique now. I used ¡¯Absorb Magicka¡¯ directly on the Magicka between heaven and earth after exhausting my Magicka pool to train it and increase its capacity. I am better than your average elf mage at dealing with Magicka due to this training. My fan-boy soul couldn¡¯t help but awaken at that moment and renamed the ¡¯Magicka training technique¡¯ to ¡¯Magicka Cultivation¡¯ or ¡¯Cultivation¡¯ for short to feel like one of these Wuxia novels main characters, this just felt about right. My so-called ¡¯Cultivation¡¯ was enhanced by my newly developed ¡¯Detection¡¯ spell as I could feel the Magicka around me more urately and absorb it in faster than before. This cultivation was not as perfect or fruitful as it was in the ¡¯Eldergleam Sanctuary¡¯ due to the quality and the nature of the Magicka around. I can¡¯t just live in the sanctuary to cultivate, I remember that there were many ces in the game that had a strong natural element and I should just find one, these ces are mostly protected with the guards of nature, The Spriggans. Mysticism has just too many secrets that I don¡¯t think one lifetime can uncover, and as much as how beautiful it can be, it can be ugly and demonic, an example for its ugliest sides is the Necromancy. Necromancy, which means ¡¯Death Magic¡¯ is one of my top interests in magic, even though it pushed many of its users to madness, I as well as Nurina are interested in it. Finally, I need to understand the ¡¯Old Ways¡¯, the old spiritual understandings that belong to the school of Mysticism, I¡¯ll research that for sure. Those who know the ¡¯Old Way¡¯, are well aware of the existence of the spiritual worlds invisible to those who are uneducated in Mysticism. Just as one living in a country but unaware of the political undercurrents may see a new tax or war preparation as the caprices of fortune. The ¡¯Old Ways¡¯ can make one see the world on what is it really are, even to the point of understanding the Aedric Gods and the Daedric Evil God (aka Daedric Princes). Thinking about this and that while feeling the sea, I continued to take notes on everything I learned new, from the sailing to the cultivation I made up. This ship was a really peaceful ce to research. My notes were, as usual, in my otherworldly nativenguage, this was not umon act for a mage, each mage had his secrets so they made codes for themselves to cipher, and in my case, my secrets are worth killing for. I took the basics of logical thinking and applied it in every research I made, for example, one needs to learn how to manipte Magicka (aka Mysticism arts) before they do applications with it (aka learning spells), for some reason mages not care about such a simple fact. Also, modern Earth knowledge like math and algebra helped me sketch out many spells as it was something simr to highschool-level mathematics from my past life. Understanding of the scientificws is also one of the reasons that make magic much easier to understand and control, take my lightning magic for example, as a human from earth, I interacted more with electricity than fire or frost and have an understanding about it, this is why I was much better in itpared to the other elements, following that with fire which I am really good at as it appeared to be due to a ¡¯bloodline ability¡¯ from Nurina¡¯s exnation, finally all Nord mages are really good at frost magic and I am no exception but I am not into it very much. If my knowledge goes public I think mages will go crazy over it. Some might think that if I went public with it I may not need to worry about money or anything like that. WRONG!! Mages are no normal creatures, maybe Nord mages are good people due to nature but the others are a greedy bunch, they always spy at each other work and many times steal from each other, this even happened in the game many times. If someone knew about my magic more than it¡¯s just an enviable natural gift that a great mage like Nurina brought up, I might get killed or abducted in no time, I always remembered that Chinese saying about the man who did nothing wrong to get killed for but he only owned a jade ring that all people wanted. [A/N: I don¡¯t remember the correct saying.] This world is not a ¡¯Dog eat dog¡¯ world like one of those Wuxia novels thank goodness, but things tend to get like this between power holders like mages, they always want the knowledge that others discovered, I am no exception. Not even my past world is an exception, nations always assassinated each other¡¯s nuclear scientists and stole their research. That¡¯s all there is to it. My knowledge is my secret weapon, I can only pass it down to those who are loyal to me, to those who deserve risking my life for. "Master! Master!" A voice woke me up from my deep overthinking, it was Junar. I told her to call me that in public so no one suspects anything, yet she always did it with a scary gaze, I knew she would hate it. "Finally awake, huh? You were into one of those deep thinkings of yours again." She said and lowered her voice, "It started to creep me out." "For our little Jull to get creeped out by me, I am not sure either to feel proud or freak out myself." I said. I actually be very close with her these past few days, she is not as crazy as I thought, at least not a full-time crazy, her personality changes greatly between night and day. In the daytime, she bes a tsundere, not my favorite type but she bes as moody as cats, somewhat cute in my opinion. In the nighttime, she changes into her crazy usual self. kinda mysterious but I think her mentality is not that stable. She also started to walk yesterday and recovered most of her strength by today. She now goes around all the ship to spend time and reports to me from time to time. "I don¡¯t care how should you feel, that Rusning is looking for you." She said. "Okay, thank you." I said then stood up and went to where Rusning usually sits. As I saw him, I found that Faralda and the rest were there too. "Hurry up and get your things." Rusning said, "We are at Winterhold." I was taken aback and looked around, Winterhold was at the sea and I could see nothing that resembles it from the game just yet. "Hehe!" Svadallughed, "Don¡¯t look around, look up." He pointed at the sky for some reason and I followed with my eyes..... "Sweet Baby Talos!!!" I couldn¡¯t help it. That was too absurdly absurd! "Wee to the colleged." Captain Geldof came from behind andughed out but I paid him no attention. "You expressions are priceless!" Rusning said and patted my shoulder. "What is this?" I said while not holding my shock anymore. What I saw was something out of a fairy tale, this is not the College of Winterhold I knew. In the game, the College of Winterhold had the same size as the other castles and pces in Skyrim, it was a research and education facility created by an ancient and immortal Nord Arch-Mage, his name was Shalidor. He created this college on an inverted pyramid of rock that juts out of the sea, my theory is that he made that inverted pyramid himself, the building itself was a fortress-like, arranged around arge central courtyard. if we look at this fortress-like college from above we will see arge circr building surrounding the courtyard, and three smaller circles representing the towers on therge circr building, each center of a tower is 120¡ã apart from the others two. The College¡¯s main,rgest and widest tower is the Hall of the Elements, which is used for all kinds of magical practices. It holds the famous Arcanaeum library as well as the Arch-Mage¡¯s quarters, while amodations are provided in the two separate towers, the ¡¯Hall of Attainment¡¯ for the students and the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯ for the teachers and the staff. This is what I know from the game and it appears I am not mistaken either. But... This building is toorge and too high,rger than anything I have ever seen and its height is scary. I actually thought about it, the difference in size between the game and the real world is big, sometimes 1:10. But the game didn¡¯t give the college any justice. The college was something like 100:1 from the game. That inverted pyramid the college stood was very high that it resembled a tower with a thinner base, add that to the mist of the Sea of Ghosts, this college looked like a fortress on the clouds. "Wipe that dumb face of yours and go pick your things." Faralda shouted at us, "The sun is about to set and you¡¯ve done nothing." I was woken up by this shout, I guess I was shouted at too, let¡¯s just go pick up things. Running back to the cabin, Junar stood beside me waiting for orders. I carried my chest on my back with a rope and donned my sword, wearing the ¡¯Robin Armor¡¯ that I bought, while Junar carried two knapsacks that had our things. Going back to the deck, I found everyone else was ready, some servants started getting ready to move the crates to the college. The docks in Winterhold seemed really simple as the only ship here was the ¡¯Icicle¡¯, the rest were some small fishing boats. Now, after five days on a ship I get to set foot onnd once again, never thought I¡¯d miss that feeling. Just as we started to go down, I could finally feel that stable feeling ofnd, it doesn¡¯t dangle like a ship anymore, it felt so damn safe, but for some reason, my brain was dangling on its own, this is probably an after effect from a sea voyage. Winterhold was not there yet, the city itself is much higher than the sea level, after the ¡¯Great Copse¡¯ that swallowed most of the city in the sea, the shore became like a high slope and one can hardly go up or down between the city and the sea. But it seemed that there is something different from the game in addition to the dock, there are many wooden steps that were installed on the slope, that would make going up and down much easier. As the cargo was being loaded down, I instructed Junar to keep an eye on the crates that belonged to me and followed Faralda to the college. Now, let¡¯s be college students all over again. Chapter 45 Nurinas Demand "Normally, we don¡¯t ept students thiste after the ¡¯Novice Entrance Exam¡¯, but exceptions can be made." Faralda said, "I would normally ask you to perform your skill but I have already witnessed it." As we were climbing the steps to Winterhold, Faralda kept talking about the eptance and all that stuff, in the game, the one who test the yer is Faralda herself, but in reality, the college epts many students every year and from what Nurina told me, there is a door test and a written test. The door test is the test that the yer has to do in the game, it¡¯s just a performance of the magical skill. Believe it or not, there are fools who try to enter the college with no skill so the college can¡¯t just ept anyone and turn them away at the door. The written test is the one I know from my past life, nothing strange here as it is another piece of cake for this handsome young men. "My beloved Nurina is your adoptive mother so I am not sure if I should make things more difficult for you or not, hmmm.." Faralda said. Dammit! This woman started having scary ideas. "You have my blessings, teacher." I said with no hesitation. Not exactly ¡¯no hesitation¡¯. I already thought about this situation and decided to get on Faralda¡¯s good side. "Then we¡¯ll have no problems, what school will you specialize in?" Faralda asked. "I am a mystic." I said. "MYSTIC?!" That was Rusning and his gang, I didn¡¯t reveal any of that before. "Hmm, I thought as much." Faralda said, "Your Magicka output is stronger than any Nord I know, but we closed the Mysticism major in the college many years, no talents or knowledge in that art appeared in thest hundred years, not after those people disappeared from the world." Thest part was said in a low voice, "You¡¯re talking about the Psijics, teacher?" I asked. "Hmm?! You know of them, boy?" Faralda appeared to be surprised, "Nurina really did teach you a lot." "Psijics? What is that?" The chatterbox Svadall jumped into the conversation. "Seriously? You don¡¯t know of them?" I was taken aback myself, looking at the other four, they looked as ignorant as him, "You guys too?" They shook their heads, I looked at Faralda but she just sighed and looked away. "Ehem! This handsome young man will enlighten you then." I said and cleared my throat. "Just get over with it!" They became irritated. "Well, you see, long long ago, the Aldmer (Elder Elves) worshipped their ancestors as gods, but due to changes in the world, gods had to change too. As the change of the pantheon was epted by most, some elders refused the change and left the Isle of Summerset home of Elves to the Isle of Artaeum in the north of it and called themselves the ¡¯Psijic Order¡¯. Their main focus and study was the ¡¯Mysticism¡¯ or what they preferred to call, ¡¯The Elder Way¡¯ or ¡¯The Old Way¡¯. That was even before the First Era. The order has advised kings and monarchs since then yet had no interest in power themselves. You may not know this but two of the most famous mages in history, ¡¯Vanus Galerion¡¯ founder of the ¡¯Mage¡¯s Guild¡¯ and ¡¯Mannimarco¡¯ the dreadful necromancer, were raised by the order and grew up together from close friends to archenemies." I said all of that yet the steps were not over yet. "Impossible!" Svefna said, "Do you know how unbelievable what you said just now is? The Great Vanus Galerion and The King of Worms grew up under the same organization?" "It¡¯s true, as much as it pains you, a hero like Venus Galerion was once a close friend to Mannimarco." Faralda said, "Continue boy." "Mannimarco, The King of Worms, The Mer* who sold the world. An Elf necromancer who was expelled from the Psijic Order and turned himself into a Lich and almost caused the end of the world we know, being the agent of Mg Bal the Daedric Prince whose sphere is the domination and envement of mortals. [A/N: * Human is Man, Elf is Mer.] Venus Galerion, on the other hand, was a great Arch-Mage and the founder of the old Mage¡¯s Guild which he used to teach the world about the schools of magic (the categorization) that was established by Arch-Mage Shalidor, and also created the simplified tools of Enchanting and Alchemy we know today. Venus Galerion left the Psijic Order disappointed from his master who didn¡¯t stop Mannimarco and just left him to do his evil in the world, Venus Galerion raised an army of mages to stop Mannimarco in a battle that both died in. The Psijic Order is considered the strongest magic organization the specialized in Mysticism, and also brought up these two great mages who were students of Mysticism themselves." I said as I finished my lesson. "This sure is a lot." Jolma, the girl who avoided me the most was the first toment. "If Mysticism is that great, why doesn¡¯t our college teach it seriously?" Holman asked. "Simple!" Rusning replied, "If an art is that great, then how rare are the people talented in it, don¡¯t you remember what Teacher Tolfdir always says, ¡¯The more precious, the rarer, and the opposite is correct¡¯." As they all hummed at what Rusning said, Faralda nodded her head with a pleased face, what a rare asion! "I think testing your knowledge is of not necessary now." She said, "You already know more than our so-called elites." Mwahahaha! Behold the power of the Wiki. As she said that we finally finished climbing the steps. ************************* I was not that out of breath but these steps are scary annoying, I am starting to worry about Junar now. As I started to take a look around I saw the college¡¯s bridge on my left. The bridge of the college didn¡¯t look any different than the game which made me scared, I hate that bridge so much. The bridge is too narrow, and because of the ¡¯Great Copse¡¯, it lost some of its parts which made it looks like a bridge across the abyss, my only wish right now is the fear of heights which I had in my past life didn¡¯t crossover with me, this is my first time on a ce that high in this life. The bridge can allow three men to walk side by side so it wasn¡¯t bad but it felt like a walk through the clouds in that thick sea mist. We turned to walk the bridge so we naturally got to climb it up because the college¡¯s level was still higher than thend level, that time I remembered something and turned around to look behind me. Ah! so it was like that? The City of Winterhold, a story full of tears and pain, once a prosperous city, a capital of Skyrim, the only ce that rivaled the beautiful Solitude, now in that appearance. I thought that Winterhold would be bigger than this as it was the case with every city so far, there was always thatrge scale of size between the game world and the real world. But this! This is sad. The city it was, is now but a petty small town on ruins upon ruins of wood and rubble, frozen by the cold weather, the time seemed to be frozen as the image the ce gave was a vivid one of how brutal the copse was. Not knowing the reason behind the ¡¯Great Copse¡¯, some Nords suspect the college as the cause of the tragedy, after all, it was barely hurt by that disaster. The copse itself was a massive tsunami that took Winterhold by surprise year 4E-122. Winterhold which was originally isted couldn¡¯t receive help and was left to decline until today, after 74 years only a few buildings were rebuilt on the rubble. The reason of this tsunami was unknown, some say that the eruption of the Red Mountain in Morrowind on 4E-5 and it had an effect, some say the college caused it, some say it was caused by a dragon that was seen over the sea in Morrowind. I am not sure which reason it was but I¡¯d rather say it was karma, there were many Dunmer refugees after the eruption of the Red Mountain and the Nords drove them out with no mercy. "it¡¯s sad but don¡¯t let that get into your mind." Rusning said, "These people could have helped themselves long ago but a certain jarl made his life goal to get rid of the college then rebuild his town." I followed behind Rusning but couldn¡¯t help but ask, "What do you mean?" "Jarl Korir of course." Svadall said, "He dered many times that he would one day wait for the rise of the true sons and daughters of Skyrim to get rid of the mages that gued his hold. like anyone knows what he means by that?" Wait a minute! ¡¯True sons and daughters of Skyrim¡¯ is it? I already guessed that reason but the Jarl of Winterhold would join the rebellion to get rid of the college. How stupid! This Jarl wants to wage war at the college at some point then, this was predicted even though it didn¡¯t happen in the game. The uing rebellion that will cause the Civil War can¡¯t be stopped as it seemed that it was already being powered by some strong parties. This is depressing. I just feel that thinking about the tons of things I have to deal with is increasing like crazy. Let¡¯s just get over this bridge for now. Yes, one step at a time and everything shall be solvable. The bridge is made of stone it¡¯s pretty much solid even with all the damage that was dealt to it by the ¡¯Great Copse¡¯. "Haven¡¯t the college tried to fix the bridge?" I asked Faralda. "Please, be our guest." She said, "The way of building something like this college is beyond any knowledge we have." So it was like that, it must be tough to be in decline. As we reached the end of the bridge, a metallic gate made from bars that were shaped into a circle that has an eye with the five edgesing from it, the symbol of the college. Approaching the gate, it opened itself, now that¡¯s what I call magic. Beyond was a whole different scenery, not quite like the college I knew. The one I knew was a circr courtyard with a round wall surrounding it and linking the three towers and that wall had manyrge empty windows and a roof-bridge on top of it linking the higher floors of the towers too. Mostly that was in front of me but that was not the case. The round wall I used to know was turned into round corridor linking all towers and its windows were sealed with ss. The round corridor itself was well closed from all sides and was warmed by magic. The usually empty courtyard can be essed but it seemed that there are two facilities there, a short ss structure on each side, from what I was told, these are greenhouses that provide suitable conditions to grow alchemy ingredients. At the end of the courtyard and opposite to the entrance lies a statue of a mage posed as if he was casting a spell, this is the statue of Shalidor, the founder of the college. Front of the statue was a fountain of magical energy known as the ¡¯Focus Points¡¯, this is one of four and one of the things I am really interested in but not for now. Behind the statue is a gate that returns one back to the circr corridor and directly behind it is another gate to the biggest tower in the college, the Hall of the Elements. On the left side to the entrance of the college I am standing at is the Hall of Attainment and on the right is the Hall of Countenance. This is how the college looked from the outside, it kinda looked like the one from ¡¯Immersive College of Winterhold¡¯ mod but it was muchrger and everything was wider and taller. I actually didn¡¯t use the mod, there is a certain disturbing quest thates along with it even though it was an excellent mod. "Impressive, isn¡¯t it?" Holman said, "Four years ago when I arrived here I had the same look on my face." Holman was the oldest one in the team, he is 18 and one of the students that are specialized in both Destruction and Restoration. "Of course it¡¯s impressive." Faralda said, "Even though the ce hasn¡¯t changed since thest fifty years, it still is one of the best magical schools in Tamriel." As I was chatting with the group at the entrance, a woman in a college robes came from the side. "Wee back, Faralda." She said, "I trust we can hear some good news about the tournament." "Oh! Mirabelle dear, I can say we achieved the primary objective of our journey." Faralda said with her cold usual tone. That was Mirabelle Ervine, an NPC I know, she is the one who deals with the college management affairs, she is also a Master Wizard Elemental Mage. "The primary? I thought it was impossible but well done, well done indeed, Arch-Mage Savos can have some good news for a change." She said, "What about the secondary objective?" "We faced someplications." Faralda said, "An opponent that was too tricky to handle." "Wasn¡¯t the secondary objective supposed to be the easy one?" Mirabelle looked annoyed. "Aplication I said!" Faralda said and turned to me, "I brought the culprit along." "Huh?" Mirabelle looked at not understanding what was going. "Hello, my name is Jon, and people call me Jon Dare." I said and stretched my hand for a shake "You are Nurina¡¯s son?" Mirabelle jumped back in a fright, "So you won the tournament?" Oh! She knew about me! Nurina seems to have been chatting about this handsome young man. "Something wrong?" Faralda noticed something and asked Mirabelle. "Ah! It became a headache now, why did he win? My workload will get overloaded now." Mirabelle made a pained face and held her head, something must have happened. "Get yourself together! What is going on?" Faralda¡¯s patience was running short, I also wanted to understand. "Sigh! You see, when Nurina Aren returned to the college over a month ago, she headed directly to the Hall of the Elements and registered a new student with the name of Jon Dare. She dered in front of everyone that she adopted that boy and he became her legacy apprentice. Arch-Mage Savos was frightened but all he received was more of the crazy demands of hers. They started fighting and shouting over it every day and night, normally when two Arch-Wizards fight no one from the lower ranks can interfere but it reached the point where it became unbearable. Tolfdir came with a good idea to end the fight and all agreed to it, it was a bet, about who would when the tournament, if it is our team then Savos word will go, and if it is Jon Dare then Nurina will get what she wants." Mirabelle said all that with the face of someone who wants to cry. "What did Nurina want?" Faralda asked. "Nurina wants to quit the position of the head of the Conjunction major." Mirabelle said, "She wants to reopen the Mysticism major." Chapter 46 Welcome to the College [A/N: I was making some research here and there in the Wikitely, I noticed some mistakes I made and I am thinking of rewriting some old chapters, I will put in the title, Also the magical effects and theories have some upgrades so I¡¯ll include them in ater chapter as Jon upgrading his theory. Enjoy!] ******************************* "Well, that sure sounds like her." Faralda said as if she foresaw it. "She can¡¯t just leave for fifteen years then pop up like nothing happened and demand whatever she wants." Mirabelle was still depressed. "By the way what are the primary and secondary objectives?" I asked as I remembered something they talked about. "When we decided to enlist a team from the college into the tournament we had a goal." Mirabelle said as she gestured for us to follow her, "The main objective was to show the people of Skyrim how magic can be wielded and it is no dangerous power that would cause the horrors they use magic with. To do so, we picked a select elite of Nord students from our college and enlisted them." "That was the main goal but we mostly thought it was impossible as no one would change their opinion from just a show of power." Faralda took the exnation from Mirabelle, "Still, it actually worked thanks to you." "To him/me?" Mirabelle and I questioned in unison. "Correct, a simple show of power wouldn¡¯t make us look any good, but when you challenged us, things turned from that into apetition of talents in the same field, people got interested into it by the time." Faralda said. "Not just that, but the other opponents from the different teams who knew how to use magic actually became not shy and some used it." "Hmmm! Well done! At least we can be thankful to you in that regard." Mirabelle said, "Still, we need to stop Nurina before it¡¯s toote, I don¡¯t want to deal with one more department, you guys help me out." "I am not interested." Faralda said, "My beloved Nurina can do whatever she wants." "I am a mystic so I am getting benefited from it." I bailed out too. "I heard how amazing Mysticism can be, I want to learn about it." Svadall jumped in. "Don¡¯t you know that Venus Galerion was a mystic? how can I let down such an opportunity." Svefna who was a fanatic of Vanus made her opinion too. Even the other guys had some opinion about Mysticism. "No no no no, you guys can¡¯t do this! You just can¡¯t, this is cruel." Mirabelle looked like she was about two cry. Most Nords are tall and an Altmer like Faralda is ridiculously tall like her people, the pitiful Mirabelle was a Breton, who are short people. Looking at the scene from the side, it looked like a child was being bullied by a bunch of adults, it was just that pitiful. "Humph! Fine!" Mirabelle stomped on the ground and walked ahead alone, we still followed behind her. The circr corridor was actually vast and had a lot of stuff here and there, one notable thing was the vendors on the outer side of the corridor standing in some stalls, they appeared to be students that deal with all sort of stuff; Soul Gems, Clothes, Alchemy and more, some were even selling food or small animals. One more thing was noted, it was cats! Cats here, cats there, cats everywhere! There were tons of cats that my soul was having a hard time staying in its flesh vessel, it wanted to go out and pat all these cats. Ojiski! Deep breath! that¡¯s right, everything will be Daijubu! "The corridor serves as our marketce. As studentse to the college from everywhere, most find a hard time earning money. For that, the college arranged a market idea for them." Rusning said, "This was also an aftermath of the ¡¯Great Copse¡¯ as Winterhold started cutting ties with us." "Where can these guys bring supplies from?" I asked as I knew how Winterhold itself didn¡¯t have much to offer. "Why do you think the college has its personal ships?" Holman said, "Captain Geldof is the one who does the supplying, his ships travel from Winterhold to Solitude, Dawnstar and Windhelm just to get us supplies, he, of course, benefits the most." "Then what about the city? Why don¡¯t they work with the captain?" I asked. "Do you think the Jarl will let them? This bastard is like a ¡¯Leech¡¯ spell, if you don¡¯t get rid of it, it will devour you slowly." Svadall who was strangely silent started speaking with a heavy voice. "He bullies anyone that make deals with the College or Capitan Geldof, he even made a prison in a frozen cave on some ind." The mood turned heavy as he spoke, "No one can touch him. Even the college can¡¯t do anything to him. Not even Solitude can have news about the hold. He is the Jarl, the Jarl is thew, and in an isted hold like Winterhold, what do you think people can do? Even if we ran away, we¡¯ll either die in the sea or never return." Svadall¡¯s voice was sad, so sad! I think I stepped on andmine here. What was even more unexpected was Faralda, she patted his back for some reason. For an Altmerdy to get off her high horse and pat a Nord boy! What kind of past did this guy have? I can¡¯t really ask about that so I remained silent. Still, what is really going on in Winterhold? From what I remember, Riften was the most corrupted and Markarth was the most violent. And from what he said, this town has a high level of corruption! People oppressed by a ruler, progress in living is not allowed, people can barely leave or die trying. Seemed like a country I used to live in once! ******************* We kept walking in the big round corridor. Unlike any other marketce, this one was a quiet and clean one, unless for those whose jobs require some noise. I could see an Orc boy making some metalwork with magic, this my first time seeing an Orc! It seemed that the college made somews for its grounds and enforced it with its own guards. College Guards seems to be students with a duty ofw enforcement, I guess this is necessary after all. Walking past all that gave me the idea of how big this college can be, I am really looking forward to what it has to offer. As we finally reached the big gate of the ¡¯Hall of the Elements¡¯, it was wide open for the students that wereing and going, the atmosphere of that tower is simr to what a college should feel. Beyond that gate is a wide entranceway that led to a very vast circr hall with a high roof, it is as vast as a basketball stadium with arge ¡¯Magicka Focus Point¡¯ fountain in the middle of it. This is the first a floor of the tower, and the hall of practicing and teaching, all the big exams happen here too. In the entranceway, there used to be two doors on the left and right and behind them were the stairs but that was in the game. In reality, however, there were no doors, the stairs were directly open and were much wider, now it felt more like a college. "You guys wait here, I¡¯ll inform the Arch-Mage of your arrival." Mirabelle said and walked to the stairs. "I am going to look for Nurina." Faralda dered her purpose and turned around, "Where can I find her?" "The Arcanaeum." Mirabelle said without looking back. I started looking around in the hall on the first floor, the guys told me what are the ¡¯Magicka Focus Points¡¯. Apparently, there are four of them, one in the circr courtyard outside and one on each tower. They are used to make the ¡¯Magicka Regeneration¡¯ much faster to those who are around them, also they power up the enchantments that protect the college and serve in many other purposes. These are one of the big things that were made by the founder, Arch-Mage Shalidor. After that, they told me about the ranks of the college. The ranks in the college were pretty interesting, when you join the college you be a ¡¯Student¡¯. Students are the lowest rank but you get to stay in the ¡¯Hall of Attainment¡¯ dormitory, the one where many students live in the same room, also you can ess its library and be allowed to learn most of the ¡¯Novice¡¯ spells. You can¡¯t open a stall to do business but you can be someone¡¯s helper. ¡¯Students¡¯ get to stay in the college for one year, if they didn¡¯t rank up they will get expelled. The next rank is the ¡¯Apprentice¡¯. This rank has more privileges, you get to move from the dorms and have your own room on a higher floor. You will have to choose a school to get specialized in but you also can learn from all schools as you wish, you can ess the library of the Apprentices where you get to learn the ¡¯Apprentice¡¯ level spells, you can have your own stall and do your business. The time limit of that rank is two years, if you don¡¯t rank up you get expelled. The rank after it is the ¡¯Evoker¡¯, this rank is very sensitive for a mage because you can ess the ¡¯Adept¡¯ level spells and finally ess the legendary ¡¯Arcanaeum¡¯, this is the official graduation rank and after it, you get to call yourself a ¡¯Mage¡¯. It is also time-limited as one can to stay as an ¡¯Evoker¡¯ for five years. After it, you get to graduate or be expelled. By the way, the college¡¯s team of five in the tournament are Evokers. Graduation opens all sorts of careers suitable for a mage. Jarls have more than just one court-mage, unlike the game, even though Nords don¡¯t like mages, magic is the force of this world, the only jarl who doesn¡¯t employ mages is probably Korir, Jarl of Winterhold. The other path after graduation is another ranking up and here where things get interesting, the next rank up is the ¡¯Schr¡¯ rank, to rank up you need to submit a research of a spell you created or a discovery in the field of Magic, this is one of the reasons why mages bite each other¡¯s asses all the time. The rank ¡¯Schr¡¯ means you are an official of the college, you get to ess anything unless it was marked as ¡¯ssified¡¯, you also get to move to the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯ with the other staff and have a chamber for yourself, you¡¯ll get a handsome monthly payment too, basically this is the dream. But there are duties too, jobs around the college are either in the Teaching, the Alchemy Lab, the Enchanting Hall or the Healing Services. There are also requests that are avable for all ranks and the college gets a fee from them. The rank ¡¯Schr¡¯ rank is a job and has no time limit, yet some practices are limited under no clear permission or excuse. There are no tradeable spells after ¡¯Adept¡¯ level spells, one either create his own, acquire it by a ¡¯mean¡¯, or from a personal mentor if he/she is under one. In my case I am Nurina¡¯s evil minion and I was promised to see her big spells, up until now I haven¡¯t seen any spell beyond ¡¯Adept¡¯ spells, this was also depressing but I guess I¡¯ll have to recreate the ¡¯Expert¡¯ and ¡¯Master¡¯ level spells from the game or think of cooler ones. After a long time of study and a big contributions, one can rank up to the ¡¯Wizard¡¯ rank, this is the beginning of powerhouse career, you can be a respectable member of the college and a high official, you also can ess the big tomes of knowledge and give lectures to students in the big hall, you also get to represent the college in the official business. After another long ages of study you can finally rank to be a ¡¯Master Wizard¡¯, don¡¯t think of anything funny, the ranking to the word ¡¯Master¡¯ is enough to make you a celebrity in Tamriel and all things move from your way when you walk around, the college may leave you to your business but if you decided to stay, you can be the head of a department or the manager of a certain task. Names like Tolfdir, Collette Marence, Phinis Gestor, Drevis Neloren and Mirabelle Ervine are the heads of each department and the big dogs around the college. It also seemed that Faralda is not the head of the Destruction department yet, Mirabelle Ervine is the head and also the manager of the affairs. After the rank of a ¡¯Master Wizard¡¯ there is the rank of the ¡¯Arch-Mage¡¯, this is the rank that they put just there to say ¡¯no one is better than us so f**k off¡¯, these guys are crazy strong, Dragons level strong, there is no rank behind it as no one cares about any ranking at that point, of course, there is a scary difference between the Arch-Mages themselves, you can¡¯tpare our friendly neighborhood Arch-Mage Savos Aren to someone like Arch-Mage Shalidor or Arch-Mage Vanus Galerion, this guy got his ass kicked in the game in an unsightly manner. [A/N: I said before I will use the ranks of Oblivion but I found that the college has its own ranks that were cut from the game, I will use that useful cut content here.] Speaking of the devil, Mirabelle came down with a Dunmer behind her, his robes looked really grand and clean, he also walked in a proud manner and looked at us withzy eyes. "I suppose your tournament idea went well Mirabelle, even though we can¡¯t brag about winning as I was nning to, we still got ourselves some good reputation." He said in a slow and azy voice. "Yes, Arch-Mage." Mirabelle said, "That is our team here." "Hmmm! Well done everyone, even though it wasn¡¯t a win, I am still going to reward each of you with an ¡¯Adept¡¯ tome of your liking." He said then looked at me, "And I suppose you are the new source of our headache." WTF! You say that to Nurina if you have the marbles! And what¡¯s with this manner of talking? Are you really her rtive? I remember Nurina not agreeing with him in every piece of news she got from the college, she always said that he loves appearances and coveted the position of the Arch-Mage not caring about how much it would affect the political view if he became one. "Jon Dare." I introduced myself. "Quite the arrogant name." He said. "Girls love it!" I replied. "Haha! I suppose they do." Heughed and said, "Congrattions on your win and wee to the college. Remember what you learn here willst you a lifetime. Several, if you¡¯re talented." "Thank you Arch-Mage." I said. He is surprisingly nice, I know some of his background, but Nurina¡¯s opinion of him may have affected his image to me a bit. He left back to the stairs and Mirabelle dismissed the rest, I was helplessly alone. "I¡¯ll show you to the dorms." She said and headed out so I followed. "Nurina has informed me of your talent as a mystic, I am not surprised. Many Nords has the talent but it is wasted by their Magic phobia. The big and hidden ns always associated themselves with the talent. I just hope my work doesn¡¯t get overloaded with this new department again." She said with a broken soul. "What is teacher¡¯s job?" I asked. "Sigh! I manage the Destruction department but my most important work is nning for the college¡¯s future, deal with applications and the public affairs." She said. "So, there is no one to take the Destruction department burden from you?" I asked. "Only Faralda but that would take time for her to be a ¡¯Master Wizard¡¯." She said. "That hard?" I was taken aback, Faralda is supposed to be a Master when the game starts. "Do you think the Master Rituals are easy?" She said in an annoyed tone, "The Destruction school may seem the most popr school on the outside but every research we do is life-threatening. Faralda is an excellent mage but a single mistake in magic is a disaster. In the rituals, no one can predict the frequency of the magical waves at that time and no one is stupid enough to stand beside a master spell researcher and sense it for them." That was a lot of nagging she just said. I still think I can solve that problem but it will take some time for me to finish the idea, I¡¯ll contribute it to the college afterward. After saying this and that, a figure in a ck robe and a hood approached, it came to me and raised a part of the hood. "Nurina? What ar...." I was about to say something but she put her hand on my mouth. "Shush! You idiot." She said in a low voice, "I am going to my chambers. You find me there. If a stupidly tall High Elf girl asked about me don¡¯t tell her where I went." The situation seemed weird but I nodded as Nurina started running away. Mirabelle looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders to her. Not long after another person stopped us, a stupidly tall High Elf indeed. I mean Faralda! "Where did she go? I smell her around here!" She was looking around. Scary! Stalkers are scary! "She sneaked to her chambers." I said. Sorry, Nurina! I am a bad minion. "I knew it!" Faralda said and ran towards the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯ with vigor. Myughter leaked out and my shoulders started shaking. Mirabelle was looking at me and sighed for the thousand time this day. "Sigh! Looks like our peaceful days are over." Chapter 47 Lost Magic [IMPORTANT A/N: With the spirit of remastering the novel, some changes happened: 1. Many Spells and Theories will be changed into more realistic ones, including the spells from the game, I think most of you can find it more IMMERSIVE if we used ¡¯Healing Hands¡¯ spell to the normal ¡¯Healing¡¯ disregarding the target, after all, if you aim it at yourself it¡¯s ¡¯Healing¡¯ spell, if you aim it at another then it¡¯s ¡¯Healing Hands¡¯ spell. The game made many spells from the same idea many times like ¡¯Turn Lesser Undead¡¯, ¡¯Turn Undead¡¯ and ¡¯Turn Greater Undead¡¯. We can make that just a damn one spell and get over with it. 2. Mod spells are really ineffective because they are just revamping of the game spells with no real use, I¡¯ll use the useful ones and change some stuff. For example; ¡¯Longstride¡¯ will be ¡¯Hasten¡¯ or ¡¯elerate¡¯ like that. 3. Chapter 12 was REMASTERED, All remastered chapters have in the title. Now Enjoy!] ******************************* I don¡¯t know what Mirabelle meant by ¡¯Peaceful Days¡¯ but I will have fun as usual, that¡¯s the normal n I go with. Mirabelle told me more stuff I already knew but there was something important. "Nurina said that you would take the exam of the ranking at the end of the month. The higher the rank the better the benefits, so make sure to study for it." She said. "Isn¡¯t that next week?" I asked. "Yes, we hold the ranking exams every four months. It¡¯s okay, no matter how hard the exam you can do it the next time." She said. "How many times I can take the exam on the same day?" I had an idea so I asked. "Excuse me?!" She looked strangely at me. "I mean, when I finish the ranking exam to ¡¯Apprentice¡¯ can I take the exam to ¡¯Evoker¡¯ on the same day?" "Huh? You think it¡¯s easy? Normally, it¡¯s one exam at a time, you¡¯ll have to wait for the next exam to rank up." She said, "And are you that confidence to pass the exam?" "Simple, I don¡¯t pass, Nurina kills me." I said, that¡¯s the truth though. The angry side of Nurina is scary. "Fine, I wish you luck. The new department will be officially announced after the exam. Nurina managed to rope in some teachers and students too..." She said the looked away, "What¡¯s that noise?" There was indeed some noise, someone was shouting. It came from the direction of the ¡¯Hall of Attainment¡¯. Some servants were making a fuss with another one who appeared to bring a lot of crates with them, seemed not permitted. Oh crap! These are my crates. And that¡¯s Junar. "Ehem! Is something wrong?" I approached Junar and asked. "These people don¡¯t want to let master¡¯s luggage in. They keep saying that a ¡¯Student¡¯ can¡¯t bring all this to a normal dorm." She said then whispered, "One more minute and I¡¯ll kill them." Thest part was said in a cold tone. I unconsciously broke into cold sweat. I couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly to this murderous girl. I have to act now. "These crates are yours? You can¡¯t take them unless you have a private room." Mirabelle said. Junar was about to retort but I poked her a bit hard. The one in front of you is a ¡¯Master-Wizard¡¯ dammit! She can BBQ us with a finger! "Ah! Hehehe! Sorry about that. I forgot to tell the maid that these crates were to be sent to Nurina¡¯s chambers. Clumsy me!" I hurriedly thought of something. Truth is, half of them belongs to her so that was a half lie I guess. "Okay!" Mirabelle said and looked to a servant, "Take them to the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯ the top floor." "But Mistress Mirabelle, these crates are insanely heavy, we almost broke our backs carrying them here." The servant guy said. "Here." Mirabelle said and cast a spell that gives a green hue, simr to my ¡¯Hasten¡¯ spell. "Is this ¡¯Feather¡¯ spell?" I wondered out loud. "Correct!" Mirabelle reacted. This spell is "Feather¡¯ spell from the Alteration school, it falls under the Aspect of ¡¯Weight¡¯ and the effect of ¡¯Resist¡¯. Basically a ¡¯Resist ¡¯Weight Spell. It can make stuff lighter. I haven¡¯t learned it yet, but it¡¯s an important spell I n to learn. When Mirabelle cast just it now, that was no normal cast. She cast a lingering effect on a dead object. Dead objects can only be enchanted to maintain an effect like ¡¯Resist Weight¡¯, to cast on them is like this needs maintaining the effect for some time but it¡¯s hard to control, it needed to be cast continuously or the spell would be broken. This just now was a show of might. "One more thing. Your maid can¡¯t stay in the dorms. Unless you have your own room." Mirabelle said, "You need to figure that out quickly." "Yes ma¡¯am." Mirabelle showed me my ce inside the dorms, I¡¯ll stay here for one week before I take the exams to rank up. My roommates would be two Nord twins called Borvir and Rondi, and one Argonian called s-Tei. I think I heard of these people in the game but strangely, I have no impression. [A/N: NPCs from cut content.] After saying introductions, I followed Mirabelle out and she handed me something. My ¡¯COLLEGE UNIFORM¡¯. Hehehe! It¡¯s just a sleeveless robe and a hooded mantle with the college insignia imprinted on them. One can wear them over clothes. You might ask I was epted without an examination. Well, I am the legacy student of a big shot. If they put me under an exam then that¡¯s an insult to Nurina. Back to the topic; I took Junar and went to the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯. Mirabelle said that Nurina lives on the top floor. Unlike the ¡¯Hall of Attainment¡¯ which had its first floor into a noisy dining hall and a library, with the dorms on the second. The ¡¯Hall of Attainment¡¯ had a very ssy cafeteria and a ce to rx in peace on the first floor, the second was a research facility with a lot of Enchanting Tables and Alchemy Stations around, this was a proper workce, the third and above was the quarters of the Schrs and the Wizards, the Master Wizards and beyond the rank took the highest floors. Both towers had ¡¯Magicka Focus Points¡¯ in the center as all floors were circr and every floor had an open circr hole at the center that allows the Magicka fountain to flow up. One thing must be noted that some magicians that are skilled in Alteration can use the energy of the fountain to float up and down like an elevator, how enviable! Noobs like me have to take the stairs. Not muchter, we were on the top floor, I could tell Nurina¡¯s chambers by the crates in front of the door. After knocking on the door I heard some footstepsing. Who opened the door was a beautiful Dunmerdy. That was not Nurina. She has a brown hair with the same Dunmeri skin and eyes, added to that was a ¡¯War Paint¡¯ on the sides of her face. "May I help you, students?" She asked. "Ehem! Excuse me, I am here for Nurina. Isn¡¯t this her ce?" I said with a smile. The first rule when you see a beautifuldy is to make a good impression. "Arch-Wizard.." Thedy said. "Excuse me!" I didn¡¯t understand what she wanted to say. "Lady Nurina or Arch-Wizard Nurina. She¡¯s not some friend of yours, student." Thedy said in a scolding tone. I could hear Junar giggling, this damn scoundrel. My smile turned into a crumbled one. Good impression they said! I think this is what we call a disaster impression. "Ehem! Excuse my rudeness for not introducing myself." I kept my polite attitude, "I am her adopted son." Thedy got taken aback, she looked at me up and down. I was wearing my travel pants and a grey shirt with the new ¡¯Student¡¯ sleeveless robe as well as my Skyforge Saber. "You are Jon?" She asked. Looks like I am kinda famous nowadays. "Yes I a..." I was saying ¡¯Yes I am Jon¡¯ but I suddenly got hugged, by thatdy. It was a fast hug but she got back and held my shoulders. "So it¡¯s you, we were waiting, Nurina told me so much about you." Her irritated look turned 180¡ã degrees to beams of sparkle. This was fast even on Junar¡¯s crazy standards. "I¡¯ll tell her you came, hurry in!" She ran inside smiling. For a second I felt my confidence getting a blow rather than being moved by the hug. I was using my charms yet for some reason this woman was moved by the fact I am Nurina¡¯s son. This is tough! I took a breath to calm myself but I remembered Junar who wasughing at me, let¡¯s see how she looks now. As expected, she was taking some time toprehend what happened. "Hehehe!" I giggled and slipped the finger at her. Going through the door, I could see a beautiful entrance way with flower pots on each side, walking ahead and turning slightly to the right was arge room full of furniture. It has a big round window that its bars were shaped into the insignia of the college. The room had three beautifuldies. The one I just met and a Faralda who somehow magically merged into a helpless looking Nurina. "What¡¯s up?" I said while grinning at Nurina. Nurina expressions were dark and she looked at me while murmuring something. "Traitor!" "Huh! Sorry?" "TRAITOR! SCOUNDREL! ...." A stream of cursing assaulted me alongside anything her hands could reach to throw at me. "Lah! Hold him down!" Nurina said to the other Dunmerdy. Her name was Lah, huh! Where did I hear that name before? I have little recollection of the name, was she from a mod? Never mind that now! I caught all the stuff Nurina threw at me. The chaos continued for a while until Lah called it off. By some miracle, she could separate Faralda from Nurina. What a capable woman! "Can you act with some sanity around here?" She was also scolding Faralda. "I am taking 15 years worth of snuggle. With interest!" Faralda was still ready for another round as for Nirina who ran behind some table. Never seen that side of hers before! "Look now! We have some students here, act with some dignity." Lah gave a lecture, "Now, you have a report to write and a ss to manage. Let¡¯s go before Mirabelle joins the mess." The very capable Lah dragged Faralda out and left the chambers. Who remained were me, Nurina and Junar who just followed in. "Stinkin brat! You sell I, your old mother out to that walking tower of snuggling ande tough at it." Nurina was ring at me. I could help but smile wryly, she became lively again. "Seriously you can¡¯t me me. I mean, she was sniffing after you in the corridor, you should have covered your scent." I said that after looking around for a ce to sit. "Sigh! This is my fault." Nurina shivered when I said the thing about Faralda tracking her by scent. "How did you guys get along that well anyway?" I asked helplessly. Nurina looked at me then walked to a chair then sat while holding a mug. That¡¯s some coffee from the smell. "Long ago before the great copse, I was just a Schr here and Faralda was a new student that came from Summerset." She said, "What do you think would make an Altmer girl leave her home that is famed for its magic ande to Skyrim?" "Good weather! Friendly locals! Tasty food! ...." I started to mention Skyrim¡¯s features. "Faralda had no ss or status in Summerset. She was talented but poor as most of the students whoe here." Nurina said, "I taught her and she was a good learner so I doted her for a while, maybe more than I should. Never thought she would be a pervert." Hmmm! It¡¯s okay as long as nothing weird is involved. "So why did you leave her with no connection for 15 years." I asked. "I went for Riften to test some spells with some of the Hags who followed the ¡¯Old Ways¡¯ for many years. I wanted to reach a way to find the ¡¯Soul Cairn¡¯ and conjure creatures from it but I was dyed when some friend asked me to adopt you." She said. This is the first time she speaks about my adoption. "But why did you work in an orphanage then?" I was curious. "I told you before. No one would suspect the friendly orphanage headmistress to be a mage on a fieldwork." She said. "Back then, was a post-war period and any stranger was being suspected of being a spy." Hmmm! She is right. "Anyway, who is that girl?" "That¡¯s Junar, I hired her to be my maid." Nurina raised her brows, "Really? How did you meet her?" "She was an assassin hired to kill me by Sibbi ck-Briar." Nurinagged, she looked at the girl the red at her, I could feel Junar shuddering from the killing aura Nurina made just now. "You don¡¯t need to be like that. You see, things happened like this..." And I started telling her about what happened in Solitude. After listening, Nurina was amazed more. "You killed an assassin, killed three thugs and then killed Sibbi son of Maven." Nurina eximed, "Boy! I look away from you and you already killed some people and lost your virginity. Mama approves!" Thank you! I was appreciating her approval but something felt wrong. "Ehem! What is that thing about my virginity?" I felt like I heard the word. "Stinkin brat! You thought I wouldn¡¯t notice." Nurina smiled evilly at me, "We¡¯ll talk about that! Alone!" Crap! This won¡¯t end well. Just like that time when I held Akara¡¯s tail. "Anyway, I brought you the stuff you needed. Jull, bring it in." Junar took the chance to escape from Nurina¡¯s presence. After a while of talking. Nurina already made me confess everything. She was impressed by the ¡¯Magicka Cultivation¡¯ but said it would need a lot more than just that to be an effective training. "So, what do you research now?" I asked to get some space from her questions. "Hmm! Did you see Lah just now? She is our Mysticism department new addition and will be your teacher! I let her see some of your ideas and she took a liking to them." Nurina said, "We started a little project on some documents our friends have ¡¯liberated¡¯ from an old research facility that belonged to Lord Corvus Direnni." "Corvus Direnni!" I was amazed and stood up, "The famous conjurer from the First Era? The first mage tobine the ¡¯Bound¡¯ and ¡¯Conjure¡¯ aspects in one spell." I yelled. "That¡¯s him." Nurina joined my excitement, "We are going through his documents but it¡¯s heavily coded. The best one I know who can solve codes is you. Ready for what¡¯sing?" "Just say it!" I was dying from anticipation. "These documents may contain his work of forcing the Atronachs to take different forms." Nurina said. Amazing! Every conjurer heard the stories of Lord Corvus Direnni summoning Atronachs in the shape of a horse, a camel or even a bear. "So you are saying that we can finally change the Atronachs to any form we like?" I asked. "Do you have a form in mind?" Nurina asked. Hehehe! This will be crazy! Chapter 48 VOKARAAS! [A/N: The Chapter will be editedter.] It was not as fun as I thought. Solving the code of these hurdles of paper is a pain. These papers were written hundreds of years ago. Thenguage itself was different, and the magic was not theorized as today¡¯s magic. There are a lot of aspects that changed with the upgrade of every theory, something like understanding maism, gravity, thews of matter and energy and all that. The my ¡¯One School¡¯ theory is based on thetest scientific understanding of the mundane world of ¡¯Earth¡¯. I am not familiar with science very well but I read a lot of sci-fi fictional works and I have a general understanding for some big theories. This is why I made big progress in the art of Magic. For some time now, I was arguing with Nurina over many aspects and I even won against her few times. In my opinion, the aspects of magic are simr to the table of elements, one can imagine how many magics with how many uses can be made. In my ¡¯One School¡¯ theory, I reversed the process that was done by Arch-Mage Vanus Galerion, founder of the Mages Guild. He basically took inspiration from the categorization that was done by Arch-Mage Shalidor andid the first aspects of the schools of magic as we know today. He was a Psijic so he knew more about the aspects than anyone outside the Order. The Psijics themselves don¡¯t follow anything other than the ¡¯Mysticism¡¯. Which means that the possibility of them having something simr to the ¡¯One School¡¯ theory is high. I, myself spected a new aspect for they gravitational forces and called it the ¡¯Aspect of Maism¡¯. It¡¯s nothingplete yet but if my calctions are correct, I may create the perfect ¡¯Force Field Shield¡¯ or maybe a ¡¯Hover¡¯ enchantment and a spell. The current barriers fall under what is called aspect of ¡¯Physiokinesos¡¯ such like ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯. The reason why Vanus Galerion didn¡¯t put all what he knew into Mysticism was for one of two reasons; maybe he didn¡¯t want to teach the secrets of the Psijic Order which he abandoned to the world or what he learned didn¡¯t exceed what he passed down. Still, the paper in front of me had strange aspects or I am not tranting it very well. Maybe both, maybe it¡¯s part of the code. Looking at the window, I saw the sun was already setting and my work didn¡¯t advanced beyond the first page. Nurina was reading some tomes about the aspects to help me trante them. Lah came back a while ago and started to teach Junar¡¯s magical ability after Nurina¡¯s request. Nurina also decided that Junar will remain with her until I get my own room. She was not treating Junar with goodwill as it seems that she doesn¡¯t trust her. She only wants to judge her for now. This was actually my reason for bringing Junar along. Nurina has a soft spot for children and maybe find a way to fix the girl, mental or physically. "I am tired!" Something leaked out of my mouth and it was the truth. "Go ahead and have rest." Nurina said, "Come tomorrow, I¡¯ll bring you some books from the Arcanaeum." Such a kind mother you are, Nurina! "I remember some titles about the old theories, they¡¯ll help you trante faster." How cold! "I want to study for that exam, you know." "You think you are allowed to do bad?" Ugh!! Why am I being given that look. "Fine!" I stood and went out of that room, too many Dunmer nerds in one ce. This tower was lovely unlike the normal dorms and I saw many schrs here and there, fighting over theorical knowledge. I am still exhausted so I better head out to sleep in the dorm now. Putting will into action, I went out of the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯ and took left to walk away just to crush into someone followed by the sound of something dropped. "Hey! Watch it!" The person who crash into me has a very rough voice, somewhat scared me but I looked at him. Apparently that was the Orc boy who was doing some metalworking earlier. "I am sorry, I was absent minded." I made an apology and looked to see what fell on the ground and it was some paper. To show the apology in a time like this, one must help collecting the paper. "I am so sorry, I was very into deep thinking just now, here you go." I helped the boy to collect his stuff, but my eye fell on a certain paper. It had a weird drawing on it. What was that? Some sort of clock orpass! "Excuse me but you are not supported to see that. Club members only." The Orc bou voice can awaken the dead in Oblivion, dammit! Don¡¯t you listen to yourself? "I am sorry! My curiosity took the best of me." I said as I was nning to question that guy about the sketch, "My name is Jon." "Morbagog." We shook hands as we introduced ourselves. "What is that device?" "Device huh! Don¡¯t you see apass?" "Please don¡¯t insult me! That is nopass! It have to many details and numerical markings to be one." "Hehe! So you can get it huh?" Morbagog smiled and said, "These are club secrets. I won¡¯t say even if you are the Arch-Mage himself." Huhu! Now I won¡¯t leave until I know. "What is that club thing?" "Oh! Well, every group of apprentices can form a smallmunity and contribute together as a team. You look like a new student around here so I¡¯ll tell you....." This was what one could expect! Some people can¡¯t contribute alone so they work in teams. After all the manpower a team can provide is much higher than one person. There are many teams for various activities, normally Alchemy Enchanting and Research teams are the the popr ones. The students of the Security team are also a club made by the college itself and granted the duties, their contributions are about how long and how good their record is so they are very strict all the time. "And your club is about machinery?" I asked. "Yes it is. The club is led by a Nord teacher named Eliel." Morbagog said, "We are the smallest club but we will never be looked down upon." I salute your spirit! Looks like his club is not doing anything useful though! "Can I take a look at your club!" I asked. "Eh! Normally you can. But students can¡¯t join. You guys should study for the rank up!" He said an looked disheartened. "I am a student until next week!" I said full of confidence. "Pretty confident, eh?" Morbagog looked at me up and down, "Fine! You can follow. But remember, only those with true passion for creativity are allowed to join." What ame phrase! I am just curious. "Come! This way!" Morbagog walked and I tagged along. Let¡¯s see what will he show me! ********************************** Following Morbagog, we arrived at the gate that leads to the circr courtyard of the college. I never went there before but it looked pretty. Two buildings around the central ¡¯Magicka Focus Point¡¯ and the Statue of Shalidor, but the weather was freezing. Morbagog led me to the building on the left, he pushed the door open and I followed. A curve corridor we were in with nts and herbs on its wall, moss and mushrooms were being grown here too. Sunlight was provided by a spell called ¡¯Magelight¡¯, it gave off light and magical radiance that has a simr effect to sunlight. As we walked we reached some stairs that took us underground. Another floor emerged and Morbagog hurried my to a room on the side. "I am back! Someone ising with me!" Morbagog said as I walked in. I saw another three people in there, they all looked busy with their stuff. A panther likerge Khajiit boy holding a strange spooky de like thing. A Redguard hot girl looking at a machine that producing me. A very pure looking Nord girl with tinum hair who was looking at a book with a red face and a not so good smile. This looked like the weirdest gathering ever. A Khajiit, an Orc, A Redguard and a Nord. Morbagog cleared his voice and spoke, "This is our club¡¯s secretir. The guy over there is Mahran. He is a big and silent Cathy-Raht and he is an Apprentice with some background in Dwemer engineering. He is obsessed with evil looking killing machines but he is a good hearted fellow." "This is Yisra, a Apprentice Redguard as you see, she is fond of anything that has to do with fire, but she is a good hearted fellow." [A/N: Yisra appeared in the game buy was already dead.] "This is teacher Eliel, one of the youngest schrs with many worthless contributions. She likes booze and researchs on a magic that makes people nude, but she is a good hearted fellow." "Finally, I am Morbagog son of Margabrog, I am the twentieth child of my father so I left and wandered for two years until I found the college, I am an apprentice who is fond of machines, and also.." "Let me guess! ¡¯A good heated fellow¡¯." I interrupted him because my head has its fill of his deep rough voice. "Haha! You got it fast!" Oblivion! This is a messed up club. A serial killer Khajiit, an arsonist Redguard,a perverted Nord and an airheaded Orc. The three looked at me and stopped what they were doing. The Schr Eliel stood and looked at me. Morbagog spoke again, "This is Jon, he maybe a student until the end of the week but when he saw the sketch of the Magicka Calctor project and made a close guess about it, he also looked like an good hearted fellow." The trio seemed raised their brows. "Wee student, I am Eliel the club manager. Don¡¯t let the club appearance worry you. We are a legit club. We are a research club that is specialized in machines, we may lose in numbers but our spirits are strong." She made a speech full of spirit. Mahran and Yisra looked away not interested in what she was about to say. "Club rules are simple; as long are you are free thinker, creative and machines lover then you are wee in our ranks." She finished her short show then made some puppy eyes, "Please join us!" These are some serious puppy eyes but who is she using it on? The cat lover overlord. "I¡¯ll think about it!" "Tch!" Eliel clicked her tongue and sat back on her seet. Morbagog cleared his voice and was about to speak but I jumped away scared from the sound he made. "Hehe! Sorry.. Truth is, we need a fifth member or we will be disbanded, I thought you have a good brain for machinery so I invited you here." "This one thinks you need to take a look around first." Mahran spoke, "Feel free to ask about our personal projects." "So what do you guys do?" I asked immediately. "I am working on a highly mmable project to fill dungeon with gas and kill all the vermin dwelling in." Yisra said without looking away, she was standing on some alchemy station behind Eliel¡¯s chair. She¡¯ll kill herself one day with something simr. "I work on the main team project for now, the one you saw on the sketch. As well as my stall." Morbagog said. "This one thinks that the Dwemer could have done a better job with their machines. I am adding some ideas on a model to make it a hundred times more deadly." That was Mahran. That is one hopeless team! "What about miss Eliel?" I asked. "Huff! Huff! Heh heh! I am working on a spell that makes everyone nude, as well as the main project." She said. This girl is dangerous! But I couldn¡¯t help but look at the runes of the spell she was Sketching. Spells are made of Magical Energy called Magicka that is shaped into the ¡¯Runic Circle¡¯ or ¡¯Magic Circle¡¯ that gives birth to the spell. Simr to the ¡¯Rune Spells¡¯ from the game, this was the main idea behind the magic. The runes she made were a total mess, a strange mess with a chaotic appearance but they seemed familiar. The book I read this morning has the same chaotic feeling. "Can you exin what are thesr runes here and here about?" I asked with the thickest skin I have. Prying into another mage¡¯s business is impolite but I feigned the ignorance of the students. "So you are interested in making people nude as well? Of course it is like this....." Eliel didn¡¯t mind at all and started exining. What was that?! This girl is a genius! Her brain worked around many aspects as if she was thinking like a cyclone. These chaotic runes started to look very beautiful. I was being illuminated by that perverted girl! Even though she was a pervert, she spoke in a very urate manner when it came to the spell. Her exnation pulled Morbagog and Mahran to stand beside me in front of her, Yisrs remained behind Eliel busy in her world. After she finished, I looked at her and was in wondering. "Miss Eliel, you are one big nerd!" I said that while admiring her perverted work. "Ehehe!" She smiled and puffed her t chest, she was standing but I noticed she was a shorty for a Nord. "Only problem is, to make people go nude you need to cast a lingering effect on a dead object which is their like clothes, if you do it like that that¡¯s fine but the amount of control you need is unfathomable. I saw teacher Mirabelle cast a simr spell this morning and it was impressive." "Sigh! I know I know. How frustrating! My control was never my best quality!" Morbagog scared us with his voice again, "I am sure you will do it, big sister won¡¯t give up!" Mahran who was standing beside me was sighing and shaking his head. "Ok ok! Don¡¯t shout Morbagog, don¡¯t shout!" Eliel was calming down the Orc boy. "Shout! Huh!" And idea came to me. "What did you say Jon?" Eliel heard me. "I say teacher! Maybe a spell would be hard but what if it was a ¡¯Shout¡¯, a ¡¯Thu¡¯um¡¯?" I said my mind. "Eh? That¡¯s a good idea! But the Thu¡¯um needs years of practice and it¡¯s not known if there is a word for ¡¯Nude¡¯ in the dragonnguage." Oh! About that! I researched about that long time ago when I tried to make my own shouts. From my past life there were people who research the dragonnguage on a website and came up with thousands of words. I also thought about a shout with the same function, if I remember correctly then it was ¡¯Vokaraas Liinus Nunt¡¯, which meant ¡¯Undress Sexy Nude¡¯. "I think I know a word that means ¡¯undress¡¯." I said. """"WHAT?"""" The four people freaked out. That was a Thu¡¯um after all. "Truth be said, I researched something on my own and made it to this word." I took a paper and drew the dragon runes on it and tranted it for them. "This is the word!" I handed the paper to Eliel, "It¡¯s read ¡¯Vokaraas¡¯, V O K A R Aa S, seven dragon runes as you see." Morbagog and Mahran stood beside of me in awe, Yisra stood behind Eliel looking at the word. Eliel was looking at the word as if she was imprinting it in her brain. Her breathing became heavier and things got dangerous. I only gave her the word to repay her on the favor she did to me, I now can finish the work with Nurina before the exam. "How does people shout?" Mahran asked. "To shout you need to fully understand the word and it¡¯s runes, you need to have the strongest imagination in your head about the effect you are about to cause. Last step is to focus your vital essence into a Shout." That was pretty much it. "Vokaraas!" Eliel said. "Yes, that¡¯s how it is pronounced!" That was a splendid pronunciation indeed. "Vokaraas!" She said again. "Good luck! Keep practicing."I said. "Vokaraas!" She was still saying it. "Big sister, are you okay?" Morbagog felt something was wrong. "Huff! Huff! Hehehe!" Eliel stated to make weird voices. I had a bad premonition but, s..... I was toote. "VOKARAAS!" Chapter 49 Rank Up Exam [A/N: This is a lore based chapter. One of the chapter ls that will focus on the magic and its theory.] ************************************ Thinking back about what happened that day, my body starts to shiver. Seriously! Perverts are scary! Thar Eliel is something out of the norm. Sheprehend the word ¡¯ Undress¡¯ to the deepest meaning possible of the word itself. Such willpower and determination is worthy of admiration if it was in something worth it. She used my basic exnation of the ¡¯Shouting¡¯ process and applied it in a scary manner. If news of this reached the ¡¯Vignts of Standarr¡¯, Eliel will be hunted down for sure. [A/N: ¡¯Vignts of Standarr¡¯ are an order of fighting priests that serve the god of righteousness. Vampire and Daedra hunters.] Due to Eliel¡¯s shout my clothes as well as Mahran and Morbagog were blown away. Well not exactly all the clothes. Only the firstyer of clothes thankfully. Normally in that cold weather we wear more than just oneyer, so we had our robes and pants blown away. I don¡¯t understand the theory or the idea behind ¡¯Undress¡¯ so I really have no understanding of the phenomenon. What happened after that was understandable for someone who uses the Thu¡¯um for the first time. Eliel fainted, Yisra screamed, the two boys were gratified from what happened. It took us a long time to calm down and fix the mess. Still, I am not sure if Eliel fainted due to the shout or to extensive nosebleeding. "Sigh!" All this mess happened a week ago. Thankfully, it was a week shout from an untrained person so it didn¡¯t do much noise. "Sigh! Ouch!" I sighed again but something hits my head. "Stop sighing and get back to work! Finish the damn thing!" Nurina, who threw a book at my head, is annoyed to the limit. After the incident in that club, I went back to Nurina the next morning and made a good progress with solving the code. Truly genius! Some people has the mindset to think in circles and tie things with each other in a fantastic way. It¡¯s that kind of ability which you need to see then go apply it. Something like a talent but it¡¯s a fantastic form of concentration. Applying it was not hard as I managed to fully utilize the method for solving the code and understanding the subject in three days. The subject was about a very unique magical ¡¯Effect¡¯ called ¡¯Bend¡¯, it can be said that it can be applied in ¡¯Mysticism¡¯ and ¡¯Alteration¡¯. Simr to the effects ¡¯Alter¡¯ and ¡¯Change¡¯. ¡¯Magical Effects¡¯bined with ¡¯Magical Aspects¡¯ formed into a ¡¯Rune Circle¡¯ casted with a ¡¯Magical Technique¡¯ give the birth of a ¡¯Spell¡¯. I made a lot of self research on all these things and came up with a lot of results that I kept to my note. If all these guesses and results are correct and can be applied then I¡¯ll call myself the ¡¯Daddy of the Modern Mystokinesis¡¯. Still, I am not able to experiment for the time being, I need a lot of personal space and privacy with a a vast amount of materials and books. Basically I need to go in a ce where I can go wild with research. If I only had an ¡¯Inte¡¯ right now. "Sigh!" "STOP SIGHING!" "Fine! Fine! Ysgrmor¡¯s tomb is nearby. You¡¯ll awaken him with this shouting." Nurina is irritated beyond her usual self now. Currently, I am at her ce with Lah and little Jull. Everyone has their own task. After understanding the research of Lord Corvus Direnni. We now are recreating the spells by our effort. I am working on the me Atronachs as I was familiar with it. Lah was tasked with the Storm Atronachs as it was her speciality. Nurina is working on the Frost Atronachs and she is irritated because of something. Junar is doing her task on the side learning how to conjure ¡¯Familiars¡¯, she managed to conjure a Raven. Back to the irritated Nurina. Her work on the Frost Atronachs is really hard. Frost Atronachs are very much different than the Storm and me types. They arerge and physically strong which made them hard to reshape unlike the others which bodies are not that hard, they can be sommoned from multiple realms of ¡¯Oblivion¡¯ which can be said to the other two types but they have their own private realms of ¡¯Infernace¡¯ and ¡¯Levinace¡¯. Finally, Frost Atronachs walk as they are heavy, but the other two can both walk and hover. This made Nurina¡¯s work to reshape the Frost Atronachs hundreds of times harder than mine and Lah¡¯s work. My work is reshaping the me Atronachs into Horses. I was going all out to make kitty kitty kitties but Nurina stopped me. I swear I¡¯ll do it butter. Lah is making the Storm Atronachs into Bears and was having no hard time at all. She was indeed an expert with Daedra. To my surprise, we found an article in the documents about two of the historical figures riding them. The first was Empress Hestra who rode a me Atronach Bear back in the first era and the second was freakin Ysgramor himself, he rode a Storm Atronach Bear. I guess I should have done Bear or a Saber cat but I am more familiar with horse. My n is to make a beautiful Arabian Horse me Atronach. The me Atronach is the easiest of the three yet it is the weakest and the lightest. I am looking more forward to a bigger forms though. To help Nurina with her dilemma, I suggested that she make the Frost Atronachs into a more utility type. It means that she has to reshape its mace-like and de-like arms into something more useful such as hands or robotic clutchs. She took the idea really well and thought of more uses, she designed a digging arm, and went as far as making the Atronach walk on four with a hollowed back. I think that what happens when a genius think. Now, it¡¯ste at night. Tomorrow is my exam so I¡¯ll just go sleep now. ************************************ "All students taking the exam are to form in this group! Here please!" Mirabelle was organizing everything as usual, Tolfdir, Faralda and many other faces I am not recognized with were going to oversee the exam. "Good to see Skyrim still has such fine younglings." Tolfdir said, "Please be at ease, this is not going to be a hard exam, answer what you can and we will give you your score on the spot. depending on that you will be advanced to the a dueling exam where we teach your energy and spell techniques." This is going to be like this! Truth be said, I am learning magic for ten years so I am not taking this exam seriously. We were arranged in the first floor at the ¡¯Hall of the Elements¡¯, there were many lecture benches around the central ¡¯Magicka Focus Point¡¯ and were given the writing paper. A big scroll was brought then opened for us to see what was written on it. "This is the most basic test of the general knowledge." Faralda said, "Answer it in two hours." Then she flipped an hourss. What was written on the scroll is... 1- What is Magic? 2- What is the origin of Magic? 3- Write about the history of Magic. 4- Write about the different forms of the arcane arts. ...that! The hell! This is not hard at all but I think I can feel the people around me shivering. The difficulty is low but it will take ages to finish it! Let¡¯s just write it quickly! First question, let¡¯s see! What is magic? That is an easy one. Good answer! Next question, Origin of Magic. <¡¯Magnus¡¯ was the god who designed Mundus during its creation. After it waspleted, however, he ordered the project terminated, and left for Aetherius at great cost. In doing so, he tore a hole in the veil of Oblivion (The Realm of Daedra) through which the magicka of Aetherius flows into the world. This great rift he left behind is the Sun is itself known as Magnus. Soon, other et¡¯Ada (General term for all gods) who agreed with Magnus followed his lead, leaving smaller holes which are the Stars, through which magicka also flows. This is why the stars under which a person is born have such a great influence on that person¡¯s fortunes and fate, and why many materials which fall from the heavens have great magical properties.> Answerplete! Seriously how can I believe any of that? Still, I had to write it. Now for the big question, the history of Magic. Gahhh! I hate this part. < Some of the first recorded uses of magic were by the Ayleids of the First Era. Through the salvaging of fallen fragments of Aetherius, they attained great arcane power, which they used to enve the early Cyrodiils. With one or two exceptions, wizards of the early First Era were generally solitary, and there was little coboration beyond the master-apprentice rtionship, or standardization in magical practices. Until the Second Era and the construction of the Arcane University, the Crystal Tower of Summerset Isle was considered the pinnacle of magical research and learning in Tamriel. Many different magical arts have been developed during Tamrielic history for purposes .........> What an endless question! Next, forms of the arcane arts? Gun question but long. < {Spellcasting}: The act of drawing on ones own magicka reserves in order to generate some kind of effect in the physical world is called "casting a spell". There have been six widely epted schools of spellcasting over time, each with a number of spells that pertain to its particr purpose: 1.Destruction: harms the target by damaging its health with either elemental or magical attacks, draining and damaging its attributes. 2.Restoration: augments the target by restoring or fortifying its attributes, granting it resistances to the elements, magic, disease, paralysis, poison, or curing it as harming the target by absorbing its attributes. 3.Conjuration: calsl upon otherworldy entities through telepathy. Conjuration spells augment the caster by granting them Daedric and Undead guardians, Daedric gear. 4.Alteration: alters the physical and magical properties of the target. Alteration spells can for example make objects heavier and lighter. 5.Illusion: Illusion spells harm the target by manipting its mentality an vision. 6.Mysticism: is an obscure school, though its spells seem to manipte magicka itself. Due to its spells that bind the target¡¯s soul, this school is closely rted to necromancy. Mysticism spells augment the target by granting it the ability to detect life, absorb and reflect spells as well as harm it by dispelling its magical effects and trapping its soul, including the ability to move objects through space with telekinesis. {Enchanting} Enchanting is the act of endowing objects with magical properties through the use of a soul, almost always with the use of a soul gem. An enchanted item¡¯s power diminishes with use, in which case additional souls may be used to replenish it. The strength of an enchanted item and the amount by which it can be recharged is directly rted to the magnitude of the souls used. {Alchemy} Alchemy is the act of mixing, boiling and distilling various substances to obtain their chemo-magical properties and create potions and poisons.> This is as far as I can go now! Time is up! I was thinking to write about more stuff but I guess at least I wrote the minimum required. Faralda took all the paper and now I am waiting for them to finish with the score thing. ************************************ An hourter. This was bad! Why is there such a heavy killing intent being aimed at me. How the hell can anyone score like this! Chapter 50 Lets Visit Winterhold "Hey did you hear that? A ¡¯Student¡¯ in today¡¯s exam scored higher than the end score." "A boy who answered in a very academic manner, all the teachers are flocking around him." "We don¡¯t know, maybe he¡¯s someone from Summerset or something." "Rumors that he won the king¡¯s tournament and eliminated the team of the College." "By the eight! A Nord! How can a Nord has a brain for Magic, let alone the Magic knowledge." Rumors, conversations, secret notes, the first half of the Rank Up exam drew a lot of attention. The scores paper was: Jon Dare: 60/40 Laemoth: 30/40 Nilyana: 30/40 Moskar: 29/40 ************************************ I think I wrote a bit too much. When I ran for Faralda to ask her about what happened she said that my third answer contained a number of events argued about in the history and my second answer is considered a Schr level knowledge. In myst answer where I wrote about the practices of magic, I also added some small notes about the Thu¡¯um, Necromancy, and Shehai (The Sword-Singing). I think I overdid it. Anyway, I found myself being asked about many stuff from all the schrs around. What saved me was Faralda res at them. Now I was sitting away trying not to do anything weird, only to hear people talking and talking about me more and more. The three who came behind me in the score were sitting together and giving me cold res. An Altmer boy, a Bosmer girl and a Khajiit boy. Not like I even care." For some reason, another faces started to appear as if they came to watch. "The casting exam will start now." Teacher Mirabelle announced the next exam! Okay! Let¡¯s not make a scene this time. "Jon Dare." Dammit! Why am I the first! "Stand there and cast what you are told to cast." Faralda is the one testing me. "First, a Ward!" I cast the normal ¡¯Steadfast Ward¡¯. Faralda casts a ¡¯Fire Bolt¡¯ at me and my Ward negates it. "A channeling Destruction spell." I cast ¡¯Sparks¡¯ this time and Faralda received it easily. "A bolt Restoration spell." That¡¯s easy, ¡¯Sun Fire¡¯ is the spell I need. "Conjure to your limits." Now, wait a minute! This will be scary. Faralda looks at me and says it again. I conjured five ¡¯Familiars¡¯, all cats. "You pass!" Tolfdir ps and ends my dilemma saying that. I think I was going to look scary if I was asked to make a st spell or higher. I walked away from the stage for the others to get tested. After filling the form I had to do for my Ranking up, I received a new key and a new ¡¯Apprentice¡¯ robes exchanging it with the old one. Now let¡¯s head out directly to Nurina¡¯s. "Not so fast!" A voice called for me at after the gate of the tower. "A problem?" I didn¡¯t like the voice or the Altmer who spoke. "Not at all, I don¡¯t know who are you or where do you came from but good to see a new face around!" The Altmer boy said, "I am Orthorn, my team is a research team which can be called the best team in the college, if you..." "The best team, huh?" Before I retort someone else did. A Breton girl it seemed. "I can call your team a bunch of thieves and you won¡¯t even retort to the fact." "Mind your business, Nirenil." "This¡¯s my business too, my team is a team of elite ¡¯Apprentices¡¯, we are the team that does all the real work around here." "I¡¯ll pass!" I think it will be a headache to get myself into student fights now. Nirenil looks at me as if I denied the mercy of Mara. Orthorn, on the other hand, smiled slyly. "Ah! How sad! The ¡¯Apprentice¡¯ rooms have people with all sorts of attitudes, it would be sad if you don¡¯t have someone to watch you back." He said. Ah! A threat! And a bullying threat at that! Double crime. I know only one way to deal with a bully. A low blow! "Aaaaah! You bastard." Now his appearance is just perfect. "Hey what are you doing?" Nirenil jumped back from my sudden move. "If you don¡¯t have anything to say, then scram! I¡¯ll deal with this trash myself." She looked at me then turned away on the spot! Smart girl. "This attitude of yours in Riften will bring you a nice resting spot at the bottom of a canal." I said as I look down on the crouching elf, "Next time I feel something is wrong around me, I¡¯lle and find with you. Don¡¯t let me see you around too." He was immersed in pain but he heard me well. I grew up in Riften so bullying was something I grew up with! I always respond this way to it. Leaving the Elf in pain alone I headed directly to the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯. I still have a spell to finish. Who opened the door to me was a sleepy looking Junar, this was still early in the morning after all. "This is the key to my new room, remember to move our stuff there." Giving her the key was a way of showing trust. This girl tends to get moved easily by anything like that. "How was your exam?" Lah asked me. "The first." "Good, make sure to join a good team. Make some friends and have fun!" What a kinddy this Lah! Nurina would say something like... "Well, if you can¡¯t be the first, what is the point of me teaching you anything?" ...that! Sigh! "Hurry up and finish the spell! We will start the application now!" Nurina is still in a grumpy mood from working on the Frost Atronachs. I have already finished the spell before the exam so I have no problem going now. Holding the final product in my hand, I checked the steps one by one and started preparing the cast. Casting a spell for the first time is like learning how to walk all over again. The process is slow at first but will improve with practice. After getting the hang of the steps, I ready myself for the final call. Conjuration requires a telepathic signal between the souls, that¡¯s why conjuration is always associated with soul magic and necromancy. As the link gets established, I transmit the shape with the effects I learned from the research papers. Atronachs are beings with souls and ego, they are less tricky than the other daedra but their mental capabilities are simple. Reshaping them was a lost magic but now I am doing it. How many Atromancers would kill for this magic! After getting everything done, I cast the call mark on the ground front of me. All that is left is for the Atronach to answer the call and open a passage for itself toe from Oblivion to Mundus. Some people may think that Conjuration is a space magic or a something simr. But the reality is tough. It¡¯s all about making a guide for a daedric being and relying on its initial ability to warp the void between realms while bounding it to the caster. As the mark was put, the void started to warp and a being of fire emerged from it. For the void to disperse, it is a no long wait. But the anticipation made it seem longer. The head appeared followed by the rest of the body. "My oh my!" Nurina who was ready to cast the ¡¯Banish Daedra¡¯ spell anytime eximed at what she saw. What I was wracking my brain around these past days was that form. I wanted to create a more beautiful horse than the ones around Skyrim. The horses here are hateful in my opinion. I really hate how bulky and ugly they are. I know that they fit the climate and the nature of Skyrim and all of that. But look at this, this is how a horse should look likedies and gentlemen. Finely svelte body structure, concave profile, arched neck,paratively level croup, high-carried tail. Even the horns of the normal Atronach took a nice form over the head. The body is made of fire and volcanic stones that formed into a nice pattern of curves and shapes only added to the overall beauty of the horse. What more can I say? It made any other horses around here look like a bunch of sad potatoes. You might ask, is that immersive?! Why would I care? It¡¯s a beauty. "What kind of horse is that?" Lah asked. "Something from my past life." "Past what now?" "Ignore that part!" Nurina¡¯s and Jull¡¯s voices ovepped. "Do you have a saddle around here?" "Why would I have one? Also, you need a saddle that can resist fire." Nurina said, "Just trymanding it around for now." That was easy, the room was vast so making it move was no problem. The behavior resemnce of a real horse was installed by the process of the spell, but it had no temperament of a real horse. Still, I want to test the speed, but that will be forter. After a while, Lah conjured a Storm Atronach Bear. It looked fearsomepared to the beauty of my horse. It had a big body that reassembled a real bear but its shape was a bit too alien. Storm Atronachs are made of grey stones with lightning power putting them together into a humanoid shape, sometimes it has legs and sometimes it hovers with no legs. The Atronach Bear looks like that. It looks as if someone put some stones together until it resembled a bear and linked them with lightning. Unlike my horse that was made mainly for riding, the bear can fight and cast spells. Finally, Nurina conjured the Frost Atronachs with normal hands, it resembled the one from ¡¯TESIV: Oblivion¡¯. Practicing was not easy as we had to ¡¯Banish¡¯ them then ¡¯Conjure¡¯ them back. I also added the Frost Atronach to my arsenal and learned how to conjure it. Still, I am proud of the fire horse. I think I can ride it with no saddle if I used ¡¯Fireskin¡¯ spell, a variation of ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ that protects mainly against fire. Okay! Let¡¯s do that then! "I am going to Winterhold." ************************************ Back at the entrance again after a week of crossing the college¡¯s bridge. I kinda hate that bridge. Some sort of a trauma I had since my first try of the game. "Going somewhere?" A scary deep voice returned me back to the present. I jumped away scared of what kind of creature may cause such a vocal attack. "Morbagog, don¡¯t speak before I ready myself, dammit!" "Hahaha! Sorry, I forgot!" He wasughing as if nothing happened, "Where are you going?" "I am going to look for a stable in Winterhold!" "A stable! That¡¯s at the other end of town! Come, I know the ce." Morbagog walks ahead to the gate that opened itself smoothly, I want to study that gate at some point. Walking this bridge is a hairy experience but I finally get myself to its end. God, I miss the ¡¯fast travel¡¯. Winterhold! Ruins of wood and snow just as the game but the damage here is massive and saddening to watch. There were some intact houses, some other looked new. People are trying to live anyway. "What is your business here anyway?" I asked Morbagog. "Snowberries! They at least sell that here." "So, how can I get to that stable?" "I¡¯ll take you there first then we¡¯ll go buy the Snowberries from the inn." No problem with me. A few minutester we reached the stables. The road was along the town as there was a mountain on our right side, some houses were there and also a big ¡¯Longhouse¡¯. The longhouse is a Nordic style mead-hall that the Jarl lives in. Normally, a Jarl lives in a castle but that isn¡¯t the case for Jarl Korir as his hold is in no shape. I am not a man of politics or governing but I can think of a hundred way to develop such a broken town, for this town to be in that shape for 74 years is aplete waste of time and resources. Gotta admit, the locals weren¡¯t friendly at all. Some even hid there children in their homes from the big bad mages. Everything looked poor and miserable. I arrived at the stable with Morbagog, who called for a stable boy yet his voice scared even the horses. This guy has embraced his voicepletely. Negotiating a price was easy as I was loaded with money since my visit to Solitude. Now! I have the saddle and the reins, the only thing left was to enchant them! As I Followed Morbagog to the inn, I decided to just finish my business here. ¡¯The Frozen Hearth Inn¡¯ was the ce that can openly deal with mages in Winterhold. One can say it is the neutral ground in the town. The inn was warm an cozy, and there is a bard too. "I¡¯ll do my business so you sit somewhere and order us some mead." Morbagog said and headed in. I chose a table in a dark corner so no one can see what I do. Putting the saddle and the reins on the table, I took out an expensive looking sack. As I untied it, what appeared inside was a troll¡¯s skull, five candles and a ss veil filled with ¡¯bone meal¡¯. Now let¡¯s get to work. First, draw a star in a circle and add all the runes around it. Second, position the candles at every end of the star and the skull between any two candles. Now it¡¯s time. I took the reins and ced them on the circle, then took out a ¡¯Common Soul Gem¡¯ and put it beside it. After lighting the candles, I consecrated on making a simple spell with one ¡¯effect¡¯ and one ¡¯aspect¡¯. The effect was ¡¯Resist¡¯ and the aspect was ¡¯me¡¯. After forming the simple spell, I cast it on the skull that transferred it to the circle. After a while, the soul gem¡¯s color started to dim and it broke. This meant sess. Using the ¡¯Detect¡¯ spell confirmed my sess. After that, I repeated the process with the saddle. Nothing out of the norm happened. This is going to be fun. After packing everything back, I called the tavern girl. "May I bring you someth...." Hmmm! Oh! Hallucinations after a long day of work are normal but that¡¯s so vivid. Isn¡¯t that Elishka? Chapter 51 Whistling Mine Elishka! That girl with a sinful body from Solitude Bathhouse. In Winterhold? I remember she was going to get married and settle in her hometown! Oh! What an interesting fate! So she is from here? And seeing how her face got pale when she saw me only means she is panicking! If I knew she was here I would have pretended that I don¡¯t know her but wegged to each other now. Sigh! How awkward! "May I get two bottles of mead, normal Nord mead!" "Yes! Anything else?" "Thank you." She is a married woman now! She may be the first woman I slept with in this life but I must know my boundaries! After a minute she brought the mead. Morbagog came after buying his stuff. "Hey, Morbagog bro! Is there any establishment like a bathhouse in Winterhold!" He looked at me and it seemed he did get the meaning. "Don¡¯t you like the bath in our dorm! We bring water from the sea and treat it with magic. What can a normal bathhouse offer?" This guy is an innocent person! Too bad he may get influenced by me. Or there is already Eliel, but it¡¯s a wonder this guy is taking everything on good will. "You know! Bathhouses offer some sort ofpanionship." "Hm! What do you mean?" Dude! "Bath wenches, I mean!" "Eh!" He seemed to have finally got the hint. "What are bath wenches?" Or not. "Get closer and don¡¯t utter a single word." He got closer and I started exining to him! He was eximing with ¡¯Eh!¡¯, ¡¯Aah!¡¯, and ¡¯Wha!¡¯. "So things like that happen in Bathhouses!" "Yes." "No, Winterhold has no such thing! I heard of some boys and girls hanging out in the ¡¯Midden¡¯ but it normally ended in scandals." "This is sad." The ¡¯Midden¡¯ is the underground and the underworld of the college, all sorts of unauthorized stuff happen there. You¡¯ll find traces of undead, dark rituals, or a dead student. It¡¯s the danger zone of the college. "So no one in the college can practice the ¡¯private needs¡¯ this easily, huh?" "Well, yeah!" This is gonna be tough! After this, we dragged from conversation to another! From Morbagog, I learned about the boy I hit this morning. Apparently, he is a big pain and problematic person. He was involved with some idents but there was no dust on him. "He made a team of many members and stolen a lot of researches from the other teams! He mostly enjoys it." "What about that Nirenil?" "Orthorn and Nirenil on the same day? I don¡¯t know how to react to that! Nirenil is the opposite kind of pain. She is convinced that she is some sort of ¡¯Elite¡¯. Orthorn knows that he breaks the rules but Nirenil doesn¡¯t even recognize them! She may do anything to acquire power or knowledge!" Good grief! Idiots are really everywhere. Not that I amining! Idiocy is a cosmicw. Seeing this kind of people reminds me of my past life. I had a boss and a senior who were that idiotic. I am a rebel by nature, but when ites to money, I think I was disadvantaged at that time. Sigh! "Don¡¯t look disheartened. At least you have a background." "How do you know about my background?" "In the college, there are hardly any secrets. And you my friend is the hottest topic today!" I knew this would happen. Sigh! Couldn¡¯t help but sink into my chair and feel depressed, praying that the world may give me a break. Yet how can this world answer to a non-believer like me? idents always happen. "What is that noise?" An inn patron raised a question as there was some noise from outside! A dragon attack? No, still four years early for that. "What is it this time?" I asked and Morbagog went out to ask. I am toozy to care. "A copse in ¡¯Whistling Mine¡¯!" A copse! In a mine? That didn¡¯t happen in the game before. I guess this is the price of an immersive world. People went into an uproar! Seems like it is not a usual event. "Let¡¯s ask the jarl for help!" "We need to get to the mine first." "Gods! How did this happen?" The people started running around trying to do something. ¡¯Whistling Mine¡¯ if I remember is the smallest mine in the game. Basically, somendmark to fill an empty barren road of snow. The interior in the game was small and icy with only two iron veins. "Morbagog! What are the details?" "A boy came running all the way from the mine to here, he said something about the mine copsing and people trapped inside. The Jarl is questioning the boy." "How far is the mine?" "If what I heard is correct, a day and a night walk." "The boy ran from there to here?" "He seemed to be the mine guard!" This is amazing! Even I can¡¯t run for a full day. "Look Jon! The college doesn¡¯t want us to interfere with the locals, so let¡¯s just keep to ourselves." "I know but..." I don¡¯t know how to think about this. "Let¡¯s just see how the Jarl will react!" I said and headed outside carrying my stuff. The people were standing around the entrance of the Longhouse and Jarl Korir appeared to be giving a speech. "Folk, we will deal with this. I¡¯ll send whatever guards I can and everything will be fine, back to your business or whatever." Korir spoke half-heartedly and dispatched twenty guards! Only twenty! On foot! Not going yourself? The townsfolk¡¯s faces took all colors, ck from disappointment, yellow from shock, pale from fear, red from crying. The guard was a boy donned in the usual game¡¯s armor yet it covered more than the game, of course, some purses on his face as he seemed to have suffered from the damage himself. Who was tending to him on the side were two women one of them was Elishka. I somewhat was considered so I went to their direction. And as if she sensed me, Elishka tried not to look at me directly. "Hey, mind if I help? I am a healer." As if my help was not expected some people eyed me with strange eyes. The guard boy looked at me and his eyes lit, "It¡¯s you!" "You know me?" "Ah! I do, I was in the tournament too. You are the champion." Oh! He is not the participant so I guess he was just a helper. "Get healed now, talkter!" I evoked ¡¯Healing¡¯ and channeled it on him. "Tell me what happened." I whispered to him. He looked around and nodded. It seemed that his name was Trudvar andst night he was on duty and there was some night shift. As he heard something heavy falling, he ran inside. The mine owner was not hurt but it seemed that some other miners were inside the tunnel that copsed and now, they are trapped inside. Also the tunnel was a new one and some of the miners were new workers. "The people outside have supplies? Did the guards take any?" They looked around but it seemed the answer was no. The guards were dispatched hurriedly with no leadership, and the mine lost most of the supplies under the rubble. Some names were said that made Elishka sob. From what I understood, she managed to get some homeless girls an opportunity to work in the mine. "The sun is setting so the people under the tunnel have at least one more day." I said, normally people can stay under rubble for two days. "Bring me some food in a sack, behind the inn, I¡¯ll go after them." Elishka heard and nodded. I then left Morbagog with a message to Nurina or Lah. ~~~~~~~~ "Thank you for helping us. Please save those girls." Elishka was making a sad face behind the inn, there was no one else so she talked to me. "I¡¯ll do what I can." I took the sack and tied it to my back, "I also want to speak with you about something if you don¡¯t mind." Elishka stiffened from what I said. Actually, I have no ill intention or anything. "Rx, nothing if the sort. I just want some information." I said, "I¡¯ll go bring those girls." As I said that, I evoked the spell and I wanted to use and here it is, my beautiful Fire Mare. Elishka sure took the shock head on. Hehe, witness how awesome the horses can be. Now, let¡¯s put the saddle and the reins which were enchanted to resist fire. Can¡¯t wait! As I jump on it for the first time I get the feeling of how cool it is to be on such a beautiful creature. Now now, let¡¯s move ahead, slowly at first. Amazing, even though it has no temperament of a horse, it has the same normal movement. Finally on the road. Let¡¯s see how fast it can go now. "Okay, buddy! It¡¯s you and me now, give me everything." The horse wouldn¡¯t move from just these words, it still needed my directmand by magic. I cast ¡¯meskin¡¯ just in case, it¡¯s a different variation of stone skin but protects against fire with some physical armor. Now! I am ready ~~~~~~~~ "Now from zero to sixty, let¡¯s..... Uaaaaaaah!" "WHOOOOO!! WHOOOOOOOOOO!!" That¡¯s amazing! Let¡¯s just admit it! It was awkward in the beginning. I didn¡¯t imagine that the Fire Mare may possess this speed. It¡¯s just ridiculous. I have seen its performance one ¡¯ESO¡¯ but that game didn¡¯t give it any justice. Maybe the reason is me. I didn¡¯t design any offensive features to this shape and made it just for beauty and speed. This thing is fast to the point that I am not sure if that is still called galloping. This is madness on four. I¡¯ll just ask Jull to write a poem about itter. I was supplying it with Magicka from time to time so it doesn¡¯t get dispelled. The effect ¡¯Transfer¡¯ is something I just learned opened the spell ¡¯Magicka Transfer¡¯ so I can keep the horse from running out of energy. Atronachs, unlike the game, had no time limit, they had energy limit, if it got depleted then the Atronach will go back to Oblivion. With this spell, I can make itst as much as I can. I was also thinking of casting ¡¯elerate¡¯ on it, but that was a scary idea. [A/N: elerate is ¡¯Haste¡¯ and ¡¯Longstride¡¯. I¡¯ll post Jon¡¯s spell at the end of the chapter passed on thetest edit.] I have already run past the guards and gave them a scare, these idiots were taking it easy. After two hours of nonstop riding at a fast speed, I killed a bear that thankfully not a big one. In reality, bears are something I ate only once and I would do anything to eat it again. But all I could do was to just leave it all behind with a broken heart. The mine was not that far after that, I saw a man standing with a torch on the road so I guessed he is a miner from his appearance. "Traveler! ...By the nine! What are you riding?" "I am from the college, Is the mine close by?" "Wha! Yes, it is, it is over there. Did they just send one man?" "There is more! Show me to the copse!" The man nodded and ran ahead as I followed him! Upon entering the mine, the first chamber seemed to serve as a camp but rubble took most of it down, to the west is an ice tunnel that leads to a second chamber where the copse happened. Some big rocks were blocking the way and two men are trying to remove them. "Move aside please." They looked at me not knowing how to react but the man told them to move. I evoked two spells then cast them, two bulky Frost Atronach appeared. One was a Miner Atronach with two spikes as arms and was a Hands Atronach. Now carefully, let¡¯s start the rescue. ~~~~~~~~ Jon¡¯s Spells:- #Mysticism:- -Magicka Outer Control: Maniption Dispel - Drain Absorb -Extrasensory Perception: Material - Magicka -Soul: Trap -Necromancy: Reanimate Supply Undead -Divination: rm irvoyance -Time: elerate _________________ #Alteration: -Mass: Burden - Feather Featherfall -Body: Stoneskin - meskin ___________________ #Conjuration:- -Control Summon: Command - Banish - Supply Daedra Bound - Unbound -Bound Weapon: Sword - Dagger - Battleaxe -Conjure Familiar: Mouse, Cat, Falcon, Owl, Wolf -Conjure Undead: Ghost Boneman -Conjure Atronach: me: Normal - Horse Frost: Normal - Utility _____________________ #Destruction:- -me: mes Fire Bolt - Fire Rune Fireball -Shock: Sparks Lightning Bolt - Lightning Rune Chain Lightning - Lightning Cloak ____________________ #Illusion:- -Light: Candlelight -Mind: Courage - Fury Calm - Fear -Sound: Muffle ________________________ #Restoration: -Health: Healing Cure Disease -Ward: Steadfast Ward Quadrant Ward -Anti Undead: Sunrays Sun Fire - Sun Rune -Anti Living: Drain Vitality ________________________ #Powers: Racial: -WarCry: Buff Allies, Scare Foes. -Son of Skyrim: 50% Resist Frost. -Shadow Stone: Hide in Shadows: Sneak Buff. Blue: Combat Speed buff. Inborn: -Resis Fire. ________________________ #Thu¡¯um: Unrelenting Force: Fus Ro ... [A/N: Spell from one aspect vertically are based on rank, easier above, harder below.] Chapter 52 Winterhold Dilemma The process was not easy. I had to detect any aura behind or under the rubble before moving anything. The Atronachs moved the rubble but I had to send a ¡¯Mouse Familiar¡¯ to check for any survivors before moving anything. Time passed and I started running low on juice. But most of the rubble was moved already. Thankfully I started feeling a lot of Magicka reactions behind the rubble. I could make a guess how far was left and started putting more power in work. It is a good training for supplying energy and controlling summons. Still, I could foresee a lot of energy will go on healing, not that I amining. Finally and after three hours of digging, I reached the end of the tunnel and the people inside started hearing the outside. Making sure that everything was okay in there, I told them to move back as far as the can andmanded the Atronachs to go all out. I didn¡¯t even go into the tunnel as another copse may happen but the work was done. The tunnel was clear and the people inside rushed out. One thing I noticed that there were many young people. From what I heard before this mine was one of the few sources of ie besides fishing and hunting. There are few people who worked in lumber but few trees grew in the hold to begin with. I could understand why the people were shocked when an incident happened. What I couldn¡¯t understand why the Jarl took the matter indifferently. I also am also not sure if I ask around or not. As the miners were out of the mine¡¯s inner chamber, I ¡¯Banished¡¯ the Atronachs away and readied myself for the healing process. Broken bones, torn muscles, dislocations. I could say my knowledge of healing was enriched with all this work. What I noticed, however, was that the next day has alreadye. And no guards yet. Heh Heh! This hold is so done for. The food I brought was already eaten and no one was in any critical stage now. Looking around the mine for a while I noticed something at the area of the copse. It was something that blended nicely with the ice around it but it gave a colorful shine when the light fell on it. I wanted to touch it but the area was a bit risky. "Oldman! Can youe here please?" The Mine Owner heard and came running, "How can I help you, sir mage?" "That! Is that an ore?" "Hmmm! Aye, that¡¯s a crystal-like ore that we discovered here, it breaks easily so we don¡¯t think highly of it." Hmm! I am guessing something. "Do you have a sample?" "Yes, there is one right here." The man went to the side and brought a crystal. "Here." I was right! It¡¯s a Soul Gem. That is a Geode Crystal Vein! Strange! These veins are rare and only can be found inrge Dwemer Runes like ckreach. "I¡¯d like to buy these crystals, old man! Anything you mine from it, sell it to me." The area quieted down for a while, even the miners who were in pain stopped making noises. "All of it?" The old man asked. "As long as I can buy it. Haha!" These people smelled coin and started to look excited for some reason. "Could it be something of value, sir mage?" Oh! This might make the chance go. I approached the old man and whispered to him. "This is a crystal for rituals! If the Jarl knows of it, he may close the mine. This thing can only be utilized by mages and it has little value as an ore. If you meet me at the ¡¯Frozen Hearth¡¯, I¡¯ll offer you a good price for supplying it." This was a good deal actually and the man understood that! Uncle Delvin taught me that the best deals are the ones when you and your contractor are holding daggers are each other. I can pay him and he will keep me stocked with empty Soul Gems but other mages can¡¯t know about it. If he supplied another mage, I will destroy his business by ratting him out to the Jarl. Aaaaaah! I smell the rotten sewers of Riften this far already. After giving the man a brief summary of the soul gems and checking on the miners, I left the mine with a wide grin. And look who it is! The twenty man rescue party are making an appearance. let¡¯s give them another scare! Conjuring another Fire Mare was no problem. I wanted to give it wings but let¡¯s leave that when I am able to conjure a higher quality Atronachs. "Hyaaaa!" The shouting would affect as usual but it gave the required sound effect. And as expected, the guards ran out of the road again. I¡¯ll take the journey easy and enjoy the view of ice and snow in the morning. Heading north back to the town, a mountain was on my left. Looking up at it, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. An incrediblyrge monument was built and could be seen miles away, this was the ¡¯Shrine of Azura¡¯, a powerful Daerdric Prince and thedy of twilight. I think I¡¯ll visit it soon, very soon. ~~~~~~~~ I went into Winterhold riding on the Fire Mare not caring about anything. Some people actually started hiding. Yes, Run from the bad Mage. Sigh! This town is hopeless. The ¡¯Frozen Hearth¡¯ was right on the corner so I banished the horse and went there. The ce was a bit empty, only a few patrons and the Innkeeper. "You are that mage that went to aid the guards! Howe you are here so fast?" A middle-aged woman asked me. From her appearance and the baby she was carrying, I guessed that is Haran, an NPC and the wife of the Innkeeper. "I reached there before them and finished the rescue, healing, and everything! They barely arrived before Ie out of the mine." Not humble at all! I am nning to take full credit with benefits from the Jarl if I can. "By the nine! Did you make it there and back in half a day?" I made a gesture with my hands as if I am exining something and said, "Magic!" "Aye, thank you sir mage. May the gods watch over your path!" said the innkeeper, who was a blonde middle-aged man called Dagur. "Right innkeep, the food I took yesterday is still unpaid for." "How can we ask for such a thing?! This was for the rescue. Now the girl Elishka can stop crying." Finally mentioned her. Still, why did his wife made a stiffened face when he said her name? Sigh! What a tiresome world! "Can I see that Elishka please?" "Eh! Ah! Yes. Woman, go wake her up!" I think I don¡¯t have to bother about husband and wife for now. I sat at some ce on the side and ordered food from Dagur until Elishkaes. And here she is. "Are the girls safe sir mage?" "Everyone made it alive and smiling, no thanks to any guard." "Thank you, sir, truly." She looked relieved. Her big eyes, rounded face and sinful body make people mistake her age for older, but I remember Zena (another bathhouse girl) telling me that she isn¡¯t thirty yet. "What is the story with these girls?" I asked. "They are some girls who grew up in the town, some whose family perished or their sole rtives ran from Winterhold." "So you helped them find a job in the mine?" "The old man there is a good patron and he used to be a friend to pa years ago." "Hmmm!" He is indeed not a bad person, he also was not the mine owner from the game. "Zena told me you would go to your hometown to get married." "Ah!" Elishka eximed and made a smile that carried some self-mockery, "That indeed was the n." "And?" "I was nning to rebuild my old house and get married to a boy I used to know but the house wasn¡¯t built and the man ran away years ago." Oh! I was actually asking about her life so I can show friendliness and ask her about something else, but the conversation went to a wrong direction. "So, you¡¯ll just stay here? Not going back to Solitude?" "Pa and Ma were buried here, I¡¯ll just stay. And I don¡¯t have the money to go anywhere anymore." Her face was stiff and she was looking away with no expressions at all. This conversation is not going anywhere good. "Sorry about that." "It¡¯s okay sir mage, we owe you a great debt today and we will pay it any way you wish!" ¡¯We¡¯? She didn¡¯t say ¡¯I¡¯. What a turndown! Not that I care anyway. "Fine!" As I said that I evoked a spell and cast it on myself, this was a circle spell. In the game they appear with a halo around the caster but in real life, it just affects how wide the caster wants. This was a ¡¯Muffle¡¯ spell that makes no one outside the circle listen to what¡¯s in. Elishka saw the spell and was confused. "Now no one can hear us!" I said showing no expressions. Elishka seemed to get worried so I¡¯ll just go straight into the subject. "Now tell me everything, all you know about Winterhold." ~~~~~~~~ Winterhold, Once a capital of Skyrim and now is nothing but a town even smaller than some ces I visited in my travel. It¡¯s history goes back to the second era as much as the college itself. Some said that Shalidor built it alongside the college but there is no historical proof about that. Now in this day and age the total poption of the hold itself doesn¡¯t exceed three thousands in small viges and isted areas. Korir the Jarl, is an anti-magic fanatic on the surface. But the truth is far greater. These few thousands are oppressed by him for his personal gain. The guards he recruited are akin to his watch dogs and there are three hundreds of them, sometimes he hire people from outside the hold. He have a very profitable business going on. It¡¯s called ¡¯The Chill¡¯, known from the game as the strangest prison in Skyrim yet it was easy to break out from. Despite the Jarl¡¯s anti-magic act, he hired a dark elf called Malur Seloth to keep ¡¯The Chill¡¯ guard with ¡¯Frost Guardians¡¯, which are basically ¡¯Frost Atronachs¡¯ but they stay there ground and attack anything on site except what the caster mark as safe. ¡¯The Chill¡¯ itself is a cave located on a big ind north-northeast of the College of Winterhold. The ind is rich with minerals. From the game, I remember it has gold, silver, iron and corundum veins. the ind also was inhabited with a big variety of wild animals making it into a good ce for hunting. ¡¯The Prisoners of ¡¯The Chill¡¯ were Korir¡¯s personal ves. Unlike the game, the ce was only essible by a boat. Even if escaping the chill was easy, good luck swimming. Korir was just a tyranny and he just hated how much how can he not influence the college. I lived in the middle east and saw the same sort of tyrannies. Still, I don¡¯t know how can Korir just stay without any supervision from the High King. How can the so-called hero Ulfric ept him as an ally. Elishka was a bit intimidated by magic like most Nords so she spilled the beans quickly. What I also discovered that she got intimidated by the Jarl that he wouldn¡¯t sell her back her old house if she didn¡¯t pay the taxes of the five years she left the town for as well as ¡¯additional fees¡¯ to retrieve her house. That left her with a little money to do any rebuilding after that. "So, what is the usual business normal people can do in this hold?" "Lumber but we have no mill, hunting and fishing are a bit better,st thing is the old Whistling Mine." "Why is it called Whistling Mine?" "It Whistles." She said as if is something natural. "So, a mine that Whistles, hunting and fishing, then the lumber business with no mill." "There is also some building crew but no one really builds anything." "Damn! If I sum this up, then we already have everything to start from the ¡¯Dark Age¡¯ in an ¡¯Age of Empires¡¯ game." This was truly something that I found funny in this god forsaken town. "I don¡¯t understand." "Nah! Just something from my past life." "Past life?!" "Heh heh! Have I told you about the dragons before?" ~~~~~~~~ I went back to the college and made my preparations. I gave Elishka some tasks and told her to finish them for me and she will get paid. I have an interesting business idea atst. It all came around nicely. Now, let¡¯s take over Winterhold. Chapter 53 Business Partners I slept like child all day after I came back from the mine. It was a tiring day. Now now, can¡¯t stay in bed all day. Morning training, breakfast, fast bath, Jull made me coffee. Damn! This is life. Today I¡¯ll be meating some new ¡¯friends¡¯ but I still haven¡¯t done my college duty. Yes, today is the first day for our Mysticism Department. First ss; Teacher Lah. The basics of magical energy, the idea of spell casting, the strong and weak points of mystics, h h h! I¡¯ll skip ss! These things I was born with them in my head. I went back to the dorm and directly to the dorm¡¯s library. They have nothing worthy to read! Sigh! What should I do now? I want to research some spells in peace but I reached a bottleneck with some Techniques. No one here is that knowledgeable about the energy and matter. I remember some Physics from high school but after Law School, I forgot most of it. Trying not to think anymore, I headed to Nurina¡¯s. Sometimes she has some good ideas that refresh my brain. "Brat,e here!" And she is excited for some reason! "Look at this! I worked on the idea you told me about. You was right, light should not belong to the Illusion School." She is still excited about that topic! I remember going into an argument with her about the nature of light. Was it Energy, Illusion or Matter? Exining stuff to her is easy when she stop arguing. "So, what did youe up with?" I asked about the reason for her excitement. "Look here, this is a new spell!" Nurina casted a spell and another Nurina appeared! "Taraaa! A ¡¯Mirror¡¯ spell." Wow! She managed to do that? She must have used the effect of ¡¯Reflect¡¯ and the aspect of ¡¯Light¡¯ with a high ss maniption technique. "I manipted it into what you like to call ¡¯Install¡¯ technique." "F**k!" I couldn¡¯t help but curse. Still, Nurina punched me. "You kiss your mama with that mouth!" "Sorry Sorry! You said you used ¡¯Install¡¯, doesn¡¯t that mean this is an ¡¯Expert¡¯ level spell that reces something like mere mirrors?" Nurina opened her eyes and realized it. "F**k! I was nning to make it official." Damn! This airhead is back to her crazy spells! Nurina¡¯s only bad point in magic is her creativity! She may use a Super spell like this for something meaningless. Even though she is a genius, she only makes useful thing when puts her heart into something. To me who is having a bottleneck right now, this was a blow to my morale. Someone with so many ideas but no mean to reach it and someone who is capable of doing anything but an airhead. Sigh! "You sigh too much brat, it¡¯s not a good sign." "I am in a bottleneck with some ideas!" "Hmmm! There are some old notes I found gathering dust in the Arcanaeum, they have ideas pretty much simr to yours." Oh! That¡¯s the Nurina I came to see. She handed me some old notes and I sat on the side reading. The notes spoke of the maniption of Energy, a categorization for the main Techniques of spells. This is also something I worked on. And whoever wrote that is a genius! Adding my research to his, we can solve this problem in a way sort. The ¡¯Technique¡¯ we agreed on were many. We also seemed to agree that ¡¯Spell Techniques¡¯ can be categorized based on the spell level. And once the ¡¯Effect¡¯ and the ¡¯Technique¡¯ are suited for each other, we can manipte the ¡¯Technique¡¯ at some point, simr how one can cast ¡¯Heal¡¯ with ¡¯Channeling¡¯ and with ¡¯Bolt¡¯ Techniques. Afterparing the ideas for a while, I removed my mistakes and his then reached thest form of the theory. ___________________________________ The Casting Techniques (Beta) *** #Novice level:- -Channeling: Continuous casting, short ranged stream spell, like: ¡¯mes¡¯ spell. Can be altered to make an effect on the caster, like: ¡¯Heal¡¯ spell. *** #Apprentice level:- -Bolt: A high speed bolt, long ranged type spell, like: Fire Bolt. Can be altered to make an effect on the caster, like: Stoneskin. -Mark: Short ranged form of casting that the caster instead of casting the spell would cast the spell¡¯s rune which can serve for marking locations or nting traps, like: Fire Rune. *** #Adept level:- -st: Highly focused, average range and speed spell that explodes when it hits the target, like: Fireball, Mass Frenzy, Mass Paralyze. -Aura: Cloaking the caster or target with the Aura of the certain effect and aspect casted, like: Fire Cloak, and Pdin¡¯s Aura. -Zone: Also known as Circle, can make an effect around the caster that affects whoever in it, like: Circle of Healing, Muffled Zone. *** #Expert level:- -Missile: A highly focused and energized missile of Magicka with the longest range any spell can take, there are no examples for this type in my arsenal but it would take the form of a ¡¯Meteor¡¯ or a ¡¯Shooting Star¡¯. -Install: Casting the Magicka and making it take a fixed form for a while, like: mes Wall. -Augmenting: (Argued) Blending the Magicka with the body to cause an effect from all the body or one part of it, something like ¡¯Power Punch¡¯ (If the aspect of ¡¯Telekinesis¡¯ was augmented). -Bend: (Very Argued) Not exactly a spell casting but it can be seen aspletely dominating certain types of energy and reshaping it ording to will, can be imagined in Fire Bending and Free Telekinesis. *** #Master level:- -Bomb: Massive explosion around the caster or can be casted onto a target, the range and speed are dependent on the caster, like: Firestom. -Storm: Wide ranged spell that moves in circles around the caster or in the location he controls it at, like: Blizzard, Cyclone shout. -Call: Simr to ¡¯Mark¡¯ as the castersunches the Rune away, the difference is that the caster can keep controlling the rune from a far location, can be imagined as droping bomb shells from above. -Beam: Simr to ¡¯Channeling¡¯ as the caster has to keep casting the spell. Difference is the beam is made of a highly focused energy with an an insane range. -Embodiment: (Very Argued) Smr to ¡¯Augmenting¡¯, the caster blends with the energy. Difference is the body of the caster gets altered with the Aspect, ¡¯Be Ethereal¡¯ shout is the basic form of this ¡¯technique¡¯, one can add an aspect to the Etherealness and be the embodiment of the aspect. [A/N: Basically, Lugia Devil Fruits.] [A/N: Suggestions are epted in this part, I wracked my brain toe up with this for a whole night, I want it perfect.] ___________________________________ Whoa! This truly an eye opener! I now have many leeways to go around the hurdles I am facing. I don¡¯t want to waste my money on some third rate spells from this college. After all, my spells must reach perfection and ride on top of it. The senior who wrote these notes earned my full respect! This ¡¯Embodiment¡¯ part was his idea and I copied it like an idiot. I should pay respect to him soon. Nurina came to me and looked at my journal, she sighed when she saw it. "Seriously! How can you make such an impressive code you runt? You write it from right to left and the pattern thing you talk about is totally different from themonnguage!" "Didn¡¯t I tell you? It¡¯s fro.." "Anymore past life nonsense and I¡¯ll disown you!" "..." "Sigh! You kids give me headache all the time." She looked at the window and said, "I wonder how is Akara blending in Whiterun? Or how is Svidi doing with her studies?" "You are not worried about Wulfur or Ysolda?" Nurina grinned, "These two followed you the most! I am worried at what they are doing to the world!" Ah! She is right. "Good thing I¡¯ll never make you worried." I said then turned my head to the notes. Little did I know that I would get my head hit by Nurina. "You little runt! You are making me worried everyday!" I looked at her while holding my head, but her face was showing a lot of emotions! A lot of sadness was mixed in. Oops! What have done wrong! "Nurina! I am sorry!" She was looking away dejectedly. "I really didn¡¯t mean it seriously!" This was the first time Nurina show such face front to me. I felt that something has gone wrong. "It¡¯s fine!" She said and turned away. "I promised your mother... your real mother to give you something one day! I guess this is the time." Nurina turned around but I couldn¡¯t watch her sad like this. My body moved on its own. "Wait!" I said and ran to her then stood front of her. "You are my real mother! What nonsense are you saying?" I held her hands and lowered my head to kiss them. "But your mo..." "I know Hilda has her reasons to leave me in the orphanage." "Wha!!! How di!!" "I knew from the beginning! But whatever reason she had doesn¡¯t make you any less than her as my mother!" It was a teary moment but thank goodness it was interrupted. "Nurin... Oh! Bad timing! I¡¯ll just go this way." "Lah!" "Yes, Nuri.. Ehem! Arch-Wizard." "Your momery..." "Completely wiped out! I don¡¯t remember when I came to the tower! Whoa! How am I here?" Nurina and Lah were having aical conversation so the heavy mood was lifted. I went back to the desk and took my journal ready to leave. "Brat!" Ah! She is back to her usual self. "This belongs to you! It was passed down from Hilda to Delvin and he gave it to me. You will know what to do with it." She gave me a red note! It had a strange insignia of a beast roaring and around his head is a mane of fire. "Fire-Mane?!" That was not me or Nurina, this was Lah! "The symbol of great n Fire-Mane, right?" I was confused! Why does Lah know that name? "You know them?" Nurina asked. "Ah! I was invited in their castle once! n Fire-Mane is big and ancient. I have a friend from the main family. His name is Tyr. We met before the Great War and participated together in it but he was wounded. After it, his brothers left to Hammerfell and I took him back to Skyrim." "Doesn¡¯t sound like a rosy tail!" I said. "Tyr and I go way back, if you need help from the Fire-Manes, just find Tyr and say my name. Even though you look like one of them, I guess you are a bit shorter!" What¡¯s with that? I am no short at all. I am actually taller than most! What are the Fire-Manes? Giants? I and Nurina looked at each other strangely. This day is just so full of drama from its beginning. It is not ending yet for me as I have business to do in the inn tonight. Let¡¯s just escape before any more drama happens. Yet no rest for the wicked it seems. When I was carrying the notes I saw a signature on one of them and due to my curiosity I looked at the name trying to read it. I hope I didn¡¯t. What was written was ¡¯ Augur of Duin¡¯. "F**K!" ~~~~~~~~ Sigh! I hid back in my room cowering myself in my bed. I want nothing to do with this day anymore! I want my secretary to rearrange my business schedule to tomorrow. I have no secretary however! Nor I can reschedule anything now! But one thing for sure! This day just wants to bite my a$$. I had two notes on me and my blood pressure was in no shape to read anyone if them today. One was Hilda¡¯s journal and the other was The Aurgur¡¯s ideas. Augur of Duin, known as The Augur, was formerly a Breton mage who lived and worked in the College of Winterhold. ording to Teacher Tolfdir and Teacher Colette Marence, he was an upstanding mage and advanced student, especially talented in Restoration. Restoration rece Mysticism at that time as the school that is considered about Energy Maniption. Tolfdir says in the game "He was a brilliant student, an aplished wizard. Delved into magic in a way none had seen before. But, I think, he became too focused on just how much power he could acquire. That¡¯s what led to the ident." Apparently, it was this acquisition of power that distracted him from magical greatness. A failed magical experiment transformed him into a non-corporeal entity. That¡¯s so scary now! I just don¡¯t have the right amount of brain cells to process this now. Let¡¯s leave the two notes for, tomorrow. Yeees! Good idea! New day new me. "Sigh!" "I never thought I would see you in such a state." Junar was doing her training I tasked her with. Now she is my servant and she lives in the same room as me. My room is on the third floor of the tower and I have a good space. Better than the usual student room from the game. This room has the same look and furniture as the game¡¯s but was 4¡Á4 meters and had a fancy bed for me and a normal bed for little Jull. Of course there was a divider between us. "You just don¡¯t understand! Behind that door is the Omnipotent Force of Fate that wants to pick on me all day." "Heh Heh! By all means." "Girl! You¡¯ll get beaten." "Oh! The Great Lord Mage Jon Dare wants to beat up a weak girl! How ruthless!" "Stop saying weird stuff! You areing with me as a meat shield tonight. If fate came to bite my a$$ I¡¯ll throw you at him and run." "You are taking me outside! Will I get to wear the new outfit?" She jumped from her side of the room lively and jumped on my bed, she was showing some skin but I got used to her these past days. She was holding a note and writing something! Another crazy poem? "Yes, you get to wear it. You¡¯ll carry my sword too." "Yaay!" What¡¯s going on with her? So cheerful. "Something good happened today?" "What? Are you not noticing anything different with me?" Wait a second! Isn¡¯t this that question? Something different? Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap!!!!! This is that question when a girl changes some makeup or hairstyle then ask her boyfriend and if he failed to answer then it¡¯s over. Well! Technically, Jull is no girlfriend of mine but I have to answer that urately or my morale will take a bigger hit. Dammit this day is not taking it easy on me at all. I¡¯ll make it this time! "Your hair?" She shook her head. "You buffed your breasts with some magic or anything?" She covered het chest with her arm and looked at me with disdain, then shook her head. Let¡¯s face it. She is t beyond hope. "You changed! Hmmm....." I looked for a while. "A scar! A scar got healed." "Yes!" Oh I did it. Dovahkiin-Sama, Banzai!! "Congrattions! But how did you do that?" "Lady Lah and Lady Nurina told me about an ointment and I bought it." "You used your allowance?" "Mhm!" She nodded happily. I knocked on her hed with a finger causing her to hold it in pain. "Stupid girl! I told you toe to me directly when it¡¯s something about your scar and eye. Did you spend it all?" She held her head and nodded. "I¡¯ll buy it for you from now on? Did they say anything about your eye?" She shook her head! Actually, healing that is much harder. "Fine! Go gear up now. Let¡¯s hope the rest of this day go easy on me." She jumped back to her bed and started changing behind the divider. ~~~~~~~~ The armor she wore was a fit cloth abd steel light armor. That had a hood and a face mask. It was colorful and easy to move it so she doesn¡¯t appear as her fellow assassins! I took her and went outside the college, the sun was setting and the time drew neerer. I myself was dressed in an easy to walk in clothes which was called ¡¯The Secret Apprentice Robes¡¯ (from Star Wars). Part of the n was to make appearance with the me Atronach Horse and so I summoned it. I rode into the town like that and I attracted a lot of attention. Now, let¡¯s go to the inn. The ¡¯Frozen Hearth¡¯ was unusually crowded, and many people were singing and making some sort of celebration around the bard. I left the horse outside the inn, and didn¡¯t banish it. This was all part of the n. After all, I payed for this party and invited as many people as possible. The lumberjacks, the miners, the builders and the hunters were all here. But all were a distraction! Can¡¯t let the Jarl know I do business here. Elishka saw me and whispered to the old mine owner! "People! The Mage who saved the mine is here!" Apuse, pping and some people wanted to invite me for drinks! Elishka and the old man seemed to have aplished their job well done. I told them to make a propaganda for me across the town as the Savior Mage who saved the mine alone while riding a ming Horse, with an underlined ¡¯no credit to the guards¡¯, as well as announcing that I am the Champion of the Tournament and the host of the party. Even though the people hardly forget about the grievances against mages, they act well when they receive a favor. Now as I could free myself, I entered a room with Elishka and Jull following me. "Okay, everything is ready?" I asked. "Yes, shall I start?" Elishka asked. "Of course! First meating!" Elishka nodded and went outside. Junar who didn¡¯t understand what was going on just picked a seat beside me. The room was actually a normal bed room for the patrons of the inn but I booked it for meetings tonight. The door opened again and who entered was the old man of the mine. He was dressed neatly and carried a small chest in his arms. "Sir Mage! Sir Mage! Hehe, I did as you told. Here is the crystals we mined from before and yesterday!" The man took the seat opposite to me and opened the small chest. "Nice!" I checked them one by one! Soul Gems cam be appraised based on color and wight! These were not any bad. Most of them were Petty and Lesser soul gems, some were Common and only one was a greater soul gem. That is some harvest. "Good job! ording to this papers we will sign together! You will be my official supplier and I¡¯ll pay you ording to the prices here here and here." Elishka started reading the contract to the man and he was taken aback, I actually paid him fairly and wrote a professional contract with all my spirit as awyer. "Sir Mage! Thank you." "Good, let¡¯s work together for Winterhold, Old Vekman." "For Winterhold? Of course. Thank you!" The man said and left. "Next." Elishka went outside and returned with another man. "This is Borkr, the master huntsman in these parts." "Wel-met, Sir Mage." I shook hands with the man and offered him a seat. "I understand that your workes with a great risk Mr. Borkr so I won¡¯t meddle in your business a lot. But first tell me, how is your work?" "it¡¯s not as bad as the miners but I can¡¯t take in many people or everyone will go poaching." "I understand, how many members is your team?" "Around ten. We are the official hunters who are only allowed to hunt." "Hmmm! Do you know how to read?" "Yes Sir Mage!" I gave the man a paper and he started reading. "Which one of these animals do you hunt?" "Mostly, all of them, except Horkers." "Do you see these words on the other side?" "Ah! Normal and Greater things with colors?" "It is like this, you kill an animal and trap its soul by a magical bow or dagger I¡¯ll provide you with. The soul will go to the gem it fits and the gem will shine brighter...." I started telling the man about the prices and the soul trapping process also how to do business with me. He asked some questions but it all went well and another contract was signed. Now I get the gems and get them filled, the marketing is easy since I have the whole damn college. The man left with the chest of soul gems and some enchanted daggers. "Now for the third business partner." "Third?" Elishka asked as that was not in the n. "Yes, it¡¯s you Elishka." I said, "I have a very profitable business in mind." Chapter 54 Confronting The Jarl [A/N: A very big apology to @Angry_Bear on Patreon. I haven¡¯t checked it for 2 days and haven¡¯t seen the Donation. Thank you very much. And congrattions on bing a Greybeard!] ~~~~~~~~ "Sir Mage! You want me to do business! I am afraid I have nothing I can offer." Elishka quivered and looked away. "What are thinking of? I said business, not your body!" She looked at me as if she wasn¡¯t expecting that. "Thank you, Sir." "Actually you still have to hear me first. The business proposition I am about to ask you will bring a big change to the town." "Sir Mage! I don¡¯t think I can be much of much use in any trade !" "What if I help you rebuild the house? And give you afortable job!" "That¡¯s all too good to be true sir." "I am nning to start a bathhouse business, something like the one you used to work in." Elishka shook her head, "I don¡¯t want anything to do with it! I have spent five years doing all this and that with men. I will do it no more." "I don¡¯t want you to do it! I want you to run it." "Run it? But I have no brain for money, Sir. and Winterhold has no one wealthy enough to bathe in a bathhouse." Sigh! "What about mages?" "What about them?" "We have baths but we barely touch girls." "..." "Look, this is business. Winterhold has no money or goods cirction process. It was all sucked by the Jarl. Now if you want to energize the economy you need to start expanding your market! The town has nothing. Completely nothing. This is a slow death state and you all will perish no matter how many iron mine or lumber mill you have. You need to build an economy based on everyone¡¯s capabilities. And you have the biggest gold trove in goddamn Skyrim ready for the taking! The College holds wealth that no one can imagine and more importantly they can¡¯t be influenced! If an establishment like a bathhouse was made then the people from the college will lose their minds over it. I also have seen many beautiful girls in the town. If they were to be put on a healthy food system and training, they will be the most dazzling girls in any Bathhouse. I will not just take care of them. I¡¯ll give them a ce to stay and all they need. Now, what do you say?" My inner ex-earthling has squeezed out every bit of idea to make it look lucrative enough. Elishka thought for a while, she raised her white hands on her beautiful face and started thinking. "Will the girls get everything they need?" "A ce to stay, health care, good payment, shares of the profits, two days off weakly. As well as food and drinks. What they have to do in return is follow my instructions and your guidance! I need their word of cooperation before I take the next move." "I see! But how will we work, we can¡¯t draw water unless we are at a river and we barely have enough firewood in the inn!" "Do you know how many times I sighed in this day alone! Please, Elishka, this is a magical world, any problems can be solved by magic." "Ah! But Sir. The girls will be Nords who lived in Winterhold most of their lives so they won¡¯t think highly of Magic." "Those who don¡¯t want to work won¡¯t get the job, there is only one path and it¡¯s forward. Those who keep looking backward will eventually die out. Their choices are their own. When can you gather some girls?" "They are all at the hall outside!" "Fine! Bring them in and talk them into it! I will make you a partner if this project worked." Elishka¡¯s eye lit up. She nodded and ran out. I stood up and told Jull to follow! She seemed a bit hesitant. "What¡¯s wrong?" "Did you sleep with that woman?" She asked. "Something wrong with it?" "I don¡¯t know yet." She said with a mysterious voice and went out ahead. What¡¯s with her? I¡¯ll find outter. Now let¡¯s head to the inn hall and make some noise. The hall was hectic! I looked around and saw a face I know. It¡¯s Trudvar, the guard boy who ran from the mine to here! "Wel-met!" I greeted him and sat down. "Sir Mage! What a pleasant surprise!" Trudvar said. He was a tall guy like me, with ck short hair and a bit of a baby face, he is a good fighter though. "Let me get straight into business! You seem like a good guy and Elishka vouched for you. Do you want to work for me?" "Wha! Work?" "Yes, I am nning to get the title of a Thane from the Jarl." "Ah! So you want me as a housecarl?" "Yes." "I would be honored, Sir Mage. But the Jarl won¡¯t give the title easily!" "I¡¯ll force it out of him." "If you do that Sir Mage. I¡¯ll swear my allegiance to you." "Do you have any friends that are good with swinging weapons and can be trusted?" "I know some. After the tournament, a fire broke out in Solitude and a member of our team ran away. We were between bing guards or going to ¡¯The Chill¡¯, so I¡¯ll be able to persuade them into it." "It¡¯s okay! I only will ask for them when the title is gained." "Yes, Sir Mage. I hope you have luck!" As I finished with the guy, Junar came to me and whispered something! "Oh! About bloody time!" Finally, the party made its goal. The Jarl is asking for me. A secondter, some guards went in and one of them headed towards me. "You are the owner of that demon horse?" "Oh! I have two more." "By the gods! Where do these demonse from?! Anyway, better head to the Jarl with us now. He¡¯s asking for you." I spoke and raised my voice, "Aha! The Jarl is asking for me. Will I get a reward?" The guards were taken aback by my statement, but the people who heard me cheered. This is gonna be fun! ~~~~~~~~ The people followed me as nned, this was only done by some old crowd maniption trick. If few of the crowd did some notable action, the rest shall copy one by one. So, I made a few arrangements for some ¡¯cheerleaders¡¯. I stood in front of the Jarl¡¯s Longhouse with around the sixty to seventy people who followed. A guard saw the crowd and ran inside to report, some other guards centered themselves in front of the crowd. "What is the meaning of this?" A Dark Elf came out and was in a bad mood. "I heard the Jarl has invited me for some reward so I came, and my friends tagged along!" """""Yeaaaah!!""""" "Reward? Aren¡¯t you the owner of that so-called demon horse. I¡¯ll report to the Jarl." The Dark Elf went in. I could hear some yelling inside but it ended quickly. A secondter, the door opened again and who came out was Korir, the Jarl. "Why are you folk standing around here?" "Because you called for me, Jarl." I spoke, "They are my friends and we were drinking together tonight!" "So you¡¯re the reason behind this damn noise!" "We are celebrating the mine rescue my Jarl" "Sir Mage, rescued the Whistling Mine, Jarl." "What will be the reward for him, Jarl?" "He is the tournament champion, my Jarl." These four were not just some normal people, they are the ones controlling the crowd as I paid them for. The rest of the people started taking from there and made a fuss on their own easily. These four just earned themselves a bonus. Korir looked annoyed but he couldn¡¯t retort to this number of people, he can easily pay me up and get over with it, he also recognized me as the tournament¡¯s champion and attitude changed a bit. "Fine! About the rescue. On behalf of Winterhold and its people, I thank you." He then looked around trying to find someone or something... "Will I get to be a Thane?" I asked. This is a shameless question on my part! The ¡¯Thane¡¯ in the game was just a game title. But in real life, this title held much duty to it. A Thane is like a police officer. Someone with a title tomand the guards around, make arrests and subjugate ouws. "You want to be a Thane?" Korir looked at me as if he heard something funny. "Thank you, my Jarl. I promise I won¡¯t disappoint you." Korir looked at me and his expressions carried a hint of anger, he felt like he was being led by the nose. "A Thane, huh?" He said, "This title is a serious matter, you sure you want it?" "Of course! I also know that the Thane must be andowner so I really was nning to buy somend in the north near the College." "Will you now?" Korir looked at me smiling but he wasn¡¯t amused at all. "I will also need a ¡¯Housecarl¡¯, Thanes get one from the guards¡¯ rank right? I¡¯ll be shameless just this time and ask for Trudvar over there." Korir was baffled from my shamelessness. I am as rude as a guest who came to visitte at night and demanding a banquet. One must know that in the game, yers can¡¯t have and or house from Winterhold. Not even a housecarl which is a personal attendant for someone with a title. "Hmmm! I think I can give you the right to buy and and this housecarl of yours..." Korir said but then he smiled and couldn¡¯t hide the grin on his face, he was scheming something. "You see, because of the Copse, Winterhold lost most of its history. What if we can retrieve one piece of it?" He was clearly trying to get on the crowd¡¯s good side. He cleared his throat and raised his voice, "Winterhold has lost much of its history, and with that much of its power. I aim to change that. I¡¯ve heard rumors of the resting ce of the ¡¯Helm of Winterhold¡¯, the very same helm that Jarl Hanse wore in the First Era. Hanse was in line to be High King of Skyrim. Having that might get us some appearance between the other Holds, and may give our town some authority." The people cheered as he said, but I could smell the scheme. He wanted to do things this way, huh? "And where can I find the Helm?" I asked. "Hob¡¯s Fall Cave." Oblivion! Is he nning to send me there? The people quieted down, some finally understood what was going on. "You can go there with that Housecarl of yours, no problem, right? If you retrieve the Helm then the title is yours!" Hehe! That¡¯s all you could scheme? "No problem! I¡¯ll go and retrieve the Helm." "Oh! Will you? By all means, please." He was thinking that if I walked to my own death, he wouldn¡¯t have to bother or receive any retribution! The people dispersed after that and I went back to the inn. "Sir Mage! This will be bad, that cave has so many bad rumors!" Trudvar was panicking! "I know about the rumors!" "Then you know what the Jarl wants, even if we somehow made it, we might not even find a helm." He was right, we may not find anything. "Don¡¯t worry! I knew he would do something like this. Just do what I tell you to do." I said, "Do you have a gear?" "Not anymore! The Guard¡¯s Captain called for me and told me I was released from duties and to be your housecarl, Sir Mage!" "Good! Here is your first payment." I took out 5 Gold Septim and gave it to him. I am sure his sry as a guard isn¡¯t even one-fifth of that. "Wha! Sir Mage! Is it okay?" "Yes, and from now onwards, call me ¡¯Boss¡¯." "Yes, my Boss." "Not with ¡¯my¡¯! Just ¡¯Boss¡¯." "Yes, Boss!" "Now, as you can¡¯t live in the barracks, you¡¯ll stay in the inn. Once I get somend and build a house and a business, you will be the Head of the Security Team! Like the title?" "Yes, Boss! I promise I will never disappoint you!" "We will be heading to Hob¡¯s Fall Cave so I¡¯ll bring you an armor and a weapon. Report to me the day after tomorrow morning in front of the College. You¡¯re dismissed!" "Yes, Boss!" Trudvar went away to find himself a ce in the inn. I, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t help but grin. "Hehe! Finally, I get to be called ¡¯Boss¡¯. Hahaha" Chapter 55 Mad Jull VS Mad Jon Back to the inn room. Elishka opened the room for me and I went in followed by Jull in her new mood. She is not even replying to me now! Looking into the room I saw a bunch of girls, they looked nice but a bit thin. "These are the girls?" "Yes." "How did they take the job offer?" Elishka smiled, "They are a bit hesitant!" "Hmmm! 1, 2, 4, 6... 18. Hmmm! Quite the number!" "They insisted that they would hear from you first!" "Fine by me! Can anyone of you read or write?" Between them, only a single girl raised her hands. Only one! She has light ginger hair with green eyes, not the most beautiful among the others but she had her own charm and looked confidant. Now that I look at her again, "Aren¡¯t you from the mine?" "Yes, Sir Mage! You saved us that day! Actually, I am not the only one, half of us here from the mine!" "Will you stop working there?" "We already stopped, Sir. After the mine ident, we don¡¯t think we¡¯ll go back there again!" Ah! So that¡¯s how it is. "Will you be a bathhouse girl err... what¡¯s your name?" "My name is Siv. And I have no problem working at all!" "Then..." She didn¡¯t seem hesitant to me. "The others are a bit in difort about the matter." She said. So she herself has no problem! Picked the wrong person to argue with it seemed, no problem still. "You said you can read, do you recognize the term ¡¯economy¡¯?" "Eh? I guess it¡¯s that thing about money and food!" She looked around and the other girls started nodding to her. "Money and food?! Well, it can be said money and goods at least, but let¡¯s go with money and food!" I said, "So, You know by that that the economy in Winterhold is nearly nonexistent, right?" They all nodded. "How do you fix that?" They all looked at each other not knowing what to say. "Buy food from other holds." A girl said that, I replied with "Meh!" and gestured that¡¯s not close. As they thought of it, I took a seat and sat. "Fish for food!" "Hunt animals!" "it¡¯s the same thing you idiots! We need ships to trade." "No! We need a new Jarl!" "Need more people to start working." "Working! There no work around these parts for years!" They started to think! Ah, what a blessing. Nords using their heads reminds me of my old bicycle. It caught a lot of rust and made a scary noise when I tried it sometimester. "Okay! Okay! All that you said can be considered right. But you missed one point!" They all looked at me waiting for illumination. "Does this town have any money?" They looked at me and shook their heads. "It has no transport, no safe routes, no good leadership, not even the minimal amount of work chances! All this and that needs money. But who will give you that much money?" They looked at me and they already guessed it! "The College!" "But Sir, won¡¯t the guards harass us if we worked with the mages?" "I am a mage! And when I be a Thane they won¡¯t be able to do anything against me, you will have the support of the mages themselves and you will live in ces I¡¯ll prepare for you!" Some of them nodded. "I know it¡¯s not the job anyone would want but you need to be the reason for this town to stand up! If things remain like this then you know better than me how will this town will end up!" They nodded silently! "One more thing! Have you ever heard of the Thieves Guild." Some of them nodded, this was actually unexpected. The Guild is not that famous outside Riften. "On the surface, they are a group of thieves who rob homes. But what if I tell you that it¡¯s not really true!" I said, "The Guild is dedicated in thievery, yes, but they are the experts when ites circting money, making deals, helping new work owners, loaning money and all of that, the can make a town thrive and a town sink. Now! Do you understand how important their work is?" They nodded! Perfect. "There is no real presence for them in Winterhold and I am d things are this way! This job will exclusively be ours from the day we start the business. We will be the holders of the real money cirction in Winterhold." They all opened their eyes wide even Elishka who knew of my n! "You, my beautiful girls, will be the cornerstone of this town! After the bathhouse, you may need a better job so I¡¯ll tell you a small piece of my n." I said, "Every mine, lumber and trading business in Winterhold will belong to us! Along with the power of money, we will grow in number and us twenty people in this room will be the first to benefit from it." They were smiling like idiots while wildly imaging the future. "But don¡¯t forget! The road ahead is not easy. And to be the pioneers of making money in Winterhold, we will need to be strong." "Yeah!" "We will face more than just the Jarl, but we have to challenge ourselves and prove we are the only ones who can save this godforsaken town." "Yeah!" "We will not just save it! We will make it better than it¡¯s glory days." "Yes! Make Winterhold Great Again!" A girl raised her voice. "Now anything but that phrase." I heard something that made me shiver. Anyway, I made the girls get fired up. Even though Nords are thick-skulled, Nord women are pretty much sharper than men. I didn¡¯t lie to them in anything, but I just made it look achievable. After that, I gave them some instructions and sent them away. Now it¡¯s only me and Elishka. "I like these girls!" I didn¡¯t hide my opinion, actually, they are very lively. "Now hold it there, you can¡¯t have any one of them! I am not sure if we will be able to do business that way." Elishka said. "Hehe! That leaves me with only one choice." I said as I approached Elishka who retreated back on her own. "Boss, please! If it is you, I at least need to..." As I held her and pulled her closer, we heard something fall and break on the floor. It was a wine bottle pushed down by Jull. Crap! She thinned her presence all the time that I forgot about her. She looked at us and said, "A bee!" "I¡¯ll go clean that up. If you please, Boss." I seriously felt awkward. Jull was not even looking at me. I excused myself and went out heading back to the college. Junar was quite moody and tried to break another bottle on the way out but I managed to drag her before so. Walking silently into the dorm, I immersed myself in the warmth generated by the magical runes. This was very warmer than the outside. One of the main reasons why we mages don¡¯t go out. My room was protected by a ¡¯Lock¡¯ spell only I could open and I filled it with soft fur so it felt reallyfy. Looking forward to the day after tomorrow, I sat on my chair and made the final improvements on the spells I am researching. By tomorrow, I¡¯ll be able to upgrade my arsenal one big time. The notes of The Augur and Hilda¡¯s journal are there atop of each other. I was about to stretch my hand to grab them, but unexpectedly I felt something cold on my neck. Jull was holding a dagger and pointing it to my neck. ~~~~~~~~ Jon wanted to at least look at her but he heard her voice "Don¡¯t look back." He was impressed, how could she sneak on him with ill intent while the spell ¡¯rm¡¯ is active. This spell is a ¡¯Divination¡¯ spell that has no counter. The only exnation is; she has no ill intent. It also seemed that there will be an episode of ¡¯Jull¡¯s madness returns¡¯. "What is the matter Julls? or should I call you Mabia." Junar¡¯s stiffened and replied quietly, "Don¡¯t ever call me by that name! I am Junar, your little Jull." "Oh!" Jon was unexpectedly amused by her words, "Isn¡¯t that your birth name?" Junar¡¯s dagger pressed a bit harder but she was not aware of it, "Thousand curses upon it! Mabia died on that ship." "Then why the dagger, I didn¡¯t ask for any.. shaving." Jon liked the situation for some reason. "Because I will force you!" "Hmm?" Junar got closer and moved her head beside Jon¡¯s, and hugged him with her free arm. "What¡¯s wrong Julls?" Junar took in a breath and said, "You smell¡¯s so perfect." Jon was instantly creeped out and jumped from the chair freeing himself from Junar. "Okay, now listen..." He was about to say something but he saw Junar in front of him. She was naked and her hair was everywhere covering her face to her shoulders only her small pointy ears appeared. She looked like the girl from horror movies except she wasn¡¯t in a white dress, not pale, and holding a dagger instead of a doll. Still, Jon hated horror movies. "Julls, what¡¯s wrong?" Jon tried to see what¡¯s wrong with her and was a bit worried. "You are .... and .... left me .... choice .... why ...." Jon couldn¡¯t hear what she was saying so he got close to her and moved her hair away from her face. What he saw was the usual girl that follows him around these days. Her left eye was covered with an eyepatch and her left showed less color than usual. "Why are you sad?" "Because you don¡¯t ...." She didn¡¯t say more so Jon hugged her head to his chest. She too dropped the dagger in her hand and hugged him. "You are jealous of Elishka?" She hugged him even tighter and didn¡¯t say anything. Jon patted her head trying to cheer her up. "Maybe because I am ugly." Junar was speaking her thoughts out. "Or maybe I should just die!" Jon who heard that stopped patting her and his aura turned cold. Jull felt the change and looked up at him as he was taller than her, but what met her sight was Jon¡¯s handsing to her neck and clutching on it. Junar was taken aback and held onto Jon¡¯s arm but he only started to tighten his grip. "You want to die?" She heard a cold tone she never heard from him before, not even when he caught her and tortured her in that alleyway the day they first met. She looked at him and his expressions were not normal, his eyes were looking at her very amused, his lips curved into a twisted smile. His aura was chillingly cold. Even the room that was warmed with magic felt like the outside in Winterhold. "You know how death feels? How dark? How cold?" Jon asked but this time fear kicked into Junar. She tried to resist his grip but he tightened more. He even raised her up in the air with only one arm. Her body squirmed like a fish. This was beyond her madness, beyond her fears and ghosts. A demon she saw for the first time. "So you don¡¯t want to die?" Junar¡¯s body was cold despite her struggle, this was a primal instinct. It was ¡¯Fear¡¯. A fear that only a predator can cause. "Please .... sor-rry." Junar barely squeezed these words out. "Humph!" Jon snorted and let go of her. She fell down on her knees and started coughing for air. The cold aura was still around her, there was no escape from this fear that broke into her. Jon turned around coldly, he held the chair and turned it to face her then sat on it. She could only hold to his leg and hug on it. Though he was the source of this chilly aura, his side was the safest ce she can think of. When he saw her doing that, he held her from the back of her neck then lift her up and sat her on hisp. Even the difference in their sizes wasn¡¯t really big, she felt like a cat on someone¡¯sp. "Now, you know your ce?" She nodded hurriedly. "I salvaged you out of the prison that day." "I put you back together." "I gave you a name and a fair amount of choice." "But there are things you can¡¯t choose unless I choose them for you." "things you can¡¯t have unless I give them to you." "Are we clear?" His cold aura increased with every word he said an pressed her. Jull nodded timidly. Jon¡¯s chilly aura calmed down rapidly. And a warm aura started to take effect around him. He put his hand on Jull¡¯s head and smiled, he took her head by the chin and raised it to face him. "You belong to me more than you belong to yourself." "You will follow me everywhere and when." "You get to be my shadow and live in my darkness." "These are the only privileges I will give you." "Are we clear?" Jull nodded. "Then, let¡¯s seal this with a kiss." Chapter 56 Hildas Journal The Great War [A/N: This bonus chapteres to you by the goid graces of @Angry_Bear on Patreon.] [A/N: There were no side novel chapter as it seemed that some were expecting, sorry guys but it would be better this way. Trust Thy Daedric Prince.] [A/N: This is a bit of Lore and Theory chapter so read carefully.] ~~~~~~~~ That night I took Julls and she slept beside me. For some reason, I turn possessive when ites to her. I know it¡¯s not right but I feel like she is mine, she just fits nowhere but beside me. I love her madness, he scars, her disturbed state of mind. I am going to build her a safe haven beside me, so she can experience no pain again. I¡¯ll fulfill her every wish too. I will not show any of this but I need to at least make her content. I don¡¯t know the reason behind that! But my stubbornness forced me to stand and challenge her fate. Maybe I am wrong! Maybe I am doing things selfishly. When I first came to this world I felt some darkness within me. I didn¡¯t understand the reason behind my reincarnation and I was depressed for some time. Seeing Julls made me realize that I am not the only one who is a misfit. When I was a child, I was afraid of being found out or anything but Nurina was there for me. This girl too had a crazy out of the norm start. Shunned by Nords and Dunmer, she can have no blood rtive to rte to. No one to ept easily. I felt close to her. Tonight I had to suppress her demons! I had to force her to not act as moody as she was. She has her own world values and sometimes she wouldsh at people not caring about what they might think. Sometimes she bes cheerful, sometimes very gloomy. But now she is sleeping beside me and looked so peaceful. I know my way is a bit broken too but I think we suit each other. Funny thing is, she was jealous when I held Elishka. That makes her more adorable in my eyes. I¡¯ll cherish her from now on. I also think the newly developed spells I just used on her were effective enough! I was making some progress in ¡¯Illusion¡¯ magic and created a Cloak spell that can be called ¡¯Aura of Madness¡¯. It¡¯s a strong version of ¡¯Fear¡¯. The spell can put the area around the caster under energy pressure and carefully selected effects of negative emotions. It was pretty much effective. Now, I was lying beside the naked sleeping Jull and ying with het hair, we kissed for some time before she sleeps and she is a lousy kisser, I¡¯ll make Elishka teach her for sure. After some time, I went up from the bed and covered her. I haven¡¯t changed my clothes yet. I¡¯ll just go with a short for now. Before the thing with Julls, I was going to go through the notes of The Augur again. There was this interesting idea of Inner and Outer Magicka Casting. The Augur was tring to cast spells from inside without focusing a spell on his hands. It¡¯s not like starting fire from the inside or anything. It was simr to the idea of ¡¯Powers¡¯ from the game. To use a special power like ¡¯The Beast Form¡¯ for Werewolves or ¡¯War Cry¡¯ for heroic Nords, one needed to select it from the power menu the activate it with ¡¯Z¡¯. That¡¯s how things went in the game. In real life, every ¡¯Power¡¯ has some rules and different ways to use them. War Cry requires a strong emotional desire to step ahead and absolutely zero fear. It¡¯s the manifestation of the willpower of a warrior that enchants his allies and demoralize his foes. I don¡¯t know about Werewolves¡¯ ¡¯Beast Form¡¯ and I am not truly interested in it as a power. Any power drawn of the Daedra to the extent of changing the physical form is a negative energy that shortens the life and weaken the Magicka. From there notes I also read about different types of Magicka, the Augur called them Positive and Negative, I¡¯ll call them Mana and Miasma. I also had a theory about the different kinds of Magicka and it was one crazy theory based on nothing but guesses. I thought that Magicka maybe the ¡¯Energy of the Essence¡¯ that Magnus used to create Mundus (the mortal world). So, what if this ¡¯Essence¡¯ was the essence of every thing. I am thinking of something like E=mc^2 here. The golden rule of mass and energy. I also was not the brightest person in ¡¯Physics¡¯ ss but if the Magicka was the energy that created the essence of matter, then I am regretting not studying ¡¯Physics¡¯ much better in my past life. Now I¡¯ll put that into myprehension list and hope to have time to recheck it one day. Back to the ¡¯Inner Energy¡¯ and ¡¯Inner Casting¡¯. The Augur wanted to make a way to cast spells the same way as ¡¯Powers¡¯, Something like this, if it was applied on ¡¯telekinesis¡¯, it can make the caster fly more freely. I also made my spections and found that there is a possibility, a big one. The Augur rooted his idea to the theory of ¡¯Bodies of Man¡¯. He wrote that The Physical body is the mortal flesh that binds the soul to Mundus. The ¡¯Soul¡¯ as the energy of life that powers up the Flesh Vessel and were the Magicka is stored. And finally, The Astral Body that works as vessel for the soul that gives it shape and connects it to the body. The ideas were a lot to take in, but I guess he had exined many things in a way or two. He is a damn genius and I must see him soon. His ideas opened a way for the ¡¯Astral Projection¡¯. One of the techniques that were thought that The Psijic Order used to spy andmunicate. Let alone Telepathy and all that! Can the six school of magic contain all the applications in my head right now? I¡¯ll take a break from using my mind now, I also need to supply my ¡¯Candlelight¡¯ spell. Should I read Hilda¡¯s journal? To tell the truth, I don¡¯t want to. It will just give me more headache and my disturb my ns. Err... Aaah! Fine, I¡¯ll read it! I grabbed the damn journal and looked at it! Why does the Fire-Manes have such an insignia? Kinda reminds me with House Lannister! Let¡¯s see! I tried to open it but it won¡¯t open. The Hell! This note is somehow stuck or something. Its front-cover was extended and warped from the front of the note to the back-cover but it didn¡¯t move. Okay! Now I¡¯m pissed. Was this some sort of prank? Looking at the back cover I noticed some words were written there. (Blood proof, Fireborn) What does this mean? ¡¯Fireborn¡¯ maybe refers to Fire-Mane. ¡¯Blood Proof¡¯ is... gross! Should I draw my blood on it to open? What am I? Naruto! "Dammit! Fine! Here! Have some blood." Nothing! Now I look like an idiot! Looking right and left in the journal, my bloody finger touched the insignia on the journal. And it opened! "Calm down! Deep breath!" Let¡¯s see what¡¯s in. ___________________________________ As I pass this phase of my life, I find myself in need to write some sort of reminder about I experience and a way to inform my n of thoughts if I happened to fall in theing battle. My name is Hilda Fire-Mane, Eldest Daughter of Tjord son of Vjord, Patriarch of the Greet n Fire-Mane of Skyrim. *** 4E-173, 7th of Frostfall; Me and my brothers led the family¡¯s people to aid the Imperial Legion. Our family wanted vengeance for my brother ¡¯Tyr¡¯ and rtive ¡¯Jonrad¡¯ as the two are assumed fallen under the elves¡¯ swords..... My younger brother Tyr, was in a mission with The des as he decided to join them following the footsteps of Jonrad Fire-Mane, the son of my father¡¯s cousin, the one who was to inherent the n, unless for the Birthsign he was born under..... I, with my brothers, rode our beasts and took part in the some skirmishes against the bloody Dominion....... *** 4E-174, 12th of Second Seed; The Thalmor leadershipmitted all avable forces to the campaign in Cyrodiil, gambling on a decisive victory to end the war once and for all. The Imperial City was besieged from every corner. One army drove north topletely surround the city, while the main force attacked the walls from the south, east, and west. The Emperor¡¯s decision to fight his way out of the city rather than make ast stand was not wrong, he saved all of us....... *** 4E-174, 4th of Midyear; Linking up with reinforcements marching south from Skyrim under General Jonna. Meanwhile, however, the capital fell to the invaders and the Sack of the Imperial City began....... We heardter that the Imperial Pce was burned, the White-Gold Tower itself looted, and all manner of atrocities carried out by the vengeful elves on the innocent popce......... Not farter we heard that Jonrad Fire-Mane was alive and retreated, but he has no news of Tyr....... *** 4E -175, 6th of Morning Star; How can a winter be this cold? We Nords fear no cold, but I guess even we, the Fireborn can be frostbitten.... Some soldiers started deserting the camp, these were dark times indeed..... Jonrad was raised in rank by Emperor Titus II, we made him drink all that day.... Still, he was acting like a charmer around me.... He also insisted that I would learn magic for healing, not that I don¡¯t want but I am the dumbest of my siblings...... Jonrad is obsessed with Fire magic, he insisted that our n used to have those ¡¯Dragonknights¡¯ of the legends, men that can use fire and never get harmed by it. He said that he joined the des to get closer to that goal........ *** 4E -175, 25th of Morning Star; The Thalmor seem to have believed that the war in Cyrodiil was all but over. They made several attempts to negotiate with Emperor Titus II..... I don¡¯t know what Titus is waiting for but Jonrad was busy and found no time to chat with me, I could only spend time fooling around with an Imperial officer who was a friend of Tyr¡¯s, her name was Cassia...... *** 4E-175, 16th First Seed; Tyr, that little weasel, actually was alive. He came with a party of an Argonian smuggler, a Dunmer sorceress called ¡¯Lah¡¯ and mysterious man who never showed his face. Lagate Cassia, took him directly to the Emperor.... His arrival gave us hope! But Tyr had some bad news for the Emperor and he was dispatched again to Cyrodiil with Cassia in his party..... *** 4E-175, 29th of Rain¡¯s Hand; The Emperor divided the army into three... One army, with the legions from Hammerfell under General Decianus, but its movements were were highly secretive.... The second army,rgely of Nord legions under General Jonna, took up position near Cheydinhal. This is the army were us Fire-Manes were assigned to... The main army wasmanded by the Emperor himself. And there, Jonrad was assigned... We are attacking! *** 4E-174, 13th Second Seed; At the 30th of Rain¡¯s Hand, a blood bath at the Red Ring began as General Decianus swept down on the city from the west, while we followed General Jonna¡¯s legionnaires and drove south along the Red Ring Road....... In a two-day assault, We crossed the Niben and advanced west, attempting to link up with Decianus¡¯s legions and thus surround the Imperial City...... The Dominion was taken by surprise by Decianus¡¯s assault, but our side faced bitter resistance as the Aldmeri counterattacked from Bravil and Skingrad...... We held firm and stood bitterly, my nsmen suffered the least but suffering was still suffering..... By the fifth day of the battle, the Aldmeri army in the Imperial City was surrounded...... Emperor Titus II led the assault from the north, personally capturing Lord Naarifin, the Thalmor Warlord. It is rumored the Emperor wielded the famed sword ¡¯Goldbrand¡¯, although this has never been officially confirmed by the Imperial government..... An attempt by the Aldmeri to break out of the city to the south was blocked by ourside. That day my face got few scars...... In the end, the main Aldmeri army in Cyrodiil waspletely destroyed..... Later that day, we discovered that Tyr was appointed with his party to a dangerous infiltration mission into the heart of the enemy camp way before the battle... During the infiltration, Tyr was fatally wounded and was taken by Cassia back to the Emperor¡¯s personal camp few hours before the start of the battle.... *** 4E-175, 12th of Midyear; Tyr made it but his wound was not easy to heal, from what I heard it was caused by some kind of Magical weapon...... Naarifin, that Thalmor Warlord, was kept alive for thirty-three days, hanging from the White-Gold tower. It is not recorded where his body was buried, if it was buried at all. Some people swore that he was carried on the thirty-fourth day by a winged daedra..... Although victorious, we were in no shape to continue the war. The entire remaining force was gathered in Cyrodiil, exhausted and decimated by the Battle of the Red Ring. Not a single legion had more than half its soldiers fit for duty...... Emperor Titus II knew that there would be no better time to negotiate peace...... The Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion signed the White-Gold Concordat, ending the Great War...... The terms were harsh, but The Emperor believed that it was necessary to secure peace and give the Empire a chance to regain its strength..... The three harshest terms of the Concordat were the banning of the worship of Talos, the cession of arge section of southern Hammerfell, and disbanding the des..... I was enraged and broke a wall that day, Jonrad said it was okay and he won¡¯ty down his sword..... Hammerfell, that time, refused to ept the White-Gold Concordat, being unwilling to concede defeat and the loss of so much of their territory. This was the perfect ce for Jonrad and me to be... Some of my brothers followed us, some took Tyr and his Dunmer friend back to Skyrim. ___________________________________ Chapter 57 Hildas Journal Mothers Faith ___________________________________ 4E-178, 2nd of Hearthfire; It has been long since I have arrived to this alien desert, the unusualnd and heat took a toll on me when I came here first... The fight against the Thalmor and their Dominion proved hard and we lost many goods friends... My brothers were long since called back to Skyrim, I am staying here though, Jonrad is a mess without my help, he can forget meals when he start researching his magic.... I had to start learning Magic too, I really don¡¯t likeplicated stuff, just give me an axe and tell me who to chop. I know my mother and the female elders are all magic users but how can they expect everyone to be this smart.... My notes proved less important these days, I only get summoned by the forebears when there is a skirmish or a raid, even Jonrad startedining about how stupid this fight is bing...... His main goal was to master the Fire magic, we started getting bored of fighting so I decided to ask him to go back to Skyrim and continue his studies at Winterhold at least, but there was no helping it.... *** 4E-178, 30th of Sun¡¯s Dusk; Jonrad made a huge leap in his research, he reached a great result in his search for the lost art....... An unexpected visitors came to my door, father and my brothers popped up out of no where. They asked me and Jonrad to return but Jonrad can¡¯t miss the breakthroughs he achieved...... Father told me and Jonrad to get married if we were to stay, father always had a high opinion of Jonrad so he didn¡¯t want Jonrad to stray from the family and have a chance to return one day........ I myself wouldn¡¯t mind... *** 4E-179, 8th of Morning Star; We got married in Elinhir east of Hammerfell, few number of friends and family were there, after it father took his people and left, he finished what he always wanted and tied Jonrad back to the family........ The ce we were nning to settle in was Dragonstar in the North between High Rock, Skyrim and Hammerfell.... Jonrad was following his obsession and I was tagging along in his adventures, I can¡¯tin as I am the one who chose all this way of life... The only one who I am sad about is old man Fultheim, ever since the disbanding of the des he followed Jonrad as his attendant and helped in everything one can help for, he doesn¡¯t speak much about his time in the war though..... *** 4E-179, 2nd of First Seed; Dragonstar looked pretty much as abination between Skyrim architecture, Hammerfell weather and High Rocks people..... I ran into an old friend being dragged to prison this morning, someone can actually catch Delvin Malory himself, this is a scandal.... I talked with Jonrad to free the old fool, he proved useful many times to the n and we Fire-Manes value our friends..... *** 4E-180, 15th of Midyear; I don¡¯t know if this is good news or bad news, the Redguards signed a treaty with the Thalmor and now we are in trouble, people like Jonrad and me are on the Thalmor¡¯s most wanted list. We killed a lot of their people and they will use this treaty to finish off all the leaders of the resistance.... The Forebears assured us that nothing would happen and they would protect us as long as we don¡¯t venture south into Hammerfell..... Funny! They thought the Thalmor will have any respect to a treaty on a piece of paper... For a de like Jonrad, the have already Thalmor saw him as a threat and must be taken down.... Jonrad was concerned and we nned to leave Hammerfell to High Rock, it will be much safer than going South or through the usual ways through the empire, we can take a ship from there back to Skyrim...... *** 4E-180, 3rd of Sun¡¯s Height; We were preparing to leave north but something happened. While I was at the market, a strange man saw me and jumped in fear, he mumbled so many words that I couldn¡¯tprehend, some of them were regarding Three Elder Scrolls, a child and me.... I arrested the man with force and took him to Jonrad, the man said many things but from what we could tell, I was carrying a child..... I immediately ran to the monk in town and asked for a check. Indeed, I was pregnant. *** 4E-180, 5rd of Sun¡¯s Height; The strange man was called Kellen and he was a Moth Priest, these were the people who could read the Elder Scrolls.... He said that he divinated that the child I am carrying is fated with acquiring three of the Elder Scrolls... I remember back at the Great War whem the White-Gold treaty was signed, all of the Elder Scrolls in the Imperial Library mysteriously disappeared on their own, then the priesthood of the Ancestor Moth went to look for them everywhere... This was not good, from the mess this man made in the market, the Thalmor will hear of it and wille with a heavy force after me, a child fated with three Elder Scrolls is something anyone would fear, or rather would want to acquire...... We knocked the man unconscious and fleed the city under the cover of darkness, we certainly detected many moves but nothing we couldn¡¯t handle..... *** 4E-180, 20th of Sun¡¯s Height; We found a refugee in an old resistance hideout, a friend of Jonrad took us in and we were weed, we need a ce to stay for a long time, so we sent Fultheim after that purpose... *** 4E-180, 6th of Last Seed; I couldn¡¯t write anything for a while, we changed locations after a certain ident. This so-called friend tried to poison Jonrad but failed, we killed our way out, the man begged for mercy saying that the Thalmor had his family. Why would I care? If something threatened my family, I¡¯ll murder a thousand family in exchange. After that night we kept traveling for days........ *** 4E-180, 21st of Last Seed; Fultheim found a nice little vige near Illiac Bay, a nice ce toy low, I also can¡¯t move much these days, and I also have to hide myself. *** 4E-180, 17th of Evening Star; For thest four months, Jonrad and Fultheim disguised themselves as farmers. I hid in the house the whole day, many spies and informants passed the vige but no one could see through the father-son act of Fultheim the Fearless and Jonrad Fire-Mane.... I also think I will give birth in a month or so.... *** 4E-181, 29th of Morning Star; A week ago, I gave birth to a baby boy. A beautiful baby boy. We called him Jonhild, after Jonrad and Hilda. May Kyne watch over him! *** 4E-181, 15th of Sun¡¯s Dawn; Jonhild is healthy but he sleeps all the time, only an old woman from the vige could interact with me so I understood from her some of this and that.... Jonrad is nning something big, he and Fultheim will attract the biggest amount of pursuers possible north, and open a path for me to the south, I¡¯ll will ride nonstop until I reach Cyrodiil... *** 4E-181, 20th of Sun¡¯s Dawn; I rode for a long time, only thing I know that Jonrad and Fultheim attacked some Dominion ships in Illiac Bay and it got ugly for the Dominion..... I stopped in a vige between Hammerfell and Skyrim, the borders were easy to cross. Now, I only have to wait for two days, if no one came, then I will ride alone to Cyrodiil. Hopefully I get to meet some old friends, or maybe Cassia... *** 4E-181, 22th of Sun¡¯s Dawn; Only Fultheim came back, Jonrad fought his way to the other side of bay and escaped on a ship. Fultheim told me he was being cornered but he doesn¡¯t know Fire-Manes when they ride the sea. No fish can corner a whale. Fultheim himself was a hero that day, when he was retreating it was rumored between travelers that a swordsman killed a hundred Thalmor agent. He gained the title ¡¯yer¡¯ that day....... *** 4E-181, 1st of First Seed; I tried to wait for a bit but the Thalmor got wind of us, it was a hairy escape, their greed over the Elder Scrolls made them send their operatives like crazed chase hounds..... After a few days we reached Bruma, the only stop before Skyrim, there were no hiding now, all parties knew we had to meet in Bruma... As we managed to hide Jonhild, we engaged in a bloody street fight, these Elves were no match at all, they were nothing to hold us. The good elven fighters mostly died out long ago in the Great War..... I killed an Elf boy today just because he was at my way and was in the Dominion armor, after I took him with a blow he fell and kept wailing for his mother. Why did any of this had to happen? When will this ever end?...... *** 4E-181, 2nd of First Seed; We ended the Thalmor operatives yesterday so we gained ourselves a day of rest... Our n is simple, once the Thalmor catch up, their mounts would be exhausted. We only need to burn the stable on the way and we will lose them for a fair amount of time........ *** This is thest entry I think I will write in this note. Maybe in this life. We passed into Skyrim but the Thalmor had a strong presence here. They were too damn organized. They even made deals with some of the ns. The way to Helgen was full of traps, and the way between the mountains is the safest route I could think off. Thankfully, Ivarsted was a remote ce off the main road to Riften. I think I can count on Delvin for some help, he harbors good intentions for me and Jonrad since that day in Dragonstar. I knew of a way to contact him immediately so I¡¯ll be on my way by tomorrow. Thankful I am to old Fultheim, how could a man be so loyal! He always ys with Jon and thinks highly of him. The old man should put his sword and rest but his old ghosts still chase him from the war till now. I have my ghosts too. Every night is a nightmare, every day is a worry. If I can contact my n then all this would be solved, yet these damn Elves just don¡¯t want to give up. We killed many Warriors and Scouts and some of their so-called Justiciars. They still have no intention to back down. My choices grow less now. The only ce that can provide us for the long journey is Riften. The Thalmor know that my aim is the family home in Eastmarsh, they have already blocked every road between me and home. Riften is my only choice left. It¡¯s a good detour and I can resupply from there, Ivarsted has few to offer, I¡¯ll be able to feed Jonhild for only theing three days. Jonhild, my child, my sweet child. What can I do to stop the world froming after you? What can I do to protect you? You and your father share the same hair, eyes and fate. He is somewhere, out there, fighting hordes of enemies. The Thalmor doesn¡¯t even know which one of us is carrying you. They suspect me the most as I am the mother, but they also made a counter for the reverse psychology and went after your father. That¡¯s right! Let¡¯s add one more twist to this. Your father became a decoy and now it¡¯s my turn. Mother always said Ick faith, but this time, I¡¯ll have faith. You and your father have strong fates, and I¡¯ll have faith in that. Even if I didn¡¯t live long enough to witness it, I can already see it. I can see you high among the clouds. You will reach that height as if nothing! It¡¯s already written in your eyes. I have faith in you my son. You and your father share these lousy stars after all! Delvin is the right man for taking care of you if I no longer can keep you. See how fate yed it out? Fear not son. You are Jonhild son of Jonrad. A fireborn mother and father. You have the heart of a Fire-Mane and beasts soothe in your presence. How can a mother be so blind! I feel no fear now. Still, you had the right to live in peace and someone is denying you that. They don¡¯t know who they are facing now. I will wait to see you grow up into that great person you meant to be. I¡¯ll be the one to put a sword in your hands and teach you how to use it. This is my faith! This is my promise! ___________________________________ Chapter 58 The Creation Club [A/N: Bonus Chapter Sponsored by @Angry_Bear (2/4)] [A/N: When I wrote Hilda¡¯s journal, I always put ¡¯......¡¯ at the end of every sentence. The reason is to imply that there is more to it than what¡¯s just written. It¡¯s not something I want to hide or anything. It¡¯s just what you can think of as me giving myself space to add more in the future. Something like Jonrad¡¯s personality and stuff like that. Don¡¯t think too much about it and Enjoy!] ~~~~~~~~ I knew things would never be that simple, but that¡¯s too crazy! There are too many things in my mind right now, to many things I want to say but I can¡¯t just start shouting at night! If someone who knew nothing, a native from this world would only see the journal as two parts, one part spoke about the Great War and one part spoke of a struggling mother. But I, a reincarnated individual, saw more than just that! I was in an emotional roller coaster. Sometimesughing about the things between Hilda and Jonrad. Sometimes I got really immersed in the way Hilda described the vivid image of the war. Sometimes I just wanted to skip some embarrassing parts. Sometimes I was about to scream from the cosmic coincidences I found, something like teacher Lah. But most times I felt bitterness! Hatred and darkness! There were those who inflected such a mental and emotional damage to Hilda. Extremely hateful! Totally unforgivable! Not even a thousand death can be a fairpensation! Fate! Prophecy! Elder Scrolls! In the end, these are things mortals hold dearly! If my fate is prophesied to be entwined with three Elder Scrolls then that is no news to me. I already know where are these Scrolls right now. And I don¡¯t even need them. It may help make things easier and acquire some valuables but it is just a bother to even hold them around. The Elder Scrolls are ¡¯godly¡¯ artifacts with iprehensible powers! They can allow one to look in the past and future, they can even do ¡¯Time Warps¡¯ and manipte Time itself, one of the most dangerous aspects of magic. Not just this and that! The mysteries of the Elder Scrolls are innumerable! For example; they can¡¯t be counted as they actually don¡¯t have a fixed numbers, they exist within space put appear and disappear ording to the need. I just think of them as the e-mails sent by a higher entity to guide lower entities. To show answers and make choices. That¡¯s is the reason for their omnipresence property. Of course they are terrifying to use, if someone acquired even a small Daedric artifact then the whole surroundings would go up and down, let alone an Elder Scroll, let alone three. I mean the game franchise itself was called ¡¯The Elder Scrolls¡¯. Whatever! I shouldn¡¯t think about the Elder Scrolls now anyway. Back to the content of this Journal, or before that, this is no ordinary Journal! I never took the blood proof seriously as I got absorbed in reading quickly. But now that I think about it, I don¡¯t even recognize the Aspect of the Enchantment. It¡¯s too mysterious! I can only guess it is something rted to Restoration School. But what I don¡¯t know now is not importantpared to what I learned from the content! First, my name is not Jon but Jonhild. I knew I chose the name in the character menu before but this is just too weird! My parents are Jonrad and Hilda and theybined their names to make Jonhild. Jonhild Fire-Mane, huh! Sounds Nord enough to me! I also like the sound of it. Jonrad is a member of the des! For some reason I don¡¯t like the sound of it! He is also dedicated to Fire magic! I guess he is my father for a reason. Anyway! He seems like someone I¡¯ll get along with! We can research tons of magic together, something like making total anntion spells as a family project on weekends. But to think he is researching the Dragonknights! I secretly felt proud about it. Dragonknights were the followers of a martial tradition that emerged during the Second Era, originating from the dispersed Akaviri Dragonguard. Their abilities were said to descend from the powers of dragons, although none had been seen a dragon for years at that time. They were particrly skilled at manipting fire, and could wreathe themselves in itpletely without being harmed. This is something fearsome. And from the journal here, Jonrad has reached a good level of mastery as it seemed he attacked few ships in Illiac Bay and some of them were destroyed by him. Hilda was abnormally strong too when I met her, she was not someone I would think of going against even four years from now. Still, the amount of hardships she recorded in her journal made me feel bitter and my throat felt like on fire, I was angry and I still am. Thest word she wrote actually made my eyes tear. Conflict over racial superiority and power in no strange between mankind and merkind, but it gets stranger and meaningless for those who live the action of conflict itself. They took their weapons to fight for peace but eventually, only more blood was shed. I think I got to know my parents better. I am in conflicted emotions yes, but I feel somewhat better. One other thing, Jonrad was suppose to be the n¡¯s Patriarch! But for because of his birthsign, he was not allowed to be the Patriarch! I also have the same birthsign as him from what Hilda wrote. I am confused! Birthsigns are the stars one was born under, which means his zodiac sign in my past world. The signs in this world are sometimes a source of great power. And as I discovered before I was born under the ¡¯Shadow¡¯ stars and no stars will give me power except them, unlike the game which allowed the yer to switch them anytime. But here where it gets weirder. Hilda wrote I was born on the 22nd of Morning Star (January), and as much as I appreciate finally knowing my birthday, it still meant that my stars are the ¡¯Ritual¡¯ not the ¡¯Shadow¡¯. I don¡¯t know how foreign stars can protect me without using a certain artifact that appeared in game. Still, either one of the Birthsigns are widely favored between people! Does the n have a certain rule about that thing or something? I¡¯ll have to ask Hilda about that! This is important! The thing that amused me the most was the topic about Uncle Delvin. He is my mentor in thievery and all the stuff I learned from him were hard earned knowledge, nothing from the game like most of the other stuff. Funny thing is, he was actually caught once. This is a scandal just as Hilda wrote! Delvin Malory being dragged to prison is nothing we heard of before. This guy is the one who made the rules for the guild around Skyrim. He is not the leader but he is the mastermind and the expert about business. Even though I prefer the ways of big sis Vex, I learned most from him and he gave me my business nickname. Let¡¯s not talk about that to anyone. After collecting these information in a ¡¯Family Drama¡¯ folder and saving them in the ¡¯important stuff¡¯ memory. I now turn to the crazy stuff, the ¡¯Total Coco¡¯ folder. In the journal, few names were mentioned that I was about to jump off my seat when I read them. ¡¯Tyr¡¯: a knight de who appears to be my uncle. ¡¯Lah¡¯: that Lah, the Mysticism ss teacher that was roped in by Nurina. She also said that she is a friend of Tyr Fire-Mane. The ¡¯Argonian Smuggler¡¯ and the ¡¯Mysterious Man¡¯ that never showed his face. I could make a guess who are they. ¡¯Lagate Cassia¡¯: that seemed to be a good friend of Hilda and Tyr. Putting those five people together only ment one thing! HOLY MARBLES! How could I forget such names? This is actually a Hero party. ¡¯The Forgotten Hero¡¯! They had a game that I only read about but had no time to y. It was called ¡¯The Elder Scrolls: Legends¡¯, a card game released after ¡¯The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim¡¯ to serve as a material and adding some drama into the Great War. The Forgotten Hero would rise to help a fellow prisoner from the Baldes named Tyr and would save the Empire with him along with other few people! The Forgotten Hero himself was not recognized or named by the game but had three adventures! Other than the Great War, he had some action in High Rock and Cyrodiil with the Dark Brotherhood that led to their current decline, and he will have a third adventureter. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know the details! I haven¡¯t yed this game but I read the brief description of it. I guess I¡¯ll see Lah into a new light now. I am also looking forward to see any of the other people from that game. This was not the end of it. The name ¡¯Fultheim¡¯ is a bigger surprise! He is one of the most mysterious NPCs in the game. This guy was living in a travelers¡¯ inn in the middle of bu## €k nowhere! He had an Akaviri Katana, the same one belongs to the des. He also would attack the yer if he/she was wearing the Thalmor Gear. Many game theorists made videos about him but all they concluded that he was a de spending the rest of his life in seclusion after the disbanding of the des. But to think he protected me when I was a baby and followed Jonrad as his attendant! Still, why is he not with the Fire-Manes? Man! This is truly a headache bringer! These amounts of information made my head hurt and my eyes heavy. I¡¯ll just head to bed, I think it¡¯s dawn now. Speaking of the bed, Julls was still sleeping. As I just lied beside her, she sensed me and engaged in a cuddle. This is nice! It¡¯s my first time cuddling! Let¡¯s try that! ~~~~~~~~ It started to get noisy outside, I guess the people are going for their sses and stalls in the morning. Few minutester, someone knocked on my door! Normally this the boys dorm so if my upper half is naked then no problem with it. But the one knocking the door was Eliel. "Hey we wer..." She was going to say something but she suddenlygged. She started to smile in a weird way while looking into my room. I realized that Julls was still in bed so I covered the view with myself, but Eliel was already nose bleeding. "We.. We.." "I¡¯ll meet you guys in the club." I closed the door hurriedly. Dammit! This pervert of all times! Let¡¯s see what she wants! Switching back to the college robes, I took my bag that had mytest experiments and spells then headed out to the club. Everyone was at the club already and there seemed to be a meating. "What¡¯s going on?" "We are here as the five core and only members of the club to fill the form and get finally registered as a team!" Eliel said. She seems to have wiped the blood but looked a bit pale. Still, "Get registered?" "Oh! Well, you see...." Morbagog was trying to say something but he was interrupted by Yisra. "We are not an official team yet, we need to be five at least, why do you think we hide out here?" "Aaah! So that¡¯s how it is!" "I am sorry I hid that from you but please don¡¯t take it the wrong way!" Morbagog was apologizing. "It¡¯s okay! I already made my ns..." "So, pleas..." "But... I will be the one taking charge from now on." They all became silent. Of course I just joined them and now I am going to order them around. "Excuse me, but Jon..." Eliel was about to say something. "Too perverted! All you¡¯ll keep doing is creating useless spells." They all went in silence. What I said was true! Morbagog was about to say something but interrupted, "It would be scary if you made a captain speech." "What about Yisra?" Mahran asked pushing Yisra under the rail. "Just staring at the fire won¡¯t help you understand how to alter its nature." "What about Mahran!?" Asked Yisra who was depressed from my answer. ""Adding spooky des to Dwemer Automatons figures won¡¯t make it move." That¡¯s right! That team is a mess "I have brought you some of my small projects, the machine you were trying to create is done too." I put a sketch note front of them. "What!" "Seriously!" This is not my usual sketch note, this is a new one for the club having some minor ideas the can do for me. "You can have a teaser trailer from a far for now." I took the note and showed it from a far. They were some sketches and wild ideas as well as some calctions. "C-Can we please?" Eliel was making puppy eyes! Ignored! No puppy eyes can affect a cat lover. "Only if I became the team leader!" They looked at each other and Eliel felt dejected! "Gaaah! Fine, you are the team leader!" She wrote it in the registration form! "Okay! Here!" I gave them the notes and they crowded together on it. I moved my eyes to the form. It had the five names of the first members as well as the team type and name. A research team. Perfect. But what in Oblivion is that name? "The Creation Club?!" Chapter 59 Catatoskr "I said ¡¯Nexus¡¯." "No, we already agreed to ¡¯Creation Club¡¯." "You guys don¡¯t understand, this is a really bad omen!" "We have already made a vote!" "Nexus!" "Creation Club!" "NEXUS!" "CREATION CLUB!" "DAMMIT!" "It¡¯s four against one, Jon. So zip it!" This was a fight about the team¡¯s name! They have agreed to call it the Creation Club! I really hated that name. Why you ask? Back in my past life, there were two main tforms for Skyrim modding. ¡¯The Nexus¡¯ which is preferred by most people, free of charge and had all sorts of quality content. It was the pride and joy of us Skyrim gamers even though the mods were not official and sometimes imed to have a lot of bugs. On the other hand, there was the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯. Think of it as the bad bully ssmate you don¡¯t really like. The ¡¯Creation Club¡¯ was also a mod tform that was released by the official gamepany. It had its own mods different from the ¡¯Nexus¡¯ and they were paid mods. Not just that, they were also imed to work with the game just fine and have no bugs whatsoever! If you want to believe it, I guess. All in all, the ¡¯Nexus¡¯ is like the Senpais of the Ser Clubs and the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯ is like the Nerds from the Manga Research Clubs. One knows exactly which one the girls like! And it feels like I joined the Manga Research Club now. "So Leader wha..." "Call me ¡¯Boss¡¯!" "Eh! Alright! Boss, what are these things?" What Morbagog was holding were some of my sketches. "This is the Magical Water Pumping Machine, the same one the College uses but this one can be powered by Soul Gems instead of the ¡¯Magicka Focus Points¡¯. This one is also the Seawater Transmutation Machine that also follow the same idea." "But are there really any importance of any project like that?" "Not really! We will just create them for a side jobter! The main projects will be this one and this one." I took two sketchs out! "This one is the thing you worked on before! To tell you the truth, your first workcked a lot of calctions! This machine can sense and calcte one¡¯s Magicka with this equation. We will call the term of the single Magicka Unit the ¡¯Magicks Point¡¯, or ¡¯MP¡¯ for short!" This is not really a far from the game idea. I used the ¡¯Petty Soul Gem¡¯ as the basis of the calction! In the game, the ¡¯Petty Soul Gem¡¯ possessed 250 Magicka Point that can be noticed when someone uses the Enchanting Table. Based on that, I brought some ¡¯Petty Soul Gems¡¯ filled to the brim and used my ¡¯Magicka Detection¡¯ until Iprehended the feels of 250 MP, then tried to apply the idea on a mechanical device but I had no times to enchant and make one, mainly because of my lousy metalworking skill. "This other sketch is more important!" I said, "This is the ¡¯Magicka Output Frequency Detector¡¯ or what I like to call the (Dareuometer). I shamelessly named it after myself." "Your naming sense is nonexistent, Boss!" "What? Say that again!" "Now now stop making noises!" Yisra interrupted, "We know the use of the first device but what is the use for that ¡¯Dareuometer¡¯?" "Well as you see, it is made into the shape of a glove with a counter on its back. It¡¯s a device that detects the shape of the output of Magicka from a mage¡¯s body and the needle of the counter moves with it. Imagine if Magickaes from body for a spell like this.." I took a paper and made a diagram for ¡¯MP/Sec¡¯. "If the spell is a Channeling Spell, it should look on the diagram like this." I drew a curve from the diagram¡¯s corner and reached a certain point then continued with the line horizontally. "If it¡¯s a spell that you ¡¯Charge¡¯ then ¡¯Cast¡¯, it should look like this." I drew another curve going up from the diagram¡¯s corner and reached a higher point then took the line vertically down. "As you can see, the Magicka output grows higher as you charge then it reaches the point were the spell ispletely charged, after that you cast and no Magicka outputes out again." "This one can imagine it!" Mahran said. "Now think of this as fully sessful spells. How would the not fully sessful and the unsessful spells look like?" "The line will be disturbed, I mean won¡¯t look neatly curved." Eliel said. "Exactly! For those who research small spells this device will prove useful to detect the shorings, but what about those who work on Master level destruction spells?" "It will be essential!" Morbagog said. He is right! Someone like Faralda will need this device more than anyone in the College now. If someone failed with a Master level Destruction spell and it backfired on him/her. The consequences will be scary to just think of. Many mages died of just that! But this device won¡¯t simply save them by that. "This device actually adds a safety mechanism! When a spell goes haywire and the needle start shacking left and right, it would activate a safty mechanism. There are three abilities that I am still not sure which one would be the most useful. Dispelling, Ward, or Silence." ¡¯Dispelling¡¯ is a safty mechanism that can make the glove dispel the spell that is about to go haywire, its only problem is that the spell might be too strong and the effect we make is not strong enough! ¡¯Ward¡¯ is to create a magic shield around the caster but the backfired spell might be too powerful for it. ¡¯Silence¡¯ is a safety mechanism that stops the user from casting magic forcefully for a second, this also may prove dangerous as the spell might explode and leave the mage defenseless. After a heated conversation with the team, we reached the conclusion to use ¡¯Dispel¡¯ as it was the safest idea. "Okay, I guess that¡¯s what we will work on now. By the time of theing exam, the four of us will be done with the projects in hand and will take new ideas!" "Yes, Boss!" Morbagog was fired up. "Mahran, I¡¯ll be needing your engineering skill to build a vi and some project out in Winterhold, so be sure to free some time when the timees?" The giant Khajiit opened his eyes wide, "You are having a Vi in Winterhold?" "Yes, what of it?" "The Jarl is not going to leave a mage in his town. He may not be able to harass us around the college, but some suspect him for attempts on some mages away from the town and the College." "You sure about that?" "I heard about that too." Yisra said, "Some mages before attempted to make good rtionships between the College and the town but some of them received strong opposition from the Jarl, some of those who really caused him headache died in ces near the coast line." Hmmm! This is more than what I thought it would be! "Thanks for the heads up! But I can¡¯t back down yet! I think I should be going now!" "Wait!" Eliel called, "What is in that fifth sketch?" "Fifth?" I didn¡¯t bring any fifth. "This design." Eliel showed it. "Oh! It must have got stuck with the other papers." The rest took a look and like what they saw. "It looks strange but I like it." "Does it spew fire?" "Mahran thinks the design looks a bit Elven." These idiots! "This is an otherworldly weapon. I was just drawing some stuff!" "Oh! What¡¯s it called?" Mahran was taking a liking on anything with the genre of weapons. "AK-47" "Strange name! Is it really elven?" "I guess it was made by the Soviet Elves." "Who are those?" "The Aldmeri Dominion from my past life!" "Past life?" "Oh, I had one of those you know." I said, "Let me tell you about the Dragons too." ~~~~~~~~ After a while I left the club, I met with Junar in the way and told her to bring my Skyforge Saber to Nurina¡¯s room. My next target was the stalls in the corridor, I was looking for a decent armor and a weapon. It maybe the College but I doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t use armors or weapons. Some of the battle styles in the College requires the mage to be familiar with close rangedbat, just like the guys from the tournament. And speaking of the devil, I just ran into Svadall and Svefna. They showed me a good stall for armors and weapons. I bought something for Trudvar, my housecarl to be. My next on schedule was a meeting I wanted to make some time ago. I headed directly to the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯ and looked in the ces where the Schrs go to eat and rx, I should find him anywhere here. Ah! Here he is. "Hello, may I bother you for some time sir." I spoke friendly to a Bosmer Schr seniors. "You are one of those ¡¯first year and acting dumb¡¯ boys, please go do that somewhere else." The Schr was annoyed with me, he is an Elf so his reaction is a bit expected. "I am known as Jon Dare and....." "Jon Dare! The rumored son of Arch-Wizard Nurina Aren, the one with the legendary score in the Rank Up exam and the Champion of the Tournament. Also the one who destroyed Orthorn balls?" "Oh! Well, I am that famous?" "Of course! I don¡¯t know what good fate led you to me but I am sure we will get along, my name is Enthir, I and my team handle most of the ¡¯stalls¡¯ around here and I was looking for a chance to invite you abroad, I am sur..." "Cut the crap!" I said, this Elf won¡¯t end it today. "Wha!" He was taken aback and trying to process the situation. "Old Delvin says hey!" I said with a smile. "What?" Enthir jumped from his seat but he looked around to check that no one saw his miserable appearance. "Old Delvin! Like... Boss Malory?" "That¡¯s him." "You!" Enthir looked and checked me, "You are one of his people?" "Yes, you can rest assured!" ¡¯His people¡¯ meant the people who are in good rtionship with Delvin but not Mercer Frey. There is a big fraction in the guild since Mercer became the Boss many years ago. No one liked the way he did things but more importantly, Delvin had his suspicions about Mercer and had his small circle away from Mercer¡¯s. Actually, Delvin is right as the game provedter but currently my rank is a bit low for me to act against Mercer personally. Enthir also wasn¡¯t fond of Mercer so he wasn¡¯t sure how to deal with me. Even after me trying to calm him. "Okay, can this make you at ease?" I moved my left sleeve up and showed my arm to Enthir, there was a tattoo on it. "This, this can¡¯t be! You are ¡¯Catatoskr¡¯?" "Yes, it¡¯s me!" If anyone from modern Earth saw the small tattoo on my arm they would think badly of me. Why would someone have a ¡¯Hello Kitty¡¯ tattoo like this. I actually hate it too. But to others, this tattoo meant ¡¯Catatoskr¡¯, and it has a big story in the guild. [A/N: Catatoskr, is a twist for ¡¯Ratatoskr¡¯, a squirrel who runs up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carry messages between the eagle Veerf?lnir, perched atop Yggdrasil, and the serpent N¨ªeh?ggr, who dwells beneath one of the three roots of the tree.] "My oh my! I heard the stories about you. A kid who was brought up by Delvin and became one of the Seven horrors of Riften." He was right! ¡¯Catatoskr¡¯ is my business nickname in the guild, I used to climb walls and run rooftops so I was called ¡¯Catatoskr¡¯. Also the Seven horrors of Riften are; (Knjakr the Cannibal) a serial killer cook, the (Red Cat) known to the thieves as Catatoskr, the (Ratway) as a ce, the (Thieves Guild) itself, the tavern known as the (Ragged gon), the Face Butcher correctly the (Face Sculptor), and finally (Maven ck-Briar) herself. Funny enough, six of the seven are from the Ratway itself. And the name (Catatoskr) was made for me to avoid being known as the boy who shouted a ¡¯War Cry¡¯ in Riften. "Anyway, I¡¯ll be needing some favors from now on, can you be relied on?" "What kind of question is that?" Enthir said angrily, "And here I was going to offer you some discounts!" "Well appreciated, but I pay back my way, I don¡¯t s**t where I eat." "Oh! The reference is new but hard on my emotions you know! Fine, what can I help you with?" "I want to know the deal with that Jarl Korir." "Oh! Korir. Well, that¡¯s not easy to say. Unless it is the College, this guy has a firm grasp on Winterhold, or that what it seemed to be. I am not really into this kind of secrets and I advice you to stay out of it. Winterhold is a realm that belongs to one of the Hidden ns, and Korir is just a mascot." "Hidden ns? Something like Fire-Mane n?" "So you heard of them! The Fire-Manes are not entirely hidden as they are known to live in Eastmarch and have arge business as sailors and horse traders." "What exactly are the Hidden ns?" "You are asking what is the color of air! No one knows. What is known are ns like those Fire-Manes. I also heard of other names in the sea like the Blood-Sails, a n that has a pirate group called the Blood Horkers." "Seriously?" "And if you thought it ends here then you are mistaken. Some of the hidden ns has Akaviri roots, some are ancient ns of Vampires, some are powerful Daedra worshipers" "You gotta be kidding me!" "What is more important is that these ns has no interest in the normal world most of the time, they possess small armies with very high capabilities! They even don¡¯t think of the Kings and Jarls as equal!" "Damn! This is not even one tiny bit from the game." "The game?" "Eh! Forget about it! Just how did you acquire such information?" "What do you think I was doing here in Winterhold all this time? I am only able to do business here just because the College is too powerful as an entity and even a Hidden n would have to think twice before crossing our path!" "What about outside the town?" "If you are targeted you will be hunted like a dog. I once watched some mages got killed just because they stuck their noses in the town business." Enthir said, "There is also some fool who appeared in the town yesterday and made some trouble with the Jarl." Hahaha! $h?t! "Such a fool exist? Haha!" "Can you believe it?" I am so going to kill myself now! The embarrassment! "So who are the ones that normally deal with Korir?" Enthir thought for a while and said, "The Blood Horkers." Chapter 60 Power Up! I am not a smart person and I¡¯ll never im to be one, as smart people would back out in a situation like me. It seems that these Blood Horkers work under some big n called Blood-Sails. Which means I am facing a Jarl who is backed by pirates who are backed by some superpower and I must make it through! Feels like my kind of adventure. One needs to fight some super hidden force from time to time to keep up a good health! Dammit! I feel miserable! Let¡¯s just face what ising at us now! I¡¯ll deal with that Korir in a way that would make him regret crossing my path. A helmet he wants? A helmet he will get. With something extra of course. Enthir, as any other thief, was a slimy bastard but he was easy to deal with. He also showed me some of his ¡¯collection¡¯, I bought a book called ¡¯Wind and Sand¡¯ and a Grand Soul Gem. ¡¯Wind and Sand¡¯ is an important book that came from Hammerfell for those who want to research the ¡¯Air Magic¡¯. Normally the Destruction school had three forms of ¡¯Energy¡¯ that are considered as elements, the me and Lightning who are known as legit energies and the Frost who is an alteration of the energy nature to its coldest form. After all, Frost Magic is not Ice Magic even though it can cause ice to form. Saying farewells to Enthir, I headed to Nurina¡¯s. Nurina waszing around, she got energetic when I told her what I have done in Winterhold. She also seemed to know a thing or two about what happens in the town. I definitely didn¡¯t tell her about my bathhouse n but I said I wanted to make some project there. That wasn¡¯t entirely a lie. The bathhouse is just a way to make a money cirction in Winterhold and as long as it is sessful, I¡¯ll start a new business immediately! She also was concerned about the journal. Hilda seemed to have told her about what happened but the journal had more serious matters, including the thing with Lah. She was really nning on supporting me on what is going to happen from now on. She also seemed to have finished another Atronach Spell in one day. It was a me Wolf Atronach but few timesrger than the normal thing. It also needed a more powerful Atronach to expand the body that much. Last thing we talked about was the n to deal with the trouble from the Jarl of Winterhold. Gotta admit, Nurina can be scary when she ns for something mischievous. I also gave her the Grand Soul Gem I just bought and asked her to enchant my Skyforge Saber. We argued once again about the enchantment but I won this time, my enchantment was a bit tricky to handle but the result of its sess will be scary. Unlike my Agni-Ra which relied on the Sun Element to deal more damage, this enchantment was a double enchantment that had two effects and they were nasty. The first is ¡¯Burden¡¯, this enchantment will put weight on any object the de touches for some time including objects and and people, the second enchantment is ¡¯Paralyze¡¯ which is going to do what its name said. This weapon will devastate its targets, I am proud of it for some reason. "So, how will you deal with Korir?" "The man asked for a helmet. It would be a shame if he didn¡¯t wear it so I¡¯ll ask him in public to put it on." "What is the point?" "Well, you can imagine what an enchanted helmet would do if it was enchanted with a curse, right?" Nurina opened her eyes then narrowed them. She thought for a while. "Fine, but what will happen if you got pursuers?" "I will not be going to Hob¡¯s Fall first, I also have some business arrangements I need to see to first." "Oh! I am looking forward to see what you will do." ~~~~~~~~ I headed out just before sunset, Nurina helped me with some of my researches and I guess I am ready to go and test the new spells now. I chose to go above the ¡¯Hall of the Elements¡¯, the roof can be essed through any tower and from there the roof itself is circr and one can go around the college easily. The weather was cold and a bit windy but it was just perfect, some students were here to but everyone was doing his own tests. I chose the farthest ce from anyone and now was everything was ready. The first is from the ¡¯Detection¡¯ aspect, now my new spell was ¡¯Pinpoint¡¯. It¡¯s a spell that can mark anyone or anything and will make me detect it better. My n was to wait for any bird and cast it on it, and here was it. An Ivory Gull flew past my head and I started spamming the spell like a mad. It finally hit the bird on the seventh try. Nothing happened to the bird and I am sure it didn¡¯t even feel anything, now for the result. I felt a special feeling when the bird got further, I can close my eyes and still sense its location but as it got to a certain distance, I could feel it no more. This was wonderful, I kinda took liking on the spell, but it had more applications than just this. If it got associated with Space or Soul magics it can be ¡¯Space Mark¡¯ or ¡¯Soul Mark¡¯, useful for both ¡¯Teleporting¡¯ and ¡¯Telepathy¡¯. The current use for the spell also was not bad, it can be considered a ¡¯Lock On¡¯ spell, I casted it on another bird then casted ¡¯Sun Fire¡¯. The spell wouldn¡¯t harm a living being but it scared the bird when it homed after it. The second spell I wanted to test was a new aspect for the first time. It¡¯s the ¡¯Force¡¯ aspect. Basically it is Telekic Force. Telekinesis is a high end spell that drains a lot of Magicka but this spell is a smaller version of it. It¡¯s called ¡¯Grip¡¯ spell. It¡¯s basically as it¡¯s name, my naming sense is kinda honest so I won¡¯t be calling it something like ¡¯The Grip of Might¡¯ or anything, just ¡¯Grip¡¯ will do. I took out a tankard I picked on the way here and threw it ahead. Evoking a new spell was kinda pain and my Magicka was not very focused yet. Still, I was too good to make a spell go haywire. After few tries I managed to grab the tankard with the spell, it moved up and down easily. ¡¯Grip¡¯ can create a controlling effect with the same size as a grip and add some shiny effect to that. When I be better with it I¡¯ll be able to choke people with it or maybe crush objects with it. Telekinesis can do the same but the effect can takerger objects. The next spell was from the same aspect, it was called ¡¯Force Bullet¡¯, and just like the name, it would make a bullet from Telekic Force. It had a nasty effect when it took that shape. The next spell I wanted to try but was a bit illegal was a ¡¯Soul¡¯ magic. The reason for its nastiness was because it was an attack that would harm the Astral Body. I called it ¡¯Soul Scorch¡¯, this was just as nasty as it sounded. I¡¯ll try it on some banditter. There was also that spell that I was dying to learn since the time in Solitude, it is that ¡¯Soulfire¡¯ a spell that I mistakingly categorized as a Soul magic but was an ¡¯Inner Magicka Control¡¯ just like the notes of The Augur said. I had no real way to test its effect but I could get the feels of it. It can power up an enchanted artifact directly from the Magicka pool and don¡¯t consume the Magicka of the artifact itself. After moving the ¡¯Sound¡¯ and ¡¯Light¡¯ to alteration, I tried to make new spells for them. My failure was epic at these two for some reason but in a desperate act, Ibined the two aspects in a ¡¯st¡¯ spell and called it ¡¯shbang¡¯, it can make a high pitched explosion with a nasty light effect, kinda simr to these sh Bangs that the police uses. From the new spells that Nurina gave me were the ¡¯Bound Bow¡¯ and ¡¯Bound Spear¡¯. This was good, I wanted these two spells for a long time, the Spear is the best weapon to use on horseback and the Bow is the best counter weapon against Mages. I didn¡¯t put any effort in Conjuration or Destruction this time, I skipped directly to Illusion. My first aspect was the main aspect of Illusion and it was the aspect of ¡¯Mind¡¯, the aspect that holds most of the Illusion tricks like Fear, Fury, Calm and all that. The spell I learned was ¡¯Paralyze¡¯, its effect wasmon and was one of the very favored spells between mages so it was greatly evolved and widly used. I cast it on a bird which lost all of its senses and fell, I caught it though! That¡¯s why I was practicing ¡¯Grip¡¯ first. The next aspect of Illusion was ¡¯Will¡¯. This was a tricky one. Wills are hardly broken or manipted but some small altering can cause a great effect. This spell was called ¡¯Insinuate¡¯, just like how Lucifer (or Satan) insinuates people, this spell has a simr effect of causing suspicions to be remoted to the mind of the target. It was a weak spell but if it was used in the right way, it can be my new magnum opus. Next aspect was the ¡¯Vision¡¯, I learned a ¡¯Night Vision¡¯ spell. The effect was great. From the same aspect I made a ¡¯Blindness¡¯ spell, I don¡¯t think it would have any use in actualbat as I will be more focused on harming the target, not blinding it. ¡¯Holy Smite¡¯ was my new original Sun spell based on the ¡¯Fireball¡¯ spell, it is also an Adept level spell. And another new spell was ¡¯Pdin¡¯s Aura¡¯, a Sun Cloak spell that can make all undead suffer damage. After that, the spell I wanted to try was ¡¯Reflection Ward¡¯. A Ward that can reflect all magic like a charm. I wrecked my brain around that one since the time in Riften and finally made it. Thest thing I wanted to check was something I managed toprehend after I made the ¡¯Force Bullet¡¯ spell. I took the tankard and put it on the edge of the wall. The sun was already setting and only a small red hue was there. "Hehehe! I hope this will work!" I positioned the tankard really well and ran back ten meters. And now! The moment of truth. "Ehem! *breath in* *open eyes widely* F..." "Excuse me!" "*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* ..." "Ah! Sorry, I surprised you!" "Ehem! It¡¯s oka.. it¡¯s okay now." "No, I am deeply sorry! I just wanted to say if you are going to blow that tankard with a spell, then do it that way! This way is the direction of the docks and the sailors alwaysin about stuff falling on them from here." "Oh! So it was like that! Thank you miss, I¡¯ll do it that way." ... "Fine now." The girl gave me a thumbs up! Okay, let¡¯s do it again! "Ehem! *breath in*" *Chatter* *Chatter* *Chatter* What is it now? I looked back to see some students looking my way and talking. "Something wrong?" "No, we just think you will cast a big spell so we will just watch from a far." The same young miss said. "Okay! Fine!" Boy! This is embarrassing! "Ehem! *breath in* ..... FUS RO DAH!" ~~~~~~~~ Let¡¯s just say it all went well! Yes! Let¡¯s just say that! Despite the fact that these ¡¯Students¡¯ pissed themselves! And the light snow on the roof flew everywhere! Some teachers ran up to check out what happened but I was taking the stairs down. I even gave them direction, the wrong one of course. Reaching my room was a struggle but thank goodness I had my hood on. Thinking about the shout! My head is still feeling light from it. It was marvelous! I felt like the space was being torn when thest word was said. But I think I was mistaken to do it around these students! None of them had the strength to stand after they witnessed the power even though they stood behind me. Anyway, I¡¯ll cower into my room and call it a day. But, something was not right! I am afraid this kinda looks like my room but something changed. "Wee back Jon!" Oh! That¡¯s Julls, so she did some redecorating, she is also calling me by my name. So she moved our beds beside each other and brought a wooden tub from somewhere, there is also a meal on the table. "You did all that?" "*Giggles* so tell me Jon!" "Tell you what?" "Do you want a bath? Do you want dinner? Or, do, you, want, me?" ¡ã ?? ? ¨C ? "....." "Hmm! Jon." "AUTHOOOOOR!!!" [A/N: Okay okay, sorry. Jeez! Ungrateful bastard. *10 seconds back in time*] "You did all that?" "Ah! Yes." "Hmm! Thanks, you better head to bed now! We have a ship to catch tomorrow!" "A ship? Aren¡¯t we going to that cave?" "What? No, not so soon!" "Where are we going then?" "Hehe! We are visiting a friend in Dawnstar!" ~~~~~~~~ "Jon¡¯s Spells" #Mysticism: . -Magicka Outer Control: Channel Absorb/Supply Dispel - Drain -Detection: (Energy, Matter) Scan (changed from detect) Pinpoint (NEW!) -Force: (telekinesis) (NEW!) Grab (NEW!) Force Bullet (NEW!) Featherfall (moved from alteration) -Soul: Scorch (NEW!) Trap -Necromancy: Reanimate Supply Undead -Divination: rm irvoyance -Time: elerate -Inner Magicka Control: (NEW!) Soulfire (NEW!) ************************************ #Alteration: . -Matter: Burden - Feather -Object: Stoneskin - meskin -Light: (moved to alteration) Candlelight -Sound: (moved to alteration) Muffle Create (NEW!) Throw Voice (NEW!) -Combination: (NEW!) shbang (NEW!) ************************************ #Conjuration: . -Control Summon: Command - Banish Bound - Unbound Supply Daedra -Bound Weapon: Sword Dagger Battleaxe Bow (NEW!) Spear (NEW!) -Conjure Familiar: Mouse, Cat, Falcon, Owl, Wolf -Conjure Undead: Ghost Boneman -Conjure Atronach: me: Normal - Horse Frost: Normal - Utility ************************************ #Destruction: . -me: mes Fire Bolt - Fire Rune Fireball -Shock: Sparks Lightning Bolt - Lightning Rune Chain Lightning - Lightning Cloak ************************************ #Illusion: . -Mind: Courage - Fury Calm - Fear Paralyze (NEW!) -Will: (NEW!) Insinuate (NEW!) -Vision: (NEW!) Night Vision (NEW!) Blindness (NEW!) ************************************ #Restoration: . -Vitality: Healing Drain Vitality -Ward: Steadfast Ward Reflection Ward (NEW!) Quadrant Ward -Sun: Sunrays Sun Fire - Sun Rune Holy Smite (NEW!) Pdin¡¯s Aura (NEW!) ________________________ #Special Powers: -Racial: -War Cry (Buff Allies, Scare Foes) -Standing Stone: Shadow Stone: Hide in Shadows (Sneak Buff) Blue (Combat Speed buff) -Blood Lineage: Resis Fire ___________________________________ #Thu¡¯um: -Unrelenting Force: Fus: Force Ro: Bnce Dah: Push (NEW!) Chapter 61 Pirates! The morning was cold, too cold that even the warmed dorm felt colder than usual. I had to send Jull to the town for delivering the new armor for Trudvar. I had some arrangements to be done and Nurina had a shopping list so I had to move fast that early. The ¡¯Icicle¡¯ is the ship of the College I arrived on, was going to restock from Dawnstar so I made my arrangements with them yesterday. After a few minutes, I was standing outside the College with Junar and Trudvar as I was giving them their weapons. "Here for you, you will use my Hammer!" I gave my Agni-Ra to Trudvar. "Eh! Isn¡¯t this the Boss¡¯s Hammer that was used in the tournament?" "Yes, it¡¯s my favorite weapon so make sure to safeguard it well." I said, "Julls, these are for you." I gave her two short swords that suited her style. "Now, to the ship." "The ship, Boss?" "Oh, forgot to tell. The main road maybe filled with some intentional unwanted encounters so we are taking the ship to Dawnstar." "Dawnstar?" "A friend is going to be there, he will be of much help in this quest!" "Yes, Boss!" We took the steps down to the docks, unlike the appearance I and Julls came in, I am now was dressed in the College Robes over my Scaled Cuirass and Julls was in a dark fitting light armor. As we reached the end of the stairs, we could see old Captain Geldof shouting at his sailors. Yet, when he saw me, his attitudepletely switched. "Haha! You camed. Come aboard, we have a short journey this time." He was as cheerful as ever now, let¡¯s hope this trip take no much time. Some timeter, the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ set sail. This trip would take two days. Pretty good time to practice spells and ¡¯cultivate¡¯. Time passed peacefully for a while, I was sitting in the cabin with Julls who waszing around doing nothing, or she was ying with her new twin swords. She took a liking on them. My mind was actually on my research, I was thinking of applying the ¡¯Inner Magicka Control¡¯ into my so called cultivation. The ¡¯Inner Magicka Control¡¯ is mysterious and its applications are awesome, I can recreate many ideas from the fantasy novels and techniques just when I put it with another ideas. The most important two techniques I can think of is how to ¡¯Circte¡¯ Magicka into my body and using it to add strength by ¡¯Energizing¡¯ my body. I think this will open a door for the actual Combat Energy, or what others used to call ¡¯Battle Spirit¡¯ or stuff like that. Also, to discover more aspects I try to look into the current ones and think of their reverse. Necromancy for example is a magic to manipte the dead, so shouldn¡¯t there be a magic to do the opposite? I am not talking about the Light magic or what¡¯s called here Sun magic. I am talking about the Life magic or the Nature magic. History recorded many mages who had the ability tomunicate with nature, humans also make nature part of the goddess Kyne or Kynareth specialities and Elves say the same about Y¡¯ffre or Jephre. The correct way to manipte Nature with Magicka in my opinion is divided to Flora and Fauna. One needs tomunicate with both Green Nature and Wild Nature to start the first steps in this path. I¡¯ll call it the ¡¯Way of the Druid¡¯ from now on. The other kinds I am after are both the Space Magic and the Time Magic. Space magic needs a lot of spatial awareness and understanding of the energy of space itself, ¡¯Time¡¯ is even harder. Nurina gave me a long lecture about that. I know these two magics are Psijic specialty and hard to master so I associated them with Mysticism even though I felt they belong to Alteration. Why not, as I know that both magics are part of the nature around man, but that¡¯s a long theory I left aside. To reach all the magics I thought about just now, is to understand them or ¡¯Detect¡¯ them. This goes without saying that my ¡¯Detection¡¯ magic I am practicing now is the most important step and the way to unlock and understand new abilities. The scary thing is, I am increasing my power in order to find these mysterious magics. Increasing power like this is not a good thing. It¡¯s dangerous and may cause a catastrophic result one day. I am guessing that one day my body may no longer be able to keep my energy in and some ident happen. Something like what happened to The Augur. I must have talked to him before I leave but it would have taken a long time to prove to him that I am worthy with knowledge. He is very particr about passing the knowledge. Myst concern in the Mysticism right now is the opposite of ¡¯Detection¡¯, the ¡¯Divination¡¯. When normal people think of Mystics, they think of those who can tell the future, scry into fate and all that. I learned two spells in ¡¯Divination¡¯, one of them was passed down to me by Nurina and it¡¯s my ¡¯rm¡¯ spell, that spell that saved my life who knows how many times. I also learned ¡¯irvoyance¡¯, a spell that guides one by his need to his target but it¡¯s really a hard to control spell. Speaking of ¡¯rm¡¯ spell, I am hearing the ¡¯Tek TekTek¡¯ in my head and I am getting a bit nervous because of it. Something is wrong! Jull also noticed and moved with me, her ears are sharper than mine so she must have heard something. "What¡¯s going on?" I asked. "I am not sure, but a lot of footsteps are sounding from the deck." "Up we go!" Unsheathing our des we headed up to deck. The deck was in a mess! The sailors were running around everywhere and arrows wereing and going. I didn¡¯t step on the deck yet. I still had to assess the situation. "What¡¯s going on?" I grabbed one of the sailors and pulled him to me. "Don¡¯t you see? Pirates! PIRATES!" Oh! What a high spirited fellow! But Pirates? This ship carry the banner of the College, no pirate shall be this ignorant and attack the ship. "We are going, here!" I evoked ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ and cast it on Jull, then on myself. "I won¡¯t forgive you if something happened to you!" She said. "Hehe! The same back to you!" We ran onto the storm of arrows! I hate arrows. ~~~~~~~~ [A/N: 3rd Person POV.] Two vessels attacked the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ from each side. One was a small vessel and one was a little bit smaller than the Icicle itself. The pirate banners indicated that they are not the usual pirates of these parts! These were Argonian pirates. After the war in Morrowind between the Dunmer and the Argonians, Morrowind lost a big part of its territory to ck Marsh in what is known as The ession War, a war about seeking revenge for thousands of years of very, or so one theory goes. Now after nearly two hundred years, new Argonian pirates started to emerge in the north of Skyrim. Jon was for the first time witnessing a naval skirmish, and he didn¡¯t take a liking to it. ¡¯They are just shooting arrows at each other like this?¡¯ He thought. Normally, he didn¡¯t see any pirating scenes like this in movies, the golden age of pirates during the Gunpowder Era was only known to him so this to him was a sort of disappointment. "Captain Geldof! How are we going to deal with this?" Jon took cover beside the Captain and asked. "If it was one side then it would be easy. We can¡¯t focus on that ¡¯Caravel¡¯ with that small ¡¯Sloop¡¯ on our back, my quartermaster is injuredd, this is your time to shine." [A/N: I am using the ssification by size! ¡¯Sloop¡¯ is a small vessel with a single mast, think of it as Merry Go from One Piece. ¡¯Caravel¡¯ is a long and light ship with two masts in normal cases, 20m long. The ¡¯Icicle¡¯ is a Nordic Brigantine. I am posting a pic for the ship types on Discord.] "I don¡¯t want to shine!" Jon retorted. "Haha! That¡¯s the spiritd, go to Fraki, you know him? Figure out a way to secure our backs from that small one. We¡¯ll send the other to Oblivion." Jon was having a headache, in this madness, this old man was able to find a way to feel excited. ¡¯Fine!¡¯ Jon jumped and took cover after cover as he reached a sailor called Fraki. Jull was behind him all the time. "Captain said to send that small boat to Oblivion!" Jon said. "It¡¯s not going to be easy! We need someone that can cast ¡¯Fireball¡¯ at least." "I can cast it!" "Boy! We only brought you to the College two weeks ago!" "Shut up and do as I say! I¡¯ll blow these f**kers up so give me some damn cover!" "NOTCH ARROWS!" Farki didn¡¯t argue more and trusted Jon. Jon was already evoking a ¡¯Fireball¡¯ each hand and waiting for the cover fire. "LOOSE!" With the sounds of arrows cutting the air, the pirates on the ¡¯sloop¡¯ hid behind anything the could find. This was Jon¡¯s time to shine. He cast the first spell and targeted the area behind the mast were most pirates hid, the second spell was cast at the ce he could see most of the pirates¡¯ arrows were stored. He wasn¡¯t done yet, he was evoking a third spell hurriedly but the pirates started to target him wholeheartedly, as he was dodging back he was finally done with charging the spell and targeted the sail. The three spellsnded and exploded splendidly well. The first put many pirates in critical states, the second is going to cripple their shooting as most of the arrows were destroyed and the third was a goodbye gift. "Ysmir!" Fraki was witnessing the one side bombardment and couldn¡¯t help but feel happy. In his head one spell was good enough, let alone three. "Ready your arrows! We¡¯ll give them another round!" "Fraki! They are throwing the hocks!" A sailor shouted. "Oblivion! They are persistent!" "Don¡¯t mind that now!" Jon said, "I am going to the quarterdeck, I¡¯ll need cover there!" Jon ran while covering himself with a broken barrel. Farki saw that andmanded the ten or so sailors to follow. As they reached the ¡¯quarterdeck¡¯, Jon was already done with charging a spell! "Take cover! Once you hear a strong noise, rain them nonstop, remember! Never look to that spell!" The sailors lowered their heads to cover and nodded. Jon was the one giving orders now. Jon cast a ¡¯Grip¡¯ spell on the barrel and moved it away in the air, the pirates naturally thought someone was trying to sneak on them and rained the barrel with arrows. Ten meters away from the barrel, Jon was charging a spell with all his might. "Now, take this." He cast the spell from his cover randomly in the middle of pirates! An awful ringing noise and a strong light exploded on the pirate ¡¯sloop¡¯, the pirates started screaming from the noise and closed their eyes from the strong light. "GIVE THEM EVERYTHING!" With Jonmand, Farki and the other sailors as well as Junar started raining arrows randomly at the Argonian pirates! Jon returned to his cover and started charging his spell. This was the normal ¡¯Fireball¡¯ that he used to st the pirates minutes ago. But this time he was dual casting it, one spell two hands. He reached a certain point where a spell is fully charged but he wasn¡¯t done yet, he was overcharging the spell. The ¡¯Fireball¡¯ in his hand was growingrger andrger until its diameter reached one meter. "Get back!" Jon shouted and the sailors ran like undead escaping from the sun. Jon carried the spell over his head and it looked like he was carrying a small sun. "Take this you f**kers! Odama Fireball!" The Fireball flew towards the pirate vessel delivering the final blow! The pirates were in no shape to look at what ising at them but those who saw were already running to the sea. Still, the ¡¯Firball¡¯ reached its target. A thundering explosion as if an Expert spell was cast, this this was akin to the wrath of the primordial gods smiting down their foes. No vessel was seen after the strong explosion and shock wave, as if nothing was there, except for small pieces of wood and smoke that appeared on surface. This rather felt really terrifying! Jon¡¯s face was twitching from awkwardness! "Jull, did I overdo thest spell?" Jull looked between him and the ce that was supposed to be the location of the pirate vessel, "No, you just made our efforts seam as if nothing!" "Oh! Gotta cover that up now!" Jon said, "Ehem! Good job everyone, now to the next ship!" The sailors were terrified and nodded, they ran to help with the fight on the other side. "Jull, that small bag you carrying has a blue potion, hurry up! I am low on juice!" "Here!" Jull gave him the blue potion, Jon was being refreshed as he was drinking it but the potions in real life are much slower than the one in game. It would take fifteen minutes to digest the effect of the potionpletely. While enjoying the drink, noise erupted from the other side of the ship and it started to shake. "The pirates are going into melee!" Jull checked and reported! "Let¡¯s join the fray!" Even though he was low on Magicka, Jon unsheathed his sword and went towards the fight, he was craving for a group fight like this. The ce was hectic, fight erupted on both ships and the pirates were fierce fighters. Jon was thinking how to deal with a situation like this but he was rather not experienced in this sort of fights, his slightg attracted a pirate to him. The Argonian pirate was not an easy foe, he shed at Jon left and right, he was physically superior to Jon and with the same speed. Jon was put into a disadvantage really fast. Still, tricks were his favorite part in a fight! His right hand had his saber and his left evoked a spell! The spell was not really visible so it gave him a better opportunity to trap his foe, once the pirate was making a big sh, Jon cast the spell. The spellnded on the torso of the pirate, as if flesh was being shattered, the spell destroyed a small part of the body and the pirate screamed from pain. This was ¡¯Force Bullet¡¯ and that¡¯s why it was nasty, it would brust in the target causing such an unsightly result. Jon next attack was with the sword to the pirate¡¯s heart. Life departed the pirate after that. The second foe was not much better, the third, the fourth, the fifth. Jon started to get ustomed to the hectic unorganizedbat and his brain was working like a machine. The pirates felt tne threat and started retreating to their ship, they noticed that the cover from the small ¡¯sloop¡¯ vessel was no more and started to reconsider the attack. The sailors wouldn¡¯t let go of such an opportunity and chased the pirates to their ship! The fightpletely moved to the other side. The sailors became the pirates and the pirates became the defenders! The reason was simple! The College takes no mercy on anything that disturbs its main vein of life and pirates around these parts were well aware of the fact. No one of them was stupid enough to attack a vessel with the banner of the College! Jon was also one of those who boarded the other ship and he was akin to a killing machine! He sheathed his sword and switched to Lightning Magic, this was a nasty magic in the sea. He was casting ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯ as he already recovered some Magicka and he took no chance with these pirates! No one noticed his state of mind except Captain Geldof. He was not fighting normally anymore, he was on a killing spree! This state of mind tests most of the powerful young mages and warriors, and so they had to beat it on their own. The pirates grew less and less but Jon was as fierce as ever. Those pirates were akin to mobs in a game and he was into the ¡¯Zone¡¯ right now. He didn¡¯t take notice of how many he killed. Even the sailors behind him were terrified, especially the ones who saw therge Fireball he cast a while ago were even more terrified! He was like a wolf between a herd of sheep. Junar was behind Jon all the time and took some distance from him, those who tried to sneak up on him was done by her arrows, she never showed it a lot but even though she was one-eyed, she was a terrifying archer. At that day about seventy pirates attacked the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ which had forty sailors on it. Jon alone killed thirty pirates and sank a small vessel on his own. Dayster when the sailors will go back to Winterhold and a new title shall be added to Jon. ¡¯The Mad Butcher¡¯. ~~~~~~~~ [A/N: 1st Person POV.] Damn it all! I don¡¯t know how this happened but the moment I joined the fight, I lost all senses of myself! As if I answered a higher calling, my instincts drove me to kill. The more I kill, the more they scream. I burned them with lightning until I could smell the burnt flesh. As if I want to cover these screams with anything I cast more magic to stop their voices from reaching my ears! How many of them I killed was not a number I can count. My only constion was that they were pirates! The captain said they were not from these parts and their heads are not wanted yet so we threw them at the sea! I don¡¯t think they would mind that! Argonians love water and so do sailors, Argonian sailors would not be sad about it, right? Every time I had to take a life, I preferred it would be a quick stab or a swift arrow, for some reason it was less messy, clean and the victim wouldn¡¯t be in so much agony. How did Hilda feel about this? I mean she fought in a war, right? There were thousands of enemiespared to this small fight. How many does one have to kill in a war to survive like those veterans did? Maybe I was a different case! I killed a lot on my own. I should have held myself back a bit, now the sailors are afraid of me. But I am not afraid of who I am. I would be mistaken if I did! After all, I acquired this power for that very reason! To kill enemies like a mad. To smile over their corpses as the fools who tried to bring sadness to my loved ones. Just like those fools who chased after Hilda all the way from Hammerfell to Riften. I remember reading that Jonrad did the same thing in Illiac Bay. He attacked some ships and sank them with fire. Indeed! Like a father, like a son. Dammit! I smiled. The sailors got creeped out by me again. No problem! I just started this path and I¡¯ll take it to its end. "That was fun!" A soft voice sounded in my ears, for some reason, it healed me. "We killed a lot of them today!" Yes we did, she is right. "And we will kill more." That¡¯s right, more! "We can kill as much as*Ugh*" "Shut up for a second!" I caught her from her neck and stopped her madness from going public. "Fine! Sorry, I was just..." "Don¡¯t talk now!" Damn her! She likes killing so much! "Boss!" "Oh! So you survived." Jull said. "What do you want Trudvar?" I asked. "Eh! I-l a-am sor-rry to interrupt but Captain Geldof is looking for you, Boss." Even he is afraid! "Where is he?" "This way boss." Trudvar led me to Captain Geldof. He was in the pirate ship we blundered! "Lad,e here!" He called for me and walked away from the others! "Lookd, I don¡¯t know what demon haunted you during the fight but one thing for sure! You need to suppress it." "Suppress it?" "Aye, I saw some fine sailors fall into your state before and it took some of then to Obliviond! You need to distract yourself from these demons now!" "Thank you Captain! I will." "Look around you! This is a good distraction, a ship probably built in High Rock, can be maned by seven men and needs some light repairs thanks to you, I don¡¯t know where the pirates blundered it from, but we should take it to Dawnstar with us, what say youd?" "Say about what Captain?" "I¡¯m telling you to captain it you numbskull!" Chapter 62 The Alexandria Captaining a ship? The idea seemed likable for some reason! If I remember, the Fire-Manes are famous sailors and I guess that their younger generation is the same. Wouldn¡¯t I look bad among them if I am not a good sailor? "I will do it." "Oid, that was fast! Fine, she¡¯s yours to captain! If the sailors deem you worthy when we reach Dawnstar, I¡¯ll make the whole ship yours!" "Mine?" "Aye! Yours hahaha!" Captain Geldof mmed my back and left to his ship. Before he leaves he had already looted most of what was in here! He gave me a share equal to his and it was a lot money, some money also will belong to the ships for the sake of repairs! And now I have Fraki, Jull, Trudvar and ten other sailors. Not a bad number to sail this ship with ease! "Captain, we are fixing the two ships and will set sail on first light!" Fraki reported. "Thank you Fraki! Please include Trudvar here under yourmand and put him to training!" "Yes Captain!" "Trudvar, while we are at it. Follow Junar here to my cabin on the Icicle and bring my stuff here.... before you go." I halted him and headed to the Captain¡¯s quarters, the ce was aplete mess and felt not clean. "Bring me the bed too." ~~~~~~~~ To sailors, an unnamed ship is a bad luck, and sailors are mostly people who strongly believe in luck. There is a god that is not that famous called Sai and it¡¯s the God of Luck, most sailor pray to him only once before every trip! Praying to this god a lot would cause an opposite effect. His sign is the wolf, so Nords don¡¯t kill wolves unless it¡¯s necessary, in respect for a god that helped them once too. In that case we had to avoid all sources of bad luck, one of them is an unnamed ship. My first idea of a name was ¡¯Alexandria¡¯, no one in this world ever used it and it¡¯s the name of a city I love dearly so it was named this way. The ¡¯Alexandria¡¯ has three masts withteen sails, a foremast in the front, a main mast as the biggest ine in the middle, and a mizzen which is the small mast on the back. It is light, easy to maneuver with, twenty meters long, and felt really agile. The inner cabins needed a bit of cleaning so the sailors had to do that and I had to lord over them. In a ship, rtionships areplicated than normal. The Captain is thew and the absolute power, in extreme cases, he may decide who lives and who dies. Basically, he is the king of the ship and he must maintain a clean appearance, strong character, and wise air. A captain with respect and poprity among his men is a worthy lord to serve. Also if the Captain showed any weakness, the act of a mutiny is possible that time. In my case, I showed my crew how the word ¡¯Power¡¯ can be manifested in a real form they can see, feel and smell. They know how much power I can muster and power is dominance. I am now responsible for making that dominance into both the right amount of fear and the right amount of respect. After all, Captains are the most charismatic people and I will try to gain experience by tomorrow inmanding those men. Good thing is, my mind which was a bit cloudy before, is now having good ideas with how to sail this thing. As Captain Geldof said, it is a good distraction. After the fast repairs the sailors were cleaning the ce from the pirates¡¯ filth and blood. And now all the things we needed came from the ¡¯Icicle¡¯. The moons looked pretty this night, even though we can set sail, we had some injuredrades that needed a lot of healing and I was the man for the job. Trudvar was getting along with the crew on the opposite of Julls who went into the captain¡¯s cabin and didn¡¯t go out. She is not good around people in normal cases. I also had to get along with the crew and drink a toast for a peaceful voyage. After making sure everything was good. I returned to my ship and gave the roles for those who will stay the night and who will go and sleep. Trudvar along with other three were picked for the watch. The Captain¡¯s Cabin is where I am going to stay, it¡¯s a wide enough room under the ¡¯Quarterdeck¡¯ (back of the deck). Julls, lit the ce with magic as she learned and it looked cleaner than before. A table in the middle with a map and some navigation tools, the bed on the back and above it a window that views the scenery from the behind the ship, my bag and the stuff I brought as well as my share of the loot. "Do we have drinks here?" I asked. "Of course!" Jull brought me a clean tankard and wine. "Why are you so excited?" "Hmm! We killed a lot of filty people today!" "Is that a good thing?" Junar was looking at me as if I said something strange, "Don¡¯t you think so?" Hmm! I do think it was necessary though! Pirates are the lowest sort of scum. "As long as they deserve getting killed!" That was my reply. "*Giggles* I wrote about it few words." "Don¡¯t want to here them!" My mind was in no right mood to hear her nonsense right now. I just drank and sat on the bed. Jull came beside me and started removing my scaled armor. After that I got some seriously good massage, she was like a real expert! And as our new habit goes, we sleep beside each other every night. ~~~~~~~~ *RingRing* *RingRing* The bell of the ship made the waking up signal, all sailors were gathering on board. The sky barely had any light and we were done with the rest after battle. Now everyone ate what could be eaten and took position. With the first light the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ set sail and we followed after it. My job was simple, set speed and directions, receive reports, detect faults, and look dignified. I didn¡¯t go on ¡¯Full Sail¡¯ just yet so I didn¡¯t give the sails enough wind. Of course and unlike many games, we can¡¯t just take the sails down every time we want to reduce speed. And of course, I can¡¯t shout ¡¯Full Sail¡¯ and ¡¯Half Sail¡¯ like an idiot. ¡¯Full Sail¡¯ is actually a term when you give wind to all the sails, but there is nothing called ¡¯Half Sail¡¯, we however say ¡¯Reduce Sail¡¯ for reefing the mainsail. All in all, it depends on the wind. Now, I wonder if I managed to change things with ¡¯Wind Magic¡¯, it¡¯s dangerous to go against nature in such a way but I may try it on a small sailing boat some time in the future. I also hated how the ship have no canons. A ship with no canons is so unsightly. My inner ¡¯PotC¡¯ fan boy was crying with a broken heart. Fine, I¡¯ll invent some canon like staves that can cast ¡¯Fireballs¡¯, maybe add four of them on each side. Seriously, what am I thinking about? Shouldn¡¯t staves be enough, more practical, and easy to maneuver. No! Canons on ships are justice! Dammit! Now I can¡¯t think clearly anymore, this isn¡¯t getting me anywhere. Sigh! As I look forward, I saw the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ getting farther! Fine by me! "FULL SAILS AHEAD!" ~~~~~~~~ I admit we were lucky, the ¡¯Alexandria¡¯ caught on good of wind and went running. Normally a Captain won¡¯t take the wheel unless it¡¯s necessary if he was short on men or something, but I couldn¡¯t resist taking in from Fraki and controlling it a bit. The Wheel was the tool to control the Rudder, the movable fin at the rear of the ship that effects water flow around the ship and as a result contributes to the rotation (turning) of the vessel. I started to use ¡¯Scan¡¯ to detect under the water but it was hard. I now can detect the wind so it was not that bad. After immersing myself with the experience, the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ gave a signal. It appeared we reached Dawnstar. Not long after we followed, we really detected a big settlement on a small bay, this was finally my destination. The ships lowered their speed at the mouth of the bay, the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ was easily allowed to enter as she is a usual visitor, but the ¡¯Alexandria¡¯ had to wait for the guards toe on a boat! After a while, some guards came on a boat and inspected the ship, of course Captain Geldof gave a word for the ship and the guards seemed familiar with Fraki so everything was done quickly. Now, we can enter the docks. ~~~~~~~~ Anchoring the ship was an easy matter with some guidance, we sent sailors and some people to pull the ship from thend with ropes. That¡¯s how normally things get done. I believe if there was an engine in ships, captaining things would have been much easier. s there is no way to have engines unless they were magically made, and machines with magic needed a source of power like the soul gems which are too expensive even if I made the hunters trap every petty and lesser soul they see. Now, let¡¯s put aside these sad thoughts now, I want to see the town. After taking out everything, we informed the guards about the pirates and the ship. Normally anything we loot is ours unless it was stolen and its owner came after it, it can be returned with a price. Ships however didn¡¯t fall under thatw and Jarls can be really nasty when ites to such a fine boat, yet I won¡¯t let go of it. I¡¯ll even go sh skulls with Skald the Elder. After all he is the one that can give me a ¡¯title deed¡¯ for the ship. Captain Geldof and I were ready for this confrontation but before that I had a harder task. I need to have a crew willing and loyal enough to sail in the ship with me. Luckily, the man I came to talk with is actually a good candidate if he wanted to work with me on the ship. But first I wanted to see the town, which appeared to bepletely different from the game. Dawnstar, in the game was no different than a vige. It was covered in snow and had few number of houses along side two mines that were rivaling each other, even its poption didn¡¯t exceed forty or so. However, what appeared before me was somethingrgely different. Even the buildings looked different. First, there were not that much snow and the road was not made of stones like the game. Actually the town was full of wooden houses and muddy roads, the houses were wooden and the their roofs were long and reaching the ground, to go in a house you would actually take few steps down. The dock had few wooden buildings based on the nature of the ce. It also had a ship building workshop that can be paid for repairs. What peaked my interest was a ship with a banner I am familiar with, once I saw it, I went near to Captain Geldof. "This ship..." "Aye, Fire-Mane! You have good eyes kid but keep them away from people like these." Captain Geldof won¡¯t get tensed that easily. But there are Fire-Manes around these parts now! I wonder if trouble would arise if I run into them. When I looked at their ship I saw some fearsome looking sailors in a matching uniform set! So it was true that the Hidden ns have private militias and all that. Good lord! I always wanted to make my private security force for my establishments in Winterhold but I guess I didn¡¯te up with anything new! I can even learn a thing or two from these private forces. Still, I won¡¯t lose! Now, the first step is to take that ship! "So, we go meet the Jarl now?" "Yes, Skald the Elder is a stubborn old fool but he likes money, so make sure you are loaded when he gives you a price." What a pain! I will waste the money I just got now. Well! Money is for that purpose of spending. All I need is just to convince that Jarl to hand me the ship. Walking in Dawnstar, it was actually a pretty ce that gave the vibe of a normal sea town more than Winterhold. I could see that the two big mines had a lot of miners along side big industrial grade smelters. The docks were busy with workers and ships, there were a lot of work here and there. It made Winterhold feel like a ghost town. We had to take the road in town to the White Hall, the Jarl¡¯s residence. A longhouse style building from wood and straw but looked more dignified and higher than the buildings around it. Requesting an audience with Captain Geldof¡¯s name and my name as the tournament¡¯s champion was easy! I am not sure if Jarl Skald likes me after I beated up his team ck and blue, but let¡¯s hope he is not holding a grudge. The guard came and let us in, who received us however was the captain of the guards, his name is Captain Jod. I remember that from the game, he was one of the good guys. A tall man in a Nordic te armor covered with cyan cloak, the color of the hold "Captain Geldof, a pleasure seeing you in town. How can the Jarl¡¯s court assist you?" "Ha! Where is that man you call Jarl over this town?" "He is with guests Captain, I beg your pardon but we even had to bring Lady Brina to receive them." "Ohoho! Afraid that old fool might embarrass you or anything!" Captain Jod heard that and didn¡¯t even retort, he just sighed, this guy clearly is having it hard. The talking went from here to there until we reached the pirates subject. Captain Jod got concerned and asked us many questions. Unknown pirates are a serious matter especially to a town like Dawnstar that all its business is relying on ships and trading. Of course having no prisoners to question was due to me going berserk so I had to apologize about that. A short while Captain Geldof got bored and urged Captain Jod to get us in. Captain Jod had to go check in first then he came back saying we got permission for audience. Captain Geldof was not polite and walked in with no patience, he was ahead of me but suddenly he halted for a second then walked in again. "Lady Brina, Sir!" As I went in, Captain Geldof was greeting a woman sitting on the left side of the hall and a man sitting opposite to her. Lady Brina Merilis is an old veteran from the war and the most popr person in town, she is an exemry Nord with a straightforward attitude. Opposite to the Jarl who is the least popr person and his attitude is that of a brat. The other man who was greeted by the Captain was a tall person with calm appearance, he looked like a hunter of some sort as he was wearing a cap made of a wolf¡¯s fur and was stroking an owl, an actual owl standing on the arm rest of his seat. "Old Skald! We hunted more pirates in your hold." Captain Geldof said as if he was familiar with Jarl Skald. "What are you so proud about? You know the regtions, loot what you want and leave the ship!" "We are taking the ship this time!" "Taking it? Why would I give it to you?" "You are not giving it to me! You¡¯re giving it to him!" Skald looked at me and looked as if he was illuminated, "You are that brat! I remember you. You costed me half of my money in that tournament!" "Only half?" He seemed displeased with me so I thought it wouldn¡¯t harm to taunt him. "Hah! Fine, I¡¯ll give you the ship!" He said, "For a hundred Goldens." He was seriously doing this, ha? A hundred gold septim would buy me the best ship I ask for, let alone that small ¡¯caravel¡¯. But who did he think he was he ying? "I am sorry! Half of your money is only a hundred goldens?" Skald was baffled and tried to think of aeback but Lady Brina was faster, "You look young boy, do you know how to sail her?" "Yes!" This question had to be answered like this, there is no so-so in sailing ships. "But you were only one passenger on a ship that was attacked. To actually have the right to own a ship is something that falls under many rules than just the ability to sail and captain. What gives you the right?" I smiled at her question. Skald smiled too as he thought I was trapped by her question. Actually her question was a very reasonable one. But Captain Geldof should answer it. After all, he is a witness!" Captain Geldof cleared his throat in courtesy to speak to Lady Brina, "Well, Young Jon here took out most of the pirates alone. We were attacked by two ships and nearly seventy pirates, he sank one ship with his magic alone and liberated the other ship mostly by himself! From the seventy pirate, he took forty of them down!" Lady Brina raised het brows and was taken aback, I guess my butcher image with this handsome face of mine are not going along together! Jarl Skald was staring at me like the idiot he is. Just admit it, some people were just born this awesome. "Hoho! What a naughty child!" Strangely enough the guest who was here before us talked, "If I remember correctly, these pirates were a band of Argonians on a ¡¯caravel¡¯ and a ¡¯sloop¡¯, right?" The man¡¯s voice was calm and clear even though his eyes were sleepy, I answered him with a nod. "I am afraid that is my fault for cornering these lizards tightly, they even had to attack a ship belongs to the College? My, my! I messed up this time!" The man was having his own monolog on his own, he seemed rather not caring about anything. "Fine! My work here is done!" The man said and stood up, "The boy can have his ship!" He nodded to Lady Brina and left with his owl, he didn¡¯t even look at Skald who stood up. Lady Brina looked at Jarl Skald who was havingplex expressions and gave him a ¡¯hurry up¡¯ gesture. Skald sent someone to take a look at the ship and write its description then he gave me a paper that proves my ownership over the ship free of charge. Now, I own the ¡¯Alexandria¡¯. Chapter 63 Clash of Auras Now this young handsome man owns a ship! It feels like fate was going in my favor this time, I now get to have my own supply line. I need some crew and money is no problem as Skald now gave me the ship without any charges! I have to thank that mysterious man for making things easy. Well, I tried but he magically vanished after he went outside the Jarl¡¯s White Hall. I had to go back for the ship and pay for its repairs. The crew of the ¡¯Icicle¡¯ can help me for a while until I get to have a crew. Now first thing and above anything was to get a crew. I don¡¯t have many friends in this town but I know one person and someone I got along with really well with. Ongeim Scar-Mouth! That Ongeim from the tournament. And from what he said, he spends most of his time at the town¡¯s biggest inn, Windpeak Inn. From what I remember, the inn was owned by a man called Thoring. In the game, he was a grumpy sad man because the death of his wife but I guess she is still alive by now. The Inn is the first thing you see when you enter the town as most inns. Reaching the inn, I pushed the door open and closed it quickly. It was bustling and warm unlike the cold weather outside. However, no sailorse to this inn as there is a tavern for them near the docks and they have to sleep in their ships. Most of those who visit inns arend travelers and Captains. In the inn, some people appeared to be chatting here and there, a fight broke inside and some shady people were sitting together. A normal inn. Most inns had what we call the ¡¯Notice Board¡¯, there is a mod that actually adds that but in reality the boards are located inside inns. What was interesting about this inn¡¯s notice board was how it was filled with wisdom and hunting contracts. From what I remember, Dawnstar had two major problems. The attacks and the nightmares. The attacks are actually due to the location of the town onnd. Dawnstar is so isted! To reach it bynd, you will need to have a risky travel into wastnds of snow. It was even that annoying to travel here from Morthal or Winterhold bynd in the game, let alone real life. This istion in location caused a lot of wild animals and giants to form packs around the town and attack it periodically. Not just that, in the game, this town was attacked by dragons most of the times the Hero passed from here so it somewhat turned into a meme. The second problem is the nightmares! This town is suffering from nightmares but only to those who are living here. Travelers are lucky to not be affected by the dreams. If so, this town would have lost many of its business long time ago. Actually I know the cause of the nightmares but I am not nning to solve it, I need to make countermeasures if I am going to do this dreadful quest. After all, the yer gets to encounter a Daedric Prince during it. I don¡¯t want to encounter Daedric Princes just yet. What if they have the ability to see in my memories and find out about my past life. I don¡¯t want to experience such a disaster. Back to the present, the notice board was filled to its brim with wisdom and advices to left the nightmares which the consider a curse. Sigh! Poor folk. I looked around for a table and sat on it, besides it were three hooded men who looked rxed even with how suspicious they looked. I signaled for a woman that looked like a bartender, she came with a smile, "How can I serve you sir?" "Mead, steak and Ongeim Scar-Mouth." "You can have food and drink alright but we don¡¯t serve Young Ongeim, not yet anyway!" The woman said jokingly. "Where is he?" "Being cooked I¡¯m afraid." "Huh!" "The fight! He is being beaten up by some girl." "A girl is beating Ongeim? I wouldn¡¯t miss that for the world." I jumped of the seat and headed inside the inn, some people were gathering in a circle and two figures were exchanging blows. Ongeim was indeed fighting a girl, she was as tall as me, a tad shorter than Ongeim, and blonde. She also seemed to be few years older than me, maybe twenty three or four years old. What I found really impressive are here muscles! This girl possess some serious amount of muscles that made her feel like Hilda. She was not that buffed but I, who is very proud about his muscle frame, started to have second thoughts about it. Ongeim face was swollen from the beating, this was totally unsightly. I feel sorry for him. A sh was happening once again as Ongeim rushed forward with no strategy whatsoever and the girl punched him like lightning, but he managed to use a cheap trick and hit her on the head with a tankard. The girl was infuriated from that, "You bastard!" She yelled and took a bottle from somewhere waving it at Ongeim¡¯s head. This is bad, I need him alive! The only thing I thought of was to cast ¡¯Grip¡¯ and snatch the bottle away, and so I did. "Sorrydy, I need that guy alive!" She looked at me then at Ongeim who was covering himself pitifully the she punched him in his stomach. This punch sent him to his knees, and he was holding his stomach in pain! "Scar-Mouth!" "Dare! What are you doing here?" "Blessing the town with my presence, harassing the Jarl, and looking for a crew!" I approached him and gave him a hand to stand. He took it and stood in agony. "To be beaten up by a woman! I am starting to worry I took the tourney easily!" "Easy your mother! Get a punch by that she-bear and you will not wake up from it." He said, "More importantly, how did you harass Old Skald?" "Come set and I¡¯ll tell you..." I took him back to the table I sat on when I came in and told him the tale. "To sink a vessel and liberate another in one go, I guess you won the tourney easily! Still, nice one with Skald too." "Haha! More importantly, this old man was so tensed about money, how did you deal with him after the tourney?" "You can just guess it! Thanks to a certain someone breaking all bets and expectations, Skald gave us nothing." That¡¯s harsh! I guess Skald is that grumpy. "I have some septims for you, if you are interested!" "As long as it includes nothing like wood cutting or mining, I am out! But I am guessing you want me for your crew thing!" "Yes, I can captain well alright but not all the time. I need someone with experience and a crew. At least ten, they also have to be good warriors!" "How much will you pay?" "Five silvers a week." "Make it six and I¡¯ll be able to get these guys from the team!" "Fine! The job canst as long as they are willing to work. It will include some dungeon delving and some treasures hunting!" Ongeim thought about it while holding his swollen face, I cast ¡¯Healing¡¯ on him and he nods a thank you. "I can gather few friends by the end of the day. But my friend, you are no a renowned sailor, some may get reluctant." "I¡¯ll appoint you the captain as long as I don¡¯t need the ship, you will sail around the main ports to supply my business in Winterhold. And if there any adventure that requires the sea, we will go for it together!" He thought for a while and smiled, "Fine, I like the sound of it. My friends will be here in an hour so I¡¯ll talk them into it!" This is a good news to me! As long as I get my crew, I¡¯ll be in a better position against Jarl Korir. Even though the ones supporting him are pirates, they must be thinking I am traveling onnd and will wait to ambush me somewhere on the road. They might get a wind of me in the sea but I made a n for that. "So tell me, why did you fight with that girl?" "He touched a girl buttock!" Speaking of the devil, that devil came out of nowhere and looked at Ongeim as if she wanted a second round. I was impressed! This girl is acting like some sort of superhero for women! "And what¡¯s it to you? Huh?" Ongeim was angry and stood up to face her. "Okay both of you! Hakona Matata! Set down, no more fighting!" I had to interfere. Seriously, these two are just stubborn. "Ongeim, I am your employer now, just sit down and listen. Anddy, this guy is my crewmember, got a problem with him youe to me." "Oh! So your standing for a scum like him?" "Just because he harassed a girl doesn¡¯t mean no one else did. If you will beat up everyone who touched a girl arse, then I am afraid its you against the whole inn." I said, "I mean.. we all did it at some point." Some people were saying ¡¯yeaaah!¡¯ andughing evilly, standing up for Ongeim. Even the three mysterious men in hoods beside us wereughing. "Humph!" The girl snorted in dissatisfaction. I actually can understand her but I can¡¯t break the golden rule, ¡¯bros before *oes.¡¯ "Anyway, I am a new captain, a businessman, and trying to be an adventurer. You mydy gave me the vibe of adventurers. Don¡¯t get me wrong! I am inviting you for a business drink here, nothing more!" I said then turned to Ongeim, "Hey you! Go apologize to that girl you touched and buy her a drink!" "But.." "No buts! Just go." Ongeim stood and went to the counter while the girl was reluctant either to sit or not. I sat down and pointed at here unusual sword, "Quite interesting, that sword I mean. It looks like it¡¯s a ss sword, right?" ss gear is not actually ss, they are made of Mchite! A green beautiful mineral that can be forged by Elves. "Ah yes!" The girl eased a bit and sat down, "It¡¯s my de, Grimsever." "Oh! Nice naming sense! Clearl... *CaughCaugh* You said Grimsever?!" The girl nodded! Holy Marbles! It¡¯s her! With Grimsever! She didn¡¯t lose it yet! "By the by! Could you be the famous adventurer Mjoll? The one known as The Lioness?" The girl was taken aback, "I am Mjoll! But I don¡¯t know if I was that famous, Sir?" "I am Jon!" I said offering a hand shake, "Nice to meetcha!" ~~~~~~~~ Mjoll The Lioness, a very known NPC and one of the most straightforward people a yer can meet! She has a bit of aplicated history and she hates bandits and all their kinds. Bandits attacked the vige she grew up in and killed her brother. Mjoll at her young age was taught swordsmanship from her mother and went on adventures across all Tamriel with her father! At some point of her journeys she went into an ancient Dwemer ruin. These ruins belonged to the long lost race of the Dwemer (Deep Elves), this world¡¯s concept of Dwarves. A race that exceeded all other in knowledge and craftsmanship. They even had Automatons to protect their cities that still work since the olden ages. Now, this Mjoll is actually going to delve into one of those in maybe the near future. What she doesn¡¯t know that she will be faced with a giant automaton that will defeat her and push her to the verge of death only to be saved by an imperial called ¡¯Aerin¡¯. Aerin, one of the residents of Riften, and God! He is the slimiest most annoying person in town! He will rescue Mjoll and bring her all the way from the Dwemer ruin to Riften! Heter will realize who he rescued and will use her to press the Thieves Guild around the town! Her reason will be fighting thieves like the ones who attacked her vige and killed her brother. But she was driven by emotions and manipted by Aerin who is actually is one of the biggest information brokers in Riften! The whole maniption thing didn¡¯t appear in the game or anything. It was just Mjoll going around all day chasing thieves and acting as the godsend hero of the people. Irrational and irritating! Can¡¯t she even think for herself? Riften is a shithole and will remain one, even the people is well ustomed to that. Some people would make deals with the guild then when wee ask for our money, they would run to the guards. She will only add more trouble between people and the guild. Actually, I can¡¯t let that future happen. After a long conversation with her, I tried to give her a good impression about me. If that Aerin will be able to turn her head around then it¡¯s not hard for me. "So Mjoll, where is your next adventure? Up to the sea?" "No, not this time. I am not used to adventuring in sea but I will do it one day!" "Not the sea? Then what brings you to Dawnstar? If you head south then there are only wastnds of snow and wilds." "I am nning to do so. There is a ce that peaked my interest some time ago and I think I want to venture there!" "A ce that peaked your interest south to Dawnstar? Don¡¯t say it let me guess! Hmm? Windward Ruins? No, nothing is there! Korvanjund? No, that¡¯s too far! Hmm.." "Miznchaleft." She whispered. "What! Oh God! That won¡¯t do, won¡¯t do at all." I said. "Eh! Why?" "Listen sis! This is a College secret. We sent an expeditions there not too long ago, a number of Schr Battlemages! Believe me when I tell you, that¡¯s not a force to be messed with." I said and looked concerned, "They returned back in an unsightly shape. From what I overheard, they faced a number ofrge Automatons called the Centurions. Some even died in the fight!" "Is that true?" "Dead true, but that¡¯s a big secret, if the other forces knew of this we will be aughingstock! The Arch-Mage himself ordered the ruins to be again and the news to be kept a secret! I only knew because my Master is an actual force in the College and she said it around me nonchntly." Mjoll looked down and started thinking, she was reluctant to give up her adventure that easily, "Such a shame!" She said. "Don¡¯t feel so down! I believe the Divines arranged that meeting for a reason!" I started talking like a shady business broker, "I am in a quest to clear a cave, maybe there are some undead, treasures and god knows what else! But that¡¯s all on the surface, there is a bigger fish I am trying to catch!" "I am listening." She started listening. "There is a pirate gang that call itself the Blood Horkers ........." I started telling her the story of Winterhold, the corruption of the Jarl, the suffering of the people, how the pirates will target me, and the quest of retrieving the Helm of Winterhold. Mjoll was showing the expressions I wanted to see, that¡¯s why I started to tell the tale from the word ¡¯pirates¡¯ and kept saying ¡¯pirates¡¯ every sentence. She hates bandits and pirates. She even put us ¡¯poor¡¯ thieves and ¡¯honest¡¯ smugglers in the same category. I need to clear this misunderstanding butter on. "So you want to remove the Jarl and what? Be the next Jarl?" "Me? Jarl! Hahaha, I am sorry I just couldn¡¯t help it." I said, "Come on! I can be anything but a governor, people will go straight to Oblivion." "Then what is your n?" "Hmm! I can¡¯t say it is one n, there is a business n and governing n as well as society n and a strategic n. If I start to act, it may take years to cut the pirates hand and their supporters. If we did that, Winterhold will be an easy piece of meat to whoever takes it first. Don¡¯t forget that all businessmen fight over any territory that may look good, especially a territory that is too good and has a sea ess as well as a treasure trove called the College of Winterhold! If we just fought with the current tiny chance of winning we will just open an opportunity for someone maybe worse than the ones ruling now and we will take nothing for ourselves!" I said, "My current n is to start a small business to circte money in the town, it will be a shady piece of business but it is what the town needs. I will establish myself a name an gather the people around me. I¡¯ll give them work and help. The next step will be finding more people who can act as public figures and lead the popce as well as making more people migrate to Winterhold. This will secure us all the manpower we need to establish both economical and fighting force, which will lead us to thest step, the independence and taking down the Jarl as well as opposing his supporters." "You thought of all that?" I was not focusing on her face when I was talking, I was busy moving the cups and bottles around as if some chess pieces to give her an understanding of my grand n. When I looked at her face however, she was shooting beams of sparkles from her eyes at me. What a simpleton! I hate that kind of people who act like heroes throwing around flyers of justice and fighting evil while not actually doing anything about how to fix the problem from the source. "Of course! I won¡¯t go beat everyone who ¡¯touch girls¡¯ buttocks¡¯ before I make a social movement of under the sign of ¡¯No Touching Buttocks¡¯ and gain supporters." Mjoll¡¯s face turned red as she realized what I meant. But suddenly she thought of something and narrowed her eyes at me, "Why me?" "Huh?!" "I mean why did you tell someone you are not familiar with your n? Aren¡¯t you afraid of me ratting you out?" "Sis, if I came to hire you as a bodyguard in my quest without telling you a word, will you agree?" She thought and said, "No, I am not a sellsword." "Exactly, I knew that the moment I saw you. You are that kind of person who care about the people and act based on what they feel right or wrong. I am not saying it is bad. It¡¯s just not the way how the world works?" "And you know the way how the world works?" "Every cat, mouse and skeever in Riften knows the way how the world works. Of course I had Uncle Delvin to teach me so I grew up judging people by these scales." I said, "But that¡¯s not important now, I just offered you one big size adventure that will make you busy for maybe few years, what do you say sis, you¡¯re in?" I smiled and offered a handshake. Mjoll thought for a while then nodded and took my handshake. Hehe! To your face Aerin. ~~~~~~~~ Mjoll agreed to join me and went to bring here stuff, now I felt rather aplished. Having that beast around me is a good deal and will make my job in Winterhold much easier! She will be a pain in Korir¡¯s ass. I couldn¡¯t help but smile and imagine how he will feel having two people he can¡¯t go against wrecking havoc in his system. Still, I was notfortable with these three shady mysterious guys on the table next to mine. There were a five meter space between us but they were gazing at me the whole time, is something funny on my face. I even raised my tankard to them with a smile to tell them ¡¯stop looking you fools¡¯ but they shamelessly raised there tankards back. I am afraid if they were eavesdropping on me talking to Mjoll, this may turn into a problem. Suddenly, a man came in and called, "Jon, we are leaving in two hours." Who is that? I don¡¯t recognize him! "Fine, will be there." Strange enough, one of the shady people answered. I looked at him but couldn¡¯t see his face under the hood, this is annoying. "I am sorry, my brother¡¯s name is Jon too." One of the other two who sat on that Jon side talked directly too me. Hmmm! Another Jon! But he said ¡¯too¡¯, these guys listened to some of what I said it seems. "Don¡¯t get tensed young man." The third said, "My friends will politely apologize for their rudeness." The third was dressed in a different kind hood, it was dark but a bit colorful. I sensed a lot of Magicka from him. The other two felt dangerous too. The one who spoke to me felt as sharp as a de, and the other one called Jon had a strange Magicka that felt not like a ze. These guys were releasing some sort of Aura at me! What skill is that? This is interesting! So interesting! I want topete with them even though my loss is guaranteed. Wait! I also made something like that. The iplete spell that I released at Junar to suppress her madness. Hehe! Here I go. I used the hand on my other side of them to evoke and channel it directly. ¡¯Aura of Madness¡¯, it¡¯s as far as I could go but it will counter these crazy fellows. Now our Auras met. I was clearly at disadvantage but they were going easy at me. Still, I¡¯ll be rude. I stepped on the oil pedal and increased the output. They also did. Our Auras were not visible but I think if I used a vision spell, I would see them. One Aura was filled with power, as if nothing can stop it. One Aura was sharp like a de wielded by a monster. One Aura was as if the fire that can eat anything and everything. These were the colored hood man, the man who talked to me, and his friend named Jon respectively. My Aura, on the other hand, was too unrefined, a bit weaker and all over the ce. Still, it carried madness, anger, fear, and a lot of negative aspects. I was not done. I wasprehending how to power it up more. How to correct the aspects. What a chance! I smiled widely! My smile was so wide! I contain my happiness anymore. The first to back down was not me. It was the man who talked to me. He stood up and looked around then shouted, "Enough!" As if I was woken up by a cold bucket of water. I realized what I have done. These people¡¯s Auras was contained and focused on me! My Aura, on the other hand, was all over the ce. Unfocused and was wrecking havoc not just against them, but too all the people in the inn. The ce turned messy. Some people were looking at me as if I was some sort of a beast! The three stood up and came to my table! "Mind if we join you?" Chapter 64 Hobs Fall Cave "What if I disagree?" They looked at each other and sat anyway. How rude! They sat down around the table. The other Jon was in front of me, his brother on the left and the other man on the right. "I am Tor, this is my brother Jon and that is my friend Glemt. We are sorry for rudely eavesdropping and the thing just now!" "Not epted!" "Haha ¡¯cheeky brat¡¯! That was some aggressive aura just now! How did you develop it?" "I don¡¯t know what do you mean by Aura, that was just a spell!" """A spell!""" The trio were surprised for some reason. "To think you can make an aura with magic! This is impressive!" "Nope, just some illusions!" The men were taken aback again, the man called Glemt spoke "Illusion? That exins the range of effect." Through this exchange I could see some parts of their faces! I am not sure of the races just yet. Glemt was not tall like most Nords even though his name was Nordic, he had a skin that made me think he may be an Imperial with some facial hair, he looked the oldest. I couldn¡¯t decide his race though. Tor was a Nord, his manner of speaking and height gave off a bit of that, his hair couldn¡¯t be seen but I guess it¡¯s a bit between red and brown. Also I am sure his name was fake, his eye contact wasn¡¯t steady when he said it. The man named Jon is actually the most mysterious one. It was hard to tell his ent as he was quite. His skin is pale and he is tall. Still, I feel like his blue eyes are very perceptive. He is like a hawk. "I was also surprised, being a milk drinker and releasing Aura would be a bit unnatural!" Tor said. "From what you say I guess that ¡¯Aura¡¯ is not the casting technique I am familiar with! What is it?" "Hmmm! It¡¯s not easy to exin for a youngster!" Glemt said and unlike Tor, he was polite, "It¡¯s like manifesting the fighting spirit inside one¡¯s body into an actual force that affects morales, and actually gives strength inbat! Doing so can give a hint of the style used by the person who released the Aura." Hmmm! Something like that exists? But, "Isn¡¯t this simr to War Cry? The power that can be released by the heroic Nords?" "You can say that! Few people can use ¡¯War Cry¡¯, but those who can use it, are definitely able to release an aura." Tor said. Hmmm! I thought so. "This means that Tor is a swordsman with a fiendish style, Glemt is some sort of a Battlemage and Old Jon is a Fire Mage!" "Correct!" Glemt said. "Fiendish!" Tor grumbled. "Old!" Old Jon was clearly dissatisfied with it. "Deal with it, I am also dealing with ¡¯Young¡¯ Jon as long as you are around." "Hehe!" Old Jonughed quietly and shook his head. "Anyway, what¡¯s your business with me! I have a crew to gather!" "A crew? Kid! How did you own a ship?" Tor was taking the role of the talkative! "I thought you heard everything!" "Clearly not! We only got interested in how you would hit on thess!" "Lass! You mean Mjoll? Come on!" And here I thought they were some shady people, they only got interested when I talked to Mjoll. Sigh! Dirty old men! "You were asking about the ship! Well, I killed all the pirates on it and it became mine!" "Killed! How many?" Tor asked. "Don¡¯t know! They were a lot." I said, remembering what happened makes my mood gloomy, "Ask my servant! She¡¯s into counting the dead and all that!" I took my tankard and emptied it in one go. "Are.. you alright?" Strange enough, Old Jon broke his vow of silence and spoke. "I am. Not the first time." They also drank from the tankards they brought with them. "Tell me Young Jon! I am sorry for asking about your private matters but that thing about Winterhold, is it serious?" Tor asked. "Hmm? People are dying on the streets! Of course it is serious." "No, not that. I meant you going against the authority?" Hmmm! "Authority? Who gives the right of the authority? The king? The bloodline?" I asked, "It¡¯s nothing but formalities. Things mortals created to feel good about themselves! To feel satisfied being on top of one another. The ones who are the source of all authorities are the people if they realized it." "But without rulers, people will suffer." Old Jon said. "Because of what? How wise rulers are? They were only prepared to rule and to think for the people. The moment they stop thinking for the people everything crumbles. The moment greed takes over how many friendships to be cut, loved ones to lost, families to be ruined." I said and they turned grim one after the other. "You see what is wrong? They degraded people and monopolized both opinion and thinking for themselves. They put limits on everything to shackle life into what they see as Order and force others to abide it asw." "But isn¡¯t Order the way man should follow and live with? Without Order man is just but another animal." Old Jon said. "True and I agreepletely! But that depends on how much man canprehend and think! To beasts, living in human settlements is chaotic but to man it¡¯s Order. The more a man can utilize his ability to think, the more his notion of Order widens. To degrade men, suppress their ability to think, the Chaos will drive them into the small area they think of as Order. That¡¯s how people govern people, not by Order, but by Chaos, by illusion, by making them think of what they want them to think. Make one busy with gathering barely enough money to support himself and all he will think about is how to live day by day, he will never look at the future because that will be stepping into the dark unknown area, the Chaos, his Order will be what those who rule him want it to be. A wise man once said, "Order is but an Illusion, what is Order for a spider is Chaos for a fly." "Who said that?" Tor asked. "Me, just now!" I said. The trio were baffled by my shameless. "After all, what are you really after?" Glemt asked. "Unlike what people think, Order is no opposite to Chaos. It¡¯s only the small territory we conquered in Chaos. What I am after is to conquer more. I won¡¯t lord over anyone neither do I have the time to do so. I will just give people a hand while benefiting myself. Maybe it can give me the feeling of aplishment and build up a ce I want my children to live in." I didn¡¯t say anything after it. Truthfully speaking, I may have talked a lot but nothing of my ideals is a secret. Also these guys are strong, I can¡¯t tell how strong they are but I am no match. They didn¡¯t show any bad intentions towards me. On the contrary, they were worried. Not about my n but about that Aura thing. I still haven¡¯tprehended it yet but it seems that the Aura is affected by one¡¯s mentality. I used a spell full of madness and negativity that made them feel worried if my mentality is affected by that. My mentality is clear as ever though, I am just very perceptive when ites to energy that I could counter the energy of Aura with a spell. After all, everything is Magicka. "So, won¡¯t those ideals of yours be a thing that some people may not see beneficial and try to fight!" Tor asked. "Indeed, fights will ur to stop it, I am not exactly optimistic about it myself but I want to think of myself as doing my part! Also, as people will see it as a threat, some will see it as a future and will embrace it. When you give the people heroes, they might live in harmony as long as the heroes are living among them. But if you give people an idea, they will follow it, put their faith in it, fight and die for it." "So you are saying heroes are not necessary?" Tor asked in dissatisfaction! "They are, when the time of heroeses. But for everyday, world should survive on its own. As you see, world doesn¡¯t need heroes, it needs professionals! And no crisis shall ever rise to begin with! After all, it¡¯s for the future!" "... Future! Sigh!" I could feel that Old Jon was in an emotional roller coaster when he said ¡¯Future!¡¯ and sighed. The man seemed to be having it hard. "Sorry for taking your time Young Jon, I think it¡¯s time for us to head out!" Old Jon said and stood, "I hope we meet each other once again!" I stood for him and shook his hand, "Likewise Old Jon!" "See you kid." Tor said and bunched my shoulder. "Farewell!" They walked together and left the inn! "....." ~~~~~~~~ The people in the inn were still wary of me. They knew that I was in some power contest with the other three. The presence of Aura can be felt by normal senses just fine but as it wasn¡¯t directed at people, no one really minded it. They only felt these people are no regr folk. Me, on the other hand, used a spell that worked like the Aura so people thought of me as some crazy monster. I heard some of them saying that I won against the three men in hoods alone. Mjoll said she sensed something and came running but she was afraid to step into the conversation especially when she felt my Aura. Ongeim said that the boys he brought were frightened by my Aura and will not argue about anything but they are just too afraid toe unless I call for them. I guess I did a score here. I¡¯ll improve that spell no matter what! Junar who was acting during my absence in the ship also came to the inn and reported that the repairs are almostplete. I went and talked with the sailors Ongeim brought! Most of them were young but experienced sailors, I tried to be friendly enough without breaking the air of the Captain and it didn¡¯t really work. Still, they eased up a bit when I ordered drinks for them. Junar wrote the names of the sailors and everything was in order. Two cooks, a navigators, a charter, two carpenters, the rest were five warriors. Ongeim will be my quartermaster, Jull will be Jull, Trudvar will be my guard, Mjoll will be my guard too and the one who will do the intimidating. I, the Captain, the Healer, and the Battle Mage. I also payed two silvers upfront as a bonus of starting the job. They have half a day two get what they need and be on the ship! Ongeim took me around the town and we bought tons of arrows as well as some weapons and many other necessities! I also had a shoping list for Nurina and it was nothing easy to carry alone, I hired people to carry the stuff to the ship. By nightfall, the ship was loaded and the repairs made it look like a new one. The ¡¯Alexandria¡¯ was a small but an elegant ship. Adding fewnterns here and there gave it a good vibe, I also made sure that everything is taken care off before heading to my cabin. My cabin! Ah! What a transformation! I must admit, I love luxury! I brought a big sized bed and thefiest furniture that can fit in. I also bought some maps and new navigation gear, my navigation skills are not that great but it¡¯s okay for traveling not far from the coast. I also bought every sailing book in town! Let¡¯s see what else is here before we miss anything. Arcane Table for enchanting, Check! Alchemy Station, Check! Luggage, Check! Julls, Check! My reading material, Check! Chest for valuables, Check! Every piece is where it is supposed to be! Ah, it was never this tidy in my past life. Now, to bed. ~~~~~~~~ Next morning! I was standing behind the wheel! Five sailors were being punished in the very morning. Why? Four overslept and one slept on guarding duty. What is the punishment you ask? Simple! Ice Bucket Challenge! I call it that but it is like this, these guys will stand naked (in underwears of course) and pour ice cold water from the sea on themselves. Ten buckets or ten whips, those who start can¡¯t stop because whips on cold bodies is a heavenly kind of pain! Of course one can stop any time but will have to take the rest of the buckets as whips. Even though these guys are Nords, cold sea water in the morning is a bit too much. The sun started rising and everything was going fine. Dragging the ship out was also the sailors job but we pay few coppers for dock workers to help. Now, the ship was on water and we have nothing left but to open the sails to the wind. Few minutester, the ¡¯Alexandria¡¯ was back in the sea and heading east to the direction of Winterhold. Our destination is Hob¡¯s Fall Cave. Hob¡¯s Fall cave was right on the coast just after an ind called Yngvild, we took the short narrow path between the small inds near the coast. Truthfully speaking, I was worried of being followed so my n was to hide the ship somewhere like here. After six hours, I could see the terrain of the cave I am familiar with, my navigator also confirmed the location. I insisted to hide the ship from sight. There was a small hill near the coast that can do the job and it was surrounded by small pieces ofnd. Even though the area was shallow, my detection scaned it for the best way out. Now, we are very well ready to go down. Trudvar will stay with the ship along with other sailors. Me, Julls, Mjoll, Ongeim and three sailors who were good fighters took the ship¡¯s boat to thend. Hob¡¯s Fall Cave is at the end of a path enclosed by sheer walls of ice, which starts at the shoreline to the northeast and ends at the entrance. Everything was so far so good, I was worried about any beasts in the area but... ¡¯Tek¡¯ "Dammit!" "What¡¯s wrong?" Mjoll said. "A troll! At the entrance of the cave!" I said and evoked the ¡¯Fireball¡¯ spell. I hate trolls when they are alive, three eyes and crazy strength. What is more ridiculous is their regeneration! I remember ying as a warrior and going against a troll once. Dumbfuck healed like crazy after every hit. "Ongeim, Mjoll use shields and pin it! The rest go with spears. Jull, shoot to its eyes without making it see you!" The troll emerged near the entrance and started to make warning roars to the intruders! This is an Ice Troll. I cannot believe I extracted an essence from this thing to buff my bedroom prowess but I think the trolls¡¯ regeneration is what made it a fearsome extract. Trolls themselves are ugly fucks. Gori-like creatures with three eyes and evil looking heads, their bodies are stringy with muscles but mostly covered in fur, their shoulders and heads have many bone spurs that makes a sh with them is a bad idea, their hands are the most problematic thing. They have three fingers each with ws like steel. Thisbination of fearsomeness and incarnation of manhood is raoring and rushing against us. There is only one weakness the trolls have. It¡¯s Fire! And this young and handsome man is called Jonhild Fire-Mane! One more thing! They guys around me are nervous let¡¯s give them a good buff. I haven¡¯t used this in ages. ¡¯War Cry!¡¯ Chapter 65 Dungeon Delving "SOVENGARD!!!" My War Cry echoed around. What else could I shout anyway? My party got buffed and the troll slowed its advance. This was the perfect time for me to release my spells. Two ¡¯Fireballs¡¯ were cast from each hand. And two perfect hits sted on the troll. The monster won¡¯t be easily done by this. But I guess it lost most of its endurance now. There were no time to cast more spells, the troll was fast, much faster and more dangerous than the ones from the game. I had to fall back allowing Mjoll and Ongeim to take my ce while carrying their shields. The situation will get dire from now. I can¡¯t use fire with my allies close to the target, fire tends to be tricky to use in this situation. The troll may start regenerating and his stamina is also a pain to deal with. The trolls shs with shields badly. Mjoll was pushed back but the sailor behind her was supporting her well. Ongeim was superior to Mjoll in the term of weight so he didn¡¯t move from his ce. I think the vanguard need more support, the man for the job is... ¡¯Frost Atronach¡¯-Chan. It made its appearance after theing out from the void. The problem now is that the Atronach won¡¯t deal much damage to the Ice Troll as the troll has a high resistance to Frost. Also it has already started regenerating. I am hating the situation but the only solution is to do something about his Vitality. Beside my mastered spells, I am researching new spells most of the time. The aspect of ¡¯Vitality¡¯ is a hard to control aspect but I can at least Absorb and Supply it. It¡¯s dangerous to use the effect of ¡¯Supply¡¯ with ¡¯Vitality¡¯ as one gives his own vitality to others. It¡¯s more effective than healing though. Mages tend to use the effects ¡¯Fortify¡¯ and ¡¯Restore¡¯ with aspect ¡¯Vitality¡¯ to make the healing spells. If I absorbed the Troll¡¯s vitality it may affect me as my vitality is full or different in nature than a troll¡¯s vitality but I can supply it back to the members of my party as they are taking damage directly from the troll. Fine, I¡¯ll risk it. I evoked to different spells on each hand, the right is ¡¯Absorb Vitality¡¯, the left is ¡¯Supply Vitality¡¯. I aim my right at the troll and my left at Mjoll who received a hit. After a minute of struggle, the troll¡¯s regeneration actually slowed down. It took us five more minutes to put the beast down. The three sailors made sure to make their spears go through all its vitals to make sure it died. "This was tough!" "If there is anyone in the cave now I doubt they didn¡¯t know about us already!" "Don¡¯t let your guard down! They didn¡¯te at us when we took down the troll so don¡¯t worry about it now." I said, "Julls, you will scout ahead, make sure to use ¡¯Scan¡¯ and ¡¯rm¡¯ like I taught you, do what you do best!" Jull was taking the role of my mysterious right hand girl so she rarely spoke. How adorable! "Now everyone on me! I maybe a mage but I¡¯ll kick your asses if youe at mebined. Don¡¯t focus on protecting me unless I am doing some serious magic casting. I¡¯ll tell you by then! We will walk light and not trigger any attention! I am taking the lead with you three, we¡¯ll use our bows and bring any target down swiftly. Ongeim and Mjoll, you two will be our rearguard. If it turned dangerous ahead then switch into vanguard. Everyone stay cool and don¡¯t lose your shit if you saw a freakin undead in there, just shoot on my signal! Understood?" """Yes, Captain!""" Good! I gave these guys few lessons on tactics and infiltration strategies, we will move and kill like shadows. Junar took the lead and sneaked into the cave. Her mission was disarming traps and scouting for enemies. She also would leave us marks about the situation ahead and wait for us if there is an enemy. This is how my tactical lessons were hammered into her. I cast ¡¯Bound Bow¡¯, this way I have my own bow and a quiver with many arrows hanged from my waist. Now we are ready to roll. ~~~~~~~~ Upon entering the cave, we found ourselves in an icy cavern. It was very spacious with ice walls, floor and ceiling. I was in wounder even though this is not my first time witnessing such a thing. ¡¯Whistling Mine¡¯ looked simr but I had no time to admire it. Still, I can¡¯t say anything or make any sound for an echo may form. The only way right now was only ahead so there were no argument what should we do. I took the lead and walked carefully and quietly while notching an arrow in my bow. Reaching the end, the tunnel turned right with a slight slope going down. It was no different from the first tunnel so we headed ahead again. As we rached its end, the tunnel turned right and opened into arger space of a two leveled cave. This cave contains several small empty cages filled with bones and empty bottles scattered all over the floor. Junar was crouching after the turn and signaled us not to make no noise. Trouble ahead! I halted the group with a fist sign, then a ¡¯wait¡¯ sign. I had to sneak to Jull alone. Putting thoughts into action, I moved as fast and quiet as I can. "What¡¯s the situation?" "Two enemies ahead!" "Anything near them?" "No, just two boys chatting and drinking." I looked where she pointed and found the targets. "Be careful! The cave is leveled so maybe someone watching from the higher level!" Indeed! Above to the north is a ledge with a wooden palisade along the edge, it came from the higher level, we can¡¯t let anyone see us. "Rx!" I said, "Ready your bow! You take right I take left. I¡¯ll shoot when you ready." Jull took her bow and arrow, aimed and shot. I followed her actions like her shadow! Two arrows tore the wind and rested in the two boys¡¯ necks. Another ¡¯Follow¡¯ sign made the party follow ahead. Junar, checked around then went ahead. We followed closely to a tunnel on the left as it is the only way forward at this point. This narrow tunnel twists and turns left, right, left, right before continuing ahead to a wider one. Julls was waiting, "Undead ahead, no life reactions near them." Moving a bit ahead we saw nearly seven skeletons. This was easy! Skeletons are a bit hard to shoot with arrows but they crumble when a blunt weapon crushes them. "Stay behind! Mjoll and Ongeim, on me!" I dispelled the the ¡¯Bound Bow¡¯ and cast a ¡¯Bound Battleaxe¡¯. The two followed me like wind and we swiftly stormed the skeletons. Each skeleton took one hit but they were giving a fight, I was worried about the noise in a cave like this but luckily I remembered to cast ¡¯Muffle¡¯ on the zone of the fight. "Reset formation!" I gave themand and everything was back as it was. We continued the tunnel and took a left but no traces of any presence was there. Another left took us to a slope and corridor. After a small walk we reached a wooden bridge and we found Jull waiting there. "Few living signals ahead, they are on alert." This may get tough! It will be like this then. Switching back to the bows and getting protected for the next raid. "Everyone! We¡¯ll go in storming arrows! Shoot fast! Mjoll and Ongeim, you two will have to shield us if we fell under heavy fire. Remember, our target on the other side and warlocks tend to use Frost Magic." Everyone nodded! Taking a deep breath, I made a count down with my fingers and moved to the next location. It looked like some apprentices were positioned in this ce, they were between the ranks of beginners and didn¡¯t even look tough. But there were seven of them and five archers of us. Assigning the target with signals was an easy task for those guys. They are already an experienced SWAT team. At the signal, five arrows tore the air and five enemies fell. The remaining two were alerted and tried to run, one got shot by me and another got an arrow to the thigh and escaped while limping. Crap! The area ahead is unknown but I and Jull gave a chase through the wooden bridge and honebed him with arrows. Tough bastard resisted. As we reached the end of the bridge, we noticed that the wooden bridge spans over a deep cavern, I knew this but still, it looked fearsome. Reseting the formation and moving forward was done even before I say anything. The walk ahead was strangely not interrupted by any traps. I even felt worried for Jull. Still, we met her after we walked down a few slopes. "Two paths ahead, one had a mage with many undead and the other is going down somewhere but I can¡¯t check it else I get seen." "Fine! I¡¯ll deal with the undead. The rest of you take the mage with arrows. A mage that can control many undead is a dangerous being." Everyone readied themselves. As the fight starts the mage will surely hide behind his undead creatures. This will prove troublesome if they are Guardians not just his Zombies. The mage was indeed rxing but the undead were guarding him. Behind him is a passage blocked by some iron bars. My move was the first, I have to eliminate all the undead around him with one move while the rest take care of him quickly. I will use a spell that is as strong as a ¡¯Fireball¡¯. The spell is my original ¡¯Holy Smite¡¯. It is the same as ¡¯Fireball¡¯ but it¡¯s made of Sun element. The best anti-undead element that doesn¡¯t deal any damage to humans in my arsenal. As I cast the spells, the undead skeletons explode everywhere from its effect. Followed by the arrows that tore the mage apart. We stormed the room destroying any undead in the bath. The area is clear and few items and books were found. "Put anything of value in the sacks! Rest for a while and will move in a minutes! Keep your guard up!" The room we stormed just now appeared to be a guard post for something important after the passage that was blocked with iron bars. There is still a location we haven¡¯t checked but I had an idea what it was. After looting the ce and resting for a minute, I moved the boys and got out the way we came in. We will take the corridor that Jull hasn¡¯t checked. Sure enough after walking for a while, we reached an empty room under the wooden bridge we passed on a while ago. It was the living quarters of the necromancers living in this cave. There were more stuff to loot here, I scanned the ce carefully and found some money, hidden chests, as well as some valuable weapons and research paper. From what I could tell, these people were cultists of ¡¯Mg Bal¡¯. One of the most fearsome and hateful Daedric Princes (Dardra God) whose sphere is the domination and envement of mortals. He is known as the God of Schemes, the King of ****, the Harvester of Souls, the Lord of Brutality, and the Prince of Rage. His main desire is to harvest the souls of mortals and to bring them within his sway by spreading seeds of strife and discord in the mortal realms. One legend ims that Mg Bal created the first vampire when he raped a virgin named Lamae Beolfag, who in turn ughtered a group of nomads who tried to help her. I just get the urge to puke when I sea a someone that worship this piece of shit. I, myself, am not a good guy but I have my limits. I don¡¯t mind making pacts with Daedra as long as it doesn¡¯t affect my soul or essence like bing something inhuman or stuff like that. Of course bing an immortal is cool but I would love to do that with my own power. During the looting, one guy found an unusual gem. He came to me running after he did. "Oh! A Stone of Barenziah. Give me that, I¡¯ll give an extra silver for finding it." The boy gave it and I gave him a silver septim as a reward, the other two looked at him enviously. "Is it of any value?" Ongeim asked. "Don¡¯t you recognize the Name Barenziah? The Dunmer Queen of Mournhold? One of Tiber Septim lovers? One of the most badass women in this world? Sigh!" He and the rest shook their heads to every question. "it¡¯s one of twenty four stones that belonged to the beautiful crown of Queen Barenziah. The crown was lost in Skyrim after the disappearance of the queen during the War of esstion and its gems started to appear in different locations. Collectors like myself fancy those stones." "You sure know a lot about a random gem in a cave!" Mjoll said mockingly. "You don¡¯t understand! Queen Barenziah of Mournhold is one of my favorite historical figures along side our well known Queen Potema of Solitude." All the people present shivered when they heard the name of ¡¯Potema¡¯. Any Nord knows this famous, or rather, infamous Wolf Queen. Queen Barenziah and Wolf Queen Potema are the most fearsome Queens in the history of Morrowind, Skyrim, and the Empire. They are the most badass queens. Even Cersie Lannister would look like a cute kitten beside them. Queen Barenziah started her life in exile after she was taken from her father¡¯s home who was the Lord of Mournhold. Her exile was in Skyrim but she escaped and became a thief in Riften. Yearster she was found by a Dunmer General that worked under Tiber Septim himself andter became the general¡¯s wife and Tiber¡¯s mistress in secret. This was some story to read. She lived a long life full of events and political struggle after that until her disappearances two hundred years ago. Queen Potema of Solitude is a cut of the same. She is well known to all Nords. Known as Potema Septim of the Imperial Family. She was wed in Skyrim to the High King but she practiced Necromancy and Thievery. She also started a civil war in the Empire to get the Imperial Ruby Throne for her son who eventually died in the fight. Her rage was not simple as she unleashed all her necromantic power and released an army of undead on Solitude. She waster cornered and sealed under Solitude. My theory is, she became a lich and waiting to be unsealed. The reason why these guy shivered was the public knowledge of Potema¡¯s fearsomeness. Still, that story will be left for another time. I stored the gem in my pocket and smiled as I have an idea about the locations of the rest of the gems, and this gem confirmed that they are most likely in these ces. "Now hurry up, don¡¯tze around!" We moved back again to the passage blocked with iron bars and started looking for a mechanism to unblock the passage. I can do it by force but it will take time. A minuteter, Jull found a chain and when she pulled it down, the bars moved and the passage was unblocked. We moved again in formation but I heard Jull¡¯s screaming. I didn¡¯t think and ran to her location. Jull was hit by a magical trap. These traps were shooting ¡¯Frostbite¡¯ spell on her. I cast ¡¯Grip¡¯ and dragged Jull from harm¡¯s way. Her arm turned blue from the spell damage. "I didn¡¯t know what were these! I approached them and they shot magic at me. Also someone saw me and went running the other way." This is not good! I started healing her as it was easy to cure the frost effect by just healing. These traps were nasty still magic traps are actually very simple. You only needed to cast the ¡¯Rune¡¯ of the normal spell then install a Soul Gem on it. This will work as a sentry turret. To disarm them one can use just shoot anything at the Gems powering the Runes. I can just take them by ¡¯Grip¡¯ spell. There were three of them and I took the three Soul Gems as loot. The mage that spotted Jull has clearly went far and warned the rest ahead. This is now an all out fight. "Okay be ready for some resistance! Jull stay at the back!" The scouting now will be done by me. This was a good training for Jull but I can¡¯t afford to tire her this much. I moved ahead of the group and the cave turned left and right until it reached a big space. There were indeed many mages here. They were also trying to check the passage. "SHOW YOURSELF INTRUDERS!" One was shouting like crazy. As if I will ever do that anyway. The number of the necromancers here is five and they seemed like the bosses of the cave. They also had few undead minions that were being put into formation around the passage. I moved back and met with the group toy down the n. This is thest sh now. "The n is like this." I said then cast a spell three times and three Frost Atronachs appeared, "These big guys will sh with the undead after I cast a sun spell on them. Your rule is to rain the mages with arrows and I¡¯ll join you with magic. Ongeim and Mjoll, you guys will protect the nks from the undead." Thest spell I cast was ¡¯Pdin¡¯s Aura¡¯ on both of them and myself. This spell is a Cloaking spell that will cover us with the Sun element and Healing effect. It will do harm to undead and heal us. One of my masterpieces. The three Frost Atronachs took the lead followed by Mjoll,Ongeim and the fabulous me. Then Jull who insisted to follow and the three sailors who will shoot arrows at the mages. The first move was mine, I cast ¡¯Holy Smite¡¯ that exploded in the undead formation ahead of the passages. My Atronachs swarmed the undead followed by Mjoll and Ongeim. This was a glorious start, shame I can¡¯t use ¡¯War Cry¡¯ or I may faint this time. The arrows flew at the mages but they were a bit off. Still, it kept them in check. The mages tried to cast Frost Magic at us but it was not even a threat. One of the mages shouted, "MOVE!" to his colleagues. He was charging a strong Frost spell. I evoked ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯ and casted at him head on. He also cast the spell and we pressed on each other. This was a magic duel. Two spells pushing back each other by the sheer power of Magicka. I was superior as always. My Magicka training can make me above and beyond any of those guys! Even a Battlemage Schr from the college will get his ass kicked by me if he thought to duel me like this. The mage was sted away by my spell and was sent flying. After that, the undead he controlled crumbled and the remaining four surrendered themselves. Now that ce is secured! The ce was indeed a big cavern with cages and dead bodies in it. These guys were experimenting in necromancy and looked like they were doing something big. They also had a lot of resources and money in this room. Now to the prisoners. "Which one of you is the leader?" They didn¡¯t speak. Hehe! Fine! Let¡¯s see if this works. "You will start dying if you don¡¯t talk. The Jarl is annoyed from what you did and will execute you guys on sight!" "The Jarl!" One of them shouted, "What did we do? We honored the agreement with him." "Oh! He doesn¡¯t think so! Few days ago, he sent a poor fool for you guys to kill but you didn¡¯t and he returned back with a Helm that he imed that it was the Helm of Winterhold. Now, the people believed him and the situation is not looking good!" "No! We received your messenger but that mage did note!" Another one said, "We even lured a troll outside the cave as your messenger said but he didn¡¯te at all." Hmmm! So it was as I thought. "So, which one of you is the leader?" They pointed at the mage I just dueled. "Oh! So that was him? How very... dead!" I said, "Who is the next inmand?" Another guy raised his hand! "Fine! You are in charge now! Stand up." I took the guy away! "The Jarl also wanted me to change some items in your... ¡¯Agreement¡¯. Hmmm! Let¡¯s see... what do you guys usually do?" "Eh! Sir, we maintain ¡¯The Chill¡¯ and install ¡¯Frost Guardians¡¯ there, we also get rid of the unwanted troublemakers in secrecy! What else should we do!" "Nothing, nothing at all! Oh, onest thing. This helm, do you still have it?" "What helm, good sir! We don¡¯t hav... Oh!" The guy said but he realized it and red at me. "I also thought so! Sorry man, time to die!" I stabbed him with a hidden dagger and he didn¡¯t even make a sound. "Kill the rest!" Chapter 66 Seven of Us, Thirty of Them, Almost a Fair Fight! [A/N: I am not that great with 3rd Person POV so I will use multiple POVs in 1st Person. Tell me what you think about it.] ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] We packed all what looked of value and gathered the bodies around. Unlike the game, bodies rot, and people piss themselves when they die, so we will burn them. What I found really exciting was a necromancy tome called ¡¯Corpse Explosion¡¯. I just couldn¡¯t help but grin when I saw it. This spell is just too evil, I opened the first few pages and wanted to try it so bad but it would take few hours of trial and error to get it done. Other that therge amounts of money we found. We got some jewelry and spell scrolls as well as some pieces of fancy gear, and few filled ck Soul Gems. Also some Magic Staves, I took a liking on a certain me Staff. ¡¯Magic Staves¡¯ in the Elder Scrolls games were different from other staves in most games and are not really anything practical. Just imagine them as a tool to cast the same damn spell repeatedly without costing you Magicka until the energy of the staff is depleted. I always thought that was impractical and not much different than Magic Scrolls. As if heaven heard my plea, the staves in real life are not that miserable. They are Magical Weapons that are based on ¡¯Aspects¡¯! Which means if a staff is enchanted with ¡¯me Aspect¡¯ then it can cast any me spell depending on its own energy and the knowledge of the caster! Neat, isn¡¯t it? This is also much better than having some random folk carrying staves and think of themselves as mages. And also would make staves have a different use than ¡¯Magic Scrolls¡¯. This would also make famous staves much more powerful from the ones in the game. [A/N: And also you people can stop asking about the Wabbajack, Staff of Magnus, Sanguine Rose, The Skull of Corruption. They will have better functions based on their unique style.] We gathered what we have and started counting the loot. This was good! We will be rich for some time now. After we distributed the loot into smaller sacks we can carry on our backs, the other things that had value but we can¡¯t carry were kept in a chest and buried in one corner in the room! Felt like pirates from those movies. Now let¡¯s leave this cave. Thest room in the cave had its own passage to the first room we came in. That two leveled cave room from before. We had to jump a wall like eight meters but it wouldn¡¯t look good if wended wrong. "Okaydies. ¡¯Featherfall¡¯! Who is going first?" I evoked ¡¯Featherfall¡¯ while saying that. "Feather.. what?" "A spell that makes the fall lighter and slower. Hurry up! Jull, show thosedies how it¡¯s done." I cast it on Jull and she jumped the eight meters andnded slowly like a feather! The guys lost their marbles after they saw it and started fighting on who to go first! Sure, this spell felt wonderful. Just like a parachute. Everyone and their mothers lose their marbles over them. After getting done with it, we headed back to the entrance but... ¡¯Tek Tek Tek Tek Tek Tek Tek....¡¯ "Shit!" My face became yellow and my head felt light. I couldn¡¯t even count how many sounds my ¡¯rm¡¯ spell made in my head. "What¡¯s the matter?" Mjoll asked. "We¡¯ve gotpany!" ~~~~~~~~ [Knut¡¯s POV] I stood outside the cave with my men after we got the report from that weasel in Dawnstar. The ce we stood at was a wall of ice that overlooked the passage to Hob¡¯s Fall Cave. We saw clearly what can go in and out from here. Beside me, was that weasel and his boys. How can he be so short and slimy, yet call himself a Nord? "Are you sure it was him?" I asked. "Absolutely Captain Knut! A kid came to Dawnstar and hired a crew for his ship! His name is Jon Dare as the message from that puppet said!" The weasel said. "Those guys are supposed to take care of him! But you said he had people when he entered?" "Yes Captain! Seven of them!" "Those dirty cultists can deal with that just fine. What of that ship of his?" "I saw it over the coast there but it sailed away after that guy got down with his men!" "Idiot! Why didn¡¯t you send one of your men after it? If we captured it the leader will be pleased! Now all we need is that brat¡¯s head. Send some of your scouts to talk with the cultists before the sun sets. I want to be back at the sea in an hour." "Yes, yes Captain!" We got wind of that bastard, I thought he would take thend road and came all the way from Dawnstar to greet him here but to think he took the sea! Now he is cornered like a rat. Hehe! I¡¯ll show you the fate of those who mingle with the Blood Horkers¡¯ business. ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] Seven ¡¯Spectral Owls¡¯ of mine surveyed the sky. "I think this is going to be tough!" "How many Captain?" Ongeim asked. "Thirty something." The faces around me got paled. "Come on! It¡¯s Seven of us, Thirty of them, almost a fair fight! Haha!" I joked with them to ease the mood. I thought for a second and came up with something! "Good news is, they didn¡¯t find our ship. Better news is, we will make one hell of an escape. I have a n." They looked at me as if they saw their lord and savior. "You three, run back to that room and bring that big smooth wooden table and all the ropes you can find! You have five minutes. Jull, Ongeim, Mjoll. Three men will being from this passage. Invite them in as you are cultists then kill them cleanly with no drop of blood. I will stay here and prepare." I have a big n in mind. One that needs a lot of preparations, I will put all my power into the next spells I am going to cast. First, I was already low on juice so I drank a Magicka Potion and felt my body overflow with Magicka. The next step was to make sure about that the enemies¡¯ movements, I covered the area above them with few ¡¯Familiar Falcons¡¯. I can get information of what my conjured Familiars see but not clearly so I had to get the best veiw possible. The enemies actually had a ship too and it was away from mine thankfully. Still, this confirmed that they are pirates. I was far from done. My potion bag had a side pocket and it was had few ¡¯Alchemist¡¯s Fire sks¡¯ given to me by Nurina. I took them out and put them neatly aside. Few secondster, the three boys brought the big table I asked for. "Now flip it on its top, tie the ropes there and there, don¡¯t let them get loose... You call yourself a sailors! My mother can do ties better than this." I instructed them around while cracking jokes, these guys were nervous. "Now,dies! Watch the magic." I evoked a spell on my hands and put a lot if Magicks into them. After the cast, the void formed and three firy creatures appeared. "Taraa! Three Beautiful me Atronach Horses. Now tie them to the table." The boys looked at each other and didn¡¯t want to believe what they saw. "The Captain is just too glorious! He can scare the whole inn when his mood changes, knows stuff about treasures no one heard before, can shout the legendary ¡¯War Cry¡¯, and now can summon horses we haven¡¯t seen before!" "I also heard that the Captain can use the Thu¡¯um!" "Just do what he said or you will make him angry." These rude fellows are actually starting to lose it. Anyway, our glider was ready in no time. Jull and co. brought back three corpses and put them in front of me. "By the Gods!" Ongeim and Mjoll lost it when they saw the horses. "Get me the bodies, I can only use two of them." "Use?" Mjoll asked. "Look, this is a desperate time! I will have to perform a forbidden ritual just for the sake of getting us out of here! I will use some of that... Necromancy." I said with a grim face. Nothing but an act though. "What?" The people around me got scared. "This magic alwayses with a price if I am not a Daedra worshiper. So, I will have to suffer the consequences but it will be worth it when we make it out alive, all of us. I¡¯ll be able to hold on for an hour then I might copse. When I do, Junar, please take care of me." To the public, Necromancy is a foul ritual that only get done by people of evil. If I performed it normally in front of them, they will take the wrong image of me and may cause harm to the reputation of the Collegeter. "Jon, please don¡¯t do it! You might not survive it. Thedy told me..." Junar joined the act perfectly. She talked in front of others with ease and made it look dramatic. This evil minion of mine is the best follower ever. "I am sorry Jull, if you can at least make it then it will be all worth it." Making a touchy scene was an easy task! I read some shojou novels at some point so I knew the tricks around this genre! Now from the mage who will perform a dark ritual to the hero who will save the day. I stood on two corpses, evoked ¡¯Reanimate¡¯ and charged. I focused on the effects a bit to manipte the hue and create a strong blue light with the spell. I tried to make my voice as rough as possible, or as rough as Morbagog. Theb started chanting a deathmetal song from my past life. "I call upon the ancient demons of Underworld, to bring forth this beast, aaaand.. Awaken, Awaken, Awaken, Awaken! Take thend, the must be taken. Awaken, Awaken, Awaken, Awaken! devour.. worlds.. smite.. forsaken....." [A/N: This song is ¡¯Batmetal Forever¡¯. Those who did not watch it, I don¡¯t know what you are doing with your lives, just go watch it now.] I was barely trying to hold myself fromughing. Junar who always hid her face behind a cover and under a hood was holding her breath with her hand and her shoulders were shaking. I know she was also holding it hard. Mjoll came and kept patting Jull¡¯s back. I finally finished the first verse of the song and cast the spell. God... I almost farted from holding theughter. Two corpses were surrounded with blue light and started to stand up, they looked scary. This was my first time doing that on a human corpse. I always practiced this spell on mice and skeevers. There are many differences between Necromancy and Conjuration and the most important one is ¡¯Control¡¯. One can control reanimated Undead much easier than conjured Daedra. Daedra are living beings with egos and feelings, so much alive that you canmunicate with the intelligent ones of them, one can also converse with the conjured Dremora freely. All of that made their control a bit of a hurdle. Atronachs are elemental deadra that are much easier than Dremora who are living speaking ones. If a mage can conjure a Dremora, then bounding it needs a lot of power but it¡¯s always worth it. Dremora are fearsome and proud fighters. Undead are beings that are controlled by a fake soul that gets created by the necromancer. That¡¯s why Necromancy sometimes falls under the Aspect of Soul. However, the fake soul actually destroys the body as long as it is not perfect, until it reaches the point of disintegrating all the flesh and turning the undead from a zombie into a skeleton. The better the fake soul was casted, the more the zombie form wouldst. If it was a Thrall spell then the fake soul would be formed into something akin to perfection and doesn¡¯t disintegrate the body for a long time. All in all, controlling an Undead is a piece of cake as they have no life or egopared to summoning a high grade Daedra. That¡¯s why the Necromancy is so popr. I can control seven undead now but only three daedra. Back to the present, my two zombies stood and their dead faces. "Jull, please put a ¡¯Fire Rune¡¯ spell on each that explodes remotely. After that hide these sks in their pockets." It¡¯s not that I was having a problem or anything, it¡¯s just that controlling two Undead and three Horse Atronachs was somewhat not easy. I have to trap these pirates and everything should look perfect. The sun was setting but it was still dangerous for undead to walk under it. They had to be hid from sunlight perfectly. After Junar was done, the Undead walked as Imanded and reached the entrance if the cave. Everyone was ready on the table glider holding their des and bows, this will be so much FUN! ~~~~~~~~ [Knut¡¯s POV] This is taking a lot of time! The shitty cultists are having trouble or something? I want to end this and hurry up to the sea, I get ndsick¡¯ if I am not on my ship. Finally, two of them went out and waved for us toe. Did those cultists get wiped out or something? What a pain! I took my men and walked around the wall for a minute or two. This cave is gloomy as ever. Fits those Daedra worshippers and their air. As we reached the cave, these two weasels didn¡¯t even say anything and stood there! Did they catch ¡¯Brainrot¡¯ or something? One of my men went ahead to teach them a lesson! Why would I care anyway! "Why aren¡¯t you two talking? Say som... WHAT IS..." Something happened? These two are attacking? Wait! The became undead? What¡¯s going on? The two undead ran at our nks but it felt unnatural! They are being controlled skillfully! It felt dangerous! "Pin them down! And destroy them quickly!" I said what my instincts told me. Something very fishy is happening. I was right! Something happened! I saw light and fire eating my men after words! Fire exploded from the undead! Evil! Green! Fire! I couldn¡¯t hear it! No, I can¡¯t hear anything! My ears are ringing. I can¡¯t even stand straight. I was blown away. My men! Torn apart! Everywhere! I, I survived! I called and called! Only screams answered me. Half of my men were swallowed by fire! The other half got blown away! I was lucky! "Gather up! Help them!" I shouted for the men that were blown away, but just like me, they could barely stand. "Captain! This is ¡¯Alchemists¡¯ Fire¡¯! We need to run! Its fumes are poisonous!" "I am not abandoning my men!" Yes, I will never abandon them! Like that day! Against that woman! "Captain! Somethin... Something ising!" One of my men pushed my away! He said something ising? What more? I was pushed but I saw something! Horses! No! Demons! Fire Demons! Pulling something! Am I seeing things? A bunch of boys being pulled by Fire Demons! Is this all a nightmare? The man who pushed me was shed at by a boy. Wait! That boy! With red hair! With blue eyes? Just like them! Just like her! He is.. HE IS... "FIRE-MANE!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] A grand explosion sounded! I used the best bomb sks on that one! ¡¯Alchemist¡¯s Fire¡¯ a green poisonous fire that burns all organic matters and make poisonous fumes! These were made by Nurina and I had every urge to try them. Now deep from the cave I could peek at the glorious explosion! As the undead were destroyed, I could atst put better control at the Horse Atronachs and start the run. I also cast ¡¯Bound Spear¡¯ which gave me a two and a half meters long daedric spear with a ve like de. The horses ran and the glider began making noise. "Hoohoooo! Let¡¯s show these fucktards!" "Go Captain!" "Captain Jon! Forever!" Everyone was hyped for this escape. I was hyped the most! I aimed at arge man that appeared like the leader and wanted his head but one of his men pushed him and took the sh instead. Fine by me! I felt the spear was less practical this way so I dispelled it and used ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯ instead. The narrow passage to the cave which was filled with pirates now became much clearer and we passed them beautifully. After the end of the passage, I turned the horses right and continued the run on the wastnd of snow beside the coastline! The me Atronach Horses showed their true might in an open space. A three horse power table glider on snow was not something to mess around with! I don¡¯t know if it existed or not but I¡¯ll call this the ¡¯Nordic War Glider¡¯ that was inspired from the ¡¯Egyptian War Chariot¡¯. "Captain! Aren¡¯t we going to signal the ship to bring us a boat?" Ongeim shouted! "You are so old school! I¡¯ll show you how I did things in Riften!" I fixed the glider to a certain direction, the ce where whe hid the ship in. It is a ce with a high piece ofnd with a steep cliff that will block the view from thend and had a high rock on the opposite side in water that will block the view from the sea. Now I am heading towards the cliff. "Now, Ladies! Make sure that your sacks are tied very well to your backs! This will get crazy!" I started casting a certain spell on my crew. They took no time in recognizing it. "Featherfall!" Mjoll realized what was happening and opened her eyes widely. I couldn¡¯t help but smile! The Horse Atronachs ran to the cliff and everyone started shouting! My next instructions were about how to jump from the sides just when the table glider is midair. As the horses were about to reach the edge, I ¡¯Banished¡¯ them and jumped to the side, and so the rest did. It was really a parachute spell! People can get addicted to this feeling. As we jumped, the table glider, taken by its speed flied to the other side and fell into the water. Trudvar and the sailors were alerted by it and looked up to see us skydiving! One can control the direction of the fall slightly so it all went well. Even though we were jumping from a thirty meters cliff. Everyonended safely and Inded with a style. "Move your asses right now! Pirates on our six. Those whoze will get ¡¯Ice Bucket Challenge¡¯. Store the loot. Release the sails by order. We have good winds. Run for it you dogs, HAHAHA!." I gave a series of orders under the effect of Adrenaline. Everyone was running around. My only fear was the pirates getting to their ship and chasing us. I gave them a good beating but I don¡¯t think it was enough to cripple thempletely especially when that leader survived my attack. Now, let¡¯s just head to the sea! My ship is fast and can maneuver in shallow water unlike theirs. I guided the ship out of the narrow area with my ¡¯Scan¡¯ and sailed fast into the sea. I was not leaving any thing for fate as I always kept the area around the ship under surveince. After an hour, a ship appeared at our six. I am sure the pirates areing seeking blood. I was prepared for the bitter battle toe, I can¡¯t allow their big ship toe near to mine. This would bring me a disaster. I am not sure how many of their fighting force left but I still have many tricks in my sleeve. "Fire-Mane Boy! I WILL KILL YOU, I¡¯LL BURN YOUR BONES AND DRINK YOUR BLOOD!" Dafuq! Who is that? That Captain I failed to kill! I guess he found out my identity. Don¡¯t know how, but I am not letting you off now! "Ongeim! Go between these rocks. Make them follow us there. "Yes Captain!" "Jull, Bring that me Staff that we looted and a Soul Gem." She nodded and ran. I started using ¡¯Scan¡¯ on a wide range and detected all the obstacles under and above the water. My ship was sailing around the small rocks like a fish. The Pirates took their time but they followed us when they thought we may escape onnd. "Now back to the sea, do it slowly, let them catch up for now!" ~~~~~~~~ [Knut¡¯s POV] A Fire-Mane! A damn Fire-Mane! I will never forgive these bastards! They will pay! That woman shall pay! This boy too! Just like her! Fourteen years ago! She burned my men with the same smile. This crazed smile! I¡¯ll kill this brat! And that woman too! Then all of ¡¯em Fire-Manes! I¡¯ll burn them alive. "Gaaaaaah! Catch them already! Why is that piece of trash is sailing in shallow water! AFTER THEM!" I¡¯ll never let you go! Even beyond the gates of Oblivion! "They are slowing down Captain! This must be a trap!" "They can¡¯t trap us in water! AFTER THEM! RAM THEIR SHIP!" We are finally beside them. Now, where will you go kid? Hehehe! "CAREFUL!" "THE FOREMAST! NO!" "WATCH OUT CAPTAIN!" What was that? What is that? The mast? Flying away? "NO! DON¡¯T LET HIM GET AWAY!" "Captain! The ship is stuck between rocks!" "They are casting magic Captain!" "GAAAH! YOU ALL ARE TRASH! Wha.. What is that??" I saw fire! This is not from the kid¡¯s direction! It came from the sky. Dammit! Fuckin... Fire... Manes... ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV. A minute earlier!] "They are catching up Captain?" "Perfect! Make theme to our right side." "They will ram us Captain." "Let them try!" Now, they are beside us and nning to ram us! Sigh! Those pirates will have it hard. Well! Sorry not sorry! "FUS RO DAH!" I aimed the ¡¯Unrelenting Force¡¯ shout at their foremast. The pirate ship took a strong turn to the right and crashed hard into some rocks near the shoreline. The foremast got blown away and a strong sounds of wood being broken sounded. This was a crippling move now to thest phase! "Jull, the things!" She gave me the me Staff and the Soul Gem. My n was to give them a rain of ¡¯Fireballs¡¯. I wanted to use the staff because I have used a lot of Magicka today and I was actually exhausted after thest shout. Using the staff was simple, it¡¯s just an extention to one¡¯s own hand. Here we go! Chaaaarge and Cast! Perfect! Once again! Char... KABOOM!! "MOMMY! What was that?" Did any one hear that embarrassing scream! "Jon! Look!" Jull said and pointed at the pirate ship. "Holy Baby Talos!" The ship exploded? This was just one ¡¯Fireball¡¯! Not even overcharged! What the hell? Was that ship loaded with explosive? Don¡¯t tell me! Is it this Staff? What in Oblivion is going on? ~~~~~~~~ [Tyr¡¯s POV] Oh boy! He did it again! This Jon is just this annoying! I guess we have two annoying Jons now! They are more annoying than each other. "Say Old Tyr! Are all of your nsmen that nuts?" Glemt my old friend is just standing there spouting nonsense too. He is a monster on Jonrad¡¯s level too. Why is he branding the family as nuts? Actually, we are! But my rtive and brother-inw Jonrad, as well as my sister Hilda, and their son Jonhild arepletely on another level of nuts! Sigh! "Nicely done Old Jon!" Glemt said weing back our troublemaker. "Was it really necessary, The kid was handling it just fine!" I couldn¡¯t help butin. "Rx! It would have been troublesome if someone returned alive to the Blood-Sails!" Old Jon said, "It would be a problem if they sent someone to investigate!" Right! After that act from fourteen years ago. We can¡¯t afford to give the ns any wind about Young Jon. Not until he bes able enough. This kid is dead to the rest of the world. Once they know he is still alive! Even our allies will turn against us! But I think the kid won¡¯t disappoint us! I have never seen anyone escape from pirates on a table before. "Fufufu!" Glemt wasughing softly but Jonrad and I understood what he wasughing at. After all, he did that ¡¯Scry¡¯ spell to show us everything that happened in the cave. "Hahaha!" Iughed too. "Hahaha! My boy is just too good!" Even Jonrad wasughing hard. "Haha! Fine friends, we had fun this year." "Yeah, where will we find you next year, Glemt?" "I¡¯ll go around Skyrim for a while and visit Lah and Old Fultheimter. He is at that Nightgate vige right?" "Yeah!" "Well, see you there then!" Glemt turned around and just walked! Sigh! What a simple guy! "Back home we go, Old Jon?" "Yeah! It has been years!" Chapter 67 Thane of Winterhold The only thing I can think about is this big explosion! Thankfully, the crew didn¡¯t hear my pitiful scream that time. Still, what a mystery! I tried the staff but it was really normal. I mean it functions better than most staves but the damage output is normal. My only theory is that the pirates had some explosive substance that reacted to the fire and gone kaboom! Well! After the explosion I acted as if the forbidden magic from before took a toll on me and walked weakly to my cabin. The crew members that came with me made a tantrum about how great I am and a small party was thrown to my honor but I actually was too tired to care. Still, I made sure to gather those who came into the cave with me and gave them a lecture of how important it is to keep the matter of the forbidden spell a secret, or the Vignts of Standarr wille after all of us. "We will reach Winterhold by tomorrow before nightfall." Ongeim reported to me in my cabin. "Good, I¡¯ll leave the crew to you! Make sure that some get rooms in the Frozen Hearth inn and some guard in the ship. They exchange roles everyday." "Yes Captain!" "Also, there will be a list of things you will sail here and there to buy for me! I¡¯ll make sure to get us permission to fly the g of the College." "Will we work with the College?" "It¡¯s better to be safe for the time being! We may change gs next year but we need safety now. Captain Geldof may start giving you some jobs so answer to him but keep reporting to me!" I had to make some rules for the ship and give good treatment for the crew. They are my people now. What I was worried about was the Jarl being a jackass during theing part of the n, but I have to trick him into wearing a helmet. "Anything else Captain?" Ongeim said on his way out. "Where is Jull?" "Lady Junar is brooding on the quarterdeck." "Pffft! Hahaha!" Ongeim said few words that doesn¡¯t fit a single sentence. Lady! Jull! Brooding! More like writing a peom for today¡¯s massacre. "Sorry Ongeim, but please call her for me!" "Of course, Captain!" A minute after Ongeim left and Julls came with an expressionless face. "Need something?" I pointed at the bed and said, "Set down, we have something to do tonight!" ~~~~~~~~ Here we go! "Jon, I can¡¯t take it this anymore!" "What! Just take it, don¡¯t move your body too much!" "This is just too big for me to handle! My head felt like getting pierced because of it." "Just breath! Maybe you didn¡¯t try one this scale before but amateurs experience this when they try a big one." "It¡¯s exhausting! I almost fainted." "Next time! Remember to synchronize the flow with me. We will get the best result that way." "Lady Nurina and Lady Faralda said that it¡¯s easier than this. Even when they did it together, they were doing it naturally with no problems!" "What! They did it in front of you?" "Yeah! Lady Nurina was teaching me few techniques!" "Oh! I was nning to teach you these stuff myself. Such a let down!" "Shall we go again!" "Okay! Don¡¯t scream if it hurts you. Just let me know and I¡¯ll stop!" We are now using a technique called ¡¯Combined Casting¡¯. ¡¯Combined Casting¡¯ is a technique of casting magic that requires more than juat one caster to apply a part of a spell¡¯s runes andbine it with the other parts made by another casters, then they would cast it together. This is one of the most difficult ways to cast magic! Simply speaking, one may have enough Magicka but can¡¯t apply this number of runes on his own so he/she borrows the runes made by another caster. But as the runes will be split, the control will be split too, so everyone needs to synchronize the Magicka flow with the other or the spell will crumble. This requires knowledge of even the bad habits of the other caster while they cast the spell together. Asking a novice like Jull to perform such aplicated process would make her brain to overheat but I have no other option here. What are we trying to apply here is an enchantment. And it is the mostplicated thing I ever seen. Still, I, myself is the one who drew these runes on that sheet. This rune sheet was akin to a high tech blueprint that has every single detail exined. After I finished this rune sheet, I felt like I went from the realm of magical runes to the realm of programming. Still, I know nothing about programming. What is the enchantment you wanna know? Well, The effects of ¡¯Insinuating¡¯, ¡¯Persuading¡¯, and many other effects from the Illusion school were put into this enchantment. What I was trying to recreate is something simr to ¡¯Bend Will¡¯. A very powerful Thu¡¯um that will make everyone and everything obey. Of course, it was impossible to recreate it either by a spell or an enchantment. I wasn¡¯t frustrated or depressed over that, actually I expected as much. That¡¯s why I tried my best to get close to it as much as possible. I poured two days of pure thinking into that rune sheet before I head to Dawnstar. My ideas were stalked up on each other and I made this enchantment somehow. But it needed many conditions to work. I also added few safety mechanisms so that it appear as a magical enchantment with a beneficial effect that protects from Magical Illusions. Any one would want that. Also, from the loot we took, I chose a very old yet fancy and expensive looking helm that was forged beautifully and had few gems on it. It looked good enough to me. I want to go to Winterhold straight up to Korir, put the damn thing on his head, and do the magic. It won¡¯t be easy but I am no one if I don¡¯t have a n. "Let¡¯s try again, Jull." "Yes." ~~~~~~~~ After a day we finally finished it. My head is as heavy as a rock now. I made some effort into that damn thing! This thing has a very unique effect. It would give the wearer a magical fortification against Illusions but will also leave one crack open. Think of it as mind backdoor. I use that backdoor to alter the way the wearer thinks. Putting aside my horrible naming sense, this Helm is just how you think of it. A treasure made by a genius that will protect the aspect of ¡¯Mind¡¯ but will leave it open to a certain ¡¯keyword¡¯. It is not a perfect artifact too. It is just a way to turn people ideas from a direction to another. Also you can¡¯t just say "Kill yourself!" and expect it to work. If you wanted to use it for such a purpose then you need to say something more eptable and easy for the mind to slip into. Something like a small suggestion. The idea of insinuating itself is a bit devilish. It came to me from a certain drama about the Devil that I used to watch in my past life. [A/N: Lucifer.] This was the basis. I also had to try it on someone and Jull didn¡¯t show any opposition to the idea. I think she don¡¯t understand what is the idea behind the Helm anyway. Whatever! The Helm worked on her and I finally managed to persuade her with something that will benefit her very much. Of course I will not change her personality or do anything to harm her. She just had a bad eating habit so I thought it was a way to fix it. My Junar should just stay crazy and beautiful as ever. I love her the way she is. After the day of hard work, I went out and joined the crew. My people were doing their job without me just fine. "Had enough rest Captain?" "Yes, thank you Ongeim! Did we pass the ind of Ysgramor¡¯s Tomb already?" "Yes Captain! We will reach Winterhold in less than two hours." "That was fast!" "Lady Luck is smiling on us Captain!" Hmmm! Let¡¯s justze around for now. The sea is peaceful and I started falling in love with sailing. Something about it is charming especially when the ship starts running on wind and the sea bes easy. I have a favorite spot on the side of the ship where I just cling to the shrouds and feel the wind on my face. [A/N: Shrouds: The of ropes under tension that are used to support masts.] If I can save this moment and experience it for many times, how great would that be. Still, humans life is about moving on. "Waaah!" "Watch out!" What¡¯s the? A sailor is slipping from the ship. This is on the other side. Dammit! No one can reach him! He is even farther from the range of my ¡¯Grip¡¯ spell. Fuck it! Gotta run fast. I pushed with my right foot ahead with the intention of running to the other side but something abnormal urred. I had to run at least twelve meters, and with my strong body, they would take four steps. But I took nearly eight of the twelve meters with one step, and had to stop my body forcefully the remaining four meters! I caught the sailor before her falls. But I caught him with one hand and carried him normally. He isrge, but I just carried him like that? Something is not right! When did I be this strong? What is happening! *ppp* The sailors were excited once and making another apuse. I had to smile and get myself away in my cabin somehow. Just as I got in, I looked around for something. Here it is. That tankard! This tankard was made from iron and it was bent a bit due to me tightening my grip on it some time ago. I was just trying to release some frustration. I held it again and tightened my grip. As expected! It bent like a cartoon cup. "That is impressive!" Jull who was previously in the cabin was taken aback and looked at me strangely. "I don¡¯t know but I wasn¡¯t like thatst time I bent this tankard." "When was that?" "Two nights ago!" Jull thought for a while and pondered left and right. "I was with you the whole time but nothing special happened!" She said. "I know, we just went to the cave and all I did was casting magic since then." We went silent for a while. But I had an idea and undressed myself. "Is there anything unnatural with my body?" Junar came and starting pushing her hands on my muscles. "I bathed with you, so I remember the shape of your muscles and it didn¡¯t change. Still, they feel harder as if they got thicker." "How is that?" "I don¡¯t know! Just do that embarrassing pose you do when you finish training!" Oh! Okay. "See! Before, they were not that hard but something changed!" She said. I am a bit worried now! I made this body strong by training like mad but this result is a bit unnatural even for this world. I don¡¯t have any magic to detect what is going on with my muscles so guessing was the only way now. "Let¡¯s do a quick recheck over the past few days!" We starred remembering what we did from the day I left the college, to the pirate fight and how I acquired the ship to Dawnstar and the aura fight then to the cave invasion and the pirate fight afterwards. Up until now, there is nothing strange. "I feel like we missed something!" "I don¡¯t know, did you consume or absorb something weird? Ate food from the ground? Slept und....." I had to knock on her head with a finger swiftly to make here stop. My body strength is uncontroble now. Wait a minute! "You said absorb! I indeed absorbed something" I remembered now! Was it that? It would be crazy if that was the reason. Super crazy! "Go fetch Mjoll for me please!" ~~~~~~~~ "No I feel nothing strange!" "I remember sharing Vitality with you thought, you sure nothing is out of the norm?" "Yes, are you feeling unwell after it Boss?" "No, thank you for the concern but that¡¯s another matter! You can go sis Mjoll." She excused herself and went out! As a temporary member of the crew, she heard the rumors about me and Jull that is going out among the crew so she didn¡¯t want to stay in the cabin and went out fast. Jull is being called ¡¯Lady¡¯ by the sailors because of it. Back to the current concern. I remembered something I absorbed when we were heading to Hob¡¯s Fall Cave. This was the Ice Troll¡¯s Vitality when we fought that time! During the fight. The troll attacked Mjoll fiercely, and I was trying to damage its Vitality while supporting Mjoll. That time, I used ¡¯Absorb Vitality¡¯ which is an iplete spell on the troll. At the same time, I also used ¡¯Transfer Vitality¡¯ on Mjoll. I could just simply heal her but I was worried about having more vitality than I should have. I thought it may harm my body so I supplied some and absorbed some. Was the Vitality varied in nature like Magicka too? Something like different forms of energy? It indeed is! What am I saying? But this was a bit different from expected. I absorbed the of Vitality from the troll in an equal amount to that what I supplied to Mjoll and the others. Now that I think about it, I think I used the Vitality of my own to support my team but the Vitality of the troll still dwelled within me. Another weird idea came to me, I took a dagger and injured my finger. I gave it some Magicka to make the healing faster. It should take about ten minutes to fully heal this small wound just by focusing pure Magicka on it but the result has some changes. It took seven minutes! This is weird! My natural healing is faster. My strength is a bit more than my norm. I know warriors that can be much stronger than that but this is quite the feet. To move eight meters in a single step from absorbing the troll¡¯s vitality for ten minutes is terrifying. I am not abnormally strong like a troll but I am stronger than the me from before. This is amazing but also scary! This is an unpredicted progress with not much known about it. I need to research it more. God! When will I ever finish these researches. If I added this to the horde of researches I have, I may faint from shock. Let¡¯s just not think of bad things anymore! Yes! Rx! ~~~~~~~~ "Release the anchor!" "Take the sails down!" "The cargo! Send people over here!" Ah! Winterhold docks! Tiny as ever! Good thing we will have our ce to keep the ship now. Ah! My head is spinning! "Jull! The thing?" "Ready!" "Trudvar my man! Run to Elishka, tell her to get everyone in ce." "As you wish!" I started to walk the steps up to Winterhold while whistling, this felt rather refreshing. I am going to mess with Korir¡¯s brain now. The steps took some time but we were already there. I dressed myself in my clean College robes and Jull was in a her dark fitting armor holding a tray covered with a red piece of silk. Of course the Helm was under it. Ongeim and Mjoll walked around me like some Mini-Bosses around the Main Boss and directly we went to the Jarl¡¯s Longhouse. Trudvar met me on the way and nodded, then went back where he came from. This was a signal that ment nothing is out of the ordinary. I had no time to waste now. The area in front of the Longhouse was filled with people from around the town. Elishka¡¯s role the past few days was to spread rumors through the inn as the best ce to spread rumors! Now everyone has heard a thing or two about what is going on. She also increased the number of the so-called cheerleaders and also included the future bathhouse wenches in their ranks. This will be good. Guards surrounded the entrance as usual and the Dunmer Malur Seloth the steward of Korir was shouting at the people to send them away. "Sir Mage has arrived!" "Sir Mage, divines save you!" "Sir Mage this....." "Sir Mage that....." Okay! What is going on here? Am I this popr? I don¡¯t know anyone of these people! "MAKE WAY!" Ongeim acted like a bodyguard and shouted at the people. Well, that was unnecessary! We can just move between them politely like these old politicians from my past life. Kiss babies, take selfies. Nothing of that is here anyway. I walked straight to the Jarl¡¯s door. Once Malur Seloth saw me, his grey skin started changing color. This is my first time seeing a Dunmer¡¯s face changing color. "The Helm of Winterhold is retrieved, the people demand and audience." This was me saying e out bitch!¡¯ Malur looked around me. I wasing here with a number like usual. He looked around for a while then appeared to have arrived to an idea and ran in to Korir. After a short time Korir came out with an indifferent face. I don¡¯t know what is he thinking but my safe arrival should put his mood into shambles. Still, he wasposed. "Jarl Korir, I traveled by sea to the bleak cave of Hob¡¯s Fall, invaded the ce with a small force of mighty Nord youth, destroyed a cult of an evil god thatid waste to that part of thend, and finally retrieved the Helm of Winterhold, the same one from the old texts." I made a speech, and passed the guards rudely with force and stood on the steps leading to the Longhouse talking to the Jarl and the people. "Really now?" Korir said not minding me at all, "Why don¡¯t you show us that Helm of Winterhold of yours." His tone was haughty and indifferent! I actually don¡¯t know how he is going to counter this but I was using ¡¯Scan¡¯ to detect what they mighte up with. I felt that Malur Seloth was carrying something akin to a Nordic Helm behind his back. So they are going to do it this way, huh? Still, I don¡¯t think their n will work. I clicked my fingers and Junar came with the tray she was holding. "Ladies and gentlemen, Jarl Korir and his venerable men. I present to you, the Helm of Winterhold." Junar held the tray high over her head and I took the red piece of silk away. It was jawdropping how the helm I brought was beautiful. Its worth was equal to the whole town itself. Gold and gems were all over it. I don¡¯t know from where the cultists brought such a thing but it was one of the most expensive treasures they have. "This is not just a beautiful helm that came from the first era. This is an almighty magic artifact." "Artifact! Gods!" The poor town of Winterhold rarely saw a golden coin let alone an artifact. "Indeed, it has the ability to Defy any magic being cast at you. This helm was known to be a strong item that used against mages." I took the Helm and presented it to Korir who took it with greed in his eyes. "Mr, is this Helm that almighty?" Mr changed the hand that was carrying the helm behind him and put his hand on the one I brought. "It indeed can nullify magic but I don¡¯t recognize the enchantment." "Of course, haha!" I saidughing, "It is ancient after all. It may be more expensive than any Jarl¡¯s helm" I said then looked at Elishka. She looked to the people beside her and said something then they started to make an apuse. Mostly they demanded Korir to put it on. I was standing near to him and saw that his eyes couldn¡¯t leave it. The magical power of the crowd kicked in and they all demanded him to wear it. He tried to look dignified and put it on his head. Hehe! Now it¡¯s my turn. I needed only to give him an idea. "This looks good on you my Jarl, maybe you should make it a part of your official attire." "Hmmm!" Korir thought indifferently but this was just perfect! Now the idea was in his mind. Now then next step is to whisper. A whisper only Korir can hear. "Program one, make it a part of your official attire. Program one, activate!" Korir indifferent expressions changed and he showed signs of agreeing to my opinion. "Haha! It looks good, it will indeed give me some appearance between the Jarls." Perfect! Just Perfect! This was the true function of the enchantment. Altering ideas. Changing Opinions. Just as I give the whisper ¡¯Program¡¯, the current idea in the head gets alteredpletely ording to the order following ¡¯Program¡¯. It¡¯s indeed a version of ¡¯Bend Will¡¯ but it needs many conditions to work. "Haha, congrattions Jarl. I guess now I get my end of the deal." Korir¡¯s face turned grumpy once again but I only had to whisper. "Program two, make things easy for me. Program two, activate!" Korir¡¯s face which was grumpy a while ago changed expressions and nodded. "You have done a great service for me and my hold. I name you Thane of Winterhold, and I assign you that boy ,what¡¯s his name? Ah! Trudvar, to be your personal housecarl. I also grant you permission to buynd in my hold and I¡¯ll grant you a de as a token from my personal armory. May it serve you well in battle!" The people who were noisy a while ago were silent as the dead. It took them a while to process what they heard and started cheering madly. After they calmed down I thanked Korir and shook his hand to give him an appearance. Malur Seloth on the other hand wasgging from what happened. I guess this ended well. Hmmm! I had onest thing I wanted to try. "Is this your steward my Jarl?" "Yes, Malur may be a Dunmer but he is a helpful man." Hehe! Alright, let¡¯s keep him busy. "Program three, Malur is a possible love interest. Program three, activate!" Chapter 68 One Month of Developmen A month has passed since that day with Jarl Korir. It was a month filled with paying money, spending money, and taking out more money. My wealth that I cultivated since the day I became a thief was shed by half. I bought the tworge pieces ofnd in front of the College¡¯s bridge, sent the ship and hired some carriages to bring me stuff from around Skyrim, hired Mahran from the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯ to be my engineer, hired all the freeborers in Winterhold to be lumberjacks, and masons, invested with some cksmiths to reopen their jobs, gave the management of the ¡¯Soul Gem¡¯ business to Trudvar as he will look after my rtionship with ¡¯Whispering Mine¡¯ and the Master Huntsman, and gave Elishka some funds to start putting the girls under lovemaking training and a healthy diet to puff the assets of their frail bodies. I also made some advertising to the Bathhouse in the College which was widely supported but I kept it unrted to me. My title as the owner will be kept a secret but I may appear as the one who made it easy for the Bathhouse Mistress to open the business here. Of course I own most 80% of the bathhouse as I decided to give Elishka 20%. I also promised the employees that the earnings of a 10% will be shared between them as a monthly bonus. This will make them put more effort into their jobs. Some new girls wanted to work so Elishka interviewed them and I gave permission. Some of the girls asked not to take the lovemaking part of the business for lower wages than the ones who does. Elishka advised me to ept them anyway, she said most of the girls who ask for that will change their opinions in a matter of two months and will take the whole job. What annoyed her was the rule I set about the girls who are under eighteen yeaea of age. I insisted that girls under this age won¡¯t even take part at the bath business and will take other misceneous jobs. She agreed after I told her that it was not about money but for the girls themselves. Of course, Bathhouses don¡¯t just offer a bathing and a lovemaking service, there is a hairdressing service as well as aundry and a healing service so this project will not be just focused on just thepanionship part. The building of the Bathhouse will take the eastern part of thend which was nothing but old broken houses. It was directly on the left hand when one go out of the College. Unlike other bathhouses in Solitude and Riften which were outdoors in tents and drew water from rivers. This Bathhouse will be a two story big wooden building with many rooms surrounding a central courtyard on a wide space ofnd. It would look somehow like the chinese structure of courtyards but I made this way because those girls will live there and it has to be their safe home and stronghold. There will also be an underground basement which I really took time persuading the workers to dig. Of course the underground basement will serve as a ce to keep our magical devices. We will use the technologies that I employed the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯ to make. The ¡¯Magical Water Pumping Device¡¯ and the ¡¯Magical Water Desalination Device¡¯. After taking care of the facility we started putting the employees into their jobs. I didn¡¯t think highly of the healing service as most of the customers will be from the College and can at least use the simplest healing spells, so the training was mostly about how to use razors and scissors for the hairdressing job. Theundry job was easy and students can do that just fine, maybe some of the teachers and the busy Evokers will use it. The employees will be the girls and the guards. Of course we can never rely on town guards for this business! I had now picked a security team from Trudvar friends and will be led by him. I sparred with them few times to hone their skill and tough them how to be professional asy guards, not just some thugs. They were also promised free three hours a week in the Bathhouse beside there normal wage. The guards won¡¯t be just guarding the Bathhouse, they will guard all the establishments I build after that such as my house and the othering projects. And of course their number shall increase. Other than Trudvar¡¯s security team, the girls will be under the management of Elishka. Elishka is a professional at this business no matter how much she hated to return to it herself. Actually, she was like a magician in this business, I would never have reached that point without her help. She taught the girls everything from the lovemaking techniques to the etiquette with the guests and how to act and react. I was impressed, this was beyond my understanding most of the time. I had to spy on her lectures in the private room I booked for them in the inn to understand how this job went. It is veryplicated and had many rules that I got a crazy headache juat putting it together. Rather than that, Elishka made a ranking for the girls. ¡¯Working Girls¡¯ who will fill take misceneous work as their main, and the bathing work only in the peak times. Normal ¡¯Bathing Girls¡¯ who will be the usual bath wenches and the regr workforce. And finally, girls like she once used to to be, the ¡¯Queen Bees¡¯, the most expensive girls in the bathhouse and those will be considered the premium girls because of their outstanding looks and talent in lovemaking. ording to her, we have six of those which is a very high number. Elishka also sent a message to her friend Zena in Solitude to invite her here. Zena had a fewplications in her life as she is a fugitive from Hammerfell, and Winterhold will be safer for her than Solitude. I also would love to have that girl here, she is only one that can go against me in one on one with that infinite stamina of hers. As my previous promise stated to the girls, those who will show talent in learning how to read, write, and calcte, more than that, the girls who will show a magic talent will be considered as the pioneers in our business n and get to be the force behind the future projects. This will be all there is to it. I made a ledger and taught Elishka the paperwork details and how to write reports. Also, one of the ¡¯Queen Bees¡¯ a Nord girl called Siv will be her secretary. They set the services on a high price so just not anyone can get the service of a ¡¯Queen Bee¡¯. They also rained me with questions about how much money a regr student would carry. I myself am not that optimistic. I made my wealth after years of hard work and gaining a nickname like ¡¯Catatoskr¡¯ with its bloody ¡¯Hello Kitty¡¯ tattoo. I don¡¯t think any student shall be as wealthy as I. Also mages are not that good in terms of body strength and stamina, a ¡¯Queen Bee¡¯ can turn a poor mage into a dried corpse between her legs. I made a big journal for all the important details of the bathhouse and put it away. Next is my ship, the ¡¯Alexandria¡¯. One can¡¯t just start imagining how awesome it is to have that small shiping and going between the docks in Skyrim as most of the stuff I wanted was the prioritized goods this ship transports. Nurina also made full use of the ship as well as my friends in the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯. Now Ongeim was the Vice Captain and made every trip on his own. He took few boys from Winterhold as trainees and his name became known in town as one of my henchmen. Thest piece of business was the General Goods Store. Birna and her brother Ranmir ran the store. They were NPCs from the game and I know some of their lore. Birna was a grumpy girl in the game as most of her business was nothing but oddments and her brother was a depressed drunkard due to some tragedy. This seemed not to have happened yet as both of them were energetic and offered to do business with me. They wanted to make food and vegetables trading partnership as my ship will provide then with the goods. I think I need one more ship now. All in all, in this past month, I made Winterhold work like nothing before, money started going around the town as business increased and life signs appeared after many years in town. Of course it wasn¡¯t all easy and sparkling. I was faced some opposition with some of the local folk. Some folk were on the same old creed of ¡¯Mages can¡¯t be trusted¡¯ and started going around saying all sort of shit about me. I really didn¡¯t want this to happen and I am not foolish enough to act as these small words won¡¯t harm me. After all a butterfly wing can cause a storm, and for an Egyptian who witnessed the political events between 2011 and 2013, I would never do the mistake ot letting rumors go around freely. The one who reacted to that first were my sailors and Captain Geldof¡¯s. In their eyes, I made a strong image so they stood up for me. Same goes for those whose works were associated with me. Basically, every young person who was tired of the way things were and couldn¡¯t leave the town were on my side. Old folk however were stubborn as usual. The confrontations were in the first week but I made a rumor about me moving from the college to live in town after I build a house. This made me get closer to many people. The second opposition was more expected than the first, it was my friend Mjoll. Mjoll caught wind about me being the main partner in the Bathhouse business and almost made a scene about it. She used me making the girls sell their bodies for money and she was disappointed and all that hero nonsense. I can¡¯t actually imagine how simple can the world work into her head. I knew this would happen so I prepared the right girls for the job. Elishka and the ¡¯Queen Bees¡¯ went into a big argument with Mjoll that made her tiny brain run short on circuits. Anyway, she epted it as the only way to put the homeless girls into a safe ce and keep them away from the streets. She also started her own vignte thing that she would have done if she was taken to Riften, but this time it was in the right ce for the right people. Lastly, The Jarl! He showed no signs of stopping me and I was feeling good about it. However, the guards wanted to harass the workers few times but were not even supported by the Jarl when the time of arguments came. The Jarl was doing his tyrannical actions away from my side of town. Actually, the amount ofnd I bought was indeedrge and he kept his men out of it ording to my ¡¯Programming¡¯. One piece of report that I received and pleased me greatly was the news of Malur Seloth being sighted in the inn crying. I actually felt bad but it is for the good of Winterhold to keep evildoers like him busy. Anyway... Fightu! I don¡¯t know what you experienced but be a man and take it. Hehehe! Sigh! This was the current state of affairs in Winterhold. I must admit that I wasn¡¯t expecting this much development but it was going well. The people wanted better lives and I was providing that. The news in the College of me bing a Thane went like wildfire. Even Nurina herself wasn¡¯t thinking highly of my n and took some time to realize what I did. However, she went writing messages for god knows who and made some arrangements with her friends in the College. When I asked about what was going on, I was told not to pry in these matters and continue my role in the town steadily. I however pried and it appeared to be that some undercurrents in the College chose to move with me and support me in secrecy. Most of the names belonged to the ranks of Wizard and Master-Wizard. I don¡¯t know what is going on but it¡¯s beyond me even if I knew. The other thing I had to deal with were the people who wanted to invest in my business. I turned them all down including the ¡¯Thieves Guild¡¯. I am not in any mood to deal with many partners who may cause me a long term headache. What else? Ah! The house. I am making my own house! Don¡¯t talk about Hearthfire DLC or anything out there. I was having my own imagination running left and right to find the right pick. In the game, I used Breezehome as my main base and never changed it even once. In my opinion, Whiterun was the greatest town ever. I always modded it with the best mods around like ¡¯Breezehome TNF Elianora¡¯s vor¡¯ or ¡¯ Breezehome Fully Upgradable¡¯. But now I have no ability to fast travel like the game so my home base will be here in Winterhold. I may acquire some homes around the holds but this ce will be mine. The home I am building here however will be the ce I chose and where I will keep my personal items and everything. It will be my safe haven so I was not sure if I should make it a castle style or a normal Nordic house style. The piece ofnd I chose was across the street from the bathhouse to its east. To its west was a mountain, while the College and the slope that led to the sea were to the north. Thend was vast so I can basically build whatever I want. After pondering for a long while I decided to build a medium sized estate and surround it with a big wall and a beautify it a bit. My inspiration came from a mod called ¡¯Elysium Estate¡¯, it gave the yer a really gorgeous estate outside Whiterun and it had everything one can ask for. It was very simple. A Nordic wooden house with all its decoration from the outside and the inside. From the inside and beyond the main door one will see a kitchen on the left and a dinning room in the right, nothing is closed by any walls and I won¡¯t change a thing here. Advancing past the first room, one will arrive to a short hallway between two rooms. On the left is the master bedroom which will have a fire ce, shelves, a king sized bed, and its personal door out of the house but I¡¯ll not be including it. What I will not also include will be the stone bath tub and I will transform it into a modern bathroom. The room opposite to the main bedroom will be another room for whatever purpose I may find for it. I will not include the small follower bed room from the mod and will just merge it with the big room. The room also have a stone bathtub but I will transform it into a modern bathroom too and will iste it from the room, opening it to the dinning room. Back to the hallway, there will be wooden stairs that will lead to the loft. It will be used as any other loft. Passing the hallway will bring us to thest room who was somehow a small living room around a fire ce with some decorations. It will have its own door outside the house and I am not changing things here. In the living room there is a door that leads to the stairs of the basement but I will remove that and rece it with a secret trapdoor. The basement in the mod is the ce that have all crafting stations and all that as well as a store room. I don¡¯t need any of that. I will transform the basementpletely my way. The central room will have to six doors. The first is the secret door that directly will lead to the house from the living room. The second will lead to the private stone king sized bathtub in the right. The third will be the vault which will be fortified with every fortification I know of and will be in the front where the forge was. The fourth will lead to a very spacious training room for me and my experiments. The fifth will be arge secret trapdoor that leads outside the house and will be used to smuggle things secretly in and out of the basement. The sixth will be a secret passage underground that will lead across the street to the bathhouse¡¯s basement. This was pretty much all there is to it inside the house. The outside will have a tower to the north of the house that I have ns for, a small sized house for my housecarl, and a guesthouse. All of this will be surrounded with a big wall. [A/N: You can just go watch the Elysium Estate on the Nexus if you don¡¯t like my poor housing description. I really exined it to the best if my ability.] ~~~~~~~~ Beside the crazy amount of business affairs, my research turned into a maddened direction too that past month. I was preparing for the Rank Up Exam for Evokers next month. I researched Magic besides the physical change that happened to me. I focused on learning more spells this time, I didn¡¯t want to run away from pirates like I didst time. I want to face them like one of those Overpowered Main Characters and send them to Oblivion then stand on a mountain of their corpses. Or not really! I just want to be too scary to be messed with. I didn¡¯t focus on Mysticism or Alteration the past month at all. I only kept practicing Conjuration, Destruction and some Illusion and Restoration. In Conjuration I made most of the development, I learned the ¡¯Bound Shield¡¯ and now can actually summon a shield. Nurina said it¡¯s a useless spell but I think it will be handy some day. Also I can now conjure a ¡¯Mistman¡¯, an undead ck skeleton that looks like the ¡¯Boneman¡¯ except it is a floating half skeleton and it casts Frost Magic. This will be really useful against warriors. I also learned how to conjure a ¡¯Storm Atronach¡¯ in its normal form. It actually is pretty strong Atronach that is made of floating stones upon each other and casts powerful Lightning Magic. Thepletely new summon that I learnedtely was the Dremora summon. And it¡¯s a pain in the ass. I don¡¯t know to what extent can these creatures be so haughty. First time I conjured it, it broke itself free from my bounding and attacked me. At first I didn¡¯t want to kill him but he was cursing at me the more I hit him, ¡¯Release me mortal¡¯ or ¡¯bow before me mortal¡¯. I was so enraged that I identally killed him but Daedra get recreated so I¡¯ll get a chance to beat him into senseter. Anyway, after a long time of beating the damn things up, I finally summoned one that obeyed me without making me lose it. Conjuring Dremora is not illegal but highly advised to be practiced under full guard. Conjurable Dremora are ranked to seven ranks depending on their own social system, I can summon the first rank which is called Dremora Churl and that is considered themon rappel among the Dremora ns. Still it was a development. I can summon both Warrior and Archer Dremora Churls now. They have a pitch ck skin with crimson markings on their bodies and they have horns, pointy ears and scary eyes. They are dressed in a ck sinister looking armor and are not really something to think highly of unlike the Dremora Warlocks and Dremora Lords. Dremora are this world¡¯s concept of Demons but they don¡¯t have wings or tails. They have a human level intelligence and despise mortals to the extreme. No one really bothers with their real names though! They are just a bunch of bastards. I wanted to learn summoning different kinds of Daedra like Scamps but Nurina said that their smell is hellish so I avoided the idea. The destruction school had a different kind of development. I only learned two spells. me Cloak which is not really interesting but it damages anyone around me with fire damage, I learned it only for the sake of research. The next spell was important. So important that Faralda herself showed interest in it. It was a fist attack spell made by the ¡¯Augmentation¡¯ technique and ¡¯Lightning¡¯ aspect. You can imagine it as a ¡¯Lightning Fist¡¯ attack but as it makes an explosion when it hits the target it was called ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯. ¡ã ?? ? - What was interesting about it was that it needed no casting. One only should evoke it then it will cover the fist and attack with the contact against the target. From the Destruction to the Illusion, Ipleted the ¡¯Aura of Madness¡¯ spell and made a vision spell called ¡¯Far Vision¡¯ which can make me see for a fairly long distance. I didn¡¯t have any development with the ¡¯Aura¡¯ itself when I looked it up. These people from Dawnstar were indeed monsters. Finally in the Restoration, I only focused inpleting the ¡¯Absorb and Supply Vitality¡¯ spells. Which takes us to the next subject. I had to research the development of my physical strength too, but I was not an expert in that part at all. I took the matter to Nurina who assured me that my body has nothing strange but also was in wonder of how much my strength has increased. The only people that may actually have an idea are the Restoration School experts. Those people researched all there is to research about Vitality and were knowledgeable about mortal bodies as well. Nurina however rejected the idea of getting help from any of them. She didn¡¯t like Colette Marence the head of the Restoration Department. "That will leave us to only one person I can think of." I said. "Who?" Nurina asked. "The Augur!" "If the College found out you talked to the Augur with no permission, Savos won¡¯t leave you alone. Not just that, you will have to venture into the midden alone which is a very unpredictable ce. And supposedly you found the Augur, there is a tiny chance he may bother about you." "Tell me something I don¡¯t know!" "Don¡¯t take Junar with you! The entrance to the midden is marked here." Nurina drew a map on a paper hastily and marked the location for me. I actually knew of it. It was the same ce from the game. Just at the end of the western corridor under a trapdoor. "Fine! I¡¯ll go tonight!" I hope he gets interested in what I will offer. ~~~~~~~~ "Jon¡¯s Spells" #Mysticism: . -Magicka Outer Control: Channel Absorb/Supply Dispel - Drain -Detection: (Energy, Matter) Scan Pinpoint -Force: (telekinesis) Grip Force Bullet Featherfall -Soul: Scorch Trap -Necromancy: Reanimate Supply Undead -Divination: rm irvoyance -Time: elerate -Inner Magicka Control: Soulfire ************************************ #Alteration: . -Matter: Burden - Feather -Object: Stoneskin - meskin -Light: (moved to alteration) Candlelight -Sound: (moved to alteration) Muffle Create Throw Voice -Combination: shbang ************************************ #Conjuration: . -Control Summon: Command - Banish Bound - Unbound Supply Daedra -Bound Weapon: Sword Dagger Battleaxe Bow Spear -Bound Armor: (NEW!) Shield (NEW!) -Conjure Familiar: Mouse, Cat, Falcon, Owl, Wolf -Conjure Undead: Ghost Boneman Mistman (NEW!) -Conjure Atronach: me: Normal - Horse Frost: Normal - Utility Storm: Normal (NEW!) -Conjure Dremora: (NEW!) Fighter: Churl (NEW!) Archer: Churl (NEW!) ************************************ #Destruction: . -me: mes Fire Bolt - Fire Rune Fireball Fire Cloak (NEW!) -Shock: Sparks Lightning Bolt - Lightning Rune Chain Lightning - Lightning Cloak Thunder Cookie (NEW!) ************************************ #Illusion: . -Mind: Courage - Fury Calm - Fear Paralyze Aura of Madness (NEW!) -Will: Insinuate -Vision: Night Vision Far Vision (NEW!) Blindness ************************************ #Restoration: . -Vitality: Healing Drain Vitality Absorb Vitality (NEW!) Supply Vitality (NEW!) -Ward: Steadfast Ward Reflection Ward Quadrant Ward -Sun: Sunrays Sun Fire - Sun Rune Holy Smite - Pdin¡¯s Aura ________________________ #Special Powers: -Racial: -War Cry (Buff Allies, Scare Foes) -Standing Stone: (Shadow Stone) Hide in Shadows (Sneak Buff) Blur (Combat Speed buff) -Blood Lineage: Resis Fire ___________________________________ #Thu¡¯um: -Unrelenting Force: Fus: Force Ro: Bnce Dah: Push Chapter 69 The Augur of Dunlain Before midnight I walked to that ce in the western corridor, I need to avoid the official college guards who patrol the ce when I enter the midden. After midnight there is a curfew so it would be s problem if I didn¡¯t get there fast. Normally, ¡¯Catatoskr¡¯ wouldn¡¯t have any problems sneaking at night, but the College has little to no ces for hiding into the corridor, and running would bring attention to me. Sigh! This absurdly huge college is nothing like the game at all. Anyway, Nurina told me this is the ce and my intuition is also telling me so. Using ¡¯Scan¡¯ confirmed my suspicion, I found a trapdoor behind some crates that were put on each other like a wall. Also someone was standing besides it. Weird! Something is going on. I sneaked quietly and a member of the College guards was there. This is weirder! There is an understanding that the Midden is essible to all from this ce, even the guards don¡¯te here officially. I decided to go in the shameless way. "Good evening sir guard! Mind if you clear the way!" The boy turned around with a scare! He was a Breton and an Evoker at that. "What are you doing here? This ce is off limits!" I was hiding my features with a hood to not get recognized. "Mind of you piss off, please!" I asked once again, politely. "That¡¯s it! You areing wit.. *uuugh*" I punched the Manmer (Breton). "Move bitch! ..... Get of the way!" Dammit! Now the song is stuck in my head. And there is only one way to get rid of a song that got stuck on your head. And that is.... y it! I just hav... Damn! I forgot my Music yer when I got reincarnated! Sigh! I am envying those lucky bastards that got reincarnated with their phones. Fine! Author, put it on the background! [A/N: !y Ludacris - Move Bitch ft. Mystikal, I-20] My man ?????? [A/N: ??????] Now, the trapdoor. ~~~~~~~~ I descended to the Midden through the trap door, there was adder under it that took me directly to an ice cave. I am happy one thing is still like the game. The Midden is the underground sewer system for the College and can be essed from the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯ but that entrance is watched by the administration. Now I started moving into this ice cave and it felt rather fun and adventurous. I arrived a minuteter to a space made of stone. It now really felt like I walked into the sewers. It was dim, mild, and smelly. Just like the ¡¯Rat Way¡¯. Aaaah! The feels! Like I care anyway! I cast ¡¯Stoneskin¡¯ and ¡¯Night Vision¡¯. The ce became much clearer and I started to feel the movements around me. Skeevers, I hate these pests. Let¡¯s summon something to get rid of them. I evoked the spells and casted seven times. Around me stood five ck skeletons with bows and arrows, ¡¯Boneman¡¯, and two floating upper half ck skeletons evoking Frost Magic, ¡¯Mistman¡¯. Undead don¡¯t bother with darkness so they will work around just perfect. I started walking and formed my undead squad in formation around me. The Midden was not like the game at all, I saw ces I have never seen before and almost got lost many times. The only thing that kept me from that was the ¡¯irvoyance¡¯ spell. Still, it is much different than the game. In the game, it could show the yer a short trail to the nearest quest marker but things are different here. ¡¯irvoyance¡¯ is a spell that falls under the aspect of ¡¯Divination¡¯. It¡¯s tricky and hard to control. One need a strong will to irvoyance whatever they is after. Normal the answer isn¡¯t visible to the naked eye, so understanding ites through feelings. Normally the answer can be directional or take many other forms. Also, irvoyancing something you are not sure of is dangerous and may lead to catastrophic results if one put too much trust in his irvoyance. Divination as a concept is getting information through no material mean which is the opposite of Detection. And irvoyance itself is one of the purest forms of Divination but it¡¯s hard to control, let alone master. Divination is a main aspect in Mysticism. Actually, it¡¯s the most famous aspect in Mysticism. People mostly know Mystics as Sothsayers and Fortellers. Many Nords are blessed with that talent which is very enviable in my opinion but they rarely used it for a real arcane practice. Those people with that talent are the ones who can utilize Mysticism the most. My talent lies in the Energy Maniption part so I am notpletely vexed. Back to the present, my use of irvoyance put me on the track towards the direction of the Augur. I walked across strange ces but I tried to keep mapping the ce in my head. Unlike Wulfur, I am not that bad with directions. There is that bone formation that was on a a wall. A skull with four armsing out from beneath it and finger bones shaped like a crown around it. I stood in front of it respectfully and said, "Hail Hydra!" Don¡¯t know why? It just felt the right thing to do. I remember from the game that beyond this point is the ¡¯Midden Dark¡¯. The ¡¯Midden Dark¡¯ is a bit scarier than the ¡¯Midden¡¯. It has roaming undead, big spiders, strange things, and all of one¡¯s hearts desire. Actually, I hate spiders. I may act like a big boy all the time but Frostbite Spiders of Skyrim are ridiculouslyrge and scary. I was never afraid of them in the game but in reality, I let my undead deal with them. I remember some mods that reced the spiders with many other things for those who are afraid of spiders even on a screen. I wasn¡¯t that afraid or anything but those spiders in real life are just something I don¡¯t want to touch. Anyway, I remember some unpleasant enemies in this ce, that¡¯s why I am using something with a thin presence like the undead around me. I don¡¯t want to fight an Ice Wrath or anything annoying. Finally, after an hour of searching, the irvoyance is not reacting like before. I guess I am not far! Looking around the ce, I saw an ice cave once again, walking it would connect me to another stone corridor. This is the part before the Augur¡¯s room if I am not mistaken. I walked slowly andmanded the undead to stay put, once I saw a door, I banished them away. *knock knock* {Leeeeeave!} A voice echoed from the door. It was as if a ghost was talking. A in voice that has no emotions. "Sir Augur, my name is Jon Dare, a Mysticism Apprentice and a novice businessman. I am also an otherworlder!" {.....} "Hello! 1, 2, 3, do you copy?" {And what business does an otherworlder have here?} "Cultural exchange!" {... What are you after are answers. Answers you think will help you in your path but it¡¯s toote. ¡¯The Wheel¡¯ has already turned on you.} What the! Can he read my mind? "I am after answers and knowledge, yes, so I hope to prove worthy. Also the matter of ¡¯The Wheel¡¯ is useful if you already know of it and will save us some time. But first I need to tell you a story." Silence took lead of the conversation for a while. After few seconds the door opened. {Still you persist? Very well, you may enter. Wee to the Midden.} I knew what was I going to see so I head right away and the door got closed after me. "I like what you have done with the ce!" The ce was empty stony circr room, with a small well like ¡¯Magicka Focus Point¡¯ with a glowing ball of light on the energy stream. {Your sarcasm is not appreciated!} Who replied to me was a glowing ball of energy. This is The Augur, or who was known as Augur of Duin. A Breton with a strong magical talent that focused on obtaining power instead of controlling it till an ident that turned him into a non-corporeal entity. I have many theories but I¡¯ll leave the confirmation to him. "So you¡¯re the Augur of Duin?" {I am which you have been seeking. But what you are really after is dangerous.} "Can you read my mind?" {I can.} "Go ahead please! Read my memories from 25 years ago." {Supposedly it is possible! What is there you want me to see?} "Anything rted to you, me, Skyrim, the College, dragons. I¡¯ll just sit here and you enjoy the show!" I said the sat on the ground leaning my back to a wall. {I am afraid that won¡¯t do and may take a lot of time!} "Hm? So!" {I will, need a guide...} "Huh! Wai..." Crap! *tud* ~~~~~~~~ No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No, I don¡¯t want this again. This is bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. I hate hate hate hate hate hate this! I am panicking panicking panicking panicking panicking panicking!! "HEY! YOU PIECE OF FLORESCENT PULP! I TOLD YOU TO SEND ME OUT!" {Your reaction was not calcted to be this severe! I must apologize for the sudden action. But normally, most people would consider this a thrilling experience!} "THRILLING MY ASS! THIS EXPERIENCE KILLED ME ONCE!" Yes! It did. I died because of this once! I put that damnable Gull Dive VR headset on my head more than 15 years ago and look what happened! Now I am at a strange ck space with ck background and a sense of movements. It awakened all of traumas. I can¡¯t deny this is different but I have the same fucking feeling of the Full Dive VR space! {Please rx! We are traveling in the memory tunnel so it would take us a short time to get there!} Dammit! This guy is enjoying it! {I am not!} Reading my brain huh? {Technically we are in it!] "Then why are you acting on your own ord so willfully?" {I simply took action the best way to achieve your goal!} "You are talking like robot now!" {I don¡¯t recognize the term! But is that something like an automaton?} "Yeah! A machine!" {I think that is the closest way to put it in!} Wait what! "Aren¡¯t you a human?" I remember that the Augur in the game was recorded as the ¡¯Breton¡¯ in the system. {Being me right now and being the human who I once was from before is different!} "So, you lost part of your humanity?" {You are not listening! I am not a human anymore! Think of me as a reincarnated person like you im but in a different race that altered me.} "I still don¡¯t get it! I mean, I thought of you as a person who overpowered his ¡¯Soul¡¯ with energy and the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ couldn¡¯t keep up with with that increase until it caused the ¡¯Mortal Vessel¡¯ or the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ to not be able contain the deformation in the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ the it disintegrated." {... Keep going.} "Hmmm! I am not sure how you did it afterwards but you managed to seal the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ and keep the ¡¯Soul¡¯ bound to it somehow. But you needed an energy source so you took residence in the unused ¡¯Magicka Focus Point¡¯." {... Nothing more?} "That¡¯s all I could get based on how much I could research. But from what you said about losing humanity, then I guess it is because you lost what others call the ¡¯Desires of the Flesh¡¯. Things like eating, drinking, or humor meant less by time and you reached this mechanical state of emotion." {I guess you put it the closest way possible. Your understanding mostly came from some notes I left behind as I see so we are agreeing on many terms!} "So, does this mean that the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ should be strong enough to contain the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯? The ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ is the shell of the ¡¯Soul¡¯ that has all the Magicka in, Right? Does this mean that the ¡¯Soul¡¯ itself is a higher form of Magicka? And the ¡¯Vitality¡¯ is an energy of different nature, right? My body has experienced an immense increase in powertely, does this has to do with the Troll¡¯s Vitality that I absorbed?" {I still haven¡¯t deemed you worthy yet to answer your questions!} Dammit! "All I need to know is, will I experience the same thing like you?" {You will soon find out!} "I just don¡¯t want to be a miserableputer like ball of light that lives in sewers." {We arrived at the first memory! Let¡¯s see what you want to show me.} Chapter 70 A Question, A Reques {Interesting ce!} "Whoops!" My room from two decades and a half ago! Messy as ever! "This is the day when I first yed Skyrim!" I could see my past self sitting like a noob and starting ¡¯TESV: Skyrim¡¯ for the first time. {The amount of knowledge in this memory is more than expected! Please give me time to process it!} "Boy oh boy! If yougged on me now I might have to go through childhood all over again, you know! Not nice Augur, not nice!" {The process isplete! I must admit. I didn¡¯t see thating!} "Listen! If we are talking about the maze of ¡¯New Folders¡¯ in my PC, then please, that was a long time ago! I started to only watch online after a short time from this memory." {I have no understanding of what you are talking about! I was actually expecting something less!} "Weren¡¯t you the all knowing almighty entity a while ago?" {There are limits for even me when ites to divination. But I can read it from your memories now.} "I hope you don¡¯t get any Terminator weird ideas from the movies I watched." {More importantly what is that?} "Oh! This goes like this....." I started exining the game to Augur. The me from the memory was watching the game¡¯s first cut scene that urs in Helgen. I felt a bit of sad when I looked at the past me. Back at that time, I wasted a lot of time on gaming and was a bit of a shut-in. It affected my rtionships and social interactions for a long time. I also didn¡¯t have friends. Well, thanks to the reincarnation, I have no inte or social media, so I have to entertain myself and socialize the normal way for humans. Thanks to that, I had a great second chance of childhood. Back to the current events, the light ball, aka Augur, was watching and analyzing everything on his own so I didn¡¯t need to exin anything to him. After all, we are in my brain. {Will the past you keep changing the character¡¯s appearance that much?} "Ah! Yes, the character creation normally takes some time, wait for it." - *two hourster* "I swear! I don¡¯t remember staying that long creating my first character!" {.....} "It¡¯s probably the nose. Always the damn nose! Do you know people get this weird feeling in their noses when they edit the character¡¯s nose?} {.....} "I forgot! You are a ball of light after all. You don¡¯t even have a nose." - *One hourter* Taking three hours to create a character! Yep, sounds like me. "Now, where were we?" {Helgen is smaller than the real version of it!} "Wait until you see Whiterun! That time, my family¡¯s farm wasrger than it." {The magic is really simplified, and like the College, it excluded Mysticism!} "Smart move from the Game! Stupid from the College!" {This ¡¯Effect Menu¡¯ is a good idea!} "Indeed, but too long!" We started going into a heated discussion. The Augur said before that by losing his flesh, he lost all sorts of mortal desire. It was clearly obvious from the way he spoke. He normally uses fluentnguage to hide hisck of emotions and to not freak people out. In my opinion, this is a survival instinct. He realizes that he shouldn¡¯t freak people out, else it would lead to his demise. Same goes for his desire to exist and staying alive with no physical body and to seal his destroyed ¡¯Astral Body¡¯, that also made his desires obvious. More over, to exist is to have a purpose! There is something he is after, and that¡¯s why he needs to exist. Maybe gathering knowledge or trying to recreate a mortal body once again, or maybe achieve the ¡¯CHIM¡¯ and be a godly existence. One can¡¯t just think of how many possibilities that The Augur might be after. {Such a logical thinking!} "Get out of my head! And stop talking like a machine." {Calctions proved that you may appreciate it that way!} This is really tiring. After the first memory, we passed from one to another, and from my old family house to the apartment in Alexandria. I could feel the same feelings of the space of the memory. And damn! There is nothing like Alexandria in summer. The sea breeze is amazing. {If you like it this much, I rmend visiting the area of Illiac Bay or Summerset Isle.} "You became one talkative fellow, didn¡¯t you? Did my brain affected you that much. Gotta admit, I feel proud." {I see that you liked to y the game more than one time by changing the things you refer to as ¡¯Mods¡¯. But what exactly is that thing flying in the game?} That? Oh! Thaaat... "Thomas the Tank Engine!" {Isn¡¯t that supposed to be a dragon?} "Well, there is no limit for imagination when you are a modder, right?" ~~~~~~~~ This took some bloody long time! I was worried but the Augur told me that the time flow in my brain is much faster than real time. The Augur asked for many information to gather. It took him two ¡¯brainy¡¯ days to gather all what he wanted. {I muatin about theck of that ¡¯Scientific Knowledge¡¯ in your memories. There are indeed many good memories but they will need many years of work on and analyze all of them.} "Weren¡¯t we here for the information about the game?" {We finished that a long time ago. Excuse my rudeness but I was in awe of the otherworldly knowledge you carry. It proved of immensely high value. Invaluable I would say. If it was the mortal me, I am sure I would be shaking from excitement and wonder!} "Yep... just what I needed." This is seriously scary. I knew why the protagonists from the novels don¡¯t show off their past life origins. Still, I stupidly had to do it. Actually, I was a bit desperate. I don¡¯t know what is going on with my body and this blue ball of light is taking it easy in my head gathering all sorts of data. {Please don¡¯t be rmed! I am not seeking any harm. I also n to repay the knowledge I obtained with the thing that you need.} "Thank you, but do that before you turn from blue to red and start calling yourself ¡¯Sky Net¡¯!" {Please give me a second! We will be out of the memory tunnel in no time!} "If you are going to talk like a machine, say it with a countdown!" ~~~~~~~~ My head hurts. Why my head hurts? The piece of florescent took me to a memory trip before I get myself ready. And my body fell before I take a good position. {Now, I guess it is my time to answer questions!} "My body?" {The ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ is perfectly healthy. The ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ however is where the problem lies.} "I am listening." {Imagine a ¡¯Cup¡¯ made of ss and filled with a ¡¯Liquid¡¯. The light falls onto the cup and it gives an ¡¯image¡¯ for the lookers. The same theory works for the rtionship between the ¡¯Soul¡¯, the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯, and the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯. But there are few twists.} Okay! {The ¡¯Soul¡¯ is the liquid that fills the ¡¯Cup¡¯, the ¡¯Cup¡¯ is the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ that contains the ¡¯Soul¡¯, the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ is the ¡¯Image¡¯ reflected by both. What do you think may happen if any of the three experienced a change¡¯?} "The other will have the same change." {Not quite urate but generally yes. The ¡¯changes¡¯ vary in effect and some can cause no harm because the effect is easy to deal with. For example, if a damage was caused to the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ then a healing spell was cast to undo it. How exactly does the spell know that these ¡¯cells¡¯ can be regenerated?} {The answer is quite simple! The ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ is the ghost of the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯. They resemble each other in image. The spell simply copies the information from the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ and apply the healing this way. So what if the wound was left with no generation or healing?} "It would appear as a scar, I mean cause the same image to appear on the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ and be permanent." {That¡¯s what I meant by few twists! The image may not affect the object but the object affects the image. Yet in our example they both affect each other as this was nothing but an example.} "Returning to the subject, what about my case?" {Your case and mine are close, didn¡¯t you already make a guess?} "My ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ is being affected by the Magicka I absorbed!" {Not quite urate! The Energy you gather by your so-called ¡¯Cultivation¡¯ is affecting your ¡¯Soul¡¯. The ¡¯Soul¡¯ has many different kinds of energies like the ¡¯Magicka¡¯, the ¡¯Vitality¡¯, and the ¡¯Essence¡¯ you use to shout the Thu¡¯um. Every being has these different kinds of energies and they are easily can br transmuted into each other, from therees the ¡¯Aspects¡¯ of magic. One of the rules is that the energies must be in harmony with one another. If one increased in an rming rate like your Magicka, the other energies especially the Vitality will try to keep up.} "I remember! I remember! When the Protagonists of the Cultivation Novels increased their energy too fast, they have to go into seclusion to stabilize that much energy they gathered into their Dantian or whatever!" {Exactly! Your past world has a good understanding to energies.} "But wait a second! By the time I started cultivating, shouldn¡¯t the Vitality keep up at least some bit with the Magicka?" {Here where things started going out of your hand. You always cultivated the Magicka between Heaven and Earth, but one time you broke the habit.} One time? I normally cultivated my own way and didn¡¯t chan.... No! There was one time! That time! "The Eldergleam Sanctuary!" {That is right! You cultivated from a source of High Grade Magicka. You enriched your Magicka to the point that the other energies in your ¡¯Soul¡¯ didn¡¯t get the chance to follow up. Unlike me who gathered more ¡¯Liquid¡¯ than what my ¡¯Cup¡¯ could handle. You gathered a ¡¯Liquid¡¯ that your ¡¯Cup¡¯ may shatter from how heavy it is.} "....." Fuck me! {Don¡¯t get rmed! You can stabilize by time and you can heal your ¡¯Astral Damage¡¯.} "I get the seriousness but what about the troll¡¯s vitality problem?" This is already that bad! I still have to know everything! {Problem? Didn¡¯t you get it already?} "Huh! Get what?" {This is the solution, not the problem.} "Huh?" {The troll¡¯s vitality is a High Grade Vitality, not as high grade as the Magicka from the Eldergleam of course but it is one of the highest in grade between the living! No creatures have vitality like Trolls.} ? ? ? ? ? "Huh!" {.....} "So you¡¯re saying that I should go, chain up some trolls, and drag them around for vitality source?" {You can take care of that as you see fit.} This is actually... weird! I mean doing that to Trolls can be considered animal brutality but... Trolls has evil nature and appearance! Even their meat is not edible and their blood can be used for poisons. Their skulls are useful for magical purposes too. Their is a wide variety of trolls in the world and some of them can be as strong as Giants. I don¡¯t think it would be considered a torture if I just go on troll hunting and absorb their Vitality in the process. Okay! Let¡¯s do that. "So to stabilize the Magicka, I need to cultivate the Vitality from a certain source. It will increase my physical power and make me stronger... But what about the Stamina?" {You look at the Vitality from the game¡¯s perspective as the Health or what you prefer to call HP. This is an idea that the game creators from your world came up with to give the game more Attributes. But in reality this is a bit different. Think of Vitality as both Stamina and Health. How Vitality works is simple. You lose Stamina and your endurance lessens until a critical point where your Health start getting affected and upon death the Vitality itself crumbles.} "So it is like that!" It¡¯s indeed logical. "But didn¡¯t the Troll¡¯s Essence Potion increase my.. ehem! stamina that time?" {It was a temporary buff! The area of effect was your p"Thank you I don¡¯t want to hear from you!" This guy is truly an emotionless machine. "So, Mr Augur. Returning back to the talk about the threeponents of a mortal thingy. If someone lost a limb then it would affect both the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ and the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ but the ¡¯Soul¡¯ will remain intact. Does this mean that for old injuries, if we healed the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯, will the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ be healed ording to it?" {It is correct! It will regrow limbs and heal old injuries. Not just that, you can add or alter other functions from the ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ directly to cause an effect to the ¡¯Physical Body¡¯, something like upgrading your body or your species!} "Isn¡¯t this the same for Vampires and Werewolves?" {Correct! In the Vampire case you change the Vitalityponents but that can be manipted easily by a vampirism infection. Same goes for Were-creatures, they are abination of two ¡¯Astral Bodies¡¯.} Damn! {And this conversation will lead us to the request you wanted.} "Right! The request, I need your help desperately, and you know why!" {Indeed you need it and in normal circumstances I wouldn¡¯t do such a thing if I have no benefit. But I started to see a benefit in helping you. And also, consider it as a repayment for the immense knowledge from your world that I gained from your memories.} "Thank you!" {Your soul is indeed different from normal mortals. It is not even ck to begin with but it has the same general properties. It will be much easier for me to do the next process, it will be just like the thing with the Were-creatures.} I had a question and a request when I came to this ce. The question is about my physical condition. But the request is about something different. I was worried. If a small entity like The Augur can read my mind and know about my truth, what will the bigger entities do. Just think about it. If a Daedric Prince like Hermaeus Mora the one known as the Demon of Knowledge which the Hero from the game had encountered many times. What will such an entity do to gain all the knowledge about a different world from my head. What about Mg Bal, Mehrunes Dagon, or even Boethiah. They would covet such knowledge. Much worse, if they can find a way to travel to Earth, how can the consequences be like. I can¡¯t risk a meeting with anyone of them this soon. {Your fears are a bit too much! I don¡¯t think that your past world is something to worry about! I myself don¡¯t understand how you got here. What you have to worry about is something else?} "What is that?" {Your knowledge. These simple facts that you learned in that high school and these incredible documentaries you watched! Do you realize how many theories they debunk in this world? Do you know that the knowledge you see simple is a way to see the world from apletely different perspective? Even the truth about ¡¯et¡¯Ada¡¯ (Original Spirits) and how they became the Aedra, Daedra and Magna Ge as we know. Also the truth about the Sun and the Stars. If any being found about this information, it will lead them to either fear it or covet it. Regarding the reaction, it won¡¯t end well for you.} I guess I understand that! "So will you be able to block the strong beings from seeing in my head?" {Blocking them is unwise. If you want to make sure that something can¡¯t be stolen then hide it in where they least expect, don¡¯t put it in a safe that can be easily unlocked.} "Delvin said that!" {I will make your memories appear normal and will hide them under another memories. In return I want you to support me with some information from the outside world. I will also see that your growth and development stay monitored under no danger from experiencing another ¡¯Astral Damage¡¯ or any ¡¯Cultivation¡¯ side effect.} Oh! "Thank you! But how are you going to do that when you can¡¯t leave the ce here?" {I have developed an idea but it will need someone ¡¯open minded¡¯ to try it with.} "And it is..." {With the ¡¯Aspects¡¯ of ¡¯Soul¡¯, ¡¯Divination¡¯, and ¡¯Detection¡¯ I created a powerful spell known as ¡¯Astral Projection¡¯.} Suddenly, a small ball of light came from the big one (Augur) and floated beside it. "Oh! Look at him, resembles his daddy." {This is merely an ¡¯Out of Body Experience¡¯.} "Yeah, I remember reading about it in some novels." {This is an extension to my ¡¯Astral Body¡¯, it will merge into your ¡¯Astral Body¡¯} "You said something about solving it like the Were-creatures! Are you saying you are making me a Wereaugur?" {This extension will merge with your ¡¯Astral Body¡¯ and will hide your memories by creating a fake front above them. It will also keep the Daedric Princes from knowing that you are allying with their enemies, unlike that unrealistic game you yed. If you went Boethiah after being an agent to Mg Bal, you won¡¯t gain her favor. Forst thing, benefit will be applying some of the game knowledge I gained from you to monitor your growth.} "I understand the first two but how will you do thest one?" {Easy! Let me merge my ¡¯Astral Extension¡¯ with you and you will see?} Fine! The smaller ball of light shot in me and I felt no charge at all. {Everything isplete. Showing your status.} ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Name: Jon Dare / Jonhild Fire-Mane ¡ñ -Race: Human (Nord) ¡ñ -Age: 15 ¡ñ -Level: 17 ¡ñ -Attributes: ¡óHealth: 140/140 ¡óStamina: 100/100 ¡óMagicka: 520/520 ¡ñ -Magic: +Mysticism +Alterations +Conjunction +Destruction +Illusion +Restoration +Powers +Thu¡¯um ¡ñ -Active Effect: Astral Damage: 19% ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô "Huh! Is that..." Chapter 71 Hooman! "Are you kidding me?" {In your memories, youined about not having a ''System'' for a long time when you got reincarnated!} Hm? Yeah I remember. Got me really bad back in the day. I always wanted a system when I was in the orphanage. When I didn''t get one so I felt really cheated. Well, systems were for those who got a nned reincarnation by gods, unlike me who mysteriously died and mysteriously got reborn somewhere. Still, it is weird too get a system this way, thiste. "But you said that you can''t get away from your power source, would your ''Astral Extension'' be okay if I decided to visit Elswyre someday?" {Yes, my ''Astral Extension'' is only there to help you. I can locate and contact it using ''Telepathy'' wherever you are. After all, the ''Astral Link'' is the strongest kind of link.} Still... "I tend to believe that there is no free meal in this world, you protect me and provide me growth guidance. Was there really so much valuable information in my head?" {More than you think. I can ess the deepest parts of your memories and bring out things you don''t even remember.} "But still you could hide that and just not bother, pretend that there is little to do with my memories. If I were you, I would do that!" {.....} "You are giving me a system and you even go out of your way to justify helping me. What are you really going to gain from that? You already have all you want from me." {.....} "You understand me, right? I know there is something you are not telling me!" I am not someone who takes everyone with good will, I learned that lesson the hard way. {Please rify!} "You can read my mind so there is no way you don''t understand me. I am sure of it! You figured something out." Yes he did. I can''t see his face, or I can detect his emotions, but he found something. "You figured the reason about my reincarnation, right?" ~~~~~~~~ We were silent for a long time. I don''t know but I was staring at the ball of light and I felt he was staring back at me. It was a staring contest of sort, we understand each other and there is something important! Very important he found out! {Fine! I admit I figured most of it out.} The Augur actually gave up first. I knew it. I was sure of it. There are few things I don''t know about myself but the most mysterious thing is my reincarnation. "Did you figure out the reason?" {Mostly, How do you want me to say it...} "Don''t sugarcoat it!" {As you wish! My theory depends on two parts, the first part you guessed it mostly correct.} "You mean..." {As you said it once ''Conditions were met''. To make it more easy to understand, the idea of your VR headset works simrly to that of the ''Out of Body Experience''. That ability allows the user to get a part of his Soul or Consciousness out of his body and put ot into a device to make it experience an Virtual Reality. That happens when you send your mind into the game, it carries the information you submitted as the general information you want your character to have. The Soul embraced the information as it belongs to it, and it happens that there was a different person that wasrgely simr to it in the information content that time. This was the one year old Jonhild Fire-Mane. Once that was there, you could easily merge with him!} "Merge?" {Exactly! You may never think of it as merging or see it as you reced him but the real Jonhild is still in there, he is not sleeping or anything, but due to his age, his mental power or memories can never suppress yours as your mental age that time was 25 years older than his, and he just merged with the reincarnated you mentally. Still, he is there, he shows up in critical moments when ites to his family. Remember that day when Senior Nurina gave you that Amulet of Talos? Your mental age was already 35. Even when you found out that Hilda was your birth mother, you shouldn''t have really cared. But you did! And it took its toll on you. Your unnatural hunger for power increased drastically and the real Jonhild started to put some rules. You are not that Lawyer from before, you also are not Jonhild. You are something new. Maybe something was never seen before.} "....." {This was the first half of the theory behind your reincarnation! The one that is easy to figure out!} "... What, what about.. the other?" {This is the part I am not sure of. But no one is almighty enough in this world to summon a soul from another world except for the ''et''Ada'', the ''Original Spirits'' or what people like to call ''Gods''.} "So you are saying that an Aedra or a Daedra pulled me here?" {Yes, and it was a cunning move! It is the only possible way and it was done by an ''et''Ada'' that is very expert when ites to Souls!} "And you are you are helping me for..." {You are wrong! I am helping the ''et''Ada'' who brought you here!} "....." {Please don''t take it the wrong way, I am helping you either way but I am extending more helping hands to my benefit too.} Hmm! I get it. "So you simply want to carry favor with that ''et''Ada''! To what end?" "A happy one!" Guess I was right! He wants a way out of his misery too. Whatever! I would have done the same. "So... you have any idea which God did it?" {I am not expert in Gods, few is known about the ''Daedra'', less about the ''Aedra'', and the ''Magna Ge'' are mysterious.} Hmm! "Well, that sucks!" {I understand getting your fate sealed by another is terrible. But maybe in your case, you get guided to a bigger fate.} "That guidance.. it is what you are after!" {You are starting to see my point! So please, make full use of the ''Astral Extension''. I''ll severe the connection between it and me and will let you be in control it so you worry not about you privacy. It will have a limited amount of intelligence and will keep you updated with your condition and status. Beside hiding the important parts of your memory, it will have a function to open a ''Telepathic Connection'' with me if you needed anything.} Hmmm! Useful! But that depressed me! I wanted nothing to do with the Gods of this world and now theye to my doorstep. Depressing! I think I don''t want to think about this anymore. Yes, let''s not do that! I''ll bury my head under sand for now. It''s not anything useful but it is all I can do regarding that matter. No matter how powerful I am, I can''t face this problem alone. And without a being like the Augur, no one will understand my situation. I don''t know what Nurina may think but Hilda may think of me as a demon invaded her son''s body. I am afraid if I think about this for to long, I may have an identity crisis soon. Sigh! I''ll just bury me head under sand and stop thinking about depressing stuff. But now that I think about it, "I was expecting that you may have some sort of reaction when you find out about the game and its rtion to the world. I mean you are appeared in it and you encountered the main character twice!" {It is indeed incredible and mysterious, many things don''t add up in that part, it maybe the work of an et''Ad.s or an Elder Scrolls, as these are the only ones capable to transmit such an amount of information to another world.} "Hehe! I still can''t imagine Todd Howard using an Elder Scroll to get prophecies and create the game. Though it would exin why he always says ''It just works!''" [A/N: Todd Howard is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He currently serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, thepany that brought us the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games.] Sigh! How depressing! "Before I go, what are the the full functions of the system? And can you upgrade it?" {You can ess it with your inner will, and yes, the window you see is nothing but an illusion that shows my analysis of your body, ability, energy, and mentality, so it''s editable. Its functions and upgrades are also bound by your current ability and spells you can use.} "Hmm! I think that''s cool." Let''s see! ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Name: Jon Dare / Jonhild Fire-Mane ¡ñ -Race: Human (Nord) ¡ñ -Age: 15 ¡ñ -Level: 17 ¡ñ -Attributes: ¡óHealth: 140/140 ¡óStamina: 100/100 ¡óMagicka: 520/520 ¡ñ -Magic: +Mysticism +Alterations +Conjunction +Destruction +Illusion +Restoration +Powers +Thu''um ¡ñ -Active Effect: Astral Damage: 19% ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô "Hmm! This babycks the a map, a media yer, a screenshot function.. Okay! Why did these windows show up when I thought about them?" {They were already there. As I said, your ability with magic allowed them to be.} "Seriously? Hmm! Good Augur! We are definitely best buds. Do I get inventory too?" {Space Magic is nothing to just think of using easily! But you should be able to do it on your own one day.} "Okay, my names are there, my race and age which havepletely no use, and level 17? What is that about?" {I made a small calction and it appeared that the level thing can be calcted by understanding how much the individual can bring out strength. It is not a solid piece information but it can be understood by the energy from within you. It is not urate, but when the system alerts you of a higher level enemy, you should be prepared!} I see! "The attributes now! HP 140? SP 100? MP 520? What''s wrong with that? It is so broken or you didn''t make it like the game did?" {No it is actually based on very urate calctions! The Health and Stamina may look pitiful but your ''Astral Damage'' has affected them. Also you are young and not fully grown yet. To reach that point in Attributes is already something monstrous!} "My Magicka is something to vex people with!" {Your Magicka is higher that ''Wizards'' and a bit less than ''Master Wizards.''} Hmm! Maybe he is right. "So I have a 19% Astral Damage condition! That''s scary. This may take a lot of Trolls to heal it. And the magic section is so neatly organization. Let''s see!" ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Magic: ¡ÁMysticism: Magicka Outer Control Detection Force Soul Necromancy Divination Inner Magicka Control +Alterations +Conjunction +Destruction +Illusion +Restoration ¡ÁPowers: ¨‹Racial: War Cry (Buff Allies, Scare Foes) Son of Skyrim (Resist Frost) ¨‹Standing Stone: Shadow Stone Hide in Shadows (Sneak Buff) Blur (Combat Speed buff) ¨‹Blood Lineage: (Fire-Mane) Resis Fire (Offline) ????? (Offline) +Thu''um ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô This feels like some sort of phone application. Animated menu effects and all. But... what''s with that? "Augur, in the Blood Lineage submenu of the Powers menu, there are some things that looks weird! What is with that ''offline'' and ''?????''?" {In rare asions, people are born with a Blood Lineage, and sometimes it needs a special condition to get activated. I could detect it within you but it is unknown so it was recorded like this ''?????''.} "I would love to share something with those crazy Fire-Mane folk but if it activates something like the Mangekyou Sharingan then I am giving up! I didn''t sign up for a Tragedy novel. But why is the ''Resist Fire'' is offline too?" {It gives you a high resistance to fire but it is notpletely activated too. Once it gets activated, it will be a fearsome ability.} Hmmm! Hidden Lineage ability, fire rted Lineage, family shares a hair color. This is going very much Uchiha Caln scenario. "Well! I guess that''s all there is to it, huh!" I said and closed all these windows, "Even though your moralpass is not working right but I guess you helped me there. I am grateful for your help." I turned around and was about to leave but... {Before you enter the Midden, you punched a boy who was guarding the entrance. He is looking for you with his friends all over the ce now.} "I''ll just walk through them. Literally, if they cause me headache. What are they doing in the Midden anyway?" {Most studentse for experimenting. The kind that the College doesn''t allow.} "Everyone knows that, but why are they so secretive to even position an official guard on the door?" {Their experiments are breaking many rules. In particr, they are experimenting on..... ~~~~~~~~ WTF! Seriously WTF! These sick bastards. I am going after them one after the other. I will haunt their ghosts if they died on my hands. No! I will not kill them. But they will beg for it. I am pissed to the EXTREME right now! The Augur told me something that made me nearly caugh out blood. These sick bastards are so fuckin done for. So done for that the ''doneforness'' itself is not a way for them to escape what I will do to them. I ran out of the Augur''s room after he told me what was going on. To think these bastards dare, right here, and under my nose! This will be so freaking crazy. I remember something like that happened once in the Ratway. I went berserk on two guys who did a simr act and almost unmanned them. This is one of the reasons I was called ''Catatoskr''. Even big sis ''Vex'' who scares the hell out of me couldn''t stop me when I lost it. They were just some of Mercer''s boys so no one actually gave a shit afterwards. Now, I conjured 8 ''Bonemen'', this is all I can muster right now. ''Aura of Madness'' was casted as a cloak spell. Now let''s find these bastards. I evoked ''Scan'' and looked everywhere I can. "System, put the MP and Map on view, keep them mini. Mark any hostile as a red dot, mark the packages as a blue dot." <*Map*> The ''System'' which is the ''Astral Extension'' of the Augur is pretty simple, it can function as a simpleputer system. The Augur himself took a liking on the electronic era and is studying it thoroughly by now. I hope that he just remain blue and not turn red call himself ''Sky Net''. Speaking of ''Sky Net'', I am on a Terminating quest now. And I almost forgot, I AM ANGRY! "Get ''em!" Imanded my undead. "He''s over here!" "Get him!" "Don''t let him run!" "Wha-What is tha.." "Undead! Too many! Run!" "Nooo!" "Shoot them in the thighs!" On mymand, the undead started shooting arrows in the darkness, they could see, but those filthy criminals were falling like flies before they even know it. It was hectic but one on thing calmed me down. "Finally!" I found them! ~~~~~~~~ [A/N: ***** POV] Scared. Dark. Alone. Friends, crying. Bad people. What dat? Noise! People! Peoplee again? Many noise! Big noise! People! Peopleing! No! Run! Run! Scary people! Go away! Hmm! People fight people? Food fight? Me not food. People crazy. People be crazy eat me? No! Scary! Bad people no fight more? Bad! Too bad! Oneing! Hooman! Go away! Me strong. Bite you! "Poor things, what did they want to do to you? The monsters!" Hmmm! Hooman speak? Hoomans rattle! Why hooman speak? "Here,e here. I can''t take you out here or you will run everywhere! I''ll take you in the cage. Don''t worry. You will be out soon" Hooman speak again? Hear that? You hear that? No! You don''t? You hear hooman talk? No too! Why I only hear hooman speak? I hear hooman talk! Hooman cat talk! Hooman weird! Chapter 72 Nefertiti I found six cats in a cage. Two were hurt and the rest were fine. But they were mostly afraid except for a little ck kitten. They were even nning to experiment on such a little thing! This is... unforgivable! These fucktards are actually this bold to use the College¡¯s Sentry Cats as experimental material? These assholes. I am infuriated from how brutal this experiment was. They wanted to train on Illusion and healing on cats? Some evidence even pointed to a Necromancy research but it is a widely known fact that Necromancy doesn¡¯t work on cats. Aren¡¯t there skeevers and rats all over the ce? More than that, isn¡¯t it against the rules to even adopt the Sentry Cats let alone harm then? They are part of the security in the College as I heard. I once requested to adopt one but I was told that only a ¡¯Schr¡¯ and above in rank can adopt them privately. Yet those criminals wanted to use them in experiments. Fine! No good deeds go unrewarded, no bad deeds go unpunished. My undead have secured all the criminals. They are mostly ¡¯Apprentices¡¯ like me. Four of them in addition to the Evoker Guard which I punched before I enter the Midden. "Now! What should I do with you?" "Bastard! I dare you show your fac... UAAAAAGH!" Bugs should not speak. They can only be stepped on. Their thighs had arrows but they didn¡¯t bleed that much. A kick was perfect to caused more pain. "Which team you shitheads are from?" They remained silent. Fine! I evoked a spell and they got alert, when I cast it, void distorted and a figure emerged. "Mortal, be done with it!" Sigh! A cocky one, I don¡¯t know why Dremora Churls like him make a such a fuss even though they are nothing but weaklings. I even had to ¡¯Banish¡¯ four of the eight Bonemen to bound him better. "Gods! Is that..." "Conjurer can summon a Dremora? Is he a Schr?" "Dremora! You mean those daedra?" They got terrified from a mere Churl. Churls doesn¡¯t dress themselves in the usual game¡¯s Daedric armor, they are just the rabble of the Dremora ns so they just wear a in ck armor that is less sinster. "Sheath your de, and use your fists! Beat them up until they start singing!" "What! No killing?" "Let¡¯s see about it when they tell me what I want!" I left the Churl with these five and walked back to the ce I left the cats. I started putting some effort into healing them. "What is going on here?" I heard a voice, it was a girl¡¯s voice. What now! Even a girl was involved in hurting cats. Sigh! Such a cruel world. I was already done with the cats so I left them in the cage and went to see who came. "Senior save us!" "He will kill us!" These wimps started crying to a girl! Hopeless! When I looked at her I saw two other boys with her and I started to recognize her. "Nirenil you shithead! These were your club members after all!" Should have known! "Who are you?" She didn¡¯t recognize me, of course I was wearing a hood. Nirenil was the Breton girl who tried to invite me to her team back in the Rank Up exam, she started to say some bullshit about ¡¯Elitism¡¯ and whatnot. I had to kick Orthorn¡¯s balls to make a statement around the College to avoid that kond of headache. This was the first and thest time she involved herself with me. I knew that she has a very troublesome personality and she likes to disregard the rules more than anything. "Are you aware that your club members were experimenting on the Sentry Cats?" She looked at me carefully and looked at the Dremora I conjured. She was trying toe up with the best n for battle. "And what¡¯s it to you?" She replied with a stare. "Nothing, I just like cats!" "Look, you seem like a good guy but don¡¯t overestimate yourself! Jst because you can conjure a Dremora Churl and found few skeletons around doesn¡¯t mean you can do anything. You are alone and there is little you can do against the three of us. Why don¡¯t you just leave and we will pretend this never happened!" Seriously now? Acting like this with me? Fine! I¡¯ll y along. "Okay! I¡¯ll take the cats and leave!" I said that then turned around exposing my back to her. And just like the idiot she is, she tried to take the chance and attack me. Just when she cast ¡¯Ice Spikes¡¯ at me, I was already covering my back with a ¡¯Reflect Ward¡¯. When the spellnded, it got reflected back at her but she avoided it nimbly. "Cute! Is that what a so called elitist student can do?" "Together!" Nirenil and the two goons apanying her started casting all sorts of spells at me! It may overwhelm me if I faced them without using a trump card, but if I used one, my identity may get exposed. I don¡¯t want to cause a mess anyway. I only put the Ward ahead of me and retreated behind a corner then ordered the undead to stall for time, I also had to ¡¯Banish¡¯ the Dremora hastily as I can barelymand him anyway. "We will teach him a lesson, don¡¯t let him run and be careful, he is powerful." Nirenil started making her n. "Oh! I am being put in high regards. I don¡¯t think I can just y around anymore, can I?" Of course going all out here will result a disaster. If I used my new spell ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯. I will cause a big destruction. It¡¯s an ¡¯Expert¡¯ level spell and my strongest spell after all. Even though I was behind a corner, they can¡¯t just go after me blindly, so I didn¡¯t feel any pressure against them. I¡¯ll just cast ¡¯Aura of Madness¡¯ again. Upon doing that, they felt it was an Illusion attack and retreated hastily. I followed them with ¡¯Frenzy¡¯ spell that sted on the five boys I fought before. Just as itnded, their eyes turned insane and started using their arms to beat each other forgetting about the healing process the were in. "No! Quickly dispel it!" Nirenil saw that andmanded one of her goons to help their fallenrades. This was the opening I needed. I changed to ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯ and cast it on the other goon beside her as he was clearly distracted. The ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯nded on him and bounced on Nirenil then the other goon. That was boringly easy. I quickly conjured the Bonemen andnanded them to surround the fallen neers. "Was that all the elitism you have? I was prepared for more you know?" They were looking at me with fear but Nirenil was looking with hate, this girl is full of darkness. "Who answers the questions politely will take less beating." I said as I started cracking my fingers. It didn¡¯t take long! The already said everything. Nirenil, however, didn¡¯t utter a single word and kept looking at me as if I am the murderer of her kin or something. Her darkness is something to behold. After finishing up with them I went back to the cats and carried the cage, leaving those lowly faults of creation behind. A few minutester I arrived above ground. It felt as if I wasing from a grave. "Okaydies and gents, it the end of our ride. Here you go!" I opened the cage for the cats and got them out. Ah! I was getting healed. Thest cat was a super cute ck kitten. I know right, ck cats are hardly seen cute by most cultures and beliefs but this one has big blue eyes on a big head and a small body. She was just so flipping cute. She, however, had no number cor like the other College cats. She probably is still young so they left her without one. But she was undoubtedly a Sentry Cat. Strange thing is, the Mage Sentry Cats are not this ck, I can tell she is one because of her big ears. The Sentry Cats are very simr to the Egyptian Mau breed in the terms of color and personality, the only difference is theirrge ears that are simr to the Devon Rex breed. Before I even do anything, this kitten just ran from the cage and clung on me. "Yes, heal me more! Such a good girl. I would give you some milk and dried fish if I have any." "Meow!" "I hope I can little one! It¡¯s just that the College will bust my ass if I openly broke the rules." "Meow?" "Your hooman? Hmmm! If it is like that then we will fight them together. Don¡¯t worry, your hooman won¡¯t let them harm you ever again!" "meow." "You are wee, hehe!" This cat said some nice words of encouragement to me, even if it is ¡¯Alduin World-Eater¡¯, I¡¯ll kick his spiky ass no problem right now. Anyway, I am still not done, I have to go and file a request for adopting to this kitten and report what happened in the Midden. It will be a bit of a mess but I will solve it no matter what, me and the kitten agreed on this. Now that I think about it. Did this cat just talk to me? She said I am her hooman after all. I guess it makes sense. Still, I feel that I missed something somewhere or somehow. Something just felt like it was strange. I¡¯ll just go report the incident of today. I went to the ce where they house the cats and take care of them, it is a small office near the ¡¯Hall of Countenance¡¯. It was alreadyte at night but they were still open. I excused myself and talked with the staff. Theyined about me going out at the curfew time and carrying the kitten. I don¡¯t know what is wrong with these people! This kitten said I am her hooman, isn¡¯t this enough for them? The argument continue for at least an hour. They finally said that they will take the request but will have to get permission for it from the higher ups. Like I care! Apparently she is two months old, had no mother, didn¡¯t get a cor or a number, and a very yful one, that¡¯s why she got caught when she strayed around the College. Anyway, after I reported the incident down in the Midden, the atmosphere turned serious and they made me sign on the report too. I reported the numbers of the cats I found. Their numbers were written on their cors so it was easy to remember them. It seemed there have been some simr incidents. Well, I¡¯ll just take the kitten and go now. I want to clean this little one and feed her. ~~~~~~~~ Jull¡¯s reaction was priceless. She kept looking at the kitten as if she found her archenemy. When I went into my room, I kept looking for some stuff for the kitten. I found some dried fish and water, a pot to wash her and all. She was just adorable. I know how moody cats can be but this little one is just too good. I started thinking about a good name for her. "So, what do you think, ¡¯Cleopatra¡¯ is it good?" "Meow." "No? Okay, hmmm! ¡¯Isis¡¯, ¡¯Nebit¡¯?" "Meow?" "Pretty one? You¡¯re so picky." "¡¯Hebony¡¯? ¡¯Amnti¡¯?" Still no. She doesn¡¯t like Pharaonic names. "Fine, how about ¡¯Nefertiti¡¯? And will call you Titi for short?" "Meow!" "Well, that¡¯s it then!" She agreed to it. Couldn¡¯t help but pat her few times. Titi is so easy to converse with, unlike some humans and most elves. "Were you talking with it just now?" Junar asked. "Titi is a she, and yes, it is easy, try it." "I don¡¯t think I can!" "Why? This is really easy!" "But she was just meowing!" "No, she was talking!" "How can a cat talk?" "Meow!" "See, like that." "That was meowing!" "No, she just said ¡¯get away from my hooman!¡¯" "What is hooman?" "Me!" "Meow?" "Don¡¯t worry Titi, Jull is not bad people!" "Meow." "Fine, just keep eating!" "....." "Julls, you okay?" "Hmm! I am not sure, my head can¡¯t just go around that. Let¡¯s sleep anyway." "Give me a second!" ~~~~~~~~ Next morning I took Titi to Nurina. Apparently, it seemed that Titi ignores the rest of the people and talks only to me. I don¡¯t know why Nurina was giving me that look. Anyway, I assured her about my meeting with the Augur and told her the parts she can believe anyway. Getting the help of the Augur is already unbelievable enough, let alone his full cooperation. Lah joined uster and told us about the incident with the cats, as well as the eight injured students that were dragged by the College guards this morning. Nirenil¡¯s team was disbanded and she was given a final warning. It seemed that she has quite a long history of ignoring the rules. I would have just expelled her if I was them. "So brat, what are you going to do about the matter of your Vitality?" Nurina was in her bossdy mood while going around some papers. "I¡¯ll wait until next month for the Rank Up exam of Sun¡¯s Height (July). Until then I¡¯ll just research new spells and put effort into training myself and Jull. No Magicka training anytime soon. After the exam, I¡¯ll take Jull and Titi south. I¡¯ll visit some ces around Skyrim and hunt some trolls to train on them. I¡¯lle back for the Rank Up exam of Morning Star (January)." "You will wander for half a year?" Lah was taken aback. "Shouldn¡¯t Evokers go around thend and take inspiration for their research from the outside world?" It was amon practice for Evokers, that¡¯s why it is also called ¡¯Journeyman¡¯ rank. "Yes, but the outside world is dangerous and you don¡¯t really need inspiration! Your ideas are already good enough for you to rank up as a ¡¯Schr¡¯." Lah was still arguing. "It¡¯s okay, he can go." Nurina said, "But whatever it is, you shoulde back before Morning Star (January), youring of age ceremony will be held then." Hmmm! Hilda will being. "I understand!" "More importantly, do you have a n in mind or you are just going to wander aimlessly!" Lah asked. "My focus will be on my and Jull¡¯s training. I will take some time off-road to avoid any unwanted disturbance. And of course I am teaching Jull how to conjure a Fire Mare, we will travel at full spead between the touring points!" "Which ces are you visiting?" Nurina askedzily. "Hehe! First, the Shrine of Azura." She looked at me with azy but sharp gaze then sighed. "Just whatever it is, don¡¯t do anything stupid! Then?" "Mount Anthor, I heard there is a Dragon wall there, I am definitely going to study it for some time." "Just be careful there! I heard that some Dragon walls are considered sacred grounds for the Hidden ns." Lah said. "Those idiots! Four years from now these ces will be the most dangerous ces in the world!" "Wha! Why is that?" "Dragons!" "Again with Dragons?" "Wanna bet?" "No, I am fine!" Lah never believed in my Dragon prophecy anyway. "Next, I want to go to the Nightgate vige, there is some Nordic ruins that I really want to visit over there." "Nordic ruin? Just train on Sun magic properly from now then!" "Got it! My next destination will be Windhelm, I¡¯ll check the city out then hit the road to Whiterun!" "Why not just go to Whiterun from the Nightgate vige. It¡¯s just directly to the south. If you go to Windhelm then you will head east, south, then west." "I am only doing some tourism and adventuring! I will also meet with Ongeim there and for some business in Windhelm." "What business?" "Secret." "And what will you do into Whiterun?" "I¡¯ll visit Akara and Ysolda, look for a ce to hunt trolls, if I didn¡¯t find any, I¡¯ll go south to Helgen and Falkreath. By that time at least four months should be passed, I¡¯lle back then." Chapter 73 The Opening Day A week passed since the conversation with Nurina and Lah. Ipletely stopped my magic training after my meeting with the Augur, and now I am training my body like the old times. My strength has increased due to the increase in Vitality. It is the energy of life after all. The more one have, the more stronger he gets, and it also vary in quality. My training became more extreme. I enchanted some objects to make them heavier and also ran around the circr roof of the College. I did go to towntely from time to time and checked on everything, it all was all going smoothly. The Whistling Mine business is getting better and they started to build some lodging outside the mine for the miners. The Master Huntsman was also working smoothly, his group survived an attack by a bear thanks to a scroll I gave him for situations like these. The lumber business however was not smooth at all. Those who wanted to lumber started leaving the town to the south of the hold so I made business contacts with them and they will provide us when we need. I also sent Ongeim to Solitude, he was to buy a lot of furniture for the Bathhouse and my Manor too, I had my eye on few ces in Solitude so it will go smoothly for him. The Ship will also go to Dawnstar to buy boats and fishing tolls, the fishermen in Winterholdcked all sort of the important stuff so I extended a hand for them. The General Trader, on the other hand, started running a while ago. Birna was buying from me and selling to the town folk in the reasonable prices they could afford. This may have caused some decline to the inn¡¯s business but no one canin about that. All these good events added to the towns liveliness and to my poprity. Adding the Bathhouse which will flood the town with money, I think I did a good job. Trudvar kept recruiting more boys from the town, I was putting together some groups to guard the businesses I own and the ones I am investing in. The best way to cover this force is by enlisting them as my sailors as I nearly have 43 of them. I never knew this but buying weapons for that number of guards attracted a very unweed attention. The Imperial Legion¡¯s fleet that was stationed in the northern waters sent few people to question about the weapons once they heard about. Apparently they heard the news in Dawnstar or someone ratted my business here. With few nice words of me doing business and establishing a small tradingpany, they left me alone leaving behind some words of warning. This made me change some of my ns. Now, I need my own cksmithing workshop. My best choice is the townsfolk, there are two old cksmiths that had some problems with work and needed money. Guess who showed up! I convinced them to work together and take few students. They needed a tanner and some other craftsmen so I started doing my best to answer their needs. I also convinced them to work in a big workshop that I will construct for them when I have the chance. I actually own thend necessary, or I own one forth of the town¡¯snd, but all the masons were busy. Also they will take a rest after the work in my Bathhouse and my Manor so it will take some time. Speaking of my Manor and the Bathhouse. They are almost done. My Manor stillcked most of the necessary pieces of furniture but the Bathhouse was already good to go. More importantly, the opening day is tomorrow. It felt like a boulder that was finally cracked after the long work. The good this was the reaction of the College¡¯s people. Some were really looking forward to this more than even me. I guess advertising was never a problem here. The real business will start with the Bathhouse tomorrow, before I leave for my journey I need to make sure that everything is working smoothly and Korir wouldn¡¯t do anything funny. Even though he was restrained by the ¡¯Programming¡¯, I don¡¯t know what ident may happen when I leave for nearly half a year. My first n was to make it impossible for him to mess with me, but also I decided to leave the town in secret and spread a rumor that I am making an intense closed door training in the College. There actually is something like that. After finishing my daily training, I headed to clean myself and eat. My head is still distracted with the business though. My room was warm and cozy, Jull was not here as she went to the roof for spell spamming training. This only left me and Nefertiti which was left with Nurina from the morning. Nefertiti was yful as ever, she liked to jump on everything and go into every crate. I even made her a small house from wood and she called me ¡¯best hooman ever¡¯. The next hour she started having a bad mood and got angry all of a sudden when I sat on my desk and started studying some spells. I don¡¯t know the exact reason but she was acting spoiled most of the timetely. Speaking of my studies, the spell that I found in Hob¡¯s Fall Cave that was called ¡¯Corpse Explosion¡¯ is something really nasty. I now can cast it perfectly and also went to the Midden and tried it on skeevers. I must say that this spell is invaluable when ites to wars, when the undead or a corpse explode, all sorts of nasty diseases spread. I burned down the ce I experimented in just from the idea of something leaking out. This may cause a gue. The spell can be casted on already dead corpses but it would be much easier to use it on one¡¯s own undead. It ravages the fake soul of the undead so it causes it to explode, to use it on corpses actually needs more energy. Imagine if one rallied his undead into the enemy lines then used that spell, both physical, biological, and psychological damage would be great. I was satisfied with this spell and couldn¡¯t wait to use it in battle. My next study was on the Anti Undead spell. The Sun spells are the best counter to undead and I had my mind to on a new one. An Expert level spell that casted as a ¡¯Missile¡¯, it is a strong one and needed time to evoke, charge and cast. I called it ¡¯Ultraviolent¡¯. I decimated the undead on its path like nothing. I even asked Nuruna to conjure a strong undead to try it on and the result was satisfying. After that I learned a spell Nurina gave me, it was the ¡¯Bind¡¯ spell, an Alteration spell that can trap foes and bind them with aspects of ¡¯Speed¡¯ and ¡¯Weight¡¯. I wanted to put some time in training Inner Magicka Control but it was not good with my current condition. After a day of boring and dull work, I took Nefertiti and yed with her until she slept. Jull camete and stayed in the room to take care of Nefertiti. I dressed myself and went to town. I had to make sure that everything is perfect for tomorrow. Upon descending the bridge, I walked to the Bathhouse building that was being guarded by five of my men. My appearance caused their sleepy eyes to sober and they stood for the Boss. It feels damn good to be the Mafia Boss around these parts. I went into the Bathhouse and the ce was quite. The building us divided into three areas. The main building which had a courtyard and few rooms around it, the design was made to allow water to flow around the rooms, under the courtyard was the basement that had most of the magic machines for pumping, desalination and filtering the water. The other sides of the building were the south wing which served as home for the girls and the north wing which was the management and the services, also the manager¡¯s office was there. I walked into the building and looked around, I didn¡¯t sense any presence here. When I used ¡¯Scan¡¯, I found them in all in the south wing. I walked there nonchntly and knocked on the door. Few secondster, Elishka opened the door while peaking outside. "What¡¯s up!" "Oh! It¡¯s you Boss. What are you doing here?" "Came to check! Something wrong?" She barely opened the door and all I could see was her face. "Just give me a second!" She said and closed the door then opened it a minuteter. "Come in Boss, but keep quiet." I didn¡¯t know what was going on so I walked inside lightly. The ce was warm in here. Looking at Elishka, she was barely dressed, her curves were visible under the light clothes she was in. And it barely covered anything too. "I am seeing something nice here!" I couldn¡¯t hold back my grin. "Sorry Boss! We didn¡¯t know you areing and I was in the middle of training the girls before tomorrow?" "Training, huh! Getting ready for the big day?" "Yes Boss!" "Hmmm!" I smiled slyly, "Can I peek?" Elishka giggled and said, "You are the Boss so you can just take a look around." "I don¡¯t think the girls are thatfortable around me yet." I said, "And it is much fun to peek." Yes, I maybe me but I learned peeking at a very young age. Who taught me? Well, it was Delvin and Brynjolf. The main target was normally Vex who always found us, I wasn¡¯t taken to be taught anyway, I was just the scapegoat who get caught while they run. Well, that was the case until I tied Brynjold once and left him under the mercy of both Vex and Tonilia. I couldn¡¯t do that with Delvin yet. So, peeking in my own Bathhouse sounded so much fun no matter how anyone thinks how wired it is. Anyway I heard a lot of pleasant voices from the wall next to me, ording to Elishka, the girls were training with each other. "Look like they are having fun!" "Thanks to you Boss, these girls found a warm home and a good ce to live in. They have food and all what they can ask for. Also if youpare them to the before you will get surprised!" "Yeah, I saw some of them actually gained some weight and look healthier." They indeed don¡¯t look pale like they used to be, and they look much better now. I walked with her and inspected the ce well, some girls passed by and the started gathering their clothes that were as light and revealing as Elishka¡¯s but they only got red at by her. "Mistress, did th... oh! You¡¯re here Boss!" A girl came and greeted us, she looked familiar. "Oh! You are that ¡¯Make Winterhold great again¡¯ girl." "Hehe! Yes Boss, my name is Jvanka!" "What?" "Jvanka!" "....." "Boss..." Oh! I remembered something unpleasant! Must be a coincidence! Gotta be! "No! Ehem, sorry, ehhh! nice name, heh heh, who, who are you named after?" "I don¡¯t know Boss." "And your father is?" "His name is ¡¯Jonald the Drumph¡¯. A stone mason." "....." "Boss..." Oh! I remembered something unpleasant again. "A, a stone mason huh! He must have build many walls!" "Yes Boss. He always dreamed about building the biggest wall in Winterhold!" "....." "Boss..." "Oh! Thank you Jvanka! Excuse me." I just couldn¡¯t hear this anymore, and took myself away. This is madness! ~~~~~~~~ "Are you okay, Boss?" Elishka followed me when I walked away. "Yes, just remembered something." My head was spinning from the headache that assaulted my out of nowhere. I was having some second thoughts about the walls in Winterhold now. "This way Boss!" "Where to?" "Didn¡¯t you want to peek?" Ah! I almost forgot. Where Elishka stood was on the stairs to the next floor. There seemed to be an opening in the wall enough for one too peek on the whole room. Just as I looked through it, the blood ran through my head and I felt a weird sensation in my nose. Retreat! Abort peeking! I looked away immediately! No! I must be strong! I must withstand it? I will look again. I am ready this time! Let¡¯s do it! "This... this is!" "Like what you see Boss?" "Damn!" Some girls were doing this! Some girls were doing that! Point is, I don¡¯t know what was this or that! This was mostly a girl on girl action and it was my first time seeing in live. "Hey Elishka!" "Yes." "This won¡¯t do. Let¡¯s find a room?" "Are you okay, Boss?" Elishka followed me when I walked away. "Yes, just remembered something." My head was spinning from the headache that assaulted my out of nowhere. I was having some second thoughts about the walls in Winterhold now. "This way Boss!" "Where to?" "Didn¡¯t you want to peek?" Ah! I almost forgot. Where Elishka stood was on the stairs to the next floor. There seemed to be an opening in the wall enough for one too peek on the whole room. Just as I looked through it, the blood ran through my head and I felt a weird sensation in my nose. Retreat! Abort peeking! I looked away immediately! No! I must be strong! I must withstand it? I will look again. I am ready this time! Let¡¯s do it! "This... this is!" "Like what you see Boss?" "Damn!" Some girls were doing this! Some girls were doing that! Point is, I don¡¯t know what was this or that! This was mostly a girl on girl action and it was my first time seeing in live. "Hey Elishka!" "Yes." "This won¡¯t do. Let¡¯s find a room?" I looked at her an started losing my reason. "Boss, this, this won¡¯t do! If we do it with you now I may not be able to be ready tomorrow!" "Why is that I wonder?" "It¡¯s just, just that Boss, you, you do things a bit strong!" She was stuttering on her words and retreating back until she had no room to retreat more. "And do you think it is right for a healthy young man like myself to see all that and just stay cool headed?" I trapped her to the wall with my arms and got closer. "Yes, the Boss is a healthy young man, but maybe too healthy!" "Hmmm! What is that about?" I was not nning on letting her go anyway. I started touching her body which was burning like fire. "Listen Boss, I know yo, no don¡¯t touch here *moaning* this, not, Boss." "Something you want to say, say it quickly!" I was going insane from that sinful body of hers but I figured she wanted to say something. "Can, can you please not do it hard likest time? We just, just can take it easy." Oh! Now that I think about it, Elishka may think that I do it a bit hardcore because of our two times before, she is the kind who doesn¡¯t like that, it seemed. I calm myself down and breath normally. "Fine, take me somewhere we can do it." Elishka nodded and walked to the next floor, she was giving me a great view of something nice. When I followed her I felt that someone was looking, some girls seem to have noticed us and started peeking. I don¡¯t mind anyway. Elishka walked to a room and I followed in. It was a big room with a big bed, full furniture and all. "Your room?" She nodded to me and smiled. "Can you leave everything to me?" So she wants to take the lead. Well, haven¡¯t tried that before but fine by me. "Sit down, would you like to drink something?" Is she trying to make it a bit romantic or something? Hmm, I don¡¯t understand but I¡¯ll y along. I sat on the bed¡¯s side and followed her with my eyes. "Thank you!" She handed me some wine in an elegant goblet and sat next to me. She started talking about this and that, apparently she wanted to cool my head first. I must admit, she knows what she is doing. A whileter, we stuck to each other and she put my hand on her chest and got entangled in a long kiss that way. Elishka is something else after all, everyone has their talent they are the best in and her talent is sex. After fondling her chest and kissing her for a while, she fixed her position and I removed these pieces of cloth that hid that beautiful body. What I saw made me lose my words. Elishka¡¯s body is like none other. Her voluptuous hourss figure, white skin and brown hair made everything so desirable, herrge eyes hazel eyes, round face and cheeks showed nothing but beauty. She was standing on her knees on the bed and bended her body down to take another round of kissing. After a while of sucking my soul by her lips, she crossed her arms under her beasts and closed them to my face. I answered her call and held her waist then attacked her beasts with my face, I bit on her nibbles and yed with them and she was smiling and switching me from a breast to the other. After that she stood and undressed me herself while making me kiss any part of her thates to my reach. I was pushed on the bed too, just as my clothes were down, she descended on ¡¯little Jon¡¯ with her breasts and started rubbing, we would take a chance to kiss with each round. After doing it for some time I felt her taking ¡¯little Jon¡¯ in her mouth, it was being tormented left and right and I felt that feeling again. Elishka is expert in this part. Her tongue is doing wonders now, I had to fix my position to see her doing her magic. I felt intoxicated by pleasure yet she was not done with me, when she took her time tormenting ¡¯little Jon¡¯ in her mouth, she moved back to me and started assaulting my body and kissing me everywhere she could reach. Unlike before, Elishka was enjoying herself too this time. She is not a bathhouse wench after all, she is my business partner and we have to keep the rtionship warm. I was leaning on the bed all the time and watching this amazing show, also I was not the only watcher, there were some peeping toms watching hus from outside. Ignoring them, I took Elishka and draged her on the bed beside me then targeted her sinful booty. Her booty was glorious and proud, a full round bubble butt that drives people insane was now under my full control. I took time with it, this sinful booty needed punishment and all I did was biting and ying with it. Elishka was moving her legs happily and smiling at me all the time. I stood up to fix my position on her and went on another round with that crazy booty, my hand slipped between her hips right to her pussy, the ce was warm and nice but we aren¡¯t doing it this early. I took my time, then started going all they way up through her back to her left shoulder and all these curves until I finally reached her lips once again and we forgot ourselves in a kissing deadlock. "Jon, do it." "So I finally took the green g." "Hehe! Yes, ride your lordship!" "How can I decline such an offer?" She was in a good mood after I agreed to go softcore with her, even cracking jokes and tickling her was making it better. Finally, I took her from her back and pushed her down, she was squirming yfully and shaking her butt left and right for me. *spank* It indeed jiggles. Let¡¯s go in. I fixed myself behind her and aimed ¡¯little Jon¡¯ into her oven, that sinful pussy shall get wrecked tonight. As I got in, I moved in slowly for her to adjust, I wad ning to put all of it in. "Jon!" "Hm?" "Did it get bigger?" "You like it?" "Just don¡¯t go crazy likest time!" "Got it!" As we were talking, I was already on top of her and leaned on her wless back to kiss every inch of its beauty, she twisted herself to face me and we kissed as I started thrusting in. She was also in the mood and moved her hips make it faster. We continued like this for some time before we decided to change position. I took some rest and lied on my back. ¡¯System, show me stamina.¡¯ <89/100> I am not even there yet. Elishka lied beside me and we went into a cuddle. "You are really enjoying this." I said, this woman was all smiles. "To tell you the truth, this is the first time I do it on my terms." she said. I thought so, she worked in a Bathhouse until she became a MILF like this, no one wouldn¡¯t take her to just make her do what she wants. She had a thing for kissing and I started to like it, she was a master beyond my league in terms of experience so I was seriously learning from her too. She lied over me while kissing for a while, as she finally took her time like that, she sat up and moved herself on top of me. She is going for ¡¯cowgirl¡¯! She took ¡¯little Jon¡¯ in to its end, I could feel it reaching deep until it reached an end. Just as it reached to this point, Elishka started moving herself up and down, and my oh my! Everything is moving everywhere. Every times she went up and down her breasts were going around and up and down. She then leaned on me and her breasts were moving everywhere all over my face, I grabbed them and took it one with my mouth, she was moaning while moving herself and the stage got heated once again. This was it, we were losing it together this time. I hugged her tightly and moved my hips faster and faster. She was moaning and hugging my head into her chest. It¡¯s a bit nice here but no room to breath. Feeling we had to do it faster, I moved my body with her on top of me then twisted myself and became on top of her. She locked her legs around my waist and I moved my hips like mad. She was moaning loader and pulling her hair with a hand while hugging on my head with the other. "It¡¯sing!" "Don¡¯t stop!" This was no good but things went out of hand already, I was about to cum and there was no way from this. She also came with me and we were our bodies were still clinging on each other. I wasn¡¯t out of the woods yet, she was pleasuring herself with all she got and kept kissing me again and again. My senses came to me so I checked my stamina again. "I still can go two more times." "I don¡¯t think I have any power left." I guess Zena took most of the burden from herst time. "Anyway, I need to wash some!" "Come, let¡¯s the first one to bathe in the Bathhouse be you." "Well, I own it so why not!" We went to a bathing room naked and bathed for the whole night. I can¡¯t enter the College now anyway so I¡¯ll be staying in Elishka¡¯s room. During the bath, we got closer than just the wench and the client rtionship from before. Anyway, this was my official first night with my sex friend and business partner, Elishka. *** My senses came to me so I checked my stamina again. It increased, huh! "I still can go two more times." "I don¡¯t think I have any power left." I guess Zena took most of the burden from herst time. "Anyway, I need to wash some!" "Come, the first one to bathe in the Bathhouse will be us." "Well, we own it so why not!" We went to a bathing room naked and bathed for the whole night. I can¡¯t enter the College now anyway so I¡¯ll be staying in Elishka¡¯s room. During the bath, we got closer in rtionship and became more familiar with each other, more than just the wench and the client rtionship from before. Anyway, this was my official first night with my sex friend and business partner, Elishka. ~~~~~~~~ Next morning, I sneaked back to the College. Nheless, I was excited as anyone else, the Bathhouse is opening today. I had arrangements with the boys today. We are going out to celebrate. Rusning who was busy in his researchtely as well as Holman and Svadall, I also brought Morbagog and Mahran who worked with me in most on this Bathhouse. We met at the afternoon and I took them to spend money in the Bathhouse. The College students were flocking the ce and it seemed that business has started earlier than usual. The day was spent quickly so as money, of course I was earning money too but no one knew that, all that was told to public that I only invested here and made the Bathhouse possible! I also sat in a ce to hide from most people, I wanted to see how people will react to the Bathhouse in the first day. Of course I made prices high to just suit the students and not the townsfolk, it was going my way anyway. At evening, some unexpected visitors popped up. First, it was Eilel whose nose was bleeding, I had to make the guards chase her out. Next, some teachers came in, I was expecting them anyway. After that, some Altmer boys came while hiding their features, they didn¡¯t want anyone to know they came. Sigh! Typical High Elves. The most expected one was teacher Tolfdir, the old bones was healthy as ever when he came, he was hiding his features too but I found out. This was better than I thought, with this much customers, I don¡¯t think I will have to worry about the towns economy anyway. This is a true game changer. I left the ce to Elishka and the girls with some words of encouragement and went back to the College. I had an exam in less than a month and I have to be prepared. ~~~~~~~~ -Bonus- ?Bad Hooman! "Hooman!" (Nefertiti) "What do you want cutie?" (Jon) "You abandoned me, Nya! Bad hooman, Nya!" (Nefertiti) "What¡¯s with her Jull?" (Jon) "She is in a bad mood since yesterday!" (Jull) "Yes, Nya! I smell another one on you, Nya!" (Nefertiti) "Another what now?" (Jull) "Jull, When did you start to understand Nefertiti? No, wait! wait!..." (Jon) Chapter 74 Hitting The Road Three weeks have passed and now it is the 1st of Sun¡¯s Height (July), 4E-196. An annoying Middas (Monday) as any other. I just finished the Rank Up exam and ranked to Evoker. Not just that, but as someone who worked on the Atronach Mounts with Nurina, I got to submit a me Atronach Horse spell. Of course, I didn¡¯t give them the Arabian Horse one, I gave them the bulky Nord horse that runs like a duck. All that time, rumors were going around about me riding on a Fire Horse in town and many people came and asked about it but I turned them all down. I just submitted that spell and made it moreplicated than normal so it doesn¡¯t go around easily. I didn¡¯t really want to submit it but it was the best one I do, all my other spells were a bit over the norm, and by submitting it after the Rank Up exam, I now have the qualifications to rank up to the ¡¯Schr¡¯ rank but it would take a while before I start thinking seriously about it. By the way, I ranked first in the exam too but it wasn¡¯t by a spartan over the top score likest time, I just got the full mark and nothing looked weird about it. Well, until I discovered that the second student rank didn¡¯t even get close to me. Sigh! I am being looked at once again. Unlikest time, I am now known as the leader of the Creation Club and the Thane of Winterhold, no one can mess with me. Speaking of the Creation Club, we made few good achievements and got credited for the machines in the Bathhouse which I asked Elishka to submit a request for. This all added to the poprity of our team and some new members joined. Eliel handled the new members as I was mostly the mascot of the club anyway. My job was to put projects and give them ideas, I also help but I leave most of the work to them like any good boss. The most interesting new members were Rundi and Brovir who just ranked up to apprentices and were my roommates when I first arrived here. They are brothers and twins at that. Still, the disagreed with each other over every little thing, but they shared an overwhelming love for mead. They wanted to open a meadery that can rival the ck-Briar and Honningbrew meads. I heard their ideas and promised them support as long as they establish that meadery in Winterhold. I also gave them some warnings about the dangers of their research and all that. Why would I do all that? Well, there is something here that most yers wouldn¡¯t really know. Rundi and Brovir are NPCs from the game, they may not give any impression to a yer like me and they were hard to remember at first but these two along with Yisra and another student were under a quest called ¡¯Missing Students¡¯. The yer has to go look for four students that have gone missing just two find four horrible death idents urred to them. This is a College quest that got cut from the game but one can actually find the corpses anytime around Winterhold. I intend to change that. Rundi and Brovir are two good fellows and deserve saving, Yisra may be an arsonist but she is a talented mage and a friend, I met the fourth student once but I will at least give him an advice. The Creation Club was doing just fine now. But there is one more important news. We are submitting the two projects we worked on now. To submit such a project, we had to go through some regtions and paperwork but we left that to Eilel, perverts are good with paperwork anyway. The first project is the Magickameter which can measure one¡¯s Magicka. It was met with some suspension at first but I made sure it was working well byparing it to my system. It showed nearly 520 MP but of course, I would keep that a secret to myself. When it was submitted after the exam, some students from the other clubs wanted to try it but their reactions were not that friendly, an Altmer student made a fuss when the device showed 130 MP for him and the same score for a Nord student, this caused more problems but the submission overseer was Teacher Tolfdir himself who confirmed that the device is right as the racial difference was mostly in talent but not Magicka, when Tolfdir himself used the device it went over the 1000 MP mark by a little. Actually, the device was made with amon soul gem which its capacity doesn¡¯t exceed the 1000 MP. The device was submitted and adopted by the College. This gave enough contribution points to the team for a rank up and a big reward. The second device was the Dareumeter that I shamelessly named after myself, it can detect the output frequency and block it if it goes haywire. Unlike the Magickameter, this waspletely under my name as the lead researcher and a device that made the submission overseers, as well as the other teachers, jump from the scare when they heard the description. For them, this device is just too great to not stand up for. As I intended, it was a glove with a measuring device on its back, when a spell gets cast, it detects the flow of Magicka in every phase of the spell. Once it goes haywire, the glove cancels the spell. The value of this device in their eyes was high so I prepared few of it and gifted them to the overseers immediately. It is not that expensive. This alone secured me enough contributions to advance for the ¡¯Wizard¡¯ rank. I stillck some other qualifications but I will take my time anyway. Of course, we celebrated and all, the rewards of the College were always generous and I was congratted by Savos Aren himself. After this point, I had no more work or researches I want to do at the College. Also, I was packing my things for the journey. Before I leave, I had to check the town. It has been a week since I moved to my new Manor, I called it ¡¯Seamist¡¯ Manor. Most beautiful and artistic buildings have its unique names like ¡¯Lakeview¡¯ or ¡¯Honeyside¡¯ so I called this way. The ce was great. The furniture was good and everything looked as I imagined. I finally had my own kitchen where I can try making the food I wanted to make long ago. I want to make noodles, shawerma, kusharie, pizza, and all these good stuff but my experience in cooking is not something to be proud of so I will learn bit by bit. My room was the most amazing ce in the world in my eyes right now. Junar wanted to make the attic her own room so I gave it to her anyway. Nefertiti also loved the ce and ran around everywhere. In the basement, there was a door made of Dwemer metal that has three keyholes and looks sturdy as hell. This was thebined work of me, Morbagog, and Mahran. Of course, the three keyholes were just a distraction, the original keyhole was behind a brick in the wall and it needed a special key to open. This door leads to the vault. A safe room reinforced by metal and contained most of my money and important research papers, it is also made to keep the artifacts that I will obtain in the future. Other than that, I tried to think of nting some winter herbs around the manor but will leave that forter. Other than the house, the Bathhouse was working just fine and it made some good ie. The town started to feel the cirction of money and things started looking good. I also sneaked to the bathroom a few times to spend the night with Elishka. All in all, life was going well. I went to my room and threw myself on my ridiculouslyrge bed to get enough sleep for tomorrow. ~~~~~~~~ Tomorrow became today, and the morning was cold. I returned to the College and went to see Nurina, Lah and my friends. Nurina heartlessly gave me another shopping list. I was waiting for something more but I was told off. Lah gave me a tome with some ideas and spells she worked on and told me they will prove helpful in the adventure. After that I left the College and met with Ongeim, I told him to meet me some time from now in Windhelm and bring an extra crew with him. I had some business there. Finally, I gave Trudvar some money and a new weapon, I also took my hammer, the Agni-Ra, back. I¡¯ll be needing it in this journey. I had my gear on, my scaled armor from the tournament and all. I covered myself in a traveling cloak and carried Nefertiti who was warped in some warm fur. Julls followed carrying a knapsack. Just like this, we sneaked out of town under the cover of daylight. Don¡¯t ask how. As we walked a fair distance away from the town we I conjured two fire horses and Jull conjured one. We put our stuff on one and rode the others. I don¡¯t think Jull or Nefertiti can handle a high-speed ride so we just rode on moderate speed. ~~~~~~~~ Six hours passed and we reached ¡¯Whistling Mine¡¯, I went down and greeted the people over here. It was also a good chance to rest from riding. The ce has changed. On the other side of the road, a small vige was built. This was not here before and definitely looked like progress to me. I think I can fund them to make an inn here. I didn¡¯t stay for too long, I wanted to reach the Shrine of Azura before the sunset. The shrine is on top of the mountain that the cave is under, there is a steep route but I will have no problems with it. Normally wolves live in this area but one of the perks of riding a me Atronach Horse is that the wolves won¡¯t dare to approach. The path leading to the shrine is found not far south of Whistling Mine and rises sharply to the west. To reach it, one should travel southeast along the path from Winterhold in the direction of Windhelm. If the weather is clear, it is possible to see a long way in all directions. After two hours of fast riding, the shrine showed itself sitting atop a stone fort-like structure that was supposedly built by Dunmer, who revere her. There is an altar in front of the massive statue, in front of this is where a woman Aranea spends all her time worshipping. To the right of the altar on a level below is a small camp consisting of a small tent. We arrived right before the sunset and climbed the stairs to the Alter area where I remember Aranea spends her time. Indeed there is more tents than I thought and some more Dunmer people who came for the pilgrimage as it seemed. I looked at the massive beautiful statue and felt the wonder of its beauty, I don¡¯t know who exactly build it but they are artists. Azura of the Crimson Gate, also known as Azurah, the Queen of Dawn and Dusk, Mother of the Rose, and Queen of the Night Sky, is a Daedric Prince whose sphere is dawn and dusk (the magic in-between realms of twilight) as well as vanity and egotism. Azura is one of the few Daedra who maintains the appearance of being "good" by mortal standards and presumably feels more concern for the well being of her mortal subjects than other Daedric Princes. She is one of the few Daedric Princes who constantly maintains a female image, and is perceived ordingly. Although she is never overtly deceitful, the way Azura always gets what she desires in the end and how titanic events always follow her interventions can be portrayed as disturbing. Her followers acknowledge that she is "cruel but wise". While she is considered one of the "good" Daedra by the Dunmer of Morrowind, elsewhere she has been known to be allied with Mg Bal, who is known to the Dunmer as one of the Four Corners of the House of Troubles. The people of the Iliac Bay region believe that Azura bewitches some of her followers to be her "lovers" and "virtual ves". Azura¡¯s realm in Oblivion is called ¡¯Moonshadow¡¯ is a realm created and ruled over by her. The realm imed to be so beautiful that visiting mortals are half-blinded. The realm contains flowers and waterfalls, majestic trees, and a city of silver. The wind smells of perfume, and the realm is known to have rain. Azura lives in a rose pce and is weing to mortal travelers. This is what all I could remember from reading about her. For her to be the first Daedric Prince I try to deal with then I sure am not bad. I was in deep thought that even Nefertiti in my hand didn¡¯t move and kept quiet. "Azura ha.." A voice came from the side that made me jump away. The one who spoke was a Dunmer woman in the robes of monks, she was covered in fur because of the cold weather and looked a bit bothered. "Ehem! Azura has seen youring, traveler. It was not curiosity, but fate, that has led you here." She said. I looked at the woman who seemed to be Aranea, the priestess of Azura. I looked at the statue and smiled, "Well, even curiosity is a fate. But I guess Lady Azura can see meing from miles away, I mean, we can see her statue from Winterhold of the sky is clear." "No, Azura has given me the gift of foresight. I had a vision of you walking up the steps to this altar long before you were born. You have been chosen to on be her champion. I know it is unexpected, but do not worry. It will all unfold as she has predicted." "And?" "You must go to a fortress, endangered by water, yet untouched by it. Inside, you will find an elven mage who can turn the brightest star as ck as night." She said, "It is cryptic, I know, but Azura¡¯s signs are never wrong. I believe the fortress may refer to Winterhold. Ask if they know this elven enchanter." "I guess I know who I am looking for. But can I camp here for the night?" "You are wee here!" "Thank you!" "May the twilight guide you." I left the woman and told Jull to bring our camping gear, this will be a cold night. ~~~~~~~~ -Bonus- ?On the mountain of Azura¡¯s Shrine. "Hooman, what is that, nya?" "This is our Kingdom, Nefertiti." "Our kingdom, nya?" "Yes, anything under the sun is our kingdom." "THE TENT IS GETTING COLD YOU IDIOTS!" Chapter 75 Thalmor Good morning. It¡¯s warm in here,pletely unlike the outside. My survival instincts are telling me to not even think about getting up. This only because my fur tent kept the inside so damn nice and warm. Even though I am a Nord, I have that bad habit of not waking up early in cold days. I was still dragged out by force and had some snow shoved in my clothes. Jull was in a bad mood as it seemed that I have snored a bit in the night. Even Nefertiti joined the other side and bullied me. I just can¡¯t... *sob* this is too hard. Breakfast was ready, of course, I shamelessly sat down hoping to get some food but Jull was not even talking to me. I should never snore anymore. Yep, I am sorry. I can¡¯t make puppy eyes so I was still treated coldly and had a little food. Nefertiti who sided with Jull was chewing on her favorite dried fish. She has grown a bit since the time I took her in. Still, I won¡¯t allow her to get fat andzy. Well, she iszy. After some time, we said farewell to Aranea, the priestessof Azura. We took off on our me Atronach Horses that we conjured at some distance away from the shrine. Looking back at that beautiful statue, I had an urge and remembered something. ¡¯System, can you take a screenshot!¡¯ Hohoho! This Augur, what a fine work he did here! Let¡¯s try this then. ¡¯Save it under the name ¡¯Statue with boobs!¡¯ Save what now? What is that Folder thing I heard? ¡¯Save it in.. hmmm! ¡¯Skyrim Landscape¡¯ folder.¡¯ The hell! He didn¡¯t tell me it can do all that? ¡¯Hm! Proceed.¡¯ What th... ¡¯...¡¯ What is in front of me is something like a menu, it has some options like ¡¯Status¡¯, ¡¯Magic¡¯, ¡¯Equipments¡¯, ¡¯Map¡¯, ¡¯Saved Data¡¯. ¡¯Saved Data¡¯ was like this.. ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Saved Data: ¡ÁSkyrim Landscape ?Statue_With_Boobs.jpge ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô ¡¯.... huh?¡¯ ¡¯Oi! Oi! Are you kidding with me! System, did you upgrade or something?¡¯ ¡¯Main branch now? ... fuck you!¡¯ <.....> ¡¯Sigh! Contact the main branch!¡¯ {Your call was expected!} ¡¯Don¡¯t tell me you are going to open a KFC stall soon?¡¯ {The idea would be tempting if I had a mortal body.} ¡¯What in Oblivion did you do to the System?¡¯ {I must apologize for the first attempt at updating the system, it was my first time, after all, think of thest one as a beta version.} ¡¯Fine! Why did you change it anyway?¡¯ {It is simply because I couldprehend more knowledge from your memories!} ¡¯Did you finally turn red and started calling yourself ¡¯Sky Net¡¯?¡¯ {No at all! My goal was to put more effort into assisting you!} ¡¯Well.... thanks!¡¯ {Please make full use of the upgrades, on the following updates, I will make sure to contact you beforehand.} ¡¯Okay, I was just shocked! Thank you!¡¯ Sigh! My immersion is getting destroyed! What would Lord MxR think of his faithful follower if he knew about this? [A/N: MxR, famous Skyrim youtuber, known as the Immersive Lord!] Sigh! Can¡¯t stop sighing. Okay, system! Show me what you got. ¡¯Status!¡¯ ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Name: Jon Dare ¡ñ -Race: Human (Nord) ¡ñ -Age: 15 ¡ñ -Level: 17 ¡ñ -Attributes: Health: 148/148 ¡ü Stamina: 107/107 ¡ü Magicka: 520/520 ¡ñ -Active Effects: Astral Damage: 19% ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô Nothing changed here! It just doesn¡¯t show Magic anymore. ¡¯Equipments!¡¯ ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Equipments: +Head +Upper +Lower +essories +Weapons ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô Hoho! Let¡¯s check them all. ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô ¡ÁHead: -Hood: ck Fur - Cloth -Mask: ck Linen Face Cover - Cloth . ¡ÁUpper: -Shirt: Grey Shirt - Cloth -Curiass: Scaled - Light (50% Resist Magic) -Cloak: ck Fur - Cloth -Gloves: Gloves - Light (MP consumption -10%) . ¡ÁLower: -Pants: ck Traveling Pants - Cloth -Boots: Leather (Muffled) - Light . ¡Áessories: -Ring: Nurina¡¯s Ring (Magicka Regen 150%) -Ne: Amulet of Talos (Thumm cooldown -50%) . ¡ÁWeapons: -Saber: <..> - Skyforge Steel (Paralyze + Burden Enemy Gear) -Warhammer: Agni-Ra - Steel (Sun Damage) -Dagger: Steel ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô Damn! My fetish for wearing ck clothes is showing its full might here. I approve! Good Job Augur. I think I already know the Map and the Magic but I want to see the new spells. ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Mysticism: ¨‹Necromancy: Reanimate Supply Undead Corpse Explosion ¡î . -Alteration: ¨‹Object: Stoneskin - meskin eleration (moved from mysticism - time) Binding ¡î . -Restoration: ¨‹Sun: Sunrays Sun Fire - Sun Rune Holy Smite - Pdin¡¯s Aura Ultraviolent ¡î ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô Great, I can¡¯t wait to use them! "Hooman! Someoneing, Nya!" Dammit! I raised a g. "Where is that?" "Ahead, Nya." I cast ¡¯Scan¡¯ to detect any signs of life or energy but I found nothing. I wasn¡¯t surprised! Nefertiti is a ¡¯Mage Sentry Cat¡¯, her kind is terrifying when ites to detection or finding stuff. Even those who go into stealth with magic or hidden by the powers of Oblivion can be detected by these cats. Nurina said that they can sense Magicka better than any living being. To think Nefertiti can do it at almost four months of age. That¡¯s my girl! I couldn¡¯t help but kiss that furry tiny thing. Now let¡¯s try to see further! I cast two times and two Familiar Falcons flew ahead. I was curious about who woulde to this barren ce. This is the area west to the Shrine of Azura, this ce has nothing but snow, not even a road, I even have to cast scan on the ground from time to time just to avoid any surprises. The idea of someone traveling in this ce other than me is somehow worth looking into, I may have to hide if it is something I can¡¯t face. Finally, my Familiars detected something over 300 meters away. Damn, girl! Can you hear all this distance? Imanded the Familiars to descend and investigate. These were some people, the vision I receive from the Familiars are vague but I can tell from the movement that these are mostly weak people, some looked like carrying some weapons but the others appeared to be carrying children. What is this? A caravan? It can¡¯t be! Not in this ce! "Jull, we are advancing ahead! Take Nefertiti with you. Something is not right." "Understood!" Jull took the small basket Nefertiti stayed in and I rode faster to scout ahead. I have a ¡¯Pinpoint¡¯ mark on both Jull and Nefertiti so they mostly can appear on the Map. ¡¯System! Minimap.¡¯ <*map*> Good! My allies are the blue dots, my Familiars are the green, those people are yellow. Kinda cool. The Fire Horse galloped on the snow and its speed was amazing as ever, not even a minute has passed and I was facing a group of people. They were in a miserable state, some were even injured badly. They were about thirty, mostly women and children with seven men holding weapons. They looked as if they went through Oblivion and back. Once they saw a man on a Fire Horse, they easily panicked and fell on their knees, they looked as if their minds were on the brink of despair and they easily fell to it. The seven men jumped ahead to face me. "Peace!" I raised a hand, "I hope I didn¡¯t give you a scare. I am just a traveling mage." I removed my hood and face cover in attempt to make a friendly face. The people looked at each other as if not expecting to see a Nord. Well, sorry to break it to you. "Is something chasing you people?" "Master Mage! Please save us we are dying!" a woman broke in crying after she wrapped the situation up in her mind, she cried at me holding her son in her arms. "Speak!" I urged the men in the front to speak. The eldest man among them put his spear away and said, "Thalmor Sir Mage! The Thalmor are chasing us!" ~~~~~~~~ The situation was simple. A cult of Talos worshippers lived in a vige south to Dawnstar. It was in the west of Winterhold, five days of walking apart. These people appeared to be a cult that worshipped Talos in secret and was discovered by the Thalmor. The Thalmor forced the Empire to allow them to hunt the worshippers of Talos in Skyrim after the ident of Markarth and what Ulfric Stormcloak did when he demanded for the free worship. His action led to another political break down between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion as allowing Ulfric to have the free worship he asked for was a vition to the White-Gold Concordat that was signed to end the Great War. Due to this, the Thalmor agents and soldiers started going around Skyrim hunting the secret worshippers like dogs. How hateful! More to that, The Thalmor actually dared and ventured far this east. One must know that the policies of the Empire are more applied west than east of Skyrim as in the west was the Capital, Solitude, the center of the imperial power, and in the east was the ancient city of Windhelm, the stronghold of Ulfric Stormcloak and the future base of the Stormcloak rebellion against the Empire. This was clear as daylight! The Thalmor are provoking Ulfric! They want him to find out about their crimes against Nords near his doorstep, else, why would they let those people run all the way from the north of Skyrim to the east where they know it would be safer? These people are just some messengers to put more oil on Ulfric¡¯s fire. How sly! I tried to locate The Thalmor and they were not that far, just half an hour away based on how leisurely they where traveling. Their elven armors and robes gave them away immediately under the vision of my Familiars, I couldn¡¯t let the Familiars go nearer as they will get discovered and alert the Thalmor. Still, their number was almost thirty too. I can¡¯t face them alone. If I am going to act, I have two objectives. First, the survival of the people. I had nothing to give them. The food I carry is only enough for two and a cat. Second, the Thalmor need to be killed. Now, let¡¯s act based on what we can do. I gave the people directions towards the Shrine of Azura. This is the nearest ce of inhabitants anyway. Junar finally caught up and it was the time toy an ambush. The Thalmor will be here soon and there is an Amulet of Talos on me. I don¡¯t think they would let a random human traveler pass alive anyway. These Elves arewless. "Jull, hand me the Soul Gems bag!" I said these words and my heart was quivering in pain. "What will you do?" "Watch an learn! There is nothing called number superiority when ites to Jon Dare!" "Yeah, sure! Here, go and get us killed!" Sigh! This girl needs to learn some manners. Anyway, let¡¯s get this over with! I went to the tracks of the escapees and started to prepare. I had eleven Lesser Soul Gems which will be used right now. I am using a technique I learnedtely, it is ssified as ¡¯Conjure Frost Atronach¡¯ but this is called ¡¯Conjure Frost Guardian¡¯. What is it you ask? Well, it is the same as ¡¯Conjure Frost Atronach¡¯. The only differences are, one barely get to control them around, and they stay in ce, the only orders one can give them is ¡¯enemy¡¯, ¡¯ally¡¯, ¡¯hide¡¯, stuff like that. More than that, they don¡¯t just get conjured by normal Magicka and cast technique, they require a Lesser Soul Gem each. Pretty wasteful, right? Well, they also have a big advantage! They are not bound to Oblivion anymore, which means they are summoned permanently. Due to that, they are stronger than their normal summon and leave bodies behind when they die, not like the normal summon that gets it body back to Oblivion. The best part about their trashy control is that you can have arge number of them. Larger than the number one normally can control. With the w of their mobility, all Guardian summons are perfect for defense and ambush. Now I am surrounded by eleven of those and I could hide them sessfully around the tracks. They looked like ice pieces if one didn¡¯t notice their Magicka. This is perfect. I am in good mood now. Time to hide. I ran from the ce and went to a higher ground where Jull and Nefertiti hid. Thest touch I wanted to add was some undead. To not harm the Frost Guardians with friendly fire. I had to summon only Mistmen, the floating ck upper-half skeletons that cast Frost Magic, I can get eight of them. In my hand was a ¡¯Bound Bow¡¯, and Jull was carrying her bow. We will hunt them in the fray. Not longter, Nefertiti heard them getting nearer. I was on my toes ready for the ambush! Slowly they walked like mice in the trap, not expecting what was waiting for them. Almost there! Now they are surrounded! ¡¯Attack!¡¯ Chapter 76 Red Hair, Red Eyes [A/N: There is a vote on discord, it is about the ¡¯Star of Azura¡¯, you can vote between the Star of Azura that can trap White Souls of animals and other beings, or the ck Star that can trap the ck Souls of Mortals.] [A/N: This is a 4K words chapter. just to let you know and appreciate it.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Justiciar Laranor¡¯s POV] Nords! How filthy! They are not just humans. They are the lowest kind of humans, at least those filthy Bretons walk around showing off their elven ancestry. But you will never find anyone as lowly as Nords. Those monkeys that worship a demon like Lorkhan and a lowly human like Talos deserve nothing but to be chased and killed like the dogs they are. Even their Empire has given up on them due to their stupidity. Now we should do our mission and we should do it right. A message has to be sent for that Jarl in Windhelm. Still, we can enjoy some hunting on the way. Those mongrels refused to die out and fought a hopeless fight shouting Sovengard this and Sovengard that. Some of them actually died smiling! I mean, can anyone believe it? What are their brains made of? I wouldn¡¯t have even believed they have ones until when I cracked a head and looked into it. They always fight fight fight! They are getting on my nerves and under my skin. They just need to be eradicated once and for all. "Justiciar Laranor, you are making that face once again!" Hm! Ah, I get it. "I apologize Justiciar Ronril. I just get into a dire mood when I start thinking about those mongrels! They are giving us this headache running around this damnable wastnd!" The one spoke to me was my senior, he is azy old one. Promoted to a Justiciar sixteen years ago yet with no achievements whatsoever, even though he was said to be talented, he is being chased by his ghosts from the Great War and drinks them away! Pathetic and worthless. Now his worth is nothing and all he does is beginners¡¯ work. "Don¡¯t we all get sick of them? You may have been promoted recently but don¡¯t let it get into your head!" He said, "Those Nords may be worthless as far as the word worthless can get, but you should never look down on a cornered rat, you don¡¯t know how fierce a cornered rat can fight." h! Here he goes again with his nonsense. "Huh! What can those lowly trash do? I apologize in advance but you guys will have to write a detailed report on how will I ughter them and rip them apart." The one who spoke was Celon, an arrogant fool who was promoted with me. I don¡¯t know why would I get chosen to do a mission with these two fools. "Easy there! We need to at least make sure that one or two of them get to that shithole they call Windhelm. Don¡¯t forget the mission we are on." I have to remind them not to go overboard and ruin this damn mission. I am not worried about Ronril since he barely does anything useful anyway, the one who I am worried about is Celon, he is a psychopathic fucker that loves nothing more than hearing screams. "What does a girl like you know anyway?" Celon said, "If I acted like a wimp and didn¡¯t do anything serious, I may get stuck in this job for who knows how many years!" He was speaking ill of me and Ronril in the same time huh! Well well, let¡¯s see what am I going to write about you in the report. "You shouldn¡¯t talk like that Justiciar Celon!" Ronril rode his horse between ours. "Those Nords you want to kill dearly are nothing but people who are going to perish sooner orter. You should set your eyes on the bigger picture!" "Bigger picture?" I asked. "I am sure after you two got promoted you heard about those people who call themselves the Hidden ns of Skyrim, they are the true power behind thisnd, something you have to be wary of all the time." "Hidden n, hmph! They are just Nords, bound to die under my sword like any other Nords no matter what they call themselves. Hidden ns! Companions! Such vulgar names." Celon kept going with his haughty act. Can¡¯t we just kill him here and tell the soldiers not to talk about it? But I have read the report about the Hidden ns, pretty mysterious tales were written about them, Giants Blood, Beast Blood, Fire Blood, Akaviri Blood. Too many bloods! It seemed that they are powerhouses with unique blood lineages that for some reason hid from the political world and kept moving the undercurrents from the shadows. Even though they are Nords, they are not that stupid. Let¡¯s see what this Ronril fool knows about them. "I have read the report about them but many things appeared to be ssified. What does Senior know about them?" "I just threw that thing away, Hidden ns my ass!" Celon interrupted me rudely. "No one even was talking to you Justiciar Celon!" I said without even looking at him, worthless dog! "You..." Celon was grinding his teeth. That sure hit the mark. "Calm down you two. This is not the manners Justiciars should show, especially in front of soldiers." Ronril said, "Sigh! Regarding your question Justiciar Laranor, the Hidden ns are forces originated from the ancient Five Hundred Companion of Ysgramor, an Atmoran (Ancient Nords) murderer who eradicated a lot of Elves and created a nation for the current day Nords, those ns rivaled the old Falmer (Snow Elves) and Dwemer (Deep Elves) pushing them out of power in Skyrim. After these wars, they established themselves in small ns away from the Atmoran Cities until they increased in number and varied in bloodlines. Some ns kept their bloodlines since the olden ages but mostly died out, some went into public, somebined their bloodlines together, and some adopted Akaviri invaders of the Tsaesci invasion of 1E-2703. All in all, these powerhouses are not your run of the mill Nords. They are fierce fighters with small private armies and mysterious powers!" "Tch!" Celon was dissatisfied with what he heard. "What are the standings of these ns with each other senior?" I asked. "They can be turned against each other when they see the threat from each other, some ns don¡¯t mind us like those from the Bloodsail and Stormfist ns. Some doesn¡¯t even tolerate us on Nirn like the Moonde n. The known factions like that College and the Companions are also considered some powerhouses but can¡¯t give any scary vibe like the Hidden ns." Hmm! I know all that but Ronril has a sensitive spot I heard rumors about. Let¡¯s torment him a bit. "What about... the Firemane n?" Ronril froze. His expressions darkened. Hehe! Looks like I hit the spot! The atmosphere around him changed quickly and he felt like another person. Even Celon, the bastard that can¡¯t read the mood, whipped his scornful look away and tried to listen. "Senior!" "Huh!" Ronril woke up from whatever he remembered and looked at me. "I was asking about the Firemane n!" I feigned innocence and asked. Ronril looked at me with an annoyed look, he took out his wineskin and poured some in his mouth. He clearly knew what I was doing. "Firemane huh! Are they something worth mentioning? I heard they are just some pity horse breeders or..." Celon started running his mouth to keep up with my provocation. I guess that¡¯s the only thing he can be of use in. I felt that Ronril was ring at him which caused him to swallow whatever he was about to say. "When you go against the Firemanes, make sure to run your way instead of running your mouth." Ronril turned hostile immediately. His mood turned dire in a second. I guess it went well done, and now Celon will take all the scorn from Ronril, or that¡¯s what I thought. Ronril just sighed and drank another mouthful. "Firemanes, huh!" Ronril actually talked about them, "They are the worst of them. Unkible bastards, for years they were a thorn to our side. They broke the rules of the ns and participated in the Great War just because they thought one of their kin died at our hands. Without them, the Empire would have lost an equal loss to us in thest battle, and it didn¡¯t just end there. They started showing up in Hammerfell and caused a big disturbance, until that cursed day." "What cursed day?" "Fifteen years ago, a woman from the Firemanes got married and settled in Hammerfell, she was one of the patriarch¡¯s daughters and someone who killed a lot of Dominion soldiers. A rumor spread that time when I was still a newly promoted Justiciar about this woman being pregnant with a dangerous child. Some sort of prophecy that was kept ssified. Orders came to watch that woman until the day she gives birth and seize the child. The woman and her husband, however, were aware of our spies and disappeared without a trace for a year. Until the husband, a former de agent, appeared in the most shy way possible. He assaulted our ships stationed in Iliac Bay and burned everything to ash, buying enough time for his wife to run away to Cyrodiil before escaping the other way himself." "A man! Attacked Dominion ships, burned them, and escaped?" Celon said as if trying to mock Ronril. "Yes!" Ronril appeared to have no power to argue with Celon and continued, "I was assigned to chase the woman with many other soldiers, we chased her all the way to the borders and almost shed with the Empire because of our haste and ignoring to the regtions. It was a long chase that took many days, until the day we cornered her just before she reaches Skyrim in the city of Bruma." "What happened in Bruma?" "... A bloodbath... She was not alone as it seemed that she united herself with a friend. We thought the one or two, no matter what the number is, they can do nothing against us. We thought so..." Ronril said and sank into deep thoughts once again. "What happened after that?" "What do you think? We were like moth to me. That woman killed many pursuing teams along with the man with her. It was one-sided. Few were lucky to survive, I was the luckiest." "So you let the criminal escape?" Celon started acting like himself again. I think we went too far with Ronril today. "Escape? No, we didn¡¯t, we couldn¡¯t! If that child was allowed to live, what kind of terror would he bring on us? No, we didn¡¯t stop. She was pursued into Skyrim, by the Nords themselves! We spread the rumor about the child and all the ns cut ties with the Firemanes, except for the Moondes. But what can two ns do against the full might of all the Hidden ns? The woman was cornered near Riften for weeks. No one assisted her and even the man she brought ran away with the horses. Three weekster, she was found on the brink of death, and the child died from starving. When we tried to execute her, the ns retreated from the siege by an order of some monks who live on High Hrothgar, they are called the ¡¯Greybeards¡¯. Our force shed with the Firemanes and we couldn¡¯t hold on so we had to hand her over to stop the fight, whichter proved to be a big mistake." "Mistake?" "Yes, if we killed that woman that day, we wouldn¡¯t have suffered her wrath after that." "What did that woman do?" "... She burned the sea." Burned.. the sea? I think I heard about this somewhere. "Are you talking about... The Bloody Hilda?" Ronril nodded and didn¡¯t say anything. The Bloody Hilda! The pirate who shed with the Bloodsails n and the Dominion ships for years in the northern waters, it was almost fourteen years ago when she appeared, she killed and burned a lot of ships. The Empire itself had to interfere to stop her. This was a big ident and many losses were recorded, it was said that rare treasures fell into her hands. It was also said that she burned the ships she looted and never spared anyone. So The Bloody Hilda was our doing! The official reports said nothing about that. Indeed, letting such a woman live was a mistake. It seems that this n is annoying beyond reason. I will admit that what Ronril said was right. We need to destroy the big pirs before taking down the house. "Pffft! You actually believe all that nonsense. Justiciar Ronril why don¡¯t you think about retirement? You are that old you know." Celon couldn¡¯t resist being an shutting his trap for a second. Not even Ronril was in the mood to look at him yet he was still yapping. "Don¡¯t worry Justiciar Ronril, the moment I see one of these filthy Firemane Nords or whatever, I¡¯ll stick an arrow in... UUGH!" Huh! What was that? Celon fell from his horse on the ground, everyone got alerted. I looked at him and there was an arrow piercing through his neck, a spectral arrow from the ¡¯Bound Bow¡¯ spell. Celon is very dead. "AMBUSH!" Ronril shouted but it was already toote. Thend around us exploded and a lot of ¡¯Frost Atronaches¡¯ appeared around the group. What is this? Who can do such a thing in this ce? There was no time to breathe! We were surrounded and it looked dangerous. "Circle Formation! Hurry! Laranor, don¡¯t just stand there, kill these Atronaches, use magic." Ronril started shouting at me. Dammit! I almost panicked! I jumped from my horse ran into the formation. It¡¯s better to be behind their shields in such a situation. Just as I was preparing a Lightning spell to deal with the Atronaches, Ice Magic started pouring from the Archer¡¯s direction. "How many are there?" "I don¡¯t know, just don¡¯t get rid of these Atronaches first then we can retreat." This is madness! How could these Nords prepare such an ambush? Was there anyone traveling on the road and ended up helping them. That is not the time! I need to take care of this. Thd soldiers stood their ground but the power of the Atronaches was overwhelming. The arrows started hunting us and the Frost magic came from between the Atronaches. As we barely managed to take down half of the Atronaches, we lost half of our men. Finally, the ones casting Frost magic appeared, I can¡¯t believe what I am seeing. Undead! Never seen the likes of them before. What is going on here! Who are we up against? "Eeeeeehaaaa!" Something strange appeared! A rider on a burning horse! No that¡¯s a me Atronach, that looked like a horse? He was rushing like mad and broke the formation. His target is Ronril! He held a spectral spear and took Ronril by surprise. Ronril¡¯s chest wad pierced and carried away by the rider. No time to waste! The rider left a hole in the formation, enough for me to run. I will just run! The rider pinned Ronril on the ground and his hood moved down revealing his red hair. They were saying something to each other. I don¡¯t care now. I must run. "On me! This way! Retreat!" I rallied the remaining soldiers. I need as many meatshields as possible. This rider will be troublesome to face. With some effort, I took about ten men and broke in a run. This is not turning well. The rider is already on us. And there is also another one shooting arrows. I cast ¡¯Haste¡¯ on myself. I need at least some speed and be faster than the others! This bad! Very bad! I am getting tired. The best ce for me to run now is to slide on that small slope, they won¡¯t follow me on horses there. This is better. I think I lost them. But I am all alone now. I need to run back to the ship. It would take days! Easy, calm down! I have to be strong! I walked and walked! I could feel a presence! I need to be alert, I evoked magic and approached quietly. Nothing was here, just a small wild animal. "This is as far as you go Thalmor! We tracked you for days!" A voice came from behind! When.. how!! Someone sneaked on me? It is the voice of a girl! "I don¡¯t know who are you bu..." "Save your threats for someone who has time to hear them? Now speak, where are your men? And the people you chased?" This is bad! We were being tracked? But they don¡¯t seem to be with the one made the ambush. Think, think, think. I have to distract her then take her as a hostage! I¡¯ll talk then I¡¯ll cast magic on her! This is the best n. "Listen! If you... UWAAA!" PAINFUL! WHY? SHE DARE... MY HANDS! "YOU BITCH! YOU CUT OFF MY.. UWAAAH! AAAH!" IT HURTS! MY... HANDS! NO! I can¡¯t face her! This monster! Run! I need to run! I can¡¯t do this anymore! I.. just.. have... Gods! Why? Why did he catch up? ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] Three Justiciars on horses, thirty Thalmor soldiers on foot. Such a force! They walked into the trap and everything is turning out well, but they may survive. I don¡¯t want them to survive. I had to take down a Justiciar with an arrow first, these are the most annoying kind of Thalmor. Something like thew enforcers that act as judge, jury, and executioner. The most annoying thing about them is their magical power, one can¡¯t just allow them to live. The system helped in assessing the situation too by detecting the energy from them. And so on. I managed to take down the but Jull couldn¡¯t get a hit on any of the other two and they ended up taking down half of the Atronaches. Not good! I can¡¯t let this continue. "Jull, cover me! I¡¯ll go wreck some havoc." She nodded and I jumped on the Fire Horse and cast ¡¯Bound Spear¡¯. Only one Justiciar was nearly unguarded and that was the one. Let¡¯s take him down! "Eeeeeehaaaa!" I made a charge. Feels like fun! Between this! Behind that! Coming through! Excuse me! Aaaand. "Aaargh!" One skewered Thalmor Justiciar for you! Hoho! Bastard is putting resistance! You just have to die, sir. I took the poor elf on my spear and pinned him on the ground! This time it the spear must have gone through his heart! He was dying under the Fire Horse while taking the spear in his chest. Must have looked cinematic from a third person view! ¡¯Screenshot!¡¯ ¡¯Generic name dammit!¡¯ The others saw the strongest one among them die in this state and broke into a run! Wait for me. "Red.. hair!" The Justiciar I took down was still clinging to life and held my spear. "Red.. hair.. blue.. eyes.. fire.. mane!" Oh! Why are those guys so famous! First the pirate and now him? Anyway, "Nice to meet you!" I mocked him but his face looked grimmer! He was dying anyway! "Can¡¯t.. let.. you.. live!" He said while trying to evoke magic. "Too bad!" I evoked ¡¯Force Bullet¡¯ as it was my fastest spell and cast at his head three times. Looking at him! Yep! Very dead! Disfigured and all! "Don¡¯t waste the time here! Let¡¯s kill the rest!" Jull was excited as ever. Killing is her hobby after all. "Let¡¯s go!" I rode faster than Jull who rode slower to shoot her arrows easier and also was pulling move our luggage horse. The Thalmor were dispersed and didn¡¯t even organize their escape! They were easy to hunt. Thest one was the female Justiciar. She seemed to have slid on a small snow slope. Well, not bad! I will follow her on foot then. "Jull, go around the slope and be careful, pinpoint me!" Jull cast ¡¯Pinpoint¡¯ on me so she can feel my location. Our cooperation is the best. Now! Let¡¯s get this little Thalmor! On the slope I am sliding, weeeeeeeeeeeee! That was fun! Let¡¯s look for that one! Is she here? Nope! There? Nope! Where did she g... "UWAAAAAA!" There! Something must have caught her before me! Gotta be careful here! "YOU BITCH! YOU CUT OFF MY.. UWAAAH! AAAH!" Wow! A girl did that? Scary! She has two swords. Curved swords! Now I can¡¯t let her see my face. Let¡¯s just put the face cover for now! I show myself up but the Thalmor Justiciar girl tried to run my way only to see me and fall on her knees. "Too much for that elven superiority, isn¡¯t?" I couldn¡¯t help but mock! The girl with swords looked at me and she appeared to have put a white face veil too. But... Daaamn! ck hair! Pale skin! Aaaand Red eyes? "Wel-met!" I said,pletely forgetting the Justiciar girl I was nning to kill. The girl nodded to my greeting silently! She is the same height as me, tall for a girl, wearing an expensive looking ssy white robe and looked so calm and peaceful unlike what she did. Cutting someone¡¯s hands like this was brutal. "Hmmm! I was chasing this Thalmor Justiciar or whatever... really was going to kill her. Well, if you want to kill her you can go ahead... or we can kill her together... or let me kill her! What do you think?" "I still need information about her team and the people they were chasing!" The girl said in a very enchanting voice. I was not sure of what kind of girl that is. "Already taken care of! Met the people less than an hour ago and gave them directions to the Shrine of Azura." I said, "Of course I killed of her team!" The girl raised her brows and looked at me not believing what I said. The Thalmor girl, however, rushed at me screaming, "YOU DEMON!" I kicked her abdomen and sent her on her butt. They killed all these Nords and now is calling me a demon for returning the favor. Reminded me of my past world all of a sudden. "Will we let her bleed out, or kill her?" I asked. "By all means, be my guest." The girl gave her blessing. "Okay! A painful death it is. Smile!" I approached the Thalmor girl who was looking at me with all the hate in the world and raised my fist. I was finally trying this spell on a living target. I evoked my original Expert level spell, ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯. My right fist turned shining with a *Bzzzt* *Bzzzt* and I punched at the girl. *BOOM* It was... SPLENDID! The Thalmor girl¡¯s upper half was nowhere to be seen, and a cloud of light snow formed around the ce but went down rapidly. "Haha! That was one painful death!" I was proud of what I did! The swords girl looked at me and was shocked. "I am not sure, but that was a painless death?" She said. "What! Really?" "Yeah, it took less than a second." "Come on!" I was dispirited, "I mean, look at the mess it caused. How can that be painless?" "Well, I guess everyone has his own standards of pain." She is right! I like her attitude. Anyway, after that kill, all that is left was a boy with red hair, a girl with red eyes, and a trail of red blood in between. Chapter 77 Mount Anthor [Jon¡¯s POV] The scene didn¡¯t change much! Just me, the girl and the corpse... half corpse. The only thing that was added to the scene was one, two, three... twelve, thirteen. Thirteen more figure dressed in white and covering their faces, they appeared out of nowhere just a few seconds after I blew the Justiciar into bloody goo. Their looks were unique yet simr to each other. I haven¡¯t seen an eye color like this before but it may be ¡¯Light Grey¡¯, don¡¯t know! They also are holding strange weapons. Some look like warpicks and others have chains in them. Kinda looked like ninja weapons but I know ninja weapons and these clearly are not. The people themselves gave off the air of Nords, but they didn¡¯t act like Nords, which made me not so sure if they are Nords or another race. But it is a weird scene nheless. A girl with red eyes and looks like ady from a prestigious family, standing and guarded by thirteen weird shinobi like people who probably share the same ancestry. "Are you alright, young miss?" "Don¡¯t worry, he means no harm!" She spoke up for me! More than that, when she did, they eased up a bit and showed less hostility to me. Still, "How do you know that?" I asked in a smug way. The girl looked at me and I could feel her smile behind the veil, "I can tell!" She said. I couldn¡¯t hide my tired mentality, "Perfect! Another weirdo." They people showed no reaction except for one. "Insolent! Apologize or I¡¯ll make you!" He came out and pointed a short de at me. The others sighed and shook their heads, apparently, his actions are out of their norm. I looked at the guy and he seemed to be in a close age to me. His posture and weapon holding technique are new to me. Looked interesting. "Point that away before you injure yourself boy." A voice came from behind me. That was Jull aiming her bow at him. The situation got frozen for a few seconds but someone broke the ice. "Stop embarrassing yourself you fool!" A girl¡¯s voice came from one of the white figures. The guy didn¡¯t back off and pressed further, "Yeah, stop embarrassing yourself and apologize immediately!" Huh! "Sigh! I was talking to you, icebrain!" The girl spoke once again. "Huh!" The boy got taken aback as it seemed he didn¡¯t expect it. He was at a loss from embarrassment now. "Don¡¯t think about it too much!" I said. "Wha! I don¡¯t need you tofort me!" He shouted at me. The situation was fun. I kinda see that these people are not that shady as the look. Still, I guess I can¡¯t stay like this all day. There is some stuff I want to do. "I guess it all went well, but I need to be on my way now if you excuse me." I turned around and pointed to Jull. "Wait!" The red-eyed girl called, "The people that were being chased, please lead us to them!" She seemed concerned about them. "Fine, I am going back to them anyway!" She nodded and whispered something to her people, some of them ran and brought some horses a minuteter. "I think we need to hurry, you and your friend can share the ride with us fo... huh?" She was speaking to me but suddenly halted and looked to the side. The others also followed her gaze on guard. I was not detecting anything weird from that direction. It was just Jull bringing back... the fire horses. Aha! So this girl has a good detection ability too. I felt I looked down on her a little bit. ¡¯System! Show their levels!¡¯ The girl was , that¡¯s stronger than me! The boy that acted hostile towards me was . The others varied between and . This is some serious force. Some of them were even stronger than the Justiciars. Anyway, Jull came with the Fire Horses and somemotion happened between these people. They clearly didn¡¯t see this oneing. I jumped on my horse and looked expressionlessly at them. It took them a moment to process what happened and rode in their horses silently. "Who are these people?" Jull came close and asked. In the same time, the boy who showed hostility towards me approached the red-eyed girl and asked. "Who is that person?" I and the girl could hear from a long distance so we looked at each other with curiosity. "I have no idea!" ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV] We rode with haste towards the direction that mysterious young man guided us too. I was really in a hurry to finish the mission entrusted to me by the elders but it seemed that this young man has already done the deed. He said he has taken care of it alone. I don¡¯t know how powerful he is but he clearly showed it off on purpose when he killed that Justiciar, maybe overkilled, I don¡¯t know anymore! All I can tell that he didn¡¯t lie to me, the only problem is; he is very unpredictable. Unpredictable people show many future possibilities and are hard to read. Well, he can¡¯t lie in front of my eyes so I guess there is no harm. After all, unpredictable people are the most interesting. More than that, this horse he is riding is clearly an Atronach. An Atronach that can reshape itself is only mentioned in tales of ¡¯The Three Banners War¡¯ during the ¡¯nemeld¡¯. [A/N: nemeld: an event that urred ¡¯The Elder Scrolls Online¡¯. This was done by Mg Bal when he tried to drag Nirn out of Mundus and take it to his realm.] During the ¡¯nemeld¡¯, it was said that some conjurers could achieve this degree of controlling an Atronach and forcing it to take the form they want. Best guess is, this young man is from a very prestigious faction that has excelled in the Conjuration School. Maybe the ¡¯Children of Hafara¡¯, but these people don¡¯te here. The nearest ce that provides practice to Conjuration is the ¡¯College of Winterhold¡¯, but those are part of the outside world and we have a good rtionship with them. I need to start learning how to ¡¯Scry¡¯ from now on. But it is also another lost art. While I was sinking into my thoughts, my nsmen halted their horses which alerted me. There seems to be something ahead! I saw three of Frost Atronaches standing ahead and guarding a ce. "Please give me a second." The young man jumped from his horse and went to them, he then started ¡¯Banishing¡¯ them back to Oblivion. "He is good!" The team leader said. I can see that too! The team leader is just temporary working under me but he is the one who is actually giving orders. As the third young miss, my role is only to act solemn and look pretty. Anyway, the young man seemed to have done and signaled us toe ahead. "Young man! You really took all of them on your own?" The team leader asked. "Hehe! Nothing really special, I just hid a lot of Frost Atronaches around and they walked right into the trap." "Well done!" The team leader said, "Listen, these elves have a lot of quality armor and some valuables, I will offer you a good price for them!" "Fine!" The young man agreed without thinking. "Good! You, you, and you. Loot the bodies the burn them!" Three of the team went down and started the work, the rest of us kept following the young man. Not longter, we caught up with the Talos worshippers. They looked fine! "Sir Mage, you are back, did you find the Thal.. who are these people?" One man stepped up quickly but halted when he saw us. The young man red at us and his hand touched his sword, I guess I had to mention this before. Dammit! I forgot to tell. "Ehem! Wel-met, I am a traveler and these are my guards, this morning we came across a boy who was wounded in the snow, his name was Vulkur and he said that Thalmor were chasing his family so we rallied to aid." "Vulkur is alive! Talos bless you mydy, where is he?" "He is back at the camp with some of my guards, you can rest assured." This was notpletely true, but also I didn¡¯t lie, we found the boy in the n¡¯s territory and when we found out that some Talos worshippers were in distress along with a Thalmor infiltration to ournd, this had to be responded at with firmness. We also carried some orders and supplies for the matter of those people. But the problem urred quickly, or I guess this was only natural. These people have already decided to escape to Windhelm and be protected by Ulfric Stormcloak. This will cause problems in the long run. We can ask the ¡¯Firemane n¡¯ to take them in but that needs a prior contact even though they are our sworn allies. What a headache! As I was thinking of a way out of this, the young man took part in the conversation, "Sigh! You can just go to Winterhold!" Winterhold? This ce is doomed within a few years, doesn¡¯t he know that? The people tried to tell him this but he said, "I wasn¡¯t going to help in this matter but if you folk went to Windhelm, you may cause a political problem. Don¡¯t ask about the details but you can actually go to Winterhold. The ce started to change three months ago. Some fellow rebuilt a part of the old town, he is looking for people to work for him there. Take this token to Winterhold and ask for Trudvar or mistress Elishka, tell them what happened and everything will be fine!" He didn¡¯t lie! My eyes told me that. This is news to me and clearly news to the whole n. Winterhold is under the mercy of the ¡¯Bloodsails n¡¯. Even the College doesn¡¯t operate openly in the town, if someone managed to control that puppet of a Jarl then the town can be liberated. I looked at the team leader and we both understood what needs to be done. "We will also send two men with you to Winterhold! This is the number we can spare for now as we are under an important mission at the moment!" The team leader said. Whoever that person is, we must make contact with him. This is clearly of great importance. This young man is indeed from the College, he wanted to hide it but indeed we are lucky to meet him. I can¡¯t thank him enough now. After this and that we parted with the Talos worshippers and said our thanks to the young man. He got paid for the elven armor we looted and he seemed to want to part quickly! Sigh! Interesting people are indeed rare! I guess I¡¯ll take this guard and pay the sacred ground a visit before I go back to my boring n. ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] I hate to put my identity into situations like these. I had to help the worshippers of Talos by preventing them from going to Ulfric, this is a headache but it was worth it. Problem is, these white shinobi like people and the red-eyed girl may figure something out about me. I hate this! I have a phobia regarding my identity leak. This is something that was hammered into me by uncle Delvin himself. He taught me the importance of secrecy when ites to dealing with people, and also the importance of fame. That¡¯s is why my name as Jon Dare is my famous one, the one I look good in. And even though I don¡¯t want anyone to find out about me now, yet I had to put it on the line for the sake of those people. To tell the truth, I shouldn¡¯t have acted. I could only give directions to Winterhold and nothing more. But when I saw the red-eyed girl giving a distressed look like that, I felt the urge to act. Did I really have to be the hero? Stupid! Stupid! You are no hero. "Aaaaah!" My brain is overheating right now. "Hooman! Want a kiss, nya?" Nefertiti woke up and is making a cute face. Sigh! Not angry anymore. Can¡¯t be. "Yes please, kiss me!" "Nya, you kiss me, nya!" "....." "Hooman!" "....." "If you kiss me nya, you be happy nya!" What¡¯s with that logic? "Kiss me nya!" Fine! Here. "See, you feel good nya!" "Just stuff this in your mouth and go sleep!" I gave her a dried fish and put her back in the basket. She became really cheeky! "Me too!" Jull rode beside me. "Want a fish?" "No, kiss me!" Sigh! This will not end. *** After half a day of fast riding, we reached our destination. Mount Anthor! Mount Anthor is a mountain southwest of Winterhold and west of the Shrine of Azura. Ancient Nords built a Word Wall just a few meters beneath the summit of the mountain. The mountain is most famous as the site of the battle between f One-Eye and the dragon Numinex during the War of Session. f One-Eye was the Jarl of Whiterun at that time, after the death of thest king of Ysgramor¡¯s dynasty, a civil war broke out between the holds and the victor was f. One of his deeds was ying Numinex, a dragon that was told to be a foul-tempered one that wiped out entire viges, burned cities and killed countless Nords. I came for this ce for only one reason. The Word Wall. A Word Wall is a wall etched with a set of words in the Dragon Language. Multiple Word Walls can be found in various locations throughout Skyrim. In the game, on each Word Wall, one of these words may be highlighted. A highlighted word is a Word of Power, it is associated with a certain Shout the yer can use in the game. Most importantly, the Word Walls out in the mountains are dragonirs. I can consider that my arrival at such a ce is already an attempt to gain the words before the dragonse back to the world. As I arrived to the ce, it appeared as arge yard with few stones here and there, as well as a long stairway that leads to a higher area in the mountain. I found some burial urns and some flowers here and there. Apparently, some Nords cremated their dead kin and kept the burial urns here. This may be some sacred grounds now. Anyway, I need to copy the words on the wall and be on my way. I walked through the ce in respect for the buried dead and advanced to the stairway immediately. On the top of the ridiculously long stairway, I found the Word Wall. A half circr stone carved in the mountain with Nordic decorative carvings on the top and draconic alphabetical runes all along the wall. This is it! Just what I was looking for. "What is that nonsense?" Jull approached the wall and looked at the characters she did not understand! "You ignorant! This wall is priceless, the amount of knowledge recorded here can¡¯t be valued with a normal human sense of value!" "What do you mean?" "Every word on this wall is a possible word of power, but there is only one I am looking for right now, it should call for me!" Where is it? Will this be like the game where the word calls for the yer or I should find it on my own, I reall... Wait! Here. This word is emitting power. This word is four runes, I recognize them, it is ¡¯SLEN¡¯, if I remember it means ¡¯Flesh¡¯. ¡¯SLEN¡¯ is the second word of the ¡¯Ice Form¡¯ shout. It is ¡¯IIZ SLEN NUS¡¯, which means ¡¯Ice Flesh Statue¡¯. It is a Thu¡¯um to freeze the opponent solid. I haven¡¯t practiced this Thu¡¯um yet. But it¡¯s ridiculously strong. One can turn a man into a solid ice statue, a mammoth onto a preserved mammoth, it may be used in preserving food... ok I¡¯ll stop right here, there is already a spell for that. Anyway, I need to understand this word like in the game. Any ideas? Should I call the Augur, no not yet! I¡¯ll just channel Magicka to the word, let¡¯s see... What is this? Why does it... ...wah! "Aaargh!" "Jon, are you okay? Can you hear me?" I can here Jull but.. I feel.. I can¡¯t.. my flesh.. This is.. The flesh.. The word.. is affecting me? "Aah! Aah! Huff! Huff! That was, extreme!" I fall on my butt after this experience. I understood! The ¡¯Flesh¡¯! It was like this after all. My head gained a lot of knowledge. I gained an understanding of the term of ¡¯Flesh¡¯. Not a human understanding, but a dragon understanding. This was strange. The flesh to the dragons is something entirely different than mortals. What a profound way of thinking! I can¡¯t even describe it in mortalnguage. Scary! "I am alright now!" "What was that just now?" "I gained some knowledge!" "Sigh!" Jull sighed, "I told you studying is be harmful!" This idiot, well, whatever! "Anyway! I¡¯ll copy these words on the wall in dragonnguage, for your sake and if you one day want to learn the Thu¡¯um, write what I am going to say." I stood and started copying the words on the wall in draconic alphabet while Jull was copying after me with themon alphabet. After we finished, she handed me her note and I started correcting her mistakes and writing a trantion. The final product is this.. ___________________________________ NONVUL BRON DahMaaN DaaR ROT DO FIN FODiiZ BORMah-ORIN: "PRUZaaN DWiiN aaL KREH ahRK KREN NUZ *SLEN* DO VahZah MUZ LOS SINDUGahVON." Noble Nords remember these words of the hoar father: "Even best steel may bend and break, but *flesh* of true men is unyielding." ___________________________________ [A/N: These words are legit from the wiki.] It looked good, I may create my own Thu¡¯um one day with words like this. I double checked the words and packed things up. As we were finishing up, we heard a voice calling, "Who dares trespass the sacred grounds of n Moonde?" Chapter 78 Alinas Scheme [Jon¡¯s POV] "Who dares trespass the sacred grounds of n Moonde?" Seriously! "Hey Jull, who are those Moondes?" "No idea!" I was taken aback by that loud voice. It was a bit familiar but I didn¡¯t really remember whose voice it is. It was of a young man and carried a hint of being irradiated. Looking around, I saw someone walking through the ruins around the stairway that I was walking down. Once our eyes met we recognized each other immediately even though we were cowering our faces. "Oh! It¡¯s Icebrain!" "You..." The one I saw was Icebrain, one of those shinobi in white with the red-eyed girl, he is the one who raised a short sword at me. "What are you doing here? This is the sacred grounds of our n!" He was talking to me in irritation. That so! "n Moonde! Did I hear correctly?" "Yes!" "Sorry, I didn¡¯t see any sign or marking saying this is your n¡¯s ground. And if that¡¯s the case then why is it not guarded?" "This..." He clearly has no idea! "What¡¯s wrong, Skywalker?" Sky.. what now? The one who said that was someone who just popped into the scene. It is the red-eyed girl. "Mydy, these two are trespassing the sacred grounds!" Do you realize that you look like a kindergarten kid who isining to his teacher about another kid? Sigh! "I am not sure what is going on here but I hadpletely no idea this was some n¡¯s sacred grounds!" The girl looked at me and nodded, how understanding! "I am sure the grounds are normally unguarded but we left few banners here and there to mark the area!" Skywalker remembered something and said. He is clearly displeased with me. "I indeed saw some old banners but they really looked too old to be used for any purpose!" I said, "And with all due respect, I have never heard of your n before. That aside, these grounds used to be Dragon Lairs, and four years from now, they will return to their rightful owners. Just don¡¯t bother!" "Is that so?" The red-eyed said while frowning, "Then let me ask you a question, did youy a hand on anything in these grounds?" What a question! "I didn¡¯t steal anything and I didn¡¯t go near the burial urns!" This was the truth! "Hmmm! You said the truth, but you didn¡¯t answer the question!" She was covering her face but I think she was grinning. "I may have picked a flower from there." She frowned again after I said that. Interesting! "So that¡¯s how it works! You are a Mystic." I arrived at a conclusion. This girl has a natural gift in Mysticism, she can detect lies. Ah! People with inborn talent is Mysticism, how vexing! Based on her eye color that is different from the rest of her nsmen, she is clearly something special among them, not just in status but in talent too. Furthermore, I learned she is from a n called Moomde, I guess I know about her as much as she knows about me now... probably! The girl looked at me with her enchanting eyes as if she was amused by what she heard. "How dare you talk like this? You will pay for disrespecting Lady Crimson Moon!" Contrary to all of our expectations, the fellow called Skywalker drew his de and rushed at me, even the girl who apparently is called ¡¯Crimson Moon¡¯ was surprised and tried to stop him. He was clearly intending to start a fight with me from the very beginning. And on top of all that, he has already said the magic word! Even if you are a Daedric Prince, don¡¯t you ever dare me! "Dare is my surn..." I was going to say the famous quote I say every time someone dares me but I was interrupted by Jull¡¯s action. She unsheathed her short sword and rushed to sh with Skywalker. *** That Skywalker was clearly well trained. His level was equal to Argir in both terms of speed and power. However, what surprised me the most was his use of martial arts. In this world, martial arts are rare and from what I researched, they are only used by those who can harness their ¡¯Aura¡¯. The moves he showed are really interesting. Still, nothing to impress me. Junar is both faster and stronger than him, and the techniques that I taught her are superior to his moves. He used also one short de at first but when he got pressed by Jull, he took out another de. Eventually, both of them started using the twin-de style. His weapon techniques, on the other hand, is better than Jull¡¯s, it appeared as if it was hammered into him since young age. I was getting fed up with the meaningless fight so I decided to stop them with magic but I felt a strong gaze on me. That Crimson Moon was staring at me as if she will move as soon as I move, I guess this is going to drag out for a big fight now. I used the ¡¯mes¡¯ spell, the most basic Novice level me spell just to see what this girl is made of but the result was not clear. She used Frost magic and we got entangled in our own magic duel, I didn¡¯t go hard on her from the start but she started pushing fiercely. This level of pushing fiercely meant nothing to me, I was just trying to see the limit of a Hidden n youngster. If I have to assess her level based on the College¡¯s ranking, then she can be considered a ¡¯Destruction Schr¡¯ rank. "You are good, Conjurer!" She said, "Let¡¯s get serious!" Until now, we were using only one hand and the spell sh area looked as if we were equal. Only because I wanted to. But this girl now added her free hand and dual cast the spell at me. The duel was turning to her favor and my spell was being pushed back. Only because I wanted to. "Use your other hand!" She wanted me to face her seriously but I only found that cute. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I adjusted the Magicka output and stopped her push with only one hand cast. She looked a bit confused but in her mind, she clearly was justifying it to herself. I guess I should end this. I pushed her back with a strong channeling that made her open her beautiful red eyes wide open. She thought she can push me based on her natural talent in magic but I crushed her expectation. A few secondster she was at her limit and her spell was a finger¡¯s length of gettingpletely suppressed. Just to not harm her, I canceled her magic and mine at the same time yet it still pushed her back a bit. I almost saw a beautiful face under the veil she covered her face with but too bad she was far. "NO!" Skywalker panicked during his duel with Jull and pushed her away, he then ran towards me to stop me from harming his n¡¯s youngdy. I didn¡¯t want to deal with using magic so I received him with a kick, then disarmed him, added some punches and kicks, and he was ready to be served... on the ground. "We submit!" The girl said, "We will not fight you!" I looked at the boy on the ground and said, "Because of your impulsive actions you brought hardships to yourdy and may have brought her harm, I hope this serves as a lesson!" I tried to say something nice just to look righteous. These kids are from a Hidden n and I am not sure if they will leave me be if I acted with haughtiness now. "No, this is my fault!" Crimson Moon said, "I had to stop him when I had the chance, not to join him. I got excited, I truly apologize." "Really no need, I understand!" "Can I ask you something?" "Ehem! By all means." "Your talent in the magic casting is clearly very superior, I was wondering, are you a Conjurer or a Pyromancer (Fire Mage)?" "Me? I am a Mystic." The girl was shocked once again, she stared into space and started thinking. "What about the fighting techniques you used just now?" "That¡¯s my own style." "....." She turned speechless. Meanwhile, Skywalker got up from the ground and looked at me. "What can I call you with?" This Skywalker was asking like this for my name, fine! "You can call me Darth Vader!" I said barely suppressing myughter. "Darth Vader, next time, I am not losing!" He dered as if he was supposed to be an equal from the start! "Whatever you want!" "Sir Darth, You can call me Crimson Moon of the Moonde n. I have witnessed your skill and recognized it. Would you ept my offer to join n Moonde?" Crimson Moon spoke as if she was offering me a piece of heaven. "Mydy, you can¡¯t be serious! We don¡¯t even know his background." (Skywalker) "I will leave that for the elders to decide!" (Crimson Moon) "But mydy, this matter will get worse if som..." (Skywalker) "That¡¯s my final say." (Crimson Moon) "Ehem! Excuse me but I am not interested?" (Me) "WHAT! How dare you refuse an offer from thedy?" (Skywalker) "I advise you against using the word ¡¯Dare¡¯ with him. It triggers him to do theplete opposite." (Jull) "Humph! Fine, I dare you to join my n!" (Crimson Moon) "Not interested!" (Me) "Hooman is only mine, nya!" (Nefertiti) "That¡¯s right, tell them, Nefertiti!" (Me) "Wah! So cute!" (Crimson Moon) "No touching!" (Me) "Please!" (Crimson Moon) "Nope." (Me) "Pretty please!" (Crimson Moon) "Nope." (Me) "How dare you refuse mydy¡¯s request." (Skywalker) ¡¯Does this guy even learn?¡¯ (Me) (Crimson Moon) (Jull) ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV] After a while of argument, I managed to pat that cat, she was so fluffy. Nothing fluffy grows in Skyrim but that was the fluffiest cat I have ever seen. Not long after, Darth Vader and hispanion hit the road and left. I was greatly depressed after he refused my offer. Someone with this talent can bring change to the n and may cause us to thrive further. I am sure that he is someone from the College of Winterhold. His magic skill gives off his rank as a ¡¯Wizard¡¯. He clearly is a famous figure there. Even the girl with him was talented and had a sharp atmosphere around her. The didn¡¯t use ¡¯Aura¡¯ in the fight but neither did we, it appeared that we are nearly the same age but they could exert out more ability than us. The magic of Darth was simply strong. Stronger than me by levels. I was being blocked as if I was facing a mountain. Moreover, his barehanded skill was superior to the n¡¯smon techniques and equal to the secret arts. Lucky for him, the Skywalker with me is not very perceptive, but I could see the power and potential in it. He didn¡¯t lie to me about his specialty as a Mystic but there was clearly more to it. He also didn¡¯t lie about his fighting techniques. His name, however, was aplete hoax, even I didn¡¯t need using my eyes to tell. He is a walking pile of interest! I can¡¯t get him out of my head now. "Next time... Next time... I am not losing to him!" Skywalker Svakin was excited too. "I am not sure how your Icebrain and hothead cooperate with each other in such harmony!" This guy was so simple. Svakin is a childhood friend of mine and he rose to the rank of Skywalkertely. "Ehem! Excuse medy Alina, but how will we report this to the Elders?" "Report? Are you mad? I forbid you from uttering a single word about what happened here." I said hastily. "Eh? Why is that? I don¡¯t think any problem shall arise if we reported anything!" Of course, there will be problems! How can I tell him this? "How do you think the Elders will react when they find out I was defeated by a young man like him?" "I don¡¯t understand, it all went well... wait! You can¡¯t be speaking of... that!" "Of course, he defeated me in my strong point withplete ease. This is my chance!" "No no no Alina... I mean mydy, this can¡¯t happen. It may affect our rtionship with the Firemanes." "Humph! Listen here! My future will be decided by me, not whatever n or whatever elder. I said that before and I dered my decision in front of the whole n and they agreed, technically they were forced to agree but they still agreed. Of course, I won¡¯t drag myself into a situation I can¡¯t deal with, so we are going to investigate him thoroughly. From now we should get ready. I am joining the College of Winterhold." ~~~~~~~~ -Bounce- ?Premonition "My ear is ringing." (Me) "Which ear?" (Jull) "The left." (Me) "Someone is nning trouble for you." (Jull) "What about the right?" (Me) "Someone is feeling good about you." (Jull) "What happens if it is the two at the same time?" (Me) "Then you are being dragged in a scheme by someone who likes you." (Jull) Chapter 79 A Call For Help [A/N: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT IN ¡¯AUTHOR THOUGHTS¡¯.] We said our goodbyes to the Moonde boy and girl then headed directly west along with the mountain range that links between the holds of ¡¯The Pale¡¯ and ¡¯Winterhold¡¯. Our goal is to travel swiftly and with haste to ¡¯Wayward Pass¡¯, a passage between the mountains that leads from the snow wastes north the mountains to the nes and the forests in the south. This pass normally has no travelers and it didn¡¯t have any bandits or monsters in the game, but unlike the game, ces like this should have something like that. Luckily for us, me Atronach Horses scare the shit out of bandits and beasts. The ride continued smooth to the west and we took turn when we spotted the pass. There is no road in this ce but the path was cleared up and we could pick up the pace. The path went up until we reached a narrow path that extended for a short ride that took nothing but fifteen minutes. During the ride, we saw skeletal remains of beasts and men hanged on the walls and was put in a weird and spooky manner. There was also an altar and a shrine the belonged to of the divines called Arkay. Anyway, the path continued but the sun had already set. Traveling at night is madness but camping in this kind of ce was not something I would want to do. We rode full speed ahead for the first time on the journey. Jull fell in love with how fast the me Atronach Horse can run, it was a thrilling experience but needed a lot of control. After a while, we reached the nes south of the mountains and started to take it easy. We kept using the ¡¯Night Vision¡¯ spell and kept headed south until we reached a road. It took us a while to find a road sign, it took a while but it all went well. My destination was the Nightgate vige, a vige that was built around a traveler¡¯s inn and was considered part of ¡¯The Pale¡¯, but it has a unique location between the three holds of ¡¯The Pale¡¯, ¡¯Winterhold¡¯, and ¡¯Eastmarch¡¯. I was traveling to this inn as the first stop of my training n. Around the inn, there were some interesting locations and ces I intend to visit. To the east, there are Forsaken Cave and Yorgrim Overlook ruin. To the Northwest where we areing from are Ironbind Barrow and Silverdrift Lair. To the west, there is a grove called Shrouded Grove. And finally to the southeast, there is Korvanjund Ruins. All these ces are locations of great interest for those who know the value and the secrets in them. Most of them are ancient Nordic ruins of past eras, only ¡¯Shrouded Grove¡¯ is just a natural sight and a ce where I expect to find a troll in. During theing months, I intend to conquer as much as I can of these ces. Some of them are pretty dangerous and some enemies are just impossible to face in such a ce to the current me, but with a great n, I¡¯ll conquer them clean. I reviewed these ns with Junar as we approached the inn. Once we detected signs of human activity, we banished the me Atronach Horses and switched to walking. Mages like myself are treated coldly in these parts while adventurers are always weed, I prefer the adventurer treatment this time. Walking into the vige, it was already night but the vigers were awake and the patrolling guards spotted us, they treated us suspiciously but as I dered my identity as an adventurer, I was weed and guided to the inn. The inn was the center of the town, there are some lumbering workers and a herbalist in the vige but all worked for the inn in the end. After I entered the inn, I noticed that like many other taverns, Nightgate Inn consists of a huge taproom with a firece in the center and the counter at the opposite end of the room from the entrance. A few wooden tables are scattered around the taproom, all of them set with chairs and candles. In addition to the taproom, the inn also has some smaller rooms with beds and reserved for paying customers. When I got in, the inn was nearly empty, I found a table, but the stuff on the floor, and sat on a chair resting my aching bones. A whileter, a shadow came towards us and spoke, "Ah, hello there, traveler. Come to the Nightgate for food or lodging?" The man who talked is a Nord, half bald, and with a beard. His appearance reminded me of that NPC, the innkeep Hardling. "Mead, warm food, a bit of smoked or dried fish, and a room for two." "Staying the night?" "Nah! Been traveling for weeks. I¡¯ll pay for a few days upfront with food and all." "A week, huh? Fine, wee to the Nightgate Inn,d, name¡¯s Hardling. Anything you need, just holler." "Thanks," I said, "Tell mo Ol¡¯ Hardling, are there any news about mages in these parts?" The man frowned and made an annoyed face, "Seen enough magic in my day to know to stay away from it. I¡¯d stay away from the Jarl¡¯s wizard in Dawnstar too. If you wanna be a damn fool, go to the College in Winterhold instead." I knew it! I thanked the man and waited for the food. Looking around the inn, I spotted some old people sitting here and there. I was looking for someone in particr but I couldn¡¯t recognize him out. Sigh! Guess I¡¯ll take it the slow way. After all, from now until theing month, I am a resident of the Nightgate Inn. ~~~~~~~~ [Sone timeter in Solitude.] *Tink* *Tink* *Tink* *Tink* ¡¯This piece is good.¡¯ ¡¯Hmmm!¡¯ ¡¯Should I do it this way as I normally do or should I carve it the way Jon likes?¡¯ Heeeh! I am getting dizzy and it is almost night. ¡¯I should clean myself up before Svidi and Bjornae from the College.¡¯ The workshop is in the shadow of Castle Dour, the ce started swarming with customers a month ago and the Imperial Legion started to make all sorts of requests as if a cksmith was born with ten hands. If Jon was here, he would have already beaten me up and dragged me somewhere to drink. My brother hates this kind of jobs but I guess he will be fine whatever he does. Nothing beats in both having fun and doing jobs too. Still, he¡¯s a fool when ites to iron and steel. He just wants to hammer the piece a few times and magically it bes ready. He never stood things that would take a long time like cksmithing and longbat, but strange enough, he likes alchemy and hunting. Guess I never know how his head is working. Sigh! I somewhat miss his never-ending jokes about dragons. Speaking of dragons, Bjorna likes them very much too. Is it something that has to do with redheads? Sigh! "You are sighing like Jon now?" A voice came from behind me. "Well, I was thinking about him." I replied without looking, this was my sister. "If Bjorna heard you, she may get jealous of him, you know!" Wha... what is this girl saying! "Haha, you blushed!" Svidi started acting like a fool. It started recently when she was epted as a student of some famous bard. I am worried about her but something is telling me not to, Bjorna started apanying hertely so I guess she will be fine. "I am sorry, is this the workshop where Wulfur works?" A young man of my age and height came through the door, he looked at me and his eyes kit up, "Ah! Here you are." I feel like I know him. He looks like some warrior and smells like the sea... Isn¡¯t that... "... Ongeim?" "Yes, you remembered me! Haha!" He startedughing and became delighted once he saw me. "Well, I am called Captain now! Haha!" He said while grinning. What would bring this guy here? He got along with Jon but not with me. "To whom do we owe the pleasure, Captain Ongeim?" "Haha! To Boss Jon of course." "Boss?" Svidi was taken aback. "Jon?" I was taken aback. "Hahaha, don¡¯t treat me coldly now,e on." "Well,e in!" I invited him into the shop and offered him a seat and some mead. "To tell you the truth, I wasn¡¯t supposed to contact you until three months from now when you want to go to Winterhold and meet up with the Boss. But I might need your help sooner than expected!" "Just tell us what¡¯s going on first and why do you call my brother your Boss." "Ah! It happened four months ago, the Boss literally changed our lives, one day he came to Dawnstar...." What Ongeim said next was some weird story yet it fits perfectly with what Jon my act. First he said that Jon made a challenge with the Jarl of Winterhold, then he went to Dawnstar and became an owner of a ship, he took the ship and made a sh with some cultists and pirates and escape from the teeth of death by smashing his way through them, there was also a girl I don¡¯t recognize called Lady Junar with him, after he did the mighty deeds he tricked the evil Jarl and became a Thane, then he opened some business and a bathhouse in Winterhold along with some small projects. These projects made him the most popr man in the town and became a strong figure who employed hundreds of people. All in four months. "The Boss is an absolute genius in the eyes of many and he is the only one who can keep a dying town like Winterhold stand on its feet again. The reason for the town¡¯s dilemma are pirates and they own the Jarl. Even if the Boss could somehow trick the Jarl to leave him alone, the news would eventually be leaked to the pirates. This problem was anticipated by the Boss and he gave me a n on how to act three weeks ago just before he leaves for a training journey, but an unpredicted problem happened." "What is it?" "We had an old cksmith in town who supplied us with all what we needed, after the first sh with the pirates, we found the old man to be not enough, more than that he became sick a week ago. I was in charge of the town along with Trudvar the housecarl but there was a little in what we can do, and if the students of the College helped us, their prices would exhaust the amount of money we have, after all those are mages we are talking about." "So you want me toe!" "I didn¡¯t think of it as the first option but I was depressed and requested to talk with Lady Nurina, the Boss¡¯s mother, she told me toe to you immediately." "Mother said so?" Svidi eximed. "You too call he that?" Ongeim was surprised. Well, only girls got to call her mother, Jon was the exception. "Even if the headmistress didn¡¯t tell you that, you should have came to me from the beginning. My brother¡¯s affairs are my affairs... also you¡¯re telling me I¡¯ll be the head cksmith right?" "Well, I heard you are a very good cksmith." "Humph! Brother is one of the best. No, he is the best." Svidi stood up for me. "I get it I get it." Sigh! She starts acting childishly again. The only reason I worked here was that the pay was great and I could see Bjorna all day across the street. But if my brother is calling then I dare not to answer. Even though I won¡¯t see Bjorna... I feel bad but Jon always said a word when ites to this situation, if I remember it was ¡¯Bros before hoes.¡¯ But I don¡¯t know why did he use the hoe to describe a girl. I mean the hoe is not that nice looking or need any creativity to make one. He should have used some good looking tool instead. Anyway, thinking about it won¡¯t do. I¡¯ll go with Ongeim after I end the with the owner. "Hello, anyone!" I heard a familiar voice. "That¡¯s Bjorna!" Svidi jumped from her ce and went to see Bjorna. What brings her in this hour. A few secondster, some figures came to the ce I sat with Ongeim in. "Long timed!" This cheerful as ever voice is Aunt Skadi. She came from her n then. Following her, another hooded figure appeared. It looked like another Aunt Skadi. I worked my mind rapidly and guessed who she is. This is the rumored sister of Aunt Skadi and the mysterious woman who first taught Jon how to fight. I must admit! This woman is a hundred time scarier than Aunt Hilda. Even Ongeim stood up in respect. "Aunt Skadi, wel-met." "Looking good,d! Who¡¯s with you?" "Ah! That¡¯s Ongeim from the tourney, he works for Jon!" Skadi and the other woman who is I think is Hilda looked at Ongeim who barely lookedposed. "This is the owner of the store across the street, Aunt Skadi Firemane." "Firemane?!" Ongeim lost hisposer, "Ehem! Sorry. I am a captain of a small ship and work for Boss Jon Dare. He is..." "I know Jon." The other woman spoke, "I taught him how to fight!" So this is Hilda. "Anyway, good to meet youd!" Skadi cut in, "We¡¯re here to take Bjorna back but she wanted to see your sister before we go. We also wanted to see if you want to go to Winterhold. We can take you along the way." Eh! So this is how it is going. "Actually, Ongeim came for the same purpose. It seemed that there are someplications with Jon¡¯s work in Winterhold..." I told them what Ongeim told me. Silence took over for a while. "So, how is the boy doing?" Skadi asked while looking at Hilda. "The Boss would have solved any problem with no need to worry anyone. He can¡¯t be worried about so he is mostly fine, some people came to the town a few weeks ago saying that someone with the Boss description helped them from Thalmor pursuers by killing all of them. This was thest we know about his news. Judging by his character, he managed to deal with it just fine. I am supposed to head to Winterhold tomorrow then to Windhelm and meet him there." Seemed like he is busy. Skadi then questioned Ongeim about Jon and every time he answered, she and Hilda would put on a small grin. Nothing was strange on my side, that was just him jonning around. The only thing on my mind was Bjorna who would leave tomorrow. I guess I have one less reason to stay now. Svidi will finish up her studies and I¡¯lle to pick her up so it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. After a while, Hilda, Skadi, and Bjorna said their farewells and left. Ongeim also left and I took Svidi home. On the way, we met with Battle-Born who almost cried when he knew I am going to a fight and he can¡¯t tag along. Hehe! This will be fun. [A/N: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT IN ¡¯AUTHOR THOUGHTS¡¯.] Chapter 80 The White Phail Good Morning Skyrim! Good Morning Junar! Good morning Nefertiti! Good morning Everyone! Why are you guys looking at me with those eyes? What is the matter? Shouldn¡¯t people feel energetic in the morning? I feel like I have slept for 13 days. Well, whatever! I guess I have to go eat now. It is a very important day. I will go dungeon delving with Jull over here and it will be a piece of cake. Or so I thought... Why? Well... Bandits! First of all the cave, Forsaken Cave, was well hidden and of course, it would be a perfect hiding ce for dirty bandits. I didn¡¯t want to exhaust myself so I left it for the undead. Only nine ¡¯Bonemen¡¯ and the bandits shit themselves and started panicking. Their boss tried to make a stand but Junar took him down with an arrow. How I love her style! We are like Robin and Batman, except we are so into each other. I would have taken this girl to a showdown with mighty ¡¯little Jon¡¯ but she is still a minor in my eyes. Even though, I don¡¯t think I will hold out considering how she always teases and seduces me. Opss! I spaced out in the middle of a fight! My bad, my bad! Junar looked at me and was grinning. She already can read my mind this much. Sigh! Anyway, let¡¯s finish thest bandit? He was wailing from the arrows that hit his arms and legs. "Mercy! I beg you... Please, Mercy!" "Nope!" *swish* Yep! Bandits need no mercy! Mercy won¡¯t be an option if we switched ced anyway. Jull was all smiles! She said that the scene of me taking lives is intoxicating to her. I guess she will need another madness rehab session...ter! "What now?" "Now we look for valuables before we move on! Remember to always use ¡¯Detect¡¯ as if your life depends on it. Because it does!" Of course, there may be traps from this point onwards. [A/N: The deadly traps, not the cute ones.] A few minutester, we gathered some coins, mead, food, and good weapons. "Do we use one of the sacks we brought with us?" "Yes!" As we did just that, I was looking around the ce. I had a hunch and there was a good chance it was true! "Jull, there are more bandits in the cave ahead!" She nodded and readied her bow. I also evoked lighting magic and headed into the cave. Forsaken Cave was just like Hob¡¯s Fall Cave, an icy interior with a chilling atmosphere. What first met us was a corridor with icy walls and floor, it turned right the went down to a bigger and vaster interior. It was a bit rocky with all the ice and snow in the cave. Moving ahead! What met us was the sight of an iron door, nked by two flights of stairs that lead to raised areas. Looking at them, I deduced that they contain nothing of interest. "Jon, the door is forcefully opened, it¡¯s lock is broken." "Hmm... Interesting! It needs either a good number of men or one hell of a brute to do this damage!" "What will we do?" "If we catch up to them, don¡¯t engage. They may leave a lot of tracks from this point onwards. I don¡¯t want to hinder them at all." "You don¡¯t?" "Of course! They are working so hard clearing the enemies and taking the traps for our sake, unless we or the dungeon get rid of them." I said will pointing at a few undead and a corpse, "How can your heart bring you to ruin such a beautiful rtionship!" Jull smiled and shook her head. Moving through the iron door, the ce changed from the icy cave to a dusty and ancient Nordic ruin. It was still cold though! Through the door is a short corridor that leads to a stairwell with a wooden spiral staircase down. At the bottom is a corridor after moving ahead, a couple of turns opened to a wide corridor. I felt that the ce was a bit strange due to some reactions in my ¡¯Detect¡¯. After walking along the corridor, I found a pressure te that activates a poison dart trap from a statue like a thing in the front. There were two dead bandits here! "See what I am talking about?" After walking beyond the trap and taking the turn, we cast ¡¯Night Vision¡¯ and things go really easier. We saw a few undead lying around here and there. Taking turns after turns and passing some traps, we also found some undead that didn¡¯t participate in the battle and fought them. Still, they were no match for my hammer, ¡¯Agni-Ra¡¯. The number of dead bandits passed give, I am afraid my new friends are not doing very well here. Not that I am going to help or anything. The dungeon was going on until it reached a certain room, where I heard some voices. They seemed to be around ten bandits but they seemed to be in a tight situation. Another iron door blocked their path and they were having some conflict, some wanted to go back already. I am truly disappointed. ¡¯System!¡¯ Damn! Just this spell took all that? "Jull, now!" Jull approached the sarcophagus as I told and its upant burst forth and attacked. It was the boss of Forsaken Crypt, Master Alchemist Curalmil. Just as he came out from his resting ce, he looked as ugly as the rest of the draugr but had a high horned helm on his head. This gave out his rank as ¡¯Draugr Overlord¡¯. ¡¯System, this is...¡¯ I think I underestimated the dungeon a bit. Another momentter, four more draugrs came to the room. I was overcharging the new spell ¡¯Ultraviolent¡¯. A sun spell that can devastate the undead but Curalmil is a bit too powerful for the current me. Just as I had him in sight, I aimed to the best position I can affect Curalmil. Just as I made the decision, I released the spell. A missile of sun fire wasunched at Curalmil and from the contact, I saw Curalmil getting blown away, but he was not done yet. "Hurry and finish the rest." Jull who was in a daze carried her mace and started smashing the undead, they were not as easy as thest ones though. I was more focused on casting spells. I managed to conjure two ¡¯Dremora Churls¡¯. "Mortal, we di..." "Shut up and fight!" I have no time for their damn ego now, they are the best choice for the n B in my head. Curalmil was standing up after it was blown away and it seemed it is pissed. Just as he came to join the fray, I was ready for him. "Back to where you came from, mate! FUS RO DAH!" Yep, that is the best decision right now. Keep that guy away while finishing off his cronies then gang up on him. And speaking of which, Jull and the duo Churls finished up their work. "You two, pin it down." They only could follow my orders as the jumped on Curalmil like some American Football yers. I also joined them and cast ¡¯Bind¡¯ on it then jumped on them. "Jull, take my hammer and smash its damn head. Hurry, we are barely keeping it down." The situation was too chaotic but it was somehow under control. Jull took the hammer and did as I said. A minuteter, its resistance was no more. "Phew! That was intense!" I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. "You are crazy!" "Look who¡¯s speaking!" Jull was making a tired face but I think it went well. Now, to im the rewards. "Mortal, you..." "Fuck off!" I banished the Churls immediately, Dremora and their damn bride. I have more important business now. "Where is the package?" I asked. Jull went to the knapsack she carries and took out a small wooden box. "Here!" She handed it to me. Hehehe! I opened the small wooden box with all the care in the world and took out a sk from it. This sk cost me 100 Golden Septim. A potent mixture made by a master alchemist. See where this is going? Curalmil, the boss of this tomb was a master alchemist and a very crafty one. He was one of the best in his craft. To open the treasure chamber in his tomb, one needed such a mixture and to pour it in an ancient bowl fixed near to Curalmil¡¯s sarcophagus and the treasure chamber will open. Now, I am pouring the mixture in the bowl. At the end of the room, there was a word wall, under it was a passage to the treasure room. Just as I finished pouring the mixture the whole room started to shake as if something heavy was moving. This was the door to the treasure room. "Jull, let¡¯s go." She followed as I walked ahead, I didn¡¯t neglect to scan the road ahead with ¡¯Detect¡¯ just to give myself a peace of mind. As I entered the room, I saw a tragic scene. Hundreds of ingredients were here and there but they turned ck after hundreds of years in sealing. Some inorganic ingredients were fine though. But I am not here for gold or ingredients. I am here for The White Phail. Curalmil created a very mysterious artifact called ¡¯The White Phail¡¯, a sk that can refill its content from nothing. It was made by the first snow that fell on ¡¯The Throat of the World¡¯, The famous summit of High Hrothgar, the tallest mountain in the world. If you give this legendary Phail a drop of health potion, it will make itself full of health potion in one day. One may think, it just creates one potion a day, what is its use even if it is so wondrous? Well, why would I make it refill a health potion if it can refill something more... invaluable. And the thing about creating something from nothing is a hoax, I know it absorbs Magicka and turns it into the potion. This is what I was after and it was resting there at the end of the room on an altar. s... It was broken. Chapter 81 Dungeoneering A/N: For those of you who asked about my exams. Thank you guys so much, I passed and all. Also thanks for the support that made the novel hang in the top 20 even though it was paused for two weeks. You guys are awesome. And for thements regarding the rtionship between Jon and Jull. They haven¡¯t slept with each other yet. The only slept beside each other. Now here is the new chapter! Enjoy? ___________ "Hey, Jon!" "Yes." While I was copying the word wall in the chamber of the boss of Forsaken Crypt, Jull came behind me and spoke. "I was thinking..." "That¡¯s dangerous, tell me before you do it next time." "....." "Okay no need to get violent, you were thinking about what?" "... the potion sk you came for, did you know it was here from the beginning?" She really was thinking. "Yes, I did!" "Did you research its location or anything?" "You follow me the whole time and you know the answer is no. All my research is magic rted. Not really about history." "Then how did you know that such a treasure is here?" "Didn¡¯t I say that I have a past life?" "Yeah, your past life and dragons stories!" Jull said while rolling her eyes. "That¡¯s it." "... Just ¡¯that¡¯s it¡¯? If this treasure is a legendary item that is a dream of many alchemists as you said, you can¡¯t just tell me you just know it." "Yes, I got to know many secrets from my past life." Jull who was making a confused face sat down on the ground beside me. "It doesn¡¯t make any sense!" "I know. It makes no sense even to me. But you do believe me." "I, I believe you. It is not that you are an honest person. You just don¡¯t care about lying from the beginning, right?" "Hmmm! Not really. But I figured if the truth got revealed one day, the people dear to me wouldn¡¯t say that I lied or hid anything from them, right?" Jull raised her brows taken aback by my reasoning, she then thought and said, "But you didn¡¯t prove it either!" "Simply, I have no proof." "But The Wh..." "The Phial is just a treasure. Even if I said anything, people may think I am crazy. And if they believed me, they will only care about how many information they can extract out of me. Think of all the stuff I know, a dragon break four years from now, three Elder Scrolls, the Staff of Magnus, Auri-El¡¯s Bow, and other Daedric artifacts that can make the sanest personsh at me if I said I can acquire them." Jull was in a daze now. "Th, The, These things just now, you know them from your past life?" "Yes." "And how did your past life know them?" "There was a visual novel called ¡¯RPG¡¯, it told the story of the events around Skyrim in year 4E-201." Jull was looking at me with wonder, "Visual novel? RPG? I know it is unbelievable but did youe from the future?" Oh! That¡¯s an interesting way of thinking. "No, I lived in a realm different from Nirn?" "This is even more unbelievable!" It is actually more of a different world or a different universe, but there are limits for how she can understand. "By any chance, were you a Dwemer in your past life?" "Bwahahahaha! How did youe to that conclusion?" This was truly funny! The way this girl¡¯s head work is interesting! I was copying the Word Wall while having this heartwarming conversation with Jull. I don¡¯t know what is the rtionship between the Ruins and the Word Walls but I think the Word Wall was something older than the Ruins around it. Anyway it said; ___________________________________ THORINGAR WahLaaN QETHSEGOL MONii VahRUKT NOOMI WEN DEZ LOS Wah *AUS* NIN DO POGaaN OGiiM RONaaZ. Thoringar raised this stone for his daughter¡¯s memory, Noomi, whose fate it was to *suffer* the sting of many Orc arrows. ___________________________________ The important word in this wall was ¡¯AUS¡¯ which means ¡¯Suffer¡¯. It is the third word in ¡¯Marked For Death¡¯ Shout. I willprehend itter. "Now, let¡¯s get the hell out of here." The way out was not that simple. The game always made some escape route in every boss room but in real life, such a luxury was not avable. Sometimes immersion strikes is back and it bes tough. On the way out Junar asked, "So why is it broken? That White Phial thing." "I don¡¯t know why is it broken but the only idea thates to mind is that such a thing is normally really hard to damage unless you are its creator." "Why would he create all this crypt if the thing he wanted to protect the most is already of no value?" Good question! "I have two guesses, the first that he was really a mean son of a bitch and wanted to torment whoever took his treasure by letting theme out of this empty-handed." "You don¡¯t look like a tormented person to me!" I smiled. "Oh! Your past life has a story about it too?" "That takes me to my second guess, maybe the creator was a wise and a smartass dude that he wanted to make another trail, remember that he made the door to the treasure room only open by a very potent mixture that can only be made by a true master." "Which means..." "Thest trail is to repair the Phial." "Aha! And you can do it?" "Nope, that is beyond my skill." "Then who will?" "The same person who I ordered the potent mixture from. Master Alchemist Nurelion in Windhelm." As soon as I said that, Junar froze in her ce. "We.. we are going to.. Windhelm?!" "Yea.. Oh crap!" Ipletely forgot. Junar was born in Windhelm and has some bad memories about the ce. Her mother fled from there because of the bad treatment of both Nords and Dunmer. "Hey,e here." I rushed and hugged her. "Sorry, I didn¡¯t tell you, Ipletely forgot! I can take you back to Winterhold if yo..." "Fufufu!" I heard a faintughing from her, and suddenly I was hugged back tightly. "Hello, which Jull is that?" She looked at me and she was all smiles. Shit! This smile, these eyes! Yandere Jull is online! "So this is how much you care about me. Fufu, don¡¯t worry about me. As long as we are together, I won¡¯t feel anything or anyone!" Her words are sweet but her body is stuck to mine and is squirming left and right, she is going haywire again. "Jull, quickly look over there." I said so distracting her for a bit. As soon as she looked away, I was already punched her head hard that she screamed and held to her head with teary eyes. "So cruel!" Sheined. Well, cruel or whatever, a lusty yandere Jull is thest thing I want to deal with right now. After a small quarrel, we continued our walk out of the cave. ~~~~~~~~ After we got back to the inn, fatigue assaulted us greatly. We were in our top focus condition during the dungeon delving and we didn¡¯t notice that almost a day and a half passed. Nefertiti was entrusted to old man Hardling the innkeep as I promised him a gold coin to look after her and feed her all the raw fish and milk she wants. Nefertiti is our little princess cat after all so she must be well taken care of. I also heard that the ck cat with blue eyes became quite popr in the vige. Somehow, Nefertiti liked the new treatment and became very haughty. She would sit on a shelf right next to the inn¡¯s door and anyone goes in or out will get a pat on the head, she would say things like "I bless you child" or "I have already blessed you once, go away." Sigh! This cat. Feed her an ounce and she will swallow your whole arm. I had to make her behave by putting her into dog tricks training course. I know how much she hates it. Anyway, three weeks passed just like that. I cleared Yorgrim Overlook which was a small, one-room Nordic ruin on the southern slope of the mountain range. This structure is slightly northeast of Forsaken Cave and south of Mount Anthor. The next ce I cleared was ¡¯Shrouded Grove¡¯. It is a grove with a cave located in the Pale. It is located due south of Silverdrift Lair and west of Nightgate Inn and was inhabited by a troll. It was a hard fight that I had to conjure a few Frost Atronaches to pin it down without harming it so much. I used ¡¯Absorb Vitality¡¯ on it and killed it slowlyter. It was an easy fight due to the spices of the troll being a Cave Troll which was weaker than the mighty Ice Trolls I met this far. Still, after I dismantled it, I harvested its fur, eyes, liver, fat, ws, some blood, and most importantly the marrow. The marrow is the main ingredient of the ¡¯Troll¡¯s Essence¡¯ potion anyway. Anyway, I got should have got my Astral Damage condition some relief. ¡¯Status!¡¯ ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Name: Jon Dare ¡ñ -Race: Human (Nord) ¡ñ -Age: 15 ¡ñ -Level: 18 ¡ñ -Attributes: Health: 155/155 Stamina: 110/110 Magicka: 520/520 ¡ñ -Active Effects: Astral Damage: 16% ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö Hmmm! I got rid of 3% of the Astral Damage and my Level went up Next dungeon I cleaned was Silverdrift Lair. It is a medium-sized Nordic ruin located east-southeast of Fort Dunstad and northwest of Nightgate Inn. The ruins were inhabited by draugr. It took us some time as it was an annoying ruin and full of traps. [A/N: Traps! Again!] In that dungeon was a Word Wall too. It said ___________________________________ BROTHI WahLaaN QETHSEGOL KULii VahRUKT ODRAV KeyN *HaaL* WO DRUN POGaaS ZIN Wah BROD SahQO-STRUNMah Brothi raised this stone in memory of his son Odrav Anvil-*Hand* who brought much honor to n Red-Mountain ___________________________________ It was the second word of ¡¯Disarm¡¯ shout, ¡¯HaaL¡¯ which means ¡¯Hand¡¯. Thest dungeon we entered was called ¡¯Ironbind Barrow¡¯. It is a Nordic ruin that serves as a tomb of a long dead warlord. Its outer level was full of spiders, the big ones, some were as tall as wolves or even horses. They were called ¡¯Frostbite Spiders¡¯ and they looked very hideous. The inner lever was a crypt infested with undead and traps. [A/N: Apparently, Skyrim has a thing for traps!] Thest boss was called Warlord Gathrik. And Undead Draugr that felt very powerful. Thankfully, thest strategy of a bass like that worked splendidly fine and we got a lot of rewards. Thest reward was another Word Wall. It said; ___________________________________ NONVUL BRON DahMaaN DaaR ROT DO FIN FODiiZ BORMah-Nii LOS HeyV DO ENOOK MUN Wah LahNey VOTH ahKRIN ahRK ZIN LEH ROK *FeiM* VODahMIN KOTIN VULOM Noble Nords remember these words of the hoar father - It is duty of each man to live with courage and honor lest he *fade* unremembered into darkness. ___________________________________ Those three weeks I spent here were very fruitful. I had cleared dungeons no one had clears before and fought against all odds. I guess the best reward is the experience. It never cheats you. Now after gathering all the important things, and with my limit to summon Atronaches has increased to four. I loaded everything on them and said farewell to the Nightgate Vige. Now, to Windhelm. _________________ -Bonus- ? His true motivated "The White Phial, it can refill any potion right." (Jull) "Yes." (Jon) "So which potion are you going to choose?" (Jull) "An important annoying to make a potion with hard to get ingredients." (Jon) "I was asking which potion, not what kind." (Jull) "....." (Jon) "Hey, don¡¯t look away, it is the ¡¯Troll¡¯s Essence¡¯ right?" (Jull) "....." (Jon) "Don¡¯t run away you big pervert." (Jull) Chapter 82 Windhelm We took off in the morning! Five me Atronach Horses carried everything we looted from the dungeons. "Hooman!" "Yes!" "Sing a song!" "You are a very demanding cat, you know that!" "What does she want?" Jull said. "She wants me to sing for her." "Sing for me too." Jull rode closer and was making kitty eyes. I can resist puppy eyes but not kitty eyes. So destructive. I used to sing with Svidi when I was young but now I can¡¯t sing like before. My voice changed for the worse ever since I reached the puberty age. Okay, let¡¯s pick a good song... ¡¯System! Look for the lyrics of that song... yes now keep it on view!¡¯ "Ehem! Ladies, I present to you the mag..." ""SING ALREADY"" They both said in unison. Okay, "There lived a certain Dragon, in Skyrim long ago, It was big and strong, in his eyes a ming glow. Most people looked at it, with terror and with fear, But to Dragon Cults, It was such a lovely dear. It could turn any vige to cinders, Breathing mes and fear, But he also was the holy creature, Nords would revere, Al Al Alduin, World¡¯s eater dry and green, There was a cat that really was gone, Al Al Alduin, Skyrim¡¯s biggest death machine, It was a shame how it carried on. *** This dragon¡¯s just got to go, Dered its enemies, But the cultists begged, don¡¯t you try to do it please. No doubt this Alduin, had lots of devotees, Though he was a brute, they just fell to their knees. Then one night some men of higher power, Set a trap, they¡¯re not to me. Come to fight us they kept demanding, And it really came. Al Al Alduin, World¡¯ eater dry and green, They shouted at him during his flight. Al Al Alduin, Skyrim¡¯s biggest death machine, He fell down and said I feel alright. Al Al Alduin, World¡¯s eater dry and green, They didn¡¯t quit they took out an Elder Scroll. Al Al Alduin, Skyrim¡¯s biggest death machine, And so they send him in a time stroll. Oh, those Nords!" [A/N: I totally murdered ¡¯Rasputin song.] "Hm! You like it?" "Did you just turn one of the most argued about historical events into a song for your cat?" Jull was giving me that look again. "It was great wasn¡¯t it?" "Sigh! Just leave me alone." ~~~~~~~~ The journey kept going and I kept murdering more songs for Nefertiti. After a day, we reached Anga¡¯s Mill. Anga¡¯s Mill is a small wood mill built along the north bank of the River Yorgrim, west of Windhelm. The mill is owned by Aeri, a Nord woman who inherited the sawmill from her father who died in the Great War. I made some agreement with her and paid her money to deliver lumber to Winterhold. We spent the night near the inn in our camp then set out at the next morning. If we are lucky, we may reach Windhelm by sunset. The walls of Windhelm started to appear after a few hours of riding. Windhelm is a city in northeastern Skyrim, close to the border with Morrowind, and is the only substantial city in the Hold of Eastmarch. It is not only the oldest city in Skyrim, but is the oldest continuously inhabited human settlement in Tamriel. Windhelm was once the capital of the First Empire of the Nords and the old pce of the Ysgramor dynasty, the Pce of the Kings, still stands in the center of the city. Windhelm was founded by the legendary Ysgramor and the crew of his ship, the Ylgermet, following the Battle of the Moesring in thete Merethic Era. (The Ear Before the First Era) ording to Nordic tradition, after the Five Hundred Companions disbanded, the Ylgermet¡¯s crew stumbled upon the barrow of Yngol, Ysgramor¡¯s son. When Ysgramor looked south and saw where the White River flowed into the Sea of Ghosts, he decreed that a great city should be built there to serve as a monument to the glories of mankind, a ce from where he could gaze upon the hill of Yngol¡¯s barrow, and a gateway to guard Skyrim¡¯s interior against incursion via the river. Captive elves were forced to build the city in the architectural style of their captors, and it is alleged that as many elves died during Windhelm¡¯s construction as were killed by the Ylgermet¡¯s crew before they had arrived at the site. The city¡¯s great bridge was designed to allow a vignt watch on the White River for elven attacks, and Ysgramor¡¯s pce, the Pce of the Kings, towered over the city to show man¡¯s dominion over the very winds that had caused Yngol¡¯s death on the voyage from Atmora. That was what I could recall about the city¡¯s history. It is not just a city. It is the stronghold of the human dominance over Skyrim. Of course, the city declined after the War of Session when thest Emperor of the Ysgramor Dynasty died which marked the end of the Nordic Empire. After that, f One-Eyed became the king and the capital city title started moving from a city to the other until it reached Solitude. Nowadays, lying near the coast on the very northern tip of Eastmarch, Windhelm is an extremely cold city and frequently experiences blizzards. The main gate can only be essed by crossing a long stone bridge over the White River. The Jarl of Windhelm is Big Bad Ulfric Stormcloak, who resides in the Pce of the Kings. Windhelm is going to be home to the Stormcloak Rebellion, so most people in the city will support them in the Civil War. Due in part to this, anti-foreign sentiment ismon in the city from the Nord majority. Due to Stormcloak presence, Windhelm does notply with the Imperial ban on Talos worship and features a Temple of Talos in the city. The temple and inn lie along the main avenue of Windhelm, in the Stone Quarter. The oldest section of the city is known as Valunstrad, which means "Avenue of Valor" in the old Nordnguage, and contains the pce and several residential buildings. Because of its proximity to Morrowind, Windhelm also contains a sizable poption of Dark Elves, who sought refuge in Skyrim after the eruption of Red Mountain. The Dark Elves are confined to a cramped slum below the rest of Windhelm called the Gray Quarter, previously known as the Snow Quarter. The Dunmer are not violently persecuted, but the local Nords are suspicious and outwardly xenophobic while Ulfric Stormcloak turns a blind eye to their plight. Argonians also popte Windhelm but are prohibited from entering the city itself and are forced to live and work on the docks. We finally reached the bridge of the city and joined a long line of people who wanted to enter the city. Previously, I banished the Atronach horses and carried the whole loot on my back. It wasn¡¯t something heavy for me but I am sure it was around 250 Kgs. During the wait in the line, some people gazed at Junar who intentionally didn¡¯t hide her appearance. She was in the mood to make trouble. Junar who is a half Nord half Dunmer may face double the prosecution from both races but I would love to see anyone so much touches her. Having the thought dwelling through my head, my blood started boiling. For a second the people around me flinched in fright and didn¡¯t look at my Jull anymore. Jull who was used to my impulsive sways of mood smiled at me and seemed to get faltered by my support for her. Lately, I have be able to release my killing intent and overpower people with it. It was the first stage of having an ¡¯Aura¡¯. One must release his overpowering bloodlust then control it ordingly. It needed a strong concentration ability to not get consumed by the bloodlust and go all berserk. I think it may take me a month to get a hold of this ability. I also was talking with Jull about our future fighting style. Up until now, we were really focused on everything but we needed to get specialized in a certain martial way. Jull was a great archer, she could take on A the Huntress with ease any day. (made appearance in ¡¯Tourism in Whiterun¡¯ chapter) She also wanted to mix magic with archery. I fully supported her in her quest and started developing a new way to imprint Runes on the arrows while shooting them. Jull is going to be a [Magic Archer]. I think I will see some good results at the end of the journey. I still haven¡¯t made my decision about myself as I am good at bothbat and magic. But I think something like [Melee Combat Magician] is something unheard of. Only spell de practice thebat and magic separately. Oops, I spaced out. My turn hase. "First visit! Pay a silver for yourself. Two for her." The gate guard said. Hmmm! Because she is an elf? No problem! I can¡¯t argue with idiotic people anyway. "What do you think you are doing? Do you know who are you scamming here?" Another guard came out and scolded the guard. I can¡¯t see the face under the helmet but he was clearly some of higher standing among the guards. "Captain Ralof, I didn¡¯t know you are here?" "No, you were just pretending to be stupid." Ralof replied, "This is the person who won thest tournament. Even the Jarl invited him to the city!" "Sorry captain, I had no idea." "Of course you had no idea, I am scolding you for trying to scam people!" Ralof turned at me and greeted, "It has been a while friend!" We shook hands and did a cool manly shoulder hug. "Been a while indeed, hope you are doing well, Ralof of Riverwood." "You too Jon of Riften." "it¡¯s Winterhold now!" "Why the change?" "I gained the Thaneship of Winterhold few months ago?" "Thaneship? And here I thought I became the captain of the gate would make mepete with you guys!" "Worry not! I am not doing much better anyway." I started a heated conversation with an old friend as he started guiding me beyond the gate. "Do you still remember Ongeim from thepetition?" "Scar-Mouth? Yeah, I do." "Did you hear anything about himtely?" "Yeah, I heard that he became a captain of some ship and works for a mage. He is also recruiting people in Candlehearth Hall, the city¡¯s biggest inn." I thanked Ralof for the information and asked for directions to the inn. As soon as I reached the main avenue, I found a big central building with an inn sign. Much bigger than the game¡¯s version. The building was originally home to a great warrior named Vundheim from the early Fourth Era. When he died in 4E 38 his son, Deroct, lit a candle above the hearth in his honor. Since that day, the candle still burns and as such, the inn owes its name to this phenomenon. The inn is owned by Elda Early-Dawn, a middle-aged Nord woman. Just as I entered the inn, a woman behind a counter greeted me, "This here¡¯s Candlehearth Hall. Great room¡¯s upstairs, an¡¯ there¡¯s a bed for rent on the ground floor." "Where I can find Ongeim Scar-Mouth?" "Another recruit huh! Captain Ongeim is upstairs." I nodded and headed to the stairs. "Boss!" And as soon as I went up, he spotted me. "Come set over here Boss!" "Been a while Ongeim! Yes, Boss, Winterhold lost half of its liveliness after you left." "Oh! What happened?" I asked as I sat down. "The Pirates we were waiting for started moving just after you left!" "Oh! Horrible timing!" "It didn¡¯t end here! The old cksmith died and left a lot of work to the amateurs." "Oh! I neglected that possibility!" "Well, I didn¡¯t want to waste our funds on expensive college items so I had an audience with Arch-Mage Nurina. She told me to go contact Sir Wulfur earlier than nned." "Oh! Did you bring Wulfur? Well done!" "We also came with the money you asked for." "Good! I¡¯ll rest the night and go out to the docks tomorrow." "What for Boss?" "Ship Shopping!" "Ship Shopping?" "Yeah, will buy ourselves new ships." "Amazing! This will be of help in the future for both protection and trading." "Anything else you want to report?" "Ah yes!" Ongeim came closer and whispered, "I met two Firemanedies, one of them is probably the Boss¡¯s teacher." "You met Hilda?" "Yes boss, she said she will be monitoring the situation and will only support us only if needed." Hmmm! That¡¯s good news! *Grurururu* That wad my stomach demanding for food. Strange! I started eating a lottely. I don¡¯t know what is the cause of that but my hunger started bing very demandingtely. "I will order dinner before I head to bed. Let¡¯s chat and eat together!" ~~~~~~~~ -Bonus- ?Back during the ride. "Sing another song!" (Jull) "Can you dance while walking?" (Jon) "Yes, what do you want me to do?" (Jull) "I¡¯ll sing and you dance while walking!" (Jon) "Okay! I am down now, sing!" (Jull) "Ehem 1, 2, 3! Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding? Say you¡¯ll never ever leave from beside me ¡¯Cause I want ya, and I need ya And I¡¯m down for you always." (Jon) Chapter 83 Ship Shopping ¡¯System! Contact the Augur!¡¯ I wasying on the bed in ¡¯Candlehearth Inn¡¯ while thinking about something with a serious face. {How can I help you?} ¡¯I want you to scan my body?¡¯ {What are we looking for?} ¡¯I don¡¯t know, maybe a ck hole in my stomach, or an exotic creature that eats all the food there.¡¯ The Augur wrnt silent for a few seconds and then replied, {You consume more food than usual. I will start a scan but I guess the reason may be rted to the current date as it is around the 22nd of Midyear (June).} ¡¯What are you saying? Is there something rted to the date?¡¯ {It is not that big of a deal but for some reason, your body is having some changes, it may annoy you but you will feel hungr much faster than your usual normal condition, and the condition has a chance to remain this way until the next six months. My ¡¯Astral Extension¡¯ will add a widget for you to measure your hunger rate so you can adapt to a certain amount of foof every day from now on...} ¡¯Wo Wo Wo, hold on just a minute. You are making spection based on what? What¡¯s wrong with me?¡¯ {Wrong? Completely the opposite, you are as healthy as a horse. And if not for your Astral Damage condition, you would have shown a strength higher than your league by leaps and bounds. The current hunger condition, however, is not an illness. I can make some guesses but the most possible one is because you are still under 16 year of age which is also the puberty age of young giants. They have the same symptoms of a strong hunger and a short temper only half a year before they reach their 16th year.} What is this rude guy saying? ¡¯Do I look like a giant to you?¡¯ {You don¡¯t, but your Firemane n does.} ¡¯Wait a minute? You are saying that the Firemane people have the giants blood lineage?¡¯ {Exactly?} ¡¯That exins why I and cousin Bjorna are not as tall as these freaks, but I thought their blood lineage had something to do with the [Fire Resistance] in my status or something to do with taming.¡¯ {Giants are known to be the only race that can tame Mammoths and grind their bones. Maybe your n has two blood lineages. And speaking of which, my ¡¯Astral Extension¡¯ is already done with scanning your body. Please check your status.} Guh! Fine. ¡¯Status!¡¯ ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô ¡ñ Name: Jon Dare ¡ñ Race: Human (Nord) ¡ñ Age: 15 ¡ñ Level: 18 ¡ñ Attributes: . Health: 155/155 . Stamina: 110/110 . Magicka: 520/520 ¡ñActive Effects: Astral Damage: 16% Hunger: 23% ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô ¡ñMagic: .+Mysticism .+Alterations .+Conjunction .+Destruction .+Illusion .+Restoration .¡ÁSpecial Powers: . ?Racial (Nord) . ?Standing Stone (Shadow Stone) . ¨‹Blood Lineage (Firemane): Awakening . . .+Thu¡¯um ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô ¡ñSaved Data: .+Skyrimndscacape .+Crushed_enemies .+Butchered_lyrics .+Cute_Nefertiti_pics .+New_Folder ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô ¡¯My hunger is already 23%? I was fully bloated just an hour ago!¡¯ {It is only natural, I will send you a list of the best suited diet for you.} ¡¯Thanks! There is also the thing about the ¡¯Awakening¡¯ word beside the blood lineage. Your guess is probably correct.¡¯ {That¡¯s only natural!} ¡¯What will it be like in the end?¡¯ {It depends on you. Maybe an interesting mutation may identally happen.} ¡¯Don¡¯t jinx it!¡¯ Sigh! This is really annoying! I mean, a second puberty in the same body will sure make everyoneugh at me. Let¡¯s just think of something pleasant! ¡¯What is the situation in the College?¡¯ {Some people in unusual clothing came to the college with a very talented girltely. The girl received a lot of invitations from some teachers but she declined them with no second thought. Her target seemed to be Senior Nurina. Maybe your adoptive mother is going to take a new disciple!} ¡¯Oh! So I am having a junior sister, huh! Is she cute?¡¯ {By normal standards, she is already as popr as you when you first arrived.} ¡¯Good!¡¯ {She is also asking around for a man called Darth Vader.} ¡¯...... Fuck! Why her?¡¯ {Do you perhaps know about the person she is talking about!} ¡¯Nope, leave me alone!¡¯ ~~~~~~~~ After we finished the conversation, the Augur sent me my new diet n. "Why am I not surprised?" The best way to put down the hunger is to eat Mammoth meat. It is considered one of the most expensive kinds of meat in Skyrim and it is very nutritious. I only ate it on very few asions and thest one was in the ¡¯Blue Pce¡¯ after the tournament. But I didn¡¯t like the idea of killing Mammoths or Sabercats. Those two cool creatures were considered extinct in my past life so I somewhat think highly of them. And I haven¡¯t seen a living mammoth yet, not even once, but one day I will surely not just see one, but will also ride it. After resting with Jull, we decided that it was about time to eat dinner and so I ordered a mammoth stew. Such an expensive order would grab a lot of attention in the inn¡¯s lobby so we decided to eat in our room. Junar was charmed by the aroma of the stew and I ordered some raw mammoth meat for Nefertiti. It was really something to look forward to. As we were about to start digging in, someone very rude knocked on the door of my room. "Who is it?" "Boss, I am Merdiv!" Oh! So they finished up selling the stuff already. "Come in!" "Excuse me!" As soon as he came in, hegged on the delicious aroma of the stew. "Ehem!" Jull who was ring at him cleared her throat. "Oh! Boss! Captain Ongeim sent me to tell you that all the loot waspletely dealt with.and the coin was was loaded on the ship. Here is this paper, it has everything written in details." Ongeim¡¯s vice-captain handed me a paper. "Thank you, you may leave now." Jull, however, was kicking him out. "Yes, mydy." The young man made a respectful nod and left. I unrolled the paper and couldn¡¯t help but grin. This was some fortune. "Two thousand Gold Septim! That was indeed something!" "Really?" "Look, most of the coins came from the exchanging of the Ancient Nordic coins we found, some gems fetched out a high price too." "We became rich?" "We were already rich!" "Haha!" Jull¡¯s mood already became better and started eating the mammoth stew with a wide smile. ~~~~~~~~ The next day was a very important day. Why? Because we are ship shopping. I woke up early then dragged Jull and Ongeim to the docks. There were a lot shipbuilders over there who worked for the East Empire Company. Making an order was simple. I talked with the chief carpenter who was a bit stubborn and reluctant at first but he was no match for my sketchbook. Once he saw the designs I have, the blood and soul of a craftsman that dwelled within him started burning and asked for a copy of the ship sketch I have but he only had to agree and build me what I asked for. The reason for his refusal at first was due to my looks. Even though I am ying it wherever I go, I still have the face of a 15 years old brat. No one of those who doesn¡¯t know me would take me too seriously. There was another reason and it was me requesting a ship with an Imperial design from a Nordic craftsman. He was just too stubborn when he heard me at first, but when he checked out the design, he figured that it only took the Imperial design as a base and the rest was something else. The ship was the normal wooden ship from my past life, it only had a higher deck the usual. The deck was not actually a deck, it was a roof that had two turrets, one in the front and one in the back. Turrets are not actually something known in this world but I designed a turret and magic cannons that work on Soul Gems, the cannons shoot ¡¯Fireballs¡¯. In fact they are actually staves but I had a certain design in mind to lessen the Magicka consumption, also the turrets are really easy to spin and move around. The roof was notpletely covering the actual deck as robes and people could easily move through, sails were also controble by using spinners and ropes. One of the most important features was the ship¡¯s ¡¯Ram¡¯. ¡¯The Ram¡¯ is a gigantic metal drill that is fixed in front of the ship between the Keel and the Forepeak. [A/N: Keel- a long fixed fin at the bottom of the boat that aids in stabilization. Forepeak : a front protrusion of the ship used as a tform for crew operating sails on the bowsprit.] Apart from that, I left the sail design for the shipbuilders, I don¡¯t have much experience in this area. The ship was a Brig type and I wanted to order two of it. The chief carpenter said that he can only start on only one right now and will finish it by the next month. The price was argued about for a while but I was satisfied from the start. Leaving the office of the chief carpenter, I had some ns in mind so I took Jull and wallked back to the city. While I was walking, I met a certain old friend that I haven¡¯t met for almost half a year. "Jon boy?" "Uncle Glover?" ~~~~~~~~ Glover Mallory, Delvin¡¯s younger brother, he is one of the thieves I grew up in their care. He is a very crafty and smart thief, yet he is always quiet and likes to keep it to himself. He is also an expert cksmith and one of the few who knew the technique of crafting and fixing ¡¯Bonemold¡¯ armors. "It has been a while, old man." "Hehe! Who are you calling old you brat? look at you, you smell like a lot of money now. Let me guess, hmmm! That¡¯s some thousand gold... you dog!" "Haha, and you smell like a measly hundred gold!" "You sure still can sniff right!" "Hahaha!" "Hahaha!" "Who is that?" Jull looked at Glover and asked. "Oh Jull, this is Glover! Glover, Jull! He is a senior of mine at my previous work. And she is my attendant!" "Attendant? You sure have a lot of money now! Thest thing we heard about you was you magically bing a Thane in Winterhold, how did you pull that one out?" "Hehe! Just as you said, ¡¯Magically¡¯!" "Oh! That sure sounds like a grand tale but it seems like I have to hear it another time." "Why not? Come to the tavern and let¡¯s catch up!" "I am afraid my ship is going to sail in an hour, I found a new job outside Skyrim and I¡¯ll just move over there?" Oh! So it¡¯s that thing then. "Are you by any chance heading to Morrowind?" "Not exactly, not the maind at least." "Solstheim?" "Yes!" "Did anyone bother you?" "No, I just can¡¯t stay around Riften anymore." "I see!" He was willing to go by all means. I also know the reason. After a fast catching up with him, we parted ways and he went to the docks. What a poor soul! He must be feeling so much guilt. The story of Glover is not known to many yers but some may know it. He is not one of the NPCs that would leave a big impression unlike his charismatic brother Delvin after all. In the game, he made an appearance in the DLC expansion, ¡¯Dragonborn¡¯. Many years ago, Glover Mallory went on a job near some vige but an ident happened and he had to hide in some barn. A woman found him and they fell in love, h, h, h! One yearter, he found out that his wife is pregnant and chickened out! After that he ran from the vige and his wife, never to be seen again. Many yearster, Brnyjolf recruited a new member to the guild and that was the daughter. Those who yed the game knows her as ¡¯Sapphire¡¯, a very annoying and grumpy girl. However, when Glover saw Sapphire, he recognized her and felt so much guilt. He could only do what a thief can do best. Run! Just like many years ago, he ran away again. Not from responsibility, but from guilt. "Sigh! Life!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Bonus- ?Don vs Jon. "Hey Big Don, give me some action chapter." (Jon) "Nope!" (Don) "Side Novel?" (Jon) "Nope!" (Don) "Bigger Chapter!" (Jon) "Nope!" (Don) "You traitor, so the rumors are true. you are making a new novel of a MC with a badass background." "Humph!" (Don) *Grins while fixing the sses with a finger* "That¡¯s it, FUS RO DAH!" (Jon) "Nice try boy!" (Don) *presses backspace* Chapter 84 She is my Aunt! The business with the ship builders was done by the next day. I paid five hundred Gold Septim as half of the price upfront. This ship will be the first sailing ship of its kind in this world. Mixing the ideas together took me a lot of time and studying but I am sure it will work. I wanted to make a magical engine or something like the Dwemer machinery technology but I think this is still too advanced for me to apply, the idea of having a power source like a magical battery is still hard to apply. Anyway, my business here was not over yet. I wanted to make some arrangements taking the chance I am here. First, I went back to the main avenue and looked for any beggars. As soon as I found one, I paid them for some information about the city. Beggars in Riften are a top notch informationwork if you could withstand the smell for a few minutes, and the same goes for the beggars of anywhere else. In this world, there is an old tale about the ¡¯Beggar Prince¡¯. It said that long time ago in Valewood (The Home of the Bosmer aka Wood Elves) there was a prince who was the thirteenth between his siblings. He had no influence neither did he possess a talent to make him stand out, that made him decide to leave his home and venture for fortune on his own. During his travel he saw a beggar being bullied by people, he saved the beggar who eventually turned out to be Namira, the Lady of Decay and the Daedric Prince of Rot and Disease. After knowing that, the prince saw opportunity for himself. He begged Namira for thirty three days and thirty three nights to take him as an apprentice. Finally, Namira epted and decided to reward him for his strong will. She said "I grant you the power of [Disease]. You may choose to be afflicted with any disease you choose, changing them at will, so long as it has visible symptoms. However, you must always bear at least one. And I grant you the power of [Pity]. You may evoke pity in anyone that sees you. Finally, I grant you the power of [Disregard]. You may cause others to disregard your presence." The Prince was horrified by these terrible gifts but Namira said "As you begged at my feet for 33 days and 33 nights, so shall you now beg for your fortune in the cities of men. Your name will be legendary among the beggars of Tamriel." And as Namira predicted. The Prince became an irresistible beggar. None could see him without desperately wanting to toss a coin at the huddled form. However, The Prince also discovered that the power of disregard gave great ess to the secrets of the realms. People unknowingly said important things where he could hear them. He grew to know theings and goings of every citizen in the city. Now, the point of the story is... ¡¯Want to know anything? Just go and ask a beggar!¡¯. That is why I paid for a beggar and promised more if he can bring me all the information I needed. What I needed was the movements of the undercurrents in Windhelm. I was curious about the movements of Ulfric Stormcloak and the war he was about to start. As an individual who knows the future, I want to know if my existence and the action I took so far may not change or influence the future. I want to change the future but not anytime soon. The reason is simple. If I lose track of the future, I know by changing the events too much, I may cause problems I have no idea how to solve. For example, the changes in Winterhold are obviously something that did not happen in the game. I even killed Sibbi ck-Briar who appeared in the game to prevent any harm he may cause to Wulfur and Svidi. Same goes for how I encouraged Jon Battle-Born to be a bard and get propose to Olfina Grey-Mane before anything happen between their families. This may not seem anything harmful but the changes in Winterhold may cause the people to distance themselves from the Civil War. Also the problem between me and Sibbi may weaken the power of Maven ck-Briar as I heard she was being targeted by the Firemane ntely which eventually may cause more bad luck to the Thieves Guild and will also worsen Maven¡¯s situation as an Imperial operative in Riften. And finally if n Battle-Born and n Grey-Mane were to tie their friendship by marriage then it will be unlikely for them to choose different sides in the Civil War. None of that is bad at all but I don¡¯t want the future to change. Not because I want a Civil War or a Dragon Break to ur. I know that they will happen sooner orter so I prefer them on a certain chain of events I can predicted or even use to my favor. The Augur told me few interesting things about fate and how people can predict it by prophecies and change the fate by going against these prophecies. My knowledge is considered a prophecy of sort so I can try to use it into my favor or change some of it but I should watch out for the consequences and the changes of fate. That is why I am investigating the movements in Windhelm. The news I got from the beggars were not good or bad but they told me that a number of envoys from and to the other holds have been seen more frequently as ofte but the city still has its Imperial Legion soldiers. The Temple of Talos is running all day with no signs of pressure from the Legion. And the East Empire Company is also working smoothly. To distribute these waters it needed a lot of time from now on and it is Ulfric¡¯s job so I don¡¯t care. Now, as I was done with my little investigation, I walked with Jull to the market ce arm in arm. Apparently, a Nord and a girl with the features of a Dark Elf walking together and carrying their treasured cat would attract a lot of hateful gazes of both Nords and Dark Elves. Luckily, my killing intent always scared scare people away. Jull was having fun and I don¡¯t want any unhealthy atmosphere to form around her, this market walk was our first and there is no way I would let anything to ruin my girl¡¯s good mood. Speaking of which, her mood was rather strange. Unlike her Tsundere day mode and Yandere night mode she was making a cute childish face whenever we pass on a stall and she see something she likes. Even though she was worried about Windhelm just the other day. I bought some dresses for her as well as some gifts for Nurina, Lah and teacher Faralda. Elishka also requested that I spread the news about the bathhouse in Windhelm¡¯s market so I found a Notice Board and paid for anrge sized employment advertisement. Myst destination in the market was the alchemist¡¯s shop. It is the shop that I requested the mixture that unlocked the treasure room of ¡¯Forsaken Crypt¡¯ where I acquired ¡¯The White Phial¡¯ from. Funny thing is, the shop was also called ¡¯The White Phial¡¯. It was owned by an Elderly (Altmer) High Elf Master Alchemist known as Nurelion. Even though he was a very knowledgeable person, he was another annoying old High Elf. In the game when he gives the quest of recovering ¡¯The White Phail¡¯ and the yers return to him with the broken Phial, he gets upset and only pay five septims for the Phial. After a deadly quest, he only pays five. I didn¡¯t like the guy even though his skill was the real deal. The one I was here for was not Nurelion, but his apprentice, Quintus Navale. A very friendly Imperial guy with good manners. After the yer gets paid the fives septims of Nurelion, Quintus pays the yer the rest and apologizes for his master¡¯s short temper. I pushed the store¡¯s door open and walked inside. Just as I took a breath, a strong mix of herbal scents assaulted my nose, it was somehow pleasant. "Wee to ¡¯The White Phial¡¯, may I interest you in some of our potions and ingredients? Or you are here to make a request?" A young man that is apparently the same age as I was standing behind the counter and weing us. "I am here to make a request for a ship and for my journey." Just as I said that the boy¡¯s eyes lit up, he knew I am making a big request. "By all means sir, my master is not here but I will take your request right away. I am Quintus, Quintus Navale." "Jon Dare!" "Jon Dare? The Jon Dare?" "Am I known in these parts?" "Known? You are the man who sent Jarl Ulfric back from the tournament empty handed, you are not just known. Is it true that you have beaten a whole team single handedly? And won a free for all match against more that twenty five opponents?" "Whoa! Whoa! The people here know about me to this details?" "Eh! No, it is just me and few others haha! You see, we have a very famous arena calked ¡¯The Pits¡¯ and I am a regr there so it happened that I heard about everything! I really regret not attending the tournament this year!" Hehe! What a guy! After fanboying around me for a while we started talking business. "To think you are from the esteemed college, we are honored to make business with you!" "Thank you! Here is my list, and here is the ship¡¯s list." "Hmmm! Healing, Stamina, Regeneration, Purifying, Acids, and Perfumes! I think all of them can be handled even by me. I have some in stock but if I start working now, I¡¯ll finish everything by to night! When can you pick them up!" "Hmmm! I am staying in the inn so I cane any time you want!" "Oh! The inn? Fine, I aming to drink tonight, I¡¯ll bring the orders myself then!" "Fine, then tonight drinks on me!" "Haha! Thank you." It was a short conversation but I think I made a new Alchemist friend. After leaving the shop, I took Jull around and continued the shopping like a couple till sun started to go down. After that, we became tired and hungry so we decided it¡¯s about time to head back for the inn. In the inn, Jull changed to a lovely dress I bought her and we went to sit in the inn¡¯s hall, we were drinking and talking with Ongeim and the crew members. An hour passed and Quintus Navale came with two hired carriers behind him. "Sir Jon, I brought the order!" "Oh! Thank you, please join us! Ongeim, take care of the crates." Quintus sat and we continued the conversation from the store, then we talked about alchemy, enchanting and magic. After that we started talking about ¡¯The Pits¡¯. ¡¯The Pits¡¯ is Windhelm¡¯s arena, one of the most brutal arenas in Skyrim. It has a prisoners¡¯ fighting tournaments and death matches. Even killing the opponent was not considered going overboard. "The next set of matches will be the day after tomorrow, it will be heated as ever. You muste, I promise you won¡¯t regret it!" "I will for sure my friend!" "Know, I want to talk with you about an important matter!" "By all means, go ahead!" "You see, part if my objective in this visit to Windhelm is to meet with the assistance of Master Nurelion." "With me?" Quintus became surprised! "Yes and no! I didn¡¯t know who you are at first but I just had an important business with your master. But I am afraid something may go very wrong." Quintus was surprised but he managed to calm down. "Fine my friend, I am listening!" "You see, just like your master, I am also obsessed with ¡¯The White Phial¡¯..." "Now hold it right there! If you are trying to befriend me and say you want to help my master and want to take a look about his research, I am afraid you came to the wrong person!" "No no no, nothing like that!" "Then..." "I researched the historical records about ¡¯The White Phial¡¯ and discovered its location!" "What! Are you saying the truth?" "Yes!" "But that¡¯s impossible! My master has spent most of his life looking for it and you just said you who is not older than me just found its location?" "I was lucky! Lucky! And as a mage in Winterhold, I have ess to historical records even your master can¡¯t acquire." "That is not very good for master! He will be shocked!" "I know, he is an old person and he will get affected by disappointment really hard. I found out after I learned how much is he obsessed with the Phial. But that¡¯s not even the end of the story yet." "There is more?" "Yes, I am an adventurer and to me, such a clue is something irresistible. I went to the crypt where the Phial was kept and recovered it." "IMPOSSIBLE!" Quintus stood up suddenly with a serious face. "Shush! People will notice!" "Ehem! Sorry." He sat then whispered, "Did you really find it?" "Yes, it is in this wooden box. I was intending to share the discovery with your master and study it together with him, but when I found the Phial, a tragedy struck!" I opened the box and showed the Phial to Quintus. He was amazed and in awe but when he saw the crack, his expressions turned as if he saw horror. "Y, Y, You broke it?" "No, I didn¡¯t. I actually incapable of even scratching it. The Phial is made of the first ice that fell on ¡¯The Throat of the World¡¯ and it is mostly indestructible, unless..." "Unless..." "Unless you are its creator!" "Are you saying?" "Yes, the creator was the one to break it, regardless of the purpose, we must fix it. And your master can¡¯t know of its existence or the truth that it is broken." "You are right! If master knows, he may drop dead. But how will we fix it?" "As I told you before, I was lucky to find its location in an old book, but I don¡¯t know as much as your master know." "I get what are trying to say! I¡¯ll start investigating right away." "The items we need are a foresworn Briar-Heart, a powdered mammoth tusk, and finally a snow from the throat of the world." "I get it, a briar heart and powdered mammoth tusk are easy to be acquired, but the throat of the world is a different story." "Leave the snow to me! It will take me a while but I will bring it. Your role is to investigate how it can be repaired." After thos conversion we talked about the repairing and we made a few ns. We also spent some time talking about this and that until midnight then he took his leave. The inn hall was not still empty as a lovely Dark Elf bard was singing in a beautiful voice. "Hey, sing us something fun." I said as I gave the bard a coin. She saw a silver coin and became all smiles. She stated singing a sailors¡¯ song that was pretty popr. Some couples couldn¡¯t resist and started to dance together. Just as Junar saw that, he eyes became all sparkles and looked at me. She really wanted to dance. I guess we haven¡¯t did that together before. I didn¡¯t let her down and took her by the hand to the middle of the hall and started dancing. It was just like hopping up and down and going with the song, no one in Skyrim was strange to that! Few minutester, the song ended and the people started praising the barddy. "That was some song, haha! Luaffyn maybe a Dunmer but she is the best bard in town!" A girl said. "True!" Someone replied to her. The people were in harmonious mood after the song ended but someone was in a state of shock. "Luaffyn!" It was Junar. She looked at the barddy with shocked eyes and she appeared to be in an emotional storm. "Something wrong?" Junar looked at me as if she was about to scream, she approached me and whispered to my ears. "This woman, Luaffyn, she is my blood rtive. She is my aunt!" Chapter 85 The Pi Junar¡¯s aunt? I couldn¡¯t help but too look at Luaffyn one more time. It was hard to make a match between Jull and her due to the racial difference as Jull was a half Human half Dark Elf, but if Jull said so then it is the truth. "Is there any problem with her? We can leave the inn and go anywhere else if you are ufortable." Jull looked at me with a pained expression. "There is no ties between me and her. It is just, it is just she may know the bastard who assaulted my mother." Jull said what she has in heart. I understand! "Let¡¯s wait until the people go way to bed and we will have a talk with her!" Jull, who was in a bad mood was not really in the right mindset so I took her to our room and tried to calm her down. Some timeter, the inn outside had no movement and it seemed like everyone are in bed. Let¡¯s move then. I casted ¡¯Scan¡¯ and pinpointed where Luaffyn is, after that, we sneaked out of our room to hers. As we entered Luaffyn¡¯s room, she appeared to be sleeping. Jull closed the door as I started to cast ¡¯Muffle¡¯ around the room. Now, even if a dragon break happened in this room, no one will hear anything. I finished the spell and gave Jull the green light nod, she now can do whatever she wants. Jull walked to the bed, looked at Luaffyn¡¯s face then climbed on the bed, she unsheathed her dagger, then sat with all her weight on Luaffyn¡¯s chest. "Guh! Azura! What th, Get of m..." *PAA* "Aaaahh!" Jull pped Luaffyn. It was a splendid p. "This is because you betrayed my mother!" *PAA* "Aau!" "This is because you made her cry every night!" "Please stop! Someone!" "Don¡¯t worry, not a single soul can hear you here, even if you screamed your lungs out." "Jus, Just who are you people?" "Don¡¯t recognize me? I am so offended dear aunty?" "... M, Ma, Mabia? It can¡¯t be." *PAA* "Ahh!" "So you remember me. Long time no see! It has been more than ten bloody yeas!" "Mabia! Please, stop! Get her of me." Sorry about that! "No! I feel veryfortable up here!" *PAA* "Ph, Please, I beg you!" Luaffyn started crying. "Hehe! Yes please beg me more. The more you beg the more I get tempted to carve your face out with this knife!" "... Please stop, Merafyn woul..." *PAA* "DON¡¯T YOU EVER SAY HER NAME WITH YOUR DIRTY MOUTH EVER AGAIN YOU WHORE! I¡¯LL CUT YOUR TONGUE OUT!" "NooOo!" Oh boy! This is bad. Jull lost her shit. "Waitwaitwait! Let¡¯s not cut it right now!" I had to pull Jull from Luaffyn before she does anything stupid. "Let me! I¡¯ll kill that bitch! LET ME DO IT!" "Calm down! Calm down! Easy! We still need to know many things from her." I started whispering to Jull trying to calm her down. Jull calmed down a tad but she was ring daggers at that the crying timidly Luaffyn, she was clearly very angry at her. From what I could understand and what Jull told me before, her mother had a sister and they were pretty close. They both became bards and worked together at Windhelm¡¯s tavrens. After the incident with Jull¡¯s mother and her decision to keep the child, a lot of Dunmer turned their backs on her. That was normally and to be expected, but the one thing that wasn¡¯t expected was Luaffyn abandoning her sister Meravyn. Merafyn was shocked. The only person she was nning to depend on abandoned her easily just like anyone else. They grew up together and learned the art together yet being abandoned by the most trusted person sure left a bitter feeling. Merafyn felt betrayed and thought it was about time to leave Windhelm. She kept going with her four years old Mabia until her death in Falkreath. Mabia whoter became my Junar has suffered a lot through her life and nearly lost her sanity until she fell in my hands. And now, this, was to be a warm reunion between blood kin, somewhat turned into a raging storm that could be seen happening right in front of me. "Okay, you need to calm down for a bit! And you, you better answer my questions or I will let her do whatever she wants with you." Luaffyn who was sobbing and holding her swollen face nodding while crying. "It is pretty simple, who was the one who assaulted your sister sixteen years ago?" "Huh! Yo, You want to know that? But, But he is dangerous!" Really, now? "Are your head full of fart? I am dangerous too." I closed in on Luaffyn and evoked lightning magic, my hand started making a electric cracking sounds and Luaffyn started crying. "Please *sob* I¡¯ll tell! I¡¯ll tell!" Acting like a hooligan always gets shit done. From what Luaffyn said, the man seemed to be a known brute in the arena, his name is Iron-Fist or something. Well, if he is in the arena, killing him will be a piece of cake. "Can we kill her now?" Jull was all out for blood. I raised my hand to stop her before she do anything rash, I still had.. "Onest question. Why did you betray your sister?" Luaffyn, who looked haggard and beaten up, looked at me with wide eyes then her expressions crumbled and clenched on her teeth. "Betray? Why would I? I would never do such a thing..." Huh? "... I was the one who got betrayed. Did you think I just abandoned my sister because she had a child with a Nord? Did you..." To be honest, yes. "... I gave my everything to him, and yet he went behind my back to her and I knew about it. Even when she refused him time after time, he got drunk and then raped her. He was just using me to get to her! Everyone wanted Merafyn! She had the beauty, she had the body, she had the voice, she could write songs I could not, she could do everything right! And I always thought she needed me and she can¡¯t be sessful without me! Then she abandoned all that for a child. She didn¡¯t want to sing again! She gave up on everything because of a damned child. What else could I do? I was meant to sing, I was meant to y music, but without her... without her... I found out... I was... NOTHING SPECIAL! YOU HEAR ME? NOTHING, SPECIAL! IT WAS ALWAYS HER, SHE COULD HAVE DONE IT ALL BUT SHE ABANDONED ALL THE GLORY AND THE MONEY FOR A DAMNED CHIL... *gup*" Well... my ears are ringing... She was so loud that I had to punch her to Oblivion. I didn¡¯t see thating at all. Women truly areplicated. Luaffyn who appeared in the game was an NPC with no features or background. Also, there is that thing about the Dark Elves and how they are emotional and rational as hell. Anyway, none of that matters now. I looked at Jull as I was really worried about her but she was totally expressionless. "Say Jon." "Hm?" "A person like that? How am I suppose to punish her?" Her tone was normal and her expressions were very cold. "I guess, you only need to think of a way yourself." I said. "Sigh! You are not helping." She said. "Actually I do, whatever choice you make I willpletely support it." I said. "Hmmm! So you are giving me a choice now?" "Hehe! Well yeah, just this once." I normally order her around and tell her what to do and what not to do, but I guess this time this will help her mentally if she took the right choice. "Killing her won¡¯t do." Jull said, "She is a miserable person, letting her live is the best way to torment her." Hoho! Interesting! She came to me and sank in my embrace. "Let¡¯s heal her and leave her be." She then added with a smile. Hmm! "I am proud of you!" "Hehe! I know." "Let¡¯s go to our room." I said as I took Jull away by the hand. ~~~~~~~~ Next morning, Luaffyn reported that she was ill and caved in her room all the morning. I took Junar and went out to tour the city like couples again. I guess we are a couple now. Honestly, I cherish her very much even though we set our rtionship as master and subject, but I don¡¯t mind her getting closer than that at all. Yes, there will be boundaries but I can take her as my second wife if I ever got married. Anyway, this time in the city, we didn¡¯t go to the market. We directly went to ¡¯The Pit¡¯ as we had an investigation to do. The man that was called something like Iron-Fist or whatever is our target to kill. As we walked into the area that was between the Grey Quarters slums and the docks gate. The number of thugs increased and it looked like some ce I am familiar with. Anyway, emitting a bloodlust in these situations is surely a way to clear the road effortlessly even though it costed some Magicka. After we reached a certain building, I started asking around until I knew what to do. Looking around for a man called Benkum, I found him in an ce that can actually be described as a pit. "You are Benkum?" "Hello, hello, hello. Interested in fighting in the Pit? The rules are strict, but if I don¡¯t see it, it didn¡¯t happen, know what I mean?" "Know what you mean. Is there a chance to fight as a pair?" "You and.... that girl?" "Yes." "Fine! Pay the fee and tell me when you are ready to fight." I was nning to do just that. "Is there a chance to fight tomorrow?" "Nah! Tomorrow is just for the big fights and challenges. Well, unless you show me something good today." "Fine, we will fight." We were already in our gear so let¡¯s not waste any time. After some time, me and Jull went in the arena. It was an area under the level of the ground with many cage doors around the ce. The walls were grey the same was as all the structure in Windhelm and it was annoyingly not vast. "Now everyone! We have a new blood, a fellow with the name of Darth Vader being followed by a girl are here to prove their worth in the pits! Mind if we begin with the usual?" The usual? Just as he said that, one cage door opened and from the darkness within, something emerged! A wolf! No, two wolves! How annoying! "Now, let the fight begin." ~~~~~~~~ First it was two wolves, then a death prisoner, then some other new blood, then another prisoner. We won swiftly and with ease, even though I and Jull were using spears to hide pur true skill. Nothing in the usual day fights was anything interesting. After the fourth match, I noticed that some crowd began to gather. "So Benkum! Are we fighting tomorrow?" "You can only issue a challenge in the end but tell me beforehand so I can make everything smooth!" I guess I understand him. I took out some silver septims and gave them to him. "Mind if you tell me about a fellow with the name of Iron-Fist." "Iron-Fist? You want to fight him?" "Something wrong?" "No, but normally people would pick a fight against the strong ones or the weak ones. The ones in the middle are.not really not that interesting." "So I can fight him tomorrow or not?" "Yes you can!" "Fine, make it happen!" Chapter 86 The Challenge [Wulfur¡¯s POV] Winterhold is the coldest ce in the world, no argue about that. We Nords don¡¯t mind cold, no argue about that. Then why? Just why is this forge so damn hard to fire. I only arrived here a week ago and I am supposed to be Jon¡¯s chief cksmith, but things are not all butterflies and unicorns as he used to say. Starting a fire in this town is tough. A cksmith needs to have a good source of air but with the wind in this town, I am facing a challenge after a challenge. Jon suggested something long ago like applying a magical rune to keep the forge hot and running but I am normally used to adding ¡¯Fire Salts¡¯ to the forge in Riften with the techniques I learned from Old Balimund so it served me good up until now even in Solitude with its cold see air. Yet, I am hating this town nonstop since I came. I only arrived here after Ongeim Scar-Mouth paid me a visit with a request for a capable cksmith to keep the sailors and Jon¡¯s guards all geared up against the pirates. When he came, he had a letter for me that came from the Headmistress or who should I call Arch-Wizard Nurina now. It was the same shopping list she sends to Jon. Now I learned the feeling of how hard it is to deal with such an irresponsible person as Nurina. Before I leave, I was a bit worried for Svidi and Bjorna. Svidi seemed to be having funtely, but Bjorna on the other hand was having trouble with eatingtely. Anyway, after having a trip my life was changing super fast. The first day I arrived here, I had to deliver everything to Nurina and deal with her nagging about her new student. Apparently a girl called Alina with some background was forced on her to be her apprentice by the Arch-Mage of the College and that girl issued a challenge against Jon for the title of ¡¯Nurina¡¯s Legacy Apprentice¡¯. Not that I care. Jon can do magic since he was five, why would she bother to begin with? The second day I started working on the forge and I got a nice house from Jon¡¯s properties. Seemed to me like he is the Jarl of this ce now. Everyone is worshipping his name. The third day, the wind became violent and the work stopped. I paid a visit to ¡¯Jonald the Drumph¡¯ the best wall builder in town to build me a windbreaker around the forge. [A/N: and he appears again. All Hail!] The forth day, I discovered that one of the Bathhouse girls in Solitude became the Bathhouse mistress in Winterhold and works under Jon. When I went to the Bathhouse, I received a very good treatment and all. This Jon, he is an expert in luxury as usual. The fifth day, we woke up at dawn by the town¡¯s rm. On the sea, a pirate ship was sailing very close to the docks. The pirate¡¯s g was red with three cuts. This is the banner of ¡¯The Blood Horkers¡¯. Trudvar, Jon¡¯s housecarl, took some men and fortified the slope with crossbows the whole day. The sixth day, the pirates left and it appeared to be a provocation. Maybe they were trying to scout the situation and saw it will be hard to attack. I suggested that we increase our preparation as I suspect that the next time theye, the pirates will also be more prepared. The seventh day, this morning, something weird happened. Trudvar came to me saying that he caught a thief trying to steal from my workshop, but they heard a scream and because of it, they found the thief. Aside from the thief, the scream came from ¡¯The Screaming Chest¡¯. An old trick that Brynjolf taught me, it is about attaching a whistle to a small mechanism in the chest, once it gets opened forcefully, it makes the whistle produce some movement in the inside of the whistle and it starts screaming. This was how the thief got caught. After catching the rascal, he was locked in some hole under the Bathhouse. it seemed that Jon had anticipated something like that and prepared something for questioning the thieves. The thief was beaten up until the morning. After he talked, we found out that he was after my tools in the workshop. After further investigation, it appeared that he works for the pirates. This cowardly move of his was to gain merits and stall our work process. I haven¡¯t seen the big picture that big before but it seems that this is how fights happen inrge groups. I am sure now, a big fight is upon us, and until the day Jon finishes his training, we are to defend this ground. ~~~~~~~~ [Junar¡¯s POV] Luaffyn! Ah! I met her after all these years. I pped her to my heart content. I always wanted to kill her but He showed me how much of a pity woman she is. If I killed her, how can she be tormented more and more? Her life itself was enough as a punishment. Pure Dunmer are mostly selfish and self centered so she won¡¯t kill herself. After we left her room. I wanted to grab my gear and go murder Oblivion out of that man but He pulled me and told me not to go. He said, "You think you can handle him alone." I said, "I want revenge for my mother. At least give me that choice." He smiled, He was amused, He grabbed my neck and pulled me closer. I heard His voice whisper in my ears. His words made me obey. I can¡¯t go against him. He said I am His woman, He said He can¡¯t let me do this alone, He said we are meant to kill together. Yes, yes! How could I forget! "I am sorry. Please, Jon kill him with me." "That¡¯s my girl!" He said it. It made me happy. How can I ever disobey him! How can I ever say no to him. He is my precious! My love! My God! The next day, he took me to the arena and we arranged a challenge against that hateful person. I was a bit rude to Jon but just as the sun went down, I apologized for my rudeness. Next morning, we are having mother¡¯s revenge. I hope, I just hope that next morning, I don¡¯t act rudely towards him. *** Goddammit! Why do I always wake up naked and in his embrace. Him! Of all people. I can¡¯t believe it! What was I thinkingst night? I know he doesn¡¯t do anything to me but this has to stop. "You¡¯re awake?" "Yes, let¡¯s keep sleeping for a bit!" He took his arm around me and pulled me beside him again. "Hey, mind where you touch!" "Really? I didn¡¯t grab anything soft so no harm, right?" This! This! How can he bully me like that? *sniff* "Let me go you Idiot!" "Hahaha!" Why is heughing? I could barely escape from him after that. He looked somehow tired though? Come to think of it, his temperature was a bit off now. Hmmm! He may catch cold this way. I think he used to keep some medicine for that in the potion bag. Where is it? Where is it? Aha, here it is. He already started waking up. "Hey, take that." "Eh, that? Okay..." He took the medicine right away. Thank goodness, now I¡¯ll go lo... "Hey Jull." "Hm?" "Thank you!" Eh? Wha? What is he saying? Why is he smiling like that? "C, Choke on it, idiot, I wasn¡¯t worried about you or anything." Gaah! He is making me angry again. I can¡¯t take it anymore. ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] Jull was full on Tsundere day mode this morning. I don¡¯t know what got into her, but I guess it has to do with everything going ontely. Anyway, she gave me some medicine this morning and looked super cute when I teased her after it. Well, let¡¯s get this day started. Ongeim came to see me and said he was going to set sail. It will take him five days to get back to Wimterhold. Thest thing I had to do in this city is the challenge we have tonight. We made it look like two amateur fighters are looking big and trying to challenge a senior. After a fast breakfast we went back to ¡¯The Pit¡¯. The ce was crowded but we found a spot with the fans around the pit. Benkum, the arena manager, was all smiles as it seemed today was a big day for him and he wanted to make lots and lots of money. He started his usual game manager speech saying that the matches will be held as scheduled with a little bit of extra as some new blood will be challenging the veteran fighters. Everyoneughed at the idiots who got themselves into trouble fighting the veterans. Everywhere, those kinds of idiots existed but they had no fighting future as veterans tend to break green horns badly. But that is in normal cases. Anyway. The matches started and I was bored as hell. Slow, brutish, and had no style. Some timeter, the matches started to get more heated and the contenders were fighting all out. I noticed some brute fighting bare handed against weapon users. He was not exactly bare handed as he is using metal vambracers and metal gauntlet. "Hey look, Iron-Fist is going all out today!" "Yeah! Energetic as usual!" Hmmm! I guessed so too. So that is him. He looked like some puffed up guy with a shaved head and no facial hair. He used some skillful punching techniques and looked capable. He was fighting a death prisoner so he didn¡¯t hold back. Even when the opponent got all beaten up and his blood sshed around, Iron-Fist justughed and licked the blood on his face. Yep, he¡¯s an a$$hole. The matches kept going until we reached the end. For some reason, Junar who was full of anticipation is now absent minded. "And now, for the final challenge. The new blood, Darth Vader and his partner under the hood have issued a challenge against Iron-Fist." "Hahaha! This is bad!" "By the nine! Someone is challenging him?" Mobs started saying what mobs say. I was getting myself to the stairs to get in the pit. After the wait, I was standing with Jull in the pir against the man. He was tall and bulky with a closer look, not that it matters anyway. "Listen kiddo, let¡¯s make it fast. I don¡¯t know who fooled you to challenge me but I don¡¯t want to send you to your graves. We fight for a minute then you will take one hit and don¡¯t get up. It will look good bu..." "Whatever!" I replied nonchntly. "Huh?" "If we can¡¯t beat you in the first minute then it¡¯s all to waste anyway." "So you are going for it huh?" "Fight!" I was in no mood to talk with a dead man any further! I had a spear in my hand and with it I rushed at him. As he saw me approaching as he thought about grabbing the spear or breaking as from his point of view, I was slow. Just as I got close enough to the point he is in my reach. I increased my speed in a blink and sticked the spear head in the ground. With it like that, I used it to perform a high jump and in a blink of second, I was over his head. The shock on his face was visible as I was flying over him. He tried to raise his hand and grab the nearest part of me but hepletely forgot something. Junar just rushed a secondter after me and was stabbing with her spear at him. She was still expressionless but her stab was fierce. The man realized the danger and barely could jump to dodge the iing attack. Even though her attack missed, Jull¡¯s movement were sharp and agile. She was clearly in the zone. I closed in again and kept putting the man in a bad spot after the other. After three minutes, we have finished dismantling him. He was on one knee barely able to stand. His body was full of cuts and purses. Yo, You bastard!" "We are just getting started." I dered out making a smug face. "I¡¯ll get you brat!" "No you won¡¯t!" Junar replied at him. "Move!" He was about to stand up but I kicked him to remain on the ground once again. Jull removed her hood and looked at him. He also looked at her. The people around the arena gasped. The didn¡¯t think the girl who always hid her head with a hood would be an elf. And from what they made out, she was a half Dunmer. Iron-Fist was shocked, from his eyes I could see a deep shock. "So it was you?" He said. Junar¡¯s look was cold and indifferent but she replied to him. "It is good that you realized who am I. Now, let¡¯s get to business." Chapter 87 Troublemaking [Jon¡¯s POV] The fight kept going! We didn¡¯t give Iron-Fist a chance to take a breath and kept toying with him left and right. I normally left all the attacks for Junar but when he noticed that I am only fainting my strikes, he ignored me and tried to target her. Well, that was not hard. I only had to stab his legs few times anyway. Compared to him, we were much faster. He had no way of stopping us with his brute strength. Of course I can put up a show against him if it came to brute strength but Jull can¡¯t so I gave him the illusion that he cane after both of us as long as he tries. Of course he couldn¡¯t. Junar was frantic in her strikes and he started to fear her attacks. I know he recognized her since the time she removed her hood and he knew she is after his head. The people stopped cheering long ago as they sensed the immense degree of hostility in the match. Most of them already guessed this was a death match. Benkum, the arena manager, was already trying to move his men to stop the match before Iron-Fist gets killed. Apparently, a money maker like Iron-Fist was important to him and getting him killed will cause him a big loss. Also being fooled by me sure left a bad taste in his mouth. Now, I am not sure if we can get out of the arena the peaceful way. "Let¡¯s just hurry up and kill the scum." I said to Jull who was stabbing at him nonstop. He looked like a bloody rag from how much stabs he suffered. It has been long since he switched from offense toplete defense, he took most of the blows by his vambracers without one counter attack. His moves started to be slower but was still steady, I thought he became tired but I caught a glimpse of his eyes shining brightly as he was looking at Junar. He had a vulgar smile behind his guard, chills ran in my spine as I thought he might do something and certainly he was about to. Jull approached him and was trying to get another sure stab at him but heunched a punch at her lightning speed. This is dangerous! "Watch out!" I threw the spear in my hand away and grabbed what I could reach from her then pulled her back as fast as I could. His punch missed but he saw the opportunity and switched targets at me. His punch was speeding towards me but my reflexes were ready and I kicked his knee stopping his advance before he reaches me. He was also an experienced fighter so this kick wasn¡¯t enough to make him stop or retreat but instead of punching, he tried grabbing me and mostly seeded. From the beginning I was in a tight spot after pulling Jull and using a leg to kick. If I was him I would have targeted the leg I am standing on but he hugged directly at me and performed the ribs crushing technique, The Bear Hug! "Hahaha! Girl, throw your weapon or I will crush the insides of this guy." He spoke like the hooligan he is and was truly trying to crush my ribs. Jull was ring at him and calcting where to strike next. "Hey, don¡¯t ignore me!" I managed to free my left arm and evoked ¡¯Sparks¡¯ on it. Just as Iron-Fist saw magic on my hand, his face changed color and tried to evade but he was at zero distance from me. I put my palm on his head and casted the lightning ¡¯Sparks¡¯. I felt the electricity tickling me through him as we were stuck to each other. The feeling started to get unpleasant as he refused to let go of me. Just as he couldn¡¯t take it anymore, he let go of me and retreated hastily. My sides were hurting a bit but nothing serious, not even a purse will be left. The match already was no more when I started using magic. Benkum signaled the other fighters to go to the pit and drag us out. Okay, this has to end. Iron-Fist on the other hand was furious and looked at me hatefully. "You fucker. I will kill you. Then I will break her legs and sell her in a whorehouse." "Okay, I will just kill you myself then! Jull, leave the killing to me. We are running out of time." "Fine! I don¡¯t care!" I evoked ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ in both my right and left, this spell is an expert spell but has no range or uracy so its Magicks cost was very lowpared to the damage it deals. After getting ready. I put on a serious face and shouted at him. "Come at me!" Iron-Fist roared and charged at me giving his best punch. He was sure that if he couldn¡¯t overpower with his strength, he and the other fighter will overpower me with numbers. To the punch he threw with his right, I also punched the ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ in my right. ¡¯KABOOM!¡¯ The oue was simple. Not even Iron-Fist with his fame in throwing punches can take the half assed ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯. [A/N: not even the immortal iron fist himself I tell you.] ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ tend to make a thunder p every time it strikes. The strike was enough to deafen the entire pit. Iron-Fist looked at his arm to see that everything has turned to a scenario he couldn¡¯t predict. His arm was missing. Behind him was a trail of bone and flesh fragments all over the ce. "AAH! AAAAARRHGH.. gufu!" He was about to start wailing from the pain but I granted him the other ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ in my left. It carried him in the air and broke him into two destroyed halves. It was splendid no matter how I think about it. I turned to Jull and tried to check on her but she was absent minded for some reason. "Jull... Jull!" "...Yes!" "We are about to go through those brutes! ... You okay?" "Yes, yes! It is just... thank you!" "You wee! conjure a Frost Atronach and hide behind it." She nodded and started casting! "You! You are not getting out of here! The man you killed is worth a 100 Gold. Pay up!" Benkum the arena manager was huffing and buffing at me between his men. Hehe! Let¡¯s see if you can stop me! I have already finished up conjuring four Frost Atronaches. It may be no match for this number of fighters but I am going to escape anyway. "Now!" I gave amand and Junar followed. "Stop them!" The fighters lined up to block the way but that¡¯s not the trick. "FUCK OFF!" I performed a ¡¯Battle Cry!¡¯ just a second before the sh. The result was devastating. We passed like a hot knife through butter. I had no n anyway but it will work until we reach ¡¯Candlehearth Hall¡¯. From there, we will take Nefertiti and escape town before the guards notice. ~~~~~~~~ [Ralof¡¯s POV] We received a report that someone caused a big ruckus in ¡¯The Pit¡¯. I don¡¯t like the ce to begin with but when I went to check I saw men as big as walls copsing on the ground and weeping. From what I could understand, someone shouted a ¡¯Battle Cry¡¯ at them. There was also a corpse broken in a horrible way. Eye witnesses said that it was a man called ¡¯Darth Vader¡¯ killed that broken man as his fists made the sound of thunder. By Talos! For such a thing to exist. To break a man like this with punches made of thunder is something I don¡¯t want to fight. More than being a strong fighter, the killer is also a strong mage that summoned many Walking Ice Monsters. Magic and its people are always troublesome. But to perform a ¡¯Battle Cry¡¯ on top of that is a scary feat. Someone so strong came in town? I must definitely report this! If this man is not acting against us then Jarl Ulfric will try badly to rope him in. "Capt..tain! Captain Ralof! *huff* *huff*" One of my subordinates came running for me. He was supposed to be guarding on the gate. "What? Take your breath then speak!" "Yes! *huff* *huff* just *cough* just a minute ago! One man passed the gate with force on top speed! He was riding a horse made of fire! We couldn¡¯t stop him!" Horse made of fire? What is that? The Jarl can wait few more minutes. I followed the guard to the gate and listened to the witnesses. They all confirmed the story. More than that! The description matched that of Darth Vader. What is going on today? I guess this should be reported! I ran to my superior, Commander Galmar Stone-Fist, Jarl Ulfric¡¯s housecarl. "All that happened?" He said. "Yes! He is confirmed to be young and a very capable warrior!" I said my opinion on the ident. "Fine! Follow me to the Jarl." It wasn¡¯t long since we saw Jarl Ulfric. "Galmar! I told you to fini... Oh! You¡¯re bringing Ralof, huh?" The Jarl was looking up some map. "Yes, there is something interesting that happened in the city Ulfric, it¡¯s like this..." Gulmar said all he learned from me to the Jarl. "Hmmm! A Thunder Fist, huh! That¡¯s a new one. Are you sure it was not magic?" The Jarl asked me. "The people saw him punching, Jarl. I don¡¯t know what kind of a mage punches with magic if he can just cowardly throw magic like the rest of his kind but he was also confirmed to be a mage." I said. "Strange! Something new is happening! He killed a fighter I was nning to recruit so he mustpensate me for that." Jarl Ulfric seemed to be interested. "Pass my order." He said, "That Darth Vader is to be considered a criminal and wanted only alive! Reward any tip about him." Wha! What is the Jarl thinking? Jarl Ulfric values talents so much so he would do anything to get his hands on one. But I feel like we are missing something. There was a Dunmer girl with Darth Vader, there was also a Dunmer girl with Jon Dare three days ago. Can it be... No, Jon won¡¯t do things this way. I am just overthinking it. ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] I managed to tell Junar to go outside the city before me as her control over a Falme Atronach Horse is not that great, so I had to go take our things back alone. Just as I could rode outside the bridge, I saw Jull who already summoned her horse and was waiting for me. "Where are we going now?" She asked me and looked a bit exited. "Helgen!" ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV] Just another boring day at the College. Well, it is less boring than staying in the n and staring at the snow or waving a sword all day. I came to the College after I nagged the whole n for a day. I sealed of the ancestral hall until they agreed to let me out. Finally! Freedom! Or so I thought! Steward Thurek had to follow me to the College! I also took Skywalker Svakin with me. If he could broaden his understanding of the sword during this stay out, he may achieve a breakthrough and be a Skyrunner. But things are not waiting for a person in ce to reap them. In my path of Mysticism, my talents of truth seeking and telling the future are not enough! I need to understand Magicka to its deep aspects. That¡¯s why I requested to follow Arch-Wizard Nurina Aren. A legendary figure and the person who revived the School of Mysticism in the College. But that idiot of a steward had to interfere and make a direct appeal to the Arch-Mage of the College to make me a personal apprentice to Arch-Wizard Nurina. Was his head made of fart? I said I only would attend her sses. Not that I need to be anyone¡¯s personal apprentice. I am afraid I was forced on Arch-Wizard Nurina and may have caused her some inconvenience. I tried to go and apologize but when I went to her private quarters, I saw teacher Faralda and teacher Lah flying out of the door. They said it was some experiment went wrong and I don¡¯t have to worry as I was invited in. I just don¡¯t want to remember the rest of that day, but in the evening, Arch-Wizard Nurina talked to me and she was unlike her mad wizard self just a second ago. Sheplimented my understanding for a bit then said she has a legacy disciple and I don¡¯t have to bother proving myself. Those words made me get more fired up and I started asking about that disciple whoter seemed to be the same gifted businessman who changed the town greatly. I was a bit triggered and I issued a challenge against him. s he was in an indoor studying and can¡¯t be called out. He maybe a good theorist and business man but he can¡¯t be a match against me inbat magic. Only that man Darth Vader is someone I can¡¯t defeat, but he seems to be not a person who settles in one ce. Few weaks passed and I heard some news about his appearance in Windhelm, punching like thunder, and riding a fire horse. That is him. The horse seemed to be something that was recreated from an ancient spell by Arch-Wizard Nurina and her disciple. It was contributed to the rest of the College and I could acquire it just a week ago. It also made me more than sure that Darth Vader is a College student. Anyway! I can¡¯t seem to get a hold on both Jon Dare or Darth Vader. I was told that Jon Dare wille outter by the end of the year to take hisst exam and be a ¡¯Schr¡¯. I guess I¡¯ll have to waste my time around and learn new things other than swordsmanship or Destruction Magic. I am sure that the world of magic has new ways of magic I may find out on my own. Something like that book ¡¯Wind and Sand¡¯ that Master Nurina told me to research. I am sure I will give her a surprise. {End of the Volume!} {Next Vol: Firemane n} Chapter 88 4 Months Later! [Jull¡¯s POV] The forest in Falkreath Hold is certainly wild. At first I didn¡¯t understand Jon¡¯s decision foring here but maybe I was the one hated from the start. After all, this is the ce where I lost my left eye. Still, Jon was considering me and did take me to Falkreath itself. We went to a town called Helgen as it seemed Jon desperately wanted to see the ce. ording to him, he didn¡¯t have much information about this town from his past life as it seems it was destroyed by an evil dragon. No matter how unbelievable it is to fight dragons, he is training night and day for that purpose since we came to live around Helgen four months ago. Speaking of! A lot has changed! I started my training as a ¡¯Magic Archer¡¯ and it proved to be as amazing as Jon said it would be. me exploding arrows, Shock multi-target arrows, Frost trap arrows, Force arrows, Illusion arrows. As long as there is magic, there is an arrow for it. I tried to train the Thu¡¯um like Jon but he said for normal people it would take ages toprehend one meaning of a single word. The vexing thing is, when I finally managed to learn one word in those four months, he has managed toprehend a whole new shout. Not just that, he created a brand new original shout that has a strange effect. I don¡¯t remember what it was called but it is one truly pathetic shout. Anyway, he also found a martial path for himself that greatly suited his magic andbat way. He abandoned his weapons for the current training and now is using only his bare fists. That¡¯s why we are not living in Helgen. Still, Ie here everyday to get our food and other things. Luckily we had a lot of money in gold and we took some jobs from the town and the Imperial garrison here so our funds are far from running out. Jon loves money and he made sure to not run out of it. Life can never be any better! Me, him, the annoying cat, and no one else. This is my idea life. But it is almost over now, our training is almostplete and we have to go home to Winterhold. We will have some stops along the way so we will not get home immediately. Jon kept saying things about a hunt or something. We will also sneak somewhere very scary. I don¡¯t know why I kept thinking about all these stuff, I am on a job now. Some wolves attacked a peddler on his the way from Falkreath to Helgen so the garrison put a reward for thinning the wolves numbers in the forest. Jon didn¡¯t bother hunting some wolves. To him, hunting now is about how far can he sense a presence with magic and his detection magic became scarytely. And he has to spend time with his new friend Jack now. He said he will have to kill him before we leave Helgen. The hunting didn¡¯t take me three hours and I filled the cart I came with. Now I have almost nine dead wolves here. The strange thing is, the wolves were somehow skinny and looked like they haven¡¯t eaten in a long while. This is unnatural! I even saw small wolf cubs but the were so small and hungry. I wouldn¡¯t go after them unless they try to attack. Fortunately, they turned tail and ran. Jon may know what broke the bnce of the forest as he is one of its dwellers now. Now let¡¯s head back to Helgen. *** "Young Jull,e take a look. Some mead from Whiterun!" "Thank you, Uncle!" "Young Jull, haven¡¯t seen you in the prayer to Mara yesterday." "Sorry aunty! I was hunting." "Young Jull! The clothes you ordered are finished." "Thanks Grandma! I¡¯lle before sunset." "Young Jull, this..." "Young Jull, that..." I¡¯ll murder you people. Since the time I settled in this town. I became very popr! Hunting brought me some money but people strongly like to interfere in my business now Why did it turn like this? I know why actually. Before I leave. Lady Nurina gave me something and I tried it. The effects were not fast but they were disastrous. Everyone and their mothers suddenly started to like me. Jon also noticed and made a thumbs up as approval. Life became somehow easier but a bit annoying since then, I guess its for the greater good. Now, I just need to deliver the hunt and go find Jon. "Perfect Adrius. Today¡¯s hunt!" "Huntress Junar! Thank you... Nine! All are perfect kills. I can¡¯t help but to praise your skill." "Thanks! How much will all that worth?" "Let¡¯s see..." I negotiated with Perfect Adrius for the price and it was a win. "Always a pleasure doing business with you Huntress Junar! If any of those annoying soldiers harassed you. Juste to me directly." "I think Jon will take care of anyone who may have funny ideas." "That¡¯s what I am afraid of! I am telling you toe for me for things not to turn out likest time. Just how can a girl like youmunicate with that caveman?" "Hahaha! I¡¯ll do that then." Last time! Sigh! A soldier from the garrison harassed me and I told Jon, things didn¡¯t turn out funny after that. Jon pped the soldier¡¯s dead ancestors out of him and his drinking buddies in the middle of the tavern. A rumor came out after from day that a p from Jon is a straight way to Oblivion. Jon maybe have became a bit too powerful in this training session. Putting those thoughts aside. I kepting and going around the town and bought the things Jon asked for. He needed some new clothes andrger boots. He also needed some mammoth meat that we always order. We actually started hating the mammoth meat from how much we ate it, but it was very important to Jon¡¯s current growth rate and, ehem, to mine too. Anyway, he suspected that this rapid growth state of his wille to an end in a day or two so he started to pack all things for our departure. After some time, I arrived at the forest once again and took the way south. There was a cave that Jon and I lived in. Just a small cave with only one room but it was cozy and nice. There was a small stream nearby and the area was mostly safe because of Jon¡¯s presence. "Meow!" Hmmm! "Here you are! We were looking for you this morning!" Nefertiti, this annoying cat, became very moodytely. She wouldn¡¯t listen to anything I say. Strangely, she has an understanding with Jon and only listens to him. I carried her before she thinks of running away and started walking to the cave. Just as I was about to walk in the cave, a tall shadow came out. "Jull, you came!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] "Jull, you came!" Finally! She must have brought it! "Jull..." "Eh! Ah. Take this." Hm? What¡¯s wrong? Why is shegging? She was eyeing me up and down. "Something wrong with me?" She got closer and looked at me. "Hmmm! You got a bit taller." What! "Again?" "Mhm! I am sure." Crap! This is crazy. I have grown too muchtely. Just like a bamboo cane after rain. This is not good at all. My apatite is endless too. "And you need to shave your beard! Whst kind of a 16 years old has a beard." She said. I am just too taken aback to reply right now. Unlike what she said, I am not sixteen yet. My life is goingpletely in a weird direction since I came to Helgen. I have grown taller that I used to be. My facial hair came out of nowhere. My muscles changed dramatically. Even my fighting style became something new. I only wanted to use this journey to heal my condition of ¡¯Astral Damage¡¯ by absorbing a higher grade vitality but if wasn¡¯t a problem at all. I managed to hunt more than nine trolls and everything was solved in the first month alone. That time, I had nearly four months of free time. So I decided to train Junar and myself on our new fighting styles as well as making a new shout and some spells. Even though most of it was a sess, I didn¡¯t notice the physical changes I was going through. Mostly because I literally caved myself and put more effort in training and research. Sigh! If only I knew, maybe I could have prepared myself mentally but I took the shock too hard. Even my clothes didn¡¯t fit me anymore. I had to tear the sleeves of the College¡¯s robe, luckily the enhancement didn¡¯t cover that area. Other than the robe, nothing fit me anymore. I had to buy big pieces of cloth to cover myself with it. I looked like some Ancient Greek guy. But finally, Jull has brought clothes that fits me this time. I was afraid of never finding anything that fits but it was a baseless fear now. I can finally have somethingfortable. "How tall did you get now?" Jull asked while giving me a bag full of soft clothes. "If I got taller like you said, then I am 206 cms now. Damn! If I ever achieved this height in my past life, I would have been famous." Yep, I would have joined the national basketball team or something. "The Scaled Cuirass you used to have, does it still fit you?" "Nope! You can have it." "So you are not going to use any armor at all?" "I¡¯ll look for something that will fit me." Jull took the Scaled Cuirass happily, it is actually a perfect piece of armor. Maybe she was skinny four months ago but the mammoth meat showed an amazing effect on her body. She also was secretly using some herbal mixture I don¡¯t know about but it was something made of juniper berries, purple mount flowers and some oil, if I have to guess then it is something for women. Why did I think like that? Well, Because Jull¡¯s body also started to change. She has grown some boobs! Jull, of all people, managed to quit being t. I tried to ask her but I was told off badly. I could only ask Nevertiti to spy on her. Anyway! In terms of physical changes, I was having a nightmare but she was living the dream. Sigh! Life! Anyway, I don¡¯t have time to try the clothes. I have a meeting with my buddy, Jack. Today I am killing it. As I was heading out Jull called for me. "Hey, there is something strange in the forest!" "What is it?" "Today, I was hunting wolves for the garrison but it went like this..." She started telling me a story about the wolves who were starving and how they looked skinny. She felt something off. Indeed, she is right! Wolves don¡¯te this close to Helgen, they avoid humans and live a bit to the west. They normally prey on deers and elks. Something must have happened to that ce. As a registered hunter by the town, I know that poaching is not allowed and strictly prohibited in Falkreath so it will be hard for poachers to move freely in these woods. My guess is, some beast stronger than the wolves drove them away. Interesting! After I kill Jack, I¡¯ll go look out for whatever that is. Thinking of Jack, I left the cave to Jull and put force in my leg to run in the forest. I used ¡¯Empower¡¯, a new spell that I came up with so I can run faster, hit harder, and defend better. It was not casted like a normal spell. It was inner casted like a game power. This is one if my new achievements. I finally can active a spell on myself without casting. This is a huge breakthrough on my part. My running spead was not something a normal human, no even a trained human cannot run as fast as this. As mages tend to neglect physical power and looked down on it while warriors did the same about magic. I found a way to puff physical power with magic and boost my strength. Due to that, I kept running at the forest until I reached a certain ce. "Jack! Come oute out wherever you are!" "ROAAAAR!" Here it is! My buddy Jack. It is a ck furred two meters tall Cave Troll. As soon as I reached his territory, he became mad and threw a big rock at me. "You three eyed stupid gori! Who taught you to throw stones at visitors." Jack didn¡¯t hear me and roared again. He was still furious from the beating he took three days ago. "Today will be thest fight! Nowe at me!" *** I went all out today on poor Jack. He didn¡¯t survive. I remembered the first time I met that idiot. I managed to absorb some vitality from it then the system informed me that the ¡¯Astral Damage¡¯ condition was removed. I decided to keep Jack alive since then and kept engaging in fights with it as a training. During my growth state I reached the point where I can overpower a troll by myself bare handed. It was a great achievement wrestling with a troll. Today I had to kill it so it don¡¯t attack anyone. I used ¡¯Empower¡¯ which buffs me greatly. I also used ¡¯Shock Redirect¡¯ which can take the force of the iing blow and redirect it through the body into a counterattack. This is me walking the path of ¡¯Arcane Warrior¡¯ now. My arsenal of skills as magical melee fighter becamerge and I had plenty of options now. ¡¯Status!¡¯ ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Name: Jon Dare ¡ñ -Race: Human (Nord) ¡ñ -Age: 15 ¡ñ -Level: 28 ¡ñ -Attributes: Health: 476/480 Stamina: 183/300 Magicka: 607/830 ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô -Magic: ¡ÁMysticism: ¨‹Magicka Outer Control: Link Magicka ¡ï Spell Break ¡ï ¨‹Space: Awareness ¡ï Space Mark ¡ï Blink ¡ï ¨‹Force: Shock Wave ¡ï ¨‹Nature: ¡ï Energize Flora ¡ï ¨‹Soul: Silence ¡ï ¨‹Inner Magicka Control: Soulfire ¡ï Empower ¡ï Shock control ¡ï . . ¡ÁConjuration: ¨‹Bound Armor: Cuirass ¡ï Helmet ¡ï ¨‹Conjure Undead: Wrathman ¡ï ¨‹Conjure Atronach: me: Normal - Horse - ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö ¡ï ¨‹Conjure Dremora: Fighter: Churl, Caitiff, Kynval ¡ï Archer: Churl, Caitiff, Kynval ¡ï Assassin: Kynval ¡ï . . ¡ÁDestruction: ¨‹me: Meteor ¡ï - Fire w ¡ï . . ¡ÁIllusion: ¨‹Will: Sleep ¡ï ¨‹Vision: Heat Vision ¡ï Shared Vision ¡ï . . ¡ÁPowers: ¨‹Aura: ¡ï Lightning Aura ¡ï mes Aura ¡ï Bloodlust Aura ¡ï Madness Aura ¡ï ¨‹Blood Lineage: Activating Giants Blood Lineage ¡ï . . ¡ÁThu¡¯um: ¨‹Clear Skies: ¡ï Lok: Sky ¡ï Vah: Spring ¡ï Koor: Summer ¡ï ¨‹Aura Whisper Laas: Life ¡ï ¨‹??????: Vonid: ???? Nebor: ???? Dozrag: ???? ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô Chapter 89 Falkreath Okay, everything was beautifully packed up by me and Jull. She is going to use a small two wheeled cart she bought to put things in, it will be pulled by a me Atronach Horse so we won¡¯t be struggling like before. The next destination on this journey is Falkreath town itself. I know Jull has a bad history with the town but it will be a good chance to visit her mother¡¯s grave. I think it will at least give her some peace of mind and may be able to free herself from the bad emotions she is struggling with. I also had a goal in mind. I currently have no armor and even though it doesn¡¯t really matter to me, a good armor is something that make Nords look with respect to the person he or she is wearing the it rather than someone who dressed in a mage robe with the insignia of the hateful College of Winterhold like me. Before we head out, I felt like Jull wanted to look at Helgen onest time. Unlike Winterhold, Jull is very popr here. She is not considered my follower or anything. On the contrary, I am the one who is considered a follower to her, and people really hate me. They call me names like the ¡¯Caveman¡¯ and the ¡¯Barbarian¡¯ as well as many other worse names due to me living in a cave thest four months. Junar, on the other hand, got few love confessions and secret admirers from the garrison soldiers and the town boys. Unlike the rest of Skyrim, Helgen is very unique. The people here are living on the trade route between the Empire of Cyrodiil and Skyrim, not just that, the people actually had many rtives across the other side of the borders. All this and that caused them to be more open to outsiders and don¡¯t give the racial differences too much thoughts. This was what made Junar, who was a half Nord Human half Dark Elf, receive a very good treatment with how much she contributes to themunity as an excellent hunteress. They also disregard the issue with her blind left eye which made her feel good about the town and spend more time there. The annoying this is, the townsfolk who wanted to free Jull from the evil me did really reckless things. Some of them tried to challenge me head on, even though they were no match, they weren¡¯t willing to give up that easily. But one day, a soldier from the Imperial garrison harassed Jull as I was around. Normally she should have taken care of it herself but my woman would only look at me with teary eyes as long as I am around. That day I made it clear that I was not really serious while beating up those so-called challengers. I used some magic and pped the soldier ten meters away. After that day, a legend came out about my hand that can conjure the ghosts someone¡¯s dead ancestors with only one p. Anyway, I made a problem with the garrison Praefect and had to solve it with a big talk with the town¡¯s elders and some officers. I had to reveal my identity as this year¡¯s champion as well as my College seal and my Thaneship seal. I had a better treatment but was still called the ¡¯Caveman¡¯ in secret. Now that I think about it, Helgen may be the most friendly town in Skyrim so far. Even though they are Imperial supporters because of the garrison in town, they are not really bad. I also had the chance to meet with some NPCs that I never had to interact with in the game like an old man called Velod who was mentioned (and also appeared) by Ralof in the game¡¯s first cutscene. Apparently, the mead that Old Velod makes is a something to kill for. I made sure to buy from it whenever I had the chance. All in all, the town is not really bad. It is busy, active, and very open minded. Too bad it is the very first town the dragon ¡¯Alduin¡¯ destroys at the start of the game. Jull was always in a bad mood whenever I mentioned this fact to her. For that, I had to promise her to save the townsfolk when the timees few years from now. After some talking with our acquaintances in town. We took our leave and used the western gate to head to Falkreath town. I was dressed in the new clothes and looked like some merchant myself. We also had to turn down an escort job as we are going to travel fast on me Atronach Horses. Speaking of me Atronachs. I managed to create another form and it looked super cool. I won¡¯t use it now as a mount because it will scare the living ghosts out of those who see it and the horse is still useful. Anyway, the road was fine for a while but some wolves appeared along the way. Jull put them down using her bound bow and arrows so we could continue the travel smoothly. From what I saw just now, I came to the conclusion that the wolves have faced a very strong enemy to fall from glory this much and attack people on the way. I guess Jull¡¯s analysis was right, something is driving them out of their territory. This will turn into a big problem if the Jarl¡¯s hunters don¡¯t hurry up a take care of it. A beast that can mess with the ecosystem is on the loose. I kept using scan all along the way and had some results. Deers are thriving in numbers! I don¡¯t understand what is going on but for the deers to live peacefully in the same area where the wolves are suffering is something unheard of to an inexperienced hunter like myself. Is there some superhero that saves the dears and hunt the wolves? I couldn¡¯t make my head around it no matter how I much thought! Anyway, the forest had its own problems and I have to take care of mine. If by any chance the reason was figured out and it was worth my while then I¡¯ll go do something about it. After few hours of fast riding, we almost reached Falkreath. This is my first time in this town and I always hateding here for the first time each ythrough in the game. There is some annoying quest about an annoying dog that requires me to make an annoying journey to an annoying cave and kill some annoying clutist to meet an annoying Daedric Lord and im an annoying axe for him to get a cool looking helmet in the end. The only thing I remember good about the quest is the reward helmet though. Anyway, before getting into town we had to banish our Atronach Horses and I started dragging the small cart by hand. Jull also had to cover her head just in case if anyone recognized her from her old acquaintances either from the townsfolk or the ¡¯Dark Brotherhood¡¯ assassins. As we looked like the normal travellers to the guards, we were allowed in the town. Falkreath is one of the major cities located in Skyrim. The town lies in the southwest of the province of Skyrim, near the borders of Hammerfell and Cyrodiil. At one period in history, Falkreath was part of Cyrodiil. Later, the town became a settlement in Skyrim. The current Jarl of Falkreath is Dengeir of Stuhn, a Nord elder who is not fond of the Empire and will support Big Bad Ulfric in the Civil War as if he was the seconding of Talos. Eventually, it will lead to him being overthrown by his nephew Siddgeir. Falkreath has a famous graveyard. The graveyard contains many famous Nords who requested to be buried here next to the other honored dead of past battles. The Hold itself is on the borders with two other nations which are Hammerfell and Cyrodiil, that gave the hold a very high strategic value and it was a ce of many battles, thus came its famous graveyard. And since the townsfolk were constantly living alongside the dead, they gave many of their shops and other buildings names rted to death. For example; the inn was called Dead Man¡¯s Drink, the alchemy shop was called Grave Concoctions, a farm was called Corpselight Farm, and so on. One of them is my destination and it is the inn to book a room for a few days, I had a few ns in mind and I needed an are of operation. Just as we put everything into a room and locked it with magic, I followed Jull around the town. She had a lot of memories in the town and showed me around the ces she used to y in and the farm she used to live with her mother in too. At the end of the day we went to visit her mother¡¯s grave. It was a small grave far from the graves that belonged to the Nords under a big tree. The ce was peaceful and calm. Jull who never cried in front of me before was crying her heart out. This was the first time for her to visit the grave. She wasn¡¯t brave enough to do so before. She talked to the grave and introduced me to her mother. She also said that she avenged her mother from those who wronged her and she now can pass in peace. Finally, she took out her journal and burned it in front of her mother¡¯s grave. I don¡¯t know what does that mean as I have never heard of a tradition like this but it seemed that Jull put her past behind and started to put a goal for her future. Lucky me, I was in a major spot of that goal. As the sun went down, we returned to the inn and had a heartly talk with each other. She leaned on me like a girl in love most of the time now. Funny thing is, I am so tallpared to her, she could barely reach my shoulder. "So, you told me you had a few goals you want to achieve in town. Will we get down to it?" She said. "You still don¡¯t look fine. Sure about it?" "Yes, I need to do something or I may start crying again. This time I don¡¯t think I will be able to stop." "Fine! Fine! I¡¯ll tell." I said. "The first thing I am after is a very powerful piece of armor. Back in my past life, I learned it was obtainable through a certain mean but I have to wait four years and for a certain event to happen." "What event?" "See those people over there." I said as I pointed to a couple of man and woman with a four years old child on the woman¡¯sp, they were just a small family spending the night in the inn, nothing strange about it. "These are Mathies and Indara as well as their daughter Lavinia. They own a farm in town. Lately, they hired someone to help them in the farm, a Nord called Sinding, and he is a werewolf. Four years from now, Sinding will kill Lavinia by mistake." "WHAT?" Jull stood up and attracted some attention. The subject may have felt a bit bitter to her. "Sit down!" I said. "Now Sinding haven¡¯t done anything yet. So I find it a bit bad to kill him, but he is a werewolf so it will be for the greater good anyway. The thing is, I need to find out if he has a certain ring or not!" "What ring?" "A white ring with a wolf head. If he have it then I will do something about him." Jull thought for a while and kept looking at the young girl. After a few seconds she nodded and said she will do anything. "First, I haven¡¯t found Sinding yet. We need to see if he is around then make a n based on his circumstances. That¡¯s for now." Jull nodded, looked around, then walked to the bar counter and asked for a drink. I also took Nefertiti and joined some men ying dice. After a few rounds, I pretended like I was willing to buy some crops and asked about the farms then strayed from a subject to another while buying more mead for the men. After an hour. I walked away and signaled to Jull. "What did you find out?" She asked. "He hates gatherings of people and doesn¡¯te to inns. What about you?" "He joined a band of hunters in town from time to time. Some hunter bought me a drink and started talking about how mighty their party is. Sinding was mentioned few times." "Good! There is a good chance that he might be around if there is many hunters in town now." She nodded to me and followed me outside the inn. I started scanning around until I located the farm Sinding works in and it looked like he was sleeping. After pinpointing his location and making sure everything is under control, I turned to Jull. "Who goes in? Who is the lookout?" "Only one way to find out!" ""ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS!"" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Bonus- ?Alternative Game. "Shouldn¡¯t we y a different game?" (Jull) "How about tag?" (Jon) "Fine, let¡¯s call for Don to join us." (Jull) "Hey, Don! We are ying tag. Wannae?" (Jon) "*Pushes the sses up in a cool anime way* You guys know how authors y tag, right?" (Don) "??" (Jull) (Jon) "*Takes out ¡¯Gender Bender Tag¡¯ with two fingers* Jon, you¡¯re it." (Don) Chapter 90 Hunting The Hunter [A/N: By the way guys! In case you are wondering about the star of azura, the vote is 51:34 for the ck star. Enjoy!] ~~~~~~~~~~~ I lost to her so Jull went in. No matter how it is, with my new looks, sneaking will be hard, I will need to find a new way to sneak around now. My height totally ruined the whole thief thing I used to do. I kept thinking about this subject while Jull is in there. I really wanted some magic for sneaking. ¡¯Invisibility¡¯ spell is not a bad choice, ¡¯Muffle¡¯ spell too, there is a spell that is called ¡¯Chameleon¡¯ that helps the person to form an illusion around himself that makes him or her visible but much harder to notice. Speaking of ¡¯Chameleon¡¯ spell, I created a shouttely and it was my own original shout, it also had a lot of inspiration from ¡¯Chameleon¡¯ spell. The way to create a shout is either by the using the current understanding of Dragons which is called the ¡¯Aspect¡¯ with certain ¡¯Words of Power¡¯ that share the same ¡¯Aspect¡¯ between its three parts. Still, there is another way. To weaken the Dragons, ancient Nords have created a shout to deprive the Dragons from their immortality temporarily. This meant that Voice Masters can train on new ¡¯Words of Power¡¯ that was never created with the Dragons¡¯ understanding. The problem thates with that is the ¡¯Aspect¡¯. Every ¡¯Words of Power¡¯ had one or more ¡¯Aspect¡¯. To magic, ¡¯Aspects¡¯ are the source code of the spell and with different techniques and effects, the aspects can be manipted and controlled. Dragons, on the other hand, had a more straightforward way. Each word has an ¡¯Aspect¡¯ which is considered its understanding, and if one wants to change how the word works, one has to use at the word of power with another ¡¯Aspect¡¯ or ¡¯Understanding¡¯ that suits it. A good example to that is the word of power I acquired from Mount Anthor, the ¡¯Slen¡¯ word which means ¡¯Flesh¡¯ thates in ¡¯Ice Form¡¯ shout and the word ¡¯Tiid¡¯ which means ¡¯Time¡¯ thates from ¡¯Time Slow¡¯ shout. These two words werebined by the dragon Alduin to make another spell called ¡¯Slen Tiid Vo¡¯ which meant ¡¯Flesh Time Opposite¡¯. It is the very shout that Alduin uses to revive his dragonrades that got killed long time ago and their souls still dwell in their remains. Point is, one ¡¯Word of Power¡¯ has more than one ¡¯Aspect¡¯ or ¡¯Understanding¡¯, and a word that has no ¡¯Aspect¡¯ still have the potential if someone researched its ¡¯Understanding¡¯. That took me back to the shout that was used by the ancient Nords to put down Dragons. It was really hard toprehend and I tried to learn it for years since the first time I started practicing the Thu¡¯um but I had to face a bitter truth. No matter how talented I am, I can¡¯t learn that shout without witnessing it. If I could learn it then I wouldn¡¯t need to delve into a dangerous dungeon to get an ¡¯Elder Scroll¡¯ only for the sake of learning that shout. Still, it was impossible to learn on my own. When I tried to look for records about how the ancient Nord made it, I was left with zero result. Not even the famous Arcanaeum of the College had an answer to uncover such a mystery. But it wasn¡¯t that hopeless! When I was reading a certain book, I found an old tradition of old mages that was something akin to forcing one¡¯s way through understanding but it was quite dangerous. Researching it with some of my friends, I found out the truth of how to create a special ¡¯Understanding¡¯ for a ¡¯Word of Power¡¯... ...And it wonderful! The ancient Nords used an extreme method to create the shout. It was harsh and had difficult conditions too. The ¡¯Words of Power¡¯ with the proper ¡¯Aspects¡¯ have the power to make the impossible possible such as degrading Dragons to Mortals. To make it that way, first, one must have the true desire to do it. Not just any desire, but one must be driven by strong emotions such as loathing and warth. It was easy to imagine the ancient Nords in such a state of hate against their enemies, the Dragons. The second step one must take is to forge those emotions into an ¡¯Understanding¡¯ on an ¡¯Aspect¡¯. Apparently those ancient Nords who fought Alduin drank alcohol continuously for seven days and seven nights. Nothing but drinking and cursing the immortality of the Dragons. They kept drinking to fire up their loathing to an unimaginable degree until the point when they gave birth to a new ¡¯Aspect¡¯ and that is ¡¯Mortal Dragon¡¯. No matter how I thought about it, it was incredible, and I insisted on copying what they have done. During my training and on ater stage when my hunger was easily suppressed, I chose a location in the forest and put my mind into action. I had learned the first word of ¡¯Aura Vision¡¯ shout beforehand and copied its unique technique. ¡¯Aura Vision¡¯ is not exactly a shout, it is a whisper, the only Thu¡¯um that was introduced in the game as one that can be used in sneaking and can¡¯t be heard easily. Anyway, after I arrived to the forest, I hid myself within the flora and started to merge in mind with it. It rained heavily the first night. It became cold the second night. Birds started to stand on me the third night. A small snake attacked the birds the fourth night. Some ants had a fight with the snake and drove it away the fifth night. A bear came and scratched his back to me the sixth night. Some bees came and attacked the bear that stole their honey the seventh night. Day by day, my presence started to be thinned and merged with the ce around me, I also kept whispering the new ¡¯Words of Power¡¯ I tried to create. Until the seventh night, my presence in the forest was so thin that I was hard to spot as a person anymore. The eighth day was when the ¡¯Aspect¡¯ was born. During that time, I found a way to channel my energy to nature and enrich it. I also found many ways to give Magicka and make the flora get energized. By the time, I was finally nning to break free from my istion but something more incredible happened. It was... "Nothing in there!" "Huh?" Jull came out of nowhere and I was not in the mind to even sense hering. "Don¡¯t tell me you spaced out!" She said angrily. "I am so so so sorry. I was nning something ahe..." "It¡¯s not the time, that Sinding doesn¡¯t have the ring. I searched the whole ce few times with ¡¯Scan¡¯ but it was clean." Oh! This is not ording to the n at all. So we don¡¯t know where the ring is. And we have no clue about it. "Okay, this is enough for today." I said and walked away from Sinding¡¯s ce. "What will we do then? We can¡¯t stay in this town forever and we can¡¯t ensure anyone¡¯s safety from a werewolf." "I know. Sinding will steal the Ring one day so that means he has a meaning to know where it is. Also he is a werewolf, and werewolves don¡¯t live in istion from the pack." "What do you mean?" "I am saying there is another group of werewolves we don¡¯t know about. If I am not mistaken, Sinding belongs to a pack and they are nearby. There is a lot of questions here but I can already see a rough image of the situation now. Let¡¯s track him the next few days." "I have already taken care of that, I have marked him with a ¡¯Pinpoint¡¯ spell." "Smart girl!" Good move, good move indeed! ~~~~~~~~~~~ We went back to the inn and directly to bed. I wasn¡¯t hungry like thest few days and I started to return to my normal diet. The next day, I went out and started looking around the forest for anything abnormal. The fact that there may be a werewolf den around the area made me excited as I have never fought one before. Many hunters chose the path of ¡¯Lycanthropy¡¯ because of the many perks it would give them, but most importantly it was for the perks of acute and sharp senses. These gifts were incredible for hunters. For a mage like myself, this was nothing amazing. I can train myself to the point where I can be as sharp as any beast anyway. And between training and gifts, training is more solid. The day passed by but I couldn¡¯t find any interesting tracks or mark. Werewolves tend to leave some totems to mark their territories but there was nothing here. If this keeps going, I will have to use more reckless measures. Jull¡¯s search was the same. Nothing she could find. That brought an end to the day and it started to make me feel impatient. To a hunter impatience is a sin but I am no hunter. I will do something about it. ~~~~~~~~~~~ The next day, I decided to make a strong appearance in town. My n was to disguise as a ¡¯Vignt of Stendarr¡¯. The ¡¯Vignts of Stendarr¡¯ are a militant order of fighting monks and holy warriors of Stendarr, the Divine of Mercy. It was founded after the Oblivion Crisis that almost ended the world tobat the Daedric influence. The Vignts also seek to root out vampires, werewolves, witches, and other creatures that prey on Mortals. The appearance of such a character in Falkreath will sure create a small uproar. Jull will be watching Sinding¡¯s actions while I am snooping around him. I had a locket of Stendarr that looked like one of the god¡¯s magical amulets. It was easy to fool people with it as the god amulets are actually rare and those who can tell the difference are only the mages or priests so I was safe as long as no one important checks it. I also put some shielding half assed enchantment on it to be safe. After sneaking out of town, I changed my appearance a bit and wore a robe, also I carried the mace of sun damage that Jull uses. I think the act can stick around for some time now. I entered the town once again from a different gate and introduced myself as a Vignt. I thought for a second that my height may give me out but it seemed to be fine as long as I avoid the inn. After talking to people and raising suspicions about werewolves, I went to the ce Sinding works in, ¡¯Corpselight Farm¡¯. "Stendarr¡¯s Mercy be upon you, for the Vigil has none to spare." "Oh, yes, wee!" I talked to Mathies, the farm owner, and put a small amount of ¡¯Aura¡¯ in my walk and talk. The people were easily intimidated by my presence this way. I really was apologizing to them in my heart. I didn¡¯t want to scare them at all. The one I was after is Sinding. Sinding was present in the ce and heard me asking about the werewolves yet he acted cool and natural. He was very calm and didn¡¯t even look away. Anyway, after I was done. I walked out of town and headed south. Only then, I had checked my surroundings and changed back to my normal appearance then sneaked back to town. "How is he acting?" I went to Jull who was waiting in the graveyard. "He acted as if he was ill and requested to take the day off to visit the shrine." Good! He is moving. "Hey before we go..." Jull handed me a sk with a strange liquid. "This is?" I asked. "I realized that we neglected one fact. Werewolves are very vignt to scents. We may get caught if we tracked him down like this." Oh! I almost neglected that factpletely. Humans are not that great with scents but sure as hell werewolves are. Jull just saved the whole operation right now. "What is that anyway?" I asked. "A mixture that the hunters use, some grinded herbs that grow in the forest and other things!" "Good. Let¡¯s go after him." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Bonus- +The other things. "Jull, you said other things are in this mixture!" (Jon) "Yes." (Jull) "What are they?" (Jon) "You want to know?" (Jull) "Sure." (Jon) "Really?" (Jull) "Really!" (Jon) "Animals¡¯ poop." (Jull) "I don¡¯t want to know anymore." (Jon) Chapter 91 Werewolves 1 [Jon¡¯s POV] It was night and I was running silently in the forest. Tracking Sinding proved to be a challenge without magic. Hunters are natural foresters and to go down after one in the forest is like going through a person¡¯s house as he know every nook and cranny of it. That was the case here. Sinding suspected that he may be followed so he walked a trail full of traps. Lucky me, I who can scan with magic can not fall easily for traps. [A/N: Deadly traps, I think I may tolerate the other traps though!] Sinding destination is to the north and he is running not too fast, but then he started to look around in a weird fashion then undressed himselfpletely. Suddenly, something strange started to happen. I was sensing from over fifty meters away by magic and I had mental image of what was happening, but that I had to see. I found a spot the activated a spell called ¡¯Far Vision¡¯, by this spell, my sight can reach further that normal human¡¯s, it was a magnifect spell. Anyway, I could see Sinding more clearly when Ibined the spell with ¡¯Night Vision¡¯. Everything came became to clear from my point of view. Sinding was transforming. He was turning into a werewolf. Werewolves, the mostmon of lycanthropes found in Tamriel. They are monstrous, wolf-like creatures taller and broader than man and mer, and are capable of moving on two limbs or sprinting on all four. They can attack with both their ws and teeth, inflicting lycanthropy with their bite. Those with the wolf blood are prone to violence, whether idental or intentional, as they live with a constant bloodlust which drives them to kill and devour their enemies. Werewolves are widely feared and hated in Tamriel, and will be attacked on sight if spotted in beast form. ¡¯Sanies Lupinus is the forceful transformation disease that causes all werewolves to transform under the influences of the moons. Regardless the advantages and disadvantages of bing a were-creature, those who ept the gift must serve ¡¯Hircine¡¯ the in the afterlife. Hircine is a Daedric Prince whose sphere is the Hunt, the Sport of Daedra, the Great Game, the Chase, and is known as the Huntsman and the Father of Manbeasts. Hircine created the various therianthropic diseases which transform mortals into beasts, and is therefore the guardian of were-creatures. Even with all of that, the most effective weapons against were-creature are silver weapons. They cause the were-creatures to feel a terrible pain and unheble wounds. Still... How amazing! The scene in front of me is beyond what my information from the game or the studying would provide. Witnessing how a human body can transform from its normal from to the lycanthrope form is fascinating. I would love to have a closer look or study it multiple times. How can bodies transform that way? I can think of few theories about how ¡¯Hircine¡¯ who created the ¡¯Lycanthropy¡¯ disease managed to do it. ¡¯Lycanthropy¡¯ is a supernatural condition that causes a person to transform into a were-creature: an unnatural crossing between a beast and their original species. It has been called a disease, a curse, and a blessing. Lycanthropy is contagious, and not selective about who it afflicts as most mortal races are susceptible to it. From what I know, bodies can change if we changed the form of the Astral Body with the help of a strong magic source. It is also the way how I am nning to cure Junar¡¯s eye. Anyway, changing the Physical Body by changing the Astral Body is veryplicated. From what I think, werewolves have two Astral Bodies. The first is their normal human astral body and the second is a wolf¡¯s astral body. The wolf¡¯s Astral Body is supposed to be dormant and sleeping in normal cases to gather enough Magicka for the next transformation. And to suppress or apply the transformation, one must learn how to channel energies between the two Astral bodies. This is wonderful! I also understood why werewolves can¡¯t have an easy sleep or in other words, don¡¯t get a sleeping bonus from the game. The Wolf Astral Body is always draining energy from the Human Astral Body, it makes the Human Astral Body always low on energy as the reaching the well rested state is bounded by regaining all the lost Stamina, Vitality and Magicka. Truly, there is wonder in everything. But the true mystery is, how can human cells transform that much with that speed? I am not a biology scientist and I don¡¯t even have the power to witness the cells¡¯ transformation so I guess it is impossible for me to know. But one thing is clear! Transformation hurts like a bitch. Sinding is hitting the ground with his fists as if he is trying to suppress all the pain inside with another form of external pain but his groans proved that there is no way that is happening. After a minute, Sinding was not Sinding at all. He waspletely something else. "Mara!" Junar who was beside me also had a clear vision and saw everything clearly. She also started to pray to Mara nowadays. Sinding is now a werewolf. Sinding stood on his rear legs like a man but his upper body was clearly not giving the feeling at all. I had a bad vibe when I felt its aura. It is strong. Much stronger than trolls. Suddenly, he looks at our direction. I made sure not to be discovered by it seems that I have underestimated the werewolves. Sinding scanned the ce with his eyes few times then looked away. This was close! He was still walking slowly but I don¡¯t want to follow him like that anymore. "Jull, you still have him pinpointed?" "Yes!" "Fine, we can only track him within the radius of two hundred meters with your capabilities. Let¡¯s take it easy." Jull seemed to agree and we sat on the ground. "... Jon, we need to follow! Now!" "Wha? Why?" "He started speeding up. In few seconds he will be out of range and I will lose him." "Dammit!" I cursed as I started to run following Jull directions. We were fast but Sinding appeared to be faster. We were losing him slowly. "Jull, jump on my back!" I only had that thought in mind. Jull jumped and I carried her a on my back. Just as we were ready, I activated ¡¯Empower¡¯ and pushed the ground harder, then activated ¡¯Hasten¡¯ and my speed exceeded the limit. This was my fastest! "Are we getting close?" "Yes! Steadily." Steadily? I thought I was a little bit too fast but it seemed that Sinding is taking his speed to the limit too. Is he escaping or what? I kept running while making the system update me about my Stamina from time to time. Dammit! I am running out of stamina at that rate. I can¡¯t just take out the me Atronach Horse is this forest. First, the forest is too full of obstacles and I am running in a semi-parkour style because I am carrying Jull in my back. Second, the me Atronach Horse tend to leave some fire behind when it runs so it is rather dangerous to the forest. There is another solution and that is to summon the new Atronach form I created but it will be to visible and Sinding won¡¯t even need his superhuman senses to find me. "Cast ¡¯Heal¡¯ on me!" I asked Jull to do this as the final answer. ¡¯Heal¡¯ can restore some Stamina in the process of healing. The running was not done yet and I saw a stream. I started wracking my brain about the area as I was not very familiar with it but of course there was a faster solution. ¡¯Map!¡¯ <*Map*> There it is! The System¡¯s most convenient tool that I always forget to use. It also provided me the location of Sinding based on my ¡¯Scan¡¯. He was heading to a small pond called ¡¯Evergreen Grove¡¯. The ce was known to be peaceful in the game and it could be the ce Sinding¡¯s pack are hiding at. My guess was correct. Sinding stopped. I also slowed down and put down Jull. She had a better chance in sneaking than I can now so she went a bit ahead of me. ~~~~~~~ [Jull¡¯s POV] Jon wanted me to eavesdrop on the pack. I was using ¡¯Scan¡¯ but I hardly got any reading form here. Jon however said there are four more readings other than Sinding. I sneaked ahead of him and could hear few people talking. The ce Sinding was in is a grove of trees concealing a small pond fed by a rocky stream as well as a ruined and flooded Nordic Barrow buried under water. There were four fur tents and four people making fire in the ce. They didn¡¯t get panicked when Sinding popped up. It seems that these are the rest of the pack. "Easy! Calm yourself and inhale this and you will be fine." A voice of a man sounded and I could see arge silhouette from a far. "What brought him today? He seemed to have ran on all four all the way to hear." The scene in front of me started unfolding as I use vision magic to get a better hold of the situation. A man with a strong build was making Sinding in his werewolf form inhale some smoke. It looked like that expensive incense that Lady Nurina imports but it looked rather more special. Sinding in his panicked state started to calm andy on the ground. Slowly his limbs started to be smaller and the fur on it started to disappear. In my opinion, I find it very disgusting. Jon, on the other hand, looks at the transfurmation as if a child looking at a new toy. In a minute, Sinding appeared on the ground in his human form again and looked too tired. He was obviously naked so hisrades covered. "Here, drink this. What brought you today?" The big man asked. "Vignt, a vignt of Stendarr appeared in town this morning. He was snooping around about werewolves." Sinding spoke with a pale face. "Huh! Impossible." The old man frowned. "We just arrived here, and the only pack around is the one in ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯." This is valuable information! I¡¯ve to remember it. "Tell me what happened from the start." The man asked Sinding and Sinding started talking about what happened this morning. The big man listened and scratched his head. "This doesn¡¯t make any sense!" He said, "The Vigil does not travel alone. They alwayse and go in groups. I don¡¯t understand what happened but for this man toe and disappear like that is certainly not normal. Do you have anything of his scent?" "No! I barely made a natural face in front of him and escaped his gaze by acting normal." "Nevermind! Tomorrow we will try to investigate him so rest now. We¡¯ll move at dawn. Rissing, you will remain in camp!" The man named Rissing answered with a nod. "Hey, Torkild! This transformation is consuming me. You said something about suppressing it before." Sinding asked the big man whose name apparently Torkild. "Ah! New blood like you always fancy this story. Listen! This is not something you can just go and acquire. It is called ¡¯Hircine¡¯s Ring¡¯, an artifact of Hircine that will grant the owner the ability to transform into a werewolf if he is not one and control his transformation if he is one. You need the permission of the ring holder for the ring to be passed down." "Who is the owner?" "Ghunzul!" "Wait! The leader of the werewolf Orcish pack in ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯?" "That¡¯s him!" "Isn¡¯t he supposed to be hostile to us?" "He is, but we have a way to take the ring from him. But that¡¯s for another day. Come, rest now." The Ring! The same ring Jon is looking for. This is a good find. I have to tell him now! Just I was about to turn and leave... *Crack* ... I stepped on a broken branch. Crap! "WHO IS THERE?" Chapter 92 Werewolves 2 [Jon¡¯s POV] "WHO IS THERE?" I heard someone shouting from the camps direction. Crap! If these people are all werewolves then Jull may be in a grave danger. There are almost thirty meters between me and her, I was about to rush to her location but I halted as saw hering my way fast. Thank goodness! I was about get calm and put my guard down but suddenly, a cold chill ran through my spine. *swoosh* An arrow was breaking the air and its target was Jull¡¯s back. This bad! I¡¯ve got to do something! There is no time to cast any spell. Jull is only two meters away from me now. The arrow is fast! There is only one way! I rushed at Jull with only one thought in mind and reached to her before a second before the arrow does. Just as I managed to push her with my right arm, the arrow pierced through it. "AAAARG!" Painful! So painful! Dammit! "No!" Jull who saw that freaked out when and was about to get panicked. This is bad, she let her cool down. And now me too. I am pissed! My right arm hurts so much. That¡¯s why archers are the most dangerous counter to any mages. My left was free and I could only cast spells with it now. I evoked ¡¯Fireball¡¯ and shot it few times towards the archer. Jull also managed to calm herself down and started shooting arrows with magic too. "Hurry up! They enemies are mages. Transform!" I could see the silhouettes of the hunters moving around the pushes and hiding behind some trees. They started to transforming into werewolves. The transformation process was very fast! Much faster than Sinding. In a few seconds, the four hunters became werewolves and howled in terrifying manner. It was too scary to just endure those howls. If I was a bit weaker than my current self, I would have lost my mind and got paralyzed with fear. Sure as hell Junar was paralyzed with fear now. She can attack no more and held her head with terror. So that is the true might of a werewolf. Amazing! I am now in a tight situation. Jull is panicking, my dominant arm is injured, the enemy is strong and outnumbering us, they also are moving in every direction to surround us. They are stronger than Sinding, I can tell by the air around them. If I want to get out of here alive, it will be a challenge. At least, if I am not going to cheat. But I don¡¯t think this is a situation where I want test my limits or anything. First priority is to escape now. Even though I am sure that the werewolves can¡¯t be as fast as a me Atronach Horse, the area is not suitable for galloping at all. My options are very limited. I will have to use the magic I haven¡¯tpletely mastered yet. I carried Jull with my injured arm and prepared a spell with the free one. The werewolves sensed my moves but they were still wary of me and trying to close the encirclement. Well, not that it is going to work anyway. The spell was finished and I casted it near to where I was standing. Void distorted... ... A creature of me came out. Two meters tall body that is toorge and unusual with the shape of the creature, it also was standing on two thin feet with sharp talons, the creature spread its arms and it turned out to be widerge wings. This was the new form I created for the me Atronach. It was a Giant Hawk! A Hawk of me that is two meters in height and its wing is almost three meters long each. As an Atronach, it was not a real hawk except for its form. I ordered it to lean forward and jumped on its back. Following that, it stretched its wings wider and pped the, while taking a step forward. The hawk¡¯s flying capabilities are high but I still has no full understanding of them so the ¡¯me Atronach Hawk¡¯ won¡¯t be working as perfect as the ¡¯me Atronach Horse¡¯ but it will do for now. More than that, the me Atronach Hawk is not using the normal way of flying like birds, it uses the principles of levitation magic which is a second nature to all me and Storm Atronachs. The role of the wings were only to give it more flight speed and control. The hawk started flying and the werewolves were frozen from what they witnessed, they may look like beasts but there minds is still that of a human. They may not fear fire like actual wolves but they will lose their cool when they see something unusual as this. Just as we started to gain altitude, I charged a ¡¯Fireball¡¯ spell and shot it at the ce I was standing on just before I jump on the hawk. This will be enough to erase any trace of my scent. *** We returned to Falkreath. Jull was in some mental trauma from the werewolves¡¯ howls. A ¡¯Calm¡¯ spell was enough to make her return to her normal self but she was still upset about losing her cool like that. "It is not your fault you know!" "But still..." "Don¡¯t worry, it was just a mistake. We now know enough about them and they can¡¯te and attack us here." Jull was sitting in the room and was really pissed. I could only exin what happened to her so that she can cool her head. In my opinion, we were lucky to survive from the werewolves encirclement as we were not prepared at all. I was really reckless to think that it would be easy to track that sort of monsters in their habitat. And it was a good idea to develop the ¡¯me Atronach Hawk¡¯. If I didn¡¯t have it, I would have to fight four werewolves alone with Jull on a mental breakdown. Not that I can¡¯t fight the four alone but I would have to suffer grave injuries and there was no way to protect Jull around. The arrow in my arm hurt like hell as its head was some sort of special arrowhead to bring down big animals. It hurt but I managed to take it out and heal the wound with magic. I now need a new n. I am not exactly after ¡¯Hircine¡¯s Ring¡¯ but I am after the cursed version of it. I had my own reasons. Now I know where the ring is and I need move after its own. What I need to do is to make a werewolf to steal it. As long as it gets stolen, Hircine will curse the ring and another reward will be avable for retrieving it back to the Daedric Prince. That is the reward I am after. I still need to monitor ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯. It will be a good idea to go there tomorrow. The problem is, Sinding and his pack will be alert to my movements now. They are after the ring too but they will try to take it in the traditional way. I think it is by challenging the owner and taking it from their dead corpse or getting it passed down by the owner will, else it would be cursed. In the game and four years from now, Sinding will have the cursed version of the ring, which means he will steal it or try and fail looking at how I interfered with the future so far. This is gettingplicated but all I need to do is to keep watching them. ~~~~~~~~ [Sinding¡¯s POV] To think I was followed! And those people could sneak up on us to this close distance. Torkild and Rissing as well as Eriana and Heratar were trying to track those people down but to no avail. It is a mystery how we couldn¡¯t sniff them back. The more to the mystery is that they could summon that flying fire bird, in all my life I have never seen anything like it. "They were mages!" I said my mind. "No shit?!" Eriana was angry and wanted to let out her anger on someone. She was about toe and pick a fight with me but Torkild stopped her. "This is not the time." He said. "Someone else is on our trail. We don¡¯t know who they are but they are not simple. We were lucky to get to notice them this time. If they were to go away unnoticed, we wouldn¡¯t have known how it would have ended for us." "And what do you think we should do, huh?" Heratar was as angry as his sister Eriana. "We can¡¯t track them down anymore, but it seems that the Vigil that appeared in Falkreath that morning is one of those two. Right, Sinding?" Torkild said. "Yes." I replied. "He is most certainly the tall one." "I don¡¯t know what they are after but they didn¡¯t seem to be trying to attack us. They maybe after the ring too but I didn¡¯t feel that anyone of them was a werewolf to begin with. Maybe some treasure hunter!" Torkild said. "What is the point of knowing that? We Just need to kill them as soon as possible." Eriana said. "We may not be able to. They can use some strange magic and they will get prepared to fight us the next time we meet. I can only think that they are staying in Falkreath judging by the direction they flew to." Torkild exined. He sure know how to deal with this sort of situation, he is the pack leader anyway. It was also said that he belonged to some family that was blessed by ¡¯Hircine¡¯ for many generations. More like cursed to me! "The only thing we can do right now is to hasten our n, we need to get the ring by force from those Orcs." Torkild set the goal for the pack now. Doing this meant I can¡¯t return to the farm anymore. Why the hell did this happen to me from the beginning? I should have refused this curse and lived like a normal hunter. Now my life is ruined. No, there is a chance. I only need to get my hand on that ring and control this beast inside me for good. There is no way I can live like this anymore. Rissing who remained in his beast form was standing there silently until Torkild looked at him. "Go sniff out the situation around Falkreath and ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯. We¡¯ll meet you at dawn near the road to the keep." It looked like the fight is happening sooner than I thought. "Sinding, can you transform anytime soon?" Torkild looked at me and asked. "No, my body is barely moving like it used to be, I need few more days at least to transform again." This is the truth, transformation is not something a new werewolf like me can do as these old ones. "Then grab a weapon and get ready! At least you can do that right?" Eriana is still going on with bullying me again. I guess I need to listen this time around. I just need the ring and that¡¯s all for it. ~~~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] The next day came and we are readying for round two. Jull is preparing her arrows with all the hate in the world. I kinda don¡¯t want to anger her from now on. Nefertiti was staying with the innkeep all the day yesterday and got angry with me when I said I¡¯ll be leaving her again. Sigh! I have to prepare a big reward for her after all of this is over. "Sorry, little one! This worthless hooman is will make it up for youter." "...." Ignored! Completely ignored! My cat didn¡¯t even look at me. "Hey, I will get you the fish you like!" "...." "A lot of fish!" "...." Still no response. She didn¡¯t even look at me! I feel my self-worth a cat owner is going down the drain. More like being owned by the cat now. This is bad. My Nefertiti never ignored me like that before. "Sigh! I am truly sorry." "...." Fine! I¡¯ll try to fix thingster. "Are you done with the annoying cat?" Jull came to me dering her utmost readiness for taking down some werewolves. Why? Just why do I have to deal with the two most stubborn females in the world in the same time? "Yep, ready!" I said as I went ahead. We went out of the inn and to the outskirts of town. It was still early in the morning. Just as we found a safe ce, we summoned the me Horse Atronachs and rode to the keep. If my guess is correct. The werewolves should be moving too. I hope it all turn out well Chapter 93 The Battle of Cracked Tusk Keep 1 [Jon¡¯s POV] The journey to ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯ was not long. A ¡¯me Horse Atronach¡¯ is the fastest way to travel onnd ever known in these parts and I am proud to be the owner of the spell. Keeping the ¡¯rm¡¯ and ¡¯Scan¡¯ spells casted was already a second nature to me. Nothing could escape my detection now. Due to that, I managed to find one of the werewolves sniffing around Falkreathst night then went in the direction of ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯. This meant that the werewolves wanted to move earlier than what they nned to. I need to arrive before them if they haven¡¯t arrived yet and make the necessary preparations. I am carrying my Skyforge Saber and two staves on my back, the first is the Fire Destruction Staff I got from ¡¯Hob¡¯s Fall Cave¡¯ and the second is a staff I acquiredtely and it is a Conjuration Staff. The Conjuration Staff was something I bought from an Imperial Battlemage stationed in Helgen and it was one hell of a deal. The guy was only expert in Destruction magic and the staff did him no good so I took it for a very good price. The staff has the ability to buff the control of the mage over the conjured creatures to another level. Thus, I am going to rely on this staff in theing fight if I got outnumbered. After some time of riding, we finally reached the ce I nned observing things from. It was a ce on top of a mountain slope northwest to the keep. I had previously made the system use some of my memories about the ce to make a map of the terrain. Now, let¡¯s see what we know. Cracked Tusk Keep is a fort located to the west of Falkreath. It is upied by a group of Orc bandits led by an Orc called ¡¯Ghunzul¡¯. I don¡¯t remember him being a werewolf in the game though! The fort is named after the Orcs who now reside there. It was an abandoned fort that has now be an Orc Stronghold and is now guarded by hostile Orcs that will attack on sight. The keep was surrounded by the mountain range from the northwest and the west all the way to the southeast, with a wide path that leads to it from the northeast. From my vantage point, I can see that the grounds of the fort have the typical wooden palisade surrounding the keep. The guards are Orc bandits and they make good use of the many elevated positions around the keep. It can be infiltrated by using the keep¡¯s series of ramps and lookout tforms, approaching from the west and climbing up the rubble to the top. The keep¡¯s courtyard has several outbuildings designed for sustaining a small force. From left to right around the courtyard is a smokehouse with a variety of meats being cured and various animal pelts, a small rest area, and then the main door to the keep. Across from the door is the fully equipped smithy,plete with a forge, workbench, grindstone, and a tanning rack. Inside the smithy¡¯s shed is a table with a selection of varied quality armors and weapons. There are three entrances into the keep. The first, and most direct, is the front door. The second is ideal for stealthy people, a door with a bit hard to unlock, directly south from the smithy and down a flight of stairs. This is the door to the cer and can grant an advantage towards the guards in the main room. The third is a trapdoor, located on top of the southeast tower, which leads directly to the most inner area inside the keep. The fort may look damaged but it will need a small force to force the way in through all those Orcs. The number of the Orcs itself has exceeded my expectation. I thought it would be something near to the number of cultists in ¡¯Hob¡¯s Fall Cave¡¯ but the number of the Orcs here is around a hundred Orcs, all armed and alert. I was greatly taken aback by that! It¡¯s impossible for all of that number of Orcs to be werewolves, maybe some of them but certainly not all. There were males and females which is rather unusual for an Orc settlement. Orc males tend to leave the settlement when they reach a certain age and have no right to inherit the chief position unless they challenge the chief inbat and y him, even if they were father and son. That¡¯s why most Orc settlers should be females that serve that chief, the Alpha male of the settlement. But to me, it looked like abination of Orc males and females. young and old. Interesting! I know that there is a certain treasure in the keep other than the ring and I intend to steal it. Wait a minute! The ring and the treasure. It makes sense now. The treasure the fort hides is some part of an artifact that should be sealed in there. The ring they have is the ring of Hircine. I see! So those Orcs are not your usual n of Orcs. They do not worship Mcath, the usual Daedric deity that the orcs worship. They are worshippers of Hircine, and that¡¯s why they live like this. I guess not all Orcs are the same, some may worship Aedra instead of the Daedra too. Morbagog from the Creation Club and the head librarian of the Arcanaeum of the College Urag gro-Shub both worship Julianos, the Aedric God of Wisdom and Logic like many other mages. But never mind that now! The most important question is, how will Sinding group attack that number of Orcs? I mean, five against hundred is too spartan even for me. Just as I asked the question in my head, the answer came out immediately. "Jon, look!" Jull called for me and pointed at the path that leads to the fort from the northeast. Sure as hell that was Sinding and his group but... They are not alone! They had a band of Nords with them. They looked rather strange! Hmmm! Bandits. They were all bandits. Something like a hundred bandit or so. So that¡¯s how it was. They also had an equal force. "That¡¯s a little bit too much for us to deal with!" Jull face was smiling but it showed some hints of anger. "Well, we still have to make it somehow." "Got any ideas?" She asked. Hmmm! I activated ¡¯Scan¡¯ and started sweeping the sides with my magic, there was no one with a strong magic signal anyway. It meant both sides have no mages. Based on that, I started making scenarios in my mind and it felt a little bit too annoying to deal with all that number on my own. Fine! "We are calling for reinforcements!" Jull looked at me as if she was looking at some idiot. "We don¡¯t have reinforcements." She said. "We don¡¯t?" I was taken aback. "Do we?" She became confused. "We do." I said. "There is?" She asked. I took the Conjuration Staff on my back and waved with it to her. She raised her brows from the surprise. "Don¡¯t say it!" "Yep, the reinforcements are conjurable." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Sinding POV] Torkild has called for his acquaintances, they all look like bandits. I knew I shouldn¡¯t have be part of this from the start. Still, Eriana and the others seemed to be fine with it too! Weren¡¯t they just hunters? From what I overheard, Torkild¡¯s father seems to be someone with power and influence. But what kind of influence makes a man able tomand all that number of bandits? Just what kind of situation did I get myself into? I only wanted to be a better huntsman, to hunt as the beasts do. Not some bandit! What should I do now? Rissing was still in his werewolf form fromst night¡¯s encounter with the mages. How can he endure it that much? The strange thing is the bandits who came barely reacted to him. Does seeing a werewolf can be something that usual to them? "Listen men!" Torkild raised his voice and started talking. "Those filthy Orcs possess something that does not belong to them! It is a treasure that was passed down from Lord Hircine to his chosen ones. We are to retrieve that ring no matter what! Prove your worth in battle and all the treasures in this fort will belong to you!" """""YEAAAH!""""" """""KILL THEM ALL!""""" """""KILL! KILL! KILL!""""" This is madness! Why am I going to participate in a skirmish like this? "Sinding! I am leaving the archers to you." Torkild turned to me and said. Damn! I am too deep in this now. "Fine! What do you want me to do?" I had no choice but toply. "Go to the south with thirty men, take down anyone on the south tower and the courtyard. Once we break the gate open, join the attack with the men!" "Easy, I¡¯ll do it!" I said. Actually, I was afraid of joining the fight head-on without transforming but it will be safer that way. Still, I felt somehow uneasy! That mage from yesterday is still in my head. Imanded the men and took the high ground on the south! The Orcs tried to shoot us but we were already prepared to fend off the arrows with our shields. Torkild, Eriana, and Heratar started transforming into werewolves and joined Rissing. Their howls marked the start of the skirmish. I spotted some Orcs on the tower and gave the order to shoot them down. They also started shooting at us but it was rather not that threatening for both sides. Almost an hour passed! No sign of our force breaking into the keep anytime soon. The moment they move forward, they face a volley of arrows and stones from the keep. Only around seven died on both sides with some injured people but it seemed that it will take some more time. I was too focused on the keep that I didn¡¯t realize something was going on in the north! The moment someone pointed it out I noticed a strange lighting from the slope to the north. Seemed like fire! I suddenly saw something terrifying! I realized what it was! "RETREAT! TELL TORKILD TO RETREAT!" I shouted as loud as I can! My fear was on the spot. The Mage is here. ~~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV, a few minutes earlier] The bandits started to make apply their ns. Thirty men with Sinding to the southeast, seventy men with the werewolves to the east. The Orcs locked down their fort and started shooting arrows. I was standing on my high ground northwest to the fort and saw how the scene was unfolding. Hehe! This will be fun. My first open battle. It¡¯s only a hundred bandits against a hundred Orcs but shame on me if I didn¡¯t mess it up. Okay, let¡¯s get down to business. I took the Conjuration Staff and started evoking a spell on it while heading down to the north of the fort, as the ce can take a small force in it. I am going to summon my undead battalion. Undead are the easiest to control so they will give me the highest number possible. With my training in thest four months and the staff I acquired, my conjuration will be much stronger than before. The first thing I called for was fifty ¡¯Bonemen¡¯, the archer type ck skeletons. It took me quite a while and a lot of Magicka but Jull was pouring Magicka Regeneration potions and Magicka Restoration potions in my mouth when I ask to. After calling for the fifty Bonemen, I changed to ¡¯Conjure Mistman¡¯ spell. The hovering half skeleton Mistmen are a bit harder to control so I summoned only twenty of them. Thest spell was ¡¯Conjure Wrathman¡¯ spell. A spell that I took from Nurina and started studying during the journey. Wrathmen are armored skeletal undead found in the Soul Cairn. Compared to the other Soul Cairn undead such as the Bonemen and Mistmen, Wrathmen are much more warrior-like, wearing ancient-looking armor and wielding two-handed weapons. [A/N: a pic http://images.uesp//a/a3/SR-creature-Wrathman.jpg ] The amount I could conjure of that kind of undead was not that high was only ten, but they are very powerful. Ten Wrathmen heavy infantry, twenty Mistmen Frost magic casters, and fifty Bonemen Archers. Now that¡¯s what I call a formation. "Jull, take the staff from me." I handed the staff to Jull. Giving her that staff meant giving her the power to use the spell under my control. It also meant she ismanding eighty undead creature now. We made a hasty formation with the undead and everything was in ce right to the north of the fort. No one could see us here. Thest thing I have in mind was how to make an entrance. I ran back to the high ground in the northwest and took the Fire magic staff. "Now! Let¡¯s get this party started, ¡¯Meteor¡¯!" [A/N: A pic for the battle n https://ibb.co/j3p6sK ] Chapter 94 The Battle of Cracked Tusk Keep 2 [ A/N: Guys, check out my new Novel. It is called ¡¯Relife System: The Unholy Mage¡¯. It only has chapter 0 and 1 so make sure to leave some encouragingments there. I¡¯ll leave a link for youzy ones at the end of the chapter. Enjoy ~? ] [Jon¡¯s POV] "WATCH OUT!" "RUN!" *KABoOoOoM!* The ¡¯Meteor¡¯ spell fell! This was not just an ordinary spell. It is my one of my original me Magic Expert Level spells. An ¡¯Area Of Effect¡¯ spell with a devastating damage yet a bit of a short range so it is preferred to be casted from a higher grounds like this. Unlike an overcharged ¡¯Fireball¡¯ spell, this spell was designed to make a massive and wide st damage alongside the magical damage with arge diameter and unstoppable momentum. My target was the gate of the fort at the moment when the two forces of the bandits and the Orcs start shing with each other. Just as the ¡¯Meteor¡¯nded, a strong explosion sounded followed by a cloud of dust that covered all the scenery. I was watching from my vantage points how the scene unfolded. It was a mess! A bloody mess! I nearly killed one-third of the bandits and all the orcs that were guarding the gate along with blowing off the gate. Those who survived were staggering and wailing! The scene was too horrific, to be frank. I never would have imagined people would be so fragile like that. But it is for everyone¡¯s best interest to kill bandits. Bandits are already less than humans in my opinion and I should not be merciful with that kind of lowlives. "Jull, to the south! Arrows!" Jull who was holding the staff of conjuration gave the order to the fifty bonemen to shout arrows to the direction I pointed. *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* A volley of arrows cut the air towards those who survived the meteor and another bloodbath urred. "Get them!" One of the werewolves shouted and howled at us, the howl was not likest night and Jull was standing her ground with ease. The arrows cover was great and gave the enemies the illusion of a small force stationed nearby. The thirty archer of Sinding group tried to give some cover fire to the werewolves by shooting at us yet that was too miserable to be called a try. The four werewolves started heading towards the direction of the undead, soon after they could see the fifty undead that were shooting arrows. They maneuvered and dodged the arrows then smashed into the bonemen. I was already moving to the battleground while giving newmands to the mistmen and the warthmen over there. The n was to lure the werewolves to the undead and make them buy time, either the werewolf or the undead win, it was not my problem now. As I got down to the area where my ¡¯Meteor¡¯ spell fell, I saw that all the bandits and the Orcs have gone into an all-out chaotic melee fight. This is great, I would love to test my metal this way. I looked around and saw a Dane Axe lying beside its dead owner, it is in a good condition and not damaged. I took the axe that can be said a 1.7 meters tall thing and gave it a few swings to get the hang of it. Sure it was a good one. [A/N: The Dane Axe is the Viking Long Axe that ¡¯For Honor¡¯ raiders use.] This will be fun. I carried the axe with two hands and couldn¡¯t wait to test mybat ability in an open fight once again. Myst open fight like this was one the ship of Captain Geldof when we got attacked by Argonian pirates and I couldn¡¯t put my sword into action as my body was not as strong as those pirates. But now, I am a giant among men, I will use this axe to put all of that size to good use. "Now! Now! Ehem... SOVNGARDE!" I shouted my ¡¯Battle Cry¡¯ and rushed at the enemies. ~~~~~~~~~ [Sinding¡¯s POV] "... SOVNGARDE!" What was that? What is that voice? The men are throwing their weapons from and screaming just from hearing it. I am frozen by it too. Something is wrong. Who is that? Wait! Isn¡¯t that supposed to be the Mage? Why is he holding an axe and swinging it at us? He is killing us and the Orcs at the same time. One swing of his axe can take three lives just like that? Who is... What in Oblivion is going on? I can¡¯t see this! This is madness! We are all going to die on his hand. *HOOOOWL!* Who is... That is another werewolf! Not one of ours. Probably an Orc. So they decided to join the battle too. That means the ring is on one of those werewolves. There is a total of three of them. Two of them is assisting the rest of the Orcs, one of them is heading towards the Mage. Good! I hope they take each other to Oblivion. I need to deal with this mess somehow! The four werewolves on our side went to deal with the enemy that was shooting arrows at us but it seems they will take time. *Painful Howl* What is that? The Mage is... He is beating the werewolf with the blunt side of the axe. He is breaking its limbs? Crazy! Too crazy? Can anyone actually be able to do that? The werewolf is suffering a lot of injuries and its power is fading. At this rate, he will turn back into his Orc form in no time. Just as I thought of that, it actually happened. Gods! How strong! The Mage raised the axe high then chopped down. One chop to each arm. The Orc lost it arms and started screaming for help. The Mage didn¡¯t bother and chopped the head of the Orc the third time. It was brutal! Those who are around him are trying to run away from him. It is as if ¡¯Shor¡¯ himself has descended upon that mage. The mage checked the arms of the werewolf Orc he killed and it seemed he hasn¡¯t found what he was looking for. So it is true! He is after the ring! I can¡¯t! I mustn¡¯t allow him to have it! The ring is probably with the other two werewolves. Where are the... Yes! They saw what happened to their friend and are looking with hostility at the Mage! Two of them this time and probably the ring holder is one of them, He won¡¯t survive it this time. I need to take the opportunity and make sure of that. Best way to do it is to wait for a chance and shoot him with an arrow. I tried to take a shelter behind some of the men and nocked an arrow into the bow. He now is facing the two werewolves and giving them his full attention. The moment one of the werewolves swings its arm at him, the mage used the blunt end of the axe to push the werewolf away and continued with a sh towards the other. He is not going to retreat in front of two werewolves? I thought he may be pushed back but he is the one taking the advantage alone? Incredible! What a fighter! He is using wide swings to push the werewolves back then a fast attack to cause damage, even when they tried to attack him from the front and the back, he swung the axe in a whirling manner. Some Orcs tried to attack him from behind but they were always shot by an arrow to the head. Someone is covering his back! I tried to look for such a person and found him on the northwestern slope. To think someone can attack urately from that distance! What are we up against? Monsters? The werewolves are being pushed down and got their limbs chopped. The mage started checking their arms. I can¡¯t let him have it? As I focused my arrow towards the Mage¡¯s head, I took a deep breath then let loose. *swoosh* The arrow flew to the Mage full speed, it is my... "WHAT!" Impossible! Absurd! How? Just how could he do that? I thought his action of checking down the arms of the werewolves with the hood on his head would make him unaware of my presence, but to think... To think he can catch an arrow flying towards him! What is that monster? No, I can¡¯t! I need to get away. But, but the ring! The beast inside me can¡¯t be controlled if I don¡¯t have the ring. I won¡¯t be able to live in civilization ever again this way. No! I must get it somehow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] DAAAAMN! That almost took me by surprise. I caught an arrow with my hand! Actually, this is too cool. I never knew adrenaline could help me do that. Anyway, I killed the Orc werewolves but I was about to get hit by an arrow. Lucky me, I guess! Oh! By the way, I found an ivory ring with a beast¡¯s head on one of thest two werewolves I killed and took it. Now I put it on my finger to confirm its properties, I was in contact with the Augur and asked him to scan the ring by his ¡¯Astral Extension¡¯ (AKA the System). --------------------------------- If the holder possesses one of the beast forms created by Hircine, the holder will be able to freely switch between its original form and the beast form without restrictions. Holder: Jon Dare. --------------------------------- Wow! The appraisal power is amazing. Also, the ring is the real deal and I am the holder. I can¡¯t really use it as I am not a were-creature but the roles are still applied. Once it¡¯s stolen, it is cursed. I looked around as the Bandits were still fighting with the Orcs away from me. I assumed it was okay then put the ring back on the corpse I took it from. Now it only needs to get stolen. Anyway, where is Jull now? I looked at the vantage point and waved at her. She waved back to me meaning she got the signal. I pointed to the undead location. She gestured with her hand as the undead were still fighting there werewolves. Hmmm! This is all I can get from her by this way ofmunication. I made another gesture which she understood. She then aimed her bow at me and notched something on it. She raised her bow a little to correct her trajectory then shot it at me. The projectile was too big and slow to be called an arrow. It was the staff that I left with her. Just like that, I caught the staff when it was flying away by ¡¯Grab¡¯ spell and held it in my hand. I now have control over the undead again. While being in a battle, I shouldn¡¯t really lose focus so I took myself to the side while swinging the axe at the enemies in my way. Just as it was safe, I let my Magicka seep into the staff and got to see through the eyes of my undead. Their number was reduced from ten to seven warthmen, twenty to eleven mistmen, and fifty to thirteen bonemen. The original n was to hide the powerful warthmen and mistmen between the weak bonemen and when a powerful enemy attacks, they get decimated by the hidden powerful undead. The sharp decrease in number was due to the werewolves¡¯ charge but the warthmen took care of everything now. From what I could see, three werewolves were already down and one was desperately fighting. Hmmm! Good! I still need that one so I am calling the undead here. I will make them cover the eastern area to prevent anyone from escaping. I also started to summon some more wrathmen to add to the power. Thest werewolf was confused when the undead stopped their attacks when they were about to hit him and moved away. Anyway, there is no time for that. Now, I need a werewolf to steal the ring. The only two avable are Sinding and that other werewolf. After checking around for a while, I hid myself to get a better look at the battle. More than half of the enemies were already dead. Some started to run away but my undead were onto them. It was a desperate fight for a while until thest werewolf returned. He looked around then spotted the dead werewolves I killed. Just as he saw them, he ran on all fours and pushed the evaded the enemies on the way. He then started checking the corpses of the werewolves and found the ring. I could already see how it was excited when he saw the ring but he didn¡¯t dare to put it on. Boring! He seems to be knowledgeable about the curse. I went out of my hiding and charged at him. He saw meing and tried to prepare but I casted a ¡¯Fireball¡¯ at him that pushed him by its st then I chopped down at his head taking his life. Sinding was not nearby as he was dealing with the undead that attacked from behind. Hmmm! I¡¯ll call them off. I headed to the fort¡¯s direction and signaled for Jull toe. She went down and ran to me. "See that Sinding. Make sure he gets the ring!" "Yes!" She was determined as I am. After that, I started to cast ¡¯Banish¡¯ on my undead to send them away. That would make Sinding more willing toe back for the ring. But I still have another task in mind. I need to finish off all the Orcs in the fort and chase the bandits away. Chapter 95 Ill Met By Moonlight 1 Cleaning the courtyard of ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯ was done pretty quickly! The keep fort itself was locked from the inside. I will deal with it somehow but I had to make sure no one is alive around. Jull confirmed that most of the bandits escaped the ce but Sinding was still around in the woods. I am waiting for him to make his move. Meanwhile, I started going with the rest of the preparations. There was some stuff notable in the courtyard like some Orcish armors and a lot of weapons that will sell for a good price. The Orcs are known for their smithing work so I guess the price will be good. I wanted to take these weapons with me to Winterhold to lessen Wulfur¡¯s workload but it will be impossible as I don¡¯t have the liberty to travel this slow. My business in Falkreath will take a few more days at most so I need to finish up quickly. Having these thoughts in my head, I started looking around the yard and found something good. Some horses in a stable and two carts. Now I can loot the whole damn fort if I wanted to. I conjured ten bonemen to do the work for me. Bonemen can put down their bows and arrows then do whatever I tell them to do, I could have reanimated some dead corpses to do the work for me but I hate that kind of Necromancy, not as if I am some saint or anything, it is just about corpses, they smell bad. The bonemen started moving the carts and carried all the items I want to loot in them, I was tying the horses to the carts as it was a bitplicated for the undead to do. Just as I made sure the ce was cleaned, I headed to the fort. ¡¯Scan¡¯ spell showed me that there are some people fortified in there and are on alert. Their number was around twenty. "No problem! Outnumbering me is a foolish move anyway." I called back the wrathmen that were left out and they were around the same number. "Sheath your weapons! Carry thatrge log over there! Bring down that gate!" The best point of the undead is their absolute obedience. I love those cute bone walkers for a reason. They did as I ordered and brought therge log. I can easily break the gate with a strong magic but I wanted to make it feel like some sort of siege scene. All in all, it was just me screwing around. The knocks on the gate with this primitive ram sounded high and the movements inside intensified, the ones inside probably are preparing for an emotionalst stand. In a minute, the gate was forced open but the people inside were trying to block the door with all the stuff they have, chairs, tables, chests, you name it. I increased the number of the wrathmen then called them way. After that, I went to the blocked gate and ced a magical rune spell on it. It was a ¡¯Fire Rune¡¯ but not the typical one. This one was a bit too intense so I added a few more. Going back behind my undead, I evoked a simple ¡¯Fire Bolt¡¯ then... *KABoOoOoM* "Aaah! I am going to get high on this!" Maybe I am just a psychopathic Pyromancer (Fire Mage) but I think this has something to do with my ¡¯Firemane¡¯ blood lineage. I am starting to use Fire Magic more than my favorite Lightning Magictely. Will I be an arsonist? I know that Jonrad Firemane, who is my father, is a powerful Pyromancer and a Dragon Knight at that. Can it be that I am getting some passed down genes from an arsonist? Cool! Somehow I am straying from the main topic a lottely. The gate was already clear. "Go in there, kill whoever you see." I passed down the order to the undead around me and they took action. It feels so damn good to control that much troops. I don¡¯t want to join a war or anything but this smalls battles actually give some sense of pride to the victor. Anyway, screams and wails for mercy sounded from the fort. There Orcs are actually bandits! Why am I being treated like the bad guy? I went to check the situation in and it seemed it was done pretty quickly. "You spread this direction! You the other direction! You follow me!" I started searching around the fort for valuables and got some good loot. I started distributing it into some empty containers andmanded the undead to take them out. After I finished the upper part of the fort, I went down and found a kitchen with nothing interesting in it. I passed the kitchen to another room small corridor behind it that led me to the back door of the fort, there are also some stairs that led to the basement, or rather the vault. "Hehe! I knew it is here but I didn¡¯t find the key." In front of me was a passage blocked with strong steel bars. I saw that mechanism before in ¡¯Hob¡¯s Fall Cave¡¯. It needs some lever for activation. I knew where it was too. Just on my right, there was a hole in the wall sealed with a metal te that had a lock on it. Sigh! Time to remember Delvin¡¯s old lock-picking lessons. I took out a small knife and a lock-pick from my small bag and started the annoying work. The lock was hard but using ¡¯Scan¡¯ spell was cheating itself so it didn¡¯t take me long. Just as the lock was picked, the metal te was now moveable and the lever behind it appeared. Moving it made the steel bars that blocked the path move away. "Hehe! Now it¡¯s your turn guys." I said as I looked at the undead behind me. If these guys were alive and knew what I was about to do they would have cursed at me with all their vigor. From my past life knowledge and my ¡¯Scan¡¯, I realized that the walking ahead like this is only a corridor to hell. The amount of traps ahead from now on is terrifying. [A/N: A terrifying amount of traps? Sigh! I wish.] Now my n was simple, rather than going around all these traps while jumping up and down like a dork, why not make our dear undead clear up the traps themselves. On mymand, the undead went into the corridor and from it to the vault chamber like a stream of water. All sorts of traps went on. Poison darts, spikes, tripwires, alchemy bombs, false floor. Damn! There are some I didn¡¯t even spot before. As I discovered that, I added more undead to the fray. It continued for a minute until all the traps went off and I sensed that the room was safe. What was left was three undead. "Sorry guys! That may leave a trauma for sure." I had to apologize though. Anyway, I walked to the innermost part of the chamber as I recall that the item I am after was there. "Indeed it is here!" I saw it! I saw it on an alter. What I mean by it were some scraps of metal that looked rather ancient. These were the [Shards of Mehrunes¡¯ Razor]. What is that you ask? Well, it is another Daedric Artifact I am after. ¡¯Mehrunes¡¯ Razor¡¯, also called ¡¯the Dagger of the Final Wounds¡¯, ¡¯the Bane of the Righteous¡¯ and ¡¯the Kingyer¡¯, is a Daedric artifact created by the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon. This powerful ebony dagger has the ability to kill instantly, as there is a small chance that Dagon will im the souls of those struck by the Razor. It is Daedric in appearance, emzoned with a Daedric script and seemingly able to drink the light that hits it. The Razor is Mehrunes Dagon¡¯s personal artifact. It has always heralded bloody change and carnage. Speaking of Mehrunes Dagon, he is formally known as, ¡¯the Exalted and Most Puissant Lord¡¯, ¡¯Gerent of Dagon¡¯, ¡¯Mehrunes¡¯, also ¡¯Mehrunes the Razor¡¯, ¡¯Mehrunes the Thieftaker¡¯, ¡¯Mehrunes Godsbody¡¯ and ¡¯Mehrunes the Red Arms That Went Up¡¯, is the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition. He is associated with natural dangers like fire, earthquakes, and floods. And now I have the shards of a weapon that is favored by such a Daedric Prince. The shards were only the de of the razor. With this in hand, three items left to bring that terrible weapon back to life. Even though the dagger has the ability to kill instantly, it is only a tiny chance like 2%, but the weapon itself is fairly powerful. Now, let¡¯s collect that thing and leave. I still have more important matters to attend to. *** Just as I got out, I banished the undead after they loaded the two carts with all sorts of loot I found in there. I wasn¡¯t ready to move yet as I still have the matter about the ring, I hope Sinding is not a coward and ran away long ago. Just as I left the fort, I looked around and saw the figure of Junar waving for me. I approached her and she came from her hiding spot. "He came and took it." "Did he put it on?" "Yes! The moment he did, he started turning into a werewolf. Did you know this would happen?" "Kinda. He seemed desperate to me! Where is he now?" "Over there, he seemed a bit in a daze after he turned again." Of course, he should be! He took the ring to control his transformation but instead he transformed once he took it. I followed the trail of tracks to the woods nearby and found a werewolf hitting the trunk of a tree. I see! "Give it back." I said. "Huh?" He turned around to look for me, he was angry but he could do nothing. "Go away!" He picked a stone from the ground and threw it at me. His voice was a bit funny in that wolf form of his. "Give it back or else." I warned once again. "GAAAH!" Sinding lost his temper and attacked me. Fast! Powerful! But still not enough. "DIE!" "ROAR!" "GAAAAH!" Swing after swing, charge after charge, he already was losing his stamina too fast. This meant he will turn human soon. He tried to attack me with everything he got but I evaded and jumped behind him and gave him a hug from the back. "Nothing romantic here! Just endure this if you can." I carried Sinding and took him down by a suplex. "GAAH!" "Not human yet! I guess we will keep going." I took him another suplex, then another one, then another one. Every time he fell he was groaning from pain. [A/N: Suplex City is Skyrim.] After seven suplexes, Sinding was too tired to continue and changed into human slowly. I took my saber and pointed it to his neck. "The Ring!" I said with cold eyes. Sinding was huffing for breath and squirming from pain. He looked at me with eyes full of hate. "Take it!" He threw the ring at my face. "May it bring upon you a thousand curse!" "Thanks! Let¡¯s go!" I took the ring and left just like that, but before I leave, I left a ¡¯Pinpoint¡¯ mark on him. With this, I can always know his whereabouts as long as he is within five miles of me. I walked back to the fort and took the carts then headed to Falkreath. I still have things to do. Chapter 96 Ill Met By Moonlight 2 [A/N: Sorry about yesterday guys! I had some nasty flu and it was annoying as hell. Here is your new chapter! Enjoy~?] ------------------------- The road to Falkreath was as peaceful as ever. I was driving a carriage and Jull was driving another one. The carriages were full to their with Orcish brand weapons and armors, as well as drinks, cloth, books, and money. These things have a very good price in the market no matter where one went. Once we arrived at Falkreath town, we started making fast arrangements to sell the loot and reported our sh with the Orc bandits at ¡¯Cracked Tusk Keep¡¯. The news was too shocking as the Guards were suffering from these bandits and it seemed a lot of trouble was caused by them. Once they heard the news from me, they sent a party of guards to go to confirm the deed. It took them a few hours but everything was confirmed in the end. The news spread around the town like wildfire and Jarl Dengeir of Stuhn invited me to his Longhouse. He thanked me a lot for getting rid of that thorn in his side that caused harm to the people of his hold. This was not the first time we meet each other. We shook hands before when I was participating at the tournament of the high king and he invited me to his hold. I noticed that he has an annoying personality that is obsessed with conspiracy theories as he trusted no one at all. Let¡¯s just say that I managed to get on his good side as he wanted to make me stay in his hold as a thane and promised he would help me gain some merits in the hold but I had to decline that one. It is not beneficial for me yet so I kept saying that I am on a training journey and so on. After he epted to let go of me, I headed back to the inn and ate a good meal. Nefertiti was still angry at me and didn¡¯t even reply to me. She kept looking away every time I tried to talk to her. I was a bit sad but it seemed that I am going take her with me tomorrow no matter what. It will not be anything dangerous and I will be the one doing all the work so Jull can take care of her while we are walking in the forest. This left me with onest thing in mind. How to contact Hircine! I know how but I don¡¯t think I know where the mean tomunicate him is. In the game, the yer had to kill a certain beast tomune with the lord of the hunt. Hmmm! Beast. I killed bears and trolls before but Hircine won¡¯t appear with just that. Now that I think about it, when we wereing from Helgen to Falkreath, there was a certain beast that appeared and drove away the wolves in the area out of their habitat. That beast may fit the conditions. I went to the inn¡¯s hall and talked with some hunters about the beast, apparently, they have this rumor about the beast that is protecting the deer and the elks in the forest from the wolves and the hunters. Many search parties were dispatched to get in touch with this beast or even hunt it down but it was mostly useless. This made me consider my opinion even more. Maybe this beast is exactly what I am looking for. I had to sleep early that night to have an early start tomorrow. *** An early start as nned! Good morning, Skyrim! Another one of those chilly mornings of Evening Star. (December) The weather is cold and dry, the snow finally started to fall, and the winds are carrying the chilliness of Jerall Mountains. In this morning, we had a fancy breakfast and a fast preparing. I was given a permit to hunt in the woods of Falkreath to not be considered a poacher. Poaching is a serious crime in Falkreath as a town of many hunters. As we got out of the inn, we saw a lot of snow. In the game, the snow never appeared in Falkreath, but in winter, every inch in Skyrim gets buried under snow. Still, it is better here than the other ces in the north. I can¡¯t imagine how Winterhold looks like by now. I took both Junar and Nefertiti then headed to the southeast of Falkreath, the ce where the wolves¡¯ abnormalities happened. In the way, we met a lot of hungry wolves but I was not fond of killing them. Wolves are the symbol of ¡¯Sai¡¯, a minor deity of Luck. It is a tradition in Skyrim to not kill wolves unless it is very necessary as ¡¯Sai¡¯ always took the form of a wolf. ¡¯Sai¡¯ was considered a benefactor to Skyrim, even though he was not part of the pantheon but it was said that because he settled in Skyrim and married there, he spread a lot of good luck around himself to the point that Skyrim managed to drive out all of the Falmer (Snow Elves) and conquer both High Rock and Morrowind because of his very existence in itsnd, until of course when he was forced by the other gods like ¡¯Mara¡¯ and ¡¯Ebonarm¡¯ to leave. Anyway, from this story, Nords tend to not harm wolves as much as possible. That is why I also kept using my ¡¯Aura¡¯ to frighten them away. I kept using the ¡¯Scan¡¯ spell to search the forest for an abnormal stag but the forest was toorge to cover with ¡¯Scan¡¯ that fast. I tried to focus on the trails of the deer to find the biggest herd of deer around and that is how I found it. The great beast I was after turned out to be a beautiful White Stag. It was standing proudly between a small herd of deer and making stag howls. It has some unusually big and sharp antlers that looked really deadly to sh with and were somehow really beautiful. "Are we hunting that?" Jull asked. "You are not, only I will do the hunting. Just make sure to follow around and watch over Nefertiti." Nefertiti was in a good mood since the start of the day as I finally agreed to take her out with us. She was being held by Jull and was waving her tail left and right while curiously looking at everything. Anyway, I kept watching the White Stag and tried to close on it. It was a bit hard to sneak on a herd of deer as once I get seen, the whole herd will run everywhere. Also, this stag seems to be a strong creature that likes to defend its herd. I have already cast a ¡¯Bound Bow¡¯ and was trying to get a clean shot on the stag. Suddenly, the wind blew behind of me. Crap! The deer all looked at my direction. Sure as hell the wind carried my scent and they noticed me. I let loose of the arrow on a hurry yet the White Stag just evaded it like nothing. Interesting! The deer started to run everywhere and the White Stag chose a different direction than all of them. Smart Beast! It realized I was after itself so it chose to take me away from its herd. I stood up from my position and started following it in the woods. Jull and Nefertiti were right after me. The White Stag kept running nimbly between the trees which forced me to cast ¡¯Hasten¡¯. I had to catch up to its speed somehow. It seems that the stag was trying to go somewhere in the south, for some reason I felt uneasy and tried to shoot it many times but it was hard to aim at a running target between all these trees. It started to take turns at some ces as it apparently was trying to hide. The stag is very intelligent but whatever it can¡¯t escape my detection magic. It came behind some rook and suddenly stopped. I didn¡¯t know what happened so I thought it got stuck into something. Just as I was about to close on it, I saw the stag turning around and lowering its head. I suddenly felt uneasy. This stag was counter-attacking. This was its n from the start. Take me away from the herd, affect my stamina by running around for a long time, then attack me. It sure is a nice n. If only it was against an ordinary hunter. "Jull, it¡¯s charging at us. Dodge!" I shouted and jumped out from the way as the stag started his charge. I realized now that these antlers or the stag were stained by many spotted marks of blood. This is what I call a killer deer. The stag¡¯s charges did not stop, it would take distance and start attacking once again. It was a bit hard to hit with an arrow as the stag was a little bit too fast to give one a chance. So it was like this! Fine, I¡¯ll kill you with my own hands. I dispelled the ¡¯Bound Bow¡¯ and took out a dagger from me back then stood face to face against the stag. It paused for a while as it seemed it is the first time it got challenged face to face. "Haha! You are one interesting fellow! Too bad I am killing you in the name of Hircine!" I said as I took a pose and got ready. As if it understood me, the stag also got into his charging pose. I could feel its fighting spirit from here. This stag would have been one hell of a mount if it got tamed. With a strong exhale, the stag charged at me. It took me a secondter to move and I started running towards it, slowly. My n was simple. Just as we were five meters from each other, I jumped as fast as I can and got myself on the stag. I was now riding it and it realized that things have gone south on his part. Before it could do anything, I was already stabbing its neck with the dagger. Blood spurted out from its neck like a fountain yet the stag never stopped moving and tried to bump into a tree. Luckily, I got myself down and rolled on the ground. The Big White Stag, however, bumped into the trunk and fell on its side. It was squirming with itsst breath and was kicking with its legs. It was already dying. "Jon, are you alright?" "... Yes." "That was amazing! You looked... Jon, are you really alright? You look depressed!" Ah! It showed on my face, huh? "Yeah, sorry. It¡¯s just, it¡¯s just too sad to take the life of a gant fighter like that." Jull listened to what I said and read my mood so she remained quiet! Yet, it was not going to get quiet at all! {Nheless, it was a good hunt and pleasing to watch!} A voice replied to myst statement. "WOAH!!" "NYAA!!" Jull jumped from her ce like a frightened cat followed by Nefertiti who was actually a frightened cat. "Jon! GET AWAY!" As I haven¡¯t moved, Jull tried to warn me. I simply turned around with a natural expression on my face. I saw a specter of the stag I just killed standing right behind me. "Didn¡¯t I just kill you?" I asked even though I know the answer. {Wel-met huntsman! I am the spirit of the hunt, just one glimpse of the Glorious Stalker that your kind calls ¡¯Hircine¡¯, the one you hunt in his name.} The specter was talking to me. It was an aspect of the Daedric Prince of the Hunt, an Aspect of Hircine. "if ¡¯t be true so, may I ask for thy favor, O¡¯ Glorious Stalker! I seek to return the stolen ring to its lord and remove the curse from the one known as Sinding." I said as I took out the ring and presented it to the Aspect of Hircine. The specter looked between the ring and me then said, {I may consider it. But you must first do a service for my glory.} "How can I be of service?" {The one who stole is fleeing to what he thinks his sanctuary. Just as a bear climbs a tree to escape the hunt, but only ends up trapping himself. Seek out this rogue shifter. Tear the skin from his body, and make it an offering to me.} So it wille to this anyway. "I hear yourmand!" I said with respect. {Fly, my hunter. There are others who vie for my favor. A bit ofpetition. Don¡¯t dally while the prey flees.} As the Aspect of Hircine started to fade, it left me with those words. The strange thing is, its eyes were not focused on me. It was looking at Nefertiti. Chapter 97 Ill Met By Moonlight 3 This is truly unpleasant but I couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it. The way the Aspect looked at Nefertiti was weird even though she didn¡¯t react to it at all. Maybe Hircine is a fellow cat-lover. Anyway, I should just put the idea in the back of my head now. I should find where Sinding has gone. In the game, after the yer takes the ring back from Sinding and offers it to Hircine, Sinding would escape to a cave called ¡¯Bloated Man¡¯s Grotto¡¯. ¡¯Bloated Man¡¯s Grotto¡¯ is a small cave which leads to a vast de. There, Sinding will be hunted. As the Aspect told me there will be morepetitors for Hircine¡¯s favor. So, I summoned a me Atronach Horse and took the road to the north at full speed. Jull followed behind me while carrying Nefertiti. ¡¯Bloated Man¡¯s Grotto¡¯ is located outside the hold of Falkreath and can be essed only through the Whiterun hold. This made my day even harder. If my calctions are correct, I will reach the cave by sunset. Now is still not noon yet. I was hoping to find Sinding before he gets to the cave but it was surely just some wishful thinking. The werewolf must have traveled all night till there. *** I sure arrived at sunset. It was a horrible long ride, even though the road was straight and open, we bumped into some travelers who lost their marbles when they saw the ¡¯ming Horse¡¯ and its ¡¯Ghost Rider¡¯. Me? Ghost Rider? I am sixty times sexier. Sigh! Anyway, The path leading to the entrance of the cave was marked by a pile of stones with human bones and a skull lying on them. It sure looked dangerous but we stopped to rest there before we go in. Jull dismounted her horse and sat on the ground. "Are you alright?" I asked. "My butt hurts, my back hurts, my neck hurts, my head hurts, everything hurts." She said. Probably the high-speed nonstop ride was too much for her to handle. Nefertiti was already passed out too. "Okay! You can rest a bit but there is no time toze around,dies. We have an innocent werewolf to y." "You are horrible!" She said while looking at me coldly. She was indeed tired. Well, we can rest a bit before we go in. I don¡¯t think anyone has arrived yet. Just as I was about to sit I heard... "Gaaaaaah!" ... A miserable death shriek. "This came from the cave." Jull said as she jumped up. Yep, this came from inside the cave! "I am going in!" I stood up and walked to the cave. "Can we wait here for a bit?" Jull asked with teary eyes. "A lot of hunters maye to this ce anytime soon. It will be problematic to face them on your own." "Guh! Fine." She took her bow out and readied some arrows. We went in just like that. The entrance of ¡¯Bloated Man¡¯s Grotto¡¯ led into a natural tunnel. The tunnel was a bit narrow but we went in just fine. After a bit of a hundred meters in, the de surrounded by short cliffs appeared and it was truly a ce of natural beauty. What ruined the beauty of the ce was three corpses lying around and were miserably cut to shreds. Looking left and right, I noticed a lot of fighting marks. After trying to detect the area with magic, I noticed a lot of signals from the northwest. "The hunters are here already?" "Already?" "It seems so." "What will we do then?" Jull asked. "Hmmm! You kill the hunters that obstruct my path! I will take care of Sinding." We started to run to the ce I thought Sinding will be in. Just as I arrived, I saw some hunters and bandit like people trying to surround a certain ce. "Wel-met! Did anyone of you see Sinding?" I asked them in a friendly manner. One of the hunters looked at me as if he was looking at some idiot. He came to my direction and blocked my way. "This is our hunt! Piss off..." "Take a cookie!" I offered the man a ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ to his chin. As expected, his chin couldn¡¯t handle it... or maybe all of his head was not to be found anymore. Poor thing! "What!" "No!" The other hunters were frightened and tried to do anything but Jull was already killing them. I think we are a good team! I kill, she kills, they get killed. "Sinding! I came to see you, buddy! Come out,e out, wherever you are!" "It¡¯s... YOU!!!" Sinding was in his werewolf form and appeared to be really pissed at me. He was stained with blood as it seemed he has killed a lot of enemies. "Ready for round two?" I asked with a grin. I can¡¯t help but be the bad guy here. "I can¡¯t stop you if that¡¯s what you want to do. Hircine is too powerful for any of us to oppose, but..." "Save your breath! I don¡¯t intend to let you go." I said it straightforwardly. Sinding looked at me then nodded. "So be it!" Then he ran the other direction. I evoked ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯ spell and started spamming it on him. In his werewolf form he was fast and a little bit hard to aim at. He started climbing some old structure and hid behind the walls. I knew he was trying to ambush me. Still, the good point of ¡¯Chain Lightning¡¯ is its bouncing ability so I could even catch him behind his cover. After he got struck by me again, he started running and jumped from the other side of the ancient structure, I followed him but it would take me some time to get down. My head came to an answer and I cast another spell. Void distorted and a ming creature appeared. The me Atronach Hawk with his mighty looks came out. I jumped on its back and ordered it to fly. The spell was not perfect yet so the highest I can get is about ten meters from the ground, but from this high ancient structure, the hawk can glide its way down. The hawk was following Sinding who was not yet aware that I was right above him. Just as I was on the right altitude, I jumped from the me Atronach Hawk with my saber in hand aiming at Sinding¡¯s back. Just before I could reach him, Sinding noticed my shadow and looked above to see me falling on him. He tried to do anything but it was toote, my saber was already going through his skin, flesh, and vitals. "GAAH!" He screamed from the pain yet he used his monstrous strength to grab me and throw me away. It was not hard to endure as I managed to flip myself in the air andnd on my feet. Looking back at Sinding the werewolf, he was crawling on the ground on all fours muttering something, then he breathed out hisst breath out. That was not hard. "Jull I am done here!" I yelled to Jull. "Me too! I aming." She killed all of them, impressive! Jull came down and looked a bit excited. "What happened?" "No, I was just killing people a lot these days so it felt fun." This... Sigh! "Anyway, hand me the skinning knife." Jull took out the knife, it has a wide and short de that is specialized in skinning animals. Dismantling was something I learned from my teacher in Riften so it was not that hard for me. But it is my first time skinning a werewolf and it was troublesome but I managed to take most of the hide. Putting the hide aside. I was about to start thinking of what will happen now but the answer came by itself. {You¡¯ve done well, hunter} The scary Aspect of Hircine appeared once again! This time, it looked like Sinding in his human form. "I did as you asked!" I said as I presented ¡¯Hircine¡¯s Ring¡¯ to the Aspect of Hircine. {You did! And found mine favor! That skin will serve you well, child. Look more closely at it. My glories shall protect you from all this world¡¯s grievances.} As the Aspect of Hircine said that, the ring disappeared from my hand and the hide I just took from Sinding¡¯s werewolf corpse started changing into something different. Finally! What I was waiting for. "Woah!" Jull who was standing on the side started to look taken aback. After a short while, the hide turned into a cuirass. The ¡¯Savior¡¯s Hide¡¯! {Good Hunting!} The Aspect of Hircine left us with these words! Yet, I sensed some mockery in them. What does that mean? *** ¡¯Savior¡¯s Hide¡¯, also known as ¡¯Scourge of the Oathbreaker¡¯, is a Daedric artifactmonly associated with ¡¯Hircine¡¯. The name Savior¡¯s Hide is usually associated with just the cuirass, but a full set of the hide once existed. The cuirass can be easily put on and was super light. Its weight is less than the Leather Armor and its sturdiness is that of the Ebony Armor, the strongest metal in Skyrim. This armor is by far the best light armor for traveling. It doesn¡¯t stand out too much if one just put on a cloak on it. And of course, unlike the game, I am wearing pants with that thing. Its magical effects grant the wearer a high resistance to both Poison and Magic as Hircine said, "... protect you from all this world¡¯s grievances." [A/N: An Image to the Armor: https://ibb.co/juW5gp ] I was still in ¡¯Bloated Man¡¯s Grotto¡¯ as I was checking the armor. I moved from the ce I killed Sinding into a shrine located in the cave. It was a ¡¯Shrine of Talos¡¯. After putting the armor on, I tried it left and right and it just was super fit. Nothing can fit like an armor crafted by a Daedric Prince on the spot. I was too satisfied with armor and asked Jull to hit me a few times but it was just too good to feel anything. After this was over, I focused on the Shrine of Talos. There were a letter and a de next to it. "What is that?" Jull looked at the de and asked. It was an unusual looking de. "This is an Akaviri Katana. The weapon that was adopted from the Akaviri Civilization by ¡¯The des¡¯, the former intelligence agency of the Empire before and during the Great War." I replied. "Woah!" Jull was taken aback again. I held the de up and took the letter next to it. It said; __________________ To he who finds this, know that I, Acilius Br,st of the des to survive the attack on Cloud Ruler Temple, took refuge here, in this ancient sanctuary. The Thalmor havee for me, but they shall not desecrate this ce. I go forth to meet my death with honor. If you are worthy, take up my de and do the same. __________________ Sigh! Rest in peace! If I managed to meet up with any of ¡¯The des¡¯, I shall return this Katana to them. I know some other than my own father so I will try to pass on the memory of that man, Acilius Br. This katana was known in the game as the ¡¯Br¡¯s Oathde¡¯. It resembled the Japanese katana from my past life as its de was curved the same way, its hilt (or tsuka) is wrapped in ck leather, and its guard (or tsuba) is a stylized coiled serpent. Due to the magical quality of the de, it was not that damaged after being kept like that with no maintenance. From what I could sense, it can increase the fatigue of the target it shes at and can cause enemies to flee in terror. A good sword. I fixed the scabbard to my left side and sheathed the katana the same way the Japanese do in movies, I think it was called the ¡¯Okuden Noto¡¯. "Fufufu! I always wanted to do that." This was one of my past life regrets that I finally managed to achieve it in this life. The chuunibyou within me can rest in peace now. "Jon!" "Hm?" "Look!" Jull called for me and pointed at something behind me. I turned around but suddenly lost all my words... "ROAAAR!" "Fuck!" ... except for this one. A massive ck cave bear appeared in front of me. Was there anything like that in the game? "Jull! Ready for battle! We can take it down together!" "Yes!" We face the bear that suddenly appeared behind us. "Woooo!" "Wooooo!" "Wooo!" "Wooooo!" What? "Wolves?" "Why here?" "Hey! Where is Nefertiti?" "Eh! She was just here?" "Dammit!" "We need to force our way through!" "I am not leaving without her!" Shit! What is going on here? Chapter 98 Ill Met By Moonlight 4 [ A/N: someone said in thest chapterments that Nefertiti became somewhat absent! Well, here you go, Jimmy! This is an 80% Nefertiti POV chapter! Enjoy~? ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Nefertiti¡¯s POV] "Hooman! What are you doing, nya?" "Sorry, Nefertiti! Just wait here." Hooman carried meow and put meow on the ground! Hooman always busy. Hooman and ¡¯Stupid Hooman¡¯ always talking about something and hit other strange hoomans, then go do strange things and talk with a strange big ghost. [A/N: Stupid Hooman = Junar] Ghost is too scary! Looks like deer then looks like hooman. Strange! Hooman always like strange things! Hooman rides bad fire horse. Bad fire horse runs too fast. It makes meow wannya sleep but cannyat sleep. But my Hooman is fine! He cares in the end about meow so much. But why is he ying with a strange stick! Hoomans like to hit each other with many strange sticks. Meow need nya sticks! Meow has powerful paws and wonderful ws. Poor hoomans have nya paws or ws I am still angry with Hooman tho. He still didnyat say sorry and give me fish. I¡¯ll wait! He wille to meow in the end when he wannya cuddles. No fish, no cuddles! Hmmm! What is that! Butterfly! Hooman likes butterflies. I catch one for Hooman, he will leave ¡¯Stupid Hooman¡¯! Here I go! I jump after butterfly but it was far! I fell nya! ¡¯Stupid Hooman¡¯ nyat see meow? Good! Hooman says meows are good hunters! I should be like others meows and hunt butterfly for Hooman! Nya, I donyat care about Hooman, I just wannya to hunt like meows. I run after butterfly! Again! Again! Again nya! Annoying butterfly! Don¡¯t fly away from meow! Nyaa! I will just go back to Hooman nya! Hooman should be... Where is Hooman? "Hooman!" "Hooman!" Has Hooman got lost? Nyaa! Clumsy Hooman. "Wooooo!" "Woooo!" Whaa! What is that? "Dogo?" "Dogo! Get away from meow! Meow is strong!" Stupid dogos always believe meow and run away! "Grrr! Too little! Smell tasty!" "Huh! Go away dogo, or else! Meow gets angry, Hooman gets angry too!" Dogo is still acting strong! "Grrr! Will eat you!" Wha! Dogos are stupid but not bad! This one is bad dogo! Very bad! Wait! Hooman said that there are bad dogos and bad meows! He said bad dogos are called Ulfs. "Are you Ulf nya?" "Grrgrrgrr! Tasty!" Bad! Hooman said, when seeing ulfs, run on trees. Wawawawa where are trees? Nya trees! Nyat at all! Bad! Run! Run! Run! I run! "Grrr! Don¡¯t run! Come, eat meat!" Ulf runs after me! Wawawa! Scary! "Stupid ulf! I nyat meat! I I fluff!" "Grrr! Eat fluff!" Nyaaa! Nya one eat fluff! Run! Run! Run! Why nya trees? Hooman said, when there are nya trees, run left and right! Neow! Left, right, left! "Grrr! Annoying!" Whaa! It worked, stupid ulf fell on his face. Nyahaha! "Grrr! Will kill you!" "Grrr! Me want meat too." Whaaat? Another ulf? Baaad! Run away! Run! Run! Run! "Grrr! Wait meat!" "Nya! Meow donyat wannya!" Whaaa! I wannya cry! Why two ulfs? Ah, tree! Go to the tree! "ROOOOAR!" Staaaaap! "Ulfs! Bad tree, we run this way!" "Grrr! Catch meat!" They are stupid! Even ¡¯Stupid Hooman¡¯ is not that stupid. I ran left, right, left and ulf fell for it again. Too stupid! I just need to... ... Oh nya! "Grrr! End of the run meat!" The way to run is nya more, only a cliff. Meow turned around but more other ulfs came! Oh nya! Too many ulfs nya! What to do? "Grrr! Meat!" "Bite. Grrr! Bite!" "Grrr! Small meat, smells tasty!" Nya! Meow has to run up on the cliff! Run! Climb rocks. "Stop meat! Grrr!" Ulfs jump after meow! Ulfs tried to bite meow! "Move! I eat meat! Grrr!" Nya! Big ulf! Big bad ulf is here! Why is there big bad ulf? Big ulf is bad! Big ulf can climb! Nyaa! Need to hurry! Almost there! "Grrr! Got you!" Meow can feel big ulf behind meow! Nya! Big teeth! Jump! "Grrr! Annoying! Come meat!" Safe! Meow is safe. Meow climbs a high rock, big ulf cannyat climb. "Grrr! Get down meat!" "Nya! Go away!" "Grrr! Ie to eat you, meat!" Big bad ulf is jumping! Nyah! Big bad ulf can jump high but it nyat reach meow. "Grrr! Annoying!" "Nyaaaa!" Big bad ulf jumps again but hit the rock and get down. *creek* Huh! What is that? Another rock moving? Ulf jumps and rock shakes... If rock moves and falls down, big bad ulf dies. Yes! That¡¯s it! Hooman would do it like that! Meow smart! Like Hooman, like meow! Meow run and push rock with paws! Nya! Too big! Big bad ulf should jump! "Stupid ulf! Come to meow!" "Grrr!" It doesnyat jump! Must make it jump again. What would Hooman do? Yes! Hooman makes ulf angry. He would say bad things to make others angry. Hmmm! "Big ulf! Your mama should be a mammoth to be this slow!" "Grrr! Annoying!" Ulf jumps again! *creek* "Your mama should be skeever to be this ugly!" "Grrr! Kill you! Mama is a wooolf!" *creek* "Sure! Your mama must be ulf with small legs, nyahaha! You can¡¯t even jump on the rock like your mama!" "Grrr! Annoying meat!" Ulf too angry! Ulf jumps again and again. *creek* *creek* *CreEK* It is moving. On ulf! "Grrr! Meat co... woon Gaaaarrr!" Rock fall on big bad ulf! Too much blood! Rock fall down! Other ulfs run away. Big bad ulf is too injured. "Woon, woon, woon... mea...t!" Ulf died. Meow win! Waaah! So scary! "Donyat wannya run anyamore!" Hooman should just find me! {Glory to the hound! The friend of the hunter! Even for the trappers, there is a thrill, only few can taste.} "NYAAAAA!" Why? Big bad ulf is beside me... Nya, that¡¯s nyot big bad ulf! "You are the ghost who speaks to Hooman?" {It¡¯s I, and you are nothing but the hound that follows the hunter, ck One.} "The hunter! You mean Hooman? And meow is nyat dogo." {There is no argument! But the hunter and his hound are bound by fate. The stronger they grow, the mightier they be. No hunter of mine shall go without the hound! No matter what form that hound takes. Either within the hunter as the shifters or as his trusty beast. The fates of the hunter and the hound are entwined and sealed. They live together and perish together.} "Meow don¡¯t understand!" {It is of no matter to me either you understand it or not, ck One! Know that the hunter you follow favors no beast but you, and you should not be worthy of a mighty hunter like that. But strangely enough, you are!} What is that ghost ulf saying? {The fate of the ¡¯Eldest One¡¯ is guiding that hunter to a glorious hunt that I can¡¯t foresee. That¡¯s why I wish to witness the glory of the hunt that¡¯s yet toe! But that hunter can never be my champion! He can¡¯t be anyone¡¯s champion as he is the already the champion of the ¡¯Eldest One¡¯. Thus, you ck One, the hound, shall be my champion.} "Nya! Leave meow alone!" The ghost ulf walks near meow! Meow goes back but lightes out of ghost ulf. This is... I know that. The ring Hooman gave to the ghost man. {It is a loss but a cheap price to pay! Another one shall be made but this one is for you, my champion.} The ring flies up and shakes. It breaks! Why break the ring? Woah! Another light? Why too much big light? "Nya! Get away light? Don¡¯te near meow!" {It is done! Good luck in theing hunt, ck One! Bring glory to my name, Champion!} Light goes in meow! Why? Scary! Go out! Ghost ulf ising this way! Huh! Waaah! I am falling! "Wawawawawa!" I canyat stop sliding all the way down again. No! Many ulfs are there Ouch! I fell! Meow hurt! Meow... Meow is... Meow is sad! Meow is alone! Ulfs! Ulfs areing! Nya! I canyat climb again. Meow... meow is weak! Meow needs Hooman! No! Hooman can¡¯te. Hooman is fighting big roar. ¡¯Stupid Hooman¡¯ can¡¯te too. She is with Hooman. Meow is... Meow is angry! Meow is angry at meow. Meow is weak! Why meow is weak? Meow wannya to be with Hooman. Meow wannya to say sorry for ignoring Hooman. Meow has a lot to say! This canyat be the end. Meow is... Meow is so angry. Huh! Ulfs are... Ulfs are getting smaller? Yes! This meow is angry now so ulfs be smaller. Ulfs are scared! Come ulfs! Meow hunt rats! Ulfs are small like rats. Come! Come! Nyahaha! "MAAAAAAAAOW!!!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] "MAAAAAAAAOW!!!" What is... What was that? That was so loud! It is a cat growl! I am sure it is but... But it is too loud, and it¡¯s echoing so much. It felt like the warning roar of an angry elephant. "Jull! Was that my imagination just now or did you hear that too?" "I, I, I w, w, was just ab, about to ask, k, k you the same." "Hey! Are you alright?" Jull was shaking! She must be afraid of the growl just now. "Roar!" This annoying bear is still alive? I have beaten Oblivion out of it but it is still not dying. "Get back Jull! I am going all out here!" I dispelled the ¡¯Bound Spear¡¯ I was carrying from the start of the fight and evoked ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ on both hands. "Wraitmen! Distract it!" I ordered the undead I conjured earlier to distract the gigantic bear and the started attacking it from the sides. The bear got annoyed as it knew I was the onemanding the undead and it came at me with its right paw. "Don¡¯t underestimate me, Fur Ball!" I punched full force at its right paw with my right hand. ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ on my rightnded on its paw and destroyed its ws and shattered some bones from the inside. It did get blown away as I hoped! Tough bastard! The bear retreated backward and roared at me once more! I was waiting for that moment! With my speed that was buffed by ¡¯Empower¡¯ and ¡¯Hasten¡¯, I reached its location in a blink and punched the other ¡¯Thunder Cookie¡¯ in my left at its lower jaw. *crack* The jaw cracked and the bear staggered the fell down dead. "Finally!" Damn, that was hard! "Jull, hurry up!" She was sitting on her butt and looked a bit pale. I casted ¡¯Calm¡¯ on her! "Better?" "Yes, thank you." "Hurry up! Let¡¯s look for Nefertiti and get the hell out of here!¡¯ "Yes!" "Spread out!" Imanded the undead to look for Nefertiti and investigate what the hell was that beast that growled just now. I used ¡¯Scan¡¯ to the limit and covered all the de. "Found her!" I ran like mad. The ce she was in was near to the ancient structure. I ran and ran and wished for more legs so I can run faster. Just as I reached there, the scene shocked me! Wolves! Over twenty! A pack of them! All dead! Cut to shreds and bitten their guts out. A horrific fight... No! A one-sided massacre. "What on Nirn happened here?" Jull was shocked. "Nefertiti! Where are you?" I ran to where I could detect her. There she is! Lying on the ground! She was slightly wounded but she was breathing thank heaven. I crouched down but didn¡¯t dare to carry her. She may have a broken bone or anything. My head worked on its own and started casting ¡¯Heal¡¯ on her. I put my maximum effort on healing her as her wounds healed at a visible rate. There were many blood stains on her mouth and paws but it seemed it isn¡¯t her blood. How in Oblivion did this happen? I finished the healing and carried her in my arm. She then woke up! "Are you alright, Nefertiti?" "Hooman! Sorry! Donyat leave meow again." She said and went to sleep again. What happened to her? I don¡¯t understand. "Jon!" "Yes, Jull! what is it?" "Did she... Did she just talk?" Huh? Chapter 99 Nefertitis Transformation! *Screams!* "MIAOW!" "He, Help!" "Aaaah! My arm!" "Pleas... guh!" "Monsters!" "How rude! Can you say that again on a closer look?" "M, Move away, woma... aaah!" "How vulgar!" "Stop! Nooo..." "Run! Run for your li..." "MAAAOW!" "Annoying cat, catch the ones there!" "Stupid Hooman! Do it yourself!" *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* *scratch* *scratch* "Help me! Please!" "I am sorry, brother, but my brain is short on cells sincest week. Rest in peace for now!" I prayed for the man dying in front of me and gave him a merciful stab to the heart. The scene in front of me is giving me a serious headache! "How the hell did this happen?" I kept asking myself this question over a hundred time since we stepped in this ruined underwater fort which was called ¡¯Ilinalta¡¯s Deep¡¯. Actually, I have been asking myself that question for seven days by now. This was not the only question. There are others like "Why did this happen?" and "Can this be still called a fight?" and "How fast clearing this ce can be?" along with many other questions. Too many questions since that day in the des. Somehow, I am regretting making a deal with Hircine. I am not sure what happened that day in ¡¯Bloated Man¡¯s Grotto¡¯ but Nefertiti is making me worry since then. To organize my ideas, I have to remember what happened from the very beginning till now. First, when I found Nefertiti, she was in a bad shape and I had to pour all my Magicka into healing her. I was worried! But the weird thing is that she talked, and even Junar could hear her. I mean, wasn¡¯t she always talking to me? No no! What am I saying? Junar reminded me that day that cats aren¡¯t supposed to be talking, right? Why did Nefertiti talk to me from the beginning in the first ce? Now that I think about it, it doesn¡¯t make any sense! I remember her saying that she could understand me and I could understand her because I am her hooman and we should understand each other naturally. But that isn¡¯t really natural at all, right? Cats don¡¯t talk! Or do they? THE HELL! AM I GETTING CRAZY HERE? Cats don¡¯t talk. I already know that! Why did I not think it was unnatural from the beginning? I mean, I was happy that I finally befriended a cat but that should have never stopped me from noticing such an abnormality, right? Right? Oh boy! So all these times when I was talking to Nefertiti in front of people, I remember their reactions were a bit off. Even Nurina was looking at me like some sort of weirdo. I am losing a lot of brain cells thinking of this subject alone. Let¡¯s just continue from the point when Jull could hear Nefertiti. After that Nefertiti passed out and kept sleeping for three days. I had to feed her by mincing the food and give her few drops of water along with all the healing techniques I am aware of. The fourth day, everything changed! Nefertiti woke up before anyone and was super energetic. She kept saying that she jumped and ran and hit a lot of bad wolfs. I didn¡¯t understand what was going on but when I asked Jull she said that she couldn¡¯t understand what Nefertiti says at all now. To her, Nefertiti was just using her usual cat voices. BUT I WAS HEARING HER TALKING DAMMIT! I kept asking her how could she talk to me from the start and she looked at me as if I am some sort of idiot! "Hooman, you only noticed nyow?" "Yes!" "Nyah! Clumsy Hooman. Hooman is myow hooman, of course, myow hooman should understand meow." "But there is no known cat that can talk to their humans other than you!" "There is nyo?" "Yes, there is not." "Nyot at all?" I shook my head. "Nyot possible!" We kept staring at each other with shocked expressions until we reached an agreement to never talk in public. I contacted ¡¯The Augur¡¯ that day and he cringed at me really hard. He had no definite answer and said to not contact him unless it is serious. The fifth day, I kept monitoring Nefertiti. At night she said she wants to go out to the woods. I didn¡¯t understand why but she kept nagging and said it was urgent. The three of us went to the woods at night. Nefertiti then found a spot under the moonlight and something bizarre happened. It caused me and Jull to scream while hugging each other. Nefertiti¡¯s appearance started to change in a strange manner. He body became bigger, her limbs became longer than usual even to the erged body, and her w also became longer and sharper. She resembled a normal feline but her height was almost one meter with a long ck fur, longer limbs, and longer ws. Her cute face, ears, and tail also gotrger to fit her body. "Hooman! I can do that now!" "Wha, What the hell is that?" "Jon, did she just talk?" "Wait, you could hear her again?" We couldn¡¯t even focus on one problem that night anymore! We were in a deadlock between ¡¯Nefertiti¡¯s new appearance¡¯ and ¡¯Could it be that Junar can only hear Nefertiti in her new appearance¡¯ along with everything weird that happened that night. I had to contact ¡¯The Augur¡¯ again to report the development to him. He was interested at first but he said that Nefertiti got a ¡¯Beast Astral Extension¡¯ into her soul. A ¡¯Beast Astral Extension¡¯ is the Soul Magic Technique that Hircine uses to create his were-creatures. "But shouldn¡¯t the ¡¯Beast Astral Extension¡¯ be a Soul refined by Hircine to be attached to a Mortal ck Soul? Howe Nefertiti¡¯s White Soul can be attached to something like that?" {That would be true if the cat¡¯s soul was truly a White Soul but there is something that only few may be aware off.} "What is that?" {Rather than the Mortal ck Souls, the Lesser White Souls, and the Divine Dragon Souls, the souls of the cats can be considered unique among all of these souls.} "I am not sure I follow. Is this the reason why the ¡¯Beast Astral Extension¡¯ got attached to her?" {Maybe! It is rather aplicated issue. But I remember that once an Ayleid (Hearnd High Elf) Wizard imed that the cats are able to cast magic the same way mortals do yet they are unaware of it. But his theory was debunked for theck of evidence and some other notable mistakes.} This was what we could find around the subject and we ended the discussion after he assured me that there is no danger on Nefertiti¡¯s life. I was still worried and couldn¡¯t really get my head together around that problem. I asked many questions to Nefertiti who told me the story of how the wolves chased her and the Aspect of Hircine gave her ¡¯light¡¯ after it broke the ring I retrieved. She couldn¡¯t understand what the Aspect generally wanted to say but he was interested in some sort of hunt and some sort of fate. I got chills down in my spine from these words! They only added to my headache. And from that day, my headache only increased! Jull got really on good terms with Nefertiti and went on a huntingpetition behind my back. I had no power to scold them so I just stayed there in the innining about life. The seventh day, today, came and I noticed that I have wasted a lot of time in Falkreath. I have only two weeks to go back to Winterhold now. I can go back to Winterhold in four days on the me Horse Atronach if I wanted but I had some destination in mind before doing so. I want to visit ¡¯Ivarstead¡¯ and ¡¯Windhelm¡¯ before doing anything else. But today I had to finish thest quest I was here for. The ¡¯Star of Azura¡¯! I took the girls and rode until we reached ¡¯Lake Ilinalta¡¯ north to the town of Falkreath. From there I conjured the me Atronach Hawk and rode on it across theke to the north. The reason why I didn¡¯t use the me Atronach Hawk was the woods around Falkreath. I am not still that good with the spell so I can make it fly only up to ten to fifteen meter which is rather hard as Falkreath woods were rather high. As we were on ake like that, I asked myself, why the hell not fly? And so it was decided to fly. For that reason, we arrived at the northern part of theke, the me Atronach Hawknded on some old ruined fort that mostly sank underwater. It was called ¡¯Ilinalta¡¯s Deep¡¯. Ilinalta¡¯s Deep was originally an Imperial outpost, known as Fort Ilinalta, until it fell into theke due to instability caused by experiments carried out by a mage called Malyn Varen. Rumors im that the area is cursed and many fear to go there. Malyn Varen is a Dunmer mage who was exiled from the College of Winterhold for pursuing questionable research with Soul Gems, killing a student, and many other uneptable acts. Malyn¡¯s experiments were to find a way to be immortal, and he believed that storing his soul in Azura¡¯s Star would prevent him from dying. The problem with this is that one of the properties of the star is that no humanoid ck soul could enter. ording to the game, the further Malyn progressed towards his goal, the more Azura cursed him. The Daedric artifact drove Malyn insane, causing him to "hear voices" that were not there, see people that were not there, and eventually, to murder one of his students. He left the college, collected a band of followers, and continued his research here as he sought to capture his own soul in the Star to achieve a state of immortality. He achieved this goal to some extent, however, he must continually be ¡¯fed¡¯ souls from the outside world to continue his state of existence. After we infiltrated the keep, we found Malyn¡¯s cult of followers who were doing his bidding. They were all stationed in the sunken outpost. The appearance of so many skeletons within suggest they had been kidnapping and sacrificing people for quite some time. After we started the fight, things got really weird and that brings us to this very moment I am witnessing. Arge ck cat and a crazy half-elf archer are murdering the hell out of the cultists and the undead in this fort. No one is safe! Junar is using her magic arrows to bring down multiple enemies at once. I saw her skewering three mages with one arrow. Nefertiti was faster than anything I have seen. A second she is her, another she is there. And her ws can cut anything, even some of the metalware around got torn apart. I was following the two who went on a rampage and finishing what they started. Some cultists were left alive with torn limbs and were in a lot of pain. I was mercy-killing the people they left to die in pain. How did thingse to this? "Jon, I finished them." "Hooman, Meow finished too." Yeah! You guys killed anything kible already. For some reason, I had no power to refute at all. I just went to the room where the broken Star of Azura where and picked the damn thing up. After a small tour around the fort once more, I took whatever seemed of value alongside a good number of coins, soul gems, some research papers, and some books then headed out. ¡¯Ilinalta¡¯s Deep¡¯ underwater fort was cleared with a time record that day. Next destination! Ivarstead. ~~~~~ -Bonus- ? Scary! "Jon, did you buy the things I want, nya?" (Nurina) "Huh!" (Jon) "Jon, how was your training, nya?" (Hilda) "Wait! What?" (Jon) "I want to take a look at your sketchbook again, there is an idea I want to confirm, nya!" (Wulfur) "No! Stop!" (Jon) """What is wrong, nya? Don¡¯t you want us to be like this, nya?""" (Everyone) "Noooo! Go awaaaay! Huff! Huff! Huff! It was, just a dream! Phew!" (Jon) "What¡¯s wrong, Jon?" (Jull) "A scary dream! I dreamt that everyone I know has grown cat ears and tails, and also talked like cats!" (Jon) "Hmmm! Like this, nya?" (Jull) "... NOOOOOO!!!" Chapter 100 The Stalker of Ivarstead! CASE CLOSED! After getting the broken Star of Azura, there was officially nothing for us to do in Falkreath anymore. We returned to the town, packed our things, and took the road back to Helgen. The ride was not really that bad! We camped once near ¡¯Pinewatch¡¯ which looked like a small farm from the outside but from the inside, it was a massive bandit hideout. I didn¡¯t mention a thing about that to Jull or Nefertiti because I am sure they will go on a rampage again once they sniff the possibility of killing something. I need to put those two bad girls in some serious mental trauma as soon as possible, else, I will be the one suffering for their actions from now onward. After feasting on a hare, we returned to the road again and continued until we reached Helgen. The people were surprised to see us but we said we are only staying for the night. The next morning we traveled on the road east to Helgen, this road was empty and clear, no one usually passes through here. I could travel full speed safely once again. "Jon, look at that?" Jull pointed towards the mountain to our northeast. It was a mountain that its peak preached the clouds above and looked as majestic as the word ¡¯majestic¡¯ can get. "This is the ¡¯Throat of the World¡¯. The tallest mountain in the world. Us Nords believe that Men were formed there when the goddess ¡¯Kyne¡¯ breathed onto thend. Hence, the ¡¯Song of Return¡¯ refers not only to ¡¯Ysgramor¡¯s return¡¯ to Tamriel after the destruction of Saarthal, but to the ¡¯return of Men¡¯ to what we believe to be the cradle of humanity. That is why thisnd is called ¡¯Skyrim¡¯. That¡¯s why we Nords are ¡¯Children of the Sky¡¯." "Says the guy who thinks of everything Nords do as Nord nonsense!" "I only took the good points of being a Nord, you know." "Racism, thickheadedness, Sovngarde this, Sovngarde that!" "Don¡¯t forget the looks, the builds, and the frost tolerance! Also, I am not racists." "Really?" "Try me!" "Bretons?" "Hobbits." "Argonians?" "Lizards." "Redguards?" "Curved Swords!" "Elves?" "Bastards." "Imperials?" "Don¡¯t like them. No particr reason." "Khajiit?" "Fluffs." "Orcs?" "FOR THE HORDE!" "See?" "Well, you only mentioned the ones I don¡¯t like." "Yeah, yeah! I know." She went silent then asked again. "So, why are we going to Ivarstead?" "To visit an old friend." "Who¡¯s that?" "Someone who used to take care of me in the orphanage." "Will we have enough time to go back to Windhelm if you decided toze around in Ivarstead?" "Oh! About that... When we head to Windhelm, we will reach it in less than a day." "Less than a day?" "If my calctions are correct." "What are the chances for your calctions to kill us with no ce of burial?" "Pretty high!" "Sign me up." *** We continued to travel and now we are taking the road that goes through the mountain pass south to the ¡¯Throat of the World¡¯. I traveled this pass once before when I first arrived in Skyrim. Probably I wasn¡¯t in the body of Jon yet but that was the time when Hilda was escaping from the Thalmor and was forced to not go in Helgen. After sixteen years, I am traveling this pass once again with my woman and my cat. I think Hilda would be proud of me. Anyway, there was a cave I wanted to visit called ¡¯Haemar¡¯s Shame¡¯. The cave is rted to a Daedric Prince and in the game, yers could get one badass looking helmet bymuning with that Daedric Prince but now, I didn¡¯t feel any Magicka reactions from the cave. I don¡¯t think I can start the quest right now anyway. I wille backter in my next training journey. It was still not dark and I wasn¡¯t nning to camp here in the wild or in the woods after this point in ¡¯the Rift¡¯ hold. After we finished the pass between on the mountain roads we arrived at the woods of the Rift. Snow was taking its toll on the ce here too. We, however, could once again travel at full speed and could reach Ivarstead by nightfall. I always followed the words of a certain Wiseman that said: "Don¡¯t take your freaking me Atronach Horse into a town full of Nords unless you are ready to be chased out by pitchforks." And so we entered the town on foot. Ivarstead is a fairly medium sized town located at the eastern base of the Throat of the World, on the western edge of the Rift and the western shore of Lake Geir. Pilgrims and travelers often pass through, as the town is located at the beginning of the ¡¯Seven Thousand Steps¡¯ to High Hrothgar. It used to be a good-sized town that had a good farming and lumber business but in recent years, many townspeople have been leaving for Riften, and business in the town has been suffering. Anyway, after we got inspected by the guards, we got the permission to pass the bridge to the town. I knew a bit about the ce and I went straight to the inn, the Vilemyr Inn. That inn is the only tavern in town so it was the ce where townsfolk will gather every night. Before I go in, I read the ¡¯Notice Board¡¯ in front of the inn and could tell that the town is peaceful from the looks of it. After I went in, my appearance got all the attention and everyone kept staring at me. Also, Jull was not minding her half-elven appearance and went in with no hood. Some looks gave out some of the normal Nordic hostility towards strangers but I really didn¡¯t mind it at all. I mean, I was looking at them with an equal amount of hostility too. "Wee to Vilemyr Inn, need a drink, or maybe something to eat?" "A room, for two." "H, How long will you be staying?" "Not sure. I¡¯ll pay for a week." "Are you by any chance visiting the town on a pilgrim." "Haven¡¯t decided yet." "Oh! I see." The innkeep is a man called Wilhelm. I was talking to him coldly because of a reason I had in mind. I just don¡¯t like the guy. The man guided me to a room and I bought the drinks and the food we needed for the stay, then I went out again to sit in the inn¡¯s hall. Before I decide where to sit, I kept looking around for a bit until I saw a familiar face. I went to his direction and sat in front of him. "Long time no see!" I said. "Wh, Who are you?" "Come on, don¡¯t break my heart like that. Look at my face closely! Don¡¯t you know who am I?" "Don¡¯t know, Narfi doesn¡¯t know you!" "Hey, you are scaring Narfi!" Some guy came shouted at me from the side. "Piss off!" I red at him and released a bit of ¡¯Aura¡¯ that caused everyone in the inn to get choked on their drinks. Of course, I avoided Narfi. "You are Jon!" Narfi jumped up from his ce and looked happy. "Yeah, Narfi! It has been five years. How did you recognize me?" "Jon always curses people. Reyda says not to listen to Jon a lot." Pffft! My reputation! It stinks! Narfi used to be an orphan in the Honorhall with us but he was much older. I guess he is twenty years old now. He is a kind guy with a bit of an ¡¯Intellectual disability¡¯ but he ispletely harmless. Narfi has an older sister called Reyda who used to be Nurina¡¯s helper I do. Narfi has spent some time with me in the orphanage and Reyda took care of me many times. I had no way of contacting them up until now. Narfi is attached to his sister since they were children and does nothing without her consent. Maybe he developed aplete dependence on her after their parents died. I sat with Narfi and started asking him about things. He was as honest as ever and was very happy to see me. He used to carve a lot of wood and Nurina encouraged him on that talent but Reyda was always overprotective over him and tried to make him do less dangerous things. "Where is Reyda by the way?" "She is home! Narfi was helping Reyda gather mushrooms this morning and Reyda twisted her ankle. Wilhelm said he will ask for the alchemist in the woods to help Reyda." Wilhelm did? I looked at that man coldly again. "Fine Narfi, let¡¯s go see Reyda!" Narfi agreed and was about to go out with me but someone popped up. "Set down Narfi, I still haven¡¯t gone to call the alchemist. And Customer, please, don¡¯t bother sick people!" The man Wilhelm was holding on Narfi¡¯s shoulder and smiling at me. "I can do healing!" I said as I conjured a Lightning Magic spell and made it chirp. I could hear Junar giggling behind me. Wilhelm¡¯s face, on the other hand, changed color. The people in the inn noticed too. Yep, I am a mage. Fuck you very much! *** "I feel really insulted! Can¡¯t you recognize this handsome face at all." "Well, somehow I felt irritated when I looked at you. You really look familiar!" "Come on! How could you forget about the most handsome young man in the world?" "Wait! Most handsome and red hair? Don¡¯t tell... How did you get this tall?" "Hehe! I overdosed myself with awesomeness." "You never change, don¡¯t you Jon?" "HA! Never." Reyda, on the other hand, has changed. A lot! She looked thinner, somewhat sickly, and a seemed as if she doesn¡¯t eat enough. What is going on with her? I talked with her for a while and she was asking about Nurina and how is she doing. "But to think you went to live with her!" "Well, Winterhold isn¡¯t that bad and I have a lot of good business going around there." "Seems you struck it rich!" "I did. Want toe to Winterhold? I can take care of you guys there. You¡¯ll find a job and a better ce to live for sure." "No! It is too far. No one will tend to our parents¡¯ graves if we left Ivarstead. And a lot of young people are leaving the town already, who will live in this town if every young person leaves?" "Anyway, my door will always be open for you if you ever decided toe. I am sure Nurina will be pleased to see you guys there. Here, your foot is all healed like this." "Woah! Narfi remembers, headmistress always healed Narfi like that." "Yeah! I remember too. Thank you, Jon." "Hehe, it is nothing guys. Whatever it is, don¡¯t ever hesitate to ask for help. This is my token, if you carry it to a ship in Windhelm or take it anywhere in Winterhold, you guys will get help from my people over there." "Thank you, Jon." "Alright, I am taking my leave." "What? Stay for the night, we stil..." "I am sorry but I am traveling with apanion and we will be on our way at first light so I am sorry. Another time." I bid farewell to the siblings and went out of their home. Narfi and Reyda, a bit of a tragedy in the game, more like Wulfur and Svidi. One of them also died before the game started and the other got into a streak of a very bad luck. This time it was Reyda who died and Narfi¡¯s condition has gotten a lot worse. In the game, Reyda¡¯s remains were found in the river north of town as if she has drowned but I am more suspicious. I think she was killed and the killer is the one who guides the yer to the remains location. I walked away from Reyda¡¯s house and used ¡¯Scan¡¯. "Pssst! This way." I could hear someone calling for me, it was Junar. "What happened?" "It was as you said, he came after you." "Where is he?" "This way." I followed her to some ce secluded west of the town where no onees. As I arrived! I saw Nefertiti in her normal formzing around while a man, gagged and tied, was squirming beside her. This was the innkeeper, Wilhelm. "Did he came after me?" "Yes! He was trying to snoop around while you were in there." "Did you search the inn as I told you?" "Yes! I found this strange ornament, it is the same thing you described it would be." Hmmm! The Sapphire Dragon w. A key to an ancient Nordic ruin. I knew he had it. "What else did you find?" "Look at this journal!" I took a journal from Junar and kept used ¡¯Night Vision¡¯ to read it in the dark. This is... ... exactly what I thought. This guy is a stalker. He was stalking Reyda. It was never mentioned in the game but it is a solid evidence to me. "Hehe! This is bad for you Wilhelm." I know that after he kills Reyda for whatever reason. Narfi¡¯s condition will worsen and will cause some suspicions around Wilhelm. That is why Wilhelm will make a contract with the dark brotherhood to kill Narfi too. Scum! Lower than scum! "Nefertiti!" "Hooman!" "He is all yours." Chapter 101 7000! "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..." "Will you keep counting all of them?" "Yes!" "Won¡¯t you get bored?" "Nope!" "If you lost count we are not going back!" "Eeh! Why?" "Seriously now! We need to hurry!" "But if their number is incorrect, it means we got cheated." "I don¡¯t care! Nefertiti doesn¡¯t care! We just need to get going before the guards notice that the man is missing!" "Don¡¯t worry about that, the body got taken by the waterfall and we have a solid alibi. If they found the corpse, they will think that the man was washing in the river and got attacked by a bear!" "Aha! That¡¯s why you told me to steal some of his clothes and towels. And also told Nefertiti to finish him with her ws." "You seem to be learning." "But why all the trouble?" "Well, I don¡¯t want to cause trouble for Narfi and Reyda." "Sometimes I am not sure if you are a good person or a bad person." "Huh! Are you insulting me? Of course, I am a psychopathic person with a tendency to be a hypocrite." "I bow to your lowliness, O¡¯ Evil One!" "Haha! Praise me more... One hundred and thirty. Oh, look! An Etched Tablet!" "What is an Etched Tablet?" "Oh! You will love this one. On the path we are walking there are 10 Etched Tablets, each one of them tells a part of the story of the ¡¯Dragon War¡¯ that happened in the ¡¯Merethic Era¡¯. There is a secret about these Etched Tablets that few people know." "What is it?" "These tablets were built in the glory of the goddess Kyne, Goddess of the Storm, Widow of Shor, and mother of all men. She is also the one who taught men how to use the Thu¡¯um to fight off the dragons. Ker became the goddess we know today as Kynareth goddess of the Sky, but this ce we are walking in can be considered her holy ground. Therefore, if you read the tablets, you will get a blessing from Kyne called ¡¯Voice of the Sky¡¯. It allows your Thu¡¯um to be stronger, the weather to be less harsh on you, and the wild beasts will not harm as long as it doesn¡¯t get harmed. This is one of the trails my teacher gave me." "To read all the tablets?" "Yes!" "Who is that teacher of yours by the way?" "An old hunter who used to be a friend to Nurina but he now lives alone in the woods. After I manage to finish this trail, I will return to him one day to take the true ¡¯Trail of Kyne¡¯." "Good luck! What does this table say by the way? I can¡¯t read it." "Oh! Wait a bit. My Ancient Nordic is a bit rusty..." "It says; ----------------------------------- Emblem I ¨C Before the birth of men, the Dragons ruled all Mundus; Their word was the Voice, and they spoke only for True Needs; For the Voice could blot out the sky and flood thend... ----------------------------------- ... that." "Mhm! Interesting let¡¯s keep going." We went going the road we are taking and I kept counting. "Four hundred and three! Another tablet!" ----------------------------------- Emblem II ¨C Men were born and spread over the face of Mundus; The Dragons presided over the crawling masses; Men were weak then, and had no Voice... ----------------------------------- "Sounds sad!" "Yeah! Lucky me, didn¡¯t get to reincarnate there!" "Fine, let¡¯s keep moving!" We kept moving while reading the tablets! The more we go forward, the colder it got. Of course, we are climbing a mountain so it will get so damn cold at some point. "Another one!" ----------------------------------- Emblem III ¨C The fledgling spirits of Men were strong in Old Times; Unafraid to war with Dragons and their Voices; But the Dragons only shouted them down and broke their hearts... ----------------------------------- "Told you dragons are scary!" "Nefertiti shall protect me and fluff them down." "Yes, Hooman! Meow is strong." ----------------------------------- Emblem IV ¨C Kyne called on Paarthurnax, who pitied Man; Together they taught Men to use the Voice; Then Dragon War raged, Dragon against Tongue... ----------------------------------- "Kyne be praised!" "You sound like a religious idiot!" "I just like Kyne." ----------------------------------- Emblem V ¨C Man prevailed, shouting Alduin out of the world; Proving for all that their Voice too was strong; Although their sacrifices were many-fold... ----------------------------------- "Hooray!" "Let¡¯s camp here for the night! Nefertiti, leave that nerd alone,e and gather berries with me." "Stupid Hooman is right." ----------------------------------- Emblem VI ¨C With roaring Tongues, the Sky-Children conquer; Founding the First Empire with Sword and Voice; Whilst the Dragons withdrew from this World... ----------------------------------- "Told you dragons ain¡¯t that scary!" "Say that to one of them in the face." ----------------------------------- Emblem VII ¨C The Tongues at Red Mountain went away humbled; Jurgen Windcaller began His Seven Year Meditation; To understand how Strong Voices could fail... ----------------------------------- "This is a sad story. You know it, Jull?" "No!" "Okay, History Lesson! ¡¯Jurgen Windcaller¡¯ was a Nord chieftain and hero from the First Era who was believed to be the mightiest of all the Tongues (Voice Masters). He was the founder of The Greybeards. During the War of Session, in the middle of the Battle of Red Mountain, Jurgen Windcaller helped his fellow Nords in a war against the Dwemer and the Chimer. During the battle, the Dwemer and the Chimerpletely annihted the Nordic armies, forcing them out of Morrowind and back to Skyrim. After the aforementioned disastrous battle, where his army was annihted, he spent seven years pondering the meaning of his defeat. He finally came to the conclusion that the Gods had punished the Nords for their arrogant and sphemous misuse of the Thu¡¯um. Following this revtion, Jurgen developed a pacifist creed called the ¡¯Way of the Voice¡¯ that preached the Thu¡¯um should only be used for the worship and glory of the gods rather than martial exploits. After he converted to pacifism he became known as "Jurgen the Calm"." "What happened next?" "Let¡¯s just kill that damn troll first!" ----------------------------------- Emblem VIII ¨C Jurgen Windcaller chose silence and returned; The 17 disputants could not shout Him down; Jurgen the Calm built His home on the Throat of the World... ----------------------------------- "Continuing the History Lesson! Jurgen¡¯s philosophy prevailed,rgely due to his unshakable mastery of the Voice. His victory was sealed in a legendary confrontation, where The Calm is said to have "swallowed the Shouts" of seventeen Tongues of the militant school for three days until his opponents ally exhausted. These Tonguester became his disciples. It was after this confrontation he founded the [Greybeards], a monastic order dedicated to mastering the Way of the Voice. He also built [High Hrothgar Temple], located near the peak of Throat of the World, which served as the monastery where the Greybeards meditated and perfected their voice." "Sounds like a man of quality! Unlike someone." "Everyone is a scoundrel at some point!" ----------------------------------- Emblem IX ¨C For years all silent, the Greybeards spoke one name; Tiber Septim, stripling then, was summoned to Hrothgar; They blessed and named him Dovahkiin... ----------------------------------- "Tiber Septim, when he was known as Hjalti Early-Beard, was summoned to the Throat of the World by the Greybeards after his victory over the Reachmen at Old Hroldan. By that time he was still called General Talos of Atmora." "Look at the passion in your eyes. You said you hated history." "This is not just history. This is a dream. I know a few million people who would load their game with more than five hundred mods to get to do what I do." "I don¡¯t understand what you meant but... this ce is beautiful!" "Yeah! The world is so damn tiny from here." "How much left?" "Not much!" ----------------------------------- Emblem X ¨C The Voice is worship; Follow the Inner path; Speak only in True Need. ----------------------------------- "How much did you count?" "Seven Thousand Steps!" "So it¡¯s true?" "Don¡¯t mind that now. Look at that?" "How did they build that up here?" "Ask Todd Howard!" "Who is he?" "God... I guess." "So what now!" "I don¡¯t think the Greybeards have noticed us yet." "I would be scared if they did." "Don¡¯t get cocky! These people are not some elderly monks living up on a mountain for nothing." "What do you mean?" "These guys are pacifists and all but they are monsters beyond my understanding." "Come on!" "To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t dare to evenpare Nurina to them." "Are you serious?" "Just don¡¯t do anything funny for the time being." "How are we going to sneak past them? You said they won¡¯t allow us to pass!" "Yeah! They are overprotective when it gets to that thing in particr. But there is a weak point all the overwhelmingly strong people have. They always ¡¯Overlook¡¯ the weak." "Yes, the mammoth would never mind the ant." "That¡¯s why I developed this ¡¯Thu¡¯um¡¯!" "Are you finally using it?" "Yes, I will!" Hehe! It has been a month since I used this damn shout! I hate it so much. "Here, let¡¯s tie ourselves together! We can¡¯t lose each other after that ¡¯Thu¡¯um¡¯." This ¡¯Thu¡¯um¡¯ I developed is a bit annoying. It is dangerous and very wed but effective so tying ourselves together is the best way to avoid its aftereffect. This ¡¯Thu¡¯um¡¯ is not a shout like most shouts, it¡¯s a whisper like ¡¯Aura Whisper¡¯ Thu¡¯um. I called it the ¡¯Disregard Whisper¡¯. Its words meant [Disregard, Ignore, Forget]. A Thu¡¯um that would make its user disregarded, ignored and forgotten during the ¡¯effect time¡¯ of the shout. The words are... "VONED NIBOR DUZRAH!" Chapter 102 Paarthurnax! [A/N: And for chapter 100 we bring you PaaaaaaaaaarThuuurrrrNaaaaaaaaaaaax!] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Drem Yol Lok. Greetings, wunduniik. I am Paarthurnax. Who are you? What brings you to my strunmah...my mountain?" Oh, my, Talos! I think I shouldn¡¯t have added too many dragon mods! "Haha! Hah Hah! Jon, my eyes are ying one silly trick on me." That makes two of us. This, this is a little bit too big! In front of me was someone I yearned to meet since the very first day I came to this world. Paarthurnax! The Master of the Greybeards. But the Paarthurnax in front of me is a little bit toorge. Nope! Maybe this is just too freakingrge. What the hell? *** [Few Hours Earlier] ¡¯High Hrothgar¡¯ or ¡¯Hrothgar¡¯ is an ancient monastery located in the peaks of the Throat of the World, the tallest mountain in all of Tamriel. High Hrothgar is the home of the Greybeards, a group of powerful monks that dedicate their lives to studying the Way of the Voice. The monastery itself was built to block the road beyond it. That road is what leads to the peak of the ¡¯Throat of the World¡¯. There lies the ce I want to collect the unmelting snow from as well as Paarthurnax, master of the Greybeards and the ancient dragon that lived through the ages on the mountain waiting for the return of the ¡¯World-Eater¡¯. Now, to pass the monastery, I need to go unnoticed by the Greybeards who won¡¯t let anyone pass the ce. That¡¯s why I needed some sort of method. The best way I could think of was to make myself disregardable to pass through the ce. The ¡¯disregard shout¡¯ was something I developed by creating the Aspect of being disregarded. That is why I sat frozen in the woods for a full week to get disregarded by the wild to the highest degree possible. The moment I understood how to be disregarded, I started developing the shout. It took me one month but it was an easy one. I can shout it at myself or at someone, but its effect is very annoying. For example, if I made Jull disregard me, she may not notice me next to her, if she is fighting she may shoot arrows while ignoring me who may be on the way, if we went somewhere together she may forget who did she go with or why she is here. That¡¯s why we tied our hands to each other so that we can¡¯t forget each other. We also did the same with Nefertiti. After that I shouted: "VONED NIBOR DUZRAH" which means: "Disregard, Ignore, Forget." As long as I am in a physical contact with Jull and Nefertiti, we can be aware of each other but that was a bit hard. Still, we managed it somehow. Casting magic or throwing an object won¡¯t disturb the effect though! Now the problem was how to pass the monastery of ¡¯High Hrothgar!¡¯. Should we go through or go around? Going through is dangerous! Going around is dangerous too. Going through means having a great possibility to confront the Greybeard which is something I don¡¯t want to do at all. Going around means passing through the monastery like thieves which also may offend the Greybeards. After thinking, rethinking and overthinking, I decided to summon it over. The awesome me Atronach Hawk. "We are riding it over the monastery!" "Are you sure we will be safe?" "No! But I can think of a way to get the attention of whoever finds us away." I started doing some preparations around the entrance of ¡¯High Hrothgar¡¯. A small prank to be frank. After that, I jumped on the me Atronach Hawk and Jull who was carrying Nefertiti clung onto me. After it rose over fifteen meters, it could barely fly over the roof of the monastery. The other side of the monastery is within reach but I could see a tower on the other side. The other side has a courtyard and a tower indeed but the monks shouldn¡¯t be going out that much, yet it seemed someone is the there. I don¡¯t recognize that someone but he wasn¡¯t that old as I remember the Greybreads should be. He was in a ck robe and apparently had shaved his head. He was sitting atop the tower. By checking him more clearly, I noticed that he was a bit too young! Who is that? It doesn¡¯t matter as long as the n works. After we passed the monastery and flew over the courtyard, I cast ¡¯Featherfall¡¯ and jumped down from the me Atronach Hawk with Jull and Nefertiti. The Hawk kept flying until it got the attention of the person on the tower. As he saw it, he appeared to have panicked and went down from the tower to check the weird ming bird that was flying over the monastery. He judged that it was troublesome and evoked a Frost Magic spell then started attacking the me Atronach Hawk. I wasmanding the Hawk to evade left and right to test this unknown person¡¯s ability. Once he got sick of the movement he inhaled and fixed his sight on the Hawk. "FO KRAH!" Woah! Did he just use the Thu¡¯um? Look at that! Frost Breath Shout?! That person just shouted two words of Frost Breath shout? A frost force wave emerged from that person¡¯s voice and struck the me Atronach Hawk. The hawk took damaged and disappeared due to it. Amazing! ¡¯System! Record that in a video file!¡¯ Good, now let¡¯s see. Something made of wood fell from the sky after the hawk was destroyed. As that man saw it, he hurried towards it and picked it up. Once he saw it he froze for a second, then started running to the monastery. He clearly got panicked. "I saw you writing something on that wooden te. What was it?" Jull asked. "It said ¡¯Grind Zey Ahst Havaat!¡¯." "And it means?" "Meet me at the entrance!" "... Why would he do what you tell him?" "Let¡¯s just say humans are a bit easy to manipte!" I walked through the now empty courtyard and headed to the way beside the tower. There, we saw a gate and what was beyond it was a wall of storm. No one can pass anything like that. There is only one way to pass it but I was waiting for something. I was focusing my ears on something far away and after a few minutes, I could finally hear it. *... bang!* This meant that the people inside the monastery finally went to the entrance. I left some rune traps on the floor ahead of the entrance of the monastery. They were nothing serious, just a ¡¯sh Bang Rune¡¯. Now let¡¯s get this over with. "LOK VAH koor!" I used a Thu¡¯um I barely mastered! The first and the second words went well but the third didn¡¯te out. "Hurry! Let¡¯s run." As I shouted! The storm wall disappeared and the path beyond it was clear. ¡¯Lok Vah Koor¡¯ is the ¡¯Clear Skies Shout¡¯ that can clear the wind and make the weather into its best condition. It is also a very important shout in the game. As the road beyond the storm wall was cleared, I ran holding Jull¡¯s hand. We were running as if a mammoth was behind us. I actually was afraid from the Greybeards so I prepared a puny trick to make them look away for a while. After that we kept moving forward in a very harsh road, every two or three minutes I had to use ¡¯Clear Skies Shout¡¯ to keep advancing. And finally, we reached the ce we needed. The peek of the ¡¯Throat of the World¡¯. The Top of the ¡¯Snow Tower¡¯. The highest spot of earth known to in the whole continent of Tamriel. And I think I can feel him gazing at us. Here he is! I can see him. He spread his wings with vigor and soared in the sky, then and with some graceful movement that didn¡¯t suit that size of his, hended in front of us! "JON! SOMETHING IS COMING! BE CAREFUL!" *boom* *shake* "Drem Yol Lok. Greetings, wunduniik. I am Paarthurnax. Who are you? What brings you to my strunmah...my mountain?" Oh my Talos! I think I shouldn¡¯t have added too many dragon mods! What appeared to me in front of me was a dragon. But even with immortality the dragons shout have, this dragon showed clear signs of great age, including tattered skin on his wings and tail, broken and chipped horns and chin-spikes, dulled color in his skin and eyes, and several teeth missing. "Haha! Hah Hah! Jon, my eyes are ying one silly trick on me." That makes two of us! "Excuse me for a second!" I said as I regained someposure. I moved to the side and looked at Paarthurnax from the side. Yep! I am sure of it now! This is not the normal size of the dragon I thought it should be. This is too freakingrge! The dragons from the game were almost around twenty meters long and four meters high but this was double of that? Dammit, Bethesda! You even cheated us with the size of the freaking dragons. "Jon, Jon, what are you doing?" "Oh! Sorry! Excuse my rudeness, My name is Jon Dare. Officially, Jonhild Firemane. It is an honor to meet the Grandmaster of the Greybeards." "Master?! They see me as master. Wuth. Onik. Old and wise. It is true I am old though." "Part of the wisdom can only be obtained with age." I replied. "But that¡¯s not what I am really here to talk about. You already know who am I, right?" The dragon was a bit taken aback then said: "Yes. Vahzah. You speak true. Forgive me. It has been long since I held tinvaak (conversation) with a stranger. I gave in to the temptation to prolong our speech." "I don¡¯t mind at all. We still have some time before the world startshing at us!" I said whileughing. "Zurun! (Strange!) You seem to already know much about your Dez, your fate!" "You will be surprised by how much I know! But that¡¯s not our concern anyway. We still have a short time to enjoy this peace!" "Vahzan! True! Tell me. Why do youe here, van? Why do you intrude on my meditation?" "Don¡¯t call me ¡¯van¡¯ like it is a bad thing. You will be seeing me a lot from now on. Also, I came here to take some of the unmelting snow to fix that thing and will be leaving as well. I hope you don¡¯t mind." Chapter 103 A Jull In Distress! A Town In Need! [Jull¡¯s POV] Jon! Hey Jon! Why is not he replying? He told me he would bring me to see the master of the Greybeards! He never said anything about a dragon. A real dragon! A living real dragon? A dragon! Real? I mean... Jon always told me there will be dragons and they will appear in the world. I believe what Jon says even if it was lies. I know that he is the only family I have and I have to put my faith in him. Did I not believe him? I mean, I know I believe him! But with a dragon? I feel like my faith is being tested. He knows many things! He is always amazing and shining! He even knows where to find a dragon! That is just too much! He is not even nervous! He is so natural in front of the dragon and is talking to him, he was not even afraid at all and checked the dragon¡¯s body. What is going on? When I look at the dragon, I feel... I feel so, so insignificant. The aura, the magic, the power! I feel like I can¡¯t even be worth considering in front of such a being. Even Nefertiti is frozen! No one is moving in front of that majestic being. Yet, Jon! Is heughing with the dragon? I can see that face that he has. He seemed that he was longing for this meeting. His happiness is barely contained within him. Can Jon be thisfortable towards dragons? Are dragons that easy going? I read in Jon¡¯s books that dragons are beings created for domination. How can Jon be standing face to face in front of one with this happiness on his face? He doesn¡¯t seem to be pressured by the dragons at all. I, on the other hand, didn¡¯t even move. Not even once! I was frozen in ce from the very beginning. I look at Jon and all I can see is his big and broad back! He was standing there, tall and strong. Nothing I would be able to catch up to. I looked at myself and felt weak! Can I even stand behind him? Can I support him and be his strength? Can I be of any use? Why is he so close to me yet so far, far away? I thought I grew stronger! I thought I became equal to him. I thought he can be mine no one else gets to share him with me. I was an idiot! This world can¡¯t even stop him when he wants something. Can I endure his fate? Can I follow him on his path? Can my insignificance be of even useful to move a straw away from hindering him? What am I thinking? Should I just turn and leave? He won¡¯t stop me if I wanted to quit here. I feel it. I can¡¯t move forward from this point. I can¡¯t even muster my voice to call for him. But, but when I tried to step back just now, my body obeyed me. I get it! I get it now! Beyond this point is a step that only gods can walk. No way! Is this how my life is supposed to be? Is it like this? For all those who I love dearly to move forward and I get stuck? Mother! What should I do? He is too hard to reach. This is beyond me. I turned around and took a step away! First step! My eyes are wet even in the coldest ce in the world. Second step! I can already feel that my tears are everywhere on my face. Third step! It became easier to cry, easier to walk away! I give u... "WAIT, YOU IDIOT!" Huh! Someone called! Who is that? Where am I? "DON¡¯T GO!" Who is it? Why is it so dark in here? I was standing there just now, with Jon and the dragon. "I don¡¯t know this ce! Why is it dark? Where am I?" My mind spoke itself. "You don¡¯t know?" A voice replied. "You don¡¯t know, yet you are the one who made this ce!" "You? Who? It can¡¯t be!" "So you realize what have you done?" "No! Impossible?" "You just let your friends down, and drive away the people who care for you." "You shouldn¡¯t be here!" "Yes, we shouldn¡¯t! Yet, Here we are." "Tell me! Was it fun? Killing me?" "Was it fun leaving me to die?" "Was it fun letting everyone down?" "And now you are leaving him? You just don¡¯t change, don¡¯t you?" "No, mother you don¡¯t understand, I was..." "We understand! We understand very well. You just make friends when it suits you then move on when it is hard. When they need you!" "GO AWAY! I DIDN¡¯T WANT YOU TO DIE, STABRIOUS!" "THEN WHY DO YOU FOLLOW THE ONE WHO KILLED ME?" "STOP! I DON¡¯T WANT TO TALK WITH ANYONE!" Huff! Huff! I shouted and they all went away! Mother, I am sorry! Stabriuos too! I know we went after Jon together but your death was not something I would forgive. Jon only protected himself from us. I feel guilty to run away! I can¡¯t forgive myself, friend! I feel so guilty! *sob* *sob* Who is that? Someone is crying! I looked around! The ce was still ck but I could feel someone around. I walked to the voice! "Hey! Kiddo, do you know where is this?" I found a small girl crying while sitting on the ground. "You want to go! Like everyone else! But *sob* but I won¡¯t go! You weak! *sob* Coward!" The girl was crying and felt a bit broken! It made me feel overwhelmingly sad. Ah! I remembered! "You! You were the one who called for me! You said ¡¯wait, you idiot!¡¯." The girl¡¯s weeping stopped and looked at me. I saw her face and my body all tensed up. She, she is... The bloody scar on her left eye, the light grey skin, the ck hair, the tattered dress! She is... Me! "Yes! You are an idiot!" "I..." "You left everyone! You are a coward! An idiot! Unfaithful! Untrustworthy!" "Bu..." "What about all we have been through? All the suffering? All the songs? All the pain? All the fight? To what end? So you can bury your head in the dirt and turn away? You forgot what it all means." "I am no..." "It all led us there! On that mountain! And you became like a rat! He took us and cared for us yet that¡¯s how you treat him! This is our ce! WAKE UP!" No! What I didn¡¯t want to go! I was... "Afraid! You know you can¡¯t measure up to him! You know there is no way you can be his and he bes yours alone, so you just became afraid. Like the coward you are." No... Yes! "... I am afraid!" "Because you are an idiot!" "No! I am not an idiot! I love him. Like nothing I ever loved before, I love him! I worship him! He is my everything. I can¡¯t stand beside him and I can¡¯t be his strength if I an idiot. I was never an idiot and I will never be!" "You are not powerful enough, you can¡¯t..." "And what¡¯s with that, huh? What¡¯s with it, tell me! I am afraid, yes. His path is too hard to follow, yes. He is not afraid of going any length ahead, yes. But I am not a coward." "You think your false bravery will fool me, I am you!" "I know who the fuck you are and I said I am so fuckin afraid, dammit! But I am not a coward! I AM ME! I WILL KILL IN THE NAME OF FUN AND THE ONE I LOVE, SO GO AWAY! I WILL BE AFRAID AND MOVE AHEAD, WHAT¡¯S WITH IT? GO AWAY!" HWAAAAH! Huff! Huff! That is right! Whatever it is! I am not a coward. "Huh?" What is going on? Too much light! What is happening there? Why did this young me turn into a light thing? It¡¯s too bright! And blue, huh! "Blue?" "Oh! Rise and shine, sweetheart! It¡¯s almost sunset here." Blue sky above, and Jon, and Nefertiti, and a dragon. "By any chance! Am I the first person ever to be awoken by a human, a cat, and a dragon, all at the same time?" I somewhat got the urge to ask that question. "Ah! Yes, how envious! You¡¯ve beaten me to it." Jon said as if he remembered something. Hehe! He is still acting dumb around a dragon. I don¡¯t think there will be anyone who can do it like though. What is that smell? "Something smells charred?" "Oh! About that. His fault!" Jon pointed towards the dragon. Eh! What happened? "Dragon said myou small and meow old. Dragon said FAH and burn mountain! Everything smells." For some reason, the idiot cat is saying something so strange. "Jon?" "Oh! About that. It happened a few minutes ago." ~~~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV, a few minutes ago] "I came here to take some of the unmelting snow to fix that thing and will be leaving as well. I hope you don¡¯t mind." I said to Paarthurnax. "Hmmm! Drem. Patience. There are formalities which must be observed, at the first meeting of two of the dov." Paarthurnax said and turned his head away to half rounded rock. "By long tradition, the elder speaks first. Hear my Thu¡¯um! Feel it in your bones. Match it, if you are Dovahkiin!" Paarthurnax then opened his mouth and shouted one mighty shout. "Yol...Toor...Shul!" A strong stream of fire apanied these words as Paarthurnax said them and a True Dragon Fire Breath fell on the rounded rock. Once he finished his fire breath he looked towards me and said, "The word calls you! Go for it." I obeyed what he said and approached the wall. There were some draconic runes left by the breath. I just noticed how the word was spoken and performed so I could see it clearly. I understood it once my eyes fell on it. It was ¡¯Yol¡¯ and it meant ¡¯Fire¡¯. I was still far fromprehending the world though. "A gift! Dovahkiin. Yol. Understand Fire as the dov do." Paarthurnax said and a stream of energy came from him towards me. "Woah!" This is... I understand the word! Iprehended it! No! Paarthurnax gave me a part of his knowledge about fire! It... It is so deep. No words can describe that! Paarthurnax seemed a bit amused and called for me, "Now, show me what you can do. Greet me not as mortal, but as dovah!" Fine! You asked for it. "Ehem! YOL!" Unlike the fire breath that Paarthurnax performed. Mine is... let¡¯s just not mention it. It was way too embarrassing. A force of fire just was formed with my word and flew towards, Paarthurnax!" "Aaah... yes! Sossedov los mul." Paarthurnax spoke very loudly as if life has returned to him. "The Dragonblood runs strong in you. It is long since I had the pleasure of speech with one of my own kind." I smiled! "I am more pleasured to finally meet you, Dovah Do Onikaan!" I replied to him the way dragons speak. Of course, I was a bit embarrassed. "So. You have made your way here, to me. No easy task for a joor... mortal. Even for one of Dovah Sos. Dragonblood. What would you ask of me?" "I came here seeking the ¡¯Vozaas Od¡¯, the Unmelting Snow! I intend to fix this White Phial" "Nii fraan malmindok, I felt it familiar to the ce, as this is the most sacred mountain in Skyrim. Zok revak strunmah. The great mountain of the world. You can take what you came for, but you can¡¯t dally here! By the time you take the way down, your fahdon, your friend will face a grave danger. You need to return to gevild avok lom." A friend? In danger? And a he? ¡¯Gevild avok lom¡¯ should mean the ¡¯castle above water¡¯. "Winterhold? Wulfur?" "Bo Dovahkiin, Nii los ni do gut wah hi." (It is not toote!) "Kogaan (Thanks), Paarthurnax! Eh... Jull!" Chapter 104 Before The Storm [Alina¡¯s POV] "You said in Windhelm?" "Yes, mydy! He appeared there and the description matches." Svakin said. This is interesting! Darth Vader who disappeared for a while then showed himself four months ago and caused mayhem in Windhelm. "What else in the report?" "Thest time he was seen was when he broke through the front gate of Windhelm alone on a me Atronach Horse!" "I know he can use the spell that is created by Jon Dare! I still don¡¯t get the connection between these two." The me Atronach variations are Jon Dare¡¯s speciality! The Storm Atronaches are normally researched by teacher Lah and the Frost Atronaches by Master Nurina. "Crimson Moon! Can¡¯t it be that they are the same person?" "Yes, it is possible but everyone says that Jon Dare is here in the Midden. Even master says so." "In the Midden for half a year? I can¡¯t believe it." "Experts in our n lock themselves in caves for years to gain better understanding to the ways of the de. The way of magic is more mysterious especially for a mystic like Jon Dare." Yes! It is still suspicious how someone of his age can stay all that time in an inner door training but nothing is impossible for us mystics." "Also, it is said that Jon Dare has a follower that goes by the name of Junar! It seems like Darth Vader and his follower to me." "We will know the truth sooner orter, Skywalker! Darth Vader and his Thunder Fist are an opponent I can¡¯t lose to once again. The same goes for Jon Dare! I don¡¯t want to break master¡¯s heart over her favorite student but my heart can¡¯t bring me to lose in talent." "Of course! Crimson Moon is the pride of our n¡¯s patriarch as well as the rest of the n. Your progress under Arch-Wizard Nurina thest half year is amazing and your new magic will trash a thousand Jon Dare and a thousand Darth Vaderbined." "Fufu! Skywalker, you started to be a flirt!" "It is all true, mydy! The Lady of the Storm is not your newest title for nothing! The Wind Magic of yours made even the Destruction School students and schrs bow to you!" Ah, yes! That happened. The Wind Magic was a project that Master Nurina and senior Jon Dare worked on but they gave up half way. I don¡¯t know why but I got pulled into it and continued from where they stopped. After a few months of research, I reached the point to be able to control a very rare Destruction Msgic Element. The Wind Magic! I was into Frost Magic before but my defeat against Darth Vader in the n¡¯s sacred ground was epic. I could finallye to a conclusion that I needed to be in a ce like this where magic is a daily practice. I found a lot of strong talented people in this town. Names like Jon Dare, Darth Vader, Junar, Wulfur. These people are geniuses in Magic, sword, and smithing. Thest person I met was the towns cksmith who works for Jon Dare. His name is Wulfur. This guy can make miracles with steel that gave him the title of ¡¯Thousand Hammer cksmith¡¯. His work speed is beyond understanding. When he works in the forge, he needs at least ten apprentices to keep up with him. I tried to invite him to the n but he didn¡¯t even consider it. Seems like Wulfur and Jon Dare are sworn brothers. This town is so interesting! I can never get bored here. I even had to disobey a direct order from the College and went to assist the town against pirates. It seems the town has a big animosity with the ¡¯Blood Horkers¡¯ and the ¡¯Bloodsails n¡¯. Still, the college is trying not to take action? If I was not a member from the Silverde n and the student of Arch-Wizard Nurina, I would have got scolded like a thousand times by now. Savos Aren the Arch-Mage is toox and doesn¡¯t want to interfere. These people don¡¯t get politics at all. "Lady Alina!" Someone interrupted my thoughts. "Who is it?" I asked. "It is a student the creation club, mydy! The Redguard girl!" "Ah! Yisra. Come in!" To think it is her. I got closer to these people to get I information on Jon Dare but I ended up joining them. They still treat me like ady of a big family though. "Lady Alina! I came to tell you..." "I told you to call me Alina withoutdy, we are friends!" The girl seemed a bit troubled so I gestured for Svakin to get out. "No we are alone!" "Really no need! I just came from the town and it seemed they are preparing for the defense battle! Wulfur and Trudvar seemed a bit troubled over some logistics so I came to report!" "Oh! Thank you. I guess I should head out!" Winterhold is a good town now. Many people live here and it started to get on the ¡¯Blood Horkers¡¯ bad side. Now as they started to attack the town, many students and schrs sneak out to assist the defense. I can go openly but seniors like Svadall, Holman, Rusning and these people need to sneak. That¡¯s why I gathered them under the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯ with the permission of the team¡¯s secretary, Schr Eliel. We go out in missions to, ehem, ¡¯Gather Ingredients¡¯. "Alright, Yisra! Let¡¯s go." "Thank you... Alina!" "Fufu! You are wee." Whoa! She called me by my name. Let¡¯s keep the fact that I am happy aside. I took the way out from the dorms and headed directly to the entrance. Yisra went to call for the rest. Svakin was sent to get something from the club for me and he will return immediately. Hmmm! Let¡¯s head to town then. The wind is strong today. The Pirates wille from the north so the wind will be on their backs. Bad for both me as a Wind Mage and also for the archers who will have to shoot them from the cliff. I see all the preparation are being done while I was crossing the broken bridge to the town. After I crossed it, I could see themand tent and Wulfur and Trudvar in it, they are the ones who are responsible for the town defense, there is also a woman called Elishka, the bathhouse manager. "Wel-met!" "Lady Alina! Thank you foring!" "Thank you for calling me over, Wulfur." I greeted the town¡¯s chief cksmith. He is a serious looking young man with arge build, ck hair, and a heavy armor. He likes heavy armors and big weapons so much that I never saw him with the same weapon twice, but this time he is carrying a hammer that is giving off some serious aura. Well, everyone of us is in their battle dress already. ~~~~~~~~ [Wulfur¡¯s POV] "Thank you for calling me over, Wulfur." The youngdy returned the greeting to me. She is Nurina¡¯s new apprentice and a very strong mage. A monster, just like Jon. She is a very beautifuldy with jet ck hair and unlike the rest of her family who are rumored to be strong swordsmen with light grey eyes like the white moon ¡¯Secunda¡¯, she has crimson red eyes like the red moon ¡¯Masser¡¯. [A/N: A fast reminder, nirn has two moons. The white smaller one is called Secunda or Jone. The red bigger one is caller Masser or Jode.] She is dressed in a crimson dress that matches her eyes and exposes some skin, she also held a ck staff that was forged by me and enchanted by Nurina herself as a congrattion present for her sess in recreating the Wind Magic. "So, what is the situation?" She asked. "The Pirates will being from the north, they will face some trouble with the ice that got formed in the sea but that also goes for us. We can¡¯t sail the ¡¯Alexandria¡¯." A problem! We are forced to watch the enemye to us. "I don¡¯t think we can sail to begin with. Ongeim took some men and rode to Windhelm, he is the best captain we can rely on!" I said. "True! But we need you guys to defend the town from above the slope! The Bathhouse needs to be defended at all costs!" Elishka said. "I don¡¯t understand why we should defend that ce." It seems like Alina is not seeing the full picture. "Apart from the economical value of the ce! We can¡¯t spare a lot of money to fix every inch in town after the fight, and the ce is currently the healing center for the battle. The bathhouse girls are well trained at both simple healing magic and first aid." Trudvar had to exin. "That¡¯s why I suggested that you shouldn¡¯t go down the slope. We need to force them not to go forward from here." I said. "This may seem like the best course of action but once theynd and try to climb the slope, their shield bearers will be hard to deal with." Trudvar said. The opinions are split! We both look at Alina. "I think you both are right! We can¡¯t allow them tond and if theynded, it will be troublesome. That is why we need to stop them from the slope. I will station myself in the middle of the slope so I can retreat much faster and protect the bathho... the healing center. The mages will be with me and we will be able to rain them with magic from our high ground." Good n! "I agree!" "I also agree!" Trudvar liked it too. "The healing unit agrees!" Elishka also agreed. "How many men we have!" Alina looked at the map on the table and asked. "Three hundred as the main force! Our men are around two hundred well equipped men, the jarl lent us one hundred guard! I am leading the main force." Trudvar said. "I have a unit of twenty strongmen who work with me!" I said. "Thirteen healers! The rest forty are trained in first aid." Elishka said. "And I could invite thirty mages! Svakin will join you, Wulfur! He is bringing the items you asked me to enchant as we speak." Alina said. This is good! This will provide a good surprise attack. "When will Ongeim arrive?" Alina asked. "If we are lucky then he should be here with the new ¡¯Gunship¡¯ anytime soon." Trudvar answered. "You sure this gun thing will work?" Alina asked. "It will." A voice came from outside the tent. This was Mahran and the core members of the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯. "We finished the magic cannons Jon designed, they will be ready to be installed on the ship once it arrives." Mahran said. Mahran is a giant khajiit as tall as me. He is one of the few people who see the charm of Jon¡¯s designs. Alina doesn¡¯t seem to hold much hope in a staff cannon that can fire ¡¯Fireball¡¯ spells on an extremely low cost in a high speed. It sure consumes a lot of Soul Gems but Jon said he is after a new idea to power up the magic machines without soul gems. He called it the ¡¯Technomancy¡¯. It was a very old idea from the orphanage but I saw that he gave it to the Creation Club to research it in secret. Alina revised the n and made a n B, C, D... she indeed is a talented a talented girl. Speaking of girls, Bjorna sent me a letter with a Firemane shipst week. It seems that the Jon¡¯s master ising to pick us up. I don¡¯t understand why they are so interested in Jon as he already has another teacher in the Rift, that cranky old man, but it is all good to me, I get to see Bjorna once again. "You can smile, huh?" For some reason, everyone in themand tent noticed me. "Ehem! I don¡¯t think we can waste time now!" I diverted the topic. "Alright, everyone! You know the n." Alina said and everyone left themand tent except me and Alina. "When will your friende?" She asked. "Soon!" "He created a big mess for us to deal with here!" "He revived a town!" I refuted. "That he did! Annoyingly creating amazing things and leaves other to deal with the mess!" "Same old Jon to me! You¡¯ll get used to it." "Still, you should considering to the n with me! Your talents are wasted here!" "No, thanks!" "Should I seduce you?" "I doubt that you even know how to do it!" "....." My win, again! "Mydy! I came." A voice came from the outside. "Svakin! You brought it?" "Here!" Svakin is Alina¡¯s guard. He is from the same n as her. Even though they are Nords they all have the same strange narrow grey colored eyes eyes. That n, for some reason, has a very strange dress code for their guards. The pants are baggy until a bit under the knee then with a high tight boots, for the top they use tight sleeveless shirts and hide their faces all the time. Apart from the weird way they dress, they tend to use the Akaviri weapons. I guess it is part of their heritage. Back to the topic, Svakin brought some chest with him. After he presented it to me, I opened it immediately. Inside, there are twenty pairs of boots and twenty silver rings. They are all here! "Twenty ¡¯Waterwalking Boots¡¯ and twenty ¡¯Waterbreathing Rings¡¯. I guess your men know how to use with these items." Alina said. "Yes, thank you very much!" "Look! The rings are not a problem if you lose them, but the boots were, the boots were too hard to make." She said with a pale face. I guess it was hard. "Still, the only one who will cough blood if he knows how many soul gems you used will be Jon." Alina face turned into a smiling one andughed. "I am sure my senior is kind person who will forgive me!" She said that and went out! Sigh! She doesn¡¯t know! She doesn¡¯t know how scary Catatoskr can be when he loses too much money! Can¡¯t we just end this fight fast? I want to go to bed and have a good sleep. *Boooooooooooooo!* *ring* *ring* *ring* *ring* *ring* *ring* The rms and the horn? They are here! Ysmir! Kyne! Guide us! I head out of the tent carrying the my Skyforge Hammer that Nirina enchanted with the Lightning st effect that Jon loves so much. My armor is not as heavy as always but I still can¡¯t go without my shield. The sea ahead of me and a ship is heading our way! It is a big one. I was just going to go ahead but I looked to the south. Jon should being from that direction. Onest prayer! Shor! Bring him soon! Chapter 105 Over The Sea! Above The Clouds! A/N: The Extra chapters are back for both Skyrim and Relife! To unlock them, check the Goals on Patreon! We are on the second goal! 2 weekly extra chapters for Skyrim. Don¡¯t forget to vote! Enjoy~? ~~~~~~~~ [Wulfur¡¯s POV] "Notch!" "LOOSE!" *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* "AGAIN!" "He¡¯s hit! Help!" A scream sounded. "Don¡¯t break the formation! Rear troops, take him to the infirmary!" Trudvar, the leader of the front shouted. "Trudvar! They areing! Another ship!" "What? One more? Wulfur! What should we do? Wulfur!" Trudvar called to me. "Don¡¯t retreat! We¡¯ll take care of that!" "Gods guide you, Wulfur! " This situation! How did it be like this? It was one ship at the beginning. We managed repel it easily and it didn¡¯tnd. Then another ship appeared, it stationed itself behind the first ship and threw burning oil kegs at us, that ship had a catapult in its foredeck. And now a third smaller ship appeared, it came from between the rocky waters to the west and started covering the first ship with arrows. Now, we are the ones retreating. These pirates! "Wulfur! Thedy is retreating to protect the infirmary! Some boatsnded to the east and are trying to sneak into the town." Svakin appeared out of nowhere. Shit! "Take some archers and cover her ce! Retreat on the slope to the second defensive line." That¡¯s all I can think of. Now, I should at least lessen the burden while the front retreats. I looked at my twenty apprentices and called for them. These guys are the ones who assist with me in the workshop. "You guys know what to do! The boots you have and the rings will allow us to take that small ship by surprise!" """"YEAAAH!!"""" Good! Their spirits are high! Now, we have one ship trying tond, one small ship attacking us with archers, another small ship with a catapult that throws burning oil on the shore, and now some piratesnded with boats. Only the mages can block the catapult and Alina is the strongest with her Wind Magic. But now she was forced to retreat! Damn it! If I can take down the small ship of archers, I¡¯ll be so damn satisfied. "ON ME!" I called for the men and we ran towards the shore. Normal, no one can do anything in a situation like that but we were prepared! "Activate the boots!" With that order, the twenty did what I said. We are all cksmiths here so everyone at least knows how to use a magical item. The moment we arrived at the water, our boots carried us as if we were walking onnd. A bit slippery but we managed. The enemies on the ship didn¡¯t take notice us or didn¡¯t really care before we walk on the water. Once we walked on the water, we had their full attention. "Shoot them!" "Bastard mages! They walk on water!" Their arrows started focusing on us! Hehe! What of it? "Shieeeelds up!" I gave amand. Our run on the water was swift, they can¡¯t stop us here anymore, even the volley of arrows was useless against the big round shields. We could reach the ship¡¯s hull in less than a minute, everyone is safe. "Dome formation!" Once I gave the order, all shields covered the squad. The ship was moving slowly. "Haaaa!" *bang* *bang* *bang* With the thunder hammer in my hands, I started hitting the hull. My goal was simple; open the hull, destroy them from within, sink the ship. Against a magic weapon, the hull was nothing. Only a few hits and a hole was opened. We flooded the ship from the inside. The Pirates couldn¡¯t put much resistance in this sort of a situation. I guess no one was ever trained on facing armored strongmen breaking into the ship from the hull. The attack was sessful! The captain of the ship tried desperately tond but he could only crush on the rocks ahead of the shore. We twenty ughtered them like sheeps! "One problem down three to go!" I shouted to let the men know there is no time to rest. *Boooooooo* The horn? Why? "C, chief!" One of my men called. "What?" "You didn¡¯t have to jinx it!" He said as he pointed towards the sea. Our problems returned four again! That¡¯s one big fourth problem. ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV, a little while ago] "Svakin! Tell Wulfur I am retreating to the east of town! He need to cover this ce with someone!" "Yes, mydy! I¡¯ll go and..." "No, they need you here! I am not going alone!" "But..." "No buts! Follow what Wulfur tells you!" I shouted at him, he nodded and ran down the slope. "Senior Rusning, Svadall and Holman! Please cover the area ahead!" "I understand!" Senior Rusningplied. I can¡¯t order these three around as they are about to be schrs. So I had to go out of my way and request. "Morbagog, Mahran, and Yisra! You three with me!" As fellow students from the same rank, I can boss them around a bit. The situation is not good! We were surrounded by the pirates from the front! The mage unit was the best counter to keep the ships at bay while the ground unit was enough to secure the area ahead. Now, the ground unit can¡¯t hold their ground due to the heavy attack. And now we are being attacked from behind! The mage unit will face destruction or the infirmary in Bathhouse will be endangered. I will have to deal with that myself. I took the slope back to the town and headed to the western area. The ce beyond the western area was an opennd of snow. A half of a mile away, a unit of fifty pirates can be spotted. They were some fast light infantrymen. "Everyone! Don¡¯t hold back!" We summoned the me Horse Atronaches and rode against the the infantrymen. The n was simple! The first attack should be a strong devastating one. Everyone of us called their best spell and overcharged it to the extreme. My spell is ¡¯Wind Cyclone¡¯, it won¡¯t leave anything in ce once it strikes. "Ridersing!" "Captain!" "Shoot them!" The Pirates didn¡¯t see thising! "Now! Everything!" We shot our spells at them. "Careful! Run!" "Disperse around! Don¡¯t group in one ce!" The Pirates reacted swiftly but still took a fair damage. I was nning to tten the ground with them in one go but it seems that theirmander is strong. "Lady Alina!" "Don¡¯t stand! Run around them! The Atronaches won¡¯t tire so make use of it!" As the n was going, we started going around the pirates in and attack with magic. "Gah!" "Morbagog!" It was not nned for as themander of the pirates was fully armored and could withstand magic. More than that he was abnormally fast. Morbagog fell from the me Atronach Horse and barely retreated with his life. I kept him busy from afar by magic. The man got annoyed and looked at me with all the hate in the world! Suddenly, my skin got erected and I felt an awful wave of goosebumps all over my body! "Aura master? Here?" This is not good! Aura masters in the ranks of the Blood Horkers Pirates only meant one thing! *Booooooo* Another horn? It only means another ship! I looked at the man who started to smile. Dammit! I could understand who are we up against now. My next words marked the start of a bitter day! "Retreat to the town! The ¡¯Bloodsails n¡¯ has arrived!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV, that morning] "Vonok (Farewell), Paarthurnax! Will drop by invited next time!" "Bo tahriik, Dovahkiin!" Paarthurnax said in his ancient deep draconic voice and flew back to the summit he meditates on. "Hey, Jull! Keep that thing with you!" "What is that? A pickaxe?" "Not just any pickaxe! It is the Notched Pickaxe. Something ancient! A gift for Wulfur!" "How very thoughtful of you! You meet your friend after a year and all you give him is a pickaxe?" "....." This girl! "Let¡¯s get ready! The road down won¡¯t be easy!" "Yes! We have made some old men seriously angry at us now!" "I think you misunderstood something! Paarthurnax said that enemies areing for Winterhold, we can¡¯t afford to take a way full of turns." "I don¡¯t understand!" She doesn¡¯t? "Well, isn¡¯t the shortest way to a point is to take a straight line?" "I know that genius! But we are on the ¡¯Throat of the bloody World¡¯. Don¡¯t we have to g... You can¡¯t be serious?" As she was speaking, I conjured a me Atronach Hawk! "Hey, wait! You are not doing it that way?" "Unfortunately, when I got reincarnated here, the function of the fast travel didn¡¯t get reincarnated with me! So, I¡¯ll have to turn to the extreme measures." "Count me out! I am young and beautiful and sti... Woah! Put me down!" "Hooman! Let go! Meow nyoting!" "Sorry, girls! This is something we all have to experience!" I carried the two troublemakers and put them on the Hawk then climbed after them. "Hohoho! Spread your wings and glide us all the way to Winterhold." "Nya! Don¡¯t wannya! Dragon! Do something!" "Jon! I swear... don¡¯t do it!" "It¡¯s fundies! The secret in the seat belts but we don¡¯t have any! No goooo!" The hawk took a few steps and flew up a bit. Once it got enough altitude, it headed over the summit to the north with the fastest speed it can get. "Nyaaaaa!" "Nooooo!" "Hoooooooooo!" Let¡¯s just say this turned out to be a very good idea in the end. During the flight, I could remember something when I was between the clouds! Something Hilda wrote in her journal. "I am above the clouds, Hildaaa!" Chapter 106 Ride of The Valkyries 1 [Styr¡¯s POV. The Bloodsails Captsiy!] "Whoever challenge our n!" "Kill!" "Whoever stands on our way!" "Kill!" "Whoever dare to resist the Blood on the Sails!" "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" "They think they can snatch the meat from the mouth of the beast! The deserve a thousand death!" "YEAAAH!" "Kill the men! Throw the children in the sea! And take the women! HAHAHAHA!" "Yeah HAHA!" "Whoever bring the head of Jon Dare, will have his woman!" "Hahaha! I¡¯ll bring it captain!" "We will sweep through them captain!" "Kill them all!" "Gooo!" These barbarians! It will turn ugly for the poor town! Originally, this was a territory of the n until some fellow by the name of Jon Dare turned the puppet of a Jarl against us and started to build his own power. I¡¯ll admit it! He fooled us and I admire his ways but he is an idiot in the end. He can be swift, smart and ¡¯Dare¡¯ all the way he wants but he can¡¯t just try to block the tide with brute force. The Bloodsails n may respond a little bit toote but a response wille. We sent one of our men after him in Dawnstar and he refused to die quietly. He offended our n greatly by doing so. We wrote his name on the sails with blood. Those who got their names written are dead people. Well, not entirely dead people, some of them managed to live anyway. I looked at the sails and could read some names that are impossible to touch yet our bride never allowed us to remove them. On the top are the ¡¯Bloody Hilda¡¯ and the ¡¯King of Ashes¡¯. If I remember, our n cooperated with some other ns to kill the son of these two. I think I was just a kid by the time it happened. Seriously! The n is just a bother. They don¡¯t stop making enemies with everything in the world. Now, we are in an open fight with a kid from the College of Winterhold just because he stole territory from us. And my father told me to stop beingx and go as the head of the campaign. What is he trying to do? It is only the first day and I am pulling them left and right! Some talents could be seen in their ranks though! A red witch and some brutes that can walk on water. They costed me a ship already. It doesn¡¯t matter to me. Once the sneaking team attacks them from behind, they are all done for. I don¡¯t know why the mages decided to move against us this time? I know that this Jon Dare is a mage and can¡¯t be ordered around by the College¡¯s administration because he is being protected by some strong mage. Lucky for me, that mage can¡¯t join the fray because she seems to be a core member of the College. They don¡¯t interfere with us hidden ns as they can be considered one. "Captain Styr! Should we move now?" Some asked me "Hmmm! What is the situation ahead?" "Karstagnded with the boats you sent him with! The red witch retreated!" "How sad! She won¡¯t live!" I pondered for a while. "Fine, let¡¯s move!" The main ship started to move! With its appearance alone the enemy will fall into disorder! *Boooooooooo* It was as I said, they sounded the horn and all retreated then fortified themselves on the slope. Just as I thought! It is the best course of action anyway. If they can¡¯t stop us fromnding, the should stop us from climbing. They have the higher grounds after all. Well, that would be true if only I haven¡¯t sent Karstag to attack them from behind. "Tell, the front ship to kill those men who can walk on water and prepare tond! Tell them to wait for us and keep dista... Oh! Karstag is here! Tell them to head to the shores immediately! Karstag¡¯s men will attack from the back the moment we attack from the front! Hurry, hurry." I saw Karstag standing above the slope and it seems the enemies haven¡¯t noticed him yet. Good! I was worried a bit from that red witch but it seemed he killed her. Hehe! This battle is over! "Signal the first ship tond and secure the shore!" "Yes! Captain!" "The Catapult ship! I want it to go a deeper and clean the slope from those rebels!" "By your orders, Captain!" "We, the main force in the third ship, will wait to go full ahead once they kill each other!" "Understood, Captain!" "Don¡¯t disappoint me! Everyone to their stations, we are reiming Winterhold!" "YES!" That was not a hrad battle! The rebels showed a good fight but in the end they are just rebels in our territory. I don¡¯t take pleasure in this but they have forced us to do so! "Captain! Something happened to Karstag!" Eh! He was fine just now. He just gave us a signal that he managed to sneak on the town. Now, we have them cornered. "What can possibly happen to him?" I took the spyss that my quartermaster offered me and looked at his direction... Dead?! "H, How? When?" Oh no! The first ship is sailing into an ambush! Dammit! They can¡¯t be stopped anymore. We need to rush to their aid. *mu....c* Huh! What is that? Where is iting from? *music: Ride of the Valkyrie* Music! Strange? How can there be something like that in the sea? "Captain, the Sky!" One of my sailor pointed to the sky... "What now?" "These birds!" Huh? What¡¯s with them? I used the spyss once again and what I saw made all my body go tense. "What kind of sorcery is that?" These birds are made of fire! And they are the source of that strange music! I don¡¯t understand. They are flying in formation? Three of them are heading to the first ship, three are heading to the second, and... *boom* *boom* *boom* *boom* "What is going on?" "Attack!" "We are under attack, Captain!" "Where is iting from?" "Captain, it is from that far away ship!" "How? What kind o..." "It¡¯s fire, Captain! The are shooting fire on us like mages." Fire? From that distance? Ah! They are shooting again! "Take cover!" I shouted to warn the crew. *music: Ride of the Valkyrie* That music is nearer louder! The burning birds are already over our heads. "Captain look!" One of the crew men pointed at the sky again. The six birds over the other ships started making weird moves and suddenly changed from their forms into massive chunks of fire... "NOO!" ... and they fell on the two ships. *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* "....." What I saw was indescribable... The two ships in the front were no more! The strange ship kept attacking us but my head had already stopped processing what is going around me. All I could see is thest bird hovering over my ship! When is it going to fall? *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* My expectations betrayed me! Only a blue light with sounds of chirping came from above the bird. Suddenly! A man appeared over the bird and jumped down from it... his body was giving of blue light as if he was the source of it all along. Once he was in the air he fell directly on my ship. *BOOM!* All the ship dangled from thatnding, he fell down like bolt of lightning and caused a massive damage to the ship and the crew around where hended. Once the dangling tensed down. I could see a hooded man in a strange fur armor with a sleeveless mage robe on it. He looked like a barbarian warrior and a storm mage both in the same time. Hended in a kneeling position on his right knee and right fist. He moved his sight to look at us with a fierce smile. "Superheronding! Haha! It sure hurts like hell. Anyway! Daddy is home, bitches!" ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV, a while ago] Why? Why did we have to meet an Aura master here? He ran like the wind after us and managed to block our way! Now, he is between us and the town! If we ran to different directions, he will just go and wreck havoc in the town. If we faced him we will pay a hefty price to put him down. But the problem is that his men who are stilling are not far away. "Dammit! Take him down as fast as possible. We can¡¯t afford him to live." This was the only solution I can think of! "Hehe! Little girl, don¡¯t overestimate yourself!" The manughed in a disgusting manner as he took out two swords. Two swords? Against a Moonde? You are testing my honor? I jumped down from the me Atronach Horse and cast a ¡¯Bound Sword¡¯ on each hand. "Hehe! Girl, you are courting death!" The man said as he shed with his swords at me. Surprisingly, I could evade easily! All he can do is just wave around the des with no understanding to them at all. How vulgar! I could sh at him few times but an Aura master is an Aura master after all. All I could do is to dy him for the rest to recover their Magicka! "Alina! They areing!" "I¡¯ll hold him down. Take care of them!" I was not confident but I will at least buy them a minute. "y time is over, little girl!" "Huh!" The man said so and all I could feel was myself flying backward. He, he was ying me the whole time? ... How frustrating! I could hear Yisra fighting the rest of the pirates and calling for me. Their situation is bad! I need to... "You should worry about yourself!" "Aaah!" The man kicked me and it felt so painful. If felt like I am being shattered! "I would have taken you to the young master but it seems your kind of woman would cause us nothing but headache! Just thank me I am killing you quickly!" The man raised his sword and... No! "MIA¡¯A¡¯A¡¯OW!" Huh? Instead of taking the stab, I heard a cat growling! "Ah! Ah! Aaah! Let go! Let go!" "Help the Captain! Hurry!" What¡¯s going on? "Wha! Undead? Run!" What is happening? I could open my eyes and managed to see the scene around me! "Eeeeeh!" The man I was fighting is being bitten and scratches by... arge ck cat? It¡¯s almost at the size of a wolf? The man¡¯s legs and torso were riddled with arrows! Where are theying from? And why are there undead around me? The undead are armored and attacking the pirates! "Are you okay?" A feminine voice called for me! I looked at the direction and it seemed like a girl in a hood with grey skin and one sharp eye. The other eye is hidden under her hair. So cool! She is so beautiful. She had a bow in her hand so I guess she is the one who shot the pirate man! Amazing! She put down an Aura master with that strange cat! "I am fine! Thank you!" I took the hand she offered. "Looks like everything is over here, Yisra!" "Eh! Junar!" Junar? Jon Dare¡¯s follower? "Where are the ¡¯Cannons¡¯?" "Ah! They are behind the bathhouse!" "Fine, Ongeim has arrived with the new ship. Take this staff, with it you canmand these undead to carry the connons to the ship!" "Undead! Staff!" "Team leader orders!" "Oh! Jon said so?" "Yes! There is no time! A big ship ising and we need the weapons to stop it!" I heard the conversation and my head had some hard time to process it! "Wait! Where is Jon Dare?" I interrupted and asked. The girl called Junar and the cat froze at the same time and looked at me! ""Making an appearance!"" They said. The cat... said? Chapter 107 Ride of The Valkyries 2 A/N: Skyrim Weakley Extra: 1/2 Enjoy~? ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] This looks bad! The piratemander is one crafty son of gun! He yed my men left and right. I¡¯ve sent Junar and Nefertiti to help Yisra, Mahran, Morbagog and that Red Girl with them, the enemy they are facing is troublesome. From what I saw with ¡¯Far Vision¡¯ spell, the team of four was being chased and got stopped by an Aura master. Soon they will be nked and get overpowered with numbers, that¡¯s why I sent Junar with some Wrathmen to finish things and pick the ¡¯Cannons¡¯ up. Ongeim seemed to have arrived but he couldn¡¯t go near the shore as the battle was already hectic enough. He barely has enough men to sail the Gunship. On the other hand, the pirates were getting prepared for the final assault. They were probably nning to assault my men from the front and the back by a surprise attack from the sneaking. Oh! They are finished already. Junar is helping the Red Girl to stand up in a super cool way. That should have been me but... Oh! So jealous! Hands off my Jull. Never mind that now! I am preparing for my grand appearance. I am arriving to the battle thiste so I should look as cool and majestic as possible. Hmmm! Many scenarios in my head right now. Can¡¯t even decide which music theme to go with. Should I go with some ¡¯death metal¡¯ or... no, the world is not ready for that yet! ¡¯System! Any suggestions?¡¯ <168 Results!> Oh! You are even making it harder. ¡¯Show me the top five results!¡¯ ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô ? TESV: Skyrim Theme Music ? Pirates of the Caribbean Theme Music ? Victory is Ours - Warthunder ? Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin ? Ride Of The Valkyries - Richard Wagner ¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô¡ö¡ô Oh! Nice choices. Hmmm! Skyrim theme? Nope, not this time. Pirates of the Caribbean theme? Can do. What else? Victory is Ours? Nah, too Russian. Immigrant Song? Thor has already used it in Ragnarok. Ride of the Valkyries? Hmmm! That one is dangerous. It will make the men go crazy. Hehehe! Fine, let¡¯s use it. I used a spell simr to ¡¯Magelight¡¯ and called it ¡¯Magespeaker¡¯. It can produce the sound I want wherever I attached it on. By linking it to the Media yer of the System, I can make it as loud as I want. And all what is left is the entrance. I prepared seven me Atronach Hawks for solely for it. Speaking of the me Atronach Hawks, my reckless action of going down the ¡¯Throat of the World¡¯ proved to be very beneficial. I could gain a lot of understanding about flying now. I managed to put some minor edits on the Hawks by making the wings longer and wider as well as fixing the tail a bit, I managed to make a me Atronach Hawk that can fly higher than I could do before. Now, I guess I can fly over the altitude a hundred meter with no problems. I also added a new function to the me Atronaches. It was already there but I made it more intense. Whenever a Falme Atronach gets destroyed, its body explodes. So I thought why not to tweak it a little bit? It was an old idea but I could do it better this time now that I have a spell like ¡¯Meteor¡¯ and a Hawk form for the Atronach. So instead of the crap function that causes a simple explosion in with destruction, I can now make the me Atronach Hawk self destruct by gathering a lot of Magicks and transform into a Meteor. With that, everything is ready for my grand entrance. Now, it¡¯s Jull¡¯s turn! ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV] I think I heard the cat saying something but it was my imagination. I am sure of it. I must be too exhausted! "Stupid cat! Leave that man¡¯s corpse intact! We need it to look whole!" Junar was speaking to therge ck cat which seemed to understand very well. "I will be taking the man¡¯s corpse for the ambush! You guys help Captain Ongeim to fix the cannons on the Gunship." Yisra and the rest nodded right away. "Wait! I wille with you!" I spoke before she leaves. "Eh! Won¡¯t they be needing your help?" Junar asked me. "You gave them enough undead to carry the cannons and I don¡¯t understand magic machines anyway!" "Fine! We should move fast." She said that and evoked a conjuration spell. So she will conjure a me Atronach Horse, huh? I shouldn¡¯t lose in that. I also conjured one but when both appeared, I felt something can¡¯t bepared. Her horse was tall and nimble much different than my bulky horse. So Jon Dare didn¡¯t share the full spell, huh? It is a very useful spell but no one could decrypt it at all. Jon Dare is taking a full monopoly over the runes of the spell. Anyway, I rode with Junar to the edge of town then she jumped from her horse, dragged the corpse down and cast spell on it. The corpse moved and started to stand up. Necromancy! In the open like that? She sure is bold! The corpse seemed to be hard to control as Junar was using a lot of magic to control it. I guess the corpse of an Aura master should be a bit hard to control. It is still filled with residual energy from the soul. Just as she could control it, she made the corpse walk to the edge of the slope and waved to the pirate ships! "Wait! What does this mean?" I suddenly freaked out. Why are they telling the pirates to attack us. "Just wait for it! Any time now!" She was so focused on something and didn¡¯t look at me. *music: Ride of the Valkyries* Ha? What is that? Music? "What is going on?" "He¡¯sing!" Junar said. By he, could it be... "Jon Dare?" "Yes! The music is his first move." "How, how can he make music by Magic?" "A spell he calls ¡¯Magespeaker¡¯, the same idea of ¡¯Magelight¡¯ but the aspect is ¡¯Sound¡¯ not ¡¯Light¡¯." Wait! What? Is, is that even possible? My head hurts! I knew Jon Dare is a genius researcher so I should try to not get surprised from now on. *music getting louder* The music sounds nice! To produce such music with magic, I don¡¯t think that is actually possible. What secrets are you hiding, Jon Dare? "EVERYONE! THE BOSS IS BACK!" Suddenly, Junar let go of the corpse that copsed and shouted at the men on the slope. By that time, the first ship of the pirates started moving to the shore! But some strange phenomenon urred! The men were... "The Boss! He is back?" "Finally!" "We are saved!" "*sob* *sob* I thought I was a goner!" "Let¡¯s show these pirates!" "Hey, listen! That sound!" "Wait! Is there a bard?" "I don¡¯t know! I just hear it and I want to fight!" "Look at that!" "By the Gods! Burning Birds!" "Yes! They are making the music!" "Burning Birds! Like the Burning Horses the mages use!" "I know! I know! I used to live in this town before you guys! The first one who rode the Burning Horses was the Boss. He then taught it to the other mages!" "Wait! You are saying..." "Those Burning Birds are the new creatures the Boss can make?" "Gods! The Boss became stronger once again?" "Ysmir¡¯s Beard! We will sweep those pirates like nothing!" "Yeah! The Boss is back we can¡¯t be afraid!" *Music getting even louder* "Ah! My soul is burning!" "The Burning Birds can make such a beautiful singing!" "You idiot, the birds are called atro..something they can¡¯t sing!" "The Boss is making the sing with his magic?" "Is it like the Battle Bards and the Skalds of old!" "I knew the Boss is mighty!" "I can¡¯t stop! I want to kill a hundred pirate now!" "Here hees! The Boss is riding a Burning Bird!" "Shor¡¯s Bones! The Boss is flying!" "Follow the Boss!" "Yeaaaaah!" "FOR THE BOSS!" "SOVNGARDE!" What in Oblivion is happening? The men who were fighting since the morning are getting crazy? What¡¯s wrong with them? "We can¡¯t stayx!" "Leave me! I am all healed!" "Follow the Boss!" "SOVN *cough* *cough* SOVNGrade *cough* *cough*" Wait! These guys were in the infirmary? Why are theing out? They are all beaten up! "HAHAHA!" Oh girl! "DID YOU SEE THAT MEN? THIS IS YOUR BOSS, THE MAN I LO... ehem! THE MAN WE FOLLOW! CUT HIS ENEMIES TO PIECES! ATTAAAAAACK!" Even Junar who was calm like a silent hunter a moment ago became like this? Was it Jon Dare? Or the music? This is dangerous! This town is nuts! "Red Girl!" Junar looked at me with a fierce smile. "It¡¯s Alina!" I refuted. "Alina! Beautiful name! I feel you are a strong mage! I am Jon¡¯s partner but he is going to make a strong attack from the air now! Let¡¯s support each other!" What sort of fighting spirit is that? She is even crazier than the other people! "Y, Y, Y, Yes! Let¡¯s go!" I was shaken by her fighting spirit! "MEN! FOLLOW ME!" She shouted and rushed down the slope! "It¡¯s Junar!" "¡¯Lady Junar¡¯ you idiot!" "Follow the Lady Boss!" "KILL THE PIRATES!" "KILL THEM ALL!" I followed Junar and part of her madness started getting to me. At first I just wanted to defend the people but there was something missing! When I led the men with Wulfur and the others, we were focused on defending the town! But Jon Dare and Junar offered the people another alternative. Don¡¯t kill the enemies to repel them! Kill the enemies to annihte them! This is... This is just crazy! It may seem wrong to needlessly kill but it is more wrong to kill half heartedly! I was wrong, huh? I looked at the girl in front of me who was shouting at the men to rally up! I looked at the man who is riding an Atronach Hawk! I get it! I so get it! That is what I am looking for! They are strong! So strong! They are as strong as Darth Vader! Maybe even stronger! I want to see it! The me Atronach Hawks flew after Jon Dare¡¯s hawk in a formation where Jon Dare was in its center and then flew near the enemy ships. Suddenly, the six of the me Atronach Hawks around Jon Dare slowed down and strated changing then turned into huge chunks of fire. They fell on the two ships near the shore. *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* *KABOOM!* You¡¯ve gotta be kidding! The ships are no more. The ceased to exist! This power! No mercy! No forgiveness! I was shaken to my core! I felt it in my soul! The pirates who managed to jumb from the ships and reach the shore were all massacred by the arrows of Junar and the axes of the men. I didn¡¯t even have the time to cast magic. To think his appearance wouldn¡¯t just turn the tide, but sweep the whole damn rise. What more can you do, Jon Dare? Show me! In the name of Kyne, I, Alina Moonde, shall witness it all! As if he heard me, he turned his hawk and flew to the main enemy ship! Alone! So tyrannical! He is going to do it like... *BOOM* No! He jumped and used shock magic to fall like a Bolt of Lightning! The ship he fell on shook and screams echoed! This is madness! "He is facing them alone?" I wondered out loud. "It is useless to outnumber him but let¡¯s take no chances!" Junar replied then looked around. "Trudvar, bring us a ship!" "Eh! Lady Junar! The Alexandria is there!" "Good! We are going after Jon!" Chapter 108 - Ride of The Valkyries 3

Chapter 108 - Ride of The Valkyries (3)

[Styr¡¯s POV] *BOOM* "Superheronding! Haha! It sure hurts like hell. Anyway! Daddy is home, bitches!" *crack* *crack* *craeaeaeack* *ssh* The fore sail got broken then fell down in the water with a loud creaking sound. "Oh! Thaaat was broken before Inded! Totally not my fault here!" The man whonded on the ship like a bolt of lightning spoke to himself. He is a tall man wearing a fur armor under a sleeveless robe that was fluttering with the wind, his arm was exposed and only covered in bracers, he was also wearing a hood but his head showed some long red strands of hair. And he is very powerful! The ship was still shaking up and down from hisnding just now. "Eee! Eeeek!" "Monster! No!" "Ge, get away!" The crew men around the ce where the mannded started shouted and crying in hysterical manner! What is that? He got to their heads this fas... No! That¡¯s an Aura! He is an Aura Master? The man looked at the crewmen copsing around him with an astonished expressions! "Hey! I am no monster! I am a good person! Here let me help you stand up." The man said so and approached one of the crewmen but to find him already fainted. "Oh! How sad! To mistake me for a monster." He made another self monolog. "I admit that I do kill sometimes... or maybe more than I should... Actually, I kill a lot! But point is, I don¡¯t kill people. See! I only kill monsters!" He was walking while talking and the crewmen were retreating. "Now, our dear little merry band of pirates! What the f.u.c.k are you doing in my turf?" The man looked at us and asked. This crazy person! Where did hee from? "Don¡¯t be afraid, men! He is only using magic, don¡¯t fear magic, he is only one man!" My old quartermaster saw the hesitation on my face and started rallying the men! I am thankful but I think I am still worried. "Kill him!" "Kill him before the others arrive!" The men were finally getting their cool back but... "Waaaaait!" The man raised his hands and shouted. Everyone waited for some reason. "You guys got me! I admit it! I was only using some Illusions!" What? No that was an Aura, you are just not emitting it anymore. I wanted to refute but the man kept talking. "To think you guys can notice it on your own! Bravo! Amazing! Everyone, pat on the back, pat on the back *pat* *pat*. I salute you, guys!" What is he doing? "You guys are already outnumbering me like... a whole damn ship to one, but I will not fall easily and you know that! I can take a lot of you down before you manage to kill me." The man said that as his Aura started to rise steadily. "But I have a better solution!" He said, "I will ask you guys a question, and if anyone of you answers correctly, I¡¯ll surrender!" What! Is he crazy? He is ying dumb! I can tell. "The question is, ¡¯Three words, Eight letters, you say them, and I surrender¡¯!" "....." Eh? Is he, is he in the right mind? What kind of dumb question is that? We have over a hundred man, someone must have heard it... Wait! This guy! He is... He is smart! He is asking us a question about literacy! Most of the pirates here can¡¯t even read or write! They are already looking at each other and being overwhelmed by the man! Some of them are even looking at me for an answer! Dammit! I know how to read and write but... but if I can¡¯t answer such a simple question then my image, it will be tarnished! I should answer! No, I must to answer! This is bad! How can he put us in such a situation with only words. This guy is not an easy opponent! "I know it!" One of our men shouted! "Really? Let me hear it?" Before he could answer I interrupted. "A hundred gold if you answered right!" This was all I can offer! Hehe, men will do anything if I offered such a reward! "Haha! Thank you, Captain! The answer is: I Got Gold!" Smart! "Wrong!" The man said making an X with his arms. Eh! Right, why would he surrender to that? "I Got Food!" "Wrong!" "I Got Mead!" "Another time perhaps!" "It¡¯s a trap!" "Sigh! I wish." "^# [email protected]@ £¤€" "Wrong!" "^#&£¤ €¡è ¡î@" "Wrong!" "^# [email protected]@ £¤€" "Wrong!" "^#& [email protected] @£¤€" "Wrong!" .... ... .. . It¡¯s all wrong! No matter what we said! This guy sure is not going to ask an easy question! How can this be? I, Styr Bloodsail, waspletely bested in smarts! I am really asha... "Jon! What are you doing?" "Eh! Jull, you arrived? I was buying you time for you guys to arrive, why sote?" "Eh!" """Eeeeeh!""" """""""EEEEEEEEH!""""""" Impossible! How? How could he? That¡¯s not possible! How... We didn¡¯t see them arrive? No one? Not those who are on the lookout? Why? We, we were sneaked on by a ship? Impossible! It can¡¯t be tr... "You must be wondering how did this happen!" The man who appears to be Jon Dare, the one who caused the Jarl of Winterhold, Korir, to rebel on us, he was talking to me. "HOW?" "You noticed right? When Inded on the ship and your men went into hysteria!" "How did this...?" "Fufufu! I¡¯ll tell you. The kind of Aura I am proficient in is a one that can affect minds! I simply can make you all go insane just by my presence. So if I can just steal your mind that way, I can easily steal you attention! You guys were abnormally focusing on the question I asked, right?" Insane! This guy! Dangerous! The n needs to know! They must dispatched the Blood Fleet! He is dangerous! "Hehehe! Amazing, isn¡¯t? I actually discovered this technique verytely. I call it ¡¯Taunt¡¯! You sir has just been taunted!" "....." "Jon, are you finished? Let¡¯s kill them!" A girl on the other ship was shouting to Jon Dare! They totally outnumbered us now. "Wait just a second, Jull! I still haven¡¯t answered the question I asked them!" What? He is waiting for that? "Three Words! Eight Letters! They are..." "... FUS..." No! "... RO..." Run! "... DAH!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] Imagine if someone using the ¡¯Unrelenting Force¡¯ shout from the front of a ship aiming at everything on the deck! Well, it is hard to describe what happened but the ship was disfigured in one go! The sails fell and some of the pirates were in the sleeping with the fishes by now. The others were affected by the shout and my men just cut them down. The only survivors are the young captain and about seven of his men, they all became disabled from being directly hit by the Thu¡¯um. But I waspletely focusing on something else. "Wulfur! You old dog! Let me take a look at you!" "Huh! Do I know you, sir?" "Eh! It is me!" "Haven¡¯t met before!" "Ongeim! Do I look strange?" "You do? Who are you? I¡¯ve mistaken you for the Boss!" "G, Guys! It is me!" "Yisra! Mahran!" "Sorry!" "Morbagog!" "Have we met before?" "It, it can¡¯t be!" "Friend! Maybe we¡¯ve met somewhere so I am sure we will remember soon, your looks are hard to miss, haha! Anyway, have you seen the Boss? Younded on the ship after him right?" No! They didn¡¯t recognize me! Right! My appearance has changed! It also seems that the guys from the Gunship arrivedter than the Alexandria. No way! Even after the grand entrance! It was all for nothing! Maybe that¡¯s a sign from the universe! The middle finger sign! Anyway, I had to beat up Ongeim until he recognized me by my fist! The same went for the rest! "Wulfur! Your turn!" "Jon! Please, haha! We were messing with you! It was Ongeim¡¯s idea!" "Fufufu! My brother just don¡¯t mess with me and get away with it! Especially my brother! Fufufu!" That Ongeim! Extra beating! After a while of messing around, the reunion wasplete and we moved to the Gunship! "Gentleman! To the matter at hand!" I announced! "But before we do that! How tall have you be?" Ongeim asked. "6.8 feet!" "That¡¯s taller than this one!" Mahran said. He is a Cathy-Raht Khajiit, they are known to be more panther like than cat like. "Can we get back to the matter in hand?" "Yes, yes!" Wulfur said. "But before that, how did you do it?" "It seems that the bloodline I hail from is ridiculously tall! To the matter at hand, what should we do with the prisoners?" "It seems that the captain¡¯s name is Styr Bloodsail, pretty troublesome if you ask me!" Ongeim said. "I don¡¯t like to leave loose ends!" I said. "We can just take him as a prisoner!" Wulfur said. "The Bloodsail n wille avenge him either way! He is the son of an Elder in that n!" Trudvar said. "How do you know about him?" I asked. "Oh! Boss, I was the one dealing with the security and I also held the interrogations during thest few months!" He said. "Aha! So you are the one who make them like this and like that..." "As long as it is necessary, Boss!" Damn! To think this baby face can do all that. Along side me, there are Trudvar, Ongeim, and Wulfur standing in front of the prisoners. We were deciding what to do with them. "Jon!" Jull popped out from somewhere. "Mhm!" "There is this girl! She wants to speak with you!" "Who is she?" "Well! That girl in red you send me to save, it seems she is the girl we met on Mount Anthor!" "Eh! Crimson Something!" "Yes!" "Sigh! Fine, bring her in!" Chapter 109 Winterhold After the Battle! A/N: Sorry for the dy! A personal matter popped up! ~~ "My name is Alina Moonde! I am honored to meet with you, Senior Jon!" A girl in a red dress with cl hair and red eyes followed after Junar. She was putting on a face cover likest times. Before shees, they guys reported to me that she started helping with the pirate problem the day they started provoking the town openly. It was almost three months ago. They also said that she doesn¡¯t show her face and all that. And once she requested to see me, they all started winking like idiots. Well, I already knew about her a little! I wasn¡¯t nning to get mixed with her kind (the hidden n kids kind) before I have a full understanding of the politics of these people, but she came out of her n and got mixed with Nurina, I guessed I¡¯ll have to deal with her sooner orter. Now, I was meeting her in the Gunship where we were keeping the eight prisoners. "Nice to meet you! As fellow evil minions to Nurina, we can call each others by name!" "Pffft! .... ehem!" She lost her cool andughed for some reason but she regained herposer quickly. Did I say anything funny? "Once again my name is Alina and I am d to meet you, Jon." "Nice to meet you too, Alina." Now it¡¯s less awkward. "I may not have a say in this but regarding the prisoners you have, what will you do with them." She asked. I looked at the people around which were the key figures in town, Trudvar, Ongeim, Wulfur and Junar. From the look on their faces, they were all very happy with Alina. "Before I answer, I would like to say that you earned the right to have a say as you won the trust of everyone in this room and the report I heard showed how much effort you put in protecting this town, you have our thanks!" I said in a polite tone. "Oh! ... Ehem! ... I was only doing the right thing." "Thank you once again! Now, about your question. I am actually having a problem deciding what to do with them!" "I could tell! The one you are holding is Styr Bloodsail, the youngest son of Bervak Bloodsail, the n¡¯s Patriarch!" "Oh headache!" I said "This is worse than we thought! Killing him will bring all of that n¡¯s anger on us! Letting him go will expose Jon¡¯s strength to them and also they wille for vengeance!" Wulfur said. "So the public execution I was thinking about is no more! Dammit!" Ongeim said. "What should we do then?" Trudvar asked. "To a n like the Bloodsail, you guys are still not strong enough! You indeed delivered a fatal blow to them and it will take them a long while to recover from it. But remember, only only one master warrior appeared in this battle, the one I was saved from. The Bloodsail n has more than just that low leveled Aura Master as well as a lot of mages!" Low leveled? A lot of mages? Are we up against some cultivation sect or something? "What is your suggestions?" I asked. "Being responsible for his death is already a bad idea! He will die soon anyway, the signs said so." Signs! Wait a single minute! "By any chance... you can use ¡¯Divination¡¯?" "Oh! I can, it is a bit inurate but looking at his conditions, he is pretty much done for!" Oh! I am not focusing at anything she said! ¡¯Divination¡¯! How envious! This is a very unique gift! I call it a gift because it is something like my Dragonborn Soul. Only those who are born with it can wield it. Of course there are spells that can use the aspect of ¡¯Divination¡¯ like ¡¯irvoyance¡¯ but they are nothingpared to the real deal. Just like the difference between a normal Voice Master and a Dragonborn. Alina can tell that this Styr kid will die soon. Sigh! Looks like a fight is inevitable. Hmmm! "Hey! What day is today?" I asked. "The 28th of Evening Star (December), why?" Alina said. "Well! We may not have to do it after all! Ongeim, take them and throw them back on their ship!" "Huh! Why?" The all blinked and asked! "Just do it." "Jon, you are letting them go?" Wulfur asked. "Look at them! Do they look like anyone who can go anywhere? The ship theu have is too big for them eight to sail even if they are in their best conditions, plua the ship is too damaged! Just let them for now! They won¡¯t live." "What are you nning?" Alina frowned and asked me. "Huh! Not saying! I will spoil the fun this way! Let¡¯s just all leave!" They all started nagging for a while but it was no big deal. I just left a gift for someone else to vent their anger on. Now! I guess I should just head back to the town. *** "BOSS!" "HE IS HERE!" "Boss! Boss! Boss! Boss!" The fuck is going on? These guys? Did I start some sort of religion or anything? I didn¡¯t, did I? Two little girls are giving me flowers? Oh! How cute! The people opening a path for me to my manor! Guys, I am so deeply touched. But I am not good with all this attention, I am moving like a wooden doll for some reason! I used to fight in an arena before but this is so embarrassing! I walked and was followed by my friends and men! Things are pretty hectic in my mind but I managed to reach home. Behind the main gate some people who appeared to be the guards appeared and closed the gate behind me. The beautiful ce around is filled with snow now! It has been a while since I made a snowman! But let¡¯s do that alone. I entered the house and was surprised by how clean it is! Not even a grain of dust was seen. "Mistress Elishka came with some girls to clean the ce two days ago! We were anticipating your arrival!" Trudvar said. "Good job! Looks like rewards shall be thrown left and right now." "I will see to that! I am handling some of the ounts and Mistress Elishka is handling the others but it will be a bit hard to deal with all that!" "Oh! I will review the ledgerster. Need to rest my aching body first. Ah! The ce is too warm!" "It¡¯s a nice house indeed!" Alinamented. Seems like that guy who was with her in Mount Anthor, Skywalker, joined as well. "Well, make yourself at home!" Everyone put their weapons on the ground and found a chair to rest on. Ah! Home sweet home! *knock knock knock* "Who is it?" Trudvar went to see who¡¯s knocking. "Sir, it is Mistress Elishka and some other business owners asking to meet the Boss!" Trudvar looked at me and I nodded! "Send them in!" *** In the room, there are Junar, Wulfur, Ongeim, Trudvar, Alina and Skywalker on a side. The other side had Elishka, Dagur the innkeeper, the mine owner, the head mason, the master huntsman, as well as some important people in the hold. Why am I sitting on this big chair in the middle? "You guys didn¡¯t appoint me as a Jarl, right?" I asked. "Well, you already own most of the properties in town and thend you own is massive, add to that the number of the guards who work for you that has exceeded the number of the Jarl¡¯s guards already. Why do you think we should deal with that useless person to begin with?" Elishka signed. "You made a good thing here, Boss Jon! Don¡¯t worry about such a Jarl!" The mine owner said. "The town already belongs to Boss Jon, even the Imperial Garrison in the south deal with us to get supplies!" The master huntsman followed. "And many people who had bad living conditions around the area has all migrated to Winterhold." "Don¡¯t forget the young ones who applied in the College to follow the footsteps of Boss Jon!" "And this happened..." "And that happened..." Oh boy! If I remember correctly, I was only making a humble investments and a small business with the things I have in hand. Now I am the tycoon of Winterhold. I kept looking at the ledger in front of my. It was organized the way I taught the Elishka how to do it. Numbers and charts filled the pages and I could understand what happened in the past four months! Holy Mudcraps! What the hell did you guys do? We are too rich! Too damn rich! Did people want to work that much? I totally underestimated the work I have done here. My properties that I obtained itsnd buy with a few hundred gold septims is now worth more than forty thousand gold septims. My guards and spare sailors that I keep around unofficial hired are about three hundred. And the workers has increased many times. "It is still not enough Boss Jon!" The head mason said. "*glub* not enough!" I said as I could feel my head bing light. "Yes! The town needs solid defenses! And a lot of people need to have houses as they mostly live in rundown ones. Also the immigrants need housing." He replied! Just kill me already! "We need to expand the inn, Boss Jon! It used to fit the small town, but now the there are a lot of customers!" The innkeeper said. "We also need some barracks for the men!" Trudvar said. "A market square!" Wulfur. "More trading ships!" Ongeim. "A temple!" Alina. "Okay! I get it! But I don¡¯t have a brain to deal with all that alone!" "Where is Ysolda when we need her?" Wulfur sighed. Ah! Ysolda¡¯s brain is made of numbers, she can think of every legal and illegal way to make and spend money! But we need to rely on what we have in hands now. Fine! Let¡¯s speak throw this problem on someone else. "Ladies and gentlemen! The situation seems to be a bit getting out of hand with the pirates problems and all the things that has been happening! I know you couldn¡¯t wait as the situation is turning critical by the day and a solution need to be found. In my opinion, we should work with what we have in hand. A year ago this town was a ghost townpared to what it is today! The solution in this time is the same as always... You! The sons and daughters of this town are the best solution for the future. I gambled on you once and I won so here I gamble again. We can¡¯t establish something official like a town hall to deal with this matters but we can get permission from the Jarl to deal with all these matters, not as Jon Dare or as any individual, but as a one entity, one solid being! I can¡¯t deal with this problem alone as you all know, I am a student of the arcane arts. But I am very confident in you, you were the partners who put their blood and tears to build the beautiful thing we have today. It can¡¯t be me alone. This is why I arrived at a vital conclusion. We must unite ourselves into one more capable machine. A machine that only knows how to push forward. I am suggesting that we build a cooperation. An association of the businessmen and workers in this town to work under a single, organized and multu-personnel management. I suggest a businesspany!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "AYE!" "Well said, Boss!" "Amazing!" "We agree, no disagreement!" Fufufu! Sess! "Boss, I can nominate some names for the first patch of management personnel!" Elishka said. "Oh! Please!" "Many of the girls are now proficient in the skills of literacy and calcting. I relied on them and they will prove to be of use." "Oh good!" "You also promised them when you were hiring us a year ago that the first best opportunity thates will be theirs." "I remember! Haha, this is great, we have the personnel we need! Let¡¯s make a n now and put the big ideas together!" "Ehem! Before we start, I would like to ask a question!" Alina talked. "By all means!" "What will you call the Company?" "... Attach the word ¡¯Dragon¡¯ with anything good and we will go with it." "Fufu...." sheughed faintly. I realized what have I done a secondter. Everyone in the room is giving the sameugh... This will be a fight over the name of thepany. [A/N: a fight you readers shall solve in thements!] Chapter 110 The Dare Dragon Group "I said NO! I will never call it that way!" "Why do you always say no to the names Ie up with!" "I have a new idea!" "....." "....." "....." "....." "....." "The Horny Drago..." "Zip it, Jon!" "Dragon Dreams!" "Feels homo!" "Imagine Dragons!" "I love that band, leave it out of this!" "Winter Dragon!" "We said no like a hundred time already!" "Golden Dragon Trading Company!" "I have read that name in some Chinese novel before!" "iEatDragons!" "Feels like I heard it somewhere!" *knock knock knock* Trudvar went to open the door. "Boss, a Courier!" "Let him in!" A few secondster, a short guy came into the room following Trudvar! "I¡¯ve been looking for you. Got something I¡¯m supposed to deliver - your hands only." He mumbled a bit while looking in his bag, "Let¡¯s see here... ah! A letter!" "From who?" "A guy called himself Iacko! Creepy fe, dressed in an orange suit and a gas mask, holding a me thrower!" "Oh! Thanks!" Jon paid the Courier and sent him on his way. After opening the letter he saw this! [The Dare Dragon Group] "Looks like we got ourselves a name, everyone!" I said and showed the letter to the others. "Oh! The Boss name and the word ¡¯Dragon¡¯! How couldn¡¯t we think of that before!" "Well! Let¡¯s go with that name from now on." Jon dered while standing up. Everyone stood up and congratted each others. [A/N: Special Thanks to Iacko for suggesting the name! Thanks for all who suggested the other names too. Iacko won by the score of 24 likes!] ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV] We finished the meeting in the ¡¯Sea Mist Manor¡¯ at evening and everyone went on his way. The town was exhausted as everyone were contributing in today¡¯s fight. Everything was quite and peaceful. Tomorrow, Jon Dare decided to hold a funeral for the brave soul that departed to Sovngarde, may Kyne guide them! "What do you think, Alina?" Svakin who was with me the whole time finally spoke. It is rare for him to call me by my name. He used to do so a long time ago when we were young. It has been a while. "What do I think about what, Svakin?" I answered as my head was having a hard time focusing on one issue. "I mean what do you think about Jon Dare, the situation of Winterhold, thatpany he intends to build, and everything!" "Sigh! Where should I begin?" I said as I started to feel a real headache from thinking about his questions. I kept walking until I reached the stone bridge of the College and didn¡¯t stop until I reached a point were I can see the sea clearly. It was lit by the moonlight and felt beautiful. "There are many things I want to know myself, Svakin! To many questions that needs to be answered about him." "Can I get your opinion at least!" "Cousin! You¡¯re asking for a lot." I turned my head and saw him smiling. Guess I¡¯ll answer. I remembered the face of the tall young man who has a long red hair and an small early beard. He was wearing a strange fur armor and wore an open sleeveless robe. Pretty stylish in my opinion. "I think he is an interesting person. He is a powerful mage who is always prepared to go on frenzy to save his town. Let¡¯s assume that his theory of magic is far advanced beyond the me Atronach variations and the Mysticism spell casting. He is proficient in Destruction as you could see the way hended from his me Atronach Hawk like a bolt of lightning. He can use the Thu¡¯um too, which I am not sure where he could learn it if he doesn¡¯t belong to High Hrothgar or a Hidden n already. But regarding the rest if his personality, it is not bad at all. He is not afraid but he is very careful. He loves to do things with style but not toovish himself." "How honest he is?" "Not honest at all! Haha!" I said as I remembered that moment! "When they told him about the management work that needs to be done, he lookedposed but he was crying in his heart! He probably suggested thepany idea to get rid of that workload. I bet he will only make the big decisions and sit back to watch the work gets done by others." "Haha! I like the way he thinks! But what do you think about thispany." Svakin said. "It will work! He seemed already able to make it happen. He said some ideas that felt rather strange but he put down a goal to every department in thepany with a future n and a lot if upgrading options. The type of cooperation he intends to make is almost as if he is trying to make apany of investment to control other smallerpanies and make a firm reign over them. I don¡¯t know how he managed to buy the Jarl but let¡¯s try to say that he is having the Jarl as his puppet now. So making such apany is actually stepping into the right direction as taking the role of the ¡¯Shadow Jarl¡¯." "Shadow Jarl! There is something like that?" "Well, there are the Silver-Blood in Markarth and the ck-Briar in Riften. They are the Shadow Jarls!" "And now, Jon Dare is the Shadow Jarl of Winterhold?" "The Company will take a lot of rights from the Jarl for most of thends, mines, and everything in the Hold." "Ournds is in the hold! And the Firemanes should have a say in this too. This town used to be theirs once!" "True! Before the ¡¯Great Copse¡¯, Grandpa Turmond Firemane used to live here. But after it, things changed, Svakin. The people have the right to live and the Firemanes has no say in this ce anymore!" "You just don¡¯t like the Firemanes!" Svakin said. "Humph! I don¡¯t hate them but I am not forced to get marry someone I don¡¯t know just because he is six feet tale, has a curly red hair and walks around with an animal sidekick..." Somehow I didn¡¯t want to continue. "Hey! Doesn¡¯t Jon Dare fit that description." Svakin said what I just thought of. "Yes, I just realized it. Thank you for pointing it out!" "He is not a Firemane, right?" "I know all the Firemane kids! They are not interested in anything but Fire, big weapons, Fire again, ships, more Fire, and raising beasts. Jon Dare is a Electromancer and a Conjurer! He is also a researcher which doesn¡¯t fit the description of a Firemane male at all." "Yeah! I heard they are obsessed with the path of Dragonknights." "Of course they do! Put any thing that burns in front of them and you will be their favorite person in the world!" "Hahaha! You really don¡¯t like them." "Let¡¯s just get going before... what is that?" I was about to say something but I saw something in the sea, something is burning! Looking at the direction, I used ¡¯Far Vision¡¯ spell that master Nurina gave me and I saw... the Bloodsail ship that we left in the sea... it was burning. Who did that? I increased the Magicka output to see further ahead. After stabilizing the vision, I saw anotherrge ship next to it. Some men were burning the Bloodsail ship and killing the people we left on it. It was brutal. Ibined ¡¯Far Vision¡¯ with ¡¯Night Vision¡¯ and saw something I didn¡¯t want to see. "Damn you, Svakin!" "What! Why?" "You kept saying ¡¯Firemane this¡¯ and ¡¯Firemane that¡¯ look who we conjured this time!" "Don¡¯t tell me! The Firemanes!" "... who else, icebrain?" "Ysmir! Let me see, let me see!" I cast ¡¯Night Vision¡¯ and ¡¯Far Vision¡¯ on him. "Oh! That¡¯s indeed a Firemane Ship! ..... hmmm! Crimson Moon, do you know which ship is that? I saw it once before." "Which ship is that?" "This is... this is the ¡¯Guilty Crown¡¯!" Svakin said in hesitation. "*glub* thE Guilty Crown?" "Yes! The most damned ship in the Sea of Ghosts. The ship of your most favorite Firemane!" Oh crap! Kyne, do something about this! "Svakin! Where is the farthest end of Nirn?" "Maybe locking your chamber is the best way to solve it this time! You know she always catches you!" "NA! DON¡¯T WANNA! I will run! No, I will go to master Nurina and sell my soul to her! Jon said it may work." "Your call, mydy." Let¡¯s run! ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] Everyone went home except for Wulfur and Elishka! Elishka showed me the new hot tub that I requested to be built in the underground area. There was also some bags of gold that I had to move in the vault. The ce got some remodeling and it was rather nice. I also found some of Wulfur¡¯s works lying around in the training room. He made some tools that I asked for, trapping harpoons, crossbows, hand ballistas. Most of them were still under the prototype category. To tell the truth, I was trying to make some anti dragon weaponry but after I met with Paarthurnax, all that work will go down the drain. I still need to examine some Dwemer machinery to get an impression of how they made the automatic reloading crossbows. Lastly, the magic cannons on the Gunship weren¡¯t effective as I thought! Which means they are useless against dragons. I need to remake the designs once again. Last time I focused on rate of fire but this time let¡¯s not worry about that and make it into something absurd. I also added a design for a new magical weapon, it is the good old ¡¯Te Tower¡¯. "I will go speak with Jarl Korir tomorrow and get his consent for providing us with a long term investment contract and a monopoly of some crafts over the hold. I hope you prepare as much work force as possible!" "Yes! I already have few choices! Hmmm .... are we going to meet in my office anytime soon?" "Oh!" I turned to look at Elishka who was smiling at me. I held her from her waist and pulled her to me. She is now a lot shorter than before! "I also was thinking abouting, you know!" I was about to flirt with her but I heard some noise upstairs. "Not now, Elishka! The universe is not giving its consent!" "Hehe! Fine, I¡¯ll be busy the next couple of days so let¡¯s celebrate the new year together!" "Yes! Let¡¯s just see what¡¯s going on upstairs first!" I went upstairs followed by Elishka and we arrived at the scene of Wulfur and Junar standing against each other and ring at each other. Don¡¯t tell me! Ipletely forgot... "Jon! What is that girl doing here?" Wulfur shouted at me. Opss! He is angry! "Listen, Bro! I¡¯ll exin everything! Just calm down!" "How do you want me to calm down? This is the Assassin that went after you!" "Assassin?" Elishka jumped back. "I know! Just listen to the story and you will understand everything." "Does Nurina know?" "Yes!" "Humph! Tell me everything from the start or else!" "Fine! Fine! Jeez!" I forgot that Wulfur has that motherly side. I guess I¡¯ll tell him everything! Chapter 111 The Firemanes Are Here! A/N: an extra chapter. This week 2/2. Enjoy~? ~~~~~~~~ "So let¡¯s revise what you said from the very beginning. That girl tried to kill you, the Thieves Guild asked you to solve the problem, you infiltrated Castle Duar and made a contact with her, with Rusning you were the ones who killed Sibbi ck-Briar, and after you left the city you returned back to set fire in the castle and break her out, now you guys are lovers?" Wulfur was getting bigger and bigger for some reason. He was truly in the mood to scold me. "Hmmm! Amazing, right? No one except me can pull such a thing off!" I said trying to make the situation look better. "Yeah, you are right! No one is idiot enough to pull such a thing off!" He was not going to let it go at all. "Sigh! I thought you are the one with a brain among us, Jon." Wulfur said as he finally got tired. "With a brain? Come on, let¡¯s see, I am a multi-tasking cat-lover magic-casting freak, you have some sort of steel fetish, Akara is a Khajiit who doesn¡¯t fluff, Ysolda is a coin digger, Svidi has developed a third personality by now!" "Whose fault were these?" ".... not me!" "Really? Let¡¯s see, I was a healthy young man until you started showing me these weird tools from your so-called past life, Akara got creeped out by your cat fetish until she learned how to talk the way humans do, Ysolda absorbed so many ways of making money from you until she lost hermon morals, Svidi¡¯s songs are no longer the normal stuff bards sing." Every time he spoke I lower my head more. I could only raise my hand and whimper, "Guilty!" "Oblivion, you are!" His anger seemed to be less than before. Sigh! "Once again. Junar, this Wulfur, my brother. Wulfur, the is Junar, my girl!" I made a proper introduction. They were still ring at each other. It was Jull who tried to kill me once, and it was Wulfur who hit her with the hammer and sent her flying. "I am this guy¡¯s brother! He is a kind idiot who forgives people for the strangest reasons! I heard you have done well to this town so I will overlook the past, for now." "I am Jon¡¯s faithful follower! You may think of me whatever you want, I don¡¯t care." ""Humph!"" Sigh! Kids. "Jon, what¡¯s with that giant cat this morning, you cheated on Akara that fast?" "Fufu! You mean Nefertiti! A cute little thing, isn¡¯t she?" "A cute little thing that killed three pirates in less than a second! I am not able to keep up with you anymore! What¡¯s her story?" "Well, it started like this..." I started telling him my story with Nefertiti since the day we met when I rescued her until the thing with Hircine. "Damn! My life waspared to yours. Except for the part about Bjorna, of course! Once she was going to leave, Ongeim came and saved me from the boredom." "Good for you, bro! How is your life in our town!" "Never dull, brother! Your friends from the ¡¯Creation Club¡¯ are something else! They have a lot of your work and the things we built are all around your basement!" "Oh! About that..." I started giving Wulfur my new requirements. "Stronger! Come on, what¡¯s your game?" "I want stronger magic cannons that can be fixed on the defenses we are about to build! I want the pirates to be killed in the sea before they ever set foot onnd!" "Even if we can build such a thing! Not even the Soul Gems mine and the hunt squad can provide us with such amount of Filled Soul Gems!" I grinned! "Who said anything about Soul Gems?" *** Wulfur went home after we had a few drinks that night and I went to bed. The next day, arge ship carrying the banner of a lion with a mane of fire was spotted near the shoreline. The Bloodsail¡¯s ship was nowhere to be seen. Hehe! As expected! The Firemanes are here. They followed the rules of the official docks and wouldn¡¯te to the dock until the first light. Well, we are no official dock yet but thanks. I gave orders to give them the permission to dock right away. After that, I got dressed in some civil clothes and went to see Nurina! She was no where to be found but when I asked around, I learned that she was summoned by Savod Aren, the Arch-Mage. I only had to wait for her in her chambers then. Putting thoughts into actions, I headed to the Hall of Countenance. Some people I know didn¡¯t recognize me at all. I guess that¡¯s given due to my appearance change. Well, the Seal of Nurina that I have can take me anywhere. Just as I reached her chambers, I discovered it was magically locked with different method than Nurina¡¯s usual. I can break through it but it seems there is someone inside. The magic signal is not bad but it is far weaker than Nurina. Nurina¡¯s magic signal can cause me to throw up if I tried to detect it. It is just massive. Anyway, let¡¯s wait in the lobby! I put my hood on so people stop looking at me and found some ce to sit. A few minutester, Nurina showed up followed by a Lah and Faralda! I went up and stood near the ce they are walking. "Hey, beauties!" I said in a provoking tone. "Hmmm! Do you know who are you addressing, Fool?" Faraldashed out in a cold tone. "Fufu! Teacher Faralda, as cool as ever, even when yoush at someone." I said with a smile. "Faralda, this is just a brat! Don¡¯t lose your anger here, let me handle him!" Lah said as she was ready to kick some ass. "Wait!" Nurina spoke. "Arch-Wizard he is just a kid, let me handle him!" Lah said. "Yes, big sister! Don¡¯t worry about such scum!" Faralda got heated up too. "You guys can beat him well alright but if he decided to escape, you won¡¯t even catch his shadow." Nurina said. Hehe! Dammit! She approached me and held the nape of my shirt. "Why did you get that tall?" She asked in a bone shivering tone. "It seems that it has to do with the blood lineage!" Nurina looked at me withplete disdain. "Lah is fairly tall for a Dunmer..." Lah shivered. "... that little girl Faralda is idioticly tall too..." Faralda¡¯s face got pale. "... and now! You!" Crap! Nurina is sensitive about height. She is not short but everyone she knows is taller than her. She pulled me down and removed my hood. ""Eh! Jon!"" Lah and Faralda eximed! "Hey, Teacher Lah, Teacher Faralda!" The were still in a daze from my change in appearance. Nurina took a deep breath and looked at me coldly. "Other than your head! The rest of your body is not my son anymore! Lah, the knife." ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV] Scary! I couldn¡¯t sleep at night at all. Last night I came to master¡¯s chambers and requested to see her. Once I was let inside, I saw a golden skinned woman sleeping in the bed of master Nurina. That was teacher Faralda! I knew the rumors about their rtionship but it seems that master is not even shy about it at all. "What¡¯s with it, girl? It iste!" "Oh! Master! I am very sorry for disturbing your sleep!" "I wasn¡¯t sleeping! Something happened?" "Ehem! Reporting to master, this disciple has met with Senior Jon this day!" "Stop talking like that, dammit! Hmmm! Did he treat you well?" "Yes! Master, he was a very interesting person and I learned so much from being around him." "Fufu! Just don¡¯t catch the bad habits!" "By your wish, master!" "Sigh! What are you here for?" "Master! Since the day I started following you, I know how caring and lo..." "Cut the crap, Alina! You want something!" Master said it straightforward. "Let me hide in your room, Master! I beg you!" "Huh? Did something happen?" "Yes, master. My n wants to wed me in another n that has strong ties with us. One of that n¡¯s figures just appeared in town! I am already known in town and I will be found sooner orter! Please, Master!" Master looked at me and started thinking then she nodded. "You are right, without your consent, I should protect you from a forced marriage!" "Thank you very much, Master!" "You can sleep on that sofa!" And that¡¯s how my Master agreed to help me. *** The next day came and Master got summoned by her cousin, Arch-Mage Savos Aren. She went in a heavy mood. After an hour, she returned back with teacher Lah and teacher Faralda. They wereughing for some reason. "This rascal! To think he would escape from me!" "I was surprised to my wit¡¯s end when he used that spell. Congrattions Big Sister." "Congrattions, Arch-Wizard!" "Thank you guys! We need to celebrate even though it is still early morning. Oh! Alina,e! Master is inviting you to a breakfast and an early drink!" "Eh! Thank you, master!" "Lah, I am sorry but go look for him! I think he returned back to town by now! And Faralda, order a servant to bring us a breakfast!" "Right away, Arch-Wizard!" "Okay, Big Sis!" They both went away! "What is the happy asion, master?" I asked. "Oh! Fufu, I caught Jon a minute ago and he managed to use a very advanced spell to escape from me! I can¡¯t tell you the spell as I heard that you too will ne having a duel!" "Well, congrattions, Master! I should congratte Senior too for his achievement." After a few seconds, teacher Faralda came and said thst she ordered avish breakfast, then sat on the bed and held a book. *knock knock knock* "Who is it?" "Lady Nurina! A person came from outside the College with your seal, she said she is, ehem! A drinking buddy of yours." Drinking buddy? To master? I can imagine it and can¡¯t imagine it in the same time! "Oh! Finally, bring her! She must have brought a ton of drink this time!" Oh! Master ran? Wow! Didn¡¯t see that side of her before! She is mostly dignified and cold. "You must be wondering, what¡¯s going on!" Teacher Faralda spoke as if she read my mind. "To Nurina, very few people in the world deserve her attention! Lah, Me, you and Jon are one of those ones! there are few other people like her Master and that drinking buddy, they share a strong bond!" Oh! I know that Master epted me after she assessed my talent! Even though we both were forced on each other, she could have just sent me away any time she wants. But I am still curious who can be a drinking buddy to Master. It must be at least another Arch-Wizard or somet... "You old crone! Look at you, still short as ever!" "Shuddap! Everyone in this world is so damn tall! Just leave me alone, I am a normal person!" "Bet you are! Haha! Where is the boy?" "I sent Lah to find him, he must be finishing business in town!" "Fine, let¡¯s wait!" I could see the silhouettes of master and another womaning through the chamber¡¯s door. "Come, Faralda is here! I also want you to meet my new disciple, this is..." The two came across the doorway and everyone could see the other clearly. Impossible! "Oh my..." "Oh no..." "My cutest Alina!" "Auntie Hilda!" Chapter 112 Alina and Hilda "As wemend their souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon them, for they are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved children, and beloved of Arkay. May you find peace in their afterlife, and may your body find rest while it remains in Tamriel. Let no profane desecration fall upon thy remains, and may Arkay protect your body and wee your soul in his Halls until Tamriel is no more." The town of Winterhold stood tall oveing the danger of the ¡¯Blood Horkers¡¯. The pirates that gued the Sea of Ghosts for many years. And now it is burying the 13 brave men that fought and died in yesterday¡¯s battle. The one who did thest rites was Mjoll the Lioness, she seems to have received training in priesthood before. She was injured by a crossbow bolt at the beginning of the battle yesterday, that¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t see her. Her healing process was done by Alina who was very talented in the Restoration School. Up until now, the town had no official cemetery until I went personally to talk to the Jarl about a certain plot ofnd that the people used as a graveyard. After taking Korir¡¯s consent, the cemetery was officially made. "Thank you foring everyone!" I said as a sign to make the crowd disperse. This ce should be quiet as the families of the deceased must get some time to say their goodbyes. People here don¡¯t have the custom of dressing in ck for the funerals but I was dressed in a ck robe and a hood like the ones from the game. I don¡¯t like funerals but at least I have to show the proper behavior. I also was a bit heartbroken when I saw a grave with no one around it. It made me think about many depressing things. I had to say the goodbyes to the grave myself. Sigh! Let¡¯s leave this ce. I walked out of the cemetery and found a lot of people waiting. Once they saw me they all looked at my direction. I looked around and saw Mjoll among them. "What is going on?" "The people, Boss, they want to ask about the town¡¯s future." I looked at the people in front of me and saw some faces I saw before and some new ones. They all looked at me. Sigh! Time to be a politican. "I understand! Ehem! Everyone, thank you for your contribution at the battle of yesterday and its aftermath!" "I know that before, we used to say that we will rebuild this town no matter what and whoever tries to stop us will be the enemy that we crush and repel. I say we all delivered the promise yesterday, and you should feel proud instead of being afraid." "From this day onward, we will fight the good fight as we learned from yesterday. We gained a lot of experience and developed better ways to deal with the enemy! Yesterday¡¯s terror won¡¯t happen ever again. If the enemyes from the sea, they will never set foot onnd. If the enemyes from thend, we will bury them under it. Even if the enemyes from the sky, we will be ready for that too." "Yesterday after the end of the battle, I, Jon Dare, Thane of Winterhold, held a meeting with the head figures in town to create an end to this mess. We reached a lot solutions and decisions about what to do and right now we are putting an organized n to deal with the current situation. We reached out some allies and I am d to tell you that our situation is more organized and much better than yesterday. An official announcement will be published under the name of the Dare Dragon Group. Thank you for listening." The people were still worried but they nodded and everyone went to their business. "Jon! I came!" "Hooman! Carry meow!" Jon and Nefertiti who came together started running towards me. Jull was smiling. "You have finished?" "Yes! Here!" Jull handed me a high-quality piece of paper, I instantly opened and start reading it. Fufufu! Sess! "With this paper, I am the Ruler in the shadows, I guess Delvin called it the ¡¯Shadow Jarl¡¯ once!" "Does this mean that you get to do anything in Winterhold as long as it is a public property?" "Yes! We will have to pay rent to the Jarl but I will find a way to scam him legally!" I said with a smile. If it is aboutw then I am the daddy around here. Junar came and clung to my arm, "Hehehe! You can turn from the saint to the devil in a second." "Please don¡¯t misunderstand me! I treat people ording to their worth! A dog like Korir is only meant to be used, he chose to join hands with the pirates and enve the people before! The people, on the other hand, are the ones that require my full care. They are the real force and have the power to turn the weakest town into Skyrim to one of the towns that could withstand an attack from a hidden n." "The people want you here, the thing they are afraid of the most is you disappearing once again!" "Then I will have to disappoint them! I am but one man! They should rely on themselves for the fights yet toe. Next time, I will set back and watch them do the work. They don¡¯t need a hero to save them every day, if they don¡¯t get to learn how to do it themselves then there is no point! All I need to do is to teach them and lord over them. Plus, that is not the role I was meant to y!" "You are talking about the Dragon ying business?" "Exactly! Dragons are the game I should focus on, the whole of Skyrim will need me by that time." "So, what is the next step we are going to take?" "First, the Temple we are nning to build will give us a good amount of poprity for now, and the defense walls and towers will also be something easy to deal with. I gave some money to Wulfur so he can expand the workshop, Ongeim will be responsible for the new ships, Trudvar and Mjoll will both work on training the men. After all, we only need to go official after a few days!" I said and waved the paper to Jull. We were walking in the street until we reached the house. In front of it, someone seemed to be waiting for me. "Teacher Lah!" I jumped from my ce. "Jon! Don¡¯t escape again, I came in peace!" "Peace? You guys wanted to cut my head this morning!" "Well, no one told you to get ridiculously tall to the point that we don¡¯t recognize you thene hit on us!" Oh! I shouldn¡¯t have done that! "Anyway, I was so scared that I ran away for my life! How heartless can you be on your juniors?" "Beat it, Jon. Arch-Wizard Nurina wants to see you. It seems that she has a visitor you should meet!" "Oh! She¡¯s here. I¡¯ll go change ande right away!" ~~~~~~~~ [Alina¡¯s POV] I tried to run. I tried. And I failed. Auntie caught me and made me sit on herp. Why? Fate, you are so cruel! I can¡¯t take this anymore! No way in Oblivion I can take it. So embarrassing! Teacher Faralda, Master, please stop smiling! Help me! To think those two monsters are drinking buddies! Truly, birds of a feather! "I didn¡¯t know that you two know each other!" Master was smiling while talking to Auntie Hilda. "Fufu! We go way back since little Alina was five years old." Auntie was amused for some reason. "Hoho! Since that time, huh? So Alina was that child you talked about!" "Yes! Alina is the one who opened my heart once again! Look how cute and small she is!" Auntie Hilda started poking me cheeks. Dammit! So embarrassing! "I am not cute or small! Auntie, stop bullying me!" "Fufu! She is always like that!" "Fufu!" They areughing like the pair of foxes they are! "How drunk were the gods to let Auntie and Master meet each other?" I asked as Ipletely gave up. I can¡¯t simply escape from the hands of Auntie now. "Well, it was fate! You will get to know the detailster. But now, it has been a year since Auntie saw you! Look how much have you grown!" Auntie was still not letting me go. "I am sure a Firemane won¡¯t notice how much other people grow anyway!" Master said. "Come on! Alina is the one I raised up, how can I not notice her growth?" "Still, what is that thing about forcing her to marry into your n?" Master asked. "Oh! That is a very old tradition between our ns! We must be always tied by blood as the Moonde n is the only reason our Firemane n survived the Great Copse. My mother is from the Moonde n, Njord¡¯s wife and Skadi¡¯s husband are also from the Moonde n. There are other marriages as well. As for Alina, she gets to choose her husband from the n if only she wished for it." "Woah! So that¡¯s the reason. Fine Alina! Looks like you don¡¯t have to choose after all." Master said overlooking the real problem. "Master, if I refused, my n will look at me as a person who betrayed the traditions and everyone will hate me!" "They don¡¯t even dare to do so! Whatever you want, Auntie will support you! But you will have toe to our n for this month, you know that you must take your ¡¯Coming of Age¡¯ ceremony with us!" "No! I am staying with Master." "Actually, I am going as well!" Master said. Wha! Master is going? You traitor! Dammit! "I, I still have a duel with a Senior!" "Huh! Who dares to duel my cutie Alina? Tell me and Auntie will hunt them down for you!" "No, Auntie! I am the challenger!" "Eh? You are challenging someone?" "Well! I didn¡¯t want to do it at first but the steward of our n came and dered the Challenge without my consent!" "Hmmm! Auntie doesn¡¯t see you losing to anyone!" "She is fighting against Jon!" Master said. Suddenly, Auntie Hilda stiffened, and the atmosphere changed greatly. "Wh, Wh, Why? Did something happen between them?" Eeeeh? Auntie Hilda is... She is about to cry! "No, they seem to have a good impression of each other." Master said. "Phew! That was close! It should be a small friendly fight then! Let them use wooden swords, Nurina!" Eh! Auntie is saying very strange words. "It¡¯s a duel over my ¡¯Legacy Disciple¡¯ Title!" "What does that mage nonsense mean?" "They will use the best magic they have, Hilda! This is an all-out fight!" "Wawawawawa Nurina! Stop it! Don¡¯t make it happen! Please!" Eh! Auntie is freaking out! "Just leave it to them, they will solve it on their own!" "Nurinaaaa! How can you be so heartless!" Auntie said and started hugging me tightly. My bones! "Don¡¯t worry! They won¡¯t harm each other!" "Are you sure?" "Yeah! Yeah! Just let the girl go, she is dying!" "Oh sorry!" Phew! Huff! Huff! *knock knoknockknock knock* "Who is it?" The door knocked and Master replied. "The most handsome young man on Tamriel!" The one behind the door seemed to be Jon. Master looked at Auntie. Auntie who was keeping me on herp the whole time let go of me. She just let me go... Like that? "Come in!" Master said. Chapter 113 Jon and Hilda [Alina¡¯s POV] I don¡¯t remember Auntie looking like this. He face was stiff and her expressions were shaken. What in the world... I never have seen this strong woman like that. She was either furious like an angry beast or silly like doting parent. I saw all her expressions, all her emotions, all her rage, and all her happiness. But she was never shaken. She was the most amazing person I ever knew when I was a child. Time stopped in my head and I remembered old memories. Some of the best memories and the saddest memories I ever had. My mother died when I was young. I was so young that I can¡¯t even remember her face anymore. They said she was so beautiful and everyone loved her. But since the time I was born, she became sick and weak. When she died I became the young mistress of the house. I don¡¯t remember much since then but I was never liked by the n that much. Something about my eyes made them wary. The eyes of Masser, different from the eyes of Secunda that all my n has. When I reached the age of five, the Firemane n sent people to request the aid of our n for apprehending a member of theirs that went rogue! My father refused to send the men yet he carried his swords alone and went down the mountain. He said he alone was enough. After a week! He returned with a strange woman that was covered in blood. He told the Firemane steward to return as the woman would stay with us until her matter is over. Since that day, I¡¯ve got to know that woman as Hilda. She was arge woman taller than any man in our n. She lived in the castle with us and never appeared too much. One thing we had inmon, everyone was afraid of us! She never talked and red at people all the time, but she didn¡¯t re at me. Since that time, we started to get to know each other. I brought my dolls and started ying in her room, in time she started to get close to me too. Months passed and I was always with her, I slept in her room and ate with her. During that time I got learn her story. She had a child. A son she named Jonhild. A son that everyone in the world wanted to see him dead. In order for him to live. She had to give him to someone else in a far away ce so he can grow up in peace. Her father, the one I knewter as Grandpa Turmond Firemane, forbade her from going to see him. He also didn¡¯t want anyone to find him. Auntie Hilda always cried when she was alone so I stayed with her most of the time. I didn¡¯t want to see her crying anymore. By the time I became seven, my father started teaching me the sword art of our n, I was praised in every swing I made. Auntie Hilda also trained me many times. When I became ten years old, Auntie said that her son has also be ten. She cried bitterly that I couldn¡¯t stop her anymore. All I could do is help her escape from our n to go see her son. The n caught me as I really didn¡¯t put up much resistance. They tried to ask me about her whereabouts many times but I never said anything. They gave up as they seemed to have understood what was going on. A month passed and Auntie came back once again. She has changed a lot. She was smiling all the time since then. She said that she could see her son. He was very smart and had a very unique personality. She said many things that time but everything about Auntie changed. She became a very happy person. Grandpa decided that it is of no use to keep her anymore. She won¡¯t go on a revenge spree once again judging by how she changed. Auntie started doting me mercilessly ever since and sometimes it turned scary. She also took me outside the n many times and showed me the de where here n lives, the sea in the north, her ship, the animals she raises, the hot springs in Eastmarsh. She showed me the world I never knew. I got to have many friends since then and the world became so much easier to live in, I even started to get along with even my stupid n. All these memories went through my head in a few seconds. During these few seconds, Auntie was beside me no more. She was there, hugging that young man who just came. Just like her, he was tall and strong. Just like her, he had that red fiery hair and gleaming blue eyes. I heard her crying something just a second ago. She was saying... "Jonhild!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] Almost six years have passed and that woman never changed. She has no control over her strength! She cried my name and hugged me so fast that I couldn¡¯t even have the time to dodge. Well, I wouldn¡¯t have dodged her anyway! She was... she was crying! "I missed you, Jonhild! Mother missed you so much!" Yeah! I missed you too. I didn¡¯t say that but I hugged her back. By the time she let go, I could see no one in the room. They all must have left. "You have grown a lot, Jonhild." She said. "Well, thanks to a certain annoying bloodline, I had to give all of my clothes away." "Pffft hahaha! Well, we all did that at some point!" "Ahaha! You haven¡¯t changed at all!" I said as I looked at her. She was the same as I remembered her. "Hehe! The perks of being Firemane, we grow up as slow as elves!" "Seriously?" "Yeah!" "Damn! I should prepare for a slow life from now on!" Hilda and I startedughing mindlessly. "Come, let¡¯s sit!" She pulled me over and sat on the sofa. She was smiling brightly and warmly. My heart was being healed from seeing her smile. Rays of sunlight came from the window behind the sofa and added more warmth on this cold day. Hilda was a beauty! I could only be thankful to her for giving me the genes to be this devilishly handsome. Her red curly hair and shining blue eyes were just the starts of our simrities. My hair was one degree darker and straight but it was nothing to consider different when wepare the rest of the features! Even our height was almost simr. "How long has it been?" She wondered. "Five years, eight months and fourteen days." I said. "Woah! Someone was counting the days!" She said with a smile. "Well, can¡¯t me me for being awesome!" "Hehe! Still the arrogant brat!" I kept looking at her bright smile until she spoke again. "Now tell me, during those five years, eight months and fourteen days, how was your life?" "Hmmm! Let¡¯s start from the day you left..." *** Time passed. And more time passed. It was already sunset! "Oh boy! That was the longest catching up I ever had!" Hilda said as she stretched her arms left and right. "We still haven¡¯t heard your turn!" I said. "Come on! There is plenty of time, and I am hungry!" "Yep! I am hungry too." "Where have they gone?" "No idea!" "Nurina took the wine barrel with her!" "You brought Nurina a wine barrel?" I said as I felt a sudden headache in my head. "Sorry about that!" She seemed to know what she has done. Good grief! "Let¡¯s go look for them." Hilda and I went out of Nurina¡¯s room and I locked it. We took the stairs to Faralda¡¯s room but no one was there, Lah didn¡¯t know where they are either. That only left one ce possible. "Let¡¯s go to my house!" I said. "Fufu! My son has his own house now." "Well, if Nurina has a barrel of wine and took it to my house... well, at least the basement may survive." We headed out of the College and reached the town. On the stone bridge of the College, I saw the Firemane ship in the sea. "That¡¯s one huge ship!" "Hehe! That¡¯s my ship, the ¡¯Guilty Crown¡¯! It used to be the gship of the ¡¯Blood Fleet¡¯." "The Blood Fleet? The fleet of the Bloodsail n!" "Hehe! Ten years ago, I infiltrated their n, freed a lot of prisoners and workers from envement, beheaded their patriarch, and stole the ship. The Bloodsails never dared to sail far away from their port ever since that day. All they could do is to use other names like the ¡¯Blood Horkers¡¯ or whatever to avoid me now!" Daaaamn! Well! I guess that was one angry Hilda back then. "You are not causing a ruckus anymore, right?" "Nah! I was stopped by a childhood friend of mine. It was not my finest moment but it was the time when friends act to save each other¡¯s hide." We kept talking until we reached the town. There were a lot of people gathered around some ce. "What is going on there?" Hilda asked. "Oh! That¡¯s the notice board. It must be the announcement!" "Announcement?" "Come! You will like that one!" I walked to the crowd which moved to the left and right once they saw me. "Hmm!" Hilda hummed as she started reading the announcement! ____________________________ It is with a great pleasure that we announce, to the good people of Winterhold, the establishment of the ¡¯Dare Dragon Company¡¯ under the management of Thane Jon Dare, Thane of Winterhold. Thepany has taken the permission to invest in all the public resources around the Hold. Thepany opens the door for a lot of major Departments that will work day and night for the prosperity and the protection of Winterhold and all its people. The Major Department are; Construction, Real-Estate, Security, Exploring, Industry, Trading, Transportation, Investment, Insurance, and Entertainment departments alongside other minor service departments. Another series of recruitment announcements and requests will be announced on ater date. - Jon Dare (Chief Executive Officer) - Wulfur (Industrial Department) - Ongeim (Transportation Department) - Elishka (Financial Department) - Trudvar (Security Department) - Mjoll (Exploration Department) ____________________________ "....." Hilda was speechless. "Do you like what you see?" I asked. To tell the truth, I was showing off what I have done. "There a lot ofplicated words but it is no wonder that the Bloodsails were afraid of you!" She said. "Hehe! You liked my giftst night?" "Fufu! You rascal! You really made a score on them. They won¡¯t forgive you even though you managed to pin the death of their son on us." "Well, from this day onward, I would love to see them doing something about it!" "Are you prepared for them?" "Heh heh! I have a n in motion, it would take time but they also need a lot of time to recover. The Hold is nowpletely mine." "Winterhold is mostly a wastnd, you know. You sure you can find anything useful?" "Fufu! You have no idea, Hilda! You have no idea!" Chapter 114 Jon and Alina! Hilda and Nurina! "Hey, stop acting all mysterious on me, Kid! What¡¯s in Winterhold?" "Hmmm! Not gonna tell! Ouch!" I teased Hilda but got my back pped. "Going to talk or you¡¯ll make your old mother force it out of you!" Hilda was smiling and I felt she was enjoying the situation. "Sigh! Why ruin the surprise for you! You saw mypany just now has an exploration group for digging out resources and all that. One day, I will make a grand expedition and you, my old mother, will be the first name on the list... Ouch!" My back got pped again. "Who are you calling old?" She said while grinning. Sigh! I now know where my unreasonableness came from. "Anyway! The town looks lovely! Can¡¯tpare it tost year!" "Last year! You came here?" "Ah! I visited Nurina with a big keg of mead. Faralda kept whining from how much we drank that day!" "Ouch!" Why are you pping my back? I led Nurina to the ¡¯Sea Mist Manor¡¯. Once we arrived, someone was waiting for me. "Boss! I am from the workshop! The Chief told me to tell you that he is done with the armor and wants to discuss some other things... I forgot what it was called." "Oh! Tell the Chief that the Boss will be busy. He can join me here if he is done!" "Yes, Boss!" The young man said and left. "Boss? Chief?" "The Boss is me, the Chief is Wulfur." I said. "Aha! Heard about him, your sworn brother." "More like my actual brother, I know the guy since we were four." "Yeah, I heard. He is the one who has a thing with Bjorna. Sigh! Poor kid." "Eh! What happened to Bjorna?" Hilda looked at me and let out a long sigh. "She is a Firemane, you know!" She said then made a gesture with her hand. She was referring to the height. "Whoops! Ipletely forgot. She is around my age! Hilda, don¡¯t tell me she is..." "Yes! She is this tall now." "... Poor Wulf! He used to be thergest boy in the orphanage, now... pffft!" I startedughing uncontrobly. "Good grief! You are horrible." Hilda looked tired. "Thes has tried to look smaller many times but all of no use!" "Well! They will be about the same size. No problem there in my opinion." "I hope so!" "Anyway, let¡¯s go inside before things get out of hand." I said while pushing the front gate. After we went into the house..... let¡¯s just say it can get worse. Nurina and Faralda were arguing and drinking, Nefertiti and Jull were fighting over food, and Alina, who appeared to have followed Nurina here, was going through my books. Once they saw using in, everyone froze and looked at us. "Is it awkward here or is it just me?" Hilda asked "They were expecting some family drama to happen! Look how disappointed they are." The frozen atmosphere eased up a bit as everyone stopped the mess they were causing. Anyway, this was the first time Sea Mist Manor gets this lively. *** "Auntie, I demand an exnation!" Hmmm! This is interesting! The rtionship between the Firemanes and the Moondes seems to be very deep. I was listening to a long exnation about my identity from Hilda to Alina. ording to Alina, the Firemanes should have kept me hidden until the age of sixteen then after that I would wait to fulfill some destiny. To her, me being in the outside world is something unthinkable. "h h h h h! Can you even shut up for a second? No one can keep me anywhere I don¡¯t want to stay at. And that destiny nonsense is already something I can¡¯t escape from, I checked that out myself." "You... You.. do you even realize the danger you are in? If anyone from the enemy ns saw you they will definitely find out that you are a Firemane!" "I guess Firemanes can go anywhere in Skyrim, right Hilda?" Hilda looked at me as if she was saying ¡¯Leave me out of this!¡¯. Seems like she likes Alina a lot. "But you can¡¯t just expose yourself to danger like that! Do you even realize how many people died in the fights between the ns fifteen years ago? Do you know that the most sacred ce in Skyrim, High Hrothgar, interfered to put an end to that fight?" High Hrothgar did? Hmmm! "I admit that I have too little knowledge about such thingspared to you Hidden ns kids, but don¡¯t you dare think of my own business as something a n can decide. They didn¡¯t keep me in their watch or even did theye into contact with me for so many years! If my guess is correct, the day I should know the truth about myself should have been this day. But they knew too damn well that I shouldn¡¯t be stopped or be put under their control, as far as I know, this was the decision the Firemane Patriarch took and it was the wisest decision to take." "What? How is that even possible?" "For two reasons! My fate and the fate of those who are around me. You are a mystic like myself and we don¡¯t need to argue about how fate works but the Firemane Patriarch realized that if I got associated with the n, my fate will get hindered and I may put the n in a grave danger. My fate is too troublesome to be associated with!" Alina looked at me and kept ring but she had no more words to argue back. "Auntie, say something!" Hilda who was resting her arms on the table and holding her head sighed and looked at us. "What Jonhild said is true! Father¡¯s reason was to keep him from worrying too much about his fate or causing the n any harm. He said ¡¯this will do until Jonhild figures out his own fate!¡¯." "Already figured it out though!" I said while ying with Nefertiti. "Kyne help me! Do you think it is easy to figure out fate?" Alina rolled her eyes and spoke coldly to me. "Ask Jull! Hey Jull, yesterday before dawn!" "I can confirm that Jon is already very aware of his fate." Jull said in a calm tone. "Nefertiti was there too!" "Hooman knows a big dragon!" Nefertiti said, only I heard that of course. "I, myself, wouldn¡¯t doubt the creditability of a cat and a troubled child at all." Faralda who was having a drink with Nurina on the other side of the room started mocking. "Said the only non-stingy Altmer I know of!" Nurina fired back. Alina put her hands under her veil and massaged her stiffened face. She finally got tired. Damn! It is midnight already. Well, at least I learned a lot about the Firemanes and the Moondes from this conversation. I am not really in bad terms with Alina, our lives are leagues apart. She was raised as the princess of one of the most prestigious ns in Skyrim and was even considered a member of another prestigious n. I, however, was raised as an orphan and lived in a city of criminals. The way we see the world is just different. Where she sees responsibility, I see freedom. I don¡¯t think we may agree on many things but I think the way she does things is far better than me. If I see a bandit or a pirate, I wouldn¡¯t acknowledge their humanity and put them down on the spot. But she will look for the remaining human within them and try to pull it back up. Not because she is an idiot or a naive person, it is only because she is strong that she can have the luxury to do so. Make no mistake! The girl in front of me is a monster from the same level as me. I defeated her once before on Mount Anthor, but she became much stronger since then. "Let¡¯s talk about something fun, shall we?" I spoke directly to her. "Hm? What is it?" I put on a devilish smile. My blood starts to boil when I think about this. "I heard someone arranged a duel between us." I said. The atmosphere in the room froze. Even Nefertiti could read the mood and stopped acting silly. The air around Alina changed and I could feel a smile behind her face veil. "I was going to let this go, you know!" She said in a yful tone. "Hehehe! Come on! You and I both know that we are going to fight no matter what. There is no way out of this." "Tihehe! I knew you would think so too." "Say, when and where?" "Tomorrow, Hall of the Elements!" "STOOOOP!" Hilda stood up and mmed the table. The table... phew! Thank heavens it was enchanted. "You two are not fighting! I don¡¯t care what you are fighting over. This fight is not happening!" "Calm down, Hilda!" Nurina stood up and came. "These are my disciples and I am the one to decide." "These are children, Nurina! They might get carried away! I can¡¯t afford to see any of them hurt!" The two of them were lightly drunk and they were exchanging a small bit of there Auras. "ENOUGH!" I stood up and used my Aura to suppress theirs. It was a pitiful try but theyplied. "We youngsters want to fight! Hilda, if you are worried, you can be the judge of the duel. You can stop it anytime if you feel it became dangerous. Do you agree, Hilda?" I said. "... Gaah! Fine, but don¡¯t you two dare to put a single scratch on each other." Hilda said. "Okay!" "Fine!" "And Nurina! We have to solve this... the two of us!" Hilda said. Eh? Solve what? "Fufufu! What was the scorest time? If I remember correctly, I..." Nurina was amused. "It was a draw!" Hilda cut her words. Last time? Draw? What is going on here? "Guys! You are drunk! Don¡¯t say scary stuff!" I tried to pacify the mood. "Mind your business, brat! This giant woman will get to see the new stuff I developed this time." "Huh? New stuff? Show me what you got." Hilda got excited. Oh boy! This is not good! "Jon Dare! No, Jonhild! These two drunkards have their own fight, we have ours!" Alina stood up too. I looked at her in the eye and saw how much she was itching for this. Honestly, I can¡¯t ignore her crimson eyes anymore. "The fight will be at the afternoon tomorrow in the hall of elements! I will make the arrangements" She said. "Agreed! If I lose, you will be Nurina¡¯s Legacy Disciple... but that¡¯s not fair in my opinion. If I lose, I am losing something I value but if you lose you are just losing a duel. Offer something of the same value!" I said. Everyone looked at me then looked at her. "... if I lose to you Jonhild Firemane, I, Alina Moonde, will be your wife." "Pffft!" (Me) "Huh?" (Nurina) "....." (Hilda) "Nords!" (Faralda) "Wait! What?" (Jull) "You Cat to be Kitten me!" (Nefertiti) ~~~~~~~~ -Bonus- ? I quit! "I QUIT! I am leaving this novel! I am leaving that damn Author! I am leaving this ce! Find someone else!" (Jon) "Wait, Jon! There got to be a solution!" (Nurina) "Solution! To what? The damn Author wants it, the damn Author gets it! I was told this novel is a novel where I can getzy, have women around me, work only once a day! It was the best ce to work! All the MCs out there were envious, even that virgin ¡¯Leon Dhark¡¯! But I never ever signed up for a marriage! Nohohoho sir! I, quit! You hear me, Author! I .. QUIT!" (Jon) "Jon! I will go talk to him! Just calm down!" (Nurina) "No no no, Nurina! You don¡¯t understand! He was preparing for this from the very beginning! He was nning to make #Team_Jull and #Team_Alina from the start! I think he already made some merchandise to make money from!" (Jon) "But..." (Nurina) {Hahahaha} (Don) "Hear! He isughing! He knows what he has done! I QUIIIIIIIIT!" (Jon) Chapter 115 Jon vs Alina: This Is Jon Dare! Why is this happening to me? I am standing there in front of that annoying girl and everyone in the College is watching. Was this duel so anticipated? Dammit! Why I have to ept such an unreasonable condition. I need to do this fast. If I can¡¯t do this fast then I can say goodbye to my happy and quiet life. Marriage? More like the worst case scenario for life. No wandering around, no going outs, no sleeping outside, and most importantly, no lollygagging! "Fine... Moonde girl, I won¡¯t be going easy on you." "I never asked for you to do so." "Tch! Are we fighting already, Judge!" "Dammit! You two, I forbid you from harming each other. Ready! Fight!" This has already reached this far... better finish it quickly. After all, this is the only way to survive the marriage trap they set me up inst night. Rememberingst night gives me a headache. ******** [Last night] "... if I lose to you Jonhild Firemane, I, Alina Moonde, will be your wife." "Pffft!" (Me) "Huh?" (Nurina) "....." (Hilda) "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! What?" (Jull) "You Cat to be Kitten me!" (Nefertiti) That girl said some crazy weird shit! "Dafuckafuckenfuck is that? You, You, You, You think you can get away with such a prank?" Ipletely lost my cool. "Prank? I made that condition a long time ago to avoid getting married without my consent. Auntie knows about it too! I will get married to a person with a good background and can surpass me in talent." She casually said. Everyone looked at Hilda. "I, I knew! But I didn¡¯t think she was that serious!" Hilda¡¯s face turned pale she then looked at Alina. "Are you serious?" "Dead serious!" Alina said as it was natural. "Originally, when I came to Winterhold to look for someone that goes by the name Darth Vader. He managed to defeat me at Mount Anthor so I thought I could find anything about him in Winterhold but no one knew anything at all." I pped my forehead and covered my eyes! This is not happening This girl is nuts after all. Why do I always have to deal with girls that have mental problems? "Hmmm!" Nurina was thinking about something. "If wepare Jon¡¯s and Alina¡¯s talents, they wille very close to each other. It is hard to tell who is more talented but Jon has the lead in creativity." Hmm? What are you talking about? Is this the time topare our talents now? "Maybe you are right! But Alina¡¯s speed of improvement is astonishing." Hilda said. "She may getzy sometimes but give her the right motivation and she will create wonders!" "Okay, what¡¯s going on here?" I was a bit confused. "I think Master and Auntie are right. Even withoutparing talents, the identity of Jonhild Firemane is already high enough to outshine mine. Even without revealing his real identity, Jon Dare is the disciple of an Arch-Wizard and a new powerhouse in Skyrim, that of course, if he managed to defeat me." You are annoying! "I don¡¯t agree! I am not epting that whatever ¡¯be your wife¡¯ thingy. Offer something else and go look for that Darth Vader away." I said. "Huh? Why?" "Because you are winning either way like that. You will either be the legacy disciple of an Arch-Wizard or get to marry the most handsome young man in Tamriel." "Huh? Why are you talking like you are not going to get any benefits here? You will get to marry the daughter of a very influential family and also the most beautiful youngdy in Tamriel." "Ain¡¯t you a little bit too arrogant? Calling yourself the most beautiful youngdy in Tamriel!" "Right back to you!" ""Grrrrr!"" We were growling and staring daggers at each other. "I think I have a solution!" The one who was silent all the time finally has spoken. "Jull?" Jull came and stood beside me at the table. "Excuse my rudeness, Lady Nurina, and Lady Hilda! I want to say that I have seen Alina¡¯s magic and I must say it is very hard to deal with, but I am more familiar than anyone else with Jon¡¯s current strength. My suggestion is... if Alina can withstand Jon for five minutes, then she can get to apply her condition. Other than that... her loss." Genius! "Agreed!" I instantly agreed with Jull. Five minutes are more than enough. "Agre..." Alina was about to agree but... "Disagreed!" That was Nurina. Eh! Why? "Junar! Oh, little naive Junar! Don¡¯t even think I don¡¯t know what you are nning..." Nurina said with a grin. Everyone looked at Nurina questioning what she has realized. "... in a prolonged fight against Jon! Very few people will be able to take advantage against him, Even some Masters don¡¯t have a chance against him that way! Alina will run out of Magicka midway. Everyone in the College is well aware of Jon¡¯s ridiculous amount of Magicka." Hmmm! She is right. "So what do you suggest?" I asked. "We will go with Junar¡¯s suggestion! With a small tweak." Okay! "Let¡¯s make it one minute..." "Eeeeh! Come on!" My crisis sensor reacted immediately. "... but..." Nurina continued. "... it will be an all-out fight! You two can use anything from weapons to even the magical methods other than casting!" "....." Everyone went silent for a second. "But, but that won¡¯t be a suitable fight for being your legacy disciple at all." I said. "Well, it is my legacy and I am the one to decide!" Good grief! ******** [Present Time] And that¡¯s how we reached this moment! In order to avoid some weird marriage arrangement and keep my position as Nurina¡¯s Legacy Disciple, I have to defeat Alina in a minute or less. We were standing in the northern side of the Hall of the Elements, this ce was the usual ce for duels as it is wide enough to hold a basketball match in. Between me and Alina, Hilda was standing. She wasn¡¯t in her usual armor but in a dark fur clothing. She was saying a lot of match instructions mixed with some motherly ones. I and Alina kept nodding every time she speaks. Honestly, I felt happy to see Hilda acting like that. Nurina, on the other hand, was making a fox smile for some reason. I don¡¯t know what is she nning but it doesn¡¯t feel good about it. Other than Nurina, most of the people I know and a lot of other students were here. I could see that Shinobi-like guy, the one who acts as Alina¡¯s attendant, Skywalker. There were the guys from the creation club as well as Rusning and his group of Faralda¡¯s disciples. The heads of the departments were all here except for that grumpy librarian. The most surprising enough was Savos Aren, the see no evil Arch-Mage, he was sitting there and beside him was a strange looking man dressed in a white robe and funny looking hat as was acting so high and mighty. Not that any of it matters anyway. I was facing Alina who was in her red dress and face veil. She also was holding a ck staff that can use Wind Magic. I myself was wearing the ¡¯Savior¡¯s Hide¡¯ that got some new extra modification by Wulfur such as a fur hood and extra pieces of chain-mail. My Skyforge Sabre was on my side, and Fire Magic and Conjuration Staves were on my back. "This duel is between Jon Dare and Alina Moonde for the title of ¡¯The Legacy Disciple of Arch-Wizard Nurina Aren¡¯. In the case of Alina¡¯s victory, she will take the title. In the case of Jon¡¯s victory, he gets to keep the title and gains the benefits of amitment Alina swore on herself. In case of Jon¡¯s victory under the time limit of one minute, he gets to keep the title and can free Alina from hermitment if he wishes. The rules are clear, no lethal magic to be used, no harming one another. I swear on the bone of Shor, if one of you brats..." "Cough!" Nurina made a fake cough. "... oh, I got carried away! Anyway, you know what I want to say... Now, I don¡¯t know how things get done here but by traditions, the challenger presents themselves first. Alina!" Alina nodded and was about to speak but... "May I present the youngdy of our house?" The man who was sitting beside Arch-Mage Savos Aren stood up from his ce and walked beside Alina. "Steward Ornulf! I don¡¯t really think this matter needs..." "Ahaha! The Young Kady is right! This small fight is nothing to you anyway. But the formalities must be kept, so please allow me..." The man turned around faced me with a smug grin then turn to the crowd... "Venerable mages and students of the College, I present to you challenger for the title. She is Alina ¡¯Crimson Moon¡¯ of n Moonde, Favored Child of Kyne, Seer of Fates, Breaker of Lies, Lady of the Storms, and the undisputed victor of this duel." He then paused and looked at me. "The Young Lady kindly epts your surrender." "....." Everyone was speechless. This man... he is so thick-skinned. Despite the impressive long introduction of Alina, I don¡¯t understand why he had to ruin it like that. I was provoked to the limit! The crowd was also provoked but no one dared to utter a word against the man who was just sitting beside the Arch-Mage. The people who were irradiated the most were Nurina and Hilda. The man took a deep breath and spoke once again. "To tell the truth, I wasn¡¯t really thinking it would be such big deal when I took the liberty to arrange this duel between the Young Lady and a nobody, but to see that even the Arch-Mage is attending the duel made me feel guilty for wasting his precious time, everyone here knows the result of the match already, so please, don¡¯t waste our time, young man." "....." Oh boy! This man¡¯s provocation skill is godly. I can remember thest time I was provoked like that was when Wulfur and Jon Battle-Born got arrested for a day during the tournament. I can see that Nurina and Hilda are about to jump and beat this guy up, Savos Aren was covering his face with his palm and sighing while Alina was holding her head. This guy was surely living under a rock the past couple of days. Well, I¡¯ll just ignore him! I¡¯ll ignore him and just don¡¯t think about it. I am not angry at all. Anger is a sin! "Fufufu!" Augh leaked out and I was about to speak but... "Jon, I¡¯ll introduce you." A voice came from behind me. I turned around and saw Junaring. She stood right in front of me facing that clown. I couldn¡¯t see her facial expressions but I am sure she was grinning. She then faced the crowd and pointed at me. A beautiful wide smile appeared on her face. Her lips parted from each other and her clear voice sounded. "This is Jon Dare!" The ce became silent. "...... BOSS!" "CLUB PRESIDENT!" """JON DARE!""" """"""Jon! Jon! Jon! Jon! Jon!"""""" Junar turned to me with a smile. Hahaha! How in Oblivion can I be angry after seeing that smile? Chapter 116 Jon vs Alina: 60 Seconds A/N: Sorry for not announcing earlier! A SPECIAL BIG THANKS to @Anton bygden @DDsurvivor @tetley --- You Guys are awesome and part the reason why this thing is still going! Wee to the Cult. ~~~~~~~~ [Hilda¡¯s POV] Two of my most important people in the world are standing face to face against each other. I can¡¯t stand to watch it but I have to be the person who stands between them if something dangerous happened! I looked at Nurina and she nodded. ording to her, everything should go just perfect. It was her idea from the start but I would have chosen a better solution to make this happen. Please, kids! Don¡¯t do anything reckless! Jonhild stood to my left in his most impressive appearance wearing an armor that gave of a majestic air and a ferocious aura. Alina stood to my right in her most beautiful appearance wearing a crimson dress that added more to her beauty. After a few words of warning from me to make sure everything was not going to get in the wrong direction. I asked them to do the introduction. Alina¡¯s turn came first but the Steward of the Moonde, Ornulf, interpreted the introduction and made a problem. Jonhild is smiling but that¡¯s not a smile at all! Where did he learn it from? But to say something like that to the one you are challenging! Even if it wasn¡¯t disrespectful to Jon, it is like pping Nurina on the face and telling her the disciple she raised is nothing special. She is an Arch-Wizard for Kyne¡¯s sake. Just as I was about to shout at him, the assassin girl that follows Jon around came forward. I don¡¯t like the girl but I see the way Jon looks at her, hepletely epted her as family. She also looks at him the same way I used to look at Jonrad before. ording to Nurina, the girl is too submissive when ites to Jon. A mother wouldn¡¯t like a girl like that around her son but Nurina wouldn¡¯t be cheated in people, that¡¯s why I took her word for it and didn¡¯t bother with the girl. But when the girl stood in front of Jonhild and introduced him only by "This is Jon Dare!", the quiet hall apuded and no one remained his ce. Jonhild is that popr. I think the assassin girl can be trusted for now. Steward Ornulf¡¯s face turn blue and walked away to his seat. He is an idiot through and through but he didn¡¯t know that he was talking to a Firemane. I¡¯ll let Alina handle himter. The problem is... Alina¡¯s image in front of the students may get affected but that behavior. Jonhild and Alina were now facing each other but I didn¡¯t see them putting on a fighting air just yet. Jonhild smiled and spoke. "That was?" "Ehem! Steward Ornulf from my n!" Alina replied with a fresh smile. Good! Jon is giving her some face. "Haha! You should have told that Skywalker guy to make your introduction instead of that clown." Mara¡¯s mercy! Here he goes! "Wahahaha!" A loudugh sounded! That was Nurina. These two! They just don¡¯t have limits when ites to badmouthing people. I could see Steward Ornulf¡¯s face turning green this time. He would have replied at Jonhild but Nurina¡¯sugh sealed it. Arch-Mage Savos tried to calm him down and red at Nurina but she ignored him and kept stroking Jonhild¡¯s cat. Alina, on the other hand, didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry so she remained silent. I held a small hourss in my hand and dered. "This one-minute hourss will decide the start of the match as well as the one minute challenge between Jon and Alina. You two are ready?" "Ready! ... Moonde girl, I won¡¯t be going easy on you." "I never asked for you to do so... Ready!" "Dammit! You two, I forbid you from harming each other. Now, Fight!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] Just right before Hilda turns the hourss, I gave an order to the System! ¡¯System! Give me a 60 seconds countdown and keep it on screen!¡¯ <01:00> ~~~~~~~~ [Hilda¡¯s POV] "... Now, Fight!" <00:59> Jonhild and Alina took their staves with their right and evoked a spell on the left, not a second passed and there was a rune circle on the ground in front of each of them. <00:58> Both of them stuck the end of their staves in the middle of the rune circle and took a shiny thing from their bags then threw them on the rune circles. These appeared to be Soul Gems. <00:57> "Look at that! Grand Soul Gems!" The crowd was shocked from the appearance of the highest grade Soul Gems. But Jon and Alina were already moving. <00:56> They were moving in aplete synchronization and stood in front of their staves while preparing the next move. Their staves, on the other hand, were hovering over the rune circles casting magic on their own. <00:55> The synchronization continued and both kids cast a fortification magic on themselves with a hand and an attack spell on the other. <00:54> The synchronization ended at this point as Jonhild shot lightning magic and Alina shot wind magic. Both spells made contact and canceled one another. The one who fell short in the previous exchange was Alina. Jonhild¡¯s magic was just too fast. <00:53> The staves behind the kids finished their first cast in unison. From Alina¡¯s staff, a cyclone of wind appeared and charged against Jonhild. Near Jonhild¡¯s staff, void distorted and being was conjured. It was a Storm Atronach. <00:52> Jon faced the wind cyclone with a lighting spell but the cyclone was stronger than anything Alina cast until now. Jon was nning to cast the next spell at Alina but the wind cyclone withstood Jon¡¯s attack and kept advancing. Alina wanted to take advantage and attack Jon but the Atronach attacked her. Jon was about to fall short in this exchange. <00:51> <00:50> <00:49> The wind cyclone took four spells from Jon to stop. By that time his staff conjured one more Atronach and Alina¡¯s cast more wind cyclone. <00:48> Jon changed the spell to a stronger spell and finished the cyclone before it even moves by two attacks. Alina attacked him but he found the time to block with a ward. <00:47> Alina got pressured by the second Atronach as she failed to destroy the first in time. The second Atronach and Jon attacked her. <00:46> <00:45> <00:44> <00:43> <00:42> <00:41> <00:40> <00:39> <00:38> <00:37> The exchanging continued, Alina waspletely overwhelmed yet she managed to destroy one of the Atronaches but now four Atronaches are pressuring her. The wind cyclones her staff shoots were now being easily put down by Jon. <00:36> <00:35> <00:34> Alina was not able to take the pressure anymore and retreated behind her staff then took out a scroll from her bag. This was all legal. <00:33> In a second Alina spread the scroll and a strong magic came out of this. A strong wind cyclone much bigger than the ones her staff made rushed at Jon. <00:32> Jon looked at therge cyclone and decided it is troublesome, he retreated too and took his staff then jumped... <00:31> ... to the side evading therge cyclone safely. The cyclone destroyed the four Storm Atronaches. <00:30> Alina took the chance while Jon was evading and shot a very fast wind sh at Jon. Dammit! Didn¡¯t I say no lethal spells? <00:29> Jon¡¯s reaction was a bit off. He only raised his hand. <00:28> The wind sh closed on Jon in a second or less. What only he did was to wave his hand at the iing wind sh. <00:27> What happened next made me doubt what I saw. Jon pped the wind sh with his hand and it gotpletely reflected and flew back at Alina. <00:26> Alina panicked and jumped to the side without any preparation. She managed to evade her reflected wind sh but fell on the ground. <00:25> A power was felt from Jon¡¯s body that resembled an Aura but that was magic. ording to Nurina, this is called inner casting. Jon put the staff away and took the Saber in his side. <00:24> Alina jumped up as Jon started his charge at her, with nimble moves she jumped back and shouted. "Swords!" <00:23> Two swords were thrown from the direction of the crowd, this was that kid Svakin for sure. The swords flew towards Alina but Jon¡¯s charge was abnormally fast. <00:22> Magical power rose from Alina in the same way it did with Jon. Another inner casting. <00:21> Jon drew closer! Yet the swords arrived to Alina half a second faster. I was worried about Jon as it is considered madness to sh swords with a Moonde, but Jon¡¯s speed made me worry about Alina. It seems that his inner casted spell was speed rted. <00:20> Alina caught the two swords without drawing them and released her inner casted spell. Jon was shing at her. <00:19> Alina¡¯s magic was released and a whirlwind got formed around her. Alina jumped in the middle of the whirlwind and her swords were unsheathed to reveal two beautiful Moon Sabers, the signature weapon of the Moonde n. With every single rotation, she would sh at the retreating Jon twice with the swords. [A/N: Moon Sabers pic https://ibb.co/hHrqJp ] <00:19> <00:18> <00:17> <00:16> Jon was smiling as he held the saber with both hands and activated its enchantment. After a few shes, the swords fell from Alina¡¯s hand and she jumped away from Jon. She kept looking at the swords in disbelief but hastily managed to recollect her thoughts and put her hands in her bag. <00:15> Jon was about to cast lightning magic but he froze when he saw what Alina took out. She took out four scrolls like the one from before. <00:14> Alina spread the four scrolls at once. Fourrge cyclones were formed and charged at Jon. <00:13> <00:12> <00:11> Jon jumped hastily to the back, he retreated full speed to the end but he had no way to avoid therge cyclones. This is bad! Didn¡¯t I say not to use lethal spells? Just as I was about to interfere, Jon disappeared from his ce and therge cyclone hit the wall. <00:10> The next thing I know, Jon appeared behind Alina. How is that even possible? The surprises didn¡¯t stop here Jon was already attacking Alina who got pale as she realized someone was behind her. The only thing we realized next was her voice shouting "WULD!". <00:09> <00:08> <00:07> Alina moved in an unbelievable speed away from Jon. Jon who was about to win was shocked. Everyone was shocked. I myself was shocked. Alina performed a Thu¡¯um called ¡¯Whirlwind Sprint¡¯ and evaded a critical hit. Amazing! Absolutely beautiful! But Jon was looking at Alina with a grin. <00:06> "Wuld!" Jon said the Thu¡¯um. Why would he do that? Doesn¡¯t he know that a single word of power needs years upon years of training! He can simply do that. <00:05> "Wuld!" He said it again! Just stop it! You can¡¯t do it like that. I don¡¯t mind you let the minute pass through! At least we would have achieved... <00:04> "... WULD!" ... impossible! Just how? <00:03> Jon crashed into Alina and she was sent flying. Jon wasn¡¯t finished, Alina was falling and he was charging a lightning spell to cast at her. I looked at Nurina! She was opening her eyes wide. Do something! Hurry! <00:02> I looked at the hourss! Only a few grains of sand left but Jon was casting the spell! I need to do something! I shouted "ONE MINUTE UP!" ~~~~~~~~ [Jon¡¯s POV] <00:02> "ONE MINUTE UP!" Hilda shouted early! No, only two seconds left! I can make it. I can... <00:01> "Huh?" The spell... It didn¡¯te out! It was erased from my hand. My Magicka was...