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23.46% A Nascent Kaleidoscope. / Chapter 138: Chapter 131

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.

Anyways, if you want to read 6 chapters ahead, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone


next chapter

Chapter 139: Chapter 132

"So we made it to this big tomb, lots of undead everywhere." Rin had explained their journey to delve into this lost crypts. "I thought the place was already cleared out, because there were no zombies walking around –"

"Draugr" I corrected.

"—Draugr." She nodded. "So there were no Draugr walking around, we walk into a new room, lots of coffins, and there was a treasure chest."

"Oh gods did you go straight for it?" I face palmed.

"She went straight for it." Artoria said dryly.

Rin turned a little red. "As soon as I touched it, all the coffins in the room had their lids kicked opened and a stupid amount of Draugrs all stepped out."

"So, you engaged them." I nodded to her words. "In such an enclosed space, I assume you stuck to your spear and perhaps some small cantrips?"

"No." Artoria deadpanned.

"They startled. Me." Rin defended herself, casting a huff towards Artoria.

"They startled you?" I gave her a dry look. "And what happened when they 'startled you'."

"Blew them the hell up." Rin preened.

I looked towards Artoria.

"That is an unfortunately apt description of what occurred." Artoria sighed. "She screamed and threw one of her Rubies into the middle of the room, destroying most of them in the blast."

"Saber!" Rin huffed.

We shared a laugh at her expense, but she didn't seem particular distressed. I think this trip of hers was the best thing that's happened to her in many months. "How about the traps, those places are usually infested with the things."

"Oh god, tell me about it." Rin groaned. "Who puts jars of oil hanging on the ceiling!?"

"I just started saying 'fuck it' and forced my way through them all."

"Yes, Rin shared a similar mindset." Artoria sighed again.

"Blew them up?" I hazarded a guess.

"Hehe." Rin let out an awkward laugh.

"Alright, so navigated the ancient tomb filled with undead and traps, what was at the end?" I asked.

"Well according to the Journal's, these places were actually prisons for the sons of this amulet's original owner and maker." Rin explained. "I don't know the specifics, but they took the amulet when he died, and broke it up into three pieces. They were tyrants, ruling over the land until they were finally put down and sealed away."

"Fascinating." The Archmage finally spoke up, content to just listen in with amusement. "You still possess these journals?"

"Of course." Rin puffed up. "I knew you would want them. But….everything's kind of jumbled together in my bag after an…..accident. If you don't mind I can get them to you after sorting everything."

"No rush." The Archmage waived her off. "Please continue."

"This Draugr was able to use magic, and he was really good. He was able to teleport short distances, and his elemental mastery was surprising." Rin let out a sigh. "Honestly, I was taken by surprise. If not for Saber's magic resistance, I don't know if It would've gone as smoothly."

"Well, you know better now, right? I doubt any more magic wielding undead took you by surprise from then on." I tried to sooth.

"She did well." Artoria also chimed in. "The fight was not long, but she was able to support me as we took it down and claimed the amulet piece and its treasure as our own."

"They were durable, but not very fast." Rin added.

Ah, Reinforcement is quite the good spell. Most people using magic here had just bluntly forced the magical energy to elevate their body beyond normal means. That, or they simply exist at a much higher starting place similar to how humans were back home in the Age of Gods. Really, the most thorough strengthening spell I found here was Ebony Flesh, and its lesser equivalents. And even that mainly 'strengthened' as opposed to Reinforcement that increased every aspect of the body.

It's quite curious now that I think about it, but thoughts for later.

"Draugr have an innate resistance against magic themselves, as well." I tapped my chin. "Their necrotic nature simply makes spells have a lesser effect, though I suppose it's slightly different than actual magic resistance."

"Well, they burned well enough." Rin shrugged.

"Yup, that'll do it. They're weak against fire, for obvious reasons. There are probably some spells in the restoration school that also repel and harm them. Since the healing magic is the antithesis to undead, they should be able to deal quite a bit of damage."

"I didn't think about that." Rin look lost in thought for a moment. "I'll have to test that at some point." She muttered to herself.

"Well, regardless, what happened next?"

"We basically did the same thing again. Took a couple days of traveling, though we found someone willing to take us in cart most of the way there for some gold. Same kind of crypt, but this one had a bow and teleported around, was kind of annoying because it made clones of itself, but none of them were actually real until only one remained."

"Uh, did you find any books or anything about a spell like that?"

"No." Rin Grumbled. "And I looked all over, turned up every stone."

"She means that literally." Artoria added.

"Well done." I gave Rina thumbs up, one she mirrored with a grin. "More treasure, though?"

"Hell yes!" Rin pumped her fist in the air. "Lots of good things, gold, jewels, weapons, that kind of stuff. You're going to be so jealous~"

"Am I now?" I raised an eyebrow. "Shall I tell you of my adventure when you're done?" My lips curled up.

"What? What'd you do when we were gone?"

"Not much, just killed the oldest vampire in Skyrim, looted his castle." I casually inspected my nails.

"Bullshit!" Rin slammed her hands on the table. "I call bullshit!"

I let Harkon's sword fall onto the table. "Oh no, the blade I got off that vampire lord..." I feigned surprise. "How did that get there!?"

"One of these days, Schweinorg, you and me!" She raised her fist up threateningly. "And put that thing away, it feels really weird."

"Yeah, it does." I didn't argue putting it back in my ring. "Was going to have Meridia see if she could 'cleanse' it of all the icky stuff."

"Are you going to add it to your growing arsenal?" Artoria asked.

"Eh, maybe just my collection, not to something I use for true combat." I scratched my cheek. "I was just interested in the fact that it was a 'katana' or something similar. A bit straighter and shorter, but also not a wakizashi, if slightly bigger than a normal one."

"That is true, I think Gram was a better sword and you opted to not set it to the side." Artoria agreed.

"Speaking of, I actually gave it to Thorum. It liked that fact that he apparently eats dragon souls."

"Curious, I would like to meet him at some point." Artoria gave a small smile.

"Of course, I think both of you would like him. He's a great guy."

"Yeah yeah we can meet your guy crush later. Let me finish my story." Rin interjected.

"Alright, Miss Grumpy, continue on." I gestured for her to continue.

Funnily enough, she wasn't actually upset or even put off by our little back and forth. I think before she held back some thinly veiled jealousy, but now it was just sort of our dynamic.

"Alright, so we got the last two pieces of the Amulet, but we needed to find a way to put them together. There was actually some notes and stuff left behind, a third tomb we were led to. Some sort of ritual site that required the pieces of the Amulet to actualize. Once we did that, it seems like the spirits of those brothers were still latched onto the pieces, so the sort of piggy backed off the ritual to create a ghost-like body."

"Can you describe the ritual in detail?" The Archmage asked?

I had forgotten he was there briefly, actually, I don't think he was all the way here, like a sort of avatar merely listening in when something interesting came up.

"I made a rough sketch before we left a long with the notes to it and I wrote down some of my own observations as well." Rin stated.

"Oh my, well done Miss Tohsaka." The Archmage gave out well deserved praise. "It truly is a boon to have you in my college."

Rin puffed up happily. "Of course!"

"The fight was a little difficult." Artoria began. "There were three opponents who were adept in magic and had some amount of martial skill behind them. Not to mention they lacked several weaknesses a living person would have, such as stamina. But they also lacked any kind of coordination, there were points where they almost fell over one another."

Rin let out a little snort. "The one with the bow actually shot the one with a sword in the head."

"The most difficult aspect was their teleporting." Artoria had a slight smile on her face. "The room we fought them in was rather large so they had quite a bit of room to maneuver."

"I took out the one with the bow and Artoria took out the other two. Once we finished, the ritual combined the Amulet and here we are." Rin finished.

Well, it doesn't sound like they had any major issues, but they also left out a lot of details. But it would probably take hours to recount every little thing. "And you guys didn't face anything outside of these tombs, no dragons?"

"The skies were clear the entire time. I made sure to keep a watch out." Artoria reassured me.

"Yeah, the worse we ran into was a Troll but –"

"You blew It the fuck up?" I finished for her.

"Damn straight." Rin smirked. "What about you, was this vampire strong?"

"Yeah." I let out a sigh. "And he was backed by a Daedric Lord, someone whose an enemy of Meridia and wanted to lure me out." A trap I walked right into. "He was a bit rusty though, so I was able to defeat him without much issue, but his mastery over blood magic was eye opening."

"Blood magic?" Rin repeated.

"Exactly as it sound, to manipulate blood. You can think of it as a branching school of thought from water manipulation. Though it comes with its own good and bad points due to the nature of blood."

"Will~" A person suddenly burst through the doors, her eye catching blue skin making me recognize her immediately.

"Jinn." I smiled brightly at her.

Her eyes swept at those of us gathered. "Rin, Artoria!" She practically squealed in delight, running over and giving each a big hug. Rin looked a little surprised at first, but happy all the same, Artoria welcomed it without any fuss.

"Hello Jinn." Artoria greeted.

"Jinn." Rin nodded her way.

"I'm glad you both are back." Jinn's smile was really contagious. "Did you have fun, were there new books you found? What's that around your neck? Did you fight any of those undead? What about spells, did you learn anything new? Or did you find any good treasure?" She immediately began bombarding them with questions.

Was always happy to see my genie this bright and ecstatic.

"Oh." Jinn interrupted her own rambling. "I actually had a quick question." She looked at me. "I was going through the notes and journals from Harkon's stuff you left at the house, and I got kind of stuck because it mentioned something about an 'Elder Scroll' but I can't find –"

"Pardon." The Archmage interrupted. "Did you say an Elder Scroll?" He seemed much more contracted on us than he was previously.

But honestly, the hell was an Elder Scroll?

***

I have no excuse for how late this chapter was released, just kind of got caught up reading a new novel.

Anyways, if you want to read 6 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone


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