Chapter 122: Chapter 116 Skyrim 2 Electric Boogaloo
I walked through the portal, the cold air welcomed me and I couldn't help but smile even as snow fell on my face.
I swept my gaze around, seeing the tall peaks reaching up to the heavens around us, the frozen tundra that met the horizon.
"It's good to be back." I allowed myself to take a deep breath of cold Skyrim air before finally taking a look at my two companions.
"I thought you said it would be cold, not Antarctic weather!" Rin huffed.
She was exaggerating, but it was to be expected. I had some resistance against the weather due to my devil nature, but even with that I was subtly keeping myself more comfortable through magical means.
"It is quite chilly." Artoria commented. "We should further look into heavier clothing once we reach our destination."
"I took us right outside of town." I squint my eyes through the thick snow. It was by no means a snowstorm, but the natural weather here made it hard to see at points. Not to mention the erratic nature, sometimes it would be a light snowfall, other times it would distort all vision in the area. "I think I can see the torches from here." I pointed over a bit.
"I believe I see them as well." Artoria nodded.
Rin already had a magical flame hovering above her palm. "What're we waiting for? Lets go."
Artoria looked at me and we shared a quick smile before setting off after her. I've known Artoria long enough to know she was 'ready' for any situation at the moment, even with her lax outer appearance. There was a certain air about her, a nervousness you could call it, a healthy respect for the unknown, especially when Rin was in her care.
If I looked closely, I could vaguely see her grasping at something, not quite her sword, but like at any moment it would appear in her hand and swing at any threat that appeared.
"Rin, you said you practiced the basics I gave you?" I asked, drawing their attention.
"Yeah, what about it?" She answered.
"Try your detect life spell." Such a nifty little thing, while easy to fool if you knew what to look for, it was good for situations like this or scoping out the more obvious ambushes, and animalistic foes.
Basically, it detected the power that pulsed off souls, and essentially pinged it and brought back the information to the caster.
Soul Sonar.
A little red light pulsed lightly in Rin's hand. I couldn't help but admire her ability as she didn't even require an Aria to cast the spell.
"12 Signatures detected infront of us."
"Probably the town guards." Maybe a hundred meters away. Her range was pretty good.
Artoria looked at me, then glanced off to the side with an eyebrow raised.
I put my finger to my mouth to silently shush her while Rin focused ahead.
Stepping forward, I lightly tugged on her large coat, almost making her fall.
"What the hell!?" She looked at me with annoyance.
"Rin." I said gently. "You're being a bit thoughtless with your surroundings."
"What? There's nothing around except those people head."
I turned towards my girlfriend. "Artoria would you please go bring our little friend to us?"
She nodded, disappearing into the thick snowfall a hissed cry rang out loud enough to reach us, Artoria's feet shuffling through the snow quickly replacing the high-pitched noise.
"W-what is that?" Rin practically reeled back.
"It is an Ice Wraith, Rin." Artoria answered, much to my surprise.
"You read the books?" I asked, mildly impressed.
"Yes, I wished to understand what potential foes I would meet here. I found the topic interesting, so I read over it a few times." She explained, said Ice Wraith writhing in her grip, making some unholy sounds as it tried to break free.
"But... I didn't detect it." She said quietly.
"Because it isn't technically a 'living creature'." I wasn't trying to tease or demean her here. "It is an elemental; it does not possess what we qualify as a 'soul'."
"Oh." She drooped her shoulders, making my heart drop a little.
"Rin, I'm not trying to baby you here." I tried to explain. "I understand what you're feeling, believe me, I do." The need to prove herself, I knew that all too well. It was no wonder she was being so frivolous with such things.
"I'm not weak." She countered with a scoff. "I can handle this myself."
"Yes, you are." I decided to be blunt, I glanced at Artoria, she merely closed her eyes not interrupting.
"What's that supposed to mean." She walked up, stabbing her finger into my chest, eyes narrowing.
"Rin, you are significantly weaker than me or Artoria." She was about to angrily retort, but I stopped her. "And that's okay. We all start somewhere; you should have seen me when I first came here. I almost got my ass kicked by some zombie in a tomb. But, this isn't Earth, there are different threats here you have no idea about, yet you're walking around like you own the place."
I knew how much of a hypocrite I was being here, but I promised Zelretch I would look after them, and I wanted to make sure Rin didn't get into trouble like I did. Call me a hypocrite all day as long as Rin wouldn't make the same mistakes I did.
"You're going to have access to an entire school of magic, you're going to get stronger. Then, when you're ready, you'll move on, find somewhere else that draws your interest and you'll keep improving, keep getting stronger." I tried to sooth her bruised ego. "But you can't ignore where you are right now. And Rin, you are weak at the moment."
Her battle experience is very limited, even with surviving the Holy Grail War, she was not a warrior. She didn't even notice the Ice Wraith a dozen feet away. Her spars with Artoria, I don't doubt they've done wonders, but I wonder how far she truly pushes Rin due to their bond.
The fact that Artoria wasn't speaking up in Rin's defense said all I needed to know there.
Rin, to my surprise, didn't get upset anymore or argue. Her face was flushed with embarrassment, perhaps a little bit of shame mixed in, but she didn't speak against my words. She wasn't an idiot, she was probably well aware of her own shortcomings, but sometimes they just need to be spoken by someone else before they truly sink in.
"You're a Genius, Rin. I'm sure you'll be up to snuff in no time." I gave her a genuine smile. And I noticed the corners of her lips twitch upwards ever so slightly.
"Of course." She seemed to regain her usual confident look, flipping her hair back. "I'll catch up in no time, just watch me." She was more than willing to latch onto my words of praise in this situation.
I said what I needed to. I would keep my words and not continue to baby her, she needed to either fall or fly with her own effort from this point on. Though I knew she would soar with very little effort.
"You're going to love the College." I couldn't help but reminisce with a smile.
"They really have a whole library that anyone can access?" Rin looked rather excited, shaking off those previous feelings.
"It's massive" I waived my arms for emphasis. "I stayed in there for an entire day before I realized how much time passed."
Rin all but squealed in delight.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Artoria crush the Ice Wraith with her hand, letting it's strange physiology disperse with a bit of effort on her part.
"Thank you." She whispered, walking up next to me, sneaking a quick kiss on my cheek.
That woman....if we were alone I would definitely be seeing what she was hiding under those heavy clothes~
"Halt, who goes there!?" A deep voice reverberated, several figures approaching as as we neared the gates of the town.
"Well, that's a voice I haven't heard in a awhile." I got a good look at the man who spoke. "Svord, how've you been?"
The man paused, looking me over briefly before a wide grin overcame him. "Lad!" He laughed, walking towards me, hands clasped my shoulders. "Where in oblivion did you disappear to? Half my men been poking around the mages asking and no one knew!" His bright smile turned a little dimmer. "Word was that the Thalmor scum did something."
"Ha, like that slimey elf could do anything to me." I chuckled. "No, I simply went back home for a bit. Speaking of." I gestured towards them. "This is Rin Tohsaka."
"A pleasure." Rin gave a small smile.
"Miss Tohsaka." He nodded, a little slow on the pronunciation, but it was a foreign word.
"She's my grandfather's student, and she's coming here to learn at the college." I explained. "And this is Artoria Pendragon." I gestured again towards Artoria.
"Well met." Artoria also gave a polite greeting.
"And to you, Miss Pendragon." Svord returned.
"She's Rin's bodyguard, and my girlfriend."
Svord blinked, letting out a laugh with a slap on my shoulder. "Well done, lad, getting yourself such a beautiful woman."
Artoria did turn the slightest red at his remarks, and I admittedly mirrored her a little in that regard.
"I'll make sure to tell my men to keep an eye out for them." Svord could more or less read between the lines here with my introductions. He turned towards both of them. "If anyone gives you any trouble up here in Winterhold, feel free to use my name. As Guard Captain, I have a little bit of influence around here." She smiled.
"Thank you, Svord." Artoria acknowledged his good intentions.
"None of that." He waived off her displays of etiquette. "The lad's people are my people!" He let out a hearty laugh again. "You probably need to be heading to the college, but you better make sure to visit the tavern with us later!"
"Of course." I nodded at his enthusiastic words.
"Aye, now get going." He playfully shooed us away.
"I didn't realize you were so popular." Rin commented as we got out of ear shot from them, having walked inside the town at this point.
"The Nords here a simple people, they respect honor above almost all else. If you win their favor or get into their good graces, they would literally move infront of an arrow for you. I stepped in to help them with an issue when I first arrived, we celebrated afterwards and bonded." I trailed off as I saw around the town, certain things drawing my attention. There were houses that were burned down.....buildings that were demolished.
What happened?
As we got closer to the college, and the large towers came into view, Rin voiced her glee at the whole thing. Artoria made some comments about it as well, but my focus was more so on the fact that there was a tower missing, and some noticeable damage around the exterior.
There was no one at the entrance to the bridge, which was still standing thankfully.
"Wilhelm." A voice spoke behind us, even Artoria reacted with surprise, her invisible blade already in her hand as she turned around.
"Archmage." I greeted after quickly recovering. Artoria was also fast to withdraw her Invisible Air, acknowledging my nonchalant attitude.
I think I heard Rin yelp too.
Heh.
"It's been awhile."
"Indeed, I believe you said a month and you weren't far off." He nodded.
Was my aim off by a little bit?
I hope Meridia isn't angry.
"Let me introduce you, this is –"
"Miss Tohsaka, and Miss Pendragon." He interrupted me. "I was watching when you approached the town."
"I never noticed you." Artoria spoke up, her brow furrowed.
The Archmage's eyes twinkled with amusement. "I am quite adept at what I do, Miss Pendragon."
"His way of monitoring the area is....unique. I doubt you would be able to sense him even if you knew what to look for." It would take effort on my end and I was adept at the magical arts, even with Artoria's scary instinct, I don't think she would be able to pick up that she was being watched.
He just hummed, not elaborating himself. "Usually there is a little test for new students, to be able to cast some simple spells so they can prove they aren't just coming here to cause problems. But my instinct is telling me that would be pointless in this case." He paused staring up at the sky. "My, the weather is just dreadful out here." He said lightly, raising his hand, and giving it a casual flick. The snow was visibly dispersed all around us, the sun suddenly shining bright in the sky as the clouds above us had disappeared.
Rin looked up with eyes widened. "Amazing."
Even Artoria gave a respectful look towards the Archmage.
"Show off." I rolled my eyes, much to his amusement.
He ignored my words and continued. "Now, I must apologize, but I require young Wilhelm's presence for a little bit. I have already relayed to Tolfdir, one of our esteemed teachers, of your arrival, you merely have to follow the path to the main hall."
"Thank you, Archmage." Rin gave a slight bow, her words very polite. She was clearly awed by the power he displayed.
"I have high hopes for you, Miss Tohsaka. If you require anything, please don't hesitate to ask."
Artoria silently followed behind Rin as they started heading inside. I resisted the urge to force my presence on them, but they needed this, to step out by themselves.
Was it my possessiveness rearing its ugly head? I thought of them as 'mine' in different aspects, but they also had their own paths to walk outside of my immediate vicinity.
This would be good for both of them.
"So, what did you need to talk about?" I was assuming it had something to do with the state of the college, even if such things perhaps weren't immediately obvious to any new eyes.
"Yes, about that." He looked at me dryly. "We have quite a few things to speak of, Wilhelm."
***
We back in Skyrim. Meridia is just around the corner, fluff cannons are at the ready.
MC can't help but sort of 'mentor' Rin even though he's the same as his previous life. Rin and Artoria getting their first look at Skyrim, and the Archmage abruptly appearing before them.
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