"As I just said, I am not the Champion of Kynareth, I just have nature related magic since birth!"
"So you were born as the Champion of Kynareth!? No, you must be some sort of Divine Child!"
"Are you even listening to me?!" I screamed as I stomped my foot angrily, my chest heaving and my eyebrows twitching as I looked at these annoying priestesses. I want to strangle them so bad! They refuse to fucking listen and go on their own tangents!
I refuse to be acknowledged as the Champion of Kynareth! That might raise my reputation a great deal, but then I'd be pissing of Kynareth herself! And I'd rather not piss off any God for a long time, or ever.
I took a deep breath as the chattering of the priestesses finally ceased at my scream. I took a deep breath and ignored the laughing Aurash behind me. She has been laughing her ass off while I just argued with these stubborn priestesses. I'll find a way to annoy her later.
"Listen, I am not the Champion of Kynareth, I would say it if I was. If I accept this title, I may end up making Lady Kynareth mad." That makes them all gasp in shock, and I relax as I feel like I am finally getting through them. "I am sorry that I let down your expectations, but I cannot accept such title and responsibility when I do not deserve it." Some of them start to fidget, showing signs of doubt, while other simply exchange glances or murmur between themselves.
"I… apologize." One of the priestess, the one that approached me first, stepped forward and bowed with a conflicted look in her eyes, "It's just that the Gildergreen is very important to us. It has been in this state for many months, and it never healed and just kept dying. We feared we had to try and gain sap from the Eldergleam Tree, but then you just healed it like it was nothing." I don't know what this Eldergleam Tree is, but with how scared she looked like when she mentioned it I think it's some either some sort of sacred plant or it's in a very dangerous place.
"It's okay, you were just excited, I understand." Finally, this has been resolved. At least a bit. I can see perfectly that several of the priestesses still see me as Kyareth's Champion, I just hope that this won't bring me any trouble.
"I apologize again. If there is anything we can do to pay you back for troubling you, then please pay a visit to our Temple of Kynareth." The blonde Nord woman turned slightly and pointed to the first building on our right. It was quite large, and all it's windows were coloured either blue or gold with drawings of birds and trees on them. Those must be Kynareth's symbols.
"We also work at the guild, healing the injured adventurers that come out of the Daedric Dungeon, so you can find us there too." Wait, this might be good! I can use this to level up my Restoration Skill by helping them heal the injured adventurers! This is just perfect!
"Then I already have a request in mind." That makes them all perk up, some even showing reverence, and I try to hold back a groan when I see that. "I'd like to get better at my Restoration magic, so if possible I'd like to join you all at healing the injured adventurers." The priestess in front of me blinked a few times, as if shocked by the very altruistic request, before smiling warmly. While I do want to help heal people, this is mostly for my selfish desires. Higher skill level means stronger Wards, Healing and Sunfire. More protection for myself and Aurash.
I'm also one step away from gaining more Druid skills. Too bad the Cyclope wasn't enough to send me into the twenties.
"Of course, it would be a pleasure to have you help us." I sighed in relief at that. Of course this won't help much in the long run, but that will still help me get past the Novice class and maybe get a few more levels in. As for the rest, I'll have to find places filled with draugrs. I do wonder if blocking spells by using Wards will also give me experience in the skill.
"Thank you very much! Then I'll come look for you later after I take care of some business!" I barely finished speaking when Ariana just started dragging me past the priestesses, and I watched as they all started speaking excitedly among themselves. They still think I'm the Champion don't they?
Lady Kynareth, if you can hear me, please don't smite me.
I then snapped a pouting glare towards Aurash, but she just looked away while whistling. I'll definitely pay her back later for not helping.
I turn back around to keep up with Ariana as we walk up the set of stairs that leads to Jorrvaskr, which looked much bigger up close.
As we entered through the large doors I winced slightly at the strong stench of alcohol before quickly getting used to it. I swept my eyes across the large hall, which looked exactly like a guild would. A big hall filled with tables and chairs, people all over the place either eating, drinking or even doing arm wrestling. There were Argonians, Khajiits, Redguars and the much more.
Right by the doors was the guild reception, which had several attractive ladies handling it. And on it's right was a massive board with hundreds of posters. Those must be the quests given by the guild. Each one had the payment written on it, along with the difficulty, which should be shown by the number of stars on them. The one at the top of the board had a total of nine dark red stars, and the payment was massive, a hundred thousand Septims.
The drawing was that of a Griffon. But it's fur was a mix of dark and sky blue, and it had sparks drawn all around it. A Griffon that can use Lightning Magic? No shit it's that hard then.
The rest of the quests were all below the seven stars and had all kinds of monsters drawn on them. Minotaurs, Cyclopes, Chimeras and so much more. So many new monsters, some that I can't even recognize. It's a bit annoying, but also quite exciting. This gives me so many ways to level up other than relying on Daedric Dungeons.
Ariana took me past the board and then took a sharp right, straight towards a small hallway that nobody was walking through. I glanced to our left where a large bar was. A few attractive ladies were serving drinks while behind them there was a large muscular man wearing directing other guys and girls around the large kitchen. He was also wearing an apron that did not fit him at all.
I swept a gaze to the stool in front of the bar and almost tripped at what I saw. Was that a fucking werewolf smoking a cigar?! What!?
I wasn't able to confirm what I was seeing before my view was cut off by the hallway, leaving me very curious and confused. Weren't werewolves hunted in the game? Pretty sure both vampires and werewolves were hunted down. And that only those of the highest rank among the Companions were given the chance/choice to become werewolves. Questions for later I guess.
"Here we are!" Ariana proclaimed as she pushed a large door open and bought me inside. I faintly noticed that Aurash, Aela and Farkas weren't with us anymore before I focused on the large room.
It had a large artificial garden right in the middle of it which had more than a dozen different plants and bushes in it. All around it were ten alchemy tables with shelves filled with vials and small bottles, and besides the shelves were several sealed boxes which should contain the rest of the ingredients for making different kinds of potions.
I noticed that there were several other people inside the room too. Two of them were guys and the other seven were girls, all of different races. Guess these are the alchemists that help Ariana.
"All of you, get ready to work your ass off!" Ariana shouted as she walked forward, a very excited grin on her face as the other alchemists gathered up while looking very confused. "Gather every single ingredient we have, along with all the herbs we have in stock!" She ordered, then looked towards one of the guys, "Jonah, go request several large and empty boxes from the guild. At least two dozen. I want them here as quickly as possible."
I just stood there as she gave an order to almost all the other alchemist before she bought me to the artificial garden. I watched as the alchemists ran left and right, some dragging boxes or bags from other rooms while others opened those already inside the one we were in.
"What is it that you need exactly from the herbs? Just the leaves or all of it?" I asked Ariana while she placed several different herbs and flowers on the alchemy table, each one different from the other.
I grabbed one of the herbs and willed it to grow bigger and sprout more leaves and smiled when it reached the length of my arm and had leaves the size of my had, leaving Ariana and the other alchemist gaping at me. Then all of their expressions changed to one of manic glee. Are they all really that excited to work on potions? Pretty sure Ariana is going to work them like slaves, which kind of makes me feel bad but money is money.
"I-it depends on the potion, but it's usually always between the leaves or the berries." Ariana told me as she gently took the large herb from my hands and placed it onto the alchemy table. I watched as she took one of the leaves and inspected it with a weird looking needle.
"This is of high quality too! It's like the herbs grown in the best soil! We'll be able to make even stronger and higher quality potions with these herbs!" I'm glad to hear that, I was actually worried that growing them magically would make them of worse quality. Good to know that's not the case.
"Oh right, I also quite a lot of ogres bodies, and my friend told me that their blood is useful for potions." I stated as I started growing all the other plants on the table, making all of them grow to the size of the previous one. I moved those that sprouted berries aside and thanked the girl that bought a large empty box to me. I stood over it and started sprouting berries in large quantities, letting them fall into the box in a constant stream under the excited gaze of the alchemists.
"Ogres? Their blood can be used for Resist Frost potions, or Body Strengthening potions. How many do you have?" Ariana asked and I hummed, mentally opening my inventory and throwing a glance at how many bodies I had. And ain't that a grim thought.
"Almost two dozen." Ariana whistled at the number, then barked another order to one of the alchemist as I went back to work. I started filling a second box full of berries, planning on leaving them with at least five of them each. Wish it was faster though.
I blink, then look down at the roots of the herb. I tear one of them off and grow it into another large herb of the same size and use it to fill the boxes much quicker. I also had one of the girls come over and hold two more, allowing us to fill five large boxes of berries in minutes.
After moving those boxes aside I started filling another five with another type of berries, but this time it went much faster because I had two more girls holding two plants each.
I filled at least fifty boxes before there were no more plants with berries, so we moved to those with the leaves. I really didn't have to do anything here, just grow the plants over and over for them. They had a tool that they put between their thumb and index finger that cuts off all the branches of the herb they use it on by simply wrapping said fingers around the plant and then dragging them upward, and all the branches are cut off and fall into the box below them.
They all took seats in front of their boxes and started filling them to the brim with branches and leaves, each one holding a different herb. Each time their box was full, they would move it aside and grab another one. Apparently they decided to follow my idea and fill five boxes each before swapping to another herb.
It was easy for me to focus on the plants they were holding as they were within my range, and as long as they were plants I could focus on almost all of them. I need to find the limit of how many plants I can control at once, but I'm pretty sure that it grows with each of my levels. Either way, it's very welcome.
"Say Ariana, do you mind if I ask you a lot of questions?" I ask her as I take a seat beside her alchemy table. She was writing a few things down on paper, but I didn't snoop. She was probably planning to hire more alchemists and helpers so that we can store herbs and stuff at a much quicker pace, which I am not against.
"Flora dear, you can even ask me to marry you. Of course I'd say yes to that." She throws me a wink and a grin before focusing on her papers, and I just groan softly as I roll my eyes with a smile. Why does everyone want to bully me? Or try to make me blush? Ugh.
"I used to be a recluse so I don't know much about the world, or how magic exactly works." And so I start asking Ariana hundreds of questions, and she gladly answered them all as she worked on her stuff.
I first started with magic of course. Destruction magic to be precise.
The book I bought went deep into the main elements, but to my great shock there were actually two more elements. Water and Earth, which were also the most rare. The book I bought about the Destruction School only spoke about the main three ones, because they were the most famous and most common. While those with water and earth as their main elements are very rare.
Wonder why Aurash didn't react at all when i sprung a giant pillar of earth or geyser during our fight against the Wight. Maybe she was already over my craziness.
Other than that, there wasn't much else she could tell me since Destruction magic was pretty basic. But I did end up learning that Master Class spells can destroy entire cities, and that they cost a huge amount of Mana. In fact, they cost so much that even Master Class mages can only at most cast one or two of them before needing to take a break to recover.
But who can tank Master Class spells other than dragons? I'd rather not find out.
Then I asked her about Illusion magic, and she told me that it was the most difficult type of magic to train in. It allowed one to create actual illusions unlike in the game. You could create a body double, cover a door or some random spot with an illusion to make it disappear or replace it with something else. Higher Class magician in illusion spells are so good that they can even fake sounds and scent, slightly manipulate people's minds to either make them go crazy and attack anyone around or make them willing to fight instead of fleeing. In fact, some are sought out as therapists for traumatized people.
They are both nice and terrifying. Imagine a High Class illusion mage go and become an assassin. Who could even stop someone that can make himself invisible and erase any kind of noise he makes and scent?
In fact, Ariana stated that she wanted to hire a massive number of alchemist and helpers before she starts the big boom of alchemy, because so she won't run the risk of hiring spies and put me into danger. It was incredibly sweet and smart of her, I didn't even think about that.
Next thing I asked about was Alteration Magic, which Ariana stated was the magic made for brutes and muscleheads.
Alteration Magic turned out to have two different uses. Some studied and practiced with it until they became a high enough class that they could be hired to erect walls and fortify fortresses and the likes for a large sum of Septims. They were actually quite sought out during the Civil War, but very few showed themselves as they didn't want to run the risk of being assassinated by the other party.
And then the muscleheads are those that focus on the boosting aspect of it, like the Oakflesh spell, or the Stoneflesh one.
The way those spells work is actually quite simple apparently and it's related to the small barrier wrapped around our body made out of Mana, the one that gives all those that have their magic unlocked some slight protection against magical attacks.
Basically what they have to do is slowly pour their Mana into said barrier, because if they do it quickly the barrier will blow up, either badly injuring them or even outright killing them. The barrier will slowly grow stronger and gain a certain colour to it depending for how long you pour Mana into it.
A few seconds? It will grow light green, and once you end the stream of mana the 'spell' activates and wraps around your whole body, greatly boosting it in power. That's Oakflesh.
Half a minute? The barrier will glow a dark grey, and ending the stream of Mana lets the spell take effect and boost your body even more. That's Stoneflesh.
After that it's Ironflesh, which glows silver, and needs the caster to pour Mana into the barrier for a whole minute.
Then Ebonyflesh, which glows black, requires two minutes of constant supply of Mana.
Of course, while it sounds simple, it's not. The more you pour Mana into said barrier around you, the more Mana it needs for it to grow stronger. And after the spell takes place, it will keep itself up by using your Mana, meaning that it turns off the moment you either turn it off willingly or you are completely out of Mana. It's probably why Mages don't use it, because the stronger the spell is, the more Mana it eats away.
Still, it sounds quite cool, and I can't help but wonder if I can learn it. Having it as extra protection sounds good for me. I need to have Aurash train in it too, it will be useful for her since she is a power-type fighter.
I decided to ask a bit about the Civil War too since Ariana had bought it up slightly before, and i learned that the Stormcloaks were actually winning the war, with the Imperials having been pushed out of another city and back once more. They used to have six cities in their grasp before, one of them being Helgen, but the Stormcloaks drove them out of Riften a month ago, then Helgen fell from the attack of a dragon. Ulfric will definitely seize this chance to attack now, especially to take revenge for his capture.
If Falkreath falls, then the Imperials will be confined to Solitude, Markarth and Morthal. Markarth is very distant so it can be easily captured too before they can send reinforcements. If that city is captured too, the Imperials can only receive help from the sea.
Mostly because there are only two paths that lead to Skyrim, one is right south of Helgen while the other one is south-west of Falkreath.
Once Stormcloak soldiers watch over those borders then no Imperial Soldier can go through.
The reason on why the Stormcloaks are winning is because of the Blades, which is a shocker for me as I remember that in the game they were disbanded for some reason. I ended up learning that because of this White-Gold Concordat that the Empire signed with the Aldemeri Dominion, the Blades had to be disbanded and hunted down, but of course they were not fools and they hid themselves well while slowly retreating to Skyrim.
They had a great foothold in Skyrim as they had a secret base, which is probably Sky Haven Temple, that nobody knew about. But I may be wrong as I remember that in order to open that place up you need the blood of the Dragonborn.
Since then they hunted and slaughtered all the Thalmors that entered Skyrim, making them afraid of even stepping foot in here.
They refused to work with the Imperials and instead aided the Stormcloaks a few times. They did not join them, just helped them in dealing with the Thalmors when they assisted the Imperials.
This made it so that Skyrim can worship Talos freely, because the Thalmors even had the galls to dictate who the people should worship and who they shouldn't. Can they get even more pathetic? Pretty sure they can.
They did try to come into Skyrim as a large army, but the Blades ambushed them at the borders and slaughtered them all during the night. Apparently the Blades are way more competent than in the game, as they made it look like they were weak and were easily slaughtered, and only that dumb idiot of Delphine was left. And the old dude, Esbern or something.
Still, hopefully they don't try and make use of Aurash when her status as Dragonborn is revealed. I'd rather have them as allies than as enemies.
After that I just asked about the remaining two schools of Magic. Restoration magic was known as the 'Bane of the Undead and Vampires', as even using Healing spells on them hurts, and Sunfire can quickly weaken and kill even the strongest of vampires.
Apparently Sunfire poisons vampires, making it harder for them to think and to cast spells, which can help kill them faster. As for the undead, their souls are purified and freed, allowing them to finally pass on. So I pretty much did good by turning all those draugrs back at Bleak Falls Barrow into ashes. I basically freed their souls. Good to know I guess.
As for the Healing aspect, at the beginning it's just slow but still very useful, but Higher Class mages can regrow limbs and even regenerate one's stamina, making them go from tired to full of energy. It's actually quite good and useful and I can't wait to have access to those spells, I'll probably be able to pull all-nighters even better thanks to them. But that of course is for the future.
Then I asked about Conjuration magic, possibly my favourite school of magic, which I highly hope I can learn because it's incredibly useful and powerful.
I learned that there is no restriction to how many creatures one can summon, but it acts similar to the Alteration Flesh spells.
Meaning that once one summons a creatures, said creatures remains by slowly absorbing a certain amount of Mana from their Master. It acts both as food for them and as a catalyst to keep them bound to Nirn. But once the Master runs out of Mana, the creatures are sent back to Oblivion, or they can be banished with an Expert Class spell, but that only works on single units and costs a lot of Mana.
Elemental Atronachs are Expert class spells, each one being terrifyingly powerful. There was also the fact that you could Bind a creatures to you, allowing it to grow stronger by feeding on the souls of those it kills, but it's very dangerous because once said creatures grows stronger than their Master, it might decide to turn on them.
It's also very hated because of Necromancy, and any that want to study it must be students of the College of Winterhold, else they will be marked as criminals. They see Necromancy as torturing the souls of the deceased, taking them away from their eternal rest.
And then I learned that Master Class Conjurers can summon the so called Titans. Incredibly powerful daedra, usually giant beasts, that can bring forth immense destructions in the few minutes they have on Nirn. The Mana cost to keep them summoned is immense, and even Master class mages can only keep them up for a few minutes at best. Unlike with the other creatures that can stay summoned for hours.
Ariana told me that summoning spells are quite easy, as you just need to think about what daedra you want to summon. While for the stronger ones, you need to 'hear' them.
When you create the summoning spell, you prepare a portal between Nirn and Oblivion, but before fully opening it, in order to summon a stronger daedra, you must focus on it. When you hear the sound of a storm, of rumbling thunder and lightning strikes, then you can summon a Storm Atronach.
The sound of crackling fire is the Flame Atronach. The sound of sharp winds is the Ice Atronach. And so on.
It works the same with the Titans. Ariana told me that the Flame Titan sounds like a raging inferno, which is fitting. I'll have to look up any kind of drawings about these Titans because they have me curious. I wonder what other types of summons there are.
This was all that Ariana knew about the magic schools, which was also almost all common knowledge. Anyone can learn how they work by finding a very detailed book. Guess the one I got in Riverwood was not that detailed.
Wait, what about the book about Enchanting? Is it all just a bunch of drivel?
Spent money for nothing then. Maybe it's just the history and whatnot about it.
"I guess we are all set now." Ariana hummed, drawing my attention as she patted her hands. I turned to the rest of the room and watched as the other alchemist placed the last filled boxes to the side. There were more than a hundred of them definitely, several dozen inside the room, the rest had all been bought inside the storage. "With this we can start working like crazy, then even more once the rest of the workers and alchemist come by. You can expect your payment to arrive soon." I nodded my head and stood up, giving my body a stretch before thanking Ariana. Before leaving, Ariana told me that she'll have several thousand Septims ready as payment by tomorrow, which is an enormous amount, but she said that it's not even the full payment, the rest will come once the market starts picking up.
After a bit of thought I decided to come back every week to help them fill more boxes and barrels, or they can just call me when they are close to going dry. Like that I don't have to waste time everyday to come here and grow plants for at least an hour, I can do more important things in that set amount of time. Like preparing for a fucking dragon attack.
Luckily, Jarl Balgruuf told Ariana everything and about the possible dragon attack, so she'll put a lot of potions apart for possible use during the fight. Hopefully, everything goes alright and it won't be as hard as I make it out to be, but after seeing how big Alduin is, then I doubt the other dragons are like those in the game.
I'll have to warn Aela too, have her warn the Companions too, and hopefully they can help us when the dragon attacks. The Companions are skilled warriors, so they will definitely be good help.
I left the Alchemy room and went back to the hall, throwing a cursory glance around until I caught sight of Aurash unique white hair.
She was sitting at a large table with Aela, Farkas and that big ass werewolf smoking a cigar. So it wasn't my imagination.
I forgot to ask Ariana about why werewolves weren't hunted like vampires. I'd rather not ask the werewolf himself as it may seem rude so I'll keep it in no matter how curious I am.
I walked to their table, ignoring all the gazes that I drew towards me as I tried to not let my embarrassment get the best of me, Gamer Mind helping quite a lot with that. To think that before I got here I actually wished to be beautiful enough to turn heads. I'd never imagine it would feel so uncomfortable. Wonder how some girls can easily deal with this.
"Here comes the new Thane, show respect." Aela joked, making me flush as several people turn towards me. I give her a pouty glare but just like Aurash, she simply shrugs it off.
And now the werewolf is staring at me too. Damn, he's huge.
"So this the girl y'all were speakin' about? Yeah, she's a real cutie." Why the hell does he sound like a thug? And why does he look cool smoking a cigar? I really want to pet him and see if his leg starts kicking when you scratch the right spot.
"Leave her be Gnoll." Aela spoke up as I took a seat under the penetrating gaze from the now named Gnoll, whom just shrugged and puffed a cloud of smoke out of his nostrils. "Everything went alright with Ariana?" I turned to Aela and nodded with a grateful smile. I'll say this again, but having people worry after me feels nice. Well, this might not be actual worry though, we did just meet after all.
And I surely hope that my Title isn't making them forcefully love or like me, I would absolutely hate such a thing and try to distance myself from them.
"Everything went alright, I'll go pay a visit to the Kynareth priestesses later." Aela nodded, then turned to Aurash, whom slid a medallion across the table and towards me.
I gave it a confused look as I lifted it up. It was the size of a palm and in the shape of a five pointed star and stamped on it was the snarling face of a wolf. I flipped it around and rose a brow at the fact that my name was written on it.
"That proves that you are a part of the guild." Farkas spoke up at seeing my visible confusion, "It's a symbol of identity in the guild. It gives you access to the Daedric Dungeon and permission to take on quests. And it's an identification tool for the worst case scenario." So in case your body gets mangled or eaten by beasts or whatever might happen to you, this will help confirm if you are dead or just lost in action. Got it.
"Oh right, with all the stuff going on I forgot to ask." I perked up as I put the medallion away, perfectly tucking it in my cleavage pocket. I am so fucking elated that I can do this, I feel so cool! Such simple things can really make my day sometimes. "But, what's inside the Daedric Dungeon?" This was one of the things I want to know the most, albeit I already kind of know what might be on the other side.
"The giant gate is a portal, and it leads anyone that crosses it in a different spot inside a twisted realm covered in webs with spiders of all shapes and forms everywhere. It's kind of a copy of Mephala's Plain of Oblivion, but we don't run the risk of running into her in there." Aela started as Farkas excused himself out of the conversation. Poor guy, he really is afraid of spiders. I mean, having arachnophobia in a place where giant spiders roam is definitely a nightmare. "The reason many traverse it is because there are many treasures inside. One might find chests of gold, or precious gems, or even weapons. Like the Ebony Blade, or as we call it, 'The Blade of Betrayal'." At that, Aela shivers roughly, and even Gnoll seems to react in a bad way at the mention of the Ebony Blade. His claw sank slightly into the wooden table before he relaxed and released a large puff of smoke. I imagine that when the Ebony Blade first got taken out, many people died.
"Just standing close to the blade allows you to hear Mephala whispering in your ear, trying to have you steal the blade and kill those close to you." This time Gnoll spoke up, his voice rough and filled with controlled rage as he patted his cigar against the table, "It was found a long time ago by some lucky adventurers, and one of them ended up falling into Mephala's claws during the night, grabbed the Ebony Blade, and went on a massacre. The more he killed, the stronger and crazier he became. It took a hundred people to put that monster down as the blood of his victims kept healing him. I know that all too well, I was there myself." I had to bite my lower lip to stop myself from cursing softly. Daedric Artifacts really are terrifying now. In the game, the Ebony Blade healed you with each hit and got slightly stronger each time you killed someone that trusted you. But now…
"The worst part of it all…" Gnoll growled as he leaned forward, resting his large arms onto the wooden table and making it creak. I could literally feel his fury and disgust at this moment, it was so palpable. "Is that you could hear that bitch laughing maniacally in your head during the whole fight." I couldn't hold the curse that escaped my mouth at hearing his words. It didn't take a genius to understand who the 'Bitch' he spoke about was. Who else but Mephala?
Just like in the game, she could speak with anyone that is close enough to the Ebony Blade, and ain't that terrifying? Pretty sure this time she can also slowly mind control anyone that listens to her, making the weak willed ones wanting to wield the artifact and the power that comes with it.
"Is the Ebony Blade somewhere safe now?" I asked softly as Gnoll drew back and released another large puff of smoke, clearly slowly relaxing and pushing those horrible thoughts away. In the game, the son of Jarl Balgruuf was in danger of opening the door and getting his hands on the Ebony Blade.
"It's buried in a hole, and we buried that hole too in a maze an Alteration Mage made for us. To reach it one needs ten keys to go through ten different doors, and the only person that knows where all ten keys are died several years ago." Gnoll snorted with a wicked grin spread across his large maws, clearly pleased that Mephala couldn't reach anyone. I am very glad too that the son of Jarl Balgruuf isn't in danger like in the game. And that the Ebony Blade is now sealed much better than just behind a shitty old door that anyone can bust down.
"Since then the guild has placed several security measures to avoid something like that from happening again." I turned to Farkas, smiling at the fact that he still looked uncomfortable from the previous mention of spiders. "Whenever any weapon or armour is found within the Daedric Dungeon, it must be given to the guild to look it over for some time to make sure that it's not dangerous, then it will be given back to those that found it if it's safe. If it's bad, the it will be destroyed."
Yeah, that sounds both very safe and reasonable. And anyone that knows about what happened with the Ebony Blade would follow these rules without protesting.
"What exactly can you find inside the Daedric Dungeon?" Aurash asked, speaking up for the first time since I sat at the table. The more time I spend with her, the more I realize that she is very reserved towards others, but not with me. I believe she enjoys quality in company instead of quantity.
"Depends on your luck honestly. But many found entire chests full of gold, others found old weapons, very few found Enchanted items. But it's always where there is a lot of dangers that treasures lay." Aela answered with a shrug, turning her gaze in a certain direction and waving her hand above her hand. I threw a glance behind to see that she called over one of the girls that serve the tables, whom bought us some menus. I can't wait to sample everything on the menu!
"Once you step through the portal you'll find yourself in a massive open plain with hills made out of webs. Some chests might be buried beneath the webs, while the visible ones are guarded by monsters." Gnoll took over for Aela, not even throwing his menu a glance while I kept my ears up for anything they say while I read over the menu. There are so many plates with meat! Mountain goat meat, Sabretooth meat, Wyvern meat and even Drake meat. Drake's meat price was more than a thousand Septims! It might be because it's very hard to get or it's very delicious, either way, I'll go easy and go with mountain goat this time. But once I have money…
"We don't know much about the dungeon itself, we don't even know how big it is, but we just know that the deeper you go the harder it becomes, and the greater the treasures that you find. The Ebony Blade was found in the deepest part of the Daedric Dungeon, and so far no one has managed to go beyond there." I put the menu down and then turned my attention to Gnoll, whom honestly now looked like a wise teacher as he wagged one of his claws in the air. I kinda felt bad that I am the only one listening now. "There are no maps, because the dungeon changes at random intervals, and once you are in you will be teleported to a random location, so you need to find creative ways to find your partners. As for getting out of the dungeon, just look around and follow the bright purple light that shines at the horizon. No matter how distant you are from the portal, you'll always see it." I gave a short clap as Gnoll finished, making him snort and puff up his chest in faux pride, his maws stretching in a large grin.
"Anything else I may need to know?" I asked as I perked up at the nice scent wafting over us, making me lean back when some plates were settled down in front of us. I didn't even order! I looked at the plate and noticed that it was filled with several cubes of meat attached to toothpicks, all steaming and releasing a delicious smell.
"Ariana offers this for all of you." The maid states before leaving, making me turn towards the bar where I see Ariana wink at me. I tried to wave her over but she shook her head and pointed her thumb back towards her alchemy lab. I hope she isn't going to work herself to the bone.
I pouted and threw one of the delicious looking cubes of meat in my mouth, making me gasp and chew happily as flavour exploded in my mouth.
I love this world! I never tasted anything so delicious!
"F-Flora!" I jump at Aurash voice, making me blink at her as I notice her slightly flushed face. I slowly look around and see the guys at the tables around us all looking towards me with very… excited looks.
Oh dear, was I making weird noises?
"S-sorry, it just tasted good!" I chuckled and scratched the back of my head nervously. Aurash just facepalmed while Aela turned away while sniggering to herself. I turn to the nervous looking Gnoll and wave my hand at him "Let's get back to my question."
"O-of course." He coughed into his fist and fixed his cigar, I wonder if that thing is ever going to end. "Other than all the dangers, once inside the dungeon just don't trust the adventurers you ran into. Anyone will backstab you when treasures are at stake, and inside the dungeons it's rare to get witnesses." I already suspected that something like that might happen, but it's good that Gnoll reminded me of it. The only ones I'll trust inside the dungeon are Fenrir and Aurash.
"Before you said something about the 'depth of the dungeon', how is it calculated?" This time it was Aurash to ask the question, and it was a damn good one too. I absentmindedly threw another cube of delicious meat in my mouth and chewed on it while I thought about it. Since it changes each time, then maps are useless. So depth must be calculated through something inside the dungeon, something very visible.
"It's through the Towers." Nailed it. And towers? I do remember reading about the realms of the Daedric Princes in my old world, and I faintly remember that Mephala had a tower inside her realm, but I don't remember what it was for. "Some of them are open and have powerful monsters inside, others are just closed and are used to indicate the depth one has reached. The Ebony blade was found in Depth Five, inside the tower that indicated said depth." I nodded my head at that, filing everything in my brain for later use. I plan on going inside the Dungeon and use Destruction Magic to set everything on fire to level it up like crazy, because I will need as much literal firepower as possible against a damn dragon.
"Looks like you all are enjoying yourselves." A slightly tired and familiar voice makes me perk up and turn to my left, blinking as I saw Farengar pull a chair and sit at our table beside Gnoll. He looked quite tired and winced at every loud sound. He must have spent the whole time Enchanting. I smiled at that, the more enchanted weapons we have the better.
"How did it go?" I ask in slight trepidation, but his sigh made my smile and stomach drop.
"Ten tries, ten failures." What? But why… "Good thing I used scrap items. It's hard to concentrate on so many runes at the same time and moving them exactly how you want. It will take a while to get used to it and gain a minor level of success." Oh… I get it now. It's because of my Enchanting Skill isn't it?
Fuck! I'm such a fucking idiot! I downplayed it and made it look easy, but it's just because I have the Skill that helps me with it and Gamer Mind to booth! For me focusing on several things at the same times comes as natural, but not for him!
"I'm sorry." I voiced out softly, drawing the attention of everyone at the table, "I downplayed how hard it really was because of my instant success. I…" I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance. I need to get to work on those weapons, and to power level all of my skills. I can't waste even a single hour.
"I forgot to tell you this Aela, but alert everyone to expect a dragon attack within a week or a month." Aela, Farkas and Gnoll draw back with sharp gasps, but I ignore them and keep going, "Have them all ready and on guard, gather as many of them as possible, Mages and Healers too." I went to stand up but stopped and then turned towards Farengar.
"Has Jarl Balgruuf already prepared the home for me and Aurash?" Farengar blinks at my sudden change but I don't care. He nods his head and brings out a pair of keys from under his cloak and gives them to me.
"It's right beside the Temple of Kynareth-" I drown him out as I collect the rest of the meat inside the plate and throw it into my inventory then just walk past and towards the guild entrance, planning on going home and starting to Enchant anything in my hands, and then have Aurash give me the scrap weapons she collected back at the crypt.
"Flora!" I hear said orc call for me but I don't stop and quickly walk down the stairs, snapping a glare the guys that tried to approach me. Aurash quickly caught up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, but instead of stopping me she just directly lifted me up and threw me over her shoulder.
"Aurash, put me down! This is important!" I protested, gently hitting her back with my fists, not like I can even harm her if I hit her with all I got. It would just tickle her at most and I would hurt myself instead.
"I know it is important, but I am not going to stand and watch as you kill yourself by trying to play the hero. Get a few hours of sleep, then you can do whatever you need to do." She snatched the keys out of my hands and used them to open the doors to our new home, the scent of wood filling my nostrils the moment we stepped inside.
"Aurash, this is importa-"
"I don't care if it's important Flora." She cut me off and put me down in front of her, "Being a Hero is all nice and good but pushing your health aside is not. You said it yourself, the dragon attack will be in the coming week, or even during the month, we don't even know if it's actually going to happen! Hell, it could happen right fucking now for all I care!" She huffed and drew in a deep breath as I clenched my hands around my shorts.
I needed to do this, to help as many people survive as possible, I can easily do it with my Skills and I can just ignore sleeping and eating to do that.
"You haven't slept at all since we first met, just grab a few hours of sleep, please." Aurash begged, cupping my cheeks in her large hands as I bit my lips. I stared into her comforting bright eyes before relaxing and releasing sigh.
"Fine." She smiled and pulled me into a hug that I very much needed and wanted, and I hugged her back as tightly as I could. "Let's see if this place has a big enough room for Fenrir, I want to let her out first." She chuckled and let me go, turning me around and making me look at the house we now owned.
Just the entrance was already so big, but I noticed that the house was shaped like a square, with stairs going to the second floor on the left and right side of the house. The middle part of the house was a large artificial garden, and I felt a smile spread across my lips as I stared at it.
Yeah, I like this place.
I walked to the garden and entered it, then after giving it a look around I let Fenrir out of the Pet Space, laughing softly as she instantly starts playing around, clearly happy that she is finally out and about with me. I'll make sure to let her go crazy when we go inside the Daedric Dungeon.
"Here, have this!" Aurash whistled and threw a large piece of raw meat in the air, and Fenrir instantly caught it with her large jaws and started chewing on it happily. I turned to Aurash, whom took out the large bag that Hadvar gave us, the one filled with raw meat, and poured it all on the ground.
Fenrir looked outright ecstatic at the sight.
Fenrir tried to lick and play with Aurash, but she hid behind me and used me as a shield towards the giant Hellhound, whom stomped her front paws on the ground and leaned her front down while her back was still up, her tail wagging slightly behind her.
Oh no, this is the common 'I'm going to go crazy and you'll play with me' pose that dogs give before they go wild!
"Wait, Fenrir do-" I squealed when she toppled me and Aurash over, sending us to the ground as she started going wild, jumping left and right, rolling on the ground, barking and pushing against us with her nose.
Hell, she even uprooted the tree that was inside the garden and is now chewing on it like it was a stick.
I have created the ultimate apocalyptic puppy. And I do not regret it.
"I'm going to sleep so you have to be a very good girl okay?" I scratched behind her ear and smiled when her back paw started kicking. She gave me a little cute bark and rubbed her head against me, making me hug as much of her as I could before I drew back. "Don't make a ruckus." I told her again, then left as she started chewing on the tree trunk again. Guess that will keep her attention for a few hours maybe, then she either will sleep or eat the rest of the meat Aurash left her.
I'd rather not keep her inside my Pet Space for hours on end, she is a puppy after all and she needs to play and grow.
"Come on, the bedroom is on the second floor." I nodded and started following Aurash, giving Fenrir one last wave before closing the door to the large garden. I walked with Aurash to the stairs before I stopped and gave her a look.
"Yes I am going to sleep with you, because I know you'll try to sneak out and do whatever you have to do." Dang it. She saw through me! I wanted to wait until she fell asleep before pulling out the Arcane Enchanter and enchant whatever I could.
Still, sleeping with a tall sexy orc is a big yes on my part.
We stepped into the room and I dropped down onto the bed with a sigh while Aurash threw the pieces of armour she was wearing inside her spatial storage then dropped down next to me. Luckily the bed was big enough for the both of us, and it was also very comfy.
"Good night Aurash." I yawned out, feeling my tiredness finally catch up and weaken me quickly. I doubt I can even stand right now as my eyelids dropped. I'll have to apologize to Aela and the others for leaving like that tomorrow.
"Good night Flora." Aurash chuckled as I felt her hand stroke my head in a comforting way that just made me want to stay and sleep even more. I hope I don't have any nightmares though.
Now I'll sleep.
But tomorrow, I'll embody my Gamer powers and start grinding like any power hungry edgy Gamer MC would do.
[Crossposted from Questionable Questing!]