Warning: Mild Language. There may be more in following chapters. If anybody thinks I should up the rating, let me know.

A/N: Just a bit of an explanation. Regarding Torrhen's powers. His physical and magical abilities are not at risk. Only his Thu'um is at risk, and even then, it really isn't. The Thu'um was created by Akatosh and Kyne and since they don't exist in the Danmachi world, it makes sense that nothing they created would exist either. A god of Danmachi world would need to anchor that power in Genkai to make it permanent. After that, it wouldn't matter. That is just a plot device though. I fully intend to have Torrhen join a Familia well before the time limit. He will never lose any of his powers or abilities. Also, Torrhen is a Nord with greying black hair and silver eyes. His lifespan was extended by the number of dragon souls he absorbed.

Hearthfire

Chapter 2

As Torrhen slowly returned to consciousness, he began to notice a soft warmth on his face. His ears picked up the sounds of birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, and the soft crackling of a low fire. He opened his eyes slowly, the silver orbs gazing out at the new world around him.

Torrhen sat with his back against a tree, looking out into a small clearing. All around him he could hear the sounds of a forest coming to life. A soft morning light filtered through the trees and bathed his face in a warm glow. Near the center of the clearing, a small fire was slowly dying and at his feet lay a well made but worn leather pack.

The pack caught his attention. It was his. He'd spent weeks working the leather and enchanting it with the help of J'zargo and Breylna. It was enchanted to be far larger on the inside than on the outside and, once opened, it showed a magical display of what was contained within. While packs of that nature were not uncommon among the wealthier adventurers of Tamriel, Torrhen's was special. It was far larger on the inside than the normal pack, capable of holding practically everything he had ever owned and had required several difficult enchantments to make it work.

He pulled the pack towards him and flipped open the top. The magical display popped up and he started browsing through the contents. Akatosh had been honest when he said he would make sure all of his gear was stored within. He chuckled lightly when he saw that Akatosh had even stored his plates and cups in the bag. As he sorted through the contents, he lamented that he hadn't bothered to restock on his smithing and alchemy supplies while living on the mountain.

He had plenty of potions, weapons, and armor but he was running very low on the materials needed to make more. Hopefully they wouldn't be too difficult to find. "Though," he thought as he looked at the display's money counter, "I doubt it'd be too hard to buy what I need." The counter clearly showed that his, rather substantial, fortune had been converted into the currency of his new world. He was honestly impressed by the converted number. 132 Billion Valis. "The exchange rate must be insane. I only had a few hundred million septims."

Shaking off his thoughts of money, Torrhen turned his attention to what really mattered. His armor and weapons. As his father had said, the Aedric and Daedric artifacts he had collected were missing but that didn't matter much. He hadn't really used any of them. Certainly not ones like the Ebony Blade or the Mace of Molag Bal. He'd used Dawnbreaker for a while but had put it aside after he had learned to make, in his own opinion, better weapons.

He could see both his travel armor and his true battle armor marked for easy removal, along with his preferred weapons. "I should probably get my armor on," he thought, "you never know when you might be ambushed. I doubt anything here could hurt me but better to be cautious." He quickly withdrew his travel armor and his weapons.

His travel armor was a combined modification of his black Dawnguard and Master Thief armors with a knee-length leather duster thrown over the top. It had been years since he'd worn his armor, but his muscles easily remembered the process of putting it on. After straightening out his duster, he pulled out his weapons and examined them. His sword was a masterwork of his own creation. Named Stormcaller, it was a classic hand and a half broadsword with a blackened leather hilt and a deep fuller running up the blade. It boasted an enchantment for chaos damage and vampiric drain. He quickly attached it to his sword belt on his left side before strapping the Bade of Woe to his other side and his modified, ebony hunting bow to his back. His travel pack had an attached quiver that would constantly replace arrows, so long as there were some in the pack.

Now that he was armed and armored, he took stock of himself. He could feel his dragons blood pounding through his veins, and the magic surging beneath his skin. Akatosh had mentioned that his powers might fade if he didn't join with one of the gods of this world. He supposed that did make some sense. His magical and physical abilities would likely be unaffected, but he could already feel a change within his soul. Akatosh had quite literally created his soul and he had been able to feel a connection to the god since the very moment he became aware of who he was. Though he could still feel the connection, it was different. Muted.

"I suppose that is what Bormahu meant," he thought, "In order to keep powers not of this world, like my Thu'um, they must be anchored to this world by one of its gods. My magical and physical abilities are unaffected, but the Thu'um is a semi-divine power created by Akatosh and Kyne. Gods who do not exist in this world."

Turning to face the small fire, Torrhen let out a piercing shout. "FO KRAH DIIN," the Frost Breath Shout rippled across the clearing, covering everything in a thick layer of frost and easily dousing the fire. "Well," he said after his voice recovered, "it seems the strength of my Thu'um is unaffected, even if the connection is muted." Turning to his pack once again, Torrhen pulled out the only other thing marked for quick removal.

Pulling out the unfamiliar scroll, he unrolled it to discover it was a map of this new world. It even had important landmarks labeled though, if the red circle cheekily labeled 'You Are Here' was accurate, he was in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. He didn't know Akatosh had a sense of humor. After a minute of searching, he found the city that Akatosh had mentioned and, looking at the scale of the map, considered the distance. "If I summon Shadowmere and really sprint, I could be there in around a month," he thought, "Though I don't see why I should hurry. I have a full year to go before I have to worry about anything, and I doubt it would be hard to find a Familia to join." Having decided on a direct route, but a leisurely pace, Torrhen turned in the direction of Orario and set off on his new journey.

1 Week Later

The past week had been one of the most relaxing walks Torrhen could remember. He'd cleared the forest before noon on the day of his arrival and had found a road that led in the right direction before nightfall. So far, he hadn't seen any other people, but he had walked past several forks in the road and a few obvious campsites for travelers. Even the few monsters he'd encountered were little more than pests, easily brushed aside with low level magic. Akatosh had said that the strongest opponents were to be found in the Dungeon, but they were still surprisingly weak. He was surprised at the crystals they dropped though. They seemed to be some kind of soul gem, and he was even able to use one to charge the enchantment on his sword. It barely added to it, but considering the strength of the monster it came from, that wasn't a surprise.

According to his map, he had started on the outskirts of the forest to the south of the Alv Mountains, near the coast, and there was practically nothing between him and the city of Orario save for a few small villages that were a bit off the beaten track. Because of how empty his path seemed to be; he was honestly surprised to hear the sound of fighting as he crested a small hill. Looking into the shallow valley below him, he spotted what appeared to be a white-haired human boy, no older than 15, trying to fend off 3 goblins with a knife.

Torrhen drew his bow, intending to help the boy but paused before he could fire. The boy had managed to kill one of the goblins. Surprisingly agile, the boy had managed to roll under the goblins club and bring his knife up and into its chest. Still, agile or not, the boy was obviously untrained and outmatched. Torrhen drew back his bow and fired a quick shot into the eye of one of the 2 remaining goblins. The final goblin, distracted by the sudden death of its companion, was unable to react in time to stop the boy from knocking it over and plunging his knife into the goblins neck.

Half-jogging down the hill, Torrhen waved to the boy as he picked himself up off the ground. "Hello there!" He called as he ran up, "are you alright? They didn't get you, did they?"

"No sir," the boy said as he dusted himself off, "just a few scrapes from rolling in the dirt." The boy finally looked up, his red eyes widening as he took in Torrhen's armor and weapons. "Thank you for your help, sir. I'm not sure I could have beaten them on my own. Are you an adventurer?"

Torrhen chuckled, "I suppose I am." He extended his hand to the boy. "The name's Torrhen."

"Bell Cranel, sir," the now named boy said as he shook Torrhen's hand. "What Familia are you a member of?" Bell asked, his eyes shining.

"Well, for now at least, I suppose you could say I'm a member of the Akatosh Familia," Torrhen replied, "at least until I get to Orario that is."

"Are you looking to join a new Familia in the city Mr. Torrhen?" The boy asked, excitedly.

"I am indeed. What about you, boy? What are you doing out in the middle of nowhere like this?"

The boy seemed to almost vibrate with excitement. "I just left my village. I'm headed to Orario to become an adventurer, sir!"

That made Torrhen smile. If he and the boy were headed to the same place, they might as well stick together. It had been a long time since he'd had a traveling companion. Especially one so young. He'd missed the experience of traveling with and training new talent and judging by the way the boy had fought the goblins, he'd need a lot of training. "Well then" he said, patting the boy on the shoulder, "if we're going to the same place, it makes sense that we should stick together. That is, if you don't mind traveling with an old man like me?"

That just seemed to excite the boy even further. "That would be wonderful, sir!" He said, happily. "I didn't think I'd get to meet any real adventurers until I made it to the city."

"No, I don't suppose you would," Torrhen said as they collected Bells bag and the stones the goblins had dropped. "I doubt many adventurers would have much reason to be out here. What made you decide to be an adventurer anyway?" He asked as they set off down the road.

"My Grandpa!" Bell said. "Before he died, he used to tell me amazing stories about adventurers and legendary heroes. I've wanted to be just like the heroes in the stories, ever since I was little."

"A hero, eh?" Torrhen asked wryly. The boy seemed a bit naive and a bit too trusting. He supposed it wouldn't do much harm, but he was glad it was him the boy had met and not someone unscrupulous. "Being a hero is not an easy thing to accomplish. Are you sure you're up for it?"

Bell seemed to consider that for a moment. "I don't really know," he said softly, "but I have to try!" The boy perked up, a sudden spark in his eyes.

"Well," Torrhen thought, "if nothing else, the kid is definitely determined."

Bell spent the next few hours regaling Torrhen with the stories his grandfather had told him. Overall, it seemed to Torrhen that the boy's grandfather had been a kind man, if a little perverted. Though why the man wanted Bell to build a harem of girls he'd rescued in the dungeon was a mystery to him. Muiri had been more than enough for him.

They made camp just before the sun went down. As they sat around the fire, eating the remains of a deer Torrhen had caught a couple days before, Bell asked "So, why are you looking for a new Familia, Mr Torrhen? Did yours not want to move to the city?"

Torrhen considered his answer for a moment. "No, that's not really the case." He answered eventually. "I was Akatosh's only true follower, and he is no longer present in this world. I'm headed to Orario to retire."

"Retire?" Bell asked, surprised.

"Yes. You see, Bell" Torrhen leaned back against a log, "I am much stronger than most adventurers who live outside the city. I am also much older than I look, thanks to a quirk of my biology. I'm headed to the city to find a Familia and spend the rest of my days training new adventurers."

That made Bell sit up straight. "You mean like me?" he asked, hopefully.

Torrhen chuckled. "Yes Bell, like you. In fact," he gestured towards Bell's dagger, "I wouldn't mind giving you a few tips while we travel. Give you a bit of a head start on what you need to learn."

Bell excitedly scrambled to grab his dagger.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave comments or questions you might have. I hope I got Bell right. This story will be about Torrhen mentoring Bell and helping the Hestia Familia grow so some of the characters will change thanks to his presence, but I hope not too much.

An item in Torrhen's bag being marked for quick or easy removal is like the favorite menu in the game. I don't think it'll come up much, but I thought I should explain.

If you want to know what Torrhen's sword looks like, look up the Nordic Wanderer mod for Skyrim. That's his sword and scabbard but with a rounded pommel instead of the weird cross thing