Beta'd by TheMegaEvolvedPony (much love)

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Xeronightmere: Good point, I'll edit the chapter when I upload this one.

Stuff and things. That kind of stuff.

Lukewarm water cascaded down my body. Normally such a thing would be pretty uncomfortable, but my vampiric condition rendered me unaffected by extreme cold. I doubt anything sans absolute zero could truly damage my body. The room I was in was relatively small. Just a stone brick room with a metal ring bolted into the wall to hold a towel and a wooden door that sat on a small lip on the floor to avoid prolonged contact with the water or leakage into the hall.

I stood there under the stream that poured gently from a slope above with many thoughts swirling under the surface. There was a small drain at my feet that allowed the tainted water to be disposed of. I guessed there was some sort of drainage system that led outside somehow. I didn't see one though.

My bluish-grey skin was clean, but I could still picture the blood upon my form. The strange part was my lack of...anything really. I didn't care. I wasn't worried about such a state. It didn't bother me one bit. I slowly moved a hand over my heart and felt...nothing. The normal thrumming under my flesh was absent. It was an odd sensation to be honest. I couldn't decide how I felt about it. I wasn't human anymore.

I wasn't a man.

I was a monster.

Or was I a man in a monster's skin?

Perhaps it was the reverse? A monster in a man's skin?

My hands splayed out underneath my gaze. These very hands had just slain countless men on their lonesome. Only a monstrosity could do such a thing.

But was it not the heart that made one a man? Despite my lack of a heartbeat, I felt. I felt empathy for those I had freed. I felt love for those precious to me that I lost. I felt longing for what I had lost in death. It was all a pulsating ache in my chest. The pain pressed against my ribs, struggling to escape.

Regardless of the truth, the doubt danced in my mind. What made someone...a man?

My thoughts were interrupted by the slow, steady flow trickling off to just stray droplets at irregular intervals. Seems my allotted shower time was up.

I looked over my body. No wounds from the massacre. Probably thanks to my regeneration. I pressed my finger onto my abdomen, feeling the muscle beneath. My stature overall had become a lot more defined. While I lacked mass, it still made me look fit. With a quick stretch to pop my spine, I grabbed a towel and tied it off at my waist. There were no clothes in this room so I'd have to go "tactically acquire" some from a bandit's room. My own likely wouldn't be clean for quite awhile.

The door opened with a rather sharp click. The dead bolt was pretty heavy apparently. It swung open into a sort of washroom area. Although, it wasn't separated by sex, so everyone had the same sort of common area. My cheeks blazed with a mighty heat as I noticed a number of women in various states of undress and some outright in the nude.

I nearly choked as I ran right into a Redguard woman, nearly headbutting her chest. I coughed out the quickest apology I possibly could before I simply looked straight at the ground and dashed out of the room at much faster speeds than any of them could track. That was...an interaction for sure.

My pace slowed down to a brisk walk as I searched for the more private rooms. There were a handful. Hopefully they'd have clothing for me to don while I wait for my own to be washed and dried.

It took only a few minutes of poking my head into rooms before I found one that wasn't just a sex dungeon. It had metal cages pushed against one corner. In fact, they looked a lot like dog cages...oh.

Oh!

That was...unique and most definitely NOT welcomed.

I scrunched my nose up at the smell of old...activities and ransacked the dresser. Within was a white tunic and brown pants alongside. They fit me quite well actually. Nearly as good as if they were tailored to my body. How lucky. Under the dresser was a collection of shoes perfectly in my size as well! Along with that, I found that they seemed to have fur linings. If my memory served well, only the top of society had real socks. The middle class were relegated to solutions such as fur linings.

'Not bad.' They were quite soft and warm on the inside. The outside was a rough sort of brown leather with folded cuffs at the top, exposing the fur that lined the inside. I squinted at it for a moment before I could place it. Sabre cat fur! Probably came from around Whiterun going off the exact colors of the coat. It matched that sort of autumn grassland color of the plains.

With my clothes acquired, I stepped out of the room with my moist towel in hand only to run into yet another woman. Thankfully not literally this time.

"Zeti Fa." A wood elf girl with grey hair whispered, looking down at me like I was some legendary figure. With a second of thought, I recognized her. She was in the room that Shit-Pile sprinted out of along with an Argonian. She had been tied spread eagle to the bed. Thank the Divines that she seemed untouched. Better than many could say sadly. Right now she wore the same rags that all the other women had been wearing. Even still, she looked beautiful. Inhumanly so.

"Mmm...I think who you are is more important." I said softly, planting a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from bowing. "And please refrain from such behavior. Such a position is not fitting for someone like you. I am not your master nor your lord."

Her face morphed into a number of expressions. I could see hesitation. Perhaps split between wanting to comply but also wanting to worship? She seemed a bit flighty at my touch going off how her face cringed as my hand grasped her. Completely understandable. But after all of the other things, her face settled on flat out denial.

"You saved us. All of us. You even tried to offer us travel back to our homelands- free of charge! You're..." She moved her hands around in intense expression, gesturing in a wild manner that bordered on obsession. "You're like the stories I heard as a young girl. You're a merciful angel sent by the Divines to save us! My mother often told me that my time would come. That someone would rescue me from my life of servitude." She explained, her eyes definitely having a certain spark of madness. Something only someone whose cracked under the pressures of life but survived could possibly have. I saw a lot of that in the hospital; broken people going insane from their pains. "And you arrived in a whirlwind of violence yet left every slave untouched. Not a single one of us was harmed, even when we were used as shields and it would have been easier to slay us with our captors."

She shook her head violently, falling to her knees and dropping to a deep bow. "Please, Great Angel. I couldn't ever possibly accept not showing you such respect. You must be the answer Auri-El provided! I prayed for so long. Hours in chants, pleading for salvation." Her voice began rising at the end as she rose her head up to gaze into my eyes firmly. I took a step back in awe. I'd never seen this type of devotion from anyone to anyone- ever. "I've spent my life in slavery. I had escaped a noble in Winterhold and tried to flee to Windhelm only to be captured. I thought I was doomed to be someone's plaything forever...but you came!"

She reached up for me, grasping my hands. I simply let her. She ran her thumbs over the palms of my hands as she continued to rant. "There is no other answer. Auri-El himself sent you unto us to deliver us into salvation. Regardless of what your true nature is, at your heart, you are a wonderful man who feels for those in need. You saw us and did not hesitate to come to our aid. You're the very definition of a messiah. I will not tolerate not giving you the devotion you deserve." Her voice rose, carrying through the halls. I could hear the shuffles of a small crowd coming from the direction of the bathing area. Murmurs of agreement carried through the crowd as soon as they arrived. As her speech cut off, she seemed to wilt slightly as I looked down upon her. I...was speechless, but ignoring such devotion was dangerous.

Time to wing it. Good thing my perks gave me quite the advantage with charisma. Just what a leader needs in this type of situation.

I felt [Vampire's Seduction] activate, washing over the crowd as my voice carried over them. As much as I didn't want to do something like this, this type of obsession had to be managed incredibly carefully. That's doubly as important when I was the subject of obsession. Surprisingly it caught every member of the crowd easily. Skill level up notifications popped up in the corner of my vision as I focused on my words.

"I cannot claim to be any type of savior. I did what was natural; I helped those in need. It is the nature of sentient beings to want to assist each other." I began, orchestrating my every word carefully. My voice was steady and powerful. I had absolutely zero idea how I was not shaking like a leaf, probably my perks. "I could not leave you all to die here. Such an act wouldn't be fitting of my status as a civilized being. And so long as I live, not one of you will be harmed. Within these walls, you are all under my protection without exception. Even so, I am no angel."

I stopped, looking over the crowd. Every single one was enraptured by my words. "I am a monster." A sound of guttural disagreement lashed out at me as I bared my teeth, displaying my fangs for them all to see. "You cannot deny what I am. Only a monstrosity could rip through men like a child through a blade of grass."

"We do not care what form you take, Great Angel. You saved us in our time of need. Came to us like a descending light. Your appearance is fully irrelevant. It does not change our opinion on you. You're a beautiful being with a heart of pure gold none of us could hope to match." The wood elf girl's eyes were brimming with tears now. "The monsters were those who held us captive. You...you're..."

She choked on her own tears, taking a moment to gather herself. "Only an angel could do what you did! It is the only logical explanation. You're a gift directly from Auri-El to us. To Nirn as a whole. No other individual will ever compare to you. Not a single mortal could be as loving and caring as you are. As virtuous!"

The girl dropped her hands from my own and gestured around us. "You have over a hundred gorgeous women fawning over you in worship yet you ask nothing of us. You do not indulge in our bodies or anything of the sort. Not once have you requested payment for your actions. Only love could birth such a just being!"

I looked at each woman. They were all on their knees as if in prayer to me. It was completely surreal. I couldn't believe one person would look up to me this way, much less the entire group of thirty or forty here. Though, I strongly suspected the others would absolutely die for this opinion if they had to.

"Then...I shall do as you ask. You all demanded I stay and rule. Help me. I am not a perfect being. Despite what image you may have of me, I am but a man at heart. Beneath the unnatural strength, I'm a man. A man who is afraid and knows nothing of the business of ruling." My voice rose as I splayed my arms. "I hope every single one of you continues to place your trust with me. Do that and I shall do as you wish. I will rule as long as you wish me to. I see that you all will not accept 'no' as an answer, so I will comply."

Silence reigned for a moment. I heard everyone's heartbeat speed up as I gave my reply.

The Bosmer woman in front of me looked up like she had seen the very god she referenced. Her jaw was slack in surprise, like she was expecting rejection of some kind.

"T-thank you, Great Angel." She murmured, lowering herself again. "We can never repay you for your deeds."

"And I will never ask you to."

While we had a LOT of cash, it definitely wasn't infinite. And it also wouldn't last us long with no income to offset our expenses. New clothes for every person, armor for some to take up guard positions, tools for some to attempt to farm. It was all required.

How they would farm in this bitter cold I didn't know.

Six women luckily seemed to be semi-proficient in basic alchemy. That was good. A room could be repurposed into a sort of lab for them. Perhaps potion production could be a source of income? It would take time to get all the ingredients we'd need to mature though. At least snowberries were plentiful in the area. Since they have all the elemental resistance effects, they were the perfect base for those types of potions.

Eleven Bosmer women decided to take up hunting in the mean time as a band-aid solution to the food issue. The storeroom had plenty of cheese and other foods that could last some time, but it wouldn't take long for it to run out so that was perfect. I'm sure one of the deeper rooms could be used as a freezer room of sorts. I know that refrigeration techniques exist in the Elder Scrolls. Though, they were quite rare.

Could probably use ice magic to apply ice to the walls and ceiling and call it a day. Maybe get some hooks to hang animal carcasses from. That way they can drain too.

The bigger, stronger women volunteered to man the walls. Five Orcs, the Bosmer woman I had spoken to earlier, six Nords, three Argonians, and a single Breton woman. They looted the fort for any armor they could get their hands on and picked up the old weapons of the bandits. Those Orc women were also looking into beginning to forge tools. Though, there was no metal available for such things. I'd have to look into either starting some sort of mine or purchasing materials. I couldn't take them all into town for a blacksmith to custom fit each person with armor. That simply wasn't possible. It would have to be done here. The Orc women claimed to be more than skilled enough to make some iron plate for them. Two were familiar with leather work, and one with sewing. Hopefully between those three they'd be able to make winter apparel.

Everyone else worked on cleaning the fort of the bandits' remains. The corpses were carried well away from the fort using a few wagons, which must have been a real pain to pull through the snow without horses. They were dumped in a snow drift with little care and lit aflame with a torch and some oil.

As for me, I was sitting on the throne listening to the Khajiit woman I had spoken to earlier. She was reading from a paper with a sort of report. While I listened, I felt the furs on the chair. They were actually very comfortable to be honest. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

"We estimate that the food stores will last roughly two weeks. This one thinks it will last less than that, but this one does not cook." She said, using the usual grammatical structure of the Khajiit. I looked over to Grimmolf who stood on the left of my throne, his hammer head-down on the floor and his hands resting on the pommel. It reminded me of the statue of Talos in Whiterun. Inigo had gone off to assist the hunters and Itarus was helping organize the ones cleaning the fort. I had confidence they'd perform admirably.

I nodded as she spoke. "I understand. I have a solution to the food issue. Find a room to clean out and I will find a way to get the walls and ceiling frozen. It should cool the air within enough to keep the meat frozen."

The Khajiit looked at me for quite awhile. Was this not a known method? She kept talking eventually.

"The guards report that while there are weapons to outfit them, their armor is shoddy and not protective from the hazards of combat nor the elements. They're requesting material for the smiths to craft fitting equipment. The hunters have reported more than enough wild animals to supply furs for winter coats, but as it stands, there's no metal for work beyond scraps from the bandit's own broken gear. Most of it wasn't salvageable and wasn't fit for forging." The Khajiit woman continued. That was unfortunate. I was hoping they could at least melt down the bandit's gear but that was perfectly alright. After all, this fort was built into a mountain. It shouldn't be hard to pick a spot along the face and get digging.

"Let them know I am working on a solution. What's next?"

She nodded, bringing a quill to the paper and writing something briefly. "Last on the paper is the alchemists. They're requesting that you purchase samples from the Winterhold bazaar so they can begin growing different ingredients. They intend to create healing potions mainly. Some antidotes to diseases our number have caught and more. Most of them will need to see a healer or alchemist for STDs."

"I understand. Tell two of the alchemists and one smith to head outside and grab a cart. Have a few guards go with them along with Itarus. Take some money too. I will create a list of items to purchase from town. Under no circumstances are they to tell anyone we are here. These bandits' operation was rather sizeable before I killed them. We do not want mercenaries or worse coming after us until we are prepared. Ensure they know to not allow themselves to be followed and if they are, to inform me immediately." I said, rising from my throne. I would have to go find some paper and a quill now.

As I stood, I looked at her closely. "What is your name? You have taken up quite the leadership role around here, so I must know your name."

She bowed her head deeply. "Nismada'la. This one's family name is unimportant, Great Angel." And even she has taken to calling me that. All that would be needed now would for me to sprout an angel's wings! I'd never hear the end of it.

"That is a suitable name for you. Go forth and carry my words. I will go and create that list I mentioned and get it to you to give to the alchemists." I said, stepping down from the dais and walking past her. Grimmolf followed closely behind me, the clanking of his plate armor informing me of such.

Nismada'la bowed at the waist. "As you command, Great Angel."

I ended up searching for quite long time. It wasn't until I entered what I assumed to be the old fort's commander's room. It was in a hexagonal room with a bed placed against the opposite wall. Pillars dominated the corners and like the vault, arched up to form a sort of domed ceiling. Banners hung from the walls, but they were faded and unrecognizable. All I could see was a dim blue color as a base and a gold emblem in the middle that vaguely resembled an animal's head.

An armor stand stood on one wall with a headdress made from a cave bear. It looked pretty neat to be honest, so I think I'd leave it there. Luckily for me though, one wall had exactly what I was looking for: a desk with papers and things.

I plopped down on the rather ornate wooden chair and scooted in. With that, I rummaged through the drawers. Thankfully it seems the head honcho bandit or whatever had actually been using this room. This meant the inkwells in the top drawer weren't dried up and had fresh quills. I grabbed a blank sheet of paper and put the quill to the page. I didn't bother centering my writing since I had a whole page and wouldn't need it all.

My handwriting wasn't bad per se, but it also wasn't great. Regardless, I scribbled down what they had wanted. Free pick of ingredients, and ingots for whatever they would need to forge. Now that I actually looked at the page, it wasn't a list. Regardless, what else would we need? I personally wanted to see some spell tomes. Though, I could just visit the College for such things. I doubted they would let me take books out of the Arcanaeum without joining the College which was unfortunate.

"Quite the list." Grimmolf commented, standing at the side of my desk. How he even saw the page was a mystery to me. His visor was at such an angle that he'd be incapable without directly facing it.

"Yeah well, I don't know too terribly much about forging and I have no clue precisely what ingredients they'll want." I defended half-heartedly, still thinking about the books in the College.

A moment of silence reigned. "Implying that you know some alchemy?"

"A little." I admitted. I was clueless with how to actually refine them into potions, but I knew what did what. "Only what ingredients do what."

"How did you come across such knowledge?" He asked curiously.

"My caravan had a alchemist in it. I learned a tiny bit from him."

Grimmolf nodded, that answer seemingly satisfying him.

I sat back in the chair, staring at the wall in thought. The only sound close to me was Grimmolf's heartbeat. Distantly I could hear the heartbeats of others. Speech too far for me to discern as well. Probably came all the way from the outside.

Unconsciously I began tapping on the arm of my chair as I opened my screen and stared at the singular perk point there. Now that I was a vampire it hopefully wouldn't give me something that would kill me. Maybe it would even give me something useful!

With a thought, I selected the point. My surroundings greyed out, all sound halting. It was like being in that void I had gone to after I died. Fascinating.

In front of me was a text box.

You have opened the perk shop! You have
been provided one free point to spend how
you please. Three traits will appear. This
screen will not close until you select one.

Yeah, incredibly good I decided to wait. That could have seriously de-railed my plans. I closed the text box and revealed the shop beneath.

[The Perk Shop]

Perks:

[Acidic Blood]

Your blood is an extremely concentrated and
potent acid. Weapons that cut into your flesh
will dissolve in the hands of their users. Your
blood can even be weaponized.

-Turns your blood acidic

[Angel's Grace]

For one reason or another, you have been
blessed with the wings of an angel. They will
sprout from your shoulder blades and allow
you to take flight. A single flap of your mighty
wings is enough to send you airborne, even
carrying another being or armored.

-Grants the wings of an angel

[Blacksmith's Blessing]

You learn blacksmithing technique at a far
faster rate than anyone else could ever hope
to. This will allow you to create whatever
your mind can muster granted you are
skilled enough.

-Grants [Smithing] skill
-100% experience gain to [Smithing] skill

As I read over the perks, I weighed the pros and cons of each.

[Blacksmith's Blessing] was...kind of irrelevant to me. I could very easily recruit blacksmiths or send out mine to be trained. They were Orcs, so I could even send them to a stronghold to master the techniques of their people. Besides, without the materials to mass forge more rare armors like Dwarven or even Ebony, the perk only served to benefit my personal equipment. The experience bonus was great and all, but since the skill wasn't very useful to me, I'd skip out on it.

As for [Acidic Blood]...it was too much of a risk. Like if I lost an arm and the spray splashed onto an ally. Not to mention it would melt my own clothes and armor. It never said my skin was immune either. Probably implied, but it wasn't guaranteed by the description. While throwing acid onto someone would probably get them off me, unless I got it on the right spot, it wouldn't put them down immediately. That was a pretty situational perk.

That left [Angel's Grace]. How...ironic. I most definitely would never hear the end of their worship. Pretty big coincidence. Kind of funny too. But the sheer utility flight brought me was unmatched. The other two perks just couldn't match up. Plus, the ability to fly while carrying another would be supremely useful. Not to mention my blood magic would benefit greatly from the high ground.

So, with that, I selected [Angel's Grace].

The screen cleared, bringing me back to my stats page. My perk point count was now sitting at a big fat zero. A short moment later and time resumed, my vision no longer in grey-scale.

I opened my perks page and scrolled for a moment, looking at my shiny new perk. Now, how would-

A cold, writhing sensation flared up on my shoulder blades. I clawed my shirt off to avoid it being damaged, falling to the floor on all fours. An armored hand landed on my shoulder but I brushed it aside, gritting my teeth at the feeling.

My flesh bulged grotesquely as bone pierced through my back, muscle crawling up it and attaching at the end. A groan of pain escaped me as the flesh split and grew along the protrusions. More bones formed until they had three long bones with ligaments between them with the middle bone appearing to be made of two bones, or at least two segments. From there, blood vessels inched along, flesh and muscle following closely behind. It draped down, creating something that looked like a kite almost. The protrusions suddenly began twitching and flailing violently, pain radiating from them as raw nerves were bared to the cool air. Skin came shortly after, thankfully sealing the nerves from the outside world.

From there, long and thin pins erupted from the skin, each one growing pure white barbs. My fingernails dug into the stone floor, leaving great gouges. Once the feathers were fully grown, the pain ceased and my new wings stopped moving erratically. They folded up neatly behind my back. A quick brush with my hand over what I could reach of my back revealed brand new muscles had taken root, presumably to facilitate my new anatomy.

I carefully maneuvered my self onto my knees, unused to the adjusted center of gravity.

"By the Divines..." Grimmolf coughed, falling to a knee. "...the elf woman was right. You're an angel."

Well shit.

What to do? Wing it?

I nearly rolled my eyes at the pun, but I really didn't have any better.

"I am not an angel. I...don't know precisely what caused this." As I spoke, I craned my head to the side, examining my new wings. Honestly, they were some of the most gorgeous things I had ever seen in my life. Both lives for that matter actually. Pearly white plumage with a graceful curve to them. Running a hand along the feathers revealed them to be velvet soft but with a stiff structure.

"As much as I am inclined to believe you, I have a difficult time seeing this as anything other than a message from the Divines themselves." Grimmolf replied skeptically after a moment, staring at my wings blatantly.

That was a good point. From his perspective, I had just been sitting still for awhile before I suddenly sprouted them. I had quite literally zero defense.

"Blessed by the Divines, maybe. But I am no angel."

He nodded respectfully before speaking once more. "With all due respect, you kept control of yourself in a bestial haze to avoid harming slaves. You controlled yourself in what is supposed to be nothing but a mindless slaughter. That's unheard of. The elf woman has a point."

"Regardless, I'd prefer if this stayed quiet for a time. It would be a bit of a distraction without a proper reveal." I then focused on my [Change] skill, feeling my form shift back to that of the Nord boy I was prior. I looked over my shoulder to see my wings were successfully hidden. Some more level-up notifications popped up in my vision before I looked back to Grimmolf.

"Of course. You have my confidence, Great Angel." He assured, bowing his head. I couldn't see his face but I knew he was wearing a smirk. It appears that name would be sticking very soon.

I don't want to jinx anything so no comment on my upload speed.

So yeah, some more happened this chapter. Thaion gains a new title (not recognized by the System) and a sick pair of wings. He's going to be playing manager for awhile though while the situation stabilizes. He'll also be making a few visits to important people later ;)

Make sure to leave a review! I appreciate any and all input. Me and my Beta do our best to fix grammar and stuff, we aren't perfect. So, if you catch something, point it out. I'll edit the chapter when I upload the next one.

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