Chapter 138: Chapter 131
I took a deep breath, sweat dripped down my brow. I ignored the few stray strands of hair that fell down on my face. My legs crossed, wings out as I hovered about ten feet into the air, a floating book in front of me and the Boosted Gear on my arm.
I ignored the pain in my body as I turned the page. There was a small twitch in one of my wings and I fell about an inch before catching myself. My swords floated around me, my mental strength also keeping them afloat. But that was not all, my Sword of Destruction was channeling my aura so my Power of Destruction was activated around the blade. It didn't run wild, instead, it was coherent, complacent. It was evenly distributed all around, coating it in the blackish hue, only instigated into action by my will.
[Do it again.]
I took another deep breath. "Boost." I called out, doubling my capabilities once more. This must have been the 8th boost now, and I felt my body grow stronger, but at the same time, the strain was enough that I let out a growl. As the power flowed through my, another force was exerted, the Runes I set up all around this room lit up, and a torrent of gravity descended upon me, threatening to force me onto the ground.
I grit my teeth, adjusting to the new force, not letting myself fall too far, and not allowing my swords to fall either. My focus did not waver, my Power of Destruction did not go out of control and I adjusted to the new weight around me.
This room, an empty place I had found in the college to train. I had received permission from the Archmage to set this little place up. All around me were Runes, designed to adjust the force of gravity on an individual. It was a bit annoying getting set up right, but I couldn't complain about the results.
Normally, such a thing would have been tedious, but otherwise simple. What I had done, was add a secondary sequence that increases every time I use 'Boost', except it doesn't merely match my new strength. If I used the boosted gear to increase my abilities by a factor of 2, the gravitational exertion is creased by 2.1, meaning I could train myself in multiple ways, both from the stress of the Boosted Gear, and the force exerted on me. And that didn't even take into account my mental exertion to keep my swords up, my flight up, and my power of destruction going.
I pushed off the thoughts of pain, instead focusing on the book infront of me. One of several I had acquired from the Archmage's personal library, or rather the books he keeps segregated so new initiates can't just get their hands on them by accident.
They weren't all 'blow this city up' kind of thing. A lot of them were spells that an initiate could use, but were extremely dangerous and needed a firmer grasp on magical arts to fully understand and utilize without harming yourself. And then there were others that were just....malicious by design.
I'm not one that likes to label spells 'evil', but there were certainly some horrible spells in his collection. Not that I faulted him for keeping them, they were useful for understand and learning from, even if you never intended to use them.
Like there was a spell that forced another person to fall in love with you. It was a disgusting amalgamation of different mind control magics with an unhealthy dose of brain chemistry altering. But on the flip side, it had a very interesting thought process on combining spells without conflicting with one another, but instead becoming greater than the sum of its parts.
The spell I was studying at the moment was called 'Lightning Form'. It was a spell derived from the Lightning Cloak spell I was quite familiar with.
To put it bluntly, it forces the body to take on the properties of 'lightning' so to speak. It would heavily increase my affinity to the element, but it was irreversible, from what I read. The down side, was the fact that the process was extremely painful and dangerous, not to mention I wouldn't be able to use a similar spell otherwise I'd probably die.
Using terms from my home world, it would force the concept of 'Lightning' onto my being with everything good and bad that comes with that. My Element would thus change, not replacing the old one, but adding a second. There were many factors that come into play when dealing with something like this, but I had many tools at my disposal to mitigate the detriments.
"What do you think, Ddraig?"
[It's not a bad idea. I'm sure I don't need to tell you about all the dangers and everything. But you seem more particular towards the element of Lightning. It will make other elements a little harder to utilize, but that doesn't mean much. And since your Runes aren't direct elemental manipulation, they won't be affected, but would be enhanced due to your Lightning affinity when using some of your personal spells.]
"Yeah, most of the detriments are about 'gaining' the ability, not the effects of simply having it." Which admittedly, were a long list, not many mages could boast what I could when it came to preparation. Hell, my Aura mitigated an awful lot of problems talked about in the book.
[You're up again.]
I grunted, gritting my teeth, preparing. "Boost" I called out, holding it for a moment until the gravity descended upon me again. I let out a pained cry as I slammed into the stone floor below, cracking the surface.
The magics turned off by, a safety measure built in by design.
"....Release..." I breathed out, letting the boosts fade and leaving my body aching. My swords impaled themselves onto the ground near me, my power of destruction dissipating and retreating along the linkage of my Aura, returning to me.
[Not bad, you lasted longer than yesterday by a noticeable margin.]
I rolled over, back onto the ground, letting my body sprawl out. "This is the ....4th day?
[5th Day.] Ddraig corrected
"Oh....time just seemed to blend together." I muttered, letting my breath return to something normal. " I moved my arms but was only greeted by an aching pain.
No pain, no gain as they say.
I let out a sigh, sitting myself up.
"Wilhelm." I heard a familiar voice call out, opening the wooden door.
Turning around, I saw the Archmage enter. "Have you come to check up on your prisoner?' I asked.
"Wilhelm." The Archmage gave me a dry look. "Just because this room was a holding cell some centuries ago does not make you a prisoner." He deadpanned.
"The outside world, I can't handle it anymore. Let me stay here, it's all I know." I gasped.
"Okay." He didn't even bat at eye at my antics. "Shall I tell Miss Artoria and Tohsaka that you have opted for a life behind bars?"
"Boo." I pursed my lips rolling back over gain. My arms were shaking and my legs wobblily as I stood up.
"Oh, Wilhelm." The Archmage came over to steady me. "How much did you push yourself?"
"Well, I'm still breathing, so probably not enough." I chuckled. Atleast, I think that's how Scáthach would look at it.
The Archmage sighed. "Wilhelm, I can't claim to know much about your biology...." He cast a look at my wings still out. "But this can't be healthy to sustain over long periods."
"[Long periods mean different things for dragons.]" Ddraig chimed in.
The Archmage blinked, staring at my gauntlet. "I can't argue with that logic. Still, perhaps a break is in order? As I said, Miss Artoria and Miss Tohsaka have returned, and they have had a wonderful experience if their excitement is anything to go by."
"Alright, I'll head there in a moment." I nodded. I hadn't seen Artoria in over a week.....I miss my little knight. And I wanted to hear about Rin's adventures, I hope she had a fulfilling time.
The Archmage nodded. "I see you were reading Lightning Form, what do you think?"
"It's....an interesting avenue to pursue, and I can seemingly sidestep many of the detriments with some effort and preparation."
"Yes, I thought that one may catch your eye." He rubbed his chin, a small smile on his face. "I had to take it from the library when I had a pair of brothers try to learn it together some decades ago."
"Oh jeeze, how bad did that end?"
"Well, they at least managed to get a basic lightning bolt down before attempting it." He sighed. "I managed to save their lives, but their ability to manipulate Magicka was thoroughly shattered." He eyed me sternly.
"I appreciate the cautionary tale, but I'm not going to just jump head first into this." I tried to alleviate his concerns. "I have many things available to me to not suffer any horrific setbacks even if I decided to throw caution to the wind."
"As long as you are careful." He nodded, clearly pleased with my words. "I also look forward to your thoughts after you succeed. If we could tweak it, it would be a wonderful spell for those who specialize in lightning destruction."
That's true. He probably didn't have any data to even start an endeavor. Well, I wouldn't mind helping him out, if nothing else I do love to discuss magic. "Sure, I'll make sure to note my attempts down and to have everything document so we can go over it at some point."
"Wonderful!" He cheerfully replied. "Now, let's not keep your lady friends waiting."
****
I happily pushed over the doors to the cafeteria, because where else would I find Artoria? Joking aside, I think they were just here to unwind with some space to set some stuff out.
The Archmage was already here and as soon as I walked in I drew their attention.
"Wilhelm." Artoria perked up, a smile on her face and my heart just melted.
I held my arms out and she happily moved forward into my embrace. "Artoria." I did squeeze her tight. "Missed you. Did you have fun?"
"Un." She let out a small noise in confirmation. Only breaking our hug after another moment. "Come, we have a grand tale to regale you with." She grabbed my hand, pulling me over to the table.
I took another look at them. Artoria wasn't in her usual armor, she was sporting some local leathers with some other comfortable looking furs to not stand out so much. Along with a hooded cloak adorning her back.
Rin too looked interesting.
I met her eyes briefly and she returned a haughty smile, hand on her hip and a happy gleam in her eye. She looked much different. Full leather armor, but with what looked like a mages robe fitted over, acting like a cloak. I could only tell because of the parts not covered, Her arms, a bit of her chest, her legs. She was clearly decked out in armor and from what I could tell, it was clearly enchanted. I briefly wondered if it was by her own hand or not.
She had a staff in her hand I did not recognize, but it seemed pretty decent. Her Noble Phantasm was on her back, for ease of use. She had a dagger at her hip and other accessories all around. But the most eye-catching item was the Amulet that hung from her neck.
What a feeling it gave when I inspected it. Obviously, she was allowing me this kind of 'poking' otherwise such an action could be easily differed.
"I think I'm Jealous." I blinked as I eyed that ridiculous thing around her neck. "Am I allowed to be jealous?" I looked down at Artoria.
She just let out a small laugh.
"I'll allow it." Rin flipped her hair back, obviously emphasizing the thing even more.
I rolled my eyes, but I was happy Rin seemed a lot more....'alive' than when I saw her last. "Alright, I want answers." I jabber my finger at her amulet. "The hell is that thing, because it's frankly, ridiculous. I almost thought it was a Daedric Artifact."
"No, but it is an item of legendary proportions." The Archmage chimed in. "Miss Tohsaka was kind enough to allow me a few cursory looks."
"I said you could look at it as much as you wanted." Rin huffed.
The Archmage chuckled. "I have enough. I merely was interested in its overall creation, without breaking it apart, I can't get much more from it unless you were willing to part from it for a few years."
Rin looked aghast at the thought, earning another chuckle from the old mage.
"Alright, you can show off. Tell me what it does." I sat down at the table, Rin joining me quite quickly.
The Archmage just stood nearby, content on watching and hearing the story while Artoria slid in next to me, as we shared another small smile.
"From what I've discovered so far." Rin began. "It provides a potent passive healing effect. A small cut would heal in moments, a broken arms would probably take a few hours and I haven't tested any missing limbs for obvious reasons." She stated, clearly in a type of lecture mode.
"Interesting, have you tried other avenues of healing. Like is Hair restored, or fingernails? It would be interesting if it stops the process of aging." I asked.
Rin paused pondering those questions. "I'll need to test it more." She admitted and I just nodded as she continued. "My physical stamina is higher. I noticed I could hike through the mountains a lot longer before feeling winded."
"I can vouch for this one." Artoria chimed in. "She went from needing a break every few hours to going nearly all day without issue."
"Fascinating." I rubbed my chin. "I'm sure that isn't it though." I ginned at her. I could tell she was holding something back.
"My capacity for Magical Energy at least doubled while wearing this thing." She looked rather smug. "It has a sort of.....Magicka Pool I can draw from and refills separately from my own, but doesn't conflict when I actualize any of my spells."
"Now that is really interesting. Does it refill separately from your own, or does it fill up by siphoning your own magical energy?"
"It draws from the world; my own Od is left untouched." Rin confirmed.
I admit to being a little jealous, maybe it was just my hoarding nature acting up infront of a treasure. But I was honestly happy for her too. She also looked a lot more spirited, like a weight was off her shoulders.
"The treasures are good and all, but how abut the details. Tell me of your adventure." I shot her a smile and she beamed back at me.
"Well, it started when we went looking for a tomb called Folgunthur over by Solitude....."
Artoria reached out under the table, sliding her hand into mine as our fingers intertwined and she laid her head on my shoulder as we let Rin began to recount the tales of her adventure.
Seeing Rin excitedly start to recant the tale, I couldn't help but smile. Even with how fatigued I was feeling at this moment, everything just felt right in the world.
***
Skyrim Arc is wrapping up soon, then we're heading to fate/apocrypha to participate in a grail war.
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