Chapter 386: Mounting Defence
Three more days pass with Michael and the others struggling to enchant sets of leather clothes with enough heat-resistance so that they could survive the Aetherium Forge. While Michael had been trying to increase his skills with enchanting since he'd arrived at the College, he still couldn't be called a master on the subject.
The things he enchanted could survive brief temperatures at the level of the Forge, but they'd only last five minutes at the most. Definitely not long enough to use the Forge while also defeating whatever defences the Dwemer had additionally left.
Fortunately, the group wasn't forced to face this mild inconvenience alone, Michael petitioned the Arch-Mage to assist them with this problem, and the mage had agreed... For something in exchange of course.
In exchange for the Arch-Mage's help, Michael would assist the man with a task he was required to do. Not immediately, but later on.
Michael was hesitant to accept but trusted Savos enough to not harm him, or leave him trapped in Oblivion or something. Plus, he really needed to gain access to the Forge before he started construction on his home in Winterhold... The hired workers had already begun carving stairs into the mountain, so he needed to quicken his pace if he wanted to start construction when he planned.
The Arch-Mage ends up not enchanting clothing for them, but instead, enchanting gold necklaces fixed with large rubies(Michael had to provide said gems), which would protect the wearers from the passive heat of the air.
This, obviously, meant that any flame-based attacks would still harm them. The reason for this was two-fold, the first being that attacks or abilities with intent held more power than passive dangers, like the heat from the lava.
The second being that the necklaces simply weren't big enough, or magically potent enough to retain the enchantment for any useful amount of time.
Regardless, these necklaces were exactly what the group needed, so once the Arch-Mage handed them over, they went straight back and entered the ruins, again approaching the doors to the Aetherium Forge.
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Michael gives a tug to his necklace and glances at the girls, "You guys ready to see if the Arch-Mage had fleeced us?"
"He wouldn't do that, not since you haven't completed your side of the deal yet." Tiffania says while following him as he begins making his way down.
Halfway down the stairs Michael lets out a sigh of relief, he could still 'feel' the high temperatures, but it felt like there was a layer of separation between him and it. As if there was an invisible bubble insulating him from the brunt of the heat.
The group continues down the stairs without issue and enters the large cavern, and Michael could now see that the 'room' was simply just a platform standing over a lake of magma. Steam shot furiously from nearby pipes, threatening to scold anyone stupid enough to go near them, and the magma itself would occasionally bubble and spurt upwards, out of the grates in the floor and onto the platform itself.
All in all, it looked like the description of hell... Were the devil into automatons and steampunk architecture...
"OOoooh, it's cool!" Megumin utters, looking around in awe at the unique sights.
Saya nods along with her, "I'd never have dreamt of seeing things like this back on Earth... Outside of video games..." she admits.
Michael shakes his head, "Stop your drooling and focus, we've got company." he says, pointing over at the Dwemer spiders that'd started crawling down the pillars holding the room up.
Tiffania, Megumin, Saya, and Illococoo all got ready for combat while Michael jumped ahead, utilising Blink and the frozen wings produced by Arctic Burn to bounce from one pillar to the next, cutting down any Dwemer spider that got near him.
Their metal pieces fell to the floor below, some slipping through the grates and into the magma under the platform, causing it to bubble and sputter more chaotically then before, only making it more treacherous for the group to approach.
While Michael was doing pretty well as is, his wings weren't handling the heat well at all, forcing him to channel far more magic into them than usual. Once most of the spiders were eliminated, he drops back down towards the girls who'd been fighting against some Dwemer spheres.
Tiffania had created a barrier of wind to deflect the bolts fired by the Spheres while Saya shot a spray of lightning towards them. Megumin attempts to blow them up with a couple fireballs, but these Dwemer automatons were uniquely suited against fire and heat, which was obvious when you consider what they were protecting...
Saya had summoned some illusion clones of herself and sent them running to each side of the room to throw off the Dwemer, causing some spheres to chase after them instead of the group.
Illococoo had been utilising a two-word shout called "YOLOS SAHLO!", which completely stripped the Dwemer of their fire resistance, making them quickly start to melt on their own. This also allowed Megumin to actually do something, as opposed to hoping the impact of her fireballs would harm the enemy.
The enemy was more numerous than Michael had thought, but it was probably to be expected due to how essential the Aetherium Forge was to the Dwemer.
A few minutes of fighting pass and soon enough all of the automatons are eliminated, with no one being injured or getting a scratch.
"Well, that was easier than you were making it out, Micha-" Megumin starts but has her mouth covered by Saya, "Don't say that! You'll jinx us-"
*SPLASH!*
A large amount of magma is displaced as something suddenly burst out from under it, the group look over and much to their horror, they saw a red hot Centurion mask glaring at them from the surface of the magma lake.
"Really guys..." Michael sighs while rubbing his face at the huge burning Dwemer centurion that stomps out of the lava and onto the platform, looking ready to tear them apart and throw away the ashes.
"At least you were right about a boss being here?" Megumin sheepish says.
"Not the time, I'll complain after we kill the giant flaming death machine marching towards us." he retorts.
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