I'm where now

by kaviyarasank124

I'm where now

I'm Where Now? (Multicross SI - Currently Exalted)

By: Shapechanger

Getting kidnapped and finding yourself hearing the infamous 'Hey, you, you're finally awake' words is not the best awakening in the world. But fortunately, I have a plan to return home…

Worlds explored:

- Skyrim

- Danmachi

- Fate

- Exalted

- One Piece (current)

Status: ongoing

Published: 2019-09-29

Updated: 2024-02-11

Words: 585499

Chapters: 157

Original source: threads/790021

Exported with the assistance of

Unbound 1.1

It was finally done. It was finished. I was finally going to use the Eye of Fucking Magnus and return home. And to do that, I just had to become the Archmage of Winterhold, stop Skyrim Civil War and then defeat the World Devourer.

Easy, right? Well, not really.

You see, in all the shitty isekai that I ever read, the protagonists are handled with some uber-duper power right from the start, so they can go for a brief training montage, when the understand how profoundly busted their abilities are, dump the reader with information so that the geek that read that shit can fap on how they would break the world using that system, and the play goes to the rest of the adventure in easy mode, abusing their world-breaking powers.

Granted, not all isekais were like that, but a good chunk was. Maybe. I stopped reading stories like that a long time ago.

Oh, I was forgetting. Every single isekai protagonist never shows any problem with suddenly finding in another world. You'll think that suddenly waking up in an unfamiliar place and find out you're in a different world would, at least, cause a certain shock. But nope. Standard isekai protagonist shit on that.

Unfortunately, I wasn't a standard isekai protagonist, so when I woke up not in my bed but on a cart with four other people that looked like they just got out from a medieval movie, I panicked.

And, as such, I started to madly analyze the situation, trying to find an explanation. Not particularly easy with the stomach knotting and a sudden tachycardia. Usually, when that happened I tried to calm down with deep breaths, but since everything I had near was utterly alien, I wasn't very successful.

Not until… Rolaf? Ralof? Ralof. God, I'm terrible with names. Anyway, not until Ralof started to talk.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."

After having played at Skyrim for several years and finishing all the major questlines it at least three times, that phrase was extremely familiar. It anchored my sanity at the present and gave me a lot of information. Like, for starter, where the hell I was. Answered a question, I now had like five thousand more, but it was not the moment.

Because I realized, I was like ten minutes away from being face to face with Alduin and his meteor shower.

Shit.

"Damn you Stormcloaks." Started Loki. Lokir? Lokir. " Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell. You there. You and me - we should be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

Damn, the discussion was moving and I had to say something, or everything was going like the script was. And while I loved Skyrim, it didn't mean that all the choices it forced me to make were the best possible.

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief." I said, be sure to look at Ralof while I said that. It was a little satisfaction to see him glancing at me, surprised.

"Shut up back there!" Yelled the soldier, but I ignored him.

Lokir, not noticing the curious glance that Ralof sent me, turned toward Ulfric.

"That's Ulfric Stormcloack." I said, this time anticipating everyone else. "Dammit, I'm not dreaming this, am I?"

"Who are you?" Asked Ralof, now suspicious.

Well, I couldn't give my real name, it was going to sound ridiculous here. A modern Italian name in the middle of Skyrim? If I knew some way to translate it in a more 'imperial' way, I would, but I always sucked at Latin. "Andreason." I replied. "Loki Andreason."

I have to admit, I decided to use Loki because it was one of my favorite mythological and fictional characters. It was also quite fitting since I was going to have to lie a lot. The surname… well, using the name of your father and adding -son was normal, so I used that. A way to remember who I was.

"You seem well informed, Loki Andreason." Said Ralof. I had to stop calling him Rolaf in my head.

"Well, yeah." I said, covering my face and making deep breaths to calm down. "That's what happens when you use an Elder Scroll and your brain suddenly knows the future."

There was a pause of just a second. "What?"

I admit it, it was the first thing came to mind. An Elder Scroll, sure. Why not? They were, basically, little windows on time or something. I didn't remember quite well how they worked in detail, but I knew they could show past, present, and future if you know how to read them.

"You read an Elder Scroll?" Asked Lokir. "How are you not blind?"

"By my admittedly lacking understanding of how the Elder Scrolls work, blinding is not something that happens instantly. There are various factors in play. Maybe the Scroll wanted to be read and eased the burden on me. Maybe I'm special. Or maybe the Nine decided to grace me. I don't know."

The mention of the Nine seemed to placate Ralof a little. Yeah, I didn't give a shit about the White Concordat, I was raised playing Oblivion, there were Nine Deities on this world and my love for dragons didn't let me renegade Talos. God of humans and heroes, he was my second preferred god.

Sorry, Talos, Akathos was still number one, but a big divine dragon was hard to beat.

"So, you know the future?" Asked Ralof. "Tell me, how far our heads are going to roll?"

Lokir sent him a panicked look. Not that I could blame him.

"They're not." I replied dryly. "Helgen is going to be attacked. We'll escape in the confusion." Then I looked at Lokir. "Well, except you, because you thought that running away while there were a lot of archers around was a good idea."

The man paled. "I… I'm going to die?"

"We are all going to die one day." I replied. "But if you avoid running, maybe you can save yourself."

"How?" Asked Ralof. "Isn't the future already written?"

You shrugged. "Not really. I mean, some things need to happen and I can't do anything to change that. And maybe telling this thief that he doesn't have to run until the attack start would not save him in the long run, but it's better than let him become a practice dummy for the archers."

Ralof was skeptical. Lokir, meanwhile, looked a little more ready to believe you.

"Look." I said, looking at him. "I can't guarantee that you're going to survive the attack. But I can guarantee you that, if you try to run, they're going to shoot you. Stay calm, and if you survive the initial attack, stay with me or with Jarl Ulfric. He's going to make it and he knows the Thu'um."

"That's some great advice." Sneered Ralof, and I noticed that we were entering the town. "But aren't you a little over your head? You're barely keeping it together."

He was right, of course. Even with the reassurance of knowing where I was, my heart was still beating like crazy, and my head felt light. I could try to calm down if I convinced myself that this was a dream or a hallucination… but the pain on my back thanks to the rough bump of the cart and the sensation of the rope biting my wrist were far too real for that.

This was real, and I didn't have time to metabolize that. Sure, plot armor was a thing, but I wasn't going to risk injury or death because I suddenly was the protagonist of the story. You could die in Skyrim, and something told me that this was going to be far rougher then Legendary Difficulty.

"Maybe I am." I admitted adamantly. "Maybe I'm going to die in the next five minutes. Still, why let someone die if I can save him?"

What looked like respect sparked in the eyes of the Nord. But before he could say anything more, the cart stopped.

"Seems like it's time to see how much of your vision id correct, Andreason." Commented Ralof.

Yeah. And I really, really hoped I was right.

After the usual sequence where everyone jumps down the cart, Lokir, fortunately, decided to not risk his skin running away and meekly follower Ralof and Ulfric. Then, as usual, I was brought forward.

Realizing in that moment that Lokir, escaping, had granted me precious seconds, seconds that separated me from the ax of the executioner.

Well, fuck me.

"Wait… You there." Great, time for Halarf… Haldar? Hadvar? Hadvar. Jesus, me and names… "Step forward."

Well, time to gain some time. "Who are you?"

"Loki Andreason."

He scribbled something on a paper. "You from Daggerfall, Breton? Fleeing from some court intrigue?" Wait, I was a Breton? When that was decided? And how did you get that I was a Breton in first place? I get I can't pass for a Redguard, and I'm not tall and blonde enough to be a Nord, but why I couldn't be an Imperial? "Captain, what should we do? He's not on the list."

The Captain, like always, wasn't getting any of this. "Forget the list. He goes straight to the block."

"By your order, Captain. I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to High Rock."

"I would much prefer to not be executed without knowing what I'm accused of." I replied. Just some seconds. "Captain? What are my parents reading when you deliver my headless body home?"

I never judged the Legion Captain when she condemned my avatar in the game. Sure, she looked like a hardass woman and a bit of a bitch, but I didn't know her situation.

When she punched me in the guts, though, I instantly decided that I didn't like her.

"Shut up and walk, prisoner."

Ok, great. I gained some seconds at the expense of my liver. Worth it.

I placed myself near Ralof but also near that redhead hot-blooded Nord that stop the priest, hoping to gain some other seconds.

Bla-Bla-Bla, Tullius continues with his speech, roar in the distance… Shit, in person, that roar is far scarier. I'm not really focusing on that too much because I'm trying to keep track of the time since Alduin arrival.

It's bad that I'm hoping that the genocidal black dragon makes an appearance and blasts this whole town out of the map? Probably, but he was going to come anyway, so if he could do me the favor to come quickly…

Then, finally, my opportunity. The Captain 'graciously' granted us the last rites.

When the rites started, the man next to me started to move.

I grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear. "Let the priest say the rites. Not everyone here disrespect the gods."

Granted, they were not my gods, but they were gods anyway. Besides, it was not lacking of faith if I asked for help from entities that existed in this word, right? If I was the Dragonborn, I had something like a piece of the power of one of them as soul.

He looked at me, then huffed. "Fine. Hear those last words, Breton."

Fuck you too buddy. And I possibly just saved your life. You're welcome.

Anyway, after the priest completed her excessively long sermon, it was finally time for the execution to start.

"Bring me the Breton!" Shouted the Captain.

Was this vengeance for the question before? If so, I hate you, petty woman.

But my spirit was raised when I heard another roar. If I remembered right, the third roar was the sign of the arrival of the World Devourer.

And I really shouldn't be happy about a big black dragon nuking a town, but at the moment, my survival was the only thing in my mind.

So, slowly, I walked toward the executioner.

"I hope you're happy, Captain." I said. If Alduin didn't appear right away, those could very well be my last words. "You're killing an innocent man."

For just a second, it seemed like she pitied me. But then, her face hardened again. "Get down, prisoner."

I obeyed, kneeling. Then, looking at the sky, I lowered myself. Fortunately, there weren't blood, since that stupid soldier didn't valiantly killed himself out of spite.

The executioner grabbed his weapon. Now, Alduin, if you could move…

The ax was lifted, and still no trace of the dragon.

C'mon Alduin, anytime now…

The executioner was in position… and then the black, gargantuan form of Alduin broke the clouds and landed on the tower right in front of me.

The game engine really didn't make him justice. He was so big I couldn't even start to evaluate his size.

For a second, I had the impression his gaze remained on me for longer than the rest.

Then the shouting started.

But you don't win a Shouting match with Alduin unless you're the Dragonborn. His cavernous mouth opened and, quite simply, the sky fell.

Only that, unlike the game Dragonborn, I didn't just remain there to be hit by a meteor. Well, to be fair, maybe that had less to do with the game Dragonborn being stupid and more for the shock of facing a building-sized dragon. I rolled away from the executioner and, when finally the world stopped shaking from the sheer force behind the Shout, I started to run toward one of the towers.

Inside, I found Ralof, Ulfric, Lokir and some Stormcloack. The smart brigade, basically.

"Seems like you did it, seer." Called Ralof. "Was that what you saw in your visions?"

"A little more deads, but yes." I replied. Dammit, I need to get in shape. This little run was already making me breathing hard.

Maybe it was just the shock.

Meanwhile, Ralof talked to Ulfric. "Jarl Ulfric. What is that thing? Could the legends be true?"

I glared at him. "What, are you stupid? There is a fucking dragon here! How could it be a legend?"

Ulfric nodded. "True. We need to move before it finds us."

Lokir, always the coward tried to run up the stairs, but I blocked him. A second later, Alduin demolished the stairway with a head-butt and showered an entire floor in flame.

And this time, unlike before, I caught the words of his Shout. Fire Breath, Yol Toor Shul. Fire, Inferno, Sun. One of the two Shouts that I remembered fully. The other was, obliviously, the Unrelenting Force. Fus Ro Dah.

I was very, very tempted to try them right away, but it wasn't the case. Shouting at Alduin was not going to do much in the state I was. I needed to run away for him.

So, the moment his head retreated, I run. "Follow me Lokir!"

I reached the hole in the wall and jumped in the next house, rolling to lessen the impact. It was actually the first time I did something like that. I was surprised I didn't break anything in the fall.

With the thief on my back, I reached the ground and met Hadvar. "Still alive, prisoners? Stay with me."

"Maybe you could free my hands?" I asked. I didn't have anything to cut them aside for trying to burn them, but I'd prefer to not hurt myself on purpose before learning some half-decent Restoration spell.

"Sure." He said, freeing my hand with a dagger. "Here, now you're free. Stay near me, Loki. And you too, Lokir."

The thief just nodded, his eyes spirited and unfocused. He continued to look at the sky, and I couldn't really fault him for that. But I could fault him for, somehow, freeing himself. Thieving skill, I supposed.

We rapidly crossed the town, evading Alduil all the time we could, and rapidly jumped toward the… Imperial Legion barracks? I never quite understood what those buildings were for.

Of course, there was the -I hoped- last dialogue I was forced to listen again and again.

"Ralof! You damned trai-"

"Can we please not fight right now?" I asked with desperation. "There is a dragon rampaging through the city and the way is full of danger! Can you two collaborate until we're out? You can stab each other in the eyes later!"

Normally, I was pretty sure that they wouldn't have listened to me. Fortunately, Ralof knew I had seen the future, so he hesitated.

Until another roar forced him to move. "Very well, seer. Let's go."

Altogether, we entered the barracks. With a last effort, I jumped inside the structure, painting. I really need to get in shape.

"Very well." Said Rolaf. "What we do for now on, seer?"

Well, that was a good question, right?

-X-

And so, a new story begins. My previous one is going to be scrapped for several reasons.

I'll try to write this story using the less amount of game mechanics as possible and using the Lore version of things, but I'm not the biggest nerd of the Elder Scrolls that ever existed so if you find some error please tell me. But I think that, for now, implying that Alduin is bigger then what was shown in the game is pretty safe.

Until the next one, folks.

Unbound 1.2

Before I could actually tell him, Hadvar butted in the conversation. "Seer?"

"He read an Elder Scroll." Supplied Lokir. "He knew about the attack and told me to not run, or the archers were going to shoot me."

The Imperial looked at me. "It's true?"

I shrugged.

"Why you didn't say anything?" Asked Hadvar. "We could have prepared!"

"I told to Ralof, Lokir, and Ulfric." I replied, a little annoyed. "The driver of the cart heard everything. If he didn't think the information was useful or credible, why would have General Tullius?" Hadvar backed up. "Besides, you can't prepare for a dragon attack, especially not that one. That's not a random dragon. That's Alduin, the World Devourer itself."

By the sudden panicked expression everyone had, that news meant more to them than for me. Well, of course. For me, Alduin was just a big, bad, slightly more immortal dragon. For them, it was the bearer of the apocalypse. It was like I just announced that Satan had raised from the ground.

"It's all lost!" Whined Lokir. "Even if we manage to escape from the city, we're all going to die!"

"No, you're not." I swiftly stopped him. "The Elder Scroll showed me. A Dragonborn is going to rise and fight Alduin."

Hope sparkled in the eyes of the three Nord. "Really?" Asked Lokir. "Who?"

I hesitated. Yes, it was really probable that I was the Dragonborn, but… I didn't have absolute certainty. I needed to see if I could read the dragon tongue easily even if I never tried to use it. Even then, the real proof was absorbing a dragon soul.

… Or go to that temple in the Reach. I wasn't sure if I preferred to fight a dragon or a tribe of Forsaken though. I had bad memories of the Reachmen.

In any case, I was not ready for that.

"I don't know." I said. "Someone. You'll notice when he appears. For now, let's focus on getting out of there. We need to warn everyone of the danger."

Hadvar and Ralof nodded. Lokir didn't look so sure. "Don't worry, we'll be fine." I said, guiding him around. "Just stay with them and we'll find a way out. Just put some armor and take a weapon. We're going to have to fight to get out of there."

The thief nodded nervously and searched for equipment. I did the same.

Ralof, that heard me, came to ask a question. "You know what we're going to fight, seer?"

I paused midway wearing an Imperial scout armor, thinking. "It depends. There are several survivors, both Imperials and Stormcloacks. I hope we can find a way to avoid fighting them, honestly. But there is a nest of frostbite spider later on, and a bear. We can sort of avoid the bear if we try to just sneak over him, but there is no way we can avoid the spiders."

"I see." Commented Ralof. I caught him shiver. "Spiders. Of course, there are spiders."

I avoided to make fun of him because he was scared of spiders. I wasn't arachnophobic in any sense of the word, but that didn't mean I was eager to fight dog-sized venomous spiders.

"I'll warn you, I'm going to be completely useless in the fight. I'm a scholar, not a warrior."

Ralof nodded. "Yes, I noticed. Don't you know some fancy magic trick?"

Normally, this was the time to arch a brown, but for some reason, I can't arch a brown. I need to arch both. Little quirks.

So, I just glared. "That's racist, you know? Just because I'm a Breton, it means that I have to know magic?"

The Stormcloack blinked. "No, I didn't mean that…"

"I'm joking." I said, finishing to put the armor on. "But no, I don't know magic. I studied it, but only the theory. I don't know how to cast a spell." I fixed the armbrace of my armor. Mmm… there was something missing there, but I couldn't put my finger on what. "But, there is a tome of magic on the way. I'll see if all that studying served at something."

"How do you…" Started Rolaf, but he stopped. "Right, stupid question. Let's get ready, seer. We have to move shortly, or that dragon is going to rat us eventually."

I nodded. "Good idea. Oh, Rolaf. There are Stormcloacks on the way. You think you're able to stop them from attacking us the moment they see the Imperial uniform?"

The Nord thought about it for a second. "I think I can. I just need to talk to them."

"Good. Then we'll be out of the way until you convince them."

While Rolaf nodded, I finished to put the armor up. Hadvar joined me. "I thought it would be better to watch you." He said. "You wouldn't put the armor wrong, right?"

"Thank you." I said gratefully, letting him take a look and fix the armor.

He didn't. He just looked at the armor and sent me a curious look. "Are you sure you're not a soldier?" He asked.

"Pretty sure. Why?"

"Because you wore the uniform perfectly."

Did I?

I stopped when realization hit me. That was the odd thing. I was too familiar with all this equipment. And I shouldn't have. Actually, I was pretty sure I was familiar with too much of this. Something was fishy, but I didn't have time to see what the hell was wrong with me. We had to go now.

"Beginner's luck." I replied, taking a short Imperial sword that looked like a gladius and fixing it at my belt. "Let's go. Rolaf, go forward. Talk some sense in your companions."

While the Nord nodded and proceeded, Lokir stood near me. "Are you sure it's a good idea? What happens if he convinces the other Stormcloacks to attack us?"

Uh, I didn't think about it.

But before I could answer, Havdar interrupted. "I know Ralof." He said. "He may be a traitor, but he's a man of honor. He's not going to put you two at risk just to kill me. And he probably expects you defend me if a fight happens. He can' risk you getting hurt, Loki."

What? That was his thinking? Well, I couldn't deny that I would have tried to help him if the Stormcloacks decided to attack him, but tried was the keyword here. I had actually zero confidence in my ability to stop three armed men, if not by talking sense.

Which, obliviously, depended on my ability to express myself correctly. I had even less confidence in that than in the strength of my arm. At least, with a lucky shot, I could kill one man.

But he was probably right about Rolaf. He never seemed like a man who would betray me or Lokir out of the blue.

But, just to be sure, I decided to wait for Rolaf behind the doors and with a hand on the sword. Now, normally when I prepared for the worst even while the situation wasn't that critical to begin with. With the possibility of death…

Fortunately, Rolaf returned after several minutes. "What in the name of Talos are you three doing there?"

"Waiting." I admitted. "And ready to close the door if your companions managed to convince you to attack Hadvar while you could."

Rolaf sent me a stinky look. "Do you think I'm without honor?"

I shrugged. "Oh, absolutely not. I just don't know what your honor could let you do. He is an Imperial officer after all."

Another few seconds of stinky eyes, then he huffed. "I suppose I cannot fault you. Your first impression of Skyrim was not the best."

"You can say that." I replied, removing the hand from the sword. "So, let's go. Who are your companions, by the way?"

"Brugnir and Tarnus." He replied. "They're not happy to be paired with an Imperial, but they understand that the dragon at the moment is a bigger problem, and if on the way there are more enemies, we can deal with them better in group."

"Good." I said. "Let's go then. The road is long."

After a full circle of presentation -and after reassuring the Stormcloack that no, me and Lokir were not imperial legionnaires ready to backstab them, we just had the armors for protection- we started to walk.

I was tempted to do it sneakily like I always did in the game, but with five other people near, I felt pretty safe. For now.

So, when the entire group reached a long hallway with a group of Stormcloacks walking, I completely ignored them and went right at the door. I even started to open it when one of the Stormcloacks jumped forward.

"Brothers and sisters!" Tarnus yelled while advancing.

Oh fuck.

I jumped on him with all my mass and smashed him on the ground. Then, I yelled louder.

"Run! The ceiling is going to fall!"

Right on cue, Alduin roared and the entire hallway trembled. The Stormcloacks panicked and ran. I couldn't see if they made it, because the debris covered my view.

Coughing for the dust that reached my throat, I stood. Tarnus did the same.

"You saved me." Said the Stormcloack.

I waved my hand. "You would have avoided the debris. It was more for the others."

"So it is true." Said the other Stormcloack, Brugnir. "You have seen the future."

I nodded. "Yeah. And, while talking about this, there should be some Stormcloacks inside. Ralof, if you would?"

The Nord nodded, but, when he opened the door and sent a look inside, he stopped. "There is no one here."

Confused, I stepped inside. Mmm… there really weren't there. Strange.

"Mmm… I'm sure there should be a couple of Stormcloacks here, searching for potions." I said, scratching my chin. "Maybe they heard me and ran?"

"It could be." Admitted Ralof. "You are pretty loud if you want."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Let's see if there are still the potions. We'll need them."

A brief research and some potions later, we resumed the march.

"There is the torture room there." I said. "The torturer and his assistant are there. The torturer is not going to follow us regardless of what we say, but the assistant could. It's better if Hadvar and I go forward. You lot stay here."

They all nodded and I and Hadvar turned the corner. I expected either a fight with the Stormcloacks or the two of them just hanging there.

I found nothing of the sort.

What I saw was the torturer, his assistant, and two Stormcloacks laying on the ground, bleeding everywhere.

Hadvar advanced. I waited a second to suppress the knot in the stomach.

"So those two are the ones you thought were in the storage room." Said the Imperial. "A tragedy."

I made an effort to not look at the two Imperials. One of the Stormcloaks had an ax and he enthusiastically used it on their faces and body. "Call the others. I'm going to see if I manage to find something useful here. There should be a spell tome inside one of the cages."

Hadvar nodded and walked away. I tried to force the lock of the cage.

Surprisingly, I managed to open it after some try.

Maybe a little luck in all this shit? Was I gifted with the omni-competence of the classical Elder Scrolls protagonist, meaning I could do practically anything that was really simple and could train to be better?

I hoped so. But something told me that it wasn't that simple.

So, when the rest of the group arrived, they found me reading the tome.

"Interesting read?" Asked Ralof.

I looked at him. "Quite. Maybe I'm going to help you with this. I'll not count on my ability with the sword."

Frankly, I doubted I was going to end up doing something. I knew a little about the Elder Scrolls lore and, for what I gathered, magic was the ability to harness the ambient Magicka and use it for your bidding. The problem was, my body, contrary to theirs, didn't belong to this place. It was never exposed at the Magicka, if not for the… half an hour I was involved in this. I seriously doubted I could even summon some sparks, let alone this particular spell, a lightning bolt of some kind. A Novice level spell, if I was reading this correctly.

Uh, the ranking in the games was some sort of official ranking, even if from the way it was written, it was quite arbitrary. Well, all the classification was arbitrary, so no surprise here.

Anyway, while the entire group razed whatever there was in the torture room, I continued to read. Read while walking was something I was used to. Not the best idea in a trafficked city, but in deserted halls? Pretty useful.

Anyway, the book was… relatively simple. Coming from a scientific school, the concepts inside were child play. The only problem I incurred while reading was to 'focus the Magicka' since, well, I had no idea how to do that. I never felt Magicka before, so I didn't know how to use it. By the sound of it, it involved just… willing the energy inside you to a specific part of your body, the shape it in the form you liked and then it was just a question of actually aim decently.

Simple in theory, but difficult in practice. I had no idea how to even start. Maybe… maybe some sort of meditation thing? I heard that you could warm the tips of your fingers by concentration alone when I was a teenager, and I even tried a couple of times. It worked, even if I don't know if it was real or I was just deluding myself.

Anyway, I tried to do it while we were passing in some cave. Mmm… the big room with archers was just a little afar. I had to act now or I was going to have to wait until after the fight.

So I focused and tried to push… something on the tip of my fingers. For good measure, I tried to push electricity. It was easy because I knew what electricity did and how it worked, and even if the natural laws of this place worked because the gods said so, the basic was the same.

Like I said, I didn't expect this to actually work, because I was not from this world, and magic didn't exist back home. And, while technically I could work as a Dragonborn even with that limitation because the Thu'um was basically using a cheat code to tell the universe to do something, magic was a tad different from that. I required talent and study to be a mage.

So, understandably, I was completely caught off guard when electricity sparkled in my fingers.

"What the fuck!?" I shouted, waving my hand to make the electricity disappear and alarming all the group.

"What happens?" Shouted Tarnus, bracing himself and turning toward me.

"Fuck!" I swore, not knowing what do to. The electricity continued to flow out of my hand and I didn't know how to stop it.

"Calm down Loki." Interveaned Hadvar, placing a hand of my shoulder. Good move, because I probably wouldn't have understood that he was talking to me. "Take a breath. It's your magic. You don't have to worry about it."

I tried to calm down, taking deep breaths. After two of them, I finally recognized a slightly… pull? From my finger. Like something was trying to take something out of me with a vacuum cleaner. I willed the pull to stop and the electricity stopped arcing between my fingertips.

"You ok?" Asked Hadvar.

"Yes." I breathed. "Yes, just… caught me off guard. I didn't expect it to work."

The rest of the group probably believed there was a not said 'not so fast', because they didn't even arched a brow at that. I shook my head to clear it and started to walk again.

Then I recognized the corridor and stopped.

"There is a room with at least five people inside. Stormcloacks or Imperial, I dunno. Lokir, you think you can scout ahead to see how are we going to meet? So we can try to talk to them?"

The thief nodded. He had not said a word since the start of this little journey under the barracks. I wanted to question myself if this was a good or a bad sign, but at the moment my mind was focused on another problem.

I was able to use magic. And I shouldn't be able to. This, and the way I put the armor on… something was very, very wrong here.

Something was very, very wrong with me.

But I didn't have time to think about it. Not with the exit still far away. So, I just decided to sit down while Lokir did his recon.

Hadvar reached me. "Are you sure you're alright?"

I thought about it for a second. As always, I couldn't tell him the truth. "Yes, yes. It's just… all of this. I'm not a fighter, Hadvar. I'm managing to hold for now, but…"

The Imperial nodded. "I see."

He didn't, not really, but I appreciated the intention. I remained there for a while.

The Lokir returned.

Last edited: Oct 6, 2019

Unbound 1.3

When I raised my head to hear Lokir report, he looked at me right in the eyes and shook his head. "There were some Imperials on the way." He said. "But apparently, they fought someone. Stormcloacks. Probably the ones you helped before. I explored one of the ways and it leads to a collapsed staircase."

I didn't say anything for a second, before sighing. "When I said I wanted to go out from here without killing, I didn't mean in that way."

"You couldn't have known." Hadvar tried to console me.

Not that I needed. It wasn't my fault if Imperial and Stormcloacks were so bloodthirsty that even in the middle of a dragon attack they preferred to kill each other than join forces. Besides, I already saved the two Stormcloacks at the start and I didn't personally kill anyone. It was a net win for me.

One of the Stormcloaks didn't share my opinion. Tarnus, I think. "Uh, isn't he the one that read an Elder Scroll? He should have known."

"I changed the future." I replied, standing. "If I didn't, Ralof and Lokir wouldn't be here, you two would be dead, and I'll have to kill most of the Stormcloacks on the way. I did everything I could to stop unnecessary bloodshed, but there is not much I can do if people decide to fight each others. I'm only human."

There was a series of nods, then the other Stormcloack talked. "It's something I wanted to ask you for a while, seer. While you're so set on stopping us from fighting?"

I huffed. "Because none of you is my enemy, nor the enemy of Skyrim or the Empire. The real enemy are the Thalmor. Letting yourself kill each other is just helping them bleed out the strength of the Men."

There was a deep silence at that. Probably most of the presents never thought about that, but I had.

My first playthrough in Skyrim had seen me fighting with the Stormcloacks. Then, I quickly decided I was never going to do that again, since, well, Ulfric Stormcloack was a racist bastard and decided to attack Whiterun for no reason, considering the city was neutral in the whole Civil War thing and even had an enormous statue of Talos in the main plaza, with a priest annoyingly shouting sermons all day, right under the nose of the Jarl. By any logic, Whiterun should have been left alone.

It didn't help that the result of the attack was Jarl Baalgruf, my favorite Jarl of all Skyrim, being dethroned. That had been particularly hard for me. Jarl Baalgruf had given me help, named me thane and in general, had been a reasonable and affable fellow, deeply interested in the well begin of his people.

And I helped dethrone him.

It was betrayal. It could be considered necessary if I ever considered the rebellion more important than him, but I did not. The Civil War questline was just a quest to do, I didn't particularly like the NPCs inside and, considering what I learned after, the entire thing was just a huge loss of lives when what the Nords would have to do was take arms and go to kick Thalmor asses across three different provinces.

Sure, I could understand why the Nord rebelled. But the Empire never actually wanted to disband the cult of Talos. It was just a minor concession to the Thalmor, one that they were more than happy to ignore. People had little temples of Talos inside their homes, for fuck's sake. Sure, it sucked that they couldn't pray him openly, but it wasn't that bad of a deal.

And then Ulfric had to come and pretend to have the cult of Talos in plain view, literally Shouting it at the four winds. Again, I could understand that it was not ideal to have to hide your faith… but there wasn't any reason to actually do that, considering that the Empire wasn't doing anything to actually to stop people from praying Talos. Just ask for some building where pray him away from eleven eyes.

But Ulfric seemed to be the type of person that didn't actually stop to think if there was a better way to do things, he just charged forward with an idea and the hell with the rest. Like killing the poor High King… Tyrrog? Well, the Jarl of Solitude. Couldn't he just ask at the King if there was a way to secede from the Empire? Nah, better just walk inside the Blue Palace and challenge him. He could have done that after trying to talk, but nooooo. Too easy. Why try to be diplomatic and smart while you could act like an angry bull that had just seen red?

I honestly didn't know if Ulfric was a power-hungry warmonger or a self-righteous zealot. Or a mixture of both. I just knew I didn't like him.

Sure, that wasn't going to stop me to discuss with him and try to collaborate to find a solution at the Civil War that didn't include one of the sides stomping the other in the ground. That was exactly what the Thalmor wanted and, for all I didn't like Ulfric Stormcloack, I liked Nazi elves less. Far less.

But nothing of that was actually in my mind when I told them that. I just honestly believe that this entire Civil War was stupid. Unfortunately, convince them of the contrary was impossible.

"You have a point." Admitted Hadvar.

… Or maybe not. But hey, Hadvar always looked more reasonable then Ralof.

"Yes, I'm sure that Jarl Ulfric would prefer to kill the elven bastards that fight the Empire. He fought in the Great War, after all." Said Ralof.

"Well, he should have thought about that before." I cut him. "Now it's kind of late for that. He wins the Civil War or he gets executed."

Or not? Using Ulfric to attack the Thalmor while the Empire claimed total innocence was an idea that had some merits… but these were thought for another time.

"But let's not talk about this. We'll have political debates outside."

More nodding. "You were saying that there are spiders." Supplied Lokir. He was finally talking again. Maybe he was relaxing?

"Yes." I replied. "At least four."

"At least?" Asked Brugnir. "I thought you saw the future. Can't you be more precise?"

"If reading an Elder Scroll was so easy everybody would do it." I started. Nerd rant incoming. "I don't pretend to know how they work in detail, but for what I know, visions gained from the Scrolls are accurate… but can be confusing. Mortal minds are not meat to pry in the time. You have to interpret the vision and hope you actually got it right. If your eyes don't burn out just for glancing at the paper." I made a pause to take a breath. "My vision was incredibly clear but I don't trust my mind to be able to understand the entirety of what I saw, nor my memory of it. So, I can tell you I saw at least four frostbite spiders. But be prepared for more."

Being professional fighters, the group didn't feel the need to verbally express appreciation for a little warning against an opponent. They just nodded. Well, everyone except for Lokir, who didn't react that much. Maybe he was still traumatized from having seen the incarnation of the End of Times.

After a faaaar too long walk in damp corridors -seriously, how much the map was compressed, if the way you could do in ten minutes sneaking required forty minutes to do walking?- we finally arrived in front of the spiders' lair. Lokir, useful as always, had warned us far before the spiders actually were in view.

I ignore how sharp is the hearing of the spiders in real life, so I didn't take any chances and stopped two turns before the lair.

"Ok folks, we need a plan do deal with the spiders." I said, looking at the corridor to make sure we weren't suddenly assaulted by a horde of legs.

Nobody said anything.

"C'mon, not even an idea?" I asked, turning around.

Everyone was looking at me.

"What?"

"You know better than us what we're going to fight." Noted Ralof.

I blinked. "Yes, but I never actually fought frostbite spiders. And I'm not a warrior, a commander even less."

"True. But you still have a basic idea of what is going to happen." Replied Hadvar.

I blinked again, then sighed. "Alright. There should be two spiders on the ground and another two hiding in the webs on the ceiling. They're going to drop down at the first sign of problems, so our best bet is to rapidly kill the one we can see and hit the others while they're touching the ground."

Unfortunately, not everyone had bows. I grabbed one from the hands of the dead Imperials and Stormcloacks on the way, and Lokir did the same, but aside for that, only Hadvar had a bow. The Stormcloacks only had melee weapons.

Still, three in the front to stop the spiders and three behind to kill them was not a bad idea. I suggested as much.

"How good you are with your bow?" Asked Ralof.

I shrugged. "Not that much. I'm more confident in my ability to fry them with my new spell, honestly."

"Then do that." Replied Ralof. "Just be sure to not hit one of us."

I nodded and, together, we started to prepare the plan.

The plan resulted more or less what I thought it was going to be: me and everyone who could use a bow in the backline shooting and everyone else in the frontline to be sure the spiders didn't get us. Unfortunately, nobody had a shield. A shame, because it would have helped.

So, when we were ready, we attacked. Hadvar, being the only soldier, aimed at the biggest of the two spiders on sight. Me and Lokir aimed at the other, that at least one of use killed the beast.

Hadvar shot was a little high but managed to hit the spider in the thorax, and the beast simply slumped on the ground.

Not so for Lokir's shot and mine. Both hilariously missed the target, and the spider took notice. He rushed on us while the rest of his friends started to come down.

I reacted faster than even I expected and tried to fry another of those monsters. Strangely, the entire experience with the spell was becoming even easier. Another shenanigan? I didn't know. It just felt strange how easy it was to bend the power of electricity to my will. Sure, Novice level spell and whatever… but still easy. I almost didn't feel the expenditure of Magicka.

Unfortunately, the spider was devilishly fast. Sure, I wasn't really tiring, but he was going to be on me faster than I could react.

Fortunately, Tarnus reacted fast, putting himself on the trajectory of the monster. When the spider tried to bite him, he smashed his head open with his greatsword.

Meanwhile, before the other spiders could even think about spitting venom on us, Hadvar hit one of the monster right in the middle of the eyes, killing it instantly. On my part, I finally managed to hit one of those things with a lightning bolt.

Unlike in the game, the monster here weren't unfazed by attacks unless they killed them -or you used the two-handed Destruction perk to stun-lock them- and so the spider didn't react well when the electricity arched from my hand and strike it. Its legs stretched, it emitted a long, acute screeching sound, and then he collapsed on the ground.

I cautiously lowered my hand, still creaking with electricity. "It's dead?" I asked, surprised.

As an answer, Tarnus planted his greatsword in the head of the spider. "Now it is."

I sighed. "Good. I feared one of us was going to get poisoned. These things are nasty."

"We were lucky." Admitted Brugnir. "Usually, they shoot venom or webs before charging."

"I suspect part of the merit is on Hadvar. You're a good shot."

"Thank you. I do what I can." Smiled the Imperial.

"Now, while we walk… someone has experience in hunting bears?"

Unfortunately, it didn't look like they were. Not that I could fault them since… well, bears were fucking nasty. In real life and in Skyrim especially. Nothing short of a dragon could really compare to a bear unless you went around in full Ebony armor.

"We could try the same tactic." Commented Lokir. "The warrior in the front and the archers behind."

"We could." Commented Tarnus. "But I don't think it's a good idea to let the bear charge at us. The frostbite spiders are a thing: a bear weight several times anyone of us. We can't protect you if he decide to just get one of you. He can just run over us."

"Maybe we could surround him?" I asked. "You three try to root him while we continue to hit it until it dies?"

"Seems like the safest bet." Nodded Hadvar. "But it will be risky for the ones near the beast."

"If we had spears it would be better. Maybe some torches?"

"It could work." Confirmed Ralof. "But only if the damn animal is not too angry or desperate enough."

"We can't really do better." Replied Hadvar. "Unless someone here knows a fire spell…"

He didn't really look at me, but I could read between the words. I focused, trying to force the magic to assume the shape of fire…

And failed miserably. I just felt a little heat. Without a book, apparently, my learning process was far slower.

"Sorry, nothing. Apparently, I can just have luck a couple of times. No fire magic for me now. Give me an hour or two and maybe I can figure out how to lit a candle."

The Imperial sighed. "Well, it was too much to ask. Ok, surround and shoot. Anyone has a better idea?"

Apparently nobody did, so we just proceeded on the way until we finally arrived at the last cave. It was… bigger then I remembered. I could barely see the bear on the other side, in the only spot were the sunlight entered inside the cave. It was, apparently, sleeping.

"Ok, so… we need to get closer or we're never going to hit the bear accurately." I said. "Also, give me a bow. It's better to not use magic at first, or it will find out where we are instantly."

Yeah, another thing that the game didn't properly show was that arrows were almost impossible to see and that magic was noticeable. In the game, everyone could more or less understand were an arrow came from, even if nobody ever saw the strike coming. On the other hand, shooting a little, fast, barely visible projectile from a hidden location was, apparently, as obvious as a freaking lightning strike, all sparky and bluish. Seriously, what the hell?

Of course, magic was powerful when not limited by the game engine. My weak-ass lightning attack fried a spider that, in the game, would have no problem surviving a couple of those. I supposed electricity was a bit of a problem when the major problem was damage to nerves and the risk of heart attack instead of pure damage… and that's not considering the whole paralysis thing. It was obliviously removed from the game because if not electricity was going to be all-powerful. Not that freeze enemies solid or set them on fire was less painful for the poor fellas that were at the receiving end of a spell, but still.

Anyway, we used the fact that the bear was sleeping to surround him. Since it was sleeping, we -as me, Lokir and Hadvar- climbed some rocks to have a better view of the battlefield and readied our shots. I was, of course, going to drop the bow the moment the bear woke up, but it was a good idea to have the high ground, as Anakin discovered at his expenses.

Anyway, we waited until the rest of the group was in position. Then, we released the strings.

It was a good idea I spent several seconds aiming, otherwise I was probably going to miss the damn thing. Instead, we hit the bear without a problem.

Aside from the fact that we failed to kill the bear with that shot.

The creature instantly woke up and roared -a roar that filled most of my runs with terror, even when I was level 50 and already killed several dragons. Without thinking, I left the bow and released my power, while the Stormcloacks shouted and charged at the bear.

My total inexperience with magic showed up, because I somehow managed to miss the giant mass of fur.

Or maybe the bear was blessed by Hircine or something, because Lokir string snapped loudly when he tried to fire another arrow, and even Hadvar's shot, that landed easily on the creature, failed in doing any damage at all.

The bear roared again, furious, but the Stormcloacks were there. Ralof managed to slash the bear with his ax, drawing blood. Not a lot of blood, but still blood. Tarnus did the same.

But Brugnir received a paw on her face when she tried to hit the bear. She didn't go down, but it was clear that it had managed to hurt her.

Fortunately, the rest of them was there to help her or she was going to receive a nasty bite from the creature.

I doubled my efforts in taking down the bear. After launching my bow at Lokir, a lightning bolt shot out from my hand, landing on the fur of the bear…

… Completely failing in doing any damage. Sure, the animal twitched, but I didn't really hurt him at all. Apparently, being very big helped to resist at high voltage. Logically.

This was not going to do it. I needed more power. I didn't have time to learn a better spell, so I did the next best thing.

I let all the power that I could muster flow in every single spell instead of trying to hold as much as possible.

The results were immediately noticeable. The lightning shooting from my hand became suddenly brighter, faster, and more powerful. Two arcing bolts hit the bear, and even from the distance, I could smell burned fur.

I was making progress. Not a lot of progress but something. Better then Lokir and Hadvar anyway, since their arrows failed to damage the bear. Shot bows were not studied to kill massive predatory animals, apparently. I had to find a longbow if I wanted to kill something more sturdy then a random wolf.

Meanwhile, Ralof and Tarnus were demolishing the thing. The ax was better than the sword for hacking the thick hide of the bear, but really, Tarnus was really doing a great job. Tarnus MVP of the entire fight. Brugnir did enough to distract the bear, I suppose. She managed to not get hit against, at least.

I continued to blast the bear with all the power I could channel with my inexperienced body. Most of my attacks failed, dammit. But one managed to hit the bear. Nothing really serious, but something. Death of a thousand cut was still death, in the end.

Ralof, Tarnus, and Brugnir continued their operation, hacking and slashing. Nobody managed to land a solid hit, but more wounds opened on the skin of the bear, and they managed to avoid possible counter-attacks. You could see that they were a solid unit.

But, at last, the bear, brought down by the continued assault, got hit by one of my projectiles and, instead of just… sort of ignoring it after twitching for a second or two, stopped to move. That was the last time. An instant later, Tarnus and Brynild pierce its neck and it's shoulder respectively. The animal went down, if not instantly killed but surely not in condition to fight anymore.

"We made it." I sighed, slumping a little.

"Are you ok?" Asked Hadvar.

"Yes, yes. Just… relieved. I feared one of us could die."

The Imperial nodded. "Yes, luckily. Three on one was too much for the beast."

I nodded and we three reunited with the Stormcloack unit. After some congratulations, we decided to ignore the bear and just get out of the cave.

Just out, I signaled the group to stop. Sure, Alduin never saw me when I got out, but I usually didn't have five other people with me.

After a second, the dragon flew over our position and quickly disappeared from sight. Goddammit, it was fast.

"You save us again, seer." Noted Ralof.

"Impossible to say." I replied. "Normally, he never notices me. But we're more this time… I thought it was better to be cautious."

"And now?" Asked Tarnus. I had to buy him a beer when we arrived at Riverwood. He basically did all the job with the bear.

"Well… we could go to Riverwood, I supposed. But… there is a group of bandits hanging in a mine near. I'm not sure what they're planning, but I think it's better to deal with them now that find out."

"It's a good idea." Nodded Hadvar. "I wouldn't want to leave Riverwood to find out that the bandits killed some of my friends. But… it's late. And Brugnir need to rest a little."

Fortunately, the helmet protected the woman, but it was clear that she was not exactly in her best shape.

"We could rest at the standing stones." Proposed Ralof. "They're on the way."

Yes, that was a good idea. I didn't know what effect had the stones in real life, I doubted it was the same that the ones in the game, but it was better than nothing.

"Good." I said. "Let's go people."

-X-

So, a little note. I'm not sure it's clear, but this is trying to be a more 'realistic' and 'lore-friendly' take on the Skyrim universe. So, there will be no game mechanics abuse here and the enemy will act in a way that's realistic, instead of some silly AI programming that makes everyone stupid or genius depending on the situation. At the same time, magic is powerful and dangerous so you don't need Expert level Destruction magic to do anything more than tickle your opponent. You don't need to use the 100% School Cost reduction to make a school useful and while you get better at magic with practice, there is no loophole like the Telekinesis trick, nor trainer that gets you five points in a skill if you pay enough money. At the same time, no stupid restriction like only one magic ring at times, because for what I know there is no reason for that.

I'm also going with somewhat realistic physical abilities for normal people, so no walking around with a couple of plate armors in the bag with a side of tens swords, regardless of how much strength and endurance the protagonist have (right now, it's the same as a normal civilian, so nothing exceptional). But people in The Elder Scroll can get superhuman so I'm not shying away from that when the times come. It will be a long time since the protagonist is clearly built to be a mage, but still.

And yes, I'm going to use lore description of enemies, so dragons are not slightly bigger than a mammoth, they are gigantic beasts that can burn a city in a couple of minutes. Take the Legends images and the Elswyr trailer to get an idea of the size I'm more likely to use. The same goes for every other enemy of the game.

Well, that's all people. At the next week.

Unbound 1.4

After a brief walk -brief being an understatement, since we took an hour to arrive at the destination, we finally reached the Standing Stones. Then, with the sky turning dark, we set camp.

Well, set camp was an exaggeration. We took some log, created a tentative circle and started a fire inside it. It took a while, a lot of birds' nests and some rocks, but in the end, we had our campfire surrounded by pebbles to avoid it burning down the surrounding woods. We sat down and started to cook the provisions that we looted for Helgen. It was going to work for today, but tomorrow we were better to reach Riverwood hastily or we were going to miss breakfast.

I had taken my time to watch the Stones while the others were trying to start the fire. I had thought a lot along the way what was the best choice and, all in all, I was seriously leaning towards the Thief. After all, I was so incredibly out of shape that the Warrior wasn't going to work at all until later, and I already showed some talent with magic. The Thief will let me hide better and make me more difficult to find, and that was going to be my main strategy until I had more mass on my arms or could throw around fireballs.

That's if the Standing Stone effect was the one I remembered from Skyrim. It probably wasn't, because if the Lore I remembered was correct, it was the position of the stars when you were born that was important. The Standing Stones were probably something that the developers put in the game to let the players enjoy more freedom in their playthrough.

Still, the Stones were there. So, while I didn't think they had the actual effect of the ones in the game… maybe they could help me?

Fortunately, I found out that I could know if I had some blessing hanging around. Nothing like the game list, but just… a vague feeling. I couldn't put it into words at all, I just knew what my powers were. I just needed to focus a bit. So, I knew that I could cast a lightning bolt, that I was resistant to magic -the vague feeling told me as much and that I… could activate the Dragonskin power. Maybe. Apparently, it was not something every Breton had, but I felt that power inside me. I just needed to understand how to use it.

Was that normal?

Anyway, thanks to that, I knew that my ability with magic had nothing to do with a blessing of some higher begin. Soooo… I suppose that means that I -or whoever this guy I'm inside is, even if at the time I hadn't really thought about it in those terms- was born under the Mage constellation, that marked the person as someone who was going to be very good with magic. How exactly that worked I had no idea. Maybe it granted me increased Magicka reserves. Or maybe it was like in the game and I had a 20% faster training rate.

I doubted it. The training rate was just a game mechanic, or at least it looked like it was. So the actual effect was probably going to be better Magicka capacity. Useful for a mage, surely, since for what I gathered, Magicka was not supposed to recharge like in the game, so having more to use was a plus. That plus me being Breton probably gave me some not so insignificant reserves, probably matching those of a run-on-the-mill Altmer. Unless that Altmer was born under the Mage, the Apprentice or Atronach, of course.

So, my ability with magic was all-natural. Maybe it was my mind combined with the body of a Breton, maybe it was just a natural affinity this guy had, or maybe it was just me. I briefly considered during the walk if, maybe, I achieved the CHIM without knowing, because being that good at magic could not possibly be normal. But it probably wasn't the case. CHIM was, from what I understood, some sort of enlightenment thing were you realized that you were just a part of whatever Overgod dreamed the Elder Scrolls into existence, but still managed to maintain your individuality. Basically becoming one with the cosmos while remaining you, or something along those lines. I couldn't possibly do that because my mind, while realizing the truth of the Elder Scroll universe, wasn't actually part of it.

Or so I suppose, because I don't think I have the… whatever you need to achieve CHIM at all. I was just a normal guy. Besides, CHIM was more akin to reality-warping than being very good at magic -who was reality warping, but more using extradimensional energies to infuse the fabric of reality and then bending the rules already put down by the gods than just willing things to happen and the universe agreeing because reality is a dream and you were lucid dreaming. Or something.

Man, Elder Scroll metaphysic is weird. And confusing.

Anyway, the point was that I touched the Thief Stone. The Stone lit up and I felt the power of the Thief embracing me. It was…

It was a very, very watered-down version of what I assumed was the real power of the Thief. Basically, I was… marginally better at doing thief things if I really tried. Confused, I touched the Warrior and then Mage to feel what they were like.

And they were more or less the same. I was marginally better at doing warrior-y things if I really tried and I was… marginally better at casting spells, but only if I really tried and the spell was a difficult one. Just… underwhelming. The Mage in particular, who was my second option if the Thief Stone resulted in a disappointment, was even more underwhelming than the others. I was better at being a mage, but only if I tried to cast a difficult spell? Bah.

But hey, I already had my constellation, so it was expected. I re-touched the Thief and returned to the camp.

Where Ralof sent me a strange look. "Thief?"

I shrugged. "Look, the way is long and full of dangers. I have zero faith in my ability to eliminate every single enemy with the strength of my arm or my magic. So, not having to fight seems the superior choice to me."

Ralof didn't look convinced. Stupid Nords and their warrior culture. I was not a Viking, don't judge me because I don't fulfill your standards as a badass warrior.

But in the end, he just shrugged. "Well, you're a Breton after all."

What was that supposed to mean?

Well, whatever. It's not like I actually cared about what he thought about me until those thoughts bordered on killing intent. He thought I was dishonorable? Whatever. Like I was going to run into danger just to prove him wrong.

I sat down near the fire, trying to warm myself. I was normally pretty warm, like my girlfriend could attest, but Imperial Scout armor was not the warmest outfit. Nor the most comfortable. It was all leather and, while probably more light than the Stormcloack mail, it was not a blanket. It was going to be a long night.

I was distracted by my inner thoughts by Tarnus, who was looking at Brugnirs face. "Seems like you're going to make it, sister." He said. "It will take a couple of days to heal, but there doesn't seem to be anything hurt."

"You sure?" I asked. "Head injuries can be nasty."

Tarnus nodded. "I'm sure. You're a healer?"

I shook my head. "I'm a scholar. I know enough of anatomy to worry but not enough to do something about it."

"I see." Said the warrior. "I'm not a healer either, so we better find one soon, but for now she seems to do be doing well. I can't see any sign of worse injury." He sighed. "It's a shame. If any other of us was hurt, she could heal us. But right now-"

"You're a healer?" I asked, interrupting Tarnus mid-sentence. "You don't look like one."

"Because I'm not." Dismissed Brugnir. "My mother knew some basic Restoration spells, and tried to teach me. But I didn't have the talent for them. I only know a basic spell. A stupid spell too. I can only heal other people."

Was that a thing? Uh, for some reason I remembered something about spells being more easy to cast when used through touch… while casting on yourself was more pricey. It sounded like a game mechanic, but apparently it was a real thing. I'll have to ask a mage why it worked that way instead of… well, casting on yourself is more difficult than casting on others, and not as difficult or even easier.

Still…

I changed position and placed myself near the woman. Now that I looked at her without the helmet… she was an absolutely normal-looking woman. Tall and blonde like most Nords but nothing special about her. She had a pretty rough face though, like she ate punches in the face for breakfast, and surely the massive bruise on half her face didn't help. She retracted a little when I sit near her.

"Can you teach me that spell?"

She blinked. "Uh… now?"

"Why not? I learned to cast a lightning bolt in half an hour. Maybe I'll be lucky again and you will go to sleep without that bruise."

She hesitated. "Well… that would be nice." She said. "Ok, I'll do it. Just try to not zap me."

"I'll do what I can." I replied, smiling a little.

It took me a good part of an hour to learn that stupid spell, but in the end, I managed to get the basics of Restoration magic right and started to heal Brugnir. It took several tries, because the spell was weak as hell, but after a minute or two, the bruise was removed from her face.

"Well, I learned a spell and your face has just one color again." I said when I put down my hands. "I call that a success."

Brugnir checked her face. "Well, I'm impressed. It took me forever to learn that spell. I supposed that's what a real mage look like."

"Calling me a mage is stretching it. That's the second spell I've ever learned." I paused for a second. "Wouldn't more of you know some convenient spell, like, I dunno, something from the Illusion or Alteration school? I could use even a simple fire spell. A lot of beasts here are resistant to frost and I already know a shock spell…"

There was a general denial. "Maybe it's different in Daggerfall, seer, but here in Skyrim most people don't just learn magic." Said Ralof. "It's a path only the most talented take."

"That's stupid." I commented. "Everyone can learn magic. We bath in Magicka every day."

"Magic is… a little frowned upon here." Supplied Hadvar. "Or, well, not magic but mages. Between the Thalmor and the Great Collapse, there isn't a lot of trust in magic."

I had to nod. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Besides, we Nord prefer a more… active life." Commented Tarnus. "Being a mage doesn't grant access to Sovengard."

"It doesn't?" I asked, half curious and half sarcastic. "So if I had to fight off an entire bandit tribe on my lonesome, I wouldn't go to Sovengard because I killed them with magic instead of a sword?"

Tarnus remained silent. Brugnir replied. "He wanted to say that's a life that lead to that kind of situation. Most mages stay in their towers and don't fight at all."

"Like the Greybeards." I commented. "But I suppose that they don't count because they're all Nords, right?"

"The Thu'um is completely different from magic." Reacted Tarnus. Man, he looked like a really cool guy, but apparently was a bit of a fanatic.

"Yes, but the Greybeard are pacifists, right? Isn't that the entire point of the Way of the Voice? That the Thu'um shouldn't be used for war? Not many chances to die of a glorious death while living in hermitage."

The Nords sent each other looks. I don't know what they were trying to do, but I didn't really care.

"You're really informed about the Thu'um, Loki." Changed topic Hadvar, probably to avoid further discussion. Smart move. I probably shouldn't provoke fantasy Vikings talking about their religion and sacred tradition, but racism and bigotry didn't sit well with me. "That was another thing you studied?"

I shrugged. "What can I say? The mysteries of magic and the supernatural fascinate me. Of course, I don't really know a lot about the Thu'um, only the stories you can find in the books."

"You think you can learn the Thu'um as easily than you can learn magic?" Asked Hadvar, with a little smile on his face.

I grinned. "Don't tempt me."

There was a light chuckle around the fire. Then, the only person that hadn't talked yet decided to speak.

"What do we do now?" Asked Lokir.

Everyone turned toward me. Dammit, me and my excuse for knowing the future. Granted, I did but it was starting to become annoying that everyone asked me for indications when they were better than me at this.

"For now, we take watch." I replied. "There are wolves and bandits near. Then, if you want, there is the mine I was talking about before." I paused for a second. "There aren't a lot of people inside. A dozen top. We should make it if we are quick enough."

"And after that?" Asked Lokir. The rest just stared at me.

Was the moment to reveal Alduin's plan? Probably yes. "Alduin wants to resurrect the dragons." I revealed. "I'm sure you know, but dragons don't die easily. Sure, most are dead, but their soul is not gone. Alduin knows a way to resurrect them, and use them to conquer Skyrim once again."

"That's why a Dragonborn is going to rise. Only the Dragonborn can permanently kill dragons and, eventually, defeat Alduin. The ancient Tongue couldn't defeat Alduin and so they used an Elder Scroll to banish him in the future. But now he's here and I don't think he's going to fall for the same trick twice."

"Can we do anything to help?" Asked Hadvar.

"Help the Dragonborn? No. Help Skyrim?" I paused. "Well… maybe."

"How?" Asked Tarnus, leaning forward.

"Stopping the Civil War would help." I replied, and the Nords flinched. "But I realize that's wishful thinking. But there is another way."

"Inside the Bleak Fall Barrows, there is an artifact called the Dragon Stone. It's nothing magical. It's just a stone with the position of several burial sites for dragons. While not immediately useful, knowing the position of the sites could help the Dragonborn strike the dragons before they can attack a nearby settlement. Or I suppose that's what Jarl Baalgruf will use it for."

"Jarl Baalgruf?" Asked Ralof. "He wants the Dragon Stone?"

"I'm not sure if he wants it right now." I admitted. "The news of Helgens destruction probably hasn't reached him yet. But when they do, he'll ask his court mage to find something to fend off the dragons, and he'll ask for the Dragon Stone. I'm not sure why this should help, maybe they hope to find some information on the Stone. Regardless, it's something Skyrim could use."

I made a strategic pause to give my next words more weight.

"I realize you have to return to your armies." I said. I had no doubt they will. This was just a quick pause. And I had absolutely no way to convince them that helping me was going to help all Skyrim, especially since I didn't plan to dive in the main quest from the start. "But I hope you can help me retrieve the Stone. Then, you can back to your armies. They probably think you're dead, anyway. One day or two more it's not going to make any difference. I can't do it alone: even discounting the bandits, there are draugr inside."

There was a pause. Then, Lokir talked.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking down. "I already escaped death one time. I'm not going to risk it again."

I wanted to make him notice that he escaped death twice because I helped him, but I couldn't fault him for not wanting to fight the draugrs. They were not the nicest of undead in Skyrim.

"I see. Will you help us with the mine?"

He shook his head. Then, surprisingly, he added something. "But… if there is something that I can do, besides fighting, I'll try to help. I owe you at least this."

I thought about it for a second. "Yes. There is something."

"What?" He asked, relieved.

"I can't give the Stone to the Jarl." I admitted. "My visions showed that doing so will start a chain of events that will escalate Alduin's plans far faster. I need someone else to bring the Dragon Stone to Whiterun. Will you wait for us at Riverwood until we return and then bring the Stone to Whiterun?"

Lokir paused. "But… wouldn't my presence do the same?"

"No, if you don't stay near." I replied. "I'll give you a letter for the Jarl telling him that you're just a messenger. Just don't tell him you survived Helgen, or he's going to ask you to help… and I don't think you want to fight a dragon."

The thief nodded. I turned toward Tarnus and Brugnir. "Tarnus? Brugnir?"

The two Stormcloacks exchanged a look and then refused. "We'll help with the mine." Said Tarnus. "But we'll not help with this Dragon Stone."

"I'll do it." Intervened Ralof. "You've demonstrated several times that your visions were accurate. If you say that this will help, then I'm going."

"Same here." Said Hadvar. "The Imperial Army can make it without me for a day or two."

"Thanks." I said, sincerely grateful.

"But once we get the Stone, what are you going to do?" Asked Hadvar. "You intend to fight the dragons."

I shook my head. "Only the Dragonborn can fight the dragons. Everyone else is fated to lose in the end. As for me…" I paused, raised my hand, and let the magicka flow between my hands in the form of lighting arcs. "I seem to be pretty good at magic, so I'll probably go to the College of Winterhold. It's not my intention to stay there for long, but I need someone that teaches me the spells. And after that… Solstheim."

"Solstheim?" Asked Ralof. "Why you would go there?"

"Various reasons." I said. "Something is moving on the island. And, well, there is a particular artifact that I want to take. There are rumors about someone locating the Armor of Ahzindal."

"That's the reason you tried to enter Skyrim?" Asked Brugnir. "For a set of armor?"

"That's not just a set of armor. Ahzindal was a great enchanter, maybe the best that you Nords ever birthed, and his armor is his masterpiece. But…"

I paused. Of course, I couldn't tell them the truth, and while telling them that I came here to warn Skyrim about the danger and fight valiantly at their side, that wasn't the truth. So, I told them something else.

"No, I didn't try to come to Skyrim for that reason. I didn't even try because it was the right thing to do. Honestly, I didn't want to come here. There is pretty big hole in my memory. The last thing I remember before waking up in the cart is getting to sleep in my house. I have no idea how I arrived there."

There was a pause.

"Maybe you just hit your head harder than you thought." Tried Hadvar, but he didn't look convinced.

"I doubt it." I dismissed. "I'm pretty sure something sent me there, but who, I don't know."

"A Deadra?" Hypothesized Brugnir.

"Maybe." I shrugged. "In doubt, I'll blame it to some crazy prank from Shegorath.

"Kidnapped from your home and put in Skyrim in the middle of the Civil War and with the return of the dragons." Said Tarnus. "Yes, I could see Shegorath pull out something like this."

I smiled. "Well, I think it's time to go to sleep. We'll have a pretty full day tomorrow."

The rest of our little group nodded and started to plan for the turns. I let them think about it. I just tried to find a position that was more or less comfortable and tried to rest.

Tomorrow it will be another day of danger, but after that, we'll arrive at Riverwood. I feared that moment. Until I was in the wild parts of Skyrim, I could use the danger to keep my mind away from my situation. But at the moment I would have time to think… I didn't know what would happen.

X

A thanks to creativeProcrastinator for beta reading this.

Also, if you have some questions or remarks to do about the story, ask away.

Last edited: Oct 20, 2019

Unbound 1.5

Like expected, my night was horrible. Fortunately, the group decided to spare me from the watch, probably thinking I wasn't going to be really useful anyway. And I agreed with them.

So I woke up sore but rested… or as rested as I could be. I managed to stand right when Lokir was packing out and leaving.

"Good luck, Lokir. And wait for me at Riverwood." I said, watching him take his bag. He nodded at me and then started to walk away.

"Oh, you're awake." Greeted me Ralof. "Tell us, seer. What we have to expect from the bandits?"

"One guard at the entrance." I started to count. "Two more before a makeshift bridge. There is a tripwire when descending, but fortunately, it doesn't cover all the corridors. After the bridge, one man near some sort of vault, then three more in the next cave. One in front of the forge, one chilling near the living room, or whatever they call that part of the cave, and one archer patrolling near the other exit of the cave."

"I see." Commented on the Stormcloack. "Some information on how they are equipped?"

I shook my head. "Impossible to tell. The vision was confused about this. But they're low-level bandits, so probably leather armor and steel weapons. Even iron weapons. The mined iron doesn't seem to be of high quality."

Another nod from Ralof. Then…

"I've returned." Announced Hadvar, appearing out of the nearby bushes with some small game animals in his hands. Geez, when did he find the time to hunt them?

Well, whatever. Breakfast!

While eating, Hadvar and the Stormcloacks exchanged information about what happened during the night. Apparently, there was some kind of fight between animals somewhere they could hear, but nothing they could discern. They said they were lucky the fight hadn't broken out nearer the camp since most of the group was asleep and tired from the previous day.

But we still managed to see the aftermath of that fight. On the road to the mine, or, well, near the road because using the road seemed a stupid idea knowing there was a sentinel. We found traces of blood and a fight. A black wolf was laying on the dirt near a puppy, clear claw marks in his fur. A bear, probably. And since the body wasn't eaten, the adult wolf probably took one of his pups and ran, before dying from blood loss.

Or so Hadvar supposed. It looked plausible to me.

I was ready to leave when the Imperial added something. "Oh, the pup is still alive."

I stopped and looked at the little wolf. He breathed so weakly that I didn't notice until now. I kneeled near Hadvar. "It's wounded?" I asked.

The Nord nodded. "Not a lot or he'd be dead by now. Still, he's in grave condition."

I looked at the little wolf lying down and sighed. Normally, I wouldn't dare to touch him and risk to make matters worse, but I didn't need to be a veterinarian to heal him.

I raised my hand and a white light fell on the little wolf.

"Save your magic for the bandits, seer." Told me Tarnus, but I just shrugged.

"This spell is so basic I could use it every second of every day and not feel tired at all. Don't worry about me, Tarnus. You go ahead and find the entrance of the cave. We need to be fast."

The Stormcloacks nodded and continued on the way. Meanwhile, my work was almost done.

Truly, the little wolf was so… well, little that his wounds weren't that difficult to heal. After the flesh mended, I took out a piece of meat and tossed it to the pup. The wolf, probably smelling food, opened his eyes and tried to stand.

"Isn't he a little… big?" I asked when he finally managed to stand up and eat. I wasn't an expert on wolves, far from it, but I had seen one that had some months and… well, this one looked more or less of the same size while being far younger.

"Maybe he just looks younger then he is." Commented Hadvar. "It happens sometimes. Now, let's go. Unless you want to keep him."

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm terrible with animals. He'll find a way to survive on his own, or maybe another pack will take him. I've done what I could."

Hadvar nodded and we resumed our journey.

I would like to tell an epic story about me and the Nord Squad engaging the bandits in glorious melee combat it a battle that would be remembered for years. It could even be easy. But it was not what happened. What happened was that I and Hadvar shot them and when they were down, in pain, the three Stormcloacks charged and finished them. One by one. Aside from the last two, the bandit chief and the archer. The chief was simply swarmed by our melee fighters while me and Hadvar shoot the archer down. A couple of lighting blasts was all it took to eliminate her.

Then I looted the place because I was broke. Not that I found anything interesting. Just more food, some gems, and coins. Coins that I didn't loot from the people at Helgen more because I wanted to get out fast, than me being against taking money from the dead. Even if, well, it looked disrespectful to loot soldiers that were just fighting a stupid war. But those were bandits, so fuck them.

My companions, not being adventurers and probably having income, didn't look too hard on what I took so when I gave them a gem each, they looked happy.

And they better be because that was most of the money in this damn mine.

Fortunately, I had other things I could take. Like a full hide armor, better for keeping me warm, a bastard sword, alchemical ingredients, and a spell tome: Clairvoyance.

That was a spell that, frankly, I didn't think I would really see. It seemed too much like a tool to not get lost for some hardcore players that wanted a 'realistic' experience, and so turned off the markers on the map. But hey, I was wrong. Good for me. I didn't need a map now, bitches.

So, when we finally emerged from the mine, we were, like, three hours away from Riverwood, nobody was hurt, and I had a little money. Could the day go better? Of course not.

"Uhm, Loki?" Called Ralof. "I think something is tailing us."

I stopped walking and turned. What could be tailing us right now? I was just arrived here and knew nobody. It was too soon to receive letters of sort. Unless it was the random even of the thief running away and dropping an item…

But no, nothing like that. After a second, from the bush near the street emerged… the wolf pup?

"Arf!"

"Seems like he followed us." Commented Hadvar. "Maybe he likes you."

"What? Nah. He probably wants more food."

Just because he had to contradict me, the wolf puppy decided to trot in my direction. "Arf!"

"Look little one, we're entering a village right now, you can't just follow us inside."

The pup looked at me with surprisingly intelligent eyes and replied. "Arf!"

Why I was talking with this pup again? "No is no, little one."

The little wolf lowered his ears and started to whine.

I blinked. Like I said before, I was not really expert about wolves, but that was way out of the line. I could expect something like that from a dog that had lived with people for long and could understand them pretty well, but a wolf pup? I was almost like…

"Did…?" I asked, confused. "Did he just understood what I said?"

The Nords hesitated. "Well, it looks like that." Admitted Brugnir.

I returned to watch the pup, who was still whining. "You can understand me?"

The pup ears shot up. "Arf!"

"Ok, let's try it. One bark for yes, two for no. You understand?"

"Arf!"

"Urgh, maybe two barks for yes and one for no? What do you say?"

"Arf arf!"

I blinked again. Ok, before I could attribute the fact that he seemed to understand what I was saying to coincidence, but now…

"All right… so you understand what I say."

"Arf arf!"

"Just me?"

"Arf!"

I sent a look to Hadvar. He got the message instantly. "So, why are you following us, little one? You want to come with us?"

"Arf!"

"Just with me?" I asked.

"Arf arf!"

Well, that sealed it. This little guy, for some reason, understood human speech. How and why…

"Any idea on why this pup can understand us?" I asked to the Nords. They knew their fauna better than me.

"Maybe it's a gift from Kyne." Tried Tarnus. "Maybe she saw the journey you're going to make and sent you help."

"A wolf?" I asked, confused. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'd prefer something more useful."

"You get what the gods give you, Breton."

I wanted to reiterate in some way but I decided to drop the discussion. "Alright. So, you promise to be a good boy and do what I say?"

"Arf arf!"

Jesus, talking with a wolf and having him actually answer back was really strange. But this was Tamriel, there were stranger things around. "Good. Now, follow us and don't do anything that could make the locals decide to skin you."

The pup inclined his head. "Arf arf?"

I took that as an 'ok?' and nodded. Then, I took another piece of meat and threw it to him. "Good boy."

The wolf launched himself on the meat and devoured it. Then, wagging his tail, he rubbed his head against my leg.

Now, I normally wasn't a dog guy. I'm not a pet guy in general since I have a little trauma thanks to two vicious Chihuahua that decided that chasing me when I was little was funny. Granted, I love animals, but love animals and be at ease in the presence of one were two different things.

That said, aww. He was really cute. Despite my innate fear, I kneeled and petted his head. "I'll name you Fenrir, little one. That's your name. You understand?"

"Arf arf!" He replied, before liking my palm. Or the hide of my bracers, at least.

"Good. Let's go."

With Fenrir with us, we finally reached Riverwood. Bla-Bla-Bla, a lot of talking and explanations. Honestly, I wasn't paying attention to all the chat between Ralof, Hadvar and… I don't remember the name of the smith. Whatever. They offered me a place to sleep but, really, I needed to stay by myself for a while. So, I went to the local inn, the… Sleeping Giant? I don't know, just got there one time and I never came back.

It took me a while to negotiate the presence of Fenrir, but after showing the extreme intelligence of the pup, Delphine was convinced that he could stay. She even talked to the wolf personally, explaining that he had to be well behaved or she was going to kick him out.

Fenrir puppy eyes failed to move her.

Ah, Delphine, I really didn't know how to do with you. Sure, you helped the Dragonborn… buuuuut I already knew everything so you could go fuck yourself. Also, I wasn't really keen on recreating the Blades since, well, apparently you were going to bitch if I didn't kill Paarthurnax aka Dragon Sensei, the single most helpful character in the entire game and the proof that Dovah could coexist with the people of Tamriel. So… yeah, not joining your little cabal.

But, aside for that, she wasn't really evil, so outright killing her was out of the question. And I could probably use her because the game didn't let me change her mind on Paarthurnax, but in real life, we probably could find a compromise. Maybe. Possibly?

Anyway…

"Do you have a mirror or something like that?" I asked the woman.

Delphine looked at me, confused. "I do. But why do you need it?"

Because I want to verify if my face is still my face and I'm not just the mind of the real me that devoured the soul of a poor bastard because a ROB decided to have fun. I'm not sure if I prefer that to being kidnapped from my home and find myself in a fantasy land when I'm supposed to be the savior of the world. I'm not actually good at anything, even less actually fighting immortal Dragon-Gods. All of this while I don't know what happened to the real me, but I'll take what I can.

"I want to check for injury." I lied. "I feel fine, but better be sure."

The woman frowned. "Wouldn't it be better to see a healer?"

I showed her my luminous hand. "I have that covered, thank you."

Delphine didn't look convinced at all, but since I gave her no reason to doubt me -after all I could just be paranoid, and to be fair I probably was- she gave me a mirror made of polished metal and a room, for the local equivalent of twenty euro, 10 septims.

Thanks, game for being accurate with prices of the inns. All the rest was not accurate, cause game balance, but I appreciated that at least the inns were cheap.

So, after entering my room, after removing the armor and after telling Fenrir to sit down and not make a sound, I finally took the mirror and, after I took a breath, I looked.

The face that stared back was… mine. And not in an 'oh no, it's my face but it's not really my face. Because I remember I had another face and this one look familiar because it's the face of the guy I just possessed'. It was just mine. But… not really. It's better to say that it looked like mine if I was born in a couple of centuries before my time when food was not so good and health even worse. I looked more haggard, even if somehow I continued to look slightly overweight even with that. But aside for that… it was my face.

That… had terrible implications. And there was the matter of why I felt so familiar with everything around me. I started to dive into my memories trying to find an explanation.

What I found was… confusing. There were my memories, crystalline clear. Then there was another set of memories. Memories of a Breton man that lived in Cyrodiil for most of his life and studied magic as a hobby. A man that had a father coming from the Legions and so had some decent idea on how to fight, despite not being able to do it very well. This, apparently, because the Snake had appeared in the sky with the Mage when he was born, so his health had always been poor and there was a bit prejudice coming from other people. So, since the military was out and being a merchant like his mother didn't look good, he focused on becoming a scholar. Why not a mage was beyond me since he was born under the Mage, but everyone made their choices.

The confusing part of the whole issue was that the memories of this Breton looked… shallow. Fragmented memories were something I could get behind if the act of possessing this poor fellow just shattered his mind beyond repair, but it wasn't just that. The memories felt hollow, and his father alternatively looked like my dad or didn't have a face at all. Same for his mother, and the same for the place he visited. There wasn't a single memory that was strong and clear as mines.

Being completely ignorant about how possession could work on Tamriel, I didn't dare to decide what happened. My ideas could be right or wrong and everything in between. But, from the look of hit, possession didn't look like something plausible. I still couldn't exclude the possibility. As I couldn't remove the possibility that the face reflected was effectively me and the memories were fake.

So, in the worst possible case, some Daedra grabbed me and threw me into Skyrim, leaving my family heartbroken by my sudden disappearance. The second worst possible scenario was that I died or went into a coma and a Daedra grabbed my soul and shoved it inside this poor bastard, destroying whatever there was of his personality and memory.

The best-case scenario was that this wasn't actually me but some sort of projection of myself, in which case I was just dreaming all of this and when I ended the story I would wake up like nothing had happened at all. Better yet, this body was completely fake, like my mind, and my real self was just living his life like always while me, basically a copy of his mind, was in this world.

I didn't believe in the last one at all, because no creature from the Elder Scrolls had that much power aside from a Daedric Prince in their plan of Oblivion, and Earth was not in a plane of Oblivion to my knowledge. Putting people from one dimension to another, especially one not controlled by anybody, was not something that was possible, from what I knew.

Of course, I could be wrong. I'm not that expert regarding TES lore.

Mmm… but there was Shadow Magic and the shit about different worlds… maybe that could be an alternative explanation. That this fellow tried to practice Shadow Magic and involuntarily put an alternate version of himself, me, in his body, while at the same time destroying his soul and memory? But I found no memories of this. They could have been destroyed, of course, but it sounded unlikely.

Come to think of it, all these memories seemed to be here just to give me some basic understanding of the world in general. I doubt that Tamrielic sounded like Italian or English at all and I could still read and speak normally. Awfully convenient. Hey, ROB, if you hear me, that's a cheap way to avoid all the conflict, you know that?

Well, it was useless to think about it. Sure, I was going to do it regardless because I couldn't just shake off the thought that my presence here destroyed the soul of an innocent, not that I could be dead or comatose and leaving my family in despair.

Or my girlfriend. Oh, shit. There was the possibility I was never going to see her again, right? Nor the rest of my family. No, I had to think. I had magic. Sure, Conjuration was not something I had studied in detail, but Conjuration was all about interacting with the planes of Oblivion. I could find a way to return home, probably. I came here, there had to be a way to come back. I was going to find it. At least, to be sure everyone was ok, even if I wasn't there anymore.

I shook my head. This was so depressing. Fortunately, Fenrir noticed my mood and tried to console me, rubbing his head against my leg.

"Thanks, little one." I said, rubbing him behind the ears. The wolf looked blissful.

… What? I wasn't a pet guy but my girlfriend was. I had to learn something about them.

Sighing, I dropped on the bed, trying to not think about anything. The next day there was the climb to the Barrows and I have to be rested. I wasn't sure how much it would take, but probably most of the day if not more than one. Better sleep.

Once again, Fenrir helped me by jumping on the bed. After I twitched away, caught by surprise by his sudden motion, he curled up at my side and just stayed there

I had to admit, it was comforting. I petted him and he emitted a satisfied whine.

Goodnight, little wolf. And thanks.

X

The day after our arrival at Riverwood, I decided to visit Valerius something and his sister, because why not take advantage of the fact that I already had to go to the Barrows and retrieve the Golden Claw to gain something from it?

The discussion went as I remembered until we arrived at the part regarding the reward.

"Of course, I will give you a fair reward."

"I'm sure you'll do." I replied. "Do you sell magic tomes, maybe?"

In the game, he did. Novice Rank tomes like Lesser Ward, Frostbite and Oakflesh. And Raise Undead, for some reason I couldn't fathom, since Necromancy, while more 'accepted' in Skyrim, was probably still bad. Sure, raising a dead body for some minutes was probably just a different branch of Conjuration then 'real' Necromancy, but I was surprised a merchant could sell tomes about raising the dead so openly.

"I do." Confirmed Valerius. "You are interested? I have basic tomes for most of the schools of magic."

"You do? Well, it's more than I was hoping for. Tell me more."

Turns out he had most of the spells I remembered and couple more, aside for Raise Dead, that was substituted by Summon Familiar. Well, it made sense as an alternative Novice level spell, so yeah. We came to an accord, and in the end, I managed to get all the tomes he had and some coins too. I managed to bargain a couple of tomes as preliminary payment and decided on learning the lesser Warding and Summon Familiar spells first. Because I needed to have something to protect myself with, right?

The day had started wonderfully. And got better, so to speak. When I got out of the shop, I found Hadvar and Ralof talking with a massive Nord. Like, I wasn't short and Nords were still bigger than me, but this guy looked just short of two meters. He was covered with a big, thick steel armor and had a menacing Warhammer strapped behind the back. His hair and beard were of an odd mix of blonde and red I was sure had a name, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember, because I've never actually seen anyone with that color in my life. Despite that, he looked very young. Just starting his twenties, I suppose, despite me being terrible at guessing the age of someone.

Since he was the one facing the shop, the unknown warrior was the first to see me. "Ah, so you are the brave man that's going to challenge the Bleak Fall's Barrow, aren't you?"

I sent a look to Hadvar and Ralof but they just shrugged. "I am. My name is Loki Andreasson. And who you are?"

"My name is Thormund, my friend." Replied jovially the man. "They call me Thormund Giantsbane, or the Thunderer, depending on how much mead I have in my body!"

… Really? A double citation to Game of Thrones and Nordic mythology? I know I kinda started this by calling myself Loki and the wolf Fenrir, but this was starting to sound ridiculous.

But I suppose the title was earned since he was loud as hell. For the Giantsbane, we'll see.

"Nice to meet you, Thormund. So, interested in my little expedition?"

"I am, my friend. I'm an adventurer, and I always take the chance of exploring some ruins when I can."

"I see. Just so you know, I'm pretty broke right now, so I don't think I can pay you for going with us."

He waved his enormous and plated hand. "No need to worry. I'll just take my share of the loot and be done with it. I'm not a mercenary."

I nodded in relief. Another combat able body was welcome, especially one that looked… well, so powerful. Even is the 'Giantsbane' part was more a wish of future deeds than an actual accomplishment, he still looked more than strong enough, especially compared to me.

"Very well, Thormund Giantsbane. You're welcome to join us in our little expedition. Let's start to walk. We have a long way ahead and I have things to tell you."

Thormund looked at me, confused. On their part, Hadvar and Ralof sent each other a knowing way, like they were imagining how that discussion will go.

Unbound 1.6

Like expected, the march toward Bleaks Fall Barrow was longer than the one in the game. Mostly because I couldn't run like I did in the game. Sure, mountain walking was an activity I liked, but mountain running was not. So my pace, and everyone else's, was far slower than what it could be.

Conversely, the walk was far safer because, between Thormund and the others, the wolves on the road didn't even try to show up. Proof, as always, that game mechanics and real-life were two different things. Wolves normally didn't attack humans if not desperate, and never in lower numbers. It just made sense that they were going to avoid our little group. That gave me the time to read both the Lesser Ward and Summon Familiar tome, giving me the first taste of Conjuration. I was probably going to double down on Conjuration since having a disposable meatshield was something that was probably going to save my life.

Unfortunately, while the wolves had the common sense to avoid us, the bandits on the road were a different matter entirely.

"Halt." I said the moment I saw the tower over a rock. "There are bandits in that tower."

"And how do you know that, friend Loki?" Asked Thormund.

Yeah, in the end, I just told him about what we were searching for in the Barrow and what enemies were probably going to show up. The Nord didn't ask how I knew that, probably because he assumed I had done my research on the matter.

But bandits were a different thing.

"He read an Elder Scroll and now he knows the future." Hadvar beat me on that. "And yes, he's accurate. Not overly precise, but accurate."

Thormund looked at me with new eyes. "So that's how you know so much about the Barrows. I just thought you were a tomb raider."

I wasn't sure how to take that, since he said it without any negative connotations. Normally, you'd expect the 'job' of a tomb raider being… well, frowned up.

"No, nothing like that." I replied, taking out the bow. "I'm just a scholar."

"I thought you were a mage." Replied the giant, confused.

"Just something I picked up on the road." I dismissed. "Now, there are three bandits. One out, two inside, but one does a patrol outside. One is an archer, the other two are melee fighters. If we manage to kill the sentinel, we might not alert the one on the top of the tower."

"It's the one on top of the tower the archer?" Asked Ralof.

"No, it's the one inside the tower, on the lower floor." I said. I caught his expression. "Yeah, I know, it doesn't make any sense."

"How good are they?" Asked Thormund, curious.

"I don't know." I admitted.

"That's what Hadvar meant when he said he's not overly precise." Commented Ralof. "He knows the general situation but not the details. I suppose we are lucky enough that he didn't lose his mind when he read that damn thing."

"So, what's the plan?" Asked the Legionnaire.

"Well, I suggest we try to kill the archer at a distance and then Thormund charges." I looked at the Nord. "You think you can beat two of them?

The man laughed. "Of course. Two bandits are nothing!"

Well, we'll see.

Anyway, Hadvar, Ralof and I tensed the bow and waited for the moment to strike.

Then, the archer appeared, walked to the edge of the little bridge that connected the tower to solid ground, and stopped.

At that moment, Ralof and Hadvar released their bows, aiming to the archer. I, on my part, aimed at Nord near the archer. How did I know he was a Nord? Well, only a Nord would wear just a coat of fur, a pair of pants and boots and nothing else, near winter and in the mountains. Everyone else would just have died by immediate hypothermia.

Well, the plan went as expected. Alas, Hadvar and Ralof hit the archer and he dropped dead. Before the other bandit could react to his companion's death, my arrow pierced the wood of a nearby tree.

As expected.

Then Thormund charged. "For Skyrim!"

I had to give him, he was really good at fighting. So good that the bandit didn't stand a chance. He hit him in the face with his war-hammer and the bandit flopped down like a puppet with its strings cut.

Then he ran inside the tower and, before we could arrive, he was already returning. "Ahaha! Easy, too easy. I hope that the draugs inside the Barrow are more challenging than these bandits."

Damn. Maybe he was called Giantsbane for a reason, after all.

After quickly looting the bandits and a quick pause to eat something, we continued with our march. We started in the morning and it was, more or less, early afternoon when we finally arrived at the Barrows. Before charging, we made a little meeting to discuss the strategy.

"So, three bandits, only one archer, plus two more inside." Reassumed Ralof. "Any clever battle plan?"

"No." I denied. "Unless the bandits are blind and brain dead, they're going to see us arrive from a mile. Besides, I think Thormund can easily dispatch them. Just have to wait until the archer is in a position when he cannot give the alarm and then we run in."

"Just that?" Asked the Stormcloack. "I thought you were going to propose we use the rocks for cover."

"Again, blind and brain-dead." I replied. "I mean, sure, we can try. I just don't think we can reach the archer before they see us."

So… yeah, we charged the damn bandits. That's it. With Thormund in the front, we stormed the improvised encampment and killed the bandits. I mean… my companions killed the bandits. With my less than stellar physical shape and Thormund in the frontlines, I didn't really get a chance to actually do anything.

"I suggest we sleep here." Said Ralof, after we finished clearing the first chamber from the corpses of the bandits. "We have a fire and bedrolls already set. We can venture into the lower levels after we rest."

"Arf arf!" Commented Fenrir.

Yeah, he was here too. I tried to make him remain at Riverwood but he hadn't listened. At least he refrained from being too annoying during the march. He just continued to run around us. At least when I told him to stay behind while we killed the bandits, he listened.

"Your little friend here is extremely obedient." Noted Thormund. "What's your secret?"

"No secret." I said. "He's just very intelligent. Try to ask him something that he can answer with a yes or no. Yes is two barks, no is one."

The warrior frowned and looked at the wolf pup. "You can understand me?"

"Arf arf."

Thormund raised a brow and sent us a glance. When we didn't react, he returned to watch the puppy. "Alright. Let's try this. Are you a bear?"

"Arf!" replied Fenrir, looking offended.

The warrior blinked. "My apologies, it was just a test. Are you… are you willing to do as I say?"

The wolf looked at me. I waved a yes. "Arf arf."

Thormund smiled and kneeled down. "Paw." He said, stretching his hand toward the pup. It was almost as big as the entire pup.

Hesitantly, Fenrir gave him the paw.

"Roll."

A little less hesitantly, the pup obeyed.

"Play dead."

Fenrir immediately rolled on his back and remained immobile.

Thormund laughed thunderously. "Amazing, friend Loki, amazing! I don't know how you found this little fellow, but he's truly something special." He absentmindedly started to scratch the pup's belly, and then his legs started to twitch while his eyes closed in bliss.

"Yeah, he is." I replied. "Anyway, we should be sure that the gate on the lower level is closed. There is a nest of skeever and a giant spider down there. I wouldn't want them to arrive here while we sleep."

It was improbable, but you never know. As you never know if other bandits decided to arrive at the Barrows. I was pretty sure that no animal was going to enter with the massive doors blocking the way, but being cautious was never a bad thing.

So, after Ralof and Hadvar got down and closed the gate behind them, we got to sleep. Nothing happened that night.

I woke up when the first ray of the sunshine managed to enter… I didn't know how. Some fissures in the walls, maybe? Anyway, I started the ritual to summon my familiar. It was not a difficult spell, but I wanted to be sure I got it right.

"Ah, friend Loki!" Exclaimed Thormund, just awake, when he saw me with a book in hand. "What are you doing?"

Ralof and Hadvar woke up when the Nord started to talk. The Thundered indeed. If I didn't know that the draug were several meters behind me, I'd be afraid he was going to attract them to us.

"I'm trying to summon a familiar." I replied. "Another little helper won't harm. We have a draug that knows the Thu'um inside."

That was something I was pretty certain of. Independently from the level you went there, the draug always knew the Fus Ro Dah. It could be anything from a bog-standard draug to a Deathlord, but the Shout was a constant.

That and the enchanted weapon. An ax, if I remembered correctly.

So, yeah. An extra body to protect us.

The ritual was, in itself, pretty simple. You just asked one of the spirits of the lands to assist you. What exactly these 'spirits of the land' were was left to the imagination of the reader. There were various theories ranging from minor Deadra coming from an unclear plane of Oblivion and forced to assume a more 'normal' form to lesser aspects of the Aedra called into service, but no one had a clear idea. After all, these spirits didn't talk and, by itself, every Deadra was composed of the same energy and matter as the others. Bound, the creature became of flesh and bones like everything else, so the only thing that a dead familiar could tell was how a slain animal looked like.

Anyway, I started to focus my Magicka to summon my spirit wolf. I was not sure it was going to look spectral like game one, because that was probably just done to distinguish it from normal wolves or resurrected wolves.

So, I was surprised when I didn't summon a wolf at all.

I summoned a giant snake. A giant snake that didn't look spectral at all. It looked massive, with coils strong enough to strangle a troll, and dangerous.

"Ok." I said. "That didn't go as planned."

The snake hissed, but he didn't look overly hostile. He just looked at us with his unblinking eyes and stood there. Goddammit, its head was as big as my torso.

"You truly are blessed by the gods, my friend." Commented Thormund.

I blinked at that. "What?"

"In the ancient Nord traditions, each animal totem represented one of the Divines." Explained Ralof. "The wolf is the symbol of Mara, and the intelligence of your little friend can be traced to Kyne, since she's their creator. But the snake… It's the symbol of Shor."

Shor? The chief god of Nordic Pantheon? Wait, wasn't he the equivalent of Lorkhan?

Urgh, too many mythical implications. I relegated my theories in a corner and focused on the giant snake. I could feel its mind. He, because he was male, was surprisingly intelligent but, as for Fenrir, he didn't really talk.

"Well, seems like the summoning was a success." I said. I mentally commanded the snake to start to descend. Without a sound, the massive reptile started his descend. "Wow. I expected a wolf."

"Instead, you go something that could be seen as the mighty incarnation of Shor." Commented Thormund. "Are snakes that big even normal?"

"In the south, yes." Replied Hadvar. "Or so some of the Legionaries say. I've never seen one, though."

"There are technically even bigger snakes." I supplied. "The sea snakes are told to be so big that they could assault a ship on their own. It's not the case of this one, or he'll have difficulties passing in the corridors."

Thormund laughed. "You are a never-ending font of amazement, friend Loki. Just be sure that your pet doesn't kill all the draug."

"No promises." I replied, following my familiar.

With the giant snake going forward, the first, real enemy was quickly dispatched. The giant, wounded frostbite spider didn't really have a chance against a bigger, more powerful opponent.

So, our little group walked toward the dark elf imprisoned on the web.

"Oh, thanks the gods." He said. "I thought that the giant snake was going to eat me."

"He still can." I said, and the snake hissed menacingly. "You stole the Golden Claw and are planning to run away the moment we free you."

"No, I would never…"

"Worse yet, in doing so you're going to alarm all the draug in this Barrow. Just to die miserably at the first trap on your way." I shook my head. "Look, let's go with this. I'm going to free you. You can, on your own initiative, give us the Golden Claw and come with us. Or give us the Claw and get out from here on your legs. But, if you try to run away, my not so little friend here is going to react. And while I'm sure the nickname 'the Swift' is well earned, I don't think you can move faster than a snake."

He looked at the giant snake coiling and assuming a very, very clear striking stance, then nodded. "Ok, ok, I'll give you the Claw. Just… just free me."

I sent a glance to my allies to tell them to stay away, then I started to burn the webs with low-intensity lightning bolts. String after string, I vaporized them until the dark elf fell on the ground.

What happened next was too fast for me to see. The elf tried to run. Tried because, the moment he turned, my familiar jumped forward with so much force that half his body passed through the door. There was a disgusting crunch when the bones of the thief shattered, and, for a second, nothing happened.

Then, slowly, the snake slid away, freeing the passage and continuing down the Barrow.

I tried to suppress the knot in my stomach. "I hoped that the elf would just give us the Claw."

"Most bandits are too stupid or greedy for their own sake." Commented Ralof. "Let's take the Claw and go."

I nodded. Carefully avoiding to see just how much damage my familiar had done, we retrieved the Claw and continued to walk. Cautiously, because the draug was near.

Then we heard the snake hissing furiously at something.

And I realized something. In the game, recognizing what draugs were… well, 'alive' and what not was easy. You just had to walk near them and see if you could pick the money from them and, in general, they didn't have armor and weapons.

But, even if this assumption was correct in real life Skyrim, my familiar didn't know that. And, while I didn't think there were Deathlords in this Barrow, there could be dangerous enemies.

So, we rushed, finding my giant snake wrestling a fuckin Ice Atronach while a draug blasted it with ice. Two other draugs were dead on the floor.

"Kill the draug!" I shouted. The Ice Atronach, despite being medium level enemies in Skyrim, were difficult beasts, especially since they were not two meters tall but four.

Aside from that, the frost was probably a pretty major weakness of the snake. Maybe not in the short term, since his mass alone meant he could resist low temperatures for a while, but the more he remained in contact with the Atronach, the more he weakened himself.

So, the Nords charged while I just blasted the caster. I ignored if the Magicka disrupting effect was something added just to make the elements more balanced -and in that case, the developers failed- but it was still better than trying to freeze a Nord undead.

I remembered that that kind of draug was a real pain in the ass, especially since Destruction spells did shit damage and so you could only fight them in melee… while they sapped you stamina using ice magic.

In a real battle, things went differently. First, because my lightning bolt, while being shit tier, was still enough to make the draug stumble. Second, because Thormund was freaking OP and smashed the undead against the wall with a single, well-placed strike. Ralof and Hadvar were on the damn thing in a second and finished it while it was down.

The moment the un-life left the draug, the Ice Atronach disappeared. Unfortunately, the battle had a serious repercussion on my summon.

The snake was visibly slowed. He tried to move but it was clear that he didn't have much strength. I instantly applied a little healing touch but, whatever his problem was, it was not a matter of injuries. He was simply drained of his strength by the cold and I could not help him.

"It's alright." I said when the snake looked at me. "Just fight until you cannot. We'll make it even if you're not with us."

The snake made a dispassionate hiss and, together, we resumed the exploration.

Actually arriving at the end of the barrow was simple enough. Sure, between traps and draug, it took a while and my familiar didn't make it all the way there. But, in the end, we arrived at the door.

"Bear, moth, owl." I said, looking at the forms on the Claw. "From the top to the bottom."

We placed the rings in position, with all the noise that three stone rings could do, then placed the Golden Claw in his spot. And, finally, the door opened.

"Great." I said before actually stepping inside. "I'll be honest with you three. I have no idea what the enemy is going to be inside. What I know is that he's going to be able to Shout. So, whatever happens, don't stay too near to each other, or he's going to destroy us."

"What kind of Shout?" Asked Ralof.

"The Unrelenting Force." I answered. "The very same that Jarl Ulfric uses. You should know its power."

Ralof nodded, suddenly nervous.

"For those that don't know, the Unrelenting Force generates a powerful thrust on whoever it catches." I continued. "It doesn't harm itself, but it's going to make you fly away and stun you. That's if the draug knows the entire Shout."

"The entire Shout?" Asked Hadvar.

I nodded. "Shouts are composed of three words in the Dragon tongue. With all three words, the effect is at his peak. With fewer words, not so much. I hear that old Tongue could rip off fortress gates with the Unrelenting Force, but just a word is barely going to make you stumble. So… yeah, try to stop him from using the entire Shout if you can."

Thormund looked at me. One thing I noted while traveling with him was that, even if he was loud and carefree, he was far from stupid. "That's amazing, friend Loki. You really know a lot on the Nords more sacred traditions."

I smiled. "Thank you. I found them very interesting. So, are we ready?"

There was a general consensus.

"Good." I said. "The draug are going to come up the moment we come too near his tomb. We have to strike fast and hard. Don't hesitate."

And with that, I set my foot on the inner chambers of the Bleaks Fall Barrow.

Last edited: Nov 3, 2019

Unbound 1.7

Our plan for the battle against the dungeon boss was pretty simple. The draugr were going to rise from his tomb the moment we walked close enough and Shout, so we had the advantage of knowing the strategy of the enemy and work around it.

Strangely, every draugr in a tomb rise even if you had 100 Stealth, while the ones in the open didn't. I ignored if there was some enchantment on the tombs so the draugr felt if someone got near or it was just game mechanics, but I expected the worst and so assumed he was going to rise the moment we were near enough. Also because 'stealthy' wasn't the name of anyone here, aside, maybe, for Fenrir.

Anyway, the plan was pretty simple, like I was saying. We were going to charge the tomb -or, more likely, my companions were going to charge the tomb while I stayed behind and blasted the damn thing with magic- trying to put it down before he could even try to use his Thu'um on us. I wasn't keen on taking a Fus Ro Dah in the face. Even assuming that I was the Dragonborn -and I had still no proof of that, since Thormund looked much more in the part than me- and so I was more resistant to the Shout than your average adventurer, risking my neck because of an unfortunate fall was still something I wasn't ready to do.

So, go with the cowardly plan!

So, we charged the tomb, ignoring the Word Wall. Sure, the chanting was annoying but I could manage. The blackout that usually accompanied the learning of a new Word was not something I wanted to experience in the middle of a fight.

Like planned, we were near enough when the top of the sarcophagus leaped into the air, kicked by the draugr inside, and the monster rose.

And, while his horned helmet didn't look like the one worn by a Deathlord, he was still pretty characteristic. So, not the absolute worse draugr we could face aside from the Dragon Priests, but pretty close.

The Scourges were no fucking joke.

And since I was expecting the damn thing to do something, I was fast to jump aside when I saw the undead take a deep breath. Or something. I wasn't sure he really needed to breathe, but maybe he did regardless to talk. Or, in this case, Shout.

"Down!" I yelled before jumping behind the Word Wall.

Too late.

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

This could have been the end. But, by some miracle, the Shout failed. Maybe it was because the draugr had incorrectly channeled his life force or something. Maybe it was because it was freshly awake and his powers needed a little while to restart. Maybe it was because actually Shouting the entire Shout required more energy than the draugr actually had. Maybe it was divine intervention.

So, the only result of the Shout was a powerful breeze that caught my three warriors friends flat-footed, but failed in doing any damage or even make them fumble. Maybe, if they were standing immobile, the force behind the Shout could have made them take a step back. But, already charging, and with Thormund as spear point, they ignored the breeze and continued on their way. On collision course with a powerful, undead warrior.

I wanted to help them, really. But the moment the Shout emerged from the undead mouth, I was assaulted by the power of the Thu'um and my mind shut down. I maintained a minimum of lucidity, enough to see the draug being hit by Thormund but, strong because of its undead nature, counterattacked Ralof and Hadvar with vicious strikes of his enchanted ax. The Nords grunted under the assault but continued to fight.

Meanwhile, I was trying to fight the sensation of my mind exploding. Fus, Ro, and Dah reverberated in my head. Even a failed Shout was, apparently, enough to trigger the Dragonborn instinct and let him learn the Words of Power.

Yeah, silly me. In the game, Paarthrunax taught one of the Words of the Fire Breath at the Dragonborn by using it on him, and the Dragonborn learned Dragonrend simply listening to the ancient Tongue being used by Alduin. There was no reason it couldn't be the same for a draugr. All that was needed was to understand each Word, and by using it on or near the Dragonborn, he could absorb the knowledge intrinsically tied to the Shout.

But while one word proved to be simple enough in the game, and even Dragonrend was learned without too many problems, the Unrelenting Force was proving to be difficult. Maybe it was because, by the time you learned the Dragonrend, you had killed at least two Dragons, making the entire experience easier. Or maybe it was another reason. Point was, I had a terrible headache. But I resisted. I had to.

Fus, Force. Ro, Equilibrium. Dah, Push. Together, they granted the power to manipulate the force. Every force. The concept of force. It was a concept not entirely alien to me, but still, understanding what force was in a very practical sense was breaking my mind. I had to do something or…

Suddenly, something clicked in my head and the Words were slotted inside… I don't even know what. Probably, my Dragon soul, freshly awakened.

All of that required a couple of seconds and far less thinking that I'm using to describe it. Actually, it took no thinking at all. One moment I had a splitting headache and the moment later, I was fine, just with a Shout pushing on the inside of my chest, roaring to be freed.

So, I looked up and found my three companions still fighting the draugr. The asshole was proving to be a difficult opponent, even for Thourmud.

And since Shouting right there would have hit my companions, I ran against the undead. The moment he saw me running on him and raised his arm to attack, I was near enough to release the Shout without harming my team.

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

It was an incredibly liberating feeling, just Shouting in the draugr's face and see the undead being fling away, impacting with his legs against the sarcophagus and so flying over it spinning. He didn't fly that far, but enough to smash some meters down, probably getting some more damage.

And while I would like to take credit of the kill, I didn't actually kill the damn thing. In fact, I didn't do anything after Shouting, because suddenly I felt like I had run fifty miles without stopping. I collapsed on the ground, wheezing with all the strength I could muster, so really little.

Yes, that's what happens when you Shout at full force without knowing what you're doing. In retrospect, I supposed I was lucky to not have passed out just for trying, and that the Shout was the Unrelenting Force, one of the easiest. That made two really lucky rolls of the dice for us in that fight. First, the draugr Scourge failing a shout it should know and then me managing to use one for my first time.

Anyway, while I was gasping on the floor, Thorumund jumped over the sarcophagus, took his hammer with both hands and fell on the draugr like a meteor, reducing his head to pulp. Nothing did the helmet to avoid that fate.

Or that's how they described the move to me later. As I was saying, I was kind of dying on the floor.

So, after several minutes that would have cost me my head had I tried to fight the draugr alone, I finally managed to stand up, leaning against the sarcophagus for support. Strong hands grabbed me and I could finally stand right. Still breathing heavily, I managed to take a look at my companions.

Thormund was all right. He wasn't hit even once. Maybe he could do something for the draugr cerebral matter on the hammer, but aside for that, he was good.

Ralof had a bleeding wound on his shoulder, where the Scourge had hit him. The blood was partially frozen, so he wasn't bleeding that much and didn't even look that bothered. Hadvar, on other hand, had a nasty cut on his leg, where the Legion armor didn't protect him. Still, he didn't look like he was hurting all that much. But just to be sure…

I put a hand on both of them, half for healing them and a half for having something to stay straight, and released my Magicka, making my hands shine. After a dozen seconds or something like that, the wounds were closed.

In all of that, they continued to look at me with wide eyes.

"Yeah." I whispered, still short of breath. "That was a surprise even for me."

-X-

There was silence at the encampment. With good reason. I still hadn't completely recovered from my stunt and, while it was still early and nobody was seriously hurt, we really weren't in the mood walk. So, we just returned to the camp at the entrance of the Barrows and rested. We could have used the secret passage, but, well, it was just going to make us waste time. We had to return to Riverwood. Even if nobody seemed to be willing to remember that.

But we had, so I was the first to talk. "We have to go."

There was a moment of silence. Then Thormund talked. "You sure, friend Loki? You still look weak."

I sighed. "I am. I think I'm going to collapse on the bed the moment we return to Riverwood." I stood. Slowly, of course, but I did. "But, I'm not so weak that I can't even descend from a mountain. Climb one? Yeah, no. But descending? Easy."

They looked at me, not really sure. I can relate. Descending from a mountain is actually not easy at all. But my weakness always was that I lost breath really easily. So, climbing a mountain, for me, was actually more difficult than descending.

Of course, that was not the only problem they had.

"You Shouted." Said Hadvar.

Yes, finally they were talking their mind. Time for some justifications… and some lies. Unfortunately.

"Yeah." I said, gesturing Fenrir to follow me. "Like I said, it was a surprise even for me."

Standing, the Nord continued to talk. "You're not who you told you were."

That was a statement. And… yeah, it was an accurate one. "No, I'm not." I admitted. "But you wouldn't have believed me if I told you who I really am."

"And who you are?" Asked Ralof.

I sighed. "I would like to know too. I'm not for Skyrim. I'm not from Tamriel either. I'm from… somewhere else." Ok, now it was time from the lie. "Do you ever heard of Shadow Magic?"

The Nords stiffened. Thormund was the first to react. "I can't say I have." He admitted. "It's some kind of dark magic? Like Necromancy?"

I waved my hand. "No, nothing like that. It's…" I sighed again. "I'm not even sure what it is, really. I know it's based on the power of shadow not intended as absence of light, but as a reflection of another world. Or something like that."

"Sound like Oblivion stuff." Commented Ralof.

"I thought the same, but no." I explained. "Other worlds intended as another Mundus. Like, a Mundus that works exactly like this but are somewhat different. Worlds that are remarkably similar yet different." I paused. "Let's put it in this way. With Shadow Magic, you can, theoretically, travel to another world when the Empire won the Great War. It's exactly like this world, but the White Concordat doesn't exist, the Thalmor got their ass kicked all the way to the Summerset Islands and there are statues of Talos everywhere. Something like that."

There was another silence. "So, not daedric business." Commented Thormund. "And you are a… Shadow Mage, friend Loki?"

I emitted a short, bitter laugh. "If I was, I wouldn't be here fighting draugr, man. I would be in my home with my family." I shook my head. "No my friend, I'm trapped here. Grabbed by someone or something and left here. That part, at least, was true."

"And the Elder Scroll?" Asked Hadvar. "When did you read it? If you just came here…"

Damn, I hoped nobody asked something like that. "At home." I said, fortunately not lying. "They're there too. So, I must correct myself. It's not that I didn't want to come here. I couldn't come here. Until I was there."

"That could be the cause?" Asked Thormund, at no-one in particular. "Maybe reading the Scroll caused you to be here?"

That was a fair assumption, but I didn't know how true it could be. "Maybe." I admitted. "I don't know. That's why I'm going to go to the College of Winterhold. I know nothing about magic if not in theory, but maybe there I can find answers."

The Nords nodded. They could not like mages, but they weren't so heartless to tell me that. Not after all the kidnapping from another reality thing.

Speaking of which… "And you… don't doubt my word?"

They looked at me. "Why should we?" Asked Hadvar, confused. "You being from another world is not so incredible. You probably don't realize it, but you're pretty strange."

I blinked. Sure, I realized that I was probably different from normal Skyrim human, but for someone just telling me that… "In what sense?"

"It's nothing you can understand just watching at you." Reassured me Ralof. "But everything about your mannerisms are strange. You talk like a noble, but you're not. Your knowledge is enormous for someone that's so young, especially regarding magic. And, frequently, you use terms and words that have nothing to do with the situation."

I did? Mmmm… strange. I was pretty sure that this body had lived in Cyrodiil. Maybe it was just my mother language rearing its head.

As for the knowledge… yeah, I could see that. The advantage of having an education from one of the oldest Universities in Italy, access to the internet, and not having a job. You had time to spend on useless shit.

"I see." I said. "Well, that's settled. So, we are moving."

The Nords nodded and, together, we started the return to Riverwood.

But not everything was discussed.

"Are you sure that you've never used magic?" Asked Hadvar. "Or that you were not an important mage where you come from? You bend the power of magick like it's nothing."

I nodded. "I was a pretty normal person in my country. Of course, I have no idea if normal there means normal here. Anything could have happened when I arrived here."

"And the Shout?" Asked Ralof. "I've never heard of someone that could Shout just by hearing one."

I shrugged. "I don't know what to say to you, Ralof. I couldn't do that at home."

Which, at least the first part, wasn't true. I knew why I could shout. But I was not going to tell them. I didn't need that kind of attention. But mixing lies and truth was the best idea on how to handle this situation.

The rest of the walk was, mercifully, uneventful. It took me half the afternoon to recover from the loss of energy caused by Shouting all three the Words of the Unrelenting Force. I used that time to meditate on the meaning of the Words. Unfortunately, describing it in a language that's not Dovahzul is impossible. It's not something that can be explained to someone that can't understand the Dragontongue.

So, after returning to my room at the Inn, and after writing some letters, I collapsed on my bed.

The day after, it was time for some goodbyes.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you two." I said to Hadvar and Ralof. I gave them two letters. "Ralof, this is for Jarl Ulfric. There is a boy in Windhelm that's trying to call the Dark Brotherhood. I'd suggest to make him stop before he calls them for real."

The Stormcloack nodded. Then, I turned toward Hadvar. "This is for General Tullius. Some necromancers are trying to revive the Wolf Queen near Solitude."

This time, both Nords shivered. Potenna, if that was the name, was really feared here. Again, not something I could understand. "There are several mages, at least half a dozen, and that many draugr. While I'm sure that you have enough forces to kill them, be sure to tell them to be careful. If not handled properly, the spirit will try to possess her old body in the crypts under the cities. I suggest collecting the remains while eliminating the necromancers." I gave him the letter. "Oh, and there is an Argonian trying to cause a shipwreck. I don't remember his name, but be sure to send some people at the lighthouse. That should discourage him."

The Legionaries nodded, very serious. "Thank you, Loki. This information will save a lot of lives."

"That's why I'm telling you." I replied, with a smile. Then, Thormund appeared from whenever he was sleeping and approached us. I returned to focus on the two warriors in front of me. "Are you sure you don't want something more from the loot of the Barrow? I can give you a couple of gems for the travel."

They looked at each other and shook their heads. "No Loki. You need the money more than us."

I sighed. "The unfortunate truth, isn't it? Good travel, my friends. I hope we'll meet again."

They smiled. "I hope so. Good luck, Loki." Said Hadvar, passing me and starting to walk in the direction of Solitude. So… in the direction of Whiterun, just a little more to the north.

"May Talos guide you." Said Ralof, before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

I sighed. I would not claim to have become friends with them, not real friends anyway. Still, I would miss them. Them, and the combat potential they had. While not Thormund, they were good fighters. Far better than me, anyway.

Speaking of Thormund. "Thormund. Are you here to say goodbye?"

The gigantic Nord sent me a look and then laughed. "Not at all, my friend. I'm here to tell you I'm going to follow you."

I looked at him. "Uhm… you sure? I'm going to stay at the College for some time…"

He patted my back with so much force that I almost fell over. "Nonsense, my friend. Everything you ever did was a font to infinite amusement for me. I'm sure that wherever your road will lead, you'll always find a way to stumble into trouble."

While I couldn't deny that, I would actually prefer to not have problems at all. "The mages are not going to let you enter if you don't know at least some spell." I rebutted, trying to dissuade him.

Now, it wasn't like I hated him or anything. On the contrary, having him nearby did wonders to reassure me that everything could be handled easily. Me using magic and him with him doing the beating, we could fight pretty much everything on Skyrim.

But if he followed me, he would be struck at Winterhold for a very long time, doing nothing. It didn't seem right.

The giant, at least, understood that. "Yes, you're right. Magic, unfortunately, isn't exactly my strong point." He sighed. "A shame. I was already dreaming of the adventures we could enjoy together."

I had to admit, it was a very, very tempting idea. Unfortunately, the College came first.

But maybe…

"Well, maybe we can't adventure together… but I know something that could give you an adventure."

The man's eyes shone. "You do?"

I grinned. "Oh, yes, I do. But…" I stopped, looking at Lokir, who finally decided to show up. "We'll have to talk about it later. First, we have a Dragonstone to deliver."

Unbound 1.8

Fortunately, Lokir seemed to want to leave as soon as possible. When we and Thormund offered to escort him at least at Whiterun's stable, he shook his head and explained he had a horse, so he was better off going on his own. We were just going to slow him down.

I don't know when he found a horse since Riverwood didn't have a stable, but I didn't think it was a good idea to inquire so I just gave him one of the treasures of the Barrow. Namely, a ring that I called the Ring of Safe Travels. For what I could understand with my limited ability in magic, it was a ring that applied a Feather-like effect on the bearer and a minor illusion to make him harder to hit. Those weren't exactly normal Skyrim enchantments, but Feather was a spell in Oblivion, so I suppose it was just something the programmers removed to not have people going around with infinite carry weight. The secondary illusion power was less powerful but surely more interesting for someone like Lokir, who was pretty adept in defense. Or running.

Speaking of enchantments removed from the game, one of the treasures of the Barrow was, for lack of a better term, an Enchanting Ring. That I took for myself. I would need it.

The rest of the loot -mostly coins, gems, and jewelry, with some Alchemical ingredients to boot- was divided between me and Thormund, even if the Nord was content with the draugr ax. Which, of course, was enchanted as I remembered. It was a simple, one-handed ax, but it was of good quality and a true Nord never said no to an enchanted weapon.

Oh, and he took the armor of the Scourge which, while not Ebony, was still better than the steel plate he had. He would have to refit it but it worked.

I just decided to strap some draugr metal armor on my hide armor -or, more precisely, tell the local blacksmith to do it while I took my money from Laurentius Whatever and wrote the letters- to look more Nordic and give me a little more protection. Who cared if the result looked terrible? It worked.

Also, it didn't look that terrible. Draugr armor looked bad because it was on the corpse of long-dead Nords and all the leather and the mail was long lost. Adding a little leather and mail did wonder to make it look decent.

Anyway, after that, me and Thormund started to walk toward Whiterun, and on the way there, I started to plot.

The problem was that I didn't really have the time to do all the questlines of Skyrim. And, while a good 90% I could ignore pretty easily… some I couldn't, or didn't want to. Like, the DLC questline was about pretty serious business, and ignoring them was foolish. The Main Quest too, but I wasn't strong enough to fight an actual dragon. And, of course, there were the Companion and Civil War Questlines.

The Civil War Questline… could be delayed. The Empire didn't look so eager to fight the Stormcloacks. Sure, they would prefer to defeat them but not at the cost of letting Skyrim burn. The Stormcloacks… probably didn't have the numbers to fight the Imperial troops. So, they were at an impasse, and unless an outside factor intervened, they were probably going to stay like that.

Normally, that outside factor was the Dragonborn. This time… it could be someone else.

But before that, I had to see if the person I had in mind was ok with that. And even before that… I needed to make him more receptive to my plans.

"I think you should join the Companions." I said during the march.

Thormund laughed. "Ah, I wish I could, but I'm not worthy of that title. I'm just a mercenary."

"I fail to see how that is a problem, but ok." I said. "But what would you say if I told you that you joining could be a way to help them?"

Thormund sent me a curious but intrigued look. "You saw something?"

I nodded. "I know a secret the Companions are trying to hide. For good reasons, but…" I stopped, not really sure how to put it.

"If it's a secret of the Companion, I'm sure they hide it for a good reason."

"Well, yes. You want to know? It could change your opinion on them."

Thormund thought about it for a while. "Tell me, friend Loki. I'm pretty sure that, if you're mentioning it, you have a plan to solve whatever problem the Companion may have."

I nodded and started to find a way to put it gently. "One of the Harbinger of the Companion, some centuries ago, made a pact with some witches."

Thormund eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"Greater battle power and courage." I replied, and I saw him nod. "I don't know what he expected, but let's just say that what he got… wasn't exactly benevolent."

"What happened to them?" Asked Thormund, now slightly worried.

"The received a curse. Or, a blessing depending on who you ask. They obtained the blood of the beast by Hircine."

Thormund eyes widened. Like I had said before, not stupid. "The Companions are werewolves?"

"Yes." I answered tersely. "The entire Inner Circles, at least. But, not everyone is happy about that. Kodlak Whitemane is trying to find a cure."

"There is a cure?"

"The heads of the witches that first cursed the Companions. Bringing their heads in the Tomb of Ysrgramor, they could get rid of the spirit of the wolf and access to Sovengard."

The Nord nodded, assuming a deeply focused expression. "I see. So you want me to join them to help the Harbinger to find those witches."

"Yes. While I'm ill-suited to be a Companion, I can't let them wander in the Hunting Grounds if they don't want. They're good people."

That was, all in all, most of my motivation to help the Companions. That and the possibility of having a high ranked member of the Companion as friend and contact, and possibly the gratitude of the Circle.

But mostly because old Kodlak was a good man and I suffered at the thought of him eternally struck in Hircine's garden. The old man deserved better than that.

Thormund smiled. "You have a good heart, friend Loki. But do you think I'm worthy?"

"I don't think it matters." I honestly replied. "They need help, and I'm a terrible fighter. They are not going to listen to me. But they could listen to you. And, in case they found you unfit -even if I think it's a terrible mistake on their part- you just have to mention to old man Kodlak that you know someone that knows of his problem and how to resolve it. It should be enough to at least collaborate with them."

Thormund laughed. "You have a warm heart but a cold mind, my friend. It could almost sound like you're telling me to blackmail them into taking me into the Companions if they want me to help."

I shrugged. "I mean, if they don't listen to reason, feel free. I don't think you'll have problems anyway."

"Ruthless." Commented Thormund. "But done with good intentions. So it be. I'll help the Companions."

I smiled. "Thank you, Thormund."

"No, thank you, friend Loki. You're giving me the opportunity to help the most honorable warriors of all Skyrim." The giant paused before grinning again. "And in doing so you'll get their gratitude too."

I shrugged. "I mean, it's a nice bonus. But I have other things to do."

The Nord nodded. "Yes, yes. Returning to your home. You know, for someone that wants to return at home so badly, you're exceedingly generous in helping the people of this land."

"Despite my terrible social abilities, I do, in fact, possess empathy." I sarcastically bit back. "Just because I don't come from here doesn't mean I like to see people suffer."

Thormund nodded. "I see. So you'll help us find the Dragonborn you talked about, right?"

I paused for a second. Should I tell him? That I probably was the Dragonborn? He could not believe me.

"I'll do what I can." I said. "I'll help defeat Alduin, even. Just… not now. I'm not powerful enough."

The Nord nodded. "Indeed, he's a fearsome opponent to face. Even my strength would not be enough to challenge him. Maybe you could teach me magic or Thu'um. That would make the job easier."

I sent him a look. "You intend to fight the World Eater?"

The giant shrugged. "If I have the opportunity, why not? Surely, there could be no greater honor than fighting the Devourer alongside the Dragonborn."

I smiled a little at that. "I see. Well, I can teach you magic, but I'm not sure what can I do regarding the Thu'um. Not everyone can learn the Dragontongue."

Another nod. "Of course. But… I think I felt something coming from the Word Wall. It's a sign, I wonder?"

I looked at him again. He heard the Word Wall? The game never explicitly said what other people felt when they got near the Word Walls, but I doubted that they were there just for show. There was intent and meaning imprinted in the words on the Walls, and that was what allowed the Dragonborn to understand the Words of Power from them.

So, maybe people that could learn the Thu'um could feel the power inside them? Seemed plausible.

"Maybe it is." I answered cryptically. "The Word Wall inside the Barrow held the word Fus. It means 'Force' in the tongue of the Dovah. If you heard something… chanting, maybe?"

The man nodded, suddenly enthusiastic. "You heard them too, friend Loki? Nobody said anything, so I supposed I was imagining things."

"Yeah, I heard them too. Seems like you have potential, Thormund. I'll try and see what I can teach you. But… I don't know that much about the Thu'um aside for what I read about it."

"It will suffice." Reassured me the Nord.

And so, we trained, and walked, talked about magic, walked, tried to make him Shout the first Word of the Unrelenting force and, you guessed it, we walked. A lot. I mean, it's kind of obvious since we didn't have a horse and Whiterun was several days of march away, but still. We walked too much.

Fortunately, the boots were comfortable.

Ah, and of course, we didn't really march toward Whiterun. Or, yeah, we did but before that, we had a couple of pit-stop. The giant near Whiterun, where Thormund would have his first meeting with the Companions.

And the Halted Stream Camp. For the Transmute spell.

Both occasions went exactly as I expected. I didn't even need to touch the giant and the Halted Stream Camp didn't offer much more resistance than the draugrs. Less, actually. Plus, I had the time to experiment with the Voice and I discovered that, until I limited myself to the first Word of the Unrelenting Force, I was pretty much safe from exhaustion. Yes, it was tiring but not that much, and much easier to control the power if I limited myself.

So an entire bandit camp was destroyed by me stun-locking the bandits with Fus-spamming before Thormund arrived and smashed their internal organs to pulp with a well-placed hammer strike. The easiest bandit camp raid ever, even considering the game itself, since, well, in the game followers were idiots and continued to put themselves in the trajectory of my powers.

The prize was more money for me -since the Halted Stream Camp had a bounty for Thormund to obtain- and the magic tome of Transmute who, being Adept level, was a little too high for me to cast. Well, not really, I could cast it, it just required a lot of power and I didn't have the required mastery of the Alternation school to not have problems. My success rating casting the spell was around 20%. Still enough to end up with a good collection of gold ore, since I spent most of my time walking away from the camp casting it.

So, at the cost of lengthening the road by two days or so, I got a pretty interesting spells and means to get money. With discretion, because I was pretty sure transmuting iron to gold was not exactly legal. Thormund gained fame and some people in the Companions that knew his face. Also, free training in the Thu'um. Yeah, somehow I managed to explain the basics to him. He still had to even start to actually Shout, but he was well on his way to learning. All in all, a good trade.

So, after ten days, I was finally near Whiterun's stable, ready to take the road with a convoy directed to Winterhold.

"Well, good luck, my friend." Said Thormund, raising his hand. "I have to admit, it's been an intense and informative week. I'll wait the day we'll see again."

"If I ever need a hand for something, I'll be sure to tell you." I replied. "Together, we can do anything."

Maybe that was a hyperbole, but Thormund took it with a laugh and started to walk toward Whiterun's gates. Have I said that Whiterun looked like a real city and not that pathetic lump of houses? No? Well, it did. It was quite a sight.

Anyway, after taking accords with the convoy boss -and it was a convoy, not the usual useless cart- I sat in one of the carts and looked north… or what I presumed was north. I had a good sense of direction but I wasn't 100% accurate.

Anyway, I looked in what I presumed was the direction of Winterhold and I let slip a smile. I survived this much and I was starting the journey with a big group of people. Nothing could-

I slapped myself in the face before I could formulate that stupid thought. Nothing could go wrong? Seriously? Everything could go wrong! The convoy could be attacked by bandits, Alduin could come out from the peak of a mountain and blast the entire company to Oblivion with a shout, a giant and his herd of mammoth could decide to traverse the roads. I didn't need to attract misfortune.

But, for all my paranoia, the travel was quiet. Boring, really. Nothing happened. Sure, there were sounds and sights of animals and monsters, but no creature on Nirn was stupid enough to attack a large group of people, with guards no less. They appeared, sent us a look, and quietly decided to walk away.

So, I had the time to train. I had a good grasp of magic, surely enough to enter the College… maybe. I hoped the test to enter wasn't to cast a random spell, because I didn't know too many. But, instead of trying to create new spells, an operation that would require time and had a not so insignificant risk, I tried to grasp one of the disciplines that I found most fascinating and powerful in The Elder Scrolls.

Mysticism.

Now, I kind of understood why Mysticism was removed from Skyrim. For one, all schools of magic were arbitrary by default. They were just a convenient classification to teach spells better to the students. Of all the schools of magic, the only ones that I suppose could be considered the 'pure' ones were Alteration and Conjuration. That's because Alteration was, essentially, manipulation of the natural laws and so most if not all the other schools could be seen as a sub-category of Alteration. Except Conjuration, because it had nothing to do with messing with natural laws but, with interactions with otherworldly entities.

Mysticism was even more arbitrary because it didn't have a clear classification. The most concise and clear I ever read was that Mysticis was the school that interacted with the magic itself… which was still incredibly vague. For what I remembered from Oblivion, Mysticism was the school that contained the Dispel, Spell Absorption, Detect, maybe Absorb Magicka and… I suppose the Teleport spells? I wasn't sure they were Mysticism and not Conjuration, but I never played Morrowind so I couldn't use Mark and Recall as base. But it made sense for Teleportation and portals between locations in Mundus to be under the purview of Mysticism instead of Conjuration, after all.

Anyway, the point was that Mysticism was a very vague school with effects that were often not really related -I think Soul Trap was a Mysticism spell in Oblivion?- so it made sense that it was scrapped and the most iconic spells of the school put in other schools that made more or less sense. And that they needed to remove a magic Skill Tree to have five for category like with Warriors and Thieves helped.

But, while the school was more or less removed in the game, I seriously doubted it was the case for the real-life Skyrim. Sure, maybe the school didn't exist 'officially', but I was sure the spells were still around. Also, my headcanon always was that, while removed as 'course' school, Mysticism still lived in some form of 'prestige' school that encompassed all the others and was introduced to the students only when they had a good understating of magic. After all, it was noted in-universe that apprentices usually had difficulties with Mysticism because of its vague nature. It would have made sense, for me, to split various useful spells into other schools and keep the Mysticisms 'true' powers -dispelling and teleportation, basically- to a later date. Because, frankly, dispelling and teleportation looked like advanced techniques to me.

My fascination with the school came for the fact that, like with Alteration, Mysticism let you change the rules. You could do a lot with Mysticism and imagination. Hell, I was pretty sure that some mages created pocket dimensions with Alteration and/or Mysticism. Shalidor created an entire city-island for the late Mage Guild!

Of course, there was the problem that Mysticism was vague as fuck. While I understood Alteration pretty well -the knowledge of physics helped to imagine a world without them, paradoxically- Mysticism was all about metaphysical bullshit.

There were also the problems that I was a little unsure about experimenting with Mysticism blindly. Magical missteps existed and… well, they weren't funny. I could sort of work with Destruction, Illusion, and Recovery because, unless I tried to do something outrageously difficult, it was unlikely that I could get permanent problems. Sure, I could hallucinate or look green for an hour, getting burned or shocked and possibly have my hair grow uncontrollably if I did something wrong, but it was unlikely that I raised a volcano or got magical cancer by trying to develop some new spell. Especially low-level ones.

Unlike those, Mysticism, Alteration, and Conjuration could have some serious side effects. Conjuration could quite possibly summon an unbound daedra on Nirn, and Alteration could actually change my body into something problematic. Mysticism could probably mess with my magic, and since it was the only good thing I had right now, I was hesitant about experimenting without some kind of reference.

Except I did. Fus, Force, was all about metaphysical bullshit. Hell, the Thu'um was basically metaphysical bullshit about using your life-force to literally materialize a concept using the equivalent of the console command of Mundus. You could only go more metaphysically with the CHIM.

So I planned to use the innate knowledge granted by the Words of Power to unravel the mysteries of Mysticism and obtain unlimited power.

Yeah, I'm a power-gamer. But, considering I had no idea how many times I had before Alduin started his… I don't even know what Alduin wants, honestly. Destroy the world? Or conquer it? Well, whatever. Considering I didn't know how much time I had, mastering magic in the shortest time possible seemed like a good idea. I was admittedly reaching with that gamble, but I had to become at least a competent mage in little time or suffer.

And the gamble paid off. Sure, all I managed to do was generate a lame-ass spell version of the Unrelenting Force, just that instead of pushing things just… smashed against the target like a battering ram, even people. Apparently, the push effect was something that required a little more testing… but I didn't have time to test that because I was almost at Winterhold. I limited myself to dub the Spell Arcane Missile and be done with it. I even managed to get a slightly better grip on Alteration, simply casting Oakflesh on myself before every casting. Just to be sure to not explode by accident.

I had to admit I indulged in the thought of pay a visit to the Temple of Azura, because the Star of Azura was beyond useful, but I decided to postpone the visit. While it would have been amusing one-upping the seer with a series of 'I know you were going to say that' and look at the expression on her face, I didn't have the time to go all the way back to the half-submerged fort in… the Rift? Or Falkreath? One of the two. Basically, I didn't have the time to go from the north-est location in all Skyrim to the deep south even before I got a good grasp of magic. I wasn't suicidal.

Maybe later. After I had a better grasp of magic and maybe trained a little.

So, taking a deep breath, I started to walk toward the College.

I have to say that my first impression of Winterhold was… not the best. Being real-sized, I had a much better grasp of how much the Great Collapse affected the city. Namely, I could see the houses still suspended at the edge of a massive cliff that was not natural. A university degree in Natural Science meant I studied geology, and I could see that the border of the cliff was faaar to jagged and irregular. Even if I didn't know about the Great Collapse, I would still have hypothesized that the cliff had collapsed recently.

That plus the general absence of people made what would have otherwise been a decent and good looking city a ghost village. Unnerving. At least, since I was wearing heavy armor, most people were ignoring me. If they knew I was a mage, they would have probably looked at me differently.

Anyway, after several minutes, I finally arrived on the bridge that connected the city to the College. Here, leaning on the wall, rested an Altmer. Faralda, if I remembered right.

Man, Altmer sure were tall. She was, more or less, several inches higher than me. And I wasn't short.

Before I could even speak, the woman started. "I don't know what business you have here, warrior, but I suggest you to turn away. You wouldn't make the wrong impression on the people of this Hold, right?"

I could feel the venom in her voice. Lovely. My adventure at the College started under the best premise.

Unbound 1.9

I have to be honest, I wasn't happy to be addressed in that way after all the time spent to arrive here. Sure, I didn't really do anything in the three weeks of travel aside training my magic, but still. All the shit I pulled off to try to help Skyrim, even if it just started, should have granted me at least a minimum of benevolence. But of course, Faralda, if she was, didn't know that.

Fenrir, faithful companion that walked with me all the way from Riverwood to Winterhold, instantly understood my feelings on the matter and growled at the Altmer.

Three weeks ago, it would have been a cute attempt. But, in three weeks, Fenrir's growth started, and now it was not so little anymore.

For what I remembered from the time I saw a wolf pup that had at least some months, I could separate the normal wolf growth in three phases: Chihuahua sized fur-ball pup, medium-sized scraggy adolescent, and adult wolf.

Fenrir had gone from medium-sized fur-ball pup to German shepherd sized adolescent. It was clear that something had altered his growth and, possibly, his intelligence. Magical experiments, perhaps? I knew that, somewhere in Skyrim, a mage was breeding frostbite spiders that could cast elemental Cloaks on themselves. Like horse-sized spiders weren't enough, let's add a Flame Cloak spell on the mix. What could possibly go wrong?

Or maybe he was a hybrid, even if that didn't explain his intelligence. Ice wolves were bigger than normal wolves and it would be possible that the hybrid between a normal wolf and an ice wolf was bigger than the parents, like the liger. Or maybe it was a pup of dire wolf directly from the south.

Or maybe it was both. Who knew? The important fact that it was quite big for being so young.

The end result was that the growl that Fenrir emitted was not some cute yapping but a deep, cavernous sound. Faralda, despite being a mage of a certain power, flinched.

"Stop, Fenrir." I said. "Don't scare the lady."

Immediately, the wolf stopped growling and sat down, still somehow glaring at the elf but stopping any aggressive behavior.

"You'll have to excuse my friend." I continued, patting the head of Fenrir, causing the wolf to emit a happy moan. "He's very protective."

"It's understandable." Commented on the elf. "I'm Faralda. I'm sorry for my previous outburst, but I don't particularly like to stand in the open with the winter coming. How can I assist you?"

"I want to join the College." When the elf sent a glance to my equipment, I quickly added. "Skyrim is a dangerous place and I'm not so versed in the art of magic to feel safe without armor. Also, it keeps me warm." Just to show that I could, I made blistering cold swirl around my hand. "I'm still a novice, but I want to learn."

Faralda looked at the swirling icy wind around my arm. "Interesting. It's a simple spell, but you show remarkable control." She returned to look at me in the eyes. "Tell me, there are other spells you know? Mastery over a spell is something every mage should aim for, but mastery of only one spell don't make a mage."

She thought I was a one-trick pony? Legit. "A few, even if at a basic level." I admitted. "I had to learn using the books found in a shop. But I know at least spell for every school of magic. And this." Without warning, I Shouted. "Fus!"

The Shout caught Farald off-guard and she stumbled back. But, like I said before, just Fus was barely enough to stun someone for a couple of seconds or, if you were really lucky, make him fall on his ass. But, if the interaction in the game was realistic, that was more than enough to pass.

Faralda recovered immediately and smiled. "Ah, a Tongue. With some talent for magic, none of the less. You're welcome here. It's been a long time since we had contacts with the Greybeards."

I almost said a never ever saw a Greybeard, but I bit my tongue and remained silent. Revealing that could lead at question, like how the hell I knew how to Shout if I never went to the Greybeard.

"On behalf of all the College, I welcome you. Please, come this way."

I obeyed and moved. The same did Fenrir. And Faralda stopped.

"I'm sorry, but animals, well trained they may be, are not allowed in the College."

"Can't you make an exception?" I asked. "Fenrir is a very intelligent wolf… so intelligent that I suspect someone used magic on him. I'm sure he's not going to give problems."

Faralda looked at the wolf, skeptical. "How intelligent we're talking about?"

"Enough to understand us." I said, confident. "You can just ask him something to prove it. One bark is no, two is yes."

The elf sent a strange glance at my little friend. "You understand us?"

"Arf arf." Answered Fenrir, as expected.

She sent a raised brow in my direction, clearly not convinced. "This is an institution dedicated to the learning and understanding of magic. Are you able to use magic?"

"Arf." Replied Fenrir.

This time, both the brow of the elf raised. "Interesting. But it could be a fluke. Let me ask this. If you were able to assist at the lessons, would you be willing to learn magic?"

Fenrir hesitated for several seconds. I got the feeling. What Faralda was asking was… unexpected.

But logical. If Fenrir was smart enough to understand people, nothing stopped him from being able to learn magic. Magicka flowed in everything. It could have very little talent for it, but he could, in theory, learn spells, since the only requirement was to be able to think. Having hands to focus the magic was a good thing but it wasn't necessary, nor it was the ability to talk.

So, after a while, Fenrir answered. "Arf arf?"

I interpreted that as 'probably?' or something like that. Apparently, Faralda did the same.

"Intriguing." She admitted, approaching the wolf and starting to touch him. Fenrir showed impressive control and let her do it. "Very, very intelligent. Human-like intellect, if I would guess. I'm not sure how that's possible, Alteration and Restoration are not my specialization fields, but still remarkable. I'll talk to the Archmage about this."

She continued to inspect Fenrir and, on the way, the inspection turned into a stroking session, with Fenrir obviously enjoying it. I coughed in my hand to put them on track.

"My apologies. Follow me." Said Faralda, standing up embarrassed.

After that, I was given a rapid tour of the College. Who, on its part, was more the size of Hogwarts than the still very impressive building you see in the game. Also, more crowded. There were a lot of people inside, not just the three students you interacted with during the game.

I expressed that thought to Faralda. "There are more people I thought. My impression was that most Nords didn't like magic."

Faralda nodded. "While true, most still respect the art of magic or, at least, understand that lack of training can result in an uncontrollable burst of magical power that can be dangerous for everyone. So, we still receive applicants. The ones we don't often try to learn magic in other ways and… well, there is a reason there are a lot of hedge mages around."

I nodded. The population of magical bandits in the game was far greater than the population on regular mages. Sure, most of the mages in the wilds probably didn't have the talent to be real mages, to begin with, but being able to fling fireballs around was still a useful talent, even if it was the only thing they could do.

Faralda proceeded to explain the division in various levels in the College hierarchy. Apparently, there were some steps between students, teachers, and Archmage. Or, more precisely, students were divided into various levels depending on their mastery of magic. Those followed the same classification of the spell level, so basically Novice, Apprentice and Adept. Journeyman, for some reason, was absent, maybe because it sounded odd. They probably separated the Apprentice level in 'just Apprentice' to 'almost Adept', they just didn't have the word for it, or the necessity.

Anyway, once Adept you were considered a full mage, and then you had to be an Expert in a field of study to be taken into consideration as a teacher of the College. Then, of the various teachers, the most skilled one could become the Archmage when Savros was going to kick the bucket. Of course, she didn't express it in that way, but that was the point.

"Now, normally you should be tested to see what level you possess in the various magical arts." Commented Faralda. "But you already showed me remarkable ability in Destruction-"

"For this?" I asked, making appear the icy wind again. "This is nothing."

"Don't interrupt me." Rebutted the elf. Jeez. "And yes, for that. I'm the Mistress of Destruction of the College of Winterhold. I can recognize talent in my field when I see it. The spell is nothing impressive, but the control you show is far greater then what you need to cast it."

Uh. Interesting choice of words. Admittedly, Destruction was the school I knew better, not only because it was remarkably simple in theory and application, but because she was the one I used and trained the most. After all, I was a shitty fighter and Destruction was going to be my primary mean of offense.

"If your claim of knowing at least a Novice level spell for every School of Magic is true, then you are most assuredly already at a level comparable to Apprentice." Continued Faralda. "Even if I, personally, believe you could manage Journeyman level spells, at least in Destruction."

Seriously? Already? I practiced for a month at most! I must have truly been blessed from the Divine. Or maybe it was the fact that I was the Hero of the story. In The Elder Scroll, people destined to change the worlds often had immense talent. Maybe my ability with magic was just a byproduct of that.

"So, we're going to test that with your peers." Continued Faralda, completely unaware of my reflections. "If you demonstrate passable expertise, you'll be declared Apprentice and you'll have access to all the privileges and duties that lead."

I nodded. "I understand."

"Good. This way. The Apprentice are having a lesson with Master Tolfdir."

Ah, Tolfdir, the old Alteration teacher. Good, good. I always found Tolfdir to the more approachable and likable of all teachers. Maybe it was because he was the one living with them.

So, after a brief walk, we arrived in the room used for Alteration's lesson. Master Tolfdir was explaining something about wards. Oh, the standard lesson about security. Good. I just hoped he didn't finish with Saarthal. I wasn't in the condition to actually fight a Deathlord.

"Oh, Mistress Faralda. What do we do to have you here?"

"Master Toldfir." Replied the Altmer. "I'm here to require help. This is our newest student. He claims to know a spell for every School of Magic, even if only basic ones, and has already shown remarkable talent in Destruction. It's my opinion that he could be an Apprentice, but we have to verify his ability next."

"Ah, I understand. Well, I suppose I can use this event for a practical lesson on Wards. Tell me, young men, do you know a Ward spell?"

Young man? I was nearly thirty. "I do, if only a basic one."

"It would suffice, don't worry." Assured me Tolfdir. "Now, raise a Ward and maintain it."

I did as instructed, generating a barely visible hemisphere of pure magical power. Master Tolfdir made an appreciative hum. "Remarkably stable. Excellent control of magicka… let's see it's as good as it looks, shall we?"

As he said that, a globe of fire appeared in his hand. "Maintain the Ward. I'm going to test its resistance."

I nodded. After that, a bolt of fire darted against my Ward, just to dissipate uselessly.

"Good, very good. As you can see, the Ward vas good enough to completely negate my firebolt. Now, I wasn't really trying to destroy the Ward, but I hope that's enough to make you understand the importance of defensive magic."

Please don't announce the trip to Saarthal, please don't announce the trip to Saarthal, please don't announce the trip to Saarthal…

"Well, I think our time for this lesson is over. You're dismissed. Oh, Faralda, stay here a little. I want to talk with you and the new student."

Yes!

After the three apprentices left, Tolfdir talked. "So, young man. What your name?"

"Loki, sir."

"Just call me Tolfdir, Loki. So, I may ask you what you did to your wolf there?"

I looked at Fenrir, confused. He looked at me with the same expression. "I don't actually do anything to him. I just found him wounded and cured him."

Tolfdir nodded. "Mmm. I see. But something had to be done to him. He looked at us with far more intelligence than it should be possible."

"Yeah, he's very intelligent." I admitted. "But is this what you wanted to talk about?"

The old Nord shook his head. "No, not really. Sure, your friend here is a fascinating topic, but I was more interested in knowing why a young man so gifted in magic know sso few spells, and of such low level."

I caught Faralda looking at me with curiosity and told the first lie I thought of. "The institution that teaches magic in Cyrodiil are… not of my taste." I said. "So I decided to travel toward Skyrim. I heard the College have an extraordinary permissive view of magical practice. Maybe they're just voices, but… I heard you teach necromancy?"

There was a strange moment where Toldfir and Faralda looked at each other in the eyes, when the expressed some sort of… cautiousness, I think. It was not that they were offended or anything, but… they looked unsure about what to tell me.

"That's… not really true." Replied Toldfir. "You'll have to talk with the Master of Conjuration for the details, but suffice to say that some form of what the common folks call Necromancy is taught in the College. They mostly spells that summon Lesser Daedra and force them to temporarily inhabit a corpse. While still considered Necromancy, it's a far more acceptable practice than reanimating corpses binding the original spirit of the dead. Also, we don't teach any of the darker practices, like the path of Lichdom or the creation of Black Soul Gems. You could learn to summon the spirit of a deceased person for information and knowledge, but that's all we are going to teach here."

"It's heartily suggested to not openly practice necromancy, even the most ethical use of it, in public." Continued Faralda. "While not technically illegal in Skyrim, most people don't appreciate their deceased being manipulated through magic. That's without counting that Skyrim has a terrible history with the Undead. The Dragon Cult draugrs and what Potema did have not raised the opinion of the people on the practice."

Well, that was more or less what I expected. "I see. Very interesting. While I don't have any desire to bind the souls of people, I'm impressed that you still permit study it. But, after all, the best way to defend against something is to understand it, right?"

The Masters relaxed. I don't have the faintest idea what they supposed I was thinking, but I didn't really care if they were relieved I wasn't another potential necromancer or something. "Yes, precisely." Said Tolfdir. "Binding the soul of a person it's generally a terrible experience for the spirit in question. It may be necessary to call one sometimes, but we discourage our students to develop a fascination with the practice."

"No protests from me." I smiled. "I don't really like the Undead, anyway. But I like to know things."

Tolfdir nodded. "Curiosity is fundamental for a mage, but be sure curiosity doesn't become an obsession. Now, you said you cured you friend wolf, so you know at least some basic of the Restoration School. While we should ask Drevis to test you in the art of Illusion, but I think that, if you show us a conjuration spell, we can talk to the Archmage to insert you directly on the Apprentice class."

"Of course." I said, channeling my magicka. "Just to know, one of you is especially scared of snakes?"

The sent me a confused look. "I can't say I am." Admitted Tolfdir.

"Neither I am." Continued Faralda. "There is a meaning in this question?"

"Oh, just to warn you." I said, before releasing my power and materializing my familiar.

The mages didn't look particularly surprised by the giant snake. "Mmm… a little rough, but acceptable." Commented Toldfir. "I suppose you didn't practice as much in Conjuration."

I frowned. "I'm not particularly confident in my ability to not summon unbounded Daedra by mistake."

Toldfir nodded. "I see. Well, a little cautiousness never hurt anyone. I think that's an acceptable level of skill. You agree, Faralda?"

The Altmer nodded. "Yes, I do. At the very least, he showed passable knowledge of all school of magic. I'll talk to the Archmage about putting you in the Apprentice class. Now, do you have baggage?"

"Aside from what I have on myself? No."

"Very well. I'll show your room."

I nodded and followed Faralda. On the way, I asked her something. "Tell me, Mistress Faralda, where is Fenrir going to stay?"

The teacher thought about it for a second. "It's an interesting question. Normally, we don't accept animals in the College. However, for the time being, I think we can arrange something. There is a corner in the garden with some wooden boxes and straw. Do you think you're able to build a dog's bed?"

I looked at my wolf friend. "What do you say, buddy? Is a box with a straw bed enough?"

"Arf arf."

"Then it's decided." I nodded. "Also, I wanted to ask if there are some limitations to the library. I want to expand my knowledge of spells."

"There are no limitations." Replied Faralda. "Not on the spell tomes, anyway. Other books could be restricted because they're rare or delicate, but you'll have to talk with Urag gro-Shub about that. Normally, I'll advise you to follow at least some lessons before starting to expand your repertoire, but you showed enough skill to not require a warning. Still, follow the lesson, in particular, the ones on Conjuration. I'm sure you're aware, but most of the Novices and Apprentices deaths in the College are caused by the incorrect summoning of some Daedra."

"I was not aware, but I suspected as much." I said, smirking. "The path of Conjuration is a tempting one. You can summon slaves that could do thing that you normally couldn't. The problem, of course, is that most of those slaves are not happy to be summoned and it's easy to overestimate themselves." I stopped and thought about something. "I think only summoned familiars are relatively safe. At least, mine didn't try to break free from the spell."

"Summoned familiars usually don't have strong wills, but even when they do, they rarely use them." Agreed Faralda. "They're not Deadra, or if they are, they're the less hostile to the mortal races. That's way the Summon Familiar is the most basic and known Conjuration spell."

I nodded, understanding perfectly. But she wasn't finished. "I'm surprised. You are quite wise. Most young mages tend to be reckless."

I laughed. "I'm well past the time I can be reckless on things, Mistress Faralda."

She sent me a curious gaze. "Well past? You can't be that old."

"I'm twenty-eight." I reveled. "Almost twenty-nine. I'm not that young anymore."

Faralda turned to take a good look at me. "You seem far younger. I would not have given you twenty-five years."

I shrugged. "You're not the first person telling me this, Mistress."

Talking on things like this, we already were at the dormitory. Bigger than the one in the game didn't mean it took hours to navigate the place.

There, I found that there was a division between the female form and the male dorm. Hogwarts again. Not that I did find the idea wrong. Sure, the Four of the Ave Maria that you saw in the game looked like mature people, so you didn't think they were going to do something strange, but there were younger people that… could be less scrupulous.

Then again, maybe the College had Wards on the dormitories to prevent unauthorized people from the other sex to wander there. Or maybe not. It looked like a complex enchantment for something so… mundane.

Anyway, after Faralda finished showing me the place, I created a little home for Fenrir. I decided to use the biggest box I could find because, while for now, he was the size of a normal dog, I firmly believe he was not going to stay like that. At all. Maybe I was going to be lucky and he would become so big I could ride it. The idea was interesting. But maybe for fast traveling it was a better idea to summon a steed. Elder Scrolls Online had some sort of hellish horse daedra and Shadowmere was supposed to be some kind of daedra too. There had to be some kind of horse spirit to summon, right?

By the time the box was ready and placed somewhere where the icy winds of Wintehold could not reach, the lesson ended and my new fellow students reached me.

"Ah, so you're the new student." Greeted me Onmund. "I'm Onmund. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine. I'm Loki, by the way." I put another layer of straw in the box and then looked at Fenrir. "Now, this will be your home. Try to keep it clean, ok?"

"Arf arf!" Agreed Fenrir.

"Good. I'll warn you: if your poop inside I'm going to clean it with fire."

Fenrir looked at me like trying to see if I was joking, but I was not. Not even in the slightest.

"That's an impressively obedient wolf you have there." Said Brelyna. "Can I pet him?"

I sent a glance to Fenrir. He paused a second, looked at the Dunmer, they barked a couple of times. "That's a yes."

Immediately, the Dunmer knelt near Fenrir and started to pet it. He seemed to like it.

"J'zargo apologize on behalf of my rude and foolish companion." Started the Khajit. "I'm J'zargo, and she's Brelyna Maryon. She'll probably present herself, if not for the fact that she is petting your wolf."

"Greetings." Said the elf, still petting the wolf.

"You have to forgive her." Continued J'zargo. "J'zargo thinks she had never the opportunity to interact with a wolf. Morrowind doesn't have them."

I nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, I know. Everything is scaled or plated there."

"Indeed." Nodded the cat. "So you are the new student. I heard Mistress Faralda talk about you with other teachers."

"Only good things, I hope." I said.

"She said you had shown remarkable knowledge of Destruction. Enough to be considered for the Apprentice class." Told me J'zargo. "Tell me, do you have already mastered the Expert level of Destruction?"

Oh, for the love of- J'zargo, I liked you, but for the life of me, this was not a competition.

"No." I said, carefully avoiding to tell what I really thought. "Actually, I know less than ten spells in total. I planned to go to the library to cover this weakness."

"Difficulty finding tomes outside the College?" Asked Onmund. "Yes, it's a problem I had too. Some shops sell tomes, but just basic ones. You have to talk with the court mages to get something actually decent… or get there." He grunted. "Skyrim is not kind toward mages."

I wisely stayed silent, since I knew he had a fight with his family about that.

"Well, welcome to our little family." Said Brelyna, finally separating herself from Fenrir. "I'm Brelyna, as J'zargo already told you."

I nodded and, remembering that she was supposed to love books, I asked. "Since I want to go to the library, I wanted to ask if there are things related to Mysticism there?"

Like I suspected, Brelyna was the one to answer. "Something." She admitted. "But they're quite difficult. They're old books. Mysticism fell out of practice as a school right after the start of the Fourth Era. It was a pretty vague classification and so most institutions simply removed it. Most of their spells are under another classification now."

I nodded. It made sense. "Like teleportation? I never managed to get what was its new classification should be. Alteration or Conjuration seems the most probable…"

"Technically, teleportation spells are Alteration now." Replied Onmund. "Or Conjuration. Depend on who you ask. The officially classification is Alteration, but it changes depending on how you travel, if using the Oblivion or just opening a passage between the space. Not that it changes a lot."

"I see. Well, I'll give those books a read regardless. Better to know everything I can about Mysticism. It could help with some of the borderline spells."

"You seem to have a clear idea of what to do here." Commented J'zargo.

"Yes, I do." I said, before patting Fenrir's head. "But it's not the time to speak about it. It's late, and I want to rest. Tomorrow will be an interesting day."

"An understatement." Said Onmund. "Let's go."

And with that, I started my time at the College of Winterhold. The only place in Skyrim was a could learn magic… and find the Psijic Order.

Admittedly, finding the Psijic Order was not the first thing to pass through my mind. But, when I arrived, I remembered that those monk guys appeared here and, all in all, they looked like my best chance to return home. After all, the did all that shit about teleporting, communicating with the mind and stop the time. Also, they took the Eye of Magnus at the end of the questline, and if returning home was not easy, I could need an infinite source of magicka.

I needed to prepare a speech for the time that the Psijic guy made an appearance. But that was, all in all, in second place, behind learning as much magic as possible while I could. Saarthal could be next week, even if I doubted it. The weather was not nice here, and with the winter coming, it would probably be better to postpone the trip until spring, or at least a time when the weather wasn't so horrible that you couldn't put your nose out of the window and needing to amputate it because it was frozen.

I also kind of wanted to get in better shape, since I would probably need to fight physically one day, but for now, it was better if I focused on my strengths. I would have time to become a good warrior.

-X-

A thanks to Wizzrobe, who took the burden of the beta-reading since creativeProcrastinator doesn't feel that well.

Intelude: The Thunderer

Thormund the Thundered, like the Companions had started to call him, was sitting in Jorrvaskr, drinking mead and enjoying the sight of a brief fistfight between two of other members. In the beginning he was challenged frequently. That ended quite fast when they felt the weight of his fists.

In as much as a couple of weeks, the fierce Nord has climbed the ranks of the Companions. Well, not really, since they didn't have ranks to begin with, but he quickly passed from be the 'new guy' to be a respected member of the Companions. It didn't even take that much. A visit to a tomb, some quick missions near Whiterun, a sword retrieved from some bandits.

And all thanks to who he considered, by now, his sworn brother. Loki Andreasson.

A curious fellow, that Loki. Young but wise, a smart, calculating mind that, all in all, managed to still be of certain company. Was he who he claimed to be? Had he lied to him again? Maybe he had. But he didn't lie to him on the problems of the Companions.

He still remembered that day. He had walked inside Jorrvaskr and one of the members, Aela, had recognized him from the fight with the giant.

"Oh, you're the warrior that assisted us against the giant."

He had nodded. "Yes, I am. I thought about your invitation, and I decided that, if you thought that I was good enough for the Companions, I could at least try."

In reality, it was Loki who convinced him to join the Companions. Not out of belief that he was worthy of that honor, even if later he expressed the absolute conviction that he was. It was to help them. And so he would do.

"I'm glad you did." Replied Aela, looking completely sincere. "But even if I think you'll be a fine addition, you have to actually talk to the Harbinger. He's on the lower floor."

He knew. Loki had talked extensively on what would happen once he was first introduced to the Companions. He had also given him some suggestions on… well, not on what do say, because he didn't believe that honeyed words could convince the Harbinger, but on how to catch his interest. That was, of course, if the old warrior didn't find him interesting.

Which, fortunately, wasn't the case.

"Mmmm. Yes. Yes, I see a certain strength of spirit in you. I think you'll do well with us."

Relief had washed over him. Loki had cryptically talked about a dream the old Kodlak had in recent times, about how a stranger saved him from his fate in the Hunting Grounds. He told him that, usually, it was the Dragonborn who the old Harbinger saw and that was the reason he was granted a place in the Companions. Unfortunately, Thormund was not the Dragonborn. That was made abundantly clear when he failed to learn the Word of Power on the Wall of Bleak Fall Barrow. He was gifted with the Voice, maybe, but he was not the Dragonborn. Without that, Loki couldn't guarantee that Kodlak was going to admit him.

Fortunately, things turned out in his favor.

"It's an honor, Harbinger." He said, bowing his head.

"Master, you're not truly considering accepting him?"

Ah, yes. Loki had talked about the man near Kodlak, who would be opposed to his entrance for some reason. He also said how the conversation was going to end.

"I am nobody's master, Vilkas. And last I checked, we had some empty beds in Jorrvaskr for those with a fire burning in their hearts."

"Apologies. But perhaps this isn't the time. I've never even heard of this outsider."

"Of course." Thormund interrupted the two. "Where are my manners? My name is Thormund, and they call me Giantsbane. Or the Thundered. It depends on how much liquor I have in my veins."

"There you have, Vilkas." Spoke Kodlak, a faint amusement in his voice. "But even then, sometimes the famous come to us. Sometimes men and women come to us to seek their fame. It makes no difference. What matters is their heart."

"And their arm."

And there it was. The first challenge.

"Of course. How are you in a battle, boy?"

"Good enough to earn my title." He had simply replied.

"That may be so. This is Vilkas. He will test your arm."

"Aye. Follow me. We'll see how strong your arm is in the courtyard."

He had obediently followed the warrior outside, with the rest of the Companions joining him. To assist, presumably. Once they were all there, Vilkas talked directly to him.

"The old man said to have a look at you, so let's do this. Just have a few swings at me so I can see your form. Don't worry, I can take it."

He had nodded and retrieved his hammer. He hoped he really was capable of taking those hits.

Fortunately, he was. Enough to fully block Thormund's swings without apparent effort.

"Enough!" Shouted Vilkas, when the third strike landed with all the force you had on his shield, making it resonate like a bell. "Well, I have to admit, you have a pretty strong arm there. You might just make it. But for now, you're still a whelp to us, new blood. So you do what we tell you. Here's my sword. Go take it up to Eorlund to have it sharpened. And be careful, it's probably worth more than you are."

He had nodded. He knew all about this. It was just something members of the Companions did to new recruits. But still, he let him talk with some people that were around, especially Eorlund. Despite that he had ultimately chosen the life of an adventurer, Thormund knew something about blacksmithing. So, an occasion to actually talk with the most skilled blacksmith of Skyrim was an opportunity he simply couldn't pass on.

Also, he managed to notice Vilkas furtively hold his shield arm. Apparently, Thormund's arm was more than pretty strong.

After running some errand, Thormund finally had the time to talk with the Harbinger.

"Harbinger?" He had said, knocking at the door of the old man.

A second later, Kodlak opened the door.

"Ah, the new blood. Thormund, right? Is something bothering you, boy?"

He shook his head. "No, Harbinger. No bother. But I carry a message from a friend. He told me about the desire in your heart. About Sovengard."

The old man had immediately stiffed at the words. Then, in a similar sudden fashion, he composed himself. "So it is. Enter, Thormund the Thunderer. It seems like we have things to discuss."

Thormund complied, entering the room.

"Tell me, boy. Who is this friend you talk about?" Asked Kodlak, when he had closed the door behind you.

"His name is Loki Andreasson. Or so he told me." You answered. Loki didn't tell him how to act in this circumstance. Just that it was imperative to tell Kodlak as soon as possible. "He's a mage. Not too long ago, he read an Elder Scroll and, in doing so, the future disclosed in front of his eyes."

Kodlak narrowed his eyes. "I see. And what future did he see?"

"I can't answer that." He admitted. "He didn't tell me all about what he saw. But he told me that I could have helped you, Harbinger, to realize your dream. To rest in Sovengard."

"And how could you help me?"

"By telling you how to remove the curse." He answered. "Loki told me that only the magic of the witches that cursed the Companions can lift the curse. You have to find the Glenmoril Coven."

The eyes of old Whitemane widened. "Of course. Their foul power bound the wolf spirit to us, and that same power will cleanse it. They will not free my spirit willingly, but we can force them."

"Be warned, Harbinger." Thormund warned. "In case you die, it should be possible to cure you, but we'll have to enter the Tomb of Ysgamor to do so. And the Tomb can only be accessed with Wuuthrad. So Loki said, at least. You know how this is possible?"

"Yes." Replied the old warrior. "All the spirits of the Harbingers can see the fire inside the Tomb." He paused. "I'll have to discover the location of the witches. And then, we'll have to use their power to cure me. But I'm no mage. This will need further study. Unless your friend said anything."

Thormund shook his head. "His knowledge his vast, but not everything was revealed to him. Also, in his own words, while the Scroll could grant perfect knowledge of the future, his mind and his memory could not possibly be able to contain all that information. Even if the Scroll showed him where the witches are, or how to use their powers without their consent, he just could not remember. He's only a man. His words, not mine."

"He's still a mage." Murmured the Harbinger. "Is it possible to call him? Even if he doesn't know how to do it, he could find a way."

"I'm sorry, Harbinger, but he's just a novice in the art of magic. He's going to the College of Winterhold right now, to better understand it. I suppose it's possible to call him: he showed willingness to help. But by the time he's arrived at Winterhold, the winter will be near. We have little chances to have him there before spring."

The old man nodded repeatedly. "I see, I see. Truly, a mage willing to help will with no doubt facilitate this. Very well. There is no reason to rush. This old body of mine endured until now: it can endure a little more. While the winter passes, I'll focus on locating the exact position of the witches, and when the spring is on the way, you can call your friend. But be cautious about how you contact him: nobody outside the Circle can know about this. The honor of the Companion will be forever tarnished if the people knew."

"Of course, Harbinger." Replied Thormund. "I'll be cautious."

"Good." He sat down, looking exhausted. "Truly, this accelerated my plans. Your friend has done me a great service. I hope to have the opportunity to thank him personally."

"He will be delighted to hear that, Harbinger. He talks about you with great respect."

"Does he?" Asked Kodlak. "I suppose that he saw enough in his vision to get a good idea of me. Ah, I never thought I would be so grateful to a mage. Not only his action could help me remove the curse before my illness kills me, but he even pointed a great warrior to our door."

Thormund felt honored that Kodlak Whitemane thought he was a great warrior, but another thing in from what he said that attracted his attention.

"Illness?"

"Your friend didn't talk about it?" Asked the old man. "I contracted the Rot, boy. My body is going to fail me. That's the reason I started to study a way to cure myself. With the death nearing, I felt the call of Sovengard."

"He told me about a dream you had." Cautiously said Thormund. "It was true?"

The old man looked surprised just for a second, before sighing and nodding. "Ah, he really had the future revealed to himself, did he? Yes, I had a dream of the previous Harbinger being denied his place in Sovengard and be dragged in the Hunting Grounds. I didn't want that destiny for me. I want to drink in the halls with Ysgamor." He sighed again. "Be warned, boy. Before the time comes, the Circle will undoubtedly grant you the blood of the beast. I understand if you don't want to, but they probably won't listen to you if you don't. I don't know what you think about transforming into a werewolf, but I ask you to bear the burden of the curse of Hircine, at least for a while."

"Don't worry, Harbinger." Replied Thormund. "My friend explained me in detail what would happen. I'm willing to bear the taint of the Stag Prince for a while. There is more than one witch. When the time comes, I'm going to free myself from it like you."

The old man smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, boy. Now, you have given this old man a lot of things to think about and a lot of research to do. Go to sleep, new blood. You'll need it."

Thormund didn't ask. The Harbinger probably wanted to test him. He said his goodbyes and got to the bed.

And not even a couple of weeks later, the Harbinger approached him again. "Thormund. I finally have the perfect trial for you and your strength."

"And what trial it is, Harbinger?"

"We found a piece of Wuuthrand. It's located inside a tomb in the east." The old man paused. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

The Nord smiled. "Loki told me that was going to be my trial. Unfortunately, he was unable to give me the exact location. If he did, I would have come here with the fragment myself."

The old man shook his head. "Don't be cocky, youngster. Old Nordic tombs are more dangerous that you imagine. Fortunately for you, we always send at least one other Companion to these kinds of quests. Farkas is going to escort you."

Thormund nodded. He already ventured into an old tomb. How much more difficult could this be?

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.1

It didn't take me a lot to familiarize myself with the rhythm of the college. It was, all in all, a fairly relaxed rhythm. All I had to do was do some menial chore that I was used to doing at home and listen to the lessons. Oh, and keep an eye toward some of the younger students of the College, something that I did with surprising ease. Surprisingly from my peer, because I used every opportunity I had with the younger students to start telling stories. With a little touch of Illusion, it was easy to reproduce a cinematic experience. I reproduced all my favorite movies, opportunely re-skinned to look like something my young friends could get.

Star Wars was particularly well-received, so I started to call the younger students Padawans. Just for the joke.

Also, so I could assume a wise air and talk cryptically like a true Jedi master.

Sorry Lord of the Rings, but it was funnier do this with a sci-fi series.

Fun aside, the lessons were interesting. They explained things about how magic worked that were never really spelled out in the games. Like the focus required for every single school. Sure, the game lore speak about mage of the Alteration school needing to open themselves to infinite possibilities, but nothing more than that.

The lessons were also extremely easy because the magic theory was just a little part of the lesson. Or, rather, the magic theory was an important part of the lessons, but what really interested the teachers was to see the magic being used.

And, since I passed every hour I had free to learn spells, the lessons were absurdly easy. I diligently heard the lessons and then effortlessly summoned the spell required.

Of course, I did everything in my power to not make it look easy. Magic took years to master, and making it look too easy could have raised suspicions. So, I tried to look like I was getting the idea pretty well and was good at putting it in practice, but not that I took half an hour to actually learn a novice spell I never tried before and that ridiculous training rate extended to every other level too.

Of course, once I started to learn various spells, I started to cheat. Namely, using Restoration. If I wanted to get in shape, I needed to train. So, every morning, I walked out of the dorm and went with Fenrir for a run.

Near winter.

Yeah, it was as stupid as it sounded, but I had magic on my side. A little spell to protect me from the freezing temperatures and another make the fatigue disappear, and I could keep up with the ever-growing wolf. Well, I could keep up with him in the measure I could continue to run and he wasn't trying to surpass me. Let's say that I just managed to stay with him while he trotted around.

Of course, I avoided going in Winterhold proper. It didn't look like a good idea when the Jarl was obviously against the mages. So, I just ran inside the College.

After my brief walk, I returned inside, cleaned myself -always with the spell to ignore the freezing water- and got to the lessons.

Of course, I planned on cheating even more by learning all I could on Enchanting. Even if I doubted that you could do some stupid loophole like the one you could get on Skyrim and Oblivion, the potential was still there. I just needed to create the most powerful Enchanting gear ever, then use it to enchant things to the limit, and I could reasonably get enough power to not die. Just for what I learned about Restoration and buffing spells, I could reasonably get an enchanted belt capable of make me as strong as Thormund. Or an enchanted helm to make more intelligent. Old school buff -Oblivions buff, really- were still common enough there that I could use them. That gave me ideas on a full set of enchanted armor, designed to increase all my physical and mental abilities…

But it was faaaar too early for that. For one, my grasp of Enchanting was… basic, to be generous. I couldn't properly train enchanting things without Soul Gems -also, I swore of never filling a Black Soul Gem, I knew where those poor souls went. I had similar bad luck with Alchemy because despite having the ingredients, alchemist tables didn't grow on trees. Also, the College didn't have a Master Alchemist. Sure, the Illusion Master knew something, since it had a table in his room, but it was not enough.

When I asked about it, they told me that Alchemy was not considered a magic discipline like the others, since it used the innate magical properties of the ingredients to do the work and… well, everybody could do something like that. I could agree. Alchemy was basically chemistry but using magical ingredients, so it stands to reason that a magical school would consider it a craft, more than magic. Still, it was annoying.

Not that I really had the time to master Enchanting. My first thought was to learn all the spells I possibly could, so any spell I could cast without incurring in problems. That didn't mean I could cast those spells without risks: even the most basic spells could fail if you were distracted enough. Fortunately, all that training with magic helped me. I wasn't skilled enough to never fail a spell, but good enough to make it very unlikely.

Anyway, maybe I was wrong, but versatility was always the name of the game for me. Sure, being Master of Destruction would be cool, but it was not going to save my ass if something managed to arrive near me and I didn't have a good defensive spell. Illusion was exceptional for social interaction -when I learned there was a spell to make my arguments more interesting I instantly learned it- but it could be ignored by sufficiently high willpower and at that point, I was screwed. So, since the idea of having holes in my options didn't sit well with me, I learned all the spells I could. That meant Journeyman Destruction spells, as Faralda had guessed.

In doing so, I discovered that, aside for certain specific spells, there were actually a lot of variants that were just, like, pour more magicka in the spell and be done. In Skyrim, and in minor part in Oblivion too, there was nothing like a 'Novice Fireball' or a 'Master Chain Lightning'. Those spells had a specific level and you couldn't really learn a better or cheaper version.

Here, most spells worked on a totally different principle. There was a Novice-level Fireball spell. But, it was not like a normal fireball only weaker. Sure, it was, and it was more costly than a firebolt-type of comparable level, doing more or less the same damage spell with the added benefit of having a little explosive effect. But the size of the explosion was depended on the magicka used to summon the fireball.

Basically, for most spells, it was not that you couldn't use a lesser version. It was just a problem of the spell not being efficient in terms of magicka usage. Just because I already use it as an example, Fireball. You absolutely could cast a Novice Fireball. But it was not efficient to use it instead of a normal firebolt-like spell until you arrived at Journeyman level. At that point, Fireball became a viable and efficient group busting spell. So, for the most part, it simply wasn't taught until you reached that level of skill.

Me, being a creature of scientific background and creative thought combined -with how much talent in both is debatable- decided that I didn't care if it was inefficient, I wanted to know it regardless because I simply wanted to figure out myself how it worked. So, I learned a breath of useless spells, just to figure out how the magic worked. Yes, I'm that crazy.

That said, certain spells didn't work like that. Invisibility, just to name one, didn't follow that simple rule. After all, you couldn't make yourself more invisible: you were invisible or you weren't. What changed was the time you remained invisible. In Oblivion, it could make the spell cost a lot of magicka. In real-life Tamriel, most spells could just be maintained over time, making it a costly but affordable spell that was fairly versatile in its use, mainly because you could voluntarily interrupt the invisibility if you didn't need it anymore. Other spells that worked in that way were, mostly, Restoration spells like Cure Paralysis or Cure Diseases, as well as Mark and Recall, straight from Morrowind. I actually made an exception and learned Recall even if it was, officially, a Journeyman-level spell, and my skill in the Alteration school was only on Apprentice level. I planned to resolve that soon. The ability to just teleport back to my room at the College was too good to pass.

I also planned to learn, or at least figure out, shapeshifting and pocket dimensional spell. The first, I wasn't sure it was possible, despite Brelyna's quest. The second, I knew it was possible but it looked very difficult. High-level Conjuration or Alteration, depending on if I wanted to create a demi-plane in Oblivion or a sack of alternate normal-space.

Why I wanted to learn those kind of spells? Pocket dimension, mostly because I wanted to have something like a Bag of Holding where shove my things. I'm a compulsive looter.

Shapeshifting… because it was one of my favorite super-powers. Also, if I could fly around under the guise of a falcon, I could probably spend a lot less time traveling. Also because it was pretty versatile and… who looked at some random animal?

All of this was for later. For now, it was better to learn all I could do.

Unfortunately, despite my efforts, it didn't take long for the teacher to realize I was absurdly talented in magic. After all, they were masters of their respective crafts and talented mages themselves. It didn't take a genius to understand that mastering the basics of necromancy and managing to rapidly grasp the Apprentice level of Conjuration made me a talented fellow.

Fortunately, I avoided to attract too much attention by lying about how much time ago I learned magic. If they knew that I learned my first spells barely a month before arriving, they would get out of their minds. Instead, I lied telling them that it was years I studied magic, but I never had the money or a tutor that could teach me anything aside from the most basic spells. It was a lie that came very naturally because, in a sense, it was true. I had studied magic for years -because I liked to understand magic systems in various games and books- and I really didn't have a tutor -because they didn't exist.

With that innocent lie, I managed to divert their suspicions. They probably figured out that I tried and tried the little spells I knew until I got them perfectly and, despite not knowing anything else, I managed to arrive at a decent level just with that. Considering I was almost ten years older than any other Apprentice, it was something they could understand.

Sure, there were clear gaps in that theory, but I managed to avoid further inquisitions by the teachers telling them that my past was not something I wanted to tell and they left me alone.

That, too, was true, but not in the sense they intended.

Of course, I didn't do that just because I like having secrets and trolling. Well, yeah I did but also because of Ancano.

I have to confess, I completely forgot he was there until I saw him. Sure, I knew he was there because… well, the plot of the College, but my mind seemly forgot about his presence before the main event. Maybe it was because he was just a vanilla Saturday morning villain, uninteresting and completely forgettable.

Of course, being in his presence did a completely different impression on me. Sure, he was still a Saturday morning villain, but now it was there and he could become dangerous if he thought I was suspicious. While I'm not sure how much real power he held in the Thalmor, I wasn't keen on finding out. Spellswords were a problem for me since I was still far behind in terms of weapon skills. So, better avoid assassination parties.

So, I continued to learn spells, improve little by little my mastery of the arcane arts, and meanwhile, I got in shape. Or something that resembled a shape. I needed to figure out a way to make things easier. Maybe some kind of spell that stimulated muscle activity? My knowledge of biology and anatomy was everything but perfect, but if I remembered right, muscle growth was caused by muscular fibers breaking and reassembling themselves.

If that was the case, then a spell that damaged directly my muscles, followed by a healing spell, could improve the strength of my muscles without me doing these exercises. Sure, it didn't help actually increase my coordination and control, but at least I could reasonably avoid strength exercises. It would have been a good idea since I didn't know how to actually get muscles, or not in an efficient way. At least, I could somehow solve the coordination problem by actually training myself with weapons. That should improve my speed, right?

No, wait, speed was also partially dependent on how much strength you could input in a movement. Increasing muscular strength should help in that too. Maybe not at the same rate, but still something. So, operation Muscle Training was my first priority after finished learning all the spells I could.

Mmmm… maybe I could combine this with Enchanting? A ring that continually inflicted minor damage to muscles seemed something reasonable. I just needed to wear it during the day and cast some spell to regain my strength and I was golden. I just needed to remove it before going to bed to avoid problems. In particular, I needed to see if this hypothetical Ring of Hellish Training worked on the heart too. That was because… well, on one hand, free cardio was good. On the other, heart damages could be a pain in the ass. I needed to be careful about it.

I also had to ask the teacher if that was viable because I had no idea if spells like those could even work. Maybe magic didn't work on principles of Earth. Sure, the rules were more or less the same but there was no reason to believe that everything worked the same even molecular levels. Maybe everything under a certain dimension just worked because the Divines had said so.

That required experimentation. Also caution because you never know what other people could think if you went around asking for spell hat could damage the heart. They could think I was trying to put up a curse to kill someone. And, well, I was technically creating a curse but not for killing. Maybe. Possibly? You never know when you have to use a heart attack spell.

That you could also put on a book, just for the laughs…

No, not creating potentially troublesome artifacts. I already had enough problems as is. Not counting that items that cast spells were horribly inefficient in the long run. Soul gems were not so common that you could just use them willy-nilly. Fortunately, the others, even the weapons ones, were permanents.

All in all, I had a lot of things to do and, fortunately, enough time to actually starting to get them right. Barely a week after my arrival at the College, winter bared its fangs in Winterhold direction. A gelid wind had started to batter the coast with insistence, and the days were shortening at an incredible speed. Traveling to Saarthal seemed like a fool quest and the staff of the College clearly thought as much, since nobody even talked to go and see the ruins. Actually, I wasn't even sure the excavations were completed.

So, I had time. Now, I just had to hope the time was enough. Saarthal was impending on me like Helgen's executioner ax. If I wasn't ready for that time… I didn't think I was going to survive.

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.2

"And the Black Knight looked at the poor man, grasping the balcony with all the strength he could, and said…"

I paused, letting my Illusion finish the sentence. "No. I am your father."

There was a collective gasp from my audience and I made my illusion disappear.

Instant revolt.

"Nooo. Apprentice Loki, please! What happens next?"

I laughed. "Patience, Padawan Wortan. You'll know next time."

"But… please!" Exclaimed Novice Helga.

"Now now, it's time for your lessons my little Novices. We'll talk tomorrow."

Sending defeated murmurs, the Novices got out from the dormitory and to their lesson.

Just to be substituted by Brelyna. "It's the first time I see the Novices be unhappy to leave the dormitory. Another of your little shows?"

"Of course. How am I supposed to keep my fellow apprentices in check without them?"

"I suppose you could just threaten them." Answered the Dunmer. "You cast a mean Fireball."

I laughed. It was true, in a sense. Normally during my Skyrim gameplay I mostly used shock spells, but I discovered that I quite liked the fire ones. Maybe I had hidden pyromaniac tendencies?

"Maybe. But I don't think Faralda would like that. After all…"

"The most important thing for a Destruction mage is control." Finished Brelyna. "C'mon. We have an Enchanting lesson."

I nodded and followed the Dunmer. Enchanting lesson was important. For several reasons.

I managed to ask Colette Marence about spells that inflicted damage to muscles. Despite being a generally unpleasant woman -and so explaining why people talked ill of her, since nobody with a functioning brain could consider Restoration an inferior school- she was quite capable. She had explained that, yes, you could create a spell that weakened muscles. It was not something you usually did because it was rare to be immediately useful aside for maybe cause a little fatigue, unless you cast the spell on a long time or you created a spell so powerful that launching it on someone instantly atrophied his muscles. Even then, it was hardly lethal.

When I asked about the heart, she told me that the heart was more resistant than the rest of the muscles. You could cause a heart attack, but only if the heart was already weak.

But, while the item was possible to create in general, it wasn't that useful for the purpose I had in mind. The worst problem with that spell was that it was very specific. It targeted muscles and nothing else. That also meant that ligament and bones were not going to be trained, so it was going to have very little resistance to impacts. Also, ligaments could break if I suddenly used my newfound muscle strength without training them at the same rate. So, yeah, it worked in a general sense, but not for a full-body strengthening.

Fortunately, I had another idea. Taking inspiration from Dragonball, a burden ring that made me feel like I was under amplified gravity was going to solve all my problems, granting me enhanced strength and resistance once I acclimatize with the increased burden. I just had to remove it before fighting.

The next part was actually creating the object and… well, that was kind of a problem. I didn't actually train Enchanting that much. Mostly because, in a fit of paranoia, I decided to focus on Conjuration. Not only because it could help with teleportation and pocket dimension, but also because summoning a meatshield was the best way to survive Glenson or what was his name. Try to use you shitty staff on me while you get mauled by a daedra, bitch.

That was not to say that I didn't know how to Enchant. It was just that… I couldn't really put a powerful Enchantment on an object and I still failed to enchant things sometimes. It was something I had to resolve as fast as possible. Sure, the ring I found in the Bleak Falls Barrow helped but it's not like it could make me a master.

Besides, I always took it off while I was trying to Enchant something. I kind of needed to do it with my ability or I was struck into being depended on the items I made to actually do something, and I hated to feel dependent on an item to be useful. That's why I really disliked D&D 3.5 Christmas Tree effect.

Anyway, I had another motive to actually learn Enchanting: money.

Yeah. Money. The oldest reason you can possibly have for doing something after 'survival'. Enchanting weapons and armors were a sure way to sell them to Nords, and some type of rings, those who protected against magic or poison, were similarly valuable. Sure, I didn't have high-quality Soul Gems to use for high-level enchanting, but I could use the Gems granted by the school. Like our instructor said, Enchanted items were basically the only way the College actually interacted with the outside world. And, since I had a ring Enchanted exactly for this, I took responsibility to actually enchant some gear. I gained something from that, even if not evenly remotely enough to buy a Grand Soul Gem, not even an empty one.

Enough to actually buy several lesser Gems though. So, when the time comes, I could fill them draugrs souls and actually enchant something useful. Sure, Genguy was, from what I remembered, 'just' a Deathlord or equivalent, so he couldn't actually fill a Grand Soul Gem, but that was ok. I didn't need to start with a Grand Soul Gem. I needed several lesser Soul Gem to craft the items that would help me become an excellent crafter, and then I would need a Grand Soul Gem.

Yeah, crafting shenanigans, the best kind of. Sure, there were limits. Unlike the game, you couldn't just cheese you way to omnipotence and craft Potions of Increase Enchanting 100000% to craft gear that increased Alchemy by 400000% and so on until you could forge an Irons sword that dealt one million damage. The power of the Soul Gem and, surprisingly for me, the type of material was a hard stop to that kind of shit. It never appeared in the games, but I supposed it made sense that lesser materials couldn't exactly support high-level Enchantments: iron was less valuable than ebony for a reason. Still, it was quite surprising to learn that some high ranked materials were not that good for Enchanting. Malachite was extremely valuable for its ability to create very light but resistant armors, but it was horrible for Enchanting. I supposed it made sense, anyway: probably only light enchantments could be applied because most of his 'enchanting slots' were taken to make it so light and durable.

Anyway, if you knew what you were doing, you could squeeze a couple of extra Enchantments in a weapon or in an armor. It wasn't easy, but that's were a ring with Fortify Enchanting make its entrance. From what Master Terranius had told use, the most powerful Ring of Enchanting could, hypothetically, increase the enchanting power of 50% or something. It was all highly theoretical because, quite frankly, nobody wanted to use an enchantment so powerful on something so limited. Most mages didn't learn Enchanting to become master craftsmen: they learned it because they could increase their power by creating enchanted gear that would help casting their spells. That was mostly done with what in game terms would have been a Fortify Intelligence Enchanting and some form of Fortify Magic School, and since there were clear limits to how much power you could impress on something and a similar piece of equipment could cost 5000 septims, they simply didn't bother.

It sounded illogical, but it actually made sense. Most mages couldn't save and reload to avoid death, and they were quite squishy. Ordinary mages were also more interested in studying magic and so they didn't actually want to go into the wilds and fight a powerful opponent to fill those damn Gems. They usually hired people to do that, and people that did that were not mages, or they were not interested in Enchanting or they would use the Gems themselves. Even the potential monetary value was kind of lost when you thought that most people couldn't afford an item Enchanted to the level that such an Enchanter could do. I mean, who was going to pay thousands of septim for a magical item of that level? Not everyone had that much money and most of them were actually worried about spending them on something that could give them even more money. Wealthy adventurers, while common in the games, were rare in reality. Especially wealthy adventurers that actually continued to adventure instead of taking the money and retire.

Also, considering the prohibitive cost of filled Soul Gems, it quickly became impractical to use powerful Enchanting tools to have more powerful Enchantments. Why spend double to have, at best, a 50% increase in power? Money was a real problem.

Fortunately, I had quickly discovered an Enchanting method that didn't actually consume Soul Gems but it was still quite lucrative. Magical runes.

Yeah, yeah, they don't appear in vanilla games. And, in reality, they were not even that powerful. But they were a welcome addition to every warrior arsenal.

What are magic runes, you ask? Well, turns out, there were enemies on Tamriel that just ignored your weapon if it wasn't magical, exactly like a ton of fantasy stories. Ghosts and daedra were the most egregious example of this. If your weapon was not magical, good luck hurting them.

In this case, though, magical didn't mean Enchanted, even if Enchantments worked for the job. It was a completely different thing, and I still don't really get how it works. Fortunately, some materials were innately magical, so powerful warriors solved the problem like that. From what I learned, the most common magical metals around were moonstone and dwemer metal.

But for the poor guards who's Jarl couldn't afford a fancy Dwemer sword or a cool Enchantment? Runes were the answer. They didn't actually do anything aside for making the weapon able to damage certain beings, but it was still something most Jarls wanted for their warriors. There were other enchantments that could be done in a similar way, like weapons capable of conducting magicka to let mages use their powers with their hands full, but mostly, magic runes were the way to go request.

Similarly, runed armors were in high demand. Because… well, because runed armors not only were more effective against incorporeal enemies but also because they granted a minor protection against magical attacks. Very, very minor, barely enough to weaken the least powerful spell a mage could cast… but still something. So, runed armors were another product that sold like bread.

So, between putting runes on everything and people who asked me to create weak Enchantments, I managed to get enough money to actually do something with my knowledge of magic. I just needed a little more time.

Fortunately, time seemed like something we would have in spades. The moment I stuck my nose out of the dorms, I was assaulted by the frigid wind of Winterhold.

Now, being an inhabitant of northern Italy, the cold was not exactly something I was completely unprepared against. Winter could get pretty chill there, and even with global warming, it could go under zero. When I was a little kid, it was not unusual to have to wait for the bus at -10°C or something.

But Skyrim cold was on another level, and I had to use a spell to not freeze. Like it wasn't enough, the winter at the College consisted of several months barricaded inside because Winterhold was often assaulted by storms. Now, the sea mitigated the freezing temperature somehow, but the storms were what made impossible to actually travel. Unless you came from Dawnstar, because the mountains on the coast actually stopped the winds. So, let's say that arriving from the west was doable. Leaving the place meant death, unless you traveled in a big, well-equipped group with people that were accustomed to the weather.

So, we mages didn't actually travel that much. The trip to Sarthaal was surely going to be delayed to, at least, a couple of months. I had to become good enough in that time.

So, winching from the powerful wind, we and Brelyna trudged toward the Enchanting class.

Were, finally, I managed to create the ring I wanted. The one that would help me train.

The Ring of Training Burden. Not that I actually named it, it was just a name that I gave it in my head. On the ring, I put the words 'Burdening' to distinguish it from my Ring of Enchanting, and I put it on the moment I got out of the classroom.

"What are you doing?" Asked Onmund.

"This, my friend, it's something that will help me." I said. "It's a cursed ring that increases the weight on me."

"And why should you do that?" Asked the Nord, confused.

"The basic idea is that increasing the weight on myself and training, I obtain more results." I replied. "I wanted to use a ring that was going to damage my muscles, but there were problems with that project."

Unsurprisingly, it was J'zargo that looked at the ring with interest. "J'zargo understands the basic idea, but why would you want to do this? Do you want to become a battlemage?"

I was initially surprised that he thought that I wanted to become a battlemage, but it actually made sense. Destruction and Conjuration were the schools I was more capable of. It was more or less the basis of every battlemage ever. That and Alteration.

Also… yeah, I kind of wanted to become some sort of battlemage, at least how they were usually portrayed there. Heavy armor, weapon in hand, and magic. Best combo for absolute protection and versatility.

"Something like that." I said. "But it's more the fact that I will not stay there for long."

That attracted quite a bit of looks. "What?" Asked Onmund. "But… didn't you come here to learn magic? Why would you go away?"

I smiled. "I want to return home, Onmund. I have a fiancée that's waiting for me."

"Oh, a fiancée." Exclaimed J'zargo. "J'zargo admit, he wasn't sure you had one. A man of your talent surely would attract a lot of gazes, but you never looked like the type to approach girls."

"I made an exception for her." I admitted.

"What's her name?" Asked Brelyna, curious.

"Caire." I said, distorting her name to make it sound more tamrielic. I looked down. On one hand, it was a good thing to talk about her, because it made me remember her more clearly and granted new fire on my determination.

On the other hand, remembering made me realize how much I missed her.

"Ah, that's the gaze of a man in love." Announced J'zargo. "If it's not an indelicate question, J'zargo would like to know how long have you two been engaged?"

I shrugged, not particularly bothered by the question. "Nine and a half years."

Brelyna nodded, like it was an absolutely normal thing to say. Onmund and J'zargo, however, looked confused.

"Wait, how is that possible?" Asked the Nord. "Engagement that long are usually an effect combined marriages between nobles…"

Uh-oh. My tongue slipped. It was not normal in Tamriel to be engaged for that long and not marry. And, while I hadn't exactly told every one of my past, it was pretty clear that I wasn't a noble, or I wouldn't have come there with no money and a basic understating of magic.

"It was just because we didn't have the money to build a house for ourselves." I said, using a partial truth to cover the whole issue. "I will not say that I came here for that, but…"

J'zargo let out a feral grin. "Oh, that's why you're so interested in Enchanting and Alchemy, aren't you? Something profitable and well respected, even if mages are not so well seen right now in Skyrim." He nodded, like he was complimenting himself for being so acute. Since he was giving me back up, I just nodded.

"Still, nine and a half years." Continued Onmund. "It's quite a lot of time. A childhood friend?"

I knew that I should just stay silent, but I couldn't. "How old do you think I am, Onmund?"

The Nord blinked, confused. "Uh… twenty-three? A couple of years older than me?"

"Add five years." I casually said. "I'm older then I look."

Onmund blinked a couple of times. "You're twenty-eight?"

"Twenty-nine at the end of winter." I confirmed.

"But then how…"

"Guys." I said, stopping the questions that surely were coming. "I would prefer to not talk about it. Maybe another time."

My fellow students decided to humor me. Better for them, because Fenrir decided to approach us at that moment and the wolf was always quick to get my mood.

Fenrir was also completing his growth and, by the gods, he was enormous. He didn't need to stand on his hind legs to lick my face anymore, just stretch his head a little. My estimation of him being the size of a pony was not that far off. He was going to be as tall as me at the end of winter.

That had brought another problem, namely that he ate like a bear right out from the winter sleep. He ate so much that I had to tell him to go and find food out of the College. I didn't know what he found when he did -he probably killed little animals that survived somehow in this place or, more probably, he stole the leftovers from the inn- but at least, he didn't look underfed.

I hoped his appetite reduced when he finished growing. Fortunately, the box was still large enough for him.

Yeah, Archmage Savos decided to let him stay there. More for academic curiosity than anything, I think. Sometimes, Fenrir even participated in the lessons, even if how much he actually learned from them was still a mystery. He was an incredibly intelligent wolf, and he could understand what people meant almost like a person, but while he could sustain a 'discussion' pretty well, higher concepts confused him. It was like talking with a surprisingly acute child. Which he was, after all. He was only… four months old? Five at best? I didn't know shit about wolves growth rate, but like most dogs, he probably was passing in the explosive growth phase that, with a little luck, will stop soon.

Anyway, it was time for the Restoration lesson. And, while on a personal level Colette wasn't that great, she had shown interest in my little experiment and had shown a willingness to help. Restoration was also one of the classes that Fenrir followed. Because he was starting to learn magic or because lots of Novices of Restoration were little girls and he liked to be petted by them? Only he knew.

When we arrived at the room, the first thing Colette did was to greet us and me specifically. "Ah, welcome, welcome. Apprentice Loki, did your project finally get results?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it did. I wear the ring at this moment."

She nodded in response and walked toward me, raising her hand for… I dunno. Checking my condition with magic? "Mmmm… yes, I can feel it. Stronger than I thought, but nothing that could endanger your life. I advise you to not wear the ring while you sleep. It shouldn't kill you, but sleep will come better if your chest is not compressed. Also, I strongly suggest you to use a stamina potion every three hours or so. It should help deal with eventual side effects."

"Thank you for your guidance." I replied.

"Oh, don't worry. It's my pleasure to help an Apprentice, especially when they have such interesting theories on the effect of weight Enchantment and Restoration. If your idea is correct, it should greatly help our understating about how the body works."

"You think others are going to use it, teacher?" I asked, curious.

She shook her head. "No, not really. It requires knowledge of Restoration at least at the Journeyman level to be used without massive potion consumption. And most mages don't see the benefits of gaining physical power at the risk of their own health. You can probably earn the best results here in the College, when you don't really have to worry about anything. Outside, it's probably not worth it."

I looked at her. "Is it because of the side-effects you talked about?"

Colette nodded. "You'll probably experience fatigue and general pain. After all, you're experiencing something comparable to a harsh training regime. You are tough man, even if didn't train your body for combat, so you should be able to endure it. I would not suggest it for anyone else… excluding maybe you, Apprentice Onmund." The Nord blinked. "You're young and your Nord blood should help. Still, it's a lot of stress to force on the body. Unless you plan on becoming a battlemage, I would not use it. Even then, normal training is probably better for everyone that doesn't have a good understating of the Restoration school, or not enough power."

I nodded. "I understand. Out of curiosity, if I ever created a superior version of this Enchantment-"

"I'll discourage everyone to use it." The mage cut me off. "This is the most I would consider a safe Enchantment, even if the person wearing it only removes it to sleep. Everything stronger is going to gravely damage the body. At that point, it's more a weapon than something that can be used for training."

"It's really that dangerous?" Asked Onmund, intrigued.

"Not by itself." Explained Colette. "It's just a Burden spell. However, it's a continuous Burden spell. Normally, Burden spells are only used to slow down opponents. This spell will remain active all day. Apprentice Loki theorized that continued use of Burden spell could help simulate a severe training regime by putting a lot of stress on the body, without actually having to do anything, while using Restoration to let himself function normally. His theory is that reinforcement of the body works by damaging the muscles and then letting them heal. The theory makes sense, so I was curious to see if it could work. There are problems, of course. Every part of the body is subjected to the weight, not just the limbs. It could have repercussion on the heart and the blood, to not talk about all the internal organs that can't be trained like the muscles. That's why I discourage you from using more powerful Enchantments: we don't know what effects it could have on the body over a span of several hours."

I nodded. Unfortunately, this ring still meant I had to actually train to achieve something, but with enough burden on me, the training I actually had to do was quite limited. Even simply walking was going to be a problem. So, light exercise, mostly to not let this body forget how to use the weapons he remembered how to use -mostly my short sword and my bow- would be enough. I hoped, at least.

"Remember to come to me every day to let me check you condition, Apprentice Loki." Continued Colette. "We don't want you to suffer a heart attack because you pushed yourself too hard, don't we?"

"Of course, Mistress." I replied.

But I was already wondering if I could send one of these rings to Thormund.

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.3

Turns out, Colette's prediction on how taxing the damn ring would be was entirely accurate. For the next month, I had to consume potion on potions simply to function like a normal person. It was also the reason I decided to make another exception at my self-imposed rule of 'don't learn spells that you can't fully control' and learned a Journeyman stamina-replenish spell, just to not go broke or pass most of my day on an alchemist table.

If I had made a stronger ring, I probably wouldn't be able to move at all.

Despite that, I made scarce progress in Restoration. Maybe because I spent my diminishing concentration on other things, like Alteration and Mysticism, still searching for a shapeshifting and pocket dimension spell. I still had to break through on that, unfortunately.

But hey, I learned to open portals. That counted for something, right?

Speaking of portals, I still had to find something…

"Master Tolfdir?" I asked one day, after a lesson.

"Oh, tell me, young man." At least he stopped to call me a boy. That was awkward. "How can I assist you?"

"I tried to find anything about… hmmm…" Ah shit. I should I put this?

"Yes?" Encouraged Tolfdir.

I sighed. "Levitation." I confessed. "I tried to find something about levitation spells. But I found nothing in the library."

Master Tolfdir nodded. "And you won't find it. The use of levitation spell was banished-"

"By the Levitation Act during the Third Era." I finished. "Yes, I know. But I thought that at least some theoretical knowledge of the spell would remain. I understand that it's illegal, but it's not immoral. Besides, the use of the levitation spell is banned, not the theory behind it."

Master Tolfdir chuckled lightly. "Of course, you're perfectly right. But, how I can say this… while it's all true, there were… complications, after the Great War."

I gave the master a confused look. "Complications? I thought the College kept itself outside politics."

The old Nord nodded. "Yes, it does. Most of the time. And in normal circumstances, tomes about levitation theory would still be around, but… unfortunately, after the Great War and even before then, after the dissolution of the Mage Guild, the College found wise to hide them. For appearance sake."

"Mmmm." I eloquently said. "So I'm not going to have any help in this, right?"

"No." Confirmed the master of Alteration. "Why are you interested in the levitation spell anyway, Apprentice Loki? Sure, it's useful, but its use is banished."

I nodded. "I know. But like I said, I like to know things, and for an adventurer, levitation seems like something too useful to ignore."

"An adventurer?" Asked master Tolfdir, surprised. "I thought you just learned magic. Why would you want to risk your life as an adventurer?"

I paused for a second before answering. "Because I saw the World Eater destroy Helgen and I have to do something to help."

Master Tolfdir looked at me, silent. "So the voices are true." He finally said. "The dragons are returning."

"Yes."

The Nord nodded. "I see. Well, practicing your spells is another way to master them. As for levitation… I fear you have to come with a solution for yourself."

So, no help but he wasn't going to stop me either. Good enough. "I see. Thank you, Master Tolfdir."

"It's my pleasure, Apprentice Loki." He replied.

I made a little bow and excused myself.

Out of the room, I found Fenrir waiting for me. He greeted me with a [lap].

Recently, Fenrir was spending a lot of time away from the College. I didn't know why. I also started to notice a slight change in his temperament. He was starting to be less playful. Maybe he was just growing out of it.

What was not normal was his increasing tolerance for the icy temperatures of Winterhold. Maybe it was his latent Ice Wolf blood that was starting to show? Or he was using magic? He studied Restoration and one of the common spells of that School was Resistance to damage. Maybe he used Resistance to Frost on himself?

Whatever.

I walked toward the dormitory. While my progress was still very fast, I started to notice a certain difficulty in reaching the Adept level. It wasn't impossible by any measure, but the difficulty was enough to make me ask if my initial plan to stay in the College until I managed to master at least one school of magic wasn't a little too utopic. After all, while spending the winter inside the College was a good idea, I doubted I had that much time. I was already sort of postponing the issue with revived dragons, and I probably had to worry about Arkon… Harkon… whatever, and Miirak. Harkon was not that much as a problem: sure it was an ancient vampire, but compared to even a single dragon, he was a small fish.

Miirak, on the other hand…

I know that it could look like I was worrying too much about it, but I played ESO and, for what I have seen, it was a far more realistic representation of TES at high power. In Skyrim, some dragons were fodder and Alduin was disappointing, even at the max level. In ESO, a single dragon could burn an entire city and the most powerful ones wielded power that only the most powerful mortal in TES could hope to achieve. They also looked very proficient in the art of magic despite not using it offensively, because… well, magicka ran out, the Thu'um didn't. Also, most of the dragons in ESO could use their Shouts to do frankly ridiculous things, like summon demons and change the weather. Sure, nothing on the level of Alduin calling down a meteor storm, but still pretty impressive.

Someone could argue that it was a proof of how powerful the Dragonborn was, I didn't feel like a dragon slayer right now, and even the draugr in Bleak Falls was more than powerful enough to kill me. So, I had to up my game.

How to do that was the problem. Mastering magic in the brief time I could stay in the College didn't look feasible anymore. The ring was going to be useful to make me less terrible in combat, but I suspected most professional fighters could still defeat me.

The only thing that I could think of was to reunite with Thormund and go together. He also had the Thu'um, so we could work together to achieve the results I wasn't confident I could get by myself.

Me, Thormund and Fenrir, uh? Yeah, sounded right. We three could do it. A fourth member would be ideal, maybe someone with a more pronounced ability in… well, thievery, but whatever. After all, Fenrir could cover the role of stereotypical thief, since he was pretty sneaky and his senses were excellent. Sure, he couldn't force a lock but whatever. This wasn't a game. If a door didn't open, you could just break it.

Speaking of which, wasn't that also the standard party composition of an ESO raid? Two damage dealers, a tank and a healer. With me as healer, Thormund as tank and Fenrir and the hypothetical thief as damage dealers…

No, stop thinking in terms of games. Sure, maybe this experience was some sort of game and nothing bad would happen if I died, but like hell I was going to take the chance. Take this thing seriously dammit.

Unfortunately, the only way I could think to rapidly gain more power was… killing dragons. If I was the Dragonborn, then killing dragons would be a sure way to increase not only my knowledge of the Voice but my knowledge in general… and knowledge was power.

The obvious counterpoint was that dragons were nasty motherfuckers, so while it was a fast way to gain power, it was also an incredibly risky one. Anything else was going to be far slower or just as dangerous, even if it didn't look like it. Sure, pledging my soul to one of the daedric princes could work… but I wasn't going to sell my soul for power. Recovering their artifacts was already sketchy enough. Anything more was a definitive 'no' in my book.

That said, remembering to explore all the roads wasn't bad. I kind of forgot to train my Thu'um while I was inside the College and, while understandable, it was probably an error to completely ignore it. First off, it granted me an easy way to use powerful magical effects without requiring magicka, but it also somewhat helped me with magic by granting me a superior understating of how the world was ruled.

Sure, maybe trying to master the Voice now, with the ring sapping away your strength, was not a good idea… but if you were the Dragonborn -I still didn't have a definitive proof- it shouldn't be that hard… right?

Well, I hoped so. Better starting to train seriously.

-X-

"Loki!" Called a voice behind me. I didn't stop doing what I was doing, namely floating with my leg crossed a foot above the floor of the highest tower of the College, the icy winds slapping my face, meditating on the words of power. Like a Buddhist monk trying to reach illumination.

Which, in a sense, I was.

Yeah, it didn't look like the smartest thing to do, but after a week or so, I discovered that meditating in a location that had both open sky and wind made it easier to meditate on the Words. Maybe it was the vicinity with Kyne, or maybe it was just a mental suggestion. Still, I nearly got Yol, until I was distracted. Meditating wasn't the same to actually try to use a Shout for the objective of learning it, but I didn't have the stamina to use a Shout with the ring up.

I was starting to desire to climb the Throat of the World and meditate with Paarthurnax.

Anyway…

"Onmund." I greeted my fellow Apprentice. "What brings you here? Am I late for a lesson?"

I didn't think so, but you never know. I always had a pretty precise sense of the passing of time and once I arrived here, it only increased -a side effect of being the Dragonborn and so a piece of a Time God?- but I also had the bad habit of losing it when I was really focused on something.

"No. I just wanted to see you train. J'argo said it was an impressive sight." He paused. "I know what he meant now."

I decided to be vague. "I don't understand why Apprentice J'zargo would think that."

"You kind of rediscovered Levitation in a month since your entrance." Noted Onmund.

With a monumental poker face, I denied the accusation. "I don't know what you're talking about, Apprentice Onmund. Levitation is banished by Imperial Law. I'm just using a variation of the telekinesis spell to lift myself from the ground."

"It isn't the same thing?" Asked Onmund.

"Of course not. It's like saying that a firebolt and a firestorm are the same thing."

Of course, I was a lying liar who lied and that, in fact, was a levitation spell… or something similar. But, it was true that I started by analyzing telekinesis spells to get how to levitate things around. Once I got that, applying it to myself was easy. So, I was levitating using Telekinesis on Self. But of course, I decided to not really say that and only focus on the fact that I was using telekinesis.

Ah, the best kind of truth: the technical one.

Now, utilizing this spell without massive focus was another problem. From what I got about Levitation, it was supposed to be a pretty simple spell to use. Well, not to use in general, but to use once you cast it. Flying using the spell was supposed to be quite easy, almost like walking.

Unfortunately, since I created this spell starting with telekinesis, the spell wasn't that good to… well, actually fly. I could lift myself pretty easily, and I could even fly around… slowly and with very little maneuverability. Not really useful in combat. It was a step in the right direction, but just a step. I needed more testing and more time.

But for today, it looked like I wouldn't. Onmund had said that he was there just to watch me, but I didn't believe that. Onmund, despite being less driven then J'zargo and less meticulous then Brelyna, was still a diligent student. He wouldn't come here just to see me when he could study some spells.

So I unfurled my legs and stood. "But even if that's the case, I'm sure you have another reason to come here that's not just 'I wanted to see you training'. I'm sure that you have better things to do with the time between lessons."

Onmund smiled. "Straightforward, aren't you? Well, yes, I have another reason to come here. Enthir is looking for you."

I gave him a confused look. I knew Enthir as the smuggler of the College of Winterhold and I always went to him when I needed to sell a lot of things other members of the College didn't buy, like Enchanted weapons and the likes. But that was in the game. I never actually talked to him since I arrived here. Unlike in the game, I didn't have the luxury of cheat codes to magically expand my inventory and zero need to go adventuring while I was still learning magic, especially with the terrible weather outside. So, he had no reason to look for me.

Unless he needed something he couldn't get from any others. But what it could be, I didn't know.

"And why is Adept Enthir looking for me?" I asked, even if I doubted that Enthir had told Onmund.

"He didn't say." Admitted the Nord. "But he told me to search for you and I own him a favor…"

I cocked a brow at that. Or tried. I had very little control over my brow. The end result probably looked like a frown. "What, he promised you to give you your family amulet?"

Onmund sent me a shocked look. "How do you know that?"

Oh shit, my tongue slipped. Be vague. "I know a lot of things." I said. "Also, you should try to lower your voice when you go to talk with him. I have a pretty good hearing. Or I do when I try Fortify spells."

Onmund sent me a mildly suspicious look, but after a second he sighed. "I see. Well, yes, he apparently wanted to talk with you and used the amulet to bribe me. I couldn't refuse."

And I was happy you didn't. Honestly, your quest was the most boring of the three. At least there was a little action with J'zargo and Brelyna.

"Don't worry. I doubt it's something dangerous. Besides, family is important." I stopped for a second when a wave of nostalgia took me. When I recovered, Onmund was looking at me with understanding.

"Yes. We can have our differences, but family is family." He said, nodding.

I nodded in response. "Yeah. Well' let's see what Enthir wants. Knowing his reputation, it's probably something illegal."

Onmund chuckled and I decided it was the case to see what the fuck Enthir wanted. So, after a quick goodbye, I traveled to the Hall of Attainment, aka my dorm.

Here, looking like nothing was wrong, was the Bosmer sorcerer that, from his astonishing five foot and half, managed to look even less intimidating than in the game. I had a brother ten years younger than me that looked more dangerous.

"Enthir." I said, deciding to cut the chase. "Onmund told me you were looking for me."

The Bosmer raised his head and looked at me. "Ah, yes, the new arrival of the College. Loki, if I remember correctly. Please, sit."

I sent him a suspicious look and took a chair. The chamber in the Hall were bigger than the ones in the game -and had doors- so all in all, they were a little more homey than you'll expect. Enthir in particular, since he had a lot of non-magic related items inside. Anyway, I sent him that suspicious look because the request was rather polite and… well, Enthir didn't do polite.

"I was under the impression that you were a man with things to do." I said, trying to cut the chase again. "Not one of pleasantry. Is there anything I can do for you, or can I return to my studies?"

Yeah, I couldn't say I particularly liked Enthir. He was useful and I sort of appreciated his no-nonsense attitude, but he could use that attitude for better things than constantly sound like a jerkass.

The elf chuckled. "Straight to the point, uh? I like that. So, I heard voices on you, Apprentice."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you have. You live on this floor in my room down the hall."

"Not that kind of voices. Voices about your, well, willingness of breaking the rules."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. Are your little experiments to revive the Levitation spell not true?"

I crossed my arms. "I'm not experimenting with Levitation, I'm just using Telekinesis on myself as a means to improve my mastery over Alteration. It's far more difficult than you think."

"Oh? I wonder if that's the truth."

"That's my version of the story and you won't hear something different from me."

The Bosmer smirked. "Of course. Who am I to doubt your word?"

I recognized the tone. He was arriving at the point, whatever it was. "Setting aside your ideas on what I'm researching, why do you call me here?"

"Precisely because of what are you searching." He said, leaning on his chair. "I admit it, pocket dimensions, shapeshifting and a strange Restoration spell that weaken muscles didn't really attract my attention, but with the… new spell you're researching, less scrupulous men could think you are researching those spell for illegal acts."

I was confused. What the hell he was implying? Well, whatever. "What people think I'm going to use those spells for is not my problem. And you don't strike me as someone who has that much problem with illegal stuff anyway. I'll ask again. What do you want from me?"

"Oh, I want you to continue your research." He said. "I have… friends that would like to use those spells themselves. They look particularly useful."

Wha- oh right, he had contacts with the Thieves Guild. "I wonder what kind of friend will want spell that are so suspicious in the eyes of less scrupulous people." I shrugged. "Well, don't matter. What I gain from this?"

"Gain?" Asked Enthir, not looking really surprised, more intrigued.

"Well, I'm not just going to tell you how to use those spells." I replied. "I have no obligation to divulge my results. So, you'll have to convince me to share."

"My friends will be willing to pay you, of course."

"That's fine, but it doesn't really help your cause. Do you know how difficult it is creating a pocket dimension? It's damn hard, be it by twisting the space-time continuum or creating a little bubble of reality in the Oblivion. And then, what your friends expect, that I'll just tell them how to replicate that when I can ask for payment for performing the spell for them? Maybe I'm not the most economically inclined person on Nirn, but even I can see I don't have a reason to teach my spells to someone else when it's far more convenient for me to be paid for casting it."

Enthir paused for a second. "You do have a point. But, just for the sake of speculation, why do you think my friends can't just strong-arm you into revealing those spell?"

In another situation, I would have been more cautious, but since I knew who his 'friends' were, I saw straight through his bluff and I decided to be direct. "Please, the Thieves Guild don't kill people unless it's necessary, and some fancy spells are hardly necessary for them. They have far worse problems."

Enthir, I have to give him that, maintained a respectable poker face. "I never talked about the Thieves Guild."

"True, you didn't. I assume your position is that they're not your friends and you're not going to say anything different, right? Well, who am I to doubt your word?" I sent him a smug grin. "So, let's return to talk about your anonymous friends. Let's say, after I finish to complete these spells. Why should I share with them? I'm free to decide who my partners are and, by the sound of it, your friends don't look like the most honest people around. Or have I misunderstood something?"

To be fair, I liked the Thieves Guild questline and the only reason I didn't come to them to train me in the art of stealth before coming to the College was that I didn't know how much time I had before Alduin started to seriously push for a campaign of conquest. So, since I -or this body, depending on the interpretation- had a clear talent for magic, I cut that road without a thought and got there as fast as possible.

But now that Enthir remembered me that there was a way to influence that questline even from there, I started to form new plans.

The Bosmer, meanwhile, was smiling. "You're trying to strike an accord that's more advantageous for you, I see. It's something I can respect. I'll have to talk with my friends to see how much they're willing to support you, but I'm sure you understand that this weather is not going to make it fast."

I waved my hand. "Of course. However, we could start with a little discount on your prices, don't you think? I heard them and I must say they're quite overblown."

He shrugged. "Maybe they are, but I'm the only one in the College that can get them. So, they seem fair to me."

"And if I could give you information to help one of your friends?"

The elf looked at me, confused. "What information could you give?"

"Oh, I don't know. I know something about a dark elf that had to run because she was unjustly accused to have killed her boss."

At those words, Enthir froze. "You… what?"

I smiled. "Don't be surprised, I know a lot of things. And I also know a way to help her." I leaned forward. "So. You want to hear me?"

Enthir remained silent for several seconds. "You're playing a dangerous game, Apprentice Loki." He finally said.

I couldn't stop myself. I laughed in his face. "You think this is a dangerous game? Have you any idea what kind of shit is threatening Skyrim right now? The Civil War, the return of the dragons, a crazy vampire lord, an ancient Dragonborn… this little scuffle inside the Thieves Guild is nothing. It would not even register in history books. Hell, just being here in the College is more dangerous than talking to you about your friend."

The Bosmer's reply to my outburst was one of pure confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll see." I cryptically replied. "Anyway, let's return to talk about serious things. I can't do too much for your friend without being present, but if you see her, tell her two things: she can't beat Mercer alone, because Mercer has desecrated the Nightingale shrine and stole something very important. And tell her that she needs to translate her boss journal to convince the Guild of her innocence. It's in Falmeric: she need to find the slab inside Cancelmo Dwemer Museum in Markarth. Once she has a copy, she'll have all she needs to clean her name."

Enthir remained silent for a good minute, probably thinking about what I just said. "Why are you telling me this?"

I shrugged. "I don't like Mercer. That's all you need to know."

"How can I be sure you're not lying? You can't drop all of this on me and pretend that I'll trust you."

"Oh, I'm not expecting you to trust me. But I don't need to worry about that because all the things I said are true. You can just ignore what I just said and not tell anything at your friend: but the only person that's going to pay for that is her." I waved. "Well, it could be that she's going to be alright even without that: it all depends if Mercer decides to bring the last addition of the Guild with him where she plans to ambush him. If he does, she'll lose the opportunity to kill him, but in the end, she's going to be rehabilitated in the eyes of the Guild. If he doesn't, maybe she kills him… but the Guild is still plagued by bad luck and she has a not minuscule chance of getting killed before the poison takes effect. But, hey, her choice. Personally, I wouldn't risk it, but it's not my call to make."

There was silence for a while. "You know a lot of things, Apprentice. I'll have to talk with… my friend, I suppose. But if what you say it's true, I'll apply a little discount on my goods."

I smiled. It was not like I was going to buy a lot of things from Enthir, but it felt good to basically take the reward I would take by completely most of the Thieves Guild questline simply by talking with him.

As for the risk I took by telling him that, they were practically nonexistent. Sure, if Mercer somehow discovered I helped… what was her name? Karlya? Something like that. Anyway, if he ever discovered what I had done here, he could try to exact revenge… but for some reason, I found that unlikely. It would require for him to discover that I helped her, to begin with, and considering that Enthir was still in friendly terms with… the Dunmer, it meant that he didn't believe she had killed the last Guildmaster or it was not enough for him to cut the relationship and sell her to the Guild. If both cases, he probably wasn't going to tell Mercer.

Furthermore, Mercer would have to actually enter the College to do something about it and, for some reason, I believed that he would have a hard time doing that. It was just an impression of course, that he would have problem infiltrate in the College, protected by several spells, not last the fact that the gate didn't open if not for members of the College. Just an impression.

No, I was relatively safe inside the College. Outside it, of course, nothing stopped him from killing me.

Wait a minute, the Thieves Guild didn't kill people… or at least, not regularly because that was the job of the Dark Brotherhood. Mercer said that they had a pact so the Guild managed his traitors alone. That meant that Mercer wouldn't come anyway: it would just send an assassin.

Speaking of which, wasn't there an event that consisted of a random assassin jump on you in the middle of a road to fulfill some contract? I don't think it was ever explained why they would do that, who could you plausibly ask to kill the Dragonborn? Maybe the reason he wanted to pass the border?

I quickly scanned the vague memories of whoever the guy if was currently… possessing? Hijacking? Inhabiting? Was. I wasn't sure. Anyway, their memories were, as I already knew, vague and unhelpful. The more I looked at them, the less they looked like real memories. They contained just basic knowledge of the world and enough personal background to let me lie about it, but nothing else.

For not the first time and not the last, I asked myself who could do something like that. I knew that, from a storytelling perspective, a blank slate character was important for a game like Skyrim to work. The protagonist needed to be silent and without a clear background so you could identify in him/her and play like you were in the world of Elder Scrolls.

But there was a difference between a blank slate character and that. It didn't feel natural, so it had to be artificial. And if it was artificial, then someone manipulated or outright created a body for an external entity to possess, that granted limited but useful knowledge about the world to whoever was inside. If they didn't do that directly to me, of course, since this body was really similar to the one I already had.

An apparently benevolent ROB, then. But not one I could identify. And that made me nervous. If I knew for sure who did this, I could think of a way to resolve the problem. Without that, I didn't dare to do anything.

"Is there anything else, Apprentice Loki?" Asked Enthir, shaking me from my thoughts.

"No, nothing. My apologies, I was lost in my thoughts."

"You must have a lot of thoughts." Commented Enthir. "Especially knowing all those things. A lot of them sound… apocalyptic, to say at least. Are those true?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"It has to be difficult to sleep." He replied, slightly sarcastic.

I showed the ring. "This thing helps. I'm so sore and tired that I just drop." I sighed. "But yes, it's not easy. I'm constantly thinking of ways to prevent, delay, or solve those issues… and I got nothing. Not as I am right now."

Enthir hummed. "So that's why you're searching for those spells. They could be useful in facing those problems." He leaned forward. "But how do you know those things? I didn't control, but I'm pretty sure you're nobody. You arrived here barely knowing magic, with just armor and some clothes. Who told you about mad vampires, dragons and the rest?"

I shrugged. "An Elder Scroll."

Enthir blinked. "An Elder Scroll?"

"Yeah. I read it some time ago. A real trip, I assure you."

Enthir looked confused for a second. Oh, right, probably 'a real trip' didn't make much sense for him. Whatever.

"I mean, it was an experience." I amended.

"I'm sure it was." Agreed Enthir. "Still… I thought only the Monks of the Month could read an Elder Scroll."

"That's… not exactly true." I admitted. "Everyone can read an Elder Scroll. If you can do that without losing your sight is another matter entirely. I'm not trained to read them but somehow, it didn't affect me that much. I was lucky, I suppose."

"I see. You mentioned that staying there is dangerous. Any particular reason why?"

"Ancano."

"Ah, yes, I can see that. But if you know that, why didn't you talk to the Archmage? I'm sure he could do something about it."

"I think not. I have no proof. He's not going to believe me… not now, at least. I'll try to explain myself later."

Enthir nodded. "I'm surprised. You didn't seem to mind using your knowledge to your advantage. You know something but you're not going to act, at least regarding Ancano?"

"I'm not confident I can do anything to him." I replied. "I'm just an Apprentice. I could try to do something, but I'm not powerful or sneaky enough to pull it off."

The Bosmer nodded. "I can see that. He is a nuisance, but the Archmage granted him a place at the College and there is nothing we can do about it. Unless, of course, you're willing to dispose of him in a more… permanent manner."

I sent him a confused gaze. "What? What were we talking before if not dispose of him?"

Enthir blinked, clearly caught off guard. "I was thinking of something like disgrace him in front of the Archmage…"

Oooooh! "Ah, well, it could work, but how? The only things that can get you kicked out from the College are theft or trying to kill a member of the College. Can you see Ancano trying to rob me? And of course, I don't want him to try to kill me… not until I'm at least capable of defending myself properly."

"Fair points. He's a terrible spy but he will try to preserve some kind of deniability." Enthir mumbled something I couldn't catch and then sighed. "Well, there is anything I can help you with, Apprentice?"

"No, I don't think so. Thanks for the talk, Adept Enthir. It's been… enlightening."

"Likewise. Good day, Apprentice."

At that, I stood and walked out of the room. I had things to do.

Last edited: Jan 19, 2020

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.4

I didn't have much to do for the rest of the winter aside from studying and preparing for the trip to Sarthaal. A trip that I prepared for by producing a lot of potions, especially magicka and health ones. Mostly with whatever ingredients I could buy with little money.

Was I paranoid? Maybe. I still wanted to live though.

Anyway, why I would have loved to just focus on my studies, I couldn't. Not just because I was having zero progress with shapeshifting -a little more with pocket dimension, at least I understood how to do them now- but mostly because Enthir was distracting me. And not in an 'I'm still thinking about what we talked about', no. More like, he entered my room without an invitation.

"I hope you have a very good reason to barge here." I said, huffing. "I'm trying to reach Adept level Destruction, you know?"

I had decided to start with Destruction as my first attempt to breach out from the Journeyman level I was stuck from… basically the start of my stay here in the College. Until now, I just brought my other skills to a comparable level, because you never know when you need a high-level spell. So, Adept level Destruction, then Conjuration, and then Alteration. While continuing to study Mysticism even if it wasn't a real School now, but I liked it anyway.

So, the fact that Enthir was distracting me was annoying. Very annoying.

"Yes, I have a good reason." The Bosmer said. "You remember our little conversation about my friends, a month ago?"

"Of course I remember." I said, giving him my back. I already lost interest in the discussion. If he was here to say that he made contact with Karlya or what was her name and now I had a discount, he could have told me that with a message. No need for a stupid visit. Still, I asked, even just for courtesy. "She confirmed my words?"

"A little more than that." Replied Enthir, managing to catch my attention. "I don't know how many times you think we got in contact, but it's not often. So, I couldn't warn her before making sure she started her plan."

Oh shit. "She's…"

"Alive." Confirmed Enthir. Huff. Thank God. I didn't want to fuck the Thieves Guild timeline too much. "She tried to ambush Mercer but there was someone else."

"Good for her." I said. "That still doesn't explain why you're here."

Enthir paused. "She's here."

Uh? "Sorry? She's where?"

"Here. In Winterhold." Answered Enthir. "There were… problems with the other person."

I paused. That… didn't make sense. "What? I thought her venom wasn't lethal?"

Enthir blinked at that, probably asking himself how I knew. "Well, yes. The problem is that Mercer has to be… thorough, this time. The person is of a race particularly resistant to poison, so he stabbed her harder to be extra sure she died. Karliah did her best, but she's still in a bad shape. She fears a disease."

"And you need a healer. You friend at the inn can't do anything?"

Enthir shook his head. "Restoration is not Nelcar's strong point… nor mine."

I sighed, already knowing this was going to be a pain. "Fine. Let's see this person. I'll do what I can."

Fifteen minutes later, or something like that, I was inside the inn. There, on the bed of Nelcar, there was a woman.

I'll be honest here. When Enthir had said that her race was resistant to poisons, I immediately thought about an Argonian. They fit quite nicely in the Thieves Guild and have poison resistance. Sure, they also had disease resistance if I remembered correctly, but it could happen that they caught some illness on the way. Also, the poison probably worked even on races with resistance to poison… she probably had the time to devise one. She was exiled for what, ten years? More?

But the woman on the bed wasn't an Argonian. She was a Redguard. A Redguard that was clearly ill or at least suffering. She was extremely pale and was sweating profusely. It looked bad.

She also looked almost like the character of my girlfriend in Elder Scroll online. Only… human, and not Bosmer. It was probably the paleness.

"Looks like Ataxia." I said, kneeling at her side. I put a hand on her forehead to see if there was any heat, but I found nothing. "Yeah, Ataxia. She probably got bit by a skeever. A rather advanced stage, to boot, so she probably got it during a job."

"Can you help her?" Asked Karliah, talking for the first time since I entered.

I didn't bother to reply. I just let magicka flow in my hand, and an instant later, it flowed on her body. A white light briefly flashed from the line between my hand and her head, and, when it disappeared, the woman looked better.

"Done."

"Done?" Asked again Karliah.

"Yeah. It's a simple spell. I'm surprised nobody here knows it."

"Well, I know a cure disease spell." Admitted Nelcar. "But only for personal use. Learning the version to use on someone else would require time… time we didn't have."

"I see." I replied, before focusing again and shooting other magicka in the body of the woman. "So, I suppose it's better if she wakes up now, right?"

My spell infused the body of the Redguard of new vigor. It costed me, but it was better than being distracted again because she was not waking up fast enough for these guys.

In reaction, the woman jumped up like she was just bit by a spider.

"Easy there." I said, trying to placate her.

"Who are you?" Asked the woman, her voice still a little harsh. Maybe she needed to drink a little? Considering how much she was sweating…

I telekinetically grabbed a bottle of wine and gave it to her. "Here. Drink this."

The woman eyes the bottle with suspect, then thirst had the better on her and she grabbed the bottle, starting to drink with fury.

"Try to not drink it all in one go." Said Nelcar. "I paid for that."

The Redguard woman separated herself from the bottle and wiped out some drops from her lips. "And why I should care? I'm a thief, Altmer."

I sensed a little anger in her tone. Please, whoever ROB placed me there, don't make her a racist. I know that the Redguard didn't really have a good reason to like the Altmer, but still…

"Please, calm down. We're all friends here." Said Karliah.

With a little color returning to her face, the Redguard woman glared at the Dunmer. "Oh, yeah? Maybe you should have told me before shooting me with a poisoned arrow."

While all this was probably going to stop me from returning to my preparation, I couldn't stop myself to snort. Karliah glared at me but I ignored her.

"I'm sorry for that." Continued the Nightingale. "But it was necessary to save you from Mercer. He was going to kill you for knowing he killed Gallus. You should be grateful: that poison took me a year to perfect. I made a split-second decision to prevent your death."

"I understand." Reluctantly admitted the woman. "So I suppose I have to thank you for saving my life."

"That's more his doing than mine." Admitted the Dunmer, pointing at me. "Apparently, you had Ataxia, and I didn't have a Cure Disease potion with me. I attended your wounds and stopped the poison with an antidote, but you could have died anyway."

The Redguard cursed. "Damn it. That's what that pain was? I just thought I took too much cold after the Goldenglow job."

"A fair assumption, but wrong. I imagine one of the skeever managed to bite you, right?"

The Redguard narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

"I didn't know, but thanks for the confirmation." I replied, grabbing another bottle. "Anyway, lucks want that I know what you must do next."

"You do?" Asked Karliah. "Who are you anyway?"

"Loki Andreasson. A pleasure to meet you. " I said. "Now, you need to find a stone tablet in the Dwemer Museum at Markhart to translate the journal you found on Gallus. It's Falmeric and not a lot of people know that language."

"How do you-"

"He read an Elder Scroll." Cut Enthir. "I'll explain to you later. He's right though. If the journal is in Falmeric, then the only place where you can find a way to translate it is the stone. I searched for anything else that could help, but it's an obscure language that has disappeared from Skyrim for hundreds of years. It's your best chance."

Karliah remained silent for several seconds. "I feared that coming here to save you was a mistake." She said. "But it turns out, we managed to find something. What do you say? You're with me in taking down Mercer?"

"You're joking." Replied the Redguard, new rage in her voice. "The bastard stabbed me. I have to repay the favor."

Karliah smiled and, on my part, I just sent another wave of healing magic to the woman. "Well, if you want to kill him, this will help."

She blinked. "Thank you." She said, suddenly unsure. "I'm Kayleen, anyway."

I stiffened at that. Really? Really ROB? You act all nice to me and then you place here a woman that not only vaguely remember me of my girlfriend's character but has almost the same name too? It's this a cruel joke to you? Well, fuck you, motherfucker. I hope you choke in whatever cosmic popcorn you are eating now.

I recovered from my mental rant to see the Redguard looking at me with a strange look on her face. I probably spaced out for a second. "Sorry, I knew someone with a similar name. Nice to meet you too, Kayleen."

She sent me another look, then her gaze shifted on the room. "Hmmm… where am I?"

"Welcome to Winterhold." I said, widening my arms in a greeting. "Home to the College of Winterhold, where Karliah brought you probably because she knew that Enthir was the only one that was going to help her. Even if in the end they called me because no one here knows a fucking Cure Disease spell."

She returned her gaze on me. "You're a mage."

"Apprentice, to be more precise. Even if I think I'm going to become an Adept soon enough." I stood. "Well, it's been a pleasure but I need to return to my studies. With your permission."

Karliah sent a glance to Enthir. I didn't see his response, but it had to be something positive because she nodded. "Thanks for your assistance, Apprentice Loki. I case you'll need a favor, you can ask us anytime."

"I'll remember that." I promised. "Ah, when you return from Markhart, if you need extra equipment, I'll be happy to supply you with something that could help to kill Mercer. For the right price, of course."

The two thieves looked at each other, unsure, but I didn't gave them the time to answer because I cast Recall and returned to my room.

And my good deed of the day was done.

Ah, the feeling of being the good guy. The good guy that sort of promised to help create equipment for a group of thieves to kill a person but…

Still the good guy!

-X-

Time passed. And, even if the winter, or at least its gelid grasp was still far for leaving Wintehold, the weather was getting better.

And so was my greatest fear. My first, actual challenge. Bleak Fall could have been my first one, but I had Thormund, Hadvar and Ralof with me at the time. There, I would only have Tolfdir… half of the time. The other half, I was alone.

Sure, I was more powerful. I didn't just know a handful of spells. I commanded the power of magicka with ease and I was confident I could outwit any draugr. But the final challenge scared me to death. The final challenge, and the part where I was blocked in a room with at least twenty draugr getting out from their tombs.

Sure, I had Master Toldfir for those parts. Still, I feared. A lot.

And so, I prepared. Potions, spells, magic in general… and occasionally, Enchanting.

Now, this was not to say that when I played Skyrim I never Enchanted. Actually, I always did. The crafter path was the first I took, even if it often became difficult to arrive at the end of it. Still, I did, enchanting weapons that then sold to buy other materials and… you get the idea.

But I never actually wore enchanted gear I personally enchanted until late game, when I had enough points and perks to create really powerful gear. That was the reason I resorted to get Azahal armor: because it was the only thing that helped Enchanting in the game except for potions.

Here, I could craft my equipment and so I had zero reasons to go on a long journey to recover that particular set. I could just wait until I was good enough to actually craft something equivalent. Normally, it would be impossible for me to gain the skill of one of the most famed Enchanters in all Skyrim, but I was not normal with things regarding magic, so I had a good chance of actually pull it off. After all, the armors effect was totally secondary to the other effect on the armor.

In the meantime, I also created spells that most mages here would have found useless, but that were going to save my life. One of the spells in question was 'Summon Armor', or a spell that I was going to name like that. Since I made no progress in creating a personal demiplane to use for looting, and since summoning deadric armor consumed so much magicka it was not funny, I reverse-engineered Mark and Recall to apply them to objects. So, now, I could just summon my set of armor at will.

A waste of time? I think not. It was better then put it in my backpack and take it all the way to Sarthaal with my fellow Apprentices asking why I did that.

I still had to get the 'put it directly in your body' part, but hey, little steps. Maybe I will get it right in time.

What I got, more or less, was the Burden ring. To be more specific, I finally started to be able to bear with the fatigue that thing caused. That meant that my experience with the ring was going to end soon.

I had a thing to say about the 'training regime' of the ring. Never again. Never again I was going to use the damn thing to train. Even removing it at night, I felt horrible for weeks. I considered at least part of my lack of advancement on the Adept level caused by this thing. Sure, it probably was because the more mastery was required the more time I took for learning, but still.

So, even if I could create a more powerful ring, I wasn't going to. Because fuck you, ring.

Also because diminishing returns. The effect of the ring didn't depend on the strength of the Enchantment. Well, it did but there was a limit on how much was worth it. The increase of strength, speed and resistance were because I healed the damage caused by living and training with what counted at increased gravity, simulating intense training. While theoretically, my body could simply get stronger this way, not every part of my body could get trained. I didn't want to die because my own increased weight crushed my internal organs. I had a limit on how much I could use this thing.

But what limit it was. When I created the ring, I expected to become stronger and faster. Sure, maybe not World Record level, because you didn't just 'train' to achieve those results, they were also at least partially dependent on genetics. So, I expected my maximum to be decently high, but nothing groundbreaking.

There was just a little problem with that line of reasoning. This was not my body, or if it was, it was on TES logic. And TES logic meant that strong people could pimp slap trolls, crack large boulders with a single swing of a hammer, and jump several meters. High. From a standing start.

I was, by no means, exceptional from that point of view. I was still 'born' under the Mage and not under some of the most physical Signs. Still…

Onmund's hand slammed down hard on the table when I easily overpowered him. "Ah!" I said, satisfaction clear in my voice. Sure, maybe I shouldn't feel proud of overpowering a Nord mage, but… he still was a Nord mage. While his chosen profession wasn't the best to increase his strength, his blood still counted for something, right? At least J'zargo though that, since he refused to let me try this on him first, claiming that he was far weaker than Onmund and so I should have tried with him first.

"That's three in a row." I commented, smiling. "Seems like this ring helped out."

"Indeed." Commented J'zargo. "That was certainly impressive. Also, pay out, Brelyna."

The Dunmer grunted something and gave the Khajiit some coins. "This one thanks you for betting against Loki."

"Shut up."

"You wound me, Brelyna." I said, grinning. "You didn't think this ring would work?"

"I learned to never underestimate your skill in facts of magic, Loki." Replied the Dunmer, still a little bitter. "But J'zargo insisted on making a bet. Betting on the same guy wasn't going to work. Also… I didn't expect it to work that well."

I chuckled. "Well, I suppose I didn't either." I looked at the ring on my hand. "Well, I'm not going to say I'll miss having this thing on, but it did his job."

"You're going to put it away?" Asked Onmund, still massaging his hand. "Why don't use it a little more?"

"There is a limit on how much my muscles can benefit from this ring. The moment I'm not going to ache when the night comes, it's not going to be useful for me." I replied. "Of course, I could create something stronger, but I fear the only thing I'm going to obtain with that is cripple myself."

And I wasn't going to risk that. I didn't have bullshit body like some anime characters. Training too much was going to give me more problems than anything. I was honestly surprised by how much I managed to improve with so little problems. If casting a Restore Stamina spell every couple of hours and suffer for extreme fatigue and pain if I forgot to cast one -which happened more than you would think, because I really tend to let time slip when I was focused on something- was having little problems.

"Mistress Colette talked about such problems." Admitted J'zargo. "Surely, J'zargo noticed your lack of strength. It was that bad?"

"Like being kicked in the guts by a band of mercenaries after you ran all the way from Windhelm to Winterhold." I said, smiling to make them understand it was a joke. "Or something like that. It's not like I have experience with those kinds of things."

There was a light chuckle from J'zargo and Onmund. Brelyna just gave a small smirk. She was a difficult one to make smile. Well, at least the men here liked my sense of humor.

Before the discussion could change on something more casual, the door opened. That wasn't really strange. We four had decided to start that little game in the dining room of the Hall, so people coming in for a bite or a drink were pretty common.

We still stilled when Master Tolfdir entered. The subsequent words froze my blood. "Oh, you're all right there. Good, good. I have an announcement to do for all of you."

I had really little doubts about what that particular announcement was about.

"Seems like the weather is getting better." Announced Tolfdir, cementing that dreadful sensation that was gnawing my stomach. "So, next week, we're going to go on a little expedition. There is an ancient Nordic ruin a day of travel from here. It's named Saarthal, and it's one of the oldest Nord cities in all Skyrim. I suggest you prepare a backpack: it's not that far away from Winterhold, but the road is still long and we'll probably stop a couple of times to eat."

Shit shit shit…

"J'zargo can't wonder if it's wise to do so. The weather is getting better, but we have no assurance that it's not going to worsen at any moment. There are a couple of weeks before spring."

Good J'zargo, good. Make them postpone the trip a little. Please…

"You're right, but that's the reason we're going to wait a week." Replied Tolfdir, unfazed. "If the weather doesn't show signs of worsening, we're going to Sarthaal. Of course, if it does, we're going to wait for spring proper, or at least until this storm stops."

Urgh, seemed like nothing could stop the trip to Sarthaal now. Fuck fuck fuck… I needed to start an intense study session, trying to squeeze every ounce of knowledge and magic from this. Nothing I hadn't done before, life as an academic is riddled with weeks passing in a last, desperate struggle to learn all that was possible before the test, after months passed on doing nothing.

And while this time I didn't spend months doing nothing, because I liked studying magic… it was the first time the test could lead to my death.

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.5

Shit, shit, fuck, shit, fuck. Did I already say fuck? Well, fuck regardless.

The weather didn't worsen at all. So, I put all the time I had in learning spells. I could reasonably start with Enchanting, but every Enchanted item required most of a day to be Enchanted and I didn't have the time for that shit.

The most difficult choice was what to focus on. I decided to make a rush for Alteration just in case I needed better defenses -and let's be real, I was going to need them- but I didn't know what to study next. Restoration could be useful, because it had Turn Undead and useful support spells, and Illusion to if I managed to learn a spell that could confuse the draugrs without fucking with their minds, since that kind of spell was useless on them. Necromancy and Mysticism were abandoned for the simple reason that most of their spells were useless in a direct confrontation: Mysticism was great to avoid problems through scrying and teleporting, but that couldn't let me avoid the dangers forever, since I doubted draugrs had aggro limits like they had in the game. Those fuckers were pretty capable of chasing me for all the dungeon if they needed. Necromancies only use in this was reanimating a bigger corpse, and under Saarthal, the bigger enemy I was going to find was a particularly swole draugr, at best. No need for it.

In the end, I chose neither Restoration nor Illusion for my study rush. Restoration had handy spells like Turn Undead, but a turned Undead was not a dead Undead. Sunlight spells were exceptional against vampires, but draugrs didn't really care about them… not more than a fire spell. And the various Fortify spells were handy but weren't going to save my life, because they cost a fuckhuge amount of magicka to be cast and maintained. Illusion was mostly useless again the Undead except for Invisibility, Muffle and Chameleon, which I already had and learning a slightly better version of Chameleon and Muffle was going to incur in the same problem I had with other spells like that: every draugr that I skipped was a draugr that could potentially join the fight later. Lacking a sneakiness that could allow me to pass the entire dungeon without ever getting spotted or heard, I didn't believe that leaving a draugr behind was a good idea.

So I wasn't going to. I decided to focus even more on Destruction. A dead draugr was dead and couldn't do shit about it. Good luck trying to join the fight later without your head.

Sure, I could have focused more on Conjuration. Nothing stopped me from doing that, right? After all, a better understanding of Conjuration meant bigger, nastier minion to throw at the enemies, right?

Well, yes, the problem with that was that Conjuration spells weren't easy, and weren't cheap either. Also, bigger, more powerful minion meant jack shit if my powerful minion couldn't pass through the doors of the dungeon. Also, bigger, more powerful minion also meant more difficulty in controlling the damn thing, and the last thing I wanted was having an unbound, powerful deadra and a Deathlord against me.

I still planned to use Conjuration, of course. But I was going to use it during the boss battle, to keep the draurg, Eric Whatshisname-son distracted. For that, I decided that a Ogrim was the best idea. Big, strong and pretty resilient, but not particularly difficult to control thanks to his lack of intellect. But I was not going to use it before that. Aside from other worries, the Conjuration spells were costly in terms of magicka. Better not spam conjured deadra at every room or I wasn't going to have magicka long before the final boss.

Meanwhile, Destruction spells, especially simple ones like bolt or touch-based ones, were dirty cheap in term of magicka use, while still having enough power to punch through armor with ease. Sure, the more spectacular ones, like the storm or ball variant, costs, especially if you wanted to use them to cover a large area, but a shot-and-forget blast of fire in the face? I could use them all day.

So… yeah. Destruction. Pyromancy, to be precise. Draugr, being dead Nords, probably didn't particularly mind frost spells, and I sort of remembered them having shock resistance in the older games. Fire spells were the best bet. Sure, some draugr could be necromancers and so the disintegration function of shock spell could be useful, but since decapitation worked too, I supposed that incinerating their heads could work.

Of course, someone was bound to notice my sudden agitation. And they did. My peers first, and my teachers too. I had cordial relations with most of them, but I liked Tolfdir and Drevis more than others. Faralda was a decent talk too, and for some reason, she had an interest in me. Maybe it was just that she was intrigued by my ability with Destruction.

It was funny. Before being dropped here, I always supposed that my talent with magic, if I could have one, would have been more on… well, subtler aspects of magic. I wasn't exactly a pacifist, but I didn't consider myself a violent guy either. So, I always thought that I would focus on Illusion or Alteration, the ability to alter the world.

Instead, I was learning how to throw fireballs. Like the most basic, banal mage ever. But, unfortunately, reality was a bitch and some problems couldn't be resolved by cleverness. Alteration could possibly help in that sense, but real transmutation was hellishly difficult in Tamriel. I could make my skin hard as stone, but transmuting something into stone was impossible… at least, with my magicka reserves. The Transmutation spell I knew was already a problem to use, I didn't want to think at what was needed to transmute some vital organ of a human into stone to kill it. Not considering that living -or Undead- creatures seemed more resistant to alteration than most things. Illusion had the same problems, at least regarding the undead and machine… a type of enemy I was unfortunately bound to find often. It didn't mean it was impossible but…

"Are you alright?" Asked a voice.

I looked over my shoulder, finding Onmund looking at me. Blinking, I watched around and found myself in the lunchroom of the Hall. I had to have spaced out.

"More or less." I replied sincerely. I had a gaping hole in my stomach that had nothing to do with hunger, but I made sure not to tell him. "I spaced out?"

"For a minute." Confirmed the Nord. "Why are you so worried, Loki? It's just an expedition to Sarthaal. The place has been there for a while and the teachers already confirmed it's empty. There is no danger inside."

I wanted to laugh at that grossly wrong affirmation, but I stopped myself. There was no reason to make him think I was going crazy. Sure, a certain amount of craziness was expected from a mage. Most of them obtained that power by some intense mental gymnastics. But there was no need to make him think I was already on that level.

"I just have a bad feeling." I replied. "Plus, I have experience with old Nord tombs. They're never as empty as they seem."

Onmund blinked. "You entered an old tomb?"

"I had to retrieve something for Jarl Baalgruf." I explained. "Fortunately I had some assistance or I wouldn't have come out of there alive."

Onmund nodded, apparently understating. "I see. I can't say I had a similar experience, but it sounds scary."

This time, I chuckled. "Well, yeah. I thought I was going to die at one point. I just hope this is not the case. But the bad feeling remains."

Onmund patted my shoulder. "You'll be alright."

It wasn't true, but I nodded regardless. "Thank you." For the thought, at least.

After that little chat, nobody else asked why I felt that bad about what sounded like a little trip. The only one that did was Fenrir.

"There is going to be a fight." I said at the large wolf, absentmindedly petting him under the chin outside the Hall. I usually did that right before going to sleep, just to remind him that I hadn't forgotten about him. Fenrir listened to me with a vaguely satisfied expression, but he looked at least mildly worried too. He was very expressive. "I'm not even sure you can help me. Some passages on Saarthal are going to be too narrow for you… I hope you don't grow much more, or you're not going to be able to enter a building."

The wolf looked at me and gave me a single lap on my face. He would probably give me more if I hadn't a beard for three weeks. Everyone said that I looked better with it, but I hated to have a long beard. It was itchy.

I really hoped that he wasn't going to grow much more than that. He was already, more or less, the same size as the biggest wolf that ever existed in the real world, maybe even a little larger. And, while going into battle with a wolf the size of a rhino was undoubtedly cool, I didn't like the idea of having to feed him when he reached that size, even less that he couldn't enter into a building with me. I hoped he stopped toward the size of a horse, really. While still really big, it was at least manageable. Sure, he could have problems entering a door, but wolves were more flexible than horses. He could at least curl up to not suck up too much space.

Actually, I was starting to wonder how the people of Skyrim were going to take a giant wolf. One that was black as coal and with eyes of orange so intense to look almost like flames. I loved this big pup, but I had to admit that, from a purely aesthetic point of view, he was quite scary.

Another lap on my face distracted me. It was happening even more often than usual. "Sorry, buddy. This trip is really worrying me." I stroked him again, trying to relax. "It's just… this is going to be different than the other time. That time, I had companions and I never really had to face a draugr directly. I'm not sure I can do that this time."

Draugr had the bad habit of jumping out from their tombs when you least expect it, and for all that I had a good memory for general events, I usually forgot small details like names and such. But even without that, I probably wouldn't be able to remember every single time a draugr got out of a tomb.

The only thing I remembered of the travel through Saarthal was that, at some point, I was going to have to fight several draugr at once. I had master Tolfdir in that occasion, but I still feared the moment.

Another lap. "Sorry, bud. I'll be better when I'm actually inside. Waiting is killing me."

It was always like that. Once I was in the fray, I was going to be, if not calm, at least focused on the immediate, probably kill or be killed. Right now, the only thing I could do was prepare and worry, and it was eating me from the inside.

"I'm going to be ok. I just have to sleep a little, and tomorrow I'm going to be too focused on not dying to feel bad."

Fenrir sent me a dubious look, but didn't insist. He just jumped in his box. I did the same… well, more or less.

-X-

The next day, there was a difference in what I wore. First off, the ring of training was left in my room. I had to admit, I felt really light without it. It was an amazing sensation.

Second, I wore my armor, which had taken dust in my wardrobe for all this time.

It was a little tight. I supposed three months with a ring that made me weigh two times normal had some effect on my muscles. Well, better a tight armor then no armor… until the armor didn't stop me from breathing, but that didn't seem the case. It was a little constricting, but I breathed easily. I still had to refit it when I had the chance.

The reaction of my peers when I got out of my room barded like a warrior was interesting. There was a little surprise, but mostly, they looked confused.

"Is that really necessary?" Asked J'zargo. "J'zargo understands that you're worried, but don't you think it's a little too much to wear armor? The ruins are safe."

He was wrong… but I couldn't tell him. "Maybe the ruins are, but the road?" I shook my head. "The road to Saarthal is not guarded nor frequented. When was the last time someone passed there? Don't underestimate the beasts on the road. If I have to encounter a monster, I prefer to have my armor up instead of casting a spell to have one."

"You're paranoid, my friend." Said J'zargo. I just replied with a grin.

"Only if I'm wrong, J'zargo. Only if I'm wrong."

The Apprentices shrugged and decided to ignore me.

Master Tolfdir, not so much.

"Apprentice Loki." He said, when he saw my attire. "Is that armor really that necessary? Or you don't trust your magic? I'm sure you can use a spell that offers better protection than the armor you're wearing."

His tone wasn't exactly annoyed, but close. I got it, of course. After all the time I spent showing how I really got Alteration to his finest details, the old master was a little miffed I decide to not use that knowledge.

Fortunately, I had the answer ready. "It's not that I don't trust my magic, Master Tolfdir. I don't trust my ability to use it in time."

The old Nord mage looked at me for a second. "I suppose that's fair. After all, battlemages use armor. You can never know when an enemy could strike. But I'm sure you're been told that the ruins are safe. You don't need to burden yourself with an armor."

I shrugged. "Better be safe than sorry, Master Tolfdir. Besides, I passed three months with a ring that weighted me. This armor is actually pretty light compared to that."

Since he was the one how helped me devise the Enchantment in question, he smiled. "I suppose that's right. Very well, Apprentice Loki. If you really wish to wear that armor, I'm not going to stop you."

I thanked him with a nod and we started to walk to Saarthal. Fenrir hopped out from his box and quietly followed us. Nobody talked.

Truth be told, Saarthal was not that far away from the College. Not exactly near, yeah, but it was close enough that we could be there in a couple of hours. It was nothing different from taking a walk in the mountains in my old home. You just had to take your lunch with you, and you were golden.

It was a good day. The sun shined high in the sky -because even with the increase of temperature, walking outside the city with the dark was beyond stupid- and it didn't take me that much before the armor started to feel a little too hot. But I didn't mind. Better this than taking a hit.

Besides, I knew there was going to be something on the road. What, I didn't know. Most encounters in Skyrim were scaled with your level, but I doubted it worked like that in real life and furthermore, there was just a limited amount of powerful foes you could face. If I was over level 50 Saarthal was going to be full of Deathlords, but in reality, draugrs of that level were rare. They were supposed to be the strongest and most important member of the Dragon Cult right before the Dragonpriests, after all. That they were more common than the latter, I had no doubt. That there could be dozens in every tomb of Skyrim, not so much.

Well, it could be better for me in that case, since if I was that strong, I could probably kill a Deathlord and them… well, they had Ebony weapons. I could make a fortune by raiding a couple of Deathlords, but game mechanics stopped me. Or, more correctly, their absence.

So, in the middle of the walk, with my eyes locked on the road ahead and not on the ground like my peers, that were huffing for the effort -the road was pretty steep- I saw something moving.

It was difficult to see, because it was the same bluish-white of the rest of the road and, to boot, it was semi-transparent. But I saw movement and the light of the sun shining on its body. So, while I couldn't see it clearly, I understood perfectly what I was looking at.

Instantly, my hands exploded in flames.

"Loki, what are you-" Started to ask Brelyna, before I raised my hands. The students shut up and that was what cause Master Tolfdir to turn, to see what was going on.

Finding my spell pointed at his face.

Ignoring his surprised look, I made a request. "Master Toldfir, can you please make a step sideways?"

The old Nord was confused for a second, but then made a step on the right. And I released my firebolt.

The firebolt, far wider and bright then the pathetic lightning bolt I used not even a season before, speeded into the cold air of Skyrim, leaving a faint wind behind. Then it impacted against the Ice Wraith with the force of a ballista, and the monster didn't even have the time to send a pained cry that the fire consumed his skeletal form with the fury of Hell itself. It just poured down like water and left a puddle in the middle of the road.

I looked at my extended arms, my hands still enveloped by magical fire. Sure, I just launched against the Wraith the most powerful firebolt I could muster, but I didn't expect the thing to just… disintegrate. In the game, they were fairly difficult opponents. I suppose that without having to wade weapons on them they were far more easy to kill.

"That was an impressive shot, Apprentice." Commented Master Toldfir. "But I would appreciate if you warn me the next time, before aiming a firebolt behind my back."

He sounded a little annoyed and I understood why. But, simply put, it was more fun to make them shit their pants a little. "I'll remember that, Master."

The Nord hummed something, but instead of returning to the walk, he paused for a second. "That was an Adept level spell, Apprentice."

There was silence for several seconds. "Yes, Master." I replied, even if that wasn't a question.

"I saw no problem in the casting of the spell." Continued the Master of Alteration. "No sign of lack of control, nor instability. Destruction isn't my specialty but… you reached Adept level Destruction, didn't you?"

I hesitated for another second, trying to decide if there was a point in lying. In the end, I didn't find one. He had already seen me disintegrate an Ice Wraith with a single spell in front of witnesses. Faralda would have taken their words over mines. "Yes, Master. Right before you announced this little trip."

Another silence. "Did you reach Adept level in some other school?"

I pondered if it was- Nah, he was going to see me fight the Deathlord, he was going to notice the big daedra I was going to summon. A little chat with the Master of Conjuration would have just confirmed that. "Conjuration, Master Tolfdir. And I think I'm just a step from Adept Alteration too."

Tolfdir remained silent for almost a minute, lost in some thought.

"Impressive." He finally said. "Really impressive. I've never seen someone so talented in magic before." He shook his head. "I think you're going to advance to Adept the moment we return, Apprentice Loki. But right now, we have to reach Saarthal. We can discuss this best later."

With a nod, the entire group returned to walk. Curiosity made me look at my companions. What I saw was a pretty even mix of awe and envy. Most of the envy came from J'zargo, of course, but even then, it was tempered by respect. They were envious that I managed to get to Adept level so fast, of course, but they didn't seem like they were going to act on that. My impression was confirmed by Fenrir being absolutely calm about all this.

Good boy.

I stopped for a second to recover the loot of the Ice Wraith… in this case, both an Ice Wraith tooth and the Essence, which would help against the frost-wielding draugrs. Lucky me. Unlike in the game, the loot on the monster was not casual at all: you just had to be good enough to harvest it. It was the first time I tried, but apparently the Alchemy lessons I took from Drevis were good enough.

The rest of the travel was, more or less, uneventful. I think I heard the roar of an Ice Troll one time, and looked at Fenrir for confirmation, but the wolf just moved his ears and then continued to walk. It was probably too far away to be a problem.

Finally, after a long walk, we finally arrived to Saarthal. The place looked… well, it looked bad. Or, more precisely, the excavation looked bad. Maybe it was because they were abandoned before the start of winter, but still, the place looked horrible. Fortunately, the ramps were solid. We started to descend and I more or less ignored Tolfdir's explanation of what Saarthal was, because I already knew that. First human city on Skyrim, sacked by the Snow Elves, Ysgramor vowing to kill them all, blah-blah-blah. Make no mistake, it was an interesting topic, but I heard that several times now. I knew the speech by memory… sort of.

Without pause, we entered the ruins. I kept the door open for Fenrir, of course. Inside, Tolfdir continued to speak about the importance of knowing the past. And he was going to make a lot of discoveries, that was for sure.

"Well, that's all for Saarthal." Said Tolfdir. "Now, I believe it's time to split, don't you think? Apprentice Loki, I think Arniel has some artifacts for you to recover. Why don't you want to see what he wants you to find?"

And that was the start of everything. Very well. Operation 'Under Saarthal' begins.

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.6

Since creativeProcrastinator was fast and in honor of the Draugr Murderboss Deathking that managed to get me to retake the roleplay Skyrim run that spawned this Story, I'll make an exception and post the next part of the Saarthal adventure. Enjoy!

-X-

It took me five minutes to find the rings Arniel wanted. Yeah, I'm going to fast forward because there is no way I'm going to re-tell the start of that quest, it's boring as shit and I felt bored when I had to do it. Or I would if I wasn't nervous knowing what was going to happen, but still. I quickly reached the amulet.

Sighing, I removed the thing from the wall and, of course, the 'trap' started. I patiently waited for Tolfdir to come.

"What happened?"

"I removed this amulet from the wall and suddenly I was trapped." I replied, unconcerned.

Tolfdir sent me a look. "I see. Seems like you were right that you are never cautious enough, Apprentice. I never believed there was going to be that kind of problem in the ruins. Give me that amulet, maybe I can understand-"

I didn't let him finish. I raised my hand and sent a lightning bolt against the wall I just took the amulet. The wall crumbled like it was made of chalk and the prison got removed.

Master Tolfdir was right at my side a second later. "Ah, I see. The amulet was a key. By wearing it and using magic on the lock, you were able to open a new passage. Fascinating! I'm curious about what secrets there are behind this."

"I'm going to make a guess and imagine the draugrs kind." I replied, before sending a whistle. "Fenrir!"

Immediately, my friend was there, looking at the passage with his ears low. Yeah, I didn't like it either.

"You are right, Apprentice. There could be draugr in this unexplored section of the site. Well, we're not going to find anything if we don't go. Follow me."

I followed him. For what I remembered, there was no actual danger until the Psijic monk appeared, so until that, it was all good.

That meant, of course, that I instantly recognized the small altar when I saw it.

The world froze. I felt it, and I also felt the wrongness of the act. Time and dragons, uh? Well, whatever. I just needed to be fast with this.

A man appeared. It was like a hologram of the real thing, and I honestly didn't even bother to check if he was a man or an elf. I didn't care about that. I just needed to make a thing clear.

"You-"

"I know, I know." I interrupted him, without giving them time to actually talk. "We're going to start events we can't hope to stop, the world is in danger, blah-blah-blah. Rest assured, I'm going to take care of the Eye of Magnus. But I want something in exchange."

The monk remained silent for a while. Because he was reflecting on what I said or because I caught him off-guard, I didn't know.

"What do you want?" He finally asked.

"Help." I replied. "I've been conducted here from another reality, or maybe another time, or something like that. I'm not sure of myself. I tried to find answer in the College, but nothing so far seems to be enough. But you, the Psijic, are rumored to be the greatest mages of all Tamriel. If you want my cooperation for this, you'll need to help me return home."

The monk remained silent for a second. "Your request is… intriguing, to say at least. I have to speak with my superior, but I'm sure we can find a compromise. But you realize that, even with our help, there is no guarantee that you can return home, right?"

"Sure. But without your help, I have no chances. So, I can't let the world get destroyed before even knowing if there is a possibility."

"You're going to world get destroyed if we refuse to help you?" Asked the Psijic. He didn't look worried, just… curious?

Well, whatever. I shrugged. "I mean, who knows? Maybe I'll just be too angry and depressed to help."

For a second, the monk seemed to smile. "I see. Very well. Since you know about the danger that's coming, we'll leave the Eye to you. For now."

I snorted. "Sure, you'll 'leave' the Eye to me. It's not that you can't actually act that much on Tamriel."

The monk chuckled at that. Chuckled! "You're an interesting man, Loki Andreasson, if that's even you name. We'll watch you." And with that, he disappeared.

Goddammit. I hoped to at least got on his nerves, instead, I made him chuckle. Well, whatever.

The time resumed is course, and Tolfdir continued his speech from the point he was interrupted. "That's really-"

Then, the coffin in front of him got kicked open by a draugr. It was a pretty standard draugr, with a ruined plate and an old ax. Nothing exceptional, but not the almost naked variety either. So, it was probably going to be a problem. At the same time, another coffin gets kicked open and another draugr, this time better armored, emerges from it.

"Fenrir!" I shouted as the draugrs emerged completely from the coffin and looked around.

With a flash of black fur, Fenrir jumped over the little altar in the middle of the room and aimed straight for the head of the draugr without a helmet. The undead monstrosity tried to put up a resistance of some kind, but Fenrir closed his maw on his head and, from that moment, it was over.

On my part, I just decided to send a stream of fire against the better-armed draugr. Considering my previous experience with the firebolt, I tried to go with something a little less powerful, in the hope of avoiding to lose too much magicka. This dungeon was still long to go.

Big mistake.

The draugr… didn't ignore the attack per se. It stumbled back, but then it continued ignoring the fact that it was literally on fire. So he charged straight at me with his weapon, an ancient Nord broadsword, raised high.

In a fit of panic, I raised a Ward.

The first attack, the descending swing as described above, bounced harmlessly on my ward. The second attack, a clumsy stab, was blocked as well.

Then a bolt of green light hit the draugr, blocking his movements.

A second later, Fenrir jumped on the draugr and snapped his neck by simply jumping over him while closing his maws on his head. The draugr was lucky he didn't lose the head completely, even if… well, it was dead anyway.

"I have to say that all of this was unexpected." Commented Tolfdir. "I'm sorry if I was a little slow there, but I felt dizzy. I'm pretty sure something happened right before the tombs opened."

"It did." I confirmed. "A Psijic Monk appeared and talked to me."

"A Psijic? That's unusual. We didn't hear of the Psijic for hundreds of years. Why did they appear now? What did he tell you?"

"About a catastrophe that's going to happen if we continue on this path." I said. I briefly considered telling Tolfdir that we were going to find the Eye of Magnus, but decided against it. Letting them and Ancano lose time trying to figure out were the Eyes really are gave me more time to act.

"Is that so? That would explain why the place is hidden. But why the Psijic? They have no connection with these ruins at all. This makes no sense at all."

"Better move then." I said, while my heart finally calmed down. A little. "The answers are ahead."

"Good point. But stay near me, Apprentice. I fear that there are more dangers ahead."

I didn't object to that. So, I stayed at his side while we traversed the corridor behind one of the coffins.

In truth, it was not a long walk. Right after a corner, the corridor bent down and, right before a grate, two skeletons and a lever put me on guard. Looking between the bars of the grate, I could see a circular room with several coffins embed on the wall.

Ah fuck.

I cast a Stone Flesh spell on myself before Tolfdir pulled the lever. This was the room I remembered. There was going to be an assault from several draugrs.

"Be ready Fenrir." I whispered to the wolf, who immediately tensed up.

So, when we entered and the coffins started to open, we were ready.

But, despite that, it was Tolfdir who reacted first. "Well, that's annoying." He said, casting a powerful Flesh spell on himself. Ebony, I think. I hadn't mastered that type of spell yet.

Fenrir jumped on the nearest draugr with the force of a train, but he didn't take into consideration the grid that replaced the floor in the center of the room. So, while he didn't exactly fall, he stumbled in his charge and didn't manage to bite the draugr's throat off.

On my part, I decided to go a little safer and blowing one of the draugr's head off with a firebolt. Which I did. Surprisingly. But this draugr, now that I noticed, was the naked variant. In-game, they had the same name as the normal draugr but far less health. I supposed that they were, like, normal Nords without any training in combat or something.

So, when my firebolt impacted against one of the draugr, it's head became a mass of burned flesh and it dropped dead… or more dead… I'm not sure how death works for these creatures. So, since I was so successful, I decided to do it again.

And, again, one of the draugr fell.

Wow, that was easy. I had worried about the four draugr charging me, but I forgot that they were pussy draugrs. Better for me, anyway. It meant more magicka when I started to fight the dungeon boss.

Unfortunately, while I was doing pretty good, the same couldn't be said for Fenrir. The draugr that he tried to kill and the one immediately behind decided to focus on him. Oops. Maybe I should have shot one of the draugrs on his side instead of focusing only on the ones on my side, but self-preservation was strong in me.

Fortunately, the draugr was slow and clumsy and Fenrir managed to evade the attacks with relatively easy. Fortunately, he didn't commit totally on attacking, or he would have been caught in a pinching maneuver.

Immediately after evading, the wolf jumped on one of the draugr, but the monster pimp-slapped my poor friend on the face, stunning him for a second. That would not do. He had to maintain the offensive or commit a full retreat instead of staying there and make the perfect target.

So I sent a line of fire as thick as my leg -and I have massive legs- toward the draugr. The ray of fire melted their undead bodies like butter, and their flaming corpse burned down in a matter of seconds.

"That was impressive, Apprentice Loki." Admitted Tolfdir. "Very great control… maybe even too much control. You sure you're not at Expert Destruction yet?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure, Master Tolfdir. I trained hard to master Destruction exactly for a situation like this, but I never tried to use an Expert spell. I feared what would happen if I wasn't able to control it. Besides, I didn't have much time."

"Fair, I suppose. But it looks at this place! I've never seen Nordic ruins like this. I'd like to study them a little longer. You should go on and see if you can find what the vision told you. But be careful. There could be other enemies."

Oh, there were going to be other enemies for sure. I just hoped they weren't that bad.

But before that, I kneeled near Fenrir. "Are you good, bud?"

Fenrir answered by shaking his head and sending me a double arf. I smiled and petted him. "Good. Be careful. There are going to be more of them."

He whined a little. I understood. They weren't pleasant enemies.

Unfortunately, while I could start to try to sneak around without Tolfdir, I wasn't sure I could actually sneak efficiently. I just hoped to do a decent job.

So, after pulling both the chains at the side of the door, a wall of metal bars retracted on the ground and I could open the door.

"Let's try to not make too much noise, ok?" I said. I remembered jack shit of this part of the dungeon, so I couldn't predict where the next draurg attack would come. Just to be sure, I cast a Muffle, Chameleon and Night Eyes spell. Just to be sure I didn't fuck up too bad, I cast the weakest version I knew. Enough to not spend too much magicka, even if I could feel a trickle of magicka disappear while maintaining the spells, and then we started to sneak around.

As I said, I was not really good at sneaking, and the armor didn't help. Fortunately, my spells should help with that, and Night Eyes was amazing to light the dark interiors of Nordic ruins.

Which let me sight the presence of a draugr in an alcove almost instantaneously. I knew these motherfuckers liked to rest in the corners, so I was on alert. Fortunately, Fenrir did too, and since I was the one that could attack this thing without making too much of a fuss, I extracted my imperial sword and stabbed the monster in an eye. It didn't wake up and died quietly. Another of the unarmored variant. Easier to kill.

I took a deep breath to calm down and gestured Fenrir to continue. Slowly, carefully, we continued forward, ready to stab or bite other draugrs. Moving carefully, we managed to find another one, resting.

Again, I stabbed my sword into his head.

Only that, this time, it woke up and dodged, making my blade scratch his skull but not outright kill him.

In the same moment, another draugr a little forward and a draugr on the upper floor reacted.

"Fenrir!" I shouted, raising my hand and sending a blast of fire on the face of the draugr.

My hand found the face of the monster and the flames found a way in the opening of the helmet it wore, burning his face to coal. Meanwhile, Fenrir jumped on the other draugr.

Retreating from the smell of burned undead flesh, I found the draugr on the upper floor taking aim at Fenrir. Without thinking, I slammed a Paralysis spell on the creature, hoping to stop it.

It worked… for a second or two. Then the draug apparently overpowered my spell with sheer will.

But at least he was aiming at me now.

Fenrir, in a frenzy, jumped on the draugr he had locked and started to maim it. The armor of the draugr held, however. Big chunks of undead flesh was torn, but Fenrir failed to inflict a crippling injury.

The other draugr, instead, launched his attack. Fortunately, I still had my ward up. I raised my hand and the Nord arrow thrown at me bounced away. I still felt the sting of the bow, though. If run of the mill draugr were already starting to strain my defense, or at least the defense I could put up without depleting my magicka, I feared what the next ones we're going to do.

And, as I thought that, another shot bounced on my ward. Thank god these things were dumb. Another, more intelligent opponent would have tried something different. This thing was just too stupid to change strategy.

While I was occupied with the archer, Fenrir finally, arduously finished his draugr. Since he didn't manage to land a single, instant-killing blow, he resorted to maul the damn thing until it stopped moving. Thing that, eventually, did. The result was… not pretty. Fenrir was a strong animal and the armor was dented and scratched. The parts were the armor wasn't… well, they didn't look good.

But I didn't have time to worry about that because I needed to put the archer down for good. Fenrir didn't have the same protection I did, so a single arrow could hurt him badly.

… Which begs the question of why I didn't cast a Flesh spell on him, but. Well. Later.

So, I shot the last draugr remaining with everything I got… or more correctly, with three of the most powerful bolt spells I could use without spending too much magicka. Apparently, they were enough, because the burned the flesh of the undead like it was paper, and he fell. Huff… that had been a ride.

Apparently, Fenrir thought the same because he came to my side whining. I rapidly checked for wounds, but I found nothing. After a brief reflection, I decided to wipe the remains of the draugr from his mouth. He looked better after that.

Damn… I was not made for this. I could somehow handle the anxiety but fighting terrified me. I only managed to stay calm if I had the opportunity to strike my opponent off guard. Melee was terrible for my heart's health.

After a couple of minutes of deep breathing, I resumed my exploration. I grabbed all the money and trinkets I found on the draugrs and in every single corner of this damn place. I would need them.

The next passages were devoid of living or un-life. Not that there were a lot of passages. We immediately got stuck with a puzzle.

I had to admit, sometimes that puzzle got me. But, with my eyes enhanced by Night Eyes, it was easy to see the plate behind the columns and so I quickly completed it. We continued, walking further into the ruin until we found another pair of draugr.

I quickly dispatched one of them with a couple of fire bolts straight through his chest, while the last one was grabbed by Fenrir and mauled.

Until now, all good. The next puzzle proved to be a little difficult, since the columns shifted when I touched the others, but in a minute and with a series of tries, I managed to open the damn thing.

All well and good, until we arrived in another room and I immediately remembered that here there was a powerful draugr. Not really a Deathlord, but still dangerous. The room was pretty large and had a thing that I suppose could be called a balcony with a draugr coffin on it. At the side, two wooden stairs connected the floors were me and Fenrir where to the balcony itself. After that, if I remembered correctly, there was a brief corridor and then, the Eye. We were close… if not for the draugr in front of us.

So, me and Fenrir tried to sneak up on the draugr, getting into position before it was up and kill it with fire. Of course, he still managed to kick the coffin open with a kick and rise before we could attack, but at least, he didn't look like he had found us. He walked to the edge of the balcony to make a watch.

He didn't look that powerful either. Sure, its armor was a little better than the others and he had a good-looking sword in his hand, so I suppose that it probably was, but it didn't look that dangerous to me. But, since I didn't want to attack him with a firebolt before Fenrir attacked, I remained still, waiting for the attack.

And the attack arrived. Fenrir jumped on the draugr, trying to sink his fangs on the back of its head.

But the draugr, even caught off guard, showed why I remembered it was such a powerful opponent. He grabbed Fenrir with his free hand she threw him over his coffin. Then, it Shouted.

"Fro. Krah. Diin!"

Fenrir, still stunned by the sudden throw, barely dodged the point-blank shot. I fared a little better, mostly because I was more distant and better protected thanks to the Nordic armor I wore. Still, even with that, I felt the cold seep in my bones.

Fenrir tried to hit him again, jumping on him from a different angle, but the draugr managed to avoid the fangs and hit him with his blade, opening a grievous wound in his side. Even then, Fenrir managed to avoid the second slash and go out of reach.

Me, still trying to recover from the sensation of having my brain froze and then hammered with the Words Ice, Cold and Freeze, took that occasion to attack. Fortunately, only the first occasion of being hit by a Shout cause me that sensation of being overwhelmed. I was getting used to it… or all that meditation actually meant something.

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

My Shout slammed against the draugr with the force of an avalanche, making it fly several meters and impact with the wall on the other side of the room. Then, he fell on the ground for another four or five meters.

A lesser Draugr would have died from that, and the only reason I didn't spam a full Fus Ro Dah on every one of them was that, even with all the meditation I had done, it still drained me. I managed to avoid to fall on my knees this time, but I wasn't sure I could repeat that.

This draugr wasn't 'lesser' though, and the reason I knew this was because I could hear his noises when he stood. But I didn't have time for him, not with Fenrir so wounded. So, before the Undead could return, I sent a bolt of healing power in the direction of my furry friend while I cast another spell on me. I felt the cold disappear from my body and the wound on Fenrir's side close. Not completely, but enough to let him fight.

The fight against the dungeon boss was going to be problematic. Fenrir was a great fighter. Natural instincts and enhanced intellect made him always aim from the less protected parts of the opponent, and he was fast and strong enough to tear a draugr apart… but the more the draugr were powerful, the better their equipment, and he already had problems hurting normal ones. This guy armor was so good that, unless he really managed to attack a weak spot, it might as well be invulnerable. And while he was good at offense, his defense was not on par. Or, at least, his ability to tank was not. His fur, while thick enough to withstand lesser injuries, was not designed to block swings from superhuman Undead warriors.

So, when the draugr head emerged from the stairs and Fenrir wasn't in the best shape, I acted on instinct. Such a powerful enemy was not going to be blocked by a spell, at least not for long. So I did something very stupid. I tackled the draugr with my sword ready.

Of course, it was stupid because the damn thing was a far better warrior them me. He swept aside my short sword and, with the same movement, he managed to slash at my sides. But he couldn't stop me from slamming it down with all my weight, especially since I jumped from an higher ground, and once it was down, I planted the point of my sword inside his mouth. The glowing eyes of the monster turned off and he returned to the dead.

I removed myself from the corpse and sat down, leaning on the wall. Now that the damn thing was down, the adrenaline was receding and the pain on my left was starting to be annoying. I touched were the pain was and, when I retracted my hand, the glow was red.

That was, probably, the worse wound I ever took not just in Skyrim, but in general. It didn't look like it was life-threatening but… fuck, if it hurts. Not as much as I expected, probably it was a very light cut, but still.

Fenrir arrived at my side whining. He lapped me a couple of times, probably to cheer me.

"It's ok buddy." I said, casting a healing spell on myself. A white light enveloped me and I felt the pain recede. "Just a flesh wound."

The wolf sniffed the wound and sent a happy yap, as to confirm that I was fine. Then, he sent me another happy yap when I touched his wounded side and healed the rest. "There you are. Are you ready? The final enemy is near."

"Arf arf!"

I patted him between his ears. "Good boy."

I used my sword to pull myself up, then raised my armor to see the wound. It was healed, of course, but there was still a thin, white line on the skin. It was a cut of maybe two inches. It could have been very deep, but it was in a place, namely near the pelvic bone, where it was pretty difficult to inflict a mortal wound. I was lucky. Some inches up and he could have taken my kidney.

Of course, considering Restoration magic, I could have been able to fix anything that wasn't a strike to the heart or the brain, but it was good to see that, at most, I would have lost a little blood.

Sure, it wasn't a perfect heal. The scar was fresh and the skin was all stretched thin and sensitive. I felt pain, probably phantom pain, but still annoying. I was probably going to have a limp for a while.

Fenrir bumped me with his head, sending another whimper.

"I'm fine, buddy. It's just going to hurt for a while. But I'm ok, I promise."

He bumped me again.

"I'll see Colette when we return to the College, ok? Now, let's focus on finishing this."

He sent me a little growl and then we continued. Not before robbing the draugr of whatever could be useful, of course. Even if the only thing he had was more coins.

Fortunately, the way ahead was short. It took a very short time before we reached an intersection and a voice greeted us.

"Ah, I see you're here too. I was hoping to catch both of you." Said Master Tolfdir, appearing from a staircase. "Are you two alright? You look a little winded."

"A particularly insistent draugr managed to get us." I replied. "We're fine. We just have to get at the end of this."

"I agree." Commented on the old Nord. "But you should see Colette when you return to the College. Your ability in the Restoration school is… good, I suppose, but it's always better to let an expert judge how much of a good work you've done."

"That's exactly what I was planning to do." I replied. "But first…"

I looked for a vial in my backpack. Fortunately, nothing broke when I attacked the draugr, so I could retrieve a minor magicka potion and chug it. It was disgusting, but I felt my power returning. "Better. You need one too, Master?"

The Nord looked at the vial for a second, unsure, but he nodded. "Why not? It's better to be sure."

I passed him one of my potions. While he drank, I felt something tugging my senses. "You feel that, Master?"

Tolfdir finished to drink and then nodded. "For a while, actually. I suppose you were too busy fighting to feel it, but… there is an immense amount of magicka ahead. You think it's the thing that can cause the catastrophe the Psijic talked about?"

"I mean, there is enough power to cause one."

"True. Whatever there is there, it's a very dangerous object. Presuming it's an object, of course." He stroked his beard, thinking. "Well, it's not time to think about this. Let's see what expects us."

And so, the trio reunited, we finally managed to arrive at the last chamber of Saarthal. Of course, my eyes fell on the Eye of Magnus first. It was impossible to not notice the massive ball of bluish metal that floated in the middle of the room. But, on the other hand, I didn't have the time to admire the artifact. There was something far worse waiting in the chamber.

Namely, a draugr Deathlord sitting of a throne, some meters below my actual position.

So, I didn't wait to hear what Tolfdir had to say about the chamber or the orb. I just cast my spell. Summon Ogrim.

Remember when I said that Conjuring spells were costly? Well, I lost something like half my magicka to summon that thing. At least I hoped it was worth it.

And it was. I almost lost control of the Ogrim the moment he was summoned, but I steeled my resolve and force the creature to obey my will. Then, in a vortex of purple energy, the monster appeared.

The Ogrim was hideous. Playing ESO didn't prepare me for how utterly repulsive it was. A bloated, purulent mass of fat and scales that smelled like someone had decided to marinate a rotten carcass in putrescent swamp mud. That, combined with his oversized maw and plenty of spikes on all his body, made really difficult for me to look at the thing.

And apparently the Deathlord thought the same since he stood and, raised his ax, started to attack.

And then I remembered that the boss was invulnerable until Tolfdir didn't lower his ward.

Too late. The draugr slammed against the Ogrim with all his strength… with, surprisingly, was enough to send the daedra stumbling. He hacked and slashed at the deadra… and the monster fell on his knees!

Holy shit! Gurik Gardauson or what was his name was a beast!

"Master Tolfdir!" I shouted, sending a firebolt to distract the creature. The draugr tore its eyes from the Ogrim and landed on us. "It's invulnerable. We need to find a way to hurt it!"

The Deathlord raised his free hand and sent a lightning bolt on us. On reflection, I grabbed the magicka that composed that spell and dispersed it, dissipating the lightning bolt into nothingness.

"Of course! It has to be related to the orb inside the room. Keep it distracted!" Replied the old mage, running toward the orb. He was saved from the attention of the creature because the Ogrim had regained his footing and started to smash the draugr with all the strength he got which, I had to admit, was a lot.

The problem, of course, was that the damn thing was invulnerable. Even if the Ogrim slammed him across the room, he couldn't damage it in any way.

Maybe I could do something about it? If I could paralyze that thing, I could probably, possibly, giving Tolfdir enough time to remove the invulnerability…

Or I could heal the Ogrim and hope that he was able to resist a little more. So I did that.

"I'm going to try something. Be ready!" Shouted the mage on the other side of the room.

I stopped Fenrir to jump in the fight. Not yet. Not yet…

Lightning started to hit the Eye of Magnus… or the ward that surrounded it, I wasn't sure. Lightning, with its magicka-draining effect, was going to reduce the power of the wards and so, presumably, also the ones around the Deathlord. I wasn't sure why it worked like that, but maybe it found a way to redirect the wards on the Eye on himself, at least partially.

The Deathlord continued to hack the Ogrim, and the 'poor' creature was evidently no match for the Undead killing machine. I mean, really. The daedra could not even react properly to the attacks of the draugr. Not that it looked like he cared too much of things like dodging, since it was a disgusting pile of fat and fetor, but still, you would imagine he could at least try to fight decently.

Then the wards of the Deathlord, clearly indicated by the pale green light that surrounded him, faded away. The draugr stumbled, confused…

And immediately switched tactics.

First, he surrounded himself with a mantle of electricity. Well, that sucked. First of all, it meant that now it was immune to shock spell, and that sucked enough. Worst, it constantly emitted electricity from its body, shocking everything near him.

And last, the mantle didn't have a weak point. He had other two variants of that, a fire and a frost shield, and both had the problem to make him immune to the corresponding element but weak to the other. Not the lightning one. It just had no weaknesses.

But at least the Ogrim could hit him now. And he did. With all the strength he could possibly use.

But the armor of the draugr was top notch. Sure, its strike wounded the draugr… but they did almost nothing to slow it down.

Actually, they made him go faster.

"Su. Grah. Dun!"

I shook my head to remove Air, Battle, and Grace from my mind, just in time to see the Deathlord arms being covered in wind and, grabbing his ax with both hands, starting to absolutely demolish the Ogrim. The deadra was not going to resist. Sure, his mass made difficult for the draugr to do something nasty as chop some of its limbs off, but it was still gutting the Ogrim like a fish.

"Now Fenrir. Go!"

My trusty companion acted instantly and jumped in action, while I did the same and, ignoring the fact that there were roughly four meters between my position and the floor below, I jumped down, right in front of the staff. The staff of… whatever is the name. If my memory wasn't fuzzy, that staff had the unique ability to drain two times its damage in magicka instead of half, on top of being a decent lighting staff.

So I grabbed the thing and shoot at the draugr. Of course, I was going to do zero damage, but maybe I could still drain its magicka? And anyway, I already lost enough magicka for summoning that Ogrim that was becoming demonic sushi.

Truth be told, he didn't look particularly bothered, so no, I probably couldn't drain its magicka this way. But I managed to distract him enough for him to turn and Shout again.

"Zuun. Haal. Viik!"

Weapon, Hand, Defeat. With three words, the staff flew from my hands and landed… I didn't know and I didn't care. Absolutely not near enough to jump for a recovery.

Meanwhile, Fenrir jumped on the damn draugr, trying to chomp his head or something. But, since its invulnerability had dropped, the draugr was more cautious in his assaults. It wasn't exactly on the defensive but sure enough, it was trying to avoid to overextend too much and leave the Ogrim maul him without resistance.

So, he intercepted Fenrir midair with a swing of his weapon. Fortunately, he barely managed to hit him. Unfortunately, barely hitting the wolf was enough to open a huge wound on his chest and sent him flying away. He landed several meters away and whimpered. That was bad.

Fortunately, that distracted the draugr enough to let the Ogrim, which looked more dead than alive, to land two powerful punched on the Undead. It took note of that, of course, so it re-focused on the daedra.

I took advantage of that by slamming several powerful firebolts on its back. I was dangerously leaning on the empty with that. And, while his lesser brothers had taken those bolts and had the decency to die, the Deathlord didn't. He stumbled, vaguely dazed and overwhelmed by the number of attacks, but alive… and he decided to have enough.

Two hits. Two hits were what all the Deathlord needed to finish the Ogrim. He chopped off one of the daedra's leg with a downward swipe, and when the monster fell on its remaining knee, it firmly planted its ax in his bran. The creature disappeared in a shower of sparks.

Then it turned around and Shouted.

"Sosaal, Kopraan, Sahqon!"

I had never heard of a similar Shout, even if the words immediately made sense to me. Bleed, Body, and Crimson. What they could do-

Immediately, a force I couldn't understand tore my body apart like it was wet paper, opening a terrible cut on my back, completely bypassing the armor. The pain was indescribable. Like someone put a burning piece of metal on my back while the rest of my body was deprived of all heat. I felt my knees buck and I had to grab the table in front of me to not fall.

Two hits, one Shout, and we were down. Now only a miracle could stop the Deathlord to walk on me and finish the job.

And a miracle happened, in the form of a powerful wild howl that was far deeper and guttural that it had any right to be. I raised my head to see what was happening… and why suddenly I felt another spell being cast.

What I saw was Fenrir, somehow, used magic to do something that… well, I can only describe it as turning in an even bigger, more feral wolf. I'll tell you that it reminded me of the transformation in werewolf if not for the fact that Fenrir already was a wolf, but I couldn't exclude that he actually tapped in some ancient, feral magic to simulate the effect.

An effect that included a slight increase in dimension, longer and wilder fur, teeth and claws growth into lethal weapons and a dim luminescence in his eyes that made him look like he had flames inside them. He howled again and charged the Deathlord.

Having just used most of his energies to kill an Ogrim and turn me into mincemeat, the draugr didn't expect Fenrir to charge. He managed to turn, but my bud, like a real werewolf, was now faster and stronger than before, and his teeth were now the size of daggers. He closed his maw on the head of the draugr and I could hear the metal groan under the assault.

The problem was, it wasn't dying fast enough and I feared what it could do to Fenrir, since the wolf looked completely absorbed in trying to chew the head of the Undead without caring for defense. I doubted Fenrir could take another hit like the one he already took… let's not talk about the ones the Ogrim took.

So, the moment the shield changed from blue to red, signaling that it was now vulnerable to frost spell, charged my most powerful lightning spell. It was useless to use something like frost on an undead Nord warrior which looked fairly resistant to magic. I just wanted to disintegrate the damn thing.

And disintegrate I got. The lighting hit the draugr like the spear of a god. Fenrir immediately retreated when he saw the attack coming and let the draugr be consumed by all my electrical fury. Flesh burned, metal melted, and when I finally finished, the monster evaporated, leaving only cinders and an amulet on the ground.

We had won.

Last edited: Feb 23, 2020

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.7

It was a good thing that I come prepared. I didn't expect Guyson to be so damn powerful, but I knew that killing it was not going to be so easy. So I grabbed a potion and chugged it down.

Unfortunately, despite my preparation, I didn't have that many potions. In an effort to improve my ability with Alchemy and to save my dwindling money, I tried to do a lot of potions on my own. Some of them I used to bear the stress of my ring in the period I wore it, especially the stamina and health one. So, while I prepared a lot of potions, most of them were used.

It looked like they were going to be enough. The moment I drank the potion, I felt the wound on my back disappear. Or, mostly. I still felt the flesh tender and sensible, but another potion will-

"Uuuh…"

Fenrir limped to me, his chest still open. Fuck.

"Here buddy." I said, giving my second potion to him. When he drank, the wound closed, but not enough. Maybe because these potions were not meant to be drunk by non-humanoid creatures and so most went on his fur. Shit. I grabbed another potion. "Here, here. Take this too." The wolf lapped the second potion too and his wound finally closed enough to not look life-threatening. Sighing, I patted his head. "You've done a good job. Thank you."

His answer was rubbing his head on my side, where the draugr hit me before.

"Repaying the favor? I suppose so."

"Apprentice Loki." Called Tolfdir. "Are you alright?"

Oh, thank god. Usually Tolfdir never actually asked if I was alright after a fight with a powerful Undead Tongue. Probably because in-game the consequences of being almost killed were negligible.

"I came prepared, Master." I said, drinking another couple of potions. Of magicka, this time. "But I had to admit that I hoped my Ogrim would pose a better challenge to the damn thing."

"He was, indeed, a formidable foe." Agreed Tolfdir. "And he seemed to be linked to that strange orb. I have never seen anything like this."

I suppose so. It was, after all, something created by Magnus, like… before the creation of the world or something like that.

Or was it? In ESO there was a similar artifact in… Valenwood, I think. A strange orb of some kind. Maybe it was just the creators of ESO being trolls, but I doubted it. And since the runes on them didn't match up with anything that was known, it was possible that, while not crafted by Magnus himself, the orbs could be so kind of semi-divine artifact, maybe of Ehlnofey origin. After all, just because there were two of them didn't mean that they had to be created by a mortal race at all.

Plus, the fact that only the Staff of Magnus was able to control their power was just a little suspect. Sure, there was no proof that the so-called 'Staff of Magnus' was created by Magnus, but whatever, whoever created both of them didn't look mortal to me.

"It's a dangerous artifact." I said. "I can feel the raw power it emanates. It's making me feel shivers from here."

"You're right. That's why I think it's better if we call the Archmage immediately. We need to decide if it's better to ward this place or transfer it inside the College."

I thought it was a bad idea in both cases, but I didn't want to argue right now. I was exhausted. Mentally, at least. Magicka potions made me recover my power, but they didn't do anything for mental fatigue. "As you wish, Tolfdir. Just… let me take whatever of value there is in this place. As… spoil of war."

"Mmm? Oh, sure, sure. Take all you want from this old tomb, Apprentice Loki. Just remember that you need to contact Archmage Savos as soon as you can."

"Of course." I said, starting to look for loot. I hoped to find a Grand Soul gem that was full. In my fear, I completely forgot to use Soul Trap on the Deathlord.

Unfortunately… no Grand Soul gem. But, several lesser ones, including a Great Soul gem. Plus, old robes that somehow managed to not rot, some book that I could probably sell to collectors, some ancient musical instrument, gems, some money and, of course, whatever the Deathlord had aside from its armor… which I, unfortunately, destroyed together with the Undead. A shame, if I could refit it I could probably improve my defense.

Still, a very good ax, a unique staff, and the amulet… which, coincidentally, was the one that improved my magical abilities. Excellent. A little more magicka couldn't hurt. But I decided to wear after I returned to the College.

Oh, and I found a Word of Power in a corner. Iiz, Ice, probably one of the Words of the Ice Form Shout, since I learned Frost Breath before and this was not one of the Words I learned.

Oh, the guy apparently was Jirik Gauldurson. I'll have to check where the other two brothers were. The amulet was kind of interesting. In the game, it increased health, stamina, and magicka, making it the only, or at least the only I remembered, a magical item that hosted three different Enchantments… all of a certain power. You could do better, but not with one item or with that particular combination. Also, 'increase magicka' was not an Enchantment that existed aside from the game. Here, increased magicka was not something you could do… if not with Fortifying Enchantments of mental abilities. So, it probably granted that… maybe.

Which was fine. Totally fine. Hell, even just increased magicka was totally acceptable. Increased mental abilities were just better. Even if by 'mental abilities' probably translated in increased focus and sensibility toward the flow of magicka.

Still, I had to control that later.

"Are you ready to leave, Apprentice? I think there is a secret passage behind us."

"I suppose there is." I replied, before focusing and opening a portal to my room at the College. It looked like something difficult, but it was just a matter to add a portal to a Recall spell and maintain it for long enough to pass through. Not that difficult, all in all. "But I think I prefer to use this."

"Oh-oh, you really are impressive, my boy." He said, and I cringed. 'Boy'. "Good work, very good work."

"Thank you Master. Fenrir, you first."

"Arf arf!" He said, before entering the portal.

"Be careful with that thing, Master Tolfdir. It's a problem ready to explode in our faces." I warned the old mage, hoping he would listen.

"Rest assured. I'll be very careful."

I nodded and, with a last bow of the head, I entered inside the portal.

Finding myself in my room, together with Fenrir.

"Well, the portal worked as intended." I said. "Little blessings. I feared it would transport us in a random location. With the luck we had until now…"

"Aurf?"

"It's a problem that happens when you're not very experienced with portals." I said, moving out of my room. "Granted, I tested this spell but not on these distances. I use the Mark spell to open a portal, and I only have my room so… at most, I traveled a couple of hundred meters at most. I never tried it with longer distances."

"Rrrh." Replied Fenrir, his ears low.

"Well, nothing bad happened, right? Now, go to see Colette. It's better to check your injury. I'll go after I talk with the Archmage."

"Arf arf." He said, diverging to the Hall of Countenance. There were no lessons now, so Colette was probably there.

I, myself, went toward the Hall of Elements, even if I took the stairs to reach the Archmage's quarters. While physically I was mostly fine, those damned stairs required me more effort than it was normal. Dammit.

I finally reached the quarters and I was too tired to worry about etiquette. I opened the door, calling the Dunmer. "Archmage Savos? I have a message from Master Tolfdir."

"Mmmm." Came a voice from inside. "Oh, Apprentice Loki. Welcome, welcome. Please, enter. A message from Tolfdir, you said? Please, tell me it's not another student incinerated."

I entered the room, finding Archamage Savos, fully dressed, waiting for me. I don't know what he was doing when I entered and didn't care. I just made a little bow. "No Archmage, no case of combustion. Not that I know off, at least. It regards Saarthal. We found… something."

"Something?" Repeated the Dunmer, intrigued. "That's surprisingly vague from you, Apprentice Loki. What is this 'something'?"

"An orb decorated with runes that have nothing in common with anything I've ever seen. It emanates an incredible amount of magicka, and was protected by powerful wards. It could even be an Aedric artifact of some sort. I've never heard of something quite like that though… it doesn't fit any description of known artifacts."

Of course, the part about not knowing the artifact was a lie, but I never heard of someone describing the Eye of Magnus so I wasn't technically lying.

"An orb, you say? Of what size?"

"Four meters of diameter, by my estimate." I replied, and I saw his eyes widen. "It also floats. Naturally, from what I can see."

"A known phenomenon when describing powerful artifacts… but the size…" He stopped, before asking again. "This is extremely interesting. Is Tolfdir guarding it?"

"Yes, Archmage."

"Good, good. Excellent work, Apprentice Loki. But…" He paused a second, confusion slipping into his tone. "Your group should just barely being arrived at the site. How are you here?"

"I placed a Mark spell in my room."

The Dunmer nodded. "Ah, I see. Very well. I'll go to Saarthal immediately."

"Maybe you should wait for the morning, Archmage. It's not safe outside. I had to kill an Ice Wraith on the way to Saarthal."

"I don't think Ice Wraiths or Ice Troll are that much of a problem for me, but you have a good point, Apprentice. With the Civil War going, the roads are not as safe as they were before, and the Jarl is actively hostile to the mages. I'll wait for the morning. Is there anything else?"

"No, Archmage."

"Very well. I suggest you see Colette. You look pale, Apprentice."

"An unfortunate meeting with a very powerful draugr." I replied. "I'll go immediately."

And with a last bow, I left the quarters.

Fortunately, it seemed like my potion had worked. Sure, consecutive consumption of potions, especially poorly made ones and in rapid succession, tended to have diminishing returns, but they worked well enough for what they had to do.

"You're lucky, I suppose." Said Colette. "Whatever hit you inflicted a large wound that bled a lot, but didn't manage to reach your organs. I'm curious our they managed to do this despite your armor. I've never heard of a spell like that."

"It wasn't a spell." I replied. "It was a Shout. There were some nasty draugr inside."

"Ah, I see. Draugr can be quite difficult to deal with, especially if you're a mage. The Thu'um is not magic as we learn here, so the basic defense offered by Protection against magic doesn't work on them. We have to tailor the protection of whatever they use… and you can never know what they're going to use."

"Yes. I heard that some Greybeard can 'swallow' the Shout of other Tongues. That would be useful to know when I faced the draugr." And I absolutely wanted to learn the method. I already had a theory on how that was possible… but it was just a theory.

"It's not something the Greybeard taught you?"

"No. I suppose that's because the Thu'um is not supposed to be used for war, so you never have to worry about enemy Tongue." I replied. I wasn't sure it was a thing, actually. Maybe it was just something they taught when you have greater mastery of the Thu'um. "Or maybe I wasn't ready yet. The Greybeards are wise… but mysterious."

"Why did you leave them, if I may ask? Ulfric left to fight the Great War. What's your reasoning?"

Uh, that was a difficult question. Time to bullshit. "I didn't leave them. I just… well, took time to take care of some business, and shit happened."

"But why come here? Wasn't it better to return to them?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. But I'm not a Nord. I don't particularly venerate the Greybeards. Sure, they're wise teachers, and I respect them, but nothing more." I paused for a second. "The main reason why I joined them is the same for why I came here. I'm curious. I like to learn new things. And while I still have much to learn from them… well, my priorities changed."

"The dragons." Said Colette. It was not a question. "So it's true. You are one of Helgen's survivors. That's why you created the ring and learn as many spells as you could, instead of focusing on one school. Being ready for when they come."

"Yes."

"You're not ready." She affirmed. Why she had to remark the obvious, I didn't know.

"I know that." I just replied.

She sighed. "Well, at least you're not totally stupid. Rest for tomorrow and not put you ring on again for the time being. Your body needs rest and that thing doesn't let you recover properly."

"Understood."

"And no more acts of bravery, Apprentice. I'd hate to lose someone so talented in Restoration."

I blinked after that statement. Sure, I was one of her best students, but surely there was someone else that she liked more… right?

"I'll do what I can, Mistress." I replied.

"Good. Now out. I've my lesson soon."

I complied. I had things to do, after all.

-X-

Mmmm… what did I have to do?

I have to admit that my memory had failed me. I remembered most of the important -or unusual- questlines of Skyrim pretty well, including several Daedric quests.

But I completely forgot what the next quest for the College of Winterhold was.

So, I had no idea what I needed to prepare for.

So I did nothing. Savos and Tolfdir were going to tell me in a couple of days at most. The mission to retrieve the Staff of Magnus was, probably the next after this, or maybe there was an intermediate mission between… I wasn't sure. But I would probably end up leaving the College for a while. Which meant possible assassination, a possible reunion with Thormund, possible… well, a lot of possible, really. And, like Colette gently put, I wasn't ready. For anything.

But I had some ideas. First off, if I had to leave the College, I could take advantage of that to do some side quests. The ones I had in mind were, thankfully, nearby. Azura's Star, and Hermeus Mora's one.

Actually, I had to go to visit… err… I forgot the name of the crazy mage. Well, I had to go to visit him because he knew about the position of the Elder Scroll and the access to Blackreach, which were two things that I needed to know for both the Main questline and the College's one. So, that was an obligatory step. Well, not really since I already knew where the bloody Scroll was, but I needed someone to point me in the right direction. At least I knew enough to cut the quest and have him give me the blood extractor immediately.

The Azura's Star was a little farther but not enough to dissuade me. Besides, the Azura's Star was simply too useful to not take. Which was, of course, the whole reason I decided to do that quest. That, and because Azura, for being a Daedra, was actually rather nice, so I didn't actually mind do a little errand for her.

I'd like to say the same about Hermeus Mora, but unfortunately, I could not. I didn't particularly like Hermeus Mora as a Daedric Prince and, if possible, I would have preferred to not interact with him at all. But it was more or less inevitable. Even skipping the crazy mage with my knowledge of Skyrim timeline, I still had to talk with him to defeat Miirak. So, since I had to do it, I could at least take the Oghma Infinium with me. And the Oghma Infinium was insanely powerful and useful to me. With the book, I could, in theory, totally skip the learning of an entire level of magic knowledge. No painstaking study and experiment to reach control Master level spells. That was a huge bonus and I wasn't going to lose that.

Was there a possibility that the Oghma Infinium was going to cause a lot of problems after I free it from its prison? Probably. Was that my problem? Not at all. Someone else could worry about it.

But the Oghma was the only exception I was willing to make. In every other case, I was not going to deviate from my path to retrieve lost Daedric artifacts. Actually, I was going to denounce every instance of Daedric cults to the competent authority when I remembered that there was a Daedric quest in that territory. Most Daedric Princes didn't deserve my time and effort.

… Well, maybe Meridia and Sherogorath. And Nocturnal, since her quest was basically the Thieves Guild one. Meridia was brash but she had good intentions, even if Dawnbreaker was not of particular interest to me. Sherogorath… I had to admit, it was mostly for the chance to talk with him and see how much of the Hero of Cyrodiil was still inside him because I wasn't going to use the Wabbajack on anything that remotely resembled a foe. Too much risk of transforming it into something even more dangerous.

Nocturnal, I was just going to forget that her quest existed at all and leave the Guild in peace. They deserved at least that.

That said, it was better if I started to prepare for a little trip and a visit to the mad mage. Where was my map?

-X-

"So, it's true that Fenrir changed shape during the fight?"

I sighed. It was the day after the visit to Saarthal and the Apprentice returned to the College while Tolfdir and the Archmage studied the Eye of Magnus. I raised my head and looked at Brelyna, which was staring at me with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Yes, it's true. It looked like a therianthrope transformation, but I felt the magicka he used to do that. I'm not sure how he did it. I suppose he somehow tapped the same magical power that let werewolves transform, but it's just speculation."

"But he did." Continued Brelyna. "And if he can, then it's possible."

"I suppose that's true. Why're you so interested?" I asked. Of course, I knew perfectly well why she was interested. Her quest was based on her trying to transmute me into various animals, and it wasn't going very well. I'm not sure why she had waited this long to talk about it when I made pretty clear that I was researching the same thing.

She averted her eyes. "I was… kind of trying to develop a spell like that."

I sent her an exasperated glare. "And why didn't you tell me that before? We could have worked together. Hell, we could have had the spell already!"

She sent me an embarrassed look. "I… wanted to see if I managed to arrive at the solution before you."

I blinked a couple of times. "Wait, you what? I thought that J'zargo was the competitive one."

"Yes, I know." She sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry. But to be fair, I didn't think both of us will be able to do it. I have created a spell, but it's just a prototype. It should change your shape, but I'm not sure it will work."

"And you want to see Fenrir do it so you have some insight into the process." I concluded. "Yes, I can see that. What do you say, buddy?"

Fenrir, poor Fenrir, had slept under my table since yesterday and even tomorrow he looked like he wasn't going to move. He raised his head from the floor and sent out a whine.

"Not eager, are you? What's the problem?"

He replied with a tired whine.

"Tired? I can see that. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Arf arf!" He replied, before returning to rest.

"Sorry, Brelyna. He's not feeling well. But, we can cooperate. If you want to share the results of your research, of course."

The dark elf nodded. "Yes, I'm willing."

"Good. Now, where did you start with this spell?"

We passed something like an hour exchanging theories and hypotheses on how shapeshifting could be achieved with magic. I found one glaring problem with the idea that Brelyna had.

"It's not going to work with just Alteration." I said.

"Mmm? Why not?" Asked the Dunmer.

"Alteration is, by its own nature, temporary." I said. "Or at least, the power required to make any significant change is too big for anything the size of a man or a mer. The pre-existent magicka inside the body makes it even more difficult. Your spell is a good start and you can probably reach a shapeshifting spell with this, but it's not going to be stable. You'll end up transforming the target into something random instead of what you wanted."

Brelyna hummed. "Mmm… yes, I can see that. Do you have a solution?"

I stroked my beard. "Well, I'm not saying that I'm an expert, but from what I learned, the Ayleid could shapeshift. Of course, the Ayleid used flesh magic to do that, which can be seen as a form of Alteration, but also Restoration. Restoration is the School that can permanently deal with injuries and physical changes, after all."

"But it can't change the form of your body."

"That's why I said it can't work with just Alteration. Now, the Schools are just an artificial categorization to better learn, but in no way are they the only method to do magic. I read of witches in High Rock that use Conjuration to ask the assistance of spirits instead of binding them to their will. The Ayleid could change shape. We have to open our horizons."

"Like mixing Restoration and Alteration to stabilize the final result." Continued Brelyna. "It needs to be very little Restoration, or the final result will be permanent, and we don't want that. But it should prevent the spell to be altered by unseen elements."

I tapped my fingers on the table while thinking at something. "You know, there is something I just realized. Shouldn't we use some mental magic to avoid problems during the transformation?"

Brelyna blinked, confused. "Why? We're not touching the mind."

"We're researching a spell that can change the shape of a person, including the head and so, the brain." I replied. "Honestly, I'm not sure a change like that can't have repercussion on a person's mind."

Brelyna hummed. "It makes sense. Maybe it's not something that can happen, but better be sure about that. So, Alteration for the shape, Restoration for stabilization and… Illusion? Can Illusion even do something like that?"

I shrugged. "I mean, Clairvoyance lets you see the shortest path to a location even if you don't have any idea where that location is. Why can't preserve your mind intact while your body is transformed in something else?"

"That doesn't sound like Illusion though."

I scratched my chin. "Yeah, it's more Mysticism if that School was still a thing. I got that astral projection and telepathy were categorized there."

Brelyna nodded. "Well, in the absence of Mysticism, Illusion will do." She massaged her temples. "It's going to be a difficult spell to create."

I agreed. "Better a difficult but safe spell than one that fails continuously. At least now we have a clearer idea of what to research." I sighed. "Even if I think you're going to have more time to do it."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not going to stay here a lot." I replied. "After the Archmage promotes me to Adept, I'm going to get out. I have things to do. So… well, you're going to have all the time to perfect that spell while I travel for Skyrim."

The Dunmer looked at the table. "Right, you talked about that. I'll miss you, you know? We didn't talk much, but I always liked to hear you talk with Onmund and J'zargo about magic. You've such a peculiar view on the topic."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I smirked.

She smiled. "It was one. You'll help me to test the spell with the modifications?"

I shrugged. "I don't see why not. After I return tomorrow, I'll help you for sure."

She cocked a brow. "Where do you have to go tomorrow?"

"Oh, near. I just have to talk with an old acquaintance."

Last edited: Mar 16, 2020

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.8

Map? Check.

Food for the travel? Check.

Fenrir? Well…

I turned toward the wolf, still on the floor and still sleeping. "Oi, Fenrir. You ok there?"

The wolf tiredly opened an eye and sent me a short whine.

"No, huh?" I scratched my head. "What the hell happened to you, buddy? Was the transformation that tiring?"

"Arf." He replied, still looking like shit.

"And what was then?" I asked, confused. I had assumed that his transformation was akin to a berserker state and that was the reason he was tired. Apparently, it was not the case.

He lapped at the air.

"Water?"

"Arf."

"Ok, then what?"

He raised his head and pointed his nose to the sack on the bed.

I sent another confused look at the wolf before checking inside the bag. What could he mean-

Then it hit me. "Oh, you mean my potions."

"Arf arf."

"Mmm. Strange. They shouldn't cause problems." I stroked my chin. "A side effect of one of the ingredients? Different biology, after all…"

Fenrir interrupted my speculative rant with another whine.

"Ok, ok, I'll think about it later. Now I'm going to see my friend and then I'll mix something to make you feel better, ok?"

He didn't look convinced.

"Oh, c'mon. I'm not bad at Alchemy. It's just that I didn't think I would need to give my potions to you. My healing spell worked, right?"

"Arf arf." Admitted Fenrir, somewhat disgruntledly.

"Your faith in me is appreciated." I snarked. "Well, stay here then. I can go there myself. It's not as if there are more Undead on the road." Unless I wanted to stop at a little island, but I didn't have a reason.

Fenrir sent me a strange look but didn't more. So, taking my bag, I got out of the room.

I would like to say that I arrived at the crazy mage refuge, trolled him a little and then returned with all the pieces of my next plan in my hands… but that would be lying.

"Ah, Loki." Came a voice behind me when I was to pass the College's gate. "J'zargo was looking for you."

I sighed. "Of course you were, J'zargo. So, what can I do for you? In case you didn't notice, I'm trying to go for a walk."

"Yes, Brelyna told me." Replied the Khajiit, walking toward me. "And since you were going to depart soon, J'zargo thought to ask you for a favor."

Oh man, was this what I thought it was?

"J'zargo is developing a new spell. A variant of the Fire Cloak spell that should be particularly effective against the Undead. J'zargo is not going to ask you to go and fight them just to test this spell, but since you're going to travel a lot, J'zargo thought that you're going to have more occasions to test it than me." He handed me a handful of scrolls. "Will you do this favor to J'zargo?"

I sighed. "Alright." I replied, grabbing the scrolls. "Just because it's you, J'zargo. How this spell is supposed to work, anyway?"

Of course, I already knew what the effect would be, but I wanted to know the process he used to make it work like that. I had a vague idea, but better be sure.

"Or, it's quite a devious modification." Replied the cat, smug. "Basically, the Fire Cloak… infects, for a lack of a better term, the necromantic energies that animate the Undead, causing it to burn intensely."

"I see." I replied, putting away the scrolls. The idea was interesting. "And what happens when the Undead is defeated?"

"Nothing, in theory. The necromantic energies leave the body of the Undead and it stops moving."

"The same necromantic energies that are on fire?" I asked.

J'zargo stopped and stroke his mustaches. "Mmmm… J'Zargo didn't think about the possibility. Nothing could happen… or the Undead could explode violently." In my face, of course, since we were talking about a Cloak spell. "That why you need experimentation, J'zargo thinks. In the best case, the Undead transforms into a spectacular bonfire. Hot, but safe. But if the energies that animate it disperse violently…"

"It goes boom in my face." I finished.

"Yes, J'zargo supposes that's a possibility." Admitted the Khajiit. "Well, you're a Breton, so magic resistance should be one of your strong points. I'll suggest you to put a little fire protection on you… just to be sure nothing goes wrong."

"I'll take that into consideration." I replied. "Well, now I have to go. Goodbye, J'zargo."

"Return safe, friend Loki." Replied J'zargo, before returning to… whatever he did in his free time.

Well, looks like I'm going to pass in that little sanctuary after all. It should be enough to test J'zargo scrolls.

I stopped on the gate and gave a little look around. I feel observed, for some reason. But I didn't see anything. Well, whatever.

I got out of the College and started to walk. I had a long way in front of me.

-X-

The path toward my objective was not an easy one. Ironically, the worst part, until I jumped onto an island full of Undead of course, was near the city. In the real world, big animals were rarely found near big inhabited centers: people usually drove them away on short notice. Little villages were a different story, of course. There were boars near my home, even if they avoided the more civilized parts of the valley and preferred to stay in the hills.

In Skyrim, aggressive and territorial predators could live hundreds of meters from the city gates, and nobody batted an eye. Here in the north of Skyrim, that meant Ice Wolves, White Bears, and Snow Sabretooth Cats.

And Horkers, but Horkers were, like, small fries compared to the ones I just listed.

Of course, there were worse things in the wilds of Skyrim, but real monsters were not so common near cities. People tended to kill those.

So, it was not a surprise that I heard a growl coming from somewhere at my right. I was just on the shores. I step or two, and I was completely safe from predators. But of course, I had to find one at two steps of the College door. Typical.

I turned and saw a sabretooth tiger, still lying on the ground, that had raised her head and was growling in my direction. Apparently, I managed to get ignored until that moment. Just my luck.

"Easy there, kitty." I said in a low and reassuring tone. "There is no reason to attack."

Of course, the tiger didn't think in the same way. The moment I saw the big cat's body move, I slammed the most powerful Fear spell I could manage on his face.

The tiger stopped dead in his track and ran away.

Thank you, mind magic. Fighting a sabretooth tiger was not on my to-do list of today.

Well, now it was the time to go. Someone would think that I was going to swim, like in the game.

But of course not. Why swim and waste magicka in cold-resisting spells to not freeze in the icy waters of Winterhold, when I could cast a Water Walk?

-X-

In the end, I stopped on the little island and took care of a group of skeletons and the solitary draugr that was there using J'zargo's spell.

And a ton of fire-protection spells, since I wasn't good enough with Restoration to give me enough Fire Resistance to ignore the explosions. That was because I needed at least Expert level Restoration for that, and I didn't have that level of competence. What I had was Adept Level Restoration and almost Expert level Alteration, so I slapped a Resist Fire spell on myself and a Fire Armor spell, which combined with my natural magic resistance as Breton, made me immune to the explosions.

Not that it was funny being showered by several fire explosions when the Undead exploded in my face, nor when the skeletons' bones slammed against me, but it was better to be incinerated.

It took me a minute or two to clean the island clean from the Undead and loot the place. It was… strange, to begin with. What was this island? There was a little temple with a single draugr inside, several skeletons, and what looked suspiciously like a dragon tomb with an altar on top of it.

Bah, it was worthless to think about it. It was better to focus on my objective. Which was easy, since I just had to reach the damn outpost, and Clairvoyance gave me a pretty clear trail to follow. I just had to sustain my Water Walk spell.

It took me a while to traverse the icy water of Winterhold, but at last, I managed to arrive at the outpost of the mad mage. Since walking while being hit by frozen winds wasn't exactly what I liked to do in my free time, I decided to cut the talk with the old mad mage short, so I could Recall myself in my room and help Brelyna with her spell. Which, with a little luck, was now a little more controllable.

So, I opened the wooden door, traversed the ice corridor, and the jumped down using my still-in-testing Levitation spell to gently glide down. My months with the Burden Ring made me tough, but I didn't want to test the resistance of my bones.

The moment I landed behind the mage, he turned. "Oh, what a surprise, a visitor. I didn't think that someone would come here! What-?"

"Let's cut this." I said, annoyed. "I know what you want, and I know how you can have it. But I'll warn you: it's not going to end well for you if you open that box. You still want to open it?"

I could have told him that he'll find the Oghma Infinium inside and he was going to die if he read it, but honestly, he was so far gone that I doubt that he'd listen to me. Or believe me.

"Oh, an enterprising spirit we have here." See? "Yes, I still want to open the box. But I lack the key. You know what key can open the box?"

"You'll need the blood of the Dwemer." I replied. "Which, of course, are not here anymore. But I'm sure you can do something with the blood of other elves. If you don't believe me, I can always-"

"Yes, yes! Of course, the blood of an extinct race to unlock their secrets. An astute method to hide the Heart, indeed. I have something that I can give you to collect the blood. Will you help me?"

"Only if you give me the blank cube."

The mage blinked. "But why would you need it? You already know how to open the box."

"I need the Elder Scroll inside Blackreach." I admitted. "So, I need your blank cube to open the mechanism."

"Knowledge for knowledge, of course. Sure, take the cube. And the extractor too."

I took them both, vaguely asking myself why he had one on hand and rapidly deciding I didn't want to know the answer.

"Very well. I'll return once I have everything."

"No haste, I've waited for years to open that Dwemer box. Don't get killed or I will have to send someone else."

"I don't plan to get killed." I replied. Then I flew upward.

I could have teleported right there, but I had another person to talk to. Well, 'person' in a manner of speaking.

"Very impressive." Commented on the mass of tentacles, eyes, and shit that was blocking my path. "Your negotiation skills leave much to be desired, but you manage to convince Septimus quickly. Even if I have to admit that how you know all this information interests me more than your ability to persuade an old, crazy mage to do what you wanted."

"Hermaeus Mora." I whispered as a greeting, not for reverence but to stop Septimus Signus -thanks to reminding me of his name, by the way- to hear me. "You're here for making me your champion, I'm right?"

The central eyes of the Daedric Prince narrowed. "You are. Septimus, while he has been useful, has outlived his utility. Now, I need a new champion."

"You sure do." I snarked at the basically omnipotent demon lord. "Miraak is already giving you problems?"

That managed to silence the Daedra for a second. "You are well informed."

"That's a thing I am, yes." I replied. "Miraak is a problem for me. I'm going to help you get rid of him."

"Oh?" Asked Hermaeus. "You are an intriguing mortal. Very well. I'll accept this for now. But remember: you'll need my knowledge to defeat Miraak. And you will serve me."

"I know." I muttered darkly, while the mass disappeared. Unfortunately, it was all true. I could not hope to defeat Miraak on my own, his mind control Shout was capable of bending dragons to his will… and me with them. I had no protection against that, aside from knowing the Shout myself. And the only ones that could give me that knowledge was Hermeus Mora.

Or so I supposed. I was able to learn Shout from draugr until now, and in theory, I could do the same with Miraak, unless, of course, he could stop the meaning of the word to reach me. Which would make sense? The Thu'um had a lot of powers that the games didn't actually translate that well.

Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. If I didn't actually need Hermaeus Mora to beat Miraak, all the better.

Now, let's drop a Mark spell, then return to the College and help Brelyna. Oh, and explain the problem with his spell to J'zargo. Then, tomorrow…

-X-

After helping Brelyna on testing her spell -which worked better than the one in the game, but was still not completely functional- and after reporting to J'zargo about the exploding Undead -with thanks- the day after I took a slightly more hazardous way to a slightly more hazardous destination.

Azura's sanctuary.

"Welcome, Loki Andreasson. I was waiting for your arrival. Azura had seen your coming. It was not curiosity that brought you here, but destiny."

I sort of expected those words to be sent in my direction the moment I arrived there, but I dismissed it.

"Destiny, and a calculating mind that knows what it wants." I replied.

"Pardon?" Asked the Dunmer in front of me.

"I knew you were going to see my coming. It was destiny, perhaps, or it was something else. Anyway, I know a lot of things that could help us retrieve the Star of Azura."

This time, the woman blinked several times, before recovering. "I see. Did you have a prophetic vision too?"

"Something like that." I admitted. "I peered in the mysteries of time thanks to an Elder Scroll. I saw myself standing there, and being received by you. I saw myself recovering the Star. I know what I must do. I just wanted to tell you to be ready for when I come."

The priestess remained silent for a second. Then, a smile was brought on her face. "Very well. Then, you know that…"

"I have to find a fortress, endangered by water, yet untouched by it. Inside, you will find an elven mage who can turn the brightest star as black as night?" I asked with a smile. "Yes, I do. And before you tell me, no, the place is not Winterhold."

"But-"

"Yes, the description is apt, but the actual place is a semi-submerged fortress near Falkreath. Of course, I know this because my vision have shown me this, but your idea still holds merit. Nelcar, a mage that lives in Wintehold, knows the identity of the thief of the Star."

"A semi-submerged fortress?" Asked the Dunmer. "Yes, that makes sense. More than Winterhold. I doubt a group of mage could hide something as powerful as Azura's Star."

"The thief did something terrible to the star." I warned. "It twisted its original purpose and turned it in a black mockery of its original brightness. Now the Star is used as a method to save his own soul, and as such, it's black and broken."

"That's horrible." Agreed on the Dunmer. "But my Lady will know how to repair the Star. Now go, traveler. You have your destination."

"I do. Goodbye, priestess. I'll return with the Star."

And with that, I disappeared.

I love teleportation.

-X-

After four days from the incident of Sarthaal, so basically the day after I finished with the side-quest in Winterhold -the ones I cared about, anyway- I was already preparing for leaving the College. I was just waiting for Savos and Tolfdir to tell me to retrieve something to have the excuse to leave the place for a couple of months, resolve the DLC questlines, maybe destroy the Dark Brotherhood while I was there and finally return to complete the quest. Yes, in that order and assuming that Harkon already started is a dumb plan. If not, I was just going to sail to Solstehim and be done with it.

What, you think that a couple of months was too much? It would be, if I didn't have to get everywhere on foot. Sure, I could try to use some spell to make it faster, but I still didn't know how to transform into a hawk and fly across the entire country. Or to make a car. That would work too.

But before I could even entertain the idea of waiting another day to see if they decided to make me Adept or not, I received a message.

It was pretty strange to find a courier right at the gate that asked for me. Usually, these guys just arrived everywhere was needed that wasn't inside some building or ruin. But hey, realism. So, I went to see what he wanted.

"You're Loki Andreasson?" Asked the man, a stout looking Imperial.

"I am. You have a message for me?"

"Yes, I do. Here. I hope they're good news, with all the road I had to make to deliver it."

I glanced at the first words of the letter he gave me and smiled. "Seems like a letter from a friend. Thank you."

"It's my job. Goodbye."

When he got away, I went to my room and read the letter.

Friend Loki,

I hope you're doing good at the College. Of course, with your knowledge and talent, you are bound to find yourself at home, but after the adventures we had, you could find the place boring.

I chuckled. He had no idea what I passed here. Well, better continuing.

On my part, I made a name with the Companions. Again, I wish to thank you for telling me to come here.

Unfortunately, I didn't contact you for exchanging pleasantries. Your vision was accurate, and Kodlak is searching for a way to remove the Curse that plagues him. He found a way, and is going to send me to retrieve the heads of the witches responsible for it shortly.

But nor I nor Kodlak have any experience with this sort of magic. Kodlak is convinced that he can remove the Curse by throwing the head of a witch into the sacred fire inside the tomb of Ysgramor, but unfortunately, his age and illness make this an arduous proposition.

I stopped for a second my reading to think of who Thormund really was. His vocabulary was a little too complex for someone that was 'just' a mercenary. That's without counting that his armor and weapon were of excellent quality. You didn't find steel armors of that quality just lying around.

Maybe he was the son of an important family? If he was, why didn't he have a surname? Noble or ancient clans usually did. Maybe his father was just rich but not noble, or he didn't have any notable ancestors? I knew nothing about Nord's naming conventions.

Returning to the letter…

That's where you enter the picture, my friend. Before embarking on a long journey like that, Kodlak wants you to try and use the vile powers of the witches to remove the Curse. A skilled mage, he said, could do that, and you're the only person he trusts, since you already know of his condition and already helped us find the solution.

Please, reach Jorrvaskr as fast as you can. Kodlak's health is rapidly deteriorating and he wants to be free from his Curse before his life abandons him.

Your friend

Thormund the Thunderer.

Well… that changed everything. If Kodlak Whitemane required my help to undo the lycanthropy, I was willing to get there a little ahead of the schedule… especially since Tolfdir and Savos weren't really giving me an indication of actually thinking about promoting me or anything like that.

So, unless something particularly important happened, I was going to leave the next day.

Of course, something happened. Specifically, Kayleen returned from her travel to Markhart with a copy of the Falmeric dictionary, and Enthir asked me to go with him.

That… didn't make any sense since he didn't need help to defend himself from the civilians of Winterhold, the Jarl didn't have the balls to actually attack a mage affiliated with the College, and everyone else at the meeting was going to be his friend… or his ally. So… yeah, I didn't actually have any reason to be there.

But I went regardless, because I wanted to have a minimum of control on the Thieves Guild questline. Also, they could need something peculiar for taking down Mercer…

The meeting went, more or less, how I expected. They translated the diary, found out the problem and, with the proof on hand, decided to go to the Thieves Guild.

And it was at that moment that I realized that I could need a little hand arriving at Whiterun, since… well, the road was long, there was no caravan ready to travel, and I would become mortally bored if I just walked all the way to Whiterun alone. Fenrir was a good boy, but he wasn't the best conversationalist.

"Well, you came back at the right moment." I said when the declared their intention to reach Riften. "I need to get to Whiterun and, depending on the circumstances, I could be willing to get to Riften. I can accompany you, if you want."

Kayleen and Karliah looked at each other, unsure about what to reply.

"Can you make the travel go faster?" Finally asked Karliah, curious.

I scratched my cheek. "Well, I still have to master the ability to make portals in places I didn't put a Mark spell, so… no, not really. What I can do is trying to summon some Daedra or Atronach to be our ride. It should reduce the travel time, since they don't really tire as we poor mortals do."

"Please, avoid Daedra." Asked Kayleen. "I don't trust them and they would unnerve the people too."

"So that's a yes?"

The two thieves looked at each other again.

"I don't see why not." Replied Karliah. "There is no such thing as too much help. Besides, I would avoid Windhelm if I can. I heard their treatment of not-Nord is not… exemplar."

"Perfect. We could make a stop at Whiterun to take some supplies before turning on Riften… if I find a reason to go there, of course."

"Why would you want to go to Riften, anyway?" Asked Kayleen.

"I know a lot of things and there are some interesting events that I'd like to take part." I replied. "But mostly, it's because of the Dawnguard."

"That old order of vampire hunters?" Asked Enthir. "Nobody has heard of them for centuries."

"Well, they're going to be active again soon. If they're not already active." I revealed. "There is a Vampire Lord that wants to put Skyrim on a perennial night or something like that, and as such, he's increasing vampire's activities in the whole region. Or he's going to do it, anyway. My timeline is not accurate."

"Ah, yes." Commented Nelcar. "That's about the Elder Scroll, isn't it? Well, you seem to have the uncanny ability to know things before they happen, so I'm going to assume you're right. Those are… worrisome news."

"Oh, don't worry, I have a friend in Whiterun that's going to help with that." I casually dismissed. "Thormund is going to open those vampire's asses, and I don't think he'll make too much of a fuss about that. He already goes around fighting."

"Then summon your steeds and be ready. We'll leave in three days." Concluded Karliah.

Last edited: Mar 15, 2020

Y're a Wizard, Loki 1.9

Summoning the damn steeds was not easy.

First of all, I didn't want to risk summoning something dangerous and unpredictable like a deadric steed. At least, not for a steed that was going to be something I was going to summon pretty often. I could do it for the other two, but I wanted some kind of reliable ride for the future.

That was a problem, because I knew little of summonable steeds and only one was certain. Avark, or whatever was the name of the undead horse you got in the Dawnguard DLC, was a unique case, so the only reliable one was out. There were a handful of those in ESO but I was unsure if steeds like Atronach horses or those infernal horses were something that was truly possible and not some skin added to the regular horse because it was cool. Sure, summoning weapons worked, more or less, by summoning a daedra, forcing it to assume the shape you wanted, so it was theoretically possible to do the same with anything, including a powerful Daedra… but I didn't want to risk to accidentally summon a powerful Deadra, horse form or not. Also because conjured weapons didn't have the mind of a daedra, or if they had it, it was a deadra so minor that it basically changed nothing. I doubted you could use the same idea on something that you were going to ride.

The last example was Shadowmere, which was some kind of daedric creature… maybe? Nobody really knew what the heck Shadowmere was, but considering that the horse literally couldn't die, it was easy to see why someone thought it was some kind of deadric spirit, maybe even one subservient to Sithis.

So, yeah. A lot of maybe and just one creature that I was sure could be summoned as a steed. Not great as a start.

Still, I tried. I tried because I had information that nobody had, or overlooked. Witches of High Rock could make deals with spirits of Oblivion. Sure, most Daedra were dismissive of mortals or hated them, but that could not possibly be the only thing that those otherworldly spirits felt. There had to be some that, like… genuinely enjoyed just stay on Mundus, right? Curious spirits, or spirits that enjoyed a change of scenario. Hell, the entire premise of Durnehviir was that he was trapped in a horrible place and wanted a way out, and he was more than happy to share his personal Shout for an hour or two in Mundus.

I just needed to lay down the right bait. Not my body or my soul, since only malevolent daedra were going to fall for that, but something different. Freedom. I could offer that, if only for a little. And that was I sent in the vast planes of Oblivion.

And something answered my call.

"Freedom?" Asked a voice that remembered me the sound of a coming storm. It sounded in my head, but didn't make any move to take control. It was just here to talk.

"Yes." I replied. "To come here. To run on the road of Mundus, enjoying the mortal world."

There was a significant pause. "Price?" Asked the voice.

"No price. Just rules. Come to me when I call, and bring me where I desire. No killing mortals. Aside from that… you're free."

"Bounded?" Asked the voice, catching me off guard. That was a pretty advanced concept for something so alien. I had to have caught a powerful spirit.

"Only if you want." I honestly replied. Sure, bounding the creature had some advantages, like the fact that it was always near… but an unbounded steed had the advantage to be dismissible and likely being able to be re-summoned.

"No bonding." Replied the creature, whatever it was.

I accepted immediately. "Agreed."

"Servant?" Asked the voice, with a strange tone of voice… if a coming storm could have a tone.

"Companion." I replied. "You want to run free, I want someone that transport me fast. A favor for a favor."

The spirit remained silent for several seconds. Then, finally. "Acceptable."

"What can I call you?"

"I have no name." Replied the spirit.

"Not what I meant. How can I call you so you come when I need you?"

"I have no name." Was the reply. Uh… apparently, calling a specific creature required a name, or at least having a good idea who you were calling. Difficult.

"Do you have a shape?"

"Not one suited for the purpose."

"Can I give you both, at least until you are here?"

"Agreeable."

I smiled. "Then come, Sleipnir. We have much to travel."

-X-

The day of my departure finally arrived. I said goodbye to all the people of the College -the Novices were going to miss my stories, it seemed- and left with Fenrir. I felt… pretty damn comfortable in doing so. Nor Tolfdir, not Savos returned from their study on Sarthaal, so Ancano had nothing to work with. If they wanted me to get whatever they needed -I had vague memories of a… fort?- they could send me a message. I had other things to do.

So, I met Kayleen and Karliah outside the city, just to be sure that nobody panicked when I summoned the steeds. What I didn't take into consideration was the reaction to Fenrir.

"What in the Oblivion is that thing?!" Shouted Kayleen when I appeared.

I followed her gaze and found it focused on Fenrir. Who, on his part, was looking at the Redguard with confusion.

"Oh, my bad. Ladies, this is Fenrir. He's my very intelligent, very loyal wolf friend. Fenrir, these are Karliah and Kayleen of the Thieves Guild. They'll travel with us until we reach Thormund. Greet them."

Fenrir replied with a pretty welcoming bark. Of course, for people that didn't know what a welcoming bark for an almost human-sized wolf sounded, it was probably very scary.

Or at least it was for Kayleen. Karliah had probably passed enough time in Skyrim to know how an angry wolf sounded like.

"Never had a dog?" I asked, watching the Redguard eying the wolf with suspicion.

"That's not a dog." Replied Kayleen.

"True, but big wolves are not that strange either. I'm pretty sure they are quite common in Cyrodiil and Valenwood. The Bosmer even use them as mounts." I patted Fenrir between the hears. "Besides, he's a very smart wolf. He understands what we say, so if I say his that you're friends, you're friends and will not attack you. Right buddy?"

"Arf arf!"

"See? Totally innocuous."

Kayleen didn't look convinced. I didn't care. I waved my hand and a couple of infernal horses, that apparently existed and were named Nightmare Coursers, appeared out of a swirling purple portal. "Here, your mounts. I know they look scary but trust me, they're good mounts. At least until I control them."

"I would have preferred more subtle steed for our journey." Commented Karliah. Kayleen eyes communicated that she didn't like them. Ugh, Redguards and their dislike for Conjuration.

"These are the more subtle steed I can summon." I replied. "Or you preferred horse that was composed of fire and lighting? Because that's the alternative. Unless, of course, you want me to spend three weeks researching how to force a Dremora Lord into a horse shape… if you want to risk having a pissed Dremora Lord on your tail, of course. The armor will look super cool though."

Karliah blinked at my modern talk, but got the point. "No need. We'll do with these things. But how about you?"

I smirked, and then called. "Come, Sleipnir!"

A sudden wind howled around us, kicking a generous amount of fresh snow. A white wall surrounded us. Then, as it came from far away, a neigh came from the wind, and a horse appeared.

But no horse could compare. Big as a draft horse but looking far more graceful, with a pale hazelnut fur and rock-like hooves and a white mane that looked like mist, he advanced until it was at my side and then reared up. The moment he did, his front legs seemed to split in three different set, the returned normal when they returned on the ground.

"This." I said, with all the smug I could gather. "Is Sleipnir."

I was pretty sure at that point that someone was messing with me, because it couldn't be a coincidence that the spirit that answered my call was one of the few multi-armed Deadra in existence. A pretty kick-ass Deadra too. The original form of Sleipnir was, apparently, the one of a big Air Atronach. The end result was that, sometimes, he had eight legs instead of four.

Which, of course, was perfectly in line with my mythological theme. Too much of a coincidence for me.

But who cared? I got a kickass, supernatural mount that could materialize any time I wanted with awesome air powers. That was the coolest shit ever.

I jumped on him and he immediately started to move. "Let's get moving, ladies. Sleipnir is eager to run."

They immediately understood and mounted on their steeds. The moment they did, Sleipnir sent another neigh and jolted forward.

It was an experience. Sleipnir, Air Atronach, ran like the wind, and the infernal horses I summoned had a hard time keep up. Of course, being all three of them supernatural creatures, they didn't exactly tire at the rate mortals did.

We traversed a great distance that day. We were going to arrive at Whiterun in less than a week.

-X-

"I've never traveled this far in a single day." Commented Kayleen that night. We had decided to make camp on a hill near the road, since no one wanted to stay on the road and we agreed that a position where we could see enemy approach was the best. Karliah even managed to light a fire in a way that wasn't immediately visible. Or, she placed the logs and I lit them. The advantage of having magic.

"Indeed." Commented Karliha. "Those…"

"Nightmare Coursers." I supplied, taking a bite of the rabbit we had caught before.

"Well, those things were pretty fast and don't tire like normal horses." Continued the Dunmer. "Even then, I think your Sleipnir would have made them eat dust if he really wanted."

I shrugged. I left Sleipnir run free after we had made camp because he, in fact, was not satisfied with the travel and wanted to run some more. Since when he ran away he produced a literal windstorm, I was inclined to agree. "He's a spirit of air, Karliah. Nothing can run as fast and as far as the wind."

Kayleen nodded at that. Uh, right, Redguards used magic of 'sand and wind', so it was something she probably had experience with.

Speaking of Kayleen. "You're a pretty weird mage." Commented the woman. "You're not what I expected you to be."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I replied, eating another bite of the rabbit.

"It wasn't really a compliment or an insult." She replied. "It's just that seeing a Nord mage-"

"I'm Breton." I interrupted her, gesticulating with my free hand. "Born and raised in Cyrodiil, but Breton."

"Oh." Blinked Kayleen. "That explains a lot. But… why the armor?"

"I like to feel safe."

"You don't trust your magic?" Asked Karliah, surprised.

"I don't trust my ability to use it fast enough to stop a blade wielded by any half-decent swordsman, or an arrow." I replied, shrugging. "Maybe I'm wrong. But I prefer to be safe than to be dead."

The discussion died a little, until the dinner was over and we prepared to go to sleep. I volunteered for the first guard. I could sleep later.

Of course, that didn't stop Karliah to ruin that.

"Can't sleep?" I asked at the Dunmer when she stood up a little.

"I think I saw a light." She said. Frowning, I looked where she was facing and…

For a second, I saw a little light move, something like several miles away.

"What the hell?" I asked, confused. "Is someone making a big bonfire?"

"I don't think so." Replied Karliah, serious. "It seemed like it moved."

It could be anything. Better be sure. "Can you take the guard? I'll go to see what is causing it."

She sent me a dubious look. "Now? It's late and they're far away, Loki. They probably didn't even see us. Besides, you can't travel now, with the dark."

"Maybe they didn't see us." I agreed. "But I prefer to be sure. Besides…" I smirked. "Who said anything about traveling?"

I closed my eyes before she could answer and focused my mind. Half a second later, I found what I wanted: an owl perched on a branch not that far away.

A quick pulse of magic later, and I controlled and saw with the eyes of the owl.

Mmm… I would need to find a trained animal for that. The cost of using this spell was enormously higher since I had to directly control the animal. If I could just order an animal to go watch and just see through its eyes, it would be better.

Of course, I could do it with Fenrir, but Fenrir already had a bad time trying to not lose the horses and had collapsed near the fire the moment I finished giving him his dinner, so that was out.

"Hum… Loki?" I heard a voice calling me, and saw Karliah standing near me, her hand raised to shook me.

With a stray thought, I made the owl descend and land on my shoulder. I felt absolutely nothing of that.

Karliah blinked at the animal. "Uuuh… it's that your work?"

"Uh-hu!" I replied, hoping that she got that two was a yes. It was what I used with Fenrir and I explained that, so it wasn't that far-fetched.

Fortunately, she got it. "I see. That's… convenient."

Of course it was, lady. You thought I was going to waste an entire winter learning magic if it wasn't the best way to cheat the shit out of everything? I was going to grasp every fucking advantage I could.

Since I couldn't tell her to stay there until I recovered, I simply made my little 'friend' take the sky and see what we were looking at. It took several minutes, but in the end, he landed on a branch not too distant from the fire.

By the look of it, it was a hunter camp. Most of the people there were already sleeping or on guard duty. Nothing to worry about.

I returned to my senses and looked at the Dunmwer waiting at my side. "Hunter camp. Nothing to worry about."

She nodded and returned to sleep.

We passed a couple of days like this. Sometimes, I also went for a little deviation, just to place a Mark on a place that could be willful to return later, like the cave where I was pretty sure there was the White Phial. And the White Phial was a huge bonus. Infinite stocks of whatever potion or poison I put inside? I couldn't ask for something better. Sure, there were other artifacts I could use, but nothing beat having an infinite amount of something.

Like, with Azura's Star, I could have an infinite amount of White Souls to use for Enchanting and the only limit was the charges on my weapon.

…

Or was it? There was a weapon in Elder Scrolls lore that could avoid that. Umbra, one of the two deadric artifacts that I could be granted by Clavicus Vile.

Or maybe not. From what I remembered about it, the last time someone had seen the blade was when she somehow gained a mind on her own, slashed her way out of Clavicus Vile realm -a feat that basically required the weapon to cut Clavicus himself- and caused a huge mess by possessing a guy -or manifesting as a spirit, I don't remember- on a flying city and trying to destroy Nirn with an Undead horde. Or something like that, anyway. She was defeated and returned to Clavicus, I think… and I wasn't sure he wanted to be separated from the weapon now or never.

Still, Umbra would have been an incredibly useful tool. I had completely forgotten it was a thing because it doesn't appear in Skyrim, but it was my favorite weapon in Oblivion, since she had the stats of a daedric sword, but better, and a built-in Soultrap effect. Of course the game made her recharge, because if not it would have been too broken, but I was pretty sure that the lore said she didn't need to recharge.

Wait, wasn't the sword destroyed in a book? Unfortunately, I didn't exactly read the books. I just vaguely remember that it was destroyed something like a hundred years before the events of Skyrim. Or, if not destroyed, recovered by Clavicus Vile and never used again. But then again, there was Creator Kit that placed Umbra in Skyrim… but that was of dubious canonicity.

Mmmm… now that I think about it I think I remember the sword having a will of her own and trying to influence her host and control him, so maybe it was not a good idea to use it.

Well, I'll question Barbas if I find him. Which means, of course, if I ever decide to go near Falkreath. Which I wasn't keen on. If I remembered correctly, most of the region around the city was full of monsters, werewolves in particular. Not exactly the best place for a party, to say the least.

Anyway, while we were traveling, a problem showed up. Namely, that I had completely forgotten how the road went. That was because, when I played Skyrim, I never bothered to follow the road. Yes, maybe they were bandits and monsters and shit in the wilds, but who cared? The fastest method to travel was to cut straight through the wilds to arrive at the destination. If there were a mountain range in the middle, whatever. Thanks to questionable engine physics, you could climb a mountain as fast as you could run.

That was not the case for real-life Skyrim. Sleipnir, for all his amazing powers, couldn't climb mountains… unless he could fly, but I wasn't sure he could. What's more, the Nightmares absolutely couldn't climb nor fly, and while the consequences of one of them breaking a leg on difficult terrain were more annoyance and magicka burned to summon another than anything serious, it could still slow us down. Furthermore, I didn't have an instant easy map with location marks to navigate the wilds, so taking a direction and following it was, at best, risky, at worst, suicide. So we stuck to the roads. It was safer and faster that way.

Of course, that means we had to pass near Windhelm, even if we managed to avoid entering the city. And, when we finally found a crossroad, I found that Riften was more or less at the same distance of Whiterun.

That's what I got for going with memory instead of actually looking at the map.

"Well, it seems like I was wrong about the distance." I said, looking at the cartels on the crossroad. "It's better for you if you go directly at Riften. No sense triple the distance you have to travel just to meet my friend at Whiterun."

"Yes, I think it's better too." Admitted Karliah. "Thanks for the company and the steeds, I think. We managed to cut the time travel considerably."

"You're welcome." I said. "But it's better if you find other steeds. I'm going to dismiss those two when I go to sleep, and I can't summon them again for you if I'm not near. To tell the truth, I doubt I will anyway. Without your company, I don't feel safe enough to do so."

"What do you mean?" Asked Kayleen, how was mostly ignorant of the finer detail of Conjuration.

"Controlling those things require concentration." I explained. "It's not an easy task. With you two near, I feel confident that I can focus on maintaining control on the Nightmares while you can manage a fight. But if there is only me and Fenrir… I will need every ounce of concentration if I find myself in a fight."

"I see." Commented on the Redguard.

"Then we'll find a substitute." Commented Karliah. "We can just pass the night in a village and buy some horses there. Thank you again."

"My pleasure." I replied with a smirk. "Kick Mercer's ass for me too, ok?"

The two women smiled. "Of course. Goodbye, Loki the Mage."

"Farewell." I replied, before directing Sleipnir to Whiterun. "Ah!"

My steed darted away, faster than ever before, and in doing so, I completely abandoned the College questline for the time begin, and its -relative- safety. Now started the risky part.

Such joy.

Intelude: Nightingales

Kayleen watched the Breton mage ride toward Whiterun with his deadric steed, faster than most horses could, with his gigantic wolf companion close behind. They were both magnificent beasts. Too bad the horse was also a creature of the Oblivion.

"What a strange man." She murmured.

"I know." Replied Karliah. The Redguard gasped a little: she didn't intend her to hear that. "But that's to be expected. He's a powerful mage: most don't arrive at his point without being a little strange. And the Elder Scroll probably didn't help."

"Do you really believe that he read an Elder Scroll?" Asked the thief. That part of his story always sounded weird to her.

"I share your thoughts on that, Kayleen, but there is no other explanation. He knew of my plan and also knew there was going to be someone else with Mercer. Or at least, he spoke like he expected there was someone, but couldn't be sure."

"How can he know the future but not being sure?"

"Apparently, the future is not written in stone." Replied the Dunmer, while directing her hellish mount on the road to Riften. "Enthir told me he talked like some parts of the future are pre-determined, but most of what happened between those points wasn't. Even then, he still knew various possibilities. I suppose the Elder Scroll has shown him various possible futures, and he's doing what he can to make the one he wants to happen."

"Or he could be crazy." Commented on the Redguard.

The Nightingale shrugged, not exactly dismissing her point. "Or he could be crazy, yes. But if he's crazy, he's the most lucid madman I've ever seen. He has a vicious intellect."

Kayleen had to agree on that. It was kind of jarring how much he was able to leverage his knowledge. He certainly didn't lack imagination.

"I'm surprised, though. I didn't think you would dislike him so much." Commented Karliah, making the Redguard turn to her. "Despite his strangeness, he is a pretty nice person."

"I don't dislike him." Denied the woman, defensively. "It's just… I found the way he looks at me disturbing."

"Well, you are a pretty attractive woman…"

"No, you misunderstand. He always has this little shade of loss and sorrow in his eyes when he looks at me. He's good at hiding it, but I can see it. It's unnerving."

Karliah didn't say anything for a while. "Well, he did say you reminded him of someone. A loved one, probably. Maybe his lover?"

She blinked, suddenly putting together all the pieces. "Oh." She whispered. "Yes, that would explain it. Do you think something happened to her?"

Karliah shook her head. "I asked Enthir for information when he healed you. From what he gathered, he talked about a family he has to return to, but he never mentioned something bad happening to them. He's just homesick, probably."

"But why doesn't he return to them, if he misses them so much?"

"Maybe he can't. Or maybe he has something to do." Replied Karliah. "He knows the future. Or at least, knows enough. Maybe he just wants to be sure the future goes well."

"Seems too much altruistic for him."

"It doesn't have to be altruistic. If him not acting causes enough problems to affect him or his family, that could be enough motivation to make him act." Karliah paused for a second. "Besides, I think he just likes being powerful. Do you notice all the times he used his magic to do a simple action, like lit the fires? He enjoys using his magic for something. Maybe that's another piece of the puzzle."

Kayleen remained silent for a while, thinking.

"I still think you dislike him." Continued the Dunmer after a while.

"I don't." Protested the woman. "Not really."

"You seem awfully ready to believe the worst of him. Why is that?"

Kayleen remained silent. "I don't like mages."

Karliah blinked, surprised. "Excuse me? You use magic. You're a pretty good Illusionist too."

"That's different." Protested Kayleen, her voice tensing. "I don't fight using magic. And I don't use Illusions to confuse the mind, nor do I summon deadra to do my job. I just use what I have to to get the job done without risking being caught."

Karliah remained silent for a while. "I knew that Redguard usually don't like the 'cowardly arts', as you call them, but I thought that you, being a thief, wouldn't care about that."

"Just because I'm a thief it doesn't mean I'm without honor." Bitterly replied Kayleen. "And being a thief was not my first choice either."

"Then you should have gone with him to the Companions." Replied Karliah. "You're a good blade and he has a friend there. Besides, I don't think you should judge him for the time we passed together. Enthir told me stories about him being extremely talented with Destruction magic. There are voices of him killing droves of draugr with a blade in his hand and a fire spell in the other. Or so his companions tell." Another pause. "Just because he summoned some deadra to make it easier for us to travel to Riften doesn't mean he can't fight. I mean, he's big, muscled and always goes around with armor that I'm pretty sure he looted from an old Nordic tomb. Maybe he's not the best warrior of Skyrim, but I'm sure he can fight."

Kayleen looked away, unsure of what to reply.

"And he's a Tongue too."

The Redguard looked at her companion, shocked. "What?"

"He's a Tongue. You know, the people who can use the Thu'um. You can't have lived in Skyrim for long without having heard of them."

"I know what a Tongue is!" Replied Kayleen. "But I thought that the only Tongues were the Greybeards."

"Well, yes." Replied the Nightingale. "But Ulfric Stormcloack apparently can use the Voice, so it's not so strange that there are other people that can. Maybe Loki started to study with the Greybeards but he was forced to leave for some reason. He didn't explain how he gained that power, but he Shouted one of the College's Mistress to gain access."

Kayleen didn't talk for a while. "The more you talk about him, the stranger he gets."

The Dunmer released a quiet chuckle. "I suppose that's true. But at least he's on our side."

"Why is he on our side again?"

"He doesn't like Mercer." Shrugged Karliah. "Or that's what he said to Enthir."

"I don't think he knows Mercer enough to not like him."

"Doesn't he? He knows all the story behind Mercer. Maybe he just doesn't like traitorous murderers in general."

Another silence.

"I think." Continued Karliah, cautiously. "That you really want to dislike him, but you can't find a reason to. But we can discuss this later. While I like to talk with you, it's better to cover as much distance as we can before these Nightmares disappear."

Kayleen nodded and prompted her steed to run.

-X-

The day after, Kayleen had to admit that those Nightmares were useful. They bought a couple of horses in a village along the road when their steeds had finally disappeared and didn't return, but they lacked both the speed and the endurance of the daedric mounts. They managed to cover a good part of the distance between them and Riften with the hellish horses: now they were proceeding at a significantly slower pace. What could have been a three-day journey was threatening to become far longer.

"I miss those horses." Freely admitted Karliah. "They were fast and resilient, and warm too."

The Redguard nodded. The flaming horses were deliciously warm in the cold days of Skyrim. Especially when they were running and continued to huff really hot air. It helped fight the cold wind.

"It's almost a shame we'll have to move as soon as we convince the Guild of Mercer's betrayal." Commented Karliah. "I would like to ask him more about our mission. I'm sure he'll know what we have to expect."

"Why you didn't do that while we were travelling together?" Asked Kayleen, curious.

"That's a good question." Admitted the Dunmer. "I suppose I was wary of him at the start. I'm still a little wary."

"I thought you liked him. Didn't you pass a lot of time yesterday to explain why he's a good man?"

"I do like him, but I still don't know him that well." Explained the Dunmer. "Besides, I was trying to stop you from disliking him for no reason. He's not bad and he could be useful."

"He knows a lot." Admitted Kayleen.

"It's more than that." Replied Karliah. "He's also a mage and a powerful one. He also seems willing to work with us. Never underestimate the value of someone that can create enchanted items or potions, Kayleen. They can save your life."

Kayleen didn't say anything.

"You really don't like mages." Commented Karliah.

"No, I don't." Admitted the Redguard. "I understand what you're saying, I really do. And you're right that Loki is not that bad as a person, but… I always have the impression that everything he does has a second meaning."

"Yes, I understand what you mean." Agreed her companion. "And who knows? Maybe you're right. Maybe he decided to help us because doing so helps him in the long run, or because he wants us to owe him a favor. But is it really that bad?"

"It feels like he's using us."

"Didn't we use him too?" Asked Karliah. "Mutual beneficial relationship is the base of society."

"Yes, but when we use him, we're straightforward." Replied the Redguard woman. "We needed him to heal me. We needed him to travel fast. What does he want?"

Karliah didn't reply immediately. "I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

"You think he's going to tell me the truth?"

"You will never know until you ask, I suppose." She patted her companion shoulder. "You don't have to be his friend or even like him. Just don't antagonize him before knowing him better."

"I wasn't keen to antagonize a powerful mage anyway." Rebutted Kayleen. "I'm not stupid."

"Good to know. Maybe, the next time we meet him, you could ask him about the person you remind him of. Maybe you'll understand him better when you do."

The woman nodded. Truth be told, she had been curious about how she reminded him of for a while. But she had preferred to not ask.

"Maybe I will. Or maybe I'll ask for his help. If he's a Tongue…"

Karliah sent her a curious gaze. "What do you need a Tongue for? Admittedly, I don't know a lot about Tongues, but I doubt there are things he can do with his Shout but not with his magic."

"Maybe there is something." Explained the Redguard. "Do you know what a Swordsinger is?"

"No, not really."

"It's an ancient art of my people that was lost also called the Way of the Sword. It's… it's difficult to explain, but it basically comes down to become one with the blade."

"And how a Tongue is going to help with that?"

"The best practitioner of the Way of the Sword could summon a mystical blade called Shehai, or Spirit Sword. We called them Ansei, or Sword Saint. But nobody has ever been able to summon a Shehai since the Second Era."

"Are you sure that these Spirit Swords are not a myth?"

"The Ansei Ward still protects the dead of Hammerfell from the power of necromancy." Replied the woman. "I believe they're real, yes. And my father did too. But he wasn't able to summon one."

"And you want a Tongue to help you?"

"The power of the Ansei had nothing to do with magic." Explained Kayleen. "That's why the Ansei Wards still works even all this time, and no mage was able to dispel them. So, if it was not magic, what other power it could be?"

Karliah eyes widened. "The power of the Voice? I thought that it was a Nordic tradition."

"It is, but there is also more. The Dwemer used something that now it's called Tonal Architecture to build their monsters of metal. Nords use the Voice to literally Shout things in reality. And my ancestor created the Way of the Sword, and they called it Sword-Singing." Kayleen paused. "There is a pattern. Something that lets sounds and words acquire power. I don't know if what lets the Tongues Shout was the same power my ancestors used to create their Shehai, but I want to find out."

"That's quite the ambition." Nodded Karliah. "But you said the art was lost."

"It is." Admitted Kayleen. "But the teaching of the Way of the Sword still lives. The Way was as much a spiritual path as a martial one. Nobody in centuries has been able to summon a Shehai, but that was the highest of achievements. Most of the practitioners used mundane sword techniques, even if most of my people don't bother learning them anymore."

"But you did." Commented Karliah, understanding. "And you hope that, with the help of someone that knows more about this mysterious power you talk about, you can do something nobody has done in hundreds of years."

Kayleen nodded.

"Well, Loki seems a good place to start." Admitted Karliah. "But don't put too much faith in him. He's knowledgeable, but I doubt he can teach you that much. It's your lost legacy, not his."

"I know. But I have to try."

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.1

Sleipnir was having a blast running full speed on the road of Skyrim. Fenrir, less so, but the wolf managed to keep up by transforming in his feral wolf state that reminded me of one of the five transformations of Garou in Werewolf the Apocalypse, even if I completely forgot the name. The big savage wolf form as big as a car.

Anyway, in that form, Fenrir was actually as fast as Sleipnir, if not as tireless. He probably avoided it until now because of witnesses, and Kayleen didn't trust me already.

I had to admit I was a little sad that the only person in this place that reminded me of my home didn't like me, but I was going to shrug it. She was not my girlfriend and, all in all, if she never wanted to see me again I was cool. Remembering home was great… but painful.

Anyway, it was starting to darken and we needed to find a spot to hid- I mean, pass the night. Unfortunately, Sleipnir was so fast that we already were in the part of the road that passed through a very narrow canyon with steep cliffs. No space to camp.

That was, until I saw a bridge that crossed the canyon. An old Nordic structure, strangely familiar. I also saw a fire near the entrance, and someone cooking.

Why this place was so familiar? I reviewed my memories of Skyrim to find a match. Bridge on the canyon, it ended near another cliff, but there was a pathway that climbed on the side of the cliff to…

Fellglow Keep.

It all came back to me in a rush. The old abandoned fort with Fire Atronachs on the watch. The mages inside. The three books I was supposed to recover. That was the next Quest of the College of Winterhold. And I happened to pass near it completely by accident.

Well, while I was there, I could do it. Maybe I could even manage to talk to the inhabitants of the fort instead of killing them. Maybe in real life they were more reasonable. Their boss was.

But first I had to traverse the canyon and the bridge was the only way, unless I wanted to waste an entire day by traversing all the canyon and then turn back. And the bridge was, unfortunately, owned by bandits.

Well, maybe I could diplomance my way there too. If I remember correctly, they were mining iron on the side of the cliff. I could offer them the book of Transmutation in exchange for the passage.

…

Yeah, I didn't believe that they were going to listen to me. Bandits had the habit of assaulting first and asking questions never. Still, worth a try.

Of course, the moment the bandit heard me approaching -Sleipnir was not subtle at all- she turned and gave the alarm.

Great.

Instantly understanding what was happening, Fenrir jumped forward and intercepted the woman, a Redguard in fur armor and armed with a straight sword, locking her in a furious vortex of claws and teeth. She had no chance.

Of course, that meant that, when one of her companions looked at the woman being mauled by a giant wolf, he immediately locked the door of the fort. I didn't expect that from an orc, but whatever.

"Can I kill these mortals?" Asked Sleipnir with his mental voice.

"As a general rule, if they attack me or Fenrir first, they're fair game."

"Not me?"

"You're a deadra, Sleipnir. Not everyone is happy to have a deadra running near their home. If they attack you and I'm not near, run or return to your home."

"Acceptable." Affirmed the Atronach.

All of that required something like half a second. Meanwhile, the bandits started to move, and with the door locked and not having the time to destroy it, I opted for another way.

"Ah!" I exclaimed, aiming directly to the bridge. Sleipnir understood immediately and jumped.

Now, the bridge was three or four meters higher than the ground and several more in distance. It was a jump no one horse could make. I had seen NPCs in ESO doing jumps like those pretty easily but I was no warrior.

Sleipnir wasn't either. He was an Air Atronach, and for him, that distance was all but a joke.

The immense horse flew in the air with the grace of a swan, covering the distance with trivial ease. The orc that slammed the door shut emerged from the doorframe and tried to charge Sleipnir, but he double kicked him in the chest and that was the end of him. You didn't survive a kick from a deadric horse that could give giants a run for their money.

With that, the bandits on this side were done. Now I just needed to worry about the ones on the other side of the bridge, including the bandit chie-

Something planted itself on my shoulder, managing to hit one of the gaps of my armor and lodging itself on my flesh. Fortunately, my shoulder was not a particularly sensitive spot, so the pain didn't paralyze me as it could have.

Turning, I saw another bandit, an archer this time, readying another arrow.

Without thinking, I smashed a lightning bolt in his face and he disintegrated with a last, trunked cry. Then, grunting, I grabbed the arrow and pulled it out.

Normally, I would never do anything like that. I was no doctor and I knew that removing something was usually a bad idea. But, well, Restoration magic. I actually started to heal the wound even before removing the arrow, in the hopes it didn't hurt that much.

I was not granted my wish.

My shoulder exploded with pain when I removed the arrow, so much so that I doubled Sleipnir's back from it. But my healing spell was already working to remove the damage and, after a second or two, the pain passed and I was all good.

Just angry because they shot me.

So, when I saw the bandits take position in the middle of the bridge, I wasn't really keen on letting them go scot-free.

"Sleipnir!" I shouted, convening the rest of my plan to him with a thought.

The Atronach got it instantly and reared on his hind legs, and a sudden wind started to blow in the canyon.

Now, wind magic was not something I was really good at. They didn't teach them at the College and the only wind spell you could get your hands on in the game was the Whirlwind Cloak spell that you got from the Dunmer mage in Solstheim. And some Shout if you wanted to count them as magic.

But I knew it was possible, and, as such, I did some research. Wind manipulation, of course, was not a Destruction spell but an Alteration one, because you were altering something already existing instead of generating or removing energy of various kind. I didn't study the subject enough to actually create a whirlwind of any kind.

I still fully intended to learn both Wind and Earth magic, because they were powerful elements that could always be useful. Water magic was not exactly on my list, but I could make an effort. I wanted to make a very good Avatar impression. It was not going to be easy if I didn't find a teacher, but I will manage.

Sleipnir, the Air Atronach, had no such limitation. And, with a little help on his part, actually creating a spell that resembled the tornado Shout was easy.

That had the double utility of not getting myself in melee range with a group of bandits, and also sparing me the gruesome sight of battered bodies. I didn't have to kill them: gravity would do the work for me.

Still, I didn't follow their bodies falling down for thirty meters into a fast and rocky river. I didn't need that sight. I just looked forward and tried to ignore everything else.

After several seconds of nothing, I finally decided to look down, trying to see if someone survived. Mercifully, I didn't see any bodies. They either died on the spot or were dragged away by the stream.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. It was already over. Good. I… I really wasn't made for this. I was not a fighter.

I was going to become one, unfortunately. Skyrim was full of dangers. I could take a lot or a little time, but at a certain point, I would get used to this.

Sighing, I told Sleipnir that, for today, his services were not required anymore. If he wanted to run a little, he could, but I was going to stop here.

He graciously took my offer and, when I dismounted, he ran away, easily jumping over the cliff and disappearing over some rocks.

As he did, I opened the door and let Fenrir enter. I purposely refused to look at the torn remains of the Redguard woman and closed the door behind my wolf companion as fast as I could. He sent me an odd look.

"Sorry." I explained. "First time killing humans. I… I don't feel well."

Fenrir tilted his head in confusion but didn't say anything. I decided against remaining on this particular part of the bridge and put my temporary camp inside the other one, which, at least, was furnished with some basic tables and beds. It was also relatively warm and comfortable.

Which did basically nothing to stop me from shaking the entire time. Despite the fact that I didn't kill them personally, despite the fact that I used the most impersonal way possible to kill someone that didn't require sending an assassin, I was still shaken. It was my first kill. I was not proud of it. Sure, they attacked me and so I was technically defending myself, but… the archers last cry continued to loop in my head. It was by far the least painful death I could possibly deliver: disintegrated by a lightning bolt. Too fast to completely realize what was happening before getting killed, so his cry was more of a surprise than actual pain, but…

Fenrir tapped my arm with his head, distracting me from my loop of negativity. I scratched his head. "Thank you, buddy. I know that you probably can't understand, but humans normally don't kill other humans." I paused a little. "Ok, that's not true. Humans shouldn't kill other humans. I did, because they were attacking me, but I don't have to like it, and… I wish I didn't have to."

The wolf whined a little and scratched his muzzle on my armor. He was confused, of course, so I had to explain myself better.

"See, where I come from, humans consider themselves all part of the same pack. Or they should, but someone doesn't for some reason." I sighed. "And… we have this stupid thing called empathy that screws us when we kill someone else. It's not a good sensation."

His confusion partially placated, the wolf rested his head on my legs and remained there. I scratched him absentmindedly.

"I'll be ok." I said, more to myself than to him. "I just need time."

He rubbed me again and I smiled.

God blessed him. He was one of the only things that kept me sane in all of this. That, and maybe my memories of home. But unfortunately, just maybe. It all depended on how long I could continue to use them without nostalgia to take it price.

-X-

The day after, I called Sleipnir again and I marched toward Fellglow Keep. Thanks to Clairvoyance, I could make the path pretty easily, and Sleipnir was absurdly tough for a horse: he could pass on terrains that would have been impossible for a normal horse, at least without breaking a leg. But supernatural endurance made it very difficult to hurt Sleipnir. Actually, I think he's basically immune to non-magical weapons.

It took a while, but we finally reached Fellglow Keep in all its… ruined glory, I guess. The place must have been pretty impressive when it wasn't a ruin, but now most of the external towers or walls -I have no idea what they were supposed to be- were down and not really helping to defend the place.

I briefly debated to myself if it was the case to greet the mages outside the fort still on Sleipnir. On one hand, normal people were scared by Atronachs. On the other hand, those people were demonologists and necromancers, so maybe they would look favorably at the presence of a powerful elemental daedra. That's not taking into consideration that, maybe, Sleipnir could help me defeat them if they turned out to be hostile… like they probably were, considering that they obtained the books I was searching by imprisoning the mage that stole them.

I kind of hoped to not come to that.

And I kind of hoped they attacked me first. That… was strange. I was not, normally, someone who likes fighting. Sure, I liked challenges, but only when nobody could get hurt. I enjoyed difficult games, for example. But I wasn't keen on fighting other people just for the heck of it.

Still… I had a similar reaction the day before, didn't I? When the fight exploded and the possibility of peaceful resolution evaporated, my mind went into auto-pilot and I started to fight without hesitation. Sure, after the fight I had to calm down a little, but when the fight started, I didn't stop to consider a non-lethal way to put the bandit down. Maybe because I wasn't sure I could defeat them in a non-lethal way. Most of my spells weren't geared toward takedowns, and the ones that were usually didn't last enough to let me safely incapacitate my enemies. Maybe I could have done something with a fear spell, but… I dunno. I just blasted them on instinct.

Maybe it was a simple matter of trying. The only things I had fought until now were animals, monsters, or Undead. Not enemies that I would wish to spare or that I had a reason to spare.

Or maybe it was the dragon soul inside me. That desire for domination and power that was intrinsic on the very nature of the Dovah was finally seeping into my usual behavior?

Or maybe it was just the fact that I had power. Power corrupts, didn't it? Was the intrinsic nature of the Dovah, or was it the natural reaction of someone that held great power and was willing to use it?

Or maybe I just subconsciously realized that leaving the bandits alive was just a wasted effort. There were no prisons in Skyrim… well, not for bandits, anyway. If the guards of the Hold or a group of adventurers hired by the Jarl were to find them, there would be no trial. They were to be killed on the spot. Leaving them on the run in the wilds was, at best, a death sentence for them, and at worst, the death of innocent people.

These mages were the same. They were deadra summoners -and that wasn't inherently bad- and necromancers -and that still wasn't inherently bad either, despite what people thought- but they did sort of leave the College to study what they wanted, meaning that it was probably too far even for the fairly relaxed attitude of the College. That they imprisoned the guy that stole the books for… probably not a good reason, didn't speak in their favor.

Maybe it was just a rationalization. But it gave me a little peace of mind. If they attacked me… well, I was going to respond, probably lethally. I didn't have the means of safely detain a large group of mages for any meaningful length of time. As much as I would love to take them to a Jarl so they could be legally executed… I didn't have the power to do so.

But hey, let's not start this with negativity. Maybe I would manage to collect those books without bloodshed. You have to be optimistic, right?

…

I still placed a magic armor spell on myself and told Fenrir to hide just in case. It was a thing to be optimistic, it was another to be stupid.

So, carefully evading the Fire Atronachs because I couldn't try to diplomance them, I made my way toward a couple of mages near the entrance of the fort.

"Greetings, fellow mages!" I said the moment they turned toward me. "I'm here to-"

I couldn't finish the phrase because an ice spear hit me on the shoulder. But, between innate magic resistance, armor made by old Nords and a bit of magical protection, he did absolutely nothing.

"Well, that was unnecessary." I replied. "Fo. Kra. Diin!"

The power of the Thu'um erupted from my mouth in the form of an icy whirlwind that instantly covered both the mages and the ground in ice, and while they didn't die immediately, they fell on their knees for the sudden cold. I remembered that there was at least another of them near and at least two Fire Atronach, so the battle was long to be ended, but…

"We don't have to do this." I tried again. "I just want to talk with your boss."

Their answer was a couple of lightning bolts. Who failed to do any damage, since they apparently were trying to preserve their magicka instead of fighting at full power.

I answered by slamming them with my sort-of-Unrelenting Force-spell, basically a shockwave of pure magical energy, the first spell I ever created by myself. They were flung away and didn't stand anymore.

"I leave the other mage and the Atronachs to you." I said pretty loudly, dismounting from Sleipnir. "Give them hell."

Sleipnir emitted a snort and charged the closest Fire Atronach. I, on the other hand, entered inside the fort… from the dungeon of course, since the door was locked by some powerful magic.

Oh well. Whatever.

-X-

Turns out, while I was a terrible warrior, I was, indeed, a terrifying mage-killer. Innately high resistance to magic coupled with increased protection from spells and a good, but not exceptional, armor to face eventual conjured enemies made me the worst nightmare of every mage.

Or so I gathered when I casually defeated an ice mage with some skeevers. He was powerless in front of my apparently superb magic defense and his little pets couldn't pierce my armor, and I had little difficulty in incinerating them. I ignored the possibility of harvesting something useful from the animals, preferring to just take everything that looked useful from the various barrels and another furnishing. Mostly alchemical ingredients, potions, various loot and food. I left behind various weapons and pieces of iron armor, since I didn't actually care for them and I couldn't use them at all. But I took a nice looking shield of a gold-ish material I supposed was Moonstone, but I will check that later. I still had to find a decent shield in all of this since most draugr didn't bother to use them and they were of low quality anyway. And since I learned to avoid using hands to cast my spell, an extra shield was always welcome.

I continued, trying to be as silent as possible and not make too much noise. After avoiding a couple of traps, including a shock Rune, I peeked over a corner to see what there was in the next area.

I was greeted by the sight of three different cages containing a vampire each, and a mage sitting on a table.

I remembered this part. I could either kill the vampires with magic or free them so they were going to attack the mages near. After having silently taken down the mage. That, of course, in the game. Right now, attacking the mage was just going to alarm the other mages and, while I went pretty well in 2v1 before, it was dubious that I could do the same again. Or, at least, I didn't want to force a fight with three mages with unknown abilities. They could possibly send deadra or undead in my way and, while my magic defense was good, if a simple arrow could hurt me, I didn't fancy my ability to fight a big Atronach.

But fortunately, I had a way to avoid confrontation with the mage inside the room.

Namely, I just used Telekinesis to activate the levers on the other side of the room without moving from my position.

"What in the Oblivion…"

The mage didn't finish the phrase. The moment he heard the lever move, the cages opened and the vampire attacked.

I didn't need to watch to understand what happened next. The vampires jumped on the mage and he was dead a second after. Then, the real battle started.

This time, I cast an Invisibility spell on myself while they fought and waited for one group to win. If I remembered right, the vampires usually won this battle.

And they did. Not without loss. While much faster than the mages, the vampires were kept at bay by the powerful defenses the mages managed to put up. Fires and Atronachs filled the room, but in the end, the vampires overwhelmed the defenses and reached the squishy mages. They didn't last long once they grabbed them, but in all of that, one of the vampires was killed and the other two were in bad condition. They probably would have recovered given time.

But I didn't want to risk letting them free after I saw what they were capable of. Maybe they were good vampires… but probably not.

"I'm sorry." I murmured, before releasing a light sphere on them.

The sphere exploded like a fireball, doing more or less the same damage to everything in the room… just worse for the vampires. The light consumed them before they could react and they became dust.

With a last, regretful glance at the cinders of the vampires, I continued. Not without taking all that could be useful, of course.

The next enemy was a random mage that was walking around a bonfire. Thanks the gods I practiced stealth with the draugr and my armor wasn't that heavy, or I couldn't even sneak properly. As it was right now, I could at least be reasonably sure the mage didn't hear me from a corridor away.

But how to take him down? I didn't remember if there were more guards after him and it could cause quite a comm-

Oh, I was an idiot, right?

I cast a Silence spell on the mage. He didn't even acknowledge the fact until he turned on me the moment I get out of my cover with my sword in my hand. He tried to cast a spell just to discover, with horror, that he couldn't cast anything.

Three quick strikes later, and he was dead. He didn't even try to defend properly. He wasn't capable, probably. That's why you should always go with a little combat training. You never know when you will not be able to use magic.

Vaguely nauseous, but not as much as I thought -it probably depended by the fact that I found several corpses that were clearly experimented on, so my empathy for those fuckers was rapidly disappearing- I grabbed everything that I could use, including an interesting pair of boots, cleaned my sword from the blood, and the proceeded. Finding a guy in a cell.

"Hello." I said, catching him off guard. "You're the dumb fuck who decided to join a group of necromancers was a good idea, right?"

"Yes! Well, in a sense…" Replied the Altmer. "I… just wanted to expand my knowledge of magic, and the College didn't let me. I thought that coming here-"

"Spare me the details." I cut him off, not in the mood for excuses. "And wait here. I'll free you after I've recovered the book you stole and take care of all these freaks."

"No, don't leave me here. Ple-"

"I said I'm going to save you!" I shouted, my patience rapidly exhausted. "But it's full of dangerous mages here and I don't have the time to look out for you. I'll return when I'm done with them. That's final!"

The Altmer gulped and calmed down. "But what will happen to me if you can't defeat the Caller?" He said, returning to his cot.

"The Caller is not going to defeat me, trust me. I have my methods to resist her."

"Ok… I'll wait here for you. Thank you." He finally said.

Grunting, I silently continued to search for eventual survivors. I found three mages in a room, throwing spells at some targets. One of the targets was a dead vampire in a cage.

The more I stayed here, the less I liked those mages. Sure, vampires were unholy predators, but they deserved at least a minimum of decency. If you had to kill them, at least kill them quickly. Don't blast them for sport, and don't use the corpse as target practice.

I vaguely entertained the idea of using a Frenzy spell on them, but I dismissed it. Frenzy spells were mental manipulations so, on top of not working on certain creatures like the Undead, the daedra and constructs in general, they also could be resisted by sufficient willpower. And, since willpower was something mages needed to bend magicka for cast spell, that meant that mages were, usually, far better at avoiding those kinds of spells. I could probably do it regardless, but Illusion spells were costly, especially area of effect ones, so I would find myself drained.

Illusion was great to avoid problems and reach your objective without fighting, but only when your objective wasn't to wipe out an entire fort. For those situations, Destruction was king. And Alteration was queen, because defenses. And Restoration for buffs and heals, I suppose. After all, Destruction and Alteration were the basic schools of every Battlemage and Restoration was probably the most practiced by every non-combat mage around.

And since I saw no way to instakill even one of the mages -sneak attacks weren't instakill like in the game-, I didn't even try. I just re-applied my magic protection and started the fight with a bang. Or, more specifically, and Adept level lighting ball. I would have used fire, but fireballs had the bad habit of being too loud, while lighting balls were as loud as any other lighting spell.

The result was spectacular and deadly. Two of the mages, the ones that were practicing, instantly died from the power of the spell. The other one, probably more experienced, managed to survive the initial blast.

Then I arrived and blasted his head with a firebolt.

Somehow, the fucker managed to raise a ward in time for block the first firebolt. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough to intercept the second one, that caught him right in the chest, at heart's height. He dropped down dead, his clothes burned.

Quickly turning around to avoid the smell of burned flesh, I proceeded, exploring carefully to be sure I was not assaulted by random mages when I had the pants down. Sure, my magic resistance was top-notch, but it was a spell that needed to be recharged. I could have maintained it instead of recasting it, but it would burn my magicka quickly and I didn't remember how many mages there were there. Better be parsimonious. It took at least an hour of rest to recover any meaningful quantity of magicka, and I didn't want to stay here more than necessary.

It took me twenty minutes to finally clear Fellglow Keep. The list of enemies included four necromancers, a dozen or so of skeletons, and a Fire Atronach. The mages were mercilessly ganked with lighting spells and Thu'um for a rapid kill, the Fire Atronach was frozen solid, and the skeletons… actually managed to not be a problem, since they emerged from the sarcophagi two at the time and they weren't that tough to begin with.

But I was starting to be dangerously low on magicka and on stamina. The Thu'um I used to quickly dispatch the necromancers was taking his toll. I was infinitely better than when I started to use the Voice, but still not at the level of 'shaking mountains and not being even winded'. I had to start to up my game if I wanted to kill dragons.

But finally, after all of that, I finally managed to arrive at the final room of the entire of the Keep. I was very low on magicka and I felt like I had marched for hours, but I was still somewhat combat-capable. So, I opened the doors, finding a familiar circular room with a familiar Altmer woman waiting at the center.

"So, you're the one who barged into my home and laid waste to my projects. How nice to meet you."

"My pleasure." I sarcastically replied. "My name is Loki. You are the one called The Caller, I suspect."

"Correct. Now, do you have a reason for making such a mess?"

"I want the three books that the idiot below have stolen." I curtly replied. While all the things I had seen until now didn't particularly put me in a talkative mode, I was still hoping to not have to fight the Caller.

"So you're just one of Aren's lackeys?" Replied the woman. "That's disappointing. You show real promise. Then, you come here, kill my assistants, disrupt my work… You've annoyed me, so I don't think I'll be giving you anything."

"I feared you would say that." I admitted. "But we don't have to fight. Let me take the book and you'll never see me again."

"Oh, now trying to be polite, are we? I'm afraid we're well beyond pleasantries. I'll allow you the opportunity to turn around, walk out that door, and never come back. I suggest you move quickly."

My irritation started to boil. This woman… "I will not ask again. Give me those books."

"Are you attempting to threaten me? After I've been so hospitable? Well, then you won't be leaving here at all."

The moment she said that, I grasped my inner reserves of power and activated my Breton power: Dragonskin. Sure, a 50% chance of absorbing enemy magicka maybe wasn't perfect, but it was still something and would help with my dwindling reserves.

Of course, she started by summoning a Frost Atronach. That, immediately, tried to blast me with some sort of frost breath.

His frost breath impacted against my Spell Absorption and the only thing that it managed to do was recharging my reserves of magicka.

My answer to the Atronach was simple. "Yol!"

Flames exploded from my mouth, hitting the Atronach that, to the credit of The Caller, wasn't immediately incinerated. It was far from defeated, but had taken a good hit.

And since it was so kind as to actually give me some space, I took out the Staff I recovered from Saarthal, the Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson, and blasted the Caller, who managed to put up a ward and not get defeated immediately, but surely didn't appreciate the sudden loss of magicka. The Staff had the effect of removing far more magicka than normal, after all.

Now I had to worry about the Atronach. While not a brilliant conversationalists, the Atronach had noticed that its attack didn't have any effect, so tried to punch me. Simple and effective.

The best plan would have been blast the thing with fire, but that would make me vulnerable to attacks from the Caller… which couldn't damage me with spells, but could summon more monsters to fight me. The second plan was to counter summon something to distract the Atronach while I blasted the woman, but maybe I had an alternative.

I raised my hand and focused my mind on the bond that connected The Caller with the Atronach. It was a bland telepathic bond imposed by the Conjuration spell in order to control the demon. It could be dismissed or cut at any time by the summoner, but nobody wanted to have a wild deadra around. It was better, in those cases, to use a spell to cut the connection, letting the Atronach do the work.

Of course, I couldn't do that with the Atronach near. I didn't want to fight it. Fortunately, I had another way.

My will slammed like a sledgehammer on the bond between The Caller and the Frost Atronach. The Altmer gasped, retreating automatically and letting the bond snap.

Then, with a twist of thought, I grabbed the bond and took control of the creature.

"You-!" Tried the woman, before the Frost Atronach turned and charged at her.

After that the fight was, unsurprisingly, very short. She tried to hit both of us with powerful flame spell, probably presuming I had some kind of frost resistance in place… which I did, but was not what has helped me ignore the attacks.

No, the thing that was helping me was the amulet on my neck. The story of Jyrik was that he fought and killed at least ten battlemages before being defeated. He couldn't possibly be that powerful… unless the amulet conferred Spell Absorption of some kind. Which, adding to my Dragonskin, made me temporarily immune to spells… even better, made me absorb most spells.

Which was good, because I had really low magicka. But every lightning, every fireball and every other spell The Caller used was swallowed by my power. I didn't have much time, but it was enough, because the only thing I needed was to continue to blast her with the Staff of Jyrik until she finished her magicka or the Frost Atronach killed her. It didn't take much. She managed to deflect a couple of blasts, but the best thing about Staffs was that they used the ability of the wielder in their particular school of magic to hit… and I was clearly superior to The Caller.

In the end, she collapsed when her ward was consumed by the power of the Staff and she was finally electrocuted for good. The moment that happened, she lost her focus and I was fast to capitalize on that.

"Sosaal. Kopraan. Sahqon!" I Shouted. Immediately, blood erupted from her body, soaking her clothes, and the elf dropped dead.

Breathing heavily for the effort of that last Shout, I managed to dismiss the Atronach, recover the books and then free the Altmer.

"Oh, thank you! For a second I believed that you would have left me there-"

"Shut up." I replied, too tired to be really angry… but still plenty to be annoyed. "Just help me take out all the loot I found there. You can thank me later."

"I, oh… of course! Let me help you."

I found a lot of things in this fort. A lot of books, of course, but I already read the ones about magic. The rest were on other arguments and, while I would like to read them, I didn't have the time to bring all of those with me. So I took just the things that had value and I could use.

That meant, among other things, finely crafted fur gloves, a pair of Enchanted boots, a steel plate of armor that looked better than mine and a couple of axes that, while I couldn't use because I wasn't that good with axes, I could sell since one was composed of Dwemer metal and the other, the two-handed ones, was a Moonstone's one. I could sell them for quite a lot.

Aside from that, I was full of alchemical components, soul gems, money, valuables, and food. And four of the samples of blood that were required for the Oghma Infinium, counting the orc bandit Sleipnir killed yesterday.

After I finally got all in a pack, we made our way out of that fucking fort.

"Thank you again." Said the idiot I just saved. "I… I think I'll go now. I want to see if I can return to the College, even if I'll have to let things cool a little."

"Do what you want." I replied. "I need to rest. If you want to do that too, I can give you some food. There is an abandoned bandit outpost not far from here."

"Yes, I saw it. Abandoned, you said? What happened to the bandits?"

"What do you think?" I replied, giving him some food. "Here. Now scram."

"Of course. Thank you again for saving me. I will not forget it."

He had just made a step or two when I stop him. "What's your name?"

He stopped and turned "Orthon." He replied.

"I'm Loki Andreasson." I replied. "Remember that name, or how you are going to repay me?"

"Of course. Goodbye, Loki Andreasson." He said, and returned to walk.

When he was sufficiently far away, I finally let my body relax. And, in doing so, the first thing it did was throw up my breakfast.

Immediately, Fenrir was at my side, worried. I finished expelling my breakfast and patted him on the head.

"I'm all right, buddy. Just… the stress. And the blood. And the burned flesh…"

I stopped myself from throwing up again and shook my head. "I just need air. Sleipnir!" I called, and the horse was there instantly.

I put everything I looked from the fort on him, including several pieces of decent armor and some weapons, and then mounted up. "Let's go." I finally said.

Showing a surprising amount of care, he actually didn't rush forward like he usually did and instead, started with a light trot that even Fenrir could keep up with for a while. I patted the horse on the neck. "Thank you."

He didn't reply, and I didn't insist. I just tried to distract myself by looking at the horizon. At Whiterun.

Last edited: Apr 12, 2020

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.2

Despite Sleipnir's prodigious speed, we didn't reach Whiterun that day. It was visible, in the distance, so we could probably reach it by the noon of the next day. But, at least for today, we were going to find a nice repair, lit a fire, and rest.

The day after I woke up with Fenrir wrapped around me like a blanket. After disentangling myself from the giant wolf, I started to cook my breakfast. Normal Italian breakfast was unfortunately very difficult to have here in Skyrim, so I had to adapt. Fortunately, there still were fruit. I was not someone that liked eggs and meat at six in the morning.

Right when I was internally debating what kind of meat I should give Fenrir and if it was the case to cook it for him -with probable reaction from my stomach- he stood up and looked in the distance.

"What's up buddy?" I asked.

He spared me a glance before pointing his nose at a near hill. I narrowed my eyes to see a couple of deer appear over the crest.

"You want to hunt, buddy?"

"Arf arf!" He replied, but lowly. Probably to not be heard from the deer.

"Then hunt!" I said, and he instantly darted away, quickly disappearing between the rocks. Despite being the size of a horse and black as coal, he was surprisingly good at hiding. Good for him.

Since he was probably going to take a while, I finished preparing my breakfast and put up my armor. You never know, there could be a sabertooth tiger near, or a bear, or something. I was in the middle of the road, after all.

I was halfway into making a complete check of my inventory and how much money I could make for it -I needed better equipment and I was no good with axes- when something stabbed my back. Specifically, two something that pierced my useless Nordic armor like it was not even there. I also felt something pushing me down, but that was secondary to the spikes of pain in the lower part of my back.

Despite the pain, I tried to hit my aggressor with a backslap, putting all my mass and speed in a rapid turn, but whoever was easily dodged my fist. The sudden movement made my new wounds send another spike of pain to my head, so I ended the spin on my knees. But at least now I could see my assailant.

It was a male Dunmer. However, that was completely secondary. The important part was that he had a pair of dark-ish daggers -ebony daggers?- and a pretty recognizable black-and-reddish armor.

The Dark Brotherhood armor.

"You are tougher than expected." Said the Dunmer, with a contemptuous smirk on his face. "But it's no matter. You'll die anyway."

As if, asshole.

Before he could react, I raised my hand and slammed his face with a Cone of Frost. The ground instantly covered with brine and the Dunmer covered his face, but stood his ground.

Undeterred I slammed another Cone of Frost in his face using my other hand. This time, ice started to sprout from the ground as my magic froze the area. But he was still standing.

Channeling my inner Goku, I sent another blast of Frost magic with both hands toward the assassin. Ice erupted around him, and he was still standing.

Because he was completely enveloped in ice and pretty much dead. I'm sure that Dunmer skin is not that grey normally.

Breathing heavily for the effort I just put in those spells -I lost more or less a fourth of all my magicka- and from the pain in my back, I healed myself. I had learned long ago that healing spells were not the end-all of recovery, so I would probably have some side effect -probably scars and some stiffness for a while- but I could close the wound and let my body heal everything else. Still great, considering that I'm pretty sure he pierced somewhere near my kidneys. In retrospect, all the pain I endured with the Ring of Training turned out to be useful. At least, I was not paralyzed when struck by a sudden pain.

I was just done knitting myself together when Fenrir appeared, his muzzle still a bit bloodied. He sniffed around, took a look at the frozen assassin, and the come to me, rubbing his head on my shoulder.

"It's alright, buddy. I can defend myself. More or less." I said, even if I felt that if the Dunmer aimed at a different spot, it would be ended differently.

That was one of the scary things about real-life Skyrim. Everything was so much more lethal compared to the game… unless you had near unbeatable defenses against a particular type of damage, like being intangible or, in my case, damn good resistance to magic. I could kill someone with a couple of spells and, in turn, be killed by a couple of knives in the back. Fortunately, this time I managed to survive. But I needed to up my game again.

I also had to loot the assassin. Of course, I knew he carried a note with the order to kill me, but why or who ordered that were unknown, so I was not even going to look at it. I'll just take all his stuff. Sighing, I directed a fire ray to the body, to make it defrost enough to be lootable.

Unfortunately, the armor was kind of a disappointment. It was Enchanted, but very lightly, and while of very good quality, it was not that good for protection. This was probably a grunt, because I refused to believe the higher ranks of the Dark Brotherhood didn't have better Enchantments. The daggers were at least a little bit better, of high quality and some exotic material -it didn't look like ebony up close- so I would probably use them and ditch my short sword for an arming sword or a longsword. He had some potions, and some trinket, but nothing notable. What a bummer.

I was almost ready to go when I eyed the Dunmer for the last time. Was I really going to leave him almost naked in the wild? Sighing again, because fuck my bleeding heart, I raised my hand and dug a grave for him. My control over Earth magic was amateurish at best, but enough for something so simple. I also raised a rock as a tombstone. I didn't write anything over it, of course, because what should I write? 'Here lies a Dunmer. He tried to kill the wrong person.'? No, a blank tombstone was more than enough. It was probably better than he deserved too.

After that, I called Sleipnir and resumed my travel. To Whiterun.

-X-

My arrival at Whiterun was mercifully without problems. I didn't even need to persuade the guards at the gate to let me enter, since I already gave the Dragonstone to Baalgruf. Once inside, before going to see if Thormund was near, I went shopping. Or, more correctly, I went to spend my loot and see if there was something I could buy.

After making far more money than I thought -it had to be all the little trinkets and jewelry people liked to wear- I finally started to go toward Jorrvaskr. I was still a little surprised that no guard seemed to mind the giant black wolf that was walking beside me, but hey, good for me. Maybe they noticed it was well behaved? He didn't growl to anyone since he got inside. He just sniffed around, licked some people that were brave enough to come near and tried to pet him, and that was it. Fenrir was the biggest softy of Nirn.

Anyway, I arrived at Jorrvaskr and quickly pondered if it was the case to knock. Considering the first time you entered the Companions were happily beating each other with the cheer of the public, I decided to not. I just pushed the door open.

Jorrvaskr was exactly like I imagined it would be, which was a pretty graphic image since I literally saw it. It was an enormous place, not surprisingly since the roof of the damn thing was an entire ship turned upside down. There was a fire in the middle of the room, surrounded by tables, and at the edge of the building the stairs to the lower floor. Companions of all races -but mostly humans- were hanging around.

As I entered, a man greeted me. One of the brothers… I didn't remember his name. He was the smart one anyway.

"Greetings. You're here to join the Companions?"

"Actually, I'm here to see a friend. I'm sure you know him: tall, blonde-reddish beard, carries a giant hammer, strong enough to knock a troll out with a blow…"

The man smiled. "Ah, you must be the infamous Loki. Thormund always sing your praises and that you convinced him to join us."

"He does?"

"When he's really drunk. Unfortunately, he's not here at the moment. He still has to return from wherever he's gone right after he sent that letter. You're early. Weren't you at the College of Winterhold?"

"Yes, but I found a good ride. Well, if he's not here, I'll go and wait at the Bannered Mare. If you can warn him that I'm waiting for him there…"

"Vilkas." Replied the Nord. Right, Farkas and Vilkas, the brothers of the Companions. "But why such a hurry? Stay here for a little."

"I would not want to intrude." I replied. "I'm not exactly a warrior."

"But you dress like one."

"Just to be safe. Also, just because I have a sword at my side, doesn't mean I'm good at using it."

Vilkas nodded. "That's true. However, I'm sure the Harbinger would like to exchange a word with you."

That signed it.

"He does? Well, if the Harbinger wants to talk with me…"

Vilkas told me to sit and wait for Kodlak, and I did so. By the time the man returned, I was already in an arm-wrestling match with Athis, the resident Dunmer warrior.

With a final grunt, I slammed his hand on the wood of the table. "Ah! I win!"

"That was just luck." Grumbled Athis. "But you have a good arm. I'll demand a rematch."

"Later, Athis." Said Kodlak Whitemane. "Now I want to exchange some words with our guest."

"Of course, Harbinger." Nodded the Dunmer, standing and returning to his affairs, followed by Vilkas.

The old Nord sat in front of me. "So you are Loki. You'll have to excuse me if I look a little confused. I didn't expect you to look like this." He eyes Fenrir. "Nor did I expect your wolf to grow this big."

I smirked. "Neither I did. As for my looks… you expected someone with robes and a magical staff, didn't you?"

"Yes." Admitted Kodlak.

"It's fine." I waved, not really bothered. "That's what most people would have expected."

"I suppose you're right, but Thormund told us that you wear armor and carry a sword. I assumed that after you passed all the winter at the College, you just decided to use spells for that."

I shrugged. "I mean, sure, spells are useful. But magic can't always protect you. I had a taste of that this morning."

"Bandits?"

"A Dark Brotherhood assassin." I answered, noting that some of the Companion had heard me and were eyeing me.

Kodlak, on his part, didn't even blink. "Oh? And why would a member of the Dark Brotherhood trying to kill you?"

"I have no idea." I answered truthfully. "I don't know anyone here in Skyrim that could have something against me, nor have I pissed off anyone in particular. That said, there is a Thalmor at the College that could have done it."

That was bullshit, of course. The assassin of the Dark Brotherhood could appear at any moment, before you interacted with basically anyone. It was one of those things that the game never addressed and in the years had blossomed a lot of theories. But since even the -fake- memories of the body I possessed didn't reveal anything, Ancano was a good explanation as any other. Especially considering that he send someone to kill the Dragonborn when he was trying to recover… mmm, I don't remember well. The Staff of Magnus, I think. Well, no matter. He sent an assassin, and that was enough to suspect he was involved, at least on this particular occasion.

"Thalmor are always a problem." Nodded Kodlak. "But why he would send an assassin? Did you offend him in some way?"

"No, but I'm very, very good at magic. I gained a lot of power in very little time. Maybe my rise scared him."

"It's a possibility." Admitted Kodlak. Then he smiled. "Seems like you and Thormund have something in common. He's rapidly rising in the rank of the Companions too. I've rarely seen such talent for war."

I smiled back. "Yeah, he has a natural talent for fighting. Which is why I wanted to ask for his help. I suppose you don't know how much time he's going to take to return, right?"

I had no idea where the Glenmoril Conven was. Considering that the Coven was composed of Hagravens, it was probably located somewhere in the Reach or near Falkreath, but they were at one of the big places.

"I fear not." Confirmed the Harbinger. "He departed the day he sent you that letter. The plan was to return here right before you, but you've been very fast. You'll have to wait for him."

I nodded. And speaking of which… "In that regard… you should probably wait for Thormund away from here." I said, lowering my voice so nobody could hear me.

Kodlak raised a bushy brow. "And why is that?"

I couldn't tell him in the middle of the hall of Jorrvaskr. Fortunately, he was perceptive enough to understand my reasons. Of course, I had told Thormund to explain the situation to him, so it didn't take that much to understand why I didn't want to tell him in front of everyone else.

"Let's discuss this in a more private place." Said the Harbinger, standing up. I patted Fenrir on the head to signal him to stay here.

"You need something, Harbinger?" Asked someone I didn't recognize.

"No, I just wish to talk with our guest about personal matters." That seemed to quiet down the Companions.

After we reached his rooms, Kodlak returned to talk to me. "Tell me, young man. Why I should stay away from Jorrvaskr until Thormund return?"

I sighed. "The Silver Hand is going to attack Jorrvaskr. I don't know when, but it was right before Thormund returned. It could be in a week, it could be tomorrow… it could be even today. And during the attack…"

"I'll die." Guessed Kodlak. He was very perceptive, for a Nord. "I see no reason for you to tell me this if it was not the case. And I appreciate your concern, Loki Andreasson, but I'm a warrior. If I have to die, I'll prefer to die with my weapon in my hands."

I sighed again. "I don't know why I expected another answer."

The old man smiled. "If you're concerned, why you don't stay here until they attack? I'm sure your magic will be useful to repel them."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, first of, because I doubt the other Companions are going to appreciate a mage staying here. Second, I'm not really concerned. It's just that, if you die, Thormund is going to have to kick the Silver Hand ass, then we'll have to travel all the way to the Tomb of Ysgramor and beat up a bunch of ghosts, just so we can launch the head of a witch inside the fire and kill the wolf spirit inside you to free you from the curse. It's a real hassle and I'd much prefer to use my time for something different."

The moment I finished, there was silence. I mentally retraced what I just said and I realized it sounded incredibly harsh. Sure, it was true, but it was not like I didn't want to do it, it was just that I really, really had too much to do and not nearly enough time.

Before I could explain myself or apologize, Kodlak exploded in a laugh. "Ah, yes, Thormund talked about your sudden flashes of brutal honesty."

"I didn't mean it in that way-" I tried to reply, but I was interrupted.

"No, young man, I understand. You know the future, right? It's a heavy burden you have on your shoulder. Thormund told me that you sent him to us because you could not be here, but you wanted to help. I can only imagine how much more things you have to do now that you have the power to help people. So, don't apologize to me. My desire to be free from the curse is just that: the desire of an old, dying man. You have more important things to do that travel half Skyrim to grant me that wish."

Ah, for fuck sake. He had to be reasonable about this, didn't he? He couldn't be even a little bitter? I would feel better.

But then, if he was that kind of man, I probably wouldn't have done all of this to save him.

"I suppose I can remain near until Thormund arrives." I said with another sigh. "But I can't be here all the time. If they attack while I'm sleeping at the Mare, there is nothing I can do."

"There is an easy solution for that." Replied Kodlak with a smirk. "I'll arrange a room for you here, at Jorvaskr."

"Is that even possible? I thought only members could stay here. It's not that I don't want to join…" I said, even if I totally didn't want to join. The questline for the Companions was interesting, but it didn't really give me something useful. Only magical weapons and shields… and I could craft those, if I ever decided to spend time doing that. "… but I don't think I have the skill to join."

"Maybe in the future." Replied Kodlak, catching me off guard. "You move well in that armor, and you seem at ease around armed men and women. But yes, right now you are not skilled enough to join us. That's not a problem. You'll be here as a guest."

"Is that normal?"

"Not really. We don't usually receive important guests from outside the city, and the ones that do usually sleep at Dragonsreach. Still, we usually have one or two rooms for guests or members that don't fight, or don't fight anymore. I can easily find a bed for you."

"Thank you, Harbinger."

"No, thank you, young man. I suspect you attribute yourself far less noble intention than your real ones."

Eh… maybe he was right, after all.

"So, let's return to the hall. I'll have the others know you're going to be our guests until Thormund return. For what do you need him, anyway?"

"There are voices that the Dawnguard are being rebuilt and they'll need a hand." And it was true too. I heard some guards talk about it while I was shopping.

"The threat of these vampires is more than just some isolated attacks, I'm guessing."

"Yes, it is. Far greater." I answered, even if it was not a real question.

"Greater than the returns of the dragons?" Asked the old Nord. "The voices are spreading, young man." He said, when he notices my surprised look.

I sighed. "No, they're not really a greater threat than the dragons. Nothing can really compare to them. But they're a threat and I'll need to deal with the vampires. I don't fancy my chances against one of them."

"You'll never know if you can defeat one until you try." Said Kodlak, and while true, it was also deceptively simple.

"Dragons are immortal demigods that learned how to bend reality with words even before we could talk, Harbinger. I'll challenge one when I'm sure we're not going to be killed at the first word he says."

The Nord warrior nodded. "That's fair. You're a cautious man, after all. But the moment will come. Probably sooner than you expect. Such is life."

"I'll cross that bridge when the time comes." I flatly replied.

"In preparation for that moment, I think there is something you can do." Said the man, getting a confused gaze on my part of the effort. "Since you're here, maybe you can convince some of our members to give you some lessons. It's better if you know how to use those weapons, am I right?"

Mmm… now that I thought about it, in the game, the Companions had a lot of trainers. I think the only other place you could find more was at the College of Winterhold, with a teacher for every school of magic. Maybe I dismissed their help too fast.

"Sounds like a plan." I replied.

Last edited: Apr 20, 2020

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.3

The swords clashed violently, sending sparks in every direction with every exchange. I tried to maneuver my longsword to circumvent my opponent's guard, but the only thing I obtained by doing so was that my blade was violently swatted away. I managed to get it back in position before my opponent could strike me again, but his superior strength made me stumble back.

In a fit of desperation, I grabbed one of my daggers and threw it in his face.

Vilkas deflected the attack with a deceivingly relaxed swing of his sword, but I managed to get the time I needed. I quickly cast a Fortify spell, the whitish magic washing over me, and then I returned on the offensive.

My strength now amplified, we exchanged more blows, my sword now at least capable of keeping up with the Nord. But, in the end, he proved to be the stronger and more skilled fighter, and he put me on my knee with a powerful bash on my chest. I felt my ribs protest under the abuse and I thought he had broken them, but I felt relatively fine after a few seconds. I decided that the lack of blinding pain was a good sign that my ribs remained unbroken and I cast a Restoration spell to heal eventual injuries.

"Your skill with the blade is amateurish." Commented Vilkas.

"You don't say?" I replied with all the sarcasm I could put in my words. "Thought I implied that when I told you I was not a good fighter. You know, after you proposed this training."

"I thought you were dismissing your skill." Admitted Vilkas. "Thormund told us that you were not that bad as a fighter, and that you fought several battles together."

"Well, yes, but first off, most of the battles we fought were against bandits and draugr and, you know, Thormund is Thourmund." I explained, and he nodded at that. "Second, the fact that I'm not that bad with a sword, doesn't mean I can fight you or other people that make a living out of this. I suppose I'm pretty good, for a mage, but that doesn't make me good in general."

"I see what you mean." Acknowledged Vilkas. "Maybe I was too harsh in my judgment. I suppose that, for a mage and not a professional warrior, you're decent. Surely enough to deal with bandits and other scum."

"That fills me with confidence." I snarked.

Vilkas chuckled. "Don't take it too hard. You're still a cut above most people. Your style leaves much to be desired, but that's to be expected for someone that's mostly self-taught. I have to say that your style looks familiar though."

"My father was an Imperial Legionnaire." I said, and he nodded.

"Ah, I see. I suppose he taught you the basis for self-defense, then."

"More or less."

"That explains it. Forgive me if I hit you too hard. Thormund praises made me expect you could handle it."

"He really needs to stop praising me." I murmured. "But I have to say I expected you to be more… harsh on me. I'm not a member of the Companions, so I imagined that you were going to dismiss my presence."

Vilkas smirked. "Not every Nord is like that. Sure, if you were a member of the Companions, I'd be harsher with you: I don't like weak warriors joining. But you're not a member: you're a guest. As such, my personal feelings on how you should fight are irrelevant." He paused. "Besides, I heard you did a decent job with that sword."

Yeah, I did.

This was the second day I stopped at Jorvaskr. The first day, I did some sidequests, like giving Isolda the mammoth tusk, recovering that Redguard family swords from bandits, and similar trivial tasks.

Well, the bandits were not trivial, but I managed. And I swear, I tried to talk them into giving up the swords. But when arrows started to fly, I resorted to violence.

Well, at least the blind guy was still alive. He was the only one that didn't attack me. Of course, he didn't because I used a hint of Illusion to make him believe I was a member of the bandits and pass without fighting, but still.

Oh, and I also ordered new armor at the Warmaiden, and I had a hard time choosing between the Moonstone armor and the Mithril armor. I hated the normal moonstone armor -also known as the Elven Armor- but aesthetics aside, it was good armor. It just needed to be in a more Nordic style and I would look fashionable and be well protected at the same time. But Mithril armor, even if it wasn't featured in Skyrim, was still an armor that was present in Tamriel and I loved it's aesthetic… but it was far more costly than the Moonstone one, mostly because moonstone was more common between mines and… Thalmor armor that somehow was found without an owner in mysterious ways. Besides, Moonstone armor was better for a Loki theme, since at least in Marvel he wore green, black and gold.

But then I found out that Mithril armor didn't exist as such, but it was mostly a combination of what was known in Skyrim as Quicksilver and steel that nobody on Skyrim used because they preferred their own Nordic variants, which included Ebony. I decided that I was going to order a reinforced Moonstone armor that was aesthetically similar to old Nord armor, since I liked the base model enough. The end result would have been similar enough to Mithril, I presumed.

It would take some time to make it through, so I decided to rest the next day… until Vilkas started the training.

"Well, maybe it's not the Nord way, but spells are great weapons. You just need to use them right."

Vilkas snorted. "I disagree, but you'll know better than me on this matter. Come, it's time for a break. We'll eat and drink before returning to training. Your style is rough, but you have a good arm and you're as fast as a snake. You have the potential to be a good warrior."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm going to beat you until you can barely walk."

"Ah! Like that's going to stop me. You know I passed months going around with a spell that greatly increased my weight? There were days I wished I was dead."

"Why would you do that?" Asked Vilkas.

"The choice was to do that and get in shape while studying magic or don't do that and waste time." I replied with a shrug. "Besides, I can heal pretty much everything. The good side of being a decent healer."

"That's a useful talent." Admitted Vilkas. "You don't happen to be an enchanter too, right?"

"Actually, I'm a very good and versatile mage." I replied. "You name something magic-related, and I can do it."

"Even necromancy?" Asked Vilkas. Damn him. Now I got why Farkas always told me that his brother had the mind of Ysgramor while he had the strength.

"Well, yes." I replied, choosing sincerity. "You never know when the ability to raise the dead could be useful. But honestly, I don't really like necromancy. I just study it because I like to know what I'm fighting when I have an Undead horror in sight."

Vilkas smiled. "Knowing is half the battle, right? I suppose until you don't desecrate the ancestors or kill people to get bodies, you get a pass for that. But let's stop this chatter. The food is getting cold."

I nodded and followed him inside. Free food was a no brainer.

Of course, the real reason I was there and not doing anything else was that I feared the coming of the Silver Hand at any moment. And because of free training and food, but mostly because the first. Yesterday was different because, by taking a good view of the area surrounding Whiterun, I established that it was improbable that a warband could reach Jorvaskr before I was back from my little trip to the bandits. Mostly because Sleipnir was stupidly fast.

Now, Thormund could arrive at any moment. I didn't remember where the fuck the Glenmoril Coven was, but considering they were hagravens, they probably were in the Reach. Sure, the hagravens weren't just in the Reach, but most of them were. So, taking that into consideration, I had calculated the distance we could have been talking about and… I didn't find anything. Well, not really. Considering that Thormund probably sent the letter to have me arrive there more or less when he returned, I had a max range where he could have gone.

But not knowing what he used to arrive at the destination and the conditions of the roads… well, I wasn't sure how much time would pass before he returned.

So now I was struck there waiting for the Silver Hand to attack. I had prepared a nasty spell for them, but the wait, like always, was killing me.

"Why so tense?" Asked me Aela out of the blue. I was sitting in the room for a while and nobody had decided to bother me, but I still was on edge. Fortunately I saw Aela arriving or I would have jumped on the chair. "I never saw you relax while you were here. Do we make you nervous?"

I sighed. Aela had decided to prod me on every occasion. I didn't know if I personally did something to offend her or what, but it was slightly annoying. "I've the bad habit of knowing things but not knowing the exact time they're going to happen. So, since people are not going to believe I know the future until I give them incontestable proof, I usually stay silent until the moment arrive and the surprise everyone by knowing exactly what's happening and solve the issue in one move."

Aela and whoever was on hearing range blinked at my sudden confession.

…

What? I couldn't tell the truth? I was honest like, 90% of the time. Sure, I was manipulative while telling the truth but what do you want from be? To be perfectly selfless and not wanting to take advantage of my foreknowledge? As if.

"Wait." Asked one of the companion who's name I never bothered remember. "You know the future?"

"Something." I shrugged. "I read an Elder Scroll and now I have several events playing in my head. It's a hassle, really. I have to wait and wait and wait until bad things finally-"

Before I could finish, I heard voices outside Jorvaskr. Not friendly voices. A second later, the doors on the eastern side of the building were slammed open a several men stormed inside, wielding silver blades.

"-happen." I concluded. Then, with a sigh, I waved my hand.

A wall of green light popped out, blocking all the doors where the assailants were coming. Some of them entered regardless, not noticing or not caring about it.

Until the ones that crossed the green wall dropped on the ground, their limbs rigid.

The nascent combat was killed dead right away. The men that already entered stopped to look at their fallen companions. The men outside did the same, just with more fear because they didn't know what the hell was going on. The Companions, some of them already with the weapons on hand, stopped, their gazes traveling between me and the Silver Hand thugs.

Yeah, that was one of my most ingenious spells. Wall of Paralysis. Hideously pricy and useless against peer opponents… but invaluable for crowd control and fortification. A shame I was the only person to know it.

"Well?" I asked when I noticed that most of the Companions were looking at me in confusion. "What are you waiting for? Get them!"

"To arms, brothers!" Shouted Kodlak. "Let's show them what happens when you go against the Companions!"

Like one man, the Companions rose from their seats and charged the Silver Hand. The poor bastards probably had hoped to kill the companions by using superior numbers -at least, that's what I would have done, since I doubt they were skilled enough to defeat a Companion in a 1v1- so my little trick did a number on their confidence.

Of course, the wall could not hold for long. Few things burned my magicka faster than that spell, and those things were the big storm spells. The initial magicka could fuel the Wall of Paralysis for a minute at most, so in total I could maintain that spell for five minutes… tops, probably far less. But I probably wouldn't need to.

To be honest, I half expected the Silver Hand to give up on their attack as soon as they realized that I blocked most of their number outside Jorvaskar.

The other half expected that fanatical zealots would try anyway, and of course, I was right. Stupid logic.

While most of the Silver hand waited outside, maybe to take care of the Whiterun's guards that would decide to intervene, some entered from the other side of the building. Of course, since the Companions never locked the damn doors, there was nothing that I could do to stop them. Well, I could have cast a Lock spell on every door or used another Wall of Paralysis, but that shit was pricey to cast and I didn't want to spend all my magicka since the Wall of Paralysis was the only thing that had stopped the Silver Hand to drown the Companions in numbers. Furthermore, Lock spell didn't stop people from kicking a door open and the Paralysis was not permanent, so it was more a deterrent than something that could really stop the attack. Nobody wanted to be blocked inside a building with a crew of angry warriors while unable to move.

So, when a group of five Silver Hands entered the building with several more behind, I was more or less expecting them. I was still mostly focused on the battle between the Companions and the Silver Hands inside the building, ready to dismiss the Wall of Paralysis if they decided to charge them, but not completely caught off guard.

That didn't mean that I liked the sudden appearance of an arrow right under my left scapula.

"Take out the battlemage!" Shouted one of the assailants.

Maybe it was the fact that I just finished spar with Vilkas and I was on a bad mood -just because I was ready to admit my deficiency didn't mean that I liked to lose or to be beaten- or maybe it was the fact that it was the third time in four days that someone had decided to pierce me with some kind of pointed instrument of war, but my reaction was fiery and violent.

I turned toward the assailant and released a Chain Lightning spell that was completely overkill. The streak of lightning, wide as my arm, hit the first man right in the chest before forking and hitting the two men behind him. All three of them disintegrated in a cloud of ashes, their silver weapons bouncing on the ground.

"'Take out the battlemage'?" I quoted. Electricity started to flow around me, little lightning hitting various piece of metals in my immediate vicinity. "I want to see you try."

Of course, that was the bluff of my life. I didn't have enough magicka to deal with… five, ten… seventeen men. Not without burning Jorvaskr on the ground.

But I made them hesitate. And that was enough for someone to join me.

Fenrir, always my shadow, jumped on the men like a storm of fangs and claws. He gutted one of the men with his claws, then he closed his maw on the head of another and crunched. The skull of the man didn't stand a chance.

Not satisfied by the sudden and vicious death of two men, Fenrir tossed the body of the Silver Hand he just killed against the rest of the Silver Hand and growled in their face, showing his impressively long fangs at the men.

All in all, it was probably the wrong move. He looked too much like a werewolf to not spark the fanaticism of the Silver Hand.

"It's a werewolf!" Exclaimed someone, predictably. "Kill it!"

"You're not going to touch my wolf, you bastards!" I shouted, releasing a frost storm right on them. Most were Nords and cared little, but some didn't, and in general, being hit by a frost spell still reduced your speed. So, while most didn't take that much damage, I still slowed them down.

Just in time for someone else to join the fight. But not inside Jorvaskr. Outside.

"AAAARGH!"

That was a war cry I had heard several times. The next sound I heard was the one of a lighting spell hitting the ranks of the Silver Hand, and the subsequent thunder.

Thormund had arrived.

Smirking, I turned toward the Silver Hand thugs that were still facing me and Fenrir. "You heard that, buddy? Let's go to meet our old friend."

Fenrir answer was to charge the Silver Hands. I followed him.

-X-

Despite my best intentions, I failed to meet Thormund right away. I had to tend of the various injuries of the Companions first. Well, it was not like I had to, but since I could use a low-level Restoration spell to close most of the wounds, even if it was far from enough to heal the worst of them, I took that responsibility.

"Thank you, Loki." Said Vilkas, after I healed most of the wounds on the Companions. "We appreciate it. But you should-"

"Talos' beard!" Came the thundering voice of Thormund. "Who took here a giant wolf!?"

I turned just in time to see Fenrir jump on Thormund and starting to lick his face.

"What-? Stay down, you Oblivion-damned beast!" Cried the man, even if there was no real fire in his voice. Apparently, once Fenrir had started to lick him, every hostility was lost.

"You don't recognize him, Thormund?" I asked, joining them. "You hurt his feeling this way."

"Loki?" Asked the giant, surprise evident on his face. "You're already there? That means that…" He grabbed the wolf from his chest and pushing him at arm length. "Fenrir? Is that you?"

"Arf arf!" Confirmed the wolf.

Thormund exploded in a thunderous laugh. "Ah, look at you! You became this big in just a winter? What did Loki feed you? Live trolls?"

"Mostly he went to hunt on his own." I supplied while Fenrir returned to lick Thormund's face. "So I can't exclude the possibility."

Thormund laughed again. "It's good to see you, my friends. I didn't expect you to be here so soon."

"I was kind of stuck at the College." I admitted. "There was a big discovery and nothing seemed to move. So when your letter arrived, I decided that I was more useful here."

"I knew that I was right at calling you here." Said Thormund, patting my shoulder. Of course, his patting was more or less the equivalent or a well-placed haymaker from Muhammed Ali, but I endured.

Or I should have if I hadn't felt a sharp pain in my back. I kind of felt there was something wrong with my back but that was worse. I winced at the sudden spike of pain.

"Loki?" Asked Thormund, confused. "What's the matter?"

"It's what I was trying to say him before you interrupted me." Said Vilkas. "He still has an arrowhead stuck in his armor. I'm surprised he didn't notice before."

"Maybe I'm starting to get used to have sharp pieces of metal inside my body. Can someone remove it?"

"I don't think it's-" Started Vilkas, before Thormund grabbed the arrowhead and took it out. I grunted at the pain but I cast a healing spell right after.

"Better." I said. "I thought there was something strange in my back but didn't think it was an arrowhead. I expected to be the bruise for the hit."

"You never cease to amaze me, Loki." Commented Vilkas.

"Glad to be of entertainment. Kodlak?"

"Alive." Reassured me Vilkas. "He took some hits, but nothing serious. Unfortunately, his age and his illness don't help. He's resting right now." He paused. "You knew they were coming."

"Yes. That's why I sent Thormund to you." I patted the man shoulder. "Unfortunately, like I said before, I don't know everything, or not well enough to be of use. I knew the Silver Hand was coming. But I didn't know when. Good timing Thormund. I was in a rough spot."

"You disintegrated three men with a single spell." Noted Vilkas.

"Yes, and doing that after I already cast Wall of Paralysis was not easy. I couldn't have taken twenty men in a restricted space. Unless you were cool with fireballs in the middle of the building…"

"No, I don't think I would have." Vilkas sighed. "Seems like your timing was indeed perfect, Thormund. Where were you anyway?"

"I was in a mission on Kodlak's behalf." Answered the Nord. "I'm glad that I was able to return in time to help. It would have been terrible if someone died while I was away."

Thank you for avoiding that future Loki. Oh, you're welcome.

"Can Kodlak see us?" Asked Thormund.

"He can. But why-?" Vilkas stopped talking and looked at me. "Ah, I see. You called Loki here because whatever you had to do for Kodlak required his presence. Something that required magic. Like…" He didn't complete the sentence. "Very well. If it's what the old man desires, so shall it be."

"Let's see Kodlak then." Said Thormund. The only problem was, I disagreed.

"Nah Thormund. Go see him. I need time to prepare for the ritual. It would take a while. I'll reach you when I know how to do what I have to do."

Thormund sent me a glance, an indefinable emotion dancing in his eyes. "Very well, friend Loki. When you're ready."

I nodded and he went away.

Well, time to prepare the ritual to free Kodlak from the curse of Hircine.

-X-

It took me most of the afternoon to come up with a ritual that did exactly what I wanted. So, when it was time, I visited Kodlak Whitemane.

The man was on his bed, tired but apparently healthy. He greeted me with a smile. "Ah, Loki. Finally. I thought that you would have taken all day to come here."

"Sorry for making you wait, Harbinger." I replied. "I just needed to make the last changes."

"So it's time?" Asked the man. "I will finally be freed by the curse?"

"Sure. But I fear we'll have to wait until the moon is high in the sky. It will be easier to do it in the moonlight."

"Wouldn't the moonlight make the spirit of the wolf stronger?"

"Strength doesn't matter for what I have in mind. The spirit is not going to have a chance."

"I hope you know what you're doing, young man. I suppose it's not possible to do this ritual inside my room, right?"

"The spirit is rather big. I'll need a little space. Of course, where is on your choice, Harbinger. But it would be better if it was outside. Behind Jorvaskr would be enough, but if you want more privacy…"

"I'll think of somewhere appropriate." Concluded Kodlak. "I see. Thank you for doing this, young man. It means a lot to me for being finally free from this curse."

"Ah, it's not matter. What's the point of knowing the future if you don't try to help to create a better one?"

Kodlak smiled. "I supposed that's a way to see it. But you're not afraid that changing the future is going to have consequences?"

"If there are going to be, it's not something I'll have to worry about." I replied. "Like I said, I don't know all the future. Just some parts, and nothing for a year from now. Plus, this is, I'm afraid, it's just a relatively inconsequential thing. Nothing is really going to change when I prevented your death because I didn't want to march all the way to the Tomb of Ysgramor to free your soul from the curse of Hircine."

"I think you ascribe far less noble motivation to yourself than you should, Loki Andreasson."

"Oh, I'm just realistic. Sure, I'm helping you out of generosity, but really, I don't have the time to go all the way to the north and gut a bunch of specters. No offense to the spirits of the old Companions, of course, but…"

"You already said that." Nodded Kodlak. "And if it's not too much to ask… what are those things you have to do?"

I paused for a second. "I think that, if I have to tell, it's better for Thormund to be here too. After all, he's the one I planned to bring with me."

"It's fair, I suppose. Go call him. I'll wait."

"No need for that, Harbinger. He's near. I'll just contact him with magic." I replied, before sending a telepathic message to Thormund. Of course, telepathy was a pretty advanced spell, but I had recovered enough magicka to send one without problems.

Thormund arrived in a minute. "Friend Loki. You gave me a scare when I heard your voice directly in my head. Why did you call me? The Harbinger need something?"

"Not really." I shrugged. "He just asked me to tell him what I plan to do. And since you're an integral part of those plans, I thought it was a good idea to have you there."

Thormund didn't say anything for a second. "I see. I'd lie if I told you I wasn't curious about what you planned and how you intended to use me, friend Loki." He paused. "Because you want to use me, am I right?"

"You make me sound like a heartless puppeteer." I replied, honestly hurt by those words. "I would have just asked you. I know I have no power to force you to do anything."

"Ah, my apologies. I didn't mean it that way. But asking for my help is still using me, friend Loki. And I'm very glad to be used, if it means doing something good. After all, the last time you used me, I ended up a member of the Companions and saving the life, and the soul, of the Harbinger."

I chuckled. "I suppose you have a point. Now sit. I've got a lot to tell."

And so, I talked. A lot. It was… a relief, to finally be able to tell someone about all that was going to happen and what I wanted to do to resolve all of that for the better. To tell the truth, I half hoped that the two men would have contested my choices and proposed something better. Someone to bounce my ideas with. Both of them knew this land better than me. I had future knowledge, but the game was not a totally accurate representation of the world. I needed someone that filled me in.

But they didn't talk. They just listened, with a focused expression. In the end, I didn't tell them just a thing. That I was the Dragonborn… probably.

Finally, Kodlak talked. "That's a lot of things you want to do, young man." He said. "I don't doubt you can do all of that. The only problem, for what I can see, is time."

"That's why I need allies." I admitted. "I can't do all of that myself. Well… not in time, at least. I don't doubt that some events are going to play out even without my direct interference: it's full of mercenaries and adventurers that can do most of that. But for some important events, I need to be there… or have someone I trust there. I need to be sure everything go as I remember, or even better… because I can't risk them going wrong."

"And what role I have in this, Loki?" Asked Thormund, uncharacteristically serious.

I smiled. "Oh, your is a simple one. You have to become Skyrim's hero."

There was silence for a while. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'll be honest with you. I don't really care about the ban of the cult of Talos. I don't like it either, but it was necessary for the Empire to regain strength after the defeat in the Great War. This rebellion here is just playing in the hands of the Thalmor, and I want it to end."

"You didn't see the resolution of the Civil War in your visions?" Asked Kodlak.

"Yes, but I don't like it." I replied. "It's either the Empire wins or the Stormcloaks win, and neither is perfect. I want to change the outcome for the better… but for that, I need a hero. Someone the Nords on both parts would agree to follow."

"And why can't you be that hero?" Asked Thormund. "Why me?"

"Well, first off, I'm not a Nord." I stopped Thormunds protest with a raised hand. "I know you don't care, Thormund, but you really believe Ulfric's followers would accept me as a hero?"

He didn't reply.

"Secondly, I'm not going to stay here long enough to make any significant change." I continued. "I'm going to return home after all this shit is over with, and without the hero here, things are going to return like they were before. Men have to take a common front against the Thalmor, Thormund. Honestly, I don't care how you're going to do it. You can either secede or work with the Empire, I don't care. What I want is for this war to end and for Skyrim to be, if not a part of the Empire, at least allied with it. That's what I want from you. Helping me deal with everything else… yes, I'll appreciate it. But what I really need is someone that takes the burden of taking care of Skyrim when I'm gone."

There was another pause. "You love Skyrim, don't you?" Not really asked Kodlak.

I paused. I did? Or I loved the game and I was projecting on the real place? I choose to say the obvious thing. "I don't know if I love Skyrim. I haven't stayed here enough to really do it. But the Elder Scroll showed me a lot. I think it's worth saving the good things I saw."

"And you'll save them." Replied Thormund. "I admit, I'm not comfortable with the responsibility you want me to assume, friend Loki. But it's a worthy goal. And maybe, if I'm not good enough to keep Skyrim safe like you wish me to do, I'll take your example and ask someone to help me. I'm with you."

I smiled. "Thank you, Thormund."

"So, what's the first problem we're going to address?" Asked the warrior.

"The Dawnguard, of course. But before that…" I turned toward Kodlak Whiteman. "We have a wolf spirit to banish. Harbinger, I think it's time. Where you want to perform the ritual?"

"The Skyforge will do." Said the Harbinger. "It's a sacred place. I'm sure it's going to help."

"Very well. Let's go then."

A couple of minutes later, we were near the Skyforge and, with a wave of my hand, I created a magical circle.

"So, I have to stay inside the circle?" Asked Kodlak.

"Mmm? Oh no, the circle is there for containing the spirit. It's a variant of the one used to bind deadra. Stay near the secondary circle, please."

Kodlak looked at the circle and quickly found a smaller one intersecting with the other. He stood there, waiting."

"Thormund? The head."

Thormund nodded and took one of the hagraven's heads from a sack he had recovered from somewhere. I took the head -wincing in disgust- and focused.

"I can feel the power of the curse still inside." I said, before throwing the head inside the fires of the forge. "Now let me work."

I focused my will. In the time the flames consumed the cursed head, I felt its power call the spirit wolf. Fortunately, I had anticipated that, so I placed another smaller circle inside the forge… so that the big circle was exactly in the middle of them.

There was a bestial sound, and the wolf spirit, a creature that looked too much like Fenrir while transformed, emerged from inside Kodlak. Just that, instead of appearing in his general vicinity and starting to attack everyone, it appeared inside the circle and couldn't do anything.

"I see." Commented Thormund. "You meant that by containing."

"Yes." I replied. "A spirit of Hircine is not really any different from any other deadra or summonable spirit. What works for them, can works for it."

The wolf spirit thrashed around, trying to escape the confines of the circle, but in vain. He growled and barked, but every time he tried to escape he bounced on my magical circle.

"Impressive work." Admitted Thormund.

"That circle was studied to contain the most powerful deadric spirit in existence barring the Deadric Princes themselves." I said, raising my hand. "Now disappear."

A pulse of power later, and the spirit wolf was sucked in some kind of vortex.

"What was that?" Asked Kodlak.

"A banishment spell." I replied. "Normally you should kill the spirit, but it would require me to free it and I didn't like taking that chance." I looked at the Harbinger. "Did it work?"

The old man didn't reply immediately and, for a second, I feared that banishing the spirit instead of killing it didn't completely sever the bond. But…

"Yes." He replied. "My mind is clear. The bloodlust of the wolf is gone." He got out of the circle and took my hand. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, Harbinger." I said, then turned toward Thormund. "And you? What do you say? Want to get rid of the wolf?"

Thormund paused for a second. The nodded.

And so, two people were freed that night.

Last edited: Apr 27, 2020

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.4

"Loki?"

I raised my head, looking at the man that was calling me. "Yes?"

Thormund sent a knowing look at the book I was reading in the light of the bonfire. "What are you studying?"

"Dovahzul." I replied, returning to the book.

Thormund paused. "I understand that Dovahzul is somehow related to Dovahkiin, so it has to do with dragons, but what exactly is it?"

"The dragon language." I replied casually. "The very same we use for the Thu'um. I'm trying to understand how it works."

"You intend to have a discussion with a dragon?" Asked Thormund, confused.

Well… I sort of did. But I couldn't tell him that. "We're going to meet the Greybeards and I'd like to know what they're telling to us."

"We're going to meet the Greybeards?" Asked Thormund again. "Are you sure?"

I shrugged. "I mean, the Dragonborn is going to meet them for sure. Unless you don't want to follow him to High Hrothgar, we're going to meet them." I paused a second. "That's if the Greybeards don't summon us themselves. I'm not sure what their reaction to two rogue Tongues will be."

"Ah, yes." Commented on the giant. "I thought about that myself. You talked extensively about the Way of the Voice, and I'm not sure they'll be too pleased about us."

I shrugged again. "I mean, the Way of the Voice became the dominant doctrine because it's proved to be the best method to learn the Thu'um. I don't agree completely agree that the Voice should be used only to venerate the Gods, but I agree it should not be used as a tool for conquest. That's a waste of a powerful gift. Besides, I'm sure that if the Dragonborn tell us we're good, they are going to accept it."

"I hope so." Admitted Thormund. "I tried to not use my gift with the Voice for fighting, fearing that I was going to disrespect the Greybeards, but I don't feel like I should live in the mountain with them. I'm a man of action, not of meditation. That, I think, is more your area of expertise."

I chuckled. "Maybe. How's the stew going?"

The large man took a spoonful of the food and tasted it. "Almost ready."

We had decided to start our travel to Riften, and to the Dawnguard, the day after the fight with the Silver Hand. Well, I decided to do it because I feared that if we stayed too much near the dragon, Milmunir, or whatever his name was, was going to make a visit and I didn't feel ready for that. Like, I was almost killed by a Deathlord a week ago. I wasn't ready for a fucking dragon.

Hence the reading on Dovahzul.

Anyway, my plan with the Dawnguard was pretty simple. I knew they were going to be founded again but I didn't know when. With a little luck, they were already working on it but not starting the recruiting yet. And since most of the questline was boring shit, I decided to leave Thormund to deal with that. Yes, that's right. I wasn't going to join him for now. I told him that we were going to join forces when he had to help a Vigilantes of Stendarr exploring a cave full of vampires. I had other things to do… since Riften was full of interesting quests that I could take, including the ones that gave me increased magic resistance and the one that gave me the Ancient Knowledge ability. In non-gaming terms, one gave me the blessing of Mara and protected me against magic, the second planted part of the Dwemer knowledge in my head, presumably giving me a lot of insight on how their tech worked. And in the grand scheme of things, that was better than going around killing vampires for the Dawnguard. Besides, Thormund was more than qualified to take care of them himself. He was a better fighter than I.

Still, it was dangerous to hunt vampires, so I had Fenrir go with him. I could resolve both the quests I had decided to do with stealth and magic. Or magic improved stealthiness, anyway. Thormund would have to fight, willing, or not. So, a powerful wolf was surely something that could help him.

But not before I finished crafting an Enchanted collar for Fenrir, something to give him decent protection from harm. I was almost done with it, but between the travel and whatnot, it was still a work in progress. As soon as I was inside Riften for supplies I was going to finish it.

And speaking of Thormund and Fenrir…

"Are you sure about this, Loki?" Asked Thormund, patting Fenrir on his head. "You'll be in danger if you go alone."

I shrugged. "I think I can defend myself now, my friend. I have decent armor, good weapons, and my opponents are not going to be invulnerable anymore. Besides, the only thing that can pose a serious problem for me if I play my cards right is the Centurion. I'm going to be ok."

"I hope so." Commented on the Nord. "Skyrim needs your knowledge of the future, my friend."

"Don't worry about me. I'm going to be as cautious as possible. Unfortunately, not every situation requires a companion. I could, of course, hire a mercenary if you think it's going to help."

"It is?"

"Depends. Does the mercenary in question know Invisibility and pseudo-flight spell? Because my entire plan is to stay out of reach and pass between the dwemer homunculi."

"And the Centurion? You mentioned one." Asked Thormund.

"That will take a little work." I admitted. "Or maybe not. It all depends if I can place the cube on the altar when it's still deactivated. I should be fine: if I can fly over the various traps, it's not going to take that long."

Yeah, that was my plan. Fighting all the homunculi in a dwemer ruin? Fuck that. I'm going to be invisible and flying over their heads while completely ignoring them.

"I can't say that I like that strategy, but it's a solid one." Admitted Thormund. "Especially if you are not that good at fighting. Just remember to keep some magicka potions on you."

"I always do, Thormund." I reassured him, before I return to reading the book.

It took us another couple of days before reaching Riften. During that time, I managed to gain some vague understanding of how to speak Dovahzul, even if I still couldn't speak fluently. It helped that I knew some words, but I was still far from being fluent in the language.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that I spent a lot of time completing the Collar of Ebony Hide for Fenrir. But that was just an idea.

"So we agree." Said Thormund. "We're going to use Riften as our base of operations for now. I'll visit the Dawnguard, then we'll meet back here and you're going to send me to wherever they want me to go."

"Exactly." I said. "It's useful to have someone who knows how to make portals, right?"

Thormund chuckled. "Quite. You're sure I'm not going to be sent to this tomb you talked about? The ones with this… Serana woman inside?"

"We're quite early." I replied. "Normally, you would go to the Dawnguard when they start to recruit. Instead, they're just starting rebuilding the old fort."

That was, of course, a thing we heard only when we got near Riften. Voices were spreading, but not fast enough to be heard across Skyrim.

"I should be returned far before you're done with them. But in the case I'm wrong and you have to go immediately, stop there and wait. I need to be there when you free Serana."

"Why?" Asked Thormund. "I understand your plan, but why you want to be there? Is it something personal?"

"More or less. Serana is not a bad woman. But she is a vampire and she could get violent, she's been in that tomb for an unknown amount of time. I want to be there so nothing can go wrong."

"Very well, my friend. I'll do as you ask." He nodded at me and took his horse. "Farewell."

"Goodbye you two. Be careful." I said. Thormund runs away, and Fenrir sent me a last glance before following him.

Very well. Let's start with the Mara mission, shall we? More magic resistance was always a good thing.

-X-

'Acquiring' the missions was easy. A brief talk at the temple of Mara and an even quicker visit to the docks got me both. I would like to say that it was interesting, but it was not. A lot of nothing. Especially the Argonian. Too easy. She practically begged me to take the damn cube away.

But, as I said, first things first. And for starters, I was going to do the mission of Mara, since it was -relatively- safe and it gave me something that was going to be immeasurably useful for later. Fortunately, I had a solution for doing all the three targets fast.

Basically, I used my ability with magic to teleport directly near them.

Sounds easy, but it's not. It's difficult magic, especially without a Mark spell to give you a solid understanding on where to land, so I had to improvise and burn a lot of materials to fuel the spell. Yes, that's actually a thing. You could use magicka inside Soul Gems or alchemical ingredients to fuel rituals. You never questioned why most summoning circles you found around were surrounded by Soul Gems? Well, that's why.

Of course, there was another problem with executing a ritual instead of casting it normally like every other spell, aside for the obvious problem that they usually cost more than one mage can safely use without dying. Namely, that you needed time to set up one.

Of course, that didn't stop me. I created the circle, used the materials, end teleported. Rapidly, considering the distances involved, but still a lot of time. It took me most of the day, but in the end, I found myself in the middle of a plain near… Markarth? I didn't know. Skyrim geography was not my best subject.

So, with the last energies I had left, I opened another portal right in front of Mara's temple and got my reward. Fucking hell. I needed to rest before adventuring inside the ruins.

And so it was the magic resistance at his highest and a belt full of magicka potions that I adventured in the dwemer ruins known as Avanchnzel.

Fortunately, while a little clumsy, my flight spell worked great. Of course, to reduce as much as possible the consumption of magicka, I was forced to use it at the lowest speed possible, which was somewhat similar to the speed of a not particularly fast person taking a stroll. However, 3D movement was a hell of a bonus, especially since the most common enemy there were going to be Dwemer Spiders. Those didn't have the ability to shoot at long distances. I could just hide behind some of the gigantic tubes that were everything in a dwemer ruin and shoot the machines down from a safe spot.

Which was exactly what I was going to do because dwemer metal, oil, and various components of the animuncoli were pretty good for making money. The Souls Gems, in particular, were really useful to me. I knew I said to Thormund that the plan was to avoid them when it was possible, and I thought it was a good idea at the time, but… there was literally no reason to not kill them when they couldn't even touch me, and besides, the idea of avoiding them was to save time. But I was flying so slowly that it made no difference. Also, it gave me the excuse to use something else that I was researching, namely infusing spells in weapons without Enchanting.

Yeah, that was a thing. It was just useless most of the time because you had to cast the spell on your weapon and in the middle of the battle, making it quite dangerous. But, if I had the time to cast a spell, take aim and shoot a juiced-up projectile, why not try it? I wasn't going to have the time to do that in a melee fight unless I researched for a rather unorthodox spell. But I could try the basic version.

So, very slowly, very carefully, I descended in the depths of Avanchnzel, flying high to avoid traps and monsters I couldn't one-shot, and started to test my spells. What were the animunculi weak at?

Ah, whatever. I took an arrow from my quiver and infused it with a lightning spell.

Why using an infused arrow instead of a lightning bolt? Because the lightning bolt was incredibly visible. An arrow was not.

So, I aimed at the closest Dwemer Spider and shot.

The thing exploded. I can't describe it in any other way. All the energy contained inside the dwemer construct made the thing violently ejects its limbs when my arrow struck it and dealt what, apparently, was a lethal blow.

Uh. That was easy.

Of course, the 'death' of one of theirs made the other Spiders go in a frenzy, trying to find the killer.

Then another arrow hit another Spider and it died too.

Uh. Too easy. Spell infused arrows were killers.

I continued down the path for a while, eliminating Spiders every time they appeared in my field of vision. Thanks God I was very good at magic. Infusing arrows was relatively free until I used low-level spells. Low-level spells were still enough to one-shot the spiders, of course. And the levitation and invisibility, while costly, were manageable. It was going to take a while before I was out of magicka.

That was, of course, until I found the dwarves spheres.

Ok, ok. No panic. I just had to infuse a more powerful lightning spell into the arrows, and I was going to be golden. C'mon, c'mon, work…

It didn't work. My arrow struck the thick plating of the construct and, while it caused considerable damage, it failed to kill the creature outright.

My second arrow, hastily thrown, planted itself in the head of the machine and did a better job at killing it dead.

Ok. I could work with that.

Of course, the Dwemer Spheres had problems with things that were above them, but unlike the Spiders, they could shoot with an in-built crossbow. Fortunately, I just needed to retreat into a dark corner every time I shoot and they were never going to find me. Especially since I continued to enter and exit invisibility, making finding me an exercise of futility.

Meanwhile, I proceeded, taking down every enemy slowly and steadily, an infused arrow at a time. It was a long process, but it was relatively safe. It would have been faster if I had a longbow or an equivalent weapon, even a crossbow… but I neglected to improve my weapons in that sense. I still had a relatively common short bow. Which was doing its job fine, anyway. The only way to increase my power output was to use special arrows, since the material only enhanced the distance I could launch my arrows. I gained nothing from a powerful bow if the arrow couldn't penetrate armor well enough.

But of course, I found a lot of Dwemer weapons. While I was not going to change my new daggers -which was not made of Ebony, but of Adamantite, as I discovered later- I gladly got rid of my wooden bow for a more powerful Dwemer one, and took several arrows. Those were going to be useful for later. I also took out my longsword and took a Dwemer one. Not particularly different from the steel one and also a little heavier, but it was free, so who cared?

So, while a little tedious, it was safe. And I amassed a lot of loot in the meanwhile. Which was going to be helpful later.

I had the dwarves to thank for that, of course. Their preference for incredibly high ceilings and mechanized rooms made hiding and shooting really easy. I could just use invisibility and long rage to kill everything in sight while being high in the air and untouchable. Especially since there seemed to be few Spheres in this place, scarcely any Centurions either. I mean, some were laying around, but they were either killed by the last looters or their production stopped in the middle.

I sighed. Stealthy archer for the win, apparently. Both in the game and in real life. But after all, I always had a pretty good aim. It was logical to take that path.

Especially against a Centurion. They were big, powerful mechs, and I had zero confidence in my ability to fight one in melee combat. I was also pretty sure they had some kind of magical ward on them, but fortunately, I just needed to infuse my arrows with lightning to do the job. From what I remembered, Enchanted weapons didn't count for the barrier, since they… uh… I wasn't sure how it worked, really. I suppose the best explanation I got was that they bypassed it by activating the effect the moment the weapons made contact. I was unsure if that worked with magic resistance and Spell Absorption too, but I wasn't eager to try.

As a side note, I'll say that the looting of the place was insane. Of course, since Dwemer ruins like these were not, like, tombs but cities and places that were inhabited, they contained a lot more valuable loot than the average Nordic tomb. Jewelry, various pieces of equipment, rare metals… all that and more. Fortunately, I had the fly spell active, because if not I would have been forced to use a Feather spell to let me move with any kind of speed. But since I was already flying very slowly and nothing could stop my spell from moving any slower -except, probably, strong winds- I had no problem just levitating around with my backpack full of Dwemer trinkets.

Man, I was going to come out of the place absolutely loaded. Pun not intended.

Still, I needed to plan for the Centurion. I could just shoot it until he died, or I could lead him to some of the local traps, but I wasn't sure they would work. The Centurion was heavily armored and armed, and while the basic model from the game had no ranged weapons aside from its steam breath, I had seen several models of Dwemer Sphere in this place that had different weapons attached. The basic model had a crossbow and a blade, but some had maces, heavy crossbows, spears, shields, and so forth. Of course, it made sense that the game reduced the variety for simplicity's sake, but that didn't let me understand if the Centurion was going to have a powerful ranged weapon or not. Of course, considering most of those bastards in ESO had the ability to shoot electricity, I was probably not safe in any case, but the electricity they could generate was probably a magical effect and so I was reasonably sure I could resist it. Hopefully.

So, it was with a certain amount of apprehension that I flew down to the last corridor and in the subsequent room.

Of course, I spotted the five-something meter construct right away. It was kind of difficult to not see it. So, I flew on a tube high in the air and thought about how to kill the thing, if a couple of arrows placed in the face were not enough.

Mmm… actually, I had to try that before thinking about an alternative route? Summoning something big and scary could help, but the Centurion was probably stronger than anything short of a very big and powerful deadra… and those were rare, from what I remembered. The biggest deadra I remember seeing was the Daedric Titan, which was more or less the size of a dragon. More less than more, actually, but still impressive. Mmmm… there was also a particularly big Deadroth I saw on ESO, easily six meters of reptilian demon. But I had no idea if I could summon one of those.

Soooo… just hide and kill then. From there it looked like the Centurion had just melee weapons on him. I could safely kite him. Well, that's if my weapon could even damage it. But if I remembered correctly, this particular Centurion was already partially damaged by the previous adventures… so it couldn't be that tough.

Taking a deep breath, I took a dwarven arrow, infused it with lightning magic, at aimed to the metallic giant. Then, I released the string.

It was a clumsy shot, but it struck true. Despite a last-second slip -stopping breathing to better take aim was good until you started to need air- the arrow hit the construct right in the head.

Considering how much I worried about the lack of power I was going to experience because of the animunculi having ridiculously tough armor, the damage I inflicted was quite extensive. Most of that was probably the shock spell charged in the arrow, but still, impressive. The Dwemer arrow planted itself pretty solidly in the metal head, probably finding some weak spot in the solid armor of the creature, and the shock spell did the rest.

Of course, it had not killed the thing. Far from it. But it was a pretty good hit, and I could work with that. If I managed to hide from the construct.

Which I almost failed at. The thing was not very smart or observant, from what I could get looking at it, but whatever programming the Dwemer installed inside it was advanced enough to understand what an arrow shot meant and where the potential archer could hide to have the best shot. Unfortunately for him, I dived behind cover the moment he started to turn, and while they were impressive machines, they didn't have inbuilt X-ray vision or some life-detect spell. Sorry, bud. Next time you're going to do it.

Or not, because when I felt relatively save, alias when the damn thing stopped searching from me exactly under my hiding spot, I took aim again and shoot the thing dead with another well-placed arrow… even if it was mostly the spell infused inside the arrow doing the job, than me having an overpowered bow. Even if, honestly, the bow probably was quite op, since it could partially pierce the armor of the colossus. Still, I probably wouldn't be able to defeat the mech so easily if I couldn't infuse spells into my attacks. Or fly. That surely was the biggest deciding factor. Out of reach, most of the opponents inside the city couldn't hope to hit me with what I was sure were powerful weapons. In a fair fight, I was probably going to lose.

Luckily, I didn't fight fair. One day, maybe, I would be able to fight side-by-side with the best warriors of Skyrim… but today was not that day.

Now, I just needed to place the damn cube on the pedestal at the end of the room, maybe loot the two centurions to see if for some miracle I was able to recover their cores -which I could use as an energy source if needed- and the get the hell out of there.

And I did exactly that.

I just forgot what the Ancient Knowledge ability was supposed to be. In-game, it was a nifty little power that gave you increased armor bonus on Dwemer Armors and increased the experience you gained from Smithing, letting you increase its level faster.

In reality, it was part of the enormous knowledge of Avanchnzel, an ancient city-library of the Dwemer, jammed into your brain by the cube, the Lexicon. You didn't get the bonus to armor and Smithing just because. You got it because you learned part of the secrets of the Dwemer. And I never really understood that before I placed the cube on the pedestal.

Instantly, a stream of information flowed inside my head. Things I didn't understand, fragments of greater works that were useless without the other parts. I got visions of complex calculations that I didn't know what they were supposed to represent, fragments of theories about the nature of the universe, and other useless pieces of data that, on their own, didn't help me.

But I also got something else. I got secrets of Dwemer craft. Nothing groundbreaking like Tonal Architecture or whatever they did to make their creations last that long. Little things. But enough to completely change my idea on how blacksmithing was supposed to work.

When I recovered from the sudden knowledge hammered into my skull, I shook my head. Well, that was… informative, I suppose. And… maybe it was a start for something greater? The insight I obtained from that would be invaluable for helping people understand Dwemer craft. Unfortunately, I didn't receive illumination regarding Tonal Architecture. That would have been something that could completely revolutionize the face of Tamriel. Cheap, durable machinery, and automatons could jumpstart Tamriel into modern technology level or even above. And maybe it was not a good idea to share that knowledge at all. Considering the end of the Dwemer, that sort of reality-altering power was probably better to be lost.

Still, I would write down what I discovered there, if I could. It was nothing to be incredibly excited about: little tricks and as such. But, and that was the kicker, those little tricks were extremely useful. For one, they made wearing Dwemer Armor much easier, and much easier to forge. Dwemer Armor was not common, but based on what I heard from the Companions, that was because it was extremely heavy and didn't grant that much protection compared to other, similarly heavy armors. That could make Dwemer Armor far more common and widespread, since it wasn't bad armor: it was just that there were better alternatives around. After all, metallurgy evolved since the times of the Dwemer and while their signature bronze-ish metal was good, it was not comparable to various alloys that the people of Tamriel developed in the meantime. It's only advantage on other heavy armors was that it was relatively cheap and easy to produce. Characteristics that, I suppose, were the reason the advanced Dwemer never bothered to use a different type of armor.

But with my little tricks, maybe I could push Dwemer armor from meh to actually good. And who knows? Maybe, in the future, this knowledge could help rediscover the ancient craft of the Deep Elves. It was something I was not going to be there to see, unfortunately, but everything the people on Tamriel did after I defeated Alduin was on them. I didn't want to stay here more than I needed.

So, I left the Lexicon on the pedestal, looted whatever remained to loot, and headed out. I had to use a Feather spell to get out without too many efforts, but once I was out, it was Sleipnir's job to take me to Riften. Which he did without particular problems.

Well, and those quests were done too. Now, what was the next one on my plan?

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.5

I have a confession to make. I didn't really have a real plan.

I had a series of objectives and means to do them, but not a grand, unified plan that could gently lull me to total victory. That was because, among other things, I didn't know when things were supposed to happen. Alduin still wasn't pushing for world domination, so I had time for that. The Civil War was at an impasse until Ulfric or General Tullius did or didn't get the Crown, so that was another thing. The vampires weren't waiting for me to start their attacks, but apparently we were early for that. And of course, Miraak was probably already bending the people of Solstheims collective will, but he needed me -well, the soul of a Dragonborn, really- to escape Apocrypha, or in absence of that, completing his temple… which would require a ton of time.

So… yeah. No real countdown to the end of the world. I had time, and I didn't know what to do with that time. Fortunately, I knew how to accelerate events that were advantageous to me, even if I wasn't able to stop all the negative ones.

So, lacking an urgent goal and lacking all the information to stop all the bad things happening in Skyrim right now, the only thing I could do was study the situation and find a way to increase my chances to solve them when the time came.

So, I reached a conclusion. I was still wholly underpowered to deal with the higher powers of Skyrim. I needed more power, and I also needed to make sure that my allies were going to be up to the task.

And while Kayleen and Karliah were good -Nightingale armor was hella good- me and Thormund were… not so well equipped. Of course, our armor and weapons were decent, but we needed far more. Ebony, if not Daedric, even if I doubted that Thormund was going to be happy to wear Daedric Armor. We also needed powerful Enchantments on the weapons and armor, and since I hated being wasteful, I was going to Enchant only our final equipment. No sense in wasting soul energy on equipment that we were going to leave behind.

Of course, in the meantime, we could just use whatever Enchanted item we found. But those were not necessarily going to be what we needed.

Which pointed to the next course of action. Finding the best equipment I could. Since most loot was random, I had no idea where the actual good stuff was unless I went to the Deadric Princes, and I didn't want to.

There was an exception: the Gauldur's Amulet.

The stories on what the three murderous sons of Gauldur did with the fragments of the Amulet were insane. Jyrik, the one I fought, could apparently kill ten battlemages with it… which, considering the Spell Absorption effect on the Amulet, made sense. In hindsight, summoning a large brute was probably a good idea. More mages just meant more power for him.

The other two had similar feats: the health one apparently let the son who had it fight a small army for three days before getting killed, while the other let his owner kill one of the strongest warriors of his time in a 1v1 duel. So, combined, the fragments had some real power behind them. I… disliked the idea of being dependant on the Amulet to be a decent fighter, but the other abilities of the amulet -increased durability and/or Wolverine-like regeneration- made it too useful to pass it up. Besides, I didn't like melee fighting anyway: even if the Amulet made me good, I wasn't forced to fight that way. So I wouldn't.

That was strange anyway. Why would a mage put on an amulet to make him better as a fighter? It looked like a stupid idea. Maybe the actual Enchantment was something else? If in Skyrim Magicka and magicka-related Enchantments represented magic skills, Health durability and, well, health, Stamina… could Stamina be a representation of fighting staying power? Alas, not skill, not speed or strength, but… how much a warrior could remain in combat before collapsing?

The story of how the last Gauldurson managed to defeat the warrior in question was not particularly accurate. He could not defeat all his opponents, so he challenged the boss of the army, and, in the end, there wasn't a winner. But wait… the army was composed of battlemages. Maybe…

Yes, the commander of the army was Archmage Geirmund, which was probably a Battlemage too. So, the Gauldurson didn't have to match some top-of-the-top warrior, but at worst a battlemage, which, while surely powerful in physical combat, was not a dedicated fighter. So, it stood to reason that the Stamina effect was just for gameplay purposes and the actual effect was something different. Some form of protection, probably. Enough to sustain you in a fight with a superior foe and score some good hits, but not enough to completely overcome the disparity.

Well, I was going to find out because, well, the guy was the nearest one. It was in the same place I had to do one of the missions, so, yeah. I already knew the location so it was going to be pretty easy to reach it. And, maybe I remembered wrong, he was actually the easiest of the three to defeat.

Or that would have been the idea, but the problem was that I wasn't sure if I dared to venture inside the tombs of two powerful draugr… not now, at least. But if I had more mastery over my magic, I could.

That meant Oghma Infinium. And, while I was there, I could even complete Azura's Star quest. I just needed to find the place where the damn Star was, and I was pretty sure I just needed a little research for that. How many half-flooded fortresses were in Falkreath? And after I gave the Star to her legitimate owner, if my memory wasn't fuzzy, I could find a little cave near the Temple… the Something Pit? Sightless, maybe? I didn't remember. It was a strange little place, with enormous bones scattered about. I think. I'm not sure it's that place, but I remember passing near it while going to the temple, and there were Falmer structures nearby. Which meant, of course, Falmer blood for me. The last component for the Ogma. I could simply go to Blackreach but… nah.

But before that, I had to wait for Thormund to return, so I could send him straight to his next quest while I went on my own. It… will take him a day or two at most. I also suspected what his next quest was going to be. I told him to tell the boss of the Dawnguard -Isaiad or something- about the plan of the vampires. That, in turn, would probably urge him to get his better assets right now and not after the vampire's attack Fort Dawnguard. Which meant that all the NPC's that gave questlines to retrieve schematics or Enchanted items were going to be there sooner, which meant that the attack was going to come sooner. I also provided Thormund with basic information on the timeline, in order to avoid a lot of problems by telling the Dawnguard to keep an eye on the Moth Priest and avoiding him losing his eyes. Basically already knowing most of what we needed to do.

Unfortunately, like always, I didn't remember where the various things were going to happen. I remembered that the Moth Priest was going to be attacked near Dragon Bridge, but the cave where Serana was or the way to access the Forbidden Valley? No clue. Or rather, I remembered where the Forbidden Valley was, more or less -somewhere in the extreme north-west- but unless I found a flying mount or managed to finish the shapeshifting spell, I wasn't able to get there anyway.

All of this would be immensely easier if I could just remember those important details. Dammit.

Anyway, I decided to pass time by learning Dovahzul and writing down my newfound knowledge of Dwemer smithing… discovering that I could now read the language of the Dwemer. More or less. I had some difficulty with the grammatical structure of the phrases, but I could more or less understand most of it. Probably a side effect of the Ancient Knowledge.

Thormund arrived two days after me, looking tired but not hurt in any way. Fenrir, on the other hand, looked positively brimming with energy. But my wolf had long stopped being normal. He probably just didn't feel tired. After the travel from Winterhold to Whiterun, going to Fort Dawnguard and back was probably a walk in the park.

"Well?" I asked, stopping my reading. "How did that go?"

"Pretty well, I'll say." Smiled Thormund. "Your information, while vague, was good enough to convince Isran to search for the people you mentioned."

"He asked you to search for them?" I asked, already expecting an affirmative answer.

"Yes. Myself and one other."

Really? That was unexpected, even if I probably shouldn't be surprised. After all, why send one person to find two when you could send two people and do it in half the time?

"Really? Who?"

"Solanus Astoras." He said. "I'm not sure who he is, but he seemed like a good man. I supposed he was sent because of his sword, anyway."

His sword?

"His sword?" I repeated aloud.

"A guard-less straight sword with a glowing gem inside the hilt." Replied Thormund. "Looked like an artifact from the Nine, honestly. I hoped you knew better."

I did. "That's not an artifact of the Divine. That's Dawnbreaker, the weapon of Meridia. Solanus is her mortal champion."

Thormund paused for a second before continuing to speak. "Meridia is the Lady of Infinite Energies, if I remember correctly? One of the Deadric Princes."

"Eh." I replied, making a so-so gesture. "Not really. I mean, yes, technically speaking, but no. You see, Meridia was one of the Magna-Ge, the ancestral spirits that took part in the creation of Nirn but fled when they understood the price of doing so. Later, for some reason, she was exiled from the Aetherium. Only then did she take up residence in Oblivion, bending part of the light of Magnus to form his own plane, the Colored Rooms. So, she's a Deadric Prince just because they kicked her out from Aetherium."

Thormund blinked. "Does it makes any difference, aside from an academic standpoint?"

"Quite. The entire definition of what a Deadric Prince is depends on his attitude to the creation of the world. By that definition, Meridia is not a Deadric Prince: she just happens to share the same neighborhood with them." I paused. "From a practical point of view, she's generally benevolent. Or, to be correct, she hates everything that's unliving with a passion, so she's usually on the mortal's side. Her weapon, Dawnbreaker, is a powerful tool against the Undead. It's infused with the power of cleansing light that burns the Undead. And when one is felled by it, its body explodes in flames that consume other Undead and make them flee. It's a good thing we have the champion of Meridia on our side for this. He's going to tear the vampires apart if they ever come close to him."

Thormund nodded. "Yes, I believe so. I'm not sure I can trust a deadra worshipper, but he seemed a decent person."

"Meridia is… forceful, in her acquisition of a champion." I said. "She could just have strong-armed him to do the work. You should ask him when you have time."

"I'll remember to ask then." Replied Thormund. Then, an awkward pause. "Loki, I… I've decided what to do regarding the Civil War."

Oh? Good. Excellent, even. "Really? And what do you decided?"

"I know your position on the entire thing." Replied Thormund, and just like that, I knew which side he had chosen. One doesn't start with a premise like this when he's going to say he'll do what you want. "But I can't, in good conscience, side with the Empire. You're right: we need Skyrim with the Empire. But I can't just accept the terms of the White Concordat."

"So you'll side with the Stormcloacks." I finished.

"Yes." Admitted Thormund. "I'll try to make Jarl Ulfric see reason. To find a compromise: independence but cooperation. Enough to be free by the White Concordat but ready to side with the Empire when the time comes."

"And if you can't?" I asked, a little steel filtering into my tone. I doubted Ulfric was going to change his mind.

"I'll cross that bridge the moment I have to."

I nodded. "Very well. But I warn you, Thormund. If Ulfric decides to attack Whiterun, I'll be there. Not for the Empire. Just to stop the Stormcloaks. And while I doubt I can defeat you… the army will not face a good time."

Thormund didn't say anything for a second. "Yes, I understand. I'll warn Jarl Ulfric, my friend. Maybe that will stop him to do anything rash."

"I doubt it." I replied. "But thank you for trying. Now, where do I have to send you?"

I portaled Thormund and Fenrir's ass to the other side of Skyrim and, the next day, I was ready for what could probably, possibly, be the penultimate amount of time I lost to a secondary quest. After that, all I was going to do was recover the Gauldur Amulet and then just follow major questlines or trying to fuck them up as much as possible. Well, the only real questline I wanted to fuck up was the Dark Brotherhood's one, even if my faulty memory, as always, wasn't going to remember little details like, you know, the location of the damn sanctuary. I just remembered enough to point in the direction of Falkreath, but nothing more.

To tell the truth, I hoped that, by telling Ralof about Aretino, I stopped the new Listener to show up, but I doubt it. After all, I didn't go to Riften and the questline of the Thieves Guild didn't stop, on the contrary, it was already ending. So, someone probably had taken the role. After all, Aventus Aretino was just one guy who was trying to summon the Dark Brotherhood. There were probably a lot more people trying to perform the Black Sacrament and all it took for the Listener to show up was mistakenly kill one of the targets without knowing.

So… yeah. I was going to assume the questline was proceeding until proven wrong.

Also, I was probably going to do some quests if I had the time or I was coincidentally going in the same direction as them. With Meridia out of the way, the only real Daedric Prince I was willing to meet was Sheogorath… which was in Solitude, where I was going to go regardless. I didn't consider this a waste of time. It would take me, at most, an hour to do that quest.

So, I passed several days preparing for my fight. I remembered, more or less, what enemies I was going to find where the Star was. Mages, mages, and then even more mages. And necromancers, but those counted as mages. Like I learned, Necromancy was not a School. Not really. It was a method used by some mages to acquire power over death, and most of its powers were linked to the rituals you could perform with it. Unlike what ESO did, you couldn't just summon skeletons from the thin air. Or, to be more precise, you could but they were not skeletons you got from the general vicinity, but summoned creature in a way not very different from a deadra. So, most necromancers were conjurers on top of being necromancers, and supplied their power with classic Destruction spells.

Which was a huge fucking waste, because they could have cool death-themed powers and instead they decided to be the most boring necromancers ever and have a huge Undead armada. But unfortunately, cool death powers were not something that could be done with Necromancy, apparently. It made sense of course since Necromancy looked like soul manipulation instead of control of 'death energies' or 'necromantic energies', whatever you wanted to call them. The Elder Scrolls simply didn't have a cosmology that supported that kind of power.

Maybe Necromancy would be less scorned if 99% of it didn't consist of reanimating dead bodies to kill everything and had some other stuff. But the 'other stuff' could probably be considered some mixed-school spell. Like, the Bone Armor and the Bone colossus transformation were more corpse-themed Alteration or Conjuration spell then pure necromantic spells. But then, all ESO classes were more thematic than really grounded in the actual school of magic.

Which made sense, because the ESO classes, aside for something that was created for an MMO game, were also created in a time period were the Lore could accommodate for them. The Mage Guild was founded at best a ten years before the main event, considering that they were there but they didn't seem to have the enormous influence and power of the later games. It was a time frame where less institutionalized magical organizations could still exist, and that's where the various classes could be slotted. Sure, most of the Schools of magic were conceptualized by Shalindor, who was alive in the First Era, but it wasn't until much later that they were officially adopted by everyone in the world.

But that would explain why the class that more resembled modern magical theory, the Sorcerer, had a heavy storm influence. It was probably a tradition born in Skyrim, with their storm themed gods and origins, and the College of Winterhold that, if the story that it was founded by Shalindor was true, made him the oldest non-eleven head of a magical institution in the world. The primacy probably went to the Psijic Monks.

I'm rambling. It unfortunately happens quite often that I start to nerd-ranting about my favorite universes. The point was that necromancers weren't a particularly different challenge from the normal mages, so I could prepare for them in the same way.

And, like Geralt of Rivia taught me, preparation was a huge part of success. So, like a true Witcher, I prepared potions, scrolls, and various equipment.

-X-

"Thank you very much, Balimund. You have no idea how much I was going to need this."

"My pleasure, Loki." Replied the blacksmith, smiling. "After all, you helped me find the Fire Salts for my forge. The least I could do was to show you how to create something like this. It's not like you were asking me the secret of my forging techniques."

The 'thing' in question was a bandolier. I had the ability to create a lot of potions and other useful things, but those things couldn't help me in a pinch if they were inside a bag. So, I asked the first guy I thought had a reasonable chance to have something that could help, and if not at least be able to give me a hand. That guy was Balimund, the local blacksmith. Chosen because I had a surplus of Fire Salts from all the mages I found here and there, and so it was a simple thing to gain his trust. I just had to give him the salts.

With this new bandolier, I had my potions on hand, and I could draw and drink them as fast as I could cast any spell. Which was the main way I was going to fight from now on. A potion ready for a buff and then come down on them with magic or a sword, depending on the opponent. In the case of the people inside the keep, probably a sword. I just needed a Silence spell to make them useless.

Mmmm… I was starting to become a bit too willing to kill people. But there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't just let them escape. They were murderers that feed souls to a mad mage.

Anyway, I didn't go to Balimund just for that. I also had another reason.

"Since we're talking about forging techniques, I have something that you may find interesting." I said, putting a book out of my bag. "I had a strange adventure in a Dwemer ruin not a long time ago, and I was… well, bombarded with information about their craft. Nothing groundbreaking like the secrets to their constructs, I'm afraid, but it could be something worth a little scrutiny. I put all the things I remember in this book. Would you like to give it a look and see if there is something interesting from a blacksmith point of view?"

Balimund took the book with a strange expression on his face. Like he wasn't sure he should be excited, worried, or something else. "I… I can try. I'm not sure I can understand what's written here."

"I think an experienced blacksmith is going to be more capable than me for that. I know very little about smithing aside for the basic theory."

"I suppose it makes sense." Admitted the smith. "I'll take a look at this. But then, what you want to do with this?"

"If what's inside helps you better understand Dwemer craft, publish it." I replied. "In my name, of course. I'll give you the money when I return."

"It will be done." He continued. "Thank you for your trust."

"Oh, you don't need to thank me for that. It's not like I can't punish you if you try to take the credit." I said, before casually opening a portal with a flick of the wrist. "But yes, I trust your Nord honor to prevent you from trying something like that. Now, I have to go. Goodbye, Balimund."

And with that, I stepped inside the portal, finding myself several miles away from Riften.

And right in front of a half-submerged fortress.

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.6

I grabbed one of my potions and chugged it down while I walked toward the entrance of the base. I could try to go directly for the exit on the central tower, but I was pretty sure it was protected by several spells. It would probably take less time for me to walk through the entire fortress and eliminate every enemy inside it, rather than force a highly protected door open and then fight whatever there was on the other side. Maybe. Probably.

Or maybe I wanted to test my gear and see if it worked as intended. Moonstone and quicksilver had some bland ability to protect from magic, boosted by some runes I put on it. Not that much, all things considered, but everything was better than nothing. I planned on using my potion to grant myself a near-total Spell Absorption effect, letting the armor block most of whatever eventually went through -and assuming that most of it were going to be canceled by my innate magic resistance anyway- and let them recharge my magicka reserve in the meanwhile.

Yeah, despite the confidence I showed to Balimund, it wasn't actually easy to pull off something like that. I had to prepare the ritual the day before and lock the location before actually completing it. Then, I had to expend a sizable chunk of my inner reserves to powering up the last part of the ritual and open the portal.

Unfortunately, I couldn't create a very powerful Spell Absorption effect since… well… ingredients. Despite what Skyrim showed, not every ingredient was as good as another for every potion, and there wasn't a little list that every ingredient had so that you could use them to make what you wanted. The ingredients had very… generic effects, by themselves. There wasn't an ingredient for Spell Absorption for example. There was however an ingredient that was more useful in trying to brew potions with curative and protective effects. So… ingredients were basically divided by school, or something very similar. Then it was the job of the alchemist to brew a potion with the desired effect. So, not complete protection. But good enough.

Man, if Alchemy was as easy as Skyrim showed, then everyone could be an alchemist. Of course, it wasn't. While ingredients usually were good just for a determined subset of magical effects. Probably derived from the combination of raw magicka with the normal components of the organism. Poisonous plants tended to be more useful for damaging effects, and common medical plants in my world were associated with restorative powers, just to make an example. That didn't mean that the effect was always the same, and there could be a lot of minor components mixed in. Most of what being an alchemist came to was the ability to distill the useful and wanted magicka effects from the undesired ones.

Another rambling. Probably distracting myself from the thought that I had to kill people again.

I tore open the trapdoor that connected the outside world from this place full of deadric summoners and necromancers with a twist of my hand and a heavy dose of telekinesis and jumped down. I landed heavily on the stone of the floor.

Maybe this time I wouldn't have to kill them, right? It didn't work with the bandits, and didn't work for the Caller and her minions, but surely there had to be someone that would not want to kill an outsider just because they passed nearby, right?

Then I noticed the skeleton shackled on the entrance and I remembered that these mages captured and killed people to feed their souls to a mad mage inside the Star of Azura.

Silly me. Thinking these people could be reasoned with.

I advanced. No sneakiness this time… in no small part because I wasn't good at it. I could more or less do it with enough spells, but… it wasn't worth it. Not when I was going to need my magic in the final fight and not when most of the people here couldn't harm me.

I opened the first door with a slam, finding a mage sitting on a table and a skeleton waiting near him. How could these people just sit around with the skeleton of someone hanging there?

I would never know, because I disintegrated the skeleton with a firebolt to the chest. It had taken me a while to get why that type of undead was so fragile, but it was pretty easy: the only thing that was keeping them together was magic. Hit them hard enough, and the magic will not be strong enough to keep the bones from flying anywhere, and with the body disassembled, if the hit hadn't destroyed the skeleton, they were completely useless.

So the skeleton exploded when I hit it with my magic. The necromancer stands up in a panic. "Alarm! Intr-glurkh…"

The rest of the sentence was cut short by my sword opening her throat. The mage fell on her knees trying to stop the blood from spilling everywhere, but it was useless.

That's because I decapitated her with the next strike. That would stop her companions from animating her body. I didn't want to kill her a second time.

Of course, that didn't stop her companions from bursting out of their own room to intercept me. I was greeted by a lightning bolt and a spike of ice to the face.

Both dissipated against my Spell absorption, doing no damage at all.

I felt my magicka rise and, since it looked like they had an Armor Spell on, I decided to blast them. Mmm… one looked like a Nord, the other an Altmer… no reason to use a particular spell.

My hand exploded with magical fire and it invaded the area in front of me, scorching the two mages. I saw their clothes burn under the assault. Their hands are covered with nasty burns, but they managed to deflect most of the blast with a magical barrier.

Then I jumped on the Nord woman and chopped her hands off. Before she could scream or do anything else, I thrust my sword into her rib cage, roughly at the height of her heart. She fell without a sound.

The Altmer man near her panicked. Hard. I was assaulted by a stream of lightning, Adept level from what I could tell. Problem: slightly magical protection from my armor, natural magical resistance from my Breton blood, and Spell Absorption power active.

Result: the first two or three seconds of the attack stung a little, like when you get shocked touching someone's hand. Then my Spell Absorption kicked in, the lightning got swallowed in my magicka reserves, and all it accomplished was to make my body twitch a little.

I replied with my version of a lightning bolt to his chest. The mage fell to his knee from the force of the attack. You can't really shake off a lightning bolt capable of exploding rocks easily. I was actually surprised that he didn't die from it, but I suppose that having studied magic helped with that. A little.

I put him out of his misery with my next strike. His head rolled into the corridor for several meters before stopping.

Now, I know how this looks. It looks like I'm some unstoppable murder machine capable of fending off three mages in the span of a minute. And… it's true, but it's not as cool as it sounds when you realize I was heavily stacking my chances against them. High magical resistance, magical -but not Enchanted- armor and a very high Spell Absorption effect meant that these mages could, 95% of the time, do nothing to me. I had specifically tailored myself into the most magically impervious creature short of a fucking dragon. That meant I could go full offense against them and, for the aforementioned 95%, suffer no consequences. It didn't matter if all my time was passed blasting or stabbing those bastards and that it left me open to attacks, because their attacks couldn't hurt me. There was no skill in what I did: I was just brute-forcing my way through the attacks. At the same time, since my defenses were wide open, my enemies just tried to kill me as fast as possible, which mean that they were wide open defensively.

Basically, I turned what could be an intense and lengthy magical fight with clever defenses and attacks into a magical slugfest. Where I was almost immune to be slugged. Not really fair. Against someone who didn't rely on magic, I was a far less difficult opponent. Point in case: the assassin that almost killed me by planting two daggers in my back. Like, the other week.

This also meant that maybe, just maybe, I should look for the skeletons. I mean, the ones I faced until now sucked, but maybe some of the later models will have some serious magic backup and could be, you know, actually decent at fighting. So maybe I should think of some way to prevent them from swarming me with skeletons. Not that I really believed that they had that many, but you never know.

But not before looting all the things I could loot, which amounted to several magical potions -I drank the magicka ones the moment I found them- and food. Mostly food. And what looked like a human heart.

Like… I know that human hearts are an alchemical ingredient in Elder Scrolls -like basically everything- but why couldn't these people show a minimum of fucking decency!? Do you kill people? Fine, I killed too. It's not like you can avoid it if you spend any time away from the villages and cities. You feed the souls of the people you kill to a mad mage inside a corrupted demonic artifact? Not fine, but souls had a more… intangible quality in them. Like, I had not tried to summon and bind a human soul, so I didn't know how real they felt. Academically, I knew they existed and so I avoided messing with them, but a soul was something so ethereal that it could not visualize what would happen to them. It was simply outside of my area of expertise. It was technically one of the worst things they could do to a human, far worse than anything else, but it was difficult for me to visualize how bad it was.

But someone had to butcher a person to take that fucking heart out of their body, and that was something I could visualize pretty well, and it disgusted me. And it disgusted me because I couldn't believe that someone could open a human being like a fucking pig to harvest his organs for potions! This wasn't a hospital where organs were going to be used to save lives. This was literally butchery, treating people like animals. Things to be used and then killed for personal gain.

Fuck them. Fuck them all.

So, instead of a calculated plan to defeat the entire bastion with minimal risk, I stormed to the next chamber.

Finding a mage and a skeleton. The skeleton looked a little tougher than the last one, and had better armor on it.

And it was a better fighter too, because it took notice of my presence and started to charge at me, but evading lightning bolts was not as easy as it sounded, which was… not easy. At all. Anyway, I blasted the damn thing with a series of shock spells.

The first made it stumble. The second made its left arm fly away. The third separated his ribcage from the rest of the body. It crumbled and died.

Or re-died? I'm not sure.

That was the moment when an ice spike flew toward my head again. But remember what I said about having tailored my defenses to make me immune to magic?

Exactly. The spike dissipated a centimeter from my face and I felt the magicka I just spent return to me.

I turned toward the spellcaster that had thought to attack me and walked toward him. In a fit of panic, he tried to do something about that -probably summon something, he looked like a Breton- but I didn't give him the time. I slashed his chest, and when he let out a pained cry, I chopped his arm off and opened his skull with my blade. His magical armor did next to nothing to stop me.

Breathing heavily, I watched the blood flow. I could have probably returned to my senses and feel some kind of regret from brutally murdering a man if not for the skeleton that opened the door a second later, brandishing a bow.

I blasted the damn thing with three firebolts in his face, then looked around to see if there was something I could take-

An arrow passed right next to my nose and I whipped my head to see the damn skeleton still standing there, with the bow ready to shoot.

Too late.

The arrow planted firmly into my left side, more or less where my spleen should be. Another arrow flew but, fortunately, hit the shoulder plating of my armor and was deflected.

I retaliated by exploding the thing with a shock spell. Apparently my fire spells had inflicted less damage than I expected. Weird, because skeletons didn't have a particular resistance to fire and I hit it with the same force I used on its companion.

I extracted the arrow from my side. It didn't puncture anything vital, fortunately. It didn't really puncture anything, aside for the mail under the plating. It didn't wound me, but I was going to have a bruise for that.

Slightly annoyed that a skeleton managed to shoot me while I decided just thirty seconds ago to take special precautions toward them, I managed to find enough sense to start getting a little more cautious. I explored a little around, finding two chests and… was that a malachite sword?

It was. For reasons unknown -but probably related to the people they killed- there was a sword made of what was unmistakably malachite -or glass, depending on the term you preferred- just lying around. Uh. Well, that was convenient. Sorry, dwarven sword, but you're being replaced.

I took the glass sword in my hand. Man, it felt nice. Light like a feather in my hand, and razor-sharp. Maybe it was just my enhanced strength that made me feel that way, but I still found the Dwemer swords a little heavier than the steel one I had, so that had to count for something, right?

I proceeded. More cautiously, this time. I was painfully reminded that no, just because I was almost immune to magic, didn't mean I was invincible. If that skeleton had better aim, I would have kissed my nose goodbye, and only my armor stopped it from leaving me without an organ. I could probably recover from the arrow in the spleen but I could not regrow my nose. At least… I don't think so?

Man, I needed some kind of short-range scrying spell. Something to scout a room or two forward to not be surprised by magical assholes.

Fortunately, the passage here didn't have doors that could hide any would-be ambushers, so I just proceeded cautiously until I arrived at a corner and looked around it to be sure there wasn't any danger.

Which there was. Two necromancers, a couple of skeletons, and I think I saw another necromancer ahead. That could be problematic. Damn it. The necromancers were next to useless, but they could help the skeleton if I didn't manage to kill them nicely and quickly. Fortunately, no one was looking in the same direction as the others. Not the necromancers at least. The skeletons were but they were stupid piles of bones, so I just had to wait for the right moment. When they were looking the other way, I could strike.

Which meant stealth. I had to kill at least one of the necromancers before he could realize I was there. And I wasn't taking any chances. I had to take them down as soon as possible. So, while it was probably unnecessary, I was going for two hits in the least time possible.

I also did a little magic and summoned an arrow for the work. In Skyrim, you had to summon the entire bow to have the daedric arrows -which, by the way, made the summoned bow the highest DPS bow in all the game, without taking Enchanted bows into consideration- but here I could summon a decent quality deadric arrow for very low cost in terms of magicka. So I did. Actually I summoned two, just to be sure. Better have them now than summon another one before making the second shot.

My precaution paid off when two arrows planted themselves in the necromancer's torso. He flopped to the floor without a sound.

Aaaaand… that was it. Nobody noticed anything. For now. The moment one of the remaining necromancers saw the body of his fellow mage, he's going to be alerted. Especially since they weren't stupid, they could deduce a dead body meant an enemy was near. So, better to prepare for them.

I summoned another two arrows before the next necromancers turned away from… whatever he was doing and saw his dead companion. I took aim…

And I planted an arrow in his spine. Before he could say anything, shout out in alarm or something, I sent another arrow to his back and he died as he lived. Like a piece of shit.

Now I just had to stop the skeletons from alerting the last one.

Wait…

I hit both skeletons with a Turn Undead spell. The moment I did, they… ran. Just ran. This will give me time. I had to act quickly after that. I cast an Invisibility spell and rushed the last caster.

"What in the Oblivion…" Started the woman, before she heard the sound of my steps behind her, just to turn around and find nothing.

My sword bit her shoulder. She cried out before I slashed her neck, unluckily failing to kill her with that. And, of course, since I attacked, my invisibility fell away.

She tried, emphasis on try, to cast some kind of spell on me. Surprisingly, it bypassed my Spell Absorption. I felt fear surge in my mind, telling me to run away from the mage…

But I squashed the feeling like the useless spell it was. Fear Spell? On a Breton? Get real woman.

My next move was an attempt of decapitation, which she blocked with a Ward spell. Good for her. It was not going to stop me.

Unfortunately, the next few hits were not on par with what I did until now. I expected to kill the woman with my initial assault. Now that she was fighting back, especially using magic to block my strikes, she put up a better resistance than I had expected.

It was enough to not let her animate eventual bodies around. And, at last, she slipped up, and put up the shield a little too late.

The glass sword pierced the clothes like they were not there and found her heart.

Great. Now I just needed to…

Not even the time to catch a breath that a fireball slam against me, robbing me of the ability to see what the fuck was happening near me. No damage, because the flames were devoured by my defenses like a snack, and that was enough to let me focus on the only part of the place that I had not explored. The next passage.

The moment the fire stopped blinding me, I saw the problem. Namely, a necromancer with the hands still leaking magical flames with four skeletons behind him. Probably the ones near him plus the ones I turned away. He had to have dispelled the spell.

No matter. I raised my hand, letting fire power on fire power accumulate in my hand. Then, when the fireball in my hand looked like a miniature sun, I released it on the enemies.

The explosion rattled the floor, the fire expanding like a flood of scarlet waves that engulfed the skeletons and the necromancer. No matter how powerful you were, you were going to die unless you put up a decent enough defense. You couldn't just rise your Health bar in real life.

Unfortunately, she survived. She raised her Ward in time to not be incinerated instantly. Then, she aimed at one of the corpses near and waved her hand, purple mist gathering around her arms.

The problem with that, of course, was that it was just a temporary advantage, since the best way to get rid of an animated dead was to get rid of the summoner.

I raised my hand again at the same moment she was wrapped in white light, probably healing herself. Smart, this necromancer. Since magic was apparently ineffectual, she raised a servant to block me while she healed herself and thought of a better way to kill me. Probably using other summoned undead to swarm me while she retreated.

Not that I was going to let her.

Lightning rained down the corridor, shaking the stone. The woman's Ward shattered at the first strike, letting the magic shock her and disrupting her concentration. Preventing her from reacting when my second lightning bolt disintegrated her.

"Anyone else?" I shouted, looking at the corpse of the bandit disintegrate as well. "No?" I sighed. "Good. I think I need a break."

Not a long one, because you never know when someone on the upper floor could decide to pay a visit. Just enough to eat something, drink a potion or two to renew my magical protection and loot the lootable.

Fifteen minutes should be enough.

-X-

It took me twenty minutes to do everything I needed to do, including drinking several potions of magicka recovery. I wished, not for the first time, that my magicka recovered as fast as in the game. Sure, spells sucked, but at least I would not be worried about not being able to cast a spell if I started to cast good ones around.

Jesus Christ, I really hoped that the last two pieces of the Gauldur Amulet gave me some sort of in-combat magicka regeneration. It would help me so much.

Anyway, I was still a little surprised that nobody came here to see what the hell happened. My last exchange with the necromancer lady was kind of brutal, and loud. Weary, I finally managed to arrive at the next floor of the fort, the part that was actually not flooded. Or, to be more precise, I quickly walked over a little stream coming from a damaged wall -I had the idea to make it go boom to flood the lower floor and stop everyone from using it, but in the end, I preferred silence- and continued down the corridor.

And I heard a conversation.

Wait, those psychopaths could hold a conversation instead of, you know, stay focused on their experimentations and don't give a fuck about people? That had to be a new high for them!

"We need more sacrifices. The last experiment didn't go as expected, but we can do it with another couple of people."

Forget it, these rotten motherfuckers…

I appeared in the doorframe. I probably looked pissed, because they turned to look at me and their expression instantly became terrified.

"Fo, Krah, Diin!"

Frost erupted from my mouth, covering the entire room with a mantle of ice and instantly freezing the furniture.

And also gravely injuring the mages, but unfortunately, they survived. Covered in frost burns, contorting agonizingly on the ground, but alive.

I correct that with two quick thrusts to their hearts. I would say that it should be a lesson to everyone who wanted to talk about sacrificing humans for their unholy experiments in front of me, but I doubted I would leave them alive if they did. No wonder people didn't like Necromancy. If these were the average example of necromancers, they could all burn.

… Well, I was a necromancer too, technically speaking, so… not all. Most. The blood-sacrifice, soul-devouring kind. They could burn.

I advanced through the various passages, finding a little prison with a skeleton and a necromancer -fucking necromancers- there. I burned them down too, because they really didn't deserve anything else, and then continued.

Finally facing what I suppose was the top dog of this place. I supposed since he was in a room partially flooded with several bones around, so he was probably going to summon a whole lot of skeletons if I didn't kill him right now.

But I didn't want to. Not like that.

"Are you the boss of these nutjobs that sacrifice people to a mad mage?"

Contrary to what he actually did in the game -assuming my memory is correct- he didn't immediately start to summon shit. He raised his head, but didn't actually turn to face me.

"And who could you possibly be?"

"Just a passing mage." I replied, charging my magicka already. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Forgive me, curiosity had the better of me. No, I'm not. Our leader is Malyn Varen."

"You mean the crazy guy who trapped himself in a deadric artifact and now need souls for his life to not vanish?" I replied. "Great leader."

"You have a distorted vision of what our leader has accomplished." Replied the necromancer, unperturbed. "Not many mortals can hope to achieve what he did."

"Oh, I'm not really arguing that." I replied. "It is certainly a good feat, to corrupt the Star of Azura. Even if I don't approve, I can see that. But what he did with that accomplishment? He became nothing. I soul entrapped in a prison of his own making, utterly dependent on his servants to survive." I snorted. "I'm supposed to be impressed by that? He managed to become a parasite even worse than a vampire. An utterly pathetic creature. Was immortality worth it? If I kill you now, and take the stone, he's going to starve, and die. And all of this will be for nothing."

The man sighed. "As I thought, you can't comprehend."

"I don't?" I asked, then I raised my hands. There was a moment of nothing.

Then the skeletons rose from the ground, weapons drawn.

Against the necromancer.

"I think I understand more than you think I do." I continued while he looked at the undead rising against him. "I just decided to not become a fucking monster. Get him, guys."

The mage raised his hands while the skeleton charged at him. I just went up to the stairs, walking as calmly as humanly possible.

Finding the broken Star of Azura here, together with a freshly killed body, and old skeleton I supposed was Malyn Varen, and a diary. I took the star and the diary, and turned.

Finding the necromancer waiting for me.

"You thought that those skeletons could stop me?" He asked, anger seething in his voice.

I gave him a good look, finding him a little battered and slashed in places. "No. I just wanted them to distract you while I got here and to the Star. Also to force you to use a little of your magic, because it isn't fair that you have to be fresh and rested while I had to trudge through this place while fighting your companions." I emitted a disgusted grunt. "Not that they were much of a challenge."

"I see." He said. "I guess I have to kill you and feed your soul to our leader, to avenge their death, and give our master the time he needs while I recruit new disciples."

"And what makes you think you can defeat me after I took down all your companions?" I asked, genuinely curious. "Are you exceptionally powerful compared to everyone else? Because if not, I don't really see you doing much."

"I don't know what trick you used, but it's not going to work now that you revealed yourself." Replied the necromancer. Wait, he thought I used some kind of… underhanded tactics like poisoning everyone else or something like that. Because the idea had merit, but it was also completely wrong on every aspect. "Now face me."

"Like you wish." I said, raising my hands, ready to strike.

And immediately throwing a lightning bolt at him.

But the necromancer turned out to be more powerful than anticipated. Or more skilled with the same technique I used to disperse magic than the others. My lightning bolt was dispersed and nullified, then he tried to do the same.

And I dispersed the lightning bolt like it was nothing.

"I see, you are trained in the higher secrets of magic." Said the necromancer. "Very well. Seems like I'll have to get serious."

"Uh-hu." I said, annoyed. "Sure. Do your worst."

What happened next was a spectacle that was not usually seen in Skyrim. A mage duel, a fight of wills and minds. It would have been an epic battle… if I wasn't almost immune to magic already and I couldn't use Dragonskin to improve that even more, basically making this entire spectacle superfluous.

But I didn't. Because I wanted to see how far I could go without it. I was not going to always wear that amulet, and so I had to know: was I good enough?

The answer was answered five minutes later, after we both summoned giant monsters, blasted each other repeatedly with enough strength to breach the walls, and the roof actually fell on us at a certain point.

It should have been epic. It was not. Because I wasn't really in danger or, to be more specific, I didn't feel like I was in danger.

I still took it very seriously. I focused, trying to see what a duel with my life at stake was would feel like. I tried to read what kind of spell he was going to use before he used it by reading the movements of his hands and the words he spoke. I tried to not get hit, instead of relying on my carefully constructed defense, and replied to every attack he used with equal force while trying to manage my magicka the best I could.

It should have been epic, but it was not. Because it was not a duel to the death between two powerful mages.

It was a challenge. My challenge, to discover how good I was.

And in the end, with our Storm Atronachs fighting in the room, with fire, frost and shock spells flying everywhere. While we were locked in a clash of lightning bolts in a manner that reminded me of the final duel between Harry and Voldemort in the Deathly Hallows, I found out the answer.

He was good. Not surprisingly, from someone that came from the College or trained by someone that came from the College. He was my peer in basically everything regarding Necromancy -so Mysticism too, or at least things that could be considered Mysticism- and he had a decent grasp of Destruction too.

But I was better. Both in terms of skill, and in terms of pure power. While the tower started to crumble around us, the electricity between us, or to be more precise, the impact between the lightning bolt we were unleashing against each other, started to slowly shift toward him, while I overpowered his magic.

"Such power…" I heard him say, despite the absurd chaos around us.

Then I completely overpowered him, or he lost the little magicka he had, and my lightning hit him in the chest, disintegrating the necromancer and then impacting against the wall, tearing the stone like paper before running around destroying everything in its path.

Ops?

Fortunately, my Atronach blocked most of the debris before they flattened me like a pancake. When it moved and removed the stones from over me, I climbed out of that mess and looked behind me.

I just learned several lessons that day. One was that I was actually quite lethal against mages. Secondly, I learned that I was better than most mages in general at being a mage. Thirdly, I learned that I apparently had a limit regarding my policy of 'live and let live'. Human sacrifices were one. Quite obvious in retrospect, but the anger I felt was unexpected. I was usually very chill.

Well, it was over. The cult was destroyed, the fort too, and I had the Star. And fuck you Nelcar, for trying to convince me to let the damn Star stay black. I don't care what you think Azura did to the guy trapped inside right now, I was not going to let this thing exist any longer.

I opened a portal on the peak of the mountain where the Azura's Sanctuary was and stepped inside. It was time to finish this.

Last edited: May 17, 2020

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.7

When my portal opened at the peak of the mountain, the priestess looked quite shocked.

Yes, I already forgot her name. It happens often.

"Greetings." I said, showing the broken Azura Star in my hand. "I come with the Star."

"So you did! Splendid! Now-"

"I have to give it to you so Azura can repair it, I know." I replied, giving the broken Star to her. "But Malyn is still inside. There is no way it can be repaired while he's still there."

"I see." Replied the priestess. "Azura will know what to do."

Yeah, she did. Namely, send me to deal with him. Such joy.

Fortunately, I got another couple of minutes before Azura decided to talk to me. When the priestess called me, I just put my hands on the Star and waited for Azura to speak.

And she did, in that strange, reverberating way that not only convened the idea that she was talking to me from very far away, but it also had the strange side effect to make her sound like she was talking to both my ears and my mind. Which, all things considered, could be true.

"Greetings, mortal. You followed my guidance through the veils of twilight and rescued my Star for Malyn Varen. But as you already know, his soul is inside the Star, and so my artifact as it is is useless to you."

"Yes. And I know how you intend to purge him from the Star. You want to send me inside it, and defeat the mage myself."

"Yes. That's what I intend to do. Tell me when you're ready, mortal, and I will send you into the Star."

I quickly scanned myself to feel how good I was right now. Which was… pretty good. I still had that bruise in my side thanks to the skeleton archer, but aside for that, my magicka was almost full and I wasn't particularly tired. The Shout I used to kill the necromancers had taken a toll on me, but nothing I couldn't manage.

"I'm ready." I said.

"Have faith, mortal. I will be watching over you."

Sure. That's why in the game you get a powerful buff to signify Azuras help. Oh wait you didn't.

Then my vision faded to black.

When I recovered functionality to my eyes, the first thing I saw was the fantastic crystal-like interior of the Azura Star. Then a voice distracted me and I focused on the Dunmer mage in front of me.

"Ah, my disciples sent me a fresh soul. Good. I was starting to feel… hungry." Then he senses something, I suppose, because he continued with his normal routine. "Wait. There is something different about you."

"That's because I'm not one of the souls your disciples brought to you. I killed them and now I'm going to do the same to you." I replied, taking out my sword.

The good thing is that I wasn't even boasting.

"You killed my disciples?" Asked the man, outraged. "How dare you! I'm going to destroy you!"

I shrugged. "You can try, of course, but I tested my magical defenses on your disciples. They're pretty good, and the only servants you have here are dremora mages. I think you're in a pretty big disadvantage."

"I will not let you kill me. I conquered mortality itself. I spat in the eyes of the Deadric Lords. This realm is mine now. I have sacrificed too much to let you take it for me!"

And as he said that, he darted away.

That didn't stop me from savagely tearing down his rant. "You conquered nothing, you fool. You just exchange your mortality for another one. You're a parasitic monster that is unable to live without the help of others. You're a festering wound on this world, and I'm going to end you!" I shouted, advancing and activating my Dragonskin power.

Fun fact: Spell Absorption gained from different spells didn't stack. Spell Absorption gained from two Enchanted items didn't stack. Spell Absorption gained from an Enchanted item and a spell didn't stack, but a Spell Absorption effect gained from an Enchanted item and a potion stacked, if only partially. I supposed the problem was that a consequence of Enchanted items basically be a Spell Absorption spell continuously cast on the person it was on, meaning the two spell couldn't stack, and the effect of the potion was only a partial overlap because both used magicka to do the same thing.

But Dragonskin was not a spell. And didn't use magicka. The two effects were fully stackable… and that granted me complete immunity to magic, for the minute the power was on.

It was best to use that minute to its fullest extent.

I charged and, when I turned a corner, I was greeted by a dremora mage. The demon raised his hand, ready to smite me with some spell. The other was holding a staff, probably to channel a defensive spell… or maybe I was mixing up who does what.

Not that it mattered. I didn't let them do either.

My sword fell down and planted itself in his shoulder. The creature cried out in pain, but I kept going. After dislodging the sword from his shoulder, I hit him right on the opposite side of his chest and then, when the blade found resistance, I pushed.

The malachite weapon pierced through and he died. And I would have loved to harvest a deadric heart from his corpse, but I had no time for that. Several fireballs hit me, just to dissipate against my defenses. Spell Absorption was broken as hell.

Still, I didn't remember if the dremora had some sort of resistance to magic. In the game, they were vulnerable to lightning… was that the case here?

To discover that, I blasted the next dremora in line of sight with a barrage of very powerful shock blasts.

And since he didn't die, I supposed that no, they were not vulnerable to shock. And considering that a weaker bolt had almost killed an Altmer mage, it was probably resistant to magic.

But even if it hadn't killed him, it did manage to make him stumble. Good. More time for me to reach him and kill him.

I charged again, several fire spells hitting me, recharging my magicka reserves, and I reached the dremora in a matter of seconds. He saw me coming and tried to raise his hands to form some sort of barrier.

He was not fast enough and his head rolled into the abyss.

Without stopping, I tried to zap the next dremora, but he managed to raise his defenses at the last second, my lightning bolt dispersing against his ward.

Whatever.

I continued to advance, but I decided to not run since I just remembered that there was just a small passage and down there was only death. So, while the dremora continued to uselessly batter my magical absorption with spells, I reached him.

Three seconds later, and his dead body followed the other two dremora into the abyss.

"No, that's not possible!" Shouted Malyn when I turned another corner and found his 'throne room'. "How can you just walk over my servants and ignore their magic!?"

"Because I knew what they were going to do." I replied, eyeing place. "And you're going to meet the same end."

I wish I could say that the fight with Malyn Varen was exciting, but it wasn't. He was a mage and I had almost complete immunity to magic. And, since I supposed he was more powerful than his disciples, I didn't even try to give him a fair chance. I just overpowered him with all the magic I could muster.

So, in the end, he fell too.

"No. Not like this." Whispered Malyn, a second before my frost spell overcame his defenses and froze him.

I just had the time do take a breath and take the magical staff of Malyn before Azura spoke again. "The Star is free to purify itself. Don't worry, mortal. I will return you before you're cleansed."

Thank you, Azura. That was sort of the least you could do, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

And while I was there, I noticed one of the staff of the dremora mages. They never tried to use them offensively, so I wasn't sure they were magical, but they were dremora weapons. Soooo…

With a snap of my wrist and application of telekinesis, one of the staff flew to my hand. No, no magic. But it was a deadric weapon of some sort. That was good enough for me. High-quality weapons were pretty rare, especially of deadric quality.

A second after, the world faded to black again. And again, I found myself on Azura's temple.

"My Star has been restored and Malyn's soul has been consigned to Oblivion. You have done well, mortal." Told me Azura. "As was destined, you're free to use my Star as you see fit."

Since I didn't think it was a good idea to badmouth a Daedric Prince when I didn't have a good way to bargain, as I did with Hermaeus Mora, I decided to be polite. Also because Azura had not been a dick.

"Thank you, Lady Azura." I simply replied.

I could almost hear a smile in her next words. "Farewell, mortal. Know that Azura will be guarding over the threads of your fate in the Twilight."

The voice of Azura disappeared… and so, I took the Star.

This part of the plan was done. Thankfully, with relative ease.

-X-

After exchanging goodbyes with the priestess of Azura, removing my Mark spell, and confirming that no, I didn't want her help, I proceeded with the next part of my plan and so I reached the Sightless Pit, or whatever the name of the place was.

Normally, I would not be enthusiastic about jumping into the pit, because it meant that I had to go through the entire dungeon before getting out of it. That was, of course, in Game Skyrim. Here, I could just fly out the same way I entered. Or, like I intended to do, teleport out the moment I had the Falmer blood.

Still, I found myself staring at the pit for several seconds. It was really long fall. I had my fly spell to avoid the worst of the fall, but I was still not sure it was a good idea. I could probably go to Blackreach and be done there, right? I just needed to find the right spot to enter and I could avoid walking through all the shit inside it. I was pretty sure there was an elevator in the observatory, and there were Falmer near… right?

Then I heard something I didn't expect to hear. A roar.

More specifically, a dragon roar.

I knew that there was a Dragon Wall near the temple of Azura, but I didn't expect the dragon to already be there. It sounded near to.

So, every indecision put aside, I jumped in the pit.

The fall was far shorter then I remembered, and no bones too. So I probably remembered wrong. Still, I launched my sort-of-Fly spell the moment I jumped in, but didn't really activate it until I saw the end of the tunnel. Then, with a mental command, my spell started to push me upwards, contrasting the speed I was falling to.

By the time I was out of the tunnel, I was gently floating down instead of freefalling. So, I just landed quietly.

I didn't remember how much Falmer were inside here, but I knew those fuckers had their way to make things difficult. Traps, poisons and generally being annoying little shits were all things I could get behind. Their numbers, not so much. My armor was good, but it was not 'invincible' level of good. It was a good light armor, and could probably protect me against one or two Falmer, but as the skeleton showed me not even an hour ago, normal weapons could still hurt me.

… God, it was really just an hour ago, right? Since when was I able to overwhelm an entire fort full of mages, defeat a mage and his three dremora minions, and then get into a fight with Falmer in an hour, and not be too tired to boot?

I could think about it later. I Muffled myself and advanced inside the cavern.

I always liked the Falmer ruins in Game Skyrim. It was the easiest way to level Sneak and Illusion. One application of Muffle and a decently light armor, and the fuckers couldn't even perceive you. Also, since they were already blind, I didn't have to waste a ton of magicka on Invisibility or take my time to find a spot where I couldn't be seen. I could just Muffle and walk directly on their face and land a sneak attack on them.

In reality, I couldn't do that. Or, I could but it was not that easy. First, I was not good at sneaking and while my armor was pretty light, it was still metal armor. Sure, Muffle covered that, but it was not enough. The problem was that sneak attacks didn't double or tripled my damage at all. In fact, without knowing how to land them the only thing sneak attacks let me do was to land a hit on something without chance or retaliation. It was great if I could, like, snap the neck of something or place a knife in their brain, but I was not that good.

So I took my bow. Bow in some narrow tunnel looked like a stupid idea and, in reality, it probably was. But you know what? I didn't care. I didn't care because my only interest was to find a Falmer and take the blood I needed. Then, I was going to teleport to the crazy mage outpost, remove my Mark spell, and take the Oghma Infinium. That's it. And for that, an arrow silently flying into the darkness and into the head of a Falmer was a far better idea than taking out a dagger.

I proceeded, ignoring the camp I found because who cared about them, they were already dead. I walked very slowly, keeping an eye for traps that could have been around.

And I found one. A pressure plate of sort. I cautiously activated it, sending spears to my position… or where I should have been if I walked over the plate. But I didn't.

That had another effect. Namely, the sound of the trap activating alerted one of the inhabitants of the place. I heard the Falmer emerge from… one of those nest-like things and take a look at what caused that noise.

Or take an earful, since they were blind. Whatever.

And since I was a bastard, I decided to be double so and placing a little spell on the arrow I was going to use. A life-stealing one. With a little luck, it would be enough to outright kill the fucker.

So I cast the spell, took aim, and waited for the Falmer to come in sight.

And the moment he did, I planted the arrow in his skull. And, well, he died. Because arrows in the skull usually did that.

Sighing in relief that most of my job was done, I took his blood and teleported. I was almost done. Now, the last part.

-X-

I materialized inside the icy outpost without bothering to open a portal. To my knowledge, telefragging someone wasn't a power most teleportation spells had in TES.

"Oh, you're there. Good! I can almost… hear them. I feel their life energy. Come, I will make the mixture."

I let him do it. Mostly, because I didn't want to inject myself with the blood of deceased elves.

But, in a flash of instinct, I grabbed Septimus' shoulder before he could move.

"Septimus, you're not going to like what's inside. The thing inside the box is going to kill you."

The mage smiled. "I worked all my life for this. If it kills me, so it be."

Before I could reply something convincing enough, he freed himself from my grasp and ran inside the box. He didn't find what he wanted.

"What is this… it's… it's just a book?!" He shouted, before something changed and he started to levitate. "I can see. The world beyond burns in my mind. It's marvelous…."

Those were his last words. After that, he disintegrated.

Farewell, Septimus Signus. You were crazy, but you never sounded evil. And considering I faced a ton of evil mages recently, that was something in your favor. I hoped I could save you, but you were too far gone for me to help.

With a last, regretful look at the ashes of the mage, I took the Oghma Infinium from the pedestal, but I didn't open it yet. I… wasn't ready. Severus disintegration was theorized to be the so-called zero-sum. Basically, when you tried to achieve the CHIM but you failed, you entire begin returned to be part of the dream and you dissolved. The Oghma Infinium, being a collection of infinite knowledge, could conceivably do something like this, especially if the mind of the user was already verging in that direction.

My extra-dimensional nature should protect me against zero-sum, in theory. Still, I decided to read the damn book a bit later. Maybe after I was out of there. Or maybe before teleporting somewhere else. I still had a Mark spell on the College, and it could be a good reason as another to make a stop and drop the books I already collected.

And so, while I tried to get out of the box, I found Mora waiting for me.

"Now you have my Oghma Infinium. It contains the knowledge of the ages as revealed to Xarses, my loyal servant. For hundreds of years it's been shut away from the world. Septimus was a useful tool for unleashing it. Now it is in your hands. Let us work wonders together…"

I paused for a second, before answering. "I'll work with you, Mora, just because I need to stop Miraak. And for that, I need the Word of the Bend Will Shout. Never, ever think I'm doing this willingly."

The Prince remained silent for several seconds. "You'll be a most interesting ally for this, mortal. You have knowledge only I should possess."

I jumped on the opportunity. "I can give you that knowledge if you want." I replied. "But knowledge has a price, right? Knowledge for knowledge, I think you would say."

Hermaeus Mora emitted a dark chuckle. "Yes, yes I would. Very well. We will bargain on that when the times come. I'll wait for you in Apocrypha."

And then, he disappeared.

Still with the nagging sensation that talking to Mora and bargaining information for other information was still going to cause me a lot of problems, I removed my Mark spell and teleported away.

Last edited: May 24, 2020

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.8

When I arrived at the College, nobody noticed me. When I got out of my room, though, they did.

"Loki?" Called Brelyna from the lunchroom. My old -wait, I was only away for two weeks dammit, they were not my 'old' anything- peers Onmund and J'zargo turned to see me. "Is that you?"

"Hi guys." I said, waving in what should have looked like a pretty lame greeting. "I didn't expect you to be there. It's noon already?"

"What do you mean, 'it's noon already'?" Asked Onmund. "How can you not know the time?"

"I was busy adventuring." I replied. "I just came by to take care of some business, but considering the hour, I suppose it would be bad timing. Is there any food left?"

They quickly made some space for me and I sat down, putting both my staves in a corner.

"Thanks guys. You have no idea what I went through just today."

"It's an interesting story?" Asked J'zargo. "It would seem so. If J'zargo is not mistaken, that's a deadric staff. With daedric runes to boot. J'zargo can guess… it's a mage staff?"

"Yes." I said, taking a slice of bread. "You see…"

I explained very briefly about the fight with the mages at the flooded keep, not telling them about the Star, and explicitly nothing about Mora. I didn't know what they thought about the Deadric Princes, but I wasn't going to risk it.

"Wait, you defeated an entire keep worth of mages and necromancer by yourself?" Asked Onmund. "How?"

"Innate magic resistance from being a Breton, a Spell absorption amulet, and potions. A lot of potions." I said, before putting some meat inside my mouth and eating it. "It's surprisingly easy when you're prepared. Most mages don't even last long enough to think about using anything other than Destruction. They could have tried to do something else, like summoning enough Atronach to overwhelm me, but I never gave them the chance."

I looked at them and found that they had looks varying from surprise to terrified.

… Yeeeeeah. Maybe implying that I could kill that easily wasn't a good idea.

Fortunately, the silence was brief. "That doesn't explain how you found that staff…" Said J'zargo.

"Oh, someone had a bound dremora mage." I replied. "That's his staff. It's not magical, but the runes help to focus magicka through it. It's a good item for a mage."

"Fascinating." Commented J'zargo. "I don't suppose you're willing to sell it?"

"Maybe when I find something as good or better I'll think about it." I replied. "Speaking of selling, you know where Faralda is? I have that staff to sell her. I think it's a fire staff of some kind, but I haven't checked for sure yet."

"You don't want to use it?" Asked Onmund.

"Recharging staves is a pain." I replied. "Especially since I have to think about Enchanting my armor first. I'd prefer to not wasting Soul Gems for a spell I already know how to cast. Plus, I need money."

"That's a good reason as any." Admitted Onmund. "Besides, I suppose you don't need it. You mastered any School of magic while you were traveling?"

I remained silent for a few seconds, pondering the question. I had a lot of practice with Destruction while I was out. Maybe…

I raised my hand, focusing my magicka in the most powerful representation of natural energy I could think of. A sun.

My magicka dropped significantly, but then, with the sound of an entire conflagration compressed inside a tiny space -which was basically what I was doing- a ball of fire materialized in my hand.

The fun thing about spells in The Elder Scrolls, and in most fantasy worlds, is that despite the immense damage they could cause, they were completely harmless until cast. The ball of fire in my hand could probably incinerate a building in the span of a second, but until then it remained in my hand, it was just a little bonfire. I could feel the immense destructive potential inside it, and my fellow students could too, but the only external effect that the fireball emitted was a gentle warmth.

Despite the fact that the center of the sphere was basically white.

"You know." Slowly said Onmund, looking at the fireball in my hand. "I was joking."

I made the fireball disappear, the magicka used to materialize it re-absorbed.

I grinned. "Well, I had a lot of practice against a lot of different people. I had to step up my game."

"And you did." Commented a voice. I looked up to see Mistress Faralda looking at me from the doorstep. "Admirable. You went from Journeyman to Master in the span of four months. Most people take years to reach that level… if they even manage to reach it."

Thinking about it, my growth as a mage was freakishly fast. Well, my growth in everything was freakishly fast. I already got a decent level of combat skill in… what, a couple of months? It was harder than learning magic, but not by much. I suppose that being the Prisoner did this. I was already a master of Destruction and Expert in everything else, and I was starting to be very good with weapons too. Considering everything else, I just needed to seriously focus for a month or two in sneaking around and then I was basically my character from the Skyrim. The one I grinded to max skill in everything and then went Legendary on Alteration by using the Telekinesis glitch. Fun thing that.

Anyway, I nodded at my old -goddammit it was not even a month that I went away!- teacher of Destruction. "Mistress Faralda. I was just talking about you."

"Oh?" Asked the Altmer, a little smile in her face. "And what were you saying?"

I telekinetically passed the flame staff to her. "I'd like to sell this, and I'm sure a great Destruction mage as yourself would be interested in a magical staff."

The elf woman took the staff in her hands and gave it a good look. "Mmm. I need some minutes to evaluate it, but it looks like a good staff. Did you create it?"

"No, I took it from the previous owner. You know Malyn Varen?"

Faralda blinked. "You met Valyn? The last time I heard of him, he took his disciples and left the school to experiment with souls using Black Soul Gems."

"Yeeeeeah… he was still doing that."

She looked at the staff again. "Malyn was a professor here at the College before he was kicked out for his illegal and immoral experiments. For you to have his staff…" She paused. "It seems you have surpassed every expectation we had, Adept Loki."

Only because of the Prisoner cheat. But it felt good to be praised for the hard work I put into learning and using these spells. Even if the amount of work I had to put in them was just a fraction of what everyone else had to.

"Thank you, Mistress Faralda. And, if it's not too much to ask… is the Archmage free right now?"

Faralda looked at me with a hint of curiosity in her eyes, but nodded. "Yes, he is. You can go to talk with him while I evaluate this staff."

"Very well." I said.

After quickly finishing my meal, I went directly to the Archmage. I ignored the library for now, because I had other things to do.

When I arrived in the Archmages room, I found Savos Aren busy reading something. He noticed me right away, probably because I wasn't trying to hide myself and my armor was noisy.

"Adept Loki?" Asked the Dunmer. "That's an unexpected, but not unwelcome visit. I have to say, I didn't expect you to leave the College so soon after the incident in Saarthal. Nonetheless, it's good to see you."

"Thank you, Archmage." I replied with a little bow of my head. "But I'm not here to exchange pleasantries, unfortunately. I'm here because I have a lot of things to tell you."

"Really? Then tell me."

And so, I told him everything. Everything about what was going to happen, what the orb in the Hall of the Elements was -yeah, I knew it was there, I felt it even before entering inside the building-, what Ancano was up to. Everything.

Or everything relevant to the College of Winterhold, anyway.

"That's a lot to take, Adept Loki." Said Savos, after hearing all I had to say and not once stopping me. "And I have to admit, some of those things are painfully realistic possibilities. But, no matter how realistic they are, I can't believe everything you said. I need proof."

I nodded. "Of course. If you were to follow me, Archmage, I'll show you."

Curious, the Archmage indeed followed me down to the lower floor, into the library of the College of Winterhold. Here, I marched directly toward the librarian, Urag gro-Shub, already taking the books out.

"Oh, there you are. What was your idea of disappearing for three weeks? Tolfdir asked me about information on that blasted orb, but the books…"

"Were stolen by Orthorn." I replied, putting them down. "There. Happy?"

I looked at the Orc taking the copies of Night of Tears, The Last King of the Ayleids, and Fragment: On Artaeum, before looking at me, surprised. "How you managed to get them?"

"Intuition." I replied, before turning toward the Archmage. "Is that enough?"

The Archmages eyes passed from the books to me in rapid succession, clearly thinking. "It's something." He said. "But not enough. You could have found them completely by accident."

"And I took these books instead of any other purely by chance." I replied sarcastically. "Very well then. I'll just wait for the Psijic to show up. He shouldn't take too long."

The moment I said that, someone entered inside the library and, true to my word, it was the Psijic Monk.

"Good morning, Archmage Aren. I'm Quaranir." He said.

Then, the world around us fades into scales of grey.

"Loki Adreasson." He said. "My associates spoke about you as someone who knows the dangers he's going to face."

"I do." I replied. "I suppose he also talked about what I expect as thanks for my help in this. Did he?"

The Monk smiled. "Yes. It has been a difficult discussion, but it was decided that, if you really will help with this, we will try to find a way to send you home. But the future is uncertain, and…"

"I need to speak with the Augur." I finished. "No need. I know exactly what I have to do."

"You do?" He asked, curiosity in his voice. "And what would that be, if I may ask?"

"The Augur will send me to the Observatory in… I don't remember the name. A Dwemer city." I replied. "Here, the Synod is trying to discover something, but the interference caused by the Eye of Magnus will stop them. But, luckily, that interference is going to show the source of the solution: the Staff of Magnus. Which, unfortunately, is inside Labyrinthian."

The Psijic remained silent for a while. "I must admit, I'm impressed. You really do know how bad the situation is, and how to resolve it. Very well. We'll leave this in your hands. Now, I'm going to take my leave."

The world returned to his original color and speed, and the first thing I heard was Archamage Savos. "Good morning to you. Are you… A Psijic?"

"Yes." He replied. "I was in town, and so I decided to pay a visit."

Archmage Savos sent me a look. "I understand. It's a rare occurrence. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"No, no." He replied. "Like I said, I was just passing by in the city. I'll be gone momentarily."

While the two of them talked, I decided to mentally ask myself when Ancano was going to show up. Surely, the apparition of a Psijic Monk was not going to go unnoticed, and the Thalmor had a beef with the Psijic for some reason. I didn't quite remember why they did. Maybe it was just because the Monks decided to tell them to fuck off.

And predictably, the Thalmor mage arrived a minute after the Psijic. He entered inside the library with a scowl on his face, and the moment he saw us, he marched there.

"I heard that a Psijic Monk arrived here, and it seems to be true." He said. "Tell me what you want."

"Ancano." Said the Archmage, in a tone that sounded vaguely colder than normal. "That's not the tone you should use toward a guest."

"A guest?" Asked the Altmer. "The Psijic are wanted from the Thalmor for treason."

"And that's a problem of Summerset." Sternly replied Savos. "They're not wanted in Skyrim, even less in the College. We welcome everyone that follows the arcane arts here. And I think that nothing of the sort was written in the White Concordat. So, while he's on Imperial ground, the Psijic are free to walk everywhere they should wish."

That was far colder than any interaction between Ancano and Savos in the game. Apparently, the story I told him was starting to influence the Archmage.

Ancano, on his part, seemed to just have swallowed a lemon whole. But he composed himself enough to reply in a somewhat polite way. "Of course, Archmage. It seems like I forgot the College's position in this, and the laws of the land. Even so, I would like to ask the Psijic of his reason for his visit here."

Savos waved his hand. "Of course. If you wish to know, you can ask, and I'm not going to stop you. Of course, should the Psijic decide not to answer, I'm not going to stop him either."

The Psijic replied with a serene smile I was 100% sure he made just to annoy Ancano. With great results, because I could almost see steam shooting out of his ears. "Like I was just saying to the Archmage, I just decided to pay a visit, since I was near Winterhold. I greatly appreciate the focus of the College in the art of magic, while other groups lose themselves in petty politics. It's a refreshing sight, in these turbulent times."

That was a not so veiled stab toward the Thalmor, and Ancano surely didn't miss it. But he didn't take the bait. Not completely, at least.

"That's it?" Asked the Altmer. "That's your reason? Did you leave your hidden island just to come here and pay your respects to the Archmage? I don't believe you. What's your real reason!?"

"That's enough, Ancano." the Archmage interrupted coldly. "You're accusing our guest without proof."

With the same face of someone who swallowed a lemon, but extra green for a more acidic taste, Ancano finally shut up.

"Thank you for your kind words, Archmage Savos. Now, I'll go. I have urgent matters to attend to."

"Good travel, Quarandir." Replied Savos, while I limited myself to a nod. The Psijic walked away.

Ancano, after sending a venomous glare toward both of us, did the same.

I didn't say anything until he disappeared from sight. " Was that enough, Archmage?"

The Dunmer sighed. "Yes, that was enough, Adept Loki. It was faint, but I felt the sudden use of magic right after he greeted us. I wouldn't have noticed if you had not told me in advance." He paused. "I suppose that means I'll have to keep Ancano under a stricter vigilance. And the Staff of Magnus… Labyrinthian."

"Labyrinthian." I nodded, not very happy about it.

"I see." He said. "Very well. I'll ask you to recover the Staff of Magnus when you have the time, Adept Loki. I'll give you the torc immediately."

"That's not necessary, Archmage." I said. "Since I'm here, I could at least remain for an hour or two. After that, I fear I have to return to my mission."

The Archmage nodded. "That's an acceptable compromise, I think. I will deliver it to your room then."

"Thank you, Archmage."

"No, thank you, Adept Loki. You could have saved many lives with the information you brought." He paused for a second. "If it's not too much to ask, how did you know all of this?"

I shrugged. "I read an Elder Scroll before arriving to Skyrim."

"An Elder Scroll?" Asked Savos, surprised.

"An Elder Scroll." I confirmed.

"Well, that certainly explains a lot." Admitted the Archmage. "Thank you for satisfying my curiosity, Adept. Now, I have to return to my studies." And with that, he walked away.

And with that resolved, I decided to wait inside my room, to recover my magicka and waiting for the item that would unlock my access to Labirynthian. It didn't take too long to arrive, that and a magical circlet that, with a minute of analysis, turned out to be an Enchanted item that was meant to increase the magical abilities of a mage. I put it under my helmet and I immediately felt the difference.

Good. That was going to be handy later.

Now, I could do another thing before returning to questing. My next phase of the plan was to go full power against the remaining member of the Gauldurson trio, complete the amulet, and if the situation called for it, stop the murder of the cousin of the Emperor, and then destroy the Labiryinthian. After saving Nirn from complete annihilation, I could go for less important things, like stopping the sunblock plan from Harkon and then, finally, focusing on Miraak and Alduin -note the sarcasm here-. Preferably in that order.

But before all of that, I had a thing to do. Namely, open the Oghma Infinium.

It was not something to do lightly. Like Septimus showed, reading the book could be dangerous. But, if I didn't read the book, the risk was to get killed anyway because I was not as powerful as I could be. Considering it could cut several months of training, it was worth it.

That didn't mean I was not afraid of the possible consequences. But I had to take that risk or I was going to get flattened by Miraak and Alduin. After all, a single Deathlord almost killed me and Fenrir. The next opponents I was going to fight were even more dangerous. No, I needed to do it.

But what did I want to read? I already Mastered at least one School of magic, and I was reasonably sure I could master the others in a relatively short time. I would have more problems with sneaky stuff, since I was not at a relatively high level right now, but it sounded like a waste to use the Oghma Infinium to learn some cheap trick. No, I needed to get to my maximum power and then focus on being versatile. In the non-magical department.

That said… I was probably not bound by the rules of the game. In the game, you could only choose between magical skills, fighting skills, and thieving skills. But nothing of the sort was ever implied to be what the Oghma Infinium actually did. The book contained all the knowledge of Hermaeus Mora. There was no silly limitation like 'well, just magical skill for you, fella'. Or maybe there were, but nothing stopped me from reading all about a section. I could only read what I needed, and then read something else.

Yes, that will do. Now… what did I need to win this?

I needed to become a damn good Battlemage. And since my magical abilities were pretty high… I needed to study a little about the art of combat. Everything else was secondary.

So, I opened the book and started to read. I just hoped to not disintegrate for discovering too much.

It took me hours and, in the end, I didn't even finish what I wanted to read. The book suddenly disappeared from my hands while I was trying to figure out the secrets of alchemy and enchanting. But, considering that my mind now was full of the secrets of magic and fighting… I could consider myself satisfied.

The amount of knowledge I got from the Oghma Infinium couldn't be described. Things that before looked very difficult to pull off now looked doable, if not easy. Spatial manipulation? Time Manipulation? Creation of a demiplane? Shapeshifting? All those things were now in my hand. And, all of this for a little blood and a talk with Hermaeus Mora.

All in all, a good exchange. I had a splitting headache, I saw daedric runes floating at the edges of my vision and the vague sensation that my brain was going to implode if I read even a single letter more. Though that wasn't a problem, since the book had disappeared. It wasn't something I couldn't overcome.

Hopefully.

My Life as Adventurer is Filled with Secondary Quests, as Expected 1.9

Fortunately, the strange side effects of the book disappeared after a good night of rest. Which I didn't get until after I had teleported out of the College, and that was probably a dumb idea, but… no rest for the wicked, unfortunately. At least I could proudly declare that I have read the Oghma Infinium without going completely insane or disintegrating into a pile of dust. It was more than most people could brag about.

As it turned out, the knowledge the Oghma Infinium gave me was absolutely amazing, but most were not combat-oriented. Unless you wanted to consider Shapeshifting an offensive ability. Alas, nothing I gained was going to make killing people or monsters easier. With a couple of exceptions, namely that the amazing knowledge granted to me by the Oghma let me ignore most daedra's defenses against magic. It didn't work on natural resistance toward a particular element, exactly like my Breton magic resistance didn't protect me against the heat of a bonfire or the freezing temperatures of Skyrim. But it should, in theory, let me bypass some annoying defenses.

The biggest boon was the ability to finally do a lot of things I wanted to do from the start, but I never actually knew how to. Shapeshifting? Done. Make a bag of holding? Done, or it will be done by the time I Enchant one -it was not something as easy as a spell. Summon weapons and armors I possess directly onto me? Done. A personal plane in Oblivion?

… Well, for that I had to travel into Oblivion, but aside from that, done.

That and a long series of little but useful bonuses, like the ability to disperse the force from most forms of damage thanks to a reflexive Alteration trick. Not to forget the absolutely huge amount of magicka I was able to save with every casting by having a better understanding of how magic worked in the first place. Safe to say, this filled me with confidence in my ability to tackle everything in my way… if I was prepared enough. That was the reason I decided to not immediately go on a rampage and kill the second Gauldurson guy. Instead, I stopped at Ivarnstead, the place closest to the tomb, to prepare.

One of the first things I did was to Enchant my glass sword with a Soul Trap Enchantment because now that I had the Azura's Star it would have been criminal to not use it, and I replenished my potions stock.

So… what was next?

The bag of holding, of course. I could finally get rid of that stupid backpack I always traveled around with, and store my things in a spatial distortion which was basically immune to external interference thanks to being, basically, a piece of space rolled in on itself. Nothing could enter or exit from there unless I wanted it to. The only problem was that it was not a particularly easy thing to make, and it required something more akin to Enchanting than pure spellwork. Which was something that was true for most spells anyway: there were no 'permanent duration' spells in The Elder Scrolls. To extend the duration of a spell for any meaningful length of time, you had to either concentrate on it for a while or create a ritual to do the same. In this case, I had to go with a ritual to, without a better way to explain it, 'Enchant' a piece of space.

The problem of this was that, all in all, the space I could enchant wasn't that big. Enough for looting dungeons, but not enough for anything else.

Which was ok. I'll think about going to Oblivion to try and find a clear spot for me to create my own little Oblivion plane later. I didn't even need it to be something huge: something big enough to build a house inside it was more than enough. I could put everything that I didn't want inside my Bag of Holding inside the plane instead. I could then, in turn, fill my bag with things I needed for adventuring, so I had everything nearby instead of having to use a costly Conjuration spell to retrieve them from my personal Demiplane.

Personal dreams of an inaccessible, impenetrable personal fortress where not even Deadric Princes could do anything -because the rules of Oblivion were that Daedric Princes were omnipotent (or close enough) in their dominion, but were mostly powerless in any other. That's the reason they tried to mess with each other on Mundus- there wasn't much I had to do aside from exploring my new abilities. Things that I already started doing, but only by extrapolating them through action. Now, I needed to sit down calmly on a bed and focus on what my new knowledge let me do in an analytical manner. I had to understand why I now had the powers I did, to find a way to game them as much as possible.

The first thing that I discovered was that my magic was… freeform, basically. The Oghma Infinium had destroyed the concept of Schools from my mind and now I only saw magic. Sure, I still used the terms in my mind for clarity's sake, but they were now just a useful tag on a spell than something that required a different focus or a different mentality to use. Now I just bent magicka with my will effortlessly.

While that didn't make me any better at using magic per se, it gave me much more versatility. Gone were the days I had to study a spell I didn't know how to cast, and gone was the need to study a spell that didn't exist while technically possible, like my Wall of Paralysis. Now, I just had to will my power to do the work, and it did.

There were still limits, though. Necromancy, even with my new understating of how it worked, didn't seem to work on fragments of a soul. Actually, dividing a soul, forcefully or not, was not something that seemed to be a thing in Elder Scrolls. You could separate the soul from the body, imprison it, recall it, bind it, siphon its power until almost nothing remained, but you could not, apparently, fragment it. You could destroy it and take the remains, but actually separating parts of a soul into different pieces was not a thing. So, no Soul Strikes or Spiritual Slash or anything like that for me. Not even Mysticism had anything like that.

On the same page, using Alteration to transmute something was still bloody difficult, and the more you tried to completely change something into another thing, like turning gases into solids or liquids and vice versa, for example, the more difficult it was. And double -or even triple- that for turning anything living in something that was not. It was not impossible, but exactly like there weren't spells with indefinite duration, it was impossible to create an indefinite level spell that was usable during a fight, especially against powerful opponents. That's why transmutation only worked permanently on inanimate things.

Taking that into consideration, temporary shape-shifting was more or less doable.

The most I got from Conjuration was, as mentioned, ignoring most deadra magical defenses. I can't one-shot them, but it made killing them a little easier. Easier travel to Oblivion was useful, and the possibility of banishing people into Oblivion was now unlocked, to say, but the problem was that banishing people into Oblivion seemed really fucking awful, and unlike banishing a daedra, I had to maintain the spell to keep them there.

I also expanded on some tricks I could already use. Before, I could bolster my ability to lie using Illusion, by subtly altering my own voice and mannerism to hide that I was lying. Now, I could do the same thing but in every social circumstance. Apparently, while before the trick let me hide my tells, now I could unconsciously understand how to best push the buttons of the person I was talking to, a sort of self-hypnotism. A little Illusion spell aimed to grant me inside knowledge on a social situation. Basically Clairvoyance aimed at social interaction. Pretty useful, considering that I was terrible at that. Or, at least, far less skilled than in Illusion.

Another similar trick I had but basically never used -because Fly spell- was a little use of Alteration to make myself lighter… and so greatly help me jump or do some acrobatics. That too was improved, and now I could use Alteration to change my momentum… which made it very easy for me to apply it to every physical activity I could imagine.

I probably wouldn't, most of the time. I was not that bad at physical activities, thanks to my renewed and improved physical shape, and I could not improve if I didn't practice. So I was probably going to reserve the trick for when I really needed it. I was probably going to use my Illusion trick a lot more, especially since being sociable was, like, at the bottom of my to-do list. Also, for some reason, my magicka discount didn't work on them. Maybe it was because they weren't spells? I don't know. They should be in theory, but they didn't get the discount. Another mystery. Not that it was important, they were by far less costly than any spell I could use already, discount included.

I was also finally able to infuse my strikes with magic, but the effect was a lot less powerful than a real spell. That was something that not even my new knowledge of how magic worked could explain.

The most surprising upgrade I got was… well, I don't know how to explain it, but now apparently magicka reacted to my will so well that some things were just run on a subconscious level. One example of that was the reflexive Alteration trick I used to shield myself from damage.

A little digression: Alteration was the domain of Armor spells, while Resist spells were Restoration one. The difference was subtle but important: Resist X spell reduced the damage inflicted by X but never really cut it out completely. To explain in scientific terms, even if I had no idea how scientific the process was, Resist X spells increased the body tolerance to the harmful effect but didn't stop the damage from happening at all. The 50% Fire Resistance Dark Elves naturally had didn't stop them from feeling hot or ignore the heat of, say, magma. It just made their body exponentially more resistant to permanent injury caused by heat. It was not protection: it was tolerance. Up until you hit 100% of course, at which point you were all but immune to damage, but I was not sure you could get there normally without pre-existing racial resistance, or it was actually a thing and not a game mechanic. Also, Resist spells didn't work on kinetic energy, so no Resist Slashing spell.

Armor spells, on the contrary, were exactly that: armor. They cut down the damage by blocking part of the energy of the strike and redirecting it in a harmless way. They probably stopped a lower amount of damage in general, but hey, at least they completely blocked a certain amount of damage depending on the strength of the armor you created. But not poison, for… I don't know. Probably because the Armor spells couldn't stop damage from inside the body. Also, Armor spells didn't stack with real armor… unless you used an alternative version that improved the armor itself, of course.

So, I could use Alteration to instantly get an instant Armor spell on me when I could be damaged. Not that good as real armor, but still, it helped me survive, and I was grateful for that.

Another 'passive' benefit was granted by Restoration, which greatly improved my ability to… well, recover. Nothing Wolverine-like, but noticeably faster than normal, both in terms of health, stamina, or magicka, making me all-around more able to bounce back from a tough fight if I survived. This was, again, achieved by my subtle use of a Restoration-like spell dispersed all around my body. Bloody useful, that one.

And finally… the ability to bend magicka to my will so easily was reflected on the quantity of magicka I had to use to do something. There was a huge difference, I now needed something like half the magicka I usually needed to cast a spell, depending on how complicated it was normally. Which, while nice, just meant that I could use my most powerful spells one or two times more than normal. But at least I could spam low-leveled ones.

I also tried to find out how much of my improved knowledge of magic translated into Alchemy and Enchanting, and the answer was… not much. Like, at all. Enchanting worked by impressing an effect on an object while using an outside font of energy to power it: the fact that I required much less energy to use a spell didn't translate in the Enchantment requiring less energy. Alchemy was the same because it never actually was about bending magicka but mixing ingredients to give the potions the right effect… The fact that those effects were dependent on the magicka incorporated in the ingredients was completely irrelevant.

Which was a shame because having to spend several hours to enchant or brew every single piece of equipment was annoying as hell, but I would manage in the end.

Also also, improved magic didn't do anything for the Thu'um. Which, considering that Hermaeus Mora had a Dragonborn to play with for four thousand years or something, was bullshit. Not because understanding magic should help with The Voice but because I was pretty sure that Thu'um should be in the magic section of the Oghma Infinium. But maybe it was in one of the last paragraphs I didn't read, because the Oghma Infinium, while neatly separated in chapters, was not what I would call well written. The notions were sort of mixed together, probably to help if one was eager to cross various disciplines together. But since the Thu'um was so different from any other discipline on Mundus, maybe it made sense had a nice little paragraph somewhere, not mixed with the others. Exactly like Enchanting and Alchemy were separated from pure magic.

So, to sum it up, I had achieved incredible personal magical might and exceptional fighting ability -not backed up by as incredible physical stats, but I was born Breton in this world and they were not renowned for physical might-, but aside from that, nothing. Which was still positively incredible, and I wasn't really complaining. But my inner power gamer had hoped I could leverage my knowledge for something better. Unlimited power for the sake of unlimited power. Or to not dying, which my first priority, ahead of 'returning home' just because I could not return home if I was dead.

Huff… what an improvement. I didn't know how much longer I would have taken to reach that level -probably a long time, even considering my stupid Prisoner cheating- so I was more or less ok with it. Grasp all, lose all, after all. I wouldn't want to risk my sanity trying to get more from the Oghma Infinium. I now could, reasonably, beat most things by pure magic alone. And cheating, because I was not going to fight fair until I was reasonably sure I could win handily, and then to hell with it. Not very honorable, but fuck honor.

But there was something I could do with my new knowledge. Not directly, but maybe…

I passed the rest of the day trying to figure out if there was a way I could cheat even more and apply my new knowledge to anything else, with no success. The simple fact was that, as far as the physical world went, I knew more than what my power could show me, mostly regarding physics and chemistry. So no new insights into the fundamental nature of the universe for me. Another seemingly easy thing I had hoped magic would work was with the Thu'um, because while it was pretty obvious that the two were not related, I knew that The Voice required something to work. Some kind of energy -life force, the sources claimed- had to be channeled into the Shout. I thought I could analyze the act with my magic and understand how it worked, and then work from there and learn how to use my power better.

I failed pretty hard, because whatever it was that I used to power my Thu'um, it didn't register with magic. Maybe it was a problem of incompatibility between the source and my magic -like trying to calculate volume using a scale- or maybe I wasn't searching in the right place, but whatever it was, it slipped under my scrutiny. I should probably try again, but… I was getting pretty tired, and with my mind starting to derail with higher frequency, I decided to postpone the research to another day… preferably after I had the Amulet of Gauldur and a little more time.

I swear to God, I didn't have time for anything. I had, like, five secondary quests that I needed to get done as soon as possible because they were basically mini world-threatening events all by themselves. Potema the Wolf-Queen, Ancano and his damn ego and stupidity, Miraak, Harkon, plus something I probably forgot… oh, wait, I probably had to kill the Dragon Priests before they could join Alduin. Also because I loved to collect their masks, but that was secondary. All of those required my attention, but I also had to get equipment to not die while doing them. Basically, everything I was doing right now was to fulfill both those objectives at the same. Damn. Time. The only thing I wasn't doing was challenging dragons on my own, because I was not fucking stupid, and not engage in every Deadric Quest, because I was not a fucking horrible person. That's it. I barely had the time to even consider doing something else with my time.

The only good thing about my current busy schedule was that it required a lot of fighting, and that meant that I could discharge my stress on horrible monsters without repercussion on my psyche. It was the only thing keeping me -relatively- sane. The moment I was not fighting something, I started to consider the enormity of what I had to do… exactly what I was doing right now.

Sighing, I decided to sleep. Fortunately, I could just zap myself with a Sleep spell, a particularly good Illusion spell that nobody used because it's effects on something in combat were comparable to a Calm spell. But for knocking yourself out? Perfect.

Interlude: Dawnguard

Lord Harkon looked at his subjects, the loyal vampires of the Volkihar Clan. They were feasting and arguing like always.

Then, Garan approached his Lord.

"Garan, my old friend." Lied Lord Harkon. He didn't have friends. "Is something bothering you?"

"No my Lord." He said. "I just heard some rumors and I thought you should be informed."

"Oh? And what rumor would need my attention?"

The vampire Dunmer coughed in his hand. "It's a minor annoyance at best, my Lord. Apparently, the Dawnguard had become more aggressive with their recruiting. They're weak mortals, so they pose no threat to us… but they managed to find two notable recruits."

"Notable?" Asked Harkon.

"Yes, my Lord. One of them is a knight wielding a blade infused with the power of the sun. One of Meridia's champions, probably, but I still have to find more information about him to make sure. The other is a recent addition of the Companions. He's called Thormund."

"And why is a new member of the Companions of any interest to us?" Asked Lord Harkon.

"He's quite an accomplished fighter, and he has with him a wolf of a size rarely seen in these lands." Replied the vampire. "If the Dawnguard ever manages to find out about our plans, he could be a dangerous opponent."

"A mortal is never a danger for a true vampire." Replied Harkon. Then, he continued. "That said, the thin-blooded vampires we're using to further our plan are not true vampires. Does the Danwguard have any clue about our position?"

"No my Lord. Nothing. But the Vigilantes of Stendarr seem to have found something that could interest us. And old ruin that maybe… maybe, could have what we seek. Maybe we should deal with them while they're weak, before they try to contact the Dawnguard?"

"Mmm. They're just a little more than flies, but if they manage to form a united front, they could be a problem for our plans. Very well. Send some thin-bloods to deal with the Vigilantes of Stendarr."

"And the Dawnguard, my Lord?" Asked Garan.

"We don't have enough thin-bloods to attack them and the Vigilantes at the same time." Replied the Vampire Lord. "We'll deal with them after the Vigilantes are dealt with, and afterward we'll see if that ruin has what we seek."

"As you wish, my Lord." Bowed Garan, leaving his Lord to ponder on the situation.

Indeed, it looked like the humans were starting to take action against him and his clan. Why now, when he was almost done, he didn't know. It was terrible timing. With the hundreds of years he took to find what he wanted, and the caution he put into it, there was no worse moment for them to start acting.

But that was to be expected. Prophecies tended to attract attention. When the time was right, things simply started to move, and forces outside Nirn were going to interfere with his plans. It was foolish to think differently.

-X-

Far, far away from the shores of the Castel Volkihar, a couple of vampires were watching their lair.

Truth be told, they were not happy to have the Volkihar breathing down their necks, strong-arming them into doing their bidding. Not that, if left alone, these particular vampires would stop eating people, but they didn't like having someone ordering them around and treating them like maggots, just because they didn't come for a powerful and ancient vampire clan.

That's the reason why they were here. And that was the reason they were going to die.

Suddenly, something very big and very black flung out of the shadows and sank its fangs into one of the vampire's face. The dagger-like teeth pierced the skin of the vampire like it was wet paper, and the powerful jaws clenched around the head of the Undead like an iron vice, crushing his skull.

"What in the Oblivion!?" Shouted the other vampire, before the infernal creature turned to see him. The vampire almost fainted when he saw a bright, orange eye land on him, the blooded fangs still on the head of his comrade. The monstrous creature tossed aside the dead body of the vampire and faced the remaining one.

With the creature in full view, it was even scarier. It was a gigantic black wolf, easily the size of a horse, but once and half wide. The monster growled, a deep, unsettling sound that made the vampire take a step back. The teeth in full view probably helped.

Then, before he could do anything, flight or fight as he wished, a bright blade pierced his chest from behind. The vampire emitted a high-pitched screech when the wound exploded in white and blue flames, incinerating the creature in an instant.

"That's two of the monsters eliminated." Commented the owner of the blade. "With a little luck, there won't be many more."

"Nonsense, Solanus. The more vampires there are inside, the more of a fight we're going to have." Replied a gigantic man, appearing from the shadows.

Solanus sighed. "Don't misunderstand, I like killing vampires as much as you do, Thormund. But I want to be done with this retrieval mission. It's the last relic of the Dawnguard we need to find."

"Well, at least we're together for this, aren't we?" Asked Thormund, slamming his hand on the back of the Imperial. Who, surprisingly, stood firm.

"Yes, that's true." Admitted the man, probably smiling. His tone hinted at a smile, but the helmet on his face made it difficult to be sure about it. "I greatly enjoyed our little cooperation." He adjusted his grip on Dawnbreaker and faced the entrance of the lair. "Are we ready?"

"Aye!"

"Arf arf!" Replied Fenrir, in what the Imperial had learned meant yes.

"Then let's do this." He said, walking inside.

Several hours later, returning to Fort Dawnguard, the trio stopped to eat something on the way.

It was on that occasion that Thormund decided to ask a question that he kept in reserve until now.

"You know Solanus, you never told me how you managed to put your hands on that sword."

The Imperial, now without his helmet, landed his grey eyes on the sword at his side. "This? It's a long story."

"Do we have anything better to do?" Asked Thormund.

"No, I suppose not." Admitted Solanus. "Well, I must say that it was not a pleasant experience. You see, that's-"

"Dawnbreaker, one of the daedric artifacts of Meridia." Interrupted Thormund. "I know, my friend."

"Really? You're far more informed than I thought you would be. No offense, my friend, but it's a pretty obscure artifact. It's been hundreds of years since it appeared in mortal hands."

"No offense taken. In fact, I didn't know until a friend of mine told me."

"Ah, your mysterious friend. I heard something about it from Isran. A mage, right? I'm not surprised he knew. They tend to be a studious bunch."

Thormund laughed. "He is, but I think you'll find him surprising."

"Is that so? Anyway, regarding the sword… I was taking on an old crypt full of undead. And then, inside a chest, I find this strange stone. The moment I touch it, a voice told me to take it to the Altar of Meridia, near Solitude."

"And you did it?" Asked Thormund.

The Imperial shrugged. "You can never know what an angry Deadric Prince could do, and trust me, Meridia sounded very angry. I could have just left the thing in some corner and walked away, but I thought that there was nothing wrong in taking the stone to her. At least, when she got what she wanted, I could walk away knowing that nobody else was going to take the stone and use it for something evil."

"I suppose it didn't go exactly as you wanted."

Solanus laughed. "No, it didn't. The moment I placed the stone on the Altar, Meridia grabbed me with her magic and dragged me into the sky, high enough that I could see all the provinces. Then she ordered me to get inside her temple and kill the necromancer that was desecrating it. She didn't really give me much choice."

"Well, it could have gone worse." Admitted Thormund. "She could have asked something more heinous than removing a necromancer and his wretched spawns from the surface of Mundus."

Solanus chuckled. "Yes, I suppose that's right. I mean, I wanted to kill Undead from the start, so all those problems, in the end, turned out to be for something useful." He patted the sword. "Dawnbreaker is going to help me deal with them. And with the shield we just found, my set is complete."

"It is." Admitted Thormund. "But you know, you should ask my friend Loki to Enchant it, when he comes with us. I'm sure it would make itan even more powerful protection."

"You think he can?" Asked Solanus. "I thought it was already Enchanted. How do you explain the light that comes out of it?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Admitted Thormund. "It just gives me a different vibe from my Enchanted Axe. Maybe it's the runes? Or a blessing from Arkay? It's the first time I've seen something like that."

"Me too. I suppose your friend is going to want to study it, after all."

They laughed together. An understanding between warriors, after all, let you skip a couple of steps.

-X-

"So, is this everything?" Asked Isran, looking at the variety of equipment they held in their hands. "The famous relics of the Dawnguard?"

"Yes." Answered Thormund. "All the ones Loki remembered, at least. If our priest heard about the position of other pieces, he didn't tell me."

Isran nodded. "That's good. We're as prepared as possible. Did he tell you more about the future?"

"Not in the details." Replied Thormund. "His memory is not that great on the minutiae. Which, considering how much the Elder Scroll showed him, it's understandable."

"I don't care how understandable or how accurate he is. I want information."

"The vampires are searching for the daughter of their Lord, Harkon. He rules Clan Volkihar from a castle in the north, in the middle of the sea."

"The daughter, uh?" Mused Isran. "Interesting. Why they're searching for her? I suppose it's not for filial love…"

"No. Serana -that's her name- possess an Elder Scroll, which will be essential for understanding a prophecy about darkening the sun. Harkon wants to make the prophecy true and tinge the sun as red as the blood he drinks."

"Letting him and all his kind move freely in the daylight." Continued Isran. "We need to find her."

"Not necessarily." Disagreed Thormund. "Loki told me that the prophecy is… dispersed, I think. On three different Elder Scrolls. And since he already knows what the prophecy says, we just need to keep at least one of the Scrolls away from the vampires."

"Yes, that could work. It's far easier for us. So, where are these Scrolls located?"

"One is in the hands of Serana. One is in the hands of her mother, which is locked in the Soul Cairn, a necromantic plane of Oblivion, so we don't have to worry about it. Another is in Blackreach. Unfortunately, Loki will need that Scroll for himself."

"Mmmm. So, for now, one Scroll is completely unreachable, one is with a vampire, and the other is in this Blackreach place. Of the two, which one would be easier to acquire?"

"From what Loki told me, Serana's. She'll just come here when she realize what her father's plan is."

"Oh? I thought she would have been overjoyed that she could go around sucking blood with impunity."

"Not when blowing out the sun is going to make all the Men and Mer of Tamriel want to kill them."

"A realistic outcome, yes. Did your friend explained to you how they want to blow out the sun?"

"Apparently, with the Bow of Auri-El, the Snow Elves equivalent of Akatosh. It's a sun deity, and with the bow, they can send arrows to the sun to increase its luminosity… or darken its light. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember where it is located."

"Unfortunate indeed. We would have avoided a lot of problems by knowing its position." Isran tapped his fingers on the table. "I have to admit, when you first came here telling me that you knew the future, I didn't believe you. But your suggestions could not have caused any problems, so I decided that being prepared was a good idea. Now that I'm sure that you were not full of shit, I think I need to talk with your friend. You know where he is?"

"Probably going around killing draugr. He had an amulet to reforge."

"Mmm. If you see him, tell him I want to talk with him. Now, what are your suggestions to stop the bloodsuckers from getting any advantage?"

"There is not a lot that we can do without the Vigilantes of Stendarr or the Moth Priest. Any news on them?"

"The Moth Priest should be arriving at Skyrim soon. I already told some of my men to escort him here as fast as possible, or to go with him if he refuses to follow them. The Vigilantes…" His expression darkened. "Those damn idiots still refuse to see that the vampires are going to destroy us all. I tried to make them see reason, considering that if they don't they're all going to be killed, but they're as blind as they were when I went away. They're not going to share anything with us, and I can't spare my men to help them when we don't know when the attack is going to come."

"We need more men then." Noted Thormund. Isran nodded.

"Yes. Thanks to your early warning, we already have the most valuable members with us. Gunmar and Sorine have sped up the training of the new recruits, and with them here, we also have better armor and weapons, even if they cannot recreate the old Dawnguard weapons. Now we just need more recruits."

"They'll come when the vampires start to attack them." Said Thormund.

"Yes, but every attack is potentially more vampires. I'd prefer to not having to wait for the danger to manifest itself to do something."

"Unfortunately, most people are not willing to abandon their homes for killing vampires without a very good reason. Not everyone is a born warrior."

"True." Sighed Isran. "We just have to wait, and pray the gods that the Vigilantes decide to share with us where this Serana is located."

Thormund hesitated just a second before speaking. "I advise caution when dealing with Serana. My friend Loki has an interest in keeping her alive and possibly unarmed."

"Is that so? Why?"

"He said she's not a bad person."

"She's a vampire."

"He doesn't seem to care about that."

"And?" Asked Isran. "Don't misunderstand, I'm grateful to your friend, since he gave us a great advantage over the bloodsuckers, and so I'm more than willing to make an exception and keep this vampire alive for the time being. But what if I didn't? What advantage do we get by keeping this vampire alive after she loses all her utility to us?"

"You need to not underestimate him, Isran. Last time I saw him, he cleared a bandit camp, a fortress full of mages, and a Dwemer ruin all by himself. He also survived a Draugr Deathlord and a Dark Brotherhood Assassin, and not so subtly threatened to wipe out the entire Stormcloack rebellion if they try to attack Whiterun. He may not be the greatest fighter in all of Skyrim, but he is one of the most gifted mages I ever encountered. He went from being a total novice to an expert in the span of four months. I cannot even imagine what he's going to be when I see him again."

Isran nodded. "I see. Don't piss off the powerful mage. I suppose that's common sense." He sighed. "Fine. I'll leave the vampire woman to him. I'm sure that, after all the effort he put into getting us prepared, it's something I can pass on."

"Oh, I don't think he would kill you and the Dawnguard." Said Thormund. "He would not like it, but he's not the type of person that will kill people for something like that… until the end of the vampire problem, at least. I just want you to know that he's extremely powerful and so it's better having him on your side than against you. He may not attack you, since your goal is noble, but that doesn't mean that he's going to be helpful either. He could just let you die against the vampires before wiping them out himself."

"You think he can do it?" Asked Isran. "Kill the vampires, I mean?"

"If he has time to prepare and knows is enemies -and he does- I'm sure he's going to show up with potions and equipment Enchanted for the job." Smiled Thormund. "His great strength is his knowledge. He knows his enemies, while they don't know him. He can just prepare for them. And they are going to have a hard time finding him: he's an adept user of teleportation magic. He can just escape to the other side of Skyrim at a momenta notice."

Isran chuckled. "Sounds like a real nightmare to fight. I'm happy he's on our side."

Thormund nodded. "Yes, we are. Now, is there something else you want from me?"

"No, Thunderer. I think it's quite enough. Unless you have a way to contact your friend?"

Thormund shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. But I don't think it's necessary for us to call him. He'll come here on his own when he's done with his little project. It could take a day or a week. I don't know."

"A week is an acceptable time." Admitted Isran. "I'm surprised he can travel so fast across Skyrim, but I suppose I shouldn't be. Teleportation magic, right? Bloody convenient."

"I'm sure he shares your opinion, Isran."

The Redguard laughed. "He probably does. Very well, Thunderer. We'll need you to show the recruits how it's like to fight with someone that's much stronger than them, but aside for that, for now, we don't need you for any mission. Do what you want until I call you."

"If you excuse me, then." He said, before turning around and getting out of the room. He needed to look at Fenrir. The wolf missed his first friend and needed a little company.

He hoped Loki was coming soon. They needed him more than ever.

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.1

So, after I rested -which happened after the whole testing thing, I'm sorry if I was not clear on that- I felt better. Especially since I didn't have runes floating around the edges of my vision.

That also meant I had to prepare for Gauldurson number two.

I didn't have the time to completely restock my potions supply, nor the ingredients needed. Also, Ivarstead was not the best place to find supplies or materials for… well, for anything, really. The only shops in the town were the inn and the sawmill, and the second couldn't even be considered a real shop. I couldn't even properly Enchant anything aside from my sword, because the Soul Gems I had available were only useful for minor Enchantments and I didn't want to use them for that. Considering that I could use the Soul Gems to power rituals or on weapons that are actually useful I could find around.

Plus, I probably didn't need to create special potions like the ones I used against the fellows at the sunken fortress. Draugr were not known to use magic… or not a lot of it anyway. Plus I was pretty well protected against magic, and the only thing I was worried about were eventual Shouts. Which, considering I still didn't know how to 'swallow' them, is a better idea to dodge. I needed to get a grip on that. I was incredibly fast with a blade, but surprisingly slow on jumping away from danger. A side effect of the book, maybe? Or simply of how I fought until now? Questions for another time.

Anyway, just because I could not or don't need to replenish my entire stock of potions, it didn't mean I couldn't buy something. The something in question was actually food and not anything remotely useful for Alchemy or Enchanting, but what do you want from me? Besides, having a nice meal was a way to maintain high morale in the face of adversity, so it made sense that I bought fresh food before going into a quest. Sure, the fresh food was to be consumed early and then I would have to work with the easily preservable ones, but the food was basically my only joy in this fucking world aside from experimenting with magic. You'll have to forgive me if I wanted to have a nice meal before fighting Undead monsters.

God, now I wanted a pizza. Did they have mozzarella in this place, or do I have to use some other kind of cheese? Granted, I could cook a pizza even without real mozzarella or a real pizza oven, but I would prefer to do it with the proper ingredients. My pride as an Italian demanded it.

Ah, not getting distracted by food now. I needed to focus on the task at hand, namely, kill an Undead. But I could manage. I already killed his bigger brother that had invulnerability, while I was pretty sure he didn't. It couldn't be that difficult, right? I just needed to be sure everything was in order or fully charged, take a good meal, and then go.

-X-

And so, after all the preparations were done, I turned toward the little island near Irvasted. The 'resting' place of Gauldurson number two. That was going to be fun. Or dangerous. Probably both.

I must also say that I didn't remember anything of that dungeon, and that I was probably going to switch the brothers. The only one I remembered aside from the one I already killed was the one that used the bow, made copies of himself, and was generally annoying. The other… I didn't remember him at all.

I also skipped the word-wall in the tomb near the village because I was rather sure that it contained one of the words for the Fire Breath, and I already knew them. So, thanks but no thanks.

The dungeon started badly, with the necessity to jump down a hole. Great. Luckily I had my Flight spell -which had evolved in full flight now that I had the knowledge of the Oghma Infinium- so I just jumped down and used a Feather Fall spell to not feel the impact with the water. Sure, in-game you could fall from any height and be fine if you fell into the water, but… physics didn't work that way.

Anyway, since I didn't see any way to progress from there, I resolved to cast a Water Breathing spell and went down. Thanks to my increased strength and the relatively light weight of the armor, I didn't have any problems. I also found a chest, some gold, and a Soul Gem. I recovered everything I could -compulsive looting is my bane- and left the rusted sword there. Yeah, I'm not sure how I was supposed to believe that weapons could remain inside a water body for extended periods of time without rusting, unless it was not made of iron or steel, but the one there was, so it was completely useless. I continued down the path and emerged from the other side.

I have to say, Water Breathing was useful but I will never get used to the sensation of water entering inside my lungs. I was careful to expel it when I was out. The spell made the entire process easy, but not particularly pleasant. Then, I continued. The dungeon, even alone, didn't look that scary. Maybe fighting a Deathlord put my expectations in place. When I found webs, I didn't fear for my life. I just felt disgusted by the idea of fighting giant spiders. They were not really dangerous, but they were ugly and aggressive. Fortunately, there were just two of them and they died to a couple of firebolts.

There was also, compulsive looting, so I opened the door just to find another set of useless armor, a steel shield, and various other loot. I took everything I could reasonably take with me and continued. I did the same with a chest later, which contained mostly gold coins and gems.

Then I arrived at the first puzzle. Well, 'puzzle'. The combination was right there. Eagle -and not Hawk like I always thought, but I'll be forgiven for mistaking a bird of prey for another-, Whale, Snake, and Whale. Now I just needed to find the columns… and whatever enemy between me and them, of course. Turned out that each pillar was guarded by a draugr, but they were basic draugr, and, with improved armor and weapons, I didn't fear them. I just blasted the damn things a couple of times and killed them.

One on one that draugr turned out to be very easy. Good to know. Now I just needed to be sure I didn't accidentally fight more than one of them at the same time. That's why I always tried to be as stealthy as possible.

You could argue that I didn't need to be stealthy with my amazing magical powers, but as with most of the mages I've fought until now discovered, you never know when you'll find something that doesn't care about your magic, or how fast and hard you can swing your sword. So, I was trying to be stealthy for future necessity, more than any actual necessity. These draugr were easy. Other monsters could not be.

Turned out, stealth was a good idea, since the next room had three draugr guarding what looked like a ramp. One was at the bottom, two were on the top. This seemed like a situation where I needed to be as stealthy as possible. Sneaky Archer then. Of course, unlike with the Dwemer ruin, I couldn't just fly up. Nordic tombs didn't have convenient tubes emerging from the ceiling where I could hide. So, I had to shoot the draugr from my relatively visible position. I had invisibility, of course, but I doubted I could sneak away in my armor. Metal armor was loud even if I tried to be sneaky.

But maybe I could do something else. Like silently planting Rune spells in their path to reach me if they saw me. I just needed to place a lot of them at low power to be sure that multiple explosions killed them, and I was alright. Or… that was what I guessed.

The draugr, thanks to their undead status, weren't very bright, so I could place a lot of Runes here and there. Then, to start to the hostilities, I shot the draugr farthest away from me. The arrow planted itself deep in the chest of the creature, who fell to its knee. As expected, the undead monsters decided to search for me.

Just to be engulfed in elemental destruction. Mostly flaming destruction. The only one that remained was the one I shot. Until I shot it again, of course. My second arrow wass planted in its head and he fell down.

A job well done, I have to say.

Maybe I'm repeating myself, but contrary to the last dungeon, this one was pretty easy. It was made evident by the fact that, instead of taking the cautious approach at every enemy, I just trampled all the resistance with lots of fire. And I wasn't particularly more powerful than the last time I challenged an old Nord tomb, at least not in pure destructive power: I could cast more powerful spells if I wanted, but that would have consumed my reserves pretty quickly, so I was sticking to a roughly similar power-level. Hell, it felt strange to remember that I almost died against the first brother not even two weeks ago. Maybe it was just a better understanding of how powerful I was, or the knowledge that this brother wasn't literally invincible, but instead of sneaking near sleeping draugr and taking them down silently, I opted for the much more satisfying route of blasting them away.

The end result was another five draugr dead, a spider that somehow managed to get into this part of the dungeon instead of the ones where its brothers were, and a lot of loot.

And then there was the boss.

It was pretty difficult to miss the tells of an incoming boss battle. A large room with three circular platforms in the middle of the room? Yeah, I remembered that room. Which meant that I knew who the boss was going to be: the archer with illusion copies.

Normally, I just sneak archered him. I doubted I could do the same now. I doubted I had the necessary stealthiness to do the same now.

Unless I decided to use my mostly intact magicka reserves -the best part of mastering a school was that casting the basic spell of the school became ridiculously easy- to cover myself with a good Chameleon and Muffle spell and sneak on him that way.

And why not? It gave me the time to understand which was the real one. So, before entering the fight, I camouflaged myself, and only when I was sure that my form was a little blurred and my steps silent, I stepped into the arena.

Aaaaand… nothing happened.

Uh. Maybe I needed to step near the coffin to activate the boss fight? Maybe. Better test that out.

As predicted, the moment I was near the coffin of the Gauldurson, the top burst open, and my opponent started to get out. I shoot him an arrow, but the moment I did it, his body disappeared.

Right, teleportation and illusion. I just needed to find what of the three was the real one and…

Wait… why wasn't I using a Firestorm spell to hit the three platforms at the same time? It didn't need to be a powerful one either: just the minimum necessary, enough to destroy the copies the moment they formed, letting me hit the real one with precision. I really needed to think these things through.

I rapidly cast that spell in time with the draugr reappearing. The good thing about knowing how the fucker was going to fight was that I could anticipate him. So, the moment he and his copies appeared, a vortex of flames engulfed the three platforms. I got a brief sight of the illusionary copies before they disappeared, and then there was just him.

I suppose I could have taken him down even without recurring to a firestorm Spell. It wasn't difficult to notice the differences between him and the copies: the copies were surrounded by a purple haze and had hornless helmets. All in all, it was pretty obvious what was true and what was not.

But why shouldn't I use a firestorm to do the job? Even at low power and with limited range, it was the perfect spell to make the copies disappear and give me a clear shot. Of course, since I had to lose time setting up the spell, I couldn't shoot an arrow fast enough to hit the draugr before he disappeared again, but I just needed to be ready when he appeared the next time.

Luckily, Gauldurson didn't notice me in all of that, so I was spared an arrow in the chest. I didn't know what type of Enchantment his bow had, but it was probably something good against mages… which I was. I also didn't fail to notice how he didn't seem to be bothered too much by the flames. Magical protection seemed one of the powers of the amulet then. Enough to force a mage to use more powerful spells to wound him, while he could just use his bow -which probably drained magicka, since I was pretty sure it was not the weapon that stole health- to weaken his enemy until they were forced to a more physical confrontation.

Yes, that sounded like the perfect set-up to screw a battlemage. An enemy who used deceit and magical protection to force him out of his comfort zone, where he was vulnerable… or brought down to his level.

Unfortunately for him, I was not a battlemage. I used deceit and underhanded tactics as much as pure magical might, so I had no problem eluding his trap. I just needed to be ready.

So, when he appeared again, looking around to find me, I was there.

My arrow lodged itself in his shoulder. Gauldurson flinched and disappeared in the purple vortex of energy that indicated a teleport spell. I readied another arrow and quickly found another cover, to avoid the draugr for locating me easily.

Which he did, but not before I had the opportunity to shoot him again. But he changed platform and so I had to change my aim at the last second, I managed to miss him. Shit. Every hit I missed was more time for the draugr to find me and more magicka I had to spend in sustaining the firestorm.

Gauldurson appeared again, and a miracle happened. Not only did Gauldurson manage to see me despite hiding and using both Chameleon and Muffle, but he also managed to completely miss me with his arrow. I don't know how it was possible for both of us to fail so spectacularly in succession, but we did. Which would have been an acceptable idea, if not for the fact that it was another tick of magicka removed from my reserves.

So I resolved to not fail again and, moving to make it difficult for him to target me, I waited with the bow ready.

When he appeared and the clones were destroyed by the flames, I shot him in the chest.

Due to the not particularly resistant armor he wore -some kind of ringmail, which made sense considering he was an archer, but didn't do much to protect him since the padding had long rotten- my arrow hit him dead in the heart. Which, of course, was just a detail since his heart had not beaten for centuries. What it did, though, was destabilize the shot he had readied, missing me by a mile. Then he disappeared.

Ok, I was at a good point. I had taken the time for his disappearance and where he could be. I was ready for the last shot.

And the last shot it was. When he appeared the last time, with his bow ready, he found my arrow already flying at him. Specifically, for his left eye.

Of course, hitting the draugr right in the eyes was more luck than premeditation. I was a good shot, but I didn't have that kind of precision. Still, it did the job, as the light in his remaining eye disappeared and he fell to the ground.

Well, that was… underwhelming. This brother -Sigdis, if I remembered the name I read before right- was… well, more on the level of a Scourge than a Deathlord. Which meant that all his power was a consequence of his amulet. I couldn't wrap my head about the fact that he scored a mutual kill on an Archmage otherwise. Of course, it could also be that by the time fought him Geirmund was tired, thanks to having to chase and battle the other two brothers, but… bah, no sense trying to get it now. Better take what I could from this tomb and be ready for the next fight.

And the loot was nice. Another fragment of the amulet, which as I presumed gave a minor but effective protection from magical damage and… increased the user's stamina? So the game wasn't completely wrong? But it seemed it had less to do with increasing the stamina and more to have unnaturally good stamina and magical recovery. Mmm… an Enchantment worth studying. Not exactly what the game gave you but close enough to an abstract 'staying power', and also something a mage could actually use.

Aside from that, I had the bow and the content of a chest I found nearby, probably some kind of offer to the dead to quiet them. It didn't work in this case but hey, more loot for me. Nothing crazy. Gems, mostly, jewelry, and an old set of armor I couldn't use because it was old and not really fitting. Besides, I spent a lot of money for my custom moonstone armor, I wasn't going to throw it away unless it was really good armor. And this one wasn't.

Man, I really needed to have more luck with the drops. If only they leveled up with me… but they didn't. Because of course, they didn't. This was not a game.

Anyway, I was finished and I didn't even feel that tired. Now, to reach the surface and head to my next destination: Solitude.

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.2

You could ask me why I decided to go to Solitude instead of going directly to the next Gauldurson. And I would tell you that I did it for several reasons.

One: I wanted to make sure that they had done something about Potema. I had instructed Hadvar to take care of that particular problem, but there was the second mission with Potema, when she retreated inside the catacombs under the city. That could have remained unresolved, even assuming that they went to deal with the Necromancers in the first place.

Second: there were a couple or so missions I could resolve just by entering inside the Blue Palace. Like, Radiant Raiment's, Sherogorath's, and if I took it before going there, the Bard's one. Which I wanted to do, because the reward for the quest was actually quite considerable: 15% Skill growth for Speech. I didn't know how it translated into not-game mechanics, but I hoped it turned out to be something good, and besides, I was pretty sure there was a Word waiting for me at the end. The other questlines, the ones about retrieving the instruments, could stay there. I didn't care.

Last, but not least, the assassination of… I forgot her name again. The cousin of the Emperor. It started all the events that would lead to the assassination of the Emperor himself… and honestly, I didn't want the Emperor to die. He seemed like a reasonable fellow. Sure, there was the theory that the Emperor wanted to die, and if that was the case, then he'll come to Skyrim anyway and I'll have the opportunity to talk to him about his decision. But even if that was the case, his cousin probably didn't deserve to die. If possible, I wanted to save her.

So, those were the reasons I decided to make a little deviation and get inside Solitude instead of getting directly to the crypts of the last Gauldurson. To save time.

Also because I already placed a teleport mark in the area between the tombs, something relatively simple once I decided to not use the roads and let Sleipnir run at max speed in the wilds. The horse was so freaking fast that any possibility of bandits or monsters attacking us were negligible, and putting a simple Water Walk spell on him resolved eventual problems about rivers or lakes in the way. We arrived in record time.

And so, after a long run from Ivarstead to Solitude, I finally saw Sleipnir tired. I patted him in the neck "You did a good job, my friend. You liked the run?"

The Atronach on horse shape sent me a mental nod, or something similar.

"Good. Rest now. I won't need your help for a while."

Sleipnir sent me another mental nod and, after a short trot, he disappeared in a gust of wind.

On command mount. The best kind of mount. I wished I had a motorcycle like that at home.

I entered the city and I was rewarded with the show of a decapitation. Because the Imperials didn't stand around waiting for someone to enter the city before removing some heads, and I started to walk toward the Bard College.

Of course, when I was just some steps away from the Bard's College, a Bosmer man approached me.

"You… you help peo-"

"Just give me that damn bone and scram." I interrupted him. "I'll go to your Lord when I wish so."

The Bosmer stuttered. "I… You… How…?"

"Do you want me to go to your Lord or not? I have other things to do, you know?"

"No!" He shouted. "I mean, yes, I understand! Here, take the pelvic bone. And thank you." He bowed and ran away.

Jeez, so scared because I knew what he wanted before he asked?

Anyway, since I didn't want to spend more time than necessary here, I marched inside the Bards College, finding his Altmer boss at the entrance.

"Hello. Do you wish to join us? Unfortunately, at the moment we are a little busy. The-"

"Classic festivity of the College is going to be canceled because the High King has been recently assassinated, yeah yeah, I know." I interrupted him. "Just tell me where the piece of the Poetic Edda is supposed to be here on my map."

I took the map out of my personal space distortion and gave it to the man. Tentatively, he pointed at a location just down the map… far down where I remembered it was. It was nearer to Morthal than to Solitude… almost perfectly south of the other dungeon I needed to clear.

On one hand, it made my visit here not completely useless. I remembered that you couldn't take what you needed to complete the quest without having the quest in your journal, but I didn't remember why. So I came there to be sure I didn't need it… I don't know, a secret password or something. Turns out, I was wrong about the position of the place. Well, at least in this case, two wrong made a right.

Still…

"Great, now I have to travel there." I murmured. "I'll come back in a day, at most. Be ready to go to the Queen."

"Uh, who are…?"

Before he could complete the sentence, I teleported away.

I materialized somewhere south of Solitude, directly south to the Blue Palace. I was pretty sure the place was near, but I wasn't sure were it actually was. I controlled on my map to see if I was in the right place. Mmm… the location looked right. Maybe I just needed to search for a bit.

Or I could use Clairvoyance. Easy.

Still, to make it a little faster on my end, I decided to take to the air. Because, despite all the speed Sleipnir had, nothing could beat a bird of prey for rapid reconnaissance.

It was the first time I used my enhanced knowledge of magic to shapeshift. And boy, if it was a complex spell. Do you know what was the trickiest part of it? Not the change of form, not even maintaining the form for any meaningful time. No, the trickiest part of the spell was keeping your human intellect intact while at the same time leaving just enough of the animal instincts to move in a completely foreign body without problems. That was what made this spell very, very difficult to master.

But thanks to the Oghma Infinium, I could. And I did so. I took the form of a hawk and climbed in altitude, leaving the ground behind me.

Man, traveling was so easy in this form. I suppose that, if I don't have Sleipnir available, a hawk was pretty good. I felt like I could reach Riften in a couple of hours.

But that came later. Now, I needed to find the burial site. With the sight of a raptor, of course, it was very easy. I noticed the construction sprouting out of a hill near my location and quickly dove there, flying a little over the ground until I transformed back, using my increased mass to stop all my momentum.

That was a cool trick. I needed to remember it.

Anyway, I landed in what looked like an abandoned camp. Probably of some researchers. I looted anything that I could loot -because abandoned camps near draugr infested ruins rarely had survivors- and started to descend into the ruins. What was its name again? Volfongrunth? I had noted the name somewhere… ah, Folgunthur. I started the descent inside Folgunthur.

The first thing I found inside were bodies. Of course. And a shame, not just for the people that died, but because I wanted to use the low-level draugr inside for some remedial training. Namely… dodging.

Make no mistake, I was plenty able to dodge. But, while the Oghma Infinium enlightened me on the highest mysteries of combat, that didn't mean I could reliably dodge. And that was caused by a pretty big flaw in my combat style that I managed to ignore until this point but I was going to tackle soon or later. Namely, I rarely had needed to avoid blows since my encounter with the first Gauldurson. Most of the things that needed to be dodged instead of parried or blocked were arrows and spells. The spells, I mostly ignored: my resistance to magic was more than enough to block the worst of the damage they could inflict on me. Arrows, sadly, were often dealt with by a couple of spells: archers were not famous for being particularly tough opponents. Tricky to deal with at distance? Sure. But with magic, I had a pretty good range myself.

The problem, of course, was that until now I faced mostly humanoid opponents and mages. Mages were easy to deal with and archers could be stopped by good armor. But what about some of the biggest monsters of Skyrim? How was I supposed to parry a giant's mace? Should I try to block a dragon's breath, one of the very few elemental attacks that my resistance to magic could not dissipate like fog under the sun? And even supposing I could do that for the dragons by learning whatever trick was used to 'swallow' the enemies' Thu'um… what about every enemy that had elemental powers not related to magicka?

No, I needed to become better at DODGE! That required a little training. That was my reason for wanting to fight draugr in melee to learn how to better jump out of the trajectory of everything that I could not parry or block with a shield. My martial training was not going to be complete until I did that.

Oh, well. I could find other draugr inside. As for the people… unfortunately, there was not a lot I could do for them. Maybe later, when I got out, I will take them out and bury them, instead of leaving them to rot.

Of course, I explored too. That's how I found out that the lock of the Dragon Claw was, actually, in the very first room of the entire dungeon. Of course, there was another lock on the wall, so probably Gauldurson was not exactly behind the first door.

Ah, whatever. I continued down the road. And right behind the first corner, I found the first draugr. Sighing, I approached the Undead.

I swear to God I wasn't trying to kill it so fast. I even did something I usually didn't do, namely acting carefully instead of just attacking recklessly hoping my defenses would keep me alive.

I still cut it down with two strikes. One to chop off the weapon he was trying to take out, and another to decapitate it.

I had to have found one of the less powerful draugr. Ok, nothing wrong. I just needed to continue and try to not kill them instantly.

The room I arrived next posed a bigger challenge than the other. Namely, because I heard the sound of several tombs being violently opened. At least three, probably more. Three right in front of me. Others in the other corners of the room. Probably.

Fine. I could deal with that.

I discharged a fireball at the draugr in the middle of the room, hoping to kill them in one shot. The fireball failed, unfortunately, but they were still on fire. Maybe I was lucky and I wouldn't have to deal with them later.

Then, after that, I charged the nearest draugr with my blade ready.

And he died too.

My God, were the draugr always this weak, or was it me that had become a god of war?

I heard another of the draugr die, probably consumed by the flames, but another one charge at me, trying to chop my head off with a swing of his ax.

I bent under the blade and shoved him away from me, ignoring the flames that covered the undead. My new mastery over Alteration prevented the flames from inflicting any damage. The Undead tried to rise, but the flames finally did their job and he died again.

Then the real challenge approached me.

It was a Scourge. No doubt about that. He wore a set of good armor and had a good weapon, not like the half rusted weapons his brethren used. But it was alone, and I was sure there was at least one other draugr.

Stepping behind the corner to make sure an eventual archer couldn't hit me, I met my new opponent with a clash of weapons.

The first problem I had with the Scourge was that his thick Nordic plate was much better than shitty ringmail for protection. My sword could pierce the armor thanks to the superior material, but it was not easy. I managed to score two superficial wounds in the initial exchange. Two wounds that were enough to kill the other draugr. but Scourges were, obviously, made of sturdier material than normal draugr.

The monsters reply was a powerful sweep of his greatsword that I, thanks to my insistence on DODGING!, almost failed to avoid. Fortunately, I managed to avoid the hit enough to make the ancient sword slid on my armor, failing to deal any damage.

That was the reason I needed to learn how to dodge properly.

Not that it mattered, because during the next exchange, I managed to slip under his guard and plant my sword in his skull.

This was one of the draugr that gave me all the problems during Saarthal? I made incredible progress in the meantime… and it was just a month ago! Truly, the power of the Prisoner was unparalleled.

Then an arrow bounced on my chestplate and I was remembered that I had another draugr in the room. I slammed a couple firebolts into his chest and he died like a bitch.

I paused for a second to assess the situation. Five draugr dead, no damage. It took more or less thirty seconds to do all of that. Jesus. I was a killing machine on my own.

I just hoped it was enough for the boss. He was probably going to be a Deathlord.

Continuing along the way I spotted a couple of draugr and exploded a fireball in their general direction. Even if that alerted them of my presence, they couldn't do anything, because a wooden bridge was raised in front of them. They'll have to wait until I decided to lower it. Things that I was going to do… the moment I found out the Claw I needed.

Fortunately, the Claw was near, still in the grip of what I supposed was a researcher, a Dunmer mage. Jesus Christ, another Dunmer. Were the Dunmer, like, the second most common race in Skyrim?

… Well, a lot of them escaped the explosion of the red Mountain and went to Skyrim, so… Maybe?

Anyway, I took the Claw, and then, with a sigh, I moved the body near the entrance of the room through telekinesis, so I had an easier time taking him out. Then, I placed the Claw on the lock, and the bridge lowered itself.

Oh, the draugr I blasted just a second before were dead. Good for me. I continued forward, finding other draugr that I dispatched with contemptuous ease. I found myself in trouble when two of them managed to engage me at the same time, but I resolved that by cutting down one of the two before focusing on his remaining friend.

Thank God Soul Trap didn't produce that terrible sound every time it trapped a soul, because it would have become old fast.

Anyway, after the draugr and a chest, the road inside the tomb continued down. And the more down I went, the more unstable the entire place became. Just a couple of steps over the bridge and a tremor and several boulders rolled down a couple of stairs. Better get out of there fast.

The subsequent room smelled like a puzzle room. There was a grate in the middle of the room, two thrones with only one draug on it, and two levers that opened a path each. Near the grate, there was a brazier and a chain. Clearly, I had to resolve some kind of puzzle to pass. But first, the draugr. It was a relatively high ranked member of the Dragon Cult, that was clear. He had better armor than his brethren, the rests of a steel plate instead of a mere ringmail. That didn't save him when I reached him and planted my sword in his chest before he could stand up.

Now. Let's resolve this puzzle.

The first room, the one already accessible, showed a plate with a snake motif. I supposed the others were on different sides so I entered, just for a couple of draugr to come out from their sarcophagi. I bombed them with another fireball and continued on my way.

The next room had a draugr Wight. How did I know it was a Wight? He tried to blast me with ice spears the moment the door opened. I completely ignored the attempt to my life and impaled him in the head.

Now, time to solve the puzzle. Snake, Whale, Hawk, staring from the column in front of the door and going to the other side. That would have been enough to unlock the grate… or maybe not, since I didn't hear anything? Maybe I had to pull the chain? Yes, probably. I returned to the previous room and pulled the chain, being sure to place myself at the side of the chain. I had pulled too many traps to know that staying in front of a chain was never a good idea. Never.

And as I predicted, a hidden trap in the wall launched poisoned darts the moment I pulled the chain. But since I was not in the trajectory, I was spared the poison. Then, I descended using the stairs I just unlocked, finding myself in a long corridor that reminded me of the ones that lead to the classic Dragon Claw door.

The only difference was that, the moment I started to move toward the door, several sarcophagi opened up.

Draurg in the corridor of a Dragon door? Since when? But this dungeon was pretty strange on its own. Normal Nordic tombs didn't have a mechanism for a Dragon Claw for the main entrance.

With a flick of my hand, I called Jormungard into this world. The snake hissed with bared fangs when the draugr started to climb out of their tombs.

"Give them hell, Jormungard!" I shouted. There were at least six tombs, probably more, but the darkness was thick and I couldn't see that much. Fortunately, the giant snake didn't have that problem.

And he savagely started to rip down the draugr the moment he was given free rein.

You could ask why I choose to summon Jormungard of all the demons and creatures I could call from the Oblivion. After all, Summon Familiar was the weakest Conjuration spell in Skyrim, and the creature summoned was the weakest of the various deadra and Atronachs you could summon. And that's true. But Jormungard was different.

Firstly, because it was a giant snake and not a wolf. Giant snakes were faster, stronger, and far deadlier than normal wolves, on top of being better armored. Even if Jormungard was just a normal giant snake, he would have been superior to the wolf summoned by Summon Familiar.

But Jormungard was not a normal giant snake. He was a giant, magical snake from Obliovion. Smarter and more mentally powerful than any animal on Nirn. And not only that, I discovered that I had great control over how big he could be.

It was something that came up randomly, when I summoned him a couple of times. My teacher of Conjuration at the College, Phinis Gestor, noted that I was using far more magicka than normal to summon my personal little horror -because let's be honest, a snake big enough to swallow a dog whole was not a pretty sight. At first, he thought it was just my inexperience, and I was almost happy to hear that maybe I was getting something wrong. Not that I dislike being right about something, but being so talented in magic, when I never studied it before, was… well, not freaking me out, but it was disturbing. It was not natural for me to be so good.

Anyway, that comment about magicka wasted made me remember that giant snakes were not supposed to be that big. They were supposed to be the equivalent of a very venomous snake brought to the size of an anaconda. Meanwhile, Jormungard was easily twice that, more the size of the basilisk from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -the movie- than the 'real' giant snakes. So, I tried to find out why he was so big and why he required so much magicka to be summoned.

Turns out, Jormungard was far bigger than the normal giant snake… because it was not a giant snake. It was a sea serpent, the ones that crushed ships between their coils. Which were really just an even bigger version of the normal giant snakes, abilities wise, but whatever. I don't know why I turned out to have such a massive familiar, but I was happy with that. The only reason he didn't manifest in his full glory and size was because… well, the spell didn't let him, not with the magicka I had at the time. Now that I had the magicka, I could theoretically summon him in his full size… I wasn't' even sure how big he really was. The sea serpents from ESO looked as big as dragons, at least head-wise. And considering their overall body structure and the fact that you never actually saw one that was not mostly submerged, it was difficult to determine how long they were. Anywhere from thirty to fifty meters, probably.

Of course, I didn't summon a thirty meters long snake in a Nord tomb. He wouldn't even enter inside the door. I summoned him in the more manageable form he appeared with the first time. Big enough to wrestle Ice Atronachs, but not big enough to not stay inside a room. The perfect form for killing draugr.

And killing draugr we did. They didn't last long on our combined might and, after opening the door using the combination on the Claw - Hawk-Hawk-Dragon, to be precise- we entered in the last part of the dungeon. The room of the boss.

Which was actually a huge room exactly how I remembered. And not that I was there, I also remembered that this guy called minions to fight. But I had an idea about that.

Mentally commanding Jormungard to stay out of sight, I walked forward and used my knowledge of the Dovahzul to do something very simple. Issuing a challenge.

"Mirkul Gauldurson! Luft Zu'u!" I shouted. Very simple, very effective, and roughly translated with 'Mirkul Gauldurson, face me!' or something like that. If he rose up from his sarcophagus alone, then I would duel him. If not… well, I had Jormungard.

Of course, the bastard didn't accept my challenge to single combat and draugr rapidly started to emerge from the tombs. Lovely. But as I said, I had Jormungard. I commanded him to take down the other draugr, specifically the other draugr, and leave Mirkul to me. I can't really describe how eager he was to do that.

While Jormungard killed the minions, I charged Mirkul. Which, by exclusion, was the possessor of the Health fragment of the amulet, the sword wielder, and so probably the better swordsman of the trio. Which, coincidentally, meant I was at disadvantage… maybe.

The fight started… pretty great, actually. I landed two hits on the Undead before he could react, and since I was starting to get an idea of how good someone could be, I realized that… yes, Mirkul Gualdurson was the best warrior of the three. But being a Draugr didn't do him any favors. I saw how he was trying to move, how he was trying to react to my attacks, but his Undead body was too stiff to move as he wanted. He was the best warrior of the three, but his state lowered his ability to act on it.

Still, considering that his armor was taking those hits pretty well, it was probably going to be a problem later.

Then, he shouted. "Zun, Haal, Viik!"

I felt my sword being violently pushed away from my body, but by some miracle, I managed to keep it in my hands, instead of seeing it be violently sent on the other side of the room. So I was able to deflect the incoming blow of the undead monster before he could cleave me in two.

The draugr continued with his assault. His next strike was parried with relative ease.

The next one, not so much.

I felt the sword of this motherfucker slam against my armor and, despite the excellent protection it granted, it couldn't completely stop the force of the hit. That was the strength of high-leveled equipment. Shit, it hurt, and I even felt part of my life-force leave my body, despite all the magic resistance I had. Of course, Spell Absorption did nothing to stop Enchanted damage, so I had to rely on my magical resistance, which as the name suggested was resistance and not immunity. Some damage was going to pass, and I was pretty sure this guy was healing by damaging me.

That will not do, and my attempt to fight back was met with a couple of swift parries. Shit.

We exchanged more blows and I recovered momentum, inflicting a fair share of wounds on the bastard. I saw him stumble, overwhelmed.

Then he cheated.

"Tiid, Klo, Ul!" He Shouted, and proceeded to slam a whirlwind of steel -or ebony, I wasn't sure what his sword was made of- on me. Caught completely off guard by the fact he had just Shouted Slow Time of all things, I missed his first strike and barely managed to avoid the second.

But fortunately, I had a way to counter that. Not for long, but I had a way.

"Su, Grah, Dun!" I Shouted, the power of the Thu'um filling my arms with power and speed. It was probably enough to counter the sudden speed of Gauldurson, at least for a while. Also, it made defense against my attacks far more difficult, because I focused all the power of the Shout in making my attacks as fast as possible, instead of last longer. I needed to put him down right now.

And so, after focusing my Thu'um to make my strikes incredibly fast, I focused my magicka to make them deadlier, infusing them with fire. Then I exploded against the Deathlord. My arms blurring form the speed, and my sword laced with fire, I slashed the draugr into pieces.

And so died Mirkul Gauldurson again, with fire pouring out of the wounds I inflicted on him.

Holy Mother of Jesus, that was a lot closer than I expected it to be. Of course, I could have taken him pretty easily if I had used, you know, magic, but I wanted to test my strength in battle against some of the most dangerous creatures of Skyrim. And, I have to say… it was pretty close. The Oghma Infinium-infused battle might was enough to face one of these monsters, but it was clear that I had a lot to learn the art of combat before I could consider myself a good warrior. As of now, I was, at most, decent.

No, not decent: unfocused. Unspecialized. Good, but without particular strength. What I was actually good at? Going around in pretty heavy armor without too much discomfort and shooting really fast? That was not enough. I needed to learn a lot more tricks. Tricks this draugr knew, but that his body was not able to replicate.

Sighing, I recalled Jormungard and finished exploring the tomb. I looted the lootable -mostly the amulet and the blade of the draugr- and proceeded, finding a Word Wall with a Word that I unfortunately already knew -Krah, Cold, the second Word of the Frost Breath Shout- and some more loot that I put in my distortion bag.

Then, as the last act before leaving this place and never return, I used telekinesis to transport all the corpse out of this place and give them a proper burial.

Now… I had another draugr to meet, didn't I?

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.3

Before going to the Dead Man's Respite to fight good ol' Olaf One-Eye, I needed to do some preparation. And by some preparation, I meant recovering from the last fight.

Fortunately, one of the good things about fighting without magicka, like I usually did, was that I had a lot of magicka to use after the battle. And as it turned out, I needed a lot of magicka, and more time than I was comfortable spending in a tomb, to recover.

So I got my sorry ass over to the abandoned encampment left by the previous explorers to patch myself up. It was the least they could do for me, after I avenged their death and gave them a decent burial. Nothing particularly good, of course, but I created a deep enough pit for everyone that wild animals couldn't reach their bodies and eat them. Or so I hoped. I had no idea how deep some of the monsters could dig.

It took me almost an hour to be finished. Of course, I had to remove my armor to be sure that nothing was inside the wounds. I also didn't want to mend the armor while it was still on me… for similar reasons.

The wounds inflicted by the draugr were numerous, but hardly lethal. My armor, while not good enough to completely stop an ebony weapon -and yes, I checked, it was freaking ebony, curse you Mirkul- it had held pretty well. Not well enough in strategic places like joints, or the parts not covered with plating, but good enough. So the cuts were mostly shallow and not life-threatening.

That doesn't mean they didn't hurt or bleed though. I sort of ignored them while I was high on adrenaline and fighting an undead warrior, but after I got out I needed to take a break. I healed my wounds -and I was going to have scars for that, even if the wounds were light ones, just another set to add at the collection- and repaired my armor. Once it was in pristine condition, I drank some potions of magicka. Entering another draugr-infested tomb without magicka seems counterproductive. I had training, sure, but I was not going to be stupid about it.

Also, I totally needed to get a shield. The longsword I used was an exceedingly useful and versatile weapon, enough to make me confident that I could take on everything I wanted, but I needed more protection. Plus, I could probably block arrows if I had a shield, DODGE ability or not. Maybe I'll find a good one in the dungeon.

Anyway, after I was mostly recovered, I transformed into a hawk again and started to fly south. I needed to find a Nordic ruin of some sort, and it could take a while.

It took a while. It took the better part of the next two hours to reach the damn place. The only reason I noticed it was there, was due to the strange group of menhir in the middle of nowhere. And this was after flying over a mountain and almost missing them. Only after I turned around and gave another look did I understand that Dead Man's Respite was built inside a mountain. Again. Why couldn't those stupid tombs be built out in the open?

I landed in front of the door and entered. I can't say I was angry, but I wanted to be done with old Nord tombs and return to Solitude, talk with the boss of the Bards College and then do anything else other than killing draugr.

Uh, but one of the quests was to defeat Potema… urgh, ok, no killing draugr for today. Tomorrow I'll see.

I reached the first room of the tomb, just in time to see a ghost go through the door. Mmm… wait, why couldn't I do that myself? I'm pretty sure there is a spell to turn intangible for a while. It's insanely expensive, but it should let me pass through the various doors without any problems. I planned to use that spell to completely avoid most of Blackreach and just go inside the Observatory! Why I didn't do that before?

Ah yes, training and I needed my magicka for the final boss, bypassing all the dungeon by consuming all my magic was not a good idea unless I wanted to go for a grab and smash… but most of the things I did in a dungeon required me to kill the fucker at the end of the dungeon. I didn't think that was the case for this dungeon, but whatever. I was just going to train a little more in DODGE! Besides, the draugr looked absolutely not-threatening right now, unless we were talking of freaking Deathlords.

That didn't mean I suddenly turned stupid. And while the place was a little cramped for Jormungard, I could still do something before taking the Ruby Claw right in front of me. Because if the plate it was placed on wasn't trapped to alert all the draugr in the room, I was going to eat my hat.

So I placed four Fire Runes on the ground near what I supposed were the draugr that were going to rise when I grabbed the Claw. Once the spells were in place, I took the key and made it disappear inside my dimensional bag.

I was vindicated in my paranoia by the sounds of four Fire Runes exploding. That meant I didn't have to eat my hat. Granted, I didn't have a hat, so the point was moot, but still, it was satisfactory to hear the explosion going off. I grabbed my malachite sword -I still needed souls for my equipment, I had to recharge the sword when I got out from the last dungeon- and looked at who survived.

Apparently, the Runes had torn apart two of the draugr. The other two, better armored and so probably tougher in general, were still recovering from the sudden explosion. That they were on fire helped. So I got them first. Training yes, being stupid and letting a numerically superior opponent double-team me? Not a chance.

So I jumped on the nearest draugr and pierced his chest, killing it instantly, then turned around and shot a firebolt at the other one, resolving the problem instantly. See? A little preparation and a potentially difficult situation turned into an easy one. Better proceed down in the dungeon.

As I turned the corner, I saw the ghost walking in front of me. I followed him around the corner, quietly avoiding the trap plate on the ground, found a couple of Soul Gems, turned some more corners, aaaaand there was just a wall there. No, wait, there was a chain near. It was probably one of those rotating doors. I pulled it and the entire wall turned until there was an opening.

Jeez, this Nords really did whatever they could to keep the draugr inside the tombs.

I stopped myself from proceeding and tried to hear if there was something in particular, and active, in the room. I knew that I had to take the long way to get out of there, but there was no reason to walk into an active draugr if I could avoid it. A draugr that was sleeping in an alcove was a draugr I could hit before he had time to react. A draugr that was active and could try to fight back? It was improbable they could do something one on one, but you could never be too cautious.

I didn't hear anything, but that didn't mean there was nothing there. Like I said, sleeping draugr were completely undetectable… God, I was an idiot. I had spells for tracing things. I had detecting spells. Maybe they could not be seen by a life-detection spell, but I had both Detect Life and Detect Dead, and I could probably create a detect spell for everything else! I could see them through the walls!

So I did. I activated both the detect spells simultaneously, and the world faded for a second before it returned, this time with pink shapes to mark the creatures in the vicinity.

Two were draugr, of course. They were on my right, but since there was a wall of stone in the middle, they were not an immediate threat.

On my left, instead, there were two strange shapes. More or less the size of a dog, but far wider, and moved with a strange motion that… they were frostbite spiders, weren't they? I hated those things. Bah, better take care of them first and lean on the side of caution. I was proven to be pretty good at handling humanoids, but I still had to test my strength against monsters.

Fortunately, the spiders turned up to be pretty small and weak. When one of them jumped on me trying to put his fangs in my face, I just dodged under the mass of legs, my sword high to make the creature gut itself on my blade. Then, before the second spider could do anything, I impaled him right in the middle of its head. Then I proceeded, found a chain, and unlocked the passage.

Yeah, I had to kill some draugr on the way, but nothing dangerous. I decided to make some holes in them with my bow and it was all good.

So, after I killed that three draugr and was allowed to continue, I arrived in the next room. Not before a trap threatened to make my head fly away from my body with a… ram? Fucking weird traps there. And the room was filled with webs. Mmm, I'm not sure what enemy should be there.

I blasted the spiders in that dropped from the ceiling with a Frost Breath and continued. Oh, look, another chain! Isn't that amazing -no it is not-? The only real surprise was that the chain was not trapped. It just opened another grate. Uh. Ok.

The gate didn't have stairs like the other one, but a pond of water. Since I wasn't sure how deep the pond was, I activated my Feather Fall spell to be sure I didn't take any serious injury. I was tougher than when I started this, but I still didn't fancy my chances of not bending my ankle if I fell wrong. Fortunately, the pond was actually deep enough to stop me from getting grievously injured. The fact that most of the water had flooded the floor didn't help my appreciation of the place but I could manage. Besides, it was not like I could put zero stars on Trivago or something like that.

My next opponent was a skeever which, while disgusting, was not particularly challenging. Then I arrived in a large room with a… stone bridge? in the middle. That was, of course, secondary to the draugr in the room, which were standing on some sort of balcony right in front of me. He had a bow too, so while it wasn't drawing its arrow now, I'm pretty sure he was going to at any moment.

So I blasted it with a firebolt before it could do anything. Of course, using my bow would probably be a better idea since, well, firebolts tend to be bright and visible, while an arrow from the dark was not. Not that it mattered to the draugr since I'm pretty sure they can all see in the dark, but the point was that they tended to attract attention. And while there were methods to reduce how noticeable they were -namely learning how to not have to chant and make strange gestures before casting a spell- fire was still fire.

So I was not particularly surprised when three draugr emerged from their tombs. And since I was not surprised, I was quick to react.

Needless to say, I killed them. Really, I could stay here for hours describing how I defeated them in an epic fight to the death, buuuut… there was no epic fight to death. The draugr were… weak. Just weak. I cut them down and that was it.

I had more problems with the traps on the bridge, a series of oscillating blades that really made it difficult to pass without getting caught. Not that I feared the blade that much, it was just that I didn't want to fall down or have to use magicka to fly up. So I didn't. I just walked with attention to an end to the other, shut down the trap with another chain, and then continued. Which, in this particular case, meant climb a wooden staircase and open a double door, and then proceed down a corridor.

Man, I really, really needed to stop doing casual dungeon diving for a while. I was having flashbacks to other dungeons instead of this one. They all looked the same. I mean, not the rooms, but the corridors between them. That could lead to some errors, like entering a room convinced it was done when it was not.

Which it was not, because there was no room. Or, there was, but the door was blocked by a translucent sheen of… I didn't know. Magic, probably, but I wasn't sure what type. The purple color suggested Conjuration, but maybe it was just an aesthetic thing and not something that was dependent on the type of magic used.

Now, normally that kind of barrier is -relatively- easy to destroy. It needed to be anchored to something, and most people put the thing anchoring it behind it so you could easily access it. So, if you were good enough, you could manage to bypass the protection from the barrier, or even put it down momentarily, and then take or destroy the anchor. Once you had done that, the protection was down.

This barrier was different because I was sure that the thing on the other side of the door was the boss, and the anchors were two spirits in another part of the dungeon. So, while normally I would just circumvent the barrier, I was not sure it was a good idea to do this right now. Sure, maybe the protection was just on the door and not on the wall… but the ghost of the bard that guided me here didn't pass on the other side despite being intangible, so I didn't fancy my chances of doing it myself. Besides, walls were far easier to protect than doors. Doors could be damaged by forces outside the room. The only thing that you needed to do to stop an intangible being from passing through a wall was a series of runes meant to make them tangible to intangible spirits. Boom, problem solved.

So, I took the only way possible, a corridor that leads to a different floor, and advanced quickly, hoping to not find strong opposition. Of course, I did, in the form of a Scourge. I sighed and ran into it.

The Scourge swung his greatsword with more strength and speed than I expected, knocking me back a little and making my left arm feel numb from the strength of the hit. Fortunately, I wasn't left-handed, so I didn't care if my left arm felt a little numb. I was more worried by the dent that my armor had taken, honestly. I just repaired it and I didn't want to have to repair it again. But it was something I could think about later.

I replied by opening a far wider gash in the Undead flesh of the Scourge, followed by two other, wide wounds in the undead flesh, while I systematically destroyed the ruined breastplate the thing wore. It still managed to get another hit on me, trying to do the same I did to him -destroy the breastplate- but it only managed to get a little nick on the metal.

In retaliation, I decapitated the damn thing. Then I turned around and decapitate the draugr that thought coming at me from behind while I was focused on the Scourge was a good idea. I had Detect Unlife active, asshole. I knew you were there from the start.

But damn. Scourges were still dangerous, even if not equal opponents anymore. I'll have to be more careful in their presence. And… was that a draugr in an alcove?

Yes, it was. I put my sword in its skull and proceeded.

After a brief interruption to get a door open and loot the chest behind it -an incredibly difficult chest to boot- I managed to get inside a room, instantly understanding it was a trap. Maybe it was the number of draugr I could see waiting behind the three grates that locked the same number of entrances to the room, but yes, it felt like a trap. My suspicious were confirmed when the opening where I entered closed behind me and all the other grates opened, letting the draugr enter freely.

But since they were poor fuckers and not some high-level draugr, I Fus-Ro-Dah-ed their sorry corpse into oblivion and started to search for some way to open the way. There was a stair going down, where I supposed were the two spirits that locked the door on the upper floor. And… there, another chain. I pulled it, got down, and opened the secret door at the bottom of the pit. And behind… there were the lost verses and the ghost waiting for me.

"Are you telling me the spirits are not here!?" I asked the spirit, just a little bit annoyed. He didn't answer, just vanished.

Ah, whatever. I grabbed the book and made it disappear into my dimensional bag. Well, at least I had what I was searching for. Now I just needed to help the ghost defeat Olaf One-Eye and then I could get out of there. But where the fuck were the spirits? I didn't see any kind of crossroads before. Did I miss an entire section of this place?

No, I didn't. Turns out, the ward on the door was not to keep the ghost away from Olaf. It was the exact opposite. That asshole bard had placed the ward on the door to force me to take his damn book, and now that I returned there, he took down the barrier and started to run at the boss. Well, fuck you, ghost. I was going to follow you just because I needed the loot of the tomb and I was not going to abandon it just because. Plus, there could be a Word of Power here. I was going to get it, and I didn't care if in the meantime I satisfied your vendetta against Olaf. So go, challenge the draugr. I hoped it had an ebony ax and killed you because you couldn't wait for me.

It was an interesting lesson though. My memories had failed me. I needed to take that into consideration.

Sudden fit of spite aside, I reached the gate, put the password on the door -Wolf-Hawk-Wolf, by the way- and opened the door. Then, remembering that this guy had several draugr at his command, I put away my sword and took my bow. If I could kill them before they could attack me, and leave Olaf alone with me and the ghost, it was an easy victory.

"Olaf! It's time!" Shouted the ghost, in a perfectly comprehensible… Cyrodiillic? Or was it the Nord language? I was not sure, since most of the 'human' languages were ingrained in this brain but I had next to no experience with them, they just sounded the same to me. Also, it was curious that a bard from… the First Era, I think, spoke the same language as everyone else. Was language that stagnant, or the ghost somehow picked up the modern language from somewhere? I didn't know and, frankly, I didn't care.

Of course, the bard ghost could not wait for me. I didn't care for that, probably most of the draugr could not kill him. Still, I decided to help, by sending several arrows against the Undead. I used my best arrows too, because I wanted to kill them as fast as possible. Fortunately, it didn't seem like there were Scourges, for now, just varying levels of normal draugr. They had a name in the game, but I completely forgot what it was supposed to be. In reality, the only difference between the various draugr was the quality of the equipment, how good condition they were in, and if they knew the Thu'um or not, and those things usually go together. So, decent quality weapon and some Shout marked the draugr as a Scourge, and they were stronger, tougher, and more skilled than normal draugr. Very good armor, ebony weapons, and good Thu'um was the symbol of a Deathlord. That and the horned helmet, but details.

Fortunately, the draugr had terrible perception. They could see in the dark but they sucked majorly at dealing with hidden targets. That let me snipe the various draugr quite easily, planting arrows in their head while they woke up or, when I was not fast enough to kill them instantly, focusing on the only visible target in sight. The ghost.

When the first eight draugr were killed, the ghost shouted again. "Arise, Olaf! My vengeance is at hand!"

This time, four Scourges rose up. I shoot them too, because fuck them. Plus, Scourges could not hit the ghost anyway. Only Enchanted weapons, or weapons with innate magical properties, could hit a ghost. So, he was completely immune to them, including their Thu'um. Unfortunately, they didn't know any interesting Shout. Only the Unrelenting Force, which I liked a lot but was not unique.

Then, finally, it was time for the last challenge. "Olaf!" Shouted the bard for the third time, and with no other Draugr in sight, there was just a last enemy to deal with.

And, exactly like expected, Olaf One-Eye kicked the top of his sarcophagus open with a kick "Insolent bard! Die!" He cried, climbing out of it with what looked suspiciously as an ebony battle-ax in his hand.

I planted three arrows in his chest before he had even finish getting out.

He didn't seem to care. Conversely, I felt my magicka return to me when the bow I was using -Gauldur Blackbow, an ebony longbow that I stole from the Gauldurson- sent his stolen magicka to me. Oh, that was a good sensation. Now I had enough magicka to actually use some spells and still have enough to return to Solitude.

But while he didn't particularly seem to care about the injuries, he took notice of the presence of a hidden sniper and, unlike his dumb underling, he saw me. So, he Shouted.

"Faas, Ru, Maar!"

That Shout could have been the death of me. It was not a Shout that caused grievous injuries, and in other situations, like in the game, I would have called it useless. But in reality, Dismay was a terrible Shout, capable of transforming even the most powerful warriors in scared children.

Fortunately, expecting some kind of retaliation and knowing that Deathlords liked to Shout, I jumped away the moment he opened his mouth and I barely, barely managed to get out of the way before it hit me. I liked to think I had quite the mental fortitude, but I never had to deal with a mental effecting Shout before. Spells, I could deal with them: I had magic resistance and that impacted how well I could resist such things. But the Thu'um was not magic, so I didn't like my chances to resist them. It was something I had to plan for in the future.

Meanwhile, the ghost tried to attack Olaf with his ghostly sword… but he casually parried the attack with his ax. Which was impressive, considering axes were not good at parrying. But evidently Olaf One-Eye didn't care about that… or the bard ghost was that bad at fighting.

I raised my bow to strike at the old king again… but the ghost was in the way. So, the only thing I could do was to get into the melee. I dropped my bow and charged over the stone stairs where the two of them were fighting. The funny thing, at least for me, was that before coming here running up the equivalent of two ramps of stairs at least short of breath, depending on what period of time you were talking about. But now, I practically flew over the stairs with effortless ease, and then jumped onto the draugr with my sword ready.

But my rushed attack was… somehow intercepted and made me overextend, causing my defense to go wide open. And since my defense was completely open, I could at least make it impossible for the draugr to take advantage of that by overwhelming him with a flurry of attacks.

And that's exactly what I did.

But Olaf powered through my attacks like he didn't feel them, which I was pretty sure was not possible since attacks like those had ultimately hurt the more or less equivalent Mirkul Gauldurson, so… what?

Fortunately, the draugr was smart enough to realize that he couldn't attack me while there was the ghost bard still attacking him. So he didn't, and defended himself against the attack of the bard.

Goddammit, he was really hard to kill. I needed to deal him a lethal blow now or he was going to destroy me in the next exchange. Mostly because the bard was completely useless in battle against a clearly superior foe.

And so I did. I moved as fast as an I could and with as much force I could muster, and hit the old king three times with lightning speed. The malachite blade tore the undead flesh apart like it was cloth and whatever animated the corpse left him suddenly, letting the Undead finally rest.

As I did that, the bard walked toward a door I had seen instantly -thank you for nothing, useless mass of ectoplasm- and, getting out of I don't want to know where a lute, he sounded a song of victory for the grand total of two seconds before disappearing.

Useless, moronic piece of trash…

Sighing, I calmed down. All in all, it didn't end badly. I had a couple of new bruises, my armor had nicks and chips that it didn't have ten minutes ago, but I now had an ebony battle-ax which was worth at least one thousand septims if not more -enough to buy fully trained warhorse, and those things were expensive as hell-, various other loot, and a Word of Power. Wuld, the first Word of the Whirlwind Sprint Shout.

Now I just had to return to Solitude and get those quests done. I had no idea what hours it was, so maybe I had to wait for tomorrow morning… anyway, at the end of it, it was an adventure worthy of my time.

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.4

Turned out that, while I didn't take that long to clear both tombs -roughly forty minutes for both- it did take a while to find the place. As did return to Solitude. While easier to spot, because you couldn't fucking miss an entire city on a natural stone bridge several hundred meters long, you couldn't really get there quickly, even when flying. So, it was relatively late when I returned to the Bards College. Not late enough for the headmaster of the College to be asleep, but late enough that the Queen had already stopped receiving people.

So, when I transformed back into my human form right in front of the College and entered, I found the headmaster reading a book. He noticed me right away, since I simply marched toward him in a very unsubtle manner.

"Oh, you're back! Do you have the verses?"

I frowned at him. "Yes, I'm fine. I just had to kill twenty draugr to take this book, but I managed. Thank you for asking."

The Altmer had the decency to show a little shame. "Ah, I'm sorry. But you have to understand, the Fire Festival is a very important event that's-".

"Performed once I year, yes." I said. I snapped my fingers to make the book materialize in my other hand. "Here. I'm afraid that part of the book is damaged. After all, it was left in a humid tomb for… how many Eras?"

"That's… unfortunate." Admitted the headmaster. "All that work and now we can't use it."

"Can't you… try to salvage what there is and make up the rest?" I asked, more because I needed him to do that than for any real necessity. I knew he could, but I had to look like I didn't.

"Make up?" Asked the Altmer. "It's highly irregular, but… yes, of course I can. That's right. We just have to think of something that's appropriately impressive and Queen Elisif will give us permission to celebrate the Festival."

Aaaand that 'we' was something that I didn't like to hear. "I'll warn you that I'm a terrible poet."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll do most of the work. I just ask you to help with some parts."

Well, I had a pretty vivid imagination and- bah, who am I kidding? I already knew what I wanted him to write. I always went to the 'Olaf was Numinex all along' and 'he attacked them in dragon form' because they were Speech checks and so they gave me experience. I didn't know if I could persuade him, since I was a terrible conversationalist, but I will try.

Surprisingly, even for me, I managed to convince him to write those parts. Man, it had to be a very easy check in the game for me to convince the Headmaster to follow that stupid story. But… whatever, I suppose.

Even with my help -which, to be clear, amounted to two suggestions in total- it took a while for the Headmaster -Viarmo, I think- to create the new verses. When we finished, the sun had already started to set. It was maybe half an hour before nighttime.

"I think Queen Elisif has retired to her rooms." I said, looking out of the window.

Viarmo looked out as well and sighed. "Yes, probably. Well, we can talk to her tomorrow in the morning."

"Hour? I have things to do before seeing the Queen. Like finding an appropriate set of clothes."

"I see. Considering this, I think that the ninth bell should be early enough." Answered Viarmo. "Thank you for your help… I fear I didn't hear your name."

"I'm Loki Andreasson."

"Loki Andreasson?" Asked Viarmo, surprised. "I have heard of that name. Adventurer, mage, tamer of wild beasts. Is that you?"

I scratched my beard. "I don't know about tamer of wild beasts, but yeah, the description fits. Of course, it also matches every other adventuring mage in existence."

"But not every mage in existence had a wolf with fur black as coal as a trusted friend."

"Ah, yes, then it's me. Where did you hear my name, by the way?" I hoped it was not Thormund spreading tales again.

"Oh, bards exchange stories." Smirked Viarmo. "And you're known in at least three Holds, my friend. Four, when what you did here starts to spread." Suddenly, he seemed to light up. "Would you like to share some stories about your adventures?"

I just about to tell him that my stories were not going to be that interesting when I realized that… yeah, they were. Fights to the death, monsters and heroes, ruins and treasures. That was worthy of a story. So… why not? "All right. Let's start from the beginning. I woke up in a cart, and the first thing I heard is 'Hey you, you're finally awake'…".

-X-

An hour or two later, I lost count, I finished my tale. "And that's how the three murderous Gauldurson's died, and Archmage Geirmund with them. But with all the destruction they caused, and as much terror, that the King decided to bury them and their story forever, fearing that just remembering them would make them return. And so the story of Archmage Geirmund and his sacrifice was forgotten, and it became a Forbidden Legend."

"Splendid!" Exclaimed Viarmo. "Absolutely splendid. You may be a terrible poet, my friend, but you sure make a great storyteller."

I smirked at that. "You're too kind, Headmaster."

"Well, I have to say, that has been an enlightening experience. I already have some ballads in mind. But it all has to wait until after we convince Queen Elisif. Do you have accommodation in the city?"

"No, but I'll just take a room at the inn. Don't worry, I've more than enough money. Adventuring is quite rewarding… if you manage to not die."

"I'll take your word for it, Loki. I'll wait for you in front of the College. Remember: the ninth bell."

"I'll be there." I promised.

And so I did. I also passed to Radiant Raiment to get the free set of incredibly luxurious clothes from the owner, Taarie. I just needed to mention that I needed to see the Queen and she was more than happy to give them to me for free, which meant that I had something to wear for the encounter. That I had something to wear aside my old shirt and trousers was just a bonus. I did have my armor, of course, but while cool, it was not something I would wear on a formal occasion. Also, walking around with actual clothes for a while was not bad. I instantly changed myself with a spell and got out.

After finding some decent clothes, I met Viarmo outside the College, went with him in front of Elisif, and heard the poem. Frankly, I didn't care about the poem at all. I was thinking about what to say to the Queen in the upcoming discussion. I had… quite a few topics in mind. I would probably start with the clothes, just to break the ice.

In the end, Elisif agreed to let the Festival continue, and Viarmo thanked me with a hefty amount of gold. I had completely forgotten that I get paid for this, but I'm not going to complain.

"It was not necessary, but thank you." I said, putting away the gold with a flick of my fingers. I loved my spatial distortion bag. Spatial distortion bag that I had to empty, because it was starting to get pretty full. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something to discuss with the Queen."

"Of course, my friend, of course. I will start to organize the Festival then. I'll see you at the College."

I nodded at the Altmer and, when he started to go downstairs, I focused my attention on Queen Elisif. With the calmest posture I could muster, I walked in front of her. Always keeping a respectful distance, of course, never be that her bodyguard decided I was trying to harm her and attacked me. I would have to kick his ass and that would have been distasteful.

"My Queen." I said, producing a bow… of some kind. I was not sure how etiquette worked in Skyrim. Actually, I didn't care about etiquette in general. "I hope you have the time for a humble adventurer."

"I always have time for the people of Skyrim." She replied, reinforcing the image of an idealist and gentle woman I had. Gentle… but not particularly well versed in politics. I could relate, really. "But… an adventurer? I thought you were a bard. Didn't you come with Viarmo?"

"Oh no, I just helped him by recovering some old verse in an old tomb. I'm a terrible singer, I'm afraid." Ok, now was the time to deal with the topic of clothes in an organic way. "In fact, this is the first day in a while that I haven't worn my armor, so you'll forgive me if my clothes are inappropriate. It's the first time I encounter a Queen and I wouldn't want to wear my usual rags, but I fear that this may be… excessive."

Ooook… decently smooth, I think. Best to appear humble, and emphasizing my complete inexperience in the topic of fashion would gain me some sympathy… hopefully. Also, the clothes were excessive and totally not my style, but that was life.

Elisif took a good look at my clothes and nodded. "They're appropriate. They're quite fetching actually. The craftsmanship is excellent."

"I'm happy to hear that, Your Highness. I got them at the Radiant Raiment, here in Solitude. I must admit that my inexperience on the matter could probably bias my opinion, but I've never seen such a shop in other cities. Quite refined."

"I'll remember that." Said Elisif, and I mentally high-fived myself for a job well done. "But I doubt you're here to show your clothes, Sir…"

"Loki Andreasson." I helped her. "And you're right, I'm not. I'm here to ask if there are still problems with the spirit of Potema."

The entire court, which until that moment had either eyed me or ignored me, completely froze. It took several seconds for Falk Firebeard to say something.

"How do you know about that?" He asked.

I sent him a little grin. "Because I was the one that told Hadvar to warn General Tullius. From your reaction, I suppose the news have reached you. So, tell me: is Potema already in the crypts under the city, or is she still waiting in the cave? I sincerely hope that you sent someone the moment someone mentioned problems at Wolfskull Cave: it's been a while since I warned you all."

The silence thickened so much I could have cut it with the old Imperial short sword I never bothered to sharpen since Saarthal.

"So it was you that told general Tullius." Said Falk Firebeard. "I thought he was careless when he sent an entire company to a cave in the middle of nowhere, but when they returned and told us about the ritual, we were proven wrong."

"So Hadvar convinced General Tullius?" I asked. "Oh, thank the gods. I feared that nobody would have believed him and I had to go deal with her myself."

"He went there personally to scout the cave and confirm the presence of necromancers." Said the court mage. Sybille Something, I believe. "Once their presence was confirmed, they immediately sent the soldiers to deal with them." Then she narrowed her eyes. "But how did you know they were going to be there?"

"I happen to have visions of future events." I calmly replied. "I thought the possible return of Potema was important enough to mention to the people that could deal with the problem. At the time, unfortunately, I was in no condition to fight her directly."

"And now you can?" Asked the woman, which, if I remembered correctly, was a vampire.

"I'm confident in my ability, yes. Now, is she in the crypt under the city or not?"

The court paused for a second before answering.

"Yes, she is." Admitted Falk. "Or so we fear. The priest of Arkay mentioned strange sounds coming from the crypts. It's probably Potema, but we are not sure of it."

"It's her." I said, already thinking at the preparations I needed to do. "It's better if we move soon. She's grouping draugr and vampires under the city. For… taking over Skyrim, I suppose. I wouldn't know, I'm not a tyrannical necromancer-queen."

"You're volunteering for this?" Asked Elisif, surprising me. She never said anything in this situation during the game.

"I already had to deal with a lot of draugr in the last few days." I replied. "One or two more is not going to make any difference. I'll have to make some preparations, but I can be inside the crypt before the sun goes down."

"Then, in the name of Solitude, I ask you to deal with this problem." Commanded the Queen. "Falk? Do you have any suggestions for our friend here?"

"Go to the temple of Arkay. They'll be able to explain to you how to permanently prevent Potema from entering our world."

"It will be done. Now, with your permission."

"Go, Loki Andreasson, and free us from the threat of the Wolf Queen." Elisif dismissed me. I bowed again and turned back.

But before getting out of the Blue Palace, there was one last thing I needed to do.

-X-

Entering inside the abandoned part of the Blue Palace was easy. I just had to bolster my persuasiveness with a little Illusion magic, and the woman gave me the key instantly. Then, once inside, I was teleported inside the mind of Pelagius the Mad, where Sheogorath was doing his thing. Being crazy, basically, but also strangely helpful.

I sort of ignored what they were talking about and just walked straight to Sheogorath. After he finished talking with Pelagius III, I greeted him, and since I was not some ignorant country bumpkin from the ass end of the Empire, I did it in a proper and respectful way. You never knew what the Mad God would do, after all.

"Sheogorath, Lord of Madness." I said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

I really meant that. Since this Sheogorath was also the Hero of Cyrodiil, he was in fact like an old friend that I haven't met in years. In fact, Oblivion was the first videogame I explicitly wanted to play and asked my parents to buy. It was, basically, my introduction to the gaming world. As such, I had a fond memory of it and its protagonist.

"Oh, oh! Finally, someone that treats me with the respect I deserve! Or not. I'm mad, you see, so usually, that's the first thing people notice. But you, you are very relaxed. Do you often talk to mad gods?"

I smiled. "It's not my first time, no."

"Reeaaaallllyyyy? Because I'm pretty sure I never encountered you. Or maybe I did! I tend to forget humans, and my memory is not the one I had two hundred years ago." Wow, that was far more revealing than I thought it would be. "Or at least, not-mad mortals. But maybe you're pretty crazy, am I right? After all, you came here knowing perfectly well who I was."

"I suppose that can be considered crazy, yes. But I did it for a good cause. I have a message."

"Ooh, ooh, what kind of message? A song? A summons? Wait, I know! A death threat written on the back of an Argonian concubine! Those are my favorites." Damn, that was some imagination. "Well? Spit it out, mortal. I haven't got an eternity! Actually… I do. Little joke. But seriously. What's the message?"

"Your servant wants you to return home. I… didn't catch his name."

"My servant? Let me guess… Little Tim, the toymaker's son? The ghost of King Lysandus? Or was it… Yes! Stanley, that talking grapefruit from Passwall. Wrong on all accounts, aren't I? Ha! No matter! Honestly, I don't want to know. Why ruin the surprise? But more to the point. Do you - tiny, puny, expendable little mortal - actually think you can convince me to leave? Because that's… crazy."

"Completely." I nodded.

Sheogorath laughed. I don't know if it was a good thing or not. "You know, you remind me of myself at a young age. All I cared about was riding narwhals and sleeping in honeycombs and drinking babies' tears… Word of advice if you ride a Narwhal. Mind the pointy end." Geez, he tended to get derailed a lot, didn't he? Fortunately, he seemed also pretty quick to re-railing himself. "Ah, but there I go, waxing poetic about my misspent youth. Now where were we? Ah yes. You're the mortal messenger. I am the Mad God, as you already admitted knowing. Why I should listen to you?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't really care if you return to your home or not. I just wanted to be here to ask you a question."

"A question? To the Mad God? You're far crazier than I thought! So, what is this question? The meaning of life? How to transmute lead to gold? Why the Dragonfrog are called like that despite not being dragons? Well, spill it out! I don't have all eternity… no wait, I already did this joke. Well?"

I leaned forward, grabbing one of the chairs to maintain some sort of balance. "How much of the Hero of Cyrodiil is still inside you?"

For the first time since I arrived here, there was silence. Sheogorath stopped talking for several seconds, looking at me with a perfectly blank face that I honestly didn't expect from the Mad God.

Then he smiled. A smiled far too wide and with far too many teeth for his face. "Oh, you're an interesting mortal." He then laughed, a burst of laughter far crazier than before. "Let's play a little game, mortal. I'll answer your question. And leave. Yes, truly! That's right. I'm done. Holiday… complete. Time to return to the humdrum day-to-day. On one condition. You have to find the way out first. Good luck with that."

I smiled at the demented Deadra. "You realize I already know everything, right?"

"Oh, don't be so boring! Humor me this, would you?"

"I think you have enough humor for both of us."

"Ah! A joke! I thought you were a stick in the mud, but you continue to surprise me. Which, of course, is fair, since I'm crazy. But, well, even if you know what you have to do, it doesn't matter to me. So, take my Wabbajack and get the work done!"

I felt the staff materialize in my hand. I sighed, and the started to fix Pelagius mind.

Already knowing the resolution to the various problems, it was relatively easy. The commentary from Sheogorath was entertaining at least. In the end, when all the problems were fixed, I returned to the central 'room'.

"Done. I fixed Pelagius."

"Hmmmm… 'Fixed' is such a subjective term. I think 'treated' is far more appropriate, don't you? Like one does to a rash, or an arrow to the face."

"I suppose that's a fair assessment." I agreed.

"Ah, but no matter. Heartless mortal that you are, you've actually succeeded and survived. I am forced to honor my end of the bargain. So congratulations! You're free to go!" Then he paused. "I… have been known to change my mind. So… go. Really."

"You still have to answer my question, Mad God." I reminded him.

He smiled again. "Truly, how forgetful of me! The answer to your question mortal, is more than you think."

That was enough for me. I bowed to the God of Madness and made a step away, to let him sort out all his things… or whatever it was he was doing.

"Pelagius Septim the Third, once the Mad Emperor of Tamriel, now so boringly sane. I always knew he had it in him!" He lamented. "Well, I suppose it's back to the Shivering Isles. The trouble Haskill can get into while I'm gone simply boggles the mind… Let's make sure I'm not forgetting anything. Clothes? Check. Beard? Check! Luggage? Luggage! Now where did I leave my luggage?"

The Bosmer that gave me the quest in the first place appeared in front of Sheogorath.

"Master! You've taken me back! Does this mean we're going home? Oh, happy times! I can't wait to-"

"Yes, yes, that's quite enough celebration. Let's send you ahead, shall we?" Interrupted Sheogorath, before making him disappear again before turning toward me for the last time. "And as for you, my little mortal minion… Feel free to keep the Wabbajack. As a symbol of my… Oh, just take the damn thing."

I didn't try to discuss it with him. I didn't want the Wabbajack, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to refuse it. Far too risky. I was just going to not use it.

"You take care of yourself, now. I would take a look for you sometime." Uh… I was pretty sure that was not in the game. Worrying. "And if you ever find yourself up in New Sheoth, do look me up. We can share a strawberry torte. Ta ta!"

Then, with that last declaration, he disappeared. Then the entire world disappeared too and I found myself in the abandoned wing of the Blue Palace with the clothes Sheogorath gave me.

Well, at least I had work clothes, elegant clothes from Radiant Rainment, and decent clothes. That was all I needed, really.

Now I also needed to sell and buy things. Lots of things.

It took me most of the morning to finally have everything I wanted. Which included a new shield. I managed to find an adamantine shield or something similar enough, and I convinced the blacksmith to give it to me in exchange for the ebony battle-ax. Which was fair, considering how freaking rare adamantine was and that Beirand, the local blacksmith, had to make a profit from it. Then selling several ingots of iron, and all the various sets of armor and weapons of decent quality I found around. No, draugr weapons didn't count as decent, so I didn't even bother to give them to him. They weren't good for dismantling either, because the steel was weird, and in general, I left them where they were.

All in all, it was an enlightening experience on how commerce, bargaining, and haggling worked. Enlightening in the sense that I still had a lot to learn, but I used my newfound ability with Illusions to bolster my persuasiveness again and managed to get a good price out of all of them. Well, I would learn better in time, if I had to stay there for a while. Which I probably would, since I wanted to stay there until I had news about the marriage of… the cousin of the Emperor whose name I still didn't know the name of. Well, whatever.

Then, with the spatial bag free from useless weight -and so, with the ability to loot better- I went to the temple of Arkay. Here, I found the priest that Falk talked about, Styrr. As I approached him, he turned toward me.

"You must be the one Falk spoke so highly of. Welcome."

"Thanks, priest. Has Potema already moved?"

"If you can call what she does moving. Summoned in spirit form is not raised from the dead. She'll need help before she can return to the living. For the moment, the Wolf Queen has retreated to a place filled with dead eager to serve her. She has gone to her old Catacombs. A few days ago, one of her servants busted through a wall into the Temple of the Divines. We'll need you to go into the Catacombs themselves."

"I supposed as much. Do you have something I can use against her? I'm a pretty good fighter, but a hand is never discarded."

The priest shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The only thing I can do is give you the key to the catacombs."

"Fair enough." I replied, taking the key. "Something else?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, most of the people that were present at the summoning of Potema are still too hurt or have been dispatched to other parts of Skyrim, thanks to this Civil War. You don't have the connection with her, like they would, so be careful when you fight her."

Shit, that was a thing? Fuck me. "I'll remember that." I said, before starting to walk toward the crypt.

"Oh, and another thing, young man." The old priest called out. "When the servant of Potema entered, he took a young girl. She lost her parents in a fire and got horribly disfigured, and entered the church of Arkay. If you could find her…"

I thought about it for a second. "When was she kidnapped?" I asked.

"Four days ago." Answered Styrr.

Ah, fuck. "There are vampires in the catacombs, old man. At this time, she's either dead, or she's one of them."

The priest nodded. "Yes, probably. But I want to be sure of her fate. Take her back if you can. Put her out of her misery if you cannot."

I nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"Arkay bless you, adventurer." He said, bowing. I did the same. Then started to get down the stairs.

I had a Wolf Queen ghost to destroy.

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.5

The entrance into the old catacombs was rather… anticlimactic. I entered inside the basement, opened a door with the key -not that I needed it, I could probably open it with a little luck and lock picks or with an appropriately leveled spell- and found a busted wall that leads to a corridor of natural rock. A very short corridor that immediately flowed into the catacombs proper. Did a draugr just… dig out one and a half meters of pure rock without anyone noticing? How the hell was it possible?

Magic, probably. I think I remembered Potema having quite a bit of control over the various parts of the catacombs. She could have probably muffled the sounds if she wanted.

Like my musings had summoned her, the Wolf Queen herself made her presence known.

"Oh? Who are you?" Asked a spectral voice. "A noble knight? Or a mercenary? No matter. I…"

Ignoring the voice, I stepped around the first protection, a grate -what was this thing about Nords and grates?- using an intangibility spell. She continued, managing to not falter.

"… Am glad to see that you have some ability. It matters not. Come, adventurer. I'll kill you and raise you from death. Maybe then you will use your power for something greater."

I didn't think that there was something greater than using my power to kill the incarnation of the end of times, but Queen Potema seemed to have a bit of an ego, so I ignored her.

The dungeon ahead, from what I remembered, was not even particularly difficult to clear. Sure, there were a lot of draugr and some vampires, but physical enemies were, like, the last of my problems. Unless there were Deathlords at every corner, draugr had stopped being a problem for me. As for the vampires… the only risk with them was infecting me, but the curse/illness took a while to run its course. I could just heal myself when I got out of the dungeon.

Damn. It was starting to be weirdly easy to just… kill them in one or two hits. I probably underestimated my strength since I never actually tried to hit something with it. Mostly because I didn't get better with my sword, as the mages i've fought quickly found out. But I supposed squishy mages were less durable than draugr. Seemed like they weren't. Or not by a lot. They just had armor… which didn't impact me that much because, from what I remembered, most mages I killed were killed by magic, and not swords… or ganked before they could cast an armor spell. The advantages of stealthiness.

I continued along the path, trying to ignore the large webs around me. For some reason, the draugr had not destroyed them. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore, so I just burned them. As the webs disintegrated, I sped up. Much better.

Several stairs down -why were there stairs in a catacomb for fucks sake- I reached a little room that opened on a much bigger room, with yet another set of stairs. And more goddamn Undead. I vaguely remembered this place, but the weirdness of having a set of rooms that were more in line with the Blue Palace aesthetic that old catacombs for freaking dead people, was driving me crazy.

Anyway, focusing on important things, I started to think that I really needed to create a spell that let me scout out these places in advance. I could in theory shift into a rat or something and do it by myself, but I didn't know if my metamorphosis was good enough that I was able to fool the advanced senses of a vampire or whatever unnatural senses possessed the draugr. If they possessed any, I was not an expert on Undead anatomy… or whatever they used to perceive people anyway.

No, I needed something less conspicuous. Something that let me see outside my body, or some way to see through the wa-

Why hadn't I cast Detect Dead yet? I'm pretty sure it would help a lot in these situations. Man, I really needed to remember that I had freaking magic. Of course, given that I learned a lot of spells, it was sometimes difficult to remember the vastness of the options I had.

I flashed Detect Dead. Since I no longer needed to use normal spells, I could use a variant of Detect Dead that, instead of lasting for a minute or so, let me see them for a second or so. If I used it for a minute, it consumed the same amount of magicka as the normal spell, but if I wanted to use it for less time, I was free to do so.

That was in theory. In practice, it consumed so little magicka, especially considering my recent upgrade, that it might as well be free. I didn't maintain it forever just because I could need my concentration for something else.

Thanks to my enhanced vision, I saw three, no, four undead. One on the same floor I was, the others a floor below. One was clearly a draugr, but two were strange. One seemed to be crouched under the stairs, and the other one moved very differently from every other draugr I've ever seen. Too fluid in its movements. And since draugr don't crouch either… vampires?

I took out my bow. I had to kill those fuckers, at least I could bait them to this floor instead of facing them on their own. At least I could have the opportunity to blast them with magic while they were all there.

So, after drawing my bow, I made a step outside the door and aimed at the draugr on my floor. I shot it in the middle of the eyes and he died.

Then magical energy started to flow inside it. Ugh, a Reanimation spell. Yep, vampires. Vampire Necromancers, too. I sneaked behind the door and waited, using my dead vision to see the undead climb the stairs. Mmmm… one was still down. Curious.

The moment I saw the vampire and the other draugr reach my floor, I got out from my hiding spot and blasted them with a sphere of light.

The draugr took the blast pretty well. The vampire not so much. It simply disintegrated. And in doing so, she lost control of her Reanimate spell, and the dead draugr returned to be dead. Urgh, Necromancy…

The last draugr, stunned and probably blinded by the flash of light that had burned the vampires to cinders was easy prey for my bow. I placed an arrow in its forehead and he died exactly like the other.

Now, it was time for me to prepare for the vampire that was clearly trying to take me by surprise at the base of the stairs. I put my bow away and took my sword and my shield. I was going to show him that doing something like that was not a smart move. Not when the opponent could see you through the walls… which to be fair was not something the vampire could know.

When I got down, I noticed that the floor was furnished like a dining room. There was a table with chairs too! What the hell, were these catacombs or an old royal palace? Granted it could be both, but why would the old royal palace be underneath the church of the Divines?

Anyway, as expected, the vampire under the stairs attacked the moment he thought I was giving her my back. Unfortunately, it was not a very subtle fellow. I heard the sound of her steps rushing me… and I slammed my new shield right in her face.

The vampire hissed while flying back under the stairs, and then she did something I didn't expect. Instead of attacking or preparing to attack, she gave me her back, lied down in a fetal position, and started to cry.

Look, I know it was a vampire and all of that, but when someone that's supposed to be my enemy doesn't answer to an attack and just start to cry, I'm a little thrown off. I quickly scanned the nearby area to be sure there were no other surprises and then I lowered my weapon. I didn't put it away, because I'm not a freaking moron, but I assumed a less aggressive stance.

"Why are you crying?" I asked at the sobbing vampire.

She didn't stop crying for a while, but in the end, she answered. "Because I'm hungry." Oh God, by her voice, she couldn't be more than sixteen. "But I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm sorry I tried to attack you. I'm so hungry…"

I gave the young vampire a better look. She was really, really small, and probably young, and I could see that her lurid clothes could have been something resembling the clothes of a priestess, or clothes a priestess could give a young woman. Was she the girl Styrr mentioned?

"Are you the girl kidnapped by the servants of Potema?"

"… Yes." She said, stopping her tears for now. She sat up and dried her face with her sleeves -which, considering how dirty they were, was probably a bad idea- then she turned slightly, just so I could see one of her eyes looking at me. "Who are you?"

"Loki Andreasson, mage, adventurer, and right now, trying to defeat the Wolf Queen and return you to the surface." I replied. "What's your name?"

"… Hela."

Oh, fuck me. Hela? Really? And I suppose that the terrible incident that killed her parents and left her disfigured left scars on half her body, right? Scars so bad that she should be dead, right? Ah, why am I even questioning this, of course she is.

"Well, Hela, I'm here to help you. I killed most of the monsters on the way out. You just have to return from where you came from while I continued down. You think you can do that?"

She shook her head violently. "I can't. If they see me…"

Mmm, vampires tended to be attacked on sight. But she couldn't be too monstrous. She didn't have enough time to starve.

"That's not a problem. You just have to drink a little blood and you'll look almost normal."

"And then?" Asked Hela, her voice rapidly raising with her hysteria. "I'm a monster! I'm cursed! Arkay abandoned me and now I'm condemned to never see the sun again and live taking away the lives of others!" She started to cry again. "I don't want to live like a vampire. Leave me there."

To starve. Unfortunately, vampires could not starve as normal humans did.

"That won't do, Hela. You will not die remaining here. You'll just be trapped here for eternity, perennially starving but never being able to die. You'll be mad from hunger, until someone comes down here, and either you'll kill them or they'll kill you."

Continuing to cry, she turned completely, letting me see for a second that half her face was burned down almost to the bone. How she was able to survive, I don't know. I would have assumed she was going to die and leave her… no, that's not true, I would have tried to heal her anyway, but without hope to save her.

"Then kill me." She whispered, her head down.

I had to admit, this little girl had spirit. But while I'm the best at what I do, killing children was not something I did.

"Don't be stupid. I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to cure you."

She raised her head so fast that her hood flew away, revealing her burned up face in all its horrific glory. God, how had this girl stayed alive? "You can cure me?"

"No. But I know someone that can." A Conjurer in… Morthal? I think so. "And after you're cured, I'll see if I can do something for your face. No girl should have those scars."

In a mix of panic and gratitude, she rapidly fixed her hood and then grabbed my hand. "Thank you, thank you!" She said, crying again. I would say she teared up easily, but she was kidnapped by Undead monsters and transformed into a vampire. I was going to give her a pass for this.

Well, better shorten this as much as possible. I removed one of my braces and revealed my forearm. The eyes of the girl -already reddish, but not outright glowing- landed on my wrist and on the veins that pulsed under my skin.

"Here, drink. It should help hide that you're a vampire. If Styrr notices, tell him that Loki Andreasson knows someone that could cure your condition. It should help."

"But if I bite you…" She said, even if I was clearly seeing she had to stop herself from sink her fangs in my arm.

"Don't worry. Vampirism takes a while to transform you and I know a spell to cure myself before it's too late. Just go slow: I have to heal the blood you drink, or I'm going to have some problem defeating Potema."

I finally saw the girl have a reaction to the name of Potema -an interesting mix of fear and hate- then she opened her mouth and bit down.

It was not a particularly pleasant feeling, but it was bearable, for now. She drank slowly, sapping my blood while I used Restoration magic to help me deal with it. Fortunately, as I had assumed, she didn't have the time to starve for long, so she removed herself from my arm pretty soon. She looked a little more alive. Still pale and with red eyes, but less cadaveric than before.

"There." I said, casting a Cure Disease just to be sure. "Now you can return. Wait for me, ok?"

She nodded, then she started to walk out of the catacombs.

Good. Now I had to deal with Potema and the rest of her entourage. And now that I had found the girl, I could accelerate a little.

I continued on the way, opening a gate, finding a draugr impaled by two spears -don't ask- and one near him, which was summarily executed for the crime of being an Undead. After I opened up another grate -fuck these Nords and their grates- I entered inside a large room. There could be ten draugr inside and I would not know… unless I used Detect Dead, of course.

Mmm… I saw another draugr right in front of me, ready to be killed. I charged as fast as I could and stabbed it between the eyes, and he died right there. Then, taking advantage of the fact that Detect Dead ignored things like walls, I scanned the area.

Mmm… another two draugr. No problem. I just had to kill them quickly, something relatively easy since I was not trying to artificially increase my ability in something. I just wanted to kill everything in this blasted place.

And so I did. More accurately, I blasted both draugr with a Paralysis spell and then killed them while they were immobilized. Then I continued.

After passing from a corridor that ended into a much more natural cavern -something very reminiscent of every single old Nord catacomb I've ever seen- then another normal corridor. I shot the vampire inside it a couple of times to be sure he was very dead -recovering magicka at the same time, because Gauldur Blackbow- and then arrived in… what? It looked like one of those big pools where water gathered in the sewer, but it couldn't be. It was probably just a flooded room.

Well, whatever. I fried two draugr that tried to rise from the waters with a Shock spell in the water. Shock spells may not be real electricity, but they sure acted like it. Avoiding a trap, I finally found what looked exactly like the entrance of an old Nord tomb. Finally. Granted, Potema was not that old. She lived something like five hundred years ago which was more or less three hundred years before Oblivion, so well within the Third Era. It made sense that the old catacombs didn't look exactly like the ones of the Dragon Cult -which was from the Merethic Era-, but this freaking place had tables and chairs and freaking silverware around! Silverware that I promptly stuffed in my bag, because no way I was going to not melt it down it to use it later, but still, silverware. In a catacomb!

Anyway, I easily killed the two draugr guarding the entrance and after looting a chest, I continued down. This was probably were dangerous foes started to appear. I would not be surprised if there were Deathlords. As I said, Potema was not that old, but she was also a powerful Necromancer. She could have just awakened draugr that had been there for far longer than her.

The first 'puzzle' I found was a rotating entrance. Basically, the trick here was… wait until there was a hole in the wall and then stop the entire mechanism by pulling a lever. I was honestly surprised that these tricks were enough to keep the draugr inside, but then, the draugr were not able to see a combination when it was spelled with gigantic faces just a couple of meters over their heads, so maybe I was greatly overestimating their mental abilities.

Still looting everything that was not nailed down -no more silverware, unfortunately- I continued on my path, killing a draugr with a fire spell because fuck it, and found another rotating 'puzzle'. Just that, this time, there was another room near it with a vampire inside. I killed the fucker with a sunlight spell that pierced it like the spear of a vengeful god and he died.

Now, I could just proceed, but this room smelled of secret passages. Mmmm… maybe I could use magic to see if there was a lever somewhere? It shouldn't be too difficult…

And… there, right behind one of the sarcophagi. A little level, not dissimilar from the ones you usually found in these tombs, just fun-sized. I pulled it and I heard the satisfactory sound of a slab of rock sliding away. The end of the secret passage just had a chest, but it was good enough for me.

Anyway, after passing the 'puzzle' I found another corridor -I was starting to get tired of fucking corridors- and after that, finally, a room with a door. As I opened it, a vampire emerged from behind a pillar and started to say something about Potema being great blah-blah-blah. I shot him and the draugr near him with a double sunlight ball -which I could start to call Cruel Sun, just for the laughs- and he died. The draugr, a Scourge by the look of it, didn't.

No matter. A couple of arrows in the head and not only did I kill him, but I also recovered my magicka. The monster didn't recover in time from the impact of my spells. It happened when your spell had the strength of cannons. Journeyman fireballs had enough power to incinerate normal humans. I was bombing these people with Adept level spells. I took the key for the next part of the catacombs from the vampire. Then I entered what I assumed was the inner part of the catacombs. The Sancta Sanctorum. The place where Potema made her most terrible rituals. Were her power was at its peak.

…

I hoped I wasn't too fucked.

Inside the Sancta Sanctorum, the sensation was a lot more claustrophobic. There was less light and the entire place was filled with various objects that make it look smaller. Yeah, this was definitively the final area of the catacomb. Better move.

So, after disintegrating another vampire and decapitating another three draugr, none of which were even remotely a problem, especially since I made a point of taking them down one at the time, finally Potema made her presence known again when I entered inside a room filled with draugr bodies… and a couple of vampires too.

"Not much further. Come, little thing. Serve me in death." She said, almost sultry, while several bodies started to rise from the floor, necromantic energies animating their bodies.

No. Nope. Fuck that. I was not going to fight one vs all in a little room when I had another choice. And since I knew this moment was coming, because I remembered something of this dungeon, I already knew what to do. Namely, I took a step back, closed the door of the room while launching a Firestorm spell right in the middle of the room, and then sealed the door with a spell to stop those assholes from ever getting out.

The storm of fire roared inside the room with enough force to rattle the door, and it didn't take much before the heat started to bleed over to my side of the four inches thick metal door. But I didn't open the door until I was sure that the only thing that I heard was the fire raging. When I let my spell die down and opened the door, there was only dust and hot air inside.

On one hand, that was good, because I didn't need to fight a horde where I didn't have space. On the other hand, it was pretty bad because the final room was surely near and I just used a lot of magicka to not have to deal with them. Did I have some magicka potion?

Ah, whatever. I'll use it if I need it. If I remembered correctly, the 'final battle' with Potema was, in reality, a series of fights with the draugr she awakened… some kind of circle. Maybe her generals? I don't know why a Queen that was far younger than the Cult of the Dragon should have made her general draugr, but maybe the Cult of the Dragon didn't have the monopoly of the draugr or maybe they were the Undead generals she controlled since her last attempt to conquer the Empire? Who knew? I just knew I had to kill them.

So, mentally preparing myself for a hard fight, I entered into the last door. Or what I hoped was the last door. I was starting to get really bored of this place.

Fortunately, it was. The room was very big, with several tombs and sarcophagi displayed on the walls and also in the middle of the room, like they were seats of honor or something like that. Sure, it was difficult to see them because of the ball of violet energy with a white, vaguely humanoid center right in the middle of the room. Potema.

"You've come far, mortal." Oh, great, now she started to talk like a dremora. A pissed dremora, that to be fair was not so different from a normal-sounding dremora. Stupid distorted voice. "But can you stand against my inner circle? Let's see!"

Tombs opened up, the heavy metal coffin being kicked down, and draugr started to pour in the room while Potema launched a spell that remembered me of a very, very powerful lightning stream spell. This was going to suc-

Wait… Poteva was using a Shock spell?

I rose from the ground using my Levitation spell and, activating my Dragonskin power, I intercepted the lighting with my body. The effect was immediate and very intense. My body was flooded with magical energy and so I decided to defeat all the draugr in the room at the same time. I just flashed their location with my Detect Dead spell, then discharged all the energy in a gigantic, monstrously powerful Chain Lightning.

My spell thundered across the whole room, branches of electricity as thick as my arm jolting around and impacting against the draugr with enough force to disintegrate them. Still tanking the spell that Potema was kindly aiming at me, I poured even more power in the spell, and in the end, all the draugr vaporized, leaving The Wolf Queen without bodies to raise.

There were only two exceptions. Two Deathlords, easily the most powerful of her servants, emerged from their sarcophagi when my spell hit them. Like all the Deathlord I faced until now, they clearly had some form of protection from magic, so my spell, while heavily damaged then, clearly was not enough to kill them outright. I had to kill them quickly… or at least, one of them.

I landed in front of them and released my Voice.

"Fus, Ro, Dah!"

It had taken a while, but my training with my Thu'um let me avoid to be too tired when I used a Shout. Which was good, because while one of the draug -the one armed with a freaking two-handed ax- took all the force of my attack and flew away, the other did not. It side-stepped my cone of pure kinetic energy and replied with the same weapon.

"Zuun, Haal, Viik!" Shouted the draugr, but I dodged at my side exactly like she just did, and then I attacked. Good, because I would have lost my weapon if I didn't.

Then, the sword of Mirkul Gauldurson, the Gauldur Blacksword, sliced the armor of the draugr, feeding me the life force… or whatever it absorbed, from the draugr. At the same time, I channeled my magicka on the edge of the blade, so when the sword finished slashing the chest of the Deathlord from its right side to its left shoulder, a magical fire erupted from the gash in the Undead flesh, consuming the monster. The Deathlord fell on its knees and then lied face down on the floor.

Ah, like I suspected. Magic infused in the weapons ignored magical protections.

Now, the last Deathlord. I decided to go easy with him.

"Yol!"

Flames erupted from my mouth and run over the draugr, burning him to crisp. It fell down too, and with a flick of my wrist, I caught both the Undead's weapons.

"Noo!" Shouted Potema, seeing me taking down her entire 'inner circle' in less than a minute. Her body of energy flowed into one of the sarcophagi, probably to reunite with her mortal remains and animate a pseudo-body she would try to kill me with. Which could work… if Potema wasn't a mage. Mages had really low chances of harming me.

Despite that, I ran behind her, trying to use all the advantages at my disposal to deal with her quickly. She could probably summon something to slow me down, so it was imperative that I had the first strike on her.

Which I did because, as I have said, Potema was mostly a mage. She tried to fry me with a Shock spell, but my defense just jugged the magicka of the attack with ease and a second later I was on her. Her steel sword and noble dress offered exactly zero defense against my blade, and so the ebony blade sunk in her spiritual form with the same ease it sunk inside unprotected flesh. Three quick strikes, and the spirit body dissipated, unable to maintain coherence.

Then it reappeared, composing her fake body again, and managed to hit my arm, because I forgot she could do that. I killed the spirit again.

And she reappeared.

This was clearly going to be a test of stamina more than anything. I couldn't really kill Potema. What I could do was to exhaust her magical power until she was trapped inside the remains of her body, and only then Styrr will be able to use the proper burial rites to banish her from this world. Until then, I just had to continue to hack her down with my sword and my magic until she finally collapsed. Fortunately, since she didn't seem to use Shouts, she couldn't really hurt me.

The one-sided beatdown continued for a while, but in the end, I was able to kill the damn spirit for good. Well, so to say. Potema was not dead, of course. I had to take her remains to Styrr, which would perform the proper rites of Arkayon them, and only then, she would rest. Until then, there was still the risk of her returning.

But that was not an immediate concern, and since I was going to give them to the priest right away, it was not going to be a problem at all. I put the remains of Potema into a sack, locked her tomb, got out from the catacombs -killing another two draugr I found on the way- and at long last, after what I perceived as hours, I felt the cold wind of Skyrim blow on my face.

It was time to end this stupid quest.

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.6

Returning to Solitude took a while. Because, for some reason, the nearest exit from Potema's tomb was on the mountainside behind Solitude.

Anyway, thanks to my ability to turn into a hawk, it took relatively little time to get back to solitude propper. An hour after I got out I was already inside Arkay's temple, finding Styrr waiting for me.

"So, it's done?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied, materializing the sack with what was left of Potema in my hand. "Do those rituals quickly, Styrr. I don't want to have to do that again."

"Worry not, brave man. I'll consecrate the remains to Arkay and she'll never rise again." He said, taking the sack. "I also have to thank you for finding Hela. That girl already faced terrible hardship. I'm glad to see her alive."

For a given definition of life, anyway. "I'm glad she returned back." I made to get out from the temple to talk with Falk Firebeard and Queen Elisif but the old priest stopped me by placing his hand on my shoulder. I half-turned, sending him a questioning look.

"I noticed that she seem different." Explained the priest. "She avoids the windows. She seems paler, and her eyes are vaguely red."

Oh, he noticed. But maybe I could bullshit this. "She passed a lot of time in a dark dungeon crying her eyes out. I'm sure that's just that." I lied, making a trickle of Illusion magic reinforce my deception.

The man seemed to believe me, but not completely. Well, if he could pierce my lies when I used magic to enhance it, then it would have been a completely useless power… or he was lie-detector in human form, considering how good I was at Illusion. But since he looked so unsure, maybe I could spin this in my -and Hela's- favor.

"I understand your worry." I continued, and this time I was truthful. "She passed a lot of time with vampires. It's normal to fear that she could be cursed."

"Yes." Replied the old priest, sorrow in his voice. "It would be a real shame. Poor girl: after losing her parents and suffering such a terrible injury, she would be subjected to this. I don't want to believe that, but…"

"Maybe there is a solution." I said, and the old man looked at me, hopeful. "I heard that there is a man at Morthal that can cure vampirism. If you allow it, I could take her here, and see if the rumors are true."

"You would do this?" Asked Styrr, his voice full of surprise. And also something else. He reacted badly when I mentioned Morthal. Wait… there was a case of arson in Morthal. Maybe she came from there?

I shrugged. "I already saved her once. It would be a shame if she turned into a vampire."

The man fully turned me and grabbed both my shoulder. "Thank you, young man. Your generosity will not be forgotten."

"It's nothing." I dismissed. "Morthal is just a spell away for me."

"It's not nothing for her, Loki Andreasson. Don't belittle this gift."

Uh… I supposed it was kind of a big deal for her. But it was ok, I also gained something from this. Like…

…

God, I didn't gain anything from this. I was doing this because I'm a fucking softy. And I also called myself Loki, what a joke.

"I suppose you're right." I admitted.

He nodded. "You're giving her a second life, young man. It's the greatest gift you could ever give someone else. And you did this while saving this city, and maybe all Skyrim, from Potema. Speaking of, you should wait before going to the Blue Palace."

I sent him a confused look. "Why?"

"You're dirty, son. It is to be expected, considering what you have just done, but you can't meet the Jarl like this."

Mmm, I suppose that's true. Well, I could just clean myself with magic…

"I'll have a servant prepare a hot bath while I send someone with a message at the palace." Continued Styrr, ignoring my thoughts. "I'm going to make sure they understand the enormity of your task, and this will also give her more time to think of an appropriate reward for your deed."

I had to admit, that sounded nice. It was a while since I had a hot bath. "If it's not too much trouble…" I said, more for courtesy than for any real desire to stop him.

"Nonsense. That's the least I can do for you." Replied the priest. "Please wait here while the bath warms up…"

"That won't be necessary." I replied. "I can warm the bath myself. I'm adept in the use of fire magic."

"That simplifies things considerably." Admitted Styrr. "Very well. I'll have a servant show you the bath, while I write a letter to the Jarl. After that, I'm afraid I'll be busy with the consecration of the remains of the Wolf Queen. Please wait here. I'll find a servant soon."

It took admittedly less than a minute before a woman approached me with a bow and escorted me toward the baths. Here, consuming more magicka than I expected, I took a long, warm bath. It was… soothing, I suppose. It let me relax a little. It also helped dampen the slight worry I had for my dwindling magicka reserves, which with the little spell I used to clean my armor, were now verging on empty. Man, that spell I used to kill all the draugr at the same time had required more power than I expected. I probably wouldn't have used it if I didn't have Potema's little spell charging me.

I didn't remain for too long. After all, I wanted to end the Potema's quest as soon as possible, and I could not do that if I took too long in the bath. So, after what was approximately half an hour, I got out, put on my best clothes, and started to walk toward the Blue Palace.

While I was doing this, I noticed that the servants of the Hall of the Dead seemed a little more respectful toward me than they were the first time I entered. Uh… that was because I saved Hela and defeated Potema?

Damn, it felt good.

I finally reached the Blue Palace when the sun was already starting to set. Barely in time for a last audience with the Queen. The guards that saw me saluted.

Jeez, I almost felt like a hero.

…

Wait, I probably was a hero for these people. That was a strange thought. Warming, however.

So, when I climbed the stairs to see Queen Elisif, I was just moderately surprised to see the entire court waiting for me.

"Loki Andreasson." Announced Falk Firebeard. "The tale of your success has reached us. As a sign of our gratitude, I give you the Shield of Solitude."

A guard entered, giving me the Shield in question. If I remembered correctly, it had a Magic Resistance Enchantment and an Improve Block Enchantment… which was probably a simple increase in protection, a simple Armor or Ward spell applied to the shield. All in all, a useful object… if it wasn't of such low quality.

"But such a small gift can't properly reward your actions." Continued Falk. "Queen Elisif wishes to personally repay your help. My Queen." He said, leaving the word to the woman.

She raised her chin. "Loki Andreasson, you did more for this city in a single day than most people do in their lives. You warned us about the impending doom of Potema, helped retrieve a lost part of the past of all Skyrim, and then, when the time came, you volunteered to defeat Potema once and for all. And while doing all this, you also found time, while fighting for us all, to save the life of a young woman, kidnapped by the Undead servants of the Wolf Queen. Your courage in front of a terrible enemy, your selfless act of altruism, cannot be left unrewarded. It is my wish for you to become Thane of Solitude. Do you accept?"

I briefly wondered if it was the case or not. Being Thane was a great honor, and as such, it would be rude to refuse… but I didn't have time for politics. "I would be a great honor, my Queen, but I hope you understand that I am, first and foremost, an adventurer. I cannot stay in Solitude for too long. I have businesses to attend to elsewhere."

Elisif nodded. "Don't worry. Being Thane is mostly an honorific title. If you wish to remain here, in my court, to help me, I will gladly let you. But if your duty calls you away, so be it."

Well, that settled it. "Then I accept, my Queen."

Elisif smiled brightly. "Excellent. Unfortunately, there is a formality that needs to be addressed before you can become Thane. By the ancient law, you need to own property in the city to be nominated Thane."

Oh, fuck. I already knew where this was going to end. "I don't suppose you have a nice, small home at a low cost, do you?"

"Unfortunately, no." Intervened Falk Firebeard. "The only house for sale in the city, as of right now, is Proudspire Manor."

I mentally recalled how much money I needed to buy a manor. The sum was… hefty.

"I'm afraid I don't possess that much money right now." I admitted. "But maybe I can do something about it. I'm an Enchanter. I'm sure I can find the money given enough time."

"Then, when you possess the funds required to buy the house, come and talk to Falk." Said Elisif. "I'll wait for that day, Hero of Solitude."

Damn. It was embarrassing and strangely warming to be called that. "I'll do what I can, my Queen." I replied with a little bow of my head.

"There is another matter I wanted to talk to you about." Continued Elisif, surprising he court. "Come near."

Curious, I approached the Queen. When I was near enough, she said, her tone much lower than before. "I have a confession to make. When my husband died, I made an offer to all the gods… except for Talos."

Oh, it was that quest. Alright. "I see. Say no more, my Queen. I'll take your offer to the shrine."

She smiled at me. "Thank you. I'll leave the horn of Torygg to your care then." She said, giving me an ornate hunting horn, which I quickly sent to my little bag. Which, with all the things I looted -especially the silverware- was starting to be a little full.

And while I was there, I could at least ask something at the Queen and he court. "My Queen, before I go, a piece of information. Is it true that the cousin of the Emperor is going to marry here, in Solitude?"

Elisif nodded. "Yes, it's true. The marriage is planned in a week. Why?"

"Nothing, my Queen." I lied, infusing my voice with all the power of my Illusion magic. "Just curiosity. I heard that she's marrying someone with ties to the Stormcloak…" I could see the court stiffen. "… And I think it's wonderful news. This Civil War is doing nothing for Skyrim. The sooner it's over, the sooner we can put all this nonsense behind us."

"Yes, indeed." Smiled Elisif. "It will be an incredible event. It could heal Skyrim."

Especially if I had any say in this. "I agree. Maybe I will attend the wedding, then."

"I would love to have your company for the event." Admitted Elisif.

"Then I can't miss it." I replied with a smile. "Now, if you would excuse me, my Queen, I think I have the Fire Festival to attend, and then I'll have to work on the Manor."

"Of course, my friend. Go." She said. With the last bow, I walked away.

I had a lot of things to do.

-X-

I used most of the remaining week smelting the silverware I found inside Potema's catacombs into ingots, then turn them into gold ingots, and then smith them into rings that I could Enchant to do something useful. Unfortunately, Enchanting still required a lot of time for me, so I didn't actually Enchant that much. I just sold the rings with whatever gem I could put there. I could have sold the gold directly, but I made more money this way.

My finances were rapidly increasing thanks to that. Gold was expensive.

I did other things, of course. I passed the evening at the Fire Festival, and the day after, I brought Hela to Morthal, where the Conjurer, Falion, removed the curse from her body using one of the already filled Black Soul Gems I found when I fought Necromancers. I had promised myself to never trap someone inside one, but if they were already filled, there was nothing I could do for them, so it was better to use it for something useful.

In the meantime, I destroyed the cave full of vampires -because I didn't need to find the diary of the vampire bitch inside the city to do that- then killed the vampire bitch. Then I killed the vampire that was trying to unearth the ghost child, and afterward, I received my reward from the Jarl. So, in just a day, I managed to help Hela and build my fame as a heroic adventurer. To tell the truth, I was kind of startled by the fact that I had fame to begin with, but people talk, I suppose.

In all of that, I discovered that no, Hela was not from Morthal, so I suppose that the reaction from Styrr was because the news of the burned house reached him and he thought it could awake bad memories. Which was why I didn't take her with me, of course.

I had also hoped that removing the scars from her body helped her recover from that trauma. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything for the muscles that got burnt, so she was always going to have a limp and an arm weaker than the other. But, at least after I smoothed and gave new color to her scarred skin, she looked almost normal. Almost, because even my magic couldn't stop the skin of her left side to seem stretched, keep her left side in general from looking far gaunter than her right side, and I couldn't repair her left eye completely. I managed to not make it look that bad, but she couldn't see from it, nor had I managed to make the vaguely milky coloration it had completely disappear.

She still cried and hugged me when she saw her reflection in a mirror. That… was kind of moving.

And meanwhile, my smithing ability increased exponentially, the day of the feared wedding closed. So, instead of sleeping, I passed the entire night before the wedding under invisibility and muffle, engraving draconic runes on the inner part of the balcony where Vittoria Vici, the Emperor's cousin, would make her speech. The runes were only plan B, of course. If the Listener did what I suspected he wanted to -make the gargoyle over the balcony fall on the head of the woman- the runes were not going to actually stop him. No, those runes had another purpose, namely giving Vittoria Vici enough protection to actually survive if the assassin used another method, everything from dagger, arrow, poison, or magic. The runes were basically a series of triggered scrolls: the moment something bad was going to happen to one of them, they were going to activate, casting the spell on them.

But, since I suspected that he -or she- was going to use the gargoyle, because someone that wanted to join the Dark Brotherhood had to be either a psychopath or a greedy piece of shit. In both cases, using the gargoyle while Vittoria was making her speech meant a lot more money. So… yeah, I was hoping he tried that. The gargoyle was easy to counter. The other ten ways she could kill her were not.

So, with lacking sleep that I managed to fight off with a huge amount of stamina potions, I arrived at the wedding. I knew absolutely no one here, aside for Queen Elisif. So, as I usually did, I approached the only person I knew at the celebration. I could have stayed on my own, but I needed someone to talk with me or I could start to doze off.

Damn, I needed to do something about this.

"My Queen." I greeted Elisif, with a bow. She turned toward me and smiled.

"Loki. It's a pleasure to see you." She replied, bowing a little, just for courtesy sake. "Are you alright? You look tired."

"I had difficulty sleeping." I replied. In truth, I tried to take a nap but I didn't rest enough. I attributed my tiredness to that nap. I always woke up more tired from naps during the day. "It's nothing, really. I'll rest once the wedding is concluded."

"You work too much." The woman scolded me mildly. "I heard you have done nothing in these days if not help that poor girl -which was very noble of you- and crafting rings. I appreciate your eagerness to buy Proudspire Manor, but you don't have to push yourself."

Ah, what a sweet summer child you are. Granted, maybe calling her child was excessive, since I had no idea how old she was. Considering she was married to the last High King, she was probably in her twenties, but that still made her my junior by at least eight years.

I replied at her scolding with a little smile. "I appreciate your concern, my Queen. Still, I have a lot of things to do and, as such, I have no idea how much time it would take for me to return to Solitude once I depart. So I wanted to finish this business as soon as I could."

Elisif mellowed out. "Of course. Just try to not die from overwork after you managed to defeat The Wolf Queen."

I replied at that with a sardonic smile and a bow. "As my Queen wish."

After that, Elisif departed to talk with other important people that I couldn't care less about, and the rest of the marriage passed more or less at the speed I expected. So, slowly. I didn't even try to interact with other people because I was too tired and on alert to do so. My eyes continued to go to the gargoyle just over the balcony I had worked on all night, at a serious expense of my magicka I should add, to see if I could see a glimpse of the assassin. But if he was there, he was too good at hiding for me to catch it. Fuck. Seemed like I had to stay alert all the time, uh?

At least I ate a lot. I needed food if I wanted to catch the would-be-murderer.

All talks and events registered in my mind as white noise, up until we sat down to listen to Vittoria's speech. I decided to sit in the front rows. That was, in general, contrary to everything I usually stood for. I always went for the back rows, especially at school. But, in this case, being as near as possible to the killer was good. The less time I took to reach him, the less time he had to try to kill the newlyweds.

"Honored guests!" Started Vittoria, and I knew it was time. The instructions for the mission were clear: they were going to pay good money for killing her in the middle of the speech. So, the moment she started to talk, it was the time the killer would strike.

"I just wanted to take this time to thank you all for being here. To thank you for sharing this wonderfully happy day with myself, and my new husband."

I zoned out the speech and focused my eyes on the gargoyle. Nobody noticed because they were all watching the spouse, which was right under the gargoyle I was watching, and so it was easy to assume I was watching her too. But I wasn't. I was watching for the moment…

Suddenly, the gargoyle over the newlyweds moved. By the time I raised my hand, it was already falling.

My spell hit the balcony a second later. Hopefully, I reached my objective, cast an Intangibility spell on them. The reason I didn't use that particular spell to protect them from everything else the killer could do was that Enchanted weapons, or really weapons made of the right materials, could still kill Vittoria, so Intangibility was completely useless. It also could not stop Destruction magic, or any kind of magic at all. That was the reason I engraved those runes on the balcony.

But I could delight in my thoughtfulness later. Now, I had a killer to catch.

"Wuld!" I Shouted, projecting me forward using the first Word of the Whirlwind Sprint. Doing so, I reached the right position to use a Leap spell to clear the distance between me and the top of the wall, while also using my Alteration trick to give me more momentum.

I sailed through the air, clearing ten or so meters, and landed on the battlement of the wall. From there, I could see the assassin just starting to recover from the shock to fail to kill his target -or so I hoped, I didn't check- and me jumping right in front of him.

I summoned my armor around me, ready to fight, but the assassin, a Khajiit, bolted away with far more speed than I expected. Shit! He had to be using some kind of spell to increase his speed… or it was just that fucking fast.

Bullshit cat people. Was that guy half-cheetah?

I chased him on the wall, but he was steadily gaining ground. Holy fucking hell. How fast he could be? Well, no matter. The moment I had a clear sight on him, I could use a Paralysis spell and stop him. Maybe I could kill the Dark Brotherhood quest right now.

Or I would have liked to do so, but the moment I had a line of sight -basically, after I finished descending the stairs, because aiming while running down a staircase was dangerous and difficult- a blade appeared in my field of vision. I ducked under the sweep of the blade as fast as I could, and I managed to avoid being decapitated.

Then I faced my opponent… the Argonian of the Dark Brotherhood whose name I completely forgot. Ver-something. A deadly assassin, and if my memory was correct, born under the sign of the Shadow, making him one of the Shadowscale, the Argonian assassins in service of the king of Black Marsh. Or something like that. The important bit was that he was born under the Sign of the Shadow, and like the Mage gave me increased magicka, so did the Shadow grant special powers. Namely, the ability to turn invisible.

The Argonian was not there to fight me, of course. He was there to let the Listener escape. And a rapid glance confirmed that the Khajiit had already disappeared behind a corner. I let him escape. Fuck.

My distraction prompted the Shadowscale to attack me, but I was expecting that. So, with a flick of my wrist, I interposed my ebony longsword against his steel arming sword. The impact deflected the assassin blade and I capitalized on that, slashing his arm deeply while the life-stealing Enchantment weakened him further.

Yes, you were fucked.

The Argonian seemed to realize that too, because he looked at the gash on his arm with worry -or so I hoped, it was difficult to understand what Argonians thought since they had very inexpressive faces-, before returning to stare at me. "You are a good blade. I would love to cross my sword with yours, but my objective is complete. Goodbye."

With that said, he vanished.

Ah, like I had not thought about that, you asshole. I knew you were coming, even if I didn't expect your companion to be that fast. Which was normal, since I had no idea who he was. But you, my scaly friend… I knew you enough to prepare a countermeasure for you. So, the moment he disappeared, I slammed my spell on the entire courtyard.

This spell was called Remove Invisibility. It was nothing as crude as a Dispel spell, of course, because the power gained by the Shadow was not a spell, and as such, there was no magic to dispel to make the enemy visible again. No, my Remove Invisibility spell literally removed every invisibility effect in a pretty large area, letting me find the bastard pretty easily.

The utter shock on his lizard face was absolutely worth it.

The fact that at the same time a figure wearing what was without a doubt Nightingale Armor appeared right behind the Argonian was slightly less so.

Before they could recover from their shock, I hit the Shadowscale with a Paralysis spell right in his face. The lizardman froze. Without missing a beat, I grabbed him with Telekinesis and slammed him against a wall so hard the rock cracked.

Then, after I was sure I didn't accidentally kill him and that he was not going to wake up anytime soon, I turned toward the Nightingale. I just had one question.

"Kayleen?" I asked, confused by her presence.

"Loki?" She asked back. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving the city from an Undead Necromancer Queen and preventing the cousin of the Emperor from being assassinated." The last with still unclear results. "What are you doing here?"

Before she could answer me, a group of guards runs to our position. With nowhere to run, the Redguard shifted behind me.

"What happened here?" Asked the first guard, probably the leader of the squad.

"I tried to stop the attempted murderer of Vittoria Vici, but he escaped. I caught one of his accomplices, though."

The guard looked at the unconscious Argonian, then he returned to look at me… and suddenly, he jolted in a salute. "Ah, Loki, sir. I didn't recognize you under that armor. I'm sorry."

"There is no need. Is Vittoria…?"

"Alive." Confirmed the guard. "An impressive spell, sir. The gargoyle passed right through her. She's completely unharmed."

"Good." I sighed. "It's a shame I didn't manage to catch the assassin."

"You have seen it, sir? Could you describe him?"

"I didn't see that much, unfortunately. He had his face covered. I can tell you that he was a Khajiit, though. Damn fast one too. I never had the chance to catch him."

The guard nodded… then his gaze landed on Kayleen. "And the woman?"

"A friend." I replied, trying to sound as casual as possible. "She has nothing to do with this."

The guard nodded again. "I see, sir. But she still has to come with us for some questions."

I felt Kayleen stiffen behind me. Ok, talking was not good. "I don't think that's unnecessary."

"These are the rules, sir." Replied the guard. They didn't look particularly hostile yet, but if I continued to deny them, they could as well become more forceful.

Damn. If I was already Thane, I could have avoided this. Well, Illusion then.

"I'm sure that you can do an exception to this." I said, pumping my voice with Illusion.

"I don't think I can do that, sir. Queen Elisif was present at the attempted murder and she wants us to ask everyone that could know-"

"I'll talk with Queen Elisif myself." I interrupted him. Damn, it was not working as well as it should. Loyalty apparently was a good way to avoid the effect. Partially, at least. I might have to use some real spell. Oh, well. I charmed all of them at the same time, with a movement of my hand. A movement that was reminiscent of an old film. "You don't need to interrogate her." I said, trying to sound as logical and reassuring as I was able to.

"We don't need to interrogate her." Replied the guard sounding a little hesitant. Shit, it was stronger yet less effective than I imagined. Ok, no panic. Play it cool, and for the love of God don't do anything stup-

"These are not the droids you're looking for." Dammit!

"These are not the droid we're looking for?" Said the guard, clearly confused.

Ok, I had my fun, now it was time to be serious. "You should take away the unconscious assassin of the Dark Brotherhood."

"We should take away the unconscious assassin of the Dark Brotherhood." Continued the guard, addressing his companions, this time more convinced. They nodded and murmured an approval.

"We can go about our business." I finished.

"You can go about your business, sir. Lady." Said the guard, moving away from me and Kayleen.

I nodded and grabbed Kayleens arm. "Let's go."

"Let's go." Said the guard, even if my comment was not for him. They circumvented me and Kayleen and approached the unconscious Shadowscale. Not what I had in mind, but I would take it.

"What in the Oblivion you just-?" Started to ask Kayleen.

"Shut up and move." I replied tight-lipped.

She decided to not argue with me. Good. I was not going to destroy all the goodwill I gained in Solitude because of her. So, I discreetly slapped a different image on her face. Namely, what I supposed she looked like without the Nightingale armor and a decent dress.

Then I went to meet the Queen.

She looked rightly shocked that someone had tried to kill the spouse, during her wedding, right in front of her. But the moment she saw me, she seemed to calm down.

"You're alright." She said, approaching me. "When you didn't return, I thought the assassin had killed you."

I smiled. "It takes more than that to kill me, My Queen. Besides, they already tried that and it didn't work."

She raised one of her brows. "This seems to be a story worth listening to. But it's something we'll do another time. Who's the lady at your side?" She asked, focusing her eyes on her.

Kayleen made a little bow while I introduced her. "Queen Elisif, Kayleen. Kayleen, Queen Elisif. Kayleen is a friend I meet at Winterhold. She was here for some reason and assisted me in the capture of one of the members of the Dark Brotherhood." That was bull, but since I saw her behind the Argonian, I was willing to play on my wish to think the best of her and assumed she was trying to take him down while he was distracted.

"A mage?" Asked Elisif, curious and with not even a hint of distrust in her voice.

"Hardly." Answered Kayleen. "I was just in Winterhold for some business."

"I see." Nodded Elisif. "In the name of Solitude, I thank you both for the service you have done to the city. It would have been a disaster, both politically and to our reputation, if the cousin of the Emperor died during her wedding."

"Glad to be of service, my Queen." I replied with a nod. "The guards told me she's unharmed."

"Yes, she is. I'm sure she would like to thank you personally for saving her life, but right now she has retired to her house under armed escort. Maybe when the situation is calmer?"

"Of course, I understand." I replied, absolutely not bothered by not having a hysterical spouse frantically thanking me. "Another time, then. Unfortunately, I have to go. We have things to talk about."

"Of course." Said Elisif, with a smile. "I'm sure you have a lot to catch up. Goodbye."

After we said goodbye and excused ourselves, I basically dragged Kayleen to a room in the local inn and cast a spell to be sure nobody could hear us. Then, with a sigh, I turned to face her.

The moment I had closed the door, she had removed her mask, revealing the face I remembered and that was so similar to the one of Kayleene Darkwing, my girlfriend's character from ESO.

"So. What are you doing here?"

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.7

Kayleen frowned at the question. "That's none of your business."

I frowned back. "You do realize that I just covered for your ass in front of the Queen of Skyrim, right? I think that I deserve to at least to know why you are here."

"Elisif the Fair is not the Queen of Skyrim." Retorted Kayleen.

Uh, maybe she wasn't. Yet. But… "Semantics." I waved. "She will be."

Like hell I was letting Ulfric become the King of Skyrim. No way.

Kayleen opened her mouth as to reply at my affirmation, but then she closed it. "I suppose you know better than me about it, right?" I shrugged and she seemed to relax. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I replied, smiling a little. "So. Is there a particular reason you are here at Solitude? By your armor, I assume Mercer is dead, so you're here for… business?"

Kayleen seemed to think about it for some reason, then she nodded. "I was trying to reestablish the presence of the Guild here. We are returning to our former glory, but Solitude is still making things difficult."

Urgh, I got what she intended. Fucking final mission of the Thieves Guild, I hated to have to savescum just to not get a job in a city that was already under the Guild influence. I hoped that in real life it was less stupid.

"I understand." I sighed. "And the reason why you were behind the assassin? I thought the Guild and the Brotherhood had an understanding."

"We have." Replied the Redguard, not looking particularly pleased by that. "I actually just wanted to get a closer look, because you looked familiar. Then you removed my invisibility." She sent me a strange look. "How did you do that? I was not under a spell. You shouldn't be able to dispel it."

"I didn't. I just created a spell that removed invisibility, regardless of the source of it." I replied. "Bloody difficult, let me tell you, but doable. So you choose that power from the three that Nocturnal offered? Good choice."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yes. It turns to be useful when I want to move unseen without using magic."

Yeah, it was a pretty cool power. It was weaker than the amazing Shadow Warrior Perk from the Sneak Tree in Skyrim, but I doubted you could become invisible by crouching in the real one. So, in absence of that, turning invisible for 2 minutes every time you entered inside a shadow was pretty great.

Alas, it was not the time for this kind of thought. "Well, I would like to hear more, but I have an amulet to fix and a Staff to recover. And also to buy a manor while I'm at it. So, I'll let you-"

"Why would you buy a manor?" Asked Kayleen, confused.

"As thanks to helping save the city, Elisif wants to make me Thane of Solitude. But the law says I have to have propriety in this city to do so. So, yeah, I have to buy a manor. It will not take that long. I just need to create more gold rings and sell them. Well, goodbye, Kayleen. Use this room if you want to rest a little. I have to go."

I was already opening the door when Kayleen called out to me. "Wait!"

I stopped, confused by her sudden call. "What?"

She looked very uncomfortable right now. She was looking around, or on the floor… basically everywhere where I was not. What in the fucking hell was her problem?

"What do you know about the Shehai Shen She Ru?"

I furrowed my brow trying to understand what the hell she had just said. The terms she used were more or less unintelligible for me, but the first word…

"You mean the Way of the Spirit Sword?" I asked, not really certain it was what she intended. "It's an ancient martial path of the Yokudan. It was lost centuries ago when Hammerfell was invaded by a race of giant goblins and the last master of the Way had to sacrifice his Spirit Sword to defeat them. Why?"

Kaylee didn't answer immediately, opting to look at me with complete disbelief. I responded to her shocked expression with a smirk.

"Didn't expect me to know that much, am I right?"

"Not in that much detail." Kayleen admitted. "And… do you know how to make a Spirit Sword?"

"Pff, of course not. It's an art that's long forgotten. I know that you had to use your essence -or soul, it was not very clear- to form the sword itself, but-" I stopped, eyeing Kayleen. "Why are you asking me this?"

She didn't answer my question. Not directly. "You think you could create a Spirit Sword?"

I blinked at the absurdity of the question. "What? No. Well, I could probably think up a Shout to give more power to a sword, but it would not be the same thing. I could also try to create a weapon of pure magic, but that's not the same either." I paused, suddenly understanding what the hell she wanted. "Wait a second. You want to learn how to create a Spirit Sword?"

"I want to prove they were not a myth." Replied the woman. "I studied the way of the sword for all my life. I want to rediscover the ancient way of my people. Is it too much to ask? Am I too ambitious?" She asked, glaring at me like challenging me to say yes.

Of course, I didn't fall for that. "And you're asking me about it?" I asked, in total disbelief. "I know nothing about the Way of the Spirit Sword other than theory."

"But you know the Thu'um. Isn't the Thu'um the projection of your own life force into a Shout?" She replied. "I thought that… maybe, even if you could not create a Spirit Sword, you could show me a way."

I was going to tell her that what she had just said was complete bonkers when I stopped myself. Was it? I couldn't be sure until I tried. And her line of thought had merit. Lifeforce, soul, essence… they might as well be the same thing. And if they were, I could use it to my advantage. Spirit Swords were believed to be extremely powerful, and I knew I needed an extremely powerful weapon in my arsenal.

Even then… "It would not work." I sighed. "The Way of the Spirit Sword requires absolute dedication to the sword. I doubt I have the required skill to be one."

"No, you have it." She replied. In contrast with the uncertain tone that she used before, this time she looked pretty sure of her words. "I saw how you countered the attack of the assassin. He was faster than you, but you were able to deflect the attack with ease. I've rarely seen someone so skilled with the blade outside my own people." She looked at me with great intensity. "You're not fast and strong enough to compare with the greatest fighters of Tamriel, but you are as skilled as one. If there is someone that can help me, it's you."

I blinked a couple of times, surprised and even a little flattered that she thought I was good enough to learn the Shehai Shen She Ru.

"Well… thank you." I said, not really sure what to say. "I would like to learn the Way of the Spirit Sword, believe me. But I don't think I have the time for learning that too. I already have a lot of things to do and…"

"I'll help you." She immediately said, not even giving me the time to finish. "If you promise me that you will help me, I'll help with the most immediate problems. Is that acceptable for you?"

I blinked again. How much had she wanted to create a Spirit Sword? "Well, yes, but don't you have work to do for the Guild?"

She shrugged. "Restoring the Guild will take time anyway. I can spare a couple of days for these matters."

"I doubt a couple of days will be enough to teach me all there is to know about it."

"It will be enough to teach you the basics." She replied. "Then we can take time, so you can practice what you learned on your own while I deal with the problems of the Guild. Then, we can meet and see if you have progressed enough. You are at a high level: I'm sure you will not have any problems."

I looked at the Redguard thief. She was really determined about this, huh? Well, I couldn't possibly refuse her proposal.

"Very well, Kayleen. I'll help you as much as I can. Even if I don't know if I'm going to be of any use." I decided, before offering her my hand. "We have a deal."

She grabbed it without hesitation. "Excellent. So, what are those things you have to do?"

I smiled. "Well, before that, there are some that can be postponed for a couple of days. Others cannot. So, you mind if I contact a friend?"

-X-

Maybe it was petty on my part, to appear out of nowhere in front of Thormund and Isran, giving them a big scare?

Probably. I didn't care. It was always fun to flex my magical superiority around.

"Thormund." I smiled. "Sorry if I didn't contact you before, but I have yet to learn how to telepathically message you from across Skyrim."

Thormund and Isran, already halfway to drawn their weapon, stopped. "Loki?" Asked Thormund. "Who you managed to get here? I thought you needed a portal to move to a location you didn't know?"

I nodded. "Well, you see…"

Before I could actually explain, Fenrir busted inside the room and jumped on me.

Only for his body to pass innocuously through mine. The giant wolf turned, confused, and whined.

"… I'm not really here." I finished, while Fenrir came closed and started to sniff around. "This is just a magical projection of myself. I'm actually in Solitude, trying to finish some business. It will take a while, I'm afraid, but if everything goes as planned, I should be there in a week… probably less, but you never know."

"A week sounds promising." Said Isran. "You must be the infamous Loki. I'm Isran, the head of the Dawnguard."

"It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Isran." I said. "Well, for a given definition of 'in person', anyway. I contacted you because I wanted to see if you needed my assistance. Unfortunately, messages tend to be slow, and I understand that time is a luxury we don't have, if we want to prevent the vampires from getting their hands on Serana."

Isran frowned. "Even if I find it unpleasant to think in this way, the vampires have not yet attacked the Vigilantes of Stendarr. As such, it's impossible for us to know if they have managed to discover the position of this Serana yet. Unfortunately, while I would like to prevent the attack, we currently don't have enough men to help the Vigilantes. While your information helped us be better equipped, the efforts we made to recover the people and the weapons had left us with too little time to recruit people. Our recruits are better trained and better armed than before, but numbers are still numbers, and we don't have enough."

Mmmm… that was something I didn't consider when I told Thormund to get the damn people and relics at once. Logistics, my worst enemy. "I'm sorry I can't help you more than this."

"You don't have even the slightest clue of the position of Serana? Or the Valley you talk about?" Asked Thormund.

I shook my head. "No, nothing for Serana. I know something about the Forgotten Vale, but nothing we can use."

"And why is that?" Asked Isran.

"I know where the Vale is, more or less." I answered. "Somewhere in the extreme north-west of Skyrim. Unfortunately, the place where we can find the Bow, the Temple of Auri-El, is locked by powerful magic. To enter, we need to fill a jug with the water of five shrines… and both the jug and the first shrine is not inside the Vale itself. So, first, we need to find the first Shrine, and then we need can go to the Vale. Also, there are two dragons inside the Vale and I would prefer not having to deal with them right now."

Thormund and Isran exchanged a look. "I understand your reluctance to fight dragons." Admitted Isran. "I suppose that's why we need the Moth Priest too, right? To discover the entrance to this Forgotten Vale."

"I'm afraid so."

The Redguard sighed. "I see. Well, there is nothing that we can do about it then. We'll have to wait until the Vigilantes, or someone else, finds this Serana. The Moth Priest should be arriving soon." He paused for a second. "But wait. Why can't you read the Elder Scroll? You already did it once."

I nodded. "Yes, and that time I managed to not incur any problems. I'm not going to risk my sanity trying to read not one, but three more. I got lucky last time: there is no guarantee I'm that lucky again."

"Fair." Admitted Isran. "I hope you finish your business fast, my friend. A powerful mage will be very useful to us."

"I'll do what I can." I replied. "Now, I have to prepare for my trip and rest to recover my magicka. See you soon."

"See you soon, my friend." Said Thormund, with Fenrir whining to underline his displeasure. I smiled at the wolf and the Nord, then dismissed the spell.

When I opened my eyes, Kayleen was watching me from the doorframe. "Done?" She asked.

"Yes, done." I replied, standing up. "I burned a lot of magicka to do that. I think that, for today, we're not going to complete the Gauldur Amulet. Tomorrow I'll open a portal and will be there in an instant."

She smiled. A nor particularly friendly smile. "Good. Then we can start your training."

I sighed. This was going to be a hassle.

-X-

To my surprise, the day after, I was in a pretty good condition. The training Kayleen subjected me yesterday was not that bad. Harsh? Plenty. Particularly painful? Not even close.

So, it was with relatively high hopes that I opened a portal to Reachwater Rock, the tomb of the old Archmage Gauldur, and the place where I could finally have my amulet completed.

"You are sure we're not going to find draugr, right?" Asked Kayleen for the tenth time.

"Yes." I replied, rolling my eye and placing the Dragon Claw in position. "I'm sure. We're going to find the spirits of the Gauldursons, but aside for that, there is no other enemy inside."

She mumbled something I didn't understand, so I decided to ignore her and continue on my path.

As expected, we didn't find any enemies. We arrived at the tomb with no problem, and then I placed the amulets on the three plates near the tombs. I also wore a pretty good magical amulet for this, trying to offset the problem of losing the magicka fragment. Just that, instead of something to help with my magicka, I went with something that made me a little tougher. A little more armor never hurt anyone.

Then the battle started.

I felt pretty confident about this. I already defeated them, without Kayleen to help me, so it wouldn't be too much of a problem. I just had to tell her what to do when one of them stepped down.

And the first one was Mirkul, the swordsman. And that meant…

"He's going to call draugr!" I shouted. "Kill them while I keep it busy!"

She nodded, her face covered by her Nightingale Cowl, and disappeared in the shadow. Literally. The shadows seemed to cling on her for a second before her body disappeared.

Was that Shadow Magic? If so, I wanted to analyze it and see if I could replicate it. Maybe I wouldn't need the Eye of Magnus to return home if I learned Shadow Magic.

But that was for later. Now, it was time to deal with Mirkul. And since I had zero reasons to hold back, I first cast a spell to increase my speed, and then engaged the motherfucker.

Probably surprised that I managed to engage him so quickly, Mirkul failed to put up an appropriate defense. I found a weak spot in his armor and slashed his throat open, helping myself with generous application of fire magic. It didn't kill him, but it was enough to make him stumble, letting me strike again with the same power as before, opening a big wound in his chest.

The Deathlords eyes burned with sheer hate and he shouted for his draugr to attack, or something like that. I still had problems with full sentences in Dovhazul. The draugr replied… but most were already killed by Kayleen, that despite being a thief, was pretty good as an assassin.

Still, a random arrow managed to get me, but it bounced uselessly on my armor.

Furious because his minions had failed to deal any significant damage to me, Mirkul tried to decapitate me with a wild swing of his sword… which I was not sure it was the same blade I was currently holding in my hands, but it didn't matter. Thanks to my improved speed, ducking under the attack came relatively easy. Then, I thrust my sword inside his skull and the spirit dissipated. At the same time, the surviving draugr dropped dead.

"The next one will use a bow and illusions to create copies of himself." I shouted at Kayleen, putting away the sword to get my bow. "Do not let him fool you. The copies are surrounded by a purple glow and their helmets lack the horns."

I didn't hear her reply and I didn't see her, because invisibility, but I supposed she got the message. While the kneeling form of Mirkul appeared on the altar, Sigdis stepped down, disappeared, and then reappeared in four different corners.

My tentative of hiding from the draugr was met with failure, as I was immediately individuated and several arrows started to fly in my direction. It took me a second to find out where the real one was, but when I did, I sent an arrow in his direction.

My fire infused arrow, even if I didn't use a summoned daedric arrow because I didn't have the time to summon one, exploded against the draugr, making him take a step back from the sheer force behind it.

Then, Kayleen popped out of nowhere right behind him and stabbed him in the chest with her Nightingale sword. Even this spirit disappeared.

Huh, this was easier than expected. But it was not the time to feel too sure of ourselves. The last brother was the most powerful: Jyrik Gauldurson.

"I… don't remember what this one does." I admitted.

"Very useful." Came the incorporeal voice of Kayleen. Oh, fuck off. At least he didn't have invulnerability this time. I didn't know what the hell he could do, but it was probably nothing dangerous.

I was immediately proved wrong when Jyrik materialized in seven different bodies, some armed with bows, and started to rain hell on me.

"Fuck!" I swore, putting myself behind cover. "Kayleen, the real one is the one with the ax!"

That didn't mean that we could get him, not with the archers ready to shoot us dead. But maybe…

I jumped out from my cover to cast a brief Chain Lightning spell on the archers on the left side of the tomb. The lightning pierced the ghostly apparition and they dissolved right away.

"The copies are not very resistant!" I shouted, hoping she was hearing me. "Fus, Ro, Dah!"

My Shout hit two draugr at the right side of the tomb, dissipating them instantly. I felt my breath leave me for a second, but I managed to get behind cover.

Meanwhile, Kayleen had dealt with the last copy -they didn't regenerate, lucky for us- and then had jumped on the real Jyrik. The draugr failed to notice the thief and as a result, he found her sword planted between his neck and his shoulder.

Then he disappeared, teleporting away.

"Is this guy for real?" Asked Kayleen. "He's just doing exactly what his brothers did!"

"At least he's not invulnerable anymore!" I shouted back. "Be careful! He's an excellent frost mage!"

As I said that, Jyrik appeared in a corner of the room, as far as he could for us, and shot a cone of frost in our direction. Both I and Kayleen dodged as fast as we could, which looked like a good idea since the cone of frost white literally froze everything in his path. But that gave him the time to summon a Frost Atronach. Great.

"Ignore the Atronach! Strike him down!" I commanded, while channeling my power. Did you want to go with a magic fight? Fine! Be my guest!

But before I could deal with him, Kayleen popped out of nowhere again, piercing the Deathlord in his back with her sword. Jyrik immediately stopped whatever it was doing, and that meant that I could strike back.

Flames erupted around me, then they jumped on the draugr like an immense, blazing snake. Kayleen jumped away when they hit home, burning away the spirit of the draugr and dissipating it into nothingness.

I sighed. "It's over." I said, watching the three Gauldurson, kneeled, reappear on the altar near the tomb of their father.

"That doesn't look over." Replied Kayleen, appearing at my side. I couldn't really fault her: the Gauldursons stood up and drew their weapons, like they wanted to attack us at the same time. Which was probably going to end badly if it happened. Fortunately, they didn't.

The top of the sarcophagus of Archmage Gauldurson was kicked open by some invisible force, and the three brothers looked at it. Their undead faces couldn't express many emotions, but it was clear that they were scared. And they had all right to be, because they never actually defeated their father. They killed him in his sleep. And so, he could probably kick their ass pretty easily. "Nah, it's over."

Restoration magic exploded out of the sarcophagus, blasting the three ghosts away but ignoring the living. Then, the ghost of Archmage Gauldur appeared, giving us his back, and shook his head in sorrow. Well, I would do that too if my sons killed me in my sleep because they were greedy little fuckers and then passed the next couple of years terrorizing Skyrim just for the sake of it.

But at last, the ancient Archmage turned, gave me a nod, and raised his hands. The fragments of the amulet started to levitate upward, getting closer and closer, until, with a last explosion of magic, the Amulet of Gauldurson returned whole. The mage let the amulet fly down, then sent us a bow, and disappeared, hopefully to Sovengard. Then, silence.

"That was at the same time easier than I expected, and more intense." Said Kayleen. "So, that's the amulet?"

"Yeah." I said, grabbing it and placing it on my neck. "It's a very good amulet, believe me. It's not that his effects are extraordinarily good… but there a lot of them. That makes it very good for me, that try to master all disciplines, magical or martial."

Kayleen nodded. "Yes, it's the perfect amulet for you. And now that this is done… what's the next step?"

"Well, I have to do a couple of spells to open the portal in the right place, but after that, a little rest and more importantly, after we loot this place… well, the next step is Labyrinthian."

"Isn't Labyrinthian a mage death trap?" Asked Kayleen.

I frowned. "Yes, it is. It's also full of trolls."

"Great." She replied, not hiding her opinion on the place… or the trolls. Neither were flattering. "Let's just get it over with. I have things to do, and you can't train alone."

I sighed. I appreciated her eagerness for this, but couldn't she be a little more relaxed?

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.8

Important Announcement!

Thanks to the lack of jobs caused by the CoVid I had basically all day and all week to write stuff (as evidenced by the fact that I'm currently running two Quests and a story on a weekly basis).

That's no longer the case. Or it's not going to be I a couple of weeks. I have decided to help my uncle with the grape harvest this year (just to make some money) and I also have to study for a test that will certify me as Agrotectnic. I should have started already, but it's months away so I procrastinated to this day. It will not be the case anymore.

So, starting from the next chapter, I'll slow down the release of the chapters to one every two weeks. I have a dozen or so chapters already written, so there should be enough material to give me time to finish whatever I have to do.

Sorry, but life is reclaiming my attention and I can't do anything about it.

Also, my beta reader creativeProcrastinator had little time to correct this (and had to do it late in the night), and I'm not good with the subtler rules of English, so forgive us if there are more errors and normal here.

-X-

We didn't reach Labyrinthian the day after we went to rebuild the Gauldur Amulet. Aside from scrying the place to let me portal there in a relatively easy way -and to avoid the damn trolls- we also had to train. I managed to get a less intense training by starting to explain to Kayleen the principles behind the Thu'um, and even if she had the right mentality for it, she clearly had no talent for the Way of the Voice. Buying the manor - I convinced Kayleen to help me on the basis that I was going to leave at some point anyway, so Proudspire Manor was essentially hers when I left. And lastly retrieving the Blade of Haafingar -which turned out to be an ebony greatsword Enchanted with fire damage-, all in a day. So, after some more training and enough time to recover, we got there. And we were greeted by Savos Aren and his companion talking about conquering the Labyrinthian. Poor fools.

I had more or less explained to Kayleen what the general enemies of the place were going to be. First, skeletons, then draugr, a skeletal dragon, various types of ghosts, and of course, the Dragon Priests at the end. On top of that, our magicka was going to get drained the further we went down. While it was not a problem for me because I could always recover magicka by taking spells head-on, it was a slightly more concerning matter for my Nightingale partner -I could have been thinking of her as a friend or a friendly acquaintance before, but she really didn't like me for some reason-, even if her ability to sneak was untouched. So, our first problem was going to be the skeletal dragon, which was probably going to be less dangerous than the real thing, considering he didn't give a dragon soul and so it was just an empty husk animated by necromancy.

That just meant that it was still going to be a pretty hard fight, just not one where the dragon obliterated us in the first second by Shouting us into Oblivion. Because the only thing it had was Frost Breath.

So, we both agreed that the best way to do this was using Illusion magic to silently deal with the skeletons in the room before tackling the damn thing. It might not be as tough as a live one, but it was still a dragon.

The first thing we noticed and were quick to take advantage of was that, contrary to most gates in Nordic tombs, that just remained open when you pulled the lever, this one didn't. It gave you, like, twenty seconds to pass through, but then the lever closed up and the gates fell down again. Which was perfect for us, since I could just let Kayleen shoot the skeleton with her bow, letting me keep the gate open. Since the Skeletal Dragon didn't really act until you got near enough to him, that gave us time to deal with the skeletons, which were not that tough to begin with. Then, when it was time, we stepped inside the room and let the dragon emerge from the ground. Then, with great ease, we just returned to the previous room. Well, Kayleen returned. I was still there keeping the gate open.

And when the Skeletal Dragon tried to follow her inside the room -because evidently being a skeleton dropped its intelligence too- I just let the gate close on his neck.

Of course, the Skeletal Dragon didn't have organs to crush or spine to break, or… well, it did but he couldn't die from something like that. So, the only thing that we accomplished by doing that was to lock it into place, unable to move… or unable to free itself quickly.

Meaning that I just spammed spells until its skull cracked under the power of the magicka I was channeling, and it took far too much, and at that point the necromantic bindings on the skeleton finally gave.

Which had the fortunate side effect to giving me a lot of dragon bones for my equipment. Fuck. Yeah.

"That was surprisingly easy to do." Said Kayleen. "Very hard to kill, but with that little stratagem we managed to deal with it without too many problems."

"Which we should be grateful for." I said. "Thank the gods this thing is dumb. A real dragon would never have fallen for that trick."

Kayleen nodded, then we proceeded. We met the images of Aren and his comrades talk again, then we explored a little, trying to find whatever we could use. We had decided to split the loot for this, since, well, it was going to be a difficult dungeon and she deserved a reward for the risk she was taking.

Then we moved near a door covered with ice. So it was there that stupid door was. Fuck me and my memory. I would have prepared to fight the frost spirit that was going to get out of the door, when I voice rumbled the entire room.

"Wo meyz wah dii vul junaar?" Morokei, I think that was the name of the Dragon Priest, asked. Which, translated, more or less meant 'who enters my dark kingdom' or something like that. It sounded very edgy, buuuut it was very dark in here, so maybe it was just being literal.

Kayleen, fortunately, didn't say anything, and I managed to repel the power of Morokei enough to avoid losing most of my magicka. At the same time, the frost spirit appeared.

We quickly deal with him. Pretty easily considering my new blade dealt fire damage.

When the spirit was dead and I opened the door with a firebolt, Kayleen finally spoke. "That was the Dragon Priest?" She asked, her voice a little shaky.

"Yes." I said, looking over the door frame to be sure there was nothing that could jump on us because we were distracted talking. "Charming fella, isn't he?"

"What did he just say?"

"'Who enters my dark kingdom?', more or less." I replied. "Seems he can sense us here, but not very well. Did he get your magicka?"

"Yes." She replied.

Without a word, I passed her mine by touching her shoulder. She shivered when she felt her magicka return. "Thank you, but you don't need to do this. You need magicka more than me…"

I tapped the amulet on my neck. "Increased magicka regeneration. I'll be fine in a minute. Let's go. The road is long and filled with enemies."

And as I said that, or more precisely, the moment we get down three steps, the voice rumbled again.

"Nivahriin muz fent siiv nid aaz het." He shouted again, and again I repelled the power that tried to remove my magicka. I glanced at Kayleen, but she shook her head. Apparently, she managed to avoid being drained this time.

"What did he say?" Asked the Redguard when the voice stopped to echo.

"'Cowardly men shall find no quarter here'." I translated. "Pretty intense words. I suppose he's still salty for what Archamage Savos did to him."

"What?" Asked Kayleen, confused.

"Later." I replied, before slamming my shove spell against a draugr, making it die by falling damage. Ah, falling damage, the best friend of every adventurer in hard mode. You could kill everything by throwing it off a cliff.

While my spell was mostly inconspicuous, draugr were not so stupid that they could see one of them flying down and not care. So, I clearly heard more draugr start to climb up and see what the hell happened. Of course, being dumb, they didn't think that whatever just launched their companion into the void could do the same to them.

So they both fell down.

Our exploration continued for a while. We found interesting things -like the spellbook of Equilibrium, which was some I was not going to ever use if I could avoid it- and other loot. Mostly Soul Gems, that Kayleen was happy to leave to me. She was terrible at Enchanting, apparently.

Sure, we had to kill a draugr and disable a rune spell for that, but one draug and a simple spell were no match for us.

And of course, the moment we returned on the path, that in this case was a series of narrow passages over the deep pit I just launched the draugr, the Dragon Priest spoke again, this time in a language that we could understand… well, that Kayleen could understand.

"You do not answer… Must I use this guttural language of yours?"

"It can speak the current language?"

"Seems so." I replied. "He probably learned it from the mages that came here."

The exploration of Labyrinthian continued. There was… not a lot to see, honestly. I thought we were going to find some of those weird spectral draugr, but evidently, they were somewhere else. Better for me, I guess.

And of course, just when I assumed that, we found a troll.

Now, trolls were nasty pieces of work. They were big -bigger than me, at least, more or less seven feet tall- hairy, ape-like bipedal creature with three eyes, powerful muscles, and vicious claws, able to regenerate easily from terrible wounds. They should be, for all intent and purposes, terrible enemies to fight. But they had a glaring weakness: they were cripplingly weak to fire damage. Which was only emphasized when I cut deeply into its arm, and it immediately caught fire.

Panicking, the monster completely stopped his fighting trying to prevent the flames from consuming his body. Which worked… until I slashed him again, this time in the leg, and forcing it to stand down while Kayleen filled him with arrows. In the end, while problematic because of it being extremely difficult to kill, the troll was not a worthy challenge. We just had to stay away from it -easy thanks to the fact that I almost chopped off its leg- and let him whine while I continually pummeled it with slashes from my fire sword. Monotonous, but not very dangerous.

The wispmother we found a little later, after a couple of skeletons, was probably going to be a better challenge… except that she wasn't, since I incinerated her with a blast of fire. Granted, it was a Master level blast of fire, but still, she went down easy. And the next thing we encountered turned out to be another door, the fire one this time… which we proceeded to open easily with the weakest frost spell I could summon, after I reduced the other spirit to a pile of fragmented ice.

Goddammit, I was good at this. It stressed me out a lot, and it was risky, but I really, really got it down fast. However…

"Maybe we should rest a little before continuing." I proposed. "Don't know about you, but I'm tired of walking in this place. Why don't we sit down for an hour?"

The Nightingale sent a look at the now open door. "We should have done that before opening the door."

"Hindsight is 20/20." I replied, eliciting a confused look from her. "Nevermind. We can sit on the wall we just passed. So, in case something arrives, we can see it from afar. Just to eat something."

Kayleen hesitated, but then she sighed. "Fine. I suppose that a little break is not a big deal."

So we went and sat down, and while we ate, she asked questions. On the Labyrinthian, mostly. I explained to her that Savos Aren came here and lost most of his friends, and then I locked the place to stop Morokei from getting out. When she asked me why I thought that I could defeat a Dragon Priest while the Archmage could not, I explained to her the reason I was there… and also why we had a chance of victory when they did not.

"The Staff of Magnus, the artifact that I'm searching for, can absorb magicka to an incredible rate." I said. "That's why Savos Aren failed, and why we're going to succeed. Archmage Savos is an incredible mage, no doubt about it. He also just a mage. Without magicka, he can't fight a Dragon Priest. No, you need someone that can deal with it even without magic to defeat Morokei."

"And you can." Nodded Kayleen, understanding the implications. "It doesn't seem like the Staff is that powerful though. If it can just absorb magicka, it's not that different from other magical staffs I've heard about."

I shook my head. "The Staff of Magnus doesn't just absorb magicka. I mean, it does, but it also starts to absorb your life force once you don't have any magicka left. That, and being a supposedly divine artifact, it probably doesn't lose its powers when you use it."

"That makes it more dangerous." Admitted the thief. "And why are you searching for this Staff?"

"I need the Staff because there is a Thalmor at the College that's going to try to use an incredibly powerful artifact for his own gain, and only the Staff can stop it."

"Is this artifact so dangerous that you're willing to deal with a Dragon Priest to retrieve the staff?"

"Yes. The Eye of Magnus is an artifact that contains potentially unlimited magicka. Can you imagine what kind of damage a Thalmor could cause with it?"

Kayleen didn't answer immediately, probably lost in her imagination. In the and, she nodded. "Yeah, I can imagine. I supposed that's worth the risk."

"I'm glad you appreciate the enormity of my responsibility." I half-joked, sending her a little smile.

Kayleen didn't say anything, just putting a slice of bread in her mouth. Since I was not one of those people that needed to fill the silence or they felt uncomfortable, I followed her example and eat some more.

Until she asked me another question. This one, a little different from the other.

"You said I remember you of someone. Who is this person?"

I instantly realized where this came from. I admit, I was not subtle about looking at her, but I couldn't stop myself. She reminded me of home, so I took every chance I had. It was a fatal weakness, and it was also a little complicated to explain… but fortunately, I could explain myself pretty well. Or, better, now that I had enough mastery of Illusions that I could just show what I meant to her.

So I opened my hand and, from the green light of illusion magic, materialized the image of a Bosmer woman. "This is Kayleena Nightwing." I said. The Bosmer and the Redguard, with their faces up close, really looked alike. They both had delicate traits and big eyes… it was just that the Bosmer had more, because she was an elf and Kayleen was not. Aside from that, and the fact that the Redguard clearly had a darker skin tone, they could almost be taken for sisters.

The Kayleen at my side looked at the Bosmer with fascination. "That's… amazing. She really looks like me."

"You can understand that I was a little stunned when it turned out that you had almost the same name too."

"And, she's your… lover?" She asked, a little hesitant.

I chuckled. "Oh, no. She's just an acquaintance. No, this is my fiancée."

The imagine summoned by the magic changed, showing a much more human face. All in all, I suppose she was not that special. She had pale skin, normal brown eyes and hair, and she also had a bit of a pronounced jaw, typical Breton trait -which was just a coincidence, of course. She also resembled Kayleen, but the similarities were not so evident. She just had the same general physique and face… aside from the fact that Kayleen was a warrior, and my girlfriend clearly was not.

"I see." Said Kayleen, looking at her. "I do look a little like her, don't I?"

"A little." I said. "But you mostly remind me of Kayleena. They were great friends. So, every time I see you, I can't stop thinking about her."

"You miss her." Whispered Kayleen.

"Yes. I would give anything I have to return home."

"Then why don't you just abandon everything and return home?" She asked. "You can open portal everywhere in Skyrim. Surely it can't be too difficult to open one at High Rock. Why you don't return home?"

I closed my hand, making the image of my girlfriend disappear… not before making her do a smile. "Because I can't."

"Why? What could possibly stop you?"

"The fact that I'm not from this world." I stated.

Kayleen froze for an instant. "What?"

I opened my hand again, making her see a pretty good replica of planet Earth. Geography was not my best subject so it probably was not 100% accurate, but it was enough to see the glaring differences. "This is Earth. As you can see, the continents are placed rather differently."

Kayleen looked completely shocked by the revelation. Her eyes were glued to the rotating globe. "You're from another Mundus."

"Pretty much."

"Wha- How you ended up here?"

"I don't know." I replied, before making Earth disappear again. "And I don't care. I just want to return home. But before that, I need to gather enough power to make the trip back. And for that, I need the Eye of Magnus, all the power the Thu'um can give me, and maybe even Shadow Magic. But you don't need to concern yourself with that. Focus on the Dragon Priest we need to kill."

She paused before answering. "Alright. How do you intend to beat the Dragon Priest?"

"Morokei is behind a barrier set up by ghostly mages." I replied, standing up. "We first need to kill them. After that, I will attack him directly, using my ability to absorb spell to power through the effect of the Staff of Magnus, and if needed, disarm him with a Shout. Is that a good enough plan?"

"It can work. How good is your ability to absorb spells?" Asked Kayleen.

"Pretty good, and I can increase it with potions. It should not be able to drain my magicka with his power, and meanwhile, you can hit him. If I do a good job at distracting im, there should be no problems."

Kayleen nodded. "Very well. Let's go. The sooner we get out of this place, the better."

I agreed. So, we started to descend. And since Labyrinthian worked more or less like an RPG dungeon, when at each level you found a different type of mob, the rest of the place was filled with another type of Undead. We had skeletons and a Skeletal Dragon 'miniboss' on the first floor, then skeletons and draugr on the second floor -which were more floors, but I considered all the space between the Frost Spirit door and the Fire Spirit's more like one floor- with the troll and wispmother 'minibosses'. Because they evidently finished the budget right before finding a decent miniboss for the second floor, and then the third floor. Which was composed of ghostly draugr, dogs, and skeletons, had the ghostly mages minibosses, and the final boss, Morokei himself.

All very gamey. Except when you died, you died for real.

The floor was also almost completely devoid of anything useful. I mean, the spectral weapons of the ghost-draugr had some fancy effect, but I couldn't improve them with my newly found smithing skill, so I ignored them. But I found something interesting in the end. I a little room, closed behind a locked gate, laid three objects: a helmet, an old Nord greatsword, and in a corner, almost invisible, an ebony shield.

Both the helmet and the greatsword were Enchanted. How do I know this? Well, for one thing, because I could sense the magic in their metal. Second, they were placed right inside a brazier big enough that I could sit inside it, full of embers, and they were not even hot to the touch… just a little warm. A helmet of fire resistance and a greatsword with fire damage. Another one. Well, I could always sell it, because I didn't really need it. The ebony shield, on the other hand, was going to be very useful. I made my adamantite shield disappear and took the ebony one as a replacement. Until I could find a way to create a dragonbone or daedric shield, this will have to do.

Anyway, spectral draugr after spectral draugr, we finally arrived in the final room… which was not announced by anything. We just opened a big door, absolutely identical to every other door we met before, and there he was, locked inside a bubble of magic.

Well, maybe. I was not sure, because in reality, the situation was a little strange. Morokei was inside a bubble of magic in a balcony, three or some meters on the ground, on the right side of the room. On the left side, there was another balcony, connected to the other one by a stone bridge, another one over the first, each with one of those strange Nord walkways that ended in what I could only assume was the least safeguarded post ever conceived. A narrow stone protrusion that didn't cover for the guard unless it retreated behind two slim columns that covered the sides… but only from a certain angle and only if the person was not facing the column, because in that case, it maybe was going to cover the face, surely not the rest of the body.

It was on two of those protrusions that were kneeling the ghost mages that… I didn't know. It looked like they were keeping Morokei inside, but I distinctly remembered that you had to kill them to fight him… wait, they were forced to stay there by Savos?

Oh, fuck. That was dark. But I didn't have the time to worry about that.

"Ok, here we go." I said, drinking my last potion of Spell Absorption. "I don't remember how he fights at all, but he's a very good mage. So, be prepared for Atronachs, maybe Daedra, and magic of that kind. If you can, don't stay near him at all. I can deal with his magic better than you do."

"Clear." She said, extracting her bow. "First the mages, right?"

"First the mages." I nodded, before taking out the Gauldur Blacksword and my new ebony shield. "Ready?"

Her reply was to disappear into the shadow. Good enough.

I dashed the moment she hit the first ghost mage with an arrow to the head. The moment I was near Morokei balcony, her second arrow was already hitting the other mage… and considering that it was not visible from the entrance, that meant she had already moved without me seeing her. She was fast, dammit.

Anyway, I used a Jump spell to cut the chase directly to Morokei, right when the bubble of magic disappeared, freeing the ancient Dragon Priest.

"Zuun, Hal, Viik!" I Shouted, making the entire place tremble… which was impressive, considering that I just used Disarm and not Unrelenting Force.

Morokei instantly dropped the Staff of Magnus, and with a quick twist of magic, I made it disappear in my dimensional bag.

Then, something happened that I didn't expect. Morokei started to laugh. It was absolutely terrible. His voice was harsh and rough, like someone that had sand for vocal cords… which could be a thing, in his case, and the laughter was filled with dark amusement that, for some reason, made him sound even more sinister.

"Ah, you're a Tongue! Very well! Show me what you can do, youngling!"

The next second, his raised hand had summoned a Storm Atronach between the two balconies, and then… he Shouted.

"Krii, Lun, Aus!"

I had no time to react. The Shout hit me, instantly weakening my body. I also felt my armor weaken… not in a visible way, it just weakened right away. If it was not composed of a far more durable material than normal steel, it would have already crumbled.

Hot damn. Why I didn't think that the ancient lich that worshipped dragons should not know how to Shout? Every single damn draugr worth a damn knew a Shout or two, and the Dragon Priests, the absolute pinnacle of the power conceded by the dragons to their mortal followers, could not? Of course they could! Stupid game, confusing me. Morokei just hit me with Kill, Leech, Suffer. Marked for Death, one of those Shouts that high-level dragons used to weaken the prey before killing it. It had just, roughly, halved my ability to fight for any meaningful length of time. I had to defeat Morokei fast.

Dismissing my shield because I didn't want it to break during the fight, I charged at the Dragon Priest with the Blacksword in a hand and a Ward ready on the other. And since he wanted me to show off…

"Tiid, Klo!" I Shouted, slowing time around me. Normally, I would use the full power of my Shout, but with most of my energy sapped away from the Marked for Death Shout, I was not confident in my ability to sustain a prolonged Shouting match. So I just hit him hard.

Or would have, but the damn thing was fast, or at least, his spells were. A barrier materialized when I hit him with my sword the first time. It disappeared under the assault of my magically powered up sword, so I managed to land a second hit on him, this time slashing his magically reinforced robes and his undead flesh. He didn't seem to care that much, though.

"Gaan, Lah, Haas!" He replied, hitting me with Drain Vitality. "Ahahah! Not bad, young Tongue. You're powerful, but you are clearly inexperienced and lacking the deeper knowledge of the Words I just used, or you would not have been affected so hard by them. But not to worry, a couple of decades as my Undead minion will solve that."

I was ready to tell him what I thought about being his minion when a gigantic fist made of rock smashed my face. The five meters colossus that was the Storm Atronach capitalized on that and tried to hit me again, but this time I managed to roll under the attack. Kayleen, where the fuck are you?

A question without an answer. I jumped up and Shouted again. "Gaan, Lah, Haas!"

The Shout hit home, but it dissipated against the Dragon Priest with no reason and no effect. Aside from making me lose even more energy and, well, surprising the undead. "What? Impossible! You didn't know the Words… Unless…"

Whatever he was going to say was probably very interesting, but I didn't want to hear him. My sword exploded with magical fire so hot that I think the ebony of the blade started to glow red hot. Then slashed with all the speed and power I could. The metal pierced the robes and the fire burned mercilessly, and the body of the Undead, dried by millennia of, well, death, didn't take it well.

Releasing a screech that I'm pretty sure cracked the stone around him, Morokei lit ablaze like a giant bonfire, before dissolving, turning to burning ashes… and with him, the Atronach disappeared too.

With short breath and the start of a black eye already forming on my face, I sat down to rest a little. Goddammit… Shouts were a massive pain in the ass. If he wasn't so keen on playing with me, and I didn't surprise him with the last Shout, I could have lost.

But I won. And that was the important thing.

Last edited: Aug 13, 2020

Dawn of the Living Dead 1.9

It arrived a little late bu it arrived, let's goooooo!

-X-

After a couple of minutes, with the Gauldur Amulet kindly enhancing my recovery, Kayleen materialized by my side. Or, probably, was already at my side but I couldn't see her while the Nocturnal power was active.

"Well, hello there." I said, still breathing a little harder than usual. "Where the fuck were you?"

She didn't say anything for a while. "Sorry. I…" She paused, before continuing. "I know you did your best to teach me how to channel my life force like you do when you use your Thu'um, but I never really understood how to do it. Then you and the Dragon Priest started to fight, and I felt… something. Like I finally understood what I needed to do. And so, I tried to summon a Shehai."

Uh, that was unexpected but understandable. "And it worked?"

She shook her head. "No. The only thing I did was lose strength. And by the time I recovered, you had killed the Dragon Priest."

I remained silent for a while, just to recover my breath. "Well, at least it's something. Continue to train and I'm sure you're going to create a real Shehai."

Kayleen looked at me, surprised. "You're not mad?"

"A little." I admitted. "But we won, in the end, so it doesn't really matter. Sure, I would have preferred to not be punched in the face by a Storm Atronach, but the Blacksword has a lifesteal Enchantment. I healed most of the damage when I killed Morokei, black eye notwithstanding."

Kayleen hesitated a little. I couldn't see her face while she had the cowl of the Nightingale pulled up, but I was pretty sure she was uncomfortable. "I see."

"Hey, look it this way: you don't need me anymore. You can return to the Thieves Guild, and I can return to my business. We all win, right?"

Truth be told, I wasn't that happy to see her go. Sure, she didn't like me and that soured our relationship a little, but… she really, really reminded me of my girlfriend. It was painful to have her around, but it also helped quell the homesickness. A bittersweet companionship, but at least it was something.

"I suppose you can see it that way." She admitted. "And since we're talking about it, congratulations. That was an almost perfect Thirty-Eight Grips. It's the most basic of the Shehai Shen She Ru techniques, but to get a good grasp of it in a couple of days is impressive."

I smiled. "Thank you. You want me to open a portal to Riften? It should cut your travel a lot."

"I thought you needed a lot of magicka to open a portal. You are sure you can do it right now?"

I nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. I already visited Riften, so it's easier to open a portal there. I also have a Mark there, so it's really not much of a big deal. What do you say?"

She thought about it for a while. "Very well. If you offer, I'll gladly use a portal to travel to Riften."

"Good. Now, there are a couple of chest behind that wall, so we should divide that-"

"It won't be necessary." Interrupted Kayleen. "You killed the Dragon Priest mostly on your own. The rest of the treasure is yours."

I sent her a curious gaze. "You sure?"

"I am." She nodded.

Still a little puzzled by her sudden formality, I snapped my fingers to make a portal appear next to her. "Here you go, Portal Express to Riften. Good luck, Kayleen."

"Good luck to you too, Loki. You'll need it more than me." She said, standing up. Then, just before entering the portal, she turned. "If you need more lessons on the Shehai Shen She Ru, come to see me at Riften."

Wait, was that some kind of peace offering? Did she start to like me a little? Or was she just making sure that I could teach her some more if she needed practice with her Shehai? Well, whatever. "Sure. Just finish returning the prestige of the Thieves Guild, so I know where to find you."

She nodded, then passed through the portal. It closed behind her, leaving me alone in the old, ruined city of Labyrinthian.

Which was great, because I was sure she wasn't going to like what I was about to do next. There was a spell I wanted to try, a spell that I spent a lot of time perfecting so I could use my Necromantic powers without… well, without becoming a heartless monster.

You see, Necromancy was, at its heart, manipulation of the soul. Most hated the art since it was way too easy to destroy, manipulate, bind, and torture souls. Most people were understandably upset if you tormented the souls of the people they care about. But it was possible to be a necromancer and be an upstanding person: you just needed to not raid tombs for the corpses and avoid harming the souls you called. That sort of limited what you could do with Necromancy, of course… and I was going to try to find a way to deal with that.

I could have tried this on any of the enemies I had faced coming down, especially any of the Deathlords I had faced until now, but… they were not worthy. If I needed warriors, I could summon a deadra, and a Shout or two did not make that much of a difference.

But Morokei… Morokei was a Dragon Priest. He knew Shouts from the Merethic Era, and in general, was far more adept at it than any other Draugr. Sure, he probably was not as good as the Greybeards, since they were taught by Paarthurnax and said to know all the Shout in existence, while Morokei was probably more limited in that regard… but who cared? It was the next best thing to learning from the Greybeards, and I was not going to waste this chance. So, I grabbed his mask, because he didn't need it anymore, and started with my ritual.

What I was trying to do was not something that, to my knowledge at least, has ever been attempted before. Calling back the soul of Morokei would have been relatively easy, but even as he was now, it was probably something that I didn't want to do. So, I tried something different. I tried to call back an echo of Morokei.

The precise mechanism of what I was trying to do was obscure even to me, but the basic gist of it was that I wanted to use the original soul of the Dragon Priest as a template for… I suppose you could call it a spirit that just resembled it. A fake Morokei, but with more or less the same powers and abilities. A spiritual copy of the true person, with some mannerism and probably some of the memories, but in the end, not the real thing. Which was good, because I didn't want the real thing.

Of course, I had no idea if this was going to work. So, it was to my great relief that, after my ritual was complete, from the ashes of Morokei rose a shadowy, black figure with almost exactly the same appearance as the dead Dragon Priest.

"Well, that was a success." I smiled. "Can you talk?"

"I… can… master…" Wheezed the thing. It didn't seem like he was a great orator, was he? Well, no matter, I didn't summon him for his ability with words or his good looks. Even if thinking about it, going around with a Dragon Priest shadow was probably not a good idea.

"Say, can you do something to not be seen by people? You're not exactly reassuring."

"I'm… bound… to your will…" Replied the specter. "If so you command… I can return… from where I come from… but you would have… to call me back… on your own power…"

So, basically like a deadra? I could get behind that. "That's perfect, Morokei. You're dismissed. I'll call you when I need you."

"As… you… command…" Replied the spirit, dissolving in wisps of black fog and dispersing.

Oh, good. My experiment was a resounding success. Now I could reasonably do the same for every powerful opponent I met… whatever they were. Unless, of course, they royally pissed me off. For example, I wouldn't even touch Harkon with magic. His stupidity could spread to my other summons. No, the best way to deal with him was by using a Soul Gem. Maybe the lack of personality was what made Dragon Priests so appealing to me.

Or maybe it was just that I found the Dragon Priests very cool. I don't know.

Anyway, after I looted everything there was in this stupid place, I started to head out. I was already starting to plan what to do next. Of course, the first thing I was going to do was to head to Fort Dawnguard, to be sure they didn't start the quest without me or, if they were not, be ready. Also, I was probably going to try to create my own personal Plane of Oblivion… or maybe not. Planes of Oblivion were prone to be attacked by other deadra, so they were not as secure as they sounded. Maybe something more akin to a pocket dimension located in the 'space between worlds', whatever that meant, or even near the Aetherius? That would be ideal.

But all my plans got derailed the moment a Thalmor Agent appeared in front of me.

"What in the fucking hell-?"

"Ah, so you're alive. Ancano was right. You're a danger."

I didn't remember the dialogue with this guy from the game, it was probably some bullshit about the fact that I could not interfere with the plan of the Thalmor or whatever. So, when he continued to speak, I zone out his voice and focused on the imminent threat.

This particular encounter could only occur in the game when you took the Staff of Magnus, and Ancano sent this guy to kill you and take the Staff so he could play with the Eye as much as he wanted. But that happened after he started to use the Eye and you had to go in a mad rush to get the Staff before he imploded reality or something. It was also in a time when Savos didn't suspect him as much as he did after I warned him, and also happened after it was clear that you were going to try and stop him. The presence of the Thalmor Agent here meant, aside for the fact that Ancano was a paranoid fuck, that he had decided to go for the Eye faster than I predicted.

Before the Altmer could act or even stop talking I discharged a Shock Bolt in his face. The lightning magic hit him square in the chest and disintegrated him and all his possessions. I didn't really care, since most of these assholes didn't have anything useful on them. Also, I was too busy berating myself for my stupidity. Of course Ancano was going to proceed faster! The moment I talked about the Staff of Magnus with Savos was the moment the entire thing was compromised. I knew I needed to talk to him because I could not enter Labyrinthian without his help. Or maybe I could, but I didn't lose anything in telling him and I wanted to be sure he was more cautious around Ancano, but it also meant that the Staff was not going to be a secret anymore. If I had rushed Labyrinthian in the exact same moment I went away from the College, Ancano probably would not have the time to send someone, but I didn't. I tackled the remaining Gauldursons and Potema first, to be sure I was ready to fight the ancient Dragon Priest at the end of Labyrinthian, and while Ancano was basically a Saturday morning villain, he was not stupid. He had the time to discover what Savos and I wanted to do and why. So he accelerated his plans and sent someone to deal with me in case I managed to get the staff.

That meant that the College was already wrapped in the power of the Eye. I needed to get there asap.

… Maybe I had the time to visit the Labyrinth of Shalidor first?

-X-

After I cleared Shalidor's Labyrinth at lightspeed -which, incidentally, gave me a Grand Soul and a daedra heart I was going to use later- I tried to teleport to the College of Winterhold.

Big mistake.

I slammed against something that was not there, a wall made of intangible energy that violently -and painfully- ripped me from… whatever I was traveling through and shoved me into the cold snow of Skyrim.

While I was still trying to determine where up and down were and why my right was suddenly my left, I heard voices shouting at me. Blinking repeatedly to fight off the confusion, I raised my head. I had to fight the worst case of dizziness I felt in my entire life, but I managed.

What I saw was the mages from the College fighting the magical anomalies that looked almost like the wisps I just fought. And since I didn't have time for that shit, I decided to go ballistic.

"Disappear, you motherfuckers!" I shouted, blasting the nearest anomaly with a Chain Lightning spell that disintegrated the creature before jumping on another one… and then another one and another one, until all that remained was a pile of ashes and Soul Gems I quickly shoved in my dimensional bag.

Still dizzy and uncertain on my legs, I tried to stand. Fortunately, someone grabbed my shoulders and helped me stand. "Loki, my boy. How are you feeling?"

Ah, Master Tofdir. Glad to see I didn't accidentally kill you by fucking with the future. "Dizzy, but aside from that, good. Is the Archmage…?"

"Alive? Yes, he is. Wounded, but Colette managed to stop him from dying."

"I need to see him." I said, moving a step toward the bridge of the College.

"Of course. Let me help you."

Together, we managed to reach the rest of the staff, waiting on one of the various lay-bys on the bridge, near the figure of a sitting, and quite clearly in pain, Archmage.

"Archmage Savos." I said, kneeling near him. Fortunately, my dizziness was almost gone, so I was going to be able to stand up again without help. "I'm here."

"Good." Replied the Dunmer between his teeth. "Do you have the Staff?"

I materialized the thing in my hand and showed him. "Yes."

"Good. So, he is…?" He didn't finish the phrase, but I got it regardless. Without saying anything, I made Morokei's mask appear in my free hand.

His face relaxed when it saw it. "Ah, good. Thank you, Master Loki." I blinked at that. Since when I was a Master of the College? "I feared you would not make it."

"It takes more than a draugr mage to get me." I said, putting the mask away.

"So it seems." The Archmage managed to smile. "Mirabelle and I are out of commission. I fear… I fear you have to go with Tolfdir, while the rest of the staff try to contain the consequences of what Ancano is doing. Please… save the College."

I nodded and, not so shaky anymore, I advanced toward the gates of the College with the Staff ready. Then, when I was in front of the shimmering magical barrier in front of them, I raised the Staff and blasted it.

The Staff emitted a powerful attack that looked like a normal Shock spell, but instead of being the usual blue color, it was slightly whiter and much, much bigger than other normal Shock spells. After a second or two of contact, the wall disappeared and my magicka was almost fully replenished.

"Well, that's convenient." Admitted Tolfdir.

I didn't reply and just rushed through the gates, reaching for the Hall of the Elements, and I blasted another barrier down. Then we entered inside, and Ancano started monologuing about his delusions of omnipotence.

"You've come for me, have you? Do you think I don't know what you're up to? Do you think I can't destroy you? The power to unmake the world at my fingertips, and you think you can do anything about it?"

Tolfdir, who had probably long since lost his patience for Ancano, tried to blast him with a fireball that was completely useless because it dissipated against the Altmer without damage.

Which prompted another rant from the Thalmor.

"I am beyond your pathetic attempts at magic. You cannot touch me."

"Loki, use the Staff on the Eye. It should-"

"Enough!" Shouted Ancano, before using a Paralyze spell on Tolfdir. He tried to do the same with me, but… Magic Resistance. "Still you persist?" He asked, half annoyed and half amused. Probably from the thought of playing with me. "Very well. Come then. See what I can do now."

Uh-uh. Because I'm so willing to play your stupid games.

"Morokei!" I shouted, channeling my magicka to retrieve the Dragon Priest from… wherever he was. Answering my call, the shadow of the undead monster emerged from the darkness, floating a foot or two from the ground. "Keep this idiot away from me!"

The draugr didn't even try to reply to my command. He simply turned toward Ancano and Shouted.

"Liz, Slen, Nus!"

The Shout reached Ancano, instantly covering him in ice. I knew it was not going to work for long, because he had all the power of the Eye of Magnus at his command… but I could still hope that it lasted enough to let me deal with the Eye. So I blasted the sphere with the Staff, hoping it didn't take that long.

It took a second, then the Eye started to close. Ancano, of course, was already freeing himself, using some kind of magic to shatter the ice that covered him.

"Insolent fool! You think that your pet undead is going to stop me!?" As a demonstration, he raised his hand and let off several blasts of lightning against Morokei, trying to defeat him instantly.

But Morokei just raised his skeletal hand and conjured a barrier that deflected the attacks without effort.

Yeah, all the power of the world at your disposal, but you were just a mediocre mage, Ancano. Morokei was a Dragonpriest of the Merethic Era, and they were Archmage level sorcerers and Tongues to boot. You didn't really have any chance, not with the Eye closing.

"I think he can." I replied. "And if he can't, I will."

Then I attacked.

Unfortunately, even if lightning flew in every direction and Morokei used a very cool Shout - Qo-Ronaas-Nos, which was the Shout storm dragons would use if they were a thing in Skyrim-, we didn't kill Ancano. We tried, but he was still protected by some kind of barrier, like the Jyrik was when we first found the Eye. So he resisted our attack pretty well. Enough that, even after we battered his defenses for several seconds, we could not kill him.

Then the Eye started to open again.

"Ah! You see? The Eye is opening again, and with it my power returns! You cannot hope to defeat me!"

I just blasted the Eye again, stopping it from opening further and forcing it to close.

"No! You will not deny me this!" Ranted Ancano, and he surprised me by launching a Master level spell… a Lightning Bolt strong enough that, last time I used one, I disintegrated several meters of rock and made a tower fall on myself.

Buuuut… Magic Resistance, slightly magic resistant armor, Alteration trick to reduce damage from elements, and a timely placed Ward with my free hand, meant that the damage he dealt to me was, while painful, absolutely not enough to make me stop. I finished closing the Eye and then turned to face him.

"Now I'm mad."

Ancano did look shocked that I just managed to tank a spell that could quite possibly tear down fortress walls. Well, sucks to be you. "No, that's impossible! How can you-?"

"Because for all your power, you're just an average, untalented mage." I replied, blasting him with a Fireball. He raised his shield, but the hemisphere of light popped like a soap bubble under my attack. He didn't die, because even when exploding, the Ward managed to protect him enough that it just barely singed his clothes. "You're using the power of the Eye to cover for your weaknesses, but you clearly don't know how to use all that power."

"Shut up!" He shouted, summoning several magical anomalies. "My power is supreme!"

"The power of the Eye of Magnus is supreme." I corrected him, before blasting all the anomalies with a Chain Lightning spell, destroying them exactly like I destroyed the ones outside. Meanwhile, Morokei Shouted a literal lightning in his face. Again, while he managed to raise his Ward up in time, the sheer power of the Shout destroyed it. "And you can't control it. Because if you could, you wouldn't have passed hours trying to access it."

I noticed with annoyance that the Eye was opening again, so I tossed the Staff to Morokei. "Keep it closed."

"At… your… command…" Replied the Dragon Priest, starting to blast the Eye to keep its power down.

"No, no! You cannot do this!" He cried. Maybe he was starting to understand that he had taken on the absolute worst opponent possible for him. I literally built myself to be almost immune to magic. A mage could not hope to defeat me in straight magical combat. I was not so sure about physical combat, but hey, I was better off than him in that regard.

"Oh, I can." I replied, summoning another fireball and throwing it to the Altmer. He raised his Ward… and it popped again, this time harder, because I was not going to let him continue to use the Eye for long. "Because while you were there plotting your stupid shit, I was training." Another fireball, another ward exploded. "While you searched for information about the Eye, I was fighting draugr and necromancers for my life." Another fireball, and another Ward that could not take the damage. "And while you send that Thalmor to kill me, I was defeating a Dragon Priest and summoning his shade to fight at my side." I launched a last fireball, and he finally dropped down on his knees, the repeated explosions finally exhausting him. "I earned my power and my skill… while you're just a power-hungry, backstabbing coward that stole his."

"No…" He whizzed, his Thamor robes now almost completely burned off. "You can't…"

I didn't let him finish. I slammed my final fireball on him point blank and he was reduced to a charred skeleton in the blink of an eye.

And with that, his plot ended too.

But that was not the end of the problem, because the Eye didn't want to just shut the hell down. Not even with Morokei blasting it. Oh well, better make him disappear before someone could see him.

Just in time. Tolfdir, finally free from the Paralysis spell, approached me.

"Well done, son. Even if I had to admit that all of that sounded quite… ruthless."

Oh shit, he heard me? Fuck. Well, maybe he won't tell anybody. I just saved all the College after all.

"Thanks. Now, let's just wait for the damn Psijic to show up and…" An Altmer materialized near the two of us, as expected. "… Deal with it."

The man… Quarandin? Smiled at me. "We knew you would succeed. Your victory here justifies our belief in you."

I frowned. "I don't want your praise. I want the Eye out of here and your help to return home."

He nodded. "Of course. The Eye has grown unstable. It cannot remain here, or else it may destroy this College and this world. It must be secured. Ancano's actions prove that the world is not ready for such a thing. We shall safeguard it… for now. As for helping you… when your business is concluded, search for us. And when you find us, we'll help you."

I nodded. That was not what I was hoping for, but it was something. "This will work. Goodbye, Quarandin."

"Goodbye, Loki Andreasson." He replied, before another two Psijic appeared and, after a brief ritual, transported the Eye of Magnus away.

I sighed, releasing all the stress caused by this particular event. "And that's it. Is my room still free? I want to rest a little before departing again."

"So soon?" Asked Tolfdir. "You would not remain here even a day?"

"Vampires and mad cultists don't wait for me, Master." I replied. "The sooner I move, the sooner I can deal with them. Even if I suppose there could be some things I could do while I'm here, so I could stay for the night."

The old Nord smiled. "That's good. A lot of people here would like to thank you."

And they did. A lot. Everyone took the chance to shake my hand, patting me on the back, and so on. Savos promised he would give me an appropriate reward for what I had done until now, the moment he could walk. Normally my reward would have been becoming the Archmage, but since I saved Savos I have avoided that fate. I was not meant to be a leader of anything.

Only after a while, I was finally able to descend into the Midden, searching for the deadric circle somewhere inside of it.

I had a lot of Grand Souls to get, if I wanted to make decent Enchantments for myself. And what better way to do that than bind and then kill Dremora Lords?

Interlude: Dragon's Refuge

Morokei -he continued to think about himself as Morokei, even if he technically was not him- was confused. Even if you could not tell by looking at him.

The source of the Dragon Priest shadows confusion was his master, Loki Andreasson. Exceptional warrior and incredible mage, he was momentarily busy summoning, binding, and subsequently trapping the souls of several high ranked Dremora. Apparently, he needed the best possible energy source for his Enchantments. And also the armors. All he had to do was to help him. Not that he needed help, because he was perfectly capable of killing them on his lonesome. But he supposed that having him near as a safety measure was understandable.

It was not what his master was doing that puzzled him, however. Trapping powerful beings into soul gems was something that he was familiar with, and dremora were always acceptable targets. After all, they would not hesitate to do the same if a mortal ever fell into their hands. Not even the method used: while irregular, it was technically possible, if expensive from the point of view of magicka expenditure. But his master didn't seem to care about that.

No, the reason was another entirely. Morokei was not the real Dragon Priest, but he maintained enough of his identity and memories to know that the actions of his master made little sense. He was clearly a necromancer of great power, but the only thing he did with that power was summoning him. A feat of impressive magical ability, to be sure: he had never heard of a spell able to summon copies of a soul to act as a loyal follower. Which, to be fair, was something he wouldn't know much about. The only things he knew -or the original Morokei knew, anyway- of the Necromancy practices in modern Tamriel was just what little he managed to extract from the minds of the mages that kept him trapped under the Labyrinthian… and it was not much. It was perfectly possible it was something of recent discovery. But he somehow doubted it.

In essence, despite being evidently talented in the art, he had a surprising lack of all the signs of a powerful mage. He was not particularly eccentric, nor did he seem obsessed with knowledge. Of course, it could just be that he didn't have the opportunity to see him at his worst. He couldn't perceive what he did while he was not summoned from the darkness he came from, so maybe it was just that.

But he didn't believe that. His master showed a fair amount of care for him. He talked to him like he was a person and not a spirit summoned to do his bidding. Sure, it was mostly useless chatting, but it was more than he would have expected from anyone else. He even showed worry -little, because he was an undead spirit animated by magic- when one of the dremora managed to land a hit on him.

"Hey, Morokei. Are you ok? Can you continue?" He asked.

He had nodded, hating the way this body talked. It was something he didn't understand. It was like the air had problems conducting the sound of his voice. So, he resolved to use telepathy instead.

"I'm alright, master." He sent using his mind. "This body possesses remarkable regenerative properties."

As he talked, he could feel the shadows that composed his body close to the wound the dremora had made.

"Ah, very well. Also, good thinking with the telepathy. Your normal voice sounds really strange."

"I agree."

"Good. I have almost finished the Grand Soul Gems, so this will be the last one. After that, I'll have to ask you to watch over me while I try a thing."

"As you command."

After his killing spree was completed -even if Morokei suspected he could continue for a long time, considering he seemed to possess the mythical Star of Azura, which had the ability to be continually used to trap souls- his master returned to his room and, after laying on the bed, he talked to him again.

"Ok, I'm going to go on a little journey outside my body. Keep watch in case something tries anything funny while I'm gone."

"They will have to pass on my body." Replied the Dragon Priest.

He sent him a strange, amused look. "You know you're intangible right now, yes?"

Morokei was momentarily stunned by the comment. "My apologies. I'll erect a barrier to protect you."

His master chuckled. "I was joking, Moroeki. I know you're going to do a good job." And as he said that, he closed his eyes and dropped in a deep sleep.

But Morokei knew better. He could sense the powerful magic connecting his body to… something, outside. Apparently, his master had decided to travel in spiritual form. A dangerous proposition, but traveling with his physical body could have been as dangerous, if not more so. Technically speaking, his master could just drop the spell he was using to instantly return to his body, eliminating any risk.

It was still dangerous, of course. But he hoped his master knew what he was doing.

The Undead shadow decided to dedicate a little part of his considerable intellect to analyze that feeling. Of course, there was the magical binding that connected him and his master. While he was a separate entity from the original -the ritual he used to create him basically created a ghost of the former Morokei, and as such, he was technically independent- he was, in fact, inextricably linked to him. Even now, with his master busy doing whatever, he could feel the bond fueling his spiritual form, granting him the powerful regenerative ability that he possessed. The bond also meant that, if he was willing, his master could reinforce the mystical shadows that composed his body into steel-like strength, making him very, very difficult to hurt even with the magical blades that could interact with his intangible body.

Without his master, not only would he have lost that power, but he was also much more vulnerable than before to being destroyed. Of course, he could not really be destroyed, not permanently at least, and not from forces from Nirn. While he looked like a ghost, and he probably was some sort of specter, he was summoned here as part of a Conjuration spell. He was an Undead from beyond Mundus and, as such, his essence was not really there: he was just temporarily on Nirn thanks to the actions of his master. If his master was ever killed, he would have lost the anchor that let him remain there, and as such, he would have returned to the void from whence he came. And without someone knowing how to summon him again, he was condemned to remain there… possibly forever.

If he was a normal unrestful spirit, that would have been fine… desirable, even. But not for him. Without a previous life, if not whatever was left of the old Morokei, and no afterlife for himself -if he could even die, of course- he didn't have anything to gain from the dissolution of his spirit.

There was also another aspect. He was actually… grateful? Yes, grateful was the right word. He was grateful to have been created, even if it was to serve his master. The previous Morokei was a man of great power and ambition, but also of great curiosity. A curiosity that he lost when transformed into a draugr. Now, in this form, that curiosity had resurfaced, and with a master like Loki Andreasson, it looked like he could fulfill it.

He was not sure how much his master knew about his ability to think. He had called him as a copy of the original Dragon Priest… one that was utterly loyal to him, of course, but also one that was specifically created to be as close as possible to the original, mind included. But being intelligent enough to use magicka and have a basic ability to communicate was different from having self-awareness. He supposed that his almost human mentality would have pleased his master. For all his power, he seemed to be a very lonely man.

Morokei lost count of how many hours passed while he was watching the sleeping body of his master. He only knew that, far before the sun started to rise in the sky, his master suddenly sat up with a large smile on his face.

"I did it!" He shouted, raising his hands at the sky in what he supposed was a celebration of victory. "I can't believe I found it!"

"Found what, master?" Morokei felt he had to ask.

His master replied with a maniac grin on his face. "Let me show you." He said, before opening a portal with a gesture of his hand.

Morokei was, admittedly, quite impressed by the fact that he managed to do that. Teleportation was not one of his strongest points, but he knew it was not easy to open a portal on what he supposed was an Oblivion plane. He was also surprised that his master decided to open one right in the middle of the room. Was he not afraid some daedra could crawl inside?

Apparently not, because when they were both on the other side of the portal, what he found was different from anything he had ever seen.

They were on the top of a mountain that reminded him a lot of the Throat of the World, but it couldn't be, because the geography of the surrounding area was completely different. It vaguely remembered Skyrim, in the sense that there was, far to the north, something that reminded him of a sea, but aside from that, nothing was the same.

Especially not the vortex of arcane energies that were whirling in the distant South. It was impossible to tell how far it was, but the fact that it was barely visible from there indicated that it was, indeed, very far.

"What place is this?" Asked Morokei. "It doesn't resemble any Oblivion Plane I know of."

"Because it is not. It's a space between the various planes, specifically…" His master stopped, sending him a look. "Are you familiar with the most common interpretation of the shape of the universe?"

"I'm afraid not." Replied the Dragon Priest.

"Well, to explain it in a simple way… the most common interpretation of how the universe is structured is that it's shaped like a wheel." Explained his master. "Everything outside the Wheel is the Void, the primordial chaos from where everything originated. The Wheel itself, at least the rim, is the Aetherius, the place where Magnus escaped before the world was finished, and with him the Magna Ge. The original et'Ada were born here. Are you following?"

"Yes." Replied Morokei. While this theory was not something that he knew personally, because the faith of the Nords in the Merethic Era was based on totem spirits, the concept was pretty simple.

"Good. Now, the space between the rim and the hub of the Wheel are the planes of Oblivion, and the hub itself is Mundus. There is another, speculative element of the Wheel, which are the spokes. Eight, as Eight are the Divines, spokes connect the Aetherius and Mundus. They're the gift of the Divines that hold the world together."

Morokei nodded. It made sense. Even if not called with the names of the old Nord gods, he could see the truth in that. Eight were the ancient gods, sixteen the lord of the Oblivion. "How does this relate to this place?"

"This place is directly between the various planes of existence." Enthusiastically replied his master. "Near Oblivion, but not part of it. Touching Mundus, but not. And, if my suspicions are true… the hurricane you see in the distance is one of the spokes of the Wheel. The one from Akatosh, I would like to think. This entire plane coalesced around the spoke from the Chaos Creatia of Oblivion, and then separated for some reason, leaving only this place. Material, but separated from Mundus, and near enough to Oblivion to be filled with his chaotic energies and the ones of the spoke."

Saying that Morokei was impressed by this discovery would have been an understatement. It couldn't have been easy to discover such a place. "If I may ask, master, why were you searching for something like this? I'm sure there is enough space in Oblivion to carve out a little realm for yourself. Why did you decide to come here, when you could create the perfect place for yourself?"

His master didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked into the distance before looking at him. "That was a pretty loaded question, Morokei. You're more aware of what I thought."

"If that displeases you… "

He waved away his worry. "Don't be afraid, I'm happy that you have more awareness and initiative than I thought you had. It means that you maintained your human adaptability… which means that I can give you the work I wanted to give you and not be afraid that you will become paralyzed if something unexpected happens."

"I'll fulfill your order to the best of my abilities." Replied Morokei.

"Good." He smiled. "But to answer your question… Initially, that was my plan. But while the Daedric Princes are not all-powerful outside of their realms, they still have power. Namely, they can send armies through other planes of the Oblivion to invade another. I'm hoping that this place technically being part of Mundus, even if it's separate from them, I will be outside their influence."

"Do you fear that one of them is going to fight you?" Asked Morokei. It seemed… implausible, but you could never know. His master had plans in mind and one of those plans could put him at odds with one of the Lords of Oblivion.

"Not really. More like he will try to stop me from doing what I have to." He replied, not explaining the problem at all. "Now, for your job. I want you to build me a house here."

Morokei blinked… or would have blinked if he had eyelids. "I'll do as you command, master, but I'm no mason. This could require more time than you think."

"Maybe, or maybe not." Mysteriously replied his master. "Can't you feel it? This place is filled with Creatia. I'm not sure how much, but I'm sure you can use it to generate my house directly, without needing to extract the rock from a mountain."

"You know how to manipulate Creatia, master?" Asked Morokei. Had his master already attempted this?

"Eer… not really. I never had the opportunity." Admitted the mage. "But it should not be that difficult. Creatia is basically matter that has not assumed a specific form yet. It should be possible to manipulate it with Alteration magic… even more easily, in fact. Let me try."

Morokei assisted in silence while his master summoned his magic to attempt to create something. He didn't really understand what 'Alteration magic' was, but he still had all the mental power and the knowledge of the ancient sorcerer the original Morokei was, so he could vaguely understand what he was looking at. Evidently, Alteration was a form of magic, or more likely a namesake for a specific type of spell meant to alter something. He was not sure what they were supposed to alter, since transmutation was extremely difficult, but maybe his master knew magic that he didn't? Morokei had the knowledge of dragon magic, but it was several millennia out of date. Maybe the mages of the later Eras had found a better system.

All those questions were not answered when, right in front of him, enormous blocks of stone started to materialize. No, that was not correct. It was like the stone was growing out of the side of the mountain, until it finally stopped when it had grown in a five meters tall square pillar of solid granite.

"Uh, that was easy." Commented his master, with a slightly surprised tone that indicated that even he was taken back by the easiness of the act. "Creatia is ridiculously malleable. You just have to assert your will a little and it's going to do exactly what you want."

"Is Alteration magic just that?" Asked Morokei. "Imposing your will on something?"

"Not really. You see, in the First Era, a mage named Shalidor elaborated a classification of magic to better teach it to non-initiated…"

After a fascinating but brief explanation of how mages of the late eras had developed a classification of magical effects to better teach people magic, his master urged him to try. He could not use the magic as his master did. The magic methodology used by the ancient sorcerer-priest of the Merethic Era being much more primitive compared to his, even if equally powerful. But the basic idea was pretty much the same. So, he tried to manipulate the essence of the world he was inside, ordering it to obey his will.

To his immense surprise, it was actually quite easy. Once he extended his will, the energies of this place eagerly answered his command, shaping almost by themselves. Stone as hard as he could make it emerged from the ground, slowly taking the shape he envisioned.

"It's probably this easy because there is nothing here that can give form to the Creatia." Murmured his master. "Normally, some kind of entity would have stepped there and given form to this place, shaping it to his desires. However, this particular position inside the Wheel made it difficult to reach it. It's probable that no being with a strong enough has even entered inside of this plane before. Daedra are not famous for traveling between planes unless they're planning an invasion, and there is nothing here to be used." He shrugged. "Or maybe this place is relatively new on a cosmological scale. It would not surprise me if it was born after the Oblivion Crisis."

"The Oblivion Crisis?" Asked Morokei.

"Two hundred years ago a cult of Merhunes Dagon killed the Emperor of Cyrodiil and as such, the protection that Nirn enjoyed thanks to the Dragonfires of Akatosh fell." Explained his master. "Dagons used that occasion to invade Nirn and tried to destroy the entire world. The last son of the Emperor used his power to summon an avatar of Akatosh and repel the Dagons himself… but the damage caused by the invasion is still felt across all of Tamriel."

"It seems like a fascinating story." Commented Morokei. "Do you perhaps have a book on this?"

"No, but I can tell you anyway." He smiled. "It all started, like all the great stories do, with a prisoner…"

After another fascinating story -master was really good at telling stories- Morokei had to agree that yes, that could be a reason for the sudden birth of a plane like this. All the while, he had successfully put out the foundation of the house for his master. An easy task. As easy as it could be for someone who had never been a mason, anyway. But he has supervised the construction of the Labyrinthian. A house would not be too difficult, especially since he didn't have to move the stone on his own.

"Seems like you have the basics put down." His master said. "I think I can leave you with the rest. Oh, and don't try to build something too big: it's going to be mostly a warehouse for me to place my excessive loot. I could crash here sometimes, especially if I have to escape somewhere safe, so don't build it only like a warehouse, but don't build a palace. I don't need one, and I don't want to have you or whoever else to continuously clean this place."

"As you wish, master." Replied Morokei. He was, surprisingly, a humble man, or one not really interested in fame. Peculiar, but it was not his place to judge.

"And I'll drop something directly here, so you can already start to build my house already." He said, before slamming on the ground several deadric armors and weapons, ebony weapons, and other voluminous equipment. "Oh, and I need to put this…"

For the first time he could remember, he saw his master making an effort to cast a spell. A second later, a dragon skeleton appeared on the mountain. He recognized it.

"Is this the skeletal dragon that was guarding the access to my rooms?"

"It is. I'll need his bones to craft something for myself. I'll start with a sword, probably."

Using the bones of a dragon to craft equipment was borderline blasphemy, but those were not his problems anymore. Besides, he supposed that dragon bones were rather durable… maybe even better than deadric metal. He could see why he would wish to use it for such a weapon.

"Well, I'll leave you to the construction. Remember: no palace. Just something big enough that I can put what I find inside."

"As you command, master."

"Good. Now, I have to return to Nirn. Do a good job, Morokei."

"I will."

And after that, his master disappeared through a portal.

Morokei returned to focus on the house he was building. Surely his master would want a good looking house, even if he advised him to not build a palace. As such…

…

Why did he sense the magic of the plane shifting? It was like something had suddenly given momentum to the magic of the place. Was that going to be a good thing, or a bad one?

No, it was not the moment. He would investigate this matter after he finished building the house. It was just an hour or two of work at most.

Surely, nothing too bad could happen in an hour.

-X-

An hour later, the house of his master was finally finished, and so he decided to descend from the mountain to see what in Oblivion just happened and why the magic and the Creatia of the entire plane had shifted. At least, it didn't look like something bad happened. The place still reacted to the magic like before, and if anything, it felt more familiar to him than it did beforehand. Still, since only his master could recall him to Nirn and he probably would not return here anytime soon, especially since he was only planning to use the place as a warehouse, he supposed nothing was really going to be wrong if he decided to take a look at the surrounding area.

So, it was with no little surprise that, when he started to descend from the mountain and reached the planes around it, that he found out there were creatures roaming the surface. Creatures that, he was sure, were not there when they first arrived.

Creatures that resembled oddly humanoid dragons.

This was definitely worth studying.

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.1

It was definitely petty of me, but the faces that Isran and Thormund made when I opened a portal in the middle of the Fort was very, very satisfying.

"Hello people!" I greeted them. "How are things going here?"

Thormund recovered instantly and hugged me. "Friend Loki! Things are good here!" He said. "Still no sign from the Vigilantes, but that's actually in our favor. We have more time to train new recruits. We may just be able to stop the attack against them… or at least buy them enough time to escape safely."

"Not knowing when that will happen is really a problem." I replied, hugging him back… well, more like awkwardly patting his back. "Maybe we will manage to save them. Meanwhile, I have something for you."

"You do?" Asked Thormund. "And what it is?"

I answered by dropping a piece of deadric armor on the floor. I purposely took the biggest and least spiky armor I could find, taken by what I supposed was actually a Xyvkin instead of a dremora… but I was not sure. The armor was indeed less demonic-looking than the others… but still pretty demonic. "I don't know if you like deadric armor, but I think it's going to give you better protection than the one you're wearing right now?"

Thormund looked at the armor, surprised. "Friend Loki, how did you manage to get your hands on deadric armor?"

"I summoned a dremora and killed it." I replied casually. "I kinda had to. I need powerful souls to power my Enchantments. I thought that taking the armor could be useful too."

Thormund blinked. "That's a generous gift, my friend, but I would prefer if you wore one of those. Your armor looks good, but…"

"Oh, I have spares." I replied, making another four or so sets of armor drop to the ground. "Don't worry about it. Also, I can change the color of the armor if you don't like it. I just want to be sure you have good armor. You're going to need it."

Thormund remained silent for a couple of seconds, before exploding in a thunderous laugh. "Very well, friend Loki. I'm going to use this armor if you insist. Truthfully, I don't particularly appreciate deadric weapons and armors, but they're undoubtedly of high quality. Do you happen to have a deadric warhammer, while you're at it?"

"Unfortunately, no." I replied, smiling. "But I managed to find a dragon skeleton on my travels. I'm pretty sure we can forge a good warhammer out of it."

Thormund eyes widened. "A hammer made of dragon bones? Surely, a weapon of that caliber is going to be unparalleled."

Before he could continue, Fenrir appeared from behind a corner and jumped on me. I barely managed to brace myself when he collided with me, so instead of falling on my ass, I managed to hug him back.

"Ah, gah! I'm happy to see you too, buddy." I managed to say while he licked all my face.

"This is a very heartwarming reunion." Interrupted Isran. "And I very much hate to have to stop it, but we have things to do."

"Right." I said, gawking another time when Fenrir placed a sucker-lick me in the face a last time. "Thormund, I'm going to Enchant your armor so it grants you inhuman strength. It should not take too much time, and then we will focus on your new hammer. Sound good to you?"

"Sound excellent, my friend."

"Good. Then…"

"That was not what I meant with we have things to do." Interrupted Isran again.

"So making your best warrior even better in combat is not something you want me to do?" I asked.

The Redguard crossed his arms. "I did not say that. I just think we have more pressing matters."

"Like?" I asked, genuinely curious. "Because it seems to me that making sure the people who are going to travel for half of Skyrim to get the Scrolls and the vampire lady you need to defeat Harkon be as powerful as they can is a pretty pressing matter. Unless you want me to Enchant the weapons of your men, but it looks like a huge waste of time to me. Besides, I don't have the Soul Gems to do that. Of course, I could try to teach them magic, or Enchanting, or Alchemy, but those require a lot of time. Time I would prefer to spend helping the people who are going to battle the dangerous foes."

Isran remained silent for a while, thinking. "Your point has merit." Admitted the man. "But I will ask you to do the same for Solanus. He has a pretty good weapon, but his armor is not on par."

Solanus was the one with Dawnbreaker, right? I could do that. "I agree. The bearer of Dawnbreaker will be useful against vampires. I'm going to need to change his armor too. As for Enchanting the armor, I'll see what I can do. It will depend on how much time I have."

Isran nodded. "True. If you had come here before, I would have asked you to Enchant our equipment first, but given that we don't know how much time we have, I'll settle with getting Solanus and Thormund the best equipment you can provide. You still intend to go with them to get this Serana, right?"

"Yes." I simply replied. "Is this a problem?"

The man shrugged. "Not really. You gave us a lot of useful information, so I'm willing to let you do what you want. And it's not like I can stop you anyway. Thormund said you were adept at teleporting, and I see that's true. That's going to be more useful than any Enchantment you could make." The Redguard stopped, thinking about something. "Say… if you knew the location of the Vigilantes, could you open a portal to them?"

"I will need to see the area first, but yes. I just need a spell to familiarize myself with the place."

Isran nodded. "If that's the case, I'll ask you to be ready to open a portal when the vampires are going to attack. With a portal, we can get them reinforcements and evacuate them with minimum loss of lives."

Mmm… that was good thinking. "Sure. Just have someone to warn me beforehand. You have someone who's surveilling the place, right? Possibly with magical means?"

"Of course." Replied Isran. "Most of the members of the Dawnguard are not particularly adept with magic, but I managed to find a mage that was willing to scry the location and warn us if an attack is about to start. He costs me a lot, but it's better than letting the bloodsuckers do what they want."

Oh, thank God. The last thing I wanted was to have to play the surveillance camera for the Danwguard for all the time it took the vampires to attack the Vigilantes of Stendarr.

… Well, there were probably things I wanted even less, but those were far in the future.

"Excellent. Nothing I plan to do requires my magicka, so as soon as you get the warning, I should be able to open a portal. I'll have to scry too to open it in the exact location but that would require me just a couple of minutes."

Isran smiled. "You make it sound really easy, Loki Andreasson. Seems like Thormund's praises were not unearned."

I shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I aim to not disappoint."

"And you will not!" Exclaimed the giant, patting me really hard on the back. Holy hell, has he become even stronger since I met him last time? The Storm Atronach didn't hit me that hard! "Let's go, my friend. We have to get Solanus and give one of the armors you brought, and then we'll think about Enchanting them."

I nodded and followed him outside the room, Fenrir happily waving his tail behind us. It was time to use everything I learned until now.

-X-

Turns out, I didn't use everything I had learned until now.

Or, well, I did. Just not in the way someone would think. The idea was to Enchant every single piece of armor and weapon that Thormund possessed into something that could legitimately look like the lost link between a normal magical item and a divine artifact.

I could not do it, because I didn't have the materials to do so. I could, in theory, try to apply the power of Thu'um to the objects to make them stronger, but I didn't know how to. Worse, I realized pretty soon that, to obtain the best result out of this, I needed the best equipment possible.

So, I didn't spend the next day enchanting Thormund's armor, but various pieces of jewelry into rings that could help with Enchanting, Alchemy, and smiting in general. Fortify Skill spell existed, but they were less about giving you the ability to do something you were not able to and more about stopping you from doing some stupid error. It was not about making you better as to make sure you could not fail… or to squeeze every gram of magic into the object.

Which was perfect for me. I first got my Enchantment Ring, an improved version of what I already had right now, then I proceeded to create a second ring, this time geared toward both Alchemy and smithing. Well, more like every possible craftsmanship possible, because you can never know when it could become useful. I managed to do that thanks to the Ring of Enchanting granting me the ability to squeeze all the power I could into the second ring. I could, in theory, do another round and squeeze an even more powerful Enchantment on the Ring of Enchanting, but… what I could possibly put there? The only thing that could have helped me more was increasing my mental abilities, but these Rings were for downtime work. It was better to have that Enchantment on something that I was more likely to use on a permanent basis.

So, with my newfound ability to build shit, I pondered if it was the case to pull a fast one and build a really good workplace… but I decided against it. I needed to give Thormund all the help I could.

So, I passed the next two days recoloring the armors for Thormund and Solanus -who was basically Solaire from Dark Souls and I don't know how I managed to not notice before- to make them more in line with their usual style… which was easy since they just wanted some grey instead of the black of the armor. Truth be told, it was not exactly easy to change the color, since deadric armor was famously difficult to alter, but in a fight of will between me and a stupid armor, I would win every day of the week.

Of course, it didn't take me two days to do so. In part, because most of the further alterations they did were simply to put a piece of cloth over the armor to hide its spiky nature and put their favorite colors and symbols over them… mmm, Solanus seemed to be a follower of Magnus. Weird. I thought only Altmer and Bretons worshipped him.

Anyway, what really took me a while was Thormunds hammer. It took me a lot of time, a considerably big bone, and more ebony that I thought was fair, but in the end, I gave Thormund this heavy, powerful warhammer. I decided to go Plus Ultra on it, not only to give Thormund the best weapon I could forge but also because I wanted to test some ideas on it. So, after I reinforced the weapon with ebony, I used a delicate alchemical procedure to cover the bone part with silver… or something like that at least. It was more like I was soaking the hammer with pure silver essence, basically giving it the properties of silver while maintaining the durability of dragon bone. Then, I inlaid the head of the hammer and the handle with runes meant to increase his ability to strike the intangible and let the weapon channel the storm magic of the Nord with the same ease of a mage staff.

When I gave it to him, little sparks of electricity jumped between his fingers and the handle of the weapon… and the thing was not Enchanted yet. Even then, his smile told me that he was going to be very, very happy to use it.

Which was good, because I needed to forge a similarly powerful weapon. So, the next day was spent 'forging' my dragonbone sword. Soaked with silver essence -which had the nice side effect of making the entire thing look metallic instead of bonelike- and with powerful runes of magic to better channel my power through it. It was very difficult, but in the end, my new blade rested on the forge, ready to carve a bloody path through my enemies.

Just in time, because not even half a day later, Isran burst into the workshop area of the Fort. "Mage! The vampires are attacking!"

I stopped doing what I was doing -namely, thinking of what Enchantments was better to put on what weapon- and started to mentally prepare the spell. "How many?"

"Too much for the Vigilantes to hold for long." Replied the Dawnguard. "We need that portal as soon as possible. Go to the entrance room. I'll get the reinforcements ready."

I nodded and reached the entrance room. I understood why he wanted to open a portal there. In the case the vampires tried to invade the Fort through the portal before I could close it, the system of mirrors would weaken, and if they tried to infiltrate, uncover them easily.

It took only a couple of minutes for a considerable fighting force to be assembled. When Isran appeared, I asked a simple question. "Is this everyone?"

The chief of the Dawnguard nodded. And without another word, I opened the portal. I just got a brief look at the situation on the other side -and it didn't look good for the Vigilantes- before the Dawnguard rushed inside the portal, weapons ready and shouting war-cries.

I didn't join them. Mostly, because I needed to keep the portal open. While I was pretty casual about opening portals, maintaining them was not easy. Especially not if I was fighting. So, to make sure everything went smoothly, I stayed behind and let the Dawnguard handle the vampires.

The fight was mercifully short. The Dawnguard limited themselves to repelling the vampires and dragging the surviving Vigilantes through the portal, since the Hall of the Vigilantes was a ruin. When Isran, Solanus, and Thormund emerged from the portal, shouting "These are the last ones!" I just collapsed the portal on the vampire's faces.

I left the room to let the Dawnguard and the Vigilantes talk and let Isran extract the location of Serana from the Vigilantes, while I quietly recovered my magicka. Seemed like it was time. This was good because the sooner I got to deal with Harkon, the sooner I could focus on Miraak and Alduin. Unfortunately, I felt like my time was slowly ending. I was not going to be able to avoid the main quest for long. With the end of the winter almost done, Alduin was going to push for his plan, and Miraak too. I didn't have much time.

Anyway, I got what I wanted when Isran arrived, guided by Fenrir. "I managed to get the location of the place you were searching for, Loki."

I looked up at the Redguard. "Good. Where?"

"Dimhollow Crypt. On the mountain south-east of Dawnstar… or directly west of Morthal, depending on where you start from." Revealed the man. "I suppose you want to get there as fast as you can, right?"

I nodded. "Yes. Give me the time to scry the location and I'll go. Solanus and Thormund?"

"Broke those bloodsuckers teeth and didn't receive any damage, as far as I can tell." Replied Isran. "They don't even look tired, from what I could see. I'm sure they're going to be ready when you're ready."

"Assuming Solanus doesn't start using all his magicka to heal the others." I murmured. Isran, somehow, heard me.

"Don't worry about that. There are plenty of healers here. We don't need him to heal ourselves."

"Good. Then I'm going to call them once I'm ready.

Isran nodded and left me with Fenrir. An hour of rest and I was ready to go.

-X-

An hour later, I and the people who were going to go into the tomb and kill scores of vampires, namely Thormund, Solanus, and Fenrir, had already arrived. The moment I had all my magicka back, I just opened a portal and we walked on the other side, arriving in front of the entrance.

"Why couldn't you get us directly inside the crypt?" Asked Solanus.

I didn't reply immediately, taking my time to change my armor into a deadric one that fit me decently enough, and summoning my new blade. "Aiming inside buildings is not easy, especially if you don't know how they're built. There is the risk of popping the portal in the wrong room. Normally it would not be a problem, but in a cave, I could open the portal in the middle of a chasm, and I don't think I have to explain why that's bad. Also, there could be enemies inside, and we can't leverage our numbers if we have to fight just to get on the other side of the portal. So, I usually prefer to open the portal near the entrance, to give us the time to arrive and attack together."

The Imperial nodded. "Makes sense. So, are we ready? I can't wait to see how you fight, Loki. Thormund told me that you were a decent blade, but you look like a battlemage to me."

"That was what I was aiming for." I replied with a smirk, not really noticeable since my deadric helmet covered my entire face. Unlike Thormund and Solanus, I didn't think to modify mine at all. I kinda liked the black-red scheme of the armor. "Let's go."

I could say that we met fierce resistance, and that we had to painstakingly fight every vampire and monster inside the cave in a long battle of attrition that required all our skill and power, overwhelmed by the sheer speed and physical strength of our opponents… but that would have been a lie. In fact, the vampires were barely on the level of a Scourge, their only redeeming quality a little more speed than the slow, but powerful Undead. I supposed that, without enchanted weapons or sunlight magic, they could have been a problem… but we had both of those and one of the best armor sets in the entire world, so we were basically untouchable from the vampires. Solanus was by far the best at dealing with them, of course. Dawnbreaker was extremely good at tearing them apart, usually disintegrating them with a single hit of the blade, but I and Thormund held our own. Me, by infusing the blade with sunlight directly, and Thormund with sheer, brute strength. We trampled the vampires like caterpillars thrown at max speed against a house of cards, decimating them with contemptuous ease as we descended in the crypt.

Until we finally reached the place.

"She's here." I said, looking at the strange, round place in the middle of a vast cave. It was clearly magical in some way, even Solanus and Thormund understood that.

"I suppose there is a puzzle to solve before she's revealed." Deduced Thormund. "Let me guess. We have to position the braziers in a certain order and she's going to emerge from the center of this strange place?"

"Exactly." I confirmed. "Let's see… we have to connect the braziers so that there is a direct link between the fire and the center…"

After a minute, the puzzle was completed and two pillars emerged from the center of the place. One was octagonal, roughly two meters in height, and big enough to contain a woman -even a Nord woman- inside. The other was far smaller and thinner, with a rotund end… more or less at the height you would need to rest your hand over it.

"And now?" Asked Solanus. "What do we do?"

"One of us put his hand on the little one and that will open the coffin."

Solanus blinked… I suppose. The helmet made it difficult to see it. "Wait… you mean she's inside that thing?"

"Yes." I replied, removing my left gauntlet.

"How many years has she been inside?" Asked Thormund, curious but slightly anxious.

I shrugged. "I don't know. A while. The Elder Scroll revealed to me that she was trapped inside when there was not an Empire to rule over Tamriel. That could be anytime between the destruction of the Second Empire and the birth of the Third, to the end of the First Empire and the start of the Second."

There was silence for a second or two, the time I needed to remove my gauntlet completely. "We're talking about thousands of years." Commented Thormund.

"More or less." I nodded, placing my hand over the little pillar.

"And she's been there all this…?" Solanus started to ask, before a spike emerged from the pillar, piercing my hand and making me bleed all over the thing. I grimaced at the pain, but didn't say anything.

Thormund emitted a disgusted sound. "Blood to open the lock. Of course. When there are vampires, it's all about blood."

"Focus." I replied, massaging my hand to lessen the pain while I healed myself. "She's been there for hundreds of years at a minimum. The vision of the Elder Scroll showed her as in control of herself, but I'm not so sure she will be and she is a powerful vampire."

That managed to make the two warriors snap at the coffin, just in time for it to open up, letting Serana crumble down. She managed to recover enough to not go face-first into the stone, breathing heavily. For what reason I didn't know, since she technically didn't need to breathe, but… whatever.

Slowly, she rose on her feet. She looked around, took note of the three warriors in deadric armor in front of her with a giant wolf right near them, and she spoke.

"Unh… Where is… Who sent you there?"

"Technically speaking? Isran." I replied. In reality, I was the one that sent us here, but whatever. It was better to not tell her that.

"I… don't know who that is." Admitted Serana. "He's… like me?"

"A vampire? No. Just a man." I answered.

"I see." She nodded. "And you are…?"

"Loki Andreasson." I introduced myself. "Thormund the Thunderer, Solanus Astorius, and Fenrir the Wolf." I continued, gesturing toward the others. "We're vampire hunters."

Serana managed to keep an impressive poker face, but I saw her body tense. "And why are vampire hunters having a chat with me?"

"Mostly? Because we need the Elder Scroll on your back to stop your father from doing something stupid."

The vampire's eyes narrowed. "You know my father?"

"I know a lot of things." I replied, and she tensed further. "But no, I don't know your father. Not personally, at least. I know he's rallying the vampires all over Skyrim to start his crazy plan, and I know how to stop him. But for that, I need the Elder Scroll on your back."

"What plan?" Asked Serana, curious.

I tilted my head, looking at her. "You don't remember, uh? Well, we can talk about it while we get out of here. C'mon guys. There are draugr ahead."

"Why can't you just open a portal?" Asked Solanus, confused.

"I'm a little short of magicka." I lied. "And I don't remember exactly where her family lives."

"Shouldn't we take her at the Fort?" Asked Thormund.

I shrugged. "We should, but I don't want to kidnap her. Also, we don't need to. She'll come to us the moment she remembers what her father is trying to do."

The Nord nodded, then grabbed his warhammer and took position as the vanguard of the party. Solanus was right behind him. I and Serana hung back, Fenrir behind us.

"You seem pretty confident that I will come with you in the end."

I shrugged. "That's because I believe you're a good woman, Serana, vampire or not. So, in the end, you'll do the right thing."

Serana didn't say anything, looking at me with a surprised expression on her face.

"And I also know the future, so… yeah." I continued, smirking.

Serana blinked. "You what?"

"I know the future. I had the luck to read an Elder Scroll, so I saw you run at Fort Dawnguard when you realized what your father was trying to do."

Serana remained silent for another second, then she huffed. "You almost managed to make me like you. Almost."

"Eh, you will have all the time to know me and the others." I shrugged, ignoring most of the enemies that were being mercilessly killed by Thormund and Solanus. I also raised a shield spell to protect Serana from the magical fiery explosion of one of the draugr killed by Solanus and Dawnbreaker.

She waited until the flames dispersed to talk again. "You know, you're not making a good argument for your cause."

I chuckled. "That's because I'm not making one. I know you're going to come, remember?"

"That's still something you have to prove."

"There is a room in this ancient crypt that contains a word wall, a chest, several skeletons, and a draugr lord on a throne. The room is shaped like an arena, with stands on the sides and a fire in the middle." I instantly replied. "You heard me, guys?"

"Yes, friend Loki!" Shouted Thormund. "I'll take on the draugr lord while Solanus destroys the skeletons with his magic. You think it's an acceptable tactic?"

"It will work great." I assumed, at least. "I'll give you a hand with my spells if the skeletons prove to be annoying. I'm not sure how good they actually are."

It took us a couple of minutes to reach the place in question, and I decided to help my companions by shooting a variant of Chain Lightning based on fire, that I decided to call… well, I didn't decide to call anything, to be honest. I had a terrible naming sense. If I had to call it something, I supposed I would have called it Chain Flamestrike.

My attack didn't tear through the undead like they were tissue paper because I voluntarily held back. The lower the level of the spell, the most magicka I could save… and that meant that I could use more flashy secondary effects. So, my Chain Flamestrike was not particularly powerful, but it bounced on ten different Undead before finally exploding against the last skeleton. Most of the Undead survived, just a couple collapsing because my spell hit them in a particularly vulnerable spot… usually the skull, making it fly away.

The rest of the horde was rapidly killed by the rest of the group.

"That doesn't prove you know the future." Commented Serana after we finished to loot the place. "You could have known how the crypts looked like using magic."

"Sure." I replied. "I'll let you believe it. Do you remember anything about your father's plan?"

"Not yet." Admitted the woman. "I think I have something, but… I'm hungry. I can't think clearly."

Thormund and Solanus sent each other a glance. I just nodded. "I suppose staying in that coffin for a while could have that effect, yes. Well, if you want, we can stop somewhere… so I can explain to you what's happening, while my friends rest and you feed. What do you say?"

"I say that right now it sounds like a wonderful idea." Admitted Serana.

"Then it's decided. Let's go."

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.2

We camped right by the exit, away from the biting wind, and we had our break. I let Serana feed on my blood, which was good since I didn't want her to go crazy and murderer a couple of hunters.

"Is that safe, Loki?" Asked Thormund, looking at the vampires biting my arm.

"Yeah. Not the first time I've had to do it." I said.

"Excuse me?" Asked Solanus, and even Serana raised her head a little to send me a look. "What do you mean with that?"

"Some time ago I had to deal with a rather annoying spirit… Potema, to be precise." Thormund and Solanus reacted to the name with an equal dose of admiration and fear. Serana didn't care. "For some reason, one of her minions had caught a little girl… one of the initiates of the Hall of the Dead. Turned out, she was alive… but transformed into a vampire. I gave her my blood to make sure nobody noticed, got her out, and then took her at Morthal to remove the curse."

My pretty trimmed out story seemed to up the respect Solanus felt for me by several notches. "A noble gesture, Loki. I'm sure the girl appreciates being free from such a terrible fate." He paused, then turned toward Serana. "No offense."

"None taken." Replied the vampire, cleaning her lips from the blood. "Not everybody has good control over themselves as I have. I can understand not being willing to endure the hunger."

"So, do you remember now?" Asked Thormund, while I healed myself.

"A little better, yes, but not everything. Something about… a black sun?"

Solanus straightened up at that, surprised and a little worried. I sent a glance to Thormund. "Wait, you didn't tell him?"

Thormund shrugged, embarrassed. "It never came up."

"What is this story about a black sun?" Asked Solanus. I could understand, really. As one of the people that venerated the God of the Sun, hearing that would have been quite alarming. I sighed regardless.

"Lord Harkon, the father of Serana, found an ancient prophecy regarding a way to obscure the sun, letting the vampires feast on the mortal at their leisure, and became obsessed. So, Serana's mother locked her away in that crypt and she ran into the Soul Cairn, where nobody would think about following her."

Serana's body jerked, probably because she fully remembered now. Solanus just looked shocked. "That's… terrible."

"And that's not even the worst part. The prophecy is fake. Created by the last Falmer Archcurate as revenge against Auri-El, that turned his back on him when he became a vampire unwillingly." I told him. "I mean, it makes more sense than a prophecy about vampires blocking the sun and forever feasting on mortals. Because the mortals of course are going to just let it happen."

"What!?" Screeched Serana. "You're telling me that my fathers obsession, my mother locking me away… it was all because of an act of stupid revenge!?"

"Yes." I replied, not really knowing how to sweeten the pill.

"I…" She wheezed, before standing up. "I need to stay alone for a while." She said, marching out of our little camp.

I nodded in her direction to Fenrir, and he instantly -and scarily quietly- followed her, almost vanishing in the shadows.

"You could have worded that better." Noted Solanus.

I shrugged. "Maybe. Don't see a reason though. She deserves to know the truth."

"Will she be okay?" Asked Thormund.

"She's a strong woman." I replied. "She's not going to stop for this. If anything, it will just convince her to come to our side even faster than normal. With the prophecy being fake, there are even fewer reasons to side with her father."

Solanus arched a brow at that. "You're quite a schemer."

Uh, not really. "It's just something that could happen. Probable, considering her personality, but not certain. Of course, she could also try to warn her father, but…"

As I said that, there was a sound of a scuffle and the voice of Serana yelling. "Let me go, you stinky bag of fleas!"

We exchanged a glance and then we followed the sound, finding Serana hissing at Fenrir, the giant wolf gently stopping her from fleeing by sitting on her. Even with her inhuman strength, Serana couldn't free herself from the half-ton super wolf and was loudly protesting.

On his part, Fenrir just looked at us when we arrived, his tongue out, and a pleased expression on his muzzle. He was probably pretty proud of himself, for being able to deal with Serana without harming her.

"You!" Shouted the vampire the moment she saw me. "Tell your mutt to let me go this instant."

"And what are you going to do if I do?" I asked, more because I was curious than anything. I already resolved to let her go anyway.

"That's none of your business!"

"Great job Fenrir. Keep on."

"Arf arf!" Barked the wolf, pretty happily.

Serana sent me a venomous glare. "Fine. I wanted to talk to my father and see if I could convince him to stop with his plan, since the prophecy is fake."

I nodded. "Let her go, Fenrir."

The wolf stood up and let the vampire free without a sound. Serana, on her part, remained on the ground, shocked.

"Wha… Why did you free me? I thought you wanted me to come to your fortress and discover how to stop my father."

I smiled. "Yeah, I want to do that, but you continue to forget that I know the future. And I think your father is far too obsessed with the prophecy to listen to you. But, if you want to go there and see it with your eyes, feel free." I waved my hand, opening a portal on the shores of the island of Castle Volkihar. "In either case, we win. You either see that your father is crazy -and, by the way, the prophecy requires the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour- or you actually convince him to stop. I see no reason to stop you from getting home."

Serana sent me a confused and quite suspicious look. Then, she slowly started to walk toward the portal. When she was almost there, she turned a last time, probably to see if I was going to prank her or something.

"I can't keep that open for long." I said to her. "If you want to go, move now."

She replied by sending a couple of glances at the portal and me, before walking on the other side. I sent a wave and then closed the portal.

"Is that wise, Loki?" Asked Thormund when the portal was down. "She could decide to side with her father. I know that you know the future, but you also told me that you changed some events, and so the story could be different. Your action could have changed her mind."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it, Thormund. As I said, the ritual Lord Harkon wants to put up requires the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour. Unless she's suicidal or a fanatic, she won't be so eager to be killed for her father's crazy scheme."

"What is a Daughter of Coldharbour?" Asked Solanus. "Sounds ominous."

I grimace in disgust at the thought. "It's a female vampire that has been granted her status directly by Molag Bal. The how… well, he's the King of Rape for a reason, and I'm not willing to tell more."

"That's…" Commented Solanus, before stopping himself and walking away, returning to the camp. Even Thormund was uncomfortable with the thought. But he managed to change the subject.

"I thought you didn't have enough magicka for a portal."

"I lied." I replied casually. "I wanted to talk with her before getting her to the Fort… or at her Castle. Now I am a little short of magicka, but I should recover pretty soon. Give me an hour and I'm going to get you and Solanus to the Fort."

He looked at me, not missing the implication. "You're not coming with us?"

"No. It's time for me to go somewhere else. You remember that I told you there was an armor in Solstheim that I wanted?"

"Yes? You want to get it?"

"No, not anymore. But there are bad things going around Solstheim… or there will be. So, I thought it was better for me to get there, get a good look at the location, and then return. So, if I need to get there fast, I'm going to be able to teleport there instantly."

Thormund nodded. "I see. A wise move. Just return fast, my friend. We need to all be together for what's coming next."

I nodded and, after I recovered enough magicka, I sent them straight into Fort Danwguard. Afterward, I transformed into a hawk and flew to Solstheim.

-X-

My trip to Solstheim didn't last long. It's surprising how much distance you could cover when transformed into a flying critter. That, the incredibly acute sight granted by my hawk form, and the fact that the island was not that big, let me finish a complete surveillance of the island in a couple of days. I also found the time to help the guy that was digging -not because of the kindness of my heart but because I kind of wanted to kill all the Dragon Priests and resurrect them as my loyal followers. They were surely going to be helpful in the time to come.

After I finished to scout the area, I quickly teleported back to Fort Dawnguard, just to see if the situation had moved a little. Since it didn't seem to be the case, I decided to make a visit to Neloth.

I had… a difficult relationship with Neloth. I liked him somehow, but I also had to admit he was a jackass. However, I needed him to find out the various Black Books, so while he was an asshole, he was a useful asshole, so I lowered myself to do his errands.

I also managed to win some sort of respect from him by showing a great deal of foreknowledge, snark, and, in the end, by being as good as him at magic. Or, like he said 'not quite as good, which by a human, it's pretty advanced'.

Basically, he didn't want to admit it, but I was a better mage than him. Not completely, since he was a very, very old Dunmer wizard -I think he was around since Morrowind, so… two hundred and something years ago, and I'm quite sure he was already a master wizard at the time-, so he had more time to learn everything there was to learn on magic, but in terms of raw power and skill, we were pretty much even, even if he was more specialized than me. Still, doing some chores from him -like dealing with the ash-spawn and finding items that he could use- gave me the opportunity to learn a lot of things.

It was on one of these particular occasions that I asked him something that, I supposed, not even he knew. I had just returned from a raid in an old tomb to recover the Staff of Azra Nigthwielder for his studies, when I shot him my question point-blank.

"Since you know so much about Arza Nightwielder… do you know how Shadow Magic works?"

"Not really." Admitted Neloth, which was a surprise. I assumed he didn't know, but I didn't think he would admit it. "Shadow Magic is different from normal magic. It fuels itself using conflict generated by the interaction against various things: it's an intrinsically dangerous and unpredictable craft."

I snorted. "You say that just because you can't use it on other subjects and should test it using your own skin."

"Of course. My life is far too precious to waste it in such an unreliable craft. I leave it to young and reckless people: I didn't reach my age by taking stupid risks. But why does it interest you so much?"

"I have a vested interest in alternate worlds."

"Then go into the Oblivion or even the Aetherius. There are plenty of worlds there."

Of course, I meant alternate material worlds, not other planes of existence outside them. But I didn't say it to Neloth. I learned pretty fast that the best way to get something from him was to make him curious. He became more willing to give you what you wanted if he wanted something back. Or use his ego against him. "Whatever, master Neloth. I hoped you, with your vast knowledge, could have information on it, but apparently, I was wrong."

"Oh, don't start to whine. I didn't say I don't know how it works. I just said I don't really know how it works. I know something of the theory, but having never practiced Shadow Magic myself, I lack practical experience. With good reason, I should add!"

"So you know something." I said, hiding the need in my voice.

"I certainly do! I didn't reach my age by voluntarily ignoring potentially powerful magic."

"That's great. You have, like, a book or something like that?"

"I have, but I can't let you read them. They're ancient tomes of great value. I could, of course, let Talvas copy them. At least he's careful with my things."

I sent him a glare. I didn't bump those bottles because I wanted to. The Deadric armor was spiky!

"Of course, you have to ask Talvas if he wants to copy them. I have no intention to distract him from his duty for your request. But if he accepts to do it on his own initiative, that's on him."

That was acceptable. "I understand. I'll talk to him then."

"Then go and don't waste my time." Replied the wizard, and I just went to talk to his apprentice.

"Loki." Smiled Talvas. He was very happy to see me… maybe because I gave him tips on magic for free. What can I say? I liked to talk about magic. "What can I do for you today?"

"I talked to Master Neloth and he told me he has some books on Shadow Magic." I said.

Talvas nodded, suddenly focused. "Well, calling them books is a bit generous. They're mostly diaries or notes left by people who practiced or assisted in the use of Shadow Magic. Why?"

"I'm interested in learning as much as possible about Shadow Magic. While Neloth will not let me near the books, he said that you could get near them and copy them… in your free time."

Talvas winced. I couldn't really blame him. Neloth was… strict, to use a euphemism.

"I'll pay you." I hastily added. "Money, valuables… magic." That made him recover his wits. "Just name a price… well, proportionate to the effort, of course."

Talvas sent me a smirk. "You're making an offer I can't really refuse, Loki. But also a pretty tough one. There is a lot of magic I would like to learn… What would you say is your best spell?"

I scratched my chin, unsure. "I don't know. I mean, I'm at a level where I just don't use structured spells anymore. But if I had to say the one I particularly like… then my shapeshifting spell."

Talvas blinked. "You can shapeshift?"

"Yes. I mostly used the form of a hawk, because… well, I don't need to change form to fight something, and I never really needed to use it for anything else. If I had to infiltrate somewhere, I suppose I could use it to transform into a mouse or something equally small to avoid fighting… but I prefer to eliminate all the dangers anyway. Every dead bandit in a camp can be a saved person somewhere else. Maybe I should try to see if it's worth assuming the form of some powerful creature to fight… a troll maybe?"

"That sounds… impressive, I have to admit, but I'll prefer something related to Conjuration."

"I can teach you how to travel between the Planes of Oblivion… but it can be fairly dangerous. Something less risky? I know some tricks to make deadra fall in line easier and how to compart your mind to control a lot of them. That seems like useful knowledge that is not going to endanger you."

Talvas remained silent for a second, probably weighting my offer. After a while, he nodded. "Sounds like a fair deal to me. I'll write down the diaries when I have time."

"Excellent." I said, shaking his hand. "I'll start writing down a manual for you while I'm not doing errands. I should have a couple of days to write down the basics."

"Good. Now, I have to return to my duties… unless you want to buy something?"

"Nah, I'm good. See you later, Talvas."

After that, we got on our ways and I decided to scry both the tomb I was helping dig with my money and Fort Dawnguard too. The tomb… unfortunately, there was very little I could do about it. Azihal -if I remembered the name correctly- was poisoning the mind of the Dunmer, but unless someone dug the way to the Dragon Priest, there was nothing I could do to stop him. He was going to influence someone else if this one didn't do what he wanted, so it was better to leave the guy digging… until it was later in the quest, then I could release his mind from the grasps of the Dragon Priest and save as many people as possible. After all, all the people that died before the last floor of the tomb was dug up died from the draugr inside the tomb… and those were the risks of the trade. I proposed the Dunmer to get some guards to be sure and I had to pay more for that, but I managed. Maybe there will not be as many victims this time.

Regarding Fort Dawnguard, I scried the location three times per day -like a first thing as I woke up, in the middle of the day, and before going to sleep- to see if Serana was already there. I didn't have much hope: it would take a while for her to accept her father was completely bonkers and after that, she had to travel through all Skyrim. It would take a while and I didn't take that much time doing Neloth's errands. I suspected she would take at least another week to reach the place, and that was assuming she had already decided to leave her father. So, I didn't really believe that she was at Fort Dawnguard.

What I found, though, was that there was a new guest in the Halls of the Fort. The Moth Priest. And since he was there, it meant that we could start to read the Elder Scrolls. Granted, only the last one counted, since it revealed the position to the entrance of the Forbidden Valley, but I was not even sure the Scrolls had to be read in order, and if they did, I didn't know the order.

So, it was better to start to plan to get the other Scrolls.

Oh, fuck. I just remembered. I still had to recover the Elder Scroll of the Dragon, the one I also needed to learn Dragonrend. I knew where it was… I just didn't want to get there. But I had no choice now.

It was time to go to Blackreach.

Last edited: Sep 27, 2020

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.3

Truth to be told, Blackreach was kind of a letdown.

The place was still beautiful, of course. But I remembered the place as being hellishly difficult to explore. Instead, aside from some problems at the start… nothing really bothered me.

And the problem at the start was that I didn't manage to enter directly inside the place. Basically, my plan was to use one of the many elevators that littered the mountains to directly reach the place I wanted to go and retrieve the Elder Scrolls. It would have been pretty simple, all things considered: I just needed to phase between the bars and I was inside the place. So I teleported to one of the elevators.

Unfortunately, the elevators were laced with Dwemer metal. By itself, that was not a huge problem, they probably did it to give more stability to the stone. What was a problem was that Dwemer metal had the ability to interact with incorporeal beings. It was the worst metal for doing that -adamantium and ebony were infinitely better at it- but it can, and that meant that I couldn't just phase through the doors or the wall of the elevator. Even teleporting seemed to be impossible, unless you did it from Oblivion. So, since I didn't want to freefall for who knows how many meters inside solid rock, I decided to take the path the old crazy mage pointed out to me and get there using the normal way.

It was a surprisingly easy path. Aside from a couple of Centurions along the way, nothing really posed a threat to me, and the Centurions were quickly dispatched too. I reached Blackreach in a couple of hours, amassing a large amount of loot on the way. Once inside, I decided to gather the Red Nirnroot… just because I discovered that, in real life, Clairvoyance did work. Of course, there were a lot more than thirty roots in the entire Blackreach, but I didn't have to explore all of it. Only to take the nearest ones.

It still managed to take a lot of time. I could have just gotten the Elder Scroll and not cared about anything else… but the place was full of loot and I did end up not having a lot of money between the ingredients for my potions and then crafting mine and Thormund's weapons. So, I planned to loot the place bare and only after that get the Elder Scroll.

…

Ok, I have a problem with looting, dammit. But it wasn't my fault that the best way to not die was to have the best gear I could create! I didn't make the rules!

After my loot-boner was sated, I reached the observatory and, after a minute or two pushing buttons -I never got how that shit worked- I finally managed to get the Scroll. Good. Now it was the time to get out of there… and to do that I needed to move outside Mundus.

No problem. I could just take a little detour to my own personal continent. It was… a week since I got there? Something like that, I think. Morokei probably finished my home a while ago.

Now that I thought about it, I felt a little guilty to leave him there for a week, but it was not like he needed to eat or anything like that, so there was no harm. Also, summoning him around people was probably a bad idea. Nobody was fond of the Dragon Priests.

… Well, I could have summoned him while here in Blackreach. Why didn't I do that? Nobody would get scared looking at the undead specter… or maybe they would, but in this case, it was alright… good even. It would have facilitated my exploration too… in fact, why didn't I summon anything? There was enough space for Jormungand to get to full size and kill everything in sight!

Goddammit. I need to remember to summon more minions now that I could cast the spells with reduced costs. Before the Oghma Infinium, even a weak deadra would have cost me a lot, but right now I could summon them pretty much freely. There was no downside in summoning a little army to make my job easier. If I could summon several Dremora, I could have an army on command.

… No, not really, because summoning more critters at the same time was a good way to deplete my magicka in the blink of an eye, but one at the time was doable. Especially since Dremora were surprisingly easy to control. It must have been all that military training that drilled obedience into their minds.

Ah, problems for another day. Right now, I should probably just head into my little refuge, rest a couple of hours to recover my magicka, and then head to Fort Dawnguard. I had just enough magicka for a trip there.

So, I opened the portal and entered my little personal dimension.

I arrived in what looked like a stone villa. It was built in the same style as the old Nordic tombs in Skyrim, but far cleaner and symmetric. Good. Since I was there, I dropped all the loot I didn't plan on taking with me in one room and started to search for Morokei.

"Morokei! Where are you?"

No answer.

I continued to call Morokei for a while, but apparently, he was not there. Strange. Maybe he decided to explore the area around the house. It would make sense. If he could get bored, he probably would have by now. So he was probably outside, doing whatever.

Mmm… I could do that too. After all, resting was my primary concern, but I could do that outside, admiring the landscape. And so I did.

I have to admit, getting out and looking at the land in front of me made me relax. I was born near the Alps, so taking a stroll between the peaks and looking at the plains under them was a familiar sight. Sure, there was an immense cyclone in the middle of the place, but that was just a detail.

The city right under my home was not.

Ok, calling it a city was probably a little too much. There were… what, a hundred houses? Still, it was something that was not there a week ago.

And right in the middle of that stood a dark shadow.

"Morokei!" I shouted, infusing the Thu'um in my voice to make it thunder down the side of the mountain. The Undead stopped what he was doing and dashed toward me. It took him several minutes, but in the end, he was near enough to use telepathy.

"I'm sorry, master." He said. "I found indigenous life-forms, and I thought it would have been better to make them submit instead of letting them grow strong enough to threaten you."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean, submit?"

"Nothing terrible, master." He replied. "Taking into consideration your attitude, I decided to not harm them. Fortunately, they seem to have a basic understanding of the Dovahzul, so I was able to communicate with them. They believed I was some sort of demon, but I just explained to them that I'm just a humble servant."

Ok, there were several things wrong with that sentence. First, what attitude? I'm pretty sure all Morokei had seen from me was killing Dremora. Second, how could indigenous life-forms of this place know the Dovahzul? Scratch that, there were no indigenous life-forms when I arrived there! The place was completely empty. And third… I didn't like the way he said the last sentence.

"You didn't tell them I'm some sort of god or anything like that, right?"

"Of course not, master. I just told them that you're a great being that walks on the same path as the gods. What conclusion they took from that, it's not my business."

This fucking guy. Cult leader once, cult leader forever, right? I mean, technically he was not wrong, since I did walk the path of the Dovah and the Dovah were, if not literal (minor) deities, at least Aedric spirit of great power and technically the Lords of the Dragon Cult. So he didn't lie to them. He just used a very flowery language.

I sighed. "Look, I appreciate that you didn't try to kill the locals, but I don't like that you could make them think I'm a god or something."

"What they believe is irrelevant to you, master." Pointed out Morokei. "You don't have a responsibility toward them. I'm just acting this way to defend your house from possible attacks. No one would dare disturb you with a city full of warriors warding the place."

He had a point. Dammit. "What locals, anyway? When I searched for this place, there was nothing. Not even a rabbit. Now suddenly there are sentient inhabitants?"

"I was surprised myself, master. But something changed when you brought the skeleton of that Dovah here. A shift in the currents of magic of the plane. My thought is that the sudden appearance of a strong spirit gave direction to the inert Creatia of the plane."

Oh shit. "You mean the place filled with dragon-like monsters?"

"Those too, master. It appears that quite a lot of local animals took the form of great reptiles with magical powers. But some of the locals seem to be dragon men. Like Argonians, but more fierce and powerful. Not as powerful as a real Dovah, of course, but more powerful than the average mortal."

Oh, ok. Whew. For a second I thought he was going to tell me this place had become some sort of dragon battleground. Well, if the end result was 'just' something comparable to the easiest levels of Monster Hunter, it was fine for me.

"All right. Continue, if you want. Just be sure to treat them fairly. No 'the strongest is right' mentality. I'm sure you have some idea of what I'm talking about."

"I do, master. The Dragon Cult did not follow the Dovah's way of leadership. We promoted only the faithful and the skilled."

"I like that. Just, try to put less emphasis on the faith and more on merit, will you?"

"As you command."

I really hoped he understood. "Very well. Now, I need to rest for a couple of hours before returning to Tamriel. Do not disturb me."

He just nodded and then returned to… whatever he was doing with the locals.

In a way, having him as a leader or spiritual guide of the local community was a great boon for me. He could stop them from coming here and, since he was immortal and didn't have anything to gain from exploiting them, he was probably a far less corruptible leader than any other. It was probably for the best that he descended on them to… I was not sure what he was doing. Probably teaching them something to develop them as a civilization. Considering they were created by pure Creatia, they were probably more akin to Dremora and other lesser deadra than mortals.

Well, that was something I would worry about at another time. I had to return to Skyrim first.

-X-

After I got to the Dunmer with the cultivation of Nirnroot and got some very interesting notes on alchemy, I went straight to Fort Dawnguard. When I popped out of my portal, I found the Fort Dawnguard in utter chaos.

"What's happening?" I asked the first guy who passed near me.

"The vampires are attacking us!" He replied, before running out.

Oh, right, that happened. I rushed outside to see if I could help.

Not even a step out of the Fort and a thrall tried to attack me.

I sidestepped the attack and, not having a weapon on hand, decided to deal with the guy in a quick way. So, I grabbed his head and smashed it against the wall. The iron helmet he wore protected him against the damage… more or less. When I smashed it again, with more strength -enough force to crack the stone, apparently-, he didn't take it that well and slumped on the ground.

Good grief. Alright, let's try to not drag this out longer than we needed. I took a rapid look at the situation and then raised my hand.

A spear of light pierced the nearest vampire, burning it to a crisp in a matter of seconds. The Dawnguard that I just helped turned and saw me. "Loki has returned!" He -she? Damn armor stopped me from getting their exact gender- shouted, raising her weapon. I replied with a smile and fried another vampire. Somewhere in the middle of the fight, Thormund was sending vampires several meters into the air for every single blow, Fenrir was jumping around dismembering Undead left and right, and explosions of light sent the vampires running away at regular intervals.

I didn't know why Harkon had thought that it was a good idea to attack, considering that Serana would have told him that we were though motherfu- no wait, it didn't make sense. Serana had just returned from her long imprisonment, so this attack was planned a long time ago. Probably to get the Moth Priest. Also, Harkon was completely certain of the superiority of the vampires over mortals, so the possibility that we could fight back probably flew over his head.

Anyway, apart from the first gruesome kill, the rest of my attacks were just sunlight attacks right in the head or the chest of the vampires, with the occasional sunlight burst when I could afford to hit a group of vampires without hitting Dawnguards or Vigilants.

Ten minutes later, the vampires were routing and I blasted them some more while they ran, because fuck them. Then, the Dawnguard exploded in cheers over our victory.

"Ah, friend Loki!" Shouted Thormund over the general chaos. "It's good to see you return. Did you finish the business you talked about?"

"Yes, I did. Is the Moth Priest there?"

"Of course he is. And you have the Scroll?"

I made the thing pop out of thin air and I showed him. "Good, good! Let's go. I'm sure he's waiting to read it too."

The encounter with the Moth Priest went pretty smoothly. After I explained to him the situation, he told me that, considering the prophecy we were talking about, it was probably some kind of order to follow when reading the Scroll. Since the Scroll regarded Sun, Dragon, and Blood, he supposed that Sun was the first to read and Blood the last. He proposed to take a look at the Dragon Scroll regardless, just to be sure, but I stopped him.

"I saw you go blind by not taking the necessary precautions when dealing with the first Scroll. I would prefer it if you took your time to prepare and only after that try to read it."

The Monk nodded. "You bring up a good point, my young friend. I need to prepare before reading an Elder Scroll. Very well. I'll prepare while we wait for the other Scroll to arrive. When is that going to happen?"

"I don't know the time, I'm afraid. At least some days. Maybe a week or two. Unfortunately, it's just a guess."

The Monk waved his hand. "Oh, don't worry. The preparations are long. I can wait."

"Then I'll leave it to them."

"Goodbye." Nodded the man, before leaving for the dorms. He probably had to meditate or something.

"It's a shame that we couldn't get a read right now." Said Thormund.

"Patience, my friend." I smiled. "We need all three pieces anyway. In case Serana doesn't come to us, our options are limited anyway. I mean, we could try and recover the last Scroll right now, but to enter the Soul Cairn we need to be vampires or have a part of our soul trapped inside a Soul Gem to trick the entire plane into believing we are one. This little pause will let us complete our preparation for the upcoming fights."

Thormund nodded. "If that's the case, friend Loki, I have a request."

I sent a curious glance toward the warrior. He rarely asked me something. "You need a ride somewhere?"

"To tell the truth, yes. I wanted to briefly return to Jorrvskar. I know the Companions are not going to mind my absence too much, but I still want to check on the Harbinger. Now that he's free from his curse, I fear he will not live long."

"I thought he said it would take a year or so before the Rot had the better on him." I said, confused by Thompson's apprehension.

"Yes, but that was before. Say what you want about the curse of Hircine, but it protected him against the most common diseases. Now that he lost that protection, his illness could advance rapidly."

I had not considered that possibility. I was no medic and I was not familiar with the illnesses of Tamriel aside for the most common ones. I couldn't deny that there was the chance that Kodlak's condition could worsen or, more likely, that he could catch another illness with basically the same effect. Sure, considering there was a temple of Kynareth right in front of Jorrvaskr it seemed implausible that he would not be cured in time, but he was also old. It was a terrible combination.

"I see. Well, maybe I can go as well. I can show to Vilkas my progress with the sword."

Thormund patted me on the back with enough force to shatter wood. "Ah, I'm sure you'll surprise him greatly. You managed to improve massively since the last time we met. How did you manage that?"

I scratched my head, a little embarrassed. "I cheated. I used the Oghma Infinium."

Thormund blinked. "The book of Hermaeus Mora? The legends say that reading it pushes your mind into complete madness. Why would you use it?"

"It's a long story. Come, I'll tell you why I took such a risk…"

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.4

After some proper rest -meaning a night of rest- me, Fenrir and Thormund traveled to Whiterun. As Thormund asked, we checked on Kodlak to be sure he was ok.

He was. The rest of the Companions, not so much.

"Talos' beard! What happened here!?" Exclaimed Thormund the moment we entered inside Jorrvaskr. I couldn't blame him because it looked like half the veterans of the Companions and most of the recruits were badly hurt and still recovering.

"A dragon, that's what happened." Replied Farkas, limping toward us. "He attacked the eastern watchtower two days ago. Since then, both us and the city guard attacked it, trying to kill it or force him to flee. We all failed. We were not prepared and he destroyed us."

Thormund sent a shocked look at him, then he turned toward me. I felt my stomach turn on itself, but it was too late now. The time had come, and I was still unprepared. My weapon was not enchanted, my armor too was bare… as bare as deadric armor could be, anyway. Alas, my hopes that I could avoid the confrontation with a dragon before I was fully prepared for it always was near zero. That would have required, you know, having a dragonbone armor before fighting a dragon. I was lucky I managed to get my hands on some dragon bones so I could make an exceptional sword before fighting one, or I would have been locked with ebony weapons which, while good, were not exactly on par.

So I sent him a nod. He nodded back, and then he returned to talk to Falkras. "Causalities?"

"Most of the young blood." Replied Farkas. "And the ones that escaped were barely able to make it with our limbs intact. We are not going to be able to fight the dragon anytime soon."

"That's regrettable." Admitted Thormund. "Seems like the Dragonborn did not appear yet."

"The Dragonborn?" Asked Farkas. "What are you talking about?"

"Loki foresaw that, during the fight against the dragon at the eastern watchtower, a Dragonborn will emerge to defeat Alduin." Revealed the giant. "Apparently, the time has not come yet. But it will."

"We have to go and see Jarl Baalgruf." I said. "If you excuse us, Farkas. But that dragon has to be dealt with."

He nodded. "I see. I'll ask if there is someone that's still able to fight. We itch for a rematch."

We said our goodbyes and started to walk toward Dragonsreach.

"This will be a terrible fight." Said Thormund out of the blue.

"It will." I admitted. "Dragons are not something that you can fight easily. The fairest fight I can think of is a dragon against a group of giants… and I would still give it to the dragon."

"I feared you would say so." Admitted Thormund. "But alas, the fact that we were not here to fight the dragon could have been a blessing in disguise. Now you can prepare yourself for the fight."

Could I? I supposed it was true. Just knowing what kind of Shout he usually used was a great plus for me. I could protect myself and everyone else by knowing exactly what to use to reduce damage to minimum. It was something… not much, but something.

It took us a minute or two to reach Dragonsreach. The guards didn't try to stop us, and we could enter freely. The first thing we noticed when we got inside was that Jarl Baalgruf was animatedly discussing with someone. When we arrived, we discovered it was Irelith… or whatever it was the name of his Dunmer housecarl.

"My lord, now that we have fought the dragon, we are better prepared. Give me ten men and-"

"And what, Irileth? You would march on the watchtower? Without a mage or some veteran warrior supporting you, just some potions? I don't want the dragon near my city, but I can't just send people to their death without a plan."

"Who are you?" Asked the other counselor of Baalgruf… Avenicci? I wasn't sure. He was of course talking to us, probably because two men wearing deadric armor and a giant wolf attracted a lot of attention. His sudden question had the added benefit to distract Baalgruf and Irileth from their discussion.

Predictably, Irileth drew her sword. "Not another step, or I'll cut your throat."

Yeah, I would like to see you try to cut through deadric armor.

"Irileth, stop!" Commanded the Jarl, and the Dunmer, reluctantly, put her weapon away. "You have to excuse my housecarl. She's on edge since that damn dragon appeared. But the question of my steward is valid. Who are you, and what do you want?"

"I'm Thormund, Jarl Baalgruff, and he's my friend Loki." Replied the Nord, and I let him because he was far better at talking to people than me.

"Ah, yes, Thormund the Thunderer, one of the Companions. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, but your armor confused me." His eyes then landed on me. "And you are Loki. Is it safe to assume you're Loki Andreasson, Hero of Solitude, and Thane of Haafingar?"

Had word reached Whiterun already? Although, thinking about it, Whiterun was right in the middle of Skyrim and an important commercial hub. Of all places, Whiterun was probably the first that would receive the news. "I've been called that, yes." I replied. "It's an honor to meet you, Jarl Baalgruf."

"The pleasure is mine. It doesn't happen often for such notorious people to simply walk inside my home. Tell me, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing, my Jarl." Replied Thormund. "We, on the other hand, can do something for you. We heard you have a dragon problem."

Baalgruf straightened on his chair. "Yes, you heard right. A dragon has decided to make the eastern watchtower his personal hunting ground. It has not attacked the city… yet. Both my guards and the Companions failed to defeat it. You two think you can do a better job than them?"

"Not alone." Admitted Thormund. "But we have faith that this attack will succeed."

"Based on what?" Asked Irileth.

"My friend here has premonitions." Revealed Thormund. "He has seen it."

"That's just superstition." Scoffed Irileth. "What are the proofs?"

"He was the one to send you the Dragonstone." Was the immediate retort of the Nord. "I heard him with my ears tell me that you would need it when the time comes. His visions are true, even if not always accurate."

"That's not enough." Intervened Avenicci. "Even if the premonition is true, we need more to send more men to fight the dragon. We can't risk their lives on the words of an unknown man."

"Unknown man?" Bellowed Thormund, starting to heat up. Before he could continue, I placed my hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

"I was at Helgen." I said, gathering all the eyes in the room aside for Thormund. "I have seen what the dragon could do, and I have a strategy to defeat him. You don't have to help us, but I think it's in your interest if we succeed. We already asked the Companions if they're willing to join us. We'll have to see how many of them are in any condition to fight, but they're ready."

There was silence for a second or two.

"Irileth, marshal all the men able to fight." Said the Jarl. The Dunmer nodded and marched out of Dragonsreach.

"My lord, is this wise? Didn't you say you didn't want to send Irileth to fight that dragon again?"

"I said I didn't want to send her to fight the dragon without support." He waved in our direction. "They are the support. If even half the voices on them are true, they're formidable warriors. Also, Loki is a battlemage. If they're unable to defeat the dragon, they can at least cover the retreat better than anyone else in Whiterun."

Avenicci didn't insist.

"I'll tell Irileth to meet you and the Companions near the city gates. May the gods assist you."

Recognizing that as a dismissal, we quietly returned to Jorrvaskr to see how many people Farkas was able to recruit. The answer was… not much, and most were still slightly injured. They got better when I healed them, so they were at top performance. Aside from Aela, I didn't remember the name of the others.

We started to walk toward the gates, all the while I layered defenses over defenses on everyone. I decided to stick with a lot of single-use spells instead of a big spell that could cover everyone since it was easier to maintain a spell in that way. Fire armor, fire shield, fire resistance, protection from harm… everything that I could think of. Fortunately, the Companions assured me that the dragon seemed to use Flame Breath, so I could hasten the process by using just the type of spell I needed, and not all that could work. After all, magic resistance was useless since Thu'um didn't use magicka, but having to layer three diverse types of magical protection for every member of the Companions was a hassle.

I still had to do it again once the guards arrived to join us, but that was still ok. I had plenty of magicka in my tank, and the consumption from maintaining all of them was negligible. But while the consumption was negligible, the mental stress to maintain all those spells were not, so I decided to not cast some Fortify spells on Thormund, Fenfir and myself. Normally I would, just to be even more sure that we were going to kick the dragon's ass, but I was already straining myself as I was.

"Are you alright, Loki?" Asked Thormund when we started to march toward the tower.

"Yeah, totally fine. Why?"

"You have continuously cast spells for the last ten minutes." Replied the Nord. "You're not straining yourself before we can even arrive at the dragon, right?"

"Relax, my friend. The secrets I discovered let me use magic far more freely than before. I only cast spells that I know I can maintain for a long amount of time. There is no risk of me letting those protections drop, unless the dragon manages to knock me out. But I plan to use my bow to address that."

Thormund nodded, trusting my judgment on that.

It took us a good part of the next thirty minutes to reach the eastern watchtower. Of Mirmulnir, though, no trace.

"Be careful." Said Aela. "The bastard likes to attack from behind cover. Just because we don't see him it doesn't mean he's not watching us."

"Then I'll take position." I replied, activating an invisibility spell and proceeding to climb on the ruin of the tower. Meanwhile, I materialized Gauldur Blackbow in my hand, while preparing to summon a quiver full of deadric arrows. Normally I didn't bother to summon a full quiver, but I wanted to stay as far as I could from Milmunir for all the time I could… so a minute, because I was not going to waste more magicka than necessary in fighting him. When the quiver disappeared, I was going to start to use magic or my sword.

"It's coming!" Someone shouted, and I quickened my steps. I reached the summit just to see Mirmulnir shot out from behind some peak and started to fly toward the tower with a speed that was, frankly, ridiculous. I had seen slower planes.

With the thump-thump of my heart roaring in my ears for some reason, I notched my arrow. Then, slowly, I focused frost power on it, to the maximum capacity I could muster. It was more than what I used to fry the Dwemer Centurions. Then, I took aim and waited. Waited until Mirmunir was close enough. I could not fail this shot.

Mirmulnir closed up the distance, and I waited again. He needed to be as close as possible. The shot needed to be perfect, because I needed to cripple him as much as it was possible before the fight even started. And so, I decided to aim for his eye. It was a shot on a thousand, but I had to try. Because… well, truth to be told, I didn't really want to kill him. Dragons were cruel and arrogant, but they were creatures of a higher existence, and could be reasoned with. If we managed to harm him enough, he could even decide to surrender. So the first part of my plan was to deal him a blow so heavy that he had to listen to me… or alternatively, that it would cripple him so much that the rest of the fight was going to be a walk in the park.

And so I waited. And waited. And waited… until he passed close enough to the tower.

My arrow shot true, hitting the head of Milmunir with enough force to make it jerk on the side. But I missed the eye.

At least Mirmulnir didn't take the hit very well. He roared in pain and lost control, crashing loudly at fifty or so meters from the tower. Nobody moved as the dust covered the body of the dragon, probably hoping it was enough.

The Murmulnir emerged from the dust roaring loudly enough to hurt my ears, and the battle started.

"Chaaaarge!" Shouted Thormund, raising his hammer and running toward the dragon without any fear. The Companions and the guards that didn't have a ranged weapon roared with him and charged.

Then Milmunir reacted, and opening his maw, he Shouted. "Yor. Toor. Shul!"

On one hand, I was happy that I finally had the complete Fire Breath Shout. On the other, I was not happy when I saw the Fire Breath completely ignore half of the protection I placed on the others and incinerating a couple of guards there were unfortunate enough to get caught in the center of the blast, while some of the others survived by sheer luck. Thormund too was caught, but he just powered through the fire until he was on melee range from the dragon. Most of the shields against fire I placed on them popped like balloons, leaving the others without protection.

Then he smashed the remaining guards with his tail, making them fly and probably die with a single hit.

Goddammit, now that he had people near I could see he was huge. Thormund was just a shy taller than the entire head of the creature. He was like looking at a particularly big T-rex, big, grey and winged. Not dissimilar to the dragon model from Skyrim… just terrifying.

Mirmulnir emitted a strange, guttural sound. "Pruz, pruz! Krif zey, joor!" He shouted.

Was he… praising us for fighting him? So the sound he made earlier was a laugh. Fuck.

Before I could do anything, Thormund and some of the Companions reached the dragon while the rest of the squad uselessly tried to harm him using arrows. The thick scales repelled the arrows with the same ease steel plate repelled a wild cat.

Then Thormund raised his hammer and Fenrir, like a black javelin, shot toward the throat of the dragon.

Fenrir latched to the scales of Mirmulnir like a weasel, biting and clawing him. The dragon roared in pain, blood starting to drip while the powerful jaws tried to tear his neck open… with no great results. Despite all the fury and power Fenrir could call, he was not powerful enough to hurt a dragon to that extent.

Thormund, unfortunately, was intercepted by one of the wings and shoved aside while Mirmulnir tried to remove Fenrir from his throat. He rapidly returned to his feet, but it was clear that he had just taken a brutal hit. Fuck. He needed my help.

I warped near the battle, dismissing the Blackbow and taking my dragonbone sword. But since I was still too far away to get in range and do something, I just shot an ice spike the size of a spear toward Mirmulnir. He probably was not as resistant to magic as he was to physical attacks… right?

Wrong. The ice spike impacted against the dragon, but while they made him roar in pain, they didn't penetrate enough to deal significant damage to him. He sent a ferocious look in my direction, then stood on his hind legs and unfolded his wings.

"It's going to fly! Stop him!" I shouted, but the arrows did nothing to stop the giant lizard. Fenrir, feeling the movements of the dragon, stopped to try to chew his throat out and fell on the ground. Better than falling from hundreds of meters anyway.

Unfortunately, nobody was swift enough to stop Mirmulnir from taking the air. He shot up, arrows bouncing on his scales, and after a long circle, he returned.

"Yol. Toor. Shul!"

Flames rained on us. Most managed to avoid the raging inferno by jumping away, but others didn't, and only the application of my protection stopped most of them to be instantly killed. Then he landed with all his weight on several of the Companions and nothing could stop them from being sent flying away.

While the dragon was deciding who he was going to kill, Thormund jumped on him and smashed his hammer on his head. What happened next was unexpected for everyone, dragon included.

Mirmulnir's head was violently shoved around with an impact strong enough to demolish stone walls. Mirmulnir jerked wildly, out of balance, before falling ruinously on the ground.

Thormund, a mortal, just knocked down a dragon with a single hit of his weapon.

"Talos!" Shouted the Nord, raising his hammer to deal another devastating blow to the now grounded dragon.

But the tail of the monster snapped like a whip, catching Thormund on his chest, throwing him several meters in the air. Mirmulnir rose from the ground with fury in his eyes, roaring, and Fenrir took the opportunity to jump on his face and savagely try to gouge his eyes out.

Mirmulnir replied by moving his head so fast that the wolf failed to maintain a grip on the hard scales of the dragon. With the speed of a venomous snake, the dragon closed his maw on Fenrir and then threw him away, making the wolf smash against the side of the tower and breaking through the wall.

The two best fighters of the entire group just got down.

Or almost. Thormund, clutching his right arm, made another charge, raising his hammer in the sky and bellowing as loud as the dragon. Mirmulnir stomped on him, closing the match. Then, he opened his maw and fire started to roll out. Evidently, he was ready to finish off the Thormund.

And I couldn't let that happen.

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

My Shout tore the air and impacted Mirmulnir with enough strength to make it stumble away. The dragon was shoved away from Thormund by maybe ten meters, digging out the ground to maintain stability. Then he sent me what I supposed was an incredulous look.

Every thought of giving him the chance to surrender was forgotten, I charged at the dragon. He instinctively tried to bite my head off, but I avoided the hit enough to let the massive neck of the monster slide near my shoulder, and then I slashed wildly at him, opening a bleeding gouge in his flesh.

In retaliation, he head-butted me.

Fortunately, I was able to raise a ward in time to absorb most of the impact, so I was just sent rolling away from the dragon instead of finding myself with all the bones in my body shattered.

I stop my tumble and, to my surprise, Mirmulnir didn't press the attack. On the contrary, he started to lift himself. I didn't let him. "Qo. Rozaan. Noz!"

I lightning bolt as thick as a man shot out of my mouth, hitting Mirmulnir while he was trying to escape. The dragon roared, in pain, and seemed to lock up, because he stopped to flap his wing and fell, digging a trench in the ground.

The sudden battle frenzy that had taken me disappeared. I shook my head. What did the hell happen? I suddenly felt the urge to attack and defeat Mirmulnir. Why I…?

Ah, of course.

Every dragon name was also a Shout of a sort, three words in Dovahzul that described the dragon himself. Dovahkiin, read as Dovah-Kiin, meant literally Dragonborn, to signal his nature as a mortal born with the soul of a dragon.

But Dov-Ah-Kiin, as a dragon name, meant Dragon Hunter Born. Or, to say it differently, Born Dragon Hunter. The supreme dragon slayer. That was the last proof. It was really me. Dammit.

"Loki!" A voice called to me, and I raised my head to look at Aela the Huntress calling me from over Thormud. "Help him!"

I rushed to Thormund's side and I analyzed his injuries. Unfortunately, I was unable to determine if he had more injuries than the obviously broken arm, but I didn't need to heal everything right now. I just pumped him with a heal spell.

Thormund took a deep breath and sat, still clutching his arm. "Thank you, Loki. I almost saw Sovengard."

"It's nothing." I said, noticing Fenrir limp in our direction with several deep wounds in his chest. I sent him a healing spell too. "We need to gather the wounded. I can patch them enough to get them to the healers-".

"You can do that later." Interrupted Irileth. "First you have to be sure that the dragon is dead. You three were the only ones able to wound him."

Aela nodded. "She's right. Go. We'll gather the wounded."

"Alright." I said. I couldn't fault their logic. "Be ready. The moment I return, I'll open a portal to the Cloud District."

"I'll come with you." Said Thormund, standing up with a grunt of pain. "My arm is not working, but my legs do. Besides, I still have the other one."

Fenrir whined and, still limping but a little less than before, made to follow us too.

"Thank you, you two. Let's go."

While the not wounded gathered the wounded - the operation was made slow by the fact that there were not a lot of people that were not wounded- we reached Murmunir, that had not moved from the spot he had crashed. The huge beast was still breathing, long, deep breaths that betrayed his pain. We approached him cautiously, trying to avoid his tail and wings, but he didn't move. Only when we were more or less sure he was not going to jump up suddenly and bite us in two, we reached his head.

With what was probably his last spark of energy, Mirmulnir opened one of his eyes and looked at us.

"Los hi het wah geblaan zey, Dovahkiin?" He asked… and for the first time I noticed that dragons didn't have lips. How he could articulate words was beyond me. Meanwhile, I could feel Thormund stiffen.

Anyway, to answer his question, I raised my hand… and rested it on his head. He really was enormous. His eye was bigger than my entire hand.

"I didn't want to kill you, Mirmulnir." I said. There was nothing I could do for him and even if I could, I probably would not. For all that I loved dragons, and I considered the ones in Skyrim some of the best ones from a psychological point of view, the truth was that they were dangerous. It was not their fault: they didn't know any better. Paarthrunax was proof that they could be good… but it was something that they had to learn. That was probably why I felt so guilty. Mirmulnir could have been good… he just didn't know how.

The eye of the dragon widened a bit, and suddenly, he started to talk in the common tongue. "A Dragonborn that doesn't want to kill dragons." He chuckled. "I would have not expected this."

I could feel his heart starting to lose power. He would not last long. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Replied Mirmulnir, closing his eye. "This is the way of the Dovah."

And with that, he exhaled his last breath. Mirmulnir, a dragon that had survived since the Merethic Era if not more, died on the field of Whiterun.

"Loki, did he call you Dragon-"

Thormund question was cut short when the strange white-orange-blue energy that I supposed what the soul of Mirmulnir started to flow outside his body and converge in me. On instinct, I tried to remove my hand, but I found myself paralyzed. At the same moment, a terrible headache, similar to the one I felt the first time I heard a Shout but even stronger, started to hammer my head. Overwhelmed, I grabbed my face with my free hand and started to scream.

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.5

Fortunately, like the first time I heard a Shout, the headache didn't last long. Still, the difference between the two was comparable to trying to eat an entire cow instead of just a very large steak. I felt like my brain was bloating, trying to contain all the information I was absorbing from the dragon, pushing on the inside of the skull. Shouts, for all their power, were limited: they only contained the information regarding the three words that composed them, and not much else.

Dragons didn't work like that. By having an intrinsic understanding of the Dovahzul, and so an intrinsic understanding of how Shouts worked -even if not all dragons had the ability or the motivation to learn all the secrets of their own language, like not everyone had a passion for grammar and wordplay- they had a fundamentally different vision of reality compared to most other races. And I say most because I'm not sure how lesser deadra worked. For dragons, reality was a sandbox, and they could pierce its deepest secrets with trivial ease, which was not their most impressive attribute just because they had the strongest willpower I had ever seen in any living creature. Not even Dremora Lords were this mentally resilient, the reason why I didn't even try to use my magical powers to confuse their minds. The sheer depth of knowledge and understanding Mirmulnir, a comparatively low-level dragon, had in regards to the nature of Mundus was staggering, and my human brain simply couldn't handle that much information.

So, the power of the Dragonborn did me a solid and made my brain better.

I can't really explain what happened there if not in those terms. One second, I had a splitting headache as my brain was unable to process all the information the dragon soul was trying to give me. Then, something clicked, and all of that was quietly absorbed and archived away for when it was going to be useful.

The moment that happened, my mind was suddenly clear. Everything was, really. My ability to feel and use magicka was better. My processing speed was better: I could literally think faster. My senses were sharper, or more likely, my mind was more able to process all the input I received from them. No such luck for my ability to actually act faster, but I already used several tricks to push my speed at the limits of what my body was able to handle. Miraculous as this could be, apparently the dragon soul didn't improve my body beyond its innate limits, whatever they were by Elder Scroll logic.

I blinked several times to push away the phantom pain and the confusion from my sudden mental improvement. To focus, I looked at the body of Mirmulnir. It was still mostly there. He didn't exactly disappear like in the games: that was probably a shortcut the developers had put to not have to create several different models for every dragon corpse.

Of course, being mostly there didn't mean it was completely fine. Mirmulnir was now just a dried husk of the mighty dragon it once was. It looked like someone had mummified him. Which was fine by me: I needed the scales for my armor. I sent the corpse on the mountain into my personal plane of existence with a thought.

Damn it, casting spells was so easy now. I mean, I already knew that, on a theoretical level. Dragons, despite what people thought by looking at Skyrim, were more than able to use magic, and were pretty good at it too. After all, Dragon Priests had to learn their sick magic skills from somewhere, and I doubted the paranoid Dovah would let their servants be better at them in something as vital as magic. It was just that, most of the time, they didn't bother to use it during a battle because for them Shouting was as natural as breathing, and often had better results than casting spells. I was pretty high on the list of the greatest mages of Tamriel, and I couldn't create a spell that was able to out-damage a full power Fire Breath without spending an absurd amount of magicka. It was simply more efficient for almost every combat-related situation aside from long-range bombardment and utility.

The moment the remains of Mirmulnir disappeared, Thormund talked.

"He called you Dragonborn." He said, his tone strangely flat.

I looked at the space where the dragon was just a second before. "Yeah."

"You knew?" He asked, still flat as a board.

"I strongly suspected it." I replied truthfully. "It explained how I could learn things so fast and how I could use Shouts without years of training. But I was not sure… probably because I didn't really want to be the Dragonborn."

"Why not?" Asked Thormund, finally showing an emotion -confusion, in this case- at my words.

"Because now I know I have to be the hero of this story, or Tamriel is in danger. I didn't want that responsibility." I sighed. "I hoped until the last moment it was not me and my powers were just a product of my arrival in this dimension. Alas, that was not how things went."

Thormund didn't say anything for a while. "Seems like we are both stuck with duties we didn't really want." He finally said. I chuckled at that.

"It seems that's the case, yes. C'mon, we have to take you to Whiterun."

"Do you have enough magicka for travel, my friend? You threw some pretty powerful spells during the fight."

"Don't worry. I still have some reserves. I will need to rest before getting everywhere else though."

We returned where the wounded were gathered. A lot of them, as they saw us, started to murmur things like 'He absorbed the dragon soul', 'he's the Dragonborn' and similar, but they were much more worried about their wounds than my apparent status.

"Is this all of them?" I asked at Irileth.

"Yes. All the ones that survived. But most won't see tomorrow if they don't get healing immediately."

"Then let's get some healers." I replied, snapping my fingers and opening a portal right in front of the temple of Kyraneth. "Go. I can maintain the portal for a while, if you want to recover the bodies, but be quick. Even I can't maintain a portal like this for long."

While the wounded were transported away, I looked up to the Throat of the World, questioning when the Greybeards were going to call. After all, I had made ample use of my Thu'um, and for people able to sense the whispers of the Words of Power across all Skyim, it was impossible to not notice blatant use of Shouts right under their nose. Maybe they were discussing what to do?

Well, there seemed to be a storm gathering over High Hrothgar, and the legends said that something similar happened when Talos was nominated for Ysmir.

Turned out, I now had enough magic in the tank to let them take all the wounded to Whiterun, get the bodies of the ones that didn't make it, and even cast an area healing spell on the wounded while I was there. Not a very strong heal, even I had limits, and besides, it was enough to not let them die in a minute or two.

"It seems we can't do anything more for them." Said Irileth. "Come. We have to report the fight to Jarl Baalgruf."

A little winded by all the magic I had to use and… well, by the fight, I just nodded. Thormund and Fenrir moved to follow us, but I stopped them. "Rest, you two. I'm going to return soon."

As we tried to move, the entire city was shaken by a shout.

"Dov. Ah. Kiin!" Came the sound of the Greybeard, calling for the last Dragonborn.

And there was the call from the Greybeards. Well, everything according to the plan. More or less.

"What was that?" Asked Irileth.

"The Greybeards are calling me." I replied. "But it's something for another time. Let's meet Jarl Baalgruuf first."

Up to the stairs and inside Dragonsreach, we met Jarl Baalgruf and gave him the report.

"So? Is the dragon dead?" He asked when we returned.

"Yes, my lord. We had casualties, but we managed to defeat him."

"Good, good. Did something unusual happen?"

"I devoured the dragon's soul when he died." I somberly replied. Dammit, it still hurt. "I'm the Dragonborn. The Greybeards called for me."

Baalgruuf didn't say anything for several seconds.

"Irileth? Is that true?" He finally asked.

"I don't know about it." She replied. "But he seemed to absorb some kind of energy from the defeated dragon. He also screamed when that happened."

"I would like to see you receive all the knowledge of a creature born during the Dawn Era and not have a headache." I replied, but without any bite in my voice.

"So your vision was true. The Dragonborn did come against the dragon." Said Baalgruf. "Very well. Loki Andreasson, for your help in defeating the dragon, I'll name you Thane of Whiterun. It's the greatest honorific I can give you."

I just nodded.

"I will also give you a weapon for my personal armory. Later, though. The Thunderer?"

"Alive, if hurt." I replied. "He did more to kill the dragon than everyone else. He managed to knock him down with a single strike… but the dragon's retaliation was fierce."

"I see. A good thing he survived. Skyrim needs men like him."

I agreed, so I didn't say anything.

"As for you, I'll suggest you see the Greybeards immediately. You can't just ignore a convocation to High Hrothgar. It's a great honor."

"I'm aware, but I fear it will have to wait until Thormund and Fenrir recover. A couple of days should be enough. I'll use that time to upgrade my equipment using the scales of the dragon."

"I can't say I don't understand your desire to be better protected. But don't make the Greybeards wait too long."

I nodded and dismissed myself.

True to my word, I waited a couple of days before getting to High Hrothgar. I waited until Fenrir and Thormund healed -or to be more precise, waited until the healing I gave them every day completely healed them- and meanwhile, I took the hide of Mirmulnir to do something that you couldn't really do in the game. Namely, instead of crafting the light armor of the game -which was not light in real life, because thick scales tended to weigh a lot- I crafted something different. Using some scales, but mostly the hide of the wings, I created what could be called a dragonscale robe. Basically a mage robe, but made from dragon hide and some scales as protection, especially around the chest, the shoulders, and the back of the head, using a hood to keep it light. To protect my face, I planned to use a Dragonpriest mask.

Not wanting to use Morokei's one, I just crafted one from dragon bones, making sure it looked different from the old Dragonpriest ones. It was far more plain, to begin with. Just a plain, undecorated plate to cover my face, with two holes for my eyes. I could enchant it, but I didn't have time for that. So, the day before meeting the Greybeards, I sold the moonstone armor that had accompanied me for all that time.

Truth to be told, this new armor was not exactly as good as the other one in terms of protection. It was made of better materials, but their construction made them less able to actually repel blows from weapons, even if the more flexible material would probably help against blunt trauma. Still, it was almost as good, probably better in regards to absorbing magical attacks, and a little lighter… and was also far easier to travel around with, and a lot less noisy. It also kept me warm. So, worse in protection but better in general. The same protection as a solid steel plate with all the weight of heavy clothes. Once I was going to enchant it, it would give me a perfect utility and travel armor. The heavy armor will need more time, unfortunately, but even with my ability with blacksmithing, I couldn't simply churn out a heavy set of armor in a couple of days. I needed to select the bones and the scales out of the best pieces and use them to give me the maximum amount of protection. It would require time… and right now, I didn't have that time.

So, when I got out from Jorrvask -the Companions had offered me a room while I was there- Thormund sent me an impressed and somewhat fearful look.

"You really look like a Dragon Priest." He said.

I smiled… which was something that was visible just because I decided to not don the mask and the hood right now. "What can I say? They were tyrants, but they had style. Besides, there is little I can do to stop dragonscale armor to look like their ceremonial vest. I'm pretty sure that they decorated them with scales on purpose. You know, for the whole 'servant of the dragons' thing."

Thormund chuckled. "I suppose that's true." He then turned serious. "Are you sure you want me to come with you to the Greybeards? They didn't call me."

I smiled at the giant. "Thormund, we started this adventure together. Well, not really, we met the second day, but you were the one that went along with my crazy schemes all the way through. You're the one I asked to do everything I could not to help Skyrim. So you're going to come with me, you're going to meet the Greybeards, and they're going to accept your presence there, because I'm not going to do this without you… and without the Greybeards giving you free reign on using the Thu'um. Granted, I could technically give the permission myself and they will -probably- get along with it. Tiber Septim did found a school for Tongues, even if they were mostly scammers, so I think they're not going to stop me from teaching you the Thu'um… but I will prefer to have their approval anyway. Don't you agree?"

Thormund smiled back. "Yes, it would be better that way. Very well, friend. Let's go."

As he said that, I opened the portal, and with just a step, we were on the other side… at Ivarstead.

"This is not High Hrothgar." Commented Thormund. Fenrir, meanwhile, was looking around and smelling the air.

"No, it's not. This is Ivarsted, where the Seven Thousand Steps begins." I looked at the mountain. "Normally I would portal directly there, but just the first time, I wanted to do it the proper way."

Thormund nodded solemnly. "I see. I approve of this choice, friend Loki. You may not be a Nord, but nobody can say that you don't respect our traditions."

"Thanks, Thormund. Now, let's start. The way is long and there are a couple of monsters on it. Better get moving."

And so, the three of us started to climb the Seven Thousand Steps. The march was long, if not particularly difficult. There were some predators on the way, like a sabertooth tiger that Fenrir took care of and the infamous Frost troll, that died like a bitch when Thormund caved his skull in with a hammer blow and I burned his body just to be sure. Never underestimate the troll's ability to regenerate.

So, after a lot of trekking, we finally arrived on top of the mountain, where the monastery stood, almost challenging the icy wind of the top of the Throat of the World… but at the same time, emanating a calm aura, like there was only contemplation and peace in this place, above mortal concerns. Which was actually pretty much what happened there. I can't say that I agree with the Greybeards policy of separating themselves from the world, but I never had rogue Tongues shaking the world and launching wars of conquest every year, so maybe I just lacked the perspective to appreciate the wisdom of the old masters of the Voice. Alas, one thing I agreed with them was that the Thu'um was not a weapon of war. It was enough for me to not question the rest of their philosophy.

"So this is High Hrothgar." Said Thormund. "It's… peaceful."

"Yeah." I said. "Let's go. And don't mention what I said to the Greybeards. They're… protective of their master. Me too."

Thormund nodded. While we were climbing the mountain, I took my time to explain the various tablets near the Seven Thousand steps to him… including the various details, like who the hell was Paarthurnax. He had taken the news that the leader of the Greybeards was a dragon pretty well. Apparently, in his mind, if he had helped his ancestors to win the Dragon Wars and then passed all his time since the Merethic Era to meditate on the peak of the Throat of the World and teach the Greybeards, he was cool. Of course, he didn't say it in that way but the meaning was the same.

Together, we reached the metal doors of High Hrothgar and entered inside the building. The place was… austere, to say the least, and scarcely decorated. After all, the Greybeards were basically monks that went to the peak of the world to separate themselves from the worries and problems of the mundane world to better meditate on the worlds of a language that could alter reality. Having a pompous and opulent monastery was kind of beside the point. Real-world monasteries were better decorated, but real-world monasteries were supposed to have visitors on a semi-regular basis. Nobody came to High Hrothgar if not to become a Greybeard.

When I finally stopped to look around -because the place being generally undecorated didn't stop it from being very cool- I saw a Greybeard approach me.

To tell the truth, most of the time I knew who was who simply because I remembered the game. The faces I saw in the game, despite being more realistic than the ones of Oblivion, were not always completely accurate.

That said, I recognized instantly the old master Arngeir.

"So… a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of an age."

"Yes." I said, doing something I never did before. I kneeled in front of the Greybeard. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Arngeir. Please, teach me."

Last edited: Nov 11, 2020

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.6

Arngeir smiled. "Rise, young man. You don't need to kneel. We are honored to have a Dragonborn among us." He paused, then nodded to Thormund. "And his companion, of course."

"Thank you, master." I said, standing. "Speaking of my companion, I found that he is talented in the Way of the Voice. I hope that you don't mind if I showed him how to wield a Shout. I'm afraid I hate seeing a gift being wasted."

The brows of Arngeir rose high. "A surprise, this one. Alas, you're the Dragonborn. Our rules don't apply to you, and if you see fit share your understanding of the Thu'um with someone else, we won't stop you. I would ask, however, your stance on the use of the Thu'um."

I didn't have to think long to find an answer. "The Voice is a wonderful thing." I replied. "It grants insight into the true nature of the world. As such, it should not be used to destroy and kill." I sighed. "In a perfect world, that's it. Unfortunately, the world is far from perfect. I understand why the Greybeards decided to retire here, and why meditation and contemplation of the divine is so important… but I don't agree with that decision. I think that the Voice should be taught to whoever has the talent for it, and together with that, the responsibility that its power brings." I shook my head. "But even then, I fear the possibilities of people abusing it… there is no good answer to that, I'm afraid."

Arngeir smiled at me. "I see that you have wisdom in you, young man. Yes, I understand why a younger person, one that still wants to do something and leave a mark in the world, would think that the Voice should be taught more widely." He nodded. "And who knows? Maybe you're right. Maybe we're just old men bound by old traditions. Alas, you are the Dragonborn, so if you decided that's what you want to do, we will not stop you."

"Thank you, master."

"It's not a problem. Now, forgive my terrible manners, but we don't have a lot of visitors here: what are your names?"

"I'm Loki Andreasson." I said. "My companion is Thormund the Thunderer, while the wolf is Fenrir."

"Arf!" Greeted Fenrir, while Thormund went for a more formal bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Said Arngeir. "Now, if you want to follow me."

We followed him without a word, and he got us in the middle of the monastery, in total silence. Once we were in a relatively wide room, the trials began.

They were the exact same trials like the one in the game, so nothing interesting. Just Shouting some spectral images to show off my understanding of the Thu'um.

"Incredible." Murmured Arngeir. "I heard of the powers of a Dragonborn, but to see it with my eyes."

"It's nothing special, master. I started to use the Unrelenting Force since the start of my adventure… several months ago."

"Ah, so you were the cause of all those echoes we felt across Skyrim." Smirked the Greybeard. "It happens sometimes that we feel a Shout be used, but it's usually the work of some incautious adventurer that wakes the draugr. But those incidents happened too frequently in the last months to be a coincidence."

"I didn't use my Thu'um so often." I replied. "I did, however, disturb the draugr, and a lot of them knew how to use the Voice."

"And it is from them that you learned the Words of power." Nodded Arngeir. "Of course. The ability of the Dragonborn to learn the language of the Dragon is just astounding."

"I'm still far from being compared to you, master."

"I wouldn't say so. While your knowledge of the various Words is incomplete, you have a very precise Thu'um. Most people take years to reach the level of control you possess."

"That's, unfortunately, not thanks to my studies."

"No, it's because you're the Dragonborn. Still, once you have learned all the Words we can teach you, you'll be one of the greatest Tongue that ever lived." He nodded. "Now, you just have the last trial. You have to…"

"Reach the tomb of Juren Windcaller, the founder of your order, and retrieve his horn." I finished, already starting to prepare a portal for the tomb in question.

Arngeir blinked in surprise.

"You'll have to get used to this, master Arngeir." Said Thormund. "Loki knows a lot of things about the future and the present."

Arngeir looked at me with surprise. "And how did you manage to learn them?"

"An Elder Scroll." I said. "Now, can I have the location of the tomb? I would like to make it short."

"Of course." Replied Arngeir, giving me the location. "We'll wait for you here."

"Very well. Stay here you two." I said, looking at Fenrir and Thormund. "I'll be back in an hour, tops. Besides, there is nothing dangerous in the tomb. You can stay here and talk with Arngeir about the Thu'um…" I turned toward the Greybeard. "If that's ok with you, master Arngeir."

"I don't see why not." Replied the old Nord. "It has been a while since we had disciples. Even if you will follow a different path to ours, I would like to explain to you why we decided to meditate here."

Thormund bowed. "It will be my honor to be taught by you."

"Auurf?" Asked Fenrir, but I just patted him on the head.

"Not this time, bud. Stay here until I'm done."

Fenrir didn't look happy at all, but nodded and gave me a lick before I teleported away.

Of course, the reason I wanted them away was not to make them rest or for Thormund to learn more about the Way of the Voice. It was mostly because I didn't want them to know about Delphine. I didn't like her, but that didn't mean she couldn't have some use.

Anyway, that had to wait. I needed to clear the tomb of Jurgen Windcaller first.

…

What? Just because I knew the horn was not there, it didn't mean I was not going to ge there. There was the first Word of the Become Ethereal Shout there, and I wanted that shit because it was the most powerful defensive Shout I could think of… if with a little luck, it worked differently from normal intangibility. It should, because the Shout, from what I remembered, worked by removing someone's presence from reality, so it was a little different from being 'simply' incorporeal or having a spirit form. That made it ten thousand times more useful than any spell of intangibility, spirit-form, or astral travel I could perform right now, because there were ways to bypass those spells. There was no way, to my knowledge, to bypass Become Ethereal.

That, and… another thing.

The tomb was a relatively easy dungeon. I was not sure why there were monsters inside, to tell the truth, but they were not a lot anyway and mostly were skeletons and spiders… so probably they came up recently. I doubted the Greybeards cleaned up the place a lot, so it was not out of the question that the Undead inside were victims of the other dangers inside the tomb.

Anyway, after I cleared the way and learned the first Word of the Become Ethereal Shout -Feim, Fade- I reached the tomb of the old Jurgen Windcaller and, after taking Delphine's letter, I promptly burned it on one of the braziers of the room. I didn't need to read it anyway… I was there for another reason.

I hesitated before putting my hand on the tomb of Jurgen Windcaller. In the game, it gave you a dragon soul. Of course, it was just bullshit. Jurgen Windcaller was not a dragon and could not give a dragon soul… but that was not an issue. In the game, both the greybeards and Paarthurnax could share their knowledge of a Word without giving the Dragonborn their literal souls. Heck, the Greybeard just did that not even half an hour ago, by granting me the knowledge of the second Word of the Whirlwind Sprint, Nah, Fury. I was 90% sure it was a Word for another Shout, but that was irrelevant. Point was, the coffin, if touched, granted a dragon soul, which was probably a shortcut to indicate that Jurgen gave you his knowledge of the Feim Word, so you could use Become Ethereal instantly.

Of course, I didn't need that since I was plenty able to learn the meaning of Feim from the Word Wall, so I was not sure what I was going to receive from the coffin… if I was going to get anything at all.

But it couldn't be anything bad, so I shrugged and touched the stone coffin.

A rush of knowledge flooded my mind and I received the knowledge of Jurgen Windcaller. Compared to the almost alien information I received from Milmunir, this knowledge was far more… normal. Deep knowledge of how the Thu'um was used by mortals -which helped me, because despite all I was not able to Shout indefinitely like dragons could- secrets of the craft that probably only the Greybeards knew, and… a lot of skill at sweet-talking, apparently. Uh. Not surprising from the guy who convinced all the other Tongues of his time to follow the Way of the Voice, but still unexpected. Well, I didn't need it -my Illusion trick was leagues better than this- but appreciated nonetheless.

So, after I grabbed everything I needed from the tomb, I teleported to Riverwood, where Delphine was waiting for me.

Only to find a couple of cultists in the middle of the town.

Goddamit… they probably arrived at Skyrim recently, sailing from Solstheim when the Greybeard called me. If I didn't wait for Thormund and Fenrir to recover, I could have avoided them… but whatever. I was going to meet them anyway soon or later.

I sighed. Better now than later, at least.

Anyway, I tried to ignore them. That was the very least I could do. Unfortunately, while wearing an armor made of dragon scales, I was just a little noticeable.

"Hey, you." Said one of the cultists. "Are you the one the Greybeards call Dragonborn?"

Mentally sighing again, I replied. "And what if I am?"

"Then you'll die- Urgh!"

I didn't let him finish. I just materialized my dragonbone sword in my hand and thrusted. The cultist robes were not armor by any stretch of the imagination, even if the bony mask probably counted as one. Unfortunately for him, the mask didn't cover his neck a lot, so when my sword darted toward his throat, I found almost no resistance.

The second cultist, a woman for what I could tell, tried to send a war cry and use her magic, but I just took a page from Papa Vader and grabbed her neck with telekinesis, before snapping it with a pretty loud clack.

"Was that necessary?" Asked Hod the blacksmith, as he reached me.

"They had just proclaimed they were going to kill me." I replied. "I think that's enough justification."

"I suppose so." Sighed the Nord. "Any idea who sent them?"

"Oh, I know well enough. But I don't have time for him right now. I'll deal with Miraak and his cult later." I replied, before shaking my head. "Well, not that much later. Glad to see you, Hod."

"Same, Loki. Hadvar and Ralof?"

"I didn't see them. They're still fighting in the civil war, I suppose." I sighed. "Well, now I have to go. If you hear screams coming from the inn, it's all normal."

The blacksmith sent me a strange look, but he didn't dare to insist. "As you say."

I sent him a nod and then entered inside the inn.

Normally, at this point, you would have to go to Delphine, tell her a bullshit phrase, something about an attic or something, and then she would take you to her secret basement and explain to you the situation. Literally.

Me being me, I decided 'fuck this shit' and just entered inside the building.

Now, despite what Hod would think, I was not going to kill anyone. I was just going to enter the room and open the secret passage, forcing Delphine to talk with me at my conditions. Because if there was something I hated, was a smug bitch that thought she could order around the fucking Dragonborn. The only reason I tolerated her in the game was that I had no other choice, but since I was very, very powerful right now, and at the end of it she didn't do shit and didn't have anything to force me to listen to her shit, I had no intention of playing her game.

So I just marched toward Delphine's room.

"Hey, you cannot…" Came a voice, but I ignored her and entered the room, where I swiftly invaded the wardrobe. Reaching it in a couple of steps, I opened it with a flick of magic and then looked at the plank of wood in front of me. In the game, you couldn't open it no matter how good you were at lockpicking, but here…

"Seriously, you can't-"

Delphine's voice halted when my hand shone white and the fake rear opened, revealing a stair that went down to the hidden basement. I turned toward her.

"I think it's better if you lock the door."

Delphine, showing a surprising amount of common sense, got out of the room to tell the owner of the inn that she was going to be busy for a while and then returned, closing the door behind her.

Meanwhile, I was already inside the hidden basement, quietly waiting for her to join me.

"Alright, now you are going to tell me-"

"Shut up." I blocked her, and Delphine recoiled like I just slapped her in the face. I should have expected that miss 'I'm important and you will listen to me' would be deeply offended by the absolute zero fucks in my voice. "I'm not here to tell you anything. I'm just here for the horn."

The ex-Blade looked at me for several seconds, and I replied with a thoroughly annoyed look. Finally, she relaxed.

"Ah, so you are fabled Dragonborn." She said. "Sure, here, have your horn. We're friends here."

She took the horn out from… somewhere, and gave it to me.

Only when I had the horn in my hand I replied. "I doubt we're really friends." I replied, making the horn disappear in my dimensional bag. "And I doubt you're willing to help me anyway."

"No, it's not true. I want to discover where the dragons come from too." She replied.

"I already know. They're being resurrected by Alduin." I casually said. "So, no, I don't want to know where the dragons come from. Try again."

Delphine stuttered. "Alduin? Are you sure? The Thalmor-"

"The Thalmor have nothing to do with this." I stopped her again, and again she recoiled. "But you don't have to believe me, of course. You can just ask Esbern."

"Esbern?" Blinked Delphine. "He's… he's alive? How?"

I shrugged. "No clue. You should ask him. He's somewhere inside the Ratway, under Riften. You can ask the Thieves Guild to help you. Ask for Kayleen, and tell them that Loki Andreasson sends you."

Delphine remained silent for a while. "I can't. The Thalmor are still searching for me."

"Not my problem."

"Please! This is important! You need to-"

"I don't need to do anything." I hissed, starting to get really annoyed. "Let me put this in a way you can understand. You are not important, Delphine, and I don't need you. Not for finding out where the dragons come from, not for defeating them, and not for the Blades in general. You are done. You fucked up and the Thalmor killed you all, well, it's your fault, not mine. So, if you want me to help you in any capacity, it's better for you to think of a way you can help me."

The last words sounded… a little too powerful, and shook the room. It had never happened before, but apparently, if I got annoyed enough, my control over my own Voice tended to slip. Good to know.

Delphine, on her part, looked absolutely petrified. I was not sorry. She was an insufferable bitch and I didn't like her. Besides, everything I said was true. They fucked up and got massacred, and I was not going to help them reform when they already proved to be inefficient, stubborn, and shortsighted. If Delphine wanted my help, she would have to earn it.

"What do you want?" She finally asked.

I sighed. "Time." I replied, my voice tired. "Fucking time. There is a group of vampires that's trying to blow out the sun, an ancient Dragonborn ready to return, and the fucking World-Eater resurrecting dragons left and right to conquer Tamriel once again."

Delphine didn't say anything.

"For now, I don't really need anything from you." I continued. "After, when Alduin is defeated… maybe. As things are now… the location of where that dragon is buried should be enough for me to consider helping you."

Delphine blinked. "You… want to go there?"

"Yes." I replied. "I know you wanted to use the dragon to make me show off my Dragonborn powers, but honestly, it's too close to civilians for me to just ignore him. So we are going to get there, and I'll see if I can convince the dragon to not attack. If I can't… well, I'll have to deal with him, unfortunately.

Delphine continued to remain silent for a while. "And Esbern?"

I thought about it for a couple of seconds. "I think I can ask my friend to collect him, so to speak. We just need something that will convince that paranoid old geezer to listen to her… you want something like that, right? A battle?"

Delphine looked at me like I was a ghost. "How do you know all of this?"

"It's a long story." I replied. "So? What I have to say?"

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.7

After requesting Kayleen to recover Esbern and passing down the message to convince the old fucker to leave his bunker -with a couple of instructions on what to say to clue the old man on the situation- we teleported to… Kynesgrove, I think. There, we started to walk toward the old burial mound on the top of the hill. Of course, the first thing I noticed was people running away from the town.

"Don't go there!" Shouted a guy. "There is-!"

"A dragon, I know." I said, ignoring the guy. "Where is he?"

The man shakily pointed at the hill and ran.

After a minute of march, we finally arrived at the top of the hill, just a couple of seconds before Alduin decided to descend and started to shout.

"Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse! Slen Tiid Vo!"

I decided to try to remember that Shout, in case I found a way to avoid devouring the souls of other dragons and so, I managed to resurrect them. It would be useful… in the future.

Completely ignoring my thoughts, the dragon skeleton that emerged from the tomb shouted back to Alduin while flesh and scales returned to cover his bones. "Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?"

"Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir." Confirmed the Harbinger of the End of Times. Then, suddenly, he noticed me and Delphine. "Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi. You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah. Sahloknir, krii daar joorre."

I had half an idea of telling him to fuck off in Dovahzul -killing Mirmulnir had greatly increased my understanding of the language- but Alduin decided to fuck off on his own, quickly flying away in the sky, probably to resurrect some other dragon somewhere, so I was locked into a fight with Sahloknir.

Or was I?

"Stop, brother!" I told him in Dovahzul.

The dragon narrowed his eyes, but I managed to stop him from attacking us… for now.

"You're no brother of mine, mortal!" He replied.

"What are you doing!?" Asked Delphine.

I shut her up with a Silence spell. "Silence. I'm trying to negotiate." I hissed to her, before returning to talk with the dragon. "I'm not your brother? But I'm the Dragonborn, and as such, I possess the soul of a Dov, given to me by father Akatosh. Doesn't that make us brothers?"

The dragon didn't reply, but he didn't seem to be particularly placated. So, I decided to quickly add.

"Just listen to my proposition. If you'll find it unsatisfying, then we'll resume the fight."

The dragon snorted. "Fine. I'll humor you, little man. Speak. What do you want?"

I smiled and started to talk. I briefly took into consideration to use my Illusion trick to increase my chances of convincing the dragon… but I decided not to. Just in case he could tell what I was doing.

"Very well. I'll have you to know that I already killed a Dovah, and I didn't like to do it. I know, I know." I said, noticing Sahloknir starting to mouth a reply. "It's difficult to believe. But it's true. So, instead of fighting you to death, I want you to take into consideration a… different form of conflict."

Sahloknir narrowed his eyes again, clearly intrigued. Fighting the Dragonborn was, of course, a really dangerous task for a dragon. In case you lost, your soul was done. No Alduin returning to bind your spirit to your old body again. You were just done… and Sahloknir, having just being resurrected, probably didn't want to die.

"And how do you propose we do this?" Asked the dragon.

I smiled… even if he probably couldn't tell since I had my mask on. "Very simply. We debate, like you Dov usually do. The one with the strongest Voice wins… and the one who loses will have to do as the winner said."

Sahloknir seemed to take into consideration the proposal. "I have to admit, your words sound appealing… but Alduin ordered me to kill you."

"And if I lose, you will do it." I smoothly replied. "But if I win, I'll just ask you to not fight me again, and to pass me the knowledge of a Shout I don't possess." I paused. "I hope you understand that if we fight to the death, there will be not only Voice, but magic and blades against you. Your chances are much higher if you just decide to use your Voice."

Sahloknir seemed to take into consideration my proposal. He really did. And after a while…

"Your idea has merit." He admitted. "But if I fight and don't kill you, Alduin is going to kill me. Maybe you're powerful, Dragonborn, but you're still no match for my lord."

Mmm… that was a fair enough reasoning. "So we're going to kill each other?"

"Fo. Krah. Diin!" Was the dragon's reply, a wall of frost erupting from his mouth.

It was a good thing that I had learned the way to 'swallow' a Shout, right?

"Fo. Krah. Diin." I replied, focusing my willpower not on expelling the Shout outward, but on becoming one with the Shout… or something like that.

The end result? When the Frost Breath reached me, the icy power that infused it passed harmlessly over me.

The dragon's eyes widened in shock when I emerged from the attack unscathed. "Well, I tried." I said. "Come, Jourmungard!"

No pussyfooting this time. I channeled all the magicka I could into his summoning… and I was repaid by the absolutely massive size of my snake. Not quite… 'World Serpent' class, but big enough that he could easily crush a T. Rex on his grip. The absolutely humongous snake hissed against the dragon, his size easily overshadowing the dragon's own.

I think I saw a glint of regret in Sahloknir eyes.

"Stop him from flying!" I ordered… and the snake darted forward like the world's biggest projectile. That was going to be a real clash of titans.

The impact between the dragon and the enormous snake was loud enough that I was sure someone in Whiterun had taken notice, but despite the advantage of size, Sahloknir proved to be… well, a better fighter. He countered the sudden charge by anticipating the attack and biting the neck of Jormungard with all the strength he possesses… but the massive snake's scales were as tough as the one of the dragons, even if probably not as able to repel magic. The fangs of the Dovah found their target, but failed to pierce and slid over the massive creature.

The next second, Jourmungard has coiled itself around the dragon, stopping him from flying. He then tried to sink his fangs in the neck of the dragon, but… well, he didn't achieve that much.

That put me into a corner though. Sahloknir was locked into a grappling contest with Jormungard, and the best way to kill it was probably to use magic or Shouts… but those had the not-insignificant possibility to hurt Jourmungard. Considering the damn thing was the only reason the dragon couldn't fly and started to blast both me and Delphine from the distance, I was not ready to unwittingly kill him with massive use of magic. That was also considering that I didn't have that much magicka because… well, I had to summon Jourmungard, no? That had taken its toll. So, I limited myself to grabbing my sword and charging… Delphine right behind me.

Since the giant snake that was currently crushing him had taken most of his focus, Sahloknir didn't give me and Delphine much attention until my sword sank deeply in his skin, right on his shoulder. The dragon roared and trashed… then, without pause, he Shouted.

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

The Shout tore the air itself, slamming Jourmungard on its belly and forcing him away from the dragon. Sahloknir used that occasion to place his left wing on the snake's throat and push him away from himself, obtaining a minimum of breath from his coils.

That only meant that I could hit him easily with my magic.

A spear of lightning strong enough to pierce through a fortress wall slammed against the side of the dragon's head with all the fury of a thousand storms, tearing the air and making the dragon scream. There were not a lot of things that could make a dragon scream in pain, but apparently, my magic was among them.

Sahloknir tried to fight back, but he probably understood that he was screwed. There was no way he could…

"Uznahgaar. Unahzaal. Laas."

Unbridled Unending Life? What the hell…?

The answer to my question was answered when the wounds on his scales started to heal in front of my eyes. A… regenerative Shout? Really? That was… very cool!

My awe had to take the backseat because, with a yank and another push to Jourmungard, Sahloknir freed himself from the grasp of my titanic friend and, with a flap of his wings, he took the fly, leaving us on the ground to eat dust. While he did that, I heard him Shout another time.

"Vokri. Kopraan. Laas."

Restore Body… Son of a bitch!"

The dragon circled around us, the wounds completely disappearing. Goddammit. Not only a regenerative Shout, a healing Shout too? That made killing him very, very difficult. But while he was healing, at least, he was not attacking… not that this was of any consolation, since our current heaviest hitter, Jourmungard, couldn't attack either. He needed to be closer.

Not that it stopped me from attacking. Another lightning spear got thrown against the dragon, hitting him square into the chest but failing to do as much damage as it should have. Shit. Empiric evidence now showed a simple truth. The best way to hurt a dragon… was to use a Shout. My shock Shout had killed Mirmulnir when I had hit him. Of course, he was already wounded from the previous fight and he was running, so he was probably pretty banged up and I just gave him the final blow. But still, my magic was failing at killing Sahloknir at the same speed. I needed to use my Shouts for this…

Speaking of him, Sahloknir suddenly jerked mid-air, pointing toward us.

"Get ready!" I said, charging my spell. Delphine hurried behind me, while Jourmungard coiled himself up around me, probably half for protecting me and a half to protect himself.

"Fo. Krah. Diin!"

A wall of frost charged at us, the dragon ready to freeze us completely. I could have avoided it using my knowledge, but that would have not protected my companions. So, I raised my left hand and conjured a bubble of magical energy around us.

Previously, my protection had failed to save people from Mirmulnirs Fire Breath. I don't know if there was an intrinsic ability of the Shouts to ignore that type of defense or if it was just the sheer power behind the shouts that had completely overwhelmed them. I had however noticed that two particular types of protection had worked. A Fire Shield that had covered the soldiers in a thin veil of magic that absorbed part of the heat before dissipating, and a more mundane Ward… which just blocked physical attacks to begin with.

So, I combined them into a unique protection, and still, despite that, it was like being hit by an avalanche. A deadly cold seeped into my very being, trying to snuff out all the warmth I possessed. Even the air inside my lungs seemed to freeze. For a second, I thought I was going to die right there…

But then I didn't, and the moment passed, and I was pretty much fine. Covered with ice and probably freeze burns, but alive.

Then Jourmungard shot up.

Honestly, I had never seen anything like that. I would say that Jourmungard tried to jump, but of course, he couldn't do that, regardless of how immensely strong the snake could be. Still, he shot up, right through the frost death above us, almost two dozen meters in the air… and his fangs grabbed Sahloknir neck between them, before his powerful muscles started to pull.

Fortunately for us normal-sized mortals, the momentum of Sahloknir prevented him from falling on our heads. Instead, the dragon traveled for several meters before gravity -and Jourmungard- started to pull him down. When it did, he crashed down hard, opening a trench in the ground of the hill.

I instantly ran toward them, in time to see Jourmungard hissing furiously and biting the dragon in a frenzy. Apparently, he had just decided to go all-in. Good boy. I needed to help him, but I needed a targeted Shout that couldn't accidentally hit him… wait… I had something like that.

"Sosaal. Kopraan. Saqhol." I Shouted, remembering the flesh-rending power that the first Gauldurson used against me, while I ran toward the clashing titans. A section of scales behind the dragon's neck suddenly sprouted a lot of blood, and I decided to continue with my assault by putting my sword somewhere inside the dragon… but in the general chaos of the brawl, the only thing I obtained was to scratch one of Sahloknir scales.

I was lucky that Sahloknir was so busy fighting Jourmungard that he barely took notice of me. The giant snake was doing everything in his power to keep the dragon occupied and, more importantly, on the ground. Still, I needed to deal with Sahloknir fast, because the more the fight continued, the easier it became for the dragon to kill both of us.

With nothing better in mind, I decided to go for the best I could. I took a deep breath, aimed… and Shouted.

"Qo. Ronaaz. Nos."

The same lightning bolt that killed Mirmulnir shot out of my mouth and, more thanks to luck than to any aim on my part, hit Sahloknir in the head. The dragon roared even louder than before, a sign that I probably did a lot of damage to him… and then lashed out in pure anger, hitting me dead in the chest with his tail.

That at least is what they told me. Everything I remember is sky and heart suddenly deciding to swap place a few times, then the sky returning to his place with me having the vague sensation of having heard my ribs crack.

Still somehow conscious, I made to raise my hand and heal myself… when Delphine stopped me by grabbing my wrist.

"What…?" I asked, coughing the words out more than saying them.

"Be careful." She said, looking at me with worry. "Healing magic is handy, but if you mess up now, you'll find your ribs in the same position they're right now. Go slowly."

I blinked. Since I never faced injuries so dire during my entire adventure in Skyrim -plenty of lesser one, but not a lot of very dangerous one- that it was information that I had almost forgotten. I knew it, because it was something that I have been taught while I was at the College, and I previously used it on Fenrir and Thormund after the fight with Milmunir, but I forgot when I was hit because, until now, nothing ever managed to crack my ribcage, so I was not thinking straight.

"Thanks for the reminder." I gurgled out, slowly seeping magical power into my wounds and instantly feeling better. I was not healed, not by any stretch of the imagination, but at least the pain had receded, so I could fight at -almost- full capacity.

"Can you continue?" Asked Delphine.

"For now." I replied, already feeling the pain starting again. "Let's end this before the bastard can heal himself again."

And so we did. Just to be clear, Delphine was behind me all the time I fought Sahloknir… it's just that her attacks didn't do the same damage I did. Apparently, being the Dragonborn had some other effect outside just letting me learn Shouts fast, since I was piercing dragonhide with far more ease than her. Who was, technically speaking, a far more experienced warrior than me.

Now that I had inflicted a serious hit on the dragon, though, the fight was starting to turn in our favor. Evidently, my Shout had done something to him, because he was… dazed, I think. His attacks were less precise, like he had difficulty aiming or he couldn't see us very well. Maybe I just punched his brain hard enough that he was feeling dizzy. Whatever it was, he was clearly struggling to fight Joumungard, and while my scaly friend still had difficulties harming Sahloknir -dragons were tough bastards- he didn't look like he was going to free himself from his grip anytime soon.

It also helped that, instead of trying to tear his throat out, Jourmungard had decided to opt for strangling the shit out of him, which had the double bonus of stopping him from flying away and stopping him from breathing… and so Shouting.

And so the fight continued. Nothing outrageous happened for a while. Sahloknir was too busy trying to free himself from the coils of a snake that was two times his length and probably out-massed him by several tons to focus too much on the two little mortals that were puncturing him all over. On his part, Jourmungard received his fair share of wounds: Sahloknir didn't pull any punches to try to deal with him, especially because the belly was not as armored as the rest of his body. But in the end, the sheer size of Jourmungard stopped Sahloknir from easily dealing with him.

The situation started to get dangerous again when Sahloknir managed to free himself enough to blast Jourmungard with a Frost Breath right in the face. That slowed him down considerably, exactly like during the fight with the Frost Atronach, the first time I summoned him. The fight between the dragon and the World Serpent returned to a situation of almost stalemate with the dragon managing to free himself, then Jourmungard catching and starting to choke Sahloknir again while I and Delphine did our best to put our swords in his heart… while trying to avoid being crushed under the two titans. Actions that, I have to admit, we didn't do very well on some occasions. Still, we were winning.

Until, at last, Sahloknir managed to free himself for good, and took a deep breath. "Fus. Ro. Dah!"

Jourmungard was thrown away despite all the mass he had at his disposal. Not a lot, but enough to give the dragon a little space. Enough to let him spread his wings.

"Vokri-"

Motherfucker! Even as the Dragonborn, I had to wait at least some seconds after a Shout to start Shouting again. Apparently, this was not a limit for a true Dovah.

"Yol. Toor. Shuul!" I Shouted back, my throat starting to ache for all the times I Shouted. A jet of fire erupted from my mouth and, instead of cutting the words immediately, I dragged the last word, hoping to obtain a better result and kill this asshole once and for all.

I was rewarded when Sahloknir screamed. Not a roar, a scream, filled with pain. My fire wrapped against his figure, and he tried to get away, but still being on his hind legs, he didn't get away fast enough, and getting on his front legs would mean putting his head into the inferno. So he got all my fire on his torso, screaming while the fire devoured his skin and scales.

Then, after a good ten seconds of fire, I lost my breath and had to stop. Sahloknir remained immobile for an eternal second, his -admittedly- majestic figure frozen in the act of opening his wing… and then crashed on the side, the ground shaking from the impact.

Breathing heavily, I waited, half expecting him to rise and start to fight again. But nothing happened. He remained there, dead.

I still didn't relax until his soul started to pool out of his body and flowed into me.

The experience was… different, this time. Now that my brain could understand and incorporate most of the information inside a dragon's soul, the passage of information was smoother and more complete. I learned a lot of things. Sahloknir was one of the most faithful followers of Alduin… which made sense, with all that the World Eater had called him his champion. Despite this title, he was not particularly powerful in the Voice: he was just a very, very good and vicious fighter. His soul gave me information about fighting, memories of a thousand fights against other Dovah, and the profound knowledge of his specializations: restorative Shouts, made to outlast his opponents while he battered them with claws, fangs, and magic.

Exactly what I will need to survive the next battles.

"You… you really are the Dragonborn."

I glanced at Delphine, looking at me with awe and newfound respect. "Well, I told you."

"Yes, you did." She replied, before remaining silent for a while. I was already starting with the ritual that would have fixed my ribs so I could heal them properly when she continued. "What do we do now?"

"We?" I asked. "We don't do anything. I am going to return to the Greybeards. You are going to return to Riverwood. Esbern will come shortly. After that, well…" I frowned. "There is something that you can do. But it's something better left for another time."

"And I'll just wait for you to order me around?" She asked, a little hostility filtering in her voice.

Ah, there was the Delphine I remembered. Apparently, the respect she was willing to give me was far outstripped by her self-importance. "Yes." I replied coldly. "Unless you want to risk doing something stupid… and having me dealing with you."

Delphine flinched at the not so subtle threat, and made to tell me something, before Jourmngard very slowly surpassed her and coiled himself at my side. Goddammit, his head was taller than me.

She immediately stopped.

"Is that a problem?" I asked, just to put salt inside the wound. Jourmungard underlined the question with a hiss.

Delphine's jaw tensed. "This thing you mentioned… it has to do with the dragons?"

"Yes." I replied.

"And you assure me the Thalmor have nothing to do with them?"

"I think I already showed you that I know a lot about this. Yes, the Thalmor are uninvolved. Even if I think they're going to try to take advantage of their return."

The Blade nodded. "Yes, they will." She sent me a look. "What are you going to do now?"

"Stopping a crazy vampire lord from getting his hand on an artifact able to blow out the sun and cause an eternal night, stop the First Dragonborn from returning to Nirn, and then kick Alduin's ass." I replied. "I'll talk to you and Esbern about my plan when I find the time. I hope you don't mind. My schedule is pretty full at the moment."

"Alright." Said Delphine, while clearly not happy with the situation. "I'll go now. I suppose you can't…?"

"Open a portal?" I finished. "No, I need to use my magicka to heal myself and to reach High Hrothgar. But I have something for you anyway. Sleipnir!"

With a gust of wind, my deadric mount arrived, neighing loudly. He pawned, ready to go.

I smiled. "You want to run, uh? Sorry, I didn't call you a lot recently." I gestured toward Delphine. "Get her to Riverwood, and then I'll let you run all night. Deal?"

The Atronach neighed in assent and reached for Delphine. The woman didn't seem that convinced by the daedric steed, but with a little push, I was able to make her get on the damn thing.

"I'll wait for news, Loki." She said. "Meanwhile, good luck."

"You too." I said. Sleipnir reared back and then darted away, as fast as the wind.

Sighing, I patted Jourmungard on the head and then dismissed him so he could heal. Now, I just needed an hour, a place where to meditate, and maybe a little fire to stay warm.

I hoped that the people of Kynesgrove felt generous.

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.8

A couple of hours later, I managed to return to High Hrothgar with my ribs properly placed. I still had some problems breathing without pain spikes surging through my chest, but whatever. Now I could at least look like I wasn't grievously injured by a dragon.

The first to hear of my return was Fenrir, who immediately ran to me and started to lick my face.

"Argh, buddy, c'mon! I was not away for that long."

"Maybe not, but you were away for more than you said." Replied Thormund. "Did you face some problems?"

"Yeah." I admitted. "Dragon problems."

Thormund twitched. "Dragon problems?"

"It's a long story, and I'll tell you another time." I said, hoping to avoid the conversation for now. "Suffice to say it has been dealt with."

Thormund sighed, apparently placated. "Very well. If the dragon has been dealt with and you're not too hurt, I suppose there is nothing for me to say. Just… was it necessary for you to fight him?"

I scratched my beard. "No, not really. But I had news of a dragon burial near Kynesgrove, and I judged the chances of problems occurring too high to simply ignore it. If I didn't go there, who knows what the dragon would have done?"

Thormund nodded.

"I also…" I continued, before pausing for a second. "I also wanted to see if I could take it. I know that I tried to group as many people as possible to fight Milmunir, but there will be times where I can't be sure there will be an army fighting with me. I wanted to see if I could face one of them on my own."

"Seems like you can." Nodded Thormund.

"Barely." I admitted. "But yes, I did." Then, I focused my attention on Master Arngeir. "Master, the horn of Jurgen Windcaller." I said, materializing the horn in my hand and giving it to the old Greybeard.

"Excellent, Loki, excellent. Now, come with us. It's time for us to acknowledge you as the Dragonborn."

I followed the monk in the center of the main hall of High Hrothgar and, there, I waited for them to nominate me Ysmir, Dragon of the Nord, and Dragonborn. The procedure was solemn and quire impressive, because the Greybeards -all the Greybeards- spoke at the same time, making the entire monastery tremble under the force of their Voices. Only my understanding of the Thu'um stopped me from having my bones reduced to fine powder, and even then, my still healing ribs protested at the abuse.

"Lingrah krosis saraan Strundu'ul, voth nid balaan klov praan nau. Naal Thu'umu, mu ofan nii nu, Dovahkiin, naal suleyk do Kaan, naal suleyk do Shor, ahrk naal suleyk do Atmorasewuth. Meyz nu Ysmir, Dovahsebrom. Dahmaan daar rok." Thundered their voice, and my fate was sealed.

Thormund and Fenrir, that while not skilled like me -or completely unskilled in the Voice- were apparently tough enough to simply stand there while the Greybeards proceeded with the declaration. They looked a little stunned by the entire thing, but not really hurt. Only when the Greybeards finished, Thormund approached me. "That was… intense, friend Loki." He said. "How do you feel?"

"My ribs are screaming but I will survive." I shrugged.

"What did they say?" Asked the Nord. "I caught some words, but I'm afraid I couldn't understand all of them.

Master Arngeir opened his mouth, but I beat it. "' Long sorrow awaits Stormcrown, with no worthy head rest on. By our Dragon shout, Dragonborn, we give it now, by power of Kyne, by power of Shor, by power of Atmora of the old. Come now Ysmir, Dragon of the North. Remember this he.' That's the literal translation, at least."

"Your knowledge of the Dovahzul is remarkable, young one. Yes, that's the translation. In the language of Men and Mers, it would be more appropriately translated as such: Long has the Storm Crown languished with no worthy brow to sit upon. By our breath, we bestow it now to you in the name of Kyne, in the name of Shor, and in the name of Atmora of old. You are Ysmir now, the Dragon of the North. Hearken to it." The old man smiled. "Those are the traditional Words we use to greet a Dragonborn that has accepted our guidance. The same words were used to greet the young Talos, when he came to High Hrothgar, before he became the Emperor Tiber Septim."

"I understand." Nodded Thormund. He was clearly fanboying on the inside, even if very little transpired outside. "I'm honored to have heard those words."

"And we are honored to have two diligent students like yourselves among us." The old sage replied kindly. "Loki saw right. You are incredibly gifted with the Voice. We will welcome us in our ranks, if you so desire."

It was clear that Thormund was very, very tempted to accept. But, in the end, he didn't. "I can't, Master Arngeir. Not until Alduin is stopped, and the dragons are not a threat to Skyrim anymore."

The monk nodded. "I understand."

"Master, a question. It is possible to visit Paarthurnaax, or…?"

"It's urgent?" Asked Arngeir.

"No, not really. I just… want to talk with him."

There was also the fact that Paarthurnax taught a deeper understanding of the Words, which was going to have some kind of effect, even if I had no idea what would it be since… well, game effects were not really easy to translate into actual real-life power. For example, the Become Ethereal extra effect increased health regeneration… but I doubt it gave regeneration in real life. The effect was probably something similar, but not really that powerful.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible." Replied Arngeir. There was a strange, tense inflection in his voice. Not really angry or scared… but something like that. Apprehensiveness? Yeah, sounded about right. After all, I was new, I just returned from a fight with a dragon, and Paarthurinaax was a dragon. And they were very protective of the old dragon. I was too, but there was no way to convince them of that. "Master Parthurnaax has given us precise instruction to not disturb his meditation unless absolutely necessary. I'm afraid that, until there is a pressing matter, we will not show you how to open the path toward him."

The old monk looked at me like he expected a protest, but I just sighed. "Very well, master Arngeir. I'll wait."

Arngeir blinked, as if surprised. "Good. Now, do you have anything else to do? Your knowledge of future events probably means there are a lot of things you wish to correct…"

"Not as much as you would think." I replied, sighing. "I don't remember everything… only the most important things. And even those, vaguely." I focused my will for a second, before raising my hand and, with a wave, materialize the image of Fort Dawnguard. "At the moment, we're waiting for a person…" I moved my magic vision around, trying to find Serana… but with no luck. "… But she's not there yet. As such, I don't really have something in particular to do."

"Maybe then you would like to learn more Words of Power?" Asked the Greybeard. "We can sense the various Word Walls around Skyrim. You learned much in so little time, and learning more could be dangerous… but the Words pose no risk. Are you willing to search for them?"

I paused for a second. Searching for the Words of Power was not something I wanted to do, per se… but they had a nice secondary effect: they led me to the Dragon Priests.

"Sure, Master Arngeir. Just… let me rest for today. Tomorrow, I'll start to search for the Words."

"Of course, Dragonborn. Rest for now. Tomorrow we will talk again."

With that, Arngeir left me to my rest… and to my planning.

-X-

We remained At High Hrothgar for a week. Yes, that was how much time Serana took to get to Fort Dawnguard. Meanwhile, I made the Greybeards give me the position of all the Word Walls they could sense on Skyrim, and systematically teleported in the various dungeons to learn them. Yes, all the thirty-something locations. I had to use a lot of magic to find and travel to them in anything that sounded, even remotely, a reasonable timeframe.

I also made sure to go with Fenrir and Thormund, because ten of those places had dragons atop them. Or at least, they should have. In reality, unlike the games, dragons didn't just sit on top of a Word Wall all the time, and thank God, because I had no intention to fight ten dragons if I didn't absolutely need to. Not only because they were dangerous as fuck, but also because I didn't really like to kill them. So I used all my ability in Illusion to distract and confuse them enough to read the damn thing without being interrupted. It worked, for the most part. A couple of times the dragon found us before we could quietly leave the place, but in that case, a quick teleport was enough to avoid conflict.

There was just one, glaring exception to that. Krosis, one of the eight Dragon Priests I still had to kill, was right in front of a Word Wall where a dragon was resting. With no other choice, we engaged, trying to defeat the Dragon Priest before the dragon decided to fuck us. The dragons, for what I remembered, tended to take air unless you were already engaging them on the ground when they noticed you, and didn't remain there for a lot. So we managed to defeat Krosis and then, in a bold move, we decided to fight the dragon.

It fought fiercely, but between Thormund's Storm Call and my Thu'um, we managed to kill him. Not that he was an easy kill, but still.

I realized only after absorbing his soul while he seemed less powerful than the other dragons. Lokhahgram, that was his name, was… not very good at combat. His interests were of a more… esoteric nature. After he was resurrected, he would have loved nothing more than to get away from Skyrim and explore Nirn and his various forms of magic, especially the ones not reliant on magicka. Unfortunately, his interests meant he was lacking direct power… and under Alduin, he had no choice but to obey the rule of stronger dragons. So, when the World Devourer himself told him to stay there and take care of the old Dragon Priest, he obeyed.

And I was forced to kill him.

That… unpleasant incident aside, we managed to avoid the dragons. What we could not avoid, unfortunately, were the various dungeons. And, with them, the Dragon Priests inside.

Fortunately, that was all according to the plan. It was absolutely my intention to kill all those bastards before the time came… even if we didn't find the last one. Only after a while, I remembered that the last Dragon Priest was watching the portal Alduin used to reach Sovengard, so it was impossible to find him until I decided it was time to challenge the World Devourer. So, not for a while.

Furthermore, each of the Dragon Priest I killed gave me a nice gift in the form of a Shout I didn't know existed, probably because the developers didn't have time to put them inside or to avoid spell bloat. Still, I appreciated it nonetheless.

From Krosis, damn him, I extracted the Words of the Restore Magicka Shout, that would help me avoid problems like having no magicka at all. I had to admit that, thanks to that, we made the entire affair a lot faster. I recovered far faster from exhaustion caused by Shouting repeatedly than I recovered enough magicka to scry and open a portal in a given location.

From Valthume… well, I didn't get anything new, because the bastard didn't use any Shouts I didn't have or could find around. But the old ghost that warded the tomb, Valdar, taught me one of his Shouts, Cure Disease, that while not useful in battle, could help me in the long term by removing terrible illnesses. Maybe I could try to see if I heal Kodlak from the Rot?

Volsung, for some reason, knew the Cyclone Shouts that you normally found only in Solstheim. But then, he was probably alive during the time of Miraak, so it was not really a surprise that he knew that Shout. And while it was not a new Shout, strictly speaking, it was good for me.

Hevnoraak was not particularly difficult to kill and let me know the Shadow Form Shout, that despite the name was not some variation of Become Ethereal but just an invisibility Shout. It was more than ok in my book.

Otar the Mad proved to be more of an annoyance compared to his colleagues because to open his damn sarcophagus I had to kill two other draugr, fortunately away from him. During the fight, he tried to use a Shout I never really heard of, something related to a verbal compulsion. He tried to convince me he was my master. He failed, because telling me you're my master and then attacking me immediately was not going to work. But he was Otar the Mad, after all.

Rahgot proved to be an interesting challenge. Protected by four other draugr and knowing the Battle Fury Shouts, another Solstheim Shout normally only learnable after Miraak's defeat, it forced us three to fight a well-coordinated group of draugr with a powerful mage as support. In the end, they fell under our weapons too.

Vokun, finally, tried to be an asshole and put against us a woman, Anska, by using a Shout to take the appearance of one of the girl's ancestors using a Shout able to change his appearance. Fortunately, I managed to hear him use that Shout and convince Anska that he was not, in fact, one of her ancestors, so we finally killed that thing too and, with that, the last Dragon Priest we could reach.

So, after a dragon, seven Dragon Priest -that I resurrected as shadows and made my servants-, a really high number of draugr and many -too many- dungeons, we had finally finished the search for all the Words of Power and of the Dragon Priests we could reach. We had just the time to rest one last time before a little divination showed the Dawnguard agitated… and after that, the image of a woman, waiting inside one of the rooms of the fortress.

"Seems like Seran has finally reached Fort Dawnguard." I announced right before dismissing the image. "She probably reached them yesterday, during the night. It's time to return."

"Good." Said Thormund. "Not that I disliked eliminating the remains of the old Cult of the Dragon, but I'm tired of draugr. Vampires, for all their problems, at least don't look like corpses. Not before I get them, at least."

I chuckled. "I know what you mean. Now, let's go. The faster we get inside the Castle and retrieve the Elder Scroll, the faster we can get inside the Forgotten Valley and recover the damn bow… so we can end this."

Thormund nodded and grabbed his equipment. "And after we stop the vampires? What are you going to do?"

I paused. "There is… something that requires my attention on Solstheim. I'll go there. But I'll go with Fenrir. It's better if you go to see Ulfric."

Thormund looked in the distance, where -I assume- was Windhelm. "I have to admit, Loki, that after I had the opportunity to talk with the Greybeards… I'm unsure about what to think. Why did Jarl Ulfric leave High Hrothgar?"

"There was the Great War." I replied, not really caring to explain in detail. "He probably felt he had to go. Why he didn't return, unfortunately, I don't know."

Thormund didn't say anything else and so I dropped the subject. We didn't lose any time and, after reaching Master Arngeir, said our goodbyes, explaining that we had things to do. Arngeir gives us his blessing, and we popped up in the middle of Fort Dawnguard.

The moment we did, people started to swarm Thormund and Fenrir, while giving respectful nods at me… the ones that were Dawnguard from the beginning and not Vigilants saved the week before. Those ignored me. Thormund was of course more liked than little ol' me, but that was ok. I didn't come to the Dawnguard to make friends. In fact, I didn't like most of them. The only characters that I liked in the entire DLC were the mad priest and Serana.

So, while Thormund and Fenrir responded to the attention, I quietly slipped away from the chaos and reached for Serana. I found her in the exact same spot I had seen her using my spell… and I sat down near her. "Hi."

"Hi." She replied absentmindedly.

"How are you doing?" I asked. She looked a little out of it. She probably was still thinking about her dad.

She blinked and looked at me. "Fine."

"You sure? You seem a little lost."

The vampire sighed. "I'm fine, really. It's just… it has all been so sudden. First I'm finally out of that old tomb, then I'm home, and then I'm out again. I just need a little time to process all of that."

I hummed in agreement. "You'll have the time to do that while the Monk reads the various Elder Scrolls. You had given him yours yet?"

"No." She admitted. "I wanted to wait for you."

"I don't see why you need me." I admitted, confused. "You can't just give it to the monk and be done with it?"

"Yes. But I thought you would want to be there to…" She paused, then she placed her face in the palm of her hand. "… Hear the prophecy. That you already know. Gods, I'm so stupid."

"I wouldn't say so. I'll say you're otherwise smart."

She sent me a glare between her fingers. "You really like having fun of me, don't you?"

"Maybe." I grinned. "Or maybe I'm trying to lighten the mood. Could be both, really."

She rolled her eyes. "Very comforting. C'mon, let's read this prophecy."

So, together, we reached for Isran and then the Moth Priest, whose Serana gave the first Elder Scroll, the Scroll of the Blood. He read the Scroll and, after a rather boring prophecy I don't even remember, I gave him the second Scroll, the Scroll of the Dragon.

"Here." I said, handing him the Scroll. "But I'd like to remind you to do the necessary preparation before reading it. You'll lose your sight if you try to read it too soon."

"I remembered, but thank you for your consideration." He said. Frankly, I didn't do it out of consideration, I just needed him to have both his eyes to read the third Scroll and not have to get to that strange cavern and read it myself. Ideally, he could leave Fort Dawnguard without being blinded, but I didn't really think that was possible. If a Monk with several years of experience could lose his sight by not making the right preparations, he probably was already on the verge of blindness. Or I severely underestimated the risks involved in reading an Elder Scroll without those. I'm not sure.

"So, we now have almost all the Scrolls." Noted Isran. "Now we just need the third. Which is in some Oblivion Plane, right? The Soul Cairn, or so Thormund said."

I nodded, ignoring Serana eyeing me. "Yes. Unfortunately, the only passage for the Soul Cairn is inside Castle Volkihar. I could, in theory, open a portal directly there, but I'm not sure it's a good idea. The Ideal Master controls the place tightly and… it's somewhat hostile to normal life."

"Meaning?" Asked Isran.

"It tries to devour your life energy the moment you enter inside." I revealed. "You have to either be a vampire or a similar Undead creature, or you have to trick the place into believing you're one-"

"… Trapping part of your souls inside a Soul Gem!" Exclaimed Serana. "Brillant! It's a great idea."

"Well, thank you, but it was your idea. Not that I didn't already do something like that."

Serana blinked again, but aside from that, showed remarkable control. "I see. Thank you." She paused for a second, maybe to put some thought together. "Ah, now that you mentioned the castle… It's better if you don't open a portal right in front of the castle. My father took note of your ability, and placed wards in place specifically to stop them… or warn him of our presence. I suggest opening the portal in another place.

"Mmm. Will the little dock to the castle do?"

"Yes. The wards only cover the area immediately near the castle. If we approach it from another angle, we shouldn't have any problems."

"Great. Now, let me take Thormund and Fenrir, and then we can move." I turned to call them…

… And a hand grabbed my shoulder. "Actually… I think it's better if your friend Thormund remains here."

I sent her a curious look. "And why is that?"

"The wards are not the only security measure my father adopted." Revealed Serana. "Sure, the only place where my mother could have hidden an entrance to the Soul Cairn was in her old workshop, that wing of the castle has been abandoned for centuries… but we should still avoid making too much noise. You and the wolf, Fenrir, are pretty good at moving silently, but Thormund…"

"-Is not subtle." I finished. "Alright. I'll tell him to stay here. Who knows, maybe your father will decide to attack right when we are away and the Dawnguard will need all the warriors they can get."

Serana grip on my shoulder strengthened a bit. "That was not a prediction, right?"

"Nah, I'm just trying to sweeten the news to Thormund. It's improbable that Harkon is going to put all those resources in a second attack when the last one went terribly."

She didn't look convinced but let me go.

After I explained the problem to Thormund, who seemed to understand -even if my excuse of a possible attack was bull and he seemed to know that too- me, Serana, and Fenrir traveled to Castle Volkihar. Traveled, in this case, was the right word to use since we had to take a boat to traverse the sea and reach the island where the castle was located, then anchor away from the eyes of eventual sentinels, and reach the abandoned secondary entrance of the castle. Since it was day and vampires didn't like the sun, it was improbable that they had someone watching, but you never know. Thrall could stay out during the day and, while they didn't have the increased eyesight of a vampire, could still see us. So, we were very cautious and reached the secondary entrance under the cover of several Illusion spells.

Now, let's see how difficult this place really was. I just hoped Lord Harkon had not increased the security here too.

Love, Dead, and Dragons 1.9

WHat? A chapter before the next week? How is this possible?

It must be a Christmas miracle!

Merry Christmas, folks. Your present is an early chapter and good news. Yesterday I finished writing the final battle between Loki and Alduin. Before the end of the year, I will write the last Interlude, and then, the multicross section of the story will finally start. The next 9 chapters + Interlude will be the last in TES.

That said, let's go to the meat, and happy holidays… for what it worth in these times.

-X-

Turns out, Lord Harkon did not increase the security in the old wing.

Sure, there were the usual monsters laying around. Death Hounds, feral vampires, skeletons, and gargoyles -which I was grateful for, because they dropped gems… for some reason- but just those. No extra vampire security and no ward I could sense. It was just an abandoned area of the castle.

That made reaching the workshop fairly easy. I even managed to practice my stealth. I have to say, I had almost perfected the art of stealthy assassination. I still had some progress I could make, but I was almost there.

Anyway, when we finally reached the inside of the workshop, we quickly opened the portal to the Soul Cairn and I -begrudgingly- let Serana take a part of my soul and stuff it into a Black Soul Gem so I could enter the place without being turned into a vampire. The loss of physical and mental strength was immediate and fairly annoying. I felt like I lacked part of my strength. Which was exactly what was happening, but I didn't know how unpleasant it was going to be.

Unfortunately, since I didn't have Soul Gems and I was not sure if Fenrir counted as a White or Black Soul, we were forced to leave the wolf behind.

"Sorry, buddy." I said, patting him on the head. "You can't come with us. Wait for our return and guard the passage, alright? Nobody should come here, but you never know."

The wolf whimpered, but didn't move when I started to walk toward the passage. Then, I and Serana entered inside the Soul Cairn.

The Soul Cairn was exactly as depressing as I imagined. The entire place had this purple tonality on pretty much everything that spoke of misery and stagnancy, and the stale air was filled with the distant wails of some poor souls. Seeing it, my resolve to not use Black Soul Gems was strengthened.

"Pretty horrible, isn't it?" Asked Serana, looking at the place. "And my mother has been here for hundreds of years."

"She will not remain here for very long." I replied, starting to descend the stairs. "C'mon, let's go. We have a lot of things to do in this place."

"Like?" She asked, following me.

"Looting, mostly." I said. "Don't misunderstand, I don't like staying here more than you do, but it would take time for the Moth Priests to prepare himself and read the Elder Scroll. And that's just the second of the trio. We may as well take everything we can from this cursed place. Also, there are a couple of poor souls that may have a request for us. It's not much, but if I can give them a little peace…"

"Shouldn't we get to my mother as soon as possible and leave this place as fast as we can, if you don't like to stay there at all?"

"Well, yes. But you see, your mother is behind a barrier held by three monsters known as the Keepers. Since we have to defeat them anyway and I don't remember where the fuck they're supposed to be, we must explore anyway. And honestly, I'm not that anxious to fight Durnehviir."

"Who?" Asked Serana. "It seems like a dragon name."

"Because it is. Durnehviir is a dragon that the Ideal Master managed to trap inside the Soul Cairn with a trick. They promised to give him the secrets of Necromancy if he kept guard to a little woman who sequestered herself inside their domains. Durnehviir accepted thinking that he was going to stay there a couple of centuries at most…"

"… But the woman was a vampire." She finished, the moment our foot touched the ground of the Soul Cairn. "And so he's being stuck here since then." She paused. "I'm surprised he's not a ghost or a spirit at this point."

"Dragons are not so easy to kill." I said. "It took millennia for the Ideal Masters to take hold of his mind… but his soul is still his. They can't grab it, regardless of how much they want it."

Serana remained silent as we marched inside the Soul Cairn. "The moment you have time, I'd like to hear what you know about dragons. They're a poorly understood subject, even when I was young, but you seem to know a great deal about them. You think you can tell me?"

I smiled. "Of course. But that's something for another time. Now, let's focus on retrieving the Scroll and not die, alright?"

Serana nodded, and we started our rampage into the Soul Cairn.

I'm really not sure how we were supposed to call it aside for that. We literally ran around the Soul Cairn slaying shades, looting everything that was lootable, killing the Keepers, and stealing their shit -I'd have to remodel the Dragonbone armor they had to make it fit myself, but it would work great on Thormund- helping who needed help. The first was, of course, the owner of Arvak, the bony horse, which I loaned to Serana since I could summon Sleipnir even here -he didn't care about the life-stealing propriety of the place since he was not a horse but an Atronach cosplaying as one and apparently, that was enough-, and then Saint Jiub. The quest of Jiub was finished pretty easily since, instead of trying to search for all the pages, I combined a scrying spell with a Detect one, obtaining what could basically be called a magical sonar targeted to pages. I was proud of the spell, even if it was completely worthless in any other circumstance than this, but still. After I found them, I just teleported them to Jiub, who was ecstatic, and gave me his pendant and a copy of the book. The book was just a cool trinket, the pendant… could have its uses, I have to admit. But not until I had Gauldur Amulet with me.

Then, finally, we started to approach the giant building at the center of the Soul Cairn… the place where Valerica, Serana's mom, was imprisoned. We found her looking at the air right in front of her, like she was not sure why the barrier that had prevented her from leaving for who-knows-how-long had completely disappeared.

"Mother!" Called Serana, running to her and hugging the vampire. Valerica seemed a little surprised by her presence here.

"Serana? Girl, what are you doing here?"

"We're here for you… and the Elder Scroll you have with you." Admitted Serana.

Her mother immediately removed herself from the hug. "The Elder Scroll? Why? And how did you manage to get out of the-"

"This is very, very touching." I said, because I already knew what this was going to look like. And it was not pretty. "But while I would love to hear you accuse your daughter of working with Harkon, or Serana to shout because she's tired of that damn prophecy destroying her family, we have other things to do."

Both women stopped like I just slapped them, which I probably did, metaphorically speaking. Valerica recovered first. "And who are you?"

"Loki Andreasson, adventurer, mage, and currently, vampire hunter." I replied with a little bow. "Well, more a free agent that wishes to stop Harkon, but you get the idea."

Valerica sent me a strange look, like she was not sure what to think about me. "Do you trust him? How long did…?"

I zoned out Valerica being paranoid and thought about what was the best way to deal with Durnehviir. The good news was that his mind was under the control of the Ideal Masters, so he was not completely himself and so, he was probably less efficient than he would be. His signature Shout, after all, was meant to rip the soul out of the body of its victim, but he never used anything like that in the game. Maybe it was a quirk of the programming and he used it, or the Shout didn't work properly on undead and Dragonborns -seemed improbable, but it could be a reason-, or maybe Durnehviir was unconsciously holding back so he had a chance to be free from the Ideal Master's mind control. Another good news was that the arena was cramped and so he couldn't really do the flying sweeps other dragons were so fond of. He either got down, or he stayed on the walls around the area, and in both cases, it was in the range of my attacks. All things considered, the place gave us a big advantage.

The problem was that Durnehviir was fond of summoning hordes of undead to fight for him and while I didn't remember him using his soul-ripping Shout, he had a lot of Shouts regardless. Just going from his necromancer's theme, he probably knew Drain Vitality, Marked For Death, and Unrelenting Force because every dragon seemed to know it. That was still a list of pretty damn powerful attacks, and not one you could avoid with a little magic. I was the only one that could withstand them… so I would need to face him alone, or at least, keep his attention on me.

Wonderful.

"Loki?" Called Serana.

"Mm?" I said, refocusing on the vampires. "Sorry, I was planning the fight with the dragon. Have you finished your discussion?"

Valerica sent me another glare. "You disrespectful-"

"Shut up." I said, surpassing her and opening the great doors behind her. "I don't care what you think of me. I'm here to recover the Scroll and that's what I'm going to do. Like it or not."

Serana followed me and, after a second, Valerica did too. Then, roaring, Durnehviir came.

The game failed to represent the undead dragon. Well, Skyrim failed to show the true might of the dragons in general, but in this particular case, it was much worse. Durnehviir was not just an 'Undead' -what exactly Durnehviir was is subject to interpretation- dragon. He was a powerful, ancient dragon that, unlike most of his kin, actually made steps to increase his own power. As such, it was bigger than most and, while his status as Undead was dubious, he was gross, to say at least. His scales oozed a clear, light green liquid that reminded me of the ectoplasm ghosts dropped when killed, and while he didn't emanate a stench of dead meat and putrefaction like most undead did, his smell was almost worse. It was stale, stagnant. Not putrid, but clearly dead. He smelled like death itself.

He also had glassy eyes, so that lends credit to my idea that he was not fully here.

"Take care of his minions." I said, before pulling out my sword, materializing my daadric armor, and activating a fly spell. "I'll deal with him."

"Wait, you don't mean to-" Started Serana, but she stopped when I took air and attacked.

And, this time, I remembered that I had a magic trick to manipulate my momentum and move faster. So, I remembered to activate it when I clashed with the dragon. It would be useful when dealing with the other dragons, but I never used it so far so I forgot I had it.

Our clash rattled the entire building. Not because of the physical clash itself -I was nowhere strong enough for that- but for the clash of our Voices. Our Unrelenting Forces smashed against each other with enough strength to crack the stone with the shockwave generated.

Thanks to my experience with the other dragons, I know the best way to deal with them was using Shouts instead of magic and sword… at least until I didn't get better with combat. So, I used those to damage Durnehviir, and kept my magic for defense and flying around.

…

I really needed to find another way to deal with them. I couldn't Shout as frequently as them, so in a pure Shout fight, a dragon was inevitably going to win in the long run. But that's why I should try to contain myself and not use full power Shouts all the time. Feim was actually pretty good for that. I could become intangible only for a couple of seconds at a time, but it was enough to avoid the worst of the offense dragons could unleash on me.

I needed to step up my game. It was time to create my final armor.

After I deal with Durnehviir, of course. With renewed determination, I clashed with the dragon again.

The battle went for quite a while. The sky, already dark, became even darker when my magic called a lightning storm down on my opponent. The silence of the Soul Cairn, normally broken only by the wails of the souls trapped there, was now being ripped by the Voices of two dragons fighting against each other. The normally unperturbed ground quaked under the fury of our fight.

And in the end, as the other dragons did, Durnheviir fell. Quite literally. Hit by a Fire Breath high in the sky, he plummeted on the ground.

But, before his soul left his body, he disappeared into violet light.

I landed shortly after, aching everywhere, almost completely exhausted and low on magicka, but alive.

"There." I said, talking to Valerica. "You're free now. Can we have the Scroll?"

The vampires now looked at me… not with respect or awe -not that I pretended those, but you would think they were the right emotions to have when you just witnessed someone kill a fucking dragon- but with wariness. Which was… good enough, I suppose.

"Seems like you're strong enough to defend yourself." She said. Bitch what? I just killed Durnehviir. I could do much more than that. "Will you protect Serana too, if I give you the Scroll?"

I blinked, confused by her argument. "What? Of course. Why are you asking?"

She didn't reply to that. She just remained there, then nodded, as she had just decided something. "Very well. Follow me, the Scroll is here."

I followed her into an alcove and there, among other things, laid the Elder Scroll.

"Take it." She said. "So, when you deal with Harkon, I'll be free."

I nodded and disappeared the Scroll into my bag. "Thank you."

"There is no need to thank me. Just promise you'll protect Serana."

"I already did that." I noted. She nodded again, and together with Serana, we got out of there.

Just to be greeted by Durnehviir, perched on a nearby building like the biggest and most Undead bat to ever exist.

"Greetings." Said the Undead dragon.

I liked Durnehviir. He was a… surprisingly polite dragon.

As Valerica and Serana tensed and made to grab their weapon -and their magic- Durnehviir spoke again. "Stay your weapons, vampires. I would speak with you, Qahnaarin." He distinctly looked at me, but my companions didn't notice.

"How?" Asked Valerica. "You just died. We saw you."

"Cursed, not dead. Doomed to exist in this form for eternity. Trapped between laas and dinok, between life and death."

"And what do you want from us?" Asked Serana.

"Nothing from your two. My wish is for the Qahnaarin." He pointedly looked at me and this time they seemed to get the message. So they shut up and let him speak.

"Durnehviir." I greeted the dragon. "I already know your wish. If that's what you want, I'll call you to Tamriel."

"What?" Asked Serana. "Why would you do that?"

"Because he'll help me if I do. Don't you?"

"Qahnaarin is correct. I will fight at his side as his Grah-Zeymahzin, his Ally, and teach him my Thu'um."

"You can't be serious." Continued Valerica. "You would release this… abomination on Tamriel?"

I pointedly avoided replying that some people found her an abomination and replied in a civil tone. "He can't really escape from the Soul Cairn. He remained here too long. Calling him to Tamriel will be only temporary."

"This is correct. You're extremely knowledgeable of my situation, Qahnaarin."

"Call me Loki, please."

"As you wish."

"So… you're going to fight for him, teaching him you Thu'um… just to stay a little on Mundus?" Asked Serana, confused.

"It must feel something trivial for you, but for me, every moment outside this place will be a blessing. Having the ability to see the azure skies of Tamriel again will be the greatest reward I could ask for."

Serana looked at the giant, Undead dragon. "I understand." She said.

"Then I'll give you the right to call me, Loki. Don't hesitate to Shout my name."

As he said that, orange, white, and blue energy flowed from him to me, and in a second, I knew the meaning of his name and how to call him.

"I'm glad to have you on the team, Durnehviir. Now, let us get out of there."

"Of course. I'll wait for your call." Said the dragon, spreading his wings and flying away.

"Sleipnir!" I called, while with one hand I summoned Avrak. Both horses appeared more or less at the same time, and I quickly jumped on my favorite Atronach. "It's time for us to leave this plane." I turned the horse toward the exit, then I stopped and looked at Valerica. "Endure this a little longer. You're going to be free soon."

Valerica gave me a very contained nod.

"See you soon, mother." Said Serana. This time, Valerica smiled. Well, that was the least she could do to her daughter.

"See you soon." She replied, and Serana turned toward the exit. I interpreted that as the signal to leave this place and I spurned Sleipnir into a dash.

Ten minutes later, we were out of the Soul Cairn, out of the Castle -using a portal and the last dregs of magic I had- and we were finally at Fort Dawnguard. Here, I finally gave the Moth Priest the other two Elder Scrolls, under the gaze of Serana, Isran, Fenrir, and Thormund.

"I'll still suggest you take your time, even now that we have all the Scrolls." I said to the Moth Priest.

"I didn't forget your advice, young man. It has only been half a day, after all." Smiled the man.

Only half a day? It felt like two days. Ah, well, whatever.

"How much time do you think you need?" I asked.

"A week, maybe more." Said the Moth Priest. "Your speed works against you, I'm afraid. You recovered the last prophecy before I could complete my preparation. It will take me a while to be ready."

"It's not a problem. I still have things to do after all. Not a lot of things, but something." I said. "A week or ten days should be more than enough for me to do all I need to do. Speaking of which, Thormund, I found some piece of armor you would find interesting…"

I opened my dimensional bag right there, making the various pieces of dragonbone armor fall on the ground. At least two of those sets were going to be enchanted. I was very lucky to have found them instead of having to craft them. That was at least three days of smithing I didn't need to do. And just for one armor.

"That's a fantastic find, my friend!" Exclaimed Thormund. "They seem about my size… and what's that?"

I looked down on the various pieces of armor and weapons in dragonbone on the ground. Everything looked ok… if not for a single piece. A war horn.

Oh, right… I had that to do. And also the note about daedric summoning and control for Talvas. On top of resizing one of the dragonbone armors and Enchanting all of that.

No rest for the wicked.

"Right. It's the horn of the late High King Torygg. Queen Elisif asked me to bring it to the temple of Talos… as an offering for her husband."

Thormund looked at the horn and then, with great care, he gave it to me. "Then you must do it with haste."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just had… a lot of things to do."

"You always do." Nodded Thormund. "Rest here for today, my friend. You'll have time for everything else tomorrow."

I nodded. I had quite some time… I needed to use it well. It was time to Enchant everything in my possession to the limit.

I would need it.

Interlude: Vampire's Doubts

Happy New Years Folks!

-X-

Serana didn't have many occasions to talk with Loki in the next ten days. He was mostly out of the fort, doing whatever, and when he wasn't, he was crafting, Enchanting, or studying something. The only moments when he didn't was when he returned from whatever he was doing outside Fort Dawnguard. When she asked him if she could come with him sometimes, he replied that, with what he was doing right now, it was better not. She could get mind-controlled, or hypnotized, or something similar. He was not very specific.

She could have, of course, interrupted him while he was working or studying. But, considering he was doing his best to make himself and everyone that was going to come with him on future adventures live through those adventures, and what she wanted to ask him was not urgent, she decided not to.

What did she want to ask him? Mostly… who he was. His motives and reasoning were a mystery to her. She could partially excuse some of them thanks to his knowledge of the future, but the rest was completely impossible for her to discern.

Sure, he could be just an apparently normal guy who decided to help her out of the goodness of his heart, but that was not possible. People were not that simple. There had to be an underlying cause of his actions… aside from being a nice man. Overly sarcastic sometimes, but nice.

Fortunately for her, since she didn't have luck talking to him, somebody else appeared that could get her information on the mage. A couple of days before the Moth Priest was ready to read the third and final Scroll, a woman appeared at Fort Dawnguard. A woman dressed with a light armor that completely covered her face… but that didn't even flinch under the rays of the sun. So, not a vampire, and not a member of the Dark Brotherhood. Who was she?

The question was answered when Fenrir saw her and happily trotted to her and tried to lick her face. That would have looked cute if the wolf wasn't so big that he could have easily eaten her head in one bite. As it was, it almost looked like a child licking his favorite sweet. The woman, on her part, acted annoyed but not scared.

A friend, then.

"Welcome." She greeted her. "I'm Serana. A pleasure to meet you."

The woman looked at her while scratching the black wolf under his chin. It was somewhat hilarious how she was seemingly trying to maintain a strict attitude while petting a giant wolf with extreme ease.

"You're a vampire." She said. Her tone was… pretty neutral, all things considered.

"Yes, I am. I know it's not normal to have a vampire inside a fortress of vampire hunters, but I can explain."

She scratched Fenrir's chin for another couple of seconds before stopping. The wolf whined and bumped her shoulder but didn't do anything else.

"I suppose you're here thanks to another of his schemes." Said the woman, and Serena immediately understood who she was talking about. "Is Loki there? I heard he was helping the Dawnguard."

"He's here… sometimes. He continues to portal somewhere." Admitted Serana.

The still-unnamed woman scoffed. "Of course he is." She said, removing her hood and revealing a Redguard. "I'm Kayleen. I'm… one of his acquaintances. Can you tell me when he's going to return?"

"I'm afraid not. The time he spends out is… inconsistent. He could return in an hour, or tomorrow. But tomorrow he'll be here for sure. We're almost ready for the last part of the prophecy."

"A prophecy? It involves Elder Scrolls, perhaps?"

"Yes?" Replied Serana, unsure what to expect from this woman.

"I didn't actually expect you to confirm it, but now that you have, I can't say I'm surprised." She sighed, pinching her nose. "Nothing is simple with him."

Serana wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment, but before she could ask for more information, someone interrupted their conversation. Someone very loud.

"Ah, so you are the guest I've heard about!" Exclaimed Thormund, emerging from a corner. Serana didn't know how to talk with the Nord. Her first impression, when she had seen him the first time, was that he didn't like her, so the fact that when she arrived at Fort Dawnguard he was suddenly friendly threw her off. He was also, apparently, the closest friend of Loki, and his major confidant, the person he had chosen as the one to share his burden, whatever it was. That's what Solanus, the other member of the Dawnguard that was with them when they freed her, said. He didn't specify what that burden was, because Thormund didn't tell him, but it was just another clue that Loki was not as simple as he looked.

Those were thoughts for another time, though. She was ready to introduce the two of them when Kayleen beat her to it.

"You must be Thormund." She said. "Loki talked about you."

The giant blinked, then his smile grew. "And so you must be Kayleen, the woman who taught him how to wield a sword decently. He also talked about you." He reached out. "It's my pleasure to finally meet you."

Kayleen gave the warrior a strange look, then grabbed his hand. "It's a pleasure for me too. But I must say I'm confused. Loki always told me that you didn't like thieves."

Thormund laughed. "It's true. But Loki also told me you're one of the finest blades in Skyrim, and you're trying to revive the long lost art of your ancestor. I ignore what circumstances led you to thievery, but you clearly have the heart of a warrior. That's enough for me."

Kayleen didn't seem to know how to process that. Nor did Serana. The loud warrior had, apparently, hidden depths.

"But why are we talking while standing? Please, come. We can talk at the tables. I'm sure you would like something to drink."

The two women followed the Nord at a table and started to talk over a decent pint of beer and some food. After some minutes of small talk, Serana finally decided the atmosphere was good enough to ask for some information.

"Can one of you tell me about Loki?" She asked during a pause in the conversation. "I don't seem to be able to understand him."

Kayleen looked at her with a strange expression on her face. Then, she gulped half her mug in one go. "Don't become attached to him, Serana. You're only going to get your heart broken one day."

Before the vampire could get herself out of the shock the suggestion caused and deny that there was anything remotely romantic about her curiosity, Thormund intervened.

"I'm afraid that lady Kayleen is correct. It's too late for us…" Kayleen sent him a glare. "… But you should avoid growing attached to him. One day he'll leave and we'll never see him again."

"I don't-"

"It doesn't matter." Interrupted Kayleen, looking at the bottom of her mug. "Don't do it. Or one day, he'll disappear, and you'll be leaving with the sensation that he left you with a debt you're never going to be able to repay."

There was a long silence after that.

"Seems a rather personal view of the situation." Said Thormund, taking a sip of his mug.

Kayleen shook her head. "The Shehai Shen She Ru is my life. I practiced the forms, I searched every text and talked to every mage trying to figure out how to create a Spirit Sword. I even came to Skyrim, hoping that one of the more esoteric forms of magic could help me. Nothing did. Not until he came and in a week made me do more progress than I did in five years." She gulped down the rest of her mug and then slammed it on the table. "How am I supposed to repay him? Teaching him the basis of the Shehai Shen She Ru? Hah! He doesn't have time for that. I will be surprised if he actually made any progress with the forms. Help him with his objective? I know nothing about traveling outside Mundus, I wouldn't know where to start!" She calmed down and sighed. "And so I came here. At least, I can help him on his road. It's not enough, but it's something."

Serana remained silent, trying to elaborate what the Redguard just said, when Thormund nodded solemnly. "I understand. I owe him a great debt too. He gave me direction and the opportunity to do great good on Skyrim… and the even greater good in the future. And as I'm quite unfamiliar with the knowledge required to help him return to his home, the only thing I can do to help him fight his enemies."

Kayleen nodded, still a little gloomy.

Meanwhile, Serana was completely stunned by what she just heard. What in Oblivion were they talking about?

"I… don't understand." Admitted the vampire. "What are you talking about?"

The humans looked at each other, then Thormund drank all his mug in one go. "Right, Loki probably didn't tell you. He's from another Mundus."

Serana's brain blanked. "Another…"

"Mundus, yes." Continue Kayleen filling her mug. "He showed me an illusion of it. The continents are all wrong. There is no possibility that he's actually from Nirn."

"But… can't he just be, I don't know… crazy?" Asked the vampire. Loki was not ordinary by any stretch of the imagination, but another Mundus? That was too much even for him.

"I find that improbable." Commented Thormund. "You didn't spend enough time with him to notice, but his mentality and mannerism are unlike anything I've ever seen. He could be crazy, I'll give you that… but the more time you spend with him, the less you're going to believe that. He has all the traits of someone that grew in a society that's completely different from anything on Tamriel."

"Besides, if he's crazy, he has a very specific form of delusion. A pretty detailed one too. It's able to perfectly recreate an entire world, an entirely different set of mannerisms, and several different quirks that can be explained by being a dimensional traveler." Continued Kayleen. "Say what you want of what the Empire has become in the last years, but it was able to unite the people of Tamriel. Even if you're unfamiliar with a specific culture, you are likely to have met at least someone from it. I've never encountered anyone like Loki in all my travels."

Serana didn't reply.

"Well, that was before." Suddenly said Thormund. "He changed somewhat. Now… it's more like a normal mage, always studying something. He was not like that before. When I first met him, I was more likely to see him relax than obsessively work on something." The giant took another sip. "I think his first time killing a man scarred him more than it seems. He works to not think about it."

"Or he's frantic because the final fight with the World Devourer itself is coming, and he's not sure he can beat him." Countered Kayleen. At the surprised look that Thormund gave her, she scoffed. "The voices travel far. He's Dragonborn, and a giant black dragon that calls himself Alduin is going around resurrecting dragons. It's not hard to see the correlation."

Thormund nodded. "Yes, fear can be a powerful motivator."

"Especially for a person who's not that brave." Nodded Kayleen, taking another sip. Only when she put her mug down, she noticed that both Thormund and Serana were looking at her. Serana was confused. Thormund…

"I hope you have a very good motivation for accusing my friend of lacking bravery, lady Kayleen." Hissed the Nord… if a thunderstorm could hiss, anyway. The hand that was not holding his mug was closed into a fist. "If your choice of words is lacking, I could take it as an offense to his honor."

Kayleen huffed, not intimidated at all by the seemingly angry warrior, which was taller than her by two full feet and probably out massed her by a factor of three. "You can't tell me Loki is brave. Have you ever seen him fight when he wasn't sure he could win? He always tries to get all the possible advantages and use subterfuge and underhanded tactics to win. It's not someone that I would define as brave. Do you?"

Serana's eyes turned on the Nord, who remained silent for a second, his fist contracting rhythmically. Then…

"You could have a point, lady Kayleen."

Serana's eyes budget out. He was… agreeing with her? The picture painted by the thief was not entirely incorrect, sure, but wasn't he supposed to be his friend? She expected at least a tentative of defense-

"However." Ah, there it was. "You know his objective, right?"

"Yes."

"And tell me… in what way does dealing with this vampire lord, or Alduin, help in his objective?"

Kayleen didn't reply.

"It doesn't." Continued Thormund. "In fact, I'm sure he could already try to return home if he wanted. The Eye of Magnus, a source of seemingly infinite magicka, is held by the Psijic Order, and they promised help when he was ready. He could, at this very moment, contact them and return home. He did not. Why you think it's the case?"

The Redguard replied after a second. "Because he's the Dragonborn. And he's the only one that can face the World Devourer."

Thormund nodded, satisfied. "Yes. He knowingly put himself in mortal danger because he can't just leave Skyrim alone. His conscience doesn't let him. Sure, he complains about it, but he's still here, isn't he? Tell me, lady Kayleen, isn't that true courage? To face adversity in the name of what you think is right?"

Kayleen sighed. "I suppose you're right. He just doesn't act like a brave man."

"I can excuse him for that. Not wanting to die before seeing his loved ones is understandable. He's not the bravest man in Skyrim, for sure, but I would entrust him with my life."

"I suppose I would do the same." Agreed Kayleen, raising her mug. "To Loki, crazy bastard he is."

"To Loki." Echoed Thormund, and they batted their mugs together.

It was at that moment that Serana finally found her voice. "That's it?"

The two humans looked at her, confused by her words. "What?" Asked Kayleen.

"Is that the only reason he remains here? Because he's a good man?" Asked the vampire. "There is no second meaning? No secret objective? Nothing?"

Thormund and Kayleen, paused, seemingly thinking about the question.

"He likes Skyrim." Said Thormund. "And don't want it destroyed or under Alduin's heel. That's… the most I can say."

"He also likes having magical powers and use them." Added Kayleen.

"Ah, that's understandable. He learned magic when he arrived on Tamriel. From what I understand, he was not able to do that on his Mundus, so I suppose he's just having fun with something new. Like a kid with a new toy."

Kayleen arched a brow at that. "Really? He didn't have magic in his home? That means… he learned all he knows in… what, half a year?"

"Something like that." Nodded Thormund.

"That's… absurd." Commented Serana. "He can't learn magic that fast."

"And combat, and The Voice, and everything else." Corrected Thormund. "From what he said, he was a scholar of natural phenomena in his world. I don't think he had any experience with anything he's doing here. He just learned on the way."

"That's impossible!" Exclaimed the vampire. "It's too much knowledge and power in too little time. How can he become so powerful in such a small time frame?"

"He cheats." Answered Thormund. "Or so he described it to me. He explained that, him being the Dragonborn, he's destined to defeat Alduin. So destined, that fate bends backward to justify him killing the World Devourer despite arriving here without training in magic, combat, or anything remotely useful to actually defeat him. Including, apparently, removing any limitation on his growth. He can learn at an absurd rate and master disciplines that other people require years to master, because he has to win, and he will." Thormund took another sip. "He's actually a little freaked out by this. He told me that he always thought he was an intelligent person, but that his learning speed right now is completely unnatural to him."

"No surprise that he managed to help me with the Shehai Shen She Ru." Murmured Kayleen. "With that kind of power, he can do pretty much anything he wants. That's the advantage of being the hero of a prophecy, I suppose."

"That's almost too much to understand." Lamented Serana. "I can't believe he's helping us just… because he can."

"Maybe you just spent too much time with the wrong people." Noted Thormund. "Not everyone has nefarious second meanings. Sometimes, people are just good. Or, in the case of Loki, decent enough."

Kayleen chuckled at that… and then the discussion drifted onto other things. Speculation on what they were going to do after they had dealt with Harkon, mostly. Thormund told them he was supposed to go to speak with Ulfric Stormcloak and, if possible, convince him to moderate his actions… with the implicit threat that Loki was going to burn his army to cinders if he decided to attack Whiterun. The mage was, for some reason, attached to the city. Thormund also admitted that he didn't think he could stop Ulfric: Whiterun was right in the middle of Skyrim and, as such, was a vital trade center. The faction that controlled Whiterun controlled the best point to supply the respective armies in case the Civil War took a more… violent turn. It was simply an opportunity too big to pass, especially since, as Thormund admitted, Loki was busy trying to save the world. He could lose the mobilization of the Stormcloaks, even if he found that improbable. But it was enough to give them a chance, and it was everything that Ulfric needed to try.

Kayleen was not sure. She had her duties as the Guild Master of the Thieves Guild, but her duties require very little of her time. She assumed she was going to just… train with her sword.

Serana was not sure either. If they managed to take Castle Volkhar, she supposed she could use it to… educate new vampires to the risk of attacking indiscriminately. And also as a home for her and her mother. It would have to wait, though.

As they were talking, a portal opened right in the middle of the room, and Loki, covered with what looked like ash, emerged from it.

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.1

Most of my work on Solstheim was done. I had recovered all the Black Books that were not necessary for the quest -because I avoided the temple of Miraak like the plague- and in doing so I added the three heretic Dragon Priests' masks to my collection… and their shade with them. So, with that done, meaning the moment I wanted to fight Miraak I could do so easily, I returned to Fort Dawnguard. Dexion, the Moth Priest, should be almost ready.

And when I appeared inside Fort Dawnguard, I immediately noticed Thormund and Serana by one table.

"Hi, guys." I said, reaching them… and finding another familiar face. I stopped dead in my tracks. "Kayleen?"

"Hi." She said, drinking something from a mug.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were here and I thought you could use a hand." She replied. "You need a hand, right?"

I nodded. "Well, yeah. Dexion will be ready to decipher the last Scroll any time now. One extra person could be useful. But don't you have… I don't know, duties at the Thieves Guild?"

"It's a calm period." She dismisses. "I can stay away for a day or two."

I was not sure if she was serious or not, but… whatever. "As you say." I shrugged. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to take a bath. Ashes go everywhere, I tell you."

After I took a bath, Dexion finally called us and we could assist at the last reading of an Elder Scroll we were going to see in all our life. The Moth Priest opened the last Scroll, the Sun Scroll, and started to look.

"Ah, yes. No words this time… but an image. A luminous point between the mountains, near the place where three rivers connect. That must be the entrance you are looking for."

"Finally we have the last clue." Said Isran. "Can you point where the entrance is on a map?"

"Sure, I…" The priest stopped himself, looking in the distance. I immediately suspected what the problem was. "Ah, nevermind. Seems like reading the Scrolls has taken its toll. I can't see anything."

"I'm sorry." Said Serana. Everyone else made to do the same, but Dexion raised his hand.

"There is no need. Every Moth Priest knows that one day they'll lose their sight. It's an accepted part of our vocation. I'm happy I could read so many Elder Scrolls in such a short amount of time before I lost my ability to see. I was already walking that path, you know? I realized that when it took more time than normal to prepare myself. It was clear to me that another look would be the last, and I still did it. So, you don't need to feel sorry for me."

"And now, how can we reach the entrance?" Asked Thormund. "Without precise indications, I fear that will take a while. 'Where three rivers connect' reduces the places by a large amount, but it's still a gigantic area to explore."

"If I may." I said, reaching for the Moth Priest. "I could have a solution. Do I have permission to see your recent memories?"

Mind-tricks like those were pretty rare, a strange fusion of Illusion and Mysticism… or just Illusion, depending on the system you used. Pretty advanced stuff, really, so it was understandable that my companions looked at me with surprised expressions.

Dexion himself seems surprised. "You can use that kind of spell? Very well. I'll give you permission. But only recent memories."

"I'll try, but I never used this spell, so I could be imprecise." I said, grabbing his head with both my hands and focusing. "Now, focus on the image you have seen in the Scroll. It should help."

I focused my magicka, then gave shape to the spell between my hands. After a second, an image started to float in my mind. I focused more, trying to make it clear.

I was invested by a brief, clear flash of memories, including what looked like the last few days of Dexion's life. Nothing complete, mostly unconnected images, but that was unimportant. The important part was that I had a clear mental image of the point he talked about.

"I have it." I said, removing my hands. "I'm sorry, Dexion. I may accidentally have looked in the last few days in the attempt to have a clearer image."

"It's no matter. The last days did not contain personal memories." Replied the Priest. "Now, I think it's better if I rest. Maybe I'll be lucky and my sight will partially return. It happens sometimes that the blindness is not permanent, even if I fear this is the case."

"Of course." Said Isran. "Can you reach your bed on your own?"

"We Moth Priest prepare for this kind of situation." Dexion reassured the Redguard. "I should be able to reach it without getting hurt."

Isran silently gestured to one of the Dawnguard that was looking at the scene from afar to help Dexion and the man obeyed, silently following the Priest while he moved with surprising ease toward the dormitories.

"Alright… who's ready to go several hundred meters underground thanks to a waterfall?" I asked.

"What?" Asked Kayleen.

-X-

The travel to the cave and the subsequent descent using the waterfall -which happened only because I wanted to do it and put some featherfall spells on the group to do it safely- was pretty easy, as it was reaching the inner caves where we were going to meet… Celebrimbor? No, wrong elf. Gal… something. Paladin Galwhatever. Why the Snow Elves had decided to start the pilgrimage to the temple of a sun deity deep underground, and using a cave that apparently had no other way out other than flying up the waterfall that took you there, I don't know.

Anyway, after caving in the skulls of some trolls and dismembering giant spiders, we finally reached the temple.

"Is that…?" Asked Thormund.

"An elf? Yes. A Snow Elf, to be more precise. The last of his kind."

Thormund and Serana were understandably awed by the presence of the Snow Elf. Kayleen, not so much.

"Is being a Snow Elf so strange?" She asked.

"They were the original inhabitants of Skyrim, but they were killed by the Nords when they started a war over Saarthal." I explained quickly. It was more complicated than that, but we had to move fast. "That, or they went to the Dwemer and got transformed into the Falmer."

Kayleen blinked. "Wait, those disgusting pale goblins were elves?"

"Yes."

"Gods. Why would the Dwemer do something like that to their own?"

"It's a mystery the dwarves took with them when they disappeared." I replied. Meanwhile, I reached for the elf. "Greetings."

"Welcome. I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor. Welcome to the Great Chantry of Auri-El."

Ah, so that was his name. Close enough.

"Well, I don't think I need to explain to you why we're here, right?"

"Of course not. You're here for Auriel's Bow. Why else would you be here? I can help you get it, but first I must have your assistance."

"Yes, to kill your brother." I replied. "He closed himself inside the chantry and you think he was corrupted by the Falmer. He's not, by the way. He's a vampire."

Gelebor paused. "I don't know how you know this, but if it's true, hearing that the Betrayed are not to blame makes me happy."

"Why is that?" Asked Serana.

"Because maybe, just maybe, there will be hope for them to return to who once they were. But it's not the right moment for this kind of thought. Please, follow me. I'll show you the Wayshrines."

"Wayshrines?" Asked Kayleen. "You mean that dome here?"

"Yes, indeed." He said, before walking to the dome in question and… chanting something in what I supposed was ancient Falmer. As he did, the dome rose from the ground, revealing the Wayshrine.

"The only way to get to my brother is by following in the Initiates' footsteps and traveling from wayshrine to wayshrine just as they did. The first lay at the end of Darkfall Passage, a cavern that represents the absence of enlightenment."

"Will do." I replied. "Thank you, Gelebor."

"You're welcome." He said, giving me an ewer. "This is the Initiate Ewer. I assume you know what to do?"

"You assume correctly." I said. "Rest assured, we will free your brother from his curse."

"I appreciate it. Now, this could be the last time we talk, if any of you have questions, it's the time to ask them."

There were a couple of minutes where Thormund asked some questions -he was deeply interested in the story of the Snow Elves and how they became the Falmer- but in the end, we entered inside the Wayshrine and arrived at the Darkfall Passage. Here, I changed my outfit into the more protective dragonbone armor and looked back at my companions.

"Well, here we are. I'd suggest getting around sneakily, but I'm afraid there is no chance that that will happen."

Everyone, even Fenrir, looked at Thormund, who was wearing a similar armor… and it was a very noisy armor. "I will not be ashamed by my choice in armors. You said there are dragons in the valley. I want to be prepared."

"Yes, I know, and you don't have a convenient spell to change at a moment's notice." I chuckled. "Don't worry. It just means that you, Fenrir and me will have to face everything on our way."

The Nord smiled. "Yes, that sounds right. Let's go, friend Loki. We have a lot of enemies to defeat."

Indeed, we had a lot of enemies to defeat. In the first part of the cave, they were mostly the strange, luminescent variant of sabertooth tigers that lived there. Which, aside from the black fur with stripes of phosphorescent green, were the same as the normal one.

Then came the Falmer. Lots, lots of Falmer. Too many to even count.

"Now that I know these things are -or were- elves, I feel a little worse when I kill them." Said Kayleen.

"Me too." I nodded. "But there is nothing we can do about it. They're the ones that attack everything that moves, not us."

We continued inside the caves for about an hour, then we finally arrived outside. There… we found more Falmer, but also other things. Ice Giants, for one. I'm not sure what the hell they were supposed to be, because they didn't look like giants. Well, they had the size of one, but they were covered in white fur, and the head was completely different, with four eyes, fanged mouth, and horns. They looked like an unholy union between a giant and a troll. And they had the same weakness to fire to boot. But… well, in the end, five vs one, they didn't pose much of a threat.

So, slowly but surely, we cleared the way, recovering the various gemstones on the way and killing everything that attacked us. Until, finally, we reached the penultimate Wayshrine. The one I feared the most.

"Look, Loki." Said Thormund, pointing at something. The direction was more or less the one of the frozen lake, so… it was probably the Word Wall. "There is a Word Wall there."

"Yeah, we're not going there." I said, while looking at the ghost priest making his speech.

"Why not?" Asked the Nord. "You don't want to learn the Word on it?"

"First, if my memory is correct, the Wall contains one of the Words in Marked for Death, and I already know that Shout." I replied, watching the Wayshrine rise from the ground. "Second, there are two dragons inside the lake and I'd prefer to not fight them. One on one, I'm sure of our victory, but two of them could seriously hurt -or kill- one of us. Especially you, Serana. They use the Fire Breath Shout and I don't think you're very good at resisting that."

Serana agreed and Thormund conceded the point. I materialized the Initiate Ewer from my dimensional bag when I heard a crack reverberate in the entire valley.

"Oh, you're fucking kidding me." I said, looking at the lake.

At that moment, the surface of the ice cracked even more and exploded, then two dragons emerged from inside it and started to come in our direction.

"Take the Ewer!" I shouted, putting the thing between Serana's arms. "And stay away from the fight. Dur. Neh. Viir!"

Thormund looked at me confused, recognizing a Shout. His confusion was resolved when a purple swirl of magical energy summoned Durnehviir from the depths of the Soul Cairn.

"Ah, you summon me to fight Dovah. You're spoiling me, Qahnaarin."

"Yes, yes. Keep one of them away from us."

"As you wish." Replied the Undead dragon, taking the air and roaring a challenge. One of the dragons took it, apparently, because it deviates from his path slightly to meet Durnehviir head-on.

"We must try to take one of his wings!" I said to… why was Kayleen with us?

Well, whatever.

My bow -my new bow made with dragon bones- materialized in my hands, while a quiver full of daedric arrows was summoned. I grabbed an arrow and shot.

The arrow struck the dragon on his shoulder but failed to disable it. So he roared in fury but continued.

Ah, I hated how I couldn't Shout for a couple of seconds after I used the Thu'um. It made it very difficult to combo some useful Shouts in a short amount of time. With a well-placed Shout, I could have probably if not crippled at least slowed down the dragon considerably.

But maybe I should worry about that after he stopped Shouting at me.

"Yol. Tor. Shuul!" Roared the dragon when I was in the range of the attack. I focused on the words and let the fire pass over me, no worse to wear than if I found myself under the particularly cruel August sun. Uncomfortably hot, but unhurt.

The rest of my companions had wisely decided to jump away from the river of fire that the dragon had sent my way, so they were more or less ok.

Then, Fenrir jumped on a boulder that emerged from the snow and, from there, he covered six meters of empty air to jump on the dragons.

Holy shit buddy. That was a great jump.

The dragon roared, but he didn't have any leverage to use against my wolf while he was flying. So Fenrir dug his fangs into his scales and started to claw the dragon's eye out.

Enraged and probably in pain, the dragon drifted away, trying to remove Fenrir from his neck with some aerial acrobatics. It didn't work, Fenrir's grip was lethal. So, in the end, he was forced to land.

It was then that we assaulted him together. It was not pretty.

The last time I fought a dragon with Fenrir and Thormund, there were a lot of people with us, that unfortunately failed to do anything besides being meatshields. Which was not why we had brought them with us, even if I appreciated the fact that someone that was not me fought against the dragon before I was ready to finish it. The dragon also completely decimated both my friends when he put any effort into the fight, which coincidentally was when Thormund smashed his head around with his maul.

So, this time, I decided to be proactive.

"Krii. Lun. Aus!" I Shouted, Marking the dragon for Death and so making him a lot more vulnerable to our weapons. In fact, the moment I hit him, Fenrir's fang managed to bite deeper into the scales of the dragon. Then the rest of us fell on him and we quite literally beat him to death. Or, more specifically, Thormund did, opening the fight with a mighty blow to the left wing of the dragon. A powerful crack and the fact that now his wing was divided into two misaligned pieces informed us that he was not likely to fly anywhere.

Weakened and probably not lucid thanks to the pain, there was nothing the dragon could do to avoid Kayleen's sword planting itself between his scales. I was less lucky and he managed to avoid my next strike, but he was not going to win with one wing broken. Especially not after I started to bombard him with Shouts.

It took a while, but in the end, we overwhelmed the dragon and he died, with my sword inside his palate. Then, as a signal that he was not going to do less than us, both Durnehviir and the other dragon crashed not far away from us.

Another proof that dragons were stupidly strong and tough, if you ask me. Not a lot of creatures were able to emerge from a lake that had a thick enough ice cover to sustain their own weight. Or to face-dive inside it without taking any damage.

Anyway, we remained immobile when the two colossi smashed against the ice and, with an agility that you usually associated with cats, Durnehviir jumped on the throat of his opponent while blocking the opponent's wings with his. The other dragons fell on his back and, with a surprisingly swift move, kicked Durnehviir over him, something I only saw professional martial artists doing.

Then Fenrir, always the fastest, was on him.

He didn't really manage to harm him in any way, because this dragon was not weakened like the other, but it was enough to distract him for enough time for Durnehviir to recover and slam his tail on his opponent's face. The dragon's head shot away from the hit… finding itself right in the trajectory of Thormund's maul.

"Talos!" Shouted the Nord, delivering another devastating blow. I distinctly heard something break, but I was not sure it was a horn or the dragon's skull. The impact, though, clearly had a terrible effect on the dragon. He reeled, confused, and so he failed to react when I and Kayleen jumped on him and stabbed our weapons inside his eyes.

He died without another sound.

As he did, the knowledge of the two dragons started to flow inside me. And I learned their names.

Voslaarum and Naaslaarum, those were their names, were hunters. The memories of the two didn't show me why they were here. Maybe they were survivors of the Dragon War that decided to make the Forgotten Vale their domain, or maybe they were just recently resurrected by Alduin and decided 'fuck this, we're out' when they learned what the World Devourer wanted to do. Anyway, they enjoyed hunting and, as such, they were lurking under the lake waiting for something that was not a Falmer to show up. Maybe they wanted to ambush an Ice Giant, to see if they could put a decent fight even if caught off guard. Or maybe not. I was not sure. I was sure that their memories greatly increased my ability to hunt, up to and including ways to sneak up on eventual prey… which was impressive considering how big the two of them were.

After I finished absorbing their knowledge, Durnehviir grumbled. "I did my part, Qahnaarin. Now, with your consent, I'd like to fly on my own."

"Sure thing." I said. "But if you see Falmer around -little things that look like pale goblins- do me a favor and kill them, alright?"

"As you wish." Replied the Undead dragon, flying away. With a little luck, he was going to destroy most of our opposition for us.

Before I could take a step, though, Kayleen faced me. I sent her a curious look, not really getting what was her problem.

"Your progress into the Shehai Shen She Ru is disappointing." She said.

I blinked. "What? Are you serious? Do you have any idea of what I've done since we met last time? I was busy!"

"Doing what?" Asked the Redguard, crossing her arms.

"Enchanting! Dealing with Dragon priests and dragons! Learning Shadow Magic!"

"Shadow Magic? Really?" Asked the woman. "Are magic, Thu'um, and Shehai Shen She Ru not enough? You also want the powers that Nocturnal grants to the Nightingale?"

"Yes! And you have no idea how difficult it is to learn it. It's based on a completely different principle compared to everything else."

She snorted in my face. "And you could not squeeze a little training with the Shehai Shen She Ru into all of that?"

I rolled my eyes. "You know what? Fine, you win. Yes, I could have trained, but I forgot. Happy?"

"No, not really. You need to promise me you'll train."

"Fine, fine, I'll train. Can we go? We still have a lot of Falmer to kill." I said, making the corpses of the two dragons disappear.

"Fine." Conceded Kayleen. When we were moving, though, she asked again. "What did you learn about Shadow Magic?"

"Not much." I admitted. "I only had some notes left from old Shadow Mages. I basically had to figure it out on my own. For now, the only things I can do is to become invisible and see through shadows."

"Don't you already know how to become invisible using magic?" Asked the thief.

"Using magic and using a Shout." Corrected Thormund. "He learned it not long ago."

"Yes, true. I don't plan on using all of them, but you never know. Maybe one day I'll find a use for three different types of invisibility."

After we met with Serana at the Wayshrine and I showed off my new invisibility trick to Kayleen to prove to her I really learned Shadow Magic, we continued on our journey. We were almost at the temple. We only needed the last Wayshrine… the only problem was that there were a lot of Falmer in the way.

Fortunately, Durnhevir did kill a lot of Falmer on the way, as evidenced by the sight of several Falmer huts being completely demolished. So, with most of the opposition being dead, Kayleen insisted on explaining to me the Ephemeral Feint and the Zero-Sum interrupt -not an ominous name at all.

The Ephemeral Feint and the Zero-Sum Interrupt were the first Shehai Shen She Ru Techniques -Aberrant Techniquest, as Kayleen specified- that were blatantly supernatural and not just a byproduct of 'being really good with a sword'. The Zero-Sum Interrupt was based on respiration, and somehow let you deflect almost any attack… well, aside from a few. With mastery of the technique, I could in theory deflect swords, arrows, and even bolts of magical energy with enormous ease. The details were confusing, but I did most of my magic on pure instinct and by having enough willpower to bend the arcane energies of Aetherium like a pretzel, so I was pretty sure I was going to figure out how to do it.

The Ephemeral Feint, instead, was an offensive technique that was based on wounding before hitting. Again, how I was supposed to do so using the vague suggestion that Kayleen gave to me was not clear, but the Shehai Shen She Ru was more conceptual than physical and I knew that, so I would figure out, like all the metaphysical bullshit I had to deal so far. Still, that a sword style in The Elder Scroll had techniques comparable to some causality-reversal bullshit ala Gae Bolg was a testament of how crazy this universe was.

It will take some time to get both those techniques right anyway, and in the meantime, we reached the Chantry.

Now it was time to kill an old vampire.

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.2

To be completely fair, the Chantry was probably going to be easy. With my super Armor of Awesomeness on and a lot of similarly equipped companions, the entire thing was going to take very little effort.

Especially since I was an enthusiastic user of fire magic in a place where most enemies were weak to fire.

That said, the sight of Falmer completely frozen, to the point of being more ice than flesh, was still a little disturbing.

"Let's move more cautiously." I said. "Not all these things are as dead as they seem."

We advanced -I purposely chose the way that would take us away from the Arch-Curate and let us loot a lot… I know, I have a problem- and we slowly but surely got around the place, eliminating all the Falmer that were not as dead as they looked.

Until we finally reached the main room, full of frozen Falmer and without enemies waiting for us… except for Arch-Curate Something, of course.

"Finally you have come. I-"

"Yol. Toor. Shul!" I Shouted, moving my head from one side of the room to another to sweep all the frozen Falmer with a river of flames. The ones that could still move were vaporized by the fire I unleashed on them, quickly cleaning the room from unwanted extras.

"I don't have time for your bullshit." I said, flames still lingering on my mouth. "Die and stop being a pain."

The Snow Elf didn't say anything more. He just rose from his throne… and the entire building started to shake.

Man, I have to improve my telekinesis game.

"Get behind me!" I shouted, raising my hands and charging a big ward for what was to come.

Then… the Arch-Curate made the entire room explode somehow, but behind the curved ward I conjured, we were relatively fine. After the world stopped shaking, we pursued the Arch-Curate.

I would like to tell you that it was a hard-won fight, but it wasn't. Because… well, he was alone, we were five -six considering Durnehviir, if he was still around- and he was not strong enough to seriously hinder us. But it was also not a hard fight because he decided to place himself on a balcony. Right over a several hundred-meter cliff that was right over the lake we just killed the two dragons at.

So he died not by sword or magic… but because I Shouted him -and several thousand pounds of rock from the balcony- directly down the cliff with a single Unrelenting Force. Vampire or not, he could not survive that impact.

"Well… that was anticlimactic." Admitted Serana, looking at the ancient vampire that had started all of this fall to his death.

"Well, honestly, I don't care." I admitted, while the last Wayshrine opened. "Let's get that bow and leave this place. I have better things to do than brawl with that asshole."

After a brief exchange of words with Gelebor, he gave me the Bow of Auri-El and twenty sun arrows… and with that, we returned to Fort Dawnguard. Where Isran was waiting.

"It's… it's done?" He asked, as soon as he saw us… covered in blood and ice. "Already?"

"You should know I do things efficiently, Isran." I replied, briefly materializing the bow on my hand. "Now, give me enough time to prepare some magicka potion and I can open a portal directly to Castle Volkhar… so we can end this."

"There is no need." Replied the Redguard. "We prepared some potions beforehand, just for you. Rest, for now. I need to gather all the men and they need to gear up. It will take a while."

I nodded. "Alright. I'll eat something then."

"Eat all you want, Loki. It's going to be a tough battle."

I sincerely doubted it, but I didn't say. So, I sat down… but instead of a relaxing time, I had Kayleen sitting next to me and explaining to me how the Ephemeral Feint and the Zero-Sum Interrupt worked. Fascinating topic, I tell you -the Zero-Sum Interrupt worked on the principle that things couldn't hurt you while you holding your breath because, by simulating a death state with a lack of breath, you were already dead, and so couldn't be hurt… or something like that, while the Ephemeral Feint was, indeed, a reverse-causality technique that worked on the belief that you could wound something before you effectively hit them- but while I appreciated her eagerness to teach me and I liked the subject, I would have preferred to not have to listen to it while I was trying to rest. I didn't interrupt her out of politeness, but still.

An hour later… or something, the Dawnguard was ready to fight. So, I opened a portal, let the warriors pass through, and drank a couple of potions to refill my magic and dispel the last traces of weariness in my body. Despite all my improvements… I still had some difficulties keeping up with my companions. Thormund just beat me in sheer power and resilience, Kayleen was stupidly fast, and Fenrir… well, Fenrir was a horse-sized black wolf able to use a werewolf-like transformation. He was a killing machine when he wanted to be.

I patiently waited for the Dawnguard to start to charge at the castle, so I could support them with sunlight magic. I heard Isran go with his rallying speech, but I zoned it out because I distinctly remembered not remembering the speech because it was that boring, and then-

"Loki?" Called a voice, and I looked to my right to see Thormund staring at me.

"Yes? Are we starting?"

"Soon. Isran asked if you want to say a few words to the men."

I frowned. "What? Why? I'm not the chief here. He is."

"True. But, and I'm using his words 'he did more than anyone to help us arrive here', so he thinks that a couple of words could… help the men."

I turned more and I saw the Dawnguard looking at me. There were… a lot more than I remembered and probably a lot more than they should have, considering a lot of surviving Vigilants of Stendarr had joined them. They all looked at me.

I have to say that, of all the abilities I had cultivated in my brief time here -I was here for… what, six months? Seven?- I had never really focused on my oratory skill. Maybe after all of this, I would try to learn how to play an instrument, but that came after, well, learning how to survive. So, when I realized that two hundred or so people were expecting me to give a speech, I was a little thrown off.

I could refuse, of course. But morale was important before a fight, and psyched up warriors were better than fearful or depressed ones. So… it was better if I gave that speech. It didn't have to be great, it just needed to be decent.

Or I could use my magic skill to resolve the problem and give a good speech. The words were not important after all, it was the message.

And so I started to talk.

"I'll be honest with you." I said, fully turning toward the men and women ready to fight a castle full of vampires. "I don't really hate vampires."

The Dawnguards -and the Vigilants- looked at each other, confused.

"Not for being vampires, anyway." I continued. "Vampirism is a curse, after all. I can't hate a vampire for being the victim of a monster. I can, and do, kill them if they become monsters themselves."

My audience nodded. Seemed like I was doing well.

"So, I hope you understand that I'm not here today because I like to kill vampires." I said, walking around and starting to gesticulate… which was normal Italian behavior. "I'm here because the plan that Lord Harkon is putting up is crazy, and could have terrible effects on the world." I stopped and pointed at… well, everything. "He plans to obscure the sun. Now, forget his idea of his kin feasting on men and mer as they like. What would happen if the sun remains obscured? Can you imagine it? I can't." I paused. "Well, that's a lie. I can imagine pretty well. A grey land, where the only thing that's in plenty is silence. A land where the only things that move are the snow and the dust raised by the wind." I spun around, my arms wide, as to embrace everything in sight. "Is that the world you want to live in? A world of grey, where you can't see the dawn tinge the sky of orange and yellow, where the water doesn't shine under the sun, where the air tastes of death. Is it!?"

"No!" Came the unanimous roar of the warriors.

"Then fight with me. Not for hate, but to preserve this world. It's beauty, it's light. Fight not to destroy but to save! Tell me, men and women of Skyrim! Are you ready to die for that!? Are you with me!?"

"Yes!" They all roared, my friends -and Solanus- moving at my sides.

"Then let's fucking do this!" I said, materializing a ball of sunlight in my and throwing it at the castle door with a roar of my one.

The frontal section of the castle exploded. There was no other way to describe it. The steel grate that protected the entrance melted, and then my sunlight ball exploded with the strength of a missile, tearing up metal and stone. Some fragments of what was the entrance flew in our direction, but fell short.

"Chaaaaarge!" I shouted, pointing my conveniently materialized sword in my hand to the opening in the castle defenses.

And, as one man, everyone started to run. And shout. Especially shout.

Very Avengers. We just needed a catchy phrase.

Anyway, while the battle of Castle Volkhiar in-game was… lame, to say at least, this one was not. There were not just a dozen or so vampires inside. Instead all the vampires we… didn't kill, I suppose, managed to find themselves here. I supposed that Lord Harkon, despite his idiocy, had seen that he couldn't stop us from getting the bow before him and so decided to amass his force in his fortress. Not a bad idea.

It meant, of course, that when all the two hundred men started to charge what remained of the doors, a sizable force of vampires emerged from the entrance and counter-charged us… while some of the gargoyles on the bridge revealed themselves are real gargoyles and tried to stop us.

Tried is the keyword here. Thormund smashed the head of one of the gargoyle so hard that it exploded in rocky fragments and showered the vampires coming. Meanwhile, Solanus, Isran, and I carved a bloody path on the horde with an abundant application of sunlight magic.

Fenrir and Kayleen just became what for normal people were indistinct blurs before tearing them apart.

They didn't stand a chance.

The formation advanced through the horde of vampires like a hot knife through butter, and in no time at all, we were inside the castle. In doing so, the vampires had already lost most of their forces and the advantage of superior numbers. Only the most powerful and loyal follower remained… and so I decided to test the Bow of Auri-El. My sword -still unnamed and un-Enchanted- vanished, and the elven-looking divine artifact appeared in my hand. As fast as I could, I took out an arrow -not one of the Sun-Enchanted ones, of course, I just had a twenty or so- and shot the first vampires I saw.

The arrow hit him in the chest and it barely slowed down, piercing right through him and leaving a burning hole in his chest, before planting on the wall behind.

Holy shit. That was some powerful bow.

Unfortunately, the fight here seemed to be a little more even. The top-tier servant of Harkon could at least match up to our men, so we were not simply trampling them anymore.

"We have to go while the others keep them occupied." Said Serana.

"Wouldn't it be better to wait for them to kill the vampires and join us?"

"My father will run if he sees that the battle is lost! We have to fight him now, so that he thinks he has a chance to win and steal the bow!"

Mmm… fair enough. "Then lead the way."

We managed to slip inside Harkon's throne room pretty easily. Sure, I had to shoot a vampire away with a spell when he saw us, but we arrived inside mostly undetected. We entered inside the room, I locked it with a spell, and then we faced Harkon. Which was already waiting for us in his Vampire Lord form.

"So, you hav-"

I shot a thin, powerful ray of sunlight at him, more or less like Frieeza would. The beam of light burned a path inside the chamber, but Harkon was faster than expected. He managed to dodge the ray, who slammed against the wall behind him leaving a scorch mark on the stone but failed to pierce.

"Bah, I hoped to eliminate you with that."

"You dare!?"

"Well, yes. You're not going to surrender, so why bother exchanging pleasantries?" I shot another attack, this time an explosion, but he easily darted away from the trajectory.

"Fine then! I wanted to give you the opportunity to give me the bow yourself, but I'll just kill you."

And as he said so, several skeletons emerged from… somewhere. I actually didn't see where. Probably from behind the room, since they wore the Nordic armor usually used by the draugr. They were probably ancient warriors he trapped or killed, and now he was reanimating their bodies for his use.

I quickly dispatched one of the skeletons with a punch in his face. "Serana, deal with the skeletons. I'll handle your father."

"Alright!" She shouted back, before electrocuting one of the skeletons so hard its body blew up.

"Handle me, mortal? I'm not some-"

Whatever Harkon wanted to say was stopped once I teleported right in his face, my sword ready to hit.

I remembered distinctly that Harkon was… quite an annoying enemy to fight. Not because he hit particularly hard or because he had some scripted invulnerability. Well, he had that too, but that was not the main reason I disliked fighting him. No, the reason was far simpler: he teleported a lot, and in a game where you didn't have movement powers, this guy continuing to warp from a place to another while using minions to slow you down was annoying as hell.

Fortunately, here I could teleport and follow his movements using Detect Unlife. Basically, I could bypass his defenses and get him the moment he stopped teleporting, became invisible, or transformed into bats.

So, when I appeared out of nowhere and slashed his chest with my sunlight-infused blade, he didn't react fast enough. His flesh boiled, but he was made of sterner stuff than his followers. Instead of dying, he wildly slashed with his claws, missing me but gutting a column. Or, to be more precise, he removed a piece of stone the size of my head when I ducked under his swing. Yeah… that looked dangerous.

Seeing that trying to behead me didn't have the desired effect, he tried to absorb my vitality using his magical powers… which didn't work on me, not very well at least. Granted, those kinds of spells could ignore magical armors by bypassing the need to strike through them to reach the body, but… Breton. What could have been a crippling loss of vitality was reduced to a mere dull pain. Annoying, but hardly lethal.

"Yol!" I replied, showering the vampire with fire. Harkon screeched and turned into a cloud of bats, running away from me and toward the blood fountain.

Already? Did I manage to hit him that hard? Or maybe he was just recharging.

Dismissing my sword to draw the Bow of Auri-el, I shoot an arrow toward Harkon. Of course, he had erected a shield to defend himself, so the arrow, instead of piercing him from side to side and incinerate him, just dropped the shield down.

I would have liked to strike him again, but I wanted to avoid wasting arrows, and more pressingly, I had a gargoyle emerge near me and start to charge.

Fortunately, I did train to use my bow as a staff… of a sort. So when he tried to claw my face off, I just dodged and smashed the Bow of Auri-el on his head. The magical weapon didn't exactly do a lot of damage because gargoyles were not undead or vampires, despite the life-absorbing properties of their claws, but when I completed the action by frying the creature's head, it went down.

A good thing, since Harkon had completed his recovery and was going to attack us again… this time more seriously.

Harkon emitted a high-pitched scream and released a wave of red magic that I was not sure what it was supposed to be, but I didn't like it. In doubt, I raised my hand and covered both me and Serana with a magical shield. The wave of magic hit us, but thanks to the gods the shield held and the attack, I suppose another drain spell, failed to bring us down.

Well, failed to bring me down. Serana didn't look so well, but I couldn't heal her- no, nevermind, she just drained the vitality of a gargoyle, leaving a dried husk in its place.

So I left her on her own and engaged Harkon again. His attempts to escape amounted to nothing. In the end, a fight that should have been an exercise of hit-and-run tactics from the ancient Vampire Lord became a battle of raw power between me and him… and while physically he could probably contend with me quite easily, he couldn't in a magical battle. The moment he appeared somewhere, I just teleported away and slammed him with powerful Sunlight spells. Sometimes, Serana helped too, using lightning to drain her father's magical reserves.

Harkon turned out to be more powerful than I assumed initially. Not as annoying to fight, but surely more powerful. His attacks had weight. His spells were lethal. He was outgunned here, but not by that much. Enough that, after several exchanges where I countered every spell I could with the magic I possessed, we finally managed to stop him.

It happened the third time he returned to the fountain to recharge. I blasted away the shield he put up with an arrow, and then Serana decided to produce her best impression of Emperor Palpatine. She just started to blast him, and instead of hitting him with sunlight… I actually decided to help her.

The electricity tripled in volume and intensity the moment my magic connected with Serana's, and Harkon, for the first time in our -admittedly short- fight, didn't assault us with a spell. Instead, his body locked up, a strangled scream trying to escape from his throat. Then, when Serana stopped the stream of lightning, he fell to the ground.

"Killed by my own daughter…" he murmured, slowly returning to his human form.

"You didn't give me any other choice." Replied Serana. Magic was still floating around her hands, but she didn't fire it.

"I just wanted… a better future for my ra-"

Before he could finish, I reached him and I Ephemeral Feinted him, cleaning decapitating the vampire.

Serana looked at the body of her father disintegrating with a mix of horror and surprise, before turning toward me. "Why!?"

"He was trying to buy time to regenerate." I replied, putting my sword away. "Didn't you notice his wounds closing? He was probably hoping that you would not kill him immediately… because you're his daughter and all of that. The moment he thought he felt strong enough he would have assaulted you."

Serana didn't say anything. "I… sorry. I should have known he was up to something."

I gave her a surprised look. "You believe me?"

She shrugged. "Even if you're lying, it doesn't matter. He had to be killed. I'm actually… grateful. I know he was a monster, but he was still my father."

I looked away from her. "Yeah, he was. My condolences."

"Thank you. I… I need a minute alone, if you don't mind."

I nodded and… well, and got out of the room. I found Isran and Thormund waiting for me, ready to enter, considering they were still armed.

"It's done?" Asked Isran. I just nodded.

"And Lady Serana?" Asked Thormund. "She's…"

"Alive." I curtly replied. "She just… asked a minute for herself. I just decapitated her father."

"Oh." That was all Thormund could say. "Understood. It looks like you could need a minute yourself, friend Loki."

I… probably needed one. "Yeah." I said, before snorting. "It's funny. I never really cared about Harkon until I saw Serana's reaction to his death."

"That's inevitable." Wisely noted Thormund. "It's called empathy, my friend. You have more than you credit yourself."

I couldn't think about anything to say, so I just nodded. "If you think so. I'm going to… sit down for a while. One of the big quests is done. I think I deserve a little rest."

It was not the reason I needed a pause, but Thormund and Isran seemed to understand and let me sit on some stairs. I was quickly approached by Fenrir, who fell on his stomach and put his head on my legs without making a sound. I started to absentmindedly scratch him behind the ears.

After a while, someone approached me. I raised my eyes and met Serana.

"Hi." I said. "How are you doing?"

"Better." She admitted. "I… didn't like to do it, but there was no other choice."

"Happy to hear that." I replied, still scratching Fenrir.

"How are you doing?" Asked Serana, while Thormund and Kayleen quietly approached us.

"I'm tired." I admitted. Now that I knew that she was ok I felt better, but still… I had so much to do right now. "This threat is over, but there is Miraak, and then Alduin. I'm not sure I can do it."

"You managed to do everything until now." Noted Kayleen.

"This was an easy mode compared to what's to come." I replied. Then, I sighed. "But I gain nothing thinking that way. I'm going to finish enchanting my gear, and then I'll go."

"Solstheim?" Asked Thormund.

"Solstheim." I nodded.

"I could come with you." Proposed the Nord. "I'm sure you could need a hand."

"No Thormund." I quickly shot down that line of thought. "Miraak is influencing the mind of the population of Solstheim with a powerful Shout. Nobody is immune to his effects… hell, I'm not immune to his effects, even if I should be comparatively safe unless I don't play with the Stones he has corrupted, and I am the Dragonborn. You can't follow me there. No one can. I don't want to have you fall under Miraak."

The humans -and the vampire- nodded. Fenrir, instead, raised his head and whined at me.

I paused for a second. Maybe… "You can come, I think. The compulsion is aimed at the people of the island to make them work for him. There should be no risk for you to be controlled."

"Arf!" Happily replied the wolf, licking my face. I half-grunted half-laughed at that and started to scratch him under the chin.

"Well, if Fenrir is with you I think you're going to be safe." Admitted Thormund. "He wanted to come with you all this time."

"Then we're going to do a little trip with only you and me." I said, starting to scratch him between the ears too. "Just be warned that the island is full of cinder. Mind what you eat."

Fenrir replied by licking my face again, and I smiled. Maybe I was going to be fine.

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.3

The preparations required less time than usual. In fact, they required barely a couple of days, a time I spent mostly finishing the Enchantments on my weapons.

Someone would think that taking this much time to Enchant your weapons was foolish. But, aside from the fact that I disliked having to recharge my weapons, there was a second, more important reason for why I decided to wait that much, and no, it had nothing to do with my laziness. In reality, I had waited to see if I could somehow figure out a way to not make my weapons not need to recharge. I knew it was possible: aside from deadric artifacts, there were weapons that were obviously magical but didn't require periodic recharge to work. Neverar, the man that basically created Morrowind as it is, held two weapons, one covered in red flames and one covered in blue flames. They were a marriage gift from the king of the Dwemer, apparently. And so, if an ancient dwemer could, why could I not? There had to be a way.

And there was. Studying the masks of the Dragon Priests -I didn't take them just for my collection- I finally cracked down the way to infuse weapons and armor with the power of the Voice… or with something close enough. So, I infused most of my weapons with different Shouts. The results were… mixed. On one hand, the Enchantment was nowhere good enough as the real Shout. On the other… well, it worked! No recharging weapons for me, and all the dragonbone weapons I got -several, including a spear and a staff- now had some very powerful Enchantments on them.

I couldn't get better prepared than this. Or… maybe I could, but I didn't have time to prepare several rituals when Miraak was ready to take over Solstheim at any moment. It was better if I moved.

But, instead of teleporting near the Temple of Miraak any other of those places, I decided to stop at Raven Rock. The reason was simple.

I didn't have the Word to free the people from Miraak's control.

Let me explain. The first time I arrived here, to map the island for emergency teleportation, the inhabitants didn't really look like they were controlled. Yes, I checked. So, reassured that Miraak's plan was not explicitly started, I decided to get the Word later, when I was not trying to do a lot of things at the same time. In retrospect, a stupid idea, because when tried to get it during one of my subsequent trips, I found the dragon waiting for me. Since I was pretty sure the surrounding area was filled with draugr, I had decided to not go there until I had a little more experience in fighting Dovah. Now that I had four of them under my belt, I felt confident enough to try to get him. That, and Fenrir could deal with the Draugr on his own.

Or maybe I subconsciously waited to have the dragon here so I could kill it? I loathed killing dragons, at least intellectually… but I couldn't deny that the fight and the subsequent rush of power were exhilarating.

Was that what Paarthurnax felt every day? A battle of mind against instinct? It must be awful for him. Sure, I was not happy I instinctively wanted to kill a race of sentient and highly intelligent dragons that could be taught how to not be horrible people, but it was better than to be one of the dragons whose instinct was to dominate and control everything on sight despite not wanting to.

At least I could try to avoid dragons, and if they assaulted me I didn't really have a choice. Dragons were absurdly resistant to mind-fucking and illusions. I couldn't simply distract one with some trick and be done with it. Especially if the dragon was explicitly watching a place.

Anyway, now I needed to deal with that dragon. So, I stopped at Raven Rock to rest for an hour or two, set up the teleport, and prepare.

And it was there that I found someone I didn't expect.

You see, while I didn't exactly stay at Raven Rock a lot, at least not enough to do any quest, I did pass there to get Neloth a new cook… steward… I dunno what the hell he was supposed to be, and I didn't care. But, while I didn't remain to complete some of the secondary quests of the town, like exploring the Ebony mine or the recovery mission for the local blacksmith. I did tell the local Thane -or whatever the equivalent was- of the city about the family that wanted to kill the major and that they were hiring the Morag Tong. They took my warning very seriously, and so I supposed that they would deal with them with extreme prejudice.

So, when captain Veleth of the Redoran Guard greeted me and Fenrir accompanied by a black-scaled Argonian, I was just a little surprised.

"Captain Veleth." I said, nodding at him. "A pleasure to meet you again."

"Ah, master Loki." Nodded the captain. "When I heard someone had just teleported into the middle of the plaza, I thought it could be you. It's a pleasure to have you here again. This is Kotaeix'eth."

"You can call me Black-Scales." Said the Argonian. "I know my language can be challenging for those not of the Root."

I supposed that was a way to say the people not from the Blackmarsh. "Pleasure to meet you, Black-Scales. I have to admit, I'm surprised to see an Argonian here. I thought between your people and the Dunmer there was some… attrition."

The Argonian waved his hand dismissively. "While true, it doesn't apply to everyone."

"Of course." Not every Argonian was bound to hate the Dunmer.

"Even then, some people here were not as… polite as you. I had to earn their respect. It was not easy, for some of them."

"He was one of the people hired to deal with the attempted coup." Explained Veleth. "His valor in battle earned him a place among the people of Raven Rock. I'm sorry you couldn't be with us, master Loki. But I suppose you were busy: heard rumors about your heroics on the mainland."

Black-Scales sent the Dunmer a… I wasn't sure what kind of expression that was. He was not very expressive… like every other Argonian I met.

As such, the captain didn't explain further. "Now, I have to return to my duties. Goodbye, master Loki. Kotaeix'eth."

"Captain." Replied the Argonian, while I just made a little bow.

Once the captain was far away, the Argonian returned to look at me. "You wear armor made of a beast I never hunted." Said Black-Scales. "Are you perhaps the Dragonborn the bards sing about?"

"Unfortunately." I replied, patting Fenrir.

"Unfortunately? Do you perhaps dislike your power?"

"No, I dislike what I have to do with that power. Killing dragons was not what I wanted to do with my life."

Black-Scales looked at me with his expressionless face before nodding. "I understand. And you plan to kill dragons here on Solshteim?"

"Regrettably."

"If that's the case, I would like to join you."

I blinked. "Uh… what? Why?"

"I was trained in an ancient martial art. It's an art that has been believed forgotten for centuries, but it's still practiced. It's an art meant to emulate the power of the dragons, and I want to test myself against one of them."

I looked at the Argonian. "You're a Dragonknight?" I asked.

"I would not dare to call myself as such. The Dragonknights were an organization of the second Era, and much has changed since then. However, I know some of their techniques. Even then, I don't believe I'll be able to match an actual dragon… not without the Dragonborn at my side."

I hummed. "I see. Fine then. You can come with me. At a price, of course."

Black-Scales looked at me with what I thought was… no, I still couldn't pierce the expression. It could be doubt, curiosity, or resignation. Or a mix of the three. "Of course. What price?"

"Well, explain to me how the techniques of the Dragonknights work while I prepare for the attack. Later, if you want, you could even teach me the basics. After we fight the dragon, of course."

The Argonian blinked. "You want to learn the art? Why? I thought you were a mage."

"I am many things, friend. At my core, I'm a scholar. I'm fascinated by all types of knowledge. And even if I wasn't, the ancient martial art of the Dragonknights could be very useful to the Dragonborn, wouldn't it?"

Black-Scales looked at me for an odd second before releasing a quiet chuckle. "I suppose I can see that. Very well. After all, one of the requirements to learn the art is the willingness to teach it. So, I suppose I have to ask… will you teach it to someone if they ask?"

I shrugged. "I mean, sure. But I don't exactly plan to stay stationary for long. So I don't know if I'll ever have the occasion."

"The occasion will come." Dismissed Black-Scales. "Everybody arrives at a point in his life when they decide to settle down."

I dearly hoped he was right. "Well, yes, I suppose I'll do that too, one day. But let's prepare for the fight first. Dragons can be difficult opponents, even after you fight several. No one is exactly the same as another."

"That's usually the case with intelligent enemies." Nodded the Argonian. "I fear I need to have more information on them if I want to be of any help."

"A question for a question?" I asked.

"That's acceptable." Nodded Black-Scales. And so we started to talk.

-X-

After a couple of hours -which I spent gathering components for the teleport and recharging my magicka- and a lot of talks, I was deeply confused by how the Dragonknights were supposed to work, but that was fine. Black-Scales assured me that he was similarly confused at first, because the art didn't work like normal magic or some other mundane martial art, but more like a mix of the two. Some powers were just fancy spells, but others required a lot of physical training, and some mixed the two. He hypothesized that I would catch up pretty quickly, since I was extremely talented in both, but we needed to get the dragon before starting to move on that.

Once we teleported, the fight with the dragon went pretty smoothly. I attracted him using the Voice, then when he was close enough, I summon Durnheviir to ground it while I, Fenrir, and Black-Scales mauled him. He didn't really stand a chance, and I got another dragon soul. And the first world of the Bend Will Shout. Gol, Earth… which was, probably, the strongest Word you could know, since it gave you access to the Earthbones, the very basis of how reality worked.

But that was for another time. Now, we had the Draugr that got attracted by the fight to eliminate, and the basis of the Dragonknight martial art to be explained to me. Which Black-Scales explained to me while we got around and dealt with the various Stones and the Lurker that emerged from them.

The basics were… pretty easy, at least compared to the Shehai Shen She Ru. The magical part was trivial, since it was basically a very primitive use of magic that was based around 'be a dragon'. Since I was a dragon, that part was really easy for me.

The martial aspect of the art was not so easy. Most of the Dragonknights martial techniques worked on something, the concept of breathing. That was not a strange concept for me. Breathing was depicted in a lot of Eastern Martial arts, and so I was not surprised that the Dragonknights, an organization with clear Aka'vir roots featured it so much. Hell, it also made sense if you thought that the Aka'vir created that martial art to emulate the dragons, and the Thu'um, between the Nords, was also known as the Breath of Kyne.

The funny part about it was, of course, that I turned out to be even more compatible with it than Black-Scales had anticipated.

After some explanation, the Argonian had decided to directly show me what his art was about. So, he showed me one of the most basic techniques, the one that, in ESO, granted the ability to wrap your weapon in flames. Something that everyone could do using magic, even if it was a pretty obscure spell.

But the important part was not the spell per se, but what he shouted when he activated the technique. He emitted a pretty deep, baritonal 'Yi-oh!' and, when he swung his spear, the tip caught fire. The strike was very fast and very, very bright, so much that I had a green trail in my sight for a second after the stroke.

After he concluded his demonstration, I huffed from my nose, vaguely amused. "You know, it's quite close, but not right."

The Argonian blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"The shout you just did. It resembles the draconic Word for fire. But it's not 'Yi-oh'. It's Yol."

I purposely let the Word reverberate in the air, letting its power affect the surrounding area. As I did, several of the burning trees' flames around us suddenly lit up, just to quickly die.

Black-Scales nodded. "I see. So that was the power the Akaviri tried to capture." He snorted. "I can already tell they failed."

"Well, yeah, but they got close. The breathing part of the martial art is correct. It just needs to be… paired with a steel will and the ability to bend reality to your whims."

"I suppose that's something pretty easy to do for the Dragonborn." Nodded Black-Scales. "So… I suppose you're not going to want to learn anything more."

I shrugged. "Well, there is something I would want to learn. Most of this is… not very good for me, since I can replicate it with spells or Thu'um. But… the techniques based on respiration, those interest me. The Thu'um is often called the Breath of Kyne, and is based on projecting your life force into a shout. Maybe it will turn out to be of some use."

And so he continued to explain, while I -and for some reason, Fenrir- watched. After we finally finished all the Stones, we started to approach Miraak's Temple.

"So this is the source of the strange events on this island." Said Black-Scales. "Impressive, considering the relatively short time since all of this started."

I had to nod. Black-Scales told me when the people on the island had started to act strangely, and a nearly complete temple in that little time was impressive. Alas, it was time to deal with it… well, most of it.

And, once we were basically inside, we found the other person that was going to help us with this. The… woman of the Skaal that I didn't remember the name of. She was shouting at the people working at the Temple.

"You must fight against what is controlling you! We must leave this place! Ysra, can you hear me? You must leave this place!" Then, she noticed me, Black-Scales and Fenrir approach. "You there. What brings you to this place? Why are you here?"

"To stop what's happening, of course." I replied. "The man that's building the temple sent his goons to kill me. They failed, obviously, but I'm not going to let him do what he wants."

She nodded. "Then you and I both have reason to see what lies beneath us. Let us go. There is nothing more I can do here. The Tree Stone and my friends are beyond my help for now. We need to find a way into the temple below."

"Then lead the way." I replied. "Us four, together, will have little problems with the dangers inside of the temple."

The woman nodded and smiled. "I'm happy to hear that, friend. I'm Frea of the Skaal. Tell me your names."

"I'm Loki." I replied. Then, I pointed at the wolf behind me. "And this is Fenrir."

"Black-Scales." Said the Argonian warrior when Frea looked at him.

"Very well, Loki, Fenrir, Black-Scales. Let's go. The faster we get inside, the faster we can free my people."

So we descended. It was a pretty slow slog into a gigantic temple that was filled with draugr and cultists. More cultists that draugr, really, even if the draugr were on average more difficult to deal with. It didn't help that this particular temple was, unlike most of the dungeons in Skyrim, never meant to be a tomb. Well, to be fair, neither were the others, but at least the old Nords tried to repurpose some of them into tombs meant to contain the draugr inside when the Dragon Cult was destroyed. Here… there was not the same amount of effort. Most of the changes that the old Nords made were canceled by Miraak's cultists.

The place was relatively simple to navigate, but it was chock-full of side-rooms filled with enemies that attacked us on every occasion. Fenrir in particular had a hard time, because the corridors were narrower than in other dungeons and so he couldn't turn and bite the face of a draugr if it suddenly jumped out of a tomb if it attacked him.

But little by little we forced our way inside. And the more we descended, the less the architecture looked Nord and started to turn into something that looked vaguely organic and really, really creepy.

"What's happening here?" Asked Black-Scales.

"Miraak works for Hermaeus Mora." I replied, recovering some ebony weapons left by a trio of powerful Deathlords that were guarding the place. Such high powered servants probably meant we were arriving. "This temple is as much for him as for the Prince. Or so it was when Miraak still lived on Mundus. Right now, the old Dragon Priests is… less than pleased about his subordination with Mora."

"Mora is treacherous." Nodded Frea. "And Miraak too, if the old stories are true. I'm not surprised that they're at odds. But what does Miraak want? Why enslave the people of Solstheim?"

"He wants to return on Nirn, of course." I replied, preceding the two of them into the inner chambers of the temple. "I'm not sure why he needs to build temples to do so, but I assume it is part of a complex magical ritual meant to keep him away from the influence of his master. Then, once there, he'll conquer the island and, if he's not stopped, maybe the rest of Skyrim."

"That doesn't sound good." Said Black-Scales. Understatement of the era.

"It's not." I agreed. "Miraak is a narcissistic asshole."

"What is that?" Asked Frea. Distracted by the chat, I had failed to notice that the corridor ended into a chamber with a pillar in the middle of it. A pillar… and something else.

"That's a Black Book." I answered, entering the room. "One of the magical books of Mora. There are a lot of them around. They confer great knowledge to whoever reads them."

"And… reading this I could learn how to free my people?"

"No. This one brings you right inside the area of Apocrypha where Miraak is." I grabbed the book. It was heavy and unwieldy.

"You're not planning on reading it, right?" Asked Black-Scales. "I know you need to fight Miraak, but I think it's a bit premature. You should at least rest before."

I chuckled. "Relax, Black-Scales. I have no intention of entering this book. The best way for me to defeat Miraak is to not let him know I'm ready to kick his ass until the last possible sec-"

As I said that, the book jerked in my hands, and the strange, moving letters inside it were right in front of my eyes.

I heard a deep chuckle as the sentences rose from the pages, transformed into tentacles, and grabbed me.

"Mora, you son of a-!"

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.4

Everything fades black for a second, and after that, I found myself under the green sky of Apocrypha, the strange world made of books showing itself in all his… strangeness. Despite the clear Lovecraftian inspiration, I didn't find it particularly horrifying.

That said, finding two Elder Keepers at my sides, a dragon in front of me and fucking Miraak turning to see what the hell had just happened was plenty scary on his own. The dragon and the Seekers, I could take. Miraak…

"What? Who are you to dare set foot here?"

Before I could explain -if I decided to bother, and that didn't seem probable-, Miraak pointed his hands in my direction and launched a series of lightning bolts. The air burned as the magic raced…

… And slammed against a shield I hastily erected. Even as I did so, however, I felt my magic being drained away.

"Interesting." Commented Miraak, doubling down. I replied by putting both of my hands forward and increasing the power of my shield. Fuck… if only I had the time to bring out my heavy armor, I could have just absorbed his magic… but right now I didn't have complete protection from his lightning.

And considering I was still losing magicka even when blocking the damage -which shouldn't be possible, by the way- I was not sure even my armor was going to protect me.

Miraal stopped his attack… just for the Keepers to start hitting me with whatever magic they possessed. I started to block that too and I felt my magic being drained again.

What the fuck? Seeker magic didn't drain magicka! Unless…

I didn't have time to think about it because Miraak blasted me again and my shield simply couldn't hold an attack from three fronts. Not for long. It held as much as possible, but after ten seconds of constant bombardment, I felt down and the magic forced me on my feet.

It was then that I realized that it was not Miraak's magic to be powerful… it was Apocrypha. Now that I was not busy defending myself, I could feel the entire plane pressing on me from all fronts. It had never acted that way while I recovered the Black Books… maybe it was Miraak's presence to make the plane actively hostile?

Speaking of which…

"Ahh… You are Dragonborn. I can feel it. And yet… You have done little beyond killing a few dragons. You have no idea of the true power a Dragonborn can wield!"

No, I actually know very well, you asshole! Don't act high and mighty just because you have the home field advantage!

"Mul… Qah Diiv!"

He Shouted and… I couldn't feel anything.

"Surprised?" Asked Miraak. "You thought you could learn my Shout? It's not so simple. This realm is beyond you. You have no power here. And it is only a matter of time before Solstheim is also mine. I already control the minds of its people. Soon they will finish building my temple, and I can return home." He turned around. "Send him back where he came from. He can await my arrival with the rest of Tamriel."

I couldn't do much while the Seeker blasted me and Miraak walked away, not with the pressure of Apocrypha on me. But I swear, I'm going to kick your ass you damn…

"… Motherfucker!" I shouted involuntarily, as I suddenly found myself on Tamriel again. The pressure gone, I could act freely again. Good.

"Friend." Black-Scales was already at my side. "What happened? You stood there looking at the pages without moving."

I grabbed the damn Black Book and closed it with a rope I had in my dimensional bag. "Nothing. Just Mora fucking with me." I snorted, then put the book away. "I met Miraak, unfortunately. I hoped to catch him by surprise, but I was overly optimistic. Now he knows I'm here… even if he's underestimating me. But it will not be long before he's going to understand how dangerous I really am. I have to move fast. I need to see Neloth."

"But… first we must free the people under-"

"Already done." I replied, opening the passage for the surface. "The other Stones are free. This should have helped your village… even if I can't do anything for the Tree Stone. I'm afraid only defeating Miraak will destroy the temple."

Frea stumbled, surprised… then nodded, a resolute expression on her face. "I see. I'll return to my village immediately then. We need to prepare in case Miraak manages to return before you're ready."

I nodded. I didn't think he was going to be that fast, but she was right to be prepared. As she started to reach the stairs to the outside, I remembered something. "Frea."

The Nord woman stopped and looked at me, curious. I sighed. "Hermaeus Mora is seeking the secrets of the Skaal. I'll try to dissuade him, or offer him something different… but I can't guarantee that I can change his mind. If he'll insist on having the secrets of your people… I'm afraid your father will not survive."

Frea remained silent for several seconds, her eyes full of fear and doubt. In the end, she asked. "There is no other way?"

I shook my head. "No. I need Mora's knowledge to defeat Miraak. Without it, he will just control my mind like he's doing with the rest of the island."

"Then why didn't he do it right now?" Asked Black-Scales.

"He's underestimating me. He doesn't think I can stop him." I grimaced. "He's wrong, of course."

Frea remained silent for a second. "I'll pray that you manage to distract him."

"Well, it's very probable I will." I replied. "The secrets of the Skaal will be there until your people remain on this island. I, on the other hand, will not remain here that long. My secrets are going to disappear far faster than yours." I fixed my mask. "It's in his interest to get them now. He'll not get another chance."

"What secrets do you possess that Mora would want?" Asked Black-Scales, confused.

"If I told you, they would not be secrets anymore." I replied with a smirk. The Argonian lips bent in what I supposed was a smile, then he chuckled.

"Fair enough. You need my help for this?"

I paused, thinking. "I'm not sure it's a good idea. Neloth is old… he could have some pretty ancient views on Argonians."

Black-Scales froze for a second… then he relaxed. "Ah, I see. And I suppose there is no way I can avoid being in his presence."

"Unfortunately, no. I need to get inside a Dwemer city, and after that, Apocrypha. And I don't think the book can bring more than one person… or that it's wise to get there, to begin with. I must go, but everyone else…"

Black-Scales nodded. "I see. There is something I can help you with?"

I stopped, an idea flashing in my head. "Actually… there is something you can do…"

-X-

Finishing my business with Frea, Black-Scales, and the first Black Book, I went to Neloth's place. I found him doing his things like always… so I had to interrupt him.

"Neloth." I called, walking toward him. "I know what's fucking with the people's minds."

"You do?" Asked the Dunmer. "And how did such information get into your possession? You're too busy doing whatever on the mainland to do anything here."

"A Black Book." I replied blandly. One of the things I liked about Neloth was that I didn't have to explain every little detail to him. He'll just figure it out on his own most of the time.

"A Black Book? Yes, the influence of Mora is strong on Solstheim… so whatever is affecting the island is on Apocrypha… but not Hearmaeus Mora itself, right?"

"Right. The culprit is an ancient Dragonborn… Miraak, once Dragon Priest under the Dragon Cult."

"Fascinating. I suppose you met him in person. Any idea on how you can stop him? I sensed the destruction of the temple being near, and I assume it's your doing, but that doesn't seem to have stopped him completely."

"I have to enter Apocrypha and beat him." I answered.

"A dangerous proposition. As a servant of Mora, Miraak likely has an unsurmountable advantage over you in Oblivion. You could counteract that force if you had the support of Mora, but that's not very safe either."

"Unfortunately I don't have a choice. Miraak is using a Shout to control the minds of the people on Solstheim. Right now, the effect is weak because it's widespread over a lot of people, and he's still locked inside Apocrypha. What do you think will happen if he gets outside?"

"His control over the minds will increase exponentially…" Murmured the old Dunmer. "I see. What do you need? You didn't come to me just to warn me. You need my help for something."

I nodded. "In one of the Black Books on the island, there is the key to defeat Miraak. A Shout… the same Shout he's using to mind-control the people of the island. If I learn it, I will be able to ignore him, and then I will be able to fight him directly."

"You would still need to overcome the home-field advantage."

"Why do you think Miraak is trying to escape? He's not that happy with the current situation with Mora… and the feeling is mutual."

Neloth hummed, stroking his chin. "Interesting. You did plan this thoroughly, this time."

I wanted to point out that's what I always did, but whatever.

"Now I understand why you asked me to find the Black Books around the island." Continued Neloth. "I thought you were crazy, but you were just checking out where the various Books were."

"Actually, the only book I need is the one in that Dwemer city." I said, pointing in the general direction of the ruins. "I just took the other ones to get an advantage."

Neloth blinked. "So you are crazy, after all. Do you have any idea of what those books can do to a mortal's mind?"

"I have my ideas, but it's improbable that they will have that effect on me."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm the Dragonborn." I replied. "It's not just a fancy title, Neloth. I'm not just a mortal. I have a dragon soul inside me, and it counts for something when I'm dealing with mind-fucking magics. Most Illusion spells don't even work on me."

The old Dunmer humped. "So why do you need this Shout you were talking about? Don't your dragon souls protect you from it?"

"No, because the Shout in question is designed to take control of the strongest minds on Nirn, including dragons. At least, the complete Shout. I can probably ignore the incomplete version, but I'm not eager to try."

"A reasonable precaution… surprisingly, coming from someone that is trying to learn Shadow Magic." I didn't mention that I already knew Shadow Magic, even if I was just a novice. "Well, let's go then. No reason remaining here."

I nodded and just followed him. I could actually move far faster than him -I was a pretty good warrior and I was fast by universe standards, just not top-tier- but I followed because… there was no real reason to get there before him.

Once arrived -and once we blew away the bandits camping right out the ruins- we finally started to move inside the ancient ruins.

I've probably said this before, but Dwemer ruins were… different from other old dungeons filled with enemies. First off, because they contained far more loot than normal, since they were not tombs or abandoned fortresses but cities with all the riches of the previous inhabitants… if they were not already stolen, but their dangerousness meant it was somewhat difficult to do so.

Secondarily, each city apparently had a different purpose, so exploring one was always a different experience.

Thirdly, and unfortunately, the Dwemer constructs inside the ruins were annoying to fight even when you had overwhelming power. There were just so many of them it was ridiculous.

Maybe I should bring some pieces to the Dragon Refuge. The number of things you could do with Tonal Architecture was absurd and, while I didn't feel particularly attached to the daedra-like creatures that spawned inside of it, it would be terribly irresponsible for me to just leave them without further instructions or something to do while you were home. Better keep their mind occupied on something than risking the -barely- born social structure to collapse because their god, king, or whatever they thought I was had abandoned them. Also, for some reason, dragon people scouring the planes of Oblivion using flying ships sounded too cool to dismiss.

Anyway, after all of that, I finally managed to get the Black Book and enter Apocrypha for, I hope, the last time before getting to fight Miraak. While the tentacle grabbed me, Neloth had words of comfort and encouragement for me.

"Oh good. Be sure to say hello to Hermaeus Mora for me if you see him."

Stinky asshole.

In spite of what I remembered of this place, though, there wasn't Mora ready to greet me. The place was bare and as painfully similar to every other part of Apocrypha that for a moment I feared I had the wrong book. But that didn't make any sense, so I just ignored it. I was probably misremembering again, and I had better things to do than thinking about the demon squid was not here to say hello. I had to book to reach. Better move.

-X-

After a long trek, several daedra killed and a couple of puzzles later, I finally reached the book. Goddammit. Apocrypha was terrible for my mood. While I didn't find it particularly horrible, it was surely tedious to deal with all the daedra inside. I was just hoping that I didn't have to go and get the Skaal shaman killed after this. It would really ruin my mood.

So, when I opened the book and Hermaeus Mora finally appeared, I was somewhat relieved.

"You thought to reject me, and yet here you are. Your journey towards enlightenment has finally led you here, to my realm, as I knew it would."

"Not difficult to know that when I told you." I replied bluntly.

Mora chuckled. "True. The knowledge you possess is intriguing, to say at least."

"Happy to be of entertainment." I snorted. "I suppose you know why I'm here."

"Yes, I know what you want: to use your power as Dragonborn to bend the world to your will. Here then is the knowledge you need, although you did not know you needed it. The second Word of Power. Use it to bend the wills of mortals to your purpose. But this is not enough. Miraak knows the final Word of Power. Without that, you cannot hope to surpass him. Miraak served me well, and he was rewarded. I can grant you the same power as he wields, but all knowledge has its price."

I narrowed my eyes. "You're just going to give me the second Word without asking anything in exchange?"

"How suspicious of you. Yes, that's what I'm going to do. As an… incentive, for you to give me what I want."

Fair enough. "Very well. I accept your gift."

The knowledge flowed from Mora to me in a display of sickly yellow and green light, very unlike the usual orange-blue of the dragon knowledge. A second later, I knew the second Word of Bend Will, Hah, Mind.

"Now, I believe, it's time for the last Word. You know what I'm going to ask you to do?"

"Either the secrets of the Skaal, or how I know about it." I replied. I didn't feel so well. The experience had been… disorienting.

The eyes of Mora widened. I tried to not look too hard at them. "Yes, exactly. And while the secrets of the Skaal have eluded me for a long time, I'm more curious about your knowledge right now. Knowledge for knowledge, as you said. Of course, I could be persuaded to let you go to the Skaal."

"No, I'll tell you." I swiftly interrupted him. "Just… keep your tentacles away from my head. I know what you would do at the shaman if I let you near him."

The eyes narrowed. "The more you talk, the more I'm intrigued by your knowledge. Very well. How are you supposed to share your knowledge, if I can't search in your mind?"

"I'm Dragonborn." I replied. "I can share my knowledge with you in the same way the Greybeards taught me the Words of power."

"You learned how to do that? Most impressive. It has not been that much time since you had the Oghma Infinium in your hands."

"I'm a fast learner. Now… keep the tentacles away. I'm going to share the knowledge."

Since Mora didn't make any more to touch me with his tentacles, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and started the procedure.

It's… difficult to describe how it worked, but I suppose it was a form of telepathy that was unable to communicate direct thoughts but just raw data. More primal, in a way. As my knowledge of what The Elder Scroll was and what I remembered of the game flowed toward Mora, something happened that I didn't expect.

Mora started to pull the knowledge out of my mind. It was… disconcertingly, at the very least. I suppose that's how you would feel if your mind was going down the drain like water.

More information that I wanted started to flew inside Mora. I could even feel whose, since they flashed briefly inside my mind. I tried to resist, but it was futile. Always more memories started to be absorbed. Bits of my scientific background, literature and movies, my famil-

"Enough!" I shouted, forcibly interrupting the connection and making the entire platform I was on crack under the power of the Voice. "I didn't give you the permission to steal my memories, Mora!"

The Daedric Prince didn't react too much at my display. His gaze was focused inward, chewing the information he forcibly extracted from my mind.

"Most intriguing." He murmured after a while. "A different planet, with different people… where the Aubris is just a story, and magic doesn't exist…"

He continued to mull over that until I had enough. "Are you satisfied?" I asked, basically sneering in its face.

Hermaeus Mora's eyes snapped on me. "Ah… yes, yes, I'm quite satisfied. You served me well, champion. I'll grant you the knowledge you seek, so you can fight MIraak and take his place as my servant."

I didn't even bother to answer that because I knew he wouldn't listen.

"We'll see each other soon, champion." He said, before disappearing… not before having given the last Word of the Bend Will Shout, Dov, to me.

Sighing, I selected one of the powers of the book, namely the one that let me create fiery specters out of the ashes of burned enemies, and got out of the fucking place.

Last edited: Jan 31, 2021

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.5

"So, what happened? Everyone gets a different experience from another."

I deadpanned at Neloth. "Gee, not even asking if I'm alright?"

"Why should I? You didn't show the typical signs of Mora's corruption before, and you don't show them now. You're perfectly healthy, as far as I can see."

I snorted. "Fair. I talked to Mora."

"And he just let you know what you wanted? Mora is not so easy. What did he request you to do in order to obtain the knowledge you needed?"

"He wanted to ask the secrets of the Skaal… but in the end, my secrets turned out to be more interesting for him."

"Your secrets, uh?" Asked Neloth. "Well, you are a peculiar fellow. I'm not surprised you have something hidden up your sleeve. You're sure that Mora will not use those secrets against you?"

"I can't see how, but I'll be underestimating Mora if I did." I admitted.

"So you have some sense." Nodded Neloth. "Very well. Let's get out of here. Fascinating as the Dwemer were, it's not good for anyone's health to spend too much time inside one of their cities. Hidden traps and servitors can come at any time."

"Fine by me, but there will be a dragon waiting for us outside." I warned him. "Miraak has probably noticed my presence in Apocrypha and he can guess why I was there. He'll try to stop me now."

"That doesn't seem to be a problem anymore, since you have the mind-controlling Shout." Commented Neloth.

Yeah, I did. And, honestly… I would prefer to not use it. The Shout felt… wrong in my mind, like it oozed corruption. Frankly, if I didn't need it for resisting Miraak, I would have preferred to not know it.

"Controlling him will not do." I replied. "I'm not sure how much time I can control a Dovah. Most of the dragons under Miraak work for him because they're scared of his power, not because he can mind-control them. He could get free and attack us while we're not expecting it."

At least, I was reasonably sure of that.

"I see. Then we have no choice. Prepare for the battle."

I did, namely pulling my heavy-duty armor on.

"You can use magic in that thing? I'd prefer it if you were fully combat capable while we fight the dragon."

"Don't worry about me, Neloth. I'm pretty capable of using my magic even in my armor." I replied, opening the door… and starting the fight.

Well, not really. The dragon was not there waiting for us. He arrived after a couple of seconds, landing in front of us. Neloth immediately got out from the area immediately in front of the dragon, fearing his powerful breath attack.

"Miraak has commanded your death. So it shall be."

In answer, I punched the dragon in the face. The head of the monster snapped away and he looked fairly surprised that I managed that.

"Krii. Lun. Aus!" I continued, smacking Marked for Death on the dragon and drastically lowering his ability to resist our -or specifically, Neloth's- attacks.

Then the real fight started.

Between me and an old Tevanni wizard, however, the fight didn't last that long. Especially when Dunheviir and Neloth's Storm Atronach joined the party. While the dragon was powerful he couldn't fight another dragon, the Dovahkiin, and an archmage-level opponent at the same time. So, when he finally got down, I absorbed his soul, and new knowledge flowed into me.

Or it should have, but Miraak appeared in ethereal form, spouted some bullshit on how that soul was his, and left while leaving me without new knowledge. Goddammit, I had forgotten he did that shit.

"Remarkably efficient way to kill a dragon, even if the apparition of Miraak was somewhat annoying." Commented Neloth. "So, what's your plan now? You intend to fight Miraak?"

"Yes, but first I'll warn the Skaal." I replied. "They've been hit pretty hard by all of this. I'll pass from their village, and then I'll read the book and enter Apocrypha."

"Hmm, as it suits you. I'll admit, I'll enjoy not having that persistent presence in my mind. Good luck."

"Thank you, Neloth." I replied, before turning into a hawk and flying away.

-X-

My arrival at the Skaal village was anything but subtle. I just flew right in the middle of the place and transformed back.

Of course, not having followed Frea when we had cleaned up Miraak's temple, the people of the place didn't know me and, when I appeared out of nowhere, some started to take arms.

"Stop!" Shouted Frea when she saw what was happening. "He's the one who freed the Stones."

At her words, the villagers calmed down. She approached me and greeted me with an arm-shake. "I'm happy to see you here, Loki." Then, her smile vanished and her eyes went to an old man, sitting in front of a house with two other people, keeping up the magical barrier around the village… which I noticed, but ignored completely. Her father, she shaman of the tribe. "Did you manage to…?"

"Sway Mora? Yes."

Her body relaxed and her smile returned. "Thank you. It's a great relief. My father looked like he had accepted the possibility of his death… but I was not."

"You would have been." I told her. "You Skaal are strong people."

"Thank you." She said. "But why are you here? Did something bad happen?"

"No, not really. I have all the pieces I need to defeat Miraak… aside from a safe place where my body can stay while I'm battling him inside Apocrypha."

"You don't have a home on the island?" Asked Frea.

"My powers make travel from the mainland to Solstheim a very brief affair. I have places to stay… but I don't trust Neloth to not try to do something strange while I'm asleep."

One of Frea's brows shot up. "The Telvanni mage? I thought you knew him well."

"I do, and I don't think he would do something dangerous… but I would not put it past him to try a new spell on me and when I wake up I'll see everything purple."

Both eyebrows rose. "Is that something that happened?"

"Not with Neloth, and the color was green, but yes."

"Mages are the strangest people. Well, if it's a refuge that you want, we can give you. You'll go right away?"

"No, I need to rest first. Unfortunately, while the travel to Apocrypha is mostly a mental experience, it's a draining one."

"Then let me give you a taste of the Skaal hospitality. Come, I'm sure my father will be happy to know you."

Said that way, it sounded dangerously like we were engaged, but I ignored it. She was just trying to be nice.

And the Skaal hospitality surely didn't disappoint. An extremely generous meal, several drinks -which I transformed into water while nobody was looking- and a light sleep -more like a couple of hours of meditation, which for me were more or less the same- I was ready. I asked Frea and her father, Storn Crag-Rider, to leave me alone… and when I was, I opened the book.

-X-

Apocrypha was exactly like I remembered it. Big, green, and boring. Aside from the usual monsters around, nothing really attracted my attention. I still looted the place bare, there was not much I could do while I was inside it aside from proceeding and finding Miraak.

Which I did. It was just mind-numbingly boring, because nothing aside from the lurkers was a challenge. Also, getting around to find the stupid books I needed for the most brain-dead riddle in history didn't help. I understood that the rotating doors inside the Nord's tombs were not there to keep out the adventurers but to keep the draugr in, but what was the in-universe reason for the riddle to be this simple?

Maybe there wasn't. Maybe the challenge was not in resolving the riddle but in finding the books and defeating everything that was around the place. It was just… not a challenge for me.

So, when I finally saw the Word Wall, I was happy. Now I could learn the last Word of the Dragon Aspect Shout, and fight Miraak.

Of course, first I had to mind-control the dragon that was coming to kill me. Which turned out to be… very simple. I Shouted… and he fell instantly.

Now that I had a better understanding of the Shout, having all the three Words, I was… surprised by how easy it was to deal with dragons. Sure, the Shout was powerful, but dragons were stubborn motherfuckers. I gave them a… fifty-fifty chance to resist the effect, if they truly wanted. Maybe the dragon, Sahrotaar, was weak-willed by the standards of his race? Or did he voluntarily let himself be controlled because he was tired of obeying Miraak but couldn't challenge him?

Maybe the repeated use of Bend Will had just broken his ability to rebel. It would have been terrible, but there was nothing I could do about it.

"Hail, thuri. Your Thu'um has the mastery. Climb aboard and I will carry you to Miraak."

Sighing, I put that line of thought in a corner and climbed up. Sahrotaar took air, and we started to approach a distant peak… where dragons were flying in a circle. Thankfully, the travel was swift since there was not a tutorial on how to control the dragon while you were riding it. Good God, thank you. That was the most awkward and difficult thing to do in all Skyrim. The commands for that were… clunky, to say the least.

"Beware, Miraak is strong. He knew you would come here." Warned Sahrotaar, when we were almost there. I nodded. I was not in the mood to talk.

So, we arrived in what I think were a couple of minutes -dragons flew stupidly fast- and I landed… at the top of Apocrypha. There, Miraak was waiting for me.

"Sahrotaar, are you so easily swayed? No. Not yet. We should greet our guest first."

Dismissing the dragon, who flew up and started to circle the tower… mountain… whatever this thing was, Miraak approached me.

"And so the First Dragonborn meets the Last Dragonborn at the summit of Apocrypha. No doubt just as Hermaeus Mora intended. He is a fickle master, you know. But now I will be free of him. My time in Apocrypha is over. You are here in your full power, and thus subject to my full power. You will die. And with the power of your soul, I will return to Solstheim and be master of my own fate again. Kruziikrel! Relonikiv! Now!"

Fortunately, Sarohtaar played interference with the other two, so the fight was only between me and Miraak.

"Mul. Quah. Diiv!" We Shouted at the same time, the power of the Thu'um wrapping around both of us.

"So, you use my own Shout against me. You learn quickly." Mused Miraak, before blasting me with his staff. The tentacles uselessly slid against my armor, which was Enchanted to absorb or reflect magic.

I replied with a lightning bolt and that too was absorbed. Uh… strange. I didn't remember Miraak's set to be that good at absorbing magic. But on the other hand, once you control dragons, magic was the only treat you could ever face. Pulling all he could into Spell absorption made sense.

"Seems like we're both protected against hostile magic." Commented Miraak. "Very well. Let's decide this battle using the power of our Voice and our skill of arm."

"That's a battle you are not going to win." I warned him, getting my sword, Dapahtuz, out.

Yes, I named my sword. Sue me.

Anyway, the fight started again… and despite all the advantages Miraak had -namely, some thousands of years to master the Thu'um, a sword that turned into a tentacle to slice at distance, and a robe that exploded in more tentacle when I hit him- he wasn't doing so great. Master over the Thu'um or not, I was the better swordsman.

Especially since we could resist each other Shouts. The deep knowledge of the Words was enough to shield us by the worst of the effects of the Shouts.

I have to say that, just because we could resist each other's Shouts, it didn't mean we couldn't affect each other. I couldn't push him down the edge of the mountain with an Unrelenting Force, but I could stagger him. Getting blasted by Fire or Frost Breath was not pleasant either.

"They Greybeards taught you well." Commented Miraak during an exchange. "But they don't know everything I know."

"Prove it." I replied, before pushing him away. The difference in souls devoured and in the simple fact he was a Nord and I a Breton showed. He used the power of the dragon souls -or simply an eternity inside Apocrypha- to give himself incredible physical and magical powers. I could compete… thanks to my armor. Without it, he would have easily overwhelmed me physically. And not just because he was a fair bit stronger than me, even if not as strong as Thormund, but also because dragon bones were really resistant to tentacles trying to blast them.

He was also, surprisingly, worse than me in a pure magical contest. Evidently, the blood of the Direnni still counted for something on the magic side of things. But being superior magically was useless when both of us couldn't be harmed by spells.

So, in the end, the fight was really just a sword fight… mostly because our Shouts wrecked most of the surrounding area and not much ourselves. One side of the peak was covered in flames while another got demolished by a wandering Fus-Ro-Dah, and in general, cracks were opening everywhere just from the force of our Voices.

I don't know how much time the battle lasted. It felt like days… and maybe it was inside Apocrypha. Time was a silly thing for a Daedric Prince, and something about the place didn't make me feel hunger or sleepiness. Also, the fact that we both knew Shouts to close wounds and recover energy made the entire thing a terribly long slog.

But after an indeterminate amount of time, Miraak was the one to finally waver first. He stumbled when I kicked him into his chest, something clearly cracking under the assault, and in a flash, he was in the center of our arena.

"Kruziikrel, ziil los dii du!"

I tried to decapitate him as he called the first dragon down to kill him and use his soul to heal, but Becoming Ethereal really showed up why magic was inferior to a good Thu'um. My dragonbone sword, enchanted to emulate the power of the Drain Vitality Shout and that could cut ghosts down like weed -I knew, because I did it with swords made with lesser enchantments and materials- passed through Miraak's neck like it was not there… because it was not there. He returned material a second later, no worse to wear, and the fight resumed.

"That's all you got?" I taunted Miraak. "Is this all the power you have after thousands of years in Apocrypha?"

"You have yet to see the true extent of my power." Shouted Miraak, coming at me… stronger and faster than before. Goddammit. I knew that eating dragon souls made the Dragonborns more powerful, but why did he gain increased strength and speed and I didn't? Maybe he had not reached his limit yet?

The only thing that was saving me right now was Dapahtuz, The All-Consuming. With Drain Vitality eating vigor and life-essence from Miraak at every strike, I was able to sustain the fight indefinitely. Even if he was superior in raw strength and speed, I just needed to land one strike for every three he landed.

Even so, it was close. The entire plane seemed to tremble under the strength of our attacks.

Until finally…

"Relonikiv, ziil los dii du!"

The moment he did that, I changed my stance and went against him more aggressively. I knew he could do that trick three times -initially, I remembered four, but there were just three dragons, so three- so I had to hold back from using the most taxing techniques of the Shehai Shen She Ru until I was reasonably certain he was going to start losing hard.

Also because The Ephemeral Feint and the Zero-Sum Interrupt laughed at things like stats. They were conceptual attacks and defenses more than anything.

So, when Miraak came at me, with even more strength and speed than before, I countered his attack with supreme ease, deflecting the sword tentacle and slashing his shoulder open, ignoring the tentacles that exploded in my faces thanks to an armor that could heat mortar fire, and then Ephemeral Feinted his ass out.

The end result was him getting two terrible wounds in a matter of seconds.

"The ancient martial arts of the Yokudan." Wheezed Miraak. "How…?"

"I found a good teacher." I replied, before returning to assault him.

Of course, this kind of assault was short-lived. The Zero-Sum Interrupt was a difficult technique, made even more difficult by the fact that you had to hold your breath to use it. Every time I did so, it became a little more difficult to use it again, especially in an all-out prolonged fight like this. So, I used it at the start of the next exchange to give me an advantage, and then fell into a stance more fit to counter-attack, hoping that Miraak, pushed, would try to finish me off before I could use even more powerful techniques. Which I didn't have, but he didn't know that, so he fell into my trap.

After another interminable series of Shouts in the face and smashing our weapons against each other, Miraak gave in for the last time.

"Sahrotaar, ziil los dii du!"

And that was the moment I went loose.

I disappeared from sight using the power of Shadow Magic, in case Miraak thought to dispel the more common invisibility spell, and sneaked behind him. When he assumed corporeal form again, I extracted my dragonbone dagger and planted it in his back.

Now, my dagger was enchanted using the Soul Tear Shout. Nothing like the real Soul Tear Shout of course, namely because it didn't resurrect killed enemies into zombies and because the effect was much less powerful. As expected, Miraak was not instantly killed by the attack. That said, a dagger in the back was a dagger in the back.

"Damn you!" Shouted the first Dragonborn, sweeping me with his blade and forcing a hasty retreat when the attack almost ripped Dapahtuz from my hand. Quickly disappearing Silluvdalk, the dagger, into my dimensional bag, swung my blade at him, trying to distract him. Now he was starting to be strong enough that little tricks were not enough to deal with him.

It just meant I had to use my bigger guns. Also because the peak we were fighting in was kind of crumbling around us, so I had to move before we both finished in the green, oily sea of Apocrypha.

So, I disengaged Miraak using a teleport spell, then I dismissed my sword and drew my bow.

Ahziiksahlo, The Hunt's Bow, was a bow I created with the precise purpose to land a devastating first strike on my target, to leave him helpless against my following offensive. Imbued with the power of the Marked for Death Shout, Ahziiksahlo destroyed both the enemy armor and his ability to retaliate by draining his stamina. So, when my arrow embedded itself into Miraak, it didn't matter if it didn't wound him deeply. Its job was not that.

"You are strong. Stronger than I believed possible." Admitted Miraak. "So, your death will not be painless. I'll enjoy killing you."

"You talk a lot, for someone that has been on the back foot since the fight began." I taunted again. It was empty chatter, of course. Even with regenerating Shouts, I was starting to wear down. My throat ached even if Dragon Aspect made it easier to channel my power into Shouts, my arms trembled, and under the armor, I was covered in bruises. The tentacles that exploded out of Miraak's robes may not be able to penetrate the dragonbone plate, but sure as hell packed a punch. This prolonged fight was not doing me any good. I specialized in survival, so I could fight for a long period of time, but my offensive leaned more into sudden and energy-intensive bursts of power than long damage-over-time types of attack. I needed to end this quickly.

So I grabbed Hilyahzuth.

Hilyahzuth was my most lethal weapon -aside from the soul-killing Silluvdalk, but that was an all-or-nothing affair-, a spear infused with the Fleshrend Shout to inflict massive, bleeding wound on the target… and also lodge itself in the flesh to make impossible to remove it without worsening the wound, but that was achieved by the weapon design more than from any type of supernatural power I imbued inside it.

This was the last effort. I had to kill Miraak now.

"Su. Grah. Dun!" I Shouted, and my arms were suddenly wrapped by the wind. As Miraak's hand rose to block the attack, my arm sprang into action, throwing the spear with the speed of a bullet. Miraak defended himself using a ward… but the attack smashed the defense he raised like it was glass, and Hilyahzuth embed itself into his shoulder.

His cry of pain was immensely satisfying. And with his off-hand out of the game, he was vulnerable.

So I rushed him with my sword and shield combo that would completely ruin his day. Pahaaxvund, the dragonbone shield, was enchanted to channel and strengthen my defensive magic. With it, I was invincible. Or close enough.

I smashed into Miraak's defenses like a Dwemer colossus against a brick wall and completely destroyed them. Caught unbalanced, Miraak made a token effort to defend himself, but my sword easily swatted him away and then bite deep into his flesh.

"This cannot be. I am master of my own fate!" Whined Miraak, clutching his wounded shoulder and retreating.

"Then you should have planned your fate better." I replied. "Yol. Toor. Shul!"

Flames engulfed Miraak and, for the first time, he didn't emerge from them unscathed. In fact, his entire body language spoke of panic.

"I will not allow this!" He denied. "Wuld. Nah. Kest!"

With a burst of wind, Miraak tried to escape. I didn't even bother to follow him. I knew what was going to happen. The moment Miraak stopped, Mora appeared and stabbed him from behind with one of his tentacles.

"Did you think you could escape me, Miraak?" Asked the Daedric Prince. "You can hide nothing from me here. No matter. I have found a new Dragonborn to serve me."

"May he be rewarded for his service as I am!" Spitefully retorted the first Dragonborn. Then, his flesh erupted into light, as his soul, and those of every dragon he killed, flowed into me.

As the light faded, Mora spoke again. "Miraak harbored fantasies of rebellion against me. Learn from his example. Serve me faithfully, and you will continue to be richly rewarded." He chuckled. "But you already knew that, right?"

"Unfortunately." I admitted, before healing myself. I would still need to rest after this.

"Good. Now, enjoy your reward for defeating my treacherous servant. We'll see each other soon."

And with that, he disappeared. Fucking asshole.

That said, I was curious about what this book did. In the game, it was sort of a scam. You could sacrifice dragon souls to re-assign the perks of one of your skills. Which, with the Legendary Edition, was completely pointless because you could just have all the perks. Of course, real-life Skyrim didn't work like that. So, I touched the book to understand what it did.

The answer was… incredible. The book, simply put, let me change everything about me. Well, not really, it didn't let me change race or face, but everything that was my knowledge, my skills, and my experiences could be changed… at the expense of other skills, knowledge, and experiences. Knowledge for knowledge, as Mora said.

Normally, I wouldn't entertain the idea of changing anything about me. Not at the price of forgetting things I spent time and effort to master. That said, I just had just received thousands of years of experience and knowledge from Miraak. And while I would be hesitant to forget the lives of the dragon I've slain -since their memories meant that they were alive, even if only in a sense- most of the memories they had were… redundant.

Sorry, draconic brothers. I'll remember your names and who you were, but I needed power and skill more than I needed knowledge of how the ancient Dragon Cult worked.

I poured those memories inside the book… and received my reward.

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.6

When I woke up, I was a new man.

Well, ok, not really. More like a refined version of myself.

The book I had just used was very generous to me. In exchange for memories I didn't care about, it gave me a lot of information on… well, pretty much everything. Even in topics that I wouldn't think about. For example, various theoretical elements of both Shadow Magic, Akaviri martial arts, and even, surprisingly, something about the Shei Shen She Ru. Because, while not a lot of people knew about them now, someone knew them at some point, and so, I could learn about them.

Of course, knowing the theoretical parts of mostly forgotten disciplines didn't help me much. I gained almost no direct power from all this knowledge… aside from a couple of techniques of the Dragonknight, because I had already seen a couple of them. Only… not really, because I was pretty sure that all I was doing was mixing Thu'um with Shehai Shen She Ru to create a hybrid style that resembled the Dragonknight techniques, but were actually something different. Oh, well. Whatever. I just needed to practice them a little.

The book also upgraded my body from 'peak condition' to 'Breton theoretical peak condition', which was, all things considered, a lot better than it was before. So, all in all, the prize for defeating Miraak was pretty good.

Unfortunately, I couldn't rest, because Alduin was still out there trying to resurrect dragons and conquer the world, or something like that. So, I had to move, and while I wouldn't go to fight Alduin right away, I still had a lot to do.

So, I said my goodbyes to Frea and Storn, and after I picked up Fenrir from the borders of the village -he had followed me all the time on Solstheim, but I told him to not enter inside the village- I opened a portal and arrived in Riverwood. There, waiting, was Black-Scales, and two of the remaining Blades.

I entered the Sleeping Giant and found the Argonian drinking at the table.

"Black-Scales." I called him, and the Dragonknight turned to look at me.

"Loki. Happy to see you're alive." He said with a smile… if that thinning of his lips was a smile.

"I wouldn't be a very good Dragonborn if I died before facing Alduin." I replied, sitting at his side.

"Delphine and Esbern?"

"Discussing." I supplied. "Delphine is not sure what you're aiming for."

"I thought it was pretty clear. Didn't I explain myself well?"

"No, you were very clear. She's just unsure why you would do that. You left an… impression."

I winced. I was not gentle with her the last time we met… but she wasn't in general, so I didn't feel too bad about it.

"And you? What do you think about my idea?"

"It has merit, but I don't understand why you would help create a dragon-hunting organization. I thought you didn't like killing dragons."

"Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean it's not necessary sometimes." I replied. "And I will not be in Skyrim forever. I need to know someone will be there to stop the dragons that will not adhere to the Way of the Voice. Most should do it, but you never know."

"Hmmm. And if no one does?"

"Then it will become a place where you'll teach to the next generation your art." I shrugged. "If you accept, of course."

The Argonian shrugged back. "I vowed to pass it down when I accepted to learn it. It doesn't really matter to me if it's one or many that will study under me."

I nodded… and then waited. Waited until Delphine and Esber decided to get out of their little hideout and do something useful.

They did it, in the end. It took a while, but they did. They emerged from Delphine's room and, once they saw him, immediately approached the Dragonknight.

"Alright, Black-Scales. We have decided to…" Delphine stopped talking when she realized I was sitting right at the Argonian's side. "You."

"Me." I confirmed. "How are you doing, Esbern? The Ratway cannot possibly be good for your bones."

"While true, I'm healthy, lad. Or I should call you Dragonborn? You wear an armor made of dragon scales and Delphine knows you, so I have to assume you're the one she told me about."

"In the flesh. So, are you ready to reclaim the ancient Blade temple of the Reach?"

Delphine paused for a second before answering. "Yes, we are."

"Good. Then let's move. We don't have much time… well, I don't have much time, I'm afraid. Which means you don't have time, because the door will not open without me."

"So you say." Commented Esbern. "A lock that can be opened only by the blood of the Dragonborn? I suppose that's something the ancient Blades would do. But let's not waste time on this. Are you really able to open a portal to the Reach?"

"Of course. But outside. I'd prefer to not scare the locals."

Nobody seemed to have anything to add, so we got out of the inn and the village, then I opened a portal to the Reach. I had scried the location previously, so it didn't take much time.

When we arrived, though, we found why nobody had discovered the temple until now.

"That's a lot of Forsworn." Commented Black-Scales, looking at the camp -a village, really- that was sprawling in front of us, up to the cave that, in theory, led to the temple. Sky-Haven Temple? Sky-Heaven Temple? Or was I confusing it with the one in Oblivion? Well, whatever. "But we should be able to overcome them."

"I agree." Nodded Delphine. "If we remain close to each other and look out for the Brairheart, we should… what are you doing?"

I raised my hand while they were talking, focusing my magicka into a spell that was sure to deplete my reserves in a couple of seconds… but it was better this way.

"Clearing the way." I answered. Then, I unleashed my magic.

A fire vortex exploded toward the sky, engulfing the entire camp. Flames roared to life with fury and hunger, devouring wood, pelts, and flesh at the same time. There were no cries, for the flames devoured them too. Most of the inhabitants died instantly. Some, probably veteran warriors, the ones with more Breton's blood in them, or the Brairhearts, resisted for the first few seconds… then the flames roared again and they were no more.

The column of fire died as my magic didn't sustain it anymore, and the only thing remaining in front of us was the rock altar built by the ancient Nords. The remains of the houses, the trunks that supported them were barely visible over the mist created by the heat of the fire.

The way was clear. And I didn't feel very well. The Forsworn were terrible, terrible people. Daedra worshippers, practitioners of dark magics, raiders, and slavers. They sacrificed people to the Daedra and the Hagravens, and in general were horrible to anyone that was not one of them, and sometimes not even that.

But they were still people. I had not lost all my empathy, and there were non-combatants in that village… maybe. I didn't see children, that didn't mean they were not there. Hell, I hoped they were not there, and that the Forsworn were smart enough to keep them hidden inside some more recluse camp, away from the retaliation of the Nords. But they could be there… and it was enough for me to feel an unpleasant knot in my stomach.

I took a deep breath, and then… "Hah. Lah. Vokri." I exhaled, and I felt magicka return to me. "Let's go. We have not reached the temple yet."

Silence wasn't the only thing that followed me, but for how much my companions talked, it might as well be.

We quickly reached the cave -with a little water-walking spell to let us traverse the lake without having to swim- and quickly dealt with the surviving Forsworn, the traps, and the puzzles. After ten minutes at most, we were in front of the door.

"Yes." Nodded Esber while inspecting the circle right in front of the giant face that was the door to the temple. That was the first word spoken in a while. "An Akaviri blood-seal. Truly, only the blood of the Dragonborn can open the way to the temple."

So I slashed my palm and let blood touch the seal. The door opened… and my companions spent the next hour exploring the place. I just grabbed Dragonbane and let them enjoy themselves.

And so came the moment where I accelerated things and shat over the choices that Skyrim gave me. This was not a videogame and I could convince people to do things they couldn't do in the game. Or force them to do it, if needed. When all three of my companions were done, I called them to the table and discussed what I wanted this place to become.

My idea, simple as it may be, was to create an organization to hunt down rogue dragons. Which, for now, meant every dragon, but after I was done with Alduin, could be a lot less. They would do this by using ancient Dragonguard techniques of dragon-hunting, including Dragonknight's ones, and if Thourmund agreed, the Voice too. That, unfortunately, was something I needed to discuss with him.

After everyone more or less agreed to do what was possible to make this project become reality, I dropped the bomb.

"There is one last thing I have to discuss." I said. "Paarthurnax."

"Who?" Asked Black-Scales. Delphine too looked confused, but Esbern was ready to answer.

"I've read this name in some old stories." He said. "Paarthurnax was the right hand of Alduin during the reign of the dragons. How do you know that name?"

"Let me tell you a story…" I replied, and proceeded to tell them the story engraved on the plates on the way to High Hrothgar. It was a brief summary, of course, but I explained the important parts of Paarthurnax's role in the Dragon Wars.

"And after that, Paarthurnax secluded himself from the world, guarding the place where Alduin was banished, and where he will return." I concluded. "Or, well, where he has returned, since he's there."

"You're telling us… that Paarthirnax is alive? And he's hiding on the Throat of the World?" Asked Delphine.

"Hiding is a strong term. He's isolating himself, meditating on the Way of the Voice."

"He's a Greybeard!?"

"He's the leader of the Greybeards. He has been for the last thousands of years."

Delphine shot up. "That's outrageous. He cannot be left unpunished. You have to-"

"No."

My answer echoed inside the entire temple, and for a second everything stood immobile.

"I'm not sure you understand." Continued Delphine, after she paused for a second. "Paarthurnax is guilty of terrible crimes against our ancestors. He needs to pay for them with his life."

"Paarthurnax helped 'our ancestors' to win the Dragon Wars." I retorted. "Without him, Alduin will still govern over Skyrim, and maybe even the world. We wouldn't be here without him. He earned, if not forgiveness, his right to live."

"How do you know it was not a ploy to get rid of Alduin and take his place? How do you know he will not return to his side now?"

"Like he's not doing right now?" I asked sarcastically.

"We can't risk it! You have to kill him-!"

"Enough!" I shouted, and the entire temple trembled. "Paarthurnax did more to defeat Alduin than you'll ever do, Delphine. I will not kill him based on vague suspicions and ill-placed hatred. That's my last word on the matter."

Delphine's face hardened. "Then I'm afraid we cannot help you anymore."

There was a brief moment where Black-Scales seemed to want to say something, but I beat him to it. "Hi vodahmaan hin staad." I growled, making the temple shake again. "You forget your place, Delphine. You're a Blade. You swore to follow the Dragonborn and serve him. You don't decide to aid me or not, and you sure as hell didn't do anything until now that can qualify as 'help'." I relaxed. "But I'm not going to force you to obey. If you feel like you can't follow me anymore…" I pointed toward the door. "That's the exit."

Delphine looked at me with pure shock on her face. "You cannot be serious."

"Of course I can. The door opened with my blood, not yours. This temple is mine, and if you don't want to do as I say, then you're out. Now decide: leave, or sit down and shut up."

Delphine remained frozen.

"Don't' force me to kick you out myself, Delphine." I said, seeing that she was not moving.

Very slowly, she sat down.

"Good. Now, let me be clear. I don't want you to serve me, specifically. On the contrary, I would prefer it if you helped me because you believe in the cause. I will not remain in Skyrim for long after the defeat of Alduin, but I still want to leave a legacy, to protect Skyrim and Tamriel from any dangers that could arise. Those being murderous dragons, the Thalmor, or a daedric invasion. Thormund will probably help me, and if everything is going to proceed as I hope, he will expand the use of the Voice outside the Greybeards. I would like for all of your to do the same, and become something greater." I paused. "And to do so, I'll alter the seal on the door so it'll open to everyone that's loyal to the cause, and not just the Dragonborn."

"You can do that?" Esbern asked, surprised. "It's ancient magic. Not many can wield it."

I dismissed the notion with a wave of my hand. "Magic is magic, Esbern. Blood magic is not my strong point, and probably never will be, but the basic gist of it is pretty simple. It's an exchange. I can work with that."

"And what should we do while you do that?" Asked Black-Scales.

"Find new recruits. Make the word spread. Let them know we're here." I replied. "I'll forge special amulets that will allow you to teleport in front of the door with new recruits. They'll probably require to be charged frequently, but that should not be a problem."

"I'm afraid I'm too old to be a recruiter." Said Esbern, and I nodded. He had a point.

"Don't worry, you don't have to go. You can remain here, and recover any knowledge the old Blades may have left here. I'm sure this place is filled with secrets that were thought lost."

"It will be my pleasure." Smiled the old Blade.

I remained silent for another second, then, when no one seemed to have anything left to say, I sighed and leaned on the chair. "Good. Do you have something else to say?"

I waited for an answer. Nobody gave one.

"Good. I'm going to work on that fucking seal. You do… whatever."

And so I left them to… organized things, I think. I should contact Thormund soon and ask him to come here, but he was probably busy trying to convince Ulfric to not attack Whiterun. Speaking of which…

… No, no attack. It had just been a couple of days after I left the Dawnguard. He would have just arrived at Windhelm and asked to join the Stormcloaks. I hoped that his fame with the Companions gave him easier access to the Stormcloaks than you had in the games, where the fucking right-hand of Ulfric, whatever is his cursed name, sent you out in the middle of fucking nowhere to kill a stupid Ice Wraith… like someone didn't have more important things to do than killing a monster to prove you're good at fighting. Asshole.

Probably feeling my distress, Fenrir bumped my arm with his nuzzle. I had almost forgotten he was there. For some reason, he had remained extremely silent all this time.

"Don't worry about me, buddy. I'm just… stressed out. The big moment is nearing and… I'm not sure I'm ready."

The black wolf whimpered and rubbed his head against my chest. I replied by rubbing him between the ears.

"C'mon, let's go. The less time I take repurposing this seal, the more time I have to prepare for the fight."

Fenrir nodded -it was still strange to see- and followed me.

Reprogramming the seal turned out to be… difficult. Despite what I said to Esbern, I knew next to nothing about Blood Magic, aside from the common things everyone with a minimum of imagination could figure out from themselves. Blood Magic required blood, specifically the mystical resonance between blood and life, to power some pretty nasty spell, usually blood-related. More like, life-related. And death-related. Blood magic seemingly worked as a strange mix between Necromancy and Restoration.

Anyway, after a couple of days of study and some pretty complicated theory on how to do what I had to do, I managed to figure out a solution, using even more of my blood and spell meant to imprint my will on the blood magic still inside the seal. I tested it with Black-Scales and, apparently, it worked.

Just to be sure, I applied a magical trap to the corridor, linked to the seal, that would zap everyone that tried to infiltrate, or, to be more precise and only if the seal really worked, it would blast everyone that was not really loyal to the cause. Again, I tested it on Black-Scales and it seemed to work. The real proof, of course, would come with new recruits.

Satisfied with my work, I left the temple in the hands of Esbern, while Black-Scales and Delphine prepared to recruit new people, and teleported to High Hrothgar. Here, I found master Arngeir.

"Master." I greeted the old Nord. Fenrir did the same with a bark.

"Dragonborn. And Fenrir." He amended immediately. "It's good to see you here. It's fair to assume that you have taken care of the pressing matters that required your attention?"

"I did, master."

"Good. So, you're here to learn more about the Way of the Voice."

"I'm afraid not, master. I'm here to learn the Dragonrend Shout."

Arngeir stiffened. "Where did you learn that name?"

"I always knew, master. Elder Scroll, you remember?"

"I remember. " Coldly stated the monk. He then asked. "Is that the reason you wanted to see Paarthurnax? To learn that evil Shout?"

"In part, yes. It's my sincere desire to learn under Paarthurnax. But Alduin can only be defeated by Dragonrend. Without it, every attempt is destined to fail."

"You know that much, and still you want to learn it? Learning a Shout means it becomes part of you. Are you sure you want to do that? It was a Shout created by the people that lived under the tyranny of Alduin, and it's pervaded by all their rage and hatred. It has no place in the Way of the Voice, and you shouldn't seek it."

I nodded. "I understand. But it's necessary."

"Is it? Did you think that Alduin's victory could be inevitable, and the world may need to be destroyed?"

I frowned at him. "If Alduin's victory is inevitable, I'll fight him and I'll die. That's not something I can decide. But if Akatosh and Kyne wanted me to lose against the Devourer, they would have not given me the gift of the Voice. I have to at least try."

Arngeir remained silent for a couple of seconds, then he sighed. "You're right, Dragonborn. Forgive me, I've been intemperate. I let my emotions cloud my judgment. It's not my role to decide your path, nor the one of everyone else. I'm merely here to guide you."

"And I'm grateful for your guidance, master Arngeir. But I have to go."

The old Monk nodded. "So be it. Come with us, Dragonborn. We'll teach you the Words to meet Paarthurnax. But teaching you Dragonrend is his choice."

"I'm sure that Paarthurnax will be willing. He already helped to defeat Alduin once." I said, following the Greybeard outside the building.

"That is true. I hope that you won't tell anyone of his presence. He's not hiding, but we'd prefer that nobody knew he's here. People can be… unreasonable."

"The Blades already know." I told him. "It was inevitable. Paarthurnax was never killed, and they would have found out anyway. I decided it was better to tell them and stop them before it was too late."

Arngeir snorted, which was something I've never seen him doing. "Ah, the Blades! I'm not surprised they tried to sway you from the path of wisdom, they always did. What would they have wanted from you?"

"To kill Paarthurnax for the crimes he committed under Alduin." I replied, then paused for a second, to add gravitas. "I refused. I told them that they could accept it, or fight me. They decided to listen."

Arngeir relaxed. Visibly. "You cannot possibly comprehend how grateful I am for your decision, Dragonborn. Paarthurnax is the wisest of us all. His loss would have been irreplaceable."

"I'm aware." I said… and then stopped, because I felt a little embarrassed that this old man was thanking me for not killing someone. Like it was this grand achievement.

Anyway, I quickly learned the Clear Skies Shout and the three Words of Power that composed it: Lok, Vah, and Koor. Sky, Spring, and Summer. With those, I removed the terrible wind that flayed the top of the mountain and started my climb.

But, halfway through the climb, my eyes fell on the scenery under the mountain. After clearing the skies, the view was amazing, and I could see at an incredible distance. And while I was admiring Skyrim, I noticed something. Specifically, a column of what I think were soldiers marching in the shadow of the Throat of the World. And then I realized my mistake.

Every time I had used my magic to scry Whiterun to see if the Stormcloaks were coming, I always looked north. Because it was the direction from where the attack came, or at least, the direction I remembered. But the road to arrive from Windhelm to Whiterun didn't pass from the north of the plains. It passed under the mountains. The attack came from the north because the entrance of the city was north, and looking there, I would have noticed the attack only when the Stormcloaks were already there. But it could also mean that I was too late. If I wanted to reach Whiterun well before the attack came, I should have looked for the road to Windhelm.

And also not trusting that Thormund was the centerpiece of the civil war. Someone else could have tilted the balance between the Stormcloaks and the Legion. The fact that they were already moving was proof of that.

Hell, Thormund could not even be in the army that was marching on Whiterun. It took a while to move from Windhelm to Whiterun and they have almost arrived. The battle would start in… one, two days at most.

Without further hesitation, I opened a portal and stepped inside.

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.7

Lord Chimera said:

By the way, did you know there are at least 37000 planes in the Aurbis?

Click to expand…

Click to shrink…

You mean counting the numerous and less famous Oblivion planes and all the pocket dimensions, or just the infinite planes?

In both cases, not, I didn't. But I'm not that surprised. Both the Oblivion and the Aetherius are described as infinite more than once. 37000 is impressive, but there could be much more and it wouldn't be strange.

Also, correction. The politics are going to be in the next chapter, because I completely forgot that the seventh chapter was not posted yet. So, the final fight will be after the next one, and then the epilogue of the Skyrim storyline.

Aside from that, enjoy!

-X-

Finding myself in the main hall of Dragonsreach with a lot of weapons pointed at me was not funny.

Not that they could harm me, but it was still pretty rude.

"Really? It has not passed that much time since I was here last time."

There was a second of silence, interrupted only by the men and women around me flinching when Fenrir followed me through the portal… then someone recognized me.

"Thane Loki?" Asked one of the guards.

"Why, yes. Happy to see someone still recognize me."

To be fair, most of the people pointing weapons were not Whiterun's guards but Imperial legionaries. It was kind of expected that they wouldn't know who I was.

"I'm sorry, sir." Said the guard in question. Other guards had put their weapons down. "You can relax, men. He's on our side."

The legionaries looked at each other and then decided to lower their weapons. They didn't put them away though. Not yet. Good thinking on their part.

Fortunately, the situation quickly resolved when a trio descended from the upper floor. Jarl Baalgruf, Irileth, and an Imperial officer I didn't remember the name of.

"What's happening here?" Asked the Dunmer… before her eyes fell on me. "Loki?"

"Irileth. Jarl Baalgruf." I replied, sending a little bow of my head in their direction. "I've come to assist you."

"Ah, I have to say this is the best news I've had in a while." Smiled Baalgruf, making his way through the soldiers to exchange a manly handshake. "I'm happy to have you on our side again." He then turned, looking at the Imperial who had followed him. "Ah, forgive my manners. Loki, this is Legate Quentin Cipius. Legate, this is Loki Andreasson, Thane of Whiterun."

"And of Haafingar." Added the Legate. "Your fame precedes you, Hero of Solitude."

I shook his hand too. "I'm honored you have heard of me, Legate."

"Difficult to not, especially after saving the Emperor's cousin." He replied. "The Emperor himself decided to come to visit her after the attempted murderer. He should reach Solitude soon."

What? The Emperor was coming to Skyrim? Fuck! No, wait, no need to panic. I just needed to speak with him before it was too late.

"Gentlemen." Interrupted Irileth. "We have an army to worry about."

"Right." Nodded Baalgruf. He turned toward me. "We tried to contact you about Ulfric's declaration of war, but our messengers couldn't find you. I assume they managed to reach you."

"I'm afraid they missed me till the end. I was climbing the Throat when I saw the Stormcloacks marching under the mountain."

"They're that close?" Asked Quentin. "Dammit. We have one, maybe two days before they reach the city. Did you notice something peculiar about the army?"

"From that distance? No, I'm afraid not. Although, there might be Thormund with them."

A dead silence fell on the hall.

"The Thunderer?" Asked Baalgruf. "But why? I know he's a proud Nord, but after all the time he spent as one of the Companions, I hoped he would hesitate to march on us."

I shrugged. "I'm not sure of his position on attacking Whiterun, even if I can assume he's not happy about it. It's irrelevant, anyway. Thormund was with me until a couple of days ago, fighting with the Dawnguard. Even if he reached them, it's improbable he has any say on the attack… except for a warning I gave him, for Ulfric."

"A warning?" Asked Legate Quentin. "It has something to do with the visions you claim to have? The ones that let us discover the attempt to resurrect Queen Potema?"

The Nord in the room quickly said some curses under their breath, while I smiled. Which they couldn't see, thanks to my mask, but whatever.

"No, nothing like that. I just wanted Thormund to tell Ulfric that, if he attacked Whiterun, I'll burn his entire army to cinders." I shrugged. "Seems like he didn't get the message… or decided to ignore it."

"At this time, I find it improbable he would retreat even if he received it." Commented Quentin. "Ulfric is too proud and has too much to lose if he abandoned an attack he planned for a treat by a mage. His followers would take it as a sign of weakness."

"I have to agree." Reluctantly nodded Baalgruf. "It would be a terrible hit to the pride of the Stormcloaks to abandon this campaign after all the show of following the Nord traditions Ulfric made. He has no choice but to continue."

"His loss." I said, not particularly bothered.

"Can you really destroy the entire army?" Asked Irileth. "It's quite a feat of magic."

"Sure, no problem. Just give me a couple of hours and a pretty good replica of the terrain around Whiterun. No, nevermind, I'll do the replica myself. Do you have a plank of wood or a slab of stone I could use?"

-X-

Setting up the ritual was, in fact, stupidly easy. I just used Alteration to change a slab of rock they gave to me into a pretty detailed map of the surrounding area -thanks, bird's eye view- and then just charged the entire thing with enough magic to blow up a good chunk of a mountain. Then, when the time will come, I'll just have to direct the power in a specific area of the slab and, by sympathetic link, the magic would work. It was normally something that requires several hours… I just needed three minutes.

So I decided to spend the rest of the time I had to contact the Emperor.

My initial idea was to teleport into his room inside the boat he was on… but I decided against it. I should be able to come and return well before Ulfric was here, but I better not risk it. So, I just decided to send an astral projection.

Materializing as an immaterial spirit in someone's room was probably rude, but I was not very keen on being polite right now.

"Well, that's surprising." Admitted the old man, not sounding very surprised. "I thought the attempts on my life will start after we reach Solitude, not before."

"I'm not here to kill you, and even if I was, I cannot in this state. This is merely a projection."

"Truly? Interesting." Said the Emperor, standing up and poking my projection a couple of times. His hand passed through me without meeting resistance. "Fascinating. So, what reason does a powerful mage like yourself have to talk to me? If you wanted to have a meeting with me, I'm sure you could have just asked."

"I'm here because I didn't save your cousin so you could fall into the hands of the Dark Brotherhood." I bluntly replied. "Why are you coming to Solitude?"

"Ah, so you're the one that saved Vittoria." Said the Emperor, suddenly looking more serious. "I cannot thank you enough for saving her life. It's regrettable that the conspiracies of the ones that want me dead would include my family into this, but it's the nature of power. As for why I'm coming to Solitude, it's in part to not let your work get wasted."

I looked at him confused… but since I still had my mask one, I vocalized my confusion. "Meaning?"

"While your gesture saved her life, it didn't stop the Brotherhood. Catching one of them helped the Penitus Oculatus in finding their sanctuary, but by the time they could extract any useful information from him they were long gone. They will attempt to kill me again, and so, they could try to attack Vittoria again. I need to lure them out of their hiding spot… or they have to succeed."

I narrowed my eyes. The general idea was solid… but it was still stupidly risky. "If you go, you'll die."

"Probably." He admitted, sighing. "But that's alright."

I blinked. So the theory was true? No, he didn't talk like he wanted to die, just that he accepted the idea. He probably didn't orchestrate his own assassination. So why?

"You seem extremely calm about the possibility of being killed."

"Oh, I'd much prefer to not die, if possible. But I have to take into consideration the possibility… and try to use that to my advantage."

"Like?" I asked, dubious.

"Well, having the Dark Brotherhood kill the Emperor in Solitude would be a hit on the Nords' pride, especially if they act in the name of the Thalmor. They may not like the Concordat, exactly as I don't like it, but it is a peace treaty. Killing the Emperor, even an unpopular one like me, is going to enrage them, and maybe light the fires of vengeance in the hearts of the men of the Empire, or at least convince them that the Thalmor are untrustworthy and a bigger threat than their fellow men. After all, they forced a treaty to then discard it when it's more convenient for them, unlike the Empire." He paused and sighed. "I hoped that Ulfric Stormcloak would realize that on his own, but apparently not."

Hmmm… I could see the logic. "But the Thalmor are not involved." I pointed out, to make him explain more of his plan than anything else.

The Emperor dismissed my point with a wave of his hand. "Irrelevant. I just need to convince the people of their guilt. Some false testimony, especially when we can claim we received it directly from one of the Brotherhood members, will be more than enough. Who can disprove us, once the idea is planted in their head? The Dark Brotherhood? I don't think they will be willing to reveal themselves to correct us, if they're even alive after this mess is concluded. The Thalmor? That's laughable. Nobody would believe them. They're the invaders. They caused the Great War. Their word is worth nothing."

"True, but they will not like being accused of something they didn't commit. They could try to stop the news from spreading."

The Emperor shrugged. "They can try, but the only thing that it will achieve is cementing the idea in the minds of the people. It would also be a blatant violation of the White Concordat. It's only going to make them look even viler than they already are."

I didn't say anything for a while. That seemed… reasonable. I could think of several ways this could go wrong. But if it turned out right…

"Alright. I've heard your motivation. Now, I'll leave."

"Really? You will not come to save my life from the assassins?" Asked the Emperor, but his tone was completely neutral.

I shook my head. "I'm currently trying to stop the Stormcloaks from taking Whiterun, and after that, I have to fight a dragon demigod for the safety of all Nirn. Forgive me, but I don't have time to hunt the Dark Brotherhood."

The old man nodded. "Ah, the weight of power and responsibility. The need to choose who to please and who to displease, and who lives and who dies. You have my sympathy. It's rarely an easy choice."

"I'll dread the moment where that choice becomes simple." I replied. "I'm afraid this is a goodbye, Emperor. I regret not having the time to know you better."

"Likewise." Nodded the man, and I dispelled my projection.

…

Well, I just left the Emperor alone for what was probably his last trip. He was going to die, and I knew it. Maybe my presence would have stopped the Brotherhood, maybe not. Maybe they'll change the plan since they had to change Sanctuary already, so my knowledge was useless anyway. Maybe I was dismissing the Penitus Oculatus too soon, and the Brotherhood was going to fail. It didn't matter, because the only way I could save the Emperor was to be with him until he returned to Cyrodiil. Even telling the Penitus where the other Sanctuary was would not help, because the Brotherhood was surely on guard right now, and I doubted they would be stupid enough to betray one of their own now that the situation was so dire. Maybe they would, but I had no way to tell and they would probably see the Penitus come from a mile away.

Besides, I had noticed how most of the people that had taken the place of the Dragonborn on the various guilds tended to be… quite formidable. Thormund and Kayleen were basically heroes in their own story, and the only reason I was the hero here was that I was the Dragonborn, and they were not. Had they been, I would have been struck as a secondary character in their own epic tale.

That was to say, the Listener was probably as good as them. If there was someone that could avoid the Penitus Oculatus and kill the Emperor, it was probably him. I could probably stop him… but it would have required me to waste time. Time I could use to prepare for Alduin.

I'm sorry, Emperor. You seemed like a good man… but I cannot do that. I barely had the time to save Whiterun.

Speaking of which, better make sure that the ritual was perfect…

-X-

Evidently, Ulfric had decided to push his soldiers hard, because they arrived at Whiterun the next day. Or, to be more precise, they took position out of the range of any artillery the city could use and started… I don't know, I assume build the catapults to spread fires inside the city.

Unfortunately for them, I didn't intend to give them the time to actually do it.

So, I took position over the first gate of the city, the closest to their camp I could manage while still remaining inside the city, and told them in a calm and polite way to take their things and return home.

"My name…"… is Gyoubu Masakata Oni- noooooo… focus damnit. "… Is Loki Andreasson! This will be your first and last warning. Leave, or die!"

See, calm and polite.

Of course, I was not sure they heard it clearly, but considering that I shouted it at the top of my lungs and doing that shook the entire city, I was confident that they got, at the very least, the general meaning.

And since their camp burst into activity, they probably did.

Hmmm… how was the weather? I looked up, seeing big, fat grey clouds cover the sky for miles in every direction. Good. The ritual I wanted to use was a little long. Even if it could diminish time and magicka spent on it by a ridiculous amount, it still required the magic to accumulate on the spot. Nothing major… just a couple of minutes. But a couple of minutes was all that was needed to evacuate the camp if someone took notice of what I was going to do.

I summoned my stone tablet and focused the magic on the point where the Stormcloak camp was. Fortunately, they didn't even set fortifications, so it was still doable to direct the magicka. Every big change to the terrain weakened the sympathetic link with the land and made the entire procedure a little more imprecise. This ritual was a tool for sieging, not to break armies. Unless, of course, the army in question was camped and could not move. Or they didn't have the time to notice, if you used the right one.

Now that I thought about it, if Thormund was there, he could probably feel it…

A voice boomed from the Stormcloak camp, strong enough that I could sense a vague vibration under my feet. Impressive, Thormund. Very impressive.

But too late.

The clouds above the Stormcloak's camp became black as ink and crackling with electricity. I supposed that some of the Stormcloak's had felt the electricity in the air before the attack started, but didn't realize what was happening.

Then, the sky flashed with dozens of bolts of lightning, falling on the camp like a meteor shower.

This particular iteration of the spell was not exactly my first choice. Nords resisted both shock and frost, so it was not ideal to blast them with lightning bolts like a wannabe Zeus. Unfortunately, the other variants of the spell were… less than subtle. The fire one would have caused the terrain to heat up and emit steam like a volcano was being born… which was more or less what happened, if only temporarily. There was a variant that caused toxic gasses to fill the area, but they were bright green, so clearly visible, and there was a sunlight one usable against undead that had the little side effect to brighten the area like you had pointed several gigawatt headlights in that point. The last one used pure magicka to supercharge the enemy's bodies until they disintegrated. It also made it look like an aurora borealis just decided to come to visit.

So… thunderstorm it was. It was probably enough to do the job anyway. Even if it didn't kill all the men, it was probably enough to incapacitate a lot of them.

Or so it should have been. Then Thormund acted.

Now, I liked Thormund. He was the first friend I made in this place… well, not that I made a lot: aside from my fellow students at the College, Fenrir, and Kayleen, the others were more friendly acquaintances than anything else. That said, I wouldn't have bet on him beating me in a magical contest. Physical contest, without magic or other supernatural powers? He would win any day. But, magically, I was much better than him.

So, the fact that he was countering my thunderstorm was surprising. Glorious, but surprising.

It took me a second to understand why Thomund was able to deflect and sometimes attract the lightning to… recharge his own magicka, I think? He was of the sign of the Atronach, after all.

Anyway, the reason was that Thormund's magic was different from mine. It was more primal, born from the understanding of the Storm Call Shout, applied to his magicka. It was not just Destruction magic in the form of shock spells. It was Storm Magic, and as such, his magic was storm. Like he was, on a certain level, having learned Storm Call at such a neck-breaking speed.

I couldn't do that. My magic was too… organized, to do something like that. I was a magic generalist, and while I could beat most other mages in their specialty if I wanted, it also meant that my magic was never going to have that sort of metaphysical weight.

With a lesser man, it still wouldn't have worked. I was a terrifying mage, there was no reason to deny it, and if I had a specialty, was countering other mages. But Thormund had all the makings of a great hero, and so, with the advantage his Storm Magic had on my vanilla shock spells, he was able to fight off my storm.

So, I watched as Thormund valiantly stood in front of the other Stormcloaks, lightning bolts bending away from his body, to hit naked earth causing explosions of dirt anywhere, sometimes literally smacking them with his maul, and then other times just using it as a lightning rod to absorb it. When he did that, his eyes briefly flashed with the power of the storm. Then, he used that same power to deflect more lightning, until he needed to absorb another. And so on.

Yes, I could see it. I used a spell just to watch the show. I could have done anything else, of course. I could have started to channel another ritual. Or just reached for the camp and started to blast the entire army with fire.

I didn't. In part because I didn't want to fight Thormund, but mostly because they were retreating. Mission accomplished, for now. I didn't inflict heavy causalities on them, but I had halted their attack. Their momentum was gone, and the morale was probably down as well. They will not attack again.

Maybe. So, just to be sure they will not…

"Dur. Neh. Viir!" I called, and the undead dragon materialized from the depth of the Soul Cairn at my command.

"I answer your call, Quanhariin. What is your desire?"

I pointed at the retreating army. "You see the men fleeing from the thunderstorm?"

The dragon raised his head and looked in the direction I was pointing at. "Ah, yes, I do. A splendid work of magic, if I can say."

"Thank you, but returning to the fleeing army. I want you to make sure they continue to flee. Don't kill them. Just scare them. It should be pretty easy."

The dragon chuckled. "It should. Mortals are so impressionable. I'll do as you command." Then he opened his wings and started to chase the army, roaring all the way in to scare them shitless.

Once he surpassed Thormund, I let the thunderstorm die. My Nord friend took a good look at the fleeing army, at the dragon chasing it, and then, at me. Did he know I was watching?

Seemed likely, since he sent a nod in my direction, and then followed them. He didn't seem particularly angry, so he probably figured out what I was doing. Good. I hoped he didn't start to fight Durnheviir. I… was not sure who would win that fight.

My job here was done.

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.8

After I made sure that the Stormcloaks were too far away for them to have the ability to regroup and return while I was not looking, I said goodbye to Jarl Baalgruf, Irileth and Legate Quentin, and teleported to the peak of the Throat of the World. I could have done that before, but I wanted to do the journey, at least the first time, on foot. Now, having wasted a day to deal with the Stormcloaks, I felt I needed to move.

I also told Fenrir to stay with the Companions, because from here on there was a serious risk of him dying.

So, I emerged on the snow, right in front of the Word Wall that, at one point, probably contained the knowledge of some Shout. Now, it was just a place where Paarthurnax rested.

Speaking of which, something heavy landed right behind us, and despite myself, I jumped away, startled by the sudden movement. After my instinctual reaction, I turned and faced the mighty dragon behind me.

Who didn't look that mighty right now. Mostly because he clearly had gone through some kind of battle recently. He was covered in scars and missed pieces everywhere.

"Master Paarthurnax." I said, bending down. I would have kneeled as I did for the Greybeards, but Paarthurnax was so much bigger than me that I didn't feel the need to lower myself further. "I can finally meet you in person."

"Drem Yol Lok. Greetings, wunduniik. Who are you? What brings you to my strunmah… my mountain?"

"Loki Andreasson, master, and I'm the Dragonborn. I'm sorry I took this long to arrive. You know why I'm here, right?"

The dragon nodded. "Yes. Vahzah. You speak true, Dovahkiin. Forgive me. It has been long since I held tinvaak with a stranger. I gave in to the temptation to prolong our speech."

"I'll gladly speak with you, master, but… I'm afraid I don't have much time."

"Drem. Patience. There are formalities which must be observed, at the first meeting of two of the dov." He moved away from me. "By long tradition, the elder speaks first. Hear my Thu'um! Feel it in your bones. Match it, if you are Dovahkiin! Yol. Toor. Shul!"

I closed my eyes and focused on the words, feeling their powers. I used this technique to avoid Shouts before. And I did this time too. But the force behind Paarthurnax Voice was… on another level compared to the other dragons I fought.

So, when the fire stopped engulfing me, the tips of my clothes were glowing with heat. Not burning, since dragon skin didn't burn easily, but still, it left me a little strained. I didn't expect that.

Paarthhurnax seemed excited. "Now, show me what you can do. Greet me not as mortal, but as dovah!"

"Yol. Toor. Shul!" I complied, showering the ancient dragon with the power of my Thu'um. Fire Breath had been my main offensive tool against other dragons, the one I used to finish off most of them, when they didn't use it themselves. So far, most dragons had reacted to the torrent of fire with pain.

"Aaah… yes!" The old dragon barked enthusiastically. "Sossedov los mul. The Dragonblood runs strong in you. It is long since I had the pleasure of speech with one of my own kind."

Jesus, he didn't even look like he was hot. I suppose the natural resilience of dragons, plus meditation, really improved what they could take.

"It seems I still have a lot to learn." I said.

He chuckled at that. "Prem, Dovahkiin. You're young. Also, your kopraan, your body, is not as sturdy as ours. Do not measure your noot, your skill, by how I endure your voice."

"If it is more comfortable for you, I can speak in the dragon language. Not very well, but enough to hold a conversation."

I could swear Paarthurnax eyes shone. "Ah, you spoil me, Dragonborn. It has been a long time since I could speak only in my own language." He lowered his head. "I accept your good intentions, Loki Andreasson, but I will not speak only in Dovahzul. It would be terribly impolite of me to force a yunaar to speak in an unfamiliar language. Now, tell me. Why do you want to learn Dragonrend?"

"I need to stop Alduin."

"Yes. Alduin… Zeymah. Gifted, grasping and troublesome, as is so often the case with firstborn. But why? Why must you stop Alduin?"

"I like this world. I don't want it to end."

Paarthurnax nodded. "Pruzah. As good a reason as any. There are many who feel as you do, although not all. Some would say that all things must end, so that the next can come to pass. Perhaps this world is simply the Egg of the next kalpa? Lein vokiin?"

"Will all due respect, the next world is not my business. I'll take care of the one I can see right now."

The dragon chuckled again. Apparently, he had great fun talking with me. "Paaz. Ro fus… maybe you only balance the forces that work to quicken the end of this world. Even we who ride the currents of Time cannot see past Time's end… Wuldsetiid los tahrodiis. Those who try to hasten the end, may delay it. Those who work to delay the end, may bring it closer. But you have indulged my weakness for speech long enough. Krosis."

Suddenly, he took air and landed on the Word Wall. "You're here to learn Dragonrend, aren't you?"

"Yes." I admitted. "But not just that. I'm… not sure I can defeat Alduin as I am right now. I tried to avoid killing dragons… I fear this could doom me."

Paarthurnax bent his head. "Nonvul dahrin. It's true that limiting yourself could endanger your mission. However, do you regret it? Fund hi daal zek?"

I shook my head. "No, I would not do things differently. But I still need to defeat Alduin… and Dragonrend could not be enough. Can you teach me about the Words of Power? Their deeper meanings? It could give me the edge I seek."

"Kusah. Yes, meditating on the Rotmulaag could help you."

"But do we have enough time? I can't determine if Alduin is at a good point in his plan or not. What if he starts to attack while I'm here?"

"Faas ni. Alduin will not attack. If he could, he would have already. Your existence as Dovahkiin slows his plans. Every dovah he sends in your way can make you stronger, so he'll halt his attempt to regain his junaar. He'll try to destroy you… but he cannot sense your presence."

I sent him a curious glance. "I thought he could sense the use of the Elder Scroll. It's what I need to do to learn Dragonrend, right?"

Paarthurnax seemed taken back by my question. "Hin mindah los dil. Yes, Alduin can sense the Kell being used here. However, that's thanks to the dov relation with time. He cannot sense you, Dovahkiin, and he'll avoid this place if he can. You're safe here, until you decide to delve in the rud do tiid.

I nodded. Alright, so I had time. Better use it well, if that was the case. "Then teach me."

It almost seemed like Paarthurnax smiled. "Very well. What Words call to you, Dovahkiin?"

I spent… honestly, I have no idea how much time I passed on the top of the world, meditating on the Words of Power under the guidance of Paarthurnax. A lot, I assume, but while in a meditative state time was a secondary concern. Or maybe it was the nearby Dragon Break, I dunno. Anyway, I remained there, and learned the deeper meaning of several words of power.

From Yol, Fo, and Qo I learned to resist the elements like a dragon could. Fire, ice and lightning were like a part of me, and so I could not only resist them, but increase the power of the Shouts that used them.

Fem, Fade, made it so my body was now resistant to physical injury. While not as effective as the full Become Ethereal, I now had a limited ability to resist damage from weapons. My enchanted flesh simply dissipated part of the attack outside reality, letting me shrug off blows that would otherwise be lethal.

Laas, Life, made my body nigh impervious to natural poisons and illnesses, and gave me a slight healing factor. Nothing extreme enough to let me close wounds mid-battle as a troll could, but enough to make me heal a wound in a fraction of the time it would normally take.

Lah, Magicka, gave me the ability to feel magic without using a spell, as well as a greater ability to recover my inner reserves. Nothing spectacular, but noticeable. Noticeable enough that I would not need to use the Gauldur Amulet after meditating on this Word.

Gaan, Stamina, made my body able to recover from strenuous activities far easier, and also made me able to perform such strenuous activities for far longer than before.

And finally, Fus, Force, gave me the ability to resist force much better. Force, in this case, meant the application of force to move me without my consent. More or less like in the game. It also made my Unrelenting Force more powerful, or at least able to push my enemies farther and with greater speed than before.

When I learned all of that, I opened my eyes and looked at Paarthurnax. "Done."

The old dragon smiled. "Good, good. Your kiinot is impressive. Do you wish to learn more?"

"I'm afraid I have a splitting headache right now. I don't think I'll be able to learn more anytime soon."

Paarthurnax hummed in agreement. "Truly, you have remained there for more time than I thought was possible for a joor. It would be unwise to continue. It would be better for you to recover the Elder Scroll and return here. To krif with Alduin or to learn more, it's your choice."

I paused. "I can take here the Elder Scrolls in a moment, if I want."

"Some sort of magic, I suppose. Do as you want, Dovahkiin."

I thought for a second if it was better to do it now or later. My headache was receding right now… and while I could learn more about the Words of Power, the powers I had right now were the most useful to fight Alduin. Delaying the fight could grant me marginal advantages… but doing it now would stop Alduin's plan cold.

Ah, dammit. Now that I was so close to my objective, I was getting impatient.

"Alright then." I said, extracting the Elder Scroll from the Dragon's Refuge. I had opted to avoid storing it inside my dimensional bag, because I feared Alduin could notice before I could meditate on the Words of Power.

Paarthurnax bristled his scales. "You have it. The Kel - the Elder Scroll. Tiid kreh… qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question. You are doom-driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go then. Fulfill your destiny. Take the Scroll to the Time-Wound. Do not delay. Alduin will be coming. He cannot miss the signs."

Now that he had said that, I could feel something. It was difficult to identify what it was, but I felt like space and time themselves were bending around the Scroll, and something on the peak was resonating with it. So that was the Dragon Break.

I turned toward the point I felt was resonating with the Scroll and opened it.

And then I was under a red sky, with heroes of the Nord fighting dragons at the peak of the Throat of the World.

The entire thing went more or less as I remembered. The three heroes killed a stray dragon, then Alduin himself came down to kick their asses. In response, they used Dragonrend to ground it, and utterly failed to defeat it. It was a terrible sight, seeing three powerful heroes failing to harm Alduin as fast as he could harm them. And, in the end, one of them extracted an Elder Scroll, and Alduin disappeared into a flash of light. Shortly after that, I was expelled from the vision and I returned to the present.

Finding Alduin waiting for me.

"Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor. My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde."

You'll be surprised about how my fate is going to go, Alduin.

"Lost funt. You are too late, Alduin! Dovahkiin! Use Dragonrend, if you know it!"

I didn't hesitate. "Joor. Zah. Frul!"

The Shout connected, and Alduin visibly flinched, starting to crash, before managing to maintain enough control to land safely.

"You acquired the weapon of my ancient enemies, Dovahkiin. But you're not their equal!" Roared the black dragon, shaking his head in the futile attempt to recover his bearing.

Right before Paarthurnax landed on him like an avalanche of scales and fire. Unlike my Shout, Alduin took the ancient dragon assault pretty well. Of course, resisting a Shout required you to know said Shout and use your mastery to let hit bounce on you. Dragons, since they couldn't understand Dragonrend, were helpless against it.

But I had no time to spend on that type of thought. I jumped into action, slashing Alduin with my sword.

It was like hitting a stone wall.

No, wait, I could pierce stone with this sword and my strength. It was like hitting a block of steel. Alright, upgrade time.

"Mul. Qah. Diiv!" Draconic power flowed through and out of me, taking the shape of the draconic aura that made me as powerful as a real Dovah… or close enough. Since I had also used all three Words, I currently didn't need to wait a bit for my body to recover from the use of the Thu'um… meaning I could unleash Shouts in rapid succession. "Krii. Lun. Aus!"

Alduin recoiled under my Dragon Aspect-powered Shout, unable to fully avoid it. Now wounding him should be more akin to trying to punch through a robust steel plate than a block of metal. Still hard, but doable.

Of course, even with Dragonrend and Paarthurnax helping, winning was not going to be easy. Shouts started to fly everywhere, often taking chunks of the mountain. Alduin used his Dragon Storm Call -yes, that's the official name for Alduin's 'I summon meteors' Shout- and I used Clear Sky to remove it. After that he realized he had better chances of beating me if he remained in melee and tried to bite my head off. I used all the time Paarthurnax could buy me to use Elemental Fury and Slow Time to hit Alduin with all the speed I could muster and forced him to escape.

Elemental Fury worked… but Alduin shattered Slow Time the moment I used it.

"You dare use that Shout against me, Dovahkiin? I'm the Firstborn of Akatosh. No dov understands time like I do!"

Noted. Fuck.

Well, I just had to hit him even harder.

My arms and my body pushed to the extreme, I faced Alduin the Devourer with all the might I had stolen from the dragons I killed, all the magic I had learned, and all the skill in combat I refined through several months of near-constant battles. I was small, quick, and resourceful. Alduin was a big dragon that couldn't even fly.

He still almost managed to kill me. Being big was not a problem when every part of his body could hit me hard enough to crack my bones. Not being able to fly was just a condition I had to impose to make sure I could even fight him. And every trick I used was either ignored or countered. He did not become the King of Dragons without a reason. Without Paarthurnax occasionally distracting him, letting me recover my magic, or healing my battered body, I would have lost.

But in the end, I called the power of the sky on him and blasted the black dragon with a lightning bolt almost as wide as him. Alduin screamed and, in retaliation, smacked his tail on Paarthurnax's head, smashing the other dragon against the side of the mountain. The old grey dragon didn't stand up, and I thought that the end was near.

But when Alduin tried to move toward me, his limbs failed him and he had to stop, slumping slightly toward the ground. He was breathing heavily and after a second, he shook his head. "Meyz mul, Dovahkiin. You have become strong. But I am Al-du-in, Firstborn of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else! You cannot prevail against me. I will outlast you… mortal!"

Then, before I could hit him with another Dragonrend, he jumped and dove off the side of the mountain. By the time I reached the edge of the cliff he had jumped off of, he was already several hundred meters away. From that distance, even if I could hit him, he would still be able to evade me. I knew he would do that… but it was still disappointing.

"You did well, Dovahkiin." Said a voice behind me, and I saw Paarthurnax getting up from where he was smashed. Slowly, but it was progress.

"Here, let me help you." I said, sending a healing spell toward the old dragon. He shook himself and stood a little firmer.

"Thank you. Lot krongrah. You truly have the Voice of a dovah. Alduin's allies will think twice after this victory."

I frowned. "It was not enough though. I'll need to find him before he recovers his strength."

Paarthurnax nodded. "Yes… one of his allies could tell us. Motmahus… But it will not be easy to… convince one of them to betray him. Perhaps the hofkahsejun - the palace in Whiterun… Dragonsreach. It was originally built to house a captive dovah. A fine place to trap one of Alduin's allies, hmm?"

Urgh… I knew where this was going. "I'll have to ask the Jarl. He will not be happy about it."

"Hmm, yes. But your su'um is strong. I do not doubt you can convince him of the need."

Oh, for fuck's sake. I needed to go down again and convince Baalgruf to help me… hopefully without having to do that shitty peace conference.

"So let's do this." I said… before falling flat on my ass. My entire body was burning. "Maybe after I take a little rest?"

The old dragon decided to sit down at my side. "I would advise you to rest, yes. The fight with Alduin required great graav on your part. You can wait a little with this old dov, if you want. My desire for discussion has not been sated yet."

I smiled and accepted the offering. After all, how much time would I need to convince Jarl Baalgruf to let me use Dragonsreach? I just repelled an attack on his city. I could rest for an hour.

-X-

Considering how things went, I could have taken more than an hour.

Jarl Baalgruf had been immovable. He would not let me take Odahviig to his city before the war was concluded, or a treaty was made. While he was grateful that I saved his city, he was trying to stay neutral. While Ulfric was not in any condition to take his city, the Imperials still were.

I found the idea that the Imperials would try to coup him while there was a dragon nearby completely ridiculous, but maybe I had too much faith in their goodwill. So I accepted to help in the negotiation of a treaty.

That cost me two full days. Mostly spent waiting for the two factions to prepare their requests and other stupid things I didn't bother to understand because fuck them. At least I could use the spare time to recover the White Phial, give Esbern the materials for his anti-dragon potion, and take down Vahlok the Jailor, the last Dragon Priest on Solstheim and the perfect supervisor for every Dragon Priest shadow that was mad even after summoning them. There were not a lot of them, but some were still not right in the head, and so I confined them inside my house instead of letting them go free around the Dragon's Refuge.

But when they were ready, I just teleported them to the Greybeards and the meeting could finally start.

I don't remember most of the talking, because I was desperately trying to not choke them with my magic when they started arguing. The only thing I remember clearly was getting the Thalmor ambassador out of the room -both to throw a bone to Ulfric after having almost decimated his men and because I hated the Thalmor with a passion- and then when they started to discuss which Hold should go to who to maintain the balance between the factions.

At that point, I slammed my arm on the stone table so hard it split in two. All discussion in the room died.

"I cannot believe you." I started, my voice misleadingly calm. "I called this meeting because Jarl Baalgruf is worried that you'll try to make a move on his Hold while his men were occupied fighting a dragon. I didn't believe you would be so petty as to attack Whiterun in a situation like that, but he wouldn't budge on it, so I decided to do as he said. And now that you're here, I see his fears were well-founded."

Ulfric tried to open his mouth to say something, but I was not finished. "Dragons are rampaging through all Skyrim, killing innocent people. Alduin himself is on a warpath, ready to return with his rage of dragons to submit Skyrim to his rule once again. And you're wasting time, my time, discussing politics?" My voice shook the entire High Hrothgar, and those present flinched at the display of my power. "Every second you waste by this table is a second Alduin is using to devour the souls of the warriors of Sovngarde to grow in power. Every second you waste in this stupid discussion is reducing the possibilities I have to stop him. I could have left Nirn at any moment, fuck off into Oblivion, and leave all of you to die under the flames of the Devourer of Worlds. Instead, I'm here, fighting, and you repay my efforts by being petty children and bickering over who gets the biggest slice of the cake!?"

I was pretty sure my eyes were glowing when I finished. "I strongly suggest you cut this discussion short, before I beat some sense into all of you."

Then, I snorted, repaired the stone I just punched in half, and crossed my arms waiting for them to finish.

General Tullius and Ulfric quickly closed the negotiations, with an exchange of Holds, and even more quickly they quickly excused themselves. The Blades decided to do the same, while both Elsif and Baalgruf decided to stay a little more. Baalgruf just to thank me, before asking for a portal to Whiterun, so he could organize Odahviing's capture as fast as possible. I accepted and he vanished.

Elsif, on the other hand…

"I didn't know that was the weight that pressed on your shoulders."

I looked tiredly at the Queen of Skyrim. "It was not important at the time." I said. "I didn't know I was the Dragonborn."

"You didn't? But your haste was the same. You suspected, right? Thanks to the vision you had."

I nodded. Then almost jolted away when her hand landed on my shoulder. "It's a heavy burden, my friend. Don't worry. I'll talk to General Tullius. I'm not sure he caught the scope of what you have said: he's a very intelligent man, but he's not a scholar of the Nord traditions. I will not let him think that my Thane threatened him without a good reason."

I sighed, some part of me reassured. "Thank you, my Queen. And forgive me to have yelled at you too. I was… intemperate, as master Arngeir would say."

She smiled. "Don't worry. I understand. Now, it's better if I meet with General Tullius before they leave the mountain. Returning to Solitude on my own will be troublesome."

"I can open a portal to the throne room, if you want." I offered, but she shook her head.

"Thank you, but it's better if you save your magic. You'll need it more than I need a quick ride to Solitude."

I opened my mouth to object that it didn't take that much power to open a portal… but then I remembered that I needed to teleport to Whiterun myself and if Baalgruf had moved fast, I could be fighting Odahviing in, like, half an hour. Maybe she had a point.

"Very well. Good travel, my Queen."

"Good luck, my friend. May your mission meet success." She said, then left me alone.

Now I had a dragon to capture and a fortress to take. Easy.

Last edited: Feb 28, 2021

All Quests Must Come to an End 1.9

I returned to Whiterun ten minutes after Baalgruf, but I was told that the night was coming and it was better to wait until morning. I decided to let them rest. After all, I would need to be well rested as well.

Of course, I was so anxious about the fight -or rather, for what was after the fight with Odahviing- that I slept little and badly, but a stamina potion in the morning made the sleepiness disappear.

"We're ready, Dragonborn." Said Baalgruf, waiting with me inside Dragonsreach. "Just say the word."

I looked at the guards filling the place. "Tell your men to stay inside… unless they want to be picked up by a swooping dragon and fall for the sky on bare rocks."

Baalgruf nodded and ordered his men to retire inside. I walked outside, covering myself with Dragon Aspect. Then, I Shouted Odahviing's name toward the sky, and waited.

Not even five minutes later, Odahviing arrived. I heard his wings fight against the air to keep him flying, and as soon as he appeared around the corner, I blasted it with Dragonrend… forcing him to land on the platform. I jumped inside the building while he landed, to give him more space.

And also so the Frost Runes I had placed on the platform could explode without harming me. Of course, they didn't deal that much damage, but they didn't need to. They just needed to bait Odahviing inside and let me capture him.

Fortunately, I had a plan, thanks to the sleepless hours I wasted during the night. Battling Odahviing was different from fighting other dragons, because in all other cases, it was a matter of life or death. Here, I just needed to capture him, which was slightly more complex than just beating him within an inch of his life, since I still needed him to carry me to… whatever the name of Alduin's fortress was. So, he needed to be reasonably healthy.

Dragonrend, fortunately, already weakened dragons, so I just needed to make him come inside, while staying focused on me and not on the other squishy humans inside, while still bashing him around. Mostly with Shouts, since he was there to test my power.

The entire affair was fortunately short. A Marked for Death, Drain Vitality, and a couple of swings of my draining sword, and Odahviing looked pretty battered. Then, I lured him inside, until…

SBAM! The trap fell from the ceiling, smashing the dragon's head down before closing on his neck with what looked like orichalcum bindings. I had heard someone debate that TES dragons couldn't be that strong if they couldn't even break a small trap like the one depicted in the game, but the game was scaled down. The trap was composed of two shaped wood pieces the size of an ancient tree, and reinforced with plates of metal half an inch thick. That thing probably weighed tons. I was not surprised that Odahviing couldn't free himself.

"Nid! Horvutah med kodaav. Caught like a bear in a trap…" Murmured Odahviing. "Zok frini grind ko grah drun viiki, Dovahkiin. Ah. I forget. You do not have the dovah speech."

Why did every dragon assume that? I could speak your fucking language, dammit!

I still let it talk, because while I could understand him, most of the other humans here could not.

"My… eagerness to meet you in battle was my… undoing, Dovahkiin. I salute your, hmm, low cunning in devising such a grahmindol - stratagem."

"Yes, yes, whatever. You know why I decided to capture you, yes?"

"Zu'u bonaar. You went to a great deal of trouble to put me in this… humiliating position. Hind siiv Alduin, hmm? No doubt you want to know where to find Alduin?"

"I know where Alduin is." I revealed. "Not in detail, of course, but enough. He's somewhere in the eastern mountains, in a fortress unreachable by a non-flying creature. He escaped to Sovngarde to devour the souls of the warriors and recover his power."

Odahviing looked surprised. More or less. Dragons didn't emote well. Still, he recovered swiftly.

"You are well informed. His door to Sovngarde is at Skuldafn, one of his ancient fanes high in the eastern mountains. I suppose that, since you already know this, you trapped me here because you need me to bring you there."

"Exactly. I could try to find it on my own, but scrying requires a lot of time when you don't know where to look. Unless I'm stupidly lucky, it would take too much time to find it. So I brought you here."

And that didn't cover the cost in terms of magicka. I was good, but not enough to inspect an entire mountain range in one go.

Odahviing hummed in understanding. "You will release me - ro laan - if in return I promise to take you to Skuldafn and stop helping Alduin?"

"I don't know if it's wise. You could betray me. What about serving me instead?" Of course, I was just making a show, to reassure the men that I was not an idiot and I did have a plan.

"Aam? Serve you?… no. Ni tiid. If and when you defeat Alduin, I will reconsider."

"And so, I'm supposed to believe you will not attack me the moment you're free?"

"You cannot. But… Many of us have begun to question Alduin's lordship, whether his Thu'um was truly the strongest. Zu'u ni tahrodiis. Alduin has proven himself unworthy to rule. I go my own way now."

"Hmph. So if I win, and Alduin is defeated, you'll serve me. If not and Alduin is victorious, you'll just… what? Run away?"

"Tolro fah vorey tiid. That's something for me to decide, when the time comes. Will you free me?"

I sighed. "It's not like I have much of a choice, right?"

The red dragon nodded… or tried to do it. It was kinda difficult with that weight on his neck. "Onikaan koraav gein miraad. It is wise to recognize when you only have one choice."

I grunted and gestured at the soldier near the trap mechanism to move it. Meanwhile, I gave Odahviing a warning. "Just so you know, I have a Shout that can control the minds of the Dovah. Don't force me to use it on you."

Odahviing eyes narrowed at that, but he didn't say anything. Then, a second later and with the reassurance of Jarl Baalgruf, the trap was deactivated and he was free.

The moment he did, he reared on his hind legs, stretching himself. "Faas nu, zini dein ruthi ahst vaal."

That translated more or less into 'you're all alive because I'm too honorable to take back my word'. That was not a nice thing to say. "Your honor, or your fear of my Thu'um?"

Odahviing blinked at that. "Yeah, I speak your damn language, Odahviing. I don't know who told you I could only Shout, but they were wrong."

The dragon grumbled. "Alduin's lies. Very well. Follow me."

I did, and when he got out of the building, his steps made the entire place tremble. Then once outside, he looked at me. "Saraan uth - I await your command, as promised. Are you ready to see the world as only a dovah can?"

"Yes. Let's go."

"Zok brit uth! I warn you, once you've flown the skies of Keizaal, your envy of the dov will only increase."

"I can fly, Odahviing. Either on my own power, or as a bird."

The dragon snorted. "That's not the same, Dovahkiin."

I shrugged and climbed on his neck. As I did, he took a brief run and then took air. "Amativ! Mu bo kotin stinselok."

Well, at least he was enthusiastic. The trip itself promised to be only boring.

-X-

The journey turned out to be… not that bad, because Odahviing was extremely fast. It took… what, two hours to fly from the middle of Skyrim to the eastern mountain? Dragon's speed was ridiculous. I dismounted and looked at Skuldafn. It was as intimidating as I expected it to be.

"This is as far as I can take you. Krif voth ahkrin. I will look forward to your return, or Alduin's."

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Ah, well, whatever. I could just summon Durnheviir to take care of most of the dragons. Or I could just do it stealthily. If the dragons couldn't find me, they couldn't fight me.

Of course, the spike of magic I felt behind me threw a wrench in my planning. I turned, just in time to see a portal open, and a lot of people walking through it.

Thormund. Fenrir. Black-Scales. Kodlak Whitemane, and the Companion's inner circle. Half the teachers of the College of Winterhold, plus my ex-fellow students. Serana, Isran, and the top ranks of the Dawnguard. And finally, Kayleen and the Nightingales.

I remained momentarily stunned, then I refocused. "What? How are you here?"

"It was not easy, lad." Admitted Kodlak. "I had to buy Farengard's service to keep all these people in contact enough to be ready for the right moment."

What the hell? He organized all of this since that time I told him the full story?

"Of course, this would not have been possible if Thormund was not so keen on getting us on board." Commented Serana. "You're lucky he was so determined to fight this battle at your side, Loki."

"Lucky for him? Lucky for this poor fellow." Replied Aela, scratching the chin of Fenrir. "He was heartbroken when he was told to stay with us when Loki went hunting the World Devourer."

Fenrir confirmed Aela's words by jumping on me and started licking my face.

"Urgh… gah! Guys, I appreciated it, but I don't think you're getting how dangerous the situation is." I said, as I managed to keep Fenrir away from my face. "This is Skuldafn. The final fortress. Here all the remaining loyal forces of Alduin keep guard until he returns from his trip into Sovngarde. There are dragons, and probably high-ranked draugr. Your life is at risk if you come with me."

Kayleen crossed her arms. "We know. And?"

I… didn't know what to say.

"Friend Loki." Said Thormund, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I think you're the one that doesn't get it. We came here because we want to help you. We know we could die doing this, but we don't care. If you fail, we're doomed regardless. So, why not go down gloriously, fighting for the safety of this world?"

I looked at Thurmund… then I turned toward everyone else. "And all of you think of it like that?"

"Well, not completely." Replied one of the Nightingale, which by exclusion was Bryinjolf. "But you did help us take down Mercer, so we owe you one. Don't expect us to fight to the death, but taking down some draugr is something we can do."

"You saved the College." Continued the Archmage. "We couldn't think of a better way to help you back."

"Thormund and Serana insisted." Was everything Isran said, but behind him, the rest of the Dawnguard rolled their eyes.

I didn't even have to confirm the Companions were on board, since apparently, all this was Kodlak's plan.

And since I couldn't just send them home while they were here, not without spending too much magicka…

"Fine." I said. "Mul. Qah. Diiv."

Draconic power flowed out of me and covered my body in flaming armor. "There are at least two dragons, and many more draugr. I'll ground the dragons, and we'll have to kill them fast. They're the biggest obstacle… but they'll see us very soon, so we'll fight them while we're fresh. The draugr will come later… don't underestimate them. Alduin probably kept only the most powerful to guard this fortress."

They nodded, taking their weapons out. Fenrir growled and assumed his feral form.

"We'll move at my signal." I warned, and everyone took position. "Ready? Dur. Neh. Viir!"

The undead dragon arrived… and the battle started.

It was quite different from what usually happened in this stage of the game. Skuldafn was, for all intent and purposes, identical to every other Nord barrow, aside for the huge portal on top of it. In this kind of situation, adventurers proceeded cautiously, taking down a little group of draugr at a time to avoid being overwhelmed.

In our case, there were literally too many people to do something like that, and as a result, our battle went very differently. First, both dragons attacked at the same time, and only the presence of Durnheviir spared my companions from being attacked on a narrow bridge where they couldn't hope to defend themselves from the Shouts. We quickly passed the bridge, with the Nightingale, Aela, and the mages taking down the group of draugr on the other side, armed with bows, and they proceeded to reach a clearing after having to deal with another group of undead.

Here, I Dragonrended one of the dragons, forcing him to land. It was quickly swarmed, but we were forced to divide when one of the guard towers started to spew draugr at us. High-level draugr, with several overlords to command them. Normally those assholes remained inside, but even their dull undead senses caught the advance of our group. We still managed to deal with both the dragon and the draugr… but at the price of some wounded. The mages in particular didn't take the assault very well. It was understandable, really. Unlike most of the others, they were not professional or semi-professional warriors. They were scholars. Large-scale battles were not their field of study.

Dealing with the dragon was just the first part, of course. The second dragon was still fighting Durnehviir, so I let them fight, because I feared I would hit the Undead dragon with Dragonrend if I was not careful, but that still meant there was a garrison of draugr waiting for us. Still, we pushed forward, through the courtyard and inside the fortress. We were doing well.

Inside, things became more difficult. Until now, we had the advantage of numbers. Or, to be more precise, we had moved fast enough to prevent the draugr from congregating, and so we had numerical superiority. Inside, there was not enough space to overwhelm the draugr with numbers, and so wounded combatants started to accumulate. Especially since, somehow, the draugr managed to catch the group in the middle or in the rear more than one time, forcing the vanguard, the one composed of the most durable people, to dispatch members to deal with them, while maintaining a strong enough front to deal with the ones in front.

But in the end, we managed to break through the fortress and reach the outside again.

Where Durnehviir and the other dragon almost crashed on us, before Durnheviir screamed and dissipated into purple energy. Apparently, the undead dragon had found a match in this dovah.

Which was immediately grounded and hit with all manner of powerful spells and magical weapons, until it died too… not before causing several more injuries to everyone in the group.

Then it was the time for the final battle… the Dragon Priest. Who… died ignominiously as I teleported in front of him and pushed him toward the rest of the group with an Unrelenting Force. They were quick to put an end to his unlife.

I stopped a couple of stray spells and arrows destined for the dragons at the sides of the portal, because they were not going to attack if we didn't attack them -they hadn't until now- and Thormund moved forward.

"It's done, friend Loki. Skuldafn has been conquered. Is that the portal to Sovngarde?"

I took a look at the vortex of light behind me. "Yes."

"Then we're close. Let's go." He said, bracing his dragonbone maul.

I placed my arm in front of him. "Loki?"

"We need to rest." I said, looking at the others. Some were unhurt… most weren't. Old Kodlak seemed to stay upright through willpower alone, most mages had bleeding wounds caused by the draugr, and Archmage Aren had lost half his arm blocking the last dragon's point-black Fire Breath. Well, the arm was still there, but it was more charcoal than flesh at this point.

The only relatively uninjured people were me, Thormund, Fenrir, and the Nightingales.

My Nord friend took a look himself and got the point. "I see."

"We're going to rest." I announced. "Gather up and heal your wounds. We'll move in an hour… tops."

Clearly relieved, the rest of the group descended the stairs that lead to the portal and rested near the entrance to the interior. The other dragons here didn't seem to want to fight, so they regrouped and started to tend the injured. Some were healed by the mages. Most had to settle for bandages. Archmage Aren's arm was beyond recovery, and so an emergency amputation had to be performed.

Things… didn't look good.

I spent a couple of minutes reanimating the last Dragon Priest as a shadow and kicked him inside the refuge, then I took position near the stairs. Looking at the portal, and thinking.

"A septim for your thoughts?" Asked Thormund, joining me. I took my time to answer.

"I'm going to win." I finally said. "Or at least, it seems probable. Everything until now went great. I don't know if it is because I was pretty good at using my knowledge of the future to line up events until I got the optimal result, or because destiny bent backward to help me out. But now that I'm here, I don't think destiny, the gods, or whoever is weaving this story will make me lose. The stakes are too high. I must win. It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be painless, but it's going to happen."

Thormund nodded. "But?"

"But that doesn't apply to all of you." I said. At the edge of my sight, I caught Fenrir's ears shooting up, head rising to take a look at me. "I am the destined hero. I can survive. You're not granted that sort of protection."

Thormund smiled warmly. "We know, Loki. We're ready to make that sacrifice, if needed."

"Not everyone is." I noted.

"True. But we have thought about it." He took a scroll out from some pocket and showed it to me. "This is a Recall scroll. It will return any of us to Whiterun, if we're too wounded to continue, or if our courage fails us."

I nodded. I was happy to see they were not going to get stranded here. "Good thinking."

"I thought you would like it." Smiled the giant. "Of course, it will not work on Sovngarde, but I'm sure Tsun will send back any of us… the ones that will not be joining the heroes in the Hall of Sovngarde."

I nodded again. "He will, probably." I paused. "But he will not have to."

I sent a last smile at Thormund -which he couldn't see, but whatever- as I dispelled the illusion I had left behind, while I had snuck toward the portal, invisible, as soon as the conversation started. Then, I grabbed the staff that kept the portal open and, with a last wave, I took it and jumped.

-X-

Traveling to Sovngard was… strange. I cannot really describe how. It was like traveling into Oblivion, but not quite. Really strange.

Anyway, as my eyes could see again, I looked at Sovngarde. The place was exactly like I remembered. I verdant valley filled with statues that remembered the Greybeards. I would like to describe it better, but the entire place was filled with mist. The only thing I could see apart from the first twenty meters or so of the path in front of me was the sky, filled with light and at the same time, with stars clearly visible.

Anyway, it was better to be ready with the Clear Sky because-

"Arf!"

I turned so quickly I felt whiplash, and I found Fenrir looking at me all innocent.

"Fenrir!" I shouted. The wolf's ears dropped down. "How are you here!?"

Ah, stupid question. He clearly heard me approach the portal and followed me. How I didn't see him I don't know, but the giant wolf could disappear into thin air for some reason.

"I tried to sneak away for a reason, Fenrir! I can win this battle, but all of you could die! I was trying to save you, and you just sneak behind me!?"

Fenrir answered my question/rant in the only way possible. He licked my face.

"Argh. Fine, whatever! Just stay behind me. Alduin is here, and he's eating souls. I doubt it will bother him to add yours to the menu."

"Arf arf!" Happily agreed Fenrir. Stupid mutt. I couldn't save you if things went wrong, you know?

Releasing a stressed-out sigh, I proceeded.

The march toward the Hall of the Dead or whatever was its name was boring. The mist was thick, I found a Stormcloak soldier that got grabbed by Alduin, and his roars didn't help. Then, we finally reached the place. And Tsun stood there to block the path.

"What brings you, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to the honored dead?"

"I'm here to kill Alduin." I replied.

"A fateful errand. No few have chafed to face the Worm since first he set his soul-snare here at Sovngarde's threshold. But Shor restrained our wrathful onslaught - perhaps, deep counselled, your doom he foresaw."

"Maybe. But I need the help of the warriors of old."

"No shade are you, as usually here passes, but living, you dare the land of the dead. By what right do you request entry?"

"By right of birth. I am Dragonborn. But that will not persuade you, right?"

"Ah! It's been too long since I last faced a doom-driven hero of the dragon blood. But you're right. Living or dead, by decree of Shor, none may pass this perilous bridge 'till I judge them worthy by the warrior's test."

And so we fought. Briefly. He was not really trying to stop me, just to gauge my worth in battle. Once we exchanged a couple of blows, he put his weapon away.

"You fought well. I find you worthy. It is long since one of the living has entered here. May Shor's favor follow you and your errand."

"Thank you." I said, surpassing him, Fenrir behind me.

"Shor's favor has found you, Dragonborn. The Hall of Valor, heart's-ease, awaits." He said, and with that, he returned to watch the bridge.

Once inside the Hall, I didn't stop to eat, even if the roasted oxes were tempting. I just reached for the dead heroes that fought Alduin, and persuaded them to help me. Well, persuade was a strong word, kicking down an open door and all of that.

After they ran outside, I followed them, more slowly. This was the final battle. And so, I needed to use all I had. And so, I used one of the gifts of Mora, the Secret of Arcana. With it, the next three spells I was going to cast, and so the cost to maintain them, was reduced to zero, letting me sustain them for all the fight without issue.

With the first, I increase my willpower, to better resist Alduin's Shouts, as well as to increase my ability to cast spells and the force of both my magic and my Thu'um.

With the second, I increased my speed, to attack and defend as fast as possible.

And with the third, I increased my strength, to kill Alduin fast.

There, it was done. Now… it was time for the last showdown.

Together, we dispatched the fog that Alduin had called, to trap the souls before they could reach the Hall, where Shor would have protected them, and to keep us from facing him. We had to do it three times, because he continued to summon it, and considering that we were four and I was the Dragonborn, it said a lot of how powerful Alduin was. But in the end, the mist receded… and the World Devourer arrived.

After gorging himself with the soul of valorous warriors, Alduin looked even bigger and meaner than before, which was something considering that he already looked like someone had skinned a demon and then stitched its skin on a dragon to make it look as evil and scary as possible. As he appeared, though, I nailed him with a Dragonrend, to force him down. As he did, I just recovered enough to use Dragon Aspect again, to give me the edge I needed, and then attacked.

Alduin turned out to be as difficult to kill as he was on the Throat of the World, if not more. I had more distractions going on, fortunately, but the Tongue of old didn't fare well against him the first time, so there was no reason to believe they would succeed this time. They had the arguable advantage of being far more indestructible as souls, unless Alduin decided to eat them, so maybe they would do it… this time.

It didn't seem likely though. They hit him, repeatedly, with different Shouts to weaken him, but the black dragon powered through them like a tank engine and crushed one of the old heroes, flattening him on the ground. Fortunately, one of his companions arrived and distracted Alduin. He stood up relatively unscathed, so maybe they were a little more resilient this time.

I honestly don't know what happened during that fight. There were Shouts flying around, a lot of noise thanks to Alduin roaring every ten seconds, and my sight was blocked by a veritable mountain of black scales and red glowing eyes bigger than my head. Fire, ice, and lightning rained everywhere, either called by Alduin or one of us, earth surged at the call of the Voice to stop deathly Shouts from flaying the meat off our bones, the wind howled as wyrms of air and magic materialized at Alduin's command to kill us, the Tongues continued to batter the World Devourer with their Shouts full of hate, while I whirled my blade with all the mastery of the ancient Yokudan and used Shadow Magic to move away from lethal blows, and Fenrir assaulted the dragon of the End of Times with the primal fury of a beast.

So I'm not sure about who precisely inflicted the hit that made Alduin go completely apeshit, but someone did. At some point, after what felt like -and could probably be- hours, Alduin decided he was going to kill us. So he did.

The great dragon spun, using the enormous tail as a mallet to bash our bodies to mincemeat. The spin was more 180° than 360°, but considering his size and how much force that generated, it was probably good enough. He also turned as soon as he finished the movement, just to hit the ones that miraculously avoided the first one. I was one of them, since I uttered the first word of Become Ethereal the moment I realized what he wanted to do. So, since I was still here instead of being thrown away, he charged at me. Maybe he had realized that, if he killed me, he would win.

But there was someone else that had avoided the tail sweep. Fenrir, with ridiculous speed, had jumped over the tail and onto the body of Alduin, who was so big he barely noticed. Then, when the black dragon rushed me, the equally black wolf ran over his body and attacked one of the only weak points of Alduin's otherwise impervious body: the eyes. Maybe it was on purpose or that he was just trying to get a grip, but nevertheless, it worked.

The wolf's claws pierced the -relatively- soft eye, and blood erupted everywhere. Alduin screamed and for just a second, I thought we could do this without any casualties.

Then the enraged dragon-god jerked his head away, and Fenrir lost his grip. Fast as a snake, the dragon's maw closed on Fenrir. More blood erupted, but instead of eating him, or biting deeper, Alduin threw Fenrir against a cliff. Fenrir went down.

"Fenrir!" I shouted. Maybe I could still save him. By some unbelievable coincidence, Alduin's mouth was just wide enough to bite his extremities. It didn't seem to have pierced the chest or the neck deeply, and the Restore Life Shout was good enough to heal that kind of injury. I just needed to distract Alduin long enough for one of the Tongue to stand up and buy me time. So I blasted Alduin with a Lighting Blast Shout.

Alduin's eyes fell on me, and there was a malevolent glint inside them. "Yol. Toor… " I prepared for the river of fire that was going to invest me by focusing… and at the last possible moment, with flames already starting to rush out of his mouth, Alduin turned away. "… Shuul!"

Hitting Fenrir. Fire engulfed the wolf, and the entire cliff. The heat was so intense that part of the rock melted.

"No!" I shouted.

Alduin laughed. "This is just a little part of what I'll do to you once I defeat you, Dovahkiin. You caused me too many problems to let you die painlessly."

To answer that, I screamed with pure rage and threw my magic spear in his other eye. Alduin screamed again, blinded as the enchantment on the spear made his eye explode in a shower of blood. Also, the Tongue had recovered enough to engage him again.

Guided only by the need to kill him, I started to channel all my remaining magicka toward the sky. There were no clouds in Sovngarde, so I couldn't call a thunderstorm on him. What I could do was to create a spell that fed the infinite energies of Aetherium into a lightning barrage that would have razed an entire city.

In retrospect, I was lucky the old Tongues were there, or Alduin would have caught me before I was finished.

"Die motherfucker!" I shouted, releasing the spell from my control.

Lighting started to fall. Like rain during a storm, they started to crash on the ground. They should have all fallen on Alduin, but it was not easy to direct that much lightning at the same time, so I will be forgiven if the spell sometimes hits near him. It was still close enough to completely obscure his silhouette, and loud enough to cover his scream of pain.

When the barrage stopped, the terrain fifty meters around Alduin was blackened and ravaged by what looked like an artillery strike, and the great dragon was slumped down, blinded and apparently unable to move. The old Tongue had been blasted away by the attack, maybe alive, maybe not. And I…

I had burned out my magicka so completely that even the spells that were technically free to sustain were gone. Dragon Aspect had left me some minutes ago, so every Shout I used had chipped away my ability to use the Voice and burned out my stamina. I had barely any energy left, my muscles were on fire, and even the armor that I usually wore pretty casually was weighing on me like it was made of stone. I was spent.

But Alduin still lived. So, I moved.

Every step was a fight against my body and my mind, but I had to kill Alduin and save Fenrir. So I moved. If I were in a better mental space, I would have used my mage staff to cast that one spell, to get more lightning, or to not consume my reserves so thoroughly. Or took out my bow. Or just use Mora's Gift to recover instantly.

But I wasn't thinking straight. So, I very slowly reached Alduin, my sword ready in my hand. And when he was within reach, I pushed it inside his brain.

Alduin jerked, sending me sprawling on the ground, but he was done. Light started to erupt from his body, and his being cracked. I don't know why it did that but it did and it was… pretty horrible to see. The cracks expanded until they exploded, and the true form of Alduin was revealed: a dragon-shaped mass of darkness, that roared one last time before disappearing.

Only then, with the World Devourer dead, did I remember that I had a 'Full Restore' button, so I pushed it and I immediately jumped up, fully recovered, and ran where Fenrir was. It had passed a relatively short amount of time, and the Restore Life Shout, which I learned from Sahloknir weeks ago, could revive someone if it was recently dead.

I kneeled in front of the burned corpse of my friend, tears already starting to form. "C'mon buddy, I've got you. Vokri. Kopraan. Laas!"

My Shout injected pure life force inside the body, and just to be sure, I started to add Restoration magic. Under my eyes, the burnt corpse returned to its original form. Flesh reappeared, fur grew back, and in a couple of minutes, Fenrir the wolf was whole again.

But he didn't rise. He didn't open his eyes. He remained dead.

"Fenrir…"

I… How was I supposed to take this? Fenrir was always there for me. He had followed me everywhere, did everything I told him even when he didn't like it, and supported and cheered me up from the start of this journey to its end. I felt a void inside my chest, like something inside me died with the wolf, the beautiful, loyal wolf that had decided to become my friend and had remained with me till the end.

I patted him one last time. "Thank you, buddy. I couldn't have done this without you."

In response, something licked my face.

Flabberstaggered, I raised my head to see… Fenrir?

"What the…?"

I couldn't finish the sentence because the wolf jumped on me and started to lick my face. Confused but unbelievably happy, I hugged him back and started to roll with him on the ground. "I'm happy to see you too, buddy." I said, rubbing my face on his muzzle. "But… how?" I looked behind him to see if… yep, the body was still there.

"Your friend showed true valor and strength in battle." Answered Tsun. "Shor decided that it was a waste to let this wonderful creature be taken by Hircine, or dissolve into nothingness. So, he made an exception, and declared Fenrir protector of Sovngarde and shepherd of the souls of the worthy." He paused, then smiled. "But he recognizes your bond, Dragonborn. You will always be able to call him at your side, wherever you are."

"Thank you." I said… hoping that Shor could hear me.

"No, thank you, Dragonborn. This was a mighty deed! The doom of Alduin encompassed at last, and cleansed is Sovngarde of his evil snare. They will sing of this battle in Shor's hall forever. But your fate lies elsewhere. When you have completed your count of days, I may welcome you again, with glad friendship, and bid you join the blessed feasting. When you are ready to rejoin the living, just bid me so, and I will send you back."

I nodded, and rubbed my friend a last time. "I have to go now, buddy. I'll call you as soon as I return home. Maybe even before."

Fenrir licked my face and I laughed, before patting him between his ears. "See you soon." I said, before turning toward Tsun. "Send me back."

"Return now to Nirn, with this rich boon from Shor, my lord: a Shout to bring a hero from Sovngarde in your hour of need. Nahl. Daal. Vus!"

And like that, my quest was done. But my journey… not yet.

Announcementes&New

Good morning, people. Don't worry, the chapter is arriving soon, this is not a post where I apologize for not having the chapter ready.

I just wanted to post this first.

Today is a strange day.

First off, it's my birthday. Yay me! But, being older come with disadvantages.

Posting this story has been great. Despite the difficulties, like English not being my first language and me being atrociously slow when updating, we managed to arrive at the end of Skyrim. Our beloved(?) MC can now begin his wonderful journey through universes. The story is going to change from now on. There will be breaks from the First Person POV to better showcase how other people react to him, and the stops in the worlds are getting shorter. The story will also, hopefully, continue to improve.

Almost a year and half of posting and having you wonderful people being here, waiting for the next adventure, the next exploit, and the next rant about how TES works. Thank you.

Unfortunately, I'm getting older and not finding a job, not helped by all the COVID shit that's going on, and while posting has been fun, I cannot in good conscience continue to spend my time on writing stuff like this. It pains me immensely because I love writing, I love telling you this story, but I cannot continue like this. I want to have the money to live with my girlfriend and buy stuff if I need it.

And so, I decided that I had to take a step forward. I was not sure about this, because I don't think about writing as my job, and surely I didn't do it for money, but to share my story and receive feedback on my writing, and also to better my English. But, as I said, I cannot continue to just post like I've done so far.

And so, it's with trepidation and a little fear that I announce this:

I've opened a .

Someone probably noticed already, since I modified my signature, like, half an hour ago, but well, I wanted to make it official.

Be assured, I'll continue to post this story on this platform (but I'm considering expanding on others), that you decided to become a or not. I'm not taking my story hostage to force you to pay money. However, if you appreciate all the work I've done so far, and you want to help me mitigate the weight that's pressing on me as a jobless adult, I'll be deeply grateful. Together, we can continue on this journey without problems.

Whatever you're becoming a or not…

Thank you.

Time to Say Goodbye

When a portal opened in the middle of Whiterun plaza, Thormund jolted up. He had been terribly furious when Loki had left them to go into Skuldafn with a trick, but the rage was swiftly replaced by apprehension. Loki said he was going to win, because the gods and destiny would conspire him to do so, but he was not certain of it. His were just words to convince himself to leave them behind and fight the World Devourer alone.

He was a little reassured when he noticed that Fenrir was not with the group. He had probably followed his owner -no, his friend- into Sovngarde. That said, that little relief was short-lived. As the hours passed, the dread only increased.

And so, while everyone else had returned home or was enjoying the hospitality of the Companions while recovering from their injuries, he had stood to watch, waiting for the return of Loki… or Alduin.

So, when the portal opened, and a familiar, armored man emerged from it, he rushed to him and hugged the crazy mage. "You're alive." He said, before taking a good look at him. His armor was damaged in several places and he looked absolutely battered, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered. "So, it's done."

Loki nodded. "Yes… it's done." His tone was strange, a mix of relief, expectancy, and tiredness. Thormund could understand, really. His job was done… now he just had to return home. "How are the others?"

Thurmund's face fell. "Kodlak passed away. There was nothing the mages could do." He paused, noticing something. "Fenrir?"

Loki slumped down. "He died fighting Alduin."

Oh. Terrible news, for sure. But Thormund also felt pride, fondly remembering the little wolf that he had played with. Such a wonderful creature, loyal to the end. "I'm sorry to hear that. He was a good friend."

"It's ok." Replied Loki. "Death is not the end. Come, Fenrir."

He called, and the wolf appeared, black and magnificent as always. "How?" Asked Thormund, incredulous. "How is that possible?"

"Shor adopted him." Replied Loki, petting the wolf. "He's now the protector of Sovngarde and shepherd of the souls of the worthy. He will guard the Hall of Valor with Tsun 'till the end of the time."

Thormund stared wide-eyed at the great wolf. "Then it would seem we'll see each other on the other side, my friend." Said the Nord. "For now, take care of Kodlak, would you?"

The wolf ears shot up, then fell down. He hadn't known of Kodlak's death. The wolf looked at Loki, like waiting for permission.

"Go." He said. "Find Kodlak and guide him to the Hall of Valor. I'm sure Ysgramor is waiting for him."

Fenrir barked, licked Loki's and Thormund's faces one last time, and he disappeared.

"And so, Alduin's threat is gone." Commented Thormund. "What will happen to the dragons?"

"Paarthurnax will take care of that." Replied Loki. "I hope most of them will take the Way of the Voice… or at least, become less aggressive. Just in case, I asked Black-Scales to re-establish something akin to the Dragonguard of old."

Thormund nodded. He had talked with the spear-wielding Argonian. The idea was… interesting. "It will take a while to have enough members to matter."

"Yes. But by that time… I hoped you would be willing to be their leader."

Thormund blinked. "Me? Why? I'm sure there are people more able to lead an organization like that."

"Maybe, but I don't trust them to not transform it into something I don't like." Admitted Loki. "It has to be a deterrent for the dragons, to force them to treat mortals with respect. Not a way to slaughter them without reason."

Thormund hummed. He understood… more or less. Loki had explained the mentality of the dragons to him, if only vaguely. Might make right in their culture, so an organization able to fight them was not just a precaution, it was a necessity to dealing with them.

"You're also the only one that can teach them The Voice." Continued Loki, making Thormund blink. "I would prefer to not do this, but Dragonrend must not be forgotten again. I will write down its words and meaning, so you'll be able to learn it and pass it down. It's a terrible weapon, but you'll need it."

Thormund suddenly felt the weight of the responsibility Loki had placed on him. It was selfish of him to do so, but Thormund didn't judge. This was not his world, after all. Loki had done enough to save it one time. He would not ask him to protect it further.

"I see. I'll do the best I can, my friend."

"That's all I ask." Murmured the mage, looking in the distance. "I'm afraid I cannot remain, my friend. I have people to meet, and knowledge to share, before I leave this place. I will return… for the last goodbyes."

Thormund nodded. "Then go. I'll wait for you here."

Loki nodded… and disappeared.

Good luck, Loki.

-X-

Quaranir was waiting.

Since he had talked to Loki Andreasson the last time he had met, he had been waiting for his arrival. Not only because he made a promise to help him… but because he was curious.

When the Order had met him, there was a subtle, but widespread curiosity toward the mage. He was not the main topic of conversation, but most Psijic that knew of him had him in the back of their minds. His way of speaking, how he knew exactly what was going to happen and how to stop it, and his arrogance in asking for help from the Order in exchange for him to do so, had caught the interest of the ones that were working on the problem. Then, he masterfully resolved it, and again, instead of demanding anything outrageous, asked for something very simple: a way to return home.

The curiosity spiked. Why ask for something like that? Why couldn't he return home? While not a member of the Order, he had researched a lot of the spells they used and mastered them to an impressive degree. Some of the novices of the Order didn't grasp the mysteries of mysticism as well as he did. With that power, he could theoretically go everywhere in Nirn in the blink of an eye… yet he asked for help. Something was wrong.

So Quaranir investigated while the Breton saved Nirn from the threat of Alduin. And so he discovered that Loki Andreasson… didn't exist. His past was unreachable, his future clouded in uncertainty, and his present… spoke of someone not of Tamriel. Maybe a man from the future, like Pelinal Whitestrake was speculated to be? He didn't know. So, he waited.

And when a silent alarm rang in Artaem, warning that someone was trying to reach the island without permission, he was quick to reach the portal that functioned as the entrance to the island. A sizable number of members of the Order were already there. Some were scared, because none of them had ever heard of anyone trying to invade Artaem. Others…

"You think it's him?" Asked Neiren, one of the other members that were waiting for the mage's arrival.

Quaranir didn't answer. He just waited… until the portal to the outer world opened with a rather sharp sound, like it was forced open by overwhelming force. Then, a man clad in dragonscale armor emerged from it.

Quaranir advanced, stopping the unaware members of the Order from attacking. "Loki. Was it necessary to force the door open?"

The man glared at him through the bone mask. "You told me to search for you, but you didn't give me a way to contact you or enter this place. Next time, give me a token to get here, if you don't want me to enter this way."

Quarandin smiled. He had purposely been vague on how he was to contact them, to see if he was able to find them. A test, if you will.

"My mistake. So, now that you have found us, as promised, we'll help you. But if you want to return home… I'm afraid you'll have to give us more details."

The man didn't answer for a second, then he shrugged. "Fair enough. It's a long story though. Better discuss it in private."

Quarandin nodded. Creating the spell to send him home would probably require time anyway, since he doubted it was something as simple as teleportation. Better get comfortable.

-X-

"Hela!" Called the voice of sister Freir. "There is a guest for you!"

The little Imperial girl was confused. A guest? For her? Who…

She suddenly started to run. Could it be him? Had he finally returned? She rushed to the main hall, and when she arrived, she found a man in strange armor and with a bone mask on his face. She stopped and hesitated. She was not sure it was him…

"Loki?"

The man looked at her and removed his mask, showing the face of the hero who saved her. "Hi, Hela."

Unable to contain herself, she ran toward him and hugged the mage. He awkwardly hugged her back. She disentangled quickly. "Why are you here? Have you finished your mission?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yes. My mission is done. Now… I'll return home."

"You mean Proudspire Manor?" Asked Hela, hopeful. If he remained at Solitude, she could see him more often.

Her good mood fell when he shook his head. "No, little one. My real home. It's… far, far away."

Realization dawned Hela. He was leaving. He would not return. This… this was probably the last time she would see him. "So… you're here to say goodbye."

She was not going to cry. He had saved her, and returned her to the temple. He had done enough. If he wanted to return home, she would be happy for him.

He patted her head. "Yes. I'm sorry, girl. You won't see me again. I had to… make things I shouldn't have, to do what I did. It's better if I don't return."

She was failing at keeping her tears under control.

Loki kneeled, to look at her in the eyes. "Maybe I could visit sometimes. I'm not sure. I would be able to appear as a projection. I know it's not the same, but…"

"It's alright." Said the girl, cleaning her face. "You'll visit if you can, right?"

He nodded. "No promise. But if I can, I'll do it."

"It's enough." She said, before hugging him again. "You have to go now, don't you? You always have something important to do."

He hugged her delicately. "Yes. I'm trying to leave some places in a better shape than they were when I arrived there." He separated from her and smiled. "I'll tell my friends to visit you when they come to Solitude, alright?"

"Alright." She nodded.

"Good girl." He said, patting her head again. "Goodbye, Hela."

"Goodbye." She said between the tears, as he vanished again. Her hero was leaving her… but he had earned some rest. "Happy return home."

-X-

The Dragon's Refuge was in turmoil. For the first time since memory, the mysterious and elusive master of the Shadow Lords, the benevolent guides and advisors that he graced on the inhabitants of the plane, were called, all of them, to the High Temple, where he sometimes manifested. Nobody knew why he had done it. Maybe he was going to foretell a terrible prophecy? Or maybe he was going to grace them with another Shadow Lord?

As it turned out, nothing of the sort.

When Loki had called, the shadows of the Dragon Priests immediately reached the mansion the first of them, Morokei, had built for him, using only magic and the crude rock of the mountain. In time, each one of the shadows had added something to the building. Usually defenses, magical wards, or simply furniture crafted by the talented folks of the Refuge. The place now really looked like a mansion, as the court of the king Loki, unwillingly and unknowingly, was.

Nothing like that mattered now.

"I'm leaving Nirn." Said master Loki, when all the shadows were there.

There was just silence after that. So, he continued.

"You probably don't know, but I'm not from this Mundus. So, I'm going to use a spell to return home. If everything goes as planned, I'm going to leave this universe altogether and, probably, never return. I'm not sure I'll have my powers, so it's possible I cannot return, even if I wanted. As such, I decided to leave you with some last instructions."

"We will do as you command." Replied the shadow in unison.

"Good. First of all, I don't know how you treated the natives of the Refuge, but just in case, I'll order you to treat them with respect. You're never to rule or hurt them, just guide and teach them everything you know. Also, you're never to harm the inhabitants of Nirn, unless they're the ones attacking you. This also applies to the natives. They're not going to attack Nirn, and I expect you to enforce this rule. Am I clear?"

"Yes, master."

"Excellent. I don't have much to say, my shadows. I expect you to make this place, which I discovered by chance, into something greater. You're free, from now on. I'm not going to be around to order you, so do your best, using your own judgment, to make the Dragon's Refuge as magnificent as you can using your own forces. Create cities. Create universities to teach the mysteries of magic to the natives. Use your ability to manipulate Essentia to build great wonders. And always, help the mortals and the children of the Refuge. Every child of the Refuge and every mortal, not just the ones you know. And no infighting. There is no need for more violence, on Nirn or in this place."

"As you command." Said the shadows.

"Perfect. Now… I'll leave you with something to remember me by."

He closed his eyes and suddenly, knowledge started to flow outside him in a show of orange and blue light. The shadows flinched as knowledge poured into them. Knowledge of various arguments. Crafting secrets of races that came after them, advanced magics and rituals, and lastly, a name. A dragon name.

"I'm not sure I will be able to summon Durnehviir once I'm outside this universe." Said Loki. "So, when you need a dragon, Shout his name. He'll answer the call. I already warned him that I'll find someone else to call him if I'm not able to, so he should not give you problems. Also, if you can, find a way to keep him out from the Soul Cairn. That is not the place for a dragon."

"We will do it, master."

"Great. And now… the last gift."

The shadows flinched again, feeling a strange force grab their essence and yanking it from… wherever they were called from. Suddenly, their essence was not just there, but here too, in the mansion. Then, the shadows that composed them shifted, gaining color and shape. No more did they look like black shadows of what they once looked like. Their bodies were now covered by a smooth, unnatural black skin. While clearly inhuman, it at least gave the impression of them being alive. Also, their robes had re-acquired their color. Their faces, though… they were not uncovered anymore. Now they sported the same ancient mask they once wore, with faint magic that resembled the ancient power they possessed. A replica, maybe, but an accurate one.

"I left you as I just reanimated you for too long." Said their master. "Now that you're all there, I decided to give you the seeming of life. The skin you have now has limited ability to change shape and color: I expect you to use it to give yourself the look you had in life, or the one you prefer. Don't use it for trickery… unless it's necessary. Or harmless."

"Thank you, master. We are grateful for your gift."

"I also partially bound you to this palace. If you're ever killed, you can use your powers to return here, instead of… wherever I dragged you from. So, you won't need me to return." He paused. "I'm also going to bind some of my summons here, for the same reason I gave you Durnehviir's name. They're not to be harmed, not by you, or by any one of the natives. Is it clear?"

"Yes, master!"

"That's all, my shadows. You can return to… whatever you usually do."

The shadows nodded, and while most of them flew away, some remained. Vahlok the Jailer, the last addition to the ranks of the shadow Dragon Priests, was tasked by the master to watch the mansion, where he confined some of the craziest of the Dragon Priests, the ones that not even in death and after resurrecting into their new form could completely remove the taint of madness from their minds. Ahzaidal, Hevnoraak, and Othar were the ones, and so they remained with the Jailer, following him outside the manor and watching their master summon and bind two more creatures.

One was a magnificent horse. Loki summoned, bound, and finally let it free on the world. The steed neighed, then rushed down the mountain with great speed.

Then, he summoned a giant snake, big enough to constrict a man. The creature looked around, and this time, master Loki spent a couple of words for him. "I might not be able to call you anymore, Jormungard. So, I decided to let you free here, in another place, where you could live the life you want. You could die, because by binding you to this place, you'll be of flesh and blood like everything else. Are you willing to do this?"

A second passed, where the snake probably said something through the bond they formed. Then, master Loki nodded, and bound the creature. "You're free now, my friend. I have given you the ability to change your size too, so you can live wherever you want. Go."

The snake, in an uncharacteristic show of affection, rubbed his head on the chest of their master, and then left too, slithering toward the sea. As he left the courtyard of the mansion, his size quickly grew, but what his real size was they could just guess, since he disappeared down the side of the mountain quickly.

Exactly as their master did. And so they returned inside. They had orders, after all. They had to make this place great.

-X-

Loki didn't return for an entire week. When he did, he materialized in the middle of Whiterun, and then, walked inside Jorrvaskr. Here he found Thormund, Kayleen and Serana waiting for him.

"Sorry I took this long." He said, removing his mask and lowering his hood. "I had… more things to do than I thought."

"We assumed that." Reassured him Thormund. "Sit down, my friend. Let's make all we can with the time we have together."

Loki smiled, sat down, and called Fenrir, so they could pass at least a couple of hours together. They talked - Kayleen was pretty insistent in explaining to him all the remaining Aberrant Techniques, telling him to learn them even if he lost the ability to use them- and exchanged stories, especially of what they did while the others were busy. Eventually, the discussion turned on what they were going to do in the future.

Thormund would try to resolve the Civil War. The Stormcloaks had lost a lot of holds. They had gained the Reach, but they lost Riften and Morthal in exchange, and that meant that, if -when- hostilities started again, they would have part of their men surrounded by hostile holds, while they had one less Hold to use to call men to the fight. Thormund hoped to sign some kind of pact that put them out of the Empire while still being technically allies, in the event of a Thalmor attack. Less independent than Hemmerfell, but freer than now. Enough to re-install the cult of Talos and calm down the Nords' spirit.

Serana wanted to remain in Castle Volkihar, and use it to instruct new vampires. The place was also a secondary Dawnguard fortress, containing the Bow of Auri-El, and she would remain there to make sure nobody would use it for what her father wanted.

Kayleen would continue to master the Shehai Shen She Ru and, when the time will come, she'll retire, probably returning to Hammerfell to spread her knowledge to new generations of swordmasters.

"I think I'll just return home." Said Loki. "And then, I'll see. It will depend if I'm still able to use magic when I arrive. If I can, I'll find a way to live, get a lot of money and then live a quiet life. I already had enough excitement for an entire lifetime."

They laughed at that. Then, Loki became serious. "Thormund, I have something for you." He said, before materializing a bag from nothing. "This bag contains all the artifacts I collected in my adventures. Among other things, all the Dragon Priests masks, and the Star of Azura. Don't worry: all the dangerous artifacts have already been taken care of. I want you to take these, go to Sky Heaven Temple, where the Blades and Black-Scales are forming the Dragonwatch, and lock them there in a room. Use them to remind the Dragonwatch what they are supposed to do."

Thormund nodded, and took the bag. Then, Loki removed the amulet he wore, and gave it to the Nord. "This is the Amulet of Gauldur. It's a very powerful artifact, one that will grant you a great deal of protection. Take it. I don't need it anymore."

"Thank you, Loki. But… are you planning to give away all your equipment?"

He grinned. "Oh, no. It could take one or two tries to get the spell right. I could get to Morrowind or Black Marsh by mistake, and I will need my weapons and armor to survive. But those are unique items, created by important people. They have a history behind them, and I'd feel like I was stealing them if I took them with me. So, I'm just going to take everything I personally crafted with me."

Thormund gave a nervous look at his hammer. "No, you can keep it. I made it for you, after all."

"You're very generous." Commented Kayleen. "I thought you would have made a fine addition to the Guild, once, but if you are in the habit of distributing hard-earned, precious items to anyone, you wouldn't have lasted long."

"I'm trying to leave a good impression." Replied the mage.

"You saved Skyrim… what, three times?" Asked Serana. "From my father, from Miraak, and from Alduin. I think you have left a great impression."

He shrugged. "Maybe, but why stop there? It's possible no one will ever see me again. Best to abound than be deficient, no?"

She shook her head, a little smile on her face, and didn't reply. So, he stood up.

"Thank you, everyone. I don't know if I would have been able to do all I did without your help."

"I didn't do much." Replied Serana.

"Neither did I." Agreed Kayleen. "I think you did more to help us than we did to help you."

"Everything that could help me contributed to my final victory. I defeated Miraak because I learned the Shehai Shen She Ru, and he couldn't fight against it. And Serana, if you didn't rebel against your father, there would be a red sun on us right now. I think that's enough for a thank you."

The two women smiled.

"Thormund… I'm sorry I'll leave you with a lot of shit to fix." Continued the mage. "But, I need to see my family. And honestly, I cannot solve all the problems of this place. You have to fix them yourself, or you would never grow out of them."

Thormund nodded. "A fair assessment, my friend. I only hope I'll be worthy of your trust."

"You'll manage. I'm sure of it." He said. Thormund stood and exchanged with him the last hug. Then, he exchanged a hand shake with Serana. Kayleen hesitated for a second, then she hugged the mage.

"Say hi to your fiancée on my behalf." She said, before letting him go. He smiled, exchanged a last rub of faces with Fenrir… then they both disappeared.

-X-

The ritual was ready. A magical circle had been drawn around the Eye of Magnus, ready to channel the practically unlimited magicka inside it toward an objective that, frankly, sounded impossible. Travel outside the known universe, to another one. One without magic and gods. Sounded like the ramblings of a madman, but the Psijic Monks didn't bother to point that out. If they were the ramblings of a madman, they would know soon.

The magical circle would act like a teleportation circle, aimed in a single direction. No turning back. And, to make up for the fact that nobody had any idea of where they were to aim it, since even Loki didn't know where his world was in relation to Nirn, they used a sympathetic link to direct the magic. The link was, of course, Loki's own memories, the only proof that the world he described existed.

So, if he was a madman and that place didn't exist, the only result would be him being disintegrated by the overwhelming magical power poured inside the circle. That could still happen even if he wasn't, because even in the event of his memories being true, there was no guarantee that his body could handle the amount of magical power required to exit the end of the universe… if such a thing was possible, to begin with.

Of course, nobody pointed that out either. Because, if he didn't have the power to go out, they wouldn't know until it was too late. And in case he did… they were going to witness something incredible. They were still scholars. The possibility of Loki managing to do what he wanted to opened a lot of possibilities to them.

Of course, they tried to minimize the risks, but in this particular case, there were no half measures. He either did have what it took to get out, or he didn't. Regardless of how many magical safety measures they put on the circle, and how much they tried to lessen the burden of the spell on his body, at the end of the day, if the spell required more magical energy than he could handle, he would die.

So, when Loki returned, clothed in a normal, civilian garment, some were not so eager to let him try. But he would not be deterred by something as banal as death, so in the end, they remained silent.

"Loki." Greeted him Quarandir. "We're ready. Are you?"

"Yes, I am." Replied the man. The Psijic could see he was nervous. And who wouldn't be? Still, he looked determined. Then, the hero blinked and, with a flick of the wrist, materialized a staff. "Ah, I almost forgot. In case the Eye does something strange after I'm gone, you should use this."

Quarandin took the staff he was giving him, the Staff of Magnus, and nodded. "Thank you. We will be sure to use it wisely."

"I'm sure of it." Replied the man. With a deep breath, he entered inside the circle and started to chant the spell.

It was a short chant, made just to make sure he didn't channel the spell wrong. Even a single error could be death. But Loki didn't make a single mistake, and slowly, the Eye started to open and pour his infinite energies inside the circle, giving power to the spell.

Loki chanted. And chanted. And chanted, even when the magic started to be so dense that the Psjic had difficulties breathing. It looked painful, or at least deeply uncomfortable, for Loki. His face was scrounged into a frown and he was sweating profusely. But… something was happening. He channeled even more magicka inside the circle, until…

"Thank you." Said Loki Andreasson, great mage, hero of Skyrim. Then, with a flash, his body was surrounded by a sphere of light and he ascended to the sky, leaving just a trail of sparks in his wake.

"He did it." Said one of the younger monks. "The crazy bastard did it."

Normally, Quarandir would reprimand his brother for using such crass language, but this time, he found himself agreeing.

The crazy bastard really did it.

-X-

In another place…

There was something strange inside the dungeon. For some reason, silence had fallen on the usually noisy tunnels.

"Well, that's strange." Said a girl with black hair, red clothes, and a pair of dog ears on the side of her head. "What do you think is happening, Captain?"

The woman in question, a slender, azure-haired beauty with glasses on her face, didn't answer. Her eyes were narrowed, like trying to find the source of the anomaly. And, apparently, she did, because she marched forward, leaving the other girl behind.

"Ah. Wait, Captain! Don't leave me behind!"

The Captain didn't answer and just continued to move. The dungeon, on this particular level, was pretty large, so it took them a while to reach the point she was searching for. When they did, they found a man shaking his head, dressed as a civilian, right in the middle of a room.

The girl with dog ears spied over the corner. "Who do you think he is? He doesn't look like an adventurer."

The Captain narrowed her eyes. True, he didn't look like one. But…

Suddenly, the calm that had descended on the dungeon was broken, and the walls around the man opened, revealing an entire herd of minotaurs. The monster advanced toward the man. Who didn't move.

"Ah, dammit." Said the girl in red, grabbing a dagger. But her Captain stopped her. "What, Captain! We cannot leave him to the minotaurs! He'll die! Look, he's shaking!"

Yes, he was shaking. But the Captain didn't believe it was because of fear. Something, an instinct, was telling her to not get near him.

Or she would die.

Her instinct was proven to be true when one of the minotaurs, the faster or the braver, reached him. The hands of the monster were ready to grab the man… then, with a flash of silver, both hands were removed from its arms, and the monster found its throat sliced open. Instinctually, it tried to stop the spurt of blood that drenched the man red, but without hands, the operation turned out to be difficult.

Both women froze at that. Now, in the hand of the unknown man, there was a long, silvery sword inscribed with runes. The weapon sent chills down to their spines, but even then they could recognize the superb workmanship of the blade. Of course, it was a little tarnished by the blood on it.

For a second, everything seemed to stop. Even the minotaurs hesitated. Then, the tremors of the man stopped, and an inhuman roar erupted from his mouth. The power behind it was absurd. The air shook and the ground trembled, and the women had to cover their ears to not go deaf. Even then, they felt a sharp pain pierce their heads.

The dungeon didn't fare as well, as the area in the immediate vicinity of the man was filled with cracks. The minotaurs flinched, the sound hurting their sensitive hearing. The one that had tried to attack the man took the worst of it, as its ears, mouth, nose, and eyes spurted blood as its brain was reduced to mincemeat.

And when the roar stopped, the world became fire.

Last edited: Mar 14, 2021

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.1

I failed.

At first, while I was still confused by the dimensional journey, I could almost believe that I had made it. There were caves on Earth. Then, when minotaurs started to appear, I realized that no, this was not Earth.

I had failed.

In my rage, I destroyed everything that stood in front of me. Minotaurs fell under my blade or were reduced to cinders by my magic. I suppose that the silver lining to all of that was that I still had my powers, or I would be dead right now.

I was also not in TES anymore. I knew, because while minotaurs existed in TES and preferred dungeons, they didn't come out from the fucking walls! Where I was, I didn't know, but it didn't matter. If I was in Cyrodiil, where minotaurs usually were found, I could have just returned to the Psijic and tried again. Now I was cut off from the Eye, so even if I remembered the spell and the circle I used to travel here, I couldn't power it.

I failed, and now I was stuck here.

I was distracted from my misery by a voice. The words were gibberish, I couldn't understand shit, but there were people… maybe I could ask for help? Maybe I was in some advanced universe where dimensional travel was easy? It would require a lot of luck, but it was possible, right?

I raised my head… and my hopes were crushed.

I recognized the people in front of me. One was… Alfi as Andromeda? Something like that. Azure hairs, glasses, bright clothes. The other was… I didn't remember her name. A dog-girl, dressed in red. Both members of the Hermes Familia. The Captain and one of their highest leveled members.

I was in fucking Danmachi, and they didn't have dimensional travel. Fuck.

Als… Andromeda asked me something again, and again, I couldn't understand shit. So, I closed my eyes, and implemented my polyglot spell. Fortunately I had absorbed some magicka -Mind?- from the minotaurs.

The words of Andromeda suddenly became clear "-right? Are you hurt?"

Was I? No, I was not. "I'm not alright… but I'm not hurt." I replied, standing. I was crying. I managed to not cry when I thought Fenrir died, but now I was. God, I was pathetic. I cleaned myself with a spell.

"Do you need assistance?" Asked Al… why I couldn't remember her stupid name? Andromeda.

I shook my head.

"Well, we're getting out of the dungeon!" Said the other girl, smiling. "You can come with us."

I… didn't have anything to do in the dungeon. "Fine."

"Good! What's your name?"

I opened my mouth to reply… and remembered that there was already a Loki here. And I didn't want to use my real name. Because… I was not even sure I was myself. Could it be that the ritual failed because my memories were fake, and there was nowhere to go?

I closed my mouth without saying anything.

"Ah, alright. It doesn't matter. C'mon, we have to take the magic stones from the minotaurs."

"I don't care." I stopped her.

"But it's a waste to leave them here!" Protested the girl. I could almost see the dollar symbols -or whatever was the symbol of the currency here, Valis or whatever- popping out in her eyes with a ka-ching!

I sighed. "Whatever."

The dog-girl… Cheriantrope, I think the correct word was, smiled happily and started to gut the corpses to retrieve the magical stones. I remained there, standing, waiting for her to stop.

"You don't have to keep your sword out." Said Andromeda to me. "You damaged the dungeon pretty badly. It will take a while before monsters will spawn again."

I took a look at my sword, now cleaned, and then at the surrounding area, filled with cracked rock and partially melted walls. I shrugged, and made the sword disappear. Then, I… just remained there.

"Alright, done!" Exclaimed the Cheriantrope girl. There was a sharp sound, like something had impacted against flesh at a decent speed, but I didn't look. I had no energy.

"Let's move. We're deep in the Middle Floors. It will take a while to reach the surface." Said Andromeda. And in silence, we all moved.

The way up to the dungeon was easy. I just let the women do the work, while I just acted when needed, casually obliterating anything that managed to reach me. But that was rare. The path was strangely clear from monsters. Maybe it was Andromeda choosing recently traveled paths to reduce the possibility of finding monsters. Or maybe it was the work of the other girl. I didn't care very much.

Finally, we reached the surface, and the two girls… women -their age was a mystery to me- turned toward me. "We're going to return to the base of our Familia. Are you interested in joining us?" Asked Andromeda.

I shook my head.

"Very well. If you change your mind, please come to visit us." She gestured toward the other girl. "Louie, give him his stones."

Louie didn't seem convinced. "I don't want them." I helped her.

The Cheriantrope perked up. "Well, if you don't want them…"

Andromeda ripped off the bag with the stones from Louie's hands and gave it to me. "Take them. They're yours."

I looked at the bag… and sighing, I took it. I made it disappear in my dimensional bag. "Fine."

The girls looked at each other, and probably decided something using some kind of unspoken woman language. Louie smiled and put her hands behind her head. "Well, that was fun. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye." Said Andromeda, and then both of them walked away. I weakly waved at them… and then looked at the sky.

It was… early. Too early. It was almost noon when I started the ritual. This looked like early morning. Andromeda and Louie were probably in Riviria for some delivery and they caught me when returning to Orario.

What should I do now? I didn't feel like doing anything. I felt without energy. Maybe… maybe I just needed to find a place where rest for a while. Of course, Danmachi worldbuilding was vague at best, and so the only place I knew I could rest and maybe get something to eat was The Hostess of Fertility. Which… I didn't know where that was supposed to be. I just watched the anime up to the second season and a little Dungeon Oratoria, I had no idea how Orario was structured aside from the fact that Babel was right in the middle of it.

I sighed. Time to look around, apparently.

Then, as I did just a couple of steps, I saw something. A big backpack, several times larger than the owner, a little, scrawny kid with a white coat. She passed right at my side, looking at the floor all the time… and my hand moved on her own. I grabbed the top of the backpack by instinct, and the girl -because I knew who she was- stopped moving. There was a surprising amount of momentum in her walk, but nothing I couldn't handle.

"Uh?" Made Liliruca Arde, looking at me confused.

"Hey, what's the deal?" Said the adventurer she was following… oh, Ducy McFuckface from the episode she first appeared. "If you have a problem with her, do it after I return from the dungeon."

The man grabbed my arm and something inside me snapped. It spoke volumes of my mental state that my answer to that was jerking my arm free and then bitch-slapping him in the face. His nose made contact with the back of my hand and something cracked. The man fell on his ass, grabbing his face.

"Ow, my nose. Son of a bitch! What's your problem?"

I sent him a glare and he froze. "Fuck. Off."

The man wisely decided to get the fuck out and ran away. I turned toward Arde, who immediately panicked.

"Lili didn't do anything wrong! Lili doesn't-"

"I didn't stop you because I have something against you." I stopped her. "I just wanted to ask you a question."

Lili stopped rambling and seemed to calm down. "A-alright."

"Do you know where the Hostess of Fertility is?"

Lili blinked, like she was not sure she got it right. In the end, she nodded. "Lili does."

"Can you take me there? I don't know the city."

"Uhm… sure. Lili will be happy to help." Liar. You were just scared. But whatever. It didn't matter.

"Lead the way then." I said. Lili nodded and started to walk away from the tower.

We reached the restaurant… or it was an inn? I'm not sure. Anyway, we reached it pretty soon.

"Here is the Hostess of Fertility. Now, Lili would go on her way if-"

I didn't let her finish. I grabbed the top of her backpack again and basically dragged her inside. I made her sit down.

"Eat with me." I said, for no reason in particular aside from the fact that she looked a little too slim for her own good. "I'll pay."

Lili seemed to be panicking a little. She probably thought I was some kind of sexual predator. Not that I could blame her, but at that moment I didn't care.

One of the waiters -I don't remember their names aside from Ryuu and Syr, and even then I'm not sure I got them right- came to take our orders. Since the translation spell I had going on couldn't translate writing, I couldn't read shit, so my order was a generic 'drink'. Lili visibly hesitated, then she ordered something I didn't quite catch. After that, she didn't say anything. Neither did I.

Finally, our launch arrived and we started to eat. All in all, Lili seemed to be enjoying her meal. I was not sure it was launch or breakfast, but it didn't matter to me anyway. I had transmuted my drink into something that remembered, vaguely, a soda, but I almost couldn't taste it. I was just… down.

"Mister?" Asked a voice, and I turned to see Syr looking at me. "Is something wrong? You're not enjoying your drink?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing."

"Sir, if the quality of the drink isn't good…"

"It has nothing to do with the drink." I said, taking a sip. "I just… I wasn't supposed to be here."

Syr looked confused. Lili too, she raised her head to look at me.

"Sir?"

"I was supposed to be at home. But… I failed. I failed and now I'm here." I didn't even have the strength to get angry for that. "I don't know what to do now."

"Can't you just… try to return home again?" Asked Syr.

I shook my head. "No, it would require an absurd amount of magical energy. My last attempt drained the Eye of Magnus to work. I don't have enough power to do it by myself."

Syr didn't say anything. Lili, instead, frowned.

"Lili isn't sure she understands." She admitted. "Is the Eye of Magnus some kind of device?"

I nodded. "Yes. One that has an enormous amount of magical power."

"Then… why can't you recharge it?" She asked. Of course, she didn't know what the Eye really was, so it was fair that she thought the reason I couldn't use it again was that it had lost its power. "If you gather enough magical stones, you could use it again, no?"

I opened my mouth to tell her that the Eye of Magnus didn't work like that when her words hit me. Magical stones. Used to power a lot of magitech, like elevators and, I presumed, stoves and other anachronistic items. The entire economy of Orario was based on selling magical stones to the outside.

I couldn't use them to recharge the Eye, but I could still use them.

"Lili!" I exclaimed, feeling hope to return to me. "You're a genius!"

"Lili is?" Asked the Pallum girl. "I mean, of course Lili is!"

I laughed. It was going to require a lot of work, but I had a way to get out of there. "Thank you, girl. Now I know what I have to do." I put my hand into one of the pockets of my pants and summoned an item in my hand. Then, I threw it at her. "Here. For giving me the idea."

Lili grabbed the object I launched at her with unnatural grace and looked at it. Her eyes bulged out from the shock when she realized what it was. "Is this a…?"

"Ruby?" I asked. "Sure. Unless I took the wrong gem. Sometimes I still mistake red garnet for rubies."

Lili looked at the gem like it was her firstborn baby… which was wrong on so many levels considering she was fifteen or something, but that was the impression I got. I looked outside to see how early we were. Hmm… enough for breakfast, apparently. "Syr, what do you have here for breakfast?"

The girl blinked a couple of times, then she smiled and told me. I ordered what sounded like the tastier meal and then turned toward Lili.

"Say, Lili. Would you want to work for me?"

Lili stopped looking at the gem -was she petting it like a kitten?- to look at me again. "Sorry? Lili must have heard wrong."

"You heard right." I said, finishing my almost soda. "I don't know the city and, to be honest, I cannot read this language. I need someone that knows the city and can help me make an idea of the area, and also teach me how to read this shit." I said, pointing at the writings. The structure was familiar, but the letters were not. I paused. "You'll be paid, of course."

"With more gems?" Asked the girl, her eyes sparkling.

I snorted. "Of course not. I'm not that generous. I'm going to get some Valis and I'll pay you five hundred per hour."

I could almost see the graphics and numbers float out from her head like in that old meme, then she finished her calculations. "Lili will be happy to help Mister! When do we start?"

"The moment I finish my breakfast. I'm starving."

The breakfast was served shortly. It was delicious. I was probably going to return to this place.

-X-

It took me four days to learn everything I needed to know about Orario. Mostly, the locations of important places I will need to visit sometime in the future. I made sure to memorize where the Guild was, the location of Hephaestus and Goibniu shops, the Red Light District -to stay the hell out of there- and, more importantly, where the Casinos were.

I needed a source of income after all. And what better place to get some money, than to phase through the supposedly impenetrable vaults of the casinos using magic, and rob them of everything they had? Ok, well, I didn't rob all of them. I didn't need that much money, but I made sure to scrounge clean at least a couple. I didn't even feel guilty about it, since most of them were covers for very illegal activities. I also made sure to leave a note to one in particular, saying 'let the girl go, I'll come for you next'.

Ah, it felt good to be helpful.

Lili was very helpful too. And she was better to be, since I paid her more than anyone was ever going to pay her… until she met Bell, of course, but that hadn't happened yet. I was somewhere in the past of Danmachi, but I didn't know about the timeline to be sure where, exactly. Lili was… relatively similar to her canon self, so I wasn't that far back, but it could be any amount of time between a day before the minotaur attack and a year. Not that it mattered. I had no intention of remaining here until the end of the story. I had other things to do with my life.

After the first two days, time I spent memorizing the locations and learning the language -which had some strange similarities with the Daedric of all languages- I mostly sent her to find information on things I could need in the future and to get a better idea on the prices there. The result was strange, but what I gathered was that the five hundred per hour I paid her were enough to let her cover every non-dungeon-related necessity… in a couple of hours. The rest was a welcomed surplus.

Of course, I also asked her for information on the various Familias in the city and, the last day, I used her to bounce off ideas on where to go.

"My objective is to get as many high-quality stones as possible." I said, while she nodded dutifully. "So, of course, I need to get into the deeper levels of the floor."

Lili raised her hand. I nodded and she spoke. "Lili is not sure why mister can't just buy the stones."

"Because I need a lot of magical power and money doesn't grow on me." I replied. "I could buy a lot of them -I plan to- but I'm going to finish the money well before I have the amount I need. So, I have to gain money in some way, or get the stones myself."

Lili nodded and I continued. "So, of course, I need to join a Familia. I'm no slouch in combat, but I'm not confident in my ability to survive the dungeon alone, not at the depth I need to go to get the stones I need. I already have contact with Hermes Familia, but I'm not sure they're a good choice: they're not that strong. I need a numerous, powerful Familia that regularly visits the lower floors. This leaves… three, no four choices." I raised four fingers. "Hephaestus Familia, Ganesha Familia, Freya Familia, and Loki Familia. Tell me, Lili: who would you choose?"

The Pallum girl bent her head, thinking. "Lili doesn't think Hephaestus and Ganesha Familia are good choices. Hephaestus is composed of smiths. Combat smiths, but still smiths. Since Mister considered it, I suppose he has some knowledge of smiting, but if you aim to get a lot of stones, they will be a bad choice."

I nodded, and so she continued. "Ganesha Familia is a good choice, but they mostly deal with criminals. They go into the dungeon sometimes, but not enough for the objective you have in mind."

"That was what I was thinking." I nodded, and Lili smiled. "And between Loki and Freya Familia, Loki is the obvious choice. I don't plan on becoming Freya's lovesick puppy."

Not that I trusted Loki a lot, but at least she wasn't likely to mindfuck me. They also got inside the dungeon more regularly. Freya Familia mostly fought among themselves, and while I wouldn't doubt it was a good way to become stronger, I didn't need to get stronger. I needed magical stones.

"Lili thinks it's an accurate assessment. But why cannot Mister ask help from his Familia?"

"I don't have one." I replied.

Lili blinked. "But… I saw Mister using magic, and magical items. Are you telling Lili Mister doesn't have a Falna?"

"Exactly. I'm a special case." I smiled at her. "Well, thank you for your help, Lili. If I ever need a Supporter, I'll be sure to call you. I don't think I'll need it if I join a Familia, but you never know."

Lili looked at me like she was not sure what to reply, then she smiled. I felt it was a little fake, but I supposed that I just reminded her how awfully adventurers treated her. "Lili would be grateful if Mister will take Lili with him."

I nodded and, on impulse, I patted her head. "You're a good girl, Lili."

The Pallum became bright red and covered her head with her hood. "Lili is grateful, but this is embarrassing Lili."

I chuckled. "Sorry." Still, I patted her again. "Take care."

Lili nodded, and we got in our own ways. Now, I just had to get admitted inside the famous Loki Familia.

Last edited: Mar 22, 2021

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.2

When I approached Loki's headquarters, I was… well, I was dressed for the occasion. Which was not with one of my dragon-made armors. They could cause questions to be asked, and I wanted to look as… low leveled as possible. No having a Familia, it would be strange for me to be that good. So, I just had to look less powerful than I was. Which also meant no magic, since people with magic were extremely rare without the use of Falna.

Of course, if pressured, I already had an excuse for why I was this good. But I didn't want to bring to attention where I came from if it wasn't necessary.

So, when I entered inside the manor and asked to join, I did it with a pretty comfortable brigandine I bought with the money I robb- Uhm, seized from Casinos that acquired them through illicit means, and an average steel sword. Both above the usual Guild-issued equipment, which I had the occasion to look at and was utter shit, but nothing particularly fancy. Just to not look like a noob that was trying to look more competent than I was -because looking less competent than I was, I was ok with, but not too much- I decided to take some old equipment, hoping that it looked at least a little used. If not… I could still take out my real armor.

Or lie. But I was not ready to risk that in front of either Loki or Finn. Loki would just know I was lying thanks to some bullshit divine power, while Finn was just… very smart, so he could probably see through my lies. So I decided to lie as little as possible in front of him.

Of course, the Loki Familia was the strongest Adventurer Familia in Orario, so there was a line of people wanting to join them. Being accustomed to the delays of my country in basically every public service, I wasn't bothered much by it. I just devoted most of my attention to some magical theories I had in mind. I had still to test if I could summon anything from the Oblivion or anywhere else. Could I still call Fenrir even out there?

Time flew while I was pondering if it was worth trying to summon Fenrir or Sleipnir or a normal summon and the relative advantages and disadvantages, so in less time than I would think -or less than I perceived- I was inside Finn's office, looking at the blond, bishonen Pallum.

He smiled cordially. "Welcome. I'm Finn Deimne, Captain of the Loki Familia. You are?"

"Rexen. Just Rexen." The name was taken by one of my favorite Youtuber, so it was difficult that someone knew it.

Yeah, I decided to change my name since naming myself 'Loki' in a place where there was a god named Loki didn't seem like a good idea. It also was not my real name, so it didn't matter to me if I couldn't use it anymore. But… I suppose I was sorta fond of it, mostly because everyone called me Loki during my visit to Skyrim. I suppose that I could call myself Rexen Loki in places where that wouldn't have attracted attention.

"Very well, Rexen-san. So, why do you want to join our Familia?"

"I need to acquire high-quality magical stones." I replied truthfully, cringing a little at the use of suffixes. I never managed to use them. "I figured the best way to do so was to join a Familia that descended on the Lower Floors regularly."

"Hmm, good. Motivation is important for an Adventurer. The ones that just want to gain money never get high Levels." Said Finn. "But for what do you need those stones for?"

I smiled. "A personal project of mine."

I expected more questions on my project, but Finn didn't ask. Well, not about the project. "So you're a crafter?"

I blinked. I didn't think about how wanting magical stones would look from the outside. "Of sorts."

"Interesting." Nodded Finn, starting to write something down. "If you're a crafter, wouldn't Hephaestus be a better choice?"

"This project of mine is not related to weapons or armor. Hephaestus would have no reason to give me high-quality magical stones for things that she will not be able to sell, and producing weapons and armors just to justify my presence in the Familia will take me too much time. It's better for me and for the Hephaestus Familia if I focus on other ways to acquire them."

Finn nodded. "Understood. Seems like you have clear ideas." He paused for a second. "You look like you have experience adventuring, but your equipment looks relatively new. Care to explain that?"

I cursed inwardly. Stupid smart hobbit. "I just arrived in Orario a couple of days ago and my old equipment was… inadequate. I bought cheap but sturdy equipment here while deciding what Familia to join."

"You went to the Dungeon?" Asked the Pallum.

"Briefly. Just to test how much the Dungeon monsters are better than the surface one."

Not technically true but I kind of tested how dangerous were the monsters compared to the ones on Skyrim. The answer was… they were more or less the same. I never fought Goblin in Skyrim, but Falmer were comparable if not better, and the dungeon goblins didn't hold a candle to the more armored Falmer, but were more or less on the level of the rabble. So I suppose similar monsters had more or less similar power levels.

Finn smirked. "Technically illegal, but I suppose it can be forgiven. Did you find the dungeon's monsters more dangerous than the one you fought on the surface?"

"Not really, but I mostly remained in the upper floors. I'm probably going to notice the difference the lower I get."

"A reasonable assumption. And what did you fight outside of Orario?" Asked Finn innocently. I felt the question had a double meaning. Maybe he was testing me?

Well, no matter. Lying wasn't a good idea. So… what was the monster I usually fought?

Undead, mostly, but I was not even sure they had them in Danmachi. Probably not. So, the next answer was, urgh… they didn't have demons either, and saying I fought mages probably wouldn't pass: they were not that common, not enough to fill entire keeps. Also, not monsters. Falmer were not goblins, not really, and I didn't face a lot of them, so…

"Dragons."

Finn's hand stopped scribbling and his cordial mask slipped, showing confusion. "Excuse me? I must have heard wrong."

"I said dragons." I repeated. "I'm a dragonslayer."

Finn blinked, thrown off by the declaration. After a second, he put down the quill and the mask of joviality. Now he had a cold and calculating gaze pointed directly at me.

"No offense, but that's really hard to believe. Dragons are some of the most dangerous monsters in existence. Even on the surface, most are simply too powerful to be faced by low level Adventurers."

I shrugged. "You don't have to believe me. You just have to call your goddess, Loki can tell if I'm lying or not.

Or just test me. Letting me fight someone will show how good I am."

Finn didn't say anything, leaning on his chair without blinking. He remained like that for a while, then he spoke. "Seems like you're confident in your abilities. Were you part of a Familia?"

"Not really. I mostly went on my own, even if I made sure to have help the first time I had to fight a dragon… and the next couple of times, really."

"I see. What is your estimation of your ability?"

I narrowed my eyes, thinking. "Difficult to say. Better than a Level 1 for sure, maybe even a Level 2. I wouldn't bet on me defeating a Level 3. But then, I never encountered one."

Finn continued to look at me, like he wasn't sure what to think. Then, he nodded. "Alright. This is irregular, but I'll have to be sure of your actual ability. Normally I'd just ask for your Level, but since you don't have one, I'm forced to test you. Wait outside while I finish the requests for today. I'll organize a spar with one of the members of the Familia."

I nodded and stood up.

"Ah, Rexen-san." I stopped and looked at the Pallum. "Loki-sama is the one the ultimately decides if you can join the Familia. Try to make the best impression you can."

I looked at him… and smiled. "Well, if I have to put up a show, I will."

The Pallum nodded seriously, then he recomposed his affable expression for the next candidate. Meanwhile, I got out and… sat down, waiting for my test. In the meantime… meditation.

It took a while for all the applicants to get their interview, but when they were finally over, I opened my eyes and looked at Finn, which had approached me. Even sitting, I was almost as tall as him. "Ready for your test?"

I shrugged. "As much as I can be. Usually, I prepare for a fight beforehand, with equipment specifically brought for the opponent I have in mind. It rarely happened that I jumped into a fight unprepared."

"And what happened when it did?"

"I won regardless. Just with more injuries than I was comfortable with."

Finn nodded. "Good. Being able to improvise is important in the dungeon." The Pallum sent me a dubious gaze. "The more I talk to you, the more you sound like a veteran Adventurer. You certainly have the mentality of one."

"Ah, I have nothing on true veterans. I adventured for a relatively short amount of time. Surely not the… what is it, thirty years that Loki Familia is running?"

"More or less." Nodded Finn, smiling. "C'mon now. I don't have all day."

"Ah, sorry." I said, standing up. "Where are we going?"

"We have some training rooms here in the Twilight Manor." Replied Finn. "I'll take one for your test. I already organized everything."

"Efficient." I remarked.

"You need be to when you become a big Familia."

I acknowledged the truth in that sentence and let him guide me through the manor. After a surprisingly long trip -the Manor was massive- we finally reached a training room, filled with weapons and the like.

"Impressive." I nodded.

"Only the best for Loki Familia." Smiled the Pallum. "Please, take one of the training weapons on the racks. They're blunted, so there is less risk that you wound yourselves too badly."

I nodded. At the level of strength most Adventurers of level 2 or 3 were at, it didn't make any sense to use a wooden weapon: they'll break like twigs and, if they didn't, they would hurt as a metal one. Normal, but blunted weapons, worked well enough. I grabbed a bastard sword from the rack while putting mine on my back. Then I waited until my opponent showed up.

It was a human with black hair and an absolutely anonymous face. I still recognized him. Raul Nord, leader of the Loki Familia's secondary squad.

"Uhm… Finn?"

"Yes?"

"I said that I was confident against Level 2 and Level 3."

"I remember."

"Then why is my opponent Level 4?"

"To better gauge your skills. Fighting against someone stronger than you will force you to push your ability to the max."

I sent him a dubious look, but I relented. "Alright, fine."

"First time fighting a Level 4?" Asked Raul. "Don't worry, I won't go too hard on you."

I remembered he was a pretty nice guy, so I was sort of grateful he considered my health -he probably thought I was a newbie- but I needed to make an impression on Finn, so…

"I appreciate it, but don't underestimate me. I'm tougher than I look."

"If you say so." He said, taking a broadsword.

"Well, some rules. Of course, you're not allowed to kill the opponent, but also avoid serious injuries. Especially you, Raul. You're Level 4 and we don't want to have to heal a potential new member even before he enters, right?"

"Right Captain." Nodded Raul.

"The match finishes when one of you is knocked unconscious, when one surrenders, or when I say so. Aside from that, everything is permitted. Do you best." Not a lot of rules in the end. "Begin!"

Raul rushed me. I could see he was somewhat wary, probably because he wasn't sure how I was going to reply to that. That hesitation cost him the first strike of the fight. As he tried a stab, I moved his blade aside and went for an overhead strike. Raul, of course, saw the attack coming and moved to parry. But I purposely went for an overextended strike, so when our blades met, I was able to slide my guard under his, trapping the sword and violently moving it away.

Then I punched him in the face.

Raul staggered back. On my part, I had forgotten I didn't have reinforced gauntlets. If I had, I could have done some damage. Instead, I felt a sharp pain and my opponent barely even look staggered.

"Dammit." I said, opening and closing my left hand to lessen the pain. "Stupid Level 4 endurance. It's like punching a stone wall."

Raul looked at me, surprised. I notice with a certain satisfaction that he had a bruise on his jaw. He touched the offending area and flinched a little. "I felt that."

"Yeah, me too." My hand was still sore but I could use it. So I returned to grab the handle of my sword with both hands. "Let's continue."

Raul nodded and- holy shit!

I ducked under a swing of his blade, far faster than before. Raul came at me again, still with that stupid speed of his, and I was hard-pressed to find a way to avoid a sharp barrage of strikes. His gaze was focused now, and I didn't have the time to-!

I dodged, but this time he caught me on the shoulder. I managed to roll with the hit and make a little distance between me and him, then, I looked at the damage. The brigandine was torn open by the blade and I was probably going to have a bruise there, but it didn't seem like he had drawn blood.

Ah, shit. I had to try harder. I assumed a more defensive stance and waited for Raul to come at me.

"Hmm… Captain?" Asked Liza, the girl Finn had asked to go and call Raul. "Who is the guy who's facing the leader?"

"A possible new member of the Familia." Replied the Pallum, his eyes magnetized on the fight.

Liza hummed. "He's good."

Yes, he was good. Finn had expected the human to fall under the blows of the Second Group leader in a couple of seconds. While he was pretty sure Rexen didn't lie on his abilities, it was very hard to believe he could take on a Level 2 or even 3. He could believe he was overestimating his abilities because surface monsters were weaker than dungeon one, or because he prepared for the worst of them. That was the reason he had organized this little test.

And here he was, not only not falling under Raul's attacks as he expected, but even countering him. The question was… for how long he could do it?

Apparently for a while, because the fight was protracted and neither one was giving signs of being tired, or being able to finish the encounter quickly. And when Rexen narrowly managed to avoid Raul's sword and was able to graze his face, Finn knew things were getting serious.

"Liza, go and call Riveria and Gareth. Tell them to come here."

The girl blinked and managed to take her eyes from the fight. "Ah, yes sir. Immediately."

Finn didn't even look at her when she left the room. His eyes were locked on Rexen.

By the time Riveria and Gareth arrived, somehow the entire place had heard about the fight and half the Familia was there to look at the show.

"Wooo! Look at the guy! C'mon mysterious stranger! Show us what can you do!" Shouted Tiona.

"Jeez, thanks Tiona!" Replied Raul, taking his eyes from the fight for a fraction of a second.

Almost too long.

The 'mysterious stranger' blade flashed with deadly intent, and Raul was able to avoid the hit to his throat by a hair's breadth. He locked his eyes on his opponent with a grimace.

"Don't get distracted." Warned the man. "Next time I'll hit you."

"Is this what you wanted to show us, Finn?" Asked Riveria. "A fine show, surely. Is he a potential new member of the Family?"

"Yes." Replied Braver. "Tell me: what Level do you think he is?"

"He's keeping up with Raul, so he must be at least Level 4!" Replied Tiona.

"Or a high Level 3." Commented Tione. "Raul is not a very specialized Adventurer. With the right Skills and Development Abilities, he should be able to match him."

"No, you're wrong." Disagreed Gareth. "High Level 2 or low Level 3, depending on his Skills."

The Amazon sisters blinked at the dwarf assessment. "Are you sure, old man?" Asked Tiona.

Gareth nodded. "Look at him fighting. Look at how he never tries to force a direct contest of strength. Look how he's on the defensive and only lands a hit on a counter-attack. He's utterly outclassed in strength and speed."

"Then how can he match Raul?" Asked Tione, confused. "He should be crushed in seconds."

"Pure skill." Replied Finn, his eyes shining. "He's not as fast as Raul, but he doesn't need to be. He can read him like an open book. He's anticipating his moves as they fight."

The Amazon twins looked at the unknown man. "Wow, that's some skill. Overcoming a difference of one or even two Levels on experience alone." Said Tiona. Then she turned toward the blond girl at her side. "Hey Ais, what do you think about it? Does he have a high level of Swordsman?"

Ais Wallenstein didn't answer. She just stared at the fight, her hand gripping the hilt of Desperate with force.

"Ais?" Called Tiona again, waving her hand in front of the blonde girl's face. Ais blinked and looked at her.

"Sorry. I was distracted."

"We saw. So, you think he has Swordsman? What level?"

Ais looked at the fight again. "He's good." She said. "As good as me." She paused for a little. "Maybe better?"

There was a stunned silence for a second. For the Sword Princess to say that…

"What's his name?" Asked Riveria.

"Rexen." Replied Finn.

"It's rare to see such a talent." Commented the elf princess. "From what Familia he comes from?"

"None."

Another stunned silence.

"He's unblessed?" Asked Gareth.

"So he claims." Nodded Finn. "He didn't seem to be lying. And I see very little benefits from doing so. If he is lying, the moment Loki gives him her Falna, we'll know."

"Is that even possible?" Asked Tione. "I can believe him being a master swordsman without Falna, but how did he manage to get this strong? You cannot just train enough to match an Adventurer."

"You can't?" Asked Riveria, a hand on her chin, thinking. "Great heroes of the past were said to do similar feats before the gods descended. Nowadays, with the blessing of the Falna, most people can become strong without having to fight against insurmountable odds. But if he possesses talent as great as the old heroes, it would be possible for him to match an Adventurer. He would probably never reach higher than the second or third Step of Divinity, but I don't think it's impossible. Just very difficult and only for very specific people." She smiled. "Maybe you too would have become as strong as him, even without Falna. Who knows? The blessing of the Gods brings out the potential of the person, after all."

Ulterior speculation was cut short by a loud clang of weapons. Everyone's attention returned to the fight. And the difference between the two opponents was starting to show.

The man called Rexen was slightly worse for wear than Raul. He was just a little more battered, his armor was slightly more torn, and he was breathing just a little harder than his opponent. Still, for someone who was, at the very least, of a lesser Level, it was an impressive display of skill.

But he wasn't done. He raised his weapon and assumed a different stance altogether.

"Well, I didn't want to do this, but I have to make a good impression." He said. "I'd suggest you avoid this… but you cannot avoid the Ephemeral Feint."

Everybody could see Raul's hair stand on top of his head. Then, Rexen moved.

For a second, it looked like the assault was going to do nothing. Raul raised his weapons just right to deflect his opponent's attack. A pretty reckless attack, all things considered, which would have left Rexen vulnerable. But the man didn't seem to care, and Raul remained on guard, expecting some kind of trick. After all, Rexen had just said he was going to use something called 'the Ephemeral Feint'.

The blades connected and, for just a second, it looked like nothing was going to happen. Maybe Rexen had called the name of a non-existing technique to put his opponent on edge and getting away with a reckless attack?

Then, somehow, Rexen's blade slid away from the blade lock and, with the speed of an arrow, slashed Raul's shoulder. Blood erupted and the Level 4 lost the grip on his weapon.

The next second, Rexen had pointed his blade at Raul's throat.

"I surrender." Conceded Raul.

The Loki Familia blinked. What the hell had just happened?

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.3

Happy Easter everyone! Get a chapter to celebrate!

-X-

"Raul!" The unnatural silence that had filled the training area was broken when a Catgirl -I think that's the name of the race- ran toward the injured man. I put my hand inside a purse on my side and materialized a health potion.

"Here, drink this." I said, giving Raul the red potion in my hand. I still had yet to try to use my alchemy knowledge on local products, so I used the reserves I had on me.

"A potion? But-" Raul tried to protest, so I sighed and gave it to the girl… Anikitty? I think that's the name.

"Don't worry. I'll just make another."

Anikitty grabbed the potion and forced Raul to drink it. The wound closed as the liquid got downed.

"Thank you." Said Raul.

"Don't mention it. I wounded you to look good. The least I could do was heal my mess."

As I said that, I was immediately assaulted by Tiona Hy… Tiona. "That was sooo cool! What's your secret?"

"You can ask him after he becomes a member of the Familia." Interrupted Finn. Thank you, man. "Also, I have to apologize to both of you. I was so caught in the fight I forgot to stop it."

"It's alright." Smiled Raul. "It was a good duel. And now we have a clearer idea on how we can position him in our formation."

"Right." Nodded Finn, smiling back. "Now come. We'll have Loki give you the Falna right away."

"Good." I said, following Finn to a room inside the castle.

"It's you Finn?" Asked a voice from inside the room. "Do you have someone else for me?"

"Yes goddess." Answered the Pallum. A series of exciting steps later, a short redhead had opened the door. I immediately got the sensation that I often was described, as the gods had an 'aura' around them that made them unmistakably different. I couldn't describe it, but I knew who I had in front of me.

"Ah, what a shame." Whined the goddess Loki. "I hoped you had another cute girl for me."

"Sorry, goddess. But I think you'll find him very interesting anyway." Grinned Finn.

Loki raised a brow and looked at me. "You look like you just got into a fight."

"I did." I replied. "Can I enter?"

"Yeah, yeah, get inside. Let's end this quickly, I wanna rest." She said, turning toward the bed and leaving the door open. I sent the last nod at Finn and entered, closing the door behind me.

"Sit down and remove that armor." Said the goddess. I quietly obeyed and sat down, giving my back to the Trickster. "My my, what do we have here. Got into a lot of fights, uh?"

I turned to send her a glance. She was looking at my back… did I have that many scars on them? I remembered the two stabs from the Black Brotherhood, but what else?

"I had some intense months." I cautiously replied.

The goddess arched a brow again. "I feel like you're understating a lot here."

Was a god's intuition that good? I didn't even lie! Fortunately, she shrugged. "Well, whatever. Stay still, it will take a while."

Well, I had no idea how much time it would take, so I just looked in the distance, thinking about things I would need to do. I needed to familiarize myself with local materials if I wanted to craft my equipment like I usually did and-

"Whatta hell?" Shouted Loki. I turned to look at the goddess.

"Something's wrong?" I asked. Did my Falna get the fanfiction treatment and showed a Level higher than 1 and a butt load of OP skills and stats?

"You can bet something's wrong." She said, taking a copy of my status before running out. "Finn! Top-executive meeting. Now!"

What the fuck? What was on my Status that made Loki act like that? I turned toward the mirror inside the room, bending to see what was wrong…

Ah. So that was the reason.

-X-

Five minutes later, I was in Finn's office -again- with Riveria, Gareth, and Loki. They had passed my status between them several times already, before giving it to me.

Seeing the information written down more understandably made things look even worse. The sheet of paper had the usual status I saw several times in the anime and manga… with a glaring difference.

It was in Dovahzul, and the symbol of the god over it was not the clown face of Loki. The face has divided in two, one a bearded man with a solemn expression, the other a dragon. The space between the two faces was occupied by an hourglass.

It was not exactly like the one I had seen inside the Temples of the Divine, but I could recognize a symbol of Akatosh when I saw one.

"Care to explain that, Rexen-san?" Asked Finn.

I sighed and put the sheet away for later. "It's the symbol of Akatosh, Dragon God of Time." I confessed. Lying was useless anyway. "And please, just call me Rexen."

The executives of Loki blinked. "A dragon god?" Asked Riveria, looking at Loki. "I've never heard of him."

"You never will." Said Loki. "There isn't a god named like that. But he's not lying. He really believes this… Akatosh exists." The goddess had her eyes open right now. Bad sign. "So, how is all of this possible? A god that doesn't exist gave you a Falna. A Falna written in a language I can't understand… aside for the values, which are the ones of a newbie Adventurer." She tapped her chin. "You have an explanation?"

I thought for a second about how to put it. Since Loki could sense an obvious lie, I just needed to be truthful but vague. "Maybe. The legends about Akatosh speak of him as a primordial deity that gave away much of his power to shape the world. Of course, it's not true…" Here, at least. "… but Akatosh exists. We have historical documents that tell us he helped a normal man defeat an otherwise invincible monster. By transforming him into a golden dragon."

"A god could do that." Admitted Loki. "But he would be using his Arcanum to do so, and so he would have been sent to Tenkai, and you would have lost his Falna."

"But what if Akatosh was not a god, but a spirit?" I asked. "Would it be possible for a spirit to do something like that?"

Loki's eyes widened a bit, then closed. "Difficult to say. Spirits are not all equal. I suppose he could… what magic does Akatosh possess?"

"He's called the father of dragons and the creator of time, but those are just titles. His most well known powers are associated with kingship and protecting civilization from monsters." I answered. Loki stroke her chin.

"Hmmm… seems like a good base for a spirit to change a human into an avatar of himself to defeat a powerful monster. What happened to the man who got his power?"

"He died. The power consumed him."

The executives flinched at that. Loki just nodded. "Well, that's what I would expect. He sounds like one of Cronus' spirits. A powerful spirit, posing or just mistakenly assumed to be a god… you must come from a place where real gods are pretty rare."

I shrugged. "I don't exactly come from a vacation spot."

"That doesn't explain why you have his symbol on your back, instead of ours." Said Gareth, interrupting the discussion.

I sighed. "Where I'm from, I was called Dragonborn. Supposedly, I've been blessed by Akatosh to hunt dragons. Specifically, by receiving a dragon soul, a piece of Akatosh's own divine soul, to become their equal and then killing them using their own power."

"That sounds really far-fetched. Or taken straight from a fairy tale." Commented Finn. I shrugged. Couldn't blame him.

"However, we have no idea on what form a spirit blessing would take on a Falna." Said Riveria, thoughtfully. "I would expect a unique Skill or Magic, but if the Spirit had a particularly strong bond with the person…"

"That's all very fascinating." Interrupted Gareth again. "But while I'm sure Rexen, you, and Loki could spend hours discussing how this is possible, we have another problem. The boy has a Falna that's not the one of the Familia."

The implication was clear. If I was not of the Familia, I couldn't just stay there and hang out with other members. Or go to the Dungeon with them.

"True." Nodded Finn. "I will not blame this on you, Rexen, since all of this seems to be an accident, but the problem is that you do have another Falna. Loki-sama, can you change it?"

The redhead snorted. "No, I cannot. It's open to see, but it's otherwise locked. I cannot change it until this Akatosh unlocks it."

Finn sighed. He looked genuinely displeased. "A shame. I'm afraid that this closes the issue. You'll have to leave Twilight Manor, Rexen."

I sighed too. The entire matter just made things more difficult for me.

"Let's not be hasty." Intervened Riveria. "Maybe Lady Loki cannot change the Falna because it's relatively new. When did this supposed blessing happen?"

I scratched my growing beard, thinking. "Depending on who you ask, it could have happened when I was born, or later. I don't think I had this blessing from birth, so it must have happened the first time the dragons appeared in the region… seven months ago."

Riveria nodded. "So it is possible that your Falna is locked only for the next five months."

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"Even if that is the case, we cannot take him until that time." Commented Gareth. "And with the Falna locked, he can't become stronger."

That was true. However… I had the sensation that there was a method to manipulate the Falna. If Akatosh, from my dragon soul, was able to hijack the Falna, he must have left a way to modify it. He had been pretty helpful until now.

But those were considerations -and experimentations- for later.

"While true, I still wish to go with you to the Deep Floors." I said, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. "I can still be pretty useful. You can, like, hire me as extra muscle and pay me with stones."

Finn leaned on his chair, thinking. "Well, it's true. It would also be a way to familiarize you with the rest of the Familia while time passes, hoping this Akatosh either frees your Falna or the year passes. But we would have to justify your presence to other members. There are plenty of other adventurers around. Why should we take you?"

Hmmm… good question. Fortunately, I had the answer. I raised my hand… and released my magic.

"What?" Asked Riveria, as tendrils of amber energy flowed though my armor, slowly closing the tears created during the spar. After a couple of seconds, the brigandine I had on me was as good as new.

"I'm a mage." I said. "I can be very useful during an expedition, even if I'm not as powerful as others."

Finn sent me a strange look. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

I shrugged. "Would you believe a human without Falna could be a mage?"

Finn nodded, conceding the point.

Riveria took the floor. "What kind of magic do you possess?" She asked. "We have plenty of supporting mages."

"Not like me." I replied, smirking. "My magic is based on pure manipulation of magicka -or mana, or Mind, call it what you like-, shaping it with pure willpower in the form and effect I want. It's… something of a laborious process, and it takes time, but it lets me create a vast number of effects." I created various spells in my hand, from illusions to fireballs to telekinesis, to showcase the versatility of my power. "Or, to say it in a simple way, my magic lets me create more magic."

Riveria blinked several times, as the enormity of what I said settled. The other two executives looked at each other. Loki was grinning like a maniac.

"A Magic to create more magic." Said Riveria. "It has basically unlimited potential."

"Something like that." I nodded.

"How is that possible? You're a human. You cannot-" She stopped herself. "Ah, right, I forgot. Spirits."

"Actually, I have a very distant elven ancestry." I said. "We kind of… married between half-elves and humans for a long time, so it doesn't show, but I know of others that have pointed ears even if they look otherwise human."

Riveria arched a brow. "That's a very strange ancestry."

"Not stranger than everything else about him." Grinned Loki. "Well, I like the idea. Sound fun."

"Hmmm… It's tempting." Admitted Finn. "With such versatility, you can cover a vast amount of roles… or function as a hidden card to fill whatever spot we need. What kind of powers do you possess right now?"

"A lot… but I don't know what they can do exactly. With the extra power granted by the Falna, I could be capable of doing things I couldn't before." Riveria nodded.

"He also has to familiarize himself with the Dungeon." Noted Gareth, before looking at me. "You're strong, but monsters outside the Dungeon are not the same thing as the ones inside, not to mention that the Dungeon seems to have a mind of his own. I don't think you've had to fight a creature capable of generating new opponents as time went on, at least not one you couldn't reach and kill quickly. You have to understand the rhythm of the Dungeon before you can come with us to the Deep Floors, or you could get caught off-guard… and in the Dungeon, that means death."

Other good points. And so it just left Finn concluding with…

"Normally we'd let you familiarize yourself with the Dungeon by sending you to support a squad of veterans, but we cannot do that." Called it. "However… if you venture inside the Dungeon by yourself, there would be no issue. And, if you meet members of the Familia inside the dungeon, nothing will stop you from joining them… if they want."

"But you cannot just tell them to come with me or that I'll accompany them." I finished. "I think we can reach a compromise, then. I can venture inside the Dungeon on my own, until I'm familiar with it… would reaching Rivira be considered enough to join one of your expeditions?"

Finn hummed. "Seems a good compromise. Take it easy: we aren't planning an expedition for at least a couple of months. We have to be prepared and gather resources before we can go to the deep floors."

I nodded. Considering I just dueled a Level 4, I didn't think it would take me that much time to familiarize myself with the Upper Floors… but maybe I would need a little help. "Alright then." I said, standing. "Sirs, ladies, it has been a pleasure. Now, I will start to plan the best way to not get horribly killed inside the Dungeon. With your permission."

"See ya, kid!" Waved Loki, still grinning.

"Be cautious, lad. The Dungeon is unpredictable."

"I'll wait to see what your magic can do."

"We'll be waiting for you."

I waved at the executives and got out of Twilight Manor. I used a little magic to not be noticed. I didn't want to explain why I was leaving.

Later, inside the room I had rented, I took out the sheet with my Status and took a good look at it. My first glance at it had been pretty much magnetized by the clear Akatosh symbol and the fact that the entire thing was in Dovahzul, but now I could read it a little more calmly. Let's see what it said.

Uh… strange. My name was written as Mal Frahkey Kaul… which translates, more or less, like Little Illustrious Ox. Why should there be such a strange-

Wait a second. Ox, ox… my surname was an old pronunciation -not that old, like, it was still used in prose- of ox. So, if the last word was for my surname… the other two were my true name?

I remained there looking at my name for a couple of seconds before reading the rest.

Name: Mal Frahkei Kalul

Alias:

Race: Human(?)

Level 1

Strength: I0

Defense: I0

Dexterity: I0

Agility: I0

Magic: I0

Magic:

Aetherium Arcanum. Variable-length magic. Increases the effect of other magic.

Variable Chant

Skills

Adamantine Dragonblood: Increases Magic. Grants Magic Resistance and Spirit Healing Development Abilities. Increases status against dragon-type enemies.

Plunderer: Steals power from defeated enemies and increases the chance of finding materials.

Blessing of the Stars: Increases the efficacy of all learned skills. The efficacy scales with level.

Development Abilities:

Magic Resistance I

Spirit Healing I

Alright, I was broken as fuck.

Jesus… what was this shit? Adamantine Dragonblood was like three other Skills combined, and the fact that it granted me Development Abilities right off the bat was insane. And that's not counting that it didn't say 'increases damage' against dragons, but 'increases status', which probably meant every aspect of the Falna.

Plunderer was a little unclear -what the hell did it mean with 'steal the power of defeated enemies'?- but it smelled like a growth booster to me. Maybe not the 'multiply EXP by X', but surely something like that. It also apparently increased the chance of rare drops.

Blessing of the Stars was probably there to symbolize my ability to learn everything at a ridiculous speed… so it was like 'Development Ability: Yes?' or something? I had no fucking clue.

A couple of points made me confused. Like, what the hell was 'Human(?)', and why exactly my only magic didn't have a chant but a stupid 'Variable chant' note? What is meant with variable-length? It said it was a boost to my other spells, but I was pretty sure Falna was supposed to enhance the magic you already possessed… or maybe not, maybe I'm misremembering. If so, was it the Falna throwing its hands up in resignation and giving me something new? Or maybe it was an improvement on my normal magic? But if that was the case, how was I supposed to use it?

Urgh… too many things at once. Maybe I should just take the day off to understand what I just gained. Starting with my spell. Plunderer confused me but it was a passive effect, it wasn't like I could do something about it. That spell though… could make the difference between life and death. Better start as soon as possible.

Last edited: Apr 4, 2021

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.4

"Hi Lili." I said.

Liliruca Arde jolted away as if she had just heard a ghost. Which was fair, since I just ambushed her right outside of her home using Clairvoyance.

"Mister!" She shouted. "Don't scare Lili like that!"

I snorted, amused by her reaction. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to get to you before someone else did."

The girl bent her head to the side, confused. Then her eyes widened in realization. "Ah, so Mister's interview with Loki Familia didn't go well."

"Well, it's more complicated than that." I admitted. "I'll explain while we go to the Dungeon. Are you willing to show me the place?"

Lili's eyes dulled. "Sure. What percentage-"

"Thirty percent of all the magic stones, plus one thousand valis per floor we reach."

Ka-ching! "Lili would love to help Mister!"

I chuckled. "Your true nature is showing, Lili."

"It's fine, Mister doesn't mind. Right?"

"Not really. I made some research yesterday, so… yeah. I get where you come from."

Lili froze. "Lili doesn't understand."

"Soma Familia." I said. "How much of what I paid you got stolen by your 'Familia'?"

Lili didn't answer for a while. "Not much. Lili has a hidden place where she keeps the money."

"Hmmm. You should leave that Familia. It's not good for you."

Lili looked down. "Lili knows. Lili is planning to… but Lili cannot right now."

I nodded. "Seems like we both have problems, uh? Well, if you want, you can tell me while we get into the Dungeon."

Lili nodded, and we went to Babel.

In the end, Lili didn't tell me everything. On my part, I explained my situation to her.

"So Mister was left with a locked Falna by his god, and now he cannot join another Familia." She summed up. I had left behind details like who Akatosh was, but that was not necessary to understand the situation.

"Yeah." I said, taking a piece of bread. "I managed to convince the executives of Loki Familia to let me join one of their Deep Floor expedition, but I need to reach Riviria before that."

"Reaching Riviria alone is difficult, even for someone of Mister's skill." Nodded Lili. "So that's why you asked Lili to accompany you."

"I need someone that knows the Upper Levels of the Dungeon well enough." I said. "I could explore them on my own, I don't fear the monsters, but it will take me too much time."

Lili looked at the place we were. Namely, the foggy plains of the 10th Floor, a meager two floors away from the Middle Floors. "Lili understands."

"Great. Now, I think it's better if we return to the surface."

Lili blinked, surprised. "But Mister doesn't look tired."

"I'm not." I admitted. "But I fear the numbers of monsters on the lower floors. They may not be a danger to me, but they could be too much to deal with while making sure my guide is safe."

Considering how I completely demolished a herd of minotaurs the first time I got inside the Dungeon, and I was stronger now, I doubted anything up to the Goliath was going to be a problem. Maybe the giant tigers on the Middle Floors, they counted as Level 3 monsters if I remembered right, could pose a problem in packs, but everything else was going to be a walk in the park.

But while I could defend myself, I doubted Lili was going to do the same. I needed at least another member before going to the Middle Floors.

"Besides, I have some testing to do with my new magic." I continued.

It took all of the previous day to understand what the hell Aetherium Arcanum did, but in the end, and using a lot of spells, I got a vague idea. Aetherium Arcanum was a spell that, depending on the chant I used and its length, would empower the next spell I launched. From what I gathered, it went from ultra-short, where I could just shout the name of the spell I wanted to use, like 'Fireball' to ultra-long chants with several verses that increased the effects of the spell dramatically. The consumption of magical power was, of course, proportionate to the length of the chant.

As an added bonus, it also lets me do things I usually couldn't do, like using uncommon elements for my spells. Or, to be more precise, it allowed me to manipulate things that I could not before thanks to their constricting cost of magicka, like pure darkness, gravity, and similar things. Also, when I tried to combine it with Conjuration, it let me create, not summon, a spirit. Not a Danmachi Spirit, just a little ball of elemental essence with basic programming. Essentially, an elemental golem, which while not impossible to create using my normal magic, obviously was not as easy.

But today I wanted to test something else… if I could summon things from Nirn. Technically Oblivion was in another reality, so no, but if I could…

"Lili understands." Said Liliruca. "Testing magic inside the Dungeon is usually the best way to understand them, but Mister is not so simple."

I smiled. "True. The spell is… complicated. I'll explain the next time. I also think to find a third member before we go to the Middle Floors. What do you think?"

Lili hummed. "Numbers are the biggest problem in the Middle Floors. Skill and power can only go so far, especially since Mister is much stronger than Lili. I think someone else, either a Level 1 or 2, would help. Does Mister have someone in mind already?"

"Yes."

"Good. Lili is sure Mister has chosen someone trustworthy."

I sent her a dubious look. She was probably thinking I was a fool. She hated adventurers, and even if I thought I had done her good until now, by being… well, maybe not extremely nice, but professional and fair, it didn't mean she trusted me. At all.

"Well, let's go then." I said, standing up. "It's a long way out and there will be monsters."

Lili nodded, fixed her backpack, and we got out.

-X-

When I finally got inside my room again, I was ready for the final try. The only thing I had not tried until now. Conjuration: summoning things from Nirn.

I decided to go for a Daedrat for this. Deadrat were little daedra vermin similar to rats, as the name indicated, and were basically the easiest daedra to summon. I could try to call Fenrir or Sleipnir, but I had no idea not only if I could call them, but also, even if calling them was feasible, that they had the power to reach me. It was far better to summon a deadra on my own power. Even if I didn't have enough magicka to summon it, who cared about a demonic rat being lost inside the Void? I surely didn't.

So I tried. Just for science, I used the normal amount of magicka required to summon a Daedrat, to see if it had any effect. After all, Conjuration was supposed to be the school of magic that dealt with reaching things outside reality. Maybe it was easier than I thought.

I cast the spell… and a Deadrat materialized inside my room.

I looked at the demon for a second, unable to fully process what just happened. I… just summoned a demon from another reality? How? How was that possible? Reaching this place had required an untold amount of energy, a spell to be sure whatever there was inside the Void couldn't infect me, and another to fix the time and place I was supposed to arrive straight… how had a simple Conjuration spell breached the barrier and let the thing come here?

I dismissed the little rat and focused. Since I knew that my usual Conjurations worked… maybe I could use them to summon things from even other realities? Maybe some demon from Dungeons and Dragons? Danmachi existed, why Dungeons and Dragons couldn't?

I tried. I couldn't find anything. So, I started to scan the surrounding, trying to find why my spell had worked… and I found something. A breach. Little, too little to let anything too powerful from crossing it… but it was there. A breach in space and time, where deadra could slip when I used a Conjuration spell.

And if they could…

I rose on my feet and opened a portal, walking inside it… and finding myself at the Dragon's Refuge.

The place had changed since I was there last time, less than a week ago. The cities of the natives were starting to get noticed in the distance, and the city under the mountain where my mansion was had started to climb the cliffs, erecting fortifications.

More importantly, there was a metal structure on top of my mansion that contained a gigantic, transparent crystal. It was one of the things I got from the book of Mora: information, incomplete as they were, on Welkind Stones and how they worked. Using that knowledge, I was able to piece together a ritual that could create something similar, using normal gemstones and giving them the ability to absorb light which could, then, be converted into magicka. The entire thing was absolutely not on par with the real Stones, but it was an infinitely rechargeable source of power. Mostly to power other, similar gems with various effects. It was one of the knowledge I left to the shadows.

I was… beyond impressed. Did they manage to create one in that little time? Sure, there were four Dragon Priests here, but the ritual required near-constant enchantment of the gem in question, eight hours under the light of the sun and eight under the light of the moon and the stars, for a number of days directly related to the size of the gem. Even I couldn't escape that requirement. How did they manage to get it so fast?

"Master." Called the mental voice of Vahlok, floating out of the mansion with Otar and Ahzidal behind him. "You have returned."

I smiled. "Yeah… I did. C'mon, let's get inside. I want to know what you have done while I was away."

They sent a mental nod and entered inside.

We had a long chat about what the other Priests were doing. Apparently, after having uplifted the natives from Stone-Age to something resembling a civilization -even if they still used monster parts for weapons, because apparently some were very durable and had strange properties- the Priest had started to experiment with their powers and the local fauna. Apparently, the Creatia of the place was contained inside the blood of the monsters of the territory. The stronger the monster, the higher the quality and quantity. After that, they had taught the locals -who had called themselves Akyin, in a strange mix of Aka, the ancient word for dragon, and Kyn, the deadric word for people- how to synthesize the Creatia -which they called Dragonblood- and how to shape it, giving the Akyn the ability to further refine it in several other materials, to compensate the lack of esoteric metals in the Refuge. They called the purest metal they could create from it Dragonsteel, which, by what the Priests told me, was basically daedric metal: heavy, difficult to work, capable of holding powerful enchantments, and extremely durable.

There were other materials that could be obtained using the Dragonblood, like Dragonstone and Dragonglass, durable yet light variants of Dragonsteel created by infusing stone and glass with the Dragonblodd, but as such, not able to hold magic that well. They were working on a solution to that, though.

Meanwhile, the four Priests remaining at the mansion had pieced the secrets I left them and had produced the first Pure Dragoncrystal, which was capable of recharging magical items and magika by absorbing light. Other types of Dragoncrystals had various uses, which they were still experimenting with.

I needed to tell them to encourage the locals to not call everything dragon-something. A little variation wouldn't hurt.

When I asked why there were just three of them here, Vahlok told me that Hevnoraak had managed to rein in his madness and so he has become their point of contact with the other Dragon Priests. I was not exactly happy about it, but I trusted Vahlok's judgment.

All in all, saying that I was impressed was an understatement. I was beyond impressed.

"That's more than I could ever hope for. Excellent work, everyone."

"Thank you, master. We couldn't have done this without the knowledge you gave us."

I snorted. "Maybe, maybe not. Surely you surpassed me though." The Priests looked at each other. "Look at the crystal you have created. How did you manage to create that crystal in six days? It would take me two weeks to make one of that size."

The Priests looked at each other again, and this time I perceived their confusion. "Master, it took us an entire month to enchant the crystal." Said Ahzidal. "To not speak about the time required to create one of that size from pure Creatia."

I remained silent. "But… how? It has not been even a week since I left Nirn."

"Master, how much time has passed since you discovered the Refuge and brought Morokei here?" Asked Otar.

I blinked at the question. "Uh… more than one month, for sure. But not much more. It must be two months, at most."

"It has been almost two years since Morokei arrived here." Said Vahlok. "The Akyn celebrate the day as King's Day. It's the day where they came into existence."

I rapidly made some calculations in my head. "But that would mean that every hour I spend outside this place is a day here. If that was the case, then the hours I spent inside this place would be seconds on Nirn, and that's not what happened: when I got inside during the day and got out during the night, it was night on Nirn. I'm also a Dragonborn, I can tell when time has been distorted in some way."

"Maybe your presence here makes the time here and on Nirn synchronize." Hypothesized Vahlok. "If it's because you're a Dovah, or for other reasons, I don't know."

Hmmm… well, no convenient time trick for me to abuse, then. Or rather, I could, but only to make the Priests gather resources for me. Which, to be fair, could be pretty useful. Who needed to worry about money anymore?

I also briefly entertained the idea to use the Dragon's Refuge to gather the magic necessary to travel to another universe. It would be pretty easy, after all. I just needed to ask the Priests here to create a circle like the one I used, then place some enough of those crystals to power up the spell, and boom, gone.

The problem was that the spell I used to fix the destination was telling me that, by returning to the Dragon's Refuge, I had gone back. And that meant that I would probably need even more power to go to the next universe… and then need even more power the further away I went. If my calculation were correct, it didn't exactly duplicate the power required every time, since I had already opened a passage, but it was still a pretty big increase. Plus, I feared that traveling from the Dragon's Refuge would have destroyed whatever protection it had from the Princes of Oblivion, or even widened the breach enough to let big things pass from one universe to the other. No, better to accumulate the magic in Danmachi and use the Refuge only if the next universe I dropped inside didn't leave me any possible alternative.

It was also better because I could become stronger. I didn't think I would need to do that again, but if I arrived on a lower Floor, I was not that sure I would have come out of it alive. And dying was absolutely out of question. Not before returning home.

And if the next universe I visited was not mine, things could get ugly. What happened if I was teleported, I dunno, to Dragonball while one of the villains was around killing everything? My magic was good, but it was not 'survive planetary explosion' good.

Of course, that required unlocking my Falna in some capacity, or updating it myself, and it was not like I could survive in Dragonball no matter how strong I became by Danmachi standards, but… little steps. I had an idea on how to unlock my Falna anyway, but I will need time.

And someone else to be part of my group. The Upper Floors were absolutely useless in terms of experience… for me anyway. Well, I had enough time today. I could visit the person in question…

But I would not.

After all that happened in the last months, I wanted to relax a little. Sure, I also wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but I didn't have the threat of a giant black dragon waiting to kill me. I could take it easy. Reaching Riviria was going to be a matter of a couple of weeks if that -I should probably see if I could fight the Goliath on my own- so there was no reason to rush things. I had all the time in the world. I had been missing for months, I could take a little more time… also because, technically speaking, the spell was aimed more or less at the time period I disappeared. It shouldn't take me too far into the future. Now that I knew that travel was possible, and all I needed was to gather magical juice for the next time, I could afford to spend more time chilling.

Of course, that didn't mean I wouldn't go soon. I would. Just not today. Today I wanted to relax, maybe go to the Hostess of Fertility, order a giant meal full of meat, and maybe invite Lili… because the poor girl needed to learn to relax too. So, I said goodbye to my shadows and returned to my apartment room in Orario. A room that I was going to leave at this point, since I could just return to my mansion in the Refuge.

Unfortunately, while I was going to find Lili and invite her to the Hostess of Fertility, I was approached by someone I didn't expect.

Ais Wallenstein, looking at me with a slight frown on her face.

"… Found you."

"The Sword Princess was looking for me? I'm honored." I said, with a little smile. "What can I do to help you?"

She put her hand on her sword. Uh… that was bad. "Fight me."

What the fuck? What the hell was in the head of this girl? This was Ais pre-Bell alright.

Anyway. "Alright."

Ais blinked, like she didn't expect me to agree. "Really?"

"Sure. But not now."

"Why?" She asked, the frown returning.

"Well, first off, we are in the middle of the city and I'm pretty sure fighting here is both illegal and dangerous. Fights between Adventurers tend to get destructive."

The girl's face assumed a slightly embarrassed expression. She probably forgot.

"Second, I'm not in the mood right now. I want to relax for today, and later, celebrate my first day in the Dungeon. We can think of a time and place to fight another time."

Ais seemed to mull over my answer for a second. Then, slowly, she removed the hand from her weapon. "Alright."

"Good. Do you want to come? The Hostess of Fertility is pretty good, and I have money for an extra person."

Again, Ais seemed to think about it. Finally, she shook her head. "It would be inappropriate."

I nodded. "Yeah, probably. Well, see you, Sword Princess."

I made to pass at her side when she moved her head to look at me. "You're not going to ask why I want to fight you?"

"I already know." I said. "You feel the dragon soul inside me, don't you?"

Her eyes widened slightly. Bullseye. After all, Avenger activated especially against dragons, so it made sense that she could feel my dragon nature.

I patted her shoulder. "Relax. I'm not a monster or anything like that. I just got a peculiar Skill. I count as a dragon for some reason."

She didn't seem to be able to say anything. Or she was just apathetic. So she nodded.

"And now that this is resolved, I have dinner waiting for me. Goodbye, Ais."

"Goodbye." She murmured, before walking away.

I shook my head. Strange girl, Ais. I would like to help her too… but I doubted I could have the effect Bell had on her. I was not a pure, innocent soul.

Ah, well. Everything was going to be fine. Just to be sure, though, I was going to focus a little on the Shehai Shen She Ru.

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.5

After the dinner -Lili had looked confused, but accepted it anyway- and a good night of rest, I took the morning to visit the other member of the group. Normally, finding him would have least posed a challenge… but not in my case.

Thank you, Clairvoyance.

I knocked a couple of times at the forge where my target was working. Since I didn't hear any noise from inside, I supposed he had not started working yet, so he should have heard me.

As expected, the door opened and I found myself in front of Welf Crozzo, in all his glory. If by 'glory' you mean wearing an old smith apron and with a bandana on his head for reasons I couldn't discern.

"Uh… hello? Who are you?"

"My name is Rexen. Just Rexen, no suffix needed. You must be Welf Crozzo." I extended my hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

I saw something flash in his eyes, probably expecting I was there for magic swords. But the flash passed, he smiled and grabbed my hand. He had some mercantile instinct, after all. "Pleasure is mine. How can I help you?"

"Can I come inside? I'll prefer to not talk at the door."

"Of course. Just pay attention to where you walk. My forge can be a little… messy."

I nodded and entered inside. After a brief glance, I grabbed something that could sustain my weight and sat down in front of Welf's anvil. He sat on the other side, still smiling.

"So, are you here too for some equipment? Your gear seems a little old."

I thought about it for a second. I could need something better than what I had right now… but probably not now. Not until the sword I used started to be completely useless in piercing monster skin.

"Well, yes and no." I admitted. "My gear will need an upgrade soon, but I'm not here for that. I'm here because I want lessons."

Welf blinked, confused. "Lessons?"

"I'm a smith of a sort, but I'm unfamiliar with the materials from the dungeon." I said. "So, I thought that, before I reach deep enough to get some decent loot, it was better to know how to work the materials I'll find."

"And you come here to ask for lessons?" Asked Welf. "I'm only Level 1. There are a lot of high-Level smiths that know how to work Dungeon's materials better than I do."

"Of course, but how many will be willing to teach someone that's not a member of their Familia?" I asked.

"You're assuming I'm willing to do it." Pointed out Welf.

"I'm assuming I have a pretty good offer for you." I grinned. "I know about the Crozzo, Welf. I also know you refuse to create magical swords. I will not judge you for that, I hate to create things that are going to be destroyed too. It is a waste of your talent, but I get it. But… what if I tell you it is possible to make magical swords that are not destroyed on use?"

Welf looked at me with naked disbelief. "That's impossible."

"Is it?" I asked, before taking the weapon I had strapped behind my back and putting it on the anvil. "Then what is this?"

Welfs eyes fell on the weapon in question, a deadric claymore, one of the many weapons I kept in my mansion inside the Refuge and didn't sell because, by the time I had them, money had long stopped being a problem. Immediately, his eyes become as big as saucers. "What…?"

"You can feel it, right? The magic of the sword." I said. It was just a basic fire enchantment, nothing impressive. Still, for someone like Welf, it must have looked like an impossible weapon.

"How?" Asked Welf. "It's different from any weapon I have ever seen. And… what material is that?"

"Well, it is possible because this weapon is made differently." I said. "The magic has been infused after the sword has been created, and not during the process. It's just a hypothesis, because I cannot create Magic Swords, but I suppose that the reason your weapons shatter after too many uses is that the magical power soaks the weapon, and without it, the entire thing is unstable."

Welf frowned. "Makes sense… but then, what powers the magic of this weapon?"

"The magical power you put inside it when you create the enchantment." I replied. "Of course, without a way to recharge it, the enchantment will lose power at some point. But even with the enchantment down, it's still a sword. It can cut and stab as well as before."

I could see Welf eyes shining before another frown settled on his face. "If what you say is true, then the power it can output cannot be that high. I can sense that this weapon contains fire magic… but what can it do?"

"This one? Nothing special. When the blade hits something, it ignites for a second, burning the target. That's, of course, the least you can do with a weapon of this kind."

"How many hits before the enchantment wears off?"

"Depends on the skill of the creator, but usually twenty or so hits."

"You talked about recharging the enchantment. Is it really possible? And what happens if you don't recharge it before it wears off?"

"Well, you can recharge it alright. You usually need a font of magical power. I usually use a very specific ritual using a special gem: I have to test to see if I can adapt it to magic stones from the Dungeon. If it works, you could technically use the magic stones to wave the enchantment even if you don't have magic. You can also use ambient magical power, but that's way harder and less efficient."

Welf nodded, focused.

"As to what happens if you don't recharge the enchantment before it wears off… nothing. The enchantment's still there. It just won't work until you recharge it."

Welf eyes' sparkled again… so I dropped the last bomb.

"That's, of course, the method used on this weapon. There is another. It's less efficient, but it lets one use his own Mind to fuel the enchantment. That way, even if you don't have combat magic, you can still create magical attacks. The power depends on the strength of the user, of course, but there is no risk of it disappearing. And that's normally. With your ability to create powerful Magic Swords… I wonder if these enchantments will be enhanced too."

Welf thought about the offer for a couple of seconds. "Alright." He finally answered. "But I have a request."

"What kind of request?" I asked, already imagining it.

"I want you to form a party." As expected. "I've only reached the tenth floor and I'm stuck. I want to reach Level 2 so I can finally gain the Blacksmith Ability."

I didn't have to think about it. "Deal."

Welf blinked. "Uh… that easy?"

"Yes. I was just searching for another member of my party anyway, and if you get Blacksmith, you are going to be more able to work on the materials of the Dungeon, so it's a win-win for me."

"But… wouldn't your Familia protest, taking members of other Familias with you?"

"I could say the same about you, asking members of other Familias to let you join a party. But no, my Familia doesn't mind. It's an interesting story…"

-X-

Next day, next adventure. I and Welf were waiting in front of Babylon for Lili to join us.

"Man, I still have trouble believing what you said. Gods putting Falna on people without them knowing… that's some twisted humor."

"Well, I needed extra power at the time. Just because I couldn't improve my Status doesn't mean I didn't become stronger. And considering that I got a Skill to deal with dragons, I say it helped a lot."

"He should have left it open then. Or at least warn you before you arrived there."

I shrugged. "It's not like I told him I was leaving, so I suppose it's my fault too."

Welf snorted, and the conversation died for the next two minutes when Lili reached us.

"Mister!" Greeted me, Lili, before she turned toward Welf. "And you must be the other member of the party. I'm Liliruca Arde, but you can call me Lili."

"Pleased to meet you, Lil'E."

Lili maintained a carefully neutral expression on her face. I already knew she was not going to be happy, but she had to suck it up.

"Well, since we're here, I'll have to put down some rules… or change them, for the ones that already knew them." The other two straightened up. "First of all, our objective is reaching the lowest Floors we can manage. So, if you feel you're not up to the challenge, say so and we will stop. I don't want anyone dying. Is that clear?"

They nodded.

"Good. Lili, Welf here will be in charge of maintaining our weapons while we are down. He also is here to get to Level 2 and gain the Blacksmith Skill, so we'll have to get a little crazy sometimes. As part of our contract, every dropped item that can be used for smiting will go to him. And I mean any material."

Welf blinked, confused. Lili, on her part, tried very hard to look innocent. It's useless, I know you put some materials in your pocket when you thought I wasn't looking. I didn't need them before, so I let it pass, but I do now. Don't force me to take it back, Lili.

"Also, since we're going to get in places that are very difficult for Level 1, I'm going to increase your pay, Lili. One thousand Valis per Upper Floor reached, and five thousand for every Middle Floor we reach."

Ka-ching. "Lili is very grateful for Mister's generosity!"

"Holy hell man, you're going to drown her in money." Exclaimed Welf, while Lili gave him stinky eyes. "Are you sure you want to pay her that much? You're not going to have anything for you."

I sent Welf a smirk. "Welf, you've seen the equipment I can take out if I need. You really believe money is a problem for me?"

The blacksmith blinked again. "Uh, good point. I suppose you're not descending inside the dungeon for the money, are you?"

"Of course not. Ah, Welf, keep an eye on Lili while we're down. I'll try to deal with every monster that comes at her, but two heads are better than one."

Welf smiled. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on Lil'E."

More stinky eyes from Lili. I just smiled. "Good. C'mon now, we need to reach at least the twelfth Floor today."

And we did. It took some time because there were just the three of us and there were a lot of monsters, but we reached the 12 Floor relatively early, and so we 'camped' near the entrance of the thirteenth Floor.

"Lili doesn't think it's a good idea to go to the thirteenth Floor yet." Lili protested when both Welf and I expressed the desire to continue. "We're not prepared for the Middle Floors."

"Do we need to be prepared for them?" Asked Welf. "Our boss here just tore through everything on the path like it was paper." He paused, turning toward me. "You know, you didn't tell me what Level you are."

"Level 1." I replied.

Welf frowned. "Right, because you god didn't update your Status. But… how are you so strong if you're just Level 1 and with the same Status as a noobie adventurer?"

"I killed dragons until I became good at it."

There was silence for a second before Lili emitted a clearly false laugh. "Mister's sense of humor is good as always."

"I'm not joking." I replied. "I have a Skill to deal with dragons, but the rest is pure training."

"If you're so experienced, Leveling Up should be easy for you." Noted Welf. "I heard that Braver spent four years training with monks, and he became Level 6 in very little time."

I nodded. "I heard that as well. Unfortunately, without my god, it's impossible for me to Level Up."

Welf sighed. "I continue to forget about it. Man, you have it rough."

I shrugged. "Not really a problem. If I'm strong enough to get to the Lower Floors, it will be enough for my objective."

"What requires you to get into the Lower Floors? Some rare material?" Asked Welf.

I was going to answer when Lili stopped us. "Mister Welf shouldn't ask too many questions to Mister. And Mister shouldn't encourage him either! As strong as Mister is, the monsters of the Middle Floors are different. And more numerous! We should prepare better. We need better protective gear and better weapons. Mister's sword is barely keeping pace!"

Welf scratched his head. "Well, that's true. It's a good sword, but it's too light for the strength you're using. You need either a bigger sword, or one made of better materials. I'm sure you have better ones."

I smirked. "I do, but I don't want to use them right now. Maybe when we are on lower Floors. And if you're worried about my sword breaking." I waved my hand, before closing it on the hilt of a freshly conjured sword. "I always have this as backup."

Welfs eyes bulged out. "A… sword made of magic?"

"Something like that." I smiled… before I caught something at the edge of my senses.

"Mister?" Asked Lili, recognizing the signs.

"I think we have company." I said, looking around. It was difficult to see anything in the fog… so I used non-visual senses. And I heard it. Something big, moving toward us.

"Big monster." I narrowed my eyes, focusing. "Quadrupedal, by the sound of his steps. And… with a tail, I think. Probably a big lizard."

Lili paled. "It must be an Infant Dragon! We must get away. It's classified as a Level 2 monster."

"I agree." Nodded Welf. "We're not ready for an Infant Dragon. Their body emits so much heat to boil low-Level adventurers inside their armor."

I stood. "That's a good idea. Hide, you two." I took my sword. "I'll deal with it."

Lili was not happy about it. "Mister, no. It's too dangerous!"

I sent her a glance. "Dangerous? You're kidding, right? I had to duel a Level 4 to prove my skill to the Loki Familia. This could be the first monster fun to battle."

The Pallum girl hesitated, but Welf grabbed her shoulder and dragged her away. "Let him fight, Lil'E. You really think he's going to die to an Infant Dragon?"

"At least one of you has faith in my skills." I snarked. "It won't take long."

While Welf and Lili took distance, I walked toward the Infant Dragon. I didn't think it would be a difficult battle. Level 2 Adventurers could take it and I was above them. The only things he had for him were size and heat aura… which was completely useless since I had the understanding of Yol, which gave me a pretty powerful fire resistance, comparable to some Dunmer. And, if it turned out to be too much, I could just fight it at range.

Then the monster came to view… and I was a little disappointed. The anime made it look like it was some 10 meters tall monstrosity, but it was barely four meters tall. Like, a little smaller than an elephant at the shoulder. Which was impressive for a predatory monster, but compared to a Dov, or even to the way it was depicted in the anime, it was a small fry. Like a bigger, fiery wamasu.

"I thought you would be bigger." I said to the dragon.

The monster roared, as if offended by my words, and charged.

Damn, so slow. I side-stepped the charge with ease and slashed at its leg… barely drawing blood. Slow but tanky, this one. Or maybe my sword was shit at dealing with it.

The Infant Dragon roared again, and I felt a wave of heat rolling over me. It didn't do much aside from making me take note of it, and maybe singing my armor a little. Jeez, I really needed a replacement soon.

"That was pathetic." I stated, before discharging a lightning bolt into the mouth of the monster. The Infant Dragon roared in pain, flinching back.

I sighed. This monster was no good. It was tanky, but not dangerous to deal with.

"Let's end this." I said. I took a deep breath, and then, exhaling, I murmured a word. "Qo."

Qo was the word for lightning in Dovazhul, and as I said it, my weapon was covered in electricity.

No magic. Just Akaviri martial arts, branching outside their usual fire theme by the power of the Voice, to let me use every element. Maybe, with time, I'll be able to infuse more than fire, frost, lightning, and poison in my attacks, but for now, this was going to be enough.

I took the appropriate stance for the next technique I was going to use. Unfortunately, the Akavir martial art and the Shehai Shen She Ru were not that compatible. The only combination I had found for them was this one, infusing the power of the elements on a sword and using it to hit extra hard. It was enough.

"The Havoc Canal." I said, and I jumped toward the Infant Dragon's head. The moment the neck of the monster was in range, I slashed.

Or, to be more precise, I slashed twice, for The Havoc Canal, if executed perfectly, let you strike twice in one breath. The neck of the monster couldn't take the double assault… and the head flew away.

"Too easy." I sighed. "Middle Floors it is, then."

"Mister!" Called Lili, arriving from wherever she and Welf were hiding. "That was amazing, Mister. You took down an Infant Dragon so easily."

"Bah, that thing barely qualified as a dragon. He couldn't even breathe fire yet." I looked at the entrance of the Middle Floors. "But maybe you're right, we should get better equipment before we start to get lower. My sword barely managed to pierce his scales and my armor couldn't even handle the heat. A little upgrade, I think, is warranted."

Lili nodded enthusiastically. Welf, meanwhile, was looking at the body of the dragon.

"Well, if we're lucky and this one leaves some good drops, we could craft something useful out of it. You'll never find better drops until we're near the end of the Middle Floors, and even then, Infant Dragons scales offer the best heat protection. Don't get your hopes too high though: they rarely drop anything."

Needless to say, the Infant dragon dropped his scales and a claw and a tooth too. Thanks, Plunderer. At least you are making things easy, unlike everything else. New equipment for me!

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.6

Welf and I took the subsequent day to both prepare my new equipment and to squeeze some lessons in while Lili brought the supplies for the expedition to the Middle Floors. I was pretty sure she was going to try to rip me off, but whatever, it's not like I needed the money anyway.

Fortunately, we didn't need much time to complete my new equipment. The scales were just enough for a fireproof mantle, while the claw and fang were enough for the tip of a spear.

"I thought you were a swordsman." Said Welf when I said I wanted a spear.

"Bold for you to assume I'm just a swordsman." I replied, smiling. "Well, the truth is, I'm mostly a swordsman. But there is not enough material for a sword, and a spear has more reach. Considering the number of opponents we are going to face in the Middle Floors, I thought that something that could cover more distance could be useful."

Welf grinned. "You mean you want to do some sick trick like you did with your sword against the Infant Dragon."

I grinned back. "Something like that. So, let's do this, shall we?"

The construction of the spear didn't require much time either. Welf explained that drops of this quality were not perfectly pure, so while better than normal steel, it was still relatively easy to work. True to his word, the spear point was completed easily. The difficulty of melting and purifying the metal was slightly higher than steel but comparable to some metal of Nirn. I supposed that higher quality of adamantite or other dungeon metals were going to be more difficult to smelt.

"That was instructive." I said. "Well, we still have time, especially if you want to come with me and Lili to the Hostess of Fertility for dinner."

"Why not? I'm happy to eat something good. But we have time for what? An enchanting lesson?"

"Exactly." I said, sitting in front of him. "I thought about it, and I think it's better if we start with the simple method. The complex one is more versatile, but it requires a deep knowledge of magic to work. So much so, that I fear you'll get the Mystery ability instead of Blacksmith if I taught you that from the start."

Welf smiled. "Well, if I get both, I know what to take. But alright, let's start with the simple things. What is the simple method?"

I called from my dimensional bag Dapahtuz, the All-Consuming Blade, and gave it to Welf. "Don't cut yourself with it. It's very sharp."

The smith took the blade with something I could only describe as reverence, admiring the form and the magic of the blade with wide eyes. "It's beautiful." He said. "And magical. I… I cannot understand the enchantment on this one."

"It's complicated. I infused the sword with the ability to steal the life force of the ones wounded by it."

Welf blinked. "You're a Hexer?"

"I'm a lot of things, Welf. Focus on the blade. How is it different from the other sword I showed you?"

The smith looked at the blade again. "The material is different. It looks like silver…" He paused, narrowing his eyes. "No, wait, it's not silver… it just has the color, but the material is different. How…?"

"I infuse the material with silver essence using alchemy." I explained. "Works better against certain monsters. That's not the thing, though."

Welf's eyes locked on the symbols engraved near the guard of the blade. "The glyphs?"

"Bingo. Well, they're runes, not glyphs, but the basic meaning is the same. Now, I sort of cheated in this particular case, since I used special runes to infuse a special power inside them: it's not something you can usually do. Still, the runes can be used to grant power to the object. You're not going to be able to create a self-sustaining enchantment like the one on that sword, but you can still do something interesting. Ready to learn?"

Welf gave me the sword back and nodded, his eyes full of determination.

"Good. But we need something for you to practice with: you cannot remove runes from a weapon without scrapping the entire thing." I looked around. "Do you have scrap iron or other junk like that?"

Welf sent me a confused gaze. "Uh, yeah… but why do you want it?"

"You'll find out soon. Take some scraps, I'm going to show you something really cool."

Confused but excited, Welf shot up and searched for a box full of metal scraps to give me. When he returned, he did it with a conspicuous amount of terrible iron.

"There, it's the leftover scrap metal that remains when I finish a job. What do you need it for?"

I answered by taking a piece of iron the size of a coin and putting it in the palm of my hand. Then, a green light erupted from the piece of junk, as my magic started to pour inside it.

"What the hell?" Asked Welf.

I didn't answer, focusing on the spell I was using. After a couple of seconds, the light disappeared and what remained was the same piece of metal that was there before… but now it was silvery instead of dark grey.

Welf blinked several times, his mouth agape. "You can… transmute iron into silver?"

"Among a lot of other things." I said. "Now, runes are mostly used on armor and weapons, but it is possible to use them on jewelry. It's not something I did, frankly, but since creating a simple amulet is better than creating an entire dagger and then having to throw it if you do something wrong, we'll go with this."

Welf had fortunately recovered from his shock. "Yeah, seems right. So… what runes are there?"

"A lot. And every rune requires three, even four components to work. One to determine what it does, one to determine how it does it, one to determine the strength, and the last one to enhance the effect… but that's optional. Considering your aptitude… I think the best start is a fire rune. Of course, the best effect would be one that sets your weapon on fire, but that's not possible with an amulet. So, what about an amulet that protects against fire?"

"Like Salamander Wool?" Asked Welf. I shook my head.

"No, these runes are fueled by your Mind. The protection must be active. The other method could make even a simple robe fire-proof… but it's also limited by the quality of the material, the complexity of the work, and in most cases, the amount of magical power you have on hand. We'll do something as soon as I manage to adapt the usual ritual to magic stones."

"I was convinced at it being 'fueled by your Mind', man. So, what are these components?"

I drew a rune in the air, using Illusion magic to make the point of my finger glow and leave a luminous trail in the air. "This is Rakeipa, the symbol of fire." I drew another one. "This is Repora, for reinforcement." I drew another. "And this is Ta, the lowest of the power symbols. The secondary effects are better left for another time. Let's not rush this."

Welf nodded, staring at the symbols with extreme focus, trying to impress them inside his memory.

Meanwhile, I had morphed the piece of silver in my hand into something that resembled an amulet, and I had taken another piece of scraps for the next attempt. I doubted he was going to get it immediately. "Let's try this a couple of times."

-X-

"I'm beat." Sighed Welf, taking his mug and drinking. "That was way too much precision work."

I smiled at the smith. "It's easier on a weapon. At least there you can make the rune as big as you need."

"Yeah, yeah, I thought so." Admitted the smith. "But my hands are shaking. Engraving runes with that level of precision is hard. I'll need practice to get it right."

"Well, you have the materials to practice with." I noted. "You just need time."

I left a conspicuous amount of amulets inside Welf's forge. He surely had enough to try again. And, in case things got bad, he could hammer them a couple of times and try again. Silver was very malleable, after all.

"Yes, but that's on top of everything else…" Lamented the smith.

"Lili thinks Mister Welf likes to complain." Said the Pallum, entering into the conversation. "Lili also thinks that Mister should worry about the Dungeon and not about teaching Mister Welf about strange things."

I sent a glance to Lili. "What's the problem, Lili? Are you jealous I'm teaching Welf part of my vast skill set?"

The Pallum girl scoffed. "No, Lili would prefer if Mister was more focused." She sipped her drink. "But just for curiosity, what would Mister teach to Lili, if he wanted to?"

"How to fight." I replied immediately.

The girl sent me a glare. "Lili is able to fight."

"I have severe doubts about that."

"Lili can deal with monsters! She just can't do much since she can't upgrade her Status!"

"That's not enough. Relying on your Status, you fight like a monster, not like a civilized person. You need more than that to survive inside the dungeon."

Lili bit her lips but didn't say anything. I sighed.

"The first step, of course, would be to fight in melee range with a monster, not using that crossbow you have. That's just going to tickle more powerful monsters."

"Lili knows, but Lili cannot do that. Lili doesn't have a decent weapon and Lili's too weak to risk getting hit by a monster."

"That's something you can correct, if you want." I said. "Believe me, I was weak as well when I started my adventure. Didn't stop me from getting better. You just need a goal you want to reach with all your strength."

Lili's gaze softened somewhat, then she looked away. "Lili doesn't have one."

I reached for her over the table and patted her head. "You'll find it."

She didn't reply.

"You sounded like an old man when you said that." Laughed Welf. "Have you some other wise words for everyone?"

"Don't judge people by their looks." I replied, leaning back in my chair. "I'm older than you think."

Welf blinked but decided to not inquire further. The discussion drifted on less serious things, and Lili seemed to relax a little.

All in all, a great evening.

-X-

Later, I was sitting in my mansion inside the Refuge, trying to pierce the Falna on my back. Of course, doing so wouldn't pierce the Falna, but just the access point to the Falna… whatever, it was not important right now. The point is, I was trying to manipulate my Falna in some capacity.

It should be possible. For what I liked to think that Akatosh had decided to metaphorically slap Loki on the wrists saying 'mine', it was probably not what happened. Granting blessings was, more or less, the most a god was able to do in Tamriel without mortals calling for their power directly. So, I doubted that Akatosh had somehow found the strength to bitch-slap Loki's blessing across universes.

Not directly, at least.

My dragon soul was, after all, a part of Akatosh, and so, the most likely candidate for the little incident that happened. But, if that was the case, then the same power could modify the Falna on my back. If it was able to hijack a blessing with his pre-existing power, it should be able to unlock it and let me upgrade it.

I was not sure if it was the case, but trying didn't cost me anything. I just needed a spell to look at my back to see if I was doing something right, and I was golden.

That was not the first attempt I had done, of course, but it was the one where I felt I was closing to a solution. Using my blood didn't work in the past, no matter the magic I used on it… so I tried something different.

"Mul. Qah. Diiv." I murmured, containing the full power of the Shout for a later try. I still felt draconic power rushing through my body, even if the ghostly armor that usually accompanied the Shout was missing.

I hoped it was enough.

I cut my finger and let a drop of blood fall on the Falna, like I knew the gods did to make it work.

And as I did it, the Falna started to glow.

Grinning like a madman, I thought of a way to manipulate it. I needed to be both there and here, so…

I astrally projected myself out of my body and in front of the glowing Falna on my back, and, slowly, I reached for it with my magic.

The Falna reacted like a solid thing, malleable like clay and ready to be utilized. Grinning even more in my spiritual form, I started to weave my magic trying to understand how to update the entire thing.

Several hours later, I had the result of my efforts.

Name: Mal Frahkei Kaul

Alias:

Race: Human(?)

Level 1

Strength: I0 - I63

Defense: I0 - I55

Dexterity: I0 - I72

Agility: I0 - I50

Magic: I0 - I43

Magic:

Aetherium Arcanum. Variable-length magic. Increase the effect of other magic.

Variable Chant

Skills

Adamantine Dragonblood: Increase Magic. Grants Magic Resistance and Spirit Healing Development Abilities. Increases status against dragon-type enemies.

Plunderer: Steal power from defeated enemies and increase chance of finding materials.

Blessing of the Stars: Increase efficacy of all learned skills. The efficacy increases with level.

Development Abilities:

Magic Resistance I

Spirit Healing I

I returned inside my body, still grinning. I had hijacked this too. Good. It was time to stop half-assing my time in the Dungeon. Time to grind. Hard.

I just hoped Welf and Lili were able to keep up.

-X-

They were not able to keep up.

Lili recognized that simple fact when another wave of monsters was deleted from existence thanks to Mister's attack… only for another one to emerge from a corner and charge right at them.

The expedition to the Middle Floors shouldn't have gone like this. Mister wanted to get into the Middle Floors to get more valuable stones and more materials, and she could understand that. He had also, mercifully, listened to her when she had said they needed better equipment, and he gave her money to buy more provisions, especially more food since it was easy to remain in the Middle Floors for more than a day. She felt a little guilty buying cheap food and keeping the change, but just a little.

And, well… she deserved a little more money! Her job was important! Adventurers could remain vigilant for longer periods compared to unblessed people, but it was still risky to do so inside the Middle Floors, mostly because there was no safe spot until Riviria. So, buying the food was of capital importance! And it wasn't like Mister needed the money anyway, so it didn't make any difference.

Anyway, the expedition seemed to go pretty well at the start. Mister looked particularly energetic and had quickly dealt with the monsters, mostly throwing lightning at anything that moved. It was like he was anxious to reach the Middle Floors. But Lili didn't think about it too hard: he already said that they were going to stop before the 17th Floor, the home of the Monster Rex, so there was no reason to be wary.

Then, Mister had used another one of his strange magics -she had lost the count of how many little tricks he had- and things had gone to hell. She didn't know why: it didn't look any different from any other magical attack he had used until now. Well, there was one difference: he pronounced a short Chant in a language she didn't know, and then his mouth erupted in a wall of flames that had annihilated a herd of Al-Miraj.

At that moment, the Dungeon had trembled, and monsters had started to flow from all directions, even breaking through the Floors to reach and kill them.

Mister apparently understood where the problem was and had ordered them to run, while he summoned literal storms of elemental power to deal with the scores of monsters. She had obeyed instantly, and so had Mister Welf. But the Dungeon offensive was persistent and unrelenting, and running had caused them to run headfirst in some group of monsters that Mister was not able to destroy before they could assault them. More because Mister could just attack in one direction at the time than for any amount of resistance they possessed.

Little by little, wounds started to accumulate on Mister Welf, who had taken his role as her bodyguard seriously. Sometimes, monsters were even able to bypass him by jumping directly on Lili, but those actions were rewarded by sudden lances of elemental power that decimated the monsters. Still, little by little, they were starting to fall under the assault.

Until the monsters managed to push them away from the known routes of the Dungeon, where Lili couldn't navigate well, and finally, into a dead end.

"They trapped us!" Shouted Lili. She turned toward Mister Welf, who was limping in front of her since a Hellhound caught him off-guard and he sprained his ankle pushing the monster away. He was also low on Mind for having used his magic too many times. He was clearly not going to be of much help.

She then turned toward Mister who, contrary to them, was more or less unharmed. Good thing too, because he raised his hand and a wall of fire erupted between them and the monsters, blocking the path unless they wanted to die a horrible death.

"This will not stop them for long." He said. And as he said that, the walls around them started to crack. More monsters and their only escape route was blocked by a wall of fire, hot enough she could see the rock melting near it.

"Then what can we do?" Asked Lili, desperate. Mister could probably deal with all of those monsters… but they were in the way. She had realized that. The best way for Mister to survive was to go all out and destroy part of the Dungeon, forcing it to stop the assault to heal. But causing that much damage was going to cause at least some parts of the Dungeon to collapse… on her and Mister Welf.

They were the only thing that was stopping Mister from getting out of there.

Mister looked at the wall of fire and the cracks opening around them, his eyes cold. Like… like he knew what he had to do. "There is no choice."

He turned and grabbed her backpack, now torn in several points, and effortlessly lifted her in the air.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Asked Mister Welf, before Mister grabbed him for the scruff of his neck like a stray cat. Then, he turned toward the flame wall.

Lili's eyes widened when she realized what was going to happen. Mister was going to throw them to the monsters. Once they were dead, nothing would stop him from killing the monsters and run out of the Dungeon.

"I'm sorry." Said the man. He looked actually saddened by what he was going to do.

Tears started to flow from her eyes. Not because she was going to die, killed by monsters. She knew that could happen at any moment.

No, she cried because, just for once, she had thought she had found someone that cared about her. Maybe just a little, but still more than anyone else had, ever. Mister was not particularly affectionate, but… he was nice. He kept her safe while inside the Dungeon, paid her well -more than she had ever been paid- and invited her to eat with him every time he got to the Hostess of Fertility. He listened to her and considered her opinion. She had thought that maybe, just maybe, she could trust him. To treat her fairly.

And now, there she was. In part, she understood. While he treated her well, she had taken dropped materials from killed monsters, ripped him off, and in general, she tried to steal his money on every occasion, thinking he was just a rich fool she could exploit. So, she couldn't blame him too much. She had been horrible.

This thought had just the time to surface in her mind that Mister threw both her and Mister Welf against the wall of fire. Then, before they could even reach it, the air in front of them cracked, distorted, and finally tore itself open. Before she could process what was happening, she was rolling on the floor.

"Treat them well, Vahlok." Came Mister's voice, and Lili raised her head to see him… through a hole in the air? What- "They're guests."

Then, the hole started to close, and monsters emerged from around Mister, mostly Hellhounds, their maws already dripping fire.

"Mister!" Shouted Lili, raising her hand as to reach him… but too late. The hole closed, and she found herself in a place she didn't know.

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.7

Lili remained frozen, not knowing what to do… for at most a second. Then, someone called to her.

"Lil'E." Called Mister Welf. "Are you alright?"

The Pallum girl turned toward the smith. She didn't like him initially, but after knowing him for a couple of days, she was starting to warm up to him. He did look nice too… and considering what just happened, maybe she should start to treat people who were nice to her better.

"Yes. How are you, Mister Welf?"

"I'll survive." Mumbled the smith, sitting up. He looked around. "Where are we?"

Lili looked around too. And… she didn't know. It looked like a mansion of some kind, with walls covered in runes and glyphs that glowed softly, granting illumination to the entire building. But it looked like nothing she had ever seen before.

"Lili doesn't know. Maybe Mister's house?"

"Never seen a house like this before." Noted Welf. "The walls look enchanted with the same technique Rexen uses. That's impossible to hide for long, and even less to build. Rexen has been in Orario for… what, a week and a half?"

Lili nodded. "This must be outside Orario, then. Maybe one of the old forts?"

There were several abandoned forts around Orario, remains of old fortifications left behind from before the Dungeon was sealed and Orario being built over it. Maybe Mister had taken one and remodeled it?

"Maybe." Conceded Mister Welf, not looking convinced. "But how did we get here? I just remember the area around us changing, and not much else."

He didn't see. "Lili isn't sure. Lili saw a hole in the air and nothing more."

"The correct term for what you described is 'portal'." Said a voice, freezing Lili on the spot. A voice that Lili heard directly inside her mind. An old, otherworldly voice, like one who was talking from the afterlife. Since Mister Welf stiffened too, Lili supposed he had heard it too… and they could determine from where it came from. Together, they turned. And they saw them.

There were three of them. They looked like humans, even if it was difficult to be sure since they had masks on their faces. But they could not be human.

Their skin was dark as ink, smooth like silk, and covering limbs too dry and lean to be natural. It was like someone had covered a mummified corpse in fine cloth to cover the desiccated flesh, but didn't bother to hide more than that. They also had flowing capes of vibrant colors over golden scale-like armors, contrasting with their black bodies. One had a purple cape, and an ivory mask covered in gold, two tusks protruding from the jaw. One had a bronze mask with a simple design, and his cape was deep blue. The last one had a different mask altogether, the color of copper, and with a cape of pine green color. All three emitted the same aura, an aura that marked them as different, like a god's one… but gods they weren't.

And like that wasn't enough to make them even more otherworldly and terrifying, they were floating a couple of inches from the ground with seemingly no effort.

"Fear not." Said the voice again, and Lili was able to tell it came from the one with the tusked mask. "For you are guests of our Master. As such, no harm will fall on you while we are here."

Master? They meant…?

"What are you?" Asked Welf, half terrified and half curious.

"Mister Welf wanted to ask who you are." Quickly corrected the girl, while elbowing him in the ribs. There was no reason to antagonize the new, unknown… things in front of them.

"There is no need to correct your companion, girl, because both questions are valid." Said the Tusked Man, a vague note of amusement in his mental voice. "To answer the last question, I'm Vahlok, once The Jailer, now The Custodian. My companions are Otar and Ahzidal. Who are you?"

"I'm Liliruca Arde." Immediately replied Lili.

"And I'm Welf Crozzo." Answered the smith. "Sorry for the rude question. I was… caught off guard."

"An understandable reaction." Commented Vahlok. "And to answer your question, young man, we're spirits: shadows of long-dead sorcerers, brought here by our Master to serve him."

Something twisted inside Lili's stomach at that explanation.

"You're… undead?" Asked Mister Welf, looking even more terrified than before. Undead and similar monsters didn't exist, if not in stories. But… what else could they be? "Rexen is a necromancer?"

"The answer to your questions, master Crozzo, is both yes and no." Answered Vahlok.

"What does that even mean?"

"We were undead, once. Then, our Master used his extensive knowledge to bring us back from the remains of our slain corpses, a shadow of our former selves, before death took its toll on our minds. Now we're just that: shadows. Spirits of memories and darkness given form and sentience by our Master's magic. For he is a necromancer, because he knows the Dark Art. But he never used it, aside from giving us this second life."

Lili didn't know what to say. Rexen had destroyed their original, undead bodies, to… recall them from the shadows? How? What magic could do that?

"But we have talked enough, especially since you're wounded. We won't shame our Master by leaving his guests untreated. Follow us, we'll take care of your wounds."

The three… spirits of shadow floated toward one of the rooms, and they followed them. Mister Welf had some problems walking and had to use his sword as a crutch, but the walk was fortunately short. The next room looked like a bedroom, with an immense amount of weapons and armors displayed on the walls. The shadows made them sit on a large-size bed and then Otar and Ahzidal sat in front of them, but still floating.

Then, the hands of the shadows started to glow with white light, and Lili felt all the wounds she had sustained during the mad dash into the Dungeon starting to hurt less. Like… like she was being healed.

"You're healers?" Asked Mister Welf. "I would have thought that undead spirits would use a different kind of magic."

"We're sorcerers of vast knowledge, master Welf." Replied Vahlok. "There is very little we cannot do."

So they had the same magic Mister had. Did they come from the same place? Lili had never heard of a place like that before. And surely someone would take notice if there was an entire country filled with powerful adventurers that didn't require the gods' blessing to fight monsters.

There was silence after that until the spirits' hands stopped glowing. Mister Welf sighed, relieved. "Thank you. I feel much better now."

"It's our duty to assist you." Answered Vahlok. Then, without saying anything, Otar and Ahzidal floated away.

"Uh… they don't talk?" Asked Mister Welf.

"They talk, but we decided that I was the one to interact with you. Their minds are… unstable."

"Unstable?" Asked Lili.

"During their life, they descended into madness. Our Master cleansed most of their folly when he returned them to the land of the living, but sometimes their minds lapse. That's the reason they're here, and not with the others. I was appointed as custodian of the mansion… but also of them."

"The others? How many of you are here?"

"Twelve. But you will not find them in this building. They're elsewhere, doing their duties."

Mister Welf seemed to want to ask something more, but he decided to shut up. Probably because he didn't want to know what twelve undead sorcerers were doing under Rexen's command.

"Do you require something else?" Asked Vahlok. "I'm afraid we don't keep a lot of food here. Master's visits are… sporadic, at best."

"We're good." Quickly replied Welf. "We have food in our baggage. Could you… leave us alone?"

The masked man stared at them for several seconds, and Lili started to think he was going to tell them no.

"Very well. I understand my presence causes you discomfort." His voice was neutral, but Lili still felt a ping of regret. "I'll return to my duties then. If you need something, just call my name. And, a warning. You're guests, and as such, you're free to do anything you want until you break the rules of hospitality. We won't harm you, for that would be against Master's orders, but we will stop you from stealing."

"No need for that warning, we won't touch anything." Reassured Mister Welf. "We just need some time to… clear our heads."

"Very well. I wish you a good rest." Said the spirit, before floating away like his companions.

They didn't say anything until Vahlok was completely out of sight… then Mister Welf sighed. "I cannot believe we are in this situation."

Lili nodded, agreeing with the smith for once. "Lili doesn't know what to do."

"Me either. I… I think it's better if we remain in this room until Rexen shows up, right? It won't take him that much time to deal with all those monsters, no?"

Lili nodded again, and together, they took the food they had in Lili's bag and started to eat. They didn't talk much, they just sat down to wait. And wait. And wait.

Until, finally, there was a sound like curtains opening up and steps inside the mansion.

-X-

When I entered my mansion, there was no one waiting for me. Strange. I had only taken a couple of minutes to deal with all the monsters. Normally I would have followed Welf and Lili, but I feared that leaving the rampaging monsters alive would have killed a lot of adventurers. So I did a quick clean-up before reaching them.

But if they were not here… maybe in my room. I reached the room in question with a couple of steps, finding Welf and Lili sitting on the bed.

"Ah, there you are." I said. "Are you alright? Did Vahlok treat you well?"

They looked at me with a very serious expression on their faces. I sighed. Explanations were due, apparently.

"I suppose you have a lot of questions. Come outside. You need to see to believe."

Welf and Lili exchanged a look, then followed me with caution. I wasn't that bothered by that. There was a reason I didn't try to escape to the Refuge as the first thing the moment I realized I had enraged the Dungeon. I knew they were not going to take all of this well.

I was still a little bothered though.

Of course, the awed expression they made when they got out of the mansion and could look at the Refuge in all his glory made up for that.

"What is this place?" Asked Welf.

"This is the Dragon Refuge." I answered. "My home away from home."

"Lili has never heard of a place like this." Gawked the Pallum. "Where are we?"

"In another world. Another dimension. I'm not really sure what the difference is." I replied. "I can safely travel here whenever I want, so I use it as a hideout of sorts. I didn't want you to find out this place existed, but, well, it was you knowing about it or you dying. I didn't have much of a choice."

They didn't reply and just looked around.

"Let's return inside. It's a long explanation."

They nodded and followed me inside the mansion. Here I told them everything.

Well, not everything. I summed up my experiences in ten minutes or so, skipping a lot of irrelevant details like the true nature of dragons and other similar things, but they got the gist of it.

"I cannot believe it…" Said Welf.

"It's crazy, I know." I nodded, empathizing with the redhead. "But it's true. You have the proof here."

"Lili doesn't understand." Said Lili, confused by something. "Why did Mister decide to become an Adventurer? Mister could just have braved the Dungeon alone. He didn't need to try and join Loki Familia."

I shook my head. "While I am more powerful than I let on until now, my strength, and my ability to grow stronger, are not infinite. Actually, I more or less hit the peak of my ability well before coming here, and everything I could do since then was growing horizontally and becoming more versatile, not stronger. I prefer versatility over raw power, but at some point, you just cannot compensate for your weakness by being creative. I was lucky I got dropped into some of the upper floors of the Dungeon: if I had found myself in the deep floors, I would have not been able to survive." I opened my arms. "Getting a Falna was a way to surpass my limitations. Now, even if I leave this world, I would still be able to grow stronger… until a time where, maybe, I will not need an outside power source to fuel my ritual. Who knows if the next world I visit will have something as convenient as the magic stones?"

Of course, there was always the option to use my loyal subjects of the Refuge to gather the magic power for me… but even with the time difference in the act, they were going to hit a limit at some point. Better get a -potentially- infinite growth enhancer now that I had easy access to it. Falna, from what I knew, didn't have a hard cap, just soft ones. I could potentially level up infinite times, given enough time and adequate challenges. Which I didn't doubt were going to happen.

"Alright." Said Welf, pinching his nose. "This shit is almost making sense right now. So I suppose that whatever happened in the Dungeon before was caused by something you did?"

I grimaced. "Yeah, sorry. I had no idea that would happen. I was just experimenting a little."

"So you know what caused that?"

"Yes. I used a Thu'um, a Shout. It's a form of magic that doesn't use Mind, but focuses your life force into words to… well, alter reality."

Welf blinked. "That some really strange magic, but I don't see why the Dungeon would react that badly to it."

I snorted. "The Voice -another name for the art- is different from other forms of magic. You Shout using dragon words, that are not normal words. Dragons in Skyrim are called the Children of Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time. They're not monsters or animals, but more Spirits in the form of giant flying lizards. And so their Voice carries the power of the gods… the power of creation itself. That's why you can bend reality to your will using it." I sighed. "I suppose the Dungeon interpreted it as a form of Arcanum, and so became really mad and launched everything it got at us."

Welf pondered on the answer. "So you're saying you're a demigod of some sort?"

"More or less. Being the Dragonborn means having a literal dragon soul. How much the name of 'Children of Akatosh' is literal is debatable, but the Dov are divine. They're immune to the passing of time and according to some deadra, they were actually created before the entire universe. They're not born, and they don't grow. They just are, eternal and unyielding to the passage of the ages."

"So… mister is immortal?" Asked Lili, for the first time in a while.

I smiled. "No. I only received my dragon soul after I was born. My body is entirely mortal, and will die given time. Sure, I can use magic to live longer, but I'm very much going to die one day."

"Well, that's good to know that if we bite it you'll follow us." Said Welf, frowning. "Please, don't use your Voice in the Dungeon. I don't want to get attacked like that ever again."

"I cannot promise that, I could need my Voice in the deeper floors. But you'll probably not be there to see what happens when I do."

"Thank the gods." Sighed Welf. "I cannot imagine what it will be like to fight for hours against hordes of monsters. Most of us don't have infinite magic."

I looked at the smith, confused. "Hours? It's been ten minutes, tops."

My two companions blinked, thoroughly confused. "What? But we have been here for hours. We had the time to get healed, talk, and eat!"

I remained confused… until it clicked. "Ooooh… I see. You're affected by the different time flow as well."

"The what?"

"Each hour outside the Refuge counts as a day inside it. Months could pass between each of my visits. Apparently, it applies to people from the outside too, as long as I'm not here. You have been here for hours while I just fought for some minutes." I scratched my chin. "That can have interesting applications. I could leave you here a couple of days, and it would be months of training for you."

"Lili would much prefer to not remain there more than necessary." Denied Lili.

"Yeah, no offense man, but your… servants are a little creepy." Agreed Welf. "You know… undead and everything."

I chuckled. "If you find them creepy now, you would have had a heart attack seeing them before. Or most of their old servants."

The two visibly shivered. "There are more like them?"

"Well, it depends. More like them as powerful spectral undead sorcerers? No, not a lot. They're a rare bunch. Undead? Plenty. Necromancy is frowned upon, but it's hardly an unknown discipline… and sometimes you don't need to have necromancers, undead just emerges on their own. Restless spirits and all of that."

"So… are there ghosts? Specters?" Asked Lili.

"You have no idea. I killed… I lost count. At least hundreds of them."

"Lili doesn't think she would like to visit that place." She shivered again.

"Understandable. It took me a while to not be crept up on by them." I nodded. I became more serious. "So, what do you want to do now?"

They blinked. "Sorry?"

"Are you still willing to come to the Dungeon with me?" I asked. "I won't blame you if you don't. Besides, I think I can go on my own until Riviria, right now. It's just that… going together is more fun?"

There was silence for a second. Then…

"Pfff." Welf convulsed, trying to contain himself. He failed. "Phuahahahaha! That's your pitch? 'Together is more fun?'" He stopped talking to laugh some more. "I'll be damned, but I think it's more fun too. Sure, I was ready to leave if you turned out to be an evil necromancer bent on enslaving Orario thanks to your undead army, but you're not, so we're good." He continued to laugh some more.

"Lili likes to be paid." Simply replied Lili, even if she was hiding a smirk. "And Mister pays well. As long as Mister continues to pay and treat Lili well, Lili will follow Mister."

I smiled at the kids. The next few days were going to be… interesting.

Last edited: May 2, 2021

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.8

In the next five weeks, we took things easy, and time passed quickly. We descended into the Dungeon every day, while I taught Lili and Welf everything they needed to get better… with a rather unorthodox method.

I have to admit, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to remember that I could transfer my knowledge directly inside someone's mind. Actually, I remembered I could do that only after I decided to train Lili in combat and realized that teaching her everything I knew about fighting was going to require more time than I wanted to spend in the Upper Floors, and was too risky for the Middle Floors.

But subtly transferring my knowledge inside her and letting her fight the monsters, I was able to make that knowledge root deep inside her. Of course, I also let her choose the weapon she would use in melee because teaching her how to use every weapon was kinda useless. She decided to go with daggers… which was cliché, but whatever. If it worked for her.

I avoided using this method to teach Welf the runes since I was pretty sure his pride as a smith would stop him from learning in a way that didn't involve hard work. Still, I instilled some useful knowledge inside his head regardless. You never know when you need some useful fighting techniques, even when you're a smith.

And so, after a couple of months passed farming in the Middle Floors, I was confident enough in our abilities to match against the Monster Rex, Goliath.

The others… weren't. Welf had flinched a little when I told him I was ready to fight the Goliath, but didn't say anything. Lily, on the other hand…

"Mister, please reconsider! The Monster Rex is not something we can defeat on our own. We can just wait for Riviria to deal with it and reach the Eighteenth Floor safely."

"But where will be the fun in that?" I asked with a smirk.

"Mister! Don't joke about this! The Monster Rex is very dangerous!"

"It's an enormous slab of meat without special powers." I retorted. "He can't attack at range, he can't regenerate, he can't summon more monsters, and can't inflict abnormal conditions. It's also considered to be a Level 4 monster, and you have seen what I can do to Level 3 monsters. We'll be fine."

Lily pouted. While I was not able to kill Level 3 monsters or high Level 2 like minotaurs in a single blow, I was still able to effortlessly take care of groups of them in very short order. I could deal with them easily if I had my most powerful gear with me, but, well, I was trying to get more power from the encounters, and using overpowered gear to take care of monsters I could already defeat easily enough was not going to help me.

Though, even with that in mind, my growth was proceeding steadily and with an abnormal speed. All of my stats were reaching the six hundred, and I was not sure where those points came from. Plundered was involved, of course, but the exact mechanism still eluded me. Maybe it gave me more Excelia depending on the strength of the monsters I killed? It would make sense, and it would explain why I could gain stats so quickly by killing hordes of mooks instead of monsters that were more on my level.

Anyway, since Lili didn't look convinced, I sighed. "Look, we still have time to defeat the Goliath. Buy whatever you think we'll need to fight it, make me a list and I'll order my shadows to make it, or just take one of my magical items. I should have enough magical trinkets to make you and Welf almost invulnerable."

Lili mollified, but Welf shook his head. "I appreciate it man, but I need to Level Up, and not having artifacts of untold power on me would help with that. I'll fight with what I have or can craft in the meantime. I took my time practicing with the runes. I'm sure I can make something that's good enough for my weapon."

I nodded. Lili, on her part, didn't look pleased with Welf's decision but didn't say anything.

"Alright. Then we'll make a simple strategy: I fight the Goliath, and you support… unless monsters start to pour from the Sixteenth Floor, in which case you just kill those to make sure my duel with the giant is unmolested. Deal?"

"Deal!" Grinned Welf.

"Lili is still worried about fighting the Monster Rex." Commented the Pallum girl. "But since Mister is so sure that he will be able to defeat it, she'll just prepare for the fight. Can Mister Welf give Lili something to increase her chances of killing monsters in melee?"

The smith smiled eagerly. "Of course I can. I can put runes on your blades so they can inflict more damage. You'll have to power the enchantment with your Mind, though. Do you think you can do it?"

Lili nodded.

"Alright then." I said, stretching. "Let's return to the surface and finish our preparations. We're going to defeat the Goliath in… it should be a couple of days, right?"

"I don't keep track of the respawn of the Goliath, but it seems right." Welf helpfully supplied.

"Great. Let's go. If we arrive too early, we can stop at Riviria and wait for it to appear."

"Well, it's going to be a show, that's for sure. But I'll need to warn my Goddess that I'm going to be missing for a day or two." Said Welf.

"Sure. Just don't mention the Goliath. I wouldn't want to get interrogated by a god right before the big fight."

"I'll leave a letter." Decided the smith, nodding to himself.

In all of this, Lili remained silent. Maybe after fighting the Goliath, I could help her with the situation of her Familia… but it will all depend on how much she's willing to be open with me.

For now, let's focus on preparing for the big fight.

-X-

Lefiya Viridis was not entirely sure why they were doing this.

When Captain Finn had said that he had a hunch that the human called Rexen was going to push inside the Dungeon more, she had been… middling curious, at best. She was outside the Manor when the fight with Raul Nord happened, but a display of martial skill, even one from a supposedly unblessed individual, was not something she was interested in. Impressive, almost impossibly so, but just a curiosity.

Then Ais had volunteered to keep an eye on him, Tiona too, and Her Highness had suggested for her to follow them.

"He has some interesting magic, and claims some distant elven ancestry. It should be a worthwhile lesson."

She was not sure how a human on the first Step of Divinity could give her a lesson on magic, but she didn't dare to tell that to Her Highness. She was the greatest mage of Orario, after all. If she thought that Lefiya could learn something, she probably had a reason.

So she had followed Tiona and Ais in the dungeon, shadowing the trio of adventurers that composed Rexens party: a Pallum with a huge pack and a human with red hair. From what she could guess, the Pallum was the supporter, while the human was the fighter… which should mean that Rexen was the mage, but he was wearing armor and he fought Raul using just a sword… so what was he planning to do?

She got her answer when the group arrived in the Middle Floors and the monsters started to be more numerous. The moment the group was heavily outnumbered, Rexen started to use his magic. Lefiya realized it the moment she felt a huge amount of magical power gather around the man.

Then, without warning or even a Chant, lightning started to erupt around the Adventurer, frying monsters with the barest touch.

"Look at that!" Exclaimed Tiona, watching the magic tear through a horde of Hellhounds like they were insects. "I didn't know he had Magic! And with no Chant too!"

Lefiya bit her lower lip but didn't say anything. It was pretty impressive magic, for a Level 1 and without a Chant. But he did defeat Raul despite his lower Level… maybe he had equal prowess in magic and simply decided to not use it against him for some reason? Maybe to make the fight fairer? Raul was on the Fourth Step, but he didn't have magic and lightning was very difficult to defend against because it was attracted to metal objects and blocked movement through temporary paralysis.

"But is it wise to let him use all that power on the monsters on the Middle Floors?" Continued Tiona. "If he gets tired before the real difficult ones appear, he's going to risk a Mind Down."

That was true. Usually, magic was used as the final weapon, to deal with all the monsters in one single stroke. Using all that power so freely…

"He doesn't seem to be strained." Said Ais, looking at the man in question. Lefiya refocused on him and noticed how the magic was flowing around him while he just continued to advance. Only rarely did he make a casual gesture with his hands to send lances of lighting toward some monsters that were proving particularly annoying, but for the most part, he just advanced and let the power smite every monster that came too close.

"He's a magic warrior." Realized Lefiya. He could cast magic even while moving and fighting. That required… a lot of practice and effort to learn. Sure, a Chantless spell helped, but even maintaining it once cast was difficult.

"Wow, that's…" Started Tiona, before stopping. "Actually, I'm not that surprised. After that trick he did with his sword, I'm not sure why being a magic warrior should be impressing."

Lefiya blinked. She hadn't heard about that. "Why? What did he do?"

"His sword hurt Raul." Filled in Ais. "After being blocked."

The young elf brain tried to make sense of that phrase and failed. "Sorry, I don't understand. How did his sword manage to hurt Raul after being blocked?"

"That's a good question." Murmured the blonde girl. So she didn't know either? That was… concerning. The Sword Princess didn't know how a sword had evaded a block? It had to be a Skill of some sort… or maybe an illusion? It seemed illogical, because it would mean that he had two magic at Level 1, but if it was another Chantless spell, it would be possible to use it without anyone noticing…

"Uuuh… they're not stopping." Commented Tiona at some point. Lefiya stopped thinking about the various mysteries of the man and looked around. The place they were right now was a series of interconnected caves of white rock. Considering how fast they were moving…

"This is the Fifteenth or Sixteenth Floor?" She asked, unsure.

"Fifteenth." Replied Ais.

"But they just got down to the Sixteenth." Continued Tiona. "I think they're aiming to Riviria."

Well, that made sense. Lefiya had heard about the promise that the top executives made: if he could reach Riviria, they would let him join in one of their expeditions. Unorthodox, but Rexen wanted to join the Familia and couldn't only because he was granted a Falna without his knowledge - which was strange, but not impossible- and there were still some months before it could be unlocked. It made sense to let him come, so he could familiarize himself with the rest of the Familia.

"Goliath should respawn shortly." Said Ais, frowning.

Lefiya blinked. "You don't think they're going to challenge the Monster Rex, right?"

"Weeeell… Rexen did beat an army of monsters without breaking a sweat…" Noted Tiona. She was right, of course. But the Goliath was not just a monster… at least not one you could defeat with such a meager party!

"He can't hurt the Goliath with that level of force." Replied Ais. Exactly what she was thinking!

"Who said he can't put more power in that magic?" Asked Tiona, curious. "I mean, I don't know a lot about magic, but it seems like a pretty versatile one. Mantle of lightning that hits every monster that comes near, plus he can focus it on the ones that can resist the passive effect. Maybe he can focus it even more?"

That would be extremely convenient and downright absurd! He couldn't have magic able to hurt a Monster Rex in the First Step!

But he did manage to hurt Raul…

"Well, we'll find out soon." The Amazon smiled. "They're going for the Seventeenth Floor!"

Were they really trying to kill the Goliath? It was completely crazy. They needed help!

But as she was trying to voice that thought, a voice emerged from nothing with a simple message.

"Don't interfere."

Lefiya froze at that, looking around to see the one who had spoken. Tiona and Ais, though, were dead set on the group that was reaching the lair of the Monster Rex.

"What was that?" Asked the elf when she failed to find the culprit.

"That was Rexen." Said Tiona, smiling. "And I think he just made clear that he won't accept any help."

That was him? But… wait, maybe he did have illusion magic, after all. One versatile enough to both mislead eyes and hears.

And he also didn't want help. She hoped that he wasn't going to die. She had questions for him.

-X-

I hoped the girls had gotten the message. Really, they could have been more subtle, or join us directly.

We had finally arrived on the Seventeenth Floor, and the boss was not there yet. It was going to spawn soon, unless the Dungeon decided to be annoying, so we just parked our asses on the Floor and waited.

Or, to be more precise, we made an inventory of everything we had and a general sum of our fighting strategy.

Well, Lili did, because she was a paranoid wreck. At the third inventory check, she asked if I had some emergency plan in case a lot of monsters arrived and the two of them were not able to handle them, so I threw a handful of scrolls at her feet.

"Contrary to what you believe, Lili, I have, in fact, a Plan C. I really don't think you'll need it, and I would not suggest Welf use them since he wants to Level Up, but if you really need to be reassured, those scrolls contain powerful magic. Just read them and they'll launch it for you. But they'll only work once, so be careful." I picked up a scroll in particular. "This one is a Fire Wall scroll. If there are too many monsters, just throw it in front of the entrance and let them die on it."

Welf looked at the scrolls, curious. "Wait, you're telling me that those are like Magic Swords, but on a scroll?"

"More or less." I nodded. "I don't like to make them, because it's a lot of time spent on something you can only use once, but they are useful if I have to give someone else the ability to launch fireballs."

Welf sent me a conflicted look. Meanwhile, Lili was looking at me and the scrolls at her feet. "Why didn't Mister give this to us before?"

"I honestly don't believe you'll need them." I shrugged. "If you need assistance, I would just summon something to help you. But since you insist on having an option if things go even more wrong than in our worst prediction, I'll give you this. Fair warning: I didn't personally write these, so they're going to be weaker than my usual spells. Still useful, but don't think they're just going to annihilate everything in their path."

Lili remained silent, but took all the scrolls she could, fitting them inside the various pockets she had. There was relative silence for a while… before the girls of the Loki Familia caught up with us.

"Hi!" Tiona waved frantically. "Ready to fight the Goliath?"

"Yes." I replied, smiling, while Welf echoed me with less certainty.

"No!" Replied Lili, watching the three girls approach. Tiona, Ais, and… Lefiya? Ah, Riveria was probably trying to spy a little more of my magic. Too bad Elven Ring needed a Chant to work, and I didn't use one.

"Little tense, huh?" Asked Tiona, kneeling a bit to look at Lili in the eyes. "It's fine. Not a lot of people can match the Goliath with a group so small."

"Are you going to make it?" Asked Ais, looking at me with a little frown on her face.

I shrugged. "I don't plan to die. I have several hidden aces if things go south and I find out I underestimated the Goliath too much."

"Can we help?" Asked Lefiya, fidgeting a little under my gaze.

"No, we need to do this on our own. Welf wants to Level Up, and it would be nice if I could too… even if I doubt that the Goliath is going to be enough for me."

I received several confused glances for that.

"I thought you couldn't upgrade your Status." Commented Welf. "Because your god is not here in Orario."

I shrugged. "I'm still becoming stronger."

That promptly transformed the confusion into open disbelief. "Mister managed to… unlock your Falna on your own?" Asked Lili, with a spark of hope in her eyes.

Ah, Lili, sorry, but what I use cannot be replicated for a different person. "Of course not. But when I'm able to update my Status, it will be taken into consideration." It was sort of a lie, but Lili didn't know better and I couldn't explain the truth in front of Ais, Tiona, and Lefiya. I would explain to her the details later.

The spark in Lili's eyes died while Welf nodded knowing. Meanwhile, Loki's girls were still in the dark.

"What kind of magic do you have?" Asked Lefiya, the only one that seemed to want to ask questions. "You already used that lighting magic and that illusion… what do they do?"

I was ready to bullshit something -or just telling them the truth, it made no difference to me- when a powerful vibration shook the entire cave. My eyes flew to the wall… where an enormous, dark figure was starting to emerge. Another vibration, another shake, and the wall started to crack.

"You'll see my magic soon enough." I replied, grabbing my sword. "Are you ready?"

Welf nodded grimly, his greatsword ready and with new, deeply engraved runes on it. Lili was a little more reluctant. "If Mister is so sure of our victory, Lili is less worried." She drew her knives regardless. "Lili just hopes we're not to attract too many monsters from the Middle Floors."

"We can hold them, if you want to deal with the Goliath on your own." Offered Ais. Tiona smiled and Lefiya nodded frantically.

I paused for a second. I doubted we would need that help, monsters didn't usually cross in the Boss Room unless something strange occurred… but you could never be too sure.

"Only if Welf and Lili aren't able to deal with them. We'll need all the Excelia we can get."

The trio nodded silently and slowly backed away, ready to intervene if we started to get overwhelmed.

All the while, the vibrations had gotten stronger and stronger, until they remembered something very big trying to smash through a wall… which was exactly what was happening.

The wall broke, and the Goliath appeared. With a deafening roar, our first great challenge arrived. And we were ready for it.

Is it Wrong to Exploit the Dungeon? 1.9

They were not ready!

Welf dodged one of the immense punches of the Goliath, letting the slab of meat as big as him crater the ground. Again, the Monster Rex roared at its failed attempt to flatten him, and the smith ran away as fast as possible.

"Lili hates being right!" Shouted Lil'e from the other side of the seven meter tall humanoid monster. Her daggers were unable to pierce the skin of the creature, so she had returned to her crossbow, trying to distract the giant. It… didn't do much damage, even after Welf had put some Runes on it to make the darts crackle with lightning when Lil'e decided to put a little of her Mind in it. It was something that Rexen had suggested a couple of weeks ago, to make Lil'e a little more threatening, but she had postponed using it until they decided to fight the Goliath. It barely distracted the monster, and each time it managed to do so, Lil'e had to run, hoping that Welf or Rexen would be there to keep the focus away from the little Pallum.

Which, to be fair, they were. Rexen seemed to be enjoying himself too.

"C'mon, you asshole! Is that all you got!?" Shouted the man, brandishing his sword with one hand. A sword that was currently on fire, but still had problems dealing with the thick skin of the Boss.

The Goliath replied to the taunt by kicking at the man. Of course, Rexen dodged with the practiced ease of a veteran, his body already out of the trajectory of the attack by the time it started. The monster was simply slower than him… still plenty fast for Welf and Lil'e.

Then, of course, a noise started to come from the entrance to the boss room… exactly as Lil'e had feared.

"Go take care of the monsters!" Shouted Rexen, not really looking bothered. "I'll take care of him!"

Welf took a second to look at him. He didn't seem to be worried and he still had yet to be hit. Rexen's strikes also dealt a lot more damage than his, and he knew the man had absurdly powerful weapons stashed away in case he needed to escalate the offensive.

"Alright! Lil'e, let's go! Take out that scroll!"

The Pallum girl disengaged from the giant monster and started to run towards the entrance of the room, taking out one of the scrolls. Less powerful than Rexen's usual spells could still make the difference between life and death.

Meanwhile, he swung his sword, channeling some of his Mind through the weapon and the gold-filled runes imprinted in the metal. Apparently, it was a good way to make the magic stick, or so Rexen had said. The best material would have been powered gems, preferably diamonds, but while Rexen could transmute metal, he apparently couldn't make gemstones. Or, more probably, it required more power and so it was less convenient.

Well, whatever.

The runes shone with arcane power, and the sword briefly caught fire before the flames converged onto the tip and were released as a ball of fire. The improvised magical attack flew inside the tunnels and exploded with enough force to rattle the floor… or maybe it was just the constant stomping of the Goliath. Either way, roars of pain reached his ears, so he did manage to hit something with his attack.

Now they just needed to wait until Rexen dealt with the Goliath… or the Sword Princess decided to intervene.

-X-

I had miscalculated.

Sure, the Goliath was a giant slab of meat with no special power. It still out-massed me by a factor of a thousand and was faster than anticipated. Its giant limbs made it move relatively fast for a creature of its size, and while it was plenty dodgeable, it was soon clear that I needed a little more time to deal with him. Namely, I needed time to charge up my attacks; the monster was resistant to magical attacks and was surprisingly good at dealing with non-damaging spells, especially Illusions. Probably something related to his connection to the Dungeon or his unnatural nature. I could confuse his senses, for example, but not for long.

That put me in a difficult spot. I could try to deal with him with low-level spells, but it was unlikely I could end it quickly that way. And using higher leveled ones, the ones whose cost in terms of magicka wasn't reduced to almost nothing was going to burn through my magical reserves pretty fast. No, I needed something with a little more oomph… but I needed time to set that up using Aetherium Arcanum. Normally I'd use Slow Time, but Shouting inside the Dungeon had proved to be dangerous. If only I had a spell that…

Oh, wait. I had a spell that slowed time. It was horribly inefficient in terms of magicka used, but it was doable. And with Aetherium Arcanum, I could increase the efficiency by a lot. I didn't have time for a long Chant, but…

"ZA WARUDO!" I shouted, as the entire room slowed down to a crawl and sound died down. I had not actually stopped time, because I was not that good, and pulling a Psijic Monk time-stop would have drained me pretty badly. Also, the strain to maintain the spell would have interfered with the channeling of my other spells. Even slowing down the Goliath like this was burning my reserves at an alarming rate. I needed to think quickly of a solution… and then I had a glorious idea.

Quickly circling the Goliath using Shadow Magic to teleport through the shadows, I let the course of time resume. The monster's roar returned at full force, but its swing only caught air. The Monster Rex looked around confused while I channeled my magicka into my next spell, adding a short Chant to it. I'd need to improvise… let's see, what should I use.

"Come to my aid, incarnation of the storm!"

Good, that was to channel the energies better.

"I grant you my power!"

I wasn't sure this was going to work, because I had never tried, but in my mind, that little line was meant to grant something similar to the blessing on my back to the entity.

"Greater Storm Atronach!"

… Ok, that was lame. I admit it. There was little I could do with so little time!

Now it just needed to work…

Space folded like wet paper in front of me, right when the Goliath turned to face me. Just in time for the five-meter tall mass of rock and storm to emerge from Oblivion and punch the Monster Rex in the face.

The Goliath roared in pain. Apparently, the Atronach was pumped up by my spell. Cool!

"Beat its ass!" I encouraged the monster -my monster. The Atronach went for another punch, but this time the Goliath was not caught off-guard and managed to block the strike, grabbing the Atronach's arm and swinging his own meaty arm toward the creature's 'face'. The Atronach blocked as well, then roared, a sound that resembled a thunderclap, and electricity started to flow around the monsters, zapping the Goliath. Unfortunately, despite the increase in physical strength, the Atronach was still smaller than the Goliath, so the moment the giant had enough, he was still able to throw the Atronach away.

Fortunately, that still meant that I had enough time to deal with that asshole. Let's see… what would work?

I materialized a daedric spear and started to Chant while the Atronach was being brutally mauled by the Monster Rex.

"Soar, spear of destiny."

Wind started to accumulate around the tip of the summoned spear, causing breezes to flow in the normally immobile air of the room. Meanwhile, the Goliath was continuing to pound on the Atronach, which was still resisting, even if it was clear that it was still overwhelmed in a physical match.

"Hit your mark across the sky and fly through."

The air that was collecting around the tip of the spear expanded to cover the entire length of the weapon and coalesced into a whirlwind so powerful that the spear floated an inch from my palm. The Goliath finished mauling the Storm Atronach, which released a last, pained sound before dissipating into purple light.

"You're the weapon of the gods!"

The Goliath's eyes returned to me, and the monster advanced, with the clear intent of flattening me against the floor. Unfortunately for him, it was too late. The moment the spell was at its peak, I threw the spear with all the strength I had.

"Startet Gungnir!"

The daedric spear shot from my hand like a bullet, the air compressing around it until it broke. The spear soared high, met the face of the Goliath, and drilled right through it before slamming against the roof hard enough to shatter stone. The Goliath didn't take that well. Aside from blood erupting everywhere and the mandatory roar of pain, the monster collapsed… or so I thought.

Right when I was sure it was dead, the giant decided to prank me. He fell on his knees and, instead of falling face down in the dirt, he managed to put his arms down and stop his momentum.

Then, he hit me with a sweep of his meaty arm. I just had enough time to realize that 1. I couldn't phase through that attack, because I could only do that using Fem and Shouting was a big no, 2. The problem with the spear was that it over-penetrated because while there was a wound on his face, it was too small compared to the mass of the monster to put it down. If it had exploded on contact, it would probably not be here, and 3. I needed to remember to use a shield more often.

Then the Goliath slammed me against the wall.

-X-

Nothing in this fight made sense.

Or, well, nothing Rexen did made any sense.

Ais had seen her fair share of magic in her long career as an Adventurer, both normal and extraordinary. Riveria's Chant Connection was solidly on the extraordinary end of the spectrum and was the reason she was named Nine Hells. Lefiya's Elven Ring too was quite impressive, letting her learn any elf magic and gaining her the title of Thousand Elf. Her own magic, Tempest, was very powerful, very versatile, and didn't require a long Chant, making it quite odd compared to every other magic.

Rexen had just put every mage she knew to shame.

As of now, he had shown no less than seven different magics, and she felt there were many more waiting. The man was shredding conventional knowledge on how magic worked every second he fought.

Fortunately, this madness had ended. Not particularly well, because the Goliath had managed to land a lucky hit on the man, smashing him against the wall and burying him under a small mountain of debris. How the monster was not dead yet was a mystery, but she doubted it was going to last for long. If it didn't hit Rexen, it would have probably died by now.

She hoped the Rexen was still alive. Normally a Level 3 would have been at least crippled by that attack, but he was weird. He could have shrugged off the impact or died on the spot. Difficult to say.

"Let's finish the Goliath before it can attack the other two." She said to Tiona, drawing Desperate. The Amazon, who had watched the fight with wide eyes, blinked but grabbed Durga, eager to fight. "Lefiya, see if Rexen is still in condition to fight."

The young elf picked up her jaw, which had landed somewhere on the floor, and nodded. Before they could move, though, there was a noise of rock against rock, then something cracking… and a voice.

"Now I'm mad."

The debris that covered Rexen suddenly jerked, a strange, amber mist coiling around them. Then, they started to float, revealing the mage hidden under them.

Rexen looked battered. His armor was ruined and he had several cuts and bruises on his exposed skin. At the same time, his eyes, as well as his left hand, were burning with the same color as the mist that had grabbed the boulders. Without Chanting, he closed his hand in a claw, the magic coursing through it pressing on the stone in its grasp. In a second, cracks started to form on the biggest boulders, then the mass of rock shattered into fragments the size of a fist.

"Stone Rain." He said, pointing his hand toward the Goliath. The monster had enough intelligence to understand what was happening and raised one of its arms to protect its head, as stones started to fly toward it like they were thrown by a sling. The Monster Rex roared in pain.

"Well, it doesn't seem like he needs help." Commented Tiona, as Rexen raised his arms and started to accumulate a truly outrageous amount of magical power.

"Ice Age."

The temperature inside the room dropped instantly as thick columns of ice started to grip the Goliath's leg, encasing them in a frigid grasp that left the monster kneeling.

"That's… he… how?" Asked Lefiya, her mouth agape as Rexen unleashed magical hell on the Goliath.

"No idea!" Happily replied Tiona. "You'll have to ask him."

Rexen advanced toward the trapped Monster Rex, his plain steel sword disappearing to let a shiny, silvery sword take its place. A second later, the sword was on fire and emitting enough heat that they could feel it from across the room. His hand raised again, and a stream of darkness flew from him to the Goliath. Nothing seemed to happen, and the trapped monster didn't seem to be wounded by whatever he was doing… then Ais noticed that the monster's arms were bending under its own weight. A Curse? Could Rexen do that too?

Then he did it again. The thing she had just briefly seen during her fight with Raul. As he reached the Goliath, his sword blurred, moving in impossible ways, and suddenly, there were two deep gashes on the monster's neck. He probably tried to decapitate it in a single strike and failed. He also had to quickly disengage when the Goliath thrashed madly, trying to smash or drive away the mage.

"Die." Growled Rexen, before raising his hand like he was trying to grasp and lift something. "Earth Spike!"

The ground under the Goliath's head trembled, then a spike of rock thick as a man and several meters tall exploded from the ground, impaling the Goliath through its left eye. The giant didn't have the time to make a sound. It just slumped on the ground, dead.

A long silence fell on them while Rexen took a deep breath and Ais and her friends just watched him with awe. Then, the man looked right at them and waved.

"So, who helps Lili and Welf and who helps me extract the magic stone from this asshole?"

-X-

All things considered, our fight with the Goliath had gone pretty smoothly. Sure, I took a hit I wasn't supposed to take and then spent, like, most of my magicka just to kill the fucker, but we won!

Well, I won. Welf and Lili had to deal with some monsters, but they managed pretty well. Lili was very excited, now that the worst had happened and we weathered it without too much trouble.

"We gathered a lot of magic stones, Mister! There are at least… fifty, maybe six hundred thousand Valis just from the ones gathered near the Boss!"

"That's a lot of Valis." I noted, looking at the plethora of stones Lili was cuddling like a newborn. "Seems like you had to deal with a lot of monsters. Good job."

"We would never have dealt with them without your training and the Runes you taught me." Replied Welf, smiling. "It's incredible what you can do with a Rune against physical damage. All the protection of armor with no weight whatsoever. If I find a way to make a lot of them, it could help new Adventurers immensely."

I hated to quench his enthusiasm, but someone had to. "Welf, you need Mind to power a Rune. Most new adventurers don't have magic."

Welf blinked and his smile dropped a little… then returned full force. "That just means you have to teach me the other method, so I can permanently enchant armor without requiring Mind!"

I chuckled. "You're not letting some little setback like that stop you, right? Good. We'll see what we can do after we return to Orario. Maybe you'll get lucky and get a Skill or a Level Up out of that fight."

"I hope so!" Laughed the smith.

Yes, we were relaxing in the grassy fields of the Eighteenth Floor. We did have the gear to camp here for a night, and we had every intention of doing so. After all, we deserved it… and I needed a little time to see if I could do a thing.

Before we could celebrate our success -not that we were going to celebrate that much, most of the celebration was postponed to when we returned to the surface and, eventually, got Level Ups or Skills for our adventure- we were approached by the trio that had followed us here.

"Hello there." I said. "You want to celebrate with us? I'm sorry to say that we have just the food for ourselves. We didn't think about having company."

"We'd love to!" Tiona agreed enthusiastically. "But we're not supposed to stay in the Dungeon for that long. We'll have to do it another time."

"Sure thing." I nodded, starting to move the necessary gear around with telekinesis.

Then, a couple of things happened. First, Tiona not-so-subtly nudged Lefiya toward us. The elf seemed to be in the middle of a shyness attack because she fidgeted with her staff while taking a reluctant step forward.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I…" Started Lefiya. "I…"

I tilted my head, not really sure what she wanted to say. "You what?"

Lefiya sent a glance to Ais before taking a deep breath and… "I'm not going to lose to you!" She shouted, red in the face, before turning and walking away as fast as possible.

Silence fell on us for a couple of seconds.

"What was that?" Asked Welf.

"Eeeeh… you'll have to ask her." Grinned Tiona. "I can't wait to have you in one of our expeditions, Rexen. See you later!" She said, waving as she ran behind Lefiya.

That only left Ais, standing and looking at me. Having already figured her out, I didn't have to wait for her to explain what she wanted to do. "I supposed you're here for that spar, aren't you?"

Welf and Lili sent me a horrified look, but Ais just nodded a little.

"Fine by me. Here on the Eighteenth Floor, let's say… two days from now? I imagine I'm going to be busy tomorrow."

"Alright." Said the Sword Princess, before turning away. She took a couple of steps, then turned toward me. "Good fight."

And then she ran away.

Well, I hope she wasn't going to kill me during that spar.

Last edited: May 16, 2021

Interlude: Wolf Life

Here we go with the chapter. However, I have to announce that, with the work leaving me utterly exhausted, I'm going to have to slow the release of the chapters so as to not find myself without material. So, from now on there will be an update every two weeks instead of every week.

That said, enjoy the chapter.

-X-

It started slowly.

Between the Civil War still raging and the dragons, most people didn't give a lot of attention to the bards' stories. Sure, the Dragonborn was always a popular topic, but it took some time for the ballad of the Great Wolf to spread. And when it did, it was always followed by rumors of someone giving generous donations to the College of Solitude to spread the tale.

So, not many people believed that the great black wolf that followed the Dragonborn died in the fight with the World Devourer and had become the Shepherd of the Worthy. Or rather, they believed it had disappeared, but most believed he simply followed his owner wherever he had gone, or had decided to live in the wild now that the Dragonborn had disappeared.

But then the people started to see. Not the truth, because that was not something they could be forced to do. Whether they be skeptics or fanatics, they didn't believe the song to be true. The skeptics reasoned that no animal could actually be elevated to such a prestigious position, while the fanatics believed only true Nords could be admitted into Sovngarde. No, what people started to see was the silhouette of a great black wolf, lingering in places where many had fallen in battle. At first, the sightings were scarce, but when the rumors started to spread and people started to search for the great wolf, they became incredibly common.

People were not sure if it was really Fenrir, the Great Wolf of the songs. Most thought it was a daedric spirit, maybe some new manifestation of Hircine. It was impossible for anyone that had not met the wolf to recognize him.

Then, Thormund the Thunderer, one of the loyal companions of the Dragonborn, found himself on one of such battlefields.

-X-

Another skirmish between Imperials and Stormcloaks. They were more common lately. No doubt that was because, in his desire to take Markhart, Jarl Ulfric had sacrificed Riften leaving two of the most important passes for Cyrodil in the hands of the Imperials. Or maybe it was because the truce gave General Tullius the time to better organize and train his troops.

Of course, with his presence among the Stormcloak troops, the fight was won even before it started. Still, too many Nords had died in the very short clash.

"Are you alright?" One of the soldiers asked, seeing the giant man staring at the bodies.

"No, brother, I'm not alright. I'm looking at the bodies and the only thing I see is the blood that could have been used against the Thalmor, but is now feeding the worms. How long do we need to fight our brothers and sisters?"

"All the time we need to free Skyrim." Replied the soldier, absolute conviction in his voice.

"And then what? Fight the Dominion? With what army? The men and women that could fight are dying here. The Altmer may reproduce slowly, but we're destroying our ability to grow a new generation of soldiers." He shook his head. "Loki was right. This war is only favoring the elves."

"Then what you-" Started to ask the Stormcloak, before interrupting themselves. "By Shor, the stories were true!"

Thormund looked at the soldier and then followed his line of sight, to find what he had seen that was so distressing. And it was there, on top of a massive boulder, that he saw a great black wolf looking at the bodies of the dead. Nobody could have mistaken the creature for an ordinary, if oversized, wolf. You could feel his otherworldly nature even at a distance and his body looked… not exactly immaterial, but still like it was not completely there. A spirit of some sort, certainly, but of what nature nobody could tell.

Nobody aside for Thormund and a select few others of course. "Fenrir?"

The great wolf's ears stood up, and the muzzle jerked toward the Nord. The soldier right behind Thormund took an involuntary step backward, intimidated by the creature in front of him. Thormund however, could only see the burning orange eyes of the wolf, the very same eyes he had seen so many times. A smile made its way onto his face, as the warrior could see his old friend another time.

The great wolf looked happy too, for a moment. Then his ears went down, and he emitted a long, mournful howl. Thormund understood immediately. He could not remain here for long. He was here on a mission, and he needed to fulfill it. He could not stay with him.

The Nord nodded to the wolf. "It's alright. I understand."

The wolf sent his friend a last, sad look, before turning away from the battlefield. And, as he did so you could see, almost invisible in the light of the day, images of soldiers rising from the ground and following the great wolf.

To Sovngarde.

"By the gods… the bards tell the truth! The Great Wolf is guiding the souls of the worthy to Sovngarde!"

"Yes." Nodded Thormund. "And it's doing a fine job too."

"If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it." Admitted the soldier. "I thought it was Imperial propaganda. The Dragonborn was Thane of Solitude and protected Whiterun against us. Of course, the Imperial dogs would try to use him and his pet against the true sons and daughters of Skyrim. There were rumors about someone paying a hefty sum to make the Ballad…"

"I was the one who paid the bards." Admitted Thormund.

The soldier blinked and looked at the Thunderer. "You? Why?"

"Because it was right." Replied the warrior. "Fenrir paid the ultimate price to save Skyrim and follow his friend till the end. I wanted his sacrifice to be remembered for years to come, after everyone that knows him will be long dead." He laughed. "Of course, if I knew he would manifest so explicitly, I would have saved my money. Seems like the only thing my good intentions did was make people disbelieve."

"So… it's true? The Wolf followed the Dragonborn after he was saved by a fatal wound, and he stole the power of Hircine to help him defeat his enemies?"

"That part is admittedly exaggerated." Smiled Thormund. "Fenrir did have magic that made him faster, stronger, and tougher than any animal. But I don't think he stole it from Hircine, despite the similarities with a werewolf transformation. Loki thought he had just found a way to tap into the same source of strength using his primordial nature as a predator. He could never replicate or test his theory, unfortunately. He wasn't willing to mess with forces so similar to the soul-tainting touch of Hircine."

The Stormcloak soldier looked at Thormund with awe. "It's strange to hear you tell the stories of the Dragonborn, brother Thormund. You're usually much more reserved."

"It was my impression that Loki was not especially liked among the Stormcloaks."

"Well, yes… but some stories wouldn't hurt, right?"

Thormund rose a brow at that, but then shrugged. "I'll tell you some stories when we return to the camp, then. I'm not sure you'll like them: unlike Loki, I'm no storyteller."

That day, at the Stormcloak camp, there were a lot of stories about Loki Andreasson, the Dragonborn. Most of the soldiers only knew him as a legend, an invincible demigod who had slain the World Devourer with sword, spell, and Shouts.

Thormund told another story. A story of a man out of his depth that had exploited every scrap of future knowledge he had and cheated to fuel his ascent to power. A man that more often than not forgot to share important information and acted without consulting with other people, or dropped terrible knowledge without warning and often at inappropriate moments. A man that had been so terrified of his final fight with Alduin that he had tried to avoid the call until he was almost too late, just to grab every opportunity to get a little more power.

Disappointing, in many ways.

But he was also a man that had aided many people, for no discernible reason besides the simple desire to help. A weak man that took the challenge in front of him and overcame it by sheer stubbornness, instead of fleeing. A man that, in the end, made Skyrim a better place.

A different story. Still, a good story.

-X-

Fenrir was sleeping.

He didn't really have anything else to do, these days. After the Black Dragon was killed, the Resting Place had returned to being peaceful. Even if Master Shor had named him Shepherd of the Worthy, it was not like they could actually get lost once they arrived. He didn't really have anything else to do.

The first few days, he ran across the entire place, trying to find lost people or threats to them. Unfortunately, or fortunately, there were none. He quickly became bored, but he didn't dare to enter the Great House where old people were feasting, even if sometimes one of the Old Tongues or Whitemane came to talk to him and give him some pieces of meat. He didn't need it, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

So now he slept right at the side of the Bone Bridge, or near it if he wanted to nap in a different place. He still had work to do, after all.

And so he slept. In his sleep, he dreamed. And in his Dream, he could leave the Resting Place.

In the Dream, time and space were silly concepts, and he could be in many places at once, doing different things. He often found himself dragged to places where humans had died fighting, his presence apparently enough to drag the souls of the worthy toward the Resting Place. That seemed to occupy a big part of the Dream, but he didn't mind. He felt like he was doing the job Master Shor had given him, and sometimes he had been pleasantly surprised. He has seen old Friends, the ones that had yet to come to the Resting Place, and they seemed happy to see him. Unfortunately, he couldn't remain long, because now he was a creature of the Resting Place and he had seen what happened when the dead tried to remain in the land of the living. It was not pretty.

Maybe if Father returned, he could stay with Friends again. Until then, he would remain here.

Father… had not called him in a while. It was strange to think of the human as a Father, he knew, but he could not think of him as anything else. Fenrir could admit that Father had not been the perfect father: he hadn't taught him how to sniff out prey, how to hunt, or many other things that fathers were supposed to teach. He more often than not had left him on his own, confused about what he was supposed to do, but Fenrir had persevered, because he wanted to be a good Son.

And while Father had not been perfect, he was there for him. He had healed him when he was wounded or ill, he shared food with him, and while he had not taught him anything, he had also fully supported anything Fenrir wanted to do. Sure, most of the time he didn't even know what he was doing, because he was busy, but Fenrir knew that if he had decided to not fight and just act like a pet, Father would have loved him regardless.

Of course, Fenrir had used everything he had learned by observing Father be more able to support him. Fenrir had known, deep down, that Father was up against something too big for him to understand. He always smelled of fear, even after he had defeated an enemy. When he saw the Black Dragon for the first time, he understood why fear always seemed to be present in Father's smell. And even if he was now stuck in the Resting Place, Fenrir didn't regret it. Master Shor had given him the choice and he accepted. The fact that he could go to see Father when he was called was just a bonus.

Master Shor… Fenrir liked Master Shor. He reminded him strongly of Father. Maybe that was the reason he liked staying here.

However… Fenrir asked himself if he couldn't see Father without being called. Sure, he wasn't supposed to, but he also wasn't supposed to walk on the land of the living without being called by Father, and he did it anyway. The Dream was strange, after all. Maybe he could…

A little part of the Great Wolf separated from the rest and, in the infinite expanse of the Dream, rose his head to smell. His connection to Father was unbroken. He just needed to find the way.

And so he followed the scent of Father. He had to pass through a very dark place, but his form was unbothered by it. Despite his body being small, he had the strength of all his other bodies combined. He would not be so easily crushed by the Hungry Black.

He still couldn't remain there long. But, if things went bad, he would simply wake up for a second, denying the Hungry Black its prize.

It was unnecessary though. After a long walk, he finally reached a… crack? It was difficult to be sure what it was. It wasn't a visible crack, and he kind of got a headache trying to understand why there was a crack in the middle of nowhere that existed only if you 'looked' at it from the right angle, but there it was, and the smell of Father came strongly from there.

But it was also very small. Big enough to let Father slip in, but not enough for him. If only he could squeeze himself…

Oh right. time and space didn't matter in the Dream. Why should his size? Using the same power he used to transition to his battle form, Fenrir compressed himself to the size of a normal wolf. There, now he was small enough to pass. Without further ado, the Great Wolf slipped inside the crack.

The walk from there was fortunately very short. There was no Hungry Black on the other side, and whatever Hungry Black slipped through the crack was quickly dispersed and devoured by the Star Black on this side. Quickly, the Great Wolf moved away from the crack and followed Father's scent down to another land of the living and to a great city with a giant tower. The smell dispersed here, but it was very strong at a particular point. Fenrir followed, hoping Father was there. He couldn't remain here for long either.

The place where Father's scent was strongest seemed like an inn. Fenrir entered, unbothered by the mortals. They probably couldn't see him.

And there he found Father. He was at a table, laughing and chatting with some younglings. Fenrir was taken by nostalgia. That was exactly the same as what Father had done with him, taking some young pup under his wing and helping them. Sure, these ones didn't look like pups, but Fenrir could smell their inexperience.

The wolf would have loved to watch Father more, but unfortunately, his time was almost over. He sent a mournful whine, for he was not sure when he could return. He could already feel his other parts being stretched thin to cover all the places where the worthy fell. The sound was unheard by almost everyone.

But not by Father. His eyes fell on Fenrir, and the wolf's head shot up. Most mortals couldn't see him, but Father was different. Maybe…?

"… Fenrir?" Asked Father, confused.

Well, that counted as being called, right?

The wolf materialized, still in his small form, and jumped onto Father, licking his face. With his reduced size, though, Father could grab him and put him away, even if he did it with a smile on his face.

"Fenrir! How did you get here? And why are you so small?"

The wolf couldn't answer the first question, but could answer the second. His fur stood up as he channeled a little part of his battle-form.

"Ah, of course. Magic." Smiled Father. "I didn't know you could move here without my help, but I'm glad you did it. I was scared the trip would be dangerous for you… but if you can get here on your own, then I can call you without worries."

That was the reason Father didn't call him? Fenrir was relieved. He thought that Father had forgotten him, but he was just worried. He licked his face.

"Ah, stop that. Fenrir, these are Welf and Lili. Greet them."

The wolf looked at the two young humans -even if the little girl smelled strange- and barked a couple of times, his tail wiggling ferociously.

The little girl sighed and didn't say anything. The human boy with red hair -Fenrir liked red hair, it reminded him of Friend Thormund- did the same, but with a smile.

"Only you could have a wolf that has the same name as Vanagrad."

Fenrir tilted his head, confused.

"I was under the impression that Vanagrad's name was Bete Loga, not Fenrir." Replied Father.

"Yeah, but his Adventurer name before Vanagrad was Fenris." Continued the young man. Fenrir could tell the difference between the two names, but even he could admit they sounded very similar. He looked at Father, asking for an explanation.

"Don't worry, Fenrir, you came first." Father told him, and that was enough. "But since you're here, it's better if we taste some of the dishes, no? Syr, another steak. We have another guest!"

"Coming!" Replied a girl with short grey hair. Something was strange about her, but Fenrir couldn't really place what.

Oh, whatever. He managed to meet Father again, and this place was different from the other anyway. It was normal that some things weren't exactly the same and he could get confused. Better focus on the good things. The smell of meat was, indeed, very good, and Father, after putting him on the floor, was scratching him between the ears.

Life was good.

Last edited: May 23, 2021

Attracting Attentions 1.1

"Sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked Welf, when he gave me the news. "How many people want to have a chat with me?"

It was the day after the defeat of Goliath and the celebration, with the unexpected -but not unwelcome- appearance of Fenrir. And now, Welf said there were people who wanted to see me.

"Lady Hephaestus and my Guild Advisor." Repeated Welf, grinning uncomfortably and scratching his head. "Don't worry, it's nothing serious…"

"Oh, really? And you're sure, why?" I asked, a little more venomous than I should have… but I had hoped that defeating the Goliath would let me Level Up. It was a stupid hope, of course, I was too strong to get a Level from a beefed-up giant. I did get some impressive amount of points in my Abilities, especially in Strength and Endurance… but I had hoped to get something better.

"Ah, well…" Hesitated Welf. "It's because I Leveled Up and got a Skill out of the fight with the Goliath…"

Oh, well, someone got something from that fight at least. "Really? Congratulations. Something useful?"

Welf chuckled. "Well, you can say that. Apparently, I got something called 'Runesmith', which gives me the Mystery Skill if I use glyphs to give power to the item… and it scales with my Smith Skill to boot."

Hmmm…. That was interesting…

"Congratulations." Said Lili. "Seems like Mister Welf doesn't need to come with us in the dungeon anymore."

Uh… right. Welf didn't need to go into the Dungeon anymore. He had everything he needed to make his dream come true.

"Ahah, well, technically yeah, but there is a lot more that Rexen didn't teach me. He still has to teach me how to infuse magic into an object without runes."

"I don't think you need it anymore." I admitted. "I know very little of the Mystery Skill, but it should be able to replicate the enchantments I know. Maybe not exactly the same thing, but I doubt you'll have trouble creating a method close enough."

"Ah, yes… but Lil'e would still need a bodyguard, no? I'm not comfortable letting her down with just you. No offense, boss, but you're just one man and the Dungeon under Riviria gets even worse."

I nodded. "Yes, that's true. And the higher your Level, the better your equipment will be." I grinned when Welf sighed in relief. "Although, if you want to come just because you like it, you should just say it. It's not like I'm going to send you away."

Welf blushed, embarrassed. "Ah, well, thank you. I'll remain in your care then."

Lili mumbled something under her breath that I didn't catch, but I decided to ignore it. If she wants to be tsundere, I'll let her.

"So, who should I see first?"

"Ah, well, my Advisor told me that seeing goddess Hephaestus came first. She can see you later."

I nodded. "Alright. Let's go then." I said, standing up.

"Like, right now?" Asked Welf.

"Sure. Let's not make a lady wait."

Lili bit her lower lip. "Lili doesn't think she should come. It's a private matter between Mister and Lady Hephaestus…"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Said Welf. "You're part of the team, after all."

Lili shook her head. "No, it's better if Lili doesn't come. Lady Hephaestus might not mind, but the Familia might not be so open. I'll just go and buy more supplies for the next expedition in the Dungeon."

Well, someone had to do it after all. "Alright. See you at the Guild?"

Lili nodded. "Yes. You'll need Lili's advice to work with the Guild. I doubt Mister Welf knows how it works."

"Hey, I know something." Argued the smith. "But it's probably better if you're there for us. Misha told me she wanted to see all members of my party if possible…"

Misha… the name was familiar, but it didn't ring a bell.

"Then Lili will be there for sure. We cannot let the Advisor think you leveled up because of a third powerful teammate."

Welf nodded, and I… didn't get what they were saying, not really. Why wouldn't they let her think that? Well, whatever.

"Then it's decided. Let's go now. Better finish this before the night. I have a spar tomorrow and I don't want to be late."

Welf and Lili exchanged a glance at that, and I continued to feel like they were hiding something. But honestly, I didn't care much. I doubted it was something serious.

-X-

The visit to Hephaestus Familia started very smoothly. We arrived at the mansion -more a giant smithy, but close enough-, Welf said I was the one Hephaestus was waiting for, and after someone told her we were there, she received us immediately.

I had to admit, Hephaestus was extremely beautiful… but since I was raised with stories of Hephaestus being an ugly, lame god -in the sense that one of his legs didn't work well, not him being underwhelming, because myth Hephaestus was badass- so I couldn't really appreciate the looks of this one. And no, having an eyepatch didn't really subtract anything to her general looks.

"So you are the one that helped Welf to Level Up." She said, looking at me. "I have to say, I expected someone with better equipment."

I shrugged. I still had the armor I got in the first days here. Maybe it was time to change it. "Equipment isn't anything. I'm mostly a mage."

"Is that so?" Asked Hephaestus, smiling. "You have a powerful build for being a mage, and more equipment than one usually wears. Mages prefer to stay light, since being hit disrupts their spells and cause Ignuus Fatus." She paused, and her eyes lowered. "Can I see your weapon?"

I gave her my sword without saying anything, with sheath and all. The Smith God took the weapon and examined it. "Hmm… a good steel sword, sure, but you cannot possibly have fell the Goliath with this. And the Skill Welf got is surely something you taught him… who are you?"

"A traveler." I replied, without missing a beat. "You can call me Rexen."

Hephaestus' eye narrowed. "That's not your real name."

I shrugged. "No, it's not. To tell the truth, I'm not sure what my name is supposed to be anymore." The name on the Falna on my back could be my real one, but I was not sure, and the failure to reach home could be a simple lack of power, or something deeper. I would find out only by continuing forward.

Welf was giving me a strange, worried look, and Hephaestus had more or less the same look. "You're not lying." She said, before leaning on her chair and sighing. "What a troublesome party member you have found, Welf."

"Ahah… yeah. He's strange and mysterious and a little crazy sometimes… but he's good." Laughed the smith, clearly uncomfortable.

"Strange and crazy, uh?" I said, giving him a stink eye. "Is that what you think of me?"

"I mean, can you really say you're not? You dueled the Goliath after little more than a month and a half in the Dungeon."

I sighed. "Yeah, and I didn't even Level Up from that. I would be more upset if I didn't have that arrangement with the Loki Familia…"

"That's the first time I've heard of that." Interrupted the Smith God. "I thought you were the only member of your Familia."

I sighed and summed up the problem I had right now. Hephaestus didn't seem willing to inquire further… until I spoke about my project.

"Oh, so you're an artisan too." She said, "What kind of project would require you to get so many magic stones?"

I saw Welf sent me a curious glance… so I decided to answer.

"This one." I said, generating an illusion of the magic circle I used to come here.

Hephaestus squinted her eye at the thing, trying to understand it. Welf just stared at it with confusion.

"It's a magic circle." Hephaestus finally said. "What's supposed to do? Magic circles only work for the users."

"This magic circle is not like the others. It's not a personal circle." I made the illusion act, simulating what happened inside it when magicka was poured inside it, until it disappeared and a sphere of light was launched in the sky. "It's a teleportation circle. With it, I can travel amazing distances. Unfortunately, the amount of magical power I can put inside it right now is insufficient. So, I need another power source… and magic stones are exactly why I need them."

The Smith God looked at the entire thing like she wasn't sure she heard it right.

"You're serious." She finally said, after a second. "You're either completely crazy, or the greatest mage to ever exist."

"Ah, I'm not that good. It's just that magic here is far behind." I replied, making the illusion disappear.

"There is no way I can convince you to join my Familia, right?" Asked Hephaestus, completely out of the blue.

I blinked, surprised, but replied instantly. "Afraid not."

"I suppose so." The Smith God sighed. "Then take care of Welf while you're here in Orario. And… good luck."

That sounded like a dismissal. I bowed a little and stood. "Thank you, Lady Hephaestus."

"Stay here for a second, Welf." She continued, as the redhead smith made to stand up too. He sent a glance to me, but of course, he couldn't refuse his goddess.

"See you at the Guild, Welf." I said, getting out. I'm sure she's just going to roast him a bit. Nothing too serious.

-X-

As expected, Welf reached the Guild a couple of minutes after me, so he didn't talk with his goddess too long. Lili came right after him, and so we entered to see Welfs Advisor… who was the short, pink-haired friend of the much more present-in-the-story Eina Tulle. She took us into a room so we could talk in peace… and then the interrogation started.

"So, you're the party who defeated the Goliath?" She asked, with a note block ready.

"Yeah…" I said, eyeing the thing. "Why are you taking notes?"

"The Guild is always interested in High-Class Adventurers, and taking down the Goliath with just three people is the work of a High-Class Adventurer." She replied, her eyes scanning us. "The girl can't be one, because she's registered as a Level 1 supporter of the Soma Familia… so you must be the one who defeated the Goliath. Unless there was someone else that defeated during the fight."

"Well, there were three members of the Loki Familia, but they mostly watched." I replied.

Misha nodded, taking notes. "Can I have the names, so we can ask them to confirm the kill?"

"Sure. They were the Sword Princess Ais Wallenstein, Thousand Elf Lefiya Viridis, and… what's Tionas alias?"

"Amazon." Replied Lili.

I blinked. "Really? The gods called the Amazon warrior 'Amazon'? I thought they had more imagination. Isn't her sister Jormungand?"

"Yeah, maybe they thought it suited her well?" Questioned Welf. "She seems pretty enthusiastic about fighting."

I snorted. "Bah."

"We'll ask them to confirm your story." Interrupted Misha, looking a little more unsure. "Let us continue. Mister, you're not a registered Adventurer. In fact, I'm pretty sure nobody has ever seen you here. Can you explain why?"

"I don't have a Familia here in Orario. My god is very far away. I thought that it wasn't worth trying to register as an Adventurer without a Familia."

Misha nodded. "I see. It's something that happens commonly enough. But why didn't you join another Familia? Your Falna cannot grow without a god to update it."

I almost smirked, but I contained myself. No sense in telling her that I had my own ways to update my Falna. "Unfortunately, the forbiddance on the change of Familia between the first year of receiving a Falna has not been lifted yet. I'm unable to change my Familia for now."

Misha stopped writing. "You're telling me you have just recently received a Falna?"

"Yes."

"But… that's impossible. If that was the truth, you should be Level 1!"

I nodded. "Correct. I can prove it, of course. You want to see my Falna?"

The young woman suddenly looked bashful. "I… I mean, it would help dissipate the doubts, but a Falna is something deeply personal. You shouldn't show it to others…"

"You just have to confirm I'm Level 1." I pointed out. "You don't need to read the rest. If you can even read the divine language, of course. I thought it was pretty difficult to understand."

Misha nodded. "Yes, it is difficult and I can't read it very well. But… it's just common sense! Even if very few people can read it, they can still see your Abilities."

"Well, you're an Advisor. I doubt you're going to tell someone else." I smiled, and she blushed. "I think I can trust you to look at it."

"Ah… alright." She said.

I took my armor off and raised my shirt so she could see my back. She remained silent for a second… then she spoke.

"You really are Level 1…" She whispered. "But what language is that? It doesn't seem to be the divine language…"

"Ah, it's just something my god did to hide my Falna." I lied easily. "He distorted the words to make it more difficult to read. It's just a trick."

"Ah… alright." Said Misha while I put my armor back on. "But, if you really are Level 1… how did you defeat the Goliath?"

Hmmm… better give her a demonstration. "With magic. Watch."

-X-

Misha Flott had expected… alright, she didn't know what to expect from Welf's party. When he had told her that he had found one, part of her was relieved, because it meant that he would stop bothering her for it. On the other hand, when he refused to tell her who the members of the party were, she had grown wary. And she had done a bit of investigation.

It hadn't taken long to find out the members. A young supporter girl and a tall human, far older than both of the other party members. At first, she had feared that the old man was using the younger two for some plot, but it became clear very soon that no, that didn't seem to be the case. On the contrary, Welf seemed very happy with the arrangement and returned from the Dungeon with plenty of materials and magic stones. She still investigated a bit more, just to be sure.

The girl was easy to find. Level 1, supporter, member of the Soma Familia. The Soma didn't have a good reputation in the guild, but she didn't look as desperate as the others, so maybe she was different.

The man was a complete mystery. He didn't appear in any document inside the Guild, nobody had ever seen him, and what she was able to find out is that he appeared a month and something ago and started adventuring. The Guild frowned on people going into the Dungeon without an Advisor or using the Guild to sell the magic stones, but it was not like they could stop them, so she had sort of drawn a blank on that. Until something outrageous happened, she was just going to let Welf do what he wanted. He didn't seem in danger anyway.

Then the news that he had hit Level 2 and had done so by participating in a battle with the Goliath, the Floor Boss of the Seventeenth Floor arrived, and she just had to meet the mysterious stranger that was the last member of his party.

He was nothing like she expected him to be. Instead of remaining silent and not revealing anything, he had been pretty open about the whole thing, answered all her questions, and he even let her look at his Falna! Nothing about him made sense! And now, he was ready to show her how he defeated the Goliath, in this very room. She had no idea how he planned to do so, and was half-tempted to stop him before he demolished the Guild with a single, powerful spell, but curiosity won over prudence so she didn't say anything.

She regretted that immediately. As his face focused on his raised hand, an overwhelming pressure started to crush her from all sides. She tried desperately to breathe, but the air was as dense as jelly and she was not able to push it down. She tried to squirm, but it was like she was paralyzed. She was going to…

"Mister, stop!" Shouted the Soma girl. Rexen, the mister in question, blinked, and the pressure disappeared.

"Sorry?" He said, sounding uncertain of what he had done wrong.

"Man, you have to warn people when you are going to do something like that!" Exclaimed Welf. "You nearly scared Miss Flott to death."

The man looked at her. Fortunately, she was already sitting, or her knees would have betrayed her. What had just hit her?

"Ah, sorry. I knew that people with Magic could feel the gathering of magical power, but I didn't know even people without could. My bad." This time he sounded really apologetic, which she could appreciate, but…

Wait a second… Did he say that he was just gathering magical power?

"What was Mister trying to do, anyway?" Asked the Soma girl. "Mister, you need to be cautious. This building is sturdy, but it can't take Mister's full power."

Rexen scoffed. "I'm not an idiot, Lili. At most, I'd have contained my magic. But I was probably going for an illusion. The ones that feel real are expensive to make."

His companions seemed mollified by that. Misha, on the other hand, not so much. He didn't even use a spell! He was just preparing to cast it! And it still felt like she was going to be crushed by invisible coils. This man was absurdly dangerous.

"I hope that's enough to convince you that I'm a real deal, Miss Flott." Continued the human. "If you're willing, I can try to cast my spell again. Maybe if you're prepared-"

"No!" Squealed Misha, terrified by the possibility. "No, it's quite alright. I'll notify the Guild that you're an unaffiliated Adventurer who still has to find a new Familia. It's rare, but they exist."

"Alright." Nodded the man. "And if possible, I'd prefer if the Guild didn't spread the news of my victory over the Goliath. I don't want to be assaulted by people wanting me in their Familia. Things could get… unpleasant."

Flashes of random destruction being rained over Orario filled Misha's mind. "It's all right! As an unaffiliated party, you have to report the defeat of a Monster Rex, but not to claim the victory for yourself. If you don't want fame, you can always let the inhabitants of Riviria take the credit. They kill it regularly anyway."

"Actually, I think Mister should take credit for it." Argued Lili. She got a confused gaze from Rexen and Welf.

"Why?" Asked the man.

"So Mister will have the opportunity to expand the party. Even with Mister Welf at Level 2, we're not strong enough to descend into the Lower Floors. We need at least one more member before we risk going deeper."

Misha nodded, suddenly in her playground. "Lili is right. You're surely a formidable Adventurer, but only three people, with one being Level 1 and the other being Level 2 are absolutely insufficient for the Lower Floors. The Amphisbaena is known to roam, and it's an opponent you cannot fight without risks."

Rexen frowned. "The Amphisbaena? You mean the next Monster Rex?"

Misha nodded again. "Yes. It normally inhabits the Twenty-seventh Floor, but it's known to climb up to the Twenty-Fifth. It's a Level 5 Monster, Level 6 if the area is full of water. You may be able to survive the encounter, but I doubt the rest of your party can. No offense."

"None taken." Replied Welf. Lili just shrugged.

Rexen was stroking his chin, thinking. "Hmm… I wanted to have a look at the Lower Floors, but… Is the average level of the Monster of the Nineteenth and Twelvth Floors higher than the Middle Floors?"

"Usually. Most monsters are considered Level 2, but Level 3 are not uncommon. The more you descend near the Deep Floors, the more the average level increases. Also, a lot of monsters start to have more varied types of attacks. Sirens and Harpies are one example, but the Lower Floors are also the home of the Green Dragons, who are Level 4 and have a powerful breath attack. And the numbers of monsters you may encounter continue to increase."

Rexen was still frowning, but he had stopped stroking his chin. He must have reached a conclusion. "Sounds too risky. I'll give it a look on my own, before deciding what to do, but if it's as dangerous as it seems, we'll need more people. I have a spell to increase your Abilities, but numbers are numbers."

"You can create more numbers." Pointed out Welf. Misha blinked, confused. What did that mean?"

Rexen dismissed the objection. "Summoning is stupidly costly in terms of magical power, and I can control just a few at the same time anyway. It will not solve the problem." That said, he looked conflicted. "It's worth trying, though. I'll experiment on my own. You two can take this as a vacation."

Welf and Lili had some conflicted expressions, like they were happy that he was thinking about their safety but they were worried he was going to do something stupid.

"In any case, we can think about it after I finish the spar with Ais. Unless you want to come and look at the fight…"

Misha paled. On top of being a powerful mage, he was going to spar with the Sword Princess!?

"Nah, I think I'm going to experiment with my new Skill. I want to make a Magic Sword that doesn't break. Can I have a sample?" Asked Welf.

Rexen nodded. He… how… what was going on!?

"Lili has to help a friend." Said the girl. "Also Lili needs to recover from the fight with the Goliath. Lili is still sore."

Rexen chuckled. "I can heal you if you want."

He could!?

"No, thank you. Lili will bear with it for a day."

Still smiling, Rexen patted the girl on the head. "As you wish, Lili." She seemed to like the contact.

"So… you want me to give your party the credit?" Asked Misha. She needed coffee after this. No, maybe something stronger. Hopefully, Eina will be up for a drink…

Rexen narrowed his eyes for a second, thinking. "Fine. But keep my real Level secret. People will not believe I did what I did if they see that I'm Level 1."

Misha nodded. She could barely believe it and she had seen his Falna. She had to double-check with Loki Familia. "Alright. Thank you for your cooperation."

"My pleasure, Miss Flott." Replied Rexen with a warm smile, making her blush again. "I hope we'll see each other again."

"Ah, yes, if you want…" She stuttered, as the party got out of the room. As they did, she slapped her face.

Focus, Misha Flott. It's not time for fantasies. You had a job to do.

Attracting Attentions 1.2

The following day, with Welf and Lili busy, I descended into the Dungeon to meet Ais. Well, 'descended' isn't the right word, since I didn't physically travel down the Dungeon killing scores of monsters. I would need all the strength I could spare and just walking down to the Eighteenth Floor would, at the very least, stress me. No, I wanted to fight with all the calm I was capable of.

So I teleported.

I actually had to try a couple of times to do that. The Dungeon, for some reason, didn't register as the same 'plane' as the rest of the world. At least, my magic considered it something like a plane of the Oblivion or, more accurately, a demi-plane of sorts. Very interesting, all things considered. I could use that to discern at least part of the nature of the Dungeon… but it wasn't like I could actually do anything about it unless I reached the end of the Dungeon or wherever its consciousness was, if it even had something like a core or a brain. So, I archived it somewhere in my brain and simply modified the spell to open a dimensional portal instead of just a portal.

Doing so, I arrived directly at the Eighteenth Floor without having to fight a single monster.

This means that I was plenty early and I could take my time to recover my magicka before Ais arrived.

When she did, I had long since recovered the magicka I had spent. I was in deep meditation, focusing on my breath so the techniques I was going to use were as efficient as possible. Getting the respiration right was the most crucial part of the entire thing, especially for the Dragonknight techniques. I was going to mainly use them, since the Shehai Shen She Ru was plainly unfair and I couldn't use the Thu'um without attracting the wrath of the Dungeon.

"You're early." Said the blonde girl.

Without opening my eyes, I gave her a little smile. "I like being early."

"I didn't see you on the way." Continued Ais, and at that, I opened my eyes and gave her a surprised look. I didn't take her as a chatty one. "How long were you waiting?"

"Not as long as you can think." I said, standing up with a chuckle. "I still have a few tricks to up my sleeve."

Now she was frowning at me. Well, if that lite fold between her brows could be considered a frown. "You're a powerful mage." She said, "High Level 4, I think. Why didn't you use your magic against Raul?"

"I was unblessed. It would have been too strange for me to show powerful magic." I replied, starting to stretch my arms. "I decided to limit myself to… relatively mundane skills."

She didn't say anything, but she seemed to understand. Maybe. So, now it was my turn to ask questions.

"Tell me, do you have another reason to fight me aside… well, I assume you feel uneasy in my presence. Is that the only reason?"

Ais didn't answer immediately, her eyes lost in the distance. Then… "At the start, yes." She said, "But then I saw your sword style… I thought you could teach me how to be a better swordswoman."

"Hmm, I'm afraid my sword style is not easy to learn, if it's even possible. And if it is possible, I don't have the time to teach it to you. But I can give you some pointers… if you don't speedblitz me instantly."

Ais blinked. "Speedblitz?"

Uh, right. Internet jargon. "It's a term for overwhelming your opponent with superior speed. Don't worry about it."

She just nodded. "I'm sorry. Our difference in level makes the spar… difficult."

"Yeah, but I'm nothing if not resourceful." I said, starting to summon the strength -and a bunch of other characteristics- from parallel worlds using Shadow Magic. Ais noticed and stiffened… probably because she could see shadows starting to pool toward me. "You don't need to hold back. Well… just enough to not kill me, at least."

She nodded and took out her sword… rapier… whatever it was. "Understood." Her eyes, suddenly focused, wavered. "Why are you doing this?"

"Pardon?" I asked, summoning an unenhanced ebony sword. Normal steel was not going to cut it, but enchantments were unfair. Fortunately, I killed my fair share of Draugr Deathlords.

"Why did you agree to spar with me?"

I shrugged, shadows returning to normal as I finished buffing myself. "No reason in particular, really. You asked, and I don't have a valid reason not to. Also, I got to let loose a little. I want to see how good I really am."

Ais nodded again, returning to focus. "You're a very kind person."

I chuckled. "I consider myself a little above average, yes. I'm not sure you're going to think that after this spar, though." I raised my sword, and Ais' eyes narrowed. "Five minutes. After that, my enhancements will fade and I won't be a good sparring partner. Ready?"

She nodded. I grabbed my sword with both hands.

Then we started to fight.

-X-

Ais was not sure what she expected from this spar. In theory, Rexen's Level was so much lower than hers that calling it spar would have been almost criminal. Bullying was more in line with what it would have looked like if someone that didn't know Rexen looked in from the outside.

Still, when he lowered himself into a stance she didn't recognize, she couldn't help but feel a shiver down her back. He had already matched Raul one time, despite being unblessed. He would not be able to do the same with her, she was not called the Sword Princess for nothing, but he had powerful, versatile magic of his own. She had seen the shadows in the area pool around him, similar yet different from the time he had faced the Goliath. She couldn't exclude he had done something unexpected.

Especially after the five minutes warning. He clearly had something in min-

Suddenly, Rexen charged, and he was fast. Ais eyes widened when she realized he was fast enough to match her. His sword swung toward her chest, the strange black sword in his hand barely a blur, and she blocked.

And was pushed away under the strength of the blow.

Ais recovered immediately, and stabbed Desperate forward, aiming for his chest. Thrusts were difficult to block, after all…

So he didn't. He dodged, barely, but he managed to avoid the blade.

There was no doubt. Rexen had used some sort of magic to close the gap between them. He was now… mid Level 5, more or less.

Just like that. No Chant, no preparation aside from those shadows moving strangely. Hell Finegas, but stronger and without losing his mind. All the perks and no weaknesses… aside from the duration. Five minutes.

A useless weakness, for her. It was just a warning he gave her to avoid being cut in half when his magic went off, and she had no intention of killing him anyway. The only thing she could do was fight.

Desperate flashed, a clean cut that would have taken an arm on a lesser opponent, but Rexen swung his sword to intercept, and the blades clashed with a resounding clang. Whatever that sword was made of, it was strong. It could clash against a Durandal weapon without breaking. Rexens technique helped, sure, but it still needed to be harder than steel. Adamantite, probably.

And while she was waiting for his next move, a fist made of rock emerged from the ground and slammed against her midsection like a bullet.

Ais had managed to move her leg in the way and knee the upcoming projectile before it could hit her full on, but it still hurt. Was that another kind of magic? Probably, because when his next sword strike arrived, it was coated in flames. He had already shown her that, so she was not too surprised, but still. What could his magic actually do?

Not the time. She was being too passive in this fight. She needed to force him to show his hand, not letting him dictate the pace of the combat.

Ais spun, slashing with her weapon in a vortex of steel, not unlike the one she could create with Ariel. Unfortunately, Rexen fell into the defensive stance he already used against Raul, and every strike was blocked, deflected, or otherwise parried. Ais frowned. She was faster than him despite his magic, but they were mostly equal in every other area and he was larger and heavier than her. Maybe Tiona would be able to push him around, but her attacks couldn't even make him flinch. She needed to take advantage of her speed. She jumped away, trying to make space.

And a whip of fire and obsidian shot out from Rexen's hand and grabbed her ankle. It was not a very powerful attack, it just tickled her, but she doubted he had used it to hurt her.

"Get over here!" He shouted with a manic grin, giving a mighty pull to the chain. Ais instantly slashed with Desperate, cutting the magic in two, but the damage was done. That had given Rexen enough time to catch her and aim a stab at her chest.

Purely by instinct, Ais put her sword in the way of the attack, and, for a second, she had the impression that she had parried not one but five different thrusts. Dangerous. Had she tried to deflect them instead of blocking them, the other attacks could have reached her.

Ais' frown deepened. He had just used some sword technique… and she had not understood how he had done it. Maybe she needed to push harder.

So she did. She tried to move as fast as she could, Desperate darting in every direction as she tried to pierce Rexen's defenses. To no avail, his defense was as solid as Gareth's. Oh, she managed to land a few strikes, but most glancing hits that were absorbed by some sort of… magical armor? She was not sure, it looked like a layer of flaming energy right over his body. Every time she hit, she felt a spike of heat reach her, but fortunately, her Level 5 Endurance was enough to let her ignore it.

Then, as she disengaged again, trying to find a way to take advantage of her speed since in close combat she was not having much luck, Rexen surprised her again. She saw him take a deep breath and she immediately could feel something was going to happen.

"Tempest!" She shouted, letting the wind erupt around her, ready to block whatever was going to arrive. Just in time.

Flames hotter than most dragons' breath flooded the area around her, but were deflected by her magic, Ariel. The area not immediately around her was not so lucky. The grass got vaporized, the ground boiled, and some stray flame reached the nearby trees, reducing them to smoldering embers in barely a second.

"Ah, sorry for that. I just missed breathing fire and I wanted to see if this worked too."

Ais narrowed her eyes toward Rexen, who was smiling casually after having incinerated everything around her. She was tense now. Not because of the power of the attack, even if it was impressive. No, it was for another reason, the same reason she was able to react so quickly. She recognized the way he had taken his breath, expanding his chest and taking his head back slightly. Exactly like a…

"Dragon." She murmured. Apparently, he heard that, because his smile widened.

"I was not called Dragonborn for nothing."

That was… concerning. Still, the way he had said that he missed breathing fire…

"You're holding back." She accused him.

"Yeah, sorry." He replied, not sounding apologetic in the slightest. "I could go further, but it would attract monsters. With you here, I doubt it would be a problem for me, but I don't think Riviria has a lot of Level 5's."

"Hm." That was her only reply. The wind started to blow faster.

"Seems like I pissed you off." He said. Did he? Maybe. Or she was just frustrated that she had still not grasped his secret. "Very well. I didn't want to do this, but…"

He returned to a more offensive stance and charged. Ais prepared to block… and suddenly, she couldn't predict where Rexen was aiming. His body didn't send any signal. No, not really. He was, but he was sending a lot of contradictory signals at the same time, and she couldn't discern the real ones from the fakes.

She put all her focus on him. She looked at his eyes, at his posture, at the way the armor bent to follow his muscles, at his footing. There had to be a clue, a way to determine his true mark. She couldn't find it. Still, she didn't waver. She looked, and waited until he was in reach…

And, not through her eyes, but pure instinct, she moved Desperate high, to cover her neck. Rexen's sword bounced on her weapon, as the attack was light, not aimed to truly wound as it was to graze.

Still, it was so unexpected, for both of them, that they both stopped for a second.

"You blocked that."

Ais nodded, and tilted her head to the side, confused. "Shouldn't I have?"

"You shouldn't have been able to." Replied Rexen. "Did you see through the Gaze of Confusion?"

Was that the name of… whatever he had done? "No? I moved instinctually."

Rexen narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. "Hmmm. Two minutes before my enhancements wear off. Maybe I can teach you something."

Ais perked up. "Really?"

"Maybe. At least I can teach you how to defend against my supposedly unblockable attacks. It's a technique I have not used in combat so far, so I'm not sure I can teach you. But I can try."

Ais nodded. "Please."

Rexen fell into a stance again. "I'll use the Gaze of Confusion again. If you manage to block all my attacks, I'll go with the Threat of Mirrors or the Vectory Cynet. If you manage to block even that… well, I have something special."

Ais immediately returned to a state of utter focus. She had to push her senses to the limit.

"Remember: your sword is not a tool. It's not a weapon. It's you." Said Rexen. It almost managed to distract her, but then he started attacking, and her attention snapped to the sword that absolutely didn't want to be traced. Her instincts flared and deflected the attack.

"You're a sword. Your sword is you. You must be one with your blade." Rexen continued to recite, moving his sword even faster, still making it almost impossible to follow. "Only when you are one, will you be unparalleled."

It almost sounded like a Chant, but there was no sign of magic being used. Still… the words helped her focus, making her mind drift into a sort of trance where nothing existed, except her, Rexen, and their weapons… no, not even that. Because she was her sword. Her sword was her…

"Vectory Cynet!" Exclaimed Rexen, moving his longsword through an impossible angle. She didn't know how he did that, but it was not important. The important part was to block it.

Desperate flowed through the air. Her eyes couldn't follow the blade moving in impossible ways, but she could feel it. If she moved just right…

The blades impacted with enough force to sway grass several meters around them. Ais blinked. Did… did she do it?

Rexen smiled. "Congratulations."

Ais smiled. She did it! She was not sure how, but she had. She had made another step to becoming strong.

Rexen disengaged his blade. "Now, the true test."

Ais felt her hair stand up. She had felt something similar, when Rexen had displayed his Ephemeral Feint. Just, this time, it felt much worse.

Ais fell into the trance-like state she had used to block his attack so far, not knowing what to expect, but not filled with confidence. Whatever it was, she was going to have a headache afterward.

Rexen moved slowly. He didn't charge, he didn't use magic. He remained in the same spot. He just raised his sword high, and then remained there for a second.

"Sword. Tremor."

The sword fell, and the world broke.

The sword reached for her. But Rexen didn't move. He was still there, but it was like reality itself was folding to let his sword hit her despite the distance. Worse, the sword reached one, two, three, four… six times. Six simultaneous attacks, delivered from an impossible distance, and as difficult to follow as the others. That had to be the peak of what his sword style could do. If not, she feared what that peak looked like.

Still, she ignored that feeling to focus on the attack. She could feel, somehow, the incoming attacks. She just needed to…

Her body moved on its own. Desperate sang as he impacted every impossible attack, the metal screeching as it weathered the assault and deflected the… she didn't have a name for them. But she nonetheless defended against them.

As she did, the world returned to normal. She felt something wet on her arm, and looking down, she saw a little cut. She had missed one.

Rexen laughed. "Amazing, Ais. Seems like they didn't call you Sword Princess for nothing."

"I missed one." She said, pouting a little.

"Yes, but you missed one in the same way you could miss a strike for an opponent because he's faster than you. You still defended. That's what counts. And thanks to you, I have a better idea on how to use the technique myself."

That made her feel a little better. She nodded, a little smile formed on her lips.

"Thirty seconds to go, and we don't have a clear winner in this spar." Continued Rexen. "You want the last clash?"

She didn't even hesitate. "Tempest!"

Wind surged, and Ais flashed toward Rexen as her magic propelled her. He had managed to deal with her this far, he could take this last hit. Maybe he had some other trick to show her.

"Lil Rafaga!"

Turns out, he did have a trick. Just not what she expected.

"Dispel!" Shouted Rexen as his eyes shone silver. As he did, the wind Ariel had generated dissipated harmlessly.

Ais' eyes widened as she realized that Rexen could cancel magic with nothing but a word. But it was something to worry about later. The sudden lack of propulsion made her entire body come to an abrupt stop. She rolled, covering the last meters before raising and swinging Desperate with all the speed she could muster. Also, since the magic Rexen had used was not actively preventing her from using her magic, but had just dispersed the accumulated wind, she called the wind again. No Chant this time. The effect was weaker, but she needed the speed.

Of course, it couldn't be so simple. Rexen's eyes narrowed, and his sword blurred into position, just in the right way to deflect her sword away from him. Undeterred, Ais used Ariel to spin faster than she had ever done before, kicking Rexen in the chest with all the power she could impress on her limb.

The attack hit true… and was met by shimmering dragon scales, materializing right over his armor. The scales absorbed a considerable part of the force behind the strike, and Rexen didn't even flinch when the rest of the impact hammered him. His eyes widened again. She was not Bete, but that kick could have killed a Level 4 monster.

Rexen used her surprise to grab her ankle and throw her against a tree. She flipped mid-air and landed on the trunk on her feet. She bent her legs and jumped, ready to strike agai-

"Stop!" Shouted Rexen, raising his hand. Ais immediately arrested her momentum and skid on the ground, stopping just a couple of steps from the man.

"Aaaaand done." He said, as shadows left his body. "Sorry, we have to stop here. I think you cracked my ribs with that kick. My spell evidently can't replicate everything a First Class Adventurer can do."

Ais nodded. Made sense. "You need healing?"

"I'm good." He replied, putting a hand on his ribs. A soft white light started suffusing the area where the hand touched. "Just a minute to fix the problem. I hope this spar was instructive for you, Ais."

"It was… Rexen." She bowed a little. It seemed appropriate.

"Good. Want a lift home? I can open a portal right in front of the Twilight Manor."

Well, it wouldn't be that bad. She did promise Tiona and Tione to go with the-

Wait, what?

Attracting Attentions 1.3

I have to admit, of all the things I was expecting to happen between the defeat of the Goliath and the first expedition with Loki Familia. In no particular order; sparring with Ais, finding Bell somewhere, being pestered by people that wanted to know how I defeated the Goliath with just three people, envious Adventurers spewing bullshit on me and Freya making a move. Out of all of that, this was unexpected.

"Sooo… why did you call me here? I thought the expedition was still a couple of weeks away."

Being in front of Finn, Gareth and Riveria was not exactly scary, but I wasn't sure of what they wanted so I was just a little nervous. I hoped that, since the golden trio had seen me take down the Goliath with relative ease I… I dunno, felt reassured? I didn't really do that to impress them, really.

"Well, first of all, we want to congratulate you for your… impressive display against the Monster Rex." Said Finn. "The girls were very enthusiastic when they described it."

I sent a glance to Riveria, seeing if she was going to show any sign that Lefiya had any less generous words- no, her poker face was unbreakable. "Thank you."

"The Goliath is not an easy foe." Commented Gareth. "And the way you dealt with it… Tiona and Ais both agree you are stronger than you were when fighting Raul. Did you meet your Spirit?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm afraid that I won't see him anytime soon."

"Hmmm." Commented the dwarf. "I suppose it has to do with that strange magic of yours."

I just nodded. Didn't want to explain too much, after all.

"Of course, congratulating you is not the only reason we called you here." Continued Finn. "At this point, your presence on our next expedition is all but confirmed. With what you displayed, I'm sure we can survive the Lower and Deep Floors easily. No, we're here because we thought we could use your… peculiar talents."

I blinked, confused. "Such as?"

"We did a little research on the members of your party, especially the young man called Welf." Said Riveria. "And in doing so we found out the… peculiar Magic Sword he possesses. Fueled by Mind, and with no risk of breaking… something nobody has ever done before. Using glyphs nobody has ever seen before…" She smiled. "It was not hard to connect the two things together."

Alriiiiight? "So you want me to… what? Teach someone of your Familia how to do the same thing? Or just enchant your gear?"

"As tempting as the offer of teaching is, I'm afraid we don't have a member as talented in crafting as your previous student." Admitted Finn. "So, we'll just hire your services as an enchanter."

I narrowed my eyes, unsure. "Well, I don't exactly mind, but what do I get from this?"

"Knowing your interest in them, we thought you'd like to be paid in high-quality magic stones." Finn simply replied. I grinned.

"Sold. Where do you want me to start?"

Finn seemed a little surprised I accepted the deal so easily, but he didn't miss a beat. "Our weapons, to start. We need all the power we can inside the Dungeon, but the lower leveled members of the Familia also have to level, and they cannot do so with powerful weapons. Besides, most First Class Adventurers are pretty much set on a path, and this will help you find the perfect enchantment."

I stroke my chin. "Well, I always ask for some input, just to be sure. I can do many things, but I suspect you don't want passive enchantments and that could slow your improvements. So I've just got some questions… Gareth, a sustainable increase of power to decimate your opponent in a couple of seconds, or a quick burst of power to kill them instantly?"

"Being overwhelmed by a big number of enemies is bad, lad, and I'm plenty able to fight 'sustainably' on my own. Quick boost of power."

"Noted. Riveria, would you prefer an attack using fire and ice like your standard spell, or something else?"

"I'll take fire and ice, thank you."

"Your choice. Finn…" I paused. "Something that makes you look even more heroic, I guess?"

Finn smiled. "Something like that, yes."

"Good. Can I have the weapons? I'll take two days to make the enchantments, more or less."

The Loki Familia's executives didn't look all that eager. "You have to take the weapons? Can't you apply the enchantments here?"

I scratched my head. "I mean, I can, but I don't have the materials right now. If you're willing to have me in a room inside the Mansion, I can do everything here, but I'll have to set up a workshop… it will cost you more."

They exchanged a glance, and silently reached an agreement. "That will not be necessary. But we would prefer to give you a weapon at a time. So if we need them for some reason, we're not all unarmed."

I nodded. "Seems legit. Alright then. Who wants to start?"

"I'll do it, lad." Replied Gareth, starting to move. "Follow me."

"Good. Ah, warn Ais that I will probably not be able to give her an enchantment. Durandal makes it impossible to engrave the runes on the weapon…" I paused, still half-standing, thinking of the enchanting. "I could be able to do something, but I can't guarantee anything. So, if someone else needs a weapon, it's better to send them first. In general, it's better if I can do people that have some magic as is. The enchantments are easier that way."

Finn nodded. "We'll be sure to tell everyone."

"Perfect. Let's go, Gareth."

The dwarf nodded and started to walk toward… the armory, or maybe his room, I was not sure. I was… excited to flex my crafting skills for the first time in a while, but this entire thing could take a lot of time. And now that I thought about it, I'll also have to rent a room where they could find me.

I just hoped to make it work fast.

-X-

Rexen looked pretty alright for someone that had just finished putting some serious magical power on an ax. Good for the lad, Gareth thought. Also, the runes embedded in the ax with some dark crystalline substance looked very good.

"So, the enchantment on this is double. On one hand, you can use the magic to give more power to your swing, and there is a little side-enchantment to make even the strongest armor cave under its power. On the other hand, you can also just give yourself amazing protection against physical damage. It will do nothing to stop fire or something like that, but it should be able to stop even the strongest blows. It will only last for a couple of seconds though."

Gareth laughed. "Good enough, lad! I'll enjoy using this."

"I suggest a little practice. You cannot activate both runes at the same time. You'll have to learn how to power one and not the other. On a more positive note, since none of them are sustained, you can switch between them pretty fast."

The dwarf nodded. "Training it is, then. How much is it for this weapon?"

Rexen frowned. "I've not done the math yet. I had to use powered gems for the runes though, so it will be pretty high. I'll check my stocks later and I'll give you an estimate when I finish the rest of them. Is that acceptable?"

"Will do, lad. Ah, Riveria asked me to give you her staff."

The lad took the staff and narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to see something. "It could take a while to finish this. I would not want to ruin the work and mess up the flow of magical energy by accident."

"Take your time, lad. Just be sure to send us a warning when you're finished." The dwarf smiled.

"Will do. See you, Gareth."

The warrior got out of the room with a smile. He will enjoy his new toy.

…

"I put on the enchantments as you asked." Said Rexen, looking a little tired. "Fire and ice. A single bolt for each. They should be able to harm high-level monsters without costing you too much power."

Riveria nodded. "I hope they do. Range?"

"One hundred meters, more or less."

"Time to cast?"

"Barely a thought. You just have to focus your Mind on the right rune."

Another nod, this time with a little hum. "Cost?"

"For what it does? Pretty good. But it also scales with your Magic Ability and Mage Skill, so for you, it should be negligible."

Riveria took the newly enchanted staff in her hand with caution. If it was as good as Rexen claimed… "I assume you suggest training."

He shrugged. "A little bit. It should be easier for a true mage to use them anyway. Just don't try to push your magical power into both runes at the same time."

"Will do. Finn said he was going to come and give you his spear as soon as possible. He's very busy, I'm sure you understand."

"Sure. I'll take a nap then."

Riveria got out of the room admiring the craftsmanship of the runes, one made with something that looked like ruby and one that looked like sapphire, modeled into an aesthetically pleasing incision on the sides of her staff. She could almost feel their power.

…

"Alright. I had to improvise with this, so this will cost more."

Finn smiled. "I'll be very happy to pay, if the effect is as good as Gareth and Riveria's."

Rexen grunted. "The effect is basically the one I used on their weapons. A powerful bolt, and a little extra power to a strike. The only difference is that your spear will emit light instead of fire, ice, or just hit extra hard."

Finn smiled. "Light? That surely will do. But I have to ask if the power is as good as others. The fact that you'll have to improvise tells me that it's not something that's usually done with your method."

Rexen sniffed hard. "It's not. But you don't have to worry. The light is not harmless. When it comes into contact with something, it acts like a very focused fire."

"Ah, like Lefiya's Magic. Very good. I'm impressed: you managed to find the right enchantments for us."

"Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what most of your non-mage members usually do, so from now on, tell them to come here personally and tell me what they want."

"I'll see it done." Said the Pallum, grabbing his spear and marveling at the runes made of what looked like diamond engraved into the metal. But he focused on the man in front of him once again, feeling that something was wrong. "Are you well, Rexen? You seem… grumpy."

The human blinked a couple of times. "Am I? Sorry. I didn't sleep much in these… How much time has passed?"

"A couple of days, like you promised."

"Uh. What time is it?"

"Almost sunset. Why?"

Rexen groaned and massaged his temples. "I still have to have dinner. Or lunch, for that matter. I think it's better if you send the next one tomorrow afternoon. I'll have to rest properly."

Finn nodded. "I think it's the least we can do, letting you have a nice dinner and rest a little. Can I suggest the Hostess of Fertility? My goddess loves it."

"I know the Hostess. I like it too." He sighed. "Well, it seems like I have plates to devour. Want to join?"

"If I eat out without warning, Tione will have my head." Chuckled Finn.

"Women." Nodded Rexen sagely. "Oh, well. Whatever."

"I'll be on my way." Said the Pallum, recognizing it was a good time to leave. "Goodbye, Rexen."

"Good night, Finn." He replied. The Pallum let the man at his dinner and deserved rest. He had a spear to test, after all.

…

When Rexen frowned at her, Tione was just a little worried. Just a little.

"You realize I cannot enchant all these knives, right?" He asked, waving at the ten or so knives on his table, including a pair of kukris.

"Why not?" Asked the Amazon with a little smile. "Are you not able to?"

"I'm plenty able, but it would suck up a lot of materials and time that could be used for other weapons." He replied. "At most, I can enchant two of them, and reinforce them too. Just don't lose them."

Tione hummed, thinking about it. "I don't know, I like having a lot of these. They're cheap and easy to replace."

"Well, I hope you don't think enchanted weapons are easy to replace, or cheap. Don't use them if you think of losing them. I'm not a charity."

The Amazon snorted. "Fine, fine. Pick two, reinforce them, and put some enchantment on them. What were you thinking of using?"

"Poison?"

The Amazon blinked, surprised. "You can make poisonous weapons?"

"Yes, but they don't act like real poison." He said, taking the kukris. "They'll just corrode the body of a monster from the inside. Pretty nasty, but not any more than fire or frost."

For a second Tione's mask slipped and she grinned with unrestrained sadism. "I like that."

"I suppose so." He replied, taking a chisel. "Return here tomorrow. It will take more time to do both."

"Alright!" She said, taking all the other daggers and returning to the Manor.

When she returned the day after, the couple of kukris' had runes of emerald and she could almost see a cloud of black poison surrounding them. She loved them already.

…

"I thought you said that you couldn't put runes on my weapon?" Asked Ais, while Rexen inspected Desperate.

"I cannot. But I can put an enchantment on them. It will not be very visible, but it will do its job."

"And that is?"

"Self-sharpening. Durandal weapons can still be dull, right?"

Ais' eyes seemed to shine. "You can do that?"

"I can try?" He said, not looking very sure. "I've never had to work on Durandal weapons, so I'm not sure. Some variant of a self-repair enchantment should work. The good thing is that it doesn't need to be a very strong enchantment because you can wait some time before your weapon finishes sharpening, right? It's more a way to avoid you giving up your weapon to a smith every so often. It's not very flashy, but it's something."

"Please do." She said, with a spark of juvenile enthusiasm in her voice.

"Very well. Come back later. This will not take much time."

…

When Rexen saw the next client, he frowned a little. "You? I thought I told Finn to first bring the Adventurers that had magic."

Bete growled. He didn't like this man. Not at all. He was a stranger that, somehow, had managed to worm his way inside the Familia. Everyone seemed to have good words for him, even Ais! And Raul, which was strange since he was humiliated by Rexen in a fight, but Raul was a wimp, so whatever.

Completely ignoring his aggressive attitude, the man shrugged. "Ah, well, whatever. I'll just put some passive enchantment on-"

"I can use magic." Muttered Bete. He didn't like to think about it, but if this could make him stronger…

"Sorry?"

"You heard me!" Snapped the Werewolf. "I can use magic! I just don't want to!"

The man blinked, surprised. "You have magic? I took you for a pure brawler."

Bete growled again. Being underestimated by a weakling, what a joke. If only this asshole wasn't favored by the executives…

"Alright, so… want to wrap your boots with lightning?"

Despite himself, Loga had to admit that it sounded awesome. "… Fine."

…

"Oh, oh! Can you make me the same enchantment that you give to the old man Gareth? It was awesome!"

Rexen sighed at the exuberance of the younger of the Amazon twins. "No, Tiona, I cannot. Because you don't have magic to fuel the enchantment. I'll have to put on something more passive."

"Like something to make me hit even harder?" She asked, a smile growing from one side of her face to another.

"It will slow your growth. No, something different…" He paused, looking at her weapon, Urga, with strange eyes, like he was thinking of something he could barely remember.

"Rexen?" She asked after a minute of solid silence.

The man blinked. "Sorry, lost in thought. I was thinking about the enchantment I made for Ais. In her case, it was auto-sharpening. Would you like an enchantment to make your weapon very resistant to damage, and self-repairing to boot?"

Tiona's eyes seemed to emit rays of hope. "You mean I will not have to spend money to repair it anymore?"

"That would be the plan, yes. I'll have to use alchemy to make the weapon more resistant before applying the enchantment, though: it will not help if it's completely destroyed. And of course, I cannot make it Durandal, so you'll still have to be cautious-"

"It's okay! Thank you!" The Amazon tried to hug him, but the man managed to keep her at distance using his superior reach.

"Yeah, yeah. Come… tomorrow. This will take a while."

"See you later!"

The next day, she received Urga with a shiny new exterior of silver, to 'prevent corrosion', and a self-repair enchantment so she'll never have to repair it. Good thing too, because the weapon was expensive. Tiona walked away with a certain spring in her step.

…

"I'll admit, I'm not sure what to put on your weapon."

Raul sighed. He expected something like that. "Is there nothing you can do?"

"There is plenty I can do, but everything that will help you will also slow your growth." Said Rexen. "And just giving your weapon a self-sharpening or self-repairing power will not help. You don't rely on it, am I right?"

Raul scratched his head. "Yeah. I'm more of a weapon generalist."

"I can admire that." Said the man. "I'm a weapon generalist myself. Not really a master of all weapons, but I know how to use a good chunk of them. The problem is that your lack of specialization makes it really hard for me to decide what to do with this."

Raul flinched.

"There is strength in versatility." He continued, unaware of Raul's reaction. "You can say my specialization is being a good generalist, if you want. I'm more a mage than anything else, but I'm also a crafter, a warrior, a scholar, and I can make a good stealth specialist if I want. You could be the same, but you lack magic. If you had that, I would have a better idea of what to do."

"Sorry." Murmured Raul.

"Don't be sorry. It's a good challenge." He tapped his fingers on the table repeatedly. "Alright, I have an idea, but it's not going to make you stronger, per se. So, when we go on the expedition, I'm going to see if I can teach you magic."

"I… don't have an open slot for magic." Admitted Raul, crestfallen.

"That will not stop me. But that's a matter for another day." He said. "I'll try to put a regeneration enchantment on this. If it works, you'll slowly heal as time passes. Nothing fast, I've never done something like this and I'm not even sure if it's fully possible. But it will save you some potions and with a little luck, it will stop you from dying. Just… don't get cocky because of this, okay?"

Raul nodded fervently. Despite the uncertainty, it sounded like a good idea to have a way to heal outside potions. At least, he could probably protect his squad better.

"I can probably squeeze a Feather enchantment on this too. It should reduce the weight of everything you carry. Sound good?"

… Just when he thought he could be something more than a glorified supporter. "It… should be good."

"Great. See you later."

-X-

After Raul, the rest of the members of Loki's Famillia became a bit of a blur. They had nothing unique or challenging for me. So I lost my sense of time while doing their requests. Magic runes for mages, magic runes for not-mages that could still use magic, basic reinforcements to members of the Familia that didn't have magic at all but wanted to live…

I was starting to get annoyed by the lack of imagination most of them had. A little hypocritical, considering that most of the enchantments I did for myself and my friends in Skyrim were the most banal, boring shit you can imagine, but in my defense, I needed to survive there.

Ah, someone was knocking. The next member, then. "Enter." I said, turning to face them… and was promptly confused. "Finn? What are you doing here? I already enchanted your weapon."

"You did." The Pallum smiled. "And you did a great job. Everyone thinks I look very heroic, with my spear emitting light. But I'm not here to enchant my weapon. I'm here to warn you that the expedition will be in a couple of days."

I blinked. "Really? I'll have to finish the last weapon before then."

"There is no need. You enchanted every weapon in the Familia."

I frowned, confused. "I did? You'll have to forgive me if I sound dubious, but after a while, the requests became all the same."

Finn chuckled. "Understandable. Rest assured, you did enchant all of them. You can rest until the expedition."

"Oh thank God." I said, my entire body relaxing. "Any more protection enchantments and I would have exploded."

"That would be annoying. Everyone wants you to see your magic. Riveria especially."

"Yeah, yeah. I will blow your minds. Thank you for warning me… now I'm going to sleep for a day and then eat like three men."

"Do that and come to us at your peak, Rexen." Smiled Finn, eagerly. "We'll be waiting for you."

I exchanged one last goodbye and as he got out I teleported to the Refuge. I really needed to rest.

Attracting Attentions 1.4

Well, turns out I had the sensation that the trademarks of this story were wrong was right. For some blasted reason, I completely forgot to add this chapter here on Spacebattles, while it turns it's there in the . There is not much here except some fluff, but it helps to showcase some character interaction. Nothing deal-breaking for the story, but still, I wrote this and so you have to read it. Take it as… a gift? Mid-August is holiday here in Italy, I'm not sure about the rest of the world though. So… double chapter to celebrate?

Well, whatever. Enjoy.

-X-

When I joined the Loki Familia expedition, just outside the Dungeon, I was greeted… warmly, to say at least. Even Bete, who didn't like anyone, limited himself to looking away when I arrived. Asshole.

Yes, I did know his tragic backstory -clan killed by a monster and the Familia killed too, or something like that, it was not in the Sword Oratoria manga but you heard voices on the internet- but that didn't excuse him from being an asshole. There were more productive ways to stop weak people from getting killed than being a raging cunt.

"Seems like we are all there." Said Finn with a smile. "Well, most of you probably already know this, but this is Rexen. He'll come with us during this expedition. Until we're down there, you'll have to treat him as a member of the Familia, and if you do, maybe he'll use his stupidly versatile magic to help you out."

"No promises." I smiled, causing a wave of laughs.

"More seriously, he's very competent, so you don't have to worry about him. But Rexen, please discuss with us where you want to be placed. We know you can handle most positions, but you're the only one that fully knows what you're capable of."

"I'll keep that in mind. Since we're talking about positioning, I have to ask: is there a reason why we should pass through the Upper and Middle Floors?"

Several people sent me a confused look. Legit reaction, considering the question. Finn did too, but after a second his eyes became calculating. He couldn't have seen through my question, but he was expecting something. "You mean aside from the fact that they're between us and the Lower Floors?"

"Yes. For example, is there some Level 1 that needs some experience on the Upper Floors?"

Finn shook his head. "No, we don't bring them into expeditions in the Lower Floors. We can manage powerful monsters with Level 2 and tactics, but Level 1 will instantly crumble against a Level 3 monster."

"So passing through the Upper and Middle Floors is a colossal waste of time, right?"

"You can say that, yes. Do you have something in mind?"

I grinned madly and raised a hand, designing a circle in the air with the tip of my fingers.

Loki Familia jumped when a circle of silvery energy surrounded them.

"Please stay inside the circle, unless you want the pieces outside it to fall off." I casually said, prompting most of the Familia to clump together like the borders of the magical circle were made of plutonium.

"What-?" Asked someone, before I focused my magic, and the unformed mass of magical energy defined itself, slowly taking the form of a more conventional magic circle. Then, when it was completed, I closed my hand.

The moment I did, the landscape changed too. No more were we in the middle of a city, in front of the enormous Babylon tower. Now, we were in a clearing in the middle of a forest.

"Where are we?" Asked a voice. Most of the Familia was looking around, mouth agape. It wouldn't be long before they managed to recognize the place.

I opened my arms, grinning like a maniac. "Welcome to the Eighteenth Floor."

-X-

It took a while to calm down most of the Familia, because it's not every day you see teleportation. It was not exactly a common power, not even in the Elder Scrolls universe. But there is was more a matter of 'teleportation, it must be a great mage' more than 'oh my gods what the hell happened mybraincannottakethis'.

After that, the Familia continued as nothing had happened… aside from the several gazes of marvel in several of their members.

"Tell me Rexen, that thing that you did before, that circle of teleportation… could you bring us even deeper, or you're limited by distance?"

Of course, that didn't stop the executives to ask questions, as Finn was doing right now.

"It's not limited by distance." I replied, generating a little illusion to better explain the inner mechanism of my spell. "It works by 'shortening' the distance between two points until they're basically the same. Floor Eighteen or Floor Fifty, it makes no difference." I illustrated the concept by showing them… well, a wormhole. "It's costly magic, especially for so many people, so I'll not be in top shape until we rest for the night, and I have no way to see if there are monsters on the other side, so I will not open it in any other place than a safe zone, but I can bring you deeper if I wanted. And if I've been there before. It's the only requirement for the magic to work."

"Requirement!" Shouted Gareth before laughing. "I'd say it's the only thing making that spell even remotely fair. At least you have to get there before reaching the deeper Floors!"

"I will not get there via magic anyway. I don't want to teleport into a Floor just to be killed by the monster in the next. But after this expedition, I will know what Floors are the Floors better suited for me."

"You know, you could just make people pay to get into the lower Floors." Said Finn. "I know I would pay lots of money to cut the time required to reach the Deep Floors."

"True, but it will not be as fun." I replied with a grin. "Also, most Adventurers are Level 1 and never go beyond the Upper Floors, and the ones that go the Deep Floors could get strange ideas on how to get my services for free." I shook my head. "No, thank you. I'll just use my magic to get rich on my own."

"A reasonable concern." Admitted Riveria. "Most gods are not very subtle. They would just try to grab you, and that would cause problems."

"Mostly because you lad is just going to smash their faces open." Laughed Gareth again. "People don't expect an unknown Level 1 to be able to fight with a Level 5. Ais said your spar was 'interesting', and she gained several points in Agility and Magic from it. She didn't go into detail, but it must have been fun to watch."

"She gained Magic? Weird. Sure, the Shehai Shen She Ru is as much a martial art as a spiritual path, but I didn't think she would get magic from learning how to defend against it."

"And where did you learn that martial art?" Asked Finn. "I've never heard of it."

"I knew a lady that taught me." I replied. "Fantastic swordswoman, deeply devoted to her art. Not in the most respectable profession, but I never asked why she was a thief instead of using her ability with the blade to gain a living. I just assumed she had her motives."

"Another unblessed person from your mysterious land?" Continue to ask Finn.

"Yes. We had some adventures together. Killed her fair share of monsters." I smiled. "She didn't really like me at the start, but she needed the help of someone more versed in the magical arts, so she put up with me for a while. Eventually, she came to appreciate me, I think."

"There is any chance that we're going to see her here in Orario?" Asked Gareth. "That sounds like someone worth recruiting. Unless she was blessed by a spirit too?"

"Not to my knowledge, but I'm afraid she'll never leave. She wanted to spread the knowledge of the Shehai Shen She Ru to her people. It's a powerful martial art, but it's not as diffuse as it was once. The requirements are very strict."

"Not surprising." Admitted Riveria. "It looks a lot like magic. It must require a great discipline to master it."

"You seem very reticent to talk about your homeland, Rexen." Said Finn, probably deciding to leave out subtlety to ask a direct question. "Is there a reason for that?"

I snorted. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you where I come from."

That made the trio pause for a second. "And why is that?" Asked Riveria.

"Because it's outside of your experience." I replied, before remembering something. "Or maybe not. If I said that my situation is similar to Ais'?"

That silenced them even harder than before. They even stopped walking for a second, before resuming as nothing had happened. Someone was bound to notice, though.

"What do you know about Ais?" Asked Finn, his tone had now a sharper edge that made clear that he was ready to do something extreme if needed.

"Not much." I admitted. "I know who her mother is, or who she thinks she is, but how or why Ais' here, I have no clue. Spirit magic would be my guess, but maybe there is something more?"

There was silence for a second after I finished. "Alright." Said Finn, and the executive relaxed slightly. "I cannot say I believe you, but considering what your magic has done not even ten minutes before, I'm willing to think it's possible."

"Glad you trust me with that much." I snarked. "Will you stop asking me about the place where I come from now? Is Loki going to be satisfied with this?"

"That will be up to Loki to decide." Admitted Finn. "But yes, I'm going to stop inquiring now. After all, once the impossible had already happened, why should it not happen again?"

"Glad we're on the same page about this." I said. "So, since we were talking about my magic, I'll have a request for you, to repay me for having you skip seventeen Floors."

"A request?" Asked Finn, raising a brow. "I expected more gems. Well, I cannot promise you until I know what this request is."

I nodded. "Well, I'll be short then. One of my Skills increases my status against dragons. So, if we meet a dragon, I'll want to test how good it is. Just me and the dragon."

Finn stroked his chin, thinking. "I suppose it's a fair exchange. But are you good enough to fight even after the teleportation trick you used? Some dragons can get quite high-leveled in the Deep Floors."

"I suppose that, if it looks like I'm having trouble, you can ignore my desire to fight dragons 1v1." I replied. "I'd prefer to not die."

"Very well then. Let's go to the frontline. I'll give them the orders."

Oh, good. This was going to be fun.

-X-

"He seems to have fun." Commented Tiona, looking at Rexen releasing a constant stream of spells against the monster of the Dungeon.

It had started normally. Finn had come and said that Rexen wanted to test an anti-Dragon skill against worthy opponents, so he was joining the frontlines. If a dragon monster was to appear, they had to let him deal with it as much as possible.

That had not stopped him from helping the frontlines though. From occasionally hitting a monster with a bolt of elemental energy to empowering various members in difficult positions, Rexen had been incredibly useful. He was basically doing the job of ten people.

After a couple of Floors, however, one of the monsters had managed to wound him through his admittedly not very impressive armor. He had not taken that well.

Or had taken it too well, because he had stopped just supporting the frontlines and had started to blast everything that moved with glee. Fireballs had rocked the Floor in rapid succession as he annihilated wave after wave of monsters.

"That's some impressive magic." Admitted Tione, right at her sister's side. "Not as powerful as Lefiya or Riveria's, but I'm surprised that he can use it so much. Does he suffer from Mind Down at all?"

It didn't seem like it, because he didn't look like he'd be stopping any time soon. Normally, they would dismiss that as a rookie overextending. You couldn't really feel how much Mind you were expending, so most continued to use their spells until they passed out.

But Rexen had ventured inside the Dungeon for a month now, and he was not an excitable teenager. He would know what his limit was, and this didn't seem to be close to it.

There was a brief deviation from fireballs when a fire-resistant wyvern emerged from the trees to attack him. After the first two shots failed to harm the creature, he decided to use lighting. The power of the magic was so great that the Hiryute sisters could feel their hairs stand up, with comical effects on Tiona's short ones.

"Power!" He shouted, before sending several more bolts of lightning at the wyvern. "Unlimited power!"

"Does that sound like a citation or am I imagining things?" Asked the bigger sister, looking at Tiona. "Have you ever read something like that?"

Tiona smiled and shook her head. "Nope! But I like it. I too would feel powerful if I could make lighting fall on my enemies."

Meanwhile, as she was distracted, Rexen had managed to reach the wyvern somehow, and was now riding it while smashing his fist on the head of the monster. Repeatedly. Tione would feel bad for the monster if it was not… well, a monster. Each impact produced a sound like Rexen was violently punching rocks and breaking them, which was more or less what was happening.

Tione regretted not being there to see his fight against the Goliath. Tiona had explained to her what happened in detail, but somehow she felt it was still not as impressive as the real thing.

Finally Rexen became bored of punching the wyvern in the head and pulled out a dagger from somewhere, stabbing the monster at the base of the neck, right over the spine. The wyvern dropped dead instantly and crashed against a tree, but Rexen emerged from the area of the impact laughing.

"Good, dammit! I'm not sure, but I think that I got enough power to jump a Level ahead. This will be useful in the Deeper Floors."

An increase comparable to a Level Up? That was some useful Skill. Dragons were almost invariantly one of the toughest monsters of the Dungeon, regardless of Floor or Level.

"I like him." Commented Tiona. "He's funny."

-X-

The descent into the Dungeon was as long as I assumed it would be. It took us all day to reach the next safe Floor, right after the territory of the Amphisbaena. Fortunately, the boss monster has still to respawn.

I was in pretty good shape. Spirit Healing lets me recover magicka while fighting, which paired with my ability to consume almost no mana for minor spells allowed me to slowly regenerate magical power during the day. So I was still pretty good in terms of magical reserves, and that also meant that I could heal everything else.

Which I did, not only for me but for the members of the Familia that had sustained small injuries. A quick pulse of Restoration magic, and they were none the worse to wear.

"Your magic really is powerful." Commented Riveria. "Are you sure you're going to be able to use magic tomorrow? You have thrown around a lot of power today."

"By tomorrow I'll be as fresh as a rose." I replied, patting one of the healed members of the Familia that came to thank me. "Fortunately, since I think the monsters will start to get more on my level. Enough to be a challenge, at least."

"We'll need a little more time to face regularly Level 4 monsters." Said Riveria. "But I understand what you meant. Are you sure you don't want to sleep in a tent with the others? Monsters don't spawn on this Floor, but they can still come from the others. We cannot protect you if something bad happens."

"Thank you, but I don't need protection. I have my methods for protecting myself." I said, before raising my hand and channeling a little magic inside it.

"Rise, guardian of the deeps. Earth Sentinel!"

The ground a couple of steps from my tent churned, then rose in the shape of a burly humanoid figure. Riveria didn't look surprised, not that much -a shame, I loved to see the reaction of the 'great mage' of Orario at my spells- but still eyed the elemental with interested eyes.

"An Earth Golem?" She asked.

"And Earth Elemental, really." I replied. "Nothing more than dirt infused with enough magic to move on its own. It will last until morning, then it will return to the earth like it never left. Meanwhile, it will guard my tent and sound the alarm if something tries to approach me without authorization."

Of course, I didn't plan to just have the Elemental standing guard, but I didn't say that.

"It certainly looks able to do as much. What Level should it be considered?" I could already see she was planning something, but I didn't know what.

"Don't let its appearance fool you. It's a glorified alarm, not a combatant." I said. "It's big and tough enough to don't be instantly destroyed if attacked, but I created it to work as a watcher. Its job is to block an eventual assault and give me the time to come out and kill whatever tried to attack me."

"Can you make more than these?" She asked.

"I can. But I can only control four of them at the same time. More, and the moment I go to sleep, they'll just do whatever they want. They're not hostile, per se, and they're not smart enough to really do anything dangerous, but we are in the Dungeon. I will not leave them without supervision and risk the will of the Dungeon to taking them."

"You think it can?"

"I will not exclude the possibility."

Riveria nodded. "Why the limit of four?"

"It's a magical limitation. I can effortlessly maintain focus, and so control, on a limited number of subjects. I could try to control more, but I would have to focus on them and it would distract me. I prefer to not get distracted in combat."

Something in the elf's eyes sparkled. "Would it be possible to share the mental burden?"

I blinked, caught off guard by the question. "I mean… technically, yes. But it would require linking the minds together, and it's not something I'll do lightly. If you want more of these around, I suppose I could try to summon one and let someone else take the brunt of controlling it. But I've never tried something like this. I'll need to think about it. I'm sure there is a way."

"Please do." Said Riveria, bowing her head a little. "One of the greatest threats to a mage is being caught by a monster while Chanting. If the mages of my Familia could have a protector with them all the time…"

She didn't finish the sentence, but I got the message pretty well. "Wouldn't it be better for them to learn Concurrent Chanting instead?"

"Not everyone has the talent to learn Concurrent Chanting, especially at lower Levels." Replied Riveria. "It also requires a lot of time and effort, even for them. I will feel better knowing that they will have someone to protect them while they venture inside the Dungeon."

I nodded. "Alright. I'll think something up."

"Thank you." Said Riveria, before bowing and leaving me.

Well, as far as first days in the Lower Floors went, I'll say I got lucky.

Attracting Attentions 1.5

The descent into the Deep Floors was uneventful. We marched steadily, annihilating what monsters that did show up thanks to the improved weapons. Finn and Riveria in particular seemed to have a lot of fun using their runes to spam deathrays everywhere. The ability to hit a monster from one hundred meters away with pinpoint accuracy using just a thought and a little Mind was greatly appreciated. Not just by them, but by everyone that had that particular enchantment.

Well, to tell the truth, there were two events that were of interest, even if in the grand scheme of things they were not all that important. The first one was that I managed to get the summoning spell Riveria wanted before the next safe zone, so I told her to bring someone to test it.

She brought Lefiya.

"Are you sure? It would be better to start with someone that has more experience." I said to Nine Hells as she pushed the girl forward.

Lefiya's face started to puff into a pout, but Riveria killed the argument before it could start. "More experienced members of the Familia will not need your magic assistance as much as she does. Also, I have complete faith in her ability."

Lefiya beamed with pride at that, and I smiled. So transparent. "Very well. Come here, Lefiya. Do you know what we're going to do?"

"Lady Riveria talked about a magical guardian for me." Replied the girl, looking down. "To be better protected while I improve."

I nodded. "Well, yes, but it's going to be a little more than that. I thought about it and I realized that the best way to do this is to let you give life to the elemental that will follow you. And it won't be just a guardian, but a familiar: it will be bound to you, on a fundamental level. Its strength will be yours, and your strength will be its. You understand?"

Lefiya nodded, but I doubt she really understood. Well, she will know soon enough. "Give me your hands." I said, putting up mine with the palms upwards.

The girl looked at my hands like they were poisonous snakes. Oh, right.

"Ah, I forgot, elves don't like to be touched." I smiled apologetically. "Don't worry, you don't have to touch my hands. You just need to put them over mine. So I can give you more energy if your reserves are not enough, and guide the magic. It will be a little difficult without direct contact but…"

Lefiya steeled her eyes. "No, I can do this." She said, before putting her hands in mine. My smile widened a bit.

"Good. Now, close your eyes, focus on your magic, and repeat after me…"

The chant for that spell was long, complex, and required quite a lot of power, which Lefiya was able to sustain mostly by herself. The entire thing required a little more than a minute. In the meantime, Lefiya's friends, namely Tione, Tiona, and Ais, had reached us to see what we were doing.

The Chant ended soon after and a blinding light prevented everyone from seeing what was called. Or created, in this case, since this particular variation of the summoning spell I used was meant to generate a spirit to cover the summoner's weaknesses. I avoided telling them that since Spirits were different things here, but still.

When the light disappeared, we looked around, trying to find the creat-

"It's a kitty!" Screeched Tiona with delight, pointing at Lefiya's feet. And, as sure as the sky was blue, there was a black cat staring at the elf girl with big, expressive eyes.

"That's my familiar?" Asked Lefiya, looking at the cat with an expression as if she was not sure whether to be overjoyed or a little confused. She probably expected something else.

"It's adorable!" Continued Tiona, kneeling down near the spirit, making Lefiya jump away. "Can I pet him? Her?"

"You should ask… him, I think." I replied, looking at the powerful Level 5 Amazon staring at the cat with joy.

"Can I pet you?" The Amazon asked without wasting a second. The cat tilted his head looking at her and…

"Meow."

Taking that as a yes, Tiona started to scratch the cat between the ears. They purred contently.

"It's intelligent?" Asked Riveria, eyeing the cat with curiosity.

"Very. It's meant to be a protector. They need to be very smart to do that." I replied, looking up as Lefiya shooed away Tiona so she could pet her new familiar. "You should name it."

The elf girl stopped scratching the cat's chin for a second, and the familiar made their displeasure known immediately with a meow. She started again, gaining a purr of approval.

"I don't have any idea on what to call them." She admitted.

"Kitty!" Tiona immediately proposed.

"It's not a real cat, Tiona!" Reminded her Tione. "But he is pretty cute… Fluffy?"

"That's a dog name Tione! Call him Tigger!"

"That's ridiculous! Ais, what do you suggest?"

The Sword Princess was looking at the cat like she was hypnotized, and it took her a second to reply. "Shadow?"

"So unimaginative!" Exclaimed the Twins.

I looked at the show, then I turned to look at Lefiya, a blond, teenage girl with blue eyes and a black cat…

"I have a name." I said, instantly gathering the looks of all the people there. Aside from Ais, who was approaching the cat with the caution of someone that feared that the smallest movement would make the animal run.

"What name?" Asked Lefiya.

I grinned. "Salem."

The cat turned toward me with eyes wide open, like I had just called for lunch. Then purred.

"Seems like he likes it." Smiled Riveria.

"Salem it is then." Smiled Lefiya. "You're a good kitty, aren't you?"

Salem just purred harder.

"Can I?" Asked Ais, now near the spirit with an extended hand ready. Salem sent her a look, then continued to do what he was doing, being petted by his owner. Lefiya nodded and Ais started to gently stroke the midnight fur of the spirit. She had a small smile on her face.

I chuckled. "I hate to break the mood, but I'd like to remind you that Salem is not a cat. He's a powerful elemental creature created by magic. Don't underestimate him."

"Purr." Was the only answer I got.

Ah, well. If that made them happy. All things considered, the entire affair went pretty well.

The second event of the descent, not so much.

-X-

"I understand your point of view, but we really shouldn't-"

"Alicia-san, we must! We cannot let that… human be so disrespectful toward Riveria-sama!"

Alicia sighed. Truth be told, the attitude that Rexen-san had towards Riveria-sama was a little too casual. But humans did not have the same social norms as elves, and Rexen-san seemed to express his respect toward Riveria-sama more with his tone than his words, not unlike what Gareth-sama did.

"If Riveria-sama is offended, she's more than able to-"

"It's not a matter of Riveria-sama being able to make him stop, Alicia-san! And even if she wanted to, she wouldn't with everything he's doing right now!"

That was true. Even if Riveria-sama was offended by the humans' attitude, he was simply too useful to risk offending him. The magic he used at the start of the expedition to let them skip the first seventeen Floors alone was worth more than… pretty much everything she could think of. If he could bring them even further…

"So you want to risk offending him?" Asked Alicia, her voice shifting into a sterner tone. "If Rivieria-sama is enduring his attitude for the good of the Familia, and that's a big if, you want her efforts to be wasted?"

The elves of the Familia flinched at that. Of course, the real reason they were acting like this was jealousy. It was also because they genuinely thought that Rexen-san was being disrespectful toward Riveria-sama, but mostly jealousy. Riveria-sama approached him very often: she was basically at his side every free moment she had. There was nothing inappropriate, of course, it was just curiosity toward the unexpectedly versatile magic Rexen-san possessed. But that sort of closeness clouded the minds of her fellow elves.

Not that Alicia herself was immune to that, but she could at least control herself. Fortunately, she seemed to have cooled down the spirits of the others…

Until the subject of their current discussion appeared right in front of them. She did the only thing she could.

She facepalmed.

"I heard you talk about me." Rexen-san said, crossing his arms but looking completely relaxed. "Do you need something? Is there a problem with the enchantments?"

Another painful point. Rexen-san was just… so genuinely helpful. At least, if he was a scumbag, they could hate him more. As it was right now, the most you could say about him was that he was not particularly polite. Some of the elves looked regretful already.

"Nothing wrong with the enchantments." Stepped in Alicia. "You'll have to excuse us. It was an elven matter."

"Such as?" He asked, not helping her in the slightest. He even looked really curious about it!

"You're disrespectful toward Riveria-sama!" Exclaimed one of the elves.

Rexen-san blinked. "Riveria? I…" He paused for a second, than continued. "Look, if it's about the suffixes, I just don't really use them-"

"It's not just that!" Another continued. "Do you have any idea who Riveria-sama is?"

The human looked confused for a second, then, something that could only be described as unwanted understanding dawned on his face. "Oh. So that's what this is about."

Alicia could infer by his tone that he was already bored of the discussion.

"Yes. She's the princess-"

"She's an adventurer." He interrupted. "Maybe in your forest she's royalty, but here, in the Dungeon, she's an adventurer. I'll treat her as such." He snorted from his nose. "Besides, if she really wanted to be treated as a princess, she wouldn't be here."

That made Alicia pause. It was a good point, really. If Riveria-sama wanted to be treated as royalty, she would not have left the forest, and even if she became an adventurer, she could just ask them to be treated as if she didn't. But she had never shown any intention of doing so…

Unfortunately, the younger and more hot-headed among them didn't see it that way.

"You-!" Exclaimed one, moving to grab his weapon in what Alicia could only describe as a fit of madness. She moved to stop him… but she didn't have the time.

Magical power, thick and heavy as a winter blanket, fell on everyone. Rexen-san didn't look relaxed anymore. He had a sharp look on his eyes and his body had tensed as his magical power surged outward. Alicia stood the pressure pretty well, even if it made breathing difficult.

Others, not as high leveled and trained in magic, didn't take it as well.

"Don't." Said Rexen-san, his eyes piercing the one that had moved toward his weapon. The word felt like a hammer blow. "Force me."

The words were a threat as much as a request. Alicia had seen Rexen-san fight, and she knew that the only chance someone had to defeat him was to deal with him before he could start using his magic. A feat that could be accomplished, right now, only by the executives. If a fight ensued right now, they were going to lose.

"What's happening here?" Asked a voice.

The pressure disappeared as Rexen-san looked behind him, finding Riveria-sama looking at them. Alicia immediately felt another weight on her though: the weight of Riveria-sama judging gaze.

"Riveria." Greeted Rexen-san, the only one that had not been immediately paralyzed by her sudden appearance. "Nothing much. Just having a discussion with some of your… overzealous fans."

That was a rather mild way to put what happened, but by how the eyes of Riveria-sama narrowed, she had already understood everything.

"I see." She said, her tone dry. "I'll have a discussion with them myself. Sorry if they inconvenienced you."

"Don't worry, it was nothing serious." He replied, before un-crossing his arms. "I'll be on my way then. See you later." He waved his arm and walked away.

Riveria-sama didn't look happy.

-X-

Aside from that little incident, the trip was pretty great. We easily reached the Forty-ninth Floor, a place of barren rocks where an army of… I think they're called Fomor, waiting for us. The Fomor were impressive monsters. Basically, Level 3 minotaurs, but with an ibex head instead of a bull's one. Apparently, they formed huge groups and attacked relentlessly.

It was there and then Salem could finally show his power.

I was in the rear, raining magic on the monsters, when one of the Fomor managed to pass through the formation and charged toward Lefiya. The girl tried to chant a spell to kill the creature, but she panicked. Normal stuff, basically. I could already see Ais moving to help her.

But before the Sword Princess could reach the monsters, something big, black and fast jumped onto the beast, throwing it away from the elf. Then there was a sound of fangs tearing flesh apart, and the Fomor died with a pitiful whine.

Then the creature that had knocked the monster back turned and I could see it clearly.

It was a massive black cat. Maybe a panther or a tiger, it was unclear, because the body was covered in a thin, black mist. The only thing that you could see were the yellow eyes, glowing through the dark.

The cat moved toward Lefiya. The poor girl looked terrified when a monster that had easily killed a Fomor and whose shoulder reached her chest trotted toward her. But when she was in reach, the cat just… started to rub his head against her stomach, purring.

Lefiya blinked, surprised. It took a second for her to connect the dots. "Salem?"

The cat purred again, then he jumped up. Instead of falling on top of Lefiya -who had something like one third of the mass of Salem, if that- the spirit transformed back into their smaller form and sat on her shoulder, rubbing their face against the girl's cheek.

"Seems like Salem already made themselves useful." Smiled Riveria, next to me, sniping another Fomor with her staff.

"Yes, it seems like it." I replied, making a section of the monster's army explode with a flick my wrist.

Then, the formation of Fomor was hit by a projectile in the form of a human girl.

"It also seems like Finn will have words with Ais later."

"Seems like it." Nodded Riveria.

-X-

The battle didn't last very long, and after we reached the Fiftieth Floors, the Loki Familia started to make camp. They wanted to sleep before getting to the lower Floors.

"So, what do we have to expect from the Fifty-first Floors and below?" I asked Anykitty as I helped prepare the dinner. Or lunch. I was not sure what time it was. Well, whatever.

"More monsters, of course." She replied. "Level 3 and higher. The Floors from the Fifty-second to the Fifty-fifth contain mostly Black Rhinos and Deformis Spider, but the real challenge is going to be Cadmus. It's the strongest monster of the Deep Floors, even stronger than the Valangan Dragons of the Fifty-eighth Floor."

Yes, I remembered Cadmus. It was a very strong monster in the story, but I never had the opportunity to see it fight because when they tried to fight it, the caterp-

Wait a second. Could it be? Even before, against the Fomor, the scene was almost like-

Oh. Shit.

I reached into the future using Shadow Magic. It had to look strange, because Anykitty reacted immediately.

"Rexen-san? What's happening?"

I ignored her and peered into the future, using my sight to see what was the possibility of this entire expedition to be the expedition. The one that started all Danmachi. Future sight was imprecise, of course, and could only give me vague information and chunks of the next several hours.

Not that I needed them. As I saw the silhouette of a giant caterpillar, I interrupted the spell and turned toward Anykitty.

"We're going to be attacked! Warn Riveria. Prepare the defenses."

"What? I don't understand, your eyes became all black and…"

"There is no time! Warn Riveria!" I shouted, before darting away, toward the exit of the Floor.

Too late.

A swarm of giant caterpillars was already moving toward the camp. I didn't know how they managed to do that when there were people between the camp and them, but they did.

They were not already in the camp, but I could see them moving between the trees. I could run toward them… or I could remain here and protect what was, without doubt, the weakest part of the expedition. Only Riveria and a handful of Level 4's remained here. Most of the strongest members were scouting Cadmus or watching the exit to the next Floor.

I took a deep breath. So that was it. The fight that started all Sword Oratoria. The fight that, in a sense, started Damnachi as a whole. I didn't expect to be caught in this fight so soon. I figured I was at least several months before this point. It was not. And so, now I had to fight.

I took out my sword as Riveria reached me.

"Rexen." She said. "What-?" Her gaze fell on the mass of caterpillars moving toward the camp. "What are those?"

"I don't know their name." I said. "But I have seen them before. Tell your Familia to be careful. They spit, and have blood made of, acid."

"How did you know they were coming?" Asked the elf. No question on how I knew them. It was nice to have at least some credit.

"Future sight." I replied. "One of my powers."

Riveria nodded, not even questioning me on that. Mostly because there was no time for it, but maybe she just believed me whenever I told her I had another stupidly out-of-context power up my sleeve of magical tricks.

"Prepare yourselves!" She yelled, turning toward the members of her Familia. "Protective formation. Give me and the other mages the time to destroy them with magic. Don't pierce or slash them, their blood is made of acid!"

A battle-cry erupted from the Loki Familia. Good. Plot had caught both of us. It was time to punch it in the teeth.

Attracting Attentions 1.6

The situation could be much worse.

Of course, the situation wasn't good by any metric you could use, but it could be so much worse. Rexen's enchantments had done their work wonderfully.

When Finn had realized that they were under attack from a new, previously unknown type of monster that had invaded the Fifty-first Floor, he wasn't really worried. The Familia could deal with them.

When he had discovered that the monsters had acidic bodily fluids that could hurt first-class Adventurers and melt their weapons, he had worried.

Then the enchanted weapons had stood against the corrosion far better than he would have expected. Tiona's Urga and Tione's daggers in particular, which were apparently reinforced beyond the others. Urga was especially impressive, because they could see the damage inflicted on the blade by the acid fought by the magic, the metal visibly regrowing.

That didn't stop them from losing most of their edge in a couple of exchanges, but it was better than having the weapons they paid so much for being turned into sludge. Even those with the weapons more or less intact still decided to simply punch the monsters instead of stabbing them. For all the danger they posed thanks to the acid, they were weak, slow, and not particularly sturdy. Aside from the acid, they were not particularly dangerous.

Raul still got hurt pretty badly and Gareth had to carry him away, but he was almost back in fighting shape when they reached the Fiftieth Floor. The fact that they had to kill another bunch of monsters resulted in even more injuries, especially since Tione went berserker, which was not good. But, it wasn't too bad since they had both potions and healers.

"Raul, how are you?" Asked, seeing the man step away from Gareth.

"Better." He said, moving the bandaged arm slowly. "The enchantment Rexen provided helped me heal faster." He took a look at the melted sword in his hand. "Even if I'm not sure how it still works with the weapon destroyed."

Finn glanced at the wound where the monster's acid had hit him. He had seen the flesh mending itself, slowly but surely. Useful, but not really life-saving. Finn understood why he had not placed one on every weapon: Rexen seemed to think that the best defense was a great offense. It had proved to be true until now, but with weapon-melting monsters, the advantage of a great offense was going to be destroyed with the weapons.

"We need to reach the camp soon. Raul, can you run?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Then let's go."

They ran toward the camp. They could already hear the sound of battle… but when they arrived, they found themselves watching an unexpected show.

"Well, that's impressive." Commented Finn.

"The lad told you he was a dragonslayer, right?" Grinned Gareth. "I can believe that."

There was a column of caterpillar monsters trying to reach the top of the plateau where the camp was situated, but they were facing resistance. An icy resistance. The summit of the plateau was covered in what looked like a snowstorm. But judging by how the monsters that entered inside it started to quickly be covered in ice, it was far colder than it looked. Inside the storm, barely visible, the Familia was putting up a fight, with Rexen in the frontlines. Weaving his sword with deadly precision and avoiding the worst of the monsters' attacks by virtue of the frosty barrier he had erected, freezing the acid before it could reach him or anyone else.

Unfortunately, they didn't have the time to admire the battle because more monsters were arriving, and they didn't seem to have any problems circling around the icy barrier Rexen had put up.

"Move!" Ordered Finn, and the group rushed toward the summit punching and kicking every monster that tried to stop them. As they approached the top, Finn gave more orders. "Divide. We have to keep the monsters away while Riveria finishes her Chant."

Finn had no doubt that the mage was already preparing to destroy the entire group with a single, full power magical explosion. Of course, she could only do that if she had the time to Chant and no member of the Familia to protect, but with Rexen halting the advance of the first and most numerous group of monsters, she probably had the time to do so.

And as they arrived on the plateau, they found Riveria already chanting. She had just started, probably because she had to organize the defense first, but the fact that she was already going gave them hope.

"Keep the monsters away!" Finn shouted, his Skill carrying his words toward everyone clearly. The sound of fighting intensified, and the Familia did a wonderful job keeping the monsters away, until the magic circle under Riveria enlarged enough to cover the whole group of adventurers.

"Stay inside the circle!" Called Raul, and Finn saw Rexen discharge a last, powerful magic attack that looked like a wave of pure force. It rammed against the monsters and made them fly away, taking a good chunk of the plateau with them.

Then.

"My name is Alf. Rea Laevateinn!"

Fire erupted everywhere. The entire Floor was engulfed in a raging inferno of flames that consumed and annihilated everything that was outside Riveria's magic circle. The caterpillar monsters, not having strong defenses, got vaporized before they could react, their acidic blood not helping against magic.

"Good job, everyone." Smiled Finn. It seemed the situation was under control. The caterpillars were dead, and so they had the time to-

A shrieking sound shook the entire floor, and from somewhere, an enormous monster, suspiciously similar to a variant of the caterpillar, emerged. It was the size of the Guild building, had a humanoid torso on the body of a caterpillar, and four arm-wings on the sides. The monster swung its wings around, releasing a shiny powder that exploded on contact with the ground, erasing a chunk of the Floor.

"Is that an advanced form of the other monsters?"

"I hope not, if his blood is acidic too…"

"It's too big, there shouldn't be something like this here!"

Those and similar other phrases were uttered by the Familia, and Finn made his decision.

"We retreat."

Several members looked at him, Raul in particular. "But Captain, we can't just leave this monster around-"

"I know." Finn cut him short, very seriously. "And I don't like doing it either. While Rexen's aid reduced our losses." He nodded at the man, who was looking at the monster but reciprocated the nod. "We cannot risk a fight with it. Our equipment is in bad shape, some of us are injured, and there could be more monsters coming. We're retreating. Take only the minimum luggage."

It was a hard choice, but they had no other option. While Rexen had halted the monsters and reduced the damage to the equipment of the Familia, he was only one man. The frost barrier had worked wonderfully, freezing the acid almost the same moment as it exited the body of the monsters, but 'almost' was not enough. It had prevented the equipment from melting completely, but the weapons were still in dire need of repair… outside Urga, which was more or less repairing before their eyes.

Still, that monster needed to be killed. Finn turned toward Ais. "Ais, you'll defeat that monster alone."

Protests erupted from various members of the Familia, but they were cut short when Rexen appeared out of nowhere. "Actually, I want to fight that monster myself."

The discussions were killed the moment he said that. Finn thought about it. Rexen was undoubtedly a great asset, but between him and Ais…

"If you insist. Do you have a way to avoid the exploding powder and the acid?"

A powerful wind suddenly blew around him, kicking up quite a storm and making some of the less powerful Adventurers flinch. "I have my ways, yes."

Finn nodded. There was something he wanted to ask, but they had to move now. "I see. Everyone, move!"

The Familia scattered, started to grab what luggage they could, and retreated toward the upper Floors. Finn remained behind, though.

"We'll send you a signal when we are far enough away." Said Finn, looking at the man. The question got out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "Why do you want to fight it?"

Rexen didn't answer immediately. Then, he smiled. "I'm close to a Level Up. Maybe that monster will do what the Goliath could not."

Of all the things he could have said, that was not the one Finn expected. "I thought you said you have not seen your Spirit."

"I have not." Confirmed Rexen, utterly calm about it.

"So how?"

He grinned. "Magic, my friend. Magic."

Ah, of course. If there was someone who could defy common sense, it was him.

"Don't die." Were his last words to that strange man. He really hoped he didn't die too. It would be a terrible loss for the Familia, member or not. Most of them had grown quite fond of him in the weeks he had been with them.

Finn included.

-X-

Alright, I had just dramatically declared that I wanted to fight the monster on my own. Now I had to… well, do that. And not die.

I was not sure I could do it as easily as Ais could have done it. I could replicate most of the advantages that had let the girl defeat the creature easily, like wind to push away the explosive powder and the acid, plus lots and lots of magic to deal with everything else… but I lacked physical power. I was nearing Level 4 strength, speed and resistance, but Ais was Level 5 at the time, and with great Abilities too.

I could close the disparity with magic, but I didn't want to. As I said to Finn, I needed to defeat this monster to Level Up, and so I had to handicap myself. No Shadow Magic boost or anything. I was going to kill this fucker with only my sword and enough magic to avoid the worst of its offensive… unless it proved to be too strong for that, in which case I'll just use magic to kill it.

But first I had to test myself against this little shit. And distract it, so I needed to attract its attention to let Loki Familia escape safely.

So I charged.

My charge was met with a jet of acid from its face/eye -it was a strange thing, ok?- as thick as I was tall, but the powerful wind deflected it. Well, most of it. I still dodged just to be sure.

So it tried to splatter me with one of its wing-arms. When the thing impacted the ground, I was not there.

As I teleported behind the creature, I readied my sword to strike, using one of the Shehai Shen She Ru techniques I didn't have the heart to try on Ais… because if it managed to land, it could have crippled her.

"Bone Shaver." I said, before aiming at one of the wing-arms and letting the sword do its work.

The steel bit deep into the appendage, but it didn't cut it off. Which was… disappointing. The Bone Shaver was supposed to cause terrible wounds even with light touches, and potentially cripple the body of someone if you hit hard enough. Evidently, this thing was too tough for me to use the most devastating effect of the technique.

Or maybe it was simply too big. There was little chance of chopping the arm-wing off if the thing was thicker than the length of my sword.

Still, the monster didn't take it well. It turned, far faster than a creature that big had any right to, and screamed while spraying more acid from the tentacles around its head.

Uh. I didn't remember that attack.

A rush of magic made my body fly upward, avoiding the attack and placing me outside the reach of the creature. Of course, it replied by throwing more powder at me, but the wind around me made it explode far away from my body.

Alright, let's deal with this fucker.

"Sword Tremor!" I said, lashing out with my sword. Invisible blades jumped toward my target, and four of the six creature's head-tentacles flew away. Ah, as I suspected. Being smaller, they didn't offer as much resistance to my sword as the rest of the body.

Unfortunately, my sword was not doing great. The last hit, in particular, had taken its toll. The middle of the blade had cracked, the steel starting to lose the battle against the tough body of the monster.

"Just a little more." I murmured. Of course, it was not going to let the weapon hold more, especially since I didn't have time to repair it mid-battle, but still. I liked to think that it would listen.

Of course, that also meant that I got distracted enough for the monster to hit me with its wing-arm. It also hit pretty hard, but unlike the Goliath, I was not sent flying toward a hard surface this time, so I had the time to recover and land gracefully.

Alright, let's see what I can do.

The next seconds were mostly spent stabbing, slashing, and hacking at every piece of the monster I could reach. I quickly reached a conclusion: I could hurt the monster, but I could not kill it with just my sword. It simply couldn't bite deep enough to make serious wounds, even with the magic protecting the blade from melting. Maybe it also depended on the fact that the sword I was using was breaking down pretty fast, so I was not pushing it too much. But anyway, I would need magic to deal with this thing. Something with a wide area of effect, to cover its entire body in one single hit.

Then a flare in the distance. The signal, I supposed. Good, it was time to end this.

I disengaged from the monster, who did what it usually did in that case and tried to hit me with the explosive powder. The wind blew the explosive cloud away, and I used the cover granted by the explosion to run away, while generating a copy of myself from the shadows around me. It was just a copy, and not physical in any way, but it would be enough to distract the monster.

Then, I rose up with a spell and floated high, away from the reach of the monster and its jets of acid, and I started to Chant.

"Hear my call, manifestation of nature's fury.

Come to bring ruin upon my enemies."

As my magicka started to flow out of my body, big, black clouds formed in the sky-less air above me. The monster didn't notice, too busy trying to catch my copy, but it will not last long.

"I am the master of magic. I am the incarnation of power.

By my command, all will be destroyed."

The clouds grew, and electricity started to sparkle between them. Finally, the monster realized what was happening and turned its head toward me. When it saw what I was doing, it shot a jet of acid in my direction, but it fell short.

"I bind you to my will, and by me, your anger will be placated.

So fall on the earth, and cleanse it with thunderous might!"

The monster screeched, swinging its arm-wings in a futile attempt to reach me. Above me, the clouds thundered, lightning focusing with a sound that reminded me of a dragon's roar.

"Storm's Wrath!"

Lightning fell, I found myself without most of my magicka reserves, and everything went white.

-X-

When Rexen had volunteered to fight the new monster, Lefiya had felt a little bad. Mostly because nobody expressed the same worry they had shown for Ais, despite the Sword Princess being far stronger than the man. Sure, he was also not part of the Familia, but it didn't feel fair that they would just abandon him after all he had done for them.

"He'll be alright… right?" She asked, still running away.

Her words were mostly to herself, but Bete heard them anyway.

"He wanted to fight the monster." Said the Werewolf, frowning. "If he dies, it's only his fault."

Despite the harsh words, there was no real bite in Bete's words. He was either worried, or he had come to respect the man enough to not spit venom when talking about him.

"Finn trusted him to deal with it!" Smiled Tiona. "I'm sure he'll find a way to defeat it."

Maybe, but Lefiya was not sure. She had seen Rexen's magic. It was powerful, but only as powerful as it was supposed to be from someone in the Fourth Step. Versatile, sure, but the raw power it possessed wasn't that far off from what she could call. He didn't seem to have a Skill to increase the power of his magic. Which made sense, since he was a magical warrior and not a pure mage, but that limited what he could do against that monster.

At least, that was what she thought until the signal was launched, and she felt it.

An enormous amount of magical power started to concentrate where Rexen was fighting. So much power was being used, that even the less magically-inclined members of the Familia felt it. Altogether, they stopped running and turned to see what was happening. Nobody was expecting what they saw.

Thick, dark clouds were forming on the ceiling of the Floors, forming a spiral of darkness. Far away, Rexen's voice was thundering, barely audible, his words becoming more powerful as the magic took control of the clouds and started to gather the power inside it. Thick coils of lightning flowing toward the center, where a small dark figure was… was that Rexen? He was flying?

No matter. As the Chant started to come to an end, the lightning gathered, darting and crackling over Rexen. A serpentine, or maybe draconic, head emerged from the clouds, made entirely of blue lightning, and it opened its mouth, releasing a sound that was not unlike a growl, if electricity could growl.

Then the words came.

"Storm's Wrath!"

The draconic head -there was no mistaking it now- roared with the voice of a storm, and the magic fell on the insect-like abomination like the monster it had the aspect of. On contact with the monster, it unleashed the full power of the magic contained in the clouds, and lightning erupted, making the entire Floor bright as a summer day. A pillar of light scorched the caterpillar monster down to the core, as lesser, if very powerful arcs of lightning scoured the area near the thing. The trees caught directly in the blast? Disintegrated. The ones nearby? Exploded. The ones further away? Caught fire.

Then the monster exploded, and half the Floor, the section not already destroyed by Rexen's magic, burned.

The entire Familia stared in awe at the destruction.

"So that's what he looks like when he's serious…" Commented Her Highness. "An impressive bit of Magic."

That was a way to put it. The display of power could rival Nine Hell herself.

"He will be alright though?" Asked one of the members. "His magic will not hurt him, but the explosion…"

They waited to see what would happen… and got their answer when the shadows in front of them gathered into what looked like a portal of some kind, and Rexen fell out of it.

"Oh, I put too much magic in that one." He said, standing up, battered and a little burned but otherwise looking fine. He raised a hand, taking a canteen out of… thin air and gulping down its content. After he finished, he looked at them. "Do you have something to drink? That blast of fire at the end took a lot out of me."

Nobody replied. What could you say when he said something like that?

Then someone in the back started to laugh, and all the Familia followed after.

Attracting Attentions 1.7

After the Familia finished laughing -despite what I said not being meant as a joke- I was given some water that I drank greedily. Ah, fresh water after being engulfed by an explosion was pretty refreshing. Then, the Familia assaulted me with questions.

How did you escape? I used the shadows cast by my body to create a shadow portal and let the explosion throw me into it.

Why have you never used that kind of magic before? Because it consumes most of my power so I was saving it for something that I couldn't defeat with a sword.

Why did it take you so long to charge the attack? Because Chanting is usually optional and I didn't need to use it on normal enemies. Chanting helped to channel magical power and increase the damage… if I got the time to set it up.

And so on.

Fortunately, Finn didn't come to me to ask if I could just teleport the entire Familia back to the Twilight Mansion with a single spell. Maybe he wanted to let me rest… or maybe the Familia had lost most of their potions and so they needed every single ounce of magical power they had to deal with the Dungeon.

Either way, it worked for me. Because there was a little meeting with some minotaurs that the Familia needed to have, and a certain blonde girl needed to save a little white rabbit.

Yes, I could avoid that specific encounter if I wanted to, but I won't.

That was an ugly truth I had discovered: changing the future is hard, and even when you succeed, it's not always going to turn out as you imagined. That's why I avoided interfering too much with the Skyrim plots that I knew about: because when I did interfere, things always took an unexpected turn. Some were for the better, others for the worse, and I was lucky that I had fate on my side on my adventures in Skyrim, or the results could have been catastrophically bad. So I limited myself, trying to give warnings and little nudges here and there so I could predict the outcome of my interference and maintain a general understanding of how things were going to go. Making things better without straying too much from the path.

What use is having knowledge of the future if you're unable to use it by interfering too much?

Also, the encounter with the minotaur was not all bad for Bell. Sure, he risked death, but he also got an OP Skill that let him grow at an absurd rate and met Ais. At the end of the day, it was a net positive for him and so I didn't see a reason to change it. Like, I could make myself the target of Lias… I don't remember the name of that Skill, but whatever. The point was, I could make myself the target of Bell's feelings -which sounded wrong on so many levels, thinking about it- but I was not going to remain here forever, and what would happen to that Skill if I disappeared? No, better let Ais be the target.

For her own good too. Bell had a strange effect on the girl, calming her down with his innocence. I couldn't have that effect on her, so why should I remove a positive thing from her life?

No, I was going to let the events play out as they did in the original story and only after that swoop down and take Bell under my wings to make him the hero this world needed.

That didn't mean that, when I saw the minotaurs appear, I didn't feel a little guilty about letting them escape.

-X-

Eina was not sure what to make of this day.

It had been a long, long month, at least for her. After the mysterious Rexen had shown up and beaten the Goliath basically on his own, there was a lot of movement at the Guild. Mostly people asking if the news were true or not, how it was possible, who this Rexen was and why nobody had ever heard of him, and so on. The Guild was unable to answer those questions, and the target of all the curiosity had conveniently decided to disappear. After that, they found out he was doing a job for the Loki Familia to help them on their next expedition, and nobody had the courage to disturb him. Not only because it could create problems with the Loki Familia but also because he had kicked the Goliath's ass in a fight. It didn't seem prudent to do anything… aggressive.

Then, when they got confirmation that he had accompanied the Loki Familia on their expedition to the Deep Floors, most people just calmed down. And if that was the only thing that had happened, she would have returned to her usual routine.

But she had also been appointed as the Advisor of a new, young Adventurer, Bell Cranel.

Bell was a good kid… but he wanted to be a hero, and that was going to get him killed. Adventurers shouldn't go on adventures. They needed to be cautious, they needed to be prepared, and they needed to think about survival first. He had always managed to get it for the two weeks he was in her care, but today… today he had gone to the Fifth Floor, and encountered a minotaur there.

Now, the fact that he had encountered a minotaur was not his fault. It was not a monster that was supposed to be there. Something must have chased the creature out of the Floors it usually inhabited, and so it was not Bell's fault that he had found himself against a creature that he couldn't hope to defeat. Just bad luck.

What was his fault was being at the Fifth Floor, to begin with, and also showing up covered in blood, asking for Ais Wallenstein.

Eina pouted a little. This guy had the gall to ask her for personal information about a girl after she had just lectured him. Did he have no sense of self-preservation?

In the end, she still told him. Apparently, he got a crush on Ais when she saved him from the minotaur. How cute. Eina couldn't stop herself from giving him a suggestion, even if she shouldn't have. There was no hope for the poor boy. They were of different Familias and she was far, far above him in… anything she could think of, really.

"Thank you, Eina-san! I love you!" Shouted the boy, waving while running away.

"Eh!?"

Before she could properly process what he had just said, Bell impacted headfirst into something. Something tall, muscular, and armored. He fell on his butt and raised his head, finding himself facing the wall he had just hit.

Eina gaped. It was the most discussed adventurer in Orario.

It was Rexen.

-X-

When Bell Cranel raised his head, he found a man he didn't know watching him. He was… really tall, all things considered, taller than most other people he had seen in the city. But he was clearly an Adventurer. His equipment didn't leave doubt.

"Sorry." He said, standing up and bowing in apology. "I was not looking where I was going."

"It's alright kid." Replied the man. He sounded a bit strange, like he couldn't pronounce the r right, but it was not unpleasant. He paused a little, then he continued. "You must be the one Ais saved from the Minotaur."

Bell straightened up. He knew Ais-san! He must have been a member of her Familia! How embarrassing! "You know Ais-san?"

He snorted, clearly amused by something. "Sort of. We don't really interact that much."

Ah, so not a member of the Familia… an acquaintance? "If you see Ais-san, please tell her I'm very grateful that she saved me."

"You should tell her that yourself, kid. She was… well, not devastated, but surely upset when you ran away."

Bell felt like he was transforming into a puddle by embarrassment. "Ah, I'm sorry. I was just…" He stopped, not really sure how to explain what he had felt at that moment.

"Overwhelmed?" Helped the man.

"Yes! Overwhelmed. The minotaur was chasing me, and I was going to die, and-" He stopped and looked down, the fear he felt in that moment briefly returning to him.

"That's our fault." Said the man. Bell raised his head, seeing the man looking away from him, shame on his face. "A group of minotaurs attacked the expedition as we were returning to the surface. We had some problems in the Deep Floors and most of the members were eager to take out some of their frustrations on them." He sighed. "The monster ran instead. That's why there was a minotaur in the Upper Floors. I'm sorry."

"Ah, no, you don't need to apologize, Mister…?" Bell realized, at that moment, that he didn't know the man's name.

"Rexen. You can call me Rexen." Supplied the man, giving him his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Ah, thank you. I'm Bell. Bell Cranel."

"Very well Bell… can I ask you what you were doing on the Fifth Floor with Guild beginner equipment?" The man asked. "You have to be either very green or very poor to have that kind of equipment. Your Familia didn't get you something a little better?"

Bell managed to get a laugh out, even if it was a clearly fake one. That comment hurt. "Ahah, I'm the only member of my Familia…"

"Ah, I see. New Familia. Maybe a month old. You went very far in a very short time then. Good job."

An unexpected surge of pride made Bell smile. "Thank you! But my Advisor always tells me that I'm too reckless…"

"That's the Advisor's job, reminding you that you're still mortal." Dismissed the man. "I've seen a lot of people die because they thought they were invincible when, well, they were not. Be grateful your Advisor cares enough to repeat it every time you do something stupid."

That comment of doing stupid things didn't hurt in the slightest, much to Bell's surprise. Maybe it was because he had put it in a way that praised Eina-san, or maybe because Bell knew that he did stupid things sometimes.

Bell decided that he liked this man. He reminded him of his Grampa.

"Well, not that the minotaur was your fault." Continued Rexen. "What do you say about coming to the Hostess of Fertility with me and my party tonight? To repay you for that little incident."

"Ah, thank you, but Ais-san has already repaid me…"

"That's her, I'm me, and I still feel that I owe you. Please?"

Ah, who could Bell refuse? "If you rea-"

A hand fell on his shoulder and gripped it with more strength than Bell had believed was possible. On the edge of his vision, he saw Eina-san emitting a menacing aura.

"Could I have a word with you, Bell-kun?"

"Ah, I…" He turned toward Rexen, hoping for some help… but he just looked at him.

"Very good, Bell-kun. Sorry for the inconvenience, Rexen-san. I'll be brief."

"It's no problem." Dismissed the man. Bell felt Eina-san starting to drag him away, and he raised his arms to ask for help… but he was ignored.

Then, Eina-san sprinted, and before he could understand what was happening, Bell found himself in a corner inside the Guild, Eina-san near him, trying to catch her breath.

Unsure what had triggered that reaction, Bell said the first thing that passed on his mind. "Look, Eina-san, I know you said to not trust strangers and that not all Adventurers are good people, but I don't think Rexen-san is-"

Eina-san's hands moved before he could see them, locking into place, and the half-elf looked up, the light making her glasses shine obscuring her eyes. "Bell-kun…"

Bell gulped and accepted his end.

"You have to go!"

Bell blinked several times. "Eh?"

"Do you know who that man is?" Asked Eina-san. "He's Rexen. The Rexen. He defeated the Goliath not even a month ago!"

"So… he's a good Adventurer?"

"He's a very good Adventurer. Bell-kun, you have to ask him to be part of his party."

"Eeeh!? Eina-san, I cannot do that! I'll be useless in a party with such a powerful Adventurer!"

"You don't understand. They're searching for people to get into the Lower Floors. It's your chance! Do you remember, girls like dependable men? Going deeper into the Dungeon will help you become stronger."

Bell was not sure how to take all of this. Eina-san always told him to be cautious… and now she was telling him to go to the Lower Floors? Why? "Wouldn't it be too dangerous for me to go into the Lower Floors? I mean, if his party is strong enough to deal with the Goliath, they probably won't have any problem protecting me, but… I don't want to be a dead weight."

How could he, Bell Cranel, possibly keep up with them? He would just remain behind, useless.

"No, I wouldn't suggest you go to the Lower Floors just to be a supporter. The members of his party grew enormously in the month and half since they got together. Even the supporter has shown some progress, she defeated a Monster Party coming for them from the Middle Floors while fighting the Goliath. And she's only Level 1! The other member helped, sure, but it's still impressive. And the other member Leveled Up and got a Skill after the Goliath fight."

Bell's eyes widened as he realized what his Advisor was saying. "You think he'd be willing to… teach me?"

"It's a possibility." Said Eina, returning to a calmer state of mind. She put up her glasses, making them shine again. "It's also possible that it's just a coincidence that his two party members suddenly became so much stronger in such a small amount of time, but I doubt it. Everything about the man is strange."

Bell blinked. Strange? How?

"But you don't have to worry about it. High Leveled Adventurers are all a little… peculiar." Continued Eina-san, not sounding very convincing. "My point is, you'll be well protected while also having a mentor that seems to like training young Adventurers." She smiled a little. "Every hero needs his teacher, after all."

Bell still hesitated. Sure, he wanted to be a hero and find girls to save in the Dungeon, but he wanted to do it with his own power.

Eina seemed to read his mind and she took one of his hands in hers. Bell blushed a little at the sudden gesture. "Bell, I cannot protect you in the Dungeon. I can give you my advice, but the Dungeon is unpredictable, and you're on your own. One day you'll be caught off guard and you will not have someone to help you." She strengthened her grip on his hand. "You need a party, until you can find new members of your Familia. So… please."

At such a heartfelt request, the boy could only look down in shame. Was he really going to make Eina worry, when he could just ask? "Alright, Eina-san. I'll ask."

"Good. Now go to your goddess. You need to tell her the good news."

He nodded and ran, briefly stopping to tell Mister Rexen that he would join them at the Hostess.

This day had started off bad, but it seemed to have turned for the best.

-X-

"Eh? An Adventurer invited you to dinner?" Asked a childish-looking woman with… generous assets.

"Yes, Goddess-sama!" Replied Bell, lying splayed out on the bed while his goddess updated his Status.

"Is this Adventurer a girl?" Asked Hestia, narrowing her eyes.

Bell, sweet innocent Bell, blinked. "Uh, no. He's a man called Rexen. He felt bad that he got me involved with the minotaur by accident, and wants to repay me, I guess?"

"He'd better be sorry." Murmured the goddess, humphing.

"Ah, no, he was not actually involved personally… he was just there when it happened and couldn't stop it."

"Hmm!" Replied the goddess. Now, normally she wouldn't be so hard on the man, but right now she was in a bad mood… all thanks to a certain Skill appearing on her little Bell's back. A Skill caused by a certain someone.

"Do you know anything about him?" Asked Bell. "Eina-san said he's a very competent and powerful Adventurer, but also that he seems… strange."

"I only heard what the people near my workplace say." Replied Hestia, starting to draw the new Status on a sheet of paper… omitting a certain part, of course. "There are a lot of rumors about him, but the only thing I gathered up is that he's relatively new here in Orario. And despite that he managed to do some pretty impressive deeds… well, just one."

She got down from her child's back and let him sit down. "I cannot tell you much outside that. Some say he's amazing, others say he's cheating. Nobody knows him well, really." She paused, thinking. "Well, the rumors say that he's working with Loki Familia, but I and Loki don't really like each other, so I can't just ask her if it's true. You'll have to ask him, since he invited you to dinner."

"You approve, Goddess-sama?"

"I'm not sure what to think about him." Admitted the Goddess of Hearth. "He doesn't sound awful, though. I suppose you could at least give him a chance. But don't agree on anything."

Bell looked down on the floor, looking conflicted. "Should I follow Eina-san's advice? It seems like a smart thing to do, but…"

As his goddess, Hestia was compelled to reply to her child's doubts. "It sounds like a smart decision, yes. And I too would feel better if you had someone to look after you while you go into the Dungeon."

Bell didn't look convinced.

Hestia smiled. Such conflicted emotions from her child. "Don't worry, Bell-kun. It doesn't matter if you ask for help from other people to become stronger. As your Advisor said, everyone needs a mentor." She paused, kicking her legs up and down as she thought of a way to convey her message better. "We're a small Familia, Bell-kun. We don't have a lot of money, and since you're the first member, nobody can give you things other Familias, bigger and more established, usually grant to their new members. Training, equipment…" She shook her head. "I cannot help with that, Bell-kun. I don't know how to fight and I don't have money. So, if you have the opportunity to get at least one of them, you should take it. You already accept your Advisor's advice, right? It's not really that different."

Bell continued to look at the floor for a second. "Alright. Now I need to go, Goddess-sama. Rexen-san is waiting."

Hestia let her child go. Maybe this was going to be the time for Bell to grow and for their Familia to start it's rise.

She'll need to have a talk with Rexen though… or ask some of her friends if they knew more than the vague rumors about him.

Or both.

Attracting Attentions 1.8

"Cheers!" Exclaimed Rexen, raising a cup of liquid that Bell was sure had been another color a couple of seconds ago. "To Bell not dying to a minotaur!"

"Cheers!" Laughed the other two people at the table… who were, allegedly, Rexen's party members. They were, from what Bell could see, a Pallum girl and a redhead boy. This was the group that had defeated the Goliath?

"Ahah…" Chuckled the boy, feeling confused. And embarrassed by the very reason he was here being brought up so soon, but Rexen didn't seem to have done it out of malice.

Like he was reading his mind, the boy, Welf Crozzo, put an arm around his shoulder. "Don't make that face, Bell. We're not messing with you. It's really amazing that you survived against a minotaur at Level 1."

"I had to be saved from the minotaur though." The boy protested weakly, but the only reaction he got was a couple of shaking heads, from Welf and the girl, Liliruca Arde.

It was Rexen who vocalized the thoughts of the present though. "Nobody is born powerful, kid. Do you think I started killing dragons at the beginning of my adventure? Of course not. I had to fight lesser monsters until I got good enough to fight the strong ones." He tilted the cup toward him from the other side of the table. "Be grateful that you survived against an opponent much stronger than you without significant injury. It's more than most people can claim."

Everything he said was true, but it didn't exactly make him feel better. Or, well, it did, but he couldn't stop feeling weak.

Then something terrible happened.

A group of people entered inside the Hostess of Fertility, and Bell's eyes fell on the girl with blonde hair in the middle of it. The same girl that had saved him. Ais Wallenstein. Loki Familia.

Bell did his best to become as small as possible and hide behind the larger frame of Welf. He didn't want to be seen right now.

"You know, if you're really grateful to Ais, you should just walk up and thank her." Commented Rexen. He had said something similar before, but Bell simply didn't have the courage to do so.

"I… I… I cannot disturb her while she's with her Familia!" Squeaked Bell, his face bright red. Welf and Rexen exchanged a look and shook their heads.

Liliruca was more vocal. "Boys." She said, sounding exasperated.

"Hey! Miss Liliruca is younger than me!" Bell protested.

"Lili is fifteen, Mister Bell. And please just call me Lili." The Pallum girl replied. Bell blinked, then he remembered that she was a Pallum, so the fact that she was smaller than him was not a good indicator of her age.

"Still, Lili is barely older than me. And Mister Crozzo here is a boy too!"

"Call me Welf, Bell, I don't like being called by my surname." Replied the red-headed boy. "And I'm seventeen. I'm almost an adult by… practically every human nation's standard."

Bell sulked, defeated.

The dinner went on pretty well. After a while, listening to the story of how Rexen had accompanied Loki Familia in the Deep Floors, Bell forgot to hide behind Welf. Meanwhile, though, at the table where the Loki Familia was celebrating, the voices were becoming louder.

Well, one voice in particular.

"Aiz, let's tell them all about that thing." Shouted Bete Loga.

"That thing?" Asked Ais, sounding like she wasn't sure what he was talking about.

Bete continued. "You know! We let a bunch of minotaurs escape on our way back. You took out the last one on the fifth floor, right? And you remember that tomato dork who was there, right? A wimpy little kid who'd obviously just started adventuring got cornered by one of the minotaurs that ran from us. When Aiz cleaved the minotaur apart, its stinky blood got all over him, and he looked like a bright red tomato! And get this! The tomato dork ran off screaming. Our princess saved him and he ran away from her! How pathetic is that?"

Bell started to tremble. At the same time, Rexen sent a glance to Welf, who nodded.

"I think that, in that situation, he can hardly be blamed." Ais said diplomatically. It was common sense, really. A young man can hardly expect to act coolly in front of certain death.

Apparently, Riveria thought so too. "Enough, Bete. It was our fault for letting the minotaurs escape from the seventeenth floor. You should be ashamed."

The Werewolf was undeterred. "What's wrong with saying trash is trash? What do you think, Aiz? Just hypothetically, who would you choose? Me? Or the tomato dork?"

"Bete, you're drunk, aren't you?" Commented Finn, slipping in a warning tone that was promptly ignored.

"I'm talking to you, Ais! If that kid asked you out, would you say yes? No way, right? A wimp who's weaker than you has no right to stand beside you. You would never allow that! A wimp isn't good enough for you. Not for Aiz Wallenstein!"

Bell couldn't bear it anymore and shot up.

With the speed you would expect from a Level 2, Welf grabbed his arm the moment the boy rose and let his chair fall down. "Let me go, Welf!"

"You're not going anywhere." Replied Rexen. "Keep your cool, Bell."

Unfortunately, his sudden action had caused a little commotion and Loki Familia had taken note of his presence.

"Ah, it's the tomato dork!" Yelled Bete, apparently finding his presence here hilarious. His gaze fell on the other people around their table and saw Rexen. "What? Is that Rexen? What are you doing with that trash?"

Both Lili and Welf frowned, but they quickly stopped as a cold, menacing aura started to flow from Rexen's body. Bell was pretty sure he was imagining it, but considering how most people who were looking at the show flinched, maybe not.

"Bete." Said Rexen, his tone hard. "Shut up."

"Ah?" Replied Bete, standing up himself. "And why should I do that? I'm just telling the truth."

"Your bullshit idea of what is trash has no bearing with the truth." Stated Rexen. "Now shut up, or I'll make you. I'm trying to enjoy my dinner."

Bete started to move toward Rexen, but Gareth stopped him by grabbing his arm. The rest of the Familia looked fairly worried too. "You'll make me stop? I'd like to see you try!"

The cold sensation intensified as Rexen raised his arm, his fingers bending… before snapping them. Loudly. Far louder than it should be possible. For a second, there was absolute silence.

Nothing happened.

Bete looked around, just to be sure there was not something strange going on, then opened his mouth… but no sound came from it.

The patrons looked at Bete Loga opening his mouth repeatedly in total silence before someone started to chuckle at the sight. Bete turned toward the offender, shouting something, but whatever Rexen had done, it covered it. More and more people started to chuckle, until the drunk Werewolf realized something had happened, and turned toward the man that had cursed him. Again, there was no sound, but Rexen evidently understood.

"Silence." He said, answering the silent question. "A convenient bit of magic. You think you're talking, but you're not. Maybe now that you cannot spit out your bullshit, people will be able to enjoy their meals."

Bete didn't take the news well. His face scrounged up and he started to try to escape the grip of Helgram, but the rest of the Familia quickly subdued and tied him up, preventing him from doing anything stupid. They also apologized for him -he was a terrible drunk, apparently- and then everyone returned to their dinner.

"Sit down, man." Said Welf, and Bell realized suddenly that he was still standing. Embarrassed, he took his chair and sat down.

"Mister Bell doesn't have to listen to that Werewolf." Continued Lili. "Lili thinks that he's just a bully that likes to hurt people."

"No, he does that because he thinks that if he discourages the weak Adventurers, they're going to quit and live." Replied Rexen, taking a sip of his cup. "He just doesn't realize that some people are not just going to quit and that his efforts are actually detrimental to the ones that have the potential. Fortunately, the rest of his Familia is not like that."

"But he's right." Murmured Bell, looking down.

"Like I already said, nobody is born strong. You're weak now, it's true. You just have to become stronger. Don't let the words of that jerk influence you too much."

Maybe that was true… but Bell didn't feel that much better. Still, the words of Bete cleared some doubts that remained in his mind.

"Mister Rexen… can I join your team?"

There was silence for a second at the table. Lili and Welf glanced between Bell and Rexen, not knowing what to do, or what to expect.

Then the man smiled. "I'm sure it can be arranged. Does anyone have a problem with Bell joining us?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Lili will do as Mister says."

Bell looked at the two of them, surprised that they were going to accept him so easily.

"Well, you heard them. Welcome to the team, Bell Cranel."

Bell smiled. After all, he had gone through the dinner, he finally had a way he could become stronger.

"Uh… excuse me?"

Bell turned and found Ais Wallenstein in front of him. He emitted a strangled meep and tried to run, but again, Welf grabbed his shoulder and kept him down. Bell looked at him in desperation, but the taller boy just smiled at him.

"Sorry, Ais." Intervened Rexen. "Continue. And don't worry, he's just timid."

Ais looked at Bell and the boy remained paralyzed on the spot. Fortunately, he didn't have to bear her amber eyes for long, because she bowed down. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have let the minotaurs escape."

The apology shocked Bell out of his paralysis. "Ah, no, there is no need. Ais-san saved me already." He shot up and bowed too. "I'm sorry I ran away."

They continued to apologize for a while. Meanwhile, the other members of their groups smiled.

-X-

"Welcome to Riviria." I announced, after having teleported the entire group down. "Today, we're going to farm in the Middle Floors. Are you ready?"

Welf grinned and took his weapon out. Lili readied her crossbow and her knives.

Bell looked around, amazed. "This is the Eighteenth Floor? Is there really a place like this in the Dungeon?"

"Several, really." I replied. "Not as beautiful as this, of course, but safe zones in the Dungeon are not actually uncommon. Now Bell, can I see your weapon?"

The boy flinched and gave me his knife. As I suspected, it was a cheap thing, so I snapped it in half between my fingers.

"Ah! My knife!"

"Don't worry about it, it was useless against the monsters of the Middle Floors anyway." I replied, taking out one of my ebony knives. "Here, this will do for now. Welf will get you a better one… the moment you get Magic, of course."

"Eh!? Mister Rexen, you're going to teach me magic?"

"Of course. Everyone in this party knows Magic and uses the special weapons Welf can make. You cannot be the only one who doesn't. But we'll have to wait for that. First, we need to get you in shape. Ready?"

"Yes!" Enthusiastically shouted Bell. "Thank you so much, Mister Rexen."

I chuckled. "That's the spirit. Let's go."

And so we fought, killing monsters and monsters. Welf and I had relatively little problem dealing with the monsters of the Middle Floors, while Lili and Bell needed to team up to deal with most of them. Not all, since some monsters didn't have the ability to survive several stabs by enchanted knives, but some did, like the minotaurs. Bell had quite a few problems dealing with them, mostly because he was still scared. But that was fine. He was going to be able to overcome it.

At the end of several hours of hunting and killing, we parked our asses at the Eighteenth Floor again and rested. Bell's eyes shone when he received his part of the gains, which was more than he had gained in… well, I think since he started to be an Adventurer.

"Well, this went well, but I'm afraid that we cannot go to the Lower Floors yet." I admitted. "We're too few and, really, the problem is that both Lili and Bell are Level 1. If one of the two of you was a Level 2, we could try to go down there and keep the weakest of us away from the fight. But, with half the team being below the level of the weakest monsters in the Lower Floors, it's impossible."

"Sorry." Bell murmured.

"There is no need to be sorry. You're not the only Level 1… even if you're surely the weakest, for now."

Bell nodded, looking down. Lili… looked ashamed too, for no reason I could understand. Oh, well.

"But maybe I have a solution. During the next expedition to the Deep Floors, I was asked by Riveria to create a bit of magic to help one of their members. The magic will summon a guardian to protect you… but you have to have magic to sustain it."

"I'm so useless…" Bell murmured again, almost inaudible.

I patted his head. "There is no reason to get all depressed, Bell. If you have a slot for Magic, I'll teach you magic. I'll have to ask Riveria for the details, though. I don't have a lot of experience with that."

Bell's eyes shone again, probably because I was just dropping the names of some of the greatest Adventurers of Orario.

"In fact, we can start right now. I don't expect you to learn magic immediately, but I can try to guess what you're going to get. Guys, you want to rest and see the lesson, or would you prefer to be sent up?"

"Lili will go up." The Pallum proclaimed. "Lili has something she has to try."

I sent her a suspicious look, but nodded. Not because I believed that she was going to do something shady… at least not toward the party. But Lili was a thief, and I feared that, I dunno, she wanted to do something regarding her Familia without support from the rest of the squad.

"I'm going too. I have a lot of things to test out before creating a Magic Sword that doesn't break." Welf said. "I think I need to find a way to recharge the blade, but that would need magic stones… It's a great cost."

"Can't you make the magic be rechargeable from ambient mana?" I proposed.

Welf frowned. "Maybe, but it will require time. Infusing the magic into the blade makes it break when the mana runs out, but it also lets it accumulate much more power compared to what you can put in using other methods. Gathering enough magical power from ambient mana will take ages."

Mmmm… that made sense. "But if the Magic Sword doesn't lose power, how many times do they need to actually use it? Also, Magic Stones are plentiful in the Dungeon. I don't think people will worry too much about that."

Welfs frown dissipated into a pensive look. "Uh. Didn't think about that. It's not an unbreakable Magic Sword, but it could give me some clues on how to perfect one. Thank you, Rexen."

"My pleasure." I replied, before waving my hand and making a portal appear in mid-air. "Good evening. See you tomorrow."

They said goodbye and walked through the portal, leaving me and Bell alone.

"So, let's start with a question." I said, and Bell immediately stood as straight as possible. "What is magic to you, Bell?"

"Uh… power, I think? In all the stories I read, magic is the final trump card to defeat the enemy."

I chuckled. "Not a bad answer. And yes, magic is often a trump card… but magic is not about power."

"It's not?" Asked Bell, confused.

"Of course not. You think that portal I made was a form of power? Sure, there is power in cutting the way it cuts through the Floors, but it's not the first thing you think of when you say power. You'll think of fire, or lightning. A portal is impressive, but it just lets you move. Am I right?"

Bell nodded fervently. "So what's magic for you, Mister Rexen?"

I smiled, and opened my hand, making an illusion. An illusion that showed fantastical -and sometimes very real- scenarios. Chaotic modern cities, magical forests, volcanic mountains, endless oceans, even the depths of space.

"Magic is about possibility. It is about freedom. It is the ability to do the impossible." I smiled as the teenager stared around me in awe at the fantastical scenarios around him… and then I changed the images. Not just scenarios… situations. Battles. "Magic can destroy, sure, and since most people can only learn three spells, Adventurers are naturally inclined towards them. But it's not just about destruction. Magic can heal. Magic can support your allies and weaken your enemies. Magic can let you move where you normally couldn't, see things that you normally cannot, and even transform you into something greater." I let the image of Bell being suffused by a blinding light and emerge out of it with powerful armor and sword and literally emanating power dangle in front of his eyes for a second. "Unfortunately, I cannot teach you my magic. It's powerful and versatile, but magic is fundamentally personal. It will form from your ideas and your desires. I will try to guide you toward something less limited than most spells, but in the end, I cannot force you to learn it." I smiled and closed my hand. The illusion around him disappeared. "I learned my magic because I was curious. I wanted to understand magic, not just use it. That's why my magic can do… basically anything. I just need to create the spell to do it."

Bell looked at me like I was the second coming of Jesus or something.

"So, you want to hear what I did to learn magic?"

We spent the next three hours discussing magic. Then, we returned to Orario and I did something that I should have done yesterday, but didn't.

Update my Falna.

I was fairly curious about it. After all, I couldn't update it inside the Dungeon because even just evoking the power of the Thu'um could trigger it, so I had refrained from doing so while in the Deep Floors. I was curious about how much my stats had grown. I was around six-hundred and thirty on everything last time I checked. How are they now? Seven hundred? Eight Hundred?

I checked my Falna and…

Name: Mal Frahkei Kaul

Alias:

Race: Human(?)

Level 2

Strength: SS 1045 - I 0

Defense: SS 1021 - I 0

Dexterity: SS 1132 - I 0

Agility: S 998 - I 0

Magic: SSS 1267 - I0

Magic

Aetherium Arcanum. Variable-length magic. Increase the effect of other magic.

Variable Chant

Skills

Adamantine Dragonblood: Increase Magic. Grants Magic Resistance and Spirit Healing Development Abilities. Increases status against dragon-type enemies.

Plunderer: Steal power from defeated enemies and increase chance of finding materials.

Blessing of the Stars: Increase efficacy of all learned skills. The efficacy increases with level.

Development Abilities

Magic Resistance I

Spirit Healing I

Healing Power I

… What the hell?

Attracting Attentions 1.9

I broke the news to the party the next time I saw them.

"I Leveled Up." I announced while we were chilling in Riviria, after a successful hunt.

The party froze for a second, then chaos erupted.

"Really? Mister Rexen is amazing!" Started Bell.

"Ah, and I was hoping to keep the title of highest leveled in the party for a bit longer." Welf smirked. "Congratulations, boss."

Lili just nodded, like she expected it.

I smiled at them. "Thank you, but it's a bit too early to celebrate. My Level Up brings… problems."

"What does Mister mean?" Asked Lili.

"It took me a while to understand it, but now I think I get how my Skill works." I said. I was about to continue when Bell interrupted me.

"Uh… should you tell us about your Skill, Mister Rexen?" Asked Bell. "Are they not supposed to be kept secret?"

I shrugged. "I mean, in theory, but I don't actually care. Anyway, I have a Skill called Plunderer. Its effect, as described on my Falna, is 'steal power from defeated enemies and increase the chance to drop materials'."

"Well, that explains why we keep finding so many drops." Commented Welf. "But what does 'steal power from defeated enemies' mean?"

"Initially, I thought it would give me a little bonus Excelia for every enemy defeated. But my short journey into the Deeper Floors gave me almost more Excelia than the five weeks we spent together in the Middle Floors. If Plunderer just gave me a small bonus, that wouldn't make sense: I killed far more monsters before the expedition. Sure, the expedition let me defeat higher leveled monsters, but that doesn't actually explain it. They were not that hard to beat." I whirled my fingers. "So I thought: what if the 'steal' part of the Skill is not just metaphorical? What if the Skill actually takes part of the strength of the monster I kill as Excelia? I'll need to run some experiments, but I think that the Skill either gives me Excelia based on the Level of the Monster, or based on the monster's Abilities. If a monster is very strong, it will give me more Strength. If it's very tough, I get Defense. And so on." I paused for a second. "I also think there is another factor, because I noticed a steady reduction of Excelia gained through the weeks. Probably dependent on how good my Abilities are compared to the monsters I kill, or something like that."

"That's amazing!" Exclaimed Bell, his eyes shining. The rest of the party was less impressed, but still awed.

"What the hell did you do to get a Skill like that?" Asked Welf.

"Raided ruins full of monsters to recover old magical items."

"Like a tomb raider? I thought you were a dragonslayer."

"I am many things." I replied. Lili nodded again, but she looked pensive. Maybe she was already starting to see where this discussion was going. "But anyway. Do you see the problem?"

There was a brief silence… then Lili spoke. "By remaining in the Middle Floors, Mister is going to hamper his growth."

Welf and Bell's eyes widened, then the smith looked at me. "Is that true?"

I sighed. "Like I said, I have to verify that. Which means I need to go to the Lower or even Deep Floors to find powerful monsters and see how killing them influences my Excelia." I scratched the side of my head. "And you cannot come with me. You're not strong enough, and I don't know if I can protect everyone. I can use my magic to make you stronger, faster, and more resilient, but I have limits too. It's safer if you remain in the Middle Floors, where you can deal with the monsters."

There was another stretch of silence, then Welf sighed as well. "Yeah, it makes sense. You can afford to go solo inside the Dungeon. We'll just slow you down."

"Lili understands too." Nodded the Pallum girl. "For Mister to reach his objective in a reasonable amount of time, he needs to push himself deeper into the Dungeon."

"I also think it will be good for you." I continued, more in an attempt to rationalize my decision as something not inherently selfish. "Especially for Bell. It's not good for him to just skip most of the Floors, because he will not be able to fight the monster inside them accordingly, regardless of how good his Falna is. He'll have to understand his limits. I cannot always be there to help."

There was a nod of acceptance from everyone. Nobody seemed to be happy about it, but at least they understood.

"And it doesn't mean I cannot go with you inside the Dungeon… just that I'll go down on my own more often." I continued, in a desperate attempt to feel better about it. "You'll see me often enough. I said I was going to help Bell become stronger, I have no intention to take my word back."

"So you'll still teach me?" Asked the white-haired boy.

"Of course. Not just magic, but also how to fight with a dagger. I'm sure Lili could teach you some tricks too, but I'll do it while I'm with you. Be warned, though. I'll have to go a little faster than I usually do."

Bell nodded energetically and both Welf and Lili looked a little happier.

Good. At least it wasn't feeling like I was abandoning them on their own.

The next week passed pretty smoothly. We reached an understanding. We'd go through the Upper and Middle Floors together, with me teaching them combat while not fighting at all, and when they found themselves in a situation they couldn't deal with, I would intervene and destroy the monster. They would then retreat to an upper Floor while I delved deeper into the Dungeon.

After a couple of days, I even gave Lili a ring that she could use to call me. She just had to channel her mind inside it, and I would feel it and teleport to their location. That way, I could delve inside the Dungeon freely while they braved the Middle Floors together.

They were bonding nicely. Good for them, since I was not going to be here forever. Also, there was always some sense of distance between us. I don't know why. Maybe it was my attitude, or maybe it was the difference in power. That didn't mean that we didn't like each other, but it meant that we weren't really friends. It was good to see the kids making friends.

God, I sound so old saying that.

Of course, the plot continued moving while I was playing teacher, and soon, Monsterphilia came.

And while I felt bad for Bell, I knew where I was going to be while Monsterphilia happened.

-X-

Why had Monsterphilia turned out like this? First monsters escaped from the arena, and now, Lefiya stared at the whip-like monster that had appeared, destroying part of a building and assaulting some civilians. Fortunately, Tiona-san and Tione-san were already on their way to deal with it, even if they seemed to have problems punching i-

Lefiya's thoughts were brought to a halt when something smashed against her, along with something wet spraying on her cheek. She was thrown away by the impact, rolling a couple of meters, before she was able to turn her head up and see what happened.

One of the whip monsters had emerged from the ground, exactly where she was just a moment ago. It should have hurt her… but she felt fine. What-?

Her eyes fell on the black silhouette that was right at her side. A giant black cat, lying on the ground, and a red pool forming under his body.

"Salem!" Shouted the elf girl. On instinct, Lefiya touched her face where she had felt the wetness hit her, and when she looked at her hand, it was red. Salem had felt the attack before she did, and protected her.

At that moment, she wanted to do a lot of things. Cry, rage, curl against her familiar, trying to heal him. But she had to stop, because the whip monster had revealed its true form, that of a flower with a mouth full of long, sharp teeth. The creature emitted a roar and arched like a snake ready to strike. Lefiya wanted to dodge, but if she did, she would have left Salem at the mercy of the monster, and she had no doubt that he would be killed. So, she remained at the side of her familiar.

"Storm Cage."

Pillars of lightning erupted around the plant monster, who roared in pain and tried to thrash around, but the powerful magic that surrounded it blocked its movements every time it tried to force its way out.

Only one person in the whole of Orario was able to summon such a powerful spell with such a short Chant.

But before she could search for Rexen-san, Ais-sama was there. "Lefiya! Are you hurt?"

"No. But Salem…" She felt tears forming in her eyes. "He got hurt to protect me."

"That's his job, Lefiya." Said a voice, and suddenly, Rexen-san, on top of a nearby building, raised his hand, a white light covering it before showering the familiar. "Now focus. The monsters are not defeated yet."

As he said that more monsters erupted from the ground. Several flower heads filled with teeth went straight toward Rexen-san, even as a couple jumped towards Ais-sama.

Lefiya looked as both the older Adventurers jumped away from the attack with a speed that she couldn't equal. In fact, Rexen-san was moving very fast, faster than he did during the expedition. Could it be that…

Every doubt she had was destroyed as Rexen-san shot a lance of white-hot fire toward the plant monsters. The projectile exploded like a miniature sun when it impacted the monsters, and the heat was so intense she could feel it despite the usually self-contained nature of Rexen-san's magic.

There was no doubt in her mind. He had ascended on the Steps of Divinity.

But despite the prodigious firepower he had called down, the monster emerged from the fire still alive. Burned and with chunks falling off, but alive.

"Tough motherfuckers." Murmured the mage, before he emitted a veritable shockwave from his mouth, pushing the flower monsters away so hard they slammed against nearby buildings, destroying them.

That must be what Ais-san had meant when she said he fought like a dragon. It was certainly impressive to see.

But Lefiya couldn't just stare. She had to help. She was tired of being saved constantly. She was going to do something this time. She couldn't let her friends do all the work while she remained there, a doll good only to be saved.

She started to chant. These monsters would freeze to death.

-X-

Aaaand Monsterphilia was done too. Nothing really strange happened, aside from more of those monsters -Violas?- then I remembered appearing. I didn't know if it was because I remembered wrong or because they were attracted to magic and so my presence brought more onto the surface, but it didn't matter. Lefiya froze them like she did in the story and everyone was happy.

Aside from Salem, who got pierced by a tentacle and even after my healing was still a little stiff. Or maybe he was just faking it to get more praises from the girls. I wouldn't put it past him. The thing was an attention whore.

I left the girls complimenting the familiar, quietly walking away. Or, that was going to be my intention, then Loki appeared out of nowhere.

"Where ya think you're going?" Asked the goddess. "Not even stopping for thanks?"

"Nah, they don't need to thank me. They could deal with the monster by themselves."

"Of course they could, they're my girls!" The trickster exclaimed proudly. "But even then, ya helped them. It's worth a thank you."

I looked at the redhead midget in front of me. "I sense a but."

Loki grinned, her eyes opening a little. "Buuut… Finn told me some interesting things. Things about how you know things you shouldn't know. He let that pass because you somehow gained his trust, but I'm not so sure about you. So, why don't ya tell me who you are really, hmm?"

I thought about it. Was it a good idea to answer her question? Maybe, maybe not. I had no idea what she was going to do once she knew the truth -and I had to give her the truth, because she was going to sense a lie-, but not telling her could be far worse. She had a lot of power around here, and while I doubted she was going to harm me, she could just stop her Familia from interacting with me, and if she was particularly pissed about it, she could even try to use her political weight to make my life difficult. Not very difficult, because I didn't really need anything from Orario aside from food, but still.

So, now that I had considered what a vengeful god could do if I didn't listen to her request, what about considering what could happen if I did? She couldn't force me to join her Familia, because my Falna was still locked. She could try to kidnap me, maybe, but I was difficult to contain, since I had, like, three different magical ways to escape from prison, two of which didn't even require hand motions or words to work.

Maybe it was a failure of imagination on my part, but I couldn't see anything Loki could or would do after I told her the truth as something I couldn't possibly face. This was not a battle. There was no way for Loki to harm me in her unpowered form, and her Familia liked me enough -or at least I hoped so- that orders to harm or apprehend me would be met with… questions, at least.

So… yeah. I had nothing to gain by telling her, but I could lose something by not telling. So, why not sate her curiosity? At least she would stop pestering me, right?

"I could tell you." I said, and Loki's eyes already narrowed as she sensed the but in my answer. "But I think it's better if I show you."

And as I said that, I touched her forehead with my finger, and pumped all the information about my adventure in Skyrim right into

her head. Even with this method, far faster than just telling her everything, it took a while to transfer the whole story. When it ended, Loki jerked away from my finger like I had just shocked her.

"That was… wild." Admitted the goddess. "I've never heard of someone pulling that trick out. Nor would I have expected it to work on a god."

"In the form you are now you're not just a god." I replied, putting my finger away. "You're mortal… or as mortal as you can be. It's enough."

"You should know, am I right?" Said the redhead, but she looked uncharacteristically serious. "That was a lot to unpack, lad. I'm not sure I got everything right… but I got enough. See ya!" She said cheerfully, waving at me and starting to walk away.

I admit I blinked at that reaction, confused. "That's it?"

"What, you expected me to pull some shit?" She asked, half turning to look at me. "I was just wary because you're suspicious as hell, kid. I suspected you were an Evilus member undercover or something like that. But with what you showed me, I've nothing to fear. Treat my children well, would you, hero of the frozen North?"

Uh… that was not how I expected her to react. Sure, I wasn't sure what I expected, but not this. Maybe Loki was feeling generous?

"Sure thing." I replied. She smiled a little and waved again, this time going right toward the girls… to the point of jumping on them.

Snorting in amusement, I turned tail and walked away from the scene. I had to be sure of something, before turning to my projects.

A minute later, I saw Bell run away from Daedalus Street with Hestia in his grasp and a familiar knife at his hip.

Good. Every piece was falling as predicted. Now all that remained was seeing what move Freya would make. I was a little surprised that she had decided to go for the Monsterphilia plot, since Bell was more skilled than in the story… but maybe not? Maybe she was impatient, regardless of how much better Bell was compared to the level he was in the story. Maybe she wasn't going to give him a Grimoire? He was close to unlocking his magic, or so I felt. She was almost assuredly going to pull the minotaur shit if Bell didn't confront his fears.

As if the goddess in question had heard my thoughts, I felt something watching me. I raised my head, looking back. That was extremely suspicious timing, Freya. I hope you're not trying to do anything right now.

After a second, the sensation disappeared, and I sighed. Fantastic. Another thing to worry about.

Ah, whatever. She had done nothing so far, and I doubted she had just… missed me. Maybe she had plans going, but maybe not. It was pointless to lose sleep over this. Better focus on something else.

Like translating some of the skills of the Shehai Shen She Ru to other weapons. I liked being a swordsman, but being not even half as effective with other weapons didn't sit right with me. Fortunately, I had some ideas.

-X-

"Ah." Moaned the Goddess of Love, her face blushing. "What a splendid soul…"

At her side, the stoic Ottarl didn't say anything. Or well, normally he wouldn't say anything. This time, though, he felt the need to ask.

"I'm sorry, Goddess, but I don't understand. If you like him that much, why are you not making a move to take him?"

Most of the Familia would try to kill him for saying that. They were extremely attached to their Goddess and they were already competing with each other for her attention. Another member was the last thing they wanted.

Ottarl had no such problem. His only desire was his Goddess' happiness. Which was precisely why he was asking that question. Since the mysterious man had appeared, the Goddess had often admired him from a distance. She didn't put as much attention on him as the other, the young boy with white hair and red eyes, but sometimes, she still talked about him. After hearing the color of the man's soul, Ottarl had to admit her interest was understandable.

Why she wasn't doing anything to take him was not.

"Ah, Ottar. It's so unlike you to question me on my beloved. Are you jealous?"

The face of the Bozar could as well be stone for all the emotion he showed. "No, Freya-sama. Just curious."

The Goddess sighed. "You're no fun, Ottarl." She said, before sitting down on her chair. "The reason I don't move to take him, my child, is that his soul is… peculiar, more than words can explain. It's like there is a thin barrier that contains a beast ready to lash at the world. It's almost invisible, even to my eyes, but it's there, as is the beast, trashing in the confines of its prison. If I push him, that barrier is going to break, and then nothing will stop the beast."

Ottar blinked. That was… quite a strange description. "It sounds like there are two souls inside him."

Frey hummed. "Almost, but not quite. More like there are two parts of his soul, one actively stopping the other. I've never seen anything like it." She sighed. "Besides, that soul is not one to bend. There is no way I can sway him from his objective. Maybe if I used my Charm, but then, the beast would probably react poorly. It's best to admire him from far away, unfortunately."

Ottar nodded, understanding. Quite a peculiar individual, this one. Enough to make Ottarl curious himself. Maybe…

No, better to not do anything. If he was so dangerous that even Freya-sama didn't dare to make a move, it was better to not provoke him. He could lash out and, while he was too weak to be a danger for him, he could aim for his Goddess. That was an unacceptable risk.

Still…

Life of the Refuge

The Refuge was growing.

It was strange to think about it. Vahlok in particular had conflicting feelings. On one hand, he had always cared for his people, and he knew that one day he would have returned to rule over them as leader of the Dragon Cult. So, in a way, it was not something he was unprepared for.

The fact that his people were now dragon-men that he and his fellow shadows had to uplift from nothing to something resembling a civilization, and now something even greater was not exactly how he had imagined his return to life. The chants of praise from the locals were nice though.

All in all, it was not exactly something bad. With the clarity of mind that he possessed now, he knew that his return to Solstheim was not going to go as he imagined. Thousands of years between life and death had corroded his mind. He would have been, at best, a cruel tyrant, unconcerned with the lives of the people he once loved. In this form, as a shadow, he was close enough to his previous self that he could be the guide his Master wanted him to be.

So now he was overseeing the creation of one of the projects that his Master had tasked them with. Since he came to the Refuge far more frequently now, he had started to make some requests to the Shadow Lords. More often than not, they were easy requests, just materials for a personal project or another. Compared to the immense amount of Dragonblood the Akyn needed just to create or enhance various materials, the quantities needed to fulfill those requests were drops in the ocean. Once the shadows had started to help the Akyn by letting them travel to the Oblivion and grab materials from there, it had been even easier.

This request was different though.

Valokh had understood the general gist of the problem his Master was facing. Right now, he was inside a universe -he still had difficulties believing that particular statement- that had an easy, renewable source of magical energy in the form of gemstones that you could harvest from the bodies of monsters that were created in infinite numbers from a strange, Oblivion-like Dungeon. Whose existence seemed to revolve around generating those monsters and releasing them to kill mortals. Those monsters had something similar to Soul Gems inside their body, even if from his Master's words, they were not exactly Souls Gems. Still, that made it possible for the Master to gather enough power for his ritual, given enough time.

The next universe might not have such a convenient source of energy on hand, so he had directed the Shadow Lords to create something that could be considered one of the greatest, most complex rituals ever executed.

Basically, his plan was to create an interconnected web between all the Pure Dragoncrystal, the magical gems created by pure Creatia and enchanted to absorb light and convert it into magicka. On top of powering most of the newly born gem technology that the Akyin were developing, the interconnecting web -network, he called it- would have a secondary function. On top of linking the Dragoncrystals to distribute the energy more evenly between them, the grid had to be enchanted to transfer a minimum part of that energy toward Master himself, or at least a magical item he had to create himself. The loss of energy would be almost unnoticeable compared to the total amount of magicka generated by the system, but considering the different time flow and the sheer size of the project, even that was going to let Master power his ritual. And as the cities and network grew, the time was going to become progressively shorter.

The work was going slowly, unfortunately. The idea was intriguing and, for what Valohk understood of the theory, quite solid. However, even if the project could work in theory, making that theory work was not. Master, for all his talent, was not an engineer. So, he had left the shadows and the Akyn responsible for the project with clear instructions on what to do, but not on how to do it.

So the entire thing had to be built from nothing, using the knowledge the shadows could pull out from what their Master had given them, and whatever the Akyn could understand and implement. Unfortunately, the sheer size of the entire project required the use of the local manpower to be accomplished. The twelve Shadow Lords would have taken years to do all that work on their own, and that was not acceptable, because it would have stopped them from guiding the Akyn and improving the Refuge.

The Akyn had taken the request -not the order, for ordering the Akyn was prohibited- with enthusiasm. For the first time, their king, god, whatever they thought Master was, had given the Shadow Lords an order which they could help realize. The number of volunteers was honestly touching. Well, Valohk was sure the Master would have found it touching.

The Dragon Priest looked away from the arcane symbols that were being carved on the magical metal of the structure holding up a Dragoncrystal the size of a man's torso, looking at the city that was growing under the shadow of the great mountain where the Master's mansion was. The locals had started to call it the Guarded City, and not just because there were four Shadow Lords protecting it, but for another reason.

The monsters of the Refuge avoided the mountain if they could. That didn't stop particularly angry monsters from following hunting groups right under the walls, or particularly hungry ones to wait nearby to ambush them, but it did stop casual attacks on the city.

The life outside the Guarded City was rough for the Akyn, even with the supernatural aid of the Shadow Lords. Reptilian monsters infested the entire plane, and while not every one of them was aggressive, most were. They also seemed to consider the monsters that the Akyn tried to breed as a source of food and Dragonblood an easy prey, and so the communities far away from the mountain had to fight to survive. The Guarded City was, in comparison, a lot safer, and so the Akyn living there could focus on something that was not survival. Like creating Dragoncrystals to power up the entire city, or create solutions to make the other cities as safe as theirs. Some Akyn mages were starting to develop specific wards against the local monsters, but they were still far away from finding a solution. Especially one that didn't require the constant presence of a mage to launch the spell. Maybe with time they'll find a way to put that spell on a Dragoncrystal and power it using ambient magicka, but until then, it was just a theory.

Then there was a ripple in the flow of magicka, and Valohk knew he had to return.

"My Master has returned. We'll continue after he has left. Rest for now."

The Akyn bowed and relaxed, as Valohk used his connection to the manor to materialize inside the building. Here, he found his master, waiting for him.

"Valohk. How are things going here?" Asked his Master in a casual tone.

"The works on the project you gave are proceeding… slowly. The Akyn are intelligent people, but even they have limits on how much they can learn in a certain amount of time. And we have to proceed by trial and error. We're not sure what the optimal configuration is supposed to be like."

Master Loki grunted. "Yeah, it's not an easy subject. It varies depending on a lot of factors… I'll put down some of my best guesses, but they're going to be based on Nirn rules. I'm not sure those are the same here."

Valohk nodded. "Even a nudge in the right direction will help."

"And aside from that project? How is the situation outside the city?"

"The usual, I'm afraid. We're taking into consideration the idea of creating Dragoncrystal that are going to use the stored magicka to keep the monsters away, but we still have to determine what keeps them away. Some Akyn have even proposed the idea that it's Master's mere presence that keeps the monsters away, like they know the ruler of Refuge lives there and they don't dare to attack for this reason."

Master blinked. "That's… a take. I would suggest it's nonsense, but since I have no clue on why my presence spontaneously generated life in this place, I cannot exclude it either. So, what would he propose to do if that theory is correct?"

"That a sufficiently powerful illusion should be enough to discourage most of the monsters. It will not work on the more intelligent or magically resistant of them, but it would reduce the frequency of the attacks."

Master seemed to appreciate the idea. "Well, at least it's a rational solution. It could even work without making the monsters believe it's me, even if the complexity is going to increase in that case. Give a raise to that man… or whatever you do to reward them."

"It will be done." Replied the Shadow Priest, before remembering something. "Ah, there is another thing, Master. Apparently, some of the Akyn are starting to develop peculiar magic related to blood and flesh. Their goal is to manipulate the body of some of the monsters they're domesticating and-"

"No."

Valohk paused, surprised. It rarely happened that his Master interrupted someone so brusquely. It was even rarer that he explicitly forbade an avenue of study so promising. "Master?"

"Flesh Magic is a terrible corruptive art." Replied the man, and Valohk blinked… or he would have if he needed to blink to begin with. "It was first discovered by the Wild Elves of Cyrodiil during the dawn of Tamriel, and they used it as an instrument of torture and to create perverse art using the bodies of their human slaves. I will not let the people of the Refuge rediscover it. I forbid its use."

Valohk didn't reply immediately, thinking about the consequences of what his Master had just said. "Do you perhaps know this art, Master?"

The man hesitated, frowned, then replied. "No, not really. I know enough about Restoration and Alteration to be able to do some minor cosmetic change to one's appearance, but nothing on the level of the Ayleids."

"Then why prohibit it before the Akyn have a chance to use it?" Asked Valohk. Normally, he would not dare to question his master, but this flesh magic had some great potential benefits. The ability to modify the flesh and bones of the monsters, making it easier to manipulate or to use, was enough to push him to ask that question. Master had ordered to make the Refuge greater, and this was something he couldn't dismiss. "Maybe this art will reveal itself to be as corrupting as you predict, Master, and in that case, the study will be prohibited as you command. But if the Akyn are able to find a way to use it without being corrupted, wouldn't it be a great asset, especially for the more isolated communities?"

Master Loki remained silent for a while, likely pondering the question. Finally, after a while, he decided to speak.

"Very well. I will allow the study of Flesh Magic. But the use of flesh manipulation will be restricted to monsters, never Akyn, until it will be deemed as secure. And a practitioner that decides to use the pain or the life essence of the subjects to fuel its spell has to be stopped at all costs. That's an order."

Valohk bowed to the will of his Master. "As you command." It was not the freedom the old shadows had hoped for, but it was what it could be reasonably expected from his Master. After all, one of his commands was to never harm mortals or Akyn. If the power he described was fueled by misery and pain, the Shadows would have stopped its research anyway. "We'll steer the research toward the use of other sources. Maybe the same blood that they use right now?"

His Master nodded. "That would be acceptable. Blood magic is not inherently corrupting." He paused for a second. "Actually, if they managed to find a way to gain powerful regeneration and then use their own blood to power their spell, that would be perfect."

"Of course, it would make for an eternally renewable source of power." Commented the old shadows.

Master blinked. "Well, that too, but I was thinking that it was going to give them a lesson on responsible use of power. You cannot afford to waste it when it's your own life essence."

Valohk bowed to the wisdom of his master. "As you say."

Of course, a limited source of power also meant it was less likely that someone could go mad with power and try to overthrow the order the Shadow Lords were trying to bring to the entirety of the plane. Not that Valohk believed that it was a likely outcome in the short term, but in the long term, it was a possibility that he had to consider. And his Master, with his great foresight, had already thought about that.

Since the discussion had turned to a lighter note, Valohk decided it was safe to ask a question to his Master. Innocuous questions, of course. His orders were unbreakable, but simple curiosity was something his Master seemed to appreciate.

"How are things going in your new universe, Master? Is the goal within reach?"

Master Loki smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah. I go regularly into the deeper levels of the Dungeon to gather bigger, higher-quality stones. It's taxing, but I can always teleport outside it. As long as I'm careful to not fight monsters that are too strong for me, I'm good."

"How can things in the Dungeon be so strong to worry you?" Asked Valohk. "It was my impression that the first levels of the Dungeon contained monsters comparable to the ones on Tamriel."

"They are, but the lower you get the stronger they get." Explained his Master. "They resemble living creatures, but they're not… not in the sense you think of them. A minotaur is not really a minotaur. Sure, you can wound one like a real minotaur, and have all the normal bodily functions of a regular minotaur… but when you remove the stone in its body, it crumbles to dust. You understand what I'm saying?"

Valohk nodded. "They're not creatures of flesh and blood. Just shapes given substance by the magic contained inside their stone. More or less like a daedra manifested on Nirn." Valohk thought about the whole thing for a second. "The magic contained inside them must be incredibly concentrated. Daedra are given shape by their animus, but these creatures don't have one."

"Actually, they do." Replied his Master. "And exactly like a daedra, when killed it returns to the Dungeon, where they're reincarnated in a new body."

"Then what purpose has the gem inside them?" Asked Valohk.

"I have no idea. Since the monsters don't need to need food and water to live, probably as a source of energy, or to sustain their unnaturally powerful bodies."

"But that energy cannot be infinite… do these monsters die of old age?"

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure. Don't think too much about it. It's a weird place."

Valohk decided to trust his Master.

"But you're right, it is a pretty concentrated source of energy, and the lower you get, the higher in quantity and density it gets. One gem from a boss monster was enough to take care of a good chunk of the required energy. If I can collect other bosses' stones, I can take even less. Unfortunately, they require time to reincarnate."

"Make sense. Such great stones cannot be easy to produce."

"True, but the first boss is easily matched by normal monsters on lower floors, and they don't have stones so big. There is something strange about the Dungeon."

"Seems like a challenge of sorts." Commented Valohk. "Like Lorkhan created Mundus to grow beyond his nature, this Dungeon can be seen as a trap placed there to challenge the mortal races and make them grow stronger."

"Considering that before the coming of the gods the Dungeon was threatening to destroy all civilizations, it's not a very thought-out challenge." Replied his Master. "The obstacle has to be commensurate. You cannot grow if you get killed because the challenge is impossible to surpass."

"True. I suppose that my hypothesis is just that."

"It may be impossible to know who created the Dungeon and why." Shrugged his Master. "It's also completely pointless, because I'm not going to remain there long enough to research the matter. It's a mystery that the inhabitants of that world will have to uncover on their own, if they want to deal with it permanently. But considering how much of their society is reliant on the stones for fuel, I doubt they're going to do something about it even if they could."

That seemed like a reasonable conclusion. "So what are you going to do now, Master? Continue to gather stones until your objective is complete?"

His Master stopped moving for a second, froze in the act of turning around… then started again. "There is a big expedition going on soon. I'm pretty sure of it. Me and a powerful Familia are going to delve deep inside the Dungeon and we will find something big. I'll help them deal with it, because if I don't, there is the risk that bad people will try to unleash the monster waiting there in the city. It's a powerful creature, and they're going to be able to deal with it… but there is no reason not to help. After all, I get the opportunity to go deeper than I normally can."

"I see." Said Valohk. Then, after a brief pause, he continued. "Is there the possibility that you will not be able to return to the Refuge, Master?"

Master Loki shrugged. "Unless something very different happens when I leave for the next place, no. Dimensional travel, once the connection is established, ignores things like physical distance. I'll be able to return any time." He then yawned, clearly tired from his day.

"I'm happy to hear that, Master. Now, I'll leave for your rest."

"Good night, Valohk."

"Good night." Replied the Shadow, before leaving his Master alone. It was to his explicit request that nobody had to look at him while he slept, and that included no surveillance except in the broadest sense.

No matter. He had a project to finish.

Preparation for Departure 1.1

After Monsterphilia, things calmed down… somewhat. I knew that there were things going bad inside the Dungeon, and that Ais was probably going around fighting shit. Including the Creatures or whatever the name was of the half-human, half-monster guys who were apparently resurrected by some entity deep in the Dungeon. But I managed to avoid those conflicts, mostly by not being there when they happened. It was not even a conscious thing: I was either in the Middle Floors mentoring the Golden Trio or in the Lower Floors killing monsters.

I also ran a little experiment to see if the abilities of the monsters I kill influenced my acquisition of Excelia, namely by only killing certain types of monsters: very fast, very strong, very tough, and so on. That confirmed my suspicion that the monster abilities influence the Excelia gained, because when I focused on killing only fast monsters, my Agility and Speed grew a lot more than the others. Once I had my curiosity sated, I returned to killing all of them. I didn't discriminate, after all.

Of course, that didn't mean that The Plot™ was not going to reach me. It was. But for a while, I managed to avoid it. My day had a fairly straightforward routine: train the Trio while descending into the Middle Floors, going on a rampage in the Lower Floors, and then returning to the Hostess of Fertility for an abundant dinner while chatting with the kids.

Until something unexpected broke my routine.

"What the hell happened?" I asked the moment I saw Lili inside the Hostess. Her face was bruised, probably because someone punched her in the face. I immediately started to heal her, the green and black on her face fading.

"Some adventurers tried to mug her after we returned." Welf replied, almost growling. "She ran toward the Hostess and we kicked their asses, but they still managed to hurt her."

"Who did this?" I asked, even if I suspected what the answer was.

"We don't know." Answered Bell. "They didn't have an insignia with them."

I focused my attention on Lili. "It was Soma, am I right?"

Lili didn't answer immediately, but in the end, she nodded.

"Soma?" Asked Welf, disbelieving. "But… they're Lili's Familia."

I removed my hand from Lili's face, now immaculate, and I sat down with a sigh. "It's a long story. But it should be Lili telling it, not me."

The girl looked up at me with wide eyes. "How much does Mister know?"

"A lot. I never said anything because you didn't talk to me about it, so I hoped you had a plan or something. But since your Familia is starting to attack you, I think it's time I stop being so laid back about it."

"What does Mister Rexen mean, Lili?" Asked Bell, and the girl finally decided to speak. About what the Soma Familia did, why they always looked so desperate, and why she was trying to accumulate money to get away. It was a pretty heart-wrenching story. After she finished, Welf and Bell immediately decided to help her get away from her Familia, to the point of giving her most of the money they gained if it helped to do it faster.

There was just a problem.

"It won't work."

The Trio looked at me, clearly not understanding what I meant. "What do you mean?" Asked Welf.

"Giving them money will not work." I explained. "This system is not something put in place by Soma. It's all a plot made by the Captain… uh…"

"Zanis Lustra." Supplied Lili.

"That one. Soma didn't give his wine to him to motivate his Familia. It's all his idea, to get more money and become rich. You really think he's going to let you go once you pay him whatever absurd amount of money he demands?" I scoffed. "If you ask me, he'll just take the money and order his goons to kick you out. I wouldn't trust the word of someone willing to addict his entire Familia for personal gain."

Lili visibly trembled. "So all the work Lili did…"

"Was for nothing, yes." I finished. "Sorry, Lili. I would have told you before, but I doubt you would have believed me."

The girl didn't say anything, still trembling. Welf patted her on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, while Bell looked at me, surprised. "How can Mister Rexen know so much about Lili's situation?"

I snapped my fingers, creating an image of the Soma Familia house. "I can do a lot of things, Bell. My magic is pretty versatile." I snapped my fingers again, making the image disappear. "Now, the situation is unsustainable. If your Familia attacked you, they either figured out you had a huge amount of money hidden somewhere, or they're desperate enough to go for you anyway. Or both. The fact that they're members of your Familia makes things a bit more complicated: Ganesha Familia is not going to move for an internal matter of another Familia. So, the only thing that is left for us is to free you from Soma."

Lili's tremors stopped and she looked at me with wet eyes. "You know how I can see Lord Soma?"

I grunted. "Well, no, but I can bring you to him with a spell and keep out whatever asshole that tries to stop you from talking to him. There is just one problem." I paused, trying to put it in a way that was less hard and failing. "He'll ask you to drink the perfect wine."

Lili froze. Meanwhile, Bell and Welf exchanged a confused look.

"Uh… what?" Asked Bell.

I sighed. "From what I got, Soma is… pretty upset that his Familia is so obsessed with his wine. That's the reason he never gets out and interacts with them. Giving Lili a sip of the perfect Soma is a test, a way to see her resolve. If she really, really wants to leave, in his head at least, she'll be able to overcome the effects of the wine, and he'll listen to her request. If not, well, she will probably be addicted to the wine again and will not want to leave anymore."

There was a brief moment of silence before Lili spoke. "Lili doesn't want to drink the Soma."

"You don't have any choices, Lili."

"But Mister was able to open his Falna even without his god-"

"You're not me, Lili." I interrupted her. "I have a deeper connection to my god than you. I could try to do something using Soma's blood, but it would require time, and I doubt the gods would take well the idea of someone being able to free their children from their Familia without their consent."

Lili flinched. Of course, there was no way the gods would let something like that slide. The consequences would be catastrophic. If they heard of me doing something like that, they would sic their Familia on me and kill me without a second thought, and the Adventurers would probably do it even if they knew me. The possibility of using that power for evil was far too real.

"But Mister will help me, right?" She then asked, sounding desperate.

I scratched my head. "Well, yeah, but there is not much I can do to stop the wine from making an effect. It's not a poison or a drug, so I cannot cast a spell on you to make you immune to it. Sure, some resistance to poison will make it more difficult for you to get drunk, but the taste will still be the same… if that even works on something as powerful as a wine made by a god. The most I can do is to use magic to strengthen your will and focus your mind, but in the end, you'll have to drink, and then it will be up to you."

"It will be enough. Lili can do it!" Exclaimed Bell.

I smiled at the kid and Welf chuckled. "Yeah, she can. C'mon Lil'e, you braved the Dungeon to get all that money just to give up because of some wine? You can deal with it."

Lili lowered her head, hiding her eyes from sight. She was probably fighting to not cry.

"We'll have to find her a Familia though. She can't go into the Dungeon with her Blessing inactive." I casually said.

"I'll ask my Goddess!" Immediately replied Bell. "I'm sure she'll be very happy to have a new member."

At that, Lili couldn't contain her tears anymore, and while Welf and Bell tried to console her, I smiled and ordered dinner for everyone.

We'll have work to do tomorrow. Better have a full stomach and a good night of sleep before starting to think of a better way for Lili to get away from her Familia.

-X-

In the end, the plan didn't require much time. After a morning of debate, we decided that there was no reason to delay the inevitable -it was not like we could train her to resist the effect of the wine or something- and so, that night, when everyone or most of her Familia was sleeping, I brought her inside the Soma home and right in front of the god in question.

Soma, in person, was absolutely unremarkable. If not for the aura he emitted that clearly qualified him as a god, I would have never guessed he was somewhat important. He looked like a recluse, one of those that stayed all the time inside his room and lost himself in his hobbies while trying his hardest to ignore the outside world.

Which, now that I thought about it, he was.

"L-Lord Soma." Stuttered Lili, but I calmed her by putting a hand on her head and sneakily putting every Fortify spell on her that I believed could help. Specifically, the ones to reinforce her mind and constitution. I had no idea if it was going to help, but she seemed to appreciate it.

Meanwhile, Soma had sent her a dispassionate look, likely not caring much. Lili continued. "I… I want to leave the Familia. Please let me."

The god continued to send her a dispassionate look. Then, without saying a word, he took a cup and filled it with a clear liquid. I could smell the content from here and, despite how good it was, I still felt traces of alcohol inside. Unfortunately, I can't stomach that smell.

"I'll make sure nobody interrupts." I said, retracting my hand from Lili's head. "You can do it, Lili."

And so, I positioned myself in front of the door and started to put a series of spells on it, mostly to make it extremely difficult for someone to enter without my permission. So, I missed the part where Lili drank the cup. I could only hear the little girl fall on her knees, and I turned a little to see her with a blissful expression on her face, looking at the ceiling.

I knew she was going to make it… but I still couldn't stop myself from whispering a simple encouragement. "C'mon Lili."

As she had heard me, the girl blinked and her eyes seemed to focus. She tried to move, but whatever control she had over her body was not enough to let her stand up. So, she crashed forward, but she placed her arms under her body and managed to push herself high enough to look at Soma.

"Please…"

The god, who had already turned with a disappointed shake of his head, stopped and turned toward Lili. There was a strange glint in his eyes.

Right at that moment, though, someone knocked at the door. "Lord Soma, we heard voices. What's happen-?"

I silenced the door with a flick of my wrist. "Shut up, man. You're ruining the moment."

Lili, meanwhile, had locked her eyes with Soma. "Please… let me leave the Familia…"

There was a moment of silence… and then Soma nodded. He gently took Lili from the ground and put her on a chair. Before removing the Falna, though, he looked at me. Was it an impression, or did he have a vaguely threatening look on his face?

Fortunately, I understood what he wanted and turned. "Ah, right. Sorry."

There was a couple of seconds of absolute silence that I passed looking at the door getting knocked a couple of times, then I heard the rustle of clothes going down. I turned to see Soma, with Lili in his arms, coming toward me. I accepted the girl from him and Lili seemed to cuddle against my chest.

"Thank you…" She said between the tears, and I was not sure she was talking to me or to the god.

"I did you wrong, Liliruca Arde." Said Soma. Then he looked at me. "Take care of her."

"I'll do better. I'll teach her to take care of herself."

Apparently, that was enough. He nodded at me, I nodded back, and then I teleported out of the room, and right to the abandoned church that was the home of the Hestia Familila.

-X-

When Lili woke up, she found herself in a place she didn't know. It looked like an old room, with all the necessities for living there, but everything looked so old and dusty. Before she had the time to look around and get an idea of what happened, a voice distracted her.

"Oh, good morning Lili!"

She looked up and saw Mister Bell looking at her with a big smile on her face. "Mister Bell…?"

"Ah, I'm going to call Lady Hestia so she can give you her Falna. Wait a little."

Lili blinked as Mister Bell vanished up some stairs, and she understood. She was inside the Hestia Familia home, after she had passed the test of Lord Soma and he unlocked her Falna. Mister was nowhere to be seen, but knowing him, he was inside the Dungeon increasing his Abilities to an insane degree.

But that was secondary. The point was… she was free. She had resisted the effect of the wine and now she didn't have to stay in that Familia anymore. She was free.

Lili quickly wiped out the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes when she heard two sets of steps coming down. She took a big breath and prepared herself to meet the Goddess.

"Ah, so you're the Miss Supporter Bell always talks about." Said a voice, and Lili opened her eyes to see a short, black-haired Goddess with twintails and… well, a very, very impressive bust. She asked herself how they could stay up with only a blue ribbon to support them.

Godly powers, she assumed.

Blinking to remove that thought from her mind, Lili bowed to the Goddess. "Yes. I'm Liliruca Arde. Pleased to meet you, Lady Hestia."

"Ah, such a polite child." Smiled the Goddess of Hearth. "Bell, dear, wait for us outside. I have to put the Falna up."

Mister Bell looked at his Goddess for a second, likely not getting the meaning of the request, then he blushed. "Ah, yes, right. I'll wait upstairs then."

Then he ran out.

The Goddess sighed. "Ah, such an innocent child I have. Then, Miss Supporter, shall we?"

Lili nodded and turned, giving the Goddess free access to her back. Lady Hestia started to do the usual things Gods did when updating the Falna. Halfway through, she sighed again. "What was Soma doing? Your Status has increased a lot. How long has it been since Soma updated your Falna?"

Lili thought about it, trying to remember. "Lili is not sure. Six months, maybe?"

Lili heard the twin-tails of the Goddess slap around as she shook her head. "Honestly, that guy. I can't believe he would let that much time pass."

"You couldn't get your Falna updated without paying." Revealed Lili. "It was all a plan by the Captain to make more money… or so Mister said."

"Ah, yes, the mysterious Rexen." Said Lady Hestia. "What do you think about him, Miss Supporter?"

Lili blinked, confused by the question. "He's a nice man. He treated me fairly and helped me, not asking for anything in return."

"Nothing?"

Lili shook her head.

"Hmmm." Commented Lady Hestia. "I see. Sorry for asking you, Miss Supporter, but every time I hear about him, I always have the impression that he is hiding something very big about himself."

Lili thought briefly about the Dragon Refuge and wisely decided to stay silent.

"Here we go! You have a new Falna and a lot of improvements! Take a look."

Name: Liliruca Arde

Alias:

Race: Pallum

Level 1

Strength: I 83 - H 154

Defense: H 106 - G 237

Dexterity: G 207 - F 308

Agility: F 307 - D 507

Magic: F 332 - D 550

Magic

Cinder Ella

Your wound is mine. My wound is mine

Echoing message of midnight.

Skills

Artel Assit: When you're carrying a certain amount of weight, increase Abilities. The amount compensated depends on the weight.

Development Abilities

Uh… that was a very big increase in all her Abilities. Her Magic and Agility in particular were very good. She was still weak, but better than she was expecting. With that kind of Magic, she could even start to consider asking for more runic weapons from Mister Welf. Or at least better ones.

She turned toward Lady Hestia, who smiled and opened her arms. "Welcome into the Hestia Familia, Lili."

The girl bowed immediately. "Thank you, Lady Hestia." She said.

Then a couple of hands grabbed her by her shoulder. "So… Now that the formalities are over and done with, why don't we talk about your relationship with Bell?"

Oh boy…

-X-

"So it's decided?" I asked the people right in front of me.

"Yes." Nodded the blonde Pallum in the middle. "We have received… worrying news."

"Something related to the plant-like monsters that popped out during Monsterphilia?" I asked.

"That's right, lad. We managed to get some info about them. Apparently, we'll find something in the Deep Floors. Fifty-ninth Floor."

I nodded, already imagining where this discussion was going to end up.

"Will you help us?" Asked Riveria. "We will need all the help we can get. We already asked some smith of the Hephaestus Familia to come with us to maintain our weapons in case we meet those acid-praying monsters again. Even with your enchantments, the weapons get ruined too quickly for comfort. We know you can repair them, but we'd prefer it if you kept your magic to fight."

I paused for a second before answering, even though I already knew what my answer was. "Very well. I just have one condition… aside from being paid, obviously."

"What is it?" Asked Finn, intertwining his fingers.

"No teleport to the Deep Floors. It consumes a lot of power and I want to get the magic stones. I did it the first time because I wanted to make an impression, but for this one, I prefer to conserve my power."

The executives of Loki Familia exchanged a glance, then the Captain nodded. "Deal."

I grinned. "Good. Let's go kick some monster ass then."

Preparation for Departure 1.2

… And so I'm going to be in the Deep Floors for a while." I finished.

"That's amazing." Exclaimed Bell. "Are you going to be alright, Mister Rexen? The Deep Floors are full of dangerous monsters."

"No need to worry, Bell. I already got there once. It's not that dangerous if you keep yourself close to the group… if you are Level 3 or higher, of course."

Bell looked awed, but that expression quickly changed when I continued. "I think after this adventure I'll go. I've got enough magic stones for my little project. Barely enough stones, but it will work."

There was a moment of absolute immobility, as Bell -and Lili and Welf, they were there too- heard my words.

"Uh?" Was Bell's response.

"Really Mister?" Asked Lili. "So soon? I thought you needed a lot of them."

I nodded. "I underestimated the power contained in higher quality stones. My raids in the Lower Floors had been very helpful. I should be able to power up my ritual after the expedition. If I'm not, it's still going to be pretty close."

Both Lili and Welf looked sad but understanding. Bell… not so much.

"Wait, Mister Rexen is going away? Why?"

I sent the boy a look, then opened a portal. "Let me show you something."

Bell looked at the portal with a mix of curiosity and doubt, but then the doubt disappeared and he entered inside the portal.

Welcome to the Refuge, Bell Cranel.

-X-

After some much-needed explanations, Bell understood why I had to leave and didn't comment on it. Things continued pretty much as normal while the expedition was organized, including Bell finding a Grimoire and reading it. Yeah, the kid didn't develop his Magic under my guidance, for reasons I can't discern. But at least he got something different from Firebolt, which was just so boring as a spell.

The new Magic he got was called Lightburst, which summoned a bright light and then hit the enemies with it, not unlike Lefiya's spells. It seemed to work like Firebolt, but when Bell described the spell, I noticed a slightly different wording. Firebolt was a Swift Attack Magic. Lightburst was a Swift Evocation Magic. It could mean anything or nothing, but the wording suggested to me that throwing white lasers at monsters was not the only use of the spell. Best case scenario, it would make him something like a Green Lantern, or some watered-down version of the same concept.

Well, maybe more uses will be discovered with higher Magic and the Mage Development Ability. For now, the only thing he could do with it was hit monsters with magic. Not exactly the most versatile spell ever, but I had hoped he could do better than that.

And of course, a lot of hijinks happened in the meanwhile. Like Bell starting to train with Ais -I may or may not have something to do with that, I have other things to do than beat up a child- Freya making her intentions toward Bell a little more clear, lots of fights in the Dungeon… the usual things.

Until, finally, came the day of the expedition. I waited for Loki Familia in front of Babel, fully decked out in my best gear. I could have put on my less powerful gear after we reached the Deep Floors, but we were probably going to rush through them to reach safe Levels, so I will not have the time to deal with the monsters enough to make the increase in Excelia relevant.

"Is that you, Rexen?" Asked a voice. I turned to see Finn walking toward me, with all his Familia behind him.

"Yes." I replied.

"I thought it was you." The Pallum smiled. I could understand why he would have difficulties recognizing me. My scaled robes were very different from the armor I bought here and the mask covered my face. "Is that armor made of what I think it is?"

I sent him a sideways glance. "I have no idea what you think, but it's made of dragon scales."

"Ah, I was right." He smiled, then raised his hand. Behind him, Bete grunted and slapped some coins in his hand. "I thought you would use some high-level gear for this expedition. When someone…" Bete tsked. "… laughed at the idea of armor and weapons made from dragon's loot, I decided to make a bet."

I huffed through my nose. "Happy to make you gain some money."

"Thank you. Now, I suppose everything you have on yourself is as heavily enchanted as the things you made for us?"

"No. It's better."

The Pallum raised a brow. "Really? How?"

"You'll see. Now, I believe we've got to move."

"Yes, we do." Nodded the Braver, turning serious. "Come. We'll try to get to the Deep Floors as fast as possible."

"Rush?" I asked.

"Not really advisable, with a party of this size. We'll just have a lot of monsters following us, and they will not stop just because we reached a safe Floor."

"Makes sense." I admitted.

The travel down was mostly uneventful, at least up in the Upper Floors. When we reached the Middle Floors, though, things began to change. In the form of a band of Adventurers running away.

Now, I would normally associate this with Freya unleashing the empowered Minotaur on Bell, but that didn't make a lot of sense. First of all, the Minotaur was supposed to be in the Upper Floors, not in the Middle ones, and besides, Bell already had experiences with minotaurs during our visits to the Middle Floors, aside from being better trained. Surely, he didn't have any residual fear of the monster… right?

I decided to check. "What's the problem?" I asked the fleeing Adventurers.

"Monsters!" Shouted one of them. "They're rampaging through the Middle Floors. Guided by a red Minotaur!"

Oh… that was not good. I grabbed the man before he could continue to run. "Where? Was there someone else?"

"Yes! A little group of Adventurers! They were being surrounded-"

"Describe them!" I cut him, already preparing for the worst.

"Uh… a Pallum Girl, a red-head human, and a boy with white hair-"

Before I could move, Ais had already started to run, with various members of her Familia shouting something. I quickly followed.

Unfortunately, Ais was faster than me by a lot, so I quickly lost her. I closed the distance by moving through the shadows. Not that it mattered, because I found her staring at Ottarl.

"If you want to reach Bell, move and don't stop for any reason." I ordered as soon as I was at her side. Ais sent me a look, but she didn't question me. Instead, she charged forward, using her wind to pick up speed, probably thinking I was going to boost her or something.

Instead, when she was closing the distance toward the King, I closed my hand and teleported her a dozen meters behind Ottarl right before he could intercept her. The girl seemed to stumble for a second, but she regained her stance in a fraction of a second and continued to run.

"The man with the soul of raging fire." A voice came, and my eyes abandoned the silhouette of Ais running away to focus on the Boaz.

"Ottarl the 'King'." I replied. "We met at last. To tell you the truth, I had hoped that Bell already got over his fear of minotaurs, but since you're here, I was clearly hoping for too much."

The Level 7 eyes narrowed at that, for good reason. I just admitted I knew full well what Freya was doing. But he also freely admitted that Freya had peeped inside my soul, so we're even.

Even if I cannot understand why my soul should have the color of a raging fire. Maybe it looked like the strange energy that flowed inside me when I killed the Dov? Had my soul become like theirs?

"I don't get it though." I continued. Ottarl was as stoic as I remembered, so it was difficult to gauge what he was thinking, but I was pretty sure there was something behind his calm mask. "Why now? I stopped accompanying them all the way through the Middle Floors for a while now. Surely it would have been easier to organize this thing before, or even after, when I was in the Lower Floors. Why now? And don't tell me that you didn't know I was going to be here: it's not exactly a secret and I doubt you didn't take the possibility of someone helping Bell into consideration."

The Boaz remained silent for a second, I was almost certain he was not going to answer when he spoke. "I wanted to meet you. My lady had… interesting words regarding you."

I sent him a doubtful look. "That's it? You could have just… no, you don't leave your Goddess side too much, do you? You needed a good reason to leave her enough to satisfy your curiosity. Not for Freya, I'm sure she doesn't mind, but for yourself."

Ottarl still hadn't changed expression, but his tone of voice sounded in equal parts wary and impressed. Not that it showed a lot, but I could feel the change. "Your ability to see through the souls of people is matched only by my Goddess."

"Ah, it was just something I guessed by doing a little research, nothing more. Well, I'm here. Are you satisfied?"

"No." Replied the Adventurer, grabbing his sword. Uh… that was bad. "I didn't wait here without reason. What happens in the Dungeon remains in the Dungeon. Here you can show me who you really are."

I eyed the sword with wariness. I was not thrilled to fight Ottarl. He was far stronger than me. "Why should I? You know I can just avoid you until the rest of Loki Familia arrives, right?"

Ottarl paused for a second, probably thinking for a good reason. "If you do, I'll defend your protégées."

I blinked several times, not believing what he had just said. Then I gathered enough presence of mind to come up with a reply. "Bullshit. If Freya asked you to kill them, you'd do it without hesitation. That promise is worthless."

"If my Goddess orders me, I will obey." Admitted the Boaz. "However, I can try to dissuade her. I cannot promise to be able to, but I can try."

I remained silent for a long second, weighing the offer.

Then shadows started to gather around me as I materialized my sword in my hand.

"Fine."

-X-

Ottarl had seen his fair share of powerful opponents in his life, from monsters to other Adventurers.

This man was different. He had observed him for what it was possible, and what he had found was… nothing. Or to be more precise, not what every other Adventurer seemed to have. A goal. An objective. Something that drove them inside the Dungeon. Even if he could see that there was a flame in his eyes, he couldn't discern where that flame was aimed. So he had waited for the perfect opportunity to meet him in person. He had shown to be quite calm and relaxed the whole time.

So, he mentioned helping his protégé to force him to care about the fight, and he had changed. Slightly, but he had. His eyes had narrowed by a hair's breadth, and with that, his entire posture had screamed his cold, calculated determination.

Then the shadows started to converge on him, and reality bled.

The King couldn't describe what happened in any other way. The shadows that converged on him created a chain reaction of sorts, and all the shadows in the immediate area started to drip down like water. An unnatural surge of fear hit the Boaz, but he squashed it like a bug. The now shadow-less walls distorted the perception he had of the zone, as they lacked depth, while the ground was covered in darkness, making footing tricky. Even with the unnatural terror defeated, it still looked very uncanny.

"That's why I never use this at full power." Murmured his opponent, seemingly to himself. He then lowered his stance, bringing his sword -that sent a shiver down the King's spine- up. The shadows finished gathering inside him, and he could read in his posture that he was ready. "Here I come."

The man -Rexen, he should remember that- dashed forward, far faster than expected. Ottarl had heard that he had defeated the Goliath in single combat, but he didn't do that without some wounds. Even if he had become stronger in the meanwhile, this was outside anything he had ever seen. High Level 4… 5… 6?

Their swords clashed with enough force to rattle the entire area. Not enough to overpower Ottarl, but enough to make him wary. The weapon he was using right now was not made to sustain that kind of power. Not for long, at least. He had to be aggressive if he wanted to get a fight from this man.

So he pushed, easily launching the smaller opponent away. Rexen didn't seem to be too bothered by that. He landed on his feet and prepared for the next attack, raising the sword high.

"Sword. Tremor."

Ottarl's instincts screamed that he needed to stop that attack from coming at any cost. But since he ignored the nature of the attack, he couldn't just block it. So he settled for the best option he could. He charged straight at Rexen, to force him to stop.

He managed to do it, but apparently, it was all a calculated move, since the King just passed right through the man in question like it was not there, blocking the attack but also overextending.

Before he could turn, a wave of fire washed over him. The flame didn't generate any shadow, since all the shadows were still pooled on the ground, but the heat was real enough to melt the stone around him.

Not enough to hurt the King, however. He fended through the flames with a slash of his sword, forcing Rexen to dodge. Mmm… his armor was singed and the sword was burning red. This equipment was ruined, he would have to throw it away. But it was not so damaged that he couldn't fight for a little more.

It was at that moment that Ottarl realized he had made a mistake. He was too relaxed fighting Rexen. Maybe it was because he knew that Loki Familia was coming, so there was no reason to go all-out. Maybe it was because he had faced the power of this man and found him lacking, or maybe because he could feel that Rexen had no intention to kill or even seriously hurt him, but for a fraction of a second, he had ignored his opponent to focus on the status of the equipment.

And the moment he had done that, Rexen had jumped to the occasion, releasing a thick stream of lightning from his mouth. Again, the attack was not strong enough to hurt Ottarl, but the electricity interacted with his Level 7 toughness in funny ways. Even if for just a second, his powerful muscles locked up.

"Unfh!" Snorted the King, the first sound he had emitted since the start of the fight. And the silvery blade that his opponent wielded flashed.

Just a little too late. Ottarl freed himself from the grasp of the lightning and parried the attack. Well, he deflected the oncoming strike, since blocking it outright risked breaking the sword he was using. What could have been a deep slash at the King's stomach was reduced to a mere graze to his left shoulder. Apparently, it was enough to activate the power of the sword, a Curse of some kind that sapped a little part of the Boaz vitality away. Nothing dangerous for him, but it was still a brutally effective power. All it had required was a graze, and he had lost a little strength. In the long run, that could spell doom for everyone not able to avoid the offensive of his opponent.

Interesting. Rexen was proving to be difficult. Maybe it was because they were both defensive fighters, and each of them was weighing his options and the best ways to attack and defend. The difference was in the number of options at their disposal. Rexen simply had more, and was adept at using them to disrupt the flow of the fight when it was more suitable for him.

But being difficult didn't mean that he had any chance of defeating him. Despite all his trickery, he simply didn't have the power and speed to really compete. His magic was the only thing that let him fight on somewhat equal ground with the King, and even if it was not enough, it was still worthy of respect.

Ottarl had to mentally redact that thought as his opponent blade somewhat managed to slip past his guard until it was right near his cheek, and only his superior reflexes and combat instinct saved him from getting his face slashed open. Rexen had shifted his stance slightly, making his entire posture indecipherable. Nothing magical from what the Boaz could discern… so pure combat training. Interesting.

The King narrowed his eyes and let his mind catch up with what just happened and let his sense synchronize with his opponent. In a second, he grasped the technique of his opponent and let him fight as if nothing had happened. He could see a mix of frustration and awe in Rexen's body language. Apparently, he didn't expect him to catch up with the technique so soon. But he did, and now they were exactly where they started.

And so they clashed, again and again, their weapons deflecting mortal hits and rattling the entire floor. Ottarl remained on his spot, a veritable mountain. Rexen was a little more mobile, using little movements of his body to better evade the incoming attacks. Always little adjustments, because like Ottarl himself, Rexen seemed to be able to instantly understand what his opponent's next move was going to be through observation and sheer experience.

Unfortunately, the duel was cut short when a voice rang through the passage.

"Hi Ottarl." Said Finn, his spear loosely resting on his shoulder, but ready to strike. "I would like it if you didn't kill our helper before we reached the Deep Floors. We may need him."

Ottarl paused, looking at Finn and the rest of the executives of Loki Familia. Then, he dropped his sword. "As you wish." He said, before starting to walk away.

Finn didn't seem to want to let him go without questions, though. "What is your goddess planning, Ottarl? Why attack here?"

"My goddess has nothing to do with this." Ottarl lied, as naturally as he breathed. Not that anyone believed him, but still, an impressive poker face was good even in these situations. "I just wanted to satisfy my own curiosity."

"I can understand that." Replied Finn, even if it was clear that he didn't believe him in the slightest. "Good day, Ottarl."

The Boaz didn't reply. He just sent a last glance to the pool of darkness left behind when Rexen had used his strange magic… but the man was not there anymore. He probably ran for his protégés the moment the duel stopped.

Such a shame. The King would have liked another duel. He doubted he would have the occasion though.

Preparation for Departure 1.3

I took my time to reach Bell and the others, because I really wasn't interested enough to see the fight by myself. They told me it was actually quite impressive, but I honestly didn't care much. I opened a portal for them when they were ready to leave and then we continued without stopping.

At least the executives were too occupied asking about Bell, his S rank in all Abilities and magic to bother with me…. too much. Of course, they asked questions to me since I was his teacher. But I deflected them by saying that those were not my secrets to share, and they left me alone. As we descended through the Floors, the Amazons, Bete and Ais were too busy killing monsters to care about it.

And so we went down, down, and down… until we reached the Fiftieth Floor again, and we prepared to rush further down. Well, Loki's Familia was preparing to rush down. I was standing watch to make sure that there was no monster coming at us before we were ready. It was not strictly necessary, but someone had to do it.

"Nervous?" Asked Raul's voice, coming from my side.

"A little." I admitted. "First time this deep inside the Dungeon. I'm not completely prepared for the monsters down here."

"You'll be fine." The Adventurer tried to reassure me. "You don't really have to worry about the monsters until we reach the Fifty-Second Floor… but even then, dragons are kind of your specialty, aren't they?"

I snorted in amusement. "Well, yes. I'd still prefer to not get hit by one of their breath weapons before arriving there."

Raul nodded and for a time, there was silence. Then, he asked me a question.

"There is something I couldn't ask you." He started, picking up his sword. "During the battle with the acidic monsters, my last blade was completely melted… but the enchantment of regeneration was still there. How is that possible?"

I smirked a little, even if he couldn't see it behind the mask. "Oh, that's because the weapon was not enchanted at all."

Raul paused for a second, processing the information. "But then… how I was able to regenerate?"

"Because the enchantment was not on the sword itself, but it was still there." I pointed at the piece of leather hanging at his side. "I never enchanted your sword, Raul. I enchanted the scabbard. I decided to leave the sword as it was for when you gained Magic." I frowned a little. "We never managed to unlock it, did we?"

Raul shook his head. "No, not enough time… or not enough talent on my part."

"Or maybe I still have yet to understand how to teach well." I replied with a shrug. "My magic is quite different from everyone else." I paused for a second, then something came to mind. "I don't think magic will suit you anyway. Maybe a Skill that requires Mind could serve the same purpose… but I don't know if such a skill could even exist."

"Skills can get pretty specific…" Started Raul.

"But can you get one that requires Mind to use even if you don't have Magic?" I asked. I had no idea if that was possible. I vaguely remembered Ryuu having a Skill that consumed Mind, but she also had magic, so….

"I'll have to ask the Captain or Riveria." Admitted Raul, before sending a look back. "Seems like we're ready."

I didn't take my eyes away from the entry to the next level until everyone was near us. Finn gave his speech about how from there on it was just hell, and that we had to stay close to the group. Apparently, he had memorized the entire Floor to find the quickest way down. That was actually impressive.

"Questions?" Asked the blond Pallum, looking around.

"A second." I asked, raising my hand, before changing my dragonscale vest for my far superior dragonbone plate. "Alright, I'm good."

Nobody commented on my bulkier and explicitly more magical armor, but I got a lot of glances for the Familia and from the Hephaestus smiths in particular.

"Then let's go." Concluded Finn, and we moved. Or ran, more accurately.

"Raul, keep an eye out for the spiders." I said, just before we really got inside the Floor. The man sent me a confused look, but maybe remembering the time I foresaw the attack of the caterpillars, he nodded.

Then we were inside the Fifty-First Floor, and the Dungeon unleashed hell upon us.

But the group was well organized and we fended off the monsters. Unfortunately, fending off the monsters did nothing to stop the dragons below us from starting to shoot their infernal laser breaths on us. That started only from the Fifty-Second Floor, but still.

The first time I saw that there were dragons on the Fifty-Eighth Floor that could shoot people six Floors above them, I was impressed. Piercing six Floors of stone with a single breath and still having enough power to kill Adventurers was very impressive.

Only recently did I remember that most of the Floors between the Fifty-two and the Fifty-six were empty. The Floors were fused into a gigantic nest called the Dragon Vase, so the Dragons could only effectively shoot through several meters of rock before the fire lost power. Still impressive, but not as much.

As we ran, exactly what I knew was going to happen happened. A gigantic spider -Deformis Spider? I was not sure of the name- launched a rope of sticky silk toward Raul. The man had listened to my warning, but between the various monsters around and the fact that they had to constantly dodge pillars or fire, meant that he couldn't just dodge away.

Of course, Lefiya tried to do her thing and shove Raul away from the attack, but that was just going to get her caught. So I did what I knew was right, and switched places with the young elf at the last second. The giant spider pulled me toward its mouth, but I wasn't worried. I severed the rope with a flick of my blade, and righted myself to not land on my ass when-

Booom!

… Exactly. An explosion of fire engulfed the spider that had just tried to capture me, leaving a five-meter-wide hole in the ground that I was just going to fall into. I turned toward the group, sent them a grin, and saluted.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

And then fell into the Dragon Vase.

-X-

Lefiya stared with naked horror as Rexen-san disappeared into a hole. After just having saved her from the same fate.

"Fuck!" Growled Bete, and jumped inside the hole too. After a second, and at the cry of 'Hey, wait for me!' Tiona did the same.

That was… what, the third time Rexen-san had casually put himself between her and death? Not really, more like the very first time he had physically taken her place to take a blow, but considering he had helped her call Salem, that was the third time he had saved her life. Why did he do that? He had no reason to. He wasn't part of the Familia. He wasn't obligated to save her.

But he did it anyway.

Was it because she was weak? Did he feel like she needed to be protected? Or maybe… maybe he was just a good man?

Before she could think about it, she had jumped inside the hole too. She had taken the decision, after the fight with the plant monsters, to not be weak anymore. She had decided to train harder to not need to be protected anymore, and to protect the people she cared about.

Rexen-san was not her friend. He was, at best, a friendly acquaintance and at worst a rival. Still, after everything he had done for her -including enchanting her staff- she was not going to leave him alone.

Apparently, he didn't take that well.

"What the fuck are you three doing?" Asked the man, falling head-first into a nest of dragons.

"We're saving you, you stupid asshole!" Replied Bete, falling with him.

"Voi avete la merda al posto del cervello!" Shouted Rexen-san. The language was not one Lefiya recognized, but the tone was pretty clear. It was… well, not really angry as exasperated. Fortunately, he switched to the common tongue immediately. A slip to his homeland's language? "You remember I can fly, right?"

Lefiya felt really, really stupid. And from the expression on Bete and Tiona's faces, they did too.

"Oh, right." Murmured the Amazon.

"Then why are you falling like a sack of shit?" Asked Bete, belligerent as always.

Lefiya caught the stink eye the human sent to the werewolf. If looks could transmute people, Bete would have been a chicken right now. "I'm a dragon slayer. It's my job to kill dragons."

Ah, right. He also had a Skill to help him- "Fire!" Shouted Lefiya, as one of the Valgang Dragons aimed a fireball big enough to engulf all of them together. Rexen-san sent the attack a glance before putting a hand forward.

The fireball, hot and powerful enough to burn through Floors, slammed against a hemispherical barrier of vaguely orange energy and was dissipated.

"That burned." Commented the man, waving his hand around to dissipate the heat. His armor didn't seem that burned, but she didn't know how Rexen-san' magic worked. "Well, since you're here, make yourselves useful. Bete, kill any wyvern that comes too close. Lefiya, start to Chant. Tiona, you're going to tank those fireballs."

"Eh? But I-"

The Amazon didn't have time to finish because another fireball was launched against them. Rexen-san grabbed her with his magic and threw her in front of the projectile. There was an explosion, but she emerged from it pretty much unscathed.

"Ouch, that bur-" She stopped, looking at her body. "Uh, actually, that didn't burn that much."

"Fire protection." Rexen-san said, and Lefiya could see a thin veil of red magic cover Tiona a second later. "It will not be as good against repeated attacks, but we just need you to block the big ones. Now let's make for a good distraction for the rest of the gang, shall we?"

"I don't take orders from you." Grumbled Bete, but prepared anyway.

Even Lefiya nodded and started to Chant. She was quickly interrupted, as soon as she launched her first attack, which had taken down a wyvern in one hit. "I want large-scale devastation, Lefiya. I'll take care of the small fries."

Nodding, Lefiya started the Chant for Fusillade Fallarica as they fell down. She was not sure how she was going to land without breaking her legs, but right now it was not important.

Between Bete, Rexen-san and Tiona, she had enough time to look around and see how the Dragon Vase was. It was a great structure, a gigantic cavern filled with holes where the dragons -the wyverns, mostly- continued to emerge and attack them. They quickly got impaled by spikes of ice the size of an arm, and the ones that avoided that fate and wandered too close got cut by Bete.

Then the three warriors landed, and Valgang Dragons emerged all around them. Fortunately, she was ready to help.

"Fusillade Fallarica!"

Magic erupted and slammed against all the dragons, tearing apart the wyverns and burying the Valgang Dragons with the rocks that were torn from the walls of the Floor. As her duty was done, Lefiya tried to find a way to land without taking too much damage.

There was no need to. A couple of meters from the ground, some kind of magic grabbed her and slowed her descent, letting her fall the rest of the way down without damage.

"Good job, Lefiya." Said Rexen-san.

"A shame that the Valgang didn't die." Commented Tiona, as the big dragons freed themselves from the rocks and aimed their gazes at them.

"They're fire-resistant, so that's a given." Commented Rexen-san. "Now, I think it's time to-"

Before he could finish, Gareth-sama landed in front of them and… grabbed a Valgang Dragon by its tail and threw it away? She heard stories of Elgram lifting an entire galleon, but even this had not prepared her for that.

"Wow, old man! Why don't you do that more often?" Asked Tiona.

"You're kidding, right? I cannot do that any time I want." Replied the dwarf, before picking up his weapon. "Now, let's keep them distracted until Finn arrives"

"We have company." Noted Bete, pointing to the exit of the Floor. From here, the same caterpillar monsters that had attacked them in the last expedition were crawling out, pointing at the dragons.

Then a sphere of fire engulfed the entire exit, and the caterpillars died screaming.

Everyone looked at Rexen-san and his raised hand.

"What?" Asked the human. "Those are my dragons. I'm not going to share them with monsters."

Gareth chuckled. "Seems fair. Show us your skill as a dragonslayer, alright lad?"

Lefiya could almost hear the wicked grin that formed on Rexen-san's face.

-X-

Alright, the lad was a dragonslayer. If not for the fact that Gareth himself had told him to go wild, he would have thought he was showing off.

The first thing he had done was to raise his weapon high, releasing a war cry that had covered all their weapons in a sheen of electricity, then he had jumped on the first dragon he found and had started to destroy it.

Gareth already knew that the lad had probably gained a Level since they had fought together last time, but it was still strange to see him being so much faster and powerful than normal. Sure, his Skill probably helped, but the young man was keeping up with him in regards to power and endurance, and with Bete in speed. It was uncanny.

"Lightning!" Shouted the Werewolf in the distance, as he fought a Valgang Dragon on his own. The effect of whatever spell Rexen had used to imbue their weapons with electricity had not stopped, but sometimes Bete needed more power. He was no Tiona, after all.

From the other side of the Dragon Vase, Rexen discharged a lightning bolt toward the Werewolf with impressive accuracy. The magic slammed against Betes mithril boots and was absorbed, ready to be discharged on the next target. He could have just used his Mind to channel more power inside the boots, but there was a simple advantage in letting Rexen charge them.

Namely, the power that could be put in the attack.

"Die." the Werewolf said simply, before slamming his foot on the top of a Valgang Dragon's head, instantly killing it.

Gareth did the same, just channeling a trickle of Mind inside the Runes on his weapon before hitting the dragon in question. The attack nearly cleaved the monster in two. Mighty handy, those Runes. It was a shame only a couple could be placed on a weapon.

The entire thing had been… not a walk in the park, exactly, but something close. Rexen was an amazing supporting mage, able to heal, empower and defend every single member of their little group with his Magic, and on top of that, he was also more than able to punch a Valgang Dragon hard enough in the nose to make it fly. Right now, the lad was piercing a Valgang's eye with his sword while chocking a wyvern that had the dumb idea to come close with his free hand.

This was possible because his armor, made of what looked like dragon bones, seemed to be absolutely impervious to damage. Adventurers often avoided heavy armors because their skin didn't take much time to become stronger than steel and both adamantite and orichalcum were very rare and costly. An armor made of those materials was extremely expensive, so most preferred to avoid spending all that money. It was common sense to reserve those metals for weapons and use a more common metal for armor.

But even if a skilled smith could make extremely sturdy armor, no amount of skill could make up for the difference in material, and so, since the armors were going to break at a certain point, most preferred to stay light.

Rexen didn't seem to care about common sense, and got around wearing an armor that looked like it weighed as much as he did with no apparent effort, and without losing speed. Gareth suspected that magic was involved. Maybe to make the armor lighter, or to make him faster.

Well, whatever. The lad had done an excellent job so far. He had healed every injury that they suffered and constantly replenished their stamina. He could do little for their Mind, so that was the only thing they had to be wary of, but aside from that, he had fought like the best of them. He could have some little secret.

However, the entire thing had been so easy that it could just as well be called boring. Gareth hoped that Finn came as soon as possible.

As called, a gust of freezing wind washed over the Floor. Immediately, Rexen disabled his dome of fire, a second before Wynn Fimbulvetr erupted from the entrance of the Floor and caught all the monsters inside, freezing them completely.

"Was 'bout time." Grumbled Gareth. "Why did you take so long, Finn?"

"Sorry, we met some… less than welcome surprises on the way." The Pallum smiled. "And why are you complaining anyway? You don't seem tired."

"Tired? Hah!" Laughed the Dwarf. "With the lad's help, we barely felt that. No, the fight was just boring. With enchanted weapons and someone to wash away the fatigue, it was actually pretty easy."

Both of the two veterans looked at Rexen, who was picking up magic stones with telekinesis before making them disappear… somewhere. Normally they would ask him where and if it was possible to retrieve them after, but at that moment they felt generous. He could keep them.

"Truly, a marvelous Adventurer." Commented Riveria, who had joined them after being sure Lefiya was unharmed. "If we had ten mages like him, we could conquer the entire Dungeon."

Gareth chuckled. "And if every mage could use magic like he did, the Dungeon would never have been a problem. But he's one of a kind, it's useless to think about it. Let's focus on the next Floor instead."

The entire Familia gathered in front of the exit… and Finn stopped.

"What's the problem, Finn?" Asked Gareth, confused.

The Pallum crouched and put his hand on the Floor. "The documents left behind by the Hera and Zeus Familias talk about the lower Floors as the 'Icy Hell'. A Floor so cold that it could freeze a High-Level Adventurer in a matter of minutes."

"And that's why you told us to bring equipment against cold temperatures." Commented Tiona. "So, what's the problem?"

"If the Floor is so chilling that it can freeze Adventurers… why can't I feel it from here?"

There was a pause, as everyone understood the meaning of the words. If the place was supposed to be so cold, there should be freezing winds coming out of the entrance, but it didn't.

"Maybe the documents are wrong?" Asked Riveria, but even she didn't seem to believe it.

"Zeus Familia was not one to exaggerate their findings." Replied Finn. Then, suddenly, he turned toward Rexen.

Who looked back, his eyes still having some trace of darkness in them.

"You saw something?" Asked the Pallum, hoping for another prophecy.

"A great plant monster, with a humanoid torso on top of it." Replied the Adventurer. Gareth remembered the bug-like monster Rexen had defeated on the Fiftieth Floor, and the similar monster that Aiz and the others fought on different occasions. "I saw flames and other Magic being used. I don't know if we're going to win. My power is not so precise."

The entire Familia grimaced. If another of those things was around…

Finn stopped more pessimistic thoughts from forming by standing up. "It's too late to turn back. We have gotten here. We'll fight any monster there is on the Floor." He looked at his Familia with hard eyes. "Let's go." He said, before starting to descend.

And silently, they all followed.

Preparation for Departure 1.4

Ayashi said:

Just stumbled upon this story last week. It was a fun trip!

I'm eager for the next chap, especially since this happens to hit the end of my danmachi canon knowledge…

Click to expand…

Click to shrink…

Well, you're just in time then.

-X-

This was the big fight. This was the end of the line. I doubted I was going to remain here much longer after this expedition, so this was going to be my final act here. The fight with the Demi-spirit, the monster that almost killed the Loki Familia.

I'll admit it, I was nervous. Sure, we were going to win. The Loki Familia won that fight and they didn't have me, so there was no reason, in particular, to believe that they were not going to be able to win this time too.

But I was still nervous. For all that I launched myself into the Dragon Vase without even thinking, I had a series of advantages in that situation. Namely, a dragon-killing Skill, my armor that made me almost a Level stronger in every category, and my life-sucking blade that could continually heal me as I continued to hack into the dragons. By my estimation, based on how strong I was compared to some Level 4 dragons I fought on the way, I determined that I would not die against the dragons of the Vase. I could get hurt, if only by the Valgang, but not actually killed. I had a lot of contingencies that would have let me escape death.

The battle with the Demi-spirit was different. For starters, I didn't have my Skill boosting my Status, and so right now I was a middling Level 5 at best. Which was higher than the secondary squad led by Raul, but lower than almost everyone in the primary squad, the one with all the heavy hitters. My magic was a little better than that, so I could consider myself a good Level 5 in that department, but the problem was that the Demi-Spirit was strong enough that it could not matter. I lacked the extreme speed that Bete could use to avoid being hit, or the innate sturdiness of the Amazon twins that would let them just tank a hit. I was more vulnerable than them, especially since, even if I could compete with them in stamina and general resistance, I was not as impervious to damage as them.

I still had not fully understood why that was. Evidently, there was an innate attribute to the Falna that made the Defense Ability more than just stamina and good health. I would not be able to replicate that… well, if my opponent had non-magical weapons, but most monsters did after a certain point. While it was not a problem for magical attacks, since I had Magic Resistance, it was for physical ones. My armor helped, but a powerful enough impact was going to shatter my bones regardless of how impenetrable my armor was. Like, for example, being smashed by a tentacle the size of a bus.

Fortunately, I had a plan. Or, to be more specific, I had an idea of how I could go through the fight unharmed. I just needed to buff the rest of the party so much that they were going to destroy the Demispirit before it could kill me. Simple, right?

So, when we finally reached the final Floor, I spared just a glance at the tropical jungle that had taken the place of the frozen hell described by the Zeus Familia and, apparently without anyone noticing, I got out my enchanted staff.

"What is this place?" Asked someone.

"My Strength for everyone, my Power for everyone… "

"What could change the Floor like this?"

"… with my blessing, you become my shield and my sword…"

"Focus!" Called Finn. "There is a powerful monster here. Keep your eyes open. We don't know where it is."

"… so we can destroy our foes."

"I think I see it, Captain." Said Tiona, pointing at the giant pillar in the middle of the Floor. "And I think there are Violas on the ceiling of the Floor. And those caterpillars are… giving them their magic stones?"

I sent a look over my head. I had forgotten that the ceiling was littered with Violas. Which were… attracted to magic…

Unfortunately, the sudden risk of what I was doing hit me too late. My magic was ready. Not releasing it was impossible.

"Champion's Might!" I exclaimed, emitting a pulse of Restoration magic that hit all the allies up to ten meters or so… so basically the entire expedition.

Everyone turned toward me.

"That was the most powerful buff spell I could muster." I explained. "You should be at least one Level stronger now. Let's kill that thing and…"

There was a rustling sound, and suddenly, I was intensely aware that all the Violas had started to move at the same time.

"Ah, shit." I said.

Fortunately, not all the Violas attacked the group… just the closer ones. All the others dove toward the Demispirit.

Since I wasn't sure what the plan was, I let them. Instead, I waited until the Violas charging at us were in range, then waved my staff in an arc, emitting a wave of fire that incinerated all the Violas that were converging toward us. The spell I had just used increased both physical and magical might. They didn't stand a chance.

"I didn't expect that." I admitted when the flames died down.

"You didn't know they were there." Said Riveria. "You were right in using such magic before we started the fight. Are you able to maintain it for long enough?"

I nodded. I had used Mora's gift to reduce the cost of the spell to zero, so maintaining it will be easy.

"Then…" Started Finn, probably to start the attack. He was stopped when the Floor trembled.

It was at that moment that I remembered something. A half-formed memory, maybe even a false one, but the moment I heard the Floor tremble, something told me that the Demispirit I had seen fight the Loki Familia was… incomplete. Or, more precisely, that that kind of monster counted as an Enhanced Species, and became stronger by eating other monsters' magic stones. If the Demispirit had eaten more magic stones, it would have been stronger than the canon one.

So, the fact that most of the Violas had launched toward the Demispirit instead of attacking us only meant one thing. That something had ordered them to feed the bigger monster… to make it more powerful.

Fuck. Even a slight increase in strength of the damn thing could spell death for all of us. I raised my staff to blast the abomination… and it chose that moment to open up like a flower.

In person, the Demispirit was disturbing. On paper, it looked like a cute anime girl… attached to a giant plant monster, but still, the human part of it didn't look bad. Even colorized, it was all in all a pretty cute creature. Only after it started to speak like an obsessed freak did you start to consider it a little creepy.

Seeing the green skin and the solid golden eyes on an otherwise normal human face in real life was the definition of the uncanny valley, especially after I stared at the corrupted spirit for a second too long. The eyes of the monster fell on Ais and a wide, wild smile appeared on her face. "Aria, Aria! I was waiting for you!"

I sent a glance toward Ais. She was frozen, I was not sure if by the mention of her mother's name or some kind of feeling she was getting from the Demispirit. Then I felt the monster's eyes shift a little… right on me.

I looked up to see the Demispirit staring at me, an expression of slight confusion on her face. "Who are you?"

Now that I was looking in the eyes of the monster, I could feel… something. It was like my dragon soul was shivering, not in fear but in… disgust? Pity? A mix of both? Evidently, Dov and Spirit were… metaphysically close, or something like that, because even I could tell that the creature was wrong.

That didn't stop me from aiming my staff at her face. "Hellbolt!"

A lance of fire, the strongest attack I could make with pure magic without taking half a minute making up a chant on the spot, coalesced on the tip of my staff and then shot toward the Demispirit. Unfortunately, for all the power that my spell had, the Demispirit was faster. She just moved sideways, letting the bolt pass near her face and then impact uselessly on the other side of the Floor. The bolt melted a good chunk of rock, but it would have been better if it melted the face of the Demispirit.

"You want to play?" Asked the Demispirit. "Let's play!"

"Charge!" Commanded Finn, and the Familia started to move toward the Demispirit, while Riveria stayed behind and prepared to cast a spell.

But the Demispirit anticipated everyone else and started to Chant herself, while enormous tentacles emerged from the ground to create a barrier against the Adventurers.

Immediately, Finn changed tactics. "Retreat! Stay behind Riveria!"

Alright, my idea was not going to work as intended. And, if the Demispirit was stronger than the one I had seen, this time Loki Familia could really get in trouble. I needed to help.

As Riveria started to Chant her own protection spell, I slammed my staff on the ground and focused. I knew roughly what the Demispirit was going to use. Firestorm was the first spell, followed by dropping boulders the size of a house on us. I could deal with the Spirit magic, but everyone else could not, and using Reflect or Absorb Magicka was a huge risk. If it didn't work, and I couldn't be sure that they were going to work, it would mean death for everyone. As I was right now, there was a one in three chance that the spell was not going to be canceled, and it was an unacceptable risk.

And while Firestorm could, potentially, be made non-lethal by stacking various protections from magic and fire on top of each other, the meteor shower was not as easily blocked. I doubted that it could completely negate the damage in either cases, but Riveria could help with her barrier against Firestorm, not so much against the other attack.

So, I needed to improvise.

A magic circle appeared under the expedition, over Riveria's one. I didn't really need it to cast the spell, but it helped me define the confines of the magic and direct it by giving a visual aid, so I did it anyway. Meanwhile, I chanted.

"Oh great fortress of the peak of the world, hear my call.

I request the hardness of your walls. I invoke the magic infused within you.

Carved by the hand of my servants, let your strength return to me."

I had no fucking clue if what I was trying to do would work. Basically, I was trying to… reduce the effort of casting an omni-protective spell by offloading part of the power onto another thing. I had sorta managed to do something like this when I tried to invoke Jormungand so he could guide one of my chain lightning spells, and it had worked, more or less. My familiar heard my call and empowered the spell using his own magicka, but that was a thing I was able to do thanks to the link I had with him. Right now, I was trying to strengthen the protective spell I was preparing by calling the mundane and arcane protection that the shadowy Dragon Priests had engraved inside my mansion. Since it was not a creature I was linked to, nor intelligent in any way, the mansion couldn't just answer my call like Jormungand did.

"Raise your walls against the fury of my enemies! Shield us from death and pain!

Fulfill the role you were built for. Protect the weak, defend the just!

The ultimate fortress, guardian of the world's heart!"

Those were not just random sentences. The Akyn considered my mansion to be the source of the effect that kept the monsters away from the city built at their feet -and as time passed, on the cliff- of the mountain. It may be just a belief they had, that my sheer presence could deter giant monsters and protect them, but belief was a powerful thing on Mundus. It could be exactly what could make this spell a success… or a complete failure.

And, far away from the Dungeon, my mansion resonated with my spell. It didn't answer, because it couldn't, but my magic managed to mimic the same sturdiness and magical protection created by my shadows in the spell. Normally, I wouldn't put the defenses of my mansion against a spell able to incinerate an entire Floor, but I was not aiming to protect the expedition on my own power.

As both the Demispirit and Riveria finished their spells, I raised my staff high and then slammed it back, making my fake magic circle glow brighter. And then called the name of my mansion… which I didn't decide on until a second ago, when I felt what it meant for all the people of the Refuge.

"Lotraald Dovah!"

As I said the last word, immaterial walls of grey stone erupted around Riveria's barrier, as the convoluted runes used to make the mansion as sturdy as possible appeared on the barrier itself, reinforcing beyond what power it possessed on its own.

Then the Firestorm hit us.

The force behind the spell was immense. The only time I felt so much power coming from a single spell was when I managed to direct the infinite energy of Aetherius into a lighting storm to defeat Alduin. The flames roared as they passed near us, and you could feel their heat even behind two protection spells.

Then the first layer of defense, the walls I erected, started to crack.

"Coming!" I shouted at Riveria, while grabbing my staff with both hands preparing for the impact of the flames against the last barrier.

Not a second after, my walls crumbled and disappeared as the fire raged against Riveria's magic. I had no idea how much damage I was able to deflect with my part of the spell, I could only hope it was enough.

It was not.

The barrier immediately started to crack. My theory on the Demispirit being stronger was correct. Or my spell was completely useless, one of the two, but I felt that the former was more probable. Although, I noticed how the barrier seemed to hold better where the protective runes were placed. It still was not enough to stop the Demispirit's spell from tearing it apart.

"Move!" Shouted Gareth, as he jumped in front of all of us wielding two shields.

"Old man!" Called Tiona, but she didn't stop him. It was the right choice. After all, nobody else here could take a hit as Gareth could.

Still, I didn't want to leave the dwarf alone. As such, I focused my will and raised my staff once again, fighting the immense pressure that the Firestorm was producing by slamming against the barrier. I couldn't raise it more than a couple of inches, but it will be enough.

"Ah!" I shouted, slamming it down again and pumping more magic inside the magic circle at my feet, which glowed brightly for a second, partially mending the cracks on the barrier. Unfortunately, I couldn't repair it completely, but I gained half a second. It could make the difference between life and death.

Then the magic failed and the flames rushed toward us. Or more precisely, toward Gareth, with his shields already in position, ready to absorb as much punishment as he could.

I raised my hand and covered the dwarf in the same magic I had used on Tiona literally an hour ago. A bubble of reddish magic covered the dwarf and his shields, absorbing part of the heat. It didn't do the shields much good, since they immediately started to boil, but they didn't matter. Gareth did.

The dwarf held against the raging inferno, shielding his Familia with his own body. Without the protection of Riveria and my magic, the heat was almost intolerable, even without direct contact. Gareth's shields gave away, melting between his hands, until the dwarf had to throw them away and open his arms in a last attempt to save us.

But the flames stopped. Gareth's face looked like he had taken a nasty sunburn, but he was not seriously wounded. The rest of the floor had not fared that well. All that remained of the lush jungle was sterile rock and cinders. The only color remaining that was not dull grey was the vibrant green of the Demispirit.

Feeling light-headed for having used so much magicka in one go, I fell on my right knee, breathing deeply to make the sensation disappear, then looked around. Aside from Gareth, everyone seemed fine. Unfortunately, this will not last.

Moan, mighty earth. Rise, rise, rise. Husk of the earth.

Sheen of iron. Hammer of the cosmos. May genesis's pact upheave rock and stone.

The sky shall burn. The earth shall split. The bridge shall rise. Heaven and earth shall become one.

May the axes of the ether rain down and bring about calamity's ruin.

Your envoy beseeches you, Gnome. Incarnate of the land. Queen of the earth.

The moment the Demispirit started to chant, I grabbed a magicka potion and drank it. I didn't have time to raise Lotraald Dovah again, so I had to wing it. I focused all my remaining mental energies on one last, great shield, big enough to cover all the expedition. It would not be enough to stop the attack, but with a little luck, I was going to save them all.

"Protect Raul and the others!" Shouted Finn, as every executive jumped on the weaker members of the expedition to protect them from the impact. Not me, though. Maybe because they could see that I was accumulating magical energy in my hand.

"Meteor Swarm!"

I raised my hand as rocks big enough to flatten a house materialized over us and then fell like meteors, hence the name. As I did, a translucent, vaguely green hemisphere of magic interposed between the missile and the expedition. It was a combination of a common Ward spell, plus several defenses against magic and physical force all rolled into one. We were lucky that the meteors were so big that only one of them could really hit us, but that was not of great consolation. The rock hit the shield… and the shield held.

For, like, a second and a half.

Then the barrier cracked like an egg, and so did my arm. Ward spells were extremely useful, but when something broke them, there was no way that you weren't going to get at least some backslash. Still better than being hit at full force.

Then the meteor hit the ground and everything went black.

Preparation for Departure 1.5

The battlefield was torn and battered. The grey stone and cinder had been hit by two powerful spells in a row, and now craters dotted the surface of the Floor. In one of those craters, Finn Deimne rose from the ground and looked around.

Many of his Familia were stunned by the attack the monster had unleashed. Most were groaning, barely able to move, and clearly in pain. The second squad was already starting to pour out potions to heal the wounds of the one that had taken the hit in their place.

There was a singular exception: Rexen-san had kneeled in the same place he was before, his right arm still grasping his magic staff, while both his head and his left arm were dangling down. He was not moving nor emitting a sound, but he was breathing. The dangling arm was broken, as the sound coming from it right before the impact could attest. Still, his last-ditch effort had saved everyone.

Finn had not expected the monster to be so powerful. If not for Rexen and Riveria's magic, everyone would have died.

And they still could. The monster started to absorb magical energy from the air. It was going to come at them with another spell. The members of the Familia that could sit were now looking at the abomination in front of them with desperation in their eyes.

That will not do.

Finn grabbed his spear and walked in front of his Familia, staring at the monster that had almost killed them all.

"We will defeat that monster." He said.

The eyes of the Familia fell on him.

"What is 'courage' to you? What do you see right now? Fear? Despair? Destruction? I just see an enemy, one we need to defeat, and our victory. We don't need a path to retreat. I'll carve a path forward with my spear. I promise you all victory in the name of Fianna. Come with me, or… is copying Bell Cranel too much for you?"

That seemed to give a big second wind to a number of members of the first squad. The Hyrute Twins, Ais and Bete suddenly looked far more alive then before.

"Did he cower in the face of a stronger enemy? What about you, Bete?"

"You don't even have to ask." Growled the Werewolf, standing up.

"He fought with all he had. Did you do the same, Tione?"

"Not yet. I haven't yet, Captain!" Replied the Amazon, rising.

"He went on an adventure, and risked his life. Right, Tiona?"

"Right, we can't be losing either!" Tiona said, smiling again.

"Bell Cranel… he surpassed his limit, Ais."

Ais smiled a little, then grabbed her sword and stood. "Yeah…"

Finn smiled. "Raul, your group will stay behind and support us. Lefiya, come with us."

"Got it!" "Yes!"

"And what about you two?" Asked Finn, sending a glance toward Riveria and Gareth, still down on the ground. "Is this the end for you? Continue to rest then. I'll go forward."

The two executives twitched, then rose up.

"Damn that conceited Pallum. Hey, loathsome elf! Is now the time to be sleeping?"

"Shut it, you barbaric dwarf!" Replied Riveria, standing. Meanwhile, Gareth stomped the ground.

"Where is my ax?" Demanded Gareth, before one member of the second squad launched it at him.

"I'm going to prepare my strongest spell. You guys cover me!"

"Yes!" Came the cry of the other elves of the Familia.

"From now, our attack will pierce the enemy!" Shouted Finn, pointing his spear at the monster. "Give it your all!"

Then, as he just remembered something, he paused, and looked behind him. Rexen-san, despite all the ruckus, had not moved at all.

"Thank you, Rexen-san. You can rest now. Raul will take care of you."

The expression of the Familia, until now hard as the rock, mollified. Rexen had gone above anything everyone could ask for him. Without him, his barriers, and his enchantments, they could not have survived until now.

Then everyone froze when they heard a chuckle.

"I was starting to think you had forgotten about me." The voice of Rexen-san came, and everyone turned to see him raise his staff once again. "Don't assume I'm done for."

Then the but of his staff slammed onto the rocky ground, and a wave of overwhelming healing magic crashed into the exhausted Familia. The pain and the fatigue evaporated as their wounds healed, and fear and apprehension magically disappeared from their mind. Everyone grabbed their weapons a little harder, their eyes returning to the monster that was waiting for them. The happy smile on her face seemed to have lessened somewhat.

Finn smiled as the man stood. "You have to forgive me, Rexen-san. I tend to forget that you're full of surprises. Are you able to fight?"

"I can surely cast a spell." He replied, touching his broken arm with his staff, a white light suffusing it. "But I'll need a minute to return in full shape. Charging at that monster with a broken arm will only get me killed."

"Good. Then…"

At that moment, something that nobody expected happened. The ground under the monster cracked, as hundreds of vines emerged from the ground contorting chaotically, sweeping the floor like in search of something. And then, the tentacles snapped.

Instinctively, everyone dodged. Rexen-san didn't, probably because there were members of the Familia too slow to dodge behind him. Instead, he raised his staff and summoned a barrier of some kind.

Several stones, no larger than a human fist, slammed against the barrier and were stopped, sparing the lower-leveled members of the Familia from a gruesome death.

One, the size of a head, hit the barrier and broke it, before smashing Rexen-san in the middle of the chest, destroying itself on impact. There was a sickening crunch as the armor of bones failed to completely absorb the force of the impact and cracked. And by the way the bone plates were bent inward, they were not the only thing to have cracked.

Rexen-san fell, his armor creating a terrible sound as it slammed against the cold rock of the Floor. He seemed to be alive. He was breathing, at least.

But it took only a second for blood to start pouring from under the mask.

"You are… annoying." Said the abomination.

Instantly, the mood of the Familia shifted from grimly determined to coldly furious.

"Raul, help him!" Shouted Finn, his eyes already starting to become bloodshot despite not having activated his Magic yet. "Everyone, charge!"

Loki Familia dashed forward with a blood-curdling scream. Before, the monster was only an enemy to be killed to return to Orario alive.

Now, it was revenge.

-X-

"Rexen-san!" Shouted Raul, kneeling beside the fallen adventurer. "Hang on. We'll heal you. Potions!"

He was immediately granted one and, after removing Rexen-san's helmet, he poured it inside his mouth. He seemed conscious enough to drink without aid, and he even opened his eyes a little, but it was clear that he was not going to be able to remain awake for long. That strike had completely demolished both his armor and ribcage. It was a miracle that he was still alive.

"More potions!"

"This is the last one!" Was the reply.

"We need to remove his armor, or he won't be able to heal or breathe!" Was the suggestion another one gave.

Raul nodded and he removed the chest plate. Pretty easy to do, considering that it was already broken. Then he froze. The sight of the caved chest was enough to make him want to puke, but he suppressed the urge and after having snatched the last potion, he poured the liquid on Rexen-san chest.

The ribs seemed to return to place, but not completely. No, absolutely not enough to even make any difference.

"Are you sure we don't have any other potions? He won't survive if we don't stabilize him!"

"We cannot use more potions on him, or there will be nothing left for later! See if he has some on his body!"

Raul quickly checked, but as expected, he didn't find any. If he had, they were in whatever place he sent them with magic.

"Rexen-san, if you have potions with you, you have to bring them out now!" Called Raul.

The man's eyes were unfocused and barely open, but a spark of recognition flashed in them. His right hand, the one not broken, twitched, and suddenly, a dozen or so potions popped out of thin air. Some were Mind Potions, some were 'stamina potions', whatever they were supposed to be, but several had the telltale red color Rexen-san's potions had. Immediately, Raul grabbed one and made Rexen-san drink.

As the last drop of potion got out of the bottle, Raul immediately picked up another. But when he tried to make Rexen-san drink, the man stopped him by grabbing the bottle.

"Rexen-san!" Cried Raul. "I'm happy that you feel better, but you have to drink. You're not completely healed yet."

"I have… to help them…" Gasped Rexen-san.

"Later. Now you have to heal-"

"If I… pass out… my magic will fade…"

Raul's eyes widened in sudden realization. Champion's Might had been an exceptionally powerful bit of magic. It had never occurred to anyone that there was a price for using it. Evidently, the price to pay was that in exchange for power, it lasted shortly, and Rexen-san had to continually fuel it with his Mind. Since he seemed to possess near-infinite Mind, it was not normally a problem, but if he passed out for any reason, his magic would quickly dissipate.

And the people fighting the monster right now would die.

"That's another reason you have to drink! C'mon Rexen-san!"

But it was too late. It was clear that Rexen-san had used most of his energies just to talk to him. Filling him with potions will save his life, but there was no way he was going to remain conscious for long.

Rexen-san closed his eyes and Raul feared the worst.

"Hear my call, friend on the other side."

Raul blinked. A Chant? Now?

"My strength is fading, my body is broken, but my will is strong.

Come to my side, across the vastness of the void, to fulfill my wish.

I surrender to you my power, so you can defeat my enemy. Come."

And with a last breath, Rexen-san called a name.

"Dur. Neh. Viir."

Durnheviir? What name was that? Raul had never heard of someone called in that way.

Then the Dungeon shuddered.

"What's happening? Something enraged the Dungeon?" Asked someone.

No, that was not the case. Because, right in front of him, there was a crack.

In the air.

Another shudder, and the crack widened. Purple light started to flow from the crack as it started to rapidly expand, becoming several meters tall, with minor cracks in the air expanding to the side.

"What has Rexen-san called?" Muttered Raul, terrified. He had never seen such a thing, not even during the fight with Evilus, seven years before, when a Level 7 mage had returned from the dead.

The answer came a second later, when a shadow obscured the purple light coming from the crack. Something massive was coming.

And when it came, it came in the form of a giant dragon.

The monster smashed the crack open with a head-butt, literally opening a hole into reality. The creature, the size of a Valgang Dragon, stepped outside the hole of purple light. As it did, Raul started to notice things.

The dragon, while similar to a Valgang, was really different once you looked at it. For starters, it was sickly greenish-grey instead of the reddish-orange of the Valgang. On top of that, it was quadrupedal instead of bipedal, its wings functioning as front legs. Its maw was thinner and longer, and had two sets of curled horns instead of the two burly, rear-facing spines that the Valgang sported.

Of course, those were minor differences. The major difference was that the dragon looked dead. Its wings were full of holes, its rib cage was exposed and there was nothing under the sternum, leaving a gaping hole where the stomach should be. A clear liquid dripped from the dragon, as two milky eyes looked around, scanning the area.

Then the creature's gaze dropped and Raul found himself staring into those white wells.

The eyes of the dragon were different from anything he had ever seen. Monster's eyes were filled with bloodlust, rage, and hate. There was nothing inside them aside from maliciousness and negativity.

The eyes of the dragons in front of him, despite being clouded, were incredibly more expressive. There was curiosity, doubt… and intelligence. That dragon was smart, he could tell just by looking at it. Even if they were clearly different, they held the same consciousness of the monster they were fighting. That dragon could think, even if he didn't know to what degree.

Then the eyes of the creature fell on Rexen-san, and Raul felt his entire body shiver. If the dragon was a creature loyal to Rexen-san -he had called him friend, after all- there was no way that it was going to take the current state of his summoner well. He just hoped that the dragon was smart enough to realize who the real enemy was.

Apparently, he did, because its eyes quickly darted between Rexen-san, Raul, and the healing potion still in his hand. Then it raised its head, looking at the monster the rest of the Familia was fighting.

The maw of the dragon, filled with sharp teeth, opened slightly, releasing a deep, cavernous growl. To make everything a little worse, a thick strand of the same clear liquid dripped from its jaw, and Raul was assaulted by the smell of stale air, dust, and death that one should associate with ancient tombs, not creatures able to move.

And the stench became ten times worse when the dragon opened its maw completely -the skin in the rear of the mouth was as tattered and ruined as the skin of the wing and even more infested with that clear liquid, making it look even worse- and released a powerful, heart-shattering roar. That attracted the attention of… pretty much anything on the entire Floor. If the monster and the executives could have ignored the new arrival, now it was impossible.

Then the dragon… spoke? It was difficult to be sure, because it sounded like a growl, but every sound the dragon made sounded like a growl. If it was speaking, the language was unintelligible for Raul. Not happy to drop the possibility of an intelligent monster on him, the dragon decided to shout. Again, the words were unintelligible, but they sounded something like dilqotzam, and it was clear that they were special because the air shook when it pronounced them.

A black fog started to cover the ground, barely tall enough to cover the knee of a human and too thin to cause problems of visibility… but the Dungeon went completely, absolutely crazy.

The Dungeon roared, using the voice of the dragons of the Dragon Vase as the entire Floor shook like a hit by an earthquake. "The Dungeon is angry!" Shouted someone, and Raul noticed the undead dragon -because what else could that thing be?- looked around, like thinking about something. It sent a glance toward the battle that the Familia was fighting, then to the access to the Fifty-eighth Floor. Finally, with an unsatisfied growl, it turned toward the exit and with a flap of its wing, it was flying toward it as several Valgang blasted the stairs open with their breaths, creating an opening big enough for them to pass… them and a flock of wyverns.

"We have to keep the wyverns away! That dragon will not stop all of them!" Shouted Raul, as the first wyverns started to appear. But nobody heard him, because several screams covered his orders.

Focused as he was on the dragon, he had failed to notice what the black fog was doing.

Skeletons with black bones and orbs filled with cold azure light had emerged from the mist, literally clawing out from the ground like they were always there, buried for ages. Most were armed with melee or ranged weapons, made of dark steel with markings that reminded him of dwarven carvings. Others didn't have weapons and lacked legs too, instead floating on their misty lower half, their hands releasing frozen vapors in the air. Others, the most formidable-looking, had thick plates of heavy metal and wielded two-handed weapons made of dark metal and… bones?

Most of the members of the second squad had their weapons ready and pointed at the undead. The skeletons, however, didn't even notice them. Instead, as wyverns started to fly inside the Floor, the ones armed with bow and the ones without legs raised their weapons and hands, and with a sound that reminded him of a creaking door, they fired.

With surprising precision, arrows and shards of ice flew toward the wyverns. The monsters were not keen on getting hit, but the sheer mass of fire and the unnatural precision of the undead meant that at least some projectiles hit their mark… the wings. The wyverns dropped from the air, and the skeletons armed with melee weapons were on them in a second.

Raul was the first to stop gawking at the show and take control of the situation. "We need to support the skeletons!" He shouted. At the looks that the rest of the Familia sent him, he scoffed. "I know it sounds crazy, but for now they're not trying to kill us, and the wyverns are! Take out the magic swords, hit the wyverns if they come too close, and if you can, help the big dragon! I don't think he can take all the Valgang Dragons by himself."

Actually, it seemed like he could, especially since he was mauling one right now. But still, better to not risk it.

"Move!" He shouted as the squad still hesitated. Meanwhile, he had to pour all the remaining potions inside Rexen-san's mouth before joining the fight. He would prefer to not know what the undead dragon and his army of skeleton monsters were going to do if he died while under their care.

-X-

The assault at the monster restarted the moment it was clear that the giant, undead dragon that had appeared out of nowhere was not trying to interfere. Even the creature that once was a Spirit had stopped, waiting to see if the dragon would have joined her or them.

Once it had started killing the dragons of the Dungeon, the fight had started again.

Ais jumped toward the monster. It was clear to anyone that, if the Spirit used her magic, they were all going to die. It was for that reason that Finn had used his spear to hit her the moment she tried to use another spell. Of course, the power of the light beam he could summon from the weapon was not enough to actually pierce her defenses, so he had to resort to launching it. It had worked, at least, and Riveria had managed to burn the leaves that she used to cover herself. She had no protection now.

Her second attempt was blocked by Lefiya and the Hyrute Twins. The strength of the spell was so great that if not for Rexen-san's magic, they would not have survived. But they had gained enough time.

Ais, Bete, and Finn jumped toward the Spirit, which now was clearly panicking. Contrary to the Violas, who had extremely durable bodies but were weak to magic, she seemed to fear physical confrontation. Maybe, like the Virgas, she had an extremely fragile body for a creature of that Level, and compensated with raw offensive power. If they managed to reach her…

A wall of vines emerged from the ground, forming a wall of green in their path. They slashed, but they barely managed to scratch it.

Ais looked at the wall. Was that it? Were they going to die because they lacked power?

"You're in the way!"

But then Gareth arrived, swinging his ax toward the wall as the rune on the weapon shone with magical power.

The impact shook the entire wall, and the ax barely held against the enormous power Gareth used. But it had worked out… somewhat. There was a hole in the wall, barely larger than a human torso. Another strike and it would fall.

Not willing to take his time to swing again, Gareth dropped his weapon and grabbed the edge of the hotel, before violently tearing the edges apart with his bare hands. The hole was now large enough to let everyone pass.

Of course, the monster didn't let that pass. Numerous vines shoot toward the dwarf, piercing him several times… but Gareth didn't care. Instead, he grabbed all the vines he could reach and yanked, stopping the monster from reaching them. "Go!"

More vines came, but Bete and Finn jumped forward, deflecting them as much as possible, letting her jump high. If she could hit her with her maximum output…

A shard of ice appeared out of the Spirit's mouth, aimed straight at her face. But before anything could happen -either Ais hitting the Spirit, or the ice piercing her skull- a ray of light deflected the attack.

Before she could take advantage of the opening, the monster smashed her with one of her arms, sending her high in the hair.

And while she was there, she felt Rexen-san's magic vanish.

For a single second, she worried. Has something happened? Did he die? Could she defeat the monster in front of her without his magic?

Then she narrowed her eyes as she called all the power of Aria. There was no time for questions. The monster, once a Spirit, would kill everyone if she didn't defeat it right away. There was no time to reflect on what could have happened. She had to focus on what she could do now.

"Tempest!" She called, using her wind to change direction mid-air, pointing at the human torso on top of the monster. She had just one chance at this. Once chance to win… and free the Spirit from that body.

Of course, the monster desperately tried to counter, but as strong as she was, there was a limit on how fast she could Chant, and at how fast the spell could travel. As Rexen-san showed, no matter how powerful you were, if the spell was not designed to move fast, there was nothing you could do.

That was not a problem for her.

Ais launched herself at the monster as tendrils of light tried to reach her. But the spell was not fast enough. She slipped through them, ready to strike, and hoping that it would be enough.

It was. She pierced the body of the monster, and the wind did the rest, destroying the magic stone inside and killing the Spirit. For a second, the face of the creature became peaceful… then it dissolved into dust.

The rest of the power of the spell destroyed a large amount of stone, fortunately avoiding her Familia. Ais landed on the destroyed ground, and normally, this would have been the time to celebrate the victory… but she couldn't.

First she had to kill that dragon.

Preparation for Departure 1.6

Ais readied her weapon, looking toward the entrance of the Floor. There, the fight had ended as well. A pile of dragon corpses lay down, as the grey dragon roared its victory and an army of skeletal monsters slew the last wyverns. The dragon then took air, flying toward them.

Most of the Familia was hurt after the fight. Even if the worst of the wounds were healed by Rexen-san -to the point that, despite everything, he was still the most wounded- the last clash with the Demispirit was not resolved without wounds. Riveria was still able to move but her Mind was probably low. Finn and Bete were conscious but down, and Gareth was still standing only thanks to his incredible endurance. The Twins were passed out and Lefiya was barely able to talk. That left her and the second squad… against a monster able to kill Valgang Dragons with ease.

She had to do it herself.

But before she could move, Riveria's staff blocked her path. She looked at the elf princess, surprised.

"Wait, Ais."

A second later, the giant dragon landed with a thunderous slam near the body of Rexen-san… which, for what she could tell, was still breathing. She felt at least part of the tension disappear. Still, looking at that dragon…

She bit her lips. She couldn't let the dark flames take her. That dragon was probably called forth by Rexen-san. There was no other monster like that inside the dungeon, and it had fought against the Valgang. It was their ally… probably.

Although the army of skeleton soldiers that followed him didn't inspire much trust.

She was so distracted from the dragon, she didn't notice Riveria standing up and walking toward the dragon. Most of the Familia had walked away from the monster, so right now they were at a respectful distance from it… and they had left Rexen-san behind, probably because he was still too hurt to be moved without causing complications.

So Riveria stood in front of a dragon and an army of skeletons, steadily walking toward the man. The moment she came too close, the dragon growled, releasing a miasma of staleness and death. Riveria stopped moving.

The reaction was immediate on both parts. Loki Familia, the ones that could fight, tensed and pointed their weapons at the dragon. The army of skeletons followed their example, weapons and magic aimed at the much less numerous opponent.

Riveria locked her eyes with the dragon, and the creature did the same. They didn't make other aggressive moves, and Nine Hells even raised her hand to tell the rest of the Familia to put their weapons down. Reluctantly, they did.

"I know you can understand me." Said Riveria. "Rexen-san would not have called an unintelligent beast to help us against that monster, and you've shown that you're able to discern friend from foe. Rexen-san needs urgent healing. My Magic is at its limit, but it will be enough to let us carry him to a safer Floor, where we'll have the time to rest. Let me heal him."

There was a tense silence as the dragon continued to maintain eye contact with Riveria, like it was trying to look inside her soul. A lot of members of the Familia were nervous. The head of the creature was as tall as the elf and it would take a second for the giant creature to make a step forward and eat her whole. But it didn't happen.

"Very well, elf-witch. But I'll warn you, if any harm will befall on the Qahnaarinn, I'll be sure that my last act in this world will be to tear your soul from your body and devour it. You have my word."

Ais froze, and with her, the rest of the Familia. Because the dragon… had just spoken.

"Well? Do you intend to aid the Qahnaarinn, elf-witch? Why are you hesitating?"

Riveria recovered and walked near Rexen-san, before kneeling near him and starting to chant her Magic. She was probably near her limit, so she used a slow variant of her Magic that she could end at any moment. Having to drag him toward a safe zone was going to be hard enough, they didn't need two of their healers down.

As Riveria's magic started to suffuse Rexen-san, the dragon moved. The entire Familia jerked into motion, but the monster just laid down, not removing its eyes from Rexen-san. For a while, the only sound you could hear was the creaking sound emitted from the skeleton army.

Then Finn walked up to the dragon too. The monster diverted its gaze from Riveria to focus on the Pallum… which made it look even bigger.

"Can you dismiss your army of skeletons? They're unnerving the Familia."

The undead dragon blinked lazily, pondering the question. "I suppose they fulfilled their goal. Very well." And just like that, the army disappeared into black mist, quickly dispersed as the ground itself seemed to absorb it.

"Thank you. If I can ask, do you have a name? Rexen-san seems to be insistent on naming the familiars, so I suppose you have one too."

"You suppose right, half-man. My name is Durnheviir, but I am no familiar. I help Qahnaarinn because doing so is of my liking, and because he grants me freedom from the Soul Cairn. I'm not bonded to him except for the pact we made."

Ais blinked multiple times. There was such a large amount of information in that simple phrase that she couldn't even start to process them all.

"I see." Said Finn, apparently unperturbed. "But why do you call him Qahnaarinn? I'm pretty sure that's not his name."

"Qahnaarinn has many names and titles. Qahnaarinn is the traditional title given to a Dov when it defeats another in battle. He defeated me, so he's now Qahnaarinn, or Conqueror in your tongue."

This time, even Finn had to pause a little before speaking again. "You're not a dragon, are you?"

The dragon snorted. "If you mean the mindless beasts I fought before, no, I'm not like them. I am a Dov. There is no appropriate word in your tongue to describe us aside from 'dragon', but that will only cause confusion."

"That's not what I meant." Said Finn. "Dragons are monsters. They are created from the dungeon to destroy everything on the surface. You speak of titles, of battles between other Dov, of a code of honor. You speak of society. Of a civilization." The Pallum locked his eyes on the monster. "There is nothing like that. Monsters don't form society, only small tribes to better survive on the surface. So you cannot be a monster, and if you're something else, you can't come from anywhere in this world. You… and Rexen-san too."

The dragon -Durnheviir- doesn't speak. It just looked at Finn with sharp eyes.

"Rexen-san spoke of… circumstances that brought him here. Extreme circumstances. I imagine that you're not going to tell me his story, but I think I cannot be too wrong to assume that… his magic failed, didn't it? He was trying to go to some other place, but something went wrong, and now he's here. Did I come close?

Ais' breath stopped as the implication hit her. Could Rexen-san… be like her? It would explain so much. The strange sensation she had when she looked at him, his strange magic. If he came from another place…

Durnheviir half-snorted, half-chuckled. "You're a smart mortal, aren't you? Yes. Qahnaarinn was taken from his home through magic, and he was trying to return to it through magic. I don't know more than this, my limited time in this reality was not ideal for long discussions. And since we are here, I suppose he failed. He wouldn't have to explain himself to people from his own home."

There was a pause.

"That's the reason the lad always tries to get all the magic stones he can?" Asked Gareth. "To power his magic?"

"I dare not to assume how Qahnaarinn managed to escape from Mundus, for my knowledge of that particular type of magic is limited. But, it would have required an immense amount of power… more power than Qahnaarinn could conjure by himself. If those magic stones you're talking about can be used to power magical items or spells, they could be useful to repeat the magic he used to escape the first time."

"He never had the intention to change his Familia." Said Finn. "Once he had a Falna, he could just go into the Dungeon to get the stones. He already had what he wanted."

That… that made sense. Finn had said that he had managed to, somehow, unlock his own Falna. Without the need of a god to upgrade his status, and without needing to sell the magic stones for money -nobody was quite sure how he managed to pay everything if he never sold magic stones, but he probably used magic for that too-, he didn't need a Familia at all.

Suddenly, Durnheviir stood. Immediately, all the Familia's attention snapped to their surroundings, but there was nothing around them.

"My time here will end soon." Said the dragon. "Elf-witch, is Qahnaarinn going to make it?"

"Yes." Replied Riveria, dismissing her magic. "His ribs are still not completely healed, but he can breathe normally now and there is no risk of them piercing something vital. We just need to let him rest."

"Very well. I wish I could repay you in some way, but this Dungeon seems to be adverse to my Voice, so I cannot do much. I'll use my remaining time to see if there are still monsters on the upper floor and eliminate them. Goodbye, mortals. Keep Qahnaarinn safe."

And with that, the giant dragon raised his wings and flew toward the Dragon Vase, with all the Familia looking after him until he disappeared.

Then Finn spoke up. "We're going to try to rush up to the surface without stopping. Take the injured and move. Leave the magic stones behind. We don't want to let the Dungeon refill his ranks."

The Familia immediately moved. They had not rested much before coming here, and the Dungeon required more time to spawn the more powerful monsters. There will be progressively more creatures as they go up, but they also become weaker, and most of them were healed enough to face them. But they needed to be fast. They needed to return to the Fiftieth Floor as fast as possible, then run toward the next safe zone, even at the risk of letting some monster follow them. After all, very few people went that deep, so there was no risk of putting some unfortunate souls in a Pass Parade. Once they arrived at the next safe zone, it would be very easy to reach the surface. It was a good plan.

Of course, it didn't go as planned.

-X-

"Of all things that could happen, poison was the one that hit us!" Lamented Gareth.

"Luck is not on our side, clearly. That group of Poison Vermis was a nasty trick the Dungeon played at us." Agreed Finn.

"If only Rexen-san was awake, we could have already been out." Sighed Riveria. "I'm sure his magic can remove the toxin, but…"

Finn nodded. The return to the surface had not gone well. Or, it had until they had met the Poison Vermis, a small, but toxic monster that was completely harmless if not for the fact that it spread a very powerful toxin. Normally it would not be a problem, but with the Familia exhausted from their ascent through the floors, they couldn't completely avoid it and now several members of the Familia were down. They will not die, because they were high Leveled enough to avoid that, but they were not so resistant as to not feel very sick. So now they were locked into the Eighteenth Floor, waiting for Bete to return with a stash of antidote… or for Rexen-san to wake up.

The fact that the man was still sleeping was… mildly worrying. He was healed enough to not be in terrible pain just trying to stay awake, so in theory, there was nothing stopping him from waking up. But even after all the time they spent returning to the Eighteenth Floor, he was still down. He had rapidly healed the remaining damage to his bones, so much that Finn suspected he had gained Healing Power when he Leveled Up, but he was still sleeping. Maybe he was just tired.

"What do we do when the lad gets up?" Asked Gareth, after a second of silence. "We cannot just ignore what happened, right?"

Finn sighed. "No, we cannot. I almost wish Durnheviir could not talk at all. Things would be easier."

"Rexen-san lied to us." Continued Riveria. "Sure, he didn't explicitly tell us he was going to change his Familia the moment he could, but he never dismissed the idea either. He used that to convince us to bring him with us in the expeditions, where he could gain enough magic stones to leave Orario forever." The eleven princesses didn't seem too angry about the entire thing, considering the words she was using. "I wish I could be angrier at him for this manipulation, but I cannot. In the end, it helped both of us… and he saved our entire Familia."

"I think the same." Commented Finn, scrounging his brow just a little. "In the end, I think it was an equal exchange. Even before knowing his real objective, the fact that he would join the Familia was more of a hope than a certainty. He could have been snatched by another Familia or died inside the Dungeon before the time was up. It was a gamble, and this time it went badly." The Pallum smiled. "If anything, I'm impressed. He played with our expectations and managed to fool us. Or, well, to make us fool ourselves. Not many people would manage that."

"You think Loki knows?" Asked Gareth. "He may have been able to misdirect us, but if he could do the same with a God, then it's rather scary."

"I'm sure Loki suspected something." Replied Finn. "It couldn't be a coincidence that she asked to question him. But she stopped after Monsterphilia… she probably forced the issue and received an honest answer."

"And she didn't tell us." Finished Riveria. "She was either impressed with Rexen-san trickery, or she judged that the help he could give us was too valuable to be discarded. And she'll be right." The elf sighed. "It's really a shame he will not join us."

"Nothin' ya' can do." Grunted Gareth. "The lad has a mission, and he will not be swayed. You have the same chances to convince Ottarl to leave Freya."

The other two executives nodded. The two tasks looked equally impossible.

"How is the rest of the Familia taking the news?" Asked Finn.

"As good as you can get." Replied Riveria, who had the opportunity to listen while Finn was worried about organizing the camp. "Some grumbling, but most are too relieved they're alive to think about it. Some even support his quest. The hero returning home is a staple of fairy tales. Having his journey interrupted seems… unfair."

Finn could easily imagine whose reaction was who. "Well, that's a relief. Now we just need to wait for him to wake up, and then we can reach Orario. That, or Bete returning. But I hope he wakes up. He shouldn't take him that much to recover."

As he said that, Raul entered inside the tent. "Finn! Rexen-san is waking up!"

"Excellent timing." Smiled the Captain. "Let's go to have a chat with him, shall we?"

-X-

The executives reached the medical tent and waved through the poisoned members of the Familia. With luck, their suffering was going to end soon.

Rexen-san was actually in a separate part of the tent, to avoid the risk of him getting into contact with the poison, small as it was. Nothing more than a curtain between a corner of the tent and the rest, but enough to grant a little privacy.

They found him sitting up and poking his own ribs. The Familia put some bandages just to be sure they didn't move too much. They still remembered the valley where Rexen's sternum should have been .

Finn took the occasion to look at him. Since Rexen-san could magically replace his clothes and clean them with magic, he never had the possibility to look at him without clothes.

As expected, Rexen-san was powerfully built, with thick, dense muscles flexing at any movement. He clearly had a past as someone less physically fit, as every line of his body was rounder than it should be, but all in all, he was exactly like he had imagined. To tell the truth, he rememinded him of Gareth, aside from the obvious difference in proportions. Including the hair growing all over his chest, covering most of his stomach and part of his shoulders.

Finn also noted Riveria looking away with a faint spray of red on her cheeks.

"Oh, hello." Said Rexen-san, looking at them. "You caught me in an inappropriate time…" He blinked and, a second later, he had a shirt on. "… Better. Now, I hear the people poisoned from here, so I suppose we made it to the Eighteenth Floor… right?"

Finn nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, we encountered Poison Vermis on the road. Can you…?"

Without saying a word, Rexen-san raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A wave of white-ish magic rushed into the tent, and immediately the groans of pain lessened.

"Hmmm… stubborn poison, this one. It will require a little more time. But before that… what did I summon?"

Finn looked at the man with surprise, but it was Riveria that voiced his question first. "You don't remember?"

"I remember summoning something." Admitted Rexen-san, frowning. "I feared the monster was too strong for you, and so I called for one of my most powerful companions… similar to Salem, in a way, but not identical. The problem is that I have several of them and my memory gets foggier the more I try to remember who exactly I called."

"The dragon, lad." Replied Gareth.

Rexen-san sent him an unsure look. "Which one?" He asked. Did he mean he had more?

"Dunheviir, he said was his name." Supplied Finn, waiting for the reaction that didn't take long to come.

Rexen-san slowly dove his face inside his right hand. "Jesus… of all of them…"

"They're less scary?" Asked Finn, smiling a little.

"I dunno about that. But at least they're aren't half dead." He sighed then turned to face them. "I suppose the Dungeon went crazy after I called him."

"Not before he called his skeletons." Grunted Gareth.

Something flashed in Rexen-san's eyes, but whatever it was, Finn couldn't understand. "I see. I'm sorry, it seems like he didn't help that much. I don't know what I was thinking… but probably that I needed the best, and he is the best I can call. Unfortunately, his powers are incompatible with the Dungeon. The pain must have clouded my mind."

"Speaking of powers, what exactly is a Dov?" Asked Riveria. "He referred as one."

Rexen-san nodded. "It's another word for dragon. Just… not an ordinary dragon. The Dov are the children of Akatosh himself… or fragments of his power that he shed for some reason, nobody is really sure. They're basically Spirits in the body of a dragon."

There was a little silence as the executives absorbed the information.

"No wonder the Dungeon got crazy after he used his Magic." Grumbled Gareth. "It was a bloody Spirit. It could only be worse if a God decided to take a stroll inside the place!"

"But if the Dov are Spirits of Akatosh, and you got a dragon soul from Akatosh… aren't you a Spirit too?" Asked Riveria.

Rexen-san shrugged. "I mean, technically. But I was not born as one, so I don't have most of their powers. Just their particular brand of magic."

"I see." Commented Finn. "But doesn't that mean that Akatosh is, in fact, a God and not a Spirit?"

Rexen-san sighed again. "Yes, Akatosh is a god. I lied because… well, you wouldn't understand. It was better to make you think it was something you already knew of instead of something completely different that you've never heard of before… like a dragon god."

The executives nodded. "You come from very, very far away, don't you, Rexen-san?" Asked Finn.

A strange, sad, and longing expression fell on the man's face. "You cannot even imagine how far."

The executives exchanged a glance and silently decided to close the conversation. "Well, we'll leave you alone now. Rest and recover. We have Bete coming with antidotes soon." Said Finn.

The man shook his head and refocused. "No need, I'm fine. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll cure anyone. I just hope you have lunch ready, because I'm hungry."

The Captain smiled. "Of course, we'll tell the cooks to prepare a big steak just for you. You surely deserve one."

Rexen-san chuckled. "Thank you. I'll answer your questions later then. First, let's make these poor guys feel better."

The executives nodded and left. They'll have a long chat with Rexen-san, there was no doubt about it… but it could wait.

Last edited: Dec 19, 2021

Preparation for Departure 1.7

Happy New Year people! To celebrate this 2022, I'll post the chapter one day in advance. Also, Happy Birthday to creativeProcrastinator and thank you to continue to beta-read my story.

That's said, let's go!

-X-

After I healed the rest of the expedition -that poison was really tough to deal with- I grabbed my gear and looked at the chest piece of my armor.

It was, to put it simply, split in two. Nothing more and nothing less. As such, repairing it was going to be a problem… if it was even possible.

"Ah, Rexen-san!" Called Raul. "I'm happy to see you up." His eyes fell on the piece of armor I had in hand. "Ah… how is it? I remember you saying that the enchantments on the weapons break if they're damaged…"

"The armor is not unsalvageable." I replied. "I can repair it if I want. Or I could just make a new piece, it will be easier. Unfortunately, the enchantments on this particular piece are gone. I'll have to make another."

"This piece?" Asked Raul.

"Each piece of my armor has a different enchantment." I replied, before frowning. "Well, not exactly each piece. The gauntlets and the boots count as a single piece. The helmet and the breastplate are the others."

"So your armor has four different enchantments on it?"

"Several more. I can place minor enchantments together with the main one. Most were various protections against magic." I grimaced, remembering the impact. "The breastplate held the enchantments to increase my vitality. If that monster had hit anywhere else I wouldn't have fallen like a sack of shit." A sigh escaped from my mouth as a thought hit me. "Or if I had put more protections against physical damage. I didn't expect that attack."

"None of us did."

"I'll remember that when I re-enchant this thing." I mumbled, before making the piece disappear into my dimensional bag. "But let's focus on the present. Do you have any news, or is it just a pleasant visit?"

"Ah, no, Finn wants to talk with you, if you don't have anything else to do. He didn't tell me why, but I can imagine."

I sighed. "Fine. Better deal with this now instead of letting it fester. I'll go now." And then I stood and walked toward the main tent.

To my surprise, Finn didn't call me to interrogate me on my past. He just wanted to thank me for saving the members of the Familia behind me when the monster attacked. If I had teleported away from the attack, they would have probably died.

To tell the truth -and I did tell him- I didn't raise the barrier for that reason. It was just the first thing I thought to do. Finn had smirked at that, telling me that's exactly what someone that saved people would say.

Which… was fair, I suppose? Teleporting would have made more sense, but I had decided on something infinitely less effective. Maybe some part of me had realized that if I didn't block the attack there would be more deaths… or maybe I just acted dumb. It happened.

He also told me that they were going to remain there for at least another day, to let everyone rest and relax in peace. Which was fine by me.

I spent most of the day dividing the magic stones I had gathered, repairing my armor, thinking about a new enchantment, and helping the cooks… but mostly thinking about the enchantments. The ones I had in place clearly didn't work as well as I had thought and, furthermore, my continuously improving mastery of magic made a boost to my basic abilities progressively less useful. I was not there yet, but it won't take long before I was able to just cast all of them on myself with a thought. When I reach that point, the enchantments will be superfluous… or at least, better used for survival. Clearly, my defense against pure kinetic force was still lacking.

Maybe if I…

"Rexen-san?" Called a voice, and I turned to look at Tiona, who was sending me a worried look over her dinner. "Something wrong?"

I sighed. I was doing that a lot today. Losing that badly affected me more than I wanted to admit. "Sorry, lost in thought. It's… been a while since I was hurt that badly in a fight." Hmm… something in that sentence didn't sound right. I quickly made a check-up of my memories. "No, scratch that, I have never been hurt that badly. I was thinking about what to change in my strategy and what enchantment is better to place on my armor, once it's completely repaired."

Now that I was not so lost in my own little world, I could see the Amazon Twins exchange a look. Lefiya was looking at me with a little frown on her face, and even Ais was watching me.

"How were you able to defeat dragons without suffering grave injuries?" Asked Tiona.

I shrugged. "Well, I did suffer grave injuries, just not enough to make me pass out. Once a dragon managed to hit me with his tail… it broke all my ribs. But it was not a lethal wound. I kept them in place with magic and continued to fight." I paused a little. "If you guys weren't there I would have died."

"We could say the same." Replied Ais, to my surprise.

"Maybe." I sighed again. I had to stop, dammit. "At least this time my protection worked."

"This time?" Asked Lefiya, a hint of dread in her voice.

"The first time I fought a dragon I was accompanied by a squad of adventurers and twenty or so normal guards. I protected them with all the anti-fire magic I knew at the time… it was not enough." I shook my head. "We underestimated the dragon. Nobody had seen one in centuries… it cost six of them their life."

"That's… not as bad as it could have been." Mused Tione.

"No, I suppose not. But from that day I never tried to bring more people into a fight." I snorted. "God, I sound like an old man."

"Nah, you just sound like a veteran." Smiled Tiona.

"A veteran that should have done much better." I grunted. "God, this Dungeon is terrible for my creativity. It's just… kill, kill, blast, kill, blast. Oh, hey, maybe I should… no, better to blast."

"Why, what do you usually do?" Asked Tione.

"If I have the time to prepare? Let me tell you how I managed to survive when I just started my adventure…"

And so I started to tell them my stories. And since they had already seen Durnheviir, it made little sense to hide the fact that Skyrim was nowhere in this world. I omitted some things, sure, but I didn't try to make the stories conform to their understanding of reality.

I continued until I picked the sound of something smashing a lot of rock, coming from where I knew the entrance to the Floor was. I wasn't the only one.

"The Goliath is angry." I noted, turning my head slightly to catch the sound better. "Someone must have tried to slip past him."

"Do you think they managed to do it?" Asked Tiona, looking in the direction of the entrance.

"Maybe." I said, starting to stand up. "I'll check."

"No, I'm going." Replied Ais. "You still have to rest."

I opened my mouth to say that I recovered stupidly fast, but there was no reason to not let her go, so I shrugged. "As you wish."

The girl nodded and walked away.

Ten minutes later, she was back with the Golden Trio. I'll have to ask them how the fuck they managed to get themselves here with Welf at Level 2 and them having some experience with the Middle Floors, but… well, I could imagine some scenarios.

I was starting to think that there was some kind of 'preservation of narrative' effect here. Every time I tried to change things in a good way, something happened to make sure that the story I knew returned to the right track. It happened in Skyrim too, as every change I brought was corrected sooner or later. All the main quests went more or less as they went in the game, just with some details changed. Here, the same thing was happening, and every change in the story was met with equal resistance.

Something I had to keep in mind for later. Now I had to heal these three.

-X-

Things proceeded like they were supposed to the next day. Bell and co were healed, Hestia and Hermes arrived, they got into the city to recover their equipment, the works. I'm not sure about the details because I remained in the camp with Tsubaki, finishing the repairs to my breastplate, so I missed the shopping trip and everything else. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to put another enchantment on the thing, but that could wait.

The only difference with the usual script was that, when the Loki Familia took their things and went for the surface, someone remained behind.

"Are you sure you want to remain here, Rexen-san?" Asked Finn. "We'd be happy to have you."

"Thank you, Finn, but these three." I slapped my hand on Bell and Welf's shoulder. "Are my party. I left them behind to come with you guys and look what happened. I prefer to remain here a day more to accompany them outside. I wouldn't want something bad to happen to them again."

The Pallum nodded with understanding and didn't question me further. He shouted an order and the Loki Familia marched away, with the intent of taking down the Goliath and reaching the surface, where they could continue to investigate.

Of course, my decision to remain behind was also dictated by the need to try and stop Hermes from pulling out his bullshit, but that was for later.

The moment the Loki Familia was out of range, I asked a simple question. "So, what happened to make you get here?" I've heard the explanation they had given to Finn -they got caught in a Pass Parade and then the Dungeon had doubled down, releasing a Monster Party on their access- but considering that they were far more experienced than in canon, I found that hard to believe. I didn't doubt that's what happened, but there had to be something else that had influenced the outcome.

"Nothing, Rexen-san." Replied Bell. "It's as we told Loki Familia."

"Oh, I'm sure it is, but you should have enough experience to deal with the Middle Floors, at least the higher levels. Why didn't you try to get up, instead of going down?"

"Ah…" Bell fidgeted under my gaze, and even Welf and Lili looked embarrassed.

"We… we should have." Admitted Welf. "But we panicked."

I blinked, surprised. "Panicked? You're a small party, but you have two Level 2's and you're decked out with magical weapons. I'm sure at least some of them have enchantments to deal with big groups of monsters. You had no reason to panic."

"We know. But, well… when the Dungeon made us fall, we were a little deeper than we usually go." Lili said. Hmmm… maybe they found the Takemikazuchi Familia on a lower Floor. I don't think it was ever said where the girl was hurt and they were forced to flee. "We tried to call Mister with the ring you gave us… but you didn't answer."

Uh. Right. "Sorry. I got hurt badly on the Fifty-ninth Floor. I was not in any condition to answer."

"We thought as much." Lili nodded. "So, well… that's why we panicked. And since we were closer to the Eighteenth Floor than the surface, we opted to go down instead of going up. We thought we could deal with the monsters if we were smart and fought only if necessary, but… we underestimated the Dungeon."

I huffed through my nose. "The Dungeon is unpredictable. You underestimated it, or it decided to kill you specifically because you were in a slightly worse situation than usual. Or both. In the end, it doesn't matter much. You arrived here, and that's what's important."

The trio nodded, looking a little relieved.

"Now, let's meet the rest of the group and return to the surface. We need to-"

It was at that moment that one of the Japanese kids reached us, yelling about Goddess Hestia's disappearance.

For fuck sake. Could I avoid this kind of shit at least once? But then, it would require Hermes to be brain dead, as he surely knew I was strong enough to derail his little plot if I was anywhere near Hestia when the kidnapping happened. Acting while I was distracted doing other things was the only logical course of action.

I sighed. "Alright. Let's find Hestia first."

I have to admit that my memory failed me. I didn't remember where Mord had taken Hestia. Somewhere near a giant tree, but the Eighteenth Floor didn't exactly lack giant trees. Fortunately, there were not many of them either, so a quick use of magic let me find her swiftly.

But when I announced that I found her and started to move, several throwing knives lodged themselves right in front of my feet. That made me pause for a second, then I looked at the rest of the party. "Go."

"Rexen-san-" Started Bell, but I interrupted him.

"Go. It's clear that someone doesn't want me to go with you. I don't know why, but honestly, it doesn't matter. Hestia has priority. Go!"

They listened to me this time and ran.

As they did, I turned toward the trees that covered the place in the direction from where the knives came. "You can get out now. Not that you can hide from me anyway."

There was silence for a couple of seconds… then Asfi Al Andromeda emerged from the shadows.

"I should have expected this." I grunted. "Hermes sent you here to keep me away from his little test, right?"

Asfi maintained a spectacular poker face, but the narrowing of her eyes told me more than she could imagine. "Your insight is impressive."

"If you say so." I said. "Do you really want to do this, Asfi? You're a good Adventurer, I have no doubt, but you're not the Sword Princess."

"I don't need to defeat you." Replied the woman, as her hand grabbed various objects on her person. She was some sort of alchemist, right? That shit probably exploded. "I just need you to stop you for a while."

Hmmm… very well. I bent my neck, making the tendons snap loudly. "You know, normally I'd just use magic to evade you and deal with the problem instantly, but the last time I tried to interfere with something like that the only thing I did was make things worse."

Asfi narrowed her eyes and readied her weapons.

"So, this time I'm going to let the events roll as usual, and then see if I can interfere with the inevitable fight after it's already started." I continued, making my knuckles snap too. "Maybe doing this will make things go easy, for once."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Asfi, not really confused as baffled by my nonchalance.

"I could explain it to you, but I doubt you'd understand." I replied, before materializing the dragon-scale vest around me. "Also, forgive me if I'm a little rough. I got beaten up pretty badly in the Deep Floors and I could be releasing some of my frustrations on you."

Asfi suddenly looked worried, if the slight widening of her eyes was any indication.

"Here I come." I finished. The next instant, I was already in front of her and my magic had coalesced around me like armor.

Going by her expression, Asfi was already regretting this.

-X-

The Dungeon was angry.

Bell looked as the light emanated from the crystals on the ceiling of the Eighteenth Floor changed from, well, normal to a deep red. Monsters started to pour from the lower floors, and there was a rhythmic pounding noise coming from somewhere.

And everything because his Goddess had shown her Arcanum to intimidate the other Adventurers.

"Why does this remind me of the time Rexen used his Voice?" Asked Welf, looking around in a mild panic.

"Because the same thing happened then too!" Yelled Lili. "Goddess, Mister Bell, we have to find a defensible position. Riviria can protect itself, but if we get surrounded by monsters we're all dying!"

Bell was inclined to agree with the girl, but before they could move, the rhythmic thumping noise was replaced by the sound of something breaking. His eyes were dragged on the ceiling, where one of the greater crystals had broken into a great number of shards, and something was falling down.

A second later, the something in question landed with enough force to make the entire Floor tremble… or at least enough for the vibrations to reach them.

And with a roar, the monster emerged from the dust it had kicked up. It was a Goliath, but not the one they escaped not even a couple of days ago. It was pitch black, with white air, and far bigger than it normally was. The monster looked around, and the moment it saw the other adventurers, it roared again and started to march in their direction.

"Enhanced Species…" Mumbled Welf. "That… that's very bad! We need to find Rexen. We cannot deal with that thing alone!"

Before they could, however, the Black Goliath opened its mouth and… focused its own roar with magic? It was difficult to be sure exactly what it was doing, but when a circle of light appeared and was immediately used to discharge a wave of pure sound against a group of Adventurers, it didn't really matter.

Fortunately, a man in heavy armor appeared out of nowhere and raised his hand, a shimmering barrier of magical energy materializing in front of the creature. The attack of the Goliath impacted against the barrier… and bounced off, slamming against the face of the monster with enough force to stagger it.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to deal that much damage. Sure, the area immediately around the mouth was now made of raw, naked flesh, but that was the extent of the wounds on the titan.

"Is that…?" Asked Bell, hesitantly. His guts were telling him that the mysterious man was Rexen-san, but the armor made it difficult to be sure.

"I'm sure it's him." Nodded Welf. "Let's help him!"

"Stop!" Ordered the elf that had followed them. "Do you really want to go there? Knowing that you could just hinder him?"

Bell, Welf, and Lili looked at each other before their eyes steeled. There was only one answer to that.

Preparation for Departure 1.8

Well, now I had the attention of the giant monster. Sort of. I just needed to keep its attention on me and not on everyone else, and then deal with it.

Easy.

And no, I was not being sarcastic here.

"Fenrir!" I shouted, calling my first companion to me. The wolf materialized behind me, full size and already in warform. Contrary to normal, he elected to not lick my face. Evidently, my tone had warned him of the seriousness of the situation.

"Help the Adventurers and clear the monsters. If someone attacks you, run. They're probably thinking you're a monster too."

Fenrir replied by raising his head and releasing a long, powerful howl that reverberated throughout the entire Floor, before disappearing into a black dash. He had gotten faster. Good.

"Sleipnir! Help Fenrir!" I called again, and the Atronach horse didn't even bother to appear next to me before materializing fully. He just erupted into a fight nearby like a mad hurricane, trampling monsters with his rock-like body and dispersing the weaker ones with powerful winds.

Before I could call my last companion, a figure in green landed near me. "Is that you, Mister Rexen?"

"Ryuu." I said, without even looking at her. "Nice to meet you. Even if I have to admit I prefer your usual maid outfit. It suits you more."

The elf sent me a side glare, but she was too focused on the Black Goliath to reply. "We need to distract the monster until Riviria organizes a counterattack."

"There is no need." I replied as the giant slowly walked toward us. "I can deal with it myself."

This time, Ryuu fully turned toward me. "Mister Rexen, I know you managed to defeat the Goliath on your own, but this is a completely different monster. I'm not sure, but by my estimate, it's at least a Level 5, if not higher. You cannot face it alone."

"My dear Ryuu, you're missing a crucial factor in your estimation."

"And that is?"

"The kid gloves are off." I replied, before raising my hand and focusing my magic there. "And I'm not alone."

I slammed my hand down, pouring a lot of magicka into that single spell. "Come, Jormungand!"

And as I called, the giant serpent, now big enough to look at the Black Goliath in the eyes, erupted from the ground, raising quite a storm of dust, and hissed in defiance. He had gotten bigger too. Seemed like my companions didn't want to be left behind.

As the elf warrior stared at the giant snake that had promptly decided to tackle the Black Goliath the moment he had seen it, I focused a little magicka and raised a couple of inches from the ground. "If you want to help, feel free. But be careful to not get caught in their fight." I grinned under my mask. "If you'd excuse me."

And then, with a flick of thought, I was flying high in the air. I wanted to see if there was a way to defeat this asshole without destroying his Magic Stone. It could be the last bit of power I needed to leave this dimension.

Time to experiment.

-X-

Nobody had quite seen anything like what was happening on the Eighteenth Floor before now.

Veteran and newbie alike stared in awe as a snake the size of a street started to brawl with the mysterious monster, as a man with a very peculiar set of armor blasted the entire thing with gouts of fire as he flew around it. The monster was too preoccupied with the giant constrictor trying to wrestle with it to worry about a pesky human. Or what it appeared to be in the beginning. Then the magical attacks increased in frequency and power, and the Black Goliath started to take notice. Actually, it started to roar in pain every time the fire started to lace its body. But any time it tried to do something about the fly bombarding it, the snake took the occasion to grip it a little more, the powerful coils of the creature locking the Goliath in place.

And that was just the main spectacle. While the mysterious man and the giant snake were occupied taking care of the Black Goliath, something else was dealing with the monsters. The most obvious one was the pale horse that was running around the Floor, running at speeds that exceeded even Level 4 Adventurers, with enough resilience to body-slam other monsters without apparent damage. With a neigh, the pale horse called forth the fury of the wind on its opponents, making any but the heaviest monsters fly away as the force of the wind grabbed their bodies and flung them away as if they were nothing more than pieces of paper. Both the monsters that were tackled and then ones that landed on the ground found themselves too wounded to pose the Adventurers any sort of challenge.

Less visible, but quite a bit more lethal, was the other monster that was roaming on the Floor. Few could say to have seen more than a glimpse of its form, let alone its entire silhouette. Only after the fact, and after various testimonies had been taken, was the Guild able to identify the monster in question as a giant wolf, black as coal and with burning orange eyes. The creature, incredibly stealthy despite a size that could rival a horse if not bigger, had wandered around the places with more Adventurers. When someone seemed to be overwhelmed, it had arrived with incredible speed, little more than a black blur, before taking down the monsters in a storm of fangs and claws. The victims, usually high Level 2 monsters, were found mauled to death, more often than not with limbs savagely ripped off and deep gouges of flesh torn away by fangs long as daggers. The Guild was at loss as to how nobody had seen the wolf, but they decided that it was probably because of the loss of light and the color of the creature.

Of course, there were a lot of monsters, so the horse and the wolf could not take care of all of them at the same time. But, despite filling the Adventurers with confusion -and fear, in the case of the wolf- they also gave them the time to focus on the real threats while giving a little protection… assuming, of course, that they weren't stupid enough to come close to the two titans fighting in the middle of the Floor.

Not that the fight was going to last long.

The Black Goliath was clearly a strengthened variant of the regular Goliath. Aside from the obviously different coloration, the Black Goliath could emit shockwaves from its mouth that, while weaker than a direct hit from one of its massive arms, was still enough to deal with weak Adventurers, and it was bigger and more powerful than its regular variant.

But that was not enough to deal with the giant snake that was currently constricting it.

Surprisingly fast for a creature that size, the giant snake had managed to avoid being stepped on and was now constricting the Monster Rex's movement. Not completely, but with its serpentine body wrapped around the Goliath's arms and its fangs biting into the Goliath's neck, it didn't have enough mobility to cause any damage. The only thing it could do was release its shockwaves, but considering that the snake was keeping its mouth pointing toward the ceiling, the chances of someone getting hurt were minimal.

Bell Cranel looked in awe as Mister Rexen continued to hit the Black Goliath with his magic, without any apparent fatigue. Now each attack had the power necessary to deal significant damage to the monster, and it seemed that he was trying to remove the head of the creature one attack at a time. Already the continuous explosion had removed part of the jaw and revealed the bone of the skull. It seemed that he would have no problem defeating the monster on his own.

But then something happened.

On a cliff, away from the battle, a sudden surge of magical energy attracted Bell's attention. At a guess, the inhabitants of Riviria had called all the mages they had to eliminate the Black Goliath with one, powerful attack. Even if the snake was doing an egregious job at keeping it contained, they probably wanted to kill it as fast as possible to stop the monster from arriving.

But Bell understood that it was a bad idea when Mister Rexen shouted. "No! Don't do it!"

Too late.

Magic roared as the air around the Goliath was filled with fire, thunder, and ice. The Goliath screamed in agony… and the giant snake, which until that moment had taken the fiery explosion launched by Mister Rexen like they were not there, did the same, releasing the neck of its opponent to hiss its pain.

Because, Bell realized at that moment, Mister Rexens magic never hurt his allies. And the giant snake was, without doubt, one of his summons.

In any other situation, killing the Monster Rex at the expense of one summon would have been an acceptable cost. Mister Rexen could always call the monster again if needed and they couldn't really die anyway, not while summoned, or so Mister Rexen had explained. Unfortunately, this was not the case here.

The Black Goliath fell on its knees as the snake fell off. In a second, Mister Rexen was already healing it, and it didn't take a genius to understand why. He clearly thought that the damage inflicted to the Goliath was insufficient. Despite the creature having been reduced to a fuming husk of itself.

When the creature glowed red and started to regenerate at an absurd speed, though, they all understood that the mages had just committed a terrible mistake. Because now there wasn't a giant serpent to keep the Black Goliath from rampaging.

Especially since the first thing the Monster Rex did was to turn toward the snake and start to beat it savagely. It lasted only a second, because Mister Rexen didn't seem to want his summon to go down so fast. A maelstrom of fire erupted in front of the Goliath, erasing most of the meat on its upper body, but the monster ignored the wounds. Or, well, it howled in pain but continued to move despite not having a face. Or eyes.

Without thinking, Bell started to run. He had to reach Mister Rexen and help him now that his summon was down.

Of course, he didn't arrive first. Asfi Al Andromeda had decided to help, and he caught the sight of Ryuu-san running toward the Black Goliath too.

They had to move away when Mister Rexen emitted a deafening roar, more bestial than human, and the Monster Rex was launched away. This was the power of someone that was able to reach the Deep Floors? He really had a long road ahead.

Thoughts for later. He needed to keep the monster from beating the snake.

"Keep it away from me! I'm going to deal with his regeneration!" Shouted Mister Rexen. Bell had no idea how, but the answer was probably 'something magic', so he just continued to run toward the monster. The Black Goliath didn't notice him, maybe because Andromeda was raining explosives on its head.

Bell decided that the right way to help was to keep the monster still, so he jumped and stabbed his knife into the leg of the Goliath. Unfortunately, while the Hestia Knife was extremely sharp and could hurt the creature, it was also small, and he doubted it was going to deal a serious wound. No matter, he just had to keep it busy. He let his own weight drag him down, tearing the leg open and causing the Black Goliath to flinch in pain… shoving him a couple of meters away.

Luckily for him, because Ryuu-san chose that moment to jump in front of the creature. "Luminous Wind!"

Wind charged with magic power bombarded the Black Goliath, making it roar in pain. Unfortunately, it failed to do what Mister Rexen's magic did; to make it flinch. The Black Goliath powered through the spell and slapped Ryuu-san away, but she was caught by Andromeda-san in mid-air.

Bell focused on his desire to defeat the Goliath. His base power was insufficient to deal with it… so he had to go beyond.

With his hand glowing white and a vague sound of bells in the distance, he raised his hand as the Black Goliath turned toward him and opened its jaw, ready to blast him with its roar.

"Lightburst!"

The attacks launched at the same time, an invisible bullet of air you could notice only by its sound, and a thin, blinding line of light. The attacks impacted mid-air, fought for supremacy… and Bell's magic won. The light destroyed the monster's magic and hit its face, releasing a powerful explosion as something -probably the monster's meat- exploded.

Unfortunately, Bell couldn't even congratulate himself, because the Black Goliath emitted another roar and, without Argonaut, Bell had no chance to stop it. The silver lining was that, with all the head missing aside from the mouth, the Goliath didn't aim very well. The roar impacted in front of Bell, making the earth explode and launching Bell into the air.

Then, as the head regenerated, the Black Goliath advanced, prepared to slap him… probably killing him on the spot. His defense was not anywhere near enough to deal with a Level 5 monster.

But before the beefy hand of the Goliath could reach him, two things happened. First, Kashima Ouka jumped right in front of him with a shield as big as himself raised and ready to absorb at least part of the blow for him. Bell sent him a thankful thought.

More importantly, Mister Rexen's snake arrived out of nowhere and it's fangs sunk into the Goliath's wrist, its powerful muscles trying to stop the slap from hitting them at full force. It worked… somehow. The snake was enormous and powerful, but the Goliath was much bigger and denser than it. It dampened the strength of the impact, but it couldn't remove it completely.

So Ouka-san was slapped with enough force to smash against Bell and then make them hit the ground with enough speed to cause a crater… but they were conscious. Wounded, but conscious. Bell tried to stand as the battle between the giant snake and the Black Goliath continued… even if this time the snake was going to have a harder time. After all, it was wounded… and the Goliath continued to regenerate.

It was at that moment that more people arrived.

Far away, Mikoto-san activated her magic, and a barrier of purple light enveloped the Black Goliath -and the snake, unfortunately- and… started to crush it? No matter. Bell stood, his hand, no, his entire body shining with white light. Argonaut was powerful… but he needed time to charge up. If he wanted to deal with the Goliath, he needed a powerful, decisive strike… enough to destroy the magic stone inside it.

The Goliath didn't remain imprisoned for long. Mikoto-san's magic broke and the monster was free. But reinforcements were on the way.

"Get out of my way!" Shouted Welf, wielding a red sword Bell had never seen before, but that looked like it had the same size as the mysterious pack Goddess-sama had brought with her. Was it…?

It was. Welf jumped, then swung the blade toward the Black Goliath. Magic erupted from the blade, as powerful, if not more powerful, than the flames Mister Rexen had used. So powerful that the recoil pushed Welf away, making him fly like an inverted comet. The Goliath roared again, and the Crozzo Magic Sword seemed to have the power to kill it… but then the blade shattered, and Welf fell into the forest.

And Bell was still not charged up enough.

"All of your timings sucks ass!" A voice came, and Bell's gaze shot up, to Mister Rexen that, in all the chaos, was still flying above the Goliath. "But good distraction. Ominous Wind!"

Black Wind erupted around the Goliath, blocking its sight and… not doing any damage at all? It seemed to confuse it, which was good, but it was not going to be enough. In fact, after a second, the Goliath turned its head toward Mister Rexen and shouted one of its shockwaves directly at him.

But Mister Rexen's flight was as fast and as maneuverable as the man was, and he just dodged the shockwave to the side before diving on the monster. Another shockwave was avoided with a sharp turn, then he was in the range of the monster's arms. The Black Goliath tried to squash him like a bug, but Mister Rexen deftly avoided the attack by flying around the arm, getting out a sword at some point. Then he flew right in the face of the Black Goliath, his sword ready on his shoulder for maximum power. Flames erupted around the blade, making it twice as long and so bright that it lit up the entire Floor like a miniature sun.

Then he slashed at the Goliath's eyes, the flames burning even hotter for a second, drawing a line on the face of the monster and in Bell's eyes too. The attack had been so bright, even at that distance.

The monster went completely mad with pain and rage, flailing wildly and shooting shockwaves completely at random. One even managed to hit Mister Rexen, but he was just launched away for a dozen or so meters before reasserting himself. Either the armor had protected him or he was just very tough. And Bell was almost ready to go. He just hoped that someone stopped the monster from attacking it when he noticed… him… coming?

The Goliath was still attacking at random, despite Mister Rexen not having moved from the spot he was… well, aside from dodging some stray shockwaves, but that was not the point. The point was that, despite Mister Rexen being right in front of it, the Goliath was not focusing on him. He was swinging its arms around, stomping in every occasion, and shooting shockwaves seemingly at random. Why?

Because it couldn't see. That was the answer. When the Goliath turned, Bell saw the monster's face, and where the eyes should have been there was a line of charcoal-black flesh that obstinately refused to heal.

Ominous Wind. Mister Rexens' Magic, no, Curse. He had cursed the Goliath, stopping it from regenerating as he promised, and now they could deal with it like any other monster.

As long as the Curse lasted, of course. Knowing Mister Rexen, they probably had a minute or so before the effect vanished or he was forced to launch it again. They still needed to kill it fast. And Bell was ready.

He looked down at his hand. Despite Argonaut somehow covering his entire body, his hand still shone brighter than anything else. His thoughts turned to what Mister Rexen always said. Magic was light. He had the power to channel that light. Until now, he had just used Lightburst as a ranged attack… but could it do more?

"Lightburst!" Called Bell, pointing his hand straight in front of him as he carefully avoided triggering Argonaut. He didn't need to waste the accumulated power on something he didn't even know was possible.

But he wanted it to be possible. Mister Rexen had done so much for him. He had taught him how to fight, he had taught him the principles of magic that created Lightburst, he had tried to make him defeat his fear of Minotaurs… and he had done nothing in return. He had always remained behind when he went down into the Dungeon, to take the magic stones he needed and couldn't get on the Floors where they fought. And now, he was going to leave, probably to never return… and so, Bell decided that he would do something for him. He would prove him right. He would prove that he was able to control that light, that he had the potential to be Mister Rexen's student. He just needed the light… and the will to shape it.

And he did. A ball of light appeared between his fingers, pulsating. The sounds of distant bells grew as his body glowed even more, and the light shifted. A pulse, and it was an ovoid. Another, and it became a thin line, longer than Bell's shoulder-length… and after another pulse, the white-haired boy had a sword made of light in his hand.

It was different from every other sword he had seen. It was not the thin and elegant weapon of Ais-san. It was not the monstrous greatsword Welf used, nor the thick, silvery sword with crossed guard Mister Rexen seemed to prefer.

It was about as long as his arm, with a straight blade that became larger near the guard, so much so that it was almost as big as the slightly curved arms of the guard itself. Bell swung the sword down as he prepared to charge.

But while the Goliath couldn't see, he could hear pretty well, and so he stopped its rampage to turn toward Bell. The boy bent his legs, ready to charge… and at that moment, Mister Rexen's hands shot forward, purple magic circles covering them as waved a spell in the air… literally.

"Gravity Binding!" He shouted, attracting the attention of the Goliath… before five purple magic circles suddenly locked themselves in both the Goliath's arms and legs, and one on the neck for good measure. Then, with a shout, Mister Rexen spread his arms.

Immediately, the magic circles shifted configuration, almost tightening around the limbs of the monster. The effect was immediate and very clear. The Goliath stopped moving. Or, more accurately, the places where the magic circles were locked, trapping the monster into a grip that didn't let it move. Even his face was tilted toward the ceiling, making his shockwaves completely useless.

"Go Bell." He heard Mister Rexen say… and so he charged. He ran toward the Goliath as all the Adventurers on the Floor watched… and when he was near enough, he swung his sword made of light and released Argonaut.

The explosion of light was so intense that, for a second, everyone went blind. When they recovered, they could see what damage the attack had caused. Namely, most of the upper body of the Goliath was gone, and now only the lower half, from the stomach down, was still there. The magic stone had miraculously survived, and was now exposed.

But the monster wasn't dead. It was clear when they could see that the legs were still somehow struggling against the bindings.

Bell put his hand around his knife and went for the kill, but before he could move more than a couple of meters, something grabbed the remains of the Goliath and lifted them into the sky. Narrowing his eyes, Bell could see a… brown mist? Covering it. It rose and rose until it was at the same height as Mister Rexen… and Bell realized what was happening before it happened.

And so, after seeing Bell attack, all the Adventurers in the Floor saw Mister Rexen grab the remains of the Goliath with magic, lifting it into the sky, and grabbing the air like he wanted to tear something to pieces… which was what he did. The magic stone and the legs of the monster started to shudder uncontrollably as Mister Rexen's shoulder tensed, before he violently tore the magic stone out from the remains of the Goliath, flesh and bones hard enough to shatter stone dissipating into cinder.

And so he remained in the air, like a god, as the magic stone, as big as he was, floated at his side.

And then the entire Floor exploded into cheers.

Preparation for Departure 1.9

There were a lot of things worse than having impressed Adventurers coming to you at basically any hour to try to either recruit you, discover your secrets, or just have a chat.

After the thirtieth time I had to stop whatever I was working on at the time because of it, I couldn't think of any.

So I had taken one of the abandoned buildings in Orario, made it impossible to know I was there using any and all Illusion spells I could think of, and I had remained there since.

I managed to get some things done despite all that. My armor was enchanted again, this time with an experimental enchantment I created using the one on Bell's knife as a base. It was not the exact same thing, and I was going to need time to figure out how it worked so it continued to increase in strength with me, but I changed the original enchantment from granting me more health and stamina with straight protection from damage. Sacrificing extra staying power was rough, but I didn't tire at the same rate as a regular human anymore, so it was a moot point, and I was at my best when I resolved fights quickly anyway, so not getting hurt in exchange for being able to fight for longer was a worthy exchange. And once I got the parallel advancement thing right, it was going to be far more useful.

And I also managed to get the ritual circle right. It had taken a lot of time because I made it using the memories I had of the circle I used on Tamriel and I didn't participate in its creation. I had given it a look before I left though, and my enhanced intellect allowed me to recall the exact shape and symbols of the thing. It was far easier than it would have been before the dragon souls upgraded my brain. I practically had a photographic memory, which was stupidly useful when most of your power comes from an intellectual understanding of how reality works.

I also had more than enough power to fuel the ritual. I was just not sure if it was going to work. There were a lot of possible variables that could screw up the entire thing. Maybe the metaphysics were different in subtle ways I didn't understand. Maybe the barrier between this universe and the others was not the same as the ones I had faced. Or maybe the spell that had protected me against the Void and was letting me use all my powers despite being in a different dimension, the little bubble of Elder Scroll metaphysics around me, was going to take care of that too. Testing of course was impossible: without the Eye of Magnus, I couldn't spare even a single magic stone, as size had negligible influence on the energy required, so trying to send a pebble to another dimension or a building was more or less the same thing. Most of the power was to break through.

But I was almost done. I had to make some adjustments so as to not have hundreds of magic stones in a room, but I was almost ready. Time to say my goodbyes and leave this place.

But instead of being able to meet them a couple at a time, I found them waiting for me outside of the house I was 'inhabiting'. Well, most of them, anyway. There was the Trio, most of the Loki Familia executives -Bete had to be an asshole like always- plus Lefiya, Raul, and… Loki?

"How did you know I was there?" I asked, surprised.

Riveria smiled. "The magic you put on the house is impressive, but if you know it's there, you can pinpoint the location. It was not easy, but we managed."

Uh, it made sense. The protections were not there to stop people from sensing the magic, just to make them stay away, and they mostly did that by distracting the mind instead of making an entire house invisible. If you knew they were there, you could sense them and overpower the effect. Most people just didn't know where to look.

"Ah, well, I suppose I didn't calibrate them to push away the really determined. But why are you here? Your timing is… suspiciously good."

It was not the first time something conveniently aligned to make things happen just at the right time. Was there some sort of fate thing going on here? No, not really, but it still felt familiar. Narrative timing? Yeah, something like that.

"We figured out you were going to leave soon." Revealed Welf. "You stopped going to the Dungeon, and you've never done that. The only reason we could think of was…"

"To prepare for leaving." I completed it. "Well, yeah, you're right. I was just going to say goodbye to all of you. This surely helps."

The exchange of goodbyes was short. I was not the type to make a short speech for every person. Most Loki Familia were done with an 'it was fun to go into the Dungeon with you' and they replied with a 'thanks for the help' or some variation of that. The Trio required a little more thought, mostly to remind them to practice what I taught them. And then something a little more general.

"When I arrived here, I was overwhelmed by despair." I said, attracting the attention of everyone. "But thanks to you all, I was reminded that there will always be friendly people wherever I go. While I may be away from home, I'm not completely alone. For that, thank you all."

I received a series of circumstantial answers to that, mostly because they didn't know what to reply to, and I finished my speech by patting Lili on her head. "And thank you, Lili. You were the one that made me understand that, as long as I have my magic, there is hope."

Lili, who had been uncharacteristically silent until then, looked down. "Mister would have figured it out by himself."

I chuckled. "Maybe. But you still gave me the right idea. Who knows how much time I would have spent wallowing in my own misery without your suggestion?"

At that point, Lili did something I didn't think she could do. She jumped forward and hugged my waist. "Thank you for all you did for Lili." She said, her voice sounding wet.

I smiled fondly at the girl, caressing her head. "You're welcome, little one."

I let her hug me for a little more, then gently pushed her away. The Pallum girl dried her tears while backing away.

"And since you're all here, I think you deserve a last, little display of my magic." I said, this time gathering quite a lot of surprised gazes. "Ready to see how I break space and time?"

I waved my arm and summoned the magic stones I prepared for this. I would give them a last show.

-X-

Loki couldn't say she was a mage, even without the limitations brought by the mortal form she had right now. Still, she could tell that the show in front of her right now was downright impressive.

Rexen, or as he called himself in the previous world, Loki, had just summoned a lot -really, a lot- of magic stones, and at the same time made them float around him without apparent effort. Then, with another wave of his arm, a magic circle composed of two circles inside each other emerged from thin air, in glowing azure lines. The magic stones immediately started to move, floating at the edge of the magic circle, and also up… almost as if it was a hemisphere. In particular, two giant crystals floated near him, probably the ones he gained from the Goliaths.

The magic of the world from where Rexen came was truly amazing. Not as powerful as the one granted by the Falna, but infinitely more versatile. And as he waved his arms, moving the magic stones in patterns that she couldn't understand, he spoke.

"I suggest you get out of the first circle. I'm not sure what will happen if the ritual is done and you're still there."

Everyone hastily got out of the internal circle, retiring in the safe area between the two circles, enough to not get caught in whatever was going to happen but still being able to admire the spectacle. The magic stones moved in a circle and started to shine like stars in the night sky as the magical energy contained within them reacted to whatever incantation Rexen was uttering as his hands moved in the air, weaving the magic like threads.

Everyone who could sense magic -which was basically everyone here, except poor Tiona- could vaguely understand what he was doing. What was going to be the end result was beyond what even Loki could understand, because trans-dimensional magic was not something any of them had any experience with. Even the impressive teleportation magic he had used before paled in comparison. Maybe some God more related to space could…

A magic stone suddenly cracked, a brief light pouring out from the crystal before it crumbled into dust. Then it happened again, and again, and again, and the sensation caused by the accumulation of magical power started to ramp up.

"That's… a lot of magical power." Said the redhead boy of Hephaestus, starting to sweat a little. If it was because he was nervous or because the accumulated magical energy was starting to feel like a wool blanket wrapping around them in the middle of summer, Loki didn't know.

"The lad's trying to break the world to escape from it." Said Loki, opening her eyes a little. "Tha's going to require all the power he can get."

More crystals started to break and crumble, leaving a thin carpet of shining dust on the entire surface of the magic circle. The sensation of accumulating magical power was now so intense that it felt like the entire tower of Babel was weighing on top of them, and local reality was starting to work funny. Most of the children couldn't see it, but Loki still had the eyes of a God. The fabric of reality was stretching, straining under the pressure of so much magical power concentrated into a single place.

"It's goin' to end soon." Whispered the goddess. The magical stones were becoming increasingly less numerous, and the pace at which they were destroyed was increasing.

"Magical resonance." Riveria suddenly said, gaining the attention of everyone nearby. "That's how he's doing it. It's using the energy of the magic stones to make the others shatter first. And the amount of energy… Most of it's inside the first circle, so I cannot be sure, but what we're feeling right now is just a fraction of what he's feeling. It's enough to blow up half of Orario."

More than that, mused Loki. The lad truly had excellent control. Riveria-chan had told her of the amazing feat of destruction he had brought onto the caterpillar monster he fought on the Fiftieth Floor, and Loki knew enough about magical blasts to understand that all the destruction he caused that time was mostly a side effect of the attack. The lighting dragon had been a concentrated, directed blast of pure power directly on the monster's head, big enough to engulf the entire thing and nothing more. The destroyed forest was an unfortunate result of the nature of lighting, which had discharged excessive power in the surrounding area. Here too, the lad was shown to be extremely adept at pure magic manipulation, being able to move many times more energy than he could conjure using his own powers.

And the energy continued to increase even higher as the bigger stones crumbled and released their power, until only the giant crystals floating around him remained.

"Ugh, I feel sick…" Groaned Lefiya-chan, bending a little as the pressure became too much for her. Ais-chan immediately reached for her and put an arm around her shoulder to help her. The elf girl seemed to appreciate it.

Of course, the cute show had to take a back seat because the giant magical crystals cracked loudly, distracting her. The magic contained inside them broke free and was captured inside the magic circle… and it immediately exploded in a blinding flash of light.

Her eyes took a second to adapt, and in that time she heard the laugh of the lad erupt from the lad's lips, pure joy emanating from him.

"Take a look, gods of the Heavens, because this is something you're never going to see again!" He declared with his face turned toward the sky… before looking down at them with a smile on his face. "Goodbye, my friends."

And in the blink of an eye, the light surrounded him and then surged up, the only sign of the entire thing had happened was a thin black line remaining in their sight for a couple of seconds, until it dissipated too… and there was only dust left.

Nobody spoke for a long time.

"And so he's gone." Said Finn, still looking at the sky. "This may as well be the most impressive magic he could ever show us."

"Truly." Nodded Riveria. "I feel like I don't deserve to be called the best mage of all Orario. Maybe the most powerful, but best…"

"Well, that's not a problem anymore." Muttered the red boy. "He's not here to claim the title."

Yeah… he wasn't here anymore. He just left with the most amazing display of magic one could ever witness. Loki made a mental note to propose a title for the lad at the next Denatus. He deserved something cool… something really cool, not the cringy stuff most children get. Maybe the Archmage… or something related to illusions and trickery. He was Loki, after all.

But that was a thought for later. Right now, she wanted to dispel the gloomy atmosphere. She clapped her hands with a wide smile on her face. "What's with the long faces? He's made another step toward his objective. You should be happy for him! Let's go to the Hostess of Fertility and throw a party to celebrate!"

Most of her Familia exchanged glances, clearly understanding what she was trying to do. The trio of kids that had been the lad's apprentice did the same, but with confusion.

Then the white-haired kid of Hestia, Bell Cranel, shifted uncomfortably. "Well, if you excuse us then…"

"What're you talkin about, kid? You're invited too. C'mon, it's on me!"

The kid sent a glance to the Pallum girl, then returned to her. "Can my Goddess come too?"

Loki's smile twitched, but it held. She was feeling generous, after all. "Sure! Call chibi too."

Bell Cranel smiled. Ah, so that was why Chibi was all over him. Such innocence, such candor. If she wasn't so loyal to her girls, she could have fallen for him too.

"Thank you! C'mon Lili, let's go! Welf, are you with us?"

The boy sent her a look and when she gave him a thumbs-up, he smiled. "Sure, why not? Lead the way."

And so they ran. She would have to keep an eye on them. Rexen Loki was not here anymore, but he had left a legacy. They were going to do great things in time.

-X-

Something that I didn't expect to happen during my trip.

Yes, during. Not after I arrived, but while I was traveling in the infinite void between dimensions. Or the void in the dimension before or after I hit a barrier between them, I'm not exactly sure how that works and, honestly, I don't want to explore that particular side of multiversal traveling.

Anyway, while I was still traveling, something pulled me. I cannot accurately describe the sensation of a spell meant to take you straight to your destination, for a lack of a better term, deviating slightly mid-flight. It was not supposed to happen, but there were a lot of forces in the vast realm of the possible universes, and I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising, but it was for me. And so, I couldn't correct the directions before arriving at my destination. Not in the half-second remaining.

So I 'landed' in a dark room on my knees, and I immediately went full Sherlock Holmes on the surroundings, even before looking around.

The room was dark but not completely so, and my enhanced senses let me see pretty clearly everything that was in my field of vision. It was a modern house, from what I could tell. The style was not familiar, but that didn't mean anything, it's not like I had the habit of traveling a lot when I was home.

The thing that caught my eyes was a summoning circle painted into the ground with some dark color that I couldn't recognize. It was vaguely familiar, but at that moment it didn't ring any bells. So, visually, nothing was too wrong.

But my nose immediately caught the problem. There was a smell in the air that I was familiar with, after all that had happened to me. The pungent, metallic smell of blood. Human blood to boot. It came from all around me like someone had painted the walls and the floor with it… and they probably did, considering the circle I was on.

In the half-second I managed to register all this information, a voice said something. Most of it was gibberish as far as I was concerned, but I recognized the language and, specifically, a word. Akuma. Demon.

I raised my head, seeing the 'summoner' for the first time. He looked like a young Japanese man, wearing purple clothes and bright… orange? Hairs. I was in some anime universe, or he dyed his hair. I could see a chain at his waist and some piercing, but all things considered, it looked pretty innocuous.

The big, black book that emitted waves of ominous magic, much less so.

Suddenly, the man stood straighter, as something grabbed him by the neck and started to raise him from the ground. Ah, right, that was me. The experience of Skyrim had left me with some very strong feelings about demon summoners and mass murderers.

"I am no demon." I replied, activating my translation spell to be able to talk with him without problems. "But you'll wish I was."

The man tried desperately to grasp whatever was strangling him, but you couldn't grasp telekinesis, so the only thing he accomplished was to scratch his own neck. I raised him a couple of feet from the ground and closed my fingers, slowly increasing the pressure…

And then stopped. This… this was not right. I didn't have to do this. This was not Skyrim, where the nearest guard outpost from a bandit camp was several days of travels away and where people could be superhuman, magical, or both. I was in Japan, more or less in modern days, and the guy in front of me didn't even seem to be able to defend himself. Once the black book fell from his hands, he had lost any ability to threaten me.

I sent him a hateful glare as my conscience pleaded for his life. "Dammit. You're lucky, bastard. Sleep."

I overwhelmed his pitiful defenses with magic and put his brain on stand-by, before making him fall like a sack of potatoes. I needed to call the police and then get the fuck out of here, just staying here was filling me with murderous rage. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to call the police. Fortunately, I had someone that could tell me. I telekinetically grabbed the head of the murderer and, not very gently, I pulled it toward my hand, to read his mind.

And there, I found a lot of information. The number of the police, for one, but also other things. His name, the name of the city I was, and the year.

Ryuunosuke Uryuu, Fuyuki City, 1994.

Fuck.

Last edited: Jan 30, 2022

Fate/Dragonborn 1.1

I didn't remain there, shocked by the revelation. Not for long at least. In ten seconds, I had already called the police, bound Ryuunosuke with the first thing I found -the cables of the electric system, by the way- and then I was out. Thirty seconds later, I was looking at Fuyuki City from the top of a building, invisible in the shadows, and then I started thinking.

So… I have arrived in Fate/Zero, or the Fourth Holy Grail War, where seven magus -think mages, but more assholish and crappier- summoned seven Servants, basically super ghosts based on mythological figures, plus anime powers because why not.

The guy I just gave to the police was a serial killer that, thanks to the black book he had found at some point, had managed to become the Master of Caster, the Wizard Servant. In his case, Bluebeard. Yeah, technically it was Gilles de Rails, the man that was behind the fairytale, but since Caster Gilles was a demon-summoning cultist that killed children, I didn't want to call it Gilles, whose guilt was… in doubt. Bluebeard will do… even if the Servant didn't have a beard. Whatever.

Clearly, I had arrived during one of the botched summoning attempts he did before getting the ritual right and calling Bluebeard. This was good, because it meant that the boy didn't have to see the remains of his parents, and that the two of them were not going around kidnapping children to summon starfish demons.

That… didn't help me, though. Sure, I was happy to have saved a lot of lives completely by accident, but now I was stranded there. It would take a while to make the battery I had thought up, and then there was the fact that the network could not be ready. I could spend months inside this universe.

Sure, I could be in a worse one. At least this one was modern, more or less. Which was as much of a positive as it was a negative, thinking about it. Positive, because I didn't have to worry about comfort. Even an abandoned house would be better than most of the places I had slept in Skyrim, and it was a time I was more familiar with.

It was a disadvantage because finding the materials for the mana battery was going to be a pain. It was going to be impossible to get them without alerting the Clockwork Tower… or the Atlas Institute, if that was their name… or the third big collection of magus that had decided to work 'together' so they didn't have people ruining their experiments too often. In fact, there was a good chance that the best materials for the job were taken by them.

So yeah, making the battery was going to be a problem.

The alternative, of course, was to find an enormous pool of magical energy just laying around, but after the Age of Gods, I doubted there was anything like that. Enough energy to punch through dimensional barriers just… didn't…

Wait.

I opened my eyes to the flow of magic. Normally, this would have been completely pointless. The density of magicka in Tamriel made any attempt to find concentrations of ambient magic useless unless it was already in your line of sight. But this was not Tamriel and my memories informed me that the mana in the Age of Man was very, very low… or something, I'm not sure how the Fate metaphysics work.

Under my eyes, though, emerged a pattern of thin lines. The leylines of Fuyuky City, bending and converging…

Ah. So that was where it was located. Good. An easily defensible position.

Now I just needed a plan. And making the Grail War start in the first place. With Caster out, it could take a while for the Grail to select a new Master.

Unless…

I needed a hideout in the city. What could be the best place to start? It needed to be out of sight, and not very frequented…

…

Yes, it was the sewers where Caster made his horror show. Better move fast then. I don't know how much time I have before anyone comes here.

Reaching the sewers was child play. Shadow magic was delightfully useful for moving unseen at night. Shadows didn't impede my sight, I could move from shadow to shadow at will, and I could become completely invisible if I wanted to. The only limitation was that I needed to remain in the darkness, or at least inside the shadows, which was not as easy as it sounded, in a modern city full of artificial illumination. But I didn't manage to survive only by magical power and bullshit martial arts. Most of my early career as an adventurer was spent hiding from things that could kill me and taking them down from the shadows. I was good at this.

Once there, in a section of the sewers that looked like a cathedral -why did they have a place like this?- I scraped together a summoning circle from what I had seen from Ryuunosuke. The one I had memorized was… basic, to say the least, but I didn't take the book with me to check what was wrong, because I had enough of black books of infinite power. I just sent it where it belonged. Into Mora's library. Good luck returning to this world.

Anyway, I finished the circle using my considerable knowledge of magic to fill in the holes left by Ryuunosuke's shoddy work. You could ask how, considering magic was different between worlds, but you see, since magic was mostly make-believe and worked on mystical associations instead of hard, cold rules, it was a surprisingly easy process. I just had to keep in mind what I was supposed to call and for what reason, and the entire thing basically built itself. I finished engraving the circle on the concrete and started my call.

Now, I had absolutely no idea who the hell was going to show up. Based on my limited understanding of how this thing worked, you either had a catalyst of some sort -and here you see the whole mystical association, because this was textbook sympathetic magic- or it was basically random. Well, not random-random, in theory, there was going to be some sort of link between you and the Servant, but that meant shit here. I was an entity outside this cosmology trying to access what was a watered-down version of a ritual meant to summon the ultimate defender of humanity. The entire thing was already a gamble based on me still being human enough for the CounterForce to not send someone to kill me immediately.

So I concluded my incantation -made up, because I didn't remember the official one, if there was one- and waited for something to happen.

It was with immense satisfaction that I noticed the circle starting to glow. Clearly, magical expertise did something, regardless of the world I was in. I was glad to have spent so much time studying magical theory.

Anyway, the circle flashed for the last time, and a woman in a blue and white dress, with long and luscious brown hair and clear blue eyes, materialized in front of me. She smiled, made a little bow, and introduced herself. "Servant Caster answered the call. Are you my Master?"

I remained immobile for a long second… before I raised my hands in jubilation. "Ssssssssiiiiiiiiiii!*"

Leonardo Da Vinci, because that was her name, blinked, completely caught off guard by my reaction. "Uh… is everything alright?"

"Si cazzo**! Finalmente posso tornare a parlare italiano! Hai idea di quanto tempo non lo parlo? Temevo di dimenticarlo!"

Da Vinci blinked again, then returned to smile. "Beh, se desiderate parlare questa lingua, per me va bene."

"Grazie, non hai idea di come questo mi renda felice. Ah, ho voglia di andare in giro cantando l'inno nazionale…" I sighed, remembering why I had done this. "Ma non c'è tempo per questo. Abbiamo una guerra da vincere… o quantomeno da manovrare per i miei scopi. E nonostante abbiamo un paio di giorni per organizzarci, siamo in inferiorità numerica e molti dei nostri avversari sono resistenti alla magia. Dobbiamo essere veloci."

Da Vinci nodded. "Quindi qual è la nostra prima mossa?"

I looked at the circle that was still carved on the concrete at her feet. "Beh, un'idea ce l'ho…"

-X-

There were not many things Artoria Pendragon, King of Knights, enjoyed. Of those, having an honorable duel was not exactly high on the list. Still, it was a duel of honor, skill versus skill, blow for blow, exactly like it should be. So, while Lancer was giving her problems, she was still enjoying this. Not enough to prolong longer than necessary, though.

So, she had removed her armor. Apparently, the red spear Lancer possesses could cut through magic, and since her armor was more a magical construct than real metal, it was useless as protection. It was better to remove it to be lighter.

At least, that was the plan. But, as she approached Lancer to exchange more blows and see who was going to win in the end, her Instinct screamed.

Instantly, she jumped away from Lancer. The knight seemed confused for a moment, but then, the air around them started to charge with electricity and he quickly retreated too.

Just in time. A fraction of a second later, a lightning bolt as wide as a human fell down, impacting against the concrete of the dock with enough force to shatter it. Artoria put herself between the area of impact and Irisviel, to stop any potential debris from hitting her. As the blinding light caused by the bolt disappeared, she could see the damage caused by the attack. The ground of the dock was ravaged by jagged lines stretching for meters in every direction. Some metal containers nearby still had arcs of electricity dancing over them. The area of impact was a blacked mass of melted and quickly solidifying concrete that was still fuming. It didn't look like a lightning bolt had hit there but a meteor. The only possibility was…

"Caster." She muttered, increasing the grip on her weapon. "You dare interrupt our duel, mage? Show yourself!"

A laugh rang out between the metal of the containers, coming from everywhere at the same time. She was expecting this. Casters were users of magic, and despite all the power they possessed, the Grail War was not the ideal ground for them. Four of the seven Classes possessed Magic Resistance, which nullified and unraveled any magic that came in contact with them. Artoria herself was protected in such a way. As such, deception and tricks were the only weapons they could use.

… But if that was the case, why had Instinct warned her to get out of the way? Could this caster summon enough power to wound her? But that would have required his attacks to have Rank A or higher…

Her line of thought was interrupted when, contrary to what she was expecting, Caster did appear. Emerging from the shadows between some containers, he stood there, looking at her through a mask made of bone which made it impossible to determine who he was. The rest of his clothing didn't give away anything either. He had a long, black garb that completely covered him, including a hood to cast his already masked face in shadows. The only distinctive trait he possessed was a set of crow's feathers decorating a set of reinforced pauldrons. If he had not wielded a long staff, she would have thought that he was Assassin. If Assassin hadn't already died, at least.

"Oh, c'mon Saber. How could I resist the temptation to strike down both you and Lancer in a single move? Surely you can forgive me for this slip."

The tone was light, the words ringing true. Artoria hesitated. They were in a war, after all, and it would have been a tactically sound choice to…

She shook her head. For a second, she faltered. Caster had either enchanted her, somehow overcoming her Magic Resistance, or he had a Skill to make people listen to him. Subtle. She needed to be more careful.

"You're interrupting a duel between knights, wizard. If you want to strike us down, do it after we're finished."

Caster raised his free hand in a conciliatory gesture. "Alright, alright. My bad, I'll remember that." He then looked away, at the sky. "Not that you have much more time for your duel, I'm afraid."

Artoria was about to ask what he did mean when something fell down from the sky, accompanied by more lightning. A chariot pulled by two gigantic, abnormally muscular oxen, the golden wheels sparking with electricity, slammed on the already ravaged floor of the dock. The man piloting the chariot stood in all his height and raised his hands, a smile on his face.

"Both of you, sheathe your blades. You're in the presence of a king!" He looked at them, the smile shifting into a grin. "I'm Iskandar, King of Conquerors! I'm of the Rider class in this Grail War!"

There was a moment of silence as everyone was frozen, both because they realized who the Servant was and because they were flabbergasted that he had just revealed his identity, risking that one of the participants could find a weakness of his.

Then someone started to clap slowly, and everyone turned toward Caster.

"Bravo! I honestly cannot say I've ever witnessed a more impressive presentation." Said the magician, and the tone, while amused, sounded sincere.

Rider grin widened. "Finally, someone who appreciates my methods. You're Caster, if I'm right. Care to reveal yourself to us?"

Caster grabbed his staff -who had remained standing right where he had left it for the entire time- and waved his hand. "I'm afraid I lack the… boldness that you possess, Rider."

Iskandar exploded in a laugh. "You have a silvery tongue, Caster."

"You're not the first person to tell me that. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to chat, we have company."

He pointed behind Iskandar with a nod, and they turned in time to see a golden glow materialize into who, without a doubt, was the Servant who had killed Assassin.

Before anyone could say anything though, the residual statics still in the air twisted, then converged, and right before their eyes, they formed a spear of lightning that was quickly launched against Archer. The Servant in gold armor looked at the attack with disdain and materialized a disk of golden energy from which emerged… something. They couldn't see because whatever it was impacted against the lightning bolt, exploding and releasing a cloud of smoke that concealed Archer from view.

When the cloud dissipated, the red, fissured eyes of the Servant were locked on Caster, who seemed to really like lightning for some reason, since he still had his left hand pointing to the blond.

"You dare, mongrel? You dare to attack me in this underhanded way?" Asked Archer, sounding vaguely irritated.

"I'm but a lowly Caster, oh King. How can I possibly hope to defeat you in fair combat? No, I prefer to strike when nobody expects me to."

Archer remained silent for a second, before snorting. "You're a conjurer of cheap tricks, but at least you understand your position and can show proper respect."

Caster chuckled. "Oh, perish the thought. I'm just a naturally polite person."

At that, Archer frowned. "Don't push your luck, Caster." He said, materializing several golden discs in the air. "My patience has limits."

"Short limits, for what I can see." Smiled Caster, seemingly having a blast needling the other Servant. "But I'm afraid you have something worse than me to worry about." He continued, pointing his open hand to a space some meters on the side of Archer. Everyone looked there…

… and nothing happened.

"Uh, weird." Commented the magician. "It should be here by now…"

Suddenly, a column of black mist emerged from the ground, clearly a sign of a summoning. "There you go!" Caster happily exclaimed, as a shape took form from the mist. After a second, a black knight emerged, emitting a bestial roar.

"Berserker!?" Asked Artoria, surprised by the sudden appearance of the last Servant.

What happened next was… concerning.

Apparently, Berserker really had something against Archer… or the arrogant Servant didn't like the way Berserker was looking at him, it was not entirely clear. Surely, Archer shot first, launching several weapons out of the disks -some kind of portals at this point- to impale Berserker.

And then Berserker grabbed the weapon in mid-air, which should have been impossible as only the owner could use a Noble Phantasm. Then, he used it to block the others, while Archer continued to shoot.

Despite the impossibility of his actions, Berserker continued to use his enemy's weapon against them… until a deflected weapon truncated the street lamp where Archer was standing, forcing the Servant to land.

That seemed to anger him.

"You mad dog… I belong to the heavens. And you would have me crawl on the ground. Your arrogance will be your end!"

The number of portals multiplied, until dozens of weapons were pointed at Berserker… and it was at that moment that a laugh echoed again, coming from everywhere at the same time.

"Ah, don't mind me." Said Caster, his voice ringing from no place and all places at the same time. A quick glance confirmed that Caster was not between the containers where he was before. "I'm just enjoying the show."

"Silence, mongrel! Don't interrupt the deserved punishment of this worm!"

"Oh, I wouldn't dare. Unfortunately, I'm in dire need to leave, and I wanted to say goodbye before I go. It would be infinitely rude of me to disappear without notice… don't you agree, Assassin?"

The last word didn't come from everywhere like the others, and thus the gaze of everyone was dragged to it. Just in time to see a gaunt silhouette jump away from his position, launching several darts to the shadow that had emerged a single step from where he had been a second before. The projectiles were stopped when Caster waved two fingers and a hemispherical barrier materialized out of thin air… then both the Servants disappeared.

"Was that… Assassin?" Asked Artoria. Everyone had seen the Servant being obliterated by Archer not too long ago, and there he was. That should have been impossible, unless the Assassin that was killed was a decoy of some kind… a Skill that didn't sound implausible for him.

Caster's laugh resonated again, full of amusement. "Let this be a lesson for everyone. I'm the only one that's allowed to trick and deceive in this War. Tell this to your Master, Assassin."

There was no response, and it seemed like that was it. But then…

"And this applies to your Master too… Archer."

Archer's eyes widened as the laugh of Caster rang out one last time before disappearing.

What did that mean? The obvious meaning was that Archer's Master had tried to deceive the other Masters too… but how? Did he ally with Assassin? Or did he try to do something else?

Archer suddenly looked away. "You order the King to retreat? You surely are bold, Tokiomi." He brusquely waved his hand, making the portals disappear. "But I cannot say I didn't expect that. After what Caster said…" He didn't elaborate further, just sending a glare toward Berserker. "You're lucky, mad dog. You'll live… this time." He then dematerialized and left the place, quickly followed by Berserker, who disappeared in a cloud of black fog.

Artoria exchanged a glance with the remaining Servants.

"I propose that we retreat tonight." She said, before sending a nod toward Lancer. "We'll continue next time."

"I agree." Lancer nodded back. "Surely this new information needs to be addressed by a change of strategy. With Assassin still around, our Masters need to be protected with more attention."

And with that, he dematerialized and disappeared.

"Ah, this Grail War will surely be interesting." Grinned Iskandar. "Oy, boy! What did you see from Caster and Berserker?"

The boy in question blinked, caught off guard by the question. "I… nothing. I saw nothing."

"Nothing?" Asked Rider, surprised.

"Both of them were… protected, in some way. I couldn't discern anything about them. They were Servants, of that I'm sure, but I couldn't see anything more."

Rider stroked his chin. "Hmph. I didn't expect that from Caster. I can see Berserker having a Skill of that sort, especially if his legend is about the shame he felt from his madness… but Caster? It's probably some kind of spell he wove around himself. Advanced, to fool the eyes of a Master. And he seems to know a lot of things too… intriguing." He then slammed his hand down on the chariot. "Well, it doesn't matter. I'm the King of Conquerors! Nobody will defeat me in a war!" He grabbed the reins of his oxen and sent the last smile to Saber. "To our next encounter, Servant of the Sword." And with a sharp snap, the chariot took air and disappeared in the night.

Finally, Irisviel reached for her. "We better move too. Kiritsugu will want to discuss a change of strategy."

Artoria nodded. She wasn't sure she liked Caster -he remembered her too much of a certain magus- but he undoubtedly had given them a lot of information. They needed to plan for this.

-X-

Not far away from the combat zone, a boy with black hair and blue eyes retreated, joined by his two companions.

"Well, at least we know what caused that Singularity." He commented. "That clearly was not the Caster that should have appeared."

"True." Nodded a tall man in a suit. "I'm not sure it's a good thing."

"Uh… Lord El-Melloy? Didn't the previous Caster kidnap children to summon demons?" Asked a girl with pale hair and a gigantic shield on hand.

"Yes, he did." Replied the man in question, his long black hair shifting when he reached for a cigar in his pocket. "But at least, that Caster was predictable. I have no idea what this one could do."

"Can he be worse than Gilles? Sure, Ryuunosuke is a serial killer, but this Caster doesn't seem the type to randomly kill innocent people."

"Ryuunosuke is not the Master." Revealed Lord El-Melloy, to the surprise of his younger companions. "It was in the news. The Demon of Fuyuki was captured a couple of days ago. Clearly, someone managed to stop him and took his place in the War… but that doesn't necessarily mean the Master is a better person. Just less psychotic."

"Still a net improvement." Muttered the boy.

"You really cannot figure out who that Servant was, Lord El-Melloy?" Asked the girl, pointedly. "He did show quite a lot in his brief appearance… maybe we can try to narrow down the suspects? What do you say, Senpai?"

"Well, trying wouldn't hurt." Admitted the boy. His face scrounged in concentration. "Caster? Any idea?"

Silence.

"Caster?"

"What's happening?" Asked El-Melloi, confused.

"He's not answering." Replied the boy, as confused as the older man.

"Uh? But I thought that Caster-Senpai was over the time he refused to answer. Did something happen?"

"I don't know." Replied the boy, starting to look agitated. "Caster? Caster? Are you there?"

Nothing happened for a second… then the boy's gaze went thousands of miles away as a pale light shone through his eyes. It lasted a fraction of a second, then he blinked and his eyes focused again.

"So he answered." Murmured Lord El-Melloi. "What did he say?"

"He said 'You're on your own, kid.' Just that."

That caused several confused glances to be shot between the trio. "That's… unusual." Commented the older one. "Something must have happened. Maybe he foresaw something and decided that his interference would make things worse."

"Maybe." Nodded the boy, even if he didn't look convinced.

"Well, we can worry about Caster-Senpai later." Piped up the girl, clearly trying to bring the discussion somewhere else. "What about the Caster here?"

"We don't have a lot of information." Said Lord El-Melloi, lighting his cigar. "We know he's not from Japan, the Grail War doesn't summon them. He's not a modern servant either, his clothes are too archaic… from North Europe, most likely. It's quite a classic look, all things considered, bone mask aside."

"He had crow's feathers. Does that help?" Asked the boy.

"Not really." Frowned the man. "Crows are normally associated with witches, but this cannot be the case for our mysterious Caster. Aside from that, there are some ancient deities that were associated with crows. The first that comes to mind from what we assume is his area of origin, is the Morrigan. He could be a druid, but very little of them survive… not enough to manifest a Servant… aside Caster Cu, but that's an exception. The only other one that comes to mind is…" He paused, eyes widening in realization. "… Odin."

The younger members of the group exchanged a glance. "You think it's Odin? That he could have taken possession of a Saint Graph?"

"Hmm. Improbable." Replied El-Melloi. "Odin is subtle, but not a trickster. He would also have no reason to cover his face… unless his face had a clear clue on his identity."

"Like a missing eye." Nodded the girl.

"Or scars disfiguring his mouth." Replied the man, looking away and taking a deep breath with his cigar on his lips.

There was a second of confusion… then the boy eyes' widened. "You're thinking…"

"It would fit him." Nodded the man. "But as I said before, we don't have enough information. This could be an attempt at misdirection. He seemed to have a penchant for trickery. I wouldn't exclude it."

"Right." Sighed the boy in relief. "So.. what's our next move. Are we going to see Lord El-Melloi I?"

The man nodded. "Yes… there is no reason not to. We know that our last strategy worked… it will work now."

The group nodded and walked away, probably to meet with this Lord El-Melloi I.

And from the shadow, a crow flew away. His wings didn't make a sound.

-X-

Not far from the dock that had just seen Servants fight each other, however briefly, a man with a hood was walking away. Unfortunately, Tokiomi had called his Servant back, so he couldn't kill it… but no matter. He would have other occasions to deal with him

Then, completely out of the blue, a shadow detached from the others and materialized into a man wearing a dark leather suit, the only trace of color -or at least of a different color-, a mask of bone covering his face.

Immediately, Kiryia Matou called Berserker to his side, the black knight materializing at his side instantly.

"There is no need for that." Came the voice of the… Assassin? No, the mask didn't look like a skull. It was more like the mask of…

"What do you want?" Asked Kiryia. Assassin or Caster, he didn't really matter to him. "Are you here to kill me?"

The man chuckled. "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have materialized in front of you. No, I'm here to talk. My Master has a… proposal."

-X-

And now, for everyone that's not familiar with Italian, here we have a traduction/explanation of what the MC said.

* 'Si' is the Italian 'Yes'. So Sssssssiiiiii is, well, Yeeeeeeesssss. Or something like that.

** 'Si cazzo' is a pretty common -if somewhat coarse- exclamation. The direct translation doesn't have much sense in English, but you can think about it as 'Fuck yeah".

And everything else can be pretty much translated without problems with Google Translate… in fact, let me see if it does a good job.

'Finalmente posso tornare a parlare italiano! Hai idea di quanto tempo non lo parlo? Temevo di dimenticarlo!' - 'I can finally speak Italian again! Do you have any idea how long I don't speak it? I was afraid of forgetting him!' Pretty good, even if I don't understand the final him. Should be it, since we're talking about a language, not a person.

'Beh, se desiderate parlare questa lingua, per me va bene.' - 'Well, if you want to speak this language, that's fine by me.' 'Desiderate' can be translated with 'want', but the true meaning is 'wish' on this occasion. It's a more archaic form used when someone wants to be formal.

'Grazie, non hai idea di come questo mi renda felice. Ah, ho voglia di andare in giro cantando l'inno nazionale…' - 'Thanks, you have no idea how this makes me happy. Ah, I want to go around singing the national anthem…' On spot.

'Ma non c'è tempo per questo. Abbiamo una guerra da vincere… o quantomeno da manovrare per i miei scopi. E nonostante abbiamo un paio di giorni per organizzarci, siamo in inferiorità numerica e molti dei nostri avversari sono resistenti alla magia. Dobbiamo essere veloci.' - 'But there is no time for that. We have a war to win… or at least to maneuver for my purposes. And while we have a couple of days to organize, we are outnumbered and many of our opponents are resistant to magic. We have to be fast.' Google Translate is getting better. There was a time you couldn't trust half of what it said.

'Quindi qual è la nostra prima mossa?"Beh, un'idea ce l'ho…' - 'So what's our first move?"Well, I have an idea…' Perfect.

Well, seems like you can trust Google Translate to get at least the general gist of the sentence. Some things are untranslatable, but a normal phrase shouldn't give you problems.

Fate/Dragonborn 1.2

I felt tears swell up in my eyes, but I forced them down. It was not the moment for that.

"Isn't that a little too much, Master? It's just a hamburger."

I sent a glare toward Da Vinci. "'Just a hamburger?' Do you have any idea what I have eaten in the past year?"

"I wouldn't know. You're not telling me." She smiled, showing that she was just teasing me.

"Well, you are the famous genius of the Renaissance. You should be able to figure it out even without my help." I shot back. "Anyway, I didn't have the opportunity to eat a hamburger -or fried chips, for that matter- for a year and something. I need this." And before she could say anything more, I gave a bite to the maxi-sized hamburger I had in my hand. It was already a miracle to find something like this in Japan at this time, I was not going to let a cheeky Servant stop me.

"You know, considering your nationality, I would have supposed you would have gone for a pizza." She admitted, looking at me with curiosity.

I snorted and gulped down the bite I had taken. "Clearly you're far behind in culinary knowledge, my dear. Pizza, as well as pasta, is a traditional Italian recipe. Other people can make it, of course, but it's not the same thing, unless the chef wants to make exactly as an Italian would, and using the right ingredients, which are not as banal as they may seem." I took another bite. "And besides that, I don't think I'll find a decent Italian chef in Japan in the early Nineties. I'm surprised I found this."

"You really speak like a Servant." Commented Da Vinci. "Like a man out of time. Early Nineties… something of the past, not of the present. Am I right?"

I sent her a look, then smirked. "Seems like you are a genius, after all."

"Well, that was easy. Now the question is… where did you come from? The future, of course, but our future? Or another future? Or even some other place? You're Italian, so you cannot come from a timeline that's too different, but that still leaves a lot of room for possibilities."

"Well, that's for you to discover." I replied, quietly finishing the hamburger while she thought about it.

"Then I'll not bother you further. What is our next move? I'll admit, I'm glad we didn't have to fight any other Servant, but remaining in the sewers for two days was not exactly enjoyable. I understand it was necessary to prepare for what's to come, but I would like to know more about your plan."

"You could have asked me while we were coming here." I pointed out.

"You seemed to be in a hurry, so I thought it was better to wait. If I had known it was for a hamburger I would have."

"Fair." I shrugged. "Well, to put it simply, we're going to completely derail this War. But before that, we need to reach the temple at the top of the mountain. There, we can proceed."

Da Vinci looked at the temple in question, vaguely visible. "It's pretty far away. It's wise to go there in the middle of the day? Someone could see us."

"Improbable. The… clandestine nature of the Grail War includes the necessity for all fights to be conducted as quietly as possible. As such, most fights happen at night… and so Masters and Servants just rest during the day. Besides, nobody noticed that 'Caster' was not a Servant, so they'll not recognize you as one either. For everyone else, we're just an Italian couple on vacation. But I can put an illusion on us to make us look less out of place."

"No, I don't think that's necessary. You cannot be recognized as a magus if you don't use magecraft, so it's better if you avoid using your magic while we're here." Da Vinci looked at the metal bracelet on her wrist. "And I'm unrecognizable since our little trick worked perfectly." She said, not looking surprised.

"You don't look surprised." I stated the obvious.

"Of course not. I'm the greatest genius in the history of humanity, and you… are not that bad either. What I doubted was your performance."

"That's a reasonable thing to doubt, but I can be very convincing… it's just that most of the time I don't want to."

Da Vinci chuckled. "Yes, I can see that." She sent a glance to the plate on my side of the table… already empty. "Famished?"

"Did you see me eat in the sewers?"

Da Vinci blinked. "Now that you mention it, I did not."

"Yeah, I can last longer than most humans without food and water, but I'm not a Servant. So I was, as you put it, famished." I finished my sentence by cleaning my lips with a paper napkin and standing up. "Well, I'm done for now. Shall we?" I asked, offering her my arm.

"It would be my pleasure, Master." She said, graciously accepting it. "So, are you going to tell me more of your plan now that the preparations are done?"

"Sure. Sorry if I was tight-mouthed before. I wanted to focus… and I have the habit of telling my plans just at the absolute last moment."

"Very good. Since it seems like the meeting with the other Servants went well, what about that alliance you mentioned, with Berserker's Master? Did that work out?"

"Well…"

-X-

"What proposal could your Master have for me?" Asked Kariya.

"You are a strange man, you know that?" Asked the masked Servant. "My Master has divined your reason to join the Grail War. A child… a girl. Your daughter, maybe?"

Kariya froze. "How do you know about Sakura?"

"As I said, my Master divined your reason to join the way. Very messy system, not very accurate, but enough to guess. A young girl, trapped into a basement filled with monstrous bugs. Seems like someone kidnapped her for their experiments, hmm?"

Kiryia ground his teeth, rage filling him. "No, it's worse than that. Her own father sold her to a monster. For being trained, he says… but he doesn't understand what she's subjected to. I have to save her!"

"And telling her father about her situation is not an option because…?"

"Because he doesn't care about her! I told you, she was sold to a monster! Just because she could be trained as a magus, to die in a future Grail War against her own sister… it's madness! You cannot reason with a magus! They're all crazy, power-hungry bastards!"

Berserker started to twitch erratically, as the will that was keeping him from attacking was lost to rage. The other Servant sent the mad knight a glance before returning to him.

"Then why are you not saving her?" He asked.

Kiriya blinked, surprised. "What? I… I am saving her. He promised that once I win the Grail War, he will free her!"

"Really? The same monster that's torturing her with hellish bugs? Why should he keep his promise?"

"Because… because…" Stammered the man, not knowing what to say. Some inner part of his mind knew that his father had no reason to keep his promise, but he didn't want to acknowledge that. Because if that was the case, all he had gone through…

Suddenly, Kariya's knees gave out for a second, and he faltered, coughing as pain wracked him. He caught himself after a moment, but it was still enough for Caster -or someone dressed like him- to take notice.

"You're dying." Commented the Servant, his tone neutral.

"Yes." Replied the man. "I don't have enough power to sustain Berserker… it's taking his toll." He stood. "No matter. I'll save Sakura at any cost."

"Maybe we can help." Said Caster, attracting the attention of Kariya.

"You? Help? Why?"

"Ah, you see, my Master is in a similar circumstance of your own. He was dragged into his War without any real choice, and now his best bet is to win the War and have his wish granted. So, he's sympathetic to your cause."

"Your point?"

"You seem to be under the assumption that Sakura cannot be saved unless you win the Grail War." Commented the Servant. "But I have to say, that's not the case. You could, in theory, take Berserker with you, go to the basement, and take her out. You're not doing this for reasons I cannot discern, but I suppose that they're solid, probably something on the like that the monster that's keeping her there is going to find her easily and then kill you… or her, depending on how sadistic he is. Or maybe you just lack the skill to overcome his defenses without alerting him, it's also a possibility. However, there is another solution."

Kariya looked at Caster for several seconds, his mind going wild. "You're… proposing that you go and save Sakura? Why would you do that?"

"To eliminate competition, of course." Replied Caster. "If Sakura is safe, you don't have any reason to participate, I'm right?"

"But… but then Tokiomi will not be punished for what he has done…"

"The father of the girl, I assume? Well, think about it. What will be worse for him? Getting hurt or killed during the War… or losing his daughter and knowing she's never going to become a magus?"

Kariya paused, thinking.

"Unfortunately, often we can't have our cake and eat it too." Caster said. "We can help save Sakura. But you'll have to leave as soon as she's safe, so that whoever is keeping her prisoner cannot reach her. This means you will not have the occasion to deal with this Tokiomi… but if want, we can deal with him in your stead."

That seemed to snap the attention of Kariya. "You would?"

"Of course. You'll just need to give us something in return. Something you will not need while you escape. What do you say?"

Kariya battled with himself for a second… then made his decision.

-X-

"Honestly, I feel a little ashamed to have played with that man's mind to that extent. The bugs that are the source of his family magecraft are eating him from the inside now that Berserker is active. He's not lucid."

"But you were not lying to him, were you?" Asked Da Vinci as they approached the temple.

"Well, for the most part, no. I'm just going to ignore Tokiomi if possible. The man is not half as smart as he thinks he is and has a severely distorted view of what's good for his daughter, but I cannot say it's completely his fault. He was raised like that. So I'm not going to kill him or hurt him more than necessary. Making him lose the War is going to be enough."

"How merciful." Smirked the woman… man in woman body… I'm not exactly sure how deep the changes that Da Vinci had made were. "So, why are we here exactly?"

"Because this is the place where all the leylines of the city converge." I replied. As expected of Da Vinci, she understood immediately.

"And so this is the place where the Greater Grail is situated." She said. "You want to bunker down in this temple to negate the access to everyone else, right?"

"Right. I also need to study the Greater Grail… but I'll leave the details for later. Suffice to say, we need to understand the ritual enough to be able to activate it before time."

"You don't want anything from the Grail, do you? You need it for something else… the energy accumulated inside it is my guess."

"Bullseye. Unfortunately, with the Servants currently in play, the magical energy inside it is going to be low…"

"But as soon as the Servants are eliminated, it will return there. Of course." She sent me a look. "Why don't you want to use the wish?"

"Well, first off, I would need to kill you to obtain the full power of the Grail, and while I could use my Command Seals to order you to suicide, I will prefer not to." I replied with brutal honesty. "Second, I don't need the wish when I have a ritual ready to do that by myself and only need the fuel. And third, the Grail is corrupted anyway, so any wish you make is going to be a monkey paw."

Da Vinci blinked repeatedly. "The Grail is corrupted?"

"Yeah. From what I gathered, one of the families behind the Grail Wars cheated and summoned an Avenger in the previous War, and when the Avenger was killed, somehow he managed to fuse with the Grail and he remains there to date. I'm sure you can understand why having your wish fulfilled by an Avenger would be a bad idea."

Da Vinci frowned. "Yes, I understand that. But how do you know?"

"I'll tell you while we're working on the Grail. We need to be fast too. There is an… interference."

"Oh?" Made Da Vinci, pushing me to continue.

"There are three unexpected guests in this War. A Master and two Servants. I didn't expect them to be here, but they are, so we have to be fast. They're surely going to interfere with the plan if they can."

"You know them?"

"Not personally, but I've heard of them. They're a sort of… timeline police. They appear when something goes wrong with the Panhuman History and correct that timeline."

"And you're not the Master that should have appeared, hmmm?" Smiled Da Vinci. "I can start to see a pattern. You know a lot about different things, and even of this 'timeline police', so you either were part of this organization… or you come from a completely different universe, and all of your knowledge was gathered by pure accident."

I blinked at that. "That's a wild theory."

"But it's correct, or you wouldn't make that face."

I chuckled. "Maybe it is. Surely I'm not telling you."

"Spoilsport." She replied, as we traversed the gate that, in the future in one possible timeline, was guarded by the Regend. "Shall we start?"

"Yeah, let's do this."

-X-

Ritsuka Fujimaru, the last Master of Chaldea, was waiting in the room they had rented for… something. He is not really sure what. He had a gut feeling that something was going to happen, and that made him nervous.

"I'm not entirely sure what we must do to correct this Pseudo-Singularity." Admitted Lord El-Melloi -their Lord El-Melloi, not the one that was staying in the hotel room a couple of blocks away- sitting on the sofa a couple of steps away from him. "Clearly the deviation is caused by Caster and his Master, but they're complete unknowns. I cannot predict their moves with precision. But the cause of the Singularity is clearly the Grail here in Fuyuki. Our only way to deal with it could be to ignore the Caster and focus on the Grail, but we need to convince the other Servants to renounce their wish… it could not be possible without showing the corrupted Grail."

Ritsuka remained silent for a second, trying to tap into all the experience Caster had granted him. For some reason, he felt a distinct dislike for Lord El-Melloi's suggestion. Something told him it was a bad idea.

"But if we eliminate Caster, wouldn't the War return to her normal rails, making it easier to predict?" He asked, trying to poke Lord El-Melloi's idea.

The older man frowned. "Yes, it would. But without information on Caster, we cannot act."

"But surely we can do something." Intervened Mash, bringing a trail with three cups of tea. "We cannot just remain here waiting for Caster to make his move."

"We don't know a lot about him." Said Fujimaru, taking a cup with a nod toward the girl, who smiled. "But we know things he's not. Maybe we can make an educated guess based on those?"

Lord El-Melloi frowned again before snorting and sending him a glare. "Caster is a terrible influence on you. You remind me even more of my younger days."

Fujimaru smiled, knowing that it would make Lord-El Melloi even more upset. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Bah!" Replied the magus. "Alright, let's focus on what Caster -present Caster- is not. Let's start with the most obvious: he's not an idiot."

"You mean he seems to be an actually competent magus?" Asked Mash, unsure.

"Yes." Nodded El-Melloi, taking a breath through his cigar. "A powerful magus, to boot. It's difficult to say if he was powered up by his Servant status or if he was even better in life, but contrary to Gilles, he doesn't need a book to use magecraft."

"He also showed at least a couple of Skills, even involuntarily." Commented Fujimaru, taking a sip. "Illusion, for one, and probably High-Speed Incantation. Both at least B."

"A conservative estimation, but probably correct." Nodded the older magus. "He's also very different from Gilles in temperament: he didn't hesitate to show himself against several Servants with high Magic Resistance, which means that he's either very arrogant, very sure of himself, or he was not really him to begin with."

"You think he was using Illusion to fake being there?" Asked Mash.

"Sounds plausible. It would explain how he could disappear so suddenly. Unless he also has Presence Concealment…"

"But if he was using Illusion, he would have been near the area." Noted Mash. "Illusion doesn't have infinite range and he needs to see where all the participants are to fool them. Besides, Gilgamesh was there, and… well, I think he would have seen through an illusion."

"Unless he didn't feel like telling the presents… but no, Gilgamesh would never pass on the opportunity to lord his superiority. It's more plausible that there was no illusion in place. He was really there." The Lord sighed. "So, we return to arrogance or being very sure of himself… plus some ability to just disappear on command. And let's throw silver tongue in the mix, since we are already there."

"His Master has to be quite formidable." Casually said Fujimaru. "Casters are notoriously unruly, and knowing magic more than most modern magi, they can easily subvert the rules of the War… and it sounds like this Caster knows what he's doing." He took another sip.

"True. The Master, unfortunately, it's an even bigger blank than Caster. Without even seeing him, it's impossible to profile him. We can assume he's a standard magus, but we have no way to prove that. More than half of the participants are not regular magi anyway. Let's focus on Caster." He took another breath and then put down the cigar to take a cup. "He's a competent, intelligent Servant with powerful magecraft at his command, plus probably Illusion or some Skill that helps him elude a Servant's senses. He's either arrogant or he's sure to be able to escape a confrontation with several other Servants, but not so much that he decided to challenge one. He also has a preference for sudden, unpredictable attacks." He tsked. "It's like a magus assassin. Bad combination… for us."

"So, assuming that everything we have just said it's true, what would someone like that do during a war?" Asked Mash.

"Well, he'll probably keep himself out of any true conflict with other Servants." Guessed El-Melloi. "He'll probably find a nice place to set up his laboratory and start to prepare. He'll get out only if he senses an opportunity… and considering that he seems to possess Clairvoyance or at least magecraft able to divine the future in some capacity, probably at the worst moment for the attacked."

"So we must find him where he is and attack him there." Summarized Ritsuka. "Attacking a Caster in his sancta sanctorum is not a very good idea, but it's not like we can do anything else. We cannot predict where he will go."

"True. Even assuming that he'll appear in every clash between Servants, even just to tilt the scale in one direction, we risk getting caught in the crossfire. Besides, if he's as smart as we think he is, and he has shown a certain attitude toward trickery, he could decide to go against the Masters. He has enough firepower to deal with one."

"That's a pretty accurate analysis."

"Thank-!" Lord El-Melloi spat his drink everywhere as a voice that was not one of his younger companions appeared out of nowhere. He spun toward the voice while standing up… and found Caster looking at them through the mask. From this distance, he could see he had both eyes.

"How did you get here?" Asked Mash, instantly taking up her shield and wearing her combat suit. "We put a bounded field around the room!"

"What, that barrier at the door?" Asked Caster in a casual tone. "Good work for what I assume was a hastily done alarm. At least I hope it was hastily done, because if not, you have to apply more."

"Answer the question!" Shouted Mash as everyone else armed up. Everyone but Caster.

"Oh, that was easy. You see, that barrier was meant to warn if someone was trying to enter… but it's not able to tell you if something inside the room is being changed."

Changed? What…?

"Uh, guys?" Said Fujimaru, looking at the floor. "Where are the shadows of the furniture?"

A quick glance confirmed that the Master of Chaldea had not seen wrong. Most of the furniture near Caster didn't have a shadow anymore. That only meant one thing.

"It's a projection." Deduced Lord El-Melloi. "Created from the shadows of the room. I've never heard of a magecraft like that."

"And you never will." Smirked Caster, his tone clear even through the mask. "So, now that I answered your question… why don't we have a chat?"

Fate/Dragonborn 1.3

"What do you want to talk about?" Asked Ritsuka, eyeing the Servant warily. He normally wouldn't worry too much about fighting a Caster, Mash was extremely tough and she had Magic Resistance to boot, and Lord El-Melloi had some powerful magecraft… but this Caster in particular was bad news.

He was unpredictable and most of his abilities were unknown. He was able to fool a Master's sight, which was not exactly an easy feat to do, considering that it had taken one of Lancelot's Noble Phantasm to have that effect. As such, they had no idea what his Skills and Parameters were like. Sure, more often than not they didn't really describe the strength of a Servant well, but they at least gave some idea on what he could do. For what they knew, this Caster could have the A+ in everything and fighting it was going to get their asses whooped. Sure, most Casters didn't have remotely that much power, but there were exceptions, and this Caster looked like it could be one.

Besides, there was no reason to fight if he didn't start it. Not until they had a better idea on how to fight him.

"I was hoping to convince you that there is no need for you to do anything." Replied Caster in an amiable tone. "Let the War go without interference."

They all frowned. "That's out of the question." Replied Lord El-Melloi.

"Then some non-interference pact? You do your thing and I do mine, and we try to not cross paths if possible?"

"Unfortunately, that's also impossible." Denied Fujimaru. "You're the reason we are here."

Caster sighed. "Yes, I suspected that. Let me guess… you come from the future and I'm not the normal timeline's event?"

All of the Chaldea team blinked, their mouths hanging down.

"Oh, look at that, I guessed right. And here I thought that the young man with Rider was a clone or something."

Lord El-Melloi's mouth snapped close. "What do you mean?"

Caster's eyes glowed blue for a second. "You two have the same aura. Far too similar, even for a parent or a sibling. So he was either a clone, or one of you comes from another time. I have to say that whatever you use to travel through time is quite the marvel. I have a pretty big connection to time, and I cannot time travel at all."

That was… a lot of information in a single sentence. And also a lot to worry about. So he remained silent, trying to come out with something to say.

Lord El-Melloi managed to anticipate him. He ground his teeth for a second, then his eyes turned hard. "You're lying."

"Oh?" Asked Caster, tilting his head.

"You cannot see the aura of a person. You made that up on the spot."

There was a second of silence… then Caster chuckled. "Maybe I did. Maybe it's just a made-up story I invented. But isn't it better for you if that's the case? Because if I didn't find out by looking at the young Waver's aura… how did I know?"

That sent Lord El-Melloi into a furious thinking session. Fujimaru could almost see the cogs inside his head whirl furiously, trying to come up with an explanation that wasn't going to shatter his expectation of Caster.

"How do you know Waver's name?" Asked Mash, going straight to the point. "Rider didn't reveal his name during his… presentation."

Caster shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I spy on everyone at the same time using magic. Or maybe I just know a lot of things because I come from the future. Do you know of someone like that? Tall, brown skin, white hair, always grumpy, can materialize swords?"

Oooookay… now that was starting to freak him out. How did he know about Emiya?

"Mind reading." Muttered Lord El-Melloi. "That's how he knows. He probes our minds with questions until he can read the answer straight from us."

"Good guess." Nodded Caster. "It's also completely wrong, but if it makes you feel better, continue to think that's what I do."

"You're messing with us." Finally said Ritsuka, accusingly. "Do you find it funny?"

Caster actually laughed at that. "What can I say? I must make it with what I got."

"Asshole." Muttered the Master of Chaldea, but there was no real bite behind those words. For some reason, he found Caster to be strangely entertaining. If it wasn't for the fact that they were his targets, he would have laughed at the way he was messing with them.

"I aim to annoy." Replied the asshole in question, bowing theatrically. "But, as fun as this has been, I feel like I've overstayed my welcome. If there is really no way I can convince you to leave me alone…"

"No chance." Coldly replied Lord El-Melloi. Ritsuka did feel a little bad though. Caster was trying very, very hard to find a peaceful solution to this. It was a shame there was no way to close this Singularity while he was there.

… Or was it? They did manage the last time they were in a similar situation…

"… Then it's better I go away. I have people to annoy, things to do…" Ritsuka blinked, that phrase moving something inside its memory. "Goodbye!"

And with that, Caster melted in a puddle of shadows that quickly returned to their previous place.

"That was… informative and disturbing at the same time." Commented Lord El-Melloi.

"He… doesn't seem like a bad person, does he?" Asked Mash, her shield still up.

"He's annoying, but he doesn't seem malicious." Replied the older magus. "Doesn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe I'm paranoid, but since I cannot read him, I will not exclude his 'funny'…" And he sent a glare to Fujimaru at that. "… demeanor is just a way to make people underestimate him.

"So we're going to search for him?" Asked Ritsuka.

"Yes… but before we need to prepare. I'm not confident in our ability to fight him as we are now."

The younger members of the expedition nodded. They didn't either.

-X-

On a ceiling not far away from the position of the group of Chaldea, Caster found out he had an unexpected guest.

"So you have come." Said the man, raising up and removing his hand from the concrete under him. "Salty that I revealed your little trick?"

Several shadows emerged from the darkness. They were a varied bunch. Some were slim and gaunt, some were big and muscled. Some had hairs and some did not. Some had cloaks to cover their upper bodies, and some didn't.

What every one of them did have was a skull mask and black skin.

Five of them in total, armed with a variety of daggers or just their bare fists, surrounding him from all sides.

"How did you find us?" Asked one of them.

"Your Presence Concealment protects you against mundane and magical detection, and Servant's senses… but it cannot completely hide you. Especially if one prepares to sense the secondary traces of your passage."

The Hassans didn't reply. They just grabbed their weapons and lowered their stance, ready to attack.

"You're sure it's smart to attack me without getting more information?" Caster asked. "You cannot know what I'm capable of."

"You're a Caster." Hissed one of the Hassans. "Your Class is not suited for combat. We'll deal wit-"

He didn't manage to finish the phrase because Caster outright materialized in front of him and punched him in the face. The skull mask cracked, then the force made him fly, first slamming him on the wall of a nearby building, then through the wall, before he disappeared in the darkness.

"My Class is not suited for combat?" Asked the Servant, raising his hand and materializing a staff made of some bony material, before grabbing it. "Who decided that?"

The rest of the Hassan moved. They were fast, and since the four remaining had varied skills, they all attacked using different styles.

The staff of Caster started to spin, deflecting several daggers. One of the Hassan tried to stab him from behind, while another, probably more skilled with swordsmanship than the others, opted from a frontal attack, wielding what looked like the remains of a longsword, now just a broken piece of metal that could barely count as a short sword.

Caste vanished, transforming into a mass of shadows that flew upwards… where he was intercepted by the knife-throwing Assassin. The cloaked figure lunged, his knife flashing with the intention to slash Caster's throat open… but Caster spun in mid-air, propelled by some invisible force, and his staff whirled.

The second Hassan took it on the back of his neck with a meaty thwack and followed his colleague in the darkness. His travel was shorter, so he just fell in the space between the buildings instead of smashing into one, but the effect was more or less the same.

Then, Caster suddenly accelerated downwards, smashing into the faces of the two Hassans that had just tried to stab him with enough force to crack the concrete under them.

"You'll deal with me?" He asked, quickly removing himself from the prone, but not defeated, Assassins. He jumped back, letting one of the meaty fists of the last Assassin to punch the air where his head was a second before, and took a solid stance to anchor him to the ground as the bigger Hassan jumped on him with a downward slam with both arms, trying to splatter him.

The attack was met with a magical barrier that blocked the attack completely. No, not blocked… redirected and amplified.

"Who decided that?"

A shockwave erupted from the Caster, sending the Assassins flying. Not with the same force as their compatriots, since the impact was dispersed, but still enough to take his breath away. As they stood and the two that had been thrown away rejoined the fight, they found Caster facing them, his staff held over the ceiling with his right hand and the left open, just under the other, and focusing power.

"The only one that decides that, is me." He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were brimming with lightning and the sky rumbled. "Die."

"Retr-" Shouted one of the Hassan, just as the staff hit the ground, and the world became light and thunder.

-X-

"The situation risks slipping through our hands." Said Tokiomi, on call with Risei Kotomine. "Caster threw our plan in disarray with naught but a phrase. Not only did he unmask Assassin, he also sowed the seed of doubt in the other Servants."

"Truly, truly." Admitted the priest. "But it's not all lost. The Servants saw a shadow… there is a way to handle this, I'm sure."

Tokiomi frowned. By implying that Assassin and Archer were both trying to trick the others, he also implied that they were associated.

Of course, he could just deny it. But the damage was already done. Nobody would believe him.

"Caster needs to be eliminated." Said Tokiomi. "He knows -or he managed to find out- too much. I could send Archer, but… the King is already irritated that I asked him to get away from the fight with Berserker. Forcing him to do anything could have… repercussions."

Command Seals were powerful pieces of magecraft, able to force a Servant to obey their Masters… but they were also limited and could be resisted if with enough willpower and Magic Resistance. Gilgamesh, in his Archer incarnation, had both of them and also Independent Action, which let him act without the mana from his Master, even if it was only for a limited time. For now, the arrogant Servant could be reasoned with, but if Tokiomi forced the matter, the situation could change very rapidly.

"The best-case scenario would be for Caster to do something that requires me to declare a hunt on him." Mused Risei. "Something either vile, or that could risk the entire Grail War. At that point, it would be easy to cast a shadow on his words as the clever manipulation of a trickster."

"It would be convenient for us." Admitted Tokiomi. "But the Grail cannot summon villains. Only heroes."

"Heroes were defined differently in their times." Replied the priest. "A hero for their people could be seen as a ruthless warrior by others. Caster need not be evil for him to do something that will give us an excuse to hunt him down."

As he said that, a bright light erupted from somewhere in the city, and a vibration made all the glass in the house tremble.

"What was that!?" Exclaimed Tikiomi, standing up. "An explosion?"

"Of sort." Said a new voice.

"Kiriei?" Father Kotomine asked. "Do you know something about this?"

"Since the presence of Assassin has been… compromised, I thought it would not matter much if I sent some bodies to track down Caster." Replied the young priest. "I hoped to get more information on him… unfortunately, he managed to detect them."

"And there was a fight." Commented Risei.

"It was my fault. I didn't give them precise instructions to not engage. Apparently, they took that as an implicit permission to engage if they thought they could win."

"And they could?" Asked Tokiomi. Sure, Caster being eliminated by Assassin was not ideal, but he could live with that.

"They had to disengage." Replied Kiriei, destroying his hopes. "I suppose that flash of light and the vibration was Caster's attack. Quite powerful if we could feel it from here."

"Indeed…" Commented Risei, his tone thoughtful. "This may not be enough to declare a hunt on Caster, but if this does not remain an isolated incident, then it could become reason enough. Let's wait and see, Tokiomi. Maybe Caster will give us the opportunity we need."

He really hoped so.

-X-

The dust caused by the attack was blown away by a gust of wind, and Caster could see the destruction caused by his attack.

The building was demolished. Or, at least, the top two floors were. The attack had crumpled them, leaving behind just ruins. Caster, floating in mid-air, assessed the damage and how it could be covered. It was an office building, so there was no one inside, but that also meant that there was probably no convenient excuse like a gas leak. Maybe a meteor? Well, that could work as cover.

Not that he really wanted to cover up the damage. It was not his job. Sure, he could have used a little less power… but Servants, even 'weak' ones like Casters and Assassins, were supernaturally tough. He had elected to put more oomph on his attack… and considering that the Hassans had preferred to leave instead of taking the full brunt of it, he supposed it was enough to deal with them.

Of course, he had no idea if the Hassans had all the physical power of the original Heroic Spirit or if the division had weakened them. Both were possible, but the implication for the two possibilities was not the same.

A piece of cement, that had stubbornly clung on until then, fell loudly on the rest of the rubble. Fortunately, the attack had hit the center of the building and so the wall had folded toward it instead of being blasted on the streets. Point for him.

Then he raised his gaze and noticed that a lot of windows in the general area had exploded because of the shockwave of the impact. Point against, he supposed.

"Aaalright… I'll use something more focused next time. At least I can cancel that from the list of quotes I need to say." He muttered, probably to himself, before looking away. "At least bypassing the Chaldeans defenses was easy… maybe it will be easy for the Matou too."

Of course, there was a slight difference between the two. The Chaldean had taken an apartment and had put some basic wards around, not really worried about people finding them since they were not part of the Grail War, so nobody was going to search for them. The Matou residence was the home of a multi-hundred years old magus that was neck deep into dark magic, so it was probably warded to the high heaven with all sorts of bullshit defenses and alarms.

Unfortunately, that was a project for another day. Right now, he needed to do something else… he needed to prepare for Phase 2.

Buuuut… maybe a fast recon was possible?

Turns out, it was possible. Incredible how many defenses could be ignored by something as simple as Become Ethereal. Zouken had protected his house from intrusions, even from ghosts or Servants, so it wasn't possible to enter if you were 'just' intangible. But since Become Ethereal was able to remove oneself from reality, it was a different matter entirely. So he just entered from the front door and gave a look around.

Of course, recon using Become Ethereal had its disadvantages. For one, interaction with the world was impossible. He maintained some of his senses, mostly hearing, sight and smell, but everything else was off-limits. That included interfering with the defenses in any way, or even just analyzing them thoroughly. But he could still sense them and increase his perception to better infer their functioning.

Unfortunately, the little encounter with the Assassins had put Zouken on alert, so he couldn't explore as he liked. Become Ethereal let him ignore most interaction with the world… but he was still visible. Barely. People could see through him but there was a slight distortion, like for most ghosts you saw at the cinema. That was partially resolved by his gear being enchanted to make him better at moving unseen, but he was not invisible.

So, having to cut the visit short, the man in black leather left the Matou mansion, almost invisible in the night, and quickly became effectively invisible by fusing with the darkness. The visit had been quick but instructive… he already had ideas on how to rescue Sakura.

But that would have come later. Right now, it was time to give all the participants to the War a little scare.

Last edited: Mar 13, 2022

Fate/Dragonborn 1.4

Nothing had quite prepared Artoria for what happened the day after her duel with Lancer.

Her Master had stubbornly refused to talk to her, limiting himself to a brief explanation on his own plan before excusing himself and leaving her with Irisveil. Which was totally alright for her, she quite liked Irisviel, but she would still have preferred if he gave her clear instructions.

That was the moment he felt him.

"A Servant is coming." She said, sensing it from quite afar. Once she had discovered that Assassin was still around, even if he didn't seem to have any intention to attack, she had kept her senses open for an eventual ambush. Normally she would have remained near Irisviel, who everyone thought was her Master, but the Servant had stopped right at the border with the forest and didn't seem to have any intention to come nearer. So, she elected to face him.

"I'll return immediately." She said, before de-materialize and flying toward the very stupid - or very arrogant- Servant that had decided to come to face her.

Of course, she had half an idea on who she had come all the way there… just to talk to, apparently.

And she was right. On the border of the forest, hidden from the windows by the shadows, was Caster.

"Hello, Saber." The masked Servant greeted.

"Caster." She said, rigidly.

"Oh, please, don't be so stiff. I didn't play a prank on you… yet."

She snorted. "But you will. And besides, Lancer and I had to interrupt our duel because of you."

"True, but it was better that way. Lancer's yellow spear leaves cursed wounds. Without your armor, you would have taken a hit that would have stopped you from using your Noble Phantasm."

Saber blinked, surprised. "And how do you know that?"

"You'd be surprised by the number of things I know." He said. "For example, I know that Lancer and his Master are on the way to this place, ready to take a little revenge on the Magus Killer… you know, he kind of blew up the hotel where they were just to kill them."

Saber narrowed her eyes. "Kiritsugu did what?"

"Oh, please, don't tell me you didn't know. The Magus Killer didn't gain his name by fighting fair. He's an assassin. He doesn't stop for anything to get what he wants… he blew up his own mentor, just to not take risks. You think he's above bombing a hotel to eliminate the competition?"

She didn't say anything.

"Ah, you didn't know. Well, now at least you know why he always ignores you. He knows your compatibility is terrible."

She narrowed her eyes even more. "You know too much."

Caster laughed. "Yeah, I do. Well, it was a good talk, but I have to go now. Goodbye!" He said, starting to turn and walk away.

In response, Saber raised her weapon. "You think you can just walk away?"

He half-turned, enough to send her a glance using only one eye, and smiled. Or she supposed he had smiled. That was the feeling she got, anyway.

"Of course not. We're still enemies. Buuut… you'll find that you have more to worry about than me."

As he said that, several points of light emerged from the darkness around them, as the shadows took life and form. The form of armed, armored corpses, mummified and with flesh of an unnatural lucid black. Their eyes, the points of light she had seen, shone light blue, and inside them, she could only see hatred for the living and unending rage.

"Please, play a little with my friends." Said Caster, quietly walking and disappearing into the shadows. "I'm sure they'll love you."

One of the shadows, wearing better armor and a horned helmet, pointed at her with his ax and said something in a guttural language she didn't understand.

Then she was swarmed.

-X-

"What are these things!?" Shouted Mash, her patience nearing a breaking point as she smashed the head of another of the strange shadow monsters. Before she could bash it again and kill the creature completely, another jumped at her from another side, its weapon aiming at her neck.

She blocked the attack, then swung her shield with all the strength she had. The heavy metal of the shield impacted against the torso of the undead creature and pushed it away, where it knelt down to, apparently, catch its breath, even if that wasn't that.

Then she was assaulted from another side and had to block another attack.

That was all she had done in the last minutes.

She, Senpai, and Lord El-Melloi had decided to take action and investigate where the mysterious Caster was hiding. As if he had anticipated that move, as soon as they tried to cut through a relatively uninhabited part of the city, they were assaulted by living shadows that had taken the shape of undead, Nordic warriors. They surrounded them as a trio of archers shot at them from the rooftops, and they were locked in a defensive position since then.

"Undead!" A voice shouted.

"I know that, Senpai!" Mash almost growled, as she had to deflect another hit. "I want to know how they're so strong! We haven't seen undead like these even in proper Singularities!"

"They're clearly enhanced in some way." Lord El-Melloi calmly explained. His relaxed tone helped reduce the frustration. "And coordinated by a higher intellect than the one they possess. Maybe the archers? They can use magic after all."

True. Senpai and Lord El-Melloi had tried to deal with the archers using magic, but aside from the fact that the undead seemed to be very resistant to damage in general, the archer did become invisible if one of them was hurt too much, and then reappear after a couple of seconds completely healed. That, unfortunately, was not an ability exclusive to the archers.

The reason they were not making much progress fighting the shadows was that every single one of them was able to regenerate -or was it repairing itself, since they were undead?- at an astonishingly fast rate. The one she had bashed in the head was already up -and down again, with a forceful application of blunt force-, and every time she tried to finish one off another arrived and interrupted her. They were covering for each other, not letting her take a break.

Of course, she was the one taking the brunt of the offensive. There were not that many shadows, maybe a dozen in total excluding the archers, and after they took refuge into an alley they had managed to limit the number of monsters that could jump on them at the same time… but that didn't make the entire experience less frustrating. If only she could get an opportunity… or if Senpai and Lord El-Melloi could spare a second to finish the one she put down, they could end this quickly. Unfortunately, between the archers and the shadows that had blocked their way, they were in a bad spot right now.

Then she caught a darker spot in the sky. "Behind me!"

Without even thinking, the two magi dove behind her… or behind her shield, to be more precise. Three separate thunks rang out in the night, and a second later, three arrows hit her shield. Mash grit her teeth as she felt a little part of her magical energy being siphoned away. Yet another thing that wasn't helping Mash's ability to stay calm.

"Alright, this isn't working." Said Senpai before emerging from behind her and hitting one of the archers with a bolt of fire as Lord El-Melloi covered him. "We need another strategy. Mash, the moment the archers disappear I want you to run toward the monsters behind you and hit them as hard as you can."

Mash hesitated, just for a second. The monsters were not Servants. But they were stupidly superhuman, even by the standard of a magus. So while she could easily defeat one, Senpai couldn't risk being hit by one of them, and she wouldn't bet on Lord El-Melloi having an easy time either. He was already struggling to keep a couple at bay while Senpai blasted the archers. Disengaging from the monster in front of her could get them both killed.

Then her trust in Senpai overwrote her concern. "We're disengaging, Senpai?"

"Yes. We need to find a better position. Right now we're locked in a battle of attrition… and they're winning." He emerged, again, repeatedly hitting one of the archers, and all three of them disappeared in a vortex of purple energy. "Now!"

As ordered, Mash turned and charged the undead warrior behind them, leaving Senpai in front of several others. She caught the glimpse of a magical barrier being erected, then she just focused all her attention in a wide, powerful swipe with her shield, catching several undead flat-footed and pushing them away.

"Run!" She shouted, and both Senpai and Lord El-Melloi dashed away from the advancing undead, avoiding the desperate grasps of the ones Mash had just pushed away, and in a second they were on another road, blessedly free from the walking dead.

And right in view of the three archers, now positioned on the roofs of the street and aiming from three different spots, taking maximum advantage of the space to make it more difficult to avoid all of them at the same time.

Without saying anything more, they continued to run, the shadows already giving chase.

This was going to be a long night.

-X-

"That arrogant mongrel." Muttered Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, as he saw a small army of elemental spirits march toward the Tosakha mansion. "If you want to put up a distraction, at least do it well."

A wave of his armored hand sent several weapons against the incoming army. Of course, such lowly spirits couldn't hope to be a match for his Noble Phantasm, and the creatures were annihilated.

"Hmph. Disappointing." Said Archer. His gaze now free from the invaders, he looked around, in search of a possible summoner… and it found it. Them, really. Five figures in robes, floating, hiding in the hills a couple of kilometers from the villa, and… raising their arms in front of a purple glowing ring?

"Ah. A double distraction then." He commented, before raising his hand to annihilate the summoners. Unfortunately, he was too late.

The magic circle glowed the last time and a skeleton started to emerge from the ground. A skeleton as big as one of the shacks that they called houses in this time, with a very recognizable, reptilian appearance. A dragon-kin of some kind, reanimated by vile magics.

"Uh. That's impressive, for someone like him."

The dragon-kin roared at the sky and took flight -despite his wings being bone and nothing more- before charging straight at the mansion. Behind him, the five masked figures followed, at a far slower pace, their hands already moving to cast some kind of spell.

Hmm… this could prove to be a little interesting, after all.

-X-

There was a mighty clash as Iskandar repelled another one of the shadowy monsters. Three had assaulted the house where he and his Master lived, coming through the windows, having the decency to avoid involving the old couple that was hosting them… for a certain definition of hosting, anyway.

"This is not looking good." Muttered the King of Conquerors, weaving through some bladework from his opponents. They were not Servants, but they were holding their own. Especially the one with a horned helmet, wielding a black sword that he was pretty sure was cursed in some way. That was proving to be particularly difficult to deal with. These three were trained warriors, not sneaky assassins, and the boss in particular was pretty good with his sword. They also fought like a pack of wolves, never letting him take a moment of rest between attacks.

Now, if only the boy could return…

"Rider!" The voice of the young man came. "I brought them away. Deal with them right now!"

Iskandar smiled. "Finally!" He said, before raising his sword and slashing at the air, not needing to hold back anymore.

The chariot that crashed through the room blasted the three assailants away… but they stood up pretty easily, not looking very hurt by the impact. And, before he could do anything, they opened their mouths and shouted. He couldn't make out the words, but he could understand why they did it.

The blast of force that trampled him and the chariot, demolishing the house behind him at the same time, was a pretty good giveaway.

"Rider!" Shouted the boy.

"I'm fine, kid. Just having some troublesome opponents." He replied. The chariot had protected him from the worst of the blast, but considering what had happened to the house, he wouldn't have been so lucky if caught without it. He needed to end this quickly.

"You're worthy opponents, but I don't have time for you!" He raised his sword high. "Prepare to feel the fury of the King of Conquerors!"

-X-

How much time had she fought against this horde?

Artoria Pendragon deflected another slash from the main boss's ax as two other undead approached her from different directions. Fortunately, a red spear forced one to retreat as she blocked the other.

Yes, at some point the fight had brought her back to back with Lancer. They had exchanged a look, agreed on a temporary truce, and continued to fight the undead army Caster had summoned.

"Do you think they're going to end at some point?" Asked Lancer, defending from a couple of assailants.

"They are going to end, but the problem is that we cannot deal a decisive blow to any of them!" Replied Saber, just a little frustrated. This was clearly a stalling tactic, but she couldn't fathom why they were using it. What were they waiting for?

She was answered when there was the sound of an explosion coming from the villa where her little faction had taken residence, and the fight momentarily stopped.

"Your Master?" Asked Saber, just to be sure.

"He has a grudge against the Magus Killer." Replied Lancer. "I was supposed to keep you busy while he dealt with him, but we both found a greater distraction along the way…"

As he said that, the ax-wielding monster that looked like the chief of this particular horde shouted something, pointing at the villa… and immediately, two of the lower-ranking undead and two of the lieutenants, recognizable by their helmets sporting horns pointing downward instead of upward, disengaged and started to run toward the villa with supernatural speed.

"Wha-" Lancer started to ask, before the undead continued to assault them with renewed fury. The chief even raised his free hand and… covered all the monster's weapons with magic? She was not sure, but the frigid vapor coming from their weapons could mean only a couple of things.

And one, of course, was far scarier than the other. "They're aiming for our Masters."

-X-

Kayneth was not sure where the entire thing had gone wrong.

No, he knew that very well. It was the moment a humanoid monster made of darkness had jumped through one of the windows of the villa where he was fighting the Magus Killer… if running away from him could be considered fighting. The monster had taken one of the bullets of the Magus Killer -which had greatly surprised the third-rate magus, for some reason- then he had summarily ignored him to focus on Kayneth himself.

Which, while annoying, at least demonstrated that the creature was able to recognize who was the most dangerous opponent.

What happened right after, though, was not expected.

Volumen Hydrargyrum had attacked the monster, some sort of blackened Viking undead, with two whip-like ribbons of mercury launched at high speed in a pincer maneuver. Normally, that attack would have cut any other creature in two. Maybe not a Servant, but surely a being with human-like durability would have found itself a pair of legs shorter.

Clearly, the monster in front of him didn't have human-like durability, because the ribbons penetrated the first few inches of shadowy flesh on each side of the monster, then stopped dead. Kyraneth's eyes widened. Animating -or more probably enchanting- a corpse to such levels of hardness required a great knowledge of necromancy… and considering there were two more of those things climbing through the same window the first had, this was not the work of a magus.

No magus skilled enough in the art of necromancy could be here without making his presence known… so there was just one solution. Caster.

The identity of the summoner of the monsters was indirectly confirmed when the one that got pierced opened its mouth and blasted him with a wave of frost that was stronger than what the vast majority of magi could call on a whim. Volumen Hydrargyrum of course rose to protect his body, but the cold was so intense the wall of metal froze solid… which was quite impressive.

Of course, the impressiveness of the act was secondary to the fact that a good chunk of the mercury, and so of the defensive and offensive capacity of Volumen Hydrargyrum, was frozen. The Mystic Code worked on pressure. Every piece that was frozen was useless… offensively. Defensively, it was a solid wall of metal, so it could be useful for intercepting his enemies, but he could not move it easily. Of course, mercury was liquid at ambient temperature, so it would melt given time, but he didn't have that time.

Especially since the other two monsters had finished climbing and swung their weapons at him. Walls of mercury rose to intercept them, but they started to freeze the moment they made contact with the incoming weapons.

Kayneth made a flash decision. Using his masterful ability to control Volumen Hydrargyrum, he retreated on a wave of silvery metal, getting a better look at the hallway. Aside from the three undead monsters, there was no one. The Magus Killer had left. Annoying, but after the first undead broke the frozen mercury like it was rotten wood, the magus decided he had different priorities right now.

"Lancer, with me!" Called Lord El-Melloy, as Volumen Hydrargyrum grabbed the frozen chunks of itself and put them inside its mass. As soon as Lancer came, he would retreat. These monsters were a far bigger threat than anticipated.

But he would return. The Magus Killer needed to die.

-X-

The assault on the Masters and Servants lasted all night… or the time it took the Servants to deal with the attackers. If by the time the light of the sun started to creep from behind the hills they were still fighting, the shadow warriors then just melted into the shadows, retreating for the day.

And undoubtedly, to return to fight again.

The attack was an impressive display of coordination and skill from Caster, and had caused quite a lot of collateral damage throughout the city. But there were also… strange episodes. For example, one of the shadow warriors had decided to intercept Kirei when he had gone to deal with the Master of Saber, forcing him to retreat. A little group was seen following one man with two kids following behind him, for unknown reasons. There was no sign of a fight with Berserker, which could either mean that Caster didn't find him, or that he was avoiding him for some reason.

At least, that was the report that Kirei and Assassin said. Risei wasn't able to piece together the meaning behind Caster's strange behavior. From his point of view, the Servant's actions made no sense. Maybe that was the key. The spirit seemed to behave somewhat randomly, or based on some instinct he possessed. Maybe he attacked or protected people on a whim. That made him unpredictable… but fortunately, there was no need for him to worry about it. Caster had condemned himself.

There was going to be a hunt.

Last edited: Mar 27, 2022

Fate/Dragonborn 1.5

"… And so you failed to find information on Caster." Concluded Lord El-Melloi. The first, of course.

"I'm afraid so. We were… attacked." Replied their Lord El-Melloi.

"By the same shadow warriors that interrupted my revenge on the Magus Killer? I heard Caster did quite a lot to disturb the war."

Ritsuka looked at the young magus, hiding in an abandoned building. Contrary to the other Singularity based on the Fourth Grail War, this time Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer, did participate as the Master of Saber. This made the War somewhat more predictable, but since they were not able to determine his presence before he bombed the hotel where Lord El-Melloi had taken residence, now the situation was… unstable. The chances of convincing the proud magus to leave the war now that he had a grudge were very low.

But considering the little grin that crossed Lord El-Melloi -their El-Melloi- before rapidly disappearing… maybe not?

"You were attacked too, Lord Kyaneth?" Oh, so that was his name. Good, now he could call him that.

"Yes. I was fighting the Magus Killer… or more appropriately, he was running from me, when those warriors arrived. One intercepted a bullet for the Magus Killer… but then they ignored him and focused on me." The blond magus snorted. "I ignored who Caster was, but he's clearly a necromancer of great power. Lancer had to fight bitterly to give me the opportunity to escape. And he informed me that the ones that attacked me were also not the strongest of the army he called. Quite concerning."

Lord El-Melloi's eyes flashed. "I see. It's how we feared, then."

Lord Kyaneth sent him a glance. "What do you mean?"

"You surely remember when we talked about our origin… from when we came." Kyaneth nodded. "We couldn't talk about it before, but we were sent in the past to warn you, my Lord. This War is not what it seems. Isn't it strange? A prize so great, the possibility to express a wish, here, in Japan, so far away from the Clockwork Tower? And that only one of the members of our illustrious organization is admitted?"

Ritsuka blinked. Was he really going to use the excuse he used the last time? Sure, it worked, but…

"Well, I admit it's a little strange, yes. But this is just a game, nothing more. Even if the prize is not what they claim it is, it's not like there is any danger… of course, the Einzbern brought the Magus Killer, but they're famous for being hyenas…"

"I'm afraid there is more than that." Lord El-Melloi announced dramatically. "This war is nothing more than a trap. It's a plot from the Trambelios to increase their influence over the Clockwork Tower, using your absence to increase their hold on the Mage's Association!"

"What!?" Shouted Kyaneth, a vein pulsing visibly by his temple.

"I'm afraid it's true, Lord Kyaneth. We couldn't tell you before, because there was no proof, but the Magus Killer, and then the attack from Caster's minions… they all point to a conspiracy to keep you busy here, away from the real power of the Mage's Association, or worse, to kill you."

"Of course!" Growled Kyaneth. "This makes sense. But… the other participants?"

"Decoys, or fools attracted by the promise of a wish. I ignore who's who, I'm afraid. Caster and his master are on the list of suspects, of course, and the Magus Killer too… and I'm afraid that Tosahka is an accomplice to this. He organized this false war. Maybe he wants to get a better standing in the Clock Tower, or maybe he's unaware of the true intentions of the Trambelios."

"This is… !" Kyaneth proceeded to darkly mutter something that Ritsuka couldn't decipher. Then, he calmed down. "Thank you for warning me of this plot against me. I must immediately return to the Clocktower to prevent the Trambelios from further advancing their plot."

"Of course, Lord Kyaneth."

"Then I'll leave with my Lord. I didn't have any wish for the Grail anyway." Said Lancer, as was expected.

"Brillant! The presence of a Servant will just increase the prestige of Lord Kyaneth and his wife." Exclaimed Lord El-Melloi, as was equally expected. Lord Kynareth grimaced darkly, the comment having struck a nerve, and raised his hand.

"Lancer, by the power of the Command Seal, I order you to remain here!"

"What!?" Exclaimed Lancer.

"This war may be fake, but my name as your Master cannot be associated with defeat. You'll remain here and win this war in my stead while I return to England to deal with those snakes." He sent a look to Lord El-Melloi. "Until the end of this war, he is your Master. Don't disappoint me."

Lancer remained immobile for a second, then kneeled. "As you command, my Lord."

"Excellent!" Exclaimed Kyaneth, clearly relieved the Servant had obeyed without question. "Now, I'm going to take what little there is left from the attack by the Magus Killer and leave. But… before that…"

Kyaneth turned completely toward Lord El-Melloi and Ritsuka already knew what was going to happen.

"You mentioned a love letter, didn't you?"

Lord El-Melloi looked away. "Yes, I did."

"And you found it inside my desk, in my office. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

Kynareth closed his eyes and smiled. "I would never leave something so embarrassing in my office to be seen by my successor… so I must conclude that the office never saw his owner return?"

"… Yes, you're correct."

"I see. Then I thank you. I hope we meet again, Lord El-Melloi II."

"It would be my pleasure." Replied Lord El-Melloi, and they exchanged a last handshake before they left.

It was after they were far enough away that they couldn't be heard that Ritsuka spoke.

"Caster did that to help Kyaneth, did he?"

Lancer blinked, caught off guard, but didn't manage to say anything before Lord El-Melloi replied. "Maybe. It's difficult to be sure. It could also be a coincidence."

"What do you mean? Why would Caster have helped Lord Kyaneth?" Asked Lancer.

"In the original confrontation with the Magus Killer, Lord Kyaneth was hit by the Origin Bullet, a special Mystic Code that destroys the mana circuit of the target." Replied Lord El-Melloi, and by the expression on Lancer's face, it was enough to make him understand the gravity of the situation. "By the tale of Lord Kyaneth, it seems like the monster that attacked him took the bullet for him, and then attacked him to give the Magus Killer an opportunity to escape without using another. They're… somewhat hard to produce."

"So the plot against my Master never existed." Deduced Lancer.

"No, it did not. But that he never returned to the Clock Tower is true. The Magus Killer would have forced him to sign a magical contract to save his wife, and then kill them in cold blood… after forcing you to suicide, of course."

Lancer's expression became very dark.

"We have avoided that future… but now we have to deal with an unpredictable Caster."

"Do we?" Asked Mash, the first words she had said in a while. "He doesn't seem… bad. Maybe if we talk with him he's going to help us."

"Help us do what? Kill him and destroy the Grail?" Lord El-Melloi asked. "I doubt he's going to accept. But you can probably ask him soon."

"We're going to find him?" Asked Ritsuka.

"No, we need to find a new place and re-organize. But Rider is going to organize his… meeting of kings, very soon. You can bet Caster is going to be there."

That was a fair assessment. He only hoped Caster was not going to throw another curveball.

Ah, who was he kidding? Of course he was.

-X-

The plan to rescue Sakura was very simple despite the obvious difficulties. And that was because of a simple realization. While the defenses of the Matou Mansion were formidable… they didn't apply to the interior of the mansion. Or, to be more specific, they did but not in the same way. Most of the protections inside the mansion were dedicated to stopping thievery and alerting the family head of eventual intrusions. Which helped… if you were right there to fight the intruder. If you were not, then you better have a fast way to get there. And considering that teleportation was way outside the ability of most magi…

Of course, before starting with the real rescue operation, there was something that needed to be done.

That's why an opaque silhouette materialized in front of Byakuya Matou, the older brother of Kariya Matou, Master of Berserker, and father of Shinji Matou.

The reaction of the man, while understandable, was quite pathetic to witness. He looked at the shape in front of him with wide eyes, before falling into a panic and trying to scramble away like he had seen a ghost. Which… was fair, since the appearance was remarkably similar, but still.

"There is no need to panic." Said the ghostly figure. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Byakuya tried to compose himself. Not an easy task, considering that he reeked of alcohol.

"Who… who are you?" He finally asked, still looking at the man with fearful eyes.

"Who I am is not really important." Replied the ghost. "What's important is that I'm here to save Sakura from your father… and you can either help me or leave."

Byakuya blinked, confused. Considering who his father was, he probably had expected something on the line of 'help me or die' instead. "Help you… or leave?"

"Yes. You see, I'm pretty sure I can bypass the defenses of the house by imitating your presence. I doubt that your father calibrated the various wards of the house to smite down his family, so if I manage to come close enough, I can literally walk into the basement without problems and get out through the front door. If you don't want to help me, I'm going to have to do this the hard way… Which will still be easy, but I'll have to move faster."

"I… you… you cannot do that. Zouken will find you-"

"Good luck with that." Interrupted the man. "I have my ways to protect myself from magical detection, don't worry. In fact…"

The ghostly man took something that looked like ghostly strings and threw them at Byayuka, who grabbed at it in a panic. The string materialized mid-air and, once he had them, he could see that the objects in question were two little pendants.

"Those are scrying-fooling amulets. They should be enough for you and your son to get on a train and run away. To where, is your choice. You can also choose to not go, and remain here hoping Zouken will get better… but I doubt he will."

Something, maybe the voice of the stranger, had calmed Byakuya down. He was now looking at the pendants in his hands, clearly fighting between the terror he felt at the idea of Zouken finding him if he dared to run, and the terrible situation he was in.

"How much time do I have to choose?" He finally asked, probably hoping for an occasion to calm his nerves and think rationally about it.

Unfortunately, the stranger didn't give him any. "Time? I can give you five minutes. I cannot risk you warning Zouken and I don't know if I'll ever get a better opportunity. In fact, the only reason I'm here in the first place is that I plan to destroy this place once Sakura is safe, and I didn't want to have you or your son on my conscience. So help me, or take your son and leave."

Byakuya didn't answer immediately, taking his time to think about it. And true to his word, the phantom stranger gave him the time to think. Five minutes he had promised, and five minutes he would give.

Byayuka needed only three.

"I cannot help you." He finally said. "If Zouken finds out that I helped you, he will kill me… or Shinji, to punish me."

The stranger nodded. "Understandable. Will you try to stop me?"

"Can I get some time to pack some baggage?"

"No."

"I suppose so." Byakuya replied, before taking one of the pendants and putting it around his neck. "Thank you."

And with that, he ran away.

The ghost gave him a minute to grab his son and leave, monitoring him to be sure he was not trying to backstab him… but he didn't. When he was halfway out of the house, he floated toward the basement, ignoring things like walls or magic wards. The advantages of being outside of reality instead of 'merely' intangible or in spiritual form.

And once he was inside the basement, he had to stop.

First, he had to fight the impulse to just incinerate the bugs crawling on the six-year-old girl in the middle of the room. He was going to, but he needed to be precise or he was going to hurt her.

Secondly, he needed to be cautious. If he attacked, the effect of Become Ethereal would disappear, and Zouken would be alerted. He needed to move fast, yes, but also with precision. Rushing was only going to get him killed.

But mostly because he had to calm down.

Once he had calmed down, then, he raised his hand and focused his power… until it was ready to explode.

And exploding it did. A huge wave of flames engulfed the entire basement, but the heat didn't touch the girl inside it. The bugs were not so fortunate, and died in droves, their bodies becoming cinder and then even less.

When the fire had extinguished, Sakura Tosahka was lying on the floor with her eyes closed, and a man wearing dark leather armor was at her side. Gently, he picked her up. The girl grimaced, then opened her eyes. She looked at his masked face for a long second, then she asked a question.

"Are you here to save me?"

Something in the tone of the girl -resignation, doubt, or the absolute lack of hope- seemed to break something inside the man. He sagged a little, like the words had sapped him of strength, and his fingers tightened on the form of the girl.

"Yes, I am. Your uncle asked for my help."

Sakura looked at him for another second, then she closed her eyes. "Alright."

Again, this was not how a child being saved was supposed to react. Still, it didn't matter right now. A portal opened to another world, both to bypass eventual protections against teleportation and to give them a little more time. The man entered, and the portal closed behind him.

Thirty seconds later, an aurora of lights wrapped around the Matou Mansion, and everything -wood, concrete, stone, and magic- was dissolved into blue motes of light.

-X-

When the portal opened, Kiriya was waiting. Clad in a hood in a dark alley, it didn't look suspicious at all. Fortunately, the area was warded, or so Caster had told him. Nobody was going to look here.

It was still with a certain sense of relief that he saw Caster arrive through a portal with Sakura in his arms. Standing there, with so much light still around, while waiting without the ability to do anything made him nervous.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, stretching his hands to take Sakura. Caster seemed to hesitate for a second… then gave her to him. The girl didn't open her eyes.

"Yes, but you better escape while you can. Zouken will not take long to realize what happened. Mostly because I erased the entire mansion out of existence."

Kiriya looked at Caster, a look of concern in his eyes. "My brother…"

"I gave him the same advice I've just given to you, and he was smart enough to listen."

Kiriya sighed. "Ah, good. I know I left the family, but…"

Caster nodded, then outstretched his right hand. "It's time for your part of the pact, Kariya Matou."

The man looked at the hand. "Sakura… for Berserker. Before I do this… you promise you'll make Tokiomi pay?"

"I do." Replied Caster.

"Good… do I need to do something specific?"

"No. Grab my hand and willingly give the control of Berserker to me. I'll do the rest."

Kiriya nodded and grabbed the Servant's hand.

Instantly, pain erupted in every part of his body, like his blood and nerves were on fire. Caught off guard, he thrashed and tried to get away, but the grip of the Servant was vice-like. Fortunately, it lasted for just a second, then the pain disappeared, and he returned to normal… better, even. He felt… light. Empty, but in a good way.

"My apologies." Caster stated blandly. "But I needed to remove the bugs inside your body before the Command Seals passed to me. I wouldn't want those things inside me, especially after seeing what they were doing to Sakura."

Kiriya didn't reply, too preoccupied with taking a breath. He had endured worse pains while under the 'care' of his 'father', but the sudden flash had not let him prepare. Plus, now that the bugs were not eating away his insides, he felt like he was breathing for the first time in a while.

Caster whispered three words in a language he didn't understand, and his body immediately felt better.

"High-speed Divine Words?" He asked. It was one of the Skills a Servant could possess, if he remembered the lesson Zouken gave him. It was a Skill born by the use of the divine language… how old was Caster?

"Something like that." Was the reply, followed by two pendants. "These will protect you against tracking spells. I cannot guarantee they'll work perfectly, but time and distance will help. Take Sakura and run as fast as you can, as far as you can. Zouken will probably be too preoccupied with the War to follow you immediately, but you cannot be sure."

Kiriya grabbed the pendants with a mix of emotions fighting inside him. The only way he could express them was a question. "Why are you helping us? Why did you help my brother?"

Caster paused, like he didn't get the question. The slight bent of his head supported that impression. His answer, though, was very simple.

"I don't think you deserve this. Nor does my Master."

It took a second for Kiriya to understand the meaning of those words, but when he did, his eyes became misty. He quickly blinked to banish the tears. "I see. Thank you. For everything."

"It was my pleasure. Now go."

Kiriya Matou nodded, embraced Sakura, turned, and ran away. He never looked back.

Caster waited until Kiriya's form was swallowed by the darkness, then looked at his right hand, like he could see the Command Seals under the leather. Then he turned too, and walked away.

"And with that, we start phase two." He said to himself, before becoming one with the shadows around him and disappearing.

Last edited: Apr 10, 2022

Fate/Dragonborn 1.6

"Are you sure that this plan is going to work?" Asked Da Vinci.

I opened my eyes, retreating my conscience inside my body. "I'm never completely sure of anything. Despite my powers and… apparently good brain, I cannot predict what everyone is going to do. However, the thing I can do is play with the expectations others have of me. If they think I'm a Caster, and believe me to be a very specific Caster, they're going to try to predict what I'm going to do… using incorrect information. And by the time they understand their error, it's going to be too late."

"It helps that you don't require much time either." Commented Da Vinci. "But… no Servant has died yet."

I frowned. "Yeah, I noticed."

"The more there are, the more difficult your plan is going to be."

"I know."

"So… you intend to do something about it?"

I tapped my fingers on my arm repeatedly. "In theory, the Servants are going to defeat each other… at some point. But I could need to force the matter."

"Do you have one Servant in particular in mind?"

I tsked. "Two, really. I can either go the easy way or the hard way. Assassin is technically the weakest Servant of the War, but there could still be a use for them. After that, Lancer is the easiest target… if he didn't join Chaldea."

"That's annoying. But I suppose you have a third option?"

"Archer." I replied. "He is the strongest Servant of the War, no doubt about it. Eliminating him is going to greatly help… but he could also destroy some Servant for us. Unfortunately, I don't have a clear idea of what he's going to do. If he's mostly neutral toward us, it could be worth it to avoid fighting him until he has dealt with most of the opposition… but it's risky. If he manages to find us, I doubt I can beat him."

"Not even with Berserker? I got the impression you managed to grab hold of him."

"I did, but Berserker alone could not be enough." I paused, thinking. "How many Servants do we need for the plan to work?"

"Difficult to say." Replied the Servant, making some quick mental math. "I could be more precise if I could see how much magic energy returns to the Grail after a single Servant is defeated… but I suppose three is the absolute minimum. Four is a more likely estimate."

"So there must remain two Servants plus you… that's a slippery slope. I'm pretty sure I can deal with Lancer, but both Saber and Rider are tough, and Archer is completely out of reach unless I catch him off guard or with overwhelming numerical superiority…" I clicked my tongue in rapid succession, thinking. "I'll try to make a temporary truce with either Saber or Lancer. If we manage to get one of them on our side, we can probably deal with Archer. I'll need to move fast."

"It's going to be difficult to ally with Lancer, since you continue to attack him and Chaldea using your undead warriors." Pointed out Da Vinci.

"I have no other choice. I need to keep them distracted enough to not derail my plan. They're the only ones that have the right mindset for that. Everyone else is just going to think I'm fighting for the Grail and will face me thinking that. They could ruin everything… either by accident or by figuring out my real intentions. Until I can secure a truce of sorts, I'll keep sending the draugr against them."

"Where did you find so many of them anyway?" Asked Da Vinci, changing topic.

"Hmm? They're just materializations of foes I have defeated, they're not real. They're mostly created through memories. Shadow Magic is handy like that."

"I assume you don't create more -or any that are more powerful- because of some limitations of power or time, right?"

"Well, yes and no. I could pump out way more draugr if I wanted, but I'm not going to. First, because it would take a lot of time. Second, I can only send so many of them out before someone notices. I want to attract attention, but not enough to make the muggles realize what's going on. That will put an even bigger target on my head that I already have."

"Muggles?" Asked Da Vinci, confused.

"Harry Potter reference." I dismissed it with a shrug. "Anyway, making only the strongest one would also not be very realistic, and I'm going with a theme here. Plus, well, these draugr are members of an organization. The lower ranks work better if they obey their superiors… and this lets me only direct the superiors instead of all the army."

"All valid reasons." Nodded the Caster. "I was just thinking that you could really win if you didn't hold back."

"Maybe, but then there would be no city remaining." I replied. "Plus summoning armies is not exactly a Caster's normal modus operandi. Theme, remember?"

"Plus you like to be underestimated."

"Plus I like to be underestimated." I grinned. "Make it easier to punch someone under the belt."

"Wouldn't people underestimating you make them believe you're going to punch under the belt, since you cannot punch them in the face?"

"Of course, but they're not going to expect me to punch them as fast as I'm going to."

Da Vinci chuckled. "Fine, have it your way. Are you going to help me with this part?"

I stood from my position, stretching. "Yeah, yeah. But I'll need something to eat after… how do you feel about going to a restaurant?"

Da Vinci smiled. "I think it's a wonderful idea."

I smiled back and started to work. The ritual was not going to complete itself.

-X-

The night after the assault of the shadow undead, another group of them appeared as soon as Ritsuka and his group left their apartment. Just, this time, there were many more of them, including a particularly impressive-looking one, wielding an ax and sporting a helmet with two horns protruding toward the sky.

That meant that Caster knew that Lancer had joined them… or he just wanted to kill them with numbers.

Ritsuka supposed it was the first one, because the undead did not attack. They just stared at them with their cold, hateful eyes, kept in check by some superior will.

A will that manifested itself a second later, as Caster emerged from the shadow, covered in a long cloak that obscured most of his body.

"Good evening." He greeted them, with an affable tone.

"Good evening." Replied Lord El-Melloi. "But I must say that it would have been a better evening if we could avoid seeing your… minions again."

Caster chuckled. "I understand, believe me, but it would be incautious of me to meet you without protection. After all, you're all Servants… or something like that. Even the boy. Well, that or he got trained pretty well."

Ritsuka frowned at that jab. It was almost like he knew… but no, that was impossible. He was probably messing with him.

"Why are you here?" He asked instead. "You want to gloat about how you're going to eliminate us using your army of spooky zombies?"

The undead growled at that, almost as they understood what he had said and didn't like it.

"Please, don't call them that. It's offensive. They're draugr, not zombies."

Everyone in the Chaldea's group held their breath. Draugr. The undead monster of the Norse Myth. Haunters of tombs, often possessing magical powers… which they had not used to max effect, but that was excusable. Legends could be true, but they were not always completely accurate. And these draugr were pretty big, so maybe the fact that they could change size was true, they just preferred to be slightly larger instead of, for example, become as big as a two-story house.

Or maybe it was Caster that kept a tight leash on them.

The superhuman strength and durability were on point though. But to be able to summon draugr, Caster needed to be…

"Anyway, I'm here to propose a short-term alliance." Said Caster, making the eyes return to him instead of the several undead looking at them. "I find the presence of Archer… worrying, so to say. Therefore, I'm here to ask you to help me take him out of the picture. I'm sure you can see the advantage of eliminating him first."

Ritsuka frowned. Sure, eliminating Gilgamesh was going to be helpful, mostly because he would surely interfere with their mission at some point and dealing with him first was better. Also Lord El-Melloi didn't like him at all, for personal reasons, so he could see the advantage.

He still was not sure it was a good idea. If Caster was who they thought it was, then trusting him was foolish.

"We'll have to think about your offer." Replied Lord El-Melloi in a carefully neutral tone.

"Oh, really?" Asked Caster, and the draugr suddenly jerked a step forward before blocking. "Well, that's a shame. If you cannot agree on a truce, I'm afraid I'll have to let my helpers keep you busy until I've dealt with Archer… or for the rest of the War, both are valid options."

"You're not waiting for us to make up our minds?" Asked Mash, confused and with dread in her voice. More for the tedium of having to fight an infinitely regenerating enemy than anything else. Her experience with the draugr had left a mark.

Caster tilted his head, like pondering the question. "I'm afraid not. You're the unpredictable element of this War, you see, so giving you time to think is not exactly something I can do. The more you meddle around… well, the more things become chaotic. Now, chaos is the spice of life, but on this particular occasion, I feel like it would be better for me to reduce it to the minimum… if I'm not the one causing it, of course. I'm sure you understand."

The draugr made another step forward, and Ritsuka took a decision.

"When do you intend to attack Archer?" He asked, stopping the draugr dead on their feet.

"As soon as the occasion presents itself. I'm sure it will not take long." He sent a curious glance to him. "Why, did you have a change of mind?"

Ritsuka made his brain work furiously, trying to find a better alternative. He didn't find it. "If we promise to help you deal with Archer… will you stop attacking us?"

"Hmm. Well, that would require your little group to not try to find my hideout for the duration of the truce. If you can do that… sure."

That he was willing to compromise meant he had something big in mind… that was concerning. Unfortunately, Rituska didn't have any choice. Lancer had talked about the particularly impressive draugr that he had fought before. It was clear that the ones with horns facing upwards were the more dangerous, and there was one here on top of more draugr that their group had faced before. If they wanted to have any hope of doing something in this War, they needed to take every opportunity.

Plus he had the feeling that Caster was holding back in some capacity, and he didn't want to know what happened if he decided to put down the kid's gloves.

"Alright." He said. "We'll stop searching for you and you stop attacking or sending the draugr to us. And then, when the time comes… we'll help you defeat Archer."

"Excellent! We have a deal then." Exclaimed Caster, holding out his hand.

With a minimum of hesitation, Ritsuka grabbed it.

As he did, magical energy surged from Caster's body. Mash, Lord El-Melloi, and Lancer fell into a combat stance and prepared to attack or defend their Master, or both, but they didn't need to. The magical energy emitted from Caster coalesced into a rope of magic that wrapped around the handshake and then sunk into their flesh. For a second, a black tattoo depicting a snake that bit its own tail remained on their hands, before it dissipated too.

Ritsuka jumped away like something had bitten him, looking at his hand.

"What did you do!?" Asked Mash, her shield ready as Lord El-Melloi inspected the area where the tattoo had disappeared and Lancer prepared to attack.

"Oh, that? It was a Geas. You believed I would just… trust you to keep your word?" He snapped his fingers and the draugr disappeared into the shadows. "Now, if either of us breaks our word, the Geas will… remind us of it. Painfully. Ah, and before someone gets some funny idea, your Master here swore as leader of your little group. The Geas will count the transgression you commit as if he had done it himself. Of course, the same applies to me, so you don't have to worry about my Master pulling a fast one on you."

Ritsuka found himself cursing between his teeth. Of course, he had not thought to break his word, because even without the Geas, he was smart enough to realize that Caster could easily watch them. It was the second time he or his monsters had appeared at the exact moment they decided to get outside, so there was no reason to believe he would not do it again.

That said, having a curse on his arm was not what he wanted to gain from this. Not without being informed of it at least.

"Well, it has been a pleasure to meet you, but now I have to go. You know… to plan my victory." He chuckled, clearly amused by the entire situation, then… disappeared.

"That… awful… !" Mash started to heat up, before quickly forgetting about Caster and turning toward Ritsuka. "Senpai. Are you alright?"

"Yes." He replied, almost surprised. "It doesn't hurt. He just caught me by surprise. Lord El-Melloi, is this really…?"

"A Geas?" He replied, unamused. "Yes, it is. Or as close as he could make one. It is a magical contract, very strong and very difficult to remove. I cannot be sure it really does what he said, but…"

"Well, there is a simple way to verify that." Replied Ritsuka. "We just need to start to search for Caster's hideout-"

The Geas instantly reacted to that by sending a jolt of pain through his arm. Barely anything, but enough to be felt.

"… Alright, it does what he said." Muttered Ritsuka. "Dammit. He tricked us."

"Actually, I think it's one of the best outcomes we could hope for." Said Lancer, looking at the point where Caster disappeared.

"How? Senpai is cursed." Grumbled Mash.

"A Geas is more than a curse, young lady. It's a magical binding pact. You may feel that Caster put an unnecessary curse on your Master, but think about it. He also put the same curse on himself. And between your Senpai and Caster, who would you think it's more likely to break his word?"

There was a pause.

"You're saying that this thing is more beneficial to us than to him because now we don't have to worry about him doing something to us, even indirectly." Said Lord El-Melloi. He nodded. "Well, you have a point. Using his minions, he can act without endangering himself and has shown the ability to use a lot of different spells. Not having to worry about an eventual trap removes a weight from our shoulders."

"But what are we going to do now that we cannot search for him?" Asked Mash. "We cannot just wait."

"Of course not. But not trying to find his hideout, even indirectly, doesn't mean we cannot plan how to find it. It also doesn't mean that we cannot ally ourselves with other Masters and Servants to take him down after we take care of Archer." Lord El-Melloi sent a glance to Ritsuka. "I suppose that's why you agreed?"

"Well, yes and no." Replied the last Master of Chaldea. "Sure, taking out Gilgamesh is a good idea. He's… very unreasonable when he wants. But mostly, I want to be able to move at night without having to worry about undead warriors jumping on us from the shadows." He shivered. "Draugr… that's worse than we thought."

"Quite." Nodded Lord El-Melloi. "Controlling powerful undead from Norse mythology is not an easy feat… I'm afraid he is exactly who we suspected he was."

"Who?" Asked Lancer. "I cannot remember any famous Norse mage that could control draugr."

"We came in contact with Servants that were used as… vessels, for far more powerful spirits. Divine Spirits." Answered Lord El-Melloi, and that was enough to make the Lancer pause.

"You think he's the Trickster himself?" He finally said.

"All clues point to him."

"How do you defeat someone like him?"

"Divine Spirits that take a Servant vessel to appear in the world are… severely weakened. He is no different from a normal Caster right now… aside from being an extremely powerful mage, capable of things no modern magus can hope to achieve." Replied Lord El-Melloi, lighting his cigar. "Just like what he just did. A Geas without a physical medium to anchor it, and disappearing like that… I doubt it's an illusion. He teleported." He took a breath and exhaled. "But he will fall like any other Caster in combat. We just have to put him against someone that can counter his power."

"Saber." Said Ritsuka. "You plan to ally with Saber to take him down after we take care of Gilgamesh."

"It would be ideal. So let's go talk with her."

-X-

Artoria separated from her Master and Irisviel as she felt a Servant approach. She didn't even bother to tell them… because after she confirmed that Kiritsugu did, in fact, bomb the hotel where Lancer had been, she had decided to just stay away from them as much as she could. Or away from him anyway. Irisviel was still bearable for now.

So she found herself facing Caster once again, waiting for her under a lamp in the middle of one of the less frequented roads in the area.

"Hi Saber."

Artoria raised her weapon.

"Wow, calm down. I'm just here to talk."

"Like you talked to me the last time?"

Caster shrugged, unbothered. "I mean, you were the one that wanted to fight. I just humored you."

Artoria opened her mouth to reply… and closed it.

"What do you want?"

"I looked at the various participants of the War and I thought that if Assassin and Archer's Masters can ally, so can we. Assassins are not particularly dangerous… but Archer is a problem. Soooo… I came here for a truce."

Artoria frowned. "You want me to ally with you to take down Archer?"

"Your help will be appreciated, yes."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because Archer is the most dangerous Servant of the War and eliminating him will increase your chances to get the Grail?"

Artoria remained silent for a second, then she shook her head. "No. I will fight Archer on my terms. I will not ally with you."

"Seriously? Not even if it will make your dream a little closer?"

"No. I will not compromise on this."

Caster looked at her, then sighed, defeated. "Very well. I hoped your answer was going to be different, but I guess it was too much to ask for. Well, thank you for your time. Now, if you excuse me…"

He made to turn around and walk away like he had done the last time, but this time Artoria jumped forward, placing herself in front of him.

"You're not going to get away this time."

Behind the mask, Caster looked thoroughly annoyed. "Really? Are you really doing this? Why are you so bloodthirsty? Did I kick your puppy in a past life or something?"

Artoria strengthened her grip on Excalibur. She knew she was being irrational, but… "I just don't like you."

Something sparked inside Caster's eyes. "I see. Bad memories? Do I remind you of another mage you knew, perhaps?"

Her eyes widened when he hit dangerously close to the target. It was at that moment that she understood why her Instinct was always a little on edge when Caster was around. He was dangerous. Maybe not as a fighter, but in every other way possible. Leaving him plotting was going to create a lot of problems.

For just a second, she thought of killing him right there. Just jump over him using all her speed and taking his head off in a single strike. It would have been the smart thing to do, and since he was a Caster, he probably didn't have the speed to avoid her or the durability to take the hit. One strike, and he would be done.

But… her honor stopped her. Sure, he was not a knight, and they were not dueling, but… he had shown honor too, in his own way. After the sudden attack at the docks, he had not tried to use any more underhanded tactics. He had sent his shadow monsters to fight, but that was no different from a general sending his troop to war. There was no attempted assassination, no curses sent toward her Master or Irisviel, no attempt to separate her from them to strike while she was away… he had been direct, if tricky to deal with.

As such, she was honor-bound to give him at least a little warning. "Prepare yourself, Caster."

He sighed. "So you really want to do this, uh?"

She didn't give him anything more. She dashed forward as fast as she could, ready to strike.

Showing a surprising amount of speed, Caster dove under her swing, if barely. In the same movement, he spun on himself, his leg shooting out to sweep her legs, but she managed to step back enough to make the kick hit only air. With quite a lot of force, considering the gust of air that reached her. He could have probably made her fall if he had hit her.

Then, he just jumped up and ascended into the sky, floating over her.

"Nice try, Saber. Now, I really have to go. Goodbye."

Something inside Saber snapped. Maybe it was the irritation for Caster's casual approach to the War, maybe it was the knowledge of what her Master was, maybe it was something else… but she found herself growling.

"Just stay here and fight me, coward!"

Caster froze midair, already halfway turned and ready to leave. When it turned and looked at her, she could see the ice in his eyes.

"You want me to fight you? Very well."

Magic energy exploded from him, and Artoria suddenly felt nervous. That much power on a Caster… she was feeling enough magical power to easily overcome her own, dragon core included. No wonder Instinct had told her to avoid his lightning bolt. If he could emanate that much energy, his attacks could even pierce her own Magic Resistance.

Then he raised his hand and a ball of darkness emerged from nowhere. No, not darkness. It was not something as simple. It was a sphere of absolute nothing, not darkness as a void that absorbed every light around it. In fact, the space around the sphere seemed to distort, and she felt all her body being attracted to it.

Her eyes went full wide. Did he just…?

"Let's see if you like this." He said, then he threw the black hole at her.

Time stopped as Artoria's mind went into overdrive. He couldn't have created a real black hole. The effect was too small. It was probably a very convincing reproduction, but it couldn't be the real thing.

And even if it was, it was Magecraft, not a naturally occurring black hole. It was made from magical energy, and as such, it could be dispelled. The problem was, she didn't know how, and she didn't trust her Magic Resistance to protect her against such a high-tier Magecraft.

That left only one solution.

Excalibur exploded with brilliant light, removing the invisibility spell cast on it. As the black hole spell approached, Artoria raised her sword, before slamming it with all her strength on the mass of void in collision with her face.

It popped like a balloon. As is, exactly like a balloon, with a pop sound and fragments of darkness bursting everywhere before dissipating harmlessly in the air. Artoria could just remain frozen, mouth hanging, completely taken by surprise.

It was only when Irisviel's voice called her that she composed herself and looked around, wrapping Excalibur in Invisible Air again and searching for Caster. But he was long gone.

"Ah, Saber, here you are." Said Irisviel, appearing around the corner. "What happened? Did you feel Caster again?"

"Yes." She replied.

"Did you have a fight?" Asked the albino woman, approaching her. "Are you hurt?"

"Caster proposed a… truce. I refused and tried to fight him… he escaped."

"This Caster is very slippery." Commented Irisviel, before something caught her attention. "Hm? What's this?"

Artoria turned to see Irisviel take a square of white paper from the ground and, after having looked at it for a confused second, she turned it.

Then she started giggling.

"What?" Asked Artoria, confused. "What's on that paper?"

"Sorry, sorry. It's just, you're always so serious, and so seeing you like this…" And she continued to giggle.

Artoria seized the piece of paper and found a couple of words written on it.

You should have seen your face.

Now with dread, she turned the paper to see what looked like a photo of her looking lost, with her mouth hanging, in complete stupor. After seeing her reaction, Irisviel giggling turned into barely held laughter.

Artoria's fingers gripped the paper so hard it crumpled, her ears burning out of embarrassment. Irisviel couldn't contain herself anymore and started to laugh, hands on her stomach.

"Casteeeeeer!"

Her only reply was a distant laughter.

Fate/Dragonborn 1.7

Risei kept his smile hidden as several Masters entered the old church. There were a lot of missing ones. The Masters of Berserker and Lancer elected to not appear, for any reason, which was… worrying. The Master of Berserker in particular had completely disappeared and that was not something they could ignore… but there were still enough of them. If they saw the missing ones, they could deliver the message to them.

"I'm happy to see all of you here." Said the priest. "I'm here to announce a suspension of the Grail War, as is my prerogative as overseer."

There was a moment of silence before the representative of the Einzbern and Master of Saber, an albino 'woman', if a homunculus could be called that, spoke. "Is this because of the light show that happened yesterday? It looked like an aurora."

Risei nodded. "It is. The lights that appeared in the sky, pretty as they were, were not just a show. Caster conducted an indiscriminate and unjustifiable attack against people outside the war."

Risei frowned as he said that. Initially, he intended to start the hunt based on Caster's attack on the man and the children… but recently, Assassin had seen them walking around with Lancer, so they were probably helpers. That had nullified their reason to declare a hunt on him… he would have preferred that the Servant didn't give him a cause by doing something like that.

"The light you saw yesterday was in fact an attack against the Matou residence. We ignore the reason for the attack. We suppose it's because one of the Matou's is always one of the Masters of the war, and that Caster had tried to eliminate him by attacking his home… ignoring that the Master in question was not inside the mansion. Matou Zouken came here the moment he discovered the attack, and he wants revenge for the attack."

"What happened to the other members of the family?" Asked the Master of Rider, a boy that was far too young and naïve to fight this war.

Risei sent a look at Tokiomi, which was looking at the ground, barely paying attention to the discussion. "It's… hard to say. The attack completely disintegrated the mansion and everything that was inside it. There is nothing left aside from a patch of dirt. Both the son of Zouken, his grandchildren, and the adopted daughter are missing."

Tokiomi twitched, an act that was not missed by the rest of the Masters.

"Caster has gone too far." Continued Risei, with more determination. Before, he had wanted to eliminate Caster because he was a threat against the plan to put the Grail in worthy hands… right now, it was because he knew the Servant was a monster. "As such, I'm declaring the suspension of the Grail War. Until Caster is dealt with, the Masters and Servants have to cease all action against each other. And for the one that will strike him down…"

He paused, then raised the sleeve on his arm to reveal numerous Command Seals on it. The Masters looked at them with awe.

Revealing the Seals was a dangerous move, but it was needed to properly motivate the Masters to fight Caster. Or, in the case of the Master of Saber, to reign in her attack dog and stop him from attacking other participants while they were busy elsewhere.

"These are the Command Seals left behind from the previous Wars. As overseer of the War, they come to me… and I have the authority to give them to however I wish." He paused so the Masters could fully understand the implications of what he was doing. "The one that will bring Caster down will receive one of these."

There was no sound as he said that, but the Masters clearly became more attentive… even Tokiomi, despite the depressed state he was in. The possible death of his daughter had hit him hard.

"That's all. Find Caster and eliminate him. Then, the War will continue."

The Masters remained in silence as they stood and got out. Good… Caster was going to die.

-X-

The hunt had begun.

This Fourth Grail War was starting to look like a strange mix of the normal one, and the strange one that Ritsuka had fought with Lord El-Melloi. Even if, to be fair, the elements that were part of the second were mostly something they added. Everything else was almost as faithful a reproduction of the original Grail War that you could get… except with another Caster, but even he acted very similarly to Gilles, with the demonic/undead minions running around tormenting other participants for strange reasons nobody could really understand.

Up to killing children.

Granted, he didn't sacrifice them to summon his monsters, but he still did it. It… didn't make sense though. Caster had shown the ability to find them pretty much at will. The reason given by the overseer of the Grail War was that he had tried to strike down Berserker… but that required Kiriya to be in the mansion, and he was sure that the man hated that place with every fiber of his being.

Despite not making any sense, the Matou mansion was dust and the members of the Matou family disappeared. And nobody here could cast a spell of that caliber. Saber and Archer could probably destroy the mansion in a similar way, but the attack would not have looked like a fancy light show, but more likely as a gigantic explosion. So, while half his brain was telling him that something was wrong, there was no other candidate for the destruction of the mansion and the disappearance of the Matou family.

His companions were in similar, if different states of confusion. Lord El-Melloi was puzzled because Caster's actions didn't fit with his modus operandi thus far, and the 'logic' given was shaky at best.

Mash had taken the news badly. At some point, she had come to think that Caster was… mostly innocuous, in a sense. He had shown the ability to reach any of them whenever he wanted, so she had assumed that he had not rained death and hellfire on anyone because he didn't want to. Sure, he was an asshole and had too much fun messing with people, but he was not evil. Now… now that vision has broken.

Lancer, for his part, had just stoically remained silent. It was clear that he had his own opinion on the entire thing, but he had not said anything and Ritsuka didn't feel like questioning him.

Fortunately, they didn't have much time to think about it, because literally a couple of hours before they got the news -thanks to a little chat with Saber- they had to move to the Einsbern's castle they owned in the city to participate in the meeting called by Rider. Well, more to see if Caster appeared than to participate, but still.

The event went pretty much as the other one did. Archer, Saber, and Rider stood near a barrel of wine, discussing what it meant ro be a king. Saber thought that the role of a king was to serve the people, Rider thought that a king needed to inspire people, and Gilgamesh thought that he was King and so everything he did was right and people just had to shut up and do what he said. Personally, Ritsuka felt that they all had at least a point in their favor, but their positions were… extreme. A middle ground was preferable, considering what happened to their kingdoms.

Surprisingly, the discussion was less one-sided this time. Actually, Saber replied with far more force to Rider, even if in the end, the King of Conquerors had the last word. Still, Saber didn't look defeated, just irritated.

The discussion was interrupted not by Caster, like they expected, but by Assassin. For some reason -maybe as an order from their Master, to get rid of… someone, Assassin included- Assassin had attacked the meeting and Rider had quickly dealt with him. Ritsuka took his time to actually pay attention, as unlike with the discussion, which he had already heard once, he had never actually seen Rider's Noble Phantasm in action. They still had yet to summon him into Chaldea.

It was… impressive. One second, they were in the courtyard of an old, clearly abandoned castle. Next, they were in the middle of a desert, and an immense army of Servants charged at Assassin. If Ritsuka remembered how Hassan of the Hundred Faces power worked, the strength of the Servant was divided among the various bodies, so even if the Servant inside Rider's Noble Phantasm -he would have liked to call it a Reality Marble, but it wasn't really one- were not exceptionally powerful, they were still more than enough to trample on the weakened Assassins and wipe the floor with them. It could have been likened to an epic battle, but it was not, because there were far too many enemies for Assassin to deal with. The army rushed them and ruthlessly killed them all in a single swipe. Some bodies managed to fight back, but barely a hundred of Assassins, not every one of them versed in combat, versus several thousand veteran warriors were not odds Hassan was able to overcome.

It was to no surprise -alright, it was with a little amount of surprise- that when they returned to the normal world, they found Caster with a mug in his hand, slowly moving it in circles to mix the liquid inside it.

"Well, I suppose I should thank you, Rider. Dealing with that many Assassins would have been a problem."

Since every single one of the other Servants was facing the other way when Caster spoke, they all turned. They didn't look surprised… not by much anyway, but each had a slightly different reaction. Archer -Gilgamesh- just sneered at him. Rider grinned a little, like he had seen something funny.

Saber -and Irisviel and Waver too, judging from their expressions when they looked at him- were none too happy to see him. Arturia looked angry, while both Irisviel and Waver were in equal part disgusted and fearful.

"You!" Exclaimed Saber, but she was cut off before she could continue.

"You have a lot of courage to show yourself after what you did." Commented Rider. "I like that. I would ask you to ally with me… but you're the target of every Servant and Master of this War right now. It would not be a tactical choice on my part."

Caster shrugged, unbothered. "Meh, it's not like I expected any allies in this… aside for temporary ones, of course."

The Geas on Ritsuka's arm pulsed. The boy looked at the arm, suddenly realizing that, even if he didn't want to, he now had to fight Archer if Caster decided to push in that direction.

Before Saber could start to rant -she probably was very upset that Caster had killed the Matou family-, Rider could do something, or Gilgamesh could just spout one of his arrogant sentences, Mash stepped forward, catching the gaze of everyone present.

"Why did you do it?"

Caster looked at her, tilting his head to the side. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, my dear. I did a lot of things in the last few days."

"Why did you attack the Matou mansion? Why did you kill those people?" Asked Mash, confusion and sadness tinting her voice.

Ritsuka felt a pang in his heart. Mash didn't deserve that. Sure, maybe she shouldn't have thought of the Servant as some sort of funny guy that was not going to hurt anyone, but even then, throwing ambushes at parties in the War and killing an entire family in cold blood were very different things.

Caster didn't say anything for a second, likely coming up with a justification. Probably something on the line with 'they were unfortunate casualties'. Instead, he came up with something very different.

"Killed them? Is what you were told I did? I didn't kill them, girl. I saved them. Matou Zouken is a sadistic monster that has long abandoned his humanity, only continuing to live out of a twisted desire to see the wish for the Grail realized. He killed the wife of his son, constantly put both his son and grandchildren into a perpetual state of terror, and he adopted the daughter of one of his acquaintances just to torture her with rape bugs, to make her the perfect vessel for some of his most twisted experiments. Why did I do that? Because I have mercy. So I freed them from the nightmare they called life and razed that place on the ground in the hope he will never do to others what it did to them, or at least that it will take him decades to rebuild. I would kill him with my bare hands if I didn't have them full right now, but make no mistake, if by the grace of God I find him in front of me, I will not hesitate to do to him what I have done to his house, and even that would be far more merciful than he deserves."

Caster really had a way with words. When he wanted to jest, there was a slight tone of amusement in his voice, almost a warning to not take his words seriously. When he was serious, the words became sharp and concise, as to signal that it was just business now.

So, the extremely blunt tone he used to say all of that, coupled with a subdued but sincere emotion behind them -sounded like homicidal fury, but it was hard to be sure- practically screamed that it was telling the truth.

That, or he was the most amazing liar ever, and that was not something to exclude.

"But… why kill them?" Asked the -fake- Master of Saber, Irisviel.

Caster's eyes fell on her and the woman took a step back. "Are you not listening to me, woman? I didn't kill them. I gave Sakura to Kiriya, and let his brother run away with his son. There was nobody inside the house when I destroyed it."

"But then why didn't they return-" Asked Waver, before getting summarily cut down.

"Because Zouken is a monster, I already told you that. The only reason why nobody else escaped before -aside for Kiriya, who did- is because Zouken is a vastly more powerful magus than any of them, and to defy his orders meant death or torture. The moment I gave them some trinkets to avoid magical detection, they jumped on the opportunity to run away."

A deep silence fell on everyone. If what Caster had just said was true, and there was still the possibility it was not, the hunt didn't make much more sense. Sure, he technically attacked an unrelated party, but nobody would have thought that the attack was not justified in some sense, and considering that the only thing that was destroyed was a house, one could argue that there was not enough justification for a hunt. After all, collateral damage was to be expected during a war.

Of course, that was if you believed Caster's word and if you didn't care about an extra Command Seal. If you did, then the fact that he had not killed the Matou family was irrelevant.

Or you could be Gilgamesh.

"So, the spawn of Tokiomi lives." Said the King of Heroes. "Well, maybe this news will take him out of his depression. He was already pathetic before, but now he's just unbearable." He snorted. "Of course, he would need to hear it from someone else. If he isn't able to overcome his grief on his own, he's not fit to be the Master of myself."

Caster looked at Gilgamesh, emitting something that could only be described as a wave of annoyance. "Big words for someone that refuses to make friends because the first one he ever made died."

Ritsuka held his breath as Gilgamesh's gaze became very sharp. "What do you know about that?"

"I know a lot of things, King of Heroes." Replied Caster. Then, his hand reached for his mask. Everyone held their breath, focusing to catch any trait that the mysterious Servant could have… but the heavy hood he wore covered most of his face anyway, and the fact that he drank his entire mug in two gulps didn't help. When the mug was down, the mask was already in its place. "And it seems like I can't have you in this War anymore. I hoped that by coming here I could find a reason not to… but I just can't stand your presence any longer."

Gilgamesh grinned, now in his element. "So you dare to challenge the King, mongrel? You think you have the power to defeat me?"

Caster shrugged. "Maybe I don't. But I have something you do not."

"And what would that be?" Asked Archer smugly.

"Allies." Replied Caster. "Berserker!"

A column of black mist erupted at Caster's side, and the menacing, almost bestial silhouette of the Berserker Servant emerged from it. The black-armored knight roared, sending a pang of pain in Rituska's ears.

"The last act of Kariya in this War." Said Caster. "The price I asked for saving his nephew."

Berserker growled, clearly only kept on the leash by the inhuman willpower of Caster. Then, the half of the Geas on Caster's hand glowed, and Ritsuka immediately looked at his hand, and… yeah, his one was glowing too.

"Our pact is clear, Master of Chaldea. Come."

Ritsuka looked at the Geas on his arm. He didn't really have a choice… but did he want to fight with Caster? Was he ready to believe his story? There was no way to verify that. If he really had given magical items to protect the Matous from magical tracking, they couldn't confirm his story. On the other hand, the fact that the mansion was disintegrated already put doubt on the theory that he had killed them. Even if he was lying, he could have simply kidnapped them to force Kiriya to give Berserker.

In the end, not having a choice helped. He could simply ignore the topic until the fight with Gilgamesh was done.

"Get ready to fight." He said, and Mash, Lord El-Melloi, and Lancer all assumed a combat stance.

"Such arrogance." Commented Gilgamesh, barely giving them a glance.

"It's a trait common between Kings." Replied Caster, materializing his bone staff.

The blond Servant raised a brow. "Are you implying that you're a King? You? What could you be the King of?"

Caster hesitated for just a second… then replied. The words were muffled by magic, so they were unintelligible, but clearly Gilgamesh could understand them, because his eyes widened in surprise.

Caster tapped his staff on the ground, producing an unnaturally loud sound. "Saber, Rider, I suggest you leave. Unless you want to help. I cannot guarantee the safety of your Masters."

Everyone caught the implicit threat, and so Saber and Rider both decided to retreat. Now in the courtyard of the castle, there were only them.

"Do you have a plan?" Lord El-Melloi asked.

Caster snorted. "Of course I have one. Just keep him busy. I'll think about the rest."

Not a lot to work with, but it would have to do. The fight was on.

Last edited: May 8, 2022

Fate/Dragonborn 1.8

talltree said:

Is there no chapter today?

I thought it updates every other Sunday

Click to expand…

Click to shrink…

It does. It's still Sunday here. An hour from Monday, admittedly, but still Sunday.

And I was busy trying to finish a particularly tough chapter, and also putting more clues at the end of this one because my beta reader made me notice that it's not exactly clear what Loki is actually doing. Which, granted, it's the point, but it also doesn't need to look like the entire thing is bullshit. So… yeah.

Anyway, the chapter is here. Enjoy!

-X-

Mash had no idea what Caster's plan was. The Servant was… difficult, both to read and to predict. She supposed he was going to use something blatantly absurd, using the -apparently- deep knowledge he had about Gilgamesh to reveal a weak spot in his power.

Or maybe he just wanted to stay away from the fight while everyone else tried their best to kill the King of Heroes. There were five of them even without him, so they had something of a chance to get Gilgamesh.

There was just one problem: the fact that her entire group was… hesitant. Caster had spoken of the liberation of the Matou family with extreme conviction, but if their suspicion on who was under the mask were true, then nothing he said could be accepted without investigating… and they didn't have the time to investigate right now. So, they were all quite unwilling to put up that much of a fight for someone that could have killed four people, including two children, in cold blood.

Of course, there was an exception.

Berserker roared, and Caster didn't have to tell him to attack. Or maybe he did and had communicated telepathically, you could never know with the Servant of Magic. Anyway, Berserker just dashed at Gilgamesh, but the blond man sneered and jumped high in the air, using whatever power he had to stay afloat and look down on everyone else.

"You really dare to attack me. Very well. Meet your end."

Mash tensed, ready for the attack to come… but it didn't. Not toward her, anyway.

Several rings of golden light appeared around Caster, and immediately weapons rained down on him from all directions. Mash could only stare as dust covered the point where the mage was…

And when the dust settled, he was there, completely unscathed.

"Luckily I told you to cover me." Snarked Caster, patting the dust from his cloak. "It could have gone badly if you didn't."

Senpai suddenly clutched his arm as a grimace passed through his face. The Geas on his arm became a little darker.

"Now do your job." Finished Caster, before grabbing a sword from the various weapons around him and throwing it at Berserker, who grabbed it and immediately covered it with his signature black-and-red Noble Phantasm, acquiring possession of the weapon like he was the original owner.

Meanwhile, Gilgamesh's face contorted. "I thought to kill you first, Caster. Despite your attitude, you have proven to be worthy of some respect. However, you'll have to wait. Your rabid dog insists on using my treasure like they're his own."

"Suit yourself." Replied Caster. "But before I forget again…"

There was a vibration in the air as the mage pronounced three words in a language nobody could understand, then he raised his hand and both Berserker and Lancer were surrounded by a brief azure glow.

"Take the sky, Berserker." Ordered Caster, and the mad Servant obeyed instantly. He flexed his legs and jumped high… and higher… and higher…

Oh, he wasn't jumping at all.

Berserker swung his borrowed weapon at Gilgamesh, who just dodged away. Then, Berserker stopped his movement mid-air, turned toward Gilgamesh, and attacked again!

"Did he just- of course he did." Muttered Senpai. "Let's attack now that he's distracted by Berserker."

Lancer nodded and followed Berserker into the sky. They were not particularly fast in the air, but it wasn't like Gilgamesh could move all that quickly either.

Of course, that was until he decided to take out his flying ship. And the fact that he was not very mobile didn't translate into an inability to attack.

Mash removed her eyes from the battle in the air to look at Caster. "Uh… why didn't you use that magic on me too?"

"Because I want you to stay here and protect me, of course." He replied. "I cannot defend myself from another attack like that while I focus on my plan."

Mash nodded. "But I cannot protect you from an attack like that anyway. My shield can only cover you from one direction."

Caster paused, giving it a moment of thought. "Hmm, true enough. You think you can be more useful up there?"

"I can help distract Archer." Replied the Shielder. "Senpai and Lord El-Melloi are not very useful against someone with high Magic Resistance, but they can at least attack from a distance. I cannot do anything from here."

"Very well." Said Caste, snapping his fingers and pointing at her. The same azure glow briefly lit up around her. "Give him hell."

Mash nodded and… uh… how did the spell make her fly? Did she had just to wish to ascend or-

As the thought crossed her mind, she felt her body starting to float. Well, that was convenient.

She flew through the air, ready to engage.

-X-

Lord-El Melloi didn't know what to think anymore.

Caster was just so… annoyingly confusing. He didn't make sense. His Magecraft, his attitude… nothing about him made any sense.

Like what just happened. Mash had requested to join Berserker and Lancer in the aerial fight with Gilgamesh. Caster had initially refused, pointing out that he needed protection. Then, when Mash had replied that if Gilgamesh decided to pull out that trick again she couldn't protect him, he had quickly agreed and let her fly away.

Why?! Up until now, Caster had a certain 'my way or the highway' kind of attitude toward them. He gave his conditions, and if they were not accepted, he left without giving them time to do anything. Now, instead, he had decided to become very agreeable.

Was the fact that they were in a fight with Gilgamesh, and Caster seemed to have a pretty clear idea of how dangerous he was, and so decided to humor them to have them cooperate? Or was it because before they were enemies and now were -temporary- allies, and so he had relaxed?

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. His magical abilities were… off the charts. He was not really sure if they were technically above the ones of any other Servants -he didn't know enough Servant Casters to really make a comparison, and he was a terrible example- but surely they were very strange. He had never encountered a magus like him.

At least he could identify another of his Skills. He was pretty sure he had just used High-Speed Divine Words, and that marked him as an ancient practitioner. One straight from the Age of Gods or immediately after. That really reduced the number of possibilities regarding his true identity.

It also helped to explain how he survived an attack from Gilgamesh of all people. He was sure he heard him mutter a word before the attack could connect. He ignored what he had said, or how that particular spell worked, but it had worked. Some kind of phasing, maybe?

"Focus on Gilgamesh, Lord El-Melloi." Whispered Ritsuka. "We'll think about him later."

Oh yeah, right. They had asked for Saber's help. As varied as Caster's magic was, he couldn't compete with the King of Knight's Magic Resistance.

Unfortunately, there was not much they could do right now. Gilgamesh couldn't compare with Arturia, but he still had a pretty respectable resistance to magic. Both he and the boy were too mediocre as Magi to affect him with their regular spells.

So, the best thing they could do was wait for an opportunity. And meanwhile, protect Caster.

The man had just decided to start casting a spell. A powerful one too. He was mumbling under his breath, too low to understand the words, but Lord El-Melloi could feel the power building up. They had to buy him enough time to complete the spell, so he focused on the aerial battle, watching for any attempt to strike him down.

Unfortunately, Gilgamesh had enough weapons in his armory to equip an army of Servants, so he had little problem throwing them around, and since he could open his golden portals everywhere, it didn't take him long to detect what Caster was doing and shoot three weapons at him.

Before anyone could act, Caster did something he had not expected.

He dodged.

All it took was one of his legs bending, and before Lord El-Melloi could blink, he had propelled himself away from the trajectory of the weapons. Missing him, the projectile armory of weapons lodged themselves into the ground in an explosion of dust and debris.

And during all of that, he still continued to chant.

That was quite a lot of speed for a Caster. Speed was usually the highest of a Caster's physical attributes, but that was beyond what he had expected. Most Casters, while superhuman, didn't zap around during a fight. Especially not while preparing a spell.

Unfortunately, seeing Caster dodge his assault so easily made Gilgamesh upset. More portals started to pop open everywhere, enough to completely overwhelm both his three attackers and Caster.

He seemed to ignore him and Ritsuka for the moment. Good. That was the moment they could act.

"Now! Unreturning Formation: Stone Sentinel Maze!"

Lord El-Melloi released his Noble Phantasm, locking Gilgamesh in a maze that will inflict a curse on whoever was inside, slowly killing them, an act physically represented by several columns falling around him and a blinding light. Unless he managed to exit in time, he would die quickly.

And of course, the maze managed to trap Gilgamesh for just the time he needed to call more weapons and shredded the entire thing. But that was expected. He just hoped that he had given Caster enough time to do… whatever he was doing.

Gilgamesh emerged from the remains of the Sentinel Maze with a barely noticeable frown on his face. "You're starting to become annoying." He said.

"We're going to get worse." Replied Caster. He raised his staff before slamming it down. "Dragonfire Ward!"

There was no grand display of magic. No show of light, no structure emerged around Caster or trapped Gilgamesh in its clutches. The only sign that Caster had done anything was a brief distortion in the air, rapidly expanding until it covered the entirety of the old castle.

There was a pause, as everyone stilled, waiting for the powers of the spell Caster had just used to manifest… but nothing happened.

"All that preparation -the allies, the distraction- was for… this?" Gilgamesh smirked smugly. "I thought you were at least competent, Caster. But it seems I was wrong. Now, die."

The ancient King raised his hand, pointing to the still unmoving mage, and… nothing happened.

"What…?" Whispered Ritsuka, unable to understand what just… didn't happen. Not that he was the only one. Everyone seemed to be frozen in confusion.

"What… what did you do?" Asked Gilgamesh, his tone quickly shifted from condescending to demanding.

"Oh, nothing special. Dragonfire Ward stops anything from entering or leaving the space it protects using magic. The only way to pass through the barrier is physically. And since you don't have your treasury on your person…"

Lord El-Melloi blinked. Caster had just… put up a dimensional barrier? It sounded like something in that vein. It would be interesting to test how 'physical' the traveling needed to be, but the Ward sounded like it was meant to stop teleportation or similar effects. Which was a great counter against Gilgamesh, since it cut out his access to his treasury and, in doing so, his main means of attack. Without the ability to throw prototype Noble Phantasms at his leisure, Gilgamesh was a Servant with decent physical and magical power but sub-optimal fighting skills. He would not last against three combat-focused Servants and three magi, one of which was Caster who was able to manipulate space.

Of course, that posed a lot of problems on how they were going to beat Caster later, but they'll cross that bridge when they get to it.

Lord El-Melloi's thoughts were interrupted by a sound that reminded him of glass breaking. He turned up and saw Gilgamesh, well… furious, and the air around him visibly trembling.

"You mongrel…" Growled the King of Heroes, several veins pulsing on his forehead. "The mad dog stealing my treasure? An offense he's going to pay for with blood, but a temporary affair. You? You have tried to separate the King from his treasury. Nothing will remain after I'm done with you!"

The air cracked, and hundreds of golden discs materialized over Gilgamesh's head, quickly growing in numbers until the sky was filled with golden light, enough to cover the entire castle. Then another set, as big as the first, covered the gaps between the first one, as the golden Archer pushed his Noble Phantasm to the limit. By a quick estimation, there were thousands of weapons pointed at them.

Caster's reaction was… tepid. "Uh. I didn't expect him to be able to overcome the Dragonfire Ward."

"There is no time to be awed! Do something before he destroys us all!" Shouted Ritsuka. Unfortunately, the flying speed Caster had granted to their frontline fighters was not meant to make them move as fast as they could on their own power. They would not reach Gilgamesh in time.

Caster waved off Ritsuka's worry with a shrug. "Don't worry, I have a Plan B."

What in the fuc-

Lord El-Melloi barely had the time to turn toward Gilgamesh as something emitted a barely noticeable hiss. As he did, he could see a black arrow planting itself in the unprotected neck of the Servant.

The King of Heroes stopped, almost incredulous. Blood started to drip from his mouth. He tried to turn his head in the direction the arrow came from, but before he could complete the movement, another arrow hit him in the eye.

Then a spear of concrete the size of a light pole pierced his chest.

Lord El-Melloi and Ritsuka turned to see Caster's hand raised and pointing at the Servant.

"Game over." Muttered the mage in an uncharacteristically low and aggressive tone. He really didn't like the Archer, uh?

There was no retaliation. The golden disks threatening them disappeared one after another, leaving the night sky free. When the last one closed, Gilgamesh dissolved into motes of light… they had won. He still couldn't believe it.

"Well, good job everyone." Said Caster, in a cheerful tone that really contrasted with what he had just done. "You're free from your Geas, boy. Just really think about what you want to do. If I were you, I'd go to the beach, instead of trying to find me. But you do you. Bye!"

He waved his hand and disappeared into nothing. A second later, Berserker did the same.

And a second after that, both Mash and Lancer dropped from the sky. Lancer was agile enough to land on his feet. Mash… landed on another part of her body.

"Are you alright, Mash?" Asked Ritsuka, immediately reaching for her.

"Yes. I just got an… unfortunate landing." Replied the girl, gladly accepting her Master's hand and standing. She rubbed her back with a grimace. "I bet he did that on purpose. It must be his idea of a joke."

Ritsuka's lips trembled upwards. "Well, it was a little funny."

"Senpai!" The girl cried.

"It's nice that you can have fun in a situation like this." Muttered Lord El-Melloi. "Lancer, did you see who shot those arrows?"

Tension immediately rose, and Ritsuka and Mash straightened up. Lancer, on his part, frowned. "Not clearly. There was something in the shadows. Not one of the draugr, even if it was humanoid. I could make an armor that completely covered its body, surely newer than what the undead use, and a strangely recurved longbow. But I couldn't see its face: it was covered by a hood." The Servant paused. "It was there just for a second, then I lost it. It was… surreal. Different from anything I've seen during this War."

"Different how?" Asked Ritsuka.

"I didn't feel it." Admitted Lancer. "I can sense the magic inside the draugr, but that figure… there was nothing there. If it hadn't shot Archer, I would have thought it an illusion."

There was a brief silence.

"Presence Concealment?" Asked Ritsuka. "Could that be an Assassin?"

"But Assassin is dead." Replied Mash. "We saw Iskandar taking care of them."

"Plus, the Hassans are not really known to have the ability to magically blur with shadows." Continued Lord El-Melloi. "Presence Concealment doesn't work when the Assassin is attacking. If that shadow really was our mysterious sniper, they had another Skill on top of Presence Concealment to mask his appearance and presence."

"Like Caster?" Asked Lancer.

Lord El-Melloi took a cigar and lit it up, irritation oozing from every movement. "Yeah, like Caster. So it could either be a power of his, or a helper he protected with the same spell he's using."

"Probably a helper." Said Lancer, looking away from the others.

"What makes you say that?" Asked Ritsuka, following his gaze but finding nothing.

The Servant pointed his red spear toward a patch of the floor that seemed to have nothing special. "The arrows are still there."

The group immediately reached the area indicated by the Servant of the Spear. And, almost invisible in the darkness of the old castle, there were two black arrows of some strange, glass-like material. Lord El-Melloi reached down and grabbed one, analyzing it with all the senses and magic he possessed.

"I cannot recognize the material." He admitted after a while. "Seems like volcanic glass, but it acts like a metal." He flexed the shaft of the arrow to demonstrate. It took considerable strength on his part, but they could see the thing bending slightly. "It's also several times stronger than any metal I know about, and also heavier."

"Some sort of alchemical creation?" Asked Ritsuka. He was not an expert, but he knew you could do very strange things using alchemy.

"Maybe. We'll have to analyze it at Chaldea though. We don't have the tools here. More importantly… I can still feel some sort of enchantment on it. It's faint, little more than a trace… but it feels like a curse of some kind. Fatigue and defense reduction, maybe?"

"Some of the draugrs weapons were cursed." Mash remembered. "The archers that harassed us could drain my magical power just by hitting my shield."

"He's probably equipping them with Mystic Codes to increase their effectiveness. That doesn't tell us if he just used one of his draugr or he found a way to hack the Grail. It would not be above his abilities." Lord El-Melloi sighed, defeated. "Every time I think I understand Caster, he finds a way to mess with us."

"Yeah, about that…" Said Ritsuka, his voice strangely unsure. "That mention of the beach… you don't think it was a warning… right?"

Lord El-Melloi's mind flew at the events of the Fourth Grail War, when the then Caster, Gilles de Rais, had summoned an enormous monster to fight the other Servants. It happened… right after the meeting of the Kings.

"That's impossible." He replied. "That would mean he knows how the real Fourth Grail Wars had gone. And even if he did… why tell us?"

Ritsuka didn't answer. Mash too, had no idea. It was probably just a coincidence.

Fate/Dragonborn 1.9

I was looking over the city when Da Vinci found me.

"There you are." She said, coming to my side. "So, how are things going?"

"The observer of the War put a stop to the fight between Masters until Caster is dealt with." I replied, not looking at her.

"Ah, yes. Unfortunate, but you knew it was a possibility."

"You know what that means, right?" I asked. I didn't exactly tell her all the parts of my plan, but that was because I assumed she was smart enough to get it anyway.

"Hmm. You cannot hope that the other Servants will kill each other… you have to force the matter."

"Yeah. We need more power… how much?"

"Another two, I'm afraid. Three is almost enough… but almost will not cut it."

I didn't reply. I just continued to stare in the distance.

"You know… there is an easy solution for that." She said, I sent a glance in her direction, taking note of the slight apprehension in her eyes.

"I will not order you to suicide… not unless I have no other choice."

"What does it matter? If your plan works, nobody is getting their wish anyway. Keeping me alive doesn't help anybody, and you risk staying here for years if you can't defeat another two Servants."

"I know. But I'm still not doing it. It's wrong."

Da Vinci paused. "You definitely are not a magus. Most wouldn't have hesitated."

"As far as I'm concerned, that's a great compliment."

She giggled. "I suppose you would think that." She turned and looked at the city in the distance. "It's a shame that we had so little time together. I think we could have been friends."

"We're not?" I asked, more to play the devil's advocate than anything else. "You're helping me even if my plan is not going to give you anything. I'll say that'll make you my friend."

Da Vinci smiled. "I did that because I thought it would be an interesting challenge, and because I wanted to see how you managed to do it. We're more friendly colleagues than friends."

I nodded. I already knew that she was doing this out of curiosity.

"Still…" She said, pausing. "I hope one day you'll get on the Throne too. So we can meet again."

I smiled. "Yeah… that would be cool." As I said that, the horizon started to brighten. "The dawn is coming."

Da Vinci nodded. "If you're not sure about it, we can delay…"

"No, there is not much more we can do to prepare. And the more time that passes, the more time the others have to prepare themselves. Better strike now that we have the advantage."

Da Vinci looked at me with worried eyes, but she nodded. "Yes, it's better this way. Still…"

"Don't worry about me, Da Vinci. I'll manage to get this right. I always do." I offered her my hand. "Let's bring the final act of this together, shall we?"

She smiled and shook it. "Yes. Together."

-X-

Ritsuka was nervous.

They had finally found the hideout of Caster. They mainly did this by excluding every other possible place.

Unoriginally, he had decided to hide in the sewers. Not that it was surprising, it was the most logical place to use… but he had hoped that the mysterious Caster had more taste. Exploring the sewers was going to suck.

But they had to do it. Most of the group was… pretty reticent to actually fight Caster. Sure, his word was not worth much but…

… Come to think about it, was his word really worth so little? Sure, he liked to mess with them, but he still had to break his word. Despite all… maybe he really had not killed the Matous.

Anyway, whatever the truth, most of the group was not eager to fight him. The only exception was Lancer… and maybe that was just because he continued to maintain a stubbornly stoic expression. He was not really sure what his real thoughts were.

"So we're going." Announced Ritsuka. "Are we ready?"

"Difficult to say, considering we know next to nothing about Caster's true power." Lord El-Melloi admitted. "But we have to go anyway."

And then, a powerful surge of magical energy exploded in the distance. Even from there, it was clear where the source was.

"The sea?" Asked Mash, looking in the direction of the source.

"So he really was warning us." Muttered Lord El-Melloi. "But why? What is his aim? And this amount of magical power…"

Ritsuka made a decision, more on instinct than anything else. "Lancer, go and intercept whatever Caster is doing."

"Are you sure?" Asked the man, visibly hesitating.

"Yes. He's clearly trying to attract attention, and there will be only Saber and Rider able to deal with him now that Archer is gone and Berserker works for him. Intercept him, defeat him, and return here as fast as you can."

Lancer looked at Lord El-Melloi, since technically his previous Master had given the Command Seals to him. When he nodded, the Servant kneeled. "As you wish." Then he dashed away in the direction of the shore.

"Do you think Caster is really going to re-enact what Gilles did?" Asked the older magus, frowning.

"Maybe. Or maybe it's just a coincidence… but we cannot risk it. If he really is Loki… there is a monster he could call to his aid that will require all the Servants to stop."

"Jormungandr, the World Serpent." Nodded Lord El-Melloi. "I see."

"Then why are we not helping?" Asked Mash.

"Because he could still send his draugr or have prepared some other surprise to attack the Servants while they fight the monster." He replied. "We need to reach his hideout and be sure he cannot interfere while they're fighting. Once all is clear, we'll join them."

Mash nodded, entered in what Ritsuka called 'fight mode', and they started to descend into the sewers.

He hoped that it would not take long.

-X-

Arturia was the first to arrive on the shores, to investigate what in the hell Caster was doing. After the huge surge of magical power that every magus in the city must have felt, there was… nothing. They had expected to see a monster of some kind, or maybe a gigantic tsunami ready to wash the entire coastline. But the only thing visible from the shore was darkness.

No, wait… was that Caster?

Well, there were no other figures in dark robes around, so he was probably him. Was he… walking on water?

He was. In fact, he looked like he was strolling without a care in the world. Arturia decided to intercept him. Better not make him come too close to land.

"Ah, Saber. Nice to meet you here. Did you come for a walk on the beach? It's quite relaxing."

She ground her teeth at the casual greeting. Did he take anything seriously?

"What are you doing?" She asked, raising her sword.

"Making my best Jesus impression." Sarcastically replied Caster. "Why, what does it look like?"

"Don't make fun of our Lord!" Growled the knight. Really, his disrespect knew no limit.

Caster remained silent for a second. "Hmm, maybe I did go too far. I just don't remember anyone else that could walk on water. It was not my intention to offend you."

And he did it again! Why was he so… considerate?

"You're impossible." Muttered the King of England. "Why are you so gentle? We're enemies! We should fight to the death, not trying to have a pleasant discussion."

"Well, I'm trying because I like you."

"Eh?"

Did she hear that right?

Clearly, her confusion was pretty visible, because he continued.

"What, I cannot like you? Sure, you really should learn how to relax and live a little, but that doesn't make you a bad person. I don't see why I should treat you badly."

Did he… did he just say that? "I'm not a person. I'm a weapon of my Master."

Caster scoffed. "Please, don't give me that. You have emotions, no matter how hard you try to hide them. You love, you hate, you get annoyed… I admit I've not seen much of your emotions, but you still have them. That makes you a person."

Was this guy for real?

Caster looked up, and following his gaze, she saw Rider coming on his lighting chariot.

"Uh, seems like I have to cut the chat. A shame, really, but good things never last."

Arturia… just gave up. Making sense of this man was a lost cause.

"So, you intend to fight me with the help of Rider, or an honorable duel like the one with Lancer?"

"I thought you wanted to cut the chat." Replied Saber.

"Meh, until he's here we can at least decide the rules of engagement."

Suddenly, something hit her. He was… strangely relaxed. Up until now, he had sounded carefree, but now that he had all the other Masters against him, he should have been more cautious, not even more reckless.

Something was not right.

"Why do you sound so eager to fight? You tried several times to avoid a confrontation with other Servants."

Caster chuckled. "Ah, well, you see, before I was trying to stay… somewhat low. I couldn't hope to match a direct attack from all the other Servants. But now two are gone and one works for me, and the observer put the remaining Servants against me anyway. So, I don't have to stay as low profile anymore. In fact…"

There was a distortion in the air, and Caster's robe transformed into armor made of… bones?

"Ah, better. I hope there will not be too many people witnessing this. It's going to get… heated."

There, he did it again. He was using the lives of the bystanders as hostages, exactly like he had forced Rider and her to retreat from the battle with Archer by threatening their Masters. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be too many people around. The fact that they were walking on water helped.

"So you finally reveal yourself as the villain you are." Said the Servant of the Sword.

Caster looked at her and she could hear him grin behind the mask. "Villain? You offend me, my dear Saber. I'm not just a villain. I'm a super-villain!"

Arturia frowned. The knowledge granted by the Grail gave her a context about the meaning of the word, but… "What's the difference?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked." He said, his tone sounding positively giddy. He opened his arms, and the water under him rose.

No, not the water. Water didn't have yellow, fissured eyes, or scales the size of a shield.

"It's the presentation!" Exclaimed Caster, and the absolutely gigantic snake that had emerged from the sea opened his mouth -big enough to swallow an entire car- and hissed with enough force to make her mistake it for a shriek.

God, the fangs of that thing were longer than Excalibur.

Why did she have to ask?

-X-

It took a while to reach the center of the sewers, the enormous, cavernous clearing in the middle of the various tunnels where, in another War, Gilles had killed innumerable children to fuel his army of demons. The journey until now had been… almost easier. Almost, because there was no army of demonic monsters trying to stop them.

There were a lot of traps though. Vicious traps. Runes that exploded, released clouds of poison, or tried to freeze them. And those were just the most direct. Some traps tried to inflict terrible fear in them, others tried to confuse them, and some actually summoned groups of draugr to try and stop them.

All in all, when they arrived at the central room, they were pretty battered. Mash was great for the more physical effects of the various traps, but that didn't help with everything and even her shield couldn't completely cover them all the time. They were still going, but it had not been easy.

So, when Ritsuka saw a figure sitting in the middle of a summoning circle, he felt all his blood freeze.

"What…? Why… why are you here?" He asked, confusion and panic stopping him from elaborating further.

Caster, with his dark clothes and the mask of bone, turned toward them without standing. "Oh, look at that. Seems like you really did come."

Ritsuka blinked. He was… expecting them?

"But… how? How can you be here and offshore, doing… whatever you are trying to do?" Asked Lord El-Melloi. "And even if you could do this… why? What could be the purpose to attract everyone to the sea if you are there?"

"That's a good question" Admitted Caster, standing from the ground. "I could answer, but that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"

The group remained silent, trying to come up with something to say… until an echo arrived from one of the various passages. A shriek… or a hiss.

"What was that?" Asked Mash.

"Seems like the battle on the shore has just started." Commented Caster. "And you don't have Lancer with you… well, it doesn't matter. I would have liked to fight someone with true skill with arms though."

"Hey!" Shouted Mash, offended.

"Sorry girl, that humongous hunk of metal you call a shield is not a weapon. So, unless you know how to use that sword at your side…"

Mash devolved into incoherent mumbling.

"As I expected. Now then… shall we start?" He asked, before grabbing his staff and-

"Why are you doing this?"

Caster looked at Lord El-Melloi, who had just interrupted his preparations. "To win the War?" He replied, apparently confused by the question.

"Don't give me that. The way you're acting doesn't make any sense. First, you're demanding, then agreeable. First, you try to make a pact, then you force one on us. First, you boldly appear in front of the majority of the Servants of this War, and then you hide away in the sewers and send your draugr to do the fighting. Why are you acting like this?"

Uh… well, Lord El-Melloi had tried to pierce the reasons and the aims of Caster, always coming up short. The man didn't make sense, but while Ritsuka and Mash had just decided to roll with it, the older magus seemed to have taken it on himself to solve that puzzle, almost like a personal challenge. Evidently, though, his patience had reached it's limit.

Caster didn't answer immediately. Instead, he released an explosive laugh. There was no derision inside it, just amusement. He really seemed to find the confusion of Lord El-Melloi funny. When he stopped laughing, he shook his head. "You still don't get it? Not making sense is the goal."

What? How that made any-

Ritsuka interrupted that line of thought when he saw Lord El-Melloi's eyes widen in sudden realization.

"No, it can't be. Your first appearance, the draugr, the destruction of the Matou mansion…" He stopped, one of his hands covering his face. He had a look of absolute incredulity, mixed with something else… fear?

"Lord El-Melloi?" Asked Mash, unsure of what the problem really was.

The man blinked and retook some semblance of control. He stood straighter and set a steely glance at Caster. "Let me reformulate my question: what is your Master doing while you're here fighting all of us alone?"

Ritsuka sent a glance toward Mash. What were…

Then it hit him.

Caster, always being flashy, while he could easily cover himself in a spell able to hide him from any attempt to locate him. Caster sending hordes of monsters against all the participants of the War, instead of gathering his forces and striking when they weakened each other. Caster always presenting himself directly in front of his enemies, even when there could have been other methods to do the same thing more efficiently or safely.

They had assumed it was because of arrogance, or more likely, stupidity. Or both. Being a powerful magus didn't really require being a tactical genius.

But…

Not making sense was the goal.

"A diversion." Exhaled Ritsuka. By the look on Mash's face, she had reached the same conclusion. "All you ever did was a diversion. You attracted our attention to you while your Master did… what?"

There was a second of silence where Caster didn't say anything… Then he chuckled. "You'll have to find out on your own." He tapped his staff on the floor, and he could feel the concrete under their feet shift. He turned just in time to see the exit behind them closing, as well as all the others. "Now, then. I believe we were going to hit each other using magic and blunted objects until either of us ceased their biological functions. You want the first move?"

That was either very kind of him, very condescending, or very arrogant. At this point, Ritsuka was not even sure it was not just an elaborate scheme for… something.

Mash didn't seem to care about it. "Engaging." She said, before darting forward.

Ritsuka was half-tempted to stop her so they could attack together, but she was their better fighter, and if there was someone that could keep Caster occupied in melee, she was the one. She reached him in a second and made a horizontal swing of her shield against his face, trying to use thick metal to bash his teeth in instead of tackling him, which would probably have little effect.

Caster fell on his knees, not because he was hit but because he physically lowered himself under the attack, letting the metal brush his hood while he was unharmed. Then, from his kneeled position, he punched Mash right into the stomach.

Normally, a Caster's attack would have done nothing to Mash. While she was not the most powerful Servant around, her defense was unparalleled.

So, it was with a certain amount of surprise that Ritsuka watched Mash gasp for air as the punch sent her several feet back, and took a second to reassert herself and recover her wits.

All the time Caster needed to reach her.

The bone staff of the Servant whirled into action so fast that Ritsuka couldn't follow it. He managed to see Mash's head being smacked around at least four times, then Caster withdrew the weapon to stab her in the middle of the chest with all the strength he had. This time, Mash was sent flying, bounced a couple of times against the cold floor of the sewers, before speeding up in front of their eyes and smashing against the wall behind them. Ritsuka turned in time to see the girl peel off from the cracked concrete, just the barest impression of her body cratering the surface, before falling face-first on the ground.

Oh shit.

Fate/Dragonborn 2.1

Arturia dodged another attack from the giant serpent that was keeping both her and Rider busy. The battle was not going well. Despite the size of the monster- it was quite literally as big as a train- it was surprisingly fast, and the sheer mass of the thing made fighting it in melee very difficult. She could evade its attacks with some effort and strike it, but that was not the problem.

Despite its toughness -she had found that its scales were tough enough to be compared with steel- it was not impossible for her to wound it. The problem was that it didn't remain wounded. Its flesh mended itself before her eyes, and the enormous body it possessed made it very difficult to strike something vital. The best tactic would be to strike the head… but Caster was there, and he deflected any attempt to jump and reach the brain of the creature with powerful protective spells. He couldn't hurt her with magic, but that didn't stop him from being annoying.

Rider was having an equally difficult time. His flying chariot put him out of the monster's reach… but also outside the range of any decent attack he could throw at it. The thing seemed to be impervious to magic in a different way compared to normal Magic Resistance. It was like mana-infused attacks just… fizzled near its skin instead of actually hitting it. It didn't cancel a spell outright, it simply reduced the damage inflicted, and it worked on Mana Burst too, making the snake something of an insurmountable wall. Adding regeneration to that, and the battle wasn't as much a fight as an endurance test to see who got low on mana first.

And considering that Caster was there…

She had no choice. She had to use that.

"Rider!" She called, and Servant swooped low to give her the opportunity to jump on his chariot. The serpent's enormous fangs snapped at them and almost closed on the chariot… almost. The oxen sprinted at the absolute last moment and the head of the creature missed them by a meter or so.

The fireball Caster conjured didn't miss though.

Flames incredibly hot covered her vision. She was unharmed, but they didn't get out unscathed. The chariot was damaged, and the oxen that pulled it had not fared that well. They were covered in burns and every movement seemed painful. Rider had fared better, covered by the Chariot, but he was still scorched.

"Damn him." Muttered the King of Conquerors. "He aimed at the Gordius Wheel. He knows that without it we'll be at the mercy of the snake… I hope you have a plan, Saber."

"I do. I have an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm… but I cannot activate it too close to the shores, or the explosion is going to do catastrophic damage. Can you drag the snake away from the coast?"

Rider frowned, thinking. "Yes, I can do that. I will have to use my Noble Phantasm… and if I have to do that, I'll be of no use afterward if not as a distraction. I hope you can take that thing out with a single blow, Saber."

"I can." She replied. The snake was tough, but it couldn't resist Excalibur. A solid hit to the head, and it was going down.

"Very well. Jump down, I'm going to trap it."

Saber obeyed and landed on the shore. Rider's chariot thundered, quickly closing the distance with the snake, and before the monster could attack or Caster could do something, they disappeared in a flash of light.

Saber focused. She had to strike quickly when they reappeared. The snake was not going to take Excalibur, but he was fast enough that he could dodge the ray. She had to engulf it in the explosion if she wanted to be sure to kill it. Fortunately, she had some time.

Then Lancer emerged from the night and reached her. "Saber! What happened? What has Caster done?"

"He summoned some giant snake." Replied the King of Knights. "Rider has brought both it and Caster into his Noble Phantasm and it's trying to take them away from the shore. Once they'll reappear, I'm going to deal with them."

"In his Noble…" Whispered Lancer. "Oh, that could be bad. I don't know how much his army is going to matter against the World Serpent."

Saber's eyes widened. "The World Serpent? You mean Caster is-"

She was distracted by another flash of light far away. Already? That was far less than she expected. Did Caster interfere with the Noble Phantasm in some way? Or, as Lancer had said, Rider's army couldn't do anything against the World Serpent?

It didn't matter. It was far enough. She raised her sword high in the sky and let her mana flow inside it. Golden light exploded out of her blade. Now, she just needed to call the name of her Noble Phantasm.

"Ex-"

Caster appeared literally out of nowhere. One instant he was not there, the next one he was, already wielding a silvery blade in his right hand. Saber's eyes widened in surprise. She knew he could teleport -Lancer's group already warned her- but she didn't know he could teleport that far.

Well, it was too late. "-Calibur!"

Caster's sword blurred into action. He couldn't parry Excalibur, and from that distance, he was going to be disintegrated if he tried.

So he didn't.

The sword's blade slid past her head, and Excalibur's guard clanged loudly against the black metal of Caster's own. Then, with far more strength than she could imagine Caster had, he pushed her arms to the side.

Excalibur's descending trajectory was deflected, and the magical power that should have incinerated Caster and his summoned snake exploded at his side. It was a small deviation, barely a step, but it was enough. The ray of light she had summoned darted in the distance, missing its target by a mile, and the explosion didn't even scratch Miðgarðsormr.

Before she could recover from the surprise, Caster's head tilted to the left before dashing away from her, just a second before a red spear pierced the air where his head had been a fraction of a second before.

"I don't have time to play with you, Servant of the Spear." Said Caster, in a suddenly serious tone she had never heard of him. "Fenrir!"

As he called the name, a giant wolf, completely black aside from his burning orange eyes, emerged from thin air and jumped on Lancer. The monster was as big as a van, with bulging muscles worthy of Rider's oxen, fangs and claws like knives, and his fur was bristly and thick. Despite that, he was so fast that Lancer had to jump back to avoid having his throat torn open. The fangs of the wolf snapped with the sound of a steel trap, but Lancer didn't have time to do anything before the wolf continued his pursuit, his claws flashing at the Servant's stomach.

Half a second later, the two were far away, locked into a deadly battle of their own.

"Now… where were we?"

Saber re-focused on Caster. Could he really be…

No. Assuming was what led them here. They had played his game too long. She was not going to let him play mind games with her anymore.

She was going to ask, and if he lied, she would stop thinking about it.

"Who are you?" She questioned. "Lancer seems to be sure you're Loki, the God of Trickery… but that doesn't track. Loki is not a swordsman. And even if he was, he wouldn't be able to use his skill as a Caster."

Caster… Loki… whoever he was, didn't reply immediately. He sent her a curious look, like he was pondering what was the best way to answer her.

Then, finally.

"I'm Dov. Ah. Kiin."

The words didn't have any meaning in Saber's mind. But they had one for her soul. Something inside her reacted to the words, and even if the specifics were lost to her, she got the general meaning. Those three words defined the core of Caster as an individual. It encapsulated his powers, his very nature, in a single phrase.

It was a Name of power.

The name of a Dragonslayer.

Saber shivered. That… that was not what she had expected. "So, when you told Archer you are a King…?"

"Oh, it's true. I am the King of Dragons." He replied, raising his sword to shoulder height. "I took the title from the previous owner."

Instinctively, Arturia's grip on Excalibur tightened. This was going to be much harder than anticipated.

"Let's see how good your swordplay is, shall we?" He asked, before charging her with his blade flashing.

Their clash shocked the earth.

-X-

"Ah!"

Both Ritsuka and Lord El-Melloi attacked at the same time, two waves of fire merging into one to strike down Caster. Against most Servants, the attack would have been useless. Most either had enough Magic Resistance to ignore any spell produced by a Magus, or they were tough or fast enough to avoid it regardless.

Casters, in theory, didn't have any of that. Sure, this Caster in particular was full of surprises, but even if it didn't work, they just needed enough time for Mash to get up.

Caster ignored the wave of flame that engulfed his upper body. As in, he just remained there and let himself be hit without moving. When the flames had burnt out, he wasn't even singed.

"Ah, thank you, that helps my sinuses. These sewers are so damp…"

"Great, he has Magic Resistance too." Muttered Ritsuka under his breath. "Mash, are you alright?"

"Yes. He just caught me off-guard." Replied the girl, standing up. "He hits hard."

"Too hard." Said Lord El-Melloi. "Try to keep him busy, Mash. I want to try something."

"Are you done?" Asked Caster, who had not moved from where he was. He then spoke three more words in a language nobody understood and blasted them with a wave of fire that, just for dimension and heat, far surpassed what they had produced just a second ago.

Mash jumped in front of them and slammed her shield down, creating a barrier to stop the inferno from reaching for them. It held, and the flames erupted to the sides of the barrier leaving them unharmed.

But considering that the concrete hit by the attack was melting, at least the part that had not been vaporized, they were not going to take one of those attacks without some serious protection.

To avoid that, Mash engaged again, but this time she was far more cautious. She didn't try to hit Caster right away, she kept her shield forward and tried to use it to smash her opponent without abandoning her defense.

The tactic was clearly much more successful, since Caster was forced to dodge and his staff bounced on Mash's shield instead of smacking her. She attacked again with the same idea, trying to keep Caster occupied until Lord El-Melloi did his trick.

"Ritsuka." Called Lord El-Melloi. "I want you to try to dispel any magecraft Caster could have around himself."

"You think he's increasing his strength and speed?"

"Seems probable. Mash can take a lot of punishment, and she has quite a high Magic Resistance. He probably thought that beating her in physical combat was best… since our magic doesn't work on him."

He sounded pretty sour about that. Understandable. It was like Caster was made to counter them.

"I'll help Mash while you focus. Go!" Concluded the older Magus, before joining Mash in trying to keep Caster occupied.

Ritsuka closed his eyes and started to focus. Dispelling magic was something that Caster -his Caster- had taught him, but it was really difficult… he hoped to have enough time. He didn't have a Servant's durability. A stray hit could cripple him.

Fortunately, it seemed that Mash and Lord El-Melloi, together, could keep Caster busy. That, or he was playing with them. Well, it didn't matter. Caster underestimating them was actually in their favor. Most didn't expect the Masters to be able to fight directly against Servants. It was common sense that Masters fought Masters while Servants fought Servants. That meant that Caster was probably going to ignore him while he fought what he undoubtedly believed to be the greater threats. And he wouldn't even be wrong.

But Ritsuka had an ace up his sleeve.

His body lit up as his Magic Circuits started to shine while his mana built up. He would need most of his reserve for this. Aiming at Caster seemed like a bad idea, because while he had taken their fire without flinching, he doubted he was going to ignore a ray or a projectile of unknown properties. No, the best way to get him was to expand the effect to all the area, so he couldn't dodge. And hope he couldn't counter it in some way.

It took a while, but finally, Ritsuka finished his spell and released it as a wave of white light. The spell engulfed the entire room, and Caster did nothing to stop it. So, it washed over him, Mash and Lord El-Melloi while they fought, and everyone could see a bubble of magic pop around him. Immediately, he slowed down. Not enough to not be superhuman, but enough that Mash could now fight him more evenly.

"Ah! I knew he was using his powers to amplify his combat ability!" Exclaimed Lord El-Melloi.

Caster scoffed. "Yeah, good guess. Can you also guess what I'm going to do with all the magical power I don't have to use to fuel the enchantments?"

Ritsuka's eyes widened as Caster brought down his staff and the room was filled with lightning. They spread like a spider web, running on every surface. They didn't target them specifically, and in fact, seemed to avoid the Chaldeans… until they reached the ceiling of the room and started to pulse.

"Hellstorm."

The name activated the spell, and every lightning bolt connected to each other, creating a labyrinth of electrical currents that filled the room, not leaving any room for escape.

Ritsuka Fujimaru saw white, then black, and fell to the ground.

-X-

The shores were… not faring well.

The fight between Arturia and 'Caster' had left several scars. The Dragonslayer had taken the habit of shouting at her. She called it shouting because she didn't really know what the hell it was supposed to be. It sounded like he was using High-Speed Divine Words to cast spells at her, but that was not quite what happened, because Magic Resistance didn't protect her against them. She had discovered that when he had shouted and she was slammed by a wall of kinetic force. The impact had propelled her away from the beach and she had felt her bones ache. Since then, she had avoided all the shouts she could. Fortunately, the words seemed to be required to use them, so she always had a little warning.

Also fortunately, one of the first shouts he used created some kind of fear effect. It almost made her drop her sword, but she managed to overcome it. The same could not be said for all the humans in the area, who fled in terror. Which left the area for them.

Unfortunately, 'Caster' was surprisingly adept with the sword. That move that he used to deflect Excalibur was not a lucky occurrence. His swordsmanship was excellent, one of the best she had ever seen. If he had not revealed his knowledge of magic beforehand, she would have believed he was Sigurd. But he couldn't be. Even with all his skill, he didn't have the strength and power to have killed a dragon in melee.

He had enough to fight her though. And his shouts really hurt. It was like he was using magic to recreate a Mana Burst. Almost like…

Another explosion of fire distracted her from her thoughts, and she quickly darted away before the ground where she stood disintegrated.

"… Like a dragon." She whispered.

"Yeah, that's going to bite you." Said Caster, as he had heard her. "Against any other Knight, I would have problems. But your Dragon Core means you are dragon enough for my Skill to activate. That gives me quite a boost."

Saber frowned. "I was talking about you. That shouts you make… they're imitating a dragon's breath, aren't they?"

"You can say that, yes." Replied the man, before bringing up his sword again.

Saber's blade came up as well, and she felt her lips tug upwards. She was… enjoying this?

Before the battle could start again, though, a ray of light shot toward the sky from the middle of the city. At the same time, the wolf and the snake roared in fury. She couldn't see what the snake was doing offshore, it was too far, but she could see the wolf raising his head, emitting a powerful howl that… summoned spectral wolves?

"Hmm… seems like the time is over." Commented Caster. "Ah, well. Time to get serious, I suppose."

She blinked. What does that mean-

"Mul. Qah. Diiv!"

Ethereal flames, orange and blue, erupted around Caster. Before they could travel far, something grabbed them and pulled the fire to him, spinning and condensing until it transformed into armor. An armor made of draconic scales, covering his torso, face, and arms. There was no other change, but she understood this shout, while the others were gibberish to her ears. Three words of power… to call the dragon inside him.

"You're a dragon too…"

"I did gain my powers by killing dragons." Replied Caster, opening his eyes. They were burning with orange light. "You didn't think I would become one too?"

Saber looked at Caster. So similar… yet so different. Why did he have to take out this serious and professional demeanor now that she had no other choice but to kill him?

"It doesn't matter." She replied, gripping Excalibur harder. "I'm going to defeat you, and all your monsters too."

"Good." He replied, bringing his sword at shoulder height. "I wouldn't want you to make this too easy."

They squared each other for what felt like minutes… then they charged.

Fate/Dragonborn 2.2

When Ritsuka Fujimaru's sight returned, the first thing he noticed was Lord El-Melloi looking at him.

"Ah, good, you're awake. Can you stand?"

"Whath happhened?" Slurred the boy, feeling… well, like he had been zapped by a high-voltage discharge of electricity. His muscles weren't responding like he wanted, twitching slightly every time he attempted to move. Even talking was difficult with his tongue moving without his consent.

"Caster blasted us well, even if not hard enough to kill us. On top of the damage, the lightning interfered with mana, so both Mash and I are pretty tapped out. But Mash was able to resist enough to engage Caster in melee and land some hits before he got his bearings. They're currently locked in a fight, but I'm not sure that Mash can take him, even without him amplifying his own strength and speed. We need you to give us a Command to overpower-"

"Lord El-Melloi!" Came Mash's shout of warning, but it was too late. Caster emerged from Lord El-Melloi's shadow and, before he could react, grabbed his head and smashed it against the floor with enough strength to crack the concrete. On top of that, reddish energy enveloped Caster's hand, before sinking inside Lord El-Melloi and absorbing… his vitality? That sure looked like a health absorption attack straight from a videogame.

And apparently, it was, because Lord El-Melloi twitched a couple of times before he stopped moving. Ritsuka quickly scrambled near him to see if he was dead… but stopped when Caster rose to his feet, apparently unharmed.

"Senpai!" Shouted Mash again, quickly jumping on Caster to make him go away. But he didn't.

"Time out, girl." He said, before waving his hand and erecting a wall of shadows in Mash's path. Since she was mid-air, she couldn't dodge and met the wall head-first.

There was no sound of her impacting against it, nor when she passed through it. The wall dispersed, and she wasn't there anymore.

"Mash!" Cried out the boy. "Where did she go?" He demanded, the Caster towering over him.

"Oh, relax, I just sent her into the shadow world. She'll come out of it in a minute or so… well, assuming she survives. The shadow realities tend to be… hostile."

Ritsuka clenched his teeth and analyzed the situation. Lord El-Melloi was down. Mash was sent into some alternate dimension or more probably a Reality Marble of some kind. He was the only one capable of fighting Caster… and while he was not twitching as much anymore, his mana was almost depleted and his entire body ached. He could do something… but it was probably the last thing he was going to do in this Singularity.

And he needed to distract Caster while trying to do it, or he was going to stop him instantly. Even with all the training Chaldea's Caster had put him through, he was nowhere near strong enough to take on a Servant.

Fortunately, Caster seemed to be in a chatty mood. He just needed to push him into a monologue while he focused on something else.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Asked Ritsuka, while focusing on what little mana he still possessed.

"A magician never reveals all his tricks, boy. Besides, banishing someone for a minute or so is not that useful outside of combat."

Ritsuka narrowed his eyes. Caster did talk, but not enough. He needed more time. "You're underestimating us too much. You're not the first Caster we took out."

C'mon, he just needed a little more…

Caster laughed. "Au contraire, my young friend. I'm not underestimating you at all. You thought that the diversion was for the other participants of the War? No, you were the real threat, and you were even before Lancer joined you."

Ritsuka frowned. That… didn't make any sense. Sure, he probably thought it was more suspect than another Master, with two Servants -or Pseudo-Servants, but he couldn't know that- had joined the War, but the real threat? Several other Servants and Masters were far more dangerous than them in an open confrontation.

Unless he knew something they didn't… or his objective was never to defeat the other Servants.

Well, it didn't matter. He had gained enough time.

A sword composed of what little mana he had left materialized in his right hand, and Ritsuka moved. This was his last gamble. He dug deep inside his soul, searching for that single moment he needed to recall the technique Caster had shown him. He had just one chance. The technique could cut even a Servant and inflict massive damage, but he needed to do it just right. His stance, and his timing had to be perfect.

And, most important of all, he needed to believe. He needed to be absolutely sure that his strike would work. Without that, he would fail. So his mind focused on a single thought.

I am the sword.

The sword materialized from mana blurred and sliced Caster right in the middle of his chest. There was no resistance. It simply sank inside the flesh of the Servant, slicing him from the left hip to the right shoulder.

Then, both his mana and his stamina gave out. The sword disappeared into motes of light, and the boy fell to his knees. But he had done it. Even if Servants were tough, Caster couldn-

"Nice move, kid." A voice said. Panic and disbelief gave him the energy to look up, even if all the muscles in his body had the elasticity and temperature of hot metal. He raised his head and looked at Caster.

Who looked… fine. Surprisingly fine, considering that he had a large slash in the middle of his chest. A wound that was… not bleeding. In fact, the only thing that got out from there were wisps of shadow…

Caster collapsed to the floor, transforming into a river of shadows that returned to the general darkness of the place. Then Caster emerged from the shadows, literally a foot from where he was, and punched Ritsuka in the face.

"Wrong target."

The last Master of Chaldea collapsed on the floor of the sewer and remained there. He was still conscious. Caster didn't really punch him. Well, he did, but considering that he was able to crack stone with his bare fists, he had basically done the equivalent of giving a finger flick.

Which meant…

"Why aren't you killing us?" Wheezed Ritsuka, still prone on the floor. "Mash… is not here. Lord El-Melloi… is unconscious. I cannot fight you. You could have killed us at any moment. Why?"

Caster didn't answer immediately. Instead, he waited for a second, like thinking about what to say, before sighing. "I suppose I cannot do more than this. Fine, I'll tell you. Just wait until your girlfriend returns. I don't want to repeat myself."

Ritsuka was too exhausted to reply to that. He just remained on the floor, breathing heavily, until the shadow wall that had swallowed Mash opened again and the girl fell out of it, landing on her stomach on the cold floor. She seemed fine, at least she didn't seem wounded. But she didn't stand up. Instead, she curled up in a fetal position, her hands covering her ears and shivering uncontrollably.

"Mash?" Called Ritsuka, but he didn't get a reply.

"Hmmm… Shadow worlds tend to mess with people's perception of reality." Commented Caster. "You could say she has taken sanity damage. She's going to be fine, but you should try to talk to her when she doesn't have her ears covered."

With supreme effort, Ritsuka rolled onto his side and started to crawl toward Mash. It didn't take long. Fortunately, she had landed quite close. When he reached her, he grabbed her hand. Mash immediately twitched and opened her eyes, looking at him with wide, scared eyes. "Senpai?"

Ritsuka managed to make her hand move away. "It's fine, Mash. It's over. You're safe now."

The girl's eyes started to wet, but before she could say anything, they were distracted by the sound of something hitting the floor. They turned to see Caster sitting a couple of feet from them.

Mash instantly tried to get her shield, either to attack or defend, but clearly whatever she had seen or heard in the shadow world had shaken her. She was still shivering and so she missed the first couple of times she tried to reach her shield handle. When she finally grabbed it, she put the heavy metal plate between her and Caster… who hadn't moved a millimeter. He was looking at them with a completely serene expression.

"So… you wanted to know why I didn't kill you the moment I defeated you, huh?"

Mash froze. Ritsuka, instead, just nodded.

Caster sighed. "Really, I thought you would at least imagine what my deal was, but apparently not. And I even left a lot of clues around… don't you remember what I called you before the fight with Archer?"

Before the fight with Archer? Honestly, he didn't remember well. Between the possibility of Caster having killed a family and the fact that they had to fight Gilgamesh, he had not given his words much attention. Besides, most of the time he just said random shit to mess with them. So when he had called him-

Ritsuka's eyes widened in shock when he remembered the exact words. Master of Chaldea. That's what he called him. But that meant…

"You know about Chaldea?" He asked. Mash winced, eyes widening in realization.

"Bingo!" Replied Caster with a merry tone. "And, since I know who you are and why you're here, I cannot kill you. It could mean a lot of problems, a lot of dead people. So, I decided to just make you exhaust yourself while trying to stop me, so you cannot interfere when the time is right."

Ritsuka's brain started to whirl in a frenzy of confused thought. Somehow, he managed to straighten them enough to reach a logical conclusion. If the diversion that Caster had done was for them, and he did that because he knew why they were here, that meant…

"The Grail. Your Master is aiming for the Grail." He whispered. "That's why you needed us to focus on you. Because if we didn't, we could try to stop the War and remove the Grail directly."

"Correct. Fortunately, I don't need all the Grail power, so if I manage to get another couple of Servants down, I'm good. That's also why it's a shame that Lancer was not there. I could have at least tried to weaken him before the grand finale. Unfortunately, it seems like that will not be the case." Caster sighed again. "Well, it doesn't matter, I suppose. If everything went according to plan, Rider has used his Noble Phantasm again, and considering that Waver cannot give him much power, he's probably exhausted. Not much of a threat. That just leaves Saber and Lancer… seems like it's time for me to return home."

Ritsuka blinked. What was he talking about?

Caster stood and slammed his staff down on the floor, emitting an enormous pillar of light as his mana erupted around him. Both he and Mash staggered backward, fearing a last attack of some kind, but instead, Caster chanted a spell, still in a language they didn't understand, before releasing a last, powerful flash of light. For a second, the sewers were lightened up as if it was noon, then the light died down.

Leaving them alone with Caster, slumped on his staff.

"And that's… the end of my journey." He gasped. "I hope… that's enough… to wound Saber and Lancer."

The Servant lost his grasp on the staff and fell, managing to avoid smashing his face on the floor by tensing his arms. What did he just do? Did he expend all his mana on that last spell? Was he going to disappear?

"Good luck… with the Singularities…" Continued Caster. "You'll… need it."

Then he simply… collapsed. His arms gave out and he fell. Caster, the Servant that had basically manipulated the entire War from the start, died like that, expending all his energy just to hinder Saber and Lancer. It was… disconcerting. It went against everything he had done until now.

At least that's what they thought until they saw Caster's body disappear. And, contrary to what they had expected, he didn't vanish by transforming into light.

Instead, his body sunk into the shadows.

The Chaldeans looked at the spot where he disappeared for several seconds before they realized what that meant.

The person they had fought had never been Caster.

-X-

The battle on the shores had kicked up considerably. Caster had abandoned the mostly defensive style he had used until now, meant to stall her while he used his bastardized dragon's breath spells to hit her, and had decided to go full offense. The problem was that, while normally that would have meant that he was leaving his defense somewhat lacking, Caster -or Dovahkiin, she supposed- had pulled out another series of Skills from his repertoire to compensate. She was not sure what they were, but they looked like supernatural martial arts. Which would make Caster an Asian Servant, and that was against everything she knew about him.

Urgh, this guy was so confusing.

Caster engaged her again, continuing with his aggressive offensive. His sword darted from several different directions, or at least so it would seem to a less trained eye. For her, it was still a very quick attack, aimed to overwhelm her with speed and land at least a hit. Which probably meant that the sword had some kind of effect, maybe a curse of some kind.

Arturia parried his strikes with some difficulty, then swung Excalibur, trying to bisect Caster. While he was fast and skilled enough to contend with her in a melee fight, she still had a slight advantage in brute power using her Mana Burst. Landing a hit was going to end this.

Or it should have, but like the other three times she had hit him, he activated one of his powers and the swing was deflected by a layer of glowing draconic scales that appeared a few inches over his body. Then, he attacked again. His sword cut the air in rapid succession. Fortunately, whatever curse the weapon had on it didn't seem to work without direct contact with the body, so Saber was able to parry most of the attacks and deflect the others using her armor.

Armor that was not going to resist much longer if she continued to use it in this way. Sure, she could repair it using mana, but she was already pushing her Dragon Core right now, she didn't have the energy to add armor repairs to the list of things that needed more power.

But there was one thing that gave her hope. He was slowing down. Slightly, but each exchange was a little slower than the previous one. He was either exhausting himself trying to defeat her, or every hit she managed to land, even if it seemed to be ignored, actually wounded him, and he was just putting up a show to not give her an opening.

In any case, he probably was not going to hold that much longer. The next exchanges were probably going to be the last.

He clearly thought the same thing, since he stopped his unrelenting assault and backed away, putting a good twenty meters between them.

Arturia briefly wondered if it was wise to engage. It sounded like the right move. If he really was losing his strength, not letting him take any breath would let him lose faster.

But her Instincts warned her against that tactic, and she remembered that he had almost no problem stalling her before. If he was forced to play defensively, he would simply do that and take a breather anyway while she lost her strength. No, if he wanted to tire, she would let him.

Of course, her Instincts also warned her when Caster took a deep breath… and electricity started to flow around him. Some kind of Mana Burst?

He took another breath, but instead of making even more electricity flow around him, he started what she had identified as the first word of one of his shouts. She readied to dodge… but what the shout did catch her by surprise.

The shout didn't emit anything, like she had started to expect. Instead, it propelled Caster forward with far more speed than she could imagine. Thanks to Instinct, though, she has already gotten out of the way…

… So when Caster disappeared, she was expecting it. She turned, her eyes catching a glimpse of the man having teleported behind her. She readied her sword to parry…

And her Instinct screamed. A sudden spike of fear shot through her spine as she tried to move faster, but as the thought appeared, the electricity around Caster suddenly activated, making the air vibrate. His feet touched the ground and there was a sound like a clap of thunder as the shout and whatever respiration technique he just used combined and massively accelerated him, making Caster shoot toward her like a lightning bolt.

Excalibur didn't reach the position in time.

The unnamed sword of Caster cut through her like soft butter. Her armor was useless. Her unnatural toughness as a Servant was useless. The sword slashed clean, and it was just by some miracle that she managed to twist just enough to maintain her spine intact and avoid getting bisected. She also felt an unnatural force absorbing part of her mana. A curse, as she suspected. Life stealing, by the look of it.

Arturia's body felt light. It was probably the blood loss. Her Servant body imitated the one of a human pretty much perfectly, which was the reason a hit on the head or at the heart would have killed her. Caster's attack had just gutted her, thanks to her last-moment dodge, so she wouldn't die immediately, and with an effort of will, she could also avoid her guts spilling on the ground. Not so much fortune with the blood that had splattered around her.

She felt her chest tilt, threatening to fall down on the soft grass. At the moment, taking a little nap didn't sound so bad. She felt so weak. Maybe she could just take a little pause from this madness that was the Grail War, after all?

Then she felt the weight of Excalibur keeping her straight. Ah, of course. She couldn't rest. She was the King. She had a duty toward her subjects to fulfill. She had to win.

Her gaze returned sharp, her right leg slid on the ground to keep her standing. Caster was in front of her, giving her his back, still recovering from the sudden acceleration, or maybe taking a breath after the stunt he pulled. She will not have another occasion like this. The next attack of Caster was going to be the last one.

So she had to be faster.

Excalibur shot toward the sky as she poured all the mana she could inside it. The sword exploded with blinding light, and she saw Caster turn his head toward her.

"Excalibur!"

A giant, powerful ray of light erupted toward Caster, and this time, either him or the snake was going down. The Noble Phantasm was aimed straight at them. Caster could evade, she knew he could just teleport away, but in that case, his snake was going to die. And then… it would depend on Lancer and Rider, because if Caster avoided Excalibur, she was not going to survive.

But the Caster didn't dodge. Instead, a shield made of bone materialized in the air, and a barrier stopped Excalibur's blast cold. The light smashed against the defense, and for just a second, it seemed like it would block it completely.

Then cracks started to appear on the shield, and the barrier fell. Excalibur engulfed the shield, vaporizing it, and Caster disappeared into the light. Then, the attack proceeded… but instead of hitting the snake and exploding in a massive blast that would have destroyed everything in several kilometers, the attack flickered as it sped toward the giant monster, and when it hit, it was just powerful enough to explode with the force of a modern missile. The snake hissed, his pain audible from there, but it was still alive.

As was Caster. The Servant was prone on the ground, his armor broken in several places and still fuming from the heat emitted by her sword, but since both his monsters were still there -even if she heard a pained whine coming from the wolf- he was clearly not dead enough.

So she straightened herself -the sudden moment had made her blood-deprived head spin- and started to walk toward the Caster.

Before she could reach him, the wolf jumped over her and placed himself in her path.

He was not in great shape. His fur was marred by blood, and he had a particularly nasty stab wound on the neck that was bleeding pretty fast, wetting the grass beneath him. Despite that, the wolf flashed his fangs and growled, daring her to take another step.

Arturia stopped, evaluating her opponent. The wolf -Fenrir- was not in a good condition, but neither was she. And he was fast enough to make himself a challenge for Lancer, which was not dead or the wolf would have come sooner. She just had to wait.

After a surprisingly long pause, Lancer limped at her side.

"Sorry." Said the Servant of the Spear. "He was a harder challenge than anticipated."

She looked at him. There was a pretty nasty wound on his leg, probably the reason why he had limped coming there. By the look of it, the wolf's claws had swept his inner thigh. It was similar to a wound she had seen before, caused by a bear.

There were also lesser wounds on the rest of his body, but they were mostly scratches.

"Seems like you were having more fortune with the wolf than I had with the summoner." She said, returning her gaze to the wolf in question.

"Hardly." Replied Lancer. "I managed to land a serious hit on the thing because he got distracted when you hit his master with your Noble Phantasm. Until that moment, we were pretty equally matched. Don't let the blood fool you. He heals fast, and he's smart enough to avoid my second spear."

The one that could stop healing. Seems like Caster didn't lie about that.

"You think we can take it together?" She asked. "I'm not sure how much I can move right now."

"Probably. We should also hurry. If Fenrir came, I don't doubt the snake is going to arrive soon."

True that. If they wanted to deal with Caster, they probably needed to move right no-

"Saber, Lancer!" Called a voice, one she recognized as the young Master of Lancer. She turned, ready to ask where they were until now -Lancer didn't have the time to elaborate- but she stopped when she saw the young girl which she found strangely familiar carrying the older Magus of the group on her left shoulder, while the Master walked beside her, almost dragged by the same girl since he did look like he was more dead than alive.

"What happened?" Asked Lancer, suddenly worried.

"We ventured inside the sewer to defeat the draugr that could be hiding there. But he was there."

He? Caster? "But that's impossible. He's right here."

The group, well, the ones awake, looked at the body behind the wolf that had lowered himself, ready to strike.

"He was not the real one." Replied the young man. "He was some kind of… shadow clone, or something like that. His body returned to the shadows once he died."

"Some kind of summon then. Seems like a specialty of his." Commented Lancer, as the giant snake, battered and bleeding, arrived on the shores.

"It's enough." A voice came, and immediately everyone froze. "Fenrir, Jormungand… you can return home."

Both the wolf and the snake remained paralyzed for a second… then the snake lowered its body and lay near his master. It just remained there, unmoving, its eyes covering themselves with a membrane, the most it could to close them. The wolf, instead, turned and whined, bumping Caster's hand with his nose.

"It's alright, buddy. The plan was never to survive anyway." Said Caster, before weakly raising his hand and patting the giant wolf on the head. "Return home. You have better things to do."

The wolf whined another time, rubbing his head on his hand. Then, with the last lick on Caster's face, he turned and disappeared into nothingness.

Arturia waited to see if this was a trap, but it didn't look like it. So, she stepped forward and made to reach Caster, who had given her so much trouble since the start of the War. Lancer, his Master, and the rest of their group followed, and after a little while, Rider, his Master, and her Master, followed by Irisviel, joined, surrounding the Servant.

"Seems like everyone is still alive… shame. I hoped to have killed at least one of the Servants." Wheezed Caster. They could see part of his face, where the mask had broken. And he was no Loki. Loki never had brown hair and brown eyes.

"You came close." Admitted Lancer. "If your wolf hadn't been distracted by you almost dying, he could have killed me."

"Bad… luck… then…" The only visible eye of the man rolled to see Rider. "And you? I hoped Jormungand… had killed at least you."

"He will." Commented the King of Conquerors. "He managed to spit his venom and catch me. Barely, but I don't have the mana to expel the toxin, so…"

"Ah… so the plan… worked. Very well." He closed his eyes, taking a last breath. "You… lost."

Then he died.

And the body melted into shadows.

It was Lancer's Master that summarized the thoughts of everyone present.

"Fuck!"

Interlude: Da Vinci Magical Adventure in the Fourth Grail War

Da Vinci had to admit, she was pretty impressed.

To summon three different versions of themselves was not something just anyone could pull off.

"I have to say I didn't expect this when you said you were going to reduce the number disparity." The woman admitted. "I was thinking about familiars, or maybe golems."

There was a second of silence, and Da Vinci turned toward her Master. He was looking at the three copies of himself that were chatting about ten meters away and tinkering with the summoning circle he had used to summon them.

"Master?" She called. She couldn't claim to know him, but his silence seemed out of character.

The man blinked and shook his head. "Sorry, I just had a lot of things on my mind."

"About the War?"

"No… Well, yes, but not only that. The summoning process had… unforeseen consequences."

Da Vinci looked at him. He seemed like a competent magus, so there was no way he had just tried to use a spell without testing it. He also didn't seem worried, so it was probably nothing serious.

Which meant that there was no problem asking.

"What kind of consequences?"

He pointed at the summoning circle. "I tried to summon my other selves using the circle and a variant of the summoning chant in the hope of… making them feel like Servants, I guess? Does that make sense to you?"

She nodded. Servants gave away a unique kind of resonance to the mystical senses of their own kind. The trio didn't give that feeling. "It didn't work."

"Unfortunately not. But what it did do was to call them inside my shadow instead of generating them from it. As such, for just a second, they… possessed me, in a sense. More like temporarily sharing my body, really. But it was enough."

"For what?" Asked Da Vinci. She was not used to asking that many questions, but that kind of Magecraft was completely unknown to her. It didn't help that her Master was stopping continuously.

"Usually Shadow Magic can be used to borrow power and knowledge from other realities." He simply announced, like he hadn't just admitted to using something that veered eerily close to Second Magic. "When they fused with me, we shared part of our knowledge and experiences. They're me, so we're not that different, but we are different, and I got something from each of them. Not enough to use, still, but…"

He pointed to one of them, dressed in long black robes instead of the hide vest he had. Well, he wore them now, before they all had the same clothes. "That one focused a little more on crafting than I did. Nothing too different, aside from one particularly useful skill. You see, he found a way to improve a Grimoire."

"A spell book?" Asked Da Vinci, confused. Improving one was not exactly something difficult.

"Ah, right, you don't know. Yes, a Grimoire is a spell book. In the sense that, by reading it, you can learn a spell. You need to have the potential for it, but it is instantly able to awaken your magic and imprint the knowledge of the spell in your mind. Somehow, he managed to create a Grimoire that can teach Skills."

Da Vinci blinked. That was… very peculiar. Not impossible, but not something she ever thought to do. Magi tended to be a little secretive. Just handing out spells and skills was not their way. For valid reasons, of course.

"And you can now do it too?"

"Well, I will when I take a couple of days to understand the method. I was not given a full course on the matter." He replied, before pointing at another one of his copies, wearing black leather armor. "That one focused on stealth. He is a master shapeshifter, far better than me. My shapeshifting spell gives me all the physical characteristics of the animal I assume the form of… but since I'm already stronger than most animals, I just use it for camouflage or fast travel using the form of a bird. He can do much more with it. I'll have to take a look at it."

"And the last one?" She asked, looking at the copy that was now wearing what looked like extremely heavy bone armor.

"He decided to go a little more heavily on teamwork. He's a better commander than me… and he found a way to permanently boost the characteristics of his companions using magic."

That was an incredibly useful ability. Assuming it was worth it. "What kind of improvements are we talking about? And what's the cost?"

"The process can strengthen and improve any ability the target already possesses. It cannot be used to grant new abilities." Da Vinci nodded. That was already an important limitation. "It also depends on how good the target is. After a certain point, there are diminishing returns, and minimal improvements start to require astronomical amounts of power." He paused. "It was developed to rapidly bring new followers and familiars to a comparable level with the user, or to reinforce their gear without having to make a new one. It's not meant to grant infinite power."

So it was just a permanent Reinforcement… still incredibly useful if, by what he had said, it lets you reinforce any characteristic.

"I can see why you were so lost in thought." All three abilities sounded incredibly useful during a War.

"Yes, but it's the wrong moment to think about it." He admitted. "I don't have the time to untangle their methods. We have to create something to mask them as Servants."

Da Vinci thought about it for a second. "I see. Since you're a powerful Magus, you hope to use one of them as 'Caster', so I don't have to take the field. I'm not exactly suited for direct combat." She tilted her head, musing on the problem. "But are they willing to act as bait? They could die."

Her Master shrugged, unbothered. "They cannot really die. The summoning ritual may have called them from their shadow reality, but even assuming that those realities are… well, real, they're not physically here. Their body is a fake created using magic, and when they 'die', they'll just return home."

Convenient, and strangely similar to Servant summoning. She also didn't miss the fact that they were not called from 'alternative' realities, but by 'shadow' realities. Which, while didn't make a lot of sense to her -and apparently not even to her Master, since he didn't sound sure about their effective existence- it informed her that the Magecraft in question was not quite similar to Second Magic as she had initially thought.

"It's better to work then. Where should we apply the masking enchantment?" She sent a look at the trio. They only had one piece of clothing in common. "The masks?"

"No, they're already enchanted. After an encounter with a lady with annoying clairvoyant abilities, I decided it was prudent to put some anti-scrying protection on it. No, we'll have to make do with these." He flicked his fingers, making several metallic bracelets appear in his hand. Summoned, if she got it right. And there were four… one for each copy, and one for her.

She smiled. "That will do."

-X-

After Da Vinci and her Master set camp inside the cave containing the Grail, they worked on hacking the ritual to power Master's own ritual. It had been a little complicated, mostly because she had to do it on her own with minimum assistance. Her Master passed most of his time deep in meditation, connected with his copies to exchange information and occasionally using long-range clairvoyance to spy on the other participants of the War, and while her genius was unmatched, the magic behind the ritual was a little obscure. It had taken time for her to understand what it was supposed to do.

Not that she did just that. When Master decided to help, she had time to put some enchantments on Master's shadows, so they could match true Noble Phantasms. That was the greatest limit of the fake Servants. They were physically able to match a mid-tier Servant and, using their magic, even a top-tier one, but they lacked true Noble Phantasms. And while their magic compensated for that somehow, the fact was that they weren't able to output as much power as the other Servants. The problem was compounded by the fact that most of the enemy Servants had Magic Resistance, so piercing their defenses required either unconventional methods or quickly burning through much of their own reserves.

And that was just one of the disadvantages he had in this War. His entire plan hinged on secrecy, so he couldn't use most of his most powerful spells without attracting attention. The shadows were less limited in that regard, but wide-scale destruction was not their preferred method anyway. And considering what he said to her about the Chaldeans, he also needed a way to distract them. Fortunately, he had one of the shadows for that.

That wasn't always the plan. Initially, he was more than willing to let the Servants kill each other with minimal interference, and leave the moment he had enough power. Unfortunately, the appearance of the Chaldeans had thrown that plan into a trash compactor. If he did nothing, the Chaldeans were going to interfere, and, knowing that he was the cause of this 'Singularity' and that the fastest way to destroy it was to deal with the Grail, they could not give him enough time to make his ritual. So he decided to take a more active role in the fight, taking Berserker as insurance and playing the part of the antagonistic Caster that played everyone like a fiddle. Or making the shadows play the part, to be more accurate. The entire thing hinged on making the War so chaotic that nobody had the time to look for his real self until it was too late.

But after the Overseer had declared a hunt on him, he had taken time for something else, even calling her away from the ritual. Which was almost done, so it was no problem.

"I decided we should go for Gilgamesh first." He said as she arrived. "I'm unfortunately not that familiar with his legend as I am with the others. I can't remember how he died."

"You cannot remember because it's not a very memorable death." She replied with a smile. "After a snake stole his way to immortality, Gilgamesh just… returned to Uruk and lived the rest of his life as a man."

Master frowned behind his mask. "Hm… that's a problem. Without a mythical weakness, dealing with him could be more difficult than anticipated."

"Well, a snake did steal his divine plant able to grant lost youth, so a serpent could be seen as the thing that killed him." She noted. It was kind of a stretch, but in this particular situation, and considering what her Master had told her about Archer's abilities, everything that could help was useful.

"Hmmm… I see. That's not exactly what I was looking for, but it could work." He tapped his finger against his bicep, thinking. "Alright, I think we have only one shot at this. If the attack fails, it's better we pack and leave the city as soon as possible."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" She asked, surprised. Master always looked confident. He didn't fear the other Servants. Sure, he was cautiously wary of their power, but abandoning the mission was… unexpected.

"You'd think so, but it's not." He raised his hand to generate an image of Archer, with glowing golden portals included. "You see, Gilgamesh's main strength is his ability to summon Noble Phantasms from his Gate of Babylon. The quality of the Phantasms is irrelevant, it's not like he's going to use them as anything else than projectiles, the quantity is." He expanded the illusion to show a truly astounding amount of golden disks that began to appear. "By the law of averages, at some point one of those Noble Phantasms is going to hit and hit hard. There is almost no defense able to protect you because, by the same law, one of those Phantasms is going to bypass that defense. So, my plan to deal with that is simple." There was a distortion in the image, and the portals disappeared. "Don't let him use them."

"I see… spatial distortion?" She asked, intrigued. She didn't know the details of Gilgamesh's power, but it seemed like the only way.

"Kinda. From where I come from, the world is protected by a divine barrier that stops… you can call them demons, I guess, from invading the material world. Now, Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms come from his Vault… but he's not carrying an entire Vault with him, right? He has a key -or more, I don't remember all the details- that lets him 'open' the door of his Vault to take what he wants. But if that link is broken…"

"He cannot access his Vault, and so, his main weapon." Smiled Da Vinci. "Brilliant! But why would you think to flee, if you can stop him from accessing his power?"

Her Master grunted. "The problem with this plan is that Gilgamesh has another power to fall back on. He possesses… I don't remember the name, but some variant of Clairvoyance that lets him see past, present, and future, and on top of that tells him basically everything he needs to win at everything, ever. He never uses it because it makes things boring, but if this barrier works and I block his access to the Gate of Babylon, he is going to be pissed."

"And he could resort to this ability and overcome your spell in some way." Nodded Da Vinci. "So you need to strike fast and in a deadly way. Is the Assassin shadow going to do it?"

They had started to call the shadow with a moniker similar to the Classes they seemed to embody the most, just to avoid confusion by calling all of them 'shadow'. Assassin shadow was a master of stealth and preferred to use the bow, so he would be the best choice to strike Archer while he didn't have his Phantasm ready.

"If needed." Nodded her Master. "But I'd prefer if it was not necessary. The less we reveal our cards, the less the others are going to be able to react properly when we're going to strike. Just in case, I'm going to have him near."

"You still didn't explain why we should run if we fail." Admitted Da Vinci. She had suspects, but she wanted to hear them from him.

"If Gilgamesh is able to survive the attack and use his unfair foresight, he can pretty much see right through my plan." He replied. "That's why I decided to kill him first. He's the only one, except the Chaldeans, that can interfere right now. And if he takes the time to actually use the Gates of Babylon intelligently, there is no stopping him. At that point, we'll have to run while the shadows try to slow him down as much as possible. We could even…" He paused, looking in the distance.

"Deal with his Master?" Asked Da Vinci, intuiting his line of logic.

He sighed. "Yes. It's not going to do much in the short term, he's an Archer and so he possesses Independent Action, but it could weaken him if we manage to avoid him for some time. At least, it should limit his ability to spam Noble Phantasms somewhat. I'd just prefer to not do that. I never killed someone that wasn't attacking me… or that didn't deserve it."

Oh? That was surprising. For all that he was planning to ruthlessly take advantage of every one of his enemies' weaknesses that he could exploit, her Master seemed almost too soft at times. In fact, he had explicitly told her that if he was trying to end this War with the fewest number of deaths possible. "What did they do to make you go after them?"

She could see the frown on his face through the holes in the mask. "I was trying to recover a useful artifact that was kept by a cult of crazy mages… necromancers, most of them. I entered inside the ruin they were using, and the first one I saw was a skeleton crucified, and a mage sitting on a chair with a walking skeleton behind him and a human heart on a platter in front of him." The frown deepened, and Da Vinci nodded. That kind of magus was usually unpleasant, to say the least. "I knew they abducted people to sacrifice their souls to their master. I knew that they killed people… but I didn't really realize it until that moment. I reacted poorly."

Interesting choice of words. It implied he was not exactly happy with what he had done.

Yes, too soft. But she liked him for that.

"Well, it's useless to cry over spilled milk." He sighed, before summoning a huge snake with barely a movement. "Let's hope your idea works, Da Vinci." He looked at the snake. "I'll need your poison, my friend."

The huge reptile's answer was to flash his tongue one time. Apparently, it was enough and her Master produced a bottle from somewhere while the snake opened his maw to reveal hooked teeth and two very prominent fangs filled with venom.

She quickly returned to work.

-X-

Gilgamesh was down. She had successfully linked her Master's ritual to the Grail, paying attention to putting a filter on all the bad juju the presence of Avenger caused. It was unfortunately impossible to completely remove the taint from the energy inside the Grail, but considering that the plan didn't require making the Grail do anything, the chances of something going wrong were more or less the 0,1 %.

Now, they just needed to kill at least two other Servants, and her Master would continue his journey. He already said he was not going to order either her or Berserker to suicide, and she was grateful for that.

She didn't get why he didn't want to attack one of the other Servants with all three of his shadows, though.

"They will expect some kind of trick." He replied. "They're all against me and they're not going to pull their punches. We got Gilgamesh by surprise: we may not be lucky enough to repeat that."

It was a good point, but it also didn't answer her question. "Still, attacking a single enemy Servant with all three of your shadows will greatly increase your chances of defeating them."

"True, but it will also increase the chances of them being killed at the same time." He replied. "Most of the remaining Servants have Noble Phantasms able to affect a vast area. Rider could take all three into his Reality Marble and then make them fight his army. Since I don't doubt they'll quickly come to help each other, if only to deal with 'Caster', it could end badly, and quickly. And if they're all taken out, we'll have no defense here, and we'll be facing relatively fresh Servants with only you, Berserker, and me." He shook his head. "No, we're going to try to separate them before striking. Dividi et impera. You said that my shadows have enough strength to contend with top-tier Servants. Let them fight. They don't need to win: they just need to wound them badly enough that they will not be able to defeat the three of us."

Da Vinci frowned lightly. This was a gamble. Using all three of the shadows together would kill one enemy Servant… but it could let the others destroy the shadows in one fell swoop. Dividing the shadows, the odds of each enemy Servant dying were greatly reduced… but all of them would not be in the best condition afterward. Both had their risks. There was no clear superior option.

She was going to trust her Master.

Fate/Dragonborn 2.3

"So, Caster was there the entire time." Said Kiritsugo Emiya, looking at the entrance to the cave where the Grail was situated.

"Yeah." Replied Fujimaru. "If both the one in the sewers and the one at the shore were fake, then it's the only reasonable assumption. He sent out his copies to mess with us while he meddled with the Grail."

Fujimaru looked around himself. Every Master and Servant of the War was there, at the entrance of the cave, ready to deal with Caster once and for all. Them, plus Irisviel and the Magus Killer's assistant… he didn't get her name. As well as Mash and himself, he supposed. Lord El-Melloi was still down, resting in the car they used to get here.

It should have been a reassuring sight, but it wasn't. The Masters were not going to matter much in the fight, and the Servants they had were not faring well either. Most were wounded or extremely low on mana, and while they all received some kind of healing, none of them were in top shape.

Against only Caster, that could have been enough. But there was also Berserker, and Caster's Master. They had an overwhelming numerical superiority, but their forces were tired, and the ones that weren't, couldn't compete against the Servants. It was going to be a hard battle.

They still descended into the cave. It was a long walk, and at the end of it, they found themselves in a vast open space underneath the mountain. The Chaldeans had already seen it: it was the same place where they fought a Blackened Arturia during their first real mission.

The place was not that different. Frankly, Fujimaru had expected fortifications, traps, and all sorts of obstacles. Even the army of draugr that had vanished somewhere. But… there was nothing. They reached the cave without issue, and there they found a man mumbling in an incomprehensible language while facing a giant magical circle, and a tent to the side.

The man looked much like Caster, except that he wore a vest made of scales… dragon scales, maybe?

"Caster!" Called Arturia. "We've come here to stop you!"

The mumbling of the man stopped, and he turned. Yep, Caster all right. Down to the bone mask.

"I'm sorry, you must be confused. I'm not Caster."

That phrase stopped the momentum they had built up until that moment. What was he saying now?

"You joke even in a moment like this?" Asked Lancer. "Step away from the Greater Grail, Caster."

"No, I don't think I will." Replied the man. "Also, really, calling me Caster is so rude. I know I am a good mage, but reducing me to that is offensive."

"Stop blabbering, jester. How should we call you, if not Caster?" Demanded Rider.

"Ah, right, I never introduced myself." Replied the man, making a little bow. "My name is Rexen Loki. Mage, adventurer, dragon slayer, and traveler, in that order. A pleasure to meet you, even if I imagine that the pleasure is all mine."

Ritsuka could see in the eyes of the presents that they all had the same question: who the hell was Rexen Loki?

Before anyone could ask the question, though, a lady got out of the tent. She had luscious brown hair, deep blue eyes, a beautiful round face, and wore a white and blue dress. As everyone turned to look at the new arrival, everyone froze. Well, almost everyone.

"Who are you?" Asked Irisviel, one of the few people here that couldn't see a Servant's stat.

"Ah, sorry, I thought it was a good idea to show myself up and clear the confusion." Smiled the woman in question. She bowed down, raising her skirt. "Servant Caster-"

"Leonardo Da Vinci…" Concluded Ritsuka, looking at the woman with eyes that threatened to pop out from their sockets. "… But… then…"

Da Vinci looked at him, her smile growing a little more. "Ah, you must be the Chaldea Master, aren't you? Since you recognize me, it must mean I work with you on your little project, right? As expected, only with the help of a genius like me could you have done something like that."

The group blinked several times, before Arturia spoke. "Is she… really the famous Italian genius from the Renaissance?"

"Yeah. We… worked with her before." Replied Mash. "But… if Da Vinci is the Servant, then Caster was…"

Caster, who clearly was not Caster at this point, chuckled. "Well, I, or well, my shadows, never really presented themselves as Caster, did they?"

Could it be? Was this Caster… Rexen's greatest trick? Did they never fight a true Servant all along?

Before more questions could be asked, Kiritsugo Emiya raised his pistol, the one armed with the bullets able to destroy magic circuits, and shoot a single bullet toward the man in question.

Rexen's hand shot up and there was a soft thump, like a pebble hitting a mattress at high speed.

"Well, I suppose you had to try that. Unfortunately, I'm not a magus, so even if it hit, it wouldn't have had the effect you wanted." Said Rexen, removing his hand from his chest… and opening his fingers. Several clicking sounds followed… as the crumpled Origin Bullet fell to the ground.

Was this guy really a human? Ritsuka had thought he had summoned some fake Servant using whatever bullshit shadow magecraft he possessed, but evidently he just summoned copies of himself, or something close enough to not really matter. If he could grab a bullet, he was probably fast and strong enough to fight Servants anyway.

Also, what the hell did he mean with him not being a magus?

"Now, let me do you the same kindness." Continued Rexen.

Immediately, several things happened. Kiritsugu tensed, expecting a retaliation of some kind. Irisviel's eyes widened and she made to reach her husband to protect him. Saber moved in front of him, trying to block whatever was coming…

And then an arrow planted itself in Rider's forehead.

There were no dramatic last words, or anything like that. Rider simply dissipated, his mana already on the verge of collapse, and nobody could do anything to help him.

"One down, one to go." Said Rexen, as another copy of himself, wearing black leather armor, wielding a bow made of bone and a quiver full of black arrows emerged from the shadows. "You think it's time to call Berserker, me?"

"I think that's the case, me. Berserker!"

He really didn't like to give his opponents time to get their head on the game, uh? The mad Servant emerged from a cloud of black mist and roared with fury.

Three Servants -well, two Servants and a Demi-Servant- against one Servant and the copy of someone that could block bullets barehanded. Favorable odds, if not for the fact that there were another two of them behind them and they just had three magi and an assassin, and one of the magi in question was completely useless in a fight at the moment. That one being himself. Oh, and the three Servants on their side were tired from having recently battled another two copies of the guy, while the enemy side was fresh as spring water.

"Da Vinci, could you be a dear and keep the Masters busy while I complete the incantation?"

"Of course." She nodded gracefully. Then she stepped forward, a staff adorned with some polyhedron he never thought to ask if it had a specific name for materializing in her hand.

This was going to suck.

-X-

Lord El-Melloi II woke up with a killer headache. It felt like someone had smashed his head against a wall. Which was exactly what happened, he realized when memories started to return. They had entered inside the sewers, fought Caster… and got completely demolished. The Servant had held up against both him and Mash, had effortlessly taken out Fujimaru with a single attack, and then he had sucker-punched him with a combo of teleportation and… some kind of energy drain spell? He was not sure.

But since he was not dead, he supposed they managed to retreat or defeat him. How, he had no idea, but better than being a corpse.

So… where was he?

With some difficulty, he managed to open his eyes. It was still dark, so he had not been out for too long. But he was… inside a car?

He carefully watched around, avoiding moving too much to not worsen the headache. Yeah, it was a car. Not one he recognized, unfortunately. But it gave him some clues. Fujimaru and Mash didn't have the money to rent a car, nor could they drive one. Of the remaining members of the War, the only one that could bring a car was Kiritsugu, with the help of his patrons. It could be the car of someone unrelated to the War, but he found that unlikely.

So, they probably won or managed to escape, but Caster was still around. That was the only reason for Kiritsugu to help them. They had a pact with Saber to defeat Caster, but it was with Saber, not Kiritsugu. They had avoided talking to him in order to not reveal they knew he was the real Master of Saber, but if Caster was still active, the interruption of the War was still in place. Which meant they were… wherever it was they had to fight him again. Maybe Mash and Fujimaru had managed to guess where his Master was?

Speaking of, he slowly opened the door of the car and got out. His head was still killing him, but he was recovering quickly. There were some advantages in hosting a Servant. He was tougher and recovered faster than normal humans, even if his Servant was not particularly excellent in that regard, like most Casters were. Still enough to let him survive an impact that should have cracked his skull open with a minor concussion. Now, let's see where-

Oh. Lord El-Melloi stopped when he recognized the place. It was the cave where the Grail was. So this was where Caster's Master was hiding. That… was concerning.

The magus started to walk inside the cave, to reach his companions, thinking all the way in, despite the pain. Caster's Master was there… It meant they knew a lot about the War, more than someone outside the Three Families should. Hiding inside the cave also meant that the distraction was aimed at giving them time to mess with the Grail… which meant that they were not pointing at a wish. They wanted something else, but what that could be, he didn't know.

That didn't explain why he ordered Caster to distract the participants of the War as he did. Even with an unexplained and deep knowledge of the War and how it worked, there was no reason to believe that any of the participants would find him. In fact, the cave where the Greater Grail rested, waiting for the souls of the Servants to fill it, was the perfect hiding spot. Nobody outside the Three Families knew of its location, and the members of the Three Families barely knew it themselves. Even if they did, they would never suspect someone was hiding there, because nobody knew the location aside from them. They could have remained there and let Caster do all the work with impunity. Not very honorable, but why should they care about honor?

No, there had to be a reason they had acted this way. Something that made the distraction worthwhile. Excessive paranoia? It could be a reason. Or maybe there was a factor he didn't consider. Something that could make them believe that if they didn't take precautions in that sense, someone was going to come to the cave. But what could that be…

…

… Chaldea?

That would make sense. Three extra people, two of them identifiable as Servants, showing up out of nowhere. The suspicion was warranted, even if there was exactly zero chance of him knowing what they were there for. Timelines that contained the Fourth and Fifth Grail War didn't have the presence of Chaldea, because that would require that the founder of Chaldea didn't get to the Grail to wish for enough money to make Chaldea in the first place. Still, it was somewhat fair to assume someone with Servants not participating in the War could go directly for the Grail. Hell, maybe that was their plan all along and they just became Masters by accident.

No, wait. Chaldea could still be a motivation, but they didn't have any reason to believe they would know the location of the Grail even if that was the case. Doing that would require them to know that Chaldea knew, and that… would require them to know what Chaldea was.

That would make their action make complete sense, but…

Lord El-Melloi stopped thinking the moment he arrived at the cave and saw what was happening inside.

Mash, Saber, and Lancer were fighting Berserker, who had abandoned borrowed weapons in favor of his signature sword. He was… not doing that well. Three against one was not in his favor, even if his opponents were… pretty battered. Mash was actually the one that looked pretty much alright, Saber seemed to be running on fumes and Lancer clearly had a leg wounded, because he was not moving like he usually would.

Right behind them, there was Caster doing something with the magic circle inside the cave with… Caster protecting him? What?

And in the distance, there was Kiritsugu, his assistant, Irisviel, and Fujimaru fighting… Da Vinci?

What the hell?

And where was Rider? Where was… oh, there he was his younger self. Huddled in a corner, away from the fighting.

"What happened?" He asked point-blank.

Young Waver raised his eyes, filled with tears… and started to explain.

-X-

And another player joins the game. I was wondering where Lord El-Melloi was.

I was also starting to get anxious.

I was not really finishing the ritual. That was done, like, yesterday. I was just faking it because I really needed the others to fight, in the hope to stop… whatever they were thinking I was doing. Unfortunately, I -well, my shadows- didn't manage to kill the two Servants that were needed to complete the ritual before now, so now I needed them to either kill themselves fighting Berserker, or for one of them to kill either Berserker or Da Vinci. I didn't like to do that, because setting up my subordinates to die was not exactly my favorite hobby… but they were already dead anyway, and their wish was unrealizable thanks to the Grail corruption.

From the corner of my eye I saw my shadow, the 'Assassin' one, let the young Waver explain to his older self what happened, then it shot an arrow right in front of the magus's face. "I suggest that you do not interfere. These arrows took down Gilgamesh. They will not have problems with you."

The fear in his eyes was somewhat satisfying to watch… even if it was somewhat undeserved. They didn't have any idea how much effort it took to get to this point. The last battle in particular required me to stack up all the boosts I could, including the recently learned Reinforcement. It was not as good as a Fortify spell, but it boosted all the physical characteristics of the body instead of just one, and required less time -and energy- to run, so it was a fair trade-off. Still, my shadows had to push the limit of how powerful their enchantment could be to fight the Servants. The 'Caster' shadow also had to stop maintaining the shadow draugr to have enough focus and power to give as much power as he could to his other self -which I called 'Rider' shadow-, as well as to summon Jormungand at full power, and to face off the Chaldeans… even if that fight had gone pretty smoothly all things considered. Both Mash and Fujimaru were very fresh on this whole 'save the planet' thing.

Meanwhile, the other 'Rider' had exhausted himself fighting Artoria. He almost managed to kill her… but then she had a second wind or something, and killed him. I knew because I had played coordinator with all my other selves until now, scrying and maintaining a mental link to let them operate as one. It had been exhausting. And without Da Vinci quickly making 'upgrades' for their weapons, things could have gone much worse.

Still, if something didn't happen soon, I could be forced to call Fenrir and Jormungand again, or even fight myself. With how weakened the Servants were, it was a fight I could win… especially with Da Vinci's last surprise.

Suddenly, there was a wet sound right behind me, and I turned to see Berserker being impaled by both Excalibur and Lancer's spears.

"Oh, finally!"

-X-

The moment Berserker was struck down, the entire cave trembled.

Fujimaru didn't know why Rexen seemed happy that one of his Servants got struck down, but in all honesty, he was not exactly surprised at this point. Even the defeat of his Servant was a part of the plan, because of course it was. Why wouldn't it be? Everything was part of his plan at this point, for what he knew.

Then the magic circle that contained… hosted… he was not sure how that worked, honestly, but whatever, the magic circle that might as well be the Greater Grail lightened up. And with that, everyone could sense the magical power emanating from it.

A power that was clearly wrong.

"What have you done to the Grail?" Shouted Irisviel.

"Done?" Replied Rexen, looking at her. "I didn't do anything to it, Irisviel Von Einzbern. This is the result of your family trying to cheat the last War. They summoned an Avenger to win the Third Grail War, and this is what happened! The Grail is corrupted by the Avengers' malice, and every wish that you'd try to make will be bent and twisted beyond recognition!" The energy inside the circle grew, and the corruption became even more clear. Like the rotting stench of a swamp, pulsing and writhing. "Unless you believe me able to corrupt the Grail this much in such a brief period of time. I'm good, I'll admit, but I'm not that good."

Wait… he knew about the corruption of the Grail?

"Why do you still want to use it then?" Asked Lord El-Melloi, who had joined them at some point. "Why do all this? If you had come to us, we could have convinced the others to stop the War and dealt with it! As it is, it's just a monkey's paw!"

Rexen laughed. "I did come to you, remember? You told me I was the reason you were there. And even if you had listened to me, would you let me use the Grail?"

Suddenly, he made a sharp gesture, and a wave of magic surged around the Masters. Instantly, the Servants dropped to their knees as a powerful barrier stunted the connection they had with their summoners. Clever. The Servants could ignore the spell thanks to Magic Resistance, but the Masters had no such protection.

"And to answer your first question, Lord El-Melloi, yes, the Grail is corrupted and whatever wish you make with it will only bring misfortune… but the magic stored inside it can still be used for something."

"What do you intend to do!?" Gasped Artoria.

"You'll see it… right now." Replied Rexen Loki, Master of Caster, as he entered inside the magic circle.

The magic surged again, and a new circle appeared inside the first. A different magic circle, composed of glowing lines of power floating right over the surface.

"I'll explain the details, but it's a long story. Let the Chaldeans explain to you about different dimensions and whatnot. I'm sure they'll have a clearer idea on what I'm trying to do. The short version is: I come from a different universe, and I'm trying to go to another. I have a ritual ready and I just need the energy. No wish, no problem." Rexen bowed theatrically. "Farewell, my friends. For what it's worth… it's been fun."

Then the magic surged again, and he disappeared into a flash of light. As he did, the other him melted into shadow and disappeared, and the magic grasping the Masters vanished.

Before something could ask, a voice right behind him made Fujimaru jump away. "And so, the journey continues."

He turned and saw… Rexen?

No… he knew this one.

"Caster?" He asked, confused. Caster had never been able to manifest himself. Why was he… getting out from his shadow?

"Yes, boy. Sorry to leave you out to dry, but I felt I needed to leave this roll without interference. And in the end, I was right."

"Caster-senpai?" Asked Mash, equally confused. "You… were Rexen?"

"No, actually. I'm a combination of the three shadows he summoned. For some reason, the Fate System combined us into this… mockery of a Servant, and shoved me inside Ritsuka. That's why I didn't remember anything when I woke up, and also why I was so weak."

"Oh, that means that we will work together!" Smiled Da Vinci. Ritsuka was not sure how much time she was going to remain now that the Grail had been depleted, but he was happy she was still here. "Even if my counterpart probably will not remember you. Shame."

"We can worry about it later." Interrupted Lord El-Melloi. "Caster… Rexen…"

"You can continue to call me Caster, don't worry. No reason to change it."

"Very well. Can you explain?"

The Servant sighed. "Yeah, I suppose I must. As the real one said… It's a long story. Make yourselves comfortable."

Ritsuka looked around to see all the other participants in the war exchange a look… then they sat down. When everyone was ready, he started to talk.

It was one of the crazier stories he had ever heard.

-X-

My arrival in the next universe didn't start in the best way.

"Anathema!" Shouted someone as I found myself kneeling on a dusty road made of stone.

Anathema? There were just two things that came to mind if someone shouted Anathema. The first was Warhammer 40.000, as Anathema was the name the Ruinous Powers gave to the God Emperor of Mankind, for how his powers were their bane.

But, considering that by virtue of that the only ones that would use such a name were Daemons, and I was not surrounded by hellish, multicolored monstrosity and rivers of… whatever Daemon worlds or even Chaos were made, I was probably not in the universe of Warhammer 40.000.

Not that I couldn't be. The place I had arrived at looked like it could be some primitive agri-world, with buildings mostly composed of stone and wood, people -humans, to be precise- wearing ancient-looking clothes… that resembled ancient oriental clothes, even if I couldn't guess the precise nationality. Chinese and Japanese looked very similar to my eyes…

That brought the second universe that came to mind at the usage of the word Anathema. My suspicion was confirmed when a warrior wearing ancient armor and brandishing an absolutely enormous sword made of what looked like red jade emerged from one of the alleys nearby. Great.

Just my luck.

-X-

For those who don't know what Exalted is (many, apparently), I'll link some posts made by other people that explain much better than I'll ever could.

This is about the general Setting and the Great Curse.

Another about the general setting, a little shorter than the first.

And the last has pretty much anything that you may want to know. Warning: it's long.

Last edited: Jul 12, 2022

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.1

I didn't have the time to speak before the Dragon-Blooded -because it could not be anything else- jumped at me. He was fast too, enough to make me blink in surprise. And… were there flames in his wake?

The giant red sword he wielded -a daiklave, if I remembered right- swung toward my head as a blur, so fast that I barely had the time to materialize Dupahtuz -which is a mouthful and I really need to find her a better name- in my hand and blocking the assault.

Dupahtuz, the sword made with dragon bones and ebony, infused with silver, able to cut steel like paper, and had accompanied me against all the most powerful enemies I'd ever faced… held.

And by how the eyes of the Dragon-Blooded widened, he didn't expect it. Or he didn't expect the sword to come out of nothing, I'm not sure.

His surprise was brief, unfortunately. With a grunt, he disengaged and tried to overwhelm me with an aggressive assault composed of several fast strikes at various parts of my body.

If I was the same as when I left Skyrim, it would have worked. Daiklaives, for what I remembered, felt as light as a feather in the hand of those who wielded them, but for everyone else, they were heavy slabs of magical material with sharp edges. The speed combined with the sheer mass of the thing made them pack much more of a punch than normally possible. Being almost indestructible while infused with Essence helped.

Of course, the guy was also supernaturally skilled with the blade. He was probably pushing his ability using his particular brand of magic, trying to kill or stall me enough for other Dragon-Blooded to arrive.

Unfortunately for him, I was not the same as when I left Skyrim. I was faster, stronger, and I had mastered the supernatural martial arts of the Dragonknights and the Swordsingers completely. Well, almost, I still had to manifest a Shehai. Point was that his assault was as good as Kayleen's. Which was good, but not enough anymore.

Dupahtuz darted around me, as close to my body as possible, and angled to deflect instead of blocking. It didn't matter if I had enough physical strength to shatter stone barehanded, blocking a sword that weighed, at a guesstimate, at least ten kilos if not more was going to get tiring very fast for my wrists. So I deflected the strikes or dodged with minimal movement, trying to save my strength for later. I probably would need it.

And of course, I didn't forget to counter. In fact, after he had thrown six or so strikes, the Dragon-Blooded made a mistake. Trying to overcome my defense, he put too much power into his swing… and so, he overextended, and when the attack was deflected, he was unbalanced, and I managed to land a hit on his side before he could regain it.

Unfortunately for him, his armor was not made with one of the setting's magical materials. It was old, plain steel, and so my sword cut through it with relative ease and opened a cut on his flesh. Not very deep, but long and surely distracting. Oh, and I also absorbed part of his power with that, which he didn't fail to notice.

Just as I didn't fail to notice the sound of numerous feet approaching us.

Time was up.

And so the Ephemeral Feint took his head. He didn't even react. Dupahtuz just sliced his neck, and his head went flying.

Uh… he must have been relatively new to this. Maybe a local Lost Egg? I thought that a Dynast would have lasted a little longer.

Of course, I didn't have the time to reflect on the question. The feet approaching from behind stopped, and I turned. There, a group of - I assumed- Dragon-Blooded, six in total, were looking at me while the head of my last opponent rolled on the ground. Now, these looked like monks, so maybe they were members of the Immaculate Order?

I didn't want to remain there to find out.

Shadows erupted from every corner, maybe aided by the fact that, for some reason, most buildings seemed to be slightly raised from the ground, leaving a lot of dark spaces around. I didn't know the power of the Exalted very well -I never had the patience to read every single charm they had- but I knew that they followed a theme. So, while a Solar probably could see through the darkness using his holy sun powers, Dragon-Blooded had to use something more… mundane. The first one that came to mind was hearing my position through the earth or the air. So I had to disengage instantly. Following my trail was going to be difficult if they lost line of 'sight'.

So I dove into the shadows and quickly emerged from another. Unfortunately, while it was night when I departed, it was the middle of the day here. There were not a lot of shadows, and when there was, there were usually people around. Hmm… just moving through the shadows was not going to be enough.

So, after having moved a dozen or so times, always in different directions just to be sure, I ditched the shadow and teleported directly onto the roof of a building and flattened myself, hoping no one noticed me as I threw a Chameleon spell around me. Then, just for good measure, I teleported to another roof, where I finally stopped to catch a breath.

Huff… seemed like I was able to make them lose track of me. Or at least, I was able to leave them behind, because I saw groups of people running in the direction where I came from. I didn't travel that far, maybe two hundred meters, so it was better to keep going.

I floated to the ground, thinking about the best move to make. I thought of just running out of the city, but Creation was a crazy place. I didn't know a lot about it, but I knew that there could be a lot of nasty critters around. And while I didn't think most of them had the crazy conceptual bullshit Exalted had, they could still be dangerous.

And while remaining in the city was not safe either, Dragon-Blooded were Terrestrial Exalted and while that didn't make them any less dangerous, they had fewer esoteric powers. That meant that I could fight them using my magic, because while they could, I dunno, turn into water or call down storms, they couldn't attack my soul or read my mind. Or so I hoped. I didn't know how much 'skills expressed through elements' could push their abilities.

In the end, it was between getting out and finding a bullshit monster that required several Celestial Exalted to defeat, or remaining there and risking being discovered by the Dragon-Blooded. And between the two, I had more confidence in my ability to fight off a group of element-themed super soldiers than whatever behemoth could hide outside.

And I could always escape later. But before that, I needed to know what to expect from the outside.

So it was better to do something I… didn't have a lot of experience in. Infiltration. I needed to mix with the population and quietly gather info. But I couldn't do that while under Chameleon. It was not true invisibility, but it was close and it would have gathered a lot of attention… when the people noticed, at least. Better do something else.

So I found a corner hidden from most people, and wove a fake face on top of my mask, while at the same time changing my vest to look like something more… local. Why not just remove my mask? Because I had enchanted it to protect me from magic meant to locate or read me in any way. I didn't know if it was going to help against Dragon-Blooded investigations, but it was better than nothing.

Then I started walking in the crowd.

This was a… peculiar place. Aside from the buildings that were held above ground, the city was not that different from a city in Skyrim… aside from the aesthetic, of course. In fact, it reminded me of Dawnstar, with the only difference being that they had walls to protect the people. Walls covered in hieroglyphs, from what little I could see. The variety of clothing and faces made me think this was either a port -I could vaguely smell the sea in the distance- or, considering the sheer number of people in monk clothes and the number of edifices that seemed like monasteries around, some kind of pilgrimage site. Also, the buildings showed a lot of banners, that, while familiar, didn't really give me any idea of what this place was like.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to be a tourist. I needed information fast and I needed to get it while not causing suspicion. So I decided to ignore the place and focus on the people.

It didn't take long to grasp some basic facts. The city was called Faxai, and while that didn't give me any clues, it didn't take much more to learn that the place was called Caul. That gave me a clue.

The Caul, from what little I could remember of the Dragon-Blooded manual of the third edition, was an island in the south… east? Or west, well, the South of creation, some kind of mystical place for both Dragon-Blooded and Lunars. Of course, since the end of the First Age, Lunars and Dragon-Blooded had been enemies, so what should have been a peaceful coexistence between the two people had transformed into a war. That explains why that one Dragon-Blooded had decided to jump on me the moment someone had shouted Anathema. He assumed I was a Lunar spy or something like that.

In fact, many people were worried that my appearance was the signal of a new Lunar invasion. The last attack had happened five years prior, and while they were defeated, it didn't mean that they had stopped. Sha'o Oka, the Black Lion, seemed to have the ability to… not die. It was said then he was on the Caul when it disappeared from the maps, and he was there when he returned.

In fact, some had heard that the lion-people that followed him called the Lunar the Soul of the Caul, and as such, he could not be slain or, depending on the one telling the story, he would just return from the dead. Of course, those were rumors… but I wouldn't ignore them. And the ability of Sha'a Oka to just reappear after he was assumed dead was starting to become more than a simple coincidence. I preferred to think it was Lunar bullshit, but you never know when you talked about Exalted.

I also spent some time familiarizing myself with the local language -I had a translation spell but it was not the same, and I couldn't have it up all the time-, the local currency -some form of ancient banknote, but other goods were used too, silver in particular- and, in general, to the local culture. Normally I wouldn't bother, it was not that much of a problem if it was pretty clear that I was a stranger, but in this particular case, I felt that not sounding like someone that had just arrived in the city had its uses. Like avoiding the Immaculate Monks.

It took me the better part of the day to do all of that, but especially the last one. When the sky started to turn dark, I briefly wondered if it was best to leave the city in the dark or just find a place to sleep and leave in the morning. Both had advantages and disadvantages, but the core of the problem remained the same: I didn't have a solid idea of what was outside the wall, and during the night the situation could only get worse.

Well, to tell the truth, I got the impression that the worst things lurking outside were not monsters but the Lunars themselves, or at least that was what most people feared most. Which was fair. I wouldn't want to be ambushed by a shapeshifting demigod in the middle of the night either. Especially if they did that because they thought I was a Dragon-Blooded or affiliated with them.

Meanwhile, the hunt for me had quieted down. Sure, most people still believed there was an Anathema around, but they were less… panicked. Some said that, while I was Anathema, I was not a Lunar, because I didn't use the silvery light but instead shadows. Others contested that the new moon was dark, so shadow was still something the Anathema could use. Some believed I had already escaped. The monks were not as agitated as before and even if people were still tense, the situation was calmer.

And hey, they had failed to find me for most of the day. How were they supposed to find me now?

Maybe I was underselling the danger the Dragon-Blooded posed, but I felt pretty confident that I could sleep in the city for the night. Or at least, stop at an inn, eat something and then warp to the Dragon Refuge to really sleep. My mansion was good to rest but it didn't have a lot of food… probably because most of the people inside it didn't eat. It was something I had to correct when I had time.

So, I found an inn -something very difficult, it seemed like the entire city was monasteries, places of worship, or military outposts, was the Wild Hunt here?- but I did finally find an inn. Lovely place, really rustic but clean. I paid in silver, as I had gotten into the habit of bringing something other than gems with me as currency, and I got a decent meal and room for it. A pretty fancy room, to be honest. The bed was decently large and while it probably was not filled with feathers, it looked comfortable and didn't seem infested with parasites. The walls and floor looked solid, not stone, but at least they put some sort of hardened clay or primitive concrete over the wood. There was no bathroom, but there was a wooden tub and a mirror in a corner, just in case you wanted to take a bath. I was not sure if it was something common around here. I must have found one of the best inns in the entire city. Surely better than a lot of places I had slept in.

All in all, a pretty good place to stay for an hour or two before fucking off to my mansion. Just the time to take a bath. I would normally take less time than that, but I'd spent the last three days in a cave with just a tent, so I wanted to relax a little.

It took a while for the tub to fill with water -there was no plumbing, the place was nice but not that nice-, and once it was ready, I slipped inside it while warming the water with magic. It didn't take long before it shifted from ice cold to almost boiling. Not that it made much difference for me, extreme temperatures didn't bother me anymore. It was still nice to sit inside the tub with steam rising toward the ceiling.

As I relaxed in the hot water, I started to think about my next move. The most obvious problem I was facing right now was the hunt from the Dragon-Blooded. Once that was rectified, there was still the problem of gathering enough energy to actually get away. That could be resolved, though. This universe was… dangerous, but it was also filled with opportunity. Exalts could fuck me if I was not careful, but there was something quite useful for my goal of returning home. Namely, materials to build what in my mind was called 'the battery'. I would find another name at some point.

Basically, the entire project I had started in the Refuge, to create a vast energy network to fuel the still developing crystal technology created using some an approximation of the Ayleid Welkinid and Varla Stones had a little side project: the entire thing was filled with runes meant to form a link with some sort of battery I would use to store energy meant to be used for the ritual. In that way, I would be free from having to use a local energy source, or having to return to Orario to grind more magic stones.

Of course, the battery should have been made using local materials, like Dragonsteel and magic crystals made in the Refuge, but that would have made the battery… pretty big. Like, too big to be carried around, and leaving the thing in the Refuge sounded like a good idea until I realized that if I couldn't access it when it was full, the continued magical build-up could make it explode. With… terrible consequences for, like, the mountain. And the city below it.

But the magical materials here in Creation didn't quite suffer from that problem, or if they did they probably had a far higher capacity than whatever I could make with magic. If I remember right, Orichalcum, the golden metal favored by the Solars, was especially good at managing Essence and sorcerous energies, on top of being indestructible. I couldn't be sure without doing some tests, but I could probably make a battery that was portable if I used Orichalcum and some other magical materials… maybe even the Dragoncrystal of the Refuge, for better resonance. That could also help with the problem of overcharge. I needed to get my hands on a sample.

Unfortunately, I was not entirely sure the Caul was the right place for that. It was mostly inhabited by Lunars and Dragon-Blooded, so the possibility that there was a stash of Orichalcum just laying around was-

My thoughts were interrupted when someone entered the room. I sent a brief glance to the person in question and I saw a young woman, probably a servant. I returned to focus on my plans…

But I was hit by the sensation that there was something wrong. It was like there was a piece missing from a puzzle that you were just going to finish. It was… difficult to pin down what, though.

Was something about the magical materials? No, I didn't think so. Sure, I could ask some Lunar if they had Orichalcum around, but I doubted they had any and if they did, they probably wanted to use it themselves.

Was it about the battery? No, I couldn't really make plans for that without the materials.

So what was it? Dammit, if the servant had not come inside, I wouldn't have lost my train of thou-

Wait… the servant. I remembered that I had specifically asked to not have servants sent up to my room. I also would not normally be so indifferent to a young woman just barging inside the room without announcing herself. And also…

Her steps didn't make any sound.

I raised my hand and grabbed her wrist as she was stabbing it toward my temple, her fingers rigid as she used them like a knife. I turned to look at the woman… at this point, clearly an assassin.

"Well, that was rude."

The woman didn't seem to be particularly bothered. Instead, she just slipped out of my grasp -somehow- and then took a step back, drawing a pair of very polished knives. On my part, I got out of the tub as my dragonscale vest and my mask materialized on my body.

Time to fight, apparently.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.2

The situation I was in wasn't… good. There was an assassin in my room, and my preferred options to deal with that -run away or make the fucker explode with magic- were not viable. The first, was because the woman had found me. That meant she could either ignore my nondetection wards, or she couldn't but was able to reach me the moment they were down. Which, considering I didn't have it on for five fucking minutes, meant she was able to follow me even if a ran.

The second was because a grandiose display of magic would just attract the Dragon-Blooded. So, at least here, I had to fight as quietly as possible.

Fortunately, the assassin didn't seem to want to attract attention either, because instead of shouting, she just readied her knives.

The problem here was that I was not sure what kind of assassin she was. Dragon-Blooded was the most probable, but Dragon-Blooded seemed to prefer to fight together. She was clearly very skilled and had some kind of supernatural power, because a normal human couldn't escape my grasp without breaking their wrist. A Godblood? Some kind of supernatural creature that I had upset for some reason? A Lunar infiltrator that decided to kill me off because I almost ruined her work?

Something else?

I Muffled my steps and engaged.

The woman didn't seem worried. There was some strange look in her eyes, like she knew something I didn't, and proceeded to intercept my advance by throwing one of her daggers at me with uncanny precision. I raised my arm and deflected the attack with my bracers that were lined with actual dragon scales and not just dragon skin, and the dagger bounced off of them with a metallic sound.

Then I changed stance and kicked out, aiming for the woman's chest. And then something happened that I didn't expect. I briefly lost my balance on a wet spot on the floor, and my kick almost missed.

Almost.

I immediately course-corrected the movement by redirecting my momentum using the little Alteration trick I learned so long ago -goddammit, it wasn't even six months ago!- and the kick did connect. Or so I believed, because the woman suddenly split up into five different copies, and the one I hit vanished as I touched her. Meanwhile, one of the others advanced with both her knives ready -when did she recover the one she threw?- and tried to stab me.

I just turned intangible and let the attack pass through me.

The assassin was quick to create some distance between us, using a strange, jerky motion that didn't quite seem natural. At this point, it was clear that she was using some kind of Martial Art. I didn't know this one specifically, but I knew they existed and some were specifically tailored to assassination. Black Claw, Courtesan, Shadow… the mainstream ones were out, but then, there were probably dozens of Martial Arts styles in Creation that I didn't know of. So I could add 'Mortal with awakened Essence and a bullshit Martial Art' to the list of things that she could be. Sure, awakened mortals were of… dubious nature, I was not really sure how many there were and if it was actually possible to awaken Essence at such a young age, but whatever.

Anyway, that Martial Art was annoying. But without knowing how it worked, it was impossible to counter it. So I needed to make her reveal her hand… or overwhelm her quickly.

And I didn't like the idea of letting her throw more power at me.

Reinforcement flowed through my body, making my muscles more powerful, elastic, and tough. Pretty useful magic, one of the few things I could learn with the help of Da Vinci. Most Fate magic was completely useless for me because it was based on very different principles than my own, and either too weak or too niche to be useful, but the basic spell everyone knew of -Reinforcement, Alteration, Projection, and Structural Analysis- were very broad and actually quite simple to learn, at least when it came to the basics. I also learned something about Bounded Fields which gave me ideas on how to put down more permanent and stable spells, but I hadn't actually used one yet. Gaining mastery of them was a project for later. For now, just Reinforce myself to quickly deal with this assassin was best.

But just to be sure, I also extended the muffling to the entire building. Costly, but it wasn't like I needed my magic to obliterate a couple of city blocks.

She clearly recognized what I was doing because her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then she closed her hands together.

I jumped forward, cracking the floor underneath me, and tried to sweep her legs with a wide round kick. I didn't plan on killing her, I needed to interrogate her first… and besides, broken legs were as good as killing her as far as I was concerned. She could hardly follow me with her kneecaps shattered.

But then… I landed badly on the floor, and my kick missed completely. I crashed on my back, while the assassin prepared to strike.

No… that wasn't right. I didn't miss. Not anymore. People could dodge, or block my attacks, but I never missed. This… this was wrong.

Wrong!

Reality shattered, and I was not on my back anymore. Instead, my attack had gone as expected, but again, the assassin had just barely avoided having her bones reduced to fine powder.

This time, the assassin seemed to be worried about it. The only sign of it was a little frown on her face. So, instead of attacking, she moved into some sort of stance and… I'm not sure what she did, but I felt some form of magic at work there. Then, before I could actually do anything, she shoved her palm forward.

I didn't immediately get what she was trying to do, but I felt something starting to fall down and so I instinctively raised a ward over my head. An instant later, shards of something fell down from the ceiling, shredding most of the furniture in the room to splinters. My ward, fortunately, held, the shards bouncing or shattering on my magic.

I spared a look at the things that had tried to turn me into mincemeat. It could give me some insight into what the hell this assassin was using. It looked like… glass? But the color was wrong. It wasn't transparent, but dark, even if not completely black. Almost like… obsidian.

Half of a memory emerged in my head. I have heard of something like that. But the only people that could use that Martial Art were Solars, or…

"Sidereal." I said, looking back at the assassin. Who, for the first time, looked like she was out of her depth.

Well, now I knew who the hell was trying to kill me. The problem was that it didn't help me fight her, because Fate hax was not something I was equipped to fight. Nor does it explain why they would want to kill me.

"Why are you trying to kill me, Sidereal? Don't you have more important things to do?" Not that I expected a reply, but you never know.

She narrowed her eyes, regaining her composure, and decided to strike. Instead of some trick, she just came at me with full speed, her knives darting around trying to find a hole in my defenses.

Again, she manipulated Fate to make my every move ever so slightly wrong that I had to correct it with my magic. But doing so took away precious time, and she was fast. Fortunately, I was taller than her by a fair margin and had armored arm braces that could absorb the stabs of her knives. So I counter-engaged, trying to enter inside her reach to deal with her.

Of course, the problem was that every time I tried to hit her she split into several images and I had to keep an extra eye out for where she was going to come next.

If I remember right, Sidereals ability to mess with Fate was not exactly well suited for direct confrontation. That was more the area of Solars and Lunars. Sidereal were planners and advisors, not warriors. Sure, they could fight, every Exalt could, but that didn't mean it was their strong point.

So it was not much of a surprise when she started to lose steam, light flowing out of her like violet smoke and a strange symbol shining on her forehead. That was her Anima, meaning that she was grasping at her inner reserves of power and burning a lot of Essence, which manifested in an energy aura for some reason. She was not lighting up much, she wasn't exactly emitting a pillar of light the size of a skyscraper, but she was getting there.

Not that I wasn't losing power, between the muffling and keeping the Reinforcement up to fight off her improved speed, but the fact that I had superior basic stats meant a lot. She couldn't just overwhelm me with some basic tricks.

And considering that she seemed to be an assassin by profession, once her stealthy approach had failed, she probably didn't have a lot of ways to kill me. Sidereals were pretty limited in that aspect, and couldn't quite create new Charms like most other Exalted could, simply trying new things. Planners, not warriors.

Of course, that just meant that they had to be creative with the powers they had.

There was a sudden surge in her Anima, that grew from a faint shimmer of light around her body to a full-blown flame exploding around her, and I knew she was preparing something big. So I was kinda surprised when she just… threw her knife at me, like she had done at least a dozen times. I dodged it without problems.

Too late I realized her plan. That throw had not been casual. It was aimed at a specific part of the room, one still intact after the glass shower.

The mirror on the wall.

As the knife hit the mirror, the image on it -myself, despite the angle being wrong- shattered. At the same time, I felt my body rip itself open, matching the shattered image of myself with large slashes on my body. I didn't explode into shards of glass as the mirror did, but I was also quite a bit stronger than it. I still fell down as my chest was crossed by cracks that proceeded to explode outward and slice almost every part of myself. A particularly nasty crack sliced my left eye in two, and I immediately lost a good part of my side vision, on top of covering everything with a red curtain of blood.

My knees hit the floor as blood started to flood down. The wounds were serious. Most seemed to stop at the bone, considering that my limbs were still attached and my vital organs were still intact, but that was not a great consolation.

The Sidereal assassin closed the distance between us without hurry, taking time to recover her dagger before stopping in front of me. I could just see her shoes though. I was trying to not pass out.

"You asked me why I'm killing you." She said, her voice surprisingly soft. I raised my head to look at her. She seemed… a little sad, maybe. "It's because your Fate is chaotic. I waited to see if it stabilized… but it never did." She raised one of her daggers and aimed at my head. "Your Fate is dangerous… so I'll correct it."

Her dagger fell.

And I blocked the attack by grabbing her wrist. Immediately, she tried to do it again with her other dagger, but I blocked even that. Then, I started to slowly rise up, as my grip started to slowly compress her bones and magic suffused my fingers, hopefully making it more difficult for her to slip away.

She looked at me with wide eyes as the gift of Mora sealed the wounds caused by her attack, replenished my magicka reserves, and gave me new strength. The eye actually took a second to see again, but in the end, I tilted my head to make my neck snap and looked her dead in the eye.

Now she was panicking. "What are you?"

I paused for a second, to give my next sentence an appropriately dramatic tone. "I'm the Dovahkiin. And my Fate is not yours to decide."

I took a breath, accumulating air as I focused my life energy into a deadly cold. Fire and lightning were too visible, and poison would have taken too much time to work. I needed her dead or incapacitated now… but not enough to actually use a Shout. That would have been far too powerful to not be noticed.

But when I exhaled deadly cold on her, she just disappeared.

The frigid air, not having a target right in front of it, instead impacted the ground before quickly racing toward one of the walls, covering the entire surface with ice. The immediate area of impact was so frozen that there were spikes of ice protruding out of it. The temperature inside the room also dropped significantly.

And the Sidereal escaped. Dammit! How did she do that? Maybe… I had heard of a Charm that let the Sidereal dodge everything by simply… never being there to begin with. So basically she had yeeted herself away by telling the universe that she never entered the room to begin with? And if that was the case… was she going to return, even if I was pretty sure I cracked her wrists?

The answer to that question was no. Because the moment I thought about it, someone rushed to the door of my room and kicked it down. Then, a squadron of very armored Dragon-Blooded, with signature weapons in hand, entered inside.

The fucking bitch… she called the Wild Hunt.

"Ihavetogobye!" I shouted, before jumping out of the window and turning into a falcon to quickly get away from them. The Wild Hunt were specialized Anathema killers. The first Dragon-Blooded I fought may have been a chump, but they were not. Especially in a town that expected Lunars to attack, the Wild Hunt would be composed of the most trained, hardass motherfuckers they had. I would not remain there to fight them.

"Lunar!" Shouted one of the members of the Wild Hunt. Yeeeeeeah… shapeshifting in front of them was probably not a good idea. Sure, from what I knew about the Wild Hunt, they were the type to shoot first and ask questions never, but this was probably going to motivate them instead of scaring them off.

Still, I needed to save strength for later, and shapeshifting into a falcon was one of the best ways to get the fuck out of dodge as fast as I could. It also had the advantage of making me quite difficult to spot because of my current size, and flying was pretty rare in Creation. Like, only Lunars could fly for a long period of time. Air Dragon-Blooded could also briefly float around, but that was expensive to maintain. If an Exalt wanted to fly, they needed to find an artifact or a flying mount. Both were pretty rare. So, I should be able to get enough distance between me and the Wild Hunt to return to the Refuge.

In case I failed… well, I was saving strength for that.

The city quickly darted under my form as I flew high in the night instead of going between the streets, where some light could still reveal me. In a couple of moments, I flew over the walls. But the Dragon-Blooded could still follow, so I ventured into the wilds.

The place looked pretty tropical to me, even if it was difficult to tell considering the darkness and the rush I was in. I just continued to fly, this time diving into the forest under me to reduce visibility. Thanks to my enhanced senses I could weave between trees even in the near absolute darkness.

I don't know how much distance I put between myself and the city before I decided to land on a branch and stop, but once I did, the lights of the city were not in sight anymore and I couldn't hear the Wild Hunt coming. And since they couldn't all be masters of stealth, I supposed that I had managed to lose them.

I shapeshifted back to my human form with a sigh. Dammit, I had really hoped to not alarm the entire city… but it was too late to worry about that now. Tomorrow I needed to find another city, one possibly not in the hands of the Dragon-Blooded, and gather enough information to reach the mainland. I had no idea where the Caul was supposed to be. I had the suspicion that the nearest landmass big enough to justify the presence of Orichalcum were the Blessed Isles… but they were also Realm territory. And diving right into the place with the greatest concentration of Dragon-Blooded, and the ones that were more likely to be stupidly strong, was not smart.

So I had to find a map. But I could do that later. Now it was best to fuck off to the Refuge. So I opened a portal and slipped away from this place.

-X-

Four sets of eyes looked at the round hole in reality opening up and the man that had caused the last bastion of the Dragon-Blooded in the Caul to go completely crazy for an entire day.

"What do you think he is?" Asked a tall man with brown hair and sharp canines to one of his companions.

"Difficult to say." Replied the man in question, a monk who, contrary to the ones inside the city, had decided to keep his hair short. Aside from that, he looked identical to every other monk of the Immaculate Order. "I've never quite seen something like that. If I had to guess, some form of Godblood."

"A Godblood?" Asked the third member of the company, a buff, squat man with… a boar-like head? "After all that he pulled off? Are you sure he's not an Exalt, teacher?" The beast-man fiddled with his barbed trident, looking at the place where the portal had just closed.

"Quite sure. But he could be a sorcerer… they have a lot of strange powers."

"Are we going to try to recruit him?" Asked the last member, a man covered in a long, black tunic, with pale hair that reached his legs and a mask covering his face, and with a big sword on his back. "He seems pretty competent."

"We could try." Nodded the monk. "But not now. Trying to follow him could end badly… and the Wild Hunt has not quite given up on him."

The group exchanged a glance and decided to retreat. Better not be here when the Wild Hunt comes.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.3

When I entered the mansion, I found Valokh waiting for me.

"Master. We were waiting for you. You didn't return for a long time."

Ah, right, the time gap. For them, I basically disappeared for a couple of months without a word.

"Sorry, Valokh. I had some pretty intense days. I couldn't really leave to return to the Refuge. Too much to do."

"We suspected as much. Were you successful in your venture?"

"Yeah, I basically skipped the universe and reached the next one. I was lucky enough to find a source of magic ready to use… but I was not as lucky in this one. How is the project going?"

"We made some progress, but without your guide, the Akyn can only proceed slowly. I understand that you cannot remain here permanently, and normally it would not be a problem, but this specific project is highly technical and only you really know how to do it right."

Yeah, another problem. The Akyn were good, but they were not specialized crafters. I needed to find a solution for that. Seemed like I had to create a way to communicate with the Refuge while I was not there. A difficult proposition, because the different time flows complicated matters… but I would find a way.

After I rested, though.

"I'll think of a solution, Valokh. I already have ideas, but they'll have to wait. I didn't get much sleep these days."

"I understand. Please, rest. We can discuss the project and everything else tomorrow."

I nodded at the shadow priest. I would probably sleep for a few hours. An unexpected and sometimes unwelcomed advantage of improved physical and mental resistance was that I didn't get tired so easily. That, combined with meditation, meant that I didn't really need to sleep as much as I used to. Sleeping was more to relax than to rest. And after the very stressful adventure in Fate and then in Faxai, I did need to relax and unpack a lot of what had happened to me. Sleep helps metabolize things you've learned, after all.

So, I jumped into my bed and closed my eyes, almost immediately falling asleep, a talent I grabbed somewhere. Never underestimate how useful it was to be able to sleep on command.

Unfortunately, my rest was cut short when the alarms of the mansion -woven into the runes on the walls- warned me that something was not right. Nice things, alerted the inhabitants without using some loud sound or anything, just a mental signal. But the feeling they gave… an intruder?

I teleported near the point where the alarm was 'sounding' and found the intruder in question. At first, I believed it was an Akyn that had decided to visit without asking permission or something like that… but it was worse. Much worse.

There was a hole in one of the walls. A perfectly round hole, leading not to the outside, but back to Creation. I knew, because there was an army of Dragon-Blooded just out of it, their weapons ready.

Somehow, the fuckers had breached through. Probably using sorcery, even if I couldn't get how they managed to do that using Terrestrial Sorcery. I would have believed you needed to be at least a Celestial to open a hole in reality.

Well, it didn't really matter.

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

My Shout tore the air, traversing the distance between me and the hole in reality with the speed of thunder. Some Dragon-Blooded managed to get out of the way in time. Some didn't.

The Shout reached Creation and exploded with incredible violence. Dragon-Blooded, especially the ones in heavier armor, were sent flying. The trees near the entrance were either uprooted or snapped in two as the shockwave hit them.

I advanced toward the portal, materializing my sword and my armor around me.

"I can't believe you guys went this far. I did all I could to avoid making trouble. I tried to stay low. I tried to leave without fighting. Do you have any idea of how easy it could have been for me to just rain fire and thunder on that conglomerate of mud you call a city?! And after all the trouble, after the assassin in my room when I was just trying to take a bath… you try to invade my home?! To me, my shadows!"

The twelve shadow priests materialized at my side, emerging from the darkness like nightmares given form. Several shouts of "Sorcerer!" and "Necromancer!" started to come from the Dragon-Blooded side. All together, we got out of the portal and into the newly formed clearing beyond it.

There were more people than anticipated. Eyeballing, at least a couple dozen normal soldiers in heavy armor on top of a dozen or so Dragon-blooded. I suppose that was all they could muster on such short notice… or how much they were willing to risk in an expedition outside the walls, where the Lunars roamed.

So they had two elite soldiers for each of my Priests and half of that as superhuman elemental warriors. The odds didn't look good.

With a sudden movement, all the priests that didn't reside inside my mansion waved their hands, and portals were formed. Then, they thundered with a single voice.

"Warriors of the Refuge! Invaders are attempting at the life of our Master. Brace your weapon, and prepare to fight. The Refuge goes to war!"

I blinked and opened my mouth to tell them to close the damn portals and not put the Akyn in danger, but from the Refuge side came a chorus of enraged roars that made the air tremble. Then a sound of several feet stomping the ground followed, war cries erupting from the Akyn as they charged out of the portals, weapons ready.

Ah, well… if they were so eager to fight, I supposed I could let them give me a hand. I just needed to focus on keeping them safe.

-X-

"You're still sure he's not a Lunar, are you?" Asked one boar-man.

"Yes, I'm sure. Even if I do have to admit, he certainly acts like one." Replied the monk, completely calm.

"Well, I still don't see silver light coming from him." Admitted the tall one. "And he's fighting a lot… if he was a Chosen, it would have shown by now."

The quartet had looked at the entire thing from afar. The Wyld Hunt had reached the place where the mysterious man had disappeared into a portal made of azure light, and after a while, one of them had made a step forward and used some kind of sorcery to force a way to wherever he had gone.

The tall man, the only one with a passable knowledge of sorcery, had concluded that he was someone of the Sapphire Circle… so probably a Sidereal Sorcerer. That was validated by the fact that he had suspiciously disappeared once the fight had started.

And what a fight.

First, the man had shouted some kind of spell into existence, creating an explosive wind powerful enough to create a clearing in the middle of the forest and sweeping away several Dragon-Blooded. They were still alive, but they stood with some difficulty. Then he had gone out with a following of what looked like twelve bounded spirits, undead from the look of it. The undead in question had opened more portals, and after a call that they couldn't understand, what could only be the troops of the man had emerged and engaged the Dragon-Blooded and their soldiers.

And the troops were dragon-men. There was no other way to call them. Six-and-more feet, scale-covered, reptile-headed warriors with clawed hands and feet had rushed out of the portals wearing armors of various materials, ranging from the bones and scales of some beast to rock, glass, and a dark metal they were unfamiliar with. They had charged the Wyld Hunt party with a fury comparable to some of the northern berserkers, and while they couldn't match the Exalts one-on-one, there were a lot of them. In a few seconds, the numerical advantage had reversed, and the Dragon-Blooded had to fight enormous beast-men while the shadowy sorcerers rained magic on them, and the mysterious man was doing his best to coordinate and protect his troops.

The mortal soldiers were rapidly cut down, but the Dragon-Blooded held, for a while. Until they had to fight one or two dragon-men, at least. When the numbers started to become three or more, they started to retreat.

"Ah, sucks to be them." Commented the tall one. "Now they know what it feels to have a taste of their own medicine."

"Press them!" Shouted the mysterious man. "Don't let them organize a defense!"

The dragon-men roared and followed the retreating Dragon-Blooded.

"Look at how the sorcerers move." Commented the masked member of the group. "He's coordinating them without saying anything. By the look of it, he's trying to make the Dragon-Blooded rout and run for the city before retreating himself. He knows that he cannot take the entire city alone."

And in fact, the sorcerers were moving like they knew what they were doing, hitting when the Dragon-Blooded tried to coordinate to disrupt their attempts. Meanwhile, the man commanding them had said something to the next group of dragon-men emerging from the portals, and they had quickly started to look after their comrades that didn't get out of the fight unscathed.

"Compassionate." Commented the monk.

"But not stupid." Added the boar, looking at the man in question redirect another group of dragon-men toward the fight. "He knows the Dragon-Blooded are the real threat. He'll save everyone he can, but not at the price of victory."

"I think we've seen enough." Said the masked one. "Chosen or not, he will be of great help."

"Still, just a Godblood…" Murmured the boar. "I can't quite believe he's so powerful without being Exalted."

"He could be a rare case of a mortal with the ability to command Essence." Commented the monk. "They're not common, but they exist, and Godbloods have a higher chance of having the gift. Plus, he seems to be a sorcerer of a certain power. It's a powerful combination. Good enough to fight a young Lost Egg that doesn't expect much resistance."

"But the rumors were that he was an Anathema." Mused the tall one. "The Lost Egg would not have underestimated him."

"Maybe he expected a less experienced target." Hypothesized the monk.

The tall man shrugged.

"Are we going?" Asked the masked one, while observing the dragon-men leaving the clearing, either to follow the Dragon-Blooded or to take their injured companions away.

"Wait. Before that… should we see where the Sideral is?" Asked the tall man.

The rest of the group froze. While the mysterious sorcerer that had opened the portal had disappeared, they really doubted he had escaped like everyone else. If someone of that power had appeared, there had to be a reason. Calling the Wild Hunt to kill someone that, clearly, was not Anathema meant that the mysterious man was dangerous in some way that they didn't understand. And that meant…

They started to run.

-X-

He attacked me when I was alone.

The moment the last group of Akyn left the clearing -either to take the wounded back to the Refuge or to follow the rest of them- he appeared from the shadows, his hands ready and his nails shimmering with an unnatural metallic light.

How many of them were here? Sidereals were just one hundred -precisely one hundred at all times- and they dispatched two of them just to get me? Was I really that much of a bother that they were willing to send one-fiftieth of their entire force to kill me?

Questions for later.

I parried the assault, because I didn't trust my ability to facetank an attack from another Sidereal assassin, one that surely knew my abilities, contrary to the other one.

And as if to validate my paranoia, the Sidereal's nails screeched against the blade instead of merely bouncing away. Some kind of technique to make his hands as lethal as artifact weapons, then. Wonderful.

I responded by unleashing Sword Tremor on him. No chance in hell I was going to let this fucker unleash his more powerful techniques as the other one did.

Of course, as I did that, the assassin changed stance, his skin gaining a slightly golden hue, and the several slashes that I unleashed on him… cut through the clothes, but his body was mostly unaffected. The areas hit by the Sword Tremor had little marks on them, like the ones you could gain by having a string tied too tightly for a couple of hours, but aside from that, no blood was spilled.

"You have a dangerous weapon." Commented the Sidereal. That told me that even if there were no wounds on his body, he did feel the bite of my enchantment. It also told me that he was more confident than his colleague.

"Yol. Toor. Shul!" Was my reply. Flames erupted, and the Sidereal's eyes widened at the sudden bright light caused by a fireball taller than himself. A fireball that erased anything it touched with the sheer power of fucking fire.

Of course, he managed to dodge to the side, because of course he did. Well, no matter. My shout had been extremely loud. More Akyn were coming soon, and my shadows would understand that something was wrong. I just needed to stall him for-

My eyes widened as I felt something come, and quickly moved Dupahtuz to intercept… I don't really know what. Something similar to the Sword Tremor. I managed to intercept them with the flat of the blade, but not without effort. That's what I got by not training with someone that knew the Shehai Shen She Ru techniques. When they used something similar, I was unprepared.

Not that I could return to Kayleen and ask for training. Mora could be waiting.

Suddenly, the Sidereal disappeared and reappeared in front of me. They could teleport? I didn't remember that!

"Let's remove it." He continued, before grabbing the tip of my sword and smashing his hand in the middle of Dupahtuz, a flash of reddish Essence surging from him as he pushed his powers to break it.

And, despite having held against Alduin, the Dungeon, and an artifact weapon… this time, the dragon bone cracked, and then shattered.

Normally, I would have tossed away the stump of the blade without hesitation. But the moment Dupahtuz broke, I felt a cry of pain emanating from the sword. Like it was alive. The shock was so intense that for a moment I forgot that I was fighting, my eyes fixed on what remained of my weapon, and the muted sensation of pain I still felt from it.

Then the assassin's fingers dug into my armor, piercing my rib cage on both sides and leaving holes that immediately started to bleed.

My mind snapped back to the present. My will sharpened. I was not angry. It was my fault I got distracted, and the Sidereal couldn't know that Dupahtuz was alive. Hell, I didn't know until now!

But if he thought that shattering my blade was enough to make me toothless, he was wrong.

I didn't need my sword.

I was the sword.

I swung the remains of Dupahtuz. The Sideral noticed, and of course, dodged away, making the distance between him and the still sharp piece of the blade. Not much, just enough to be out of range and be able to press me the moment the weapon was not in the way.

And his face morphed into an absolutely stunned expression as something cut him at stomach's height. He looked down on his wound, then up to me… and at the wispy, ethereal blade that had emerged from Dupahtuz's remains.

I chuckled as I understood what that was. Ah, Kayleen… I wish you could see me. Seems like your theory was correct. I could teach you how to create a Shehai, and I had what it took to be an Ansei.

The proof was right there.

I raised my weapon up, focusing. The Sideral didn't have much time to kill me. Our exchange had lasted barely a second, and already I could hear the cries of the Akyn returning. The next exchange was the last one.

But there was no exchange. The Sidereal sent a look at my sword, then at my wounds… and disappeared.

Fucking hax fate ninjas…

Ah, forget him. I didn't have the time to chase him. I needed to return to the Refuge and close the passage to my mansion before he returned, and also raise more defenses. I didn't think someone could arrive at the Refuge without my help, but Exalted be bullshit. The first thing I needed to do was understand how he managed to open the way. Some kind of echo of my own passage? It was worth investigating.

But maybe the first thing I needed to do was to close my wounds? The bastard had stabbed me good. Not enough to pierce something vital, because he clearly had decided that trying to smash his fingers on the bones of my armor was useless, but he still hit something important. The lungs, judging by the fact that breathing was starting to get difficult. With the adrenaline going down, I was starting to notice.

I put a hand on one of my wounds, released a healing spell… and nothing happened.

Uh?

I tried again, but to no avail. The wounds refused to get better.

"Master!" Came Valohk voice as he returned to the clearing with the rest of the shadows and the Akyn. "You're wounded!"

"Yeah… I'll say nothing big, but I cannot… heal it…"

I tried to focus my breath, focusing my internal energy to close the gap between my ribs, but nothing. What- ah, right. Exalted -and most White Wolf games- had something called aggravated damage. It was a sort of cursed damage that caused wounds that didn't heal with magic. The only way to heal was to wait for nature to do its thing, and even then it was slower than normal.

Which was okay if you didn't get that much wounded, but when you were bleeding to death and your lungs were collapsing, it was not good. Unless you had troll-like regeneration.

"Cursed wounds…" I wheezed. "Healing power… won't work…"

I wavered as the blood loss and the lack of air started to take their toll. "We must return… to the Refuge… seal… the entrance…"

The priest and the Akyn obeyed, and I dragged myself toward the portal. I was quickly grabbed by someone -I was not sure it was an Akyn or a priest, my vision was getting foggy- and pulled inside. Gently, but still pulled. I could feel that the priests were in a frenzy, ordering the Akyn around. They were not supposed to do that, but I could forgive them this time.

Then, a voice pierced the fog caused by the lack of oxygen inside my brain and I heard Valohk talking.

"Master, we need time. Are you able to slow down your blood loss?"

Slow down my blood loss? Maybe. At least, I could prevent my blood from getting everywhere.

With what should have been a mere thought, but that now required me quite a lot of effort, I used telekinesis to close the wounds, then cauterized them with a touch of my fire-laced fingers. Painful, but better than losing most of my blood on the floor.

"Thank you, Master. Now save your strength. We will heal you."

I nodded. I was so tired. I closed my eyes and let my mind slip into a meditative state. I couldn't sleep… but I could do the next best thing. I zoned out everything else in an effort to stay awake.

Of course, everything became black, and I lost consciousness.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.4

I woke up with a start. And I did that… emerging from a pool of water? What?

I looked down and saw that I was not just underwater. I was in a tub, almost twice my size, carved into the rock outside my mansion, going by the ice covering the edge and the snow right outside it. Thank God I was immune to cold temperatures.

And the tub wasn't full of water either. It was blood.

Or, if the tingle I felt over my skin was any indication, Dragonblood.

I raised my head to look around. As imagined, I was right outside the mansion, in what I suspect was a tub carved out in a hurry by the priests. It was daytime, closer to dawn than noon, and that meant that whatever they had done to keep me alive had taken hours, and probably Blood Magic. Stupid aggravated damage.

My priests were not there. I expected them to be, but maybe I just remained unconscious for a long time and when they determined I was going to make it, returned to their cities. I would commend them for that.

But there was someone that I was sure was there.

"Valohk!" I called, and the shadow priest immediately materialized at my side.

"Master, you have awakened."

"Yes, thanks to you and the others." I replied, standing. I quickly removed the excess blood from my skin and then materialized my clothes as I got out of the tub. "You'll have to explain to me how you did that. I thought that kind of wound couldn't be healed."

"It didn't." Confirmed Valohk. Did he sound… wary?

I turned to look at him. "Is everything alright?"

The priest paused. For a long time. I was starting to get anxious. "It's better if we discuss this inside, Master."

Ok, now I'm worried. "Something went wrong?"

"No, the operation went perfectly." Replied the shadow, floating into the mansion. "You're as healthy as you can be, Master. Even better."

"Then what's the problem?" I asked, following him inside the mansion. He didn't answer until I was in my bedroom and gestured for me to sit down. I obliged him, but all of this was not helping my nerves.

"Do you feel… different, Master?"

I frowned, confused. Different? No, not really. I…

Wait a second. Now that he mentioned it… my body felt slightly off. Not in a bad way. On the contrary, I was… more conscious of my body than before. I had the feeling that I had more control over it than I ever did. Almost like…

My mind froze in horror. "Valohk… what did you do?"

Valohk didn't say anything for a while. Then, finally…

"You were dying." He explained. "We couldn't stop the hemorrhage. Magic didn't work… even Blood Magic couldn't close the wounds. We could replace some of your blood, but not enough. In the end, we decided to do something… drastic."

"What?" I croaked, my voice coming out with effort from my strained throat.

Valohk looked me straight in the eye. "We couldn't heal your body. So… we tried to replace the wounded part using Blood Magic and Dragonblood."

My mind made a jump. "You tried to give me new lungs… lungs that were not wounded." I checked my body, even removing my clothes to see better. My skin was unmarred. Even the scars I had before the fight with the Sidereal were not there anymore. "It didn't work."

"No." Admitted the shadow. "Your body rejected the new organs. We are not sure why, but we suspect that we couldn't make them as close to the originals as we needed."

Of course. Biology was not a simple matter. I could probably create a completely new organ that was 100% compatible with the receiver, but that required knowledge of biology that they didn't possess. They tried to make a pair of lungs and they didn't match.

"So… what did you try next?" I feared I already knew the answer to that.

Valohk's body didn't shuffle from uneasiness, but I got the very stark impression that his mind did. "Everything we could think of. Grow new tissue using Dragonblood, merge the two… in the end, we were left with only one option. If your body couldn't accept the new organs… then we needed to change the body."

Right. Like… like I suspected.

They replaced my body with one made of Dragonblood.

"How?" I asked.

"We had to sublimate your old body into Dragonblood as we formed the new one." Replied Valohk. "We proceeded as cautiously as possible. We didn't want to accidentally kill you by replacing your brain and heart wrong. We… may have had to use Soul Magic to assure that you remained… yourself. I'm very sorry to use such dangerous magic on you, Master, but it was the only way."

So they melted my body into his basic components and rebuilt it, using my soul as a mold. Ingenious, even brilliant…

But I was not in the mood to admire the cleverness of my servants.

I was not… me anymore. Well, my soul was, but not my body. It was just a… puppet, a thing made by simil-flesh but that actually was just pure magic energy. That was why I was so conscious of my body. I was not human anymore.

"I… I need some time alone." I said. "Please leave."

"My Lord… " Started Valohk, floating near me.

"I said leave!"

That was what I meant to say. It came out like a roar that made the entire mountain tremble. The shadow stopped.

"As my Lord commands." He said. I could feel his sadness, mixed with acceptance. It made me feel terrible, but… I needed some time to think.

-X-

All around the Refuge, the Akyn felt the rage of their Creator and trembled. Then, as the tremor caused by His Voice subsided, they went to the Shadow Lords.

"Why is the Creator angry?" They asked.

"To save his life, we were forced to alter his body in an irreversible way." They answered.

"Will He return to His normal self? He will not abandon us in His rage, right?" Was the question they asked after the first.

"The Creator is compassionate and understanding. He loves his children. He will not abandon you. You just need to have faith."

Fearful, but accepting the word of the Lords, the Akyn returned to their jobs. But every now and then, they would look up to the peak of the mountain, and murmur a brief prayer. The Lords told them that He couldn't hear them, for He was no God… but they did it regardless.

-X-

It took me a lot of time -more than I'm willing to admit- to get my shit together. It took a lot of thinking -or rationalization/lying to myself- but in the end, I did manage to calm down.

In retrospect, my initial reaction sounded… exaggerated.

My body was not mine anymore? Well, yeah, but I wasn't sure the body I had when I woke up in Skyrim was my own. Changing a fake body -or the body of a poor SoB that I unwillingly possessed- to another was not that big of a change.

Am I not human anymore? Yes. But, from the perspective of the people at home, my superhuman power and magic already made me pretty inhuman. And, technically, I was not a human since I ate the soul of a dragon, at the very least. Since that moment, I have been a Dragonborn.

Am I not myself anymore? Not true. My very soul had been used to rebuild my body. And if there was a part of me that was 1000% me, that was my freaking soul. In fact, you could argue that I was more me than when I woke up on Skyrim.

Yeah, having your body restructured and being a mass of magical energy that had assumed physical form, like some kind of incarnate spirit, was not ideal to my sense of self, but it was also not as big of a change as I had thought. It would take time to get used to this new body, but I managed to adapt to being a magical human able to eat dragon souls, I could adapt to that.

The fact that it was shockingly similar to my old body helped. Through a brief test I made, I realized that it acted exactly like my old body. In fact, if Valohk hadn't pointed this out, I would never have realized there was something wrong.

The difference between the old and new body was reflected in the fact that my new body was more malleable than the old one. I could do things I could normally never do. Like stopping it from needing things like… breathing. Or food. Or pain. I suspected that I could also change some anatomical details if I wanted, but I left that out for the moment, because I still needed time to adjust to that idea.

Now, before everything else. "Valohk."

The shadow immediately materialized at my side. "You called, Master."

I nodded. "Someone recovered the pieces of my sword?"

The shadow nodded. "Yes, they're wrapped in a cloth on the other side of your bed. We thought you would want to repair it."

I turned around to see a piece of cloth laying a couple of steps from me. Right… I completely missed it before.

I made the cloth jump in my head with telekinesis and then unwrapped it. Inside, there was Dupahtuz, still shattered in two pieces and various fragments. The blade was unsalvageable. But… I could still feel pain radiating from it.

"Why are you alive?" I whispered to the blade. And why didn't I realize sooner?

"I have a theory in that regard."

I blinked and looked at the undead. "Really? What theory?"

"The Dovah are not like most living things." Said Valohk. "They cannot be killed, and when their mortal body is struck down, their soul doesn't leave for an afterlife. Instead, it remains inside their corpses, waiting. It is my theory, and the theory of most of the others, that when you infused dragon bones with Thu'um… you somehow infused some semblance of life inside them."

I… Uh. That was not as impossible as it sounded. A Shout was powered by the will and life force of a creature. By infusing a bone of a dragon with life force, it could have granted it some part of that life force. After all, while you couldn't manipulate dragon souls using necromancy, you could animate their bodies.

"But that wouldn't explain why Dupahtuz is alive and the other weapons are not." I noted… and immediately stopped considering. Were they not? I didn't use them as much as this sword. I would need to check.

"Maybe the nature of the enchantment you put on the sword has to do with that." Replied Valohk. "It is a life-stealing enchantment, isn't it?"

A good point. It could also explain why none of the other weapons were alive -if they weren't. Aside from my dagger, none had something similar to a life-stealing enchantment, and I didn't use my dagger so much because soul-stealing was a little icky and I didn't like to use it on human targets. Besides, I didn't need filled soul gems recently. No real reason to use it.

"I'll verify it myself." I nodded. "The connection with Creation?"

"Sealed. We didn't want the killer to come and finish the work."

I sighed. "Alright. Good. I… I'm sorry if I snapped before. I had a lot to unpack."

"I understand, Master. It's not a change that can be brushed off."

"Yeah. But I need to return there. I… I need materials and other things from that universe, if I want to complete the project."

To tell the truth, I did not want to return there. I was almost killed by a random ass Exalted, who could apparently find me anywhere and had a specific reason to kill me. Next time I could not be so lucky to have my priests save my skin.

But I needed to do it. I couldn't just hole up in my mansion. If I let one near-death experience stop me, I would never return home.

But I needed a little time to psyche myself up.

Valohk and I discussed the possible necessity of an escort for a while, but I shot down the entire thing. The Akyn were not going to save my ass if that guy returned. If he had managed to get me, he could deal with an army of them. Besides, the Akyn were not the most subtle escort. They were tall, heavily built humanoid reptiles. They would stand out a lot anywhere I went.

So, in the end, I took the courage to return to Creation. But not before casting all types of disguise magic I could think of. Unfortunately, the Sidereals seemed to track me down using the… influence I had on the Loom of Fate, probably a destructive influence considering how they worded the thing. Maybe it was related to being a Prisoner? I was free from any Fate that was not the one the Prophecy listed. That could have bad repercussions on something like the Loom. And I had no method to mask that, because Fate hax was not one of my powers.

I also discovered that my Falna was gone. Well, not gone-gone, it was still there, but the destruction and rebuilding of my body had… disconnected it, so to say? The power was still there, but I couldn't access it like before. It was probably something I could fix. After all, with the body I had now, I was more attuned with my soul than before. Maybe I could place a Falna on someone now. But that was something to study later.

So, I took a deep breath, divined the clearing I created last night to confirm there was not another Wild Hunt patrol waiting for me, and I opened the portal.

I didn't walk outside immediately. My heart was beating fast and I felt anxiety I hadn't felt in a long while. I… never had to fight against something that managed to almost kill me two times. Usually, the thing in question managed to almost kill me but I killed it in the end, or it was killed by someone else while I was out of commission. Knowing that the Sidereals were still there, waiting for me to return and finish the work…

I shook my head, closed my eyes, and took another deep breath. I underestimated the dangers of Creation… or at least, I didn't expect one of the strongest factions of the entire setting to want me dead from the start. I was not ready. Now I had a better idea of what I was facing. I could prepare. I could be more cautious. I could exploit my strong points to avoid them. Even if the only real way I could think of was to stay away from as many people as possible, to avoid interfering with their Fate. Still, it was something.

I opened my eyes and stepped on Creation again.

And as I did that, the world around me froze.

What in the actual fuck?

-X-

Waiting for so long outside the clearing had been worth it.

"He's here." Announced a voice. The tall man that had assisted the utter madness that had been the night before was looking at the portal opening with focused eyes.

"Huh? I didn't expect him to be here." Replied the boar-man. "He should have gone out away from here."

"That's if he can." Replied the masked companion. "The spell he's using could not make it possible."

"We can ask him." Replied the monk. "Let's approach him. Slowly. I can only imagine what the experience of last night could have done to his nerves."

The rest of the group nodded and slowly, very slowly, they emerged from the shadows of the forest and toward the man. They froze when he raised his hand up.

-X-

I looked around, trying to understand what was happening. It was not some kind of time stop, because I would feel it. Time was my domain… sort of. More like I was linked to the passage of time by my dragon soul, so if time fuckery happened, I recognized it. So this couldn't be time fuckery. But then what?

"Don't be scared." Said a feminine voice. "This is merely a vision. Time is not flowing here to give us time to talk."

I turned and locked my eyes on the person who had spoken. And the only way I could describe her was… silver. Lots, and lots of silver. The woman had a silver and white dress, silver hair on pale skin, and she seemed to radiate silver light.

I may not be much into Exalted lore to know every single detail, but even I could recognize her with a glance.

"Luna, Goddess of the Moon." I said, stunned.

She smiled. Her smile was… a little too large for her mouth. "You're well informed, for someone that hails from beyond Creation."

I blinked and filed away the fact that she knew that for later. "That's my thing. What are you doing here, Luna? I thought the gods didn't talk to mortals aside from…" I paused as a memory surfaced. "… Wait, I am to become one of your Chosen?"

Luna didn't react as I thought she would. Well, actually, I didn't know how she was supposed to react, but sighing sadly was not what I expected either way. "Ah, I wish you could join my children, traveler. And I'm not the only one, old Sol would like to give you his blessing too… but your soul is already claimed."

Claimed? "You mean my dragon soul is stopping you from giving me literal divine powers?"

"Dragon soul? That's what it is?" Asked Luna, looking behind me with curiosity. "Quite marvelous, if I can say it. It reminds me of the blessing of Sol, but… different."

Well, Akatosh was the patron of the Empire and the leader of the Nine Divine, so I could get the resemblance. But he was also time itself, so he should look different, more… Primordial. Or maybe not? I was not exactly sure how much the Primordials were incarnations of their concept, or just… obsessed with it. Depending on that, Akatosh could be either a Primordial or an Incarnae, in Exalted terms.

But he was probably some weird mix of the two. A Primordial Incarnae?

Anyway…

"As much as I would love to talk with you about our respective cosmologies, if I'm not too rude, can I ask… why are you here again?"

Luna looked me in the eyes and smiled again. "Because while I cannot give you my blessing, it would be a shame if I didn't give you something. And, considering the Maiden's children are hunting you…" She paused, and held out her closed hand. When her arm was completely outstretched, she opened her fingers, revealing… a bright, golden flame, dancing on the palm of her hand with what seemed like maniac energy.

"Uh… what's that supposed to be?" I asked, confused. Golden flames were not exactly Luna's deal.

"Ah, maybe you're not as knowledgeable as I suspected." She grinned. "This is the Flame of Exigence."

I looked at the flame. What the hell was that supposed to mea-

My eyes widened in shock when my brain connected the dots. "You mean this is the thing you use to… Exalt humans?"

Luna laughed. "My, you really are a knowledgeable one. Not many mortals know as much. Yes, this is the vessel we use to give our blessing to the mortals. Or, to be more precise, how Sol grants lesser gods the ability to create an Exalted champion, since we don't need it. Normally, you'll see the flame colored by the divine power of the god that asked Sol Invictus the privilege of using one… but this one is empty."

Ok… "Uh… how's that supposed to help? If my dragon soul stops you from giving me your blessing, why should this do anything? And, since we're on the subject, how did you manage to get one? I thought you already had your Chosen and you couldn't get more."

The grin on Luna's face was positively cat-like. "Well, the rules are that you need Sol's permission to get an Exigence… but I was never one for rules." She suddenly started to float an inch or two from the ground, and then floated slowly towards me. "As for your first question… I'm not sure if it can help. But, the soul inside your body is not that different from the fragments of power we use to grant our blessings. So, I thought that giving you an Exigence's Flame could… renew the bond with it."

I eyed the Exigence, thinking. Was it really possible? Could I upgrade my Dragonborn powers by using an Exigence?

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then nothing happens." She shrugged. "But I would worry about what happens if it works. I can assure you, if the Chosens of the Maidens are hunting you now, this will not dissuade them. In fact, it could make things worse."

Yeah, I could see that. But, on the other hand, they were already hunting me. And while I could still not have Fate bullshit with it… I would have my kind of bullshit.

So, I raised my hand, and Luna let the golden flame slide onto it. It was… well, I could say it was warm, but it wasn't. It was like an explosion constantly going off. It didn't burn me, per se, but its raw power painfully stabbed my palm.

"Thank you, Luna. I greatly appreciate your gift." I said, bowing my head. Being polite didn't hurt.

"Oh, the pleasure is mine, traveler. I'm sure you'll be very entertaining." She smiled back.

I looked at the Exigence in my hand. Uhm… "How do I use it?"

"Oh, you cannot. It's meant for gods, and while impressive, you're still fundamentally mortal. But, your friend behind you will probably find a way."

My friend behind? I started to turn to see what the hell she was talking about when she grabbed my face with her hands. "Ah-ah-ah. Not now, my dear. You wouldn't want to wake him up while I'm still here, right? He could get… territorial."

I nodded, but I still managed to get a look from the corner of my eye. And… there was something behind me, something I've never really seen until now, but maybe because of the Exigence in my hand, or because of the presence of Luna, or something else. Something big, flaming, and alive.

"Well, I will not hold you much longer. Just… try to treat my children well when you meet them, alright?"

"As long as they don't attack me first, I will not lay a hand on your Chosen." I promised.

"Thank you. Now go, traveler. You have much to do." She smiled, before disappearing from my sight. I looked at the Exigence again, still a little unsure. Was this really a good idea?

Well, if it helped me fight the Sidereal…

I closed my fist around the Exigence and absorbed it, making it flow inside my body and where I now knew my dragon soul was. It burned like I was trying to substitute my blood with magma, but only it lasted until it reached my heart.

A second later, orange and blue fire erupted from me.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.5

It happened in an instant.

One second, the strange man had his arm raised, holding something very brilliant -it wasn't very clear what- in his open hand. Then, he closed his fingers on the things, and a column of fire, orange and blue, erupted around him, quickly growing in height until it was visible from every corner of the Caul.

"That's the proof you needed, Pigsy." Said the monk, a smile on his face. "He was a Godblood. Because if he was not, he couldn't Exalt in front of us."

"I guess… but I find it strange that his Anima doesn't have images on it. I would expect-"

The boar man was cut out when a particularly violent eruption of his fire-like Anima took the form of a giant, flaming dragon, a beast of truly immense proportions, big enough to swallow an ox whole. The beast stood on two legs, then lifted his head and opened his wings, before roaring with enough force to cause a little storm.

"Alright, I'll shut up."

-X-

Exaltation -or something very similar- came with an explosion of awareness. Things that I suspected, or wild theories that were never confirmed suddenly became crystal clear.

The difference between life force and souls? Nonexistent. Everything was, in the end, an expression of the same primordial force that shaped the world.

Time? A concept for mortal races, something born from the limitation the world imposed upon them. Past, present and future didn't exist. There was just one time, and now I could see it too.

Flesh? A useful tool to interact with the world, but ultimately superfluous for the continued existence of the self.

Why was I getting this sudden understanding of reality? Because the Exigence gifted from Luna had done something that my dragon soul could not. Yes, it could improve my body, granting me more power and knowledge for every dragon I slayed. It could give me the power of the Dovah, the ability to learn and use the Thu'um like one of them.

But it couldn't change the nature of my own body and soul. Despite having a dragon soul -which, at this point, was clearly a separate entity from my own, original soul- I remained mortal. My body would age and die, and my soul could be trapped using magic and, once my mortal body would die, it would go into one of the various afterlives of the TES universe.

Not anymore.

Now I was, despite what the form I had could say, a Dov.

"Uh… hello?"

I was distracted from my sudden enlightenment by a voice. My instinct flared, and materialized my Shehai in my hand and swung horizontally, determined to bisect in two whoever was there.

The result was quite bigger than I imagined. Instead of slashing someone that was near me, the Shehai proceeded to cut everything up to several meters in front of it. More than one tree was instantly cleaved in two.

The one who talked instead had saved himself by kissing the dirt, him and three more. A monk, a masked guy, a tall one with dark hair and… a beastman?

Uh… maybe I was a little jumpy.

"Sorry." I said, making the Shehai disappear and noticing that I still had the column of fire and a… dragon? Around me. "My last experience with people sneaking around me was… intense."

"Yeah, we noticed." Said the tall man, standing up. "You can call me Monkey, stranger. What is your name?"

"Rexen Loki." I replied, trying to find a way to suppress the enormous light show I was putting up. "But you can call me Loki." There has to be a way to use this damn thing for something…

Something clicked inside my head and I channeled the anima into my body. This was meant to be a way for my body to pass through the last transition from mortal-with-a-dragon-soul to full-fledged Dov… or to let all the innate powers I had acquired during my adventures be integrated into my new power. As I did, though, I realized that the world around me was… slightly different.

In particular, Monkey was emitting a faint silver light, and the monk a golden one.

I didn't have to be a genius to understand what that meant.

"A Lunar and a Solar." I said, looking at their aura.

Monkey and the monk looked at each other, while the other two squared up agaist me suspiciously.

"Well, you seem to have gained some interesting power, stranger." Said the monk. "It will be useful for you, to locate the Sidereals on your tail. Just be careful to not abuse it. It's… quite conspicuous."

I frowned and looked at my own masked face using magic. Ah… I got fissured eyes when I did that. Interesting. I dismissed my new sight and looked at the quartet.

"I'm saying this too much already, but… why are you here?"

The monk bowed slightly. "Forgive us, but it would be impolite for us to continue this conversation without having presented ourselves… or while remaining in this clearing. The Wild Hunt will arrive soon. Your display was not subtle."

I grimaced. "Yeah, I suppose it wasn't. Let's go then. I'll try to cover our tracks as much as possible."

They nodded and started to walk away from the clearing, with me behind obscuring our path through magic. I didn't know how much this could protect us from the Sidereals, but the fact that there were a Lunar and a Solar together meant that an attack could end very badly for them. I was pretty sure that I was reasonably safe with them around.

While we talked, I also gathered their names. The masked man was called Sandy, and while I didn't notice at the start, he had a certain… sandy quality on him. A vague aura. Maybe he was a Godblood?

The boar-man was Pigsy, and I was starting to see where this was going…

The man was called Sanzang, and his surname -because he did have one, so I supposed he was a former Dynast- he would prefer to not reveal.

So, yeah, I appeared near the Creation's version of the Journey to the West. The only thing missing was the dragon-horse. Which made sense, because elemental dragons were no jokes, and absolutely not monsters that you could bind to your service. Even if, I supposed, a Solar could just make one…

Anyway, after we were deep enough into the forest that nobody would dare follow us, we finally stopped. I have to admit, these guys were good, especially Pigsy and Sandy. They were not Exalted, but they compensated with excellent training.

"So, what do you want for me?" I asked as they stopped pushing through the thick undergrowth of the forest.

"Ask for forgiveness, to start." Replied Sanzang, bowing. "We were there when the Wild Hunt attacked you, but we didn't intervene until we realized the Sidereal assassin was going to strike. Unfortunately, when we did so, it was too late."

They were there but didn't do anything… I assumed they were near, but not enough to alert the Dragon-Blooded. Hmmm… "You are forgiven. But why did you remain there, instead of running away? You have two Exalted in your group, but two against a couple dozen are not odds you can easily overcome."

"They're not." Admitted the monk. "But we found your powers and abilities… intriguing, to say at least. So we remained near in the hope to recruit you."

"For what?"

"The war to take the Caul-"

"I refuse." I cut the ex-Dynast halfway through. "I have my own objectives, and they're incompatible with waging war on the Dragon-Blooded. In fact, it is my intention to leave the Caul as soon as possible."

From the expression Monkey had, he sort of expected that. Pigsy just looked resigned, and Sandy was impossible to read thanks to his mask. The reason I had one too.

"Ah." Said Sanzang, maintaining an impressive poker face. "I see. But then, why are you here in Caul?"

A legitimate question. "I hail from outside Creation. I was not aiming to come to the Caul. It's just where I landed."

That got me several looks.

"Outside Creation… there are rumours of other bubbles of stable reality in the Wyld, but I never heard of someone coming from them. You travelled through the Wyld?" Monkey asked.

"'Travelled' implied I physically moved inside it. No, I used magic. That's why I appeared here and not in some other place."

"And I suppose the reason the Sidereals are trying to kill you is because you are not bound by Fate, and so are dangerous to their plans?" Asked Pigsy.

"Worse. Apparently, I'm disturbing the Loom in some way. That's why it's easy for them to locate me. They just need to follow the interference."

There was silence after that.

"That's certainly a reason." Commented Sandy.

"Just asking, but what kind of goal do you have that you cannot do here?" Asked Monkey.

"I need Orichalcum to build a battery able to contain enough power to fuel the spell I used to come here. And if possible, I'll need more magical materials to… repair my sword." I replied.

"Hm, yeah, not a lot of Orichalcum on the Caul. You're better off trying to find some First Age laboratory in the Threshold." Nodded the Lunar. He was very chill about this.

Sanzang sent a glare to Monkey. He saw it and shrugged it off. "Yes, Monkey is correct. However, I would advise you to not go immediately."

"And why is that?" I asked. Why was the Solar the one more interested in recruiting me for this war? Wasn't the Caul sacred ground for Lunar and Dragon-Blooded? Why was he so invested?

"Right now, Faxai-in-the-Caul is on high alert." Replied the monk. "It's also, unfortunately, the best place you can find a ship that can bring you to the mainland. Trying to find a passage while the Dragon-Blooded -and the Sidereals- are trying to kill you is unwise."

"I have some limited shapeshifting ability." I countered. "I can swim or fly to the mainland."

Sazang arched an eyebrow but didn't miss a beat. "The closest city to Faxai is Lathe, on the Cinder Isles. It's more than two thousand miles away."

Two thousand… holy shit, how fucking big was Creation?

"I can fly pretty fast." I said, but the sheer distance put me on pause. It was a lot of miles, more than I could cover in a single day. I could rest by getting inside the Refuge, of course, but that assumed I didn't find problems along the way. And, considering what kind of crazy shit lived or could happen in Creation's oceans…

"I don't doubt that. But there is another reason you should consider staying here a little longer."

"Do you intend to tell me, or are you just trying to rile me up?" I snapped. This monk was way too cryptic. Just speak your mind!

In response, he bowed a little. "In my experience, you require some time to be able to adapt to the power you were granted by the Exaltation. Sure, you already had powers before, so the period is not going to be as long. However, I would still suggest that you experiment with your powers here, instead of blindly rushing toward the South. At least here the presence of Dragon-Blooded is not as oppressive."

He… did make a good point, actually. For what I vaguely remembered, the Faxai was the only real foothold the Dragon-Blooded had on the island. Most of its cities were controlled by Lunars, and the forest was dripping with wild elementals and beastmen. It was dangerous, sure, but better than having to suppress my powers in fear of an entire platoon of Dragon-Blooded landing on my head.

"Your suggestion has merit." I admitted. "This is maybe the only place in Creation that's not dominated by Dragon-Blooded. Maybe it is a good idea to familiarize myself with my powers here." I paused, trying to remember something. "Also because new Exalted tend to want to use their powers. It's called Essence Fever, right?"

More surprised looks.

"Alright, it kinda flew over my head before, but how do you know all those things, and also the various Exalted hosts, when you come from outside Creation?" Asked Monkey. "Shouldn't you know nothing at all? Or do you have Exalted there too?"

I shrugged. "No, we don't have Exalted. But people seem to be able to peer inside other realities, and interpret them as fantastical stories. Creation is not the first different reality I visited. There are quite a few, and if every fiction that exists in my world is real, there are possibly infinite worlds out there."

Of course I had no idea if this was true or not, and Sanzang was giving me a dubious look, but I opened my hands in the universal gesture of 'I don't know man, this shit is confusing for me too' and he nodded.

"So, let me get this straight." Asked Pigsy. "You are a dimensional traveler?"

"You can call me that, yes."

"How many worlds have you visited?"

"Three. Four if you count the starting one… which was not the one I was born into."

There was a little pause at that, as the group internalized my words.

"You didn't leave your original world willingly, did you?" Asked Sandy.

I frowned. "No, I did not. That's why I need the battery. I don't have enough power to reach other worlds on my own. I managed to do it until now by exploiting vast amounts of magical power -what you would call Essence- that I could acquire… but I cannot continue to rely on good luck for that. I need a backup in case there is no easy way to access vast amounts of Essence in a brief time… like here. Unless Demesne and Manses are far more powerful than I could imagine…"

"Even if they were, powerful Manses are almost always already occupied or heavily guarded." Intervened Sanzang. "I suggest you go with your plan… even if linking this battery to a Manse could help."

Hmmm… another good suggestion, but not one I could apply on Creation. On the other hand, on the Refuge…

Man, I really needed to step up in my help to the Refuge, didn't I? Sure, the priest helped, but I was quickly surpassing them in any meaningful way. When the only thing I got over them was raw power it was a thing, but now that advanced magical theory was needed, and I was the only one that knew it, my presence was necessary. If only I could be in two places at on-

Oh. Was it really that simple?

Well, I needed to do it later. "Anyway, if I had to do this, I need to stay as far away as possible from Faxai. And I should talk to a crafter or consult a guide on making artifacts. It wouldn't be good for me to get the materials needed and then not know what to do with them. Where do you suggest I should go, Sanzang?"

The monk assumed a pensive expression. "Crafting is not really something practiced here on Caul, at least not regarding artifacts. The war with the Dragon-Blooded has focused much of the Lunars toward destroying everything that could help the Realm more than them, and any artifact left around is something a Dynast could use to better kill a Lunar, and they're not as replaceable as their enemy."

That made sense, I supposed.

"However, the Kongar are the best metal workers and carpenters of the continent. If there is one place where you could learn more about the construction of artifacts, it's the city of Morovath."

"What are you not telling me, Sanzang?" I asked. The look that Pigsy and Sandy exchanged was suspicious.

To his credit, the Solar didn't hesitate. "Morovath is the headquarters of Sha'a Oka and of the entire war against the Realm here on the Caul. There are a lot of Lunars there, and while they could leave you in peace, they could also not. But it is the only place I can think of to learn what you want to learn."

I nodded. "I see. What about the other Shrine cities?"

"I'm afraid that the Shrine cities are under the control of the Lunars right now, and most will not welcome you. Also, while all the Caul has a tenuous link to Creation, that's explicitly worse in the Shrine cities. Only Faxai is relatively normal, and that's because the Earth Shrine makes the entire city incredibly stable."

That made me remember something. "Ah, right. It's the Earth Pole that solidifies Creation's rules, isn't it? The farther you get away from it, the more the laws of Creation become… suggestions."

"Exactly." Nodded Sanzang. "Of course, there are more Kongar cities in the jungle of the Caul, but Morovath is the biggest and most ancient. So ancient, in fact, that there could still be some knowledge of First Age Artifice in the libraries. I'm not a smith, unfortunately, so I cannot confirm that, but it's worth trying."

That sold it. "Alright, Morovath it is. How do I get there?"

"You'll need a guide for that." Grunted Pigsy. "The Caul is insidious. You get lost for even a second, and you find yourself a hundred miles away from where you were a second before."

I looked at the boarman, surprised. "That bad?"

"The Caul did disappear for centuries." Sandy reminded me. "And even before that, his connection to Creation was faint at best. It's already a miracle this place is not a step away from being eaten by the Wyld."

"I suppose. Where can I find a guide? Do I have to find some of these Kongar people?"

"Don't need it." Replied Monkey. "We'll guide you ourselves."

That was… very generous of them. "Alright, I know I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but why are you willing to help me? I thought you just wanted me to join your cause, and I already refused."

Sanzang smiled. "Look at it as a way to further repay you for our inactivity. If we intervened before, the Sidereal would not have almost killed you."

Well, in a sense he did, but that was beside the point.

"You don't-" I started, but I was interrupted by Monkey.

"Plus, you know, an enemy of my enemy is my friend. You may not be willing to help us in the war for the Caul, but every Dragon-Blooded that you defeat and every Sidereal that you keep busy is a little help toward the war against the Realm as a whole. So, it's in our interest to keep you alive and train you just enough to actually deal with them."

Ok, that was a better motivation for helping me, and also explained why the Lunar was so chill about me refusing to help. Was I starting to become cynical? Or just more paranoid? I suppose almost dying would have that effect.

"I see. Shall we go then?"

Last edited: Aug 14, 2022

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.6

The march through the Caul jungle was… interesting. Every day had a surprise.

There were incredible landscapes…

-X-

"Did a river just appear out of nowhere?" I asked, as I looked at the incredible mass of water that had materialized right in front of me.

"I said that the Caul was dangerous." Replied Pigsy, his outstretched arm blocking me from taking another step.

"Yeah, but being told is one thing, seeing is another."

The boar-man grunted. "I know the feeling. I didn't believe you were a Godblood until you Exalted right in front of me."

"Well, if it's any consolation, my powers are derived from a shard of divine power smacked inside my soul to fulfill a prophecy, so… I was already half-Exalted back then?"

Pigsy assumed a pensive expression. "I suppose. Different world, different rules, right?"

"Something like that."

"Hmm. We can continue." Said the beastman, walking onwards… because the river had disappeared in the same way it appeared. Out of nowhere.

"Uh, this place is going to give me a headache." I mumbled, before returning to walk.

-X-

… and lovable local fauna.

-X-

"Motherfucking asshole!" I roared as I focused my power -I didn't know if I should be calling it magic or Essence anymore- into my fist, surrounding it with the same orange and blue flame of my Anima before slamming it into some kind of elemental monster, a mix between a boar and a gorilla made of what looked like sandstone. The hit destroyed the fanged head of the creature, finally putting it down.

"Anything else that wants a knuckle sandwich?" I asked exasperated. When one of those things attacked us, I didn't give it much thought, but then an entire herd arrived and… well, let's say that their bodies didn't just look like they were made of stone.

"Seems like that was the last of them." Said Sandy, extracting his greatsword from the side of another one of the creatures.

"Annoying bastards." I growled, before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to calm down. Uh… maybe I was starting to feel the effect of the Great Curse. But… did it apply to me? My power was derived from my dragon souls, so not one of the targets of the original Curse. Even if I was Exalted, I shouldn't be influenced by it.

But I could still be influenced by my draconic nature. I managed to ignore the little nudges I felt until now, but with the bond between me and the dragons stronger than ever, that may not be possible anymore.

I shook my head. Even if that was the case, there was nothing I could do about it. Better focus on things I could control.

"But why didn't you use your sword? The one made of light, I mean." Asked Sandy as the rest of the group arrived.

"The Shehai, you mean? I cannot call on it willy-nilly. I require a certain focus and mental fortitude. Calling it before was a fluke. If I try to do it…" I paused, focusing my will and trying to give it the shape of a sword… but all I got was some wisps of light that just barely resembled a sword.

I dismissed the Shehai with a flick of my wrist. "I'll need to meditate on why it worked. To be honest, I didn't believe I could summon one. They're almost mythical from the world where I learned them. Nobody has been able to summon one in centuries."

"I see." Nodded Sandy. "Some type of martial art?"

"Yes. The most powerful that world ever conceived."

"I'm interested in understanding this martial art. Would that be possible?

I looked at the Godblood. I couldn't see his face, but his eyes were in plain view, and the only thing inside them was curiosity.

"I don't see why not."

-X-

Of course, there were also bad things. Like, for example, invasive species.

-X-

"Demons. Fucking demons. Why are there demons free on Creation?"

"The Caul is… slightly off, compared to the rest of Creation." Replied Sanzang, looking at the rapidly disappearing corpse of the Blood Ape he just punched dead. "Demons find it easier to stay here, especially if they managed to do it by escaping some foolish summoning."

I grumbled about morons between my teeth before changing the topic. "At least you were there. I'll admit, I know I should have expected it, but I didn't really see you as a martial artist."

"I was an Immaculate Monk, before the Unconquered Sun graced me with his blessing." Admitted the Solar. "I never drew the Second Breath, so my knowledge of the Immaculate Martial Arts is limited. However, I was taught the basics of the Golden Janissary Style, so that I would not find myself helpless against the Creatures of Darkness."

Golden Janissary, uh? That could be useful. "You know, I wouldn't mind some lessons in martial arts. My magic is far more… external than most of the Exalted powers. It's not as immediate or easy to use. Like your sorcery, but not that hard. I don't suppose you know a little of that too, right?"

"Hmm… You'll have to talk with Monkey about sorcery, he's the only one in our group to know it. Only Emerald Circle, but still more than me. He's also a practitioner of the White Reaper Style. Am I wrong in assuming you're curious about all martial arts, Loki?"

"Well, more or less." I nodded.

Sanzang smiled. "Then I don't see a problem sharing my knowledge of the art. It will be interesting to have a student again."

Oh, well, this was going to be fun!

-X-

But all in all, it was a pleasant visit! Really a joy for the eyes after everything I had gone through.

-X-

"Is there a particular reason you are scanning the area with your strange eyes?"

I looked at Monkey, who had reached me while I was looking around during one of our brief breaks. "I'm trying to determine exactly what I'm seeing. And, after the elementals…"

"… And the demons…" Added Sanzang.

"… and the shifting terrain." Concluded Pigsy.

"I decided it was better to keep an eye open for eventual problems. These eyes of mine are of some help, and while they don't help me see through the trees, they are still useful."

"What do they do, anyway?" Asked Monkey.

I paused, trying to find the words. "It's difficult to describe. I suppose I can sum it up as seeing the color of magic."

The Lunar sent me an arched brow. "The color of magic?"

"Yeah. For example, both you and Sanzang emit a light that matches your Exaltation. I still have to see anything that can manipulate Essence beside you two, so…"

"I can manipulate Essence." Slipped in Sandy. "Very poorly, but I still have some supernatural ability granted by my father."

I looked at the masked man and… no, nothing. "Really? I don't see anything."

"Maybe it's a matter of usage." Hypothesize Sanzang. "Sandy, try to use your powers."

The man shrugged, then his figure was quickly covered in a vortex of sand. When it disappeared, there was a completely different person, a man wearing brown clothes, without a mask, and with the most generic, run-of-the-mill peasant face you could possibly imagine.

And he was emitting an ocher light, the color of the vast desert.

"Now I see it." I said. "Interesting. Why now and not before?"

"If I can dare to guess, you can only see the 'color of magic' when someone is using it. Monkey and I usually keep some measure of power active at all times, usually to attune to our artifacts."

Artifacts? I sent a glance toward Monkey. I knew he had a Moonsilver Staff that could change size, I've seen it use it several times. But Sanzang?

"You have an artifact?" I asked the monk, surprised.

"Of course I do. This robe I wear is not just to cover myself." He said, before turning over the fringe of one of his sleeves… letting me see words woven on the underside with what looked like Orichalcum. "As resistant as heavy armor, and specifically tailored to let martial artist's limbs strike with the force of a maul."

I nodded. "Well, that's useful. I usually just punch people with the magical gauntlets of my armor."

"Yes, that sounds functional, but most martial arts here don't work when you wear heavy armor, so we have to adapt."

"Fair." I admitted.

-X-

If I have to say one bad thing about the Caul, is that the place didn't have many spots where you could stop and relax. Admittedly, it would have taken away the sensation of being in the middle of a wild area, but still. Fortunately, I had a solution for that.

-X-

"Welcome to the Dragon Refuge!" I announced, as I opened a portal toward the mansion… specifically on the outside of the mansion, letting them see the Refuge in all its glory.

"Wow!" Exclaimed Monkey, looking around. "All of this is yours?"

I chuckled. "No, not at all. I just discovered this place, and use it, as the name implies, as refuge. The only real thing that's mine here is the mansion. Everything else is either wild territory slowly being reclaimed by the Akyn, or cities they built."

"A bubble of stable reality in the middle of the Wyld." Commented Sanzang, looking around. "I suppose that the vortex in the middle is the thing that keeps the entire plane anchored."

"Something like that." I nodded.

"How big is this place?" Asked Pigsy.

Uh… I didn't know. "Valohk?"

The shadow priest materialized at my size, making all the others jump away. "The exploration of the waters has been difficult, because the life forms inside it are… vicious. However, since you graced us with the mighty Jormungand, it has proceeded more smoothly. From what we can tell, the entire Refuge is completely circular, with a radius of approximately three thousand miles."

Three thousand miles? Holy shit. This place was enormous. I quickly calculated the total area it covered, and the result was somewhat impressive. It was basically the size of Europe, Asia and Africa combined.

"That's basically the size of the Blessed Isles." Commented Sanzang, awed.

Again, Creation was just fucking huge. "You have to consider that most of it is water. The land only covers a ring around the cyclone."

"That's still an enormous landmass . Your 'little' domain is as big as most Creations regions. You could make an empire out of this place." Noted Sandy.

I nodded. "I mean to. But that's something for me to worry about. Valohk, do we have food and drinks for our guests?"

The shadow paused for a second. "I'm afraid we don't. But we can request some from the Guarded City. I'm sure they'll be willing to share some of their food with you."

"Very well. Be sure that they'll be appropriately paid."

"Of course."

He then disappeared, probably to pay a visit to Morokei.

"I wanted to ask… what exactly are those shadows?" Asked Sanzang.

"The priests? They were undead monsters I defeated in the first world I visited. I then used a particular brand of magic to call the echoes of their souls and give them form. I was in a… difficult situation, and I thought I could use some powerful undead sorcerers as backup. But then the locals started to appear, and I deemed them more useful as protectors. You cannot see them from there, but the place is filled with powerful reptiles… not dissimilar to the one of the Caul, admittedly. Only very aggressive."

I received several blank stares for that, and it took several blinks for them to recover.

"So you're a necromancer?" Asked Sazang again.

"By my magical system, yeah. By yours, not so much. There is no Underworld where I come from, no place where you can tap into the dark forces of death. From where I come from, necromancy is just a type of soul magic."

"I see." Nodded Sanzang. "Interesting difference. Well, let's not talk about these distasteful topics anymore. Care to show us your home, friend Loki?"

I smiled and guided them inside. I'm sure they'll appreciate the safety of the place. I couldn't imagine the jungles of the Caul to be less dangerous during the night.

-X-

But good things always ended. And so, one evening, we found ourselves looking at a city in the distance. A city that, like the moon herself, seemed to wane and wax. In this particular moment, a quarter of the city was composed of white spires that soared toward the sky, while the remaining was dull, black, and lifeless. I could vaguely hear a song coming from there, a dirge that well accompanied the looks of the city.

"Morovath, the City of a Thousand Faces." Sanzang announced. "It seems like we arrived at an inappropriate moment. It's far more splendid when the moon is full."

I nodded. "We're almost there… but the night is coming. It's better if we rest at the Refuge." I opened a portal… and a thought crossed me. "Ah, shit. I just realized… if I go to the city, the Sidereals will know of its position."

"There is no need to worry." Shrugged Monkey. "The instability of the Caul influences everything, including the Loom of Fate. It's one of the reasons the Lunar can fight the Realm better here. The Dragon-Blooded are a mighty army, but nobody can beat the Sidereal in intelligence gathering. In fact, if you arrived anywhere aside from Faxai, they probably wouldn't have noticed you at all."

Because Faxai had the Earth pole. Right.

"Ah, well, better this way. C'mon, let's go."

We entered inside the Refuge for a last night of sleep outside the city… and I waited until my guests were sleeping before rising up and calling Valohk.

"You called, Master?" Asked the shadow priest.

"Yes. I'm going to try to solve the problem caused by my absence here. As a way to repay all of you for saving me."

"It was our duty, Master."

"I still want to repay you. So…"

I closed my eyes and focused. Shadow Magic was going to be my solution for this. I called, from the depths of the shadows, another me. But, unlike the quasi-Servant I summoned before, this one was not called by hacking a preexisting system. Also contrary to the substance-less shadow I could summon to act as a distraction, this one was physical and intelligent.

But, contrary to the manifestation of a shadow I could usually call, this one was not a different version of myself, but truly me. Or a part of me, the one with the knowledge to help the Refuge.

The problem with different versions of me was that their personality was a bit of a tossup. Even pushing my powers to the limit, I could never predict how similar or different they would be. So, while it was possible that I got someone pretty much like me, I didn't want to risk it. Besides, most shadows didn't like to remain in the 'normal' reality, and so in the long run they were likely to kill themselves to return home.

I needed something more reliable. Something that was not likely to kill themselves, or that could have different ideas on how to help the Refuge.

So, slowly, I infuse the essence of Shadow Magic directly into my shadow, granting it life and independent thought. Well… mostly independent thought. The idea was to make my own shadow a separate entity that I could detach and reattach from myself at command, but also more of an extension of myself than any alternate self could be. The shadow will not have true independent thought… or he did, but he will always do what I would, so he was more like I left part of me at the Refuge to deal with all the problems that might arise.

It took a while. But, in the end, I managed to do it right. And another me appeared directly from my shadow. I could feel the connection between us.

"This should help with everything I'm not able to address when I visit." I said, standing up. "It's basically me, but not really. He should be able to help with the energy network, developing the craftsmanship in the Refuge, and similar things. Don't expect him to fight though, he's barely tangible and has limited powers. But he's still me while I'm not here. Understood?"

Valohk remained immobile for a second, likely letting the implication of what I just said sink. Then, slowly, he bowed. "Thank you, my Lord. The Akyn will be ecstatic to have an avatar of yourself present inside the Refuge on a permanent basis."

"Yeah, yeah. Just be sure they don't get too excited about it, alright? I wouldn't want them to be disappointed because they made a completely wrong impression of who I am."

"I'm sure you'll be able to meet their expectations."

"Hmm… we'll see. Well, with my avatar here, I'm probably not going to come often. He will be able to deal with everything." I turned to look at my literal shadow. "I expect some really crazy developments when I return."

"Oh, don't worry." Replied the shadow, and I could hear him grin. "I already have ideas… that are your ideas, but nevertheless. The energy network is the priority, but there is so much more. Ah, return as soon as you get information on how to create Manses. I have half an idea to make the mansion one."

I smiled. "Of course. You can also learn something while you're here, right? Blood Magic, for example. I didn't want to use it before, but after what happened…"

"… having a way to heal rapidly without needing magic will be useful." Finished my shadow. "Don't worry, I'll do all I can. There are a lot of things that could help." He paused, looking at me with a pensive expression. "Hmm… I think I need a name."

I blinked. "A name? For what?"

"To not confuse the Akyn. We cannot let them believe we are the same person… entity… whetever."

Uh, I didn't think about it. "Seems right. Shadow?"

He gave me a deadpan look. I chuckled. "Joking, joking. I honestly don't have a clue. You're still me after all. It would be unfair to force you to call yourself by another name."

"Hmm… you're right." Admitted the shadow, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But then, only one of our names is important to us, and I'm not going to use my real one. I suppose I could call myself with some variation of 'Rexen Loki'. But what variation?"

An idea hit me. "What about Vokun Loki?"

My shadow hummed. "Yeah… Vokun. I like it. Less lame than Shadow anyway."

I chuckled. "Well, glad you do." I stretched my hand. "Good luck here. And do a great job, Vokun Loki."

We exchanged a handshake. "You too, Rexen Loki."

And with that, he teleported outside, probably to help with one of the projects the Akyn were working on. On my part, I just got to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.7

Reaching Morovath was… an experience.

Mostly because the great majority of the inhabitants were lionfolks, and while I didn't find them particularly strange -Khajiit were a thing and while they were not exactly like lionfolk, they were similar enough- I was still taken aback from seeing so many of them.

"That's what Elsweyr must look like." I murmured. I doubted they had cities that followed the cycle of the moon, but the Khajiit had a connection to the moon, so I wouldn't exclude it either.

"What?" Asked Monkey.

"One of the kingdoms of the first world I visited is composed mostly of cat-people." I answered. "They're just… stranger."

The Lunar gave me a curious look. "Stranger? How?"

"The Khajiit are not just beastmen. When they're born, their form is dictated by the position of the moons -yes, plural- and so they can range from being indistinguishable from ordinary house cats to gigantic tigers, ranging from humanoid forms with various degrees of size and animalistic traits. Some humanoid breeds are almost indistinguishable from humans, while others are proper beastmen, and others look like feline monkeys."

Monkey blinked several times. "I… see. And all of them are…?"

"Intelligent? Yeah. And can talk too, even if the more… animalistic breeds usually can't speak the common tongue. But they rarely get out of their country, so they don't really need to."

Monkey nodded. "Strange place."

"You have no idea."

We took a little time to get inside -the guards stopped us, but a brief talk with Monkey and Sanzang was enough to let us pass- and then we were inside. I immediately started to use my new sight to look around and gather as much information as possible about the surroundings.

All in all, the city was mostly normal. There was a slight silver light coming from… well, everywhere, but I expected that. I was more interested to see if there was something that shone brighter.

Like the immense amphitheater made of shining stone in the middle of the city.

"What is that place?" I asked, pointing at the building.

Sanzang looked at the place I was pointing at and nodded. "That's the Palace of the Moon's Light, Sha'a Oka's headquarters. It's both an amphitheater and a manse, even if what powers it possesses are unknown to me. Probably something related to the difficulty of reaching this city."

Yeah… I could tell. The place's silver light had a… sheen, for lack of a better term. A slight, almost imperceptible variation in color that indicates how the silver was being used. In this case, the sheen was murky black, and I instinctively knew it meant that it was for occlusion.

"I suppose there is nothing to help me there, right?"

"Nah, the place is mostly for Sha'a's war councils. There is very little inside that's not dedicated to that. In fact, most of the place is meant to host the Lunars that fight. No hidden knowledge for you." Replied Monkey.

I grunted in disappointment. "Well, there goes the most obvious candidate. I'll just have to explore the city to find what I need. Unless you have good pointers…"

"Nope. Self-taught." Smirked Monkey.

"I'm afraid what you research is outside my area of competence." Bowed down Sanzang.

"We're not even Exalted." Replied at the same time Pigsy and Sandy.

"Yeah, I guessed so." I sighed. "Well, I suppose we're going to say our goodbyes then."

"Yeah, we all have things to do." Nodded Monkey. "We need to report on the news of what happened at Faxai-in-the-Caul. It's possible that Sha'a Oka already knows, but we're going to tell him anyway, just in case. You feel free to explore. I'm sure you don't need our help to find a decent place to sleep or what you need."

"But we'll probably remain here for a while." Said Sanzang. "We'll need to prepare for our next mission, whatever it is. Unfortunately, the situation right now is relatively stable. With the disappearance of the Empress, the Realm is not going to be able to send his Legions anytime soon, but we still have to recover from the loss we suffered five years ago. It's improbable that there will be an attack anytime soon."

I smiled. "Then we can continue with the lessons. I'm sure I'm close to learning both sorcery and the Golden Janissary."

"Your learning rate is absurd." Pigsy butted in. "I've seen at what rate Exalted learn, I've been with Monkey and Sanzang for years, but you beat even them. How can you learn that fast?"

"One of the benefits of being a Prophesied Hero is that I'm free from any limitations, including talent and destiny." I replied, grinning. "I guess that Exalting just… added to that?"

Pigsy blinked. "Ah… I suppose that makes sense."

I chuckled. "Ah, well, it's just a theory anyway. It could also be that my new powers let me learn even faster. The dragons of the world I come from are the children of the god of time. They didn't show it much, honestly, aside from being ageless, but who knows what happens when you mix two different sources of supernatural power together?"

"A fascinating question." Admitted Sandy. "But I'm afraid we have to go. See you later, Rexen Loki."

"Bye!" I waved, as the group waved at me and walked away.

Ah, well, now I was on my own. Let's see how much I can discover by myself.

-X-

Turns out, a lot. Just not what I expected to find out.

"Seriously." I groaned. "How can you be so stupid? You live in a magical city where most of the population is participating in a war guided by demigods blessed by the Moon to fight against the Realm. How did you think that assaulting the guy walking around wearing armor made of bones bigger than your head was a good idea?"

"Lunars… wear… silver…" Replied one of the thugs that I had knocked down not a minute before.

I opened my mouth to reply, then I closed it. "Point. But I could still be another type of Exalted. Which, by the way, I am."

The only reply I got for that was a groan of pain.

I sighed. "Look, I should give you to the guards or whatever, but honestly, you're not even worth the effort. If you continue to do this, you'll kill yourselves against an Exalt that is not as merciful as myself. So, do yourself a favor and stop mugging people."

More groans, but at least they got the message. I think. It was difficult to be sure under all the bruises. They stood -slowly and painfully- and walked away.

"Ah, before you I go." I stopped them, and I saw them freeze in fear. "I'm searching for a crafter. And I don't mean some average metalsmith. I'm talking about someone able to work miracles. Do you happen to know someone that could fit that description?"

They told me. A lot. Apparently, there was a decent number of Essence-using smiths in the city. Most were Lunars, but by their very nature -or by whatever nature they imposed on themselves after the Usurpation- they were not very focused on building permanent things. They also didn't seems to be professional crafters: just a side gig they did because Lunars were stupidly versatile, and could do a lot more with less. I supposed that when you're a No Moon, being able to craft was just something you did because your profession was knowing everything… especially secrets, but still everything. In fact, most of those seemed like good candidates for a teacher.

The problem, of course, was convincing the Lunars to actually teach me. So, in the end, I chose to try the one that seemed more approachable.

But I didn't go there right now. I needed to let rumors spread. Play with their curiosity.

So I waited. And, in the meantime, I tested some of my powers. Or, more specifically, what happened to all my powers, because I'm pretty sure that my 'Exaltation' had just eaten up most of what I could do and incorporated that inside itself. I needed to find out how much of what I learned before had become part of my 'Exaltation' and what didn't.

The first thing I noticed was that what remained of my Falna - my inaccessible Falna- had been eaten up and digested by my new power. It made sense, of course: the source of both powers had always been my dragon soul. In fact, you could basically say that what the Falna was trying to do was what my 'Exaltation' was doing right now. A little of the overall power had been lost in transition, but all in all, it was a problem that would correct itself in time. After all, without the Danmachi gods around, there was the possibility I could never gain Excelia or Level Up. Now, instead, the entire thing had been incorporated into my base power, so in time I would just naturally gain everything I lost. Most of the Skills had been incorporated too, to fuel the natural enhanced regenerative abilities most Exalted had… and maybe even surpass them? I was not sure how good my natural regeneration was right now, and I didn't want to test it.

Secondly, most of Mora's gifts had been eaten too, together with the natural Breton ability to absorb magic. They now were incorporated into my abilities, and not something that I was given by a Daedra.

My ability to manipulate magicka was intact, and now ran on Essence -not that it changed much, they were almost the same thing anyway-, while Shadow Magic was untouched. Thu'um, Shehai Shen She Ru and the Dragon Style, which normally used my physical energy and stamina, could now be fueled by Essence. A quirk of the transformation, but not an unwelcome one. It was not a great change anyway. Even before, the usual process was: use power, get tired, use magic to not be tired, repeat. Now the use of power could be powered by magic, cutting down one of the requirements, which was convenient, but hardly earth-shattering.

All in all, I was not totally sure that I had Exalted or simply unlocked more powers based on my dragon soul… but it was a theoretical matter anyway. In practice, I -and so most people- couldn't tell the difference. And if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck…

Now, the only thing remaining was to find out what new powers I had acquired, but that could take a while. So, for the first couple of days, I decided to focus on what Sanzang and Monkey could teach me about martial arts and sorcery.

At least I could confirm Pigsys evaluation on my improved ability to learn. It actually took me some time to learn the Shehai Shen She Ru techniques, and I didn't learn Shadow Magic -or normal magic, for that matter- in the span of a few days. It took me time to actually understand them at a decent level. It was no exaggeration to say that I learned in months what people took years to master, and while I will not pretend I mastered them completely, as perfection didn't exist, I did manage to reach the equivalent of black belt in them in a relatively short time frame.

Now that timeframe was cut down even more. Golden Janissary was easy, and in the few days it had taken to arrive Morovath, I already had a decent grasp on it. Sorcery was even easier, since at its core was just manipulation of ambient energy. I just needed a last push to get them right.

Mostly to learn how to move my magic inside my body. Aetherium Magic didn't usually move magicka inside the body as much as projecting it outside with all the force you had in the shape you liked. Aetherium magic was external. Most of the techniques here were internal. It was a small difference, but it was enough to make me stumble a little.

But I will overcome this difficulty. I just needed time.

-X-

A couple of days later, I found myself in front of a specific house in the great city of Morovath. Well, I found myself. I was there for a very specific reason. The same reason that urged me to knock at the door.

"Enter." A voice came from inside the house, and so I grabbed the handle of the door and opened it. I swiftly made a step inside and closed the door behind me.

Without further instruction, I looked around. The house was not particularly special, but it looked nice on account of it being in the part of the city that was still bright. But I was not there to admire the housing of the magic city. With a quick glance and a little magic, I found where the house's owner was, and I took the stairs to the upper floor.

Here, in a somewhat large library, was the Lunar I had decided was my best shot at learning something interesting while I was in the Caul.

"Lady Silver Star." I said to the beautiful woman behind a desk filled with papers. She was tanned, with long dark hair, and her eyes were the color of the sky. Of course, the first thing that caught my eye were the silver tattoos that covered her skin. I didn't realize until now, but almost all Lunar I had seen had those. Monkey had to be Castless.

"Ah, the mysterious Exalt that arrived in our city." She said, smiling slightly. She stood up, showing her red dress that seemed to be tailored specifically to hug her curves. That was… distracting. But I suppose that if you're that good looking, you actually want to show off. A need I never had.

"In person." I said, with a slight bow. "Rexen Loki. Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." She replied. "But… Rexen Loki. A very strange name. I've never heard of a similar one, despite my travels."

"I could say the same, Silver Star. Isn't it a little too much… on the nose?"

She giggled. "Yes, it is. But, once I received the blessing of the Moon, I didn't feel like hiding my true self anymore. So, I took a name that reflected that."

I sent her a curious look. Was she saying what I was thinking she was saying? "What a coincidence. I did the same. Well, not about my 'true self', but Rexen Loki is a name I've chosen for myself."

"Oh? And what's the meaning behind it?"

"From where I come from, Loki is the name of a shapeshifting, trickster god." I replied, smiling. "And, since my quest would require me to assume different roles and, sometimes, different shapes, I thought it would have been auspicious."

Silver Star now looked positively intrigued. "Very auspicious. And Rexen?"

"Ah, nothing so interesting. It was the name of a man I greatly respected and I used to listen to. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from him for a while."

"Hmm. You're an interesting man, Rexen Loki." Said the Lunar, circumventing the table to come near me. "Rumors say that you came here to learn secret knowledge of crafting and sorcery. Is that true?"

"It is." I admitted. "Fortunately, I'm already practiced with the forge, so I only need to know the theory behind the use of the magical materials."

"I see. But, if I may ask, why me? There are more renowned sages and crafters in the city."

Silver Star was very close now. I focused on her eyes. "Because, from what I've heard, you both have a respectable private library, and you're also relatively new to… well, everything. I thought that I had a better chance with someone that's more interested in knowledge than the war."

"And who said I'm more interested in knowledge?" Asked the woman.

"Monkey." I replied with a shrug.

She giggled again. "Ah, yes. I know him, if only by sight. Quite a wild fellow. But he is right. I came to the Caul for the relative security from the Realm, not to fight. I still help, of course, but my talents are not suited for direct confrontation. Well, compared to my brothers and sisters, at least."

Yeah, the ability to turn into animals could be very useful, because even without direct combat powers, transforming into a huge dinosaur helped a lot.

"But, assuming I have the knowledge you search for, there is still a question to ask. Why should I share my knowledge with you, Rexen Loki?"

"For my charming personality?" I asked with a smirk.

She replied by suppressing a chuckle. "I must admit it's tempting, yes. But I'm afraid I need more than that."

"Well then, like a… well, I suppose you can call it 'demon', even if it's not… anyway, it usually said, 'knowledge for knowledge'." I raised my hand and opened my fingers to show an illusion of Nirn on her face. "I guess Monkey and Sazang didn't tell you where I came, right?"

Silver Star looked at the map of Nirn with widened eyes. "A different world… a bubble of reality in the chaos of the Wyld?"

"Yes… and no." I replied with a smile, making the illusion disappear. "But if you want to know more, you'll have to give me something in return."

The Lunar bit her lower lip. Was she doing this on purpose? It looked like she was trying to seduce me. Which didn't make sense, because I arrived in my dragonscale vest and mask. She had no way to know what I looked like under that, and while looks are not everything, the eye still wanted its part.

Unless she was doing it for another reason or, more likely, she had decided to specialize in that on top of being a sorceress and so it was just doing it unconciously. For infiltration, maybe?

"There is more in you than meets the eyes." She finally decided to say, getting my mind out of less savory thoughts. "By how Monkey described you, I thought you were a warrior, not a negotiator."

I snorted. "The nature of my travels forced me to be eclectic. But I am, at my core, a scholar. Knowing helped me survive until now… I have no intention to break that particular streak anytime soon." I raised my hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Silver Star looked at my hand before shaking it. "I think our collaboration will be very interesting."

I sure hoped so.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.8

The collaboration turned out to be extremely interesting.

"For some reason, I'm not surprised." Admitted Silver Star, mixing some tea in a pot. "I'm more baffled that Monkey even knew sorcery at all."

"He is a surprisingly versatile fellow." I said, after I had explained to my 'teacher' why I was not able to use sorcery yet. Basically, I didn't really know how to impose my will on the Essence, despite my best efforts. Monkey… hadn't helped much on that. "Granted, he admitted to only know the Cirrus Skiff and maybe another spell, so maybe calling him a sorcerer is a bit improper…"

"Contrary to your world, where every person has the ability to use magic, sorcery is a rare power in Creation." Replied Silver Star. Yeah, I had to give her a bone on how my particular brand of magic worked. She had found it very interesting. "So, despite Monkey being… subpar as a sorcerer, considering his power, the fact that he can use even one spell is enough to make him a sorcerer. A terrible one, but still a sorcerer."

"Then he should be able to teach me how to wield sorcery, and yet he failed."

"Being able and being a good teacher are unfortunately two different things." Said the Lunar, while pouring the tea inside a little cup. "You may think I'm new to the Caul, and that is true. But I have still been here for almost a decade. Monkey is even younger than me, and came here less than a couple of years ago. Don't misunderstand: he's exceedingly capable for a Lunar of his age, especially considering he's Castless, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's able to teach sorcery efficiently. He's more of a warrior than a scholar. In fact, considering his personality, I find it more probable that he learned sorcery by accident." She gave me the cup.

"You can learn sorcery by accident?" I asked, accepting the cup and taking a sip. Hmm… good tea. Never been a fan of tea in general, but I had to make do with what I had.

"The Solar Salina used her master of sorcery to make sure everyone that had the talent and attitude to learn it could." Was her reply. "She wove it into the fabric of reality, even if the details are vague. I ignore how Monkey discovered his ability to use sorcery. But people have been able to learn by studying herbs. I'm sure you understand that, if that is a valid method to learn to bend Creation to you will, almost anything is a valid way. Monkey could have been able to learn by training his body. It would not surprise me."

I… had read of something like that. The details eluded me though. "I guess you have better advice than him?"

She smiled. "Considering the advice he offered, I should be insulted. But I know you understand that sorcery is an extremely personal endeavor. However, at the end, the ability to harness the Essence around you is just a matter of believing you can. How you achieve it depends on what you believe will work."

I sent her a disbelieving look. "If that was all I needed, then I would have already done it. Using magic requires me to believe the change I want to impose on the world is possible. It's already something I can do."

"I don't doubt it. But like you eloquently put before, your magic is different from sorcery. In this case, I'll even say that the problem is the opposite of what you have with martial arts and your own powers."

"How so?" I asked. The mention already made me formulate some theories, but I wanted the opinion of the expert.

Silver Star took a sip of her tea. "You mentioned that you have problems with martial arts because you're used to expelling your magic and then shape it as you desire, while the Gold Janissary requires you to shape the magic inside and then use it. A small difference that I'm sure you'll overcome in no time, but still troubling. From what I can see, the problem with sorcery is the same, but opposite. You're used to imposing your will on the Essence while it's still inside you. It's your power. When you use sorcery, you are manipulating Essence outside your body, and it will not just act like you want. You have to give the Essence a meaning before you try to shape it, or it will never answer your call."

I paused for a second, thinking. "You're saying that I have to make the shape of the spell before I try to accumulate the power."

"Yes. A small difference. A matter of habit, if you prefer. I'm sure you can quickly overcome it."

I quickly wondered if there was a way to make it even faster. I came up with a solution. "I could have a way to get a better idea on how to do it."

She sent me a raised eyebrow. "Really? And how would you do that?"

I shrugged. "One of the first powers that I learned was to see the color of magic. If you were to show me what you call a spell, I may be able to see the procedure… and replicate it."

Silver Star tapped the side of her cup, thinking. "It could work. But sorcery is not something that can be used so freely. The power you use to call your magic is yours, and you can use as much as you prefer. You can use your power to do something as trivial as to light a fire. But I cannot use my sorcery for something inconsequential like that. Sorcery is grandiose, Rexen Loki. I cannot make a spell less than what it is, and I cannot stop it once cast."

Right… sorcery was not like magic. You couldn't improvise a sorcerous spell. Well, normally you couldn't improvise with TES magic either, but the fact that I could was not some unique trait of mine. In theory, everyone with the right knowledge could do that, I just cheated to achieve that level of mastery faster. Sorcery was different. You could create new spells, but not on the spot. It required time and effort, more than a mage in Nirn required. Even before the Oghma Infinium, I could create a new spell in a week or two. You could not do the same on Creation.

Still. "I'm sure there are spells that you can use in front of me without danger."

"Oh, there are. Cirrus Skiff, for one, is pretty harmless. However, I think it would benefit you from going through the… usual path of sorcery. You may be able to shape the Essence of Creation to your will, but most sorcerers first learn a ritual to accumulate it for later use, or to speed up the process. I believe that learning the first method will greatly help you in shaping a spell. It's more in line with your skills."

Ah, yes, the books called them shaping rituals. "And what do you believe will be the best ritual to learn then?"

"There are several rituals that I know." She admitted. "Am I wrong in believing you would prefer to not have to make a pact with an outside entity to learn the secrets of sorcery?"

"No."

"As expected. Well, I have to say that the most appropriate ritual for you would be the one based on the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes. It's based on… well, the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes, an Artifact able to amplify the senses, both magical and physical, of the user. Of course, you'll have to create the Talisman first…"

"I don't have the materials to create an Artifact." I replied.

"You won't need them. Only the most powerful Artifact requires you to use the magical materials. The Eye, despite its usefulness, it's not one of such Artifacts. You can make one using common materials… but considering the armor you're wearing, you can probably make it with something better."

Hmmm… tempting. "Sounds interesting. But changing topics… what ritual do you use?"

She smiled. "Well, let's say that the study of the herbs I mentioned before as an example was not just something I heard about."

Uh, interesting. "And you can speed up the shaping of your spell, how, exactly?"

"By believing that every herb, and what I create using them, has power." She replied. "Which they have, even if they are not specifically sorcerous."

I snorted. "I know what you mean. Alchemy is a widely diffused discipline from where I'm from. And it's completely based on the innate properties of the plants and animals. The only thing you need is the ability to extract it from the raw ingredients."

Silver Star nodded, an enthusiastic smile forming on her face. It felt far more genuine than the ones she gave me until now. "Exactly. For example, this tea we're drinking is made with a root the locals call 'Dream Root'. Not very original, but on point. It's a fairly common plant around Creation, and when solved in water -this tea uses powder, but there are other ways- it helps relax the body and the mind, which helps sleep." She took a sip to underline the point. "When I use it with sorcery, it helps me to shape spells related to dreams and sleep. The root by itself is completely non magical, of course, but the properties of the root still give my will something to focus on. You understand?"

Yeah, that was textbook sympathetic magic. I didn't use it much anymore, because I didn't need it to cast a spell, but it seemed I needed to dust that particular skill.

I also got a first look at the entire thing working. As she finished speaking, little sparks of magic flowed toward her, before being incorporated inside her general silver aura.

Yeah, I had the mana-vision on. I thought it was a good idea.

"Very interesting." I said. Regarding both the herbology lesson and the magical one. "I think I can understand better now. Maybe…"

I paused. Could it really work?

"Maybe I can use the same principle but apply it to my magic? My belief in my own power could let me shape Essence more easily? But I need to have something to work on. I need to shape before I start channeling, right?"

Silver Star looked at me. "You really think you can just learn sorcery like that? Just seeing me shape a spell and then forcing Creation to let you do the same?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. We will not know if we don't try."

A glint of something sparked inside her eyes. "Well then. Why don't you try to make the spell yourself? You know of at least a couple of them, right? Try to use your imagination."

"Is t-" I stopped talking for a second. There was something… wrong in all of this. Something…

Ah, right.

I took off my hood and removed my mask. I had kept them on all this time -don't ask how I drank tea with the mask on, it's a secret-, but as the conversation went on and I found Silver Star a very pleasant company, I didn't feel the need to keep it on anymore. I placed the mask on the table, and locked my eyes with the Lunar. "Is that a challenge?"

Silver Star blinked, caught off guard for a second, then she smiled. "Maybe. Or maybe I'm just curious about the ability of a fellow scholar. If half of what you said it's true, something like that should be easy."

I grinned. "Challenge accepted, then." I dropped the grin and closed my eyes. I didn't know a lot of Exalted spells. The Cirrus Skiff was the one I knew better, because I grew up watching Dragonball like everyone, but most other spells were not as clear in my mind, and the one that were either too dangerous to use in a room -Death of Obsidian Butterfly, for example-, a little useless -Infallible Messenger, because I could already do that- or both -Magma Kraken.

So… I would try to call a Cirrus Skiff, I presume.

I focused on the words of Silver Star. First the shape, then call the power. So I did. I visualized the shape of the spell -basically the Nimbus from Dragonball, because of course-, but I added details. It needs to be made of clouds, so it will come from the sky. It needed to be solid enough to let me stay on it, but not enough to not disperse when necessary. It needed to move fast, and it needed to be strong enough to carry more than just my weight.

When I had the rough shape of the thing in mind, I called the Essence around me. I pushed, using my own magic to siphon Essence from reality, in a way that reminded me of an Absorb Magicka spell, only applied in a very specific way.

And then I opened my eyes and raised my hand and a glowing circle of magic appeared on it. "Come, Cirrus Skiff."

There was silence, for a while. Then, a cloud roughly two meters for three barged inside the room, squeezing itself through one of the windows before gently landing on the table where the teapot was, covering it completely.

I laughed. "Seems like I am a sorcerer now."

Silver Star didn't reply to that for a while, just looking at the Skiff that had parked itself in the middle of her restroom. When she finally looked away, she sent me an eager smile. "Yes, you are. And you will do great things with this new power you possess."

I dissolved the Cirrus Skiff with a wave of my hand. "Well, let's not exaggerate here. I still have a long way to go. This is only an Emerald Circle spell, after all. There is much more to discover."

The Lunar shook her head. "'Just an Emerald Circle spell', he says. Do you know how many people had to take years to do even that much?" She chuckled lightly. "Believe me, you'll do great. I'll go so far to say that your Exaltation is naturally oriented toward sorcery. Who is your patron?"

"Akatosh, Dragon God of Time." I replied, leaning on my chair. "One of the entities that created the world."

Silver Star eyes shoot open. "A Primordial? But you call it a God…"

I shrugged. "It's difficult to be sure exactly how powerful Akatosh was. The creation of the world -Nirn, if you want to know- took a lot out of the deities that shaped it. Most of them died, and became the Earthbones, the very foundations of the rules of reality. Akatosh and the other Eight Divines… survived, but they're very weakened. They rarely interact with mortals, if at all, and usually prefer to send chosen Heroes to deal with a particular problem. I was one of them."

"I see." Nodded Silver Star. "So, maybe not a Primordial, but a spirit of similar nature. Maybe not as powerful, either. But like you say, they were weakened, so it's impossible to say. This is a concept known here in Creation. The Law of Diminishment. The Incarnae lost something to create the Exalted. They still exist, but they're not as they were before. I suppose something similar happened to your Gods." She paused a little. "They sacrificed themselves to make your world a more stable place than Creation. It's commendable."

"Well, they were tricked into it, really." I replied. "Or so some of the stories tell. But nobody is really sure. Nobody was alive at the time."

Silver Star nodded. "I see. I would like to hear more…" She looked out, at the position of the sun. "But I'm afraid I have something to do. You'll have to come another time… not that you seem to need my help as much as you claimed."

I smiled. "My dear Star, I am one of the greatest mages my world has ever produced. Don't be surprised if I can learn sorcery faster than you expect." Then I shrugged. "But we can talk about this later. Thank you for your advice, anyway. It would have taken far more time to get what I was doing wrong without your help."

She smiled back. "Please, that was nothing. I have all the intention to push your ability to its absolute limit. And, who knows? Maybe you'll be able to help me. But like you said, it's a discussion for another time. Let me accompany you at the door."

"No need." I replied, focusing my magic. "I prefer to teleport."

"Wha-"

And I disappeared.

-X-

Silver Star, Lunar of the No Moon Caste, remained with her eyes fixed on the chair where Rexen Loki, Exigent of Akatosh, Dragon God of Time, just disappeared. And with no external sign of magic build-up that would indicate a spell of some kind. No, he just used his natural powers to do that. The magic of Nirn sure was convenient.

Then, after a few seconds, she finished drinking her tea, put down her cup, and leaned on her chair with a sigh.

What an intense experience. She didn't expect him to be like that at all. Most young Exalted felt invincible, and they had the urge to use their power to do… things. As such, they often acted arrogantly… at least until they learned better. Not even the mighty Solar were immune to sharp metal driven in their hearts.

But Rexen Loki was different. He looked like a veteran Exalt, not one that was given his power less than a week before. He also searched her because, apparently, he didn't trust older Exalts to listen to him. Which was a valid concern, especially if he didn't want to get dragged into the war against the Realm. Favors spoke louder than jade on the Caul.

That changed her perspective completely. Sure, she wanted to gain something from their collaboration, but now she had a far clearer idea on what to ask. Knowledge for knowledge. Maybe he would help her overcome the block she had experienced in the recent years. She felt she was so close to Sapphire Circle, but it continued to elude her. Maybe with his help she could make some progress.

And maybe she could get something else too. She had tried to charm him, not particularly hard, but she had tried to test the waters with him. There was some interest, but she quickly decided that trying to seduce him was not really worth it, nor really necessary. He seemed to want to collaborate and he was pretty accommodating too.

Then he had removed his mask and… well. Maybe there was something to gain by seducing him. But she needed to be careful. She didn't want to risk their collaboration.

For that, more testing was required.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 1.9

My time inside Morovath passed swiftly. Silver Star was an amazing teacher… even if I still had the impression she was trying to seduce me. I ignored those attempts. I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole anytime soon.

Unfortunately, while I could sort of ignore having beautiful women around until now -in Skyrim I kinda had the weight of saving mortals from Alduin, in Danmachi most of them were either too young or too old for me, and I hadn't really remained in Fate enough for that- it was not as easy here. Maybe it was because Exalted had the advantage of being able to make themselves absolutely stunning with just a trickle of power. And some of them had outright mind powers.

Which was one of the reasons that, while I was not studying sorcery or martial arts, I was exploring my 'draconic' power to find something to protect me from that kind of thing.

There was, fortunately. I focused on learning those abilities, even skipping on some other, more combat-focused powers, but I would have time to learn those later. For now, Reinforcement could work as a generic battle enhancer, and I would use martial arts to compensate for the lack of esoteric effects.

Of course, to do that I had to figure out how to wield power internally, and when I did that was huge for me. Because now I could apply the same principle to… well, everything. Which really helped me to figure out everything else faster.

From the experiments I did, I got the impression I was what the manuals called a 'Attribute Exalted'. I manifested my draconic powers as an expression of innate characteristics. I was not entirely sure it was right, because at times they seemed to just improve my actions in general using a draconic motif, but it was close enough. I was sure that there was more than just being able to act more draconic, but more esoteric effects were, at the moment, outside of my interest. I needed powers to stop people from fucking with me, first and foremost.

But there will be a time when I'll learn those too. I was an 'Exigent' of 'Akatosh', so just being draconic was not the extent of my powers. Exaltations were not so simple. They expressed the themes of the patron god through human skills or innate characteristics, and most gods had several ones. The Solar theme was not just perfection. It was perfection, holiness, sun, and more.

Of course, Incarnae where simply more than most gods, so they had plenty of themes. The local god of a river could not have as much oomph to give at their Chosen. But Akatosh was an extremely powerful god, and while the primordial Aka was a relatively simple god -he was just Time- the various aspects had different domains. Akatosh, Alkosh, Auri-El, even Alduin were different and had different themes associated with them. As such, 'dragon' was not the only theme I had access to. I knew this. But I was too worried about someone mind-fucking me -without using magic, because that was still something I could resist- to explore the depth of my new powers. With time, which was probably one of my powers, I would learn that too.

Of course, training my new shiny Exalted power was just a part of what I was doing there. The other part was to learn how to make artifacts and… well… let's say that I had considerably more problems in that area.

"I mean, I get the theory." I said. "It's just very vague."

Silver Star nodded. "Yes, it is. It's one of the reasons I rarely dedicate myself to artifact crafting, and even then only to the most basic ones. The creation of artifacts is as much a matter of intent and resonance between it and the themes of the material as it is about pure craftsmanship. I'm sorry, Loki. I cannot help you more than this. If you want, I can try to ask some of the more famed craftsmen in the city."

I grimaced at the thought. I had gone to Silver Star to avoid being involved in Lunar politics. Getting her involved didn't sit well with me. Sure, she was already involved somewhat, because she was a Lunar, but the simple fact of the matter was that most of the Lunar here meant to fight the War for the Caul, and I didn't want to be involved in something that, for what I knew, could take years. And I found it very unlikely that one of the craftsmen of Morovath would ask for money as payment for their teaching.

"No, forget it. I still need to find the materials for the artifacts, so I'll have to travel outside the Caul anyway. I'll learn on the way. Maybe I'll find an Exalted master craftsman on the road."

Silver Star bit her lower lip with a sudden pensive expression on her face. It lasted just a second, then her eyes turned resolute. "I may have something. Stay here, please."

I looked at her as she marched to one of the shelves of her private library, accumulated over several years. Finally, she returned with what looked like a map of the West of Creation, and a parchment roll of some kind. She put the map down and opened the scroll, before comparing the two.

I was tempted to ask what she was searching for, but I had learned that it was better to stay silent and let her work. It wouldn't take long.

"Here." She said, pointing at the archipelago directly North of the Caul. "On the North-West there is the island of Sinti. I don't have enough information to tell you exactly where it's located, but it's your best opportunity, both for having a clue on where to find the materials you need and to learn how to better craft artifacts."

"And why is that?" I asked, curious.

"The island is the home of the goddess Ninegala. She's an ancient forge deity, with mentions of her dating back since the First Era. If someone can help you create the wonders you need to continue your journey, it's her."

An ancient forge goddess, huh? Well, that seemed like… a pretty good clue, all things considered. Sure, maybe some Solar could do a better job at teaching me how to use my Exalted powers to make an artifact, but a craftsman alive since the First Age was pretty good too. And I also didn't have to search for her. There were, like, five hundred Celestial Exalted, tops, and just some of them were craftsmen. It seemed like a lot, but Creation was fucking huge, so finding a worthy master was pretty much like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

To sum it up, Ninegala may not be the absolute best teacher I could find, but she seemed good enough and I knew where she was… more or less.

"Thanks, Silver Star." I smiled. "This will cut down the time I will remain here… I hope."

She smiled back. "It's nothing."

I returned to look at the map, thinking. "It's far."

"Three thousand miles, more or less." Nodded Silver Star. "And it's also pretty close to the Neck… which is the main access point of the Realm to the West."

"Puttana troia*." I murmured, before switching back to the local language. "I don't really fear the Dragon-Blooded. The Sidereal are much more of a problem… I'll need to be cautious. But first I need to reach the place…" I thought about how. I could travel using the Cyrrus Skiff, but I didn't trust it for such a long trip. The ocean was dangerous, and the Skiff small. I would like to have something more… stable. "I'll need a boat."

"I can help with that." Replied Silver Star. I looked at the sorceress, surprised.

"Really?"

"Yes. There is a spell that can create a boat using a leaf, a fruit or a petal. It's called Floral Ferry."

"And it will transport me to Sinti?"

"Yes. If you have even a vague understanding of where you want to go, the Ferry will bring you there. It's also propelled by magic, so you don't need to worry about winds. Of course, if the currents are against you, it's going to take its time, but…"

"Well, if it doesn't need a crew and I can just deploy it anywhere, it's good for me." I shrugged. "But it's going to get on the list of useful spells I need to learn… dammit."

I had made some impressive progress in the knowledge of sorcerous spells in the couple of weeks I stayed in Morovath. Aside from the Cirrus Skiff that I pulled out of my ass out of sheer luck, I also got the basics of Summon Elemental and Demon of the First Circle. I didn't really want to learn the last one, but Silver Star assured me that it was much more useful than Summon Elemental -which I could already do on my own, even if in a limited capacity- and since the Wild Hunt was going to go for my head anyway, I needed to have all the advantages I could. I could see the logic. I still was not going to use it if I could avoid it.

But aside from those three spells, I haven't really learned much. The fact I was also learning two different martial arts and my Exalted powers probably stopped me from learning faster, but that I still needed to learn at least a couple of spells, just to be safe.

Granted, Silver Star told me that it usually takes two weeks to learn one Emerald Circle spell, so that I got three while also studying martial arts was impressive, but still.

"Is it bad that you'll have to wait another week or so before departing?" Silver Star asked. "Besides, you are making such good progress toward learning Sapphire Circle sorcery. It would be a shame to leave before you reach your full potential."

I felt that she was using her powers to influence me. It was subtle, and normally I doubted you could detect it, but I was good at feeling magic. I couldn't understand what she was doing exactly, because I couldn't see the hue of color when the magic was used in short bursts, but I had learned that Lunar powers didn't really work using mind control. It was more like using the right tone, the right posture, and maybe a spray of pheromones to convince people that what you were saying had merit. Or just using raw animal charisma, that worked too. So, while I would normally take umbrage with someone trying to mind-fuck me, in this case I was going to let it slide. It was good training against future supernaturally charismatic foes, something I didn't have to fight often.

Besides, she did have a good point. Celestial Circle was a huge improvement over Terrestrial. Learning it while in a secure location was worth the wait.

"No, it's not bad per se. But every day I'm not doing something to return home feels, well, not wasted, but something like… no, no sense lying to myself. It feels wasted. I know it's better to stay here and learn until I'm absolutely forced to leave, but…"

Silver Star hand closed on mine. "I understand. But you cannot return home if you are dead."

Yeah… that summed it up. I was not technically wasting time, I was preparing myself for what was outside this -relatively- safe bubble that was the Caul. But the difference with all other instances where I stopped somewhere and learned was that it didn't feel necessary. In Skyrim, I had to learn magic to survive and return home. In Danmachi, I didn't have to get stronger, but I needed the magic stones, so I just killed two birds with one stone. Fate passed too fast for me to worry about it, but while learning sorcery was useful, it didn't feel like a necessity. So the days felt wasted… or half wasted, like when you know you could have done more but didn't.

And I still needed to figure out necromancy.

Now now, hear me out. Yes, I was already a necromancer. But that was by TES standards, like I explained before. Creation necromancy was a completely different beast, and while I didn't particularly like it, it was still useful to know. Besides, learning how to manipulate the death energy was going to be useful down the line, especially in places where you could manipulate it. Death magic was not something I was versed in, and while I doubted I was going to use it often, it was still something I needed to understand, even if only to better defend against it.

Unfortunately, the Caul seemed to be too… alive for that. Shadowlands, places in Creation where the Underworld and normal reality intersected, just didn't happen here.

But North the position of Sinti there was the Skullstone Archipelago, and if that place didn't have a Shadowland inside it, I was a walrus. And since I needed to find a Shadowland, because I was 90% sure that repairing Dupathuz needed Soulsteel, the magic material that was obtained by smelting ghosts, well…

"Don't focus on what you may be able to do." Started Silver Star again, and her voice had a calming quality she didn't have before. Again, Lunar bullshit. But it did help, somehow. "Let's focus on what you can do right now. You're close. A little more than a week, and I'm sure you'll be ready for everything Creation can throw at you. Sure, having your own Circle would help, but it's not necessary."

True enough. I was versatile enough to deal with most problems, and I could summon demons, daedra, elementals and my trusted companions if things got really bad and I needed more bodies to throw at the problems. I just needed protection from Fate… once that was down, I was covered.

But for that I needed Celestial Circle sorcery. Once I had it, I could make a working -the name they give to long-ass rituals here- to put some kind of Loom protection around me, and prevent my own fateless nature from interfering with the destinies outside my own. That would keep the Sidereal away, at least as long asl I didn't act too overtly.

I sighed. "You're right. Sorry, I know it's a pain to listen to me whining."

She chuckled. "Ah, don't worry. I… can't say I understand wanting to return home. I don't have good memories of mine. But even for me, no place is exactly like the village where I was born. I've not been there for over a decade, but sometimes I still think about it. And I know of people that love their families, so I get why you want to return."

I snorted out a laugh. "It's strange how I always find people very supportive of my goal. I would expect that most would say that I must remain and do something good here, instead of traveling blindly across the dimensions."

Silver Star smiled. "Oh, I'm sure that there are a lot of people that would say that, or at least that think that. But clearly you have an innate instinct that brings you only to the people that are going to be most sympathetic with your goal. Or just luck."

"I suppose so." I chuckled. "Thank you, Silver Star."

"It's my pleasure." She smiled, removing her hand from mine. I was looking at her face while she did so, and I noticed something.

Was the time right to bring that up? Well… if not now, before I left.

"You were trying to seduce me when we first met, didn't you?" I asked completely out of the blue.

The Lunar blinked at the non-sequitur, but her confusion lasted briefly. "Ah, yes. You'll have to forgive me. I wanted to attract your attention. You have to understand that not much happens here if you're not interested in the fight with the Realm. And sure, I don't like the Realm either, and the main reason I got here was to get away from its grasp… but fighting them was never my intention. I want to explore the mysteries of the Creation, and the hidden cities of the Caul were the best place to do so."

"You could have carved a little realm for yourself somewhere. I'm sure you would be able to."

She laughed. "Maybe I should have. Maybe I will. At the time coming here sounded like the best course of action. But you understand that my position didn't make me many friends among the Lunar. So, when a young Exalt knocked at my door and asked for tutoring, I had to catch the opportunity. A student could have helped me get a better reputation, if he was more inclined to fight than myself. Or I could have used you to do a lot of tedious work while I focused on my studies. There were so many possibilities… " She shook her head. "In the end, it was not necessary. I didn't need to convince you, and while I can't ask you to do menial work for me, or use you to gain favors from other Lunars, I'm satisfied with what you are giving me." She looked into my eyes. "It's been years since I tried to reach the Sapphire Circle. It's still out of my reach, but every step you make toward it is another step I can use to reach it myself." She smiled. "Besides, your magic really gave me ideas."

I smiled back. "Happy to see that you appreciate my company. But if that's the case… why are you still flirting with me?"

That made her blink. "Ah. I thought you didn't notice."

"I just decided to ignore it. Your answer?"

She looked away, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Ah, well, you see… initially it was because I wanted to get more intimate." The blush disappeared. She was probably more embarrassed to have been caught than to have done it. "I've been… lonely, recently."

I nodded. "I get what you mean."

"But after I learned why you wanted to return home… and after I realized my attempts didn't seem to get through… it was to see what was needed to make you realize what I was doing." She laughed guiltily. "I assumed you were just dense. Sorry if I was making you uncomfortable."

I shrugged. "Not so much uncomfortable as weirded out, to be honest."

She copied my amused snort from before. "Yes, I should have guessed so. Despite the occasional boast, you sell yourself short, Loki the Dragonborn."

I didn't reply immediately. I had changed a lot since I was on Skyrim. Especially after my body was remade by the shadow priests, I was not the same guy I was before all this madness.

"I suppose so." I finally replied. "Habit, I think."

There was a pause. "I think we did enough for today." Said Silver Star. "You're probably not going to be very focused if we continue. We can take it from here tomorrow."

I nodded. I brought that argument up too soon, apparently. Well… I just had to hope there would be no awkwardness in the following days.

-X-

*This is untraslatable in English, but is basically a 'holy shit' type of exclamation.

You're in the Wrong Neighborhood, Buddy 2.1

Unfortunately, there was some awkwardness in the following days, but we managed to overcome them thanks to a simple fact. I was completing the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes project, a process that had required some serious work. Silver Star told me that the Talisman required a particular ruby, one with ten facets, each one of them then seemingly containing ten more and so on, giving the illusion of infinite facets that gave the talisman its name. It was almost completed… there was just a problem.

"You said that I wouldn't need magical materials." I said, when the prototype of the amulet failed. Or, probably failed. I just used Shadow Magic to summon a replica and test it. It had not worked as intended.

That's to say, the ruby exploded once I tried to channel magic inside it.

The Lunar frowned. "I assumed you wouldn't." She replied. "Most lesser artifacts don't really require them. You can use them, for giving more potency to the entire thing, but it's not required. It seems I underestimated the power of the Talisman."

"Underestimated." I grunted sarcastically, making the copy return into the shadow. "That's the first time I see a gem explode. They normally work very well as magical conduits. I suppose artifacts are simply far more powerful than what I normally build."

Silver Star was still frowning, looking at where the fake Talisman had disappeared like it offended her personally. "That's unfortunate. I'm sure you can reach the Sapphire Circle even without the Amulet, but using it would have helped considerably. You may need to remain here until your protection against Fate is done… or risk leaving the Caul without it."

At least I appreciated the fact that she didn't insist on making me stay here. Because if she had, I could have started to suspect she had instructed me wrong about the Talisman.

I still suspected it, but considering that she seemed genuinely upset, I found that improbable.

"I think I need Orichalcum for it." I said, gauging her reactions to see how sincere she was. She looked at me with curiosity. "I used the best metal I could get my hands on for this. And when I say best, I mean best. I doubt you can find a better material for enchanting, excluding magical materials when used for themes they resonate with. If Dragonsteel didn't suffice, only Orichalcum will. It is the best material for sorcerous artifacts." I paused. "Assuming the flaw is in the material and not in the project."

"Not that I can see." Denied Silver Star, the vague sensation of some kind of magic being used confirming she was using her powers to brute force a solution to the problem. "And I'm pretty good with the theories behind sorcery. I can spend more time examining the project, or I can bring it to a more experienced Lunar…"

"Forget it." I said, grimacing. "I'll just risk going to Sinti without the protection. My mask already does a good job at hiding me from the Sidereals, and if I'm cautious, I can meet Ninegala and get out before they can reach me. The last time they got me because I couldn't get out from any other place. But if I explore the island beforehand, I'll have more escape routes. Unless the Sidereal can follow a teleportation from miles and miles… they can't, right?"

"Teleportation is quite a rare power here, Loki. It's not impossible, there is a Sapphire Circle spell that lets the sorcerer move hundreds of miles in an instant, and Sidereal are rumored to be able to weave across Fate to close distances without crossing them… but that doesn't mean it's something that you can do at a moment's notice. If you are able to teleport freely, your pursuers will likely lose track of you fast."

I nodded. There was no certainty, but worse came worse, I could still retire in the Refuge and call for reinforcements.

"Seems like my permanence here on the Caul is over then." I said. In part, I was a little scared to leave the -relative- security of the Caul, but the alternative was to remain here forever. I had to at least try. "Once I get a handle on the Floral Ferry I'm leaving."

Silver Star nodded. "Yes, it's pointless to wait further. However… I wish you could remain more. It has been fun studying sorcery with you."

I nodded… and an idea blossomed in my head. "Maybe I have a solution for that."

Silver Star looked at me with a raised brow, and I grinned.

-X-

"Welcome to the Dragon Refuge." I said, showing my newest friend the entirety of my home. "My little home away from home."

The Lunar made some steps forward, admiring the little continent in full display in front of her. "That's… amazing! This is all yours?"

I chuckled. "Monkey asked the same thing. No, it's not all mine. Most is wilderness full of monsters, even if the local inhabitants are reclaiming them. I also don't really govern it… not directly. The locals will tell you something different though."

She sent me a confused look and I shrugged. "You'll see. Vahlok."

The shadow priest materialized at my side. "You called, Master?"

"Yes. This is Silver Star, of the Lunar Host." I said, pointing at the woman. "She's a trusted ally, and I'm going to give her access to the Refuge. As such she's to be considered a guest."

"Of course." Replied the shadow, bowing slightly. "Welcome to the Refuge, Lady Silver Star."

Silver Star looked stunned, but bowed slightly in response. "The pleasure is mine… Vahlok."

"Do I have to accommodate the mansion for her presence?" Asked Vahlok, apparently satisfied.

"No need, Vokun can do that himself. Speaking of which, it's better if I call him here, so we can go with the presentations."

"No need." Replied a voice, and Vokun Loki appeared at my side. "I can feel when you return to the Refuge."

I glanced at Silver Star and saw her face scrounge up in a mix of confusion and curiosity. Then, Vokun walked into my shadow, fusing with it. Our memories rejoined, and I immediately knew everything he had done while I was studying in the Caul, and vice-versa.

This was something I had thought long and hard on how to achieve, but it was absolutely necessary. If not, I would have to substitute Vokun as soon has his power and knowledge became obsolete, but that meant either put a lot of Vokuns in the Refuge or destroy the previous one, losing a lot of knowledge and detail on how he was I improving the place and everything he had learned about it. So I opted for the ability to freely merge to exchange memories and powers acquired while separated. In doing so, by the way, I could easily see if something went wrong with the personality of the shadow, like if they started to develop a different and more independent mind.

It didn't seem to be the case, for now. And, by returning inside me, Vokun basically reset to my personality anyway. I sighed internally. Something less to worry about.

Then, Vokun emerged from my shadow, like nothing had happened, and nodded at Silver Star. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you… again, I suppose. I'm Vokun Loki. I'm a shard of the original's own shadow, separated and left here to assist the locals with their engineering and magical difficulties. They're a very young people, after all."

Silver Star blinked several times, trying to metabolize what Vokun had just said. "I… think I understand, but I'll need more details."

"Sure." I replied. "Let's go inside then. We have a lot to talk about."

She nodded and so all three of us entered inside the mansion to discuss. In the end, Silver Star had a pretty good idea on why I was letting her inside the Refuge and a lot of the little details that staying meant, like the different time flow.

"So, let me get this straight." She said, with a carefully neutral expression on her face. "You're giving me the access to this bubble of reality, in a very different universe, so that I can come here and continue to teach you… well, Vokun, really, about the secrets of sorcery, and in general to help him with the sorcerous project in the Refuge. In exchange, I'll have full access to all the resources I need, which, considering you're able to transmute pure Chaotic Creatia -which I suppose is the equivalent of Wyld matter- into any material you can think of, means basically everything. Is that right?"

"Yeah." I replied.

Silver Star's face morphed from blank to smiling. "Honestly, I don't see any reason to refuse. In fact, I'll say that you gain far less from this accommodation than me."

I shrugged. "Maybe. But riches are of very little value for me, so I don't care much about how much you use to help. I value knowledge far more, and you still have a lot to teach me."

She continued to smile.

"Besides… it will be good to have someone to talk with." Admitted Vokun. "The Akyn are good people, but they're… well, they consider me some kind of god, so it's difficult to have a normal conversation with them. The shadow priests are better, but at the same time they're so… different from me and anyone else that it's difficult to interact with them. No offense, Vahlok."

The shadow priest shook his head. "No need, Master Vokun. The living should not interact only with the dead."

"Yeah, especially considering that time flows differently here." I said. I already confirmed that I needed to be physically inside the Refuge to make time flow normally. Vokun had spent several months here, while I was outside for less than one. "Which is not exactly a problem for you, since Lunar lives longer than humans, but I'd still suggest that you don't spend too much time inside here. You're not immortal."

"I'll remember that." Dismissed Silver Star. "So, how do you intend to let me access the Refuge?"

"Oh, I'll make a jewel that can let you open a portal when using your Essence." I said. "It will take a while to do it… unless we let Vokun create it while we return to Creation."

We both turned toward the shadow, who shrugged. "I mean, why not? It will not require much time. I just need to analyze the process that let you come here and put it into an amulet. It will be a little side project. It will not be done soon, however. I have a lot of things to do."

Yeah, I saw that. Aside from completing the project for the battery, a project that was almost done anyway, Vokun was trying to create something resembling leylines. Normally, leylines didn't happen on Nirn, because magicka was everywhere, and ley lines were generated in worlds where magic was concentrated. The Refuge was not much different from Nirn… aside from one thing. The great cyclone at the center of the plane was the source of most of the magicka in the Refuge, and while it did distribute the magicka equally, it also generated currents that flowed from it to the rest of the place. If he was able to channel those currents and make them sink inside some specific location, Vokun could create something like a magicka wellspring that could generate its own magicka, and so leylines.

It was also an extremely ambitious project, and it was still in its embryonic stages, but Silver Star could be the one that could help in the endeavor. And if it worked, well… the possibilities were endless.

Of course he also had more mundane projects, like the industrialization and automatization of the Akyn culture using what little we understood of the Tonal Architecture, or experimenting with the Dragonblood to infuse materials to give them more esoteric properties, or just studying Blood Magic to evolve it beyond the very primitive stages it was right now… all things that he would do if he had more time, but even with the different timeflow, there was only so much he could do alone.

"Of course. So… three days on the other side?" I asked. It looked right.

"More or less." Replied Vokun. "Unless something amazing happens…"

At that moment, the voice of one of the Dragon Priests -Morokei?- rang inside the mansion.

"Master Vokun, one of the Akyn managed to make the monster wards work."

Really? That was great news!

"Give a medal to that man." I replied, making Vokun snort a laugh.

"I'll reward him personally the moment I have time, Morokei. For now, start spreading them to the other communities. Use portals to quicken the process."

"As you wish." Came the disembodied voice of the shadow. Then, silence.

For outside, at least. "Monster wards?" Silver Star asked.

"The monsters of the Refuge are repelled by the mountain, for some reason." I answered. "The Akyn have tried to replicate the effect for… how many years have passed inside here?"

"Five, more or less." Replied Vokun. "This will considerably help the smaller communities to repel the monster's attacks. Which means less deaths, more manpower, more time dedicated to advancement. Good."

"You'll have to figure out a way to bring more materials inside the Refuge." I mused. "More manpower also means more food and more Dragonblood needed…" I sighed. "One problem down, another one comes up."

"You may be able to compensate if you managed to create something resembling Manses." Suddenly said Silver Star. "Wood-aspect Manses can be used to increase the fertility of the surrounding area or directly to grow food. Earth-aspect one can generate precious metals and gems, if built for the purpose. And if you are able to generate gold, you may…" She stopped, then shook her head. "No, nevermind."

However, my mind lightened up at the mention of gold. I sent a glance toward Vokun and I saw him looking at me. Of course, same mind.

"You're thinking about making Oricalchum, right?" I asked, fully expecting the answer.

Silver Star, on her part, didn't even look surprised. "I should have suspected you already knew. Yes, I'm talking about distilling Oricalchum using gold… but if you know about it, you also know the procedure is lost."

"It's lost on Creation." Shrugged Vokun. "But it doesn't mean it's impossible for us. Now that I think about it… wouldn't Wyld Shaping be able to create magical materials?"

I wrapped my brain around what little I remembered about the Solar Charms. "I think you can, but it's stupidly difficult. Like, you could make a small country with the same level of difficulty. Are you thinking about creating magical materials using Dragonblood?"

Vokun nodded. "Yeah, but considering how difficult it sounds…. It would likely require specialized tools to make the materials if it's even possible. Creating Manses may be a step in the right direction… and we needed to make them anyway. I'll think about it when we manage to do that."

"Too many things to do, so little time." I grimaced. "Well, we'll leave you to your work, I presume. Silver Star?"

"Yes, I think it's better if we leave for now. You still have the last bits of preparation to do before leaving the Caul."

I waved a hand and opened a portal as I stood up. "Well, continue with the good job, everyone. You'll have news soon."

Vahlok bowed down, while Vokun just nodded. Then, me and Silver Star stepped inside the portal, and we were on Creation again.

-X-

I remained in Morovath for another week. I finished learning all I could about the Gold Jannissary and the White Reaper, since they both sounded useful especially if I had to travel in a Shadowland, and finished learning the spells I would find useful for the journey, especially defensive ones since my offense was faster with my usual spells. Silver Star also showed me a 'trick', so to say, a little thaumaturgic ritual meant to make a bonfire impossible to extinguish using water. Which, according to her, was more a parlor trick than something really useful.

However, seeing the magic take roots in the wood gave me ideas. It was something between a spell and an enchanted item. If I could replicate that using my own power, I could…

Well, thoughts for later.

"It's a dangerous journey, the one you have ahead." Said Sanzang. I had decided that a last visit to them was needed, so I found them and said my goodbyes. "But I hope you find what you need. Good travels, my friend."

"Kick a lot of Dragon Blooded asses when you find them, alright?" Grinned Monkey, raising his fist. I bumped it with mine.

"I'll do what I can." Was my reply. Sandy and Pigsy didn't say much more, so I gave them a last goodbye and left to meet Silver Star.

The Lunar was waiting for me in her room, with the tea already hot. I landed on one of her windows in the form of a hawk and waited for her to give me permission to enter.

"Make yourself comfortable, Loki." She said, pouring the tea into two cups.

The hawk form I wore unfurled and I stepped inside the room. "You know, you never told me how you manage to always understand when it's me and not a random animal." I said, sitting on one of the chairs.

"Ah, that's easy. When you transform, the color of your animal forms match your clothes. Not overtly so, but your mask is pretty recognizable." The Lunar smiled.

Ah, so that's how it was. "I'll remember that." I said, accepting the cup she was offering me. "I'll say goodbye, but you have the amulet now, so you'll see 'me' pretty often."

Silver Star touched the amulet in the form of a dragon head she now had on her. Vokun had been pretty speedy, all things considered. "I suppose so. It will not be entirely the same, though."

I shrugged. "I mean, we're not really different people. And once we merge, we are actually the same person… for a while. And it's better than nothing, right?"

"Definitely." She nodded, taking a sip of her tea. "It's strange. We've known each other for little less than a month, and yet…"

"I suppose lonely people bond quickly." I said, taking a sip myself. "I was never a very social person, but there was always someone near me. When I started this journey, I found people willing to help me… I made quick friends with them too. Maybe being so distant from home forced me to fill the void inside my soul with other people, just to not become crazy?"

Silver Star looked at me with a raised brow. "Where did that come from?"

I shrugged again. "You know me. Sometimes I rant about random things."

The woman chuckled lightly. "Yes, you do. You also have surprisingly deep insight… sometimes."

I snorted and took another sip.

"Be careful outside." She continued, her tone much more serious. "Your powers… are great, against the vast majority of the dangers ahead. Your resistance to all sorts of Essence-based attacks and effects will protect you from hostile magics, and your raw physical strength is more than a match for most of the monsters roaming outside. I dare say that only experienced Exalted are able to match you in combat… but there is much more than that. And some powers are too much even for you. Your experience with the Sidereal showed as much."

"Don't remind me." I grunted. "I've never been cornered like that time. I suppose it would have happened sooner or later, to find myself in front of an enemy I couldn't just beat up right when arriving in a new place, but still, I didn't expect them to send two Sidereal against me. I thought I had a bit of reprieve after the first one escaped."

"Normally you would have." She nodded. "Sidereals are too few to send entire Circles against a lone target… but you are an exception, apparently. You'll need to find a way to avoid the Wild Hunt… or learn the way Sidereal intertwines Fate to appear as someone else. That would help too."

I nodded. Unfortunately, I would not be able to know if I could weave a similar protection until I saw one. Using a ritual could side-step the problem, but I couldn't manipulate Fate with just Terrestrial Sorcery. Not without taking considerable time and resources.

"I hope I'll be able to." I nodded. Then, I finished my tea and stood. "Thanks for all your help, Silver Star. We'll meet in the Refuge."

She nodded and stood… before stamping a kiss on my cheek. "Good luck."

I remained frozen for a second… then I nodded and got out of the room as fast as possible, assuming the form of a hawk and flying outside. That was… dangerous.

Fortunately, I had an easy time reaching the sea. I just needed to head North. The Caul terrain was treacherous, but in the air it was an entirely different matter. I quickly covered the distance -apparently Morovath was on the northern side, so I was closer than I expected- until I reached the vast ocean that separated… well, all the lands of the West, from what I had seen on the map. Creation West was basically an enormous ocean filled with small islands. A little like in One Piece.

Speaking of One Piece, I took a leaf from a nearby bush and focused my magic into the shape of a boat. Then, with nothing but a whisper, I threw the leaf on the surface of the sea, and let the magic do it's… magic. The leaf started to grow explosively, the plant matter expanding and strengthening until it looked and felt like actual wood. After a second, I was in front of my own, personal and magical boat, the size of a modern yacht or, to remain on theme, the Going Merry.

The only difference was that my Floral Ferry didn't have sails. It had, however, a row of little holes on the sides that suggested the possibility of using oars. Hmmm… interesting. I would use that to my advantage.

But later. I jumped onto the Ferry in a single leap and grabbed the helm. "To Sinti." I said… and the Ferry instantly moved, pushed by currents of magic, and it started to travel North.

It was the first time I went on an adventure on the high seas. This was going to be great.

Wild Wild Creation 1.1

Sorry for posting this so late -it's 22.40 where I am- but after the last few chapters, well… let's said I wanted to have a Sunday without too many thought.

Enjoy!

-X-

The start of my high seas adventure couldn't be worse.

"Motherfucker!" I shouted, as from the stormy sea emerged several, gigantic and armored tentacles that tried to grasp the Ferry. Some kind of kraken-like monster, which was not too surprising but certainly annoying.

Why couldn't all of this happen while I was on the deck instead of when I was resting below deck? No, of course not. Fortunately I woke up just in time. With the storm raging, I could deal with the kraken pretty easily.

I visualized a spear of lightning in my hand and pushed my magic outward to gather the power of the storm inside it. Sorcerous energy started to fill the mental construct in my head, and when it was ready, I raised my hand high and then mimicked the act of smashing something onto the tentacles.

"Zeus' Bolt!"

The sky lit up as a giant lightning bolt descended, splitting itself to hit all the tentacles at once. There was a rumbling sound, probably the monster I just blasted roaring in pain under the water, then the fuming appendages slid away from the Ferry and retreated back into the depths.

"And stay there!" I shouted at the monster, before scoffing and looking around, checking the boat's condition. Unfortunately, even if the clash had been short, the Ferry had sustained some damage. The bark-like hull of the ship was cracked in several places, and where the lightning had connected, it had burned it. Fortunately, the rain stopped any possible fire, but still, all of this was not good. I quickly checked if there was water entering below, but it seemed I was spared that.

I sighed. Rest was out for tonight. I will have to guide this damn thing through the storm. It had quieted somehow, probably because I discharged some of its power on the kraken, but it was still pretty rough. And I also needed to repair the Ferry. Hmm… could I combine the two things?

I reached the helm and sent a pulse of magic through the wood, raising something resembling a chair from the bark. I sat down, put my hands on the helm, and focused. If I just did this right…

"Blessing of the Sea Dragon!"

A wave of blue-orange energy erupted around me, sinking inside the Ferry. A second later, the surface of the hull was covered by shimmering dragon scales, and the Ferry dove into the waves with renewed smoothness, like the waves and currents had no grip on it. At the same time, the hull started to repair itself. Slowly, unfortunately, but better than nothing, and if no other sea monster decided to say hi, it would be enough.

Well, that was good. I just hoped that nothing else decided to show up.

-X-

After three different sea monsters, another storm, a shoal of crystalline fishes that slammed against the Ferry like bullets -don't ask- and some assorted phenomenon that I suppose I got because I was straying pretty close to the border of Creation -water was not supposed to act that way- I finally saw land. It had taken five fucking days, and I have not slept very much. Unfortunately, the Ferry gladly ignored the islands and continued toward the North. Sinti was somewhere in the middle of the fucking Archipelago. And by middle, I meant middle. Fortunately the Ferry had enough sense to avoid sailing between islands and just coast around them. It will probably dive right into the island when it was close enough and there was not much land between, or at least as little as possible.

It took another two days for the Ferry to finally dive between the islands. And that also meant it was time for me to prepare against the Sidereals. Which was difficult, because I didn't know their full abilities. I knew that they covered their limited number of Charms using Martial Arts and something called Sidereal Astrology, but I couldn't know what Martial Art a Sidereal would know and I had no idea how Astrology worked, even if I supposed it was something related to Fate manipulation. Maybe some unique form of Sorcery they possessed?

So, the best way to deal with them was avoiding them. Also a difficult task, but I had some idea on how to do that. Firstly, my mask protected me from magical forms of tracking, so that was covered already. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything to mundane forms of tracking, so an Exalt detective could still find me, but if I covered my tracks I could at least slow them. The problem was that they were apparently able to follow the disturbance I caused in the Loom of Fate, and that was not something I knew how to counter, because I was not sure how the Loom worked.

I could guess though.

I didn't think that the Loom was some sort of fixed destiny or something. What I had read about the Sidereals made it sound like… some sort of Creation stabilizer. It could be disrupted by outside forces, and when that happened Creation got… glitchy. It probably also helped in determining the future or something, it was one of the Sidereal's themes, but it was probably more along the line of 'this is how things should go based on everything else', like an educated guess more than anything.

In that case, the way I was disrupting the Loom had less to do with my ability to ignore destiny thanks to being a Prisoner -because things outside Fate existed, and didn't seem to be disruptive-, and more due to the fact that it interfered with everyone else's. So, a way to avoid Sidereal attention would be to not interact with people until I got a good idea on how to solve that. Doable, but I needed to talk with Ninegala to get any idea on what I would need to repair Dupahtuz and how to make the battery. So I would have to be quick, and probably sneak inside her forge without anyone seeing me. Normally a bad idea, but I feared the Sidereal more than a forge goddess, ancient as she was.

There were a lot of assumptions here. About how the Loom worked, how I could avoid disrupting too much, and that my mask was able to hide me from every magical tracking the Sidereals could think of. Unfortunately, I had to work on those assumptions because, if I was wrong, there was nothing I could do to avoid notice. At that point, the only solution was to run as fast as I could.

Fortunately, teleportation was not easy in Creation, and while I'm sure Sidereals had some way to appear where needed -because of course they did- that didn't mean that they could keep up with me. Of course, to avoid being cornered between a rock and a hard place, I needed to have more options than just the place where the Ferry was going to dock and Ninegala's workshop.

So, as the Ferry neared to an island which had to be Sinti, I took the form of a hawk and went to explore.

The island, by itself, was nothing special. Thanks to being on the northern part of the West, and so to the Elemental Pole of Air, and so cold, the island was more on the frigid side. Nothing compared to Solstheim, nor was it the tropical jungles of the Caul. In fact, the flora reminded me of home. The relatively free southern shores gave way to pines and cypresses in the northern side. And, in the middle of the island, there was a city. Well, calling it a city was generous. The place seemed to be composed mostly of shacks made with crude bricks and thatched roofs. I had supposed that a city that had a forge goddess as patron would have better housing, but maybe I was just jumping to conclusions. Ninegala was a forge goddess, not an architect. Maybe they had impressive weapons compared to everyone else nearby. Creation was, from what I remembered, mostly stuck at Bronze Age level technology. Exalted magic went a long way to make things better, but there was maybe one Exalted every hundreds of thousands of common men, and the entire world was filled with monsters and ravaged by apocalyptic threats every couple of centuries. In fact, the Contagion had happened relatively recently -five hundred years or so- and killed most of Creation. Not exactly the ideal conditions to make a stable and flourishing civilization… except in the Blessed Isles, I suppose. No surprise that the Realm was the greatest political and military force in Creation. They had the advantage of living in the most stable and protected part of it.

Anyway, I was getting carried away. The important thing was the sanctuary in the middle of the city, a frankly impressive construction that vaguely reminded me of a volcano. Or a gigantic smelter, with dark smoke constantly pouring out from the top. That was my destination… once I finished exploring.

A couple of hours later, I returned to the city and, since I needed to avoid notice, I dive-bombed into the chimney, using my powers to avoid the infernal heat inside it. After a hundred or so meters of free fall, I saw the fires at the end and sharply turned upwards, flying inside the sanctum before quickly returning to my human form.

I didn't miss the shape that I had barely avoided while doing that stunt.

"Well, this is certainly a novel way to seek an audience with me." Said a voice that reminded me of burning coals. I turned, and took a better look at the goddess Ninegala.

She was… well, to be honest, I didn't know what to expect from her. Gods in Creation tended to have humanoid bodies, or at least could take the form of one. And humanoid was pretty much what I expected from a forge goddess, but you can never know. I remembered that there were minor gods of the wilds that could assume some pretty strange shapes, and one of the gods of war -Athlan?- was practically a minotaur.

But Ninegala was not that strange. She was pretty tall, around two meters, but she was very human-looking. The only exceptions were the skin, which was charcoal-black, and the hair, the same color of ash. I was surprised that she was basically wearing nothing aside from a little cloth to cover her most private areas, but maybe even a forge goddess felt the heat of the metal.

Aside from that, she was pretty normal. Built like a brick house, but that went with being a smith. And with using a hammer with a head bigger than mine.

"I apologize for the rude entrance, but my… circumstances forced my hand." I replied, bowing my head slightly to the forge goddess and infusing my voice with power, to express my -absolutely real- consternation for my entrance. I would have preferred to knock on the door, but if life gives you lemons… "I'm Loki, the Dragonborn."

The goddess blinked. "I've never heard of someone using such a title. But then, I live mostly isolated from the rest of Creation." She turned to face me completely, her hammer still in her hand. "You are Exalted."

I nodded. "Yes, but not a Lunar. Will you hear my requests, goddess of the forge?"

"Requests?" Asked the god-smith, arching a white brow. "You're bold, human. Only the bravest dare to ask me more than one favor. However, I see no reason to not listen. But I will make no promise on accepting them, even from a Chosen."

I smiled. "Of course. However, I think you'll find my requests… stimulating."

The goddess snorted, the noise sounding like a pile of burning wood collapsing. "You're not the first one to say that, but I've found such promises rarely kept. What do you desire? A sword that will fell all your enemies? An armor that will shatter every weapon that comes in contact with it? You have such a limited imagination. Power is all you seek."

I giggled inside my head. That sounded like something a power player would make in the game. Fortunately, I was not so limited in my views. "I don't seek power, Ninegala. I seek knowledge. And help." I raised my hand, showing the project of the battery. "This is my first request. A container for magic to be stored inside. It has to be small, so I can carry it around, and it must absorb the power it must contain from a faraway source… but that's a problem for me to worry about." I made a show of the complex runic system that will, with a little tuning, absorb the power of the Refuge to power my spell. "Unfortunately, while I have the idea ready, I lack the materials and the knowledge of how to work it to make this object. I will probably require Orichalcum, to contain the energy required… but I'm not an expert in the creation of such artifacts."

Wait, did the runes take into account the growing 'distance' between me and the Refuge? I didn't think about it until now. It was better…

I was distracted by my little lapse of attention by the sound of the goddess laying down her hammer on the anvil behind her. I raised my head and saw her narrowing her eyes and looking at the runes, a faint glow visible in her eyes.

"You're a smith." She said, matter-of-factly.

"Yes." I replied, making the images disappear. "But my Exaltation is recent. I didn't have the time to find a teacher willing to show me the secrets of artifact forging… nor the time to find the materials needed for them. What skill I have in forging magical items doesn't translate well."

"You crafted magical items. Show me." She demanded.

"Of course. It's tied to my second request anyway." I made the cloth containing the pieces of Dupahtuz appear out of thin air. "This is my main weapon, Dupahtuz, the All-Consuming Blade. As you can see… it's shattered."

The goddess took the cloth with her big, calloused hands, and after laying it next to her hammer, she opened it and took a good look at the broken weapon inside it.

"Hmm… I don't recognize the materials. Bone for the blade, but nothing I've ever seen. Tough, resilient… a behemoth, perhaps?"

"A dragon." I supplied. I quickly clarified under her inquisitive gaze. "Not an elemental dragon, of course. Just a magical beast. I'm wearing the hide of one at this moment."

The goddess gave my vest an evaluating look, then returned her focus to the sword. "The guard is in a metal I've never seen either. Seems like Adamant, but the color is wrong, and it doesn't resonate like it does… What is it?"

"Ebony." I replied. "It's like… magical obsidian, even if it acts like metal. It's said to be the blood of a god, but I cannot confirm it."

"Hmmm. I see. And the bones are soaked with silver essence…" She hummed again. "The craftsmanship is fine, and I feel the traces of some form of enchantment… life absorption?"

I just nodded. Jesus Christ… she didn't even need to touch the blade to see all of that? At least Welf had to grasp it and inspect it closely to get some information.

"A dark enchantment, but I will not judge. The blade though… it's alive. I can feel it's pain. That's why you ask for my help, Loki the Dragonborn? To heal it?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Unfortunately, I don't know what to do about it. It was not my intention to give life to the blade, and so I have no idea about how to heal it."

The forge goddess stared at Dupahtuz's fragments, her eyes now visibly glowing with an inner fire. No, it was not a figure of speech. "Hmm… even my skill may not be enough to do this. You will require Soulsteel, of course, but it will not be enough. At most, the metal will absorb what little life remains inside the blade, and nothing of its previous power will remain. Maybe it's possible… but it would require something to reinforce the life force inside the fragments. Maybe an object of similar nature will do, but…"

An object of similar nature. I raised my hand and made my soul-stealing dagger appear. "Will this do?"

Her eyes snapped to the weapon, the fires burning brighter. "I had assumed this sword was your greatest achievement. How many more do you have?"

"A spear, a bow and a shield. Oh, and plate armor."

"And all of them are enchanted like the sword?"

"Well, not the same enchantments, but yes."

The goddess didn't say anything for a while. Then suddenly, she spoke.

"Your weapon can be repaired. With Soulsteel, and sacrificing the dagger, you'll be able to restore it to its previous power… and even more. But that will be for you to explore." She paused, then straightened up. Her eyes were veritable furnaces now. "I will help you, Loki the Dragonborn. I'll teach you how to mold the magical materials to your desires, and I'll show you how to repair your weapon… and even how to improve the ones you possess. But you have to do something for me."

I nodded. I expected that. "What is it?"

"You'll have to find the materials." She replied, and I blinked in surprise. "My forge is well equipped, but it doesn't have piles of magical materials laying around. Soulsteel in particular. You'll have to search for them. Once you have them, we'll repair your sword and create this container. If you want my help with your other items, you'll have to figure out what you want them to do first."

That was… very generous of her. I think. I expected some strange quest, for her to ask for a year and a day of service or something like that. Instead, she just wanted me to find the materials first. I said as such.

Ninegala smiled. "My call is to create, Loki the Dragonborn. And your requests are sufficiently intriguing to be a challenge. But don't mistake me, I will not create them for you. I'll show you the way, but everything else will have to be your own effort."

Well, seeing it that way, it was merely fair. She was still basically teaching me for free, but maybe teaching the art of the forge was indeed a reward for her.

"I will start searching, then. I'm afraid that I cannot remain here for long. In fact, I already stayed here too much. However… Can I leave something here? Maybe we can manage to speed the entire thing up."

The goddess sent me a curious look. "What do you mean?"

Wild Wild Creation 1.2

After having left another shadow with Ninegala - Dol Loki, the smith- I quickly left Sinti, flying North. Ninegala had been very helpful, but she didn't have a chart with the position of every magical material deposit in Creation. However, she confirmed that the Skullstone Archipelago did indeed contain a Shadowland.

In fact, the entire Skullstone Archipelago was a damn Shadowland. Which made things at the same time easier and far more difficult. Easier, because I could probably find Soulsteel in big quantities.

Unfortunately, the reason that made the entire thing easier was also the reason everything was complicated.

Aside from the general unpleasantness of a Shadowland, the Skullstone Archipelago was dominated by a… shit, I didn't remember the name. Deathlord? Something along those lines. One of the thirteen uber-powerful ghosts that commanded the armies of the Underworld and the Abyssal Exalted. I didn't know much about them, aside from the fact that they were -probably- vengeful spirits of First Age Solars that had somehow got powers from the Neverborn, the slain Primordial that now rules on the realm of death. Or something, it was not clear how much the Neverborn was conscious and how much he ruled. For what I knew, he could be slumbering ala Cthulhu and the real minds were the Deathlords themselves.

Of course, I didn't get that information from Ninegala. The invasion of the Deathlords was secret, with the Abyssals acting as main face of the entire operation while the super-ghosts stayed back. Probably because they couldn't really leave the Shadowlands, not without losing the ability to interact with the world. In Creation, ghosts couldn't manifest under the light of the Sun, unless they were in a Shadowland. So, if the Deathlord wanted to rule, he couldn't get out without losing his physical form. Powerful as they were, they couldn't escape their nature.

I got sidetracked again. Anyway, the point was that Ninegala didn't know about the Deathlord, but she knew that the Skullstone Archipelago was ruled by the living dead and that an Exalted champion of death was sighted inside it. With that, I could easily connect the dots and realize who the real ruler was. That also meant an abundance of Soulsteel. The Deathlords made that stuff to equip their armies and their Abyssals, so instead of mining some death iron and tempering it using ghosts, I could just find the finished product and take it, either with money or with force. I was not above doing either alternative.

I would be happy to find a way to not use Soulsteel made from ghosts, though. I didn't know how much of a person a ghost was -a good chunk, I would guess- but smelting one into metal was just distasteful. Unfortunately, Ninegala had confirmed that, while Soulsteel could be found naturally inside the Underworld, often where one of the Primordials had bled or when a lot of ghosts had ceased to exist simultaneously, it was far more rare than the artificial one. The natural version also didn't have any advantages aside from being more ethical. So, if I didn't find a deposit, I was just going to grab as much of the other kind as I could. It wasn't like I could free the ghost from the metal.

Unless…

No, better not. It would probably destroy the metal, and as icky I found the production method, I had no alternatives.

Of course, the fact that finding the Soulsteel was going to be easier didn't mean it was also going to be without risks. In fact, there were probably going to be more risks than normal… aside from Sidereals, of course. The Loom didn't work well inside Shadowlands, for the same reason it didn't work in the Caul. The Underworld was not under the jurisdiction of the Loom, and the Shadowlands, where Underworld and Creation met, interfered with it. When I got inside the Skullstone Archipelago, I could relax on that front.

The risks of meeting an Abyssal out scaled that relief by a fair margin, however. I didn't know the abilities of the Abyssal Exalted, not any better than I knew the Sidereals', but I knew that their powers came from stolen and corrupted Solar Exaltations, and so they were as excellent as their golden counterparts, except focused on death and destruction. Not exactly an opponent I wanted to fight.

And the Shadowland was also going to be full of undead. After my experience with Draugr, I hoped to not have to fight more, but life is what it is. At least I was well equipped for them. Between light magic and Golden Janissary, I didn't fear a huge mob of undead. Stronger undead were more of a problem. I doubted I could take the Deathlord, for example, and I was not sure about the Abyssal either. One Sidereal had given me plenty of trouble, but it was mostly through hax. Abyssals were more straightforward, but also more powerful. I didn't fancy my chances against one.

Fortunately, I just had to avoid them. Abyssals didn't have Fate bullshit to help find me, so I just needed to move fast and to not leave witnesses. And after I've done that… I'll have to leave to search for other materials. Orichalcum in particular. The real challenge started then.

-X-

I felt it when I entered Shadowland. It was unmistakable, especially for someone that had been inside the Soul Cairn with a piece of soul anchored outside.

The Archipelago had the stench of death on it. Not physically, even if the influence of the Underworld muted the sensations inside it. Everything was a little more gray, a little more muted, a little more calm. But that could still be attributed to strange meteorological conditions.

The slight pull on your soul, like there was a void around you that tried to suck it out, was not.

I immediately stopped and turned back until I didn't feel the tug anymore. It was late, and from what I gathered listening to Silver Star and spying around -Fate tracking didn't work if people didn't know I was there and I didn't directly interact with them, or so I hoped- Shadowlands were not that dangerous during the day. Yes, ghosts could manifest like it was night and in general undead monsters had an easier time, but the light of Sol Invictus still repelled them. It was during the night that things become serious, and while the people of the Skullstone Archipelago surely had methods to stop the undead from killing them all -probably simply the protection of the Deathlord- I didn't have any. If I wanted to explore the Skullstone Archipelago without too many problems, I needed to do that during the day.

So, meanwhile, I returned to the Refuge. Where Vokun had mastered Blood Magic. Apparently, in his spare time while working on everything else. It was his way to relax. Which was also my way to relax, since when I wanted to relax I started to experiment with my supernatural powers, just to see what I could do.

It's strange, I know, but I didn't have videogames and the only interesting read were the books about magic. Besides, I loved using magic. Feeling that everything was possible with just a snap of my fingers gave me a rush of dopamine I didn't feel doing anything else.

In fact, I was annoyed that he had mastered Blood Magic so well, because it meant that I was never going to experiment myself.

Unless…

The Blood Magic my shadow double learned was a mix of the Flesh Magic of the old Wild Elves and whatever power the vampires possessed. In fact, calling it Blood Magic was somewhat of a misnomer, since it was more about manipulating the life force inside the blood and flesh to generate various effects. It was a very… visceral form of magic, focused on morphing and shaping the flesh, and could easily lead to body horror. It had, when the Aiyleid used the pain and suffering of their human slaves to create grotesque forms of art. For this reason, I had imposed severe limitations on its use inside the Refuge.

For starters, this form of Blood Magic was fueled by the user's health, draining the very blood it possessed. It was not necessary, but I forced Akyn to learn it this way to make them think twice about using it. Of course, nothing will stop them from using the blood of other creatures, and in fact Vokun's memories told me that they did use it… but it was for large scale rituals meant to improve their animals. No such change was permitted on another Akyn… until they found a way to replicate a troll regeneration. Then it was going to be applied on everyone. Because troll-like regeneration was just too good of a bonus to not use it and it didn't have any of the ethical problems other, far more invasive modification had. While yes, having claws the size of daggers could be useful, but it came with several problems, so it was just all banned until someone figured out something that didn't have drawbacks. Experimentation was still ongoing. Vokun could probably do something about it but had decided to let the Akyn find it on their own.

But that also meant that Blood Magic had not been thought of for combat. Which made sense, because the Akyn already possessed their own, personal kind of magic, and it was a very offensive-inclined one. But I always needed another edge. I could start with that. I was sure there was a way to use it in battle.

Not that I disliked the utility it gave me. The fact that the changes made with Blood Magic could be made permanent, since the magic was not used to maintain them, opened huge possibilities. I could gain true night-vision, for one. Until now I managed with magic and enhanced senses, but there were limits I couldn't exceed . And natural regeneration would have spared me from having my body replaced by magic-flesh, and was just generally a great way to survive.

I needed to test this. A Shadowland was probably not the best place to use it, but I would have found the time. The search was going to be long anyway.

But better focus on the preparations for the Shadowland. Nothing major… but it was better if I put some protection on me. You never know.

-X-

The Shadowland was far worse than I thought.

Not in a way that was actively dangerous for me, fortunately. The drain on my life force didn't get any worse as I went deeper into it, nor did the undead prowl the area with more numbers than anticipated.

It was the atmosphere. It didn't worsen, per se, but hours and hours of dullness and the constant sensation of the place trying very hard to suppress my own soul became old quickly.

Fortunately, I found traces of life very soon. There were not many, but there were villages inside the Skullstone Archipelago. Still limiting my interaction with the locals, but with a little less fear, I quickly discovered where the capital of the Archipelago was, and so I decided to go straight there.

It would seem like a stupid idea, and my first plan was to avoid the capital as much as possible, and simply adventure outside during the night to find myself a way into the Underworld and find the Soulsteel there. But, thinking about it, and after a day under the oppressive atmosphere of the Shadowland, I changed my mind. I was going for the capital, because it was the place that was more likely to have big quantities of Soulsteel inside it.

Sure, it was also the place where the Deathlord and their pet Abyssal were, but I had a significant advantage against them compared to trying to infiltrate other cities. The fact that nobody knew I was coming, and the lack of methods to find me. Unlike the Sidereals, the dead didn't have a way to track me using Fate, and while I didn't doubt they could feel my lifeforce, there was no way it was so different from a normal human that they could pinpoint me in the middle of a city. I was the proverbial needle in a haystack. I could enter, take the Soulsteel and leave before someone found out.

So, it was improbable that they would find me before I got my hands on Soulsteel, and if I managed to acquire it legally, they probably wouldn't even search for me.

… Of course, I didn't believe for a second that I was going to be so lucky, but in theory it was doable. I just needed to be cautious and acquire all the information before acting.

As I came closer to Onyx, the city in question, I also began to see that the people of the Skullstone Archipelago had a quite unique perspective on death. They didn't see undead as an abomination, but as a transformation, a way to achieve a new life. In fact, I encountered several undead walking among the living, and nobody batted an eye at them.

I suspected that the Deathlord had decided to favor his invasion of Creation by making the undead part of the life on the archipelago, so that even if their attempts to conquer their neighbors failed, retaliation would be impossible. If the locals accepted the dead amongst them, simply raising the victim of a war to fight again and again was not just easy, but something the locals would volunteer for.

Or they cared little about invading and decided to build a necromancy-based society that exchanged slaves with mindless undead minions. They would not have been the first to think of something like that, and depending on how the undead worked, it was a valid alternative. From what I remembered, ghosts in Creation were not explicitly malicious and in fact at least one, the Ancestor Ghost, actively helped their families. It was possible to make undead that were not instinctively hostile toward the living, at least in theory.

Of course, nothing said that the Deathlord wasn't aiming to do both.

But something else caught my attention while I was traveling toward Onyx.

"I tell you, good sir." Said an old fisherman when I asked how many more days it took to travel to Onyx. "It's just a couple more. But be careful along the way. A strange man was going in the same direction."

"Really?" I asked. It was the fourth time a local had said something like that.

"Aye. He emerged from the waters last night, while I was getting inside my home. He was not swimming, I tell you! He emerged like he had walked on the seafloor!"

"I see. Can you tell me about him?"

"I dunno, good sir. He looked like a man, but the sensation he gave me…" The man shivered. "I'm no stranger to the living dead, good sir, but something in that man was wrong."

"Hmmm." I nodded, thinking. The description reminded me of a type of Exalted that was introduced with the Third Edition. But it could also be something else. Sure, most of the undead in the archipelago seemed innocuous to the locals, but this man could be the exception… or he could come from the outside, and use the Shadowland to do what he wanted. "I'll be sure to keep an eye open."

"Do that, good sir." The fisherman nodded back. When he raised his head to look at me, I was gone, my mind already evaluating the possibilities.

If the man the fisherman talked about was what I thought he was, he could have been incredibly useful during the journey in the Skullstone Archipelago.

If he wasn't, he was probably some undead abomination to destroy.

In both cases, it was better to find him soon.

Fortunately I was pretty good at following tracks, and a trickle of power directed into my eyes made following them even easier. All I needed was to find a footprint outside the beach, where the shifting sand made it practically impossible to find tracks of the man in question, and from there I gathered all the information I needed. The man had passed half a day ago, and didn't seem to be in any particular hurry. Medium weight, probably medium height too, surely a man, even if it was not clear if he was human. Humanoid for sure, but I couldn't get more. If there was a leftover sign of what kind of Essence he possessed -assuming it possessed it- it was too faint or too similar to the general Skullstone gloominess to see it.

In the end, it took me the rest of the day to track down the mysterious man in question. When I did find him, he was camping outside, in the darkness of a little patch of trees, with just a bonfire protecting him against all the monsters in the island, his face pointing at the ground.

"You're either very brave of very stupid, to stay outside during the night in a Shadowland." I said as I approached him.

"I suppose." Replied the man, not looking worried in the slightest. "And in what category do you belong?"

"Neither." I replied, sitting down on the other side of the bonfire. "I'm just confident that nothing here can actually kill me."

The man snorted. "Stupid it is, then." He raised his head, and I saw short black hair and cold, gray eyes. "What is your reason for following me, stranger?"

"Curiosity." I admitted easily. "Seems like we are going in the same direction, and the people around here had… words about you."

"I can imagine." He said, his face getting just a little more stony than it already was. "Wrong. Different. Am I close?"

I shrugged. "Pretty much."

"And you decided to meet me despite that." Continued the man. "Simple curiosity seems too little of a motivation to go that far. Most people would have just avoided me. But you did not. Why is that?"

"I know little about the Skullstone Archipelago, but I know enough about the monsters that live in Creation to have suspicions about your real nature."

The man tensed under his baggy and ragged clothes. "And what did you suspect?"

I looked at him, my eyes burning with power, and I saw a sickly green light lazily swirling around the man. As I suspected. I opened my mouth to answer him.

… And howls erupted in the distance.

"Mortwights." Growled the man.

I looked in the direction of the howls, frowning. "Mortwights? I thought that only peaceful undead were permitted here. People will not be happy if packs of murderous hell-beasts roam the land."

I didn't remember much about the mortwight, but I remembered that there were maddened ghosts that assumed the form of hound-like creatures that roamed the Underworld hunting whatever they could find. They didn't seem like the type of undead that could peacefully coexist with mortals.

"Oh, they aren't 'permitted', officially. But they're useful if you can control them." The man stood, and I saw his Essence starting to swirl wildly around him. "Stay back, stranger. This is my problem."

I thought about it for a second… then I snorted. "Nah, I'll help. I doubt that they will ignore me anyway." I stood and made my spear appear in my hand.

"I hope you can use that weapon, stranger." Said the man, before assuming a lower stance, his hands open as if they were claws.

"Oh, don't worry about me. This is not my first time fighting the living dead."

As I said that, black, lanky silhouettes emerged from the thicket.

Wild Wild Creation 1.3

The first thing I realized when I took a good look at the Mortwight was that they were not hound-like. They were quadrupedal and had a maw filled with teeth, but that was the closest they got. You could vaguely see that they originally were humanoids, because the proportions of their arms and legs were all wrong.

Unfortunately, Mortwights didn't seem to be the type of undead that had a uniform shape. As maddened and distorted human souls, they all looked a little different from each other. The things they had in common were the powerful, muscular limbs ending with jagged claws, the pitch-black barbed skin, and an elongated head with the aforementioned fang-filled mouth and crazed, luminescent green eyes. It still vaguely remembered a human face.

I assumed the Golden Janissary Form and met their assault.

Golden Janissary and White Reaper, the martial arts I learned while in the Caul, were both styles that favored the use of weapons with great reach, like polearms, but the way they used them was different. White Reaper was a style that focused on dealing with a great number of enemies, and so he used the long reach offered by the weapons to swipe in the middle of a battlegroup and smash them apart. For that reason, it was a style that you could use with every armor, as speed and precision were not the focus of the style.

Golden Janissary instead was created to fight against the Creatures of Darkness -a somewhat generic term to describe creatures that were enemies to Creation, or on the Unconquered Sun shitlist- and since most practitioners were mortals that didn't have much of a chance against a monster in melee, the style focused on mobility to stay away out of the monsters' reach while you poked them with sticks until they died.

Both styles worked well enough to deal with a pack of Mortwright, but I chose Golden Janissary for a simple reason: my spear had an enchantment that created deep, bleeding wounds at the lightest touch. Against most other enemies, White Reaper would have let me deal with entire scores of them very easily. But Mortwights were undead, and didn't have blood. The enchantment on the spear was useless. And not knowing how tough the Mortwight were, I erred on the side of caution and adopted the style that had a clear advantage over the monsters.

Evidently, I shouldn't have bothered too much. As the first Mortwight jumped at me, my spear slashed through the air like a whip and the head of the monster flew away, golden flames lingering on the wound. Seemed like, even here in Creation, a magical weapon was a magical weapon. It didn't matter if you were a ghost, the enchanted spear could tear you apart as easily as you were made of flesh.

With confirmation that my weapon worked, I spun it around to meet another Mortwight. The undead had no sense of self preservation, savagely jumping on me from all directions to tear me apart.

"Do you need a hand?" I asked the man I have been following as I stabbed a Mortwight in the chest and flames consumed its spectral body. I got no response, so while I dodged a claw that would have taken my jaw, I sent a glance toward him.

He was wrestling two Mortwight barehanded, his muscles bulging with power, stitches I didn't notice before stretched. That, pretty much, confirmed my suspicions. But it was not the time to congratulate myself. The Mortwight were still numerous, and the smartest among them were starting to realize that they were not going to beat us using just raw strength. So, a couple of them decided to stand back, releasing a cloud of chilling darkness to obscure our view.

Cute.

"Praise the Sun!" I shouted, raising my spear in the hair and channeling sunlight magic from it. The tip of Hilyahzuth, the Heart-seeker, shone with powerful light, and the darkness dissipated.

Oh, and the light burned the Mortwight like it was magma, and the undead whimpered in pain. They didn't retreat though. After all, they were already dead. What did they care about dying again?

As a response to me, debris started to float around the monsters in an improvised poltergeist, and I decided I had enough. Changing my stance to the Golden Janissary to the White Reaper, I started to scythe the undead while continuing to fuel the sun magic. The debris bounced harmlessly on my dragonscale vest, and even if they didn't, I could likely have ignored them. They moved fast, like a powerful hail, but the level of force used was wholly insufficient to harm me.

After that, they didn't last long. Twenty of them fell in the span of a minute, and then there was silence again.

"Well, it seems like we're alone again." I said, making my spear disappear. "And we skipped presentations before. I'm Loki. You?" I asked, giving him my hand.

The man hesitated… then he gave me a handshake. "My name is lost. You can call me Obsidian Hound."

I sent him a look. "Obsidian Hound? A mouthful. Do you prefer Obsidian or Hound?"

"Hound." The Exalt quickly replied… because that's what he was.

"Then let's sit, Hound, and talk a little. Unless, of course, you prefer to stay alone… but I think we can help each other. What do you say?"

Obsidian Hound hesitated for a second, then nodded. "I say we talk. But as for helping… we'll see."

I smiled and sat down. I was not as dubious as Obsidian Hound was. I've convinced people to help me before.

I doubted he was going to be much different.

-X-

The man called Loki sat down on the other side of the bonfire and, for the first time, he took off his mask. Obsidian Hound already knew he was not a spy from the dead, for his eyes couldn't be deceived, so he was not particularly surprised to find the face of a man, maybe in his early twenties, with brown-green eyes -it depended on the light- and a mane of brown hair with a short beard. The mask disappeared in Loki's hand, and he turned to look at him, his pupils morphing into the ones of a snake.

No, not a snake… something different. Something… more.

"Who are you, exactly?" Obsidian Hound asked. "Before, you used the power of the Sun, so you must be an Anathema, but…"

The man smiled. "Ah, I am Anathema, but not of the kind you think of. 'Anathema' is just a term the Immaculate Order uses to label every Exalt that doesn't conform to their doctrine. Most are Lunar or Solar, but I'm not. I'm an Exigent. The golden light you saw comes from the Golden Janissary Style and a bit of Sorcery."

Obsidian Hound had heard of the Golden Janissary. It was not very common in the West, but it's fame had reached here, brought by the few Immaculate Monks that dared to come this far from the Blessed Isles. As for the Sorcery… he supposed it was possible.

He was not fully convinced that he was not a 'Solar', but in the end, he didn't care.

"What did you mean by helping each other?" He asked, dropping the argument.

"Ah, let me explain. You're going to Onyx, am I right?" Obsidian Hound just nodded. It made no sense denying it. It wasn't like he had been subtle about it. "Well, I'm going there too. I need to procure some Soulsteel for a project of mine, and I thought that it was the most likely place I could find it. You, on the other hand… you're hunting something, aren't you?"

Obsidian Hound narrowed his eyes. This man knew more than he was comfortable with. "Why should you think that?"

Loki snorted. "I know what you are, Hound. I can see your Essence flowing around you. You're one of the Liminal Exalted, ghost hunters and guardians of the borders between life and death. If you're marching toward Onyx, the only reason I can think of is to kill something… or to find someone."

Obsidian Hound remained momentarily frozen, stunned by the answer. This man… How did he know? For what he gathered, his kind had existed for a relatively short time, and never in great numbers. They were not widely known, and even when someone did know, they just assumed they were a monster or an one-of-a-kind Exigent.

"And doing so is probably going to kill you." Continued Loki, taking his stunned silence as confirmation. "You don't know the danger that waits inside Onyx."

"What danger?" He asked, taking control of his body once more. If this man really had such vast knowledge, then maybe some form of cooperation was warranted.

"The Skullstone Archipelago is under the control of a Deathlord, an unimaginably powerful ghost. They command hordes of lesser dead, and also one of the Abyssal Exalted." He paused, like sensing his confusion. "Imagine if someone took a Solar Anathema and corrupted them with the dark void of the Neverborn. All their powers are distorted to make them the perfect vassals of the Oblivion, the perfect tool of the Deathlord to expand their influence on the world of the living."

"And you suspect one of these… Deathlord is in Onyx?"

"Most certainly. I ignore if there are Abyssals too. I suppose there are, it seemed like all Deathlords had at least one one, but I cannot be sure. And of course, since the Abyssals still look and act mostly human, they can be used outside the Shadowland, making them excellent ambassadors… or spies. Or assassins. You get the idea."

Obsidian Hound took his time to think about it. It was… possible. The glimpses of knowledge he gained when the Dark Mother awoke him painted a terrible picture of the state of the Underworld right now, and his experiences later all but confirmed it. He had never encountered one of these 'Abyssals' or the Deathlords, but Creation was a big place.

Of course, just because it was possible it didn't mean it was true.

"Let's assume you're telling the truth." He started. "What help could you give me?"

"I can help you do what you want to do discreetly." He smiled. "I'm a Sorcerer of some power, you know? I'm sure finding whatever you are searching for will be easy. In exchange, I want you to help me find enough Soulsteel to repair my weapon. After that… we'll be on our separate ways, if you so desire."

Obsidian Hound frowned. It was a good offer… almost too good to be true.

"You seem to get very little out of this. What is your real objective?"

Loki hesitated for a second, a vaguely pensive expression on his face, before shrugging. "Local aid, mostly, and protection. I'm new here, I don't know much about the Skullstone Archipelago, the society or anything else. Someone that can help me navigate the place and knows about the supernatural side of things will be of great help… and if I must dive into a city governed by a super-ghost, having a ghost hunter near adds security. Not that I plan to attract much attention, but still, you are never too safe."

Hmmm… so caution was his motivation. Fair enough. If he was right about the real power behind the city of Onyx, one Exalt may not be enough to be safe.

"Very well. But it's better if we don't approach the city together. I'll need to… approach the dead population, and your living presence might make things difficult."

Loki sent me a confused look. "You mean…" A sudden look of realization passed on his face. "Oh, you mean that. Yes, I suppose it's better if I'm not present. I'm not that fond of dismemberment."

Uh… further proof he knew what he was talking about. Well, Hound didn't want to dismember corpses to replace some of his body parts, he was quite happy with the ones he had and no need to replace them for now. He only needed to interrogate some of the undead in the city, and it would be easy if no living creature was around.

But there was no need for him to reveal that. In fact, while collaborating with this Loki was probably a good idea, he was not entirely sure he could trust him. His mention of Abyssal put doubts in his head. If they were Exalted aligned with the Underworld, it was possible that his senses could betray him. Finding death was easy, but…

Wait… maybe he could test him?

"These Abyssals you talked off… are they living? Or dead?"

Loki narrowed his eyes, focusing. "I'm not sure, admittedly. They're offered their Exaltation as they approach their death, so I suppose they're dead, but they can fake being living quite well." He sent him a glance. "You're asking to know if you can sense them? I'm afraid that it could be difficult. It's better if you look out for people that look alive but are covered in Soulsteel. It's a pretty clear giveaway, unless you know of undead able to look alive. Present company excluded, of course."

Obsidian Hound sent a vaguely annoyed glance at the man. He seemed to be able to infer his intentions very easily. If that was true, he could be one of these Abyssals and he wouldn't know.

"Don't worry, if you meet one you'll notice something's wrong." He shrugged. "Or I suppose you will, your senses are better tuned to death than mine. I'm not sure I'll be able to discern their Essence from the general miasma of death that permeates the Shadowland. Your Essence is different enough, their… well, we'll see." He paused, before sending him a curious look. "By the way… who is your patron? An entity of the Underworld, of course, but I don't know of any, except the Neverborn. I don't even know of gods that manage the Underworld, except a god of reincarnation… but I doubt it's them."

Informed, but not all-knowing. "Our patron is the Dark Mother." He decided to reply, in the interest of maintaining the collaboration. For all that he didn't trust him completely, he was being useful. "She's the one that managed the Underworld before the Neverborn arrived."

Loki blinked. "Oh, of course. The cycle of reincarnation was created before the creation of the Exalted Hosts. And when the Neverborn died… or failed to die, anyway… the entire system went downhill, didn't it?"

Hound nodded. "Yes. I'm not sure about the specifics, as the Dark Mother doesn't communicate with us often, but the sensation I always had was that the Underworld, as it is now, wasn't supposed to exist. Whatever the ancients did, it broke something, and now the dead can walk to Creation, when their souls should return free from their memories."

"And it's your job to correct that." Finished Loki, nodding to himself. "A grave work, in all senses."

Obsidian Hound felt his lips turn upward slightly. "Yes, it is."

There was no other discussion between them. Loki stood, assured that he was going to find him when he arrived at Onyx, and disappeared in the night.

Obsidian Hound resolved to be extra careful when approaching the city.

-X-

I arrived at Onyx the day after meeting Obsidian Hound, the Liminal Exalted. A lucky find, and an ally I could lean on in case I found something I didn't know how to beat in the city.

Which, by the way, was impressive. Sort of monotone black, but I suppose that was to be expected by a place called Onyx. Aside from that, it looked like a veritable metropolis, more in line with modern cities than the Bronze Age ones that were 'historically' accurate. Or at least that was the impression I got. I suppose that undead labor helped in creating massive urban spaces.

I arrived in the form of a hawk and quickly melded into the shadow of the city before emerging from an alley with an illusion covering me. I decided to look like a beggar and so I acted the part. I walked between the streets filled with undead -it made my skin crawl, but they didn't look aggressive so I didn't act- with the uncertain step of someone who was not in good condition, hunched over and trying to look as innocuous as possible, so even if someone looked at me they wouldn't give me a second glance.

It was also necessary because I was quite tall compared to everyone else, and being a little bent over dissimulated that.

It didn't take me a lot to find a place that had what I was looking for. In the 'industrial' section of the city I found several foundries that worked a dark metal that seemed exactly like Soulsteel. I was not sure for who all that Soulsteel was, because I very much doubted that there were so many Abyssal here, and I also doubted that they had enough people to mass produce Artifacts, but maybe, even if it was never mentioned in the books, people still used the magical materials to, you know, make non-Artifact magical items. They were simply never mentioned because Exalted usually wanted the real deal, not a lame magical sword that was 'just' enchanted.

However, stealing from them could be arduous. There were several guards, undead ones that didn't need to rest and were difficult to confuse using magic, and I could only assume that most of the artisans were undead too. If I could discern where the Soulsteel was made -hopefully not in the foundries- I could make this much more easier. Dragons, it turns out, didn't do stealth very well. I could push my powers to do all sorts of things -display of physical and magical power were easy, and for some reason protection was even easier- but my new, draconic fueled Essence didn't do finesse very well. It was not that I couldn't, but to avoid security put in place by a Deathlord I preferred to have my new powers at command. I could probably manage with my usual magic, but…

I turned suddenly, my spear materializing in my hand mid-movement and stopping a hair's breadth from the eye of the person that had, somehow, managed to get a couple of meters behind me. After the last time someone had sneaked on me, I was a little trigger happy, but I didn't want to just kill whoever managed to reach me while I was distracted.

The woman that was now looking at the point of the spear pointed straight at her pupil was… I don't even know how to describe her. Silver Star had been beautiful, the beauty of someone that had the ability to shapeshift and so could have the absolutely perfect body. But Silver Star was also a researcher and, all things considered, a reserved person. She was beautiful, but she didn't show it all that much.

The fiery redhead in front of me was the exact opposite. She was beautiful, and she was basically shouting it at the world. Everything, from her clothes to her hairstyle, was meant to enhance her figure. She also seemed to basically exude sex appeal in thick waves, and that was the only reason that I was not gawking like an idiot. That was not normal, and while I couldn't feel any magic coming from her, I could recognize supernaturally enhanced beauty.

The problem was… what was she? An Exalt? A sorceress? Or one of the elusive Raksha, the Wyld nobles?

I retracted Hilyahzuth enough to let her stare at me in the eyes without the bone tip of the weapon obscuring her face, and I instead pointed it at her throat.

"Who the hell are you?"

Wild Wild Creation 1.4

Hello people. I'm going to apologize for not having posted anything last week, but it's the last month of work and things are getting a little more difficult. In fact, I'm just posting this thing here and update the tomorrow. On better news, it's the last month of work, so I'll return to a weekly update soon. There are other things I have to say, but I'll keep them for next week.

Enjoy!

-X-

The redhead smiled, perfectly white teeth shining in the shadows of the city, as her perfectly oval face-

Focus, damnit-

"I'm Shining Pearl. I was waiting for you."

I narrowed my eyes and Hilyahzuth started to emit some serious magical vibration as I readied for whatever was coming.

"Not you specifically." Quickly corrected the woman. "Someone like you. Someone with enough power and will to help me."

I stared at her. She didn't seem to be lying. I couldn't see even the most minute sign of deception on her face.

… When the fuck did I became Patrick Jane from The Mentalist, able to immediately understand if someone was lying with but a glance? My memory intervened and showed me that it had happened somewhere during my last weeks on Skyrim. Apparently, I had power-leveled Speech without realizing it, and now I could read people like they were books.

Not that it meant anything in this situation. Yeah, I could read normal people easily enough, but 'normal people' didn't manage to get a couple of meters behind me without me noticing.

"You know, the last time someone sneaked on me I almost died." I casually replied, the tip of the spear now positively brimming with energy. "So I don't think you need my help for whatever your problem is. I'm sure you'll manage."

The woman's smile dimmed considerably. "I wish that was the case. But Bodhisattva Anointed By Dark Water had protected his affairs with great care. I cannot challenge him, even indirectly, on my own power."

More sincerity. And that name… I didn't recognize it, but there were few creatures in Creation that had such pompous names. "You're talking about the Deathlord."

She blinked, a brief surprise showing on her face. "You already know? Are you here to fight him?"

"No." I replied, slowly removing Hilyahzuth from her neck. "I'm here because I need Soulsteel to repair one of my weapons. A Deathlord is not something you can fight alone. You'll need a circle of Solars to have a chance."

The woman looked at me with very serious eyes, then nodded. "True. But we don't need to fight him. We just need to stop him." She hooked her eyes into mine. "Please, let me explain."

Dammit. I still couldn't sense any lie. Paranoia was good, but right now I couldn't see any reason why she would try to do something like this. If she wanted to kill me, she could have just tried to attack me while I was distracted.

And laying a trap only made sense if they had the meaning to stop me from escaping, and unless they managed to make a barrier against dimensional teleportation in the few days I had been in the Skullstone Archipelago, they couldn't. If they did manage… then I was fucked anyway, because if they could do something like that here, they could only do worse in the rest of Creation.

Reluctantly, I made my spear disappear. "I'll hear you out. But I will not make further promises."

The woman's smile returned at full force. Damn, she was really good looking. Stupid supernatural allure. "Thank you. Follow me. We'll talk somewhere more private."

I nodded and followed her. Yes, just like that. I didn't even change the disguise I wore. I dropped the act a little, just to be able to stay behind her without effort.

Since I was there, I took a better look at my new acquaintance. I purposefully didn't look at her too much before, to avoid as much as her supernatural charm, and focused on her face, both to not look like a pervert and to better gauge her intentions. She wore a flowy robe of what looked like pink silk, which managed somehow to fit her perfectly and enhance her figure while at the same time covering her with a lot of fabric, enough to let her hide a small arsenal if she so chose. Not that she did, I scanned her with magic to be sure she was not going to take out a knife and stab me in the eyes, but you never know.

I also had a strange sensation looking at her, and no, it was not the fact that she was hot and a redhead… admittedly a combination I was weak against, and the fact that she looked like Scarlet Johansson with longer hair didn't help… but no, it was something different. She was not emitting any light that I could interpret, and while that could either mean that she was not using Essence or she didn't have any, I could tell there was something more about her, more than the supernatural appeal.

I had the sensation that she was special. What kind of special, I still didn't know.

We walked for a while, going to the borders of the city, until we reached… a theater? I was not sure, but the semicircle of seats facing a stage didn't give space for much else. The structure, made out of wood, looked like it was temporary construction, something that could be built by an itinerant circus with a week of work and some experience. Good work, by the way, but it will not last more than a couple of years.

… I don't know how I was able to make that assessment, by the way. Exalted bullshit? I'll go with Exalted bullshit.

Shining Pearl didn't linger inside the theater. We quickly dove behind the stage, where multiple people were busy preparing for the next show or something. She seemed a pretty important figure here: many nodded or greeted her respectfully. I suppose she was the leader of this company… which made all the people here not what they seemed.

Finally we reached a room and she gestured for me to enter. On my part, I gestured to her to get inside first. She nodded, opened the door, and entered.

The room was simple, but there was a certain elegance to it. There was little to no decoration, almost everything there was functional in some way or another, but the disposition of the furniture revealed a certain attention to aesthetic. Shining Pearl gestured to me to sit down by a small table with a couple of chairs, clearly there just for eventual guests, since there was a desk in one of the corners with makeup and similar accessories and a bed in the other corner.

As I sat down, Shining Pearl took position in front of me and sent me a smile. "Can I offer you something? Tea?"

I was not in the mood for tea, honestly, but hey, Alteration. "Sure."

The woman took a little chime that was resting on the table and ringed it one time. After a couple of seconds, another woman, fortunately less stunning, entered the room.

"Yes, Shining Pearl?"

"Tea for two, Valais." She said, and the woman nodded and got out.

"Cute trinket." I said. "Enchanted. To make the sound reach the target wherever it is?"

She replied with a brighter smile. It was starting to annoy me. It wasn't possible that she only smiled. "Only inside the building. I'm not that great at making artifacts."

"Hmmm." I grunted, not particularly inclined to believe her. "Well, since we're here, I'll hear your request. But before that… how did you find me? My mask should protect me against magical detection, and I thought my beggar act was quite good."

"Oh, it was quite good." She admitted. "So good, in fact, that I almost believed it. But it was too good, if you get it. As an actress myself, I could recognize a masterful performance for what it was." She paused for a second. "I doubt someone else noticed, if that's what you're worried about."

"I see." That was not what I expected to hear, honestly. "I'll take that in mind. So, why did you want my help?"

Most of the cheerfulness of the woman was drained from her face as she closed her right hand over her left and put them both on the table.

"In the Skullstone Archipelago, the prophet Bodhisattva Anointed By Dark Water predicted the arrival of a fair and just ruler who would have saved the islands from the terror of the Shadowland. Shortly after, the Silver Prince arrived, unleashing a new era. The dead walk alongside the living. If the ghostly judges decide that your soul is worthy, you're elevated to the kingdom aristocracy upon your death. In case you were not worthy, you could still decide to reincarnate instead of lingering as a ghost. Your body will be animated to give other people an easier life. Since then, seven centuries ago, the Skullstone Archipelago has gone through an unprecedented growth. The people love their Prince, almost everyone can afford one or two skeletons for menial labor, and the city of Onyx continues to expand, to give space to both the living and the dead."

I already suspected that things were not so idyllic as they sounded. "Seems like a pretty good thing to me."

Pearl's face morphed into a scowl. "Yes, it sounds perfect, doesn't it? Unless, of course, you know that Bodhisattva Anointed By Dark Water is the Silver Prince, and that he's using the people of the Archipelago to fuel his dark schemes."

Well, that was something I didn't know or suspected. I sent her a curious glance. "And how do you know that, precisely?"

Her scowl became hesitant. "I have my methods."

Which basically meant she didn't trust me to tell me. Fair enough. "Seems all pretty vague to me, honestly. Even assuming that the Bodhisattva Anointed By Dark Water is the Silver Prince, that doesn't necessarily mean he's doing something nefarious." I waved a hand when she opened her mouth to reply. "Of course, he's a Deathlord. His entire goal is either the destruction or the conquest of all Creation. But you seem pretty sure he's using the people of Skullstone, and from what you told me, he isn't exactly doing anything with them."

"That's because the part about being free to reincarnate is a lie." She replied. "I'm not sure how he does it, but when someone dies in the Archipelago, their ghost is captured and brought to an uninhabited island, where the ghost is smelted into Soulsteel, and then used for the creation of a Soulsteel fleet. With a fleet of Artifact ships, his Deathknights, and an army of reanimated corpses, he'll wage war on all Creation."

I remained silent for a while. I didn't know much about the various Deathlords, because they had not appeared yet in the Third Edition of Exalted, the only one I read about, but that plan didn't sound so far-fetched. But…

"I ask again. How do you know this?" I leaned forward, locking my eyes on hers. "I can dismiss you knowing that Bodhisattva Anointed By Dark Water is the Silver Prince, and also that he's a Deathlord, by you being here for some time. You clearly have some supernatural power, so it's not impossible. But everything else… how did you manage to get that information?"

"I…" She started, but didn't seem like she was going to finish. So, I stood up.

"Seems like we have nothing more to say. Have a good day."

"I'm not from this Creation." Answered Shining Pearl as I was going to walk away. Her voice was trembling slightly, and so I stopped, and slowly turned to look at her.

She avoided my gaze.

I sat down. "Alright… now you have my attention."

She blinked, surprised. "You… believe me?"

"I'm not from Creation, myself." I replied. "I've seen a lot of strange things. I've actually called an alternate version of myself in battle. I suppose you… fought the Deathlord in your Creation?"

She blinked another couple of times, then she recovered. "Yes. A group of Exalted discovered his plot before time, and so everyone in the West joined forces to defeat him. I quickly became one of the symbols of the war… the only mortal that fought with the Chosen and managed to not die. And then… after we won…" Her hands shook and she squeezed them. "I woke up here."

"How?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "I'm… Exalted, now. I… managed to keep a part of my world inside me. Sometimes, I can still call my allies from it… but it's gone. Or maybe it never existed." She paused. "A man called Rakan Thulio found me. He told me that I was a paradox, a person that should not exist. That he found me and others like me from the cosmic dump the Loom of Fate threw us to and the worlds that could but never were. I… I didn't believe him, and tried to contact my former comrades… nobody recognized me."

"But Bodhisattva Anointed By Dark Water was still around."

"Yes. So I thought that if I couldn't return to my old world, the only thing I could do was try to make this one as close as possible. And that meant stopping the Deathlord… but nobody would believe me." She looked at my eyes. "And you? Are you like me?"

"Not exactly. I was kidnapped from my world, and found myself in another. The two… didn't look much alike. I don't know if it was better or worse. On one hand, it meant I knew no one… on the other, I can still hope to return home. I'm here, after all."

Shining Pearl lowered her gaze, trying to hide her disappointment. I understood. I would love to meet someone from my world too. She immediately raised them as she remembered something.

"You said you can summon alternate versions of yourself? Can you teach me?"

I shook my head. "I can try, but the metaphysics of Creation are different from where this magic comes from. It may not work. I'm surprised it still works. Also, I'm pretty sure shadows are the domains of demons here."

"Shadows?"

"Shadow Magic summons the possible pasts and possible presents into reality. It's… quite taxing for the structure of reality. Even if you could use it to call someone from your own world, it will probably conflict with the ones present here." I paused. "Maybe we can discuss this later. What do you need my assistance for?"

"Ah, right." She said, composing herself. "The fact is that I know a lot about the plans of the Deathlord of the Archipelago, but most details are going to be different. And more importantly, when we assaulted the island where the Soulsteel foundries were, we had several bands of Exalted. Now it's just me. This means we have to change the approach. But by myself, I can't do it. My powers mess with the Loom of Fate, but I'm mostly a warrior. I can lead my men in battle, but I cannot bring them on the battlefield without the Deathknight finding us. Maybe you can do something about it."

I thought about it. When I didn't know how, or better, who they used to make the Soulsteel, I was willing to leave things like they were. But now… now it was a different matter. I was not going to try to barter for that metal… not that I thought they were willing to sell it.

"I may have some ideas." I admitted. "But we'll need to be quick, and we'll need to be prepared to be found. Exalted have the bad habit of being in the right place at the right time… so I will not be surprised if an Abyssal will appear while we're there."

Pearl grimaced. "Yes, it's one of my worries. My men are well trained, but Chosen are beyond their strength. Can you fight them?"

"I can surely stall them. Winning… well, that's another matter entirely. I can certainly try." I sighed. "But that's for later. I need to be informed about everything before we can formulate a plan."

"Of course." A small smile returned on her face. "Maybe after the tea arrives?"

I sighed again. "Yeah, sure." I raised my hand and removed the mask. Shining Pearl blinked and stopped moving.

"You are the second person that has that reaction at seeing my face." I commented, fixing the mask on my belt. I needed it on myself to avoid the Sidereal machinations, but it didn't need to be on my face. "Am I that strange to look at?"

"No, not at all." Pearl quickly commented. "I was just… surprised. People who wear masks either do it because of religious reasons or because they have something to hide. You are…"

"Normal?" I asked, a little smirk coming at my lips. "Yeah, no strange mutation for me. The mask is to block magical tracking. I'm not particularly handsome, but I'm not so ugly that I need to hide my face."

Shining Pearl chuckled. "If you're not handsome in your world, I can only imagine how beautiful the people must be."

I sent her a confused look. Clearly she noticed, because she sent it an equally confused look back.

You know when you lie to yourself, and suddenly you find yourself in a situation where you have the truth slapping your face? That was pretty much what was happening to me right now. I had tricked myself into thinking that what happened to my real body was fine. That nothing had really changed, and in fact the only thing that happened was that I had better control over it. I was still me, nothing to see here.

Now I was realizing that clearly something had changed, and I didn't know what, because I had meticulously avoided looking at my body in detail. In fact, after checking what my eyes looked like when I used my Essence detecting power, I pretty much avoided mirrors when I saw them, and never took my mask off near one.

So it was with a knot in the stomach that I summoned a mirror and looked at my reflection.

The face that looked back at me was… mine. Or, well, mostly mine. It was a subtle difference, but I noticed immediately. My face was just slightly more symmetrical, the various blemishes that could have tarnished my skin had disappeared, and my eyes were of a far more vibrant color, the green more visible. My cheeks were less chubby, making the line of my jaw much more pronounced, but that could be a side effect of my loss of weight… or my weight redistribution. I lost forty pounds of fat to gain the same amount in muscles during my time in Skyrim.

Basically, it was like someone had taken my face and adjusted it using Photoshop. Or someone had put enough make-up to slap my face on some advertisement for beauty products for men. It was still me, I just looked better.

My trembling breath escaped from my chest as I relaxed. "Oh, ok. I expected far worse."

"May I ask why?" Inquired Pearl.

I grimaced. "The circumstances of my Exaltation were… harrowing. My body went through some drastic change. And while I was not particularly proud of my face, it was one of the few things that reminded me who I was." I gestured at my 'new' face. "This is still me. I just look better."

"I can say." Replied the woman, leaning forward.

There was a sound of rusty hinges moving, and Valais entered the room with a tray containing a teapot and a couple of cups. She placed it in the middle of the table. "Here's the tea, Shining Pearl."

"Thank you, Valais." Replied the redhead, sending her a warm smile. Then, Valais turned toward me.

She was probably a little older than me, with dark blond hair and eyes the color of chocolate. Her clothes were simple and didn't leave much to the eye, but they also couldn't hide the elastic muscles under them. I couldn't be sure with the cloth covering her, but she was either a gymnast, or professionally trained in close combat. Or maybe both. In fact, she gave me the impression she was an army woman.

When she looked at me, she had more or less the same reaction as Shining Pearl. Her eyes widened, and she stopped moving for a fraction of a second.

"My thanks too." I said, grabbing my cup, which Pearl had already filled.

"Ah… no problem." She said, before making a little bow . "I need to go, Pearl. Mataius has some problems with the tigers."

"Of course." Nodded Shining Pearl, radiating calmness. "Don't make him wait."

The woman nodded and walked out of the room… but not before sending me a last glance.

Pearl laughed, a sound as clear as spring water. "Oh, yes. You're going to be very popular here."

I emitted a grunt of discomfort. That was going to be embarrassing.

Last edited: Nov 29, 2022

Wild Wild Creation 1.5

The following days were pretty uneventful. I just remained inside the theater preparing for the assault at the island.

Oh, and sent someone to retrieve Obsidian Hound when he arrived inside the city.

"I should have expected something like this." Admitted the Liminal as he entered inside 'my' room… which was more a closet I transformed into a room using some Bounded Fields and a little creativity. "Is there a particular reason why you had people looking for me, or did you do it just for the laughs?"

"Oh, no, I have a pretty good reason for searching for you, Hound. Here." I said, materializing a table from thin air. "Take a seat. Pearl will be here shortly to inform you about what's going on."

As I promised, Shining Pearl was there shortly, and after a brief explanation, Obsidian Hound looked very determined.

"What's the plan?" He asked.

I made a 3d model of the island appear on the table. "This is the island. It doesn't have a name, so we're just going to call it Island Five. As you can see, there is a port on the island, well hidden by the coastline… not that most people venture near it. Apparently, it's off limits as the production site of Skullstone's fleet… which is true, by the way." Several miniature boats filled the sea around the island. "Infiltrating inside the island is basically impossible unless you can fly. And even if you could, the inland is well protected."

The model zoomed on the center of the island, revealing numerous buildings. Troops of undead patrolled the area, enough to make even the Exalt blink.

"This is based on Shining's Pearl memories, so there might not be that many troops around. In fact, there are probably less. When they attacked, it was during a full-blown invasion of the Skullstone Archipelago. It's possible that the surveillance was improved at the time." Shining Pearl nodded. "Still, it's a lot of space and a lot of Soulsteel being produced. With the Realm in disarray after the Scarlet Empress disappeared, it could mean a fleet of Soulsteel vessels waging war to Creation."

Hound nodded seriously.

"Unfortunately, we don't have the means to stop them." I said, making the map disappear and startling both Hound and Pearl. "Even if there are less troops inland than Pearl remembered, the fleet still surrounds the island. We lack the numbers and firepower to stop the production. Doing so will require defeating the fleet and keeping the island away from the Bodhisattva. We cannot do that with thirty people and three Chosen. Not if the fleet has a Deathknight… which I'm informed it does. In fact, the fleet is where most of the Deathknights are."

Pretty smart move from the Bodhisattva. The Abyssal Exalted were a little smear on his perfect 'everyone can reincarnate, but unlife is super cool guys' propaganda. They were neither alive nor true undead, so they couldn't be seen too much in the archipelago. Putting them in the fleet, surrounded only by undead and ready to attack anyone that came too close -or to attack Creation in general- was the best way to keep them around.

"Of course, we have a couple of advantages… like my magic." I continued. "But the most we can hope for is to delay the production as much as possible… and I have an idea for how to do that. But before we talk about that… do either of you need Soulsteel? I'm pretty sure it's the only magical material you can use."

Obsidian Hound sent me a bewildered look. "What?"

"We need to destroy the Soulsteel to delay Bodhisattva, but… it's such a huge waste. So I'm going to take it and use it for something less genocidal than a fleet. But, if you want something made of Soulsteel…"

Hound blinked a couple of times. "That… no, I don't need the Soulsteel. I already have problems remaining near people as is, a Soulsteel Artifact will just make things worse."

"You could always not remain near people, but I see your point." I admitted, before making the map reappear. "So, since we have established what to do with the Soulsteel we can find, I'll tell you my plan…"

-X-

It took a while to organize everything. Well, most of it was just me getting the necessary equipment. Not for me, but for Pearl's people. They were just normal humans, and they would need a way to get the fuck out of the island -and the Archipelago- when things went wrong.

Because the possibility of things going right was pretty low.

Then, when I finished preparing all the necessary equipment, we got to work.

We materialized in an unguarded corner of the island. It was not that big, in fact compared to most other islands of the West it was tiny, but it was big enough to let a giant smelting-ghost foundry inside it and at a certain distance from the coast, so even if someone came close to the shores with a boat, it wouldn't be too obvious what they were doing.

And since arriving on the island was pretty much impossible -the only Sorcery spell capable of teleportation was Celestial Circle and only worked if you had already been in the place, and the fleet parked around it was pretty much invincible by anyone else in the area- there was not that much surveillance around the foundry. Inside it, and around the island, sure, but aside from that, it was pretty much left unguarded. I should know, I checked before arriving. The defense was inexpugnable.

Unless, of course, you could transform into a flying critter or remotely scout the place through magic, and bypass the defense completely.

"Alright. Get ready." I said, before waving my hand and covering Pearl's entourage with Muffle and Invisibility. "Remember, the invisibility is going to drop the second you try to interact with anything. Don't try to open doors or stab an undead until you're in position."

The troop nodded, which I knew despite the invisibility because my magic sensibility let me 'see' their silhouettes, and Pearl decided to be more vocal. "We know, Loki. C'mon, let's go."

And so, they started to run toward the foundry. With Muffle, they made almost no sound.

Meanwhile, I became invisible myself and flew high. I had two very important tasks to do while they reached the first buildings.

The first, and arguably the most important one, was to place a stone tablet right in the middle of the area of the foundry where the ghosts were smelted into ingots. It needed to be well hidden too, to avoid detection until it had done its job. So I placed it between some beams, with a sticky enchantment to be sure it remained in place… unless something demolished the building.

Hearing the wails of the ghosts being hammered down was not a pleasant experience. Even if their presence in Creation was… questionable, so to say, the cries were still unnerving: nobody deserved that. I wanted to help them, but saving them right now would just alert the undead and make the Abyssals come faster. The plan will, hopefully, help them better than me just rushing and exploding the hammerers with sunlight magic.

The second was to place a spell on the tablet. It took me a minute -it was a complicated spell- but when I had done it, the first part of the plan was done.

The problem was that it was the easy part of the plan. Now came the hard part.

Pearl's little band of misfits -they didn't have a name- initiated the assault. The entire place didn't have a wall or anything like that, so the first thing they did was charge at a group of undead and kill them. I heard the sound of the battle, and immediately started the second phase of the plan.

I entered inside the magazine where they kept the processed Soulsteel, and proceeded to steal it.

Now, normally I wouldn't bother to steal crates upon crates of dark metal. I would just take what I needed and leave. But, considering the time it took to produce it, the loss of all that metal was going to be a terrible blow.

And, while I doubted I would need all that Soulsteel for myself, I could think a couple of things the Refuge could use it for.

So I quickly moved the Soulsteel to the Refuge and then got out. There was probably more metal to get, but I didn't have the time to search for it. Now we had to stand our ground against the undead.

I… wasn't particularly worried about it. Obsidian Hound, as a Liminal Exalted, was a born Ghostbuster. He could just breath out and share his ability to see and interact with immaterial undead, on top of all his other powers, including being fucking immortal and having stupidly powerful regeneration… which he could share too.

The man was far more compassionate than he let on.

Between that and Shining Pearl's leadership, they would be fine unless they managed to get cornered and in numerical inferiority… or something unexpected happened.

Which was going to happen because of course it was. And so I just went straight to them, wearing my plate with a thought since I was there. Chance was, something able to worry both Shining Pearl and Obsidian Hound was going to be pretty scary…

"Nephwrack!" Came a shout from where they supposedly were. As I had predicted.

I descended into the battleground with an explosion of dirt, and I looked at the enemy forces. Most looked like empty, abandoned armors. War Ghosts, if I remembered correctly.

But behind the lines of the armored ghost stood -or floated, to be precise- a misshapen, blackened figure. I remembered some of the lore about the Nephwrack: maddened spirits that had gazed into the Abyss for too long… and the Abyss had looked back. Now, they were prophets of destruction and madness, bound to the Neverborn. Nothing good came from meeting a Nephrack… and now there was one here. Probably left by the Bodhisattva to oversee the foundry.

Hmm… was the tablet in line with the Nephwrack? No, it was not. Good.

"Yol. Toor… "

-X-

"Shul!"

Flames erupted in front of Loki, the Exalt that Shining Pearl had found completely by accident. Chosen of Akatosh, a God from another Creation. An absurd story, but who was she to judge? She was one of the Getimians, Exalt of Creations that shouldn't be, and yet here she was.

And after the fireball he had just hurled against an entire platoon of War Ghost, reducing their armors to molten slag, she could believe him being the Exigent of the Dragon God of Time.

"You're alright?" Asked Loki, not turning. Wise choice, considering that the Nephwrack seemed to be mostly unharmed.

"Yes. You arrived before the Nephwrack could engage properly."

Loki hummed. "It has come very soon… tell your men to be ready. I'm afraid the Deathknights will arrive sooner than anticipated."

That seemed excessive, but she didn't complain and gave the order. While she didn't want to agitate her people, there was really no reason to not get them ready. Just in case.

The Deathknights of the Bodhisattva were their most problematic foe, unless of course the Deathlord in person decided to join the fight. According to Loki they were not just Exalted: they were Solar Exalted, corrupted by the powers of the Neverborn to be a weapon to destroy Creation. As such, a fight against them leaned heavily in their favor. Loki assumed that, given the role his God had and his previous experiences, he could fight one more or less on even ground, but everyone else was at a disadvantage. Obsidian Hound's powers were probably useless since the Deathknights were not exactly dead, or if they were they didn't suffer much of the weakness of one, making his ability to affect them dubious. He hadn't expressed his thought on how Shining Pearl would do in a fight against one with the same certainty because he didn't know the abilities of her peculiar Exaltation, but he did say that, assuming she was on par with a Sidereal, she could have a chance, but that he couldn't speculate more than that. Which was mildly disappointing, but she couldn't really blame him for not being perfectly omniscient.

In fact, his plan was maybe the only way they could deal a significant blow to the Bodhisattva. She had spent months trying to create a plan to hit the Soulsteel production, but she always came short. Loki had freely given powers no one in Creation possessed… that she knew of, at least. She was quickly realizing that you can never know what Creation could have for you.

Anyway, with those powers, they now had a chance. Of course, everything was useless if they were caught by the Deathknights and killed before they could complete the plan. So, all of them were equipped with a temporary magical item, a brooch that, when activated, would teleport them away from the island, to a secure place she and Loki had discussed beforehand.

They were there mostly for her followers. She, Loki and Obsidian Hound could resist at least a little against the Deathknights. Mortals were just going to get slaughtered.

At least Loki was having a good time beating the Nephwrack. The Exigent was powerful, but not in the same way other Exalt she had seen were. He was straight up inhuman, both physically and mentally, even before taking into consideration his Exaltation. She knew, because his Exaltation was not subtle. In fact, every time he pushed his Exalted powers, he started to glow brightly. That was the reason he mostly resorted to his natural physical advantage and Sorcery to do anything.

Exactly what was happening right now. He was using his spear to deal with the Nephwrack and other reinforcements, by using the Golden Janissary Style. The combat had gone for less than ten seconds, and orange and blue flames were already surrounding him. At least the abomination didn't seem to fare well.

Shining Pearl removed her eyes from Loki and returned to the far less exciting job of dealing with the Undead. She would have time for gawking later.

-X-

The Nephwrack was, all things considered, a disappointment. I remembered them as the most hyped up of the undead monsters in Creation, the most powerful and terrifying ghosts behind the Deathlords themselves, but what I found was… a more physical Dragon Priest. In fact, he had the magical power of a Dragon Priest combined with the physical power and advanced weapons and armors of a Draugr Deathlord. That thing was decked in Underworld metal.

Granted, that made it a terrifying opponent, and if I had to fight something like this during my Skyrim days I would have either died or killed the thing with major effort. Only after… well, only after having collected all the Shouts and mastered magic fully would I have considered fighting a Nephwrack to not be suicidal. It was not exactly as dangerous as a Dovah, but I had advantage over the Dov thanks to my nature as Dragonborn. There was no advantage that I could exploit here.

Of course, that was in Skyrim. I got more powerful since then, and I had learned a lot of tricks along the way. Golden Janissary helped, even if I didn't know in what amount. Also, the simple fact that I was faster than it without having to use magic was a big advantage.

Maybe I just overestimated the danger it posed by virtue of how my only fighting experience in Creation had gone. But Exalted didn't follow the usual rules. No creature that I could remember had Excellencies -which I'm not sure are a thing in-universe and not a simple abstraction to indicate supernatural puissance- except, maybe, the Directional God Athlat… or whatever his name was. Athlat was also an Essence 6 god that superseded war over an entire Direction, basically an entire fifth of the fuckhuge Creation. He was not your run of the mill terrestrial god. Exalted could trivially overcome the most dangerous mortal opponent with basic knowledge of combat. Combat focused Exalts were able to contend with almost anything. So, my idea of what was supposed to be a difficult fight didn't align with what was actually scary in Creation.

So, while it was tough, the Nephwrack was not exactly a mortal foe. Maybe it was also the fact that whatever magical curse he had tried to cast on me a couple times had straight up failed, smashing against my magical resistance and breaking apart. At one point it even tried to fill the area with unnatural darkness to blind me, but I just dispelled the effect with magic. And while the thick armor made it difficult to hurt with just a spear, it didn't last long after I started to charge up the attacks with magic.

It had still taken too much time. So, when I landed the last hit shouting "Die, fucker!", I immediately expanded my sense outward to feel if something bigger and scarier than a Nephwrack had come to engage. But there was nothing. Only me, Obsidian Hound, Shining Pearl, her troop, and the dead coming close to kill us.

In case it wasn't clear, I was just a little agitated.

"Nothing for now." I murmured. I didn't want to repeat the experience with the Sidereal Exalt, only with a more murder-inclined type of Chosen. Experiencing it once had been enough.

It was in that moment, of course, that something appeared out of nowhere, right in front of the unpowered humans that were fighting the dead.

My reaction was so fast that it surprised even myself. With a thought, I sent Pahaaxvund, my shield that I barely ever used because my combat style required a hand for my sword and another free for magic or two handing my sword. So, while I was in the cave with Da Vinci, I modified the shield so that it could basically act remotely. Now I could just materialize it where I wanted and make it float around. I also changed the enchantment to be able to cast all kinds of protective spells through it even when it was floating around, making it easier for me to have it around without having to brace it.

In this case, I placed it right in front of the figure that had just appeared out of nowhere and placed a barrier in front of them. There was a black flash and the sound of metal striking something that wouldn't budge and bounced away.

Then, with the next thought, I raised my hand and closed it, instantly activating the brooch on every single of Shining's Pearl men, so that they were instantly teleported away.

Because while I wasn't sure who we were facing right now, I surely knew what.

The Abyssals had arrived.

Wild Wild Creation 1.6

Merry Christmas, everyone. Sorry if the chapter arrived a little late, but there were granparents to visit and the entire thing took a while. Then I just wanted to play some MTG and that took some time too… well, doesn't matter, right? The important part is that it arrived.

Enjoy!

-X-

Well, I supposed the new arrival was an Abyssal. But since the woman that had appeared wore tight black leather, that was strategically torn up here and there, was incredibly pale, and had long black hair that covered her eyes in a way that the best emo-gothic kid of Earth would be envious of. I didn't think she could be anything else.

She also was sheathing her black katana -a Reaper Daiklaive, if I remembered the name right- in the best approximation of Vergil as she could, just to be even more dark and edgy. Unfortunately, she was not just a gothic weeb, because in Creation using that style meant using Single Point Shining Into the Void. Now, by memory it was an insanely powerful style, but the write-up could just not have been well balanced. Still a pretty scary opponent, because while the details were probably different, Single Point Shining into the Void was still an Exalted martial art.

But she was also only one Abyssal. If we managed to keep the other undead away…

Ah, right.

I shoved my spear downward, forcing the tip in the dead dirt of the island. Then, a circle of yellow light expanded outward, quickly covering several dozen meters before stopping. The undead caught by the expanding light burst into flames until they were incinerated, or screamed in pain and quickly fled the area.

Everyone besides the Deathknight. The woman flinched when the ring of light hit her, white flames clinging to her form for a second, but aside from that, she didn't react.

"Ah, so you Deathknights are dead." I commented, removing my hand from the spear. "Good to know."

"It will not help you much." Came a distinctively male voice, with a faint reverb that usually happened when someone was talking from a closed helmet.

Then, heavy steps started to come from behind one of the buildings. I saw the female Deathknight scoff, like she was annoyed. Irritating colleague?

Intimidating colleague.

The figure that emerged from one of the corners deserved the title of Deathknight more than the wannabe samurai. He was at least seven feet tall, covered head to toe in blackened armor made of Soulsteel. How did I know it was Soulsteel? Because I could vaguely see the faces of the ghosts on the surface of the weapon, like peeking out from behind a tinted window. He also brandished a gigantic black axe, probably another Soulsteel artifact, with the handle made from the bone of I don't even want to know what monster.

The Deathknight walked inside the magical circle like it was not even there. Granted, that particular spell didn't work on very powerful undead, since it sacrificed the 'turning undead' aspect for setting them on fire, but his colleague at least had a reaction to it. He made another couple of steps, then stopped.

"You." He said, pointing his weapon at me. "What is your name?"

Normally I wouldn't give my name to an enemy, but it was not like scrying spell existed in Exalted… and if they existed, having seen me was enough to use them anyway. Managing to find me while I still had the mask one was another matter, of course.

So I answered. "I'm Loki, Chosen of Akatosh."

"Exigent." Commented the Deathknight, an interested tone in his voice. "Remarkable."

Then, he planted his axe on the ground. "I, Black Winter of the Frozen North, challenge you to a duel."

Uh. Didn't expect that.

"Again?" Growled the Deathknight woman, clearly exasperated. "Stop doing that. Let's just kill them all and be done with it."

I saw Obsidian Hound and Shining Pearl tense at that.

"You need to learn to enjoy your work, Silent Whisper." Replied the giant knight.

"I told you to call me with my full name! Silent Whisper of the Bloodied Blade Claim your Life!"

"I'll call you however I want, until you're under my authority. If you have a problem with that, talk to the Bodhisattva." He paused. "Ah, wait, you cannot. He told you to follow my orders, didn't he?"

The woman muttered something with the tone of one contemplating murderer.

"It's nice to see such close friends in the ranks of the Deathlords." I commented, snapping the attention of the two Exalted on me. Maybe not my smartest move, considering Silent Whisper seemed to have briefly shifted her murderous intentions to me, but whatever. "But why should I accept your challenge? Will you order your subordinate to let us leave if I win?"

The knight laughed. "Oh, no, nothing like that. In fact, I'm not even going to order them to not attack your friends while we fight, and I'm sure Silent Whisper will gladly kill both. No, I just want to enjoy a good fight. And if you think that's not good enough, think about this: do you prefer to fight me and Silent Whisper with your friends, or fight me alone and far from them?"

When he put it that way…

I turned to look at Shining Pearl and Obsidian Hound. They sent me a determined look and a nod.

"Very well." I said, raising my hand and focusing. It had taken me a while to get how to summon my Shehai, and it was still somewhat difficult, but not so much that I couldn't do it with a second of focus. I just needed a little more practice to summon it in the middle of the action.

I closed my fingers and the blade of light started to materialize, quickly 'solidifying', if that is even a term that you could use for a Shehai. It was more materialized will than something physical.

"I accept your challenge." I concluded, bringing the sword in position.

Black Winter started to chuckle. Bad sign.

Then his body started to emit a strange, black fog, quickly covering him and then condensing into inky flames. I used my eyes to see what that was about… and immediately panicked.

"Mul. Qah. Diiv!"

Draconic power erupted around me and then I immediately jumped forward, not willing to let the Deathknight starting to activate other stupidly powerful Charms.

We clashed, and the ground trembled.

-X-

"Tsk. Black Winter is going to get killed one of these days…"

Silent Whisper of the Bloodied Blade Claim your Life was not happy about her superior deciding to go into another duel. He was a bit obsessed, to use an euphemism, and while that wouldn't normally be a problem -they were Deathknights so killing someone in a duel or with a blade in the back made no difference- it was grating on a personal level. She didn't like to fight. She didn't like to kill either, or really everything about being a Deathknight, but there was no way to escape from the grasp of Bodhisattva Anointed by Dark Water, and since she had to obey, she preferred to do it in the quickest, most efficient way possible. At least, that way, she could tell herself that she was being merciful.

Despite that, she couldn't deny that it was an effective training method. Black Winter was pretty much the best fighter she had ever seen, able to defeat even Nephwracks in a physical fight and without using Essence. It made sense that he was excited to meet someone that seemed to be able to match him.

She was not exactly on his level -she preferred other ways-, but she had learned Single Point Shining Into the Void on his insistence. It suited her. A quick, decisive attack could end a fight before it even started. These poor mortals stood no chance.

Well, it was their fault, too. She knew that the Chosen could be persuasive, but attacking the island was just stupid. If the Exigent was so keen on dying, he should have just gone to fight the Deathlord. And he shouldn't have brought his subordinates with him.

Even if he sent some away. Why were these two still here? Maybe they were better than the rest?

Ah, whatever. She should just kill them quickly.

Her hand, that had never left the hilt of her Daiklaive, suddenly gripped it as she dashed forward. Single Point Shining into the Void was not just a drawn style. It focused on exceedingly fast movements to deliver deadly finishing blows. She was going to end this with just one attack.

Then the man wearing the clothes of a farmer -a poor one too- stepped forward. Oh well, if he wanted to die that badly…

Her blade, Bloody Reminder, darted out of its sheath like a lightning made of darkness. The man crossed his arms in front of him, like that would be enough to…

Her eyes widened as the blade sunk inside the flesh of the man, and then it stopped. How was that possible? He was just a…

The woman emerged from behind the man, with the speed of a venomous snake. Her hands were rigid in what she recognized as the Snake Style, one of the oldest martial arts in Creation.

Then the attacks came, and with her blade somehow stuck in the arms of the peasant, she couldn't dodge in time. Several stabs hit all over her body, some aiming to disable her limbs. And another one that…

Suddenly panicking, Silent Whisper tore her weapon away and dodged just as another strike darted against her heart. She was grazed, but avoided the worst of it. Only after making some distance between herself and the two, did she pass her left hand over her ribcage. There was a cut in her armor, and it was… wet?

She raised her hand and saw a dark liquid between her fingers. Blood. Her blood, another reminder of that day when, desperate, she made a pact with the forces of the Underworld. Dense, almost black, and dead.

They were Chosen. There was no other explanation. She returned her eyes on the duo, in time to see the man starting to glow with a pale, greenish light as his flesh knitted itself back together in a decidedly unnatural way, and the air around the woman crackled as pink motes of light, similar to cherry petals, started to swirl around her.

Ah… she would need to put some effort in this.

-X-

An entire side of a building crumpled like sand when I impacted against it.

I never learned, didn't I? I was so worried about some Exalt manipulating my soul or mind, that I completely forgot my body. I learned how to shield myself from the mental influence of the other Exalts, I learned how to protect my entire being with magic, and then I learned Sorcery and martial arts, but I didn't think of something as basic as improving my combat abilities. I had assumed that my superhuman basic stats, my knowledge of martial arts, and a little buffing magic like Reinforcement and Fortify would carry me across all fights.

And who knows? Maybe I was right and against the 99% of Creation I would have been fine.

But right now Black Winter was challenging that assumption. Reinforcement and Fortify were, at the end of the day, basic forms of upgrade. The equivalent of an Excellency, which was basically the Exalt just dumping Essence into an action to increase the performance. Simple, powerful, but inefficient.

The cloud of dark fire that was surrounding the Deathknight was something different. Abyssal energy clung on him, almost guiding his movements. Very similar to Dragon Aspect, but instead of increasing raw power and protecting him, it increased his attack and movement speed. It gave me ideas, but I didn't really help me fight him right now, because the only thing I could do to match him was to Fortify my speed… an advantage that could be negated by him simply putting more Essence in being fast.

It was like fighting Artoria and her Mana Burst again. Except not, because I had fundamentally misunderstood the Abyssal Exaltation. Sure, it was a Solar Exaltation twisted by the power of the Neverborn, but that didn't mean it was just the same with a different paint. Abyssals were ultimately about destruction, in a way that Solars weren't. As such, they were as excellent as Solar, assuming the goal was to destroy something, as they were at deteriorating and diminishing others. Black Winter's blows not only hit with the force of a locomotive, but they also tried to corrode my defenses, and each time he blocked or dodged my attacks, I could feel an unnatural force drain my momentum.

A Solar would just have overwhelming power. The Abyssal would consume my equipment, my body and possibly even my soul before killing me. Fight him head on was dangerous.

"Alright." I murmured between myself and my opponent, shrugging off some debris. "If fighting harder doesn't work, I'll fight smarter."

If overpowering him was not possible even with Fortify, Reinforcement and Dragon Aspect, I just needed to get tricky. And using my special eyes, I could even get some insight on how combat charms worked.

Besides, I didn't need to win. I just needed to wait for the ritual to be ready. And Black Winter was not overpowering me by that much. Yeah, he managed to smash me, but we didn't actually hurt each other in our brief exchange. If I focused on defense, I could stall him.

So, when I saw the dark silhouette of Deathknight jumping in front of me and bending his legs to charge, I stomped the ground.

Immediately, an obsidian claw emerged from the ground and closed on the ankle of Black Winter. Not expecting it, the Abyssal couldn't stop himself. The claw was not particularly sturdy, but it was enough to block his leg for a moment. Then it shattered, but the damage was done. Instead of dashing right at me, Black Winter shot at my right, smashing through the wall like it was paper.

Was he in the direction of the tablet? No? Good.

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

What little remained of the wall that Black Winter had demolished was blasted away as the Unrelenting Force tore stone and wood apart. I doubted he had felt it much, Artifact Armor was stupidly tough, but at least I gained space as the Abyssal smashed through the building. And the next one.

And the other one after.

And then he was on my face again.

I blinked and disappeared, using the shadow to get out of the way. Black Winter smashed his ax on the ground where I had been a second before, and the aftershock made the building cave in. I emerged from the shadows and jumped onto another building, quickly running to the other side to get space.

Black Winter was on my tail instantly, unbothered by the building collapsing on his head, and swung his giant ax like it was a twig. I had to Zero-Sum Interrupt the attack to not get cut in two, and even then I wouldn't be able to do much if he just decided to, like, attack again.

Unless…

I raised my leg and smashed it on the Abyssal side not dissimilarly on how I would have used a spear. Which was important, because it let me channel power in the attack and deliver a devastating jab charged with golden essence.

Black Winter felt the blow. It was sent flying a couple of meters, but he landed on his feet, smashing several tiles as he bled off momentum.

"Golden Janissary." He commented. "Good choice."

Yeah… I should have probably thought about using it sooner. The Deathknights didn't give me undead vibes, so it was difficult to remember that, even if their unliving status was dubious, they still were Creatures of Darkness. My sunlight magic did care if the target was an undead or not, but Golden Janissary didn't.

I brought down my foot on the roof, sending a shockwave -and a little disintegration magic- toward Black Winter. It didn't hurt him, but it was not meant to. Instead, what it did was collapse the floor under him.

Just to be sure, I pushed him down with a concentrated blast of wind. He disappeared into the hole.

Then I had to stop a volley of arrows, probably sent by a squad of War Ghosts. I waved my arm, stopped the arrows cold with wind magic, and then grabbed them telekinetically and sent them back to the senders. I obviously couldn't see the effect of my act because I rolled to the side as soon as I felt a vibration come from below me.

Black Winter emerged from the floor like a trout jumping out of water, but I was already out of the range of his weapon.

So I blasted him with a wave of kinetic energy that would have toppled a building. He took it like a champ, just flying over the building and smashing through the roof again.

Ah, I loved Sorcery. By weaving the Essence in the air in the right way, I could pretty much replicate every spell I could cast normally without having to use my own power, or at least, far less than before. It was a little unorthodox, but very useful. Sure, it required more attention than just willing things to happen and so it was a little slower, but if you timed it right, it didn't really matter. I had to tell Silver Star that I could do this the next time I saw her.

Which, if I continued to underestimate how much Black Winter could take and recover, could be forever.

The Deathknight emerged from the ruined building, carried by wings of darkness. Abyssals could fly? Since when?

But then I didn't read the Abyssal manual of 2nd Edition because the system gave me a headache, and there still wasn't one for 3rd Edition. Plus I didn't read the Charms in detail because my head glazed over them after the tenth that just rerolled a particular number, so I really shouldn't have been surprised.

Fortunately, the ritual was done. So, I just teleported where my spear was.

The battle between the Abyssal woman, Shining Pearl and Obsidian Hound had not gone as smoothly as mine. All three were more or less injured. The one who looked worse was Hound, but he was still on his feet, so he was not dead yet.

…

Thinking about it, Obsidian Hound was already dead, so him being still able to walk was not a very good indicator of his health. Better evacuate.

I grabbed my spear and took aim. It took a second, but he recognized the tell-tale signs of someone trying to disengage on the body of the Abyssal. So, when she jumped backwards -probably to get space for some deadly rush technique- I threw Hilyahzuth with all my might… and a little magic.

The spear shot through the air like a missile. The Deathknight saw it come, and drew her weapon to flawlessly parry the attack.

The spell I had charged into the tip of the spear, a concentrated ray of pure sunlight, was not blocked so easily. She was swept away by the blast and disappeared somewhere in the ruins of the buildings that took the attack. More holes in the entire thing, I suppose.

"Look out!" Shouted Shining Pearl.

I turned just in time to see the ax of Black Winter fly through the air and find one of the few weak spots in the armor. The space between the shoulder and the helmet didn't have enchanted dragon bone, just overlapping plates of ebony. Maybe the dragon bones would have deflected the throw. Maybe not.

The ebony sure didn't.

The Artifact axe dug into the metal and then into my shoulder. It didn't go too deeply, but that was a scarce consolation, because I immediately started to lose a ton of blood. Carotid artery gone, I suppose. The only thing stopping the blood from coming out even more was that there was a sharp piece of metal blocking the entrance… and the fact that I reflexively started to heal the moment I was hit.

But something was not right. My entire left side felt numb. But not from pain or the loss of blood. It was something else. Maybe the green flames that still clung on the weapon.

I fell on my knee, shutting down processing like 'staying on my feet' to focus on what needed to be done. Also because the ax was damn heavy. But I had no time to analyze the problem, because Black Winter landed a couple of meters in front of me, cracking the ground and raising a cloud of dust.

Immediately, Shining Pearl and Obsidian Hound engaged the Abyssal. Before they could even make their second step, I forcibly activated their brooch and teleported them away.

"You are a noble warrior." Commented the Deathknight, reaching for me. "Unfortunately, that will be your ruin."

He grabbed his ax and he pushed it deeper inside my body. I couldn't hold a cry of pain. "Do you have any last words?"

Well, as a matter of fact, I did. "You should have gone for the head." I croaked with a grin, before raising my hand and snapping my fingers.

In the middle of the foundry, the stone tablet I had placed inside one of the buildings, and who had taken all this time to charge itself on local Essence and assuming the shape of the surroundings, broke.

And a column of sunlight dropped down from the heavens, burning everything on its path and quickly expanding outwards.

Black Winter turned to see what the hell was happening and I took advantage of that to release a shockwave from my entire body. The Abyssal was sent flying for the third time in a minute, and being the expert warrior he was, he maintained the grip on his weapon. Which meant that it was extracted from my body in a pretty gruesome way, spraying blood everywhere, but I pushed all the magic I didn't need in the wound and hoped for the best. I was still numb. I hoped it was not what I thought it was.

The last thing I did was to flip off Black Winter before teleporting away. I would have liked to see how he and his colleague dealt with the death laser, but I had other things to worry about.

His furious howl was quite satisfying though.

Wild Wild Creation 1.7

When I materialized at the border of Skullstone's Shadowland, I was immediately grabbed by a pair of hands. My first reaction was to turn and punch whoever it was in the face, but I recognized Shining Pearl's smell and relaxed… slightly.

My left side was still a little numb.

"We need a medic!" Shouted the woman. "Get Morak… !"

"I'm fine." I replied, waving my hand to remove the blood from my armor. It took more effort than anticipated.

"What? You cannot be fine, that ax-"

"I'm fine." I reiterated, making the chest armor vanish and reappear in my hands. Still difficult… there was no point denying it. I looked where I was hit using my new sight.

There was an aggressively red sign where the Soulsteel had met flesh. Which, considering the hit almost certainly cut the artery and broke some bone, was more than it was fair. Still, under the skin…

"How?" Asked Hound, inspecting the ex-wound. "I was sure that it had cut deep. I can knit my wounds close fast, but you are not me."

"Healing magic." I replied. "Quite handy. But I fear that I'm not as fine as I thought." I pointed at the red sign. "The Abyssal magic cut part of my soul."

An unfiltered expression of pure horror flashed on the face of everyone in hearing range, including most of Shining Pearl's entourage. Even the usually stoic Hound widened his eyes.

"It's not as bad as it could be." I continued, making the armor disappear in my dimensional bag and wearing my dragonscale vest. "It's not like it's going to get infected or something. I'm just… weakened, I think. I lost a chunk of my magical powers and controlling the one I still have is more difficult… but the soul of a dragon is unyielding. I will recover, given time."

Not much time, either. A couple of weeks, at most. Annoying, but hardly life threatening.

That said, if another Sidereal decided to gank me and I only had most of my power…

Ah, it was useless to worry about it now.

"So, where do you want to go?" I asked, taking out some petals that I gathered and prepared for the occasion. I had to teleport in-and-out of the Shadowland to get them, but it didn't matter. There were enough for all of Shining Pearl's troops, the only problem being food and water. They didn't have enough for a long trip, but they could reach another archipelago nearby without problems.

"I'm not going anywhere." Came the reply from Obsidian Hound.

I froze for a second, then I looked the man in the eye and… no, he was not joking.

"Not that I want to force you, man, but you realize that the Deathknights are going to hunt you, right?"

"I understand that." Replied the Liminal, crossing his arms on his chest. "But this is the place where I must be. This… perversion of death cannot continue unchallenged. And if nobody else is going to do it, I will be the one." He paused. "That's why the Dark Mother chose me."

"Then you'll die." Coldly said Shining Pearl. "You cannot face the Bodhisattva war machine alone."

"I was brought back from the Underworld once." He shrugged. "Why should I fear to return there?"

Well, I could recognize a lost cause when I saw one. I put my right hand on his shoulder -the left didn't move as I wanted- and gave him a little shake. "Be careful."

He nodded. "It has been an honor to meet you, Chosen of Akatosh." We exchanged a last handshake, then he went on his way.

It was the last time I'll ever see him.

"Well, that's one less boat I have to use." I sighed, putting a petal away. I could always use one for emergencies. In fact, this entire experience made me change my mind about single-use items. I should make more. "So, Shining Pearl? Where are you and your group going?"

"They are going to Brightwork." She replied. "I am going with you."

I stopped moving, blinked a couple of times, then looked at her and…

No, she wasn't joking either.

"But you have your people…"

"I know." She frowned. Clearly, she didn't like the idea very much. "But I can't go with them. They already know."

I glanced at the troupe. Surely, they looked saddened but not surprised.

"Can I ask why?" I inquired. From the limited time I passed among them, it seemed like they respected her and she cared for them in return. Why did she want to leave?

"It's your fault, actually." She said, and I sent her a disbelieving look. "After what you told me about the Sidereal and how they hunt you, I thought… what happens if they decide to come after me?"

Ah… right. "I'm sure you can defend yourself."

"I can. But I'm not sure I can defend them." She sniffed, annoyed. "The Sidereal have the entire weight of Heaven behind them. I'm just a woman. Maybe their powers can't affect me directly, but they can affect them, and I fear that staying near will only cause trouble."

A valid reason, I think. "I see. But you could go anywhere in the West. You could reach… Wu Jan? That's the name?" Someone nodded so I continued. "I cannot go there because it's the access point to the Realm to the West, and the Dragon-blooded will try to kill me the moment they realize what I am, but you can go there and… I don't know, try to convince more people to fight Skullstone?"

"I thought about it, but if the Sidereals are behind the Wyld Hunts, I'm not exactly safe there either." Right. Getimians may not be Anathema by default, but as the natural enemy of the Sidereals, they could easily be declared as one.

"But staying with me will just increase the chances of the Sidereals finding you." I tried to argue. It was not like it bothered me that she wanted to come with me… ah, who were I kidding, of course it bothered me. She had not been shy about finding me attractive, and I was not used to that kind of attention.

"Sure, or your 'chaotic Fate' will cover mine and I'll actually be more safe. That's if my presence doesn't attract them more than yours. You have taken steps to protect yourself, I haven't." She made really good points, dammit.

Then she sent me a dangerous smile. "Besides, after you just got injured -and weakened- from fighting the Deathknight for me, I can hardly leave you alone, can I? What happens if a Sidereal catches you while you're not at full strength? No, I think I'll remain with you. To show my gratitude."

Oh, she was enjoying this. Unfortunately, I couldn't argue with that. I had just thought the same thing.

"Fine." I sighed. "Then let's move then."

-X-

Shining Pearl looked at the sea, and at the little fleet that was quickly disappearing on the horizon. Her men and women had shouted goodbyes until the distance was too great to hear them, and some time after too.

It hurt to leave them. She had not spent much time with them, she had appeared in Creation more or less a year ago and it had taken time for them to join her, but for the first time since her 'birth' here, she had felt… at home. Like at least a little part of her world had returned to her.

But staying near them was dangerous. Rakan Thulio had warned her before, but she didn't believe him at the time. She had started to have doubts… but then Loki appeared, and told her what he knew about Fate and Destiny.

Fate, as he knew, was the basic structure of reality. It was past and present, the mechanism that stopped the Wyld from eating Creation and returned it to complete chaos. As such, there was no reason for Heaven to discard Fates. In fact, for what he knew, there were no possible alternate Fates, so the idea that the Celestial bureaucracy could remove them was absurd. The entire point of the Loom of Fate was to maintain Creation intact. Nobody was so stupid as to remove pieces from that.

That said, he had admitted that his understanding of Destiny was less accurate. His theory was that Destiny was the future, because Sidereals possessed the power of prophecy. However, Destiny had to be malleable, because if that was not the case Sidereals would not run around trying to change it, so he hypothesized that Destiny was the most probable future, the one that happened if nothing changed. A river was going to flow toward the sea, unless someone built a dam or used magic to make it flow backwards.

That, or Destiny was just an artificial future imposed by Heaven to serve their agenda. Which was not necessarily bad, but the Bureaucracy of Heaven was extremely corrupted.

In that sense, Heaven could 'cut' Fates by removing the conditions that would make some things appear. But, if that was the case, it was just a byproduct of Fate itself. There couldn't be more than one Fate at time, and the others had to be discarded.

That said, he didn't believe that it was the case. The nature of the Gemitians was suspicious to him, and he found it much more likely that they were created by some being outside Fate, maybe a powerful creature of the Wyld or, possibly, the ancient enemies of the Gods. Being outside Fate, a creature like that could have an easier time creating an Exaltation that could search for Fates never destined to realize and rip someone out of them.

If that was true, Heaven had pretty much no say in what timeline was removed, Rakan Thulio was a liar or deluded, and the entire crusade was pointless. Sure, she was still going to fight Sidereals, because they were going to fight her, but she had no interest in destroying the Loom of Fate. Destroying this Creation was not going to give back hers.

She turned away from the sea to look at the man in question. Loki, Chosen of Akatosh, was piloting the Floral Ferry, a little smile on his face. He had removed the mask -still fixed to his belt- to feel the sea breeze, and he seemed content, for once.

The impression was ruined by the way he leaned his left arm near his body.

She removed herself from the railing and moved to his side. The man sent her a curious look.

"How's your arm doing?" She asked. She had seen him move it before, so it couldn't be that bad, but now he was just… keeping it on his side and not moving it. Was he trying to look tough before?

"Hmmm? Oh, it's… well, it's as before." He replied, raising the arm and moving it around. There was no sign of pain on his face. "It's just numb and strange to move around. Like when you sleep on it and when you wake up you can't feel anything from it."

He was strangely relaxed for someone that had a piece of his soul ripped out of his body. But then, it was not like he was writhing in pain. Maybe he was hardier than most other Exalts.

Still.

"I'm sorry. You were hurt because of me."

He shook his head. "Nah, I got hurt because I underestimated Black Winter. I thought that he couldn't possibly reach us in time. Not only could he, but he could also throw that giant ax. I don't know if he got lucky or he really can throw with that precision, but I'm not going to make the same error again."

She wasn't entirely sure about that, but she had to admit, Black Winter of the Frozen North had been a terrible opponent. The destruction he and Loki caused in their clash had demolished half the buildings in the area. She doubted she could match that kind of power. Her Exaltation worked by imposing her own Fate on Creation, and while there were some useful abilities there, it was not conducive to frontal confrontation. That's why she always had problems finding a way to attack the Soulsteel production and she needed someone with more direct power to deal with the Deatknights.

Especially after she had learned that they were corrupted Solar Exaltations. If she had faced Silent Whisper without keeping that in mind, she would have underestimated her. And that would have ended badly.

"Speaking of." He said, before making one of the crates he had taken from the place appear from nothing. "I need to send this to Ninegala. Maybe I'll have my sword back before we reach land."

And exactly as he said that, he waved his hand and the crate disappeared. She didn't miss the slight frown on his face.

"Not as easy as you are used to?" She asked. He had said that he lost part of his Essence from that. It will return, but losing a part of his Exalted prowess probably didn't feel right.

"Yeah." He replied, flexing the fingers of his left hand. "My power is… sluggish, I think is the best way to put it." He sighed. He tended to do that a lot. "That makes the next part difficult… ah, right."

He made a knife made of bone appear in his hand before sending it away. He had hinted at something like that… the sword required a sacrifice to make whole again, and the knife was it? Something like that.

"As I was saying, I want you to show me how your power works."

She blinked at that. It was completely unexpected. "Wouldn't that damage Fate and attract the attention of the Sidereals?"

"Yes, but I need to know how Fate manipulation works and doing it here, in the middle of the ocean, is better than when we're in the North. At least, they can't send armies at us while we're in the sea."

"They can send a fleet." She pointed out.

"Maybe. But I have some tricks up my sleeve if that happens."

"Hmmm. And why do you need to see how Fate manipulation works?"

She didn't see the point. Even if he saw how it looked, it was not like he could do something about it.

As he had read her thoughts, Loki smiled and raised his good hand. "Sorcery is such an amazing ability. It's based on manipulating Creation by using the very same thing that empower the Exalted: Essence. But instead of using the Essence inside us, it uses the one naturally produced by the environment. And even here, in the Northwest, domain of Water and Air, I can wave my hand…" He did so, making his palm spin for a quarter of a circle. "And gather Fire."

And as he said that, a sphere of flames materialized on his open palm.

Shining Pearl smiled and politely clapped her hands. As someone that loved art, she could appreciate a little theatricality.

"Thank you, thank you." He said, bowing slightly. "I'll be here all week."

"But seriously." Continued the woman. "What is your plan? See my powers so you can recognize the string of Fate and… weave them using Sorcery?"

It sounded completely crazy and oddly logical at the same time. But he was the Sorcerer, so she didn't have any idea of how it worked… even if she was starting to think it was worth learning a little more about it. It sounded like it was very useful and her powers gathered the wrong kind of attention. She knew several Martial Arts -Loki said that its ease to learn Martial Arts was probably something weaved into her Exaltation to let the Getimians compete with the Sidereals-, but it could not be enough.

"Something like that." He replied, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I'm never going to be able to do the same things you or the Sidereals do, but I should be able to develop some tricks to help us avoid the Sidereals. Something like… weaving a fake Fate around us."

Wait a second. "Oh? I can do that."

Loki blinked and looked at her. "I'm sorry, what?" He asked in a flat tone.

"Well, it's not really 'weaving a Fate' like you intend, probably." She backtracked. "It's more like I can use my own Fate to pull people in, in a sense. I can give people a 'role', so to say. If they follow that role, Fate bends to help them. If they don't, well, usually things don't go well for them."

Loki didn't say anything for a while. "Uh. That sounds like one of the powers Sidereal possesses. Resplendent Destinies, I think they're called. Something about assuming a role to be able to walk on Creation more freely."

Pearl nodded. "Well, yes, it is something like that. I think the only difference is that… well…"

Clearly Loki felt her hesitation, because his eyes narrowed slightly. "What?"

Shining Pearl sighed. This was not something she wanted to discuss, but there was no way to put it in a light that made it sound less awful than it was. "The Destiny I wave around people comes from my Loom, and as such, it's centered around me. I can make you my bodyguard, my loyal subordinate, my lover, and… it doesn't really give you a choice in the matter."

Loki didn't say anything, but she could clearly feel the tension rising. "Of course, it doesn't actually force you to do anything, but as I said, luck smiles on the one following their role and frowns on those who reject it. It's a powerful incentive. Most of my socially oriented powers work like that… rewriting memories or feeling with the ones coming from my Loom."

There was a long pause. "Well, you cannot change your powers." Finally replied Loki, looking away from her. "I wish I didn't have to devour a dragon soul to unlock mine either, but it is what it is."

Shining Pearl was so relieved that he wasn't judging her that she decided to not ask what he meant by devouring dragon souls. At least not right now.

"But if you try something like that on me I'll kick you off the boat."

"Don't worry." She replied with a smile. "I'd never do something like that to an ally. Not without their consent. Speaking of… what 'role' should I put on you, just for demonstration?"

He scratched his head, thinking. "Well, it depends on what we need. I'm trying to learn, so something like 'apprentice' sounds like the safest bet. But I need to think about it. I will have to deal with it for a while…"

"Oh, no, you don't have to worry. Just binding you at my Loom is temporary. The effect rarely resists more than a day before the normal course of Fate reasserts itself."

Loki's expression immediately shifted. "Oh. That makes it far more useful. Well, why don't we start? Apprentice, so I can learn the trick faster?"

"Sure. And maybe, later, we can switch for… other things." He sent her a vaguely embarrassed look and she had to suppress a chuckle. She knew he was uncomfortable when she flirted, but that made it more enjoyable. "After your amazing performance, I'm curious about Sorcery myself. Would you be willing to teach me?"

Loki suddenly relaxed. "Oh, you meant that. Sure, why not? Magic is awesome. I'd be happy to teach you."

This time she let herself chuckle. Ah, this journey promised to be very funny.

Wild Wild Creation 1.8

I looked at the smoldering ship sailing away from the Floral Ferry.

"Alright, I think I vastly underestimated the reach of the Sidereal influence."

"I'll admit that it's a pretty big coincidence, but…"

"A storm sending probably the only Exalted pirate captain in the entire West on our way so that she could decide to attack us thinking we were worth a ransom is not 'coincidence', Pearl."

"Well, if you say it like that, it does sound improbable." Admitted the woman. "But I don't see how they could do that."

"Sidereal Astrology, is my guess." I replied, sitting behind the helm. "I don't know what it does in detail, but the Maidens are rumored to have a connection with the future and the stars. If that's true, the Sidereals can likely cause some sort of effect on the Loom by invoking the power of the constellations… that, or they can just put a formal request on the board of whoever supervises the formation of storms in the West. I would not be surprised by either."

Shining Pearl didn't look convinced. I was not convinced either, but, well, I was paranoid about Sidereals. Better give them too much credit instead of too little.

I just hoped that they couldn't just continue to do whatever they were doing indefinitely.

-X-

"It's an armored kraken!" Shining Pearl shouted as several tentacles as big as trees emerged from the water.

"It's just the second time I see one of those and I already hate them!" I growled. "Pearl, is the armored kraken an animal?"

"Uh? Yes, it's a giant, armored octopus. Why?"

"Kaan!" Was my answer. The name of Kyne, spoken in the language of the dragons, had a peculiar effect on animals. The tentacles froze, then, slowly, they returned to the depths.

"How did you do that?" Shining Pearl asked, surprised. "Was that a spell?"

"Kyne's Peace." I replied, annoyed. "It's not a spell. It's a Shout. I invoked the name of the goddess of the animals using the ancient dragon tongue, and it calmed the kraken."

"Interesting. It's a power that it's possible to learn, or…"

I huffed from the nose, calming down. I was getting short tempered lately, and I didn't know why. "I'm afraid I don't think it's possible. It works for me because I'm using a spell to protect me from sudden changes in the metaphysics erasing me from existence. That means that my power works as intended, until I make them with my internal power. But, unless there is an ancient, semi-divine language able to alter reality in Creation, you cannot learn how to Shout. And even if there was, the words are probably going to be different."

"Seems like teaching me Sorcery is going to take more time than expected." She said, smirking. "Maybe we should make you my master…"

I rolled my eyes, not without feeling a little embarrassed. "Sure, sure. But maybe let's wait a couple of days before that. We don't want to give the Sidereals an easy way to track us."

"Uh, we're sailing straight to the North without deviations." Pointed out Shining Pearl. "It's pretty easy to predict our route."

Right. "Point taken. Then we just have to endure the rage of Heaven until we arrive at the destination. Let's hope that the kraken was the worst thing they had for us."

-X-

"Those fucking… ! Lok. Vah. Kor!"

As I Shouted the Clear Sky -a Shout I honestly never thought I was going to use after Skyrim- a hole opened in the storm that completely at random formed around us. I cannot say I'm great at guessing the weather, but storms appearing out of nothing was not normal either.

Well, it could be just the general weirdness of Creation, but even then, we were not near the borders of Creation! The influence of the Wyld should have been negligible here. There shouldn't be dark clouds when a second before there was a sunny if windy day.

Ok, not really a second, more like half an hour, but still suspicious as hell!

So, it was time to see how good the Sidereals' Fate manipulation was and if my Shout could overpower it.

Apparently it could because the hole in the clouds kept expanding until the only clouds in the sky were white and fluffy.

"That's very convenient." Commented Shining Pearl.

"Yeah. I just hope that I didn't suddenly cause strain onto the fabric of reality by butting heads with a Sidereal conjured storm."

"It may just have been a Storm Mother, you know?" Told me Pearl. "They usually take territory near the coast, but there are a lot in the waters away from civilization."

I stared at her while trying to remember what a Storm Mother was -the name sounded familiar- and finally something clicked. "You mean the goddesses that can make storms appear on who displease them?"

"Yes. They're…" Shining Pearl paused, seemingly remembering something. "No, wait. Storm Mother's powers don't work on red-haired women. It can't have been one of them."

Uh, now that she mentioned it, I remembered something on that line…

Before I could ask more about the Storm Mothers -seemed like something that was useful to remember if we ever decided to sail again- there was a sound like something emerging from the water. I looked over the railing and I saw a green, bald humanoid touching the Ferry with long, dried fingers that ended with sharp-looking nails. Not exactly an Hagraven, but very similar.

"Hey, hey." I shouted, before grabbing the sea witch with telekinesis and lifting it so I could look her in the eyes. Bad choice. The witch was not exactly good looking, especially with her scaly skin and the row of pointy teeth she was baring at me.

"Let me go, mortal! Your puny magic will not save you again." She croaked in a raspy, ungraceful voice that, admittedly, was perfectly in line with her appearance.

I sent her a glare and I flexed a minuscule amount of Essence in my eyes, making them glow softly.

The witch immediately understood and her demeanor shifted. "Chosen." She said, closing her mouth to hide the teeth. "It seems there is a misunderstanding here. I was told that a boat had dared to enter my territory without paying tribute, but I was not told that there was a Chosen among them."

"Who told you that?" Asked Shining Pearl. The Storm Mother, because she couldn't be anything else, looked at my companion and a series of emotions rapidly crossed her eyes. First, jealousy. Then, wariness.

Finally she replied. "I have my informants. Now, let me go. I'll be sure to have words with the one that misinformed me, and you'll not have to worry about storms while in my territory."

"Actually." I said, bringing the Storm Mother on the deck of the Ferry. "I'm very interested in knowing who told you such a falsity."

The eyes of the spirit clearly said she didn't want to talk at all. "It's none of your business."

"I think it is. After all, it caused you to try to drop a storm on us." Hmm… intimidation may not work on her. Maybe a softer approach? "Of course, I can offer you something in return for the information."

Greed flashed in the eyes of the witch. "Are you willing to be at my service for a year? My territory is usually calm, but sometimes disrespectful sailors try to avoid my sisters' without offering me anything in return."

I sent her a glance. "You cannot patrol your territory by yourself?"

The Storm Mother gritted her teeth in frustration, but calmed down instantly.

"You're not familiar with my kind, aren't you?"

"No, not really. I actually heard of you a couple of minutes before."

She nodded. "I assumed so. Our territories can cover several days of travel. If the passage is irregular or sporadic, finding a particular ship is challenging. I can send my familiars, but even they have their limits."

Ah, interesting. "Well, I'm afraid that I cannot offer my service. I'm on a mission and I cannot stay one year in one place."

"Then we have nothing more to say to each other." Concluded the Storm Mother, but I stopped before she could return to her sanctum, probably several hundred meters below the surface. It was a power that most gods had, called Hurry Home or something.

"But I may be able to offer some help." I quickly said, before starting to wave my hands in the air, focusing my magic.

I immediately felt the struggle. The wound inflicted by Black Winter still had to heal completely, and so my magic still felt sluggish and difficult to move around. It wasn't that much of a problem normally, but now that I was trying to do something that required a certain precision, I could tell that I had to pull all my attention on this.

First, I needed a recipient. I was not going to make a half decent one with Projection, more because I didn't have enough control to make it 'real' enough to accept enchantments of any kind. So, I summoned a lump of silver from my dimensional bag and molded it into a thin basin. Then, I started to work on the enchantment.

It was difficult to wave the magic in the desired way, but thanks to Da Vinci I had a good idea of what I needed to do to make an enchantment that worked by inserting mana -or Essence, in this case- inside it to work. Which was good, because the Runes were completely inadequate for what I had in mind.

So, slowly -relatively slowly, I took like a couple of minutes- I waved the spell in the basin. Then, when it was ready, I offered it to the Storm Mother. "Here. By channeling your own Essence inside this basin, you'll be able to see any location you have already seen. With this, you should be able to find any ship that tries to sneak in."

A manic light started to dance inside the goddess' eyes and she reached for the basin, but I jerked it away. "The information, please."

I could see the Storm Mother battling with herself for a second, probably debating if it was the case to insult or attack an Exalt for the basin, but in the end, sanity had the better of her.

"It was a messenger god from Yu-Shan."

The name sounded familiar, but…

"Thank you for your time, revered Mother." Suddenly said Shining Pearl, bowing slightly. "Loki."

I sent her a confused glance but mentally shrugged and gave the basin at the goddess. Her face was radiating joy. "Thank you, Chosen. The blessing of the sea will follow you until you reach your destination." She paused, then added. "Be careful. My powers cannot stop the great typhoons, nor storm summoned by the magic of other gods. But it will protect you as well as it can."

I bowed my head. "Thank you, revered Mother."

And with that, she disappeared.

"I guess you got more out of that than I did." I said, turning toward Pearl.

"Yu-Shan is the city of the Gods and where the Celestial Bureaucracy is located." Was the dry answer I received.

Ah… that explained everything.

"So it was the Sidereals." I mused.

"Yes. They sent a messenger to the Storm Mother… and hoped it was enough to sink us."

"Right… I didn't think about the possibility." I sighed. "Well, there is nothing we can do about it. Let's just be more careful. I should have enough understanding of Fate to avoid causing ripples. Let's hope it's enough."

"We should probably change our route." Added Shining Pearl. "Even if we cover our tracks, if we continue to go straight ahead they can always find us."

"Sorry, there is nothing I can do about that. Once the destination is fixed, the Floral Ferry will go straight there. Trying to change direction will just slow us down considerably."

"The lost time could be worth less risks on the way." She pointed out.

"Maybe. Let's see how slower we move, and then decide."

She nodded and, for the day, there were no more incidents.

-X-

Fuuuuuuuu-!

"Curse later, fight now!" Shouted Shining Pearl.

We were almost there. I could see the white shores of the Northern part of Creation at the horizon. We were almost out of this stupid ocean, and while the travel after we met the Storm Mother hadn't been without issues, there was no obvious sabotage.

Then a huge turtle-snake-thing with tentacles of water and ice had emerged from the waves and attacked the ship.

As such, I was just slightly annoyed.

And so I jumped off board to face the monster alone. Because I could walk on water, but Shining Pearl couldn't.

… I think she couldn't. You're never sure with Exalted.

The monster I was facing didn't seem like it was anything special. Considering the size and the strange composition of its body, I initially thought it was a Behemoth, one of those strange, nobody-is-sure-what-the-fuck-they-are monsters that sometimes popped out in Creation. Not a Wyld monster, not a spirit, and surely not animals, they were usually very destructive and far tougher than anything had any right to be.

But after looking at it a little better, I conclude it must have been a Water Elemental of some kind. Creation Elementals were not like most people imagined them, pure elements in the shape of an otherwise mundane creature. If I remembered right, there was an elemental that looked like a giant seahorse, and another that was basically a phoenix. Point was, it didn't have to be composed completely by its element to be an Elemental.

Well, it didn't really make a difference though. I didn't have magic more effective against Elementals, so it could be a Behemoth and it would have been the same. The only thing that mattered was that he was partially composed of water. So, the best way to deal with him was with lightning.

"Qo!" I Shouted, releasing a lightning bolt from my mouth that impacted the carapace of the monster. The elemental roared, but it seemed more annoyed than wounded.

Urgh… I started to hate the fact that everything seemed to be bigger than me. Size wasn't everything, but sometimes it was. For example, while I could fight this monster, if it suddenly decided to grab the Ferry with its tentacles, I could barely do anything to stop it. If only there was a spell to make me bigger…

Wait… I didn't have a spell like that, but maybe I didn't need it. One of the themes of my Exaltation was 'be a dragon', and while it was not universal, being fucking enormous was a thing dragons did.

But while it could be on theme, it was not so simple. Transformation was not exactly a dragon ability… well, not on Tamriel. Here, however…

But I didn't get my powers from a dragon from Creation. It didn't matter if they could do it there, or if it was something dragons in other fiction could do. In The Elder Scrolls, dragons couldn't transform into humans.

… but then again, being holy sun chosen that got their powers by using human skill at 1000% was not a theme that allowed you to create a sword of golden light with pure martial skill, nor being a trickster silver demigod able to shapeshift lent to create gods from reflections, but Solars and Lunars didn't care. Why should I?

And the purest expression of my draconic power was not my Essence, but my Anima. I was still not sure why Anima existed but it didn't matter. But I still needed a frame of reference. Could…

"Mul. Qah. Diiv!"

Dragon Aspect covered me, and then I focused my power into a blast of energy that slammed the Elemental in the side of its face. The reptilian head was of a dirty, dark blue, but its eyes were the same color of an ancient glacier. The slit pupil zeroed on me, and the beast slowly tried to turn and face me. Well, it looked slow, but considering its size, it was actually quite fast.

"That's right. Let the ship go and focus on me, you stupid bastard."

A tentacle tried to smash me, and I jumped away. Channeling Essence in my legs like I've seen Black Winter do, I skipped on the water like a pebble and landed far outside the reach of the monster. I could feel my Anima glowing, so I channeled it inside the Dragon Aspect armor. If this worked…

The armor grew. It was difficult to put it another way. Normally, the Dragon Aspect armor looked like it extended right from the skin and so most of the aura was hidden underneath the armor. It was not what happened but it didn't matter. Now, it shone above the armor, an energy aura that, in some way, reminded me of the Lunar hybrid body transformation. A dragon head covered my face, and the dragon plates of my armor shone under the orange and blue light of draconic scales and spikes protruding from it.

I felt stronger, but this was not exactly what I was looking for. I wasn't any bigger, aside from a couple of millimeters of reach granted by the now clawed hands. Maybe I approached this from the wrong way? Maybe partial transformation was a step too much? But if I could make the Dragon Aspect armor bigger and more powerful, why couldn't I do it to myself?

Wait a second… that was it. Why did I need to make myself bigger when I could just make the energy aura bigger?

The turtle-snake-thing approached me again, one of its tentacles sweeping in my direction. I felt strong enough to block it bare-handed right now, but if I wanted to do things right…

I channeled my Essence, focusing it in the shape of a draconic claw. Then, I give it shape using the same method I used for summoned weapons. Then, I expanded it.

As I did, a draconic hand made of orange flames and as big as a train carriage materialized out of nowhere and grabbed the tentacle, killing its momentum. The Elemental looked surprised, as much as a reptilian head could look surprised.

With a mighty grunt and flexing my Essence I pulled. The Elemental tried to put up a weak resistance but it simply didn't expect something like this to happen and didn't know how to react. With a last grunt of effort, I launched the monster away from the Ferry. It didn't go very far, I mostly managed to get it to my right, but considering it was the size of a tennis field, I felt pretty good about it anyway.

And, considering that I was able to create an arm -which was dissipating once I didn't supply more Essence- what about a head?

Now that I knew how to do it, it was far easier. A giant, translucent dragon head made of light arose behind me, and in an impetus of inspiration, I Shouted at the Elemental.

"Qo. Ronaaz. Nos!"

As I pronounced the last Word, the dragon head opened its maw and the Shout didn't emerge from my mouth as a lightning the size of a human arm. Instead, it emerged from the dragon's maw and it was the size of a human. The attack slammed against the Elemental and this time it noticed. Electricity arced around the creature, a cry of agony escaping from its throat, and when the attack dissipated, the monster immediately made a turnabout and submerged, running away.

I released a roar of victory that was emulated by the dragon head, which made it like a hundred times louder. Then, I dismissed both the head and the armor and I teleported back onto the Ferry, which had floated quite a distance.

"That was impressive." Shining Pearl admitted when I arrived. "I just hope that nobody saw us. Fajad is nearby and the Dragon-blooded will not be happy to hear what you did."

Ah, right.

Oops.

Interlude: Escaping the Darkness

"I'm very disappointed in you two."

Silent Whisper, at this point, would have shivered. But, today, she found out she was far more controlled than normal. Or maybe she just had too many thoughts in her head.

"Especially you, Black Winter of the Frozen North." Continued the Silver Prince, also known as the Bodhisattva Anointed by Dark Water, Deathlord and ruler of the Skullstone Archipelago. "Silent Whisper is young and fought two Chosen. But you… you were defeated by a single one."

"He didn't defeat me in battle. He barely escaped with his life." Countered her superior. Most of the other Deathknights would have hesitated to reply to the Deathlord, but Black Winter didn't seem to care.

"He 'barely escaped' with his life and brought with him most of the infrastructure dedicated to the production of Soulsteel, as well as all the supplies still in the warehouse." The Prince's tone was calm, but Silent Whisper could feel the dark emotions behind it. "How is it not a defeat?"

Black Winter didn't say anything for a second, then he bowed his head. "Then let me chase him. I'll return with his head."

"No." Replied the ghost. "It will admittedly be satisfying to see his head roll to my feet, but the spirits informed me that he already left the Archipelago. He has several days of head start. Reaching him is impossible." He paused. "Besides, sending you to fight a powerful opponent is not a punishment, is it? No, both you and your apprentice will remain here and supervise the rebuilding of the Soulsteel foundry. Am I clear?"

Black Winter didn't say anything.

"Am I clear?" Asked the Bodhisattva, more forcefully.

"Yes my Lord." Replied Black Winter, his tone flatter than the sea during a windless day.

"Very well." The ancient ghost said, before waving his hand. "You are dismissed."

Black Winter bowed slightly and turned, walking away with heavy steps. Silent Whisper did the same and followed.

At this point, Silent Whisper would usually mope in her room for a while, both for being scolded by the Deathlord and also because she was assigned a boring mission like overseeing the construction of a new site. She would also recover from the terror of being subjected to the Prince's disappointment, because while it was rare, it was not unheard of Deathlords maiming or outright killing their Deathknights if they failed hard enough. She had never heard of the Bodhisattva doing that, but it was not impossible.

Today was different. Because a new perspective was opened to her. She always thought that leaving the Archipelago was impossible. The Bodhisattva had too many eyes, too many servants, and too many resources. If she tried to escape, Black Winter would have just killed her. He may be a bloodthirsty warrior, but it was far from stupid, and while he showed a certain willingness to challenge the Deathlord, he always obeyed him.

But someone managed to get into the heart of the Soulsteel's production, steal or destroy the metal stocked inside it, and then destroy and purify the entire area with a ray of holy sunlight… that had hurt a lot, by the way, she still felt the wounds burn. And apparently, he managed to leave the Archipelago without alerting anyone at the palace. That meant that…

That the Bodhisattva was not omniscient. That his reach had limits. That he could be caught by surprise, and that not even his chief executioner was invincible.

Someone managed to defeat both of them.

Maybe she could too.

-X-

The night before her and Black Winter's departure to the small, unnamed island where the new factory would be built, Silent Whisper was sneaking through the docks, searching for a boat that was adequate to her purposes, something small but sturdy that could take her away from Skullstone. She had spotted one the day before… ah, there it was!

The vessel in question was a slender messenger boat, the ones used to move important objects or people across the Archipelago. Despite the slim appearance, she knew they were hardy vehicles: she and Black Winter had used several during their months spent here. This one in particular was the personal vessel of an important local aristocrat, so she was not going to destroy someone's life by taking it.

She was halfway from removing all the moorings when…

"Going somewhere?"

Silent Whisper jumped away from the familiar voice with the same energy of a scared cat. She covered several meters with a single leap, turning halfway to face the assailant… and she found herself staring at the pitch-black slit of Black Winter's helmet. Her hand, that had reflexively gripped Bloody Reminder's hilt, was now clenching it so hard that the leather groaned in protest.

"Are you here to stop me?" She asked back, her eyes hyper-focusing on the knight that was looking at her with his arms crossed over his chest.

There was silence. Silent Whisper lowered her stance, focusing in preparation for a lightning fast attack…

"No."

The Deathknight's focus shattered. Instinctively, her eyes scanned her mentor to see if there was any trace of falsehood in his posture, but the more rational part of her mind already knew there was no need. Black Winter didn't lie, nor did he use clever wordplay to lull his opponents into a false sense of security. That was her thing, not his. If the giant man wanted to fight someone, he would say it clearly, and wait for them to be ready. He wouldn't say something just to attack when she didn't expect it.

With some effort, Silent Whisper relaxed her posture and her face, which had contracted while she prepared to attack, and slid Bloody Reminder back into its sheath.

"Good." She said, quickly walking on the remaining moorings and starting to release them too. "How did you know I was gone? I thought I had been stealthy enough."

"You were, but I recognized your expression when we were talking with Bodhisattva. You were thinking of leaving the Archipelago. I kept an eye on you."

"An eye on me." Murmured the woman. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"No. I don't need it anymore."

Uh, right. She supposed it made sense. Despite being -nominally- dead, most Deathknights she met still had basic necessities like food and rest. But being nominally dead, it didn't surprise her that Black Winter had managed to overcome that weakness.

"Good for you." She snorted, removing the last rope that kept the boat tied to the docks. "But why are you here then? Coming to say goodbye?"

"I wouldn't say so." Replied Black Winter, still not moving, except for a light turn of his helmet.

"Why then?" She asked, rapidly crossing the walkway to the boat and grabbing one of the long rods used to push the vessel away from the docks.

To answer her question, Black Winter crossed the walkway too and grabbed the other rod, pushing the boat toward the open sea. "I'll come with you."

For a second, Silent Whisper was unable to process what he had said and just looked at him in shock. She recovered only when the man put down the rod and started to fiddle with the various ropes, trying to get the sails down. He clearly was not used to it.

"Let me do that." She said, quickly taking the rope away from his hands and starting to unfurl the sails. "Why do you want to come with me? I thought you were loyal to Bodhisattva."

"Sure, I was 'loyal'. You know me, Silent Whisper. You should understand why I remained in the Skullstone Archipelago for so long."

The woman tried to think of a reason… and she ended up saying the first one that came to mind. "You remained at his side because he gave you people to kill."

"If you say it like that you make me sound like a killer." Replied Black Winter, but his tone was just a tad amused. "The Bodhisattva gave me targets. People, monsters… it didn't really matter to me. I just wanted to have a good fight, and improve as a warrior. But, well… lately things have been quiet."

Silent Whisper frowned. She was relatively new here, but they killed a lot of things in that brief time period.

… Or she killed them, to be precise. Black Winter usually exchanged a couple of blows with them, crippled them in some way and let her finish them off. And that was for the formidable foes they faced. He didn't even bother to fight the less impressive ones.

"You're bored." She said, with certainty.

"I suppose you could put it in that way." Replied the Deathknight, shrugging. "I lack challenge, Silent Whisper. And after months of nothing, I could finally face a worthy opponent."

She didn't have to ask who he was talking about. His skin had yet to heal the burns caused by his light. "I thought you said he was not your equal."

"He's not." Admitted the warrior. "In physical combat, at least. But I know the ones like him. They're tricky. They're insidious. They always have an ace up their sleeves. I caught him off guard, despite my best efforts. He didn't expect me to be as good as I am, so he was on the backfoot. If we're going to meet again, he's going to do much better." He paused. "And he wasn't here to fight anyway. Our combat was a diversion for him. I want to fight him when he's totally focused on killing me."

"Good luck." She scoffed. "You're not going to find him easily."

"Then it's best if you put your best effort, isn't it?" He said, and Silent Whisper immediately caught the underlying threat in his words. He was willing to let her go… until he had his fight. As such, it was better for her continued existence in Creation to indulge him. She tried to find a way to fool him and leave him somewhere while she found her way… but she immediately dismissed the thought. The Silver Prince may not be omniscient, but Black Winter already found her once. Despite his appearance and his obsession with battle, he had more than enough brain.

"Fine." She capitulated, absentmindedly taking the helm. "Just try to not kill him."

Black Winter tilted his head, confused. "You want me to spare him, in case my might is greater than his?"

"Yeah." She answered, not really paying attention. In part because she had to focus on piloting the ship, and in part because she didn't really believe he would.

"Why so?"

"My plan was to go on my way, but then you arrive and tell me to follow this guy. And since I must, I would prefer to not kill, like, the only person I know outside the Archipelago."

It was a stupid reason, but… if she couldn't choose her destination, at least she wanted to decide what to do next. And, for some reason… she would have liked to travel with him. She heard of how he stopped his comrades from charging at Black Winter by teleporting them away. That gesture had moved something inside her blackened heart. A longing? She didn't know for sure. But she wanted to know how you felt when someone put her life before theirs again.

Black Winter didn't say anything, not that she expected he would. Losing meant forfeiting life, as much as he was concerned.

"Very well." He agreed, making her turn so fast her neck made a snapping sound. "I will spare him. My last gift to my pupil."

Silent Whisper eyes widened behind her bangs. "You will?"

"Yes. But just once. After that, we will go our separate ways… and if we meet again, I will have no mercy. He better get stronger fast."

Her brain scrambled to make a coherent answer to that, but instead, she came up with something else. "Wouldn't it be better to let him live, so he could grow to match you?"

Black Winter looked at her and she immediately understood she had said the wrong thing. "I will spare him the next time I see him, because you asked. But if he is not able to defeat me despite knowing I will kill him if we meet again, then there is no reason to let him live. He will not have two chances."

Realizing that there was no way to make him change his mind, she returned to look forward, now a little more determined. "Fine. Do you at least know where to find him?"

"The spirits say he was pointing at the North." He replied. "He didn't seem to follow a conventional route, so we'll have to search. With luck, he will not expect us to follow, so he will stop at a point."

She nodded. Following his tracks was going to be difficult, but there was no choice, so it was useless to whine.

She just had to do her best.

-X-

It had taken two weeks to reach the North. The voyage had been… surprisingly easy, all things considered. The winds were in their favor, there was no bad weather slowing them down, and no strange creature appeared to stop them. She would probably have preferred if at least some monsters appeared, just so Black Winter didn't start to get impatient, but he seemed to have taken the lack of killable things pretty well. Maybe he was so focused on the Exigent that he was willing to wait.

Now, they just needed to find the spot where they landed. There was a city nearby, but it was improbable he went there. He would have followed a normal route if that was the case. Even if he wanted to go to Fajad, he would probably not get there with the boat, just to not let the Dragon-blooded intercept him where he couldn't defend himself. Considering his tactics at the foundry, he probably would land somewhere else and then reach the city, just to have a way to teleport far enough to not have to worry about being followed.

Now they just needed to find the ship…

"Silent Whisper." Called Black Winter, and she turned just to see him pointing at the shores. "There."

She decided not to question him and guided the boat to where he had pointed. And, as they neared, she saw what he had seen. In an alcove on the shore, in a recess in the rocky wall around a little bay, was what looked like the remains of a little camp.

"How did you see that from so far away?" She asked, surprised.

"I have good eyes." Replied the Deathknight. As soon as they dropped the anchor, they swam toward the shore and she took a look at the camp.

There was no mistake. In the alcove were clear signs of a bonfire and a couple of tracks, leaving the shore but not arriving from the inland. Unless someone else landed here by complete coincidence, it could only be them.

"What do you think?" Asked Black Winter. He was not a bad tracker, good enough to find pretty much any non-supernatural animal or human in Creation, but she had a couple of extra tricks if magic got involved.

"Two people, no more than ten days ago." She said, analyzing the tracks.

"The Exigent and one of his two allies." Nodded Black Winter.

"By the size of the tracks and the weight, I think it's the woman." One set of tracks was clearly the Exigent -it was far too heavy to be the other man, unless it had bones made of lead- but the others were both smaller and left a shallower imprint in the dirt. The other man may not have been particularly big, but he was not this light, and he absolutely didn't have boots of this size the last time she saw him.

"The woman, uh? She was interesting too. A martial artist of a certain skill, you told me."

Silent Whisper nodded. The red-headed woman that had fought her had displayed a great amount of fighting skills. She was a true warrior, unlike her.

Still…

"Don't you think this is too easy?" She asked, nervous. "I mean… the weather, I can accept, but… this camp just went undisturbed for ten days, exactly what was needed for us to find it. Don't you find this suspicious?"

Black Winter reflected on her question for a while. "It's possible that this is a trap." He admitted. "But I find it improbable. They had an enormous advantage on us. If they suspected that we were on their tracks, they would probably have left the shores as soon as possible. But they took their time to rest… they probably didn't expect that something would remain. The tides may not arrive here, but rain or wild animals would. I suppose we are just lucky."

"Too lucky." Grumbled Silent Whisper, not convinced.

"Yes, too lucky." Admitted Black Winter. "And with the uneventful journey so far…"

He didn't finish the sentence, just mumbling something under his breath. Then, he rose up. "Well, it doesn't matter. If it is a trap, we'll just have to deal with it. If it's not, it just means Fate was on our side. Let's move. You follow the trail."

Silent Whisper sent a last, uncertain look at the abandoned camp, then she stood and started to search for more tracks. And, of course, there they were, looking just shy from having just been left.

She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. But if there was a chance that by following them she could be free from under the shadow of the Bodhisattva Anointed by Dark Water… Well, she was going to take that chance.

She started to follow the trail, Black Winter just behind her.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.1

Hello Skyrim my old friend… I've come to walk on you again…

Yeah, I was humming this variation of The Sound of Silence in my head as I traveled across the frozen North. Stupid? Definitively. But after so much time spent traveling across Skyrim on foot -on horseback, really, but still- I couldn't help myself.

The North had pretty much the same look as the northern parts of Skyrim, where the snow never melted completely. Which made sense, because from what I remembered, Creation was a flat world, and the climate depended on the closeness of the Elemental Poles. In the West and in the East, where the nearest Poles were Water and Wood, Creation was defined by those two elements -I assume, I hadn't seen the East yet-, but here in the North, near the Pole of Air, frigid air and snow was a constant presence.

I admit I found it strange that Air was the element of cold, but maybe it was just a life of equating cold with ice and so with water. But I could still see the logic after meditating at the Throat of the World. The winds that surrounded the mountain were freezing.

Speaking of freezing.

"Are you alright?" I asked Shining Pearl, who was taking a breath a couple of steps behind me.

"Yes." She said, painting slightly. "Sorry. I've lived all my life in the West… hiking is new to me."

"Understandable." I nodded, and noticed she was shivering. "Cold?"

"Not as much as I should be." She replied, rubbing her hand on the warm coat I made for her. A simple thing I enchanted in a minute, but it should have been enough to protect her from the cold… in theory. "But my hands are frozen."

Hmmm… Curious. Sure, the coat was not really meant for these temperatures, but my enchantments were supposed to keep the cold away. Maybe resistance to cold meant little if you still couldn't keep the heat inside you.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any spare gloves, unless she wanted to wear gauntlets, but she probably would refuse because they were going to interfere with the movements necessary for her Martial Arts. So, instead, I materialized a ball of fire the size of a fist and threw it at her. The floating globe of flames lazily hovered toward her hands and she cupped them around it.

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

"Ah, don't worry about it. When we stop for the night I'm going to make a pair of gloves."

I understood the poor woman. If you lived all your life in the West, the chances that you could walk for several days were… pretty slim. The Cauls was pretty much the only place where you would need several days to go anywhere, most islands were pretty small and weren't this inhospitable. Not from what I've seen, at least. I had some problems adjusting to living on a boat too, even if it was not that bad since the Floral Ferry basically piloted itself. That said, the continuous lull of the waves really threw off my sleep the first few days.

We finally stopped walking as the sun started to get down. But… there was something wrong in the air. Even when we sat down and Pearl lowered the ball of fire I gave her to make a bonfire, I could still feel it.

"Pearl… Do you feel that?"

Pearl, who was rubbing her hands to get circulation going before warming them up a little, stopped and remained silent, focusing her senses outward. She remained that way for a while, then she looked at me.

"Yes… something's wrong. It's… difficult to explain. You know what it is?"

"No." I admitted. "But still… maybe it's better if we don't stay here tonight."

"I don't think it's a good idea to move. It's… almost like there is a predator looking for us. If we start to travel at night, it's just more likely that we stumble on it."

"Don't worry." I replied, extinguishing the flames with a 'hey' from Pearl. "We will not travel."

And before she could say anything, I opened a portal and transported both of us inside the Refuge.

Pearl blinked in rapid succession as she found herself sitting on a couch instead of a log found nearby. Then she looked around and started to notice things.

"Uh… where are we?"

"A little place I own. We should be safe here."

She started to nod, when Silver Star emerged from a door. "Ah, I thought I was hearing voices. Welcome home, Lo-"

The air itself froze as the two women locked eyes. Uh… I didn't anticipate this. Quick, a distraction!

Vokun teleported right between the two of them, interrupting line of sight. "Hello, boss. How are things goiiiiii…"

He had noticed Shining Pearl. He quickly sent a glance to Silver Star, then at me, and he made his decision. "Well, it's better if you see for yourself what I've been doing." He continued with all the nonchalance he could, before quickly reaching for my shadow and fusing with it. A sudden rush of information smashed against my brain. Ugh, I had to remember to visit more often. Getting that much information at once was… disorienting. I rubbed my temples to make the sensation disappear.

"Problems with memory sharing?" Asked Silver Star, diverting her attention to me.

"No, just too much in one go." I replied, as the dizziness disappeared. "I should have returned sooner, but I got… caught up in a lot of things. I remembered to come here because there was something strange in the air where we were camping."

"I see." Said the Lunar. She looked… fine, I guess? Her surprise was gone and she seemed calm now. "Would you introduce us?"

"Of course." I immediately said. "Silver Star, this is Shining Pearl. Shining Pearl, Silver Star." I paused. "I'm sure you can guess nobody here is what they seem, right?"

Shining Pearl finally removed her eyes from Silver Star and looked at me. Her face had been surprisingly flat, but now she relaxed a little. "I can imagine. Chosen?"

"Chosen of Luna, No Moon Caste of the Lunar Host." Confirmed Silver Star. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Shining Pearl chuckled. "No, I don't think it will. I'm a Spring Caste of the Getimian Host."

Silver Star sent her a curious look, her left brow rising slightly. "Getimian Host?"

"Seems like we all have a lot to explain." I said, gesturing to Silver Star to sit down. "Why don't we talk a little?"

And so we did. Me and Pearl explained why we were traveling together, and then me and Silver Star explained what the Refuge was and why she was here. At the end, the two women seemed to have warmed up to each other. Thank God for that, I feared it would have devolved into a pseudo-harem situation where the two would square up against each other and make passive-aggressive comments, but I was spared that. Probably because Silver Star had stopped flirting with me completely and just worked with Vokun to uncover the secrets of Sorcery and how to make manses, so the necessary ingredients were missing.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on him." Silver Star said. "He's powerful, but sometimes he seems to forget that there are powerful people around too."

"Don't worry, it's my pleasure." Shining Pearl smiled.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here." I said, making drinks appear for everyone. "And by the way, I know there are powerful people around, but I don't know where they are. I cannot properly evade them if they just jump on me while I don't expect them."

"You expected a Deathknight and you still got wounded." Silver Star countered. "And speaking of which, how is the wound? Has it healed?"

"Yeah, it was almost done when we landed, and now it's completely gone. I'm at full power again."

"Really?" Shining Pearl asked. "Why didn't you tell me? I was trying so hard to be ready for a Sidereal attack while marching in that white hell and just now you mention that you're not weakened anymore?"

"Uh… you seemed tired, and…" I sighed. "Sorry, it slipped my mind. I didn't think you would have worried so much."

"Idiot." The red-head replied. "I joined you because I couldn't let you get killed while weakened because of my plan. Of course I worried."

I wanted to argue a couple of points -like the plan being hers, since I volunteered and pretty much helped make it- but that was just my inner pedantic rearing its head. "Yeah. I always tend to think people just… don't care about me. Especially people I've not known for long."

"That's strange, considering that you care about people you have not known for long." Pointed out Shining Pearl, crossing her arms.

"I don't assume people will act like me." I shrugged. Then paused. "Well, no, it's just that I don't think people will just care about me in general. I tended to be… inconspicuous? Yes, that's the right word. I didn't really interact with people… even today, I just prefer to do things on my own, so I assume nobody really notices when something is wrong." I snorted. "Of course, since this whole thing started, I had to learn basic socialization, but that doesn't mean it's the first thing that comes to my mind."

"That's probably your worst flaw." Agreed Silver Star. "You need to be more open. Maybe it was fine when you were just a man, but now you are so much more. Communication is vital, especially since you have a huge empire in the making."

"You're right." I admitted. "I'll try to do better. No promises, old habits etcetera etcetera."

Silver Star giggled at that. "Yes, etcetera."

We all laughed out and then I turned toward Shining Pearl. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"Sorry?" She asked, confused.

"Well… now that I'm not wounded anymore, I was asking myself if you wanted to continue to travel with me. If you want to be somewhere else, I can just send you there."

"You want me to leave you that much?" She teased with a smirk.

"I mean, you are the one that called the North 'white hell'." I replied with a similar expression on my face. "Maybe you would prefer to be somewhere more warm? The Caul is pretty comfortable, and you don't have to worry about breaking the Loom either. It doesn't work well there."

Shining Pearl didn't say anything and, in fact, she looked conflicted for several seconds. Then, slowly, she put down the cup I had materialized a minute earlier. "No, thank you. I'll continue to travel with you."

I tilted my head. I was almost scared to ask, but… "Can I ask why?"

She sighed. "Like I said, I lived all my life in the West. But… the West is not my West. Staying there… it just reminds me of what I lost."

I didn't say anything. This was… pretty much what I expected. I also expected some kind of tease, but maybe the argument was serious enough to-

"And I like being around you." She said, sending me a wink. "At least I have something to look at."

I snorted a laugh. As expected. "Alright. But remember that I'm going to go away at some point, so you better have something else to look at before that. Unless you want to come with me…"

Shining Pearl didn't answer immediately. Was she thinking about it? I was joking, and besides, the ritual was not meant for multiple people. But I suppose I could summon her if she wanted…

"No, I will not follow you." She said, "Sure, this Creation is not my Creation, but it's… familiar, at least. Any place where you'll go… it will be alien to me. I'll remain here." She smiled. "But maybe you could give me an amulet like the one Silver Star has? At least I'll have a way to talk with you."

"Of course." I replied. "You can also remain here full time, if you want. I don't recommend it, since the time difference will make you die relatively young, but…"

"Don't worry, I understand the risks." She nodded. "And since my Host just appeared, nobody is quite sure how long we can live… I'll have to be careful."

"Ah, someone else in the house." Intervened Silver Star. "That will be so useful. There is so much work to do, and Vokun is great, but he's just one person. Have you thought about a solution?"

"Well, with one of my shadows with Ninegala, you'll soon have a smith able to make Artifacts." I replied. "Which should help with the Manses. I'll… probably make other shadows, if you really need more people. What do you think are the areas that will need to be covered?"

We passed some more time talking about what the Refuge would need in the future, and then we went to sleep. Fortunately Vokun had put some work in the mansion and now there were several guest rooms. I laid down on my bed and sighed. Returning to the Refuge had been more intense than I expected. But at least everything seemed to be in order. Now I just needed to process everything Vokun had done -a couple of years' worth of memories, most completely useless- but I needed to sleep for that. I closed my eyes and let sleepiness take me.

-X-

"And this will be your room for tonight." Said Silver Star, waving at a door.

"Thank you, Silver Star." Said Shining Pearl, before bowing down a little. She moved to enter inside, but she stopped at the door to look where they had talked to Loki until not long ago.

The Lunar immediately recognized the look on her face. "You're worried for him."

The red-headed woman sighed. "Is it so obvious?"

"Quite. I'm surprised he didn't notice. Usually, he's quite perceptive."

"I usually flirt with him when I start to worry. It keeps him distracted." She explained.

A strange glint passed through the Lunar's eyes. "Ah, I see. I will remember that. Not that I need it, most of the time. Vokun is far less serious. A product of being just a shadow, I imagine. He doesn't have quite the same weight on him."

Shining Pearl frowned, and Silver Star could already tell what her question was going to be.

"How is that possible? Aren't they the same person?"

Silver Star smiled. "Yes and no. Vokun is a Loki, but not the Loki. It's a part of Loki himself, but with a precise goal. He was created to administer the Dragon Refuge while Loki was not there, and given enough power, knowledge and autonomy to do that, but everything else is just… muted, in a sense. It's not like he doesn't remember his goal or anything else, they just aren't on his mind as often. I'm not sure if it was something that Loki did voluntarily, but it surely helps Vokun. If he was like Loki, he would probably use every second he has to learn something useful… but he's not, so when things go well in the Refuge, he actually takes time to rest."

From the summary Loki had given before, it didn't seem like he had rested very much since he had left the Caul. In fact, she doubted he had slept much at all. Sure, inhuman stamina meant he didn't need to sleep as much as a regular human, or even a Chosen, but that didn't mean that it was healthy. And while she was sure that experimenting with magic and Sorcery was enjoyable for him, it was not the same as relaxing.

"That's why he needs someone that keeps him anchored down. Unfortunately, with the Sidereals after him, I don't think he'll stop… you need to help him get the materials he needs and return here, to the Refuge. At least, in Morovath he doesn't have to worry about them." Continued Silver Star.

"I'll do what I can." Promised the Getimian, nodding with a solemn expression. "But I don't know how much I can be of use. And he doesn't seem to have a better idea on where to find the materials he needs than I do."

"He has a spell able to guide him to his destination. Remind him to use it, he could have forgotten. Or it could not work well, his magic is like nothing I've seen. The sooner he goes to a safe place, the sooner he can leave."

Shining Pearl nodded, but Silver Star could sense she wasn't completely convinced about it. Maybe she didn't want Loki to go away?

The Lunar did get it, of course. Considering the peculiar circumstances that brought the redhead to Creation, Loki was probably the closest to understanding her. Sure, there was her companions, but since most of them were fighting against the Celestial Bureaucracy, it was probable that Loki was still the closest one to her sentiment toward Creation in general and the Sidereal in particular.

On the other hand, or maybe exactly because of that, she understood Loki's need to go forward better than anyone else. If she could leave Creation in the hopes, one day, to find her home again, she would have jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, it was not possible, but that just meant that she was not going to stop Loki from doing that, regardless of how much she wanted him to stay.

So she just entered her room and bid Star a goodnight.

-X-

The day after Pearl's first time in the Refuge, we were looking around the -at this point frozen- campfire to see if whatever had put us on high alert was still there, and… it wasn't.

"Maybe it really was a predator."

I activated my special eyes -I needed to find a name for them- and looked around, trying to see if there was a clue on what could have caused that strange sensation the night before. Maybe some kind of magical trace or something. But I couldn't find anything of the sort.

Until I noticed a blanket of dark energy far away. "A shadowland." I realized, recognizing the color.

"Where?" Asked Shining Pearl, looking around.

"A couple of miles away." I guessed, mostly because I didn't know how long a 'mile' was in Creation. "Maybe whatever gave us that sensation got out from there, and it returned inside at dawn."

"Seems plausible." She admitted. "Do we have to travel inside the Shadowland? Is your spell pointing there?"

"Hmmm? Oh, no. As much as I would like for Divination to highlight the way, there is a limit on how distant the target can be. I tried a couple of times, but it gave me nothing."

"What were you searching for?" She asked. "Maybe you searched for something too specific."

"I tried 'Orichalcum', since it's the most important thing right now. Then I tried 'Five Magical Materials', but it still gave me nothing. Then I tried 'magical material' in general and still nothing. I'm afraid there is nothing here."

Pearl hummed, touching her lips with her closed fist. "I see. Maybe we should focus on reaching a city. Searching for magical materials in the middle of nowhere is not going to make us make much progress. And here in the North, it's more probable that the biggest concentrations of magical materials are going to be near cities. It's not like there can be a lot of First Age villas laying around… not with this climate."

"You have a point." I admitted. "It's probable that the biggest concentration of humans are going to either be in places where there is something that protects them from the cold, or protect them from monsters. Manses would be ideal, and cities would be built around them. Alright, new search parameters."

I activated Divination to see if there was any city around. When I got nothing, I tried for any kind of settlement… and I suddenly had a line of light pointing Northeast.

"I have a city." I announced with a smile… before taking a look at the Shadowland. "But it passes right near the Shadowland… if only we could move faster."

Wait a second…

"I'm an idiot."

"Why?" Asked my traveling companion, confused.

"I have a magical horse that can run as fast as the wind." I replied, facepalming.

There was a brief silence.

"Are you fucking serious? You're telling me that we could have ridden a magic horse instead of walking for ten days and you just remember now?"

"Yes. That's what I get for sleeping every three days." I shook my head, still disbelieving I could forget Sleipnir. "In my defense, it's one horse and we are two, and I have nothing that can run as fast as him. But he will able to take both of us. It's a big boy. Sleipnir!"

The Atronach reacted immediately, as a short burst of wind suddenly erupted behind us. I turned to see Shining Pearl pouting at me.

"C'mon, don't look at me like that, I didn't do that on purpose. After a month passed sailing around, I didn't think about it."

"You'll have to do better than that to be forgiven." She said, looking away in a clear attempt to continue to look offended.

"Can these help?" I asked, producing a couple of fur gloves that I managed to make and enchant during breakfast. They weren't my best job, but they should do their work.

Shining Pearl sent a glance at the gloves before snatching them up with the speed of a rabid mongoose and putting them on almost as fast. She flexed her fingers a couple of times, to be sure they didn't interfere with the movements of her hands, and nodded. "They will do."

In all of this, Sleipnir had materialized and waited patiently near… well, almost patiently. He hit the ground a couple of times with his hoof, shook his mane and sent us a neigh, which I suppose was his way to say 'move on you two'.

Without losing any more time, I jumped on him and offered my hand to Pearl. "Ready to go?"

She smiled, grabbed my hand and jumped on Sleipnir back with no effort. "Ready."

"You heard the lady, Sleipnir? It's time to run."

Sleipnir didn't need to be told twice. He reared, sending out a whinny that caused a miniature storm, and Shining Pearl had to hug me to not fall.

"Hold tight!" I warned her. "When I said he could run like the wind, I was not being metaphorical."

She grabbed me even tighter, just as Sleipnir dashed forward like a hurricane.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.2

Reaching the city I picked up with Clairvoyance required hours. Turns out, the range of the spell was pretty insane, and we managed to get in the worst position ever. We had gone East, forgetting that the Westmost part of the North was a gigantic peninsula. That, and the sea almost managed to reach the Bordermarches, the territory where the Wild started to influence Creation. Based on how fast Sleipnir could run, we had traveled at least four hundred kilometers from where we had started. Which was insane.

And the first thing we saw of the village, upon having crossed a hill, was a little girl with curly hair escaping from a… pink-ish predator thing that was chasing her? I was not sure what I was looking at.

But the terrorized cry she sent was enough.

"Ah!"

Sleipnir immediately understood and jumped forward. Instead of making a step, the Atronach teleported -with my powers, because Slepinir could run on air but he wasn't at that level yet- between the girl and the strange thing. His hoof caught the creature in the face and it flopped down like a sack of potatoes. Good, not a supernaturally tough monster then.

I spared a look at the thing. From a closer distance, it reminded me of a smilodon, also known as sabretooth tiger. Only, instead of being muscular and covered with a thick fur to protect itself from the cold, it was butt-naked, hence the pink coloration. It was almost skeletally thin, maybe an impression caused by the disproportionately long legs, that were at least one and half the size they should be, with long, un-retracted claws and… signs of necrosis caused by frostbite? What? What was this creature?

It didn't matter, because it was not alone. Now that I was closer to the village, I could see several other monsters attacking it, trying to claw their way inside the buildings or savaging a corpse in the middle of the street. Probably the mother of the girl, caught with the daughter outside when the monsters arrived.

So, I waved my hand, and as a first thing, the three creatures that were eating the corpse were pierced by lances of fire. The magic pierced their bodies and cooked their internal organs, instantly killing them.

As I did that, all the other monsters turned toward me simultaneously.

"Attracted by heat." I murmured. "Very well then."

Sleipnir neighed as I created a sphere of flames in my hand before launching it high in the sky. Instantly, the monsters stopped attacking whatever they were attacking and ran toward us, ready to tear us apart. Half a dozen creatures. Too easy.

"Rain of fire." I ordered, pointing in their direction.

The ball of fire in the sky exploded into dozens of homing flaming missiles, impacting the monsters before they could reach us. Despite being attracted by heat, they didn't seem to take it very well. The fire rain destroyed them, their flesh almost frying under the onslaught before being charred beyond recognition.

A second, and it was done.

"Take care of the girl." I said to Shining Pearl as I dismounted. She nodded and did the same, before quickly turning toward the girl in question, who had frozen in place, looking at us with wide open eyes, either in shock or fear. Shining Pearl reached for her and kneeled down to her level, while I reached the corpse of the first three monsters I had killed to see what the hell they were. The others were too burnt to get anything out of them.

Analyzing the corpses with my special eye power, I found conflicting information. On the one hand, they looked like normal animals, with all the characteristics of a normal animal, like blood, organs and everything else.

On the other hand, I distantly caught traces of cold magic on them. But the hue on the magic was the strangest I have ever seen. Multicolored, constantly fluctuating, eerie.

"Wyld mutation." I muttered under my breath. Some kind of partial transformation in an elemental creature. Incomplete, probably unstable. They were trying to consume a source of heat to survive, or maybe they were trying to destroy all heat. Difficult to say. The result was the same, anyway.

Well, that removed a problem. If this was a unstable Wyld mutation, these things were new, and the chance of more being around was minimal. That meant that the village was safe… for now.

Better start to calm down the populace then. Hmmm… how do I approach this? I could try to play as the humble adventurer just passing by, but they could not believe me: people had the strange habit of assuming that whoever had power wanted something from them. And with me having just destroyed a pack of bloodthirsty monsters with a shower of fire from the sky, they were going to assume I went there for a reason. Going all warlord and demanding obedience was not my style either.

Probably the best idea was to tell them what I was searching and hoping they knew something.

But before that…

I passed my hand over the corpse of the woman. I couldn't resurrect people, but I could 'repair' her. The only thing that it was going to do was close the wounds as much as possible, so she could be buried -or burned, I was not sure what were the funerary rites here- with some dignity.

A second later, Shining Pearl, with the girl in her arms, joined me.

"I'm sorry." I said to the little girl, who was gripping Pearl's cloak like it was her last hope. She was crying, and looking at her reddened eyes, I briefly considered using magic to calm her down, but… I couldn't. It was not right. I couldn't console her by forcibly removing her negative emotions, and messing with minds was a slippery slope. Instead, I let Shining Pearl hold the girl and pat her head, trying to calm her down.

Slowly, the inhabitants of the village started to get out of their houses -surprisingly sturdy-looking stone buildings, probably very old- and congregated around us.

I diverted my gaze from the girl and looked at the crowd. "Who is the chief here?"

An old but still strong-looking man made a step forward. "I am, great Lord. My name is Othundra. How can we repay you for saving our village?"

Yeah, as assumed. "I am searching for old ruins from before the Contagion. Have you ever heard of something like this?"

The old man assumed a thoughtful expression for a second, then shook his head in denial. "I'm afraid I don't know of any such place, great Lord. Our village still stands thanks to a benediction put on this land from a god a long time ago, but it's the only miracle that I know of."

Hmm… disappointing, but not unexpected.

"If I may…" said a voice, and I turned to look at a young man that had just made a step forward. "I don't know if it will help, but… there is a valley, not very far from here. Grandpa always said that there was something mystical about it."

"You mean the Dread Valley? There is nothing there if not monsters and death." Shouted someone else.

"And yet." I said, shutting up any argument that could start. "It's worth some investigation. Can you show me where this Valley is?"

The boy seemed reluctant to say yes, but in the end he nodded. "Of course. We'll need supplies for a couple of days, but-"

"You misunderstand. I don't need you to come with me. I just need you to tell me the general direction of the place. I can find it on my own."

It was clear that he was very happy about it, by the pure relief that washed over him. "Ah, sure. It's-"

"There is no need to rush." I interrupted him again. I didn't like to do it, but I needed to maintain a certain image. "Your village has just been attacked, and a woman is dead. We'll talk after you have performed the necessary rites."

The old chief nodded with approval. "Our savior is right. We'll discuss this after we are sure that Dalaka's spirit has truly moved to the afterlife."

"Where is the girl's father?" Shining Pearl suddenly asked, still holding the girl that, shockingly, had been very silent until now.

Othundra lowered his head. "Dead, I'm afraid. He was one of our hunters, and one of his hunts didn't go well." He shook his head in grief. "But you don't need to worry. Someone in the village will take care of her."

The woman nodded, but didn't make a move to leave the girl. In fact, most other people were looking at each other, like they were not sure who would take the girl in.

I understood. The North was an unforgiving place. If things had gone bad for the village recently, she could have been an extra mouth that they couldn't afford to feed.

"Seems like this, too, is something to discuss later. For now, can you give us a free house? We need to rest and, possibly, get the girl some rest too."

"Of course. Please, this way."

And so we got inside a house. There was nothing special about it, it was pretty bare, all things considered -everything useful was probably taken by someone else when it was clear that nobody wanted to live there- but for now it will do. I made some basic furniture with magic, starting from a bed, and by the time I was done, both the girl and Shining Pearl were asleep, hugging each other. Seeing them like that warmed my heart. Maybe everything would be alright, after all.

-X-

I remained a couple of days in the village -which I'll continue to call 'the village' since I found the true name of the place to be unpronounceable- to give a little assistance. Small things: fix whatever the ice sabertooths broke, help celebrate the funerals -they burned the corpses, because while the Shadowland was pretty far away, but not that far- and help calm down the little girl.

Her name was Bacan, apparently, which was a… peculiar name, which almost sounded like racket in Italian. But since I didn't want to put more trauma on the little girl, I remained silent. Instead, I made sure to give the girl anything she could need, in the brief time I had with her. Not that she made requests, but I understood when she was hungry, so I made sure to always have a little snack to give her just in case.

Fortunately, it seemed like Shining Pearl's presence was enough to keep the girl distracted. Sure, she still woke up screaming in the middle of the night, but she was getting better.

So, I was not surprised in the slightest when my companion told me she was not following me to the Dread Valley.

"I cannot leave Bacan right now." She said, "She's still shocked by… everything that happened."

I nodded. "I know. Don't worry, I don't mind. Not the first time I had to explore a snowy, mountainous region by myself."

She replied by sending me a small, relieved smile. And then, Bacan peeped from behind Pearl's leg, looking at me with big eyes.

"Yes?" I asked, kneeling to be at her height.

The girl gripped Pearl's dress, clearly uncomfortable. Did I scare her? That seemed to be the case, it was an effect I usually had on little children. It was not something I did on purpose, but I was very tall compared to them, and apparently my face was too serious or something. Or maybe it was just because they didn't know me. I was not sure.

Which was a shame, because she really reminded me of my sister when she was still young, and had not become an annoying teenager. So I wanted her to like me, at least a little. But there were things I couldn't change.

Meanwhile, Pearl gave Bacan a little push, and the girl answered by looking away.

"Are you… leaving?" She finally whispered, clearly anxious.

Ah… so that's what it was. I put on my best reassuring smile. "Yes, but just for a couple of days at most. I need to find if there is something I need around here. If there is nothing, I'll be back sooner."

I could see the raw fear she felt. The girl had already lost her family once, and even if I didn't think she considered us family, we were still something close. She didn't say anything, but it was clear that she didn't want me to leave.

I reached out and stroked her hair. She was so small, my hand covered most of her head, and I never had big hands. "Don't worry about me. I'm very strong. I'll be back before you even realize."

After she seemed to have calmed down a little, I stood up and let her go… and as soon as I did that, she ran toward me and hugged my leg with all the strength her little body could muster.

For just a moment, I contemplated the idea of waiting a couple of days. Just… let her recover a little more.

But I knew that if I did that, I would probably never go. Besides, staying here was not safe. I managed to reverse engineer the Fate thing Shining Pearl had, and I proceeded to cover both me and her in a cocoon of fake Fate to hide us from the Sidereals, but it was far from fool-proof, since I couldn't really test it. I was hoping it was enough, but it might not be, so if I got attacked it was easier to get the fuck out in an isolated place. For the village, potentially getting attacked by a Fate-ninja sounded like a terrible idea, so I couldn't risk being here. From what I know, the fuckers could, I dunno, cause a river to suddenly overflow and get this entire place drowned just to kill me. It sounded improbable, because I didn't believe them to be that heartless, but I also didn't trust them to not go all Heavenly Gestapo if I posed that much of a threat.

So I just waited patiently for Shining Pearl to embrace Bacan and delicately remove her form by leg. I gave her a last pat on her little head, made sure I had left behind enough food for both of them, and then I got out.

-X-

Finding the Dread Valley hadn't been hard. Discovering why people feared it so much was even easier. It had nothing to do with the place being full of monsters and death, as the villager claimed. Sure, there were monsters -mostly local elementals, and they didn't seem to mind me much- and sure, it was not exactly hospitable, in fact compared to the village it was colder, the winds harsher, and the terrain even more uneven.

But what really kept people away from it was the eerie sensation it gave when you entered the valley. It was difficult to describe, almost like there was something crawling near you and you could never really see it, but you could still feel it.

And who knows? Maybe there was. Clairvoyance didn't work that well inside the valley. But after having explored it for a couple of hours, nothing had jumped from under the snow to kill me, so the best explanation was that there was nothing, and the strange sensation was caused by something else. Combined with the difficulty of using divination magic, I could only think of a ward of some kind, probably meant to keep away intruders.

Promising. Annoying, but promising.

The ward unfortunately seemed to be imprinted into the very ground of the Valley and not originating from any specific point, and that shot down any attempt to find whatever was hidden here by pin-pointing where the protection was. A Sorcerous Working of great power, or several weaker ones overlapping to grant total coverage, I was not sure and I couldn't check with my eyes because the thing soaked the valley so much, and for such a long time, that it was basically part of the scenery. Or maybe all Sorcerous Workings acted like that. From what I remembered, that kind of alteration was more a matter of changing the rules of reality in a certain area than putting up something like a spell. Same result, different method, in a sense, but still enough to fuck up my sight.

What I could catch, after several hours of research, was the slightest trace of magic coming from a piece of rock that looked identical to every other. After a brief moment of confusion, I managed to find a hidden mechanism and pressed it.

The rock wall opened, a rectangular section retracting inside the rest like the doors of an elevator. Behind it, there was a door, still made of stone, but this time decorated with Orichalcum ornaments depicting some kind of… praise to a higher being? I was not really sure what I was looking at, either a devout Solar honoring their patron or an egomaniacal one depicting himself as a god above the masses. I lacked the cultural background. What I did know was that, without the Orichalcum, I could have taken a while to find this place. Between the protection against Divination and the door not being some kind of illusion, missing the signs of this being the entrance to… something, was very easy. But the Orichalcum glinted with the power of the Sun even through the stone.

And now, I just needed to open the door.

It took a while. The door didn't have a keyhole and I suspected that whatever magical mechanism the original owner used was either completely gone or impossible to decipher… more because I had no idea what a Solar of the First Era could use as a password. But in the end, using magic to carefully test out every square inch of the door -I didn't want to be shot with a ray of death if I tried to force the thing open with a spell- and having ascertained that there didn't seem to be a trap of any kind, I just unlocked the mechanism with careful telekinesis. The door slit open with barely a sound, and I found myself looking at a long, dark corridor that went downward.

Well, time for adventure, I guess.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.3

The descent was surprisingly long. After a couple of minutes of careful walking -because I was sure there were traps around- I started to think that the builder of this place had pretty much dug into the mountain to make it. Which didn't sound so absurd considering that Exalts could live for millennia, especially Celestials. They surely had the time to pull it off. After all, what was a couple of centuries to make yourself a perfect laboratory when you would live at least ten times that?

Turns out, there were traps, but most of them were pretty mundane. The usual blades coming from the ceiling and similar, cleverly hidden from the less attentive gazes by the architectural design of the corridor. I could see the various decorations projecting just enough shadow to cover the slits where the blades would come out, or holes from where the trap was supposed to shoot darts camouflaged as indentations in the various bas-reliefs and statues that adorned the corridor I was walking through.

Of course, most didn't endure the passage of time very well. Not because of any problems with the construction, even if I suppose that several millennia would have some effect on their functionality, but mostly because something had happened here. I caught several cracks scattered across the walls and ceiling, probably caused by some kind of seismic event. As such, most of the traps didn't work. The ones that worked were easily avoided because, while the clever work made to hide them worked well with the right light, there was no light in this corridor, since I didn't need it to see in the darkness. As such, their clever placement was completely useless and I could avoid them easily. Even with Sense Traps down because the owner of the place was a paranoid bastard.

It took me twenty minutes to reach the end of the corridor, and when I arrived, I found myself walking into something I didn't expect. I assumed there was going to be a laboratory of some kind, hopefully with some spare magical material inside.

But what I found was not a laboratory. It was a cathedral. Of sorts. I remembered something about these kinds of places. Factory-cathedrals, the greatest example of Exalted technology. Immense buildings that had one and just one purpose: to mass-produce artifacts.

Now, here is where the information I had became… unreliable. In 2nd Edition, these factories could be used to produce any kind of artifact, including artifact weapons and armors. By what I found on the internet, there were 2-dot Artifacts that had no special power: you just attuned them to your Essence and then used the massive slab of metal as a weapon, with the magic intrinsic in the process making the entire thing light like a feather.

In 3rd Edition, that was not the case anymore, at least not for weapons and armors. Those were considered unique masterworks, and couldn't be less than 3-dots. Each one had a unique power, or the potential to develop a series of powers. Even artifacts made in the same general shape and with the same material were very different, the intent and personality of the smith influencing the weapon.

So the only thing this factory-cathedral could make was…

There was a sound of something metallic hitting the floor, and I took notice of a mechanical humanoid that was awkwardly trying to stand up. It was not doing a great job. For all that it was probably made with the best techniques and materials available and that as an inorganic creature he didn't age, time had caught up to it anyway. Its joints didn't move well, its movements slow and snappy instead of fast and fluid like they were supposed to be.

I had heard of this construct. It was… somewhere in a manual I read. Brass Legionaries, if I remembered the name right. Mechanical constructs created for some war, probably toward the end of the First Age. An interesting piece of technomagic. I needed a sample to send to the Refuge. If they could figure out how to make them…

Well, later. Before that I needed to incapacitate this one. With a tap of my foot on the ground, I raised a cage of black obsidian on the golem. The creature slammed against the stone and bounced back. As I suspected, he was not able to smash through it. Maybe if given time he can break out, but his metallic body would fail well before my prison broke. Now I just needed a way to incapacitate the thing without destroying it. Hmm… was it vulnerable to lightning?

It was. When my lightning bolt slammed against it, the arcs of electricity apparently short-circuit it, or something equivalent. It flopped on the ground and didn't move further.

Ah, at least something easy. Now, was there something else that wanted to jump on me?

…

No? Alright.

Time to explore.

-X-

In the end, I considered myself pretty lucky.

Sure, the vast majority of the place was useless to me. Like a factory that had long stopped working, there was not much for me to salvage. The Brass Legionnaires, despite being -from what I understood about them- pretty high quality Artifacts, were not made with anything special. Brass, mostly, and something else that made them move, but I didn't have the time to open one up and find out what. The lack of magical materials made sense, they were supposed to be mass produced: they had entire armies of these things, after all.

The factory-cathedral itself was not made of any magical material in particular. Some exotic metal that I could probably analyze if I wanted, but not right now.

And there was no hidden armory or anything like that. I checked. Thrice.

But what I did find was a secondary laboratory, behind a pretty simple door, and there I found what I needed. Clearly whoever built this place was a true craftsman, and so had stashed some magical materials there for… when they got bored, I guess. Nothing excessive, but half a dozen of half-made artifacts, or maybe pieces of a couple of mixed-materials ones, littered the place. I could see a blade made of Moonsilver, various ingots of Jade kind of laying around in different shapes, like the owner didn't know what to do with them, and even what looked like an ore of Starmetal in a drawer, still raw. I got him: Starmetal was so rare -and so desired by the Sidereals- that they probably waited to use it for something really important instead of wasting it for whatever.

But the real price was a breastplate made of Orichalcum, looking almost finished, laying on a mannequin in a corner. That was amazing. There was enough Orichalcum there to make both the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes and the battery, and then some. Not enough to empower my armor, that unfortunately required more materials than I had access to right now, but still it was a great find!

Oh, and there was also a vault of some kind hidden behind a massive door, right in the middle of the factory-cathedral, that looked far more ancient than the rest of the place. I was curious, but as I analyzed the thing I found a lot of enchantments and ancient seals meant both to stop people from opening it and to keep something inside, and I promptly decided to not touch that. I don't know why they would build a factory over an ancient seal of some kind, probably Solar hubris, but I had no intention to mess with it, not even in a million years. Whatever was inside that thing could remain inside.

So, after a brief message to Shining Pearl to warn her that I did find something and so I was going to take my time, I quickly got to work.

The first thing I did was create another shadow. Wahl, the architect, was going to be the shadow that took over the 'make great magical buildings' niche out of Voluks hands the same way Dol was going to take the 'make magical tools' once he finished his training under Ninegala and, well, the weapons. Truthfully, I should have thought about it before, but I didn't really have anything to build on for now. With a mostly intact cathedral-factory right here, Wahl could pierce the secrets of First Age artifice out of it, or at least in part, and combine it with what we knew about Tonal Architecture to make our own magical factories, with black jack and hookers.

The only problem with that was… I kind of had problems bringing Wahl out. Vokun had been easy. Dol had not been a problem either. But Wahl… I felt resistance when I brought him out. Was there some kind of limit on the number of shadows I could make? Probably. I would need to be more careful about what role the next ones had, in case I was reaching it.

But that was for later. So, I let him scan the entire building with magic, creating magical blueprints to use later, while I focused on crafting.

Of course, I didn't want to create anything important right now. Dol was the one that had training in making Artifacts, not me. I could surely try to make one, but the last thing I wanted was to waste materials, since already finding these had been a pretty lucky occurrence. No, I would let the expert make them. Or, at least, wait until we fuse together again before doing it myself.

So, while I stashed most of the materials inside the Refuge, I kept a piece of Orichalcum with me. Because I didn't trust my ability to bring the full potential of my weapons and armors without using Dol's knowledge, there was a single Artifact that I could make without worries. After all, I already made it once. It just needed the right materials.

So, I took a couple of days to smelt, then hammer the Orichalcum I had saved up into a Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes. The work was more complex than it looked. I was more experienced with weapons and armors than I was with jewelry, and making the artifact required even more precision. The amulet itself didn't need to be anything special, but to make sure it didn't explode like the shadow copy I conjured did, the runic incisions on it had to be perfect. So I took my time, using magic to smooth the process as much as possible.

I was normally not so fussy about small details. Sure, any of my weapons was perfectly balanced, or as perfectly balanced as I could make them, and they also were as aesthetically pleasing as they could be for weapons and armors that I made with functionality in mind before anything else. I made sure that the runes and every other 'decoration' I made was put right where it needed to be and symmetrically if possible. But, and that's the big difference, when you reached a certain level of precision, those were things that came natural. The Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes was different. The runes were the core of the entire thing. Having them misaligned by a fraction of a millimeter, a distance that most people couldn't even perceive, would be a disaster in this situation.

So I did it calmly. There was no need to rush. I engraved every single rune with supreme precision, both on the Talisman and inside the Talisman, in the recess that will contain the ruby required for the entire thing. Then, I placed the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes on a slightly larger amulet, this one covered with a 'sticky' enchantment to make sure the Talisman would slot it inside and never get off unless under the effect of a force superior to my own, and also so I could stick the entire thing on my armor and remove it at will. Because I already had a magical necklace and I didn't want to change it, thank you very much. Even if I suppose I could make some changes to it if needed.

So, after two days of extremely precise work, the Talisman was ready. I just needed to put a fraction of my power inside it to activate it… and hope it didn't explode.

As I did so, I also closed my eyes. The Artifact was, from what I remembered, focused on perception, especially perception of things outside your body. So, closing my eyes and letting the Talisman do its thing seemed like the best thing to do.

The effect was immediate. My senses expanded in all directions, and became deeper too. It was like I could now perceive things I couldn't before, simply because my senses were not equipped to sense them. Hidden mechanisms of the cosmos were unveiled before me, and in that moment, I was certain, I reached Celestial Circle Sorcery, making me one of the de facto greatest experts of Sorcery in all Creation, simply by virtue of not being enough Solaroids around for enough time to let them learn Solar Circle Sorcery. The greatest achievement any 'normal' Celestial level mystic could reach, the work of entire lives, was in my hands.

And I just took a couple of months to do it.

Well, the use of the Talisman was kind of cheating, in a sense. I achieved Terrestrial Circle Sorcery by bending my understanding of Aetherium Magic until the square fit in the round hole, but this was different. Here, I made an artifact using arcane formulas meant to increase my ability to perceive, basically, short-cut months or even years of study and dedication. There were similar methods that Ihad heard about, most of them requiring you to make a pact with some kind of powerful demon or elemental so they would share their knowledge with you.

Sure, a normal person would have taken years to make the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes, because it was an artifact of a certain power, so it was more like I cheated on the time to make the thing because I was Exalted and I could replicate in an hour the work of an hundred people. Even before I Exalted, it would have taken me just a couple of weeks to make it.

Not a bad time to learn the power to bend the rules of the universe to your whims.

Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy my brief moment of cosmic awareness, because something a lot more mundane caught my attention.

Pain. Despair. Suffering. Someone, a lot of someones, was in terrible physical and spiritual pain right now. I could sense other emotions too, like brief spikes of hope, but those emotions were quickly extinguished in a way that felt… unnatural. Like something had forcibly destroyed them.

The sensation was close. Pinpointing it was hard but I could tell the general direction. And the direction was…

… Oh, no.

Forcibly returning my senses inside my body, I jumped up and teleported to the village.

-X-

When I materialized back into the village, the scenario I witnessed was nothing short of apocalyptic. Warriors wearing strange, surreal armor had raided the place, sacking and pillaging like a worse parody of the Huns.

The attack had happened at most an hour ago, probably less, since the blood I could see was still very fresh. In fact, I suspected that the only reason some of the villagers were still alive -and for how long was debatable unless I didn't do anything, because judging by the cries they were making they were not being treated gently- was because the assailants were Raksha. That. or some other kind of Wyld creature that needed to feed on the emotions of mortals to remain inside Creation without disappearing in a bubble of thought or whatever those fuckers did.

Before any of the fae warriors could react to my sudden presence in the middle of the village, I searched for Bacan and Shining Pearl. A pulse of magic scoured the place, but turned out with nothing. That didn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe they escaped in some way. In front of the house we had used in the last few days there was a little crowd of dead Raksha, their armor crunched by the inhuman power Shining Pearl could impress with her limbs. Maybe she had smashed through them and ran away, in the wilds, while keeping the girl with her. With her Getimians powers, Shining Pearl could just warp distance so that nobody could reach her, if she wanted to.

Then my eyes fell on a line of bodies crucified using brambles, and right at the side of an empty cross, I saw her.

Bacan's body was almost intact. There was just a bruise on her right temple to indicate that she had been hit by something. Unfortunately, the skull of children was not the toughest protection in existence, especially if, as I suspected, she was punched by an armored fist. She probably died on the spot, since the briars constricting her legs and arms to the wooden cross had very little blood on them.

The world froze. I was vaguely aware of the fact that the soldier had finally started to react to my presence, but I couldn't care less. The few days I spent with the girl started to flash through my mind in a loop, faster and faster. And every time it looped back, the face of Bacan morphed slightly, becoming more similar to that of my sister… Then the flash changed and I started to see all my friends crucified in the same way, their faces overlapping with the one of the poor people of the village staring from the ones I made here down to my family, until I had the impression that their corpse had surrounded me. Accusing me. Judging me.

I… never had to see someone I cared about die. Yes, my grandfather died more than ten years ago, but that was the age finally getting him. All the people I met during my travels… I always managed to protect them. Even Fenrir, despite dying, in the end managed to remain at my side.

Not this time.

My mind blanked completely, only white noise filling my ears, my eyes seeing but not seeing the surroundings, and my thoughts stilled.

And in that nothing, something woke up.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.4

Of all things Vokun Loki expected to happen, finding wounded, bleeding allies laying inside the mansion was not one of them.

"Shining Pearl!" He shouted, seeing the Getimian. He had just teleported here as he sensed someone entering the Refuge, and so he hesitated for only a fraction of a second when he saw the state she was in.

"Heal her!" He continued as soon as he recovered from the shock. The order reverberated inside the mansion and the shadow priests immediately materialized at her side, starting to pour healing magic on her. Meanwhile, he bent down to see the full extent of the damage. She was tortured, that much was clear, but the wounds weren't lethal. She probably would have healed on her own… assuming she didn't bleed out.

"What happened?" He asked. How could she have been reduced to that state? Why didn't the original protect her?

"Village… Raksha…" She weakly replied, and a picture started to form in Vokun's mind. Of course. She was teleported away, if not by the original, then by some safety measure inside the medallion that allowed her access to the Refuge. An attack by Raksha… the original was probably still fighting or away from here when she was caught.

Vokun grunted, thinking frenetically. If this village was under attack, he needed to help… but he didn't know how much of an help he could be. One of the first things he learned about himself was that his fake shadow body couldn't really recover. Sure, he didn't care about wounds, but enough physical damage could still disrupt him and he wasn't as solid as the original. Furthermore, and more damning, was that his magical powers didn't recover either, and he didn't have the reserves the original had either. It was not usually a problem because he could always use a Shout to recharge himself, but in combat that made him less effective. Opening a portal was going to drain him, and he wasn't sure the inhabitants of the Refuge were going to fare well against the strange powers of the Raksha. Bringing them could cause a disaster.

But he knew of someone that could face the reality-warping Raksha. Only, sending them there would pretty much require all his powers…

But it needed to be done.

Vokun Loki was not Rexen Loki, the original. He was quite literally created to incarnate those aspects of his mentality that were useful to govern a place like the Refuge. It was his focus and, as such, he didn't usually bother with anything else. Sure, he learned Blood Magic because the original asked, and because it was useful knowledge that was possibly going to save the original one day, and learning about Manses from Silver Star, also at the request of the original. But aside from that, he didn't learn anything new aside from, well, administrative tasks.

But every time he returned to the original's shadow, he learned everything that the original had learned, so while he was probably lagging behind him right now in terms of magical power and knowledge, he still had enough power and skill to be one of the best mages to ever walk on Creation.

And so, he closed his eyes and attuned himself to the protections around the mansion, protections that were meant to stop anyone from coming through. Anyone… with one exception.

Following the link between the defenses and Silver Star's amulet, he raised his hand and started to mold magical energy, all the while pushing tendrils toward another four people on that side of Creation. Then, when he had them hooked, he clasped his hands together, and called them to his side.

It was a rough job especially since he didn't have any kind of physical anchor for the other four, but it worked. They appeared with a boom as the spell displaced them imperfectly, but they arrived with all the limbs intact so it was not a problem.

Silver Star, Sazang, Pigsy, Sandy and Monkey remained confused for a second, before they noticed Vokun.

"Hey, Loki, what the hell…" Started Monkey, before noticing the woman covered in blood. "What's happening?"

"Shining Pearl!" Exclaimed Silver Star, before kneeling at the side of the Getimian. "These wounds… what hurt her?"

"Raksha." Replied Vokun, attracting the attention of the entire group. "She mentioned a village. I'll send you there. I'm afraid that…"

"Wow, wow, calm down! Who is this woman? Why do you talk like you know her but you don't know what happened to her?"

Vokun thought of a way to explain without taking too much time. In the end, there was just something he could do.

His body lost coherence, shadows starting to drip out of him. It must have looked weird, because the Exalts flinched, even Silver Star, who knew what he really was.

"I'm not Loki. I'm just a shadow he left behind to take care of this place. He was with Shining Pearl, but only she arrived. Please… you must hurry. He could be in great danger."

The fear and confusion quickly disappeared… except for Silver Star, who looked at him with worry. "Vokun, are you sure? A spell of that caliber…"

"There is no time to waste." He replied. Sure, technically one minute here was less than a second, but fights involving Exalted rarely lasted long. "I'll send you immediately-"

"Wait!" Came a voice, and a hand closed on his wrist like a vice. Shining Pearl had opened her eyes.

"Pearl! I'm happy to see you. Don't worry, I'm sending help to the village."

"It's too late." She said, and tears started to drop from her eyes. "The village… is gone. I tried to stop them, but there were too many… they caught Bacan and…"

Vokun had no idea who Bacan was but it was clear that Pearl cared about her. But more importantly…

"Where is the original?" He asked.

"He was not there. He left the village… searching for materials…" She replied. "The attack caught us off guard… nobody had seen them arrive."

That calmed down Vokun a little. If the original was not fighting, they had the time to organize. "How many?"

"A hundred… a thousand… I couldn't count. They just arrived out of nowhere…" Shining Pearl raised the arm that was less injured and dried her tears. "Please… wait until I'm recovered." She raised her eyes, and there was a flame inside them that made even Monkey take a step back. "I want them to pay."

Vikun remained silent for a second, then nodded. "Alright. The difference with the passage of time means that we can spend a couple of minutes preparing. Stay here, I'm going to do something to help."

He then disappeared while the shadow priests continued to heal Shining Pearl. After twenty minutes or so, he returned with several bottles of some dense liquid inside.

"Here." He said, giving the bottles to them. "This oil should replicate the effect of cold iron. If it works, it will deal terrible damage to the Raksha. It also should last for an entire fight, so you don't have to worry about applying it in the middle of combat."

"I cannot avoid noticing that you used a lot of 'should'." Commented Sandy. "There is some potential problems?"

Vokun shrugged. "I made that thing in ten minutes and I've never actually fought a Raksha. I don't know if it will work… but that's it. There is no risk in trying."

"It will do." Shining Pearl butted in, forcefully pushing one of the shadow priests away from her. "Let's go."

Vokun spared her a glance. She seemed in good enough condition to actually fight, so he saw no reason to delay further. "Alright."

Vikun reached out to the necklace that brought Shining Pearl there, and quickly wrapped the magic that it contained around the others. As he did so, he started to channel the magic necessary to send them there… and noticed something wrong.

"There is some interference." He warned them. "It's a bad sign. Be ready!"

Then, the group disappeared in a flash of light, and Vokun Loki swayed at the sudden loss of magicka. Fortunately, he had a potion ready for that.

As he drank it, he hoped everything was going right.

-X-

When they arrived at the village, they found that the entire place was basically a death zone.

There was nothing alive there. The entire place had been sacked, and the people killed, but there was no sound that you would expect from a place currently under attack by a horde of Wyld creatures. In fact, the only sound that could be heard was the crackle of the fires still burning.

Oh, and the thundering, deafening roars of a gigantic draconic creature, right in the middle of the destruction. The monster was bigger than the houses around it, houses that he probably smashed fighting the Raksha.

"What the hell is that thing?" Asked Monkey, enlarging his staff and readying himself to fight.

Silver Star didn't know. The creature didn't quite look… natural.

It was difficult to pin down exactly why, though. It was mostly black, with the membrane on the wings of a dark green color. As apparently it was a theme, the underbelly and the curved horns of the monster were of another dark color, in this case silver. The only parts of his body that weren't dark were also the smallest: the interior of its mouth was purplish, a color that she would associate with some illness if the entire thing didn't already look unnatural, its teeth were stark white, and the cat-like eyes, pointed at the sky above, where of a brilliant, vibrant green. They were also… familiar?

Familiar… yes, that was it. The monster looked like something that could exist in Creation. It was not that different from any elemental dragon, it was just stockier, and had a massive pair of wings where the frontal legs should be, making it look like he was walking on its knuckles like a gorilla. But that was exactly the problem. It looked like something that could exist in Creation, yet it clearly didn't. Maybe it was because it looked like it was just born, its body not having even a trace of the passage of time. But whatever the case, it just felt wrong, like it was out of place. She couldn't put it better than that. It looked like something that could exist, but it also looked like it didn't belong there, and combined, these two sensations made looking at it disturbing, and slightly headache inducing.

Unfortunately, they didn't have the time to really wonder what the creature was, because its eye suddenly darted on them. The dragon stopped roaring and turned, fixing its gaze on the group. Its eyes were surprisingly intelligent. This was not just an animal.

There was a brief moment of absolute immobility. The dragon looked at them, they looked at the dragon. Nobody moved.

Then, the dragon suddenly stepped forward, his movement both extremely heavy and strangely graceful, and Hell broke loose.

Monkey jumped, clearing all the distance between him and the monster's head with a single leap, and smashed his staff on the dragon's nose.

The effect was comparable to that of a particularly annoying fly. The dragon snorted and swatted Monkey aside with a flick of its snout. The Lunar flew away and managed to land gracefully on the ruin of a house, but that was not encouraging. Monkey was their heaviest hitter. If he was unable to damage the dragon, the chances of any of them to do something were pretty limited.

Sandy and Pigsy jumped forward, attacking the -supposedly- vulnerable membrane on the wings to lock the monster on land.

Unfortunately, the membrane being more vulnerable than the rest of the admittedly heavily armored body of the dragon didn't mean it would be easy to pierce. In fact, both their weapons bounced on the elastic skin, almost flying out of their hands.

Something sparked in the eyes of the creature. He emitted a powerful growl, the earth shaking at the sound, then it raised its wing and with more speed than any creature of that size had any right to have, he swatted Pigsy and Sandy aside.

The effect looked almost comical. It was like a sail had spontaneously decided to attack the duo. Of course, that was before you took in consideration the immense mass behind the strike. And as expected, when the impact came it was anything but comical.

The two warriors had enough presence of mind to raise their weapons and try to roll with the attack, but it was simply too fast for them, and the end result was them flying away with far less grace and control than usual, before smashing against the rubble with a disturbingly loud impact. She was not sure they didn't have anything broken.

Monkey didn't take that well.

The Casteless Lunar emitted a piercing war cry as he jumped high, far higher than before. In the middle of the jump, his body exploded with silver light and changed, a thick fur covering his body as it expanded in all directions. His clothes, mercifully, were magically treated so they expanded with him, as his staff did. His face lengthened, and when the transformation ended, he was a sixty feet tall baboon… or something like that.

Silver Star looked in awe. She knew that some Lunars could transform into giant animals, and some could make themselves bigger, but that was the first time she saw a Lunar assume a giant hybrid form.

Then Monkey fell on the dragon monster, his staff soaring through the air and impacting on the side of the monster's head so hard she could swear she saw the air ripple on the impact. The dragon's head whipped on the side…

And then returned back into position, the monster's eyes now full with rage, and he roared so hard some stones in the vicinity cracked. Then, with the agility that should be reserved for great cats and not for creatures the size of warships, he tackled Giant Monkey on the ground, the Lunar warrior narrowly avoiding having the maws of the creature closing on his face by interposing the staff between his head and the dragon's.

And all of that happened in a couple of seconds at most. No. Creature. Had. Any. Right. To be that fast.

Unless…

"Wait!" She shouted, stopping Sanzang and Shining Pearl to join the fight. Most for their own good, as Monkey had just kicked the dragon away, and the creature actually somersaulted and landed on its feet like a cat. "It's a dragon!"

"And?" Asked Sanzang, confused.

"Maybe it's related to Loki in some way!" She quickly explained, and understanding lightened their expressions. "Maybe we don't have to fight it."

"It's a little late for- down!" Shouted Shining Pearl, and instinctively, Silver Star obeyed, diving face-first in the ground.

A column of fire the size of a house flew over their heads, so hot that it was a miracle that they weren't incinerated on the spot. In fact, most of the surrounding area was melting. But for some reason, they didn't take any damage.

And even more damning, she clearly heard words coming from the mouth of the dragon… the same words that Loki used to call his innate magic, the Voice.

The same realization showed on the face of Shining Pearl… no, that wasn't right. The realization on her face was different. There was… horror on her face. She shot up and started to run toward the fighters, their clash shocking the earth…

Wait… she reached outside her body with her sense, feeling a disturbance in the surrounding Essence. In doing so, she found out there was a Dragon Line that passed right under the village, in the direction of the distant mountains… and that the Essence of the dragon was interfering with it in some way, the agitation of the monster was reflected in the Dragon Line, the Essence flow erratic.

The situation was clearly going out of control fast, they needed to stop the monster before-

"Loki!" Shouted Shining Pearl, prompting Silver Star to focus on the fight again. Did she just…?

She did. And, bafflingly, the dragon actually reacted to the call. It momentarily stopped moving, locking its eyes on the Getimian…

Before something could happen, Monkey was on the dragon and delivered a powerful series of blows on the creature's head. It was clear that, even if it had taken the first attack pretty well, the dragon was unable to bear the full brunt of the assault for long. The first hit cracked its armor, and from then, every strike broke something. Which was… curious. The first attack had more power and didn't have so much of an effect. It was almost like… like…

Oh, shit.

"Monkey, stop!" She shouted, starting to run, before remembering that she was a Lunar and she didn't need to do that. She turned into a crow and flew as fast as she could, starting to circle the Lunar's head and cawing loudly, trying to distract him.

It worked, somehow. Monkey shook his head and tried to shoo her away, but she didn't give up. In the end, Monkey decided to ignore her and focus on the dragon.

Only to find it laying down, his green eyes looking at Shining Pearl.

"Get away from it!" Growled the Lunar, but Silver Star landed on top of the dragon's head and spread her arms.

"Monkey, stop! Can't you see?"

The Lunar actually stopped for a second and looked at the dragon. The first thing he noticed, probably, was the fact that the wounds on the body of the creature were rapidly closing.

The second, that she noticed in that moment too, was that he was glowing with orange and blue flames.

"It's ok." Said Shining Pearl, caressing the head of the dragon. "You can turn back. They're gone."

The dragon sighed, or she supposed he did, and then started to crack. There was no other way to say it. cracks started to appear all over the body of the creature leaking a fiery light, and a second later, the body seemed to be sucked toward the head. As it did, a human silhouette materialized.

Loki stumbled forward, his head still covered in blood, and Shining Pearl immediately supported him.

"Ah." He said. "I'm… I'm sorry. I was just… so… angry…"

Of course. He had snapped when he saw what the Raksha had done with the people of the village. So angry that when they attacked him, he lashed out. But deep in his heart he didn't want to hurt them. And this was not something that Silver Star knew because she could feel his true emotion or a similar silliness. She knew because Loki's magic never hurt his allies. It was a power he made a pact with a Demon to have.

"It's alright." Continued Shining Pearl. "It happens to all Exalts. The gift of the Gods elevates every part of us… good and bad things alike."

"It shouldn't have happened to me…" He replied, but Sazang stopped him by reaching his side and observing the wounds on his head.

"It's better you don't talk much, Loki. Monkey did a good job. The skull is cracked. I'm surprised you can talk." He sent a glare to Monkey, who looked a little guilty. Not much, but still.

"I'm fine." Said the man, and nobody believed him. "Just… let me rest until I can formulate a spell…"

"Yes, it's better." Nodded the Solar. "The wounds are closing quickly. You'll be fine in a second. Let's put him near Pigsy and Sandy, so he can heal all of them when he's recovered."

"The people…" Wheezed the mage, apparently uncaring of his health. "Where are they?"

Silver Star looked around, at the burning remains of the village. She had no hopes for them… but she couldn't tell him that. "We'll find them. Now rest."

Loki nodded and let them put him down. Then, they started to search.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.5

Surprisingly, and to Shining Pearl's relief, they did find the people of the village. They were not in good shape, most had been beaten and chained, and some still suffered from recent torture. Still, most were in relatively good condition. The enormous wave of flames Loki released when he transformed didn't harm them, even if the heart of some of the oldest gave under the fear. It was quickly agreed to not tell him.

By the time they had finished gathering the people and returned to the village, Loki was healed enough to shine white light all around him, closing both his, Sandy and Pigsy's wounds. In fact, the two warriors were up, even if clearly not in any condition to fight.

"Bring the wounded here." Said Loki when he saw them. "I'll heal them, and then rebuild the place."

"Uh… you can do that?" Monkey asked, who was carrying an old woman on his back.

"Not like it was before." Admitted the Exigent. "But at least enough to give them a place to live."

The people started to flow toward him, thanking him for his help and to have killed all the monsters. Loki didn't seem happy, though, and asked to be left alone to better focus on the magic.

It was just an excuse, she knew. That level of magic was nothing for him, even if for the people it must have looked like a miracle. He probably wanted to be left alone to think, but he couldn't just seclude himself, so this was his best alternative.

It took several more minutes for everyone to be healed, and when they were, Loki stood up. Immediately, the mortals silenced themselves, probably waiting for a speech of some kind.

They didn't get it.

What they got was Loki raising his arms, a glowing circle of ochre light dancing on his palms, and the village trembled. Then, the stones started to float.

It was impressive, more impressive than anything she's ever seen him doing. Not for the power, because she knew he could lift far heavier objects, but for the control. The stones, the ones still usable for construction, started to fly around, piling on each other. At some point, Loki had to extract the foundations of several other houses, for there was not enough stone to make them all.

And after a couple of minutes, he was done. There were roughly half the houses that were there before, but there were also half of the people if not less, so it was not that much of a problem. He lowered his hands and took a long breath.

"I'm going to retire to my mansion." He declared, without much clarification. "Coming with me?"

Everyone instantly understood that he was talking to the Exalts, so the normal people just bowed slightly and made a step back. Meanwhile, everyone else nodded and walked beside him… aside from Sandy and Pigsy, who had just remained at his side the whole time.

Shining Pearl quickly reached his side, and the moment they were all close enough, they disappeared into the Dragon's Refuge.

She expected a rant from Loki at any moment. He was clearly upset by what happened. She was not disappointed.

She also didn't expect what he would rant about.

-X-

When we finally arrived in the security of the Dragon Refuge, I looked as my companions started to walk away. I didn't. I remained fixed on the spot.

"That shouldn't have happened." I muttered.

"Loki, nothing about that was your fault." Immediately said Shining Pearl. "Nobody expected them to attack. The hunters of the village regularly patrol the area, and they didn't notice anything. They either materialized out of nowhere or managed to evade notice despite their armors. You didn't know they would come."

She sounded like she had the speech prepared. Which was legit. Once the protections around her amulet had kicked in, she would have a lot of time in the Refuge to heal and think about what to say.

A part of me would have preferred if she told me that I should have been there to protect Bacan. But she was right. How the fuck an entire army of Wyld monsters managed to sneak up that close to the village undetected was a complete mystery. There should have been signs of some kind, sightings… hell, there were not a lot of ways to reach the village without having to walk through thick forests or steep hills covered with knee-high snow, and I passed there. I was not focusing on finding them, but I should have noticed them as Sleipnir rode the winds to reach our destination faster. They had either hid near the village and waited for me to leave or they really just spawned near the village.

Unfortunately, her words of comfort didn't help. "I'm not talking about that."

The Getiamian expression cracked. Ah, there was the rage, the pain. She held back because she knew me well enough to know that I was going to feel guilty about the lives I couldn't save, even if it was impossible for me to be there in time. But as soon as I hinted I didn't care, her emotion started to burst out.

"I wish I would have noticed sooner." I said, before taking the Talisman in my hand and starting to fidget with it. "But it was only thanks to the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes that I felt the attack. I didn't expect more problems after we dealt with the cats, so I didn't think to leave an alarm. How… How long before I arrived?"

Shining Pearl made a clear effort to calm down. "I don't know. After a while, they started to blend together… an hour, at most."

I was in the middle of making the Talisman. How- no, no reason to think about it now. Later. Later I will find out how they managed to arrive at the village without anyone noticing. Now it was better to focus on something more important.

"At least I arrived in time to save the others." I continued, before closing my fist on the Talisman. "But I shouldn't have snapped in that way." I snorted. "I cannot believe I forgot about it."

"About what?" Asked Monkey, confused.

"About the Great Curse."

Monkey blinked. "The what?"

Right… they didn't know.

I took a deep breath. "In the aftermath of the war against the Primordial a great curse was thrown by the now Yozi toward the gods and their warriors. It's a subtle thing. Before, you said that the Exaltation elevates every aspect of a human, even the bad things. It's true… but the explosive way they release their accumulated stress is not."

The Exalts nodded, still confused. Evidently, they had some frame of reference for it.

"The subtle part arrives after. You rationalize, don't put much weight on what you just did… and so you slip, and the next time it happens, it becomes easier to dismiss it… until they become the norm." I paused. "That's why the Sidereal planned the Usurpation. They foresaw the excesses of the Solar escalating until they would have broken Creation."

"Wait." Intervened Sazang. "You're saying that… the Immaculate Faith is right? That Solar and Lunars are destined to become mad and destroy everything around them?"

I shrugged. I could vaguely empathize with the monk who saw his beliefs being destroyed another time, but at this moment I was too worried about having been infected with the Great Curse in some way.

But not worried enough to not try to reassure him, at least a little. "Not really. Sure, it could happen, but Sidereals prophecies are not absolute. And also, they're cursed too. Every Exalt is cursed, in their own way. In their case, I believe that the curse manifests in the inability to change ideas and believing themselves to always be right." I paused. "You're all taking this pretty well."

"It's just… difficult to grasp the enormity of what you're saying. Or even just believe it."

"Yeah. I'm sure that in an hour or two we'll go crazy about it, but right now…" Monkey shrugged. "Right now… it's difficult to believe that this Great Curse is real. Exalts go crazy sometimes, it's true, but… it's always been that way. Some of the Elder of the Silver Pact were alive since the First Age and they aren't crazy. Well, not all. Lilith spent most of that time in the form of an owl… Raksi eats children to provoke her guests… Leviathan spent most of his life in the form of a whale attacking the Realm…" He paused. "Alright, I suppose that there is a pattern here."

"I could be wrong on how the Curse works, mind you." I replied. "The details are not really clear, and the sources are confused or even contradictory. But the point remains. I shouldn't have exploded like I did. I shouldn't be Cursed."

"Why not?" Inquired Sandy, always the curious one. "You're Exalted. Logically, if all Exalts are cursed, you would too."

Well, yes, but actually no. "It's difficult to explain… you know how I told you that I had powers before I arrived on Creation, right?"

Everyone nodded. "You mentioned a shard of divine power being embedded into you, in a similar way to an Exaltation." Remembering Sanzang. "Is it relevant?"

"Yes. I was… handled my Exigence… but not from Akatosh. From Luna."

That shook most of the people there… aside from Shining Pearl, who didn't seem to care much.

"Wait, what?" Silver Star asked. "How is that possible? And why would Luna give you an Exigence?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I think she found me interesting, but she couldn't make me one of the Lunar Host thanks to the power of Akatosh inside me. The problem is… it was not just the power of Akatosh. It was a soul. A dragon soul."

There were no questions, so I continued. "I was not given an Exigence with the power of Akatosh. I was given an Exigence without anything inside, and… I gave it to the dragon souls inside me. It did something, and now I'm Exalted… but not really. I can still feel the soul inside me. It reared its head when…" I paused, trying to put it into words, but I failed. "… Before. And, if the dragon soul is still there, it cannot have sacrificed itself to Exalt me. Akatosh is powerful, but a mere fragment of him cannot have the power to make me peer with the strongest Exalted without burning itself out."

"And so you're not Exalted." Concluded Silver Star. "Not really. Maybe a symbiosis between the power of Akatosh and your human body… similar, but different…" She paused and frowned. "But still cursed. Somehow."

"If this Great Curse was thrown at all the Exalted, and the Exigent existed at the time, the Flame of Exigence would have been cursed too." Commented Sanzang. "And even if you didn't Exalt in a regular way, the Flames were still used… even if I suppose it could be influencing you in a different way. Did your… dragon souls ever act before?"

"No, it didn't." I replied. I could feel some instinct in the back of my mind, but never something so… explicit. Maybe that was the Curse doing. Or maybe not. I had to study this… as soon as I had time. At the moment, I didn't have much. I sighed and passed my hand on my face. "Sorry I just dumped everything on you."

Pigsy, who had remained silent between all that, snorted. "Yeah, quite a dump you threw at us."

I snorted back before releasing a chuckle. "I suppose. Vokun?"

My shadow emerged from a corner. He had remained hidden all that time, but he couldn't hide from me. "Yes boss?"

"Thank you for sending assistance. If they hadn't showed up, I would… well, I would probably start going North and attacking anything."

"My pleasure." Replied the shadow.

"You're probably going to have some brothers. I found an interesting piece of architecture that needed… attention."

The shadow smiled behind the mask. Don't ask how I knew that. "Someone else to manage the architectural needs of the Refuge? Excellent. And when will the smith join?"

I frowned. I sent the materials to repay Dupahtuz a couple of weeks ago. I needed to check the progress. "We'll see."

"Fair enough." Nodded the shadow, before disappearing again. He was nearby, I could feel that, but he probably didn't want to interrupt anything… or fuse back in front of the group.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I keep getting distracted… Vokun didn't take you away from something of vital importance, right?"

"No, I was preparing some tea." Replied Silver Star.

"We were camping, so no." Added Monkey. "Even if it was a little jarring being teleported like that."

"Sorry." I repeated. "I'll send you back immediately."

"Thank you." Nodded Sazang. "You sure gave us a lot to think about. If this curse really exists… we may need to find a cure. It will be a difficult challenge, but Exalts have time."

"Good luck." I agreed, before waving my hand and sending them back to where they were. I could still feel the magic used on them. Not the best job, but given the circumstances, good enough.

"Silver Star?" I asked.

"I'll go too. I have my tea and some study to do while Vokun finishes some projects."

"Very well." I said, and sent her back. So, only me and Shining Pearl remained… and Vokun, who decided to fuse back at that moment. He entered my shadow… and when he got out, he didn't say anything. He just sent a look at Shining Pearl… then disappeared.

Right… Bacan.

"How are you doing?" I asked. I didn't know how much she had bonded with the little girl, but…

"Not well." She replied, looking away from me.

"I see." I said. "Maybe we should wait here before returning to Creation… what do you say?"

"Yes." She said in a wet voice. "Let's do that."

Not knowing well what to do, I gently grabbed Pearl's shoulder. When she didn't react, I hugged her.

We remained like that for a while.

-X-

When we were ready, we returned to Creation. Not at the village though. We didn't want to return there so soon. Instead, we went to the underground factory-cathedral I had found.

"So this is where you were able to make the Talisman." Commented Shining Pearl. "Messy… and I don't see any trace of a resting place." She sent me a stern look. "You didn't sleep while here, did you?"

"I was… focused?" I tried, but she didn't look amused. She dropped the subject though. It was good enough for me.

"Well, we can decorate later. Wahl! We have a guest!"

Silence.

Ok… that was not normal.

"Wahl?" I asked, walking out of the little laboratory.

And there, I found the seal in the middle of the cathedral broken, pieces of stone everywhere, and the body of Wahl on the ground.

"Wahl!" I shouted, reaching for him. He was not dead, he would have just dissipated if that was the case, but he was not moving. Quickly, I pulled him inside my shadow, a brief flash of his memories letting me know what I needed. He had passed the last two days here, learned as much as he could, and then…

And then the seal had cracked. A brief glance told him that the prison magic had been sustained by a Dragon Line that passed right under the cathedral. An interference of some kind had made the entire thing unstable, and at that point, something had emerged from the seal and had attacked him. He couldn't see it well, he only saw a black blur closing on him, then nothing.

I pulled him out of the shadow, and now he was awake.

"I'm sorry." He said immediately after materializing. "It caught me off guard."

"What did?" Asked Shining Pearl.

"Something sealed under this factory." I replied, pointing at the hole on the ground. "Something that even the people of the First Age decided was better to keep away."

She went pale as she understood the implications.

"Wahl, did you learn enough from this place?" I asked the shadow. I was almost certain he did, but there could be more to find.

He shook his head. "Yes, I have the blueprints done. I still have to completely understand the construction, but it should be enough."

"Good." I replied, and opened a portal to the Refuge. "Then go. I'll take care of whatever broke free."

He nodded, then walked inside the portal and disappeared. Good luck, Wahl. I'm sure Vokun will have work for you.

Meanwhile, I looked at the broken seal. I had no idea what was freed, but maybe the place had some clue? I jumped down, Shining Pearl right behind me.

The place was surprisingly simple. It looked like a vast natural cavern, the size of a football field, there was no arcane contraption or ornate system to keep imprisoned whatever was locked up there. Instead, the wall of the entire thing was covered in glyphs of some kind.

"Seems like a hasty job." I commented, looking around. There was nothing that suggested there was anything inside this place… aside from the glyphs, that I could not decipher because while my translation spell was amazing, it didn't work for written language. Fortunately, I could still look around with magic eyes.

What I found was a little disconcerting. There was a miasma lingering inside the place. It was not quite like anything I've ever seen before. It didn't have the greenish sheen of the demons, nor the traces of elements inside it, which excluded an elemental of some kind. It was not a godly aura either, even if my only point of reference there was Luna, and as a Incarna, there could be differences here that I didn't understand. Lastly, it was not an undead nor a creature of the Wyld.

"Strange." I said. "It seems it's not a creature you see often in Creation. I've never seen this type of magic."

"Describe it." Ordered Shining Pearl, and I nodded.

"Hmm. There is this black fog lingering around. Not a demon, not Raksha, and not an elemental."

"Maybe…"

"It's not an undead either, believe me, I would notice. Aside from that… I think I see fear, and… formless? It's pretty strange."

"Not a demon, undead, or Raksha…" Mumbled Shining Pearl. "Not an elemental either. Something you don't see often…" She paused for a second. "A Behemoth?"

A Behemoth that First Age Solars had to seal instead of destroy? The possibility was… terrifying.

"Shit." I muttered. "If it is a Behemoth, then it could be anything. Even if… fear, formlessness… some kind of 'assume the shape of your own fear' thing? Possible." I took a second to think about what the best course of action was, and made my decision. "I'm going to use the Eye to see if I can find the monster. We have to stop it right away."

Without waiting for an answer, I closed my eyes and expanded my senses. Then, by pouring magic inside the Talisman, I started to search for traces of the creature.

I found it. The thing was fast, and moving South-East from there. Mercifully, it looked like he wanted to avoid the village. Maybe it wanted to go to more populous cities. Which hinted to the thing being very smart. Stopping near would have just given me time to hunt it. By running away, it made finding it very difficult.

Unfortunately, I also saw something else while searching for the Behemoth. I returned to my body as fast as I could.

"There is an army of Wyld monsters directed here." I announced as soon as I was able to move again.

"Not again!" Lamented Shining Pearl. "We need to evacuate the village."

"No, you need to evacuate the village." I replied, and she sent me a shocked look. "I need to hunt that monster down. It's dangerous, and smart enough to run away."

"But I cannot evacuate the entire village on my own!"

"Who said you're going to be alone?" I replied.

An hour later, I left Shining Pearl and Kein, the general, at the village, while I pursued the Behemoth.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.6

Unfortunately, my pursuit of the rogue Behemoth was going to be harder than anticipated. The first day or so saw me slowly, but surely gain on it. In fact, I managed, at a certain point, to see the damn thing, and… yeah, there wasn't much to see. It was an amorphous silhouette made of shadows, vaguely serpentine but with no discernable traits.

Then the night came, and I lost it. Turns out, following a monster made of shadow during the night was kind of difficult.

Of course, that just pushed me to develop new powers, this time aimed at tracking and following a target. I was already a decent tracker, I kinda became one by osmosis traveling in the wilderness of Skyrim, but now I could supernaturally track things.

Of course, trying to follow the tracks of a monster from outside the local reality and whose material presence was dubious was not an easy feat, even for the supernatural gifts of Exalted. The monster being a flying critter also didn't help.

I don't know how many kilometers the monster gained while I was busy. A lot, probably. But, in the matter of a couple of days, I managed to advance from 'I can follow tracks like an expert' to 'I can follow the barest whiffs of the target aura'. Yeah, my special eyes managed to save me a lot of time. Turns out, seeing the color of magic was just the baseline. If I focused my magic with intent, I could use them for various tasks. It was probably a particularly obscure branch of the 'be a dragon' powerset, or something I created on my own because while Dov didn't, dragons having eye powers was a thing in the stories.

Or just how my pseudo-Exaltation manifested Survival Charms. Difficult to be sure.

And so the chase continued… until we arrived in town. That put a pretty hard limit on my ability to follow it. Sleipnir was my fastest steed, surpassing any spell I had. The problem was that Sleipnir was noticeable, and we were quickly approaching the Threshold, the area surrounding the Blessed Isles that was pretty much under direct control of the Realm. Going around with a magical horse was bound to catch the attention of the wrong people.

The only way I could follow the monster without having a platoon of Dragon-blooded and a Sidereal hit-squad jumping on me was to be discrete. And, while my new dragon form could probably keep up with it -yes, I could transform pretty much any time I wanted, now that I knew how it was pretty easy- it wasn't better than Sleipnir on the 'noticeable' front, at all.

So, I dismissed Sleipnir, assumed the form of a hawk, and continued the chase.

Of course, I didn't just assume the form of a hawk, or I would have never been able to follow the Behemoth. I also stretched my powers to make my flight as smooth as possible, controlling the winds to propel me forward faster than any normal bird was able to. I also found out that, while I couldn't use my dragon form to travel, I could use the 'be a dragon' aspect of my Exaltation to fly as if I did.

The problem was, of course, that if that monster could move faster than Sleipnir, there was no chance my hawk form could catch up. Sure, it was fast, but Sleipnir was wind itself. And even assuming I could speed up more -maybe using some time related power? Pretty please, daddy Akatosh? Could you give me some time-manipulation that wasn't horribly costly?- I would burn much of my power just to reach the damn thing, while fighting it was another question entirely.

During the course of several days, I tried to pin the monster in some way. I could barely keep up with it by flying, but I could still teleport, so I tried to jump on it when I had a clear enough idea on where it was.

But the bastard was slippery. I'm not sure how, but it always managed to sense my approach, and when it did, it disappeared into the surroundings and somehow none of my senses managed to catch it, before reappearing in the distance running as fast as before. Was that the Dematerialization ability that all spiritual entities in Exalted -aside from elementals- had? Why would a Behemoth have one? Anyway, it was annoying. I needed to learn how Exalts could see and interact with spiritual entities, because right now I was kind of stumped. Sure, maybe I could still hurt one with my magical weapons, but maybe not. If it was something similar to an astral projection, simple enchanted weapons could not work.

Aside from that, the way the Behemoth ran made me think that the monster had a plan, or at least a destination. It could hide from me, if it wanted, but he preferred to run. Clearly it wanted to reach a particular location as fast as possible, either because there was something interesting there or because he couldn't hide from me for long while we were in the wild. He seemed to like cities more… probably because it was a fear-eater of some sort, a creature able to take strength from another's terror. As such, he probably wanted to reach a city where it could either hide better - maybe he possessed things that feared it to hide?- or to gain enough strength to fight the Exalts that sealed it away.

And the problem was that it was going to work. Pinning down the bastard was really difficult.

Unless…

It was risky. A lot of people could die. But… continuing to chase this thing was not going to accomplish anything. I needed to root it somewhere where I could hunt it down.

And there was only one way I could do that.

-X-

Evacuating the village turned out to be much more difficult than initially assumed.

In fact, Kein dismissed the possibility after a rapid inspection. There was no way that the villagers could out-run the Wyld army coming, unless they put a spell on the entire population -admittedly not that large- to make them walk at the same speed of a speeding horse. Maybe Loki could power such a spell for the duration of their trip, but Kein had limited reserves that he couldn't actually recover with time. He would collapse before they could arrive anywhere, for such a procession could only move as fast as their slowest member.

And, even if they did that, there would have been the problem of where to go. There wasn't a city in miles, and even if there was, there was the possibility that the Wyld army could follow them and put another place in danger.

"So, what do you propose?" Asked Shining Pearl, unsure on how to talk with Kein. When Silver Star had said that Vokun was not like Loki, she hadn't really understood. Now she did. Kein was Loki… in a general sense. He was also very focused on fighting, personally but especially on a tactical and strategic level. Something that Loki did, but he never approached a problem only from that angle.

He was also not especially good at it. It probably wasn't a coincidence that he used his shadows to cover some holes in his abilities. The main appeal of them, after all, was that they could learn things he didn't have the time or interest in learning to begin with, while he did the important things.

"We fight." Replied the shadow. Before she could reply, he raised his hand to stop her. "And with 'we' I mean you, me, and whatever force we manage to get before they arrive."

That sounded like a suicidal move. It didn't make any sense, because stranded in the middle of the frozen North there was no way they could get some troops to fight the Wyld invasion.

Fortunately, what Kein lacked in experience he covered with imagination. And mystical power.

"Tell the villagers to prepare. I'm going to contact the Refuge."

"Can you? I thought you had limited power."

"I do. But there are other ways to enter inside it, especially if you're willing to leave your body behind."

"Sorry?" She asked, confused.

"Don't worry about it. Tell them to put everything they have on some cart. They'll need it."

Shining Pearl quickly wondered if it was the moment to ask for more explanations, but then decided to ask later. Considering the difference between the flow of time between Creation and the Refuge, he wouldn't take too long.

He remained in trance for two hours. Then, when he woke up, nothing happened for the rest of the day. Shining Pearl started to ask herself how much she trusted the shadow's judgment. Kein seemed to be colder than Loki…

Then, at noon of the day after, a portal opened. Instead of being a vaguely oval disc of azure light, though, like the ones Loki used to travel around, this one only had the edge of that color. The inside was as clear as spring water, and showed two identical men discussing.

"Ah, I knew this time it would work!" Exclaimed that one that she supposed was Wahl.

"You said the same of the previous three attempts." Retorted Vokun.

"Sorry if a stable portal connecting two different universes is not something I can cook up in a couple hours!"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty." Interrupted Kein. "Can we please go on? I need those troops and we need to get the villagers away."

The other two shadows snorted and dropped the discussion. "Alright. Please, people of the village, take your possession and walk toward us. There is no need to worry, the passage is safe."

Not very… reassuring. Wahl was not the person you called to calm down a crow.

"We'll be your host here until the threat is over." Continued Vokun, with a much more soothing voice. Administration may have been his first goal, but clearly he retained more of the skill of Loki. Maybe because his role was more generic than the others. "When everything will be over, you'll be sent back. We promise, no harm will fall on you. But please, don't wait for long. Mobilizing the troops will require time, and if we don't send them fast enough, I'm not sure there will be a village when all is said and done."

Better. Still a little rough, but the villagers started to move, either taking everything they had packed or packing what they didn't pack before.

"Alright." Commented Kein. "Maybe we can save this place."

She hoped he was right.

-X-

My plan worked… somehow. I left a mark on the Behemoth, a signal I could track even at enormous distances. It didn't notice, or it was too much in a hurry to care, and then I let it gain terrain as I stopped pushing my powers and started to prepare. I let him go for a couple of days… and when it stopped, I followed the signal and teleported. I didn't expect to choose a place like this.

Great Fork, that was the name of the city the Behemoth I followed until now had decided to use as his personal hiding spot.

And after exploring the place for a couple hours, I could understand why.

Great Fork was, undoubtedly, the biggest city I had seen until now. Yes, even bigger than Onyx. Onyx was, for all its splendor -built on the labor of undead slaves- a city in the far West, in the middle of a shadowland. The Great Fork sits where two of the biggest rivers of the Threshold -or the Scavenger Lands, my geography of Creation was still in its infancy- fused together in what the locals called the Yellow River, which I supposed was the easiest way to access the Scavenger Lands for the Realm and, as such, the most trafficked waterway of the East. As such, this place was immensely rich. You could see that richness around every corner of the city.

I could also see the corruption. Slave markets. Entire neighborhoods living in misery a couple of steps from luxurious temples. The kind of thing that, unfortunately, I couldn't solve with a wave of my hand. Especially not here.

Great Fork was known as the City of Ten Thousand Temples, and it lived up to that name. Temples littered the place, from grandiose to ruined shacks forgotten by most. Proselytization was rampant on the streets, with both priests and gods trying to attract new faithful.

Now, I'm Catholic, and while I didn't really go to church anymore except for special occasions -marriages, Christmas, Easter, the usual festivities- I still believed. As such, I didn't really mind people being religious… but I could see the commercialization of faith here, and I didn't like it. Alas, still nothing I could do. It was probably something that was encouraged by the city's laws, and I vaguely remembered gods getting some form of sustenance by worship, so even if I could I probably wouldn't do anything. Going all holier than thou when I knew jack shit on the local political and religious context was very stupid… and a dick move in general.

Of course that also meant that there were several very powerful gods just hanging around. In fact, I gathered that at least one of the founding members of the thearchs, the three gods that founded Great Fork with their people, was a god of war. Shield of a Different Way -God, Exalted names were so stupid sometimes- was the god of defensive warfare, deception and false memories, and was usually depicted with an unbreakable lance and shield. Technically there were also Weavers of Dreams of Victory, whose domains included war, looms and dreams, but was not as heavily associated with war as her colleague.

The last thearchs, Spinner of Glorious Tales, as the name indicated, were the gods of storytellers and travelers, so not an especially combative god, but still, they were all gods of a certain power, so trying to start shit in this place sounded like a very bad idea. I had no clue why the Behemoth had decided to park its ass there. Was the number of people a factor? Wouldn't it be better to try another place, one with less gods?

Maybe not. Gods were not created equal in Creation, and Behemoths usually required a full Circle of Exalted to bring down. And when a combat focused Chosen had a fair chance against a Directional war god, the most powerful terrestrial gods, it meant that most of the gods here were fodder. I could probably beat most of them. And despite being so populous, the probability that there was a heavy presence of Dragon-blooded was almost zero. The Immaculate Faith didn't have much presence here, so far away from the Blessed Isles. That meant less Exalts to fight the monster when it finally decided to make its move.

Was I putting more thought on the creature's motivations than the monster itself? Probably. I sincerely hoped it came this way for some other reason. Because if it had planned all of the above, then it was a very intelligent creature… an opponent that could be far more dangerous than anticipated.

On the bright side, nobody was going to shout if I suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. Exigents were rare, but this was probably the place where you were going to meet most of them. After all, what better place for the Chosen of the little gods to be, if not the City of Ten Thousand Temples?

Anyway, the search for the Behemoth was not going as fast as I had liked. I could still follow the signal I left on it, but it was muted now. Or… diffused, was the better word. I could still feel it, but it pretty much hovered over most of the lower districts of the city, like a fog. Was that the method it used to avoid me when I got too close? It simply dissipated over a large area, making it impossible to pinpoint its location? On one hand it was better, because I wouldn't need to learn Charms to physically interact with Dematerialized spirits -which I was actually going to learn anyway because there was no guarantee that my weapons were going to work on other intangible spirits-, but on the other was a problem because, diffused as it was, hitting it without obliterating a couple of blocks was impossible. I would need another solution, some sort of magical trap? Yes, that could work. I just needed to get a better idea on what could bind it and then-

I stopped, feeling a pulse of power emanating from the surroundings. Apparently, I was not the only one. I saw several gods looking around, confused, but they were quickly distracted by everything that was going on around them. I, on the other hand, didn't. And started to worry.

Was the Behemoth already preparing for its next move? Was merely coming there already… feeding him, or whatever it was the reason it came here? Did I make an error letting it arrive here?

No, I had to focus. If the monster was already gathering power, that just meant I had to move too. I already had a series of trinkets in case of a fight, but considering the power a Behemoth could have, I needed more time… or more bodies to throw at the monster.

And the fastest way to gather such a force was… not the Refuge, because the Akyn will not be of any use and anyway, they were probably busy trying to keep the Wyld Army from destroying the village, half Creation away from here. I needed Exalted, and…

Wait. Maybe…

I started to scour the city. Up and down, across several districts, I searched for what I needed. And, finally, I found it. A temple not dissimilar to every other temple in the city, including an old priest evangelizing in front of the crowd.

The only difference was that there was no god in that temple. I knew, because both the priests and his guards were suffused by colored light. Blue, white, black, green, and red.

I found the Dragon-blooded.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.7

I waited until the sermon was done before approaching the preacher. Thankfully, this was the City of Ten Thousand Temples, and here I could probably talk to them without worrying about Anathema business.

Also, I didn't recognize any of the banners proudly displayed on the temple. Now, I was not a great expert on Dragon-blooded society, but I had seen a lot of banners in Faxai and I couldn't find a match. Considering how big Creation was and how widespread the colonization of the First Era went, they could just be from another group of Dragon-blooded. I remembered at least a couple, some sort of pseudo-roman kingdom that had some of the best First Era and Shogunate armories, called… uh… I couldn't remember the name. And another, a pretty reclusive group called the Forest Witches, which did strange things with a magical fog and could become half-spirits… It was pretty fucky. I doubted they were Forest Witches though, I got the impression they never really left the forest where they lived. So probably the first group, which was also the second biggest one and the one more devoted to the whole Wyld Hunt thing. But, again, if I presented myself as Exigent, they shouldn't give me problems. Hopefully.

As I approached the evangelist, a couple of guards moved to intercept me. Fortunately, the priest -or whatever was the term for the man, since the Immaculate Philosophy didn't really have priests- an aging but apparently still energetic man, waved them away. A good sign… maybe?

"Welcome, stranger. I'm Amilar Tanak, Sohei of the Immaculate Faith. Are you here to join us in the path of enlightenment?"

Immaculate Faith… that was confirmation. Not Realm, but… Lookshi? Something like that.

"Not exactly." I replied, pondering if it was the case to delay my introduction until we were inside… but I decided against it. Whatever was their position on the Exigent, they couldn't do much in public. "I'm Loki, Exigent of Akatosh… and I'm here to ask for help."

The Dragon-blooded exchanged a glance, apparently confused, but Amilar Tanak didn't hesitate much. He nodded, and then waved at the temple behind him, inviting me to enter. "I'll hear you, Loki, Exigent of Akatosh. But I cannot promise more."

I nodded back, and started to follow the sohei inside. Just to be sure, though, I prepared a teleportation spell to get the fuck out of there at the first sign of trouble.

The walk, fortunately, didn't last long. The temple was not very extensive. Big enough to be a church, but not much more. That also meant that there were not a lot of Dragon-blooded around. On one hand… less risks for me. On the other hand… less manpower.

Anyway, we quickly reached a… tea saloon or something, where the old Tanak started work with a pot and a fire.

"So, what help do you require from us, Loki of Akatosh?" He asked while starting to make tea.

"I'll be direct… Amilar? Or Tanak? I'm sorry, I'm not sure which one is your… family name. I'm not from the Scavenger Lands."

"Amilar." He replied, as the dried tea leaves started to color the water. "I'm sorry if I confused you. I'm Tanak of Gens Amilar."

"Very well, Tanak. I'll be direct. I'm here because I arrived at Great Fork following… something."

"Something?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Yes. I'm not sure what exactly I was hunting down. It was not a demon, nor a Raksha. And it was neither a ghost or another denizen of the Underworld, nor a god. I've seen enough of them around here to see the difference. I fear it's a Behemoth… but I'm not sure."

Tanak's face shifted from that of a benevolent and old wise man to that of a deadly serious veteran soldier. "A Behemoth?"

"It's my best guess."

"How can you be sure? Demons and Rakshas come in all forms and shapes. And…" He stopped, then shook his head. "No, that's beside the point. Describe the monster."

"There is not much to say, I didn't get the chance to look at it very well. From what I could see, it was a shadowy creature, the shape of a snake or a similar animal. It has the ability to disappear from all senses, especially at night. I couldn't gather more. It ran here with all the speed it could muster, and avoided me any time I tried to force a fight."

Tanak looked miles away, reflecting on the information. Finally, he stopped and took the pot, starting to pour the tea. "This is surely worrying. Whatever this monster is, it's clearly either highly intelligent, or pushed by some compulsion to come here. In either case, it's not something we can take lightly." He finished pouring the tea and took his cup. I imitated him and immediately took a sip. Hmm… not bad.

"But why did you come here? Wouldn't it be better to ask for an audience with the thearchs?" He asked after drinking a sip of tea.

"Oh, it would… if I trusted the bureaucratic system of the city to give me one before the Behemoth made its move. But I doubt it will, not for a no-name Exigent just arrived in the city. On the other hand, you are Dragon-blooded. Isn't a cornerstone of your faith that you're the righteous Princes of Earth, and as such you must defend Creation from any threat?"

Tanak chuckled. "That's a very simplistic way to see the duty of our kind, and it's clear that you only heard of the Immaculate Philosophy of the Realm, but yes. One of the Pillars of the Code of the Righteous Warrior is Compassion. As Sextes Jilis said, a compassionate warrior will always triumph over a heartless one, for he has something greater to fight for."

Uh… I didn't remember anything about that. "I'm sorry if I offended you. Like you said, I'm not familiar with the Immaculate Faith. I've been… exposed to the Immaculate Philosophy far more often."

The old Dragon-blooded waved his hand. "No offense, young man. Regrettable as it is, it's far more likely to find the monks of the Immaculate Order than sohei of the Immaculate Faith. In that regard, I must commend your courage. I cannot imagine your experience with the Immaculate Order has been… positive."

"They haven't been… but I hoped that here, in the City of Ten Thousand Temples, you would have been more… tolerant."

"The Immaculate Faith is not as aggressive as the Immaculate Philosophy. Sure, your existence is a perversion of what should be the natural order of things… but everyone walks the path to enlightenment at his own pace, and I doubt you had any saying in your Exaltation anyway. We of Lookshy judge people from their merits, not their blood. If you use your divine powers, unnatural as they are, for a good cause, then you will not have problems with us."

Which was great, even if it somehow clashed with their willingness to join the Wyld Hunts… but if I remembered correctly, the Immaculates said that Solar and Lunars weren't Exalted, but people possessed by demons that stole the power of the Sun and the Moon. So maybe they weren't mutually exclusive.

"Now, we can start to talk about the contract." Tanak suddenly said, making me return my focus to him.

"Come again?"

"Ah, sorry, I forgot you aren't familiar with Lookshy. The current General Staff is a traditionalist. Which means he follows a Mercenary doctrine: Lookshy must focus on retaining the territory they possess and intervene in foreign affairs only under an explicit contract."

Interesting. "So, literally Mercenaries."

"Pretty much. Not every member of the Seventh Legion thinks it's the best course of action. The Interventionist wants Lookshy to be more proactive in the affairs of the Scavenger Lands. Aside from that, their interests lay with the Mercenaries, so they're the most popular of the alternative policies. Isolationists would stop the use of Lookshy in foreign affairs and just focus on rebuilding the city and increase our economic power. Not very popular, this one: Lookshy was born from the Seventh Legion. We are soldiers before anything else."

Ah, I see. So the difference between Lookshy and the Realm was basically that they're literally a Shogunate-Era army that had just put root somewhere after the devastation of the Great Contagion and the Balorian Crusade. In that sense, they maintained more of the original Shogunate tradition instead of the watered down thing the Scarlet Empress made.

"There are also Imperialists and Purists, but they're the least popular currents right now." Continued Takan. "Imperialists want to… well, conquer the Scavenger Lands. A foolish proposition: Lookshy doesn't have the numbers to control that much territory, and even if it did, we would just be more vulnerable to the Realm attacks… even if, with the loss of the Empress, retaliation is improbable."

Hmm, I didn't know that Lookshy and the Realm didn't see eye to eye. Was the Wyld Hunt the only thing that they had in common?

And I also arrived after the disappearance of the Empress… not that I had many doubts. The Lunars didn't conquer most of the Caul while the Empress was on the throne, because she remembered to send troops sometimes. After she went away, the Great Houses started to play the Game of Thrones with each other and so the Legions were kept closer to home.

"Purists want to aggressively convert the entire Scavenger Lands to the Immaculate Faith." Concluded the old Dragon-blooded. "As the Mercenary faction is in power now, I have to ask for a contract. If nothing else, for appearance sake."

Alright… let's put some haggling experience in play, then.

"Hmm… I find myself backed into a corner." I started. "For I have no idea when the Behemoth will strike. My guess is soon, but 'soon' is relative. It could take hundreds of years for it to decide it's time."

"That does make the entire contract more complicated." Nodded Tanak. "Contracts have a limited duration, for the Seventh Legion doesn't like to displace soldiers for an unlimited amount of time."

"Maybe it's better if you give me a full explanation on how these contracts work. Then, on a later date, I can return and make the true contract. I wouldn't want to take too much time from your duties, and you must understand that I have to get the money. I don't usually take large sums with me."

"It will be my pleasure." The old man smiled.

We talked a lot after that. The minutiae of the various contracts required a while, and even after that, I took my time to learn about Lookshy in general. More to make Tanak talk and to get a more general view of the place, so as to know what button to push when it was time to make a contract.

After we were done, I decided that I liked Tanak and Lookshy more than the Realm, and so I materialized a small coffer on the table. "Thank you for your time, Tanak. Here, a token of my appreciation."

The old Dragon-blooded took the coffer and opened it… finding several pounds of pure silver inside. "That's… quite generous."

"It's nothing. Although… Now that I think about it, if you could try to make things easier for me when I try to meet the thearchs, it would really help me. I ignore how much influence your temple has in the city, but every single push is appreciated."

"I'll see what can be done." Agreed Tanak. "Even if I cannot promise I'll manage to grant you an audience. However, our diplomats here should be able to smooth things up. When do you plan to meet them?"

I stroke my chin, thinking. "In the next few days, I think. I need to gather the money for the contract and to prepare… I may have a way to speed things up with the contract, but it will require time to set up."

"May I know what you intend to do?"

"I'm unsure myself, but I can tell you it will involve Sorcery."

"Ah, I see. Now, I'm afraid I must return to my duties. See you soon, Loki of Akatosh."

"Likewise, Amilar Tanak." I said, before quietly dismissing myself. I also had a couple of guards escort me outside… clearly they didn't trust me completely.

Not that I could blame them. Tanak had listened to me, because while my story was improbable, it didn't mean it was impossible, and if there was a chance that it was true, he wanted to intervene. By talking to him, I got the impression he had some Interventionist tendencies, so he probably wanted me to be right. It would have justified a military intervention in the City of Ten Thousand Temples, and so more influence, even indirect one, on Great Fork.

That said, he clearly didn't believe me completely, and only the fact I was willing to pay for their help seemed to convince him that maybe there was something more. Or maybe it was just the fact that if I paid, it didn't really matter if I was wrong. It would have been my fault, Lookshy was just following the contract.

That was probably their best quality: the Dragon-blooded of Lookshy were of a markedly pragmatic sort. They were not fanatics, at least regarding the Immaculate Faith, and that gave me some room to negotiate. I doubted I could have expected a civil discussion with a monk of the Immaculate Order.

That said, I needed to give them something more. I needed to find out when the Behemoth was going to strike, at least in a general sense. It didn't matter how much I paid, they weren't going to station themselves inside or near Great Fork for a long time on my word alone. Not only because it was a waste of time, but also because it could cause problems with the thearchs of the Great Fork. No, I needed a way to move their troops quickly, which probably meant establishing a teleportation point somewhere.

That could be avoided if I managed to talk to the thearchs and convince them of the risks, so that they could let the Seventh Legion come or, even better, pay for the contract themselves. I didn't believe I was going to be this lucky, but there was always hope, no?

Hmmm… I was forgetting something. What… ah, right. The Behemoth. I ignored how aware it was in its current immaterial state, but I had to assume that he was still somewhat conscious, because if not he couldn't have evaded me using the same method it was using to meld with a couple of neighbors. And that meant that it could recognize the arrival of the Dragon-blooded, and if it was as smart as I thought, it could wait until they left, or wait until it was strong enough that it didn't matter.

Because yes, I was convinced that the Behemoth had decided to come here to gather strength. I honestly couldn't find another explanation for the monster's strange behavior. Maybe the true body of the monster was buried under the city or this particular piece of land was the perfect buffet for it. Or maybe it just avoided the Blessed Isles because it knew the Exalts were there and this was the first city good enough, I don't know. The point was, when the Behemoth emerged, it would emerge ready to fight.

And that was a terrifying prospect.

But it was better to discuss this with Tanak and, if I managed, the thearchs. Now, it was better to find information and money. I would need both.

-X-

"They're coming."

Shining Pearl looked in the distance, trying to see the Wyld army approaching, but she didn't see anything. Not surprising, Loki's senses were better than hers, and so were Kein's.

"Will we be able to hold them back?" She asked.

"With the three of us here and the Akyn? Absolutely."

She believed him. How could she not? She looked around, admiring the trio's hard work. Where once stood a small village whose only protection was the general hostility of the climate, now stood a fortress. Wahl had raised high walls from the dirt, impossibly smooth stone rising several times the height of a man and with tall battlements to cover the troops… necessary, since the Akyn were all at least six feet tall, and some were over seven feet. Apparently, the Akyn became taller with age… or with the number of monsters killed. It was not really clear how their growth worked.

And while Wahl built the fortress, Kein had organized the troops into something resembling an army. The Akyn didn't have one, apparently, only hunters and warriors.

Vokun, meanwhile, was organizing things on the other side of the portal -which had remained open all this time, to not force the villagers to feel the different time flow on their own skin-, especially in moving the Akyn and food around to be sure everyone was fed enough.

To not feel completely useless, Shining Pearl had meditated deeply on how her powers could help… and she reached enlightenment. Or something like that. Her Essence had surged with renewed strength and she was able to reach deeper inside the Loom in her body, until she was able to pull something from there. Well, something… someone. Several someones.

Her personal guard, the Grey Sharks, had emerged from her Loom, materializing around her. Two hundred strong, the Grey Sharks were veterans of the war against Onyx. As they saw her, they hit their leather breastplates and asked for orders.

She had never been so happy. Clearly her Creation had not been so lost as she believed. Now, the Grey Sharks were together with the Akyn, even if they cut a somewhat poor figure near the massive dragon-men.

So, instead of obsessing about the battle plan -which they had revised at least ten times- she decided to ask one of the questions she had for a while.

"You know, there is something I wanted to ask since I heard the name Vokun."

Kein turned toward her, his eyes curious behind the mask. "What?"

"You names… What do they mean? I'm pretty sure it's the same language you use for Shouting, but Loki never told me their meaning."

There was a pause, then Kein chuckled. "Ah, nothing much. They're… adjectives, if you want."

"Adjectives?" That was… curious.

"Yes. Vokun's complete name is Vokun Loki. Vokun means Shadow."

"Shadow… I see." She paused, confused. "But… aren't you all shadows?"

Kein shrugged. "The original probably didn't think about creating more of us at the time. It seemed clever at the moment."

Shining Pearl smiled at that. "It sure sounds like Loki. And you? What does Kein mean?"

"War." He replied. "I'm literally War Loki, the General. Wahl means build, as 'to build', and so he's the Architect. And somewhere in the West the original left Dol, a shadow that has the job to learn all it's possible on making Artifacts. Dol means iron. I'm sure you can see the pattern."

"Yes, I can." She said, before a feeble sound made her look in the distance.

"We have an hour at most before they reach the wall." Commented Kein. Then, he turned toward the Akyn and shouted. "Are you ready!?"

The dragon-men answered by raising their weapons and roaring.

She took that as a yes.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.8

In the end, it took three days -and several coffers of silver- to finalize the contract with the Dragon-blooded of Lookshy. I would also do most of the job in bringing them here, thanks to a little magical surveillance to be able to open portals directly near the city of Lookshy. Fortunately, now that I could see what a spell looked like, it had become easier to make a semi-permanent spell. I could not make any spell last forever, but I was learning how to make them less reliant on the magicka I put inside them or a continuous supply from my reserves to work. The moment I'll be able to make them sustain themselves using only ambient magical energy I would have resolved one the greatest weaknesses of my magic.

Until now, I satisfied myself with making them last ten times longer before dissipating or needing a recharge. A number that was growing, by the way.

The efforts to see the thearchs, unfortunately, didn't yield the same results. I managed to talk with several high functionaries of various Commissions of the city, which pretty much corresponded to the equivalent of a ministry in any Earth government. Despite that, there didn't seem to be any mobilization of the city militia or anything like that.

Maybe I overestimated the reach of Tanak… or underestimated the stigma against the Immaculate Faith. Silver seemed to be a better way to get to talk to the actual rulers of the city.

I sighed while I walked around the city. This was the reason why I usually didn't bother to interact with the government of whatever place I was in. From personal experience, I knew that unless you were someone extremely important, they would drag their feet as much as possible, delaying everything to have time to deal with everything else they had to finish. It didn't matter if it was a matter of life or death, they didn't care… probably because they didn't know it was a matter of life or death, but even if they knew I wasn't sure they could have cared enough to speed things up.

I had hoped that being Exalted would have granted me at least a modicum of respect, but clearly if you weren't the Chosen of someone important inside the city -or Creation in general, but Exigents rarely had the same qualifications- then you were just a scrub like everyone else.

Well, I hoped that what I had done was enough. I couldn't do much aside from making trinkets to use in a fight. I tried to analyze the traces left from the Behemoth, to find the best way to contain it, but I failed to get anything more than 'fear' and 'formless', because apparently my eyes couldn't do much more than that while the monster was dispersed. I also tried to close the area into a ward but the sigils I used got canceled in less than a day, probably by some gang that thought it was an attack on their territory or something. Apparently godly street gangs were common in the poorest corners of the city. I was not surprised by the news.

Fortunately, I found an alternative occupation while I waited either for the monster to attack, or for the thearchs to do something.

Once upon a time, I suffered from the classical hoarding illness that some RPG player had, so I basically never used consumable items because… well, mostly because I didn't want to open the menu and select them, and also because I waited until 'they could be useful', finding myself at the end of the game with ton of junk inside the inventory because I never actually used anything.

Now I don't have that problem anymore. Mostly because enchanting a brooch to hold a single spell basically forever, like a scroll you didn't need to read, took me one minute. With such a short amount of time, making a lot of little trinkets to use if a situation called for it wasn't the chore that it was at the start of my adventure.

In fact, placing ever more complex rune arrays on pebbles I just grabbed from the streets was quite relaxing. I didn't need the amount of complexity required for the Talisman of Ten Thousand Eyes, so I just continued to make runic cobbles just to see how far I could go before the magic inside it broke it. Until now, the limit seemed to be pretty much 'enough to make a half-decent fireball', but I could do better.

Hmmm… I should check the village. If the situation there was resolved, I could probably ask Wahl to make something to weaken the monster when it rose. Or, better yet, I could call Dol to see if the weapon was ready. Admittedly I didn't remember how much time you needed to make an Artifact, but it shouldn't require that much time… unless he was really going overboard with the sword.

But before I could do any of that, there was another pulse of power and I stood up. The pulse had been stronger… whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen soon.

Maybe I needed to make a visit to the thearchs after all.

Then the shouting started, and I retracted my previous assortment. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen now!

I shot out from the room I had rented just to have a little solitude, and I saw the shadow of the lower neighborhood flow upside the walls of the city, before the almost formless shape of the Behemoth started to emerge from behind it, the serpentine head made of amorphous shadows and the long neck rippling as they gradually took form.

It was… strangely familiar, now that I could see it well.

The shadow solidified, slowly covering the body of the monster in a thick, black plating, a reflecting carapace that was starting to look very familiar.

Meanwhile, the snake head started to sprout horns, and the vaguely oval shape became longer, more slender, until, finally the monster eyes, solid red, opened.

I remained paralyzed as the Behemoth raised his wings and roared, making the ground tremble.

Now I understood why he had looked familiar.

He looked like Alduin.

-X-

"Follow them!" Shouted Kein from the bastions. "Hunt them down. Not one has to survive!"

The Akyn roared enthusiastically, charging into the wilds. Shining Pearl had to admit she had underestimated the dragon-men. When Kein had told her that the Akyn were warriors and hunters, not soldiers, she had instinctually lowered her expectation on how they would fare in battle. After all, warriors could be singularly superior to a soldier, but an army of warriors rarely performed as well as an army of soldiers. Simply put, the training that soldiers went through was aimed to discipline and cover each other's back, to inflict the enemies the maximum amount of pain while minimizing their losses. As good as warriors were, they were individuals, and so they rarely trained themselves to fight in formation.

And while that was true in a general sense, the Akyn were more disciplined and organized than she expected. Maybe she had to ask what the hell they hunted, because the precision and coordination they displayed was staggering. They treated the horde like a giant, enormous animal, and they didn't hesitate to arrange themselves in the most optimal way. Namely, they planted their clawed feet down and made it bleed.

It helped that they were far stronger than anticipated. The basic hobgoblin, the most numerous of the enemy's troops, didn't last very long against the massive Akyn. The manlike, bestial form of the Hobgoblin was unsuited for the task, their teeth and claws unable to pierce the thick armor of the dragon-men. It was useful to hoist their half-human bodies -which reminded her of the form some Lunar assumed, even if she was never going to say that loudly in front of one- but doing so just brought them near to the enchanted weapons of the Akyn.

Furthermore, the vast majority of them just died when the Akyn opened their maws and spewed torrents of magical energy on them, usually in the form of fire or lightning.

The buck-ogre, the monstrous two-headed giants of the horde, where a little more challenging, but fortunately, the fortress built by Wahl proved to be too solid to be brought low by simple brute strength, and so the ogres found themselves channeled in through the only opening, a gate followed by a narrow corridor that brought them in the middle of the Akyn army, all the ones that simply couldn't stand on the walls because there was no space anymore. There, on the ground, the Akyn locked the buck-ogre in a space where they couldn't move easily, and then killed them. Unlike what she had expected, they didn't even have to use long spears to poke it while standing safely in the distance. Because they didn't need it. A couple of warriors seemed more than able to just kill one in a matter of seconds, aiming to the legs to bring them low before piercing the throat or the eyes and quickly finishing them off.

There were other monsters in the horde, of course, but they were far less common, and when they managed to overcome the walls, the Akyn sorcerers just rained death on them until they stopped moving. And while the horde was massive, the Akyn just wouldn't. Stop. Fighting. Tireless, ruthless, and powerful, the Akyn decimated the Wyld horde with the methodical precision of a cook cutting the best slices of meat for a particularly important guest.

And when a true Raksha appeared, like the Cataphract that had attacked the village previously, it was her and Kein's job to put them down.

And so, after a nearly uninterrupted battle lasting three days and four nights, the Wyld horde broke. As the sun shone on the fourth day of battle, the monster ran away, just a fraction of the horde that assaulted the fortification remaining, and the Akyn followed suit to exterminate all the rest. They were not going to destroy another village. Not this time.

Cries of victory resonated from all around the fortifications. The Grey Sharks in particular seemed pretty euphoric… until the Captain reached for her.

"It's been an honor to fight at your side again, General." He said, bringing his fist on his heart. "But our time here is done. Until the next time."

Then, the entire force dissipated into pink petals, and they returned to her Loom.

For just a second, she felt a pang of pain… but it didn't last. She could just call them again. It was taxing to do so, and it probably strained the Fate of the area fiercely -another reason to leave the village as soon as possible- but… she could see them again. She could see all of them again. This separation was not absolute.

"General?" Asked Kein, a light surprise in his tone.

She smiled. "I told you I was the only mortal that went to fight beside Chosen and didn't die. I scaled the ranks very quickly."

"Of course, but… general? I thought they would give the rank to some Exalt."

She shrugged. "Not all Exalt were capable enough to fill the position. I was not the only mortal general in the coalition… just the best."

He snorted. "I'm surprised you didn't Exalt, if that's the case. But if you did, you wouldn't be here… I'm conflicted about this."

Shining Pearl smile widened. "I'm glad to have met you too."

Kein looked away, embarrassed. Ah, she was slowly breaching inside Loki's shell. Maybe she should stop. He was not going to stay in Creation, and she had no intention to follow him outside of it. All this teasing was… not going to do anything, if not leaving her with something else she had lost.

At the same time, she really liked him. If only there was a way to…

Oh… there was. She was not sure he would have agreed to it, but…

"So you were lovers? I wouldn't have guessed."

Shining Pearl dashed away from the voice the same moment Kein materialized his spirit sword. But before either of them could do anything, another voice spoke.

"Please, don't. We're not here to fight." There was a pause as Silent Whisper understood what she had just said. "Well, I am not here to fight. Black Winter has different ideas."

That was enough to make Kein pause. Not that he put down his weapon or anything of the sort. In fact, he started to glow with blue and orange flames. "Explain quickly."

"We left the Skullstone Archipelago on our own initiative." Replied Black Winter. "Silent Whisper never really wanted to obey Bodhisattva Anointed by Black Water, and I remained only because he gave me something to fight and refine my abilities. When he negated my request to hunt you, well, I decided it was not worth following him anymore."

Shining Pearl saw Kein's eye dart around, looking at the two Deathknights. "So you're here to fight me?"

"Yes." Replied Black Winter. "However, on my pupil's request, I'll avoid killing you should you be unable to match me."

Kein still didn't put his sword down, but the glow of his flames started to die down. "I'm afraid that you'll not find me a worthy opponent. I'm not the man you fought on the island."

"I would hope so. You should have at least improved a little."

"No, I mean I'm literally another person." Then, he… shadow-fied.

She hated that. She had caught a glimpse of Vokun doing the same, and it was not pretty. By itself it didn't look like anything special, of course. The body of the shadow just… became shadow. The problem was that by doing so he… it was difficult to explain. You just knew that what you were looking for wasn't really… real. It also sends a lot of confusing signals to your brain, things like 'it's not supposed to be there', 'danger' and the like. Very annoying and headache inducing.

"I'm a shadow. A copy. I'm technically as powerful as he is, but I've also limited reserves of power that I cannot recover." Said Kein, returning solid. "If you want to have a real challenge, you're better going somewhere else. After this battle I can barely use my magic."

Black Winter remained immobile for a second, and Shining Pearl waited, tensing up her muscles. She had no idea if the Deathknight would have believed Kein. She wasn't really sure she believed he was that low on magic, Loki's reserves always looked unlimited.

"Very well." Replied the Abyssal. "I suppose I will search for your true self. Where is he?"

"Following a Behemoth going south-east." Replied Kein. She sent him an alarmed look. Why was he telling him the truth!?

"A Behemoth. It might be a worthy challenge." Commented Black Winter. "Alright. I'm leaving immediately. Good luck, Silent Whisper." And with that, he leaped over the fortifications and disappeared into the forest.

"Why did you tell him where Loki went?" Asked Shining Pearl the moment the massive knight disappeared. Then, before he could answer, she turned toward Silent Whisper. "And why are you still there?"

The swordswoman looked away, embarrassed, and Kein decided to answer.

"You don't have to worry about the original. By the time Black Winter has reached him he will have already defeated the Behemoth… or coming here to get reinforcements. And anyway, he can just teleport here if he doesn't want to fight Black Winter."

"He could attack him while he's weakened by the fight!"

"Improbable." the General replied coldly. "He's not the type. He wants a true fight, not stabbing someone in the back while they didn't expect it. He will give the original time to rest… and then it will not be there anymore."

"He's right." Interjected Silent Whisper. "Black Winter's only interest is to refine his fighting skills. He has focused on y-… on the original because you're the first one to give him a challenge in years. But anything will do. If we're lucky, he'll find enough tough monsters around that he'll never feel the necessity to search us out."

Shining Pearl had to admit that it made sense. Black Winter did sound like he had a code of some kind. So, Loki could probably deal with him or avoid him if necessary. Or maybe even use him to kill the Behemoth.

Which let him focus on the remaining Deathknight.

"You still haven't explained why you're here."

Behind the bangs, Silent Whisper grimaced. "Look, I didn't want to meet you again, not after we almost killed each other. But, Black Winter wanted his fight, and while he's the best warrior in the West, he's not the best tracker. I'm not either, but I'm good enough, so he forced me to follow your tracks, and…" She paused. "… and you're the only people I know outside the Archipelago."

Shining Pearl blinked, confused by the rant. Meanwhile, Kein seemed to have pretty clear ideas.

"You want to travel with us."

The Deathknight made a timid nod.

The Getimians opened her mouth to tell her exactly what she thought about that idea, but Kein interrupted her putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Very well."

Silent Whisper beamed up. Meanwhile, she turned to face Kein… and she stopped. The Abyssal probably didn't notice, but the look in the shadow's eyes was not as reassuring as his words could hint. There was a spark of compassion, but what shone through was cold calculation.

"We're going to leave this place very soon." Continued Kein. "Be ready. And you can stop looming, guys. She's with us… for now."

Both Shining Pearl and Silent Whisper looked around, confused by who Kein was talking to, and saw several Akyn, weapons ready, hiding in the shadows, and several more with bows ready to strike. Where were they until now? How didn't she notice them? How could six-foot tall, three hundred pounds of dragon-man in heavy armor be so stealthy?

Seriously, what the hell was it the Akyn hunted? Tyrant Lizards?

Kein didn't bother to say anything else, he just turned and walked away from Silent Whisper. The Deathknight wisely decided to not follow, and only in that moment the Akyn lowered their weapons. She quickly followed Kein.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, desperately trying to not sound petulant. She failed.

"Apparently I maintain enough skills from the original to see through her." He replied. "She's lost. She probably became a Deathknight out of pure desperation, and was too scared of her Deathlord master to defy his orders. Now that she had gathered enough courage to leave… She doesn't really know what to do. And while the original is here, he will need allies. A Deathknight is not his first choice, nor is it mine… but beggars can't be choosers. She could be useful."

"How so?" Asked the Getimian, voice filled with doubt.

"Necromancy, for one. Her fighting style is interesting too. Also, studying how other Exalts powers work is always useful. Look what the original managed to do with just looking at you."

She had to give the point to the shadow. For Loki, every piece of knowledge was important. Keeping the Deathknight around while the original returned was a good idea… well, good-ish.

"I don't trust her." She said.

Kein shrugged. "I don't particularly trust her either. But we don't need to. We can keep an eye on her until we are convinced she's not going to try to kill us, or until she tries. And if she tries, we kill her."

Shining Pearl blinked at that, then she remembered that this was Kein, not Loki. Loki would at least hesitate a little at the thought of killing the Deathknight.

Strange how, despite having his shadow here, she missed him. She hoped he was alright.

Around Creation in 80 Days 1.9

I quickly squashed the instinctive dread I felt for the dark dragon. Even after having killed him, even after becoming stronger, I couldn't stop myself from being terrorized by Alduin. I spent too much time fearing our inevitable fight to do so.

That said, with the awareness of my improved strength and the preparations I had done, I felt confident enough to tackle the monster that had assumed the form of one of my greatest fears -because of course it would have- and distract it until the Dragonblooded I paid handsomely to come and help me deal with it. I doubted they were going to be very effective on their own, but they had war machines that could wound even the strongest monster, and even if they did pretty much nothing but distract it, it was still enough.

Hmmm… but my runic pebbles were pretty much worthless if that thing had even half of Alduin's durability. And I was not talking about his inability to be killed on Mundus, even without that Alduin was pretty much invulnerable to conventional weapons. Which made it a good thing I'd asked Dragonblooded for help.

But those were thoughts for later. Now I needed to buy time for the Lokshy troops to arrive, and possibly push it away from the city. But I needed to burn a little power before that… the transformation in my dragon form burned anima to fuel itself.

Fortunately, I knew how to do that.

-X-

Amilar Tanak had just the time to look out of the window and see that… perversion of the Elemental Dragons that appeared in front of him.

"It's here. Call the reinforcements. Everything they have!"

So that was the Behemoth. Honestly, he expected the monster to look less… solid, but maybe it was just a form he decided to assume to better scare the population. If Loki's report was correct -and right now he had been right on every account- then the monster had powers related to fear. And the shape it had assumed was quite intimidating.

So, he passed a strange… metal circle to one of the soldiers, something that Loki had given them for when the time did come, and asked them to use it when the Behemoth appeared. The man nodded and, touching a brooch that Loki had given them, he disappeared.

Tanak still marveled how Loki was able to create those little teleportation devices. Of course, they had wanted to test them before risking one of their own disappearing into nothingness, and the Exigent had graciously given them two more to let the chosen one to reach and return from Lookshy in a couple of minutes.

Unfortunately, they would not be able to bring as many forces as the Exigent would have liked. The only force that Lookshy was able to quickly engage a Behemoth was the airship fleet… which was not used for much anymore, not after it was almost completely destroyed in recent years. However, exactly because they were rarely used, the Gent responsible for their maintenance had basically jumped on the opportunity to bring glory -and money- to Lookshy.

Now, it was just a matter of slowing the Behemoth enough to let them arrive. For all that they could arrive fast, it still required time to move the airships, and the monster looked quite formidable.

Then he noticed a humanoid figure shining with orange and blue jumping on the rooftops in the distance, before rocketing toward the demonic dragon. Halfway through, the humanoid exploded with orange light and, when the brightness lowered, in its place there was a dragon very similar to the Behemoth. The two monsters clashed with a sound like thunder and the Behemoth was pushed away from the walls.

Well, that was something. Now they just needed help gaining time.

He called his guard and, together, they ran toward the fight.

-X-

The more or less half second of fight I had with the Behemoth-turned-Alduin already told me much.

Like, for example, that this was not really Alduin. Obviously, I know, but you can never be too sure. It was, however, a sufficiently good reproduction. It lacked some of the more mystical properties of the World Devourer, but the innate powers of the Behemoth could compensate somewhat.

I knew because it didn't use the Voice to shoot flames at my dragon form. Which, for one part, was good, because it meant it was a weapon it couldn't use against me.

On the other hand it was bad because while I was extremely resistant to fire, I was not immune, and that shit burned. And it clings to my skin too, like an excessively nasty dose of napalm. Fuck you, you discount store Alduin!

I expressed that sentiment by smacking the fake dragon in the face with my tail, then Shouting a Fo. Krah. Diin straight into its chest. The dragon stumbled. The best thing about all of this? In this moment, I was more of a Dov that my enemy. That meant not only did I have far more arrows in my quiver, but also that I understood what he was going to do better. Maybe it was because the Behemoth was using my own memories of Alduin to impersonate him. It had been useful to make me briefly panic at the start, but now it meant only that I was able to see what it was doing to do… because I had seen the true Alduin doing it already.

Fake Alduin recovered surprisingly quickly, then its maw jolted toward me, trying to either take one of my eyes or grab my neck, I wasn't sure. I quickly retreated, then shoulder checked the monster and pushed it even farther from the city. The least damage was done to the place, the better.

The Behemoth opened his mouth again, blasting me with more fire. Dammit, dodging with this body was a problem. I mean, I could have teleported, but Great Fork was already in a panic from the fight, I didn't want to make things worse. And surely, teleporting kaiju were worse than just normal kaijus.

Wait… did the fire burn a little more than before?

"Fus. Ro. Dah!"

Fake Alduin took that pretty well. It planted its claws on the ground and stood its ground, and he was pushed away only a couple dozen of meters or so. Then, instead of attacking… it spoke, in an all too familiar sound.

"Not… bad…"

What in the fucking hell? Was that thing… turning into Alduin?

No, it was just fucking with me. Of course it was. That thing either ate fear or was fear. In both cases, getting better at imitating Alduin could only help it.

The fact that it was getting stronger was a big issue, though. When was the Dragon-blooded coming?

As I thought that, a circular portal opened high in the sky, and several airships, looking a lot like galleys if not for the fact that they were floating, emerged from it. With surprising coordination, the vessels dispersed and started a maneuver that will make them circle around the fake Alduin, probably to have a better way to punch it with their enormous Artifact ballistae.

In fact, a second later, projectiles of various nature -mostly ballista bolts, but sometimes cannonballs and I thought I saw lightning bolts- started to rain down on the fake Alduin… and on me.

"Don't shoot me, assholes!" I roared, both in rage and in pain. Artifact siege weapons hurt. "Shoot it!"

I underlined the concept by blasting another Unrelenting Force against the fake Alduin, pushing it away a little more. But, to avoid further confusion -and to give a more difficult target in case they still decided to not listen-, I returned to my human form, just in time to be reached by Tanak.

"Good to see you, Loki. Do you have any insight on the Behemoth, now that he took physical form?"

Ah, he saw me transform into a dragon and noticed the similarities. Fortunately, that was quickly explained.

"Itass umed the form of one of my greatest enemies… a monster with the power to devour souls and grow big enough to eat the entire world. I don't think it has his powers, but it will be prudent to assume that it's able to replicate them, at least in part."

Tanak looked as the airships circled around the fake Alduin and continued to bombard it. The monster was roaring, but it would not take much time for it to realize that he could pretty easily destroy the ships if it wanted.

"I need to keep its focus on me." I said. "In that form, I more or less know what it's going to do next. But we'll need to move fast. He's gaining power from the fear of the city… I need to do something I never do."

"What?" Asked Tanak.

I paused, gathering my determination. "Going all in."

-X-

The citizens of the Great Fork were panicking. Well, pretty much anyone in the city was panicking. Nobody expected a gigantic monster to just pop out from nothing, nor an equally large monster to appear a second later to engage in a fight that made the ground tremble, nor to the arrival of several Lookshy airships.

Of course, not everyone was running around in fear. The thearchs were taking advantage of the fight to coordinate the city militia and preparing to take the field personally. The few Exigents in the city that had enough power -and confidence- to fight the monster were armed, ready to protect one of the few places in Creation where they were safe.

Almost nobody noticed a man floating in the air. But they surely heard him speak. The man let out a stream of words, the air trembling with each syllable, his voice thundering, clearly heard across all the city. Nobody could understand the words he pronounced, nor did anyone recognize the language, even if for the gods of the City of Then Thousand Temples it sounded… familiar.

But while nobody could understand the words, they felt the power they possessed. Three words, and the fear was pushed back. Three words, and a flame erupted in the sky, orange and blue. Three words, and the black monster, who had unfolded its wings and was trying to ascend to the sky, stumbled and returned to the ground.

Three words, and a storm converged on the tiny flame in the air, lightning erupting from the black sea of clouds.

Those closer to the flame could see a spear made of bone and silver appear out of nothing, and then, raising it toward the sky, making a simple proclamation. Then, the spear was launched with such strength that air broke at its passage, and lightning rained on it, wrapping around the tip of the weapon until it shone like concentrated sunlight.

Then it impacted against the chest of the monster, and with the sound of a thousand thunders, it exploded, sending the creature away from the city. Cheers and exclamation of joy followed, as the bright flame flew against the dark dragon, a sword of light in his hand and words of power on his lips.

Victory seemed near.

-X-

Victory was looking more distant every minute of the fight.

The problem had two major components. First, despite using Battle Fury's on the entire city, the Behemoth was growing stronger still. Clearly, making the people of the city braver didn't stop them from feeling scared deep down, which made sense but it was still bothersome. The second issue was that the strategy 'go all in' worked only if going all in was enough to kill the opponent fast.

I tried to make it work. My throat was sore from having Shouted for several minutes without pause, and I feared that I would be unable to properly speak if I continued this way. Unfortunately, while not a Dov, the Behemoth was enough of a powerhouse to have most of the same immunities, so much that he was not actually that different from Alduin himself. Bend Will? Didn't work, either its mind was too powerful or too alien to be affected. Soul Tear? Same as above, even if it did manage to hurt it. Drain Vitality and Marked for Death? Worked, but they didn't seem to slow it much. Maybe he was just able to overcome the effects by constantly getting stronger, I don't know. Fortunately Dragonrend seemed to work, which while cool, had bad implications.

Aside from that, I had spent most of my magical and physical reserves in trying to kill the fucker. Elemental storms, barriers to keep people safe -I needed to stop trying to protect everyone, deflecting a single breath of the monster cost me more than any attack-, giving myself all the power of a dragon… it still was not enough. I could face it, it still was not on a level where I couldn't hurt it, but the problem was that I was going to run out of fuel sooner or later. More sooner than later, honestly, I had enough power for maybe another couple of minutes, not more. I could only hope that he had already reached his full power and that he couldn't just heal everything we had dished out until now, because if it could just continually become stronger… we weren't going to deal with it. In fact, most of my allies were disappearing. The little squad of Dragon-blooded lead by Tanak had retreated to heal their wounds, and the airships had to spend less time shooting and more dodging because I was unable to stop the fucking monster to just blast them with fire when it decided to do so.

I quickly regenerated my magical power with a Shout and started to think. I needed to find a way to defeat this thing. Doing the usual was not working. Maybe I had to start getting creative. No experimentation with Essence to see what worked and what not. Imagine effect, pump power, get. It. Done.

"I have… to thank you…"

What, now that I had decided to go creative this thing talked again? Was it doing it on purpose, or did he just have terrible timing?

"I have been… trapped, for so long…"

Uh… the more it talked -with the voice of Alduin, of course- the easier it seemed to become. Maybe it always knew how to talk and it was just rusty.

"But now… I can feed again… on the fear and hate of mortals." Ah, great, he ate negativity in general. Just wonderful. "And thanks to you, I found a great shape to inspire such emotions."

It was getting talky, the abomination.

"I'm He-Who-Walks-In-Darkness." Finally said the monster. "I hailed from the Wyld eons ago, to feast on the emotions of Creation. And thanks to you, I now walk again. What is your name, Chosen? I want to remember it, before I kill you."

I raised my Shehai in challenge. "I'm Rexen Loki, Exigent of Akatosh. Now die."

Fake Alduin -He-Who-Walk-In-Darkness was too fucking long as a name and remembered me of the Walkers of Dresden's Files anyway- snorted, either in amusement or to mock me, I was not sure. Unfortunately, I knew that, unless a miracle literally dropped from the sky, I was not going to…

With a resounding pop, something appeared right in front of me. I grabbed it out of reflex with my left hand, confused by the sudden appearance of… a sword.

Yes, a sword. A sword made of black metal, with draconic runes engraved in the spine of the blade. It was a greatsword, or if we wanted to be more historically accurate, a two-handed sword. It was roughly as big as Dupahtuz, if a little wider and longer. It also had the same…

Wait… Dupahtuz, is that you?

The sword pulsed, like answering me. I admired the blade. I honestly expected more ghostly faces emerging from the black metal, but the weapon sent me a… vague message, I don't know how to put it. At any rate, I got the distinct impression that the blade had just… eaten the ghost partially trapped into the metal, probably the reason it could communicate, even if in the form of sensations and feelings instead of actual words. It was not intelligent nor did it have a personality, per se, but it was alive, and with one all-encompassing drive.

Hunger.

I quickly returned my gaze on Fake Alduin the moment I saw movement. Contrary to what I expected, it had not moved forward. Instead, the gigantic monster -I was pretty sure he had gradually grown bigger during the fight- had made a step backwards, like it was… scared?

I gave a glance to my finally returned sword. Could it be? Death technically didn't exist in the Wyld, at least in the deeper Wyld where everything was chaos and, more generally, before the creation of humans and the defeat of the Primordials. And considering that fake Alduin here had reacted to Dragonrend like a Dov, it was logical to assume it was born a long time ago, when the power of necromancy as it existed right now in Creation was yet to be discovered. As a creature of chaotic Essence, deathly Essence could be considered the absolute antithesis of the monster.

It would be interesting to see if it was a common weakness among Wyld critters or just this one's specific weak point, but I had no intention to venture into the Wyld to find out. The important thing was that, maybe, my sword could actually make it bleed.

That was, if it stepped away because it was scared and not because it had no idea what necromantic power actually was.

"Ready for a fight?" I asked my sword, since apparently it was now conscious enough to answer.

The reply was a black fog that started to cover the whole thing. Fake Alduin made a distressed sound, almost a growl, but it quickly overcame his instinctive wariness and started to advance.

I fell into a stance. I was not very experienced with two-weapon fighting, but my Sheahi had the useful ability to amplify my Aberrant Techniques and Dupahtuz -I will change the name the moment the fucker was dead- seemed to be the only things scaring it. I would have to adapt on the fly while trying to put down an immensely powerful monster.

Business as usual.

Around Creation in 80 Days 2.1

Dol Loki sent a last glance in the direction where he felt the original fight, then turned toward Ninegala. "Seems like my time here is done." Said the shadow, before bowing his head a little. "Thank you for everything, Ninegala."

The ancient forge goddess smiled at the man. "You're welcome. And thanks to you too, my apprentice. It has been years since I had such a talented student. The last time…" The goddess paused, her eyes traveling thousands of miles away. Ninegala was powerful and ancient, but that didn't mean she had magical memories. In fact, the longer the memories went back, the less she could remember them. "… well, it has been a while. I think it was an Exigent, a Chosen of some local god who had interest in molding metal for some reason, but I cannot remember the details. It happened… a couple of centuries into the Shougunate, I think." She shook her head. "I've forgotten so much."

"You have lived more than most gods that still exist today." Shrugged Dol. "I think forgetting something is natural."

She chuckled. "Of course you would… you're mortal, after all." She paused and looked at her apprentice… well, not anymore, but still, and noticed the frown on his face. "What's the matter? You worry about your original?"

"Of course, but it's not only that. I… fear that I made a mistake when making the sword."

The goddess blinked, confused. "No, you made no mistake. I would have corrected you if that was the case. In fact, I'll say you did an excellent job. That sword is an Artifact that will be sung of in stories for a long time. Its power is unrivaled by anything I've seen."

"That's the problem, Ninegala." He replied, returning to look at the place where the original Loki was fighting. "I fear I made the sword too powerful."

-X-

Holy shit the sword was powerful. Almost too powerful. Its hunger was so great that it threatened to drown all my thoughts… Fortunately I had enough willpower to tell it to sit down and shut up.

Unfortunately, the manifestation of the sword hunger, the black fog that it emitted, was kinda deleterious for the local flora. And fauna. And pretty much every living thing nearby. As it touched the grass, it immediately became very, very dead, drying up like it was in the middle of the desert instead of a field under a merciful climate.

And since it was made by combining my life-stealing sword, my soul-stealing dagger, and Soulsteel, I had no doubt that it had a terrible effect once it hit. I would need to use it sparsely and make a scabbard to contain its hunger. I didn't trust it to stay in my dimensional bag and not consume my other weapons. Who knew what it could eat.

But that would come later. Right now, I have a Behemoth to kill.

And since everything I had done until now failed to hurt the monster significantly, I had to improvise. Akatosh… help me. Please.

I needed you to look away while I messed with time.

Time magic was not something to be used lightly. It could cause big problems and it was, behind Shadow Magic, the most dangerous form of magic available in The Elder Scrolls universe. Mostly because of the very real risk of getting yeeted several hundred years in the past or future, or to suddenly be aged to death or de-aged to non-existence if you messed up.

But now that I was Dov, I had a better control over time magic than I did before. I meditated deeply on my own Essence while traveling toward the North, to see what my limits were. Not using magic, but my own innate powers. I knew that I had time-related powers, because Akatosh was the god of time, but I didn't know what they would let me do. I knew time-travel was possible, but I didn't trust myself to use it. The Slow Time Shout was a great example of something that I could probably pull off, but I needed more.

My meditation revealed to me a simple truth: Akatosh was the god of time, in particular, linear time. He pretty much defined the start and the end of times. As such, my powers resonated with using time to either slow or accelerate time, far less with actually moving through time, backwards in particular. Doing so would be like trying to go against the flow of time, and I already knew that my powers would not have liked that. Going forward was easier, but also very risky. I didn't have any idea where I was going to land.

Curiously, the opposite happened when it was a matter of seeing through time. Which made sense, because Akatosh was time, so the past, present and future were pretty much the same to him, but for me the past was fixed, while the future was uncertain. I needed to test how far I could see in both directions, but I knew I could.

I never actually tried to use either of those powers, though. It was a very advanced use of my draconic Essence, not as instinctive as buffing myself with pure dragon powa was, but everything else had failed. Also, nothing during the trip actually required me to, and while time manipulation was one of my wet dreams, I had more important things to do than experimenting with it.

So… I was flying blind here. I hoped everything went well.

I took a breath and exhaled, gathering my magical power in the direction I wanted. Simple precognition will not do. I needed something better. I needed the ability to strike with impunity. With a speed that not even my greatest Fortify spell could give me.

For an instant, I saw the way Abyssal Essence cloaked Black Winter. And I pushed.

Time slowed to a crawl. Contrary, my reserves started to dip down at a breakneck pace. This… was not sustainable. I glanced at what was happening with my eyes and saw the problem. The magic power was trying to slow everything around me, but I wasted too much power doing it and it was not what I needed either. I needed to focus the effort. I gathered the time distortion around me, waving it tightly around my body in a closed system. The effect stabilized, and I reduced the consumption to sustainable levels. Time started to pass again. I needed to maintain the effect, but it was manageable. Perfect.

This was like Slow Time. But there was a difference. I did not slow down.

I dashed toward Fake Aduin and I saw the creature blink in surprise. From my perspective, it took several seconds. Before he could even tilt its head toward me, I had already reached it and slashed at the hard plates of its armor with both my Shehai and Dupahtuz… and I immediately found a problem.

Dupahtuz, as expected, was very effective. The places where the black blade hit seemed to corrode the Behemoth body, halting its ability to recover… but it didn't bite very deep, spreading on as much area as possible like a liquid instead of penetrating.

On the other hand, the Shehai cut though the body of the monster like it was butter, but it didn't seem to be able to cause lasting damage.

By themselves, the blades were not enough. I had to strike precisely, first hitting the armor of the monster to pierce its defenses and then push the devouring black mist inside. Considering how any damage inflicted by everything else had been swiftly healed, I suspected the 'body' of the Behemoth was not actually the hard shell that looked like Alduin, but the shadow snake inside it. I needed to go deep to actually hurt the monster.

And, assuming he followed at least some of the conventional anatomy rules…

I shot high, slashing and hacking my way toward the monsters head. Fighting with two weapons was more difficult than I expected. Not enough to slow me down, but enough that hitting the same spot twice while moving was not as easy as it should be. I continued to hit just a little away, preventing the corrosive miasma of Dupahtuz from reaching deep. Once I reached the head and almost cut one of the Fake Alduin's eye with my Shehai -I hit the membrane covering it instead- I found myself shot up before I could blind the fucker.

Uh, increased speed had his downsides. I could control it pretty well since it was speed given by accelerated time and not simply propulsion, but still…

Ah, later. This strategy was working, I just needed to continue doing so until I either managed to kill it with the usual thousands cuts, or until I got a better idea. Maybe…

No, later!

I dropped down, aiming at the head again. If I managed to hit the eyes with Dupahtuz, I was in a pretty good spot. I suppose that technically the Behemoth could heal given time -ehe- but if it didn't let it heal, I had a chance.

I was about to strike…

And from the open mouth of the monster came a roar that shut down magic. Time returned to flow at a normal pace. My Shehai stuttered and disappeared, Dupahtuz's mist vanished, and I could vaguely see the Lookshy's airships stop flying for a fraction of a second before resuming.

Unfortunately, that fraction of a second was all the monster needed.

Dupahtuz slashed the eye open, but without its magic going, it was not going to be a permanent damage. Furthermore, I quickly realized that my Levitation spell had gone together with everything else, so I had all the aerial mobility of a sack of bricks. I managed to roll against the hard skin of the Behemoth, then I kicked to jump away from the head and reactivated the spell with a thought…

I almost got away in time.

The enormous maw of the monster snapped and caught my legs. The pressure was unbearable, and indeed I heard a powerful snap. Goodbye, my femurs, you'll be missed.

On the bright side, my armor managed to stop the monster from biting my leg off, so I was still in one piece when he slammed me on the ground with all the strength he possessed. Nothing else was broken, fortunately, but I found myself half-buried into the ground. I quickly teleported away before the monster could think to stomp on me for good measure.

"I'm impressed." Started the monster. "But everything you do is pointless. The more we fight, the more I gain power. You cannot escape your own fear."

Thank God this one liked to talk. Was it always like this, or was it something he got from assuming Alduin's shape? The World Devourer did have the habit of monologuing.

Besides, he was wrong. I managed to hurt it, so he was not invincible as he wanted to portray himself. Now, if only I didn't have the bones of my legs reduced to splinters, I could actually take advantage of that. But before that I would need to do something for the pain. It has been drilling in my head since…

Wait.

Shut up.

As I thought that, the pain disappeared. Right. This body was not made of simple flesh. It was made of Creatia, which was solid magic that just assumed the consistency of flesh under order of a strong will. I didn't need magic to heal it, even if pumping more magic into the magic flesh surely helped.

Now…

Stay still.

I felt the broken bones of my legs return into position. They were not healed, but they were going to act like they were until I focused. Now, last push.

Move.

My legs bent under my body while I pushed with my right arm -my left was still gripping Dupahtuz- and I got up. I felt dull throbs pulsing along my spine, signals that my legs were screaming in agony, but I just pushed them back. I would heal later. For now, I had to deal with the Behemoth.

"Persistent. But I grow tired of your stubbornness." Fake Alduin snorted, fire already dripping from its maw. "Die!"

He opened its jaws to drown me in flames… and a lightning bolt caught it in the eyes, making its head swerve enough to miss me completely. Meanwhile, arrows started to rain as apparently the defenders of Great Fork decided to engage the monster. Finally! It had taken them just… uh, had we really started a couple of minutes ago? It seemed like this battle had gone on for hours.

Now, it was time to implement the solution that had jumped into my mind at the problem of hurting the Behemoth. Slowly, I grabbed Dupatuzh with both weapons, took a deep breath… and while exhaling, I called my Shehai.

Of course, the sword tried to materialize into my hand… which was already occupied by a real sword. There was a moment in which it seemed like the soul-blade didn't know what to do, but I pushed, giving the 'weapon' a direction using my will.

And so the brilliant blade of light overlapped with Dupahtuz, the spiritual sword covering the black metal of the straight sword, creating an interesting contrast. The edge and the runes of the weapons shone with white light, while the rest of the weapon seemed even darker than it was before.

The process was not stable. I could feel the Shehai trying to assume its usual, curved shape, but I kept it in place by sheer willpower. I wouldn't be able to hold forever. I needed to deal a significant blow now.

And there was just a way to do that.

I raised my sword and called my power once more. The time slowed to a crawl again, but this time, it was not a slow, controlled flow of accelerated time. No, if I wanted to kill the Behemoth, I needed something truly devastating. Combining Shehai and Dupahtuz was going to hurt the Behemoth… I needed to hurt it enough that it couldn't recover.

So, instead of accelerating my personal time, I pushed my Essence to do something different. Something that was surely going to hurt when I was done, but that it would probably work. A single, sudden burst of stopped time, to repeat one single action several times in a row.

My Essence roared when I called it, eager. Weird. Was it because the Behemoth had a shape and a nature similar enough to that of a dragon to activate my innate dragon-slaying abilities? Or was it something different, an echo of the true purpose of the Exaltation, a weapon meant to slay the creators of the universe? I don't know. It sure was convenient though.

I jumped, easily covering hundreds of meters to reach an appropriate distance -my range with the sword was a dozen or so meters, not the hundreds like most of my magic, and when I reached the right point, I let time magic explode out of me, slowing the movements of everyone else to a standstill. If I had to give a name to this technique, I would call it One Move, Ten Strikes.

"Sword. Tremor!"

Dupahtuz flashed. For anyone looking, it probably looked like I made just one swing. In reality, I performed several Sword Tremors in rapid succession, and let me tell you that the mental and physical focus required to perform the move was immense. Fortunately my body couldn't actually refuse to obey my commands because of things like fatigue or broken bones, so I just attacked and attacked and attacked… until the time granted by the draconic power of Akatosh left me, and the Behemoth ate all the attacks at the same time.

You know when in some cartoons the slashes caused by a sword leave behind a tray of light and sometimes even the wounds briefly flash white before they appear -with copious amounts of blood if the cartoon is particularly hardcore? Well, that's exactly what happened. For a brief second, the body of Fake Alduin shone as dozens of brilliant lines covered it, before the black mist that Dupahtuz exuded from them.

The Behemoth roared in pain as its armor exploded in dozens of pieces, flying away and revealing the true form of the monster, the same shadowy snake-thing I saw when giving chase. Black mist was clinging at his body, slowly consuming it, but it was still not dead. This fucker was tough, I'm not surprised the ancient Exalted had to seal it away instead of killing it. Without the black Essence of the Underworld, wearing it down was next to impossible.

Still, I needed to kill it now, before it could escape like it had done before. My worn out Essence sent me a last flicker of power, just what I needed for a last, desperate attack. If this didn't work…

No, it would work.

So, with the last dregs of power dying out, I propelled myself toward the head of the Behemoth. One last strike. Just one more.

"Ephemeral Feint!" I shouted, putting all I had into this last attack. Dopahtuz blurred, white and black fighting to see who was going to deal the finishing blow…

And the sword caught the muzzle of the snake-thing and cut right through it, splitting it for all its length. For a second, the Behemoth continued to writhe in pain, like it hadn't realized it was dead, and for a second I feared it may not be enough. Maybe it didn't have a brain equivalent and I needed to strike a 'core' in some other part of the body…

Then it started to dissolve into black dust, quickly dispersing into the wind, and I felt relief.

Maybe because Dupahtuz had drained the thing of part of its health and magical power, so I was not quite as tired as before. I managed to roll before impacting on the ground and quickly stood, still keeping my bones in place through pure will, because I was not betting on the vitality drained to be enough to heal that injury so easily.

Then cheers erupted around me.

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.1

Happy Easter everyone! I have good news for the people that asked me how much time it will be before the Exalted universe is done. This will be the last Exalted Arc. And with this news, let's go.

-X-

It took me several days to get the fuck out of the Great Fork. Not only because I needed to recover -which I did in a night, like I was a character in D&D- but mostly because after I saved the city, people were suddenly very interested in knowing me. And, since I would need to return here -it was always useful to have more points to teleport to- I decided to leave a good impression before leaving.

So I met bureaucrats, nobles, and some gods. I even had a discussion with the thearchs, managing to regain at least some of the money I spent recruiting the Lookshy fleet, even if most of the reward the rulers of the city wanted to give went into repairing the airships that got damaged in the fight. Fortunately none of them were destroyed, which was pretty much a miracle.

So, after some time, I finally managed to slip away and return to the North. Since I was able to teleport pretty much anywhere I knew well enough, I first made a visit to the village to see how they were going. I found the people hidden behind a solid stone wall, so I quickly teleported away, aiming at Shining Pearl.

When I arrived, I found her, Kein and… one of the Deathknights we fought in Skullstone?

"What in the fucking hell?" I said before I could stop myself. Rude, maybe, but after several days of false smiles and worthless chatter, I didn't feel like holding back.

"Oh, boss, you're back." Greeted Kein. "How did the hunt go?"

I sent him a glare… before realizing that if he was so calm, there was probably no danger. "Pretty well. Come here, I'm going to send you to the Refuge."

Kein obeyed, fusing with my shadow and re-emerging quickly. Then, with a flick of my wrist, I opened a portal and let him walk away.

"So, you escaped from your Deathlord and now you want to follow us just to have company?" I asked the Deathknight, which I was going to call Whisper and nothing more.

"That… sums it up." She conceded, then her eyes fell on Dupahtuz, now reborn as Dusilkez the Black Blade. "What is that? You didn't have it with you last time we fought."

"He'll explain to you later." Cut out Shining Pearl in a dry tone that made me immediately understand she didn't like to have her here. "Loki, what happened to the Behemoth?"

I sighed. More explanations to do. "Let's continue to move, shall we?"

-X-

After I explained what happened -with visual help thanks to illusion magic, I loved the cinematic experience- everyone was suitably impressed.

Well, Shining Pearl was somewhat worried by my new weapon, firmly struck into a sheath I enchanted explicitly to contain the hunger of the blade.

"Are you sure that the enchantment will hold? I wouldn't want to get my soul drained away. Maybe for you it's innocuous, but I doubt that your 'don't hit allies with my powers' work for the weapon."

I snorted, annoyed. Not at Shining Pearl, hers was a valid concern. I was annoyed that the sword turned out this way. But maybe I should have predicted that. Soulsteel had a theme, and that theme was death. Combined with my other weapons' pre-existent abilities… Well, there was no other way it would have turned out differently. "The enchantment will hold… for now. I can already feel Dusilkez eating it away. I will ask Dol to make a better one… but first I need to get him to the Refuge, if he's not there yet."

"The what?" Asked Whisper, curious.

"You'll see soon enough." I replied. We were still trekking through the North, while also taking our sweet time deliberately not following Black Winter's steps. So, we were going to go East for a while and then turn South. Doing so should avoid any problems. "Before that we need to find some transport. I don't want to walk all around Creation…"

Moving was, unfortunately, necessary. We could bunker down somewhere, but that carried the risk of having a Sidereal pull enough strings of Fate to bring everything down, with any people near us as collateral damage.

…

Wait a second.

"I really have to think about these things more thoroughly." I muttered, before focusing my power and assuming my dragon form. There were a couple of surprised cries, but at least Shining Pearl and Whisper didn't attack me right then and there.

I lowered my neck, giving ample access to the ladies. "Saddle up, girls."

They exchanged a glance, apparently equally confused by my sudden transformation, but Shining Pearl quickly overcames it, probably because at this point she was used to me just crapping out random magic. She jumped on my neck, followed by Whisper after a couple of seconds of hesitation. They sat stiffly, unsure on what to do.

"Hold on tight. I'm going to show you the meaning of flying."

There was a sudden burst of activity as they scrambled to grab whatever they could, and then I rose up and spread my wings.

A single, powerful wingbeat later, I was in the air. With the next, I gained speed.

I loved flying. Few things gave me the pure rush of adrenaline that soaring through the sky did. In dragon form, the sensation was actually even more powerful, because I could feel the force required to make that huge body fly, and the fact that I could overcome it with pure physical might was amazing.

My passengers' cries of surprise and panic were just the icing on the cake.

-X-

"Well, you have to admit it was a little funny." I humorously poked Whisper.

"It. Was. Not. Funny." Replied the Deathknight. She was not pouting, per se, her face was as stony as it could be. But her entire body language was pretty much doing the work for her.

"I have to admit I've never heard of an Abyssal screaming like that." Smirked Shining Pearl. "I expected them to be unafraid of things like death."

"Sorry if I've never fallen from a flying dragon." The other woman replied coldly. "Or get caught by the claws of one. Couldn't you just swoop down so I landed on your back?"

"I could, but there was no saying if you would manage to grab onto something to stay on my back." I replied. "So I opted for the safest way."

Whisper grunted but elected to not repeat the long slew of profanities she had screamed at me after she stopped dangling in my claws… and while afterwards, for that matter. For such a dainty-looking girl, she really could curse like a sailor. Well, probably to be expected from someone born in the West.

I chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you." I said, before opening a portal. "Ladies first."

Whisper didn't look like she was entirely sure it was a good idea -and it wasn't, not for her- but Shining Pearl crossed the azure portal without a trace of worry and so she was forced to do the same. I followed the girls and, the moment I passed through the portal, I sent a message to everyone inside the manor.

Watch her.

I was not entirely sure if the shadow priests were the right people to ask that, because even if in a roundabout way, they were still undead. Unfortunately, most of my shadows were not inside the manor and, in fact, I expressly told them to not come unless they really had nothing else to do. Vokun was excluded because, in his role of administrator, he rarely needed to actually do something that he couldn't put on pause for a second or two, but Wahl spent most of his time supervising the 'building' of the leylines of the Refuge and the manses that accompanied them, and Kein was… I think either training the Akyn into a military force of some kind, overlooking the fortifications of the various cities, or personally hunting down some monster.

Communication was still difficult, especially on their part. If they tried to send me anything resembling a warning, they either had to travel to Creation and contact me, or all I got was a quick feeling of something before it vanished. Unfortunately, the time disparity made any communication on their part almost impossible. On my side, I could do the astral projection thing Kein did before, but as useful as it was, it didn't really help exchange information except for the most basic ones. They couldn't merge with my astral projection.

Whisper's first time inside the Refuge went as expected. A lot of 'Oh!' and 'Ah!' from Whisper, we ate and slept… There was just one difference.

Under the mansion, in the heart of the mountain, now laid a new room. A very large room, bare for the moment, with just a pool of magma surging directly from the depths of the earth and flowing around in little canals that disappeared into the walls, probably pooling into the furnaces of the Akyn, a little help to give them an easier time fueling their craftsmanship. Words in Dovahzul glowed softly near the magma, runes of heat and fire and earth maintaining the molten stone liquid and hot enough to serve its purpose. The heat was intense, but I ignored it to focus on the only important part of the whole.

Dol, near the pool from where the lava sprung, molding Orichalcum into shape using magic to gather the heat around him and to materialize instruments of pure energy to hit the metal.

"Wouldn't it be better to make a true hammer instead of doing that?" I asked.

Dol spared me a glance without stopping. "Later." He replied. "The battery is not difficult to forge or enchant. I can make it with what I have now. I'll make a suitable hammer when I need to do precision work." He nodded toward the Talisman on my chest. "Like that one."

"I'll admit it was challenging to make this. But wouldn't it be better to make the battery in the best way possible?"

"Not really." Replied the shadow. "The main problem was capacity, not the enchantment. Better craftsmanship could slightly improve the efficiency, but given the different time flow, it's a matter of hours or days at most. It's better I make it now, so you can start charging it sooner than later."

I nodded. As expected. "When will it be ready?"

Dol paused. "I'm not sure. It may not be difficult to make, but it will require time. I have to grow and layer the crystal with the Orichalcum instead of just making a core out of it. I think… a month?"

I sent him a surprised glance. "A month… out?"

He nodded. That was… uh. That was two years and half inside the Refuge.

"Not difficult, uh?"

"Time consuming is not difficult." Snorted Dol. "The Orichalcum needs to be paired with the best crystal I can make, or it will waste up to one third of the energy it receives, as the core cannot accumulate the energy as fast as the metal. And growing them is not something I can leave to the priests. They require a huge amount of Creatia and to be exposed to the light of the full moon and of the noon -and only of those two periods of time- to get as good as I need them."

Uh, the foll moon and noon were a problem. Limited time frame. Of course it required years to be done.

"Very well. I'll wait for the finished battery." I replied, turning to get out… then I stopped. "How much time will it take for the battery to charge?"

Dol paused, unsure. "Difficult to say. The speed is completely dependent on how much energy the grid can divert. Assuming that the growth rate continues at the speed it has now… ten years inside the Refuge."

I did a little mental math. "Five months… I can live with that."

Dol grunted. "You can take your time. I'm trying to make the capacity as high as possible, so you can accumulate more energy than is needed and make a reserve."

I immediately understood the reason for that. "In case I need to get out fast from the place I find myself in." I said, impressed by the thoughtfulness of the shadow. I had not thought about that. But then, I had to think about a lot of things. Dol just needed to worry about that.

"Ah, before I forget." Continued the blacksmith. "Leave your weapons here. I cannot promise I will make them as good as the sword, but there should be enough time between the making of the battery to get them done."

Right, I forgot about that too. I waved my hand and my spear, shield, bow and the staff dropped on the ground. Dol snorted in disappointment. "A shame we don't have enough for the armors… not that I would take them away from you."

"Unfortunately." I admitted. "But then, I'm not sure I'll want Artifact armor. It could interfere with the transformation. This armor for some reason doesn't cause problems, but who knows what a magical material would do?"

"It should be tested, but we don't have the time for that." Nodded Dol. "Besides, with Reinforcement, there really isn't a reason to improve the armor. It will work perfectly well… unless you face overwhelming power."

I briefly remembered the giant black ax of Black Winter managing to find a -relatively- weak spot in the armor and sink into my flesh. Even if it had hurt, it actually managed to be little more than a flesh wound. The damage to my soul had been quite a bit more annoying.

"With this body, I don't think I really need armor like before." I admitted, and Dol seemed to think about it before agreeing.

"Hmmm… I'll think about something." Replied Dol, and this time, there was really nothing more to say. I left the forge while Dol returned to work.

-X-

"I don't get it."

New day, and Whisper had decided to open a conversation with that.

Now, it's clear that she had thought a lot about… whatever she was going to say, because I noticed how she frowned behind her bangs, but she needed to work on the way she decided to express her confusion. Some people would just dismiss her… not that it was a good idea to dismiss a Deathknight, but the world's full of idiots.

Fortunately for her and for me, I was the curious sort.

"What don't you get?" I asked her while I flew over the East. We had decided to go slightly South now, to leave behind the cold, but I wasn't exactly going full speed. Now that I had a clear timeframe about my presence here, I had relaxed somewhat.

"Your… Refuge. You have this enormous land, filled with people that are absolutely loyal to you since, you know, you're their creator, and then you… stay here and risk your life instead of staying inside and be safe. Why?"

I didn't answer immediately, the sound of my wings beating a couple of times was the only noise you could hear. Even Shining Pearl didn't say anything.

"I could give you several reasons." I finally said. "But in the end, it's because of the time."

"The time?" Asked the Abyssal.

"Time doesn't flow inside the Refuge as it flows outside it." I replied. "It's actually far faster inside. I'm sure I mentioned it at least once."

The woman remained silent for a second. I couldn't see her from where she was, but I'm sure she was frowning. "Yes, I think you did. Something like… a day in Creation is a month inside the Refuge?"

"More or less. It's closer to an hour in Creation being a full day in the Refuge. But the strange part is that, when I'm inside the Refuge, the time inside and outside becomes the same."

"What? Why?" Asked the Abyssal, confused.

I couldn't shrug while flying in dragon form, so I decided to snort. "I don't know. Despite being the Chosen of Akatosh, time is still a mystery to me. There must be some connection between me and the Refuge that I don't completely understand. It's not really a part of me like with some entities that I met during my travels, but I still have some influence over it. The Akyn think that the reason monsters don't come close to the mountain is because my mansion is here, and somehow my presence keeps them away, and I cannot even dismiss it as absurd. Also for some reason, it only applies when it's me me that's inside the Refuge that the time stabilizes. The shadows don't cause it to act that way."

"It also happens when Wahl and Vokun open a portal toward the village." Added Shining Pearl. "I think that it was because the passage was more or less stable. Maybe it just needs to be connected to the same place where you are?"

"It could be." I admitted. "I would need to investigate the phenomenon, but…"

I stopped. Of course, I couldn't do it myself, but a shadow…

"Anyway." I continued as nothing had happened. "The time difference changing drastically depending on my presence makes the entire situation awkward. If it was always that fast, I could use it to prepare for pretty much anything. One moment I was there, then I'm not, and when I returned I forged an entire arsenal to defeat that specific threat. As it is right now, it's better if I'm not inside the Refuge if I want anything done fast. That's it, if I don't want to have to wait for decades."

"You could anyway." Replied Whisper. "You're Exalted. You're going to live far longer than any mortal."

"That's true. But then it becomes a problem of what to actually do inside the Refuge. Maybe you didn't notice, but I'm not exactly good at all that leadership stuff."

"You're not good at it, or you don't want to do it?" Asked Shining Pearl, the traitor.

"Both." I admitted. "Oh, sure, I could become good at it. I learn fast. But I don't want to. I made the shadows for things like that. Tell me, Whisper. If you had an objective to reach, and you wanted to reach it as fast as possible, would you wait six months in a dangerous place, or ten years in a safe one?"

The Abyssal didn't reply immediately. In fact, she remained silent for so long that I started to ask myself if she ever would. Then…

"I don't know." She whispered. "I don't have a goal like that."

Well, now I don't know how to answer that.

"Neither do I." Replied Shining Pearl. "But I can tell you, Silent Whisper, that if there was a way to make my dream real, nothing would stop me from doing what is necessary. Remaining on Creation, with the threat of the Wyld Hunt and the Sidereals?" She grunted with clear contempt. "A small price to pay, especially if you can just avoid them."

I huffed from my nose, my way to nod in this form. "Besides, staying here is an amazing way to improve. You have no idea how just looking at how things are done gives me ideas on pretty much everything. Holing up inside the Refuge will not make me stronger, Whisper, and unfortunately, I cannot afford to be weak."

The Deathknight paused for a second before nodding. "I see."

"Good. Because it's time you help out. Before we get to rest tonight, you're going to show me how your fighting style works. And I mean in a practical way."

She groaned, probably having Vietnam flashes about her training with Black Winter. Shining Pearl chuckled, and I smiled -a feat, considering Dov didn't have lips.

Despite what the Abyssal seemed to think, staying there was not so bad.

Last edited: Apr 9, 2023

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.2

After leaving Lahzey, the Sorcerer, in the Refuge -and in doing so learning that yes, there was a limit to the number of shadows I could have and I just reached it- we continued to fly around Creation. All the while trying to avoid Black Winter as much as possible, but also avoiding going too far into the East. For two reasons.

First, we heard rumors that the deep jungles of the East were the domains of snake-men and other creatures, which while not necessarily hostile, were not guaranteed to be friendly either. Secondly, the East was -probably- the home of the Forest Witches, a group of Dragon-blooded that, frankly, scared me a little. I remembered having read something about them in the past, something about how they lived in a world inside a lake and that the forest around that was filled with Mist. I didn't remember why this Mist was dangerous, or even if it really was dangerous to begin with, aside from some vague memory of a spirit born from a killed woman that found it funny to make webs with the intestines of their victims or something like that. I had no idea if the two things were even connected, but just to be safe, I would avoid going there.

Sure, the fact that they had learned how to become half-Exalted, half-spirit was interesting, but not interesting enough to risk landing in a nation of potentially hostile and very old Dragon-blooded.

We also tried to steer clear of the Threshold, because of the Wyld Hunts. While I didn't think a group of Dragon-blooded was that much of a danger, now that I had allies and my own Exalted bullshit, it was still a good idea to try to avoid them.

In the meantime, I taught Sorcery to Shining Pearl, started to work in a personal martial art that better suited my tastes compared to the ones she knew -because none of the unarmed martial arts she knew suited me particularly well, even if they had interesting techniques here and there- and sparred with Silent Whisper. I doubted that the woman was a great teacher, so instead we fought and I tried to pierce the secrets of the Single Point Shining Into the Void.

As expected, it was not particularly hard. Given a week, I had already mastered the basics of the style, in two I was as good as the Deathknight, and in tree I had surpassed her and continued to spar with her just to keep her sharp. Or to prevent her from going completely insane and starting a killing spree throughout the East. Abyssal Exalted had to cause death and pain to the living or the Neverborn threw a hissy fit. It was their curse, different from the other Exalted, but still nasty.

It also had the nice side effect of giving me a close look at how Abyssal Essence worked. The one inside the Shadowland was too diffused to be of any use and the fight with Black Winter was too short to really let me understand the nature of Abyssal Essence. It has given me a lot of ideas on how to use my powers, but not enough to let me use their powers.

Not that I could, not really at least. In the same way I couldn't replicate Shining Pearl's Personal Loom Bullshit, I couldn't gain the powers of a Deathknight just by looking at them. What I could do, however, was to find a way to imitate them. Of course, since I didn't possess the black Essence of the Underworld, I couldn't use Abyssal Charms.

But I had Sorcery, and Shadow Magic. Together, the two let me cobble together a necromantic ritual, and so I got access to Necromancy. I really should have remembered that shadows was one of the Necromancy's themes, since, you know, Shadowlands, but sometimes I just don't see the connection until later.

Of course, I doubted I was going to be as good at Necromancy as I was in Sorcery. Necromancy… didn't really exist in TES as something fundamentally different from normal magic, or if it did, I never learned those practices. I stopped at the 'good' Necromancy, a variant of soul magic mixed with Conjuration and, if you really wanted to be an asshole about it, Destruction. Not my style, but it was possible to use TES Necromancy to just suck the soul out of people or straight up tear it to shreds. I never did, and with luck I never will, but it was possible.

Exalted Necromancy was straight up manipulation of Underworld Essence and, as such, manipulation of the very power of death. I… didn't particularly like the art, to be honest. However, you need to know your enemy to fight it. Deathly Essence was paradoxical in its themes, a thing entropy and decay, but also stagnation. Obsession went hand in hand with indifference and pain was mixed with lack of sensation. It was not an easy power to control and it probably was not healthy to use it too much while you were still alive, but I felt like I had some grasp on it, because Akatosh, being Time, was also the End, incarnated by Alduin. Not a permanent one, but still an ending. As such, I felt I would find a use for this power.

And, in a pinch, a ray of pure murder was a pretty good way to end a problem.

Nothing happened for a while. Sure, some monsters here and there, sometimes we would find a village and remain there for a while, enjoying the simple joys of rural life. Well, Shining Pearl and I, mostly. Whisper had to stay away from people to avoid problems. I decided to see if letting her fight Daedra was a good way to make her curse stay calm, and… apparently it worked? I'm not too sure, because I had no idea how much time the Curse needed to take root. But since the Daedra were living things, they apparently counted for the 'you have to kill or defile Creation' urge that the Abyssal experienced. I just asked Whisper to not use any spirit-killing power she could have, because I didn't want some Daedra to notice that something was permanently killing them. Sure, I summoned only wild Daedra, so it was not like they could tell what I was doing, but I didn't want to risk it.

Then, one day, we finally returned inside the Refuge… and instead of the usual welcome from Vahlok, I found Dol sitting right outside the Mansion.

"Dol? Is something wrong?"

The other me looked me in the eyes… and he smiled. Then, he raised his hand, and something appeared on it.

It was a sphere, roughly the size of a grapefruit. It was made of Orichalcum and a crystal that… I'll admit I've never seen a crystal of that color. It looked like it was completely transparent, like a diamond, but at the same time, the color quickly veered toward blue at the center… the same color of compressed ice.

Not that you could see much of the inside. I knew they were made of crystal, but the only parts that were visible from the outside are the ones emerging from the runes that cover the entire thing and between the Orichalcum bars which… looked suspiciously like the ones on volleyballs.

Which made the battery a little gold-and-diamond volleyball covered in draconic runes. A little kitsch, to be honest.

"It's done?" I ask, a part of me not believing it. It was… still a little early for the battery to be ready. Not much, a couple of days, but a couple of days meant months inside the Refuge.

"I had the right motivation." He replied, throwing the battery at me. I grabbed the orb of metal in my hand and could feel power accumulating inside it. It was charging slowly and it was almost completely empty, so he likely finished doing it by a couple of hours. "I have also finished the other equipment, just so you know. I sent them into the bag."

I nodded without really thinking, my eyes fixed on the sphere in my hand.

"It's done." I repeat, not a question this time.

"Yes." Replied Dol, very serious.

I continued to look at the battery… then a snort escaped from my nose. Then another. Then I opened my mouth and released a long, powerful laugh.

Dol did the same and, in sync, we stepped forward and hugged each other. It was… strange to hug myself, but I didn't care at the moment.

"Thank you, Dol." I said, patting him on the back.

"For what? You're me, remember?" He replied.

We separated and laughed again. I raised the battery high, to see it illuminated by the rays of the sun.

"Hmmm… why is that thing important?"

I turned to see Whisper looking at me, confused. Meanwhile, right near her, Shining Pearl was smiling.

"Because I'm free!" I replied laughing. "No more searching for sources of power to escape to another reality! No more fear of not finding enough power aaaaaaaand you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Whisper is pretty much looking at me like I was kind of crazy. Which, well, was fair enough. We didn't exactly tell her everything. But after almost a month of traveling together, I had a pretty good idea of her character. And… Yes, she was somewhat abrasive, but she was not evil. Like Kein had guessed, she was just a young woman who sold her soul to the Neverborn out of desperation and then remained out of fear.

Her confused face made me chuckle. "Sorry, sorry. It's just… it's such a relief, you know? Like I had all the weight of the world on the shoulders and now I finally managed to drop it." I materialized a little cage of golden metal -not true gold, of course, too fragile for what I needed- and a little hook around the battery, before fixing the sphere on my belt.

"Wouldn't it be better to keep it in your dimensional bag?" Asked Shining Pearl, still smiling a little.

Oh, right. Sure, it felt safer keeping it on my side, but the bag was not so accessible and-

"Actually, it's better to keep it outside the bag." Intervened Dol. "The more spatial and dimensional barriers you put between the battery and the Refuge, the slower the charge time. Just make it undetectable with a spell."

I nodded and waved my hand over the battery. The sphere disappeared from any sense I could think of. The drain on my power was negligible, but it was better to move and see if Lahzey had figured out how to make permanent spells. Probably not, at least not with just a spell. The Sorcerous Workings could do that, but it would have required at least a week to put it on the battery.

Speaking of which, I should really call this thing something different from 'the battery'. Something like… the Heart of the Refuge, or just the Hearth to cut short. Yes, I liked it. Not very original, but hey. If it worked.

"I think this requires a celebration." I announced. "I'm going to call everyone."

Shining Pearl and Silent Whisper exchanged a confused look. I ignored them. I needed to have this party. Nothing excessive, I was not the type to go into a frenzy, but I would say that I owned anyone who helped me here, in Creation, a feast worthy of that name.

It will take a little time to prepare everything… but it would be for a good cause.

-X-

The Refuge had never seen something like this. A celebration, but not one created by the Akyn, to commemorate a particularly important event of their history. Not that they had many, aside from the King's Day and the Day of Liberation, celebrating respectively the birth of their civilization and the long awaited freedom from the tyranny of the monsters lurking in the wilderness.

No, the celebration was called directly by the Creator itself. The occasion? The completion of a powerful artifact that would finally help Him travel through the cosmos, unbidden by the limitation of the ritual He used to move from reality to reality.

Normally, the Akyn would rejoice for the achievement of their Creator, for His seemingly impossible goal was a step closer to the completion. It could appear strange, for if He reached His original home, He would completely abandon the Refuge to return to His family. However, the Akyn understood. Even since He had graced them of His avatars, they had come to understand that He valued his loved ones very much. It was obvious, because His avatars shared that love for them and, in the end, for the Akyn too. His avatars rejoiced when the Akyn reached a new development of magic or technology, when new cities were founded, and when powerful monsters were defeated. Likewise, They mourned when cities were lost by the fury of the wilderness or when Akyn fell during the hunts: an increasingly rare occurrence, but something that still happens. Until They were with them, a part of Him would always remain inside the Refuge, and even if His avatars were to disappear one day, the Akyn still had the Shadow Lords.

Furthermore, it was impossible to not be happy. The Creator had declared that everybody had to celebrate with him. His avatars had cast a spell of an immense magnitude, amplifying the potency of the ward on all the villages and cities of the Akyn so that no monster would interrupt the festivities. So, for hours, the Akyn ate and drank to their heart's content, as the new metallic servitors were used to temporarily man the defenses. They were ugly things of steel, far away from the grace and power of the Akyn, but for this occasion they would suffice.

Then, when the festivities were dying down, there was a last gift.

The Creator appeared in the center of all cities and villages of the Refuge. The Akyn scrambled on their feet, thinking that He had graced them of His presence… until they realized it was an illusion. Mostly because He said so.

"Don't worry, there is no need for you to make a fuss. I projected my image across all the Refuge. I cannot see, nor hear you. But I wanted to say this to all of you, so hear me."

Immediately, the Akyn stopped fidgeting and focused all their attention to the image of their Creator.

"This." Said the illusion. "Is the Heart of the Refuge."

Suddenly, an orb the size of a closed fist appeared in front of the Creator. It was made of gold, or a similar material, and runes filled with Dragoncrystal covered the surface of the sphere. The object seemed to… hum, for some reason, even if no sound could be heard.

"This is the reason I called for a celebration in all the Refuge. This object will slowly absorb magicka, letting me use the ritual to travel across dimensions. I don't know if you were informed, but in case you didn't, the magicka that will be absorbed comes from the Refuge."

The Akyn exchanged glances of confusion. They were not told this.

"The only way I could think of to gain an unlimited supply of magicka for the ritual that didn't require you to sacrifice enormous amount of time and effort into making a mountain of Dragoncrystals was to link the Heart to the energy network that distributes the magicka collected by the light of the Sun and the Stars to all your cities. Inside the runic array, I put a small connection to the Heart. A minuscule fraction of the energy that flows inside the array is directed inside the Heart and with time, it will charge it. You don't need to worry: it's a quantity so small you'll never notice. But, when I'm outside the Refuge, the speed is increased astronomically, and the more you grow, the faster the it will become."

The Akyn murmured between themselves. Did that mean…?

"So, I have just one request for you. Grow. Expand. Continue your progression, become a great civilization. And know that, when I'll return home, it will be also thanks to you." The Creator paused, then removed his mask. Under it… it was absolutely identical to His avatars. Of course He was. But still, some expected a more… divine aura surrounding him.

Then, he smiled, and the warmth of the gesture made any possible feeling of disappointment disappear.

"Thank you for everything. And remember: you'll always be my children."

Then, the image disappeared, and cries of joy echoed in every corner of the refuge.

-X-

High in the mansion, Shining Pearl spoke from her seat in the -now empty- table that hosted the feast.

"You know, for someone that claims to not be very good at leadership, you sure know how to make a speech."

I shrugged. "The Akyn are easy to please. They don't expect me to be a good ruler: they just want to know that I care."

"Knowing what your people want and giving it to them is a big part of being a ruler." Noted Sazang. It was maybe the only person that would not have problems with tight clothes after the party. "Together with ensuring the prosperity of your nation, but you're doing a pretty good job at that."

"I'm not doing anything." I rebutted. "I spend most of my time outside the Refuge."

"The Akyn don't see it that way." Pointed out Silver Star. "Mostly because you have… what are we at now? Five different versions of you running around the place?"

"Yeah, delegation is a pretty big part of leadership too." Commented Monkey. "Sha'a Oka doesn't personally go to fight every single Dragon-blooded on the Caul, but nobody will contest that he is the leader of the war effort against them."

"You're doing a good job, lad." Grunted Pigsy. "Maybe not perfect, but who is perfect? Not even the Solars were immune to failings."

Even Sandy nodded and… what could I say about that? Maybe they were right, after all.

Not that it mattered, at the end of the day. Good, bad… it was not really a problem if I personally wasn't that good. The important thing was for the Akyn to prosper and be happy. Everything else was just a matter of ego.

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.3

Hello people. Sorry for the lateness of the chapter, but I have returned to my seasonal work and so the last day have been exhausting. For the same reason, I'm going to post a chapter every two weeks to not leave you with no story for months. I have quite a lot of chapters ready, but they'll not last until the end of September. Enjoy!

-X-

Some days I just felt like I was the dumbest shit in the multiverse.

I had completely forgotten about the Great Curse. Again! Was it something related to the Curse itself that made me forget about the damn thing, or I was just a dumbass?

Well, whatever. Now I remembered. I remembered by pure coincidence, of course, because one day I was starting to get bored and wondered what I could actually do now that Lahzey was made. I created him to experiment with magic in a way that was useful to the Refuge, so while asking myself what research I could do in my spare time without overlapping with him -or at least without overlapping too much- I vaguely thought about removing ancient and powerful curses. Useless inside the Refuge, unless some Akyn started to create dark cults without somebody noticing, but it could be useful if I ever found a First Age ruin or something. Old Solars were fond of that shit.

So, now I have a plan of action… a plan of action where I needed to analyze somebody else's curse. I was not entirely sure I was cursed like the other Exalted were and I just haven't… developed a secondary personality or something. Shining Pear was out for more or less the same reason, and Whisper's curse was something different too. I needed a Lunar or a Solar to work with.

That meant returning to Caul… if I wanted to get swarmed by Elder Lunars. I was sure the gang had spread the news by now. There were two possible reactions.

If they believed me -if only because some of them remembered how awful the Solar were- they would probably lock me up in a cellar developing a cure.

If they didn't, I would probably be ganked by all the Lunar of Caul for daring to suggest that Sidereal and Dragon-blooded had a justification for the Usurpation, aside from being power hungry assholes.

I would avoid the Caul until I did have a cure ready.

So! That meant that, instead of going to the Caul, I just needed to convince Silver Star to come to the East. After that, I would need some seriously powerful magical tools to analyze the Exaltation, because I had no idea how to even see one. I would probably also need some help to remove the Curse. In theory, destroying the Exaltation was impossible, and so was manipulating it. But the Yozi had clearly managed to corrupt them into the Neverborn by inverting their alignment or something, so it was not as impossible as it was claimed.

Of course, I was not a primordial creator deity or the corpse of one -or was it several? My lore-fu was not strong on this one- so my chances of actually doing something about it were slim. That said, the Great Curse was not something that was there since the beginning, so if it was not part of the Exaltation to begin with, maybe it would be easier?

Only time will tell.

But accommodating instruments -and probably some pretty big ritual aid, because if removing the Curse was possible, it was going to be minimum Solar Circle shit, if not higher- required… a base of some sort.

I discussed the problem briefly with Shining Pearl and Whisper.

"Sorry, I'm not sure I got it right. You're telling me that all the Exalted are cursed by some kind of ancient primordial deities in one way or another, and you can maybe solve this? That's what you're saying?" Asked Whisper.

"Well, yes. Technically, they were cursed by the dying ones, so… by the Neverborn." I nodded, before scratching my head. "As for curing it… maybe? It may not work for some. Abyssals are not cursed in the same way, and the Getimians, like Shining Pearl, probably suffer because of the way they were created rather than from any curse the Primordials made, but for the vast majority? It should work."

Whisper frowned, looking away. "I don't like the idea of stopping somewhere."

I grimaced. "Yeah, me neither. The only reason we're safe right now is because there is no way the Wyld Hunt is going to be able to keep up with my dragon form. But the moment we stop…"

"We just need to find a difficult place to find." Interjected Shining Pearl. "We don't actually need to stay near civilization. We can get all our necessities from the Refuge. We find a hidden and easily defended position, we fortify the place, and remain there for all the time necessary."

She was right. It was not exactly my idea of fun, but it was technically possible to do that. In case they found us -not impossible if some Sidereal decided to settle the scores- we could just run away. I didn't fancy my chances if they decided to send a real force instead of the half-assed Wyld Hunt they had scrounged up last time. Annoying, but better than being dead.

"I'm… not sure we can afford to stay that far away from civilization… or that we can hide very well." Said Whisper, receiving a confused glance from both of us.

"And why is that?"

The Abyssal looked up, and I could see darkness spreading from her eyes, like roots, conversing toward her pupils. It didn't take long to understand the problem.

"The daedra didn't help as much as it seemed, did they?"

"No." She replied, shaking her head. "I think… I think that the fact that they're not from Creation is the problem. They're alive, but they don't feed the Underworld when they die. I will need… something else, or find another way."

I wracked my brain about that. I was honestly ignorant about what exactly happened when an Abyssal reached their limit, but I was sure it was nothing good. The first thing that came to mind was a blast of death energy that immediately killed everything in the vicinity, but it could be a lot of things. The only real memory I had about it was that it was one of the only -if not the only- Limit Break that didn't affect just them but everyone else too.

So, staying near an Abyssal on the verge of exploding was not exactly a good idea.

But there needed to be an alternative to just killing people. Maybe… hmm, what could be a way to appease the Neverborn. If it was not spreading death… maybe staying closer to death?

Yes, memories were emerging. Vague memories, I never played Abyssals, but their particular form of Limit, Resonance, happened when they… enjoyed life too much, to sum it up. Taking lovers, protecting life, enjoying food… all of that. So, while killing shit was probably a good way to not accumulate Resonance, things like… living with undead, resting inside a graveyard and such was probably good enough.

The problem was that it required human presence or, at least, a Shadowland. Both things they were trying to avoid. Sure there was a Shadowland near Great Fork, but so if it became really necessary that was an option, but most Shadowlands were inhabited by… not very peaceful people. At best, you had a necromancer, at worst you could find yourself facing a Deathlord. And while it was not impossible to stay inside one for the living, it was not particularly pleasant.

Jeez, being an Abyssal sucked. Trapped in a state that was not quite dead, not quite alive, and not exactly undead either, at the mercy of callous masters that didn't care about you if not in what capacity you could further their goals, and with no way to escape. Sure, there were theories online that you could reverse the change made to Abyssal Exaltations and return them to their original, Solar form, but that would pretty much kill them. Exactly like…

Wait… that could work. But maybe it was better to make her release all that shit instead of keeping her constantly on the verge of exploding. Surely something to remember for later.

Now it was better to focus on finding a suitable place to hide.

-X-

Finding the place turned out very easy.

Reaching the damn thing… not so much.

Using Clairvoyance I quickly managed to find a place that was 'hidden, defensible and obscure', as the requirement for the spell specified. With an incredible stroke of luck, I got a line after a couple of minutes of travel. We followed the line… until it stopped. In the middle of nowhere.

It took me a second to understand where the problem was. Clairvoyance could only show the shortest path to a place, or at least, the shortest path that was usable by the user.

It hadn't stopped… it had gone downward, straight through soil and rock, aiming for what I supposed was a series of subterranean caves.

Good news was that, considering the range of Clairvoyance and the distance we traveled to reach it, it couldn't be that far away. It went a couple hundred meters, more or less. So, we started to dig.

Which meant that I used magic to excavate enormous amounts of dirt. In a couple of minutes there was a two by two meter hole that went straight down for however long it took to reach the thing. Fortunately I had decided to dump that dirt away instead of putting it somewhere nearby, because if not we'd have a veritable hill near the excavation point. Now Vokun could make a garden near the mansion.

"Well, that required more time and energy than I anticipated." I said. I didn't have true geokinesis among my powers, so the entire thing had required a while. Now thought, it was time to see if the place my magic was still pointing out was worth the effort. "Ready to jump?"

My two companions looked at me and blinked.

"What?"

"Can't you just levitate us down?" Asked Shining Pearl. "Why jump?"

"Because it's far more efficient to cast Feather Fall than Levitation." I replied. At the confused look, I explained. "Feather Fall is a spell that reduces the speed of the fall until it's harmless, and costs pretty much no power to use."

Shining Pearl sent me a glare. "And you couldn't tell us you had that spell before making us fly on your back? You'd have saved us a lot of anxiety."

I smirked. "Well, yeah, but where is the fun in that?"

They sent me withering glares, Whisper in particular, and I jumped down with a chuckle. To be honest, I had completely forgotten to mention that spell because I didn't think in terms of spells anymore, but it was funnier this way.

I heard them jump after me and, when I sensed the ground coming, I activated the spell, making us gently float down for the last twenty or so meters of the fall. We landed with grace and I immediately bent down, analyzing the solid rock under my feet to see how much farther we needed to go.

"Loki, a light if you please?" Called Pearl. Ah, right, she couldn't see that well in the dark. I snapped my fingers and a ball of softly glowing light illuminated the area around us.

"This doesn't look like a cave." Noted Whisper.

"Because it's not. I only dug until I met rock… except this is not the rock I was expecting.

I felt them look at the hard surface and pause.

"That's masonry." Noted Pearl, kneeling down. "Very precise too. What is this place?"

"Only one way to find out." I replied, before touching the rocky bricks that composed what I supposed was a ceiling and forcing them to move away. The stone rippled like water and parted, leaving a hole where I swiftly dropped. The distance was not that great, maybe a dozen meters, a distance that every Exalted could fall from without problems. Pearl and Whisper followed me in silence.

I looked around, but there was not much to see. Clairvoyance stopped where I was and no more, so I had no idea where to go. Even then, I supposed it didn't really matter. This place needed to be hidden and secure, and for those things it didn't need to be good to the eyes.

Still, exploration was due. Who knew what could be hidden in old ruins?

"Let's stay close. There could be any sort of monster hiding in this place." I said before choosing a corridor and starting to walk. I also increased the brightness of the sphere above to shed light in a greater radius. Would this alert possible inhabitants? Maybe, but anything that had lived so long in the darkness probably didn't like the light either. And it was better to alert them than to let one slip behind me and attack Shining Pearl. The woman could defend herself, but not if she was completely blind, and even my night sight worked only discreetly in complete and total darkness.

It soon became very clear what this place was, however.

"What is that?" Asked Whisper, pointing out various metallic tubes and cables that emerged from the walls whenever one of them was broken.

"Technomagic." I replied, still looking forward. "First Age artifice. Nobody can really replicate it anymore, not since the Solar were killed."

A couple of meters in front of me stood a door, still sealed. The surface was completely smooth. I punched a button on the side, and it briefly blipped green before the door opened with a hiss. Well, with a hiss and a little help from my magic, since that looked like the last spark of energy this place has.

"How did you know what to push to open it?" Asked Shining Pearl. "You cannot have such a knowledge of this craft, it has been lost for ages."

"The technology of my world was not that different from this one." I said, crossing another corridor and through another door. "Not as magical, of course, but I can at least guess what most of these things are."

Case in point, we reached another room filled with a double line of cylindrical structures big enough to contain a man. Their front was mostly glass while the rest was bronze, but most were covered by so much dust that it was impossible to see inside them. And I supposed it was better this way.

"Death lingers here." Announced Whisper while looking around with wariness. That pretty much confirmed my suspects.

"What were they doing here?" Murmured Shining Pearl, confused.

"There are two possibilities." I said, most to myself. "Either is a cloning facility, or…" I waved my hand at one of the tubes, and the glass panels opened with a little telekinetic push.

Inside the tube there was a body made of pale green stone and metal. For a second I thought it was a different iteration of the Brass Legionaries, but then I noticed the dull gems embedded in their -it was impossible to establish if it was male or female- forehead.

"Alchemicals." I finished. "Or a prototype."

"Alchemicals?"

"A type of Exalted, built by Autochthon, one of the Primordials and the inventor of the Exaltations. I suppose these were… proof of concept, so to speak, a way to test if the Exaltations worked as intended. Then they were forgotten or abandoned in stasis… but the systems failed, and in time they just died."

There was silence after that, until we managed to get into a room that looked like the central control room. I tried to tap into various keyboards I found around, but I got no response.

"This place is completely dead." I summed it up. "Ran out of energy a long time ago."

I telekinetically removed a cracked gem from what, I believe, was the central computer. Or whatever was the name of those machines. A brief glance confirmed that it was made of condensed Essence. A Heartstone, broken.

"What could have happened?" Asked Shining Pearl.

"Nothing violent." Or so I assumed. "Or at least nothing violent caused by an enemy attack. The place seems mostly intact. It probably sank under the earth during the Primordial War or a similar conflict, or someone would have stripped it bare for the resources."

"Still, shouldn't this place have defenders? Or at least better defenses?" Asked Whisper. "I mean, it seems an important place. There should be some kind of protection for these important prototypes of Exalted."

I shrugged. "There should be, sure. But if everything is without power, so are the defenses. Or maybe my idea is completely wrong and the corpses were just failed attempts that were just… buried here. It will be easier to understand if I had a way to power up this place, but I don't have Heartstones with me."

"We should still verify that the building -or what remains of it- is safe." Commented Pearl. "It will do us no good if it crumbles over our heads."

"Searching the area for possible dangers, making a structural analysis to be sure it's solid, and maybe reinforcing it if necessary…" I paused for a second. "I think we need Wahl. I'm sure he can spare an hour or two for us. If not, merging should do the same." I took a couple of pieces of metal from a ruined console nearby and shaped it in the form of a brooch with magic, before slapping a little enchantment on them. "I'm going to the Refuge. If something happens and you think you're not safe down there, use these. They will teleport you on the surface." I threw them to the girls before changing the 'program' of the light sphere to following Shining Pearl instead of me, to let her explore in peace. "See you soon."

"Be quick." Whispered Shining Pearl, while Whisper just nodded at me. I disappeared into a portal of azure light.

-X-

When I returned, ten minutes later -it's impressive how quick it was to merge with five different shadows when you could just teleport around- I found the control room completely empty. After searching for a while, I found Whisper and Pearl discussing something amongst themselves.

"Hi girls. Everything's right?"

"We didn't find anything that we could classify as a danger." Replied the Getimians. "Instead, there are a lot of dead ends. This place has almost completely collapsed, apparently."

I nodded in acknowledgment and scanned the area with the new, improved Structural Analysis that Wahl pulled out to scan vast structures. A simple glance told me that, in reality, it was just corridors that had collapsed, the rooms were apparently reinforced enough to sustain the pressure. It also gave a pretty comprehensive 3D map of the place, which was… very small, all things considered, pretty much a rectangular box with a couple of side rooms. Maybe worth exploring later, but for now superfluous.

Aside from that, there didn't seem to be any immediate risk of collapse. Sure, reinforcing the structure here and there would help, but there was no rush. Perfect.

"Seems like this place is good enough. I'll start the preparations immediately." I looked at the women. "And you? What do you want to do? I'll understand if you don't want to stay here for months while I try to unmake this curse, so if you want to stay somewhere else, just ask."

The two exchanged a glance. Uh… what did they discuss until now?

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.4

Turns out, Whisper had the same idea as I had. Even if I had a place for her to stay to avoid accumulating Resonance, that still wouldn't help much if she was on the verge of exploding anyway. So, she decided to explore the surrounding area to be sure nothing dangerous was there, and hopefully release all the frustration of the Neverborn before returning here. I gave her my blessing and let her go.

What I didn't give her was a means to teleport inside our new fortress if things went badly. Why? Well… I didn't trust her. Not completely. Sure, I was fairly certain she didn't want to betray us, but her situation was a little different. Her nature as Abyssal made her unpredictable, and while the plan to reset her Limit to zero -not that either me or her put it that way- would go a long way to make her staying with us less risky, there was still an element of risk.

That could be argued to be true for all Exalted, but I had more confidence in reigning in another Exalt Limit Break than containing an Abyssal explosion, mostly because I had a pretty good idea of what a normal Exalted would do -explosive bursts of emotions, mostly- while an Abyssal… Well, not really.

That just meant that I had to keep a lookout and bring her back if she came back while being followed by monsters. I was 99% sure it would happen. That, or she returned covered in the blood of her enemies.

But that was for later. For now, I needed to fortify this place.

It took a couple of days. Restoring the facility, or whatever this was, took most of the first day. Mostly because I needed to close the hole I had created, reinforce the existing structure to make sure it didn't fall down on our heads, but mostly to create a way for air to arrive here. When we entered the air was a little stale but not unbreathable, so I suppose nothing really breathed inside the facility since it sunk into the soil. Maybe it really was a deposit of failed prototypes of Alchemicals. But even with just a couple of people inside, the air will become unbreathable pretty fast. Fortunately, there was the… remains of a ventilation system, so I just needed to connect it to the outside world instead of the ground and make it start again. A couple of portals solved that problem.

I was getting really good at placing enchantments on the fly. Now, if I could use the same skill to make permanent spells, it would be great, but it was not as easy as it sounded. The only thing that made the enchantment possible was the stability of the material. That's why metals and gems were the best materials for the job. Flesh was way too mutable for that kind of thing. I would need to put some kind of stabilizing agent inside the body, but at that point it was just a magical tattoo. And enchanting air or water was an exercise of futility for the same reasons, only worse.

In the end, I found myself with a building that had five rooms - I decided to cut most of the rest to focus on the important bits- that I adequately prepared for the job. I had shoved away all the technical equipment inside them and sent it to Wahl. I could feel his happiness across dimensions, which meant that either he was sending me his joy telepathically for days, or he was just so happy that it bled through what little bond he had with me. It was my shadow after all, and even if I made the spell so they were as autonomous as possible, that little bit of sympathetic magic couldn't just disappear.

So, I turned the rooms where the stasis pods were -or whatever they were supposed to be- into my impromptu magical laboratory, for no other reason than it was pretty much the biggest room I had. I then started to put all the equipment I needed down. I asked Dol to help with that, and he had agreed to do what he could. I could use Projection to make pretty much any equipment I wanted, and my version didn't seem to disappear, but the problem was that making magic things was a pain. Normal metals, even rare metals? Sure, easy. The cost to make it was pretty much null, the object was little more than a solid illusion and so it was magically 'hollow', but perfectly serviceable. Magical materials? They would look like the real thing, and even have some of the less mystical properties, like density and durability, but nothing of the more mystical properties. Projected Orichalcum was not good at controlling sorcerous energies, not more than iron. For real magical tools I would need the real thing… Or Dragonsteel, it worked well enough until Wahl found a way to produce something more specialized.

The control room became… well, a control room. Keeping an eye on everything was pretty much impossible if I had to do it manually. So, I spent time making a couple of friends, bonding two birds with my power so they would act as my eyes and ears in the outside world, and also some basic alarm spell meant to signal if someone came too close. And, to keep track of all of that, I pretty much made a series of hologram monitors, so I could simply look at everything at the same time, and possibly also rewind the images. Everything was more a magic item that was enchanted to function as their closest modern equivalent, of course… I needed to find a way to buy as much electronics as I could the next time I landed in a modern universe.

For the familiars, I choose ravens for two reasons. First, theme. Sure, ravens were more Odin's shtick than Loki's, but they were pretty much the familiar associated with mages… even if owls were starting to supplant them, thanks to Harry Potter.

However, the second reason was that ravens were pretty fucking smart and with a push of magic I could make them even smarter, making them excellent spies. It wouldn't be very useful to have familiars if they were too stupid to know what to look out for, now would it?

There was also the tertiary reason of being pretty much the first birds I found, but whatever.

The rest of the rooms were spent to make living quarters. The room where we first entered was transformed into a mix between a living room and a kitchen, while the two rooms at the sides -the only ones I decided was worth trying to salvage- were turned into bedrooms.

"You'll have to share with Silver Star, I'm afraid." I said to Shining Pearl as I gave the last touches to the room. "I would like to give everyone a single room, but it's better if we keep close, for safety reasons."

She smirked at me. "You say that, but you sleep in another room entirely."

I snorted. "Yes, because I'll be so safe with you around."

She giggled. "I think you meant 'you girls will not be safe around me'."

"I know what I said."

After that, it was just a matter of calling Silver Star. Fortunately, I warned her beforehand so she was waiting with a dimensional bag ready.

I summoned her into the research room, in the middle of a circle, just to make things easier for me. She materialized in a flash of light, already looking around.

"My, Loki, this place already looks pretty good. And you said it's all for me and you? I'll get spoiled." She said, smiling.

I chucked. "What can I say? I aim to impress." I made a faux bow and offered her my hand. "Would you like to have a tour?"

She giggled and accepted my hand. "With pleasure."

Nothing more was done that day. I showed Silver Star the place, the living area, and her room. Then, as the day was ending and after some chat, I bid them farewell and went to my room. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

-X-

Silver Star had to admit that she probably was never going to match Loki's sorcery. The ease at which the man could manipulate the world around him was impossible for her. Sure, the man admitted that he lacked other Exalted's means in social areas. Dragons didn't really have the patience in them for long reaching social manipulation, like the Dragon-blooded ability to make their bureaucracy go smoother or the Lunar ability to influence cultures. She was not exactly an expert on that kind of social manipulation, she preferred a more… personal approach, but she could see what he meant.

Dragons seemed to be more 'my way or the highway', as Loki put it. Which, translated, sounded like 'do it or get eaten', admittedly more than enough when you are a giant reptile that could fly. And to bend reality with just words.

Still, being able to transform an old ruin into something that resembles a comfy home was… impressive. She supposed that it was pretty clear what the difference was. Every Exalt could manipulate the world around them. It was not difficult. She could take a couple of bones and shape them into a lethal spear in minutes. She knew of Dragon-blooded that were able to mold earth and stone with just their hands. She could only imagine what a Solar crafter could do.

But she doubted that they would have been able to make an entire house in a day or two. Loki's magic was not limited by the number of arms he could use. Everything in sight was under his command.

The improvised subterranean residence -a 'bunker', as he called it- also did something else. Namely, showing that Loki was really from another world. The style of the place resembled nothing she knew of. Sure, part of that was the materials used. But that was also another proof. Loki seemed to integrate them into the construction like it was absolutely normal. Most people would have problems adjusting to the strange machinery and the copious amount of metal in the construction, but he simply shrugged it off and moved on. The effect looked… futuristic, seemed to be the right term. Smoother, cleaner, simpler. Very Loki. Very alien.

There were still some touches that needed to be made for this thing to actually look like a house, of course. Like, for example, fake windows. The place felt cozy and warm enough, but the lack of widows made her feel trapped. She had to mention this to him tomorrow.

At least the beds were soft. Same as the ones in the Refuge. She had to ask what material they were made of… wool, maybe? The smell seemed the same, even if the one she was on right now smelled… artificial. Probably made by solid Essence. He had shown it to her one time, he called it his 'newest trick'.

Trick. That put things in perspective, didn't it?

Well, she would have time to talk to him later. For all that the man had the habit of not resting a lot, he did take pauses from work. A few words while he took a bite at something would suff-

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Shining Pearl rise from her bed and sit on hers.

"Uh… something wrong?"

Silver Star was not sure what to think about Shining Pearl. On the one hand, the fact that she was a Getimian Exalted raised all sorts of questions that made her uncomfortable. On the other hand, she seemed to be a sweet girl. Sure, maybe a little soft for a self-proclaimed General, but she had never actually seen her directing troops. Maybe the experience of being separated from her own world had changed her. Or maybe she was one of those people that in battle completely changed personality. Who knew?

"You can say that." Replied the woman. "Loki is going to leave soon."

Ah, yes, of course. It hadn't escaped her that the red-head had a bit of a crush for her friend. Understandable. He was rather attractive, and the two had in common the 'snatched from their world by forces they didn't understand' matter, so it was normal for her to bond with him.

It was also a bit of a lost cause. Loki was obsessed with returning home and was fiercely loyal to the loved one that was left behind. She admitted to being a little jealous of this still unnamed girl. Such devotion was rare.

"Unfortunate, but there is nothing that we can do to stop him." She said, sitting up. She had the impression this was going to be a long discussion.

"Oh, I know. And it would be hypocritical of me to tell him to not try to return home." She sighed. "I also thought of asking him to leave behind… I don't know, something. An echo, a spirit, even a demon, something with enough of his personality to not leave completely, but…"

"But leaving a creature so similar to him would be torture." Completed Silver Star. "He would need to know enough to empathize with your experience, but that would also mean condemning him to the same existence you're experiencing." She saw the problem in that, of course. "Loki would never do that. Nor, for that matter, make a living creature for the sole purpose of letting you romance him. He has… issues with that kind of thing."

The Getimian sighed, resting her head on her hand. "I know. It's just so… frustrating, having someone so close and not be able to do anything. When I was in my Creation I had four lovers. Since I've arrived in this version of Creation, I've… well, let's say that my bed has not been as warm."

Silver Star could relate. Women had needs, after all, even if she didn't really know before the blessing of Luna. Still…

"Didn't you live with a lot of people in Skullstone?" She asked, curious. "I would think that someone would have been willing to… entertain you."

Shining Pearl snorted. "Those people were my soldiers. Never mix work and pleasure, Silver Star, at least when you are the commander. It's bad for morale. Nobody bats an eye if you have a concubine, but taking one of your own in bed? It's a completely different matter."

Well, the Lunar had no experience with military command, so she would take the words of the Getimian. "Sounds like personal experience." She said.

"Yeah. I made that mistake once. Never again. And not just because he died in the next battle."

Oh. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. It was a long time ago and… I'm not sure it was ever real to begin with. Loki theorizes that it is, but when your entire life is an event that never happened, is it really?"

A hard question… she didn't have an actual answer. She had a bit of wisdom, though. "If it was real for you, it doesn't really matter if it never happened for everyone else. You lived that life. It made you the person you are right now. That's real enough."

For the first time since that conversation happened, Shining Pearl turned to look at her. Such a stunning beauty… There was a time when Silver Star would have never looked at a woman in that way, but once you found out that you could change your gender at will, that kind of thing didn't matter like before.

Then, a small smile appeared on Pearl's face. "Spoken as someone that never had to doubt." Despite the words, she rested her hand on Silver Star. "Thank you."

Oh my. Shining Pearl was… flowing with sensuality. How could Loki just ignore her? He had to have an immense amount of willpower and discipline to-

Her thoughts were cut when Shining Pearl leaned forward and kissed her. Hard. For a second, Silver Star was too shocked to react, then she melted and started to reciprocate. Only when the Getimian hand reached her cheek to deepen the kiss she managed to find the strength to get away.

"I thought you said you had a male lover." She gasped, both for the surprise and to take a little breath.

"One of the first." Replied the seductress, slowly, sensually removing her night garb. "Then a concubine… then four lovers. Three males, one woman… to keep things spicy." Her clothes flowed down off her body like water. "I never was picky. Are you?"

Silver Star was admittedly at a disadvantage. She had never found herself in a situation where she was the one being seduced. She had used that tactic in the past to obtain or get away with a lot of things, but being approached so forcefully by another woman was… unexpected.

But she had needs too.

-X-

The first thing I did in the morning was put some soundproofing on the chambers. I never expected to have to, but… well.

At least someone had fun last night.

Was I a little bitter? Eh, maybe. The spirit is strong but the flesh is weak and all of that. Surely having a pretty loud reminder that it was almost a year since I had any kind of sex didn't help. Doesn't matter that I put a silence spell on myself almost instantly and promptly returned to sleep. Now I had the image of the ladies' bodies-

No, focus on something else. Like breakfast. Breakfast was important.

As I thought that, Shining Pearl emerged from her room with her clothes draped pretty loosely around her body, every moment revealing some flesh. I quickly looked away. Was it because she was tired after the night or because she had a roof over her head and no fear of monsters appearing out of the woods?

Well, it didn't really matter, did it?

"Ah, that smells delicious." Sighed Pearl, inhaling the air.

I bit down a series of jokes and just put breakfast on the table. "Back home they always said breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is not exactly what I would put on the table, but the Akyn don't really do agriculture." Of course, during the time I was away from home I had to adapt to the fact that most people didn't do breakfast with milk and cake. Here, it was mostly bread and meat. Not… my favorite.

Meanwhile, Silver Star emerged from the room. It was the first time I saw her not absolutely at the top of her game. Her hair was a little disheveled and, as with Pearl, her clothes didn't fit her perfectly.

"Good morning." I greeted the Lunar.

"Good morning." She yawned, before sitting at the table and grabbing a plate. Looking at the content -mostly the meat of some of the monsters of the Refuge- I realized that I needed to convince the Akyn to vary their food. Maybe I could point out that cultivating the food for the beasts meant no need for pasturing?

"Hmm, this meat is amazing." Moaned Pearl. "What kind of animal is this?"

"Some big reptile from the Refuge. I forgot to ask what exactly." I replied, putting another steak on the fire for myself.

"Well, you absolutely have to make it again." Continued the Getimians. "Really, if you continue to spoil us like that, I'll be tempted to marry you."

I snorted. "Ask Star first. She may be more receptive to the idea."

The Lunar froze in place and I bit my tongue. I really couldn't stop myself, did I?

Meanwhile, Pearl was looking at me with surprise. "Did you… hear us?"

Without looking at her, I shrugged. "I thought I made the wall thick enough… I continue to forget that my hearing got better."

There was an awkward silence for a second.

"Did you get excited?"

"Shut up and finish your breakfast." I cut out, masterfully avoiding to blush by suppressing the reaction by pure force of will. Thanks, magical body.

"Well, if you liked it, I'm sure Star will be very happy to invite you-"

I silenced her with a wave of my hand. She took a second to notice that her mouth moved but no sound got out. So, she just glared at me.

"Feel lucky I can't send you to horny jail." I said, to the confusion in the two. "I put some enchantments on the walls to cover the sound. Feel free to do whatever you want. But this is the last time we talk about this. Clear?"

Silver Star murmured an assent. Since I didn't remove the spell, Pearl just nodded.

"Good." I said, removing the magic with another wave of my hand. "So, ready for some curse-breaking?"

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.5

Bloodelemental said:

Soo, why hasn't Loki unlocked his falna yet? He has done a bunch of things that would level him up.

In fact, the exaltation feels more like a nerf, if he had just the falna, he would already be much stronger than he currently is due to level ups and the skill/traits the falna gives you.

So yeah, the exaltation is cool, but he is much weaker than he could be because he doesn't have the falna and the level ups anymore.

Click to expand…

Click to shrink…

Considering how much time it takes to Level Up and the amount of monsters you have to kill to make it happen, I don't think so. Without a convinient monster spawner, the Falna is by far too slow to be of any use.

Anyway, here is the chapter. Sorry for the delay, it completely slipped my mind.

-X-

Turns out, removing a curse that had afflicted some of the most powerful characters in fiction -or at least some of the more busted- was not as easy as it sounded. Sure, they hadn't removed it already because they didn't know it was there, not because they were not able: one of the maxim of Exalted was not if you could do something, but if you should, and then live with the consequences when you did it regardless.

Still, just finding the damn thing had proven to be a problem.

I tried to approach this in a semi-scientific way. Put some arcane machinery up, take a good look at the Exaltation, find where the problem is, and then fix it.

But if the Great Curse was just a stain on the Exaltation that every Sorcerer could find out with the right instrument, someone would have noticed. I doubted that Sol Invictus would just never look at the Exaltations once they had won the war. Or maybe he didn't. I heard things about some kind of Great Game that apparently kept the gods busy, but Luna managed to speak with me and she also mentioned that Sol Invictus had noticed me, so it evidently was not as bad as it seemed.

Anyway, the point was that I couldn't actually find anything wrong with the Exaltations. Not that there was much to look for to begin with. Exaltations all looked pretty similar: flames, colored by the power of the gods that gave them, burning around the soul of a person like a halo of bright light.

Yeah, I could see souls. There is not much to say about them. They're just… ghosts, basically, only still inside the body. And not very defined.

Maybe the problem was that I didn't have the right instruments and so the resolution of the image was not the best. Unfortunately, I doubted there was much to see. In fact, the light of the Exaltation being so brilliant could be another reason why I couldn't see the soul very well. But whatever the reason, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the Exaltation or the soul of Silver Star. No malignant cancer or strange shape that could indicate the presence of a curse.

"Maybe we're approaching this from a wrong angle." Said the Lunar after a month of absolutely no result. "Maybe the problem is not inside the Exaltation."

"Well, Exaltation where built to not be easily manipulate." I conceded. "The Abyssals show that it's not impossible to change them, but at the same time, the Neverborn had time to figure out how to do it. The Great Curse, from what I know, was a literal death curse. The Primordial didn't have the time to do anything elaborate." I paused. "In fact, I think I also heard a version where the Great Curse was originally aimed at the Incarnae, but they were expecting something like that and so had protection… so the curse bounced on their Chosen. Still doesn't explain why I can see no trace of it."

"Knowing how the Primordial did it could help." Mused Shining Pearl. She couldn't help much -she had grasped Terrestrial Sorcery, but she was more focused on the practical part than on occult knowledge- but any help was welcome.

"They probably used Sorcery, or something very similar." I replied. "Sorcery is basically how they made Creation, anyway. Solars can only match them on that because they took the secret of Adamant Circle when they defeated them."

Silver Star frowned. "Sorcery… there are ways to use Sorcery to affect a large number of people, but it's usually temporary. Cursing the entirety of Exalted hosts would require an immense amount of power."

"We're talking about the Primordials. They could have powers we cannot even fathom." Noted Pearl.

"True, but if they had Sorcery able to change Exalted to that extent they would have used it in the War. And it also wouldn't explain why new, more recent Hosts suffer the same problem. They can't have cursed only the Exalted that were there during the War, or the Dragon-blooded wouldn't be affected by it. Their Exaltation doesn't reincarnate, and no one that was alive in that period still lives."

I stroke my chin. "Hmm… good point. So, if they didn't curse the Exaltation directly, what can they possibly have done? Some kind of large-scale reality warping, affecting all Creation?"

"That would mean that the Great Curse doesn't work outside Creation though, and we know there are Exalted Hosts outside it." Pointed out Silver Star. "The Abyssal, to say one. And the Alchemical. Also, the Wyld would stop the Curse too."

"Would it? The primary method to fight the Wyld is forcing the rules of Creation on it. As for the other Exalted Hosts… the ones that don't live on Creation don't suffer the Great Curse like the others. It's not an exasperation of their own feelings but an external force, at least in the case of Abyssals and Infernals. The Alchemical lose themselves to cold mechanical logic instead."

Star straightened up. "So it could be a new law of reality the Primordial made up to screw with the Exalted. Something like 'the Exalted will fall from their own human weakness'?"

"Seems plausible, but it's ultimately irrelevant." I explained. "That type of reality warping cannot be undone. Only contrasted by a similarly powerful work."

"Then it's hopeless. It would take centuries to cover all Creation." Said Pearl, and she was not wrong.

I shrugged. "True enough. But we don't need to defeat the Curse on that level. Finding a solution on a personal level will let the full might of the Exalted fix Creation and, if it's even possible, remove the Great Curse completely."

"I wonder how simple the ritual in question could be." Admitted Silver Star. "It would be ideal to keep it on Sapphire Circle. That way, even Emerald Sorcerers could reasonably perform it, even if slowly. It will let the Silver Pact keep an advantage on the Dragon-blooded, even if they somehow managed to discover it."

"I doubt we can bring it lower than that." I said, more thinking to myself than anything. "Emerald Circle rituals of that kind don't really let you create obvious supernatural effects, so I doubt you could make a ward able to repel the Curse. Adamant would be the sure bet, but we have to try and make it Sapphire. That way, at least, the entire thing can be used to protect an Exalt in a reasonable amount of time. A couple months per Lunar is far too much time."

Silver Star nodded. "Still, the problem remains… how do we make it?"

Uh… good question. I had no clue.

Time to experiment.

-X-

Exaltations were a bitch to work with. Mostly because you couldn't work with them.

We tried everything to make a ritual that would protect the Exaltation from the Great Curse, so as to preserve even future generations of Exalted from it, but it simply wasn't possible. To put it in a simple way, the Exaltation refused to be influenced by the Sorcery directly. We could probably make a protection to cover, say, an entire city, but putting the enchantment on the Exaltation was impossible.

I still brainstormed the ritual in question and put it on paper for other Exalted to use it, because if protecting an Exaltation was not possible, it was smart to have a place where you could make the ritual safely. Then turned toward the other solution.

Since the Exaltation wouldn't budge, the only other way was to influence the soul. It was the best course of action. The Exaltation and the souls were strictly connected, so for the Great Curse to influence the Exalt in any way, it had to pass from there. Unfortunately, just slapping some kind of barrier wouldn't do. Barriers could be overcome, or more simply, worn out, especially if the target's life expectancy was around a couple of millennia. No, for this thing to work out we needed to alter the way the soul was affected by reality.

I hated working with souls. For a Catholic -and for most other religions, I assume-, the soul is sacred. I was already sort of traumatized by what happened when I devoured all those dragon souls in Skyrim, but I could kinda, sorta ignore that because I had no control over it and it was necessary to defeat Alduin.

The idea of manipulating anyone's soul in any way filled me with disgust. It didn't matter that it was to prevent them from becoming mad. It still felt like the most terrible violation of their person, on a level so deep it made it almost impossible to actually complete the ritual.

It was at least a little consolation that Silver Star didn't seem to like the process either. If she wasn't there to remind me why it was important, I would have probably left the project where it was.

It took another two months and an immense amount of stress to finally be able to complete the ritual. Or at least the theoretical part.

The moment it was done, Shining Pearl grabbed both me and Silver Star.

"You two are getting out."

We almost never left the bunker in these three months of work. Just taking a walk was not safe as it would be back at home, and in the middle of bumfuck nowhere there was nothing to really do. Sometimes I just illusioned the living room to look like the surface, and with time I managed to magic a way to actually feel like we were outside.

But even then, it was not the same thing. So I was down to actually get outside.

Of course, that required a little preparation. Nothing important, just grabbing some food from the reserves I had the Akyn fill once in a while… so it was always perennially full, because 'once in a while' was pretty much every couple of hours or so.

So, when all three of us got out of the bunker, I took advantage of the good weather to make a barbecue. There was just something different about cooking the meat over a fire.

It was a couple hours of relaxation I didn't realize I needed until then. While I was cooking, Star and Pearl chatted happily, I enjoyed the true light of the sun and the gentle breeze, and after we finished stuffing ourselves with meat -and with just a little magic to make it taste like I had the spices to give them justice- we finally prepared to return inside the bunker for what could probably be the last night in this place.

Then my ravens warned me that someone was closing on the bunker.

In the blink of an eye, I was equipped with my armor and had my sword in hand. The second after, Shining Pearl was ready to fight, and Silver Star was in a less refined combat stance. The relative sloppiness of her posture was offset by her hands assuming a rapacious look, with long, black curved claws jutting out from her fingers. Interesting. Bird Spirit Shape, or maybe some kind of raptor? Both were equally probable.

Nothing happened for a second.

Then, Silent Whisper emerged from the shadow. Literally, I had experience with that kind of magic. She tumbled forward, her left hand covering her side while her right was closed on her Daiklaive.

Black blood was gushing out of her body and on the ground.

I immediately teleported at her side. "Whisper!" I said, before putting a hand on her wound and starting to heal her. "What happened?"

I'm ashamed to admit I had completely forgotten about the Abyssal. For some reason, after she left, I filed her under the people I was not going to see anymore. Maybe because I still wasn't sure I could trust her completely, maybe because when I parted ways with someone usually I didn't see them anymore. Whatever the reason, I had started to make plans to leave the place without taking her into consideration.

"They found me." She whispered, her breath still labored. I noticed that my healing spell wasn't working, so I switched to a form of necromantic healing I reverse-engineered from the Volkihar. She immediately took a deep breath and relaxed.

"Who found you?"

"Wyld Hunt." She said, the pain on her face gradually receding. "I'm sorry, I brought them here. I didn't know where else to go, and I hoped together we could manage to repel them."

"Don't worry about that. How far are they?"

"Not far. When I started to get overwhelmed I ran using the shadows. But I have gained maybe half an hour, not more."

Half an hour was not much, but there were not many preparations to do either. By the time we threw all our belongings into a dimensional bag and flew away, the only thing the Wyld Hunt was going to find were empty rooms and-

Suddenly and without warning, a splitting headache hammered my brain. For a second, I felt like I had multiple people inside my head, and something stirred inside my chest like a caged animal furiously trying to tear my ribcage open.

With a supreme effort of will, I managed to teleport everyone inside the bunker. Then, I promptly passed out.

-X-

I woke up not much than fifteen minutes later, and while my head was still spinning a little, the pain in my chest had somewhat lessened. I also got a decent idea of what happened.

Lahzey, if you weren't already dead -sorta, kinda- I would kill you myself.

"Loki!" Exclaimed Pearl, reaching for me. "What happened? You passed out on us without warning!"

"My stupid shadows did something they shouldn't have." I replied, sorting the memories that flooded me. "Apparently, Lahzey thought that I would be happy to have personal property aside from the mansion, where they could make food and metals and everything I could need during my travels without burdening the Refuge. Not that it's that great of a burden, but… well, doesn't matter. Anyway, he got the idea to make a personal dimension just for me, where he, Dol and Wahl could go full Industrial Revolution and give me infinite wealth, or whatever."

"That… seems like a good idea?" Said Pearl, unsure.

"Oh, it is. The problem is that doing that is an Adamant Circle ritual, and Lazhey didn't have that level of knowledge and mastery over Sorcery."

"Didn't? So the ritual went wrong and…"

"No, the ritual went right. He just gathered all the other shadows when the moment was right and they performed the ritual. He just had to cut some corners to make the thing easier. So, for example, he decided to use the Guarded City and the mountain as base for the dimension instead of creating one from scratch. Of course, he excluded anything living from the spell. The plan was to bind the pocket dimension to my soul to grant me unlimited access and the ability to mold it to my will, but…"

"But?"

"Well, the ritual was a little rough around the edges, even if safe. The shadows are not really living, and got caught in the ritual. Now they're bound to my soul… but they were already me, so their minds just kind of fused with mine. They're not really themselves anymore, more like a part of me that can think separately."

I created Lahzey to make sure magical experimentation continued in the Refuge, but evidently some hidden parts of my personality had taken strongly in certain shadows. Lahzey seemed to have a strong drive to experiment, a trait shown by other of my shadows too, like Dol and Whal, but contrary to them, there was little to no restrain to his curiosity. That had made him less cautious than he should have been.

"I'm lost." Admitted the Getimian.

"Let's say that I can think several things at the same time, ok? But that's enough for that. What about the Wyld Hunt?"

"They're coming." Replied the woman, looking calmer. "They don't seem to have found us yet, but I doubt they'll just pass us over."

Yeah, I doubted that. I learned to never underestimate an Exalt. Underestimating a group of them was suicide.

"Some hidden Sidereal in the group?"

"Whisper couldn't tell. They just surrounded her and she had a hard time defending herself as it was. If there are any, they didn't reveal themselves."

And with the power they possess, it was impossible to recognize them as Sidereal unless you already saw them once, and even then, it probably was not easy.

"It's better if we start to pack." Continued Shining Pearl. "It may be better to teleport instead of flying, though. We may not get away in time."

Something inside me stirred. I recognized the feeling. The Dov inside me was not happy.

And this time I'll indulge him.

"No, we are not packing. We fight."

"Sorry?" Asked Pearl, surprised.

By the shadow around me five clones emerged, wearing my plate and each wielding one of my weapons.

"I said, we fight."

-X-

The Wyld hunt was still following the traces of the Anathema when suddenly the world around them shifted. The sky got covered by black, fat cloud that promised rain and thunder. A cold breeze started to blow in their faces, and all the animals around them suddenly shut up.

"I'll give you just one chance." Boomed a voice, coming from all sides and none at the same time. "Turn back, and leave this place. You will not land a hand on any of my companions."

There was a murmur of fear from the mortals of the squad, that despite the impressive training they got through, still couldn't fight an Anathema on even ground. But the commander of the group just barked an order, and immediately the entire troop stood firmer. They strengthened the grip on their weapons and soldiered on.

"So you have chosen death." Sounded the voice.

Then, an arrow made of orange and blue flames shot from somewhere in front of them, landing exactly in the middle of their formation.

Suddenly, a great weight fell on the men, as if the earth itself was trying to drag them inside her. Then a figure in full plate, riding a white horse, emerged from behind the trees wielding a spear of pure silver. He raised the weapon high and, with an inhuman warcry, an army of wooden beings charged at them.

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.6

All in all, the disaster that had been Lahzey's attempt to make me a personal dimension separated from the Refuge had brought some positives. Luck had decided to not make it happen in the middle of a fight -or maybe he planned it somehow- and the thing was there. The dimension residing inside my soul instead of merely being connected to it was not part of the plan, nor was the shadows permanently fusing with my brain giving me the ability to think about six different things at the same time. Lahzey unconsciously based the thing on Iskander Noble Phantasm, so it was understandable that it went that way, even if I was not happy about it. I had to return to the Refuge to make a replacement as soon as possible.

But being able to think six things at the same time was useful, if not for the fact that for all my power I had just one body and just one mind. Not anymore.

The copies I had made this time were not exactly like the shadows I summoned before. They were more advanced, more like secondary bodies that I could control thanks to the parallel minds, letting me be in six places at once. They were also quite real, so if one body was killed, it would seem like it actually died… for a while. But the mind inside it would simply go to another body, and so to kill me you'd need to kill all of us.

I honestly had no idea how I gained that power. I suppose it was an echo of the shadows' bodies, manifesting physically thanks to Shadow Magic or something. I'll have to take a better look at it when I have the time for it.

Unfortunately, for all that it was a net improvement from the previous clones, it still had one of the shadows' fatal weaknesses. Namely, the Essence was divided between the bodies, and the copies could never have more Essence than they started with. The 'main' body could, which raised questions on what would happen if the 'main body' died while the copies were still there.

So, while I could fight with all six of them, they would have drained pretty fast. There were surely methods to solve that problem, but I had to experiment a bit to be sure what was the best one.

Returning to the Wyld Hunt, the fight was going pretty well, all things considered. The monsters I swiftly made were no match for a Dragon-blooded and I doubted that they were a challenge for a truly expert warrior, but there were a lot of them and that was all I needed.

Of course, there was another reason I left more of myself around. Bait.

So, when an anonymous monk arrived…

Wait.

Essence flashed in my eyes and the mask shattered. Now I recognized the monk. Which was not a monk at all, he was just vaguely dressed like a monk.

"You." I said, looking at the guy that almost killed me.

"Me." He nodded. "I'll admit you surprised me. I thought that wound would have killed you."

"I got better." I replied. Curious, he was not attacking from the shadows like the last time. Maybe there was a chance to resolve this without fighting. "Tell me, did you know I was there, or is it just a coincidence? I thought I had found a way to avoid upsetting Fate too much."

"Even if we cannot manipulate your Fate, that doesn't mean we cannot use other methods." He answered, basically not answering. "But I must admit you caused quite a stir when the interference your presence caused in the Loom vanished. How did you manage that?"

"A wizard never reveals his tricks." I replied.

"As you wish." He shrugged. "It's probably Sorcery, anyway. You are quite an enigma, Rexen Loki."

I did not question how they knew my name. They probably found Shining Pearl's crew or made a visit to the village.

"Are you here to kill me or what?" I asked instead. "Because if you wanted to kill me you're wasting time."

"I'm not sure." He admitted. "I mean, technically you're still Anathema, but since you made the effort to make our work easier, I'm not really that eager to get in another fight with you. On the other hand, you seem to be travelling with some dangerous Exalted." He paused. "Are you willing to let the Wyld Hunt do their work?"

"Hell no."

"Unfortunate. But not unexpected."

Ah. Typical.

I turned and kicked the approaching Exalt in the chest. The impact was… something else. The assailant was propelled away from me and smashed into a nearby tree with great force. But he must have been made of sterner stuff than the wood, since he just turned mid-air and landed without obvious injury. Which, for a Dragon-blooded, was impressive.

Then four more emerged from the trees.

I fell into a stance and waited for them. I had my personal martial art to test.

"Impressive." Noted the Sidereal. "You have improved since last time we met. But it will not matter."

The Sidereal and the Dragon-blooded warriors surrounded me, and I had to make a quote.

"You misunderstand. I'm not trapped here with you. You're trapped here with me."

And with that, I activated the runic pebbles I made to fight the Behemoth and never used. I arrayed the ones meant to protect and block movements, and used the others for battery.

Instantly, a barrier erupted around the little group of assassins, locking them away from the rest of Creation.

"Mul. Qah. Diiv." I Shouted, letting the power of the dragons flow. "Let's see how good you are."

They jumped on me at the same time.

-X-

The fight between the Wyld Hunt and the Anathema didn't go as expected. For both the teams.

The group facing the armoured knight found itself in an embarrassing situation. After having followed the Deathknight, they were stopped by an army of misshapen wooden creatures and a lone knight. Turns out, the monsters were just a distraction. The real enemy didn't take much time showing. For a definition of the term.

After an arrow made of flame released a powerful gravitational effect in the middle of the attacking force, the wooden monsters had swarmed them, pointedly avoiding the Dragon-blooded to focus on the mortals. The creatures wrestled them to the ground and inflicted debilitating but non-lethal wounds, leaving them unable to fight.

Then, they turned on the Dragon-blooded and were annihilated. Even under the weight of the spell, they still were more than able to kill droves of them.

Of course, in the chaos, they lost sight of the rider.

It made itself known when he rushed through the trees, the horse moving with an agility and speed that no creature of that size should have. He almost seemed to flow between the trunks, leaving behind a trail of cold air. Meanwhile, the silver spear of the rider darted, the weapon causing horrible, bleeding wounds with the lightest scratch.

Of course, that was insufficient to defeat the Wyld Hunt. Despite the disadvantage in terms of mobility, it was not like they could die by being scratched. All Exalted could stop bleeding by simply willing it, even if greater wounds were somewhat more difficult to heal. That said, if the rider wanted to kill them using that tactic, it was going to take a while, and someone was going to get a shot at him or the horse. And at that point they would overwhelm him.

That was the idea, of course. There was the problem that the mysterious archer continued to rain arrows at them, perfectly aimed arrows meant to disrupt their attempts to intercept the rider.

Then the Deathknight emerged from the bushes like black lightning, and things got worse from there.

The five Dragon-blooded and the Sidereal facing the other Anathema were having more success. At least, they could hit the Exalted.

Not that it was doing them any favours.

While the rider had decided to focus on speed, this one had decided to go for endurance. Between the Artifact armour and the draconic aura around him, he was pretty much invulnerable. You could have hit him with siege weaponry and it would barely scratch him.

Of course, five masters of the Immaculate Dragon Styles hit harder than siege weaponry, but on top of being absurdly resistant, he healed at an unnatural speed. When something managed to hurt him or break the armour, flesh and bones seemed to knit themselves together.

Of course, they were still six versus one. And they came prepared. They knew the abilities of the Exalt, at least the ones that they could observe. They knew he was inhumanly fast and strong even before the Exaltation, and they were experiencing the increase in endurance right now.

However, he hadn't been invincible when he fought against the Wyld Hunt the first time. Admittedly, that time he hadn't used any of his power for defense, but that was beside the point. The point was that, while they weren't doing any damage now, they knew they could hurt him. The moment he was out of Essence, he would drop from being invulnerable to only very tough.

They needed to outlast him. It should be easy, because he needed to use his own magic to equal theirs, but at the same time, they needed to not push too much or they were going to be exhausted and at the mercy of an Anathema that seemed to think that blow powerful enough to shatter trunks were affectionate taps.

Then, as more orange flames started to flow around the Anathema, the fire was suddenly sucked in as the draconic aura around him swelled, covering him completely and almost hiding his features. The next step he made shook the earth.

"I thought of you as one that preferred trickery over brute strength." Murmured the Sidereal, frowning slightly.

Evidently he was heard, because he got a reply. "Oh, I'm tricky enough. But sometimes I just want to break shit."

Then the dragon-Exalt roared, the sound shaking the area inside the barrier with the sheer volume.

They just focused on their stances and waited for an opportunity.

-X-

I was not winning this.

Which was ok. I just needed to keep the Wyld Hunt distracted. With the main force being pressed by Whisper, I just needed to hold for a while.

Well… to tell the truth, I was mostly doing this because I wanted to. My new dragon impulses were acting up and I just decided to follow them instead of fighting them and cause me to explode another time. I still was not sure if it was a variant of the Great Curse or just a side effect of… whatever my dragon soul had done with the Exigence, but it didn't really matter.

It was something that I would have never considered a couple of months ago, but now that the Heart of the Refuge was there, I didn't have to evaluate any single move on a strategic level. Until I survived, I would have found a way to return home. So, if I wanted to butt heads with a Wyld Hunt squad to see how dangerous they really were, I just would. I would place some contingencies to be sure I was not accidentally killed just to satisfy my desire to blood the nose of the most feared institution in Creation, but that was it.

Suddenly, I was advised that two of my copies had finished doing their part. Good. Time to see how crazy I could go with three minds.

A flick of thought generated a pair of wing-arms from the aura of Dragon Aspect, basically an extra pair of arms with wings attached just to maintain the dragon image. They were there just to give one of the mind-copies something to aim with. After deciding how to use my tripled brain-power, I started to fight for real.

It was… strange. Mostly because I had two lines of thought controlling the body instead of just one. It was for a good cause, I swear! The Thu'um was one of my strongest weapons, but it required focus, and taking too much focus from the fight could spell death. So, I wanted to have a line of thought focusing on continually Shouting while another moved the body and the third continued to cast sorceries.

I had just one body, so it was not like I could use different Shouts at the same time, but I could Shout and fight and use magic. That still left three copies that were kinda extra, but I would find a way to use them too.

Like, for example, I could spare for analysis of enemy combat style and another for full detection. The amount of information about the Immaculate Dragon Styles I was accumulating was immense, enough to probably find a way to replicate them at a later date, but I was sure that if I just decided to focus on that I would have gathered even more data.

But this was not the moment for munchkinery. I needed to give there fuckers a lesson.

The hit-squad sensed the shift in pose and started to get more aggressive.

The monk on my left, the Fire one, suddenly pointed his finger in front of his mouth and blew a wave of fire at me. Ah, perfect.

I jumped into the flames, the Dragon Aspect shielding me from the heat on top of everything else, and I managed to grab the face of the monk. He yelled in pain as the flames crashed against my open palm and bounced on him, but I doubted that was enough to kill him. I tossed him to the charging Wood monk while I prepared to Shout and cast twin fireballs to the other two monks approaching.

They reacted to all of that pretty well. The Water monk managed to become a puddle to avoid the fiery missile I launched at her, while the Sidereal just did a fancy trick and briefly disappeared from existence just to reappear as the fireball darted through the space he had been.

The Earth monk ate an Unrelenting Force in the face, the wave of pure kinetic force slamming on him like the fist of an angry god and tearing the ground apart. He was tossed at the border of the area, fortunately not impacting it. The barrier was not going to hold too many heavy hits.

Unfortunately, six on one was still more than I was able to deal with. The Air monk arrived from behind me with his gigantic chackram, which he threw after covering it with lightning. The weapon soared… and my wing-arm swatted it away, the lightning barely registering.

Yeah, despite the look, the aura was quite solid, and not being made of flesh made it easier to withstand the electrical current. The charge couldn't really flow into a solid mass of energy.

That still didn't stop Water and Sidereal from flanking me.

I whirled in place, the wing-arm extending my reach, and tried to smash their faces, but with no avail. The fuckers just dodged, letting Wood disentangle from his fiery companion and hitting me square in the stomach with a jab of his staff.

I noticed too late the swirling green aura around him.

The punch hit like a fucking truck, and I felt life energy seeping inside my body and grappling… was he trying to get my soul!? I felt the magic of the Dragon-blooded trying to drag it away, probably in the same cycle of reincarnation that recycled the souls of most people inside Creation.

Then my immortal and unyielding dragon soul snapped back, making Wood flinch.

So I back-handed him.

The impact propelled the Dragon-blooded in the air while blood splattered everywhere, probably because his own cheekbone pierced his flesh. He was probably out of it for a while, even if I doubted he was dead.

I couldn't cheer too much, though. Suddenly, a tidal wave and a tornado decided to have a meeting around me, fusing in what I supposed was a good approximation of a hurricane. I found myself unable to contend with the forces at play here, so I was dragged away by a current that tried to forcefully insert in my lungs and to crush my bones.

Indirect magic attack. Magic resistance couldn't do much against summoned water, even if I felt the magic controlling the liquid stuttering around me. It didn't make much of a difference when there was several tons of unaffected water pushing the one that didn't answer much. They weren't going to succeed, but it was an unpleasant sensation nonetheless.

I exploded a wave of anti-magic around me, and both wind and water stopped aggressively trying to kill me. I really needed to up my game on elemental manipulation. Sure, fire, lighting and cold were easier to conjure, but that didn't mean it was a good idea to have something in reserve. He was decent at geomancy thanks to Dragonknight training, but hydro- and aeromancy still deserved a little love. Just approximating with telekinesis was not good enough.

Instead of falling down, however, I remained high in the sky.

"You like your elemental attacks, uh? Let's see if you like this!" I growled, before the wing-arm arched behind my back and started to make a ball of pure light grow between them.

Technically, Skyrim classified that sunlight as fire damage, but I was pretty sure that it was just an approximation made for the spells to interact with the game system. If not, five out of six being hit by a laser blast was still pretty good.

Of course, they weren't just going to let me blast them with the Holy Hand Grenade. Air jumped at me, the distance unnatural even of an Exalt, while Sidereal just managed to appear at my side out of fucking nowhere. How annoying.

Uh… now that I thought about it, it was probably how my opponent felt.

Well, whatever. My arm-wings were busy, the rest of my body wasn't. I kicked Air while he was still flying, but I failed to punch Sidereal's face in like he deserved. The snake -which was a term I shouldn't use, it was an insult to Jormungand- managed through Sidereal bullshittery to slip under the swing I sent in his direction. I was not sure how, exactly, it looked almost like he had skipped a frame or something like that. Then his fist hit me dead on the chest.

It didn't hurt. Not… physically. Instead, it was like the entire world was trying to bend me out of shape. Or, I think, in the shape it wanted. Like suddenly the entire cosmos realized I didn't fit and, instead of trying to push the square in the circle, it started to hammer the corners with an industrial press.

Like it was tradition, the sensation seemed to last forever, but it actually was more like a fraction of a second.

Then my dragon soul roared in outrage, and I did the same as my will squashed the effect under the overwhelming power of. Fuck. You.

I wielded the power of magic and Voice. I mastered the art of the Spirit Sword and the mystical techniques of the Dragonknight of Akavir. I bent the fabric of reality to escape the Arena, and I would be damned if I would let Creation to bind me! My will shaped worlds, not the other way around!

I was Dovahkiin! I would not be shackled!

The attack shattered, freeing me from the pain. I grabbed Sidereal's arm and tried to take his head off with a Fire Breath, but the bastard slipped away another time. Fuck him! At least I would give the Dragon-blooded a good-

Something hit me. Not just physically, I felt several elemental bolts smashing against my body, but that was not the problem. Instead, the problem was the orb I was making suddenly deciding to become unstable. How-?

Ah, of course. I made this orb using Sorcery, or at least a similar enough method to not make much of a difference. That meant that it could be… what was the term?

Distorted.

The sphere of light exploded. Since one the Sorcerer had pretty much hijacked the spell, it was not under my control and, as such, I couldn't ignore the explosion.

And since I was the one making it, it hurt. A lot. Like being hit by a solar flare.

I was not the only one hit by the attack. The range was pretty huge and light didn't care much about physical obstacles. Still, I absorbed most of the energy of the attack, and even if my magic resistance helped mitigate the damage, it was still not enough.

And, of course, I went completely blind for several seconds as the impossibly brilliant light covered everything around me, even if I had closed my eyes.

When I was finally able to see again, I was splayed on the -quite desiccated- ground, my entire body burning. The armour had endured the attack pretty well, but it couldn't completely avoid the heat boiling my flesh. I managed to get on my knees, steam rising from my everything.

And the Dragon-blooded, still hurt by apparently not so severely, surrounded me.

I remained there for a second, before starting to chuckle.

The Dragon-blooded didn't react. Maybe they were extremely disciplined, maybe I creeped them out, maybe they were not taking any chances or maybe they were just tired. In any case, they let me finish my subdued laughter.

"That was… an impressive display." I admitted. "I didn't expect someone to distort my spell. Whoever of you managed that, good job."

"Silence, Anathema." Fire barked. "We're not here to hear your pleas of mercy."

"Mercy? I would never ask that. I know you're not the type to grant it." I replied with a snort. "I was just giving my respect to a group of valiant warriors. Enemies as we may be, I can respect your prowess."

"He's trying to gain time." Said Water, glaring at me. "Kill him."

"There is no need." I huffed. "I will not heal in seconds. You have… a couple of minutes before I'm in good enough shape to put up a decent fight."

"Why so calm then?" Asked Air.

"Ah, that's a secret." I grinned. "Nothing that you need to worry about, anyway. Just a warning. I hope you did not like your job very much. Soon, what you call 'Anathema' will be free from their madness, and when that happens, you will not be able to go around killing them. I will not be there to see the result, so… I bid you good luck."

The last thing I saw was the mace of Earth speeding toward my head.

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.7

"Ugh… that was unpleasant." I groaned as Dragon Aspect dissipated around me.

"Was it really necessary for you to fight them?" Shining Pearl asked, riding the improvised flying boat I had made.

"No, it wasn't. I just wanted to see how good they were." I shrugged.

"You found them worthy of their fame?" Asked Silver Star, curious.

"Yeah. If they had caught me when I arrived, they would have absolutely killed me. Even now I have problems. But they're not really a match for us as a group. I suppose that's why they try to kill new Exalts as soon as possible."

"Then maybe next time we should just fight them." Humph-ed Shining Pearl. "Maybe I'll manage to deal with that Sidereal that's giving you so many problems."

"That would be nice." I admitted. Then, with a thought, I called Whisper to the trunk I had made into a canoe. It was a crime against boats to even call it that, my manipulation of wood was not great. It fell into a strange place between Alteration and Restoration, and while the principle was similar to Flesh Magic, it was also… not. I needed to start researching the topic if I wanted to make some of the projects I had in mind to work.

Meanwhile, Whisper looked around, confused. "What… oh." She paused, looking at me. "Did you win?"

"Actually no." I replied, guiding the impromptu vehicle. "They managed to make my own spell explode on me. I have to give them credit: they know what they're doing."

"How did you escape?" Asked the Abyssal, trying to find a comfortable spot to sit down. "I thought your plan was to block them inside a barrier."

"I used the ol' switcheroo." At the confused glances I received from everyone, I sighed. "I switched with one of my copies the moment the spell went off. Since it was a giant ball of light, I doubt they noticed."

"Let's hope they didn't." Nodded Silver Star. "Maybe they'll just leave us alone."

"That would be nice, but I doubt it." Interjected Pearl. "They may not know about you or me, but if they don't find Whisper's body they're likely to continue the hunt."

"Not with how we left most of the expedition." Said the Abyssal with grim satisfaction. "Most of their men are wounded and need medical attention. If they wish to follow us, they'll need to heal them."

"And the group I fought were not doing great either. The copy absorbed most of the force of the attack, but they still got hit. It will take them a couple of days to recover, probably a couple of weeks for the mortal forces. All the time we need to discreetly disappear. In fact…"

I opened a portal in mid-air and let the truck slip inside, finding ourselves inside the Refuge. "Here, we should be sufficiently far from the Wyld Hunt that they will not find this place so easily." I said, letting the truck land. "You go inside and rest. I need to solve a little problem."

What happened next was a little confusing, mostly because I released my copies and started to talk to a lot of people at the same time. Mostly to calm down the Akyn, and tell them that the ritual Lahzey performed had disabled them -permanently, at that-, but I would soon make a worthy replacement. Then, I talked to the Shadow Priests -which, contrary to the shadows, were quite real and so didn't suffer the same fate as them- and finally, I focused all my attention on how to replace the shadows.

I could, in theory, just make them again. It was not exactly impossible and while they wouldn't be the same as before, they maintained most of their memories so it was more or less fine.

However, the limitation on the amount of magic they could use and the relative fragility of the shadows made me re-evaluate the entire thing. The Refuge was growing and I was not going to be able to assure their safety forever. The Shadow Priests were already working at max capacity and were not going to be able to do much more. Sure, if I continued to grow at some point nothing I was going to leave inside the Refuge was going to be a match for me, but that was beside the point. The point was that I needed something more permanent and less constricted.

Which also meant something that was not me. It meant releasing control over the Refuge to someone else.

But since I had a new personal dimension inside my soul, one where I could make anything I needed without asking for resources in the Refuge, I figured it was the right thing to do. I could relax my grip now that I didn't have the same needs.

That meant creating something new. Something still connected to me, so I could reach and 'upgrade' their powers as things went on, but still able to act freely and have his own powers while still following what were, roughly, my morals. Something like…

Something like an Infernal Hierarchy. A Third Circle Demon, from what I remembered, was literally a piece of a Yozi's soul. I couldn't do something like that, I was not an incomprehensible primordial deity, but I could still use that as a base for something else. A fragment of me… which, thinking about it, didn't sound that different from Akatosh and the Dovah. Maybe the method of creation was the same?

Ah, it was useless to think about it. Now, how to do that? It was possible to create life-forms using Sorcery -I remembered a passage in the Solar Circle Sorcerous Working section describing how it was possible to create an entity equal to a 'powerful god'- so that was the base. Then, I used a template of my personality, with a particularly strong facet to push them into a particular direction, and an innate desire to do something. Then… then what?

I couldn't just make them from nothing like that. It was a thing to create facsimile of my mind and tweak it somewhat, but it was another to make a new mind entirely, even using mine as a base, which was the reason why most elementals that spawned in Creation were more or less drones without any real personality or even conscious thought, and only the ones that managed to remain alive for some time actually became people.

But… if time was what was needed… I could give it to my creations. I just needed to let it develop in some kind of stasis, or a magical womb. As creatures of pure magic, they didn't even need to be some kind of gross meaty container.

Of course, if I was to make them in that way, I would need to fuel their growth with my own magic. I probably could make them using ambient energy but they wouldn't be mine if I did so. The problem was… how many I could sustain at the same time? Was even one of them going to be a crippling burden on my reserves, or I could hopefully grow more than one at a time?

Only one way to figure it out.

I started to weave magic in the air, giving it purpose and form through my intent. This… would take a while. Sure, it was not like creating materials out of thin air, but it was still pretty intensive. Fortunately I could just focus a lot of my attention on it. I couldn't be as easily distracted anymore.

So, when someone inevitably found out what I was doing, I could just talk while still fully focused on the work instead of having to split brain power. Or, well, I still needed to split it, but since I had the ability to think about more things at the same time, it was as if I didn't.

"What's this?" Silver Star asked.

"Would you believe me if I said I'm making a Third Circle Demon?" I asked, without taking my eyes away from the giant pearl that was now in front of the mansion.

Silver Star paused mid-step, then continued and walked at my side, enough for me to look at her. She… didn't look as upset as I thought she would.

"Explain." She asked, with a really neutral tone.

I sighed. "Lahzey fucked up a ritual and now the shadows are not inside the Refuge anymore. I'm trying to make a substitute that will not have the same problems as them… so I decided to take inspiration from the demons."

Silver Star stared at me for a long second before chuckling. "Only you could think of something like this." She said, shaking her head. "Did it work?"

"Kind of? I'm not sure it will be exactly the same thing, but it's close enough."

"Hmm. Knowing you, it will probably be a dragon of some kind, instead of a demon." Mused the Lunar. Which was fair enough. "What facet of yourself have you decided to use first?"

"Duty." I replied. "My idea is to recreate the shadows as close as possible, and Vokun was born from my sense of duty toward the Refuge."

"Wasn't it gratitude?" She asked. "They just saved you, after all."

"Also that, yes. But only one needs to be the core part. The rest will grow with him."

I continued to wave magic until the container was ready, then I started to wave the magic of mind and body together at its center, until there was enough of a consciousness to be the start of a new creature. Then, I linked it with my magic. Immediately, it started to steadily suck my Essence. The quantity of it was, all in all, sustainable.

It was also pretty much the amount of Essence I recovered in an hour, so while it was very sustainable here, it meant that I couldn't make another one and not get my magic sucked out of me faster than I could recover, unless I basically meditated all day.

"That's… magnificent." Said Silver Star, looking at the pearl, now pulsating of a faint white light.

"It may be my most impressive work so far." I admitted.

"How much time before it's born?"

I checked the speed at which it was eating my Essence and how much it needed to be completed.

"Eighty days, more or less."

"That's… what, three days and half outside?"

"More like four, since I'll probably rest here at night, at least while making them. They use my Essence to grow. It's better if I don't push myself too hard."

"Now you know how us women feel." Smirked Star. I chuckled at that.

"How many more?" She asked.

"I think my power can handle a couple more of the shadows I had before, tops. I'll have to think what to use for the last, but it's better to see how the first five get out before deciding, don't you think?"

Silver Star hummed, pondering. "It's a big risk what you're taking. There is no way to be sure these 'demons' will be as invested into the Refuge as you are."

"Yeah, but I also have a personal dimension where I can do whatever I want. I still have to visit it, but I think I can off-load most of the resource gathering to that."

"Just be sure they don't start to fill the place with First Circle demons." Said the Lunar. "You wouldn't want your demons to supplant the Akyn, would you?"

"I doubt that it's going to be that way." I replied. "I'm not even sure my 'Third Circle' can make more demons. But I'll be sure to convey the message if it comes up."

After that, we left the Refuge, but didn't get that far away. Instead, I invited everyone into my new personal dimension to see what was inside.

Turns out, my personal dimension consisted of the whole mountain where I first arrived once finding the Refuge, just floating in some sort of cosmic void strangely similar to what the night sky looked like, except the constellations were apparently alive in some way and seemed to battle across the sky. I was sure it was just an optical effect, maybe a nod to the living constellations in Skyrim? Well, as long as they stayed in the sky it was good for me.

The mountain by itself was pretty much just barren rock, but I could do something really interesting with it, since, you know, I had an entire mountain to turn into whatever I wanted.

Unfortunately, both the Refuge and the Inner World -original, I know- seemed to share the same time distortion effect, so standing inside the Inner World didn't accelerate the activity inside the Refuge and vice-versa. Also, my copies apparently counted as myself in that regard, so sending them inside the Refuge was a no.

Fine. I would just do this the hard way.

But first, I waited four days for the egg containing my first 'demon' to open. When it was about to happen, I teleported to the Refuge to see what would come out.

It was strange. The pearl-like egg was big, roughly the size of a studio flat, but when cracks started to appear and my creation emerged, it was far bigger than that. It was like one of those clown cars where twenty people could get out from a space that could contain four tops.

The creature that emerged was the size of a train, a long monster of bright blue-green scales. It had the basic body structure of a lung, the oriental dragon. Elongated body, almost serpentine if not for the small, but powerful-looking sides and shoulders that supported his short legs. Its head was similar to the ones of a Dov, with short bifurcated horns. It had a mane of white air that continued from its spine until it reached the end of the tail, where it transformed into a puff of white air similar to the one of a lion.

A dragon, as Silver Star predicted.

The first god-like spirit I ever created opened his maw -it had rows of perfectly white teeth- and released a powerful roar that made the entire mountain tremble. I could barely hear the cries of joy coming from the city, several miles down.

"I am reborn!" Exclaimed the mighty dragon, before looking down and pointing his blue eyes on me. "I, Vokun, am returning to continue my duty."

I sent him a curious look. "Vokun?"

"Yes." Nodded the dragon. "The memories of the shadow once called Vokun came to me while I grew. I am Vokun reborn, not as a shadow, not Vokun Loki, but Vokun Pruzah Jun, the Bringer of Utopia. As before, I'll bring growth and prosperity to the Refuge."

Uh, that… simplified things. I smiled. "Then it's good to have you back, Vokun. The Akyn missed you."

The dragon, Vokun, chuckled. "I suppose they did, but I expect the priests to have managed the Refuge in my absence." Suddenly, he dove down and, before reaching the ground, it transformed into a humanoid. He was me… sort of. You could see some differences. For example, his eyes were blue instead of green, his hair was white, and a complete lack of a beard. But aside from that, pretty spot on. "I'm afraid that my duty calls. I'd love to speak with you more, but I'll be pretty busy until you bring all my brothers back. Who's next? Whal?"

"I thought about it, but I think it's better to make them in order. Dol will be next."

Vokun hummed. "Dol is not as proficient with large scale construction as Wahl, but he will suffice. Furthermore, I suspect we'll need someone to balance me. I am aware of my nature. I'm too focused on the large picture. I'll need someone that can see the small one."

Self-aware demon? That was a surprise. "Then I'll start immediately. And, in case you need an extra hand… I may have some ideas."

"Oh? Interesting. Surprise me, boss." Smirked the dragon, before walking toward the mansion while calling Vahlok.

So, Vokun wanted to be surprised? I could do that. But first, Dol. I quickly made another egg, shaping the next dragon to be born from my creativity. The egg came out… peculiar. Vokun had been a pearl of pure white. This egg was a little different, an ovoid of jagged black rock. It was the same size as the other, and it emitted waves of heat, so intense the rock it was made from glowed red in the parts closer to the core. Despite that, very little of that rock-melting heat seemed to touch the surroundings. It melted the snow around it, but it didn't seem to do more than that. I suppose that it was fitting for the egg of the smith to act like a furnace.

And, for the next trick, I called both Sleipnir and Jormungand.

In the four days I had to wait for Vokun to awaken, I had thought long and hard on how to increase the number of helpful creatures in the Refuge, quickly at that, because at the rhythm I was going, it would take almost two years for the Refuge to have all my spirit dragons. Then, I realized I already had two of them ready.

The ritual I had in mind for them was not of the same magnitude as the one I used to create Vokun. It was something far more simple. Instead of making a creature wholesale from my own magic and a part of my mind, I just infused both with my magic… which, as they were made of magic, was going to have some serious effects. In fact, I was pretty much altering their soul… or animus, or whatever the equivalent was for daedric beings. Not that they had much to begin with, despite it all, both Jormungand and Sleipnir were barely above animals. When I was done, they would be… more. A lot more. But also pretty much bound to my will.

Was that how the Akuma were made? I was taking too much inspiration from Infernals… but as long as it was just inspiration, I could live with that.

Also, I made sure the ritual required consent from the receiver. I would not create a ritual that would forcibly transform people against their will. Because while I invented it, this ritual could be used by Vokun and the others… it was a means to empower the Akyn if they ever found the need. A way to make 'mortal' champions for themselves.

Of course they were willing, because I wouldn't have wasted time calling them if I thought they weren't, and after I finished the ritual, I let them return to what they were doing. The changes were not as extensive as I would have guessed. They gained a little more magic, a little more intelligence, and a little of my powers, but not enough physical changes to really make a difference. I also gave them titles. Jormungand was to be the Protector of the Seas, while Sleipnir was the Keeper of the Wilds.

I was almost done… I just had a last candidate.

"Fenrir." I called.

The black wolf emerged from the air, looking at me with a strange expression… before jumping on top of me and started to lick my face.

"Argh, Fenrir, stop… !" I chuckled, before grabbing the head of the wolf and rubbing his neck. "Yeah, sorry, I haven't called you as often as I would like. But I was busy and this place is dangerous. There are people here that can actually kill you, spirit or not."

Fenrir just gave me another lick, as a way to say 'I get it', or so I suppose.

"Well, that ends now." I smiled. "What do you say about becoming the official god of death for the Refuge?"

"Arf arf!"

Glorious Exalted Bullshit 1.9

Of course, my plans of just relaxing were a little different from the ones of normal people. At the same time, things never seemed to go in the right direction with me.

So, while I was exploring how to shapeshift like a Lunar -the little scuffle with Monkey helped me figure out how to start with that, but it had taken a monumental amount of boredom to break my reticence on shifting my new body into something different- I found a lone, solitary figure looking at me from a distance.

The shine of distant stars that engulfed their aura was a clear indicator of who they were.

Well, now my mood is ruined, and my day is immeasurable.

No, wait, I fucked that up. It's my day… no, it's… ah, whatever.

"You know." I started, and I don't know how the Sidereal managed to not flinch when my whispers arrived straight to their left ear. "I don't understand. I arrived here, and my Fate was 'chaotic' or whatever, so you tried to kill me. That I get. If the target wasn't, you know, me, I would also approve, on general principle. There are only a hundred of you and a lot of threats, so sometimes you don't have the luxury to waste time trying to figure out how dangerous the new menace is. Better be safe than sorry, after all.

But I also took a lot of steps to avoid messing with Fate. More to avoid you assholes than any real problem I caused with Fate, since my mere presence didn't seem to unravel the fabric of reality even then. Don't you have anything better to do? Leave the Dragon-blooded to hunt me and my friends, and focus on the real important things, would you?"

There was no response.

"If you're not here to end my existence, get out of my sight." I grunted… and surprisingly, the Sidereal actually did vanish.

Was… was that a trick? Were they trying some kind of psychological game? I extended my senses outwards, trying to find out if they were still there, just hidden but… no, it seemed like they really just left.

But there was another presence that was quickly approaching, and I doubted this one was going to leave if asked nicely.

I almost jumped into action, ready to teleport anyone near to the other side of Creation… but then I stopped. Running… was not going to solve this problem. Not long term, and not for anyone else but me.

So, I used the last minutes before Black Winter's arrival to set a couple of plans in motion.

-X-

When the Abyssal arrived in front of the little shack I had used as refuge for the last few days, I was waiting for him.

"I finally found you." Said the Deathknight, grabbing his axe. "Now we'll have a true fight."

"Very well." I said, and by the little jerk his body made, I managed to catch him off guard. "But I have conditions."

"Conditions?" Asked Black Winter, confused but also a little curious. "Why do you think I'll accept your conditions?"

I grabbed the Heart and showed him. "You see this little sphere? It's an immensely powerful Artifact that, in a couple of weeks, will grant me the ability to leave Creation… permanently." I quickly made the thing disappear before he could get strange ideas. "If you don't accept my conditions right now, I'll just run away until the time comes… and the fight you so ardently desire will never happen."

Black Winter remained absolutely still for a good second, before he recovered from… whatever that was. "Very well. What are your conditions?"

"There are only two, really. If I agree on fighting you, you'll have to promise on your honor as a warrior that, if you win and kill me, you'll never try to reach the Caul, and that you will not fight my friends for… let's say, ten years?"

"Five." Immediately replied Black Winter.

"Ten." I replied coldly. "What is a decade for a Chosen? Can your kind even die of old age?"

The Abyssal paused for a second. "What is your game? Why stop me from fighting your friends for ten years? Wouldn't it be better to ask to never fight them?"

"Would you accept?" I asked rhetorically. He didn't answer. "I thought so. But if you need another reason… right now they cannot defeat you. But even for Exalted, there is a thing called diminishing returns. You're very powerful… but how much can you still grow as a warrior? Maybe in ten years they will be able to stop you. So I'm buying them that time." I paused. "Assuming, of course, you can defeat me."

"I'm glad you see you're more confident than last time."

"Well, I've learned a lot since then." I replied, grabbing a handful of runic pebbles and crushing them into my grip, releasing a series of spells I prepared for the occasion. "You know you were my first fight with a Chosen since I Exalted myself?"

"Ah, so that was the problem. It looked like you were a little awkward with your powers. How much time since your Second Breath?"

"A couple of months, more or less." I replied, before covering myself with Dragon Aspect.

"Well, I have to say that for someone this fresh from his Exaltation, you fought remarkably well." Commented Black Winter, the black flames of Oblivion covering his body.

"Thank you." I replied, and took out my sword. "Now… let's end this."

He nodded, and we clashed.

-X-

"Is this really a good idea?" Asked Whisper while they walked away from the fight. "Wouldn't it be better to, I dunno, gang on Black Winter and kill him?"

"Maybe." Admitted Pearl. "But Loki asked to not interfere. And you know that he's not so easy to kill."

"I just…" Paused Whisper, finding the right words. "I don't doubt he's going to give Black Winter a fight. But if you want to kill him, then fighting together is better, isn't it?"

"That's the problem with your assumption. Loki is buying us time. He will leave Creation in a couple of weeks. It's kind of against the point to make us risk our lives for that, isn't it?"

"I think he just wants to defeat Black Winter alone for some stupid reason." Countered the Abyssal.

"I mean, that too." Nodded Shining Pearl. "Black Winter defeated him, so he wants a rematch. I assume he has one of his copies around to pull off the 'ol' switcheroo' if he needs to, so there is no reason to not just give your old master what he wants. At worst, Loki sacrifices one of his copies and we gain ten years of time before Black Winter comes to kill us all. Best case scenario, he wins and Black Winter is not a problem anymore."

Whisper sighed, dropping the subject. "I'd just prefer it if we killed Black Winter together and be done with it."

"Maybe we will." Replied Pearl with a smile.

Of course, at that moment, the ground shook under their feet and a section of the forest in the distance was suddenly covered with frost.

"If Loki doesn't do it himself." Continued the Getimian.

"Do you think we're far enough?" Asked Whisper, curious. "I would like to take a look at the fight."

The redhead thought about it. "Seems we're at a safe distance here. Top of the trees?"

The Deathknight nodded and jumped up, stepping on branches faaar too thin to support her weight until she was standing on the very tip of the massive tree. Shining Pear was swift to follow her. After all, it seemed like this was going to be a great spectacle.

But after a second, she was distracted by Whisper, well… whispering something.

"I'm not Water Lily."

Shining Pear blinked, surprised. "Really? But from your reaction…"

Whisper shook her head. "I know. But I'm not Water Lily. I'm her sister."

Shining Pearl sucked up her breath. Now that it was mentioned… There was a young woman among the people Water Lily was trying to cure.

"I'm sorry." Said the Getimian, looking away from the Deathknight. "I… I assume she didn't make it in this life."

"No." Quietly replied Whisper. "She continued to try to take care of us until the end… but there is only so much a child in a dead village could do." She closed her eyes, as the memory caused her physical pain. "Mom and Dad went away first. She continued to take care of me… but she was just consuming herself. After a while… she collapsed."

Ah, so that's how it was. They had saved her from dying of fatigue… but her sister didn't make it.

"It was then that I heard the whispers." Continued the Abyssal, regaining Pearl's attention. "They told me that I could live… that my sister could live…" She paused, fighting the tears. "They didn't lie… but they didn't tell the truth either. I found the strength to let her spirit go only a couple of months ago."

Shining Pearl didn't say anything. What could she say in the face of that?

-X-

With a mighty grunt, I smashed Dusiltuz against the unnamed black axe of Black Winter. The air resonated like I just hit a gigantic gong, the sound physically painful. The blades stopped, the swing that the Abyssal had aimed at my neck blocked. We both pushed, trying to move the other away, but we both refused to budge.

Then I opened my mouth.

"Yol. Toor. Shul!"

Flames erupted, engulfing Black Winter. The fire had a powerful force behind it, almost a physical presence, and the Abyssal found himself pushed back a few feet.

So, just enough space for me to slam down my foot, releasing a wave of magic onto the ground. The earth churned, contorting before starting to flow like water and trying to bind Black Winter.

Of course, the Abyssal just walked through the spell like it was water and swung his weapon. So, we clashed again. And again. And again.

There is something to say about both mine and Black Winter's style of combat. Most people in Creation tended to go… wuxia. Jumping around, extreme acrobatics, elaborate flourish, pirouettes and the like.

We did none of that shit. Both me and Black Winter preferred to keep our feet planted on the ground and move just enough to avoid hits.

That's not to say that we lacked mobility, nor that we were slow. On the contrary, we actually moved quite a lot and at extreme speeds. But instead of using that speed to jump around, we used it to move our weapons as fast as we could.

So, when I said we clashed, what I really meant is that our weapons smashed against each other in rapid succession, making the metal ring and the air vibrate with the sheer force of the impact. Sometimes we caught a tree in the way, but conscious of the devastating power behind our strikes, we just ignored them, letting our blades carve the hard wood apart like it was wet paper.

Black Winter had a slight advantage in the clash because his weapon had a bigger reach and packed more of a punch than mine, as the entire weight of the axe was concentrated on the head, and the long handle let him lounge forward at any moment. On the other hand, my sword was better balanced and that let me quickly change its position. Or it would, if the Abyssal didn't use the butt of his weapon as an improvised baton just in case I tried to close the distance.

At least this time we were equally matched. The fact that I had trained in combat uses of my dragon powers helped, as I was just a little smoother while fighting compared to before. It sounded like a little thing, but not having to focus on a spell for a fraction of a second while fighting someone like Black Winter was a huge advantage. Not having to have to anticipate the Abyssal's moves to react in time also meant that I was less likely to get caught off-guard.

The Deathknight seemed to be enjoying the fight, at least.

"Yes, this is what I wanted!" He shouted in delight. "No distractions. No plans. Just you and me, fighting to the death!"

I didn't reply. I stepped inside his guard by teleporting a step forward and right, bypassing the ax completely, and stabbed at his heart.

The black flames of Oblivion surged, stopping my blade. Well, more cushioning the impact so that the armour could take the rest without a scratch. Black Winter replied by freeing one of his hands and trying to punch me in the face, and at that I replied by raising my fist and meeting him halfway through.

The impact this time couldn't be deflected by a cunning use of wrist moments to disperse the momentum or redirect it to the next attack. And as Newton teaches, every action corresponds to an equal and opposing one.

So, both me and Black Winter shot away from each other. I got a little farther, for the Deathknight had a foot on me and was covered in Soulsteel, so he got a little bit of extra mass. Still, that made Black Winter's gears go.

"Finally, a worthy opponent!" He shouted, his eyes shining of an unholy black light that I could see even through the dust raised by our fight. "Give me a warrior's death!"

Well, if he insisted…

I strengthened my grip on my sword as I channeled the power of the Shehai inside it. Disiltuz edge shone white, and I could feel the spiritual weapon trying to eject itself from the Soulsteel weapon. Hmm… it didn't seem to become easier with practice. I suppose that mixing oil and water was always going to be a problem. Still, I kept the power inside the sword as I charged.

Black Winter replied with a wide swing of his weapon, releasing a wave of pure kinetic energy at me. Or, it would have been pure kinetic energy if he had not pushed the same soul-destroying green flames into it. I raised my blade and cut.

The wave of force and deathly green flames parted in front of me, leaving my body unscathed but continuing on its path. Everything that got in contact with the flames died, trees becoming fragile and thin before collapsing under their own weight, while the grass withered and became dust. I continued forward without slowing down.

Black Winter intercepted me with another mighty clash. Ah, there it was, the draining of my momentum. Unfortunately for me, Abyssals powers were just more geared toward conflict than mine were. I could gain the strength of a giant dragon and bend time to move faster, but Deathknights were just made to kill and destroy. Their powers came from the Oblivion, the end of all things, and so their strikes sapped life and energy from the world, their touch corrupted flesh and spread diseases, and inanimate objects just crumbled under their command.

Fortunately for me, the solution to that was simply being so tough and strong that even draining you, they just couldn't bring you to their level. And while dragons didn't have specialized powers to deal with a lot of things, death was not particularly high on the list of things that bothered them. As long as I avoid the green flames, I should be fine.

Also, I was putting far less energy into this fight than Black Winter was, because I didn't need to use Exalted magic to be superhuman. He would run out of fuel before I did.

Of course, that worked only if he didn't have any new tricks. Which… of course he did.

"Open, Gaol of the Tormented Souls!" The black knight shouted, raising his axe into the air. Ah, so that was the name of his weapon. I was starting to ask myself if he had focused so much on his own power to leave the powers of his equipment behind, but apparently he didn't.

Before I could reach him, the area around us became suddenly dark, and… ghostly? I could see blurred figures floating around, but most importantly, I could feel an even heavier drain on my power than before. Like… like I was inside the Soul Cairn again.

I stopped my charge. "Where are we?"

"This is the Gaol of the Tormented Souls… a space contained inside my weapon where the spirit of those slain by the axe resides."

Ah, shit… that was bad. I was nowhere near a good enough necromancer to even try to do something against a prison of this kind. "Let me guess. The spirits are bound to your will and they empower you while you drain the power of your opponent?"

Black Winter didn't reply. He just gripped his axe with both hands and started to walk toward me.

Fucking hell. Why couldn't he go on a villainous monologue and give me the time to figure out a solution for this situation? I just had to find a competent warrior that was not so stupid as to reveal how his technique worked in detail just to brag about how invincible he was.

But then, Black Winter didn't care about any of that. What had he said? 'Give me a warrior's death.' Was he like Silent Whisper? Had he made a pact with the Underworld to avoid a death he feared, but came to regret it?

It seemed plausible, but I doubted it was as sympathetic as Whisper in his motivations. Apparently, he had no problem fighting for the Bodhisattva until he negated him as a worthy opponent.

Still, wanting to die put him in the 'not as bad as he could be' category, which wasn't all that great but better than nothing.

And if his desire was to die an honorable death, I was going to do my best to satisfy him.

I entered into the Tempest Attrition stance and readied myself to get kicked around a little. I needed time to analyze the Gaol and find a weak spot.

Glorious Exalted Bullshit - Finale

Of course, my plans of just relaxing were a little different from the ones of normal people. At the same time, things never seemed to go in the right direction with me.

So, while I was exploring how to shapeshift like a Lunar -the little scuffle with Monkey helped me figure out how to start with that, but it had taken a monumental amount of boredom to break my reticence on shifting my new body into something different- I found a lone, solitary figure looking at me from a distance.

The shine of distant stars that engulfed their aura was a clear indicator of who they were.

Well, now my mood is ruined, and my day is immeasurable.

No, wait, I fucked that up. It's my day… no, it's… ah, whatever.

"You know." I started, and I don't know how the Sidereal managed to not flinch when my whispers arrived straight to their left ear. "I don't understand. I arrived here, and my Fate was 'chaotic' or whatever, so you tried to kill me. That I get. If the target wasn't, you know, me, I would also approve, on general principle. There are only a hundred of you and a lot of threats, so sometimes you don't have the luxury to waste time trying to figure out how dangerous the new menace is. Better be safe than sorry, after all.

But I also took a lot of steps to avoid messing with Fate. More to avoid you assholes than any real problem I caused with Fate, since my mere presence didn't seem to unravel the fabric of reality even then. Don't you have anything better to do? Leave the Dragon-blooded to hunt me and my friends, and focus on the real important things, would you?"

There was no response.

"If you're not here to end my existence, get out of my sight." I grunted… and surprisingly, the Sidereal actually did vanish.

Was… was that a trick? Were they trying some kind of psychological game? I extended my senses outwards, trying to find out if they were still there, just hidden but… no, it seemed like they really just left.

But there was another presence that was quickly approaching, and I doubted this one was going to leave if asked nicely.

I almost jumped into action, ready to teleport anyone near to the other side of Creation… but then I stopped. Running… was not going to solve this problem. Not long term, and not for anyone else but me.

So, I used the last minutes before Black Winter's arrival to set a couple of plans in motion.

-X-

When the Abyssal arrived in front of the little shack I had used as refuge for the last few days, I was waiting for him.

"I finally found you." Said the Deathknight, grabbing his axe. "Now we'll have a true fight."

"Very well." I said, and by the little jerk his body made, I managed to catch him off guard. "But I have conditions."

"Conditions?" Asked Black Winter, confused but also a little curious. "Why do you think I'll accept your conditions?"

I grabbed the Heart and showed him. "You see this little sphere? It's an immensely powerful Artifact that, in a couple of weeks, will grant me the ability to leave Creation… permanently." I quickly made the thing disappear before he could get strange ideas. "If you don't accept my conditions right now, I'll just run away until the time comes… and the fight you so ardently desire will never happen."

Black Winter remained absolutely still for a good second, before he recovered from… whatever that was. "Very well. What are your conditions?"

"There are only two, really. If I agree on fighting you, you'll have to promise on your honor as a warrior that, if you win and kill me, you'll never try to reach the Caul, and that you will not fight my friends for… let's say, ten years?"

"Five." Immediately replied Black Winter.

"Ten." I replied coldly. "What is a decade for a Chosen? Can your kind even die of old age?"

The Abyssal paused for a second. "What is your game? Why stop me from fighting your friends for ten years? Wouldn't it be better to ask to never fight them?"

"Would you accept?" I asked rhetorically. He didn't answer. "I thought so. But if you need another reason… right now they cannot defeat you. But even for Exalted, there is a thing called diminishing returns. You're very powerful… but how much can you still grow as a warrior? Maybe in ten years they will be able to stop you. So I'm buying them that time." I paused. "Assuming, of course, you can defeat me."

"I'm glad you see you're more confident than last time."

"Well, I've learned a lot since then." I replied, grabbing a handful of runic pebbles and crushing them into my grip, releasing a series of spells I prepared for the occasion. "You know you were my first fight with a Chosen since I Exalted myself?"

"Ah, so that was the problem. It looked like you were a little awkward with your powers. How much time since your Second Breath?"

"A couple of months, more or less." I replied, before covering myself with Dragon Aspect.

"Well, I have to say that for someone this fresh from his Exaltation, you fought remarkably well." Commented Black Winter, the black flames of Oblivion covering his body.

"Thank you." I replied, and took out my sword. "Now… let's end this."

He nodded, and we clashed.

-X-

"Is this really a good idea?" Asked Whisper while they walked away from the fight. "Wouldn't it be better to, I dunno, gang on Black Winter and kill him?"

"Maybe." Admitted Pearl. "But Loki asked to not interfere. And you know that he's not so easy to kill."

"I just…" Paused Whisper, finding the right words. "I don't doubt he's going to give Black Winter a fight. But if you want to kill him, then fighting together is better, isn't it?"

"That's the problem with your assumption. Loki is buying us time. He will leave Creation in a couple of weeks. It's kind of against the point to make us risk our lives for that, isn't it?"

"I think he just wants to defeat Black Winter alone for some stupid reason." Countered the Abyssal.

"I mean, that too." Nodded Shining Pearl. "Black Winter defeated him, so he wants a rematch. I assume he has one of his copies around to pull off the 'ol' switcheroo' if he needs to, so there is no reason to not just give your old master what he wants. At worst, Loki sacrifices one of his copies and we gain ten years of time before Black Winter comes to kill us all. Best case scenario, he wins and Black Winter is not a problem anymore."

Whisper sighed, dropping the subject. "I'd just prefer it if we killed Black Winter together and be done with it."

"Maybe we will." Replied Pearl with a smile.

Of course, at that moment, the ground shook under their feet and a section of the forest in the distance was suddenly covered with frost.

"If Loki doesn't do it himself." Continued the Getimian.

"Do you think we're far enough?" Asked Whisper, curious. "I would like to take a look at the fight."

The redhead thought about it. "Seems we're at a safe distance here. Top of the trees?"

The Deathknight nodded and jumped up, stepping on branches faaar too thin to support her weight until she was standing on the very tip of the massive tree. Shining Pear was swift to follow her. After all, it seemed like this was going to be a great spectacle.

But after a second, she was distracted by Whisper, well… whispering something.

"I'm not Water Lily."

Shining Pear blinked, surprised. "Really? But from your reaction…"

Whisper shook her head. "I know. But I'm not Water Lily. I'm her sister."

Shining Pearl sucked up her breath. Now that it was mentioned… There was a young woman among the people Water Lily was trying to cure.

"I'm sorry." Said the Getimian, looking away from the Deathknight. "I… I assume she didn't make it in this life."

"No." Quietly replied Whisper. "She continued to try to take care of us until the end… but there is only so much a child in a dead village could do." She closed her eyes, as the memory caused her physical pain. "Mom and Dad went away first. She continued to take care of me… but she was just consuming herself. After a while… she collapsed."

Ah, so that's how it was. They had saved her from dying of fatigue… but her sister didn't make it.

"It was then that I heard the whispers." Continued the Abyssal, regaining Pearl's attention. "They told me that I could live… that my sister could live…" She paused, fighting the tears. "They didn't lie… but they didn't tell the truth either. I found the strength to let her spirit go only a couple of months ago."

Shining Pearl didn't say anything. What could she say in the face of that?

-X-

With a mighty grunt, I smashed Dusiltuz against the unnamed black axe of Black Winter. The air resonated like I just hit a gigantic gong, the sound physically painful. The blades stopped, the swing that the Abyssal had aimed at my neck blocked. We both pushed, trying to move the other away, but we both refused to budge.

Then I opened my mouth.

"Yol. Toor. Shul!"

Flames erupted, engulfing Black Winter. The fire had a powerful force behind it, almost a physical presence, and the Abyssal found himself pushed back a few feet.

So, just enough space for me to slam down my foot, releasing a wave of magic onto the ground. The earth churned, contorting before starting to flow like water and trying to bind Black Winter.

Of course, the Abyssal just walked through the spell like it was water and swung his weapon. So, we clashed again. And again. And again.

There is something to say about both mine and Black Winter's style of combat. Most people in Creation tended to go… wuxia. Jumping around, extreme acrobatics, elaborate flourish, pirouettes and the like.

We did none of that shit. Both me and Black Winter preferred to keep our feet planted on the ground and move just enough to avoid hits.

That's not to say that we lacked mobility, nor that we were slow. On the contrary, we actually moved quite a lot and at extreme speeds. But instead of using that speed to jump around, we used it to move our weapons as fast as we could.

So, when I said we clashed, what I really meant is that our weapons smashed against each other in rapid succession, making the metal ring and the air vibrate with the sheer force of the impact. Sometimes we caught a tree in the way, but conscious of the devastating power behind our strikes, we just ignored them, letting our blades carve the hard wood apart like it was wet paper.

Black Winter had a slight advantage in the clash because his weapon had a bigger reach and packed more of a punch than mine, as the entire weight of the axe was concentrated on the head, and the long handle let him lounge forward at any moment. On the other hand, my sword was better balanced and that let me quickly change its position. Or it would, if the Abyssal didn't use the butt of his weapon as an improvised baton just in case I tried to close the distance.

At least this time we were equally matched. The fact that I had trained in combat uses of my dragon powers helped, as I was just a little smoother while fighting compared to before. It sounded like a little thing, but not having to focus on a spell for a fraction of a second while fighting someone like Black Winter was a huge advantage. Not having to have to anticipate the Abyssal's moves to react in time also meant that I was less likely to get caught off-guard.

The Deathknight seemed to be enjoying the fight, at least.

"Yes, this is what I wanted!" He shouted in delight. "No distractions. No plans. Just you and me, fighting to the death!"

I didn't reply. I stepped inside his guard by teleporting a step forward and right, bypassing the ax completely, and stabbed at his heart.

The black flames of Oblivion surged, stopping my blade. Well, more cushioning the impact so that the armour could take the rest without a scratch. Black Winter replied by freeing one of his hands and trying to punch me in the face, and at that I replied by raising my fist and meeting him halfway through.

The impact this time couldn't be deflected by a cunning use of wrist moments to disperse the momentum or redirect it to the next attack. And as Newton teaches, every action corresponds to an equal and opposing one.

So, both me and Black Winter shot away from each other. I got a little farther, for the Deathknight had a foot on me and was covered in Soulsteel, so he got a little bit of extra mass. Still, that made Black Winter's gears go.

"Finally, a worthy opponent!" He shouted, his eyes shining of an unholy black light that I could see even through the dust raised by our fight. "Give me a warrior's death!"

Well, if he insisted…

I strengthened my grip on my sword as I channeled the power of the Shehai inside it. Disiltuz edge shone white, and I could feel the spiritual weapon trying to eject itself from the Soulsteel weapon. Hmm… it didn't seem to become easier with practice. I suppose that mixing oil and water was always going to be a problem. Still, I kept the power inside the sword as I charged.

Black Winter replied with a wide swing of his weapon, releasing a wave of pure kinetic energy at me. Or, it would have been pure kinetic energy if he had not pushed the same soul-destroying green flames into it. I raised my blade and cut.

The wave of force and deathly green flames parted in front of me, leaving my body unscathed but continuing on its path. Everything that got in contact with the flames died, trees becoming fragile and thin before collapsing under their own weight, while the grass withered and became dust. I continued forward without slowing down.

Black Winter intercepted me with another mighty clash. Ah, there it was, the draining of my momentum. Unfortunately for me, Abyssals powers were just more geared toward conflict than mine were. I could gain the strength of a giant dragon and bend time to move faster, but Deathknights were just made to kill and destroy. Their powers came from the Oblivion, the end of all things, and so their strikes sapped life and energy from the world, their touch corrupted flesh and spread diseases, and inanimate objects just crumbled under their command.

Fortunately for me, the solution to that was simply being so tough and strong that even draining you, they just couldn't bring you to their level. And while dragons didn't have specialized powers to deal with a lot of things, death was not particularly high on the list of things that bothered them. As long as I avoid the green flames, I should be fine.

Also, I was putting far less energy into this fight than Black Winter was, because I didn't need to use Exalted magic to be superhuman. He would run out of fuel before I did.

Of course, that worked only if he didn't have any new tricks. Which… of course he did.

"Open, Gaol of the Tormented Souls!" The black knight shouted, raising his axe into the air. Ah, so that was the name of his weapon. I was starting to ask myself if he had focused so much on his own power to leave the powers of his equipment behind, but apparently he didn't.

Before I could reach him, the area around us became suddenly dark, and… ghostly? I could see blurred figures floating around, but most importantly, I could feel an even heavier drain on my power than before. Like… like I was inside the Soul Cairn again.

I stopped my charge. "Where are we?"

"This is the Gaol of the Tormented Souls… a space contained inside my weapon where the spirit of those slain by the axe resides."

Ah, shit… that was bad. I was nowhere near a good enough necromancer to even try to do something against a prison of this kind. "Let me guess. The spirits are bound to your will and they empower you while you drain the power of your opponent?"

Black Winter didn't reply. He just gripped his axe with both hands and started to walk toward me.

Fucking hell. Why couldn't he go on a villainous monologue and give me the time to figure out a solution for this situation? I just had to find a competent warrior that was not so stupid as to reveal how his technique worked in detail just to brag about how invincible he was.

But then, Black Winter didn't care about any of that. What had he said? 'Give me a warrior's death.' Was he like Silent Whisper? Had he made a pact with the Underworld to avoid a death he feared, but came to regret it?

It seemed plausible, but I doubted it was as sympathetic as Whisper in his motivations. Apparently, he had no problem fighting for the Bodhisattva until he negated him as a worthy opponent.

Still, wanting to die put him in the 'not as bad as he could be' category, which wasn't all that great but better than nothing.

And if his desire was to die an honorable death, I was going to do my best to satisfy him.

I entered into the Tempest Attrition stance and readied myself to get kicked around a little. I needed time to analyze the Gaol and find a weak spot.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.1

And there we have the finale of the Exalted chapter. Sorry again for the delay. Ejoy!

-X-

"So, what is the situation?" Vokun asked his brothers.

It had taken a while for the Archdragons to get a grip on what to do with the Refuge. They all had a pretty good idea of what they were meant to do, but that didn't mean that they knew how to do it optimally from the start. For example, Wahl had spent a significant amount of time moving the terrain before he remembered that he was also supposed to help with the manses and some grand architectural projects that Dol was unable -or unwilling- to make. In fact, most of them had spent a chunk of their new lives following whatever their instincts told them to do, before realizing that maybe they should have coordinated better with the others.

Thur and Rel had a particularly bad experience with that because they didn't have any previous memory to use as a guideline. Fortunately, they were also the last born, so by that time the others had already formed a council and started to discuss what to do.

To do so they had taken Loki's mansion and remodeled it to make a senate of sorts. Well, the only real place that got changed was the warehouse, since the living quarters of the mansion could still be used for their original purpose. It was also the best place to use since it was pretty much empty anyway, after Loki had moved all that was in it into his new Soul Dimension.

So now, instead of a vast empty room, the warehouse was a vast room with a round table made of stone and eight thrones around it. At this moment they were all occupied aside from one, slightly higher than the rest, the throne of Loki… a pretty normal situation all things considered.

"Nothing new on my part." Dol replied, whose human form was… not very human. It had pitch black skin and eyes of molten metal, and every hair on his body had a decidedly dark silver color. It looked more like an obsidian statue given life than a person. Add the oddly spiky armor he usually wore and he looked like Sauron's edgier cousin.

"The training of the Akyn proceeded as usual." said Kein, who looked surprisingly similar to Loki himself, down to the clothes made of grey-brown scale vest he wore. The only actual difference was that he had darker hair that easily reached his torso. "We still have to nail down a way to make the memories of their previous lives emerge quickly, but we'll find it."

One of the first discoveries the Archdragons had made was that Akyn didn't really die. Fenrir had confirmed that their souls never reached an afterlife, they just returned to the Refuge and were reborn later. The resulting 'newborn' Akyn didn't have most of their memories, but they were quick to re-learn what they knew beforehand. Unfortunately, for now the process needed to be personalized for each Akyn, because the best way to make them learn was to match their previous experience. Kein had hoped to make a sort of 'virtual reality program' to speed up the process, but for now he and Lahzey had no luck.

"Business as usual here too." Spoke up the sorcerer of the company, the feathered serpent Lahzey which, in human form, had slightly tanner skin than Loki and bright green, feather-like hair. No beard, for some reason. "I sent you a full account of all my research, as usual."

Vokun snorted. Lahzey was a genius regarding sorcery and sorcerous rituals, but he was kind of an airhead… which fit, since he was a feathered serpent and spent most of his time floating somewhere. He often forgot to inform his brothers of his discoveries, and it had taken time for Vokun to nail the importance of taking and sharing notes into his head.

Finally, Wahl smiled, his clay-like skin bending oddly, like it was less flexible than the other's. "I'm almost done with the leylines. The moment they're done, I'm going to build the manses, and then we can start to experimenting on how to best recreate the Magical Materials using them."

There was an excited murmur shared by the Archdragons, aside from Rel, who remained silent with his arms crossed like usual.

"Very well." Nodded Vokun. "Then, if there is nothing else…" He paused to see if Thur had something to say, but the stony dragon remained silent. "… I'm happy to say that, at this speed, we'll transform the Refuge into a utopia in the span of a century, if not less. There will be an abundance of food and materials for everyone, and the Akyn will finally be safe."

There was a cheer, and even Rel cracked a smile. The only one not to… was Thur.

"And then?"

Everyone turned toward Thur. Physically, the hydra human form looked like an older Loki, despite being younger, because his skin was slightly paler and wrinkled, and his hair were graying instead of being full white in a way that was decidedly unnatural. His steel-grey eyes held the gazes of all his brothers.

"What will we do when the Refuge is a utopia? And what will the Akyn do, if everything will be given to them?"

That silenced the Archdragons.

"Let me put it in a way that will be easy to understand." Continued the Bringer of Order. "Some of you may find the perspective of an utopian Refuge very attractive. Dol and Lahzey can just dedicate themselves to whatever personal project they want, and you, Vokun, will just have less work to do.

"But what about you, Wahl? What will you build once everything is cared for? And you, Kein? We both know the Akyn will reach their maximum potential well before this utopia is ready. But more importantly… the Akyn themselves will face the same problem. What will the hunters and warriors do when the cities are secured and the monster's numbers are brought down to an acceptable level? What will the artisan do when no new weapons will be needed and all the common necessities are taken over by our mechanical servitors? Will their numbers expand without end until there will be no more space inside the Refuge?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid that they will not take the change well. Sure, we will be able to stave off this problem until Loki continues to bring us new technologies for us to master, but at some point the only solution to the Akyn's highly competitive nature and need for combat will be wars between themselves. They may not even think it's a bad thing, they don't actually die and it will be a good way to control the population, but I find it a… distasteful solution."

There was silence inside the room for several seconds, before Wahl spoke again. "Aren't you pretty pessimistic?"

Thur shrugged. "Maybe. But you know, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. It's useless to negate that the Akyn are a warrior race. We're actually very lucky that they're not so boneheaded about it and listen to the shadow priests, but make no mistake, if artisan, teachers and mages weren't so damn important that they cannot afford to lose one, the entire population will run into the wilds to fight the monsters. As of right now, the situation is still manageable, but if they don't have a target to focus on, they'll point their aggression at themselves. Maybe not war, it's against Loki's orders… but gladiatorial combat? Honor duels? Arena matches against captured monsters? I can see those becoming pretty popular."

The remaining Archdragons exchanged glances… aside from Rel, that just continued to stubbornly ignore the discussion.

"Fair enough." Admitted Vokun. "You have some idea on how to solve this? You seem to have put a lot of thought into this."

Thur rested his head on his hand. "Difficult to say. There are various solutions, not all are viable. The simplest is to find another enemy that the Akyn can direct their aggression toward, but there are not a lot of them that are safe. You need both something that's weak enough to not put them into too much danger, but at the same time dangerous enough to give them a challenge. Ideally, it should also have potentially infinite numbers but no way to use all of them on us. Raiding the planes of Oblivion is a good stopgap, but will not hold forever."

It was also pretty dangerous. For now the attacks were sparse and small enough, but if most of the Akyn started to dive into the Oblivion realms to hunt down monsters, someone was going to notice. The Refuge was protected from extraplanar invasions like the rest of Mundus, but it was best to not poke the hornet nests.

"There is another solution." Said a new voice. Well, not new. It was just that Rel didn't speak much at the meetings… or in general.

The Black King ignored the surprised gazes of his brother and continued. "We could go to Tamriel."

There was silence for a second… then, instead of the explosion of protests that the shadow priests would make, the Archdragons leaned back on their thrones and thought.

"To do what?" Asked Vokun after a few seconds.

"To help Loki's friends." Replied Rel. "To stop the war that is inevitably coming. To do something."

Suddenly, the Black King smashed his hand on the table, cracking stone. He had to be holding back a lot, stone usually got pulverized when he decided to hit it. Nobody reacted, but tension started to rise.

"What are we?" Asked the dragon in human form, the dark skin -normal dark skin, not pitch black like Dol- on his forehead creasing as he frowned. "Are we scared little kittens? Why are we hiding inside the Refuge when we could be outside and make a difference? What meaning has all the power we have in our hands, if we don't use it?

"We are the Archdragons! We are to be the guardians of the Refuge, and you'll find no objection to that on my part. But we could be more. The Akyn could be more. Are you really going to let the Akyn be forgotten, never to see what the rest of the world -the worlds!- are like?

"I say that once the Refuge is secure, we get out. We go to Tamriel, and make our position regarding another Great War clear. I say that we go to Creation and help, because we all know that the Exalted are too divided to actually do shit. I say that we are going to make our name known, and if someone has something to say about that, they can come here and fight us!"

There was another long silence… then Thur nodded. "It's a little rough around the edges, but it can work."

"Are you serious?" Asked Wahl. "The Akyn were ordered to never harm mortals."

"Then they don't." Replied Thur. "Mortals aren't the only things they can fight. And besides, they were told to not harm mortals until it's necessary. Self-defense counts as necessity."

"Even if the Akyn cannot be killed?"

"I would say yes. Death of personality is a thing, and I can assume that getting killed is not pleasant, regardless of how brief the experience is."

"Does it count even if we get outside the Refuge and antagonize people?" Asked Lahzey, more curious than anything.

"The alternative is to do nothing because someone could get hurt." Snorted Rel, twin clouds of smoke rising from his nose as he huffed.

There was another silence. Then Vokun broke it.

"I think we all know what Loki would do." He said. "And Thur is right. The plan is rough. We'll need to think about this thoroughly."

"But we're going to do it?" Asked Dol. There was… a spark in his eyes. Inspiration, maybe.

"Eventually." Replied the Bringer of Utopia.

"For the honor of the Refuge." Said Kein the Warmaster.

"For the glory of the Refuge." Countered Rel.

"To do good." Murmured Wahl.

"Well, this will surely be interesting." Grinned Lahzey. "So, we're going to start right now?"

"No." Replied Thur. "We need to be prepared for this. We'll need the industry ready and the Akyn willing to do it. It will take time. We can discuss the specifics at another time."

The Archdragons nodded in agreement, and then vanished, returning to work. There was a new objective to reach.

-X-

After having been smashed around for two minutes, I finally figured out how the Gaol of Tormented Souls worked.

Which was really simple, actually. The spirits inside the Gaol tried their best to suck everything out of the prisoners, and transferred it to Black Winter. I gathered that it wasn't working very well against me, because I had innately high magic resistance, but, well, there were hundreds of spirits and just one of me inside the Gaol. Even if they got only a hair of power, all together they were still weighing on me pretty heavily.

Fortunately, that meant that there was a simple way to fix the problem. Of course, simple didn't mean easy.

Well, it would have been easy hadn't Black Winter been there trying very enthusiastically to kill me. As it was, I had some problems.

There were also ethical problems, but I was pretty sure that I could wave those away. I had seen ghosts and the spirits inside the Gaol… were and weren't ghosts. They were a piece of soul, but they didn't seem to have any higher function in them. Even if they were some poor sods soul -or piece of soul, if I remembered right people in Creation had two- there didn't seem to be any personality inside it. The spirits were feral, nearly mindless, and obeyed Black Winter only because of the power of his weapon.

They were as guilt free to kill as a rabid animal. And the only way to escape the Gaol was to destroy the spirits. Well, technically. I could escape without doing that, but it was exponentially more difficult. So, I elected to take the easy way out, for once.

The problem was destroying them while fighting, but I may have an idea for that. I hoped it worked. Running wouldn't work, unfortunately, Black Winter could follow me even if I teleported away. I wasn't sure if it was because of increased speed, or because he subtly controlled space inside the Gaol. Didn't change much.

Suddenly, in the middle of his swing, my shield, now plated with a thin sheet of Orichalcum for maximum indestructibility, materialized in front of Black Winter and his ax. The shield stopped the ax with a resounding clang, and the Abyssal was pushed away from the force of his own blow.

The moment that happened, I planted my blade on the ground and channeled power inside it.

Disiltuz was a different beast compared to Dupahtuz. Dupathuz had been a weapon worthy to be a Daedric artifact, a masterpiece sword made of a supernaturally dense material enchanted to steal the life-force from anything it hit. But aside from that, it didn't have any other powers.

Disiltuz had the same base, but it was also a weapon reforged in Soulsteel and fused with my soul-stealing dagger. As such, he had gained an endless hunger for life and souls, and that hunger was also the power of the blade. The black fog that it emitted was just a sample of that, the equivalent of a starving animal drooling in anticipation for its next meal. The true power of the blade was far greater, and far more terrifying. So much so that I had elected to never use it against a sentient being.

Fortunately, the ghosts inside the Gaol didn't qualify as sentient.

A silent howl erupted from Disiltuz, the air trembling as the sword started to absorb energy around it. It was not particularly picky about what type of energy it could eat, but it preferred life force and souls, so they were the first thing that was caught into the drain. The ghosts shrieked as they started to get dragged inside the weapon.

Black Winter immediately swung his ax, trying to remove my head from my shoulders, but the shield was already in position and blocked the attack without fail. The utility of having a shield that you didn't have to wield to use couldn't be understated, but I had to admit that I hadn't explored Pahaaxvund's potential yet. Being plated with Orichalcum, I supposed that its focus was going to be focused on being invincible, and assuming it took from the previous enchantment… maybe something related to always protect me? When I enchanted Pahaaxvund I was mainly focused on empowering my defensive magic, so maybe the shield would just amplify it even more. Thoughts for later, there was no time to test the shield right now. The entire process of Disiltuz absorbing the ghosts of the Gaol wouldn't take more than a couple of seconds, but in a couple of seconds Black Winter could kill me ten times over. There was no space for that now.

Still, I pushed some power inside my shield, while casting a barrier around me. I didn't have time to test, but I could spare a little magic. Pahaaxvund resonated with the defensive magic and the barrier came out shining golden and more solid than I had expected. Well, I guessed part of Pahaaxvund's powerset right, at least.

Black Winter tried to power through the barrier, but any hit against the golden light didn't even faze the spell, instead making the shield vibrate like a bell. Interesting, damage transfer from my barrier to my shield? That was incredibly useful, since the shield was all but indestructible while there was Essence flowing through it. Still, having a giant knight in black armor beating the barrier a couple of steps from me didn't particularly entice me.

"Fus. Roh. Da!"

My Shouts had kind of lost their edge against Black Winter as he came to expect them, but he still had problems avoiding them completely. Or maybe it was just because I had hit him with it the moment he was recovering his balance after a particularly vicious strike bounced hard on my magic. Anyway, he braced against the force of the Shout and fell back for less than half a dozen meters. Not ideal, but it would work.

Disiltuz finished eating and I was faced with a choice. Did I use the souls trapped inside the blade to recover from the various bruises and contusions I had gained while trapped, or let the sword process it into… something? I wasn't sure what the blade actually did with the power she ate, and curiosity got the better of me. I let the sword do her thing, while the Gaol lost most of its power. Not enough to destroy it, of course, a prison that stopped existing when it had no guests was useless as it would never trap anything again, but without the ghosts draining my magic, I had enough power to escape.

Which I did.

It was quite anticlimactic, truth be told. I just… shifted outside, but nothing really changed aside from the light returning. Ah, I asked myself if the Gaol was a different dimension or a sort of bounded field, but apparently it was a little dimension inside the ax. Interesting.

Of course, Black Winter materialized a second later and jumped at me without hesitation, his Anima exploding out of him in a column of dark and red colors, the spectral image of a grim reaper materializing above him. A black sun shone on his forehead, the symbol of the Dusk Caste, the warriors and generals of the Deathknights.

I Zero-Summed the attack with practiced ease, deflecting the enormous slab of metal away with a twist of my arm, letting my own Anima and the flaming dragon that accompanied it free. Then, before he could react, I performed the Havoc Canal. The sword blurred as it seemed to duplicate for an instant, before digging deep into the shoulder and side of the Abyssal, spilling blood.

I initially hoped that Disil -I was going to call my sword thsat, it was easier to remember- empowered by the Shehai edge would be enough to defeat the apparently impregnable Abyssal armor, but clearly it had not been enough. Sure, it had left marks, but not enough to seriously wound the Deathknight.

But my Shehai reacted strangely when I used a specific Aberrant Technique instead of 'normal' strikes. It had taken an embarrassingly long time to realize that, I managed to gather that there was something strange going on only after the fight with the Fake Alduin. But, somehow, when I used one of the Aberrant Techniques the Shehai didn't just shred metal like it was wet paper, it just phased through armor. If I had known that before, I would have tried to kill Black Winter the first time I met him.

"I knew it." Said the man in question, completely out of the blue. "You weren't fighting me seriously the first time. Your kind always has more tricks up their sleeves."

"I prefer to use minimum force to solve problems." I replied, taking position.

"Clearly." Nodded the Abyssal. "Let's see how much force you'll need to kill me."

And the fight resumed. I momentarily abandoned assault using magic and instead focused all my power into throwing all the Aberrant Techniques right in the face of Black Winter. He quickly started to accumulate wounds, so he should have slowed down… but he didn't. Even after he was so wounded that a normal man would have been dead five times over -understandable, Exalted were of a tough sort and Black Winter seemed to have focused all his efforts into being an unstoppable killing machine, which included not dying easily- he instead started to push even harder. Which didn't make sense. This sort of… berserker state was something that I would expect Lunars to do, channeling the wounded frenzy of animals like honey badgers or boars. Getting stronger the more wounded you were didn't sound like an Abyssal power.

That said, a Soulsteel armor that channeled blood and pain and used it to empower the wearer didn't sound so farfetch'd, and combined with the ability to ignore the pain from the wounds, it meant that Black Winter could actually do that. Or at least that's what I guessed was happening. Once I got a good look at him, I had noticed the ghostly faces that would randomly appear on the metal surface, and they had apparently decided to go into a frenzy on their own.

Well, whatever. Even the Abyssal had limits. He couldn't just continually become stronger. At some point, his body would collapse. And, considering that healing magic was actually pretty rare in Creation, he had no way to sustain this berserker rage. I just needed to outlast him.

Which wasn't easy, because every parry sent painful stabs at my arms, and every glancing hit on my armor carved it and bruised my bones. It was at the same time easier and more difficult than Fake Alduin, or maybe just as difficult in a different way. Fake Alduin had been a problem because I couldn't kill it fast enough. Black Winter was a problem because he was killing me too fast.

Now it was just a matter of who managed to kill the other first. But Disil came to the rescue. Every strike I inflicted drained a little of Black Winter's own vitality, so I had an edge here.

Especially if I decided to cut close.

I ducked under another of the swings of Black Winter and spun, kicking the Abyssal in his midsection, channeling all the power of a dragon in that move. It wasn't meant to hurt him as much as getting him the fuck away from me. The Deathknight folded slightly under the force of the attack and flew away. Not as far as I had pushed him the first time we fought, but enough to give me time to raise my sword high and focus for the fraction of the second I needed to perform the technique.

"Sword. Tremor."

Black Winter tried. He saw the attack coming. He understood that it could kill him. So, he whipped out what I supposed was a Perfect, turning into a shadow and trying to get the fuck out of dodge.

But the Sword Tremor had already hit. He managed to avoid part of the attack, but not all of it. When he consolidated from the shadows, he had a hand on his side, where the Sword Tremor had cut both metal and flesh. Blood was dripping out of it, oozing down his leg and onto the ground.

"Ah… it seems like my journey is at its end." Lamented the Abyssal, even if he didn't sound all that sad about it. Slowly, he kneeled down, taking a posture that reminded me of a samurai ready to commit seppuku. "Finish me."

I cautiously approached him. I doubted he was going to try to shank me at the last moment, but you could never be sure. When I managed to get to his side without him even twitching, I was reasonably sure he really wanted me to give him a coup of grace.

"Quick, before I die of blood loss."

"Does it matter?" I asked, raising my weapon.

"Yes. The only way a warrior should die is by the blade of his enemies."

"And what death did you want to avoid, to accept the call from Oblivion?"

"Illness." He replied, bringing his head low to give me a better angle. "A wretched malady that withered my body. I didn't want to die like that."

"I see." I nodded… and then my blade fell.

A second later, Black Winter's head fell too.

I exhaled. Both for the exhaustion that was going to make itself known in a second or two, but also because… it was done. Maybe the Sidereals would come for me again, and maybe they will come for Shining Pearl and Silent Whisper later on, when I wasn't here anymore… but Black Winter, Abyssal of the Dusk Caste, was dead.

That particular threat was over.

And, aside from a light sense of relief, I didn't feel anything in particular. It hadn't be… satisfying. Maybe because I found Black Winter to be too honorable to consider him a complete monster. Maybe in another life, or before becoming an Abyssal, he could have been a good person. So, there was no joy in killing him. At the same time, he was trying to kill me, so it wasn't like I particularly regretted it.

I just hoped that was the reason and not that I was slowly becoming indifferent to murder.

I sighed and started to bury the Abyssal. He may have been a mortal enemy, but I owed him at least this courtesy. Plus, it would probably be better to hide the body in case the Bodhisattva had sent someone else to track us.

-X-

Miraculously, the week needed for the Heart to finally charge up passed without interference. However, I was not ready to leave yet.

There was just a little disagreement on what Shining Pearl and Silent Whisper would do after I was gone. I suggested that I opened a portal to the Caul, so they could avoid the Sidereals and a potential vengeance from Skullstone. I thought it was reasonable, since we had reached the southern parts of the West and the place was starting to get full of Dragon-blooded.

There was some resistance, for reasons I could only guess. Silent Whisper was probably worried about the Lunars' reaction to her presence, while Shining Pearl… I don't know, maybe she feared to find a lot of her previous comrades among the Lunars of the Caul. Which, considering none of them would recognize her, was probably not a particularly pleasant experience.

In the end, we reached a compromise and I gave them a little trinket they could use to get to the Caul any moment they wanted. But I visited the Caul to say my goodbyes to Monkey, Sandy, Pigsy and Sazang. I also said goodbye to Silver Star, even if I was going to see her inside the Refuge once in a while.

And after that, I grabbed the Heart and, with a mental command, I activated it.

The Heart was a little more than a battery. I mean, it was, but it was also severely restricted. First, only I could use the Heart of the Refuge. Second, it was not built with the assumption that you could draw its power for little things, probably to discourage constant use. Once it was open, the energy inside flooded out without control. Sure, I could probably use all that power to fuel some pretty impressive magic, but I wasn't going to… not regularly. Fortunately, Dol had built the thing expecting me to decide to sacrifice a month or so of accumulated power to blow up a bad guy if needed.

That said, for the ritual it was absolutely perfect. I funneled the power into the spell, the light shining through the crystal runes becoming less and less intense -probably some unexpected side effect or a rudimentary gauge- until the runes were spent and the ritual done.

I laughed as the magic started to grip me and throw me across universes. Frankly, I had feared that it wouldn't have worked. But it did. My next destination awaited.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.2

When I arrived, I found myself in what looked like a cave. No, not a cave, I could see the light of the sky filter from above, so… a fissure, maybe a dozen or so meters high. A fissure that looked inhabited, or where someone worked, since there was a tunnel covered by a sheet of cloth roughly six meters on my left. Which also meant that I was facing the wall. Maybe I should turn and see what the hell was inside this place.

Which is exactly what I did. And when I did, I found out what the people were working on.

Namely, an absolutely enormous ship plated with what must have been tons of pure gold.

It took me a second to fully internalize the sheer size and structure of the ship. It was a squat thing, almost as tall and wide as it was long, more ark than a real, sea-worthy ship. That, coupled with the gigantic gold face on the front, several wind turbines positioned pretty much everywhere, and two long lines of rows made for a distinctive appearance that was very familiar.

"The ark Maxim?" I wondered, barely a whisper coming out from my lips.

And in that moment, I felt it. A crackle of electricity in the air.

I immediately spun, grabbing my sword to strike the foe I knew was behind me. But despite how fast I could move, I was not faster than lightning.

"Vari: Thirty Million Volts!"

A discharge of electricity slammed against me while I was halfway to cut Eneru -or Enel, or whatever his name was- in two. I had been hit by lightning before, some dragons used it, but that didn't mean it was the same thing. Eneru's attack instantly locked down my muscles while the electricity burned my flesh and scrambled my brain. I also felt my heart beating erratically for a second or two before the blast wore off and I found myself planting face down in the dirt.

"Tsk. I don't know how you managed to avoid my divine senses, but your luck ends here, intruder." I heard the man with a god-complex rumble. "And you're late anyway. The game is almost over. Soon I'll take off to Fairy Vearth."

What? What game? Maybe it was the electricity still running in my brain, maybe it was because I was barely conscious, maybe it's because it had been… ten years since I read the Skypea Arc, but I didn't remember anything about the game. But I remembered about flying to the moon… and I remembered about what he was going to do to the Sky Islands.

Eneru seemed to sense my defiance or something, because he snorted loudly. "Still conscious, are you? Impressive, I'll admit it. But that was not the full might of my divine power. Observe."

Not that I could, I was face down and with little control over my body. I couldn't even send the bastard a glare. But I still heard the sound of lightning in the distance.

This fucker.

"El Thor!"

A column of light descended on me and I saw white.

When I woke up, roughly a couple of minutes later, it was because of a sound. The sound of lightning hitting something, breaking it, and the shouting of terrified people.

-X-

Was this the end? Was Eneru really going to destroy all of Skypiea with his infernal machine?

Nami didn't know. She wanted to believe that Luffy could win… but would he win before Eneru destroyed everything?

It was in that moment that, from the hole where Eneru had hidden his ark, exploded a column of fire.

With everything that's happening right now, she could have missed it. But together with the fire came a roar, a powerful sound that shook the air so much that she thought she was going to lose her hearing for a second. It made it impossible to miss the mile-high tornado of blue and orange fire.

So, she had her eyes locked on the unexplainable phenomenon when it happened. Something emerged from the fire, a brilliant shape of golden flames that soared in the sky like a fish swimming up a waterfall, seemingly absorbing the fire as he went on. Then, a hundred or so meters from the ground, the golden flames exploded outward as the column of fire collapsed inside it, and the thing showed off his true face.

It was a dragon.

Like, straight up. Not a dinosaur, not a giant snake, not even a Sea King that looked particularly draconic. No, it was a giant, black dragon with two massive wings and no arms, bigger than the Going Merry herself, hovering in the air above them. The dragon looked… strange, too angular, like it was not from this world, and his way of flying even moreso. It looked like he was floating in the air, the movement of his wings too slow to keep such an enormous body in place, and he was beating them only to maintain altitude, like a person moving their limbs to remain above the water.

Then the dragon opened his mouth -she could see the pearly white teeth from here, they were probably bigger than her arm- and released a thunderous roar that made the previous one sound like a wet fart. She desperately pressed her hands on her ears to protect them, but she didn't look away, and so she could see what happened next.

The sky suddenly lit up as something punched the entire cloud formation that Eneru had created with his ark, dispersing it like it was never there.

"Eneru!" Shouted the dragon, because why the hell not. "You think of yourself as a god!? I've met gods, and you're not one of them. The only thing godly about you is your ego! You're just a pretender!"

Eneru's answer did not wait. A streak of lightning shot through the air like a javelin, straight at the massive form of the dragon. Only, right before hitting, the monster opened his mouth again and shouted the lightning bolt apart, the electric current dispersing around the reptile harmlessly.

The dragons reply was as fast as Eneru's. By beating his wings with more force, he accelerated instantly from zero to a couple of hundred of meters per second and shot toward the Maxim like a bullet.

Well, that was a lucky coincidence. With the dragon distracting Eneru, Luffy could reach the ark without the would-be god noticing. She grabbed her Waver and started to walk toward the giant jack.

A second later, Usopp fell face-first on the cloudy ground.

Perfect.

-X-

The battle with Eneru was at a standstill.

I had completely forgotten how strong the fucker was. Most of the early One Piece was a little foggy in my mind and I didn't remember much of it. Just a couple of interesting fights here and there, but they didn't give me a full picture of how utterly ridiculous One Piece humans could get. Even if, thinking about it, Zoro lifting a couple of floors and throwing them at Mister 1 should have been a pretty good benchmark. And it was… I just forgot how Eneru pimp-slapped Zoro like a redheaded stepchild.

The problem was not that Eneru had a Logia and so he was immune to my attacks. I'm pretty sure I could hit him, if not using magic weapons, at least using the Charms meant to hit dematerialized foes that were a classic weapon for every Exalt in existence. No, the problem was that he was literally lighting fast when he wanted to be, and the next most obvious target, the ark, needed to be at least functional so the fucker would leave the planet and not bother anyone else ever again. Hopefully. With Oda you could never know.

On his part, while Eneru out-sped me heavily when he went all lightning, he found that I wasn't so easy to hit either. The power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit didn't register as magic to my eyes, so while my magic resistance couldn't stop it -which was bad, as lightning was the element I was least resistant to between it, fire and cold- it also meant that, while Eneru's body wasn't easy to manipulate because of some unknown force that I couldn't see, his attacks were just electricity, and so a well-placed Qo could easily dispatch them. So, we were at an impasse.

Which suited me just fine, since I didn't need to beat him, Luffy could do that on his own. What I needed to do was stop him from exploding the Sky Islands with a storm of biblical proportions. Maybe doing so would cause some problems down the line, I'm not sure, but I didn't care.

Unfortunately, while my dragon form was extremely powerful and durable, it had one glaring flaw. Namely, using my arms to fly made it more difficult to cast normal spells. I technically didn't need hands to cast spells, I could just do with my mind, but it was still just a little more difficult than normal. Or maybe it was better to say that using hand gestures and phrases in pseudo-Latin -not that I did that anymore, I needed my mouth free to Shout- helped focalize the magic. It was a crutch for lesser skilled mages and a help for experienced ones.

I needed to solve the problem as fast as I could.

Meanwhile, we had reached the top of the… whatever the spiraling plant was, for Eneru could apparently pilot the ark even when fighting or he had made some sort of out-pilot. I could see the golden bell from here. Hm… that caused a problem. If Eneru didn't take the bell, would it ever be recovered? Or would it fall in the White Sea and never be seen again?

Before I could think of a solution, though, I heard the sound of… I'm not sure, it sounded like a jet engine but not as powerful. I glanced in the direction of the sound and saw Namy and Luffy -with giant-ass ball of gold attached- running on the giant jack plant with the cloud jet ski -waver?- in our direction.

Unfortunately, Eneru noticed too.

"I don't have time for you." Grunted the self-proclaimed God of Skypiea. "El Thor!"

I could have hit it at that moment. A single Soul Tear would have killed Eneru or at least severely wounded him, and from there I would have the advantage.

But while Luffy would survive an El Thor, Nami was not so durable.

I teleported right in front of the attack, conjuring all the manner of lightning resistance spells I could think of, and tanked the hit. Good news: it didn't hurt as much as the first time! Bad news: it still hurt like a bitch and momentarily locked my muscles, which meant that I immediately started to drop like a rock. I managed to regain some measure of movement the same instant I smashed against some stone structure with an explosion of debris and dust. All in all, the least painful thing that has happened to me since I've arrived here.

All my body ached, so I decided that I was allowed to just lay there for a second. I had not completely recovered from the first time Eneru had smacked me with building-vaporizing beams of lightning, I could still feel my organs being slightly burned by the electricity. I could just ignore the pain, if I wanted, but honestly, it was better to take a couple of seconds to focus on healing part of the damage. I didn't want to make things worse.

"You think it's still alive?" Asked a voice.

I opened my eyes to find two people standing near the left side of my head. Nico Robin was startled by the motion but maintained most of her composure, her eyes and mouth only widening slightly. A little behind them was the girl of the local tribe… Aisha? I was not sure. Meanwhile, Usopp had released a not very manly shriek and raised his arms in terror. "Please don't eat me."

I huffed from my nose, half amused and half irritated by Usopp antics, but I didn't reply. I had another idea on how to introduce myself to the Straw Hats, and it didn't involve speaking for now. I stood, pushing with my wings… which had taken the brunt of the last El Thor, so they were a little shaky. Then, I looked at the giant beanstalk. It was still intact. Or it was until Zoro cut the thing at the base.

"Ah, yes! Go Zoro! Make that thing tilt."

Ah, right. They had to do that to let Luffy reach Eneru. Well, since I was there, I could use the moment for some practice.

It had been a while since I started trying to mix my various magical styles into something more… unified. I had mixed results. Fusing the various magic styles together was probably impossible but using them to support the others was doable. I already learned how to use Exalted Sorcery to replicate TES Aetherial Magic, at least partially. During the Grail War, I mixed Aetherial and Shadow Magic. Now it was time to try something different.

I made my power roil in my chest, as I prepared to breathe fire like a Dragonknight would. Then, I prepared a spell to shape the fire in a certain way, because for all that the Thu'um was powerful I couldn't breathe fire at hundreds of meters.

Uh, this was difficult. I needed to train a lot if I wanted to use this in combat.

"Ah, that's not fair!" Shouted Usopp as Zoro got blasted by another lightning. "But he cut it. He did it!"

"Wait." Said Robin, stopping Usopp from celebrating too soon. "Look!"

"No, it's not falling!" Shouted the sniper, his hands in his air.

Fortunately, I was ready. I just needed to wait for the thing to tilt slightly and…

There was a sound as something smashed against wood and tremor… and then, the stalk bent slightly.

"Did you feel that!? A big crash below!" Man, big nose was fond of shouting. "The vine…"

The tilting of the giant plant stopped with a mighty groan of plant matter fighting gravity.

"It's not good. It-"

"Yol. Toor. Shul!"

This was the last ingredient. Fire conjured by the ancient Akaviri Martial Arts, a spell to give it form, and then… Fire Breath, to amplify the power even more.

The fireball that exploded out of my mouth was nothing like the usual Shout. It shot toward the stalk, then it exploded. But I had made a mistake, for I forgot to add penetration to the entire thing. So, when it impacted against the plant, it shook it, but it didn't blast through. It burned a big chunk of the thing, but the plant was still standing.

I growled and prepared to do that again, adjusting the spell shape to explode midway through the material, but the crack of thunder distracted me. Reflexively, I raised a lighting ward around all the people in the area, right before several lightning bolts crashed against it. The barrier shattered, but the people inside were safe.

"Eneru has recreated his clouds!" Cried Usopp. "We're doomed!"

I growled in irritation and opened my wings, sending a look to Wiper, reaching for us. Then, I shot up. There was one thing I had to make sure happened without problems. As I continued to go up, I heard the sound of an explosion, and knew Wiper had broken the stalk.

So, as I raced to the sky shouting Clear Skies to stop Eneru from destroying everything, I casually grabbed Nami and her aqua scooter before throwing her at the beanstalk with a side of Featherfall, before continuing my ascension, just in time to see Luffy punch Eneru's in the face. It was a pretty satisfying sight, I had to admit… but I had to focus on the real reason I was there.

"Reach!" Shouted Luffy.

Claaaang!

The bell rang, and what a beautiful sound it was. But I didn't have the time to listen. As the bell tilted and fell, I swooped down and grabbed one of the big pillars holding up the bell with the talons of my legs, and pulled.

I immediately felt the strain risking tearing my legs off, and my wings pretty much doing the same. For the uninitiated, gold is fucking heavy, one of the heaviest naturals metal in existence. The fact that the giant golden bell was swinging made things even more difficult, but it didn't matter. I just needed to redirect the momentum enough so it would…

I felt the giant mass of gold tilt toward Skypiea, toward solid ground, and channeled my draconic magic in my legs to throw with all my might. Only my Exalted assisted strength let me pull such an insane feat. Of course, that also meant that I strained my already damaged wings. I could still fly, of course… but it was better if I disappeared for now. I intended my entrance to be… something to remember. And while I was sure to have already done that, I also wanted to have a little fun.

Now, the only thing that remained to decide was if it was the case to participate in the after-battle party or not. I reflected on the issue while gliding toward the island, letting the gentle winds of the White Sea guide me as my wings were not in the best shape. On one hand, there were a series of things I wanted to do before setting sail. On the other, it was not like the party was going to last long… and even if it was, I could just sneak in and out in different shapes to steal a bite of something. The Straw Hats parties tended to be insane, and there was a good chance Sanji would cook, which pushed me into the direction of participating. At least I could eat something decent before I started the journey with the Straw Hats. I could design all the items to help them while eating.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.3

Days later, after the party and after a quick run to avoid what they believed to be the angry indigenous people of Skypiea blowing them up with a giant cannon for stealing their gold, the Straw Hats set sail toward… well, they didn't know, they only knew that there was a way to return to the Blue Sea and that Conis had promised to bring them here.

The atmosphere on the Going Merry was pretty happy as they had finally brought enough treasure to buy all the things they wanted. The discussion was animated, but short lived. They quickly reached the Cloud's End. From there, they could return to the Blue Sea and continue their journey.

"Aww… do we have to leave?" Luffy asked, laying down on his favorite spot.

"I know what you mean." Nodded Sanji, lighting one of his cigarettes. "Now that we're finally going down, I sort of hate to leave."

"Guess it's goodbye to this pure white sea too." Zoro said.

"The sky island was fun. Scary, but fun." Smiled Chopper, clinging to the Merry's railing to better see the white clouds all around them.

"I would have loved to have more time to visit, but alas, circumstances cut our visit short."

"Yes, that's- WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

In the middle of the bridge stood a man. Well, standing was not correct. He was lying on a deckchair, wearing the most tacky Hawaiian shirt you could possibly imagine, pink with bright yellow pineapples, blue surfboards and green hula dancers, a pair of white shorts that left his hairy legs uncovered, and a sunglasses placed right on his nose, making it impossible to see his eyes. In his left hand, he had a glass of cola with a straw and a little umbrella.

"I don't think it's the time to be asking questions." Replied the stranger. "We're reaching the Cloud's End and I don't think the name is random."

"Your friend is right! Hurry and pull your sail and cling to the ship."

"Ah, let's do what the man says, it seems like we're going to go fast." Suggested Usopp.

"It has to be a steep slope, we're five miles in the air."

"Take the gold inside too!"

"What is that?"

"It's the Southbird we brought with us! It says 'don't forget about me'."

"Captain, the course to the next island is set."

"Yeah, that's right. Once we get down here, another adventure will start. Let's go home to the Blue Sea!"

"YEAAAH!"

"Be careful during the drop, everyone!" Shouted Conis.

"Drop?" Asked Usopp, the moment the cloud currents launched the Merry into the air.

There was a moment of pure silence, then they started to fall.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH-!"

In the air rang out the sound of a whistle, and a giant octopus emerged from the clouds, wrapping its tentacles around the ship and suddenly swelling up like a balloon, slowing the fall to a crawl.

"Oh, that's amazing!"

"We've slowed down."

"I t-thought I was going to die for sure…"

Claaaang! Claaaang! Claaang!

The sound of the great golden bell rang again and again, the feelings of all the friends they made on the White Sea reaching them through it.

"Ah, what a great feeling." Sighed Nami.

"Yeah, this is nice." Said Luffy, his smile reaching his ears.

"It's good to be appreciated after helping out." The unknown man nodded sagely, still sitting on his deckchair like absolutely nothing had happened. He hadn't even spilled his cola.

"Yeah, it's - YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD US WHO YOU ARE!"

The man chuckled before sitting up. His face morphed from amused to mock suffering, before resting his hand over his heart. "You hurt me, my dear pirates. Didn't we fight together just a couple of days ago?"

That stopped most of the crew. Most. "I don't remember you during the battle." Zoro pointed out.

The man shrugged. "I arrived a little late, I'll admit. Most of you might have already been unconscious."

"D-don't lie to us." Stuttered Usopp, trying to be aggressive and failing since his legs were trembling. "There was no one fighting Eneru aside from us and-" He suddenly stopped, because a memory flashed in his head.

The man smiled and the sunglasses slid down his nose, letting them see his eyes. Green, dangerous, and with cat-like pupils. Eyes that both Usopp and Robin had already seen.

"You're the dragon." Whispered Robin.

The smile on the man's face widened, enough to let them see sharp teeth, then he put his legs down on the deck of the ship. The sound was disproportionately loud, like a judge issuing a verdict with a hammer blow. Then he stood up. He was tall, taller than most of the crew, even when he bowed down slightly. "In the flesh." He said, before swirling motes of light started to cover him. When they disappeared, he didn't have the horrible shirt anymore, but was covered in long clothes made of some kind of reptilian scales and wore a mask made of bone. "You asked me who I am. My name is Rexen Loki, and I'm the Dragonborn."

-X-

Seems like I nailed my introduction, because most of the crew was staring at me with their jaw touching the deck of the Merry. Which was anatomically impossible, at least with jaws still attached to the skull, but that was One Piece for you.

"You're…" Started Zoro.

"The dragon, yes." I finished before him. "I saw you cut that giant stalk, so I'm sure you saw me… at some point."

"That's so cool!" The words hit like they were a physical wave, as the Kid Trio -Luffy, Usopp and Chopper- shouted at the same time, their eyes replaced with shining stars.

"And what are you doing on our ship, Mister Dragon?" Robin asked, looking suspicious but not immediately hostile.

"Ah, well, it's a simple matter. I'm lost." I replied. Which was completely truthful, even if not in the way they imagined. "Traveling the Grand Line is not easy, even for someone of my powers. So, I thought I'd hitch a ride on the first ship I could find."

"Well, I cannot begrudge you for that." Noted Sanjii, taking a breath of smoke. "And we really appreciate your help fighting Eneru, but-"

"Do you want to be part of the crew?" Asked Luffy.

"DON'T ASK HIM THAT!" Shouted Zoro, Nami and Sanji at the same time.

"But… but he's a dragon!" Exclaimed Luffy, not understanding why his companions were so reticent. At his side, Chopper and Usopp nodded.

I laughed. "I'm honored, but I'm afraid I must refuse. I will soon leave the Grand Line, and probably never return. I cannot accept knowing that."

"How soon is this soon?" Asked Nami.

"Ah, five or six months, more or less." I grinned.

"That's far too much! We cannot have freeloaders on the Merry, our money is already short!" Nami refuted… but I had a way to convince her.

"Did I mention I'm filthy rich?" I asked, fiddling with a diamond the size of my thumb that I coincidentally had in my pocket.

"Marry me!" Nami jumped forward with Beri signs instead of eyes, but I placed my hand in her trajectory, blocking her head and leaving her arms futilely trying to reach me.

"Thank you, but I'm taken. But, I could be… persuaded to part with some of my money if you grant me passage."

Nami instantly corrected her previous stance. "Welcome aboard!" She greeted me as I flipped the diamond in her direction. She grabbed it, still with Beri signs instead of eyes, and started to spin around with joy.

"Control yourself woman!" Roared Zoro, his head duplicating in size and his teeth becoming similar to those of a great white.

"I'm also one of the last pratictioner of a powerful sword style…"

"I suddenly feel we're going to get along." Grinned the greenhead, without any shame.

"How dare you shout at Nami-swan when you do the same!?" Growled Sanji, before I quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"You know, I was thinking… I have a pretty big appetite, and the party a couple of days ago really made me wish for more of your cooking. What do you say about me giving you a source of ingredients that you'll be able to access even away from any island?"

"You can do that?" Asked the cook. "And how much food are we talking about?"

"What do you say about… infinite food?"

The blond looked at me for a second, then took his cigarettes and shook it to make the cinder fall off. "If you're really going to solve our food issue, I don't have any objections."

"I knew you were going to agree." I smiled before patting his shoulder. "Now, if someone else had objections…"

"Nah, you can stay." Grinned Luffy. Behind, Chopper and Usopp nodded.

"Robin?" I asked.

The archeologist ex-assassin looked at me confused, before sending a little smile in my direction. "If the captain agrees, I have no problems."

"Excellent!" I exclaimed, before sending a pulse of magic through my vest and making it morph in a more comfortable outfit. "Then I'll… where is Luffy?"

The entire crew froze before frantically looking around, searching for the captain. He was nowhere to be seen.

Then, after a second of silence, a sound like something bouncing on an elastic carpet could be heard.

"Oh, of course." I said, before the octopus gave up, expelling all the air in its body.

For the second time in the span of ten minutes, the Merry dropped like a ton of bricks.

Fortunately, I was prepared. I slapped my hands together, generating a magic circle under my feet, and the fall of the Merry suddenly became much slower. Luffy landed on the deck not so far from where I was, and the octopus followed shortly after, right on the rubber-man's face.

"Blargh!" Groaned the captain of the ship, before removing the octopus from his face.

"Here, give it to me." I said, before grabbing the octopus and casting a Fly spell on the cephalopod. "Go little buddy. You can return home."

The octopus gave me a wave with its tentacle as thanks, and then started to swim upside, rapidly disappearing into a cloud.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Exclaimed Luffy. "Are you a wizard?"

"Yes." I replied. "That's how I slowed down the fall of the Merry. You're welcome, by the way. I doubt it would have been healthy for her to smash against the waters at terminal velocity."

"Ah, right. Oops?"

SMACK! "You moron! Merry is already in bad shape." Shouted Usopp.

"I'm afraid I didn't hear that right." Interjected Robin. "Did you say you're a wizard?"

"Of course not. I'm really a dragon that ate the Human Human Fruit, Model Loki, which gave me a plethora of useful abilities, like shapeshifting, great skill as a liar, and the use of runes to perform all sorts of effects."

"Really!?" Shouted the Kid Trio.

"No." I grinned. "I'm just a wizard."

"Magic doesn't exist." Replied Nami, ever the skeptic. "He either ate a Devil Fruit or he's using a trick, and he doesn't want to tell us."

I wanted to counter that, considering the absurd things people in One Piece could do with just 'training' or no other real explanation, but whatever. I just sent her a smile.

"Speaking of tricks, I have recovered something that should interest you. Remember that giant cannon that the Skypiean were transporting?"

"Yes?" Asked Sanji.

"Well, it wasn't a cannon. It was one of the pillars of the golden bell."

Silence fell on the deck.

"You mean it was an enormous pillar of…?" Asked Nami, already starting to tremble.

"Gold? Yes."

The navigator of the Straw Hats froze, then promptly fell back foaming from her mouth.

"I think she needs a doctor." I commented off-handedly.

"Yes, she needs a- Wait, I'm a doctor!" Chopper jumped forward and started to diagnose her condition. "She's having a stroke. The shock of losing that much gold was too much!"

"She didn't lose it. I retrieved it." I said, already moving.

"Thank you!" Nami bawled, instantly recovering and trying to jump on me. I dodged to the side.

"Well, that was quick." I smirked.

"Must have been all the serotonin. Intriguing, I'll have to study the phenomenon…"

"Later!" Barked Nami, before turning to me and trying to sound cute. "Gimme my gold, please!"

I looked at her like she was stupid. "Right now? You realize that the pillar outweighed the Merry by a lot, right?"

Her cutesy appearance disappeared and she sagged down. "Ah, right."

"But I have something to help with that." I continued, pulling out a chest larger than my torso from under my clothes. "Here, this chest will fill with 24 karats gold bars every… two days, more or less."

Nami jumped on the chest, but I moved it away. "But you have to promise that you'll divide this gold equally to all the crew."

"Yes, yes, I promise." the navigator replied hastily.

"Do not carelessly give your word to a wizard, Nami." I said, my voice sounding deeper and emitting a slight echo. Just a party trick, but I needed to convene the seriousness of the matter. "I will bind you to it, and terrible things will happen if you break it. Any gold that you'll take from the chest over your own share will vanish." To reappear inside the chest, of course, I wasn't going to rob the others of their part of the treasure, but I needed to stop Nami from taking it all for herself. "You can do anything you want with your part of the treasure, but you will not be able to touch the others. I'm clear?"

Nami brought her hands on her mouth in an expression of pure horror. "You cannot do that!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Let's put it in this way, Miss Navigator." Intervened Robin. "Without Mister Dragon here, we would never have that gold. It's better to have just a part of a mountain of gold than not have it, right?"

Nami deflated. "Well, if you put it that way… but all that gold…"

"C'mon Namy, don't be greedy!" Prompted Luffy.

"If you don't agree, you're going to lose it all." Zoro pointed out. "Is it really a good idea?"

Nami grabbed her head, making her hair go in all directions. "Alright, fine, fine! I'll divide it equally. Happy now?"

"Quite." I replied, before handing the chest to the navigator. She immediately opened it, revealing a pile of gold shining inside it.

"Oooooh!" Came from most of the crew. Robin, as usual, was very stoic.

"We're rich, rich!" Cried Nami. "We have more gold than we can spend without tanking the economy of any island we'll land on!"

"Does that mean more meat?" Asked Luffy.

"Well, technically with your part of the gold you can just buy food." Admitted Sanji. "I think I'll take a new fridge with a masterclass lock, so you cannot just eat it all at once."

"I'll use mine to buy new instruments!" Shouted Chopper.

"I'll finally have enough booze-"

"Quiet, all of you!" Interrupted Nami. "Before we start spending, we'll have to put some money away for repairing the Merry. She's falling apart and we don't know how much repairing her will cost."

"Then you'd better aim for Water 7." I suggested.

"Water 7?" Asked Usopp.

"The home of the best shipwrights of all the Grand Line." Nico Robin informed them. "If there is one place where we can find someone good enough to repair the Going Merry, it's there."

"Then it's decided! We're going to Water 7 and we're going to add a shipwright to the crew and heal the Merry. Then, we'll all sail together to the New World!"

"YEEES!"

I didn't say anything. I already inspected the Merry while I was stoning away, and I already knew that it would not work. But there was no reason to tell them. They wouldn't have believed me. No, I had to play my cards right.

More importantly, what was that white thing I could see over the railing? Was that…?

A second later, the Merry impacted against the water, and we found ourselves into a body of water inside tall, white walls.

"What… where are we? Why are there walls around us?" Asked Luffy.

I expanded my senses using Illusion. I couldn't really magic up the answer, but I could skim the surface thoughts of the locals to see if there was the information I was looking for. There had to be someone that- ah, there it was.

"Welcome to the G8, the impregnable fortress of Navarone." I answered. Before the crew could panic, I spoke again, infusing my words with calming magic. "Stay focused. I have a plan to leave, but we need to be fast. Raise the sails."

"And then?" Asked Nami. "We're inside the fortress! We cannot escape!"

I shrugged. "Well, I could explain my plan to you, but I don't think we have the time." And as I said that, of course, alarms started to sound. "I suggest you move. Now!"

The Straw Hats started to raise the sails as I jumped on the stern of the Merry. Then, I stopped. "Luffy?"

"Yes?" Asked the captain.

"Can you say something when you're leaving the fortress?"

"Uh… sure? What do I have to say?"

I told him. He scratched his head, confused. "I don't get it, but… alright."

"Good." I said, before standing on the railing and turning to face the crew. "Don't worry about me. I'll reach you soon."

"What do you-?"

Before the question was asked, I jumped backward and transformed mid-air. Then, with a beat of my wings and single Word, I started the first part of my plan. "Ven."

A blast of air exploded out of me, grabbing the sails of the Merry and propelling her forward so fast twin waves of water arched at her sides. That, in normal circumstances, would just mean that they would smash against the enormous metal doors of the Marine base with enough speed to break the bow of the Merry in two.

But I roared, and a portal just big enough to let the ship pass opened right on the gate, giving the illusion I opened a hole through it.

The last thing the Marines heard before the Going Merry left Navarone was a laugh and Luffy's voice shouting. "Goodbyes, Marines. This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Captain Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates!"

Then, they disappeared inside the portal which, contrary to what it looked like, was a couple of kilometers from the Marine base. I wasn't risking them gunning the Merry once outside.

And with that, the first part of my plan was done. Now, I had to raise hell and stop any attempt to follow them.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.4

First thing, I gave the guards in the towers near the gates a heart attack when I flew toward them in my dragon form. I could probably just ram the towers, but I preferred to have a little more control over the destruction. Also, I had to see how I compared to normal people in One Piece. Eneru was kind of an outlier in terms of powers, if he actually had the Color of Armament he may as well have been invincible for Luffy. I needed to know if my poor performance against him was going to be an exception or the rule.

Sure, I could just use the 500 million bounty Oda gave him somewhere, but bounties meant shit. They were more a representation of infamy than strength, even if power was a part of it. But Kidd had a higher bounty than Luffy and he gained that by being a bloodthirsty maniac. Plus, Marines didn't have bounties anyway.

So, I just returned to my human form right before hitting the tower, passing through a window instead and landing right behind a couple of Marines that were watching the show. I quickly turned, grabbed their heads, and in the best cartoon tradition, I smashed them together, making them instantly lose consciousness.

Well, that was done. Now, let's see…

I placed my hand on the wall and scanned the entire structure with magic. Uuuuh… ah, there was the control room. Well, control rooms, one for each side of the gate. Let's see… a couple of floors up, right near the corridor over the gate connecting to the other side. Well, that made it easy.

I appeared in the control room, the guards absent, probably trying to reach the room I just left. I looked at the complex machine that controlled the opening of the gate, gave it a quick scan, and determined the best way to disable it. Meanwhile, the boss of the Marine base was ordering his men to go to the control rooms. Hm, smart one. Well, better move.

I shot a disintegration ray at a section of the wall covering a couple of gears, the magical beam of light turning the rock and then the metal to dust. Good, they would need to change it before they could think to open the gates. But it was not enough, I needed to be sure they couldn't even try. So, I started to walk outside the room. I was obviously interrupted by a couple of Marines with rifles ready. "Stop! Put your hands up!"

I complied with a chuckle. "I can leave peacefully, or I can leave broken bones. What do you choose?"

They continued to aim their rifles at my chest.

"Your choice." I shrugged, before blasting them with a wave of force that smashed them against the wall so hard it cracked. They coughed blood, then fell on the ground with white eyes. Uh, in person, manga signs of people being KO'd were a little disquieting. I scanned them for signs of lethal wounds, but no, they were pretty much alright. I shook my head and continued. People in One Piece were stupidly tough.

Of course, that meant that the platoon of soldiers arriving were going to survive too.

I crossed my arms while arching my fingers like claws. "White Reaper Style: Falling Scythe Flash."

I darted through the Marines, each of my strikes leaving silvery trails and making the Marines fly all around. In a matter of seconds, the platoon was on the ground, unconscious but alive.

Of course, they were just the first wave. As I crossed the corridor, no less than a hundred Marines tried to stop me. Of course, they failed. So, I reached the second control room with relative ease.

Well, mooks were not a problem, apparently. Not that it helped. I needed to fight someone a little tougher to estimate my place in the pecking order of this place.

Ah, well, the occasion will present itself. The Straw Hats didn't exactly live a quiet life.

Oh, I was already in the second control room. I strolled inside the room, finding it strangely empty, and scanned the walls. The gears should be in the same place, but it was better to be sure. Aaaaand… there. I raised my hand-

"Put your hands up." Commanded a voice in a suspiciously calm tone.

I replied by dusting the mechanism with another disintegration ray, then complying and turning to face whoever had spoken.

The man in question was a Marine officer -you could guess by the overcoat he had. With orange hairs with brown moustache and eyebrows. He must have been pretty high rank, considering the various medals on the coat. And, just because every person in One Piece that was worth shit had to have a unique appearance, instead of the usual cap this one wore a tricorn with feathers as decorations.

There was also a platoon of Marines pointing their rifles at me, but they weren't important.

"You must be the commanding officer of the base." I guessed.

"Correct. I'm Vice-Admiral Jonathan."

Vice-Admiral? Uh, this could be rough. Vice-Admirals, if my memory was correct, always had Haki, and most were also trained in the Six Powers, the lethal martial art of the CP9. I needed someone a little higher in the food chain to test my skills, but this could be a little too high. If I was fighting him with the rest of the crew I could risk it, Chopper was a miracle worker, but alone, in the middle of an enemy base? No thank you.

"My pleasure. I'm Rexen Loki." I said with a nod. Surprisingly, he nodded back.

"Likewise. It's refreshing to have someone that can correctly strategize. Disabling the gates was a brilliant move."

I smirked, a funny idea popping up, before I shifted to a more desperate tone. "I don't know what you're talking about, Vice-Admiral. I was trying to ask for help. I had no intention of doing any of this."

The man raised a brow with clear doubt. "Aren't you a member of the pirate ship that landed inside our base?"

"What? No, of course not. I was a victim, I tell you. Those horrible, horrible pirates kidnapped me when they saw the power of my Devil Fruit. They tried to force me to join them. But the landing… distracted them, and so I was able to escape."

"So you didn't help them escape by opening a hole in the gates?"

"No! I saw the hole they made, but they had several Devil Fruit users with them. It was probably one of them."

"And the damage to the mechanisms?"

"Ah, that is, in fact, my fault. You startled me, you see? And I don't have a very tight control over my Fruit. So, when you told me to put my hands up, I… slipped."

Vice-Admiral Johnathan continued to look at me with doubt. "And the men you knocked unconscious?"

"I don't know what to say, sir. They were caught in this… wave of madness and started to attack each other, I swear! I'm innocent! Please, believe me."

Johnathan's expression remained the same. Meanwhile, the Marines around him looked at each other, clearly confused.

Then, both I and Johnathan exploded in laughter at the same time.

"Oh my God I can't believe some of you were falling for it." I roared between the laughs.

"Well, I must admit you were pretty convincing." Replied Johnathan in defense of his men, still chuckling. "Not that it would matter, since you still caused damage to World Government's properties and entered a Marine base without authorization. Even if your story was true, we would still have to detain you."

In all of this, the Marines had the decency of looking ashamed.

"Now, let's talk seriously." Continued the Vice-Admiral. "Was there any amount of truth in what you said?"

"Well, I'm really not part of the pirates. I'm just… hitching a ride on their ship for personal reasons." I smiled.

"I see. And the rest?"

"Bullshit, of course."

"Very well. You're under arrest. I suggest you do not resist. It will not end well if you do."

My smile turned into a grin. "Oh, are you sure about that, Vice Admiral?"

He raised a brow in surprise. "You think you can defeat me and all my men?"

"Oh, no, I don't think so. In fact, I'm pretty sure you could beat me fairly handily on your own." I replied, assuming a more relaxed posture. "But I want you to think about it. Can you be sure to defeat me before things take a wrong direction?"

The Vice-Admiral didn't say anything, so I continued.

"I can tell you are very protective of the base and of your men, Vice-Admiral, and it's something that I can respect. However, if you try to detain me, I'll be forced to react, and if the fight turns bad for me, I would have no option but to use my dragon form… which, as you could see, was very big. I can assure you, its destructive ability is proportional to its size, and I don't know how well you can fight a flying opponent, while I know very well the stone will not fare very well against my attacks. So I ask you again: are you sure that you can defeat me before I demolish your base? Is it worth the risk?"

Of course, while I was talking, I was already shaping the spell that would let me escape without any problems.

Johnathan emitted an amused huff. "You make a good point, Mister Loki. There is very little to gain in apprehending you. Without Seastone, we cannot even detain you. And I'm not a fan of summary execution, pirate or not." He paused and looked me straight in the eyes. "But then, you injured my men and damaged my base. Even if there is nothing to gain, I'm still compelled to arrest you."

Fair enough. "And what if I could repay you, Vice-Admiral?"

That caught him by surprise. "You… what?"

"I can heal your men and give you enough gold to repay the gates." I continued nonchalantly. "If I do that, the only crime I'll have committed would be unauthorized access to the base and helping the pirates escape… but I don't know how 'a ship fell from the sky and a dragon-man made it escape by opening a hole in the gates' would look on your report."

"Not as strange as it should be. This is the Grand Line." Commented the Vice-Admiral.

I chuckled. "Good point. So, what do you say, sir? Are you willing to let me go if I pay for the damage and heal your men?"

Johnathan remained silent for a few seconds. "The pirates remained too for too short a while to ascertain their identities, even if some believe they were the Straw Hats. It's still a crime, but it's difficult to tell how serious it is. If you really can heal my men and repay the gate, then I'll let you go."

As he said that, the Marines relaxed. Hm, they had to be very loyal to not even question his decision. I had expected them to be more… extreme.

Well, better for me. I smiled before grabbing a sack of gold I recovered together with the pillar and shoved it in my dimensional bag. In their haste, the Straw Hats had left a lot of treasure inside the giant snake.

Yeah, it had been one busy morning.

Of course, I made a show to extract the bag from under my vest, before throwing it on the ground, letting jewelry and gold coins fall on the floor. "This should cover for the damage."

The Vice-Admiral eyed the sack with appraising eyes before nodding. "And my men?"

Hmmm, I didn't have time to heal them one by one, so I just snapped my fingers and emitted a wave of healing magic that covered the entire area of the gates. The Marines in front of me probably felt better than they had in weeks.

"Done."

Johnathan took time to confirm that the men I had knocked unconscious were really up again, then he nodded. "Seems like you kept your part of the accord, Rexen Loki. I'll keep mine."

I nodded back and started to walk toward one of the windows of the room.

"But I hope you understand that I cannot not report you to the Headquarters." Johnathan stopped me. "Your powers are… concerning. If you allied with any of the powers of the New World…"

I sent him a look. He looked back with a determined expression, but I could see a spark of regret behind it.

I smiled. "You're a good man, Vice-Admiral Johnathan. Do your duty and don't worry about it. I'm a tough one." I turned to get out… and stopped myself. "But… while we are talking about informing your superior…" I turned back, locking my eyes with the Vice-Admiral. "I have a message for some of them."

"What kind of message?" He asked, curious.

There were a lot of powers I was not proud of knowing. Necromancy in general, all kinds of mind spells that bordered on mind control. Despite that, I usually found ways to use that knowledge without using the most vile applications of those magics.

This was borderline one of the ones I would prefer to not know. I channeled power in my eyes. "Tell the Five Elder Stars that if they try to execute 'Fire Fist' Portgas D. Ace, the consequences will be more terrible than they can possibly imagine." The eyes of the Vice-Admiral seemed to become bigger, slowly expanding until they covered most of my field of view. "Tell them, and you'll save a lot of lives."

"I…" Started Johnathan, either confused or trying to resist.

"Tell them!" I shouted, making the room tremble and causing the Marine to brace their rifles and pointing them at me.

The eyes of Johnathan flashed with green light, and then he blinked and the eyes returned to their usual size. "I'll do my best."

With a knot of shame in my guts I turned quickly and jumped out of the window. The compulsion I left inside the Vice-Admiral mind will force him to inform the Elder Stars. I didn't know how much difference it would make, probably not as much as I would hope, but it was worth a try. I would have preferred to not use that kind of mind magic on him, though. I knew I was going to meet Aokiji soon, but he would probably be able to resist better, while Johnathan wasn't expecting that kind of attack. It was low, but if it worked…

Ah, whatever. The Elder Stars will do what they want. It was useless to worry about their decision. I have done my part for now. I will do the rest when the time comes.

So, I assumed my dragon form and started to fly toward the Going Merry.

I could have teleported, admittedly, but… where was the fun?

-X-

When I landed on the Going Merry, I found the crew waiting. "Were you talking about meee?"

This was a quote that nobody could catch if they weren't Italian, but I just needed to say it.

"Woah… did you defeat the entire base?" Asked Usopp.

I chuckled. "Nah. I just disabled the mechanism to open the gate and ran. I wouldn't want them to start a chase with Merry in these conditions."

"Hey Loki! Did I say the thing right?" Asked Luffy.

I bowed theatrically, a hand on my chest and the other pointing at him. "It was perfect, captain."

Luffy seemed to be unordinary pleased by that, or just found my overdramatic tendencies fun, for he laughed his peculiar laugh. "Shishishishishisi!"

I clapped my hands. "Very well. Now Sanji, would you mind showing me the kitchen? It's better if we resolve the food issue right now."

"Sure. Follow me." Said the cook. I compiled without saying anything… but I didn't miss the curious look Robin sent me. Of course. If there was someone that was going to doubt me in this crew of crazy people, it was going to be her.

But I would worry about it later. For now, better focus on the extra-food device.

Which required almost half an hour because I didn't prepare it before. I had been so worried about having something to teach the crew that I didn't do anything too complex to bribe them, not thinking I would need it. In retrospect, I should have assumed Sanji would be among the ones doubting me. I wasn't a gorgeous woman, after all.

"You really are a wizard, aren't you?" Suddenly asked the blond while I was almost finished.

"Technically it's the first time I'm called that." I chuckled. "The more used terms are mage and sorcerer, not wizard. But yes."

I finished engraving the last runes on the box of Dragonsteel I had to call from the Refuge and then put Dragoncrystal's powder on them, before waving my hand and transforming the powder into a unique, solid mass. Then, just to not attract Nami's greed -she could mistake the crystal for diamonds- I covered the entire thing with a layer of cheap iron and, just to not make it out of place with the rest of the kitchen, I painted it white with magic.

"There, it's done. Now, please listen carefully, for the box doesn't work as intuitively as it would seem."

The cook leaned forward frowning his brows… I assumed. I couldn't see the half of his face covered by his hair.

"Now, the basic principle is simple, really. This box draws… let's call it unshaped matter, that you can then mold into whatever you want. You could technically use this to make solid gold, but I wouldn't do that. It will consume a lot of energy that is better used to eat."

"What kind of energy?" Asked Sanji, curious.

"Magical energy, of course. Well, more like thermal and kinetic energy drawn from the environment and then converted into magical one. If you put a hand on it, you'll notice it's quite cold."

Sanji did exactly that. "It is cold. That could be useful to conserve the food."

I nodded. "If you had space, I could dial up the energy absorption, put this thing inside a room and use it as an icebox. But this place is already pretty cramped."

The Straw Hats kitchen was… not the most spacious I had ever seen. Mostly because it was occupied by enormous containers necessary to house all the food Luffy ate.

Sanji massaged his chin, thinking. "Since you're talking about energy, I suppose that the amount of food I can get out of this thing right now is limited, right?"

I nodded. "Afraid so. It will take some time for it to work. Fortunately, the lull of the waves should be enough to charge it for tomorrow morning. You could technically just bring out the unshaped matter, but I doubt you could make it into something edible."

"What exactly do you mean with 'unshaped matter'?" Asked Sanji. "It's some kind of magical thing?"

"Well, sort of. It's a matter that doesn't have a precise form yet. Some sort of primordial broth that, with the right amount of magic and will, you can turn into whatever you want. You have the will, but I doubt you have the magic to make it work. Hence the runes."

"And this matter comes from where?"

"Oh, I have a production line for that, for when I need some specific materials. Don't worry about it, even Luffy's appetite cannot make a dent on it."

"I wouldn't be sure about that, but I'll take your word." Sanji huffed a little smoke. "So, I just… place my hand on the thing, imagine what food I want, and when I open the box it's there?"

"Pretty much. Of course, there is a… safety measure, in case Luffy decided to use it. An involuntary one, I have to admit, but it will work just fine. See, the food you'll make out of this will not be that good, unless you can visualize with your mind a lot of details about it. Not just form, smell and texture. I'm talking about scientific details. Percentage of the various components like fat, vitamins, and proteins, the molecular structure of the meat down to the atoms, even the way that the food was cultivated or raised, depending on the food in question. The more details you add, the more it will resemble the original."

Sanji finished his cigarette and started another one. I lighted it with a flick of my fingers. "Thank you." Nodded the cook, before taking a good breath. "Are you telling me I can make any food I want with just some knowledge of organic chemistry?"

"Yes?"

"I need to talk to Chopper." Mumbled the cook. "Thank you, Loki. At least we will not die of starvation anytime soon."

"It was my pleasure. I'm eager to taste your cooking again, Sanji. And, if it's not too much to ask… my country is famous for our cooking. Are you willing to let me help in the kitchen?"

I half expected the chef to say no, probably out of professional pride. He regarded me with an indecipherable look before asking a simple question.

"Are you a cook?"

"No, but I have experience with home cooking. Nothing as refined as what you do, but edible enough."

He huffed a cloud of smoke. "Traditional recipes are the source of some of the greatest dishes ever made. I'll let you help… under strict supervision."

"Of course." I nodded. "You're the boss inside the kitchen."

"Exactly." Grunted the cook. "Now get out. I need to prepare some drinks for Nami and Robin-swan."

I gave him an amused smile and got out. I had things to teach, after all.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.5

"I… don't know what I'm looking at." Admitted Chopper.

I was in the small room that doubled as ambulatory for the Straw Hat Pirates, undergoing a medical visit from the local reindeer doctor. I really doubted it was necessary, because my body was more a mass of magical energy that cosplayed as a physical creature than actual flesh and blood, but One Piece be whacky, yo. Who knew what strange interaction I could have with local pathogens?

The answer was nobody, but if there was someone that could figure it out, it was Chopper.

"Why so?" I asked. I could imagine the reason, but I wanted scientific talk.

"Well, let's start with the good things. I'm glad to inform you that you're perfectly healthy… too healthy, to be precise. It looks like your body never was subject to any wear and tear that bones and muscles are usually subjected to. I searched a little deeper, and I found the problem. Your biology is human. It reacts to all tests I conducted like normal. At least, superficially. But at a subcellular level, there is nothing. Nothing of the normal structures that cells usually contain. For example, your blood is a red fluid that transports oxygen despite lacking hemoglobin. I can only imagine what is happening with the rest of your body. Despite that, I can still find things like the level of sugars in your blood, even if there is no sugar in your blood, nor anything else, really. It's like you're the perfect representation of a healthy human being while obviously not being one."

Well, he was taking that pretty well, all things considered. And I did too, since I didn't have the equipment or magic to analyze my body structure to that degree, but I had months to come to accept that my body wasn't human anymore and it just worked like it was… and only until I wished it.

So, maybe it was the case to explain it to Chopper before he got out of The Zone and started to panic.

"Can I explain that?"

"Scientifically?" Asked the doctor, sending me a glance.

"No, unfortunately. The answer is magic. My body had an unhealable wound that would kill me in minutes, so some of my… allies performed a magical ritual on me."

"And your body became… like that?"

"Yeah. You have to understand, they aren't medics. People of great knowledge, sure, but not medics. They know how the body works in general terms, but not to the detail necessary to recreate it with 100% precision. So, they got to the best possible approximation and left it to that."

Chopper nodded. "I see. You're saying that your body reacts like a human body, despite not being one, because it's magically programmed to act like that. Right?"

"Pretty much."

"So I can make diagnoses and heal you if something bad happens like you're a normal person, correct? If I inject you with a medicine that increases the production of your platelets, your blood will still coagulate faster."

"It should. It's kind of a moot point since I can stop bleeding by thinking hard, but the general principle is correct."

"Ah, good," the doctor smiled. "I feared that I would be unable to help you should bad things happen." Then he paused, thinking about something. "Hmm… I should still conduct some tests. As a precaution, you see."

I nodded. "Of course. Just don't do anything related to cerebral activity. I control my magic with my thoughts, so I wouldn't want you to inject some psychoactive drug in my blood that makes me smell the color blue or something. I could start breathing lighting, fart fireballs or sing lullabies that warp the mind of everyone around me and show them their deepest fears."

Chopper looked at me with pure horror on his face before audibly gulped. "Duly noted." Ha said, before actually scribbling a giant NO BRAIN TESTS! on his notes and underlining it three times.

I decided to change the subject. "You know, this is nice. It has been a while since I had a discussion with someone that understood anatomy enough to actually notice that something was wrong with my body."

Chopper nodded. "Ah, I know the feeling. I didn't have anyone to talk about medicine for a while once I joined the crew. Not that I usually talk about it, but sometimes it's nice to have someone to bounce ideas with. Now there is Robin, but she's not really a doctor." The reindeer stopped rambling and looked at me with eyes filled with hope. "Wait, you are a doctor?!"

"Actually, yes. I worked hard for that degree." I paused, a little sorry to squash the boy's hopes. "Just not a degree in Medicine, I'm afraid. Natural Sciences."

"Oh. I see. Which includes…?"

"Biology, ecology, general anatomy, histology, physiology both animal and vegetal, and organic chemistry. And that's only the fields that intersect with medicine." I smiled. "Not a really specialized degree, I'm afraid, but enough to make me not totally clueless on how hard the medics work is. So, if you need someone to 'bounce ideas with', I'm here. Just don't ask me anything too specific. I'm an excellent healer, but I know very little about surgery and medicine. I coast on healing magic for most of the work."

Predictably, Chopper caught the last part and his eyes started to shine with awe. "Healing magic? Really?!"

"Of course. Want me to show you?"

"Please!"

With a smile, I placed my hand on the little doctor's shoulder and released a wave of Restoration magic inside him. In the span of a few seconds, most of his wounds disappeared. When I removed my hand, the reindeer looked extremely healthy.

He confirmed it when he checked himself and produced a diagnosis in less time I took to heal him. "Incredible! All the wounds from the fight with Eneru are gone! This could revolutionize medicine! Are there any complications?"

"No. This spell is basically supercharged healing. The only potential problem happens if there is something that could make the wound heal badly. A broken bone settled incorrectly, materials inside the flesh. It's also useless against illnesses and poisons, even if it can fight the symptoms. That's why I accompany it with some basic first aid I learned on the battlefield. Ah, and it cannot resurrect people. I'm afraid that's a barrier even magic cannot touch."

Chopper didn't seem worried about the last part. "That's amazing! With this magic and even basic knowledge of medicine, you can cure pretty much anything. Can you teach it to me?"

I smiled sadly. "I'm afraid not. You lack the metaphysical fuel necessary for the spell."

The doctor instantly deflated. "Oh."

"But I may have something that I can teach you."

Shining stars erupted from the reindeer eyes. "Really!?"

"Yes. This could even be more useful to you than it is to me. Here, let me show you."

I raised my hand and grabbed Chopper's left horn right on the metal band keeping it together. The doctor was startled by the contact but didn't try to escape. So, I focused my power on the fracture, until… there! A slight hiccup on the life force, the point where the bone had cracked. Which, from what I remembered of reindeer, didn't make sense, since their horns were periodically changed, but whatever, another case of One Piece being wacky, yo. Anyway, I put away those thoughts and pushed.

It was a testament on how fucking powerful I was that I didn't even feel the drain of my blood being consumed to manipulate the bone. It took maybe half a second before the crack disappeared, and another one before a whine of strained metal sounded inside the room. The second later, there was a snap and I removed my hand for the horn… before opening it and showing Chopper the metal band inside it. It had broken when the horn had grown back, pushing the metal out.

"Like new." I said.

"Ooooh!" Was Chopper reply. "How does it work? I thought healing magic was super healing."

"Normal magic is. This is Blood Magic."

Chopper sent me a gaze full of fear. "Uh… it's not bad magic, right?"

I chuckled. "I will not tell you bad magic doesn't exist, Chopper, for it does. But trust me: no magic I will teach you is bad."

"Ok." Replied the doctor, clearly not entirely sure.

"Besides, it's called Blood Magic because it uses blood as fuel. A more correct name would be Life-force Magic, but that's a mouthful."

"Oh, okay." Beamed Chopper, relieved. "So, how is this Blood Magic different from normal one?"

"Blood Magic works by using the life energy contained inside the blood, linking it to the patient to manipulate their life-force. You could just use it to replenish the life-force of the patient, but it's highly inefficient. The most common use of Blood Magic is flesh-warping."

"Control of biological matter." Nodded Chopper. "That's how you fixed my horn. You didn't heal it. You forced the bone to grow the way you wanted… produce more material… What are the limits of this Blood Magic?"

"Who knows?" I replied with a shrug. "It's a very new branch of magic, created recently by fusing old practices into a new one. I ignore how much can be done with it, but I'm not eager to test. The previous users of Flesh Magic weren't… very good people, and I don't want to emulate them."

"I can imagine how you could use this magic for bad ends." Admitted Chopper. "And you can teach me this because everyone has blood, right?"

"Yes. It would be particularly well suited for you, between Zoan resistance and your medical knowledge. I theorize that you'll be able to control your forms more freely if you use this. After all, you can already change them to a degree, if you add flesh manipulation to the mix…"

Chopped was basically vibrating on his chair. "Yes… if what I suspect is correct, and with enough medical knowledge you can pretty much bypass the use of surgery and medicinals, I might be able to produce the right hormones or stimulate the right parts of the brain, skipping the use of my Rumble Ball. But…" The doctor calmed down considerably. "There is a catch, isn't there? Something you aren't telling me."

"Not specifically." I denied. "As I said, the previous users of Flesh Magic were not nice people. The version I'll teach you will use your own blood as fuel, limiting the potential for abuse… but other's blood is an equally useful source, if not more. I will not teach you to use other people's blood, but it's not really that difficult to figure out. I trust you to maintain your Oath, Chopper… I don't necessarily trust anyone else."

The little reindeer nodded solemnly. "I'll be cautious, Loki."

"I know you will." I replied, before producing a book out of my dimensional bag. "Read this. It's a book that will magically implant the knowledge of Blood Magic in your mind. And Chopper… I think you really need to rethink your combat style."

"What do you mean?" Asked the doctor, confused.

"You aren't a brawler." I answered. "I mean, you are, because your human form is powerful, but it's not where your talent resides. You're a doctor first and foremost, and you should fight like a doctor."

"But… doctors don't fight."

"Not normally, no. But you're a doctor on a pirate ship, and you'll fight sometimes. You need to continue to advance your medical knowledge, for the health of the crew, but that removes time you could use to train your body, which is what you should do with your current fighting style. What I'm saying is that you should use the first to improve the second."

"But the Oath…"

"It stops you from using your medical knowledge to harm others, yes. That's why I'm giving you Blood Magic. It gives you options. But it may not be enough, and… there are other ways to fight that pound the opponent into unconsciousness. You have to sedate the patients sometimes, right? In your professional opinion, is it better to use your medical knowledge to put the people trying to kill you out of commission, or is it better to punch them in the face?" I paused. "With blood magic, you could paralyze your enemy without having to touch them. Just order their muscles to lock up, and they will not be able to do anything about it. Or make a paralyzing agent to inject with a syringe. Or both, for when you're low on blood. Just… remember to use your mind to win the fight, not your muscles." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Use your knowledge, Chopper. It's your best weapon."

The reindeer looked down and didn't reply for several seconds. "I'll… think about it."

I nodded. "That's all I ask." I replied. "Now… if that's all, doctor?"

"Yes." He said, laying the book on the table and opening it. "That's all. You can go… and thanks."

I smiled at the doctor. "My pleasure."

I stood up and walked out of the room. Now, the next target.

-X-

I ambushed Usopp as he was working on the Perfect Clima-tact and introduced him to the world of enchanting.

"So you're saying that by engraving these symbols to an object, you can give it magical properties."

"Yes."

"And that the limit will only be that the energy has to come from somewhere, and since we don't have the magic you have, it must absorb it from the environment or an outside source. Like the Dials."

"Yes."

"And that you're willing to teach me how to do this."

"Pretty much."

"Why?" Asked the crew sniper.

"Why not?" I replied.

"I mean… people don't just teach their secrets willingly." Rationalized Usopp. "If you teach me your enchanting technique, wouldn't that make you… I don't know, less necessary?"

At that, I could only laugh. "Less necessary to whom, Usopp? I'm not going to remain on this crew for long enough to be an integral part of it. And in the event that I did manage to become indispensable for any reason, despite my best efforts, wouldn't it be better to have someone that can do my job?"

Long nose looked at me. "You're saying that…"

"That I want to help you, but I don't want the crew to collapse if I'm not here. So, I thought it was better to teach you some tricks so you can do it yourself. I already gave Chopper a book on magic and advice. If you accept them, you're going to upgrade your role in the crew from sniper and the one that makes some fun gizmo to sniper and magical engineer. Think about all you can do with this, Usopp. You want the cannons on the Merry to shoot fire? Or make them reload automatically? You can do that if you want. And, of course, you can increase your combat ability by an order of magnitude using these runes."

"How so?" He asked, trying to sound dubious but with a clear undertone of desperation in his voice.

"What about invisibility, to strike without risk of retaliation? Or flying, so they cannot reach you… even if you should be careful about that, people will be likely to shoot you if you start to float around. Or the ability to become intangible like a ghost. All abilities that will make you a terror on the battlefield."

Usopp was clearly tempted by that, but there was something keeping him from jumping on the book I was offering. "Yeah, that sounds cool, but… my dream…"

Ah, right. "You dream… let me guess: be brave?"

"I want to be a brave warrior of the seas." He nodded. "And… your ideas are cool, but they just let me run away."

I snorted. "You're a sniper, Usopp. You should never be anywhere near the frontlines. Sure, you could make a ring that increases your strength and resistance so you can throw hands if things go wrong, but it would be far more efficient to use the same magic to give you a lot of interesting powers. Besides, being brave has nothing to do with punching people in the face."

"I guess…"

"Let's put it in this way, Usopp. Who is more brave? A warrior that fights hordes of enemies without fear, or a civilian that faces a wild animal to protect its child?"

"Uh… the warrior?"

"The civilian, Usopp. Unless your definition of bravery is different from the usual, being brave is about overcoming your fears, not being fearless. If you never feel fear, you cannot be brave. It's as simple as that."

"And how does that work for me?"

"You can be weak, and you can avoid the thick of the melee, but as long as you're fighting an overwhelming opponent, you'll still be brave. And if you think that's not enough, I have another point for you. There are already three people in the crew that can fight pretty well, better than even you will do, if I'm being honest. Who else in the crew can snipe a man from a mile away?"

"Two miles." Usopp corrected me, a look of intense focus on his face. "You're saying that I should focus on what I can do better?"

"Yes. Better, and what nobody else could do. Believe me, there will come a time where your ability to snipe will be invaluable."

I could feel a stubborn resistance inside Usopp, but at least he was willing to think about it. "I suppose there is nothing bad about being more protected." He finally said. "And nothing stops me from using these… runes to make gadgets for the rest of the crew, right?"

"Nothing, except for resources. Speaking of which, I have something for that thing you're making for Nami." And with that, I gave him an ingot of Blue Jade that I still had in my bag from that one time.

"What is this?" Asked the sniper, bringing the Jade close to his face.

"Blue Jade."

"I can see that. What is it supposed to do?"

"It's a magical stone mystically aligned with the air. Wind, cold, storms… it should be a fine ingredient for that weapon you're making."

Usopp looked at me with wide eyes. "But… it would cost a fortune. A-are you sure you want to give it to me?"

I shrugged. "In that quantity it's not good for anything I could make, and money is not a concern of mine. Take it and make Nami something that will shake the very heavens."

Trembling slightly, like he was worried the Blue Jade would fry him with a lightning bolt, he nodded and put it aside. Then, he grabbed the book I was offering him.

I smiled. "Good work, Usopp." I said, before vanishing.

I had a last target. Fortunately, convincing her was going to be very easy.

-X-

"Nami? I want you to read this book."

"Uh… why?"

"Because it will help you in the long run."

"I mean, it's not like I don't trust you or anything…"

"A bucket of gold if you finish it before tomorrow."

The young woman literally jumped on the book and started to read it right away. In a couple of seconds, her eyes became glassy as she continued to read the pages without really seeing them, the information loading directly into her brain.

There, done. Now, the weakest members of the crew were going to have some interesting esoteric abilities that will make them terrors in the future. Maybe never as powerful as the Monster Trio, but hax was a great equalizer. Nami in particular would wreck faces with Exalted Sorcery. I didn't know if she would ever go above Terrestrial, but even without it there was so much she could do with it.

Of course, it was not true Exalted Sorcery, because the One Piece world lacked the ambient Essence that made Sorcery possible, but I managed to make something very similar. She will have to be careful to not overuse it since it was going to drain her life-force, but I left instructions in the book for that. She'll be fiiiine.

The moment I turned to dedicate myself to my next project, I found Robin looking at me.

"Ah, Mister Dragon. I would like to talk to you."

Uh, that was sudden. Well, whatever. A talk was not going to hurt me.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.6

I found myself sitting down on the dining table, Robin on the other side looking at me with inscrutable eyes.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, not particularly worried.

"I couldn't help but notice that you seem to be very familiar with the crew." Started the archeologist.

"Well, I'm trying to be friendly." I replied.

"Not what I was referring to, Mister Dragon. I find the casual way you address the crew concerning. Who told you our names, for starters?"

Ah, that's what aroused her suspiciousness. "Well, I caught them during the party." That was a lie, but it was a very plausible lie.

Robin made a very little, very fake smile. "Ah, so you already planned to join us then. And you caught our roles in the crew then too?"

Uh… that was a little harder to explain.

"And that's not just that." Continued Robin. "You seemed awfully familiar with both the current fighting style of Miss Navigator, Mister Doctor and Mister Sniper, and had actual valid advice on how to improve them." She leaned forward, clasping her hands together and resting her face on them. "You caught that during the party too?"

I remained silent for a second. Then, I chuckled.

"You confirm yourself to be the smartest member of the crew." I said, before taking a bottle of cola from my dimensional bag and a glass. "Want some?"

"No, thank you." Replied Robin, eyeing the bottle with the controlled wariness that I associated with people working with acid. "You were spying on us, Mister Dragon."

"That's like the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" I shot back, but without heat. It meant she was worried about the crew, which was good. "But yes. Even if not in the way you imagine, or for whatever people you think I'm working for."

"I admit I don't have a clear idea on who those people should be, or why. The first suspects would be the Marines, but…"

"But I just helped escape a Marine base." I finished, raising my glass and drinking it. "So you're stumped. And decided, instead of observing me a little more, it was better to ask me." I filled the glass again and drank. "I'll admit, for someone with your training, this seems like a pretty reckless move."

"Despite my worries, you are exceedingly helpful." She replied. "I couldn't find any hidden motive you could have in doing everything you did. You fought with us against Eneru, slowed down our descent-"

"Yeah, really good job that… if it didn't bring the Merry inside Navarone." I snorted, not really serious.

"An unfortunate consequence of an otherwise kind act." Robin's smile dropped. "Mister Dragon, I want to believe you're the friendly man you act like, but I cannot do that if I don't know how you found out all that information about us and why."

Testy much, huh? But considering what happened to her, maybe she was actually trying.

But was she ready for the truth? Probably not.

Fortunately, I had an excuse ready.

"I found that information because I wanted to maximize the chances of getting on the ship." I said. "As for how…" I paused, then snapped my fingers. Instantly, a vague buzzing sound seemed to cover us before disappearing.

"What was that?" Asked Robin.

"Anti-eavesdrop spell." I replied. "Nobody outside the room will hear us."

"Why would you put such a spell in place?" Was the next question. She looked vaguely worried now.

"Because what I'm going to say must not be heard by anyone else." I replied, then leaned forward on my own. "I learned about your past by looking at it."

Robin's eyes widened slightly. "How?"

"Magic, of course." I replied. "A rude intrusion in your personal lives, I suppose, but necessary. I needed to be here if I wanted to… change it."

"Change what?" Asked Robin, leaning more and putting her hands on the table.

"The future." I said, looking at the glass. "Soon, something… terrible, will happen. Several things, really. And from what I saw, I needed to be here to make some real changes." I put down the glass. "It's only tangentially related to the crew, but my visions are not always precise. I can get a pretty good idea of the next few days, but everything after that is a confusing mass of images and impressions that's difficult to parse. I only know that when the moment arrives, I'll understand."

That was a vague way to say that I needed to stay on the Merry because I had no frame of reference about the timeline when it wasn't related to the Straw Hat's journey. Sure, in the manga things happened pretty fast, one after another, but I doubted that Oda had drawn the long days of travel from one island to another in a realistic fashion. Days or even weeks of nothing were not conducive to a compelling narrative. If I wanted to change a couple of key events, I needed to stay here.

Robin stopped leaning toward me and assumed a more neutral expression. "You're saying you're a seer."

"Not really. I can fake being one with magic, but I don't actually have the gift." I explained. "A real seer could devine even years in the making. I can only get pieces."

"So, how much do you know about my past?" She asked.

I send her a gaze, briefly meeting her eyes. "Enough."

She remained silent for a second, probably thinking about what to ask next. "And, regarding all the help you gave…"

"Ah, it's because they'll need it." I smiled. "You're sailing the Grand Line and you have a D. as your captain. You're going to have to fight a lot." I tapped my fingers on the table. "I would love to help you too, but I'm afraid I have no idea on how. Well, you and the Monster Trio. Them, because they're already strong enough and have a well-defined combat style that I cannot improve directly. Or, I could but I would need to find something before doing so. You because… well, your peculiar fighting style is something that I'm actually not very well versed with. I'm not a fan of clutches."

And with that, I dropped the spell. From now on, it was improbable that the discussion returned to that particular topic.

"No, I suppose that someone that can turn into a dragon doesn't need to resort to that." Said Robin, assuming a more natural tone.

"It's more that I prefer to have a weapon between me and my enemy. I don't have the ability to sprout limbs directly on their body." I snorted. "If you had some experience with weapons I could think about something, but…"

"I have."

I blinked. "Sorry?"

"I'm surprised you don't know, Mister Dragon. I have a certain experience with knives. A part of my… specialty."

A dialogue between her and Usopp resurfaces in my mind. "Assassination." I said, sitting straighter. "Of course. I… may have an idea now. I would need to take a second to put it down, but if you have even the basics of stealthy assassination…"

"My, Mister Dragon. Are you an assassin too?"

I grinned. "Well, I…" I paused, looking at my hand. "Uh, this would be the moment I start to play with my dagger, but I sacrificed it for a soul-eating sword, so… ah, right." I stretched my arm, pointing at the table until my finger touched the wood. Then, I raised it.

And with the finger, the shadow rose too, a line of bi-dimensional darkness contrasting with the otherwise lighten-up room. Then, when it was the right size, I grabbed it and completely extracted it from the wood.

Now, in my hand, I had a perfect reply of my old dragonbone dagger, only made of solid shadow. The details were perfect, but there was no way to appreciate them since the blade didn't reflect any light.

I immediately started to fiddle the dagger between my fingers. "Like I was saying, I have a certain experience with stealth takedowns." I flickered the dagger toward Robin, who caught it easily and started to fiddle it too.

"Perfectly balanced." She commented. "And extremely light."

"Of course. It's a shadowblade. It's more the idea of a blade than a real one." I replied, making the dagger return to shadow to fly to my hand and then reform it. "Would you like to be able to make them too?"

Her eyes snapped on me, intrigued. "Can you teach me this?"

"Yeah. This, and becoming invisible while you're away from light, moving through shadow, see in darkness…" I paused. "Ready to become a creature of the night?"

The smile she gave me was far more sincere than any she had given me so far.

-X-

So, my life among the Straw Hats soon reached a certain rhythm. Occasionally helping Sanji in the kitchen, aiding Nami, Chopper, Usopp and Robin -which was learning a variant of Exalted Sorcery with a shadow theme- with their new powers, and sparring with Zoro were the main activities I performed on the ship. Usually at the same time. The advantage of having the ability to quintuplicate if needed. I still wasn't sure they noticed I could do that, I was trying to hide it for as long as possible… for the challenge of it.

The only person I actually didn't interact with was Luffy, mostly because there wasn't anything that I could actually teach him. He was too stupid to even try to learn anything related to magic, and I couldn't help him with his fighting style since it was heavily reliant on his Fruit. Zoro could learn simply by fighting against me, and I managed to slip some alchemy lessons with Sanji. Lessons that will probably make it easier for him to learn that empowering-food style from the island of the drag-queens or whatever it was called.

But Luffy… the only actual thing I could think of that I could help teach him would be the Six Powers, since he was pretty much the only one of the crew that could use all of them, but there was a problem. I didn't know how the Six Powers worked, if not for some vague 'hit the ground ten times in a step' for Shave. All other techniques were pretty obscure and I didn't want to teach some half-assed thing to him. When I've got a better idea of how they work, I'll teach him.

Besides, I mostly didn't have the time for that either. I was focused -well, one of me was- on an important project that occupied all my time. It needed to be ready before we reached Water 7, but the problem was that I had no idea how long that was, nor how to make it. I had never tried anything like that, and lacked a subject to use to test the effectiveness of my ideas. The basic idea was one I had already used before, but there was an ulterior step that made the entire thing an order of magnitude more complicated.

It didn't help that there were plenty of distractions. It could be a sudden storm, or a seahorse stealing memories, or some sort of rainbow bullshit, and every time I had to step out from where I was doing my work to solve the situation. Oh, sure they would have resolved it without me, but without me the thing would have taken a lifetime and taken even more time, which I couldn't spend in these fillers.

The only thing actually interesting that happened for almost two weeks was an insight from Zoro on my combat style. Well, more or less.

"I think I understand now." Suddenly said the greenhead in the middle of the spar.

"What?" I asked as a wave changed my altitude slightly, making just a little easier to jump over the slashes of the swordsman. Waterwalking to avoid sparring on the Merry had been a stroke of genius.

"What is wrong in the way you fight." He explained. "There was always something that bugged me, but I couldn't understand what."

"I already told you, I'm not just a swordsman-"

"You're a warrior, yeah." Grunted Zoro as his three blades hit the Heart-seeker, my spear… which, since it had been in the hands of Dol and plated with Moonsilver, could change shape, transforming into whatever weapon of similar mass and without additional parts. No crossbow, bow or guns, but passing from spear to chackram to sword to mace? Easy.

Right now it had the shape of a Reaper Daiklaive, also knowns as fuck-huge katana. I didn't want to use my soul-eating sword when sparring, and furthermore, it was the only weapon aside from the Shehai I could practice my Iai techniques with. Exalted Martial arts were so damn specific…

"I'm not talking about that." Continued Zoro. "I just had this strange sensation. Your technique is incredible, one of the best I've ever seen. You could call yourself a master swordsman and nobody would have anything to say." We clashed violently, making the waves split and water spray in all directions from the strength of the impact. "But I always had the sensation that it lacked something."

"And now you know what it is?" I asked, before testing his senses against the Gaze of Confusion. He held surprisingly well. If I knew enough about Observation Haki I could use it to teach him, but I knew even less about Haki Training than I did about the Six Powers. I could only hope it would give him a good start.

"Yeah. It's not your technique that's lacking. It's you. You lack spirit."

I snorted. "I don't think you're using the right word."

"I think I do." He replied. "There is no conviction in your strikes."

"We're sparring, Zoro. I'm not trying to kill you."

"Even then, you should still strike with the intention to kill. We spar to stay sharp, Loki. If you don't give your all, how can you push above your limits?"

I reflected on the question while dodging a triple thrust. "I suppose I can see your point. But if I give it my all, it will not be a spar between swordsmen anymore. Besides, I tend to hold back most of the time. Give me the opportunity to surprise my opponent."

"That's also part of the spirit you lack." Grunted Zoro. "But it's true that if you decided to go all-out it would not be a sword fight anymore."

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." I quoted.

"Spirit? What do you think I mean then?"

"Bloodlust."

Zoro grinned savagely, which was impressive considering that he still had a sword between his teeth. "I suppose that works too."

Then we clashed again.

-X-

After two weeks of travel, we finally reached the next island. That was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because it meant that I had a couple of days to focus without interruptions, just the time for the Log Pose to align with the magnetic field of the next island.

Bad, because from what I remembered, this was the last stop before Water 7. My time was shortening.

Especially since the circumstances already spoke ill of the island. Before arriving here, we were 'pranked' by some sea monkeys that thought throwing around tsunamis was fun. I was able to split the giant wave to save the Merry more turbulent times, but shortly after that we found a pirate ship leaving the island. The ship radiated sadness, so something very bad had happened there.

But I was sure the crew was going to do alright. So, I focused on completing my project. I was almost there. I just needed to put down the last details and I was pretty sure it would work. If it worked perfectly was another matter that would require testing… testing with subjects I didn't have, but I would find a solution for that.

Or I would if a ship with a giant fox head hadn't blocked the Going Merry mere minutes after we put down the anchor. I was still on the deck -well, one of my copies was- when it happened.

"Fuck." I said, massaging my temples. "Not these fucking clowns."

"You know them?" Asked Robin, one of the people on the deck with me.

"They're the Foxy Pirates. A useless band of morons, but more than able to be annoying."

"Annoying how?" Asked Zoro, the second person on the deck.

"They'll challenge Luffy to a Davy Back Fight and they'll cheat like motherfuckers, so be ready to cheat too." I replied before walking toward the lower decks. "Call me when you start the victory party."

"Wait, you will not fight with us?" Asked Nami, the last of the people on the deck. "And how do you know that they'll ask for a Davy Back Fight?"

"I'll explain after it's finished." I answered without looking back. "And no. If I helped you win, we'll have to take three members of the Foxy Pirates with the crew. You really want that?"

"Well, he's not wrong." Commented Zoro. "If his description is accurate, I don't want them."

Before I could disappear in the belly of the Merry, I was called. "Lokiiii! We need your help!"

I sighed and turned, seeing Chopper waving from the top of the cliff. "What's the problem, Chopper?"

"We have a wounded horse! I patched her best I could, but I'm not a veterinarian! Can you come to be sure she's alright?"

Urgh. "Alright, I'm coming!" Stupid Foxy Pirates -because of course it was their fault-, I hoped that the Straw Hats give you an even harder lesson. I teleported near Chopper and then followed to the horse.

Meanwhile, I continued to mumble under my breath, silently cursing this part. I hated the Davy Back Fight. It was one of the most worthless parts of One Piece. So useless that for years I was sure it was a filler, until I re-read the manga and discovered it was actually part of the story. A complete, total waste of time. It didn't do anything for the story, it didn't introduce interesting characters, didn't reveal any interesting new techniques or whatever. You could cut it completely and the story wouldn't have changed at all.

Of course, the moment I put foot on the island I noticed how the animals seemed strangely elongated and I remembered who else was here.

It seemed that the ritual would need to wait.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.7

The Davy Back Fight didn't start in the best way. Some of the Foxy Pirates asked why I was not participating, so I politely replied that I was just living rent free on the Straw Hat's ship. When they tried to argue about it, I politely manifested a dragon head made of light to roar in their faces.

After they stopped foaming from the mouth and recovered their senses, this farce of a challenge could continue.

Fortunately, it didn't last long. After the last goodbyes, we finally entered the truly interesting -and dangerous- part of this little stop.

The meeting with Aokiji.

It went almost precisely like it did in canon, so I will not annoy you with the details. Tall guy too lazy to be an actual Admiral shows up, Robin is fucking terrified, Luffy tried to beat him -stopped by Sanji and Usopp- then managed to look like an idiot by warning the old man Tonjit that Aokiji was the devil -and be reminded that, nominally, the Marines were the good guys. Then Aokiji summarily proceded to freeze the sea until the old man could walk to the next island. Which was less impressive than it looked considering that the place we were on was called Long Ring Long Land, which was basically ten completely round islands connected by a perfect circle of earth that, for reasons that eluded logic and common sense, appeared only once a year. Still pretty impressive, I wouldn't have been able to freeze all that water, considering that I couldn't see the next island- and after that decided to change his mind and actually kill the Straw Hats. Or maybe it was just a test, I was not sure.

In all of this, I remained silent. Mostly because I was preparing to fight him without showing that, which was easier said than done. I doubted that Aokiji was using Observation Haki in Paradise, people usually didn't start to use Haki until they reached the New World, but just to be sure, I used all my powers to be as subtle as possible.

I intervened only when Aokiji started to talk about Robin destroying every group that she was a member of. I couldn't stop myself.

I chuckled.

The Admiral looked at me with bored -or just tired, it was difficult to tell- eyes. "Do you find it funny?"

"Quite." I replied with a smile. "It's a good joke."

Robin looked at me with pure terror, with just a spark of… something in her eyes. A mix of gratitude and confusion. Poor girl probably didn't know how to feel about that.

I ignored her. "Ah, wait, you're not joking. Let me laugh even harder. Phahahaha!"

Now most of the crew was looking at me confused. Ah, I liked making quotes, even if nobody could understand me.

"And why do you find all of this so funny, mister…?"

"Loki. Rexen Loki." I replied.

A spark of recognition flashed in the eyes of Aokiji. "Ah, yes, I heard of you. The Headquarters slapped a bounty of a hundred million Bery on your head."

"What!? Loki has the same bounty as me? That's not fair!" Shouted Luffy.

"That seems a little high, considering nobody died and Navarone was still standing." Commented Nami.

Aokiji shrugged. "The Headquarters doesn't ask for my opinion on the bounties, so I have no idea why they placed a price so high on his head. But, you were saying?"

"Ah right. I was saying, it's funny because you're saying such obvious bullshit with a straight face. I mean, you talk like Robin had any degree of premeditation in the destruction of her home, when it was your organization that placed eighty million Bery on her head, when she was eight years old, for…" I paused, materialized the wanted poster and gave it a quick read. "… Ah, pardon, seventy nine million Bery for having sunk seven battleships, which, frankly, is so absurd I'm surprised people took it seriously. Anyway, with such a bounty and being so young, how could she possibly be considered responsible for anything that happened to these vague 'organizations' she was part of? The Marines are the one that destroyed them, just to get her." I made the poster disappear. "And the funniest part? Most Marines don't even know the real reason she has a bounty, unless they're such morons to believe that sorry excuse printed on the poster. In fact, Admiral, I have a question for you. After Ohara… did you ever bother to learn why that tragedy happened?"

The silence that followed was telling enough.

I snorted in disgust. "Frankly, I don't know which of you three gonzos is worse. Akainu is a war criminal and if I was in charge of the Marines I would have court martialled his ass the moment he pulled the shit he did in Ohara. Kizaru I can't even start to understand what passes through his head, and you… you are actually a decent person, I think. Which, contrary to what one should expect, is a point against you." Man, I was heating up. I felt a simmering rage starting to boil in my stomach and wisps of Anima starting to float around me like little embers. "Akainu, at least, is straightforward. He hates pirates with a passion and wants to kill them. I don't approve of his methods, but I can understand him. But you…" My tone lowered, and I injected as much disdain I could in my voice. "You have a conscience. You should do something about Marine corruption. Why climb the ranks otherwise? Because it's easier than refuting the promotion? Yeah, I suppose that's the reason, right? There are only three Admirals, and the Marines don't just send one without a good reason, and the list of people that can actually order you around is pretty small. You became Admiral to sit your ass on a chair inside the Headquarters and not bother to actually work."

Amazingly, it seemed like my words were actually hitting home, at least if the frown on Aokiji's face was of any indication. I decided to end my little speech.

"Tsk. All that power, all that authority, wasted on someone that doesn't even bother. You know, there is a saying where I come from. 'The only thing needed for evil to win is for good to do nothing'. You are that nothing, Aokiji. You could do good, but it's too much effort for you, right? It's easier to just follow orders, and you killed your friend for that." Both Aokiji and Robin's eyes widened. Now. "Saul would be so proud."

Three things happened almost simultaneously. First, Aokiji's eyes narrowed dangerously. Second, Robin's eyes widened even more.

Third, Aokiji moved so fast I couldn't follow his movements and slammed the palm of his hand on my chest. Or I assume that's what happened since I couldn't see the strike. I just knew that I found myself being pushed away from the Admirals outstretched arm, so that was the logical conclusion.

He also froze my arms on my chest, the asshole. Which impaired my ability to land. So, I slammed with my back on the grass, and with my arms locked in a crossed position, I had to bend my knee to make half a gambol and managed to kneel.

"Now I really have to kill you." Commented Aokiji, his tone as cold as his powers.

"Leave my friends alone, Aokiji. Trenta Fleur! Clutch!"

There was a sound of shattering ice, but I couldn't see Aokiji fracturing like a China shop after the proverbial bull passed through, because I was kinda focused into freeing my arms.

"Loki, we need to melt the ice or-"

Chopper tirade was stopped when I focused my power into my arms and they came free with an explosion of ice splinters. They were kinda numb, especially the fingers, but unlike the rest of the crew, I had a good resistance to cold temperatures. Still better than my arms falling off.

Unfortunately, I didn't free myself fast enough to stop Aokiji from dealing with the Monster Trio. Zoro, Sanji and Luffy had all a part of their body frozen. Zoro's right arm was useless, Sanji's left leg too, and Luffy was clutching his right hand.

"You found some fine comrade." Commented Aokiji between various cries of fear from the non-injured parts of the crew. "However, you're still the same."

"No, I'm-" Started the Devil Child, before Aokiji jumped on her.

"Yor. Toor. Shul!"

Right before Aokiji could freeze Robin, I shot a Fire Breath at them. The wave of flames burned everything on its path… aside from the Straw Hats, of course. In fact, they found themselves recovering, the ice formed on their bodies melting away. Meanwhile, Aokiji was dissolved into mist.

Ah, and the grass in the immediate vicinity started to burn.

"Robin, get to the Merry." I called.

"But-" Protested the archeologist.

"NOW!" I shouted, making the air tremble.

She gave me a distressed look, but she turned and ran, pretty much in the same moment Aokiji started to reform, ice freezing the flames and reconstituting the body of the Admiral.

"You really think I'm letting you-"

I slapped my hands together and whatever Aokiji wanted to say was drowned by the sound of fire rushing against him. The silhouette of the man disappeared when all the flames near -the ones still not extinguished- formed a dome of fire that trapped him… for now.

"I don't know how much time I can give you." I said to the rest of the crew. "If someone has a good idea on how to beat him, I'm all ears. That was my strongest flame and it doesn't seem like he felt it that much."

Of course, the problem was that a Logia couldn't be hurt by physical damage. I could probably hurt them -I don't care how your body is made of ice, if my sword ate your soul you're not going to survive it- but here came another problem. Even if I could hurt Aokiji, I probably wouldn't. First, because I didn't want him to start to get serious or nothing on this island was going to survive, and second because I was pretty sure he decided to be a good guy after the timeskip, so killing him could potentially make things worse. Also because I wouldn't want for the Marines to find another, less lazy Admiral. Aggravating as his 'Lazy Justice' was, it was better than having another maniac like Akainu.

Of course, even if I could hurt him he just needed to bring the Armament Haki up to reverse the advantage, and while it would be satisfying, I didn't want to show all my cards until I had to. Or having all the Marines on this part of the Grand Line to come for the Straw Hats because I proved to be able to hurt an Admiral. They didn't need that kind of heat.

No, my show here was to try to not traumatize Robin. Well, more than she was already. Maybe we could avoid all the Water 7 nonsense if I managed to show her that yes, we could fight the Marines.

Returning to more pressing conserns, nobody answered me. Probably because nobody had any idea on how to defeat a man made of ice if fire didn't work.

Also because they were looking at a point behind me.

"Fuck." I managed to say before a hand landed on my shoulder. He must have moved right before the dome of fire formed, or somehow managed to reform and then Shave away.

Cold erupted from my shoulder before my entire body froze solid.

Well, that was… annoying.

I opened my eyes in the darkness of Merry's hold, where I sent my real body when nobody was looking. I knew how things were going to go. Luffy would have challenged Aokiji to a 1v1, losing miserably. Not before Aokiji either shattered the ice statue that was one of my copies, or at least tried to do so. The rest of the crew was probably going to arrive soon. Hopefully. From what I had seen using Shadow Magic, the crew would get out of the fight with all their members, but Shadow Magic visions of the future were inherently unclear and fragmented, so…

Oh, wait, I could just look. I opened my eyes to the outside world and scanned the place where the battle was taking place. No audio, I didn't want to waste power and I didn't need it. Aaand… yeah, the crew aside from Luffy was returning with ice-me in their arms.

Better warm up the bathtub, they will need it. I stood with a sigh and started to walk toward the bath.

When I was halfway through, I found Robin on the deck, sitting in a corner with her face planted on her knees and arms covering her head. She wasn't crying, but I doubted she was feeling well.

I paused for a second, mentally calculating the time the rest of the crew will take to reach the Merry. I didn't want them to see me -I was still waiting to see how much time they would take to notice that I could make more bodies- but could spare a moment to calm Robin. After all, the entire reason I got iced was to spare her the trauma.

"Hey." I said, sitting down next to her.

She jolted from her position and looked at me. "Loki! But- I saw Aokiji…"

I chuckled. "Oh, come on. You really believed that it was that easy to take me out? A wizard never reveals all his tricks."

Well, the saying was not exactly like that, but whatever.

Robin's eyes scanned me. "Multiple bodies?" She guessed.

"Curses, you saw through my dastardly scheme!" I replied with a grin. The archeologist relaxed slightly, a timid smile popping on her face. "Ah, well, the others are coming with a frozen fake body. Don't tell them I can multiply, I want to see how much time they take to find out."

She giggled. "I'm glad you got out unharmed."

I shrugged. "Aokiji wasn't really trying to kill me." I patted her on the shoulder. "Well, I'm going to open the warm water, then finish that thing I had planned. You relax, ok? Luffy is going to keep Aokiji away. He's not going to come for you anymore."

She looked at me with hopeful eyes, a spark of fear still lurking deep inside. "You sure? Have you seen it?"

"Yeah. For as much as I can see in the future, at least. Aokiji will not try to capture you anymore."

She emitted a shaky breath. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, Robin." I said, standing up. I quickly reached the bathroom, opened the hot water, and then returned to lurk in the darkness of the hold, perfecting the ritual.

Meanwhile, my other body had finally defrosted enough to be useful again. As ice stopped covering my face, I opened my eyes and took a breath.

"Lokiiii!" Cried Chopper, tears flooding the bath more than the open faucet that was spraying me with hot water. "You're awaaaaaake!"

"Of course I am." I replied, the jaw still a little hindered by the ice. "Not the first time I have to face ice powers. Now, give me a second…"

I made my magic circulate around my body in a cloud of orange flames that didn't burn but melted the ice as well as any other fire. In a couple of seconds, the ice was thin enough that I could just break it with my own strength.

"Ugh, cold." I said, shivering. Just because I could recover from being completely frozen -well, more covered by an armor of ice and then put in hibernation- it didn't mean I was immune to it. I made more magic circulate in my body and my internal temperature soon started to rise. I got out of the bathtub with steam rising from my body. "Ah, better. Now, let's recover Luffy. He'll need a hot bath too."

I quickly scanned the area to see if Aokiji was still there. Since he wasn't, I just teleported Luffy's frozen statue in the bathtub and quickly started to heat the water to melt the ice.

It was a quick affair, and after that, the mood on the ship was pretty bad. To try and distract them from their surliness, I explained how I knew they were going to win the Davy Back Fight.

"Wait, you can see the future?" Asked Sanji.

"Yeah."

"Then why didn't you warn us!?" Screeched Nami, momentarily gaining the mouth of a Great White Shark.

"About the island we're going to arrive at being dangerous?" I asked, not really worried. "What for? My understanding of Grand Line navigation is that you need to stop at the island your Log Pose points you at and let it recalibrate. We could not do anything to avoid both the fights, unless you want to sail blindly. And before you ask me, I cannot see that far in the future. A couple of days, at most, and the visions are pretty fragmented. In fact, I'm actually looking through a series of possible alternate realities, so I'm not even seeing the future, just the rough approximation of one, extrapolated by the most probable options. I can misinterpret and trying to change things when you have just scraps of knowledge is foolish. Especially since the future seemed to be that we were getting out of the fight alive."

Most of the crew looked confused at my explanation, at least regarding how I could see the future, but the ones that were agitated -Nami and Usopp, mostly- seemed placated. Luffy was the only one that had a serious expression. Did he have one of those moments when the neurons in his brain connected and he actually got things right?

"So they're mystery visions. Cool."

Nevermind.

"I understand your line of reasoning, Loki." Started Zoro. "But we would still appreciate a little warning next time."

"So you can pointlessly worry about it?" I shrugged. "Alright."

"Hey, wait a second." Interrupted Luffy. "I don't want to know what will happen. If we use what Loki sees, we're not deciding how our adventure is going! Besides, what's stopping him from telling us a lie?"

There was a pause. Pause that I broke. "Oh, Luffy, really? You hurt me. You think I'll lie to you?"

"Yes, if it's to help us." Replied the captain, a serious expression on his face.

The rest of the crew eyes pinballed between me and Luffy as we started each other, until I broke contact first to let out a chuckle. "Well, I cannot deny it. Very well, captain. But, in the spirit of reaching a compromise, would something like 'be prepared for a fight' be vague enough to satisfy your thirst for adventure but warn the crew?"

Luffy pondered on the question for a second, an air of intense focus on his face. "Fine." He finally said, with clear reluctance. "If it's something like that it's okay."

"And since we're talking about it… do we need to be ready for something while we wait for the Log Pose to reassert?" Asked Sanji.

Uh, I didn't think so, but I actually didn't know. I delved for a second in the Shadows, trying to see if something was going to happen in the next few days… but I got nothing. "Nothing I can see."

"Uh, that was creepy." Lamented Nami. "Please don't do it in front of us."

"As the lady commands." I nodded, before standing up. "Well, I'm going to sequester myself in the hold for a couple of days. Before that, though…" I waved my hands and made a giant poster that I slapped on the mast, where it remained glued. "Here is what I know about a martial art called the Six Powers. I thought long and hard about what to teach you next, but nothing I could think about was good enough, or usable without magical powers. Except this. Now, most of these don't actually work for most of you, but the first technique…" I pointed at it. "It's called Shave and lets you move really fast. That is a power that will be useful for all of you. Others, like Iron Body, are more indicated for the more physically powerful of the crew. Take a look and see what inspires you more."

"And why are you not giving us one of those magical tomes?" Asked Robin.

"Because I don't actually know the Six Powers. It's just something I know by hearsay. I could try to crack the style down and then teach it to you, but I don't have the time. I need to finish my project before we reach Water 7."

"And why is that?" Asked Sanji.

I just grinned at the cook. "Now, that's something I'm going to reserve for later. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

And with that, I dissipated the body on the deck and focused all my five minds on the ritual.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.8

Exactly as I promised, I emerged from the hold of the Merry after three days of non-stop work. I did so by slamming the door to the deck open with a certain amount of force, not enough to damage the Merry but clearly more than it was necessary. I got out and slammed the door shut, before taking a breath, raising my eyes to the sky, and trying to relax.

What a nightmare. The ritual had been devilishly difficult to make, mostly because it was two rituals meshed together. On one hand, it meant that I didn't have to make it from scratch. On the other hand, the meshing part had been the problem. The two rituals did vastly different things, so fusing them together had not been easy at all. But it was done… in theory. In practice, there was a last hurdle to overcome… one I couldn't overcome right now.

Hence my getting out. Hence my frustration. It didn't help that I was hungry and thirsty and just a little sleepy. Fortunately, it was almost time for lunch, so I just needed to wait a little.

Meanwhile, I just decided to rest at the base of the main mast. Maybe I could manage to close my eyes a little. The deck was surprisingly empty, with just Zoro training in a corner. Luffy sat on his favorite spot, and Robin behind me, on the upper deck, doing… something, probably training her Fruit powers, I wasn't sure since I couldn't see her.

So, I just sat on the floor, near the mast, taking what little shadow that could, and closed my eyes. I could sleep a little…

… If Robin didn't approach me.

"Is everything all right?" She asked, sitting near me. "You seemed uncharacteristically loud right now."

I sighed. "Yes, it's all right. For a certain definition of "right". The project is done… I'm just not sure it will work right."

Robin remained silent for a second, like choosing the best phrase to use. "Can I help?"

"I doubt it." I replied drily. Then I realized that I was maybe a tad too abrupt. "No offense, but I don't think you are an expert on rituals."

"Well, I'll admit it's not exactly my field of expertise." Replied Robin with a smile, not looking offended. "And everything I know about magic is what you've taught me. But sometimes, a change of perspective is what you need to find the problem."

"There is no problem." I denied. "The theory is solid. It will work. But it needs to work perfectly, and to be sure it is, I will need test subjects… which I don't have right now."

"What kind of subjects?" Asked Robin, curious.

"A peculiar combination of living and… ah, what the hell. Here, let me show you."

I waved my hand, and a double magical circle appeared on the deck of the Merry, shining a delicate blue light. Robin looked at the magical circles with naked curiosity, even if I doubted she could read the draconic runes floating in the air.

"I've seen something like that in a book. It's a circle to summon demons?"

Of course she would think that. "No, not really." I replied, and she seemed disappointed. "It's a circle to make demons."

She looked at me with a spark of childlike glee in her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. Demons, gods, elemental creatures, spirits… the purpose of the circle is to grab an intangible being and make it physical."

Robin blinked. "And why would you incarnate a demon in the world?"

"Not a demon specifically." I replied, before stopping myself from revealing precisely who the ritual was for. I needed them in the dark for my plan. "But now you can see why I cannot test it. Incorporeal spirits are not exactly a dime of doz-"

I stopped talking the moment the ritual reacted to something. The magic circles started to pulse, the light increasingly before returning to normal.

I was tempted to cut the spell right away. I didn't know what the hell I just caught. In fact, the spell hadn't been aimed at anything in particular, and I had specifically excluded the only possible candidate in miles precisely because I wasn't sure it wouldn't incarnate them in an horribly twisted abomination of flesh and spirit.

Instead, I focused. "Call the crew, Robin. We could have a hostile incoming."

For a second, it looked like Robin was going to protest. Instead, she sent the circle a glance and ran.

Meanwhile, I tried to complete the spell. It had… difficulties. The presence I felt through the magic was… diffused, somehow. Of course, the magic was created by taking into consideration a certain resistance from the target, but this was different. It was like I caught something immensely larger than originally planned, and now the ritual had problems to actually consolidate the conscience into something coherent.

If I didn't know there was nothing like that in One Piece, I would assume I caught a genius loci in my spell.

Fortunately, I made sure that the ritual was flexible enough to catch even spiritual entities I was not especially familiar with. That of course meant it was more complicated, but it was worth it if it meant not having to worry about the exact metaphysical nature of the target. Especially since I could make some on-the-fly adjustment at the overall structure, like I could now. I just needed a little more…

The circle finally clicked, locking on to enough spiritual material to start the entire process. I felt my energies being sucked away as the magic started to make a body for the entity I caught. Of course, making an entire body out of magic was exceedingly costly, even if you didn't try to make it exactly like a human body. In fact, I took inspiration from what the shadow priests had done to my body for this particular spell. Of course I didn't have Dragonblood to spend, so I was going to make the body out of whatever material best suited the spirit in question.

Which was why I was surprised when water exploded out of the sea to smash on the deck and quickly collect inside the circle. What the hell?

"Loki, what's happening?" Asked Nami, distracting me from my work. Which was most done, anyway, I just needed to maintain the spell long enough for the spirit to-

Then, the sphere of water that had formed in the middle of the ship condensed into a generic humanoid form, the liquid so dense it became opaque. Then, slowly, details started to emerge. The body assumed a more feminine shape, tall and slim with a surprisingly modest bust, considering what kind of chest the women here usually supported. The head sprouted what I assumed was going to be hair, and finally she started to look less like a woman made of water and more like a living being. The first thing to appear was an appearance of skin, of a light grey that reminded me of a shark. Then the body gained definition, starting from her hands and feet, which looked surprisingly normal if not for the black nails. Then arms and legs took shape. Both the forearms and the calves sported fins of the side, with thick spines covered by skin that nonetheless looked very flexible.

Then, it was the turn of the body and, fortunately, she completely lacked sexual characteristics. I mean, yeah, she was shaped like a woman, but the most of her chest was smoot and lacking details, and immediately afterward plates of a material in what looked like a black, pearly shell covered even what little there was too see, forming a chest plate and a particularly skin tight pair of shorts on her skin. Pretty flexible material. Maybe it just looked like a shell but was actually more skin?

Finally, it was the head, which had surprisingly human and delicate features, except for the ears taking the form of another set of fins which resembles a pair of elven ears. Her hairs were a deep green, forming long waves that arrived midway to her back. She had her eyes closed, but her mouth was open and showed a single row of triangular teeth, and on the sides of her neck there were three lines that I assumed were gills.

Basically, a shark fishwoman, but with the beauty of a mermaid.

Then she opened her eyes and whatever similarity between her and the fish-people of One Piece was dispelled. She didn't have iris, or if she had, it was the same black of the pupil, the same black of the ocean depths. But if it was just that, she would just have fish eyes. No, her sclera was of the same blue as the sea, and it seemed to swirl as invisible currents moved inside her eyes. It was like the very ocean was looking right at you.

She also emanated an aura that made her unmistakably other, something that was not a mere woman, fish or not.

Now that she was there, there was no doubt. So, to answer Nami's question…

"I think I accidentally created a sea goddess."

-X-

Nico Robin had lived most of her life on the Grand Line. She had seen a lot of strange things, things that people on the Blues would consider impossible or ridiculous.

Still, 'I think I accidentally created a sea goddess' had just taken the first spot in the most absurd phrases even uttered by a human being -assuming Loki was one, she was starting to have doubts-, mostly because, contrary to the others, it was actually true and not a boast or the delirium of a drunk pirate.

"A sea… goddess." Repeated Nami.

"Yes. Well, by a given definition of goddess, anyway. She's a sea spirit, even if the exact kind of spirit is up to debate…"

"Why did you have to trick me like this Loki?" Lamented the navigator. "You were supposed to be one of the normal ones here!"

"I'm a Sorcerer, girl. My kind is not 'normal' by definition."

As Nami and Loki bantered, the sea goddess was looking around with child-like curiosity. She apparently didn't mind being ignored, too taken by everything around her. Still, her curiosity was different from what Robin would have assumed a completely new being would have. There was no confusion in her gaze, just awe… like she was seeing something she had only heard about.

"How did this happen?" Zoro asked. "What were you doing?"

"Testing the project I was working on. I'll admit this was not what I wanted, but-"

"I'm… unwanted?" Asked the goddess, suddenly paying attention to what Loki was saying.

The sorcerer instantly focused his attention on her. He made a step forward and grabbed her hand. "Not unwanted, unexpected. Yes, I was not planning on creating you, but it doesn't mean I'm not happy to have you here." He smiled. "In fact, you being here is wonderful. It means my spell worked perfectly."

The goddess smiled back. It was surprisingly cute, despite the shark teeth. "Thank you, Master."

Most of the crew didn't like the way the girl -she sounded like she was barely adult- spoke to a man that was clearly older than her -even more than they suspected, Loki had told her he was reaching his thirties-, especially considering the history of enslavement of fishmen and mermaids. Fortunately, Loki didn't seem to like it either, if his expression was any indication.

"Don't call me Master, please. I didn't make you so you could serve me."

Huh, curious. The way it was phrased, it almost sounded like he had created gods to serve him. Or at least spirits. Maybe he was a necromancer? If he could make demon summoning circles, maybe he could raise the corpses to work for him?

The goddess looked at Loki with a little frown on her face, like she was thinking intensely. "Then can I call you… Father?"

There was silence for several seconds as the crew stared at the two, waiting for Loki's answer. The mage looked at his creation with a surprisingly flat look in his eyes, but Robin could see wild emotions running behind them. Before she could decipher them, he made a little smile. "Yes. Father will do."

And he put a hand on her hair and stroked her hair. The goddess beamed in happiness, her ear-fins flapping back and forth.

She was just the cutest little thing.

"Should I start to call you father too then?" Asked Sanji, pirouetting near the new arrival with his eyes taking the form of hearts.

In response, Loki backhanded him in the face. "Stay away from my daughter, you maniac."

"What the hell, Loki!? I was just trying to welcome the lady!" The cook protested.

"Maybe do that after she has time to acclimatize, eh? She's basically a child."

The blond face scrounged as he realized what Loki meant. "Ah, sorry miss. I didn't realize… you don't look like you're just born."

"I'm not." Replied the spirit with complete innocence. "I'm old, very old. But it's the first time I see things like humans do. It's all very… new."

"Don't worry, she'll hit you herself shortly. She just needs to take a crash course on human behavior. And self-defense. And since my ritual went well and I don't have to worry about refining the procedure, I'll train her myself."

Robin decided to intervene. "Then let's start with some greetings, shall we?" She made a couple of steps toward the goddess and raised her hand. "Hello. I'm Nico Robin."

"Hi!" Replied the spirit. "I'm…" She paused, unsure.

"Briin." Supplied Loki. "Briin Deinmon."

"I'm Briin!" The now named girl continued, raising her hand and shaking hers.

Robin shivered as a decidedly unpleasant sensation crawled from her hand to her spine. It was like immersing into water… which made sense, since she was water. In fact, she was an incarnation of the sea… and the ocean and Devil Fruit didn't get along.

Apparently Briin felt something similar because she removed her hand immediately. "That was… unpleasant."

"Sorry." The archeologist apologized. "I didn't expect this interaction, even if in hindsight it was obvious something like that would happen."

"Hi Briin!" Exclaimed Luffy, jumping at her sight. "Do you want to be part of my crew?"

Nami and Zoro immediately facepalmed. Sanji exploded in 'I love you captain!" while Usopp and Chopper were doing exactly what they were doing from the beginning… so genuflecting on the deck whispering 'We're not worthy!"

On her part, Robin was just curious to see what she was going to answer.

Briin looked at Luffy tilting her head, confused. "What's a crew?"

"A group of friends!" Replied the captain. "We all sail together to reach our dreams."

The spirit blinked. "I… don't know if I have a dream."

"It's okay. You just arrived. You'll find out what your dream is soon. So, what do you say?"

She looked around, eyeing the rest of the crew. Then she looked at Loki, and he just nodded.

"I think I would like to have some friends." She admitted.

"Then it's decided! We have a new crewmate!"

"YEEEEAH!" Three different voices shouted.

"Ah, well, I suppose it's not all bad." Rumbled Zoro. "Maybe she can help with the navigation."

"Well, the captain has spoken." Shrugged Robin. "Welcome aboard, Briin."

"I'm sure we will be great friends," Said Nami with uncharacteristic happiness. "Sure, our moron of a captain should stop inviting people without consulting the crew, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Ah, Loki, just for curiosity, I seem to recognize the language." Commented Robin, looking at the sorcerer. "Does her name mean anything?"

"Of course. It means Guardian Daughter of the Ocean." Replied the man.

"Your naming sense needs some work." Commented the archeologist.

"Maybe, but at least it's appropriate."

"It's that why you created me, Father? To be a guardian?" Asked Briin.

"No. I didn't create you for any particular reason. I gave you that name because that's what I hope you'll become."

"Then I'll make you proud." She replied with conviction. Loki smiled and patted her on the head.

"Then let's start with exploring what you can do, right? You're a sea spirit, so I expect water control, but I want to see if you have a talent for Sorcery."

"You think she can become a wizard like you?" Asked Luffy.

"Well, she was born from my magic. I'm going to assume she can learn it." He then spoke directly to Briin. "Not like mine, you're a spirit of the sea and so I expect your magic will be related to that. But we'll have to see."

It seemed like he wanted to continue, but his stomach grumbled loudly and he stopped, embarrassed.

"That's what I get from not eating for three days. Sanji, how's the lunch going?"

"It's almost done. In fact, I'm going to check to make sure everything is alright. Please ladies, come to the dining room so I can serve you some appetizers."

"What about the rest of us, you shitty cook?" Asked Zoro.

"I suppose Loki can come too, since he brought a beautiful lady to us." Replied Sanji, glaring at Zoro. "You will wait with the others, marimo."

Then they started to fight.

"Is that normal?" Asked Briin.

"Pretty much." Shrugged Loki.

"Well, we can go to the dining room." Said Nami. "Sanji will come soon. Right, Sanji?"

"Yes Nami-swan! I'll be there in a moment." Swooned the cook while the fight brought him away.

And for that day, nothing else really happened. Briin was a sweet girl, clearly inexperienced in how things above the waves worked, but she was not stupid, and she became fast friends with everyone in the crew.

But the next day, they were reminded that the girl was not human, or even fishmen. She was a goddess of the sea, and her apparent maturity shifted in about a week, passing from the level you would expect from a naïve teenage girl to a somewhat less naïve young woman. Even calling her naïve was a misinterpretation, for she wasn't really innocent: nature is red in tooth and claw, after all. She just didn't think like a human being, and she was eager to learn how it worked, so while it seemed like she was a simpleton, she was just inexperienced. A flaw that Loki worked hard to correct.

But aside from daughter and father floating over the sea exchanging martial art techniques and commanding the very waters, the rest of the journey toward Water 7 continued without incident and not much action either.

At least, until they found the rails.

Freebooting on the Sea 1.9

"And then I spent the next two weeks training all of them at the same time… more or less." I winked at Briin. "They still have to figure that part out, though."

She smiled, but she was just a tad confused. "Sorry, but why don't tell them that you can multiply?"

"Ah, as a personal challenge. I wanted to see how much I could be basically everywhere on the ship without being noticed. Sometimes I need to return to my roots as a sneaky little tomb raider, you know? Keep one sharp."

My daughter's smile became just a little wider. "I think, Father, that you just like to mess with people."

"Lies and slander."

There was a second of pause before we started to laugh together. Briin leaned backwards, floating on her back and looking at the sky above us, while I just sat on the water like it was a solid thing.

"Thank you, Father."

"For what, little one?"

"For being… you." She replied, and I sent her a curious gaze. "I don't have very clear memories of the time before I was born in this form, but I know that you didn't have to do… this. Teaching me, taking care of me… you could have returned me at the sea, or just left me where I was, or even bind me to an object and thrown me overboard. So… Thank you for loving me."

Ah, dammit, she made me wet my eyes. "That's what a father should do, little one." I replied, passing a hand through her hair. The hairs flowed like water when you touched them, and they felt like water too. "And I'm just lucky that you were born an adult. I don't know what I would have fared if you were just a baby."

"I'm sure you'd be just as wonderful regardless."

We remained there for a while, just basking in each other's presence. Briin was different from any other spirit I ever created… mostly because the other spirits where either a manifestation of myself or pre-existing spirits I bound. The only other that could compare was Fenrir… but even then, I didn't make Fenrir. I just adopted him. Briin was, really, my daughter, or as close as she could be.

Which meant that the next part of the journey scared me. I knew the crew was going to make it, but I feared that Briin, so young and inexperienced, would not. That's why I stopped the little game of hide-and-seek with the crew and focused on training her. She needed to be ready to go on large scale battles fast.

I knew that it was an irrational fear. Usopp made it out of Enies Lobby all right and, even when just born, Briin had been quite powerful. She wasn't exactly a fishwoman, but seemed to have inherited their traits somehow. She was ten times stronger and faster than her size would suggest, and she just became stronger when she touched water. Or maybe she just was weakened outside the water, it was not really clear. Of course, she also swam at the speed of a cruise missile and she had a mean bite. All in all, while not Monster Trio material, she was in the upper levels of strength of the Straw Hats Pirates.

Then it came to her supernatural powers. As a spirit of the sea, she was between an elemental and true god. In fact, she was almost like a Water Logia, with a few, key differences. She could transform into water, but it required concentration, like my ability to turn intangible, and while she could create water, she couldn't do so indefinitely. She compensates by having the ability to control nearby water, and from being able to use it to restore herself to full health. All of this was linked to her stamina: she didn't have magicka or Essence. She was definitely magical, but she was the daughter of the One Piece world as well as mine. Evidently, she had gained the 'magic' of this world instead of mine, whatever form it took.

Basically, outside water people would assume she had some weird-liquid related Paramecia, while inside water she was an unstoppable juggernaut that couldn't be hurt or tired out for she had the entire ocean to power her up. And those were just the abilities she could control reliably. There was a deeper connection than that, something that, I think, could be considered her divine domain. Unfortunately, we had very little luck in using that. I suppose the problem was exactly that. Approaching a divine domain like another tool was not going to work. It was a part of her, not a convenient energy pool to be twisted like we wanted. She would have to learn how to use it by herself.

So I tried to teach her to fight and use magic next, and there I had more luck. Fighting was easy, and I also managed to incorporate her innate abilities into some approximation of the Six Powers. It was a bit like cheating, since it basically used magic to get the result done without the training -kind of like I was trying to learn them, and then reverse-engineering them- but if it worked it worked. Magic was a different matter. Since she didn't have 'mana', she didn't have any talent for any other magical discipline except Exalted Sorcery, adapted in the same way Nami had. She was just at Terrestrial level right now, but I felt she could reach Celestial if she tried. She was also heavily influenced by her own nature. She simply couldn't use sorcery that wasn't related to the sea somehow. Which drastically limited her. I tried to teach her some Words too, but the language of dragons was beyond her. Oh, she could speak it just fine, but it had no power.

Lastly, I managed to make her some good weapons. Well, more we than I. It was my idea to see if she could manipulate water enough to give it a shape and the hardness required to be used in melee. The result had been a trident of what looked like black stone -which, incidentally, reminded me of black jade, the water one. Was is cliché? Yes. Was it really cool? HELL yes. Even more when she could just make the three prongs into high-pressure water jigsaw at command, or shoot jets of high pressure water from it.

She was more than ready. I still feared for her safety… but I just had to trust the crew that would keep her alive. I also knew I was not going to remain forever… so I cherished the moments for ourselves that we managed to squeeze in by staying behind when training. I already knew she wasn't going to come with me.

After a couple of minutes just staying together, a voice sounded inside my ear.

"Loki, we managed to find the rails! We're going to reach Water 7 soon!"

"I heard you, Nami. We're coming." I replied… then sighed.

"What's wrong, Father? Something happened to the crew?" Asked Briin.

"No, nothing like that. They found the rails. Water 7 is near."

"Oh, that's good! They can repair the Merry… why do you look so gloomy?"

I sighed again. "Because things need to be worse, before they can be better. I want you to promise me something, little one."

"What?"

I took her hand in mine. "Whatever happens, you're going to remain with the crew."

She stiffened. "Father…"

"Promise me, girl."

"But… why?"

"Because they will need your help more than me." I replied honestly.

She looked in my eyes for a couple of seconds, then she slumped. "I promise, Father."

I smiled and patted her head. "That's my girl. Don't worry, it will not be permanent. Just… unpleasant."

"Alright." She murmured.

"Good. Now… let's return to the ship, shall we?"

She stood up -yes, she could naturally walk on water like it was solid ground- and we dashed toward the Merry.

The next discussion I would have with the crew wouldn't be so relaxing. But there wasn't much I could do about it. We couldn't just skip Enies Lobby unless I magic away Robin's trauma, which I was not going to do. Sure, I could just stop her from going with CP9 when they showed up, but all that would accomplish was letting her open to another manipulation of that kind. And we needed to go to Water 7 so that the Straw Hats could get a new ship. The only thing I could do was make the entire thing easier.

Starting with Usopp.

-X-

Father was strange.

Granted, Rexen Loki could not be considered normal by any measure, but lately something was off.

That was what Briin continued to think while they reached the city which, in theory, was going to save one of the oldest members of the crew. The spirit briefly reflected on how strange it was that the crew considered the ship part of the crew despite not being able to see her spirit, unlike her and her Father. Not that he even mentioned her, but it was pretty clear he knew she existed.

His mood grew worse as they approached the city. He was the only one to not be awed by Water 7 -a city which was a fountain!- and he just looked dourly at the deck of the Merry. The crew didn't notice or, if they did, they didn't comment on that. Finally, they dropped the anchor in a cliff which, they were informed, was used by pirates, since it was far from any of the docks where the Marines would search for them. Water 7 was allied with the World Government but apparently sold their ship to anyone.

When they finally stopped, the crew started to organize. Nami, Luffy and Usopp wanted to exchange some of their gold into cold cash, Robin wanted to go shopping, Briin, Chopper and Sanji volunteered to go with her, and Zoro decided to remain on the ship to avoid ruffians damaging it.

Father didn't say anything.

"Then it's decided." Announced Nami. "We'll see each other here before dinner… Loki, do you know how much money the they're going to ask to repair the Merry?"

At the navigator's question, Father raised his eyes. The atmosphere immediately froze. The expression on Father's face was one of deep sorrow. "Nothing." He said dourly.

"Uh… isn't that a good thing?" Asked Usopp.

"No… because they will tell you they cannot repair the Merry."

The crew stilled, looking at Father with horror.

"What?" Croaked Luffy.

"Merry's keel is broken. That's the equivalent of having your spine snapped in two. No shipwright in Water 7 can repair that kind of damage. Go to the Galley-La, they're the best in town… they'll tell you the same thing."

Another silence.

"You… you're joking." Weakly said Usopp. "Which isn't funny, by the way. You really should learn when-"

"Usopp." Sanji cut in. "He's not joking."

"… W-when did you learn this?" Asked Chopper, shaking.

"That the keel was broken? Since I boarded the Merry. That it couldn't be repaired?" He shrugged. "I just looked it up."

"That cannot be true!" Protested Luffy. "The Merry is strong! She brought us here!"

"That's already a miracle and half, captain." Replied Father.

"But she's-"

"From the East Blue." Interrupted Zoro. "She was not made from the waters of the Grand Line."

"The East Blue is the calmest of all the Seas." Continued Nami. "Compared to the madness we faced until now… I'm afraid that Loki is telling the truth."

There was a somber silence for a second.

"T-that doesn't matter." Suddenly said Usopp, clearly forcing himself to smile. "We have Loki! So what if the shipwrights of Water 7 cannot fix her? We have the greatest sorcerer of the world here. You can fix the Merry… right?"

Everyone looked at Father with rekindled hope. Which, in contrast, looked down, and Briin already saw where this was going.

"I could." Replied Father. "But I will not."

Briin could feel something cracking, probably the opinion the crew had on him. Everyone looked at Father with pure, undiluted surprise, like they couldn't believe what they just heard. She was surprised too, but she knew Father. If he didn't want to fix the Merry, there was probably a reason. She hoped she was a good one.

Unfortunately, the rest of the crew didn't share her unconditional faith in Father's decisions, warranted or not. Pretty soon, surprise would become anger.

"What?" Asked Zoro in a low, dangerous tone.

"I hope you have a very convincing reason for that, Mister Dragon." Continued Robin, her tone simply glacial.

Father didn't look worried at the fact that the crew -which were supposed to be his friends- seemed to want to beat him up. He just sighed.

"I can fix the Merry. I can merge the wood together, making it as she had never navigated the Grand Line at all. But while I'm powerful, I'm not omnipotent. I can fix the Merry, but I cannot make sure that she won't break again." He paused to look at them, and while he was still sad, there was a glint of steel in his eyes. "I sincerely doubt that the journey is going to be easier from now on, and I have no idea how bad it can get. I can repair the Merry, but she will not last in the New World. I could place some spells on the hull, but for her to be absolutely unsinkable, I should have worked them in the wood when she was made. And if the force of the sea is greater than the spell I can put on her, she will break… and you will sink with her."

"I believe in the Merry!" Protested Luffy. "Fix her and she'll bring us to the end of the Grand Line."

Father shook his head. "I cannot take that risk, Luffy. I will not be responsible for your deaths. Here on Water 7 you will be able to buy a ship that will never break: that's basically their entire job. That ship, I will enhance as much as I can, so when I leave, I will not have to worry that I didn't do my absolute best to help you reach your dreams. But the Merry… she cannot do this. I'm sorry… she cannot carry you anymore."

There was a long silence after that.

"Get out."

Everyone turned toward Usopp, who was looking at Father with barely contained rage in his eyes. In fact, he was trembling and balling his fists so hard that his knuckles were white.

"If you don't want to fix the Merry, then leave. I don't want to see you! GET OUT!"

Father gave Usopp a flat look. "I don't take orders from you, Usopp."

"You fuc-"

"The only person that can make me leave is the captain." Continued Father. He turned toward the person in question, who had become suddenly still. "Luffy?"

For some reason, Luffy was not angry. Well, he was until a couple of seconds before, but the moment Father turned toward him for a decision, he had assumed a supremely serious expression. He looked like he was trying to pierce Loki's mind with his eyes, but aside from that, he seemed to have lost all emotions.

Finally, he grabbed his hat and covered his eyes. "Leave the Merry, Loki."

At that moment, Father's expression shifted. It lasted a fraction of a second, too short for anyone that was not completely focused on him to notice, but for just for that moment, he smiled.

Then he assumed a neutral face -he was a master at that- and bowed his head. "As the captain commands."

And he vanished.

Only the promise she had made stopped Briin from starting to search for him. She had promised she would remain on the crew. It was just temporary. He had a plan, even if she couldn't even guess what it could possibly be.

He will be back soon.

Useless to say she was not the only one to have taken his disappearance badly. Chopper was actually crying, and most of the crew had a somber, almost mournful expression. Except for Usopp, he was still fuming.

"Good riddance." Huffed the sniper. "Well, we just have to proceed with the plan."

"Usopp…" Started Zoro.

"What!?" He snapped.

"Usopp." Continued, surprisingly, Robin. "I don't think we can fix the Merry."

At that, the sniper narrowed his eyes on Robin too. "Of course we can. We'll do it ourselves, if these Galley-La guys are not up to the job."

"Nobody here knows how to repair a ship, Usopp." Intervened Nami, trying to be tactful about the matter. "You did a good job until now, but clearly it wasn't enough. If we cannot find someone…"

"We're not abandoning the Merry!" Shouted the sniper.

"But we cannot sail on the Grand Line with her in these conditions." Replied Sanji, lighting one of his cigarettes with trembling hands. "She's falling apart."

"If the comparison with the spine is even remotely accurate…" Added Chopper, still crying a little. "… Then Loki is right. It's a miracle she's still intact. If she was a person, the Merry would be screaming from pain just trying to move."

"LOKI REFUSED TO HELP HER!"

"We all heard that, Usopp." Grunted Zoro, even more grumpy than usual. "And while I don't like it, his logic is sound. A sword with a flaw in the metal cannot be repaired without reforging it, and at that point, it's not the same blade anymore. The Merry was not made for these waters. That's something that cannot be changed." He sent the sniper a dry glance. "We can either let her rest, or push her until she breaks."

Usopp made a face like he had just swallowed a lemon. "So we're going to abandon her the moment she's not useful anymore? Is that how this crew works?"

"Usopp." Came Luffy's voice, and everyone stiffened at the authority emanating from it. "You're going too far."

"But-"

His sentence was cut short by Nami. "No one likes this, Usopp. But what can we do? If even here, at Water 7, they cannot fix her… is it really right for us to keep her? Do we really want to see her snap in half?" The navigator sighed. "I'm sure the Merry doesn't want us to sink with her."

There was a sudden gust of wind and the Merry groaned. Nobody seemed to take notice… except Briin.

"She says she's sorry." She dutifully reported.

"What?"

"The Merry. She says she's sorry."

Another silence. It was starting to become a habit.

Usopp's lips trembled. "You can…"

"Speak with her?" Asked the goddess of the sea, before looking at the sniper right in the eyes. "Of course I can. I can communicate with all the creatures that call the sea home."

"But she's a ship." Protested Chopper. "She's not… unless…"

The crew looked at each other.

"Kablautterman?" Asked Sanji, his eyes wide in awe. "They're real?"

"What's a Kablautterman?" Asked Luffy.

"A legend, something about the spirit of the ship." Reported Nami. At those words, Usopp went wide. "Briin, you can…?"

"Yes." Replied Briin, her voice distant. "I never talked much with them, but I always felt they were kindred spirits. You have loved her deeply, and she's grateful for that."

Another groan came from the Merry, the crew looking around, probably hoping to see the spirit.

"She says that, if truly she cannot be repaired, to leave her here." Translated Briin. "She doesn't want to be the cause of your death. She wants to be with you until the end, but not that end."

The sails flapped in the wind, and Briin continued. "She want you to promise to get another ship."

"Merry…"

Please.

The voice came from nowhere. It was a voice nobody had ever heard before, and yet it was intimately familiar. It was the voice of the wood when hit by the waves, of the ropes tensing against a strong wind.

It was unmistakably Merry's voice.

That broke the crew, making them lose any composure. Most were openly weeping, even Robin had tears flowing on her cheeks.

"We're sorry, Merry…" Started Luffy between the tears. "We treated you so badly…"

Promise.

Nami fell on her knees, Zoro covered his face with his hand, Usopp and Chopper hugged each other while Sanji slid down the railing until he was sitting down, his head between his legs. Robin swayed so hard she had to lean against the mast.

Still crying, Luffy grabbed his hat and covered his face. "We promise."

The entire ship seemed to shudder, like a great weight was suddenly removed from her.

Briin dried the tears that had started to fall from her face. She couldn't share the pain they were feeling -she had been on the crew too shortly to start to love the Merry as they did- but she understood.

And she also understood what Father had said about needing her. His plan, whatever it was, clearly had some sense, even if she still hadn't figured out. And if she knew him, he was going to save the Merry. How, she didn't know, but he had powers she couldn't even imagine.

He will find a way.

Time for Boarding 1.1

Like a certain masked man said, every technique has a weakness. In the case of Clairvoyance, the weakness was that, while you could use it to find anything, it was useless for finding anyone.

So, when I approached the Franky House, I could only hope the owner was inside instead of somewhere else.

There was, of course, resistance -the Franky Family was overprotective- but I simply put them to sleep with a little magic and entered inside.

Finding Franky sitting on the couch.

"Who the hell are you?"

I smiled genially. "My name is Loki, and I'm here with a business proposal."

The cyborg looked at me critically. "Loki? You mean the guy with a hundred millions on his head?"

At that, pretty much all the members of the Franky Family tensed… more in excitement than fear. Of course, they probably rounded their check with bounties. They were criminals, but they were criminals protecting Water 7.

As to why they didn't recognize me… I took the liberty to buy a business suit -and, really, an entire wardrobe- before coming here. Now that there was the possibility of having some modern clothes I was not going to toss it away. So, not recognizing my face was forgivable, since the bounty probably had me in my mask and hood.

"In the flesh." I said, still smiling. "And before any of you start to have strange ideas, I'll ask you the same question I asked the Vice-Admiral that tried to arrest me."

Franky raised his brow. "And that is?"

"Are you sure your base or your men can survive a fight between us?"

That sobered up most of the Family. A hundred millions was not extremely high so close to the Red Line, and bounties didn't reflect strength, but my casually mentioning that a Vice-Admiral elected to not fight me put the entire thing in a new light.

Also, thanks Johnathan for specifying to the press that I was not a pirate. For what I remembered, Frankly didn't like pirates -nor the Marines- so me not being either made it less probable I was on his shit-list.

And, after a couple of seconds of complete lack of expression, Franky grinned. "Fair enough. Now, what business proposal do you have for me?"

I walked toward him -the Family tensed again- before sitting down in front of him. "I'm here to commission you to build a ship."

Franky blinked. "A ship? I dismantle ships, not build them."

"Do you now?" I teased him with a little grin. "And even if that's the case, I require your unique talents. I need a ship that's all but impossible to sink. I need something that's comparable to the Oro Jackson. I need wood from the Treasure Tree Adam." My grin disappeared. "And we both know that the World Government forbids the commerce of the wood. But I assume that someone with connections with organized crime -someone like you- knows how to smuggle some, right?"

Franky wore his best poker face and didn't answer. Of course, there was no way he was going to refuse. The first thing he did when he got enough money was to buy enough Adam wood to build a ship, and that was before he befriended the Straw Hats. I was serving him the opportunity on a silver platter.

The result of this negotiation was established before it even started.

"I may have a way to get my hands on some Adam wood, yes. But it will cost you. That shit doesn't come cheap."

I swooped my hand down, materializing a case mid-movement. The hardened leather slammed hard on the wooden floor, making the Franky Family jerk in surprise. Then, with a flick of my fingers, the locks on the case clicked and the thing opened like a clam, revealing stacks of money.

"Five hundred million bery." I announced, making most of the house drop their jaws on the floor. They probably had never seen all that money… not all in one place at least. "Buy all the wood you need, and the rest is for the labor. Restructure the house or spend it in booze, I don't care."

Franky was already halfway to grab the money, but at the last second he hesitated. "Wait… why do you need a ship in the first place? Can't you transform into a giant dragon?"

I chuckled. "Oh, the ship is not for me. Is for some friend that just lost theirs."

"How altruistic of you." Said Franky with narrowed eyes, clearly not believing me.

"Dude, I know that this is going to sound absolutely crazy, but I'm a Sorcerer. You think transforming into a dragon is impressive? I can turn things into gold. Money is not a problem for me. In fact…"

I tapped the case and, true to my word, I transmuted the entire thing into gold. It was actually a relatively long process, with the gold slowly spreading from the point of contact. Despite how easy I made it look, transmuting things was actually really fucking difficult. Fortunately I just needed to do it to the case, which while big, was mostly empty space. If I had to transmute the money too, it would have taken a while.

Of course, taking a long time lets the Franky Family observe the entire process, now with eyes shooting out of their orbits.

When the case had become pure gold, I slapped it close. "There, that should be another… fifty millions, I think. Convinced?"

Franky's eyes returned inside their sockets, sent me a long glance… and then he started laughing. "You must be the most ridiculous guy this side of the Grand Line. Alright, you'll have your ship. Just a thing. Who are your friends? If you're willing to spend this much for them, they must be pretty special."

I grinned at the engineer turned Mob Boss. "Oh, you'll meet them soon enough, and I'm pretty sure you'll like them. But now, I have things to do. Goodbye."

And with that, I teleported outside the house. Not too much, I wanted to hear the Franky Family going absolutely apeshit and start to celebrate.

After that… I had a couple of things to check. There was a part of my plan that needed a consultation with the local maps, because I had no idea where I was supposed to go. Then I needed to make some other preparations to help Water 7. After that… I had to wait.

Unfortunately, right now the situation was outside my control. I didn't have enough time to work with the problems of the crew. I couldn't enhance Usopp's self-worth, nor prepare him for the news of the Merry's end, I hadn't enough time with him to build the kind of trust necessary to make him take my words to heart, hence why I answered honestly to the crews inquiry about the Merry instead of lying. I needed Usopp's anger to be focused outside the crew, to avoid all that useless drama.

Similarly, my attempt to not make Robin's trauma resurface could have succeeded or not. I couldn't know, because Robin was good at acting, and even if she looked okay maybe she was just hiding it well. I really hoped that, when the CP9 approached her, she would tell them to fuck off so none of the nonsense of Enies Lobby happened. If she did and CP9 kidnapped her, I would just bust her out, because the best assassins in the world couldn't stop me from teleporting Robin away from them.

But if her trauma pushed her to accept the deal… That was another matter. Forcibly taking her away from them was not going to solve the issue, because it would just mean that she would just throw herself to the Marines later. No, she needed to overcome her trauma, and for that, things needed to go as they did in the manga… I would just be there to make the entire experience less harrowing.

Until then, I would wait.

Not that I had to wait long. Apparently my intervention accelerated the timetable a little. Normally, it would take a day or two for the entire thing to start, but clearly something pushed the CP9 to speed things up. I was finishing preparing for what was to come when one of my bodies reported chaos at the Galley-La.

Or maybe I just misremembered the timeline.

I had no idea what happened precisely, because I was occupied and I could just spare a couple of bodies for surveillance. I placed one near the Merry and one near the Galley-La while a third went to the local library to take a look at the maps. The other two bodies were used to set the spell in place. It wasn't quite ready yet, but it would be for when it was time, especially since surveillance was over and I could leave my extra bodies to finish the work.

Meanwhile, I wanted to do something. Fortunately, I was a quick walk away from my destination.

-X-

When Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa and Robin reached the train station, they didn't find anyone.

Which was strange. They had said that there was going to be an entire division of agents from Impel Down waiting for them. The silence that hovered on the station was a little unsettling.

Well, for normal people, at least. The CP9 agents had nerves of steel and Robin didn't actually find eerie silence all that disturbing. Still, the fact that there was nobody around put them on alert.

That was before someone emerged from the shadows. A man wearing a sharp dress suit that nobody recognized.

Except Robin.

"Loki?" She asked as the man emerged from the station. She did look worried, probably because she just realized that he probably didn't know about the accord she had with the CP9.

"Robin." He replied.

"What have you done to the agents?" Asked Rob Lucci, his expression cold.

"Who, the ones who were here? They're sleeping." The sorcerer replied. "Contrary to someone else, I don't kill people for the thrill of it."

Kaku and Kalifa shuffled a little. Robin had told enough about Loki for them to take him a little seriously. Of course, they didn't believe he could beat them in a fight, for the Six Powers were invincible, but he didn't need to beat them. The mention that his Devil Fruit had more powers than it seemed was enough to put them on alert.

"Nico Robin explicitly included you on the list of people that the Government will leave alone if she came with us, despite not being a member of the crew." Replied Lucci, without breaking a sweat. "But if you take action against us, we'll defend ourselves. Lethally, if necessary."

The sorcerer's eyes landed on the woman. "Is that true, Robin? Did you make a pact with them?"

"Yes." She said, her expression serious… before cracking slightly. "So, please, don't do anything."

The man took a second to take a deep breath before sighed heavily. "Really, Robin. You're a very smart person, but that is just stupid. Do you really think that the crew is just going to accept you leaving them?"

"They will if they think I betrayed them." She replied. "After all, it worked for you."

Loki snorted, amused. "Touché. Even if the circumstances are quite different."

Apparently irritated by the casual tone of the man, Lucci interrupted the chat. "Are you here to stop us?"

"Who, me? Nah, I'm not here to stop you. I don't need to." He sent a look to Robin. "You know it, Robin. I can see how this will go."

The archeologist's face morphed into a mask of worry. "Please, you have to stop them…"

"You are under the impression I can stop the Straw Hat pirates from doing anything, Robin, which I do not. And even if I did, I actually wouldn't. The reason I'm not acting now is because it will be better for you if I let this play out. But make no mistake. They will come, and I'll be right there with them."

Robin didn't say anything more.

"If you're not here to stop us, why are you here?" Asked Kaku, with just a little curiosity in his voice.

Loki grinned, and only Robin realized he was playing with them. "Oh, that's really pretty simple. I was just searching for some sparring partners. You know, since I was kicked out from the crew, I need someone to keep me sharp."

"Then let's get over this." Coldly said Kalifa, grabbing her thorny whip and making it snap against him.

But Loki had no problem just raising his arm and letting the whip wrap around it, catching the end of the whip just a second before it smashed against his face.

"Kinky." Commented the sorcerer.

"That's sexual harassment." Replied the ex-secretary, not looking impressed.

She did look surprised when Loki squeezed the whip and the weapon instantly caught fire. The blonde assassin let it go as the fire reached her hand, and a second later the only thing remaining of it were ashes.

"I'll admit, that's a good magic trick." Said Kaku, but got silenced by Lucci's glare.

"You two, bring Nico Robin on the Puffing Tom. If he requires someone to spar with, I'll be happy to oblige."

Robin widened her eyes in panic. "Our agreement-"

"It's still valid." Cut her out the assassin. "And as such, I will not kill him. However, beating him is permitted as long as he doesn't receive permanent damage."

Robin looked like she wanted to protest, but she ultimately decided to slip into a mask of coldness and walked toward the station, Kaku and Kalifa right behind her. The two agents kept an eye on Loki as they walked, but they passed him without the sorcerer moving a muscle. Only when they were well behind him and almost at the train did they stop, even if they didn't lower their guard.

"What is the real reason you want to fight with me?" Rob Lucci asked as his colleagues entered inside the Puffing Tom.

Loki chuckled. "I could tell you, but where is the fun in that?"

The World Government's best assassin let a bloodthirsty grin spread on his face. "I have to thank you. I feared that this assignment would end without an interesting fight. But if half the things I heard about you are true, maybe you could be entertaining."

"I aim to please." Replied the sorcerer. "And I have to thank you. You have no idea how enlightening this will be for me."

For a second, Lucci's bloodthirst receded. What did he mean with that? That he was using him to… learn something? But what could he possibly learn by fighting him? Nothing… unless he planned to fight him again. In that case, letting the man live could be a mistake.

However, he couldn't kill him. Not directly at least. No matter. He just needed to wound him so badly that he wouldn't be able to move until the Aqua Laguna hit the city.

Five minutes later, Rob Lucci entered inside the Puffing Tom, uncharacteristically disheveled. Nothing major, just some hair out of place, light grazes on his skin, and the fabric of his clothes crumpled in the chest.

"I assume he was good." Said Kaku as he looked at him.

"Decent." Admitted Lucci, sitting down. "He seemed to want a pure exchange of martial arts. He didn't use any of his Fruit powers, so I didn't either. Fortunately, while his technique was good, he lacked speed."

Meanwhile, Loki was lying in a pool of blood a couple of blocks away. So, when Nami arrived at the station, she didn't find him.

But Sanji did.

"You look terrible." Said the cook, looming over the sorcerer.

Loki snorted. "Still angry that I refused to fix the Merry?"

"More than you let Robin go without resistance." Admitted the blond, puffing out a cloud of smoke.

"It's better this way." Replied Loki. "You'll understand shortly."

"What, are you starting to go all 'I work in mysterious ways'?".

The sorcerer chuckled, making more blood gush out from his wounds. "Nah, nothing like that. Besides, we don't have time to chat. Follow Robin. I have something to do."

As he said that, he started to stand, but Sanji lowered himself and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy there, Loki. You took a good beating."

"Ah, you were watching? Not my best performance, I have to admit, but instructive." The sorcerer focused, and immediately, the wounds started to heal right under the cook's eyes. "Now go. I have to be fully focused for this."

-X-

All the activities in the city came to a screeching halt when the ocean started to retreat. The Aqua Laguna was coming.

And while Luffy and Zoro were trying to extract themselves from the buildings, nobody noticed four figures descending into the alleys and positioning themselves in the four cardinal points.

"Here it comes." Murmured Briin.

A giant wave, several times taller than the buildings in the lower parts of Water 7, approached the city. There was no doubt that nothing in the lower levels would remain above the water.

"It's one of the worst Aqua Laguna I've seen." A Galley-La worked commented with horrified awe.

There were more comments like that, mixed with people shouting about the Straw Hats being still in the lower neighborhoods, but Briin was not worried. She had never seen anything, but she could still feel the magic building up in the air. It had been a constant hum in her ears. Well, not really, there was no sound, but that was the impression she got. She didn't know what the build-up was for, since she didn't know magic enough to try to guess, but she knew that it was there and that there was just one person in the entire world able to work such a grandiose artifice of magic.

Now that she saw the Aqua Laguna coming, she understood.

As the wave approached, four circles appeared in the lower levels, their azure light clearly visible even from the top of the city. Then, the four circles connected to each other, forming another circle that encompassed all Water 7.

Then, the air shook as four voices Shouted.

"Feim. Zii. Gron!"

And just like that, everything became… grey. There wasn't really a better way to explain it. Everything -the people, the city, the sky and the water- became translucent and lost color, making the entire world look like it was made of particularly thick glass, or some sort of solid smoke.

And when the Aqua Laguna hit… it didn't. It passed through the city like it was not there.

"WHAAAAAAT!?" Shouted the people watching.

Meanwhile, one of the circles of light died out, not completely but enough to not be so visible from the distance. Four circles, four waves.

Brinn smiled.

Time for Boarding 1.2

When the Straw Hats arrived at the Rocket Man, I was already there, sitting in a corner in full armor.

"Loki?" Asked Zoro, and I raised my eyes to meet the swordsman.

"Hi Zoro. Fancy meeting you here."

"Loki! It was you that made everything look grey, right? That was so cool!" Exclaimed Luffy, emerging from behind Zoro.

"Thank you, Luffy."

"Loki? Why are you here?" Asked Nami, entering right after the other two.

"What do you think? I'm here to help save Robin."

"How did you-" The navigator stopped mid-sentence and exchanged a look with Zoro, while Luffy appeared confused.

"You knew all of this was going to happen." Finished the girl. It was not a question.

"Well, yeah. Why do you think I placed the barrier to stop the Aqua Laguna?"

Nami's face contorted in rage. "I'm not talking about that! I'm talking about Robin! If you told us, we could have done something!"

"Like?" I asked.

Nami's rage stuttered. "I… we could have talked to her."

"Sure. And if she decided to not talk, or to lie about it, what would have you done?"

"Robin wouldn't… !" Started Luffy, before stopping as he realized that that was exactly what had just happened.

I grimaced under the mask. "Yeah, I thought so. If it's of any consolation, I didn't know for sure if Robin would have done that. There was the possibility that she wouldn't, and I decided to trust her to make the right decision… which she didn't, as you have seen. I had really hoped that my gamble at Long Ring Long Land had paid off, but…"

"That was weeks ago." Commented Zoro.

I shrugged. "Yeah, it was. Some points in the future are more clear than others. Constants, you could call them. Events so big that you can't miss them. I knew this was going to happen, so I tried my hardest to avoid it. Robin should have been the one frozen by Aokiji, not me. I took her place, hoping it would make a difference… but it didn't."

They didn't look convinced.

I grunted with annoyance. "It must seem so easy for you, doesn't it? 'You can see the future, Loki, just change things if something bad is going to happen'. You know what else I can do? I can heal. But you don't see me healing everyone. I can also transmute matter, but you don't see me making food for every starving child in the world. And that's for the same reason I would not repair the Merry, because I'm not omnipotent. I have to pick my battles. You think that shielding the city from the Aqua Laguna was without consequences? I burned more power in that than I had, and that leaves wounds that I cannot just heal. I can conjure maybe a fifth of my usual power right now, and not just because I'm still fueling the magic. Even when the final wave will arrive and the protection will fall, I will take most of the day to return at full power. I will have to fight through Enies Lobby with maybe half the magic I can normally use."

"And for that, I thank you." Came Iceburg voice from outside the Rocket-man.

Has he heard me? He either had great hearing or I raised my voice without realizing it. Anyway, I continued.

"And that's just the good things I can do. You know what else I can do? Necromancy. Mind control. Spread plagues. Curse the land. I can do a lot of things, but I don't do it without a good reason. So, let's talk about Robin, shall we? How, precisely, I could have stopped her? I taught her the way of the Shadows. She can literally teleport. How am I supposed to stop her from just throwing herself to the Marines in a misguided attempt to protect you? Maybe I should have bound her to the crew, chained to you like a prisoner? Or maybe I should have just messed with her mind, changed her thoughts so she could never betray you, even if in good faith?"

"No!" Exclaimed Luffy.

"Then what I was supposed to do!?" I asked, my frustration finally taking over. "Something horrible happened to Robin, something so terrible that the thought of that happening again fills her with so much fear that she's willing to sacrifice herself to avoid it. You think I can just heal that kind of trauma in a month? I'm not a therapist, I'm a sorcerer. I cannot force her to change without slipping down to a slippery slope. But what do you know about the responsibility of power? I'm the Last Dragonborn. The fabric of reality itself bends to my very voice. Do you know how it is to fear your own power? To fear what you will become IF YOU JUST SLIP ONE TIME!?"

"Father, stop." Called a voice. Briin. I blinked, finding myself standing, and the car filled with people that were sending me alarmed looks.

Ah, I was burning. I suppressed the flames of my Anima and sat back.

"Sorry." I said, looking down. "I shouldn't have shouted."

Most of the people in the car -the rest of the Straw Hat crew, some Galley-La and Franky Family bigshots- didn't say anything. Luffy was watching me with a very serious expression on his face, but didn't say anything either.

"We're going to talk about this later." Decided the captain.

"Yeah." I nodded. "When we're all together."

"Good! So, since you're here, do you have any suggestions on how to save Robin?" Asked Luffy.

I sent him a look and shrugged. "Nothing fancy while I lack my powers. My suggestion? Destroy Enies Lobby and beat everyone between you and her."

"Then let's do that!" Nodded the rubber-man before turning and searching for a place where to sit.

"Are you sure there isn't another way?" Asked Nami.

I sighed. "Nami, I'll tell you something. While I can see the future, I cannot see what happens when I mess with it. When I change things too much I lose the ability to predict what will happen. Sure, maybe there is another way, but I don't know it. If you ask me what happens if we try to do something, your guess of the consequences are as good as mine."

The navigator sent me an odd look. "Well, I suppose that's a good reason to not change things, especially if the result is good… because we will win, right?"

I smiled. "Of course you will. I wouldn't let this madness happen if you didn't manage to come out victorious at the end. It will not be easy by any stretch of imagination, but you will come out on top."

The ginger looked satisfied with that and turned away.

That left only Zoro.

"I don't like the way you manipulated us." Commented the swordsman.

"I doubt people like being manipulated. You know, in general."

"And there is something else." Added the man. "Most of us come from outside the Grand Line, so we don't know much about it, but I got the impression that you are not telling us everything. You are… too strange."

I sent him a curious glance. "What, you want my biography? I don't remember you interrogating the rest of the crew."

"The rest of the crew didn't keep secrets of that magnitude from us."

I chuckled. "I sincerely doubt it. Just think about what Robin has done."

Zoro frowned. "I'm sure she has her reasons."

"And I don't?"

He continued to look at me for a while, before his expression relaxed slightly. "I suppose you do. Just… it's difficult to trust you, since we arrived here."

I shrugged. "I suppose it is. It must look like I should do more, with all my powers and knowledge, right?"

Zoro nodded. "Yes. But let me guess… you're not omnipotent?"

I snorted. "Pretty much."

"You'll have to explain why you did all of this, Loki." Said the first mate. "All of this seems so… superfluous."

"You'll get your explanation, Zoro. But you heard the captain. Later."

He nodded and walked away.

A second later, Briin was sitting next to me.

"How are you feeling, Father?" She asked, looking at me worried.

I sighed. "Drained."

"That… it was not like you usually react."

I grunted. "Yeah. My patience takes a dive when I don't feel well."

Briin frowned. "It's that bad?"

"Protecting an entire city is not a joke. I don't have the range to do that, or the power. Even closing the entire city in a singular circle and using that to affect it all the same time merely made the entire thing possible, not easy. I feel like I pulled my magic muscle… which is bad when my entire body works on magic."

Brinn winced. "I think I get it. Everything hurts?"

"Yeah. And it's more difficult to do too. I can move without problems, but trying to do more than the equivalent of a walk is going to be painful."

And I couldn't even shut it down because the pain was not something coming from the body, just how I processed my magic reserves having strained so badly. As for the amount of magic I could use… one fight had been generous. Yeah, I could do that much if I pushed, but it was probably going to make things worse.

Brinn didn't say anything, just leaning against me. The Rocketman started, and for a while nothing happened. Then…

"The Aqua Laguna! We're going to hit it."

"Zoro! Let's go!" Exclaimed Luffy.

"No." Said Briin, and her tone left no space for discussion. "I do not know how much help I will be in a fight, but the Aqua Laguna is mine."

There was silence for a second. "Well, who better than the sea goddess to defeat a giant wave? Go get it, girl." Smiled Nami.

Briin nodded and climbed on the roof of the car. Silently, I followed her.

She took a deep breath and pointed her trident toward the tsunami that was in collision course with us.

"Careful." I said, and she jumped away.

"Father! Don't scare me like that."

"You'll have to work on your situational awareness. As I said, be careful. The rails of the train were constructed to float. If you remove too much water while the train is over them, they could snap in two.

Briin frowned, understanding. She could move a small amount of water with great precision and speed, but the more water she controlled the less finesse she could apply. She could open a passage inside the Aqua Laguna for us… the problem was if she was able to remove just the quantity necessary and not more.

"I have faith in your abilities." I continued, and her face lightened. "Maybe you cannot do it with your actual control, but you're not just a hydromancer. You're a goddess of the sea." I nodded at the wave. "Now focus."

Briin nodded resolutely and turned toward the Aqua Laguna, her trident pointing down and a relaxed expression on her face. She closed her eyes and raised her head, like she was trying to hear a distant sound.

Almost inaudible in the storm came the voice of Nami. "Uh, Briin, I don't want to put pressure on you, but if you could hurry…"

Briin didn't hear her, or she just elected to ignore the navigator, still in her little trance. And I noticed something had changed. The rain seemed to fall slowly and the waves calmed, all of sudden. In fact, the entire ocean seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for something that was going to happen at any moment.

Briin opened her eyes and raised her trident toward the sky.

And in front of the Rocketman, the Aqua Laguna split in two from just under the rails to the peak of the wave.

"WHAAAAAAAT!?"

I smiled. "Remember this day, Briin. This is the day you made your first step into godhood."

The goddess swayed a little. I was just there to grab her, but she didn't need it. She steadied herself in a second. "That was… weird. I felt like I was the sea again, just for a second. I… I don't think I can do that often." She looked at me and I could see fear in her eyes. "I think that if I do, I cannot turn back."

I didn't reply immediately. "It will get better." I finally said. "You just need to live more. The more you separate your mind by the sea, the easier it will be to return yourself."

"Wouldn't that make it more difficult for me to return to the sea?" Asked the goddess.

"I don't think so. Even if now you're a separate individual, you're still the sea. That cannot be changed. It's a link that will never go away." I saw something in front of us. "But it's a problem for later. Zoro! There is a swordsman blocking the path."

"Where?" He asked, grabbing the edge of the roof and hoisting himself up.

I pointed and, just to be sure, I made a magical lens to let him see the details. In the distance, T. Bones was standing on the rails and cutting down Sea Kings.

Zoro smiled dangerously. "Well, this will be interesting."

I gestured to Briin and we returned inside the train. It wouldn't take long for us to arrive at Enies Lobby, and while I didn't see what happened -I think at some point Zoro cut in two a train cart full of government agents- but nothing especially interesting happened.

Well, aside from Usopp and Sanji reuniting with the crew. They were in another cart that got abandoned… maybe to speed up the Puffing Tom, or just to leave them behind.

There was a tense moment when Usopp -wearing a set of enchanted gear that I helped him make- noticed me. The Sogeking's mask was new… but I did help with a particularly tricky Illusion enchantment on his headgear. Maybe it was just that.

"What are you doing here?" Asked the sniper. I could feel he was still angry.

"What do you think?" I asked back.

Usopp tried to say something, but Sanji put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. "Later, Usopp. First we save Robin."

He didn't reply.

"Usopp? Not Sogeking?" I asked, smiling. "I'm impressed."

The sniper turned on me. "What do you mean?"

"In the future I saw, you were so scared to face Enies Lobby that you hid behind the mask of 'Sogeking', the sniper king. A way to trick yourself into being more brave than you think you are." I nodded at him. "This time, you used your real name. Good job, Usopp. You're becoming the brave warrior of the sea you want to be."

Usopp's glasses covered his eyes, so I couldn't see the look he was giving me. But he was the first to break line of sight. "It's just because of the courage enchantment I slipped on the googles."

"What, those two runes you put in the middle of others? I doubt they had much of an effect."

"Wait, you knew?"

"I taught you how to put enchantments on your gear, Usopp. Of course I knew. And I didn't tell you because the faster you outgrow your placebos, the better it is."

The rest of the discussion was interrupted by Luffy and Chopper asking excitedly what kind of cool powers his gear -especially mask and cape- had. Well, no matter. We were close to our destination anyway.

And in fact, ten minutes later, we came crashing on the Judicial Island. As expected, Luffy had jumped forward and was trying to beat all the Marines in the base by himself. The Franky Family volunteered to open the gates to let the Rocketman inside, since I barely had the power to teleport myself, nevermind something as big as the train, or the number of people currently inside it. I could manage to make the Straw Hats fly, maybe, but with the protection on Water 7 still up I had problems doing anything fancy.

The problem arrived when somehow the guards of Enies Lobby managed to close the first gate. Fucking hell, I had forgot about that. Well, plan B. Fly over it.

It was… a rough stop.

"It's the last time I let you drive me anywhere, granny." I groaned.

"Like you need me to drive you, dragon-boy! N-gagagaga!"

I stood up. Enies Lobby was right in front of us. Well, one of the gates was. There was also a plaza and a lot of Marines inside it.

"Hey Nami. Ready to test your weapon?" I asked.

The navigator extracted herself from the train and looked around. Her new weapon, the Perfect Clima-Tact, was pretty much identical to the one in the manga, with the only difference being that, being plated with Blue Jade, it was actually blue instead of red. Yeah, the adaptation fucked up the colors for some reason. "Sure. Do you have any ideas?"

"Let's see how much control it gives you. Strun. Bah. Qo."

For a second, nothing happened.

Then, thick grey clouds appeared over Enies Lobby and lightning started to fall.

Nami sent me a look. "I thought you said you cannot do much magic."

"That was not magic. That was a Shout."

She whirled her weapon in her hands before separating a couple of pieces. "Something similar to the sorcery you taught me?"

"Of sorts. No magic fuel required. Just focus, will, and life-force."

"I see…" She said, closing her eyes. "In that case… Sorcery Tempo!"

Instantly, several lightning bolts were deflected toward the plaza, frying all the people inside.

Well, all aside Zoro and Sanji, who had taken position in the frontlines to engage the Marines.

"Oh, wow." Said Nami. "This thing is awesome."

"Yeah… be cautious with it. The lightning didn't hit Zoro and Sanji because they're mine. I'm not sure what would happen if you were to use your own."

"Of course, I- USOPP! YOU DIDN'T MAKE THIS THING SELECTIVE!?"

"P-please Nami, I have no idea how your sorcerous mumbo jumbo works! I just made it so it would help you. If it's possible to make it selective you'll have to find out for yourself."

Nami was fuming, but didn't say anything. Meanwhile, the destruction continued.

"Well, let's not waste more time. We need to reach that big tower. Fenrir!"

The giant black wolf materialized at my side, making everyone near me jolt away in surprise.

"Help us deal with the rabble while we think about the CP9." I said, patting his neck. He replied by licking my face and then, with a howl, he jumped in the battle.

"Let's go."

Time for Boarding 1.3

Arriving at the tower was a slow process. Slow because we actually had to fight our way to it instead of, you know, teleport there.

Even if, in hindsight, it was better this way, because it meant that Usopp could remain behind, talk to the two giants, and convince them to fight with us. Well, if I remember right it was more because they were tricked into the position so they were taking revenge on the Marines, but, details.

Anyway, the -relatively- long slog through Enies Lobby's forces made me realize two things. First: learning all that was to learn -or at least the things I could get easy access to- in Skyrim had been worth it. Even with my magical powers severely limited, I had lost nothing in combat effectiveness. Most of my usual tricks -teleport behind you, for example- still worked, because Shadow Magic, Shouts and the Nirnian Martial Arts were more than enough to cover them without using magic, only stamina. Sure, my magic was my stamina these days, but more in the sense that I could use my magic instead of my stamina. In a pinch, I could still use the power of my body. In personal combat, the loss of magic was not a huge deal.

On the other hand, in terms of strategic combat I lost a lot. I already talked about how in normal situations I would just bail the crew out using teleportation, but fighting along the Straw Hats really put in perspective how much of a utility tool my magic was. There were things I simply couldn't do -mass healing, mass buffing, general support- that I couldn't use with Shouts. I could for singular individuals, or a few people, but affecting all the battlefield was not doable without magic, and Sorcery for that matter, but Sorcery didn't work well in One Piece because of the lack of ambient Essence. Shadow Magic was even more individualistic in that regard, with most powers just affecting me and not anyone else. The Akaviri Martial Arts did possess some support abilities, but they were meant to enhance a small group of allies, not entire armies, so the problem still persisted.

If I had my full power, the Franky Family would have a far easier time dealing with the Enies Lobby's men. As it was, it was a slow, bloody fight. The addition of an extra Straw Hat, mine and Fenrir's presence helped alleviate the pressure -for example, a group of wolf-riding soldier got routed the moment Fenrir took control over the entire pack with a single howl- but even then, a lot of people were going to be badly hurt at the end of this.

Fortunately, I could pull my weight when we arrived at the last gate.

"There is no way we can climb that." Commented Nami, looking at the gigantic structure.

"We don't need to. I'm limited, not powerless. I cannot fly you up there, but I can surely make you…" I paused, looking around. "Where is Sanji?"

"He already ran inside at the cry of 'wait for me, Robin-swan!'." Dutifully informed me Chopper.

"And Zoro?"

"Run behind him to not be beaten in the race, I assume." Shared Briin.

I sighed. "Alright, this makes things easier anyway. Like I was saying, I cannot fly you there, but I can make you run on the walls like they're flat ground. We should avoid most fights with that. Ready?"

They nodded and, a second later, a pulse of Alteration magic covered them. "Then let's go."

As such, we started to run on the wall, causing a series of surprised shouts that I was learning to tune out -it had been fun the first few times but now it was just annoying- and we reached the roof just in time to hear Luffy ask a question

"Robin! You want to die?"

I raised my gaze to look at Luffy, who was clearly picking his nose -a bad habit I possessed myself, but I managed to avoid thanks to having a mask on my face-, then directly at Robin.

"What the heck are you talking about?"

At that moment, a gust of wind exploded between us and Luffy, probably Zoro cutting his way to the roof because his sense of direction was zero.

"Hey Robin. We're already here, all of us. Even Loki showed up! So, we're going to save you!"

Zoro emerged from the hole with a grunt.

"And if you still wanna die… then do it later."

Then, it was the turn of Sanji to emerge from below, kicking the roof away. In the middle of a discussion, Usopp showed up too, flying through the air… and instead of crashing like anyone expected, his cape opened like a pair of wings and let him land slowly. Ah, Featherfall. What a nice little enchantment you are.

Alright… time to get serious.

All together, we moved toward the railing of the building.

"I'm begging you, Robin! If you wanna die or whatever… you can say whatever you want, but you must say it to our faces!"

"He's right, Robin!" Shouted Nami, climbing on the battlements.

"Robin, come back!" Added Chopper. A series of requests for her to return to the crew came while we took position.

I looked at the formation. Chopper, Sanji and Usopp were at Luffy's left, in that order. On Luffy's right, Zoro, Nami, me and Briin.

It was a fucking cool formation.

"Just leave the rest to us!" Shouted Luffy.

Robin didn't answer, and Luffy was already turning toward Zoro.

"Dawnbridge?" He asked.

"The Franky's Family is working hard to open it." Replied Zoro.

"You jumped the gun and rushed over to the rooftop, so we had no choice but to meet you here." Added Sanji.

"If things go south I can probably bring you to the Tower of Law anyway." I interjected, attracting the gaze of the crew. "I counted the time between the waves of the Aqua Laguna. I will have part of my power back soon. Enough to make a jump across."

They looked at the apparently endless void where the waters around Enies Lobby fell, and they shuddered. "Let's keep that as a last resort." Said Nami, and everyone nodded in acknowledgement.

"CP9!" Spandam shouted suddenly, causing most of the crew to jump in surprise. "I'm giving you the order to kill those pirates. But do it in the Tower of Law, since there is no guarantee they'll arrive here."

Of course, the real reason he was giving that order was because he was too scared of someone getting him if we actually managed to reach the tower. Fucking coward, I could read the terror on his face from here. I was not the most brave guy around, but I didn't go that far.

Meanwhile, Spandam had somehow managed to gain a little courage -maybe looking at the CP9 reassured him of his power- and was laughing. "You stupid pirates, you'll learn that nothing you can do will change anything! Cower before the power of the assassin group CP9. Bow under the weight of the Gate of Justice, which mere human power cannot open." Then, he pulled out something from his pocket. "And moreover, I now have the authority to use this golden snail transponder to make a Buster Call!"

Robin's face immediately darkened, and I tensed. I didn't remember how some things happened in this particular part of the manga - not in detail- but I didn't need to know to guess that Spandam was going to be a petty asshole and reveal in his -borrowed- power to hurt her.

"Yes, just twenty years ago, this was the power that wiped out your country, Nico Robin." He continued, jumping on the railing to shove the golden snail under Robin's nose. "And the name of Ohara disappeared from the maps the following year… isn't that right."

"Robin's homeland?" Asked Chopper.

"That crappy mask! I feel like kicking him over the waterfall right now!" Growled Sanji.

"Stop! Not that!" Cried Robin.

Spandam was clearly having a kick out of Robin's fear. "Whee. I love that reaction. What a thrill it gives me. What? Does that mean that I should press this button? Huh?"

Robin's face was just full of terror at this point. "Do you realize what will happen if you press that button!?"

"Of course I do! With just one press of this button on the golden transponder snail, I will reduce the possibility of the pirates escaping the island to zero! Does it bring back memories? Waahahaha!"

"It won't end that easily. Just stop it!"

Being the little shit that Spandam was, he didn't take being ordered around well. I saw him twitch. "You're pretty cocky, aren't you?"

"You said that Ohara disappeared from the maps, right? But can you confirm the presence of people on the maps?" She balked, clearly the weight of her trauma crashing down on her. "You people only see the world through such devices… that's why you can do such heinous things."

Robin disappeared behind the railing, kneeling down as the memories returned, and I decided to do something that would motivate the Straw Hats. I reached with my mind Robin's thoughts.

Show them.

I felt Robin wince at the unexpected contact.

You want them to understand why you did this? Show them.

I don't know how.

I'll help you. Open your mind to me.

Robin hesitated… but the memories were already building, and after a second, she let them flow to me. I linked myself to the rest of the Straw Hats, and let them look.

And so they saw Robin's life at Ohara. They saw the archeologists, her becoming one, her meeting with Saul, the brief reunion with the mother before losing her again, the death of Saul and the destruction of Ohara, and brief flashes of what it had been like to live with a bounty since you were eight.

Now you know. Her last words came though the link, before I snapped it shut. I couldn't maintain it any more.

But it had been enough. Before, the Straw Hats had been serious.

Now they were furious. Every single one of them wore a mask of cold rage. Most were immobile, only Usopp was shivering, but not from the fear. And Briin, sweet Briin… her eyes had gone dark, like water during a storm.

On my part, I was barely suppressing my desire to grab Spandam and go Darth Vader on him. I knew what happened to Robin, but feeling it had been another story entirely.

"The Buster Call will not destroy only the island." She said, slowly standing up. "If you press that button, everyone will be killed."

"That's ridiculous! As if they'll attack their own comrades. What are you saying?" Fucking Spandam, shut up if you don't know shit.

"You've seen… what weapon is pointed at you… my friend, who I found at long last." Robin stood and watched us from afar. "The more I remain with you, the greater the danger. My enemy… is the world. You say you're willing to fight with me… but I already caused too many problems… first Aokiji, now this… at some point, the burden will be too much. You'll have to betray and abandon me! That's why I didn't want you to save me. If I have to die, I want to die here."

Oh Robin…

"Wahahaha! Yes, I understand. That makes perfect sense. With a target like that, nobody would consider you anything but an annoyance." Spandam pointed at the flag of the World Government. "You see that, pirates? That symbol represents the union of more than one hundred and seventy nations distributed across all the seas and the Grand Line. It represents the world. Do you understand how frivolous your resistance is? Do you understand the power of the organization that's after this woman?"

Nobody said anything for a second… then Luffy looked up at the flag. "Yes, I understand who Robin's enemy is." He paused for a second. "Usopp, Loki, Briin… shot that flag down."

In complete silence, Usopp pointed his weapon, Briin raised her trident, and I un-crossed my arms and let electricity flow in my right hand.

Then, together and still completely silent, we shoot.

Our three attacks connected at the same time, and reacted explosively. Fire mixed with water charged by electricity, and the result was a powerful detonation. The flag didn't catch fire. It exploded in a million pieces.

"No way…" Robin whispered.

"They did it! Do the pirates realize what attacking the flag means!?"

"Are you crazy!? Do you really think you can survive with the world as your enemy!?" Shouted Spandam.

"BRING IT ON!" Luffy replied, and I felt my rage quiet down. I knew what was going to happen and I couldn't wait. "Robin! I still have to hear it from your lips. TELL ME YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

It started slowly. First, her eyes filled with tears. Then, those same tears started to flow down. Then she bit down her lips. And finally…

"… I WANT TO LIVE!" Cried Nico Robin, now and forever, archeologist of the Straw Hat pirates. "TAKE ME ON THE SEA WITH YOU!"

"Darn it, I love you guys!" Came a sob from Franky, somewhere behind the railing.

At that moment, the drawbridge started to open up.

"Yes, it's opening!"

"Robin, we're coming to rescue you!"

And then something exploded and the bridge stopped lowering.

"Ah, fuck. If I remembered it I could have stopped it…" I murmured. Or maybe not. I didn't know how powerful that shot had been. Gunpowder here seemed to have more kick than in my world. Of course, if I had my power back I could try anyway, but it seemed like the last wave was late.

"Someone's interfering! Who are they?" Asked Luffy.

"Director Spandam, please get out of the Tower of Law!" A voice came from the gate. There was someone inside aside from the guard? Who?

"All right. Well done. I have to go through the Gate of Justice before they cross." Wheezed Spandam, clearly on the verge of total panic. "You're coming with me, Nico Robin. Someone bring Cutty Flam!"

"Robin!" Cried Chopper.

"Hmph… you silly pirates. I have the assassin of the CP9, Nico Robin, the last survivor of the island of scholars who wanted to conspire to revive the Ancient Weapons, and Cutty Flam, who inherited the blueprints of those weapons… there is no way I'm going to let such an opportunity to power slip away!"

I was ready to blast Spandam head off with a firebolt when Franky suddenly stood and brought up a stack of papers.

Spandam seemed to have a spasm from the surprise. "That… is that possible? Are those the blueprint of the Ancient Weapon Pluton?"

"It is." The cyborg said, and grinned. "Take a look, Kaku and Lucci. You should be able to understand." He raised a couple of pages. I couldn't see the blueprints from there, but clearly they were authentic since both the assassins were still. For the first time, I saw Lucci lose his composure.

"Could it possibly be… you had them hidden inside your body?" Murmured Kaku.

"I-is it real? Then give it to me. Hand it over. It's the blueprint of my dreams!"

"Nico Robin…" Started Franky. "I now know that you're not a devil trying to revive the Ancient Weapons. As it is, this is not just the blueprint of a weapon. You hear me, Spandam?"

"Give it to me!" No, he wasn't.

"The reason Mister Tom and Icebrug protected it with their lives is simple. If someone was to put their hands on the Ancient Weapon, some stupid idiot like you, drunk with power… then another weapon needed to be made. That's the wish of the weapons creator! And with Nico Robin around, there is certainly the possibility of the weapon being resurrected. She's a dangerous woman… but she has a friend ready to protect her… so, I'm going to take a gamble. To fulfill the wish of the creator, there is only one thing to do."

"Stop rambling and give it to me! It's mine!"

Of course, Franky didn't give it. Instead, he raised the blueprints and shot a gout of flame at them. In half a second, the blueprints were just cinder.

"Nooo! What have you done!? I'll kill youuuu…"

"The blueprint was meant to build a weapon to counter the Ancient one." Explained Franky with a dangerous smile on his face. "But the World Government was able to find them. It was supposed to be a secret, and the moment it's revealed, it must be destroyed. Now the counter to the Ancient Weapon is gone. If the World Government manages to grasp Nico Robin, then nothing will stop them. But if the Straw Hats rescue her, you got nothing. So I'm betting on them winning!"

At that moment, I felt the barrier I erected around Water 7 dissolve, and the clump of magicka I left there to keep the circle stable returned to me. I felt a rush of power as the return of what was more or less half my entire capacity flooded my body and soothed the burning sensation I had felt until now. I had ignored as much as I could and I had managed to push it into the back of my mind, but it was still present. The sudden diminishment of the feeling made me feel at the top of my game. I was not at full power, but I had access to most of my tricks now.

"Magic is back on the menu, guys!" I exclaimed as my Anima erupted around me.

I was so caught by the sensation that I momentarily forgot what was happening. I caught Spandam throwing Franky over the rail in a show of strength I didn't believe him able to -Franky was still made mostly of metal-, but most of what the crew was doing was ignored.

Until I heard the honk of the Rocketman.

Ah, fuck.

The moment I returned to the present, Luffy grabbed all the crew and jumped down.

Time for Boarding 1.4

Happy New Year everbody!

-X-

I just had the time to put a shield on the crew before we slammed against the wall of the tower along with the Rocketman. God that train was fast. And since it was a prototype, he didn't have any kind of dampener. So, the impact was hard and the crew was covered in the rubble of the pierced wall.

"Luffy, one day I'm going to kill you." I said, lifting the rubble with telekinesis.

"Oh, Loki, your magic really is back! That's cool. Can you just grab Robin and leave?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Hold it!" Shouted a voice, and the Straw Hats turned to see… Champa? I was not sure what the hell his name was, since he was one of the most forgettable CP9 agents. The only thing that made him stand out was the zipper he had instead of a mouth. He was in a corner, some ten meters above the ground, gripping the walls like some demented spider.

"What the hell is that?" Asked Luffy.

"Chapapapa. So you've made it into Enies Lobby. But if you go to the next room-"

"Hey, zippman!" I called, and the CP9 agent made a colossal mistake. He looked at me.

The moment his eyes made contact with mine, I released a paralysis spell. Apparently, the compulsion I had done to Johnathan was not the only kind of magic I could channel using my eyes. It applied pretty much to any kind of mental effect, and probably to a lot of other spells too. It had several advantages over the usual bolt or ray, chief among them the fact that it was impossible to see and very hard to counter unless you knew what was coming. Unfortunately I could not deliver very powerful spells using this method, but it was very good if the target didn't have protection against the effect or, like in this case, he didn't expect it.

The assassin froze, stopping what he was saying half-way, and I pointed at him. "Luffy, hit him."

"Gum-Gum Rifle!"

Like I said, I couldn't put much power in the spell I cast using only my eyes. The paralysis spell I cast on Champa(?) lasted a second at most.

Just in time for the assassin to take Luffy's attack in the face and be punched through the wall.

"Thank you, Luffy. As I was saying, I could just take Robin and flee, but the problem is that, if I do that, the CP9 will come for her again and this time they'll go straight for the throat. So, since we're here, I think it's better if we beat the shit out of the CP9 and then flee. What do you say?"

"Agreed." Nodded the Monster Trio.

"Refused!" Exclaimed the Weakling Trio.

"I think it's a SUPER idea." Added Franky.

"Seems like the votes are in favor of beating the CP9." I smiled. "Well, since we're here, I have a couple of pieces of advice. Robin is bound by Seastone handcuffs, so she can't use her powers. I'm not sure she can use the sorcery I taught her, Seastone weakens Fruit users, but even if she could, shadow Sorcery is not going to remove them. Each member of the CP9 has a key, but the one we need is in possession of Kaku. For those who don't know who he is, he has the same nose as Usopp, but squared. He's the second strongest member of the group, and he's a swordsman, so I think Zoro will handle him."

The greenhead grinned demonically.

"Unfortunately, I don't know their position. Nami, stay with Sanji and stop him from meeting Khalifa. Sanji, focus on Jabra. He's the third strongest member of CP9 and a Wolf Zoan. Do you have the Diable Jamble ready? He's an Iron Body specialist and you'll need fire to fight him."

"How the hell do you know-?"

"Not important. Usopp, you must reach the top of the tower and be ready to shoot anything on the Bridge of Justice if things go south. I should be able to open the Seastone handcuff with magic, but in case I fail for whatever reason, it's your job to deliver the key as fast as possible. Clear?"

Usopp nodded resolutely.

"Perfect. Briin, with me. We're going to give them time."

"What do you mean?" Asked Nami.

"Robin is currently being transported to the Gate of Justice, but they cannot walk over there. There is a bridge and then the sea. I'm going to park my ass on that bridge and stop anyone that tries to bring her to the Gates. Briin?"

The sea goddess nodded and walked with me to the now broken wall.

"Give them hell, guys." I said before turning into my dragon form and flying outside the tower, Briin on my neck and grabbing one of my horns. I was in no particular haste, but it was better to move now and have to wait on the bridge than something unexpected happening and risking losing Robin.

I just hoped that they were going to have an easier time.

-X-

Thanks to Loki's advice, the crew was able to quickly reach their objectives. Nami diverted Sanji from Kalifa the moment she saw her. The fight, unfortunately, wasn't particularly advantageous for the navigator of the Straw Hats: she hadn't learned any of the Six Powers -even if she was making progress with Shave- and her sorcery, while impressive, was not really suited for personal combat. Sure, the improved Clima-tact packed quite a punch and was more versatile, since it could summon winds and lightning without making a cloud beforehand, but against a physically superior opponent it was not a decisive advantage. She won, but it was a hard fight.

Sanji and Zoro, however, had an easier time. Zoro had managed to learn the basis of Iron Body, so he had less problems with Kaku's Storm Kicks and could tank them without having to move as much. Meanwhile Sanji was kicking the shit out of Jarba using flaming kicks, and also flaming kicks that released blades of air -or fire, when he decided to combine the two.

Finally, Usopp managed to get to the top of the tower in record time. He couldn't fly, but his gadget helped him stand in the air for longer and make really high jumps, so he climbed the tower, took position, and started to shoot.

Franky, meanwhile, had met Fukuruo the Silent, aka the guy with a zip instead of a mouth. Apparently, he didn't faint after being hit by Luffy's attack because of a technique that let him gauge the strength of his companions, called 'Match'. Since he needed to get hit to measure the Power Levels of the CP9, he could tank pretty much any hit at least once. So, when Luffy had punched him through a wall, he recovered from the hit but not as much as he should have, and had returned to kill the Straw Hats.

The only one that faced problems was Chopper.

Chopper didn't develop any of the Six Powers -even if in his human form he was reaching the Iron Body- and when he found himself facing Kumadori, the member that looked like a kabuki actor… and acted the same way, way overdramatic. Since Chopper's human form was unable to fight the guy properly, he had taken a Rumble Ball and tried to defeat him that way… but then he made the mistake of closing him into a fridge, and Kumadori pulled a Luffy and ingested an enormous amount of food that he managed to digest instantly, recovering from the wounds he had taken until then.

Now, the doctor faced a dilemma. He could take the second Rumble Ball, gambling on whatever he would assume the form he needed to defeat his opponent… or he could try something different.

Chopper had thought long and hard about what Loki had said, and while he didn't feel like using his medical knowledge on his enemies directly, he was pretty sure that the Oath didn't stop him from using his medical knowledge on himself. Well, technically it would stop him from using his knowledge to harm himself, but since he had no intention to do that, he could give consent to himself and was perfectly aware of the risks, there was basically no problem at all! What did it matter if doing so drained his blood and put him at risk of dying? He was going to die anyway if he didn't manage to defeat his opponent.

Admittedly, he hadn't really created new combat techniques, or even explored Blood Magic in any context that was not medical. That meant that, unless he was dangerously close to being completely drained, he could pretty much cure anything short of death and old age. Unfortunately, it also meant that there was nothing ready for a fight.

But then, Chopper remembered something Loki told him regarding magic. Magic was difficult and complicated, but if you knew what you were doing, spells weren't something you needed. He himself, in fact, didn't use 'spells' as people usually intended them, as discrete effects that required precise movements and words to activate. He had gone beyond that, and Chopper could too. He just needed to use Blood Magic like a scalpel, precisely where he needed. A difficult prospect, but when you were a doctor…

Chopper abandoned his Heavy Point form and went into the Walk Point, to gain enough speed and agility to evade Kumadori while making up a new transformation. One time, he and Loki had discussed his various Point forms and the sorcerer had told him that the various Points were just distributing his 'stats' in a certain way. When Chopper had asked for clarification, Loki had projected a diagram where he put 'Attack', 'Defense', 'Agility' and 'Speed', and showed him how most of his forms could be interpreted as him putting more 'points' in them. Heavy Point was focused on Strength and Endurance, Walk Point was all Speed, Arm Points was 100% Attack and so on. He had then added 'Mind' when Chopper pointed out that with his Rumble Ball he could use Scope to assess the enemy weak points. He said that he was a great simplification of what Chopper was actually doing, but that it could be interesting to see what he could do if he decided to 'mix the stat' as he put it.

But right now, Chopper didn't need that. Distributing the stats, as Loki has said, implied that there was a fixed amount of power that Chopper could use and that it couldn't grow. But it wasn't like that. There were other factors, like the strain the transformation put on him. His Rumble-ball forms were strain-free, because they were just variations of his normal forms, but if he pushed that limit…

"Lion Finger Gun!"

Suddenly, Kumadory stopped trying to reach him and instead animated his hair to move like snakes. Just, instead of being actual snakes, the hair assumed the form of several different arms and shot forward like… well, like bullets. Chopper knew the technique, it was described in the poster Loki had made, but he didn't expect it to be used like that.

Several Finger Guns hit him. Most just grazed him, but one managed to hit him on the sides, while another pierced his shoulder. The pain was excruciating, not very dissimilar from actually being shot by a gun, but Chopper grit his teeth and continued to make the 'spell' he needed, one that had a little bit of everything, then amped all to new heights. For a second, the doctor considered the idea of reducing his higher brain functions, to redirect more power to his combat abilities, but he decided not to. He remembered what Doctorine had said when he had woken up after taking three Rumble Balls: he had transformed into a monster. He was not keen on repeating the experience. In fact, losing intelligence in the face of a powerful and well trained opponent was foolish, and also losing the ability to make coherent thoughts when the transformation was going to drain him quickly. Maybe when they had time he would ask someone to help him with it, but right now he couldn't sacrifice cognitive abilities for power.

So, he quickly jumped away, to gain space. He didn't know how much time it would take for him to assume this new form. If it was a normal form, an instant, but since it was something new, it could take a second or two.

It didn't take that long, but it was still more than usual. His body morphed, his arms lengthening and changing in a more human form with powerful but lean muscles coiled around his bones, but maintaining hard, keratinous extremities on the fingers. His chest swelled, expanding to make space for powerful muscles. His legs remained deer-like, but grew too, in the same way his arms did. His face remained the same, but the horns grew vicious and pointy, while the fur on his body stood up. Finally, blood flowed from his wounds and clothed the tips of his horns, granting him a crimson crown.

"Assault Point… " Muttered Chopper, before flinging himself toward Kumadori.

The assassin didn't seem to be worried. "Yes! Now we reach a climax. Who will prevail? Lion Finger Gun!"

The pink hairs of the agent gained life and started to shower Chopper of hits, but the doctor just powered through them, the fur on his body not thick enough to grant complete protection like in his Guard Point, but still enough to soften direct hits and block glancing ones. More wounds appeared on his body, but he didn't care. In fact, the blood that flowed out of them gave him more strength.

Then, suddenly, he had passed through the onslaught and was in front of the assassin. He straightened to deliver his blow, noticing just now that he was as tall as Kumadori, and prepared to strike. The assassin went from confident to scared in a fraction of a second, and started to put up his defense.

"Iron Body!"

"Carving Hoof: Double Diamond!"

Chopper punched with both his hoofed hands right at Kumadori's chest, and the Iron Body couldn't soften the blow enough. There was a crack and two identical, diamond-like imprints appeared on the assassin's body. The kabuki-faced man spit blood as his chest caved in, then he fell down and didn't stand anymore.

Breathing heavily, Chopper forced his body to return to the Heavy Point. As expected, the transformation had drained his stamina in a way he had never felt before. It was like he had fought for two hours instead of two minutes. But he did it. He won.

Now, he just needed to stop all that bleeding. Could he use his own blood to accelerate healing? If he could, then he had completely broken the entire thing. He started to test while running for the bridge.

-X-

We landed on the bridge while invisible. Why?

I don't know. To not alarm Lucci, I think. Spandam was too focused on his fucking career to truly hurt Robin, but I doubted Lucci had such problems. If he thought that Robin would escape, he was going to kill her. Or maybe not, he seemed to be one of those 'I will follow orders and nothing more' type of guy, so if Spandam ordered him to not kill Robin, he wouldn't. On the other hand, he could also decide to interpret the orders creatively and kill Robin if not explicitly ordered.

So, better to be sure.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten that that idiot named Spandam had called the Buster Call when transporting Robin. The announcement blared while we were waiting.

"That's… very bad." Commented Briin.

I nodded. It was bad, and if I remembered about it, I would have avoided it, but my memory was not that accurate on those things. "It is, but it doesn't matter. If things go bad, I'll just take everyone else and run."

I did have the power to do that, but I would have preferred to avoid it if possible. My magic was not at 100% yet, and if I teleported all the crew, there was the possibility that I wouldn't have enough for what came after.

So, when Spandam appeared, dragging Robin by her hair, I didn't waste time. Before he could even see I was there, I closed the distance and punched him into his leathery face.

I held back, of course. Spandam had all the toughness of over-boiled pasta, and despite everything, I didn't want to kill him. After all, Franky and Robin had a claim on his ass. Instead, I just smacked him one time, then grabbed his shirt and threw him on the other side of the bridge.

"Loki…" Whispered Robin, raising her head to look at me.

I cupped her cheek with my right hand. "Ah, look what he has done to you." I channeled Restoration magic and a soft glow escaped from my fingers to dive into Robin. In a couple of seconds, all the wounds on her face healed and she looked almost fine. Almost.

"Thank you." She said.

"Don't mention it." I replied, stretching over and grabbing the handcuffs. A pulse of magic unlocked them, and Robin stood, massaging her wrists.

"Much better."

"Glad to be of use. Now be ready. The Buster Call is coming and Spandam is not going to let you off without a fight. Not that he will fight, but…"

"Father." Briin called, her tone serious. I looked at her, but her gaze was fixed on something on the bridge. I followed her eyes and saw something I didn't expect.

There were two men at Spandam's side. Marine's Officers, by the look of it. Both had black suits and the classic white jacket draped over their shoulders like a cape. They were also more or less the same height, but the one at the left had a red shirt under the suit, an x-shaped scar on his chin, and dark blond hair tied in a pony-tail, with a long thin nose to complete the look. The one on the right had a white shirt, curly hair that arrived at his shoulder, with thick lips, big nose, and his face was full of stern lines. Ah, and he wielded a katana.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Commodore Kibin." Replied the one on the left.

"Rear Admiral Yukimura." Added the one on the right. "HQ was concerned with the safety of the transport of Nico Robin, knowing that there was someone able to fly near her. So they sent us."

I exchanged glances with Briin. A Commodore and a Rear Admiral? That was concerning. I hoped that they were the only unexpected reinforcements sent by the Marines, because this was going to be ugly.

"You're under arrest." Continued the Rear Admiral. "Surrender and hand over Nico Robin."

Briin's trident raised up and pointed at the two, while the Dragon Aspect erupted around me.

"Come and get her."

Time for Boarding 1.5

Good news. Neither the Commodore nor the Rear Admiral seemed to have Haki or particularly nasty Devil Fruit hax. In fact, they didn't seem to have Devil Fruit at all.

Bad news. No Devil Fruit meant that Briin couldn't just lock them in a water prison or something, and while they didn't have Haki, they did know the Six Powers. And they didn't get their position through nepotism.

And that meant that the decision to let Lucci beat me up was going to pay up sooner than expected. Like I've said, I didn't have the time to reverse-engineer the Six Powers while preparing for the ritual first and training Briin after that, but I didn't need to do that if I could just see them. Watching Lucci using the Six Powers was enough for me to understand how to use them. I was far from mastering them, and honestly most of the Six Power, being assassination techniques that relied on unarmed combat, were not particularly compatible with my fighting style.

That said, finding a way to adjust them was child's play.

"Dragon Twister!"

I kicked upward, releasing a tornado of sharp air that impacted Yukimura's wind blades. I wished I could do more, but I was already in that delicate state where I was burning up enough power to fight back but not enough that I was going to be drained anytime soon. Spending more was also going to make things worse for me. I was not healed by the overuse of magic and burning enough power to quickly defeat the Rear Admiral was going to make it worse and leave me drained for the big finale. I could recover by using a Shout, of course, but that wouldn't really solve the problem. And honestly, I was not very worried about the fight with the Rear Admiral. He was strong, but not strong enough to one-shot me, and all in all, that was the only thing I cared about. I could heal any damage he did to me and last enough for the rest of the crew to reach me and dogpile him if necessary.

I don't think we'll need that though. I could deal with him. I just needed to adjust a little to my variants of the Six Powers and be assured that Briin was doing ok. I devoted a part of my attention to see how she was doing, and…

-X-

"Riptide!"

Briin avoided another of the Commodore's attacks by quickly shifting like a water current, hence the name. It was more of a magical technique than a physical one, simply pushing her own body in a direction. The end result was similar to the Shave the Marine was using against her.

"Ocean's Thrust!" She continued, dashing forward and thrusting her trident in something that vaguely reminded him of Dante's Stinger.

Commodore Kibin wisely decided to dodge the attack instead of trying to block it with Iron Body, then tried a Finger Pistol to pierce Briin's shoulder, but the goddess just used her equivalent of Paper Body to shift her mass into water. The Commodore's finger smashed against the flesh-turned-liquid and sprayed it everywhere, but after a second the water just returned in position and the shoulder looked intact.

"A water-based Devil Fruit?" Frowned the Marine. Understandable. Liquid-based Devil Fruits were unheard of. The closest thing you had to a liquid Logia was Akainu's magma and a swamp Logia, but they were blurring the definition of 'liquid'.

So, a water Logia was bound to attract attention.

"I have nothing of the sort." Denied Briin. "My powers are not derived from a Devil's Fruit. I'm Briin Deinmon, daughter of Loki, and I'm the goddess of the sea!"

She raised her trident and immediately a wave climbed over the edge of the bridge -which was impressive, considering the sea was several dozen meters down- before shifting into three spheres of waters just a little bigger than a human head that floated behind her.

"Sea's Bullets!" She shouted, and the three spheres started spewing extremely fast droplets of water. Commodore Kibin's body tensed as he activated his Iron Body, but the bullets still managed to make him flinch.

-X-

… Yeah, she was doing fine.

I slammed my gauntlets against the blade of the Rear Admiral, blocking the impact. Really, for being one of the highest ranked officers in the Marines, this guy wasn't that impressive. But then, since there could be only three Admirals, Vice-Admirals probably varied a lot in strength. Hell, Garp was a Vice-Admiral and he was probably stronger than the Admirals. I suppose the same thing applied to Rear Admirals. Yukimura could be a good Rear Admiral, showing off the gulf between them and the Vice-Admirals, or he was just a weak Rear Admiral and the fact that I was matching him meant nothing.

Not that it mattered to me.

"How can that armor block my strikes?" Asked Yukimura, probably rhetorically. I answered anyway.

"Dragonbones. Harder than steel, enchanted to block strikes from giant monsters."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Ah, the advantage of being from another reality. You could tell the truth and nobody would believe you. That made any kind of preparation they could make completely useless, because they did prepare for what they believed I was doing instead of what I was actually doing.

Case in point, the Rear Admiral didn't believe me. Well, he didn't say it, but I got it from the way he grit his teeth. He came at me with renewed fury, kicking the ground with Shave to accelerate instantly and trying to take my head away with his sword. I replied using the same technique and as a result we connected several attacks… well, more like we smashed our weapons against each other in rapid succession. My gauntlets were tough, which was understandable since I -also- used them to punch people. Hmm… now that I thought about it, I could probably make some pretty interesting enchantments if…

I was distracted by another wind-blade attack from the Rear Admiral and this time I replied by slashing with my right hand and channeling just a bit of magic and, most importantly, using the Storm Kick technique of the Six Powers. The end result was four slashes of sharp wind impacting against the one created by the Marine. The slashes were weaker than a single Storm Kick on average, but together they easily overpowered my enemy's attack and left four shallow marks on the bridge. Unfortunately, I had missed the Rear Admiral.

This was starting to become annoying. I found myself growling, my heart starting to pump blood in my heart, and…

Wait a second. That was not me. It was difficult sometimes, but I could still recognize when my dragon soul was pushing me to act in a certain way. But I…

…

You know what? Fine. Go nuts.

The moment I let my grip on the dragon soul go, it was like my mind suddenly changed gears. I was still me, I was not trapped inside my mind or anything like that. Instead, a lot of inhibitions and unnecessary thoughts just… disappeared. Also, the prospect of clashing violently with a high-ranking Officer of the Marines didn't fill me with caution but glee.

This could be useful.

The Rear Admiral Yukimura noticed the change and involuntarily made a step back. I looked at him and grinned under the mask. "Ah… this is going to be fun."

My Anima exploded out of me and I grew until it covered me completely, making Dragon Aspect a full draconic armor. I needed to learn how to better mold my Anima. Maybe I could make something like a Zoan hybrid form with a little practice.

Then I darted toward him like a bullet.

The Six Powers were a martial art based on assassination, with the objective to make any part of the body a weapon. Pistol Finger and Storm Leg were based on that, for example. Iron Body and Paper Art were defensive measures, since assassins couldn't really go around in heavy armor, and admittedly those two techniques were the one that didn't mesh with my usual combat style. I could adapt Finger Pistol to be used with weapons, and Storm Leg was always useful. I couldn't say the same about Iron Body and Paper Art.

Finally, Shave and Moonwalk were movements techniques that it was always a good idea to have in your repertoire. Sure, I could fly, but Moonwalk was still useful to have for short distances and Shave let me solve that little problem I had with being a tad slow to dodge most things I could react to. Shave wasn't teleportation, but I was good enough and didn't require magicka.

The main difference between me and the CP9 was that I could combine them with other techniques.

Let's see how the man reacted to that.

I closed the distance in a second, but instead of using any of the Six Powers, at the last second -and just outside his range- I stopped dead and slammed my foot down. The rock of the bridge cracked, then started to churn and shot toward the Rear Admiral like a shower of bullets. He dodged away with a Shave, but I was hot on his tail.

"Glacial Sweep!" I called, before kicking violently in his general direction and focusing the power of cold in the subsequent wave of air. Yukimura thought better than to stand here and take it in the face, so he jumped over the attack… except that wasn't meant as an attack. Well, if he took the wave of frigid air in the face it would surely hurt, but the main reason I was doing that is because, between Briin and the general position of the bridge, there was a lot of humidity around. And as everyone knew, cold air went down.

So Yamamura landed on a thin layer of ice and had to fight to maintain his balance.

Of course, I had no such weakness.

"Noxious Breath!"

There was, unfortunately, no Poison Breath in my repertoire of Shouts. But there was a toxic breath attack in the Dragonknight techniques, so I released a cloud of green gas against the Rear Admiral. I doubted it was actually going to do anything, it was not Hollywood poison that instantly killed anything, and aside from that, people in One Piece were really tough regardless of their strength level. You would need a staggering dose of poison to kill a One Piece human, and a cloud of gas was not exactly the most direct method.

What it could do was temporarily blind the Rear Admiral, irritate his eyes and maybe, if he took too much of a breath, make him cough violently. Which was great, because any kind of advantage was welcomed, but it was not my main aim. I disappeared into the shadows and slipped toward him.

The poison cloud, as expected, was useless. He dispersed it with a single swing of his weapon, but the damage was done. I appeared right behind him, directly from his shadow, and while he realized what was going on, it didn't mean he was able to react in time.

I hit him in the back with one of the techniques of one of the martial arts I learned in Creation, the Ebon Shadow's style. Aiming at his back, I wrapped my hands in darkness and hit him with the Throat-Slitting Shadow Strike, delivering a rapid combo on his spine to deal the highest amount of damage.

"Damn you!" He shouted, turning with more speed than a human who just had his spine punched should have, releasing a quick wind blade at me. I was too close to dodge so I just let my armor take it. The impact was substantial, but the attack failed to penetrate. There was a reason I had this fucking armor around, it was damn good at its job. Well, that and it helped me reduce the amount of magic I needed to spend on raising my stats to stay on par with the heavy hitters of the crew.

It didn't stop the impacts from causing bruises, but bruising was better than cut up and bleeding to death. Not that I could bleed to death anymore, but cuts were still more debilitating than a bruise in a fight.

What followed up was desperate last assault from Rear Admiral Yukimura, his sword flashing from all direction trying to find a chink in my armor. But there weren't. Oh, he hit me plenty, but he couldn't penetrate. What he could do was to chip at my armor every time I failed to properly parry. I would need to repair it once I had a second.

Finally, I got the opportunity to finish the fight. We had returned to the previous position, with me giving my back to the stairs going to the Tower of Law and the Rear Admiral pressing me, when, for just a second, another pair of arms erupted from Yukimura's shoulders and grabbed his forearms. They managed to slow his strike for just a second, but it was enough.

By the time Robin lost her grip, I had already brought my arms forward, one over the other, and the flames of Dragon Aspect over my arms took the form of a dragon head. One jaw on each arm, I released the ultimate technique of the Six Powers… the one that Lucci didn't show me, but I could use anyway.

The Six Kings Gun.

"Divine Dragon Roaring Cannon!"

A shock wave shot from my knuckles. The Six Kings Gun required complete mastery of the other six techniques, so I had to cheat a little to make it work, but in time I would use it even without that. Shave and Moon Walk to not be blown away by the power released, Iron Body and Paper Art to weather the blowback, Storm Leg to release the attack and Finger Pistol to concentrate it. Together, they created the Six King Gun, an attack comparable to a Reject Dial, which by itself released ten times the strength of the victim on them.

The shockwave struck Rear Admiral Yukimura in the chest, probably making his internal organs shake like I phased through his ribcage and punched them one by one. He spit blood, his eyes going white for a second, and he made a step back.

But instead of falling, he planted his sword on the ground and used it to stay up. You've got to respect that amount of willpower.

"Who… the hell… are you?" Asked the Marine, sending a -not very threatening- glare at me.

"I'm Rexen Loki, and I'm the Dragonborn." I replied, before reaching for his head and slamming it down on the floor with enough force to break it. "Remember it."

"Sir!" Shouted the Commodore. Big mistake. Briin arrived and slashed his chest with her monofilament-water-bladed-chainsaw trident. There was an explosion of blood as the water trident carved flesh like it was butter, then she spun and slammed the other extremity of the weapon on his temple. He went down like she had cut his strings.

Both me and my daughter took our time to take a breath. Damn, that had been… difficult. But at least I knew where I was in terms of strength. Rear Admiral level wasn't that bad.

"Thank you for the help, Robin." I said when the wave of fatigue that had hit me vanished.

"It was my pleasure." Replied the archeologist. "To tell the truth, I wanted to let you have your fun, but we have company."

I looked at the other end of the bridge and saw several Marines running toward us. Uh, our opponents had decided to precede the common soldiers, by the look of it. Well, no matter. I doubted they had other officers on the level of the ones we just beat up.

"Alright." I said, making my knuckle snap loudly. "Briin? Ready for a little anti-army training?"

"Yes Father."

"Then let's go."

Ten minutes later, the Marines were on the ground moaning in pain while me and Briiin had taken possession of the ship parked at the end of the bridge. Instead of boarding it, though, I make it disappear inside the Refuge.

"Why do that?" Asked Robin.

"The Buster Call is coming, and the first thing they'll do will be to sink this ship to stop us from leaving." I replied as the ship drifted to different waters. "It's such a waste. Better to save it and use it for later."

Robin sent me a look. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem different."

I blinked and mentally switched off the dragon. "Yeah, sorry. My dragon soul was acting up, so I decided to give it a little bit of freedom. Apparently, I just became a little bit more ruthless."

"I see." Replied the archeologist. "You think the rest of the crew is going to arrive shortly?"

"They should almost be done." I replied. "Only Luffy is going to take some time to defeat Lucci, but he will manage. More importantly-"

I was interrupted as a notable explosion rocked the air. Apparently, the Buster Call had managed to arrive. So, I reached for the crew with my mind.

Guys, leave the Tower as fast as you can. They're going to bomb it at any moment now.

I received affirmative answers and vaguely felt them move. Just in time, for the Tower got hit by a gigantic explosion shortly after. Fortunately, by then they were already on their way.

"Good. Now, be prepared. The Marines will surround us and send waves after waves of men to stop us and capture you, Robin. We have to hold it until Luffy is done."

"Can't you help the captain?" Asked Robin, following me as we returned to the start of the bridge.

"I could, but there is a crew member that will need my help more than him. Until then, I have to save my strength."

Robin didn't question me, which was good, because the Marines were approaching.

C'mon, Luffy. Be quick.

Time for Boarding 1.6

This was the last battle, then this gauntlet called Enies Lobby was over. The Marine's battleships surrounded the bridge and started to discharge men to try and overwhelm us. Fortunately, the crew had managed to reach us.

I still switched to Dovah-mode, just to be sure.

"That's the spirit, Loki! Where were you hiding it?" Asked Zoro, dispatching a dozen or so marines with a twister.

"Shut up, Zoro!" I replied, smacking a dozen other men with a wave of force in the shape of giant dragon claws. "And be careful. There is a Marine Officer with a Fruit able to rust things. It will get one of your swords if you're not careful."

Zoro's expression became suddenly much more serious. It was going to be a while before the guy arrived -he was a… Captain, I think, and for now they were sending the bottom rugs- but it was a good idea to give Zoro and heads up. If the blade wasn't completely destroyed, I could repair it.

The battle dragged out. A lot. Which, incidentally, was where I started to shine. I may not be the most powerful of the group without the help of my magic, but I spent most of my time in Skyrim knowing that I was going to be outnumbered pretty much always and so I trained accordingly. I may not be the best duelist in the world, but I knew how to fight a horde of less skilled opponents.

Still, fighting wave after wave of people started to get boring after a while, and more importantly, without my Disil -I didn't want to subject this particular group of Marines to soul-sucking artifacts- I had no easy way to recharge myself. Sure, I could still do it with a little magic, but I was pretty much stuck until I knew we were at the end of the fight. I couldn't waste my power right now.

I still had the undeniable advantage of White Reaper, which was built for this. And came with the ability to heal myself with just a little application of magic. Now that I wasn't fighting a Rear-Admiral I could divert some of the power I was using to fuel the Martial Arts.

The halos of white light burning around me were nice too. Personally I would have preferred to make my ability less obvious, but White Reaper worked like that, the more halos the more able to kick asses you were. I wasn't going to complain too much.

I swept away another group of Marines with another shockwave-claw and right after that a voice boomed around us.

"All Marines on the bridge, retreat!"

"Did we win?" Asked Chopper. He was quite scary right now, mostly because he was taking power from all the blood lost on the bridge until now… which was a lot, between me, Briin and Zoro slashing Marines. While it was keeping him relatively healthy, it also made his vein bulge under his skin and made his fur look spiky and reddish, like he had blooded needles sprouting all around his neck. In his Heavy Point, it made him look like some monster from a slasher movie.

"No Chopper. They're just ramping up the difficulty." I replied. "Now come the Officers."

And as I said that, a hundred or so people, all with the same white trench coat, descended from the ships and started to attack us.

That made the fight just a little more harder. They were not particularly powerful Officers, I think the highest ranked were Captains or something, but they were a little more hard to crack then the others.

Alright… now seemed the right moment to start to use a little magic.

I cast a spell. Nothing too outrageous, I wouldn't want for the Marines to recognize I was doing something and prioritize my sorry ass. There were several Vice-Admirals here, and I was in no condition to actually fight them. Still, I started to pulse with healing magic. Every few seconds, a wave of Restoration would hit the Straw Hats and help them recover from the fatigue and their wounds. Nothing too major, but repeated every so often it would help them sustain the battle. It was a very weak spell, so I could sustain it for hours, but I hoped to not get to that point. It shouldn't either, but I had no idea when the Merry was coming.

I would recognize the moment, of course, but the battle could last for one minute or fifty, I had no idea.

Turned out, after a solid twenty minutes of beating Marine's Officer, finally the wall where Luffy and Lucci were fighting exploded outwards and the battered and beaten body of the CP9 agent landed on one of the ships and didn't raise up.

"Rob Lucci has been defeated!?" Came the shocked shout from all the Marines present.

"Good." I said, bending my knees and attracting a lot of attention from the crew. "Our passage is coming. I'm getting Luffy and giving him a little healing before we leave. Be ready."

And with that, I jumped in the air and materialized a pair of dragon wings made of pure energy, before flying toward the tower. Nothing had happened in the manga, but after they sent a Rear Admiral because they feared that I was going to rescue Robin simply because I could fly, I was not going to risk them bombing Luffy just to be sure.

My fears were validated when I heard several cannons open fire. I turned to see where the shots were aimed too… and I realized too late that they were aimed at me. I saw a cannon ball shot right at my face and I mentally berated myself for stopping.

That was a shot in a million. Whoever did it better got a promotion for that.

-X-

The crew watched in horror as the explosion rocketed the entire bridge and Loki disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Only the more attentive noticed a silhouette shooting out of the smoke and falling into the waters around. Not that it was a great consolation. The currents were not as powerful and unpredictable as they were before, thanks to the Gate of Justice opening, but that only meant that they went straight to the bottomless hole where the Tower of Justice hung on. Even if Loki was just unconscious and not dead, the fall would finish him.

Briin did notice. Few noticed her eyes going completely black, the same lightless black of the water depths, and those who did shivered.

Then she started screaming.

Saying that the scream was otherworldly didn't make it justice. It was filled with rage and pain, and hit more than just the hear. All water in the vicinity went absolutely fucking crazy. The battleships of the Marines were suddenly assaulted by enormous vortexes made of razor-sharp blades of water that started to shave the wood like giant saws. At the same time, the waves churned and compressed into giant tentacles or serpent heads and bashed the ships and the bridges with the force of a tsunami.

But worse was for the ones in closest proximity with the goddess. They felt their blood react to the inhuman scream, making their hearts go completely out of whack. Several Marines fell, their bodies spasming, and the ones that were able to stay conscious found themselves unable to move much as their sense of balance stopped working. Give a couple of seconds, and they would receive lethal damage to their internal organs.

All well and good, if not for the fact that the Straw Hats were still there.

Fortunately, Chopper was conscious. He recognized the symptoms, mitigated them with his own control over blood, and managed to throw a syringe with a powerful narcotic right into the goddess heart. In less than a second, Briin's eyes clouded and lost their black color, returning to a more normal blue, then she fell on the floor. And started snoring.

"That was close." Commented the doctor. "I hadn't thought that her control over water extended to blood."

"I don't think she knew either." Replied Robin, putting a hand on her temple.

Near the archeologist, Nami was throwing up and Usopp was foaming from the mouth. Both Sanji, Franky and Zoro managed to get out pretty much unscathed, but they didn't look all that fresh either. That scream had messed everyone up. Fortunately, most of the Marines hadn't fared any better.

"Remind me to never make her angry, shit cook." Murmured the swordsman.

"Not a problem, marimo." Replied Sanji.

Chopper put a flask of salts under Usopp's nose and the sniper shot up like a spring. "What happened?"

"Briin got crazy when they shot Loki and messed up with our blood." Replied Chopper in a very professional way. Not that it mattered much. Usopp went deathly pale.

"That sounds bad."

"It is, but I managed to sedate her."

"What about Loki?" Asked Franky. "Did he…?"

They all looked at the hole.

"I will not believe he's dead until I see the body." Grunted Zoro. "He's too magical to be killed by something like a cannonball."

"Magical doesn't mean invincible." Replied Sanji. "But I agree. I've seen him close his wounds with pure force of will. It's too soon to mourn. We should focus on how to get away from here."

"With what?" Asked Nami. "Loki was the one with the hidden ship. Right now, we don't have-"

Don't worry.

"Did you hear that?" Asked Usopp.

I'm here.

"Is that?" Asked Nami, her eyes watering.

Jump down.

"Did you hear that? To the sea!" Shouted Usopp, and he dashed toward the edge of the bridge.

The crew followed, with Robin using he Fruit to roll Luffy outside the tower and Sanji carrying the still snoring Briin princess style. They jumped into the sea under the baffled gazes of the Marines.

And down there, somehow, was the Going Merry.

Let's come together, to the sea of adventure!

"I love you, guys!" Cried Franky as they fell on the bridge.

"Alright, the crew is all together!" Exclaimed Nami the moment they touched the deck. "Sanji, Zoro, to the helm. Chopper, wake Briin up, we could need her help. Let's get us out of here!"

"Yes, ma'am!" They replied, and they ran into position.

The Merry groaned when they maneuvered her through the currents, but held. The rapid, crazy currents of Enies Lobby made it impossible for the imposing battleships to aim en masse at the much faster and smaller ship. Sure, sometimes they got close and sometimes they had to use Luffy's body to bounce cannon balls back to the sender, but considering the amount of firepower the Buster Call could shoot, nothing serious. And finally, Nami guided the Merry into position… pointing directly in a gap between the Marines' formation.

"Here we go! Coup De Burst!" Shouted Franky. His arms emitted a powerful wave of air that catapulted the Merry over the level of the water and directly through the blockade.

"And for the finale, Smoke Star!" Matched the sniper of the crew, shooting a pellet that exploded in a smoke screen.

"Wait!" A voice called, and the crew turned to see Briin return to her senses. "Where is Father?"

Robin was immediately at her side. "I'm sure he's fine…"

Briin didn't listen. She shoved Robin away -she was stronger than she looked- and reached the railing. She was a little unsteady on her legs but managed without falling. Once she grasped the railing, she looked in the distance.

"We're too far… I cannot sense him." She murmured. "Father, Father!"

There was no answer.

"I'm sure…" Tried Usopp, but Briin still had an ace in the hole. She focused, trying to remember the name he had told her once. She didn't have any talent in the ancient tongue, but maybe…

"Dov. Ah. Kiin!"

The shout didn't carry the tell-tale vibration that accompanied Loki when he used it, but something happened. The air didn't shake, but she felt, deep inside her, that her words had reached him.

It was at that moment that a column of light erupted from the chasm of Enies Lobby, so intense even in the never-ending noon of Enies Lobby -the storm conjured by Loki had disappeared a long time ago- it was painful to watch. And inside, a shard of even brighter light shot into the sky, before Loki emerged in full dragon form.

"Enies Lobby and forces of the Buster Call!" His voice came, powerful and dense with power. "For the crime against Nico Robin and Ohara, I judge you guilty!"

Several ships tried to shoot him, but it was useless. He was flying too high for their cannons to reach him when he was basically right over them.

"Your sentence." Continued the giant dragon. "Is annihilation! Jiid. So. Daan!"

Instantly, the eternal light of Enies Lobby was cut as dense, gray clouds covered the sky again. For a moment, it seemed like nothing was going to happen.

Then the clouds became red, and then yellow, and then dozens of meteors came crashing from the sky. As they hit the island, gigantic explosions rocked the air, and even from that distance, the Straw Hats could see the few buildings still standing being flattened by the impacts and giant holes being opened when the meteors hit the naked ground. Some meteors hit the water, causing enormous waves, and a couple of battleships were unfortunate enough to take more than grazing hits, the wood disintegrating on contact.

And atop of that hellish scenario was Loki, the Dragonborn, roaring his victory at the heavens.

Then the dragon disappeared, and Loki materialized on the deck, his armor broken in several points and clearly bleeding. He slumped against the rail and took a shaky breath.

"Well, that was cool."

He closed his eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

-X-

Alas, the Merry couldn't endure much. She was in better shape than she had any right to be -and the Straw Hats knew why- but the wood of the ship started to creak audibly when they managed to rejoin with the Galley La. Iceburg confirmed that there was nothing they could do. So, they decided to give her a last goodbye.

They watched as Luffy reached for the broken ship. Everyone except Loki, who still hadn't recovered.

"Merry, the seabed is dark and lonesome… so we'll watch you to the end." Luffy said, raising the torch he had in his hand. The fire touched the Merry, and watched as it took hold on the wood.

"Maybe Loki was right. Maybe asking you to do this was too much. But we still wanted to have you with us…" He pushed himself against the ship, and his little barge floated away. "Thank you for carrying us for such a long time, Merry."

The fire spread. Soon, the sails were burning, and then, everything.

"Snow…" Said Nami. And really white flakes were falling down from the sky. Memory flooded the Straw Hats as they watched the Merry burn.

I'm sorry. I wanted to carry you even further.

In that moment, Usopp, who had maintained a stoic expression until that moment, finally broke, and copious amounts of tears started to flow from under his mask.

I'm sorry… I wanted to continue going on adventures with you forever.

"Merry!" Cried Chopper. At his side, Nami fell on her knees.

But I…

"You'll do it." A new voice said.

Loki jumped from the Galley-La ship right in front of the Merry, raising a lot of waves. Saying he looked ghastly was an understatement. In fact, he seemed to be standing only because he willed himself to do so. And judging from the orange flames dancing on his skin, he probably was.

"Father! You're been hurt badly, you need to-"

"Silence." Commanded the sorcerer, and everyone just shut up. There was a tone in his voice that didn't leave space for discussions. "I've not saved my power until now just to miss the moment."

Then, with a sharp gesture, materialized a double magic circle around the burning ship.

Robin was the first to connect the dots. "The ritual that birthed Briin… was for the Merry."

Loki was now burning with magic energy. "I've said I wouldn't repair her." He said, clasping his hands together. "I never said I wasn't going to save her."

The magic circles shone of azure light as Loki pumped power in the ritual. Even those who had never seen Loki use his magic could feel a strange sensation in the air, like something was ready to snap. A tension in the very fabric of reality, a breath held until a miracle happened.

"Things will be different." Continued Loki, now seemingly talking to Merry. "You'll not be able to carry your crew with you. But you will be alive. You will be with them. So, Merry, I ask you to trust me. Let go. I'll think about the rest."

There was no answer.

"I know it's scary. To leave the body you had until now. To start a life as something that's not really you anymore… but it's your dream, right?" The sorcerer paused. "Return to them, Merry."

…

Thank you.

The flames that had taken the Merry suddenly flared up, almost hiding the magic circles doing the same. Then, Loki walked right into the fire.

"Father!" Called Briin, but Sanji stopped her from reaching him. Turns out, she didn't need to worry.

A couple of seconds later, Loki emerged from the flames with a little girl wrapped in sailor clothes. Without any worry, he walked up to the sloop where most of the crew was standing, and delicately put her down.

The Going Merry, because she couldn't be anyone else, was now in the form of a young human girl, ten to twelve by the look of it, with curly white hair and a couple of short ram horns coming from her temples. Under the baggy clothes she was very skinny, but solidly built, like a thin but strong tree. She was sleeping, and just by looking at her you could see that she had not emerged from the transformation as easily as Briin had.

"The damage on her ship's body translated to her new one." Confirmed Loki. "At least partially. She was so used to having her kneel broken that she incarnated with a really bad wound on her back. I helped her as much as I could, but I'm running on fumes here."

Now that they could look at him directly, they could see that his eyes were burning with orange light, but at the same time he looked… faded. Like he was burning himself to keep going.

"Father, please. You have to rest."

He nodded, and the light started to dim. "Yes. I'll leave her to you."

And he fell asleep in his daughter's arms.

Chapter 157

"Well, the good news is that they're going to recover soon!" Cheered Chopper.

"And the bad ones?" Asked Zoro.

The doctor of the Straw Hats sobered a little. They were inside the Galley-La building, where Iceburg had offered a room to let their wounded rest. In fact, they were all there, sleeping peacefully.

"They will take a while to recover. Luffy has several lacerations on his muscles despite them being made of rubber and is completely exhausted, like he fought for a week instead of barely a day. Merry's back is a mess of lacerated muscles and cracked bones, but her spine is relatively fine. I had to put some reinforcements in the most damaged parts, but it could be much worse. She will probably have some problems walking, but nothing that a couple of days of rest and a little exercise can't fix. In fact, if she could transform back into a ship, I think she could sail again given enough time to heal, but I'm not a shipwright so I'm not sure. Anyway, she'll make a full recovery in a week, more or less."

"And Loki?" Asked Robin. "How is he?"

"Oh, Loki is fine. He'll return in good shape in no time."

"He took a cannonball to the face." Noted Sanji.

"Yeah, but Loki's body is not normal. He's more akin to a Logia than flesh. Of course, since he's unconscious he cannot heal himself, but even now his magic is fixing him."

The crew blinked. "What do you mean, he's more akin to a Logia?" Asked Nami, confused.

"Loki's body is made of magic energy given the form and function of flesh, but it's still magic. He can just mold it like he wishes, and while it reacts to wounds like a normal person, you cannot really kill him until he has no power left or you disintegrate something vital. The excess magic just makes new matter and heals the wounds. Sure, it's faster when he's doing so willingly, but it's an automatic process aaand I probably shouldn't have said that."

The crew was looking at Chopper with some pretty wild expressions on their faces. Mostly of surprise, even if existential horror was not uncommon.

"Loki is a spirit!?" Screeched Usopp.

"Well, no. That happened after a particularly nasty wound, but before then he was human. Even if I have to assume that Briin's body was created using a similar process. Loki was more… inaccurate. His body really doesn't have the composition of a normal one if you look hard enough, while Briin's biology is indistinguishable from a normal human…"

"Loki had to rebuild his body!? He's a magical zombie!?"

"Maybe?" Replied Chopper, unsure.

The crew started to discuss and the fact that Franky wasn't anywhere didn't come up until later.

But someone noticed.

-X-

"Hi Franky." Greeted… Loki?

"What…? You should be resting!" Shouted the cyborg.

"Oh, don't worry, this is not really me, just a copy I left at Water 7 to do some work. I understand that you're going to build the replacement for the Merry soon?"

"How do you… Oh, yeah, it was them you were referring to, right? Yes, I am. Do you want to check my work?"

"Nah, I trust your expertise. But, I have someone that wants to help."

The Loki… copy(?) made a gesture and an oval of azure light materialized out of nowhere. A second later, someone emerged from it.

It was another Loki… if Loki was made of obsidian and blackened metal. The creature in front of him emitted an aura of power unlike anything like Franky had ever felt. A pressure, almost.

And heat. A lot of heat. Maybe the eye of molten magma didn't look like that just to be cool.

Even if it was cool.

"This is Dol, the All-Smith. He's the best metalsmith in all the Refuge, and the one responsible for the creation of all enchanted items and artifacts I'm wearing."

"That was, technically speaking, my previous iteration." Corrected the creature.

"So you're a… magic smith? SUPER!" Shouted the cyborg. "But why do you want to help?"

"Well, partially because Thuri asked." Franky noticed the strange glance Loki sent to Dol. "But also because shipwrightting is not something I'm familiar with, and sometime in the future my job could require me to enchant or even make a magical ship. I've heard that you're one of the best in the field, and if I have to learn, who better than the best?"

"Ah, flattery will get you nowhere." Said Franky, with a stupid smile on his face. "But sure, if you want to help putting magic on the ship, I'm not going to stop you."

"Excellent!" Said Loki. "Now, if you excuse me, I have something to check."

"Sure." Nodded Dol.

"Don't worry, I still have to gather all the tools and repair the Franky House. I'll start later. And maybe I can ask Ice-for-Brains to help. He should, with all the good the Straw Hats have done for the city." Waved Franky.

"That would be wonderful. Dol, can you come with me for a second?"

While Franky was not giving them attention, Loki turned toward his lieutenant. "Thuri? Really? Since when am I the overlord of the Refuge?"

"Well, we had to give you a draconic title like everyone else, and just calling you Dovahkiin wasn't enough. So… Thuri."

Loki sighed. "Ah, whatever. I'm going now. Do your best, alright?"

"Of course." Nodded the dragon spirit, and nodding back, Loki flew away. He had a mission to fulfill.

-X-

I regained consciousness all in a second. Once even the worst of my injuries was done, I opened my eyes, perfectly awake.

And aware of what had happened while sleeping. I had honestly forgotten that one of my copies was still in Water 7. Man, that was strange. Maybe an effect of switching to Dovah-mode? Hyper focused as I became I could have unconsciously ignored everything my copy was doing.

Fortunately, the copy didn't and so he was able to send me more magicka while I was unconscious, accelerating my recovery enough for me to blast Enies Lobby into rubble and later incarnate the Merry.

Speaking of which…

"Hello?" I called, sitting on the bed where I was resting. There was nobody around, probably busy doing something else. Well, nobody aside Chopper, who entered inside the room the moment I was up. I managed to see a room full of medical equipment behind him when he opened the door. Probably a closet he had retro-fitted for medical purposes.

"Loki! You're awake!"

"Yeah." I smiled before removing the blanket and standing up. "How are the others?"

"Ah, everyone is doing great. Tired and with some minor wounds, but perfectly functional."

"Merry and Luffy?"

"Luffy is just tired, he will recover soon. Merry… was in bad condition, but you managed to resolve the worst of it. She will be okay."

I scanned the room and I found the two of them sleeping on the beds at my left. Luffy seemed pretty normal, he was snoring loudly. Merry was sleeping, but not as loudly. In fact, her breath was so light you could barely hear it.

It was time.

"Help me wake them up, Chopper. I made the promise to tell the truth… I'm going to maintain it."

Chopper blinked in confusion before finally nodding. "Alright."

"Ah, Chopper?"

"Yes?"

"Good work with Blood Magic. You're a true sorcerer now."

For a second, the reindeer didn't reply. Then, he started to squirm with a grin on his face. "S-shut up! You're not making me happy saying that!"

I sent a call for all the Straw Hats using magic, then started to work on Luffy and the Merry. Exhaustion for both was easily cured, but Merry would need something more.

-X-

The first to arrive was Briin, who jumped in my arms and sobbed while I hugged her. Little by little, every member of the Straw Hats joined us… Zoro last, because of course he was.

Meanwhile, I managed to fix the worst of Merry's wounds.

"You know you could have healed this, right?" I asked Chopper as I infused energy inside both Luffy and Merry to wake them up. Luffy would need a meal after this. Fortunately, Sanji was already there with a plate.

"Yes, but I still don't trust myself to mess with other people's bodies using Blood Magic." Replied Chopper. "My body is different: I did a lot of experiments to get the Rumble Balls right, I know it pretty well. But others… it feels like a violation of the Oath to alter them too drastically without consent. If it was a life-threatening wound I would have done it, but they could heal those on their own, so…"

I nodded in acceptance and pushed the last burst of energy inside the two. They woke up with a start.

"Woo! I feel great!" Exploded Luffy. "Sanji, is that meat on the plate?"

"Of course it is."

"Yey!" Exclaimed the Captain, wolfing down the several pounds of meat that, for him, amounted to a light snack.

Meanwhile, Merry's awakening was a little more contained. The ship-turned-girl rose up, and with deliberate slowness raised her arms and looked at her hands. Then she started to touch her face, finding her horns. After that, she relaxed slightly.

"How are you feeling, Merry?" I asked, and I could sense the attention of the crew focusing on her.

"Different." Murmured the girl.

"That's to be expected." Said Briin, sitting at her side. "The transition can be… confusing. But you should fare better than me. You lived with humans for most of your life."

Merry nodded, then asked a question I didn't expect. "Why am I a girl?"

I blinked. "Uh… why not? Are you male?"

"No! I mean… Why am I so young!? Couldn't you make me an adult?"

"Well, the spell isn't meant to bring you to a specific age. You're a little girl because I always thought you were a young ship."

"Well, I am, but…" Merry deflated. "Ah, this sucks. I cannot even drink. Nobody is going to give booze to a child!"

"Uh, you're a pirate. Why do you care about that?"

Merry blinked. "Oh, right. I don't have to care. Zoro, will you buy me some good rum? Pretty please?" She tried to make puppy dog eyes to the Straw Hats second in command. It was somewhat effective, but she still looked like a child, so Zoro was not convinced.

"I mean…" Started the swordsman, before I interrupted him.

"Remember you that she only looks like a child."

He considered the request a little more. "I'll give you a little of mine and we'll see how you hold your liquor. What do you say?"

"Yes! Thanks Zoro!"

That got a smile out of me. "Seems like you're feeling pretty well, if your biggest problem is getting drunk."

"I'm a pirate ship! I've got more rum on my deck than water!" Proclaimed proudly the Merry.

I sincerely doubted that, but I wasn't there to argue with her. "If you say so. Will test that together with what you can do. I have no idea what power you have, if you even have any. But, before that… who wants to hear a story?"

The focus shifted from Merry to me. Even Luffy stopped momentarily from stuffing his mouth with meat to listen to what I had to say.

I grinned. "Well, it seems I have your attention. Your vice-captain, before the madness of Enies Lobby, expressed the desire to know more about me. About how I knew what I knew and everything else. I'll start with a question for all of you: what do you think is my dream?"

That sent the crew in confusion. They looked at each other, with no idea of what to say. "Uh…"

"Don't worry, is not something that you could ever guess. My dream is to return home."

There was silence for a second.

"Tas' it?" Asked Luffy with his mouth half full.

Sanji slapped him in the back of the head. "Idiot. You think it's that simple? It's Loki. He could be on the other side of the world and back before you can finish eating."

"Which would imply he's not from this world, or at least not from this time period." Mused Robin. "So, where are you from?"

I smiled and snapped my fingers. Immediately, the room was replaced by the view of a large house in the middle of grape fields.

"This is my home. I lived here, with my parents and my little brother, for most of my life."

"It's a pretty house." Commented Robin. "Is it made of concrete? You must come from a wealthy family… or somewhere technologically advanced compared to most of the Blues."

I twirled my fingers and the image zoomed out, giving a bird eye view of most of the southern part of Europe. "This is Italy, a peninsula of the continent called Europe. And this…" Another twirl, and now the image showed the entire Earth. "Is how my world looks like."

Silence, once more. They were too busy admiring the illusion to talk.

"You're an alien!?" Asked Usopp after a while.

I chuckled. "I wish. It would make returning home much easier. No, I'm not an alien. One day, I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I was there."

The vision of Earth disappeared to be replaced by the sight of the mountainous territory of Skyrim. There was a herd of mammoth in the distance, and in the air, a dragon was roaring.

"Welcome to Skyrim, one of the provinces of a continent called Tamriel, on the world of Nirn." I said, before zooming out to make them appreciate the entire thing. "Here is where I learned my magic, and how I became the Dragonborn."

"Alright, time out!" Exclaimed Nami, forming a T with her hands. "Let's recap. You were a perfectly normal human in an alien world until… what? You were kidnapped and sent into another world?"

"Another universe, Nami. Tamriel is not a world like mine, or yours. The metaphysics is completely different. The sun and the stars are holes in the sky and the laws of reality function only because eight gods maintain them, while humans are the descendants of the spirits that were trapped by the creation of the universe." I shrugged. "Or something like that. The details are confusing."

"So when you said you were lost you meant that." Said Sanji.

"Pretty much." I nodded. "I have no idea on how I arrived there, so I had to be… creative." I grabbed the Heart and showed it to the crew. "This is a battery I made to fuel a ritual that will send me to the next universe. The problem is that I'm going blind. The ritual should get me home, but instead it continues to send me to random places. I don't know why. This is my fourth attempt, and I don't know how many I will need."

"Ok, I think I get it." Said Luffy. "You got lost in a series of mystery worlds, right?"

I blinked. "Well… actually, yes, that's exactly it."

"That doesn't answer why you acted the way you did." Interjected Zoro.

"Ah, well, that's easy. When I said I can see the future, I… Well, I didn't lie, exactly, I can see the future, but I don't actually do it as often as I let you to believe. What I had was a little comic called 'One Piece'." I materialized an illusion of a volume of the manga. It was made up, I didn't remember the covers, but I didn't need to. "Here, I read the story of a guy called Monkey D. Luffy sailing from the East Blue to the Grand Line, to become the King of Pirates."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"Wait, I'm the protagonist of a story?" Asked Luffy.

"Yes. Don't ask me why there was a book about your adventure in my home universe, I have no idea."

"I see." Said Robin, bringing her hand on her chin in a pensive expression. "That's why you wanted to join us. We're the main focus of the story, so you have seen the events from our perspective. You need to stay with us to know when to act, and you're wary of changing things too much because you risk derailing the events and losing any ability to influence them."

"Bingo." I said with a smile. "So that's your reason, Zoro. I'll admit, it's not a particularly good reason, but I prefer to be cautious in these circumstances. If letting things go as was written ends in good results, why change it and risk it getting worse? Just to say, the Commodore and Rear Admiral on the bridge were not there in the story. They added them just because I was with you, and I didn't have Briin at my side, they could have beaten me and taken Robin away before we had a chance to get out ourselves. Sure, I could have teleported us away… but then the Merry would have found herself in the middle of a Buster Call and no way to return to Water 7. And after teleporting us to safety, I wouldn't have the power to recover her before she… well… you know."

"You had to pick your battle." Said the swordsman, then nodded. "I see."

"Alright, that explains pretty much anything… except why you didn't just say that you wanted to incarnate the Merry from the start." Said Usopp. "Seriously, you could have just said you wanted to give her a new body so she could travel with us."

"I could have, but I wasn't sure how you would react to that." I replied, pointing at the sniper. "In the original story… Let's just say you weren't particularly rational about it. I decided that directing your rage onto me was a better alternative." I scratched my chin. "Even if, in hindsight, maybe it was better to just tell you. If I remember correctly, your problem was abandoning Merry once she became useless, probably a reflection of your insecurity about your own worth. Hmmm… put it like that, the original plan is best. It taught you that sometimes you just have to let go and trust your skills. And the price was you being angry at me for a couple of days. I say it was worth it."

There was a moment where the Straw Hats glanced at each other.

"You shouldn't have done it anyway." Said Nami. "I cannot argue the results, but… It feels wrong."

I shrugged. "You'll travel together for a long time. In a couple of months, I'll be gone forever. I think harmony inside the crew is more important than my feelings. Especially since I got exactly what I wanted."

They didn't look convinced. And, thinking about it, the way I shouted at them on the Rocketman didn't make me look like I didn't particularly care that they didn't trust me. But, well…

"What is done is done." I said. "The CP9 will not give us any more problems. So, instead of worrying about useless things." I reached and grabbed Merry before hoisting her on my shoulder. "Who wants to see what Merry can do?"

Immediately, both Chopper and Usopp volunteered to help test the Merry, and everyone else seemed to relax.

Good enough for me.