With Michael having escaped Riften without any problems, he and his group of companions + Medresi begin their journey anew, this time heading towards Whiterun. He was interrogated about what exactly he'd done after they'd left the city, but Michael held his tongue, thinking it would be more amusing to hear about it later.
Of course, Medresi was justifiably miffed at the fact that she was forced to abandon her home and everything else she'd built in Riften because of what Michael had done. The heavy bags of treasure she'd collected only alleviated her worries to an extent, but the turmoil of having to pick up and move shop all of the sudden had her in a foul mood for most of the journey.
Tiffania, Charlotte, and Illococoo didn't really care, however, embodying the saying of 'Out of sight, Out of mind.', their next stop was Ivarstead, and after that, they'd follow the trail around the Throat of the World to get to Whiterun. This left them with a lot of spare time, time with which they used to study not only the Tamrielic magical tomes they'd managed to collect. But also have Medresi tutor Charlotte and Tiffania in the local language.
While Michael and Illococoo might be proficient in it, that didn't mean they were good teachers. Indeed, the ease with which they'd picked up the language made it harder for those under them to understand.
Since Medresi was also fluent in Dunmeri, the language of the Dark Elves, she was a good teacher for the duo. So, when the duo wasn't staring fixedly at the tomes and attempting to translate them with some occasional help from Michael or Illococoo, they were being taught.
That being said, the group's understanding of this world's magic was slow to improve. It was such a drastic change from what they knew and had been taught back in Halkeginia that it was difficult to wrap their heads around it.
Tiffania was least affected by this to some degree however, as she'd only really been taught the bare minimum before she was forced into hiding, her instinctive 'Erase' Void Magic being the only thing she was able to cast when Michael first met her... Second met her?...
While some of the Tomes were only about Novice level spells, they didn't go into detail on how to actually use magic, or to be specific, Magicka. The author assumed that the reader was already able to channel Magicka and follow the Tomes instructions.
Fortunately, there was one person who could provide such essential information. Medresi, who'd already shown that she could cast rudimentary Destruction spells. Thus, while the group was making camp a day after Michael had escaped Riften, she'd sat him, Tiffania, Charlotte, and Illococoo down to teach them the basics... Though, this did require an 'explanation' on how they could use magic and not know something so simple.
Michael had managed to play it off by saying that they didn't have a formal education, instead just winging it with whatever information they found, eventually developing their own unique ways of using magic... Thank whatever god existed that Medresi wasn't knowledgable enough to call him out on his bullshit, because any other magic-user in this world would have done so.
And, to be put simply, Michael was already able to do what she taught... Rhasta had already taught him to manipulate mana, all that was left for him now was to actually learn the spells for it. The girls however? Well, apparently there was a drastic difference between Halkeginia magic and Tamrielic. Halkeginia mages didn't actually manipulate their magic, at least, not in the traditional sense. To be frank, they would bypass their bodies almost entirely and instead channelled magic into the foci then using chants and movements to actualize the magic. Even their skill with Elemental manipulation still required a focus, leaving them complete beginners in this regard.
With all that together, it wasn't a surprise that none of the three girls was able to summon their magic on the first day. Fortunately, they weren't all that upset about it, each either understanding that it'd take a bit of work to get used to or not really caring if they made any progress at all(Illococoo).
Once night rolled around, they each departed to their respective tents and Michael accessed the Book of Heroes to see his progress, along with getting his hour-long training from each Spirit.
The first thing he does is enter the world containing Anti-Mage and Wei, to see if either were more accepting of their situation now that they had time to digest it... This ended up being the wrong decision, as he was greeted by a still angry-looking Anti-Mage who was wielding both of his unique curved glowing blue warglaives.
"E-er... Where's Wei?" Michael asks, wanting to deal with her instead of this angry monk mage destroyer...
Anti-Mage glowers, "I have sent her to train on the peak of a nearby mountain ridge. Why hast thou dragged thyself back here? Your presence is unwanted, dearly so."
...
"So, about that training-" Michael initiates but is quickly quieted by the monk.
"Again, I refuse. The day I accept thine as a student, is the day I relinquish my oaths to the Turstarkuri. Now, begone, or face the wrath of a warrior scorned!"
...
Michael was tempted to see just how strong Anti-Mage was, but concluded that fighting him now was counterproductive to any future that had them working together. Still, he didn't want to waste the free hour the Book granted him... "I'll leave your temple, but I want to explore the area a bit before I go... I've never been in a place like this before..." he says, inwardly reminding himself that he had actually tumbled down a mountainside once back in Albion.
Anti-Mage frowns but doesn't say anything else, instead just turning and beginning to meditate on the temple balcony, his warglaives resting on his lap and still ready for use.
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