Chapitre 681: Clockwork Trap
A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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Things didn't seem to have gone as planned but where Jon landed was one messy place. Fire was raining down all around him and he was disoriented from the sudden impact.
"Nefertiti! Answer me!"
He called and looked around but as he looked up, he saw something falling down towards him and with a strong burst of power, he ran away from its impact zone.
Things didn't go as planned at all and he put himself in a messy situation. If not for his strength, any normal person would have gone through one hell of an experience just landing like that.
The place around him was large and wide akin to a cave system with a sea of lava covering its floor. Only some rock spires stood tall with traces of construction work at the sides of the cave.
"Mecinar… he… fuck!" Jon couldn't believe what happened just now.
It was all going according to plan… until it wasn't.
Mecinar has managed to remotely activate the Barlizar's Mazed Band and take them all to Clockwork City.
***
*A week earlier to the arrival of Glymet and Laaneth!*
Jon arrived at Clockwork City but in a place where he had no idea which goes where, it was something akin to a huge cave with a deep pit of lava without any exit or escape. The perfect trap if there was any.
Using the "Eye of Magicka" spell, Jon tried to scout the space around him but the Magicka was being siphoned off this space as if there was something wrong with the very core of the world. Mecinar must have done something during their transfer to Clockwork City and made it so that Jon ends up here.
"What a cunning Bastard!"
If Jon were to remain in this place for more than what he should, he would be worn out eventually and Mecinar would come to pick on him easily. That, of course, if he doesn't find an escape as soon as possible.
Preserving his Magicka, Jon started to channel his inner energy and squatted on the rock spire he was on. With an incredible display of physical strength, Jon's leg muscles started to bulge up insanely as they tore through his pants, and with an insane shockwave, Jon jumped from the rock spire he was on to the closest.
The distance was around 100 meters between the two spires and Jon's jump almost fell short at the mark of 80 meters. For that, he curled his body and cast a Novice Spell, Air Bounce.
Just like the spell's name, Jon bounced like a ball in the air and his jump was extended for a long enough distance to land safely on the spire.
He could have cast "Levitation" and spared himself and his pants but some gut feeling told him to be very careful on how to handle his Magicka since his Magicka regeneration was practically not functioning in this environment.
After repeating the process a few times, Jon was able to reach the wall of the cave at the construction area he spotted earlier. Where he landed was a metal platform that had a pedestal in its center and it was made of many cogs and machinery, something that Jon couldn't understand from an initial look.
However, this thing confirmed to him that he is in Clockwork City. It all looked like a Dwemer Ruin around him but it gave a very different vibe.
"Just how?"
As Jon asked that question, his answer came almost instantly.
"Huhu! Look at that place!" A voice spoke with a cheerful glee.
Jon looked around but the voice came from everywhere around him. He narrowed his eyes and focused his Aura to try and pinpoint the speaker.
"Don't waste your energy, I am speaking through the sound system of the Pneumatic Forge." The voice commented on Jon's reaction.
"Mecinar!" Jon spoke with obvious anger.
"Yes, Jon Dare, Dragonborn." Mecinar replied in a vicious mocking tone, "I warned you to stay away and you didn't listen."
"Don't think you'll survive this." Jon spoke.
"Oh! Come on! Worry about yourself." Mecinar replied, "I've done extensive research about you and I've got to say… I am a big fan of you and your Master, Lady Nurina. Moreover, you are a disciple from the student line of Divayth Fyr. Your Grandmaster and my Master were comrades, you know! Divayth Fyr and Sotha Sil."
"So you're the Disciple of Seht? Hmph, I guessed as much."
[A/n: Seht is short for Sotha Sil, don't ask me why!]
"The last Disciple of Seht." Mecinar corrected Jon, "While my master and I had a complicated relationship, I was the sole survivor of Almalexia onslaught when she killed my master and all the other disciples… almost all, I think I may find survivors now that I am back…"
"Alright, introduction's over. Get your ass over here so I can start kicking." Jon said.
"Oh! You weren't listening, Jon Dare." Mecinar said and made a creepy laugh, "I told you that in Skyrim, I was in your realm, the world was fighting alongside you, I wasn't your match."
"So?"
"Here is where things get a tiny bit complicated, my friend. You, a Dragonborn, are a Hero who is yet to fulfill his Fate. I can't kill you and risk the world's retaliation… yet."
"Aha!"
"However, once I reach a position equal or higher than yours as a Hero, you and I are going to have a different conversation than this friendly… banter."
"Well, you have some good brain on that head of yours after all." Jon said, "Just one teeny-tiny problem. You can't keep me here until you do what you're about to do."
"True." Mecinar seemed to agree, "However, I can keep you busy for as long as I want. Remember what I told you, Jon? Skyrim is your playground, but Clockwork City, that's mine."
"Oho! So what're you gonna do?" Jon asked with a challenging grin.
"That is the first time you disappoint me, Jon Dare." Mecinar said in a voice devoid of emotions, "This is the Pneumatic Forge… THE Pneumatic Forge! The name doesn't ring a bell?"
"Hmmm… nope!"
"Well, maybe Divayth Fyr didn't want this secret to be known to anyone I guess." Mecinar contemplated audibly, "Well, let me spoil his secret then. This Pneumatic Forge is the place where your dear Grandmaster almost lost his life to the Daedric Prince Nocturnal."
"Nonsense." Jon snorted, "Even the Daedric Princes tremble on the mention of Divayth Fyr's name."
"True." Mecinar nodded, "Everyone has their own ups and downs though."
"So?"
"Have you ever heard about the Glyph of Magia Memoria?" Mecinar asked a question that left Jon frowning.
That frown however lasted a second before Jon decided to immediately clad himself with the best magical protection he could muster.
However…
"Too late!"
The Glyph of Magia Memoria is a magical glyph used to investigate any magic that was cast in a certain location by diving through the fabric of time and space to recreate effects similar to the one that was just cast. It has many requirements such as knowing which spell to look for, knowing the exact time and place it was cast in, etc. Still, these requirements were as easy as a breeze for an Arch-Wizard such as Mecinar.
"I didn't go through all this trouble to redirect your arrival's route just for you to be delayed for a few hours." Mecinar kept laughing as he watched the spell surround Jon.
Jon felt it, the Magic cast through the Shadows, the spell that got a grip of him.
He felt that something was growing around him and in panic, he punched that shadowy figure.
"BACK OFF!" He shouted with a burst of physical power reinforced with his draining Aura.
As his hit landed on whatever that is, Jon felt so torn all of a sudden and looked to see that a shadow was separating from his own. Just as that shadow landed not too far from him, Jon realized what he just lost.
"NO!" Jon said, "My magic!"
The Shadow was Jon's entire magic casting ability, an aspect of his anuic form that was torn from him by arcane means. This spell was once cast on Divayth Fyr by Daedric Prince Nocturnal but Jon only knew that from Mecinar just now.
"Get over here!" Jon immediately bolted towards his shadow but the thing reflexively evaded him and cast a "Zap" spell on Jon moving him backward by a few meters.
The shadow then decided to start running towards the exit it saw.
"Shit!"
As Jon saw his shadow escape like that, he tried to keep up but he wasn't as fast as a shadow.
"Hahaha!" Mecinar kept laughing during that brief exchange, "Try to keep up then. I am sure it won't take you long, Jon Dare."
"FUCKER!"
Jon shouted and his voice started to break through the metal around him just by his raging Thu'um. He kept running and the traps of the Pneumatic Forge kept activating behind him as he avoided them all like a pro-athlete.
In the end, he managed to break out of the Pneumatic Forge to the sight of the ruined Clockwork realm and it was when he lost track of his shadow.
[A/N: The event when Divayth Fyr got his shadow separated from him happened in the first mission of the Clockwork City DLC in the Elder Scrolls Online.]
***
*Back to the Present*
Just like how he landed once he arrived in Clockwork City, Jon landed towards the vale of tears in a barrage of mortar shells that he personally crafted for this event.
"WULD NAH KEST!"
Before he lands with the bombardment alongside the shell he loaded himself into, Jon uses the whirlwind sprint to escape the fall by stepping on one of the shells and whirlwinding away.
The place where the shells landed was the Vale of Tears, where Mecinar's response force of the chimera-like fabricants, known as the Abominations, have gathered. Hell was let loose upon the monsters that were in the area, and the pillars of smoke became one large cloud of dust, smoke, and explosions.
Jon's mortar strike was just as splendid as it was lethal and he crash-landed not too far off the bombing site. Just like that, he remained there watching what he had done and waiting for the results to clear up.
Unlike when Divayth Fyr was projected to the separation of his shadow and was greatly weakened, Jon is way younger than Fyr and didn't rely on magic to keep himself alive. Even more, Jon is both a Fighter and a Wizard and his martial ability was on par with his magical ability.
Moreover, he still had his Thu'um which is a part of him more than anything else. His magic may come useless and his body may fail him but his Voice will always be strong and dominating.
But Jon loved his magic and through it, he can do his greatest tricks with ease. That was the reason for this bombing, to begin with, this was why he had to draw out Micenar's response force.
As the dust cloud cleared and the fire eating away the place started to settle down a bit, a sphere of Magicka could be seen in the center of the bombing site. There at its center was Mecinar's core power of his response force.
Jon's Shadow.
It wasn't the first time Jon tried to retrieve his shadow by drawing out the response force but this time, Jon managed to isolate his shadow by annihilating all the Abomination it was using as a shield against Jon's martial prowess.
"You know what your problem is?" Jon spoke to the shadow, "Every day, every night, every waking moment of my being, I grow stronger. I trained both my body and my magic to stand on par with one another. But you… my shadow, my magic… you haven't had any training for a week while my body had double the juice."
Jon smiled with a wider grin than ever before.
"Every day, I grow stronger. I am stronger than I was one second ago, do you think you, the one-week-ago version of me, can match me now?"
Jon just wanted to give this cheesy speech even though his shadow can't respond and right now, he was going to do some heavy hitting in order to get his magic back.
***
After a few hours of Jon's encounter with his shadow, Glymet and the team managed to crawl out of the Hall of Regulations with no injuries and unexpected gain.
They even managed to rescue a member of the Tarnished that survived the massacre that happened to Kota's people who lived outside the Brass Fortress. According to that survivor, there is a secret tunnel not too far from the Halls of Regulation that can lead inside the Fortress past its defenses.
Hearing that, Glymet and Laaneth insisted on going in despite Kota's frantic protest. If this was to work, they can rescue Swims-at-Night without resorting to Jon's mad plan of going to war against the entire Brass Fortress.
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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
Chapitre 682: Clockwork Apostles
A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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"So, this leads into the city?" (Glymet)
"Into the Fortress." (Tarnished Bosmer)
"Yeah, the Fortress City." (Glymet)
"It is just the Fortress." (Tarnished Bosmer)
"Wha… this is a City, right?" (Glymet)
"It is, but it is a Fortress." (Tarnished Bosmer)
"That doesn't make any sense." (Glymet)
"This realm is the Clockwork City, the settlement is called the Brass Fortress." (Tarnished Bosmer)
"That's confusing. Why not just call it the Clockwork Realm and the Brass City." (Glymet)
"I… I… I don't know." (Tarnished Bosmer)
"Glymet, stop confusing everyone!" Laaneth shouted at the two men whose conversation was starting to irritate her, "And you, if your route leads us somewhere filled with Abominations, things won't look good for you."
"Yes, lady. I swear on Seht's name!"
The Tarnished Bosmer was a member of one of Clockwork City's factions, the nomadic Tarnished, a group of those who lack the skills required to become a Clockwork Apostle or are incapable of being merchants or craftsmen. As a result, they are cast out from the main settlement and the major facilities.
Kota was also a Tarnished but judging by the fact that neither Kota nor the Bosmer survivor recognized one another, it was easy to understand that the Tarnished people were split into many groups and clans.
Either way, the Bosmer man offered a way into the Brass Fortress, and the group had to make a careful decision between this possible infiltration and Jon's angry plan of blasting everything that's moving.
Seeing how Jon was already bombarding the response force Mecinar was sending and the fact that he did that even without magic, they knew that he would go to radical lengths in order to attain his goals. The problem which he seemed to not care about was the fact that Swims-at-Night may actually get caught in the crossfire and that's against the whole purpose they have ventured here for.
With this set mentality, the team decided to head towards the Brass Fortress but Kota lagged behind and decided to return to Jon and inform him about their change of plans. As for Ram, he seemed to be willing to explore the Fortress with them.
It didn't take them long to arrive at an old tunnel that was transporting fresh air to the Brass Fortress from the Halls of Regulation. The tunnel had strong blasts of air current after it was dormant for the past two centuries (thanks to activating the Halls of Regulations) and the group had a rough journey through the tunnels all the way to the mechanical spires inside the Brass Fortress. As they managed to evade the rotors in the tunnel and exit it via a maintenance hatch, they found themselves on top of a vast city, vaster and wider than any city they've ever come across on Tamriel.
"The Jewel of the Brass Badland, the Brass Fortress." The Tarnished Bosmer said with pride despite not being a resident of the city.
"Gods! A city made of metal and glass…" Laaneth exclaimed, "The legends don't give it any justice."
"Yes." The Bosmer nodded, "You can consider yourself the first unlawful trespassers of the city since the fall of Lord Seht. Its beauty can only be equaled by its arrogance."
But just as the four of them started wondering about the appearance of this city of brass, a pillar of smoke was spotted rising from the eastern section of the city.
"I guess we are not the first trespassers after all." Glymet said, "I don't think that's Jon Dare."
"We need to get down there." Laaneth said and instead of taking the maintenance ladder on the spire, she cast "Feather Fall" on herself and jumped off the spire.
"I am coming too." Glymet did the same and descended after her.
The only ones that remained on the spire were the Tarnished Bosmer and Ram who were transforming the mechanical body.
"Jet Thrusters infusion installed!" Ram spoke in an emotionless mechanical voice and started to levitate with a flame coming from tubes under his feet.
"Ah!" The Tarnished Bosmer looked at how the others were moving around and back off from Ram, "I'll be waiting here then."
But before he would do anything, Ram held the Bosmer from his collar and lifted him up as the man started screaming during the flight down.
***
Once the group reached the source of the smoke, they were shocked by the fact that the things that were burning were actually some of Mecinar's Abominations.
There were no citizens or any living souls in the place they are in right now, which is a market square.
"What is happening here?" Asked Glymet as he checked out the objects that were scattered on the ground.
There was a lot of clutter and destruction but what stood out was some weapons and blood splatters on the ground. Glymet crouched down to check out an item, which resembled the weapon that was being used by Jon and frowned in his thoughts.
As for the others, they were looking around and taking note of the place that seemed to have a lot of food stalls and strange mechanical contraptions. While Laaneth was focused on the machines, Ram was drawn to a certain screen that was viewing some visual illusions of scandalously dressed ladies with mechanical body implants.
"This…"
Ram was somehow mystified by the feeling he was experiencing but just as he was about to interact with the holographic illusion, Laaneth was there for the rescue.
She swung her staff and destroyed the machines that were emitting this scandalous and improper view.
"By Azura, what are these deviants making a child look at?" Laaneth said with an angry tone, "Ram, if you see anything like that, look the other way immediately."
While a bit disappointed, Ram lowered his head and complied with what Laaneth said. It was obvious that these illusions had stirred up something in him but he was too confused to process what it was.
But just at that moment of noise when Laaneth destroyed the hologram emitter, those who were adept in battle within this group (Laaneth and Glymet) started to back off while warning Ram and the Tarnished Bosmer to back off too. The group retreated until they were all back to back as they sensed something they couldn't make heads or tails of.
At that moment and accompanied by the sound of magical machinery, many brass-armored figures started to appear from all around the market square while surrounding the group of adventurers. They were all… humans, elves, beastfolk, living breathing mortals.
"Is that… by Azura, it is!" Laaneth exclaimed, "After all these centuries… there are still people down there! They must be the last of Sotha Sil's worshippers. Careful, I think they…"
At the lead of the staff-wielding band of Clockwork Apostles was a Dunmer wielding a large staff that reflected his leadership status. Just as sudden as he emerged with his people, he gave them the attack command.
"More outlanders, friends! Defend the city!" The man shouted and all the people who emerged from the market square aimed their staves at the group of adventurers before sending a hail of spells and projectiles at them.
"Wait! Let's talk!" Laaneth seemed to be willing to drop her staff and talk peace but the agitated crowd was far from being peaceful and her words fell on deaf ears.
Thanks to Glymet's fast reaction, he managed to pull her into cover and proceeded to retaliate immediately. As Glymet and Laaneth hid behind a stall, Ram and the Tarnished Bosmer retreated into a hidden alley among the buildings.
If Ram was to join this fight, his only weapon (the gatling cannon) wouldn't be enough to convince those people of talking peace. That's why it was all left for Glymet and Laaneth.
Glymet jumped out of cover and vaulted at the nearest Clockwork Apostle before tackling and hitting him with the pommel of his sword. He evasively avoided all the attacks that were launched at him and arrived at where the apostles' leader was positioned which happened to be a high wooden scaffolding. Glymet only needed to kick the scaffolding for it to crumble and the man on top to fall with it.
Laaneth made sure to defend herself and Glymet during that process while disturbing the spells cast at her and stopping anyone from doing anything too dangerous until Glymet got the leader of the Clockwork Apostles and held him at a sword point.
"Alright! That's enough." She shouted and all the people present in the market square could see what had become of their leader, as it was intimidating and frightful, Laaneth chose to take the peaceful approach, "Alright, Glym. That's enough for you as well."
Glymet nodded and retreated his sword away from the man's face before offering him a hand to stand. The Clockwork Apostles and the people of the city were all on edge and realized that their foes were surely powerful but Laaneth's next words were more assuring to them.
"We came in peace." She said and walked to Glymet's side, facing the leader of the apostles.
The man seemed in pain as he held his back with his mechanical arm. Actually, everyone in this place seemed to have replaced their arms with mechanical ones, some even replaced their legs, eyes, parts of their faces, and even had their torsos and chests filled with mechanical implants.
Those were the real people of Clockwork City, the Apostles of Sotha Sil.
"We thought… we thought you were with the other outlanders. You really aren't, are you?" The man asked.
"We are not." Laaneth replied, "My name is Laaneth and this is my companion Glymet. It is rather unexpected for us to end up in your Realm but we came here looking for another companion of ours and those people who attacked you, Mecinar and his men, have taken him as a prisoner."
"So it was Mecinar after all these years…" The man sighed in grief, "My name is Galyn, I'd welcome you but as you see our city but as you can see, we are struggling against the invaders all alone."
"Invaders?"
"Mecinar, his lieutenants, those outlanders. They were hunting our population for Mecinar to… experiment and transform them. The apostles and I are holding this square as a defense choke-point." Galyn said.
"Those outlanders, they are treasure hunters. Maybe they have our friend. Which way did they go?" Laaneth asked.
"They headed towards the Mire Mechanica, and yes, they had a prisoner with them that was also an outlander." Galyn said so which made both Glymet and Laaneth hopeful that their friend is alive.
"But please, they've also taken something important from us." Galyn said, "The Memory Crystal of Sotha Sil, his last memory crystal, we hope you retrieve it for us. It is our most sacred holy relic."
Laaneth frowned since she had found some memory crystals as well in the Halls of Regulation and the Ventral Terminus. She was going to show them to Jon so they can research them together at a later date but if these Memory Crystals belonged to Sotha Sil, it would be very important to acquire them.
"Alright." She nodded, "We will come back for sure but we'd need your guidance to the Mire Mechanica. A safe passage from point A to B."
"That can be arranged." Galyn nodded.
"We will surely return since our way out of this realm is through this city but let me ask you first, when we return, what can we expect from Mecinar?" She asked.
"Mecinar… that bastard." Galyn seemed to be more vexed every time that name was mentioned, "He was once an Apostle like us but he walked a very different path which led to his ex-communication by Lord Seht not too long before he passed. Mecinar is obsessed with surpassing Sotha Sil so he will create the most bizarre things by combining machines and flesh."
"Look who's talking." Glymet spoke in a muffled tone as he stared at the Apostle's mechanic implants.
"SO…" Laaneth raised her voice to cover Glymet's, "After we get your artifact and our friend, do you know a way out of the Clockwork City back to Nirn?"
"The Brass Fortress Wayshrine. But that thing hasn't worked for years and a few hours ago, there was a power outage in the entire city so we need to fix them one problem at a time." Galyn replied.
"And of course, Mecinar as well." Laaneth said.
"That too." Galyn nodded meekly since he was asking them to take care of the Arch-Wizard that decimated everything in his way to get into the city.
Laaneth and Glymet had agreed on retrieving Swims-at-Night and escaping peacefully if possible but things seemed to be progressing the way Jon had anticipated. Going head to head against Mecinar was always on the table but now, it has become inevitable.
On their way to the Mire Mechanica, Laaneth and Glymet informed Jon of their little side venture and he seemed pleased to hear that there are Clockwork Apostles still living in the city. Still, he informed Laaneth that he has amassed enough power and will be striking the city in 6 hours. He advised them to get Swims-at-Night during that time window and join him before then since he needs five lieutenants to invade the city.
By that time, the last thing anyone could expect was that by regaining his power, Jon had managed to assemble a small army of machines outside the fortress.
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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