Chapitre 659: The Greatest Dragonborn
A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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*Winterhold, Neo Saarthal*
Year 202 of the Fourth Era brought not only war and destruction but also opportunities and wealth. Through Winterhold, merchants were now investing and using the resources of the land.
However, the most valuable resource of Winterhold turned out to be its accused weather.
The temperature in Winterhold was at an all-time low for most of the year which makes it impossible to plant any crops. Still, with the Civil War going on, Winterhold stored astronomical amounts of food of various kinds by the fact that it is a natural fridge.
Many storehouses were erected in the cave areas after clearing many trolls, bears, and wolves by the Firemane Clan and using these caves as storage places. While the Dare Dragon Trading Company enforced a rough policy against food monopoly, they became the key holders of food import and export to many holds around them. This almost overshadowed the Food Shipments that Skyrim always imported from Cyrodiil.
The worldwide partners of the DDTC were spread throughout Skyrim, High Rock, and Hammerfell which exchanged many food goods with industrial products and medicine. This complemented the fact that many refugees started a new Fishery project which Jon Dare didn't think of that much and made a huge success, the situation which encouraged the Dares to support them with equipment and funds.
All of this happened while maintaining many policies regarding the refugees control, the situation which started getting worse by late Winter. With many families losing their winter provisions too early this year, this drove them to see it in Winterhold, which impacted the economy for a few weeks before absorbing the refugees into the industrial system.
The positive thing with Jon's economy is that it always needs more workers with him jumping on every opportunity there is to find. The latest opportunity he thought of was constructing a Stronghold in the middle of the sea, this can serve as a defense point and a trading post to the Isle of Roscrea in the far northern sea and to the Dragon Isles east in the Padomaic Ocean. The Dragon Isles may one day open the road to the far eastern continent of Akavir.
The work spirit of Winterhold was so great that it would melt the snow off Winterhold and turn it by the next spring into a great vibrant coastline.
Back in Dare Tower, things were going quietly. The lowest floor was swarming with employees and scribes who were working as Jon's force behind his economy and busied themselves by drawing charts and maps for the Spring Caravan to High Rock. However, they all became quiet when a certain female walked in.
Nurina Aren, an Arch Wizard from the College and Jon Dare's adoptive mother, walked in with big steps and turned to the spiral stairway that went up to the next floor. There, a contraption started rotating on cogs as a platform descended from above with the exact same design as the Dwarves Lifts. This one, however, was made of steel and wood.
The Platform started rising to the next section of the tower and from there, Nurina walked into the luxurious hall which felt like a throne room. This was the residential section that was occupied by Jon's family and friends.
In its center of it all was a Magicka Focus point which served as a Magical Lift that levitates people to the other floors since there were no stairs from this point onward.
Unless one can use Magic, Aura, or has special permission by Jon, no one can go further than this. Of course, Nurina can just go in and out without anyone complaining.
The Magicka Focus Point took her from the first floor of the second section all the way up to the third section which was the private area of the tower and its top.
There, all of Jon's toys were gathered.
As she emerged through the levitating array, Nurina was in front of the door leading to the third section. She simply walked in and there, she could see towers and towers of bookshelves and storage spaces.
There were armor stands, weapon display cases, an entire Dragon Skeleton hung from the ceiling with chains of steel, and a section for all the trophies Jon collects.
In the middle, Nurina could see a Crown placed on display with many red gems dotted on its large wing-like sides.
Not all the gems were there, of course, but 19 of them. There was also a note that there are 5 that are missing from the Crown of Barenziah.
Nurina stood in front of the crown and watched her reflection on its protective glass as it displayed her wearing the crown. She smiled for a second and walked to the book section looking for some reference books from her student's personal stash.
Jon wasn't much of a reader despite his magic knowledge. However, he would ask his system to scan the books and read them for him like an audiobook. That is why he had a big collection in all sorts of fields that may interest wizards.
But as Nurina started searching through the maze of bookcases, she noticed a figure moving around the bookcases with the sound of books falling on the ground. Nurina arched herself backward and looked at the book as it started to shake and jump by itself off the ground back to where it was on the shelf.
This was just a simple enchantment on all books here but from the number of books that seemed to have been flying back to their shelves, it seemed that someone was acting carelessly again.
"Hilda!" Nurina called, "How many times do I have to tell you Jon doesn't keep the cooking books here."
"…"
No reply was heard which made Nurina frown. She stepped away from the bookcase she was at and walked through the library until she reached its center where a large reading table was located.
There, Nurina could see a figure's back dressed in all shades of black, resembling the structure of an average woman.
"Who are you?" Nurina asked.
No answer was heard as the figure kept tearing through a book page by page in a very hectic manner. Nurina approached it and as she was 15 feet away, she noticed the mound of books lying on the table.
"Brief History of the Empire, Pocket Guide to the Empire, The Great War, Guide to Western Skyrim, The Madness of Pelagius, Disaster at Ionith, Broken Diamonds, The Oblivion Crisis, and… that's interesting… The Wolf Queen and her Biography."
Nurina only needed to say those last words for the figure in front of her to tense up and turn in her direction. Nurina could notice that the figure was actually floating rather than using its feet for movement and at that moment, everything was crystal clear.
"Look at you!" Nurina said, "Very interesting indeed. A Demi-Lich? I am not sure… not exactly a Lich too. How unique!"
She could see that the figure was a woman indeed and her face was covered in a black veil that could barely view a translucent image of what lies beneath.
Blue flickering flames for eyes, ornate skull, a layer of astral energy forming a face of a woman whose age felt more ambiguous the more one thinks about it.
Feeling the undeath mixed with Jon's creation, Nurina pieced all the facts together. Add to that the fact that this being was searching through the books of history regarding the last Empire, Nurina became quite pleased with what she was seeing.
"My son is now conjuring up some historical figures, he has come a long way indeed." Nurina said walking around the figure of Envy to the opposite side of the table where she sat and placed her book.
"Something amiss with those historical accounts?" She then asked.
"Lies… all lies!" Envy blurted out which made Nurina curious as she picked the book she was just tossing aside.
The Broken Diamonds.
A folk record from the Moors of Glenumbra on the crimes of the Usurper Emperor Uriel Septim III against the Rightful Empress Kintyra Septim II. The tragedy which started the War of the Red Diamond.
"I was born 300 years after these events. To be honest, it is ancient history to me who is 200 years old." Nurina said before tossing the book back and picking the Oblivion Crisis, "That one, on the other hand, I lived and witnessed."
Envy wasn't curious about anything other than the Septim Dynasty. As the possessor of the ego of Wolf Queen Potema, she wasn't that much of a family person and as far as history is concerned, she has killed more Septim family members than the Mythic Dawn cult.
"I assume you are vexed about what history does to the losing side." Nurina said quite naturally as if trying to capture Envy's behavior.
However, Envy was surprisingly calm.
"I feel like asking a question." Envy said, "Were you the one that convinced him not to pursue the Throne?"
Nurina pondered over the sudden question.
"No." Nurina said, "Even though I raised Jon for most of his life, he developed his own opinions earlier than his peers and for a good reason. He refused the whole thing regarding political leadership and chose to be a tycoon. More freedom, he said."
"If only I raised a child with such potential… what a waste!" Envy said as she looked at Nurina with nothing but contempt, "He could have done things not even I…"
Envy couldn't complete her words because of what Nurina's eyes looked like.
They were no longer Dunmer red but pitch black… so black that the light around her eyes twisted and broke just from the power she displayed.
The power of origin, Chaos.
The veins around Nurina's neck started pulsating as they turned black. She raised her hand and a strong telekinetic force encased Envy. Her entire body crumbled save for the ornate skull covered in ebony as it was pulled in Nurina's hand.
"So you are Envy?" Nurina said, "Indeed such a trait fits you well."
Envy was completely suppressed by Nurina and someplace far away, Jon felt that energy of Envy was being attacked. He didn't care that much as he expected something like this to happen when Envy requested to stay in the library.
As for Nurina, she felt that her anger was wasted and threw the Ornate Skull away. As her Chaos Infection was suppressed, Nurina could speak freely once again.
"The likes of you are vain and inefficient." Nurina said, "You say I wasted my child when I didn't poison his ears with wasteful dreams of an Empire's Throne? Please! That Throne you're so passionate about has torn families apart and set up brothers to slay their brothers. Even Tiber Septim was a traitor who chose to slay his own King. Even Reman Cyrodiil was nothing but a mortal who built his legend on a house of lies. Even Alessia the so-called Saint was nothing but a slave who rebelled with a power borrowed from the Divine and the allies that came towards her blessings."
"I am proud of the man I raised. His power was wielded by his own hands long before he was called Dragonborn. His house was built on the bones of his enemies, the trust of his family, the dreams of his past, and the hopes of his future. His loyalty was always to the Land and the People, and despite his flaws, the Empire and the Dominion run from his way if he sets out on a certain path. Now, what can a man bound to a throne do?"
"The boy I raised is now a Man far Greater than the House of Septim, the House Reman, and the House of Alessia combined. A Dragonborn above all his peers, he who eats Dragons. And you lecture me about raising an Emperor?"
Nurina walked to the skull of Potema as the latter's astral form emerged on the ground under Nurina's feet.
"I raised a family man and our family rules beyond borders and realms. I am the start of this House and we are the House of Dare."
The Bond that was forged by this House was greater than the Empire built on the flickering Dragonfires and it encompassed a power that can be passed to the coming Eras.
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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
Chapitre 660: Side Adventure
A/n: One Last Adventure before we finish this Volume! Guess where we are going?
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To Riften, Jon rode an eight-legged horse and passed the land. Teleporting through the land he could have used but this would take from him the thrill of the journey. He was already near the Rift and decided to go down the 7000 Steps of the Snow Tower.
He stopped by each village and town, bathed in rivers, ate from hunting and gathering, fought off trolls and bears, and laid beside a Spriggan Grove watching the wonderful nature and speaking with the spirits.
The Spriggans of the Rift never attacked him for he was wearing the Amulet of Kyne. He even passed by the shack of his old hunting mentor and offered a few gifts to the old man.
Soon after, he found himself facing a young maiden in dark robes. The girl was crying and shaking as beneath her was a woman with a knife in her chest.
An interesting encounter, Jon thought, but he still chose to see how it unfolds from coverage.
"Don't worry." Said a voice Jon didn't see its owner, "You don't need to feel down for her. We must press forward."
The voice was Khajiiti feminine and awfully familiar to Jon, who was about to activate his detection magic and inspect the identity of the speaker. However, the speaker walked into his view and he could see them wearing the Armor of the Dare Corps.
Was it a Trooper on a job or something?
The Trooper knelt beside the young maiden and removed her helmet. There, Jon could see the spotless and perfectly white fur of a Khajiit.
"Akara?" Jon narrowed his eyes.
Akara was an old friend of Jon and the rest who were raised with him in the orphanage under Nurina's care. Jon was quite fond of the Khajiit girl back then.
"Stand up." Akara gave a hand to the girl who clung to her while shaking and the two headed towards the mountain.
Jon followed closely behind them and he quickly inspected the dead body they left behind. The stab was sloppy but it seemed that it came out from where the victim least expected judging by the fact that the struggle seemed very minimal.
"What have you gotten yourself involved in, Akara?" Jon narrowed his eyes.
Akara has a tail for trouble as the Khajiit like to say. Jon has once caught her red-handed managing a drug operation with Ysolda which always reminded him that the two girls are very comfortable acting in the grey morals zone. While he dragged them back to Winterhold and forced them into a military drill as punishment, Ysolda served her time before deciding to work for him as a trader while Akara decided to stay as a mercenary.
Back to the present, Jon didn't feel like sticking his nose in other people's business but the moment a trail of bodies start appearing, he wouldn't be able to ignore it until it proves that it is worth ignoring.
He kept his magic on high alert and snuck towards the mountain where he found an old structure known as the Darklight Tower.
"I remember this place." Jon pondered, "Back in the day, I practiced magic nearby and some witches tried to capture me. If I am not mistaken, Nurina stunned them on the ground and took them away for a friendly word."
She massacred them.
But from the corpse found and the trail where Akara and the young woman took, it seemed that the witches were back.
"Darklight Tower? Witches? So it is that quest." Jon remembered something from the back of his mind.
[A/n: while I pride myself on having thousands of hours under my belt in Skyrim, I have discovered this quest very recently and played it only twice. It is called Repentance.]
When players visit this area in the game, they run into a young witch called Illia who tells that her mother is a witch who is about to perform a horrible ritual and Illia was tasked with finding her a human sacrifice.
The young witch rebels against her mother and tries to stop the ritual with the help of the player, meaning that she had to put her mother down.
A fucked up situation indeed.
Jon walked into the tower and saw that some bodies had been dropped as the fight started. Frost spells and arrows were all over the place as the fight seemed to have advanced up the tower. Jon conjured himself some undead and walked up the tower while whistling.
It took him a minute where he could finally hear the sound of fighting. There were two Hagravens blocking the road ahead and the two girls were having a tough time against them.
The Hags teleported around and used Fireball spells to force Akara around the place while the witch Illia was barely defending with her wards.
"Skeles, fire!"
Jon gave the undead an order and they rushed at the entrance of the room and lined up. With their bows, a volley of arrows struck the first Hagraven.
There was no escaping the surprise attack since the undead were too many. The first Hagraven died with arrows sticking out from every inch of its body.
The second Hagraven was taken by the appearance of the Skeletons which opened the chance for Akara to strike the Hagraven's arm and cut it off.
"Nice." Jon said, "Now go for the head."
Akara maneuvered her way out of the Hagraven's attack range and when she was in her blind spot, all it took was one clean cut.
The head flew away and the Hagraven's body started to move based on lingering neural signals before completely falling to the ground.
"Nice footwork." Jon commented as he was standing at the door of the chamber between his undead.
"Who're you?" The young witch aimed her spells at him but seeing that Akara wasn't hostile, she kept looking between the two.
"Jon?" Akara narrowed her eyes, "You followed this one here?"
"I was just playing around in my old spot." Jon said, "Once I saw you, I thought about coming to say hello."
"You two…" The young witch was about to ask but she wasn't sure which words to use.
"Rivals." "Friends."
Akara and Jon replied at the same time which made it seem awkward how they answered.
"I guess you don't need a hand then." Jon said.
"Just… stay." Akara said awkwardly, "This one was just surprised to see you but your help is welcome."
"Alright." Jon said and turned to the young witch, "Name is Jon, a wandering wizard and an avid hunter."
"Illia." The young witch said, "I am… from around here."
"I see. Witchcraft practice… I don't really discriminate." Jon said, being open-minded.
"There is a Witch up in this tower, Jon. We need to defeat her." Akara said, "This one has agreed to help young Illia."
"What's in it for me?" Jon asked.
"Anything in this tower you want is yours." Illia said.
"Yikes!" Jon looked around the dirty witch coven and felt shivers, "I'll do it for the good of the realm then."
"Akara knew you were chivalrous." Akara said and pointed towards the door, "Shall we?"
"We shall."
***
And the witch lied dead by the spell of her daughter.
It wasn't pleasing how things turned out to be. A mother sends her daughter to find a human sacrifice, the mother intends to use it to become a hagraven, the mother is killed by the rebelling daughter and the involved mercenaries.
Illia was left to mourn and bury her mother and she promised to find proper payment for Jon and Akara. Jon dismissed it and told her that if she wants to employ her talents for good, she better go to the College of Winterhold and give her a recommendation letter.
"Always doing good deeds, aren't you?" Akara commented as they watched Illia take a carriage from Riften to Winterhold.
"If my good deeds can erase my bad ones, won't I pass on as a happy man?" Jon said.
"But Akara thought you were some sort of immortal now." She said.
"All men must die." Jon said, "I just want my life to be remembered in the hearts of those whom I served."
"Alright, you slick." Akara snorted knowing how deep Jon could be sometimes, "This one will be taking her leave as well."
"Where to?" Jon asked but Akara seemed hesitant to reply.
"Settling old scores." She said.
"Ah!" Jon remembered.
Long ago, Akara was orphaned due to a bandit attack. Jon knew of this and offered her help many times but she wasn't willing to accept it.
She wanted her revenge to be exacted by her own hands.
"I know you don't want my help but here." Jon handed out a staff to Akara.
It was something that he looted from the Darklight Tower. A staff that appeared in the game called the Staff of Hag's Wrath.
"You still good with the magic you learned?" Jon asked.
"Not really." Akara replied.
"This will help." Jon put it in her hands, "If you need assistance, come to find me. I'll be staying in Riften for a couple of days."
"Thank you." Akara nodded with a smile.
She knew that he would offer to help as much as he can but she really needed to do this on her own.
Jon watched Akara head off into the woods and couldn't help but feel a bit worried. He would have to check on her after his business here is done.
Speaking of which, Jon started hearing rumors in Riften about Maven Black-Briar falling to illness.
After what Envy did to her, it is a surprise that she still survived.
But this is as far as she is allowed to go. Jon headed into Riften with the intent to kill.
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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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