Chapter 141: Chapter 134
Thorum POV
"This should be far enough." I took a look at our surroundings. It was a fair distance away from the walls of Whiterun, but also far enough away from the farmland that can be resowed when this crisis has ended.
"This whole area used to be untouched plains." Wilhelm looked around as well. "It was actually quite beautiful. Now it's been reduced to ashes and craters."
"Aye, I do miss the sight before the dragons came. Now when I look out from atop the walls, all I see is destruction."
He looked sad as he stared off into the distance. I did not know he cared so much about this land having come from far away. "I almost forgot, how's Sir Wiggles?"
"He has been seen running around Whiterun, at this point most folks know not to harm him, even if they were able to." I let out a laugh. "He was playing with the children the other day, letting them chase him around the streets."
"That's good, I'm glad he's getting out and having some fun." Wilhelm had a content smile on his face. "So, how do you want to do this?"
"Well...." I scratched my head. "I don't know." I chuckled.
"That's fair, I don't think you've ever had to think about teaching someone before." Wilhelm didn't begrudge my ignorance. "To be honest, I don't think I'm ever going to master this Thu'um like you will. I'm just hoping to become proficient with a few shouts."
The Greybeards did tell me that it was very hard for other people to learn the way of the voice. Even for them, they had stayed away from the world and spent their whole lives learning atop that mountain. And they were still not very good when compared to the average dragon, at least in understanding.
"Any shouts you wish to practice?" I asked.
"Well.....there was that one you used against that dragon where you had a huge burst of speed." He replied.
"Ah, the Whirlwind sprint. That was one of the earliest shouts I learned with the Greybeards."
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind being able to have that kind of speed. But I'm curious about the limitations, is it a constant effect, is there a limited duration?"
"It depends on how much power is put into the Shout." I tried my best to explain, but this kind of stuff wasn't my strong suit. "It's.....err.....the shouts don't use Magicka, but they draw power from the soul." I sighed, this was difficult to put into words.
"I understand." Wilhelm spoke. "All the variables from duration to power are dependent on how much 'strength' is put into each shout, along with other things like understanding the words and such. Which would explain why this ability isn't more widespread like magic is. It requires a very powerful soul to shoulder the burden, or years and years of practice and meditation."
I blinked at his sudden words, how he was able to explain everything I knew instinctively. It briefly made me envious of him before I pushed down those thoughts. "Yes, that sounds correct." I nodded at his explanation. "Is there any way you want to go about this, or should I tell you the words?"
"Let's start with the words." Wilhelm nodded.
"First is 'Wuld', meaning Whirlwind. Second is 'Nah', meaning fury. Third is 'Kest', meaning tempest."
"Huh, that's different than I thought." Wilhelm rubbed his chin.
"Is it bad?" I tilt my head at his question, trying to guess his thoughts.
"Not bad, just.....different, I suppose. The phrasing makes it seem more aggressive than I first anticipated. Regardless, mind showing me the first word?"
"Of course, my friend." I smiled at his request, taking a few steps away. "WULD" I shouted, feeling the world bend around my words. He watched me and I moved around him, displaying my increased speed.
"That's pretty good." Wilhelm said, watching my movements. "So the first word means Whirlwind.....alright, I'll give this a shot."
I stopped my movements and the effect wore off with a little bit of effort. Wilhelm readied himself as he called upon the voice. "WULD." He shouted and I felt....something. It didn't seem 'right' but there was something there.
"Alright, let's see how this goes –" Wilhelm took a step forward, and suddenly his face was planted in the dirt several paces away. There was a silence as he slowly stood up, turning back towards me.
I couldn't help but laugh as a string of curses left his mouth. "My friend, that was an interesting shout, what is it called, eating dirt?"
"Alright, I'll remember this when I start teaching you some magic." He smiled innocently.
Perhaps I will regret this in a few hours, but for now, it was still very humorous to me. "Will you try again?"
"I think I know what I did wrong." He brushed himself off. "Lets try this again – WULD" He once more shouted, and there was another effect. My instincts were telling me it was incorrect again, but even my eyes could see that clearly as a large gust of wind burst out and flung him in the opposite direction.
"Wilhelm are you okay?" He gave me a shaky thumbs up before climbing to his feet. Let no one say you cannot take a hit, that landing looked like it hurt.
"I have an idea." He brushed himself off again spitting out some dirt from his mouth.
"Does it involve you becoming intimate with the ground again?" I laughed.
"Just keep it up, big guy, we'll see whose laughing later." Wilhelm pursed his lips. "But I was thinking, what if I try it while I'm flying, that way I can get the hang of it without smashing my face into the ground."
"That sounds like a good plan to me." Atleast there will be no obstacles for him and he can get used to the shout this way.
"Alright." He nodded and his wings burst out of his back. It was a strange sight like always, but I was more used to them now. He had not told me their origin, but I also did not ask. He also did not appear to be as self-conscious about showing them either. "Here we go." He took to the skies, about a dozen feet into the air. "WULD." He shouted.
I watched as he burst forward, doing a flip and flying right into the ground.
There was silence again as he pulled his head out of the soil, spitting out more dirt, his eyes locking with mine.
And I couldn't hold it in, I fell to the ground, clutching my stomach as I bellowed out laughs.
"Stupid shout is broken." He huffed in annoyance. "That or someone is fucking with me."
It was odd to see Wilhelm having difficulties. I had thought it would come easy to him, he always seemed so confidant when a challenge appeared. I always thought of him as a point to strive towards, but seeing like this....it was refreshing. It felt like the space between us had lessened to a degree.
"WULD."
"MOTHER FUCKER."
"WULD."
"GODS DAMMIT."
"WULD, WULD."
"FUCKING HELL, THAT'S WORSE."
I sat on the ground, a big smile on my face as I watched my friend flail around trying to get a good grasp on the shout.
Divines, I needed this. I haven't felt this relaxed in.....a month? I always felt like we teetered on the edge of oblivion, a single mistake and everything was gone. When Wilhelm came back, It was like a weight off my shoulders. The people kept looking up to me, their 'dragonborn' but I never felt that I had earned such praise. A part of me just wanted to disappear, to escape away from all the eyes of hope placed on me.
Things were tense even with the companions. With the Harbinger still in the stasis spell the Archmage from the college helped cast on him, everyone had been running around to try and find a way to help him while also dealing with the jobs that were overflowing.
I couldn't even leave to help them because of the threat of a dragon attack. I had sworn myself as a Thane of Whiterun, I couldn't abandon the city in this time.
It just seems like things kept piling up. Trying to deal with the dragons while also scouring Skyrim for a cure for the Harbinger. Finding out that he was a werewolf had been...odd. But I don't like to judge people based on things like that. He was an honorable man, as were the others who came out with the same affliction. I would not even think of vampires that way. Da always said to judge a man by his actions, not his heritage. Speaking of vampires, that was another mess that was causing issues, especially with the vampiric dust they found in what looked like a battle inside the city.
There have been rumors of the Dawn Guard gathering again, and I found myself disappointed I could not go and take a look.
I sighed, watching my friend once more. It filled me with a strange confidence when we told me we merely had to 'kill Alduin' as if that course of action would be inevitable.
Truly, I envied his confidence.
But I would not think of that right now, for this moment, I was just enjoy watching him continuously fly into the ground with a wide grin on my face.
***
Wilhelm POV
[I think I know what you're doing wrong.]
"Really?" I got up for the millionth time, wiping away the dirt. I was filthy at this point and I had dirt in places I did not want to think about. "By all means." I ushered him to continue.
[Okay, so hear me out on this –]
"Oh fuck off."
[Have you tried not slamming into the ground?]
"Knew exactly where you were going with that."
[Hahahahah] Ddriag continued to enjoy my torture from within my soul.
"Are you alright, Wilhelm?" Thorum looked at me with a little worry on his face.
"I'm fine, just dealing with a sarcastic dragon whispering in my ear." I scowled.
"Dragon?" Thorum looked at me strangely.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you both." I smacked my head, summoning the Boosted Gear. "Ddraig, meet Thorum. Thorum, meet Ddraig."
"[Hello.]" The boosted gear lit up, projecting Ddraig's voice.
"Oh, I was not aware you could speak." Thorum looked shocked. "Well Met, Y Ddraig Goch." He said politely.
"[I like him, he shows proper respect to me.]"
"And once he knows you, it'll stop." I rolled my eyes.
"[You see what I have to deal with here? Me, the Red Dragon Emperor and this brat is my wielder.]"
"I could always give you back to Issei..."
"[And what a great wielder he is, best I've ever had.]"
"Yeah, thought so." I deadpanned.
"It sounds like you two are close." Thorum smiled. "I wish the other dragons were as good natured."
Ddraig let out a snort, catching his attention. "[Brat, don't mistake my current attitude for my overall nature. I would never have bothered talking to someone like you as you are now. You would have been beneath my notice as much as you don't care about the ants on the ground when you walk.]"
"Oh...." Thorum looked depressed by his words.
"Ddraig." I hissed, looking down at my gauntlet.
"[What? You want me to baby him? He's a dragon, he needs to grow up. I'm not saying he has to change who he is, but as he is now, he's not worth even a second glance from my old self. If he wants to be 'nice', if he wants to protect all the people in this city, he needs to get stronger.]"
Oh, this was Ddraig actually trying to motivate him. I think he liked Thorum just as I did, but as a dragon, he probably found Thorum lacking.
"[Dragons do what they want.]" Ddraig grumbled. "[But you better make sure you're strong enough to continue doing it.]"
Thorum was silent, his expression shifted a few times. "Thank you for your words, Dragon." Thorum still was respectful.
"[Hmph, as long as you learned something. The idiot wielding me at least does what the wants, even if it's flirting with every girl that catches his eye.]"
"Hey, Thorum, don't you think this gauntlet would look better if it was white?"
"[I WILL DESTROY YOU]"
Thorum's lips curled up. "Aye, I do believe we have some pigment at the tailors."
"[Bastard, go back to eating dirt!]"
"You know what!? I'm going to do it right now!" straightened my back, and adjusted my tie, throwing it to the side. I rolled up my sleeves and pushed my hair back.
"I believe in you, Wilhelm" Thorum cheered with that big goofy smile of his.
I closed my eyes, letting my Aura spread out. Using the Thu'um was applicable by forcing one's will onto reality, the words were the driving force while one's soul needed to actualize the intent. If my theory was correct, I could get a better feel for everything since my Aura was the physical manifestation of my soul.
I think I knew what was wrong. It was the fact that Ddraig was in my soul, as ironic as that was. It wasn't the same where Thorum had the soul of a dragon, I was going about it differently. Not to mention Ddraig's otherworldly origins, and not completely matching the same concept as 'dragon' that this world has.
The shout was separated into three parts, but the first word was the most important to me. Wuld, meaning Whirlwind. It was the piece that increased one's movement speed. While the other parts added to it, possibly further increasing the speed, their main intent was something else, to make the user into a true Whirlwind, an actual nature phenomenon while they moved.
Ddraig, while also causing me issues, was crucial, if he wasn't in my soul, I don't know if I would have any talent in this particular branch of magic, even if it bore striking resemblance to Primordial Runes.
My eyes snapped open. And my legs tensed in anticipation as I took a deep breath. "Wuld!"
I blinked as the magic actualized, the world bending. I expected many things, none of which were me cartwheeling through the air, losing my sense of up and down as everything blended together before I smacked into the ground once more, skipping several time before I came to a rest in a new hole.
"Owwww." I whined, my Aura flaring to start healing me.
"Wilhelm!" Thorum ran after me, clearly concerned, probably because this was my worse tumble yet.
Damn, I must look like a mess now. I dare not even check to see how bad my clothes were. The prideful part of me was really annoyed at the thought. "Thorum, I'm good." I put my hands up to calm him down. "Just a little tumble, it wasn't too bad." Well my Aura stopped me from any side effects, just a little jumbled.
Though, I felt something when I used my Aura and the Shout that time, like I saw the correct 'path to take'.
"Hey, Thorum, want to see something cool?" I asked him, my lips quirking up.
"What do –"
"Wuld." I whispered, a burst of wind and I was right at him, my hand on his shoulder to stop myself from falling.
He had a big grin on his face. "Well done."
I couldn't help but smile too. It wasn't nearly as good as his, and I had to really focus on several aspects to get it sorta right, but it was progress.
***
Man i feel like crap since yesterday.
Thorum helps MC get practical experience with the Thu'um. So, as i told the people over on my pat.reon, I'm looking to finish this arc by the weekend, with their schedule, for a sort of time frame. Jinn lewd is next chapter, just a heads up.
Anyways, if you want to read 6 chapters ahead, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone
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